Changes in extended boreal summer tropical cyclogenesis associated with large-scale flow patterns over the western North Pacific in response to the global warming hiatus

Climate Dynamics - This study examines extended boreal summer (May–October) tropical cyclogenesis events (TCGEs) associated with large-scale flow patterns (LFPs) over the western North...     

Spatial characterisation of the Benguela ecosystem for ecosystem-based management

The three countries of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME), namely Angola, Namibia and South Africa, have committed to implementing ecosystem-based management (EBM) including an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) in the region, to put in practice the principles of sustainable development in ocean-related matters. There is also recognition of the need for marine spatial planning (MSP) as a process for informing EBM with regard to the allocation and siting of ocean uses so that ecosystem health is ensured and trade-offs between ecosystem services are appropriately dealt with. Marine spatial planning is both an integrated and an area-based process, and this paper produces a spatial characterisation of the BCLME for achieving a common basis for MSP in the region, focusing on the oceanography, biology and fisheries. Recognising spatial variation in physical driving forces, primary and secondary production, trophic structures and species richness, four different subsystems are characterised: (1) north of the Angola–Benguela Front, (2) from the Angola–Benguela Front to Lüderitz, (3) from Lüderitz to Cape Agulhas, and (4) from Cape Agulhas to Port Alfred on the south-east coast of South Africa. Research and monitoring requirements of relevance for MSP and EBM in the region are identified, focusing on understanding variability and change, including with regard to the boundary areas identified for the system. To this end, 14 cross-shelf monitoring transects are proposed (including seven that are already being monitored) to estimate fluxes of biota, energy and materials within and between the subsystems. The usefulness of models for understanding ecosystem variability and changes is recognised and the need for fine-scale resolution of both sampling and modelling for adequate MSP as input to EBM for the often-conflicting interests of conserving biodiversity, and managing fisheries, recreation, offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation, offshore mining and shipping routes, is emphasised.     

The motion of wind-driven shells

We present a method for solving problems in which a stellar wind interacts with the surrounding environment through the production of a 'double radiative shock' structure. This condition is generally met in problems involving winds ejected from young stars. We describe a method that can be applied to problems of winds with arbitrary time and angular dependence, interacting with a stationary environment with an arbitrary density distribution. We apply the method to the interaction of: a steady wind (with an instantaneous 'turning-on') with a power-law environmental density stratification, a 'wind plus jet' ejection with a toroidal environmental density stratification, and to the interaction of an isotropic wind with a clumpy environment. These three examples illustrate the wide range of possible applications of the proposed method. We also show a comparison between some of our thin-shell solutions and three-dimensional isothermal gasdynamic simulations of the flows. These comparisons are used as an evaluation of the applicability of our thin-shell solutions to the real flows.     

Jets and Narrow Line Cloud Formation in Seyfert Galaxies

In this paper we present simulations of an extragalactic jet interacting with a clumpy and filamentary narrow line region (NLR) similar to the one observed in NGC 1068. We study the kinematic disturbance produced by the interaction. Hα recombination emissivity maps and the spectral distribution of the emission are calculated. We find that ablation flows from high density clouds in the turbulent cocoon can produce fast, high emissivity flows, resulting in line widths of the order of 1000 km s-1 comparable to those observed in NGC 1068 and other Seyfert galaxies with radio ejecta.     

Landfalling tropical cyclones on the Pacific coast of Mexico: 1850-2010

Historical documents and newspapers from Mexican Pacific states (north of 14° N) were reviewed to determine the incidence of landfalling tropical cyclones from 1850 to 1949, prior to the start of the United States National Hurricane Center database. The reviewed documents are only found in Mexican repositories at national, state and municipal level and the systematic search embarked upon in this study yielded valuable information that cannot be found elsewhere. Atime series of landfall was reconstructed back to 1850, indicating active and quiet periods. An average of 1.8 ± 1.6 landfalls per year is determined from the time series for 1850-2010. When the series is limited to 1880-2010, eliminating the first 30 years that may have some undercounting, the average increases to 2.1 ± 1.6 cases per year. Spectral and wavelet analysis of the 161 years of landfalling tropical cyclones indicates that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) modulates the activity. The influence of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the landfall frequency may be present throughout the reconstruction period but both oscillations have lower correlations compared to that from the PDO.     

Use of probiotic bacteria to improve growth and survivability of farmed New Zealand abalone (Haliotis iris)

The effects of two probiotic feeds containing two and three bacterial isolates were evaluated on the growth performance of New Zealand abalone (Haliotis iris). Probiotic bacteria were isolated from the guts of healthy adult abalone. The isolates were screened qualitatively and quantitatively according to their ability to hydrolyse nutrients (i.e. proteins, starch and alginate), produce acid and resist bile salts. Based on the screening results, we developed a multi-strain conglomerate of 2- and 3- probiotic bacterial strains that were supplemented into a commercial abalone feed to use in our experiments. The 2-probiotic conglomerate consisted of Exiguobacterium JHEb1 and Vibrio JH1, and the 3-probiotic conglomerate consisted of Exiguobacterium JHEb1, Vibrio JH1 and Enterococcus JHLDc. The probiotic feeding trial involved abalone juveniles (20–30 mm in maximum shell length). Both probiotic feeds significantly improved abalone growth compared to that of the unsupplemented feed. The 3-probiotic supplemented feed produced a significant shell length increase of 20.9%, a wet weight gain of 19.8% and a five-fold reduction in mortality compared to the controls. The 2-probiotic supplemented feed resulted in significant increases in shell length (15.4%) and reduced mortality (five-fold), but not in weight gain, compared to controls.     

Effect of size grading on the growth performance of shortfin eel (Anguilla australis) during its yellow stage

It is generally believed that size grading in a fish farm improves the total biomass output, because it will minimise the stress imposed by larger individuals over small individuals, resulting in higher feed intake and growth rate. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of size grading on individual growth performance of yellow New Zealand shortfin eel (Anguilla australis). A 109 day trial was conducted in a recirculation aquaculture system (RAS) with 103 eels of similar initial weight (101 ± 12 g). All eels were individually marked by PIT (passive integrated transponder) tags. On day 42, eels were graded to establish the following groups: only small eels (S-graded ≤ 135 g), only large eels (L-graded > 135 g), and small and large eels together (S-ungraded and L-ungraded). The large eels showed better specific growth rate (SGR), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) than the small eels. Nevertheless, no significant differences were found either between L-graded and L-ungraded or between S-graded and S-ungraded. The age of eels was not significantly different between groups. These findings suggest that the individual growth rate performance of the eels is not primarily a consequence of social interaction among tank-mates.     

Multiple clump structures within photoionized regions

We present 3D simulations of a system of four neutral clumps embedded in a photoionized region. In this system, we have three small clumps which partially shield a single, larger clump from the stellar ionizing photons. This flow evolves to form a neutral structure with a main body and three neutral 'columns' pointing towards the central star. Qualitatively, similar structures are seen in the 'Finger' of the Carina Nebula.     

NDCI法Ⅱ类水体叶绿素a浓度高光谱遥感数据估算

以太湖、巢湖为研究区,以Hyperion和HJ-1A卫星HSI高光谱数据以及实测水质浓度数据为实验数据,引入归一化叶绿素指数(NDCI),对Ⅱ类水体的高光谱叶绿素a浓度估算进行分析研究.首先对高光谱数据的光谱通道设置以及水体光谱特征进行分析,研究确定模型的最优波段.然后,将确定最优波段后的NDCI反射率因子作为变量与实测样本点数据进行回归分析,得到NDCI与叶绿素a浓度之间的回归关系,进行叶绿素a浓度的估算.与常用的比值法、一阶微分法和三波段法相比,NDCI的性能优于这3种方法,表明NDCI是一种计算简单、估算精度高、实用性强的Ⅱ类水体叶绿素a浓度估算方法.