Studying Air Pollution with Kitt Peak Solar Flux Atlas—Analysis Method and Results of Observation

l.Introducti0nTwoflightsoftheSAGEIIIinstrumentwereplanedbeinglaunchedinJune2O00byRussianMeteor-3Mandin2002byInternationalSpaceStation(ISS).Itisexpectedthattheywouldofferinformationofalmostglobalcoverage.Theseinstrumentswillutilizetheselfcal-ibratingsolaroccultationtechniquetomeasureprofilesofaerosoIextinctionfrom0to4Okm,ozonefrom6to85km,nitrogendioxidefroml0to5Okm,andwatervaporfrom0to5Okm,andutilizelunaroccultationobservati0nstomonitorthekeynighttimesPecies,nitrogentrioxidefrom22to55k…     

Lessons Learned from the 2011 Great East Japan Tsunami: Performance of Tsunami Countermeasures, Coastal Buildings, and Tsunami Evacuation in Japan

In 2011, Japan was hit by a tsunami that was generated by the greatest earthquake in its history. The first tsunami warning was announced 3 min after the earthquake, as is normal, but failed to estimate the actual tsunami height. Most of the structural countermeasures were not designed for the huge tsunami that was generated by the magnitude M = 9.0 earthquake; as a result, many were destroyed and did not stop the tsunami. These structures included breakwaters, seawalls, water gates, and control forests. In this paper we discuss the performance of these countermeasures, and the mechanisms by which they were damaged; we also discuss damage to residential houses, commercial and public buildings, and evacuation buildings. Some topics regarding tsunami awareness and mitigation are discussed. The failures of structural defenses are a reminder that structural (hard) measures alone were not sufficient to protect people and buildings from a major disaster such as this. These defenses might be able to reduce the impact but should be designed so that they can survive even if the tsunami flows over them. Coastal residents should also understand the function and limit of the hard measures. For this purpose, non-structural (soft) measures, for example experience and awareness, are very important for promoting rapid evacuation in the event of a tsunami. An adequate communication system for tsunami warning messages and more evacuation shelters with evacuation routes in good condition might support a safe evacuation process. The combination of both hard and soft measures is very important for reducing the loss caused by a major tsunami. This tsunami has taught us that natural disasters can occur repeatedly and that their scale is sometimes larger than expected.     

Analysis of dust events in 2008 and 2009 using the lidar network, surface observations and the CFORS model

The Asian dust events in 2008 (May 24–June 4 in 2008) and in 2009 (March 12–25, October 13–26, and December 15–28 in 2009) were analyzed with the lidar network observations, surface observations in China, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia, and with the chemical transport model CFORS. Transport of Asian dust and mixing of dust with air pollution aerosols were studied. The event of May 24 to June 4 in 2008 was a significant event unusually late in the spring dust season. The dust event of March 12–25, 2009 was an interesting example of elevated dust layer, and transport of dust from the elevated dust layer to the ground by the boundary layer activity was observed with the lidars and surface observations in Japan. The concentration of air pollution aerosols was relatively high during the dust event, and the results suggest that vertical structure as well as transport path is important for the mixing of dust and air pollution aerosols. The dust events in October and December 2009 were examples of dust events in autumn and winter. The online mode CFORS reproduced the observation data generally well, except for the event of May 24 to June 4 in 2008. The results of the fourdimensional variational assimilation of the lidar network data reproduced the dust concentration in Korea and Japan reasonably in that event.     

Possible variation in methane flux caused by gas hydrate formation on the northeastern continental slope off Sakhalin Island, Russia

The Sakhalin Slope Gas Hydrate Project (SSGH) is an international collaborative effort by scientists from Japan, Korea, and Russia to investigate natural gas hydrates (GHs) that have accumulated on the continental slope off Sakhalin Island, Okhotsk Sea. From 2009 to 2011, field operations of the SSGH-09, -10, and -11 projects were conducted. GH-bearing and -free sediment cores were retrieved using steel hydro- and gravity corers. The concentrations of sulfate ions in sediment pore waters were measured to investigate sulfate concentration–depth profiles. Seventeen cores showed linear depth profiles of sulfate concentrations. In contrast, eight cores and two cores showed concave-up and -down profiles plausibly explained by sudden increase and decrease in methane flux from below, respectively, presumably caused by the formation of gas hydrate adjacent to the core sampling sites.     

Migration of a volcanic front inferred from K–Ar ages of late Miocene to Pliocene volcanic rocks in central Japan

K–Ar ages have been determined for 14 late Miocene to Pliocene volcanic rocks in the north of the Kanto Mountains, Japan, for tracking the location of the volcanic front through the time. These samples were collected from volcanoes located behind the trench–trench–trench (TTT) triple junction of the Pacific, Philippine Sea, and North American plates. This junction is the site of subduction of slabs of the Pacific and the Philippine Sea plates, both of which are thought to have influenced magmatism in this region. The stratigraphy and K–Ar ages of volcanic rocks in the study area indicate that volcanism occurred between the late Miocene and the Pliocene, and ceased before the Pleistocene. Volcanism in adjacent areas of the southern NE Japan and northern Izu–Bonin arcs also occurred during the Pliocene and ceased at around 3 Ma with the westward migration of the volcanic front, as reported previously. Combining our new age data with the existing data shows that before 3 Ma the volcanic front around the TTT junction was located about 50 km east of the preset‐day volcanic front. We suggest that northward subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate slab ended at ～3 Ma as a result of collision between the northern margin of the plate with the surface of the Pacific Plate slab. This collision may have caused a change in the subduction vector of the Philippine Sea Plate from the original north‐directed subduction to the present‐day northwest‐directed subduction. This indicates that the post ～3 Ma westward migration of the volcanic front was a result of this change in plate motion.     

Phreatomagmatic eruptions associated with the caldera collapse during the Miyakejima 2000 eruption,Japan

The 2000 AD eruption of Miyakejima was characterized by a series of phreatomagmatic eruptions from the subsiding caldera. Six major eruptive events occurred, and they can be divided into the first and second periods separated by a 25-day hiatus. The phreatomagmatic eruptions produced a total of ~ 2 × 10¹⁰ kg of tephra, which mainly comprised fine-grained volcanic ash. The tephra layers could be divided into six fall units corresponding to the six major eruptive events.     

The interdecadal variation characteristics of arctic sea ice cover-Enso-East asian monsoon and their interrelationship at quasi-Four years time scale

l.Introducti0nTheclimateformationandvariabilityisnotonlythereflectionofatmosphericinternalbe-havi0rbutalsotheinnuencefromtheinteractionexistSintheclimatesystem.Becausetherela-tivecooIingandheatingsourcesofatmospherearelocatedinthePOlarandtropicalregionrespectively,itiseasytounderstandthattheArcticseaicecoverandSSTanomalieswhichim-pocttheatmosphericheatingtosomeextentcanexerttheirinfluenceontheremotCatmosphericcirculation-Inthisregard,thefocusrelatedtheinflueneeofArcticseaicecoverandtropica…     

Metallicity Distributions of Elliptical Galaxies and Globular Cluster Systems

Gradients of absorption line indices are studied and mean stellar metallicities are estimated for 46 elliptical galaxies. The mean stellar metallicities range from 〈 [Fe/H] 〉 ≃ =0.8 to +0.2 and ellipticals with smaller central velocity dispersions tend to have lower 〈 [Fe/H] 〉 thus the mass-metallicity relation holds not only for the galaxy center but also for the whole part of the galaxy. There is an evidence that the magnesium is enhanced systematically in all ellipticals by 0.2 dex with respect to the iron. Giant elliptical galaxies show lack of metal-poor stars (the G-dwarf problem). Metal-poor globular clusters of ellipticals formed well in advance of the formation of metal-rich ones which formed simultaneously with the bulk of stars of mother galaxies under the influence of galaxy chemical enrichment. The bimodal [Fe/H] distribution of globular clusters does not necessarily mean that elliptical galaxies formed by the mergers of disc galaxies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Distribution of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the Central Pacific Ocean

The plate culture method using the two formulae for non-nitrogenous media was adopted in this investigation for the purpose of counting and isolating nitrogen-fixing bacteria distributed in the open sea. Sea water samples were collected at eighteen different stations in the region of Lat. 50°N–15°S along Long. 155°W and two other stations in the Pacific Ocean. In order to compare with those samples from the open sea, water samples were also obtained at four stations in Suruga and Sagami Bays. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria appear to be widely but very unevenly distributed at all depths in sea water, in numbers approximately ranging from nil to 10⁴ per 100 ml of sea water, and denser vertical populations have been found in the area of Lat. 40°N and 5°N along Long. 155°W, even at depths from 2,000 to 3,000m. A conparatively denser population of bacteria was found in sea water from Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay. The bacteria associated with plankton were abundantly demonstrated, in numbers ranging from 10⁶ to 10⁸ per 1 ml settling volume of plankton, in many plankton samples collected at four stations in the southern parts of the Pacific Ocean. Almost all the bacteria isolated from the samples of blue green algal colonies,Trichodesmium, sp., were able to grow on nonnitrogeneous media.