On the location of energy release and temperature profiles along coronal loops

Several mechanisms have been suggested to contribute to the heating of the solar corona, each of which deposits energy along coronal loops in a characteristic way. To compare the theoretical models with observations one has to derive observable quantities from the models. One such parameter is the temperature profile along a loop. Here numerical experiments of flux braiding are used to provide the spatial distribution of energy deposition along a loop. It is found that braiding produces a heat distribution along the loop which has slight peaks near the footpoints and summit and whose magnitude depends on the driving time. Using different examples of the heat deposition, the temperature profiles along the loop are determined assuming a steady state. Along with this, different methods for providing average temperature profiles from the time-series have been investigated. These give summit temperatures within approximately 10% of each other. The distribution of the heating has a significant impact on both the summit temperature and the temperature distribution along the loop. In each case the ratio between the heat deposited and radiation provides a scaling for the summit temperature.     

Evaluating preprocessing methods of digital elevation models for hydrological modelling

With the introduction of high‐resolution digital elevation models, it is possible to use digital terrain analysis to extract small streams. In order to map streams correctly, it is necessary to remove errors and artificial sinks in the digital elevation models. This step is known as preprocessing and will allow water to move across a digital landscape. However, new challenges are introduced with increasing resolution because the effect of anthropogenic artefacts such as road embankments and bridges increases with increased resolution. These are problematic during the preprocessing step because they are elevated above the surrounding landscape and act as artificial dams. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of different preprocessing methods such as breaching and filling on digital elevation models with different resolutions (2, 4, 8, and 16 m) and to evaluate which preprocessing methods most accurately route water across road impoundments at actual culvert locations. A unique dataset with over 30,000 field‐mapped road culverts was used to assess the accuracy of stream networks derived from digital elevation models using different preprocessing methods. Our results showed that the accuracy of stream networks increases with increasing resolution. Breaching created the most accurate stream networks on all resolutions, whereas filling was the least accurate. Burning streams from the topographic map across roads from the topographic map increased the accuracy for all methods and resolutions. In addition, the impact in terms of change in area and absolute volume between original and preprocessed digital elevation models was smaller for breaching than for filling. With the appropriate methods, it is possible to extract accurate stream networks from high‐resolution digital elevation models with extensive road networks, thus providing forest managers with stream networks that can be used when planning operations in wet areas or areas near streams to prevent rutting, sediment transport, and mercury export.     

Social learning towards a more adaptive paradigm? Reducing flood risk in Kristianstad municipality,Sweden

Social learning is often treated as an intervention, a designed process facilitated or even initiated by a third party. We investigated how a social learning process emerged spontaneously from inside Kristianstad, one of the most flood-prone municipalities in Sweden. Twenty key persons were interviewed over 8 years, many of them several times, to assess the process. A small action oriented group of technical professionals perceived the flood risk and were key drivers providing strategic innovative capacity. We identified the process attributes that fostered the learning, the knowledge generated and other learning outcomes adapting a model by Schusler et al. (2003). Despite some elements of double loop learning, this process was not able to change the prevailing stationary principle/paradigm, feeling safe behind the embankments and continuing building on low lying land. We argue that building resilience and adaptive capacity would require a mind shift to a paradigm of flood proofing/living with floods and preparing for the unexpected, acknowledging that water cannot be controlled at a certain level. We conclude that knowledge development is inhibited by the Swedish decentralisation approach and we call for a multilevel learning strategy including learning from international experience and emphasising more active coordination at the national level.     

Predicted wavelengths of coronal transitions in the configurations 3s 23p 2, 3s 23p 3 and 3s 23p 4

The level intervals in the ground configurations 3s ²3p ^k(k = 2, 3, 4) have been studied through the isoelectronic sequences up to Ni. Semiempirical expressions for the parameters F ₂(pp) and _p, are derived from observed data and the intervals are recalculated from interpolated or extrapolated values of the parameters. As a result, predicted wavelengths of magnetic-dipole transitions within the configurations are obtained with an estimated uncertainty of one or two Å.     

Pitch angle and energy distributions of auroral electrons measured by the ESRO 4 satellite

Energy spectra and angular distributions of auroral electrons in the energy range 0.2–16 keV measured by the low-altitude polar orbiting satellite ESRO 4 are presented. The observations were made in the altitude range 800–1000 km near magnetic midnight. Energy-time spectrograms show inverted-V structures with peaked energy spectra. The inverted-V events are associated with anisotropic electron pitch angle distributions peaked at 0 deg. Frequently these distributions have a maximum also at 90 deg. Measurements of >43 keV electrons indicate that the acceleration probably occurs on closed field lines. It is found that many properties of the observed particle distributions can be explained by acceleration in an electric field parallel to the magnetic field lines, if trapping of particles under an increasing potential drop is included in the model.     

Water balance investigations in Svalbard

This paper reviews and summarizes all known previous water balance studies in Svalbard. An updated water balance computation was then done for the three water catchments with the best data: Bayelva, De Geerdalen and Isdammen/Endalen for 10 hydrological years 1990-2001. The computations were based on the best available data and correction methods. Special emphasis was put on correction of precipitation data, both for catch errors and gradients in precipitation. Areal precipitation in the three catchments is more than two times the measured precipitation at the closest meteorological station: 548 mm/year in De Geerdalen, 486 mm/year in Endalen/Isdammen and 890 mm/year in Bayelva. Compared to this, average measured precipitation is only 199 mm/year at Svalbard Airport, close to Endalen/Isdammen and De Geerdalen, and 426 mm/year in Ny-Ålesund, close to Bayelva. Evaporation is not well understood in Svalbard; the best estimates indicate an average annual evaporation of ca. 80 mm/year from glacier-free areas, and no net evaporation from glaciers. Glacial mass balance has in general been negative in Svalbard during the last 40 years, leading to a significant contribution to the water balance, on the order of 450 mm/year on average. Annual runoff ranges from 545 mm in Endalen/Isdammen, 539 mm/year in De Geerdalen up to 1050 mm/year in Bayelva. Runoff computed from water balance compares well with observed runoff, and average error in water balance is less than ±30 mm/year in all three catchments.     

Geochemical and mineralogical properties of sulfide-bearing fine-grained sediments in Finland

 The geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of bulk samples and various size fractions of sulfide-bearing fine-grained sediments in the Petalax area, western Finland, were studied with ICP-AES (aqua regia digestion and "total" digestion) and X-ray diffraction. The sediments, which are dominated by particles <0.06 mm (clay and silt size), are composed of phyllosilicates (micas, kaolinite, chlorite, vermiculite), quartz, feldspars, amphiboles, organic matter, and secondary S minerals. The chemical analyses show that Na, Ca, and Sr are enriched in the silt and sand fractions, that Zr is enriched in the silt fraction, and that the concentrations of all other studied metals (Al, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Nb, Ni, Sc, Th, Ti, V, Y, and Zn) increase from the sand to the clay fraction. Sodium, Ca, and Sr occur largely in poorly dissolved feldspars, which explains the distribution of these metals in the sediments. The increase in the concentrations of most metals in the clay fraction is interpreted to be the result mainly of an increase in phyllosilicates in this size fraction. A geochemical comparison between the sulfide-bearing fine-grained sediments and glacial till shows that the former are enriched in several potentially toxic metals. It is therefore argued that the hydrological and ecological problems associated with the sulfide-bearing sediments are related not only to the production of acidity in oxidized layers, but also to mobilization and dispersion of toxic metals. Strategies to minimize damage of freshwater systems in areas covered with sulfide-bearing fine-grained sediments are suggested. Received: 20 February 1997 · Accepted: 25 August 1997     

The qualitative character of the global electrical conductivity of the earth

A spectral stacking and smoothing procedure has been applied to unbroken hourly values of H and Z, for 1964 and 1965, from 17 observatories, in order to estimate the magnitude and phase of the P₁⁰ response of the Earth to long-period geomagnetic fluctuations. Exploratory techniques have been used to gauge when sufficient smoothing has been applied, and to identify the qualitative character of the global electrical conductivity of the Earth.