Mechanical and thermal structure of a cylindrical plume in the earth's mantle

A mantle plume is understood as a hot, narrow, upwelling flow in the earth's mantle and accompanied by an efficient transfer of mass and energy from deep to upper layer of the earth. The cylindrical plume in earth's mantle plays an important role in explaining the origin of the surface hot spots and linear island chains. From the basic hydrodynamical equations, the detailed mechanical and thermal structure of a cylindrical plume of Newtouian fluids with temperature and pressure-dependent viscosity are given in the present paper. For two sets of rheological parameters the radial profiles of upward velocity, temperature and viscosity in the plume and radiuses of the plume at various depths have been calculated.

Flow similariy applied in convection-based tilt sensor

The environment temperature has inevitable effects on property of the convect ion-based tilt sensors. It not only redefines the application, but also prevents the improvement of the sensor performance. Numerical simulation of the fluid flow in the chamber of a sensor was performed and the influence of the environment temperature was studied in this paper. At zero tilt angle, the temperature distribution along the perpendicular line cross the heat source at various environment temperatures was presented. It was found that the flow varied dramatically at different environment temperatures, which would cause the output signal vary accordingly, even when the tilt angle was kept at a constant, because this device works by sensing the change of flow. At the same condition, we present the numerical results when the temperature difference across the heat source and the environment was kept at the same, in those results, it was found that the temperature difference at every point along the perpendicular line cross the heat source keep the same, this result confirms the similarity principle of nature convection. Second, A method of eliminating environment temperature infect on property of convect ion-based tilt sensor, which is based on the theory of flow similarity, is proposed. It was found that a thermal transistance can be piped on the circuit of heat source to compensate the temperature of the heat source. A compensative circuit was specially designed which can keep flow similarity by changing heat source temperature in order to eliminate the influence of environment temperature. The experiment results show that above 70% temperature drift can be eliminated by this compensative circuit.

Effect of interfacial heat transfer on the onset of oscillatory convection in liquid bridge

In present study, effect of interfacial heat transfer with ambient gas on the onset of oscillatory convection in a liquid bridge of large Prandtl number on the ground is systematically investigated by the method of linear stability analyses. With both the constant and linear ambient air temperature distributions, the numerical results show that the interfacial heat transfer modifies the free-surface temperature distribution directly and then induces a steeper temperature gradient on the middle part of the free surface, which may destabilize the convection. On the other hand, the interfacial heat transfer restrains the temperature disturbances on the free surface, which may stabilize the convection. The two coupling effects result in a complex dependence of the stability property on the Biot number. Effects of melt free-surface deformation on the critical conditions of the oscillatory convection were also investigated. Moreover, to better understand the mechanism of the instabilities, rates of kinetic energy change and "thermal" energy change of the critical disturbances were investigated (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Degradation of tropical forest in Hainan, China, 1991-2008: Conservation implications for Hainan Gibbon (Nomascus hainanus)

The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is one of the most endangered primates in the world, confined to mature natural forest in Hainan Island, China. We assessed changes in habitat condition on the island between 1991 and 2008, using vegetation maps generated by remote-sensing images. We defined forest suitable for gibbons based on composition, tree size and canopy cover. During the 17-year period, the area of suitable gibbon forest decreased by 540 km(2) (35%) across the whole island, and by 6.3 km(2) (7%) in the locality of the sole remaining gibbon population at Bawangling National Nature Reserve. The forest patches large enough (>1 km(2)) to support a gibbon group decreased from 754 km(2) to 316 km(2) in total area, and from 92 to 64 in number. Suitable natural forest was mainly replaced by plantations below 760 m, or degraded by logging, grazing and planting of pines above 760 m. Meanwhile, forests in former confirmed gibbon areas became more fragmented: mean area of patches decreased by 53%. We mapped the patches of natural forest in good condition which could potentially support gibbons. We recommend a freeze on further expansion of plantations between core patches at Bawangling, Jiaxi-Houmiling and Yinggeling Nature Reserves in accordance with forest protection regulations; establishment of nature reserves in currently unprotected natural forest patches elsewhere in line with the local government's nature reserve expansion policy; and active natural-forest restoration between remaining fragments at Bawangling. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal test and analysis of concentrator solar cells - art. no. 684117

Under high concentration the temperature of photovoltaic solar cells is very high. It is well known that the efficiency and performance of photovoltaic solar cells decrease with the increase of temperature. So cooling is indispensable for a concentrator photovoltaic solar cell at high concentration. Usually passive cooling is widely considered in a concentrator system. However, the thermal conduction principle of concentrator solar cells under passive cooling is seldom reported. In this paper, GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple junction solar cells were fabricated using metal organic chemical vapor deposition technique. The thermal conductivity performance of monolithic concentrator GaInP/GaAs/Ge cascade solar cells under 400X concentration with a heat sink were studied by testing the surface and backside temperatures of solar cells. The tested result shows that temperature difference between both sides of the solar cells is about 1K. A theoretical model of the thermal conductivity and thermal resistance of the GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple junction solar cells was built, and the calculation temperature difference between both sides of the solar cells is about 0.724K which is consistent with the result of practical test. Combining the theoretical model and the practical testing with the upper surface temperature of tested 310K, the temperature distribution of the solar cells was researched.

Seed bubbles stabilize flow and heat transfer in parallel microchannels

Seed bubbles are generated on microheaters located at the microchannel upstream and driven by a pulse voltage signal, to improve flow and heat transfer performance in microchannels. The present study investigates how seed bubbles stabilize flow and heat transfer in micro-boiling systems. For the forced convection flow, when heat flux at the wall surface is continuously increased, flow instability is self-sustained in microchannels with large oscillation amplitudes and long periods. Introduction of seed bubbles in time sequence improves flow and heat transfer performance significantly. Low frequency (similar to 10 Hz) seed bubbles not only decrease oscillation amplitudes of pressure drops, fluid inlet and outlet temperatures and heating surface temperatures, but also shorten oscillation cycle periods. High frequency (similar to 100 Hz or high) seed bubbles completely suppress the flow instability and the heat transfer system displays stable parameters of pressure drops, fluid inlet and outlet temperatures and heating surface temperatures. Flow visualizations show that a quasi-stable boundary interface from spheric bubble to elongated bubble is maintained in a very narrow distance range at any time. The seed bubble technique almost does not increase the pressure drop across microsystems, which is thoroughly different from those reported in the literature. The higher the seed bubble frequency, the more decreased heating surface temperatures are. A saturation seed bubble frequency of 1000-2000 Hz can be reached, at which heat transfer enhancement attains the maximum degree, inferring a complete thermal equilibrium of vapor and liquid phases in microchannels. Benefits of the seed bubble technique are the stabilization of flow and heat transfer, decreasing heating surface temperatures and improving temperature uniformity of the heating surface.

Development of a self-thermal insulation miniature combustor

A novel miniature cylindrical combustor, whose chamber wall is made of porous material, has been designed and experimented for reducing heat loss and enhancing flame stability. The combustor has the function of reducing wall heat loss, extending residence time and avoiding radical chemical quenching with a self-thermal insulation concept in which heat loss reduction is obtained by the opposite flow directions between thermal energy transfer and mass flow. The methane/air mixture flames formed in the chamber are blue and tubular in shape. Between the flames and the porous wall, there is a thin unburned film that plays a significant role in reducing the flames' heat loss and keeping the flames stable. The porous wall temperature was 150-400 degrees C when the temperatures of the flames and exhaust gas were more than 1200 degrees C. When the equivalence ratio phi < 1.0, the methane conversion ratio was above 95%; the combustion efficiency was near 90%; and the overall sidewall heat loss was less than 15% in the 1.53 cm(3) chamber. Moreover, its combustion efficiency is stable in a wider combustion load (input power) range.

基于遥感的城市绿地格局及变化分析——以沈阳市为例

本文利用中高分辨率遥感影像研究2006年沈阳市三环内城市绿地的空间格局及2001-2006年间的变化，以期对5年的高强度绿化建设进行评价。利用QuickBird高分辨率遥感影像，结合基于知识分类方法提取的植被覆盖信息和目视解译方法提取的土地利用信息，分析了2006年附属绿地的空间分布格局和公园绿地可达性。利用2001、2006年两景Landsat TM影像，基于线性混合分解方法提取的植被盖度信息，分析了5年间的绿化建设强度及其空间分布。 本文得到以下结论： 1) 工业用地和公共设施用地的绿化率均较高，分别是28.9%和32.3%。研究区域多层老式居住用地和道路的绿化率只有近20%。新居住用地中高层片块居住用地的平均斑块面积较小，主要是由小块的街区角落开发而成，绿化率只有10.3%；其余的新居住用地的绿化率均高于多层老式居住用地。居住用地高度类型相同的情况下，花园式居住用地比片块式居住用地拥有更高的绿化率。 2) 附属绿地绿化率随距市中心距离的递增梯度反映了城市内外绿化状况的两极分化现象，在几种主要的城市用地类型之间存在差异：公共设施（4.16%∙km-1）>多层老式居住用地（3.85%∙km-1）>新居住用地（3.05%∙km-1）>道路（2.36%∙km-1）。新居住用地弱于多层老式居住用地，表明随着旧城改造的持续进行，居住用地的内外两极分化现象可以得到缓解。公共设施用地的内外两极分化现象较严重，城市化进程中慎重对待高绿化率的公共设施用地如高校等迫于地价压力的外迁行为。 3) 公园绿地可达性分析的结果表明，只有29.25%的居住用地分布在距最近公园绿地5分钟的步行范围内，43.31%的居住用地在5-15分钟的步行范围内，建议持续增加公园绿地建设，尤其是在工商业密集区。研究区域尚未出现居住用地绿化环境的马太效应（高公园绿地可达性+高附属绿地绿化率）。 4) 2001-2006年，道路、居住用地、公共设施用地、公共绿地及广场的植被盖度均有不同程度的增加（5%-9%），证实了5年间绿化建设力度之大；工业用地的植被盖度几乎没有变化，原因估计是工业用地空间属于非公共空间，不属于公共绿化建设区域。5年间植被增量空间分布均匀，没有针对低绿化覆盖率地区加强绿化建设力度，部分缓解了绿化率的城市内外两极分化现象。

Enhanced Thermal Shock Resistance of Ceramics through Biomimetically Inspired Nanofins

We propose here a new method to make ceramics insensitive to thermal shock up to their melting temperature. In this method the surface of ceramics was biomimetically roughened into nanofinned surface that creates a thin air layer enveloping the surface of the ceramics during quenching. This air layer increases the heat transfer resistance of the surface of the ceramics by about 10 000 times so that the strong thermal gradient and stresses produced by the steep temperature difference in thermal shock did not occur both on the actual surface and in the interior of the ceramics. This method effectively extends the applications of existing ceramics in the extreme thermal environments.

Thermal effects on Rayleigh-Marangoni-Benard instability in a system of superposed fluid and porous layers

Thermal effects of the heat transfer at free surface (represented by Biot number) on the Rayleigh-Marangoni-Benard instability in a system of liquid-porous layers with top free surface are investigated numerically. The results indicate that this thermal effect can evidently lead to the mode transition of convection, which is overlooked in previous works. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heat capacity and thermodynamic properties of crystalline ornidazole (C7H10ClN3O3)

The molar heat capacities of 1-(2-hydroxy-3-chloropropyl)-2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole (Ornidazole) (C7H10CIN3O3) with purity of 99.72mol% were measured with an adiabatic calorimeter in the temperature range between 79 and 380K. The melting-point temperature, molar enthalpy Delta(fus)H(m), and entropy, Delta(fus)S(m), of fusion of this compound were determined to be 358.59 +/- 0.04K, 21.38 +/- 0.02 kJ mol(-1) and 59.61 +/- 0.05 J K-1 mol(-1), respectively, from fractional melting experiments. The thermodynamic function data relative to the reference temperature (298.15 K) were calculated based on the heat capacities measurements in the temperature range from 80 to 380 K. The thermal stability of the compound was further investigated by DSC and TG. From the DSC curve an intensive exothermic peak assigned to the thermal decomposition of the compound was observed in the range of 445-590 K with the peak temperature of 505 K. Subsequently, a slow exothermic effect appears when the temperature is higher than 590 K, which is probably due to the further decomposition of the compound. The TG curve indicates the mass loss of the sample starts at about 440K, which corresponds to the decomposition of the sample. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Low-temperature heat capacity and thermodynamic properties of crystalline carboxin (C12H13NO2S)

Carboxin was synthesized and its heat capacities were measured with an automated adiabatic calorimeter over the temperature range from 79 to 380K. The melting point, molar enthalpy (Delta(fus)H(m)) and entropy (Delta(fus)S(m)) of fusion of this compound were determined to be 365.29 +/- 0.06K, 28.193 +/- 0.09 kJ mol(-1) and 77.180 +/- 0.02 J mol(-1) K-1, respectively. The purity of the compound was determined to be 99.55 mol% by using the fractional melting technique. The thermodynamic functions relative to the reference temperature (298.15 K) were calculated based on the heat capacity measurements in the temperature range between 80 and 360 K. The thermal stability of the compound was further investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. The DSC curve indicates that the sample starts to decompose at ca. 290degreesC with the peak temperature at 292.7degreesC. The TG-DTG results demonstrate the maximum mass loss rate occurs at 293degreesC corresponding to the maximum decomposition rate. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Assessing the consequence of land use change on agricultural productivity in China

China's cultivated land has been undergoing dramatic changes along with its rapidly growing economy and population. The impacts of land use transformation on food production at the national scale, however, have been poorly understood due to the lack of detailed spatially explicit agricultural productivity information on cropland change and crop productivity. This study evaluates the effect of the cropland transformation on agricultural productivity by combining the land use data of China for the period of 1990-2000 from TM images and a satellite-based NPP (net primary production) model driven with NOAH/AVHRR data. The cropland area of China has a net increase of 2.79 Mha in the study period, which causes a slightly increased agricultural productivity (6.96 Mt C) at the national level. Although the newly cultivated lands compensated for the loss from urban expansion, but the contribution to production is insignificant because of the low productivity. The decrease in crop production resulting from urban expansion is about twice of that from abandonment of arable lands to forests and grasslands. The productivity of arable lands occupied by urban expansion was 80% higher than that of the newly cultivated lands in the regions with unfavorable natural conditions. Significance of cropland transformation impacts is spatially diverse with the differences in land use change intensity and land productivity across China. The increase in arable land area and yet decline in land quality may reduce the production potential and sustainability of China's agro-ecosystems. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Validating MODIS-derived land surface evapotranspiration with in situ measurements at two AmeriFlux sites in a semiarid region

Reducing uncertainties in the estimation of land surface evapotranspiration (ET) from remote-sensing data is essential to better understand earth-atmosphere interactions. This paper demonstrates the applicability of temperature-vegetation index triangle (T-s-VI) method in estimating regional ET and evaporative fraction (EF, defined as the ratio of latent heat flux to surface available energy) from MODIS/Terra and MODIS/Aqua products in a semiarid region. We have compared the satellite-based estimates of ET and EF with eddy covariance measurements made over 4 years at two semiarid grassland sites: Audubon Ranch (AR) and Kendall Grassland (KG). The lack of closure in the eddy covariance measured surface energy components is shown to be more serious at MODIS/Aqua overpass time than that at MODIS/Terra overpass time for both AR and KG sites. The T-s-VI-derived EF could reproduce in situ EF reasonably well with BIAS and root-mean-square difference (RMSD) of less than 0.07 and 0.13, respectively. Surface net radiation has been shown to be systematically overestimated by as large as about 60 W/m(2). Satisfactory validation results of the T-s-VI-derived sensible and latent heat fluxes have been obtained with RMSD within 54 W/m(2). The simplicity and yet easy use of the T-s-VI triangle method show a great potential in estimating regional ET with highly acceptable accuracy that is of critical significance in better understanding water and energy budgets on the Earth. Nevertheless, more validation work should be carried out over various climatic regions and under other different land use/land cover conditions in the future.

Effect of spatial variation on areal evapotranspiration simulation in Haibei, Tibet plateau, China

Quantification of areal evapotranspiration from remote sensing data requires the determination of surface energy balance components with support of field observations. Much attention should be given to spatial resolution sensitivity to the physics of surface heterogeneity. Using the Priestley-Taylor model, we generated evapotranspiration maps at several spatial resolutions for a heterogeneous area at Haibei, and validated the evapotranspiration maps with the flux tower data. The results suggested that the mean values for all evapotranspiration maps were quite similar but their standard deviations decreased with the coarsening of spatial resolution. When the resolution transcended about 480 m, the standard deviations drastically decreased, indicating a loss of spatial structure information of the original resolution evapotranspiration map. The absolute values of relative errors of the points for evapotranspiration maps showed a fluctuant trend as spatial resolution of input parameter data layers coarsening, and the absolute value of relative errors reached minimum when pixel size of map matched up to measuring scale of eddy covariance system. Finally, based on the analyses of the semi-variogram of the original resolution evapotranspiration map and the shapes of spatial autocorrelation indices of Moran and Geary for evapotranspiration maps at different resolutions, an appropriate resolution was suggested for the areal evapotranspiration simulation in this study area.