Spatial and temporal trends in information technology outsourcing

Over the last two decades information technology (IT) outsourcing has grown dramatically, and has emerged as a strategic choice for firms searching for ways to control their costs and maintain a competitive edge. The mechanisms driving its growth are not fully understood though. In this research, we employ an approach that focuses on geographic, temporal, and industrial proximity in a mechanism that identifies the process underlying the diffusion of IT outsourcing across firms within the U.S from 2000 to 2010. We focus on the role that firm location plays in the diffusion process, and use space-time clustering techniques from the epidemiology literature to understand the diffusion process. We identify 38 space-time clusters based on IT outsourcing announcement data and the locations of firm headquarters among U.S.-based firms. When supplemented with additional information, such as type of services outsourced, the metropolitan area of the headquarters, and related industry information; the results offer insights into various types of diffusion processes that have been identified in the literature but have not been documented to date in the empirical manner that we have been able to do.     

基于原始观测值的单频精密单点定位算法

研究了一种基于GPS原始观测值的单频PPP算法。该算法通过增加电离层延迟先验信息、空间和时间约束的虚拟观测方程,将电离层延迟当作未知参数与其他定位参数一并进行估计来高效修正电离层延迟误差。通过使用全球178个IGS站1d的实测数据对本算法的收敛速度、定位精度和电离层VTEC的精度进行检验与分析。结果表明,该算法的收敛速度和稳定性均得到了改善,其静态单频单天PPP解的精度可达2~3cm、模拟动态单频单天PPP解的精度可达2~3dm,并且单频PPP与双频PPP提取的电离层总电子含量平均偏差小于5个TECU,可作为一种附属定位产品使用。     

Element spots in Ap and Hg‐Mn stars from current‐driven diffusion

The stars of the middle main sequence often have spot‐like chemical structures at their surfaces. We consider the diffusion process caused by electric currents that can lead to the formation of such chemical spots. Diffusion is considered using the partial momentum equations derived by the Chapman‐Enskog method. We argue that diffusion caused by electric currents can substantially change the surface chemistry of stars and form spotted chemical structures even in a relatively weak magnetic field. The considered mechanism can be responsible for a formation of element spots in Hg‐Mn and Ap‐stars. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

GRAPES区域扰动预报模式动力框架设计及检验

设计了适用于四维变分同化系统的扰动预报模式GRAPES_PF。根据GRAPES的地形追随坐标非静力原始方程组,采用小扰动分离方法推导微分形式的线性扰动预报方程组,并利用与GRAPES非线性模式相似的数值求解方案求解线性扰动微分方程组。在设计扰动预报模式时采用了两个时间层半隐式半拉格朗日方案对动量方程、热力学方程、水汽方程和连续方程进行时间差分,空间差分方案的变量分布水平方向采用Arakawa C跳点网格,垂直方向采用Charney/Phillips跳层。利用代数消元法进一步推导得到只包含未来时刻扰动Exner气压的亥姆霍兹方程,进而通过广义共轭余差法（GCR）求解,在此基础上得到未来时刻扰动量的预报值。基于所开发的扰动模式开展了数值试验。首先在非线性模式中施加一个中尺度初始扰动高压,得到初始扰动在非线性模式中的后续演变,然后将相同的初始扰动作为扰动模式的初值进行时间积分,将扰动模式预报的结果与非线性模式的结果做了对比。结果表明,所开发的扰动模式GRAPES_PF较好地模拟了惯性重力内波的传播过程:初始高压扰动激发了一个迅速向外传播的惯性重力内波,在气压场向风场适应的过程中,水平风场、垂直运动、位温和湿度等变量均出现了扰动增量,与非线性模式得到的结果相当接近。GRAPES_PF作为GRAPES非线性模式的合理线性模式为建立基于线性扰动预报的区域四维变分同化系统奠定了科学基础。      

Long‐term annual surface heat and water balances over Canada and the United States South of 60°N: Reconciliation of precipitation,run‐off and temperature fields

Abstract

The analysis compares the observed field of run‐off (assumed correct) with adjusted precipitation over North America (as amended by den Hartog and LeDrew over Canada) and derives the principal hydroclimatological ratios for each five‐degree latitude‐longitude square. The amended precipitation field yields values of the Budyko dry ness index close to values suggested by the vegetation distribution. The Priestley‐Taylor parameter, α, lies between unity (equilibrium) and potential (1.26) values over much of humid North America, but exceeds these values in the northwest Pacific squares, where advective heating may be the cause. Other regions of strong seasonal advective heating (e.g. the Great Plains) do not appear to influence the distribution strongly. A weighted convective forcing temperature is derived, varying from 298 K in the extreme south to below 285 K in the north. This function (and the Bowen ratio) achieve improbable values in northern Labrador‐ Ungava. The precipitation, run‐off and net radiation régimes appear still to be out of balance in these squares. An adjustment of either precipitation or net radiation by about a tenth corrects the imbalance, but the method is not capable of deciding which field (or both) is in error. Over the rest of the continent the adjusted precipitation field now appears to be in balance with observed run‐off and temperature distributions.     

一维热扩散湖模式在太湖的应用研究

利用在太湖获得的2010年8月11-28日的观测资料研究了一维热扩散湖模式在太湖的适用性,通过对比模拟进一步研究了影响太湖湖表温度模拟的主要因子。该湖模式对太湖最初的模拟结果并不理想,模拟的湖表面温度与观测有较大的系统性偏差,温度的日变化幅度与观测相比也偏小。通过分析该模式对太湖的模拟效果不理想的可能原因,针对太湖的生态环境和污染情况,设计了18个测试参数的敏感性试验,从敏感性试验的结果分析得到,适用于太湖的、依赖于湖泊类型的3个参数应做如下修改:消光系数（η₀）应放大3倍,湖泊表层吸收的太阳辐射系数（β）应取0.8,粗糙长度（z₀）采用公式计算得到。用新得到的适用于太湖的3个参数,模拟得到的结果与最初的模拟结果和观测资料对比,发现采用新的参数后,模拟结果比最初的模拟结果有了很大的改进,模拟的湖表温度基本接近观测,模拟的湖水垂直剖面时间序列图也跟观测吻合得较好,随之的感热、潜热通量的模拟也都与观测接近。最后,对输入湖模式的主要大气参量（太阳辐射、2 m气温及风场）±10%的误差引起的模式模拟的湖表面温度误差进行分析,结果表明该湖模式对大气强迫场的误差敏感度不高;相比之下,模拟结果对风场敏感性最小,对辐射和气温的敏感度相当。     

US institutional pathways to clean coal and shale gas: lessons for China

China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011–2015) envisages that shale gas and coal will be central to its energy future. However, for China to meet the energy security and climate change objectives set out in its 12th Five-Year Plan it will be reliant on the widespread commercial deployment of two key technologies; hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling for shale gas, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) for coal. China is moving to acquire these technologies through technology transfer and diffusion from the US, but progress has been slow, and neither is currently available in China on a commercial scale. Drawing on interviews in the US and China, this article argues that China's expectation of technology from the US may well be disappointed because of factors unique to the US institutional environment that have made the development of fracking technology possible and hinder the development of CCS technology at a commercial scale.

Policy relevance

If China is to meet the energy security and climate change objectives set out in its 12th Five-Year Plan it will be reliant on the widespread commercial deployment of fracking and clean coal technologies. While China expects to acquire these technologies via technology transfer and diffusion from the US, progress has been slow. Because of factors unique to the US institutional environment the availability of both technologies on a commercial scale in China is unlikely in the coming years. As a result, Chinese policy makers would be well-advised not to count on these technologies to meet their energy and climate goals.     

Experimental Radar Studies of Anisotropic Diffusion of High Altitude Meteor Trails

At altitudes above 93 km in the atmosphere, magnetic and electric fields can affect the modes and rates of non-turbulent diffusion of ionized meteor trails. Anisotropic diffusion is expected. Most theories of anisotropic diffusion, and indeed most experimental studies, have concentrated on the effects of the magnetic field in producing this anisotropy, and different rates of expansion are expected in directions parallel to and perpendicular to the magnetic field lines. In this study, we use interferometric meteor radars to investigate the dependence of the ambipolar diffusion coefficient on viewing direction relative to the magnetic field, and show that the dependence is at best weak when daily averages are used. We then demonstrate that the reason for this effect is that the positions of maximum and minimum diffusion rates varies as a function of time of day, and that daily averaging masks the anisotropy. One possibility to account for the observations is that this strong diurnal variation is a consequence of the electric fields in the upper atmosphere, which are often tidally driven. An alternative possibility is a diurnal cycle in mean meteor entrance speeds. We lean towards the first hypothesis, but both possibilities are discussed. We demonstrate our results with data from several sites, but particularly using the Clovar radar near London, Ontario, Canada.     

A simple parameterization of bulk canopy resistance from climatic variables for estimating hourly evapotranspiration

This paper examines a model for estimating canopy resistance r_c and reference evapotranspiration ET_o on an hourly basis. The experimental data refer to grass at two sites in Spain with semiarid and windy conditions in a typical Mediterranean climate. Measured hourly ET_o values were obtained over grass during a 4 year period between 1997 and 2000 using a weighing lysimeter (Zaragoza, northeastern Spain) and an eddy covariance system (Córdoba, southern Spain). The present model is based on the Penman–Monteith (PM) approach, but incorporates a variable canopy resistance r_c as an empirical function of the square root of a climatic resistance r* that depends on climatic variables. Values for the variable r_c were also computed according to two other approaches: with the r_c variable as a straight‐line function of r* (Katerji and Perrier, 1983, Agronomie 3 (6): 513–521) and as a mechanistic function of weather variables as proposed by Todorovic (1999, Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, ASCE 125 (5): 235–245). In the proposed model, the results show that r_c/r_a (where r_a is the aerodynamic resistance) presents a dependence on the square root of r*/r_a, as the best approach with empirically derived global parameters. When estimating hourly ET_o values, we compared the performance of the PM equation using those estimated variable r_c values with the PM equation as proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization, with a constant r_c = 70 s m^?1. The results confirmed the relative robustness of the PM method with constant r_c, but also revealed a tendency to underestimate the measured values when ET_o is high. Under the semiarid conditions of the two experimental sites, slightly better estimates of ET_o were obtained when an estimated variable r_c was used. Although the improvement was limited, the best estimates were provided by the Todorovic and the proposed methods. The proposed approach for r_c as a function of the square root of r* may be considered as an alternative for modelling r_c, since the results suggest that the global coefficients of this locally calibrated relationship might be generalized to other climatic regions. It may also be useful to incorporate the effects of variable canopy resistances into other climatic and hydrological models. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.