The transfer of polarized radiation in spectral lines: Solar-type stellar atmospheres

The polarization structure in several spectral lines in solar type stars is computed using the method described by McKenna (1981, 1984a). The frequency redistribution function used for these calculations is a linear combination ofR _II andR _III. The line profiles and polarization structures have been computed for several weak solar resonance lines includingKi 7664 Å, Sri 4607 Å, Baii 4554 Å, for various polar angles along the stellar disk. Both the line profiles and polarization structures as well as the center to limb behavior of the line center polarization agree well with observations.The somewhat stronger resonance line Cai 4227 Å shows a different polarization structure when compared to the weaker solar resonance lines. It is found that for strong resonance lines the proper redistribution function to be used is a linear combination ofR _III andR _v (see McKenna, 1981, 1984b; Heinzel, 1981). The major reason for this is that for strong resonance lines both the upper and lower levels are broadened by collisions. This violates the assumptions upon which the redistribution functionsR _II andR _III are based.     

Avoiding deforestation in Panamanian protected areas: An analysis of protection effectiveness and implications for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is likely to be central to a post-Kyoto climate change mitigation agreement. As such, identifying conditions and factors that will shape the success or failure of a reduced deforestation scheme will provide important insights for policy planning. Given that protected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone in forest conservation, we draw on interviews and secondary data to analyze the effects of available PA resources, governance ability, the level of community involvement, and provincial deforestation rates on land-cover change in nine PAs in Panama. Our results illustrate that coupling surveillance measures with greater funding and strong governance are paramount to reducing deforestation. Alone, however, these factors are insufficient for forest protection. We argue that conservation approaches that complement effective surveillance with community participation and equitable benefit sharing will address the wider issues of leakage and permanence.     

CostMAP: an open-source software package for developing cost surfaces using a multi-scale search kernel

ABSTRACT

Cost surfaces are a crucial aspect of route optimization and least cost path (LCP) calculations and are used in awide range of disciplines including computer science, landscape ecology, and energy-infrastructure modeling. Linear features present akey weakness to traditional routing calculations along cost surfaces because they cannot identify whether moving from acell to its adjacent neighbors constitutes crossing alinear barrier (increased cost) or following acorridor (reduced cost). Following and avoiding linear features can drastically change predicted routes. We introduce an approach to address this adjacency issue using asearch kernel that identifies these critical barriers and corridors. We have built this approach into anew Java-based open-source software package– CostMAP (cost surface multi-layer aggregation program)– which calculates cost surfaces and cost networks using the search kernel. CostMAP allows users to input multiple GIS data layers and to set weights and rules for developing aweighted-cost network. We compare CostMAP performance with traditional cost surface approaches and show significant performance gains– both following corridors and avoiding barriers– by modeling the movement of alarge terrestrial animal– the Baird’s Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)– in amovement ecology framework and by modeling pipeline routing for carbon capture and storage (CCS).     

Accuracy of a pre-trained sentiment analysis (SA) classification model on tweets related to emergency response and early recovery assessment: the case of 2019 Albanian earthquake

Traditionally, earthquake impact assessments have been made via fieldwork by non-governmental organisations (NGO's) sponsored data collection; however, this approach is time-consuming, expensive and often limited. Recently, social media (SM) has become a valuable tool for quickly collecting large amounts of first-hand data after a disaster and shows great potential for decision-making. Nevertheless, extracting meaningful information from SM is an ongoing area of research. This paper tests the accuracy of the pre-trained sentiment analysis (SA) model developed by the no-code machine learning platform MonkeyLearn using the text data related to the emergency response and early recovery phase of the three major earthquakes that struck Albania on the 26th November 2019. These events caused 51 deaths, 3000 injuries and extensive damage. We obtained 695 tweets with the hashtags: #Albania #AlbanianEarthquake, and #albanianearthquake from the 26th November 2019 to the 3rd February 2020. We used these data to test the accuracy of the pre-trained SA classification model developed by MonkeyLearn to identify polarity in text data. This test explores the feasibility to automate the classification process to extract meaningful information from text data from SM in real-time in the future. We tested the no-code machine learning platform's performance using a confusion matrix. We obtained an overall accuracy (ACC) of 63% and a misclassification rate of 37%. We conclude that the ACC of the unsupervised classification is sufficient for a preliminary assessment, but further research is needed to determine if the accuracy is improved by customising the training model of the machine learning platform.

     

Aquifer responses to El Niño-Southern Oscillation, Southwest British Columbia

We used climatological composite analysis to investigate El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signals in long-term shallow ground water level observations from four wells in the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Significance of differences between warm-phase, cold-phase, and neutral climate states was assessed with a Monte Carlo bootstrap technique. We also considered time series of local precipitation and streamflow for comparison. Composite annual hyetographs suggest that ENSO precipitation impacts are largely limited to winter and spring, with higher and lower rainfall occurring, respectively, under cold-phase and warm-phase episodes. This is consistent with prior work in the region and is found to be directly reflected in both streamflow and ground water level data. The mean magnitude of ENSO terrestrial hydrologic anomalies can be up to approximately 50% of the average seasonal cycle amplitude. ENSO does not appear to systematically affect annual hydrometeorological cycle timing in this study area. However, relative to the surface hydrologic systems considered, aquifers are observed to retain a stronger memory of seasonal ENSO-related precipitation anomalies, with changes potentially extending through the following summer, presumably reflecting storage effects. Most responses appear to be somewhat nonlinear.     

Estimating geoid height change in North America: past, present and future

The forthcoming GRAV-D gravimetric geoid model over the United States is to be updated regularly to account for changes in geoid height. Its baseline precision is to be at the 10–20 mm level over non-mountainous regions. The aim of this study is to provide an estimate of the magnitude, time scale, and spatial footprint of geoid height change over North America, from mass redistribution processes of hydrologic, cryospheric and solid Earth nature. Geoid height changes from continental water storage changes over the past 50 years and predicted over the next century are evaluated and are highly dependent on the used model. Groundwater depletion from anthropogenic pumping in regional scale aquifers may lead to geoid changes of 10 mm magnitude every 50–100 years. The GRACE time varying gravity fields are used to (i) assess the errors in a glacial isostatic adjustment model, which, if used to correct the GRAV-D model, may induce errors at the 10 mm geoid height level after ~20 years, (ii), evaluate geoid height change over ice mass loss regions of North America, which, if they remain unchanged in the future, may lead to geoid height changes at the 10 mm level in under a decade and (iii), compute sea level rise and its effect on the geoid, which is found to be negligible. Coseismic gravitational changes from past North American earthquakes are evaluated, and lead to geoid change at the 10-mm level for only the largest thrust earthquakes. Finally, geoid change from volcanic processes are assessed and found to be significant with respect to the GRAV-D geoid model baseline precision for cataclysmic events, such as that of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption. Recommendations on how to best monitor geoid change in the future are given.     

Leaf wax δ2H and varve-thickness climate proxies from proglacial lake sediments, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada

We present a multiproxy paleoclimate record using leaf wax hydrogen isotopes (??²H_wax) and varve thickness from Arctic proglacial lake sediments. We also provide one of the first evaluations of the utility of ??²H_wax as a paleoclimate proxy in Arctic proglacial lakes. We compare varve thickness and ??²H_wax at sub-decadal resolution from 1948 to 2004 AD, and at sub-centennial resolution from 1450 to 2004 AD. Varve thickness and ??²H_wax both contain large interannual variability and are anti-correlated during the late twentieth century, suggesting that both proxies respond rapidly, but by different mechanisms, to catchment-scale forcings. At longer time scales, varve thickness exhibits a strong response to Little Ice Age cooling (1661?C1827 AD in this record) but does not show evidence for twentieth century warming recorded throughout the Arctic. ??²H_wax does record regional-scale temperature changes, with more ²H-depleted values during the Little Ice Age and an abrupt change to more ²H-enriched values in the twentieth century. This corresponds well with a recent Arctic-wide temperature reconstruction in which the seventeenth century is the coldest interval, and the twentieth century is the warmest interval. Our results suggest that ??²H_wax is a promising proxy that can be applied at high resolution in proglacial Arctic lakes.     

Coupling parameters of the MIT OBS at two nearshore sites

A model representing the coupling of an ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) to the seafloor as a mass-spring-dashpot system satisfactorily explains the results of transient tests performed on different instruments during the Lopez Island intercomparison test. In this paper, we compare the results obtained for the MIT OBS at Lopez Island to results from similar tests at a dockside site at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The vertical instrument response at the Lopez Island site shows a highly damped resonance at a frequency of 22 Hz, whereas the response at the Woods Hole site shows a marked resonance at 13 Hz. The difference between the responses at the two sites can be qualitatively attributed to the difference between the surficial sediments.