Transforming observational data and theoretical isochrones into the ACS/WFC Vega-mag system

We propose a zero-point photometric calibration of the data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Wide Field Channel (WFC) on board the Hubble Space Telescope , based on a spectrum of Vega and the most up-to-date in-flight transmission curves of the camera. This calibration is accurate at the level of a few hundredths of a magnitude. The main purpose of this effort is to transform the entire set of evolutionary models into a simple observational photometric system for ACS/WFC data, and to make them available to the astronomical community. We provide the zero-points for the most used ACS/WFC bands, and give basic recipes for calibrating both the observed data and the models. We also present the colour–magnitude diagram from ACS data of five Galactic globular clusters, spanning the metallicity range  −2.2 <[Fe/H] < −0.04  , and we provide fiducial points representing their sequences from several magnitudes below the turn-off to the red giant branch tip. The observed sequences are compared with the models in the newly defined photometric system.     

Dams on the Mekong River: Lost fish protein and the implications for land and water resources

Proposed dam construction in the Lower Mekong Basin will considerably reduce fish catch and place heightened demands on the resources necessary to replace lost protein and calories. Additional land and water required to replace lost fish protein with livestock products are modelled using land and water footprint methods. Two main scenarios cover projections of these increased demands and enable the specific impact from the main stem dam proposals to be considered in the context of basin-wide hydropower development. Scenario 1 models 11 main stem dams and estimates a 4–7% increase overall in water use for food production, with much higher estimations for countries entirely within the Basin: Cambodia (29–64%) and Laos (12–24%). Land increases run to a 13–27% increase. In scenario 2, covering another 77 dams planned in the Basin by 2030 and reservoir fisheries, projections are much higher: 6–17% for water, and 19–63% for land. These are first estimates of impacts of dam development on fisheries and will be strongly mediated by cultural and economic factors. The results suggest that basic food security is potentially at a high risk of disruption and therefore basin stakeholders should be fully engaged in strategies to offset these impacts.     

Predicting suitable habitat for the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinia)

Ecological-niche factor analysis (ENFA) was applied to the reef framework-forming cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa. The environmental tolerances of this species were assessed using readily available oceanographic data, including physical, chemical, and biological variables. L. pertusa was found at mean depths of 468 and 480 m on the regional and global scales and occupied a niche that included higher than average current speed and productivity, supporting the theory that their limited food supply is locally enhanced by currents. Most records occurred in areas with a salinity of 35, mean temperatures of 6.2–6.7  °C and dissolved oxygen levels of 6.0–6.2 ml l⁻¹. The majority of records were found in areas that were saturated with aragonite but had low concentration of nutrients (silicate, phosphate, and nitrate). Suitable habitat for L. pertusa was predicted using ENFA on a global and a regional scale that incorporated the north-east Atlantic Ocean. Regional prediction was reliable due to numerous presence points throughout the area, whereas global prediction was less reliable due to the paucity of presence data outside of the north-east Atlantic. However, the species niche was supported at each spatial scale. Predicted maps at the global scale reinforced the general consensus that the North Atlantic Ocean is a key region in the worldwide distribution of L. pertusa. Predictive modelling is an approach that can be applied to cold-water coral species to locate areas of suitable habitat for further study. It may also prove a useful tool to assist spatial planning of offshore marine protected areas. However, issues with eco-geographical datasets, including their coarse resolution and limited geographical coverage, currently restrict the scope of this approach.     

The polarization of Pc5 ULF waves around dawn: A possible ionospheric conductivity gradient effect

In this study over 100 Pc5 events observed on the SAMNET magnetometer array have been catalogued. The ground horizontal polarization of these waves has been investigated and it has been shown that there are large differences between the polarization azimuth distributions on either side of noon. In the morning the azimuth distributions are spread evenly across all possible orientations whereas in the afternoon they are predominantly in a North-South orientation. The difference appears to be the result of a specific polarization pattern that occurred across the SAMNET array for 31 of the Pc5 events. These 31 Pc5 events all occurred in the morning sector, close to the dawn terminator. It is suggested that this special polarization pattern is a consequence of ionospheric conductivity gradients that occur at around dawn. This theory is reinforced by the comparison of the local times of these polarization variations with the local time of sunrise. By employing ionospheric conductivity data from the EISCAT radar for two of these Pc5 events, this connection has been studied in more detail.     

A degradation approach to accelerate simulations to steady-state in a 3-D tracer transport model of the global ocean

 We have developed a new method to accelerate tracer simulations to steady-state in a 3-D global ocean model, run off-line. Using this technique, our simulations for natural ¹⁴C ran 17 times faster when compared to those made with the standard non-accelerated approach. For maximum acceleration we wish to initialize the model with tracer fields that are as close as possible to the final equilibrium solution. Our initial tracer fields were derived by judiciously constructing a much faster, lower-resolution (degraded), off-line model from advective and turbulent fields predicted from the parent on-line model, an ocean general circulation model (OGCM). No on-line version of the degraded model exists; it is based entirely on results from the parent OGCM. Degradation was made horizontally over sets of four adjacent grid-cell squares for each vertical layer of the parent model. However, final resolution did not suffer because as a second step, after allowing the degraded model to reach equilibrium, we used its tracer output to re-initialize the parent model (at the original resolution). After re-initialization, the parent model must then be integrated only to a few hundred years before reaching equilibrium. To validate our degradation-integration technique (DEGINT), we compared ¹⁴C results from runs with and without this approach. Differences are less than 10‰ throughout 98.5% of the ocean volume. Predicted natural ¹⁴C appears reasonable over most of the ocean. In the Atlantic, modeled Δ¹⁴C indicates that as observed, the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) fills the deep North Atlantic, and Antartic Intermediate Water (AAIW) infiltrates northward; conversely, simulated Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) does not penetrate northward beyond the equator as it should. In the Pacific, in surface eastern equatorial waters, the model produces a north–south assymetry similar to that observed; other global ocean models do not, because their resolution is inadequate to resolve equatorial dynamics properly, particularly the intense equatorial undercurrent. The model’s oldest water in the deep Pacific (at −239‰) is close to that observed (−248‰), but is too deep. Surface waters in the Southern Ocean are too rich in natural ¹⁴C due to inadequacies in the OGCM’s thermohaline forcing. Received: 18 March 1997 / Accepted: 27 July 1997