A generic swath‐mapping data format     

J. Scott Ferguson  Daniel A. Chayes 《Marine Geodesy》2013,36(2-3):129-140

There is a pressing need for standardization of data derived from bathy‐metric swath‐mapping systems. Currently several dozen multibeam and sidescan sonar data formats exist within the oceanographic community, and more can be expected as new systems are developed. Without some standardization of swath‐mapping data formats, the capability for use and integration of data from different systems will be severely compromised.

This paper presents a strategy for organizing swath bathymetry data in a logical modular fashion that will allow data from all current swath bathymetric sonar systems to be stored and accessed in a common fashion. We have chosen the approach of defining compact efficient modules for each logically independent portion of a data record and storing it in a manner that is portable between diverse computer architectures and operating systems. This approach is extensible to accommodate new types of data. Although specifically developed for swath bathymetry, this format is also capable of supporting digital sidescan data and other types of swath data.  相似文献   

Time series data for Canadian arctic vertebrates: IPY contributions to science, management, and policy     

S. H. Ferguson  D. Berteaux  A. J. Gaston  J. W. Higdon  N. Lecomte  N. Lunn  M. L. Mallory  J. Reist  D. Russell  N. G. Yoccoz  X. Zhu 《Climatic change》2012,115(1):235-258

Long-term data are critically important to science, management, and policy formation. Here we describe a number of data collections from arctic Canada that monitor vertebrate population trends of freshwater and marine fish, marine birds, marine and terrestrial mammals. These time series data cover the last ca. 30?years and capture a period from the onset of global changes affecting the Arctic up to recent years with a rapid increase in temperature. While many of these data collections were initiated through a variety of government and university programs, they also include a surge in polar research launched with the recent International Polar Year (2007?C2008). We estimated the long-term vertebrate index from our data that summarizes various taxa abundance trends within a global context and observed a continuous decline of about 30?% in population abundance since the 1990s. Though most data collections are biased towards few taxa, we conduct time-series analyses to show that the potential value of long-term data emerges as individual monitoring sites can be spread across space and time scales. Despite covering a handful of populations, the different time series data covered a large spectrum of dynamics, cyclic to non-cyclic, including coherence with the North Atlantic Oscillation, lag effects, and density dependence. We describe a synthesis framework to integrate ecological time-series research and thereby derive additional benefits to management, science, and policy. Future requirements include: (1) continuation of current observation systems; (2) expansion of current monitoring sites to include additional trophic links and taxonomic indicators; (3) expansion beyond the existing program to include greater spatial coverage into less-sampled ecosystems and key representative locations; and (4) integration of circumpolar observations and comprehensive analyses. Development of a circumpolar observation system is necessary for innovative science, large-scale adaptive management, and policy revision essential to respond to rapid global change.  相似文献   

A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Management of Coastal Marsh Systems     

Cathleen Wigand  Thomas Ardito  Caitlin Chaffee  Wenley Ferguson  Suzanne Paton  Kenneth Raposa  Charles Vandemoer  Elizabeth Watson 《Estuaries and Coasts》2017,40(3):682-693

Sea level rise is causing shoreline erosion, increased coastal flooding, and marsh vulnerability to the impact of storms. Coastal marshes provide flood abatement, carbon and nutrient sequestration, water quality maintenance, and habitat for fish, shellfish, and wildlife, including species of concern, such as the saltmarsh sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus). We present a climate change adaptation strategy (CCAS) adopted by scientific, management, and policy stakeholders for managing coastal marshes and enhancing system resiliency. A common adaptive management approach previously used for restoration projects was modified to identify climate-related vulnerabilities and plan climate change adaptive actions. As an example of implementation of the CCAS, we describe the stakeholder plans and management actions the US Fish and Wildlife Service and partners developed to build coastal resiliency in the Narrow River Estuary, RI, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. When possible, an experimental BACI (before-after, control-impact) design, described as pre- and post-sampling at the impact site and one or more control sites, was incorporated into the climate change adaptation and implementation plans. Specific climate change adaptive actions and monitoring plans are described and include shoreline stabilization, restoring marsh drainage, increasing marsh elevation, and enabling upland marsh migration. The CCAS provides a framework and methodology for successfully managing coastal systems faced with deteriorating habitat, accelerated sea level rise, and changes in precipitation and storm patterns.  相似文献   

Bias and precision of percentiles of bulk grain size distributions     

R. I. Ferguson  C. Paola 《地球表面变化过程与地形》1997,22(11):1061-1077

Percentiles such as D₅₀ and D₈₄, calculated from weights retained on different sieves, are widely used to characterize grain size distributions (GSDs) of bulk samples of sedimentary deposits or sediment fluxes. The sampling variability of such percentiles is not well known, and few sampling guidelines exist for reliable characterization of GSDs. We report results from computer sampling experiments on the variability of sample percentiles in different-sized samples from populations with a log-normal GSD by weight and different sorting coefficients. Sample sizes are scaled by the volume of a median-sized grain so that results can be applied to any log-normal GSD. Sampling is random for the GSD by number that is equivalent to a specified GSD by weight. Results show important differences from standard sampling theory applicable to pebble-count GSDs. In small bulk samples all percentiles, including the median, are underestimated (more so for smaller samples, coarser percentiles and poorer sorting), and precision does not improve with the square root of sample size until fairly large sample sizes are exceeded. Non-dimensional equations fitted by eye to the results give good approximations to expected bias and precision in any percentile from 50 to 95 for any given sample size and population sorting coefficient. They are inverted to estimate the sample size required to avoid significant bias, or achieve specified precision, in any percentile of interest given estimates of the population D₅₀ and sorting coefficient. Target sample sizes are sometimes considerably smaller, but in other circumstances larger, than suggested by previous guidelines relating to estimation of the entire grain size distribution. Bias is likely in small samples of river bedload and good precision requires very large samples of poorly sorted gravel deposits. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

The nature and origin of light hydrocarbon gases associated with mineralization in the Northern Pennines     

J. Ferguson 《Marine and Petroleum Geology》1988,5(4)

Earlier studies have shown the occurrence of anomalous amounts of methane in rocks associated with lead/zinc mineralization in a number of deposits in the British Isles and Europe. This has led to speculation that the gas may have originated either as a consequence of reactions involved in the mineralization process or as a result of maturation of the organic matter in the sediment or from a deep source. New data are presented showing the distribution of light hydrocarbon gases from fluid inclusions in minerals from the North and South Pennine Orefields which differ from those observed in the host rocks. Possible sources for the gases in the host rocks and the minerals are examined. Based on the close correlation between the distribution of the gases in the carbonate rocks of Northern England and the conodont colour alteration index map for the area, it is suggested that the anomalous amounts of methane gas in the Northern Pennine host rocks are the result of maturation prior to mineralization. The distribution of gases in the fluid inclusions in the minerals serves as a distinguishing feature, and two assemblages are recognized from the South Pennine Orefield, both of which are distinct from that of the Northern Pennines. It is concluded that these gases, trapped at the time of mineralization, originate as a consequence of reactions which occurred during mineral deposition.  相似文献   

Levee morphology and sedimentology along the lower Tuross River, south-eastern Australia   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Rob J. Ferguson  & Gary J. Brierley 《Sedimentology》1999,46(4):627-648

Levees on the lower Tuross River in south-eastern Australia reflect a complex interplay between depositional and erosional processes. Stream power, conditioned primarily by valley width, is the key determinant of levee morphology and sedimentology in this confined valley setting. Three styles of levee are described. The Rewlee levee is functionally linked to a flood channel in narrow valley settings (< 250 m). These levees contain a diverse facies assemblage characterized by various scales of erosion surfaces. Vertical accretion on levees has produced conditions under which stream power values exceed the threshold for catastrophic floodplain stripping. The levee at the Mortfield site is associated with less confined settings (valley width 500–600 m), which present lower flood stage and stream power conditions. This levee hosts a wide range of facies, but erosion surfaces are seldom observed. In the more open valley setting at the Central site (valley width 700–1000 m), levees comprise uniform, fine-grained deposits, which grade to pronounced distal floodplains with backswamps. As levees reflect a combination of within-channel and overbank processes, both depositional and erosional, these geomorphic features influence the character and sedimentology of adjacent landforms and the associated alluvial architecture of the basin.  相似文献   

Intersections of ellipsoids and planes of arbitrary orientation and position     

Colin C. Ferguson 《Mathematical Geology》1979,11(3):329-336

This paper considers an ellipse, produced by the intersection of a triaxial ellipsoid and a plane (both arbitrarily oriented), and derives explicit expressions for its axis ratio and orientation. The relationship between central and noncentral sections, and the problem of intersection probability, are discussed. The resulting equations have obvious applications in structural geology and optical mineralogy, and in stereological modeling of grain-size and grain-shape distributions.  相似文献   

Medical geography: progress and prospect : Pacione, M. (ed.) London: Croom Helm, 1986. 337 pp. £27.95 hardback     

Alan Ferguson 《Applied geography (Sevenoaks, England)》1987,7(4)

  相似文献   

Heat fluxes and roll circulations over the western Gulf Stream during an intense cold-air outbreak     

Shu -Hsien Chou  Michael P. Ferguson 《Boundary-Layer Meteorology》1991,55(3):255-281

Turbulence and heat fluxes in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) for the roll vortex regime, observed during the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment (GALE) over the western Gulf Stream, have been studied. The spectral analysis suggests that cloud streets (roll vortices) are vertically organized convection in the MABL having the same roll scale for both the cloud layer and subcloud layer, and that the roll spacing is about three times the MABL depth. The roll circulations contribute significantly to the sensible (temperature) and latent heat (moisture) fluxes with importance increasing upward. Near the MABL top, these fluxes are primarily due to roll vortices which transfer both sensible heat and moisture upward in the lower half of the convective MABL. Near the MABL top, the roll circulations transfer sensible heat downward and moisture upward in the clear thermal-street region, but roll vortices influenced by evaporative cooling can transfer sensible heat upward and moisture downward in the cloud-street region. Near the cloud-top, the upward buoyancy flux due to evaporative cooling is highly related to the roll circulations near the inversion.For the lower half of the MABL, the normalized temperature flux decreases upward more rapidly than the humidity flux, which is mainly because potential temperature () increases slightly upward while humidity (q) decreases slightly upward above the unstable surface layer. The gradient production (associated with the gradient) is a source for the temperature flux in the unstable surface layer but changes to a sink in the mixed layer, while the gradient production (associated with the q gradient) acts as a source for the humidity flux in both the unstable surface and mixed layers. The results suggest that the entrainment at the MABL top might affect the budgets of temperature and humidity fluxes in the lower MABL, but not in the unstable surface layer.Caelum Research Corporation, Silver Spring, MD, 20901, U.S.A.  相似文献   

The Hubble Deep Field and the disappearing dwarf galaxies     

Henry C. Ferguson  & Arif Babul 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,296(3):585-598

  相似文献