Satellite and ground detection of very dense smoke clouds produced on the islands of the Paraná river delta that affected a large region in Central Argentina

Intense fires were produced on the Paraná river delta islands, Argentina, during most part of 2008, by a combination of an exceptionally dry period and the farmers’ use of a fire land-cleaning technique. In April 2008, those fires significantly affected the nearby regions and their inhabitants, from Rosario city to Buenos Aires mega-city. In this work we present satellite as well as ground Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) at 550 nm data obtained during the propagation of pollution clouds to the central zone of Argentina. The highest value (1.18) was registered at Buenos Aires by atmospheric remote sensing, using the satellite instrument MODIS/Terra on April 18th 2008 at 10:35 local time (= UT − 3 h). On the same day, ground air quality detectors also measured in this city the highest Total Suspended Particle (TSP) value of the month, 2.02 mg/m³. The AOD(550) daily variation at Rosario Astronomical Observatory, which is located near the Paraná riverside, was derived by combining solar ultraviolet erythemal irradiance data (measured with a YES biometre) with model calculations. On April 25th 2008, from 12:00 to 15:30 local time, a rather high and constant AOD(550) value was registered, with a mean value of (0.90 ± 0.21). Cities located on the side of the Rosario–Buenos Aires highway (San Nicolás, Baradero and San Pedro) were also affected, showing a mean AOD(550) between the Rosario and Buenos Aires values. The particulate matter was collected with gridded samplers placed on the Paraná river islands as well as at the Rosario Observatory. They were analysed with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and mainly showed a biological origin. Even if normally large particles travel small distances from the source, organic aerosol in the range of 40–100 μm and complex asymmetric structures were registered several kilometres away from the aerosol sources on the islands. Another event of intense UV index attenuation (98.6%) occurred on September 18th 2008, due to very dense smoke clouds that extended over the Rosario area for several hours. The clouds were driven away from the fires by East–northeast and East–southeast winds. The minimum value of this index measured around noon allows to derive a maximum AOD(550)_max = (3.65 ± 0.90) at 12:45 local time. Soot clouds extended over the Paraná river, transporting Burned Biomass Debris (BBD) that deposited on Rosario. In particular, burned leaves and small branches with dimensions of 1–20 cm were collected. The mean (BBD) particles deposited on the ground from 7:00 to 19:00 local time were (0.92 ± 0.20) BBD/(m² h).     

A Parallel Adaptive 3D MHD Scheme for Modeling Coronal and Solar Wind Plasma Flows

A parallel adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) scheme is described for solving the governing equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in three space dimensions. This solution algorithm makes use of modern finite-volume numerical methodology to provide a combination of high solution accuracy and computational robustness. Efficient and scalable implementations of the method have been developed for massively parallel computer architectures and high performance achieved. Numerical results are discussed for a simplified model of the initiation and evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the inner heliosphere. The results demonstrate the potential of this numerical tool for enhancing our understanding of coronal and solar wind plasma processes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

隐身目标电磁散射特性的图形电磁计算方法研究

计算了不同涂覆介质的反射系数,利用图形电磁计算方法计算了平板和圆柱的涂覆不同介质的雷达散射截面,并且为了增加图形电磁计算的通用性引入了归一化因子。结果表明,此计算方法是正确的。     

Geomagnetic activity associated with magnetic clouds,magnetic cloud-like structures and interplanetary shocks for the period 1995–2003

Using nine years (1995–2003) of solar wind plasma and magnetic field data, solar sunspot number, and geomagnetic activity data, we investigated the geomagnetic activity associated with magnetic clouds (MCs), magnetic cloud-like structures (MCLs), and interplanetary shock waves. Eighty-two MCs and one hundred and twenty-two MCLs were identified by using solar wind and magnetic field data from the WIND mission, and two hundred and sixty-one interplanetary shocks were identified over the period of 1995–2003 in the vicinity of Earth. It is found that MCs are typically more geoeffective than MCLs or interplanetary shocks. The occurrence frequency of MCs is not well correlated with sunspot number. By contrast, both occurrence frequency of MCLs and sudden storm commencements (SSCs) are well correlated with sunspot number.     

基于图剖分的多块结构网格负载平衡方法

负载平衡是影响并行计算性能的重要因素。针对多块结构网格,给出了一种改进的多层次图剖分负载平衡方法。该方法设计了新的网格剖分算法,采用改进的子块分裂方法与图剖分算法的循环调用实现结构对接网格剖分,并通过建立不同物体重叠网格间的连接关系,实现了结构重叠网格的负载平衡。采用2个典型算例对方法进行了对比验证,数值结果表明,子块分裂方法对剖分结果具有重要影响,采用循环调用算法及改进的子块分裂方法能有效地实现计算负载均衡及通信量优化,同时显著减少了网格块数及因虚网格导致的内存需求,有利于提高并行效率。该负载平衡方法与网格拓扑无关,适用于多块结构对接网格及重叠网格,且整体型剖分方式对于多块结构重叠网格具有更好的剖分效果。     

激光室内定位的混合式高效点云地图构建方法CSCD

针对机器人在室内定位中存在的点云地图形式单一、存储空间大等问题,提出了一种包含特征地图、通行地图和精简地图的混合形式地图构建方法。构建特征地图时,利用曲率、法线和局部显著性等要素提取环境中的显著特征点。构建通行地图时,首先,采用区域生长分割平面;其次,基于室内曼哈顿假设,利用平面空间关系分割出地平面;最后,根据预设高度构建出2D通行地图,并将3D边缘信息融入到通行地图中。在精简地图中,分别采用主方向权重、随机采样和K均值聚类方法对不同类型体素网格内点云进行精简。实验表明,特征地图可为机器人提供丰富的特征信息。通行地图中地面分割的准确度大于95%,可提供准确的先验通行信息。精简地图有效降低了点云地图的冗余度,在精简比例达到95%时,仍可取得0.8mm的平均模型误差,其精简性能优于传统的随机采样和体素格网方法。     

改进PointNetLK的点云智能配准与位姿图优化方法

针对空间在轨服务任务中的非合作目标相对位姿测量问题,提出一种目标可测部位点云的智能配准方法。首先,通过Straight Through滤波算法对半物理仿真平台采集得到的点云进行目标提取,以消除背景数据等杂乱信息;其次,改进PointNetLK神经网络点云配准算法,将提取后的点云数据作为输入,从而获得初步配准结果,解决非合作目标先验信息缺失导致的无法配准问题;最后,建立基于位姿图的优化模型,以降低配准误差,提高配准精度。实验结果表明,与传统迭代最近点(ICP)算法相比,配准综合误差从6.3598降低到1.7291,精度提高约 72.81% 单次耗时从33.16 s降低到4.2 s,效率提升约87.33%,与当前SM ICP等其他算法相比,也具有一定的优势。     

Diversity of Comets: Formation Zones and Dynamical Paths

The past dozen years have produced a new paradigm with regard to the source regions of comets in the early solar system. It is now widely recognized that the likely source of the Jupiter-family short-period comets (those with Tisserand parameters, T > 2 and periods, P, generally < 20 years) is the Kuiper belt in the ecliptic plane beyond Neptune. In contrast, the source of the Halley-type and long-period comets (those with T < 2 and P > 20 years) appears to be the Oort cloud. However, the comets in the Oort cloud almost certainly originated elsewhere, since accretion is very inefficient at such large heliocentric distances. New dynamical studies now suggest that the source of the Oort cloud comets is the entire giant planets region from Jupiter to Neptune, rather than primarily the Uranus-Neptune region, as previously thought. Some fraction of the Oort cloud population may even be asteroidal bodies formed inside the orbit of Jupiter. These comets and asteroids underwent a complex dynamical random walk among the giant planets before they were ejected to distant orbits in the Oort cloud, with possible interesting consequences for their thermal and collisional histories. Observational evidence for diversity in cometary compositions is limited, at best. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

网格计算在工业过程控制中的应用前景

网格计算是一种新兴的解决大规模复杂问题的应用技术,充分利用现有资源提供高性能的计算能力。现在的生产过程越来越向大规模复杂化方向发展,过程控制需要新的控制模型和控制方法来解决这些问题。但现有的计算能力无疑又限制了控制技术的应用,将高性能的网格计算运用到过程控制当中可以提高控制模型和控制算法的计算速度,也将大大提高其控制品质和应用范围。     

三维Euler方程组隐式LU分解的高性能并行计算

许多非定常无粘流体力学问题的数值模拟都需要利用Euler方程组来进行计算,而由于在隐格式下,所选取的时间步长可以比在显格式下时大得多,所以隐格式越来越受到重视,其中隐式LU分解是最常用的方法之一。对三维Euler方程组,采用隐式LU分解进行计算时,网格点所在的各个对角阵面之间存在数据依赖关系,本文分析了采用区域分解且边界上用显格式代替隐格式进行计算的高效性,在长方体建筑物内的爆炸模拟表明,在有112个CPU的某MPP巨型机上,并行计算效率超过60%。本文还分析了计算结果与串行计算时的差异,以及利用区域重叠减小这种差异的方法,同时考虑了对处理器进行合理的逻辑组织,将计算网格映射到处理器网格,以最大限度减少通信开销的方法。文中最后以一个爆炸毁伤的例子实际说明了所述方法的可行性与高效性。