Example of a debris-flow risk analysis from Vancouver Island,British Columbia,Canada

In July 2005, a debris flow and a water flood occurred on two adjacent gullies in the White River area, on northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The 16,000 m³ debris flow buried approximately 7.5 ha of second-growth trees, buried approximately 500 m of a forestry road, and reached two fish-bearing streams. The water flood eroded approximately 240 m of the same forestry road and plugged four culverts before overtopping and inundating the road. To better plan for future events, risk analyses of debris flows, debris floods, and water floods were carried out for the two gullies involved, plus a third adjacent gully. The elements at risk that were analyzed included, in order of priority: users of the forestry road, the fish-bearing streams, the forestry road itself, and a timber bridge. Using a series of qualitative, but defined, relative-risk matrices, the following components of specific risk were estimated for each of the three types of events on each of the three gullies for each of the four elements at risk: probability of occurrence, probability that the event will reach or otherwise affect the site of the element at risk, the probability that the element at risk will be at the site when the event occurs, and the probability of loss or damage resulting from the element being at the site when the event occurs.     

The dual isotopes of deep nitrate as a constraint on the cycle and budget of oceanic fixed nitrogen

We compare the output of an 18-box geochemical model of the ocean with measurements to investigate the controls on both the mean values and variation of nitrate δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O in the ocean interior. The δ¹⁸O of nitrate is our focus because it has been explored less in previous work. Denitrification raises the δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O of mean ocean nitrate by equal amounts above their input values for N₂ fixation (for δ¹⁵N) and nitrification (for δ¹⁸O), generating parallel gradients in the δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O of deep ocean nitrate. Partial nitrate assimilation in the photic zone also causes equivalent increases in the δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O of the residual nitrate that can be transported into the interior. However, the regeneration and nitrification of sinking N can be said to decouple the N and O isotopes of deep ocean nitrate, especially when the sinking N is produced in a low latitude region, where nitrate consumption is effectively complete. The δ¹⁵N of the regenerated nitrate is equivalent to that originally consumed, whereas the regeneration replaces nitrate previously elevated in δ¹⁸O due to denitrification or nitrate assimilation with nitrate having the δ¹⁸O of nitrification. This lowers the δ¹⁸O of mean ocean nitrate and weakens nitrate δ¹⁸O gradients in the interior relative to those in δ¹⁵N. This decoupling is characterized and quantified in the box model, and agreement with data shows its clear importance in the real ocean. At the same time, the model appears to generate overly strong gradients in both δ¹⁸O and δ¹⁵N within the ocean interior and a mean ocean nitrate δ¹⁸O that is higher than measured. This may be due to, in the model, too strong an impact of partial nitrate assimilation in the Southern Ocean on the δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O of preformed nitrate and/or too little cycling of intermediate-depth nitrate through the low latitude photic zone.     

An improved methodology to measure flag performance for the shipping industry

The subject of measuring the performance of registries has been a topic of policy discussions in recent years at the regional level due to the recasting of the European Union (EU) port state control (PSC) directive which introduces incentives for flags which perform better. Since the current method used in the EU region entails some shortcomings, it has therefore been the subject of substantial scrutiny. Furthermore, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) developed a set of performance indicators which however lacks the ability to measure compliance as set out in one of its strategic directions towards fostering global compliance. This article develops a methodology to measure flag state performance which can be applied on the regional or global level and to other areas of legislative interest (e.g. recognized organizations, Document of Compliance Companies). The proposed methodology overcomes some of the shortcomings of the present method and presents a more refined, less biased approach of measuring performance. To demonstrate its usefulness, it is applied to a sample of 207,821 observations for a 3-year time frame and compared to the current method.     

Sensitivity of AUV added mass coefficients to variations in hull and control plane geometry

The sensitivity of the added mass coefficients of a typical autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to changes in geometric parameters was investigated. Qualitative deductions were made concerning the effect of geometric variations. Then the added mass coefficients for several configurations of body geometry were generated for the Canadian Self-Contained Off-the-shelf Underwater Testbed (C-SCOUT) vehicle using the computer program Estimate Submarine Added Mass (ESAM). The changes in the added mass coefficients have direct relationships to the varied parameter. The results presented here are specific to the C-SCOUT, but may be extended to similar axisymmetric bodies.     

Assessment of wind-forcing impact on a global wind-wave model using the TOPEX altimeter

The study presents assessment of an operational wave model (Wavewatch III), focusing upon the model sensitivity to wind-forcing products. Four wind fields are used to drive the model, including the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and three other products that assimilate various satellite wind measurements having high spatial resolution, including the QuikSCAT scatterometer. Three wave field statistics: significant wave height, mean zero-crossing wave period, and mean square slope are compared with collocated TOPEX altimeter derivatives to gauge the relative skill of differing wind-forced model runs, as well as to demonstrate an extended use of the altimeter beyond simply supplying wave height for wave model validation and assimilation. Results suggest that model output is critically sensitive to choice of the wind field product. Higher spatial resolution in the wind fields does lead to improved agreement for the higher-order wave statistics.     

What Is Hatching in the Egg?

We present observations of several large two-ribbon flares observed with both the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and the soft X-ray telescope on Yohkoh. The high spatial resolution TRACE observations show that solar flare plasma is generally not confined to a single loop or even a few isolated loops but to a multitude of fine coronal structures. These observations also suggest that the high-temperature flare plasma generally appears diffuse while the cooler ( less, similar2 MK) postflare plasma is looplike. We conjecture that the diffuse appearance of the high-temperature flare emission seen with TRACE is due to a combination of the emission measure structure of these flares and the instrumental temperature response and does not reflect fundamental differences in plasma morphology at the different temperatures.     

Ages and metallicities of five intermediate-age star clusters projected towards the Small Magellanic Cloud

Colour–magnitude diagrams are presented for the first time for L32, L38, K28 (L43), K44 (L68) and L116, which are clusters projected on to the outer parts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The photometry was carried out in the Washington system C and T ₁ filters, allowing the determination of ages by means of the magnitude difference between the red giant clump and the main-sequence turn-off, and metallicities from the red giant branch locus. The clusters have ages in the range 2–6 Gyr , and metallicities in the range −1.65<[Fe/H]<−1.10, increasing the sample of intermediate-age clusters in the SMC. L116, the outermost cluster projected on to the SMC, is a foreground cluster, and somewhat closer to us than the Large Magellanic Cloud. Our results, combined with those for other clusters in the literature, show epochs of sudden chemical enrichment in the age–metallicity plane, which favour a bursting star formation history as opposed to a continuous one for the SMC.