“Pilot chimney” on the waterloo campus

A brief survey is given of the sources, the methods of injection into the atmosphere, and the mechanisms of deposition into bodies of water for various atmospheric pollutants which contribute significantly to the pollution of large bodies of water. Specific examples of the relative importance of atmospheric sources are included where data are available. Programs of the Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service in this field of research are outlined.     

多回击负地闪先导通道的辐射和光学特征

利用闪电VHF窄带干涉仪辐射源定位系统和高速摄像系统,对青海大通地区一次有5次回击的负地闪放电过程进行了同步观测,对比分析了通道传输过程的辐射和光学特征.结果表明,光学通道亮度能补充VHF干涉仪定位先导通道的电流特征,VHF干涉仪定位弥补了光学设备拍摄弱放电和云内流光通道的不足;在通道分枝结构上,干涉仪定位的通道和光学通道呈现出很好对应.干涉仪定位分枝通道的辐射源点较明显,但分枝光学通道的出现明显落后于干涉仪定位辐射源通道.对用两种不同观测手段探测的先导通道进行速度计算,发现两者计算的直窜先导和直窜梯级先导速度量级一致,均为106m·s-1,但干涉仪在时间的获取及精确量化上有优势,干涉仪定位计算先导速度的精确度高于光学通道定位.     

土壤有机质高光谱估算研究进展

土壤有机质是土壤的重要组成部分,对许多土壤属性有重要影响.利用光谱技术进行土壤有机质的快速测定是实现精细农业的基础.近几十年中,高光谱技术的发展为土壤研究提供了新的手段.受土壤有机质质量分数、组成以及土壤水分、土壤质地的影响,室内光谱的估算结果总体较好;受大气、地表植被等影响,航空或卫星的成像光谱估算精度较低.星载成像技术的进步将在一定程度上提高土壤有机质的估算精度,为快速、大范围土壤有机质质量分数的遥感制图提供技术支持.     

中国大气气溶胶辐射特性参数的观测与研究进展

长期系统的气溶胶辐射特性观测资料是定量研究气溶胶辐射和气候效应的重要基础.本文综合介绍中国大气气溶胶辐射特性观测与研究现状和成果,重点包括以下内容:地面太阳光度计联网观测气溶胶光学厚度、单次散射反照率、尺度谱;从全波段太阳辐射反演气溶胶光学厚度、单次散射反照率;浊度计和黑碳仪测量地面气溶胶散射系数和吸收系数;地基/星载激光雷达观测气溶胶(后向散射系数)垂直分布;极轨/静止卫星遥感反演气溶胶光学特性.     

CINRAD/CC型雷达数据传输系统故障分析与改进方案

对甘肃省3部CINRAD/CC型雷达近4年的雷达故障进行统计分析,作为雷达系统的主要故障部件,随着使用年限的增加,雷达数据传输系统的故障有明显的增多趋势.对引起故障的主要因素进行统计分析,提出了改进方法:基于标准网络的数据传输方式舍弃了原来的光纤系统;取消了基于光端机和复分接的通信方式,代以采用标准网络传输的通信方式;采用四创电子研发的终端软件(2.0版本),新增了集成的网络功能、用户权限功能、数据产品和图像产品全自动生成、数据文件的检索能力、语音报警等功能.改进后的雷达数据传输系统运行情况表明:网络型光纤通信系统减少了雷达数据传输故障,增强了系统的可靠性和稳定性;雷达数据的传输率和有效性也得到一定的提高,确保了新一代天气雷达的正常业务观测.     

Seasonal inundation patterns in two large savanna floodplains of South America: the Llanos de Moxos (Bolivia) and the Llanos del Orinoco (Venezuela and Colombia)

Inundation patterns in two of the largest savanna floodplains of South America were studied by analysis of the 37‐GHz polarization difference observed by the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (Nimbus‐7 satellite). Flooded area was estimated at monthly intervals for January 1979 through to August 1987 using mixing models that account for the major landscape units with distinctive microwave emission characteristics. Results are presented separately for five subregions in each of the two floodplain regions to show the spatial as well as temporal variability in inundation patterns. The total area inundated during the 9 years varied between 2069 and 78 460 km² in the Llanos de Moxos (also spelled as Mojos; median area, 23 383 km²) and 1278 and 105 454 km² in the Llanos del Orinoco (median, 25 374 km²), not including the open‐water area of permanent lakes and river channels. The correlation between flooded area and river stage was used to extend the inundation records over a 30‐year period in the Moxos (1967–97) and a 58‐year period (1927–85) in the Orinoco. Interannual variability in inundation is greater in the Moxos than the Orinoco. Comparison of these data, however, with a previously published analysis of the Pantanal wetland shows that inundation patterns in these two floodplain regions are not as variable across years as they are in the Pantanal. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aeolian activity in northern Amazonia: optical dating of Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeodunes

Palaeodunes were examined on the eastern margin of the Rio Branco–Rupununi savanna, northeast Amazonia. Optical dating suggests that the onset of aeolian activity was between 17 000 and 15 000 yr ago, just after the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the palaeodune axes and modern dominant wind directions have northeast to east‐northeast directions, implying no significant shift in atmospheric circulation patterns over northeast Amazonia during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene. Major regional climate change events, such as the Younger Dryas, do not appear to have had any effect on the rates of aeolian deposition at the study site. Aeolian activity appears to have continued to the present day, showing a remarkably constant deposition rate of around 0.13 m kyr^?1 initially, increasing smoothly to the present. Until more palaeodunes in northern Amazonia are dated, it is impossible to determine if this record of gradual aeolian deposition is a reliable regional palaeoclimate indicator, rather than being the result of local bioclimatic and geomorphological effects. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Optical Spectroscopy of Comet C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) at the Guillermo Harro Astrophysical Observatory in Mexico

We present a preliminary analysis of medium resolution optical spectra of comet C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) obtained on 22 November 2001. Theemission lines of the molecules C₂, C₃, CN, NH₂,H₂O⁺ and presumably CO (Asundi and triplet bands) and C₂ ^-were identified in these spectra. By analysing the brightnessdistributions of the C₂, C₃, CN emission lines along theslit of the spectrograph we determined some physical parameters of theseneutrals, such as their lifetimes and expansion velocities inthe coma. The Franck–Condon factors for the CO Asundi bands and C₂ ^- bands were calculated using a Morse potential model.     

Agricultural impacts on ecosystem functioning in temperate areas of North and South America

Land use has a large impact on ecosystem functioning, though evidences of these impacts at the regional scale are scarce. The objective of this paper was to analyze the impacts of agricultural land use on ecosystem functioning (radiation interception and carbon uptake) in temperate areas of North and South America. From land cover maps generated using high-resolution satellite images we selected sites dominated by row crops (RC), small grain crops (SG), pastures (PA), and rangelands (RA) in the Central Plains of USA and the Pampas of Argentina. These two regions share climatic characteristics and the agricultural conditions (crop types) are also very similar. Both areas were originally dominated by temperate grasslands. In these sites we extracted the temporal series of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the NOAA satellites for the period 1989–1998 and calculated the mean seasonal NDVI curve for each site. Additionally, we calculated the mean annual NDVI, the maximum NDVI, the date of the year when the max NDVI was recorded and the interannual variability of these three attributes. We compared the mean values of each NDVI-derived attribute between land cover types and between continents. The NDVI seasonal patterns for each land cover type were roughly similar between the Central Plains and the Pampas during the growing season. The largest differences were observed during the winter and spring, when the NDVI of all land cover types in the Central Plains remained at lower values than in the Pampas. This was probably caused by the high annual thermal amplitude in the Central Plains that results in a much more restricted growing season. As a result of these differences in the shape of the NDVI curve, the mean annual NDVI in the Central Plains was lower than in the Pampas for all land cover types but the maximum NDVI did not differ importantly. In both regions, row crops delayed the date of the NDVI peak, small grain crops advanced it and pastures did not change it importantly, compared with rangelands. The interannual variability of the NDVI attributes was higher for small grains than for row crops in both regions. However, small grains crops were consistently more variable between years in the Central Plains than in the Pampas. The opposite occurred with pastures and rangelands, which were more variable in the Pampas than in the Central Plains. This paper confirms and generalizes previous findings that showed important imprints of land use on ecosystem functioning in temperate ecosystems. Our results support the idea that the changes in land cover that have occurred in the Central Plains and the Pampas leaded to similar changes in the way that ecosystems absorb solar radiation and in the patterns of carbon uptake.