202 research outputs found
Explicit representation and parametrised impacts of under ice shelf seas in the zâ coordinate ocean model NEMO 3.6
Ice-shelf-ocean interactions are a major source of freshwater on the Antarctic continental shelf and have a strong impact on ocean properties, ocean circulation and sea ice. However, climate models based on the ocean-sea ice model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) currently do not include these interactions in any detail. The capability of explicitly simulating the circulation beneath ice shelves is introduced in the non-linear free surface model NEMO. Its implementation into the NEMO framework and its assessment in an idealised and realistic circum-Antarctic configuration is described in this study. Compared with the current prescription of ice shelf melting (i.e. at the surface), inclusion of open sub-ice-shelf cavities leads to a decrease in sea ice thickness along the coast, a weakening of the ocean stratification on the shelf, a decrease in salinity of high-salinity shelf water on the Ross and Weddell sea shelves and an increase in the strength of the gyres that circulate within the over-deepened basins on the West Antarctic continental shelf. Mimicking the overturning circulation under the ice shelves by introducing a prescribed meltwater flux over the depth range of the ice shelf base, rather than at the surface, is also assessed. It yields similar improvements in the simulated ocean properties and circulation over the Antarctic continental shelf to those from the explicit ice shelf cavity representation. With the ice shelf cavities opened, the widely used "three equation" ice shelf melting formulation, which enables an interactive computation of melting, is tested. Comparison with observational estimates of ice shelf melting indicates realistic results for most ice shelves. However, melting rates for the Amery, Getz and George VI ice shelves are considerably overestimated
On the influence of model physics on simulations of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice
Two hindcast (1983â2007) simulations are performed with the global, ocean-sea ice models NEMO-LIM2 and NEMO-LIM3 driven by atmospheric reanalyses and climatologies. The two simulations differ only in their sea ice component, while all other elements of experimental design (resolution, initial conditions, atmospheric forcing) are kept identical. The main differences in the sea ice models lie in the formulation of the subgrid-scale ice thickness distribution, of the thermodynamic processes, of the sea ice salinity and of the sea ice rheology. To assess the differences in model skill over the period of investigation, we develop a set of metrics for both hemispheres, comparing the main sea ice variables (concentration, thickness and drift) to available observations and focusing on both mean state and seasonal to interannual variability. Based upon these metrics, we discuss the physical processes potentially responsible for the differences in model skill. In particular, we suggest that (i) a detailed representation of the ice thickness distribution increases the seasonal to interannual variability of ice extent, with spectacular improvement for the simulation of the recent observed summer Arctic sea ice retreats, (ii) the elastic-viscous-plastic rheology enhances the response of ice to wind stress, compared to the classical viscous-plastic approach, (iii) the grid formulation and the air-sea ice drag coefficient affect the simulated ice export through Fram Strait and the ice accumulation along the Canadian Archipelago, and (iv) both models show less skill in the Southern Ocean, probably due to the low quality of the reanalyses in this region and to the absence of important small-scale oceanic processes at the models' resolution (~1°)
Final State Interaction in Exclusive Reactions
Contributions of nucleon-nucleon (NN) correlations, meson exchange currents
and the residual final state interactions (FSI) on exclusive two-nucleon
knock-out reactions induced by electron scattering are investigated. All
contributions are derived from the same realistic meson exchange model for the
NN interaction. Effects of correlations and FSI are determined in a consistent
way by solving the NN scattering equation, the Bethe-Goldstone equation, for
two nucleons in nuclear matter. One finds that the FSI re-scattering terms are
non-negligible even if the two nucleons are emitted back to back.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Short-range and tensor correlations in the O(e,epn) reaction
The cross sections for electron induced two-nucleon knockout reactions are
evaluated for the example of the O(e,epn)N reaction leading to
discrete states in the residual nucleus N. These calculations account
for the effects of nucleon-nucleon correlations and include the contributions
of two-body meson exchange currents as the pion seagull, pion in flight and the
isobar current contribution. The effects of short-range as well as tensor
correlations are calculated within the framework of the coupled cluster method
employing the Argonne V14 potential as a model for a realistic nucleon-nucleon
interaction. The relative importance of correlation effects as compared to the
contribution of the meson exchange currents depends on the final state of the
residual nucleus. The cross section leading to specific states, like e.g. the
ground state of N, is rather sensitive to the details of the correlated
wave function.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures include
Nucleon-Nucleon Correlations and Two-Nucleon Currents in Exclusive () Reactions
The contributions of short-range nucleon-nucleon (NN) correlations, various
meson exchange current (MEC) terms and the influence of isobar
excitations (isobaric currents, IC) on exclusive two-nucleon knockout reactions
induced by electron scattering are investigated. The nuclear structure
functions are evaluated for nuclear matter. Realistic NN interactions derived
in the framework of One-Boson-Exchange model are employed to evaluate the
effects of correlations and MEC in a consistent way. The correlations
correlations are determined by solving the Bethe-Goldstone equation. This
yields significant contributions to the structure functions W_L and W_T of the
(e,e'pn) and (e,e'pp) reactions. These contributions compete with MEC
corrections originating from the and exchange terms of the same
interaction. Special attention is paid to the so-called 'super parallel'
kinematics at momentum transfers which can be measured e.g. at MAMI in Mainz.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures include
Student- and school-level belonging and commitment and student smoking, drinking and misbehaviour
Objectives: It has been suggested that students are healthier in schools where more students are committed to school. Previous research has examined this only using a proxy measure of value-added education (a measure of whether school-level attendance and attainment are higher than predicted by studentsâ social profile), finding associations with smoking tobacco, use of alcohol and illicit drugs, and violence. These findings do not provide direct insights into the associations between school-level aggregate student commitment and health behaviours, and may simply reflect the proxy measure being residually confounded by unmeasured student characteristics. We examined the previously used proxy measure of value-added education, as well as direct measures at the level of the school and the student of lack of student commitment to school to see whether these were associated with studentsâ self-reported smoking tobacco, alcohol use and school misbehaviour.
Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Setting: A total of 40 schools in south-east England.
Methods: Multi-level analyses.
Results: There were associations between school- and
student-level measures of lack of commitment to school and tobacco smoking, alcohol use and school misbehaviour outcomes, but the proxy measure of school-level commitment, value-added education, was not associated with these outcomes. A sensitivity analysis focused only on violent aspects of school misbehaviour found a pattern of associations identical to that found for the measure of misbehaviour.
Conclusion: Our study provides the first direct evidence in support of the Theory of Human Functioning and School Organisation
An assessment of basal melt parameterisations for Antarctic ice shelves
Ocean-induced ice-shelf melt is one of the largest uncertainty factors in the Antarctic contribution to future sea-level rise. Several parameterisations exist, linking oceanic properties in front of the ice shelf to melt at the base of the ice shelf, to force ice-sheet models. Here, we assess the potential of a range of these existing basal melt parameterisations to emulate basal melt rates simulated by a cavity-resolving ocean model on the circum-Antarctic scale. To do so, we perform two cross-validations, over time and over ice shelves respectively, and re-tune the parameterisations in a perfect-model approach, to compare the melt rates produced by the newly tuned parameterisations to the melt rates simulated by the ocean model. We find that the quadratic dependence of melt to thermal forcing without dependency on the individual ice-shelf slope and the plume parameterisation yield the best compromise, in terms of integrated shelf melt and spatial patterns. The box parameterisation, which separates the sub-shelf circulation into boxes, the PICOP parameterisation, which combines the box and plume parameterisation, and quadratic parameterisations with dependency on the ice slope yield basal melt rates further from the model reference. The linear parameterisation cannot be recommended as the resulting integrated ice-shelf melt is comparably furthest from the reference. When using offshore hydrographic input fields in comparison to properties on the continental shelf, all parameterisations perform worse; however, the box and the slope-dependent quadratic parameterisations yield the comparably best results. In addition to the new tuning, we provide uncertainty estimates for the tuned parameters
Rift Valley fever outbreak, Mauritania, 1998: seroepidemiologic, virologic, entomologic, and zoologic investigations.
A Rift Valley fever outbreak occurred in Mauritania in 1998. Seroepidemiologic and virologic investigation showed active circulation of the Rift Valley fever virus, with 13 strains isolated, and 16% (range 1.5%-38%) immunoglobulin (Ig) M-positivity in sera from 90 humans and 343 animals (sheep, goats, camels, cattle, and donkeys). One human case was fatal
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