A sub-surface eddy at inertial current layer in the Canada Basin,Arctic Ocean

An Arctic Ocean eddy in sub-surface layer is analyzed in this paper by use of temperature,salinity and current profiles data obtained at an ice camp in the Canada Basin during the second Chinese Arctic Expedition in summer of 2003.In the vertical temperature section,the eddy shows itself as an isolated cold water block at depth of 60 m with a minimum temperature of-1.5℃,about 0.5℃ colder than the ambient water.Isopycnals in the eddy form a pattern of convex,which indicates the eddy is anticyclonic.Although maximum velocity near 0.4 m s-1 occurs in the current records observed synchronously,the current pattern is far away from a typical eddy.By further analysis,inertial frequency oscillations with amplitudes comparable with the eddy velocity are found in the sub-surface layer currents.After filter the inertial current and mean current,an axisymmetric current pattern of an eddy with maximum velocity radius of 5 km is obtained.The analysis of the T-S characteristics of the eddy core water and its ambient waters supports the conclusion that the eddy was formed on the Chukchi Shelf and migrated northeastward into the northern Canada Basin.     

Numerical simulation of fully saturated porous materials

Fully coupled, porous solid–fluid formulation, implementation and related modeling and simulation issues are presented in this work. To this end, coupled dynamic field equations with u?p?U formulation are used to simulate pore fluid and soil skeleton (elastic–plastic porous solid) responses. Present formulation allows, among other features, for water accelerations to be taken into account. This proves to be useful in modeling dynamic interaction of media of different stiffnesses (as in soil–foundation–structure interaction). Fluid compressibility is also explicitly taken into account, thus allowing excursions into modeling of limited cases of non‐saturated porous media. In addition to these features, present formulation and implementation models in a realistic way the physical damping, which dissipates energy. In particular, the velocity proportional damping is appropriately modeled and simulated by taking into account the interaction of pore fluid and solid skeleton. Similarly, the displacement proportional damping is physically modeled through elastic–plastic processes in soil skeleton. An advanced material model for sand is used in present work and is discussed at some length. Also explored in this paper are the verification and validation issues related to fully coupled modeling and simulations of porous media. Illustrative examples describing the dynamical behavior of porous media (saturated soils) are presented. The verified and validated methods and material models are used to predict the behavior of level and sloping grounds subjected to seismic shaking. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new soil freeze/thaw discriminant algorithm using AMSR‐E passive microwave imagery

The soil freeze–thaw controls the hydrological and carbon cycling and thus affects water and energy exchanges at land surface. This article reported a newly developed algorithm for distinguishing the freeze/thaw status of surface soil. The algorithm was based on information from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Enhanced (AMSR‐E) which records brightness temperature (Tb) in the afternoon and after midnight. The criteria and discriminant functions were obtained from both radiometer observations and model simulations. First of all, the microwave radiation from freeze–thaw soil was examined by carrying out experimental measurements at 18·7 and 36·5 GHz using a Truck‐mounted Multi‐frequency Microwave Radiometer (TMMR) in the Heihe River of China. The experimental results showed that the soil moisture is a key component that differentiates the microwave radiation behaviours during the freeze–thaw process, and the differences in soil temperature and emissivity between frozen and thawed soils were found to be the most important criteria. Secondly, a combined model was developed to consider the impacts of complex ground surface conditions on the discrimination. The model simulations quite followed the trend of in situ observations with an overall relation coefficient (R) of approximately 0·88. Finally, the ratio of Tb18·7H (horizontally polarized Tb at 18·7 GHz) to Tb36·5V was considered primarily as the quasi‐emissivity, which is more reasonable and explicit in measuring the microwave radiation changes in soil freezing and thawing than the spectral gradient. By combining Tb36·5V to indicate the soil temperature variety, a Fisher linear discrimination analysis was used to establish the discriminant functions. After being corrected by TMMR measurements, the new discriminant algorithm had an overall accuracy of 86% when validated by 4‐cm soil temperature. The multi‐year discriminant results also provided a good agreement with the classification map of frozen ground in China. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Positive effect of porphyrans on the lifespan and vitality of Drosophila melanogaster

The effects of degraded porphyran (P1) and natural porphyran (P) on the lifespan and vitality of Drosophila melanogaster are studied. The porphyrans, added daily to the food medium at 0.2% and 1% concentrations, can significantly increase the lifespan in average of 55.79 and 58.23 d in 0.2% P1 diet females and 1% P1 diet males, extending by 12.29% and 8.60% over the corresponding controls, respectively. The effects of porphyrans on D. melanogaster in heat-stress condition were also examined, and found a remarkable increase in survival time. The results which are consistently associated with the use of porphyrans are related to their free radical scavenger action. Considerable increase in vitality demonstrated that vitalities of middle-aged fly (assessed by measuring their mating capacity) was observed after porphyrans addition. Therefore, porphyrans are effective in reducing the rate of aging, and P1 in low molecular weight is better than natural P.     

Velocity Distance of the Open Cluster M11

On the reasonable hypothesis that the internal motions of member stars of a cluster are random and isotropic, a method which can be used to estimate the velocity distance of the cluster and its uncertainty is developed. The velocity distance so determined is an absolute distance estimate, and is completely independent of the (widely used) luminosity distance, which is a relative distance estimate. Using the published high-accuracy observational data of radial velocities and proper motions of the stars in the open cluster M11 region, we have determined the distance of M11 to be 1.89 ± 0.52kpc. This is in quite good agreement with the published luminosity distances of the cluster. We briefly discuss the problems concerned, including the sources of errors in the method and its applicable range.     

A model of ultra-fast fine structures of microwave bursts

A model is presented using the electron cyclotron maser instability driven by a loss-cone distribution (taking account of the relativistic effects for electron cyclotron frequency and electron velocity as well as Landau damping and cyclotron damping) to excite the UFFS (Ultra-Fast Fine Structures) of microwave bursts and adopting a nonlinear density wave as a trigger mechanism to explain the millisecond time structure of the UFFS.Proceedings of the Workshop on Radio Continua during Solar Flares, held at Duino (Trieste), Italy, 27–31 May, 1985.     

Comparison of Large-Scale Flows on the Sun Measured by Time-Distance Helioseismology and Local Correlation Tracking

We present a direct comparison between two different techniques: time-distance helioseismology and a local correlation tracking method for measuring mass flows in the solar photosphere and in a near-surface layer. We applied both methods to the same dataset (MDI high-cadence Dopplergrams covering almost the entire Carrington rotation 1974) and compared the results. We found that, after necessary corrections, the vector flow fields obtained by these techniques are very similar. The median difference between directions of corresponding vectors is 24°, and the correlation coefficients of the results for mean zonal and meridional flows are 0.98 and 0.88, respectively. The largest discrepancies are found in areas of small velocities where the inaccuracies of the computed vectors play a significant role. The good agreement of these two methods increases confidence in the reliability of large-scale synoptic maps obtained by them.     

Substrate selection and seasonal variation in abundance and size composition of isopod Lirceus fontinalis in Ontario streams, Canada

The abundance and size composition of stream isopods Lirceus fontinalis were investigated from April 2001 to August 2002 in 3 streams in southern Ontario, Canada. Effects of current speed was released from the analysis by choosing slow flowing water. The effects of substrate, season and water depth on the abundance, distribution and size composition of the isopods were analyzed. It was found that substrate and season influence isopods the most. The rocky substrate with attached filamentous macro-algae contains an isopod abundance 7.05 times that of bare rock substrate and 14.6 times that of fine-sand and mud substrate. There was a large variation with respect to seasonality in both abundance and size composition of the isopods, with the highest abundance occurring in summer and the lowest in winter and spring; individual isopods also tend to be larger in the winter and spring. In all substrates, shallow areas tend to support higher densities of isopods than deeper areas.     

Coupled surface water–groundwater model and its application in the arid Shiyang River basin,China

The planning and management of water resources in the Shiyang River basin, China require a tool for assessing the impact of groundwater and stream use on water supply reliabilities and improving many environment‐related problems such as soil desertification induced by recent water‐related human activities. A coupled model, integrating rule‐based lumped surface water model and distributed three‐dimensional groundwater flow model, has been established to investigate surface water and groundwater management scenarios that may be designed to restore the deteriorated ecological environment of the downstream portion of the Shiyang River basin. More than 66% of the water level among 24 observation wells have simulation error less than 1·0 m. The overall trend of the temporal changes of simulated and observed surface runoff at the Caiqi gauging station remains almost the same. The calibration was considered satisfactory. Initial frameworks for water allocation, including agricultural water‐saving projects, water diversion within the basin and inter‐basin water transfer, reducing agricultural irrigation area and surface water use instead of groundwater exploitation at the downstream were figured out that would provide a rational use of water resources throughout the whole basin. Sixteen scenarios were modelled to find out the most appropriate management strategies. The results showed that in the two selected management options, the groundwater budget at the Minqin basin was about 1·4 × 10⁸ m³/a and the ecological environment would be improved significantly, but the deficit existed at the Wuwei basin and the number was about 0·8 × 10⁸ m³/a. Water demand for domestic, industry and urban green area would be met in the next 30 years, but the water shortage for meeting the demand of agricultural water use in the Shiyang River basin was about 2·2 × 10⁸ m³/a. It is suggested that more inter‐basin water transfer should be required to obtain sustainable water resource use in the Shiyang River basin. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The fronts of the Huanghai cold water mass (HCWM) induced by tidal mixing

Since Simpson and Hunter proposed in 1971 the idea that shallow water fronts were induced by tidal mixing, many authors have investigated the tide induced shallow water fronts in various areas. It was generally assumed that a critical value of the stratified parameterK=log₁₀(H/U ³) may be used to identify the location of these fronts. Here, H means the depth of sea waler. U denotes the characteristic velocity of tidal current. and the critical value ofK is generally laken as 1.8–2.0. In this paper. Simpson-Hunter’s stratified parameterK was calculated by using quasi-maximum current velocity (which consists of the six main tidal constituents. i.e.M ₂.S ₂,O ₁.K ₁.M ₄,MS₄) in the H ranghai Sea (Yellow Sea) and in the northern Donghai Sea (East China Sea) as well. Caleulated results show that the areas of the Subei (the northern part of Jiangsu) Shoal. the area off the mouth area of the Changjiang (the Yangtze) River, along the coast of Shandong Peninsula. and along the western coast of Korea, the tidal mixing is strong. Calculations also show that along the whole boundary of the HCWM and also along the western boundary of the cyclonic eddy in the northern Donghai Sea, i.e. along the fronts, the value ofK is found to be very close to the eritical value 1.8. It is also to be noied that at these locations, the temperature of the surface water is very low. These clearly show that shallow water fronts in the Huanghai Sea and in the northern Donghai Sea as well, are induced by tidal mixing. Contribution No. 1241 from Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica. This paper was published in Chinese in theOcean. et Limn. Sinica 16(6): 451–459, 1985.