Convective flux in the solar photosphere as determined from fluctuations

The fractional convective flux πF _c (x _c /πF) is computed for the effective level x _c = logτ _c = 0.125, using bi-dimensional co-spectra for relative continuum-brightness fluctuations ΔI and radial velocity fluctuations ΔV measured for the C _i 5052.16 spectral line. A more uncertain flux for x _Fe ≈ - 0.9 is obtained for the Fe _i 5049.83 line. Since the results (Figure 1) incorporate current uncertainties in RMS _ΔI , RMS _ΔV and RMS _ΔT (x), where ΔT are photospheric temperature fluctuations, they must be considered qualitative until these uncertainties are appreciably reduced. The requirement that the fractional convective flux < 1, places restrictions on these uncertainties which suggest that current RMS _ΔT (x)'s are too large. The results confirm the importance of overshoot at the top of the solar hydrogen convection zone and suggest a non-negligible fractional convective flux throughout the lower photosphere. Qualitatively, they do not agree with the predictions of the generally-used, local, mixing-length theory or those of Parsons' (1969) modified mixing-length theory. However, qualitative agreement with the predictions of the non-local, generalized mixing-length theory of Spiegel (1963) and with the non-local theory of Ulrich (1970) cannot be considered as observational confirmation of these theories.     

Characteristics of concentrated flow hydraulics for rangeland ecosystems: implications for hydrologic modeling

Concentrated flow is often the dominant source of water erosion following disturbance on rangelands. Because of the lack of studies that explain the hydraulics of concentrated flow on rangelands, cropland‐based equations have typically been used for rangeland hydrology and erosion modeling, leading to less accurate predictions due to different soil and vegetation cover characteristics. This study investigates the hydraulics of concentrated flow using unconfined field experimental data over diverse rangeland landscapes within the Great Basin Region, United States. The results imply that the overall hydraulics of concentrated flow on rangelands differ significantly from those of cropland rills. Concentrated flow hydraulics on rangelands are largely controlled by the amount of cover or bare soil and hillslope angle. New predictive equations for concentrated flow velocity (R² = 0·47), hydraulic friction (R² = 0·52), and width (R² = 0·4) representing a diverse set of rangeland environments were developed. The resulting equations are applicable across a wide span of ecological sites, soils, slopes, and vegetation and ground cover conditions and can be used by physically‐based rangeland hydrology and erosion models to estimate rangeland concentrated flow hydraulic parameters. Published in 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

In Situ Measurement of Electro-Osmotic Fluxes and Conductivity Using Single Wellbore Tracer Tests

Electro-osmosis (EO), the movement of water through porous media in response to an electric field, offers a means for extracting contaminated ground water from fine-grained sediments, such as clays, that are not easily amenable to conventional pump-and-treat approaches. The EO-induced water flux is proportional to the voltage gradient in a manner analogous to the flux dependence on the hydraulic gradient under Darcy's law. The proportionality constant, the soil electro-osmotic conductivity or k_eo, is most easily measured in soil cores using bench-top tests, where flow is one-dimensional and interfering effects attributable to Darcy's law can be directly accounted for. In contrast, quantification of EO fluxes and k_eo in the field under deployment conditions can be difficult because electrodes are placed in ground water wells that may be screened across a heterogeneous mixture of lithologies. As a result, EO-induced water fluxes constitute an approximate radial flow system that is superimposed upon a Darcy flow regime through permeable pathways that may or may not be coupled with hydraulic head differences created by the EO-induced water fluxes. A single well comparative tracer test, which indirectly measures EO fluxes by comparing wellbore tracer dilution rates between background and EO-induced water fluxes, may provide a means for routinely quantifying the efficacy of EO systems in such settings. EO fluxes measured in field tests through this technique at a ground water contamination site were used to estimate a mean k_eo value through a semianalytic line source model of the electric field. The resulting estimate agrees well with values reported in the literature and with values obtained with bench-top tests conducted on a soil core collected in the test area.     

Implementation of a non-hydrostatic, adaptive-grid dynamics core in CAM3. Part I: comparison of dynamics cores in aqua-planet simulations

We report on our implementation of EULAG as a dynamical core in the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM). EULAG is a non-hydrostatic, parallel computational model for all-scale geophysical flows. EULAG’s name derives from its two computational options: EULerian (flux form) or semi-LAGrangian (advective form). The model combines nonoscillatory forward-in-time (NFT) numerical algorithms with a robust elliptic Krylov solver. A signature feature of EULAG is that it is formulated in generalized coordinates. In particular, this enables grid adaptivity. In total, these features give EULAG novel advantages over the existing dynamical cores in CAM. This paper uses a series of aqua-planet simulations to demonstrate that CAM-EULAG results compare favorably with those from CAM simulations at standard CAM resolution that use current finite volume or Eulerian-spectral dynamical core options. We also show that the grid adaptivity implemented in CAM3-EULAG allows higher resolution in selected regions without causing anomalous behavior such as spurious wave reflection.