Transport and Mixing of Chemical Air Masses in Idealized Baroclinic Life Cycles

The transport, mixing, and three-dimensional evolution of chemically distinct air masses within growing baroclinic waves are studied in idealized, high-resolution, life cycle experiments using suitably initialized passive tracers, contrasting the two well-known life cycle paradigms, distinguished by predominantly anticyclonic (LC1) or cyclonic (LC2) flow at upper levels. Stratosphere-troposphere exchange differs significantly between the two life cycles. Specifically, transport from the stratosphere into the troposphere is significantly larger for LC2 (typically by 50%), due to the presence of large and deep cyclonic vortices that create a wider surf zone than for LC1. In contrast, the transport of tropospheric air into the stratosphere is nearly identical between the two life cycles. The mass of boundary layer air uplifted into the free troposphere is similar for both life cycles, but much more is directly injected into the stratosphere in the case of LC1 (fourfold, approximately). However, the total mixing of boundary layer with stratospheric air is larger for LC2, owing to the presence of the deep cyclonic vortices that entrain and mix both boundary layer air from the surface and stratospheric air from the upper levels. For LC1, boundary layer and stratospheric air are brought together by smaller cyclonic structures that develop on the poleward side of the jet in the lower part of the middleworld, resulting in correspondingly weaker mixing. As both the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation are correlated with the relative frequency of life cycle behaviors, corresponding changes in chemical transport and mixing are to be expected

Technical Note: Adjoint formulation of the TOMCAT atmospheric transport scheme in the Eulerian backtracking framework (RETRO-TOM)

A new methodology for the formulation of an adjoint to the transport component of the chemistry transport model TOMCAT is described and implemented in a new model, RETRO-TOM. The Eulerian backtracking method is used, allowing the forward advection scheme (Prather's second-order moments) to be efficiently exploited in the backward adjoint calculations. Prather's scheme is shown to be time symmetric, suggesting the possibility of high accuracy. To attain this accuracy, however, it is necessary to make a careful treatment of the "density inconsistency" problem inherent to offline transport models. The results are verified using a series of test experiments. These demonstrate the high accuracy of RETRO-TOM when compared with direct forward sensitivity calculations, at least for problems in which flux limiters in the advection scheme are not required. RETRO-TOM therefore combines the flexibility and stability of a "finite difference of adjoint" formulation with the accuracy of an "adjoint of finite difference" formulation

A quantitative analysis of grid-related systematic errors in oxidising capacity and ozone production rates in chemistry transport models

Limited resolution in chemistry transport models (CTMs) is necessarily associated with systematic errors in the calculated chemistry, due to the artificial mixing of species on the scale of the model grid (grid-averaging). Here, the errors in calculated hydroxyl radical (OH) concentrations and ozone production rates 3 are investigated quantitatively using both direct observations and model results. Photochemical steady-state models of radical chemistry are exploited in each case to examine the effect on both OH and 3 of averaging relatively long-lived precursor species, such as O3, NOx, CO, H2O, etc. over different spatial scales. Changes in modelled 3 are estimated, independently of other model errors, by calculating the systematic effect of spatial averaging on the ozone production efficiency 1, defined as the ratio of ozone molecules produced per NOx molecule destroyed. Firstly, an investigation of in-flight measurements suggests that, at least in the northern midlatitude upper-troposphere/lower stratosphere, averaging precursor species on the scale of a T42 grid (2.75° x 2.75°) leads to a 15-20% increase in OH concentrations and a 5-10% increase in 1. Secondly, results from CTM model experiments are compared at different horizontal resolutions. Low resolution experiments are found to have significantly higher [OH] and 3 compared with high resolution experiments. The extent to which these differences may be explained by the systematic error in the model chemistry associated with grid size is estimated by degrading the high resolution data onto a low resolution grid and then recalculating 1 and [OH]. The change in calculated 1 is found to be significant and can account for much of the difference in 3 between the high and low resolution experiments. The calculated change in [OH] is less than the difference in [OH] found between the experiments, although the shortfall is likely to be due to the indirect effect of the change in modelled NOx, which is not accounted for in the calculation. It is argued that systematic errors caused by limited resolution need to be considered when evaluating the relative impacts of different pollutant sources on tropospheric ozone

The Antarctic Stratospheric Sudden Warming of 2002: A Self-Tuned Resonance?

The extraordinary Antarctic stratospheric warming event of 2002 was characterized by a remarkable vertical structure, with the vortex observed to divide at upper levels in the stratosphere but not at lower levels: such ‘partially’ split vortex events are relatively rare. A simple, yet fully three-dimensional, model is constructed to investigate the dynamics of this unique event. Planetary waves are excited on the model vortex edge by a lower boundary forcing characterized by two parameters: an amplitude hF and a frequency ωF, measured relative to a stationary frame. For realistic forcing amplitudes, a partial vortex split resembling that observed during the 2002 event is found only within a specific, narrow band of forcing frequencies. Exploiting the relative simplicity of our model, these frequencies are shown to be those causing a ‘self-tuning’ resonant excitation of the gravest linear mode, during which nonlinear feedback causes an initially off-resonant forcing to approach resonance

Computer vision tools for the non-invasive assessment of autism-related behavioral markers

The early detection of developmental disorders is key to child outcome, allowing interventions to be initiated that promote development and improve prognosis. Research on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests behavioral markers can be observed late in the first year of life. Many of these studies involved extensive frame-by-frame video observation and analysis of a child's natural behavior. Although non-intrusive, these methods are extremely time-intensive and require a high level of observer training; thus, they are impractical for clinical and large population research purposes. Diagnostic measures for ASD are available for infants but are only accurate when used by specialists experienced in early diagnosis. This work is a first milestone in a long-term multidisciplinary project that aims at helping clinicians and general practitioners accomplish this early detection/measurement task automatically. We focus on providing computer vision tools to measure and identify ASD behavioral markers based on components of the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI). In particular, we develop algorithms to measure three critical AOSI activities that assess visual attention. We augment these AOSI activities with an additional test that analyzes asymmetrical patterns in unsupported gait. The first set of algorithms involves assessing head motion by tracking facial features, while the gait analysis relies on joint foreground segmentation and 2D body pose estimation in video. We show results that provide insightful knowledge to augment the clinician's behavioral observations obtained from real in-clinic assessments

MRI scans significantly change target coverage decisions in radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer

INTRODUCTION: Conventional clinical staging for prostate cancer has many limitations. This study evaluates the impact of adding MRI scans to conventional clinical staging for guiding decisions about radiotherapy target coverage. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of 115 patients who were treated between February 2002 and September 2005 with radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer. All patients had MRI scans approximately 2 weeks before the initiation of radiotherapy. The T stage was assessed by both conventional clinical methods (cT-staging) as well as by MRI (mT-staging). The radiotherapy target volumes were determined first based on cT-staging and then taking the additional mT staging into account. The number of times extracapsular extension or seminal vesicle invasion was incorporated into target volumes was quantified based on both cT-staging and the additional mT-staging. RESULTS: Extracapsular extension was incorporated into target volumes significantly more often with the addition of mT-staging (46 patients (40%) ) compared with cT-staging alone (37 patients (32%) ) (P = 0.002). Seminal vesicle invasion was incorporated into target volumes significantly more often with the addition of mT-staging (21 patients (18%) ) compared with cT-staging alone (three patients (3%) ) (P < 0.001). A total of 23 patients (20%) had changes to their target coverage based on the mT-staging. CONCLUSIONS: MRI scans can significantly change decisions about target coverage in radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer.Joe H. Chang, Daryl Lim Joon, Brandon T. Nguyen, Chee-Yan Hiew, Stephen Esler, David Angus, Michael Chao, Morikatsu Wada, George Quong, and Vincent Kho

Interpolated wave functions for nonadiabatic simulations with the fixed-node quantum Monte Carlo method

Simulating nonadiabatic effects with many-body wave function approaches is an open field with many challenges. Recent interest has been driven by new algorithmic developments and improved theoretical understanding of properties unique to electron-ion wave functions. Fixed-node diffusion Monte Caro is one technique that has shown promising results for simulating electron-ion systems. In particular, we focus on the CH molecule for which previous results suggested a relatively significant contribution to the energy from nonadiabatic effects. We propose a new wave function ansatz for diatomic systems which involves interpolating the determinant coefficients calculated from configuration interaction methods. We find this to be an improvement beyond previous wave function forms that have been considered. The calculated nonadiabatic contribution to the energy in the CH molecule is reduced compared to our previous results, but still remains the largest among the molecules under consideration.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Systematic model forecast error in Rossby wave structure

Diabatic processes can alter Rossby wave structure; consequently errors arising from model processes propagate downstream. However, the chaotic spread of forecasts from initial condition uncertainty renders it difficult to trace back from root mean square forecast errors to model errors. Here diagnostics unaffected by phase errors are used, enabling investigation of systematic errors in Rossby waves in winter-season forecasts from three operational centers. Tropopause sharpness adjacent to ridges decreases with forecast lead time. It depends strongly on model resolution, even though models are examined on a common grid. Rossby wave amplitude reduces with lead time up to about five days, consistent with under-representation of diabatic modification and transport of air from the lower troposphere into upper-tropospheric ridges, and with too weak humidity gradients across the tropopause. However, amplitude also decreases when resolution is decreased. Further work is necessary to isolate the contribution from errors in the representation of diabatic processes

Wave patterns generated by an axisymmetric obstacle in a two-layer flow

Gravity waves generated by a moving obstacle in a two-layer stratified fluid are investigated. The experimental configuration is three-dimensional with an axisymmetric obstacle which is towed in one of the two layers. The experimental method used in the present study is based on a stereoscopic technique allowing the 3D reconstruction of the interface between the two layers. Investigation into the wave pattern as a function of the Froude number, Fr, based on the relative density of the fluid layers and the velocity of the towed obstacle is presented. Specific attention is paid to the transcritical regime for which Fr is close to one. Potential energy trapped in the wave field patterns is also extracted from the experimental results and is analyzed as a function of both the Froude number, Fr, and the transcritical similarity parameter Γ. In particular, a remarkable increase in the potential energy around Fr = 1 is observed and a scaling allowing to assemble data resulting from different experimental parameters is proposed