Nutrient transports in a Swedish estuary

Himmerfjärd is a Swedish estuary bordering on the Baltic. The estuary lacks astronomical tides and its circulation is driven by winds and freshwater runoff. Because of a tertiary sewage treatment plant located at its inner end, the estuary is becoming increasingly eutrophic. A field study was carried out for a 78-day period in late summer and early fall of 1977 to determine rates of nutrient transport and to construct nutrient budgets. Since physical parameters (current velocity, temperature, salinity, winds and water level changes) were measured more frequently than nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, nitrite and ammonium) it was necessary to develop a suitable method to calculate nutrient flux time series and net nutrient fluxes. Over the study period, Himmerfjärd imported phosphorus and exported nitrogen. Direction of nutrient fluxes and changes in flux direction were consistent with the structure of the baroclinic currents.     

On salinity regimes and the vertical structure of residual flows in narrow tidal estuaries

An examination is made of the circulation in narrow estuaries subject to a predominant tidal forcing. Velocity structures are derived separately for residual flow components associated with (a) river flow, (b) wind stress, (c) a well-mixed longitudinal density gradient and (d) a fully stratified saline wedge. Dimensionless parameters are introduced to indicate the magnitude of each component and these parameters are evaluated for 9 major estuaries, thereby revealing their sensitivity to each component.For a channel of constant breadth and depth, formulae are deduced for the length of saline intrusion, L. Comparisons with observed data show that such formulae may be used with confidence to predict changes in L arising from variations in river flow, tidal range or channel depths.The level of stratification is shown to be related to a product of two parameters, one associated with velocity structure and a second involving the square of the ‘flow ratio’ $\text{u}\text{u}\text{?}$ (i.e. residual velocity/amplitude of the tidal velocity). This relationship provides a simple classification system for estuarine stratification which can be used to indicate the sensitivity of any particular estuary to changing conditions.     

The intertidal erosion rate of cohesive sediment: a case study from Long Island Sound

Over the past decades, many attempts have been made to generate useful bottom erosion models for the study of cohesive sediment movement. This study addresses some of the key questions involved in determining the functional relationship between erosion rate and bottom shear stress. Current, wave, and turbidity data were collected from a bottom mounted instrument array in a moderately energetic estuarine environment. The bottom shear stress was calculated from a wave–current interaction model. The erosion rate was derived from the observed sediment concentration using a vertical mixing model. Examination of the relationship between erosion rate and bottom stress showed that the erosion rate varied at intertidal frequency. When averaged over the tidal fluctuation, the erosion rate remained approximately constant at low stress, but increased sharply when the shear stress rose above a critical value. This suggests two-stage erosion. The bed has a layered structure, in which a thin layer of loose, high water content material overlies a more consolidated bed. The top layer of high water content material (fluff) was easily disturbed and re-suspended by tidal currents, but the consolidated bottom layer was eroded only under conditions of high shear stress.     

人工触发闪电电流测量及特征性分析

通过对１９９３年７月２７日的人工触发闪电电流、跨步电压的直接测量结果的分析发现,在正电场下触发的慢型放电过程由连续电流和双极性的电流脉冲过程组成,其放电特性与雷暴的电特性有关。闪电电流最大值为１．２ｋＡ,持续时间为２５ｍｓ,中和电荷量为８．９Ｃ。跨步电压与电流的测量结果相一致,是一种间接测量电流的方法。     

ELF propagation parameters for uniform models of the Earth–ionosphere waveguide

Uniform models for the Earth–ionosphere cavity are considered with particular attention to the physical properties of the ionosphere for the extremely low frequency (ELF) range. Two consistent features have long been recognized for the range: the presence of two distinct altitude layers of maximum energy dissipation within the lower ionosphere, and a “knee”-like change in the vertical conductivity profile representing a transition in dominance from ion-dominated to electron-dominated conductivity. A simplified two-exponential version of the Greifinger and Greifinger (1978) technique widely used in ELF work identifies two slopes in the conductivity profile and, providing accurate results in the ELF communication band (45–75 Hz), simulates too flat a frequency dependence of the quality factor within the Schumann resonance frequency range (5–40 Hz). The problem is traced to the upward migration, with frequency increasing, of the lower dissipation layer through the “knee” region resulting in a pronounced decrease of the effective scale height for conductivity. To overcome this shortcoming of the two-exponential approximation and still retain valuable model analyticity, a more general approach (but still based on the Greifinger and Greifinger formalism) is presented in the form of a “knee” model whose predictions for the modal frequencies, the wave phase velocities and the quality factors reasonably represent observations in the Schumann resonance frequency range.     

Study of charge structure and radiation characteristic of intracloud discharge in thunderstorms of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The comprehensive observations on lightning discharges were conducted in Naqu area of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in summer of 2002. The electric structures of thunderstorms and the characteristics of lightning discharges at initial stage were analyzed by using the observation data. The results show that most of intracloud (IC) lightning flashes were polarities inverted in thunderstorms with tripole electric charge structure and occurred between negative charge region located in the middle of the thunderstorm and positive charge region located at the bottom of the thunderstorm. The radiation characteristics of discharge processes in cloud with longer lasting time involved in Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning flashes were similar to that of IC discharges.A lot of radiation pulses were produced in these discharge processes. Because the IC discharges took place at the bottom of thundercloud and were near the ground, they may produce more serious damage to equipment on the ground therefore should not be neglected in lightning protection.     

Energetic Particles Observed in the CUSP Region During a Storm Recovery Phase

In this paper we report energetic ion behavior and its composition variations observed by the Cluster/RAPID instrument when the spacecraft was travelling in the high latitude magnetospheric boundary region on the day of the 31 March, 2001, strongest magnetic storm in the past 50 years. The Dst index reached −360 nT at about 09:00 UT. During its early recovery phase, large amounts of oxygen and helium ions were observed; the ratio of oxygen to hydrogen in the RAPID energy range reached as high as 250%, which suggests that the observed energetic particles might be of magnetospheric origin. The observations further show that enhanced energetic electron fluxes are confined in a very narrow region, while protons have occupied a larger region, and heavy ions have been observed in an even larger region. The flux of energetic electrons show a slight enhancement in a region where the magnetic field magnitude is around zero. These observed energetic ions could be quasi-trapped by the current sheet in the stagnation region of the cusp.     

长江口斜压诊断模式三维流场数值模拟

建立了σ坐标系下长江口斜压诊断模式三维流场数学模型,采用k-kl二方程紊流闭合模型求解垂向涡粘系数,计算域内恒定、非均匀盐度场反映了计算域密度斜压效应。验证结果表明,斜压诊断模式的模拟成果较切合实际。模型成功复演了长江口水域由往复流向旋转流过渡的流场特性;潮波从四条汊道传入后在分汊口附近相遇形成多个会潮点,其位置随着径流的大小、潮汐的强弱、汊道的形态等因素而变化。     

基本气流在局域流型演化过程中的作用

用一个β平面准地转正压模式,实施了5组时间积分为72个模式日的试验,分析了不同基本气流对局域流型演化特征的作用。结果指出:强的基本气流相应于持续性干旱流型;弱的基本气流相应于间歇性的干旱流型。