CHROMOSPHERIC AND CORONAL STRUCTURE OF POLAR PLUMES – I. Magnetic Structure and Radiative Energy Balance

The Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA), a rocket-borne solar observatory, was successfully launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on May 13, 1991 at 19:05 UT. The telescope systems onboard the MSSTA obtained several full disk solar images in narrow bandpasses centered around strong soft X-ray, EUV, and FUV emission lines. Each telescope was designed to be sensitive to the coronal plasmas at a particular temperature, for seven temperatures ranging from 20000 K to 4000000 K. We report here on the images obtained during the initial flight of the MSSTA, and on the chromospheric and coronal structure of polar plumes observed over both poles of the Sun. We have also co-aligned the MSSTA images with Kitt Peak magnetograms taken on the same day. We are able to positively identify the magnetic structures underlying the polar plumes we analyze as unipolar. We discuss the plume observations and present a radiative energy balance model derived from them.     

Assessing vulnerability due to sea-level rise in Maui, Hawai‘i using LiDAR remote sensing and GIS

Sea-level rise (SLR) threatens islands and coastal communities due to vulnerable infrastructure and populations concentrated in low-lying areas. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data were used to produce high-resolution DEMs (Digital Elevation Model) for Kahului and Lahaina, Maui, to assess the potential impacts of future SLR. Two existing LiDAR datasets from USACE (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) were compared and calibrated using the Kahului Harbor tide station. Using tidal benchmarks is a valuable approach for referencing LiDAR in areas lacking an established vertical datum, such as in Hawai‘i and other Pacific Islands. Exploratory analysis of the USACE LiDAR ground returns (point data classified as ground after the removal of vegetation and buildings) indicated that another round of filtering could reduce commission errors. Two SLR scenarios of 0.75 (best-case) to 1.9 m (worst-case) (Vermeer and Rahmstorf Proc Natl Acad Sci 106:21527–21532, 2009) were considered, and the DEMs were used to identify areas vulnerable to flooding. Our results indicate that if no adaptive strategies are taken, a loss ranging from $18.7 million under the best-case SLR scenario to $296 million under the worst-case SLR scenario for Hydrologically Connected (HC; marine inundation) and Hydrologically Disconnected (HD; drainage problems due to a higher water table) areas combined is possible for Kahului; a loss ranging from $57.5 million under the best-case SLR scenario to $394 million under the worst-case SLR scenario for HC and HD areas combined is possible for Lahaina towards the end of the century. This loss would be attributable to inundation between 0.55 km² to 2.13 km² of area for Kahului, and 0.04 km² to 0.37 km² of area for Lahaina.     

Thermal and density structure of polar plumes

Normal incidence multilayer coated EUV/XUV optical systems provide a powerful technique for the study of the structure of the solar corona. Such systems permit the imaging of the full solar disk and corona with high angular resolution in narrow wavelength bands that are dominated by a single line or a line multiplet excited over a well defined range of temperatures. We have photometrically analysed, and derived temperature and density information from, images of polar plumes obtained with a multilayer Cassegrain telescope operating in the wavelength interval = 171 to 175 , which is dominated by FeIX and FeX emission. This observation was obtained in October 1987, and is the first high resolution observation of an astronomical object obtained with normal incidence multilayer optics techniques. We find that photometric data taken from this observation, applied to a simple, semi-empirical model of supersonic solar wind flow, are consistent with the idea that polar plumes are a source of the solar wind. However, we are not able to uniquely trace high speed streams to polar plumes. The temperatures that we observed are typically 1 500 000 K for both the plumes and the interplume regions, with the plume temperatures slightly higher than those of the surrounding atmosphere. Typical electron densities of the plume and interplume regions, respectively, are 5 × 10⁹ cm^–3 and 1 × 10⁸ cm^–3 at the limb of the Sun.     

Failure to protect beaches under slowly rising sea level

The increase in population and the improvement of life standards are stretching the boundaries between water-energy-land management, and demanding innovative and holistic solutions. This article proposes an approach for increasing the water availability of two or more water basins taking into consideration land use and wind patterns, and was named Land, Water, and Wind Watershed Cycle (L3WC). This approach can be applied to one watershed or a combination of watersheds. In the first case, if wind patterns blow mainly in the opposite direction of the main river flow, plantations with high water demand should be focused on the lowest part of the basin. The transpired moisture would then return to the basin with the wind and possibly increase the water availability of the basin. Applying this method to a series of basins, water is transposed from one basin to another, used for irrigated agriculture, returned to the atmosphere with evapotranspiration and pushed back to the basin where the water was extracted by the wind. Case studies of this methodology are presented in the São Francisco basin and between the Tocantins, Amazonas, and Paraná basins and the São Francisco basin in Brazil. The São Francisco basin was selected because it is located in a dry region, its flow has considerably reduced in the past decade and because the trade winds blow constantly from the ocean into the continent all year around. L3WC is a strategy to plan the allocation of water consumption in a watershed, taking into account wind patterns to support the sustainable development of a region. It has the potential of increasing water availability and creating a climate change adaptation mechanism to control the climate and reduce vulnerability to climatic variations.     

Doubling of coastal erosion under rising sea level by mid-century in Hawaii

This study discusses the scaling properties of the spatial distribution of the December 26, 2004, Sumatra aftershocks. We estimate the spatial correlation dimension D ₂ of the epicentral distribution of aftershocks recorded by a local network operated by Geological Survey of India. We estimate the value of D ₂ for five blocks in the source area by using generalized correlation integral approach. We assess its bias due to finite data points, scaling range, effects of location errors, and boundary effects theoretically and apply it to real data sets. The correlation dimension was computed both for real as well as synthetic data sets that include randomly generated point sets obtained using uniform distributions and mimicking the number of events and outlines of the effective areas filled with epicenters. On comparing the results from the real data and random point sets from simulations, we found the lower limit of bias in D ₂ estimates from limited data sets to be 0.26. Thus, the spatial variation in correlation dimensions among different blocks using local data sets cannot be directly compared unless the influence of bias in the real aftershock data set is taken into account. They cannot also be used to infer the geometry of the faults. We also discuss the results in order to add constraints on the use of synthetic data and of different approaches for uncertainty analysis on spatial variation of D ₂. A difference in D ₂ values, rather than their absolute values, among small blocks is of interest to local data sets, which are correlated with their seismic b values. Taking into account the possible errors and biases, the average D ₂ values vary from 1.05 to 1.57 in the Andaman–Nicobar region. The relative change in D ₂ values can be interpreted in terms of clustering and diffuse seismic activity associated with the low and high D ₂ values, respectively. Overall, a relatively high D ₂ and low b value is consistent with high-magnitude, diffuse activity in space in the source region of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake.