Challenges in global ballast water management

Ballast water management is a complex issue raising the challenge of merging international regulations, ship's specific configurations along with ecological conservation. This complexity is illustrated in this paper by considering ballast water volume, discharge frequency, ship safety and operational issues aligned with regional characteristics to address ecological risk for selected routes. A re-estimation of ballast water volumes gives a global annual level of 3500 Mton. Global ballast water volume discharged into open sea originating from ballast water exchange operations is estimated to approximately 2800 Mton. Risk based decision support systems coupled to databases for different ports and invasive species characteristics and distributions can allow for differentiated treatment levels while maintaining low risk levels. On certain routes, the risk is estimated to be unacceptable and some kind of ballast water treatment or management should be applied.     

Hydrogeological mapping as a basis for establishing site-specific groundwater protection zones in Denmark

The water supply in Denmark is based on high-quality groundwater, thus obviating the need for complex and expensive purification. Contamination from urban development and agricultural sources, however, increasingly threatens the groundwater resource. In 1995 the Danish Government thus launched a 10-point plan to improve groundwater protection. In 1998 this was followed by a decision to instigate spatially dense hydrogeological mapping of the groundwater resource within the 37% of Denmark designated as particularly valuable water-abstraction areas. The maps will be used to establish site-specific groundwater protection zones and associated regulation of land use to prevent groundwater contamination. Traditional mapping based solely on borehole data is too inaccurate for this purpose. The work will take 10 years and cost an estimated DKK 920 million, equivalent to 120 million euro (€). To fund this, consumers will pay a € 0.02 surcharge per m³ of drinking water during the 10-year period. This review of the Danish strategy to protect the groundwater resource demonstrates why dense mapping with newly developed geophysical measurement methods in large contiguous areas accords geophysics a highly central role in the forthcoming hydrogeological mapping. It is illustrated by examples of spatially dense, large-scale geophysical mapping carried out in the Aarhus area.

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Resumen El abastecimiento de agua en Dinamarca está basado en agua subterránea de alta calidad, evitando de esta manera la necesidad de una purificación compleja y cara. Sin embargo, la contaminación a través del desarrollo urbano y de fuentes agrícolas, ha incrementado la amenaza para el recurso de agua subterránea. Entonces en 1995 el gobierno lanzó un plan de 10 puntos para mejorar la protección del agua subterránea. Este fue seguido en 1998 por la decisión para promover una cartografía hidrogeológica espacialmente detallada, para el recurso agua subterránea dentro del 37% de las áreas de extracción consideradas por Dinamarca con una importancia especial. Los mapas serán usados para establecer zonas específicas de protección para puntos de agua subterránea y una regulación asociada al uso del territorio, para prevenir la contaminación del agua subterránea. La cartografía tradicional basada exclusivamente en datos de la perforación es muy inexacta para este propósito. Este trabajo tomará 10 años y costará aproximadamente DKK 920 millones, equivalentes a 120 millones de Euros (€). Para financiar esto los consumidores pagarán un sobreprecio de € 0.02 por m³ de agua potable durante un periodo de 10 años. Este análisis de la estrategia Danesa para proteger el recurso agua subterránea, demuestra porque la cartografía detallada, hecha con nuevos avances en métodos de medición geofísica, aplicados a grandes áreas aledañas, otorgan a la geofísica un papel altamente importante en el futuro de la cartografía hidrogeológica. Esto está ilustrado con ejemplos de cartografía geofísica a gran escala y espacialmente detallada, llevados a cabo en el área de Aarhus.

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Résumé Lalimentation en eau au Danemark suppose une haute qualité des eaux souterraines, en éliminant ainsi le coûteux processus dépuration. Néanmoins, la qualité des sources souterraines est menacée par la pollution provoquée par le développement urbain et agricole. En 1995 le gouvernement danois a lancé un plan en 10 points pour améliorer la protection des eaux souterraines. En 1999 ce plan a été suivi par la décision de promouvoir une cartographie hydrogéologique à grande densité sur 37% du territoire du Danemark où se trouvent des zones de captages importantes. Les cartes seront utilisées pour établir les zones de protection des eaux souterraines, en tenant compte des conditions locales du site ainsi que des règlements conjoints dutilisation des territoires, afin de prévenir la pollution des eaux souterraines. La cartographie traditionnelle, basée seulement sur les données des forages, est trop imprécise pour ce but. Les travaux vont durer 10 ans avec un coût estimé à 120 millions deuros (€). Pour ces travaux les consommateurs vont payer une surcharge de € 0.02 par m³ deau potable, ceci pendant 10 ans. Cette révision de la stratégie du Danemark concernant la protection des ressources en eaux souterraines a démontré les raisons pour lesquelles on a accordé un rôle central aux nouvelles méthodes géophysiques dans la future cartographie hydrogéologique de vaste régions. On présente un exemple de cartographie géophysique réalisée dans la région dAarhus.

     

Precipitation,temperature and wind in Norway: dynamical downscaling of ERA40

A novel downscaling approach of the ERA40 (ECMWF 40-years reanalysis) data set has been taken and results for comparison with observations in Norway are shown. The method applies a nudging technique in a stretched global model, focused in the Norwegian Sea (67°N, 5°W). The effective resolution is three times the one of the ERA40, equivalent to about 30 km grid spacing in the area of focus. Longer waves (<T42) in the downscaled solution are nudged towards the ERA40 solution, and thus the large-scale circulation is similar in the two data sets. The shorter waves are free to evolve, and produce high intensities of winds and precipitation. The comparison to observations incorporate numerous station data points of (1) precipitation (#357), (2) temperature (#98) and (3) wind (#10), and for the period 1961–1990, the downscaled data set shows large improvements over ERA40. The daily precipitation shows considerable reduction in bias (from 50 to 11%), and twofold reduction at the 99.9 percentile (from −59 to −29%). The daily temperature showed a bias reduction of about a degree in most areas, and relative large RMSE reduction (from 7.5 to 5.0°C except winter). The wind comparison showed a slight improvement in bias, and significant improvements in RMSE.     

Adaptation in integrated assessment modeling: where do we stand?

Adaptation is an important element on the climate change policy agenda. Integrated assessment models, which are key tools to assess climate change policies, have begun to address adaptation, either by including it implicitly in damage cost estimates, or by making it an explicit control variable. We analyze how modelers have chosen to describe adaptation within an integrated framework, and suggest many ways they could improve the treatment of adaptation by considering more of its bottom-up characteristics. Until this happens, we suggest, models may be too optimistic about the net benefits adaptation can provide, and therefore may underestimate the amount of mitigation they judge to be socially optimal. Under some conditions, better modeling of adaptation costs and benefits could have important implications for defining mitigation targets.     

New analysis of the Mössbauer spectra of olivine basalt rocks from Gusev crater on Mars

The Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, landed on 4 January 2004, in a lava field in Gusev crater on Mars. Samples interpreted as olivine basalt have been investigated with Mössbauer spectroscopy and chemically with Alpha-particle-X-ray spectrometry (APXS).In this contribution we present the results of a new analysis of the Mössbauer spectra of selected rock targets in Gusev crater. The results show that the rock surfaces investigated are inhomogeneous, and show strong enhancement of olivine in the surface layer. By subtraction of the surface signal to obtain the spectrum of the true interior of the rock samples, the measurements show the usual correlation between olivine and iron oxides of olivine basalt.It is argued that the compositional changes observed are related to high temperature oxidation of the rocks, probably during solidification, a process known to lead to anomalously magnetic rocks. The rock Mazatzal is discussed in some detail, and it is suggested that the surface is covered with deposits rich in ferric iron rather than these ferric phases being due to oxidation of the rock. The fact that all the surfaces in this investigation show this same pattern, suggests that the dominating erosion of the surface layer of basaltic rocks at Gusev crater has been mechanical rather than chemical.     

400 years of astrometry: from Tycho Brahe to Hipparcos

Galileo Galilei’s use of the newly invented telescope for astronomical observation resulted immediately in epochal discoveries about the physical nature of celestial bodies, but the advantage for astrometry came much later. The quadrant and sextant were pre-telescopic instruments for measurement of large angles between stars, improved by Tycho Brahe in the years 1570–1590. Fitted with telescopic sights after 1660, such instruments were quite successful, especially in the hands of John Flamsteed. The meridian circle was a new type of astrometric instrument, already invented and used by Ole Rømer in about 1705, but it took a hundred years before it could fully take over. The centuries-long evolution of techniques is reviewed, including the use of photoelectric astrometry and space technology in the first astrometry satellite, Hipparcos, launched by ESA in 1989. Hipparcos made accurate measurement of large angles a million times more efficiently than could be done in about 1950 from the ground, and it will soon be followed by Gaia which is expected to be another one million times more efficient for optical astrometry.     

Numerical Modeling of Nitrate Removal in Anoxic Groundwater during River Flooding of Riparian Zones

A numerical study demonstrates the effects of flooding on subsurface hydrological flowpaths and nitrate removal in anoxic groundwater in riparian zones with a top peat layer. A series of two-dimensional numerical simulations with changing conditions for flow (steady state or transient with flooding), hydrogeology, denitrification, and duration of flooding demonstrate how flowpaths, residence times, and nitrate removal are affected. In periods with no flooding groundwater flows horizontally and discharges to the river through the riverbed. During periods with flooding, shallow groundwater is forced upwards as discharge through peat layers that often have more optimal conditions for denitrification caused by the presence of highly reactive organic matter. The contrast in hydraulic conductivity between the sand aquifer and the overlying peat layer, as well as the flooding duration, have a significant role in determining the degree of nitrate removal.     

Subarctic catchment water storage and carbon cycling – Leading the way for future studies using integrated datasets at Pallas,Finland

Subarctic ecohydrological processes are changing rapidly, but detailed and integrated ecohydrological investigations are not as widespread as necessary. We introduce an integrated research catchment site (Pallas) for atmosphere, ecosystems, and ecohydrology studies in subarctic conditions in Finland that can be used for a new set of comparative catchment investigations. The Pallas site provides unique observational data and high-intensity field measurement datasets over long periods. The infrastructure for atmosphere- to landscape-scale research in ecosystem processes in a subarctic landscape has recently been complemented with detailed ecohydrological measurements. We identify three dominant processes in subarctic ecohydrology: (a) strong seasonality drives ecohydrological regimes, (b) limited dynamic storage causes rapid stream response to water inputs (snowmelt and intensive storms), and (c) hydrological state of the system regulates catchment-scale dissolved carbon dynamics and greenhouse (GHG) fluxes. Surface water and groundwater interactions play an important role in regulating catchment-scale carbon balances and ecosystem respiration within subarctic peatlands, particularly their spatial variability in the landscape. Based on our observations from Pallas, we highlight key research gaps in subarctic ecohydrology and propose several ways forward. We also demonstrate that the Pallas catchment meets the need for sustaining and pushing the boundaries of critical long-term integrated ecohydrological research in high-latitude environments.     

CoRoT/ESTA–TASK 1 and TASK 3 comparison of the internal structure and seismic properties of representative stellar models

We compare stellar models produced by different stellar evolution codes for the CoRoT/ESTA project, comparing their global quantities, their physical structure, and their oscillation properties. We discuss the differences between models and identify the underlying reasons for these differences. The stellar models are representative of potential CoRoT targets. Overall we find very good agreement between the five different codes, but with some significant deviations. We find noticeable discrepancies (though still at the per cent level) that result from the handling of the equation of state, of the opacities and of the convective boundaries. The results of our work will be helpful in interpreting future asteroseismology results from CoRoT.     

Foreground removal from CMB temperature maps using an MLP neural network

One of the main obstacles for extracting the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) signal from observations in the mm-submm range is the foreground contamination by emission from Galactic components: mainly synchrotron, free-free and thermal dust emission. Due to the statistical nature of the intrinsic CMB signal it is essential to minimize the systematic errors in the CMB temperature determinations. Following the available knowledge of the spectral behavior of the Galactic foregrounds simple power law-like spectra have been assumed. The feasibility of using a simple neural network for extracting the CMB temperature signal from the combined signal CMB and the foregrounds has been investigated. As a specific example, we have analysed simulated data, as expected from the ESA Planck CMB mission. A simple multilayer perceptron neural network with 2 hidden layers can provide temperature estimates over more than 80 per cent of the sky that are to a high degree uncorrelated with the foreground signals. A single network will be able to cover the dynamic range of the Planck noise level over the entire sky.