Some Insights into Topographic,Elastic and Self-gravitation Interaction in Modelling Ground Deformation and Gravity Changes in Active Volcanic Areas

Surface displacements and gravity changes due to volcanic sources are influenced by medium properties. We investigate topographic, elastic and self-gravitation interaction in order to outline the major factors that are significant in data modelling. While elastic-gravitational models can provide a suitable approximation to problems of volcanic loading in areas where topographic relief is negligible, for prominent volcanoes the rough topography could affect deformation and gravity changes to a greater extent than self-gravitation. This fact requires the selection, depending on local relief, of a suitable model for use in the interpretation of surface precursors of volcanic activity. We use the three-dimensional Indirect Boundary Element Method to examine the effects of topography on deformation and gravity changes in models of magma chamber inflation/deflation. Topography has a significant effect on predicted surface deformation and gravity changes. Both the magnitude and pattern of the geodetic signals are significantly different compared to half-space solutions. Thus, failure to account for topographic effects in areas of prominent relief can bias the estimate of volcanic source parameters, since the magnitude and pattern of deformation and gravity changes depend on such effects.     

24万年来西昆仑山甜水海湖岩芯碳酸盐含量变化与气候环境演化

青藏高原现代气候与环境存在着明显的区域差异。高原西北部的西昆仑山甜水 海地区是高原上气候最干旱的区域。作者于１９９５年６月在该区海拔４８４０ｍ的湖盆首次打钻取芯（ＴＳ９５孔）,获得５７ｍ湖泊岩芯,经对样品的实验室测年和多项环境指标分析,表明,ＴＳ９５孔岩芯覆盖了距今２４０－１７ｋａ间的时间尺度。期间,经历了倒数第二次冰期,末次间冰期,末次冰期早期,末次冰期间冰阶和末次冰盛期几个气候变化阶段。岩芯中     

中国近海天然气水合物找矿前景

天然气水合物是一种新型能源，在海底沉积物和陆上永远冻土带中均有广泛分布。西太平洋是全球三大天然气水合物成矿带之一，在其中已发现许多水合物矿床或矿点。中国近海，包括南海、东海和台湾东部海域，具备良好的天然气水合物成矿条件和找矿前景，并已在这些海域中发现了一系列的找矿标志。南海的西沙海槽、台湾西南陆坡和台西南盆地、笔架南盆地及其东缘增生楔、东沙群岛东南坡、南部陆坡区，东海的冲绳海槽和台湾东北部海域是中国近海最有利的天然气水合物找矿远景区。     

Absorption properties of urban/suburban aerosols in China

The broadband diffuse radiation method is improved to retrieve the aerosol refractive index imaginary part （AIP） and broadband （400-1000 nm mean） single scattering albedo （SSA）. In this method, four sets of SSA selection criteria are proposed for quality control. The method is used to retrieve AIP, SSA and absorptive optical thickness （AbOT） from routine hourly-exposed pyrheliometer and paranometer measurements over 11 sites （meteorological observatories） in China during 1998-2003. Apart from one suburban site （Ejin Qi）, the other urban sites are all located around big or medium cities. As shown in the retrieval results, annual mean SSA during 1998-2003 changes from 0.941 （Wuhan） to 0.849 （Lanzhou）, and AIP from 0.0054 to 0.0203. The 11-site average annual mean SSA and AIP are 0.898 and 0.0119, respectively. SSA during winter is smaller for most sites. There is an evidently positive correlation between SSA and aerosol optical thickness （AOT） for all sites. There is also a positive correlation between SSA and relative humidity for most sites, but a negative correlation for a few sites, such as Kashi and ǚrǚmqi in Northwest China.     

四川那朗地区多金属矿化地质及激电特征

四川那朗地区地处三江成矿带,区内出露三叠系灰岩、板岩及火山岩,有闪长岩岩株侵入其中,地表见铁帽。岩体蚀变分带明显。通过激发极化法工作,由视极化率处理后异常显示,原始数据圈出了激电异常,推测为铁帽下部之矿（化）致异常。     

Climatic change and Chinese population growth dynamics over the last millennium

The climate–population relationship has long been conceived. Although the topic has been repeatedly investigated, most of the related works are Eurocentric or qualitative. Consequently, the relationship between climate and population remains ambiguous. In this study, fine-grained temperature reconstructions and historical population data sets have been employed to statistically test a hypothesized relationship between temperature change and population growth (i.e., cooling associated with below average population growth) in China over the past millennium. The important results were: (1) Long-term temperature change significantly determined the population growth dynamics of China. However, spatial variation existed, whilst population growth in Central China was shown to be responsive to both long- and short-term temperature changes; in marginal areas, population growth was only sensitive to short-term temperature fluctuations. (2) Temporally, the temperature–population relationship was obscured in some periods, which was attributable to the factors of drought and social buffers. In summary, a temperature–population relationship was mediated by geographic factors, the aridity threshold, and social factors. Given the upcoming threat posed by climate change to human societies, this study seeks to improve our knowledge and understanding of the climate–society relationship.     

Land surface temperature shaped by urban fractions in megacity region

The influence of spatial scales on surface fluxes is an interesting but not fully investigated question. This paper presents an analysis on the influence of spatial scales on surface fluxes in the north Tibetan Plateau based on eddy covariance (EC) and large aperture scintillometer (LAS) data at site Nagqu/BJ, combined with the land surface temperature (LST) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS). The analysis shows that sensible heat fluxes calculated with LAS data (H_LAS) agree reasonably well with sensible heat fluxes calculated with EC data (H_EC) in the rain and dry seasons. The difference in their footprints due to the wind direction is an important reason for the differences in H_EC and H_LAS. The H_LAS are statistically more consistent with H_EC when their footprints overlap than when their footprints do not. A detailed analysis on H_EC and H_LAS changes with net radiation and wind direction in rain and dry season indicates that the spatial heterogeneity in net radiation created by clouds contributes greatly to the differences in H_EC and H_LAS in short-term variations. A significant relationship between the difference in footprint-weighted averages of LST and difference in H_EC and H_LAS suggests that the spatial heterogeneity in LST at two spatial scales is a reason for the differences in H_EC and H_LAS and that LST has a positive correlation with the differences in H_EC and H_LAS. A significant relationship between the footprint-weighted averages of NDVI and the ratio of sensible heat fluxes at two spatial scales to net radiation (H/Rn) in the rain season supports the analysis that the spatial heterogeneity in canopy at two spatial scales is another reason for differences in H_EC and H_LAS and that canopy has a negative correlation with (H/Rn). An analysis on the influence of the difference in aerodynamic roughness lengths at two spatial scales on sensible heat fluxes shows that the influence is greater in the dry season and smaller in the rain season because the ratio of z_{0m_LAS} to z_{0m_EC} is big in the dry season and is close to 1.0 in the rain season. This study on spatial scales on surface fluxes in the Tibetan Plateau will be helpful in analyzing and understanding its influence on climate.     

Parameterization of the thermal impacts of sub-grid orography on numerical modeling of the surface energy budget over East Asia

Summary A parameterization scheme for the thermal effects of subgrid scale orography is incorporated into a regional climate model (developed at Nanjing University) and its impact on modeling of the surface energy budget over East Asia is evaluated. This scheme includes the effect of terrain slope and orientation on the computation of solar and infrared radiation fluxes at the surface, as well as the surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. Calculations show that subgrid terrain parameters alter the diurnal cycle and horizontal distributions of surface energy budget components. This effect becomes more significant with increased terrain slope, especially in winter. Due to the inclusion of the subgrid topography, the surface area of a model grid box changes over complex terrain areas. Numerical experiments, with and without the subgrid scale topography scheme, show that the parameterization scheme of subgrid scale topography modifies the distribution of the surface energy budget and surface temperature around the Tibetan Plateau. Comparisons with observations indicate that the subgrid topography scheme, implemented in the climate model, reproduces the observed detailed spatial temperature structures at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and reduces the tendency to overestimate precipitation along the southern coastal areas of China in summer.     

UV attenuation in the cloudy atmosphere

Ultraviolet (UV) energy absorption plays a very important role in the Earth–atmosphere system. Based on observational data for Beijing, we suggest that some atmospheric constituents utilize or transfer UV energy in chemical and photochemical (C&P) reactions, in addition to those which absorb UV energy directly. These constituents are primarily volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from both vegetative and anthropogenic sources. The total UV energy loss in the cloudy atmosphere for Beijing in 1990 was 78.9 Wm⁻². This attenuation was caused by ozone (48.3 Wm⁻²), other compounds in the atmosphere (26.6 Wm⁻²) and a scattering factor (4.0 Wm⁻²). Our results for a cloudy atmosphere in the Beijing area show that the absorption due to these other compounds occurs largely through the mediation of water vapor. This fraction of energy loss has not been fully accounted for in previous models. Observations and previous models results suggest that 1) a cloudy atmosphere absorbs 25∼30 Wm⁻² more solar shortwave radiation than models predict; and 2) aerosols can significantly decrease the downward mean UV-visible radiation and the absorbed solar radiation at the surface by up to 28 and 23 Wm⁻², respectively. Thus, quantitative study of UV and visible absorption by atmospheric constituents involved in homogeneous and heterogeneous C&P reactions is important for atmospheric models.     

Estimation of Surface-Layer Scaling Parameters in the Unstable Boundary Layer: Implications for Orographic Flow Speed-Up

A method is proposed for estimating the surface-layer depth \((z_s)\) and the friction velocity \((u_*)\) as a function of stability (here quantified by the Obukhov length, L) over the complete range of unstable flow regimes. This method extends that developed previously for stable conditions by Argaín et al. (Boundary-Layer Meteorol 130:15–28, 2009), but uses a qualitatively different approach. The method is specifically used to calculate the fractional speed-up \((\varDelta S)\) in flow over a ridge, although it is suitable for more general boundary-layer applications. The behaviour of \(z_s \left( L\right) \) and \(u_*\left( L\right) \) as a function of L is indirectly assessed via calculation of \(\varDelta S\left( L\right) \) using the linear model of Hunt et al. (Q J R Meteorol Soc 29:16–26, 1988) and its comparison with the field measurements reported in Coppin et al. (Boundary-Layer Meteorol 69:173–199, 1994) and with numerical simulations carried out using a non-linear numerical model, FLEX. The behaviour of \(\varDelta S\) estimated from the linear model is clearly improved when \(u_*\) is calculated using the method proposed here, confirming the importance of accounting for the dependences of \(z_s\left( L \right) \) and \(u_*\left( L \right) \) on L to better represent processes in the unstable boundary layer.