Wave-photochemistry coupling and its effect on water vapor, ozone and airglow variations in the atmosphere of Mars

A one-dimensional photochemical-transport model for the martian lower atmosphere has been developed to study the diurnal cycles of wave-photochemistry coupling. The model self-consistently calculates water vapor mixing ratio profiles, which exhibit strong vertical and diurnal variations mainly due to the high sensitivity of the saturation vapor pressure to temperature variation. The dynamical coupling of water vapor caused by the temperature variation induced by tidal waves, vertical transport parameterized by eddy diffusion, and linear relaxation introduced in condensation-sublimation processes all have similar timescales of diurnal variation. This leads to a significant asymmetric distribution of water vapor concentration as a function of local time. As a result, the net effect of the temperature variation by tidal waves depletes the water vapor concentration in its diurnal mean. The coupling processes also deplete the diurnally averaged HO_x concentration, which in turn leads to significant enhancements of both ozone concentration and the associated airglow emissions in the martian atmosphere. The model also shows explicitly the importance of photochemical-transport coupling to the airglow emissions and its implications in species retrievals when the photochemical times of the excited states are comparable to the timescale of diurnal variation.     

Simulation of the extreme waves generated by typhoon Bolaven (1215) in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea

Record-breaking high waves occurred during the passage of the typhoon Bolaven (1215) (TYB) in the East China Sea (ECS) and Yellow Sea (YS) although its intensity did not reach the level of a super typhoon. Winds and directional wave measurements were made using a range of in-situ instruments mounted on an ocean tower and buoys. In order to understand how such high waves with long duration occurred, analyses have been made through measurement and numerical simulations. TYB winds were generated using the TC96 typhoon wind model with the best track data calibrated with the measurements. And then the wind fields were blended with the reanalyzed synoptic-scale wind fields for a wave model. Wave fields were simulated using WAM4.5 with adjustment of C_d for gust of winds and bottom friction for the study area. Thus the accuracy of simulations is considerably enhanced, and the computed results are also in better agreement with measured data than before. It is found that the extremely high waves evolved as a result of the superposition of distant large swells and high wind seas generated by strong winds from the front/right quadrant of the typhoon track. As the typhoon moved at a speed a little slower than the dominant wave group velocity in a consistent direction for two days, the wave growth was significantly enhanced by strong wind input in an extended fetch and non-linear interaction.     

Differential rotation of some HK-Project stars and the butterfly diagrams

We analyze the long-term variability of the chromospheric radiation of 20 stars monitored in the course of the HK-Project at the Mount Wilson Observatory. We apply the modified wavelet algorithm for this set of gapped time series. Besides the mean rotational periods for all these stars, we find reliable changes of the rotational periods from year to year for a few stars. Epochs of slower rotation occur when the activity level of the star is high, and the relationship repeats again during the next maximum of an activity cycle. Such an effect is traced in two stars with activity cycles that are not perfectly regular (but labeled “Good” under the classification in [Baliunas, S.L., Donahue, R.A., Soon, W.H., Horne, J.H., Frazer, J., Woodard-Eklund, L., Bradford, M., Rao, L.M., Wilson, O.C., Zhang, Q. et al., 1995. ApJ 438, 269.]) but the two stars have mean activity levels exceed that of the Sun. The averaged rotational period of HD 115404 is 18.5 days but sometimes the period increases up to 21.5 days. The sign of the differential rotation is the same as the Sun’s, and the value ΔΩ/Ω=-0.14. For the star HD 149661, this ratio is −0.074. Characteristic changes of rotational periods occur over around three years when the amplitude of the rotational modulation is large. These changes can be transformed into latitude-time butterfly diagrams with minimal a priori assumptions. We compare these results with those for the Sun as a star and conclude that epochs when surface inhomogeneities rotate slower are synchronous with the reversal of the global magnetic dipole.     

Use of fluorescein as a ground water tracer in brackish water aquifers

A drift and pumpback experiment was conducted in a brackish water sandfill. The sandfill was reclaimed from the sea in the eastern part of Singapore and contains sands with low organic and clay/silt contents. The high salinity in the ground water precludes the use of chloride and bromide as tracers in such an environment, and a field experiment was conducted to assess the viability of using fluorescein as a tracer in brackish water aquifers. Nitrate was used as a second tracer to serve as a check. Initial laboratory studies showed that fluorescence was unaffected over the range of electrical conductivity and pH of the ground water. Results from the field experiment show that fluorescein appears to behave conservatively.     

Population growth in Bejing: trends and countermeasures

Beijing’ population has experienced a dramatic increase eversince the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Population growthin Beijing can be broadly broken down into three major components:natural increase, immigration, and the growth of floating population. Thecontinuous growth of Beijing’s population is closely linked with its centralized multi-function. The comprehensive countermeasures to control Beijing’s population growth are proposed, for example, decentralizing economicfunctions, including developing the suburbs, developing the metropolitan areaand creating counter-magnetic centers, reforming the administrative and economic systems.     

SPH modeling of tidal bore scenarios

Natural Hazards - The paper presented a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method to study the three-dimensional (3D) tidal bore scenarios. The SPH method is a mesh-free particle modeling...     

First-Order Inconsistencies Caused by Rogue Trajectories

A theoretical requirement of the Interaction by Exchange with the Conditional Mean (IECM) micromixing model is that the mean concentration field produced by it must be consistent with the mean concentration field produced by a traditional Lagrangian stochastic (LS) marked particle model. We examine the violation of this requirement that occurs in a coupled LS–IECM model when unrealistically high particle velocities occur. No successful strategy was found to mitigate the effects of these rogue trajectories. It is our hope that this work will provide renewed impetus for investigation into rogue trajectories and methods to eliminate them from LS models.     

Role of the Radiation Factor in Global Climatic Events of the Late Holocene

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - On the basis of calculations of insolation and insolation characteristics, taking into account changes in solar activity, the causes of global climatic...