Analysis of the Characteristics of Low-Latitude GPS Amplitude Scintillation Measured During Solar Maximum Conditions and Implications for Receiver Performance

Ionospheric scintillations are fluctuations in the phase and/or amplitude of trans-ionospheric radio signals caused by electron density irregularities in the ionosphere. A better understanding of the scintillation pattern is important to make a better assessment of GPS receiver performance, for instance. Additionally, scintillation can be used as a tool for remote sensing of ionospheric irregularities. Therefore, the study of ionospheric scintillation has both scientific as well as technological implications. In the past few years, there has been a significant advance in the methods for analysis of scintillation and in our understanding of the impact of scintillation on GPS receiver performance. In this work, we revisit some of the existing methods of analysis of scintillation, propose an alternative approach, and apply these techniques in a comprehensive study of the characteristics of amplitude scintillation. This comprehensive study made use of 32?days of high-rate (50?Hz) measurements made by a GPS-based scintillation monitor located in S?o José dos Campos, Brazil (23.2°S, 45.9°W, ?17.5° dip latitude) near the Equatorial Anomaly during high solar flux conditions. The variability of the decorrelation time (τ₀) of scintillation patterns is presented as a function of scintillation severity index (S ₄). We found that the values of τ₀ tend to decrease with the increase of S ₄, confirming the results of previous studies. In addition, we found that, at least for the measurements made during this campaign, averaged values of τ₀ (for fixed S ₄ index values) did not vary much as a function of local time. Our results also indicate a significant impact of τ₀ in the GPS carrier loop performance for S ₄?≥?0.7. An alternative way to compute the probability of cycle slip that takes into account the fading duration time is also presented. The results of this approach show a 38% probability of cycle slips during strong scintillation scenarios (S ₄ close to 1 and τ₀ near 0.2?s). Finally, we present results of an analysis of the individual amplitude fades observed in our set of measurements. This analysis suggests that users operating GPS receivers with C/N ₀ thresholds around 30?dB-Hz and above can be affected significantly by low-latitude scintillation.     

Volcano-tectonic controls and emplacement kinematics of the Iriga debris avalanches (Philippines)

Mt Iriga in southeastern Luzon is known for its spectacular collapse scar that was possibly created in 1628 ad by a 1.5-km³ debris avalanche. The debris avalanche deposit (DAD) covered 70?km² and dammed the Barit River to form Lake Buhi. The collapse has been ascribed to a non-volcanic trigger related to a major strike-slip fault under the volcano. Using a combination of fieldwork and remote sensing, we have identified a similar size, older DAD to the southwest of the edifice that originated from a sector oblique to the underlying strike-slip fault. Both deposits cover wide areas of low, waterlogged plains, to a distance of about 16?km for the oldest and 12?km for the youngest. Hundreds of metre-wide and up to 50-m-high hummocks of intact conglomerate, sand and clay units derived from the base of the volcano show that the initial failure planes cut deep into the substrata. In addition, large proportions of both DAD consist of ring-plain sediments that were incorporated by soft-sediment bulking and extensive bulldozing. An ignimbrite unit incorporated into the younger DAD forms small (less than 5?m high) discrete hummocks between the larger ones. Both debris avalanches slid over water-saturated soft sediment or ignimbrite and spread out on a basal shear zone, accommodated by horst and graben formation and strike-slip faults in the main mass. The faults are listric and flatten into a well-developed basal shear zone. This shear zone contains components from the substrate and has a diffuse contact with the intact substrata. Long, transport-normal ridges in the distal parts are evidence of compression related to deceleration and bulldozing. The collapse orientation and structure on both sectors and DAD constituents are consistent with collapse being a response to combined transtensional faulting and gravity spreading. Iriga can serve as a model for other volcanoes, such as Mayon, that stand in sedimentary basins undergoing transtensional strike-slip faulting.     

Effects of pollen leaching and microbial degradation on organic carbon and nutrient availability in lake water

Nutrient fluxes across terrestrial-aquatic boundaries and their subsequent integration into lake nutrient cycles are currently a major topic of aquatic research. Although pollen represents a good substrate for microorganisms, it has been neglected as a terrestrial source of organic matter in lakes. In laboratory experiments, we incubated pollen grains of Pinus sylvestris in water of lakes with different trophy and pH to estimate effects of pollen input and its subsequent microbial degradation on nutrient dynamics. In this ex situ experiment, we measured concentrations of organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen in the surrounding water as well as microbial dynamics (bacteria and fungal sporangia) at well-controlled conditions. Besides leaching, chemical and microbial decomposition of pollen was strongest within the first week of incubation. This led to a marked increase of soluble reactive phosphorus and total dissolved nitrogen (up to 0.04 and 1.5 mg L⁻¹, respectively, after 5 days of incubation) in the ambient water. In parallel, pollen grains were rapidly colonized by heterotrophic bacteria and aquatic fungi. Leaching and microbial degradation of pollen accounted for ≥80, ≥40, ≥50% for organic C, N and P, respectively, and did not significantly differ among water samples from the studied lakes. Thus, pollen introduces high amounts of bio-available terrestrial organic matter and nutrients into surface waters within a short time. A rough calculation on P input into oligotrophic Lake Stechlin indicates that pollen plays an important ecological role in nutrient cycling of temperate lakes. This requires further attention in aquatic ecology.     

Experimental testing, numerical modelling and seismic strengthening of traditional stone masonry: comprehensive study of a real Azorian pier

Stone masonry is one of the oldest building techniques used worldwide and it is known to exhibit poor behaviour under seismic excitations. In this context, this work aims at assessing the in-plane behaviour of an existing double-leaf stone masonry pier by experimental testing. Additionally, a detailed 3D finite element numerical analysis based on micro-modelling of the original pier is presented (fully describing the geometry and division of each individual elements, namely infill, blocks and joints) aiming at simulating the experimental test results. This numerical strategy can be seen as an alternative way of analysing this type of constructions, particularly useful for laboratory studies, and suitable for the calibration of simplified numerical models. As part of a wider research activity, this work is further complemented with the presentation of an effective retrofit/strengthening technique (reinforced connected plaster) to achieve a significant improvement of its in-plane cyclic response which is experimentally verified in the results presented herein.     

Sediments Quality Assessment of Jacarepaguá Lagoon: The Venue of the 2011 Rock in Rio

In order to aid in the efforts of the 2016 Olympic Games, the organizers of 2011 Rock in Rio decided to build a permanent venue next to the Olympic Park. The area is problematic from the geotechnical point of view since it presents soils with low shear strength, low permeability, and high plasticity, so major soil improvement works were carried out. Bored soil–cement columns were placed to increase soil shear strength and reduce compressibility. A meter thick fill composed of gneiss residual soil was placed and trenches were digged to drain rainwater. However, earlier studies conducted on Jacarepaguá Lagoon have detected the presence of heavy metals in these sediments. In this study, an environmental survey on the Jacarepaguá Lagoon sediments took place in order to choose a place where its sediments could be dredged to be later used in the drainage facilities. The results indicated areas where the threshold level 1 (low probability of adverse effects) issued by the general procedures for sediments quality assessments for dredging purposes, Resolution no 344 of the Brazilian Federal Government, was surpassed. Levels above the limits established for cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were detected. Based on this consideration the State Environmental Agency issued a permit allowing the organizers of 2011 Rock in Rio to dredge an area close to City of Rock in order to obtain coarse sediments for the drainage facilities. In addition, it was found that those sediments were ideal for this application since their hydraulic conductivity is on the order of 10^?2 cm/s.     

Arctic freshwater ostracods from modern periglacial environments in the Lena River Delta (Siberian Arctic,Russia): geochemical applications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions

The aim of this study is to describe ostracods from freshwater habitats in the Siberian Arctic in order to estimate the present-day relationships between the environmental setting and the geochemical properties of ostracod calcite. A special focus is on the element ratios (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca), and the stable isotope composition (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C), in both ambient waters and ostracod calcite. The most common species are Fabaeformiscandona pedata and F. harmsworthi with the highest frequency in all studied waters. Average partition coefficients D(Sr) of F. pedata are 0.33 ± 0.06 (1σ) in females, and 0.32 ± 0.06 (1σ) in males. A near 1:1 relationship of δ¹⁸O was found, with a mean shift of Δ_mean = 2.2‰ ± 0.5 (1σ) to heavier values in ostracod calcite of F. pedata as compared to ambient waters. The shift is not dependent on δ¹⁸O_water, and is caused by metabolic (vital) and temperature effects. Temperature-dependence is reflected in the variations of this shift. For ostracod calcite of F. pedata a vital effect as compared to inorganic calcite in equilibrium was quantified with 1.4‰. Results of this study are valuable for the palaeoenvironmental interpretation of geochemical data of fossil ostracods from permafrost deposits.     

Retrieving earthquake signature in grace gravity solutions

The GRACE satellites have been orbiting the Earth since 2002, monitoring the time variable gravity field. Some of the observed fluctuations are due to geodynamic causes, but they are often hidden in the complex signal, composed of hydrology, ocean, atmosphere, and geodynamics, the signal of geodynamic origin being usually the smallest. In addition, dealiasing residuals and noise make the separation of the signal from the different causes more difficult. We proposed a method based on the Empirical Orthogonal Function decomposition to extract the signal of physical origin, under the hypothesis that the physical signal is spatially more consistent than the noise and aliasing incomplete correction. We used synthetic geoid variations associated with earthquakes located at nearly 2000 positions at the Earth surface, based on several examples of large actual subduction events. We show that, with the present day accuracy, we can retrieve the geoid variations associated with more than 98 per cent of the earthquakes of magnitude 9 or above, around 60 per cent for magnitude 8.8, 40 per cent for magnitude 8.6 and 33 per cent for magnitude 8.3. Some events, with the right properties and location, can be detected with magnitude as low as 8. We then applied the method to the GRACE solutions, and retrieved the Hokkaido event (2003) and the Sumatra event (2004), which is in agreement with the retrieval rates mentioned here above.     

On the estimation of continuous 24-h precipitation maxima

Extreme value analysis of precipitation is of great importance for several types of engineering studies and policy decisions. For return level estimation of extreme 24-h precipitation, practitioners often use daily measurements (usually 08:00–08:00 local time) since high-frequency measurements are scarce. Annual maxima of daily series are smaller or equal to continuous 24-h precipitation maxima such that the resulting return levels may be systematically underestimated. In this paper we use a rule, derived earlier, on the conversion of the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution of daily to 24-h maxima. We develop an estimator for the conversion exponent by combining daily maxima and high-frequency sampled 24-h maxima in one joint log-likelihood. Once the conversion exponent has been estimated, GEV-parameters of 24-h maxima can be obtained at sites where only daily data is available. The new methodology has been extended to spatial regression models.