Corporate responsibility report

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Regionalisation of groundwater droughts using hydrograph classification

Groundwater drought is a spatially and temporally variable phenomenon. Here we describe the development and application of a method to regionalize and quantify groundwater drought based on categorisation of Standardised Groundwater level Index (SGI) time series. The categorisation scheme uses non-hierarchical k-means cluster analysis. This has been applied to 74 SGI time series for the period January 1983 to August 2012 for a case study from Lincolnshire, UK. Six SGI time series clusters have been identified. For each cluster a correlation can be established between the mean SGI and a mean Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) associated with an optimal SPI accumulation period, qmax. Based on a comparison of SPI time series for each cluster and SPI estimated for the whole study area, it is inferred that the clusters are largely independent of heterogeneity in the diving meteorology across the study region and are primarily a function of catchment and hydrogeological factors. This inference is supported by the observation that the majority of sites in each cluster are associated with one of three principal aquifers in the study region. The groundwater drought characteristics of the three largest clusters (CL1, CL2 and CL4 that constitute ~80% of the sites) have been analyzed. There is a common linear relationship between drought magnitude and duration for each of three clusters. However, there are differences in the character of the groundwater drought events between the three clusters as a function of autocorrelation of the mean SGI time series for each cluster. For example, CL1 has a relatively short period of significant SGI autocorrelation compared with CL2 (15 and 23 months respectively); CL1 has more than twice the number of drought episodes (39 episodes) than CL2 (15 episodes), and the average and maximum duration of droughts in CL1 (4.6 and 27 months) are less than half those of CL2 (11.3 and 61 months). The drought characteristics of CL4 are intermediate between those of CL1 and CL2. Differences in characteristics between the three clusters are also seen in their response to three major multi-annual droughts that occurred during the analysis period. For example, sites in CL2 with the longest SGI autocorrelation experience the greatest magnitude droughts and are the slowest to recover from drought, with groundwater drought conditions typically persisting at least six months longer than at sites in the other two clusters. Membership of the clusters reflects differences in the autocorrelation of the SGI time series that in turn is shown to be related to unsaturated zone thickness at individual boreholes. This last observation emphasises the importance of catchment and aquifer characteristics as (non-trivial) controls on groundwater drought hydrographs

Regional analysis of groundwater droughts using hydrograph classification

Groundwater drought is a spatially and temporally variable phenomenon. Here we describe the development of a method to regionally analyse and quantify groundwater drought. The method uses a cluster analysis technique (non-hierarchical k-means) to classify standardised groundwater level hydrographs (the standardised groundwater level index, SGI) prior to analysis of their groundwater drought characteristics, and has been tested using 74 groundwater level time series from Lincolnshire, UK. Using the test data set, six clusters of hydrographs have been identified. For each cluster a correlation can be established between the mean SGI and a mean standardised precipitation index (SPI), where each cluster is associated with a different SPI accumulation period. Based on a comparison of SPI time series for each cluster and for the study area as a whole, it is inferred that the clusters are independent of the driving meteorology and are primarily a function of catchment and hydrogeological factors. This inference is supported by the observation that the majority of sites in each cluster are associated with one of the principal aquifers in the study region. The groundwater drought characteristics of the three largest clusters, which constitute ~ 80 % of the sites, have been analysed. There are differences in the distributions of drought duration, magnitude and intensity of groundwater drought events between the three clusters as a function of autocorrelation of the mean SGI time series for each cluster. In addition, there are differences between the clusters in their response to three major multi-annual droughts that occurred during the analysis period. For example, sites in the cluster with the longest SGI autocorrelation experience the greatest-magnitude droughts and are the slowest to recover from major droughts, with groundwater drought conditions typically persisting at least 6 months longer than at sites in the other clusters. Membership of the clusters is shown to be related to unsaturated zone thickness at individual boreholes. This last observation emphasises the importance of catchment and aquifer characteristics as (non-trivial) controls on groundwater drought hydrographs. The method of analysis is flexible and can be adapted to a wide range of hydrogeological settings while enabling a consistent approach to the quantification of regional differences in response of groundwater to meteorological drought

High Flux Helium Irradiation of Dispersion-Strengthened Tungsten Alloys and Effects of Heavy Metal Impurity Layer Deposition

Tungsten has been chosen as the plasma-facing material (PFM) for the divertor region in ITER and also a candidate PFM for future plasma-burning nuclear fusion reactors. During fusion device operation, PFMs will be exposed to low-energy He irradiation at high temperatures, resulting in sub-surface bubbles and surface morphology changes such as pores and fuzz. Carbide dispersion-strengthened W materials may enhance the ductility of W, but their behavior under high flux He irradiation remains unclear. In this work, the response of dispersion-strengthened tungsten materials to high flux, low energy He irradiation at high temperature is examined. Tungsten alloyed with 1, 5, or 10 wt. % tantalum carbide or titanium carbide exposed to these conditions result in surface pores, coral-like feature growth and sub-surface helium bubbles. Reactor-relevant helium irradiation (5x10 26_ m-2_ fluence) combined with high powered laser pulses to simulate off-normal reactor events does not significantly alter the surface morphology, as the surface nanostructures appear stable and cracks are only observed on a localized region of one sample. However, specimens show the development of an impurity layer on the surface, likely impurity deposition from the sample holder during irradiation, resulting in a mixed material layer on the surface. Helium bubbles exist in this impurity layer, and obscure conclusions about helium interactions with the carbide dispersoids. Nonetheless, it is clear that the dispersoid microstructure limits He bubble formation and subsequent surface nanostructuring, attributed to the dispersoid composition.</p

J. N. Srivastava and experimental design

J. N. Srivastava was a tremendously productive statistical researcher for five decades. He made significant contributions in many areas of statistics, including multivariate analysis and sampling theory. A constant throughout his career was the attention he gave to problems in discrete experimental design, where many of his best known publications are found. This paper focuses on his design work, tracing its progression, recounting his key contributions and ideas, and assessing its continuing impact. A synopsis of his design-related editorial and organizational roles is also included

Data acquisition electronics and reconstruction software for directional detection of Dark Matter with MIMAC

Directional detection of galactic Dark Matter requires 3D reconstruction of low energy nuclear recoils tracks. A dedicated acquisition electronics with auto triggering feature and a real time track reconstruction software have been developed within the framework of the MIMAC project of detector. This auto-triggered acquisition electronic uses embedded processing to reduce data transfer to its useful part only, i.e. decoded coordinates of hit tracks and corresponding energy measurements. An acquisition software with on-line monitoring and 3D track reconstruction is also presented.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

Room temperature magnetic stabilization of buried cobalt nanoclusters within a ferromagnetic matrix studied by soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Single dusting layers of size-selected Co nanoclusters (NCs) of sizes ranging from 1.5–5.5 nm have been deposited by a gas-phase aggregation method in ultrahigh vacuum, and embedded within a NiFe matrix. Magnetic hysteresis loops have been obtained using soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, which shows that these Co NCs embedded in NiFe exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism with identical coercivity to the surrounding NiFe film. The strong local exchange field at the interface between NiFe and Co NCs, combined with the magnetic anisotropy of the NiFe film, allows stabilization of NC ferromagnetism which persists to room temperature

Background Rejection in the DMTPC Dark Matter Search Using Charge Signals

The Dark Matter Time Projection Chamber (DMTPC) collaboration is developing low-pressure gas TPC detectors for measuring WIMP-nucleon interactions. Optical readout with CCD cameras allows for the detection for the daily modulation in the direction of the dark matter wind, while several charge readout channels allow for the measurement of additional recoil properties. In this article, we show that the addition of the charge readout analysis to the CCD allows us too obtain a statistics-limited 90% C.L. upper limit on the $e^-$ rejection factor of $5.6\times10^{-6}$ for recoils with energies between 40 and 200 keV$_{\mathrm{ee}}$. In addition, requiring coincidence between charge signals and light in the CCD reduces CCD-specific backgrounds by more than two orders of magnitude.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. For proceedings of DPF 2011 conferenc

The use of geoscience methods for aquatic forensic searches

There have been few publications on the forensic search of water and fewer still on the use of geoforensic techniques when exploring aqueous environments. Here we consider what the nature of the aqueous environment is, what the forensic target(s) may be, update the geoforensic search assets we may use in light of these, and provide a search strategy that includes multiple exploration assets. Some of the good practice involved in terrestrial searches has not been applied to water to-date, water being seen as homogenous and without the complexity of solid ground: this is incorrect and a full desktop study prior to searching, with prioritized areas, is recommended. Much experimental work on the decay of human remains is focused on terrestrial surface deposition or burial, with less known about the nature of this target in water, something which is expanded upon here, in order to deploy the most appropriate geoforensic method in water-based detection. We include case studies where detecting other forensic targets have been searched for; from metal (guns, knives) to those of a non-metallic nature, such as submerged barrels/packages of explosives, drugs, contraband and items that cause environmental pollution. A combination of the consideration of the environment, the target(s), and both modern and traditional search devices, leads to a preliminary aqueous search strategy for forensic targets. With further experimental research and criminal/humanitarian casework, this strategy will continue to evolve and improve our detection of forensic targets