MULTI-DIMENSIONAL NUMERICAL STUDIES OF CONVECTION-RELATED STELLAR PROBLEMS

1　IntroductionManybottlenecksinthetheoreticalstudyofstellarevolutionarisefromthelackofunder standingofsomehighlycomplicatedprocessesthatcannotbetreatedwithanalyticaltech niques .Alargeportionoftheseprocessesisrelatedtohydrodynamics,particularlyconvec tion .Theapplicationofmultidimensionalnumericalcomputationstotheinvestigationofthesedifficultproblemshasmadegreatprogressinrecentyears .Here ,weprovideasurveyoftherecentnumericalstudiesofconvectionrelatedproblems.Theobjectiveistoassistthosewhoar…     

Grid resolution study of ground water flow and transport

Three-dimensional grids representing a heterogeneous, ground water system are generated at 10 different resolutions in support of a site-scale flow and transport modeling effort. These grids represent hydrostratigraphy near Yucca Mountain, Nevada, consisting of 18 stratigraphic units with contrasting fluid flow and transport properties. The grid generation method allows the stratigraphy to be modeled by numerical grids of different resolution so that comparison studies can be performed to test for grid quality and determine the resolution required to resolve geologic structure and physical processes such as fluid flow and solute transport. The process of generating numerical grids with appropriate property distributions from geologic conceptual models is automated, thus making the entire process easy to implement with fewer user-induced errors. The series of grids of various resolutions are used to assess the level at which increasing resolution no longer influences the flow and solute transport results. Grid resolution is found to be a critical issue for ground water flow and solute transport. The resolution required in a particular instance is a function of the feature size of the model, the intrinsic properties of materials, the specific physics of the problem, and boundary conditions. The asymptotic nature of results related to flow and transport indicate that for a hydrologic model of the heterogeneous hydrostratigraphy under Yucca Mountain, a horizontal grid spacing of 600 m and vertical grid spacing of 40 m resolve the hydrostratigraphic model with sufficient precision to accurately model the hypothetical flow and solute transport to within 5% of the value that would be obtained with much higher resolution.     

Blooms of the cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula in coastal Queensland, Australia: disparate sites, common factors

During the last decade there has been a significant rise in observations of blooms of the toxic cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula along the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Whether the increase in cyanobacterial abundance is a biological indicator of widespread water quality degradation or also a function of other environmental change is unknown. A bioassay approach was used to assesses the potential for runoff from various land uses to stimulate productivity of L. majuscula. In Moreton Bay, L. majuscula productivity was significantly (p<0.05) stimulated by soil extracts, which were high in phosphorus, iron and organic carbon. Productivity of L. majuscula from the Great Barrier Reef was also significantly (p<0.05) elevated by iron and phosphorus rich extracts, in this case seabird guano adjacent to the bloom site. Hence, it is possible that other L. majuscula blooms are a result of similar stimulating factors (iron, phosphorus and organic carbon), delivered through different mechanisms.     

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.     

An upgraded version of the Eta model

Upgrades implemented over a number of years in an open source version of the Eta model, posted at the CPTEC web site http://etamodel.cptec.inpe.br/, are summarized and examples of benefits are shown. The version originates from the NCEP’s Workstation Eta code posted on the NCEP web site http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/wrkstn_eta, which differs from the NCEP’s latest operational Eta by having the WRF-NMM nonhydrostatic option included. Most of the upgrades made resulted from attention paid to less than satisfactory performance noted in several Eta results, and identification of the reasons for the problem. Others came from simple expectation that including a feature that is physically justified but is missing in the code should help. The most notable of the upgrades are the introduction of the so-called sloping steps, or discretized shaved cells topography; piecewise-linear finite-volume vertical advection of dynamic variables; vapor and hydrometeor loading in the hydrostatic equation, and changes aimed at refining the convection schemes available in the Eta. Several other modifications have to do with the calculation of exchange coefficients, conservation in the vertical diffusion, and diagnostic calculation of 10-m winds. Several examples showing improved performance resulting from the dynamics changes are given. One includes a case of unrealistically low temperatures in several mountain basins generated by a centered vertical advection difference scheme’s unphysical advection from below ground, removed by its replacement with a finite-volume scheme. Another is that of increased katabatic winds in the Terra Nova Bay Antarctica region. Successful forecast of the severe downslope zonda wind case in the lee of the highest peaks of the Andes is also shown, and some of the recent successful verification results of the use of the upgraded model are pointed out. The code is used at numerous places, and along with setup information it is available for outside users at the CPTEC Eta web site given above.     

Downscaling of South America present climate driven by 4-member HadCM3 runs

The objective of this work is to evaluate climate simulations over South America using the regional Eta Model driven by four members of an ensemble of the UK Met Office Hadley Centre HadCM3 global model. The Eta Model has been modified with the purpose of performing long-term decadal integrations and has shown to reproduce “present climate”—the period 1961–1990—reasonably well when forced by HadCM3. The global model lateral conditions with a resolution of 2.5° latitude?×?3.75° longitude were provided at a frequency of 6?h. Each member of the global model ensemble has a different climate sensitivity, and the four members were selected to span the range of uncertainty encompassed by the ensemble. The Eta Model nested in the HadCM3 global model was configured with 40-km horizontal resolution and 38 layers in the vertical. No large-scale internal nudging was applied. Results are shown for austral summer and winter at present climate defined as 1961–90. The upper and low-level circulation patterns produced by the Eta-CPTEC/HadCM3 experiment set-up show good agreement with reanalysis data and the mean precipitation and temperature with CRU observation data. The spread in the downscaled mean precipitation and temperature is small when compared against model errors. On the other hand, the benefits in using an ensemble is clear in the improved representation of the seasonal cycle by the ensemble mean over any one realization. El Ni?o and La Ni?a years were identified in the HadCM3 member runs based on the NOAA Climate Prediction Center criterion of sea surface temperature anomalies in the Ni?o 3.4 area. The frequency of the El Ni?o and La Ni?a events in the studied period is underestimated by HadCM3. The precipitation and temperature anomalies typical of these events are reproduced by most of the Eta-CPTEC/HadCM3 ensemble, although small displacements of the positions of the anomalies occur. This experiment configuration is the first step on the implementation of Eta-CPTEC/HadCM3 upcoming experiments on climate change studies that are discussed in a companion paper.     

Downward longwave radiation estimates for clear and all-sky conditions in the Sertãozinho region of São Paulo, Brazil

The accurate estimate of the surface longwave fluxes contribution is important for the calculation of the surface radiation budget, which in turn controls all the components of the surface energy budget, such as evaporation and the sensible heat fluxes. This study evaluates the performance of the various downward longwave radiation parameterizations for clear and all-sky days applied to the Sertãozinho region in São Paulo, Brazil. Equations have been adjusted to the observations of longwave radiation. The adjusted equations were evaluated for every hour throughout the day and the results showed good fits for most of the day, except near dawn and sunset, followed by nighttime. The seasonal variation was studied by comparing the dry period against the rainy period in the dataset. The least square linear regressions resulted in coefficients equal to the coefficients found for the complete period, both in the dry period and in the rainy period. It is expected that the best fit equation to the observed data for this site be used to produce estimates in other regions of the State of São Paulo, where such information is not available.     

Quantitative evaluation of the biostratigraphic distribution of acanthomorphic acritarchs in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area, South China

Doushantuo acanthomorphic acritarchs are large morphologically complex organic-walled microfossils broadly constrained between the 635 Ma Nantuo glaciation and the 551 Ma Miaohe Biota. They are potential biostratigraphic tools for subdivision and correlation of the Ediacaran System in South China. However, major variations in sedimentary facies and stratigraphic thickness present challenges in understanding the spatial and temporal distribution of these acritarchs. Further, the distribution of acritarchs in the Doushantuo Formation is associated with the presence of early diagenetic chert and phosphate, implying a certain degree of preservational bias and/or environmental control. The purpose of this paper is to document the stratigraphic distribution of Doushantuo acritarchs and to quantitatively evaluate their biostratigraphic significance and possible taphonomic–environmental biases, based on high-resolution paleontological data from six sections over 100 km in the Yangtze Gorges area, South China.A total of 1082 acritarch fossils were recorded from 84 chert horizons in the six sections of the study area. These chert horizons are not uniformly distributed throughout the Doushantuo Formation, thus the presence/absence of early diagenetic chert does play a role in controlling the distribution of acritarchs. The sampled chert horizons can be grouped into two stratigraphic intervals in the lower and upper Doushantuo Formation, respectively, based on regional stratigraphic correlation. Quantitative analysis shows that the two intervals are distinct taxonomically and largely independent of taphonomic or facies controls. Thus, the two intervals can be regarded as assemblage biozones. The lower biozone (biozone 1) is numerically dominated by Tianzhushania spinosa (n = 587; 68.3%) and Meghystrichosphaeridium magnificum (n = 74; 8.6%), whereas the upper biozone (biozone 2) is dominated by Ericiasphaera rigida (n = 104; 47.1%) and Tianzhushania spinosa (n = 34; 14.1%). The three most common genera, Meghystrichosphaeridium, Tianzhushania, and Ericiasphaera, have been identified in all sections. Correspondence analysis (CA), detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), discriminant analysis (DA), and pairwise comparisons of samples (Spearman rank coefficient and Jaccard–Chao index), all consistently support biostratigraphic zonations. Thus, the distribution of the Doushantuo acanthomorphs is primarily controlled by biostratigraphic position of samples, with facies and taphonomic differences playing a secondary role. Our case study suggests that acanthomorphic acritarchs can offer a viable tool for regional correlation of the Ediacaran System.