Acoustic cavitation thresholds of sea water in different regions of the world ocean

Results of experimental measurements of acoustic cavitation thresholds are presented for the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and some other parts of the World Ocean, including the Arabian Sea, Baltic Sea, East Siberian Sea, North Sea, Philippine Sea, Black Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and South China Sea. The measurements were carried out by many oceanic expeditions between 1963 and 1987. General laws governing the variations in the cavitation strength of sea water over the World Ocean are revealed.     

Covariability and climatic changes of the lower-troposphere temperatures over the Northern Hemisphere

Summary The covariability and the long-term fluctuation of the lowertroposphere temperatures is studied, applying factor analysis on grid point (1000÷500) hPa thickness data for the Northern Hemisphere. About 30 factors were retained and rotated for each season and year, but only about half of them were found to be significant. The grouping of the grid points according to the factor loadings has been mainly influenced by the land and sea distribution. Three teleconnections were found only, one in winter and two in summer. The winter one is a see-saw phenomenon between West Asia and North-West Scandinavia. In summer, the British Isles were found to covary with East Canada and the same is the case for almost all the subtropical deserts. The study of the factor scores revealed that the recent warming of the Earth’s surface in the lower troposphere appears over the continents only.     

热带海洋与中低纬大气相互作用的信息传输特征分析

基于传递熵概念和方法定义气象场的信息源特征度、信息汇特征度和信息传输平衡特征度.使用海表温度和高度场资料计算海气相互作用过程中的信息传递.侧重分析赤道中东太平洋(20?S-20?N,170?E-100?W)与热带地区、北半球和南半球中高纬度地区大气之间的信息传递,给出信息传递的区域和全球分布特征;并提取海表温度指数和高度场指数分析赤道中东太平洋与大气信息传递特征的季节变化和年代际变化.研究结果表明,海洋信息源主要分布在热带地区,大气信息汇主要分布在中纬度地区,从热带地区到中纬度地区,海洋对大气的强迫作用在减弱,而大气对海洋的强迫作用在增强;不同区域不同层次的高度场对赤道中东太平洋海表温度有着不同的响应,热带中东太平洋上空高度场最大延迟为4个月.欧亚大陆中部上空和北美大陆上空高度场均随时间延迟呈现波动性变化:欧亚大陆中部上空高度场随时间延迟呈现增强的趋势,而北美大陆上空高度场随时间延迟呈现减弱的趋势.海表温度指数对热带中东太平洋上空850 hPa和欧亚大陆中部上空500 hPa高度场指数的传递熵以2000 s最弱,而海表温度指数对北美大陆上空700 hPa高度场指数的传递熵以2000 s最强.表明不同年代际背景下不同区域大气对赤道中东太平洋海表温度异常的响应是不同的.然而不同季节的响应却十分相似:冬季最强,秋季次之,春季再次,夏季最弱.     

Seasonal and geographical patterns of fin whale song in the western North Atlantic Ocean

Male fin whales, Balaenoptera physalus, produce a song consisting of 20?Hz notes at regularly spaced time intervals. Previous studies identified regional differences in fin whale internote intervals (INI), but seasonal changes within populations have not been closely examined. To understand the patterns of fin whale song in the western North Atlantic, the seasonal abundance and acoustic features of fin whale song are measured from two years of archival passive acoustic recordings at two representative locations: Massachusetts Bay and New York Bight. Fin whale 20?Hz notes are detected on 99% of recorded days. In both regions, INI varies significantly throughout the year as two distinct periods: a "short-INI" season in September-January (9.6?s) and a "long-INI" season in March-May (15.1?s). February and June-August are transitional-INI months, with higher variability. Note abundance decreases with increasing INI, where note abundance is significantly lower in April-August than in September-January. Short-INI and high note abundance correspond to the fin whale reproductive season. The temporal variability of INI may be a mechanism by which fin whale individuals encode and communicate a variety of behaviorally relevant information.     

Recent Progress of Wavelength Division Multiplexing Technology In Tera-bit/s Transoceanic Undersea Cable Systems

Transmission capacity for optical undersea cable systems is growing remarkably and a more than 500-fold increase has been achieved for commercial systems over the past 10 years. The first optical fiber cable in the Pacific Ocean went into service in 1989 and has a capacity of 280 Mbit/s per fiber pair. The emergence of an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier paved the way for a drastic capacity increase for these cables, and large capacity optical amplifier undersea cable systems with 5 Gbit/s per fiber pair were constructed worldwide in 1995-1996. Recent 10 Gbit/s-based wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technologies together with new fibers and new amplifiers have allowed a further increase in capacity up to 160 Gbit/s, and these WDM systems will begin commercial service in both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean in 2000. Research interest is now being directed towards the development of undersea cable systems with a transmission capacity of 1 Tera-bit/s or more. This paper reviews the key technologies for next generation 160 Gbit/s optical undersea cable systems and recent progress towards Tera-bit/s systems. Dispersion managed soliton transmission for future higher bit rate WDM is also discussed.     

Circulation system complex networks and teleconnections

In terms of the characteristic topology parameters of climate complex networks, the spatial connection structural complexity of the circulation system and the influence of four teleconnection patterns are quantitatively described. Results of node degrees for the Northern Hemisphere (NH) mid-high latitude (30^circ N—90^circ N) circulation system (NHS) networks with and without the Arctic Oscillations (AO), the North Atlantic Oscillations (NAO) and the Pacific—North American pattern (PNA) demonstrate that the teleconnections greatly shorten the mean shortest path length of the networks, thus being advantageous to the rapid transfer of local fluctuation information over the network and to the stability of the NHS. The impact of the AO on the NHS connection structure is most important and the impact of the NAO is the next important. The PNA is a relatively independent teleconnection, and its role in the NHS is mainly manifested in the connection between the NHS and the tropical circulation system (TRS). As to the Southern Hemisphere mid-high latitude (30^circ S—90^circ S) circulation system (SHS), the impact of the Antarctic Arctic Oscillations (AAO) on the structural stability of the system is most important. In addition, there might be a stable correlation dipole (AACD) in the SHS, which also has important influence on the structure of the SHS networks.     

Thirteen years of atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements at Mt. Cimone station, Italy

Summary The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has been continuously measured at Mt. Cimone station from March 1979. In this paper a selection scheme is applied to the measured concentrations in order to obtain data representative of background conditions. Monthly averages, expressed in the WMO X-85 scale are calculated from the selected data and analysed by a technique of time series decomposition until december 1991. Monthly values exibit an increasing long-term trend, mainly due to the fossil fuel combustion: over the whole monitoring period the average CO₂ growth rate is 1.66 p.p.m.v./y. A seasonal cycle, largely due to the biospheric activity of the northern hemisphere is evident. The estimated average peak-to-peak amplitude is 11.32 p.p.m.v. with a maximum occurring in April and a minimum in August. The seasonal amplitude is found to be decreasing with time, by about 1.5 p.p.m.v. over the entire record: no conclusive interpretations are given about this experimental result. Besides the long-term trend and the seasonal cycle, CO₂ interannual variations are observed in the selected record; these correlate negatively with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) with a maximum correlation coefficient of 0.6 for a delay of about 7–8 months.     

全球温度场信息熵的时空特征分析

本文基于信息熵理论定义气象要素信息熵,并运用其分析全球温度场在不同时空尺度上偏离气候态(1971—2000)的不确定性. 研究结果表明:1)温度场气候态信息熵(CE)具有明显的纬向分布特征,总体表现为温度场CE由低纬度地区向中高纬度地区递增,且海陆差异显著,可以较好地区分各个气候带;其垂直变化,在低纬度地区表现为随高度的升高而增加,但在中高纬度地区则以300hPa为界呈准对称分布,在此高度之上其值随高度升高而增加,之下则相反,这一特征在高纬度地区更为明显.2)温度场月信息熵(ME)的季节性差异显著,总体表 关键词： 信息熵 温度场 可预测性     

Predicting acoustic effects of internal waves from the basic climatology of the world ocean

Internal waves of a given strength will produce acoustic effects that vary from water mass to water mass. Presented here is a means of predicting the strength of acoustic fluctuations due to internal waves, given the basic climatology, that is, measurements of depth, temperature, and salinity of an oceanic region. An acoustic fluctuation strength parameter F is defined as the ratio of the fractional potential sound-speed change to the fractional potential-density change. Here F is calculated at three depth levels (275, 550, and 850 m), on a one-degree grid of latitude and longitude, using NODC/OCL's World Ocean Atlas 1994. Representative values of F are presented for 15 upper water masses that range from F = 5 in the North Pacific to F = 34 in the North Atlantic, with a typical value for most of the upper waters being F = 15. Results for two depth levels within 12 intermediate water masses range from F = 7 in the North Pacific to F = 62 in the North Atlantic, with a typical value of F = 20, although there is considerable variation. In general, F exhibits higher values in the Atlantic Basin than in the Indian or Pacific, and has a maximum at 550 m. The main use of F will be the prediction of travel-time fluctuations in acoustic propagation experiments, which will be proportional to the value of F, given a universal strength of internal waves.     

Validation of retrieval algorithms for the infrared remote sensing of precipitation with the Sardinian rain gauge network data

Summary A few retrieval techniques for the estimate of precipitation from infrared satellite data, already tested over the tropical Atlantic Ocean and over continental mid-latitude regions, have been used to verify their performance for the study of the western Mediterranean Sea climate. An attempt to optimize these techniques has been made, and a detailed comparison of the remotely sensed precipitation within situ continuous data, obtained with the rain gauge network in Sardinia for two significant periods of 1988, is presented. The results obtained give some useful indications on the performance of these techniques, on the best area time resolution to be used for their validation, and on the possible applications of the retrieved information.     

利用传递熵对Lorenz系统和Walker环流信息传输方向的分析

基于传递熵方法, 分析Lorenz系统x, y, z三个分量之间的信息传输方向, 并应用温差与垂直速度的再分析资料对Walker环流进行分析. 研究结果表明: 1) 对于Lorenz系统而言, x与y分量之间, y是信息源, x是信息汇; y与z之间, y是信息源, z是信息汇; x与z分量之间的信息传递方向依赖于控制参数r; 且净信息传输的方向不随初值不同而改变; 2)在西太平洋地区, 温差对垂直速度的净信息输送占主导地位, 而赤道东太平洋地区则为垂直速度对温差的净信息输送占主导地位, 这与Walker环流物理机制是一致的, 且海陆热力差异对温差与垂直速度之间的信息输送影响较大; 3)冬季是温差与垂直速度之间的信息输送最强季节, 夏季和秋季次之, 春季最弱, 这可能是存在春季预报障碍的原因之一. 以上结果表明, 传递熵在气象领域有广阔的应用前景, 是测量动力学系统信息传递方向的一种有效方法和工具. 关键词： 传递熵 信息传输 Lorenz系统 Walker环流     

东亚地区大气环流的季节划分及其时空变化特征

利用NCEP-DOE Reanalysis 2 1979-2009年位势高度场、温度场、湿度场和风场逐日再分析资料,采用考虑面积权重的区域多要素最优分割法,对东亚地区大气环流的季节进行划分,并分析了四季起始时间的时空变化特征.研究结果表明:1)东亚地区春季最早始于中高纬地区的平流层和副热带的对流层中下层;夏季最早始于中高纬的平流层和副热带、中纬度地区的对流层中上层;秋、冬季开始最早的地区集中在东亚地区东部和东北部的对流层中低层,以及中高纬的平流层. 2)季节变化与环流形势密切相关,且对流层各个层次的夏季和冬季起始时间的分布均有较好的垂直一致性,平流层与对流层各季节起始时间分布有较大的差异性,平流层中层和下层也并不一致. 3)华北地区四季平均起始时间距平序列的逐年演变特征表明近30年该地区出现了6个四季起始时间异常偏早的年份,与El Niño活跃年份相一致,反映了海温等外强迫对大气环流季节变化的影响. 关键词： 季节划分 东亚地区 区域多要素最优分割法     

Quantifying the Predictability of Visual Scanpaths Using Active Information Storage

Entropy-based measures are an important tool for studying human gaze behavior under various conditions. In particular, gaze transition entropy (GTE) is a popular method to quantify the predictability of a visual scanpath as the entropy of transitions between fixations and has been shown to correlate with changes in task demand or changes in observer state. Measuring scanpath predictability is thus a promising approach to identifying viewers’ cognitive states in behavioral experiments or gaze-based applications. However, GTE does not account for temporal dependencies beyond two consecutive fixations and may thus underestimate the actual predictability of the current fixation given past gaze behavior. Instead, we propose to quantify scanpath predictability by estimating the active information storage (AIS), which can account for dependencies spanning multiple fixations. AIS is calculated as the mutual information between a processes’ multivariate past state and its next value. It is thus able to measure how much information a sequence of past fixations provides about the next fixation, hence covering a longer temporal horizon. Applying the proposed approach, we were able to distinguish between induced observer states based on estimated AIS, providing first evidence that AIS may be used in the inference of user states to improve human–machine interaction.     

A note on vector flux models for radiation dose calculations

This paper reviews and extends modelling of anisotropic fluxes for radiation belt protons to provide closed-form equations for vector proton fluxes and proton flux anisotropy in terms of standard omnidirectional flux models. These equations provide a flexible alternative to the data-based vector flux models currently available. At higher energies, anisotropy of trapped proton flux in the upper atmosphere depends strongly on the variation of atmospheric density with altitude. Calculations of proton flux anisotropies using present models require specification of the average atmospheric density along trapped particle trajectories and its variation with mirror point altitude. For an isothermal atmosphere, calculations show that in a dipole magnetic field, the scale height of this trajectory-averaged density closely approximates the scale height of the atmosphere at the mirror point of the trapped particle. However, for the earth's magnetic field, the altitudes of mirror points vary for protons drifting in longitude. This results in a small increase in longitude-averaged scale heights compared to the atmospheric scale heights at minimum mirror point altitudes. The trajectory-averaged scale heights are increased by about 10-20% over scale heights from standard atmosphere models for protons mirroring at altitudes less than 500 km in the South Atlantic Anomaly. Atmospheric losses of protons in the geomagnetic field minimum in the South Atlantic Anomaly control proton flux anisotropies of interest for radiation studies in low earth orbit. Standard atmosphere models provide corrections for diurnal, seasonal and solar activity-driven variations. Thus, determination of an "equilibrium" model of trapped proton fluxes of a given energy requires using a scale height that is time-averaged over the lifetime of the protons. The trajectory-averaged atmospheric densities calculated here lead to estimates for trapped proton lifetimes. These lifetimes provide appropriate time-averaging intervals for equilibrium models of trapped proton fluxes.     

全球水汽再循环率的空间分布及其季节变化特征

本文利用ERA-Interim再分析资料,结合新建的水汽再循环数值模式研究了全球降水再循环率和蒸发再循环率的空间分布及其季节变化特征,并给出了主要水汽源地对中国降水的贡献率,结果表明:全球降水再循环率的空间分布特征明显,各地区降水对外界水汽输送的依赖程度不同;陆地蒸发再循环率与降水再循环率的分布大体一致,但是在海洋上差别很大.全球水汽再循环率的季节变化显著,而且北半球降水再循环率的季节变化整体上强于南半球;全球重要水汽源区各季节蒸发再循环率均很低,绝大部分蒸发量都输送到了其他地区.水汽再循环率除与区域的位置、形状有关外,区域的水平尺度也会对其产生影响,随着水平尺度的增大,水汽再循环率呈曲线上升.中国大陆地区降水再循环率为32.6%,蒸发再循环率为44.9%,西北太平洋、南海、孟加拉湾、阿拉伯海以及澳大利亚西部海域对中国降水的贡献较大.本文基于水汽平衡方程建立的数值模式,具有坚实的数理基础,得到的结果可信度较高.     

El Niño prediction and predictability

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is by far the most energetic, and at present also the most predictable, short-term fluctuation in the Earth’s climate system, though the limits of its predictability are still a subject of considerable debate. As a result of over two-decades of intensive observational, theoretical and modeling efforts, ENSO’s basic dynamics is now well understood and its prediction has become a routine practice at application centers all over the world. The predictability of ENSO largely stems from the ocean–atmosphere interaction in the tropical Pacific and the low-dimensional nature of this coupled system. Present ENSO forecast models, in spite of their vast differences in complexity, exhibit comparable predictive skills, which seem to have hit a plateau at moderate level. However, mounting evidence suggests that there is still room for improvement. In particular, better model initialization and data assimilation, better simulation of surface heat and freshwater fluxes, and better representation of the relevant processes outside of the tropical Pacific, could all lead to improved ENSO forecasts.     

Stable H and O isotope-based investigation of moisture sources and their role in river and groundwater recharge in the NE Carpathian Mountains,East-Central Europe†

The region situated between the mountain area and the lowlands in NE Romania (East-Central Europe) is experiencing increased competition for water resources triggered by a growing population, intensification of agriculture, and industrial development. To better understand hydrological cycling processes in the region, a study was conducted using stable isotopes of water and atmospheric trajectory data to characterize regional precipitation and vapour sources derived from the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as recycled continental moisture, and to assess and partition these contributions to recharge of surface and groundwater. Atmospheric moisture in the lowlands is found to be predominantly delivered along easterly trajectories, while mountainous areas appear to be dominated by North Atlantic Ocean sources, with moisture transported along mid-latitude, westerly storm tracks. Large-scale circulation patterns affect moisture delivery, the North Atlantic Oscillation being particularly influential in winter and the East Atlantic pattern in summer. Winter precipitation is the main contributor to river discharge and aquifer recharge. As winter precipitation amounts are projected to decrease over the next decades, and water abstraction is expected to steadily increase, a general reduction in water availability is projected for the region.     

Biochemical Applications of Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy,edited by Vladislav V. Yakovlev

A survey is made of some of the major researches on ocean waves of the last 25 years. Starting with the introduction of the wave spectrum by Barber and Ursell and their observations of the decrease in period of swell waves arriving on the Cornish coast, which established the predominant linearity of the propagation of storm-generated waves across the ocean, we proceed to the more precise and ambitious experiments in the Pacific by Munk, Snodgrass and others. The latter work identified the arrival in California of waves generated in the Indian Ocean, nearly half-way round the world, and developed into a detailed study of the attenuation of swell as it travels along a great circle path from beyond New Zealand to Alaska. A summary is given of some basic aspects of the new theory of nonlinear scattering in water waves, and finally, instrumental techniques and theory involved in the study of waves in the North Atlantic Ocean for forecasting purposes are reviewed in simple terms.     

Complex networks in climate dynamics

Complex network theory provides a powerful framework to statistically investigate the topology of local and non-local statistical interrelationships, i.e. teleconnections, in the climate system. Climate networks constructed from the same global climatological data set using the linear Pearson correlation coefficient or the nonlinear mutual information as a measure of dynamical similarity between regions, are compared systematically on local, mesoscopic and global topological scales. A high degree of similarity is observed on the local and mesoscopic topological scales for surface air temperature fields taken from AOGCM and reanalysis data sets. We find larger differences on the global scale, particularly in the betweenness centrality field. The global scale view on climate networks obtained using mutual information offers promising new perspectives for detecting network structures based on nonlinear physical processes in the climate system.     

Pinkness of the North Atlantic Oscillation signal revisited

The long episode of negative values in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index during the winter season 2009-2010 has attracted more attention to its predictability. Previous analyses (Fernández et al. (2003) [16] and Caldeira et al. (2007) [25]) by this same author group have established that the NAO signal behaves as a slightly red noise and therefore the prediction of the phenomenon must rely upon a deeper understanding of the underlying Physics. In this paper the authors address a predictability study of the NAO index by applying the “detrended fluctuation analysis” (DFA) to a composite series, completed with a bootstrap spectral analysis. The DFA provides a quantitative measure of predictability by computing several piecewise fits, either linear or higher degree polynomial ones, to a cumulative series of fluctuations associated to the original series. These newer measurements agree with the previous results.