Electron temperature variations during solar-maximum conditions (200–3500 km)

The electron temperature variations are investigated above Arecibo, Jicamarca, Millstone Hill, St. Santin and a polar area—located at the meridian of Millstone Hill. The data analyzed represent quiet geomagnetic conditions (Kp ≤ 3) during a solar maximum (1967–1970). Between 200 and 600 km the electron temperature data stem from incoherent scatter measurements and above 600 km from the ISIS-1 observations. A simple analytical model which includes Fourier terms and cubic splines (for approximating the height dependence of the coefficients) describes the diurnal and seasonal pattern of the electron temperature in the altitude interval 200–3500 km. Three height regions are particularly striking, i.e. near 200 km where the diurnal variations show a sinusoidal pattern, the altitude interval up to approximately 1000 km which exhibits strong temperature gradients and a complex diurnal and seasonal structure, and the upper region beyond 1000 km which reflects again sinusoidal pattern but with a very pronounced latitudinal dependence.     

Using Strong Solar Coronal Emission Lines as Coronal Flux Proxies

We investigate the possibility that strong EUV lines observed with the Goddard Solar EUV Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) provide good proxies for estimating the total coronal flux over shorter wavelength ranges. We use coordinated SERTS and Yohkoh observations to obtain both polynomial and power-law fits relating the broad-band soft X-ray fluxes to the intensities of Fexvi 335 Ú and 361 Ú, Fexv 284 Ú and 417 Ú, and Mgix 368 Ú measured with SERTS. We found that the power-law fits best cover the full range of solar conditions from quiet Sun through active region, though not surprisingly the cooler Mgix 368 Ú line proves to be a poor proxy. The quadratic polynomial fits yield fair agreement over a large range for all but the Mgix line. However, the linear fits fail conspicuously when extrapolated into the quiet-Sun regime. The implications of this work for the Heii 304 Ú line formation problem are also briefly considered.     

The Filament Disappearance of 7 May 1992 (the Ebi)

The 7 May 1992 filament disappearance in the low corona is analyzed. The cool and hot components of this event are studied, using H, soft X-ray and radio data. We first show the general effect of the disparition brusque (DB) on the life of the filament, which was a quiescent filament in the vicinity of an active region, and then give the history of the development of the 7 May event. The main stages of the event are: (i) the formation of hot arches spanning the cool filament; (ii) rise of the filament, with plasma ejection into the corona, in which we note some spreading of loops from the main body, with two distinct rising velocity phases of the H filament; (iii) formation of X-ray arches below the filament, the foot points of the arcades being two-ribbon H flare patches. The dynamics of H and X-rays features are given.     

Evidence for the depletion of ammonia in the Uranus atmosphere

The theoretical disk brightness temperature spectra for Uranus are computed and compared with the observed microwave spectrum. It is shown that the emission observed at short centimeter wavelengths originates deep below the region where ammonia would ordinarily begin to condense. We demonstrate that this result is inconsistent with a wide range of atmospheric models in which the partial pressure of NH₃ is given by the vapor-pressure equation in the upper atmosphere. It is estimated that the ammonia mixing ratio must be less than 10^?6 in the 150 to 200°K temperature range. This is two orders of magnitude less than the expected mixing ratio based on solar abundances. The evidence for this depletion and a possible explanation are discussed.     

The relationship between the amplitudinal characteristics of the high-frequency spectral components of wind-generated waves and the wind velocity over the sea

The relationship between the RMS amplitudes of the wind wave spectral components and the wind speed has been studied at ten frequencies in the band of 0.65–23 Hz. To measure the parameters of the high-frequenci waves, a resistance elevation wave gauge was operated, which was deployed in the Black See on an oceanographic platform near Katsively. The correlation between the wave amplitudes and the wind velocity at high frequencies of 5–23 Hz, corresponding to gravitation-capillary ripples, was found to reach a value of 0.8. At lower frequencies of 0.65–4.3 Hz, corresponding to short gravity waves, it dropped to 0.5–0.7. The response of spectral components to the wind speed variations in the gravity-capillary range is higher than in the range of short gravity waves. The results obtained differ from Phillips' idea about a saturated range for the frequency form of the spectrum of high-frequency gravity waves, since a linear dependence of the spectral amplitudes on the wind speed is established at a wind of force 1–8.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

Nonlinear inertial oscillations of a multilayer eddy: An analytical solution

Nonlinear axisymmetric oscillations of a warm baroclinic eddy are considered within the framework of an reduced-gravity model of the dynamics of a multilayer ocean. A class of exact analytical solutions describing pure inertial oscillations of an eddy formation is found. The thicknesses of layers in the eddy vary according to a quadratic law, and the horizontal projections of the velocity in the layers depend linearly on the radial coordinate. Owing to a complicated structure of the eddy, weak limitations on the vertical distribution of density, and an explicit form of the solution, the latter can be treated as a generalization of the exact analytical solutions of this form that were previously obtained for homogeneous and baroclinic eddies in the ocean.     

SOME ASPECTS OF THE INTERACTION OF BLOWING SNOW WITH THE ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER

Several possible effects of blowing snow on the atmospheric boundary layer are investigated, mostly within the general framework of the Prairie Blowing Snow Model (PBSM). The processes of snow saltation and suspension are first described. Variations to the drift density profile are tested and the effects of stratification and density variation calculations are evaluated. Despite high density gradients of blowing snow, stratification effects on turbulence and the velocity profiles can generally be neglected. However, with saltating or suspended snow in a constant shear stress layer, part of the shear stress is carried by the particles. A highly simplified, single-phase approach, based on the density variation of the air–snow mixture coupled to a simple turbulent stress–strain relationship, is used to illustrate this. Sublimation rates in a column of blowing snow are calculated using the PBSM and results are compared with those obtained with a modified formulation which incorporates a spectrum of sublimating particles of varying sizes at each height in a steady-state surface boundary layer and different specifications of the ventilation velocity.     

VELOCITY–DISCHARGE RELATIONSHIPS DERIVED FROM DYE TRACER EXPERIMENTS IN GLACIAL MELTWATERS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SUBGLACIAL FLOW CONDITIONS

Repeated dye tracer tests were undertaken from individual moulins at Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland, over a number of diurnal discharge cycles during the summers of 1989–1991. It was hoped to use the concepts of at-a-station hydraulic geometry to infer flow conditions in subglacial channels from the form of the velocity–discharge relationships derived from these tests. The results, however, displayed both clockwise and anticlockwise velocity–discharge hysteresis, in addition to the simple power function relationship assumed in the hydraulic geometry approach. Clockwise hysteresis seems to indicate that a moulin drains into a small tributary channel rather than directly into an arterial channel, and that discharges in the two channels vary out of phase with each other. Anticlockwise hysteresis is accompanied by strong diurnal variations in the value of dispersivity derived from the dye breakthrough curve, and is best explained by hydraulic damming of moulins or sub/englacial passageways. Despite the complex velocity–discharge relationships observed, some indication of subglacial flow conditions may be obtained if tributary channels comprise only a small fraction of the drainage path and power function velocity–discharge relationships are derived from dye injections conducted during periods when the supraglacial discharge entering the moulin and the bulk discharge vary in phase. Analyses based on this premise suggest that both open and closed channel flow occur beneath Haut Glacier d'Arolla, and that flow conditions are highly variable at and between sites.     

Primary production in a turbid estuary, the Ems-Dollard: field and model studies

The Ems-Dollard Estuary has a steep axial gradient in turbidity which strongly regulates primary production of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos. A combination of the turbidity and nutrient gradients causes a high pelagic primary production in the outer, seaward part of the estuary, and a high benthic production on high-level mudflats (with long effective photoperiods) in the inner part. Model simulations were used to study phytoplankton succession and the factors influencing this succession. Light limitation was evaluated in a sensitivity run which used a lower compensation light intensity.