Individual Variation in the Covering Behaviour of the Shallow Water Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus

Abstract. A number of recent field‐based studies have investigated the possible functions of covering behaviour in a range of echinoid species. Some of these have found important relationships between covering behaviour and environmental factors, such as light (in particular, ultra‐violet light) and covering item availability. However, these studies have often shown considerable within‐species variation, thus making covering functionality both within and between species difficult to interpret. The present study experimentally investigates individual variability in covering behaviour characteristics of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck). Data were collected bimonthly over a 1‐year period at Lough Hyne, Ireland, by observing P. lividus in outdoor aquaria. Significant variations in covering behaviour characteristics were observed as a function of individual size and mobility but not as a function of sex. A significant relationship between water temperature, mobility and covering behaviour was also found and is hypothesized to have implications for grazing activity in P. lividus. In contrast to previous field studies of P. lividus at Lough Hyne, no summer ‘peak’ in the proportion of individuals covering was observed. However, there was a significant relationship between local solar radiation and ‘time to first cover’. Overall, these data highlight (i) the ecological significance of individual variation in P. lividus covering behaviour and (ii) the importance of investigating multiple factors as potential determinants of echinoid covering behaviour.     

水面油膜微波辐射特性实验室测量与分析

要实现利用微波辐射计对海面溢油的厚度等参数进行遥感监测，必须先对水面油膜的微波辐射特性进行研究，以便为传感器的设计和遥感资料的解译提供依据。在实验室条件下，利用“灰体室”的环境条件及测量方法，测试了原油、燃料油和食用植物油膜的微波发射率与油膜厚度之间的关系，并对测量结果进行分析和讨论。为实际应用提供技术资料。     

台站用百叶箱内外气温比对与分析

用双通道自动测温表对台站用的百叶箱内外气温进行了同步比对测量与分析。指出自然通风时，百叶箱对箱内气温变化产生一定程度的滞后和热辐射作用。滞后作用较明显。     

穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度的影响

用数值方法研宄穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度的影响时,有些学者人为地设定了风速和热通量。这种做法可能会出现风速和热通量数值不匹配的问题。为了弥补这一缺陷,本文采用国内外常用的块体公式计算热通量的方法来代替人为设置,并以北太平洋为例,研究了穿透性太阳短波辐射对海洋混合层深度的影响。结果表明:低风速(U10<10m／s),且海表短波净辐射处于40～200 W／m2时,穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度影响很显著;高风速(U10>10m／s)和短波净辐射高值区(S*(0)>200 W／m2),穿透性太阳短波辐射对混合层深度的影响较小。     

北冰洋夏季的海雾

以中国首次北极科学考察采用国内外海冰、大气和海洋的先进观测设备,获得海、陆、空的同步或准同步观测资料为基础,重点研究北冰洋的海雾.发现在北冰洋大范围被海冰覆盖或冰水相间的洋面上,能够形成平流雾、辐射雾和蒸汽雾.每种海雾的特点和形成的物理机制不同.在北冰洋的南部,由于暖湿气流充分,易形成持续时间长、浓度大的平流雾;在冰盖和大浮冰块上,由于冰雪面的强辐射冷却,容易形成稳定的辐射雾;在浮冰区能够形成像开锅的蒸汽一样的蒸汽雾.指出在北冰洋形成多种海雾原因是海冰的分布及独特的物理特性造成下垫面性质的复杂化,产生的海气相互作用复杂化的结果,特别是冰雪面的反照率高,不能吸收极昼期充足的太阳辐射.冰又是热的不良导体,成为海气热交换的屏障,在浮冰区由于冰屏障的破碎,海气交换活跃.海洋以潜热的形式向大气输送热量,以蒸汽雾的形式反映出海气热交换的程度和对气候影响的一种表现形式.提出在蒸汽雾发生的过程中,海洋以感热的形式向大气输送热量.     

Local and far-field surface elevation around a vertical cylinder in unidirectional steep wave groups

The problem of diffraction of a unidirectional incident wave group by a bottom-seated cylinder is considered. We assume the amplitude of the incoming wave to be small in comparison with other linear scales of the problem, and develop the corresponding second-order perturbation theory. We use the Fourier transform to treat time variation and separate spatial variables when solving the non-homogeneous second-order problem. The resulting set of non-homogeneous Bessel equations is solved numerically.Solutions for various types of incoming wave spectrum are obtained including the Gaussian spectrum and the Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum. To validate the method, problems with gradually decreasing bandwidth of Gaussian spectrum are solved and it is shown that the corresponding solution approaches that for the monochromatic case. The Pierson–Moskowitz spectrum with a set of realistic physical parameters is used as an example of extreme wave interaction with an offshore structure. The corresponding first- and second-order solutions are obtained and the effect of non-linearity on the solution is discussed with the emphasis on the growth of maximum free-surface elevation on the cylinder’s surface and generation of high frequency free radiated waves.     

Deconvolution of squared velocity waveform as applied to the study of a noncoherent short-period radiator in the earthquake source

We consider an inverse problem of determination of short-period (high-frequency) radiator in an extended earthquake source. This radiator is assumed to be noncoherent (i.e., random), it can be described by its power flux or brightness (which depends on time and location over the extended source). To decide about this radiator we try to use temporal intensity function (TIF) of a seismic waveform at a given receiver point. It is defined as (time-varying) mean elastic wave energy flux through unit area. We suggest estimating it empirically from the velocity seismogram by its squaring and smoothing. We refer to this function as observed TIF. We believe that one can represent TIF produced by an extended radiator and recorded at some receiver point in the earth as convolution of the two components: (1) ideal intensity function (ITIF) which would be recorded in the ideal nonscattering earth from the same radiator; and (2) intensity function which would be recorded in the real earth from unit point instant radiator (intensity Green's function, IGF). This representation enables us to attempt to estimate an ITIF of a large earthquake by inverse filtering or deconvolution of the observed TIF of this event, using the observed TIF of a small event (actually, fore-or aftershock) as the empirical IGF. Therefore, the effect of scattering is stripped off. Examples of the application of this procedure to real data are given. We also show that if one can determine far-field ITIF for enough rays, one can extract from them the information on space-time structure of the radiator (that is, of brightness function). We apply this theoretical approach to short-periodP-wave records of the 1978 Miyagi-oki earthquake (M=7.6). Spatial and temporal centroids of a short-period radiator are estimated.     

Coupling SEBAL with a new radiation module and MODIS products for better estimation of evapotranspiration

ABSTRACT

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important ecohydrological process especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In this study, a new radiation module based on MODIS data has been coupled with the Surface Energy Balance Algorithms for Land (SEBAL) to better estimate ET. The accuracies of the coupled model for estimating available energy and sensible heat (H) were improved significantly compared with the outputs from the original SEBAL which was based on empirical equations. The coupled SEBAL modelled instantaneous λET agreed much better with observations in the arid land of Central Asia than the original SEBAL, with a bias of ?2.86 W m^-2, root mean square error (RMSE) of 9.75 W m^-2, and normalized RMSE (NRMSE) of 0.13. The accuracy was blurred when scaling ET to a daily or monthly scale, mainly due to the uncertainties associated with temporal upscaling methods that were applied. Sensitivity analysis, which was conducted using numerical variance-based techniques, indicated that the estimated ET is sensitive to the available energy, suggesting the importance of obtaining accurate estimates of net radiation when applying the coupled SEBAL to estimate ET. This study provides a simple and reliable way to utilize MODIS products and contains sensitivity analysis for helping to correctly interpret the outputs, which are both important for large-scale ET estimation.     

Particle decay in the early Universe: predictions for 21 cm

The influence of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and decaying dark matter particles on the emission and absorption characteristics of neutral hydrogen in 21 cm at redshifts   z = 10–50  is considered. In the presence of UHECRs, 21 cm can be seen in absorption with the brightness temperature   T _b=−(5–10) mK  in the range   z = 10–30  . Decaying particles can stimulate a 21-cm signal in emission with   T _b∼ 50–60 mK  at   z = 50  and   T _b≃ 10 mK  at   z ∼ 20  . Characteristics of the fluctuations of the brightness temperature, in particular its power spectrum, are also calculated. The maps of the power spectrum of the brightness temperature on the plane wavenumber redshift are shown to be sensitive to the parameters of UHECRs and decaying dark matter. Observational possibilities to detect manifestations of UHECRs and/or decaying particles in 21 cm with the future radio telescopes (LOFAR, 21CMA and SKA), and to distinguish contributions from them, are briefly discussed.     

Can the early X-ray afterglow of gamma-ray bursts be explained by a contribution from the reverse shock?

We propose to explain the recent observations of gamma-ray burst early X-ray afterglows with SWIFT by the dissipation of energy in the reverse shock that crosses the ejecta as it is decelerated by the burst environment. We compute the evolution of the dissipated power and discuss the possibility that a fraction of it can be radiated in the X-ray range. We show that this reverse shock contribution behaves in a way very similar to the observed X-ray afterglows if the following two conditions are satisfied. (i) The Lorentz factor of the material which is ejected during the late stages of source activity decreases to small values  Γ < 10  and (ii) a large part of the shock-dissipated energy is transferred to a small fraction  (ζ≲ 10⁻²)  of the electron population. We also discuss how our results may help to solve some puzzling problems raised by multiwavelength early afterglow observations such as the presence of chromatic breaks.