Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting runoff from Rangeland Catchments: A comparison of two models

This is a comparison of two very different hydrology models, both designed to predict runoff from ungaged rural catchments. One is the commonly used and conceptually simple Soil Conservation Service curve number method. The other is a process oriented model based on the Green and Ampt equation. The Green and Ampt model employs newly developed techniques for parameterizing the Green and Ampt equation based on readily available soil and vegetation information. Annual, monthly and daily predicted runoff were compared to observed on six uncalibrated rangeland catchments located in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Nebraska and Idaho. Model parameterization was based strictly on individual catchment characteristics. No model calibration was performed. Results indicate that the Green and Ampt model is a potentially useful tool for predicting runoff. These results are important because they demonstrate the utility of complex physically based models as management tools for predicting land use impacts to runoff and infiltration.
Dissemination and fractionation of projectile materials in the impact melts from Wabar Crater, Saudi Arabia

— We have analyzed small, ballistically dispersed melt samples in the form of aerodynamically shaped spheres, dumbbells, teardrops, etc., from Wabar Crater, Saudi Arabia, and have compared these to our previous study of the more massive, black and white melt specimens. The smaller melt samples differ from the more massive melts in that they are petrographically and chemically more homogeneous, possess fewer, more diffuse schlieren and contain much less clastic detritus. These observations suggest higher peak temperatures for the smaller melt samples than for the massive black and white melts which represent Wabar's major melt-zone. Analyses of the Wabar and Nejed (paired with Wabar) meteorites permit detailed comparison of the unaltered projectile with impactor residues in the melts. Siderophile element concentrations indicate that the small glass beads commonly contain > 10% meteoritic component, compared to Ni ≅ Ir ≅ As » Au. Although this sequence seems incompatible with simple vapor fractionation of either elements or oxides, we believe that a complex vapor fractionation process most likely produced the observed siderophile element abundances. Our sample suite should be representative of all materials found in and around the Wabar structure, and we conclude that substantial quantities of the projectile were lost to the atmosphere, most likely as vapor. No fractionation of lithophile elements is observed in the glasses relative to the target rocks. Although fractionation of the impactor must have occurred prior to intimate mixing of projectile and target, details of the actual fractionation mechanism(s) remain poorly understood. The results of this study indicate that caution is necessary when attempting to define impactor types and masses from compositional data for impact melts from other craters.
The geotech VTEM time domain helicopter em system

The Geotech Ltd. VTEM heli-time domain EM system entered into commercial service in late 2002 after a development program that started in early 2001. Since then, the system has performed surveys in Canada, the USA, Brazil and southern Africa for a range of mineral deposit styles in a variety of geological settings. The VTEM system bears similarity to many of the past and currently operating heli-time domain system designs but has focused more than other developments on operational simplicity and flexibility in how the system is configured. A very high dipole (coupled with very low system noise levels) is deemed a major differentiating factor of the system compared with others in current operation. In terms of applications, VTEM is seen as an effective bridge between existing airborne electromagnetics technologies, combining the high spatial resolution associated with helicopter systems but with a depth of investigation similar to what fixed wing time domain systems were traditionally required to achieve.
The use of the empirical line method to calibrate remotely sensed data to reflectance

To have lasting quantitative value, remotely sensed data must be calibrated to physical units of reflectance. The empirical line method offers a logistically simple means of generating acceptable estimates of surface reflectance. A review and case-study identify the ease with which this method can be applied, but also some of the pitfalls that can be encountered if it is not planned and implemented properly. A number of theoretical assumptions and practical considerations should be taken into account before applying this approach. It is suggested that the empirical line method allows the calibration of remotely sensed data to reflectance with errors of only a few percent.
Sensitivity of Simulated Climate to Model Resolution

Abstract Dynamical measures of the climate (e.g., winds, eddy fluxes) simulated by a general circulation model are compared at different horizontal and vertical resolutions for the December, January, and February period. The simulations of the troposphere are found to improve significantly as the horizontal resolution increases in the range of spectral truncations from T21 to T63. Little sensitivity is found to changes in vertical resolution between about 2.8 km and 0.7 km vertical grid spacing. The improvements in the Southern Hemisphere troposphere are greater than in the Northern Hemisphere as the horizontal resolution increases. The eddy momentum fluxes and kinetic energies in both hemispheres increase monotonically with horizontal resolution. At T63, the Southern Hemisphere winds, eddy fluxes, and eddy kinetic energies agree favorably with observations, while serious discrepancies are present at lower resolutions. In the Northern Hemisphere, the eddy momentum flux at T63 is slightly larger than obser.
ENSO history recorded in Agathis australis (kauri) tree rings. Part A: kauri's potential as an ENSO proxy

Although many of the main characteristics of the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon have been established, uncertainties remain concerning its multidecadal‐ to millennial‐scale evolution. Because of the shortness of the instrumental record, we need to resort to proxy‐based reconstructions to investigate ENSO's history prior to the mid 19th century, but the available proxy data is limited in both time and space. Here we investigate the potential for ENSO reconstruction from the tree rings of Agathis australis (kauri). Kauri is a long‐lived endemic New Zealand conifer and grows in an ENSO teleconnection region not previously represented in ENSO multi‐proxy studies. A high quality 423 year kauri regional master chronology (AD 1580–2002) is constructed. Statistical analysis of the period AD 1876–2002 confirms previous findings that kauri tree rings carry a strong regional‐scale climate signal and that ENSO is a significant contributor (predominantly via the western pole of the Southern Oscillation). Kauri carries a signal of both ENSO phases, but with a slight El Niño bias. Growth sensitivity is primarily registered through a five‐season window, extending from March (prior to growth initiation in September) through to the following May, with strongest relationships across the middle three seasons (June–February). Relationships appear to be stationary. We conclude that kauri has sufficient ENSO event capture skill to make it a useful addition to future multi‐proxy ENSO reconstruction efforts. It may also have potential for stand‐alone reconstruction of multidecadal‐ to millennial‐scale evolution of ENSO activity, especially ENSO robustness. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
A field technique to measure the tortuosity and sorption‐affected porosity for gaseous diffusion of materials in the unsaturated zone with experimental results from near Barnwell, South Carolina

A tracer experiment was conducted at the commercial low-level nuclear waste disposal site near Barnwell, South Carolina, to test a new method for determining the tortuosity and sorption-affected porosity for gaseous diffusion transport of materials in the Unsaturated zone. Two tracers, CBrClF2 and SF6, were released at constant rates of 105 and 3.3 ng/s, respectively, from permeation devices, which were placed in short screened sections in access holes. Soil gas was sampled from 15 piezometers located at various distances from the sources by sequentially pumping 60–160 mL of gas from the piezometers into a dual-column gas chromatograph located at the test site. The CBrClF2 concentration data obtained from several of the piezometers were analyzed by use of type curves for a continuous point source in an areally extensive medium bounded above and below by planar no-flow boundaries. The tortuosity of the geologic unit tested, an eolian sand, was determined to be about 0.4, and the sorption-affected porosity to be 0.22. The tortuosity value is plausible, but the sorption-affected porosity value is substantially less than that computed from the drained porosity, particularly if adjustments are made for retardation due to solution of the tracer in the liquid phase and sorption on the solid phase. The SF6 data could not be reliably analyzed.
Late Ordovician vertebrates from the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, USA

Abstract: Late Ordovician vertebrate faunas occur in clastic sedimentary units along the length of the Rocky Mountains from Colorado to Montana, and across the border into Canada. Most research has, however, been conducted on localities in the southern part of the outcrop belt, particularly the Harding Sandstone Formation of Colorado. Micropalaeontological sampling of the coeval South Piney Member (Winnipeg Formation) in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming has revealed an abundant vertebrate fauna. The vertebrate assemblage includes a low‐abundance fauna of 13 conodont taxa that together indicate an undatus Chronozone age (mid‐Mohawkian; mid‐Caradoc; Late Ordovician). The pteraspidomorphs Astraspis desiderata Walcott and Eriptychius americanus Walcott are also present together with one new taxon, Eleochera glossa gen. et sp. nov., which is interpreted as a derived stem‐gnathostome on the basis of its scale histology and morphology. The fauna bears a strong similarity to that of the Harding Sandstone but is of lower diversity. In particular, it lacks the fine‐grained, deeper water component of the Harding Sandstone that contains, inter alia, thelodonts and stem‐chondrichthyans.
DC trains and Pc3s: Source effects in mid‐latitude geomagnetic transfer functions

Magnetotelluric (MT) data from two sites 150 and 300 km southeast of San Francisco, California (geomagnetic dipole latitude: 43 degrees, L approximately 1.9) show that the usual MT assumption of spatially uniform external magnetic fields is violated to a significant degree in the period range 10–30 s. Inter‐station transfer functions exhibit large systematic temporal variations which are consistent with a combination of two distinct sources: electromagnetic noise due to the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) DC electric railway, and Pc3 geomagnetic pulsations. There is a suggestion in the data that some of the Pc activity may actually be excited by BART.
Satellite-derived urban heat islands from three coastal cities and the utilization of such data in urban climatology

Abstract NOAA AVHRR satellite infra-red data are used to display the surface radiant temperature heat islands of Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles, California. Heat island intensities are largest in the day-time and in the warm season. Day-time intra-urban thermal patterns are strongly correlated with land-use; industrial areas are warmest and vegetated, riverine or coastal areas are coolest. Nocturnal heat island intensities and the correlation of the surface radiant temperature distribution with land use are less. This is the reverse of the known characteristics of near-surface air temperature heat islands. Several questions relating to the interpretation and limitations of satellite data in heat island analysis and urban climate modelling are addressed.
Global surface air temperature in 1995: Return to pre‐Pinatubo level

Global surface air temperature has increased about 0.5°C from the minimum of mid-1992, a year after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. Both a land-based surface air temperature record and a land-marine temperature index place the meteorological year 1995 at approximately the same level as 1990, previously the warmest year in the period of instrumental data. As El Nino warming was small in 1995, the solar cycle near a minimum, and ozone depletion near record levels, the observed high temperature supports the contention of an underlying global warming trend. The pattern of Northern Hemisphere temperature change in recent decades appears to reflect a change of atmospheric dynamics.
Effects of an Adapted Physical Activity Program on Physical Fitness of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

People with Intellectual Disability (ID) constitute a vulnerable social group, making their physical health improvement a primary concern to all involved with their care. We constructed and evaluated a physical training intervention conducted twice per week for 4 consecutive months, consisting of activities and games to improve muscle strength, speed, balance and flexibility. Participants were 38 adults with intellectual disabilities divided into two groups: 1) the intervention group (n = 19) who participated in exercise training; and 2) the control group (n = 19) who engaged in no exercise training. All participants were evaluated on seven physical fitness tests, before and after implementation of the four-month training program. The present study was designed to improve certain aspects of fitness among adults with mild ID. The results showed that the mean anthropometric characteristics suggestive of better health and all physical fitness measures for the intervention group were reflected positive improvements at post-tests. The study showed that a structural physical exercise program can improve physical fitness of adults with mild intellectual disabilities, especially muscle strength and endurance, balance, flexibility, speed and cardio-respiratory endurance, in order to promote a more active and healthier way of life.
Root zone soil moisture from the assimilation of screen‐level variables and remotely sensed soil moisture

[1] In most operational NWP models, root zone soil moisture is constrained using observations of screen-level temperature and relative humidity. While this generally improves low-level atmospheric forecasts, it often leads to unrealistic model soil moisture. Consequently, several NWP centers are moving toward also assimilating remotely sensed near-surface soil moisture observations. Within this context, an EKF is used to compare the assimilation of screen-level observations and near-surface soil moisture data from AMSR-E into the ISBA land surface model over July 2006. Several issues regarding the use of each data type are exposed, and the potential to use the AMSR-E data, either in place of or together with the screen-level data, is examined. When the two data types are assimilated separately, there is little agreement between the root zone soil moisture updates generated by each, indicating that for this experiment the AMSR-E data could not have replaced the screen-level data to obtain similar surface turbulent fluxes. For the screen-level variables, there is a persistent diurnal cycle in the model-observations bias, which is not related to soil moisture. The resulting diurnal cycle in the analysis increments demonstrates how assimilating screen-level observations can lead to unrealistic soil moisture updates, reinforcing the need to assimilate alternative data sets. However, when the two data types are assimilated together, the near-surface soil moisture provides a much weaker constraint of the root zone soil moisture than the screen-level observations do, and the inclusion of the AMSR-E data does not substantially change the results compared to the assimilation of screen-level variables alone.
Expected future changes in the African monsoon between 2030 and 2070 using some CMIP3 and CMIP5 models under a medium-low RCP scenario

[1] The accuracy of African Monsoon (AM) simulations together with expected future changes are presented using eight available CMIP5/AR5 AOGCMs under the RCP4.5 emission scenario and eight CMIP3/AR4 AOGCMs under the A1b scenario, with a multimodel approach and the “one model one vote” concept. The results refer to the ‘present’ period (1960–1999) and to a ‘future horizon’ (2031–2070), and are discussed in terms of monsoon dynamics and climate change. Overall the new simulations seem more realistic. They exhibit more accurate rainfall patterns, although some biases reported in CMIP3 models remain. The future changes show an inverse tendency regarding rainfall amounts with less (more) rainfall expected over the western (central-eastern) Sahel. The deficits are associated with increasing air subsidence and the surplus with a more intense monsoon circulation. An African Rainfall Pattern Index (ARPI), based on standardized rainfall differences between these regions, is defined for capturing the rainfall contrast over the period from 1900 to 2100. This index increases suggesting that the contrasted rainfall anomaly pattern at Sahelian latitudes is expected to occur more frequently in the future.
Seismicity, seismotectonics and crustal structure of the southern Kenya Rift—new data from the Lake Magadi area

Summary Local seismic activity has been monitored in the southern part of the Kenya Rift in the area around Lake Magadi. An earthquake recording network consisting of 15 station sites was operated for 8 months from November 1997 to June 1998. During this period, the Magadi area proved to be seismically active. Approximately 10 events per day were detected and found to be equally distributed over the rift floor. The hypocentre depth distribution shows surprisingly large depths of up to 27 km in the south and much shallower depths in the northern part of the area. Apart from the background activity, swarm activity with rates of more than 300 events per day was also recorded. The epicentres are clustered and trace a linear structure lying SSW–NNE over a length of 10 km north of Lake Magadi. Hypocentres in the region of the earthquake cluster are shallow and exhibit a sharp cut-off at 9 km depth. A surface crack that occurred during the recording period is connected to the earthquake swarm. Analysis of the focal mechanisms of selected earthquakes indicates predominantly normal faulting in response to a WNW–ESE-directed tensional stress field. This direction corresponds to the general alignment of the southernmost part of the Kenya Rift and to the surface faulting pattern inside the rift. The crustal structure of the area has been investigated using local earthquake tomography and the spatial distribution of hypocentres. The main results of the tomography are a linear positive velocity anomaly following the rift axis and a negative anomaly at shallow depth underneath Lake Magadi. The high velocities can be explained by mafic material that has intruded into the upper crust. The negative anomaly is attributed to highly fractured rocks. Maximum hypocentre depths indicate a body of low shear strength centred at the rift axis and a general deepening of the brittle–ductile transition from north to south.
Optical dating of granitic stone surfaces

A novel luminescence methodology for dating surfaces of granitoid rocks is presented, with encouraging results for archaeological stone structures. It is based on the zeroing of the latent signal of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) in feldspar and quartz grains of the stone surface during exposure to daylight. When after bleaching the surface is shielded from light, the OSL signal builds up again, such that its intensity provides an age for the event of the last exposure to light. This event could be the construction or the destruction of stone structures or, for example, sedimentary deposition of granitic boulders, such as in fan deposits. The experimental approach utilizes a high spatial resolution detection technique (HR-OSL) for OSL of minerals that are left in their original petrological context; that is, without any mineral separation. With this approach, steep gradients in microdosimetry at the surface and at grain boundaries become important and are discussed in detail. The new dating technique is successfully applied to a stone wall of the medieval castle of Lindenfels in southwestern Germany and the pre-Columbian Nasca lines (geoglyphs) around Palpa in southern Peru.
Imprint of the North American plate in Siberia revealed by GPS

GPS observations in east Siberia combined with global observations, collected 1995–2002, place constraints on the geometry and motions of the Eurasian, North American, and Pacific plates in east Asia. By comparing velocities relative to Eurasia and to North America, we conclude that east Siberia to the east of the Cherskiy Range belongs to the North American plate, hypothesized for three decades but not proven because of uncertainties with the plate boundary arising from the ambiguous seismicity. Smaller plates in east Asia, such as Okhotsk and Amurian, can neither be resolved nor excluded by the GPS velocities.
Ecological problems and nitrogen balance in vegetable crops growing

The purpose of this study is to focus on the nitrogen balance and losses in agricultural system. The influence of precipitation, irrigation and fertilizer application on some soil parameters, N-uptake by plant production and N-output by lysimetric water are evaluated in this paper.The study is carried out on Fluvisol, near Plovdiv in Southern Bulgaria under the conditions of field experiments with different vegetable crops (eggplant, green beans and carrots) over the period 2009-2011. The experimental design includes 3 treatments with nitrogen application –N 0 , N 80 and N 160 on the background of P 80 K 80 kg.ha -1 . The field plots are equipped with modification of Ebermayer type of lysimeters, which collect water from 100 cm depth of soil profile.According the received data it was observed that compensation between the amounts of N input and output was achieved in two variants (N 80 , N 160 ) for all crops growing. Reducing the nitrogen input to the amount applied by precipitation and irrigation waters is the most ecological-friendly technological decision and very important factor for environment protection.
Intercropping Okra and Kenaf

ABSTRACT The potential of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) as an intercrop with okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) was studied for two years. Whole stalk fresh weight, dry core and fiber weight yields of monoculture kenaf were depressed by 19.1% to 45.9%, 14.7% to 28.0%, and 18.1%, respectively, due to intercropping with okra. Apart from enhancing okra yields by 7.8% to 115.8%, intercropping also increased dry matter yields of okra stems in all intercrop ratios by 17.1% to 192.8%, and it is suggested that dry okra stems was a viable option for use as yam stakes which are scarce in the dry savanna zones of Nigeria. Where kenaf and okra were planted in alternate rows, the mean Land Equivalent Ratio for the two years was maximized. Under all other intercropping combinations, it was less. It is suggested that each row of okra should be intercropped with one row of kenaf to maximize yields of both.