SHORT COMMUNICATION DYNAMIC HEADSPACE ANALYSIS:OPTIMIZATION OF TITRATION BY EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

The dynamic headspace titration of the volatile constituents of the black truffle(Tuber Melanosporum)isplanned to be carried out with the new gas chromatographic device DCI using Tenax trapping.In thispaper the necessary optimization of the experimental factors which influence the desorption of thevolatiles from the sample and the adsorption on the trap is carried out by experimental design.The studyof the isoresponse curves makes it possible to determine the optimum conditions for a rapid titration ofhighest sensitivity and reproducibility,avoiding water trapping.     

Probability models, remote sensing and field observation: test for mapping some plant distributions in the Kongsfjord area, Svalbard

The coupling of field observations of plants and data derived from satellite image classification makes it possible to build a statistical model which can be used to determine the probability of a vegetation character existing in a pixel of a known class. Probability maps indicating the presence and abundance of several vascular and non-vascular species were produced for lowland areas. These maps are used to establish an indirect relationship between vegetation characters and spectral signatures which give an indication of the habitat conditions through an overall classification of the image.     

Open‐ocean convection and polynya formation in a large‐scale ice‐ocean model

The physical processes responsible for the formation in a large‐scale ice–ocean model of an offshore polynya near the Greenwich meridian in the Southern Ocean are analysed. In this area, the brine release during ice formation in autumn is sufficient to destabilise the water column and trigger convection. This incorporates relatively warm water into the surface layer which, in a first step, slows down ice formation. In a second step, it gives rise to ice melting until the total disappearance of the ice at the end of September. Two elements are crucial for the polynya opening. The first one is a strong ice‐transport divergence in fall induced by south‐easterly winds, which enhances the amount of local ice formation and thus of brine release. The second is an inflow of relatively warm water at depth originating from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, that sustains the intense vertical heat flux in the ocean during convection. The simulated polynya occurs in a region where such features have been frequently observed. Nevertheless, the model polynya is too wide and persistent. In addition, it develops each year, contrary to observations. The use of a climatological forcing with no interannual variability is the major cause of these deficiencies, the simulated too low density in the deep Southern Ocean and the coarse resolution of the model playing also a role. A passive tracer released in the polynya area indicates that the water mass produced there contributes significantly to the renewal of deep water in the Weddell Gyre and that it is a major component of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) inflow into the model Atlantic.