EFFECTS OF THE ENVELOPE DEGREE OF OROGRAPHY ON THE SIMULATED CLIMATE PROPERTIES

A primitive equation model with a zonal domain and a p-σ incorporated vertical coordinate systemis used to study the effects of the envelope degree of orography on the simulated properties of bothwinter and summer climates.Results show that the orography with a larger envelope degree can im-prove the simulations to certain extent,especially in winter.It is found that the simulated propertiesof climate are mainly determined by the co-effects of the land-sea and the orographic distributions,and the envelope degree of orography has a secondary effect.However it should be taken properly inorder to improve simulations:otherwise,it would be harmful.Different envelope degrees of orogra-phy can be adopted in different areas.     

Geodetic Height Determination in 2005 Qomolangma Survey

Determining the geodetic height of Mount Qomolangma was one of the very important missions in the 2005 Qomolangma height survey. There were three GPS networks in the survey: regional GPS crustal deformation network, geodetic GPS control network, and GPS measurement on the mountain summit. Data collection and processing were introduced. The final data processing strategy and reasonable geodetic height were fairly determined based on careful data analysis.     

On the interannual variability of the Bonin high associated with the East Asian summer monsoon rain

In order to assess how the Bonin high affects interannual variability of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) around the Korean Peninsula, the pulsation of the Bonin high and its association with teleconnection patterns was examined. The major factor for the interannual intensity of the EASM is the center position of the Bonin high rather than its center pressure. Up to 12 harmonics over time can be used to reconstruct the Bonin high, demonstrating its intraseasonal variation. The interannual variability of the Bonin high correlates with the Tibet high. This correlation is dominant for the EASM onset time, though not its retreat. The primary teleconnection pattern, reliant up on the interannual variability of the Bonin high, is the Western Pacific oscillation (WPO) in April. In relation to long-term variability, the correlation between the WPO and the Bonin high appears to contribute to the retreat stage of the EASM, which has itself increased since the mid-1970s. Furthermore, the WPO in May and the Tibet correlation has marked the onset rather than the retreat of the EASM since the 1970s. This highly correlated pattern since the mid-1970s may be the result of El Niño.     

Body-wave dispersion in the Friuli focal area

The differential dispersion of P- and S- body waves is studied in the Friuli area. We estimate theoretically the respective contributions of the source, from dislocation models, and of the propagation, from the Futterman model. We demonstrate the possible existence of differential dispersion, which is interpreted as being due to attenuation. The quality factor Q_P deduced from this hypothesis shows a regional variation from 15 to 210. Results also indicate a possible dependence of Q_P on frequency in the range 5–40 Hz.     

Retrieval single-doppler radar wind with variational assimilation method-part i: objective selection of functional weighting factors

In variational problem, the selection of functional weighting factors (FWF) is one of the key points for discussing many relevant studies. To overcome arbitrariness and subjectivity of the empirical selecting methods used widely at present, this paper tries to put forward in optimal objective selecting method of FWF. The focus of the study is on the weighting factors optimal selection in the variation retrieval single-Doppler radar wind field with the simple adjoint models. Weighting factors in the meaning of minimal variance are calculated out with the matrix theory and the finite difference method of partial differential equation. Experiments show that the result is more objective comparing with the factors obtained with the empirical method.     

Lagrangian meshfree particles method (SPH) for large deformation and failure flows of geomaterial using elastic–plastic soil constitutive model

Simulation of large deformation and post‐failure of geomaterial in the framework of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) are presented in this study. The Drucker–Prager model with associated and non‐associated plastic flow rules is implemented into the SPH code to describe elastic–plastic soil behavior. In contrast to previous work on SPH for solids, where the hydrostatic pressure is often estimated from density by an equation of state, this study proposes to calculate the hydrostatic pressure of soil directly from constitutive models. Results obtained in this paper show that the original SPH method, which has been successfully applied to a vast range of problems, is unable to directly solve elastic–plastic flows of soil because of the so‐called SPH tensile instability. This numerical instability may result in unrealistic fracture and particles clustering in SPH simulation. For non‐cohesive soil, the instability is not serious and can be completely removed by using a tension cracking treatment from soil constitutive model and thereby give realistic soil behavior. However, the serious tensile instability that is found in SPH application for cohesive soil requires a special treatment to overcome this problem. In this paper, an artificial stress method is applied to remove the SPH numerical instability in cohesive soil. A number of numerical tests are carried out to check the capability of SPH in the current application. Numerical results are then compared with experimental and finite element method solutions. The good agreement obtained from these comparisons suggests that SPH can be extended to general geotechnical problems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Importance of no‐rain measurements on the comparison of radar and rain gauge rain rate

This study evaluated four possible cases of comparing radar and rain gauge rain rate for the detection of mean‐field bias. These four cases, or detection designs, consider in this study are: (1) design 1‐uses all the data sets available, including zero radar rain rate and zero rain gauge rain rate, (2) design 2—uses the data sets of positive radar rain rate and zero or positive rain gauge rain rate, (3) design 3—uses the data sets of zero or positive radar rain rate and positive rain gauge rain rate and (4) design 4—uses the data sets of positive radar rain rate and positive rain gauge rain rate. A theoretical review of these four detection designs showed that only the design 1 causes no design bias, but designs 2, 3 and 4 can cause positive, negative and negative design biases, respectively. This theoretical result was also verified by applying these four designs to the rain rate field generated by a multi‐dimensional rain rate model, as well as to that of the Mt Gwanak radar in Korea. The results from both applications showed that especially the design 4, which is generally used for the detection of mean‐field bias of radar rain rate, causes a serious design bias; therefore, is inappropriate as a design for detecting the mean‐field bias of radar rain rate. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving Indigenous Technologies for Sustainable Land Use in Northern Mountainous Areas of Vietnam

More than 30 ethnic groups are now living in northern mountainous regions, Vietnam, mainly relying on shifting cultivation with the fallow period being shortened from time to time. Naturally, soil fertility reduces from cycle to cycle, entailing the reduction of productivity. Large areas of moderately sloping lands suitable for upland agriculture have become bare after many cultivation-fallow cycles. The soils there have been severely degraded with more toxicity, low porosity, low water retention capacity and poor floral diversity. Normally, these lands cannot be used for food crop cultivation. So farmers in uplands have to rely on slash-and-burn practices for their livelihood. As there is no more forest with good soil in medium slopes, farmers go to cut forests in watershed, high slope lands and old forests up to the mountains‘ top. There are ecologically and environmentally very sensitive areas, so their destruction will inevitably cause hazardous consequences in the whole basin. Meanwhile,cultivation in these areas has low economic efficiency and sustainability because the crop yield may decrease very fast due to severe erosion as the higher the slope, the more serious erosion. Consequently living standards of highland farmers remain low and unstable. Sustainable farming on these lands in the perspective of a seriously deteriorated ecology and environmental is not an easy task. There have been many projects trying to help mountainous farmers get out of their vicious circle. However, due to different reasons, the results gained are low, and in some cases,things ceased to move after the projects phased out. During past few years, based on the farmer experiences, the Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute has cooperated with local and international partners to implement different projects in order to solve the problems by developing simple, easy and cheap cultivation technologies, which can be accepted and applied by local poor farmers for sustainable agricultural production. The first results of our activities offered good opportunities for sustain food production, improve soil health, recharge of aquifers,and enhanced household income for better rural lively hoods in the upland eco-regions of northern Vietnam.     

The sediment load and deposition by river discharge and their relation to organochlorine pesticides pollutants in the sediment bottom of Nha Trang Bay,Vietnam

Ocean Science Journal - Based on previous results from the “River reef impact studies project that was carried out as a co-operation programme between ZMT (Germany) and NIO (Vietnam) from...