GGM02 – An improved Earth gravity field model from GRACE

A new generation of Earth gravity field models called GGM02 are derived using approximately 14 months of data spanning from April 2002 to December 2003 from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE). Relative to the preceding generation, GGM01, there have been improvements to the data products, the gravity estimation methods and the background models. Based on the calibrated covariances, GGM02 (both the GRACE-only model GGM02S and the combination model GGM02C) represents an improvement greater than a factor of two over the previous GGM01 models. Error estimates indicate a cumulative error less than 1 cm geoid height to spherical harmonic degree 70, which can be said to have met the GRACE minimum mission goals. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at     

Simulation of the east asian summer monsoon using a variable resolution atmospheric GCM

The East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) is simulated with a variable resolution global atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) developed at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, France. The version used has a local zoom centered on China. This study validates the model's capability in reproducing the fundamental features of the EASM. The monsoon behaviors over East Asia revealed by the ECMWF reanalysis data are also addressed systematically, providing as observational evidence. The mean state of the EASM is generally portrayed well in the model, including the large-scale monsoon airflows, the monsoonal meridional circulation, the cross-equatorial low-level jets, the monsoon trough in the South China Sea, the surface cold high in Australia, and the upper-level northeasterly return flow. While the performance of simulating large-scale monsoonal climate is encouraging, the model's main deficiency lies in the rainfall. The marked rainbelt observed along the Yangtze River Valley is missed in the simulation. This is due to the weakly reproduced monsoonal components in essence and is directly related to the weak western Pacific subtropical high, which leads to a fragile subtropical southwest monsoon on its western flank and results in a weaker convergence of the southwest monsoon flow with the midlatitude westerlies. The excessively westward extension of the high, together with the distorted Indian low, also makes the contribution of the tropical southwest monsoon to the moisture convergence over the Yangtze River Valley too weak in the model. The insufficient plateau heating and the resulting weak land-sea thermal contrast are responsible for the weakly reproduced monsoon. It is the deficiency of the model in handling the low-level cloud cover over the plateau rather than the horizontal resolution and the associated depiction of plateau topography that results in the insufficient plateau heating. Comparison with the simulation employing regular coarser mesh model reveals that the local zoom technique improves, in a general manner, the EASM simulation.     

On the spatial relationship between landslides and causative factors on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

This paper presents a statistical approach to study the spatial relationship between landslides and their causative factors at the regional level. The approach is based on digital databases, and incorporates such methods as statistics, spatial pattern analysis, and interactive mapping. Firstly, the authors propose an object-oriented conceptual model for describing a landslide event, and a combined database of landslides and environmental factors is constructed by integrating the various databases within such a conceptual framework. The statistical histogram, spatial overlay, and dynamic mapping methods are linked together to interactively evaluate the spatial pattern of the relationship between landslides and their causative factors. A case study of an extreme event in 1993 on Lantau Island indicates that rainfall intensity and the migration of the center of the rainstorm greatly influence the occurrence of landslides on Lantau Island. A regional difference in the relationship between landslides and topography is identified. Most of the landslides in the middle and western parts of the island occurred on slopes with slope angles of 25–35°, while in the eastern part, the corresponding range is 30–35°. Overlaying landslide data with land cover reveals that a large number of landslides occurred in the bareland and shrub-covered area, and in the transition zones between different vegetation types. The proposed approach can be used not only to analyze the general characteristics of such a relationship, but also to depict its spatial distribution and variation, thereby providing a sound basis for regional landslide prediction.     

Construction of Green's function to the external Dirichlet boundary-value problem for the Laplace equation on an ellipsoid of revolution

Green's function to the external Dirichlet boundary-value problem for the Laplace equation with data distributed on an ellipsoid of revolution has been constructed in a closed form. The ellipsoidal Poisson kernel describing the effect of the ellipticity of the boundary on the solution of the investigated boundary-value problem has been expressed as a finite sum of elementary functions which describe analytically the behaviour of the ellipsoidal Poisson kernel at the singular point ψ = 0. We have shown that the degree of singularity of the ellipsoidal Poisson kernel in the vicinity of its singular point is of the same degree as that of the original spherical Poisson kernel. Received: 4 June 1996 / Accepted: 7 April 1997     

Control‐volume mixed finite element methods

A key ingredient in simulation of flow in porous media is accurate determination of the velocities that drive the flow. Large‐scale irregularities of the geology (faults, fractures, and layers) suggest the use of irregular grids in simulation. This paper presents a control‐volume mixed finite element method that provides a simple, systematic, easily implemented procedure for obtaining accurate velocity approximations on irregular (i.e., distorted logically rectangular) block‐centered quadrilateral grids. The control‐volume formulation of Darcy’s law can be viewed as a discretization into element‐sized “tanks” with imposed pressures at the ends, giving a local discrete Darcy law analogous to the block‐by‐block conservation in the usual mixed discretization of the mass‐conservation equation. Numerical results in two dimensions show second‐order convergence in the velocity, even with discontinuous anisotropic permeability on an irregular grid. The method extends readily to three dimensions.     

ELNES spectroscopy of mixed Si coordination minerals

 Si K- and L-edge ELNES spectroscopy and multiple-scattering (MS) calculations are used to examine mixed Si coordination compounds varying in Si^VI:Si^IV ratio. As in previous studies, the edges are influenced mainly by silicon coordination (tetrahedral vs. octahedral), as supported by the MS calculations. We demonstrate two methods semi-quantitatively to extract the value of Si^VI/(Si^VI+Si^IV): (1) A linear relationship between the L_2,3-L₁ splitting and Si^VI/(Si^VI+Si^IV) is observed, (2) a fitting method based on the coaddition of reference tetrahedral and octahedral Si spectra is applied to both Si K- and L-edge ELNES spectra. Received: February 10, 1997 / Revised, accepted: May 23, 1997     

Stratigraphy of the upper cretaceous and lower tertiary strata in the Tethyan Himalayas of Tibet (Tingri area,China)

The 1500-m-thick marine strata of the Tethys Himalaya of the Zhepure Mountain (Tingri, Tibet) comprise the Upper Albian to Eocene and represent the sedimentary development of the passive northern continental margin of the Indian plate. Investigations of foraminifera have led to a detailed biozonation which is compared with the west Tethyan record. Five stratigraphic units can be distinguished: The Gamba group (Upper Albian - Lower Santonian) represents the development from a basin and slope to an outer-shelf environment. In the following Zhepure Shanbei formation (Lower Santonian - Middle Maastrichtian), outer-shelf deposits continue. Pebbles in the top layers point to beginning redeposition on a continental slope. Intensified redeposition continues within the Zhepure Shanpo formation (Middle Maastrichtian - Lower Paleocene). The series is capped by sandstones of the Jidula formation (Danian) deposited from a seaward prograding delta plain. The overall succession of these units represents a sea-level high at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary followed, from the Turonian to Danian, by an overall shallowing-upward megasequence. This is followed by a final transgression — regression cycle during the Paleocene and Eocene, documented in the Zhepure Shan formation (?Upper Danian - Lutetian) and by Upper Eocene continental deposits. The section represents the narrowing and closure of the Tethys as a result of the convergence between northward-drifting India and Eurasia. The plate collision started in the Lower Maastrichtian and caused rapid changes in sedimentation patterns affected by tectonic subsidence and uplift. Stronger subsidence and deposition took place from the Middle Maastrichtian to the Lower Paleocene. The final closure of remnant Tethys in the Tingri area took place in the Lutetian.     

Site effects at a vertical accelerometer array near Paducah, Kentucky

The downhole vertical accelerometer array VSAP near Paducah, KY, consists of three-component accelerometers at the surface, the top of the McNairy Formation (−41 m), and the top of the Paleozoic bedrock (—99 m). The array is at the northern end of the Mississippi Embayment, and it was installed to verify the ground-motion modeling for the site, assuming a significant earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Accelerograms from 4.2 and 2.0 m_b earthquakes were used to check aspects of the modeling pertaining to linear behavior of the soil column, and to review the soil column models derived by drilling and geotechnical methods and through the use of high-resolution P- and SH-wave seismic refraction in reflection techniques. Results of the study indicate that for the linear case the soil column models derived by the two techniques are equivalent, and that the most important boundary in the soil column, with respect to amplification of the ground motions, is the interface between the limestone bedrock and soil.     

Nitrogen isotope indicators of seasonal source variability to groundwater

 A nitrogen isotope study of soil water and groundwater in southern Indiana, USA, in 1991–1992 demonstrated considerable variations in nitrate degradation processes compared to an earlier investigation in 1986–1987. Although N-fertilizers were applied in May 1991, the δ¹⁵N values in soil water decreased in February 1992, indicating its delayed release into the system after substantial rainfall. The δ¹⁵N values of groundwater decreased from +12.3‰ in November 1991 to +11.3‰ in February 1992, and to +7.5‰ in March 1992. The increased residence time of nitrate in the soil resulted in increased denitrification, ammonia volatilization and plant uptake, and reduced threat to the groundwater quality. The 1986–1987 study in the area reported that excessive rainfall during the summer rapidly transported the nitrate to deeper horizons and drastically reduced volatilization and microbial reduction of nitrate, thus increasing the immediate threat to the groundwater quality in the area. The present study demonstrated that nitrogen isotopic signatures can be used to determine the effects of local soil type, rainfall, and land-use practices on the fate of nitrate in the subsurface. Received: 18 February 1997 · Accepted: 17 June 1997