In-flight performance analysis of the CHAMP BlackJack GPS Receiver

JPL's BlackJack receiver currently represents the most widely used geodetic grade GPS receiver for space applications. Using data from the CHAMP science mission, the in-flight performance of the BlackJack receiver has been assessed and the impact of various software updates performed during the 2.5 years since launch is described. Key aspects of the study comprise the channel allocation, anomalous data points, and the noise level of the code and carrier data. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the code measurements collected onboard the CHAMP satellite are notably affected by multipath errors in the aft-looking hemisphere, which can be attributed to cross-talk between the occultation antenna string and the primary precise orbit determination antenna. For carrier smoothed 10 s normal points, the code noise itself varies between a minimum of 5 cm at high elevations and 0.5 m (C/A) to 1.0 m (P₁, P₂) at 10° elevation. Carrier-phase data exhibit representative errors of 0.2 to 2.5 mm. The results of the CHAMP GPS data analysis contribute to a better understanding and possible improvement of the BlackJack receiver and support the design of optimal data editing and weighting strategies in precise orbit determination applications.     

A description of how metal pollution occurs in the Tinto-Odiel rias (Huelva-Spain) through the application of cluster analysis

In the last few decades, the study of space-time distribution and variations of heavy metals in estuaries has been extensively studied as an environmental indicator. In the case described here, the combination of acid water from mines, industrial effluents and sea water plays a determining role in the evolutionary process of the chemical makeup of the water in the estuary of the Tinto and Odiel Rivers, located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.Based on the statistical treatment of the data from the analysis of the water samples from this system, which has been affected by processes of industrial and mining pollution, the 16 variables analyzed can be grouped into two large families. Each family presents high, positive Pearson r values that suggest common origins (fluvial or sea) for the pollutants present in the water analyzed and allow their subsequent contrast through cluster analysis.     

A consistent derivation of the wave-energy equation from basic hydrodynamic principles

Based on a decomposition of the velocity into mean flow, turbulent and wave components, momentum and hereafter a wave-energy equation is derived. It contains a turbulent energy dissipation term which is closed by applying a wave-related mixing length model and linear wave theory solutions. This closure produces a non-linear turbulent wave-energy dissipation including the wave energy in a 5/2 power law. The theory is able to predict correctly the shape of deep-water wave spectra according to Phillips' similarity law.Responsible Editor: Hans Burchard     

Diamond formation and source carbonation: mineral associations in diamonds from Namibia

Mineral inclusions in diamonds from Namibia document a range of mantle sources, including eclogitic, websteritic and peridotitic parageneses. Based on unusual textural features a group of inclusions showing websteritic, peridotitic and transitional chemical features is assigned to an 'undetermined suite' (12% of the studied diamonds). The mutual characteristic of this group is the occurrence of lamellar intergrowths of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene. In addition, the 'undetermined suite' is associated with a number of uncommon phases: in one diamond MgCO₃ is enclosed by clinopyroxene. Other minerals that form touching inclusions with the pyroxene lamellae are (1) a SiO₂ phase observed in three diamonds, together with CaCO₃ in one of them, (2) phlogopite and a Cr-rich 'titanate' (probably lindsleyite). The inclusions document a metamorphic path of decreasing pressures and temperatures after entrapment in diamond. First, homogeneous low-Ca clinopyroxenes were entrapped at high temperatures. They subsequently exsolved orthopyroxene and probably also SiO₂ (coesite) on cooling along a P,T trajectory that did not allow garnet to be exsolved as well. Phlogopite, carbonates and LIMA phases are the result of overprint of a peridotitic source rock by a carbon-rich agent. The resulting unusual, olivine-free mineral association and the host diamonds are interpreted as products of extensive carbonation of the peridotite.     

A Sr isotope study on fluorite and siderite from post-orogenic mineral veins in the eastern Harz Mountains,Germany

Rb–Sr isotope data for siderite and fluorite from sediment-hosted epithermal mineral veins in the eastern Harz Mountains (Germany) are presented. Several fluorite and siderite-bearing paragenetic stages have been proposed for these veins, with the most important mineralization being related to a quartz–sulfide and a subsequent calcite–fluorite–quartz stage, which occurred at 226±1 and 209±2 Ma, respectively. Our Rb–Sr data do not permit the identification of distinct generations of siderite and fluorite, but rather reveal straight internal mixing relations, reflecting mixing of fluids or differential fluid–rock interaction processes. This indicates merely two significant phases of mineral deposition related to the quartz–sulfide and calcite–fluorite–quartz stages. It is shown that the Paleozoic sedimentary host rocks of the veins are the most likely source for the siderite Sr, whereas fluorite displays a two-component mixture between sedimentary Sr and radiogenic Sr derived from locally occurring Permian metavolcanic rocks. Editorial handling: B. Lehmann     

GIS-based determination of the mean long-term groundwater recharge in Lower Saxony

This paper presents the findings of a collaborative research project of the Geological Survey of Lower Saxony (NLfB) and the Programme Group Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (STE) of Research Centre Jülich on the GIS-based determination of the mean long-term groundwater recharge in Lower Saxony using high-resolution digital data (Dörhöfer and others 2001). The model calculations were performed on the basis of the water-balance model GROWA (Kunkel and Wendland 2002) with a spatial resolution of 100x100 m². The accuracy of the calculated groundwater recharge values for the period 1961–1990 was verified on the basis of data from gauging stations and displayed a good agreement between observed runoff values and model results.     

Sequential extraction procedure in columns. Part 1: Development and description of a new method

A sequential extraction procedure was carried out in columns using reagents that are known to be reliable from batch tests. The intention was to distinguish between different chemical forms of iron and heavy metals in samples from reduced porous aquifers, which demands anaerobic conditions for the extraction procedure and the determination of small amounts of reactive mineral phases in a quartz dominated sediment system. By means of the developed method, anaerobic conditions can be guaranteed in the columns, which could not be realized to full satisfaction in batch tests that were carried out in a glove box. In order to distinguish between the fractions that were water soluble, exchangeable, bound to carbonates and bound to hydroxides, different reagents were pumped through the sediments and sampled after passage of the columns. Sediment samples of 10 kg each were investigated in this way. The extraction steps were known to be complete when analyses revealed that no further major and trace elements were leached out of the columns. This approach enabled well-adjusted amounts of reagents to be used. By means of the sequential extraction procedure in columns the composition of even small amounts of reactive mineral phases can be determined successfully, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the hydrogeochemical processes in aquifers. In batch tests this accuracy cannot be reached because of the surplus of the extraction solution in relation to the amount of sediment (higher solution-sediment ratio). Furthermore, larger samples are much more representative of the composition of the aquifers than smaller ones and the heterogeneity of the sediment does not limit the accuracy of the results as much as in batch tests. In addition, the technique of flushing sediment in a column is much more typical for the situation in an aquifer than suspending a few grams of a sample in the extracting reagents in batch extraction tests. In order to demonstrate the methodical improvements and field applications, the newly developed method was used to investigate the changing binding forms and mobility of iron and trace metals in samples from a lignite overburden dump, which are influenced by pyrite oxidation processes (acidification) followed by the addition of crushed limestone (neutralization) (see "Sequential extraction procedure in columns. Part 2: Application of a new method").