Biological reduction of chlorinated solvents: Batch-scale geochemical modeling

Simulation of biodegradation of chlorinated solvents in dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zones requires a model that accounts for the complexity of processes involved and that is consistent with available laboratory studies. This paper describes such a comprehensive modeling framework that includes microbially mediated degradation processes, microbial population growth and decay, geochemical reactions, as well as interphase mass transfer processes such as DNAPL dissolution, gas formation and mineral precipitation/dissolution. All these processes can be in equilibrium or kinetically controlled. A batch modeling example was presented where the degradation of trichloroethene (TCE) and its byproducts and concomitant reactions (e.g., electron donor fermentation, sulfate reduction, pH buffering by calcite dissolution) were simulated. Local and global sensitivity analysis techniques were applied to delineate the dominant model parameters and processes. Sensitivity analysis indicated that accurate values for parameters related to dichloroethene (DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) degradation (i.e., DCE and VC maximum utilization rates, yield due to DCE utilization, decay rate for DCE/VC dechlorinators) are important for prediction of the overall dechlorination time. These parameters influence the maximum growth rate of the DCE and VC dechlorinating microorganisms and, thus, the time required for a small initial population to reach a sufficient concentration to significantly affect the overall rate of dechlorination. Self-inhibition of chlorinated ethenes at high concentrations and natural buffering provided by the sediment were also shown to significantly influence the dechlorination time. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that the rates of the competing, nonchlorinated electron-accepting processes relative to the dechlorination kinetics also affect the overall dechlorination time. Results demonstrated that the model developed is a flexible research tool that is able to provide valuable insight into the fundamental processes and their complex interactions during bioremediation of chlorinated ethenes in DNAPL source zones.     

Integrative Modeling and Strategic Planning for Regional Sustainability under Climate Change

Climate change and land use/land cover change have resulted in water shortage, degraded ecosystem services, and increased disaster risks across the world. Developing strategies and measures for achieving regional and global sustainability in the face of these environmental problems is a key topic of current climate change research. This paper provides an overview of the 973 project, entitled “Integrative Modeling and Strategic Planning for Regional Sustainability under Climate Change”, including its background, relative progresses, key scientific questions, major research elements, methodology, and expected outcomes. The proposed research is based on sustainability science, guided by the idea of Orderly Human Activities (OHA), and implemented through an integrated methodology of combining field observations, simulation experiments, and scenario analysis. The main objectives of the project are: to quantify the relationship between human activities and climate change, to assess the impacts of human activities on ecosystem services and human well being in the face of climate change, and to develop an integrated model of climate change, OHA, and regional sustainable development. The ultimate goal is to provide a landscape/regional-scale strategy for sustainable development in the face of climate change. The project is expected to help advance the science and application of landscape sustainability science and land system design, particularly in terms of linking climate change, ecosystem services, and human well-being in the dry land region of China.     

Modelling the main features of the Algarve coastal circulation during July 2004: A downscaling approach

This article presents a methodology for simulating the Algarve coastal circulation using realistic forcing (e.g. low-frequency circulation, tide, high-resolution atmospheric forcing). Low-frequency open boundary conditions are defined via a downscaling of the HYCOM-US operational solution for the Gulf of Cadiz. Atmospheric forcing is imposed using the MM5 high-resolution mesoscale model (9 km resolution near the coast). A 3-level nesting system based on the MOHID numerical system is implemented. The higher nesting level has a horizontal resolution of 0.02° along the Algarve coast. The methodology is first validated qualitatively. A comparison between the numerical results and the conceptual model of the circulation described in the literature is presented. A quantitative validation is also performed, based mainly on remote sensing data (sea surface temperature and altimetry) available for July 2004. The numerical system is able to reproduce many of the circulation features described in the literature (e.g. Azores current recirculation in the Gulf of Cadiz, the upwelling jet, Mediterranean Water undercurrent, Mediterranean Outflow splitting, generation of meddies) and observed with remote-sensing data (e.g. the signature in sea surface temperature (SST) during a regime of upwelling relaxation).     

Validation of a regional Indonesian Seas model based on a comparison between model and INSTANT transports

The International Nusantara Stratification and Transport (INSTANT) program measured currents through multiple Indonesian Seas passages simultaneously over a three-year period (from January 2004 to December 2006). The Indonesian Seas region has presented numerous challenges for numerical modelers — the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) must pass over shallow sills, into deep basins, and through narrow constrictions on its way from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. As an important region in the global climate puzzle, a number of models have been used to try and best simulate this throughflow. In an attempt to validate our model, we present a comparison between the transports calculated from our model and those calculated from the INSTANT in situ measurements at five passages within the Indonesian Seas (Labani Channel, Lifamatola Passage, Lombok Strait, Ombai Strait, and Timor Passage). Our Princeton Ocean Model (POM) based regional Indonesian Seas model was originally developed to analyze the influence of bottom topography on the temperature and salinity distributions in the Indonesian seas region, to disclose the path of the South Pacific Water from the continuation of the New Guinea Coastal Current entering the region of interest up to the Lifamatola Passage, and to assess the role of the pressure head in driving the ITF and in determining its total transport. Previous studies found that this model reasonably represents the general long-term flow (seasons) through this region. The INSTANT transports were compared to the results of this regional model over multiple timescales. Overall trends are somewhat represented but changes on timescales shorter than seasonal (three months) and longer than annual were not considered in our model. Normal velocities through each passage during every season are plotted. Daily volume transports and transport-weighted temperature and salinity are plotted and seasonal averages are tabulated.     

天津局地气候的反演建模及其研究

利用天津月平均温度Ｔ、气压Ｐ和雨量Ｒ的时间序列反演出一组近似描写天津（Ｔ－Ｐ－Ｒ）局地气候的动力方程，并对其演化特性及内部相互作用机制进行了研究。     

地震废墟环境下Wi-Fi无线信号传播模型参数测量

本文主要针对地震废墟下手机Wi-Fi无线定位,分析实际废墟环境下Wi-Fi 2.4G无线信号的传播特性。通过对废墟结构的分析,使用矢量网络分析仪进行信道测量,对大尺度和小尺度衰减两种特性进行信道分析。采取理论预测和实际测量分析相结合的方法,对2008年5·12汶川地震的极重灾区遗址进行了废墟实地测量。对大尺度衰减进行路径损耗和钢筋混凝土吸收损耗分析,对小尺度衰减进行了平均超量时延和均方根时延分析,利用加窗、计算滑动均值,得到废墟下2.4G无线信号的传播规律,为下一步定位工作提供理论基础。     

Monsoons across Multi-scales: Summary of Fourth Conference on Earth System Science

The evolution and future projection of the regional and global monsoons, one of the major components of Earth climate system in the low-latitudes and middle-latitudes, has long been the research focus in the paleoclimate and modern climate communities. Session 4 of the 4^th Conference on Earth System Sciences (CESS) in Shanghai focused on the evolution, variability, and driving mechanism of regional and global monsoon system across multiple timescale, and the role of the monsoon system in changes in the Earth system. During the session, the issues of features of past and contemporary monsoons based on observation data and geological reconstruction, model simulation of past and contemporary monsoons, and response of monsoon climate to the past and present global warming were intensively discussed. The future research directions were also addressed.     

A three-dimensional wind and behaviorally driven population dynamics model for Karenia brevis

The time-dependent three-dimensional distribution of a population of Karenia brevis is explored through the use of an Eulerian model. The model combines a previously developed physiologically based behavioral model of these dinoflagellates with a simple model for a three-dimensional wind driven flow field over a variable-depth continental shelf. The behavioral model is simplified from that used in previous applications and sigma coordinates are utilized in the model. Model results indicate that even for the relatively weak wind driven currents used in our simulation a non-quantized population can develop into two spatially distinct quantized populations in a period as short as 1 day where, for present purposes, a quantized population is one in which all cells are at the same stage of the cell cycle.     

对城市活断层探测项目中地震地质数据建模的探讨

在城市活断层探测项目中,基于地震地质和活动构造研究的数据模型研究是相关应用领域中的重要问题。本文依据"中国地震活动断层探测技术系统"规程应用统一建模语言讨论和建立了地震地质数据模型,着重论述了地震地质数据模型与活动断层探测相关数据的组织方法,给出了地震地质基于ArcGIS的UML模型的空间和属性类结构图、类关系图表。在此基础上分析了地震地质UML模型的特点。     

Spatial estimation of long-term seasonal and annual groundwater resources: application of WetSpass model in the Werii watershed of the Tekeze River Basin,Ethiopia

Treelines are widely studied worldwide in relation to climate changes because they are hypothesized to be sensitive climate proxies. However, forest treeline expansion toward higher altitudes may be influenced both by a warming climate and by other factors, such as surface morphology and, in the European Alps, the decline in alpine farming. Our results from five valleys in the inner and peripheral regions of the Alps show that present-day treeline altitudes mostly depend on anthropogenic and orographicgeomorphologic factors. Climatic treelines are limited to steep and inaccessible slopes, and occur at higher altitudes and farther from mountain peaks in the inner regions than in the peripheral regions of the mountain range. Looking for sites in which to study treeline responses to climate change, we recommend investigating the inner regions of the Alps where treelines are farther from human disturbances and from geomorphologic constraints, potentially resulting in freer upward shifts under warmer temperature conditions. We also found that, in the valleys selected, human disturbance is mainly concentrated about 165 m below non-climatic treelines, suggesting a homogeneous influence on treelines, regardless of geographic position.