A fine-granularity scheduling algorithm for parallel XDraw viewshed analysis

Viewshed analysis is widely used in many terrain applications such as siting problem, path planning problem, and etc. But viewshed computation is very time-consuming, in particular for applications with large-scale terrain data. Parallel computing as a mainstream technique with the tremendous potential has been introduced to enhance the computation performance of viewshed analysis. This paper presents a revised parallel viewshed computation approach based on the existing serial XDraw algorithm in a distributed parallel computing environment. A layered data-dependent model for processing data dependency in the XDraw algorithm is built to explore scheduling strategy so that a fine-granularity scheduling strategy on the process-level and thread-level parallel computing model can be accepted to improve the efficiency of the viewshed computation. And a parallel computing algorithm, XDraw-L, is designed and implemented taken into account this scheduling strategy. The experimental results demonstrate a distinct improvement of computation performance of the XDraw-L algorithm in this paper compared with the coarse-partition algorithm, like XDraw-E which is presented by Song et al. (Earth Sci Inf 10(5):511–523, 2016), and XDraw-B that is the basic algorithm of serial XDraw. Our fine-granularity scheduling algorithm can greatly improve the scheduling performance of the grid cells between the layers within a triangle region.     

Assessment of the Pacific decadal oscillation’s contribution to the occurrence of local torrential rainfall in north China

On 21–22 July 2012, torrential rains hit North China, with the daily precipitation record at Beijing station reaching 160.6 mm; this event is named the Beijing 7–21 case. This paper assesses the likelihood of the occurrence of local torrential rains, such as the Beijing 7–21 case, from the perspective of climate variability. In particular, the influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is assessed. There were five extreme events, with daily precipitation records equal to or larger than 160.6 mm, at Beijing station during the period 1951–2012; all of these events happened during negative phases of the PDO. The present analysis indicates that precipitation events more extreme than the Beijing 7–21 case should happen more than once per decade during negative phases of the PDO, but only about once every four decades during positive PDO phases. The negative phase of the PDO is found to be associated with a much greater probability of daily records of southerly winds in North China during summer. Strong southerly summer monsoons are deemed favorable for increasing the occurrence of local extreme rainfall over North China.     

Crossing Filaments

Solar filaments show the position of large-scale polarity-inversion lines and are used for the reconstruction of large-scale solar magnetic field structure on the basis of Hα synoptic charts for the periods that magnetographic measurements are not available. Sometimes crossing filaments are seen in Hα filtergrams. We analyze daily Hα filtergrams from the archive of Big Bear Solar Observatory for the period of 1999 – 2003 to find crossing and interacting filaments. A number of examples are presented and filament patterns are compared with photospheric magnetic field distributions. We have found that all crossing filaments reveal quadrupolar magnetic configurations of the photospheric field and presume the presence of null points in the corona.     

Mapping the thickness of sediments in the Ljubljana Moor basin (Slovenia) using microtremors

The Ljubljana Moor basin is characterized by moderate bedrock topography and thicknesses of Quaternary lacustrine and fluvial sediments ranging from 0 to 200 m. More than 65 boreholes which reached the bedrock were drilled in the area, but their distribution in the basin is very uneven and some data from the boreholes uncertain. There are also no data on S-velocity distribution within the basin, but seismic refraction measurements pointed out a rather uniform increase of P-velocity with depth, great impedance contrast with the bedrock and relatively small lateral velocity variations. The microtremor horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method was therefore applied as a complementary tool to seismic refraction survey to map the thickness of sediments. First, microtremors were measured at the locations of boreholes which reached the bedrock and the resonance frequencies determined. The inverse power relationship between the resonance frequency and the thickness of sediments was then determined from 53 data pairs. The quality of the correlation is moderate due to possible heterogeneities in sediments and possible 3D effects in some minor areas, but the obtained parameters correspond well to the values obtained in six other European basins. Secondly, a 16 km-long discontinuous seismic refraction profile was measured across the whole basin, leaving uncovered some larger segments where active seismic measurements were not possible. Microtremors were then measured at 64 locations along the same profile, using 250 m point spacing, without leaving any gaps. The frequency–thickness relationship was used to invert resonance frequencies to depths. These were first validated using the results of the seismic refraction survey, which showed good agreement, and finally used for interpolation in the segments of missing refraction data to obtain a continuous depth profile of the bedrock. The study has shown that the microtremor method can be used as a complementary tool for mapping the thickness of unconsolidated sediments also in areas characterized by moderate bedrock topography. As the input data are always to some extent uncertain, it is important to have a sufficiently large number of borehole data to establish a frequency–thickness relationship, as well as some additional independent geophysical information for its validation.     

Position-domain integrity risk-based ambiguity validation for the integer bootstrap estimator

Integrity monitoring for ambiguity resolution is of significance for utilizing the high-precision carrier phase differential positioning for safety–critical navigational applications. The integer bootstrap estimator can provide an analytical probability density function, which enables the precise evaluation of the integrity risk for ambiguity validation. In order to monitor the effect of unknown ambiguity bias on the integer bootstrap estimator, the position-domain integrity risk of the integer bootstrapped baseline is evaluated under the complete failure modes by using the worst-case protection principle. Furthermore, a partial ambiguity resolution method is developed in order to satisfy the predefined integrity risk requirement. Static and kinematic experiments are carried out to test the proposed method by comparing with the traditional ratio test method and the protection level-based method. The static experimental result has shown that the proposed method can achieve a significant global availability improvement by 51% at most. The kinematic result reveals that the proposed method obtains the best balance between the positioning accuracy and the continuity performance.     

The extension of the parametrization of the radio source coordinates in geodetic VLBI and its impact on the time series analysis

The radio sources within the most recent celestial reference frame (CRF) catalog ICRF2 are represented by a single, time-invariant coordinate pair. The datum sources were chosen mainly according to certain statistical properties of their position time series. Yet, such statistics are not applicable unconditionally, and also ambiguous. However, ignoring systematics in the source positions of the datum sources inevitably leads to a degradation of the quality of the frame and, therefore, also of the derived quantities such as the Earth orientation parameters. One possible approach to overcome these deficiencies is to extend the parametrization of the source positions, similarly to what is done for the station positions. We decided to use the multivariate adaptive regression splines algorithm to parametrize the source coordinates. It allows a great deal of automation, by combining recursive partitioning and spline fitting in an optimal way. The algorithm finds the ideal knot positions for the splines and, thus, the best number of polynomial pieces to fit the data autonomously. With that we can correct the ICRF2 a priori coordinates for our analysis and eliminate the systematics in the position estimates. This allows us to introduce also special handling sources into the datum definition, leading to on average 30 % more sources in the datum. We find that not only the CPO can be improved by more than 10 % due to the improved geometry, but also the station positions, especially in the early years of VLBI, can benefit greatly.     

Estimating areal production of intertidal microphytobenthos based on spatio-temporal community dynamics and laboratory measurements

In situ Microphytobenthic community dynamics were combined with laboratory measurement of predominant species by fluorescence methods to estimate the areal primary production. Field investigation of community dynamics of microphytobenthos (MPB) was conducted from August 2006 to August 2007 in intertidal flats of the Nakdong River estuary, Korea. MPB Biomass varied between 0.47 and 16.58 μg cm^?3 in the surface 1 cm sediment, with two dominant diatom species, Amphora coffeaeformis and Navicula sp., occupying average 77.2 ± 14.9% of total number of MPB cells. The biomass was higher in the slightly muddy sand sites than that in the sand site, and showed different pattern of seasonal variation. The profile of vertical distribution of biomass was an exponential decrease trend with depth in sediments. The biomass proportions in the uppermost 3 mm were 57.6% and 37.8% with and without the presence of biofilm, respectively. The two dominant species were cultured in laboratory, and their photosynthetic parameters, rETR_max (relative maximum electron transport rate), α (light utilization coefficient) and E _k (light saturation parameter) were derived from rETR (relative ETR)-irradiance curves by Imaging- PAM (pulse amplitude modulated) fluorometry. The rETR-irradiance curves showed no significant difference of photosynthetic activities between the two species. The areal potential production ranged from 0.74 to 2.22 g C m^?2 d^?1.     

青藏高原晚始新世干旱化事件：改则盆地康托组碳酸盐岩碳氧同位素的记录

改则盆地位于青藏高原腹地,盆地内沉积物记录了高原古环境变化的重要信息。本文对改则盆地康托组碳酸盐岩碳氧同位素进行研究,结果显示改则盆地中-晚始新世的演化分为两个阶段:1中始新世湿润气候下开放湖盆阶段:虽然碳酸盐岩δ~(18)O值在43层处向正值偏移,但整体~(18)O和~(13)C强烈亏损,并且该时期碳酸盐岩δ~(18)O值和δ~(13)C变化相关系数为R~2=0.082。表明该阶段的研究区虽然经历过短期蒸发作用增强或补给水减少,但整体是气候湿润条件下补给水丰富的开放型湖盆。2晚始新世干旱气候下封闭湖盆阶段:经过中新世晚期(63层)气候和湖泊水文状态的过渡,晚始新世~(18)O和~(13)C同位素富集,δ~(18)O值和δ~(13)C值变化相关系数为R~2=0.7762。表明该阶段气候干旱,蒸发作用强烈,湖盆萎缩成为封闭湖盆。综合前人研究,认为青藏高原腹地及北缘、东北缘在晚始新世存在明显的区域性干旱化事件。对比分析青藏高原隆升、全球气候记录、全球海水Sr和大气CO_2记录,认为青藏高原腹地和北部的干旱化事件主要受青藏高原隆升的影响。     

Devonian ichnofossils from the Farakah Muth section of the Pin Valley,Spiti Himalaya

The Muth Formation is one of the most characteristic marker horizon traced throughout the northwestern Himalaya. The present studies were carried out in the Farakah Muth (Pin Valley) section of Spiti Basin. The formation uniformly consists of quartzarenite with a high textural and compositional maturity. The development of carbonate beds in the upper part of the Muth Formation separates it conformably from the overlying Lipak Formation. A variety of traces were observed throughout the succession, includes: Metaichna, Planolites, Skolithos, vertical and horizontal burrows. The presence of ichnofossils in the Muth Formation of the Farakah section indicates subtidal settings having soft sandy substrate, whereas, the gradual maturity of the quartz grains from base to top indicates deposition under high energy condition.     

Preliminary results of measuring the crustal deformation in Qinghai-Xizang area using GPS technique

GPS repetition measurement tbta in Qinghai-Xizatlg (Tibetan) area in 1992 and 1994 have been used to determine the change rates of seven bascline vectors of Lhasa-Wenquan, etc. It is the first time to obtain the direct observation results of the large-scale crustal horizontal motions in this area. Thesc preliminary results also for the first time provide the direct observation evidence for some important geophysical and geological viewpoints, such as the northward gradual reduce of the effect of the northward push-pressing to Eurasian continent by Indian Plate in the Qinghai-Xizang area, having a southward strike slip movement of the Chuan-Dian diamond block, etc.