Analysis of the Relationship Between the Solar X-Ray Radiation Intensity and the D-Region Electron Density Using Satellite and Ground-Based Radio Data

Increases in the X-ray radiation that is emitted during a solar X-ray flare induce significant changes in the ionospheric D region. Because of the numerous complex processes in the ionosphere and the characteristics of the radiation and plasma, the causal-consequential relationship between the X-ray radiation and ionospheric parameters is not easily determined. In addition, modeling the ionospheric D-region plasma parameters is very difficult because of the lack of data for numerous time- and space-dependent physical quantities. In this article we first give a qualitative analysis of the relationship between the electron density and the recorded solar X-ray intensity. After this, we analyze the differences in the relationships between the D-region response and various X-ray radiation properties. The quantitative study is performed for data observed on 5 May 2010 in the time period between 11:40 UT?–?12:40 UT when the GOES 14 satellite detected a considerable X-ray intensity increase. Modeling the electron density is based on characteristics of the 23.4 kHz signal emitted in Germany and recorded by the receiver in Serbia.     

Catalogue of ${>}\,55$ MeV Wide-longitude Solar Proton Events Observed by SOHO,ACE, and the STEREOs at ≈1${\approx}\,1$ AU During 2009 – 2016

Based on energetic particle observations made at \({\approx}\,1\) AU, we present a catalogue of 46 wide-longitude (\({>}\,45^{\circ}\)) solar energetic particle (SEP) events detected at multiple locations during 2009?–?2016. The particle kinetic energies of interest were chosen as \({>}\,55\) MeV for protons and 0.18?–?0.31 MeV for electrons. We make use of proton data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Energetic and Relativistic Nuclei and Electron Experiment (SOHO/ERNE) and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory/High Energy Telescopes (STEREO/HET), together with electron data from the Advanced Composition Explorer/Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (ACE/EPAM) and the STEREO/Solar Electron and Proton Telescopes (SEPT). We consider soft X-ray data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and coronal mass ejection (CME) observations made with the SOHO/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) and STEREO/Coronagraphs 1 and 2 (COR1, COR2) to establish the probable associations between SEP events and the related solar phenomena. Event onset times and peak intensities are determined; velocity dispersion analysis (VDA) and time-shifting analysis (TSA) are performed for protons; TSA is performed for electrons. In our event sample, there is a tendency for the highest peak intensities to occur when the observer is magnetically connected to solar regions west of the flare. Our estimates for the mean event width, derived as the standard deviation of a Gaussian curve modelling the SEP intensities (protons \({\approx}\,44^{\circ}\), electrons \({\approx}\,50^{\circ}\)), largely agree with previous results for lower-energy SEPs. SEP release times with respect to event flares, as well as the event rise times, show no simple dependence on the observer’s connection angle, suggesting that the source region extent and dominant particle acceleration and transport mechanisms are important in defining these characteristics of an event. There is no marked difference between the speed distributions of the CMEs related to wide events and the CMEs related to all near-Earth SEP events of similar energy range from the same time period.     

地理信息图库一体更新方法

地图与DLG数据的更新方式之间既有区别又有联系,在研究DLG数据增量更新及地图与DLG数据一体化管理的基础上,提出一种地理信息图库一体更新方法,以地理实体为单位进行几何、属性和地图表达信息组织管理,获取DLG数据的增量信息并对增量信息进行地图表达得到符号图形增量信息。最后通过试验数据验证了该方法的有效性,且其具有易于计算机实现、效率高、可扩展性强、适于地图与DLG数据一体化更新等优点。     

Isotopic offsets in throughfall and stemflow may have small effects on estimates of winter precipitation fractions

Forest canopies alter the amount and isotopic composition of precipitation reaching the forest floor. Thus retention, evaporation and transport processes in forest canopies, and their effects on water isotopes, are key to understanding forest water cycling. Using a two-year isotope dataset from a mixed beech/spruce forest in Zurich, Switzerland, we assessed the isotopic offsets between precipitation, throughfall and stemflow. We also analysed how these offsets affect estimates of the fraction of soil water that is derived from winter precipitation. Throughfall was typically enriched in heavy isotopes compared to precipitation, but isotopically lighter than stemflow, with average δ²H of −64.3 ‰, −59.9 ‰ and − 56.3 ‰ in precipitation, throughfall and stemflow, respectively. The differences between beech and spruce were rather small compared to the seasonal differences in precipitation isotopes. Isotopic offsets between precipitation and throughfall/stemflow were smaller during the spring and summer months (March through August) than during fall and winter (September through February). Bulk and mobile soil waters at 10 and 40 cm showed smaller seasonal variations than those in precipitation, throughfall and stemflow, and were isotopically lighter than recent precipitation, with the largest offsets occurring during the summer months (June through August) for bulk soil waters. Thus, bulk soil waters at both depths contain a mixture of precipitation from previous events and seasons, with over-representation of isotopically lighter winter precipitation. Mobile soil waters were more similar to recent precipitation than bulk soil waters were. Throughfall isotopes were slightly heavier than precipitation isotopes, resulting in different sinusoidal fits for seasonal isotopic cycles in precipitation and throughfall. These differences lead to small underestimates in the fraction of soil water originating from winter precipitation, when open-field precipitation rather than throughfall is used as the input data. Together our results highlight the importance of isotope measurements in throughfall and stemflow for the assessment of precipitation seasonality and water cycling across forested landscapes.     

Complex BSR pattern in the Yaquina Basin off Peru

The distribution of gas and gas hydrate within the central Yaquina Basin, a forearc basin at the Peru convergent margin, can be estimated from the interpretation of high-resolution reflection seismic data. The strongest bottom simulating reflector (BSR) is observed where the base of gas hydrate stability (BGHS) parallels strata. Where the BGHS crosscuts strata, only a small amount of gas is present beneath the BGHS. Anisotropic permeability plays a key role in controlling methane supply. Where present-day tectonic activity is observed, faults and, consequently, gas reach up to the seafloor where chemoherms formed. The warm fluids contort the BGHS and, consequently, the BSR is shifted upward. Increased heat flux and/or sediment interval velocity in this region is likely. Bright spots align beneath the actual BGHS and mark the depth of a paleo-BSR, which can be correlated with sedimentation of a particular sequence. There is clear evidence for free gas being present within the gas hydrate stability zone.     

Application of Natural Attenuation to Ground Water Contaminated by Phenoxy Acid Herbicides at an Old Landfill in Sjoelund, Denmark

Investigations of geology, hydrogeology, and ground water chemistry in the aquifer downgradient from Sjoelund Landfill, Denmark, formed the basis for an evaluation of natural attenuation as a remediation technology for phenoxy acid herbicides at the site. Concentrations of phenoxy acids were up to 65 μg/L in the ground water, primarily 4-chlor-2-methylphenoxypropionic acid (MCPP) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxypropionic acid (dichlorprop). Mass removal of the phenoxy acids was shown within 50 to 100 m of the landfill by calculation of contaminant fluxes passing transects at three distances. There was accordance between increasing oxygen concentrations and decreasing phenoxy acid concentrations with distance from the landfill, indicating that aerobic degradation was a major mass removal process. Presence of high concentrations of putative anaerobic phenoxy acid metabolites suggested that anaerobic degradation was also occurring. Laboratory degradation experiments using sediment and ground water from the aquifer supported aerobic and anaerobic degradability of MCPP at the site. It was concluded that natural attenuation may be applicable as a remedy for the phenoxy acids at the Sjoelund Landfill site, although uncertainties related to calculations of chloride and phenoxy acid fluxes at a complex site and identification of specific in situ indicators were encountered. Thus, there is a pronounced need for development and broader experience with evaluation tools for natural attenuation of phenoxy acids, such as specific metabolites, changes in enantiomeric fractions, compound-specific stable carbon isotope ratios, or microbial fingerprints.     

The Gaia Hypothesis: Conjectures and Refutations

The uncertainties surrounding global climate change provide ample evidence, if any were necessary, of the need for a whole-system view of the Earth. Arguably the most visible – and controversial – attempt to understand Earth as a system has been Lovelock's Gaia theory. Gaia has been a fruitful hypothesis generator, and has prompted many intriguing conjectures about how biological processes might contribute to planetary-scale regulation of atmospheric chemistry and climate. In many important cases, however, these conjectures are refuted by the available data. For example, Gaia theory predicts that the composition of the atmosphere should be tightly regulated by biological processes, but rates of carbon uptake into the biosphere have accelerated by only about 2% in response to the 35% rise in atmospheric CO₂ since pre-industrial times. Gaia theory would predict that atmospheric CO₂ should be more sensitively regulated by terrestrial ecosystem uptake (which is biologically mediated) than by ocean uptake (which is primarily abiotic), but both processes are about equally insensitive to atmospheric CO₂ levels. Gaia theory predicts that biological feedbacks should make the Earth system less sensitive to perturbation, but the best available data suggest that the net effect of biologically mediated feedbacks will be to amplify, not reduce, the Earth system's sensitivity to anthropogenic climate change. Gaia theory predicts that biological by-products in the atmosphere should act as planetary climate regulators, but the Vostok ice core indicates that CO₂, CH₄, and dimethyl sulfide – all biological by-products – function to make the Earth warmer when it is warm, and colder when it is cold. Gaia theory predicts that biological feedbacks should regulate Earth's climate over the long term, but peaks in paleotemperature correspond to peaks in paleo-CO₂ in records stretching back to the Permian; thus if CO₂ is biologically regulated as part of a global thermostat, that thermostat has been hooked up backwards for at least the past 300 million years. Gaia theory predicts that organisms alter their environment to their own benefit, but throughout most of the surface ocean (comprising more than half of the globe), nutrient depletion by plankton has almost created a biological desert, and is kept in check only by the nutrient starvation of the plankton themselves. Lastly, where organisms enhance their environment for themselves, they create positive feedback; thus Gaia theory's two central principles – first, that organisms stabilize their environment, and second, that organisms alter their environment in ways that benefit them – are mutually inconsistent with one another. These examples suggest that the further development of Gaia theory will require more deliberate comparison of theory and data.     

Insolation weathering and hygric dilatation: two competitive factors in stone degradation

In the natural environment, temperature and moisture are very important parameters in stone degradation. Therefore, on 28 samples from different lithologies (magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks) thermal and hygric expansion measurements were performed in order to constrain their behaviour related to environmental changes. It was shown that marbles, even those that are dolomitic, are sensitive to temperature impacts. For rocks with clay minerals the effect of temperature may be responsible for shrinking. Finally the amount of residual strain, i.e. the formation of microcracks due to temperature action controls the rate of stone degradation. For most sedimentary rocks no residual strain after heating was observed. In contrast to most magmatic and metamorphic low-porosity rocks, sedimentary rocks contain swelling minerals (like smectite and even phyllosilicates), which are very sensitive to hygric attacks. The cycles of wetting and drying, i.e. the natural environmental effects, may significantly control the deterioration velocity caused by hygric expansion.     

Long-term rates of chemical weathering and physical erosion from cosmogenic nuclides and geochemical mass balance

Quantifying long-term rates of chemical weathering and physical erosion is important for understanding the long-term evolution of soils, landscapes, and Earth's climate. Here we describe how long-term chemical weathering rates can be measured for actively eroding landscapes using cosmogenic nuclides together with a geochemical mass balance of weathered soil and parent rock. We tested this approach in the Rio Icacos watershed, Puerto Rico, where independent studies have estimated weathering rates over both short and long timescales. Results from the cosmogenic/mass balance method are consistent with three independent sets of weathering rate estimates, thus confirming that this approach yields realistic measurements of long-term weathering rates. This approach can separately quantify weathering rates from saprolite and from overlying soil as components of the total. At Rio Icacos, nearly 50% of Si weathering occurs as rock is converted to saprolite; in contrast, nearly 100% of Al weathering occurs in the soil. Physical erosion rates are measured as part of our mass balance approach, making it particularly useful for studying interrelationships between chemical weathering and physical erosion. Our data show that chemical weathering rates are tightly coupled with physical erosion rates, such that the relationship between climate and chemical weathering rates may be obscured by site-to-site differences in the rate that minerals are supplied to soil by physical erosion of rock. One can normalize for variations in physical erosion rates using the “chemical depletion fraction,” which measures the fraction of total denudation that is accounted for by chemical weathering. This measure of chemical weathering intensity increases with increasing average temperature and precipitation in data from climatically diverse granitic sites, including tropical Rio Icacos and six temperate sites in the Sierra Nevada, California. Hence, across a wide range of climate regimes, analysis of chemical depletion fractions appears to effectively account for site-to-site differences in physical erosion rates, which would otherwise obscure climatic effects on chemical weathering rates. Our results show that by quantifying rates of physical erosion and chemical weathering together, our mass balance approach can be used to determine the relative importance of climatic and nonclimatic factors in regulating long-term chemical weathering rates.     

Evaluation of the AMIP soil moisture simulations

The Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) conducted simulations by 30 different atmospheric general circulation models forced by observed sea surface temperatures for the 10-year period, 1979–1988. These models include a variety of different soil moisture parameterizations which influence their simulations of the entire land surface hydrology, including evaporation, soil moisture, and runoff, and their simulations of the energy balance at the surface. Here we compare these parameterizations, and evaluate their simulations of soil moisture by comparing them with actual observations of soil moisture, literally ground truth. We compared model-generated ‘data sets' and simulations of soil moisture with observations from 150 stations in the former Soviet Union for 1979–1985 and Illinois for 1981–1988. The spatial patterns, mean annual cycles, and interannual variations were compared to plant-available soil moisture in the upper 1 m of soil. The model-generated ‘data sets' are quite different from the observations, and from each other in many regions, even though they use the same bucket model calculation method. The AMIP model simulations are also quite different from each other, especially in the tropics. Models with 15-cm field capacities do not capture the observed large high latitude values of soil moisture. In addition, none of the models properly simulate winter soil moisture variations in high latitudes, keeping soil moisture constant, while observations show that soil moisture varies in the winter as much as in other seasons. The observed interannual variations of soil moisture were not captured by any of the AMIP models. Several models have large soil moisture trends during the first year or two of the AMIP simulations, with potentially large impacts on global hydrological cycle trends and on other climate elements. This is because the simulations were begun without spinning up the soil moisture to the model climatology. The length of time it took for each to reach equilibrium depended on the particular parameterization. Although observed temporal autocorrelation time scales are a few months, some models had much longer time scales than that. In particular, the three parameterizations based on the Simple Biosphere model (SiB) had trends in some regions for virtually the entire AMIP simulation period.