Contributions of Fuqing ZHANG to Predictability,Data Assimilation,and Dynamics of High Impact Weather: A Tribute

This article reviews Fuqing ZHANG’s contributions to mesoscale atmospheric science,from research to mentoring to academic service,over his 20-year career.His fundamental scientific contributions on predictability,data assimilation,and dynamics of high impact weather,especially gravity waves and tropical cyclones,are highlighted.His extremely generous efforts to efficiently transmit to the community new scientific knowledge and ideas through mentoring,interacting,workshop organizing,and reviewing are summarized.Special appreciation is given to his tremendous contributions to the development of mesoscale meteorology in China and the education of Chinese graduate students and young scientists.     

Origin and history of hydrothermal fluids of the Reykjanes and Krafla geothermal fields,Iceland

The Reykjanes and Krafla geothermal fields are both examples of active high temperature systems and show similar assemblages of alteration minerals, but the fluid at Reykjanes is dominantly sea water whereas that at Krafla is meteoric. Oxygen isotope analyses of surface rock and of drill chip samples from different depths are presented, together with results for the Krafla fluid, which is close to local precipitation (δ ¹⁸ O = ?11.9‰, δD= ?86.8‰). Calcite in both systems is apparently in equilibrium with the present deep fluid at the present field temperature, except for the upper 250 m at Reykjanes where the fluid may be more meteoric than at depth. Feldspar gives similar results. Quartz separates at Reykjanes are anomalously lighter than coexisting feldspar and give exceptionally high quartz-fluid temperatures. It is suggested that quartz originally grew when the fluid was more nearly meteoric (? glacial period) and has not re-equilibrated. Bulk-rock ¹⁸ O depletion supports this interpretation of the history of the Reykjanes system. Quartz in the Krafla system is mostly in equilibrium at the present field conditions but anomalies occur near the boundary between the upper and lower parts of the system, suggesting that this is not entirely stable. A high fluid:rock ratio (10–100 minimum) is indicated for the Krafla field.     

Star formation, massive stars, and super star clusters in nearby galaxies

The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) will enable studies of star formation in nearby galaxies with a level of detail never before possible outside of the Milky Way. Because the earliest stages of stellar evolution are often inaccessible at optical and near-infrared wavelengths, high spatial resolution radio observations are necessary to explore extragalactic star formation. The SKA will have the sensitivity to detect individual ultracompact HII regions out to the distance of nearly 50 Mpc, allowing us to study their spatial distributions, morphologies, and populations statistics in a wide range of environments. Radio observations of Wolf-Rayet stars outside of the Milky Way will also be possible for the first time, greatly expanding the range of conditions in which their mass loss rates can be determined from free-free emission. On a vastly larger scale, natal of super star clusters will be accessible to the SKA out to redshifts of nearly z 0.1. The unprecedented sensitivity of radio observations with the SKA will also place tight constraints on the star formation rates as low as 1M yr⁻¹ in galaxies out to a redshift of z 1 by directly measuring the thermal radio flux density without assumptions about a galaxy’s magnetic field strength, cosmic ray production rate, or extinction.     

The shielding effect of small-scale martian surface geometry on ultraviolet flux

The atmosphere of Mars does little to attenuate incoming ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Large amounts of UV radiation sterilize the hardiest of terrestrial organisms within minutes, and chemically alter the soil such that organic molecules at or near the surface are rapidly destroyed. Thus the survival of any putative martian life near the surface depends to a large extent on how much UV radiation it receives. Variations in small-scale geometry of the surface such as pits, trenches, flat faces and overhangs can have a significant effect on the incident UV flux and may create “safe havens” for organisms and organic molecules. In order to examine this effect, a 1-D radiative transfer sky model with 836 meshed points (plus the Sun) was developed which includes both diffuse and direct components of the surface irradiance. This model derives the variation of UV flux with latitude and an object's Geometric Shielding Ratio (a ratio which describes the geometry of each situation). The best protection is offered by overhangs with flux reduced to a factor of 1.8±0.2×10⁻⁵ of the unprotected value, a reduction which does not vary significantly by latitude. Pits and cracks are less effective with a reduction in UV flux of only up to 4.5±0.5×10⁻³ for the modeled scenarios; however, they are more effective for the same geometric shielding ratio than overhangs at high latitudes due to the low height of the Sun in the sky. Lastly, polar faces of rocks have the least effective shielding geometry with at most a 1.1±0.1×10⁻¹ reduction in UV flux. Polar faces of rocks are most effective at mid latitudes where the Sun is never directly overhead, as at tropical latitudes, and never exposes the back of the rock, as at polar latitudes. In the most favorable cases, UV flux is sufficiently reduced such that organic in-fall could accumulate beneath overhanging surfaces and in pits and cracks. As well, hardy terrestrial microorganisms such as Bacillus pumilus could persist for up to 100 sols on the outer surfaces of typical spacecraft or several tens of martian years in the most shielded surface niches.     

Elucidating the dynamics and mixing agents of a shallow fjord through age tracer modelling

The mixing agents and their role in the dynamics of a shallow fjord are elucidated through an Eulerian implementation of artificial tracers in a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The time scales of vertical mixing in this shallow estuary are short, and the artificial tracers are utilized in order to reveal information not detectable in the temperature or salinity fields. The fjord's response to external forcing is investigated through a series of model experiments in which we quantify vertical mixing, transport time scales of fresh water runoff and estuarine circulation in relation to external forcing.Using age tracers released at surface and bottom, we quantify the time scales of downward mixing of surface water and upward mixing of bottom water. Wind is shown to be the major agent for vertical mixing at nearly all depth levels in the fjord, whereas the tide or external sea level forcing is a minor agent and only occasionally more important just close to the bottom. The time scale of vertical mixing of surface water to the bottom or ventilation time scale of bottom water is estimated to be in the range 0.7 h to 9.0 days, with an average age of 2.7 days for the year 2004.The fjord receives fresh water from two streams entering the innermost part of the fjord, and the distribution and age of this water are studied using both ageing and conservative tracers. The salinity variations outside this fjord are large, and in contrast to the salinity, the artificial tracers provide a straight forward analysis of river water content. The ageing tracer is used to estimate transport time scales of river water (i.e. the time elapsed since the water left the river mouth). In May 2004, the typical age of river water leaving the fjord mouth is 5 days. As the major vertical mixing agent is wind, it controls the estuarine circulation and export of river water. When the wind stress is set to zero, the vertical mixing is reduced and the vertical salinity stratification is increased, and the river water can be effectively exported out of the fjord.We also analyse the river tracer fields and salinity field in relation to along estuary winds in order to detect signs of wind-induced straining of the along estuary density gradient. We find that events of down estuary winds are primarily associated with a reduced along estuary salinity gradient due to increased surface salinity in the innermost part of the fjord, and with an overall decrease in vertical stratification and river water content at the surface. Thus, our results show no apparent signs of wind-induced straining in this shallow fjord but instead they indicate increased levels of vertical mixing or upwelling during down estuary wind events.     

Simulation of the impact of thunderstorm activity on atmospheric gas composition

A chemistry-climate model of the lower and middle atmosphere has been used to estimate the sensitivity of the atmospheric gas composition to the rate of thunderstorm production of nitrogen oxides at upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric altitudes. The impact that nitrogen oxides produced by lightning have on the atmospheric gas composition is treated as a subgrid-scale process and included in the model parametrically. The natural uncertainty in the global production rate of nitrogen oxides in lightning flashes was specified within limits from 2 to 20 Tg N/year. Results of the model experiments have shown that, due to the variability of thunderstorm-produced nitrogen oxides, their concentration in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere can vary by a factor of 2 or 3, which, given the influence of nitrogen oxides on ozone and other gases, creates the potential for a strong perturbation of the atmospheric gas composition and thermal regime. Model calculations have shown the strong sensitivity of ozone and the OH hydroxyl to the amount of lightning nitrogen oxides at different atmospheric altitudes. These calculations demonstrate the importance of nitrogen oxides of thunderstorm origin for the balance of atmospheric odd ozone and gases linked to it, such as ozone and hydroxyl radicals. Our results demonstrate that one important task is to raise the accuracy of estimates of the rate of nitrogen oxide production by lightning discharges and to use physical parametrizations that take into account the local lightning effects and feedbacks arising in this case rather than climatological data in models of the gas composition and general circulation of the atmosphere.     

澳大利亚拉克兰造山带成矿地质条件与主要矿化类型

澳大利亚拉克兰造山带（又称拉克兰褶皱带,简称LFB）由强烈变形的寒武纪—泥盆纪深海沉积岩、燧石和基性火山岩,以及更年轻的盖层所构成,其造山过程表现为澳大利亚板块向东南方向不断增生的过程。该造山带的长期演化,形成了以维多利亚金矿省为典型代表的造山型金矿床及其它类型的多金属矿床,本质上这些矿床的形成与特殊的成矿地质条件密切相关。对该区相关文献进行分析和总结,提炼出拉克兰造山带金及多金属矿床的主要地质特征,划分出5种主要矿化类型：造山型金矿、花岗岩中细脉浸染型钨—锡矿、斑岩型铜—金矿、火山喷流铜—锌—金硫化物矿床、产于断陷盆地沉积岩中的铜—铅—锌—金矿。5种矿化类型各具特色,空间上有规律性地分布。     

The quality of life in Ukraine and in Russia as a factor of socio-economic development

The characteristic features of the socio-geographical approach in analyzing the “quality of life of population” category are highlighted. Experience in assessing the balanced development of Ukraine and Russia is presented; the most important factors that are responsible for the quality of life in these countries are determined.     

Kriging with imprecise (fuzzy) variograms. I: Theory

Imprecise variogram parameters are modeled with fuzzy set theory. The fit of a variogram model to experimental variograms is often subjective. The accuracy of the fit is modeled with imprecise variogram parameters. Measurement data often are insufficient to create good experimental variograms. In this case, prior knowledge and experience can contribute to determination of the variogram model parameters. A methodology for kriging with imprecise variogram parameters is developed. Both kriged values and estimation variances are calculated as fuzzy numbers and characterized by their membership functions. Besides estimation variance, the membership functions are used to create another uncertainty measure. This measure depends on both homogeneity and configuration of the data.