Resolution of Seamount Geoid Anomalies Achieved by the SARAL/AltiKa and Envisat RA2 Satellite Radar Altimeters

The resolution of seamount geoid anomalies by the SARAL/AltiKa Ka-band radar altimeter is compared with the Envisat RA2 Ku-band altimeter using cross-spectral analysis of exact-repeat profiles. Noise spectra show white noise floors at root-mean-square levels around 8 mm per root-Hz for AltiKa and 19 mm per root-Hz for RA2, and are colored at wavelengths longer than a few km, with a spectral hump similar to that seen in Jason-2 data. The AltiKa noise level is lower than the RA2 noise level by more than one would expect from the ratio of their pulse repetition frequencies. Large outliers are present in data from both altimeters, always of one sign (range too long), and show little correlation with rain or other error flags. Seamount anomaly signal to noise ratios are 30 to 10 dB for AltiKa and 3 to 8 dB less for RA2, decreasing as seamount size decreases. Seamounts as small as 1.35 km tall are resolved by both instruments, with significantly better performance by AltiKa due to its lower noise level. If AltiKa can fly a geodetic mission, it will find many presently unknown seamounts.     

Saldanha Bay,South Africa II: estimating bay productivity

Saldanha Bay is a narrow-mouth bay on the west coast of South Africa linked to the southern Benguela upwelling system. Bay productivity was investigated by use of the conventional light-and-dark bottle oxygen method, and, for comparison, through assimilation of the stable isotope tracer ¹³C. Gross community production GCP and net community production NCP, as determined from the oxygen method, were respectively 2.6 and 2.4 times higher than estimates determined from the stable isotope method. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations increased with the onset of spring and well-defined subsurface maxima developed in association with increasingly stratified conditions (mean water column Chl a concentrations ranged from 5.4 to 31.5?mg m^?3 [mean 15.5?mg m^?3; SD 7.6]). A sharp decline in photosynthetic rates P* (GCP normalised to Chl a concentration) with depth was attributed to light limitation, as demonstrated by the high vertical attenuation coefficients for downward irradiance K_d, which varied from 0.29 to 0.70?m^?1 (mean 0.48?m^?1; SD 0.12). Productivity maxima were consequently near-surface despite the presence of deeper subsurface biomass maxima. The community compensation depth Z_cc, where gross community production balances respiratory carbon loss for the entire community, ranged from 2.9 to 9.2?m (mean 5.8?m; SD 2.2), and was typically shallower than the 1% light depth for PAR (photosynthetically available radiation), Z1%PAR, which is traditionally assumed to be the depth of the euphotic zone and which ranged from 6.6 to 15.9?m (mean 9?m; SD 2.6). Autotrophic communities, where organic matter is produced in excess of respiratory demand, were confined on average to the upper 5.8?m of the water column, and often excluded the bulk of the phytoplankton community, where light limitation is considered to lead to heterotrophic community metabolism. Estimates of integrated water column productivity ranged from 0.84 to 8.46?g C m–2 d^?1 (mean 3.35?g C m^?2 d^?1; SD 1.9).     

Bonemapping: a LiDAR processing and visualization technique in support of archaeology under the canopy

For the past decade, archaeologists have been using LiDAR or Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS)-based methods to uncover trace signatures of human civilization in the landscape. A new technique called bonemapping involves processing the ALS data to create a map-like representation of the landscape, which aids in the detection and interpretation of traces of human settlement. The technique is a combination of two methods – the Simple Morphological Filter (SMRF) for ALS processing and the Perceptually Shaded Slope Map (PSSM) for ALS representation – and is used to represent subtle changes in the terrain that are often indicative of previous human settlement. The SMRF algorithm adds value by retaining more “feature” cells than comparable terrain-finding algorithms, and is easy to tune through the use of two intuitive parameters – a slope threshold and a window size. The PSSM visualization is then used to apply a vertical exaggeration-based slope shading, which has proven useful as an aid to rapid feature detection, identification, and interpretation. The findings of two years of field use of bonemapping by archaeologists at El Pilar demonstrate the ways in which the bonemap offers a value-added perspective to archaeology under the canopy.     

Temporal trends of mercury in marine biota of west and northwest Greenland

Temporal trends in mercury concentrations ([Hg]) during the last two to three decades were determined in liver of shorthorn sculpin, ringed seal and Atlantic walrus from northwest Greenland (NWG, 77 degrees N) and in liver of shorthorn sculpin and ringed seal from central west Greenland (CWG, 69 degrees N) during the last decade. Stable-nitrogen (delta(15)N) and carbon (delta(13)C) isotope values were determined in muscle of ringed seals to provide insight into potential trophic level changes through time. Log-linear regressions on annual median [Hg] did not reveal any temporal trend in shorthorn sculpin from CWG and NWG and walrus from NWG. In ringed seals from NWG, an increase in [Hg] of 7.8% per year was observed. When based on delta(15)N-adjusted [Hg] this rate increased to 8.5% but was still non-significant. In ringed seal from CWG no trend was found in [Hg] during the period 1994-2004. However, during the last part of the period (1999-2004) the [Hg] increased significantly. Including tissue delta(15)N values as a covariate had a marked effect on these results. The annual changes in delta(15)N-adjusted [Hg] was estimated to -5.0% for the whole period and 2.2% during the last 5 years compared to -1.3% and 12.4%, respectively, for the non-adjusted [Hg].     

Ecological consequences of dredged material disposal in the marine environment: a holistic assessment of activities around the England and Wales coastline

This study provides a holistic perspective on the ecological effects of dredged material disposal, both intertidally and subtidally. A number of numerical techniques (univariate, distributional, multivariate and meta-analysis) were used to assess impacts at 18 different disposal sites. The analyses revealed that ecological effects associated with dredged material disposal were dependent on the numerical techniques used, and that impacts were disposal-site specific. Disposal-site communities were generally faunistically impoverished to varying degrees, and impacts following intertidal placement were comparable to those of subtidal placement. We conclude that any assessment of the consequences of dredged material disposal to the coastal environment must take account of site-specific variation in prevailing hydrographic regimes and in ecological status, along with information on the disposal activity itself (mode, timing, quantity, frequency and type of material). As would be expected, variability in the latter presents a significant challenge in attempts to generalise about environmental and ecological impacts.     

Orbit determination of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

We present the results on precision orbit determination from the radio science investigation of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft. We describe the data, modeling and methods used to achieve position knowledge several times better than the required 50–100 m (in total position), over the period from 13 July 2009 to 31 January 2011. In addition to the near-continuous radiometric tracking data, we include altimetric data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) in the form of crossover measurements, and show that they strongly improve the accuracy of the orbit reconstruction (total position overlap differences decrease from ~70 m to ~23 m). To refine the spacecraft trajectory further, we develop a lunar gravity field by combining the newly acquired LRO data with the historical data. The reprocessing of the spacecraft trajectory with that model shows significantly increased accuracy (~20 m with only the radiometric data, and ~14 m with the addition of the altimetric crossovers). LOLA topographic maps and calibration data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera were used to supplement the results of the overlap analysis and demonstrate the trajectory accuracy.     

Orbital stability of systems of closely-spaced planets

An investigation of the stability of systems of 1 M_⊕ (Earth-mass) bodies orbiting a Sun-like star has been conducted for virtual times reaching 10 billion years. For the majority of the tests, a symplectic integrator with a fixed timestep of between 1 and 10 days was employed; however, smaller timesteps and a Bulirsch-Stoer integrator were also selectively utilized to increase confidence in the results. In most cases, the planets were started on initially coplanar, circular orbits, and the longitudinal initial positions of neighboring planets were widely separated. The ratio of the semimajor axes of consecutive planets in each system was approximately uniform (so the spacing between consecutive planets increased slowly in terms of distance from the star). The stability time for a system was taken to be the time at which the orbits of two or more planets crossed. Our results show that, for a given class of system (e.g., three 1 M_⊕ planets), orbit crossing times vary with planetary spacing approximately as a power law over a wide range of separation in semimajor axis. Chaos tests indicate that deviations from this power law persist for changed initial longitudes and also for small but non-trivial changes in orbital spacing. We find that the stability time increases more rapidly at large initial orbital separations than the power-law dependence predicted from moderate initial orbital separations. Systems of five planets are less stable than systems of three planets for a specified semimajor axis spacing. Furthermore, systems of less massive planets can be packed more closely, being about as stable as 1 M_⊕ planets when the radial separation between planets is scaled using the mutual Hill radius. Finally, systems with retrograde planets can be packed substantially more closely than prograde systems with equal numbers of planets.