Singularity-sensitive gauge-based radar rainfall adjustment methods for urban hydrological applications

Gauge-based radar rainfall adjustment techniques have been widely used to improve the applicability of radar rainfall estimates to large-scale hydrological modelling. However, their use for urban hydrological applications is limited as they were mostly developed based upon Gaussian approximations and therefore tend to smooth off so-called "singularities" (features of a non-Gaussian field) that can be observed in the fine-scale rainfall structure. Overlooking the singularities could be critical, given that their distribution is highly consistent with that of local extreme magnitudes. This deficiency may cause large errors in the subsequent urban hydrological modelling. To address this limitation and improve the applicability of adjustment techniques at urban scales, a method is proposed herein which incorporates a local singularity analysis into existing adjustment techniques and allows the preservation of the singularity structures throughout the adjustment process. In this paper the proposed singularity analysis is incorporated into the Bayesian merging technique and the performance of the resulting singularity-sensitive method is compared with that of the original Bayesian (non singularity-sensitive) technique and the commonly used mean field bias adjustment. This test is conducted using as case study four storm events observed in the Portobello catchment (53 km2) (Edinburgh, UK) during 2011 and for which radar estimates, dense rain gauge and sewer flow records, as well as a recently calibrated urban drainage model were available. The results suggest that, in general, the proposed singularity-sensitive method can effectively preserve the non-normality in local rainfall structure, while retaining the ability of the original adjustment techniques to generate nearly unbiased estimates. Moreover, the ability of the singularity-sensitive technique to preserve the non-normality in rainfall estimates often leads to better reproduction of the urban drainage system's dynamics, particularly of peak runoff flows

Rhodium and copper 6-methylpicolinate complexes. Structural diversity and supramolecular interaction study

Seven new coordination compounds with 6-methylpicolinic acid (6-HMepic) and rhodium(III) or copper(II) of formula [Rh(6-Mepic)3] (1), [Rh(6-Mepic)2(H2O)Cl] (2), [Rh(6-HMepic)(6-Mepic)Cl2]·3.5(H2O) (3), [Cu(6-Mepic)2(H2O)]·H2O (4), [Cu(6-Mepic)2]n, (5), [Cu(6-Mepic)(6-HMepic)I] (6) and [Cu(6-Mepic)(6-HMepic)Cl] (7) have been obtained. Their syntheses have been rationalized, and their structural and supramolecular characteristics have been studied and compared with other similar rhodium and copper picolinate complexes previously reported, in order to stablish structural correlations and analogies. The electrical properties of coordination polymer [Cu(6-Mepic)2]n (5) have been also analyzed and it has been found that it shows a moderated electrical transport along the chain.We thank the financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MAT2013-46502-C2-2P and MAT2013-46753-C2-1P). Also the scientific computing center (CCC) of the Autonoma University of Madrid for their tim

MasterChem: Cooking 2D-polymers

2D-polymers are still dominated by graphene and closely related materials such as boron nitride, transition metal sulphides and oxides. However, the rational combination of molecules with suitable design is already showing the high potential of chemistry in this new research field. The aim of this feature article is to illustrate, and provide some perspectives, the current state-of-the-art in the field of synthetic 2D-polymers showing different alternatives to prepare this novel type of polymers based on the rational use of chemistry. This review comprises a brief revision of the essential concepts, the strategies of preparation following the two general approaches, bottom-up and top-down, and a revision of the promising seminal properties showed by some of these nanomaterials.Financial support from Spanish MINECO (MAT2013-46753-C2-1-P and MAT2013-46502-C2-2-P). D. R. thanks the Spanish MECD for a FPU gran

Quark mass hierarchy in 3-3-1 models

We study the mass spectrum of the quark sector in an special type I-like model with gauge symmetry $SU(3)_c \otimes SU(3)_L \otimes U(1)_X$. By considering couplings with scalar triplets at large ($\sim TeV$) and small ($\sim GeV$) scales, we obtain specific zero-texture mass matrices for the quarks which predict three massless quarks ($u,d,s$) and three massive quarks ($c,b,t$) at the electroweak scale ($\sim$ GeV). Taking into account mixing couplings with three heavy quarks at large scales predicted by the model, the three massless quarks obtain masses at small order that depends on the inverse of the large scale. Thus, masses of the form $m_u \lesssim m_d < m_s \sim MeV$ and $m_{c,b,t} \sim GeV$ can be obtained naturally from the gauge structure of the model