The time and energy signals, counter plateau, energy resolution and gas gains performances of a new kind of micro-pattern gaseous detector-Micromegas

In present paper, a new Micromegas detector is developed, and its time and energy signals are obtained in the figure form. The rising time of fast time signal is less than 2 ns due to the very fast collection of avalanche electrons, and the rising time of the energy pulse is about 100 ns, which is corresponding to the total collecting time of the electrons and ions in the avalanche process. The counter plateau, energy resolution and the gas gains of the detector have been compared with other groups' experimental results and the Garfield simulation result.

Estimation of wind erosion rates by using Cs-137 tracing technique: A case study in Tariat-Xilin Gol transect, Mongolian Plateau

Wind erosion is one of the major environmental problems in semi-arid and arid regions. Here we established the Tariat-Xilin Gol transect from northwest to southeast across the Mongolian Plateau, and selected seven sampling sites along the transect. We then estimated the soil wind erosion rates by using the Cs-137 tracing technique and examined their spatial dynamics. Our results showed that the Cs-137 inventories of sampling sites ranged from 265.63 +/- 44.91 to 1279.54 +/- 166.53 Bq.m(-2), and the wind erosion rates varied from 64.58 to 419.63 t.km(-2).a(-1) accordingly. In the Mongolia section of the transect (from Tariat to Sainshand), the wind erosion rate increased gradually with vegetation type and climatic regimes; the wind erosion process was controlled by physical factors such as annual precipitation and vegetation coverage, etc., and the impact of human activities was negligible. While in the China section of the transect (Inner Mongolia), the wind erosion rates of Xilin Hot and Zhengxiangbai Banner were thrice as much as those of Bayannur of Mongolia, although these three sites were all dominated by typical steppe. Besides the physical factors, higher population density and livestock carrying level should be responsible for the higher wind erosion rates in these two regions of Inner Mongolia.

Effects of temperature, glucose and inorganic nitrogen inputs on carbon mineralization in a Tibetan alpine meadow soil

High levels of available nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) have the potential to increase soil N and C mineralization We hypothesized that with an external labile C or N supply alpine meadow soil will have a significantly higher C mineralization potential and that temperature sensitivity of C mineralization will increase To test the hypotheses an incubation experiment was conducted with two doses of N or C supply at temperature of 5 15 and 25 C Results showed external N supply had no significant effect on CO2 emission However external C supply increased CO2 emission Temperature coefficient (Q(10)) ranged from 113 to 1 29 Significantly higher values were measured with C than with N addition and control treatment Temperature dependence of C mineralization was well-represented by exponential functions Under the control CO2 efflux rate was 425 g CO2-Cm-2 year(-1) comparable to the in situ measurement of 422 g CO2-Cm-2 year(-1) We demonstrated if N is disregarded microbial decomposition is primarily limited by lack of labile C It is predicted that labile C supply would further increase CO2 efflux from the alpine meadow soil (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved

NDVI spatial pattern and its differentiation on the Mongolian Plateau

GIMMS NDVI database and geo-statistics were used to depict the spatial distribution and temporal stability of NDVI on the Mongolian Plateau. The results demonstrated that: (1) Regions of interest with high NDVI indices were distributed primarily in forested mountainous regions of the east and the north, areas with low NDVI indices were primarily distributed in the Gobi desert regions of the west and the southwest, and areas with moderate NDVI values were mainly distributed in a middle steppe strap from northwest to southeast. (2) The maximum NDVI values maintained for the past 22 years showed little variation. The average NDVI variance coefficient for the 22-year period was 15.2%. (3) NDVI distribution and vegetation cover showed spatial autocorrelations on a global scale. NDVI patterns from the vegetation cover also demonstrated anisotropy; a higher positive spatial correlation was indicated in a NW-SE direction, which suggested that vegetation cover in a NW-SE direction maintained increased integrity, and vegetation assemblage was mainly distributed in the same specific direction. (4) The NDVI spatial distribution was mainly controlled by structural factors, 88.7% of the total spatial variation was influenced by structural and 11.3% by random factors. And the global autocorrelation distance was 1178 km, and the average vegetation patch length (NW-SE) to width (NE-SW) ratio was approximately 2.4:1.0.