Indian summer monsoon onset vortex formation during recent decades

This study investigates the decrease in the frequency of onset vortex of summer monsoon during recent decades using the National Center for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis (1982–2011) data. Onset vortices are known to occur over the Arabian Sea mini warm pool where the sea surface temperature peaks just before the onset of monsoon. Even though the Arabian Sea mini warm pool intensifies during the recent decades, they are not seen as a regular feature. It is found from the analysis of irrotational and non-divergent wind component at 850 and 200 hPa that during the recent decades, convergent winds dominate at upper levels and divergent winds at lower levels which inhibits convection. Moreover, the cyclonic shear vorticity shows a decrease in the recent decades which tend to reduce the boundary layer moisture convergence and lower tropospheric humidity which is an important component for the initiation of a cyclonic system. The recent decades are characterized by weak convection due to the presence of strong northerlies and descending motion at lower levels in the southeast Arabian Sea. The response of atmospheric circulation to the interdecadal variations in the warm pool and the corresponding decrease in the frequency of onset vortex formation is analyzed in detail.     

The effect of mineralogy on the mobility of heavy metals in mine tailings: a case study in the Samsanjeil mine,Korea

This study examined the chemical speciation and mobility of As and heavy metals in a tailings impoundment in Samsanjeil mine located in Gosung, Korea, as well as the factors affecting them. XRD, SEM, and 5-step sequential extraction were used to examine the samples at two sampling sites (NN and SN sites). The pH of the tailings decreased with increasing depth at the NN site (from 7.2 to 2.8), whereas no significant differences were observed at the SN site (8.1–8.8). The samples at the SN site showed a larger amount of calcite than those at the NN site, indicating that calcite plays an important role buffering the pH in the study sites. Jarosite was found only at the lower part of the NN site, where calcite was not found. The mineralogical observation of jarosite and calcite was also confirmed by SEM. The concentrations of As and heavy metals in the tailings were as follows: Cu > As > Zn > > Pb > Co > Cr > Ni > Cd. The total concentrations of Ni, Zn, Co, and Cd were higher at the SN site than those at the NN site. On the other hand, the concentrations of As and Cr existing as oxyanions were higher at the NN site, which can be explained by the mobility changes of those elements affected by pH variations. At the NN site, the fractions of heavy metals bound to the Fe/Mn oxides, except for As and Cr, decreased, and Cu, Zn, and Co showed an increasing fraction of exchangeable metals with increasing depth. This suggests that the pH and resulting surface charge of minerals, such as goethite and jarosite, are the dominant factors controlling the chemical speciation of metals. These results highlight the importance of mineralogy in controlling the mobility and possible bioavailability of heavy metals in tailings.     

A case study for the integration of predictive mineral potential maps

This study aims to elaborate on the mineral potential maps using various models and verify the accuracy for the epithermal gold (Au) — silver (Ag) deposits in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment assuming that all deposits shared a common genesis. The maps of potential Au and Ag deposits were produced by geological data in Taebaeksan mineralized area, Korea. The methodological framework consists of three main steps: 1) identification of spatial relationships 2) quantification of such relationships and 3) combination of multiple quantified relationships. A spatial database containing 46 Au-Ag deposits was constructed using GIS. The spatial association between training deposits and 26 related factors were identified and quantified by probabilistic and statistical modelling. The mineral potential maps were generated by integrating all factors using the overlay method and recombined afterwards using the likelihood ratio model. They were verified by comparison with test mineral deposit locations. The verification revealed that the combined mineral potential map had the greatest accuracy (83.97%), whereas it was 72.24%, 65.85%, 72.23% and 71.02% for the likelihood ratio, weight of evidence, logistic regression and artificial neural network models, respectively. The mineral potential map can provide useful information for the mineral resource development.     

A study on the sociospatial context of ethnic politics and entrepreneurial growth in Koreatown and Monterey Park

The study examines the various sociospatial features of immigrant populations in two transnationally-linked ethnic enclaves in terms of how they may facilitate and constrain the politics of growth and development. In recent decades, the growing ethnic enclave economies of Koreatown and Monterey Park have witnessed the emergence of progrowth ethnic interest groups comprised of immigrant capitalists, entrepreneurs, developers, and organizations, who are playing key roles in politically spearheading (re)development projects in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Our aim is to understand how the sociospatial, entrepreneurial, and residential layout of these host municipalities set the context for the politics of growth in these ethnic enclave economies based on an analysis of GIS spatial mapping, 2000–2010 census data, and other secondary sources. The data suggests that Korean and Chinese elite face different political opportunities and challenges because of their different sociospatial characteristics—the former based on their greater entrepreneurial influence and weak electoral impact and the latter on their stronger political presence as residents.     

Characterization of Effective Parameters in Abrasive Waterjet Rock Cutting

The rock cutting performance of an abrasive waterjet is affected by various parameters. In this study, rock cutting tests are conducted with different energy (i.e., water pressure, traverse speed, and abrasive feed rate), geometry (i.e., standoff distance), and material parameters [i.e., uniaxial compressive strength (UCS)]. In particular, experimental tests are carried out at a long standoff distance (up to 60 cm) to consider field application. The effective parameters of the rock cutting process are identified based on the relationships between the cutting performance indices (depth, width, and volume) and parameters. In addition, the cutting efficiency is analyzed with effective parameters as well as different pump types and the number of cutting passes considering the concept of kinetic jet energy. Efficiency analysis reveals that the cutting depth efficiency tends to increase with an increase in the water pressure and traverse speed and with a decrease in the standoff distance and UCS. Cutting volume efficiency strongly depends on standoff distance. High efficiency of cutting volume is obtained at a long standoff distance regardless of the pump type. The efficiency analysis provides a realistic way to optimize parameters for abrasive waterjet rock excavation.     

Assessment of future runoff trends under multiple climate change scenarios in the Willamette River Basin,Oregon, USA

We investigated trends in future seasonal runoff components in the Willamette River Basin (WRB) of Oregon for the twenty‐first century. Statistically downscaled climate projections by Climate Impacts Group (CIG), eight different global climate model (GCM) simulations with two different greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios, (A1B and B1), were used as inputs for the US Geological Survey's Precipitation Runoff Modelling System. Ensemble mean results show negative trends in spring (March, April and May) and summer (June, July and August) runoff and positive trends in fall (September, October and November) and winter (December, January and February) runoff for 2000–2099. This is a result of temperature controls on the snowpack and declining summer and increasing winter precipitation. With temperature increases throughout the basin, snow water equivalent (SWE) is projected to decline consistently for all seasons. The decreases in the centre of timing and 7‐day low flows and increases in the top 5% flow are caused by the earlier snowmelt in spring, decreases in summer runoff and increases in fall and winter runoff, respectively. Winter runoff changes are more pronounced in higher elevations than in low elevations in winter. Seasonal runoff trends are associated with the complex interactions of climatic and topographic variables. While SWE is the most important explanatory variable for spring and winter runoff trends, precipitation has the strongest influence on fall runoff. Spatial error regression models that incorporate spatial dependence better explain the variations of runoff trends than ordinary least‐squares (OLS) multiple regression models. Our results show that long‐term trends of water balance components in the WRB could be highly affected by anthropogenic climate change, but the direction and magnitude of such changes are highly dependent on the interactions between climate change and land surface hydrology. This suggests a need for spatially explicit adaptive water resource management within the WRB under climate change. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lyman α radiative transfer in a multiphase medium

Hydrogen Lyman α (Lyα) is our primary emission-line window into high-redshift galaxies. Despite an extensive literature, Lyα radiative transfer in the most realistic case of a dusty, multiphase medium has received surprisingly little detailed theoretical attention. We investigate Lyα resonant scattering through an ensemble of dusty, moving, optically thick gas clumps. We treat each clump as a scattering particle and use Monte Carlo simulations of surface scattering to quantify continuum and Lyα surface scattering angles, absorption probabilities, and frequency redistribution, as a function of the gas dust content. This atomistic approach speeds up the simulations by many orders of magnitude, making possible calculations which are otherwise intractable. Our fitting formulae can be readily adapted for fast radiative transfer in numerical simulations. With these surface scattering results, we develop an analytic framework for estimating escape fractions and line widths as a function of gas geometry, motion, and dust content. Our simple analytic model shows good agreement with full Monte Carlo simulations. We show that the key geometric parameter is the average number of surface scatters for escape in the absence of absorption,     , and we provide fitting formulae for several geometries of astrophysical interest. We consider the following two interesting applications. (i) Equivalent widths ( EWs ). Lyα can preferentially escape from a dusty multiphase interstellar medium if most of the dust lies in cold neutral clouds, which Lyα photons cannot penetrate. This might explain the anomalously high EWs sometimes seen in high-redshift/submillimetre sources. (ii) Multiphase galactic outflows . We show the characteristic profile is asymmetric with a broad red tail, and relate the profile features to the outflow speed and gas geometry. Many future applications are envisaged.     

Assessment of internal stability of sand–fine mixture using particle detachment model and its implications on suffusion

Acta Geotechnica - This study investigated the microscale assessment of the stability of fine particles from calculated hydrodynamic and adhesive torques of attached fine particles on sand...     

Ecosystem responses to climate change in a large on-river reservoir, Lake Paldang, Korea

The impact of climate change on a large river reservoir ecosystem was investigated. Long-term meteorological data showed that recent climate change, including warmer winters, increased precipitation intensity and extended dry periods, may have influenced the basin of Lake Paldang, the most downstream reservoir of a series of on-river reservoirs. Extreme hydrologic events and climate warming, acting independently and in combination, appear to be related to changes in the Lake Paldang ecosystem. A significant increase in chlorophyll a concentrations in early spring corresponded to the timing of ice break-up. An increase in winter temperatures, which resulted in a shorter time period of ice-cover and earlier ice break-up, appears to have stimulated phytoplankton growth in winter and early spring. Repeated intensive and extended influxes of turbid water, associated with more frequent extreme rainfall events, have increased concentration of suspended solids and may have influenced the biotic community structure of Lake Paldang. In the mid-2000s, the area vegetated by submerged hydrophytes, the abundance and biomass of the phylum Mollusca, as well as the abundance of fish from the subfamily Acheilognathinae, which spawn in the body of bivalve molluscs, was all smaller than in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Together, these results suggest that climate change may have contributed directly and indirectly to changes in each trophic level of the Lake Paldang ecosystem.     

Korea’s approach to overcoming difficulties in adopting the emission trading scheme

In this study, we aim to describe the background for design characteristics of emissions trading schemes (ETS) in developing and emerging economies, with a particular focus on the case of Korea. These countries may face unique hardships such as fierce opposition from industry sectors, the presence of a power imbalance between the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and ministries that are in charge of supporting output growth, and the absence or incomplete development of financial markets and auctioning mechanisms. To overcome these hardships, the Korean government legislated laws that defined timelines for every stage of ETS development, established a strategic governance architecture to make up the weak position of the MOE, offered strong market-stabilizing measures focused on maintaining the allowance price below a certain level, and provided support packages to make the low-carbon transition easy by compensating for losses caused by the Korea Emissions Trading Scheme (KETS). Such policy instruments that made adoption of KETS easier could be obstacles to making it efficient.

Policy relevance

In the process of adopting a cap-and-trade system, both a developing economy and an emerging economy may face unique hardships, such as strong opposition from industry sectors, the presence of a power imbalance between the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and ministries that are in charge of supporting output growth, and the absence or incomplete development of financial markets and auctioning mechanisms. To make up for the weak base of Korea’s ETS, the government legislated laws that defined timelines for every stage of the ETS development, established a strategic governance architecture to make up for the weak position of the MOE, offered strong market-stabilizing measures focused on maintaining the allowance price below a certain level, and provided support packages to make the low-carbon transition easy by compensating for losses caused by the Korea’s ETS. Korea’s experiences can be shared with other developing economies that are considering adoption of a cap-and-trade scheme.