A space-based decametric wavelength radio telescope concept

This paper reports a design study for a space-based decametric wavelength telescope. While not a new concept, this design study focused on many of the operational aspects that would be required for an actual mission. This design optimized the number of spacecraft to insure good visibility of approx. 80% of the radio galaxies– the primary science target for the mission. A 5,000 km lunar orbit was selected to guarantee minimal gravitational perturbations from Earth and lower radio interference. Optimal schemes for data downlink, spacecraft ranging, and power consumption were identified. An optimal mission duration of 1 year was chosen based on science goals, payload complexity, and other factors. Finally, preliminary simulations showing image reconstruction were conducted to confirm viability of the mission. This work is intended to show the viability and science benefits of conducting multi-spacecraft networked radio astronomy missions in the next few years.     

An algorithm to resolve γ-rays from charged cosmic rays with DAMPE

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE),also known as Wukong in China,which was launched on 2015 December 17,is a new high energy cosmic ray and γ-ray satellite-borne observatory.One of the main scientific goals of DAMPE is to observe Ge V-Te V high energy γ-rays with accurate energy,angular and time resolution,to indirectly search for dark matter particles and for the study of high energy astrophysics. Due to the comparatively higher fluxes of charged cosmic rays with respect to γ-rays,it is challenging to identify γ-rays with sufficiently high efficiency,minimizing the amount of charged cosmic ray contamination. In this work we present a method to identify γ-rays in DAMPE data based on Monte Carlo simulations,using the powerful electromagnetic/hadronic shower discrimination provided by the calorimeter and the veto detection of charged particles provided by the plastic scintillation detector. Monte Carlo simulations show that after this selection the number of electrons and protons that contaminate the selected γ-ray events at～10 Ge V amounts to less than 1% of the selected sample.Finally,we use flight data to verify the effectiveness of the method by highlighting known γ-ray sources in the sky and by reconstructing preliminary light curves of the Geminga pulsar.     

Carbon pools and fluxes in the China Seas and adjacent oceans

The China Seas include the South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, and Bohai Sea. Located off the Northwestern Pacific margin, covering 4700000 km~2 from tropical to northern temperate zones, and including a variety of continental margins/basins and depths, the China Seas provide typical cases for carbon budget studies. The South China Sea being a deep basin and part of the Western Pacific Warm Pool is characterized by oceanic features; the East China Sea with a wide continental shelf, enormous terrestrial discharges and open margins to the West Pacific, is featured by strong cross-shelf materials transport; the Yellow Sea is featured by the confluence of cold and warm waters; and the Bohai Sea is a shallow semiclosed gulf with strong impacts of human activities. Three large rivers, the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Pearl River, flow into the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea, and the South China Sea, respectively. The Kuroshio Current at the outer margin of the Chinese continental shelf is one of the two major western boundary currents of the world oceans and its strength and position directly affect the regional climate of China. These characteristics make the China Seas a typical case of marginal seas to study carbon storage and fluxes. This paper systematically analyzes the literature data on the carbon pools and fluxes of the Bohai Sea,Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea, including different interfaces(land-sea, sea-air, sediment-water, and marginal sea-open ocean) and different ecosystems(mangroves, wetland, seagrass beds, macroalgae mariculture, coral reefs, euphotic zones, and water column). Among the four seas, the Bohai Sea and South China Sea are acting as CO_2 sources, releasing about0.22 and 13.86–33.60 Tg C yr~(-1) into the atmosphere, respectively, whereas the Yellow Sea and East China Sea are acting as carbon sinks, absorbing about 1.15 and 6.92–23.30 Tg C yr~(-1) of atmospheric CO_2, respectively. Overall, if only the CO_2 exchange at the sea-air interface is considered, the Chinese marginal seas appear to be a source of atmospheric CO_2, with a net release of 6.01–9.33 Tg C yr~(-1), mainly from the inputs of rivers and adjacent oceans. The riverine dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) input into the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea are 5.04, 14.60, and 40.14 Tg C yr~(-1),respectively. The DIC input from adjacent oceans is as high as 144.81 Tg C yr~(-1), significantly exceeding the carbon released from the seas to the atmosphere. In terms of output, the depositional fluxes of organic carbon in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea are 2.00, 3.60, 7.40, and 5.92 Tg C yr~(-1), respectively. The fluxes of organic carbon from the East China Sea and South China Sea to the adjacent oceans are 15.25–36.70 and 43.93 Tg C yr~(-1), respectively. The annual carbon storage of mangroves, wetlands, and seagrass in Chinese coastal waters is 0.36–1.75 Tg C yr~(-1), with a dissolved organic carbon(DOC) output from seagrass beds of up to 0.59 Tg C yr~(-1). Removable organic carbon flux by Chinese macroalgae mariculture account for 0.68 Tg C yr~(-1) and the associated POC depositional and DOC releasing fluxes are 0.14 and 0.82 Tg C yr~(-1), respectively. Thus, in total, the annual output of organic carbon, which is mainly DOC, in the China Seas is 81.72–104.56 Tg C yr~(-1). The DOC efflux from the East China Sea to the adjacent oceans is 15.00–35.00 Tg C yr~(-1). The DOC efflux from the South China Sea is 31.39 Tg C yr~(-1). Although the marginal China Seas seem to be a source of atmospheric CO_2 based on the CO_2 flux at the sea-air interface, the combined effects of the riverine input in the area, oceanic input, depositional export,and microbial carbon pump(DOC conversion and output) indicate that the China Seas represent an important carbon storage area.     

南海西沙永乐龙洞沉积物组成、来源及其沉积作用

南海永乐龙洞发育于永乐珊瑚礁台地,龙洞深度达300m,为世界之最。沉积物堆积在龙洞的洞壁斜坡、龙洞中部的转折平台以及洞底等部位。使用激光粒度仪、X射线粉晶衍射仪、X射线荧光光谱仪等对采自不同深度的沉积物进行了粒级、矿物物相、元素含量的研究。研究结果表明:龙洞沉积物绝大部分为钙质生物碎屑,以砂粒级碎屑为主,含砾石碎屑、粉砂碎屑,分选和磨圆差;沉积物矿物组成以文石、高镁方解石为主,含少量低镁方解石,其平均含量分别为69%、28%、3%;化学组成以Ca、Mg、Sr为主,平均含量分别为35.5%、0.9%、0.5%,含少量Si、Al、Ti、P、S等元素。该区沉积物来源包括礁坪生物碎屑和东亚季风风尘陆源物质两个方面,以礁坪来源的生物碎屑为主;龙洞沉积作用包括机械捕获作用和垂直沉降作用两种方式,而以机械捕获作用为主。     

海水温度对衰亡期浒苔释放生源硫影响的模拟研究

为研究浒苔释放生源硫的特征，本文对采集于黄海绿潮中期和末期的浒苔进行了实验室模拟培养，探讨了不同温度对衰亡期浒苔释放生源硫化物的影响。实验结果表明，在10~25℃温度范围内，温度升高能够加速浒苔的衰亡。二甲基硫（DMS）的平均释放速率范围为2.79~150.70 nmol/（L·g·d），二甲基硫基丙酸内盐（DMSP）的平均释放速率范围为2.16~113.26 nmol/（L·g·d）。温度升高能够使DMS和DMSP的释放速率加快，释放量增加，DMS最大平均释放速率在25℃条件下比10℃条件下升高了约60%，培养液中DMS浓度升高了2~3倍。采集于绿潮末期的浒苔培养液中的DMS和DMSP和采集于绿潮中期的浒苔相比，浓度有所增加，采集于浒苔绿潮末期浒苔培养液中DMS的最高平均浓度为418.41 nmol/L，约为中期的4倍；DMSP的最高平均浓度为316.14 nmol/L，是中期的3倍。浒苔绿潮的爆发会对水体中的硫体系循环产生影响，进而影响该海域生态环境。     

P波斜入射角对沉管隧道地震响应的影响

为了研究P波斜入射对沉管隧道地震响应的影响，以港珠澳大桥沉管隧道为工程背景，考虑上覆海水与海床、沉管隧道之间耦合作用，采用粘弹性边界和等效力的地震荷载输入方式，利用ADINA软件建立三维有限元模型进行地震响应分析。分析入射角为0°、20°、40°、50°、60°时P波对沉管隧道环向应力峰值（正应力峰值、剪应力峰值）和位移峰值的影响，结果表明:入射角为40°时，沉管隧道应力峰值最大；入射角为0°—40°时，隧道的应力峰值逐渐增大，入射角为40°—60°时，隧道的应力峰值逐渐减小；隧道截面4个转角处及隔墙与顶板、底板的连接处为隧道剪应力峰值最大处；隧道截面左侧剪应力峰值远大于右侧；隧道顶板正应力峰值最大，顶板的正应力峰值大约为底板的2倍；隧道截面左侧位移峰值远大于隧道截面右侧。     

Newly discovered hydrothermal fields along the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge around 63°E

The ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge(SWIR) to the east of the Melville fracture zone is characterized by very low melt supply and intensive tectonic activity. Due to its weak thermal budget and extremely slow spreading rate, the easternmost SWIR was considered to be devoid of hydrothermal activity until the discovery of the inactive Mt. Jourdanne hydrothermal field(27°51′S, 63°56′E) in 1998. During the COMRA DY115-20 cruise in2009, two additional hydrothermal fields(i.e., the Tiancheng(27°51′S, 63°55′E) and Tianzuo(27°57′S, 63°32′E)fields) were discovered. Further detailed investigations of these two hydrothermal sites were conducted by Chinese manned submersible Jiaolong in 2014–2015. The Tiancheng filed can be characterized as a lowtemperature(up to 13.2°C) diffuse flow hydrothermal field, and is hosted by fractured basalts with hydrothermal fauna widespread on the seafloor. The Tianzuo hydrothermal field is an inactive sulfide field, which is hosted by ultramafic rocks and controlled by detachment fault. The discovery of the three hydrothermal fields around Segment #11 which receives more melt than the regional average, provided evidence for local enhanced magmatism providing heat source to drive hydrothermal circulation. We further imply that hydrothermal activity and sulfide deposits may be rather promising along the easternmost SWIR.     

PHoToNs–A parallel heterogeneous and threads oriented code for cosmological N-body simulation

We introduce a new code for cosmological simulations, PHo To Ns, which incorporates features for performing massive cosmological simulations on heterogeneous high performance computer(HPC) systems and threads oriented programming. PHo To Ns adopts a hybrid scheme to compute gravitational force, with the conventional Particle-Mesh(PM) algorithm to compute the long-range force,the Tree algorithm to compute the short range force and the direct summation Particle-Particle(PP) algorithm to compute gravity from very close particles. A self-similar space filling a Peano-Hilbert curve is used to decompose the computing domain. Threads programming is advantageously used to more flexibly manage the domain communication, PM calculation and synchronization, as well as Dual Tree Traversal on the CPU+MIC platform. PHo To Ns scales well and efficiency of the PP kernel achieves68.6% of peak performance on MIC and 74.4% on CPU platforms. We also test the accuracy of the code against the much used Gadget-2 in the community and found excellent agreement.     

Crustal structure beneath the central Tien Shan from ambient noise tomography

Through analysis of seismic ambient noise recorded by the GHENGIS array, we constructed a high‐resolution 3‐D crustal shear‐wave velocity model for the central Tien Shan. The obtained shear‐wave velocity model provides insight into the detailed crustal structure beneath the Tien Shan. The results obtained at shallow depths are well correlated with known subsurface geological features. Low velocities are found mainly beneath sedimentary basins, whereas high velocities are mainly associated with mountain ranges. At greater depths of ~43–45 km, high velocities were observed beneath the Tarim Basin and Kazakh Shield; these high velocities extend forward in opposite directions and tilt down towards the central Tien Shan to a depth of in excess of 50 km, most likely reflecting lateral variations in crustal thickness beneath the Tien Shan and surrounding platforms.     

A new standardized Palmer drought index for hydro‐meteorological use

Accepting the concept of standardization introduced by the standardized precipitation index, similar methodologies have been developed to construct some other standardized drought indices such as the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). In this study, the authors provided deep insight into the SPEI and recognized potential deficiencies/limitations in relating to the climatic water balance it used. By coupling another well‐known Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), we proposed a new standardized Palmer drought index (SPDI) through a moisture departure probabilistic approach, which allows multi‐scalar calculation for accurate temporal and spatial comparison of the hydro‐meteorological conditions of different locations. Using datasets of monthly precipitation, temperature and soil available water capacity, the moisture deficit/surplus was calculated at multiple temporal scales, and a couple of techniques were adopted to adjust corresponding time series to a generalized extreme value distribution out of several candidates. Results of the historical records (1900–2012) for diverse climates by multiple indices showed that the SPDI was highly consistent and correlated with the SPEI and self‐calibrated PDSI at most analysed time scales. Furthermore, a simple experiment of hypothetical temperature and/or precipitation change scenarios also verified the effectiveness of this newly derived SPDI in response to climate change impacts. Being more robust and preferable in spatial consistency and comparability as well as combining the simplicity of calculation with sufficient accounting of the physical nature of water supply and demand relating to droughts, the SPDI is promising to serve as a competent reference and an alternative for drought assessment and monitoring. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.