Control of dust emissions by geomorphic conditions, wind environments and land use in northern China: An examination based on dust storm frequency from 1960 to 2003

The degree to which dust emissions are controlled by geomorphic conditions, wind environments and land use was investigated using the dust storm frequency (DSF) and data from more than 300 meteorological stations throughout northern China. Our analysis showed that most dust emissions originated in gobi deserts that developed in piedmont alluvial fans of the Kunlun, Qilian and Helan mountains. Dust emissions are low from other gobi desert regions, such as the northern Gurbantunggut and eastern Taklimakan, where high vegetation coverage restrained dust emissions or where dust-size particles are not abundant after a long period of strong wind erosion. Sandy deserts with relatively high vegetation coverage or an extensive cover by mobile sands are not a major dust source. Although the highest dust emissions did not appear in regions with the highest wind energy, DSF trends in each region from 1960 to 2003 were closely related to local wind activity. DSF was low in regions with high levels of human activity, where the mean DSF from 1960 to 2003 did not exceed 4 days/year; even from the 1960s to the early 1970s, the period with the greatest DSF, frequency did not exceed 8 days/year, which indicates that extensive land use did not contribute to DSF. The low DSF in these areas might result from the fact that although land use could produce abundant fine soil fractions, vegetation coverage and soil moisture remained higher than in the gobi deserts of arid China, thereby decreasing dust-storm occurrence.     

Re-evaluation of focal depths and source mechanisms of selected earthquakes in the Afar depression

We present a stepwise inversion procedure to assess the focal depth and model earthquake source complexity of seven moderate-sized earthquakes  (6.2 > M _w > 5.1)  that occurred in the Afar depression and the surrounding region. The Afar depression is a region of highly extended and intruded lithosphere, and zones of incipient seafloor spreading. A time-domain inversion of full moment tensor was performed to model direct P and SH waves of teleseismic data. Waveform inversion of the selected events estimated focal depths in the range of 17–22 km, deeper than previously published results. This suggests that the brittle–ductile transition zone beneath parts of the Afar depression extends more than 22 km. The effect of near-source velocity structure on the moment tensor elements was also investigated and was found to respond little to the models considered. Synthetic tests indicate that the size of the estimated, non-physical, non-isotropic source component is rather sensitive to incorrect depth estimation. The dominant double couple part of the moment tensor solutions for most of the events indicates that their occurrence is mainly due to shearing. Parameters associated with source directivity (rupture velocity and azimuth) were also investigated. Re-evaluation of the analysed events shows predominantly normal faulting consistent with the relative plate motions in the region.     

Verification of the motion fields over Southeast Asia by the Florida State University (FSU) superensemble forecast

The Florida State University (FSU) multimodel superensemble forecast is evaluated against several other operational weather models for the Southeast Asia region. The superensemble technique has demonstrated its exceptional skills in forecasting precipitation, motion and mass fields compared to either individual global operational or ensemble mean forecasts. The motion field investigation for the season of 2001 reveals that the superensemble forecasts are closer to the observed data compared to the other global member operational models through its low systematic errors at the 850 hPa level. The FSU multimodel superensemble forecasts exhibit the lowest root mean square errors (RSMEs), the highest correlation against the best observed data and the lowest systematic errors compared to the other operational model members. These forecasts have the potential to provide better daily weather predictions over the Southeast Asia region, particularly during the early northeast monsoon that often causes heavy rainfall in the equatorial part of the Southeast Asia region.     

Computation of Large Anisotropic Seismic Heterogeneities (CLASH)

A general tomographic technique is designed in order (i) to operate in anisotropic media; (ii) to account for the uneven seismic sampling and (iii) to handle massive data sets in a reasonable computing time. One modus operandi to compute a 3-D body wave velocity model relies on surface wave phase velocity measurements. An intermediate step, shared by other approaches, consists in translating, for each period of a given mode branch, the phase velocities integrated along ray paths into local velocity perturbations. To this end, we develop a method, which accounts for the azimuthal anisotropy in its comprehensive form. The weakly non-linear forward problem allows to use a conjugate gradient optimization. The Earth's surface is regularly discretized and the partial derivatives are assigned to the individual grid points. Possible lack of lateral resolution, due to the inescapable uneven ray path coverage, is taken into account through the a priori covariances on parameters with laterally variable correlation lengths. This method allows to efficiently separate the 2ψ and the 4ψ anisotropic effects from the isotropic perturbations. Fundamental mode and overtone phase velocity maps, derived with real Rayleigh wave data sets, are presented and compared with previous maps. The isotropic models concur well with the results of Trampert & Woodhouse. Large 4ψ heterogeneities are located in the tectonically active regions and over the continental lithospheres such as North America, Antarctica or Australia. At various periods, a significant 4ψ signature is correlated with the Hawaii hotspot track. Finally, concurring with the conclusions of Trampert & Woodhouse, our phase velocity maps show that Rayleigh wave data sets do need both 2ψ and 4ψ anisotropic terms.     

基于预测的边缘检测方法

提出了一种基于预测的、有一定自适应性的边缘检测方法。介绍了其原理和算法实现过程。通过计算两个相邻像素的灰度值的均值、均方差和梯度来预测下一个像素的灰度值，比较预测值和真实值来判断下一个像素是否是边界点。通过与现有同类算法的比较，证明了该算法的优越性。     

地震属性分析中水平切片的应用

利用地震数据体中含有的丰富地质信息,可以有效地进行储层预测。层拉平水平切片地层学解释方法是先将地震剖面目的层段做层拉平处理,然后对切片顺地层层面追踪,勾绘出各种地层现象,并以地层学的观点加以解释。该方法在吉林探区扶新南部地区的应用中,对于识别河道的展布趋势取得了较好的效果,而且发现了多期叠置的扇型沉积体。另外,还可指导反演数据体的解释,做到对岩性体从定性到定量的描述。