Ejective and Sweeping Motions Above a Peatland and Their Role in Relaxed-Eddy-Accumulation Measurements and Turbulent Transport Modelling

The three turbulent velocity components, water vapour (\(\text {H}_2\text {O}\)), carbon dioxide (\(\text {CO}_{2}\)), and methane (\(\text {CH}_{4}\)) concentration fluctuations are measured above a boreal peatland and analyzed using conditional sampling and quadrant analysis. The overarching question to be addressed is to what degree lower-order cumulant expansion methods describe transport efficiency and the relative importance of ejections and sweeps to momentum, \(\text {CH}_{4}\), \(\text {CO}_{2}\) and \(\text {H}_2\text {O}\) fluxes across a range of atmospheric flow regimes. The patchy peatland surface creates distinctly different source and sink distributions for the three scalars in space and time thereby adding to the uniqueness of the set-up. The measured and modelled fractional contributions to the momentum flux show that sweep events dominate over ejections in agreement with prior studies conducted in the roughness sublayer. For scalar fluxes, ejections dominate the turbulent fluxes over sweeps. While ejective motions persist longer for momentum transport, sweeping events persist longer for all three scalars. Third-order cumulant expansions describe many of the results detailed above, and the results are surprising given the highly non-Gaussian distribution of \(\text {CH}_{4}\) turbulent fluctuations. Connections between the asymmetric contributions of sweeps and ejections and the flux-transport term arising in scalar turbulent-flux-budget closure are derived and shown to agree reasonably well with measurements. The proposed model derived here is much simpler than prior structural models used to describe laboratory experiments. Implications of such asymmetric contributions on, (i) the usage of the now proliferating relaxed-eddy-accumulation method in turbulent flux measurements, (ii) the constant-flux assumption, and (iii) gradient-diffusion closure models are presented.     

Spatial discretization of large watersheds and its influence on the estimation of hillslope sediment yield

The combined use of water erosion models and geographic information systems has facilitated soil loss estimation at the watershed scale. Tools such as the Geo‐spatial interface for the Water Erosion Prediction Project (GeoWEPP) model provide a convenient spatially distributed soil loss estimate but require discretization to identify hillslopes and channels. In GeoWEPP, the TOpographic PArameteriZation (TOPAZ) model is used as an automated procedure to extract a watershed boundary, hillslopes and channels from a digital elevation model (DEM). Previous studies in small watersheds have shown that the size of the hillslopes and the channel distribution affect the model estimates, but in large watersheds, the effects on the soil loss estimates have yet to be tested. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of discretization on the hillslope sediment yield estimates using GeoWEPP in two large watersheds (>10 km²). The watersheds were selected and discretized varying the TOPAZ parameters [critical source area (CSA) and minimum source channel length (MSCL)] in a 30‐m resolution digital elevation model. The drainage networks built with TOPAZ were compared with each other using the drainage density index. The results showed that the discretization affected hillslope sediment yield estimates and their spatial distribution more than the total runoff. The drainage density index and the hillslope sediment yield were proportional but inversely related; thus, soil loss estimates were highly affected by the spatial discretization. As a result of this analysis, a method to choose the CSA and MSCL values that generates the greatest fraction of hillslopes having profile lengths less than 200 m was developed. This slope length condition is particularly crucial when using the WEPP and GeoWEPP models, in order for them to produce realistic estimates of sheet and rill erosion. Finally, and as a result of this analysis, a more reliable method was developed for selecting the TOPAZ channel network parameters (CSA and MSCL). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simple Model of a Stochastically Excited Solar Dynamo

The aim of this paper is to investigate the dynamical nature of the complexity observed in the time evolution of the sunspot number. We report a detailed analysis of the sunspot number time series, and use the daily records to build the phase space of the underlying dynamical system. The observed features of the phase space prompted us to describe the global behavior of the solar cycle in terms of a noise-driven relaxation oscillator. We find the equations whose solutions best fit the observed series, which adequately describe the shape of the peaks and the oscillations of the system. The system of equations obtained from this fitting procedure is shown to be equivalent to a truncation of the dynamo equations. A linear transformation maps the phase space of these equations into the phase space reconstructed from the observations. The irregularities of the solar cycle were modeled through the introduction of a stochastic parameter in the equations to simulate the randomness arising in the process of eruption of magnetic flow to the solar surface. The mean values and deviations obtained for the periods, rise times and peak values, are in good agreement with the values obtained from the sunspot time series.     

Power-law distribution for solar energetic proton events

Analyses of the time-integrated fluxes of solar energetic particle events during the period 1965–1990 show that the differential distribution of events with flux F is given by a power law, with indices between 1.2 and 1.4 depending on energy. The power law represents a good fit over three to four orders of magnitude in fluence. Similar power-law distributions have been found for peak proton and electron fluxes, X-ray flares and radio and type III bursts. At fluences greater than 10⁹ cm^–2, the slope of the distribution steepens and beyond 10¹⁰ cm^–2 the power-law index is estimated to be 3.5. At energies greater than 10 MeV, the slope of the distribution was found to be essentially independent of solar cycle, when the active years of solar cycles 20, 21, and 22 were analysed. The results presented are the first for a complete period of 27 years, covering nearly 3 complete solar cycles. Other new aspects of the results include the invariance of the exponent with solar cycle and also with integral energy.     

Observations of a post-flare radio burst in X-rays

More than six hours after the two-ribbon flare of 21 May 1980, the hard X-ray spectrometer aboard the SMM imaged an extensive arch above the flare region which proved to be the lowest part of a stationary post-flare noise storm recorded at the same time at Culgoora. The X-ray arch extended over 3 or more arc minutes to a projected distance of 95 000 km, and its real altitude was most probably between 110 000 and 180 000 km. The mean electron density in the cloud was close to 10⁹ cm^–3 and its temperature stayed for many hours at a fairly constant value of about 6.5 × 10⁶ K. The bent crystal spectrometer aboard the SMM confirms that the arch emission was basically thermal. Variations in brightness and energy spectrum at one of the supposed footpoints of the arch seem to correlate in time with radio brightness suggesting that suprathermal particles from the radio noise regions dumped in variable quantities into the low corona and transition layer; these particles may have contributed to the population of the arch, after being trapped and thermalized. The arch extended along the H = 0 line thus apparently hindering any upward movement of the upper loops reconnected in the flare process. There is evidence from Culgoora that this obstacle may have been present above the flare since 15–30 min after its onset.     

Differential responses of hillslope and channel elements to rainfall events in a semi-arid area

The degree of hydrological connectivity of hillslope elements in a semi-arid climate was studied at the season and event timescales. Field data were obtained in Rambla Honda, a Medalus project field site situated in SE Spain, on micaschist bedrock and with 300 mm annual rainfall. The season timescale was assessed using correlation analysis between soil moisture and topographic indices. The event timescale was studied by a quasi-continuous monitoring of rainfall, soil moisture, runoff and piezometric levels. Results show that widespread transfers of water along the hillslope are unusual because potential conditions for producing overland flow or throughflow are spatially discontinuous and extremely short-lived. During extreme events, runoff coefficients may be locally high (ca. 40% on slope lengths of 10 m), but decrease dramatically at the hillslope scale (<10% on slope lengths of 50 m). Two mechanisms of overland flow generation have been identified: infiltration excess, and local subsurface saturation from upper layers. The former occurs during the initial stages of the event while the latter, which is quantitatively more important, takes place later and requires a certain time structure of rainfall intensities that allow saturation of the topsoil and the subsequent production of runoff. Hillslopes and alluvial fans function as runoff sources and sinks respectively. Permanent aquifers are lacking in Rambla Honda. Variable proportions of hillslope areas may contribute to flash floods in the main channel, but their contribution to the formation of saturated layers within the sediment fill is very limited.     

Seismicity of an andesitic volcano during block-lava effusion: Volcán de Colima, México, November 1998–January 1999

The block-lava effusion at Volcán de Colima, México began on November 20, 1998, after 12 months of seismic activity, and ended about 80 days later. Three types of seismic events were observed during the lava effusion. Volcano—tectonic earthquakes occurred mainly at the very beginning and after the termination of lava effusion. Explosion earthquakes occurred frequently during the period of the maximum rate in lava effusion. The remainder of the seismic signals were associated with pyroclastic flows and rockfalls from the lava dome. These latter signals increased sharply in number at the onset of lava effusion. The rate of occurrence remained high when the lava discharge rate decreased but gradually decreased after the termination of lava effusion. Maximum daily durations of seismic signals are proportional to the daily volumetric output of lava, indicating the dependence of the number of pyroclastic flows on the rate of lava output. A log-log plot of seismic signal duration vs. number of events with this duration displays a linear relationship. The short-period seismic signals can be divided into three categories based on duration: short events with durations less than 100 s; intermediate events with durations between 100 and 250 s; and long events with durations longer than 250 s. We infer that long events correspond to pyroclastic flows with mean deposit volume 2×10⁵ m³, and intermediate events represent pyroclastic flows with mean deposit volume 1×10³ m³.Editorial responsibility: J McPhie     

Preliminary results about the stability of an intermediate water current

Experiments were run on a 14 m diameter rotating platform to study the stability conditions for a constant volume flow rate current of intermediate water. The flow was introduced in a two-layer system initially at rest in solid body rotation, along the sidewall of the tank, and allowed freely to evolve. A sink collected the intermediate water and thus ensured that the free surface height was constant. Thus the upstream conditions were the rotation rate, the volume flow rate, the density and the initial width of the intermediate current, which was in geostrophic equilibrium when it left the source; i.e. its thickness along the wall at the source was fixed by this condition. The relevant parameters appear to be the Ekman and the Burger numbers. The data collected from the experiments are very consistent, and it appears that there were five typical flow regimes: (1) a stable current along the whole basin; (2) a series of cyclonic vortices attached to the outer edge of the current, with an upstream stable current; (3) a large cyclonic vortex attached to an anticyclonic instability; (4) dipoles shed from the current into the interior fluid; and (5) generation of lenses of intermediate water, similar to meddies. This last result shows that no topographical effect is required to generate such long-lived lenses, which then drift slowly upstream as the dipoles do.     

Eit and LASCO Observations of the Initiation of a Coronal Mass Ejection

We present the first observations of the initiation of a coronal mass ejection (CME) seen on the disk of the Sun. Observations with the EIT experiment on SOHO show that the CME began in a small volume and was initially associated with slow motions of prominence material and a small brightening at one end of the prominence. Shortly afterward, the prominence was accelerated to about 100 km s^-1 and was preceded by a bright loop-like structure, which surrounded an emission void, that traveled out into the corona at a velocity of 200–400 km s^-1. These three components, the prominence, the dark void, and the bright loops are typical of CMEs when seen at distance in the corona and here are shown to be present at the earliest stages of the CME. The event was later observed to traverse the LASCO coronagraphs fields of view from 1.1 to 30 R⊙. Of particular interest is the fact that this large-scale event, spanning as much as 70 deg in latitude, originated in a volume with dimensions of roughly 35" (2.5 x 10⁴ km). Further, a disturbance that propagated across the disk and a chain of activity near the limb may also be associated with this event as well as a considerable degree of activity near the west limb.