Three years of greenhouse gas column-averaged dry air mole fractions retrieved from satellite – Part 2: Methane

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases. SCIAMACHY on ENVISAT is the first satellite instrument whose measurements are sensitive to concentration changes of the two gases at all altitude levels down to the Earth's surface where the source/sink signals are largest. We have processed three years (2003–2005) of SCIAMACHY near-infrared nadir measurements to simultaneously retrieve vertical columns of CO2 (from the 1.58 µm absorption band), CH4 (1.66 µm) and oxygen (O2 A-band at 0.76 µm) using the scientific retrieval algorithm WFM-DOAS. We show that the latest version of WFM-DOAS, version 1.0, which is used for this study, has been significantly improved with respect to its accuracy compared to the previous versions while essentially maintaining its high processing speed (~1 min per orbit, corresponding to ~6000 single measurements, and per gas on a standard PC). The greenhouse gas columns are converted to dry air column-averaged mole fractions, denoted XCO2 (in ppm) and XCH4 (in ppb), by dividing the greenhouse gas columns by simultaneously retrieved dry air columns. For XCO2 dry air columns are obtained from the retrieved O2 columns. For XCH4 dry air columns are obtained from the retrieved CO2 columns because of better cancellation of light path related errors compared to using O2 columns retrieved from the spectrally distant O2 A-band. Here we focus on a discussion of the XCH4 data set. The XCO2 data set is discussed in a separate paper (Part 1). For 2003 we present detailed comparisons with the TM5 model which has been optimally matched to highly accurate but sparse methane surface observations. After accounting for a systematic low bias of ~2% agreement with TM5 is typically within 1–2%. We investigated to what extent the SCIAMACHY XCH4 is influenced by the variability of atmospheric CO2 using global CO2 fields from NOAA's CO2 assimilation system CarbonTracker. We show that the CO2 corrected and uncorrected XCH4 spatio-temporal pattern are very similar but that agreement with TM5 is better for the CarbonTracker CO2 corrected XCH4. In line with previous studies (e.g., Frankenberg et al., 2005b) we find higher methane over the tropics compared to the model. We show that tropical methane is also higher when normalizing the CH4 columns with retrieved O2 columns instead of CO2. In consistency with recent results of Frankenberg et al. (2008b) it is shown that the magnitude of the retrieved tropical methane is sensitive to the choice of the spectroscopic line parameters of water vapour. Concerning inter-annual variability we find similar methane spatio-temporal pattern for 2003 and 2004. For 2005 the retrieved methane shows significantly higher variability compared to the two previous years, most likely due to somewhat larger noise of the spectral measurement

From milk to cheese: Evolution of flavor fingerprint of milk, cream, curd, whey, ricotta, scotta, and ripened cheese obtained during summer Alpine pasture

The role of each step of cheese and ricotta making in development of flavor of cheese and other dairy products is not yet well known. The objectives of this study were to characterize volatile organic compounds (VOC) in cheese and ricotta making with bulk milk from cows grazing in a highland area and to evaluate their evolution in the various dairy products and by-products obtained during the production processes. A group of 148 cows was grazed day and night on pasture from June to September. A total of 7 cheese-making sessions were carried out using the bulk milk collected every 2 wk during summer pasturing according to the artisanal procedure used for Malga cheese production. All milks, products, and by-products were sampled, and the VOC content of milk, cream, whey, ricotta, scotta (residual liquid), fresh cheeses, and cheeses ripened for 6 and 12 mo was determined by solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Forty-nine compounds were identified belonging to the following chemical families: alcohols (13), aldehydes (9), esters (8), free fatty acids (6), ketones (5), lactones (2), sulfurs (2), terpenes (2), phenol (1), and benzene (1). The results showed that the amounts of VOC in the various dairy products differed significantly. Comparisons between the VOC of 4 types of milk (whole evening, skim evening, whole morning, mixed in the vat) showed that the skimming process had the greatest effect, with about half of all the VOC analyzed affected, followed by time of milking (evening milking vs. morning milking) and mixing (skim evening milk mixed with whole morning milk). In general, among fresh products, cream had higher contents of fatty acids, sulfurs, and terpene volatile compounds than fresh cheese and ricotta, whereas ricotta showed a very high VOC amount compared with fresh cheese, probably due to its high processing temperature. The effects of the progressive nutrient depletion in milk during processing were investigated by comparing the amounts of VOC in vat milk, whey, and scotta. Although milk contained greater amounts of nutrients, whey and especially scotta had higher concentrations of VOC, with the exception of esters, sulfurs, terpenes, and phenolic compounds, as a result of physicochemical and microbial modifications during processing. Finally, the effect of ripening was tested by comparing the VOC of fresh and ripened cheeses (6 and 12 mo), revealing that VOC release increased dramatically during the first semester and further with increasing the ripening period to 1 yr. In particular, some alcohols (butan-2-ol), aldehydes (2-methylpropanal, hexanal, and heptanal), esters (ethyl butanoate and ethyl hexanoate), fatty acids (acetic, butanoic, and hexanoic acids), and ketones (butan-2-one, pentan-2-one, and heptan-2-one) showed a very large increase. In conclusion, according to the artisanal milk processing carried out for Malga cheese production, the quantity of VOC was shown to increase about 3 times during cheese making (from milk in vat to fresh cheese plus whey), almost 4 times during ricotta making (from whey to ricotta plus scotta), and about 16 times during 1 yr of ripening of cheese

The impact of air pollutant and methane emission controls on tropospheric ozone and radiative forcing: CTM calculations for the period 1990-2030

To explore the relationship between tropospheric ozone and radiative forcing with changing emissions, we compiled two sets of global scenarios for the emissions of the ozone precursors methane (CH₄), carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) up to the year 2030 and implemented them in two global Chemistry Transport Models. The 'Current Legislation' (CLE) scenario reflects the current perspectives of individual countries on future economic development and takes the anticipated effects of presently decided emission control legislation in the individual countries into account. In addition, we developed a 'Maximum technically Feasible Reduction' (MFR) scenario that outlines the scope for emission reductions offered by full implementation of the presently available emission control technologies, while maintaining the projected levels of anthropogenic activities. Whereas the resulting projections of methane emissions lie within the range suggested by other greenhouse gas projections, the recent pollution control legislation of many Asian countries, requiring introduction of catalytic converters for vehicles, leads to significantly lower growth in emissions of the air pollutants NO_x, NMVOC and CO than was suggested by the widely used and more pessimistic IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) SRES (Special Report on Emission Scenarios) scenarios (Nakicenovic et al., 2000), which made Business-as-Usual assumptions regarding emission control technology. With the TM3 and STOCHEM models we performed several long-term integrations (1990-2030) to assess global, hemispheric and regional changes in CH₄, CO, hydroxyl radicals, ozone and the radiative climate forcings resulting from these two emission scenarios. Both models reproduce broadly the observed trends in CO, and CH₄ concentrations from 1990 to 2002. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> For the 'current legislation' case, both models indicate an increase of the annual average ozone levels in the Northern Hemisphere by 5ppbv, and up to 15ppbv over the Indian sub-continent, comparing the 2020s (2020-2030) with the 1990s (1990-2000). The corresponding higher ozone and methane burdens in the atmosphere increase radiative forcing by approximately 0.2 Wm^-2. Full application of today's emissions control technologies, however, would bring down ozone below the levels experienced in the 1990s and would reduce the radiative forcing of ozone and methane to approximately -0.1 Wm^-2. This can be compared to the 0.14-0.47 Wm^-2 increase of methane and ozone radiative forcings associated with the SRES scenarios. While methane reductions lead to lower ozone burdens and to less radiative forcing, further reductions of the air pollutants NO_x and NMVOC result in lower ozone, but at the same time increase the lifetime of methane. Control of methane emissions appears an efficient option to reduce tropospheric ozone as well as radiative forcing

Volatile fingerprinting of ripened cheese for authentication and characterisation of different dairy systems

Authentication of dairy systems is of growing interest for the dairy industry and we investigated the potentiality of using volatile fingerprinting of ripened cheeses by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A total of 1,075 individual model cheeses made from milk of individual Brown Swiss cows of 72 farms were analysed. Using a linear discriminant analysis, cows and herds were assigned to 3 or 5 dairy systems differing in management, available facilities, and diets. We obtained variable discrimination abilities (up to 77% of correct classification of cheeses and 70% of farms with cross-validation). We found m/z 61,028 (acetic acid), 109,070 (pyrazine), and m/z 137,132 (terpene) characterising model cheeses from traditional dairy systems and m/z 71,086 (3-methyl-butan-1-ol, 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol, pentan-1-ol), m/z 101,097 (hexan-2-one, hexanal), m/z 123,117 (nonenal), m/z 129,127 (octan-1-one, octanal), and two unidentified peaks m/z 83,071 and m/z 93,090 characterising model cheeses from the modern farms. In conclusion, it seems possible to discriminate between a range of dairy systems using fast volatile fingerprinting of ripened cheeses but a proper validation of results obtained is needed.Highlights Mass spectrometry technique (PTR-ToF-MS) was able to discriminate between dairy systems. We found m/z 61,028 (acetic acid), 109,070 (pyrazine), and m/z 137,132 (terpene) characterising model cheeses from traditional dairy systems. We found m/z 71,086 (3-methyl-butan-1-ol, 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol, pentan-1-ol), m/z 101,097 (hexan-2-one, hexanal), m/z 123,117 (nonenal), m/z 129,127 (octan-1-one, octanal), and two unidentified peaks m/z 83,071 and m/z 93,090 characterising model cheeses from the modern farms

Interpolating discrete advection-diffusion propagators at Leja sequences

We propose and analyze the ReLPM (Real Leja Points Method) for evaluating the propagator phi(DeltatB)nu via matrix interpolation polynomials at spectral Leja sequences. Here B is the large, sparse, nonsymmetric matrix arising from stable 2D or 3D finite-difference discretization of linear advection-diffusion equations, and phi(z) is the entire function phi(z) = (e(z) - 1)/z. The corresponding stiff differential system y(t) = By(t) + g,y(0) =y(0), is solved by the exact time marching scheme y(i+1) = y(i) + Deltat(i)phi(Deltat(i)B)(By(i) + g), i = 0, 1,..., where the time-step is controlled simply via the variation percentage of the solution, and can be large. Numerical tests show substantial speed-ups (up to one order of magnitude) with respect to a classical variable step-size Crank-Nicolson solve

Evaluation of local site effects in the city of Sansepolcro (Central Italy): preliminary results obtained by a urban seismic network.

Sansepolcro, one of the most significant city of Tuscan Tiber Valley, is located in an area close to the eastern edge of the Upper Tiber Valley, characterized by a wide local seismicity, related to the Altotiberina Fault (ATF) activity and not far from the main seismogenic areas of Mid-Northern Apennines (Montefeltro, Forlì, Gubbio, etc.). The Upper Tiber Valley has felt in the past several strong earthquakes: in 1789 (VIII MCS in the city of Sansepolcro), in 1917 (> VIII MCS), in 1948 (> VII MCS), in 1964 (VII MCS). Furthermore, many seismic sequences took place in recent years (1987, 1990, 1997), the last one in 2001 (November, 26, 2001, ML = 4.4). From May 2005, some seismic stations have been deployed in the center of Sansepolcro and its vicinities. Five sites were covering different geologic environments, along a direction approximately orthogonal to the valley axis. The seismic array has recorded more than 100 local and regional seismic events. 20 seismic events, with magnitude ranging from 2.0 and 3.8, distributed with a good azimuthal coverage in an area of 150 km radius centered on the city, have been selected. They were recorded by all the seismic stations with a signal to noise ratio higher than 3 in the frequency band of interest (0.5-10 Hz). The selected events have been analyzed with HHSR and HVSR techniques, to obtain the average spectral ratios for each site. Moreover, we analyzed seismic ambient noise in order to evaluate HVNSR, to be compared with the curves obtained by earthquake analysis. The results allow to give a preliminar evaluation of amplification effects due to the surface geology in the urban area. The three average spectral ratios (HHSR, HVSR and HVNSR) provide a good agreement: they show peaks with a raising amplitude centered on frequencies which point to long period moving from east to the center of the valley. The good agreement with 1D theoretical transfer functions, obtained from stratigraphic data and velocity downhole profiles (Vp e Vs), available for the monitored sites, suggests the hypothesis of being in geologic environment characterized by the presence of a stiff layer, identifiable in the well logs and in the velocity profiles obtained by downhole measurements, which seems to be the reason of surface amplification effects. This layer mainly made by firm cobble-stone associated to the sedimentary phases of Afra torrent, a Tiber tributary that flows close to the SE border of the city, is characterized by shear waves velocities comparable with those of a bedrock and it is recognizable in all the locations, at depths that increase from few meters to 100 m, moving from east to west. This layer, that seems to determine the distinct impedance contrast with the fluvial-lacustrine superficial layers, is not bottom of the basin which should be at a depth of more than 1000 m, as shown by the results of recent 3D analysis (Ciaccio e Barchi, 2006)

Manipulation of ovarian and uterine function to increase conception rates in cattle.

In cattle, embryonic and fetal losses are the major causes of reproductive failureo Losses associated with failure in the process of maternal recognition of pregnancy can amount to as much as 30%0 Successful establishment of pregnancy depends on a delicate balance between luteolytic mechanisms inherent to the endometrium at the end of diestrus and antiluteolytic mechanisms, orchestrated by the conceptus to change endometrial function and, ultimately, block luteolysis. Antiluteolytic strategies are pharmacological, mechanical, nutritional and management manipulations of the process of maternal recognition of pregnancy that aim to increase the probability of successful gestations. Objective of the present paper is to review the recent literature on antiluteolytic strategies in cattle. Specifically, we focused on strategies to stimulate production of progesterone, strategies to reduce production of estradiol and other sttategies. Future directions for research in this area are proposedo

Suporte hormonal com GnRH após a ovulação de vacas de corte.

Após uma inseminação artificial (IA) bem sucedida, a manutenção da gestação na vaca depende do desenvolvimento embrionário adequado, para assegurar o reconhecimento materno da prenhez. Assim, o ambiente uterino deve estar preparado pela progesterona (P4) para otimizar o crescimento do concepto. Existe uma relação entre sobrevivência embrionária até o 18º dia da gestação (período crítico do reconhecimento materno da prenhez = PC) e concentração circulante de esteroides produzidos pelos ovários, pois taxas de prenhez mais baixas estão associadas com concentrações baixas de P4. Num projeto em andamento na Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste estão sendo idealizadas estratégias hormonais para otimizar o reconhecimento materno da prenhez e reduzir a mortalidade embrionária precoce. Uma dessas estratégias objetiva aumentar a P4 no PC pela aplicação de um análogo do hormônio liberador de gonadotrofinas (GnRH) no quinto dia após a ovulação (D5), o qual provoca a liberação de hormônio luteinizante (LH) endógeno para ovular o folículo dominante (FD) da 1ª onda de crescimento folicular e gerar um corpo lúteo (CL) acessório, capaz de secretar progesterona adicional durante o PC. Para testar essa hipótese, 20 vacas Nelore foram submetidas à indução hormonal da ovulação pela aplicação de uma dose parenteral (IM) de 2 mg de benzoato de estradiol (BE) simultaneamente à colocação subcutânea de um implante auricular de silicone contendo 3 mg norgestomet, que foi retirado após nove dias. As vacas receberam ainda uma dose de 150 mg de cloprostenol dextrógiro (prostaglandina F2a) e outra injeção (ambas IM) de 2 mg de BE 24 h depois da remoção do implante. Formaram-se os grupos CONT (n=10)_ nenhum tratamento adicional foi imposto e GnRH (n=10)_ as vacas receberam 250 mg de gonadorrelina (GnRH) cinco dias (D5) após a ovulação induzida. As variáveis foram submetidas à analise de variância, utilizando o proc GLM do programa SAS. A observação do estro, a avaliação ultrassonográfica dos ovários e a coleta de sangue para dosagem de P4 foram feitas diariamente até que se detectassem os próximos estro e ovulação espontâneos. Portanto, o estudo da dinâmica do crescimento folicular e do desenvolvimento luteínico teve a duração de um ciclo estral completo para cada animal. As principais diferenças (P<0,05) entre tratamentos ocorreram nas variáveis relacionadas ao desenvolvimento luteínico. O GnRH induziu a ovulação do folículo dominante da 1ª onda em apenas três vacas, o que causou a formação de um CL acessório em cada uma delas. Entretanto, o GnRH consistentemente otimizou a função luteínica, pois a área do CL, a concentração de P4 máxima e o incremento na secreção de progesterona entre o D5 e o final da fase luteínica foram maiores para as vacas tratadas com GnRH (420,0 ± 57,0 mm2, 6,76 ± 0,64 ng/mL e 0,62 ± 0,08ng/mL.dia-1, respectivamente) em comparação às vacas do grupo CONT (382,0 ± 30,6 mm2, 5,24 ± 0,39 ng/mL e 0,37 ± 0,05ng/mL.dia-1, respectivamente). Conclui-se que a otimização da função luteínica expressa como aporte adicional de P4 em resposta ao GnRH no D5 pode potencialmente favorecer o reconhecimento materno da prenhez durante o PC. Apoio Financeiro: Embrapa (projeto 03.06.06.025 - 02) e Fapesp (proc. 2006/5519

Escore de condição corporal e sua aplicação no manejo reprodutivo de ruminantes.

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