Statistical data fusion of multi-sensor AOD over the Continental United States

This article illustrates two techniques for merging daily aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements from satellite and ground-based data sources to achieve optimal data quality and spatial coverage. The first technique is a traditional Universal Kriging (UK) approach employed to predict AOD from multi-sensor aerosol products that are aggregated on a reference grid with AERONET as ground truth. The second technique is spatial statistical data fusion (SSDF); a method designed for massive satellite data interpolation. Traditional kriging has computational complexity O(N³), making it impractical for large datasets. Our version of UK accommodates massive data inputs by performing kriging locally, while SSDF accommodates massive data inputs by modelling their covariance structure with a low-rank linear model. In this study, we use aerosol data products from two satellite instruments: the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer and the geostationary operational environmental satellite, covering the Continental United States.     

The Seasonal Variabilities in the Concentration of Atmospheric Aerosols over Qingdao, China

Mass concentrations of Total Suspended Particles （TSP） and size-segregated particles were obtained from July 2001 to June 2002 in Qingdao to characterize the seasonal variations of atmospheric aerosols and to show the impact of dust events on the air quality in Qingdao. Data on size-segregated aerosols show that 73.74% of the TSP mass concentration is contributed by particles with diameters less than 11 μm. Particles with diameters less than 1.1μm have a higher concentration during the winter. In spring, larger particles tend to have higher mass concentrations. Bimodal particle size distributions have been observed, with maxima around 4.7-7 μand 0.43-0.65 μm in the winter season, and 7-11 μm and 0.65-1.1 μm in the autumn season. Measurements made during the dust events in March 2002 show high concentrations of particles in the size range 2.1-7μm.     

Study of Distinctive Regional Features of Surface Solar Radiation in North and East China

Solar radiation is an important energy source for plants on the earth and also a major component of the global energy balance.Variations in solar radiation incident at the earth's surface profoundly affect the human and terrestrial environment,including the climate change.To provide useful information for predicting the future climate change in China,distinctive regional features in spatial and temporal variations of the surface solar radiation (SSR) and corresponding attributions (such as cloud and aerosol) are analyzed based on SSR observations and other meteorological measurements in North and East China from 1961 to 2007.Multiple models,such as the plane-parallel radiative transfer model,empirical and statistical models,and corrclation and regrcssion analysis methods are used in the study.The results are given as follows.(1) During 1961-2007,the total SSR in North China went through a process from quickly “dimming” to slowly “dimming”,while in East China,a significant transition from “dimming” to “brightening” occurred.Although there are some differences between thc two regional variation trends,long-term variations in SSR in the two regions are basically consistent with the observation worldwide.(2) Between the 1960s and 1980s,in both North and East China,aerosols played a critical rolc in the radiation dimming.However,after 1989,different variation trends of SSR occurred in North and East China,indicating that aerosols were not the dominant factor.(3) Cloud cover contributed less to the variation of SSR in North China,but was thc major attribution in East China and played a promoting role in the reversal of SSR from dimming to brightening,especially in the “remarkable brightening” period,with its contribution as high as 70％.     

Preliminary spectral characterization of snow in a high altitude tropical glacier and potential effects of impurities in snow on albedo of tropical glaciers

This paper presents some preliminary measurements of snow spectral reflectance on the tropical Bolivian Zongo glacier. Measurements show a correct agreement with theoretical spectral albedo of pure snow in the near infrared region, but lower values in the visible region (by 10–20%) probably due to aerosols contained in snow. Impurity contents ranged from 10 to 100 ppmw in one‐week‐old snow collected from the Zongo glacier, but measurements are scarce. Large amounts of snowfall partly compensate the proximity of dust sources in mid‐latitude glaciers, whereas on outer‐tropical glaciers precipitations are not abundant and are very seasonal, and sources of aerosols are proximate. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relations between load and settlement of circular foundations on or in a dense sand expressed by a function of diameter and depth

When load acts on a circular foundation on or in a dense sand, average contact pressure on the lower surface of the foundation is q and settlement of the foundation is s. Diameter and depth of the foundation are B and D_f. When the sand, B and D_f are given, we can know the relation between q and s/B by, e.g. a loading test, i.e. the relation is determined by B and D_f for the sand. Using the results of numerical analyses, we express a relation between q and s/B up to s=0.1B by functions of a single variable which is a linear combination of B and D_f. Consequently when two foundations have different B's and different D_f's but have the same value of the variable, the relations are the same. Then we examine whether the functions can express the results of eleven tests of model foundations of wide range of B and/or D_f. In all the tests, the relations are expressed with sufficient accuracy. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Displacement‐controlled method and its applications to material non‐linearity

For the analysis of non‐linear problems, the displacement‐controlled method (DCM) has a more extensive application scope and more powerful abilities than the load‐controlled method (LCM). However, difficulties of the DCM's procedure not amenable to most finite element implementations of the conventional LCM have restricted its applications in geomechanics. By means of Sherman–Morrison's theorem, the solution of DCM is improved. The improved procedure is characterized by high efficiency, good numerical stability and a programme structure similar to LCM. Two aspects of applications of DCM are illustrated. The first application is to compute the response of a structure under a given load level like the conventional finite element analysis. The second application is to trace the equilibrium path of a structure under a given load distribution type. A simple but effective algorithm is presented for automatically adjusting the step length in tracing the equilibrium path. Examples illustrate that the proposed procedures are suited for modelling complicated non‐linear problems in geomechanics. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

北京地区Landsat 8 OLI高空间分辨率气溶胶光学厚度反演

卫星气溶胶光学厚度(AOD)反演中,传统暗目标方法在反射率较低的水体、浓密植被覆盖区域取得了较好效果,在反射率较高且结构复杂的高反射地表上空目前多采用深蓝算法,但存在空间分辨率较低,对细节分布描述性较差等问题。为解决这一问题,本文首先以5年(2008年—2012年)长时间序列MODIS地表反射率产品为基础,采用最小值合成法建立500 m分辨率逐月地表反射率产品数据集,然后利用地物波谱库中典型地物波谱数据,分析建立MODIS与Landsat 8 OLI传感器蓝光波段反射率转换模型,最后北京地区AERONET地基观测数据确定了气溶胶光学物理参数,并反演获取了北京地区上空500 m分辨率的AOD分布。为验证反演算法的精度,分别将反演结果同AERONET及MODIS/Terra气溶胶产品(MOD04)进行交叉对比,同时利用相关系数R,均方根误差RMSE,平均绝对误差MAE以及MODIS AOD产品预期误差EE共4个指标进行衡量。结果表明:算法反演获取的AOD与AERONET观测值具有较高的一致性,各指标分别为R=0.963,RMSE=0.156,MAE=0.097,EE=85.3%,稍优于MOD04产品(R=0.962,RMSE=0.158,MAE=0.101,EE=75.8%),并且有效的对比点数也高于MOD04。通过与地基观测相比,卫星遥感获取的高分辨率城市地区AOD精度可作为定量评估城市空气质量的有效依据。     

国内外抗连续倒塌设计规范研究及对比

结构的连续性倒塌一直是土木工程领域关注的焦点,现阶段各个国家关于连续倒塌的规范在设计方法以及具体规定上均有所差异。回顾了抗连续倒塌研究的发展历史,梳理了国内外抗连续倒塌设计规范中的不同规定,对国内外抗连续倒塌规范的设计方法进行了归纳总结,比较了各国规范安全等级划分方式以及验算时荷载组合的异同,并对破坏发生范围的界定做了详细对比,为将来形成统一的规范提供一定参考。     

内约束方钢管混凝土柱抗震性能研究

由于方钢管对混凝土约束作用较弱,地震作用下方钢管混凝土柱底部钢管易出现屈曲,因此本文提出一种新型内约束方钢管混凝土柱。基于ABAQUS有限元软件,本文采用合理的材料本构模型建立内约束方钢管混凝土柱三维实体精细有限元模型,该模型能准确反应钢管、混凝土以及拉筋之间的相互作用,又能反应拟静力作用下混凝土的塑性损伤和钢材的循环硬化规律。有限元结果与试验结果吻合良好。首先,在此基础上笔选出最佳内约束形式,对拉箍筋方钢管混凝土柱的抗震性能明显优于圆环箍筋;其次,提出在不同轴压比下内约束方钢管混凝土柱的焊接拉筋最佳布置长度和合理体积配箍率;再次,探讨不同参数对内约束方钢管混凝土柱滞回性能的影响,结果表明:提高截面含钢率和长细比能有效改善组合柱的极限承载力,而轴压比在一定范围内有利于能提高柱的承载力;最后,讨论了约束措施对内约束方钢管混凝土柱耗能性能的影响。     

Experimental study on the dynamic modulus of compacted loess under bidirectional dynamic load

The dynamic characteristics of compacted loess are of great significance to the seismic construction of the Loess Plateau area in Northwest China, where earthquakes frequently occur. To study the change in the dynamic modulus of the foundation soil under the combined action of vertical and horizontal earthquakes, a hollow cylindrical torsion shear instrument capable of vibrating in four directions was used to perform two-way coupling of compression and torsion of Xi'an compacted loess under different dry density and deviator stress ratios. The results show that increasing the dry density can improve the initial dynamic compression modulus and initial dynamic shear modulus of compacted loess. With an increase in the deviator stress ratio, the initial dynamic compression modulus increases, to a certain extent, but the initial dynamic shear modulus decreases slightly. The dynamic modulus gradually decreases with the development of dynamic strain and tends to be stable, and the dynamic modulus that reaches the same strain increases with an increasing dry density. At the initial stage of dynamic loading, the attenuation of the dynamic shear modulus with the strain development is faster than that of the dynamic compression modulus. Compared with previous research results, it is determined that the dynamic modulus of loess under bidirectional dynamic loading is lower and the attenuation rate is faster than that under single-direction dynamic loading. The deviator stress ratio has a more obvious effect on the dynamic compression modulus. The increase in the deviator stress ratio can increase the dynamic compression modulus, to a certain extent. However, the deviator stress ratio has almost no effect on the dynamic shear modulus, and can therefore be ignored.