Passive microwave remote sensing of the historic February 2010 snowstorms in the Middle Atlantic region of the USA

The snowfall in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area during the winter of 2009/2010 was unprecedented and caused serious snow‐related disruptions. In February 2010, snowfall totals approached 2 m, and because maximum temperatures were consistently below normal, snow remained on the ground the entire month. One of the biggest contributing factors to the unusually severe winter weather in 2009/2010, throughout much of the middle latitudes, was the Arctic Oscillation. Unusually high pressure at high latitudes and low pressure at middle latitudes forced a persistent exchange of mass from north to south. In this investigation, a concerted effort was made to link remotely sensed falling snow observations to remotely sensed snow cover and snowpack observations in the Baltimore/Washington area. Specifically, the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer onboard the Aqua satellite was used to assess snow water equivalent, and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐B and Microwave Humidity Sounder were employed to detect falling snow. Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer passive microwave signatures in this study are related to both snow on the ground and surface ice layers. In regard to falling snow, signatures indicative of snowfall can be observed in high frequency brightness temperatures of Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐B and Microwave Humidity Sounder. Indeed, retrievals show an increase in snow water equivalent after the detection of falling snow. Yet, this work also shows that falling snow intensity and/or the presence of liquid water clouds impacts the ability to reliably detect snow water equivalent. Moreover, changes in the condition of the snowpack, especially in the surface features, negatively affect retrieval performance. Copyright © 2011. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Analytical layer‐element method for non‐axisymmetric consolidation of multilayered soils

A numerically efficient and stable method is developed to analyze Biot's consolidation of multilayered soils subjected to non‐axisymmetric loading in arbitrary depth. By the application of a Laplace–Hankel transform and a Fourier expansion, the governing equations are solved analytically. Then, the analytical layer‐element (i.e. a symmetric stiffness matrix) describing the relationship between generalized displacements and stresses of a layer is exactly derived in the transformed domain. Considering the continuity conditions between adjacent layers, the global stiffness matrix of multilayered soils is obtained by assembling the inter‐related layer‐elements. Once the solution in the Laplace–Hankel transformed domain that satisfies the boundary conditions has been obtained, the actual solution can be derived by the inversion of the Laplace–Hankel transform. Finally, numerical examples are presented to verify the theory and to study the influence of the layered soil properties and time history on the consolidation behavior. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Process length variation of the cyst of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum in the North Pacific and Baltic‐Skagerrak region: calibration as an annual density proxy and first evidence of pseudo‐cryptic speciation

Process length variation of cysts of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum (Claparède et Lachmann) Bütschli in surface sediments from the North Pacific was investigated. The average process length showed a significant inverse relation to annual seawater density: σ_{t annual} = ?0.8674 × average process length + 1029.3 (R² = 0.84), with a standard error of 0.78 kg m^?3. A sediment trap study from Effingham Inlet in British Columbia revealed the same relationship between average process length and local seawater density variations. In the Baltic–Skagerrak region, the average process length variation was related significantly to annual seawater density: σ_{t annual} = 3.5457 × average process length ? 993.28 (R² = 0.86), with a standard error of 3.09 kg m^?3. These calibrations cannot be reconciled, which accentuates the regional character of the calibrations. This can be related to variations in molecular data (small subunit, long subunit and internal transcribed spacer sequences), which show the presence of several genotypes and the occurrence of pseudo‐cryptic speciation within this species. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The cordierite‐bearing anatectic rocks of the higher Himalayan crystallines (eastern Nepal): low‐pressure anatexis,melt productivity,melt loss and the preservation of cordierite

Cordierite‐bearing anatectic rocks inform our understanding of low‐pressure anatectic processes in the continental crust. This article focuses on cordierite‐bearing lithologies occurring at the upper structural levels of the Higher Himalayan Crystallines (eastern Nepal Himalaya). Three cordierite‐bearing gneisses from different geological transects (from Mt Everest to Kangchenjunga) have been studied, in which cordierite is spectacularly well preserved. The three samples differ in terms of bulk composition likely reflecting different sedimentary protoliths, although they all consist of quartz, alkali feldspar, plagioclase, biotite, cordierite and sillimanite in different modal percentages. Analysis of the microstructures related to melt production and/or melt consumption allows the distinction to be made between peritectic and cotectic cordierite. The melt productivity of different prograde assemblages (from two‐mica metapelite/metagreywacke to biotite‐metapelite) has been investigated at low‐pressure conditions, evaluating the effects of muscovite v. biotite dehydration melting on both mineral assemblages and microstructures. The results of the thermodynamic modelling suggest that the mode and type of the micaceous minerals in the prograde assemblage is a very important parameter controlling the melt productivity at low‐pressure conditions, the two‐mica protoliths being significantly more fertile at any given temperature than biotite gneisses over the same temperature interval. Furthermore, the cordierite preservation is promoted by melt crystallization at a dry solidus and by exhumation along P‐T paths with a peculiar dP/dT slope of about 15–18 bar °C^?1. Overall, our results provide a key for the interpretation of cordierite petrogenesis in migmatites from any low‐P regional anatectic terrane. The cordierite‐bearing migmatites may well represent the source rocks for the Miocene andalusite‐bearing leucogranites occurring at the upper structural levels of the Himalayan belt, and low‐P isobaric heating rather than decompression melting may be the triggering process of this peculiar peraluminous magmatism.     

Analytic element modelling for strip aquifers

The Analytic Element Method (AEM) provides a convenient tool for groundwater flow analysis in unbounded continuous domains. The AEM is based on the superposition of analytic functions, known as elements, useful at both regional and local scales. In this study, analytic elements for strip aquifers are presented. Such aquifers occur in riverine or coastal deposits and in outcrop zones of confined aquifers. Local flow field is modelled indirectly, using a reference plane related to the aquifer domain through the Schwarz‐Christoffel transform. The regional flow is obtained as a solution of the one‐dimensional flow equation. The proposed methodology was tested by modelling two hypothetical situations, which were compared to exact solutions. It is shown that regional boundaries can be reproduced exactly while local fields are adequately reproduced with analytic elements. The developed elements are applied to simulate a real flow field in northeastern Brazil showing good agreement with measured water levels. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of source water to cedar elm in a central Texas riparian ecosystem

A riparian ecosystem downstream of a small dam in central Texas was instrumented for sap flow, soil moisture content, and stream level from 2001. Stable isotopes in water (D and ¹⁸O) were analysed from rainfall, stream, lake, and cored sapwood cellulose from cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia). The isotope signature of water source to cedar elm was identified by back calculation starting with the water isotopes in cellulose, and accounting for leaf‐water evaporation and biological fractionation during cellulose synthesis. The estimated mean isotope of the source water to cedar elm was enriched above rainfall in similarity to stream water during 2002. Flow paths that may have contributed to estimated variability from regional base flow and recharge water were identified using the variably saturated HYDRUS‐2D model. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Daily rainfall projections from general circulation models with a downscaling nonhomogeneous hidden Markov model (NHMM) for south‐eastern Australia

An ensemble of stochastic daily rainfall projections has been generated for 30 stations across south‐eastern Australia using the downscaling nonhomogeneous hidden Markov model, which was driven by atmospheric predictors from four climate models for three IPCC emissions scenarios (A1B, A2, and B1) and for two periods (2046–2065 and 2081–2100). The results indicate that the annual rainfall is projected to decrease for both periods for all scenarios and climate models, with the exception of a few scenarios of no statistically significant changes. However, there is a seasonal difference: two downscaled GCMs consistently project a decline of summer rainfall, and two an increase. In contrast, all four downscaled GCMs show a decrease of winter rainfall. Because winter rainfall accounts for two‐thirds of the annual rainfall and produces the majority of streamflow for this region, this decrease in winter rainfall would cause additional water availability concerns in the southern Murray–Darling basin, given that water shortage is already a critical problem in the region. In addition, the annual maximum daily rainfall is projected to intensify in the future, particularly by the end of the 21st century; the maximum length of consecutive dry days is projected to increase, and correspondingly, the maximum length of consecutive wet days is projected to decrease. These changes in daily sequencing, combined with fewer events of reduced amount, could lead to drier catchment soil profiles and further reduce runoff potential and, hence, also have streamflow and water availability implications. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

North Atlantic climate impact on early late‐glacial climate oscillations in the south‐eastern Alps inferred from a multi‐proxy lake sediment record

High‐resolution multi‐proxy analyses of a sediment core section from Lake Jeserzersee (Saissersee) in the piedmont lobe of the Würmian Drau glacier (Carinthia, Austria) reveal pronounced climatic oscillations during the early late glacial (ca. 18.5–16.0k cal a BP). Diatom‐inferred epilimnetic summer water temperatures show a close correspondence with temperature reconstructions from the adjacent Lake Längsee record and, on a hemispheric scale, with fluctuations of ice‐rafted debris in the North Atlantic. This suggests that North Atlantic climate triggered summer climate variability in the Alps during the early late glacial. The expansion of pine (mainly dwarf pine) between ca. 18.5 and 18.1k cal a BP indicates warming during the so‐called ‘Längsee oscillation’. The subsequent stepwise climate deterioration between ca. 18.1 and 17.6k cal a BP culminated in a tripartite cold period between ca. 17.6 and 16.9k cal a BP with diatom‐inferred summer water temperatures 8.5–10 °C below modern values and a shift from wet to dry conditions. This period probably coincides with a major Alpine glacier advance termed the Gschnitz stadial. A warmer interval between ca. 16.9 and 16.4k cal a BP separates this cold phase from a second, shorter and less pronounced cold phase between ca. 16.4 and 16.0k cal a BP, which is thought to correlate with the Clavadel/Senders glacier advance in the Alps. The following temperature increase, coupled with wet (probably snow‐rich) conditions, caused the expansion of birch during the transition period to the late glacial interstadial. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of bond stress–slip relationship and radial dilation in prestressed concrete

This paper presents two test procedures for evaluating the bond stress–slip and the slip–radial dilation relationships when the prestressing force is transmitted by releasing the steel (wire or strand) in precast prestressed elements. The bond stress–slip relationship is obtained with short length specimens, to guarantee uniform bond stress, for three depths of the wire indentation (shallow, medium and deep). An analytical model for bond stress–slip relationship is proposed and compared with the experimental results. The model is also compared with the experimental results of other researchers. Since numerical models for studying bond‐splitting problems in prestressed concrete require experimental data about dilatancy angle (radial dilation), a test procedure is proposed to evaluate these parameters. The obtained values of the radial dilation are compared with the prior estimated by numerical modelling and good agreement is reached. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.