Dynamics of Multiscale Earth Systems

ISBN-13: 9783540417965 / Angielski / Miękka / 2003 / 362 str.

Uta G. Klein; Horst J. Neugebauer; Clemens Simmer

Opis

Today, earth and life scientists are increasingly confronted with the puzzling complexity of phenomena enmeshed in a seemingly boundless web of interrelations. To deal with this complexity and to further our ability to analyze and predict system behavior, science is learning to transcend reliance on averages and 'permanence' and to consider the fundamental multiple-scale character of phenomena. The contributions collected here detail techniques of multi-scale and fractal analysis that enhance the study of geo-complexity. They represent a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the geological history of a section of the Lower Rhine River. They have in common the underlying question of how our qualitative modelling of natural phenomena do or do not prove the existence of representative averages.

Spis treści

Scale Concepts in Geosciences.- Scale Aspects of Geo-Data Sampling.- Notions of Scale in Geosciences.- Complexity of Change and the Scale Concept in Earth System Modelling.- Multi-Scale Representation of Data.- Wavelet Analysis of Geoscientific Data.- Diffusion Methods for Form Generalisation.- Multi-Scale Aspects in the Management of Geologically Defined Geometries.- Scale Problems in Physical Process Models.- Wavelet and Multigrid Methods for Convection-Diffusion Equations.- Analytical Coupling of Scales — Transport of Water and Solutes in Porous Media.- Upscaling of Hydrological Models by Means of Parameter Aggregation Technique.- Parameterisation of Turbulent Transport in the Atmosphere.- Precipitation Dynamics of Convective Clouds.- Sediment Transport — from Grains to Partial Differential Equations.- Water Uptake by Plant Roots — a Multi-Scale Approach.- Scale-Related Approaches to Geo-Processes.- Fractals — Pretty Pictures or a Key to Understanding Earth Processes?.- Fractal Variability of Drilling Profiles in the Upper Crystalline Crust.- Is the Earth’s Surface Critical? The Role of Fluvial Erosion and Landslides.- Scale Problems in Geometric-Kinematic Modelling of Geological Objects.- Depositional Systems and Missing Depositional Records.- Multi-Scale Processes and the Reconstruction of Palaeoclimate.- A Statistical-Dynamic Analysis of Precipitation Data with High Temporal Resolution.

Blurb

Today, the earth and life science are increasingly confronted with the puzzling nature of phenomena in an almost boundless network of relations, such as the complexity of phenomema with respect to their variability. Reflecting for instance the assessment of environmental risks from a complex perspective, we quickly discover the desire to deal with representative averages.  We are thus nurturing the ideas of permanence which we equate with normality in contrast to disastrous exceptions. The quality of complexity and the continuity of change, however, can be well expressed synonomously by the fundamental multiple-scale character of phenomena. Therefore, we promote an enhanced discussion of the expanding scale concept in order to study geo-complexity.