Jupiter's hydrocarbon polar brightening: Discovery of 3-micron line emission from south polar CH4, C2H2, and C2H6

Jupiter exhibits bright H⁺₃ auroral arcs at 3-4 microns that cool the hot (>1000 K) ionosphere above the ∼¹⁰−7 bar level through the infrared bands of this trace constituent. Below the ¹⁰−7 bar level significant cooling proceeds through infrared active bands of CH₄, C₂H₂, and C₂H₆. We report the discovery of 3-micron line emission from these hydrocarbon species in spectra of the jovian south polar region obtained on April 18 and 20, 2006 (UT) with CGS4 on the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. Estimated cooling rates through these molecules are 7.5×¹⁰−3, 1.4×¹⁰−3, and , respectively, for a total nearly half that of H⁺₃. We derive a temperature of 450 ± 50 K in the ¹⁰−7-¹⁰−5 bar region from the C₂H₂ lines.     

Measurement of the deformation of sand in a plane strain compression experiment using incremental digital image correlation

Acta Geotechnica - This work presents the results from a series of plane strain compression experiments on medium-density sands. In these experiments, a new type of plane strain experimental...     

城市规划对大气环境变化及空气质量的影响

采用北京大学三维复杂地形中尺度数值模式,利用Landsat-TM卫星影像图和"北京海淀区北部地区总体规划--用地规划图",分别模拟了北京海淀区北部规划完成后和目前情况下的气象场和大气环境,并分析了规划区的建成对本地和整个海淀区的影响.通过将观测的直径小于10 μm的粒子即PM10总量加权分配得到源强分布,计算海淀区的PM10浓度分布,在目前源强分布调查很困难的情况下不失为一种较为合理可行的方法.试验表明规划区的建成会增加当地和其下风方向的热岛强度和PM10浓度.对规划区进行较为合理的布局,如相对增加树木减少建筑物的面积将会缓和上述影响.     

对流云街激发的重力波和波动阻力

大气边界层中的对流活动,可以在其上部稳定层中激发出重力波,并引起垂直动量输送,影响到对流层和平流层中的动量平衡过程.从二层模式中大气波动方程的线性解出发,得出了对流云街激发的重力波波阻解析表达式,并讨论了大气条件对波阻的影响.这些分析可有助于大气环流模式(GCM)中此类重力波波阻参数化表达式的建立和改进.     

Possible influence of Arctic oscillation on precipitation along the East Asian rain belt during boreal spring

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - The sandy land in the southern region of the Tengger Desert is adjacent to cities and towns, and land desertification poses a threat to the livelihood and...     

Probabilistic corrosion rate estimation model for longitudinal strength members of bulk carriers

Many bulk carrier losses have been reported of late, and one of the possible causes of such casualties is thought to be the structural failure of aging hulls in rough weather. Clearly, in such cases, vessels that start out being adequate somehow become marginal later in life. Fatigue and corrosion-related potential problems may be the most important factors affecting such age related vessel damage. With respect to fatigue, extensive studies have been done worldwide both experimentally and theoretically, and the results have been applied to some extent. However, in the case of corrosion effects, additional research is still needed to better understand, clarify and address the various strength uncertainties and their effects on structural behaviour. This paper develops a probabilistic corrosion rate estimation model for the longitudinal strength members of bulk carriers. The model is based on available statistical data for corrosion of existing bulk carriers. The corrosion data collected are documented for future use.     

大气中粘性效应对三维地形波及其波动阻力的影响

采用两层大气模式, 通过引入瑞利摩擦系数来定性描述大气中粘性机制, 讨论了粘性效应对三维简单地形波及其波动阻力的影响。结果表明,无论低层大气为稳定层结还是不稳定层结, 大气中粘性的存在将减弱地形波的强度, 减小其产生的波动阻力     

Bivariate Gaussian mixture–based equivalent linearization method for stochastic seismic analysis of nonlinear structures

To address challenges in stochastic seismic analysis of nonlinear structures, this paper further develops a recently proposed Gaussian mixture–based equivalent linearization method (GM‐ELM). The GM‐ELM uses a Gaussian mixture distribution model to approximate the probabilistic distribution of a nonlinear system response. Using properties of the Gaussian mixture model, GM‐ELM can decompose the non‐Gaussian response of a nonlinear system into multiple Gaussian responses of linear single–degree of freedom oscillators. With the set of the equivalent linear systems identified by GM‐ELM, response statistics as crossing rate and first‐passage probability can be computed conveniently using theories of linear random vibration analysis. However, the original version of GM‐ELM may lead to an inaccurate estimate because of the heuristic parameters of the linear system introduced to supplement insufficient information. To overcome this limitation and define unique equivalent linear systems, this paper proposes a further developed version of GM‐ELM, which uses a mixture of bivariate Gaussian densities instead of univariate models. Moreover, to facilitate the use of elastic response spectra for estimating the mean peak responses of a nonlinear structure, a new response spectrum combination rule is proposed for GM‐ELM. Two numerical examples of hysteretic structural systems are presented in this paper to illustrate the application of the bivariate GM‐ELM to nonlinear stochastic seismic analysis. The analysis results obtained by the bivariate GM‐ELM are compared with those obtained by the univariate GM‐ELM, the conventional equivalent linearization method, the tail equivalent linearization method, and Monte Carlo simulation. The supporting source code and data are available for download at https://github.com/yisangri/GitHub‐bGM‐ELM‐code.git     

Measurement of local and volumetric deformation in geotechnical triaxial testing using 3D-digital image correlation and a subpixel edge detection algorithm

Based on the three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D-DIC) technique, the stereovision system has been applied to the improved triaxial apparatus to obtain 3D full-field deformation of the specimen during triaxial testing. Through the calibration process, the 3D-DIC technique can obtain the accurate specimen’s spatial displacement deformation. Meanwhile, a subpixel edge detection algorithm has been combined with 3D-DIC technique to calculate the radial strain and the volume strain of the specimen directly. Furthermore, a series of consolidated drained and undrained triaxial tests were carried out on Hainan (China) sand specimens and measured by the conventional and the image measurement methods. Compared to the results measured by the conventional method, the image measurement technique can obtain the more experimental data, such as the 3D displacement field of the whole specimen, the local strain distribution, and so on. The measurement results also show the conventional method would be disturbed by the end constraints in triaxial tests so that the strength of the soil would be overestimated. Meanwhile, the middle of the specimen would be selected to calculate the stress–strain relationship without the influence of the end constraints in the proposed method. Based on the image measurement results, the proposed method has the potential to be used in geotechnical tests for exploring the soil’s progressive failure behaviors, inhomogeneous deformation and mechanical characteristics.