Effects of sample size on numerical estimates of diel prey consumption in a fish population

Numerical data based on stomach content analysis of the zooplanktivorous freshwater fish, Retropinna semoni, were used to examine the effect of fish sample size on mean counts of dominant prey items. Fifty adult R. semoni were collected from throughout the open‐water of Lake Benanee, Australia at each of five times over a diel period. Bootstrapping was used to generate confidence intervals around sample means, and markedly more accurate means were obtained from samples collected in the day than the night. High variation in night samples was the by‐product of a diurnal feeding regime. Traditional sample sizes of 10 to 15 stomachs resulted in reasonable confidence intervals of sample means derived from collections on the first day, corresponding to uniform feeding patterns in the population. However, increased sample sizes were required to describe more complex feeding behaviour on the second day, when a proportion of the population switched to an alternative prey source.     

The Contribution of Variability of Lift-induced Upwash to the Uncertainty in Vertical Winds Determined from an Aircraft Platform

Aircraft-based vertical flux measurements fill a gap in the spatial domain for studies of biosphere–atmosphere exchange. To acquire valid flux data, a determination of the deviation from the mean vertical wind, w′, is essential. When using aircraft platforms, flux measurements are subject to systematic and random errors from airflow distortion caused by the lift-induced upwash ahead of the aircraft. Although upwash is typically considered to be a constant quantity over periods used for calculating fluxes, it can vary significantly over short (and longer) periods due to changes in aircraft lift. The characterization of such variations in upwash are of undeniable importance to flux measurements, especially when real-time computations of w′ are required. In this paper, the variability in upwash was compared to the calculated upwash from the model of Crawford et al. (Boundary-Layer Meteorol, 80:79–94, 1996) using data taken during a long-period (phugoid mode) free oscillation of the aircraft. The cyclic variation of lift during the free oscillation offers an ideal scenario in which to acquire in-flight data on the upwash that is present, as well as to test the capability of upwash correction models. Our results indicate that while this model corrects for much of the mean upwash, there can be significant variations in upwash on a time scale that is important to flux measurements. Our results suggest that use of the measured load factor could be an easily implemented operational constraint to minimize uncertainty in w′ due to changing upwash from changing aircraft lift. We estimate, using the phugoid data, and from variations in aircraft attitude and airspeed in flux-measurement configuration, that the uncertainty in w caused by variable upwash is approximately ± 0.05 m s⁻¹.     

Determination of bulk density for small meteorite fragments via visible light 3‐D laser imaging

Abstract– Bulk density is an important intrinsic property of meteorites, but the necessary bulk volume measurement is difficult to do in a truly nondestructive way. Archimedean methods involving the displacement of a 40–100 μm beads “fluid” are commonly applied, but can encounter systematic errors. Herein, we report a visible light laser imaging technique for the nondestructive measurement of meteorite surface features, allowing for the subsequent assembly of 3‐D volumetric models; the method is particularly applicable to small meteorite fragments and to fragile specimens. We have acquired laser image data for 24 fragments from 18 ordinary chondrites, carbonaceous chondrites, and achondrites, with masses ranging from 265.0 to 1.2 g. Laser imaging bulk density is consistent between sister fragments of meteorites down to sizes of about 0.5 cm³, an order of magnitude smaller than can be reliably measured with Archimedean beads techniques. Uncertainty is less than 2% for fragments >4 cm³, and typically between 2 and 4% for small fragments <4 cm³. For 10 fragments, 3‐D laser imaging volumes are on average 1.3% smaller than those obtained with Archimedean beads. In a wider comparison using 21 meteorite fragments, 3‐D laser imaging bulk densities are on average 2.14 ± 2.36% greater than the corresponding Archimedean method literature values for these meteorites. Difficulties in the procedure of 3‐D image alignment may lead to a slight overestimation of meteorite bulk density, and so laser imaging‐based bulk densities are maximum estimates that can be viewed as being complementary to the minimum bulk density estimates obtained using Archimedean beads methods.     

Simple derivation of Symplectic Integrators with First Order Correctors

In this paper we consider almost integrable systems for which we show that there is a direct connection between symplectic methods and conventional numerical integration schemes. This enables us to construct several symplectic schemes of varying order. We further show that the symplectic correctors, which formally remove all errors of first order in the perturbation, are directly related to the Euler—McLaurin summation formula. Thus we can construct correctors for these higher order symplectic schemes. Using this formalism we derive the Wisdom—Holman midpoint scheme with corrector and correctors for higher order schemes. We then show that for the same amount of computation we can devise a scheme which is of order O(h ⁶)+(² h ²), where is the order of perturbation and h the stepsize. Inclusion of a modified potential further reduces the error to O(h ⁶)+(² h ⁴).This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Yohkoh observations of the creation of high-temperature plasma in the flare of 16 December 1991

Yohkoh observations of an impulsive solar flare which occurred on 16 December, 1991 are presented. This flare was a GOES M2.7 class event with a simple morphology indicative of a single flaring loop. X-ray images were taken with the Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT) and soft X-ray spectra were obtained with the Bragg Crystal Spectrometer (BCS) on board the satellite. The spectrometer observations were made at high sensivity from the earliest stages of the flare, are continued throughout the rise and decay phases, and indicate extremely strong blueshifts, which account for the majority of emission in Caxix during the initial phase of the flare. The data are compared with observations from other space and ground-based instruments. A balance calculation is performed which indicates that the energy contained in non-thermal electrons is sufficient to explain the high temperature plasma which fills the loop. The cooling of this plasma by thermal conduction is independently verified in a manner which indicates that the loop filling factor is close to 100%. The production of superhot plasma in impulsive events is shown to differ in detail from the morphology and mechanisms appropriate for more gradual events.     

Relaxation Oscillations in Tidally Evolving Satellites

We study the rotational evolution under tidal torques of axisymmetric natural satellites in inclined, precessing orbits. In the spin- and orbit-averaged equations of motion, we find that a global limit cycle exists for parameter values near the stability limit of Cassini state . The limit cycle involves an alternation between states of near-synchronous spin at low obliquity, and strongly subsynchronous spin at an obliquity near 90°. This dynamical feature is characterized as a relaxation oscillation, arising as the system slowly traverses two saddle-node bifurcations in a reduced system. This slow timescale is controlled by ε, the nondimensional tidal dissipation rate. Unfortunately, a straightforward expansion of the governing equations for small ε is shown to be insufficient for understanding the underlying structure of the system. Rather, the dynamical equations of motion possess a singular term, multiplied by ε, which vanishes in the unperturbed system. We thus provide a demonstration that a dissipatively perturbed conservative system can behave qualitatively differently from the unperturbed system. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.