Summer distribution and short-term variation of the bottom turbid layer in Suo-sound in the Western Seto Inland Sea, Japan

2009年の6月29日-7月2日と8月22-23日に，周防灘において水温，塩分，クロロフィルα（以下chl. α），濁度の鉛直分布を調べた。6-7月にはchl. αの亜表層極大と海底高濁度層がほぼ調査海域全体に形成されていた。8月にはchl. α の亜表層極大は弱くなり，6-7月と較べて海底高濁度層の発達が顕著で，chl. α濃度の増加も見られた。6-7月と8月の両観測期間は，それぞれ小潮と大潮の時期に相当していたことから，潮汐周期が海底高濁度層の発達に影響を及ぼしている可能性が示唆された。また，両観測期間中に，灘西部の2観測点（水深10mの浅海域と30mの沖合域）において1-3時間毎の連続観測を行って日周変動を調べた。海底高濁度層は水温・塩分（および密度）の急激な変化時に最大値を示し，濁度層の分布パターン・厚さは潮汐周期と底層の水温･塩分･密度分布によく対応していた。さらに，塩分－chl. α，塩分－濁度，chl. α－濁度の関係から，粒状懸濁物を陸（河川）起源，海底高濁度層，亜表層クロロフィル極大，異水塊に由来するものに分別することができた。During June 28 to July 2 and August 22 to 23 in 2009, we investigated the distributiosn and diurnal variations of temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a (chl.α) and turbidity in Suo-sound, Seto Inland Sea. In June to July observation, the subsurface chl.α maximum layer (SCM) and the bottom turbid layer (BTL) were found throughout the Suo-sound. In August, the SCM almost diminished but the BTL significantly developed compared to June to July observations and chl.α also showed a noticeable increase in the bottom layer. June to July and August observations corresponded with a neap and spring tides, suggesting a close relation between the development of the BTL and the tidal cycle. The turbidity values of BTL showed a maximum when temperature and salinity changed rapidly, and the distribution pattern of the BTL well-corresponded to those of temperature and salinity, particularly in spring tide in August. Particulate matter was classified into four groups such as terrigeous matter, BTL, SCM, and different water mass according to salinity-chl.α, salinity-turbidity, and chl.α-turbidity relationships

Seasonal and spatial variations of optical properties, chlorophyll a and turbidity in Suo-Sound of the western Seto Inland Sea, Japan

2007年の5月から11月にかけて，ほぼ毎月，周防灘全域の全水柱（ここでは，海表面から海底直上20cmまで）における水温，塩分，光量子，クロロフィルα（以下Chl.α），濁度の鉛直分布及び透明度の海域分布を調査し，アサリ生産との関連性について検討した。その結果，海底高濁度層が灘全体に見られ，特に灘南西部の浅海域（水深10m程度）では，観測期間を通じて沖合域よりも濁度は高く，Chl.αも高濃度だった。これらの浅海域を含めて，灘西部の水深20m程度以浅の海域では，一般に海表面から海底までの全水柱が有光層になっていた。周防灘のアサリ漁場は，干潟から水深5m程度までの海域にあるため，底生濾過捕食者のアサリにとって，餌料供給の点では沖合域よりは好適条件を備えていると考えられた。また，Chl.α濃度は，鉛直混合の開始初期の10月に周防灘全体で最も高く，時期的にはアサリの秋季産卵の数週間前であると考えられた。これらのことから，周防灘のアサリ生産は，地域的・季節的な環境条件の違いとそれに伴う植物プランクトンの変動に関連があることが明らかとなった。From May to November 2007, we investigated the seasonal and spatial variations of temperature, salinity, optical properties, chlorophyll-α and turbidity in Suo-Sound of the Seto Inland Sea in relation to the Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) production. The bottom turbid layer was found throughout the Suo-Sound, particularly in the western shallow area (bottom depth: about 10 m) which chlorophyll a concentrations were significantly higher than offshore. Generally, the entire water column of western area (bottom depth: less than 20 m) was mostly the euphotic zone. As the fishery grounds of the Manila clam located in the mud flat and the areas less than 5 m water depth, they inhabit in potentially productive area of phytoplankton and benthic microalgae. Also, the highest chlorophyll-α concentrations were observed in October, approximately a few weeks before their autumn spawning period. These results indicate that the marina clam's production is apparently coupled with local environmental factors and seasonal events related to the phytoplankton production.本研究は，広島大学と水産総合センター瀬戸内海区水産研究所との共同研究「瀬戸内海におけるベントスの生産性評価手法の開発」の一環として行われ，「広島大学地域貢献研究」および「水産基盤整備調査委託事業：広域アサリ漁場整備開発のための海況調査」の予算支援を受けたものである

Effects of fly ash on NOx removal by pulsed streamers

NOx removal methods using plasma chemical reactions in nonthermal plasmas have been widely studied. In this paper, the effects of the addition of fly ash on NOx removal using short-pulsed discharge plasmas are described. Fly ash which had been collected from a coal-burning thermal electrical power plant was used. Experiments were performed using four different mixtures of gases which included NO. These were (N2+NO), (N2+NO+O2), (N2+NO+H2O), and (N2+NO+O2+H 2O). These gas mixtures were used either with or without the addition of fly ash. The initial concentration of NO was fixed at 200 ppm (NO parts per million of the gas mixture), The study of the NOx (NO+NO2) removal was performed with the fly ash, as it is relevant to real situations in coal power plants. The results show that the presence of fly ash decreased the NOx removal rate slightly in the case of dry gas mixtures while it increased the NOx removal rate substantially in the case of wet gas mixtures. These results suggest that the presence of fly ash in the flue gases, which also contain a few percentages of moisture, would be advantageous to the treatment of flue gases emitted from thermal power plants for the removal of nitrogen oxides

First Data Release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program

The Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) is a three-layered imaging survey aimed at addressing some of the most outstanding questions in astronomy today, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The survey has been awarded 300 nights of observing time at the Subaru Telescope and it started in March 2014. This paper presents the first public data release of HSC-SSP. This release includes data taken in the first 1.7 years of observations (61.5 nights) and each of the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep layers covers about 108, 26, and 4 square degrees down to depths of i~26.4, ~26.5, and ~27.0 mag, respectively (5sigma for point sources). All the layers are observed in five broad bands (grizy), and the Deep and UltraDeep layers are observed in narrow bands as well. We achieve an impressive image quality of 0.6 arcsec in the i-band in the Wide layer. We show that we achieve 1-2 per cent PSF photometry (rms) both internally and externally (against Pan-STARRS1), and ~10 mas and 40 mas internal and external astrometric accuracy, respectively. Both the calibrated images and catalogs are made available to the community through dedicated user interfaces and database servers. In addition to the pipeline products, we also provide value-added products such as photometric redshifts and a collection of public spectroscopic redshifts. Detailed descriptions of all the data can be found online. The data release website is https://hsc-release.mtk.nao.ac.jp/.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, 7 tables, moderate revision, accepted for publication in PAS

Improvement of NOX removal efficiency using short-width pulsed power

Pulsed power has been used to remove nitric oxide (NO) in a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor simulating the flue gases from a power station stack. The effect of the pulsewidth at a fixed applied voltage on NO removal concentration was studied. The dependence of the energy efficiency of the removal of NO at a fixed applied voltage on the pulsewidth, on the removal ratio of NO and on the discharge current was investigated. This removal energy efficiency increases with decreasing pulsewidth and decreasing removal ratio of NO

The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP survey: Overview and survey design

Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) is a wide-field imaging camera on the prime focus of the 8.2-m Subaru telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A team of scientists from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton University is using HSC to carry out a 300-night multi-band imaging survey of the high-latitude sky. The survey includes three layers: the Wide layer will cover 1400 deg2 in five broad bands (grizy), with a 5 σ point-source depth of r ≈ 26. The Deep layer covers a total of 26 deg2 in four fields, going roughly a magnitude fainter, while the UltraDeep layer goes almost a magnitude fainter still in two pointings of HSC (a total of 3.5 deg2). Here we describe the instrument, the science goals of the survey, and the survey strategy and data processing. This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, which includes a large number of technical and scientific papers describing results from the early phases of this survey