Compositional changes in lime-based mortars exposed to different environments

Specimens of aerial and hydraulic lime-based mortars to be used in restoration works were prepared, hardened and subjected to different environments to study their compositional changes during setting, hardening and exposure to environment. Outside exposure, weathering cycles in a climatic chamber, SO₂-rich environment and indoor exposure (as control group) were selected to expose the mortars. XRD, FT-IR and TG-DTA analyses were performed at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days to determine the chemical and mineralogical composition, as well as the formation of the degradation products. Outside and SO₂-chamber exposures and increasing the relative humidity allowed faster carbonation (enhancing CO_2(g) dissolution) and hydration of hydraulic compounds. In SO₂-chamber, sulfate attack appears as a surface phenomenon, giving: gypsum in aerial specimens and gypsum and syngenite in hydraulic specimens.     

Classification of Dansgaard–Oeschger climatic cycles by the application of similitude signal processing

In this work we have performed a detailed analysis, using signal processing tools, to study time series of data (temperature proxy) extracted from the GRIP ice-core records and we relate it with the evolution of atmospheric CO₂ within the last glacial period. Our method is based in considering the warm periods known as Dansgaard–Oeschger (D/O) events and posterior returns to the cold stage as a climatic cycle. After the warming phase, D/O events relax to the initial cold state in three different ways, what gives rise to three classes of cycles. Also, the Younger/Dryas–Bolling/Allerod (Y/D–B/A) cycle corresponds to one of the classes obtained. We have found that all cycles start with identical warming phases which seem completely unrelated to variations in CO₂ concentration. We discuss on the consequences for global climatology of such steady pattern of cycles.     

The effects of air temperature and humidity on the acoustic design of voice alarm systems on underground stations

Sound attenuation of air due to climatic conditions is often assumed to be constant and/or negligible in the electro acoustic design of voice alarm (VA) systems. However, air attenuation variations can be significant in large underground spaces and particularly as the frequency increases to the mid to high frequencies which are the most relevant to speech intelligibility. This investigation evaluates and quantifies the impact of the variability of the most influential climatic parameters, air temperature and relative humidity, on the performance of VA systems in underground stations. Computer simulations were employed to predict the effect of varying these climatic parameters on key performance metrics. Results demonstrated a significant increase in the values of reverberation time parameters with both temperature and humidity, at frequencies critical for speech intelligibility. Consequently the values of speech intelligibility related metrics decreased with rising temperatures and humidity. Hence, the study shows how ignoring temperature and humidity effects can lead to calculation errors in the design of VA systems. These errors could cause over-specification of the absorption required of surface materials, and the inaccurate prediction of acoustic and speech intelligibility related parameters.     

Lagrangian approach to the study of level sets II: A quasilinear equation in climatology

We study the dynamics and regularity of the level sets in solutions of the semilinear parabolic equation

     

同步辐射X射线衍射光谱在地带性土壤粘粒矿物研究中的应用

X射线衍射（XRD）光谱是分析土壤粘粒矿物组成的重要手段,但常规XRD分析存在前处理复杂、耗时较长、光谱分辨率低、扫描不充分等问题。为此,该研究依托北京同步辐射装置（BSRF）的4B9A衍射实验站,以我国东部不同气候带（即温带、亚热带、热带）的7种地带性森林土壤（棕色针叶林、暗棕壤、棕壤、黄棕壤、黄壤、赤红壤和砖红壤）为研究对象,利用同步辐射X射线衍射（SR-XRD）光谱对土壤粘粒矿物组成特征进行分析。结果表明：（1）温带土壤（棕色针叶林、暗棕壤和棕壤）质地以粘壤土为主,而亚热带土壤（黄棕壤、黄壤和赤红壤）分布在粘土和粘壤土的分界线上;从亚热带到热带,土壤质地呈现出粘土→壤土→砂土的变化趋势。（2）土壤硅铝率（Sa）表现为温带土壤（5.22）>热带土壤（4.53）>亚热带土壤（4.49）;同样地,硅铝铁率（Saf）也呈现出温带土壤（4.06）>热带土壤（3.53）>亚热带土壤（3.36）的变化规律。（3）从温带到热带,土壤粘粒矿物中高岭石的含量增加、结晶度提高,而伊利石的含量则逐渐减少;温带土壤以2∶1型粘粒矿物为主,而热带土壤则以1∶1型矿物为主;在SR-XRD光谱中鉴定出了伊蒙混层、长石两种粘粒矿物的存在,而这两种矿物在常规XRD光谱中未被识别。（4）与常规XRD法相比,利用SR-XRD法分析土壤粘粒矿物组成具有以下优势：一是前处理工作量较少,常规XRD法需将粘粒样品制成不同类型的载玻片再进行测定,而SR-XRD法直接测定粘粒样品即可;二是光谱分辨率高,SR-XRD法的分辨率可达到≤100 nm,从而能够检测到更多的衍射峰;三是实验效率提高,SR-XRD法的优化扫描步长可达0.04°,比常规XRD法增加1倍,从而提高了测试效率;四是扫描辨识度增加,SR-XRD法的看光时间可优化为4 min,是常规XRD法的2倍,使得样品的扫描更加充分。     

On periodically isotonic climate change

In a view of the past two millennia, is the recent 160-year global warmth an anomaly or a continuation of past climate pattern? In this work, we present two non-parametric χ² tests based on the U-test for the isotonic change-point problem proposed in an unpublished work by G. Shen and H. Xu (henceforth abbreviated as SX (unpublished)) and apply them to the global warming data. Our tests do not require any structure assumption on the underlying the deterministic mean process {μ_t} under the periodically isotonic alternative, but accommodate a large class of the models for the random error process. Being more attractive, the two tests obviate estimation of {μ_t} and possess explicit asymptotic distributions for short-range dependence data, and have asymptotic power 1 even under the local alternative.     

多层次统计-动力建模及其应用

该文将子波变换技术和平衡态动力理论结合起来，提出了以气候突变点数为核心的代层次气候建模技术。该技术不仅具有纯粹的动力学意义，而且模式的物理意义十分清楚 ，计算简单。     

MODIS多光谱研究攀西地区植被对气候变化响应

遥感方法定量监测植被与气候变化的关系已经成为全球变化研究的一个重要领域。攀西地区是我国长江上游重要的生态屏障,对维持四川乃至我国整体生态环境的稳定具有重要作用。基于攀西地区多年MODIS多光谱数据和气象数据对植被动态变化以及该变化与气候因子的关系进行了探讨。结果显示,NDVI变化和气温、降水呈正相关,其中降水是影响攀西地区植被生长的主要气候因子,NDVI变化与秋季降水量变化呈现出良好的一致性;研究区植被长势与气温和降水存在一定的时滞性,主要体现在前1个月气温和降水对植被长势的影响上。     

Long-term memory dynamics of continental and oceanic monthly temperatures in the recent 125 years

For both Northern and Southern hemispheres, the long-term memory dynamics for continent and ocean temperature records in the recent 125 years is studied in this paper. It is found that the records exhibit long-range memory and multifractality characteristics where large temperature anomalies display a more random behavior than the overall time series. A 256-month moving window was used to compute the time evolution of the fractal scaling exponent, giving the following results: (i) Ocean temperatures are more persistent than land temperatures, a result already reported in recent publications, (ii) All records show multifractality features, reflecting the nonlinear behavior of the temperature dynamics. Continent temperatures present sharper multifractal spectra than ocean temperatures, (iii) The persistency, as revealed by the scaling exponent, for ocean temperatures displays a cyclic behavior around a nearly constant average value of 22 years, (iv) The persistency for the Northern Hemisphere land temperature is also cyclical but with an increasing trend, and (v) The time at which the Northern Hemisphere continent temperature persistency will converge into the Northern Hemisphere ocean behavior was estimated with linear and exponential extrapolation functions, showing hitting dates around 2050±20 A.D. Potential implications of these results concerning the nature of climate change are also discussed.     

Influence of climatic conditions on the phenolic composition of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Graciano

The influence of different climatic conditions on the phenolic composition of grape skins and seeds of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Graciano – an autochthonous cultivar from Rioja and Navarra regions (Spain) – was evaluated during ripening in a separate way. Graciano grapes from two different vineyards with different climatic conditions and from two different vintages (2008 and 2009) were analysed. Clear differences between phenolic maturity pattern of grape skins and seeds were observed. In this context, it may be important to evaluate the phenolic maturity of seeds and skins in a separate way in order to decide the optimal harvest time. It was also noticeable that the effect of vintage (mainly due to changes in climatic conditions) may affect the changes in the phenolic composition of both grape skins and seeds. Although in a lesser extent, the effect of the vineyard was also observable, and it was especially relevant in vintages with irregular climatic conditions such as 2008 vintage.