High-precision stellar abundances of the elements: methods and applications

Efficient spectrographs at large telescopes have made it possible to obtain high-resolution spectra of stars with high signal-to-noise ratio and advances in model atmosphere analyses have enabled estimates of high-precision differential abundances of the elements from these spectra, i.e. with errors in the range 0.01–0.03 dex for F, G, and K stars. Methods to determine such high-precision abundances together with precise values of effective temperatures and surface gravities from equivalent widths of spectral lines or by spectrum synthesis techniques are outlined, and effects on abundance determinations from using a 3D non-LTE analysis instead of a classical 1D LTE analysis are considered. The determination of high-precision stellar abundances of the elements has led to the discovery of unexpected phenomena and relations with important bearings on the astrophysics of galaxies, stars, and planets, i.e. (i) Existence of discrete stellar populations within each of the main Galactic components (disk, halo, and bulge) providing new constraints on models for the formation of the Milky Way. (ii) Differences in the relation between abundances and elemental condensation temperature for the Sun and solar twins suggesting dust-cleansing effects in proto-planetary disks and/or engulfment of planets by stars; (iii) Differences in chemical composition between binary star components and between members of open or globular clusters showing that star- and cluster-formation processes are more complicated than previously thought; (iv) Tight relations between some abundance ratios and age for solar-like stars providing new constraints on nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution models as well as the composition of terrestrial exoplanets. We conclude that if stellar abundances with precisions of 0.01–0.03 dex can be achieved in studies of more distant stars and stars on the giant and supergiant branches, many more interesting future applications, of great relevance to stellar and galaxy evolution, are probable. Hence, in planning abundance surveys, it is important to carefully balance the need for large samples of stars against the spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio needed to obtain high-precision abundances. Furthermore, it is an advantage to work differentially on stars with similar atmospheric parameters, because then a simple 1D LTE analysis of stellar spectra may be sufficient. However, when determining high-precision absolute abundances or differential abundance between stars having more widely different parameters, e.g. metal-poor stars compared to the Sun or giants to dwarfs, then 3D non-LTE effects must be taken into account.     

Supervised classification of electric power transmission line nominal voltage from high-resolution aerial imagery

For many researchers, government agencies, and emergency responders, access to the geospatial data of US electric power infrastructure is invaluable for analysis, planning, and disaster recovery. Historically, however, access to high quality geospatial energy data has been limited to few agencies because of commercial licenses restrictions, and those resources which are widely accessible have been of poor quality, particularly with respect to reliability. Recent efforts to develop a highly reliable and publicly accessible alternative to the existing datasets were met with numerous challenges – not the least of which was filling the gaps in power transmission line voltage ratings. To address the line voltage rating problem, we developed and tested a basic methodology that fuses knowledge and techniques from power systems, geography, and machine learning domains. Specifically, we identified predictors of nominal voltage that could be extracted from aerial imagery and developed a tree-based classifier to classify nominal line voltage ratings. Overall, we found that line support height, support span, and conductor spacing are the best predictors of voltage ratings, and that the classifier built with these predictors had a reliable predictive accuracy (that is, within one voltage class for four out of the five classes sampled). We applied our approach to a study area in Minnesota.     

Economic gains of liberalising access to fishing quotas within the European Union

This paper analyses the extent to which specialisation gains can be achieved by liberalising access to fishing quotas within the European Union (EU). Fishing quotas are today exchanged between EU member states at a rate of 4% of total turnover in EU fisheries. Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are the most active. Only one fourth of these exchanges are permanent. With the management systems in EU fisheries differing among countries, comparative advantages in fisheries exist in member states with the best management practices. Hence, although positive but small specialisation gains exist in EU fisheries today, these gains might potentially be increased by liberalising access to fishing quotas and allowing transferability of quotas between individuals from different countries on a permanent basis. Increasing the gains might, however, affect relative stability.     

Nonlinear random wave-induced drag force on a vegetation field

This paper provides a practical method by which the drag force on a vegetation field beneath nonlinear random waves can be estimated. This is achieved by using a simple drag formula together with an empirical drag coefficient given by Mendez et al. (Mendez, F.J., Losada, I.J., Losada, M.A., 1999. Hydrodynamics induced by wind waves in a vegetation field. J. Geophys. Res. 104 (C8), 18383–18396). Effects of nonlinear waves are included by using Stokes second order wave theory where the basic harmonic motion is assumed to be a stationary Gaussian narrow–band random process. An example of calculation is also presented.     

Risø 1978: Further investigations into the effects of local terrain irregularities on tower-measured wind profiles

Observations of flow over complex terrain taken at Risø during June–July 1978 and numerical studies confirm earlier findings that small variations in surface elevation have significant effects on mean wind profiles. Measured shear stresses in the nonequilibrium region of the flow are consistent with theory but quite different from those obtained assuming simple flux-profile relationships. These findings imply that flux-profile relationships can be quite complicated over other than simple homogeneous terrain.     

A Three-Dimensional Global Model Study of Carbonyl Sulfide in the Troposphere and the Lower Stratosphere

Global distributions of carbonyl sulfide and carbon disulfide have been calculated with a three-dimensional global model of the atmospheric general circulation (ECHAM). The model calculates a global sink strength for carbonyl sulfide of 0.3 Tg S yr^-1, with vegetation uptake being the largest sink. With this sink strength, the sources have to be close to the lower limit of the present estimate in the literature. The calculated mixing ratios are higher in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere. This interhemispheric gradient is the opposite of what is observed demonstrating that the present knowledge of the distribution of sinks and sources is not fully adequate. The model calculations support the idea that the open oceans could act as a net sink of carbonyl sulfide. The calculated stratospheric photolysis of carbonyl sulfide constitutes about 4% of the total sink of carbonyl sulfide. A stratospheric production of sulfate from carbonyl sulfide of 0.013 Tg S yr^-1 is obtained, which is 3 to 12 times less than what is needed to maintain the stratospheric sulfate aerosol layer. Although these results are associated with uncertainties, due to the low upper boundary and coarse vertical resolution of the model, they support recent findings of a low stratospheric production of sulfate from carbonyl sulfide. Instead, sulfur dioxide transported from the troposphere is calculated to be the most important precursor for the stratospheric sulfate aerosol layer.     

Technology transfer by CDM projects

Abstract

Technology development and transfer is an important feature of both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. Although the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) does not have an explicit technology transfer mandate, it may contribute to technology transfer by financing emission reduction projects using technologies currently not available in the host countries. This article analyses the claims about technology transfer made by CDM project participants in their project design documents. Roughly one-third of all CDM projects, accounting for almost two-thirds of the annual emission reductions, involve technology transfer. Technology transfer varies widely across project types and is more common for larger projects and projects with foreign participants. Equipment transfer is more common for larger projects, while smaller projects involve transfers of both equipment and knowledge or of knowledge alone. Technology transfer does not appear to be closely related to country size or per-capita GDP, but a host country can influence the extent of technology transfer involved in its CDM projects.     

Laboratory Studies Of Wind Stress Over Surface Waves

Simultaneous laboratory observations of wind speed, wind stress, and surfacewind-wave spectra are made under a variety of wind forcing patterns using cleanwater as well as water containing an artificial surfactant. Under typical experimentalconditions, more than half of the total stress is supported by the wave-induced stressrather than by the surface viscous stress. When the surfactant reduces the shortwind-wave spectra, the wind stress also decreases by as much as 20–30% at agiven wind speed. When the wind forcing is modulated in time, the wind stresstends to be higher under decreasing wind than under increasing wind at a givenwind speed, mainly because the response of short wind-wave spectra to varyingwind forcing is delayed in time. These examples clearly demonstrate that therelationship between the wind speed and the wind stress can be significantlymodified if the surface wave field is not in equilibrium with the wind forcing.Next, we examine whether the wind stress is estimated accurately if the wave-inducedstress by all surface wave components is explicitly evaluated by linear superpositionand is added to the surface viscous stress. It is assumed that the surface viscous stressis uniquely related to the wind speed, and that the wind input rate is determined by thelocal, reduced turbulent stress rather than the total stress. Our wind stress estimatesincluding the wave contributions agree well with observed wind stress values, evenif the surface wave field is away from its equilibrium with the wind in the presenceof surface films and/or under time-transient wind forcing. These observations stronglysuggest that the wind stress is accurately evaluated as a sum of the wave-induced stressand the surface viscous stress. At very high winds, our stress estimates tend to be lowerthan the observations. We suspect that this is because of the enhancement of wind stressover very steep (or breaking) short wind-waves.