PMODTRAN: a parallel implementation based on MODTRAN for massive remote sensing data processing

MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) is a commercial remote sensing (RS) software package that has been widely used to simulate radiative transfer of electromagnetic radiation through the Earth's atmosphere and the radiation observed by a remote sensor. However, when very large RS datasets must be processed in simulation applications at a global scale, it is extremely time-consuming to operate MODTRAN on a modern workstation. Under this circumstance, the use of parallel cluster computing to speed up the process becomes vital to this time-consuming task. This paper presents PMODTRAN, an implementation of a parallel task-scheduling algorithm based on MODTRAN. PMODTRAN was able to reduce the processing time of the test cases used here from over 4.4 months on a workstation to less than a week on a local computer cluster. In addition, PMODTRAN can distribute tasks with different levels of granularity and has some extra features, such as dynamic load balancing and parameter checking.     

Variability in bedform morphology and kinematics with transport stage

Bedform geometry is widely recognized to be a function of transport stage. Bedform aspect ratio (height/length) increases with transport stage, reaches a maximum, then decreases as bedforms washout to a plane bed. Bedform migration rates are also linked to bedform geometry, in so far as smaller bedforms in coarser sediment tend to migrate faster than larger bedforms in finer sediment. However, how bedform morphology (height, length and shape) and kinematics (translation and deformation) change with transport stage and suspension have not been examined. A series of experiments is presented where initial flow depth and grain size were held constant and the transport stage was varied to produce bedload dominated, mixed‐load dominated and suspended‐load dominated conditions. The results show that the commonly observed pattern in bedform aspect ratio occurs because bedform height increases then decreases with transport stage, against a continuously increasing bedform length. Bedform size variability increased with transport stage, leading to less uniform bedform fields at higher transport stage. Total translation‐related and deformation‐related sediment fluxes all increased with transport stage. However, the relative contribution to the total flux changed. At the bedload dominated stage, translation‐related and deformation‐related flux contributed equally to the total flux. As the transport stage increased, the fraction of the total load contributed by translation increased and the fraction contributed by deformation declined because the bedforms got bigger and moved faster. At the suspended‐load dominated transport stage, the deformation flux increased and the translation flux decreased as a fraction of the total load, approaching one and zero, respectively, as bedforms washed out to a plane bed.     

Upper-Tropospheric Environment–Tropical Cyclone Interactions over the Western North Pacific: A Statistical Study

Based on 25-year(1987–2011) tropical cyclone(TC) best track data, a statistical study was carried out to investigate the basic features of upper-tropospheric TC–environment interactions over the western North Pacific. Interaction was defined as the absolute value of eddy momentum flux convergence(EFC) exceeding 10 m s~(-1)d~(-1). Based on this definition, it was found that 18% of all six-hourly TC samples experienced interaction. Extreme interaction cases showed that EFC can reach~120 m s~(-1)d~(-1) during the extratropical-cyclone(EC) stage, an order of magnitude larger than reported in previous studies.Composite analysis showed that positive interactions are characterized by a double-jet flow pattern, rather than the traditional trough pattern, because it is the jets that bring in large EFC from the upper-level environment to the TC center. The role of the outflow jet is also enhanced by relatively low inertial stability, as compared to the inflow jet. Among several environmental factors, it was found that extremely large EFC is usually accompanied by high inertial stability, low SST and strong vertical wind shear(VWS). Thus, the positive effect of EFC is cancelled by their negative effects. Only those samples during the EC stage, whose intensities were less dependent on VWS and the underlying SST, could survive in extremely large EFC environments, or even re-intensify. For classical TCs(not in the EC stage), it was found that environments with a moderate EFC value generally below ~25 m s~(-1)d~(-1) are more favorable for a TC's intensification than those with extremely large EFC.     

Effects of surface flux parameterization on the numerically simulated intensity and structure of Typhoon Morakot (2009)

The effects of surface flux parameterizations on tropical cyclone(TC) intensity and structure are investigated using the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF-ARW) modeling system with high-resolution simulations of Typhoon Morakot(2009).Numerical experiments are designed to simulate Typhoon Morakot(2009) with different formulations of surface exchange coefficients for enthalpy(C_K) and momentum(C_D) transfers,including those from recent observational studies based on in situ aircraft data collected in Atlantic hurricanes.The results show that the simulated intensity and structure are sensitive to C_K and C_D,but the simulated track is not.Consistent with previous studies,the simulated storm intensity is found to be more sensitive to the ratio of C_K/C_D than to C_K or C_D alone.The pressure-wind relationship is also found to be influenced by the exchange coefficients,consistent with recent numerical studies.This paper emphasizes the importance of C_D and C_K on TC structure simulations.The results suggest that C_D and C_K have a large impact on surface wind and flux distributions,boundary layer heights,the warm core,and precipitation.Compared to available observations,the experiment with observed C_D and C_K generally simulated better intensity and structure than the other experiments,especially over the ocean.The reasons for the structural differences among the experiments with different C_D and C_K setups are discussed in the context of TC dynamics and thermodynamics.     

Long-Term Variability of the Wind Field over the Indian Ocean Based on ERA-Interim Reanalysis

A detailed study of long-term variability of winds using 30 years of data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts global reanalysis (ERA-Interim) over the Indian Ocean has been carried out by partitioning the Indian Ocean into six zones based on local wind extrema. The trend of mean annual wind speed averaged over each zone shows a significant increase in the equatorial region, the Southern Ocean, and the southern part of the trade winds. This indicates that the Southern Ocean winds and the southeast trade winds are becoming stronger. However, the trend for the Bay of Bengal is negative, which might be caused by a weakening of the monsoon winds and northeast trade winds. Maximum interannual variability occurs in the Arabian Sea due to monsoon activity; a minimum is observed in the subtropical region because of the divergence of winds. Wind speed variations in all zones are weakly correlated with the Dipole Mode Index (DMI). However, the equatorial Indian Ocean, the southern part of the trade winds, and subtropical zones show a relatively strong positive correlation with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), indicating that the SOI has a zonal influence on wind speed in the Indian Ocean. Monsoon winds have a decreasing trend in the northern Indian Ocean, indicating monsoon weakening, and an increasing trend in the equatorial region because of enhancement of the westerlies. The negative trend observed during the non-monsoon period could be a result of weakening of the northeast trade winds over the past few decades. The mean flux of kinetic energy of wind (FKEW) reaches a minimum of about 100?W?m^?2 in the equatorial region and a maximum of about 1500?W?m^?2 in the Southern Ocean. The seasonal variability of FKEW is large, about 1600?W?m^?2, along the coast of Somalia in the northern Indian Ocean. The maximum monthly variability of the FKEW field averaged over each zone occurs during boreal summer. During the onset and withdrawal of monsoon, FKEW is as low as 50?W?m^?2. The Southern Ocean has a large variation of about 1280?W?m^?2 because of strong westerlies throughout the year.     

海河流域夏季降水与北半球环流异常的相关

使用1981—2013年6—8月的月平均海河流域站点降水资料以及NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,采用SVD方法分析了北半球高度场环流异常与海河流域夏季降水的关系。结果表明夏季海河流域的一致型降水异常主要受热带地区高度场异常的影响,而北半球中高纬的高度异常分布对海河流域东南部降水异常有重要作用。热带及中高纬地区的高度场异常与副热带西风急流和流域上空的水汽输送有一定的对应关系,急流强度和位置的变化以及水汽辐合异常造成海河流域降水异常,尤其中高纬高度异常的这种对应关系更加明显,并且两个地区的高度异常分布对应的海河流域异常水汽输送有不同来源。     

天气尺度波列对长江中下游6月梅雨的影响

采用1979—2007年6月NCEP/NCAR2.5°×2.5°逐日再分析资料和中国743站逐日降水资料,利用相关分析、合成分析等方法,分析了天气尺度波列的特征及其对长江中下游6月梅雨的影响。结果表明:当长江中下游6月梅雨较少时,东亚及西太平洋区域存在一个天气尺度波列;该波列的延伸距离较短(从黄河河套地区经过长江中下游至南海、菲律宾海一带),维持时间也很短,且仅仅在500 h Pa以下较强。诊断及个例分析表明,当该波列异常显著时,长江中下游梅雨降水明显减少,而其南部区域降水则增多,说明该波列对预报长江中下游降水具有重要的指示意义。     

基于重力全张量数据的Parker-Oldenburg算法研究

相比重力数据,重力张量数据通常包含更多的异常信息。本文根据重力数据与重力张量数据的关系,利用位场转化技术,将重力张量数据应用于传统的Parker-Oldenburg密度界面反演算法中。通过模型试验,证明了在网格间距较大或者数据存在一定噪音时,使用本文算法进行反演能得到更好的效果。实验结果说明利用重力张量数据可以有效地提高密度界面反演的分辨率。     

Stability and capsizing analysis of nonlinear ship rolling in wind and stochastic beam seas

Considering the actual seaway condition, stability and capsizing of nonlinear ship rolling system in stochastic beam seas is of significant importance for voyage safety. Safe zone are defined in the phase space plan of the unperturbed Hamilton system to qualitatively distinguish ship motions as capsize and noncapsize. Capsize events are defined by solutions passing out of the safe zone. The probability of such an occurrence is studied by virtue of the random Melnikov function and the concept of phase space flux. In this paper, besides conventional wave excitation, the effect of wind load is also taken into account. The introduction of wind load will lead to asymmetry, in other words, it transforms the symmetric heteroclinic orbits into asymmetric homoclinic orbits. For asymmetric dynamical system, the orbital analytic solutions and its power spectrum are not readily available, and the technique of discrete time Fourier transformation (DTFT) is used. In the end, as verification of theoretical critical significant wave height, capsizing probability contour diagram is generated by means of numerical simulation. The contour diagram shows that these analytical methods provide reliable and predictive results about the likelihood of a vessel capsizing in a given seaway condition.     

CMIP5地球系统模式溶解氧模拟结果分析

本文基于常用的统计方法,通过与WOA09观测的海洋溶解氧浓度数据进行比较,定量地评估了9个CMIP5地球系统模式在历史排放试验中海洋溶解氧气候态特征的模拟能力。在海表,由于地球系统模式均能很好地模拟海表温度（SST）,模式模拟的海表溶解氧浓度分布与观测一致,模拟结果无论是全球平均浓度偏差还是均方根误差均接近0,空间相关系数与标准偏差接近1。在海洋中层以及深层这些重要水团所在的区域,各模式的模拟能力则差异较大,尤其在溶解氧低值区（OMZs）所在的500m到1000m,各模式均出现全球平均偏差、均方根误差的极大值以及空间相关系数的极小值。在海洋内部,模式偏差的原因比较复杂。经向翻转环流和颗粒有机碳通量均对模式的偏差有贡献。分析结果表明物理场偏差对溶解氧偏差的贡献较大。一些重要水团,比如北大西洋深水,南极底层水以及北太平洋中层水在极大程度上影响了溶解氧在这些海区的分布。需要指出的是,虽然在海洋内部各模式模拟的溶解氧浓度偏差较大,但是多模式平均结果却能表现出与观测较好的一致性。