Seasonal changes in camera-based indices from an open canopy black spruce forest in Alaska,and comparison with indices from a closed canopy evergreen coniferous forest in Japan

Evaluation of the carbon, water, and energy balances in evergreen coniferous forests requires accurate in situ and satellite data regarding their spatio-temporal dynamics. Daily digital camera images can be used to determine the relationships among phenology, gross primary productivity (GPP), and meteorological parameters, and to ground-truth satellite observations. In this study, we examine the relationship between seasonal variations in camera-based canopy surface indices and eddy-covariance-based GPP derived from field studies in an Alaskan open canopy black spruce forest and in a Japanese closed canopy cedar forest. The ratio of the green digital number to the total digital number, hue, and GPP showed a bell-shaped seasonal profile at both sites. Canopy surface images for the black spruce forest and cedar forest mainly detected seasonal changes in vegetation on the floor of the forest and in the tree canopy, respectively. In contrast, the seasonal cycles of the ratios of the red and blue digital numbers to the total digital numbers differed between the two sites, possibly due to differences in forest structure and leaf color. These results suggest that forest structural characteristics, such as canopy openness and seasonal forest-floor changes, should be considered during continuous observations of phenology in evergreen coniferous forests.     

Characteristics of evapotranspiration from a permafrost black spruce forest in interior Alaska

Here, the year 2011 characteristics of evapotranspiration and the energy budget of a black spruce forest underlain by permafrost in interior Alaska were explored. Energy balance was nearly closed during summer, and the mean value of the daily energy balance ratio (the ratio of turbulent energy fluxes to available energy) from June to August was 1.00, though a large energy balance deficit was observed in the spring. Such a deficit was explained partly by the energy consumed by snowmelt. Ground heat flux played an important role in the energy balance, explaining 26.5% of net radiation during summer. The mean daily evapotranspiration of this forest during summer was 1.37 mm day^?1 – considered typical for boreal forests. The annual evapotranspiration and sublimation yielded 207.3 mm year^?1, a value much smaller than the annual precipitation. Sublimation accounted for 8.8% (18.2 mm year^?1) of the annual evapotranspiration and sublimation; thus, the sublimation is not negligible in the annual water balance in boreal forests. The daytime average decoupling coefficient was very small, and the mean value was 0.05 during summer. Thus, evapotranspiration from this forest was mostly explained by the component from the dryness of the air, resulting from the aerodynamically rough surface of this forest.     

基于弹性波波速的降雨型滑坡预警系统

降雨是诱发滑坡最主要的因素。为减少滑坡灾害造成的人员伤亡和经济损失,滑坡早期预警系统成为了最佳选择之一。根据弹性波传播的基本原理和基于降雨型滑坡变形破坏的特点,提出利用弹性波波速来反映边坡表面土体含水率和位移的变化。开发研制了一套三轴渗流-弹性波测试三轴仪和相关系统。该装置能让水从底部渗入土体,模拟降雨入渗土体的过程,同时能测试弹性波波速。试验过程中同步测试含水率、变形和弹性波波速的变化。还进行了降雨滑坡模型试验。利用三轴弯曲元注水试验和降雨滑坡模型试验,深入分析和研究降雨引起的土体滑坡过程与弹性波波速演化规律,揭示波速与含水率和变形的耦合关系。研究结果表明,弹性波波速随着含水率的增大而缓慢减小,随着变形的增大而急剧减小,临近失稳时,波速骤然减小。根据试验结果对含水率和变形导致弹性波波速减小可能的机制进行了解释,提出弹性波在波速骤然减小时发出滑坡预警。研究结果为滑坡防灾减灾和预测预报提供新的方法和可靠的依据。     

Historical and paleolimnological evidence for expansion of Lake Athabasca (Canada) during the Little Ice Age

A multi-proxy paleolimnological record obtained from a small, lowland closed-drainage basin located in the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Alberta, Canada), 10 km northwest of the present-day shore of Lake Athabasca, captures evidence of pronounced hydroecological changes over the past ~400 years. Consistent with historical maps produced by early European explorers of western Canada, paleolimnological data support the existence of a Lake Athabasca highstand during the Little Ice Age (LIA), c. 1600–1900 Common Era (CE). This contrasts with interpretations from previous analyses on sediment cores from an upland closed-drainage basin located centrally within the Peace sector of the delta that indicate low water levels during this interval. The different paleohydrological records at these two basins reflect the relative influence of different controls on the lake water balances. During the LIA, the lowland site was influenced by high levels in Lake Athabasca, whereas the elevated basin was outside the range of water-level rise in the lake and its distributaries, and was instead controlled by dry atmospheric conditions that led to evaporative drawdown. Integration of paleolimnological records and historical sources demonstrates that the ecosystem has undergone marked climate-driven hydroecological change over the past century, which is important information for effective management.     

Cathodoluminescence microscopy and spectroscopy of forsterite from Kaba meteorite: An application to the study of hydrothermal alteration of parent body

Highly forsteritic olivine (Fo: 99.2–99.7) in the Kaba meteorite emits bright cathodoluminescence (CL). CL spectra of red luminescent forsterite grains have two broad emission bands at approximately 630 nm (impurity center of divalent Mn ions) in the red region and above 700 nm (trivalent Cr ions) in the red–IR region. The cores of the grains show CL blue luminescence giving a characteristic broad band emission at 400 nm, also associated with minor red emissions related to Mn and Cr ions. CL color variation of Kaba forsterite is attributed to structural defects. Electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) analysis shows concentrations of Ca, Al, and Ti in the center of the forsterite grain. The migration of diffusible ions of Mn, Cr, and Fe to the rim of the Kaba meteoritic forsterite was controlled by the hydrothermal alteration at relatively low temperature (estimated at about 250 °C), while Ca and Al ions might still lie in the core. A very unusual phase of FeO (wüstite) was also observed, which may be a terrestrial alteration product of FeNi‐metal.     

Aerodynamic Scaling for Estimating the Mean Height of Dense Canopies

We used an aerodynamic method to objectively determine a representative canopy height, using standard meteorological measurements. The canopy height may change if the tree height is used to represent the actual canopy, but little work to date has focused on creating a standard for determining the representative canopy height. Here we propose the ‘aerodynamic canopy height’ h _a as the most effective means of resolving the representative canopy height for all forests. We determined h _a by simple linear regression between zero-plane displacement d and roughness length z ₀, without the need for stand inventory data. The applicability of h _a was confirmed in five different forests, including a forest with a complex canopy structure. Comparison with stand inventory data showed that h _a was almost equivalent to the representative height of trees composing the crown surface if the forest had a simple structure, or to the representative height of taller trees composing the upper canopy in forests with a complex canopy structure. The linear relationship between d and z ₀ was explained by assuming that the logarithmic wind profile above the canopy and the exponential wind profile within the canopy were continuous and smooth at canopy height. This was supported by observations, which showed that h _a was essentially the same as the height defined by the inflection point of the vertical profile of wind speed. The applicability of h _a was also verified using data from several previous studies.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Landslides</Emphasis>: a review of achievements in the first 5 years (2004–2009)

The international journal Landslides was initiated in April 2004. It is the core project (IPL-C100) of the International Programme on Landslides, a joint initiative of the International Consortium on Landslides and the United Nations and other global organizations. The aims of Landslides are to promote landslide sciences, technology, and capacity building and strengthen global cooperation for landslide risk reduction within the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. This paper presents an analysis of the first 5 years of Landslides, the study methods employed, the types and major causes of landslides, the number of different contributors per country, and the “times cited” per issue and most frequently cited papers and briefly discusses some of these. Strategies for future development of the journal involve obtaining input and suggestion from researchers and readers worldwide.     

Detection of water infiltration and deformation of unsaturated soils by elastic wave velocity

Intense rainfall is the most important landslide trigger. In many mountainous environments of the world, heavy rainfall has caused many landslides and slope failures in a matter of seconds without warning. Therefore, an early warning system can be an effective measure to reduce the damage caused by landslides and slope failures by facilitating the timely evacuation of people from landslide-prone areas. In this study, we propose an idea to correlate soil moisture changes and deformations in slope surface by means of elastic wave propagation in soil. Constant shear stress drained triaxial tests where water was infiltrated from the bottom of specimen until failure, and slope model tests under artificial rainfall were performed to investigate the response of elastic wave velocities during pre-failure phases of rainwater infiltration and deformation. Analysis of the results has established that the elastic wave velocity continuously decreases in response of moisture content and deformation, and there was a distinct surge in the decrease rate of wave velocity when failure was initiated. Possible mechanisms were interpreted based on the test results. It is proposed that a warning be issued at switch of wave velocity decrease rate. This approach can thus serve as the basis of an early warning system for landslides and slope failure considering both moisture content and deformation.     

A method for shipboard measurement of CO2 partial pressure in seawater

A dynamic method suitable for shipboard measurement of the partial pressure of CO₂ exerted by a seawater sample has been developed. The system consists of a paddle-wheel-type gas-water equilibrator and an infrared gas analyzer. Since the system is open to the atmosphere at the in-take and the exhaust ends, it can be operated stably on shipboard conditions. A precision of ±2% has been obtained for shipboard measurement of pCO₂.