BLENDING HEIGHTS FOR WINDS OBLIQUE TO CHECKERBOARDS

Analysis of the two-dimensional checkerboardproblem of many alternating surfaces with different properties andvarious scales and aspect ratios is extended to the general case ofwinds oblique to the surface pattern. Relevant periodic solutions ofa three-dimensional atmospheric convection-diffusion equation arefound, and used to estimate blending heights for both concentrationand flux.Illustrative results show negligible directional effect on blendingheight for X1* (the smaller pattern wavelength) of 10 m, but a ratio of maximum/minimum heights of about 3 to 5 for X1* = 100 m. For X1* = 1000 mthe directional variation is strongly peaked with a maximum/minimum ratio of 8 to 14. At fixed X1* the maximum increases with check aspect ratio. It is associated withthe case where the wind blows along one check diagonal. In thatsingular situation, damping of the dominant harmonic varying normalto the diagonal depends purely on transverse and vertical diffusion:horizontal convection and wind shear play no part.     

Petrology and Geochemistry of Early Cretaceous Bimodal Continental Flood Volcanism of the NW Etendeka, Namibia. Part 1: Introduction, Mafic Lavas and Re-evaluation of Mantle Source Components

The bimodal NW Etendeka province is located at the continentalend of the Tristan plume trace in coastal Namibia. It comprisesa high-Ti (Khumib type) and three low-Ti basalt (Tafelberg,Kuidas and Esmeralda types) suites, with, at stratigraphicallyhigher level, interstratified high-Ti latites (three units)and quartz latites (five units), and one low-Ti quartz latite.Khumib basalts are enriched in high field strength elementsand light rare earth elements relative to low-Ti types and exhibittrace element affinities with Tristan da Cunha lavas. The unradiogenic²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios of Khumib basalts are distinctive, most plottingto the left of the 132 Ma Geochron, together with elevated ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pbratios, and Sr–Nd isotopic compositions plotting in thelower ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd part of mantle array (EM1-like). The low-Tibasalts have less coherent trace element patterns and variable,radiogenic initial Sr (     

Use of an expert system to map forest soils from a geographical information system

Abstract

Mapping forest soils using conventional methods is time consuming and expensive. An expert system is described and applied to the mapping of five forest soil-landscape units formed on a single granitoid parent material. Three thematic maps were considered important in influencing the distribution of soils. The first showed the distribution of nine classes of native eucalypt forests, and the second and third were derived from a digital elevation model and represented slope gradient and a soil wetness index combined with topographical position. These layers were input to a raster based geographical information system (GIS) and then geometrically co-registered to a regular 30 m grid. From a knowledge of soil distributions, the relationships between the soil-landscape units and the three data layers were quantified by an experienced soil scientist and used as rules in a rule based expert system. The thematic layers accessed from the GIS provided data for the expert system to infer the forest soil-landscape unit most likely to occur at any given pixel. The soil-landscape map output by the expert system compared favourably with a conventional soil-landscape map generated using interpretation of aerial photographs.     

Road network detection from SPOT imagery for updating geographical information systems in the rural–urban fringe

Abstract

Visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite data has been useful for mapping linear features, such as roads and updating land-use changes. However, it would be beneficial to map new road networks digitally from satellite data to update digital databases using semi-automated techniques. In this paper, an algorithm called Gradient Direction Profile Analysis (GDPA) is used to extract road networks digitally from SPOT High Resolution Visible (HRV) panchromatic data. The roads generated are compared with a visual interpretation of the SPOT HRV multispectral and panchromatic data. The technique is most effective in areas where road development is relatively recent. This is due to the spectral consistency of new road networks. As new road networks are those of most interest to the land manager, this is a useful technique for updating digital road network files within a geographical information system of urban areas.     

Evolution and sedimentology of a channel fill in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River and its comparison to the deposits of an adjacent compound bar

The depositional stratigraphy of within‐channel deposits in sandy braided rivers is dominated by a variety of barforms (both singular ‘unit’ bars and complex ‘compound’ bars), as well as the infill of individual channels (herein termed ‘channel fills’). The deposits of bars and channel fills define the key components of facies models for braided rivers and their within‐channel heterogeneity, knowledge of which is important for reservoir characterization. However, few studies have sought to address the question of whether the deposits of bars and channel fills can be readily differentiated from each other. This paper presents the first quantitative study to achieve this aim, using aerial images of an evolving modern sandy braided river and geophysical imaging of its subsurface deposits. Aerial photographs taken between 2000 and 2004 document the abandonment and fill of a 1·3 km long, 80 m wide anabranch channel in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. Upstream river regulation traps the majority of very fine sediment and there is little clay (< 1%) in the bed sediments. Channel abandonment was initiated by a series of unit bars that stalled and progressively blocked the anabranch entrance, together with dune deposition and stacking at the anabranch entrance and exit. Complete channel abandonment and subsequent fill of up to 3 m of sediment took approximately two years. Thirteen kilometres of ground‐penetrating radar surveys, coupled with 18 cores, were obtained over the channel fill and an adjacent 750 m long, 400 m wide, compound bar, enabling a quantitative analysis of the channel and bar deposits. Results show that, in terms of grain‐size trends, facies proportions and scale of deposits, there are only subtle differences between the channel fill and bar deposits which, therefore, renders them indistinguishable. Thus, it may be inappropriate to assign different geometric and sedimentological attributes to channel fill and bar facies in object‐based models of sandy braided river alluvial architecture.     

Validation of Jason-1 Nadir Ionosphere TEC Using GEONET

The Jason-1 dual-frequency nadir ionosphere Total Electron Content (TEC) for 10-day cycles 1–67 is validated using absolute TEC measured by Japan's GPS Earth Observation Network (GEONET), or the GEONET Regional Ionosphere Map (RIM). The bias estimates (Jason–RIM) are small and statistically insignificant: 1.62 ± 9 TECu (TEC unit or 10¹⁶ electrons/m², 1 TECu = 2.2 mm delay at Ku-band) and 0.73 ± 0.05 TECu, using the along-track difference and Gaussian distribution method, respectively. The bias estimates are –3.05 ± 10.44 TECu during daytime passes, and 0.02 ± 8.05 TECu during nighttime passes, respectively. When global Jason-1 TEC is compared with the Global Ionosphere Map (GIM) from the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (or CODE) TEC, the bias (Jason–GIM) estimate is 0.68 ± 1.00 TECu, indicating Jason-1 ionosphere delay at Ku-band is longer than GIM by 3.1 mm, which is at present statistically insignificant. Significant zonal distributions of biases are found when the differences are projected into a sun-fixed geomagnetic reference frame. The observed biases range from –7 TECu (GIM larger by 15.4 mm) in the equatorial region, to +2 TECu in the Arctic region, and to +7 TECu in the Antarctica region, indicating significant geographical variations. This phenomena is primarily attributed to the uneven and poorly distributed global GPS stations particularly over ocean and near polar regions. Finally, when the Jason-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) TECs were compared during Jason-1 cycles 1–67 (where cycles 1–21 represent the formation flight with T/P, cycles 22–67 represent the interleave orbits), the estimated bias is 1.42 ± 0.04 TECu. It is concluded that the offset between Jason/TOPEX and GPS (RIM or GIM) TECs is < 4 mm at Ku-band, which at present is negligible.     

Retracking of Jason-1 Data

We present the results of retracking 18 cycles (15 from the Jason-TOPEX collinear period) of Jason-1 data. We used the retracking method of Rodriguez which simultaneously solves for all relevant waveform parameters using a 26 Gaussian model of the altimeter point target response. We find significant differences from the Jason-1 Project retracking in the key parameters of range and significant wave height (SWH) in the second version of the Project SGDRs. The differences from the Jason-1 data have a strong dependence on off-nadir angle and some dependence on SWH. The dependence of range on SWH is what is called sea state bias. The retracking technique also estimates surface skewness. For Jason-1 with its very clean waveforms we make the first direct estimates of the skewness effect on altimeter data. We believe that the differences found here and thus in overall sea surface height are the result of the standard project processing using a single Gaussian approximation to the Point Target Response (PTR) and not solving simultaneously for off nadir angle. We believe that the relatively large sea state bias errors estimated empirically for Jason-1 during the cal/val phase result from sensitivity of quantities, particularly SWH, in project GDRs to off nadir angle. The TOPEX-Jason-1 bias can be determined only when a full retracking of Jason-1 is done for the collinear period.     

MELTWATER FLUXES AT AN ARCTIC FOREST-TUNDRA SITE

Models of surface energy balance and snow metamorphism are utilized to predict the energy and meltwater fluxes at an Arctic site in the forest–tundra transition zone of north-western Canada. The surface energy balance during the melt period is modelled using an hourly bulk aerodynamic approach. Once a snowcover becomes patchy, advection from the bare patches to the snow-covered areas results in a large spatial variation in basin snowmelt. In order to illustrate the importance of small-scale, horizontal advection, a simple parameterization scheme using sensible heat fluxes from snow free areas was tested. This scheme estimates the maximum horizontal advection of sensible heat from the bare patches to the snow-covered areas. Calculated melt was routed through the measured snowcover in each landscape type using a variable flow path, meltwater percolation model. This allowed the determination of the spatial variability in the timing and magnitude of meltwater release for runoff. Model results indicate that the initial release of meltwater first occurred on the shallow upland tundra sites, but meltwater release did not occur until nearly two weeks later on the deep drift snowcovers. During these early periods of melt, not all meltwater is available for runoff. Instead, there is a period when some snowpacks are only partially contributing to runoff, and the spatial variation of runoff contribution corresponds to landscape type. Comparisons of melt with and without advection suggests that advection is an important process controlling the timing of basin snowmelt.