Far-infrared and submillimeter observations of the planets

New broadband observations in several passbands between 30 and 500 μm of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus are presented. The best agreement between the data and various thermal models of Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus is obtained with a slightly cooler absolute temperature scale than that previously adopted by Armstrong et al. (1972). The effective temperature of Uranus is 58 ± 2°K, which is in agreement with its solar equilibrium temperature. The existence of an internal energy source of Saturn has been reconfirmed and must lie within the range of 0.9 to 3.2 times the absorbed solar flux. A depression exists in the spectra of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus between 80 and 300 μm, which may be a result of NH₃ opacity.     

Catastrophic rockslide-debris avalanche at St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, Philippines

On 17 February 2006, a rockslide-debris avalanche cascaded down the steep slope of Mt. Can-abag, burying the entire village of Guinsaugon in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, Philippines. Casualties include 139 dead with 980 still missing and presumed dead, making it perhaps the most catastrophic landslide in Philippine history. The landslide started at the ridge top along a fault plane associated with the active Philippine Fault Zone. It started as a block slide that transformed into an avalanche. The entire event lasted for only a few minutes. Estimated maximum landslide velocity is 120–130 m/s. The landslide left behind a deep, wedge-shaped scarp. The central part of the deposit exhibits a hummocky topography typical of avalanches, in contrast to the flatter surface of the debris-flow-type marginal deposit. High amounts of soil in the matrix were derived from the scouring of ancient landslide deposits and rice fields in the valley. The landslide has a total area of 3.2 km² and a runout distance of 4.1 km. Estimated volume of debris is approximately 20 Mm³. At least four streams were dammed by the landslide debris. Intense precipitation and earthquakes preceding the landslide are the potential triggers. Preliminary back analyses assuming a planar and wedge slip surface yielded very low factors of safety even under dry conditions. A more rigorous analysis of the failure mechanism of the landslide is needed.     

在特殊疫情背景下《城市地理资讯学》MOOC课程教学实施效果分析

在新冠肺炎疫情期间,线上教学大规模开展,相关线上教学问题逐渐成为研究热点。传统的测绘地理类课程的教学方式主要是上课时以老师传授知识为主,课后以学生完成作业为辅的方式进行。但是,这种教学方式比较单一,并且在科学化考核和促进学生学习主动性等方面存在诸多问题。然而,线上网络课程是通过互联网以电子设备为教学平台,具有不受教学时空限制、教学方法灵活多样和丰富学生的学习方式等优点。因此,对《城市地理资讯学》MOOC(massive online open courses)课程实施效果进行分析,为其他测绘地理类网络课程设计提供优化思路,同时为无法进行面授教学的特殊时期提供一种有效的教学方案。     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION ON THE WIND FIELD STRUCTURE OF A MOUNTAINOUS AREA BESIDE SOUTH CHINA SEA DURING THE LANDFALL OF TYPHOON MOLAVE

Leveraging the commercial CFD software FLUENT, the fine-scale three-dimensional wind structure over the Paiya Mountains on the Dapeng Peninsula near Shenzhen, a city on the seashore of South China Sea, during the landfall of Typhoon Molave has been simulated and analyzed. Through the study, a conceptual wind structure model for mountainous areas under strong wind condition is established and the following conclusions are obtained as follows： （1） FLUENT can reasonably simulate a three-dimensional wind structure over mountainous areas under strong wind conditions; （2） the kinetic effect of a mountain can intensify wind speed in the windward side of the mountain and the area over the mountain peak; and （3） in the leeward side of the mountain, wind speed is relatively lower with relatively stronger wind shear and turbulence.     

雪卡毒素及其产毒底栖甲藻的研究现状与展望

雪卡毒素（Ciguatoxins,CTXs）是一种高度氧化的环状聚醚梯类毒素,主要由冈比亚藻（Gambierdiscus）和福氏藻（Fukuyoa）两个属的底栖甲藻的一些产毒种类的株系产生。毒素通过海洋食物链在珊瑚礁鱼类中进行生物转化和积累,可引起常见的非细菌性海产中毒——雪卡毒素中毒（Ciguatera Poisoning,CP）,食用被CTXs污染的鱼类会引起消费者产生胃肠道、心血管、神经方面的症状甚至导致死亡,但目前雪卡毒素中毒在全球引发的关注度与重视度不足。然而受全球气候变化和人类活动的影响,底栖甲藻在全球扩张趋势明显,特别是在亚洲地区,雪卡毒素中毒事件频繁爆发,雪卡毒素中毒对人类健康和生态系统健康构成了重大威胁。本文重点综述了产雪卡毒素底栖甲藻的种类多样性、化学多样性、生理生态学研究、以及毒素的生物合成机制与生物转化和累积方面的研究,并探讨了亚洲地区作为雪卡毒素潜在的爆发地点未来值得研究的领域以更好地保障亚洲海域的生态安全及居民健康。     

Preface to the Special Issue: Climate Change and Variability of Tropical Cyclone Activity

Tropical cyclones(TCs) are one of the most destructive natural phenomena on Earth in terms of human-life and economic losses. It is currently a matter of prodigious public and scientific interest how TC activity has changed and will change in a warming climate. This special issue focuses on a challenging subject raised in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) report and numerous research papers.     

Amino acid analyses of type 3 chondrites Colony,Ornans, Chainpur,and Bishunpur

Abstract– The CO3s Colony and Ornans and LL3s Chainpur and Bishunpur were analyzed for the first time for amino acids using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). Type 3 chondrites have relatively unaltered metamorphic and petrological histories. Chainpur was the most amino acid rich of the four type 3 chondrites with a total amino acid abundance of 3330 parts per billion (ppb). The other type 3 chondrites had total amino acid abundances that ranged from 660 to 1110 ppb. A d /l ratio of <0.7 for all proteic amino acids suggests at least some amino acid terrestrial contamination. However, a small fraction of indigenous extraterrestrial amino acids cannot be excluded because of the presence of the nonprotein amino acid α‐aminoisobutyric acid (α‐AIB), and unusually high relative abundances (to glycine) of β‐alanine and γ‐ABA. The comparisons between the free and total amino acid contents of the samples also indicate a low free/total amino acid ratio (ranging from about 1:4 in CO chondrites to about 1:50 in Chainpur), which indicate that amino acids are present mainly in the bound form and were made detectable after acid hydrolysis.