Reducing hazard vulnerability through local government engagement and action

The concept of a natural hazard is a human construct. It is the interaction with human communities and settlements that defines a natural phenomenon as a natural hazard. Thus the end point of hazard mitigation and hazard vulnerability assessment must involve an attempt to reduce, or mitigate, the impact of the natural hazard on human communities. The responsibility to mitigate hazard impact falls primarily upon governments and closely connected non-government and private institutional agencies. In particular, it is most often local government that takes the responsibility for safeguarding its own communities, infrastructure and people. Hazard vulnerability of specific local communities is best assessed by the local government or council, which then faces the responsibility to translate that assessment into community education and infrastructural safeguards for hazard mitigation. This paper illustrates the process of local government engagement in hazard mitigation in Australia, through the Natural Disaster Risk Management Studies, as a first step towards natural disaster reduction.     

无机盐类对天然矿物低温催化混合酯生烃反应的影响

脂肪酸酯是一类重要的生烃母质。选择了十四烷酸甲酯、十六烷酸甲酯和十八烷酸甲酯的混合酯为模型反应物,以方解石、白云石、伊利石、钙蒙脱石和黄铁矿为催化剂,分别考察了氯化钾、氯化镁、氯化钠、硫酸钠以及混合盐对天然矿物低温催化混合酯生烃反应的影响。结果表明,无机盐类对矿物催化下混合酯的生烃反应均有不同程度的影响,硫酸钠具有反催化作用,其它盐类具有正催化作用。且在各无机盐存在下,不同的矿物表现出不同的催化活性。     

浙江省小流域山洪灾害临界雨量确定方法分析

小流域山洪灾害具有突发性,预测预警难度较大.本文结合浙江省小流域山洪灾害防御的实践经验,研究提出了以水位反推法计算临界雨量,简单实用,具有较好的实践价值和推广意义.     

多传感器观测下带乘性噪声系统的逆向滤波与反褶积融合算法

针对多传感器观测环境下带乘性噪声系统的逆向最优滤波与反褶积融合估计问题 ,本文提出了 1种基于极大似然准则的最优融合算法。该算法中各单传感器间并行计算 ,并且融合中心与单传感器处理中心间无反向通讯 ,因而执行效率较高。仿真表明 ,该融合算法产生的逆向滤波与反褶积比单传感器处理结果有较明显提高     

Genetic Diversity in Marine Molluscs: A Test of the Niche-Width Variation Hypothesis

Abstract. A test of the niche width variation hypothesis was conducted in the three Mediterranean littoral species of the family Trochidae: Monodonta turbinata, M. turbiformis and Gibbula richardi. Allozymic variation encoded by 26 gene loci was analyzed, and the levels of polymorphism (P), heterozygosity (H) and allele diversity per locus (A) were estimated and appear to support the niche-width variation hypothesis. The broad-niche species, M. turbiformis and G. richardi are more polymorphic and heterozygous than the relatively narrow-niche M. turbinata (P = 0.571; 0.731 and 0.417; H = 0.108; 0.116 and 0.078; A = 2.025; 2.489 and 1.965, respectively).     

A comparative study on the contents of vitamins in the natural and the cultured prawn

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Dynamic Analysis of a Single-Column Platform (II)

This paper describes the study of a single-column structure used as well-head platform. In order to check the reliability of computation theory and programme, model tests have been carried out. The paper introduces the conclusion of tests and the dynamic properties of single-column platform are obtained.     

Atmospheric forcing of the eastern tropical Pacific: A review

The increase in marine, land surface, atmospheric and satellite data during recent decades has led to an improved understanding of the air–sea interaction processes in the eastern tropical Pacific. This is also thanks to extensive diagnoses from conceptual and coupled ocean–atmosphere numerical models. In this paper, mean fields of atmospheric variables, such as incoming solar radiation, sea level pressure, winds, wind stress curl, precipitation, evaporation, and surface energy fluxes, are derived from global atmospheric data sets in order to examine the dominant features of the low level atmospheric circulations of the region. The seasonal march of the atmospheric circulations is presented to depict the role of radiative forcing on atmospheric perturbations, especially those dominating the atmosphere at low levels.In the tropics, the trade winds constitute an important north–south energy and moisture exchange mechanism (as part of the low level branch of the Hadley circulation), that determines to a large extent the precipitation distribution in the region, i.e., that associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Monsoonal circulations also play an important role in determining the warm season precipitation distribution over the eastern tropical Pacific through a large variety of air–sea–land interaction mechanisms. Westward traveling waves, tropical cyclones, low latitude cold air intrusions, and other synoptic and mesoscale perturbations associated with the ITCZ are also important elements that modulate the annual rainfall cycle. The low-level jets of the Gulf of California, the Intra-Americas Sea (Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea) and Chocó, Colombia are prominent features of the eastern tropical Pacific low-level circulations related to sub-regional and regional scale precipitation patterns. Observations show that the Intra-Americas Low-Level Jet intensity varies with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases, however its origin and role in the westward propagation and development of disturbances that may hit the eastern tropical Pacific, such as easterly waves and tropical cyclones, are still unclear. Changes in the intensity of the trade winds in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico (associated with eastern tropical Pacific wind jets) exert an important control on precipitation by means of wind–topography interactions. Gaps in the mountains of southern Mexico and Central America allow strong wind jets to pass over the continent imprinting a unique signal in sea surface temperatures and ocean dynamics of the eastern tropical Pacific.The warm pools of the Americas constitute an important source of moisture for the North American Monsoon System. The northeastern tropical Pacific is a region of intense cyclogenetic activity, just west of the coast of Mesoamerica. Over the oceanic regions, large-scale properties of key variables such as precipitation, moisture, surface energy fluxes and wind stress curl are still uncertain, which inhibits a more comprehensive view of the region and stresses the importance of regional field experiments. Progress has been substantial in the understanding of the ocean and atmospheric dynamics of the eastern tropical Pacific, however, recent observational evidence such as that of a shallow meridional circulation cell in that region, in contrast to the classic concept of the Hadley-type deep meridional circulation, suggests that more in situ observations to validate theories are still necessary.This paper is part of a comprehensive review of the oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.     

Analysis of Dynamic Characteristics of Submarine Free Spanning Pipelines by Complex Damping Method

Considering the effect of the internal flowing fluid and the external marine environmental condition, the differential equation for the vortex-induced vibration (V1V) of the free spanning pipeline is derived and is discretized by the Hermit interpolation function. The free vibration equation with the damping term is solved by the complex damping method for the natural frequency, and then the effect of fluid damping on the natural frequency of the free spanning pipeline is analyzed.The results show that fluid damping has a significant influence on the damped natural frequency of the free spanning pipeline in the lock-in state, while it has little influence when the pipeline is out of the lock-in state. In the meantime,the change of the free span length has the same effect on the damped natural frequency and the undamped natural frequency.     

Artificial Upwelling of Deep Seawater Using the Perpetual Salt Fountain for Cultivation of Ocean Desert

Deep seawater in the ocean contains a great deal of nutrients. Stommel et al. have proposed the notion of a “perpetual salt fountain” (Stommel et al., 1956). They noted the possibility of a permanent upwelling of deep seawater with no additional external energy source. If we can cause deep seawater to upwell extensively, we can achieve an ocean farm. We have succeeded in measuring the upwelling velocity by an experiment in the Mariana Trench area using a special measurement system. A 0.3 m diameter, 280 m long soft pipe made of PVC sheet was used in the experiment. The measured data, a verification experiment, and numerical simulation results, gave an estimate of upwelling velocity of 212 m/day. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.