A study on the preparation of fine and low soda alumina

A simple process to produce fine and low soda α-alumina (α-Al₂O₃) from a commercial grade aluminium trihydroxide (gibbsite, Al(OH)₃) produced by KC Corporation Ltd was developed. There are two options for this process with the first one producing low soda α-alumina (< 0.05% Na₂O) having a mean particle size of 50 μm. The second option yields a fine product with a mean size of less than 10 μm. In the first option, a plant aluminium trihydroxide containing 0.20% Na₂O was first fluidized with nitrogen at 400–600 °C to yield an amorphous activated alumina. This intermediate product was then treated with acetic or oxalic acid, washed with water and heated to 1200 °C to form calcined α-alumina, having a Na₂O content of less than 0.05%. A 20 min leaching using 0.2 M acetic or oxalic acid could yield an alumina product containing 0.04% Na₂O. In the second option, a new technique for the preparation of fine and low soda α-alumina was evaluated using an attrition mill working also as a leaching vessel at 80 °C. Fine (< 10 μm in mean particle size) and low soda (< 0.04% Na₂O) alumina was produced by a 20 min leaching step with 0.2 M acetic acid and concurrent attrition milling.     

A time‐domain seismic SSI analysis method for inelastic bridge structures through the use of a frequency‐dependent lumped parameter model

It is highlighted in the past that the soil–structure interaction phenomenon can produce a significant alteration on the response of a bridge structure. A variety of approaches has been developed in the past, which is capable of tackling the soil–structure interaction problem from different perspectives. The popular approach of a discretized truncated finite element model of the soil domain is not always a numerically viable solution, especially for computationally demanding simulations such as the probabilistic fragility analysis of a bridge structure or the real time hybrid simulation. This paper aims to develop a complete modeling procedure that is capable of coping with the soil–structure interaction problem of inelastic bridge structures through the use of a frequency dependent lumped parameter assembly. The proposed procedure encounters accuracy and global stability issues observed on past methods while maintaining the broad applicability of the method by any commercial FEM software. A case study of an overpass bridge structure under earthquake excitations is illustrated in order to verify the proposed method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of mechanical stratigraphy in the lateral variations of thrust development along the central Alberta Foothills,Canada

Fold-thrust belts generally exhibit significant variations in structural styles such as differences in thrust geometries and frequencies in imbrication. A natural laboratory of this pattern is preserved in the central Alberta Foothills of the Canadian Rockies, where differences in thrust geometries are represented by the existence vs. non-existence of triangle zones. To seek the factors that make this difference in these regions in terms of structural geometry, stratigraphic thickness variations and mechanical stratigraphy of the sedimentary layers, structural interpretation is conducted based on admissible cross-sections and well log interpretations. In northern region, a backthrust is detached from an incompetent layer(viz.Nomad Unit of the Wapiabi Formation), which gets thinner from the Foothills to the Plains, indicating that it is developed where the shale layers are pinched out where triangle zone is developed. Backthrust is also developed in the southern region, where mechanical strengths of strata(viz. Bearpaw Formation)increase toward the foreland. In the central region, however, only forethrusts are developed along the weak continuous decollement layers(viz. Turner Valley and Brazeau formations), forming an imbricate fan without development of the triangle zone. Incompetent layers such as the top Wapiabi(Nomad),Brazeau(Bearpaw), Coalspur and Paskapoo formations are also pinched out laterally, forming fault glide horizons in different stratigraphic levels in each region. These results indicate that, along the transport direction, triangle zone is developed in relation to the stratigraphic pinch out of the Nomad Unit in the northern region, and is formed associated with the variations in strengths of the layers constituting the Bearpaw Formation in the southern region. It is notable that all the glide horizons are developed along incompetent layers. However, triangle zones are not developed in the areas of continuous stratigraphy of the Nomad Unit, which does not serve as a glide horizon in the central region. This suggests that factors such as stratigraphic thickness changes of incompetent layers and mechanical stratigraphy of the sedimentary layers play an important role in the development of lateral variations in thrust system evolution in terms of triangle zone vs. imbricate fan in the central Alberta Foothills.     

Effects of the Changjiang river discharge on sea surface warming in the Yellow and East China Seas in summer

This study explores the effects of the Changjiang (also called the Yangtze River) river discharge (CRD) on the density stratifications and associated sea surface temperature (SST) changes using a global ocean general circulation model with regional focus on the Yellow and East China Seas (YECS). It is found that CRD increases the SST in summer through a barrier layer (BL) formation that tends to enhance stratification at the mixed layer base, and thus reduces both vertical mixing and entrainment. This process is effective, particularly in August, after the CRD reaches its maximum in July. The SST difference between the composites of flood and drought years confirms that the surface warming is related to surface freshening by the CRD. This result suggests that the BL induced by the CRD is an important contributor to the surface heat budget in the YECS.     

Residential mobility in the Seoul metropolitan region, Korea

The spatial pattern of residential mobility in Korea is found to be one of intraregional rather than interregional movement. Net inmigration has taken place only in the Seoul metropolitan region (SMR) since 1970. People from the Cholla region have formed the main stream of net inmigration into the SMR. The decentralization of population from Seoul to Kyonggi and Inchon has generated a transformation of the Seoul urban fringe since 1970. This metropolitanization process is accompanied by residential and employment suburbanization to 45kms from the center of Seoul. Residential mobility in the SMR is the result of metropolitan job opportunities, availability of housing, and the effects of the various regional policies. Availability of transportation between Seoul and its urban fringe encouraged the wide expansion of the urban areas and population redistribution within the SMR.     

Simulation of daily rainfall scenarios with interannual and multidecadal climate cycles for South Florida

Concerns about the potential effects of anthropogenic climate change have led to a closer examination of how climate varies in the long run, and how such variations may impact rainfall variations at daily to seasonal time scales. For South Florida in particular, the influences of the low-frequency climate phenomena, such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), have been identified with aggregate annual or seasonal rainfall variations. Since the combined effect of these variations is manifest as persistent multi-year variations in rainfall, the question of modeling these variations at the time and space scales relevant for use with the daily time step-driven hydrologic models in use by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has arisen. To address this problem, a general methodology for the hierarchical modeling of low- and high-frequency phenomenon at multiple rain gauge locations is developed and illustrated. The essential strategy is to use long-term proxies for regional climate to first develop stochastic scenarios for regional climate that include the low-frequency variations driving the regional rainfall process, and then to use these indicators to condition the concurrent simulation of daily rainfall at all rain gauges under consideration. A newly developed methodology, called Wavelet Autoregressive Modeling (WARM), is used in the first step after suitable climate proxies for regional rainfall are identified. These proxies typically have data available for a century to four centuries so that long-term quasi-periodic climate modes of interest can be identified more reliably. Correlation analyses with seasonal rainfall in the region are used to identify the specific proxies considered as candidates for subsequent conditioning of daily rainfall attributes using a Non-homogeneous hidden Markov model (NHMM). The combined strategy is illustrated for the May–June–July (MJJ) season. The details of the modeling methods and results for the MJJ season are presented in this study.     

A land data assimilation system using the MODIS-derived land data and its application to numerical weather prediction in East Asia

Land Data Assimilation Systems have been developed to generate the surface initial conditions such as soil moisture and temperature for better prediction of weather and climate. We have constructed Korea Land Data Assimilation System (KLDAS) based on an uncoupled land surface modeling framework that integrates high-resolution in-situ observation, satellite data, land surface information from the WRF Preprocessing System (WPS) and the MODIS land products over the East Asia. To present better surface conditions, the KLDAS is driven by atmospheric forcing data from the in-situ rainfall gauges and satellite. In this study, we 1) briefly introduce the KLDAS, 2) evaluate the meteorological states near the surface and the surface fluxes reproduced by the KLDAS against the in-situ observation, and then 3) examine the performance of the mesoscale model initialized by the KLDAS. We have generated a 5-year, 10 km, hourly atmospheric forcing dataset for use in KLDAS operating across East Asia. The KLDAS has effectively reproduced the observed patterns of soil moisture, soil temperature, and surface fluxes. Further scrutiny reveals that the numerical simulations incorporating the KLDAS outputs show better agreement in both the simulated near-surface conditions and rainfall distribution over the Korean Peninsula, compared to those without the KLDAS.     

Acoustic tomography for monitoring the Sea of Japan: a pilot experiment

A pilot experiment was conducted in the Sea of Japan (also called the East Sea) in September-October 1999, to assess the possibility of using acoustic tomographic techniques for monitoring water mass structure and dynamics. Acoustic m-sequence signals at various frequencies between 250 and 634 Hz were transmitted from bottom-mounted acoustic sources in shallow water off the coast of Vladivostok to vertical-array receiving systems deployed off the north coast of Ulleung-Do island (S. Korea), 558 km to the south. The data are analyzed for temporal correlation, time spread, and transmission loss and are interpreted in terms of a tomographic system for monitoring the East Sea.     

Impact of MJO on the diurnal cycle of rainfall over the western Maritime Continent in the austral summer

This paper investigates the impact of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) on the diurnal cycle of rainfall over the western Maritime Continent during the austral summer. For this purpose, cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function analysis is applied to the tropical rainfall measuring mission rain rate and the Japanese Reanalysis-25 data for the period 1998–2008. The real-time multivariate MJO index by Wheeler and Hendon (Mon Wea Rev 132:1917–1932, 2004) is adopted to define the intensity and the phase of MJO. It is demonstrated that the hourly maximum rain rate over the domain tends to increase when convectively active phase of MJO approaches the Maritime Continent. In contrast, the hourly maximum rain rate tends to decrease when convectively suppressed phase of MJO resides over the region. The changes in the rain rate due to MJO differ over the ocean and the land. This difference is the greatest when the MJO is in the mature stage. Throughout the day during this stage, terrestrial rain rates show minimum values while diurnally varying oceanic rain rates record maximum values. Thus, precipitation becomes more intense in the morning over the Java Sea and is weakened in the evening over Borneo and Sumatra during the mature stage of MJO. During the decaying stage of MJO over the Maritime Continent, the diurnal cycle of precipitation weakens significantly over the ocean but only weakly over land. Analyses suggest that the anomalous lower level winds accompanied by MJO interact with the monsoonal flow over the Maritime Continent. Westerlies induced by MJO convection in the mature stage are superimposed on the monsoonal westerlies over the equator and increase wind speed mainly over the Java Sea due to the blocking effect of orography. Mountainous islands induce flow bifurcation, causing near-surface winds to converge mainly over the oceanic channels between two islands. As a result, heat flux release from the ocean to the atmosphere is enhanced by the increased surface wind resulting in instability as described in the wind-induced surface heat exchange mechanism. This may contribute to heavy rainfall over the Java Sea in the morning during the mature stage. On the other hand, convergence and vertical velocity over the islands, which play important roles in inducing nighttime rainfall, tend to be weak in the evening during the mature stage of MJO. Strong westerlies arising from MJO and the seasonal flow during the mature stage tend to interrupt convergence over islands. This interruption of convergence by MJO gives rise to decreased rain rates over the land regions.