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USGS2010

Report of the IAU Working Group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements: 2009

Every three years the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements revises tables giving the directions of the poles of rotation and the prime meridians of the planets, satellites, minor planets, and comets. This report takes into account the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) and the IAU Committee on Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN) definition of dwarf planets, introduces improved values for the pole and rotation rate of Mercury, returns the rotation rate of Jupiter to a previous value, introduces improved values for the rotation of five satellites of Saturn, and adds the equatorial radius of the Sun for comparison. It also adds or updates size and shape information for the Earth, Mars’ satellites Deimos and Phobos, the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter, and 22 satellites of Saturn. Pole, rotation, and size information has been added for the asteroids (21) Lutetia, (511) Davida, and (2867) Šteins. Pole and rotation information has been added for (2) Pallas and (21) Lutetia. Pole and rotation and mean radius information has been added for (1) Ceres. Pole information has been updated for (4) Vesta. The high precision realization for the pole and rotation rate of the Moon is updated. Alternative orientation models for Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are noted. The Working Group also reaffirms that once an observable feature at a defined longitude is chosen, a longitude definition origin should not change except under unusual circumstances. It is also noted that alternative coordinate systems may exist for various (e.g. dynamical) purposes, but specific cartographic coordinate system information continues to be recommended for each body. The Working Group elaborates on its purpose, and also announces its plans to occasionally provide limited updates to its recommendations via its website, in order to address community needs for some updates more often than every 3 years. Brief recommendations are also made to the general planetary community regarding the need for controlled products, and improved or consensus rotation models for Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy↗
USGS2018

Report of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2015

This report continues the practice where the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements revises recommendations regarding those topics for the planets, satellites, minor planets, and comets approximately every three years. The Working Group has now become a “functional working group” of the IAU and its membership is open to anyone interested in participating. We describe the procedure for submitting questions about the recommendations given here or the application of these recommendations for creating a new or updated coordinate system for a given body. Regarding body orientation, the following bodies have been updated: Mercury, based on MESSENGER results; Mars, along with a refined longitude definition; Phobos; Deimos; (1) Ceres; (52) Europa; (243) Ida; (2867) Šteins; Neptune; (134340) Pluto and its satellite Charon; comets 9P/Tempel 1, 19P/Borrelly, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and 103P/Hartley 2, noting that such information is valid only between specific epochs. The special challenges related to mapping 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko are also discussed. Approximate expressions for the Earth have been removed in order to avoid confusion, and the low precision series expression for the Moon’s orientation has been removed. The previously on-line only recommended orientation model for (4) Vesta is repeated with an explanation of how it was updated. Regarding body shape, text has been included to explain the expected uses of such information, and the relevance of the cited uncertainty information. The size of the Sun has been updated and notation added that the size and the ellipsoidal axes for the Earth and Jupiter have been recommended by an IAU Resolution. The distinction of a reference radius for a body (here, the Moon and Titan) is made between cartographic uses, and for orthoprojection and geophysical uses. The recommended radius for Mercury has been updated based on MESSENGER results. The recommended radius for Titan is returned to its previous value. Size information has been updated for 13 other Saturnian satellites and added for Aegaeon. The sizes of Pluto and Charon have been updated. Size information has been updated for (1) Ceres and given for (16) Psyche and (52) Europa. The size of (25143) Itokawa has been corrected. In addition, the discussion of terminology for the poles (hemispheres) of small bodies has been modified and a discussion on cardinal directions added. Although they continue to be used for planets and their satellites, it is assumed that the planetographic and planetocentric coordinate system definitions do not apply to small bodies. However, planetocentric and planetodetic latitudes and longitudes may be used on such bodies, following the right-hand rule. We repeat our previous recommendations that planning and efforts be made to make controlled cartographic products; newly recommend that common formulations should be used for orientation and size; continue to recommend that a community consensus be developed for the orientation models of Jupiter and Saturn; newly recommend that historical summaries of the coordinate systems for given bodies should be developed, and point out that for planets and satellites planetographic systems have generally been historically preferred over planetocentric systems, and that in cases when planetographic coordinates have been widely used in the past, there is no obvious advantage to switching to the use of planetocentric coordinates. The Working Group also requests community input on the question submitting process, posting of updates to the Working Group website, and on whether recommendations should be made regarding exoplanet coordinate systems.

Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy↗
USGS1993

Mapping playa evaporite minerals with AVIRIS data: A first report from Death Valley, California

Efflorescent salt crusts in Death Valley, California, were mapped by using Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data and a recently developed least-squares spectral band-fitting algorithm. Eight different saline minerals were remotely identified, including three borates, hydroboracite, pinnoite, and rivadavite, that have not been previously reported from the Death Valley efflorescent crusts. The three borates are locally important phases in the crusts, and at least one of the minerals, rivadavite, appears to be forming directly from brine. Borates and other evaporite minerals provide a basis for making remote chemical measurements of desert hydrologic systems. For example, in the Eagle Borax Spring area, the AVIRIS mineral maps pointed to elevated magnesium and boron levels in the ground waters, and to the action of chemical divides causing subsurface fractionation of calcium. Many other chemical aspects of playa brines should have an expression in the associated evaporite assemblages. Certain anhydrous evaporites, including anhydrite, glauberite, and thenardite, lack absorption bands in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range, and crusts composed of these minerals could not be characterized by using AVIRIS. In these situations, thermal-infrared remote sensing data may complement visible and near-infrared data for mapping evaporites. Another problem occurred in wet areas of Death Valley, where water absorption caused low signal levels in the 2.0-2.5 ??m wavelength region that obscured any spectral features of evaporite minerals. Despite these difficulties, the results of this study demonstrate the potential for using AVIRIS and other imaging spectrometer data to study playa chemistry. Such data can be useful for understanding chemical linkages between evaporites and ground waters, and will facilitate studies of how desert ground-water regimes change through time in response to climatic and other variables.

California↗
USGS2012

Carbon dioxide stripping in aquaculture. part 1: terminology and reporting

The removal of carbon dioxide gas in aquacultural systems is much more complex than for oxygen or nitrogen gas because of liquid reactions of carbon dioxide and their kinetics. Almost all published carbon dioxide removal information for aquaculture is based on the apparent removal value after the CO 2 (aq) + HOH ⇔ H 2 CO 3 reaction has reached equilibrium. The true carbon dioxide removal is larger than the apparent value, especially for high alkalinities and seawater. For low alkalinity freshwaters (<2000 μeq/kg), the difference between the true and apparent removal is small and can be ignored for many applications. Analytical and reporting standards are recommended to improve our understanding of carbon dioxide removal.

Aquacultural Engineering↗
USGS2009

Preliminary report on the commercial viability of gas production from natural gas hydrates

Economic studies on simulated gas hydrate reservoirs have been compiled to estimate the price of natural gas that may lead to economically viable production from the most promising gas hydrate accumulations. As a first estimate, $CDN 2005 12/Mscf is the lowest gas price that would allow economically viable production from gas hydrates in the absence of associated free gas, while an underlying gas deposit will reduce the viability price estimate to $CDN 2005 7.50/Mscf. Results from a recent analysis of the simulated production of natural gas from marine hydrate deposits are also considered in this report; on an IROR basis, it is $US 2008 3.50-4.00/Mscf more expensive to produce marine hydrates than conventional marine gas assuming the existence of sufficiently large marine hydrate accumulations. While these prices represent the best available estimates, the economic evaluation of a specific project is highly dependent on the producibility of the target zone, the amount of gas in place, the associated geologic and depositional environment, existing pipeline infrastructure, and local tariffs and taxes. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

Energy Economics↗
USGS2012

Scenarios of land use and land cover change in the conterminous United States: Utilizing the special report on emission scenarios at ecoregional scales

Global environmental change scenarios have typically provided projections of land use and land cover for a relatively small number of regions or using a relatively coarse resolution spatial grid, and for only a few major sectors. The coarseness of global projections, in both spatial and thematic dimensions, often limits their direct utility at scales useful for environmental management. This paper describes methods to downscale projections of land-use and land-cover change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on Emission Scenarios to ecological regions of the conterminous United States, using an integrated assessment model, land-use histories, and expert knowledge. Downscaled projections span a wide range of future potential conditions across sixteen land use/land cover sectors and 84 ecological regions, and are logically consistent with both historical measurements and SRES characteristics. Results appear to provide a credible solution for connecting regionalized projections of land use and land cover with existing downscaled climate scenarios, under a common set of scenario-based socioeconomic assumptions.

Global Environmental Change↗
USGS2018

Exposure to human-associated chemical markers of fecal contamination and self-reported illness among swimmers at recreational beaches

Anthropogenic chemicals have been proposed as potential markers of human fecal contamination in recreational water. However, to date, there are no published studies describing their relationships with illness risks. Using a cohort of swimmers at seven U.S. beaches, we examined potential associations between the presence of chemical markers of human fecal pollution and self-reported gastrointestinal (GI) illness, diarrhea, and respiratory illness. Swimmers were surveyed about their beach activities, water exposure, and baseline symptoms on the day of their beach visit, and about any illness experienced 10–12 days later. Risk differences were estimated using model-based standardization and adjusted for the swimmer’s age, beach site, sand contact, rainfall, and water temperature. Sixty-two chemical markers were analyzed from daily water samples at freshwater and marine beaches. Of those, 20 were found consistently. With the possible exception of bisphenol A and cholesterol, no chemicals were consistently associated with increased risks of illness. These two chemicals were suggestively associated with 2% and 1% increased risks of GI illness and diarrhea in both freshwater and marine beaches. Additional research using the more sensitive analytic methods currently available for a wider suite of analytes is needed to support the use of chemical biomarkers to quantify illness risk and identify fecal pollution sources.

Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Rho↗
USGS2018

Applications of the California pesticide use reporting database in more than 25 years of U.S. Geological Survey hydrological studies

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been collecting data on the occurrence of pesticides in California surface and ground water since the 1970’s. The design of these studies benefited from the availability of the Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR) database of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Actual locations and dates of applications of active ingredient allow for effective design of studies that seek to understand which compounds can be mobilized from the point of application as well as the hydrological or climate-related factors that enhance the off-site transport. Key studies from the 1970’s to the present are discussed here and demonstrate how the USGS both designed studies and improved their analytical methodology to keep up with changes in how pesticides are used in California.

California↗
USGS2012

On the reported ionospheric precursor of the 1999 Hector Mine, California earthquake

Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data from sites near the 16 Oct. 1999 Hector Mine, California earthquake, Pulinets et al. (2007) identified anomalous changes in the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) starting one week prior to the earthquake. Pulinets (2007) suggested that precursory phenomena of this type could be useful for predicting earthquakes. On the other hand, and in a separate analysis, Afraimovich et al. (2004) concluded that TEC variations near the epicenter were controlled by solar and geomagnetic activity that were unrelated to the earthquake. In an investigation of these very different results, we examine TEC time series of long duration from GPS stations near and far from the epicenter of the Hector Mine earthquake, and long before and long after the earthquake. While we can reproduce the essential time series results of Pulinets et al., we find that the signal they identify as anomalous is not actually anomalous. Instead, it is just part of normal global-scale TEC variation. We conclude that the TEC anomaly reported by Pulinets et al. is unrelated to the Hector Mine earthquake.

California↗
USGS2011

Earthquake mechanism and displacement fields close to fault zones: Report on the Sixth GEOP Research Conference

The Sixth Geodesy/Solid Earth and Ocean Physics (GEOP) Research Conwas held on February 4–5, 1974, at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California. It was attended by about 100 persons. James N. Brune, program chairman, opened the conference and delivered the introductory address, a somewhat extended version of which is printed elsewhere in this issue. Brune's paper and the following summaries of the sessions constitute a report of the conference.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Report of the committee on underground‐water, 1933–34

The by‐laws adopted at the meeting of the Section of Hydrology in 1933 provided that the membership of research committees should be reconstituted every three years. There have, accordingly, been some changes in the membership of the Committee on Underground ‐ Water . Certain members have retired because of pressure of other duties or because they are no longer actively engaged in ground‐ water work. Dr. O. E. Meinzer, who retired as Chairman of the Section of Hydrology, has agreed to serve on the Committee , and probably two or three other men will be appointed to make contact with special phases of the field covered by the Committee . It is with regret that the Chairman reports the loss to the Committee by the death of A. F. Melcher, who had contributed much to the science of ground‐ water hydrology by his studies on permeability and absorption of sedimentary formations for water , oil, and gas. ©19 34

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Report of the Committee on Glaciers, 1934–35

The members of the Committee on Glaciers for 1935 are as given in the report of the Committee for 1933–34 in the Transactions of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting with the addition of Kenneth N. Phillips (The Mazamas, Pacific Building, Portland, Oregon). The year 1934 witnessed a further expansion of the program of systematic annual observations on the variations of American glaciers which was inaugurated by the Committee in 1931. Several of the collaborators in the field-work of their own initiative enlarged the scope of their activities, and a new group joined the movement in the Pacific Northwest, These are the Mountaineers, of Seattle, Washington, who began observations on the glaciers of Mount Baker, which are the largest in the continental United States next to those on Mount Rainier. Under the leadership of H. V. Strandberg a base-line was laid out by the Mountaineers for measurement of the recession of the Easton Glacier, on the south side of the peak.

Washington↗
USGS2014

Report of the Committee on Underground Waters, 1934–35

The annual report this year consists almost wholly of a brief summary of investigations in progress in different parts of the country. It is by no means complete, and the Chairman of the Committee will be glad to receive information in regard to investigations that have not been mentioned. The outstanding feature of the past year has been the focusing of public attention on problems of underground water, as a result of the drought-conditions, the activities of the National and State resource and planning surveys, and the creation of emergency-relief projects.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Report of Committee on Glaciers, 1935–36

The membership of the Committee remains the same as stated in the Transactions of the 15th Annual Meeting, except that Kenneth N. Phillips has taken the place of Carl P. Richards, as representative of the Mazamas, of Portland, Oregon. The Committee submits the following report on the variations of glaciers in the continental United States and Alaska for 1935 or, more precisely, for the 12‐month period from the autumn of 1934 to the autumn of 1935.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Preliminary report on the North Atlantic deep‐sea cores taken by the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution

A series, of 11 cores from the North Atlantic sea‐bottom between the Newfoundland Banks and the banks off the Irish Coast have been studied by a group of geologists of the United States Geological Survey. These cores were taken by Dr. C. S. Piggot of the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory from the cable ship Lord Kelvin with the explosive type of sounding‐apparatus, which he designed (C. S. Piggot, Apparatus to secure core‐samples from the oceanbottom, Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., v. 47, pp. 675–684, 1936). This preliminary report is based largely on the results obtained by M. N. Bramlette, who studied the lithology, and Jos. A. Cushman, who studied the forarainifera. The geographic position, the depth of water at each station, and the length of core obtained are given in Table 1. ©1937. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Newfoundland and Labrador↗
USGS2014

Report of the committee on runoff, 1936–37

Since the last meeting of the Section of Hydrology there has been a change in the organization and membership of some of the research‐committees, one relating to rainfall, of which Merrill Bernard is Chairman, and one relating to runoff, were created to replace the one committee which had functioned heretofore on both rainfall and runoff. This action by the officers provides for greater participation of the members of the Section in committees, and is a step well worth while. The personnel of the Committee as of May 1, 1937, is as follows: H. K. Barrows R. W. Davenport I. E. Houk F. T. Mavis F. F. Snyder M. M. Bernard R. S. Goodridge W. G. Hoyt A. F. Meyer H. C. Troxell E. S. Cullings R. E. Horton Joseph Jacobs C. R. Pettis C. O. Wisler I consider it an honor to act as Chairman of the Committee on Runoff but regret, however, that I have been unable as yet to coordinate thoroughly the work of the Committee or to inform myself adequately on many runoff‐experiments and research‐problems. Consequently, my report will be very brief and informal.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Report of committee on relation of inch and meter

Those of you who attended the annual meeting of this Section on April 27, 1938, heard a paper entitled “A method for introducing a new standard of length” that was presented by Professor Philip Klssara, calling attention to the Bill then in Congress proposing to redefine the length of the inch. The paper has been published in the “Transactions of the American Geophysical Union“ [19th Annual Meeting, 1938, pp. 94–96]. Its closing paragraph is as follows: “As the American Geophysical Union has as one of its functions the duty of offering advice to the Congress on technical matters, I move, Mr. Chairman, that the Chairman be empowered to appoint a committee to study the matter and to report what recommendations should be made to Congress by the Union.”

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗