A mixed finite element method for Hele-Shaw cell equations

A new numerical method to solve the system of equations describing two phase flow in a Hele-Shaw cell is presented. It combines a mixed finite element method, the method of subtraction of the singularity and a front tracking grid in a single computational strategy. This choice of discretization techniques is well motivated by the difficulties present in the system of equations and the physics of the problem. The new method was tested against analytical solutions and also by solving the Saffman–Taylor viscous fingering problem for finite and infinite mobility ratios. In both cases convergence under mesh refinement is achieved for the fingers developed from an initial sinusoidal interface. Finger splitting is observed for low values of the surface tension and high mobility ratio. Different explanations, based in our results, are provided for this phenomenon. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Unveiling soft gamma-ray repeaters with INTEGRAL

Thanks to INTEGRAL’s long exposures of the Galactic Plane, the two brightest Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters, SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14, have been monitored and studied in detail for the first time at hard-X/soft gamma rays. This has produced a wealth of new scientific results, which we will review here. Since SGR 1806-20 was particularly active during the last two years, more than 300 short bursts have been observed with INTEGRAL and their characteristics have been studied with unprecedented sensitivity in the 15–200 keV range. A hardness-intensity anticorrelation within the bursts has been discovered and the overall Number-Intensity distribution of the bursts has been determined. In addition, a particularly active state, during which 100 bursts were emitted in 10 minutes, has been observed on October 5 2004, indicating that the source activity was rapidly increasing. This eventually led to the Giant Flare of December 27th 2004, for which a possible soft gamma-ray (>80 keV) early afterglow has been detected. The deep observations allowed us to discover the persistent emission in hard X-rays (20–150 keV) from 1806-20 and 1900+14, the latter being in a quiescent state, and to directly compare the spectral characteristics of all Magnetars (two SGRs and three Anomalous X-ray Pulsars) detected with INTEGRAL. D.G. acknowledges the French Space Agency (CNES) for financial support. Based on observations with INTEGRAL, an ESA project with instruments and the science data centre funded by ESA member states (especially the PI countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain), Czech Republic and Poland, and with the participation of Russia and the USA. ISGRI has been realized and maintained in flight by CEA-Saclay/DAPNIA with the support of CNES. K.H. is grateful for support under NASA’s INTEGRAL U.S. Guest Investigator program, Grants NAG5-13738 and NNG05GG35G.     

内蒙古呼伦湖水量平衡计算与分析

根据呼伦湖的实际水文过程,计算1963-1980年月水量平衡,在此基础上,分析库容与径流、径流+降雨、径流+降雨-蒸发的相关性.利用累积和分析水位、径流、降雨、蒸发年均值的突变情况,进而重点论述了2000年后水位持续降低的原因.同时,探讨各水平衡项的年内分布规律及相互关系.结果表明,2000年后水位的急剧降低是气候变化(暖干化)造成的.河川径流对水位的影响程度最大,其次为湖面降雨.每年4、5月,冰封期积累的降雪融化渗入地下补给湖泊,其他时间则由湖泊补给地下水.     

土-水特征曲线测定过程中潜在影响因素与异常现象研究

基于压力板仪对相同制样参数的4个环刀试样与12个三轴试样进行土-水特征曲线（SWCC）试验,研究影响试验的各种潜在因素以及相关的异常现象。试验结果表明：即便是相同条件制备的试样,其SWCC之间也会存在差异性,这种差异与土的颗粒级配不良有直接关系,而与平衡时间无关;蒸发效应在SWCC试验中持续存在,并在平衡后期成为失水的主要因素,因此,对平衡条件应适当修正;试样的侧面防护对试样的SWCC影响显著,特别对于大高径比试样,蒸发效应将因其侧面防护脱离而成为失水的主要因素,严重影响SWCC的试验结果;横向裂纹这一异常现象并未影响SWCC测量结果,但其产生机制却可能反应了轴平移技术的不足,值得进一步研究。根据上述研究结果和其他相关试验成果,对SWCC试验提出建议和改进方法。     

蜕壳素对凡纳滨对虾生长及表观消化率的影响

研究了外源性蜕皮激素对凡纳滨对虾生长和表观消化率的影响 ,实验时在基础饲料中分别添加 0 .1%、0 .2 %、0 .4 %的两种市售蜕壳素产品 ,制成 6种外源性脱壳素配合饲料 ,不添加的基础饲料作为对照组 ,试验在 2 6 0L玻璃钢循环水养殖系统中 ,每个剂量组设 3个重复 ,8周生长试验结果表明 :市售蜕壳素产品能有效地促进对虾生长 ,试验结束时 ,试验组虾体增重分别较对照组增加 16 .8%、7.5 2 %、5 .9%、11.4 %、2 9.0 7%、16 .5 3% ,但是凡纳滨对虾对饲料粗蛋白的表观消化率没有明显地提高 ,凡纳滨对虾对脂肪的表观消化率较低。推算凡纳滨对虾饲料中最佳蜕皮酮添加量为 6 0mg/kg。     

低Peclet数下剪切流中气溶胶粒子的传质率

本文研究了低Péclet数下剪切流中气溶胶粒子的传质率。Péclet数(Pe)是物质浓度的对流输送项对分子扩散项的比。它等于Reynolds数(Re)与Schmidt数的(Sc)之积。本文应用奇异扰动方法得到了无因次传质率Nu(Nusselt数)在小Péclet数条件下的四项渐近展式，因而?改进了前人的结果。     

Observations and model estimates of diurnal water temperature dynamics in mosquito breeding sites in western Kenya

Water temperature is an important determinant of the growth and development of malaria mosquito immatures. To gain a better understanding of the daily temperature dynamics of malaria mosquito breeding sites and of the relationships between meteorological variables and water temperature, three clear water pools (diameter × depth: 0·16 × 0·04, 0·32 × 0·16 and 0·96 × 0·32 m) were created in Kenya. Continuous water temperature measurements at various depths were combined with weather data collections from a meteorological station. The water pools were homothermic, but the top water layer differed by up to about 2 °C in temperature, depending on weather conditions. Although the daily mean temperature of all water pools was similar (27·4–28·1 °C), the average recorded difference between the daily minimum and maximum temperature was 14·4 °C in the smallest versus 7·1 °C in the largest water pool. Average water temperature corresponded well with various meteorological variables. The temperature of each water pool was continuously higher than the air temperature. A model was developed that predicts the diurnal water temperature dynamics accurately, based on the estimated energy budget components of these water pools. The air–water interface appeared the most important boundary for energy exchange processes and on average 82–89% of the total energy was gained and lost at this boundary. Besides energy loss to longwave radiation, loss due to evaporation was high; the average estimated daily evaporation ranged from 4·2 mm in the smallest to 3·7 mm in the largest water pool. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long‐term trend analysis for major climate variables in the Yellow River basin*

Some previous studies have shown that drying‐up of the lower Yellow River resulted from decreasing precipitation and excessive industrial and agricultural consumption of water from the middle and downstream regions of the Yellow River. On the basis of average air temperature, precipitation, and pan evaporation data from nearly 80 gauging stations in the Yellow River basin, the monotonic trends of major climate variables over the past several decades are analysed. The analysis was mainly made for 12 months and the annual means. The isograms for annual and typical months are given in the paper. The result shows that the average temperature in the study area exhibits an increasing trend, mainly because of the increase of temperature in December, January and February. The largest trend is shown in December and the smallest is in August. There are 65 of 77 stations exhibiting a downward trend for annual precipitation. In all seasons except summer, there is a similar trend in the upstream region of the Yellow River, south of latitude 35°N. It is interesting to note that the pan evaporation has decreased in most areas of the Yellow River basin during the past several decades. April and July showed the greatest magnitude of slope, and the area from Sanmenxia to Huayuankou as well as the Yiluo River basin exhibited the strongest declining trend. The conclusion is that the decreasing pan evaporation results from complex changes of air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed, and both climate change and human activities have affected the flow regime of the Yellow River during the past several decades. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaporation and energy balance of a wet grassland at Tadham Moor on the Somerset Levels

Wet grasslands are important both for their conservation value and for their important hydrological function. Evaporation is an important component of the water balance of a wetland. Where water is limited rainfall and/or surface (or sub‐surface) inflows are required to balance the summer evaporation and thus become a significant factor in the maintenance and environmental health of a wetland. This study presents an almost complete year of measurements of the water and energy balance of a wet grassland in the Somerset Levels in southwest England. The majority of the radiant energy at this site goes into evaporation. There is a strong seasonality of the controls on evaporation; the roughness length varies by a factor of 10 between winter and summer. The surface resistance to evaporation is low, close to zero, during the winter when the water table is at, or just below the surface. In the summer the water table drops to 80 cm below the surface; there is no sign of soil water stress on the evaporation but a clear effect of the senescence of grass during seed head production and of the subsequent harvest. There is clear evidence that water for evaporation is provided by the drainage ditches through sub‐surface flow. Standard evaporation formulae—such as the Penman‐Monteith equation with constant and standard parameters—provide a reasonable simulation of the total evaporation at this site, although they miss some of the seasonal detail. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The canopy conductance of a boreal aspen forest,Prince Albert National Park,Canada

Annual fluxes of canopy‐level heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide were measured using eddy covariance both above the aspen overstory (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and hazelnut understory (Corylus cornuta Marsh.) of a boreal aspen forest (53·629 °N 106·200 °W). Partitioning of the fluxes between overstory and understory components allowed the calculation of canopy conductance to water vapour for both species. On a seasonal basis, the canopy conductance of the aspen accounted for 70% of the surface conductance, with the latter a strong function of the forest's leaf area index. On a half‐hour basis, the canopy conductance of both species decreased non‐linearly as the leaf‐surface saturation deficits increased, and was best parameterized and showed similar sensitivities to a modified form of the Ball–Berry–Woodrow index, where relative humidity was replaced with the reciprocal of the saturation deficit. The negative feedback between the forest evaporation and the saturation deficit in the convective boundary layer varied from weak when the forest was at full leaf to strong when the forest was developing or loosing leaves. The coupling between the air at the leaf surface and the convective boundary layer also varied seasonally, with coupling decreasing with increasing leaf area. Compared with coniferous boreal forests, the seasonal changes in leaf area had a unique impact on vegetation–atmosphere interactions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.