Using cloud water path and cloud top temperature for estimating convective and stratiform rainfall from SEVIRI daytime data

A satellite rainfall retrieval technique is proposed here. The relationships of rain rate with each of cloud water path (CWP) and cloud top temperature (CTT) are investigated. The CWP and CTT are retrieved from SEVIRI data (spinning enhanced visible and infrared imager), and corresponding rain rates are measured by weather radar. The rain rates are compared to corresponding CWP and then to corresponding CTT. The investigation demonstrates an exponential functional dependency between rain rates and CWP for low and moderate rain rates (stratiform rainfall). Conversely, the rain rates are more closely related to CTT for high rain rates (convective rainfall). Therefore, two separate relationships are established for rain rate retrievals. The results show rain rates estimated by the developed scheme are in good correlation with those observed by weather radar.     

Mineralogy and geochemistry of granitoids from Kinnaur region,Himachal Higher Himalaya,India: Implication on the nature of felsic magmatism in the collision tectonics

Felsic magmatism in the southern part of Himachal Higher Himalaya is constituted by Neoproterozoic granite gneiss (GGn), Early Palaeozoic granitoids (EPG) and Tertiary tourmaline-bearing leucogranite (TLg). Magnetic susceptibility values (<3 ×10^?3 SI), molar Al₂ O ₃/(CaO + Na₂ O + K ₂O) (≥1.1), mineral assemblage (bt–ms–pl–kf–qtz ± tur ± ap), and the presence of normative corundum relate these granitoids to peraluminous S-type, ilmenite series (reduced type) granites formed in a syncollisional tectonic setting. Plagioclase from GGn (An₁₀–An₃₁) and EPG (An₁₅–An₃₃) represents oligoclase to andesine and TLg (An₂–An₁₅) represents albite to oligoclase, whereas compositional ranges of K-feldspar are more-or-less similar (Or₈₈ to Or₉₅ in GGn, Or₈₆ to Or₉₇ in EPG and Or₈₇ to Or₉₄ in TLg). Biotites in GGn (Mg/Mg + Fe^t= 0.34–0.45), EPG (Mg/Mg + Fe^t= 0.27–0.47), and TLg (Mg/Mg + Fe^t= 0.25–0.30) are ferribiotites enriched in siderophyllite, which stabilised between FMQ and HM buffers and are characterised by dominant 3Fe\(\rightleftharpoons \)2Al, 3Mg\(\rightleftharpoons \)2Al substitutions typical of peraluminous (S-type), reducing felsic melts. Muscovite in GGn (Mg/Mg + Fe^t=0.58–0.66), EPG (Mg/Mg + Fe^t=0.31?0.59), and TLg (Mg/Mg + Fe^t=0.29–0.42) represent celadonite and paragonite solid solutions, and the tourmaline from EPG and TLg belongs to the schorl-elbaite series, which are characteristics of peraluminous, Li-poor, biotite-tourmaline granites. Geochemical features reveal that the GGn and EPG precursor melts were most likely derived from melting of biotite-rich metapelite and metagraywacke sources, whereas TLg melt appears to have formed from biotite-muscovite rich metapelite and metagraywacke sources. Major and trace elements modelling suggest that the GGn, EPG and TLg parental melts have experienced low degrees (～13, ～17 and ～13%, respectively) of kf–pl–bt fractionation, respectively, subsequent to partial melting. The GGn and EPG melts are the results of a pre-Himalayan, syn-collisional Pan-African felsic magmatic event, whereas the TLg is a magmatic product of Himalayan collision tectonics.     

Corrosion behavior of anodic oxidized TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> film in seawater

TiO₂ films were formed on metallic titanium substrates by the anodic oxidation method in H₂SO₄ solution under the 80V D.C.. Phase component and microstructure were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Water contact angles on titanium oxide film surface were measured under both dark and sunlight illumination conditions. Corrosion tests were carried out in seawater under different illumination conditions by electrochemistry impedance spectrum (EIS) and polarization curves. The result showed that the TiO₂ film prepared by the anodic oxidation method was anatase with a uniform structure and without obvious pores or cracks on its surface. The average water contact angle of the film was 116.4° in dark, in contrast to an angle of 42.7° under the UV illumination for 2 hours, which demonstrates good hydrophobic property. The anti-corrosion behavior of the TiO₂ film was declining with the extended immersion time. Under dark conditions, however, the hydrophobic TiO₂ film retarded the water infiltrating into the substrate. The impedance changed slowly and the corrosion current density was 2 orders of magnitude lower than that with the film illuminated by sunlight. All of those mentioned above indicate that the TiO₂ film possesses much better performance under dark condition, and it can be applied as an engineering material under dark seawater environment.     

Fine-resolution simulation of surface current and sea ice in the Arctic Mediterranean Seas

A fine-resolution model is developed for ocean circulation simulation in the National Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is applied to simulate surface current and sea ice variations in the Arctic Mediterranean Seas. A dynamic sea ice model in elastic-viscous-plastic rheology and a thermodynamic sea ice model are employed. A 200-year simulation is performed and a dimatological average of a 10-year period (141st-150th) is presented with focus on sea ice concentration and surface current variations in the Arctic Mediterranean Seas. The model is able to simulate well the East Greenland Current, Beaufort Gyre and the Transpolar Drift, but the simulated West Spitsbergen Current is small and weak. In the March climatology, the sea ice coverage can be simulated well except for a bit more ice in east of Spitsbergen Island. The result is also good for the September scenario except for less ice concentration east of Greenland and greater ice concentration near the ice margin. The extra ice east of Spitsbergen Island is caused by sea ice current convergence forced by atmospheric wind stress.     

Assessment on agricultural drought risk based on variable fuzzy sets model

Drought is one of the major natural disasters causing huge agricultural losses annually. Regional agricultural drought risk assessment has great significance for reducing regional disaster and agricultural drought losses. Based on the fuzzy characteristics of agricultural drought risk, variable fuzzy sets model was used for comprehensively assessing agricultural drought risk of Liaoning Province in China. A multi-layers and multi-indices assessment model was established according to variable fuzzy sets theory, and agricultural drought risk of all 14 prefecture-level cities was respectively estimated in terms of dangerousness, vulnerability, exposure and drought-resistibility. By calculating the combination weights of four drought risk factors, agricultural drought risk grade of each city was obtained. Based on the assessment results, the spatial distribution maps of agricultural drought risk were drawn. The results shows that eastern cities have lower drought dangerousness than western cities in Liaoning Province totally. Most cities are located in low drought vulnerability region and high drought exposure region. Because of frequent and severe drought since 2000, most cities are located in lower drought-resistibility region. Comprehensive agricultural drought risk presents apparent spatial characteristics, escalating from the east to the west. Drought dangerousness is the most important factor influencing comprehensive agricultural drought risk. Through the spatial distribution maps of drought risk, decision makers could find out drought situation and make decisions on drought resistance conveniently.     

Fault type analysis along the San Andreas Fault zone: A numerical approach

Finite Element (FE) modeling under plane stress condition is used to analyze the fault type variation with depth along and around the San Andreas Fault (SAF) zone. In this simulation elastic rheology was used and was thought justifiable as the variation in depth from 0.5 km to 20 km was considered. Series of calculations were performed with the variation in domain properties. Three types of models were created based on simple geological map of California, namely, 1) single domain model considering whole California as one homogeneous domain, 2) three domains model including the North American plate, Pacific plate, and SAF zone as separate domains, and 3) Four domains model including the three above plus the Garlock Fault zone. Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and Byerlee's law were used for the calculation of failure state. All the models were driven by displacement boundary condition imposing the fixed North American plate and Pacific plate motion along N34°W vector up to the northern terminus of SAF and N50°E vector motion for the subducting the Gorda and Juan de Fuca plates. Our simulated results revealed that as the depth increased, the fault types were generally normal, and at shallow depth greater strike slip and some thrust faults were formed. It is concluded that SAF may be terminated as normal fault at depth although the surface expression is clearly strike slip.     

Numerical simulation of the genesis of typhoon Durian (2001) over the South China Sea: The effect of sea surface temperature

Typhoon Durian (2001),which formed over the South China Sea (SCS),was simulated by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The genesis of typhoon Durian which formed in the monsoon trough was reproduced by numerical simulations. The simulated results agree reasonably well with observations. Two numerical experiments in which the sea surface temperature (SST) was either decreased or increased were performed to investigate the impact of the SST on the genesis of the ty-phoon. When the SST was decreased by 5℃ uniformly for all grids in the model,the winds calculated became divergent in the lower troposphere and convergent in the upper troposphere,creating conditions in which the amount of total latent heat release (TLHR) was low and the tropical cyclone (TC) could not be formed. This simulation shows the importance of the convergence in the lower tropo-sphere and the divergence in the upper troposphere for the genesis of the initial vortex. When the SST was increased by 1℃ uni-formly for all grids,a stronger typhoon was generated in the results with an increase of about 10 m s-1 in the maximum surface wind speed. Only minor differences in intensity were noted during the first 54 h in the simulation with the warmer SST,but apparent dif-ferences in intensity occurred after 54 h when the vortex began to strengthen to typhoon strength. This experiment shows that warmer SST will speed the strengthening from tropical storm strength to typhoon strength and increase the maximum intensity reached,while only minor impact can be seen during the earlier stage of genesis before the TC reaches the tropical storm strength. The results sug-gest that the amount of TLHR may be the dominant factor in determining the formation and the intensification of the TC.     

Impact of recharge water temperature on bioclogging during managed aquifer recharge: a laboratory study

To investigate the effect of recharge water temperature on bioclogging processes and mechanisms during seasonal managed aquifer recharge (MAR), two groups of laboratory percolation experiments were conducted: a winter test and a summer test. The temperatures were controlled at ~5±2 and ~15±3 °C, and the tests involved bacterial inoculums acquired from well water during March 2014 and August 2015, for the winter and summer tests, respectively. The results indicated that the sand columns clogged ~10 times faster in the summer test due to a 10-fold larger bacterial growth rate. The maximum concentrations of total extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in the winter test were approximately twice those in the summer test, primarily caused by a ~200 μg/g sand increase of both loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS) and tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS). In the first half of the experimental period, the accumulation of bacteria cells and EPS production induced rapid bioclogging in both the winter and summer tests. Afterward, increasing bacterial growth dominated the bioclogging in the summer test, while the accumulation of LB-EPS led to further bioclogging in the winter test. The biological analysis determined that the dominant bacteria in experiments for both seasons were different and the bacterial community diversity was ~50% higher in the winter test than that for summer. The seasonal inoculums could lead to differences in the bacterial community structure and diversity, while recharge water temperature was considered to be a major factor influencing the bacterial growth rate and metabolism behavior during the seasonal bioclogging process.     

Spatial-Correlation Based Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Study for Ground Deformation

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), nowadays, is a precise technique for monitoring and detecting ground deformation at a millimetric level over large areas using multi-temporal SAR images. Persistent Scatterer Interferometric SAR (PSInSAR), an advanced version of InSAR, is an effective tool for measuring ground deformation using temporally stable reference points or persistent scatterers. We have applied both PSInSAR and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) methods, based on the spatial correlation of interferometric phase, to estimate the ground deformation and time-series analysis. In this study, we select Las Vegas, Nevada, USA as our test area to detect the ground deformation along satellite line-of-sight (LOS) during November 1992–September 2000 using 44 C-band SAR images of the European Remote Sensing (ERS-1 and ERS-2) satellites. We observe the ground displacement rate of Las Vegas is in the range of ?19 to 8 mm/year in the same period. We also cross-compare PSInSAR and SBAS using mean LOS velocity and time-series. The comparison shows a correlation coefficient of 0.9467 in the case of mean LOS velocity. Along this study, we validate the ground deformation results from the satellite with the ground water depth of Las Vegas using time-series analysis, and the InSAR measurements show similar patterns with ground water data.     

斜交型不稳定谱点分布侧半圆定理及其增长率上界的估计

本对斜交型扰动不稳定谱点的分布做了理论分析，得到了该谱点分布的半圆定理一该谱点分布在复一面上以原点为圆心以R0为半径的上半平面上，同时还对该不稳定增长率的上界作了估计。发现水平永度越小，模式顶越高则该估计值越大；垂直风切变的增大和纬度的增高对该增长率的增大有正贡献；当层结稳定度减小时，最大增长率随相对最大增长率得增大而减小。