A review of satellite, observations of atmospheric ozone

Since the first satellite ozone measurements in 1960, basically three methods have been developed: backscattered solar ultraviolet, infrared emission, and occultation. In a review article by Krueger et al. (1980, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A296, 191), the authors examine the above satellite methods and data covering the period up to about 1980. Our purpose is to review the development of the satellite ozone methodology since about 1980 with particular emphasis on the relationship of satellite data to the continued need for ground-based observations. Finally, we look toward the future to the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, to be launched in about 1991, and the view that this is to be a collective experiment, not a series of independent measurements, focusing on the photochemistry and dynamics of the stratosphere.     

Estimation of chlorophyll fluorescence under natural illumination from hyperspectral data

This paper reports a series of laboratory and field measurements of spectral reflectance under artificial and natural light conditions which demonstrate that effects of natural chlorophyll fluorescence are observable in the reflectance red edge spectral region. These are results from the progress made to link physiologically-based indicators to optical indices from hyperspectral remote sensing in the Bioindicators of Forest Sustainability Project. This study is carried out on twelve sites of Acer saccharum M. in the Algoma Region, Ontario (Canada), where field measurements, laboratory-simulation experiments, and hyperspectral CASI imagery have been carried out in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 campaigns. Leaf samples from the study sites have been used for reflectance and transmittance measurements with the Li-Cor Model 1800 integrating sphere apparatus coupled to an Ocean Optics Model ST1000 fibre spectrometer in which the same leaves are illuminated alternatively with and without fluorescence-exciting radiation. A study of the diurnal change in leaf reflectance spectra, combined with fluorescence measurements with the PAM-2000 Fluorometer show that the difference spectra are consistent with observed diurnal changes in steady-state fluorescence. Small canopies of Acer saccharum M. have been used for laboratory measurements with the CASI hyperspectral sensor, and under natural light conditions with a fibre spectrometer in diurnal trials, in which the variation of measured reflectance is shown experimentally to be consistent with a fluorescence signature imposed on the inherent leaf reflectance signature. Such reflectance changes due to CF are measurable under natural illumination conditions, although airborne experiments with the CASI hyperspectral sensor produced promising but less convincing results in two diurnal experiments carried out in 1999 and 2000, where small variations of reflectance due to the effect of CF were observed.     

Adaptive local discontinuous Galerkin approximation to Richards’ equation

We propose a spatially and temporally adaptive solution to Richards’ equation based upon a local discontinuous Galerkin approximation in space and a high-order, backward difference method in time. We cast our approach in terms of a general, decoupled adaption algorithm based upon operators. We define non-unique instances of all operators to result in an adaption method from within the general class of methods that is defined. We formally decouple the spatial adaption from the temporal adaption using a method of lines approach and limit the temporal truncation error so that the total error is dominated by the spatial component. We use a multiple grid approach to guide adaption and support the data structures. Spatial adaption decisions are based upon error and regularity indicators, which are economical to compute. The resultant methods are compared for two test problems. The results show that the proposed adaption methods are superior to methods that adapt only in time and that in cases in which the problem has sufficient smoothness, adapting the order of the elements in addition to the grid spacing can further improve the efficiency of this robust solution approach.     

Demographic variation in a desert shrub, Larrea tridentate, in response to a thinning treatment

We performed a perturbation experiment to determine the relative importance of intra-specific competition on the demographic performance of a population of creosotebush, Larrea tridentata. From 1992 to 1995, we followed 1000 individuals, half of which were in plots subjected to a thinning treatment, and the other half were in unmanipulated plots. We found no significant response to the thinning treatment for any of the traits studied. The strict interpretation of these results is that intra-specific competition is not important in this Larrea population.     

The age of the Whin Sill

The Whin Sill and its related dykes are intruded into Carboniferous strata in the North of England. Together they form a distinct petrographical province in which basic magmatism appears to have been closely related to a single phase in the structural history of the area. The relevant stratigraphical, structural and isotopic evidence suggests to the authors that the Whin Sill suite was intruded during the Stephanian, around 295 ± 6 m.y. This conclusion is supported by twenty-one new potassium-argon age determinations accompanied by a petrographical study of the factors which cause discrepancy in isotopic results from Whin Sill rocks.     

An Object Extraction Approach for Impervious Surface Classification with Very-High-Resolution Imagery

Detailed land cover maps provide important information for research and decision-making but are often expensive to develop and can become outdated quickly. Widespread availability of aerial photography provides increased accessibility of high-resolution imagery and the potential to produce high-accuracy land cover classifications. However, these classifications often require expert knowledge and are time consuming. Our goal was to develop an efficient, accurate technique for classifying impervious surface in urbanizing Wake County, North Carolina. Using an iterative training technique, we classified 111 nonmosaicked, very-high-resolution images using the Feature Analyst software developed by Visual Learning Systems. Feature Analyst provides object extraction classifications by analyzing spatial context in relation to spectral data to classify high-resolution imagery. Our image classification results were 95 percent accurate in impervious surface extraction, with an overall total accuracy of 92 percent. Using this method, users with relatively limited geographic information system (GIS) training and modest budgets can produce highly accurate object-extracted classifications of impervious and pervious surface that are easily manipulated in a GIS.     

Enhanced aerosol-cloud relationships in more stable and adiabatic clouds

Modification of cloud microphysics and cloud albedo by cloud-active aerosol is generally identified and accepted, but the nature and magnitude of aerosol-cloud interactions are vaguely understood and thought to include a myriad of processes that vary regionally and confound the application of simple physical models of cloud-aerosol sensitivity. This paper presents observations demonstrating that cloud top stability through its regulation of mixing and vertical development is one of the critical mechanisms that regulate cloud response to cloud-active aerosol in some cloud systems. Strong above-cloud inversions are shown to buffer marine stratocumulus from the effects of mixing with drier, warmer inversion air. This buffering reduces the variability of the cloud liquid water path (LWP) and enables the clouds to remain nearly adiabatic. While weaker above-cloud inversions in continental stratocumulus promote variability in the LWP and sub-adiabatic LWPs, stronger inversions in marine stratocumulus enables a relatively adiabatic existence that increases the relationship of cloud microphysical alteration to cloud-active aerosol. This study has important implications for Geoengineering in that it demonstrates that cloud systems overlain by strong thermal inversions are more likely to respond predictably to intentional manipulation of the in-cloud concentration of cloud-active aerosol.