Resource management of dynamic coastal environments using synoptic measures from remote sensing

In addition to providing vital ecological services, coastal areas of North Carolina provide prized areas for habitation, recreation, and commercial fisheries. However, from a management perspective, the coasts of North Carolina are highly variable and complex. In-water constituents such as nutrients, suspended sediments, and chlorophyll a concentration can vary significantly over a broad spectrum of time and space scales. Rapid growth and land-use change continue to exert pressure on coastal lands. Coastal environments are also very vulnerable to short-term (e.g., hurricanes) and long-term (e.g., sea-level rise) natural changes that can result in significant loss of life, economic loss, or changes in coastal ecosystem functioning. Hence, the dynamic nature, effects of human-induced change over time, and vulnerability of coastal areas make it difficult to effectively monitor and manage these important state and national resources using traditional data collection technologies such as discrete monitoring stations and field surveys. In general, these approaches provide only a sparse network of data over limited time and space scales and generally are expensive and labor-intensive. Products derived from spectral images obtained by remote sensing instruments provide a unique vantage point from which to examine the dynamic nature of coastal environments. A primary advantage of remote sensing is that the altitude of observation provides a large-scale synoptic view relative to traditional field measurements. Equally important, the use of remote sensing for a broad range of research and environmental applications is now common due to major advances in data availability, data transfer, and computer technologies. To facilitate the widespread use of remote sensing products in North Carolina, the UNC Coastal Studies Institute (UNC-CSI) is developing the capability to acquire, process, and analyze remotely sensed data from several remote sensing instruments. In particular, UNC-CSI is developing regional remote sensing algorithms to examine the mobilization, transport, transformation, and fate of materials between coupled terrestrial and coastal ocean systems. To illustrate this work, we present the basic principles of remote sensing of coastal waters in the context of deriving information that supports efficient and effective management of coastal resources. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Frictional properties of faults : from observation on the Longitudinal Valley Fault, Taiwan, to dynamic simulations

Faults can slip either aseismically or through episodic seismic ruptures, but we still do not understand the factors which determine the partitioning between these two modes of slip. This challenge can now be addressed thanks to the dense set of geodetic and seismological networks that have been deployed in various areas with active tectonics. The data from such networks, as well as modern remote sensing techniques, indeed allow documenting of the spatial and temporal variability of slip mode and give some insight. This is the approach taken in this study, which is focused on the Longitudinal Valley Fault (LVF) in Eastern Taiwan. This fault is particularly appropriate since the very fast slip rate (about 5 cm/yr) is accommodated by both seismic and aseismic slip. Deformation of anthropogenic features shows that aseismic creep accounts for a significant fraction of fault slip near the surface, but this fault also released energy seismically, since it has produced five M_w>6.8 earthquakes in 1951 and 2003. Moreover, owing to the thrust component of slip, the fault zone is exhumed which allows investigation of deformation mechanisms. In order to put constraint on the factors that control the mode of slip, we apply a multidisciplinary approach that combines modeling of geodetic observations, structural analysis and numerical simulation of the "seismic cycle". Analyzing a dense set of geodetic and seismological data across the Longitudinal Valley, including campaign-mode GPS, continuous GPS (cGPS), leveling, accelerometric, and InSAR data, we document the partitioning between seismic and aseismic slip on the fault. For the time period 1992 to 2011, we found that about 80-90% of slip on the LVF in the 0-26 km seismogenic depth range is actually aseismic. The clay-rich Lichi M\'elange is identified as the key factor promoting creep at shallow depth. Microstructural investigations show that deformation within the fault zone must have resulted from a combination of frictional sliding at grain boundaries, cataclasis and pressure solution creep. Numerical modeling of earthquake sequences have been performed to investigate the possibility of reproducing the results from the kinematic inversion of geodetic and seismological data on the LVF. We first investigate the different modeling strategy that was developed to explore the role and relative importance of different factors on the manner in which slip accumulates on faults. We compare the results of quasi dynamic simulations and fully dynamic ones, and we conclude that ignoring the transient wave-mediated stress transfers would be inappropriate. We therefore carry on fully dynamic simulations and succeed in qualitatively reproducing the wide range of observations for the southern segment of the LVF. We conclude that the spatio-temporal evolution of fault slip on the Longitudinal Valley Fault over 1997-2011 is consistent to first order with prediction from a simple model in which a velocity-weakening patch is embedded in a velocity-strengthening area.

Nonlinear dynamic transfer functions for certain retinal neuronal systems

The applicability of the white-noise method to the identification of a nonlinear system is investigated. Subsequently, the method is applied to certain vertebrate retinal neuronal systems and nonlinear, dynamic transfer functions are derived which describe quantitatively the information transformations starting with the light-pattern stimulus and culminating in the ganglion response which constitutes the visually-derived input to the brain. The retina of the catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is used for the experiments.

The Wiener formulation of the white-noise theory is shown to be impractical and difficult to apply to a physical system. A different formulation based on crosscorrelation techniques is shown to be applicable to a wide range of physical systems provided certain considerations are taken into account. These considerations include the time-invariancy of the system, an optimum choice of the white-noise input bandwidth, nonlinearities that allow a representation in terms of a small number of characterizing kernels, the memory of the system and the temporal length of the characterizing experiment. Error analysis of the kernel estimates is made taking into account various sources of error such as noise at the input and output, bandwidth of white-noise input and the truncation of the gaussian by the apparatus.

Nonlinear transfer functions are obtained, as sets of kernels, for several neuronal systems: Light → Receptors, Light → Horizontal, Horizontal → Ganglion, Light → Ganglion and Light → ERG. The derived models can predict, with reasonable accuracy, the system response to any input. Comparison of model and physical system performance showed close agreement for a great number of tests, the most stringent of which is comparison of their responses to a white-noise input. Other tests include step and sine responses and power spectra.

Many functional traits are revealed by these models. Some are: (a) the receptor and horizontal cell systems are nearly linear (small signal) with certain "small" nonlinearities, and become faster (latency-wise and frequency-response-wise) at higher intensity levels, (b) all ganglion systems are nonlinear (half-wave rectification), (c) the receptive field center to ganglion system is slower (latency-wise and frequency-response-wise) than the periphery to ganglion system, (d) the lateral (eccentric) ganglion systems are just as fast (latency and frequency response) as the concentric ones, (e) (bipolar response) = (input from receptors) - (input from horizontal cell), (f) receptive field center and periphery exert an antagonistic influence on the ganglion response, (g) implications about the origin of ERG, and many others.

An analytical solution is obtained for the spatial distribution of potential in the S-space, which fits very well experimental data. Different synaptic mechanisms of excitation for the external and internal horizontal cells are implied.

Dynamic response of structures with uncertain parameters

This thesis presents a technique for obtaining the response of linear structural systems with parameter uncertainties subjected to either deterministic or random excitation. The parameter uncertainties are modeled as random variables or random fields, and are assumed to be time-independent. The new method is an extension of the deterministic finite element method to the space of random functions.

First, the general formulation of the method is developed, in the case where the excitation is deterministic in time. Next, the application of this formulation to systems satisfying the one-dimensional wave equation with uncertainty in their physical properties is described. A particular physical conceptualization of this equation is chosen for study, and some engineering applications are discussed in both an earthquake ground motion and a structural context.

Finally, the formulation of the new method is extended to include cases where the excitation is random in time. Application of this formulation to the random response of a primary-secondary system is described. It is found that parameter uncertainties can have a strong effect on the system response characteristics.

A dynamic CGE modelling approach for analyzing trade-offs in climate change policy options: the case of Green Climate Fund

38 p.

Dynamic rupture simulation integrated with earthquake observations

Dynamic rupture simulations are unique in their contributions to the study of earthquake physics. The current rapid development of dynamic rupture simulations poses several new questions: Do the simulations reflect the real world? Do the simulations have predictive power? Which one should we believe when the simulations disagree? This thesis illustrates how integration with observations can help address these questions and reduce the effects of non-uniqueness of both dynamic rupture simulations and kinematic inversion problems. Dynamic rupture simulations with observational constraints can effectively identify non-physical features inferred from observations. Moreover, the integrative technique can also provide more physical insights into the mechanisms of earthquakes. This thesis demonstrates two examples of such kinds of integration: dynamic rupture simulations of the M_w 9.0 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and of earthquake ruptures in damaged fault zones:

(1) We develop simulations of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake based on a variety of observations and minimum assumptions of model parameters. The simulations provide realistic estimations of stress drop and fracture energy of the region and explain the physical mechanisms of high-frequency radiation in the deep region. We also find that the overridding subduction wedge contributes significantly to the up-dip rupture propagation and large final slip in the shallow region. Such findings are also applicable to other megathrust earthquakes.

(2) Damaged fault zones are usually found around natural faults, but their effects on earthquake ruptures have been largely unknown. We simulate earthquake ruptures in damaged fault zones with material properties constrained by seismic and geological observations. We show that reflected waves in fault zones are effective at generating pulse-like ruptures and head waves tend to accelerate and decelerate rupture speeds. These mechanisms are robust in natural fault zones with large attenuation and off-fault plasticity. Moreover, earthquakes in damaged fault zones can propagate at super-Rayleigh speeds that are unstable in homogeneous media. Supershear transitions in fault zones do not require large fault stresses. In the end, we present observations in the Big Bear region, where variability of rupture speeds of small earthquakes correlates with the laterally variable materials in a damaged fault zone.