Application of Multiple Point Geostatistics to Non-stationary Images

Simulation of flow and solute transport through aquifers or oil reservoirs requires a precise representation of subsurface heterogeneity that can be achieved by stochastic simulation approaches. Traditional geostatistical methods based on variograms, such as truncated Gaussian simulation or sequential indicator simulation, may fail to generate the complex, curvilinear, continuous and interconnected facies distributions that are often encountered in real geological media, due to their reliance on two-point statistics. Multiple Point Geostatistics (MPG) overcomes this constraint by using more complex point configurations whose statistics are retrieved from training images. Obtaining representative statistics requires stationary training images, but geological understanding often suggests a priori facies variability patterns. This research aims at extending MPG to non-stationary facies distributions. The proposed method subdivides the training images into different areas. The statistics for each area are stored in separate frequency search trees. Several training images are used to ensure that the obtained statistics are representative. The facies probability distribution for each cell during simulation is calculated by weighting the probabilities from the frequency trees. The method is tested on two different object-based training image sets. Results show that non-stationary training images can be used to generate suitable non-stationary facies distributions.     

High Resolution Simulation of the Variability of Surface Energy Balance Fluxes Across Central London with Urban Zones for Energy Partitioning

The parameterization of surface heat-flux variability in urban areas relies on adequate representation of surface characteristics. Given the horizontal resolutions (e.g. $\approx $ 0.1–1 km) currently used in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, properties of the urban surface (e.g. vegetated/built surfaces, street-canyon geometries) often have large spatial variability. Here, a new approach based on Urban Zones to characterize Energy partitioning (UZE) is tested within a NWP model (Weather Research and Forecasting model; WRF v3.2.1) for Greater London. The urban land-surface scheme is the Noah/Single-Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM). Detailed surface information (horizontal resolution 1 km) in central London shows that the UZE offers better characterization of surface properties and their variability compared to default WRF-SLUCM input parameters. In situ observations of the surface energy fluxes and near-surface meteorological variables are used to select the radiation and turbulence parameterization schemes and to evaluate the land-surface scheme and choice of surface parameters. For radiative fluxes, improved performance (e.g. $>$ 25 W m $^{-2}$ root-mean-square error reduction for the net radiation) is attained with UZE parameters compared to the WRF v3.2.1 default for all three methods from the simplest to the most detailed. The UZE-based spatial fluxes reproduce a priori expectations of greater energy storage and less evaporation in the dense city centre compared to the residential surroundings. Problems in Noah/SLUCM partitioning of energy between the daytime turbulent fluxes are identified with the overestimation of the turbulent sensible heat and underestimation of the turbulent latent heat fluxes.     

Estimation of daytime downward longwave radiation under clear and cloudy skies conditions over a sub-humid region

Downward longwave radiation (LW _↓ ) is a relevant variable for meteorological and climatic studies. Good estimates of this term are vitally important in correct determining of the net radiation, which, in turn, modulates the magnitude of the terms in the surface energy budget (e.g., evaporation). In remote sensing applications, the determination of daytime LW_↓ is required for estimation of the net radiation using satellite data. LW_↓ is not directly measured in weather stations and then is estimated using models with surface air temperature and humidity as input. In this paper, we identify the best models to estimate daytime downward longwave radiation from meteorological data in the sub-humid Pampean region. Several well-known models to estimate LW_↓ under clear and cloudy skies were tested. We use downward radiation components and meteorological data registered at Tandil (Argentina) from 2006 to 2010 (840 days). In addition, we propose two multiple linear regression models (MLRM-1 and MLRM-2) to estimate LW_↓ at the surface for all sky conditions. The new equations show better performance than the others models tested with root mean square errors between 12 and 16 W m^?2, bias close to zero and best agreements with measured data (r ²?≥?0.85).     

Long Plio-Pleistocene Terrestrial Record of Climate Change and Mammal Turnover in Southern Spain

Cyclostratigraphic analysis of the Pliocene Zújar section (Guadix-Baza Basin, southeastern Spain) has enabled the recognition of a number of climatically forced cycles reflecting alternating dry and wet periods. Peaks of aridity are recorded at ca. 3.95, 3.55, 3.2, 2.8, and 1.8 myr B.P. The first dry period at about 4.0 myr B.P. corresponds to the early Ruscinian Mammal age, while the second arid interval at about 3.6 myr B.P. corresponds to the establishment of the Mediterranean double seasonality. The significant mammal turnover between the late Ruscinian and early Villanyian stages is placed between chron 2An.2n and the very base of chron 2An.1n, coincident with the dry phase recognized at about 3.2 myr B.P. The fourth aridity maximum at 2.8 myr B.P. roughly coincides with the Equus event in western Europe and is probably related to the beginning of the glacial–interglacial dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere. Finally, the last dry peak at about 1.8 myr B.P. is probably related to the set of mammalian events characterizing the transition from the late Pliocene faunas to those of the early Pleistocene.     

Lithostratigraphical correlation of micromammal sites and biostratigraphy of the Upper Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene in the Northeast Guadix‐Baza Basin (southern Spain)

The Plio‐Pleistocene non‐marine sequence in the northeast Guadix–Baza Basin (southern Spain) comprises alluvial and lacustrine deposits (Baza Formation). The results of a revised lithostratigraphical correlation between sections from the middle and upper members of the Baza Formation in the northeast part of the basin, supported by detailed mapping, is presented. The position of micromammal sites in the lithostratigraphical scheme, together with the results of intensive palaeontological sampling for small mammal remains, has allowed us to develop a high‐resolution biostratigraphical framework for the area. This provides an opportunity to refine the biozonation for the Plio‐Pleistocene micromammal faunas, and to define faunal events from the late Villanyian (late Pliocene) to the early Pleistocene. On the basis of the lithostratigraphical and biostratigraphical approaches we obtain the following sequence of biozones for the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene: Kislangia gusii, Mimomys cf. reidi, M. oswaldoreigi, Allophaiomys pliocaenicus and A. burgondiae. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetic Stratigraphy from Deep Clastic Turbidites: An Example from the Eocene Hecho Group (Southern Pyrenees)

A paleomagnetic study of a 2200-meter thick section of clastic turbidites from the Eocene Hecho group (southcentral Pyrenees, Spain) allows defining its magnetostratigraphic record. Natural remanent magnetization is carried by up to three components: a viscous low-temperature component; a second component unblocked between 300°C and 345°C, likely carried by iron-sulphides; and a third component which demagnetizes at temperatures higher than 345°C and is likely carried by magnetite. The second and third components may display opposite polarities at the same site. The magnetite component delineates different polarity zones and has a more consistent behavior along section if compared with the iron-sulphide component, which displays either a normal or a reverse direction without any stratigraphic consistency along section. The bulk of iron sulphides are interpreted to be secondary in origin and to carry diagenetic overprints acquired at different times after deposition and the magnetite component is taken as the characteristic primary magnetization. As supported by biostratigraphy, the section is correlated from chrons C20r to C18n.2n (Lutetian-Bartonian transition), which indicates a mean sediment accumulation rate of about 52 cm/ky for the studied section. The new chronostratigraphy allows constraining the age of the upper Hecho Group (Banastón and Jaca allogroups) to an unprecedented level and is consistent with previous magnetostratigraphic work in younger sediments from the Jaca Basin. Deep clastic sedimentary systems should not be neglected as a target for magnetostratigraphic studies despite diagenetic growth of secondary minerals may mask the primary signal.     

Elastic-anelastic Regional Structures for the Iberian Peninsula Obtained from a Rayleigh Wave Tomography and a Causal Uncoupled Inversion

The elastic and anelastic structure of the lithosphere and asthenosphere of the Iberian Peninsula is derived by means of tomographic techniques applied to local phase and group velocities and local attenuation coefficients of Rayleigh wave fundamental mode. The database consists of surface wavetrains recorded at the broadband stations located in the Iberian Peninsula on the occasion of the ILIHA project. Path-averaged phase and group velocities and attenuation coefficients were previously obtained by standard filtering techniques of surface wavetrains and, subsequently, local dispersion curves were computed according to the Yanovskaya-Ditmar formulation. First, a principal component analysis (PCA) and the average linkage (AL) clustering algorithm are applied to these local values in order to classify the Iberian Peninsula in several rather homogeneous domains from the viewpoint of the similarity of the corresponding local dispersion curves, without previous seismotectonic constraints. Second, averaged phase and group velocities and attenuation coefficients representing each homogeneous region are used to derive the respective elastic and anelastic models of the lithosphere and asthenosphere. This purpose is achieved by using the uncoupled causal inversion of phase and group velocities and attenuation coefficients. The main features of the homogeneous regions are discussed by taking as reference the Hercynic, Alpine and Neogene domains of the Iberian Peninsula, and two questions affecting the reliability of the elastic-anelastic models are revised. First, the coherence of the shear-velocity and Q_β⁻¹ models obtained by causal uncoupled inversion for each region is analysed. Second, the influence of the causal phase and group velocities on the shear-velocity models is evaluated by comparing elastic and anelastic models derived from causal uncoupled inversion with those deduced from non-causal inversion.     

Analysis of the heat-island effect of the city of Valencia,Spain, through air temperature transects and NOAA satellite data

Summary The aim of this paper is to analyze the heat-island effect of the city of Valencia, Spain, by means of the traditional technique (transects of the air temperature measured from a car) and by means of NOAA satellite thermal images. The analysis includes the nights of 27 and 28 February 1988, on which a light radiative frost occurred. Satellite images were corrected for the emissivity effect by defining an effective emissivity, which was obtained from the emissivity values of the asphalt, walls and roofs of the buildings, and from the proportion of these elements in each pixel. By comparing air temperature values with corrected NOAA data, we have observed that the value of the heat-island effect of the city of Valencia measured from the satellite is 1–2 °C higher than the value obtained along the transects.With 5 Figures