The physical,radiative and microwave scattering characteristics of melt ponds on Arctic landfast sea ice

Melt ponds are an important characteristic of Arctic sea ice because of their control on the surface radiation balance. Little is known about the physical nature of these features and to date there is no operational method for detection of their formation or estimation of their aerial fraction. Coincident in situ observations, aerial surveys and synthetic aperture radar data from a field site in Arctic Canada are compared in an evaluation of the physical, radiative and electrical properties of melt ponds on first-year and multiyear sea ice. Results show that the interrelationships between the thermal diffusivity and conductivity of the snow cover control the mechanisms of snow ablation. Aerial fractions of snow patches, and light and dark coloured melt ponds, show considerable variation both as a function of proximity to land and due to ice type. First-year sea ice is shown to have a water background with discrete snow patches distributed throughout. Multiyear sea ice consists of discrete 'particles' within a snow background. Morphological measurements indicate that snow patches range in size with average areas of from 5 to 20m2 . Pond sizes over multiyear sea ice are also highly variable with averages ranging from 15 to 20m2. The integrated shortwave albedo was measured in the field and averaged to: snow patches (0.64 0.07); light melt ponds (0.29 0.04); and dark melt ponds (0.14 0.03). Snow patch size statistics explained a statistically significant proportion of the surface shortwave albedo. We found that microwave scattering could be used to obtain a measure of the onset ofmelt and had utility in detecting subtle details ofthe thermodynamic transition from winter through early melt into pond formation. We formalized a statistical relationship between microwave scattering and surface climatological albedo (sigma-alpha relationship). We found the relationship valid only for landfast firstyear sea ice under windy conditions. We conclude with a discussion of the role of surface wind stress and diurnal cycling in specification of the sigma-alpha relationship.     

Structural and Molecular Orbital Studies of Si-Phenyl Silaanthracenes

The Si-phenyl derivatives of 1-, 2-, 9- silaanthracenes have been subjected to theoretical analysis with density functional theory (B3LYP/6-31G(d)) to obtain their molecular orbital properties. 2-silaanthracene has been found to be thermodynamically the most stable derivative among the trio. Moreover, the effects of the position of the Si substitution and phenyl attachment on the aromaticity of the parent anthracene have been investigated by NICS calculations at ring centers. The structures have been found to be less aromatic with respect to their unsubstituted counterparts.     

On the utility of SeaWinds/QuikSCAT data for the estimation of the thermodynamic state of first-year sea ice

The thermodynamic state of sea ice is important to accurately and remotely monitor in order to provide improved geophysical variable parameterizations in sea ice thermodynamic models. Operationally, monitoring the thermodynamic state of sea ice can facilitate eased ship navigation routing. SeaWinds/QuikSCAT (QuikSCAT) dual-polarization [i.e., horizontal (HH) and vertical (VV)] active microwave data are available at a sufficiently large spatial scale and high temporal resolution to provide estimates of sea ice thermodynamics. This analysis evaluated the temporal evolution of the backscatter coefficient (/spl sigma//spl deg/) and VV/HH copolarization ratio from QuikSCAT for estimating sea ice thermodynamics. QuikSCAT estimates were compared against RADARSAT-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and the Canadian Ice Service (CIS) prototype operational ice strength algorithm. In situ data from the Collaborative Interdisciplinary Cryospheric Experiment (C-ICE) for 2000, 2001, and 2002 were used as validation. Results indicate that the temporal evolution of /spl sigma//spl deg/ from QuikSCAT is analogous to RADARSAT-1. The QuikSCAT /spl sigma//spl deg/ temporal evolution has the ability to identify winter, snow melt, and ponding thermodynamic states. Moreover, the copolarization VV/HH ratio of QuikSCAT could provide a second estimate of the ponding state in addition to identifying the drainage state that is difficult to detect by single-polarization SAR. QuikSCAT detected thermodynamic states that were found to be in reasonable agreement to that of in situ observations at the C-ICE camp for all years. Operational implications of this analysis suggest QuikSCAT is a more effective and efficient medium for monitoring ice decay compared to RADARSAT-1 and can be utilized to provide more robust modeled ice strength thresholds.     

The Jeffries–Matusita distance for the case of complex Wishart distribution as a separability criterion for fully polarimetric SAR data

In multidimensional observations, many classification algorithms (supervised or unsupervised) require the selection of optimum bands in which the classes are most distinct. The Jeffries–Matusita (JM) distance is widely used as a separability criterion for optimal band selection and evaluation of classification results. Its original form is based on the assumption of normal distribution of the data. However, in the case of the covariance/coherency matrix of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) polarimetry, the data follow the complex Wishart distribution. In this article, we calculate the JM separability criterion for the case of the complex Wishart distribution. The updated formulation is used for: (1) the estimation of the separability between classes in fully polarimetric SAR data and to evaluate two standard polarimetric SAR classification algorithms, the Wishart and the expectation maximization algorithms, and (2) the classification of fully polarimetric SAR images based on the derived JM separability for the case of complex Wishart distribution. Fully polarimetric RADARSAT-2 images over sea ice in the Canadian Arctic are used to classify different ice surfaces and open water.     

Application of satellite remote sensing techniques for estimating air–sea CO2 fluxes in Hudson Bay,Canada during the ice-free season

The role of coastal seas as either a sink or a source of CO₂ is subject to a great deal of uncertainty. This uncertainty largely arises from a lack of observations in the coastal zones. Remote sensing offers an avenue for expanding these observations by allowing for the extrapolation of relatively limited data sets of dissolved CO₂ (pCO_2sw). In this paper, predictive algorithms for pCO_2sw that could be applied to remote sensing products were created from a field data set collected from September–October, 2005 in Hudson Bay, Canada. The field data showed that an effective pCO_2sw interpolation algorithm could be created using sea surface temperature (SST) as a predictor, and that a slight improvement of the algorithm could be achieved if measurements of absorption due to coloured dissolved organic material (a_CDOM) were included. Unfortunately, satellite retrievals of a_CDOM did not match well with in situ observations, and so only SST (obtained from the MODIS Aqua sensor) was used to create monthly maps of pCO_2sw for the period of August–October. To estimate fluxes of CO₂, constructed surfaces of pCO_2sw were combined with estimates of gas transfer velocity derived from QuikSCAT wind retrievals, and pCO_2air based on field observations. The results of these calculations revealed that Hudson Bay acts as a source of CO₂ during August and September, but reverts to a sink of CO₂ in October as the water temperature decreases. Overall, a positive flux of 1.60 TgC was estimated for the region during the ice-free season. This result is in contrast to most Arctic or sub-Arctic continental shelf seas, where usually strong absorptions of CO₂ are observed.     

Singular perturbation of linear regulators: Basic theorems

The behavior of the solution of the Riccati equation for the linear regulator problem with a parameter whose perturbation changes the order of the system is analyzed. Sufficient conditions are given under which the solution of the original problem tends to the solution of a low-order problem. This result can be used for the decomposition of a high-order problem into two low-order problems.     

Digital redesign of continuous systems by matching of states at multiple sampling periods

This paper presents a method of digital approximation of a continuous-data system by the matching of states at multiple sampling periods. Two alternate methods are presented; one method samples the states every sampling period, and alters the forward and feedback gains, so as to match the states of the two systems at the end of N sampling periods. The second method requires the sampling of the states every N sampling periods, with the change of gains at each sampling period. An illustrative example using the one-axis dynamics of the Skylab Satellite is presented.     

A comparative study on the use of fly ash and phosphogypsum in the brick production

Over 15 million tons of fly ash (FA) and 3 million tons of phosphogypsum (PG) are produced in Turkey every year. The utilization of these industrial by-product materials is important in terms of environmental and economical issues are concerned. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the technical possibilities of incorporating FA and PG in production of building blocks. Various mixtures were prepared by incorporating these industrial wastes by replacing clay with seven different weight proportions (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%). All specimens were fired at 1000°C peak temperature. The physical and mechanical properties of all specimens such as; unit weight, compressive strength, flexural strength, dimensional stability and water absorption values were recorded. The effect of PG incorporation on the properties of samples seems to be more dominant than the effect of FA incorporation. The test results showed that; PG incorporation increased the unit weight and mechanical strength values while lowering the water absorption values. Utilization of these wastes additives is not only for conservation of clay resources, but also an alternative solution to a difficult and expensive waste disposal problems.     

Digital approximation of continuous-data control systems by point-by-point state comparison

This paper presents a point-by-point state comparison method of approximating a continuous-data system by a sampled-data system. The problem is to attempt the matching of the states of the two systems at the sampling instants. A partial matching has to be conducted if the systems have more states than controls. A weighting matrix is used to regulate the partial matching and weights placed on each state.The digital approximation is affected by use of forward gain E(T) and feedback gain G(T) in the sampled-data system. It is shown that, in general, these gains can be approximated by truncated Taylor series expansions.An illustrative example is given using the one-axis dynamics of the Skylab satellite.