Influence of topography on wind speed over a coastal dune and blowout system at Jockey's Ridge,NC, USA

This study examines the spatial distribution of wind speed across a coastal dune system located at Jockey's Ridge State Park, North Carolina. The study area consists of a trough blowout through a foredune ridge, and the landforms that have developed behind the foredune. Wind speed and direction were measured simultaneously with single sensors placed at a fixed height in 13 locations across the blowout/dune complex. Fractional wind speed‐up is computed for sampling stations using data from a mast located on the beach as the reference. Results show that wind speeds were generally accelerated across the study site. The highest speeds were recorded on the foredune ridges adjacent to the blowout. Wind was accelerated through the center of the blowout throat and along the downwind lateral wall. Further into the blowout, at the base of the ramp to the depositional lobe, higher wind speeds shifted to the upwind lateral wall and continued to accelerate up the ramp as air exited to the rear. Significant variations in the wind speed‐up pattern were associated with different wind approach angles, with greater speed‐up occurring when the winds were aligned normal to the dune system. The speed‐up decreased as the angle of approach became increasingly oblique to the ridge. The patterns of wind speed‐up across the site point to the influence of topography on airflow. To quantify the relationship, measures of several topographic variables were obtained along sample transects running upwind from each sample station along flow lines representing different wind approach angles. Examination of correlation coefficients between wind speed‐up and topographic variables suggests that for groups of stations with similar topographic characteristics, 30–50% of the variations in speed‐up may be explained by the upwind topographic variability. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterizing instability of aeolian environments using analytical reasoning

This short communication describes the development and application of analytical reasoning to quantify instability of an aeolian environment using scale‐dependent information coupled with conceptual knowledge of process and feedback mechanisms. Specifically, a simple Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) for aeolian landscape instability was developed that represents conceptual knowledge of key biophysical processes and feedbacks. Model inputs include satellite‐derived surface biophysical and geomorphometric parameters. FCMs are a knowledge‐based artificial intelligence (AI) technique that merges fuzzy logic and neural computing in which knowledge or concepts are structured as a web of relationships that is similar to both human reasoning and the human decision‐making process. Given simple process–form relationships, the analytical reasoning model is able to map the influence of land management practices and the geomorphology of the inherited surface on aeolian instability within the South Texas Sand Sheet. Results suggest that FCMs can be used to formalize process–form relationships and information integration analogous to human cognition with future iterations accounting for the spatial interactions and temporal lags across the sand sheets. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cryptosporidium and Giardia in tropical recreational marine waters contaminated with domestic sewage: Estimation of bathing-associated disease risks

Sewage is a major contributor to pollution problems involving human pathogens in tropical coastal areas. This study investigated the occurrence of intestinal protozoan parasites (Giardia and Cryptosporidium) in tropical recreational marine waters contaminated with sewage. The potential risks of Cryptosporidium and Giardia infection from recreational water exposure were estimated from the levels of viable (oo) cysts (DIC+, DAPI+, PI−) found in near-shore swimming areas using an exponential dose response model. A Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis was performed in order to determine the probability distribution of risks. Microbial indicators of recreational water quality (enterococci, Clostridium perfringens) and genetic markers of sewage pollution (human-specific Bacteroidales marker [HF183] and Clostridium coccoides) were simultaneously evaluated in order to estimate the extent of water quality deterioration associated with human wastes. The study revealed the potential risk of parasite infections via primary contact with tropical marine waters contaminated with sewage; higher risk estimates for Giardia than for Cryptosporidium were found. Mean risks estimated by Monte Carlo were below the U.S. EPA upper bound on recreational risk of 0.036 for cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis for both children and adults. However, 95th percentile estimates for giardiasis for children exceeded the 0.036 level. Environmental surveillance of microbial pathogens is crucial in order to control and eradicate the effects that increasing anthropogenic impacts have on marine ecosystems and human health.     

Copper bioavailability and toxicity to Mytilus galloprovincialis in Shelter Island Yacht Basin,San Diego,CA

The bioavailability and toxicity of copper (Cu) in Shelter Island Yacht Basin (SIYB), San Diego, CA, USA, was assessed with simultaneous toxicological, chemical, and modeling approaches. Toxicological measurements included laboratory toxicity testing with Mytilus galloprovincialis (Mediterranean mussel) embryos added to both site water (ambient) and site water spiked with multiple Cu concentrations. Chemical assessment of ambient samples included total and dissolved Cu concentrations, and Cu complexation capacity measurements. Modeling was based on chemical speciation and predictions of bioavailability and toxicity using a marine Biotic Ligand Model (BLM). Cumulatively, these methods assessed the natural buffering capacity of Cu in SIYB during singular wet and dry season sampling events. Overall, the three approaches suggested negligible bioavailability, and isolated observed or predicted toxicity, despite an observed gradient of increasing Cu concentration, both horizontally and vertically within the water body, exceeding current water quality criteria for saltwater.     

A simple two‐parameter model for scaling hillslope surface runoff

The objective of this research was to develop and parameterise a physically justified yet low‐parameter model to quantify observed changes in surface runoff ratios with hillslope length. The approach starts with the assumption that a unit of rainfall‐excess runoff generated at a point is a fraction β of precipitation P (m) which travels some variable distance down a slope before reinfiltrating, depending on the local rainfall, climate, soils, etc. If this random distance travelled Y is represented by a distribution, then a survival function will describe the probability of this unit of runoff travelling further than some distance x (m). The total amount of per unit width runoff Q (m²) flowing across the lower boundary of a slope of length λ (m) may be considered the sum of all the proportions of the units of rainfall excess runoff integrated from the lower boundary x = 0 to the upper boundary x = λ of the slope. Using these assumptions we derive a model Q(λ) = βPμλ/(μ + λ), (μ > 0, 0 ≤ β ≤ 1, λ ≥ 0) that describes the change in surface runoff with slope length, where μ (m) is the mean of the random variable Y. Dividing both sides of this equation by Pλ yields a simple two‐parameter equation for the dimensionless hillslope runoff ratio Q_h(λ) = βμ/(μ + λ). The model was parameterised with new rainfall and runoff data collected from three replicates of bounded 2 m wide plots of four different lengths (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 m) for 2 years from a forested SE Australian site, and with 32 slope length–runoff data sets from 12 other published studies undertaken between 1934 and 2010. Using the parameterised model resulted in a Nash and Sutcliffe statistic between observed and predicted runoff ratio (for all data sets combined) of 0.93, compared with –2.1 when the runoff ratio was fixed at the value measured from the shortest plot. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity Using Optical Devices I (ASTROD I)—A class-M fundamental physics mission proposal for Cosmic Vision 2015–2025

ASTROD I is a planned interplanetary space mission with multiple goals. The primary aims are: to test general relativity with an improvement in sensitivity of over three orders of magnitude, improving our understanding of gravity and aiding the development of a new quantum gravity theory; to measure key solar system parameters with increased accuracy, advancing solar physics and our knowledge of the solar system; and to measure the time rate of change of the gravitational constant with an order of magnitude improvement and the anomalous Pioneer acceleration, thereby probing dark matter and dark energy gravitationally. It is an international project, with major contributions from Europe and China and is envisaged as the first in a series of ASTROD missions. ASTROD I will consist of one spacecraft carrying a telescope, four lasers, two event timers and a clock. Two-way, two-wavelength laser pulse ranging will be used between the spacecraft in a solar orbit and deep space laser stations on Earth, to achieve the ASTROD I goals. A second mission, ASTROD (ASTROD II) is envisaged as a three-spacecraft mission which would test General Relativity to 1 ppb, enable detection of solar g-modes, measure the solar Lense–Thirring effect to 10 ppm, and probe gravitational waves at frequencies below the LISA bandwidth. In the third phase (ASTROD III or Super-ASTROD), larger orbits could be implemented to map the outer solar system and to probe primordial gravitational-waves at frequencies below the ASTROD II bandwidth.

The eclipsing intermediate polar V597 Pup (Nova Puppis 2007)

JL 82 is a known binary, consisting of an sdB star and a companion which is not directly observable in the optical. Photometric measurements reported in this paper show it to variable with both the binary period (∼0.75 d), as well as on much shorter time-scales. The shorter periods are ascribed to pulsation of the sdB star, making it a member of the PG 1716 class of pulsating stars.     

A comprehensive program for countermeasures against potentially hazardous objects (PHOs)

At the hundredth anniversary of the Tunguska event in Siberia it is appropriate to discuss measures to avoid such occurrences in the future. Recent discussions about detecting, tracking, cataloguing, and characterizing near-Earth objects (NEOs) center on objects larger than about 140 m in size. However, objects smaller than 100 m are more frequent and can cause significant regional destruction of civil infrastructures and population centers. The cosmic object responsible for the Tunguska event provides a graphic example: although it is thought to have been only about 50 to 60 m in size, it devastated an area of about 2000 km². Ongoing surveys aimed at early detection of a potentially hazardous object (PHO: asteroid or comet nucleus that approaches the Earth’s orbit within 0.05 AU) are only a first step toward applying countermeasures to prevent an impact on Earth. Because “early” may mean only a few weeks or days in the case of a Tunguska-sized object or a longperiod comet, deflecting the object by changing its orbit is beyond the means of current technology, and destruction and dispersal of its fragments may be the only reasonable solution. Highly capable countermeasures- always at the ready—are essential to defending against an object with such short warning time, and therefore short reaction time between discovery and impending impact. We present an outline for a comprehensive plan for countermeasures that includes smaller (Tunguska-sized) objects and long-period comets, focuses on short warning times, uses non-nuclear methods (e.g., hyper-velocity impactor devices and conventional explosives) whenever possible, uses nuclear munitions only when needed, and launches from the ground. The plan calls for international collaboration for action against a truly global threat.     

Particulate contribution to extinction of visible radiation: Pollution, haze, and fog

A data set acquired by eight particle-dedicated instruments set up on the SIRTA (Site Instrumental de Recherche par Télédétection Atmosphérique, which is French for Instrumented Site for Atmospheric Remote Sensing Research) during the ParisFog field campaign are exploited to document microphysical properties of particles contributing to extinction of visible radiation in variable situations. The study focuses on a 48-hour period when atmospheric conditions are highly variable: relative humidity changes between 50 and 100%, visibility ranges between 65 and 35 000 m, the site is either downwind the Paris area either under maritime influence. A dense and homogeneous fog formed during the night by radiative cooling. In 6 h, visibility decreased down from 30 000 m in the clear-sky regime to 65 m within the fog, because of advected urban pollution (factor 3 to 4 in visibility reduction), aerosol hydration (factor 20) and aerosol activation (factor 6). Computations of aerosol optical properties, based on Mie theory, show that extinction in clear-sky regime is due equally to the ultrafine modes and to the accumulation mode. Extinction by haze is due to hydrated aerosol particles distributed in the accumulation mode, defined by a geometric mean diameter of 0.6 μm and a geometric standard deviation of 1.4. These hydrated aerosol particles still contribute by 20 ± 10% to extinction in the fog. The complementary extinction is due to fog droplets distributed around the geometric mean diameter of 3.2 μm with a geometric standard deviation of 1.5 during the first fog development stage. The study also shows that the experimental set-up could not count all fog droplets during the second and third fog development stages.     

Aerosol light absorption, black carbon, and elemental carbon at the Fresno Supersite, California

Particle light absorption (b_ap), black carbon (BC), and elemental carbon (EC) measurements at the Fresno Supersite during the summer of 2005 were compared to examine the equivalency of current techniques, evaluate filter-based b_ap correction methods, and determine the EC mass absorption efficiency (σ_ap) and the spectral dependence of b_ap. The photoacoustic analyzer (PA) was used as a benchmark for in-situ b_ap. Most b_ap measurement techniques were well correlated (r ≥ 0.95). Unadjusted Aethalometer (AE) and Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) b_ap were up to seven times higher than PA b_ap at similar wavelengths because of absorption enhancement by backscattering and multiple scattering. Applying published algorithms to correct for these effects reduced the differences to 24 and 17% for the AE and PSAP, respectively, at 532 nm. The Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP), which accounts for backscattering effects, overestimated b_ap relative to the PA by 51%. BC concentrations determined by the AE, MAAP, and Sunset Laboratory semi-continuous carbon analyzer were also highly correlated (r ≥ 0.93) but differed by up to 57%. EC measured with the IMPROVE/STN thermal/optical protocols, and the French two-step thermal protocol agreed to within 29%. Absorption efficiencies determined from PA b_ap and EC measured with different analytical protocols averaged 7.9 ± 1.5, 5.4 ± 1.1, and 2.8 ± 0.6 m²/g at 532, 670, and 1047 nm, respectively. The Angström exponent (α) determined from adjusted AE and PA b_ap ranged from 1.19 to 1.46. The largest values of α occurred during the afternoon hours when the organic fraction of total carbon was highest. Significant biases associated with filter-based measurements of b_ap, BC, and EC are method-specific. Correcting for these biases must take into account differences in aerosol concentration, composition, and sources.