Ice in the Southern Coalsack

To better understand the conditions under which ice mantles form on grains in molecular clouds, three globules in the Southern Coalsack have been searched for the presence of H₂O ice. Given the total lack of star formation in the Coalsack, it is an ideal site for studying unprocessed icy molecular mantles. In our sample of eight field stars lying behind the Coalsack we detect strong H₂O ice absorption in the lines of sight to two stars and possible weak absorption in four others. We estimate H₂O ice column densities or upper limits for these lines of sight. Compared to dark clouds such as Taurus, the Coalsack H₂O ice column densities are lower than expected given the quiescent nature of the Coalsack region. It is possible that the chemical evolution of the Coalsack may simply be at too early a stage for significant ice mantles to appear on the grains, except perhaps in the densest parts of some of the globules. Alternatively, the presence or absence of ice absorption may be related to the distribution of dust along each line of sight, specifically, the relative contributions of dense globules and a more extended diffuse component. For example, our observations are consistent with an ice threshold extinction similar to that observed in the Taurus dark cloud if extinction amounting to   A _V∼5  towards Globules 2 and 3 arises in the extended component. Globule 1 appears to have no extended component.     

沙尘天气等对西安市空气污染影响的研究

通过对西安市1981—2000年TSP、SO2和NOx年平均浓度资料,1998—2000年周报和日报环境监测资料以及相应的地面、高空常规气象观测资料的统计分析,研究了该市空气污染的时间变化特点以及沙尘天气等几种气象条件对其浓度变化的影响。结果表明:(1)颗粒污染物(TSP和PM10)是西安市的首要污染物,其次是SO2。1981—2000年期间,TSP年平均浓度降低了75%,SO2年平均浓度降低了77%,NOx年平均浓度总体上变化不大;这三种污染物月平均浓度的年变化都呈单周期型,冬季1月份最高,夏季最低(TSP是7月份最低,SO2和NOx是8月份最低)。(2)2001年春季3～4月份沙尘天气的频繁发生,使西安市空气污染日出现全年的第二个多发期(23d·月-1),这有别于正常年份仅在冬季1月份出现一个浓度峰值的特点;强沙尘暴天气过程会使西安市PM10浓度在非常短的时间内提高3倍左右,造成严重的颗粒物污染。(3)西安市冬半年出现轻度污染以上级别的几率明显大于夏半年。影响西安市的地面天气系统可归纳为12类,当受不同天气系统控制时,其污染状况会有较大差异。(4)西安市一年四季都有逆温存在,100m平均逆温强度为0.90℃;全年以低层逆温出现日数最多,但冬季贴地逆温出现日数最多,厚度最厚,强度最大,是造成西安市冬季空气污染严重的最重要气象因素之一。(5)西安     

Nearby Protoclusters as Laboratories for Understanding Star Formation on Galactic Scales

Detailed studies of nearby cluster-forming molecular clouds can help us understand the physical processes by which most stars form in galaxies. I review recent advances made on this subject. Submillimeter observations of nearby protoclusters suggest that stars are generally built from finite, detached reservoirs of mass inside molecular cloud cores, and point to a cloud fragmentation origin for the IMF. Much progress in this field will come from future large submillimeter instruments such as Herschel and ALMA. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An investigation of sand–dust storm events and land surface characteristics in China using NOAA NDVI data

Observations from 560 weather stations in China show that sand–dust storms occur most frequently in April in north China. The region consists of Sub-dry Mid Temperate, Dry Mid Temperate, Sub-dry South Temperate and Dry South Temperate Zones and much of the land surface is desert or semi-desert: it is relatively dry with minimal rainfall and a high annual mean temperature. In most regions of China, the annual mean frequency of sand–dust events decreased sharply between 1980 and 1997 and then increased from 1997 to 2000. Statistical analyses demonstrate that the frequency of sand–dust storms correlates highly with wind speed, which in turn is strongly related to land surface features; on the other hand, a significant correlation between storm events and other atmospheric quantities such as precipitation and temperature was not observed. Accordingly, land surface cover characteristics (vegetation, snowfall and soil texture) may play a significant role in determining the occurrence of sand–dust storms in China. Analysis of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index derived from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Empirical Orthogonal Function show that since 1995 surface vegetation cover in large areas of Northern China has significantly deteriorated. Moreover, a high correlation is shown to exist among the annual occurrence of sand–dust storms, surface vegetation cover and snowfall. This suggests that the deterioration of surface vegetation cover may strongly influence the occurrence of sand–dust storms in China. Soils with coarse and medium textures are found to be more associated with sand–dust storms than other soils.     

车辆碾压作用下戈壁地表起尘浓度

通过野外观测车辆碾压作用下戈壁地表PM₁₀释放浓度,探讨其主要影响因素。针对戈壁区砾石、砂砾、砂质和砂土4种路面类型,应用TSI粉尘仪多次重复观测车辆碾压产生的PM₁₀浓度,进而阐明碾压次数、车速和地表水分等因素对起尘浓度的影响。结果表明：4种路面的平均起尘浓度依次为5.339、9.089、16.944、50.251 mg·m^-3,是自然状态下的5~50倍;起尘浓度随碾压次数增多而增大,其中砂土路情况下的增长最显著;随土层厚度的增大呈现出幂函数的增长趋势;降雨后路面起尘浓度显著减小,且降雨量会影响降雨后起尘浓度的变化趋势。最后提出了针对性的建议和措施以减弱车辆碾压导致的戈壁地表起尘。     

On water ice formation in interstellar clouds

A model is proposed for the formation of water ice mantles on grains in interstellar clouds. This occurs by direct accretion of monomers from the gas, be they formed by gas or surface reactions. The formation of the first monolayer requires a minimum extinction of interstellar radiation, sufficient to lower the grain temperature to the point where thermal evaporation of monomers is just offset by monomer accretion from the gas. This threshold is mainly determined by the adsorption energy of water molecules on the grain material; for hydrocarbon material, chemical simulation places this energy between 0.5 and 2 kcal mol⁻¹, which sets the (true) visible extinction threshold at a few magnitudes. However, realistic distributions of matter in a cloud will usually add to this an unrelated amount of cloud core extinction, which can explain the large dispersion of observed (apparent) thresholds. Once the threshold is crossed, all available water molecules in the gas are quickly adsorbed, because the grain cools down and the adsorption energy on ice is higher than on bare grain. The relative thickness of the mantle, and, hence, the slope of  τ₃( A _v)  depend only on the available water vapour, which is a small fraction of the oxygen abundance. Chemical simulation was also used to determine the adsorption sites and energies of O and OH on hydrocarbons and study the dynamics of formation of water molecules by surface reactions with gaseous H atoms, as well as their chances to stick in situ.     

The influence of solar activity on the rainfall over India: Cycle-to-cycle variations

We use 130 years data for studying correlative effects due to solar cycle and activity phenomena on the occurrence of rainfall over India. For the period of different solar cycles, we compute the correlation coefficients and significance of correlation coefficients for the seasonal months of Jan–Feb (JF), Mar–May (MAM), June–Sept (JJAS) and Oct–Dec (OND) and,annual mean data. We find that: (i) with a moderate-to-high significance, Indian rainfall is correlated with the sunspot activity and, (ii) there is an overall trend that during the period of low sunspot activity, occurrence of rainfall is high compared to the period of high sunspot activity. We speculate in this study a possible physical connection between the occurrence of the rainfall and the sunspot activities and, the flux of galactic cosmic rays. Some of the negative correlations between the occurrences of the sunspot and rainfall activities obtained for different solar cycle periods are interpreted as effects of aerosols on the rain forming clouds due to either intermittent volcanic eruptions or due to intrusion of interstellar dust particles in the Earth’s atmosphere.