Investigation of submicron volcanic aerosol-particles by photoelectron emission

Volcanic aerosol emissions have been studied for the first time by in situ photoelectric charging. Explorative studies on Mt Etna reveal large concentrations of particles below 1000 nm with the spectrum peaking in the size range of 100–1000 nm diameter. Although a large fraction of the particles is already charged upon emission, the net electrical charge carried by the aerosol turned out to be close to zero.Particles with high photoelectric yield vary greatly in their relative abundance and seem to occur mainly at active points of the volcano.     

Selection of regional historical rainfall time series as input to urban drainage simulations at ungauged locations

It has become established practice during the past 20 years to use high-resolution historical rainfall time series as input to hydrological model packages for detailed simulation of urban drainage systems. However, sufficiently long rain series are rarely available from the exact catchment in question and simulations are hence often based on available rain series from other locations. Extreme rainfall properties of importance to the performance of urban storm drainage systems vary significantly even in regions with only minor physiographic differences. Part of this variation can be explained by regional variations of the mean annual rainfall and the remaining statistical residue can be interpreted as statistical uncertainty.In Denmark, more than 75 high-resolution rain gauges are installed across a total area of 43,000 m. About 40 gauges had sufficiently long records to be included in a comprehensive national investigation where newly developed statistical regionalisation procedures were used to model the regional variation of extreme rainfalls. On this basis, a spreadsheet model was made available for estimation of extreme design rainfalls and the associated uncertainty at any location in the country. Statistics were furthermore computed to classify historical rainfall time series according to the developed regional model, and this makes it possible to assess the uncertainty related with using different historical rain series for simulations at ungauged locations.This research indicates that use of historical point rainfall data at ungauged locations introduces a significant uncertainty that is largely overlooked in today's practice. The engineering recommendation is to select historical rain series based on an evaluation of the local physiographic characteristics (e.g., the mean annual rainfall) and a (pre-defined) desired safety level of the simulations.     

An Improved Approach for Parameterizing Surface-Layer Turbulent Transfer Coefficients in Numerical Models

Based on classic iterative computation results, new equations to calculate the surface turbulent transfer coefficients are proposed, which allow for large ratios of the momentum and heat roughness lengths. Compared to the Launiainen scheme, our proposed scheme generates results closer to classical iterative computations. Under unstable stratification, the relative error in the Launiainen scheme increases linearly with increasing instability, even exceeding 15%, while the relative error of the present scheme is always less than 8.5%. Under stable stratification, the Launiainen scheme uses two equations, one for 0 < Ri _B ≤ 0.08 and another for 0.08 < Ri _B ≤ 0.2, and does not consider the condition that Ri _B > 0.2, while its relative errors in the region 0 < Ri _B ≤ 0.2 exceed 31 and 24% for momentum and heat transfer coefficients, respectively. In contrast, the present scheme uses only one equation for 0 < Ri _B ≤ 0.2 and another equation for Ri _B > 0.2, and the relative error of the present scheme is always less than 14%.     

A new algorithm to estimate sky condition based on 5 minutes-averaged values of clearness index and relative optical air mass

Summary This work describes a new algorithm to characterize sky condition in intervals of 5 min using four categories of sun exposition: apparent sun with cloud reflection effects; apparent sun without cloud effects; sun partially concealed by clouds; and sun totally concealed by clouds. The algorithm can also be applied to estimate hourly and daily sky condition in terms of the traditional three categories: clear, partially cloudy and cloudy day. It identifies sky conditions within a confidence interval of 95% by minimizing local climate and measurement effects. This is accomplished by using a logistic cumulative probability function to characterize clear sky and Weibull cumulative probability function to represent cloudy sky. Both probability functions are derived from frequency distributions of clearness index, based on 5 minutes-averaged values of global solar irradiance observed at the surface during a period of 6 years in Botucatu, Southeastern of Brazil. The relative sunshine estimated from the new algorithm is statistically comparable to the one derived from Campbell-Stocks sunshine recorder for both daily and monthly values. The new method indicates that the highest frequency of clear sky days occurs in Botucatu during winter (66%) and the lowest during the summer (38%). Partially cloudy condition is the dominant feature during all months of the year.     

Metamorphic charnockite in contact aureoles around intrusive enderbite from Natal, South Africa

In the Port Edward area of southern Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, charnockitic aureoles up to 10 m in width in the normally garnetiferous Nicholson's Point Granite, are developed adjacent to intrusive contacts with the Port Edward Enderbite and anhydrous pegmatitic veins. Mineralogical differences between the country rock and charnockitic aureole suggest that the dehydration reaction Bt + Qtz → Opx + Kfs + H₂O and the reaction of Grt + Qtz → Opx + Pl were responsible for the charnockitization. The compositions of fluid inclusions show systematic variation with: (1) the Port Edward Enderbite being dominated by CO₂ and N₂ fluid inclusions; (2) the non-charnockitized granite by saline aqueous inclusions with 18–23 EqWt% NaCl; (3) the charnockitic aureoles by low-salinity and pure water inclusions (<7 EqWt% NaCl); (4) the pegmatites by aqueous inclusions of various salinity with minor CO₂. As a result of the thermal event the homogenization temperatures of the inclusions in charnockite show a much larger range (up to 390 °C) compared to the fluid inclusions in granite (mostly <250 °C). Contrary to fluid-controlled charnockitization (brines, CO₂) which may have taken place along shear zones away from the intrusive body, the present “proximal” charnockitized granite formed directly at the contact with enderbite. The inclusions indicate contact metamorphism induced by the intrusion of “dry” enderbitic magma into “wet” granite resulting in local dehydration. This was confirmed by cathodoluminescence microscopy showing textures indicative for the local reduction of structural water in the charnockite quartz. Two-pyroxene thermometry on the Port Edward Enderbite suggests intrusion at temperatures of ∼1000–1050 °C into country rock with temperature of <700 °C. The temperature of aureole formation must have been between ∼700 °C (breakdown of pyrite to form pyrrhotite) and ∼1000 °C. Charnockitization was probably controlled largely by heat related to anhydrous intrusions causing dehydration reactions and resulting in the release and subsequent trapping of dehydration fluids. The salinity of the metamorphic fluid in the contact zones is supposed to have been higher at an early stage of contact metamorphism, but it has lost its salt content by K-metasomatic reactions and/or the preferential migration of the saline fluids out of the contact zones towards the enderbite. The low water activity inhibited the localized melting of the granite. Mineral thermobarometry suggests that after charnockite aureole genesis, an isobaric cooling path was followed during which reequilibration of most of the aqueous inclusions occurred. Received: 8 November 1998 / Accepted: 21 June 1999     

Time–space continuity of daily maps of fractional snow cover and albedo from MODIS

Using reflectance values from the seven MODIS “land” bands with 250 or 500 m resolution, along with a corresponding cloud product, we estimate the fraction of each 500 m pixel that snow covers, along with the albedo of that snow. The daily products have data gaps and errors because of cloud cover and sensor viewing geometry. Rather than make users interpolate and filter these patchy daily maps without completely understanding the retrieval algorithm and instrument properties, we use the daily time series to improve the estimate of the measured snow properties for a particular day. We use a combination of noise filtering, snow/cloud discrimination, and interpolation and smoothing to produce our best estimate of the daily snow cover and albedo. We consider two modes: one is the “predictive” mode, whereby we estimate the snow-covered area and albedo on that day using only the data up to that day; the other is the “retrospective” mode, whereby we reconstruct the history of the snow properties for a previous period.     

Inverse Analysis of Deep Excavation Using Differential Evolution Algorithm

This paper presents the applications of the differential evolution (DE) algorithm in back analysis of soil parameters for deep excavation problems. A computer code, named Python‐based DE, is developed and incorporated into the commercial finite element software ABAQUS, with a parallel computing technique to run an FE analysis for all trail vectors of one generation in DE in multiple cores of a cluster, which dramatically reduces the computational time. A synthetic case and a well‐instrumented real case, that is, the Taipei National Enterprise Center (TNEC) project, are used to demonstrate the capability of the proposed back‐analysis procedure. Results show that multiple soil parameters are well identified by back analysis using a DE optimization algorithm for highly nonlinear problems. For the synthetic excavation case, the back‐analyzed parameters are basically identical to the input parameters that are used to generate synthetic response of wall deflection. For the TNEC case with a total of nine parameters to be back analyzed, the relative errors of wall deflection for the last three stages are 2.2, 1.1, and 1.0%, respectively. Robustness of the back‐estimated parameters is further illustrated by a forward prediction. The wall deflection in the subsequent stages can be satisfactorily predicted using the back‐analyzed soil parameters at early stages. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ethnic Place Identity Within A Parisian Neighborhood

The Goutte d'Or neighborhood of Paris has long been seen as an impoverished yet colorful quarter of the city. In recent years, it has also developed a reputation as a center for immigrants. Three populations now share the neighborhood: the European French, the Maghrebi immigrant population and their children, and the newest population of migrants from former Francophone colonies. This paper examines how the Goutte d'Or's social and ethnic identity is revealed in the built environment and in its social and economic activity. This neighborhood demonstrates how different communities and place identities coexist. It also shows how global networks of migration, exchange, and visits infuse local places. The Goutte d'Or distills many aspects of French immigrant identities, providing an example for increasing numbers of immigrant neighborhoods in France and across the world.     

School vulnerability to disaster: examination of school closure,demographic, and exposure factors in Hurricane Ike’s wind swath

Damage and destruction to schools from climate-related disasters can have significant and lasting impacts on curriculum and educational programs, educational attainment, and future income-earning potential of affected students. As such, assessing the potential impact of hazards is crucial to the ability of individuals, households, and communities to respond to natural disasters, extreme events, and economic crises. Yet, few studies have focused on assessing the vulnerability of schools in coastal regions of the USA. Using Hurricane Ike’s tropical storm wind swath in the State of Texas as our study area, we: (1) assessed the spatial distribution patterns of school closures and (2) tested the relationship between school closure and vulnerability factors (namely physical exposure and school demographics) using zero-inflated negative binomial regression models. The regression results show that higher probabilities of hurricane strikes, more urbanized school districts, and school districts located in coastal counties on the right side of Ike’s path have significant positive associations with an increase in the number of school closure days. Socioeconomic characteristics were not significantly associated with the number of days closed, with the exception of proportion of Hispanic youth in schools, a result which is not supported by the social vulnerability literature. At a practical level, understanding how hurricanes may adversely impact schools is important for developing appropriate preparedness, mitigation, recovery, and adaptation strategies. For example, school districts on the right side of the hurricane track can plan in advance for potential damage and destruction. The ability of a community to respond to future natural disasters, extreme events, and economic crises depends in part on mitigating these adverse effects.     

Energetic protons from the solar flare of March 24, 1966

Ten to 100 meV protons from the solar flare of March 24, 1966 were observed on the University of California scintillation counter on OGO-I. The short rise and decay times observed in the count rates of the 32 channels of pulse-height analysis show that scattering of the protons by the interplanetary field was much less important in this event than in previously observed proton flares. A diffusion theory in which D = M _r is found to be inadequate to account for the time behavior of the count rates of this event. Small fluctuations of the otherwise smooth decay phase may be due to flare protons reflected from the back of a shock front, which passed the earth on March 23.