Performance of CMORPH,TMPA, and PERSIANN rainfall datasets over plain,mountainous, and glacial regions of Pakistan

The present study aims at the assessment of six satellite rainfall estimates (SREs) in Pakistan. For each assessed products, both real-time (RT) and post adjusted (Adj) versions are considered to highlight their potential benefits in the rainfall estimation at annual, monthly, and daily temporal scales. Three geomorphological climatic zones, i.e., plain, mountainous, and glacial are taken under considerations for the determination of relative potentials of these SREs over Pakistan at global and regional scales. All SREs, in general, have well captured the annual north-south rainfall decreasing patterns and rainfall amounts over the typical arid regions of the country. Regarding the zonal approach, the performance of all SREs has remained good over mountainous region comparative to arid regions. This poor performance in accurate rainfall estimation of all the six SREs over arid regions has made their use questionable in these regions. Over glacier region, all SREs have highly overestimated the rainfall. One possible cause of this overestimation may be due to the low surface temperature and radiation absorption over snow and ice cover, resulting in their misidentification with rainy clouds as daily false alarm ratio has increased from mountainous to glacial regions. Among RT products, CMORPH-RT is the most biased product. The Bias was almost removed on CMORPH-Adj thanks to the gauge adjustment. On a general way, all Adj versions outperformed their respective RT versions at all considered temporal scales and have confirmed the positive effects of gauge adjustment. CMORPH-Adj and TMPA-Adj have shown the best agreement with in situ data in terms of Bias, RMSE, and CC over the entire study area.     

1999年土耳其Izmit Mw7.6地震的持续成核过程

实验室和理论研究表明,地震之前会出现一个渐进性的滑动不稳定阶段,在此期间,断层缓慢滑动,而后突然加速并最终导致动态破裂.本文中,我们报道了迄今记录最为完整的大地震之一,即1999年土耳其Izmit Mw7.6地震之前出现了持续时间很久的源自震源的地震信号.这种信号包含一连串的地震破裂,破裂随时间和低频地震噪声的增加而加...     

Seasonal dynamics of trophic relationships among co-occurring suspension-feeders in two shellfish culture dominated ecosystems

The temporal dynamics of carbon and nitrogen isotope values of co-occurring suspension-feeders in two shellfish culture areas (Normandy, France) were investigated over two years to evaluate the inter-specific trophic partitioning and relative contributions of organic matter sources to benthic suspension-feeders' diet. Oysters (Crassostrea gigas), mussels (Mytilus edulis), cockles (Cerastoderma edule), slipper limpets (Crepidula fornicata), and sand-mason worms (Lanice conchilega) were sampled in an estuarine environment (Baie des Veys, east Cotentin, Normandy), while oysters, mussels, slipper limpets, and honeycomb worms (Sabellaria alveolata) were sampled in an open-marine environment (Lingreville-sur-mer, west Cotentin, Normandy). Whatever the sampling period, the bivalves, C. gigas and M. edulis, exhibited the lowest values of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N compared with the other species. Feeding relationships among suspension-feeders in both C. gigas culture areas exhibited temporal variations due to the marine/estuarine influence and seasonal changes in food supply. In the open-marine ecosystem, the contribution of phytoplankton remained the most important for all species except S. alveolata, while in the estuarine ecosystem, microphytobenthos and/or macroalgae detritus contributed a larger extent to the organisms' diets. During phytoplankton bloom periods (e.g. May and July) suspension-feeders, except for S. alveolata, relied strongly on phytoplankton; however, the majority of suspension-feeders exhibited different opportunistic behaviour in winter when phytoplankton biomass might be a limiting factor. We hypothesized that differences in particle capture and selection by the suspension-feeders influenced their isotopic values. Feeding ecology of suspension-feeders partly explained why competition was limited and why ecosystems can often support unexpectedly large numbers of suspension-feeders. We also showed that understanding ecosystem characteristics of the organic matter sources is of primary importance to determine the extent to which members of the suspension-feeding guild potentially compete for food.     

Mise en evidence par le paleomagnetisme d'une importante rotation antihoraire des Vosges meridionales entre le Viseen terminal et le Westphalien superieur

The volcano-sedimentary formations from the southern Vosges are subdivided in two main series: a lower Visean series characterized by a volcanism of spilite-keratophyre type, and an upper Visean series which includes a normal volcanic association of shoshonitic tendency. Paleomagnetic study of 50 sites sampled in both series, but mostly in the upper one, yields three types of directions of characteristic magnetizations. The first type corresponds to Tertiary and Quaternary remagnetizations with low apparent blocking temperatures (350°–500°C, titano-maghemites?). The second group is formed by remagnetizations which have taken place during late Carboniferous-early Permian times, and which show high blocking temperatures of magnetite and mostly titano-haematites. The mean direction is D = 16°, I = 7°, α₉₅ = 9° for 13 sites, (λ = 43°N, φ = 165°E). The last group is represented by primary magnetizations of latest Visean age and post-Sudetic remagnetizations, with blocking temperatures of magnetite and haematite. The mean direction D = 323°, I = −17°, α₉₅ = 9° for 18 sites, (λ = 25°N, φ = 228°E), deviates from about 60° from the theoretical direction, calculated with the early Carboniferous, European pole position. This deviation is interpreted as resulting from a counterclockwise rotation of the southern Vosges between late Visean and Westphalian times. One consequence may be the formation of the variscan “V”, due to the anticlockwise rotation of the eastern branch of the chain. The northwesterly directions show a variation of the inclinations which may indicate that the rotation was preceded by a relatively significant drift of the Vosges to the north.

Résumé

Les terrains volcano-sédimentaires des Vosges méridionales se subdivisent en deux séries principales: la série du Viséen inférieur caractérisée par un volcanisme du type spilite-kératophyre et la série du Viséen supérieur qui comporte une association volcanique normale à tendance shoshonitique. L'étude paléomagnétique de 50 sites échantillonnés dans les deux séries, avec une prédominance dans la série supérieure, met en évidence trois types de directions d'aimantations caractéristiques, Le premier type correspond à des réaimantations d'áge Tertiaire à Quaternaire, à températures de blocage apparentes basses (350°–500°C, titano-maghemites?). Le second groupe est f'orme par des réaimantations mises en place au Carbonifère supérieur-Permien inférieur, à température de blocage haute de magnétite et surtout de titanohématites. La direction moyenne est D = 16°, I = 7°, α₉₅ = 9° pour 13 sites. (λ = 43°N, φ = 165°E). Le dernier groupe est représenté par des aimantations primaires, d'âge Viséen supérieur et des réaimantations post phase Sudète II, à température de blocage de magnetite et d'hématite. La direction moyenne D = 323°, I = −17°, α₉₅ = 9° pour 18 sites (λ = 25 °N, φ = 228°E), dévie de prés de 60° de la direction théorique calculée à partir du pôle européen au Carbonifère inférieur. Cette déviation est interprétée comme résultant d'une rotation antihoraire des Vosges méridionales entre le Viséen supérieur et le Westphalien. Une des conséquences en serait la formation du “V” varisque. par suite de la rotation antihoraire de la branche orientale de la chaîne. Les directions nord-ouest présentent une variation en inclinaison qui semble indiquer que la rotation antihoraire était précédée par une dérive relativement importante des Vosges vers le Nord.     

Producing time series of river water height by means of satellite radar altimetry—a comparative study

Abstract

Satellite radar altimetry is complementary to in situ limnimetric surveys as a means of estimating the water height of large rivers, lakes and flood plains. Production of water height time series by satellite radar altimetry technology requires first the selection of radar ground target locations corresponding to water body surfaces under study, i.e. the definition of “virtual limnimetric stations”. We propose to investigate qualitative and quantitative differences between three representative virtual station creation methodologies: (a) a fully manual method, (b) a semi-automatic method based on a land cover characterization that allows the water body surface under study to be located; and (c) an original fully automatic procedure that exploits a digital elevation model and an estimation of the river width. The results yielded by these three methods are comparable: maximum absolute magnitudes of water height differences being 0.46, 0.26 and 0.15 m for, respectively, 95, 90 and 80% of the water height values obtained. Moreover, more than 67% and 92% of time series jointly produced by the methods present root mean square differences lower than 20 and 50 cm, respectively. The results show that the fully automatic method developed herein provides as reliable results as the fully manual one. This opens the way to use of satellite radar altimetry for the generation of water height time series on a large scale, and considerably extends the applicability of satellite radar altimetry in hydrology.

Citation Roux, E., Santos da Silva, J., Vieira Getirana, A. C., Bonnet, M.-P., Calmant, S., Martinez, J.-M. & Seyler, F. (2010) Producing time series of river water height by means of satellite radar altimetry—comparative study. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(1), 104–120.     

FIR filter effects and nucleation phases

The symmetric impulse response of linear phase Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters most commonly used in modern seismic recording systems produces precursory signals to impulsive arrivals. These acausal filter-generated artefacts may result in misinterpretations of various onset properties. Prior to any onset interpretation, these effects have to be removed from the seismic record. This can be achieved without loss of bandwidth by post-filtration of the digital seismograms if the filter coefficients and the decimation ratios are known. We have analysed numerous signals from different instruments and sampling rates for precursory phases and found that—in contrast to commonly held beliefs—FIR-filter-related precursory signals are not always easy to recognize visually from their waveform signature. Furthermore, they can exhibit surprisingly similar properties to those reported for nucleation phases, although the majority of nucleation phases reported in the past have been obtained on instruments with a causal response. We demonstrate examples of filter-related precursory signals for events scanning nine orders of moment, from 10¹⁰ N m to 10¹⁹ N m. Surprisingly, the lower bound of the artefact durations as a function of seismic moment scales close to the cube root of the seismic moment. We interpret this as being caused by the fact that above a certain seismic moment, the attenuated source signal acts as a causal lowpass filter of a smaller bandwidth than the FIR filter. Assuming an ω^-2 source model, constant stress drop and an empirical relationship between the maximum artefact duration and the cut-off frequency of the FIR filter, the artefact durations are expected to scale proportional to the 1/2.5 power of the seismic moment, in comparison to 1/3 as proposed for nucleation phases.