Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methane Recovery from Coalbeds: A Potential Energy Source

This document integrates all of the available geologic and coal resource data that have been acquired in the Coalbed Methane Project over the past 5 years to determine the stratigraphic units and geographical areas wherein the methane production potential is classified as favorable. Sixteen basins were included in this compilation. Each basin is a chapter in this report. The chapter write-ups feature sections on geology, coal resource, potential methane resource and recommendations for development of the technology base needed to estimate recovery potential. Information used in the sections is supported by a list of references. The integration of these data has removed much of the uncertainty about what production potential exists and where the favorable trends are located in the basin. This will aid the producers who are considering well-drilling ventures for coalbed methane recovery. Estimates of production performance from any new wells can only be developed once fundamental reservoir property measurements are acquired. This is the next field activity required. Preliminary results of the coalbed methane resource effort show that many of the coal regions in the US have significant volumes of coalbed methane. The evaluation of the core desorption data from over 50 cooperative wells has helped DOEmore » to refine the in-place methane estimates of the various coal regions. The summary of the methane resource estimates for 16 basins is shown in the Summary of Results Table. Based upon these initial results, the basins showing a high resource estimate of coalbed methane include the Piceance, Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian, Powder River, and Greater Green River. « less
Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Near-Inertial Kinetic Energy from Historical Moored Velocity Records

Abstract Temporal and spatial patterns of near-inertial kinetic energy (KEmoor) are investigated in a database of 2480 globally distributed, moored current-meter records (deployed on 690 separate moorings) and compared with the distribution of wind-forced mixed-layer energy flux FML. By computing KEmoor using short (30 day) multitaper spectral windows, the seasonal cycle is resolved. Clear winter enhancement by a factor of 4–5 is seen in the Northern Hemisphere for latitudes 25°–45° at all depths <4500 m, in close agreement with the magnitude, phase, and latitudinal dependence of the seasonal cycle of FML. In the Southern Hemisphere, data coverage is poorer, but a weaker seasonal cycle (a factor of 2) in both KEmoor and FML is still resolvable between 35° and 50°. When Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) scaled using climatological buoyancy-frequency profiles, summer KEmoor is approximately constant in depth while showing a clear decrease by a factor of 4–5 from 500 to 3500 m in winter. Spatial coverage is su.
Adaptive invariable moments for image segmentation and action analysis for moving object

In this paper, we propose a new method for segmenting the moving objects in the difference image sequence, using the adaptive invariable moments (AIM). After detecting and segmenting the moving objects, we propose an analysis method of the moving objects’ trajectories, speeds and accelerations. The experiment results show that these methods are robust and effective.
Municipal Sewage Sludge Use in Forests of the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.: Growth Responses

In nursery-bed studies, Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, black cottonwood, and Lombardy poplar all grew well in sludge-amended media. Western hemlock and western redcedar survived poorly in aged sludge and did not appear to be good candidates for sludge applications. In most species, mixing sludge with soil provided a better growth media than sludge alone. Field studies with seedlings in cleared areas confirmed a poor survival and growth of western hemlock and western redcedar in sludge treatments. Additionally, weed competition and animal damage in cleared areas treated with sludge imposed large management costs on this option. Tree growth of cottonwoods and conifers, however, was encouraging. Applications to existing stands and plantations appears to be the most feasible management option. Growth responses in older stands were high and greater than those found for operational nitrogen fertilization in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A. The duration of the growth response also appears to exceed those from commercial fertilizer applications.
Multi-decadal Changes in Fish Communities Jeju Island in Relation to Climate Change

We compiled and analyzed long-term time-series data collected in Korea to evaluate changes in oceanographic conditions and marine ecosystems near Jeju Island (, ) from 1981 to 2010. Environmental data included depth-specific time series of temperature and salinity that have been measured bimonthly since 1961 in water columns at 175 fixed stations along 22 oceanographic lines in Korean waters by the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, and time series of estimated volume transport of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) and Korea Strait Bottom Cold Water (KSBCW) for the period from 1961 to 2008. We analyzed the species composition in terms of biomass of fish species caught by Korean fishing vessels in the waters near Jeju Island (1981-2010). Data were summarized and related to environmental changes using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The CCA detected major shifts in fish community structure between 1982 and 1983 and between 1990 and 1992; the dominant species were a filefish during 1981-1992 and chub mackerel from 1992 to 2007. CCA suggested that water temperature and salinity in the mixed layer and the volume transport of the TWC and the KSBCW were significantly related to the long-term changes in the fish community in the waters off Jeju Island. Fish community shifts seemed to be related to the well-established 1989 regime shift in the North Pacific. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms driving climate change effects on the thermal windows and habitat ranges of commercial species to develop fisheries management plans based on reliable projections of long-term changes in the oceanographic conditions in waters off Jeju Island.
Migração, retorno e circularidade: evidência da Europa e Estados Unidos

Return is part of the migratory project, however, while some migrants return others remain. The recent economic crisis is one of the factors that intensified return. This article illustrates the return dynamics of Brazilian immigrants in the United States and four European countries - Portugal, UK, the Netherlands and Norway -, including processes of estrangement, circularity and adaptation over time. The data allow us to conclude that conditions in the destination country are a decisive contribution to migration strategies. Returnees face difficulties of (re) adaptation in the origin country. The return due to the crisis produces perverse effects both in subject and in the territory.
Internal wave observations from a midwater float, 2

During June and July of 1974, internal wave records totaling 21 days duration were made at a nominal depth of 350 m in a location 800 km offshore of San Diego, California. The measurements were made with a midwater capsule which profiles temperature while it drifts with the mean flow. The resulting vertical displacement spectra decrease generally as ω−2 between the local inertial frequency ωi and the buoyancy frequency n with a pronounced peak just below n; outside these limits the spectra drop sharply. Vertical coherences are nearly frequency independent between ωi and n with the exception of a peak just below n corresponding to the peak in the displacement spectrum. A low-frequency (0 ≤ ω ≤ 0.5n) average of coherence (not squared) decreases linearly from 0.99 at 1-m separation to 0.85 at 36-m separation. This result suggests that modal energy is distributed with mode number j as (j2 + j*2)−1, where j* ≃ 3. Phase spectra averaged over the same interval indicate little or no net vertical transport of energy. The wave spectra are consistent with those of a stationary Gaussian process for periods up to 12 hours.
Photorespiration

Photorespiration is initiated by the oxygenase activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate-carboxylase/oxygenase (RUBISCO), the same enzyme that is also responsible for CO2 fixation in almost all photosynthetic organisms. Phosphoglycolate formed by oxygen fixation is recycled to the Calvin cycle intermediate phosphoglycerate in the photorespiratory pathway. This reaction cascade consumes energy and reducing equivalents and part of the afore fixed carbon is again released as CO2. Because of this, photorespiration was often viewed as a wasteful process. Here, we review the current knowledge on the components of the photorespiratory pathway that has been mainly achieved through genetic and biochemical studies in Arabidopsis. Based on this knowledge, the energy costs of photorespiration are calculated, but the numerous positive aspects that challenge the traditional view of photorespiration as a wasteful pathway are also discussed. An outline of possible alternative pathways beside the major pathway is provided. We summarize recent results about photorespiration in photosynthetic organisms expressing a carbon concentrating mechanism and the implications of these results for understanding Arabidopsis photorespiration. Finally, metabolic engineering approaches aiming to improve plant productivity by reducing photorespiratory losses are evaluated.
High-pressure thermodynamic Gibbs functions of ice and sea ice

A new Gibbs thermodynamic potential function of ice Ih is proposed to extend and improve already existing ones and to unify various data and formulas for thermodynamic equilibrium properties of natural ice in a consistent manner. It is valid for absolute pressures from 0 to 211 MPa and for temperatures from 0 to 273.16 K. It is consistent with the current 1995 international scientific pure water standard, IAPWS-95, and with the latest 2003 Gibbs potential of seawater. In conjunction with the latter, it provides freezing temperatures of seawater for pressures up to 100 MPa (10,000 dbar). The potential functions of ice and seawater, if combined into a thermodynamic potential function of sea ice, provide all its thermodynamic equilibrium properties over the entire ‘Neptunian’ ranges of pressures and temperatures and brine practical salinities up to 42 (up to 50 at the surface). The new potential function of ice is compiled from an extended set of 26 groups with 339 experimental data points. It obeys the theoretical cubic law of Debye for low-temperature heat capacity, and pressure independence of zero-point entropy. Using the statistically derived residual entropy of Pauling, a physically well-grounded value for the entropy of liquid water at the triple point is provided. The severe 100% compressibility uncertainty of ice, present in former versions of the Gibbs potential, could be reduced to only 1% at normal pressure using various data on elastic lattice constants. The very high accuracy of the Clausius-Clapeyron coefficient at normal pressure of this formulation, which is 100 times more accurate than that of the 1994 international equation for the melting pressure, permits a precise determination of the normal melting temperature to be 273.152 518 K 2 K. On the other hand, users of the new function should be cautioned that some of the background data have been obtained from specimens of uncertain purity and crystalline perfection. The potential function is expressed in the 1990 International Temperature Scale ITS-90.
Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations in the Seychelles – An Interview-based Survey of Artisanal Fishers

Key words: reef fish, spawning aggregations, Seychelles Many coral reef fish species aggregate at specific times and locations for the purpose of spawning. This study examined the spatial and temporal distribution of spawning aggregations in the Seychelles. An interview-based survey of the principal stakeholders, mainly artisanal fishers, yielded 89 reports of aggregation fishing for 26 demersal and semi-pelagic fish species. Grouper aggregations were largely concentrated in the outer coralline islands of the exclusive economic zone, whilst those of snappers and rabbitfishes were mainly reported from locations on the Seychelles Bank. The spatial patterns among fish families were attributed to a combination of differences in species abundance and distribution as well as variation in fishing effort. Spawning periodicity reported by fishers indicated that for snappers and rabbitfishes, the most activity occurred across a protracted period of October to April/May, with peaks in activity at either end of that period. Grouper spawning activity was concentrated in the northeast monsoon months of November to January. The findings of this study suggest that several spawning aggregations are targeted by fishers on a regular basis, a practice that constitutes a primary issue for artisanal fisheries research and management in the Seychelles. Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science Vol.3(1) 2004: 63-69
Fractal Representation of Soil Cohesion

Evaluation of soil cohesion is usually based on measurements made on laboratory-scale samples. Some previous studies point out a decreasing trend in cohesion as the test specimen size increases. Although this trend is, in general, attributed qualitatively to fractures and macropores associated with larger samples, no rational basis has been put forth thus far to upscale cohesion. In this study, the soil medium is idealized as a self-similar fractal system, which contains successive groups of pores that can be scaled in size with respect to each other. A simple relationship between cohesion and sample size is developed using fractal principles. The relationship is demonstrated using experimental data. The fractal dimension of the soil medium, which enters in this relationship, is of both theoretical and practical importance. It draws out the analogy between scale-dependency of cohesion and porosity and enables one to make judgments on the characteristic specimen size required in the assessment of soil cohesion.
BIODIVERSITY ANIMAL TREASURY

33 32 T R O P I C A L C O N S E R V A N C Y referred to it as “gold in the bogs,” a description that is dangerously close to an invitation to unregulated harvesting. Although there has been some recent experimental cultivation of Sweet Gale, to date harvest of wild plants, mainly in Europe, has been the source of extracted essential oil. A study by Waterhouse and colleagues (cited below) suggested 45.1 million Sweet Gale stems are available for harvest in Scotland and 5.6 million stems could be harvested annually (i.e. an eighth of the branches could be sustainably harvested annually). Harvesting machines have been developed that minimize environmental impact. Nevertheless, wetlands have declined substantially in temperate regions, and the issue of wetland protection, as well as sustainable harvesting, needs to be addressed.
Microbiological Assessment of Circulation Mud Fluids During the First Operation of Riser Drilling by the Deep-Earth Research Vessel Chikyu

Quality assurance and control (QA/QC) is significant for the scientific drilling in order to accurately characterize physical, geochemical, and biological properties in the cored deep subseafloor materials. To explore the deep subseafloor life and its biosphere, identification and control of microbial contamination in drilling cores is critical for highly sensitive molecular analyses as well as cultivations, especially for the evaluation of low biomass and/or extremely harsh deep environments. Here we report some microbiological characteristics of circulation mud fluids before and after the first riser drilling operation by the newly constructed deep-earth research vessel Chikyu. During the Chikyu shakedown expedition CK06-06 in 2006, we used the riser system for drilling 547 to 647 meter below the seafloor into the sediments offshore the Shimokita Peninsula of Japan. Cultivation experiments showed that no microbial growth was observed in the precirculation mud fluid, while 4 × 105 colonies per 1 ml were observed in the postcirculation mud fluid; all cultured bacterial isolates were found to be Halomonas. Using culture-independent molecular analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequences of Xanthomonas, which is used for industrial production of the mud fluid viscosifier “xanthan gum”, were predominantly detected in the precirculation mud fluid, while Halomonas sequences consistently dominated the clone library constructed from the postcirculation mud fluid. Archaeal 16S rRNA genes were amplified only from the postcirculation mud fluid; these archaeal clone sequences were affiliated to the Marine Crenarchaeota Group I (MGI), Marine Euryarchaeota Group II (MGII), Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group (MCG), South African Gold Mine Euryarchaeotic Group (SAGMEG), Soil Group, and Methanococcus aeolicus. These results suggest that Halomonas contaminated and grew in the tank of circulation mud fluids, and other indigenous deep subseafloor microbial components, especially deep subsurface archaea, were also mixed into the post-circulation mud fluid.
Mechanisms Linking Volcanic Aerosols to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

AbstractThis study examines the sensitivity of the climate system to volcanic aerosol forcing in the third climate configuration of the Met Office Unified Model (HadCM3). The main test case was based on the 1880s when there were several volcanic eruptions, the well-known Krakatau being the largest. These eruptions increased atmospheric aerosol concentrations and induced a period of global cooling surface temperatures. In this study, an ensemble of HadCM3 has been integrated with the standard set of radiative forcings and aerosols from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report simulations, from 1860 to present. A second ensemble removes the volcanic aerosols from 1880 to 1899. The all-forcings ensemble shows an attributable 1.2-Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) increase in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) at 45°N—with a 0.04-PW increase in meridional heat transport at 40°N and increased northern Atlantic SSTs—starting around 1894, approximately 11 years after the fir.
Hydrometer Classification with Elliptical Polarization Radar: Applications for Glaciogenic Cloud Seeding

Polarization capabilities of 8.66-mm-wavelength radar and corresponding hydrometeor depolarization calculations now provide the basis for identifying individual types of ice and liquid hydrometeors within clouds and precipitation. Model results and radar measurements with correlated snow crystal samples from winter stratiform and convective orographic clouds are examined. The results are interpreted to illustrate how this method for estimating hydrometeor types can be applied to monitor cloud evolution and evaluate the potentials and effects of glaciogenic cloud seeding. This information is derived from hydrometeor depolarizations (and related cloud reflectivities) associated with cloud phase transition, snow crystal growth habit, graupel development, snow crystal aggregation, the presence and nature of the melting level, and the distinction of rain from drizzle below the melting level. The radar’s polarization capability offers the opportunity to monitor the development of hydrometeors in the volume of cloud affected by seeding or by natural processes. Spatial gradients in hydrometeor types, rates at which a volume is transformed, and the form of precipitation can also be estimated. These features are all important for verifying the changes in hydrometeors introduced by seeding and interpreting the rates and mechanisms by which the changes occur.
Frequency-dependent attenuation and velocity characteristics of nano-to-micro scale, lossy, magnetite-rich materials

In many situations, the magnetic properties of sub-surface materials are often considered unimportant when compared to their ‘dielectric’ characteristics (i.e., the permittivity and conductivity). However, if significant amounts of magnetic minerals exist, such as magnetite, hematite, maghemite, etc., then the relaxation phenomena of these magnetically lossy minerals can have a significant effect on the complex apparent permittivity of the materials. In this paper, the apparent complex permittivity, attenuation and propagation characteristics of a range of nano-to-micro scale quartz/magnetite mixtures are investigated with the aim of determining how the lossy magnetic minerals affect the propagation of ground-penetrating radar waves in the near-surface environment. In addition, the investigated results are compared to popular ‘dielectric-based’ mixing models (such as the complex refractive index model – CRIM) where the performance of the model is evaluated in terms of its appropriateness for practical situations. The results indicate that even with relatively low amounts of magnetite, the magnetic materials can have a considerable effect on the attenuation, wave propagation velocity and interface reflectivity and that the current non-linear complex mixing models (such as CRIM) are inadequate for the description of nano-to-micro scale, magnetically lossy mixtures.
Radiative Fluxes at Barrow, Alaska: A Satellite View

AbstractSatellite estimates of surface shortwave radiation (SWR) at high latitudes agree less with ground observations than at other locations; moreover, ground observations at such latitudes are scarce. The comprehensive observations of radiative fluxes made since 1977 by the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program at the Barrow North Slope of Alaska (NSA) site are unique. They provide an opportunity to revisit accuracy estimates of remote sensing products at these latitudes, which are problematic because the melting of snow/ice and lower solar elevation make the satellite retrievals more difficult.A newly developed inference scheme for deriving SWR from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS; Terra and Aqua) that utilizes updated information on surface properties over snow and sea ice will be evaluated against these ground measurements and compared with other satellite and model products. Results show that the MODIS-based estimates are in good agreement wit.
Eastward jets over diverging isobaths, with applications to the Gulf Stream past the Grand Banks

A three-dimensional primitive-equation model is employed to investigate how an initially eastward jet responds to isobaths that diverge eastward. This problem is investigated using first a barotropic model and then a baroclinic model. In the barotropic regime, the diverging isobaths force an initially supercritical jet to widen and become subcritical after a hydraulic jump. Increasing eastward advection of vorticity moves the diverging point eastward and narrows the jet locally but widens the jet farther downstream. The incoming jet axis is fixed at a preferred latitude due to the steep meridional bottom slope upstream. In the baroclinic regime, the eastward divergence of the jet becomes much more pronounced. This strong divergence leads to the bifurcation of the jet downstream. The northern branch flows northeastward and the main branch continues eastward. The former is a western boundary current along the northeastward continental slope. The bifurcation of baroclinic jets is caused by hydraulic jumps reinforced by instabilities of the baroclinic current system. Among possible applications, the model is particularly relevant to the bifurcation of the Gulf Stream to the south of the Grand Banks, where the essentially zonal isobaths begin to bifurcate eastward.