An early warning system for wave-driven coastal flooding at Imperial Beach,CA

Natural Hazards - Waves overtop berms and seawalls along the shoreline of Imperial Beach (IB), CA when energetic winter swell and high tide coincide. These intermittent, few-hour long events flood...     

Climate impact of transportation A model comparison

Transportation contributes to a significant and rising share of global energy use and GHG emissions. Therefore modeling future travel demand, its fuel use, and resulting CO₂ emission is highly relevant for climate change mitigation. In this study we compare the baseline projections for global service demand (passenger-kilometers, ton-kilometers), fuel use, and CO₂ emissions of five different global transport models using harmonized input assumptions on income and population. For four models we also evaluate the impact of a carbon tax. All models project a steep increase in service demand over the century. Technology change is important for limiting energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, the study also shows that in order to stabilise or even decrease emissions radical changes would be required. While all models project liquid fossil fuels dominating up to 2050, they differ regarding the use of alternative fuels (natural gas, hydrogen, biofuels, and electricity), because of different fuel price projections. The carbon tax of 200 USD/tCO₂ in 2050 stabilizes or reverses global emission growth in all models. Besides common findings many differences in the model assumptions and projections indicate room for further understanding long-term trends and uncertainty in future transport systems.     

Three-dimensional outlier detection for GPS networks and their densification via the BLIMPBE approach

This article discusses outlier detection based on Baarda's theory, but applied to three-dimensional GPS baseline vectors, as compared to the traditional approach of investigating the vector components individually (one-dimensional). In addition, Schaffrin's recently proposed estimator of type BLIMPBE is discussed and contrasted with a minimum constrained least-squares adjustment, specifically Partial-MINOLESS. A more detailed discussion of these topics, which includes additional formulas and derivations, can be found in the first author's Master of Science thesis, hereinafter referred to as Report 465.     

Chemical and physical studies of type 3 chondrites—IV: Annealing studies of a type 3.4 ordinary chondrite and the metamorphic history of meteorites

Samples of a type 3.4 chondrite have been annealed at 400–1000°C for 1–200 hours, their thermoluminescence properties determined and analyzed for K, Na, Mn, Sc and Ca by instrumental neutron activation analysis. After annealing at ?900°C, the samples showed a 50% decrease in TL sensitivity, while after annealing at 1000°C it fell to 0.1-0.01 times its unannealed value and loss of Na and K occurred. The TL and compositional changes resemble those observed for the equilibrated Kernouve chondrite after similar annealing treatments, except that the sharp TL decrease, and element loss, occurred at ~ 1100°C; this difference is presumably due to petrographic differences in the feldspar of the two meteorites. The temperature and the width of the TL peak showed a discontinuous increase after annealing at 800°C; peak temperature jumped from 130 to 200°C and peak width increased from 90 to 150°C. The activation energies for these TL changes are 7–10 kcal/mole. Similar increases in the TL peak temperature have been reported in TL studies of Amelia, VA, albite, where they were associated with the low to high-temperature transformation. However, the activation energy for the transformation is ~80 kcal/mole. These changes in TL emission characteristics resemble trends observed in type 3 ordinary chondrites and it is suggested that type 3.3–3.5 chondrites have a low-feldspar as TL phosphor and > 3.5 have high-feldspar as the phosphor. Thermoluminescence therefore provides a means of palaeothermometry for type 3 ordinary chondrites.     

Transient heat flow in a stratified medium

The equation of heat conduction is solved for a horizontally stratified medium initially at constant temperature and subject to a step-function surface temperature change. The problem is solved by Laplace transformation and by applying a concept of further stratifications of the medium into unitary layers of constant ratio of thickness to the square root of thermal diffusivity. The solution takes the form of an infinite sum of complementary error functions, with coefficients given by recursion relations, is suitable for numerical applications and offers an attractive alternative to harmonic and quasi transient approaches in calculating the penetration of transient surface temperature variations into a layered medium. Use of the theorem of superposition yields a general expression for an arbitrary surface temperature function. The utility of the theory is illustrated by modelling examples of palaeoclimatically induced subsurface temperature and heat flow perturbations.     

Characterizing the phosphorus forms extracted from soil by the Mehlich III soil test

Phosphorus (P) can limit crop production in many soils, and soil testing is used to guide fertilizer recommendations. The Mehlich III (M3) soil test is widely used in North America, followed by colorimetric analysis for P, or by inductively coupled plasma-based spectrometry (ICP) for P and cations. However, differences have been observed in M3 P concentrations measured by these methods. Using ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance (P-NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS), we characterized P forms in M3 extracts. In addition to the orthophosphate that would be detected during colorimetric analysis, several organic P forms were present in M3 extracts that would be unreactive colorimetrically but measured by ICP (molybdate unreactive P, MUP). Extraction of these P forms by M3 was confirmed by P-NMR and MS in NaOH-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid extracts of whole soils and residues after M3 extraction. The most abundant P form in M3 extracts was myo-inositol hexaphosphate (myo-IHP, phytate), a compound that may not contribute to plant-available P if tightly sorbed in soil. Concentrations of myo-IHP and other organic P forms varied among soils, and even among treatment plots on the same soil. Extraction of myo-IHP in M3 appeared to be linked to cations, with substantially more myo-IHP extracted from soils fertilized with alum-treated poultry litter than untreated litter. These results suggest that ICP analysis may substantially over-estimate plant-available P in samples with high MUP concentrations, but there is no way at present to determine MUP concentrations without analysis by both colorimetry and ICP. This study also tested procedures that will improve future soil P-NMR studies, such as treatment of acid extracts, and demonstrated that techniques such as P-NMR and MS are complimentary, each yielding additional information that analysis by a single technique may not provide.

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