Multi-species chemical data assimilation with the Danish Eulerian hemispheric model: system description and verification

Satellite retrievals of atmospheric composition provide a wealth of data on a global scale. These complement results from atmospheric chemistry-transport models (CTMs), and can be combined using data assimilation. We present two assimilation schemes coupled to the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM), a three-dimensional, off-line CTM with full photochemistry: a variant on the ensemble Kalman filter and the three-dimensional variational scheme. The aim of this paper is to describe the two schemes and present an initial assessment of their impacts on model skill. Retrievals of multiple atmospheric trace gases are assimilated, namely: NO₂ tropospheric column densities, CH₄ total column densities, and partial column concentrations of O₃, CO and CH₄; these data are retrieved from four satellite sensors. Data for each species are assimilated independently of one another, and other species are only adjusted indirectly via the model’s chemistry and dynamics. Assimilation results are compared with measurements from surface monitoring stations and other satellite retrievals, and preliminary validation results are presented.Reference simulations (without assimilation) grossly underestimate surface CO concentrations, and both assimilation schemes eliminate this large and systematic model bias. The assimilation improves the spatial correlation of modelled CO with surface observations, and improves the spatial correlation between forecasts and retrievals for CO, NO₂ and O₃. Results for CH₄ show a loss of skill due to a mismatch in model bias between two assimilated CH₄ data-sets. Finally, we discuss differences in methodology and results between this paper and a recent study on multi-species chemical data assimilation. Joint optimisation of initial conditions and emission rates offers a promising direction for improving modelled boundary-layer concentrations.     

Tracer experiments with turbulently dispersed air ions

Unipolar air ions released into the wind constitute a tracer which can be measured with high resolution. An ion source produces a cloud with homogeneous charge density, insensitive to source strength, dependent on time since formation only. It is well suited for tracing concentration changes due to turbulence, less suited for cloud size tracing. A tight array of 8 sensors has been used to examine turbulently dispersed ions. High-resolution records are presented and discussed. The highest concentrations measured could be undiluted source material. The frequency distribution within a plume did not differ from that in a multitude of puffs. The distribution seems to be log-normal with a geometric standard deviation of about 2.45. The time resolution used corresponds to volume resolutions of 40, 225, and 650 cm³. Sample size had no apparent effect.     

An inflationary cosmological model in Dunn's scalar-tensor theory of gravitation

The gravitational field equations in Dunn's scalar-tensor theory of gravitation are generalized by including a cosmological constant. The resulting equations are solved for a Robertson-Walker line-element with flat three-space. The solution represents a cosmological model that develops into an inflationary era.     

Wide field monitoring of the X-ray sky using Rotation Modulation Collimators

Wide field monitoring is of particular interest in X-ray astronomy due to the strong time-variability of most X-ray sources. Not only does the time-profiles of the persistent sources contain characteristic signatures of the underlying physical systems, but, additionally, some of the most intriguing sources have long periods of quiesense in which they are almost undetectable as X-ray sources, interspersed with relatively brief periods of intense outbursts, where we have unique opportunities of studying dynamical effects, in, for instance, the evolution of accretion discs. Another question for which wide field monitors may provide key information, is the origin and nature of the cosmic gamma ray bursts.Rotation Modulation Collimators (RMC's) were originally introduced in X-ray astronomy to provide accurate source localizations over extended fields. This role has since been taken over by the grazing incidence telescope systems. The potential of the RMC's as wide field monitors have recently been demonstrated by the WATCH instruments on GRANAT and EURECA. It now appears likely, that for use on large, 3-axis stabilized spacecraft, a pinhole camera system may provide better sensitivity than an RMC-system of corresponding physical dimensions. But due to its simplicity, low data rate, and ability to work on spin stabilized (micro)satellites, the RMC wide field monitor may still have a role to play in the X-ray astronomy of the future.     

The limb effect of the Ki resonance line, 769.9 n m

Low-noise observations have been obtained to search for a possible limb effect in the K i 769.9 nm resonance line. The observations were carried out along the north/south diameter of the solar disc. The data were individually corrected for the effects of straylight on the velocity measurements. A small, but significant limb effect is detected. The total shift in the line core from center to limb corresponds to 125 m s^–1 with an uncertainty of < 30 m s^–1.     

On-line with the people in line: Internet development and flexible control of the net in Vietnam

Information and communication technologies in general and the internet in particular are often praised as a means for enhancing democracy and providing new spaces for the development of an egalitarian civil society, in which all members of society can participate equally. However, there are various possibilities to monitor, manipulate and control cyberspace, of which the internet is an essential part. This paper examines the efforts of the Vietnamese government and the Vietnamese Communist Party to control cyberspace as well as the physical spaces through which the virtual world is accessed. There are attempts to control the internet in a similar fashion as the traditional print and broadcast media. Any such control is neither absolute nor without effect. Instead control is exercised in a highly flexible manner, allowing for some officially unwanted or illegal activity to occur. At the same time authorities can apply internet regulations, if it serves their political objectives as for example strengthening the Party’s official monopoly on political power. The paper traces the development of the internet as well as the regulatory environment surrounding it and analyses the inconsistent enforcement of regulations. The analysis is framed in the theoretical works of Michel Foucault and Jürgen Habermas.     

Palaeohydrogeology: A methodology based on fracture mineral studies

Two sites on the east coast of Sweden (Forsmark and Laxemar/Simpevarp) are currently being investigated as potential geologic hosts for a deep repository isolating high-level nuclear waste. In this paper, a methodology for fracture mineral studies is suggested with focus on the variation in depth of the fresh/saline water interface and location of the redox front in the bedrock. The most commonly precipitated fracture minerals in crystalline rocks are chlorite, calcite, quartz, K-feldspar, Ca–Al-silicates like epidote, prehnite and laumontite, sulphides and Fe-oxides. Of these, calcite is the mineral best suited for palaeohydrological studies since it precipitates during a wide range of conditions including low-temperature conditions during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. Sulphides and Fe-oxides/hydroxides provide information on the position of the redox front. In order to carry out palaeohydrological studies, a number of prerequisites are required such as; high quality drill core material, geological knowledge of the sequence of fracture mineralizations; the post-glacial (Holocene) evolution in the area; high quality groundwater chemistry, including stable isotopes; and a conceptual model of the hydrogeochemistry that is to be tested. The choice of methods used here is based on the fact that both the Forsmark and Laxemar/Simpevarp sites are situated in Palaeoproterozoic crystalline rocks with reactivation of fractures over at least 1.5 Ga, and they have been exposed to glaciations/deglaciations and transgressions/regressions of the Baltic Sea during the Quaternary. This has resulted in a palaeohydrology with a range of groundwaters of quite different chemistry and stable isotopic composition. The suggested scheme for solving the variation in depth of the fresh/saline water interface focuses on fracture calcite. It includes a step-by-step procedure with;

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Initial δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C, analyses and complementary petrographic studies of thin sections and crystal morphology followed by     

A New method for identifying possible causal relationships between CO2, total solar irradiance and global temperature change

The study compares two formulas for calculating the daily evapotranspiration ET₀ for a reference crop. The first formula was proposed by Allen et al. (AL), while the second one was proposed by Katerji and Perrier with the addition of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) effect on evapotranspiration (KP). The study analyses the impact of the calculation by the two formulas on the irrigation requirement (IR). Both formulas are based on the Penman-Monteith equation but adopt different approaches for parameterising the canopy resistance r _c . In the AL formula, r _c is assumed constant and not sensitive to climate change, whereas in the KP formula, r _c is first parameterised as a function of climatic variables, then ET₀ is corrected for the air CO₂ concentration. The two formulas were compared in two periods. The first period involves data from two sites in the Mediterranean region within a measured climate change period (1981–2006) when all the input climatic variables were measured. The second period (2070–2100) involves data from a future climate change period at one site when the input climatic variables were forecasted for two future climate scenarios (A2 and B2). The annual cumulated values of ET₀ calculated by the AL formula are systematically lower than those determined by the KP formula. The differences between the ET₀ estimation with the AL and KP formulas have a strong impact on the determination of the IR for the reference crop. In fact, for the two periods, the annual values of IR when ET₀ is calculated by the AL formula are systematically lower than those calculated by the KP formula. For the actual measured climate change period, this reduction varied from 26 to 28 %, while for the future climate change period, it varied based on the scenario from 16 % (A2) to 20 % (B2).