Use of SPOT 5 and IKONOS imagery for mapping biocenoses in a Tunisian Coastal Lagoon (Mediterranean Sea)

Mapping marine biocenoses is an efficient method for providing useful data for the management and conservation of Mediterranean lagoons. Fused images from two satellites, SPOT 5 and IKONOS, were tested as management tools for identifying specific ecosystems in the El Bibane lagoon, situated in southern Tunisia near the Libyan border. The objectives of this study were to provide a precise map of the entire El Bibane lagoon using fused images from SPOT 5 and to compare fused images from SPOT 5 and IKONOS over a test-area. After applying a supervised classification, pixels are automatically classified in four classes: low seagrass cover, high seagrass cover, superficial mobile sediments and deep mobile sediments. The maps of the lagoon revealed and confirmed an extremely wide distribution of seagrass meadows within the lagoon (essentially Cymodocea nodosa; 19 546 ha) and a large area of mobile sediments more or less parallel to the shore (3 697 ha). A direct comparison of overall accuracy between SPOT 5 over the entire area, SPOT 5 over the test-area and IKONOS over the test-area revealed that these tools provided accurate mapping of the lagoon environment (83.25%, 85.91% and 73.41% accuracy, respectively). The SPOT 5 images provided greater overall accuracy than the IKONOS image, but did not take into account the heterogeneous spatial structure of the seagrasses and sediments present in the lagoon environment. Although IKONOS imagery provided lower overall accuracy than SPOT 5, it proved a very useful tool for the mapping of heterogeneous structures as it enabled the patchiness of formations to be better taken into account. The use of SPOT 5 and IKONOS fused images appears to be very promising for completing the mapping of lagoons in other regions and countries of the Mediterranean Sea.     

象山港氮、磷营养盐环流和分布规律的研究

采用定点监测分析方法,研究了象山港狭湾内设置的六个固定站位1992-2007年时间段内的硝酸氮(NO3-N)、亚硝酸氮(NO2-N)、铵氮(NH4-N)和磷酸盐(PO4-P)浓度的监测数据,探讨了象山港狭湾内(122°00'E以西)氮、磷营养盐的环流和分布规律.结果表明,(1)除个别年份外,16年内硝酸氮、亚硝酸氮、铵氮和磷酸盐浓度的空间分布,从港顶1号站向港口6号站呈降低趋势,其中以PO4-P、NO2-N的降低趋势最为明显,而NH4-N的降低趋势相对较弱.(2)NO3-N的空间变化规律较为复杂,并且3号站的浓度往往达到最大值.(3)无论是平水期(4月)还是丰水期(7月),表层盐度均低于底层,而表层温度高于底层;盐度从港顶1号站向港口6号站递增,而温度递减.这种分布规律基本上可用余环流模式进行解释,但余环流输运并不是促使营养盐入海的唯一原因,潮振荡的垂向剪切造成的纵向弥散和潮混合亦对营养盐输运有重大贡献.(4)与1992年相比,2007年各站的NO3-N浓度几乎都增加了一倍,PO4-P浓度增幅更大,说明象山港的氮、磷污染与日俱增.     

Recovery of the Long Lost Minor Planet (843) Nicolaia after 65 Years (Astronomisches Rechen-Institut Heidelberg – Mitteilungen Serie B)

The long lost minor planet (843) Nicolaia was recovered with the 1 m ESO Schmidt telescope after 65 years. This was due to the careful examination of the old 1916 plates and the wellbalanced computation of search ephemerides. An improved orbit based on 19 right ascensions and 20 declinations from the two apparitions 1916 and 1981 is given.     

Phase transitions in perturbed stiff-fluid Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological models

We consider one-soliton perturbations of a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmological model, with an ideal fluid with pressure equal to the energy density (stiff fluid), in the case where the “pole trajectory” parameter is negative, introducing thereby singularities along certain null hypersurfaces. Starting with a metric that approaches asymptotically the FR W background, we show that it is possible to construct an extension through these hypersurfaces such that the energy momentum tensor T_ab is finite and satisfies the energy conditions. The extension is only C₁, providing a sort of “shock front” with continuity in T_ab, that has an associated phase transition from null dust to stiff fluid, the transition being of the form described by CHANDRASEKHAR and XANTHOPOULOS.     

Magnetic Lasso: A New Kinematic Solar Wind Propagation Method

Solar wind propagation from the point of measurement to an arbitrary target in the heliosphere is an important input for heliospheric, planetary and cometary studies. In this paper a new kinematic propagation method, the magnetic lasso method is presented. Compared to the simple ballistic approach our method is based on reconstructing the ideal Parker spiral connecting the target with the Sun by testing a previously defined range of heliographic longitudes. The model takes into account the eventual evolution of stream–stream interactions and handles these with a simple model based on the dynamic pressure difference between the two streams. Special emphasis is given to input data cleaning by handling interplanetary coronal mass ejection events as data gaps due to their different propagation characteristics. The solar wind bulk velocity is considered radial and constant. Density and radial magnetic field are propagated by correcting with the inverse square of the radial distance. The model has the advantage that it can be coded easily and fitted to the problem; it is flexible in selecting and handling input data and requires little running time.     

Charged isotropic model with conformal symmetry

We investigate the behaviour of a charged isotropic model with conformal symmetry. The relationship between the gravitational potentials arising from the conformal condition is used to generate a new class of exact solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations. A specific form of the electric field intensity and the metric potential is required to avoid a singularity at the centre. We can find simple elementary functions for the matter variables and the potentials with realistic profiles. The causality conditions, stability conditions and energy conditions are satisfied. Masses, radii, central densities and surface redshifts are generated, and the values are consistent with the compact stars 4U 1538-52 and PSR J1614-2230.     

On the Trajectories of Asteroid Encounters with the Earth for 2015 RN35 and Apophis

A great number of probable encounters of asteroid 2015 RN35 with the Earth have been found; many of them were unknown earlier. The main characteristics and properties of the corresponding trajectories have been obtained. Probable impacts of the asteroid Apophis with the Earth are also discussed. The results suggest that the multitudes of potential impacts of hazardous asteroids with the Earth can be and must be analyzed in more detail. Such an analysis is required to plan and implement the measures on preventing the asteroid impact hazard.     

Creating an isotopically similar Earth–Moon system with correct angular momentum from a giant impact

The giant impact hypothesis is the dominant theory explaining the formation of our Moon. However, the inability to produce an isotopically similar Earth–Moon system with correct angular momentum has cast a shadow on its validity. Computer-generated impacts have been successful in producing virtual systems that possess many of the observed physical properties. However, addressing the isotopic similarities between the Earth and Moon coupled with correct angular momentum has proven to be challenging. Equilibration and evection resonance have been proposed as means of reconciling the models. In the summer of 2013, the Royal Society called a meeting solely to discuss the formation of the Moon. In this meeting, evection resonance and equilibration were both questioned as viable means of removing the deficiencies from giant impact models. The main concerns were that models were multi-staged and too complex. We present here initial impact conditions that produce an isotopically similar Earth–Moon system with correct angular momentum. This is done in a single-staged simulation. The initial parameters are straightforward and the results evolve solely from the impact. This was accomplished by colliding two roughly half-Earth-sized impactors, rotating in approximately the same plane in a high-energy, off-centered impact, where both impactors spin into the collision.