NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEMISPHERIC POLAR LOWS——A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Northern Hemispheric“polar lows”,i.e.maritime,small,but fairly intense cyclonic systems have been studied formore than two decades.Recently researchers have turned their attention towards the occurrence of polar lows and othersmall-scale cyclonic disturbances on the Southern Hemisphere.In this paper a short account of our present knowledgeof Northern Hemispheric polar lows will be given,followed by some preliminary results of an investigation of the natureand occurrence of polar lows on the Southern Hemisphere.     

A THREE-DIMENSIONAL ELASTIC NESTED-GRID MESO-(β-γ)SCALE ATMOSPHERIC MODEL——PARTI:MODEL DESCRIPTION

A three-dimensional elastic nonhydrostatic mesoscale(β-γ)model with nested-grid is presented.It uses a set of fullequations in terrain-following coordinates as its basic dynamic frame,which is solved with a time-splitting algorithmfor acoustic and gravity waves.The model physical parameterization includes a K-theory subgrid eddy mixing for cloudand free atmosphere,a bulk planetary boundary layer parameterization,and three types of sofisticated cloudmicrophysics schemes with double-parameters for hail-bearing clouds,warm clouds and snowing clouds respectively.The model is designed to be used flexibly for simulations of a variety of meso-and small-scale atmospheric processes,and can be improved as a regional and local operational NWP system in future.     

江苏岸外辐射沙脊群东沙稳定性研究

东沙是江苏岸外辐射沙脊群中的第二大沙洲,具有独特的地形地貌和水动力条件,对它进行稳定性研究为揭示整个辐射沙洲及其邻近岸滩的动态演变都非常有益。通过利用多年遥感卫片资料、1998年取得的现场水文泥沙观测资料和东沙滩面表层沉积物资料等,对东沙的地形地貌特征、沉积特征和东沙两侧潮汐通道的水流泥沙特征等进行了详细分析。研究结果表明,东沙的沙脊偏于西侧,西侧滩面较窄、高程较高且岸线较为顺直,东侧滩面较宽、高程较低且岸线较为破碎;西洋和陈家坞槽均处于冲刷状态,净输沙的主要方向为输向槽外或输向条子泥;东沙近三十年来面积有所缩小且有外围向中央收缩的趋势,尤其以向东、向南方向的迁移最为明显。     

西太平洋暖池区热带波动的天气效应

为了探讨西太平洋暧地区热带波动的天气效应，利用1980年2－9月140°E日本静止卫星纬度时间剖面卫星云图，分析了5d和14d左右周期热带波动云的演变特征，井综合分析了14d周期的云系演变型式与流场的关系，为预报热带中期天气变化规律提供了依据；热带波动中30－60d大气低频振荡的云量变化最显著，北半球夏半年热带波动的天气压主要在10°N－0°，各半年在10°N－10°S，超过这个区域热带云量的港分布型式就有明显的变化。     

Origin of short period comets

Reasons for interest in the origin of short-period comets and the difficulties of computing their long-term dynamcal evolution are reviewed. The relative advantages of a source region in an extended inner core of the Oort cloud or a compact comet belt just beyond the planetary system are finely balanced, and it is premature to consider the problem solved. A complication is that some comets belonging to the Jupiter family may be part of a time-dependent system, possibly the remains of a giant comet such as Chiron which could have been part of the system 104 yr ago. The origin of short-period comets plays a pivotal role in many areas of solar system science: planet formation, the source of water (possibly life) on the terrestrial planets, the cratering record on the terrestrial planets and satellites of the outer planets, and the environmental impact posed by massive bodies and their decay products in the Earth's near-space environment.     

GNSS three carrier ambiguity resolution using ionosphere-reduced virtual signals

This paper presents a general modeling strategy for ambiguity resolution (AR) and position estimation (PE) using three or more phase-based ranging signals from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The proposed strategy will identify three best “virtual” signals to allow for more reliable AR under certain observational conditions characterized by ionospheric and tropospheric delay variability, level of phase noise and orbit accuracy. The selected virtual signals suffer from minimal or relatively low ionospheric effects, and thus are known as ionosphere-reduced virtual signals. As a result, the ionospheric parameters in the geometry-based observational models can be eliminated for long baselines, typically those of length tens to hundreds of kilometres. The proposed modeling comprises three major steps. Step 1 is the geometry-free determination of the extra-widelane (EWL) formed between the two closest L-band carrier measurements, directly from the two corresponding code measurements. Step 2 forms the second EWL signal and resolves the integer ambiguity with a geometry-based estimator alone or together with the first EWL. This is followed by a procedure to correct for the first-order ionospheric delay using the two ambiguity-fixed widelane (WL) signals derived from the integer-fixed EWL signals. Step 3 finds an independent narrow-lane (NL) signal, which is used together with a refined WL to resolve NL ambiguity with geometry-based integer estimation and search algorithms. As a result, the above two AR processes performed with WL/NL and EWL/WL signals respectively, either in sequence or in parallel, can support real time kinematic (RTK) positioning over baselines of tens to hundreds of kilometres, thus enabling centimetre-to-decimentre positioning at the local, regional and even global scales in the future.     

The dynamics and thermodynamics of large ash flows

 Ash flow deposits, containing up to 1000 km³ of material, have been produced by some of the largest volcanic eruptions known. Ash flows propagate several tens of kilometres from their source vents, produce extensive blankets of ash and are able to surmount topographic barriers hundreds of metres high. We present and test a new model of the motion of such flows as they propagate over a near horizontal surface from a collapsing fountain above a volcanic vent. The model predicts that for a given eruption rate, either a slow (10–100 m/s) and deep (1000–3000 m) subcritical flow or a fast (100–200 m/s) and shallow (500–1000 m) supercritical flow may develop. Subcritical ash flows propagate with a nearly constant volume flux, whereas supercritical flows entrain air and become progressively more voluminous. The run-out distance of such ash flows is controlled largely by the mass of air mixed into the collapsing fountain, the degree of fragmentation and the associated rate of loss of material into an underlying concentrated depositional system, and the mass eruption rate. However, in supercritical flows, the continued entrainment of air exerts a further important control on the flow evolution. Model predictions show that the run-out distance decreases with the mass of air entrained into the flow. Also, the mass of ash which may ascend from the flow into a buoyant coignimbrite cloud increases as more air is entrained into the flow. As a result, supercritical ash flows typically have shorter runout distances and more ash is elutriated into the associated coignimbrite eruption columns. We also show that one-dimensional, channellized ash flows typically propagate further than their radially spreading counterparts. As a Plinian eruption proceeds, the erupted mass flux often increases, leading to column collapse and the formation of pumiceous ash flows. Near the critical conditions for eruption column collapse, the flows are shed from high fountains which entrain large quantities of air per unit mass. Our model suggests that this will lead to relatively short ash flows with much of the erupted material being elutriated into the coignimbrite column. However, if the mass flux subseqently increases, then less air per unit mass is entrained into the collapsing fountain, and progressively larger flows, which propagate further from the vent, will develop. Our model is consistent with observations of a number of pyroclastic flow deposits, including the 1912 eruption of Katmai and the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo. The model suggests that many extensive flow sheets were emplaced from eruptions with mass fluxes of 10⁹–10¹⁰ kg/s over periods of 10³–10⁵ s, and that some indicators of flow "mobility" may need to be reinterpreted. Furthermore, in accordance with observations, the model predicts that the coignimbrite eruption columns produced from such ash flows rose between 20 and 40 km. Received: 25 August 1995 / Accepted: 3 April 1996     

Permanent Scatterers for landslide investigations: outcomes from the ESA-SLAM project

Within the SLAM project (Service for Landslide Monitoring), launched in 2003 by the European Space Agency (ESA) the Permanent Scatterers (PS) technique, a multi-image interferometric approach, coupled with the interpretation of aerial-photos and optical satellite images, was carried out for landslide investigations. The PS analysis was applied at a regional scale as support for landslide inventory mapping and at local scale for the monitoring of single well-known slope movements. For the integration of the PS measurements within a landslide inventory the Arno river basin (Italy) was chosen as test site for the presence of a high number of mass movements (to date about 300 areas at high landslide risk and more than 27,000 individual landslides mapped by the institutional authorities). About 350 SAR images have been interferometrically processed by means of the PS technique, with the detection of about 600,000 PS. The use of optical images contributed spatial meaning to the point-wise information provided by the PS, making it easier to identify terrain features related to slope instability and the landslide boundaries. Here we describe the employed methodology and its impact in the updating of a preexisting landslide inventory. 6.8% of the total number of landslides were characterized by ground displacement measurements from the PS: 6.1% of already mapped landslides and 0.8% of new unstable areas detected through the PS analysis. Moreover, most of the PS are located in urban areas, showing that the proposed methodology is suitable for landslide mapping in areas with a quite high density of urbanization, but that over vegetated areas it still suffers from the limitations induced by the current space-borne SAR missions (e.g. temporal de-correlation). On the other hand, the use of InSAR for the monitoring of single slow landslides threatening built-up areas has provided satisfactory results, allowing the measurement of superficial deformations with high accuracy on the landslide sectors characterized by a good radar reflectivity and coherence.