High-Speed x-ray Jets Associated with the 18 June 1999 Limb Flares

Peculiar high-speed X-ray jets associated with the 18 June 1999 limb flares have directly been observed with the soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) aboard Yohkoh. The jets have a much shorter lifetime (within 200 s) and a much larger velocity (∼ 1700 km s⁻¹) than the previously reported jets. Judged from their large velocity, the kinetic energy of the jets is approximately one order of magnitude larger than the thermal energy content, which is far different from the jets previously reported by other researchers. Here we present the preliminary results and discuss the particular features of the jets. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1013324126229     

Active Region Coronal Rain Event Observed by the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph on the NST

The Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) is being operated on the New Solar Telescope of the Big Bear Solar Observatory. It simultaneously records spectra of Hα and Ca ii 8542 Å lines, and this dual-spectra measurement provides an estimate of the temperature and nonthermal speed components. We observed a loop structure in AR 11305 using the FISS, SDO/AIA, and STEREO/EUVI in 304 Å, and found plasma material falling along the loop from a coronal height into the umbra of a sunspot, which accelerated up to 80 km?s^?1. We also observed C2 and C7 flare events near the loop. The temperature of the downflows was in the range of 10?000?–?33?000 K, increasing toward the umbra. The temperature of the flow varied with time, and the temperature near the footpoint rose immediately after the C7 flare, but the temperature toward the umbra remained the same. There seemed to be a temporal correlation between the amount of downflow material and the observed C-class flares. The downflows decreased gradually soon after the flares and then increased after a few hours. These high-speed red-shift events occurred continuously during the observations. The flows observed on-disk in Hα and Ca ii 8542 Å appeared as fragmented, fuzzy condensed material falling from the coronal heights when seen off-limb with STEREO/EUVI at 304 Å. Based on these observations, we propose that these flows were an on-disk signature of coronal rain.     

Modelling water infiltration in cracked paddy field soil

Periodic paddy field flooding is a major source of groundwater recharge. Many paddy fields thus are used as groundwater recharge ponds after harvesting the first crop of the summer. Following rice harvesting, paddy field surfaces may crack into fissures as a result of drainage and exposure to sunlight. Field observation indicates that applying precipitation to the paddy field can increase the rate of infiltration. To quantitatively evaluate the amount of infiltration in a cracked paddy field, this study sets up a simple soil crack model to simulate the field infiltration process. A three‐dimensional groundwater model FEMWATER is adopted to simulate water movement in the paddy field subjected to various crack conditions. Using the field and laboratory data of irrigation water requirements, soil physical properties, hydraulic conductivities and soil profiles obtained from Ten‐Chung, FEMWATER simulates the water movement in the dry cracked paddy. Simulation results show that if the cracks develop extensively and penetrate the ploughed soil, the infiltration rate may increase significantly. The infiltration fluxes of crack with depths of 80, 60 and 27·5 cm are 18·77, 14·50 and 8·06 times higher than that of 20 cm, respectively. The simulation results of cracks with 80 cm depth correlated closely with field observations. The results of the study elucidate the processes of unsaturated water movement in a dry cracked paddy field. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geostatistical analysis and conditional simulation for estimating the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity in the Choushui River alluvial fan,Taiwan

This work evaluated the spatial variability and distribution of heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity (K) in the Choushui River alluvial fan in Taiwan, using ordinary kriging (OK) and mean and individual sequential Gaussian simulations (SGS). A baseline flow model constructed by upscaling parameters was inversely calibrated to determine the pumping and recharge rates. Simulated heads using different K realizations were then compared with historically measured heads. A global/local simulated error between simulated and measured heads was analysed to assess the different spatial variabilities of various estimated K distributions. The results of a MODFLOW simulation indicate that the OK realization had the smallest sum of absolute mean simulation errors (SAMSE) and the SGS realizations preserved the spatial variability of the measured K fields. Moreover, the SAMSE increases as the spatial variability of the K field increases. The OK realization yields small local simulation errors in the measured K field of moderate magnitude, whereas the SGS realizations have small local simulation errors in the measured K fields, with high and low values. The OK realization of K can be applied to perform a deterministic inverse calibration. The mean SGS method is suggested for constructing a K field when the application focuses on extreme values of estimated parameters and small calibration errors, such as in a simulation of contaminant transport in heterogeneous aquifers. The individual SGS realization is useful in stochastically assessing the spatial uncertainty of highly heterogeneous aquifers. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SDINS/GPS in-flight alignment using GPS carrier phase rate

The alignments of the strapdown inertial navigation system (SDINS) utilizing GPS carrier phase rate measurements is introduced. In this paper, a measurement model of GPS carrier phase rate under two antenna configurations is derived in order to be used for the SDINS alignment process. For in-flight alignment, the performance of the proposed SDINS/GPS integration method is analyzed using the covariance analysis and the overall performance is briefly confirmed by the navigation result of a van test. Furthermore, we find that during in-flight alignment the proposed SDINS/GPS integrated system using GPS carrier phase rate measurements can be implemented in real time because the integer ambiguity problem resulting from carrier phase measurements is avoided.     

Analysis of the shape effect on the axial performance of a waveform micropile by centrifuge model tests

A new type of micropile, the waveform micropile, has been developed to provide improved load-bearing capacity compared with that of a conventional micropile. The waveform micropile has a wave-shaped grout with a partially enlarged shear key formed by the jet grouting method on the cylindrical shaft of the micropile. Previous research has determined that the waveform micropile can be installed faster than the conventional micropile and that the bearing capacity increases as the wave-shaped grout provides additional shaft resistance between the ground and the grout. In this study, a series of centrifuge model tests were conducted on the waveform micropile model with various wave-shaped grouts to analyze the relationship between the arrangement of the shear key and the load-bearing mechanism of the waveform micropile. The load–settlement relationship and the load-transfer mechanism were analyzed based on the test results of six test micropiles, including three waveform micropiles with a single shear key at various depths, one waveform micropile with a multiple shear key along the pile depth, and two micropiles with only a cylindrical shape. The test results showed that the ultimate bearing capacity of the waveform micropile was over two times greater than that of the conventional micropile. The rate of increase in the bearing capacities of each waveform micropile differed with the shape of the shear key. Furthermore, the characteristics of the load-sharing ratio due to the shaft resistance and end bearing varied depending on the shape of the waveform micropiles.

     

A three‐dimensional transmitting boundary formulated in Cartesian co‐ordinate system for the dynamics of non‐axisymmetric foundations

A three‐dimensional transmitting boundary is formulated in the Cartesian co‐ordinate system. It is developed for the dynamic soil–structure interaction problems of arbitrary shape foundations in laterally heterogeneous strata overlying rigid bedrock. Dynamics of a rectangular rigid surface foundation on a homogeneous stratum is analysed by a hybrid approach in which the finite region including foundation is modelled by the conventional finite element method and the surrounding infinite region by the newly developed transmitting boundary. To demonstrate its strength, the present method is applied to a rectangular foundation in a horizontally heterogeneous ground consisting of two distinct regions divided by and welded along a vertical plane. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Near-surface soil stabilization by enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation for fugitive dust suppression

Acta Geotechnica - To resolve the environmental and sustainability issues from fugitive dust emission and conventional mitigation methods, multiple experiments were conducted to evaluate the...     

Metabolic plasticity of nitrogen assimilation by Porphyra umbilicalis (Linnaeus) Kützing

The physical stresses associated with emersion have long been considered major factors determining the vertical zonation of intertidal seaweeds.We examined Porphyra umbilicalis(Linnaeus) Kützing thalli from the vertical extremes in elevation of an intertidal population(i.e.upper and lower intertidal zones) to determine whether Porphyra thalli acclimate to different vertical elevations on the shore with different patterns of nitrate uptake and nitrate reductase(NR) and glutamine synthetase(GS) activities in response to different degrees of emersion stress.We found that the nitrate uptake and NR recovery in the emersed tissues took longer in lower intertidal sub-population than in upper intertidal sub-population;and GS activity was also significantly affected by emersion and,interestingly,such an activity was enhanced by emersion of thalli from both upper and lower intertidal zones.These results suggested that intra-population variability in post-emersion recovery of physiological functions such as nutrient uptake and NR activity enables local adaptation and contributes to the wide vertical distribution of P.umbilicalis.The high GS activity during periodic emersion stress may be a protective mechanism enabling P.umbilicalis to assimilate nitrogen quickly when it again becomes available,and may also be an evidence of photorespiration during emersion.     

Selecting suitable sites for mountain ginseng (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Panax ginseng</Emphasis>) cultivation by using geographically weighted logistic regression

With the well-being trends to pursue a healthy life, mountain ginseng (Panax ginseng) is rising as one of the most profitable forest products in South Korea. This study was aimed at evaluating a new methodology for identifying suitable sites for mountain ginseng cultivation in the country. Forest vegetation data were collected from 46 sites and the spatial distribution of all sites was analyzed using GIS data for topographic position, landform, solar radiation, and topographic wetness. The physical and chemical properties of the soil samples, including moisture content, pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, exchangeable cations, available phosphorous, and soil texture, were analyzed. The cultivation suitability at each site was assessed based on the environmental conditions using logistic regression (LR) and geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR) and the results of both methods were compared. The results show that the areas with northern aspect and higher levels of solar radiation, moisture content, total nitrogen, and sand ratio are more likely to be identified as suitable sites for ginseng cultivation. In contrast to the LR, the spatial modeling with the GWLR results in an increase in the model fitness and indicates that a significant portion of spatial autocorrelation in the data decreases. A higher value of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve presents a better prediction accuracy of site suitability by the GWLR. The geographically weighted coefficient estimates of the model are non-stationary, and reveal that different site suitability is associated with the geographical location of the forest stands. The GWLR increases the accuracy of selecting suitable sites by considering the geographical variations in the characteristics of the cultivation sites.