Validation on MERSI/FY-3A precipitable water vapor product

The precipitable water vapor is one of the most active gases in the atmosphere which strongly affects the climate. China's second-generation polar orbit meteorological satellite FY-3A equipped with a Medium Resolution Spectral Imager (MERSI) is able to detect atmospheric water vapor. In this paper, water vapor data from AERONET, radiosonde and MODIS were used to validate the accuracy of the MERSI water vapor product in the different seasons and climatic regions of East Asia. The results show that the values of MERSI water vapor product are relatively lower than that of the other instruments and its accuracy is generally lower. The mean bias (MB) was ?0.8 to ?12.7?mm, the root mean square error (RMSE) was 2.2–17.0?mm, and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) varied from 31.8% to 44.1%. On the spatial variation, the accuracy of MERSI water vapor product in a descending order was from North China, West China, Japan -Korea, East China, to South China, while the seasonal variation of accuracy was the best for winter, followed by spring, then in autumn and the lowest in summer. It was found that the errors of MERSI water vapor product was mainly due to the low accuracy of radiation calibration of the MERSI absorption channel, along with the inaccurate look-up table of apparent reflectance and water vapor within the water vapor retrieved algorithm. In addition, the surface reflectance, the mixed pixels of image cloud, the humidity and temperature of atmospheric vertical profile and the haze were also found to have affected the accuracy of MERSI water vapor product.     

日本和它的亚洲邻居们

本文从四个方面阐述日本和亚洲各国的关系;一、日本的当政者何以总想出兵海外?二、海部访华与中日关系;三、突出亚洲的日本外交;四、日本和俄罗斯人的关系。     

An Asian perspective on the new US space policy: The emphasis on international cooperation and its relevance to Asia

This viewpoint examines the likely reasons behind the renewed focus on international cooperation in the new US National Space Policy, noting that the rise of various Asian space powers is one factor. It demonstrates the increase in US-Asian space cooperation that is already underway, arguing that such cooperation can only be to the good in providing Asian countries with a greater degree of cutting-edge technology and know-how, as well as contributing to the overall safety and security of outer space. Nevertheless, there will doubtless be problems such as cost overruns and delays and effort will have to be applied if cooperation is to work.     

东亚大陆磁异常区地磁太阳日变化的异常特征

使用ＩＧＹ／ＩＧＣ（１９５７。７。１－１９５９。１２。３０）期间全球地磁台网和中国长春、北京、上海、拉萨四台的地磁资料，分析了东亚大陆磁常区地磁异常区地磁太阳静日变化Ｓｑ的异常特征，分析表明，组成Ｓｑ的两个主要谐波（１次和２次谐波）在东亚大陆常区呈现出不同于其他区的分布特征；Ｘ分量振幅值一般高于地磁纬度相同的其他地区的振幅。振幅极小值出现的纬度向南移动约２０°，极小值的量值小于其他地区，由东亚异常     

A regional model for the prediction of M(3000)F2 over East Asia

Research on empirical or physical models of ionospheric parameters is one of the important topics in the field of space weather and communication support services. To improve the accuracy of predicting the monthly median ionospheric propagating factor at 3000 km of the F2 layer (identified as M(3000)F2) for high frequency radio wave propagation, a model based on modified orthogonal temporal–spatial functions is proposed. The proposed model has three new characteristics: (1) The solar activity parameters of sunspot number and the 10.7-cm solar radio flux are together introduced into temporal reconstruction. (2) Both the geomagnetic dip and its modified value are chosen as features of the geographical spatial variation for spatial reconstruction. (3) A series of harmonic functions are used to represent the M(3000)F2, which reflects seasonal and solar cycle variations. The proposed model is established by combining nonlinear regression for three characteristics with harmonic analysis by using vertical sounding data over East Asia. Statistical results reveal that M(3000)F2 calculated by the proposed model is consistent with the trend of the monthly median observations. The proposed model is better than the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model by comparison between predictions and observations of six station, which illustrates that the proposed model outperforms the IRI model over East Asia. The proposed method can be further expanded for potentially providing more accurate predictions for other ionospheric parameters on the global scale.     

Outreach activities during the 2006 total solar eclipse sponsored by the International Heliophysical Year

The International Heliophysical Year (IHY) is an international program of scientific research to advance our understanding of the physical processes that govern the Sun, Earth and heliosphere. It has a strong educational component, linking research and education. Here, we describe the outreach activities during the 2006 total solar eclipse sponsored by IHY.     

Time delay of ionospheric TEC storms to geomagnetic storms and pre-storm disturbance events in East Asia

Using the TEC data at Beijing (39.61°N, 115.89°E)/Yakutsk (62.03°N, 129.68°E) stations of East Asia regions and relevant geomagnetic data from 2010 to 2017, we have studied the time delay of ionospheric storms to geomagnetic storms and compare it with our previous results of Taoyuan (25.02°N, 121.21°E) station (Zhang et al., 2020). The data shows a well-known local time dependence of the time delay, and seasonal dependences are different at these stations. In addition, there is no correlation between the time delay and the magnetic storm intensity /solar activity, except the time delay of negative storms has weakly negative dependence on the solar activity. Comparing with the results of Taoyuan station which is located at EIA region in East Asia, we find that the time delay increases nonlinearly as the latitude decreases due to different ionospheric backgrounds at these places. Moreover, the pre-storm disturbance events are found to have similar statistical characteristics as the pre-storm enhancement in Europe middle latitudes (Bure?ová and La?tovi?ka, 2007). By subtracting the common features of the pre-storm disturbance events, we preliminarily infer that auroral activity might be main driver of the pre-storm disturbance events.     

Orbital remote sensing: Space technology applications in South-east Asia

The changing context of space remote sensing applications is described in terms of evolving needs and capabilities in South-east Asia and in terms of recent policy decisions in spacefaring nations. Emphasis is placed on the need for a technology which allows the monitoring of, eg the exploitation and degradation of natural resources, crop development, climatic effects and the like. The implications of policy adjustments in the US LANDSAT programme, including its proposed commercialization, are discussed, and the potential role of other existing and future satellites is reviewed.