Research on EPS application to very wide highway embankments in permafrost regions

In order to maintain the thermal stability of very wide highway embankments in permafrost regions, the thermal isolation material EPS is often utilized. To examine the effects of this insulation on the China National Highway (G214), two-dimensional finite element analysis of temperature fields was conducted for varying widths of highway embankments with and without EPS insulation. The numerical results show that in permafrost regions the effect of thermal aggregation on asphalt pavement is more obvious when highway embankments are wider, and, specifically for the G214 highway, the insulation should be more than 25 cm thick for 24-m-wide embankments. However, considering other factors such as the structural rationality of the embankments and high engineering costs, it might not be feasible to install EPS insulation in 24-m-wide embankments of the G214 highway when the height of the embankments is less than 3.65 m.     

The aboveground biomass of desert steppe and its spatiotemporal variation in western Inner Mongolia

A precise understanding of the aboveground biomass of desert steppe and its spatio-temporal variation is important to understand how arid ecosystems respond to climate change and to ensure that scarce grassland resources are used rationally. On the basis of 756 ground survey quadrats sampled in western Inner Mongolia steppe in 2005–2011 and remote sensing data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)—the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset for the period of 2001–2011—we developed a statistical model to estimate the aboveground biomass of the desert steppe and further explored the relationships between aboveground biomass and climate factors. The conclusions are as follows: (1) the aboveground biomass of the steppe in the research area was 5.27 Tg (1 Tg=10¹² g) on average over 11 years; between 2001 and 2011, the aboveground biomass of the western Inner Mongolia steppe exhibited fluctuations, with no significant trend over time; (2) the aboveground biomass of the steppe in the research area exhibits distinct spatial variation and generally decreases gradually from southeast to northwest; and (3) the important factor causing interannual variations in aboveground biomass is precipitation during the period from January to July, but we did not find a significant relationship between the aboveground biomass and the corresponding temperature changes. The precipitation in this period is also an important factor influencing the spatial distribution of aboveground biomass (R²=0.39, P<0.001), while the temperature might be a minor factor (R²=0.12, P<0.01). The uncertainties in our estimate are primarily due to uncertainty in converting the fresh grass yield estimates to dry weight, underestimates of the biomass of shrubs, and error in remote sensing dataset.     

Long-term variations of rainfall interception in different growth stages of Chinese fir plantations

Abstract

The dynamic properties of rainfall interception were investigated at three growth stages in Chinese fir plantations. The results showed that the annual interception ratio was significantly higher in mature stands than in young stands. For a storm event, interception rainfall amount increased with increasing rainfall, but interception ratio decreased. In contrast to dry season conditions, the interception amount was high in the wet seasons, while the interception ratio was low. The rates of change in interception ratio were extremely rapid in small rainfall events. There was little stemflow in Chinese fir forests due to the pyramid-shaped crowns and thick rough bark of the trees. The power model was suitable to describe the interception process for an individual rainfall event for stands of any age. Our results indicate that the interception process varied for stands of different ages in Chinese fir plantations due to contrasting canopy structures.     

Coherent variations of the obliquity components in global ice volume and ocean carbon reservoir over the past 5 Ma

The Milankovi theory stresses that the summer insolation in the high northern latitudes that is dominated by the precession cycle controls the glacial/interglacial cycles in global climate change.If the climate system responds linearly to the external insolation forcing,the precession cycle of 23 or 19 ka should dominate the variations in the climatic proxy records.I performed spectral and evolutive cross spectral analyses on the high resolution benthic 18O and 13C records from the South China Sea and the North Atlantic,the proxies of global ice volume and ocean carbon reservoir respectively.I found that the obliquity instead of the eccentricity or the precession is the most marked cycle in the global ice volume and ocean carbon reservoir variations over the past 5 Ma.The analysis further reveals that only at the obliquity band instead of the eccentricity or the precession band does the global ice volume and ocean carbon reservoir display consistently high coherency and stable phase relationship over the past 5 Ma.The consistently positive or near-zero phases of the benthic 18O relative to the benthic13C at the obliquity band suggest that the global carbon cycle is involved in the polar ice sheet growth as an important internal feedback,not a determinative driving factor.The obliquity instead of the precession or the eccentricity takes the dominant role of driving the global climate change during the Pliocene and Pleistocene.     

Partitioning of Fluoroquinolones on Wastewater Sludge

Laboratory‐scale batch experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption behavior of eight fluoroquinolones (FQs) on aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic sludge, under different adsorpiton time, pH, and temperature conditions. Results indicated that adsorption of FQs onto all sludge was a physical sorption process. The relationship of the partitioning coefficient (K_d) and the octanol/water partition coefficient (K_ow) for each FQ was established. The adsorbed fraction of FQs on sludge could then be predicted with the K_d. It was calculated that about 50–72% of the FQs were adsorbed on the sludge. Therefore, the adsorption effect must be considered when studying the fate and occurrence of FQs in wastewater treatment systems.     

Nontectonic signals in reprocessed continuous GPS position time series of CMONOC

The nearly nine-year continuous GPS data collected since 1 March 1999 from the Crustal Motion Observation Network of China (CMONOC) were consistently analyzed. Most of the nonlinear movements in the cumulative position time series produced by CMONOC data center disappeared; and more accurate vertical terms and tectonic signals were extracted. Displacements caused by atmospheric pressure loading, nontidal ocean loading, soil moisture mass loading, and snow cover mass loading using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis I/II models and Estimation of the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) data can explain most of the vertical annual terms at many stations, while only parts can be explained at Lhasa and southern coastal sites, indicating that there are some deformation mechanisms that are still unknown or not modeled accurately. The remarkable differences in vertical position time series for short-baseline sites reveal that GPS stations can be greatly affected by local factors; and attention should be paid when explaining observed GPS velocity vectors.     

Detection and correction of inconsistencies between river networks and contour data by spatial constraint knowledge

In the representation of topographic data, the distribution of hydrographic networks should be constrained by the contour model’s landform features. During the integration of topographic databases, however, spatial conflicts may destroy these constraints, generating inconsistencies. This study presents a method to detect and correct inconsistencies between river networks and contour data by spatial knowledge. First, structured terrain features are extracted from the contour-based geometric representation and matching relationships between rivers and contours are constructed based on spatial knowledge of the distribution of rivers and talwegs. We then propose a distance metric for measuring differences and identifying inconsistencies between the matched river and contour features. Three correction approaches are provided for different inconsistency situations, including river adjustment referenced to the contour, contour adjustment referenced to the river and adjustment of both river and contour to middle positions. We apply the proposed method to the integration and maintenance of national topographic infrastructure in order to demonstrate its effectiveness.     

Observational Subseasonal Variability of the PM2.5 Concentration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area during the January 2021 Sudden Stratospheric Warming

It is still not well understood if subseasonal variability of the local PM_2.5 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region is affected by the stratospheric state. Using PM_2.5 observations and the ERA5 reanalysis, the evolution of the air quality in BTH during the January 2021 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) is explored. The subseasonal variability of the PM_2.5 concentration after the SSW onset is evidently enhanced. Stratospheric circumpolar easterly anomalies lasted for 53 days during the January–February 2021 SSW with two evident stratospheric pulses arriving at the ground. During the tropospheric wave weakening period and the intermittent period of dormant stratospheric pulses, the East Asian winter monsoon weakened, anomalous temperature inversion developed in the lower troposphere, anomalous surface southerlies prevailed, atmospheric moisture increased, and the boundary layer top height lowered, all of which favor the accumulation of pollutant particulates, leading to two periods of pollution processes in the BTH region. In the phase of strengthened East Asian winter monsoon around the very beginning of the SSW and another two periods when stratospheric pulses had reached the near surface, opposite-signed circulation patterns and meteorological conditions were observed, which helped to dilute and diffuse air pollutants in the BTH region. As a result, the air quality was excellent during the two periods when the stratospheric pulse had reached the near surface. The increased subseasonal variation of the regional pollutant particulates after the SSW onset highlights the important role of the stratosphere in the regional environment and provides implications for the environmental prediction.     

A PRIMARY RECOGNITION ON THE CLIMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF ICE CORE ISOTOPE RECORD IN NAIMONA'NYI OF WEST TIBETAN PLATEAU

纳木那尼冰川是喜马拉雅山西部地区规模较大的冰川之一,也是开展冰芯气候意义研究有重要潜在价值的冰川.但由于纳木那尼冰川位于西风环流和印度季风影响范围的交界带,不同的环流系统所输送的水汽带来不同的降水稳定同位素信号.因此确定纳木那尼冰芯同位素记录的气候意义是开展该地区冰芯气候记录研究的前提条件.2008年在该冰川积累区所钻取的8.78m浅冰芯为这一研究工作提供了可能.本文对该冰芯的稳定同位素记录以及普兰气象站的气象数据进行了分析与讨论.研究结果表明,同位素的年际变化与当地普兰县气象站气温的年际变化具有较好的对应关系.这可能与当地降水受到夏季季风的影响较小有关.测量结果表明早期的深冰芯钻取点位于冰川的消融区,而冰川的积累区仍位于冰川更高的区域,而且积累区冰川厚度更大,更有可能保存更长时间尺度的冰芯记录.这也为以后开展新的纳木那尼深孔冰芯及气候意义研究提供了借鉴.