On the relationship between meridional eddy transfer of angular momentum and meridional circulations in the earth's atmosphere

Summary Recent investigations have shown that the poleward flux of angular momentum across latitutde 30° N can be regarded essentially as an edey flux due to macroturbulence. Since the principal source region of atmospheric angular momentum is the frictional layer in the trade-wind zone it is necessary to have a mechanism which explains the transport of the angular momentum up to the upper troposphere and the tropopause level and into the planetary jet stream aroundlatitude 30° N. In the present paper it is shown that this transport can easily be explained by assuming the existence of a mean meridional circulation between the Equator and latitude 30°N. The mass transport in this meridional circulation cell can be computed from the empirical data for the poleward eddy flux of angular momentum presented byY. Mintz. The same data can then also be used to estimte the excess of precipitation over evaporation in the equatorial zone of the ascending branch of the circulation.

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Zusammenfassung Neuere Untersuchungen haben gezeigt, daß der Polwärtstransport des Rotationsimpulses über Breite 30° N hinaus im wesentlichen als Austauschströmung durch Makroturbulenz aufgefaßt werden kann. Da dase Hauptquellgebieet des atmosphärischen Rotationsimpulses die Reibungs-schicht der Passatzone ist, ist es notwendig, einen Mechanismus zu finden, der die Verlagerung des Rotationsimpulses bis in die obere Troposphäre und das Tropenpasausenniveau und in den planetarischen jet stream rund um den Brietenkreis 30° N erklärt. In der vorliegenden Arbiet wird gezeigt, daß diese Verlagerung durch die Annahme ener mittleren Meridionalzirkulation zwischen dem Äquator und 30° N leicht erklärt werden kann. Der Massentransport in dieser Meridionalzirkulationszelle kann aus den Empirischen Daten berechnet werden, dieY. Mintz für den turbulenten Polwärtstransport des Rotationsimpulses angegeben hat. Dieselben Werten können auch benützt werden, um den überschuß des Niederschlags über die Verdungstung in der Äquatorialzone des aufsteigenden Zirkulationszweiges zu berechnen.

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Résumé De récentes recherches ont montré que le flux du moment cinétique dirigé vers le pôle à travers la région de 30° lat. N peut être considéré comme étant essentiellement unflux dû à la macroturbulence. Etant donné que la source principale du moment cinétique atmosphérique est située dans la couche de friction dans la zone des vents alizés, il est nécessaire de trouver un mécanisme qui expliquerait le transport du moment cinétique vers la haute troposphère et le niveau de la tropopause ainsi que dans le jet stream planétaire autour du 30ème degré de latitude nord. Dans l'article suivant l'auteur montre comment il est possible d'expliquer facilement ce transport en admettant l'existence d'une circulation méridienne moyenne entre l'équateur et 30° lat. N. Le transport de masse dans cette cellule de circulation méridienne peut être calculé à partir des données empiriques indiquées parY. Mintz concernant le flux du moment cinétique dû à la turbulence et dirigé vers de pôle. Les mêmes données peuvent aussi être employées pour estimer l'excès des précipitations sur l'évaporation dans la zone équatoriale de la branche ascendante de la circulation.

     

Management and environmental constraints to rice yield within a village irrigation system — A case study from Sri Lanka

Management and environmental constraints to rice yield in a paddy tract (lowland rice field) was studied within a village irrigation system in Sri Lanka. The relative importance of water coverage during the critical period and soil fertility variables on the yield variations were analysed. For the upper part of the paddy tract having adequate water supply, environmental and management factors seemed to explain the large variations in yield. For the middle and lower parts, with a shortage of water, water coverage was the only significant explanatory factor.For efficient use of a scarce water supply farmers allocated water first to the upper part, which resulted in water deficiency further down. An alternative strategy for water allocation, where the lower more fertile part of the paddy tract is favoured, would not avoid the risk of water scarcity for the individual farmer but there would be a potential for increase in the total production.     

A seismic monitoring approach to detect and quantify river sediment mobilization by steelhead redd-building activity

The role of spawning salmonids in altering river bed morphology and sediment transport is significant, yet poorly understood. This is due, in large part, to limitations in monitoring the redd-building process in a continuous and spatially extended way. A complementary approach may be provided through the use of a small seismic sensor network analysing the ground motion signals generated by the agitation of sediment during the redd-building process. We successfully tested the viability of this approach by detecting and locating artificially generated redd signals in a reach of the Mashel River, Washington State, USA. We then utilize records of 17 seismic stations, in which we automatically detected seismic events that were subsequently manually checked, yielding a catalogue of 45 potential redd-building events. Such redd-building events typically lasted between 1 and 20 min and consisted of a series of clusters of 50–100 short energetic pulses in the 20–60 Hz frequency range. The majority (>90%) of these redd-building events occurred within 11 days, predominantly during the early morning and late afternoon. The seismically derived locations of the signals were in agreement with independently mapped redds. Improved network geometry and installation conditions are required for more efficient detection, robust location and improved energetic insights into redd-building processes in larger reaches. The passive and continuous nature of the seismic approach in detecting redds and describing fish behaviour provides a novel tool for fish biologists and fisheries managers, but also for fluvial geomorphologists, interested in quantifying the amount of sediment mobilized by this ecosystem engineer. When complemented with classic approaches, it could allow for a more holistic picture of the kinetics and temporal patterns (at scales from seconds to multiple seasons) of a key phase of salmonid life cycles. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

High-resolution reflection seismic imaging of the upper crust at Laxemar, southeastern Sweden

A major cost in exploring the upper 1–2 km of crystalline crust with reflection seismics is the drilling required for explosive sources. By reducing the charge size to a minimum, shallow inexpensive shotholes can be drilled with handheld equipment. Here, we present results from a full-scale test using small charges for high-resolution seismic surveying over a nuclear waste disposal study site (not an actual site). Two 2–2.5-km-long crossing profiles were acquired in December 1999 with 10-m shot and geophone spacing in the Laxemar area, near Oskarshamn in southeastern Sweden. After standard processing, including dip moveout (DMO), several subhorizontal to moderately dipping reflections are imaged. Many of the dipping ones can be correlated to fracture zones observed in a ca. 1700-m-deep borehole where the profiles cross and/or to fracture zones mapped on the surface. The imaged fracture zones form a complex 3D pattern illustrating the necessity of having 3D control before interpreting seismic reflection data. Analyses of sonic and density logs from the borehole show that greenstones have significantly higher impedances than the more dominant granite found in the borehole (granite/greenstone reflection coefficient is +0.065). These greenstones may contribute to the reflectivity when associated with fracture zones. In some cases, where they are present as larger subhorizontal lenses, they may be the dominant source of reflectivity. A set of north-dipping (10°) reflectors at 3–3.5-km depth can be correlated to a similar set observed below the island of Ävrö about 3 km to the east.     

Imaging of groundwater resources in glacial deposits using high-resolution reflection seismics, Sweden

Two high-resolution reflection seismic profiles were acquired in the Heby area of eastern Sweden over glacial deposits for the purpose of mapping groundwater resources. The majority of shot points were located in clay resulting in good quality data along most of the profiles. On stacked and migrated sections, the uppermost clay is about 20 m thick and is characterized by its subhorizontal reflectivity. Sand/gravel deposits below it contain more dipping interfaces and have a chaotic reflectivity pattern. Depth to bedrock is interpreted to be 90 and 65 m on the respective profiles and occurs in about a 100-m-wide trough on both profiles. Reflections from the tops of sandy gravel zones generally have higher amplitudes. Clear reflections from a thin silt layer (20 cm thick) at about 10-m depth are observed on one of the profiles. Elastic finite difference modeling and the observation of this reflection in shot gathers show that the reflection is not an artifact of the acquisition nor the processing. The modeling also shows that there is no marked low-velocity waveguide in the near surface, but that an effective low Q zone may be present. Comparison with refraction profiling on the other profile shows that there is better agreement between the reflection seismic results and penetration tests than the refraction results with these tests. Both profiles allow the thickness of the overlying clay layers to be determined, as well as the thickness of the underlying sand/gravel deposits. This is important for estimating the amount of groundwater resources in an area.     

Fragmented subfossil <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chaoborus</Emphasis> mandibles reveal periods of cyprinid presence in lake histories

Cyprinid fish have pharyngeal teeth that mash ingested food. Here we show that roach (Rutilus rutilus L.), a common cyprinid in Swedish boreal lakes, often break the mandibles of ingested Chaoborus larvae into smaller fragments. The presence/absence of roach in historic fish communities could therefore possibly be determined from the proportion of fragmented Chaoborus mandibles in lake sediments, which we assessed using the following three approaches. (1) Roach that were fed Chaoborus larvae in laboratory aquaria evacuated a significantly higher fraction of fragmented prey mandibles than perch (Perca fluviatilis L.). (2) Surface sediments from lakes in an acidified region in southwestern Sweden showed significantly higher proportions of fragmented mandibles for lakes containing roach compared to lakes devoid of cyprinid fish. (3) A paleo-study in Lake Lysevatten, into which roach were introduced in the 1880s and were extirpated in the 1960s, showed significantly higher proportions of fragmented mandibles in sediment layers from the roach period. We conclude that mandible fragmentation was related to roach presence, and propose that the proportion of fragmented Chaoborus mandibles in lake sediments may provide important information when historical cyprinid alterations are of interest, as in paleo-studies on acidification, eutrophication, or fish introductions.     

On conversion between potential and kinetic energy in the atmosphere

Summary The basic concept of synoptic statistical methods for construction of prognostic charts was outlined by the author in a previous paper. As a result of these investigations it was found that a high correlation exists between time and space means of contourheights of an isobaric surface (850 mb surface). As it has been shown later byPichler this result may be interpreted by assuming that the geopotential fields obeys a numerical solution of the second order homogenous differential equation for wave propagation (hyperbolic equation) provided the phase velocity is given by . SinceReuter has used for s=666 km and for t=24 hours the conclusion may be drawn that the phase velocity of the wave propagation has an order of magnitude of 5 m/sec. Actually for long waves in the westerlies such a value can be found on an average. The same method can be used for extended forecast procedures if the wave equation is set down for 5 days mean values. Theoretical considerations lead then to a prognostic formula for a 5 days mean chart (8a). This formula can be applied for a sufficient number of grid points in order to construct prognostic charts. The underlying assumption, namely that the mean geopotential field satisfies also a solution of the wave equation turns out to be quite accurate even if only average values of the phase velocity were used for the computation. The usefullness of the method is illustrated for two cases.

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Vortrag gehalten am 7. April 1961 auf der 9. Allgemeinversammlung der «Società Italiana di Geofisica e Meteorologia» (Genova, 6.8. April 1961).