11,135 research outputs found
Drought events and their effects on vegetation productivity in China
Many parts of the world have experienced frequent and severe droughts during the last few decades. Most previous studies examined the effects of specific drought events on vegetation productivity. In this study, we characterized the drought events in China from 1982 to 2012 and assessed their effects on vegetation productivity inferred from satellite data. We first assessed the occurrence, spatial extent, frequency, and severity of drought using the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). We then examined the impacts of droughts on China\u27s terrestrial ecosystems using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). During the period 1982–2012, China\u27s land area (%) experiencing drought showed an insignificant trend. However, the drought conditions had been more severe over most regions in northern parts of China since the end of the 1990s, indicating that droughts hit these regions more frequently due to the drier climate. The severe droughts substantially reduced annual and seasonal NDVI. The magnitude and direction of the detrended NDVI under drought stress varied with season and vegetation type. The inconsistency between the regional means of PDSI and detrended NDVI could be attributed to different responses of vegetation to drought and the timing, duration, severity, and lag effects of droughts. The negative effects of droughts on vegetation productivity were partly offset by the enhancement of plant growth resulting from factors such as lower cloudiness, warming climate, and human activities (e.g., afforestation, improved agricultural management practices)
Six-Dimensional (1,0) Superconformal Models and Higher Gauge Theory
We analyze the gauge structure of a recently proposed superconformal field
theory in six dimensions. We find that this structure amounts to a weak
Courant-Dorfman algebra, which, in turn, can be interpreted as a strong
homotopy Lie algebra. This suggests that the superconformal field theory is
closely related to higher gauge theory, describing the parallel transport of
extended objects. Indeed we find that, under certain restrictions, the field
content and gauge transformations reduce to those of higher gauge theory. We
also present a number of interesting examples of admissible gauge structures
such as the structure Lie 2-algebra of an abelian gerbe, differential crossed
modules, the 3-algebras of M2-brane models and string Lie 2-algebras.Comment: 31+1 pages, presentation slightly improved, version published in JM
Physical Investigation into Effective Voltage Balancing by Temporary Clamp Technique for the Series Connection of IGBTs
The series connection of IGBTs is essential for high-voltage applications where fast switching performances need to be maintained. However, unbalanced voltage sharing is a major resistance to the converter application of this structure. There are a number of causes leading to voltage unbalance, such as different signal delays, parasitic parameters, tail currents, and so on. A temporary clamp scheme performed by active voltage control (AVC) has been proven to be effective in solving the unbalanced voltage-sharing issue. However, the basic physics has not been investigated. In this paper, the physical principle of voltage unbalance within IGBTs series operation is discussed. The carrier storage region differences are concluded to be the intrinsic cause of unbalanced voltage sharing. By using an accurate Fourier-series-based IGBT simulation model with appropriate assumptions, a physical explanation for temporary clamp is provided in detail. At the end of the tail current period when the excess carrier concentration becomes close to the intrinsic doping density, the temporary clamp is able to achieve satisfactory equal voltage sharing
Decoupling a Cooper-pair box to enhance the lifetime to 0.2 ms
We present a circuit QED experiment in which a separate transmission line is
used to address a quasi-lumped element superconducting microwave resonator
which is in turn coupled to an Al/AlO/Al Cooper-pair box (CPB) charge
qubit. In our measurements we find a strong correlation between the measured
lifetime of the CPB and the coupling between the qubit and the transmission
line. By monitoring perturbations of the resonator's 5.44 GHz resonant
frequency, we have measured the spectrum, lifetime (), Rabi, and Ramsey
oscillations of the CPB at the charge degeneracy point while the CPB was
detuned by up to 2.5 GHz . We find a maximum lifetime of the CPB was s for to 4.5 GHz. Our measured 's are consistent with
loss due to coupling to the transmission line, spurious microwave circuit
resonances, and a background decay rate on the order of
s of unknown origin, implying that the loss tangent in the AlO
junction barrier must be less than about at 4.5 GHz, about 4
orders of magnitude less than reported in larger area Al/AlO/Al tunnel
junctions
Monoenergetic proton beams accelerated by a radiation pressure driven shock
High energy ion beams (> MeV) generated by intense laser pulses promise to be
viable alternatives to conventional ion beam sources due to their unique
properties such as high charge, low emittance, compactness and ease of beam
delivery. Typically the acceleration is due to the rapid expansion of a laser
heated solid foil, but this usually leads to ion beams with large energy
spread. Until now, control of the energy spread has only been achieved at the
expense of reduced charge and increased complexity. Radiation pressure
acceleration (RPA) provides an alternative route to producing laser-driven
monoenergetic ion beams. In this paper, we show the interaction of an intense
infrared laser with a gaseous hydrogen target can produce proton spectra of
small energy spread (~ 4%), and low background. The scaling of proton energy
with the ratio of intensity over density (I/n) indicates that the acceleration
is due to the shock generated by radiation-pressure driven hole-boring of the
critical surface. These are the first high contrast mononenergetic beams that
have been theorised from RPA, and makes them highly desirable for numerous ion
beam applications
Applying the Transdisciplinary Adaptive Systemic Approach to Securing the Long-Term Future of Grassland Ecosystems
Contemporary grasslands all exist as complex adaptive systems, specifically complex social-ecological systems – whether these are in protected areas or are part of private or communal agricultural landscapes. These systems are subject to the current planetary condition that includes rapidly growing human populations and demand for natural resources, the widespread use of pollutants, and climate change consequences. All complex adaptive systems have characteristics in common - they comprise multiple elements, which interact, and the multiple interactions cause intersecting feedback loops. As a result, a current system condition reflects its history, future condition is difficult to predict, and interventions have unpredictable outcomes – some positive others negative. The system itself produces emergent properties – new characteristics - through time, out of the multiple element interactions. As complex social-ecological systems, grasslands have all the interactive complexity of both society and ecosystems. This paper uses place-based landscape restoration interventions in the grasslands of the Tsitsa River Catchment, South Africa, and the Lake Tana basin, Ethiopia, to showcase the development and application of the Adaptive Systemic Approach – which we present as an advance in participatory sustainability science
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