Natural Infrasound as an Atmospheric Probe

Summary For four years continuous recording of infrasonic signals in the frequency range 0.1 to 1 Hz, known as microbaroms, has been conducted at Palisades, New York. The microbaroms we recorded are radiated into the atmosphere by interfering ocean waves in the North Atlantic as far as 2000 km away. A characteristic diurnal variation in the amplitude of the received signal has been noted, independent of any variation in the source. We conclude that the variation is due to variations of the factors affecting atmospheric sound propagation, namely wind and temperature.
In winter a semidiurnal variation in signal amplitude is observed, with maximum reception around 11 : 00 and 22; 00 local time. Reference to wind and temperature observations in the literature shows that at these times the lowest level of reflection of the vertically propagating signal occurs between 100 and 110 km due to the presence of strong east winds. At 18 : 00, time of minimum amplitudes, the reflection level rises to about 115 km because of a change in tidal wind phase. Viscous dissipation associated with the changed reflection height can account for the observed signal weakening. A third maximum, a less regular effect, is found to be related to more variable winds between 95 and 105 km.
In summer, reflection is found to occur from about 50 km due to the presence of stratospheric easterlies. The summer diurnal variation, different from that of the winter, exhibits only a weak minimum about 20 : 00. This appears to result from a diurnal temperature variation superimposed on a diurnal wind variation. Abnormally high microbaroms were recorded at times that can be related to an atmospheric event known as a stratospheric warming. Microbaroms thus provide a continuously available natural mechanism for probing the upper atmosphere. We conclude that the establishment of microbarom observation systems could give a comprehensive technique for monitoring several upper atmospheric parameters.     

Oceanic excitation of daily to seasonal signals in Earth rotation: results from a constant-density numerical model

Velocity and mass fields from a constant-density, near-global ocean model, driven with observed twice-daily surface wind stresses and atmospheric pressures for the period October 1992-September 1993, are used to calculate oceanic excitation functions for the length of day (LOD) and for polar motion (PM), and results are analysed as a function of the frequency band. Variable currents and mass redistributions are both important in determining oceanic excitation functions. For bands with periods longer than one month, wind-driven variability is the primary cause of oceanic excitation signals. At higher frequency bands, larger deviations from the inverted barometer response occur, and pressure-driven signals contribute more significantly to the variance in the excitation functions. Oceanic LOD excitation is generally small compared to that of the atmosphere, except for the 2-10 day band. At these scales, adding oceanic to atmospheric excitation series does not lead to better agreement with the observed LOD, although this result may be related to data quality issues. With regard to the excitation of PM, the ocean is in general as important as the atmosphere at most time scales. Combined oceanic and atmospheric excitation series compare visibly better with geodetic series than do atmospheric series alone, pointing to the ocean as a source of measurable signals in PM.     

Excitation mechanism of atmospheric pressure waves from the 1980 Mount St Helens eruption

Summary. Atmospheric pressure waves from the Mount St Helens eruption 1980 May 18 have been clearly recorded by a sensitive microbarograph at Berkeley, California. The record shows three types of waves with different group velocities. The pressure waves can be interpreted in terms of direct waves A1, antipodean travelling waves A2 and circumnavigating waves A3, all of which are composed of several acoustic-gravity modes propagated in the lower atmosphere. Synthetic barograms appropriate to the Berkeley station have been calculated on the basis of the dynamic response of the lower atmospheric structure, together with various assumptions of source properties. Comparisons between synthetic and observed barograms provide estimates for ranges of the time history of upward particle velocity at the source, source dimensions and the velocity of the source spreading over the blast zone, as well as for the average dissipation effects over the circumferential path. The results suggest that two major compression pulses on the A1 record correlate with the arrival of pressure waves from the first (lateral) blast and second (vertical) blast, although the inferred interblast time interval is not consistent with that estimated from seismic observations.     

珠海凤凰山林地下垫面观测通量的贡献区分析

根据安装在珠海凤凰山亚热带常绿阔叶林区内的陆―气相互作用与碳通量观测塔观测数据,利用K-M模型计算了对应时刻的通量贡献区,分析得到不同大气稳定度、不同季节、不同时刻下通量贡献区分布的变化规律。提出一种切实可行的评价地表均一性的标准,即计算每个子区域表面积与其地表投影区域表面积的比值,以此确定K-M 模型对该站点的适用性。结果表明：通量贡献区范围的分布,在大气稳定度＞0.1 的情况下与主风向分布范围相近,而在大气稳定度＜-0.1 的情况下与主风向分布范围不完全一致。在冬季,通量贡献区主要分布在北部和东部方向;在季风爆发前的春季,通量贡献区分布和冬季大体相近;在季风爆发后的春季和夏季,通量贡献区在西南方向和东南方向较为集中,这一规律和风速风向的分布规律一致。对于日变化来说,在夜间通量贡献区范围大于白天,其中贡献区最大范围多出现在夜间,但随着季风的爆发,贡献区最大范围出现的时间从T 02:00左右推迟到T 04:00 左右,这可能是由不同季节大气达到最稳定的时段不同所致。贡献区范围最小的情况出现在T 07:00―09:00 之间,这段时间往往也是湍流活动性最强的时段。     

南极长城站大气气溶胶组成研究

南极地区提供了地球上最好的研究气溶胶的背景组成场所,为此,我们用八级阶式撞击采样器采集了不同粒径的样品。采样于1986年间在南极中国长城站进行,样品分析方法是质子激发X射线发射法(PIXE)。为了研究不同元素的富集因子,将全部结果分为两组,粒径大于10/μm粒子为粗粒,小于10/μm的粒子为细粒,并且还讨论了粗、细粒中各元素的相关因子,长城站气溶胶所测元素结果与其他地区采样点所测结果作了比较,证明南极地区是地球上良好的背景地区。     

COMMODIFYING THE ATMOSPHERE: ‘PENNIES FROM HEAVEN’*?

The atmosphere may be the most valuable resource on Earth and is worth orders of magnitude more to society than it costs as a hazard. However, the atmosphere, and information about the atmosphere, are increasingly being transformed from being considered as part of a global commons to being conceived of as a global commodity to be bought and sold. There are three basic types of atmospheric commodity: firstly, the material atmosphere itself; secondly, the physical properties of the atmosphere; and thirdly, data or information or predictions about the atmosphere. The global expenditure on national meteorological and climatological services and research has now been surpassed by the value of new economic instruments such as weather derivatives and climate emissions trading. Atmospheric scientists, climatologists and physical geographers need to be critically aware of what the consequences, both positive and negative, of these developments for science and society might be. This is particularly the case as climate change is increasingly providing new discourses for companies and governments to exploit as the atmosphere becomes a tradable green resource. This paper attempts to construct an initial critical framework of analysis drawing from broader literatures on the commodification of nature.     

中国西北干旱区沙尘暴源地风沙大气边界层特征

应用西北干旱区沙尘暴源地甘肃省民勤县1971-2008年共1 811个大风/沙尘暴个例的逐日08：00和20：00高空资料、降水、日最高气温以及沙尘暴实时资料,详细探讨了不同月份和季节干湿变化、沙尘暴强度、沙尘暴出现时间和持续时间的大气边界层垂直结构变化特征。结果表明：（1）沙尘暴发生时4-5月最大混合层较厚,在2 500 m以上;而强沙尘暴发生时6-7月较厚,7月最厚为2 530 m。3-8月沙尘暴发生时最大混合层厚度低于大风发生时的200～400 m;4-5月下午沙尘暴发生时最大混合层较深厚,在2 700 m左右。沙尘暴持续时间与最大混合层厚度成反比。（2）沙尘暴发生时扰动和锋面逆温频次多而强,扰动逆温明显较强,达2.5 ℃/100m,锋面逆温高度在700～1 000 m,扰动逆温高度在150～400 m之间;而大风发生时辐射和锋面辐射逆温频次多而强,强沙尘暴发生时锋面逆温明显较强,这说明沙尘暴多由风场的剧烈扰动和锋面过境引起。（3）白天800 hPa以上有干气层存在,夜间干暖和逆湿现象显著。近地层越干冷、西北风越强,强沙尘暴持续时间越长。     

Further evidence for oceanic excitation of polar motion

While the role of the atmosphere in driving variations in polar motion is well established, the importance of the oceans has been recognized only recently. Further evidence for the role of the oceans in the excitation of polar motion is presented. To estimate the equatorial excitation functions, χ ₁ and χ ₂ , for the ocean, we use velocity and mass fields from a constant-density ocean model, driven by observed surface wind stresses and atmospheric pressure, for the period 1993–1995; comparison with similar functions derived from a more complex density-stratified ocean model indicates the effectiveness of the simple constant-density modelling approach. Corresponding atmospheric excitation functions are computed from NCEP/NCAR re-analyses. Results indicate significant improvements in the agreement with the observed polar motion excitation when the simulated oceanic effects are added to atmospheric excitation. Correlations between the polar motion and the geophysical signals at periods of 15–150 days increase from 0.53 to 0.80 and from 0.75 to 0.88 for χ ₁ and χ ₂ , respectively. The oceanic signals are particularly important for seasonal variations in χ ₁ (correlation increases from 0.28 to 0.85 when oceanic excitation is included). A positive impact of the oceans on more rapid polar motion is also observed, up to periods as short as 5 days. The sensitivity of the results to different forcing fields and different amounts of friction in the oceans is also discussed.     

气候变化、火干扰与生态系统碳循环

 随着全球变暖的日益显著,气候变化及其影响越来越受到广泛关注。火干扰作为森林生态系统碳循环的一个重要组成部分,其干扰过程是对碳的再分配过程,因而对区域乃至全球的碳循环产生重要影响。气候变化、火干扰与生态系统碳循环三者之间存在因果循环关系,正确认识气候变化与火干扰的复杂关系及双向反馈作用,以及火干扰在生态系统碳循环中的作用,这对制定科学合理的火干扰管理策略,提高生态系统管理水平,减少碳排放,促进碳增汇,减缓全球变化速率均有重要意义。从两个方面阐述了气候变化、火干扰与生态系统碳循环之间的交互作用关系：气候变化与火干扰相互影响关系及双向反馈作用,分别从气候变化对火干扰的影响及火干扰对气候变化的影响两个方面阐述了两者之间的相互影响关系;火干扰与森林生态系统碳循环的交互作用,分别从火干扰对森林生态系统碳循环的影响及模型方法在模拟火干扰对森林生态系统碳循环影响中的应用两个方面论述火干扰对森林生态系统碳循环的影响及其定量评价模型方法。目前火干扰直接碳排放的模型方法比较完善,而间接影响碳循环的模型方法并不成熟,许多方法局限于定性描述,因此,应进一步探讨集成实地测量、遥感观测和模型模拟的跨尺度火干扰对碳循环的影响研究,注重尺度的转换问题。最后,提出了气候变暖背景下火干扰管理的路径选择,以及对今后的研究方向进行了展望。     

Atmospheric gravity waves identified by ground-based observations of the intensity and rotational temperature of OH airglow

Spectroscopic observations of OH airglow undertaken on May 2, 2006 at Uji, Japan reveal variations in intensity and rotational temperature related to the passage of an atmospheric gravity wave. The variations exhibit a period of approximately 1 h and magnitudes of 2–6% in intensity and 0.5–2% in rotational temperature. The vertical wavelength and intrinsic frequency of the atmospheric gravity wave were determined from the horizontal wavelength derived by an OH airglow imager, the background horizontal wind velocity obtained by the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar, and the dispersion relationship. The observed variations are consistent with the values calculated using the model of Liu, A.Z., Swenson, G.R. [2003. A modeling study of O₂ and OH airglow perturbations induced by atmospheric gravity waves. J. Geophys. Res. 108 (No. D4), 4151. doi:10.1029/2002JD002474].     

Detailed gravity-tide spectrum between one and four cycles per day

Summary. The results of previous work by the authors is used to remove most of the effects of ocean and atmospheric loading from an 18-month Earth gravity-tide record. The remaining signal is examined for additional influence of ocean and atmosphere and for evidence of the frequency-dependence of the response of the solid earth. Variations in time of the measured tides are shown to result from the atmospheric tide at S ₂ and appear to result from variations in ocean tides at other frequencies. The frequency-dependence of the solid earth response near 1 cycle per siderial day is found to be consistent with the nearly diurnal free wobble. However, the influence of the ocean on the small but crucial Ψ₁ tide is uncertain. Anomalous responses are observed at several other frequencies but except for the case of ρ₁ it is argued that anomalous ocean tides are plausible and could therefore explain the observations.     

塔里木盆地区域沙尘气溶胶特征分析

沙尘天气是塔里木盆地区常见的天气现象，对大气沙尘气溶胶的分析表明，沙尘暴期间，沙尘气溶胶浓度远大于非尘暴期间。对策勒和阿克苏两地的比较分析表明，由于两地地理环境的差异，沙尘暴期间，策勒站细颗粒质量百分比呈下降趋势；阿克苏站细颗粒质量百分比呈上升趋势，说明尘暴间由于当地沙尘源丰富，细粒物质较多，细粒物质迅速被携带于高空，成为沙尘气溶胶的主要来源。阿克苏站大气气溶胶颗粒主要来源于地表沙源。富集因子分析表明，阿克苏站和策勒站沙尘暴和扬尘天气的各地壳元素含量均高于浮尘和背景大气，而且能见度能见度愈小，高出的比例愈大；各种沙尘天气发生时，均以亲地元素的浓度为最高。     

中国西北地区荒漠绿洲大气内边界层的数值模拟

本文用二维中尺度土壤－植被－大气连续体数值模拟了黑河地区绿洲和周围荒漠袒上垫面物理特征差异引起的内边界层结构。得到了绿洲上游荒漠至绿洲和从绿洲至其下游荒漠两重下垫在突变过程大气运动所产生的风速内边界层，温度内边界层和湿度内边界层的空间和时间特征及其这两种情况边界层的结构差异。     

The Earth's rotation and atmospheric circulation, from 1963 to 1973

Summary. The zonal angular momentum of the atmospheric circulation has been evaluated month-by-month and compared with astronomical observations of the length-of-day for the 10 years from 1963 May to 1973 April. The reason for undertaking this study is to enable the astronomical observations to be 'corrected' for the zonal wind effect and to investigate the residual excitation function for solid-Earth contributions. The principal conclusions reached are the following: (i) The annual change in length-of-day is almost entirely due to the seasonal changes in the zonal circulation with tidal, oceanographic and hydrologic phenomena contributing together at most 10 per cent of the total excitation, (ii) The semi-annual term is predominantly due to the zonal wind and the body tide, with oceanic and hydrologic terms contributing about 10 per cent, (iii) The atmospheric circulation plays a dominant role in length-of-day changes in the period range from 1 to about 4 yr. This is partly associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation and its harmonics. Both the period and amplitude of these fluctuations are very variable, (iv) At longer periods the atmosphere may still contribute to the total excitation but other excitation functions begin to rise above the spectrum of the meteorological excitation, (v) At periods less than about 1 yr the atmospheric excitation is dominant, and while the presence of other excitation functions cannot be excluded, they cannot exceed 20 per cent of the wind excitation. On the basis of these results the astronomical record from 1962 to 1978 has been 'corrected' for the meteorological 'noise'. The residual excitation exhibits only fluctuations on a time-scale of about 5 yr and longer and it is this result that must be attributed to core-mantle interactions or to other solid-Earth excitation functions.     

Sensitivity and inversion of borehole flexural dispersions for formation parameters

Propagation characteristics of borehole flexural waves are functions of five borehole, fluid and formation parameters. Uncertainties in any of these model parameters may introduce errors in the estimate of formation shear-wave speed. Other sources of error in the estimate may be caused by deviations from the assumed circular borehole cross-section or heterogeneity in the material properties of formation in the vicinity of a borehole from the usually assumed homogeneous properties. The influence of uncertainties in model parameters on borehole flexural dispersion has been calculated from a general perturbation model based on Hamilton's principle. A sensitivity analysis of the flexural dispersion to small variations in the model parameters shows that the formation shear speed has by far the most dominant influence in a slow formation. In contrast, the flexural dispersion in a fast formation is significantly influenced by three of the five model parameters: the formation shear speed, the borehole fluid compressional speed and the borehole diameter. The frequency dependence of these sensitivity functions indicates that the inversion of flexural dispersion for formation shear speed is optimal in the range 2–4 kHz for a borehole of diameter 25.4 cm. The range of validity of the perturbation model has been estimated by comparing results of concentric annuli of different thicknesses, and shear-wave speeds different from that of the formation with those from exact numerical solutions from a modal search program. Generally, the perturbation results for altered annuli of thicknesses up to 15 cm are accurate to within 1 per cent for a shear-wave speed 10 per cent lower than that of the formation. This difference between the perturbation and exact results increases to approximately 1 to 3 per cent for a shear-wave speed 20 per cent lower than that of the formation.     

Characteristics of Infrasonic Signals from Rockets

Summary Infrasound has been recorded at long range from the launch and the re-entry of the first stage booster of Saturn V rockets. Detailed study has been made with the use of an acoustic ray-tracing procedure that involved actual temperature and wind data at the launch site and along the propagation path. Details of signal arrival times and duration are shown to be controlled by the nature of the ground-based sound channel, which in turn is determined by the atmospheric structure below about 60 km. Fluctuations in signal amplitudes are explained on the basis of interference of acoustic rays.     

针对北极地区典型月份期间的大气数值模拟分析

本文利用极地中尺度数值模式Polar MM5对2005年7月17日～19日, 2007年12月20日～24日北极地区大气环流进行了中尺度数值模拟, 分析比较了北极夏季典型代表月7月间和冬季典型代表月12月间大气特征。数值分析表明,在500hPa高度上,12月和7月极区的大气环流都主要由2个波动控制;夏季的冰岛低压在冬季表现为一个高压系统,并且伸展到格陵兰岛上空。我们选择了2个北极地区探空站与相应温度场和风场的数值模拟结果进行了对比,表明数值模式能够很好地再现观测到得大气分布特征,表现为小的模式偏差和较高的相关系数。夏季7月份期间, Barrow 站2m处空气温度,感热通量和潜热通量具有明显的日变化特征和极地逆温层结垂直结构特征;冬季12月份期间,Barrow 站2m处空气温度,感热通量和潜热通量呈现出反位相变化的特征,虽然各通量峰值远小于夏季时的情形,但是北极所考虑站点下垫面在冬季12月和夏季7月份都是大气的热源和水汽源。     

Digital Computer Programs for Recording and Processing Infrasonic Array Data

Summary We describe in detail the digital formats in which microbarograph array data are recorded at Alexandria Laboratories. Brief summaries are presented of 32 computer programs for altering the data formats, performing signal detection and analysis in both the tune domain and the frequency-wave number domain, and for various theoretical calculations involving the acoustic radiation from explosion sources in a layered atmosphere. An example is included of the write-ups and flow charts of these programs.     

Ambient noise Rayleigh wave tomography of New Zealand

We present the first New Zealand-wide study of surface wave dispersion, using ambient noise observed at 42 broad-band stations in the national seismic network (GeoNet) and the Global Seismic Network (GSN). Year-long vertical-component time-series recorded between 2005 April 1 and 2006 March 31 have been correlated with one another to yield estimated fundamental mode Rayleigh wave Green's functions. We filter these Green's functions to compute Rayleigh wave group dispersion curves at periods of 5–50 s, using a phase-matched filter, frequency–time analysis technique. The uncertainties of the measurements are estimated based on the temporal variation of the dispersion curves revealed by 12 overlapping 3-month stacks. After selecting the highest quality dispersion curve measurements, we compute group velocity maps from 7 to 25 s period. These maps, and 1-D shear wave velocity models at four selected locations, exhibit clear correlations with major geological structures, including the Taranaki and Canterbury Basins, the Hikurangi accretionary prism, and previously reported basement terrane boundaries.     

长江源区五道梁的大气质量状况

大气质量状况是研究大气对太阳辐射能衰减程度的一个重要方面.利用江河源区五道梁能量收支站1993-09～1999-12的辐射观测资料及1993-09～1995-05 MS-120太阳光度表的观测资料计算了五道梁地区的大气浑浊度,分析了该地的大气质量状况.结果表明,江河源区五道梁的大气洁净,1994～1999年间五道梁地区的Angstrom浑浊度β、D/S、全波段浑浊度TG有增大的趋势,晴空大气透射比及紫外辐射有减小的趋势.