A modeling study of effective radiative forcing and climate response due to tropospheric ozone

This study simulates the effective radiative forcing(ERF) of tropospheric ozone from 1850 to 2013 and its effects on global climate using an aerosol–climate coupled model, BCC AGCM2.0.1 CUACE/Aero, in combination with OMI(Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite ozone data. According to the OMI observations, the global annual mean tropospheric column ozone(TCO) was 33.9 DU in 2013, and the largest TCO was distributed in the belts between 30°N and 45°N and at approximately 30°S; the annual mean TCO was higher in the Northern Hemisphere than that in the Southern Hemisphere;and in boreal summer and autumn, the global mean TCO was higher than in winter and spring. The simulated ERF due to the change in tropospheric ozone concentration from 1850 to 2013 was 0.46 W m~(-2), thereby causing an increase in the global annual mean surface temperature by 0.36℃, and precipitation by 0.02 mm d~(-1)(the increase of surface temperature had a significance level above 95%). The surface temperature was increased more obviously over the high latitudes in both hemispheres, with the maximum exceeding 1.4?C in Siberia. There were opposite changes in precipitation near the equator,with an increase of 0.5 mm d~(-1)near the Hawaiian Islands and a decrease of about-0.6 mm d~(-1)near the middle of the Indian Ocean.     

卫星臭氧资料的发展与应用

随着卫星探测技术的进步、天气学和气候学理论的不断完善,以及高性能计算机广泛应用,卫星臭氧资料的种类得到极大丰富并被应用到多个研究领域中,取得了一系列重要成果。文中介绍了主要星载臭氧探测仪的发展概况,回顾了卫星臭氧资料在气象领域的应用研究成果,主要包括卫星臭氧资料在气旋或低压过程中、全球或区域臭氧的气候分布及变化特征、高原臭氧分布及变化特点、数值应用等方面的应用研究,并展望了卫星臭氧资料研究的未来发展趋势。      

部分变量误差模型的整体抗差最小二乘估计

部分变量误差模型(partial EIV model)的加权整体最小二乘(weighted total least-squares,WTLS)估计不具备抵御粗差的能力。鉴于粗差可能同时出现在观测值和系数矩阵中,本文在提出部分变量误差模型WTLS估计的两步迭代解法的基础上,运用抗差M估计的等价权方法,发展了一种整体抗差最小二乘(TRLS)估计方法,并采用一致最大功效统计量确定降权因子。针对WTLS估计两步迭代解法的特点,设计了两个不同的降权方案:第1个方案是在估计系数矩阵元素时,不对观测值降权,仅对系数矩阵降权;第2个方案是在估计系数矩阵元素时,既对系数矩阵降权,同时也对观测值降权。通过对模拟2D仿射变换和线性拟合实例进行计算和分析,结果表明第1方案优于第2方案,并且优于基于残差和验后单位权方差的抗差估计和现有的变量误差模型抗差估计。     

总体最小二乘法在相机标定中的应用

对比总体最小二乘方法与最小二乘方法在相机标定中的适用性及优越性。在相机标定中,由于像点坐标和对应的地面点坐标均存在误差,因此采用总体最小二乘方法对误差方程中的系数矩阵及观测向量同时改正,能够建立更加合理的计算模型。文中以相机标定两步法为例,通过实例解算,证明利用总体最小二乘法能够得到精度更高的相机标定参数解。     

GPS 高程转换的总体最小二乘组合方法

在现有GPS高程转换的研究中,通常只采用单一的解算方法,然而,不同的计算方法由于适用的条件不同,在对同一组数据进行解算时,解算的精度也各有优劣。针对以上问题,文中提出GPS高程转换的总体最小二乘组合方法,对多种不同的高程转换方法进行组合,运用总体最小二乘法计算不同方法的权值,结合实际工程数据,验证该方法的可行性。计算结果表明,提出的方法能够有效地提高高程转换精度。     

Effects of Column Diameter on Setting Behavior of Dredged Slurry in Sedimentation Experiments

This article investigates the influence of dimensions of a settling column on the settling mode and the settling rate. End conditions of the settling stage in the hindered settling were also analyzed. It was found that the settling mode in a column with a smaller diameter tends to be consolidation settling. The effect of a settling column wall decreases with increasing column diameter, and it can be ignored provided the column diameter is larger than 14.5 centimeters. For the difference in initial water content, the settling behavior of the slurry develops a different sensitivity to the diameter effect. The influence of column diameter reduces as the initial water content of the slurry becomes higher. It is suggested that the internal diameter of the column used in a sedimentation experiment should be 14.5 centimeters.     

The global search and commercialization of alternatives and substitutes for ozone-depleting substances

The Montreal Protocol has halted 99% of global production of chemical substances that deplete stratospheric ozone, which protects life on earth from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UVB) radiation. UVB causes skin cancer and cataracts, suppresses the human immune system, destroys plastics, and damages agricultural crops and natural ecosystems. Because ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) are powerful greenhouse gases, the Montreal Protocol also protects climate. From the authors’ perspectives in multiple roles as environmental entrepreneurs, practitioners, and authorities, this paper explains how individuals, companies, and military organizations researched, developed, commercialized and implemented alternatives to ODSs that are also safer for climate. With the benefit of hindsight, the authors reflect on what was neglected or done badly under the Montreal Protocol and present lessons learned on how Montreal Protocol institutions can be renewed and revitalized to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).     

Twenty-five years of spectral UV-B measurements over Canada,Europe and Japan: Trends and effects from changes in ozone,aerosols, clouds,and surface reflectivity

Spectral UV records of solar irradiance at stations over Europe, Canada, and Japan were used to study long-term trends at 307.5 nm for a 25-year period, from 1992 to 2016. Ground-based measurements of total ozone, as well as satellite measurements of the Aerosol Index, the Total Cloud Cover and the surface reflectivity were also used in order to attribute the estimated changes of the UV to the corresponding changes of these factors. The present study shows that over the Northern Hemisphere, the long-term changes in UV-B radiation reaching the Earth's surface vary significantly over different locations, and that the main drivers of these variations are changes in aerosols and total ozone. At high latitudes, part of the observed changes may also be attributed to changes in the surface reflectivity. Over Japan, the UV-B irradiance at 307.5 nm has increased significantly by ∼3%/decade during the past 25 years, possibly due to the corresponding significant decrease of its absorption by aerosols. It was found that the greatest part of this increase took place before the mid-2000s. The only European station, over which UV radiation increases significantly, is that of Thessaloniki, Greece. Analysis of the clear-sky irradiance for the particular station shows increasing irradiance at 307.5 nm by ∼3.5%/decade during the entire period of study, with an increasing rate of change during the last decade, possibly again due to the decreasing absorption by aerosols.     

The terrestrial fauna of the Late Triassic Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry fissures,South Wales,UK and a new species of Clevosaurus (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia)

Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry in South Wales yielded a rich cache of fossils in the early 1950s, including articulated specimens of new species (the small sauropodomorph dinosaur Pantydraco caducus and the crocodylomorph Terrestrisuchus gracilis), but no substantial study of the wider fauna of the Pant-y-ffynnon fissure systems has been published. Here, our overview of existing specimens, a few described but mostly undescribed, as well as freshly processed material, provides a comprehensive picture of the Pant-y-ffynnon palaeo-island of the Late Triassic. This was an island with a relatively impoverished fauna dominated by small clevosaurs (rhynchocephalians), including a new species, Clevosaurus cambrica, described here from a partially articulated specimen and isolated bones. The new species has a dental morphology that is intermediate between the Late Triassic Clevosaurus hudsoni, from Cromhall Quarry to the east, and the younger C. convallis from Pant Quarry to the west, suggesting adaptive radiation of clevosaurs in the palaeo-archipelago. The larger reptiles on the palaeo-island do not exceed 1.5?m in length, including a small carnivorous crocodylomorph, Terrestrisuchus, and a possible example of insular dwarfism in the basal dinosaur Pantydraco.