Impulsive phase of flares in soft X-ray emission

Observations using the Bent Crystal Spectrometer instrument on the Solar Maximum Mission show that turbulence and blue-shifted motions are characteristic of the soft X-ray plasma during the impulsive phase of flares, and are coincident with the hard X-ray bursts observed by the Hard X-ray Burst Spectrometer. A method for analysing the Ca xix and Fe xxv spectra characteristic of the impulsive phase is presented. Non-thermal widths and blue-shifted components in the spectral lines of Ca xix and Fe xxv indicate the presence of turbulent velocities exceeding 100 km s^-1 and upward motions of 300–400 km s^-1.The April 10, May 9, and June 29, 1980 flares are studied. Detailed study of the geometry of the region, inferred from the Flat Crystal Spectrometer measurements and the image of the flare detected by the Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer, shows that the April 10 flare has two separated footpoints bright in hard X-rays. Plasma heated to temperatures greater than 10⁷ K rises from the footpoints. During the three minutes in which the evaporation process occurs an energy of 3.7 × 10³⁰ ergs is deposited in the loop. At the end of the evaporation process, the total energy observed in the loop reaches its maximum value of 3 × 10³⁰ ergs. This is consistent with the above figures, allowing for loss by radiation and conduction. Thus the energy input due to the blue-shifted plasma flowing into the flaring loop through the footpoints can account for the thermal and turbulent energy accumulated in this region during the impulsive phase.On leave from Torino University, Italy.     

Oscillations in EUV emission lines during a loop brightening

Oscillations in the emission in the ultraviolet lines of Cii, Oiv, and Mg x, detected by the Harvard College Observatory EUV spectroheliometer on Skylab are observed on August 7, 1973, during a loop brightening. The intensity of the EUV lines varies with a period of 141 s during the time of enhanced intensity of the coronal loop, lasting 10 min. The periodic oscillation is not only localized in the loop region but extends over a larger area of the active region, maintaining the same phase. We suggest that the intensity fluctuation of the EUV lines is caused by small-amplitude waves, propagating in the plasma confined in the magnetic loop and that size of the loop might be important in determining its perferential heating in the active region.On leave from the University of Torino, Italy.     

Spatial variability of mercury emissions from soils in a southeastern US urban environment

We quantified gaseous mercury (Hg⁰) fluxes over soil surfaces in an urban setting during the winters of 2003 and 2004 across the metropolitan area of Tuscaloosa, AL. The objective was to provide a first inspection of the local spatial variability of mercury flux in an urban area. Flux sampling took place on bare, undisturbed, soil surfaces within four evenly spaced landuse areas of Tuscaloosa: industrial, commercial, residential, and mixed landuse. Median total gaseous mercury fluxes (ng/m² h) from each site were as follows: 4.45 (residential site), 1.40 (industrial site), 2.14 (commercial site), and 0.87 (mixed landuse site). Using non-parametric statistical analyses, the residential and mixed landuse sites were found to be statistically different from the overall median flux. Landuse and soil type are the suspected factors primarily controlling the observed spatially variable fluxes. The presence of statistically different fluxes over soil surfaces on a local scale in this preliminary study warrants additional investigation, particularly during the spring and summer seasons when terrestrial mercury emission is the highest. Providing such information will help develop better estimates of mercury emission from urban areas and, ultimately, lead to more accurate and useful spatially relevant inventories.     

Heavy Metal Removal from Soils Using Magnetic Separation: 1. Laboratory Experiments

The removal of Cu, Zn, and Cd from a sandy soil was investigated using iron filings as an adsorbent, and subsequently recovering the iron filings by magnetic separation. The best treatment was obtained by using 5% iron filings and 3 h contact time between iron filings and the soil. The metal removal efficiency from soil extracts was evaluated, using MetPLATE^TM, a toxicity test that is specific for heavy metals, and the 48 h Ceriodaphnia dubia acute toxicity test. The toxicity removal was generally higher than 95% for Cu after a single treatment. With regard to Zn-spiked soil, the toxicity removal was 96.1%, 70.0%, and 49.6% after single treatment at the input concentration of 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, and 800 mg Zn²⁺/kg soil, respectively. After two or three successive treatments, more than 90% of the toxicity was removed for 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg Zn-spiked soils. In the case of Cd-spiked soil, a single treatment removed 51.1% of the toxicity from 200 mg/kg Cd-spiked soil extracts while more than 90% of the toxicity was removed after two or three treatments. Chemical analysis and a mass balance study were also carried out to investigate the Cu distribution in the soil fractions. The results indicate that, before treatment, a large portion of Cu was immobilized in the soil matrix. Following magnetic separation, Cu was removed from both the soil matrix and extracts and was indeed adsorbed and concentrated on the iron filings. The retrieval of Cu by iron filings was further examined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).     

The stability of spatial patterns of welfare—the Israeli case

Regional inequality of welfare comprises one of the most serious social problems facing most countries in the world. The present study examines this problem in Israel, by means of two variables found to be suited to the characterization of regional welfare in that country: rate of motorization and level of education. The comparative empirical analysis concerns the period from the early 1960s through the 1970s and into the 1980s, and is in two parts—one, describing changes in the spatial pattern of welfare overtime; and other, examining the extent of stability of the spatial patterns, through regression analysis. The second phase also includes empirical data concerning the divergence or convergence of regional inequalities in Israel during the period studied.     

Winter precipitation isotope slopes of the contiguous USA and their relationship to the Pacific/North American (PNA) pattern

This study compares the synoptic-dynamic relationship between two phases of the Pacific/North American (PNA) pattern and winter precipitation isotopes at 73 sites across the contiguous USA. We use the spatial pattern of isotope slope—the rate of changes in precipitation isotope ratios with distance—to identify features in the seasonal precipitation isotope fields related to climatic patterns, PNA positive and PNA negative. Our results show relationships between zones of high isotope slopes and the spatial position of the polar jet stream and juxtaposition of air masses associated with the PNA pattern. During a positive PNA winter, zones of high isotope slope in the eastern USA shift southward. This change is coincident with a southward displacement of the polar jet stream in this region, which leads to a greater frequency of polar air masses and ¹⁸O-depleted isotope values of precipitation in the region. In the western USA, zones of high slope shift eastward during the positive PNA winter, associated with more frequent penetration of tropical air masses that bring ¹⁸O-enriched precipitation to the region. Differences in δ¹⁸O/temperature relationships between the PNA-positive and -negative winters and contrasting δ¹⁸O/temperature behaviors in the eastern and western USA provide support for the role of variation in moisture source and transport as a control on the isotopic patterns. These findings highlight the importance of synoptic climate driven by PNA pattern in determining the spatial patterns of precipitation isotopes and provide constraints on paleo-water isotope interpretation and modern isotope hydrological processes.     

A Wavelet-Based Correction Method for Eddy-Covariance High-Frequency Losses in Scalar Concentration Measurements

Eddy-covariance (EC) scalar-flux measurements suffer from unavoidable biases introduced by high-frequency losses in the sampled scalar concentration fluctuations. This bias alone leads to an underestimation of scalar fluxes by as much as 20% in some cases, especially when a closed-path gas analyzer is used to sample concentration far from the inlet location. A novel method that directly corrects for these high-frequency losses using only the sampled scalar-concentration time series is proposed and tested. The sampled concentration fluctuation time series is adjusted, point-by-point, in the wavelet half-plane for each EC averaging interval (??30?min). Similarity between scalars (and temperature) is not necessary and a pre-defined theoretical shape of the cospectrum is not required, making this method attractive at meteorologically non-ideal sites. When closed-path gas analyzers are used to measure H₂O concentration fluctuations, the method is shown to reproduce the dependence of the attenuation on air relative humidity. Nevertheless, the method is not able to account for excessively large spectral attenuation that occurs close to the spectral peak, as might be the case with long tubes and high relative humidity. Since the method corrects the original scalar concentration time series and not the cospectrum, other flow statistics??such as variances and integral time scales??are also adjusted. The proposed method can be used synergistically with conventional high-frequency cospectral correction methods given the differences in assumptions and approaches among these methods. When the conventional and the proposed methods agree, added confidence to the estimate of the high frequency correction is gained, and vice versa.