Estimates of continental-scale soil wetness and comparison with the soil moisture data of Mintz and Serafini

 Soil wetness, in both its global distribution and the seasonal change, has been mainly estimated by the water balance approach using the bucket model which regards the soil wetness as soil moisture. The soil moisture data of Mintz and Serafini is one of the representatives examples, however, this method has problems since it does not incorporate the effects of flooding, snow accumulation on the ground, and so on. In this study, we use the Amazon and Volga river basin to carry out a case study to evaluate these problems. In the Amazon river basin, the annual range of the entire terrestrial water storage, about 400 mm, can be mainly explained by the rising and falling of the water level, and flooding around river channels, although soil moisture data of Mintz and Serafini is almost constant throughout the year. In the Volga river basin, snow accumulates on the ground producing 80 mm of water equivalent during winter, however the soil moisture data of Mintz and Serafini is almost saturated in winter. Received: 30 October 1996 / Accepted: 4 June 1997     

含有开关参数化物理过程的模式变分资料同化的非光滑优化方法:几个理论问题

时间、空间上离散的模式如果含有带开关的参数化物理过程，某些对应的变分同化问题可以看成为非光滑优化问题。本系统地讨论了与此相关的几个理论问题。首先，利用次梯度这个非光滑优化中的基本概念可以对通常的伴随方程的解进行清楚的解释和定义。利用一个带对流调整的多层扩散模式，演示了通常的伴随方程的解在奇异点处不是由代价函数的Gateaux导数构成，而是代价函数的一个次梯度。其次，在非光滑优化的框架下对现有的解决这类问题的方法进行了评述。这些方法包括：（1）利用光滑优化方法和通常的伴随模式，并且讨论了这个方法的收敛条件；（2）正则化方法。这个方法是把模式中不光滑的项用光滑的项近似，以把问题变为光滑优化问题。（3）次梯度方法。这个方法利用通常的伴随模式来计算一个次梯度，是收敛的算法，不过收敛速度很慢。（4）非光滑优化中的Bundle方法。这个方法比次梯度方法收敛得快，不过需要利用所有的次梯度信息。由于计算所有的次梯度十分困难，现有的Bundle方法大都进行了一些改变，仅需要用户能够计算出一个次梯度。不过这个改变是无奈的，多个次梯度的信息可以提高Bundle方法的效率。本最主要的工作是提出了集值伴随方程的概念。集值伴随模式可以在奇异点处计算出所有支撑次梯度，因此利用集值伴随方程有可能提出基于Bundle方法的更好算法。     

A Study of Tsunami Wave Fission in an Undistorted Experiment

To study tsunami soliton fission and split wave-breaking, an undistorted experiment was carried out which investigated tsunami shoaling on a continental shelf. Three models of the continental shelf were set up in a 205-m long 2-dimensional flume. Each shelf model was 100 m, long with slopes of either 1/100, 1/150, or 1/200. Water surface elevations were measured across the flume, including a dense cluster of wave gages installed around the point of wave-breaking. We propose new methods for calculating wave velocity and the wave-breaking criterion based on our interpretation of time series data of water surface elevation. At the point of wave-breaking, the maximum slope of water surface is between 20 to 50 deg., while the ratio of surface water particle horizontal velocity to wave velocity is from 0.5 to 1.2. The values determined by our study are larger than what has been reported by other researchers.     

Operational Data Assimilation System for the Kuroshio South of Japan: Reanalysis and Validation

We describe an operational ocean data assimilation system for the Kuroshio and its validation using a nine-year reanalysis (historical run from 1993 to 2001) dataset of upper-ocean state estimation in the North Pacific. The horizontal structure of volume transport of the Ryukyu Current System (RCS) is shown from the reanalysis: The RCS is connected to the flow of the subtropical gyre, and its volume transport gradually increases from south-east of Okinawa (5–10 Sv) to the east of Amami-Ohshima Island (20 Sv). Comparing the reanalysis with independent observations on the southeast slope of the Amami-Ohshima Island indicates that the root mean square differences (RMSDs) are 0.076 (0.037) m/s in the period of December 1998 to November 1999 (November 1999 to November 2000) respectively. The reanalysis field has a bias (3.1 Sv) of the volume transport of the RCS and the RMSD (3.5 Sv) which is larger than the observed variability (2.81 Sv). Surface velocity and the Kuroshio axis south of Japan are also examined. Comparison of the reanalysis and ADCP data gave maximum RMSD of 0.749 (0.271) m/s in the strong (weak) current regions, respectively. The annual mean value of the axis error is 19 km in 1998. The RMSD of the error is at most 50 km, in 294 cases in the observation period, which is smaller than the observed root mean square variability of the axis (64 km). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Temporal dynamics of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) produced in a microcosm with red tide forming algae <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chattonella marina</Emphasis> and its associated bacteria

Acute and severe hypoxia associated with harmful algal bloom has become one of the major causes for the environmental deterioration of coastal areas. Although it is generally thought that a large part of the dissolved oxygen consumption at a bloom site is initiated by heterotrophic bacteria that attack organic matter derived from dead or dying algal cells, precise microbial processes leading to the hypoxia are yet to be examined. Here we show temporal dynamics of extracellular dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of the red tide forming raphidophyte Chattonella marina and bacterial populations associating with the algae under laboratory conditions. During the growth of non-axenic strains of C. marina, we monitored abundance of algae, associated bacteria, and DOC in the culture media. Bacterial cell abundance increased in response to the increase in DOC both at the beginning and the late log phase of the algal growth. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that transient increase in the percentage of respiratory-active bacterial cells also coincided with the timing of the increase in bacterial abundance and DOC. These results strongly suggest that DOC released from growing C. marina fuels respiration and growth of planktonic bacteria surrounding the algae. This has implications for the role of DOC released from C. marina bloom before the collapse in mediating interactions between neighboring algae and bacterial assemblage which may eventually lead to algal bloom-associated hypoxia.     

Probing the evolution of early-type galaxies using multicolour number counts and redshift distributions

We investigate pure luminosity evolution models for early-type (elliptical and S0) galaxies (i.e. no number density change or morphological transition), and examine whether these models are consistent with observed number counts in the B , I and K bands, and redshift distributions of two samples of faint galaxies selected in the I and K bands. The models are characterized by the star formation time-scale τ _SF and the time t _gw when the galactic wind starts to blow, in addition to several other conventional parameters. We find that the single-burst model ( τ _SF=0.1 Gyr and t _gw=0.353 Gyr), which is known to reproduce the photometric properties of early-type galaxies in clusters, is inconsistent with the redshift distributions of early-type galaxies in the field environment, owing to overpredictions of the number of galaxies at z ≳1.4 even with strong extinction which is at work until t _gw. In order for dust extinction to be more effective, we treat τ _SF and t _gw as free parameters, and find that models with τ _SF≳0.5 Gyr and t _gw>1.0 Gyr can be made consistent with both the observed redshift distributions and the number counts, if we introduce strong extinction [ E ( B − V )≥1 as a peak value]. These results suggest that early-type galaxies in the field environment do not have the same evolutionary history as described by the single-burst model.     

Measurement of Ocean Surface Currents by the CRL HF Ocean Surface Radar of FMCW Type. Part 2. Current Vector

The Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) has been developing high-frequency ocean surface radars (HFOSRs). The CRL dual-site HFOSR system can clarify the distribution of surface currents with a nominal range of 50 km. This paper presents a theoretical and experimental analysis of the measurement error of the current vector obtained by the CRL HFOSR system, using a comparison of instantaneous current vectors acquired by the HFOSR system and current meters moored at a depth of 2 m, taking account of the vertical current shear. The theoretical analysis shows that the probability distribution of the measurement error of the current vector forms concentric ellipses at a spatial scale that depends on the RMS measurement error of radial current velocity and with an aspect ratio that depends only on the azimuthal difference of the radar beams. When the azimuthal difference is a right angle, the measurement error of the current vector is at a minimum. A comparison between instantaneous current vectors measured by the CRL HFOSR system and moored current meters shows that the distribution of the difference vector between the radar current and the meter current agrees well with the theoretical measurement error of the current vector and that the RMS of difference vector length is about 10 cm s^–1 while the azimuthal difference between two radar beams is between 45 and 135 degrees. The accuracy of current measurement by the dual-site HFOSR system is therefore considered to be less than 10 cm s^–1 in this range of azimuthal difference. The theoretical analysis will be applicable for a wider range of the azimuthal difference of the radar beams.     

Interannual and Decadal Sea-Level Variations along the Japanese Coast

Interannual (an annual to a decadal) and decadal sea-level variations along the Japanese coast have been investigated on the basis of monthly mean sea level during the period from 1951 to 1995. For the interannual variation, the Japanese coast is divided into six regions according to a regional similarity of sea level by using the cluster analysis, which is close to Tsumura's (1963) classification. The first mode of the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) of the Interannual variation is the simultaneous rising and falling of the sea level along the Japanese coast. The first mode shows the largest variation in winter and has a negative correlation with the wintertime monsoon index; this suggests that the first mode is associated with a steric height change depending on the wintertime cooling intensity. The EOF second mode represents the Kuroshio large meander because strong negative eigenvectors are seen on the southeast coast of Japan and the time coefficient shows a high correlation with the Kushimoto-Uragami sea-level difference. For the decadal sea-level variation, the EOF first mode is a bi-decadal variation exhibiting simultaneous rising and falling of the sea level for the entire Japanese coast. The time coefficient of the first mode shows the first minimum in 1965, reaches a maximum in 1975, and decreases to the second minimum in 1984. The decrease from the mid-1970s and the increase from the mid-1980s to early 1990s correspond to the climatic regime shifts occurring in the same periods.     

Characteristics of observed turbulent mixing across the Antarctic Slope Front at 140°E, East Antarctica

The strength of mixing due to turbulence in the Antarctic Slope Front (ASF) region was investigated using CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth profilers) observations and direct measurements of turbulence conducted off Adélie Land, East Antarctica along 140°E from the 12th–14th February, 2005. The strongest horizontal gradient of the ASF was located below 300 m depth near the 1000 m isobath. The turbulent measurements revealed that the energy dissipation rate frequently exceeded 10^?8 Wkg^?1 on the continental shelf and upper slope regions. Turbulent diffusivities near the shelf break were higher than 10^?3 m²s^?1. Near the ASF the average turbulent heat flux was 5.7 Wm^?2 and 1.1 Wm^?2 across the temperature minimum layer to 250 m and from 300 to 600 m, respectively. The distribution of the high dissipation rate was consistently explained by the characteristic curve of the M2 internal wave emanating from the shelf break and continental slope. The water mass observed in the ASF below 300 m in the continental slope comprised Modified Circumpolar Deep Water and low salinity Shelf Water originating from either the upper layer of the Adélie Depression or the Adélie Bank, and produced by boundary mixing near the shelf break.