Using 4C OBS to reveal the distribution and velocity attributes of gas hydrates at the northern continental slope of South China Sea

To investigate the distribution and velocity attributes of gas hydrates in the northern continental slope of South China Sea, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey conducted four-component （4C） ocean-bottom seismometer （OBS） surveys. A case study is presented to show the results of acquiring and processing OBS data for detecting gas hydrates. Key processing steps such as repositioning, reorientation, PZ summation, and mirror imaging are discussed. Repositioning and reorientation find the correct location and direction of nodes. PZ summation matches P- and Z-components and sums them to separate upgoing and downgoing waves. Upgoing waves are used in conventional imaging, whereas downgoing waves are used in mirror imaging. Mirror imaging uses the energy of the receiver ghost reflection to improve the illumination of shallow structures, where gas hydrates and the associated bottom-simulating reflections （BSRs） are located. We developed a new method of velocity analysis using mirror imaging. The proposed method is based on velocity scanning and iterative prestack time migration. The final imaging results are promising. When combined with the derived velocity field, we can characterize the BSR and shallow structures; hence, we conclude that using 4C OBS can reveal the distribution and velocity attributes of gas hydrates.

Underwater topography detection of Taiwan Shoal with SAR images

Under suitable conditions of tidal current and wind, underwater topography can be detected by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) indirectly. Underwater topography SAR imaging includes three physical processes: radar ocean surface backscattering, the modulation of sea surface short wave spectrum by the variations in sea surface currents, and the modulation of sea surface currents by the underwater topography. The first process is described usually by Bragg scattering theory because the incident angle of SAR is always between 20°-70°. The second process is described by the action balance equation. The third process is described by an ocean hydrodynamic model. Based on the SAR imaging mechanism for underwater topography, an underwater topography SAR detection model and a simplified method for its calculation are introduced. In the detection model, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model – the shallow water model is used to describe the motion of tidal current. Due to the difficulty of determining the expression of SAR backscattering cross section in which some terms can not be determined, the backscattering cross section of SAR image used in the underwater topography SAR detection is pro-processed by the simulated SAR image of the coarse-grid water depth to simplify the calculation. Taiwan Shoal, located at the southwest outlet of Taiwan Strait, is selected as an evaluation area for this technique due to the occurrence of hundreds of sand waves. The underwater topography of Taiwan Shoal was detected by two scenes of ERS-2 SAR images which were acquired on 9 January 2000 and 6 June 2004. The detection results are compared with in situ measured water depths for three profiles. The average absolute and relative errors of the best detection result are 2.23 m and 7.5 %, respectively. These show that the detection model and the simplified method introduced in the paper is feasible.

Image Segmentation Using an Improved Watershed Algorithm

As watershed algorithm suffers from over-segmentation problem, this paper presented an efficient method to resolve this problem. First, pre-process of the image using median filter is made to reduce the effect of noise. Second, watershed algorithm is employed to provide initial regions. Third, regions are merged according to the information between the region and boundary. In the merger processing based on the region information, an adaptive threshold of the difference between the neighboring regions is used as the region merge criteria, which is based on the human visual character. In the merger processing on the boundary information, the gradient is used to judge the true boundary of the image to avoid merging the foreground with the background regions. Finally, post-process to the regions using mathematical morphology open and close filter is done to smooth object boundaries. The experimental results show that this method is very efficient.

Monitoring cyanobacteria-dominant algal blooms in eutrophicated Taihu Lake in China with synthetic aperture radar images

Monitoring algal blooms by optical remote sensing is limited by cloud cover.In this study,synthetic aperture radar(SAR) was deployed with the aim of monitoring cyanobacteria-dominant algal blooms in Taihu Lake in cloudy weather.The study shows that dark regions in the SAR images caused by cyanobacterial blooms damped the microwave backscatter of the lake surface and were consistent with the regions of algal blooms in quasi-synchronous optical images,confirming the applicability of SAR for detection of surface blooms.Low backscatter may also be associated with other factors such as low wind speeds,resulting in interference when monitoring algal blooms using SAR data alone.After feature extraction and selection,the dark regions were classified by the support vector machine method with an overall accuracy of 67.74%.SAR can provide a reference point for monitoring cyanobacterial blooms in the lake,particularly when weather is not suitable for optical remote sensing.Multi-polarization and multi-band SAR can be considered for use in the future to obtain more accurate information regarding algal blooms from SAR data.

In-situ observation for formation and dissociation of carbon dioxide hydrate in porous media by magnetic resonance imaging

The study of formation and dissociation of CO 2 hydrate in porous media was characterized by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system in in situ conditions. This work simulated porous media by using glass beads of uniform size. The growth and dissociation habit of CO2 hydrate was observed under different temperature and pressure conditions. The induction time and the hydrate saturation during the growth and dissociation process in different sizes of porous media were obtained by using the MRI signal intensity. The results indicate that hydrate growth rate and the induction time are affected by the size of porous media, pressure, and degree of supercooling. There are three hydrate growth stages, i.e., initial growth stage, rapid growth stage and steady stage. In this study,the CO2 hydrate forms preferentially at the surface of vessel and then gradually grows inward. The hydrate tends to cement the glass beads together and occupies the pore gradually. As the hydrate decomposes gradually, the dissociation rate increases to the maximum and then decreases to zero.

Review of Pixel-Level Image Fusion

Image fusion can be performed at different levels:signal,pixel,feature and symbol levels.Almost all image fusion algorithms developed to date fall into pixel level.This paper provides an overview of the most widely used pixel-level image fusion algorithms and some comments about their relative strengths and weaknesses.Particular emphasis is placed on multiscale-based methods.Some performance measures practicable for pixel-level image fusion are also discussed.At last,prospects of pixel-level image fusion are made.

Analysis of Nusselt Number Distribution in Case of a Strongly Heated,Horizontal Rod

The presented research was focused on a comparison between different means of obtaining a Nusselt number distribution,in a situation where neither temperature nor heat flux density is constant.Two fundamentally different measurement techniques have been utilized,alongside a CFD simulation,in order to designate temperature distributions in a horizontal rod.Dry air under normal pressure,regarded as a perfect gas,was chosen as the working fluid,whereas the rod's cross-section was restricted to a ring.In this scenario heat exchange between the rod and the fluid is driven predominantly by natural convection,with a slight impact of thermal radiation,particularly at temperatures approaching the top end of the available range.Temperature margins achieved at the heated end of the rod ranged from 60 K up to 150 K,resulting in local Rayleigh numbers falling in-between 6.0xl03 and 2.6xl04.Reconstruction of Nusselt numbers from a discrete temperature distribution was possible thanks to a dedicated method implemented using a Scilab script.A segregated,steady-state solver based on the SIMPLE scheme was utilized for the purpose of numerical simulations on the fluid side,whereas a heat conduction equation was solved over solid domain in the considered conjugated heat transfer problem.A corresponding set of empirical data has been obtained,using both resistance temperature detectors and a thermal imaging camera,both for the sake of numerical model validation and comparison of individual methods.The Nusselt numbers resulting from each approach were compared against values computed using available correlations valid for horizontal configuration.