Forecasting future changes in Manzala Lake surface area by considering variations in land use and land cover using remote sensing approach

This study assesses the changes in surface area of Manzala Lake, the largest coastal lake in Egypt, with respect to changes in land use and land cover based on a multi-temporal classification process. A regression model is provided to predict the temporal changes in the different detected classes and to assess the sustainability of the lake waterbody. Remote sensing is an effective method for detecting the impact of anthropogenic activities on the surface area of a lagoon such as Manzala Lake. The techniques used in this study include unsupervised classification, Mahalanobis distance supervised classification, minimum distance supervised classification, maximum likelihood supervised classification, and normalized difference water index. Data extracted from satellite images are used to predict the future temporal change in each class, using a statistical regression model and considering calibration, validation, and prediction phases. It was found that the maximum likelihood classification technique has the highest overall accuracy of 93.33%. This technique is selected to observe the changes in the surface area of the lake for the period from 1984 to 2015. Study results show that the waterbody surface area of the lake declined by 46% and the area of floating vegetation, islands, and land agriculture increased by 153.52, 42.86, and 42.35% respectively during the study period. Linear regression model prediction indicates that the waterbody surface area of the lake will decrease by 25.24% during the period from 2015 to 2030, which reflects the negative impact of human activities on lake sustainability represented by a severe reduction of the waterbody area.     

The layered structure of lunar maria: Identification of the HF-radar reflector in Mare Serenitatis using multiband optical images

Comparison of the Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) data to the Multiband Imager (MI) data is performed to identify the subsurface reflectors in Mare Serenitatis. The LRS is FM-CW radar (4–6 MHz) and the 2 MHz bandwidth leads to the range resolution of 75 m in a vacuum, whereas the sampling interval in the flight direction is about 75 m when an altitude of the spacecraft with polar orbit is nominal (100 km). Horizontally continuous reflectors were clearly detected by LRS in limited areas that consist of about 9% of the whole maria. The typical depth of the reflectors is estimated to be a few hundred meters. Layered structures of mare basalts are also discernible on some crater walls in the MI data of the visible bands (VIS). The VIS range has nine wavelengths of 415, 750, 900, 950, and 1000 nm, and their spatial resolution is 20 m/pixel at a nominal altitude. The stratigraphies around Bessel and Bessel-H craters in Mare Serenitatis are examined in this paper. It was revealed that the subsurface reflectors lie on the boundaries between basalt units with different chemical compositions. In addition, model calculations using the simplified radar equation indicate that the subsurface reflectors are not compositional interfaces but layer boundaries with a high-porosity contrast. These results suggest that the detected reflectors in Mare Serenitatis are regolith accumulated during so long hiatus of mare volcanisms enough for chemical composition of magma to change, not instantaneously. Therefore combination of the LRS and MI data has a potential to reveal characteristics of a series of magmatism forming each lithostratigraphic unit in Mare Serenitatis and other maria.     

A search for an industrial cluster in Japanese manufacturing sector: evidence from a location survey

This paper explores the result of a questionnaire survey on the location decision of new manufacturing plants from 1997 to 2004 and discovers an industrial cluster in Japan. More specifically, performing an exploratory factor analysis across 22 manufacturing industries, this study firstly summarizes agglomeration advantages as a latent location factor, secondly specifies the regional share of industries that emphasize the agglomeration factor, and thirdly identifies the location of industrial cluster based on the regional share. The major finding is that there exists such agglomeration factor, by which most Marshallian location advantages are represented, and the main industrial cluster consists of high-tech industries and spread over the suburb area between Tokyo and Aichi prefectures, where are most manufacturing capacity is concentrated.     

Cohesive zone length of metagabbro at supershear rupture velocity

We investigated the shear strain field ahead of a supershear rupture. The strain array data along the sliding fault surfaces were obtained during the large-scale biaxial friction experiments at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience. These friction experiments were done using a pair of meter-scale metagabbro rock specimens whose simulated fault area was 1.5 m?×?0.1 m. A 2.6-MPa normal stress was applied with loading velocity of 0.1 mm/s. Near-fault strain was measured by 32 two-component semiconductor strain gauges installed at an interval of 50 mm and 10 mm off the fault and recorded at an interval of 1 MHz. Many stick-slip events were observed in the experiments. We chose ten unilateral rupture events that propagated with supershear rupture velocity without preceding foreshocks. Focusing on the rupture front, stress concentration was observed and sharp stress drop occurred immediately inside the ruptured area. The temporal variation of strain array data is converted to the spatial variation of strain assuming a constant rupture velocity. We picked up the peak strain and zero-crossing strain locations to measure the cohesive zone length. By compiling the stick-slip event data, the cohesive zone length is about 50 mm although it scattered among the events. We could not see any systematic variation at the location but some dependence on the rupture velocity. The cohesive zone length decreases as the rupture velocity increases, especially larger than \( \sqrt{2} \) times the shear wave velocity. This feature is consistent with the theoretical prediction.     

Ionospheric and geomagnetic disturbances during the 2005 Sumatran earthquakes

This paper investigates the ionospheric and geomagnetic responses during the 28 March 2005 and 14 May 2005 Sumatran earthquakes using GPS and magnetometer stations located in the near zone of the epicenters. These events occurred during low solar and geomagnetic activity. TEC oscillations with periods of 5–10 min were observed about 10–24 min after the earthquakes and have horizontal propagation velocities of 922–1259 m/s. Ionospheric disturbances were observed at GPS stations located to the northeast of the epicenters, while no significant disturbances were seen relatively east and south of the epicenters. The magnetic field measurements show rapid fluctuations of 4–5 s shortly after the earthquake, followed by a Pc5 pulsation of 4.8 min about 11 min after the event. The correlation between the ionospheric and geomagnetic responses shows a good agreement in the period and time lag of the peak disturbance arrival, i.e. about 11–13 min after the earthquake.     

Seismic response control using electromagnetic inertial mass dampers

This paper presents a new type of electromagnetic damper with rotating inertial mass that has been developed to control the vibrations of structures subjected to earthquakes. The electromagnetic inertial mass damper (EIMD) consists of a ball screw that converts axial oscillation of the rod end into rotational motion of the internal flywheel and an electric generator that is turned by the rotation of the inner rod. The EIMD is able to generate a large inertial force created by the rotating flywheel and a variable damping force developed by the electric generator. Device performance tests of reduced‐scale and full‐scale EIMDs were undertaken to verify the basic characteristics of the damper and the validity of the derived theoretical formulae. Shaking table tests of a three‐story structure with EIMDs and earthquake response analyses of a building with EIMDs were conducted to demonstrate the seismic response control performance of the EIMD. The EIMD is able to reduce story drifts as well as accelerations and surpasses conventional types of dampers in reducing acceleration responses. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trace element concentrations in silicate spherules from oceanic sediments

The possible existence of meteoritic spherules was investigated among several silicate spherules separated from oceanic sediments and analyzed by means of INAA (instrumental neutron activation analysis).A 0.72 mg glassy spherule was found to have uniform enrichment of 4 ~ 5 for the refractory REE (rare earth elements) and Sc with substantial depletion of Ce relative to chondritic abundances. This implies that this spherule is meteoritic in origin and that the enrichment of refractory elements was established by high temperature heating in a high O/H environment, possibly at the time of entering the Earth's atmosphere.The other three analyzed spherules showed major and trace element abundances that are consistent with an origin in the oceanic environment.     

Moored instrument observations in the Kuroshio south of Kyushu

In each of the (fiscal) years 1979–1982, multilayer current measurements by means of moored instruments were carried out in the Kuroshio off Tanegashima Island, south of Kyushu, with particular interest in the baroclinic layer (0–1,000 m) of the intense current. Most of the moored instruments were in position for more than 30 days, the maximum duration being 145 days. This paper describes some noticeable features of the mean and fluctuation fields in the surface Kuroshio as inferred from the the new data sets.Vertical profiles of horizontal velocities show that the eastward current of the Kuroshio in the region is confined to the upper 600 m on average and below this level the mean current is directed to the southwest along the local isobaths. This is believed to be the first observation of the level of no motion in this region. It is argued that the indicated level of no motion would lead to much smaller values for the Kuroshio transport than previous values referred to the 1,000 m level — for example, earlier estimates by Nitani (1972).The fluctuation field in the upper intense current appears to be dominated by an organized motion with a time scale of about 30 days. This can be seen clearly in the time variations of water temperature and local volume transport, but less clearly in the velocity records. The horizontal transfer components of momentum and heat are calculated and it is suggested that the transverse momentum transfer, UV tends to be negative (offshore) in the region of anticyclonic shear of the upper Kuroshio; no evidence for a negative eddy viscosity effect is found.     

Downstream transition of the Tsushima Current west of Kyushu in summer

In order to clarify detailed current structures west of Kyushu, ADCP measurements were carried out in July and September 1990 by the quadrireciprocal method (Katoh, 1988) for removing diurnal and semidiurnal tidal flows from observed flows. On the basis of these results, together with data of routine oceanographic observations, we study the downstream transition of the Tsushima Current west of Kyushu in summer. In the southwest of the Goto Islands, a northward current identified as the Tsushima Current was clearly found. In the south of Cheju, a westward current bifurcated from the Tsushima Current. In the northwest of the Goto Islands, the Tsushima Current narrowed and its velocity became strengthened. Salinity of the Tsushima Current water was much diluted by a current from the Cheju Strait. Near the west coast of the Goto Islands, a countercurrent bifurcating from the Tsushima Current often occurred. The volume transport of the Tsushima Current was 2.3 Sv (1 Sv=10⁶ m³s^–1) on the northern side of latitude 31°N. The substantial bifurcation of the Tsushima Current toward the Eastern and Western Channels of the Tsushima Strait occurred in the vicinity of Tsushima. The volume transport through the Western Channel was two to three times larger than that through the Eastern Channel. The baroclinic component in volume transport of the Tsushima Current west of Kyushu was much smaller than that in the Japan Sea.