Impact of anthropogenic drivers on subaqueous topographical change in the Datong to Xuliujing reach of the Yangtze River

Changes of subaqueous topography in shallow offshore water pose safety risks for embankments,navigation,and ports.This study conducted measurements of subaqueous topography between Datong and Xuliujing in the Yangtze River using a Sea Bat 7125 multi-beam echo sounder,and the channel change from 1998 to 2013 was calculated using historical bathymetry data.The study revealed several important results:(1)the overall pattern of changes through the studied stretch of the river was erosion–deposition–erosion.Erosion with a volume 700×10~6m~3occurred in the upper reach,deposition of about 204×10~6m~3occurred in the middle reach,and erosion of about 602×10~6m~3occurred in the lower reach.(2)Dunes are the most common microtopographic feature,accounting for 64.3%of the Datong to Xuliujing reach,followed by erosional topography and flat river topography,accounting for 27.6%and 6.6%,respectively.(3)Human activities have a direct impact on the development of the microtopography.For instance,the mining of sand formed holes on the surface of dunes with lengths of 20–35 m and depths of 3–5 m.We concluded that the overall trend of erosion(net erosion volume of 468×10~6m~3)occurred in the study area mainly because of the decreased sediment discharge following the closure of the Three Gorges Dam.However,other human activities were also impact factors of topographic change.Use of embankments and channel management reduced channel width,restricted river meandering,and exacerbated the erosion phenomenon.     

Sensitivity study of the seasonal mean circulation in the northern South China Sea

A study of the circulation in the northern South China Sea （SCS） is carried out with the aid of a three-dimensional, high-resolution regional ocean model. One control and two sensitivity experiments are performed to qualitatively investigate the effects of surface wind forcing, Kuroshio intrusion, and bottom topographic influence on the circulation in the northern SCS. The model results show that a branch of the Kuroshio in the upper layer can intrude into the SCS and have direct influence on the circulation over the continental shelf break in the northern SCS. There are strong southward pressure gradients along a zonal belt largely seaward of the continental slope. The pressure gradients are opposite in the southern and northern parts of the Luzon Strait, indicating inflow and outflow through the strait, respectively. The sensitivity experiments suggest that the Kuroshio intrusion is responsible for generating the imposed pressure head along the shelf break and has no obvious seasonal variations. The lateral forcing through the Luzon Strait and Taiwan Strait can induce the southwestward slope current and the northeastward SCS Warm Current in the northern SCS. Without the lateral forcing, there is the continental slope. The wind forcing mainly causes the The wind-induced water pile-up results in the southward no high-pressure-gradient zonal belt seaward of seasonal variation of the circulation in the SCS. high pressure gradient along the northwestern boundary of the basin. Without the blocking of the plateau around Dongsha Islands, the intruded Kuroshio tends to extend northwest and the SCS branch of the Kuroshio becomes wider and stronger. The analyses presented here are qualitative in nature but should lead to a better understanding of the oceanic responses in the northern SCS to these external influence factors.     

Some Insights into Topographic,Elastic and Self-gravitation Interaction in Modelling Ground Deformation and Gravity Changes in Active Volcanic Areas

Surface displacements and gravity changes due to volcanic sources are influenced by medium properties. We investigate topographic, elastic and self-gravitation interaction in order to outline the major factors that are significant in data modelling. While elastic-gravitational models can provide a suitable approximation to problems of volcanic loading in areas where topographic relief is negligible, for prominent volcanoes the rough topography could affect deformation and gravity changes to a greater extent than self-gravitation. This fact requires the selection, depending on local relief, of a suitable model for use in the interpretation of surface precursors of volcanic activity. We use the three-dimensional Indirect Boundary Element Method to examine the effects of topography on deformation and gravity changes in models of magma chamber inflation/deflation. Topography has a significant effect on predicted surface deformation and gravity changes. Both the magnitude and pattern of the geodetic signals are significantly different compared to half-space solutions. Thus, failure to account for topographic effects in areas of prominent relief can bias the estimate of volcanic source parameters, since the magnitude and pattern of deformation and gravity changes depend on such effects.     

Organic structure and possible origin of ancient charred paddies at Chuodun Site in southern China

A number of ancient charred paddies with a ¹⁴C dating of about 5900 a BP were recovered in the sixth excavation at Chuodun Site and are assigned to the Majiabang culture (7–6 ka BP). To understand their formation mechanism, the ancient charred paddies were compared to modern paddies using FT-IR spectrum and thermaogravimetric analysis. At the same time, modern charred paddies were made in helium by the laboratory method, and the structural characteristics of them and the ancient ones were revealed using CP/MAS-¹³C-NMR. Our results show there are more aromatic moieties in ancient charred paddies compared to modern paddies. The aliphatic components of modern charred paddies decrease continuously, accompanied by the accumulation of aromatic components, when the duration and temperature of oxidation increase, and the structure buildings of modern charred paddies are more similar to ancient ones. Given the planting manner of paddies during Majiabang culture period, these ancient charred paddies might be a result of the original farming mode involving fire. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40571088)     

Absorption properties of urban/suburban aerosols in China

The broadband diffuse radiation method is improved to retrieve the aerosol refractive index imaginary part （AIP） and broadband （400-1000 nm mean） single scattering albedo （SSA）. In this method, four sets of SSA selection criteria are proposed for quality control. The method is used to retrieve AIP, SSA and absorptive optical thickness （AbOT） from routine hourly-exposed pyrheliometer and paranometer measurements over 11 sites （meteorological observatories） in China during 1998-2003. Apart from one suburban site （Ejin Qi）, the other urban sites are all located around big or medium cities. As shown in the retrieval results, annual mean SSA during 1998-2003 changes from 0.941 （Wuhan） to 0.849 （Lanzhou）, and AIP from 0.0054 to 0.0203. The 11-site average annual mean SSA and AIP are 0.898 and 0.0119, respectively. SSA during winter is smaller for most sites. There is an evidently positive correlation between SSA and aerosol optical thickness （AOT） for all sites. There is also a positive correlation between SSA and relative humidity for most sites, but a negative correlation for a few sites, such as Kashi and ǚrǚmqi in Northwest China.     

On the Association between Spring Arctic Sea Ice Concentration and Chinese Summer Rainfall： A Further Study

In our previous study,a statistical linkage between the spring Arctic sea ice concentration(SIC)and the succeeding Chinese summer rainfall during the period 1968–2005 was identified.This linkage is demonstrated by the leading singular value decomposition(SVD)that accounts for 19%of the co-variance.Both spring SIC and Chinese summer rainfall exhibit a coherent interannual variability and two apparent interdecadal variations that occurred in the late 1970s and the early 1990s.The combined impacts of both spri...     

Tropospheric NO2 Columns over Northeastern North America： Comparison of CMAQ Model Simulations with GOME Satellite Measurements

We present comparisons of the NO2 regional Chemical Transport Model （CTM） simulations over North-eastern North America during the time period from May to September, 1998 with hourly surface NO2 observations and the NO2 columns retrieved from the GOME （Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment） satellite instrument. The model calculations were performed using the Mesoscale Meteorological Model 5 （MM5）, Sparse Matrix Operator Kernal Emissions （SMOKE）, and Community Multiscale Air Quality （CMAQ） modeling systems, using the emission data from the National Emissions Inventory （NEI） databases of 1996 （U.S.） and 1995 （Canada）. The major objectives were to assess the performance of the CMAQ model and the accuracy of the emissions inventories as they affected the simulations of this important short-lived atmospheric species. The modeled （NcMAQ） and measured （NGOME） NO2 column amounts, as well as their temporal variations, agreed reasonably well. The absolute differences （NcMAQ-NGOME） across the domain were between ±3.0×10^15 molecules cm^-2, but they were less than ±1.0×10^15 molecules cm^-2 over the majority （80%） of the domain studied. The overall correlation coefficient between the measurements and the simulations was 0.75. The differences were mainly ascribed to a combination of inaccurate emission data for the CTM and the uncertainties in the GOME retrievals. Of these, the former were the more easily identifiable.     

Roles of Mesoscale Terrain and Latent Heat Release in Typhoon Precipitation： A Numerical Case Study

The mesoscale orographic effects on typhoon Aere＇s precipitation are simulated using an Advanced Regional Eta-coordinate Model （AREM） version 3.0. In particular, the effects of the latent heat release are studied by two comparable experiments： with and without condensational heating. The results show that the typhoon rainfall is tripled by the southeastern China mesoscale terrain, and the condensational heating is responsible for at least half of the increase. One role of the latent heat release is to warm the atmosphere, leading to a depression of the surface pressure, which then causes a larger pressure difference in the zonal direction. This pressure gradient guides the water vapour to flow into the foothills, which in turn amplifies the water vapour flux divergence amplified, causing the typhoon rainfall to increase eventually. The other role of the latent heat release is to make the convection more organized, resulting in a relatively smaller rain area and stronger precipitation.     

Reductions of PM<Subscript>2.5</Subscript> in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomerations during the 2008 Olympic Games

The Atmospheric Environmental Monitoring Network successfully undertook the task of monitoring the atmospheric quality of Beijing and its surrounding area during the 2008 Olympics.The results of this monitoring show that high concentrations of PM2.5 pollution exhibited a regional pattern during the monitoring period(1 June-30 October 2008).The PM2.5 mass concentrations were 53 μg m 3,66 μg m 3,and 82 μg m 3 at the background site,in Beijing,and in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomerations,respectively.The PM2.5 levels were lowest during the 2008 Olympic Games(8-24 August):35 μg m 3 at the background site,42 μg m 3 in Beijing and 57 μg m 3 in the region.These levels represent decreases of 49%,48%,and 56%,respectively,compared to the prophase mean concentration before the Olympic Games.Emission control measures contributed 62%-82% of the declines observed in Beijing,and meteorological conditions represented 18%-38%.The concentration of fine particles met the goals set for a "Green Olympics."     

旋转流地转适应过程与能量转换规律

利用一维线性浅水模式从一个比较普遍的角度对地转适应过程中能量转换的特点进行分析。中首先考虑了两类不同的初始不平衡流的适应问题。一个是Gill所采用的质量不平衡模型，即初始场是静止的，只有水面扰动；另一个是Rossby中所考虑的动量不平衡模型，其初始不平衡流中只有风场的扰动，对这两个模型的适应过程而言，一个显的 特点就是能量转换率始终不会大于1／2或小于0，即适应过程中有位（动）能的释放和向动（位）能的转换，但释放出的能量最多只有其中的一半可以保留在最后的平衡场中。另外，本对任意初始不平衡流适应过程中的能量学特征也进行了分析，指出对于偏差场（相对于一定基本态）的动能和位能而言，上述能量转换关系依然成立。