Spatial distribution and temporal trends of rainfall and erosivity in the Eastern Africa region

Soil erosion by water is one of the main environmental concerns in the drought‐prone Eastern Africa region. Understanding factors such as rainfall and erosivity is therefore of utmost importance for soil erosion risk assessment and soil and water conservation planning. In this study, we evaluated the spatial distribution and temporal trends of rainfall and erosivity for the Eastern Africa region during the period 1981–2016. The precipitation concentration index, seasonality index, and modified Fournier index have been analysed using 5 × 5‐km resolution multisource rainfall product (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations). The mean annual rainfall of the region was 810 mm ranging from less than 300 mm in the lowland areas to over 1,200 mm in the highlands being influenced by orography of the Eastern Africa region. The precipitation concentration index and seasonality index revealed a spatial pattern of rainfall seasonality dependent on latitude, with a more pronounced seasonality as we go far from the equator. The modified Fournier index showed high spatial variability with about 55% of the region subject to high to very high rainfall erosivity. The mean annual R‐factor in the study region was calculated at 3,246 ± 1,895 MJ mm ha^?1 h^?1 yr^?1, implying a potentially high water erosion risk in the region. Moreover, both increasing and decreasing trends of annual rainfall and erosivity were observed but spatial variability of these trends was high. This study offers useful information for better soil erosion prediction as well as can support policy development to achieve sustainable regional environmental planning and management of soil and water resources.     

GPS静态连续变位监测系统的应用——以四川雅安滑坡为例

GPS精密测量在火山监测等地壳变动、山体滑坡监测中起到了非常有效的作用,已被广泛使用。但是,以前多在土木测量中使用的器材在实际监测中有很多限制,包括传感器、电源、通信等,如不做成系统很难体现出利用价值。笔者成功地将在恶劣气候条件下也能实施监测的系统实用化,并利用连续监测,通过统计处理达到高精度的实时变位监测。目前,日本有超过380个此类系统在通信、电源、环境条件均非常恶劣的现场运行着。我们应用此系统对四川雅安多营滑坡进行连续位移监测,并通过因特网实现位移监测数据的实时传输。经过近一年的监测证明,此系统监测精度高、运行稳定可靠[1~4]。     

Interaction between cladding and structural frame observed in a full‐scale steel building test

Interaction between the external wall cladding and the seismic load resisting frame was examined in a full‐scale cyclic loading test of a three‐storey steel building structure. The building specimen had Autoclaved Lightweight Concrete (ALC, also designated as Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) panels installed and anchored to the structural frame as external wall cladding, using a standard Japanese method developed following the 1995 Kobe earthquake. ALC panelling is among the most widely used material for claddings in Japan. In the test, the ALC panel cladding contributed little to the stiffness and strength of the overall structure, even under a very large storey drift of 0.04 rad. No visible damage was noted in the ALC panels other than minor cracks and spalling of the bottom of the panels in the first storey. Consequently, in a Japanese steel building with properly installed ALC panel cladding, the structural frame is likely to be little affected by its cladding, and the ALC panels are capable of accommodating the maximum storey drift generally considered in structural design without sustaining discernible damage. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A practical model to estimate photosynthetically active radiation using general meteorological elements in a temperate humid area and comparison among models

Although accurately evaluating photosynthetically active radiation is important, much effort is required to measure this radiation using a quantum sensor. We develop a new model that makes estimates using only general meteorological data—solar radiation, atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and relative humidity. Root mean square deviations for eight datasets at five sites in Japan were smaller than 5.2 %, similar to error in other studies and to individual differences of quantum sensors. Most root mean square deviations of nine previous models and our eight datasets are larger than that of the new estimation model, which performed well. This suggests that the model is useful for estimating photosynthetically active radiation in a temperate, humid area of Japan.     

Distribution of ephyrae and polyps of jellyfish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aurelia</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">aurita</Emphasis> (Linnaeus 1758) <Emphasis Type="Italic">sensu lato</Emphasis> in Mikawa Bay,Japan

We surveyed the distribution of colonies of polyps of Aurelia aurita sensu lato (s.l.) in Mikawa Bay, Japan. First, we surveyed the distribution of ephyrae of A. aurita s.l. at 75 stations encompassing the whole of Mikawa Bay in early 2008. A total of 37 ephyrae were sampled mostly from fishing ports. Ephyrae were most abundant around the islands located near the mouth of the bay, and decreased from the western part to the eastern part of Mikawa Bay. Next, we selected five fishing ports in Mikawa Bay where ephyrae occurred and surveyed the underside of floating piers and underwater overhangs of wharfs. We found dense colonies of polyps of A. aurita s.l. under nearly all of the floating piers at the two islands located near the mouth of the bay. Fitting a logistic regression model to the dataset showed that the percentage coverage of Aurelia polyps was significantly greater at the two islands compared with the other locations. In addition, the coverage of Aurelia polyps was greater when the coverage of other fouling organisms was in the range of 65–90%, and the coverage of Aurelia polyps was lower on floating piers with a vinyl surface and on concrete wharfs. The combined distribution of polyp colonies of A. aurita s.l. in Ise Bay and Mikawa Bay suggested that A. aurita s.l. in the two bays probably forms a single population and shoals of medusae mainly originate from protected harbors along the mouth-part of the bays.     

Long-term variability of winter mixed layer depth and temperature along the Kuroshio jet in a high-resolution ocean general circulation model

To explore the causes of the winter shallow mixed layer and high sea surface temperature (SST) along the strong Kuroshio jet from the East China Sea to the upstream Kuroshio extension (25.5°N–150°E) during 1988–1994 when the Japanese sardine stocks collapsed, high-resolution ocean general circulation model (OGCM) hindcast data are analyzed with a bulk mixed layer model which traces particles at the mixed layer base. The shallow mixed layer and high SST along the Kuroshio jet are mainly caused by the acceleration of the Kuroshio current velocity and the reduction of the surface cooling. Because the acceleration reduces the time during which the mixed layer is exposed to wintertime cooling, deepening and cooling of the winter mixed layer are restricted. The weaker surface cooling due to less severe meteorological forcing also causes the shallow mixed layer and the high SST. The impact of the strong heat transport along the Kuroshio extends to the southern recirculation gyre of the Kuroshio/Kuroshio extension regions; previous indications that the Japanese sardine recruitment is correlated with the winter SST and the mixed layer depth (MLD) in the Kuroshio extension recirculation region could be related to the velocity, SST, and MLD near the Kuroshio axis which also could affect the variability of North Pacific subtropical water.     

Japanese Astrometry Satellite Mission for Infrared Exploration

JASMINE is the name of a Japanese infrared (K-band) scanning astrometric satellite. JASMINE (I and/or II-project) is planned to be launched between 2013 and 2017 and will measure parallaxes and proper motions with the precision of 10μas at K≃ 12 - 15 mag. JASMINE will observe a few hundred million stars belonging to the disk and the bulge components of our Galaxy, which are hidden by the interstellar dust extinction in optical bands. Furthermore, JASMINE will also obtain photometry of stars in K, J and H-bands. The main objective of JASMINE is to study the most fundamental structure and evolution of the disk and the bulge components of the Milky Way Galaxy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.