Long-Term Validation of Wave Height Measurements from Altimeters

Since July 1991, six altimeter missions have been launched successfully, and they have provided almost continuous wave height measurements for more than 12 years. Long-term series of wave height measurements are of major interest for climatology and oceanic wave modeling. Before using such data, the measurements have to be validated, and the homogeneity of the data from various satellites has to be checked. Significant wave height measurements from ERS, TOPEX/Poseidon, GEOSAT Follow-on, Jason-1 and ENVISAT altimeters are validated using cross-altimeter and buoy comparisons. Emphasis is put on the two recent missions Jason-1 and ENVISAT. Corrections for biases and trends are proposed for the six altimeters, allowing the generation of consistent and homogeneous data. Tests of these corrections are performed over global ocean simple statistics.     

Simultaneous Ocean Wave Measurements by the Jason and Topex Satellites,with Buoy and Model Comparisons Special Issue: Jason-1 Calibration/Validation

The verification phase of the Jason-1 satellite altimeter mission presents a unique opportunity for comparing near-simultaneous, independent satellite measurements. Here we examine simultaneous significant wave height measurements by the Jason-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon altimeters. These data are also compared with in situ measurements from deep-ocean buoys and with predicted wave heights from the Wave Watch III operational model. The rms difference between Jason and TOPEX wave heights is 28 cm, and this can be lowered by half through improved outlier editing and filtering of high-frequency noise. Noise is slightly larger in the Jason dataset, exceeding TOPEX by about 7 cm rms at frequencies above 0.05 Hz, which is the frequency at which the coherence between TOPEX and Jason measurements drops to zero. Jason wave heights are more prone to outliers, especially during periods of moderate to high backscatter. Buoy comparisons confirm previous reports that TOPEX wave heights are roughly 5% smaller than buoy measurements for waves between 2 and 5 m; Jason heights in general are 3% smaller than TOPEX. Spurious dips in the TOPEX density function for 3- and 6-m waves, a problem that has existed since the beginning of the mission, can be solved by waveform retracking.     

波浪骑士数据在高度计有效波高检验中的再处理

以2011年10～11月南海现场试验得到的9次波浪骑士测量数据,进行波浪骑士再处理与默认计算结果比对。比对结果表明两者平均误差为0.16m,均方根误差为0.32m,分析产生误差的原因在于波浪骑士默认计算有效波高时间段的中心与卫星过境时间不统一和未进行数据质量控制。研究表明在卫星高度计有效波高产品检验中,波浪骑士测量的有效波高需要进行再处理,以达到减少卫星高度计有效波高检验误差的目的。     

Fifty-five-year longevity for the largest member of the family Sparidae: the endemic red steenbras Petrus rupestris from South Africa

A previous study that explored the age and growth of red steenbras Petrus rupestris (Valenciennes, 1830), a large sparid (family Sparidae, seabreams or porgies) endemic to South Africa and reported to approach 2 m in length, provided estimates as a moderately slow-growing species with a maximum age near 30 years. The stock is considered collapsed and a fishing moratorium was imposed in 2012, resulting in this species being assessed as Endangered by the IUCN. One consideration in addressing population status is validation of life-history traits. In this study, estimates of age for red steenbras from thin-sectioned otoliths were reassessed visually in terms of both the original ages and revised estimates using a different age-reading pattern. The revised ages exceeded the original ages by up to 30 years, with a maximum estimated age of 55 years from a well-defined otolith section that provided a basis for the revised age-reading procedure. Bomb radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating revealed there was an offset in the timing of the ¹⁴C rise on the Agulhas Bank that, when coupled with considerations for regional oceanography, provided support for the revised age-reading pattern and an estimated longevity that exceeds 50 years. These findings were further supported by the fortuitous recapture of a tagged red steenbras that was at liberty for 22 years.     

Comparison of AVHRR measurements of sea surface temperature with surface observations around New Zealand

Multi‐channel Advanced Very‐High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images of sea surface temperature (SST) in the New Zealand region have been archived since 1989. A comparison of these data with conductivity‐temperature‐depth (CTD) and expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data shows that the AVHRR temperatures are about 7% too high (when expressed in °C). Once the AVHRR temperatures have been corrected, they measure SST with an uncertainty of about 0.7°C.     

Age verification,growth and life history of rubyfish Plagiogeneion rubiginosum

Age verification of rubyfish (Plagiogeneion rubiginosum) was sought using the bomb radiocarbon chronometer procedure. Stable isotopes were investigated for life history characteristics. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) and stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) levels were measured in micro-samples from five otoliths that had been aged using a zone count method. All the core ¹⁴C measurements were ‘pre-bomb’ indicating ages of at least 45 years, and the ¹⁴C measurements across the otolith sections suggested that the zone-count ageing method described herein is not biased. Maximum estimated age was 100 years. There was no significant between-sex difference in the von Bertalanffy growth curves. The δ¹⁸O values indicated that rubyfish are near-surface as juveniles, and move deeper with age. Adults appear to reside in 600–1000 m; this is deeper than most trawl-capture data suggest, but not implausible, and has stock assessment implications. The δ¹³C values reflect fish metabolic rates, trophic feeding levels and oceanographic conditions. The stable isotopes record the environmental life history of each fish, and have value in distinguishing stocks and/or indicating vertical and latitudinal migratory patterns.     

基于AMSR-E的北疆地区积雪深度反演

利用北疆地区2007/2008-2009/2010年度积雪季(12月至次年2月)的AMSR-E降轨19 GHz与37 GHz波段的水平极化亮温数据, 结合北疆地区45个气象台站的实测雪深数据, 建立了北疆地区基于AMSR-E亮度温度数据的雪深反演模型, 并对模型的精度进行评价. 结果显示: 雪深在3~10 cm时, 模型反演的雪深值负向平均误差为-5.1 cm, RMSE值为6.1 cm; 雪深在11~30 cm时, 模型反演雪深值的平均误差仅为2.6 cm, RMSE、 正向平均误差、 绝对平均误差均较小; 雪深大于30 cm时, 模型反演的各项误差较大. 用合成方法反演北疆地区2006/2007-2010/2011年度5个积雪季的平均雪深分布和最大雪深分布, 结果显示北疆地区积雪主要分布于北部阿尔泰山和南部天山一带, 其中阿勒泰地区所占比重最大, 中部的准噶尔盆地腹地、 克拉玛依地区雪层较浅.     

Improved estimators of correlation and R2 for skewed hydrologic data

ABSTRACT

The coefficient of determination R² and Pearson correlation coefficient ρ = R are standard metrics in hydrology for the evaluation of the goodness of fit between model simulations and observations, and as measures of the degree of dependence of one variable upon another. We show that the standard product moment estimator of ρ, termed r, while well-behaved for bivariate normal data, is upward biased and highly variable for bivariate non-normal data. We introduce three alternative estimators of ρ which are nearly unbiased and exhibit much less variability than r for non-normal data. We also document remarkable upward bias and tremendous increases in variability associated with r using both synthetic data and daily streamflow simulations from 905 calibrated rainfall–runoff models. We show that estimators of ρ = R accounting for skewness are needed for daily streamflow series because they exhibit high variability and skewness compared to, for example, monthly/annual series, where r should perform well.     

概率神经网络技术在煤田地震反演中的应用研究

实现从构造勘探向岩性勘探阶段的转变,是煤田地震勘探亟待解决的重要问题。其中,地震反演技术是岩性勘探的一种重要手段。为了规避常规反演方法的固有限制,利用概率神经网络技术预测井数据和地震数据之间的非线性关系,得到密度数据体和速度数据体,并获得相应的波阻抗数据体。对某矿区的实际地震资料采用该技术进行岩性反演,得到了较为准确的波阻抗数据体,为岩性解释提供了不可或缺的资料。     

Effects of misclassification costs on mapping mineral prospectivity

Mineral prospectivity mapping is a classification process because in a given study area, a specific region is classified as either a prospective or non-prospective area. The cost of false negative errors differs from the cost of false positive errors because false positive errors lead to wasting much more financial and material resources, whereas false negative errors result in the loss of mineral deposits. Traditional machine learning algorithms using for mapping mineral prospectivity are aimed to minimize classification errors and ignore the cost-sensitive effects. In this study, the effects of misclassification costs on mapping mineral prospectivity are explored. The cost-sensitive neural network (CSNN) for minimizing misclassification costs is applied to map Fe polymetallic prospectivity in China’s southwestern Fujian metalorganic belt (SFMB). A CSNN with a different cost ratio ranging from 1:10 to 10:1 was used to represent various misclassification costs. The cross-validation results indicated a lower misclassification cost compared to traditional neural networks through a threshold-moving based CSNN. The CSNN’s predictive results were compared to those of a traditional neural network, and the results demonstrate that the CSNN method is useful for mapping mineral prospectivity. The targets can be used to further explore undiscovered deposits in the study area.