Test on dynamic characteristics of subgrade of heavy-haul railway in cold regions

Dynamic characteristics of heavy-haul railway subgrade under vibratory loading in cold regions are investigated via low-temperature dynamic triaxial tests with multi-stage cyclic loading process. The relationship between dynamic shear stress and dynamic shear strain of frozen soil of subgrade under train loading and the influence of freezing temperatures on dynamic constitutive relation, dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio are observed in this study. Test results show that the dynamic constitutive relations of the frozen soils with different freezing temperatures comply with the hyperbolic model, in which model parameters a and b decrease with increasing freezing temperature. The dynamic shear modulus of the frozen soils decreases with increasing dynamic shear strains initially, followed by a relatively smooth attenuation tendency, whereas increases with decreasing freezing temperatures. The damping ratios decrease with decreasing freezing temperatures. Two linear functions are defined to express the linear relationships between dynamic shear modulus (damping ratio) and freezing temperature, respectively, in which corresponding linear coefficients are obtained through multiple regression analysis of test data.     

Meteorology in Canada: A reaction to the rose report

The methods used in an earlier study focusing on the province of Ontario, Canada, were adapted for this current study to expand the study area over eastern Canada where the infrastructure is at risk of being impacted by freezing rain. To estimate possible impacts of climate change on future freezing rain events, a three-step process was used in the study: (1) statistical downscaling, (2) synoptic weather typing, and (3) future projections. A regression-based downscaling approach, constructed using different regression methods for different meteorological variables, was used to downscale the outputs of eight general circulation models to each of 42 hourly observing stations over eastern Canada. Using synoptic weather typing (principal components analysis, a clustering procedure, discriminant function analysis), the freezing rain-related weather types under historical climate (1958–2007) and future downscaled climate conditions (2016–2035, 2046–2065, 2081–2100) were identified for all selected stations. The potential changes in the frequency of future daily freezing rain events can be projected quantitatively by comparing future and historical frequencies of freezing rain-related weather types.

The modelled results show that eastern Canada could experience more freezing rain events late this century during the coldest months (i.e., December to February) than the averaged historical conditions. Conversely, during the warmest months of the study season (i.e., November and April in the southern regions, October in the northern regions), eastern Canada could experience less freezing rain events late this century. The increase in the number of daily freezing rain events in the future for the coldest months is projected to be progressively greater from south to north or from southwest to northeast across eastern Canada. The relative decrease in magnitude of future daily freezing rain events in the warmest months is projected to be much less than the relative increase in magnitude in the coldest months.     

C‐band SAR backscatter characteristics of Arctic sea and land ice during winter

Abstract

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data has become an important tool for studies of polar regions, due to high spatial resolution even during the polar night and under cloudy skies. We have studied the temporal variation of sea and land ice backscatter of twenty‐four SAR images from the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS‐1) covering an area in Lady Ann Strait and Jones Sound, Nunavut, from January to March 1992. The presence of fast ice in Jones Sound and glaciers and ice caps on the surrounding islands provides an ideal setting for temporal backscatter studies of ice surfaces. Sample regions for eight different ice types were selected and the temporal backscatter variation was studied. The observed backscatter values for each ice type characterize the radar signatures of the ice surfaces. This time series of twenty‐four SAR images over a 3‐month period provides new insights into the degree of temporal variability of each surface. Ice caps exhibit the highest backscatter value of ‐3.9 dB with high temporal variability. Valley glacier ice backscatter values decrease with decreasing altitude, and are temporally the most stable, with standard deviations of 0.08–0.10 dB over the 90‐day period.

First‐year ice and lead ice show a negative trend in backscatter values in time and a positive correlation of up to 0.59 with air temperature over the 90‐day period. For first‐year ice and lead ice, episodes of large temperature fluctuations (±12°C) are associated with rapid changes in backscatter values (±2 dB). We attribute the backscatter increase to a temperature‐induced increase in brine volume at the base of the snow pack. Multi‐year ice, conglomerate ice and shore ice are relatively stable over the 3‐month period, with a backscatter variation of only a few dBs. An observed lag time of up to three days between backscatter increase/decrease and air temperature can be attributed to the insulation effect of the snow cover over sea ice. The net range of the backscatter values observed on the most temporally stable surface, valley glacier ice, of about 0.30 dB indicates that the ERS‐1 SAR instrument exceeds the 1 dB calibration accuracy specified for the Alaska SAR Facility processor for the three winter months.     

The influence of freezing drizzle on wire icing during freezing fog events

Both direct and indirect effects of freezing drizzle on ice accretion were analyzed for ten freezing drizzle events during a comprehensive ice thickness, fog, and precipitation observation campaign carried out during the winter of 2008 and 2009 at Enshi Radar Station (3017'N, 10916'E), Hubei Province, China. The growth rate of ice thickness was 0.85 mm h－1 during the freezing drizzle period, while the rate was only 0.4 mm h－1 without sleet and freezing drizzle. The rain intensity, liquid water content (LWC), and diameter of freezing drizzle stayed at low values. The development of microphysical properties of fog was suppressed in the freezing drizzle period. A threshold diameter (Dc) was proposed to estimate the inuence of freezing drizzle on different size ranges of fog droplets. Fog droplets with a diameter less thanDc would be affected slightly by freezing drizzle, while larger fog droplets would be affected signicantly. Dc had a correlation with the average rain intensity, with a correlation coefficient of 0.78. The relationships among the microphysical properties of fog droplets were all positive when the effect of freezing drizzle was weak, while they became poor positive correlations, or even negative correlations during freezing drizzle period. The direct contribution of freezing drizzle to ice thickness was about 14.5%. Considering both the direct and indirect effects, we suggest that freezing drizzle could act as a catalyst causing serious icing conditions.     

巴旦杏越冬冻害气象指标

低温冻害是危害新疆林果业持续健康高效发展的三大灾害之一,通过对越冬期间果树冻害历史灾情资料的调查及最低气温数据库的建立,研究冻害的发生时间、界限温度以及冻害发生年各项气象因子的变化特征,阐明果树越冬冻害与气象因子的关系.结果表明,可根据冬季平均气温、最低气温、降温天气及低温持续时间等确定该区巴旦杏越冬期发生冻害的气象指标.研究结果可为有效防范低温冻害提供理论依据,为林果业生产服务.     

气候变化背景下湖北省水稻高温热害变化规律研究

利用历年气象资料,运用数理统计方法,分析了湖北省1951—2010年水稻高温热害的动态变化,探讨了气候变化背景下高温热害的演变趋势与规律。结果表明,鄂东部、江汉平原部分地区水稻高温热害发生趋于频繁,且除西南部地区外的湖北省其他地区水稻高温热害最大概率出现的时间均有明显的提前,甚至每10a提前1d以上。最后,利用ArcGIS对湖北省的水稻高温热害变化趋势和风险程度进行了区划。     

Freezing of sediments inappropriate for pore water selenium analysis

The common practice of freezing sediment cores for later chemical investigation was shown to be inappropriate for samples containing selenium. Pore waters from frozen estuarine sediment cores contained up to eighty times the selenium content of those extracted from chilled but unfrozen cores. Experiments suggested that the increase in selenium concentrations resulted from rupturing the cells of selenium-accumulating bacteria present in the samples.     

LABORATORY OBSERVATIONS OF SEDIMENT ENTRAINMENT BY FREEZING SUPERCOOLED WATER

Debris in basal ice produced by glaciohydraulic supercooling is typically characterized by high proportions of silt. A prominent hypothesis for this silt‐dominance is that frazil ice growing in supercooled water preferentially traps silt from sediment‐laden water percolating through it. It has therefore been suggested that silt‐dominance may be diagnostic of glaciohydraulic supercooling. The aim of our work is to test this hypothesis that freezing sediment‐laden supercooled water necessarily produces ice dominated by silt. We do this by simulating two freezing processes under laboratory conditions: (1) percolation of sediment‐laden water through frazil ice; (2) turbulent supercooling and subsequent freezing of sediment‐laden water. In experiments repeated using different particle sizes (sand, silt and clay in individual experiments) both processes entrained sand most effectively and silt least effectively. In experiments using a sediment mixture dominated by medium to coarse silt, both processes produced ice facies dominated by particle sizes between fine sand and coarse silt. These results suggest that silt‐dominance should therefore not be expected for supercooled freeze‐on, and is not a reliable diagnostic signature for supercooling. The silt‐dominated character of basal ice types associated with supercooling may result from other controls such as a silt‐dominated sediment supply or subglacial water flow rates, rather than the freezing process.     

四种客观定量表征阻塞高压方法的对比分析

已有的阻塞高压客观定量化表征方法可归纳为距平方法、 T&M方法、 动力学方法和环流型方法四种。以2008年1月1日~2月2日中国持续性低温雨雪冰冻灾害期间的阻塞高压事件为例, 利用NCEP/NCAR逐日再分析等压面资料, 检验对比了上述四种方法的优点与缺点。结果表明, 每种方法都有其优点和局限性, 表明仅以某种标准或公式的客观方法实现对多种形态的阻塞高压的精确识别是极其困难的。同时还指出, 研究者和业务技术人员在了解各种阻塞高压客观表征方法的优、 缺点基础上, 针对具体需求选取适合的方法, 也可以结合实际情况予以改进, 都将可能获得更好的应用效果。     

The Freezing Precipitation over the Middle-Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River during February-March 2009

In this paper, the authors analyze the quasistationary fronts, surface conditions, and atmospheric stratification processes associated with a freezing precipitation event over the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River, especially in the Dabie mountain during February-March 2009. The long duration of freezing precipitation was primarily caused by stationary and anomalous synoptic weather patterns, such as a blocking high pressure in the northern branch and a trough in the southern branch of the westerlies, which resulted in the encounter cold air from northern China and warm moisture from the south. The east-west-oriented, quasi-stationary front （or shear line） found in central China was mostly responsible for producing the precipitation. The warm layer and nearsurface frozen layer were located in the lower troposphere along the front zone. Although the warm layer （〉 0℃） existed along the whole front, a surface temperature less than 0℃ appeared only over the lower-middle reaches of the Yangtze River, especially in the Dabie mountain. Therefore, the surface temperature was the main influencing factor, as the freezing precipitation only happened over the Dabie mountain.