Longitudinal velocity patterns and bed morphology interaction in a rill

Present‐day understanding of rill dynamics is hampered by a lack of detailed data on velocity distributions in rills. The latter are dif?cult to collect with traditional techniques due to the very low water depths and the relatively high ?ow velocities in rills. The objectives of this paper were to investigate the feasibility of miniaturized acoustic Doppler velocimeter (mADV) measurements in rill ?ow and to explore longitudinal variations in ?ow velocities and their relationship with rill bed morphology. Detailed data on longitudinal ?ow velocity were required to achieve these objectives. A 1·8 m long rill was formed freely in a ?ume at 5° slope and 0·001 m³ s^?1 discharge. Rill topography was characterized by an alternation of steps and pools. The ?ume surface was then ?xed to preserve rill roughness. A topographical scanning of the entire ?ume surface was made. Velocity was measured with a mADV along the rill, and at different depths. Flow depth in a longitudinal direction was also measured using an elevation gauge. A strong relationship exists between rill topography and ?ow hydraulics. Over steps, ?ow was unidirectional and rapidly accelerating until a threshold Froude number (Fn) value between 1·3 and 1·7 was reached and a hydraulic jump occurred leading to the formation of a pool. In the pool, the ?ow pattern was multidirectional and complex. The ?ow was subcritical when leaving the pool and accelerated over the next step until the threshold Froude number value was again reached. Energy loss in the rill was concentrated in the pools, mainly due to the action of a hydraulic jump. This mechanism of energy dissipation appeared to be an essential factor in rill formation and bedform evolution. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The binary star population of the young cluster NGC 1818 in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We determine the binary star fraction as a function of radius in NGC 1818, a young rich cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using Hubble Space Telescope images in bands F336W (∼ U ) and F555W (∼ V ). Our sample includes binaries with M _primary ∼ 2–5.5 M_⊙ and M _secondary ≳ 0.7 M_primary. The binary fraction increases towards the cluster centre, from ∼ 20 ± 5 per cent in the outer parts, to ∼ 35 ± 5 per cent inside the core. This increase is consistent with dynamical mass segregation and need not be primordial. We compare our results with expectations from N -body models, and discuss the implications for the formation and early evolution of such clusters.     

Convective scaling of the average dissipation rate of temperature variance in the atmospheric surface layer

The flux of sensible heat from the land surface is related to the average rate of dissipation of temperature fluctuations in the atmospheric surface layer through the temperature variance budget equation. In many cases it is desirable to estimate the heat flux from measurement or inference of the dissipation rate. Here we study how the dissipation rate scales with atmospheric stability, using three inertial range methods to calculate the dissipation rate: power spectra, second order structure functions, and third order structure functions. Experimental data are analyzed from a pair of field experiments, during which turbulent fluctuations of velocity and temperature were measured over a broad range of neutral and unstable atmospheric flows. It is shown that the temperature dissipation rate scales with a single convective power law continuously from near-neutral to strongly unstable stratification. The dissipation scaling is found to nearly match production in the near-neutral region, but to be consistently lower than production in the more convective regimes. The convective scaling is shown to offer a simplified means of computing sensible heat flux from the dissipation rate of temperature variance.Also at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MarylandAlso at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico.     

Oxygen-containing functional groups in land-derived humic acids—I. Evaluation by derivatization methods

Determinations of reactive oxygen-containing functional groups were performed by usual chemical derivatization methods of four humic acids isolated from soils and deltaic sediments. Statistical tests and calculations based on elemental analysis demonstrated the validity and limits of these techniques and allowed us to identify from 60 to 71% of the total humic oxygen. Oxygen budgets of humic acids are discussed.     

Oxygen-containing functional groups in land-derived humic acids—II. Changes in the oxygen distribution of humic acids during early diagenesis as revealed by derivatization methods

Extensive functional group analyses were performed on humic acids representative of eight increasing depth levels from a core drilled in the Mahakam delta (East Kalimantan, Indonesia). Oxygen amounts decrease observed during early diagenesis was related chiefly to loss of hydroxyl (lignol?) groups. Comparison between upper and deeper levels shows the following variations: hydroxyl group abundances go from 19 to 6% of humic oxygen. Identified functional groups amounts represent 47 to 32% of weight of moisture- and ash-free humic acids. No evidence of decarboxylation of humic material was detected.     

Friction velocity scaling in wind wave generation

This note is devoted to the problem of the appropriate scaling of parameters relevant for sea waves, such as wave height, peak frequency, duration, and fetch. In the past, the growth of sea waves has often been analysed in terms of the wind velocity at a fixed height, despite the fact that many authors have stressed the importance of scaling with the friction velocity. This problem would be immaterial if the ratio between the friction velocity and the wind speed at a fixed height were a constant. There is, however, ample evidence that this ratio increases with wind speed (Smith and Banke, 1975; Smith, 1980), in agreement with dimensional considerations by Charnock (1955) on the friction height. As a result, the scaling problem is an important one. In this note we conjecture that the correct procedure is to scale wave parameters with friction velocity, and we discuss experimental evidence for the correctness of this conjecture. Comparing two independent datasets (JONSWAP and KNMI), we find some evidence supporting our ideas. Further confirmation remains desirable, however, and suggestions are made as to how this might be obtained.     

Hydromagnetic stability of coronal arcade structures: The effects of photospheric line tying

A model is given of the magnetic-field equilibrium and possible dynamic excitations of a solar coronal arcade. Such structures are well observed in the spectral range from H to X-rays and often give rise to two-ribbon flares. However, the preflare state must be stable to ideal magnetohydrodynamic disturbances, and we treat this problem with particular attention to the necessary foot-point boundary conditions. Having devised a reasonably general perturbation set, we use an energy-principle analysis to show the strong stabilizing influence of inertial field-line tying at the photosphere.Address from October 1981: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Bombay 400005, India.