Frequency management support for remote sea-state sensing using the JINDALEE skywave radar

Successful operation of a skywave (over-the-horizon, OTH) radar in a remote sea-state sensing mode is critically dependent upon the application of comprehensive frequency management techniques. In addition to the problem of selecting a frequency yielding an adequate signal-to-noise ratio in the geographical area under investigation, attention must be paid to minimization of ionospheric multimode and other phenomena capable of distorting or convoluting the sea backscatter spectrum. This paper describes the manner in which these problems have been addressed in the JINDALEE skywave radar, and relates the practical difficulties inherent in the task of frequency management in support of an OTH radar involved in sea-state sensing. Measurement techniques include backscatter and oblique-incidence sounding, HF spectral surveillance, and a low-powered frequency-agile "miniradar" capable of operating in either a conventional backscatter or alternate oblique-incidence mode. In addition to providing the main radar with real-time frequency management advice, a principal emphasis has been the acquisition of a synoptic data base suitable for off-line statistical analysis.     

Gosses bluff — diapir,crypto‐volcanic structure or astrobleme?∗

Gosses Bluff, west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, comprises a roughly circular rim of steeply dipping sandstone, locally overturned with downward facing folds, surrounding a topographically lower core of steeply dipping faulted sandstone, shale, and limestone. Abundant shattercones occur both in outcrop and to depths of 1,000 m. The structure lies on an’ anticlinal trend‐Structural, gravity, seismic and drill hole data indicate that the structure continues to some depth. Shattercones also occur outside the rim of Gosses Bluff. At a nearby prominence, Mt Pyroclast, they occur with peculiar breccias and devitrified glassy rocks, some of which may be of volcanic or impact fusion origin.

Gosses Bluff has previously been regarded as a diapir caused by salt intrusion. The evidence now available suggests that it is a crypto‐explosion structure, resulting either from deep‐seated explosive volcanic activity, or from meteorite impact, probably at some time during the Mesozoic Era.     

Three‐dimensional maps for archipelagoes

Ethical dilemmas involving issues of harm-benefit, privacy, deception, and sponsor relations are encountered frequently in geographical research. Geographers have not always been sensitive to ethical issues, nor have they always been able to reconcile their obligations to understanding and knowledge with those of respecting the dignity and integrity of research subjects. This paper reviews these fundamental ethical concerns. Four strategies for handling ethical difficulties are reviewed: individual self-regulation, disciplinary responses, institutional controls, and external controls. Individual self-regulation is recommended.     

TAOS: The Taiwanese–American Occultation Survey

The Taiwanese–American Occultation Survey (TAOS) seeks to determinethe number and size spectrum for small (～3 km) bodies in the KuiperBelt. This will be accomplished by searching for the brief occultations of brightstars (R～14) by these objects. We have designed and built a specialpurpose photometric monitoring system for this purpose. TAOS comprisesfour 50 cm telescopes, each equipped with a 2048×2048 pixel CCDcamera, in a compact array located in the central highlands of Taiwan. TAOSwill monitor up to 3,000 stars at 5 Hz. The system will go into scientificoperation at the end of 003.     

Ground-Based Observations Of Lunar Meteoritic Phenomena

The occurrence and visibility of meteoroid impacts on the moon as seen from the earth were little more than speculation prior to November 1999. The best evidence of present-day impact activity came from the seismic experiments left on the Moon during the Apollo era. Past systematic attempts at earth-based observations to document lunar impacts revealed nothing conclusive. However, during the Leonid storms of 1999 and 2001, lunar impact events were for the first time confirmed by multiple independent observers. A total of 15 meteoritic impact flash events have been verified during these storms, with an additional 12 unconfirmed but likely events awaiting confirmation. Estimates of the mass of these meteoroids range from less than one gram for the faintest flashes to more than 10 kg for the brightest observed flash. The fraction of visible light to total energy produced by these events, a quantity known as luminous efficiency, averages about 0.001 for the established events. The confirmation of lunar meteoritic events on the Moon opens a new avenue in lunar and planetary research, one which could help bridge the gap between atmospheric sampling of the smallest components of meteoroid streams and interplanetary debris to the larger scale objects accessible to ground-based telescopes.     

The Observation and Characterization of Lunar Meteoroid Impact Phenomena

Confirmed observations of meteoroids from the Leonid stream impacting the Moon in 1999 and 2001 have opened up new opportunities in observational and theoretical astronomy. These opportunities could help bridge the gap between the ground-based (atmospheric) sampling of the smallest meteoroids and the larger objects observable with ground-based telescopes. The Moon provides a laboratory for the study of hypervelocity impacts, with collision velocities not yet possible in ground-based laboratories. Development of automatic detection software removes the time-intensive activity of laboriously reviewing data for impact event signatures, freeing the observer to engage in other activities. The dynamics of professional-amateur astronomer collaboration have the promise of advancing the study of lunar meteoritic phenomenon considerably. These three factors will assist greatly in the development of a systematic, comprehensive program for monitoring the Moon for meteoroid impacts and determining the physical nature of these impacts.     

Groundwater-level recovery following closure of open-pit mines

Hydrogeology Journal - Open-pit mining has increased substantially over the past two decades. Many currently operating open-pit mines are facing the end of mine-life over the next few decades and,...     

Planning Beijing: socialist city,transitional city,and global city

Cities are centers of economic, social, and political change, and urban planning is a process responding to and guiding urban change and development. In the Maoist era and under the influence of socialist ideology, China limited urbanization while promoting industrialization, and urban planning served as an instrument for socialist construction. Since the reform of the late 1970s, Chinese cities have experienced unprecedented growth and restructuring. However, the gradualist, exploratory reform—exemplified by Deng Xiaoping’s slogan “crossing the river by feeling the stones”—makes Chinese cities constantly change without clear directions for future development. This paper uses Beijing as a case study to analyze changing institutional and global contexts underlying the transformation of Chinese cities, and planners’ responses and dilemmas in making plans and implementing them. We found that market reforms, rapid growth, and dramatic change make urban master plans quickly out of date, forcing Chinese planners to frequently revise these master plans. We also found that the content of urban master planning in China has broadened from physical planning, and Chinese planning has adapted to market reform through utilizing concepts of visioning, flexibility, and governance. Increasingly what we call a “hybrid” form of planning is arising in which global concepts and Chinese ideas interweave in order to direct the shape and form of the Chinese metropolis.     

Field assessment of surface water–groundwater connectivity in a semi‐arid river basin (Murray–Darling,Australia)

In semi‐arid and arid river basins, understanding the connectivity between rivers and alluvial aquifers is one of the key challenges for the management of groundwater resources. The type of connection present (gaining, losing‐connected, transitional and losing‐disconnected) was assessed at 12 sites along six Murray–Darling Basin river reaches. The assessments were made by measuring the hydraulic head in the riparian zone near the rivers to evaluate if the water tables intersected the riverbeds and by measuring fluid pressure (ψ) in the riverbeds. The rationale for the latter was that ψ will always be greater than or equal to zero under connected conditions (either losing or gaining) and always lesser than or equal to zero under losing‐disconnected conditions. A mixture of losing‐disconnected, losing‐connected and gaining conditions was found among the 12 sites. The losing‐disconnected sites all had a riverbed with a lower hydraulic conductivity than the underlying aquifer, usually in the form of a silty clay or clay unit 0.5–2 m in thickness. The riparian water tables were 6 to 25 m below riverbed level at the losing‐disconnected sites but never lower than 1 m below riverbed level at the losing‐connected ones. The contrast in water table depth between connected and disconnected sites was attributed to the conditions at the time of the study, when a severe regional drought had generated a widespread decline in regional water tables. This decline was apparently compensated near losing‐connected rivers by increased infiltration rates, while the decline could not be compensated at the losing‐disconnected rivers because the infiltration rates were already maximal there. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.