Proposed nonlinear 3-D analytical method for piled raft foundations

The load distribution and deformation of piled raft foundations subjected to axial and lateral loads were investigated by a numerical analysis and field case studies. Special attention is given to the improved analytical method (YSPR) proposed by considering raft flexibility and soil nonlinearity. A load transfer approach using p–y, t–z and q–z curves is used for the analysis of piles. An analytical method of the soil–structure interaction is developed by taking into account the soil spring coupling effects based on the Filonenko-Borodich model. The proposed method has been verified by comparing the results with other numerical methods and field case studies on piled raft. Through comparative studies, it is found that the proposed method in the present study is in good agreement with general trend observed by field measurements and, thus, represents a significant improvement in the prediction of piled raft load sharing and settlement behavior.     

电商快递包装箱的碳足迹空间分解和隐含碳转移研究

伴随电子商务等新兴消费业态的迅猛发展,其碳排放量已不容忽视。本研究从空间分解和隐含碳转移的角度,基于对电商快递包装箱全生命周期的碳足迹研究,识别其在原料、生产、利用各环节与电商行为的地理空间耦合,分析各阶段及总排放的省域尺度格局特征,以及伴随快递流的隐含碳转移网络格局。研究发现：原料阶段的碳排放多在木材原料商区位,生产阶段的碳排放和快递发货区位高度耦合,利用阶段的碳排放和快递收货区位相耦合。全国电商快递包装箱各阶段的碳排放在空间上高度集聚,原料阶段集中在广西,生产和利用阶段集中在广东、浙江、江苏,整体呈现出“东多西少、南多北少”的空间特征。碳排放总量较高的省区多由生产驱动,碳排放总量越少的省区则利用驱动越明显。隐含碳转移网络呈现出“少数省区净流出、多数省区净流入”的“轴辐式”结构特征,浙江、广东两省承担了80%左右的净流出,是绝大多数省区隐含碳流入的最大来源地,北京是净流入最大的省区。基于隐含碳转移进行碳排放责任辨析,是相关决策需要考虑的重要因素;绿色包装的减排贡献较大,亟待寻求技术突破;新兴消费业态的碳排放值得长期关注。     

乌鲁木齐冬季黑碳气溶胶污染特征初步研究

利用2010年2月乌鲁木齐大气成分观测站黒碳仪观测数据,结合散射系数及常规观测资料,对乌鲁木齐冬季黑碳气溶胶浓度变化特征进行了分析,并通过气流后向轨迹进行了来源分析。结果表明：(1)观测期间BC质量浓度日平均值为12707±4673 ng.m-3,浓度变化范围为4916~22997 ng.m-3,散射系数日均值为1086±561Mm-1,变化范围为350~2232 Mm-1。BC质量浓度和散射系数日均值变化趋势基本一致;(2)BC质量浓度日变化具有明显的峰值和谷值,峰值分别出现在9~11时和20~22时,谷值分别出现在4~6时和16~18时,散射系数与BC质量浓度日变化趋势基本一致,相对其有一定的滞后。春节期间燃放烟花爆竹对空气污染物浓度上升有明显作用,显著影响BC质量浓度日变化规律;(3)乌鲁木齐冬季大气层结稳定,污染物不易扩散,风速和降水对黑碳气溶胶浓度具有明显的稀释作用。在乌鲁木齐特殊的地形和气象条件下,本地源排放与来自周边城市群污染物输送的叠加使得污染更加严重。     

Retrieval of wheat leaf area index from AWiFS multispectral data using canopy radiative transfer simulation

Accurate representation of leaf area index (LAI) from high resolution satellite observations is obligatory for various modelling exercises and predicting the precise farm productivity. Present study compared the two retrieval approach based on canopy radiative transfer (CRT) method and empirical method using four vegetation indices (VI) (e.g. NDVI, NDWI, RVI and GNDVI) to estimate the wheat LAI. Reflectance observations available at very high (56 m) spatial resolution from Advanced Wide-Field Sensor (AWiFS) sensor onboard Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) P6, Resourcesat-1 satellite was used in this study. This study was performed over two different wheat growing regions, situated in different agro-climatic settings/environments: Trans-Gangetic Plain Region (TGPR) and Central Plateau and Hill Region (CPHR). Forward simulation of canopy reflectances in four AWiFS bands viz. green (0.52–0.59 μm), red (0.62–0.68 μm), NIR (0.77–0.86 μm) and SWIR (1.55–1.70 μm) were carried out to generate the look up table (LUT) using CRT model PROSAIL from all combinations of canopy intrinsic variables. An inversion technique based on minimization of cost function was used to retrieve LAI from LUT and observed AWiFS surface reflectances. Two consecutive wheat growing seasons (November 2005–March 2006 and November 2006–March 2007) datasets were used in this study. The empirical models were developed from first season data and second growing season data used for validation. Among all the models, LAI-NDVI empirical model showed the least RMSE (root mean square error) of 0.54 and 0.51 in both agro-climatic regions respectively. The comparison of PROSAIL retrieved LAI with in situ measurements of 2006–2007 over the two agro-climatic regions produced substantially less RMSE of 0.34 and 0.41 having more R² of 0.91 and 0.95 for TGPR and CPHR respectively in comparison to empirical models. Moreover, CRT retrieved LAI had less value of errors in all the LAI classes contrary to empirical estimates. The PROSAIL based retrieval has potential for operational implementation to determine the regional crop LAI and can be extendible to other regions after rigorous validation exercise.     

面向航空倾斜影像空三转点的特征提取算子比较

首先对4种常见的尺度和旋转不变特征算子：SIFT,SURF,MSER,ORB进行简单的介绍。为定量比较各种特征算子在航空影像自动转点中的性能,本文提出了3种与倾斜影像相关的指标,并结合常用的4种指标组成本文的7个定量评价指标。在此基础上,采用一组倾斜影像数据进行了试验,结果表明,SURF/SIFT算子在航空倾斜影像空三转点中具有相对较好的性能,MSER次之,而ORB的效果较差。     

The shielding effect of small-scale martian surface geometry on ultraviolet flux

The atmosphere of Mars does little to attenuate incoming ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Large amounts of UV radiation sterilize the hardiest of terrestrial organisms within minutes, and chemically alter the soil such that organic molecules at or near the surface are rapidly destroyed. Thus the survival of any putative martian life near the surface depends to a large extent on how much UV radiation it receives. Variations in small-scale geometry of the surface such as pits, trenches, flat faces and overhangs can have a significant effect on the incident UV flux and may create “safe havens” for organisms and organic molecules. In order to examine this effect, a 1-D radiative transfer sky model with 836 meshed points (plus the Sun) was developed which includes both diffuse and direct components of the surface irradiance. This model derives the variation of UV flux with latitude and an object's Geometric Shielding Ratio (a ratio which describes the geometry of each situation). The best protection is offered by overhangs with flux reduced to a factor of 1.8±0.2×10⁻⁵ of the unprotected value, a reduction which does not vary significantly by latitude. Pits and cracks are less effective with a reduction in UV flux of only up to 4.5±0.5×10⁻³ for the modeled scenarios; however, they are more effective for the same geometric shielding ratio than overhangs at high latitudes due to the low height of the Sun in the sky. Lastly, polar faces of rocks have the least effective shielding geometry with at most a 1.1±0.1×10⁻¹ reduction in UV flux. Polar faces of rocks are most effective at mid latitudes where the Sun is never directly overhead, as at tropical latitudes, and never exposes the back of the rock, as at polar latitudes. In the most favorable cases, UV flux is sufficiently reduced such that organic in-fall could accumulate beneath overhanging surfaces and in pits and cracks. As well, hardy terrestrial microorganisms such as Bacillus pumilus could persist for up to 100 sols on the outer surfaces of typical spacecraft or several tens of martian years in the most shielded surface niches.     

Weak stability boundary trajectories for the deployment of lunar spacecraft constellations

Suitable lunar constellation coverage can be obtained by separating the satellites in inclinations and node angles. It is shown in the paper that a relevant saving of velocity variation ΔV can be achieved using weak stability boundary trajectories. The weakly stable dynamics of such transfers allows the separation of the satellites from the nominal orbit to the required orbit planes with a small amount of ΔV. This paper also shows that only one different set of orbital parameters at Moon can be reached with the same ΔV manoeuvre starting from a nominal trajectory and ending at a fixed periselenium altitude. In fact, such a feature is proved to be common to other simpler dynamical systems, such as the two- and three-body problems.     

Lyman α radiative transfer in a multiphase medium

Hydrogen Lyman α (Lyα) is our primary emission-line window into high-redshift galaxies. Despite an extensive literature, Lyα radiative transfer in the most realistic case of a dusty, multiphase medium has received surprisingly little detailed theoretical attention. We investigate Lyα resonant scattering through an ensemble of dusty, moving, optically thick gas clumps. We treat each clump as a scattering particle and use Monte Carlo simulations of surface scattering to quantify continuum and Lyα surface scattering angles, absorption probabilities, and frequency redistribution, as a function of the gas dust content. This atomistic approach speeds up the simulations by many orders of magnitude, making possible calculations which are otherwise intractable. Our fitting formulae can be readily adapted for fast radiative transfer in numerical simulations. With these surface scattering results, we develop an analytic framework for estimating escape fractions and line widths as a function of gas geometry, motion, and dust content. Our simple analytic model shows good agreement with full Monte Carlo simulations. We show that the key geometric parameter is the average number of surface scatters for escape in the absence of absorption,     , and we provide fitting formulae for several geometries of astrophysical interest. We consider the following two interesting applications. (i) Equivalent widths ( EWs ). Lyα can preferentially escape from a dusty multiphase interstellar medium if most of the dust lies in cold neutral clouds, which Lyα photons cannot penetrate. This might explain the anomalously high EWs sometimes seen in high-redshift/submillimetre sources. (ii) Multiphase galactic outflows . We show the characteristic profile is asymmetric with a broad red tail, and relate the profile features to the outflow speed and gas geometry. Many future applications are envisaged.     

Scattering properties of planetary regolith analogs

The physics of scattering of electromagnetic waves by media in which the particles are in contact, such as planetary regoliths, has been thought to be relatively well understood when the particles are larger than the wavelength. However, this is not true when the particles are comparable with or smaller than the wavelength. We have measured the scattering parameters of planetary regolith analogs consisting of suites of well-sorted abrasives whose particles ranged from larger to smaller than the wavelength. We measured the variation of reflectance as the phase angle varied from 0.05° to 140°. The following parameters of the media were then deduced: the single scattering albedo, single scattering phase function, transport mean free path, and scattering, absorption, and extinction coefficients. A scattering model based on the equation of radiative transfer was empirically able to describe quantitatively the variation of intensity with angle for each sample. Thus, such models can be used to characterize scattering from regoliths even when the particles are smaller than the wavelength. The scattering parameters were remarkably insensitive to particle size. These results are contrary to theoretical predictions, but are consistent with earlier measurements of alumina abrasives that were restricted to small phase angles. They imply that a basic assumption made by virtually all regolith scattering models, that the regolith particles are the fundamental scattering units of the medium, is incorrect. Our understanding of scattering by regoliths appears to be incomplete, even when the particles are larger than the wavelength.     

Local Oscillator Distribution Using A Geostationary Satellite

A satellite communication system suitable for distribution of local oscillator reference signals for a widely spaced microwave array has been developed and tested experimentally. The system uses a round-trip correction method to remove effects of atmospheric fluctuations and radial motion of the satellite. This experiment was carried out using Telstar-5, a commercial Ku-band geostationary satellite. A typical Ku-band satellite has uplink and downlink capacity at 14–14.5 GHz and 11.7–12.2 GHz, respectively. For this initial experiment, both earth stations were located at the same site to facilitate direct comparison of the received signals. The local oscillator reference frequency was chosen to be 300 MHz and was sent as the difference between two Ku-band tones. The residual error after applying the round trip correction has been measured to be better than 3 ps for integration times ranging from 1 to 2000 s. For integration times greater than 500 s, the system outperforms a pair of hydrogen masers with the limitation believed to be ground-based equipment phase stability. The idea of distributing local oscillators using a geostationary satellite is not new; several researchers experimented with this technique in the eighties, but the achieved accuracy was 3 to 100 times worse than the present results. Since then, the cost of both leased satellite bandwidth and the Ku-band ground equipment has dropped substantially and the performance of various components has improved. An important factor is the availability of narrow bands which can be leased on a communications satellite. We lease three 100 kHz bands at approximately one hundredth the cost of a full 36 MHz-wide transponder. Further tests of the system using terminals separated by large distances and comparison tests with two hydrogen masers and radio interferometry of astronomical objects are needed.