Sino-Russian Scientists Install Mega-Science Instrument

Through close collaboration and by adopting a brand-new method of design, scientists from the Lanzhou Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Budker Institute for Nuclear Physics, Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Institute for Program System, Russian Academy of Sciences, recently have successfully developed "Hollow" Electron Beam Technique, the first in the world, and thus produced the first generation electronic cooler of international advanced level. As one of the key instruments of Lanzhou Heavy Ion Accelerator-Cooler Storage Ring, State Key Science Projects during the "Ninth Five-year Plan", the instrument has been put to installation and testing.

Critical Progress Made in New Earthquake Forecast Theory

Load/Unload Response Ratio(LURR), a new theory proposed by Dr. Xiangchu YIN from the Institute of Mechanics, CAS, has made critical progress recently. As part of "Non-linear Evolution Theory of Cumulative Damage Statistics and Failure Prediction for Brittle Media", key project by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the project has been assessed and accepted by the experts selected by NSFC and has been inked as "innovative and internationally advanced standard."

Using the theory of LURR, accurate short-term predictions have been made on strong aftershocks of both the Jiashi earthquake series in Xinjiang and Totstori earthquake in Japan. The achievement of the project has drawn concerns from some countries in the world.

Chinese Scientists Discover Peat Textured Mud in Wetland

n the recently closed Annual Meeting of the Chinese Geography Society, distinguished Chinese plateau wetland specialist Dr. Guangyou SUN, Northeastern Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, CAS, read over a paper entitled The Discovery of Peat Textured Mud in China, unfolding the process of discovering peat textured mud in wetland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and elaborating on the significance of peat textured mud in geological chronicling and international investigation on textured mud.

Textured mud is a sedimentation in weak water environment and has very thin micro-texture composition, less than 1 mm in thickness. This kind of micro-layer structure is called texture layer, which can be categoriz into yearly layer and seasonal layer and it is an important factor in geological chronicling and re-establishment of ancient environment.
Dr. Sun maintains that on the basis of the structure of peat textured mud, the ancient environment where swamps developed and peat precipitated can be deduced in a more direct and specific manner. It is also of importance in year determining. With C-14 or relevant measuring method, the precision of year determination can be fine-tuned to year or season.

CAS Digital Earth Prototype System Developed

The International Digital Earth Workshop was held on December 11, 2002 at CAS Institute of Remote Sensing Applications (IRSA) in Beijing.

More than 60 experts and officials from US, Russia, Japan, Thailand, State Development Planning Commission, Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Information Industry, etc. attended the meeting.

At the conference, Prof. Huadong GUO, chief scientist of IRSA Digital Earth Science Laboratory, reported on Digital Earth Prototype System (DEPS), an important product of CAS Knowledge Innovation Program. Through computer-assisted demonstration, Prof. Guo introduced the theory, technology, and application of DEPS (version 1.0). DEPS is an important program of CAS Knowledge Innovation Program. This program is guided by digital earth prototype system, to establish a system for storage, inquiry, and index of TB grade remote-sensing data. It provides a sharing platform for research on cross-discipline earth sciences, the co-related analysis and data merging, information excavation and knowledge discovery, simulation and prediction on dynamics of each sphere of earth, as well as a basic platform for academic exchanges and cooperation both at home and abroad.

GPSO3 Ozonesonde System by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS Passed Evaluation

On January 16, 2003, GPSO3 Ozonesonde System developed by the Lab for Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS smoothly passed overall evaluation.
Experts think that the successful development of this system has filled the blankness of the homemade observation equipment for ozone sonding. It has joined the ranks of internationally advanced equipment, with high technology and reliable performance. The system has been working in good condition after an operational test for more than one year, and acquired the observation material on ozone sonding, with reasonable and reliable results. It is suggested that it be applied in the operational sonding.

Chinese SOLAS Workgroup Established

SOLAS (Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study) is a brand-new scientific research program recently introduced by International Geosphere and Biosphere Program (IGBP) Phase II. In November 2002, the fourth session of the 4th standing council of the Chinese National Committee for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, (CNC-IGBP) has unanimously reached a resolution to set up a Chinese SOLAS workgroup for undertaking some of its core scientific programs. CNC-IGBP-SOLAS workgroup is composed of specialists in oceanography, atmospheric sciences, and geochemistry from such institutions as Peking University, Xiamen University, the Ocean University of China, CAS, the State Oceanic Administration, China Meteorological Administration, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Dr. Guangyu SHI, Dr. Biao WANG, and Dr. Xin LI from CAS Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) have been elected members of the group. And Dr. Guangyu SHI is the head of the group. This workgroup is the tenth group of CNC-IGBP, which was established in response to the international scientific research program IGBP PHASE II-SOLAS, and it is one of the few groups that have won scientific fund support from their governments.