Numerical modeling of fault structures in the Kurai basin of Gorny Altai based on data from direct current methods

The southern site is located in the junction zone of the Southwestern and Eshtykel bench, where vertical electrical soundings were performed, and a preliminary fault-block depth model was built based on the results of field data interpretation using a horizontally layered model. Comparison of geoelectric and seismological data showed that the epicenters of significant earthquakes (M> 4) are concentrated in the identified faults. In the central site, three profiles of electrotomography were made through a bench, well expressed in the relief. Three-dimensional modeling was used to verify and clarify the structural features of both sections. Modeling is performed using programs EMF_DC3Dmod (GPU) - an accelerated version of the program EMF_DC3Dmod for vertical electrical sounding and SCALA-48 (GPU) for the method of electrotomography. The study is relevant for the tasks of geodynamics, seismic zoning and seismic hazard assessment.

Acoustic Pressure, Particle Motion, and Induced Ground Motion Signals from a Commercial Seismic Survey Array and Potential Implications for Environmental Monitoring

An experimental marine seismic source survey off the northwest Australian coast operated a 2600 cubic inch (41.6 l) airgun array, every 5.88 s, along six lines at a northern site and eight lines at a southern site. The airgun array was discharged 27,770 times with 128,313 pressure signals, 38,907 three-axis particle motion signals, and 17,832 ground motion signals recorded. Pressure and ground motion were accurately measured at horizontal ranges from 12 m. Particle motion signals saturated out to 1500 m horizontal range (50% of signals saturated at 230 and 590 m at the northern and southern sites, respectively). For unsaturated signals, sound exposure levels (SEL) correlated with measures of sound pressure level and water particle acceleration (r2= 0.88 to 0.95 at northern site and 0.97 at southern) and ground acceleration (r2= 0.60 and 0.87, northern and southern sites, respectively). The effective array source level was modelled at 247 dB re 1µPa m peak-to-peak, 231 dB re 1 µPa2 m mean-square, and 228 dB re 1 µPa2∙m2 s SEL at 15° below the horizontal. Propagation loss ranged from −29 to −30log10 (range) at the northern site and −29 to −38log10(range) at the southern site, for pressure measures. These high propagation losses are due to near-surface limestone in the seabed of the North West Shelf.

Effects of Warming and Permafrost Thaw on Carbon Dioxide Fluxes from Boreal Peatlands in northwestern Canada

<p>The Taiga Plains ecozone in northwestern Canada is warming rapidly which alters the carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) fluxes of the boreal peat landscape in two ways: 1) directly by increasing temperatures going along with increasing fluxes and 2) indirectly via permafrost thaw and resulting wetland expansion. However, we still lack an understanding of how direct and indirect effects vary across a latitudinal climate gradient covering different extents of permafrost. In this study, we will compare two years of concurrent eddy covariance measurements made over forested permafrost peat plateaus at Smith Creek (discontinuous permafrost) and Scotty Creek (sporadic permafrost) to assess differences in net CO<sub>2</sub> exchange and its two component fluxes, gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER). Footprint analysis will be used to assess the net CO<sub>2</sub> balance of peat plateaus and thermokarst wetlands at both sites. We hypothesize that GPP and ER will be higher at the warmer Scotty Creek site, due to both, more abundant thermokarst wetlands and higher GPP and ER of peat plateaus at this southern site. We also hypothesize that the effects of warming on GPP are greater than on ER and thus that the warmer Scotty Creek site is a greater net CO<sub>2</sub> sink. Our study will conclude on the carbon feedback of warming peat landscapes near the southern limit of permafrost in northwestern Canada in response to Climate Change.</p>

Assisted colonisation trials for the western swamp turtle show that juveniles can grow in cooler and wetter climates

Species with restricted ranges and long generation times are vulnerable to climate change due to limited opportunity to disperse or adapt. Australia’s rarest reptile, the western swamp turtle Pseudemydura umbrina, persists naturally in only one seasonal swamp that holds water in the Austral winter and spring. A marked reduction in winter rainfall in recent decades has shortened the swamp hydroperiod, restricting when turtles are able to feed, grow and reproduce. To mitigate possible future loss of reproductive capacity in the native habitat, assisted colonisation was trialled in 2016 using 35 captive-bred juveniles. Here, we report the outcomes of this 6 mo trial, which compared the growth of turtles released approximately 300 km south of the species’ indigenous range with growth of turtles released at an existing northern translocation site. We showed that growth rates comparable to those at warmer northern translocation sites can be achieved in the south, even in an atypically cool spring as occurred in 2016. Microclimates available to P. umbrina at 2 southern sites were suitable for foraging and growth in late spring and early summer, but juvenile growth at one southern site was significantly better than at the other, likely due to higher prey biomass when water temperatures were suitable for foraging. These early results suggest that introduction of P. umbrina to seasonal wetlands near the south coast of Western Australia could be considered in the immediate future, but further trials are recommended to assess growth and survivorship over longer periods.

Discovery of Parasitoids of Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Their Seasonal Abundance in China Using Sentinel Host Eggs and Larvae

Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), is a high-risk invasive forest pest worldwide. We surveyed Asian longhorned beetle parasitoid guilds and their seasonal abundance using field-deployed sentinel host logs infested with Asian longhorned beetle eggs or newly hatched (early-instar) larvae in three different sites of China (Beijing City, Shanghai City, and Jilin Province) from 2015 to 2018. Our survey detected 12 species of hymenopteran parasitoids (four Pteromalidae, three Braconidae, two Eupelmidae, one Eurytomidae, one Ichneumonidae, and one Bethylidae) attacking sentinel Asian longhorned beetle larvae or eggs deployed in these sites. Total parasitism by all the parasitoid species varied with different sites and across different years of the survey (averaging 7–16% in Beijing, 4–11% in Shanghai, and 0–0.2% in Jilin Province). In addition, the seasonal pattern of parasitism also differed among different sites, with parasitism peaking in July in the northern site (Beijing, 19%) and June in the southern site (Shanghai, 16%). Among all the parasitoid species recovered, Oxysychus sp. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) was the most abundant parasitoid species in both Beijing and Shanghai (with 42–66% relative abundance and an average of 6% Asian longhorned beetle parasitism). The second most abundant species was Bracon planitibiae Yang, Cao et Gould (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), which accounted for 35% of the species collected and caused an average of 5% Asian longhorned beetle parasitism. Relevance of our findings to Asian longhorned beetle biocontrol is discussed.

The ASTRI Program

The ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) program was born as a collaborative international effort led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) to design and realize, within the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) framework, an end-to-end prototype of the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) in a dual-mirror configuration (2M). While the activities concerning the characterization of the prototype are under completion, the program entered a new phase. With the final aim of contributing at the production of the SST telescopes for the CTAO Southern site, we started the development of nine telescopes based on the evolution of the ASTRI prototype design to work as pathfinder for the CTAO. Furthermore, together with the CHEC (Compact High Energy Camera) collaboration, the ASTRI team presented a proposal, that will be evaluated with other proposals, to deliver to CTAO the complete set of SST telescopes.

New developments in aerosol measurements using stellar photometry

The idea of using stellar photometry for atmospheric monitoring for optical experiments in highenergy astrophysics is seemingly straightforward, but reaching high precision of the order of 0.01 in the determination of the vertical aerosol optical depth (VAOD) has proven difficult. Wide-field photometry over a large span of altitudes allows a fast determination of VAOD independently of the absolute calibration of the system, while providing this calibration as a useful by-product. Using several years of data taken by the FRAM (F/(Ph)otometric Robotic Atmospheric Monitor) telescope at the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina and about a year of data taken by a similar instrument deployed at the planned future Southern site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array in Chile, we have developed methods to improve the precision of this measurement technique towards and possibly beyond the 0.01 mark. Detailed laboratory measurements of the response of the whole system to both the spectrum and intensity of incoming light have proven indispensable in this analysis as the usual assumption of linearity of the CCD detectors is not valid anymore for the conditions of the observations.

Studying molecular profiles above the Cherenkov Telescope Array sites

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will bring a whole new insight to the gamma-ray Universe. In order to fulfill its performance requirements, we need to understand and correct the atmospheric effects that influence the acquired instrument data. One such systematic effect is due to the varying molecular density profile with time. We have studied such profiles for both CTA sites using publicly available historical data assimilation archives. Our study reveals that we can distinguish at least three differentiated seasonal periods at the northern site and at least two at the southern site, that allow to model the molecular part of the atmosphere using average profiles, as done with current Cherenkov telescope projects. Seasonal transitions are smoother at the southern site than at the northern one. Moreover, the latter shows a greater amplitude in density variations at an altitude of 15 km. We also explored deviations of the molecular profiles with respect to their mean values using a 5-years data set and concluded that they are always found within specifications.

ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATE OF COASTAL WATERS OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF LAKE BAIKAL ON SANITARY AND MICROBIOLOGICAL INDICATORS WITH USE OF THE TEST SYSTEMS

Sanitary and microbiological researches of a coastal surface water of the southern part of Lake Baikal (from the Listvyanka to the Tanghui) were conducted in June, 2017. Total number of bacteria varied over a wide range – from 0.93 million сells/ml up to 2:05 million сells/ml, with an average 1.41 ± 0.3 million сells/ml. Biomass of bacteria varied from 11.05 to 305.00 mg С/m3, with an average of 123.34 mg С/m3. Coastal waters of the southern site of Lake Baikal mainly had a beta-meso-saprobic status in June, 2017. The total microbial number was determined with the use of the test systems for the first time. The values of the total microbial number were less than 1 000 COU/ml and varied from 9 to 412 COU/ml. Innovative test systems Petrifilm are of great interest for rapid assessments of the sanitary and microbiological status of reservoirs directly in the field conditions.