A Unified Geodetic Vertical Velocity Field (UGVVF), Version 1.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmalzle, G.; Wdowinski, S.

2014-12-01

Tectonic motion, volcanic inflation or deflation, as well as oil, gas and water pumping can induce vertical motion. In southern California these signals are inter-mingled. In tectonics, properly identifying regions that are contaminated by other signals can be important when estimating fault slip rates. Until recently vertical deformation rates determined by high precision Global Positioning Systems (GPS) had large uncertainties compared to horizontal components and were rarely used to constrain tectonic models of fault motion. However, many continuously occupied GPS stations have been operating for ten or more years, often delivering uncertainties of ~1 mm/yr or less, providing better constraints for tectonic modeling. Various processing centers produced GPS time series and estimated vertical velocity fields, each with their own set of processing techniques and assumptions. We compare vertical velocity solutions estimated by seven data processing groups as well as two combined solutions (Figure 1). These groups include: Central Washington University (CWU) and New Mexico Institute of Technology (NMT), and their combined solution provided by the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) through the UNAVCO website. Also compared are the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Scripps Orbit and Permanent Array Center (SOPAC) and their combined solution provided as part of the NASA MEaSUREs project. Smaller velocity fields included are from Amos et al., 2014, processed at the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory, Shen et al., 2011, processed by UCLA and called the Crustal Motion Map 4.0 (CMM4) dataset, and a new velocity field provided by the University of Miami (UM). Our analysis includes estimating and correcting for systematic vertical velocity and uncertainty differences between groups. Our final product is a unified velocity field that contains the median values of the adjusted velocity fields and their uncertainties. This product will be periodically updated when new velocity fields become available. A database and scripts to access the database will be available through the University of Miami (http://www.geodesy.miami.edu) website. Figure 1. Vertical velocity comparisons between processing groups (blue dots). Red line indicates equal velocities. Weighted Root Mean Square (WRMS) is shown.

Enhanced vertical mixing within mesoscale eddies due to high frequency winds in the South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardona, Yuley; Bracco, Annalisa

The South China Sea is a marginal basin with a complex circulation influenced by the East Asian Monsoon, river discharge and intricate bathymetry. As a result, both the mesoscale eddy field and the near-inertial energy distribution display large spatial variability and they strongly influence the oceanic transport and mixing. With an ensemble of numerical integrations using a regional ocean model, this work investigates how the temporal resolution of the atmospheric forcing fields modifies the horizontal and vertical velocity patterns and impacts the transport properties in the basin. The response of the mesoscale circulation in the South China Sea is investigated under three different forcing conditions: monthly, daily and 6-hourly momentum and heat fluxes. While the horizontal circulation does not display significant differences, the representation of the vertical velocity field displays high sensitivity to the frequency of the wind forcing. If the wind field contains energy at the inertial frequency or higher (daily and 6-hourly cases), then submesoscale fronts, vortex Rossby waves and near inertial waves are excited as ageostrophic expression of the vigorous eddy field. Those quasi- and near-inertial waves dominate the vertical velocity field in the mixed layer (vortex Rossby waves) and below the first hundred meters (near inertial waves) and they are responsible for the differences in the vertical transport properties under the various forcing fields as quantified by frequency spectra, vertical velocity profiles and vertical dispersion of Lagrangian tracers.

Estimates of the seasonal mean vertical velocity fields of the extratropical Northern Hemisphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, G. H.

1983-01-01

Indirect methods are employed to estimate the wintertime and summertime mean vertical velocity fields of the extratropical Northern Hemisphere and intercomparisons are made, together with comparisons with mean seasonal patterns of cloudiness and precipitation. Twice-daily NMC operational analyses produced general circulation statistics for 11 winters and 12 summers, permitting calculation of the seasonal NMC averages for 6 hr forecasts, solution of the omega equation, integration of continuity equation downward from 100 mb, and solution of the thermodynamic energy equation in the absence of diabatic heating. The methods all yielded similar vertical velocity patterns; however, the magnitude of the vertical velocities could not be calculated with great accuracy. Orography was concluded to have less of an effect in summer than in winter, when winds are stronger.

Integrating Continuous GPS Time Series and Geodetic Leveling Data to Estimate Secular Vertical Velocity of Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LAI, Y. R.; Hsu, Y. J.; You, R. J.

2017-12-01

GPS technique services as the most powerful method in monitoring crustal deformation owing to its advantage of temporal continuity. Geodetic leveling is also widely used not only in engineering but also in geophysics applicants due to its high precision in vertical datum determination and spatial continuity advantages. As widely known, the reference frames of GPS and geodetic leveling are different- the former refers to the reference ellipsoid (WGS84 ellipsoid) and the latter refers to the geoid. In order to combine vertical velocity fields from different datums, we decide to examine discrepancy between these two data sets. Moreover, GPS stations and benchmarks always do not locate at the same places. In place of using a spatial reduced function (Ching et.al, JGR, 2011) to find the discrepancy between them, we focused on comparing termporal variation of GPS vertical motions and geodetic leveling displacements. In this study, we analyzed the vertical velocity field from 238 GPS stations and 1634 benchmarks, including the time-period (2000 to 2015) influenced by postseismiceffects from 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake (Mw 7.6), 2003 Chengkung earthquake (Mw 6.8), and so on. After we thoroughly examined all the process and considered coseismic and postseismic deformation of significant earthquakes, we found that the discrepancy of vertical velocity of the GPS station and its nearby benchmarks is about 1 - 2 mm/yr, including several source of errors in data processing. We suggest that this discrepancy of vertical velocity field can be ignored as tolerable error, and two heterogeneous fields can be integrated together without any mathematical presumptions of spatial regression. The result shows that the western coast is suffering sever subsidence with rates up to 40 mm/yr; the Central Range of Taiwan is uplifting with rates about +10 mm/yr and active landslides with significant subsidence of 5-10 mm/yr in local area. A huge velocity contrast of 30 mm;/yr indicating east over west thrusting is shown across the Longitudinal Valley Fault. Estimation of vertical velocity from 2000 to 2015 is consistent with velocities from 2008 to 2015, indicating our modification process is not affected by the Chi-Chi earthquake (Mw 7.6).

A Unified Global Reference Frame of Vertical Crustal Movements by Satellite Laser Ranging.

PubMed

Zhu, Xinhui; Wang, Ren; Sun, Fuping; Wang, Jinling

2016-02-08

Crustal movement is one of the main factors influencing the change of the Earth system, especially in its vertical direction, which affects people's daily life through the frequent occurrence of earthquakes, geological disasters, and so on. In order to get a better study and application of the vertical crustal movement,as well as its changes, the foundation and prerequisite areto devise and establish its reference frame; especially, a unified global reference frame is required. Since SLR (satellite laser ranging) is one of the most accurate space techniques for monitoring geocentric motion and can directly measure the ground station's geocentric coordinates and velocities relative to the centre of the Earth's mass, we proposed to take the vertical velocity of the SLR technique in the ITRF2008 framework as the reference frame of vertical crustal motion, which we defined as the SLR vertical reference frame (SVRF). The systematic bias between other velocity fields and the SVRF was resolved by using the GPS (Global Positioning System) and VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) velocity observations, and the unity of other velocity fields and SVRF was realized,as well. The results show that it is feasible and suitable to take the SVRF as a reference frame, which has both geophysical meanings and geodetic observations, so we recommend taking the SLR vertical velocity under ITRF2008 as the global reference frame of vertical crustal movement.

A Unified Global Reference Frame of Vertical Crustal Movements by Satellite Laser Ranging

PubMed Central

Zhu, Xinhui; Wang, Ren; Sun, Fuping; Wang, Jinling

2016-01-01

Crustal movement is one of the main factors influencing the change of the Earth system, especially in its vertical direction, which affects people’s daily life through the frequent occurrence of earthquakes, geological disasters, and so on. In order to get a better study and application of the vertical crustal movement, as well as its changes, the foundation and prerequisite areto devise and establish its reference frame; especially, a unified global reference frame is required. Since SLR (satellite laser ranging) is one of the most accurate space techniques for monitoring geocentric motion and can directly measure the ground station’s geocentric coordinates and velocities relative to the centre of the Earth’s mass, we proposed to take the vertical velocity of the SLR technique in the ITRF2008 framework as the reference frame of vertical crustal motion, which we defined as the SLR vertical reference frame (SVRF). The systematic bias between other velocity fields and the SVRF was resolved by using the GPS (Global Positioning System) and VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) velocity observations, and the unity of other velocity fields and SVRF was realized, as well. The results show that it is feasible and suitable to take the SVRF as a reference frame, which has both geophysical meanings and geodetic observations, so we recommend taking the SLR vertical velocity under ITRF2008 as the global reference frame of vertical crustal movement. PMID:26867197

Multi-parameter Full-waveform Inversion for Acoustic VTI Medium with Surface Seismic Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, X.; Jiao, K.; Sun, D.; Huang, W.; Vigh, D.

2013-12-01

Full-waveform Inversion (FWI) attracts wide attention recently in oil and gas industry as a new promising tool for high resolution subsurface velocity model building. While the traditional common image point gather based tomography method aims to focus post-migrated data in depth domain, FWI aims to directly fit the observed seismic waveform in either time or frequency domain. The inversion is performed iteratively by updating the velocity fields to reduce the difference between the observed and the simulated data. It has been shown the inversion is very sensitive to the starting velocity fields, and data with long offsets and low frequencies is crucial for the success of FWI to overcome this sensitivity. Considering the importance of data with long offsets and low frequencies, in most geologic environment, anisotropy is an unavoidable topic for FWI especially at long offsets, since anisotropy tends to have more pronounced effects on waves traveled for a great distance. In VTI medium, this means more horizontal velocity will be registered in middle-to-long offset data, while more vertical velocity will be registered in near-to-middle offset data. Up to date, most of real world applications of FWI still remain in isotropic medium, and only a few studies have been shown to account for anisotropy. And most of those studies only account for anisotropy in waveform simulation, but not invert for those anisotropy fields. Multi-parameter inversion for anisotropy fields, even in VTI medium, remains as a hot topic in the field. In this study, we develop a strategy for multi-parameter FWI for acoustic VTI medium with surface seismic data. Because surface seismic data is insensitivity to the delta fields, we decide to hold the delta fields unchanged during our inversion, and invert only for vertical velocity and epsilon fields. Through parameterization analysis and synthetic tests, we find that it is more feasible to invert for the parameterization as vertical and horizontal velocities instead of inverting for the parameterization as vertical velocity and epsilon fields. We develop a hierarchical approach to invert for vertical velocity first but hold epsilon unchanged and only switch to simultaneous inversion when vertical velocity inversion are approaching convergence. During simultaneous inversion, we observe significant acceleration in the convergence when incorporates second order information and preconditioning into inversion. We demonstrate the success of our strategy for VTI FWI using synthetic and real data examples from the Gulf of Mexico. Our results show that incorporation of VTI FWI improves migration of large offset acquisition data, and produces better focused migration images to be used in exploration, production and development of oil fields.

Quantifying the effect of aerosol on vertical velocity and effective terminal velocity in warm convective clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dagan, Guy; Koren, Ilan; Altaratz, Orit

2018-05-01

Better representation of cloud-aerosol interactions is crucial for an improved understanding of natural and anthropogenic effects on climate. Recent studies have shown that the overall aerosol effect on warm convective clouds is non-monotonic. Here, we reduce the system's dimensions to its center of gravity (COG), enabling distillation and simplification of the overall trend and its temporal evolution. Within the COG framework, we show that the aerosol effects are nicely reflected by the interplay of the system's characteristic vertical velocities, namely the updraft (w) and the effective terminal velocity (η). The system's vertical velocities can be regarded as a sensitive measure for the evolution of the overall trends with time. Using a bin-microphysics cloud-scale model, we analyze and follow the trends of the aerosol effect on the magnitude and timing of w and η, and therefore the overall vertical COG velocity. Large eddy simulation (LES) model runs are used to upscale the analyzed trends to the cloud-field scale and study how the aerosol effects on the temporal evolution of the field's thermodynamic properties are reflected by the interplay between the two velocities. Our results suggest that aerosol effects on air vertical motion and droplet mobility imply an effect on the way in which water is distributed along the atmospheric column. Moreover, the interplay between w and η predicts the overall trend of the field's thermodynamic instability. These factors have an important effect on the local energy balance.

Vertical wind velocity measurements using a five-hole probe with remotely piloted aircraft to study aerosol-cloud interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calmer, Radiance; Roberts, Gregory C.; Preissler, Jana; Sanchez, Kevin J.; Derrien, Solène; O'Dowd, Colin

2018-05-01

The importance of vertical wind velocities (in particular positive vertical wind velocities or updrafts) in atmospheric science has motivated the need to deploy multi-hole probes developed for manned aircraft in small remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). In atmospheric research, lightweight RPAs ( < 2.5 kg) are now able to accurately measure atmospheric wind vectors, even in a cloud, which provides essential observing tools for understanding aerosol-cloud interactions. The European project BACCHUS (impact of Biogenic versus Anthropogenic emissions on Clouds and Climate: towards a Holistic UnderStanding) focuses on these specific interactions. In particular, vertical wind velocity at cloud base is a key parameter for studying aerosol-cloud interactions. To measure the three components of wind, a RPA is equipped with a five-hole probe, pressure sensors, and an inertial navigation system (INS). The five-hole probe is calibrated on a multi-axis platform, and the probe-INS system is validated in a wind tunnel. Once mounted on a RPA, power spectral density (PSD) functions and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) derived from the five-hole probe are compared with sonic anemometers on a meteorological mast. During a BACCHUS field campaign at Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station (Ireland), a fleet of RPAs was deployed to profile the atmosphere and complement ground-based and satellite observations of physical and chemical properties of aerosols, clouds, and meteorological state parameters. The five-hole probe was flown on straight-and-level legs to measure vertical wind velocities within clouds. The vertical velocity measurements from the RPA are validated with vertical velocities derived from a ground-based cloud radar by showing that both measurements yield model-simulated cloud droplet number concentrations within 10 %. The updraft velocity distributions illustrate distinct relationships between vertical cloud fields in different meteorological conditions.

Investigation of a laser Doppler velocimeter system to measure the flow field around a large scale V/STOL aircraft in ground effect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zalay, A. D.; Brashears, M. R.; Jordan, A. J.; Shrider, K. R.; Vought, C. D.

1979-01-01

The flow field measured around a hovering 70 percent scale vertical takeoff and landing (V/STOL) aircraft model is described. The velocity measurements were conducted with a ground based laser Doppler velocimeter. The remote sensing instrumentation and experimental tests of the velocity surveys are discussed. The distribution of vertical velocity in the fan jet and fountain; the radial velocity in the wall jet and the horizontal velocity along the aircraft underside are presented for different engine rpms and aircraft height above ground. Results show that it is feasible to use a mobile laser Doppler velocimeter to measure the flow field generated by a large scale V/STOL aircraft operating in ground effect.

A two-dimensional kinematic dynamo model of the ionospheric magnetic field at Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cravens, T. E.; Wu, D.; Shinagawa, H.

1990-01-01

The results of a high-resolution, two-dimensional, time dependent, kinematic dynamo model of the ionospheric magnetic field of Venus are presented. Various one-dimensional models are considered and the two-dimensional model is then detailed. In this model, the two-dimensional magnetic induction equation, the magnetic diffusion-convection equation, is numerically solved using specified plasma velocities. Origins of the vertical velocity profile and of the horizontal velocities are discussed. It is argued that the basic features of the vertical magnetic field profile remain unaltered by horizontal flow effects and also that horizontal plasma flow can strongly affect the magnetic field for altitudes above 300 km.

Aerial dispersal of particles emitted inside plant canopies: Application to the spread of plant diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Ying

This work combines numerical, experimental, and theoretical methods to investigate the dispersion of particles inside and above plant canopies. The large-eddy simulation (LES) approach is used to reproduce turbulence statistics and three-dimensional particle dispersion within the canopy roughness sublayer. The Eulerian description of conservation laws of fluid momentum and particle concentration implies that the continuous concentration field is advected by the continuous flow field. Within the canopy, modifications are required for the filtered momentum and concentration equations, because spatial filtering of flow variables and concentration field is inapplicable to a control volume consisting of both fluid and solid elements. In this work, the canopy region is viewed as a space occupied by air only. The sink of airflow momentum induced by forces acting on the surfaces of canopy elements is parameterized as a non-conservative virtual body force that dissipates the kinetic energy of the air. This virtual body force must reflect the characteristic of the surface forces exerted by canopy elements within the control volume, and is parameterized as a "drag force" following standard practice in LES studies. Specifically, the "drag force" is calculated as a product of a drag coefficient, the projected leaf area density, and the square of velocity. Using a constant drag coefficient, this model allows first-order accuracy in reproducing the vertically integrated sink of momentum within the canopy layer for airflows of high Reynolds number. The corresponding LES results of first- and second-order turbulence statistics are in good agreement with experimental data obtained in the field interior, within and just above mature maize canopies. However, the distribution of momentum sink among weak and strong events has not been well reproduced, inferred from the significant underestition of streamwise and vertical velocity skewness as well as the fractions of vertical momentum flux transported by strong events. Using a velocity-dependent drag coefficient that accounts for the effect of plant reconfiguration, the "drag force" model leads to LES results of streamwise and vertical velocity skewness as well as the fractions of vertical momentum flux transported by strong events in better agreement with field experimental data. The link between plant reconfiguration and turbulence dynamics within the canopy roughness sublayer is further investigated. The "reconfiguration drag model" using velocity-dependent drag coefficient is revised to incorporate a theoretical model of the force balance on individual crosswind blades. In the LES, the dimension and degree of the reconfiguration of canopy elements affect the magnitude and position of peak streamwise velocity skewness within the canopy as well as the fractions of vertical momentum flux transported by strong events. The streamwise velocity skewness is shown to be related to the penetration of strong events into the canopy, which is associated with the passage of canopy-scale coherent eddies. With the profile of mean vertical momentum flux constrained by field experimental data, changing the model of drag coefficient induces negligible changes in the vertically integrated "drag force" within the canopy layer. Consequently, first- and second-order turbulence statistics remain approximately the same. However, enhancing the rate of decrease of drag coefficient with increasing velocity increases the streamwise and vertical velocity skewness, the fractions of vertical momentum flux transported by strong events, as well as the ratio between vertical momentum flux transported by relatively strong head-down "sweeps" and relatively weak head-up "ejections." These results confirmed the inadequacy of describing the effects of canopy-scale coherent structures using just first- and second-order turbulence statistics. The filtered concentration equation is applied to the dispersion of particles within the canopy roughness sublayer, assuming that a virtual continuous concentration field is advected by a virtual continuous velocity field. A canopy deposition model is used to model the sink of particle concentration associated with the impaction, sedimentation, retention, and re-entrainment of particles on the surfaces of canopy elements. LES results of mean particle concentration field and mean ground deposition rate were evaluated against data obtained during an artificial continuous point-source release experiment. Accounting for the effect of reconfiguration by using a velocity dependent drag coefficient leads to better agreement between LES results and field experimental data of the mean particle concentration field, suggesting the importance of reproducing the distribution of momentum sink among weak and strong events for reproducing the dispersion of particles. LES results obtained using a velocity-dependent drag coefficient are analyzed to estimate essential properties for the occurrence of plant disease epidemics. The most interesting finding is that an existing analytical function can be used to model the crosswind-integrated mean concentration field above the canopy normalized by the escape fraction for particles released from the field interior. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Spatial and Temporal Extrapolation of Disdrometer Size Distributions Based on a Lagrangian Trajectory Model of Falling Rain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lane, John E.; Kasparis, Takis; Jones, W. Linwood; Metzger, Philip T.

2009-01-01

Methodologies to improve disdrometer processing, loosely based on mathematical techniques common to the field of particle flow and fluid mechanics, are examined and tested. The inclusion of advection and vertical wind field estimates appear to produce significantly improved results in a Lagrangian hydrometeor trajectory model, in spite of very strict assumptions of noninteracting hydrometeors, constant vertical air velocity, and time independent advection during the scan time interval. Wind field data can be extracted from each radar elevation scan by plotting and analyzing reflectivity contours over the disdrometer site and by collecting the radar radial velocity data to obtain estimates of advection. Specific regions of disdrometer spectra (drop size versus time) often exhibit strong gravitational sorting signatures, from which estimates of vertical velocity can be extracted. These independent wind field estimates become inputs and initial conditions to the Lagrangian trajectory simulation of falling hydrometeors.

STRING: A new drifter for HF radar validation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rammou, Anna-Maria; Zervakis, Vassilis; Bellomo, Lucio; Kokkini, Zoi; Quentin, Celine; Mantovani, Carlo; Kalampokis, Alkiviadis

2015-04-01

High-Frequency radars (HFR) are an effective mean of remotely monitoring sea-surface currents, based on recording the Doppler-shift of radio-waves backscattered on the sea surface. Validation of HFRs' measurements takes place via comparisons either with in-situ Eulerian velocity data (usually obtained by surface current-meters attached on moorings) or to Lagrangian velocity fields (recorded by surface drifters). The most common surface drifter used for this purpose is the CODE-type drifter (Davis, 1985), an industry-standard design to record the vertical average velocity of the upper 1 m layer of the water column. In this work we claim that the observed differences between the HFR-derived velocities and Lagrangian measurements can be attributed not just to the different spatial scales recorded by the above instruments but also due to the fact that while the HFR-derived velocity corresponds to exponentially weighted vertical average of the velocity field from the surface to 1 m depth (Stewart and Joy, 1974) the velocity estimated by the CODE drifters corresponds to boxcar-type weighted vertical average due to the orthogonal shape of the CODE drifters' sails. After analyzing the theoretical behavior of a drifter under the influence of wind and current, we proceed to propose a new design of exponentially-shaped sails for the drogues of CODE-based drifters, so that the HFR-derived velocities and the drifter-based velocities will be directly comparable, regarding the way of vertically averaging the velocity field.The new drifter, codenamed STRING, exhibits identical behavior to the classical CODE design under relatively homogeneous conditions in the upper 1 m layer, however it is expected to follow a significantly different track in conditions of high vertical shear and stratification. Thus, we suggest that the new design is the instrument of choice for validation of HFR installations, as it can be used in all conditions and behaves identically to CODEs when vertical shear is insignificant. Finally, we present results from three experiments using both drifter types in HFR-covered regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. More experiments are planned, incorporating design improvements dictated by the results of the preliminary field tests. This work was held in the framework of the project "Specifically Targeted for Radars INnovative Gauge (STRING)", funded by the Greek-French collaboration programme "Plato".

A Laboratory Study of Vortical Structures in Rotating Convection Plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Hao; Sun, Shiwei; Wang, Yuan; Zhou, Bowen; Thermal Turbulence Research Team

2015-11-01

A laboratory study of the columnar vortex structure in rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection is conducted. A rectangular water tank is uniformly heated from below and cooled from above, with Ra = (6 . 35 +/- 0 . 77) ×107 , Ta = 9 . 84 ×107 , Pr = 7 . 34 . The columnar vortices are vertically aligned and quasi steady. Two 2D PIV systems were used to measure velocity field. One system performs horizontal scans at 9 different heights every 13.6s, covering 62% of the total depth. The other system scans vertically to obtain the vertical velocity profile. The measured vertical vorticity profiles of most vortices are quasi-linear with height while the vertical velocities are nearly uniform with only a small curvature. A simple model to deduce vertical velocity profile from vertical vorticity profile is proposed. Under quasi-steady and axisymmetric conditions, a ``vortex core'' assumption is introduced to simplify vertical vorticity equation. A linear ODE about vertical velocity is obtained whenever a vertical vorticity profile is given and solved with experimental data as input. The result is approximately in agreement with the measurement. This work was supported by Undergraduates Training Project (J1103410).

Flow tilt angle measurements using lidar anemometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dellwik, Ebba; Mann, Jakob

2010-05-01

A new way of estimating near-surface mean flow tilt angles from ground based Doppler lidar measurements is presented. The results are compared with traditional mast based in-situ sonic anemometry. The tilt angle assessed with the lidar is based on 10 or 30 minute mean values of the velocity field from a conically scanning lidar. In this mode of measurement, the lidar beam is rotated in a circle by a prism with a fixed angle to the vertical at varying focus distances. By fitting a trigonometric function to the scans, the mean vertical velocity can be estimated. Lidar measurements from (1) a fetch-limited beech forest site taken at 48-175m above ground level, (2) a reference site in flat agricultural terrain and (3) a second reference site in very complex terrain are presented. The method to derive flow tilt angles and mean vertical velocities from lidar has several advantages compared to sonic anemometry; there is no flow distortion caused by the instrument itself, there are no temperature effects and the instrument misalignment can be corrected for by comparing tilt estimates at various heights. Contrary to mast-based instruments, the lidar measures the wind field with the exact same alignment error at a multitude of heights. Disadvantages with estimating vertical velocities from a lidar compared to mast-based measurements are slightly increased levels of statistical errors due to limited sampling time, because the sampling is disjunct and a requirement for homogeneous flow. The estimated mean vertical velocity is biased if the flow over the scanned circle is not homogeneous. However, the error on the mean vertical velocity due to flow inhomogeneity can be approximated by a function of the angle of the lidar beam to the vertical, the measurement height and the vertical gradient of the mean vertical velocity, whereas the error due to flow inhomogeneity on the horizontal mean wind speed is independent of the lidar beam angle. For the presented measurements over forest, it is evaluated that the systematic error due to the inhomogeneity of the flow is less than 0.2 degrees. Other possibilities for utilizing lidars for flow tilt angle and mean vertical velocities are discussed.

Land motion estimates from GPS at tide gauges: a geophysical evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouin, M. N.; Wöppelmann, G.

2010-01-01

Space geodesy applications have mainly been limited to horizontal deformations due to a number of restrictions on the vertical component accuracy. Monitoring vertical land motion is nonetheless of crucial interest in observations of long-term sea level change or postglacial rebound measurements. Here, we present a global vertical velocity field obtained with more than 200 permanent GPS stations, most of them colocated with tide gauges (TGs). We used a state of the art, homogeneous processing strategy to ensure that the reference frame was stable throughout the observation period of almost 10 yr. We associate realistic uncertainties to our vertical rates, taking into account the time-correlation noise in the time-series. The results are compared with two independent geophysical vertical velocity fields: (1) vertical velocity estimates using long-term TG records and (2) postglacial model predictions from the ICE-5G (VM2) adjustment. The quantitative agreement of the GPS vertical velocities with the `internal estimates' of vertical displacements using the TG record is very good, with a mean difference of -0.13 +/- 1.64 mm yr-1 on more than 100 sites. For 84 per cent of the GPS stations considered, the vertical velocity is confirmed by the TG estimate to within 2 mm yr-1. The overall agreement with the glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) model is good, with discrepancy patterns related either to a local misfit of the model or to active tectonics. For 72 per cent of the sites considered, the predictions of the GIA model agree with the GPS results to within two standard deviations. Most of the GPS velocities showing discrepancies with respect to the predictions of the GIA model are, however, consistent with previously published space geodesy results. We, in turn, confirm the value of 1.8 +/- 0.5 mm yr-1 for the 20th century average global sea level rise, and conclude that GPS is now a robust tool for vertical land motion monitoring which is accurate at least at 1 mm yr-1.

GPS Imaging of vertical land motion in California and Nevada: Implications for Sierra Nevada uplift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammond, William C.; Blewitt, Geoffrey; Kreemer, Corné

2016-10-01

We introduce Global Positioning System (GPS) Imaging, a new technique for robust estimation of the vertical velocity field of the Earth's surface, and apply it to the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in the western United States. Starting with vertical position time series from Global Positioning System (GPS) stations, we first estimate vertical velocities using the MIDAS robust trend estimator, which is insensitive to undocumented steps, outliers, seasonality, and heteroscedasticity. Using the Delaunay triangulation of station locations, we then apply a weighted median spatial filter to remove velocity outliers and enhance signals common to multiple stations. Finally, we interpolate the data using weighted median estimation on a grid. The resulting velocity field is temporally and spatially robust and edges in the field remain sharp. Results from data spanning 5-20 years show that the Sierra Nevada is the most rapid and extensive uplift feature in the western United States, rising up to 2 mm/yr along most of the range. The uplift is juxtaposed against domains of subsidence attributable to groundwater withdrawal in California's Central Valley. The uplift boundary is consistently stationary, although uplift is faster over the 2011-2016 period of drought. Uplift patterns are consistent with groundwater extraction and concomitant elastic bedrock uplift, plus slower background tectonic uplift. A discontinuity in the velocity field across the southeastern edge of the Sierra Nevada reveals a contrast in lithospheric strength, suggesting a relationship between late Cenozoic uplift of the southern Sierra Nevada and evolution of the southern Walker Lane.

Vertical rise velocity of equatorial plasma bubbles estimated from Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR) observations and HIRB model simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tulasi Ram, S.; Ajith, K. K.; Yokoyama, T.; Yamamoto, M.; Niranjan, K.

2017-06-01

The vertical rise velocity (Vr) and maximum altitude (Hm) of equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) were estimated using the two-dimensional fan sector maps of 47 MHz Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR), Kototabang, during May 2010 to April 2013. A total of 86 EPBs were observed out of which 68 were postsunset EPBs and remaining 18 EPBs were observed around midnight hours. The vertical rise velocities of the EPBs observed around the midnight hours are significantly smaller ( 26-128 m/s) compared to those observed in postsunset hours ( 45-265 m/s). Further, the vertical growth of the EPBs around midnight hours ceases at relatively lower altitudes, whereas the majority of EPBs at postsunset hours found to have grown beyond the maximum detectable altitude of the EAR. The three-dimensional numerical high-resolution bubble (HIRB) model with varying background conditions are employed to investigate the possible factors that control the vertical rise velocity and maximum attainable altitudes of EPBs. The estimated rise velocities from EAR observations at both postsunset and midnight hours are, in general, consistent with the nonlinear evolution of EPBs from the HIRB model. The smaller vertical rise velocities (Vr) and lower maximum altitudes (Hm) of EPBs during midnight hours are discussed in terms of weak polarization electric fields within the bubble due to weaker background electric fields and reduced background ion density levels.