Correlation between molecular absorption spectral slope ratios and fluorescence humification indices in characterizing CDOM

Ultraviolet–visible absorption spectral slope ratios S_R (slope in 275–295 nm divided by slope in 350–400 nm) and humification index (HIX, integrated fluorescence emission in 435–480 nm divided by that in 435–480 and 300–345 nm) were compared when characterizing chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in three humic acids and 44 whole water samples. HIX increased with increasing pH for humic acids, while their S_R showed much more complicated dependencies on pH. There was a negative correlation between S_R and HIX. S_R increased in the order terrestrial coal/peat < terrestrial soil/river < seawater, while HIX increased in the order seawater < terrestrial soil/river < terrestrial coal/peat. The comparative study in this work indicates that terrestrially derived CDOM has higher HIX and lower S_R than marine CDOM. Investigators may potentially use these two indices to compare qualitatively the character of CDOM in different sources (e.g., terrestrial vs. marine).     

Position-domain integrity risk-based ambiguity validation for the integer bootstrap estimator

Integrity monitoring for ambiguity resolution is of significance for utilizing the high-precision carrier phase differential positioning for safety–critical navigational applications. The integer bootstrap estimator can provide an analytical probability density function, which enables the precise evaluation of the integrity risk for ambiguity validation. In order to monitor the effect of unknown ambiguity bias on the integer bootstrap estimator, the position-domain integrity risk of the integer bootstrapped baseline is evaluated under the complete failure modes by using the worst-case protection principle. Furthermore, a partial ambiguity resolution method is developed in order to satisfy the predefined integrity risk requirement. Static and kinematic experiments are carried out to test the proposed method by comparing with the traditional ratio test method and the protection level-based method. The static experimental result has shown that the proposed method can achieve a significant global availability improvement by 51% at most. The kinematic result reveals that the proposed method obtains the best balance between the positioning accuracy and the continuity performance.     

The extension of the parametrization of the radio source coordinates in geodetic VLBI and its impact on the time series analysis

The radio sources within the most recent celestial reference frame (CRF) catalog ICRF2 are represented by a single, time-invariant coordinate pair. The datum sources were chosen mainly according to certain statistical properties of their position time series. Yet, such statistics are not applicable unconditionally, and also ambiguous. However, ignoring systematics in the source positions of the datum sources inevitably leads to a degradation of the quality of the frame and, therefore, also of the derived quantities such as the Earth orientation parameters. One possible approach to overcome these deficiencies is to extend the parametrization of the source positions, similarly to what is done for the station positions. We decided to use the multivariate adaptive regression splines algorithm to parametrize the source coordinates. It allows a great deal of automation, by combining recursive partitioning and spline fitting in an optimal way. The algorithm finds the ideal knot positions for the splines and, thus, the best number of polynomial pieces to fit the data autonomously. With that we can correct the ICRF2 a priori coordinates for our analysis and eliminate the systematics in the position estimates. This allows us to introduce also special handling sources into the datum definition, leading to on average 30 % more sources in the datum. We find that not only the CPO can be improved by more than 10 % due to the improved geometry, but also the station positions, especially in the early years of VLBI, can benefit greatly.     

Estimating areal production of intertidal microphytobenthos based on spatio-temporal community dynamics and laboratory measurements

In situ Microphytobenthic community dynamics were combined with laboratory measurement of predominant species by fluorescence methods to estimate the areal primary production. Field investigation of community dynamics of microphytobenthos (MPB) was conducted from August 2006 to August 2007 in intertidal flats of the Nakdong River estuary, Korea. MPB Biomass varied between 0.47 and 16.58 μg cm^?3 in the surface 1 cm sediment, with two dominant diatom species, Amphora coffeaeformis and Navicula sp., occupying average 77.2 ± 14.9% of total number of MPB cells. The biomass was higher in the slightly muddy sand sites than that in the sand site, and showed different pattern of seasonal variation. The profile of vertical distribution of biomass was an exponential decrease trend with depth in sediments. The biomass proportions in the uppermost 3 mm were 57.6% and 37.8% with and without the presence of biofilm, respectively. The two dominant species were cultured in laboratory, and their photosynthetic parameters, rETR_max (relative maximum electron transport rate), α (light utilization coefficient) and E _k (light saturation parameter) were derived from rETR (relative ETR)-irradiance curves by Imaging- PAM (pulse amplitude modulated) fluorometry. The rETR-irradiance curves showed no significant difference of photosynthetic activities between the two species. The areal potential production ranged from 0.74 to 2.22 g C m^?2 d^?1.     

Sublethal Effects of Crude Oil on the Community Structure of Estuarine Phytoplankton

While the ecological impacts of crude oil exposure have been widely studied, its sublethal effects on phytoplankton community structure in salt marsh estuaries have not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to simulate oil spill conditions using a microcosm design to examine short-term (2 day) changes in phytoplankton community composition and total biomass following exposure to crude oil obtained from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and a mixture of Texas crude oils. Microcosm experiments were performed in situ in North Inlet Estuary near Georgetown, SC. A control and six replicated experimental treatments of crude oil additions at final concentrations of 10, 50, or 100 μl l⁻¹ of either Deepwater Horizon spill oil or the Texas crude mixture were incubated under in situ conditions. Photopigments were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography and community composition was determined using ChemTax. Total phytoplankton biomass (as chl a) declined with increasing crude oil concentrations. Prasinophytes, the most abundant microalga in both experiments, showed no response to oil exposure in one experiment and a significant negative response in the other. Diatoms euglenophytes and chlorophytes appeared relatively resistant to oil contamination at the exposure levels used in this study, maintaining or increasing their relative abundance with increasing oil concentrations. Chlorophytes and cyanobacteria increased in relative abundance while cryptophyte abundance decreased with increasing oil concentrations. The results of these experiments suggest that low levels of crude oil exposure may reduce total biomass and alter phytoplankton community composition with possible cascade effects at higher trophic levels in salt marsh estuaries.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in urban soils representing different land use categories in Shanghai

An extensive soil survey was carried out in Shanghai to investigate the spatial distribution and possible sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban soils. Soil samples were collected from highways, iron-smelting plants, steel-smelting plants, shipbuilding yards, coking plants, power plants, chemical plants, urban parks, university campuses and residential areas and were analyzed for 16 PAHs by gas chromatography with mass detection. High PAH concentrations were found in all locations investigated, with mean values of soil total PAH concentrations in the range 3,279–38,868 μg/kg DM, and the PAH concentrations were significantly influenced by soil organic matter content. Soil PAH profiles in all districts were dominated by PAHs with 4–6 rings. Principal components analysis and diagnostic ratios of PAHs indicate that they were mainly derived from coal combustion and petroleum but in soils from highways the PAHs were derived largely from vehicle exhaust emissions. The high concentrations of PAHs found indicate that many urban soils in Shanghai represent a potential hazard to public health.     

The characteristics of the seismic signals induced by landslides using a coupling of discrete element and finite difference methods

Landslide seismic signals support researchers to estimate magnitudes and locations of landslides. They can serve as a crucial data for landslide warning systems. However, the randomness of landslide locations makes the acquisition of landslide-induced seismic signals difficult and limits the number of available field data. The objectives of this study are to establish a numerical modeling approach to examine the characteristics of seismic signals induced by landslides and perform parametrical study. The two-dimensional particle flow code (PFC) and Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC) are coupled to simulate the landslide process. The force and velocity data at the coupled interfaces of FLAC and PFC are transferred back and forth via a Socket I/O connection. Four locations were monitored for the induced vertical seismic signals, including velocity, acceleration, and stress histories. The signals were analyzed by Hilbert-Huang transform to obtain the time-frequency spectrograms for examining the characteristics of the signals. The particle size, wall friction, particle friction, and parallel bond of PFC input parameters were parametrically investigated. The Xiaolin landslide in 2009 was successfully simulated, and the characteristics of the seismic signals were studied and compared with the data from a broadband seismic station. These results demonstrate that terrain and transition in the movement type of a complex landslide do influence the seismic signals. A landslide with larger rock particles generates lower-frequency content seismic signals. Also, there can be approximately 40 s to escape before a large-scale landslide hits if seismic instrumentation is installed. The method proposed can be further applied for studies on many other large-scale rock avalanches to verify recorded signals and further correlate the signals with the landslide characteristics.     

A double-differenced cycle slip detection and repair method for GNSS CORS network

The difficulty to detect and repair cycle slip of carrier phase measurements is a key limit for continuously high accuracy of GNSS positioning and navigation services. We propose an automated cycle slip detection and repair method for data preprocessing of a CORS network. The method jointly uses double-differenced (DD) geometry-free (GF) combination and ionospheric-free observation corrected for the computed geometrical distance (IF-OMC) to estimate the cycle slips in dual-frequency observations. The DD GF combination, which is only affected by the ionospheric residual, can be used to detect cycle slips with high reliability except for special pairs such as (77, 60) on GPS L1/L2 frequencies. The detection principle of the IF-OMC observable is such that there is a large discontinuity related to the previous epoch when cycle slips occur at the present epoch. The disadvantages of these two combinations can be overcome employing the proposed detection method. The cycle slip pair (77, 60) has no effect on the GF combination, while a change of 14.65 m is derived from GPS L1/L2 observations using the IF-OMC algorithm. Using pre-determined station coordinates as precise values, we found that the accuracy of the DD IF-OMC combination was 18 mm for a 200-km CORS baseline. Therefore, cycle slips in dual-frequency observations can be correctly and uniquely determined using DD GF and IF-OMC equations. The proposed method was verified by adding simulated cycle slips in observations collected from the CORS network under a quiet ionosphere and shown to be effective. Moreover, the method was assessed with observations made during intense ionospheric activity, which generated extensive cycle slips. The results show that the algorithm can detect and repair all cycle slips apart from two exceptions relating to long data gaps.     

Ecotourism and mass tourism in Southern Thailand: Spatial interdependence,structural connections,and staged authenticity

The desire to spend leisure time in natural settings represents a key factor behind the recent and rapid growth of ecotourism. A search by ecotourists for remote landscapes and locations has shaped the way in which geographers have defined ecotourism, but few scholars have explored, in detail, the mechanics of the spatial relationship between ecotourism and mass tourism, two forms of travel usually considered mutually exclusive in spatial terms. Using the island of Phuket — southern Thailands premier resort destination — as a case study, this paper investigates the spatial overlaps and connections between ecotourism and mass tourism and tests the assumption that ecotourism and mass tourism must exist spatially apart in order for the former to succeed. Despite Phukets association with mass tourism, and the small physical distances between built-up mass tourist areas and natural ecotourism settings, the communicative staging of natural authenticity allows ecotourism companies to convey geographical remoteness to tourists. Although ecotourism in Phuket must struggle constantly to overcome the perceptual impact of spatial proximity to resort locations, the tourist markets and business networks of the existing mass tourism industry remain crucial to the survival of ecotourism in this region. Thus, contrary to conventional notions that ecotourism and mass tourism must exist as separate entities, this paper argues that an interconnected, symbiotic, and spatially-contiguous relationship between the two is necessary in the case of Phuket.     

Devonian ichnofossils from the Farakah Muth section of the Pin Valley,Spiti Himalaya

The Muth Formation is one of the most characteristic marker horizon traced throughout the northwestern Himalaya. The present studies were carried out in the Farakah Muth (Pin Valley) section of Spiti Basin. The formation uniformly consists of quartzarenite with a high textural and compositional maturity. The development of carbonate beds in the upper part of the Muth Formation separates it conformably from the overlying Lipak Formation. A variety of traces were observed throughout the succession, includes: Metaichna, Planolites, Skolithos, vertical and horizontal burrows. The presence of ichnofossils in the Muth Formation of the Farakah section indicates subtidal settings having soft sandy substrate, whereas, the gradual maturity of the quartz grains from base to top indicates deposition under high energy condition.