Partitioning tracer method for quantifying the residual saturation of refined petroleum products in saturated soil

The effective site assessment is crucial to the successful remediation of the subsurface contaminated with light nonaqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs). Recent studies showed that large spatial volumes of the subsurface contaminated with LNAPLs could be investigated with the partitioning tracer method. This study investigated the applicability of the partitioning tracer method for detecting and quantifying refined petroleum products in a saturated aquifer containing alluvial soil or weathered granite soil. In the batch-partitioning experiments, the partition coefficients of alcohol tracers between the petroleum mixture and water were measured, and they were found to be increased in proportion to the boiling points of the alcohol tracers when the molecular weights of the alcohol tracers were similar. The sorption isotherm experiments indicated that a considerable amount of 4-methyl-2-pentanol was sorbed into Jumunjin sand (JS) or weathered granite soil (WGS). In the column experiments, it was confirmed that the partitioning tracer method could be used as a method for detecting the presence of the petroleum mixture in saturated soil, and the residual saturation of the petroleum mixture in the soil column prepared by firstly contaminating with the petroleum mixture and secondly saturating with water was measured higher than that in the soil column prepared by firstly saturating and secondly contaminating. The highest accuracy of estimation using the partitioning tracer method was found for 2-ethyl-1-butanol and the lowest accuracy was found for 4-methyl-2-pentanol.     

The Phoenix Evening Transition Flow Experiment (TRANSFLEX)

Motivated by air quality and numerical modelling applications as well as recent theoretical advancements in the topic, a field experiment, dubbed transition flow experiment, was conducted in Phoenix, Arizona to study the evening transition in complex terrain (shift of winds from upslope to downslope). Two scenarios were considered: (i) the flow reversal due to a change of buoyancy of a cooled slab of air near the ground, and (ii) the formation of a transition front. A suite of in-situ flow, turbulence and particulate matter (PM) concentration sensors, vertically profiling tethered balloons and remote sensors were deployed, and a mesoscale numerical model provided guidance for interpreting observations. The results were consistent with the front formation mechanism, where it was also found that enhanced turbulence associated with the front increases the local PM concentration. During the transition period the flow adjustment was complex, involving the arrival of multiple fronts from different slopes, directional shear between fronts and episodic turbulent mixing events. The upward momentum diffusion from the incipient downslope flow was small because of stable stratification near the ground, and full establishment of downslope flow occurred over several hours following sunset. Episodic frontal events pose challenges to the modelling of the evening transition in complex terrain, requiring conditional parametrizations for subgrid scales. The observed increase of PM concentration during the evening transition has significant implications for the regulatory enforcement of PM standards for the area.     

Comparison of primary productivity algorithms for Korean waters

This study compares five primary productivity algorithms for Korean waters. Five algorithms are in the form of vertical generalized production models: One algorithm is for gross primary production and four are for net primary production. The five algorithms were evaluated using 117 in situ primary production datasets observed by 20 cruises from 1994 to 2011 in Korean waters (East Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and Yeosu Bay). The results show that the regionally-tuned variants give better results than the original formulation. We recommend, among the tested algorithms, YSVGPM (Yellow Sea Vertically Generalized Productivity Model) for gross primary productivity algorithm and Kameda-Ishizaka algorithm for net primary productivity algorithm for estimating primary production in Korean waters.     

Influence of environmental disturbances and reproductive strategy on genetic diversity and differentiation of Zostera marina populations on the southern coast of Korea

The genetic diversity and differentiation of four Zostera marina populations along the southern coast of Korea were estimated using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers to determine the effects of natural and anthropogenic stresses and reproductive strategy on within‐population genetic diversity. The mean number of alleles and gene diversities, indicating population genetic diversity, was highest in the Z. marina population that was exposed to repeated environmental disturbances, and lowest in the most undisturbed population. The higher genetic diversity in the disturbed population was associated with a higher contribution of sexual reproduction to population persistence. This suggests that both the level of disturbances and the reproductive strategy for population persistence contributed significantly to population genetic diversity at the study sites. According to the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), 76% genetic variation was attributable to differences among individuals within populations. The observed genetic differentiation (F_ST = 0.241) among Z. marina populations at the study sites appeared to result from reduced meadow size, increased genetic drift, and a high incidence of asexual reproduction. Increased population genetic diversity can enhance resistance and resilience to environmental disturbances; thus, this investigation of seagrass population genetics provides valuable new insights for the conservation, management, and restoration of seagrass habitats.     

Application of MK-PRISM for interpolation of wind speed and comparison with co-kriging in South Korea

The spatial distribution of wind speed is important information required to understand climate-related regional phenomena. This paper presents the Modified Korean Parameter-elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model (MK-PRISM) as a method for spatial interpolation of monthly wind speeds. A database of gridded monthly mean wind speeds with a spatial resolution of 1 km for the period of March 2011–February 2014 is constructed by MK-PRISM. Wind speed observation data collected from the 529 to 641 meteorological stations in South Korea were utilized as the input data for interpolation. The wind speed distribution estimated by co-kriging is used for comparison with the MK-PRISM results. Research demonstrates that the efficiency difference between the two models, MK-PRISM and co-kriging, is insignificant. The Kling and Gupta efficiencies of both models were 0.68-0.78 and the root mean square errors (RMSEs) were 0.44-0.68 m/s. The spatial distribution of wind speeds, however, differs between MK-PRISM and co-kriging, which can be considered a reflection of the influence of topographic features such as terrain convexity, aspect, and coastal proximity. MK-PRISM can perform more appropriately to represent the phenomena where similar wind speeds appear continuously along ridges and coastlines. This suggests that a knowledge-based approach that considers topographic features can be successfully applied to the interpolation of monthly or seasonal wind speeds, similar to temperature and precipitation. The wind speed distribution generated by MK-PRISM can be utilized as important data for different geographical studies.     

Spectral analysis method for a limited area using the eigenmodes of the spherical Laplacian operator

We propose a spectral analysis method using the eigenmodes of the spherical Laplacian operator on the limited area domain. Two numerical methods are considered for the horizontal discretization: One uses the half-ranged Fourier series for both longitudinal and latitudinal directions, and the other uses the Fourier finite-element method with piecewise linear basis functions for the latitudinal direction. The field variable for the two numerical algorithms is represented as linear combinations of the eigenvectors of the Laplacian operator on the limited area domain; we define the one-dimensional spectrum with the eigenvector coefficients as a function of the indices equivalent to the total wavenumbers of the Laplacian operator on the global domain. The spatial robustness of this method was verified through the self-consistency test comparing the spectra of isotropic Gaussian bells on the sphere. We used the method in the kinetic energy spectral analysis for a limited area with global atmospheric data, and compared the results for different seasons. The kinetic energy spectra represented the well-known characteristics with scale and different powers with season.     

Comparison of satellite measurements of the low-latitude nighttime upper ionosphere with IRI

In this paper, we report the results of our comparison study between satellite measurements and the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model on the seasonal and longitudinal changes of the low-latitude nighttime topside ionosphere during the period of solar maximum from June 2000 to July 2001. Satellite measurements were made by KOMPSAT-1 and DMSP F15 at 685 km altitude and 840 km altitude, respectively. The results show that the IRI2001 model gives reasonable density estimations for the summer hemisphere and the March equinox at both altitudes. However, the observed wintertime densities are smaller than the predictions of the IRI2001 model, especially at a higher (840 km) altitude, manifesting strong hemispheric asymmetries. The observed electron temperatures generally reside between the two estimations of IRI2001, one based on the Aeros–ISIS data and the other based on Intercosmos, and the latter estimation better represents the observations. With more or less monotonic increase with latitude, the temperature profiles of the IRI2001 model do not predict the enhancement seen around 15° magnetic latitude of the winter hemisphere. Longitudinal variation, probably caused by the zonal winds, is seen in all seasons at both altitudes, while the IRI2001 model does not show a large variation. The observed density and temperature show significant changes according to the F10.7 values in the whole low-latitude region from 40°S to 40°N geomagnetic latitude. The effect is manifested as increases in the density and temperature, but not in the hemispheric asymmetry or in the longitudinal variation.