Status and future of global and regional ocean prediction systems

Operational evolution of global and regional ocean forecasting systems has been extremely significant in recent years. GODAE (Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment) Oceanview supports the national research groups providing them with coordination and sharing expertise among the partners. Several systems have been set up and developed pre-operationally and the majority of these are now fully operational; at the present time, they provide medium- and long-term forecasts of the most relevant ocean physical variables. These systems are based on ocean general circulation models (OGCMs) and data assimilation techniques that are able to correct the model with the information inferred from different types of observations. A few systems also incorporate a biogeochemical component coupled with the physical system while others are based on coupled ocean-wave-ice-atmosphere models. The products are routinely validated with observations in order to assess their quality. Data and products implementation and organization, as well as service for the users has been well tried and tested and most of the products are now available  to the users. The interaction with different users is an important factor in the development process. This paper provides a synthetic overview of the GODAE Oceanview prediction systems

Status and future of global and regional ocean prediction systems

Operational evolution of global and regional ocean forecasting systems has been extremely significant in recent years. GODAE (Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment) Oceanview supports the national research groups providing them with coordination and sharing expertise among the partners. Several systems have been set up and developed pre-operationally and the majority of these are now fully operational; at the present time, they provide medium- and long-term forecasts of the most relevant ocean physical variables. These systems are based on ocean general circulation models (OGCMs) and data assimilation techniques that are able to correct the model with the information inferred from different types of observations. A few systems also incorporate a biogeochemical component coupled with the physical system while others are based on coupled ocean-wave-ice-atmosphere models. The products are routinely validated with observations in order to assess their quality. Data and products implementation and organization, as well as service for the users has been well tried and tested and most of the products are now available  to the users. The interaction with different users is an important factor in the development process. This paper provides a synthetic overview of the GODAE Oceanview prediction systems.Publisheds201-s2204A. Clima e OceaniJCR Journalope

Quantum computation with two-level trapped cold ions beyond Lamb-Dicke limit

We propose a simple scheme for implementing quantum logic gates with a string of two-level trapped cold ions outside the Lamb-Dicke limit. Two internal states of each ion are used as one computational qubit (CQ) and the collective vibration of ions acts as the information bus, i.e., bus qubit (BQ). Using the quantum dynamics for the laser-ion interaction as described by a generalized Jaynes-Cummings model, we show that quantum entanglement between any one CQ and the BQ can be coherently manipulated by applying classical laser beams. As a result, universal quantum gates, i.e. the one-qubit rotation and two-qubit controlled gates, can be implemented exactly. The required experimental parameters for the implementation, including the Lamb-Dicke (LD) parameter and the durations of the applied laser pulses, are derived. Neither the LD approximation for the laser-ion interaction nor the auxiliary atomic level is needed in the present scheme.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Squeezing arbitrary cavity-field states through their interaction with a single driven atom

We propose an implementation of the parametric amplification of an arbitrary radiation-field state previously prepared in a high-Q cavity. This nonlinear process is accomplished through the dispersive interactions of a single three-level atom (fundamental |g>, intermediate |i>, and excited |e> levels) simultaneously with i) a classical driving field and ii) a previously prepared cavity mode whose state we wish to squeeze. We show that, in the adiabatic approximantion, the preparation of the initial atomic state in the intermediate level |i> becomes crucial for obtaing the degenerated parametric amplification process.Comment: Final published versio

UKESM1.1: development and evaluation of an updated configuration of the UK Earth System Model

Many Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) models have exhibited a substantial cold bias in the global mean surface temperature (GMST) in the latter part of the 20th century. An overly strong negative aerosol forcing has been suggested as a leading contributor to this bias. An updated configuration of UK Earth System Model (UKESM) version 1, UKESM1.1, has been developed with the aim of reducing the historical cold bias in this model. Changes implemented include an improved representation of SO2 dry deposition, along with several other smaller modifications to the aerosol scheme and a retuning of some uncertain parameters of the fully coupled Earth system model. The Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima (DECK) experiments, a six-member historical ensemble and a subset of future scenario simulations are completed. In addition, the total anthropogenic effective radiative forcing (ERF), its components and the effective and transient climate sensitivities are also computed. The UKESM1.1 preindustrial climate is warmer than UKESM1 by up to 0.75 K, and a significant improvement in the historical GMST record is simulated, with the magnitude of the cold bias reduced by over 50 %. The warmer climate increases ocean heat uptake in the Northern Hemisphere oceans and reduces Arctic sea ice, which is in better agreement with observations. Changes to the aerosol and related cloud properties are a driver of the improved GMST simulation despite only a modest reduction in the magnitude of the negative aerosol ERF (which increases by +0.08 W m−2). The total anthropogenic ERF increases from 1.76 W m−2 in UKESM1 to 1.84 W m−2 in UKESM1.1. The effective climate sensitivity (5.27 K) and transient climate response (2.64 K) remain largely unchanged from UKESM1 (5.36 and 2.76 K respectively).</p

Changing environments during the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the eastern Cantabrian Region (Spain): direct evidence from stable isotope studies on ungulate bones

Environmental change has been proposed as a factor that contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals in Europe during MIS3. Currently, the different local environmental conditions experienced at the time when Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) met Neanderthals are not well known. In the Western Pyrenees, particularly, in the eastern end of the Cantabrian coast of the Iberian Peninsula, extensive evidence of Neanderthal and subsequent AMH activity exists, making it an ideal area in which to explore the palaeoenvironments experienced and resources exploited by both human species during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition. Red deer and horse were analysed using bone collagen stable isotope analysis to reconstruct environmental conditions across the transition. A shift in the ecological niche of horses after the Mousterian demonstrates a change in environment, towards more open vegetation, linked to wider climatic change. In the Mousterian, Aurignacian and Gravettian, high inter-individual nitrogen ranges were observed in both herbivores. This could indicate that these individuals were procured from areas isotopically different in nitrogen. Differences in sulphur values between sites suggest some variability in the hunting locations exploited, reflecting the human use of different parts of the landscape. An alternative and complementary explanation proposed is that there were climatic fluctuations within the time of formation of these archaeological levels, as observed in pollen, marine and ice cores.This research was funded by the European Commission through a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (FP7- PEOPLE-2012-CIG-322112), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (HAR2012-33956 and Ramon y Cajal-2011-00695), the University of Cantabria and Campus International to ABMA. Radiocarbon dating at ORAU was funded by MINECO-HAR2012-33956 project. J.J was supported initially by the FP7- PEOPLE-2012-CIG-322112 and later by a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014-656122). Laboratory work, associated research expenses and isotopic analysis were kindly funded by the Max Planck Society to M.R

Pre-clinical imaging of transgenic mouse models of neuroblastoma using a dedicated 3-element solenoid coil on a clinical 3T platform.

Background The use of clinical MRI scanners to conduct pre-clinical research facilitates comparisons with clinical studies. Here the utility and sensitivity of anatomical and functional MRI data/biomarkers acquired from transgenic mouse models of neuroblastoma using a dedicated radiofrequency (RF) coil on a clinical 3T scanner was evaluated.Methods Multiparametric MRI of transgenic mice bearing abdominal neuroblastomas was performed at 3T, and data cross-referenced to that acquired from the same mice on a pre-clinical 7T MRI system. T2-weighted imaging, quantitation of the native longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and the transverse relaxation rate (R2*), and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI, was used to assess tumour volume, phenotype and response to cyclophosphamide or cabozantinib.Results Excellent T2-weighted image contrast enabled clear tumour delineation at 3T. Significant correlations of tumour volume (R=0.98, P2* (R=0.87, P2* (Ptrans for each tumour (median Ktrans values of 0.202, 0.168 and 0.114 min-1). Cyclophosphamide elicited a significant reduction in both tumour burden (P1 (P<0.01), whereas cabozantinib induced significant (P<0.01) tumour growth delay.Conclusions Simultaneous multiparametric MRI of multiple tumour-bearing animals using this coil arrangement at 3T can provide high efficiency/throughput for both phenotypic characterisation and evaluation of novel therapeutics, and facilitate the introduction of functional MRI biomarkers into aligned imaging-embedded clinical trials