A national landfill methane budget for Sweden based on field measurements, and an evaluation of IPCC models

Seven Swedish landfills were investigated from 2001 to 2003. On each landfill, a measure of the total methane production was calculated from data on: (1) methane emissions (leakage); (2) methane oxidation and (3) from gas recovery.
Methane emissions were determined via a tracer gas (N₂O) release-based remote sensing method. N₂O and CH₄ were measured with an Fourier Transform infrared detector at a distance of more than 1 km downwind from the landfills. Methane oxidation in the landfill covers was measured with the stable carbon isotope method. The efficiency in gas recovery systems proved to be highly variable, but on an average, 51% of the produced landfill gas was captured.
A first-order decay model, based on four fractions (waste from households and parks, sludges and industrial waste), showed that the use of a degradable organic carbon fraction (DOCf) value of 0.54, in accordance with the default value for DOCf of 0.50 in the latest IPCC model, gave an emission estimate similar to the official national reports.     

Automated building generalization based on urban morphology and Gestalt theory

Building generalization is a difficult operation due to the complexity of the spatial distribution of buildings and for reasons of spatial recognition. In this study, building generalization is decomposed into two steps, i.e. building grouping and generalization execution. The neighbourhood model in urban morphology provides global constraints for guiding the global partitioning of building sets on the whole map by means of roads and rivers, by which enclaves, blocks, superblocks or neighbourhoods are formed; whereas the local constraints from Gestalt principles provide criteria for the further grouping of enclaves, blocks, superblocks and/or neighbourhoods. In the grouping process, graph theory, Delaunay triangulation and the Voronoi diagram are employed as supporting techniques. After grouping, some useful information, such as the sum of the building's area, the mean separation and the standard deviation of the separation of buildings, is attached to each group. By means of the attached information, an appropriate operation is selected to generalize the corresponding groups. Indeed, the methodology described brings together a number of well-developed theories/techniques, including graph theory, Delaunay triangulation, the Voronoi diagram, urban morphology and Gestalt theory, in such a way that multiscale products can be derived.     

A study of bernalite,Fe(OH)3, using Mössbauer spectroscopy,optical spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy

To study the crystal chemistry of bernalite, Fe(OH)₃, and the nature of the octahedral Fe³⁺ environment, Mössbauer spectra were recorded from 80 to 350 K, optical spectra were recorded at room temperature and a sample was studied using transmission electron microscopy. The Mössbauer spectrum of bernalite consists of a single six-line magnetic spectrum at 80 K. A broadened six-line magnetic spectrum with significantly less intensity is observed at higher temperatures, and is attributed to a small fraction of bernalite occurring as small particles. The variation of hyperfine magnetic field data for bulk bernalite with temperature is well described by the Weiss molecular field model with parameters of H ₀ = 55.7±0.3 T and T _N = 427±5K. The centre shift data were fitted to the Debye model with parameters ₀=0.482±0.005 mm/s (relative to -Fe) and _M=492±30 K. The quadrupole shift is near zero at 300 K, and does not vary significantly with temperature. Absorption spectra in the visible and near infrared range show three crystal field bands of Fe³⁺ at 11 300, 16000 and 23 200 cm^-1, giving a crystal field splitting of 14 570 cm^-1 and Racah parameters of B=629 cm^-1 and C=3381 cm^-1. Infrared reflection spectra show two distinct OH-stretching frequencies, which could correspond to two structurally different types of OH groups. A band was also observed at 2250 cm^-1, suggesting the presence of molecular CO₂ in the large cation site. Analytical transmission electron microscopy indicates that Si occurs within the bernalite structure as well as along domain boundaries. Electron diffraction and imaging show that bernalite is polysynthetically twinned along {100} planes with twin domains ranging from 3 to 20 nm in thickness. Results are discussed with respect to the nature of the octahedral Fe³⁺ site, and compared with values for other iron oxides and hydroxides.     

Frequency distributions of transient regional climate change from perturbed physics ensembles of general circulation model simulations

Large ensembles of coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) simulations are required to explore modelling uncertainty and make probabilistic predictions of future transient climate change at regional scales. These are not yet computationally feasible so we have developed a technique to emulate the response of such an ensemble by scaling equilibrium patterns of climate change derived from much cheaper “slab” model ensembles in which the atmospheric component of an AOGCM is coupled to a mixed-layer ocean. Climate feedback parameters are diagnosed for each member of a slab model ensemble and used to drive an energy balance model (EBM) to predict the time-dependent response of global surface temperature expected for different combinations of uncertain AOGCM parameters affecting atmospheric, land and sea-ice processes. The EBM projections are then used to scale normalised patterns of change derived for each slab member, and hence emulate the response of the relevant atmospheric model version when coupled to a dynamic ocean, in response to a 1% per annum increase in CO₂. The emulated responses are validated by comparison with predictions from a 17 member ensemble of AOGCM simulations, constructed from variants of HadCM3 using the same parameter combinations as 17 members of the slab model ensemble. Cross-validation permits estimation of the spatial and temporal dependence of emulation error, and also allows estimation of a correction field to correct discrepancies between the scaled equilibrium patterns and the transient response, reducing the emulation error. Emulated transient responses and their associated errors are obtained from the slab ensemble for 129 pseudo-HadCM3 versions containing multiple atmospheric parameter perturbations. These are combined to produce regional frequency distributions for the transient response of annual surface temperature change and boreal winter precipitation change. The technique can be extended to any surface climate variable demonstrating a scaleable, approximately linear response to forcing.     

Efficacy of minnow traps for sampling mummichogs in tidal marshes

We evaluated two types of wire-mesh minnow traps for sampling mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus) from intertidal rivulets on the surface of a salt marsh. In field trials, mean catch (no. of fish trap⁻¹) did not differ significantly between trap types nor across soak times ranging from 30 to 240 min. Catch rate (no. of fish trap⁻¹ min⁻¹) was significantly (K-W ANOVA on ranked data, H_4df=24.79; p<0.001) greater at shorter soak times, and larger size classes (>45 mm TL) of fish were relatively more abundant (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, p<0.0001) in collections from double-funnel cylindrical traps (volume=10,330 cm³) compared to rectangular traps having about twice the volume and a single funnel cylindrical traps (volume=10,330 cm³) compared to rectangular traps having about twice the volume and a single funnel opening. We estimated entry and escape rates by adding marked fish to traps at initial densities of 30, 60, and 120 trap⁻¹ and measuring changes in the numbers of marked and unmarked fish in each trap type at soak times ranging from 15 to 120 min during the flood stage of the tidal cycle. Escape rate was almost, twice as great from the two-funnel cylindrical traps (0.77 fish min⁻¹) than from the single-funnel rectangular type (0.42 fish min⁻¹) but entry rates did not differ significantly (K-W ANOVA, H_4df=0.06; p=0.813) between trap types. Escape rate increased and entry rate decreased as fish density within traps was increased. Escape rates were highest immediately following immersion of the traps, but approached a constant value after 30 min. Trap-specific rates of entry and escape can be affected by a variety of factors including physical characteristics of different trap types, method and timing of trap deployment, and fish behavior. Catch data from minnow traps are unlikely to be useful in measuring relative abundance of mummichogs among habitats unless very short soak times (≤60 min) are used and calibration tests are performed. Use of longer soak times virtually ignores the dynamics involved in determining catch, and is unlikely to provide accurate information on either abundance or size distribution of mummichogs from tidal marsh habitats.     

Deformation of a young salt giant: regional topography of the Red Sea Miocene evaporites

The deformational behaviour of ‘salt giants’ during and shortly after their deposition is difficult to decipher in ocean margin settings where the original evaporites have been deeply buried and strongly mobilized. Here, we examine seismic reflection data from the Red Sea, where evaporites deposited until the end of the Miocene (~5.3 Ma), are generally covered by only 200–300 m of low‐density sediments and where the presence of an axial spreading centre allows us to observe how they have responded to a varied configuration of underlying basement. The regional morphology of the S‐reflection, representing the evaporite surface, is mapped out from seismic data from 13 cruises. The S‐reflection is locally rugged and commonly angular. It is either underlain by layered reflectivity, suggestive of layered evaporite beds, or by more transparent seismic character, suggestive of massive halite. On average, the depth of the reflection on the flanks of the axial rift systematically declines from 700 to 1100 m below sea level (mbsl) going northwards from 16 to 23°N. In the central Red Sea, the S‐reflection has 100‐ to 200‐m‐deep depressions, extending towards the coasts in places. In the southern Red Sea, the S‐reflection forms a surface at 300–800 mbsl that appears less disrupted. We suggest that the evaporites originally had a flat, horizontal surface at the end of the Miocene and have subsequently been distorted by isostatic effects and axial rifting, which in turn promoted evaporite flowage. Off‐axis evaporite depressions correspond with flows identified with multibeam sonar. Furthermore, across‐rift lows in Bouguer gravity anomalies represent valleys in the underlying basement. The off‐axis evaporite depressions overlie those valleys, as would be expected if halokinetic movements were greatest where the evaporites are locally thick, leading to deflation of the evaporite surface. The thickness of post‐Miocene sediment, also mapped out as part of this procedure, confirms the generally pelagic nature of this interval and increases on average from ~250 to 300 m from the central to the southern Red Sea, mimicking the variation in pelagic productivity observed in the present water column.