Triggered-lightning properties inferred from measured currents and very close electric fields

Triggered-lightning properties, including dart-leader charge density, return-stroke propagation speed, dart-leader electric potential, dart-leader propagation speed, and dart-leader current, inferred from return-stroke current and very close electric field measurements, are presented. Although most of the estimates are based on relatively crude models, they are all generally in good agreement with independent measurements and/or theoretical considerations found in the literature. The results are likely to be applicable to subsequent strokes in natural lightning.     

影响广西热带气旋暴雨的环境流场和一些物理量特征分析

通过综合利用ECMWF提供的热带风场、气压场、高度场等资料,对24例影响广西的热带气旋环境流场和一些物理量特征进行了较为深入的分析。结果表明:大多数热带气旋的发生、发展都与赤道西风急流向东扩展或热带气旋东侧南风急流向北扩展有关;造成广西大范围台风暴雨的因素不仅取决于台风登陆地点和登陆后的路径以及中心是否直接进入广西内陆有关,而且还与副热带高压脊线的位置和面积指数、强度指数的变化关系密切。登陆台风在影响广西的过程中,其台风东侧的偏南风急流中心涌进广西和正涡度中心进入广西对产生大范围的暴雨起着重要的作用。     

Present-day climatology and projected changes of warm and cold days in the CNRM-CM3 global climate model

The impact of global warming on the warmest and coldest days of the annual cycle is explored according to an A2 scenario simulated by the CNRM-CM3 climate model in the framework of the IPCC AR4 intercomparison. Given the multi-model spread in IPCC projections, a validation strategy is proposed using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. Validation of the late twentieth century model climatology shows that warm and cold model events are slightly too long and infrequent. Although interannual trends in the warm (cold) day occurrence were positive (negative) only for six (three) of the nine considered sub-continental regions, simulated model trends are always positive (negative). This different behaviour suggests that simulated non-anthropogenic decadal variability is small relative to anthropogenic trends. Large-scale synoptic processes associated with European regional warm and cold peaks are also described and validated. Regional cold peaks are better reproduced than warm peaks, whose intensity accuracy is limited by other physical variables. Positive (negative) winter anomalies of sea and land surface temperature lead to summers with severe (weak) temperatures. These inter-annual anomalies are generated by a persistent pressure dipole over Europe. Regarding climate change, warm (cold) events will become more (less) frequent and longer (shorter). The number of warm days will largely rise and the number of cold days will dramatically decrease. The intensity of warm days will be particularly pronounced over Europe, given the projected summer drying in this region. However, according to the limited skill of the CNRM model, these results must be considered with caution.     

Stained Glass and Climate Change: How are they Connected?

As expressions of regional architecture, sacred (Christian) Gothic structures often possess several adaptations to their prevailing climate regime. The late medieval (Gothic) period in northern Europe is also, according to the evidence presented here, marked by a transition from warm and sunny to cooler and cloudier conditions. It is within the context of this climate change that we consider one of the most important features in Gothic churches—interior daylighting—during the transitional period (the thirteenth to the end of the fifteenth centuries) between the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). This paper seeks to determine whether increasingly cloudy conditions over northern continental Europe, in part due to a shift in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phase, may have influenced the use of more white glass in the fourteenth century. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time an extensive daylighting dataset has been collected in medieval sacred interiors. From an analysis of these illuminance and luminance data collected in European churches and cathedrals, we find that high-translucency glazing is associated with limited lighting gains compared to full-colour programs under sunny conditions but substantial lighting improvements (up to an order of magnitude) for cloudy conditions. Additionally, we find that backlighting from direct sunlight produces significant obscuration of some of the iconographical glass when interiors are dominated by high-translucency glazing, further suggesting that these interiors are not ideal for sunny conditions.

[Traduit par la rédaction] Étant donné que les cathédrales gothiques (chrétiennes) sont des expressions de l'architecture régionale, plusieurs adaptations au climat de l’époque y ont souvent été apportées. À la fin du Moyen Âge (période du gothique), le climat chaud et ensoleillé en Europe du nord continentale a fait place à un climat plus froid et plus nuageux, d'après les preuves que nous présentons ici. C'est donc dans la perspective de ce changement climatique que nous nous penchons sur l'un des éléments les plus importants de l'architecture des églises gothique, l’éclairage naturel intérieur, durant la transition (du XIII^e siècle à la fin du XV^e siècle) entre la période chaude médiévale (MWP) et le petit âge glaciaire (LIA). Dans le présent article, nous voulons notamment évaluer si l'utilisation de plus en plus fréquente du vitrail blanc au XIV^e siècle s'expliquerait par les conditions plus nuageuses en Europe du nord continentale, attribuables en partie à un changement dans l'indice d‘oscillation nord-atlantique (NAO). À notre connaissance, c'est la première fois qu'une série élaborée de données a été recueillie sur l’éclairage à l'intérieur des cathédrales gothiques. L'analyse des données sur l’éclairement lumineux et la luminance lumineuse dans les églises et les cathédrales d'Europe nous permet de constater que le verre très translucide présente peu d'avantages comparativement au verre plein coloré dans des conditions ensoleillées, mais qu'il améliore considérablement l’éclairage dans des conditions nuageuses (jusqu’à 10 fois). De plus, nous constatons que l’éclairage en contre-jour produit par l'ensoleillement direct obscurcit une partie des pièces de verre ornées d'icônes lorsque le verre très translucide domine à l'intérieur, ce qui confirme une fois de plus qu'il ne s'agit pas d'un aménagement idéal pour les conditions ensoleillées.     

Is the meander growth in the Brazil Current system off Southeast Brazil due to baroclinic instability?

Temporally-growing frontal meandering and occasional eddy-shedding is observed in the Brazil Current (BC) as it flows adjacent to the Brazilian Coast. No study of the dynamics of this phenomenon has been conducted to date in the region between 22° S and 25°S. Within this latitude range, the flow over the intermediate continental slope is marked by a current inversion at a depth that is associated with the Intermediate Western Boundary Current (IWBC). A time series analysis of 10-current-meter mooring data was used to describe a mean vertical profile for the BC-IWBC jet and a typical meander vertical structure. The latter was obtained by an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis that showed a single mode explaining 82% of the total variance. This mode structure decayed sharply with depth, revealing that the meandering is much more vigorous within the BC domain than it is in the IWBC region. As the spectral analysis of the mode amplitude time series revealed no significant periods, we searched for dominant wavelengths. This search was done via a spatial EOF analysis on 51 thermal front patterns derived from digitized AVHRR images. Four modes were statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Modes 3 and 4, which together explained 18% of the total variance, are associated with 266 and 338-km vorticity waves, respectively. With this new information derived from the data, the [Johns, W.E., 1988. One-dimensional baroclinically unstable waves on the Gulf Stream potential vorticity gradient near Cape Hatteras. Dyn. Atmos. Oceans 11, 323–350] one-dimensional quasi-geostrophic model was applied to the interpolated mean BC-IWBC jet. The results indicated that the BC system is indeed baroclinically unstable and that the wavelengths depicted in the thermal front analysis are associated with the most unstable waves produced by the model. Growth rates were about 0.06 (0.05) days⁻¹for the 266-km (338-km) wave. Moreover, phase speeds for these waves were low compared to the surface BC velocity and may account for remarks in the literature about growing standing or stationary meanders off southeast Brazil. The theoretical vertical structure modes associated with these waves resembled very closely to the one obtained for the current-meter mooring EOF analysis. We interpret this agreement as a confirmation that baroclinic instability is an important mechanism in meander growth in the BC system.     

陶诗言先生在中国暴雨发生条件和机制研究中的贡献

作者在1998年庆贺陶诗言先生八十华诞的文集中曾专题阐述和评价了陶先生对中国暴雨研究的贡献。 至今十五年过去了,陶诗言先生虽已于2012年仙逝,但其深邃的科学思想依然闪烁着智慧的火花。他在中国暴雨研究中留下的宝贵遗产不但深刻影响过去和现代两代人的暴雨研究和业务发展,而且也将继续影响将来的中国暴雨研究。本文是对陶诗言先生在中国暴雨的研究中所作的贡献并结合现代研究的成果作进一步介绍和评价。主要集中在暴雨发生的动力和热力条件与机理方面。全文内容包括六个方面:（1）季节突变对中国梅雨爆发的影响;（2）暴雨发生的多尺度相互作用;（3）暖湿季风输送带对北方大暴雨的影响;（4）高空急流对暴雨的作用;（5）暴雨和强对流发生的物理条件;（6）地形对暴雨的作用     

虚拟内窥镜的研究发展现状

本文对内窥镜的起源、原理、优点作了一个较为全面的综述,介绍了虚拟内窥镜的技术组成,分析了研究开发虚拟内窥镜技术的难点。然后就目前一些成型的内窥交易产品进行了比较,就虚拟内窥交易技术的发展,应用、市场前景作一展望。     

Meso-scale circulation at the intermediate-depth east of Mindanao observed by Argo profiling floats

The meso-scale circulation at the intermediate depth east of Mindanao is studied using Argo profiling floats observations. The trajectories and the parking-depth velocities of Argo floats show that the intermediate-depth circulation east of Mindanao contains significant meso-scale features that are highly variable both in space and in time. Both cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies at the intermediate depth (1000–2000 m) are indicated by the trajectories east of Mindanao. The mean tangential velocities of these eddies are about 10 cm/s at 2000 m and over 20 cm/s at 1000 m, which indicates that the geostrophic calculation may contain large errors due to the vigorous eddy activity at the reference levels. The analyses also suggest that these eddies might play an important role in mass and vorticity balances of the intermediate-depth circulation east of Mindanao.     

火星感应磁场模型及其磁力线分布

本文利用火星具有电离层而无内禀磁场的特点以及它与太阳风相互作用的性质,通过适当的假设,建立了火星感应磁场模型.此模型建立如下,利用电流连续的特性: Δ·j=0 (j为感应电流)以及对火星磁层中的电流体系分布的合理假设给出电流,并由毕奥—萨伐尔定理得到火星周围的磁场强度的表达式;利用我们自编的磁力线跟踪程序由求得的磁场强度得到火星周围的磁力线分布.我们发现:利用此火星磁场模型得到的火星周围的磁力线分布与卫星观测的结果以及其他方法得到的结果符合的很好.     

西藏羊八井-康马地区现今地应力测量结果与应力状态分析

本文给出了西藏羊八井-康马地区不同地点的现今地应力实测值的大小和方向. 为了解青藏高原现今地应力状态,结合青藏铁路工程的需要,我们在羊八井-康马地区进行了现场地应力测量. 测量方法采用压磁应力解除法,测点分别布置在羊八井、拉萨、曲水和康马等四个不同的构造部位,测量深度为11～18m. 测量结果表明,本区最大水平主应力方向以NW-NNW为主,最大水平主应力值一般为3.3～10.4MPa,但在板块缝合带上的曲水测点最大水平主应力值为2.3MPa. 与其他地区相比较,本区属中高应力区. 而在曲水应力值属中等偏小,可能反映了板块缝合带现今处于应力释放状态,板块缝合带附近应力具有复杂性.