The Influences of NAO and the Hudson Bay sea-ice on the climate of eastern Canada

Sea-ice cover over the Hudson Bay (HB) exhibits large variability in the freeze-up season normally starting in November. Its influence on the climate over eastern Canada has been studied with the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM) in three steps. First, a 30-year continuous simulation from 1970 to 1999 was performed as a control run to evaluate the simulated climate variability over eastern Canada, in particularly variability associated with the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO). Then, 50 additional 1 month experiments were performed with modified sea-surface conditions prescribed over the HB. These integrations allowed us to quantify the contribution of HB sea-ice anomalies versus large scale NAO atmospheric variability (as defined by prescribed lateral boundary conditions) in inducing climate variability over eastern Canada. Results show that the NAO is the dominant factor controlling climate variability over eastern Canada. The contribution of HB sea-ice anomalies is significant only in the immediate coastal region. Under the influence of different phases of NAO, HB sea-ice anomalies do co-vary with temperature and precipitation anomalies downstream of the HB over eastern Canada. The ultimate cause of this co-variability is NAO variability which forces variability in both HB sea-ice cover as well as temperature/precipitation over eastern Canada.     

DOT Tomography of the Solar Atmosphere VII. Chromospheric Response to Acoustic Events

We use synchronous movies from the Dutch Open Telescope sampling the G band, Ca?ii?H, and Hα with five-wavelength profile sampling to study the response of the chromosphere to acoustic events in the underlying photosphere. We first compare the visibility of the chromosphere in Ca?ii?H and Hα, demonstrate that studying the chromosphere requires Hα data, and summarize recent developments in understanding why this is so. We construct divergence and vorticity maps of the photospheric flow field from the G-band images and locate specific events through the appearance of bright Ca?ii?H grains. The reaction of the Hα chromosphere is diagnosed in terms of brightness and Doppler shift. We show and discuss three particular cases in detail: a regular acoustic grain marking shock excitation by granular dynamics, a persistent flasher, which probably marks magnetic-field concentration, and an exploding granule. All three appear to buffet overlying fibrils, most clearly in Dopplergrams. Although our diagnostic displays to dissect these phenomena are unprecedentedly comprehensive, adding even more information (photospheric Doppler tomography and magnetograms along with chromospheric imaging and Doppler mapping in the ultraviolet) is warranted.     

Incorporating space,time, and magnitude measures in a network characterization of earthquake events

We investigate the structural properties of a spatio-temporal network of earthquake events that incorporates magnitude information between the connected events. The network creates temporally directed links from an origin event towards a later event if it breaks the record closest distance from the origin among all the events in the catalog so far. Additionally, the links are conditionally classified based on the magnitude difference between connected events: “up” (“down”) connections point from a weaker (stronger) to a stronger (weaker) event. Using earthquake records from the Philippines from 1973 to 2012 and southern California from 1982 to 2012, we observe that the out-degree distributions show slight deviations from the corresponding Poisson distribution of the same mean. The space and time separations of connected earthquakes both show power-law regimes, suggesting spatio-temporal (self-)organization. More importantly, the conditional distributions of “up” and “down” connections in space, time, and network structure point to a higher likelihood of a stronger event triggering a nearby weaker event for the first few connections, as in the case of aftershocks. The results are captured by a sandpile-based model where a small but finite probability of preferentially targeting the most susceptible grid site is introduced. Our analysis, coupled with the discrete model analog, provides a quantitative picture of the spatio-temporal and magnitude organization of seismicity beyond just the successive events. The technique may be extended to further characterize similar long-period earthquake records to yield a more complete picture of the underlying processes involved in seismicity.     

Astronomical Plate Archives and Binary Blazars Studies

There are about 3 million astronomical photographic plates around the globe, representing an important data source for various aspects of astrophysics. The main advantage is the large time coverage of 100 years or even more. Recent digitization efforts, together with the development of dedicated software, enables for the first time, effective data mining and data analyses by powerful computers with these archives. Examples of blazars proposed and/or investigated on the astronomical plates are presented and discussed.     

Tall building vibration control using a TM‐MR damper assembly: Experimental results and implementation

This paper summarizes the relevant results of the design, construction, testing, and implementation of a nominal 120 kN magnetorheological damper developed to control a free‐plan tall building in Santiago, Chile, equipped with two 160‐ton tuned masses. Cyclic as well as hybrid simulation tests were performed on the prototype damper. Global building responses using measured MR properties showed good correlation with analytical estimations. Also, a proposed physical controller for the MR damper was validated through hybrid and building pull‐back tests. Its performance is essentially equivalent to that of an LQR controller, but the information needed in its implementation is considerably less. Pull‐back tests of 10 cm amplitude were performed on one mass along the flexible edge of the building and its response controlled using the passive and controlled modes of the MR damper. The MR damper was capable of controlling the TM displacements very effectively, as well as the simulated building response for different ground motions and harmonic excitation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discretizing the fracture-matrix interface to simulate solute transport

This article examines the required spatial discretization perpendicular to the fracture-matrix interface (FMI) for numerical simulation of solute transport in discretely fractured porous media. The discrete-fracture, finite-element model HydroGeoSphere ( Therrien et al. 2005 ) and a discrete-fracture implementation of MT3DMS ( Zheng 1990 ) were used to model solute transport in a single fracture, and the results were compared to the analytical solution of Tang et al. (1981) . To match analytical results on the relatively short timescales simulated in this study, very fine grid spacing perpendicular to the FMI of the scale of the fracture aperture is necessary if advection and/or dispersion in the fracture is high compared to diffusion in the matrix. The requirement of such extremely fine spatial discretization has not been previously reported in the literature. In cases of high matrix diffusion, matching the analytical results is achieved with larger grid spacing at the FMI. Cases where matrix diffusion is lower can employ a larger grid multiplier moving away from the FMI. The very fine spatial discretization identified in this study for cases of low matrix diffusion may limit the applicability of numerical discrete-fracture models in such cases.     

Ca ii H2v and K2v cell grains

The bright Ca ii H_2v and K_2v grains, which are intermittently present in the interiors of network cells in quiet-Sun areas, should provide important diagnostics of the dynamical interaction between the quiet photosphere and the chromosphere above it, but their nature has so far eluded identification. We review the extensive observational literature on these grains and on related phenomena. We resolve various contradictions, connect hitherto unconnected observations, distill new constraints and relate signatures in the measurement domain to signatures in the Fourier domain. We then review interpretations and simulation efforts, adding computations of our own to illustrate modeling options. We conclude that the grains are a hydrodynamical phenomenon in which magnetic fields do not play a major role. The grains are due to interference between a pervasive standing oscillation with about a 180 s periodicity and an 8 Mm horizontal wavelength in the chromosphere and the wave trains of the evanescent p-mode interference pattern in the upper photosphere. The roles of short-period waves, shock formation and granular piston excitation and the issue of long-lived patterning remain open; we suggest avenues for further research.     

Two-dimensionality of magnetic anomalies over Iceland and Reykjanes Ridge

The relationship between the magnetic anomalies over Iceland and those over Reykjanes Ridge is investigated using the data of the 1965 Dominion Observatory survey. A method is developed for determining the two-dimensionality of the anomalies from the component data measured in this survey. This method is based on testing the first and the second derivative of the magnetic potential with respect to the direction of two-dimensionality, using the component data along a single flight line. Testing the first derivative also yields the direction of two-dimensionality. The outcomes of the two tests (based on a single line) are compared with the observed two-dimensionality (established by narrowly spaced earlier surveys) of Reykjanes Ridge, showing good agreement. As the outcomes of the two tests provide complementary information they are combined into a single factor: A. This factor of two-dimensionality is very low for the anomalies over the shelf of Iceland indicating that the anomalies over Iceland cannot be continued directly into those over Reykjanes Ridge. Over Iceland A is generally low. Over the neovolcanic zone in eastern Iceland twodimensionality is associated with long wavelengths that are not present in the spectrum of the anomalies over Reykjanes Ridge. Thus, Reykjanes Ridge-type anomalies are absent with the exception of the central anomaly. This may not be used as evidence against crustal spreading since the kinematic model proposed by Pálmason for Iceland has a wide transition zone between rock of opposite polarity. The same model if computed for a mid-ocean ridge has narrow transition zones. The larger width of the transition zone blurs the anomalies related to the reversals of the earth magnetic field.