Annual Mass-balance Series of a Temperate Glacier in the Caucasus, Reconstructed from an Ice Core

Identification of annual layers in a firn/ice core provides a possibility to reconstruct the mass-balance sequence for glaciers where no direct observations have been carried out. A number of cores is obtained from the boreholes drilled on the Djantugan firn plateau in the crest zone (3620 m a.s.l.) of the Main Caucasus Ridge. A geophysical radar survey shows ice thickness here being equal to 212 m, close to the maximum value within the plateau (235 m). The deepest layer achieved, c .93 m below the surface, is dated back to 1937. Annual layers are identified by visual and textural petrographic analysis in situ . Geochemical and isotope methods are also applied. Ambiguities in discerning annual boundaries due to epigenetic firn/ice homogenization can be eliminated by means of complex methods. Since the probability of complete melting of an annual layer is estimated as negligible, the reconstructed continuous mass-balance time series, after inserting rheological and inclinometrical amendments, describe the character of glacier evolution. It is corroborated with indirect calculation using data from the nearest weather station and with mass-balance series of the neighbouring Djankuat Glacier, one of 10 reference glaciers in the world. Located south of the meganticlinorium axis, the boring site is characterized by glacier budget improvement during the last decades similar to the northern slope – less rapidly until the 1980s and more rapidly since.     

Mass Balance of Vernagtferner, Austria, From 1964/65 to 1996/97: Results for Three Sections and the Entire Glacier

In the centre of the highly glacierized Oetztal valley, mass balance is determined for the three neighbouring glaciers Hintereisferner, Kesselwandferner and Vernagtferner, applying the direct glaciological method, related to the 'fixed date' system. The diverging behaviour of the three glaciers due to slightly varying local climatic conditions as well as to different topoclimatological and physiographic features gave reason to analyse the Vernagtferner mass balance separately for three easily discernible sections, i.e. Schwarzwand, Taschachjoch and Brochkogel, each showing characteristic aspect and elevational distributions of area respectively.
The cumulative mass balance of the Vernagtferner for the period 1968/69, when separate mass balance computations for the three sections were started, until 1996/97 amounted to −8.7 m water equivalent (w.e.). The mass loss of the western Schwarzwand section as the part with the largest share of low elevation area was −13.3 m w.e., in contrast to the central Taschachjoch section which lost only −6.6 m w.e. The remaining eastern Brochkogel section with a loss of −8.5 m w.e. fits best the mass balance of the total Vernagtferner although its physiographic characteristics differ markedly from those of the entire glacier. The equilibrium line altitude (ELA) dependence on specific net mass balance ( b ) is slightly different for the three sections, whereas the dependence of the accumulation area–total area ratio (AAR) on b is characterized by nearly identical sensitivities. Moreover, AAR correlates better with b than ELA, therefore AAR is regarded as a more representative parameter for the Vernagtferner than ELA.     

考虑试验阻尼效应的一种土体动力双型抛物线本构模型

针对土动力试验中土体反向卸载（或加载）曲线形状有时表现为先变化平缓后变化剧烈这一特征,基于土体实验结果的 和 曲线,建立了不规则荷载作用下可调的双型抛物线形式的本构曲线规则,阐述了A型和B型抛物线的函数表达式及实现过程。采用9种方法对试验阻尼比的模拟对比,表明所建立的加卸载准则尤其能准确拟合试验阻尼值,是对广义Masing准则的一种简化及实用化。由于调制因子 的可变性,它具有更强地模拟试验本构曲线形状的能力。针对台湾Lotung DHB钻井台阵试验场地,以等效线性化方法SHAKE91、LSSRLI-1,时域非线性方法DESRA-2、Pyke方法、非Masing准则模型1、“隐式应力阻尼等效”模型、“阻尼比退化系数”模型和非Masing准则模型2以及双型抛物线本构模型等9种方法（或模型）分别进行了非线性地震反应分析,并将结果与强震观测记录进行比较,结果表明,双型抛物线本构模型计算的复合加速度地震动的峰值大小、波形大小相对关系及后续波形,与实际地震记录较相一致,说明了模型的合理性以及实际工程应用的可行性。     

Performance of a nowcast/forecast system for Prince William Sound,Alaska

A coastal ocean extended Prince William Sound nowcast/forecast system (EPWS/NFS) has been running semi-automatically for an extended domain of Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska for 2 years. To determine the performance of this modeling system, an assessment is conducted. EPWS/NFS and PWS/NFS (viz., its predecessor) nowcasts are compared with observed time series of sea surface temperature (SST) and coastal sea level (CSL) at a few stations, and to velocity profiles from a moored ADCP. With the extension of the model domain to include the continental shelf outside PWS and forced by an operational global ocean model (Global-Navy Coastal Ocean Model (Global-NCOM)) and a 2D tidal model at the open boundary, EPWS/NFS has achieved significant improvement over PWS/NFS, which covered only PWS per se, for most of the predicted variables in this study. In both magnitude and phase, EPWS/NFS accurately predicts the coastal tide fluctuations, as well as M2 tidal currents in Central Sound, although significant errors in coastal tides exist during some spring and neap tide cycles. Other than for the tidal motions, EPWS/NFS generally produces less energetic CSL and velocity variations than those observed. In comparison, although PWS/NFS well predicts the coastal tides, it suffers from the absence of low-frequency CSL variations, as well as misprediction of M2 tidal currents in Central Sound. For 40 h low-passed PWS/NFS and EPWS/NFS velocities, significant phase error occurs during the model–date comparison period, while EPWS/NFS nowcasts generally produce less root-mean-square-error (rmse) and smaller correlations with the observations than PWS/NFS does. Both observations and EPWS/NFS have similar vertical profiles of baroclinic velocity standard deviations, but some substantial discrepancies occur in the velocity direction. Also, in the Central Sound, EPWS/NFS predicts well the SST seasonal cycle and a major cooling event during the summer 2005. However, for periods shorter than 1 week, both PWS/NFS and EPWS/NFS SST underestimated the observed fluctuations by an order of magnitude.     

不同地磁活动水平下电离层H+上行的半球对比研究

使用FAST/TEAMS仪器在第23太阳活动周下降相的数据,从地磁活动水平的角度,分别分析在磁静日(Kp≤2⁺)和磁扰日(Kp≥3⁺)时南(SH)、北半球(NH)高纬(>50°)电离层H⁺的上行强度,计算其上行率和净上行积分能通量,以期得到H⁺上行的长期水平并分析地磁扰动期间南、北半球离子上行强度的异同.研究结果表明,磁扰期间上行强度显著加强,平静期南、北半球的平均上行率分别是~15%和~20%,而磁扰期的平均上行率分别增强了1.45倍和1.04倍,磁扰期间南半球上行强度的增长更显著;平静期南半球的上行强度小于北半球,但磁扰期两个半球的上行强度相当;磁午夜和黎明区间受地磁扰动的影响最显著,其磁扰期与平静期上行率的比值(S/Q)最大,同时南半球在各个地方时区间的S/Q值均大于北半球;另外,我们发现磁扰期间的上行率在极光椭圆带下边界附近增幅最明显,而积分通量在上边界附近增加显著.上行源区以平静期的源区为中心从日侧极尖区扩展到磁午夜、且向低磁纬延伸,同时,极尖区上行源区在磁扰期有向晨侧偏移的趋势.     

Small Business Ownership in Illinois: The Effect of Gender and Location on Entrepreneurial Success

Forty percent of all firms in the United States are owned and operated by women. At current growth rates, women could own 50% of the nation's businesses by the turn of the century. Women have been prompted to start their businesses for many reasons, including the desire to avoid gender‐based discrimination in the workplace. But female entrepreneurs who venture out on their own must still contend with gender discrimination. This study examines female entrepreneurship in Illinois through rural versus urban comparisons of male and female business owners. We surveyed 4,200 business owners to test the hypothesis that gender and geographic location combined to hinder the entrepreneurial success of women. Business owners were asked about personal attributes including gender, work experience, education, training, and prior career status. Entrepreneurs were also asked about firm characteristics such as financing sources, number of employees, revenues, problems encountered during startup, sector of new firm, geographic location, and the importance of selected community characteristics. Our results show that rural female entrepreneurs face more obstacles to business success than their male or urban female counterparts.     

Modelling the vegetation response to the 8.2 ka bp cooling event in Europe and Northern Africa

The 8.2 ka bp cooling event is assumed to be the most clearly marked abrupt climate event in the Holocene at northern mid‐ to high latitudes. In this study, we simulate the vegetation responses to the 8.2 ka bp climate change event over Europe and Northern Africa. Our results show that all dominant plant functional types (PFTs) over Europe and North Africa respond to these climate changes, but the magnitude, timing and impact factor of their responses are different. Compared with pollen‐based vegetation reconstructions, our simulation generally captures the main features of vegetation responses to the 8.2 ka bp event. Interestingly, in Western Europe, the simulated vegetation after perturbation is different from its initial state, which is consistent with two high‐resolution pollen records. This different vegetation composition indicates the long‐lasting impact of abrupt climate change on vegetation through eco‐physiological and ecosystem demographic processes, such as plant competition. Moreover, our simulations suggest a latitudinal gradient in the magnitude of the event, with more pronounced vegetation responses to the severe cooling in the north and weaker responses to less severe cooling in the south. This effect is not seen in pollen records. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Quaternary Science Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于北京一号CCD数据的植被指数特性分析

植被指数是遥感领域用来表征地表植被覆盖及生长状况简单而有效的度量参数,在环境、生态、农业等领域都有广泛的应用。但由于植被指数繁多,在选择和应用植被指数时往往很随意或盲目。本文以北京一号覆盖永安市的CCD多光谱数据为例,基于光谱、方差和多重分析方法,对13种植被指数特性进行分析。结果表明:RGNDI、RGRI、MSAVI、TNDVI、NDGI可以较好区分农田和浓密林地;RGNDI、NDGI、RGRI可以有效地消除阴影的影响,却易与水体混淆;在不考虑阴影的情况下,NDVI、RVI、RDVI、GRNDVI比RGNDI、NDGI、RGRI可以更好区分不同覆盖程度的植被。     

Comparison of sea surface wind field measured by HY-2A scatterometer and WindSat in global oceans

In this study, we present a comprehensive comparison of the sea surface wind ?eld measured by scatterometer(Ku-band scatterometer) aboard the Chinese HY-2 A satellite and the full-polarimetric radiometer WindSat aboard the Coriolis satellite. The two datasets cover a four-year period from October2011 to September 2015 in the global oceans. For the sea surface wind speed, the statistical comparison indicates good agreement between the HY-2 A scatterometer and WindSat with a bias of nearly 0 m/s and a root mean square error(RMSE) of 1.13 m/s. For the sea surface wind direction, a bias of 1.41° and an RMSE of 20.39° were achieved after excluding the data collocated with opposing directions. Furthermore,discrepancies in sea surface wind speed measured by the two sensors in the global oceans were investigated.It is found that the larger dif ferences mainly appear in the westerlies in the both hemispheres. Both the bias and RMSE show latitude dependence, i.e., they have signi?cant latitudinal ?uctuations.