Downscaling extreme month-long anomalies in southern South America

We investigate the performance of one stretched-grid atmospheric global model, five different regional climate models and a statistical downscaling technique in simulating 3 months (January 1971, November 1986, July 1996) characterized by anomalous climate conditions in the southern La Plata Basin. Models were driven by reanalysis (ERA-40). The analysis has emphasized on the simulation of the precipitation over land and has provided a quantification of the biases of and scatter between the different regional simulations. Most but not all dynamical models underpredict precipitation amounts in south eastern South America during the three periods. Results suggest that models have regime dependence, performing better for some conditions than others. The models’ ensemble and the statistical technique succeed in reproducing the overall observed frequency of daily precipitation for all periods. But most models tend to underestimate the frequency of dry days and overestimate the amount of light rainfall days. The number of events with strong or heavy precipitation tends to be under simulated by the models.     

Double‐pass spectro‐imaging: TUNIS

We present TUNIS, a double‐pass spectro‐imager built in THEMIS as a proof‐of‐concept for EST. Basic concepts and selected first results are shown. We introduce the concept of a Hadamard spectral mask as a proposition to move forward from the present implementation of a single‐wavelength per image pixel to a more general one of multiplexed spectral information that improves the temporal coherence of the spectral measurement (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Pyroxenes of the Khibiny alkaline pluton, Kola Peninsula

Seven pyroxene varieties were identified in nepheline syenites and foidolites of the Khibiny pluton: enstatite, ferrosilite, diopside, hedenbergite, augite, aegirine-augite, and aegirine. Enstatite and augite are typical of alkaline and ultramafic rocks of dike series. Ferrosilite was found in country quartzitic hornfels. Diopside is a rock-forming mineral in alkaline and ultramafic rocks, alkali gabbroids, hornfels in xenoliths of volcanic and sedimentary rocks and foyaite, melteigite-urtite that assimilate them, and certain hydrothermal pegmatite veins. Hedenbergite was noted in hornfels from xenoliths of volcanic and sedimentary rocks and in a hydrothermal pegmatite vein at Mount Eveslogchorr. Aegirine-augite is the predominant pyroxene in all types of nepheline syenites, phonolites and tinguaites, foidolites, alkaline and ultramafic rocks of dike series, fenitized wall rocks surrounding the pluton, and xenoliths of Devonian volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Aegirine is an abundant primary or, more often, secondary mineral in nepheline syenites, foidolites, and hydrothermal pegmatite veins. It occurs as separate crystals, outer zones of diopside and aegirine-augite crystals, and homoaxial pseudomorphs after Na-Ca amphiboles. Microprobe analyses of 265 pyroxenes samples allowed us to distinguish ten principal trends of isomorphic replacement and corresponding typomorphic features of pyroxenes. Compositional variations in clinopyroxenes along the sampled 35-km profile from the margin of the Khibiny pluton to its center confirm the symmetric zoning of the foyaite pluton relative to semicircular faults of the Minor Arc and the Main (Central) Ring marked by Devonian volcanic and sedimentary rocks, foidolites, and related metasomatic rocks (rischorrite, albitite, and aegirinite). Changes in the composition of pyroxenes are explained mainly by the redistribution of elements between coexisting minerals of foyaites in the process of their intense differentiation under the effect of foidolite melts that have intruded into the circular fault zones.     

川西南地区五峰—龙马溪组黑色页岩古气候及物源特征: 来自新地2井地球化学记录*

晚奥陶世—早志留世之交是地球历史时期中的关键时段,该时段伴有全球生物大灭绝、冈瓦纳冰川以及火山事件。晚奥陶世末期的冰川事件历时相对较短,在中国尚未找到冰川存在的直接证据。为了更好地研究奥陶—志留纪交替时期是否存在古气候的变化,选取了川西南地区新地2井岩心中新鲜的上奥陶统五峰组—下志留统龙马溪组泥页岩样品,通过其主量、微量及稀土元素特征分析,采用多种化学风化指数判定源区风化作用强度及古气候条件。新地2井五峰—龙马溪组所有岩石样品成分变异指数(ICV)均大于1,表明源岩成分成熟度低,属构造活动时期的首次沉积。稀土元素表现为轻稀土富集、重稀土平坦并伴有明显的负Eu 异常,配分模式与花岗岩相似,表明源岩以亲花岗岩、长英质为主;A-CN-K图解、主量元素Al₂O₃/TiO₂值、微量元素Cr/Zr值和Th/Sc值也体现长英质成分为主的物源特征。化学蚀变指数(CIA)、化学风化指数(CIW)和斜长石蚀变指数(PIA)等多种化学风化作用指标均指示,晚奥陶世—早志留世古风化作用强度经历中等—低等—中等、古气候温暖湿润—寒冷干燥—温暖湿润的变化过程。CIA指数的低值指示的五峰组顶部(平均值64.14)、观音桥组(平均值61.7)和龙马溪组底部(平均值64.61)即赫南特期存在短暂的寒冷气候,间接证实了冈瓦纳冰川作用在中国华南地区存在相应的地球化学记录。     

A new type optical fiber T.V. adaptor-link between telescope and spectrography

A new type of optical fiber T.V. adaptor-link device is developed to bring a star image at the focus of a Schmidt telescope to the slit of a spectrograph located at the observing floor, as well as part of the field, to a T.V. monitor for acquisition and guiding purposes. The device is constructed by 60 000 thin glass fibers (18 micron in diameter and 1.2 m in length) used as the adaptor, and a single long (20 m) thicker (25 micron core diameter) fused silica fiber used as the link between the telescope and the spectrograph. The 60 000 thin fibers are arranged in a 4 by 5 mm rectangular array with the link built in the center of the field. With the adaptor-link the astronomer can easily acquire the star on the T.V. monitor, transfer the star image through the link to the slit of the spectrograph and guide the star during observation.     

江苏-南黄海地区中强地震的可公度性及其预测研究

根据信息预测理论分析,江苏一南黄海地区M≥6级强震具有显著的可公度性。在回顾总结1996年11月9日南黄海6.1级地震预测的基础上,对南黄海海域1846年以来6级强震可公度性的基本结构及其预测功能进行了深入研究,同时建立了可公度预测模型,对该区未来强震趋势进行预测探讨。结果表明,1999～2000年,该区有可能发生M≥5地震,2002年前后南黄海海域有可能再次发生M≥6级强震。     

Design and implementation of an image stabilization device at the THEMIS solar telescope

An image stabilizer has been inserted into the optical path of the THEMIS solar telescope. THEMIS is a Ritchey–Chretien reflector telescope using an altazimuthal mount and closely tied to its spectrograph. The optical and mechanical design, implementation and system tests are described, and emphasis is put on the complexity of situations that this stabilizer must accept, including the scanning of the solar surface while stabilizing. The current closed-loop crossover frequency of the device is 65 Hz at ??3 dB on all typical solar scenes.     

地图数据的综合采样方法

本文从用户对地图数字化采样工艺和数据结构的需求出发,设计了“图斑——链”综合采样方法,并编写了与之相应的程序。实验结果表明,该方法操作过程简单.可直接为地籍信息系统提供标准拓扑数据结构文件,具有一定的推广应用价值。     

Simulation of South American wintertime climate with a nesting system

A numerical nesting system is developed to simulate wintertime climate of the eastern South Pacific-South America-western South Atlantic region, and preliminary results are presented. The nesting system consists of a large-scale global atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) and a regional climate model (RCM). The latter is driven at its boundaries by the GCM. The particularity of this nesting system is that the GCM itself has a variable horizontal resolution (stretched grid). Our main purpose is to assess the plausibility of such a technique to improve climate representation over South America. In order to evaluate how this nesting system represents the main features of the regional circulation, several mean fields have been analyzed. The global model, despite its relatively low resolution, could simulate reasonably well the more significant large-scale circulation patterns. The use of the regional model often results in improvements, but not universally. Many of the systematic errors of the global model are also present in the regional model, although the biases tend to be rectified. Our preliminary results suggest that nesting technique is a computationally low-cost alternative for simulating regional climate features. However, additional simulations, parametrizations tuning and further diagnosis are clearly needed to represent local patterns more precisely. Received: 18 February 1999 / Accepted: 31 May 2000