Space Weather: Physics,Effects and Predictability

The time varying conditions in the near-Earth space environment that may affect space-borne or ground-based technological systems and may endanger human health or life are referred to as space weather. Space weather effects arise from the dynamic and highly variable conditions in the geospace environment starting from explosive events on the Sun (solar flares), Coronal Mass Ejections near the Sun in the interplanetary medium, and various energetic effects in the magnetosphere–ionosphere–atmosphere system. As the utilization of space has become part of our everyday lives, and as our lives have become increasingly dependent on technological systems vulnerable to the space weather influences, the understanding and prediction of hazards posed by these active solar events have grown in importance. In this paper, we review the processes of the Sun–Earth interactions, the dynamic conditions within the magnetosphere, and the predictability of space weather effects on radio waves, satellites and ground-based technological systems today.     

Fields as a framework for integrating GIS and environmental process models. Part 1: Representing spatial continuity

Linking a GIS to a spatially distributed, physically-based environmental model offers many advantages. However, the implementation of such linkages is generally problematic. Many problems arise because the relationship between the reality being represented by the mathematical model and the data model used to organize the spatial data in the GIS has not been rigorously defined. In particular, while many environmental models are based on theories that assume continuity and incorporate physical fields as independent variables, current GISs can only represent continuous phenomena in a variety of discrete data models. This paper outlines a strategy in which field variables are used to enable modellers to work directly with the spatial data as spatially continuous phenomena. This allows the manner in which the spatial data has been discretized and the ways in which it can be manipulated to be treated independently from the conceptual modelling of physical processes. Modellers can express their spatial data needs as representations of reality, rather than as elements of a GIS database, and a GIS-independent language for model development may result. By providing a formal linkage between the various models of spatial phenomena, a mechanism is created for the explicit expression of transformation rules between the different spatial data models stored and manipulated by a GIS.     

Studying the Deep Structure of Elbrus Volcano by Microseismic Sounding

This paper presents results from a study of the deep structure of the Elbrus edifice and adjacent areas using geophysical techniques. We confirmed the existence of a shallow magma chamber, derived a more accurate location of the chamber in the host rocks and its characteristic dimensions, and compared new results with known studies. More accurate estimates have been obtained for the temperature at the top of the magma chamber and new evidence is adduced concerning the deep structure of the fluid magmatic systems in the Elbrus volcanic area.     

Occurrence and Distribution of Organic Contaminants in the Aquatic System in Berlin.Part II: Substituted Phenols in Berlin Surface Water

In a surface water screening, 30 representative surface water samples collected from rivers, canals, and lakes in Berlin were investigated for the presence of 22 substituted phenols. The phenols selected include the 11 phenols considered as “priority pollutants” by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA). Surface water samples were extracted applying solid-phase extraction with styrenedivinylbenzene adsorbent. The recoveries, determined in spiking experiments, were between 80 % and 103 %. After derivatization with N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-N-methyl-trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) the samples were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Phenol, cresols, 2-ethylphenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chloro-3-methylphenol, pentachlorophenol, 2-nitrophenol, and 4-nitrophenol were detected in the surface water samples at concentrations between 0.02 μg/L and 7.8 μg/L, respectively. The distribution of these residues in the Berlin surface waters showed that the phenolic residues, with the exception of pentachlorophenol and 2-ethylphenol, do not originate primarily from municipal sewage treatment plants discharges. Some of the phenols are formed naturally or occur as ubiquitous anthropogenic contaminants in the aquatic system.     

Diffusive equilibrium in thin films provides evidence of suppression of hyporheic exchange and large‐scale nitrate transformation in a groundwater‐fed river

The hyporheic zone of riverbed sediments has the potential to attenuate nitrate from upwelling, polluted groundwater. However, the coarse‐scale (5–10 cm) measurement of nitrogen biogeochemistry in the hyporheic zone can often mask fine‐scale (<1 cm) biogeochemical patterns, especially in near‐surface sediments, leading to incomplete or inaccurate representation of the capacity of the hyporheic zone to transform upwelling NO₃^?. In this study, we utilised diffusive equilibrium in thin‐films samplers to capture high resolution (cm‐scale) vertical concentration profiles of NO₃^?, SO₄^2?, Fe and Mn in the upper 15 cm of armoured and permeable riverbed sediments. The goal was to test whether nitrate attenuation was occurring in a sub‐reach characterised by strong vertical (upwelling) water fluxes. The vertical concentration profiles obtained from diffusive equilibrium in thin‐films samplers indicate considerable cm‐scale variability in NO₃^? (4.4 ± 2.9 mg N/L), SO₄^2? (9.9 ± 3.1 mg/l) and dissolved Fe (1.6 ± 2.1 mg/l) and Mn (0.2 ± 0.2 mg/l). However, the overall trend suggests the absence of substantial net chemical transformations and surface‐subsurface water mixing in the shallow sediments of our sub‐reach under baseflow conditions. The significance of this is that upwelling NO₃^?‐rich groundwater does not appear to be attenuated in the riverbed sediments at <15 cm depth as might occur where hyporheic exchange flows deliver organic matter to the sediments for metabolic processes. It would appear that the chemical patterns observed in the shallow sediments of our sub‐reach are not controlled exclusively by redox processes and/or hyporheic exchange flows. Deeper‐seated groundwater fluxes and hydro‐stratigraphy may be additional important drivers of chemical patterns in the shallow sediments of our study sub‐reach. © 2015 The Authors. Hydrological Processes Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Structure Function Analysis of Two-Scale Scalar Ramps. Part II: Ramp Characteristics and Surface Renewal Flux Estimation

Ramp features in the turbulent scalar field are associated with turbulent coherent structures, which dominate energy and mass fluxes in the atmospheric surface layer. Although finer scale ramp-like shapes embedded within larger scale ramp-like shapes can readily be perceived in turbulent scalar traces, their presence has largely been overlooked in the literature. We demonstrate the signature of more than one ramp scale in structure functions of the turbulent scalar field measured from above bare ground and two types of short plant canopies, using structure-function time lags ranging in scale from isotropic to larger than the characteristic coherent structures. Spectral analysis of structure functions was used to characterize different scales of turbulent structures. By expanding structure function analysis to include two ramp scales, we characterized the intermittency, duration, and surface renewal flux contribution of the smallest (i.e., Scale One) and the dominant (i.e., Scale Two) coherent structure scales. The frequencies of the coherent structure scales increase with mean wind shear, implying that both Scale One and Scale Two are shear-driven. The embedded Scale One turbulent structure scale is ineffectual in the surface-layer energy and mass transport process. The new method reported here for obtaining surface renewal-based scalar exchange works well over bare ground and short canopies under unstable conditions, effectively eliminating the α calibration for these conditions and forming the foundation for analysis over taller and more complex surfaces.     

Mapping of sound scattering objects in the northern part of the Barents Sea and their geological interpretation

On cruises 25 (2007) and 28 (2011) of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov in the northern part of the Barents Sea, the Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, conducted comprehensive research on the bottom relief and upper part of the sedimentary cover profile under the auspices of the International Polar Year program. One of the instrument components was the SeaBat 8111 shallow-water multibeam echo sounder, which can map the acoustic field similarly to a side scan sonar, which records the response both from the bottom and from the water column. In the operations area, intense sound scattering objects produced by the discharge of deep fluid flows are detected in the water column. The sound scattering objects and pockmarks in the bottom relief are related to anomalies in hydrocarbon gas concentrations in bottom sediments. The sound scattering objects are localized over Triassic sequences outcropping from the bottom. The most intense degassing processes manifest themselves near the contact of the Triassic sequences and Jurassic clay deposits, as well as over deep depressions in a field of Bouguer anomalies related to the basement of the Jurassic–Cretaceous rift system     

Eignung mikrobieller Biotests für gebundene Schadstoffe Suitability of Microbial Bioassays for Bound Contaminants

Toxicity of soil spiked with water soluble and insoluble contaminants was assessed with bacteria. Three bioassays were used with common soil bacteria. Water soluble fractions from the soils were estimated in microtiterplates via dehydrogenase activity of B. cereus and growth of P. putida. A new method was developed using B. cereus to include effects of soil particles with bound contaminants. As contaminants p-nitrophenol and 2-naphthol were tested in these systems. Results indicated that the concentration of the contaminants in the soil solution is determined by soil properties. Toxicity of water soluble fractions was not only a result of the toxicant's concentration but further modified by soluble components of the soils. It is not possible to assess soil pollution from toxicity of the water soluble fraction in general, because unknown factors of the soluble soil fraction can influence toxicity greatly. The newly developed contact bioassay with B. cereus showed clearly higher toxicity of 2-naphthol estimated in soil suspension than did the comparable test system with the same bacteria using water soluble fractions only. The results stress the importance of including soil particles into bioassay procedures. It was shown that also water insoluble, bound contaminants can act as toxicants. For an estimation of toxicity under conditions more relevant for the environment, the suggested test system can provide useful information to bioavailability of bound contaminants.     

Anaerobic Metabolism in Tidal Freshwater Wetlands: I. Plant Removal Effects on Iron Reduction and Methanogenesis

For energetic reasons, iron reduction suppresses methanogenesis in tidal freshwater wetlands; however, when iron reduction is limited by iron oxide availability, methanogenesis dominates anaerobic carbon mineralization. Plants can mediate this microbial competition by releasing oxygen into the rhizosphere and supplying oxidized iron for iron reducers. We utilized a plant removal experiment in two wetland sites to test the hypothesis that, in the absence of plants, rates of iron reduction would be diminished, allowing methanogenesis to dominate anaerobic metabolism. In both sites, methanogenesis was the primary anaerobic mineralization pathway, with iron reduction dominating only early and late in the growing season in the site with a less organic soil. These patterns were not influenced by the presence of plants, demonstrating that plants were not a key control of microbial metabolism. Instead, we suggest that site conditions, including soil chemistry, and temperature are important controls of the pathways of anaerobic metabolism.