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Jielun Sun

Publications and source records attributed to Jielun Sun.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2010

Atmospheric stability effects on wind fields and scalar mixing within and just above a subalpine forest in sloping terrain

Air temperature T a , specific humidity q , CO 2 mole fraction χ c , and three-dimensional winds were measured in mountainous terrain from five tall towers within a 1 km region encompassing a wide range of canopy densities. The measurements were sorted by a bulk Richardson number Ri b . For stable conditions, we found vertical scalar differences developed over a “transition” region between 0.05 < Ri b < 0.5. For strongly stable conditions ( Ri b > 1), the vertical scalar differences reached a maximum and remained fairly constant with increasing stability. The relationships q and χ c have with Ri b are explained by considering their sources and sinks. For winds, the strong momentum absorption in the upper canopy allows the canopy sublayer to be influenced by pressure gradient forces and terrain effects that lead to complex subcanopy flow patterns. At the dense-canopy sites, soil respiration coupled with wind-sheltering resulted in CO 2 near the ground being 5–7 μmol mol −1 larger than aloft, even with strong above-canopy winds (near-neutral conditions). We found Ri b -binning to be a useful tool for evaluating vertical scalar mixing; however, additional information (e.g., pressure gradients, detailed vegetation/topography, etc.) is needed to fully explain the subcanopy wind patterns. Implications of our results for CO 2 advection over heterogenous, complex terrain are discussed.

Boundary-Layer Meteorology↗
USGS2010

A multiscale and multidisciplinary investigation of ecosystem-atmosphere CO 2 exchange over the rocky mountains of colorado

A field study combined with modeling investigation demonstrated that the organization of CO2 transport by mountain terrain strongly affects the regional CO2 budget. Atmospheric dynamics can lead to complicated flows generated by inhomogeneous landscapes, topography or synoptic weather systems. The field campaign conducted of a ground deployment, the Carbon in the Mountain Experiment (CME04), and an aircraft deployment of the national Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) C-130, the Airborne Carbon in the Mountains Experiment (ACME04) over the period of spring to fall of 2004 to cover the seasonal variation of ecosystem-atmosphere carbon exchange. The role of the mountain circulation in CO2 transport can be played over seemingly flat terrain by mesoscale flows generated by various physical processes. The three dimensional observation strategy considered can also be applied over flat terrain.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society↗
USGS2009

Slip maxima at fault junctions and rupturing of barriers during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

The disastrous 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China took the local population as well as scientists by surprise. Although the Longmen Shan fault zonewhich includes the fault segments along which this earthquake nucleatedwas well known, geologic and geodetic data indicate relatively low (<3 mm yr -1 ) deformation rates. Here we invert Global Positioning System and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar data to infer fault geometry and slip distribution associated with the earthquake. Our analysis shows that the geometry of the fault changes along its length: in the southwest, the fault plane dips moderately to the northwest but becomes nearly vertical in the northeast. Associated with this is a change in the motion along the fault from predominantly thrusting to strike-slip. Peak slip along the fault occurs at the intersections of fault segments located near the towns of Yingxiu, Beichuan and Nanba, where fatalities and damage were concentrated. We suggest that these locations represent barriers that failed in a single event, enabling the rupture to cascade through several fault segments and cause a major moment magnitude (M w ) 7.9 earthquake. Using coseismic slip distribution and geodetic and geological slip rates, we estimate that the failure of barriers and rupture along multiple segments takes place approximately once in 4,000 years. ?? 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Nature Geoscience↗
USGS2009

Characteristics of ground motion at permafrost sites along the Qinghai-Tibet railway

Based on 14 typical drilling holes distributed in the permafrost areas along the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the distribution of wave velocities of soils in the permafrost regions were determined. Using results of dynamic triaxial tests, the results of dynamic triaxiality test and time histories of ground motion acceleration in this area, characteristics of ground motion response were analyzed for these permafrost sites for time histories of ground accelerations with three exceedance probabilities (63%, 10% and 2%). The influence of ground temperature on the seismic displacement, velocity, acceleration and response spectrum on the surface of permafrost were also studied. ?? 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering↗
USGS2008

Canopy structure and atmospheric flows in relation to the δ13C of respired CO 2 in a subalpine coniferous forest

Stable isotopes provide insight into ecosystem carbon cycling, plant physiological processes, atmospheric boundary-layer dynamics, and are useful for the integration of processes over multiple scales. Of particular interest is the carbon isotope content (&delta; 13 C) of nocturnal ecosystem-respired CO 2 ( &delta; R ). Recent advances in technology have made it possible to continuously examine the variation in &delta; R within a forest canopy over relatively long time-scales (months&ndash;years). We used tunable diode laser spectroscopy to examine &delta; R at within- and below-canopy spatial locations in a Colorado subalpine forest (the Niwot Ridge AmeriFlux site). We found a systematic pattern of increased &delta; R within the forest canopy ( &delta; R-c ) compared to that near the ground ( &delta; R-g ). Values of &delta; R-c were weakly correlated with the previous day's mean maximum daytime vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Conversely, there was a negative but still weak correlation between &delta; R-g and time-lagged (0&ndash;5 days) daily mean soil moisture. The topography and presence of sustained nightly drainage flows at the Niwot Ridge forest site suggests that, on nights with stable atmospheric conditions, there is little mixing of air near the ground with that in the canopy. Atmospheric stability was assessed using thresholds of friction velocity, stability above the canopy, and bulk Richardson number within the canopy. When we selectively calculated &delta; R-g and &delta; R-c by removing time periods when ground and canopy air were well mixed, we found stronger correlations between &delta; R-c and VPD, and &delta; R-g and soil moisture. This suggests that there may be fundamental differences in the environmental controls on &delta; R at sub-canopy spatial scales. These results may help explain the wide variance observed in the correlation of &delta; R with different environmental parameters in other studies.

Colorado↗
USGS2008

MODIS and SeaWIFS on-orbit lunar calibration

The Moon plays an important role in the radiometric stability monitoring of the NASA Earth Observing System's (EOS) remote sensors. The MODIS and SeaWIFS are two of the key instruments for NASA's EOS missions. The MODIS Protoflight Model (PFM) on-board the Terra spacecraft and the MODIS Flight Model 1 (FM1) on-board the Aqua spacecraft were launched on December 18, 1999 and May 4, 2002, respectively. They view the Moon through the Space View (SV) port approximately once a month to monitor the long-term radiometric stability of their Reflective Solar Bands (RSB). SeaWIFS was launched on-board the OrbView-2 spacecraft on August 1, 1997. The SeaWiFS lunar calibrations are obtained once a month at a nominal phase angle of 7??. The lunar irradiance observed by these instruments depends on the viewing geometry. The USGS photometric model of the Moon (the ROLO model) has been developed to provide the geometric corrections for the lunar observations. For MODIS, the lunar view responses with corrections for the viewing geometry are used to track the gain change for its reflective solar bands (RSB). They trend the system response degradation at the Angle Of Incidence (AOI) of sensor's SV port. With both the lunar observation and the on-board Solar Diffuser (SD) calibration, it is shown that the MODIS system response degradation is wavelength, mirror side, and AOI dependent. Time-dependent Response Versus Scan angle (RVS) Look-Up Tables (LUT) are applied in MODIS RSB calibration and lunar observations play a key role in RVS derivation. The corrections provided by the RVS in the Terra and Aqua MODIS data from the 412 nm band are as large as 16% and 13%, respectively. For SeaWIFS lunar calibrations, the spacecraft is pitched across the Moon so that the instrument views the Moon near nadir through the same optical path as it views the Earth. The SeaWiFS system gain changes for its eight bands are calibrated using the geometrically-corrected lunar observations. The radiometric corrections to the SeaWiFS data, after more than ten years on orbit, are 19% at 865 nm, 8% at 765 nm, and 1-3% in the other bands. In this report, the lunar calibration algorithms are reviewed and the RSB gain changes observed by the lunar observations are shown for all three sensors. The lunar observations for the three instruments are compared using the USGS photometric model. The USGS lunar model facilitates the cross calibration of instruments with different spectra bandpasses whose measurements of the Moon differ in time and observing geometry.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2007

Loess sedimentation in Tibet: provenance, processes, and link with Quaternary glaciations

Well-preserved loess deposits are found on the foothills of mountains along the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River in southern Tibet. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is used to determine loess ages by applying the single-aliquot regeneration technique. Geochemical, mineralogical, and granulometric measurements were carried out to allow a comparison between loess from Tibet and the Chinese Loess Plateau. Our results demonstrate that (i) the loess deposits have a basal age of 13-11 ka, suggesting they accumulated after the last deglaciation, (ii) loess in southern Tibet has a "glacial" origin, resulting from eolian sorting of glaciofluvial outwash deposits from braided river channels or alluvial fans by local near-surface winds, and (iii) the present loess in the interior of Tibet has accumulated since the last deglaciation when increased monsoonal circulation provided an increased vegetation cover that was sufficient for trapping eolian silt. The lack of full-glacial loess is either due to minimal vegetation cover or possibly due to the erosion of loess as glaciofluvial outwash during the beginning of each interglacial. Such processes would have been repeated during each glacial-interglacial cycle of the Quaternary. ?? 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quaternary Science Reviews↗
USGS2003

Longitudinal analysis of bioaccumulative contaminants in freshwater fishes

The National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP) was initiated in 1967 as a component of the National Pesticide Monitoring program. It consists of periodic collection of freshwater fish and other samples and the analysis of the concentrations of persistent environmental contaminants in these samples. For the analysis, the common approach has been to apply the mixed two-way ANOVA model to combined data. A main disadvantage of this method is that it cannot give a detailed temporal trend of the concentrations since the data are grouped. In this paper, we present an alternative approach that performs a longitudinal analysis of the information using random effects models. In the new approach, no grouping is needed and the data are treated as samples from continuous stochastic processes, which seems more appropriate than ANOVA for the problem.

Environmental and Ecological Statistics↗
USGS2001

Evaluation of flash-flood discharge forecasts in complex terrain using precipitation

Operational prediction of flash floods produced by thunderstorm (convective) precipitation in mountainous areas requires accurate estimates or predictions of the precipitation distribution in space and time. The details of the spatial distribution are especially critical in complex terrain because the watersheds are generally small in size, and small position errors in the forecast or observed placement of the precipitation can distribute the rain over the wrong watershed. In addition to the need for good precipitation estimates and predictions, accurate flood prediction requires a surface-hydrologic model that is capable of predicting stream or river discharge based on the precipitation-rate input data. Different techniques for the estimation and prediction of convective precipitation will be applied to the Buffalo Creek, Colorado flash flood of July 1996, where over 75 mm of rain from a thunderstorm fell on the watershed in less than 1 h. The hydrologic impact of the precipitation was exacerbated by the fact that a significant fraction of the watershed experienced a wildfire approximately two months prior to the rain event. Precipitation estimates from the National Weather Service's operational Weather Surveillance Radar-Doppler 1988 and the National Center for Atmospheric Research S-band, research, dual-polarization radar, colocated to the east of Denver, are compared. In addition, very short range forecasts from a convection-resolving dynamic model, which is initialized variationally using the radar reflectivity and Doppler winds, are compared with forecasts from an automated-algorithmic forecast system that also employs the radar data. The radar estimates of rain rate, and the two forecasting systems that employ the radar data, have degraded accuracy by virtue of the fact that they are applied in complex terrain. Nevertheless, the radar data and forecasts from the dynamic model and the automated algorithm could be operationally useful for input to surface-hydrologic models employed for flood warning. Precipitation data provided by these various techniques at short time scales and at fine spatial resolutions are employed as detailed input to a distributed-parameter hydrologic model for flash-flood prediction and analysis. With the radar-based precipitation estimates employed as input, the simulated flood discharge was similar to that observed. The dynamic-model precipitation forecast showed the most promise in providing a significant discharge-forecast lead time. The algorithmic system's precipitation forecast did not demonstrate as much skill, but the associated discharge forecast would still have been sufficient to have provided an alert of impending flood danger.

Journal of Hydrologic Engineering↗
USGS1997

Adsorbed natural gas storage with activated carbons made from Illinois coals and scrap tires

Activated carbons for natural gas storage were produced from Illinois bituminous coals (IBC-102 and IBC-106) and scrap tires by physical activation with steam or CO 2 and by chemical activation with KOH, H 3 PO 4 , or ZnCl 2 . The products were characterized for N 2 -BET area, micropore volume, bulk density, pore size distribution, and volumetric methane storage capacity ( V m / V s ). V m / V s values for Illinois coal-derived carbons ranged from 54 to 83 cm 3 /cm 3 , which are 35−55% of a target value of 150 cm 3 /cm 3 . Both granular and pelletized carbons made with preoxidized Illinois coal gave higher micropore volumes and larger V m / V s values than those made without preoxidation. This confirmed that preoxidation is a desirable step in the production of carbons from caking materials. Pelletization of preoxidized IBC-106 coal, followed by steam activation, resulted in the highest V m / V s value. With roughly the same micropore volume, pelletization alone increased V m / V s of coal carbon by 10%. Tire-derived carbons had V m / V s values ranging from 44 to 53 cm 3 /cm 3 , lower than those of coal carbons due to their lower bulk densities. Pelletization of the tire carbons increased bulk density up to 160%. However, this increase was offset by a decrease in micropore volume of the pelletized materials, presumably due to the pellet binder. As a result, V m / V s values were about the same for granular and pelletized tire carbons. Compared with coal carbons, tire carbons had a higher percentage of mesopores and macropores.

Energy and Fuels↗