VLBI measurements of the parallax and proper motion of U Herculis

The OH 1667 maser in the circumstellar shell around the Mira variable U Her has been observed with the VLBA at 6 epochs, spread over 4 years. By using straightforward phase referencing techniques the stellar proper motion can be measured. Preliminary analysis indicates that the parallactic motion is also detected. An important question is whether the maser spots can be assumed to be fixed with respect to the star. The observations show both evidence supporting and contradicting the idea that one maser spot is the amplified stellar image.     

Magnetostratigraphic dating of an intensification of glacial activity in the southern Italian Alps during Marine Isotope Stage 22

We applied magnetostratigraphy and mammal biostratigraphy to date climate-sensitive pollen cycles and lithostratigraphic units of the Pliocene-Pleistocene Leffe sedimentary succession from the Southern Alps, Italy. The Leffe section was correlated to additional sections (Casnigo, Fornaci di Ranica, and Pianengo) to construct a stratigraphic network along a common fluviatile system (the Serio River) sourced in the Southern Alps and flowing southward into the Po River Basin. We obtained a coherent scenario of climate variability for the last ∼ 2 Myr. At Leffe, lacustrine deposition commenced during the Olduvai Normal Subchron (1.94-1.78 Ma) and lasted up to a chronologic level compatible with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 22 (0.87 Ma). Pollen analysis revealed that climate varied cyclically from warm-temperate to cool during this time interval, but never as cold as during glacial intervals. At around MIS 22, climate cooled globally. Gravels, attributed to high-energy braided river systems fed locally by alluvial fans, prograded from the Serio River catchment area over the Leffe Basin and toward the Po Plain in response to a generalized event of vegetation withdrawal and enhanced physical erosion. At this time, Alpine valley glaciers reached their first maximum southward expansion with glacier fronts located at only ∼ 5 km upstream from Leffe.     

Analysis of snow-vegetation interactions in the low Arctic-Subarctic transition zone (northeastern Canada)

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that northern vegetation has been growing in relation to a warming climate over the last four decades, especially across the transition zone between tundra and taiga. Shrub growth affects snow properties and the surface energy budget, which must be better studied to quantify shrub-snow-climate feedbacks. The objective of this research is to improve the characterization of the impact of shrubs on snow evolution, from its accumulation to its melt, using in-situ and satellite measurements. The research is presented for the Umiujaq site, Nunavik, representative of the low Arctic–Subarctic transition zone. Snow depth, measured along numerous transects spanning different land cover types is found to increase by a factor 2.5–3 between tundra and forest, while snow density decreases. This illustrates the trapping effect of vegetation well. Complementary, continuous snow depth measurements using weather stations from two sites (tundra with low shrubs and a small clearing with shrubs within the forest) show different site-dependent behaviors. Spatial analysis from high-resolution Pleiades images combined with Landsat (Normalized Difference Snow Index) and MODIS (Fractional Snow Cover) images suggest a slight delay in melt over open and dense forest areas compared to tundra and dense high shrubs.     

The Multiscale TROPIcal CatchmentS critical zone observatory M-TROPICS dataset II: Land use,hydrology and sediment production monitoring in Houay Pano,northern Lao PDR

Mountain regions of the humid tropics are characterized by steep slopes and heavy rains. These regions are thus prone to both high surface runoff and soil erosion. In Southeast Asia, uplands are also subject to rapid land-use change, predominantly as a result of increased population pressure and market forces. Since 1998, the Houay Pano site, located in northern Lao PDR (19.85°N 102.17°E) within the Mekong basin, aims at assessing the long-term impact of the conversion of traditional slash-and-burn cultivation systems to commercial perennial monocultures such as teak tree plantations, on the catchment hydrological response and sediment yield. The instrumented site monitors hydro-meteorological and soil loss parameters at both microplot (1 m²) and small catchment (0.6 km²) scales. The monitored catchment is part of the network of critical zone observatories named Multiscale TROPIcal CatchmentS (M-TROPICS). The data shared by M-TROPICS in Houay Pano are (1) rainfall, (2) air temperature, air relative humidity, wind speed, and global radiation, (3) catchment land use, (4) stream water level, suspended particulate matter, bed particulate matter and stones, (5) soil surface features, and (6) soil surface runoff and soil detachment. The dataset has already been used to interpret suspended particulate matter and bed particulate matter sources and dynamics, to assess the impact of land-use change on catchment hydrology, soil erosion, and sediment yields, to understand bacteria fate and weed seed transport across the catchment, and to build catchment-scale models focused on hydrology and water quality issues. The dataset may be further used to, for example, assess the role of headwater catchments in large tropical river basin hydrology, support the interpretation of new variables measured in the catchment (e.g., contaminants other than faecal bacteria), and assess the relative impacts of both climate and land-use change on the catchment.