Effect of common point selection on coordinate transformation parameter determination

The use of satellite positioning techniques commonly requires a transformation from a Conventional Terrestrial coordinate system to a Geodetic coordinate system, or vice versa. For such a transformation, the main problem is the determination of transformation parameters between these coordinate systems. The transformation parameters are estimated by a least-squares process using “common” points, i.e., those points whose coordinates are known in both systems. Therefore, the precision of so estimated transformation parameters is closely related to certain characteristics of the common points. In this contribution, we have formulated some theoretical relations between the transformation parameters and the number and the distribution of common points, and corroborated the theoretical results numerically, using a simulated geodetic network.     

Pahoehoe flows from the central Paraná Continental Flood Basalts

Inflated and compound pahoehoe flows have been identified within the central Paraná Continental Flood Basalts based upon their morphology, surface features, and internal zonation. Pahoehoe flow features have been studied at five localities in the western portion of Paraná State, Brazil: Ponte Queimada, Toledo, Rio Quitéria, Matelandia and Cascavel. We have interpreted the newly recognized flow features using concepts of Hawaiian pahoehoe formation and emplacement that have been previously applied to the Columbia River Basalt and Deccan Plateau. Surface features and/or internal structure typical from pahoehoe lavas are observed in all studied areas and features like inflation clefts, squeeze-ups, breakouts, and P-type lobes with two levels of pipe vesicles are indicative of inflation in these flows. The thinner, compound pahoehoe flows are predominantly composed of P-type lobes and probably emerged at the end of large inflated flows on shallow slopes. The presence of vesicular cores in the majority of compound lobes and the common occurrence of segregation structures suggests high water content in the pahoehoe lavas from the central PCFB. More volcanological studies are necessary to determinate the rheology of lavas and refine emplacement models.Editorial responsibility: C. Kilburn     

Seismic Moment Tensor Resolution on a Local Scale: Simulated Rockburst and Mine-induced Seismic Events in the Kopanang Gold Mine, South Africa

Seismic records contain information about the effect of the source as well as the effect of wave propagation through the rock mass. The effect of wave propagation is usually not well known as only simplified models of geological structures are available. Therefore, the information about the source retrieved by inverting seismograms may include errors due to incomplete knowledge of the rock mass along the propagation path, which in turn cause a distortion in the calculated moment tensor (MT). The distortion of the MT on a local scale was observed by inverting records of a simulated rockburst conducted at the Kopanang gold mine in South Africa. A dominant isotropic component of the explosive characteristics was found from the inversion. The deviatoric components retrieved from the blast are spurious. A test of their stability indicated that they are not significant, assuming an uncertainty above 5% for velocities and 10% for attenuation within the homogeneous model available for the mine. Thus, the retrieval of the MT from records of local networks in mines using a homogeneous model of the rock mass seems to be feasible. However, the homogeneous model of the rock mass can only be applied to close stations, within a few kilometers of the source. The seismic records from distant stations were too complex to be modelled by a homogeneous rock mass. Records of six mine-induced seismic events recorded at the Kopanang gold mine were also inverted. A vertical linear dipole along the pressure (P) axis was found for three of the events, suggesting a pillar burst. The mechanism of two events contains an isotropic implosion together with a nearly vertical dip-slip, and seems to indicate a combination of a cavity collapse with a down dip-slip along a nearly vertical fault. One event corresponds to a dipole along the tensional (T) axis. However, it is vertical, thus its association with tensile faulting of the hangingwall is uncertain.     

Explicit formula for the geoid-quasigeoid separation

The explicit formula for the geoid-to-quasigeoid correction is derived in this paper. On comparing the geoidal height and height anomaly, this correction is found to be a function of the mean value of gravity disturbance along the plumbline within the topography. To evaluate the mean gravity disturbance, the gravity field of the Earth is decomposed into components generated by masses within the geoid, topography and atmosphere. Newton’s integration is then used for the computation of topography-and atmosphere-generated components of the mean gravity, while the combined solution for the downward continuation of gravity anomalies and Stokes’ boundary-value problem is utilized in computing the component of mean gravity disturbance generated by mass irregularities within the geoid. On application of this explicit formulism a theoretical accuracy of a few millimetres can be achieved in evaluation of the geoid-to-quasigeoid correction. However, the real accuracy could be lower due to deficiencies within the numerical methods and to errors within the input data (digital terrain and density models and gravity observations).     

Validation of a homogeneous 41-year (1961–2001) winter precipitation hindcasted dataset over the Iberian Peninsula: assessment of the regional improvement of global reanalysis

A 44-year (1958–2001) homogeneous, Mediterranean, high-resolution atmospheric database was generated through dynamical downscaling within the HIPOCAS (Hindcast of Dynamic Processes of the Ocean and Coastal Areas of Europe) Project framework. This work attempts to provide a validation of the monthly winter HIPOCAS precipitation over the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands and to evaluate the potential improvement of these new hindcasted data versus global reanalysis datasets. The validation was performed through the comparative analysis with a precipitation database derived from 4,617 in situ stations located over Iberia and the Balearics. The statistical comparative analysis between the observed and the HIPOCAS fields highlights their very good agreement not only in terms of spatial and time distribution, but also in terms of total amount of precipitation. A principal component analysis is carried out, showing that the patterns derived from the HIPOCAS data largely capture the main characteristics of the observed field. Moreover, it is worth to note that the HIPOCAS patterns reproduce accurately the observed regional characteristics linked to the main orographic features of the study domain. The existence of high correlations between the hindcasted and observed principal component time series gives a measure of the model performance ability. An additional comparative study of the HIPOCAS winter precipitation with global reanalysis data (NCEP and ERA) is performed. This study reveals the important regional improvement in the characterization of the observed precipitation introduced by the HIPOCAS hindcast relative to the above global reanalyses. Such improvement is effective not only in terms of total amount values, but also in the spatial distribution, the observed field being much more realistically reproduced by HIPOCAS than by the global reanalysis data.     

Comments on: ‘The Neutral, Barotropic Planetary Boundary Layer, Capped by a Low-Level Inversion’ by G. D. Hess, Boundary-Layer Meteorology (2004) 110, pp. 319–355

Precision measurements indicate that the stability capping of the neutral planetary boundary layer (PBL) that leads to a reduced PBL height is caused by the very stable upper part of the PBL, rather than by an overlying inversion. Radiative processes related to liquid water in boundary-layer clouds seem to play the key role for the formation of the stable upper PBL. The famous Leipzig Profile – generally considered as an example of a neutral PBL – has been included in Hess’s analysis because its PBL height is considerably lower than the ca. 3000 m to be expected by numerical models in truly neutral conditions. An analysis of the original observations reveals that the Leipzig PBL was stable and that it can be consistently treated as a ‘normal’ stable PBL with a height of ca. 700 m. A further finding is that the super-geostrophic PBL wind speed maxima predicted by almost all models are not observed in near-steady-state conditions. For the ‘ranking’ of analytical models versus numerical models, the comparisons with measurements show that the analytical models perform comparably well and even partially better than the numerical models.     

A new method to detect transitory signatures and local time/space variability structures in the climate system: the scale-dependent correlation analysis

The study of transitory signals and local variability structures in both/either time and space and their role as sources of climatic memory, is an important but often neglected topic in climate research despite its obvious importance and extensive coverage in the literature. Transitory signals arise either from non-linearities, in the climate system, transitory atmosphere–ocean couplings, and other processes in the climate system evolving after a critical threshold is crossed. These temporary interactions that, though intense, may not last long, can be responsible for a large amount of unexplained variability but are normally considered of limited relevance and often, discarded. With most of the current techniques at hand these typology of signatures are difficult to isolate because the low signal-to-noise ratio in midlatitudes, the limited recurrence of the transitory signals during a customary interval of data considered. Also, there is often a serious problem arising from the smoothing of local or transitory processes if statistical techniques are applied, that consider all the length of data available, rather than taking into account the size of the specific variability structure under investigation. Scale-dependent correlation (SDC) analysis is a new statistical method capable of highlighting the presence of transitory processes, these former being understood as temporary significant lag-dependent autocovariance in a single series, or covariance structures between two series. This approach, therefore, complements other approaches such as those resulting from the families of wavelet analysis, singular-spectrum analysis and recurrence plots. A main feature of SDC is its high-performance for short time series, its ability to characterize phase-relationships and thresholds in the bivariate domain. Ultimately, SDC helps tracking short-lagged relationships among processes that locally or temporarily couple and uncouple. The use of SDC is illustrated in the present paper by means of some synthetic time-series examples of increasing complexity, and it is compared with wavelet analysis in order to provide a well-known reference of its capabilities. A comparison between SDC and companion techniques is also addressed and results are exemplified for the specific case of some relevant El Niño-Southern Oscillation teleconnections.     

Uncertainties in projected impacts of climate change on European agriculture and terrestrial ecosystems based on scenarios from regional climate models

The uncertainties and sources of variation in projected impacts of climate change on agriculture and terrestrial ecosystems depend not only on the emission scenarios and climate models used for projecting future climates, but also on the impact models used, and the local soil and climatic conditions of the managed or unmanaged ecosystems under study. We addressed these uncertainties by applying different impact models at site, regional and continental scales, and by separating the variation in simulated relative changes in ecosystem performance into the different sources of uncertainty and variation using analyses of variance. The crop and ecosystem models used output from a range of global and regional climate models (GCMs and RCMs) projecting climate change over Europe between 1961–1990 and 2071–2100 under the IPCC SRES scenarios. The projected impacts on productivity of crops and ecosystems included the direct effects of increased CO₂ concentration on photosynthesis. The variation in simulated results attributed to differences between the climate models were, in all cases, smaller than the variation attributed to either emission scenarios or local conditions. The methods used for applying the climate model outputs played a larger role than the choice of the GCM or RCM. The thermal suitability for grain maize cultivation in Europe was estimated to expand by 30–50% across all SRES emissions scenarios. Strong increases in net primary productivity (NPP) (35–54%) were projected in northern European ecosystems as a result of a longer growing season and higher CO₂ concentrations. Changing water balance dominated the projected responses of southern European ecosystems, with NPP declining or increasing only slightly relative to present-day conditions. Both site and continental scale models showed large increases in yield of rain-fed winter wheat for northern Europe, with smaller increases or even decreases in southern Europe. Site-based, regional and continental scale models showed large spatial variations in the response of nitrate leaching from winter wheat cultivation to projected climate change due to strong interactions with soils and climate. The variation in simulated impacts was smaller between scenarios based on RCMs nested within the same GCM than between scenarios based on different GCMs or between emission scenarios.     

Trophic Assessment in Chinese coastal systems-review of methods and application to the Changjiang (Yangtze) Estuary and Jiaozhou Bay

Coastal eutrophication has become one of the main threats to Chinese coastal areas during the last two decades. High nutrient loads from human activities have modified the natural background water quality in coastal water bodies, resulting in a range of undesirable effects. There is a need to assess the eutrophic level in coastal systems and to identify the extent of this impact to guide development of appropriate management efforts. Traditional Chinese assessment methods are discussed and compared with other currently-used methods, such as the Oslo-Paris Convention for the Protection of the North Sea (OSPAR) Comprehensive Procedure and Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS). The ASSETS method and two Chinese methods were tested on two Chinese systems: the Changjiang (Yangtze) Estuary and Jiaozhou Bay. ASSETS is process based, and uses a pressure-state-response model based on three main indices: Influencing Factors, Overall Eutrophic Condition, and Future Outlook. The traditional methods are based on a nutrient index. ASSETS was successfully applied to both systems, classifying the Changjiang Estuary as Bad (high eutrophication) and Jiaozhou Bay as High (low eutrophication). The traditional methods led to ambiguous results, particularly for Jiaozhou Bay, due to the high spatial variability of data and a failure to assess the role of shellfish aquaculture in nutrient control. An overview of the Chinese coastal zone identifies 50 estuaries and bays that should form part of a national assessment. A comparison of methods and results suggests that ASSETS is a promising tool for evaluating the eutrophication status of these systems.     

Coupled thermal, hydraulic and geochemical evolution of pyritic tailings in unsaturated column experiments

The evolution of pore-water and the composition of solid phases in the vadose zone of pyritic tailings was studied by means of unsaturated column experiments. Several columns of water-saturated mine tailings were dried during 125 days under controlled laboratory conditions. The columns were dismantled at four successive drying stages and the evolution of pore-water, mineralogy, water content and temperature was characterized.Sulfide and aluminosilicate minerals present in the waste dissolved, releasing sulfate and other solutes (mainly Fe, Zn, Cu, Al, Mg and Ca) to the pore-water. Evaporation caused a crust of efflorescent, water-soluble sulfates to develop over the complete top surface of the columns and into the pores of the underlying waste material. This crust, which has also been identified in the field, changed the hydraulic properties of the tailings and produced a decrease in the evaporation rate of the columns. Moreover, these water-soluble precipitates (mainly rozenite, szomolnokite, halotrichite, hexahydrite, mirabilite and gypsum) acted as temporary sinks for Cd, Pb, Co and Ni, which could be released to the surface run-off or the groundwaters during rainfall events under field conditions.Pore-water evolution was determined not only by geochemical processes (dissolution of sulfides and aluminosilicates, precipitation of secondary phases) but also by thermal and hydraulic processes. Progressive dilution was observed in the lower part of the columns. Dilution was caused by the thermally driven vapor flux from the top of the column to its colder bottom and subsequent condensation therein. This process, which may also occur in tailings under sub-arid climate, played a key role on the evolution of pore-water with increasing drying.