Color imaging of Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)

HiRISE has been producing a large number of scientifically useful color products of Mars and other planetary objects. The three broad spectral bands, coupled with the highly sensitive 14 bit detectors and time delay integration, enable detection of subtle color differences. The very high spatial resolution of HiRISE can augment the mineralogic interpretations based on multispectral (THEMIS) and hyperspectral datasets (TES, OMEGA and CRISM) and thereby enable detailed geologic and stratigraphic interpretations at meter scales. In addition to providing some examples of color images and their interpretation, we describe the processing techniques used to produce them and note some of the minor artifacts in the output. We also provide an example of how HiRISE color products can be effectively used to expand mineral and lithologic mapping provided by CRISM data products that are backed by other spectral datasets. The utility of high quality color data for understanding geologic processes on Mars has been one of the major successes of HiRISE.     

Decision Analysis for Leachate Control at a Fractured Rock Landfill

The municipal landfill at the Complexe Environnemental de Saint-Michel (CESM) in Montreal, which is the third largest in North America, is located in a former quarry in fractured limestone. Impressive measures are taken to monitor and control biogas and leachate generated at the site. Leachate containment is presently performed with a pumping well completed within the waste. The efficiency of the well in controlling off-site leachate migration is questioned because field observations strongly suggest that the nearby former Francon quarry is diverting local ground water flow. To address this issue, four additional hydraulic control options are considered: (1) increased pumping at the existing waste well; (2) new pumping wells in the rock on the eastern limit of the site; (3) new injection wells in the rock on the eastern limit; and (4) combination of new injection wells at the same location and new water supply wells upgradient of the landfill. We evaluated the four hydraulic control options at the CESM using two coupled models: (1) a decision model based on an objective function weighting the risk, costs, and benefits of each option translated into dollar units; and (2) a numerical ground water flow model to represent the effect of operational conditions and ascertain success. Decision analysis offers a quantitative unbiased tool to evaluate the potential and relative cost of each option, but qualitative considerations and judgment still must be used for a complete evaluation. Our analysis confirms that scenario 4, which was the intuitively favored option, represents the best containment strategy.     

Sector collapse at Kick 'em Jenny submarine volcano (Lesser Antilles): numerical simulation and landslide behaviour

Kick 'em Jenny volcano is the only known active submarine volcano in the Lesser Antilles. It lies within a horseshoe-shaped structure open to the west northwest, toward the deep Grenada Basin. A detailed bathymetric survey of the basin slope at Kick 'em Jenny and resulting high-resolution digital elevation model allowed the identification of a major submarine landslide deposit. This deposit is thought to result from a single sector collapse event at Kick 'em Jenny and to be linked to the formation of the horseshoe-shaped structure. We estimated the volume and the leading-edge runout of the landslide to be ca. 4.4 km³ and 14 km, respectively. We modelled a sector collapse event of a proto Kick 'em Jenny volcano using VolcFlow, a finite difference code based on depth-integrated mass and momentum equations. Our models show that the landslide can be simulated by either a Coulomb-type rheology with low basal friction angles (5.5°–6.5°) and a significant internal friction angle (above 17.5°) or, with better results, by a Bingham rheology with low Bingham kinematic viscosity (0 < ν _B < 30 m²/s) and high shear strength (130 < γ ≤ 180 m²/s²). The models and the short runout distance suggest that the landslide travelled as a stiff cohesive flow affected by minimal granular disaggregation and slumping on a non-lubricated surface. The main submarine landslide deposit can therefore be considered as a submarine mass slide deposit that behaved like a slump.     

Sensitivity of coastal polynyas and high-salinity shelf water production in the Ross Sea,Antarctica, to the atmospheric forcing

Coastal polynyas around Antarctica are the place of intense air–sea exchanges which eventually lead to the formation of high-salinity shelf waters (HSSW) over continental shelves. Here, the influence of atmospheric forcing on coastal polynyas in the Ross Sea is studied by contrasting the response of a regional ocean/sea-ice circulation model to two different atmospheric forcing sets. A first forcing (DFS3) is based on ERA40 atmospheric surface variables and satellite products. A second forcing (MAR) is produced on the basis of ERA40 with a dynamical downscaling procedure. As compared to DFS3, MAR forcing is shown to improve substantially the representation of small-scale patterns of coastal winds with stronger katabatic winds along the coast. The response of the ocean/sea-ice model to the two forcing sets shows that the MAR forcing improves substantially the geographical distribution of polynyas in the Ross Sea. With the MAR forcing, the polynya season is also shown to last longer with a greater ice-production rate. As a consequence, a greater flow of dense water out of the polynyas is found with the MAR forcing and the properties of HSSW are notably improved as compared to the DFS3 forcing. The factors contributing to the activity of Terra Nova Bay and Ross Ice Shelf polynyas in the model are studied in detail. The general picture that emerges from our simulations is that the properties of HSSW are mostly set by brine rejection when the polynya season resume. We found that coastal polynyas in the Ross Sea export about 0.4 Sv of HSSW which then flows along three separate channels over the Ross Shelf. A 6-month time lag is observed between the peak of activity of polynyas and the maximum transport across the sills in the channels with a maximum transport of about 1 Sv in February. This lag corresponds to the time it takes to the newly formed HSSW to spread from the polynya to the sills (at a speed of nearly 2 cm s⁻¹).     

A discontinuous Galerkin method for seismic soil–structure interaction analysis in the time domain

A technique for modeling transient wave propagation in unbounded media is extended and applied to seismic soil–structure interaction analysis in the time domain. The technique, based on the discontinuous Galerkin method, requires lower computational cost and less storage than the boundary element method, and the time‐stepping scheme resulting from Newmark's method in conjunction with the technique is unconditionally stable, allowing for efficient and robust time‐domain computations. To extend the technique to cases characterized by seismic excitation, the free‐field motion is used to compute effective forces, which are introduced on the boundary of the computational domain containing the structure and the soil in the vicinity of the structure. A numerical example on a dam–foundation system subjected to seismic excitation demonstrates the performance of the method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Temporal Morphology of Infrasound Propagation

Expert knowledge suggests that the performance of automated infrasound event association and source location algorithms could be greatly improved by the ability to continually update station travel-time curves to properly account for the hourly, daily, and seasonal changes of the atmospheric state. With the goal of reducing false alarm rates and improving network detection capability we endeavor to develop, validate, and integrate this capability into infrasound processing operations at the International Data Centre of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Numerous studies have demonstrated that incorporation of hybrid ground-to-space (G2S) enviromental specifications in numerical calculations of infrasound signal travel time and azimuth deviation yields significantly improved results over that of climatological atmospheric specifications, specifically for tropospheric and stratospheric modes. A robust infrastructure currently exists to generate hybrid G2S vector spherical harmonic coefficients, based on existing operational and emperical models on a real-time basis (every 3- to 6-hours) (Drob et al., 2003). Thus the next requirement in this endeavor is to refine numerical procedures to calculate infrasound propagation characteristics for robust automatic infrasound arrival identification and network detection, location, and characterization algorithms. We present results from a new code that integrates the local (range-independent) τp ray equations to provide travel time, range, turning point, and azimuth deviation for any location on the globe given a G2S vector spherical harmonic coefficient set. The code employs an accurate numerical technique capable of handling square-root singularities. We investigate the seasonal variability of propagation characteristics over a five-year time series for two different stations within the International Monitoring System with the aim of understanding the capabilities of current working knowledge of the atmosphere and infrasound propagation models. The statistical behaviors or occurrence frequency of various propagation configurations are discussed. Representative examples of some of these propagation configuration states are also shown.     

Video-monitoring of wood discharge: first inter-basin comparison and recommendations to install video cameras

Wood in rivers plays a major role both ecologically and morphologically. In recent decades, due to human activities in the river channels and along the riparian zone, wood obstruction and jamming has exacerbated flooding hazards and infrastructure damage. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify the wood flux and discharge in rivers to improve wood hazard management. Among the various methods for monitoring the wood flux in a river, the streamside videography technique is effective given its high temporal and spatial resolution. Previous work monitored the wood discharge (m³/s) using this technique in the Ain River (France) during three floods (MacVicar and Piégay, 2012), and the same method is implemented on the Isère River (France) to obtain the statistics of wood discharge for two floods. Comparison between the two sites supports the generalization of both the monitoring technique and the link between wood discharge and flood characteristics. We first show that the maximum wood discharge is observed at bankfull discharge, and we confirm the three stage model proposed by MacVicar and Piégay (2012). Additionally, transverse distributions of the number of wood pieces and corresponding wood length appear to be similar for different flood magnitudes on each site. As a technical contribution, the use of the same technique on two sites allows for recommendations on key decisions related to the location and implementation of the equipment. Both statistical and technical contributions can be used by decision makers to implement this monitoring technique, acquire the wood transport parameters, and evaluate the potential wood hazards at local scale or along a river. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.