Earth and Space News

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Storm Induced Tree Damage Assessments: Pre-Storm Planned Preparedness

Summary: Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company links storm induced tree damage assessments to pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized pre-storm planned preparedness.

Pre-storm planned preparedness identifies response phases and recovery stages that facilitate damage cleanup; windstorm damage cleanup: Joseph O'Brien/USDA Forest Service/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Proactive preparation achieves the best storm induced tree damage assessments, according to Storm Response, Part 2: Preparing for Safe and Effective Responses to Storms in the August 2013 issue of Arborist News.

Pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized pre-storm planned preparedness builds the most successful storm responses, "large and small, locally and remotely," according to Geoff Kempter of Asplundh Tree Expert Company. Storm damaged and failed trees "cause widespread damage to infrastructure and can block access for police, fire, utility and other first responders" until tree-clearing efforts commence. Local governments, service providers and utility companies develop long-term plans for acknowledging, assessing and mitigating storm risks and draw upon relevant "personnel, equipment, and support services."

Efficacious plans, whether by central storm centers or by commercial arboricultural firms, effectuate command chain-linked duty delegation for contract, emergency, government, service, supply and utility personnel.

Contact lists, contract pre-negotiation, equipment and tool maintenance, inventory checks, practice drills, procedural meetings and training sessions fill pre-coordination phases in pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized pre-storm planned preparedness.

Contact lists generate alternate, back-up, on-call and primary personnel contact information while pre-negotiated agreements give billing and delivery terms and responder pay rates and work rules. Equipment and tool maintenance, inventory checks, procedural meetings and training sessions help to inspect resources, services and supplies for performance reliability and skill sets for relevance. Drilled contingencies and rehearsed scenarios involve alternate communications, ancillary floods, back-up routes, evacuation points, resource retrievability, response times, route restrictions, staging areas and storm-specific seasonal demands.

Practices juggle everything, even storm-specific impacts and track forecast cones, preceding "actual movement of personnel, supplies, and equipment" for storm induced tree damage assessments and mitigation.

The pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized pre-storm planned preparedness that precedes storm induced tree damage assessments keeps track of prevailing and seasonal weather for storm-specific paths, scales and strengths.

Monitoring site and weather conditions daily, "especially during the times of year when storm response is likely," lets storm center coordinators and personnel "pre-mobilize" to respond. It means smoother actual mobilizations of line- and road-clearance equipment and personnel by storm centers and such regional mutual assistance associations as The Southeast Electric Exchange. It needs to be done since "Storms like tornados or severe thunderstorms often strike quickly" while "hurricanes and ice storms may take several days to develop."

Surveillance offers confirmations or contradictions for such technology as U.S. National Hurricane Center track forecast cones whose accuracy and inaccuracy rates are 67 and 33 percent.

Response phases and recovery stages in successful storm responses put into effect storm induced tree damage assessments and mitigations by contractor-, firm- and utility company-employed arborists.

Pre-coordinated, pre-mobilized pre-storm planned preparedness quickens response times for "initial clearing efforts following storms" to ensure "that damaged trees are properly assessed and saved when appropriate." Drilled scenarios and rehearsed contingencies represent opportunities for line-clearance, risk assessment and risk mitigation arborists to remember sites with trees on the verge of a breakdown. Knowing area sites and trees softens inevitable catch-up stresses since "storm work performed by outside crews also represents work not done where the crews are based."

Storm response skills tend to be marketable since "most large-scale vegetation management work is contracted" and contingent upon climbing, interpersonal and pruning abilities and electrical knowledge.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to:
talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet;
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for superior on-campus and on-line resources.

Image credits:

NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) provides track forecast cones that are critical for defining response phases and recovery stages of pre-storm planned preparedness: NOAA, Public Domain, via NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) @ http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/hurricane/resources/TropicalCyclones11.pdf

For further information:

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Kempter, Geoff. August 2013. "Storm Response, Part 2: Preparing for Safe and Effective Responses to Storms." Arborist News 22(4): 12-19.
Available @ http://viewer.epaperflip.com/Viewer.aspx?docid=45e61ade-aa19-4124-8054-a29d00b07435#?page=12

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Failures From Heavy Tree Weights and Weather Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/storm-induced-tree-failures-from-heavy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2013. “Urban Tree Root Management Concerns: Defects, Digs, Dirt, Disturbance.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/urban-tree-root-management-concerns.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2013. “Tree Friendly Beneficial Soil Microbes: Inoculations and Occurrences.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/tree-friendly-beneficial-soil-microbes.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 December 2012. “Healthy Urban Tree Root Crown Balances: Soil Properties, Soil Volumes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/healthy-urban-tree-root-crown-balances.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2012. “Tree Adaptive Growth: Tree Risk Assessment of Tree Failure, Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/tree-adaptive-growth-tree-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2012. “Tree Risk Assessment Mitigation Reports: Tree Removal, Tree Retention?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/08/tree-risk-assessment-mitigation-reports.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2012. “Internally Stressed, Response Growing, Wind Loaded Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/internally-stressed-response-growing.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2012. “Three Tree Risk Assessment Levels: Limited Visual, Basic and Advanced.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-tree-risk-assessment-levels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 December 2011. “Tree Risk Assessment: Tree Failures From Defects and From Wind Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2011. “Five Tree Felling Plan Steps for Successful Removals and Worker Safety.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2011. “Natives and Non-Natives as Successfully Urbanized Plant Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 June 2011. “Tree Ring Patterns for Ecosystem Ages, Dates, Health and Stress.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 April 2011. “Benignly Ugly Tree Disorders: Oak Galls, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, Tar Spot.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 February 2011. “Tree Load Can Turn Tree Health Into Tree Failure or Tree Fatigue.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Red Planet’s Ada Crater Lies in Meridiani Planum

Summary: The Red Planet’s Ada Crater lies in Meridiani Planum, a plain located in the equatorial latitudes of the Martian northern and southern hemispheres.

Detail of Margaritifer Sinus (Mars Chart 19; MC-19) quadrangle shows Ada Crater and neighbors Iazu Crater, Pebas Crater and Zarand Crater as Meridiani Planum occupants: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Team, Public Domain, via Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

The Red Planet’s Ada Crater lies in Meridiani Planum, a dark plain occupying the equatorial latitudes of the Martian northern and southern hemispheres.

Ada Crater is a Martian lunar impact crater residing in the Red Planet’s southern hemisphere. Ada exposes dark-toned bedrock on its inner edge and light-toned bedrock toward its outer edge, according to an image obtained by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera between July 8 and July 31, 2010. Ada Crater’s two bedrock layers create a “. . . nested appearance” (4.1.23), according to the description by planetary geologist Matt Golombek and six co-authors in their paper, “Constraints on Ripple Migration at Meridiani Planum From Opportunity and HiRISE Observations of Fresh Craters,” published in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

Ada Crater is centered at minus 3.06 degrees south latitude, 356.78 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere impact crater confines its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to minus 3.04 degrees south and minus 3.08 degrees south, respectively. It narrows its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 356.79 degrees east and 356.76 degrees east, respectively. Ada Crater has a diameter of 2.09 kilometers.

Ada Crater parents secondary craters, according to the Golombek team’s findings. HiRISE images reveal secondary craters and fresh herringbone-patterned ejecta at a distance of 8 kilometers north and south of their parent. Superposition of Ada’s secondary craters on the rippled surface of Meridiani Planum occurs at distances of 6 kilometers south-southwest and 32 kilometers south of the parent crater.

Meridiani Planum occupies the northern edge of the Martian southern highlands, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) website. The Golombek team situate the low-lying plain within the Martian western hemisphere’s densely cratered highlands.

Meridiani Planum is centered at minus 0.04 degrees south latitude, 356.86 degrees east longitude. The equatorial plain obtains its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 8.78 degrees north and minus 4 degrees south, respectively. The plain’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 7 degrees east and 349.1 degrees east, respectively. At its longest extent, Meridiani Planum stretches for 1,058.53 kilometers.

Iazu Crater and Pebas Crater occur as northern, named neighbors of Ada Crater on Meridiani Planum. Iazu Crater resides to the northwest of Ada Crater. Pebas lies to the northeast of Ada Crater.

Iazu Crater is centered at minus 2.71 degrees south latitude, 354.82 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater limits its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to minus 2.65 degrees south and minus 2.76 degrees south, respectively. It restrics its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 354.88 degrees east and 354.77 degrees east, respectively. Iazu Crater’s diameter measures 6.83 kilometers.

Pebas Crater is centered at minus 2.6 degrees south latitude, 359.04 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater establishes its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 2.55 degrees south and minus 2.64 degrees south, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 359.09 degrees east and 358.99 degrees east, respectively. Pebas Crater has a diameter of 5.43 kilometers.

Zarand Crater occurs as a southern, named neighbor of Ada Crater on Meridiani Planum. Zarand is located to the southeast of Ada Crater.

Zarand Crater is centered at minus 3.41 degrees south latitude, 358.5 degrees east longitude. The Meridiani Planum crater finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 3.39 degrees south and minus 3.44 degrees south, respectively. The western hemisphere crater marks its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 358.53 degrees east and 358.48 degrees east, respectively. Zarand Crater’s diameter measures 2.78 kilometers.

Ada Crater appears on one of the 30 cartographic quadrangle maps of the Martian surface published by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Science Program. Numbered as Mars Chart 19 (MC-19) in the series, the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle covers 0 to 30 degrees south latitude and 0 to 45 degrees west longitude.

Ada Crater honors the town of Ada, Oklahoma. Ada is the county seat of south central Oklahoma’s Pontotoc County. The International Astronomical Union approved Ada as the Martian impact crater’s official name on Sept. 14, 2006.

The takeaways for Ada Crater’s occupancy of the Red Planet’s Meridiani Planum are that the Martian impact crater parents a number of unnamed secondary craters; that Ada Crater appears on one of the 30 cartographic quadrangles created by the U.S. Geological Survey; that Zarand Crater neighbors to the southeast of Ada Crater; and that Ada Crater’s northern, named neighbors on Meridiani Planum include Iazu Crater and Pebas Crater.

Detail of image obtained Nov. 9, 2006, by HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) image of Ada Crater reveals the youthful crater and its fresh ejecta; NASA ID PIA09372; image addition date 2006-11-29; image credit NASA / JPL / Univ. of Arizona: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Detail of image obtained Nov. 9, 2006, by HiRISE ((High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) image of Ada Crater reveals the youthful crater and its fresh ejecta; NASA ID PIA09372; image addition date 2006-11-29; image credit NASA / JPL / Univ. of Arizona: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09372

For further information:

Arvidson, R.E.; J.F. Bell III; J.G. Catalano; B.C. Clark; V.K. Fox; R. Gellert; J.P. Grotzinger; E.A. Guinness; K.E. Herkenhoff; A.H. Knoll; M.G.A. Lapotre; S.M. McLennan; D.W. Ming; R.V. Morris; S.L. Murchie; K.E. Powell; M.D. Smith; S.W. Squyres; M.J. Wolff; and J.J. Wray. “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Opportunity Observations of the Burns Formation: Crater Hopping at Meridiani Planum.” JGR Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, vol. 120, issue 3 (March 2015): 429-451.
Available via AGU Pubs @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2014JE004686

Coles, Kenneth S.; Kenneth L. Tanaka; and Philip R. Christensen. The Atlas of Mars: Mappings Its Geography and Geology. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Golombek, M.; K. Robinson; A. McEwen; N. Bridges; B. Ivanov; L. Tornabene; and R. Sullivan. “Constraints on Ripple Migration at Meridiani Planum From Opportunity and HiRISE Observations of Fresh Craters.” JGR Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, vol. 115, issue E7 (July 2010): E00F08.
Available via AGU Pubs @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010JE003628

Grego, Peter. Mars and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. New York NY: Springer Science+Business Media, 2012.

Grossman, Lisa. “Exotic New Mars Images From Orbiting Telephoto Studio.” Science, Sept. 2, 2010.
Available via WIRED @ https://www.wired.com/2010/09/new-mars-image-gallery/

HiRISE. “Pebas Crater With Asymmetric Flow-Ejecta in Eastern Meridiani Planum ESP_014389_1775.” High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment HiRISE Operations Center. Acquisition Date Aug. 21, 2009.
Available @ https://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_014389_1775

HiRISE. “Pebas Crater With Asymmetric Flow-Ejecta in Eastern Meridiani Planum ESP_020692_1775.” High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment HiRISE Operations Center. Acquisition Date Aug. 21, 2009.
Available @ https://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_020692_1775

Hynek, Brian M.; and Gaetano Di Achille. “Geologic Map of Meridiani Planum, Mars.” Scientific investigations Map 3356. Prepared in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Reston VA: U.S. Geological Survey, 2017.
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sim3356

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Ada.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14182

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Iazu.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14193

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Pebas.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14202

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Meridiani Planum.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated June 7, 2018.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3854

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Sinus Meridiani.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5568

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “[Terra Meridiani].” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated March 1, 2007.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6912

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Mars System.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MARS/system

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: Mars.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MARS/target

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Zarand.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14212

Lavoie, Sue, site mgr. “PIA09372: Ada Crater: Youthful and Enigmatic.” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Photojournal > Catalog. Image addition date: 2006-11-29.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09372

Marriner, Derdriu. “Airy Crater Honors British Astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 24, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/07/airy-crater-honors-british-astronomer.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “The Red Planet’s Airy Crater Lies in Meridiani Planum.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-red-planets-airy-crater-lies-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “The Red Planet’s Gill Crater Lies in Ancient Arabia Terra.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 19, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-red-planets-gill-crater-lies-in.html

McEwen, Alfred. “Stereo Anagylphs of Ada Crater PSP_001678_1770.” High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment HiRISE Operations Center. Jan. 10, 2007.
Available @ https://www.uahirise.org/PSP_001678_1770

Mitchell, Alison. “Meridiani Planum and the Search for Ice on Mars.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum > Newsroom > Press Releases. Sept. 25, 2017.
Available @ https://airandspace.si.edu/newsroom/press-releases/meridiani-planum-and-search-ice-mars

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Stereo Anaglyphs of Ada Crater.” NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) > Images. Jan. 10, 2007.
Available @ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA09557

Newsom, Horton E.; C.A. Barber; T.M. Hare; R.T. Schelble; V.A. Sutherland; and W.C. Feldman. “Peleolakes and Impact Basins in Southern Arabia Terra, Including Meridiani Planum: Implications for the Formation of Hematite Deposits on Mars.” Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets, vol. 108, issue E12 (November 2003).
Available via ResearchGate @ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233796198_Paleolakes_and_impact_basins_in_southern_Arabia_Terra_including_Meridiani_Planum_Implications_for_the_formation_of_hematite_deposits_on_Mars

Squyres, S.W. (Steven Weldon); and A.H. (Andrew Herbert) Knoll, eds. Sedimentary Geology at Meridiani Planum, Mars. First edition. Reprinted from Earth and Planetary Science Letters 240/1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier, 2005.

Squyres, Steven W. (Weldon); and Andrew H. (Herbert) Knoll, eds. Sedimentary Geology at Meridiani Planum, Mars. First edition. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 240, issue 1 (Nov. 30, 2005): 1-190.
Available via ScienceDirect @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/earth-and-planetary-science-letters/vol/240/issue/1

Watters, Thomas R.; Carl J. Leuschen; Bruce A. Campbell; Gareth A. Morgan; Andrea Cicchetti; John A. Grant; Roger J. Phillips; and Jeffrey J. Plaut. “Radar Sounder Evidence of Thick Porous Sediments in Meridiani Planum and Implications for Ice-Filled Deposits on Mars.” Geophysical Research Letter, vol. 44, issue 18 (Sept. 28, 2017): 9208-9215.
Available via AGU Pubs @ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017GL074431

Friday, August 9, 2013

Assamica Variety Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant Botanical Illustrations

Summary: Assamica variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations and images show big-leaved, fragrant-flowered, loose-branched, strong-rooted trees.

Thea chinensis L. varieties -- A1-3 var. viridis; B var. pubescens; C1-2 var. Bohea; D1-2 var. assamica; L. Pierre, Flore Forestière (1885), Plate 114: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Assamica variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations and images adopt aesthetic approaches to the distribution ranges, life cycles and physical appearances of the world's second-most famous and successful cultivated tea variety.

Assamica varieties bear the common name Assam tea and the scientific name Camellia sinensia var. assamica ([Reverend] Kamel's Chinese [tea plant], Assam variety) because of biogeography. Assamica, Camellia sinensis var. cambodiensis, Camellia sinensis var. dehungensis, Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba and Camellia sinensis var. sinensis commemorate George Kamel (April 21, 1661-May 2, 1706). Descriptions in 1844 and 1950 respectively by J.W. Masters, Superintendent of Tea Plantations in Assam, India, and Shirō Kitamura (Sept. 22, 1906-March 21, 2002) dominate taxonomies.

Commercialization of cultivated tea varieties emphasizes assamica and Camellia sinensis var. sinensis over Camellia sinensis var. cambodiensis, Camellia sinensis var. dehungensis and Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba.

March through November, December through February, March through July and August through October furnish Assam tea plant varieties with respective leafing, flowering, fruiting and seeding months.

Assam tea plant varieties generate up to four black-brown, flattened to spherical 0.39- to 0.51-inch- (10- to 13-millimeter-) thick seeds in three-celled hulls from each fruit. Brown-green, oblate (flat-edged), shiny, smooth, triangle-shaped, 0.75-inch- (19.05-millimeter-) long fruits hold assamica variety seeds within capsule- and hull-like, explosive coverings for dispersion by wildlife and winds. Hermaphroditic, stalked, 0.98- to 1.57-inch (2.5- to 4-centimeter) diameter Assam tea plant variety flowers incline, above two leaf-like, short-lived bracts, from leaf axil junctures within stems.

Assamica variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations jumble into every white-yellow flower one ovary, one stylus, five sepals, seven to eight petals and numerous stamens.

Their bases keep three to five inner-circle white petals fused even as their inner-sides keep three to five outer-circle petals as hairy as their counterpart sepals.

The outermost of four to five circles of yellow stamens likewise looks fused even as a three-lobed scar lodges atop the hairy, 0.39-inch- (1-centimeter-) long stylus. Assamica varieties maintain elliptic, evergreen, 8- to 14-inch- (203.2- to 355.6-millimeter-) long, 1.38- to 2.95-inch- (35- to 75-millimeter-) wide leaves with tooth-edged margins and white-haired undersides. Assamica varieties net the nickname large-leaved tea plants since noteworthier foliage than small-leaved sinensis variety's shoots nestles atop 0.16- to 0.39-inch- (4- to 10-millimeter-) long petioles.

Assamica variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations and images offer mature, maximum, tree-like 32- to 50-foot (9.75 to 15.24-meter) heights and 16-foot (4.88-meter) crown widths.

Assamica varieties prevail in Assam Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam at 328.08- to 6,233.59-foot (100- to 1,900-meter) altitudes above sea level.

The fast-growing, loose-branched, main-stemmed highland and marshland natives with strong taproots queue up for temperatures between 50 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and 30 degrees Celsius). They require moist, nutrient-rich, sunny to semi-shaded, well-drained soils in United States Department of Agriculture cold hardiness zones 7 to 9 with 39.37-plus-inch (1,000-plus-millimeter) annual rainfall. Six- to 14-day harvests during two-month flushes between March and June and October and November respectively sustain darker, honey-like, maltier, spicier, stronger, tannin-rich colors and tastes.

Assamica variety Camellia sinensis tea plant illustrations and images track big-leaved, fragrant-flowered, high-canopied, loose-branched, main-stemmed, open-crowned, strong-rooted highland natives with black and pu-erh tea production-friendly leaves.

plucking Assam tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica); Amluckee Tea Estate, Amoni, eastern Nagaon district, central Assam, Northeast India; Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"21c. Camellia sinensis var. assamica (J. W. Masters) Kitamura." Flora of China > Family List > FOC Vol. 12 > Theaceae > Camellia.
Available @ http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242310229

"Camellia sinensis var. assamica (J.W. Mast.) Kitam." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/50105831

Kitamura, Siro. 1950. "On Tea and Camellias: [Camellia sinensis] var. assamica (Pierre) Kitam." Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica, vol. XIV, no. 2 (February 1950): 59.
Available via J-STAGE @ https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/bunruichiri/14/2/14_KJ00001077611/_pdf/-char/ja

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 August 2013. "Sinensis Variety Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant Botanical Illustrations." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/sinensis-variety-camellia-sinensis-tea.html

Masters, J.W. 29 March 1844. "A Few Observations on Tea Culture, by J.W. Masters, Esq., Late Superintendent of Tea Plantations in Assam. Presented by Major Francis Jenkins, Commissioner of Assam." Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, vol. III, part I, no. 1 (January to December 1844): 1-6. Calcutta, India: Bishop's College Press, MDCCCXLIV (1844).
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.43333/2015.43333.Journal-Of-The-Agricultural-And-Horticultural-Society-1844-Vol-3#page/n9/mode/1up

Masters, J.W. 1844. "The Assam Tea Plant Compared with the Tea Plant of China." Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, vol. III, part I, no. 2 (January to December 1844): 61. Calcutta, India: Bishop's College Press, MDCCCXLIV (1844).

Pierre, L. [Louis]. 1885. "Thea Chinensis. Sims." Flore Forestière de la Cochinchine. Septième Fascicule (1er Juillet 1885): Plate 114. Paris, France: Octave Doin.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40592695

Smith, Krisi. 2016. World Atlas of Tea: From the Leaf to the Cup, the World's Teas Explored and Enjoyed. London UK: Mitchell Beazley.

"Thea viridis var. assamica (J.W. Mast.) Choisy." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/50105834

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Red Planet’s Airy Crater Lies in Meridiani Planum

Summary: The Red Planet’s Airy Crater lies in Meridiani Planum, an equatorial plain that occupies the Martian northern and southern hemispheres.

Detail of Margaritifer Sinus (Mars Chart 19; MC-19) quadrangle shows Airy Crater and northwestern neighbor Zarand Crater as Meridiani Planum occupants: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Team, Public Domain, via IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) / USGS Astrogeology Science Center

The Red Planet’s Airy Crater lies in Meridiani Planum, a plain sited in the equatorial latitudes of the Martian northern and southern hemispheres.

Airy Crater is centered at minus 5.14 degrees south latitude, 0.05 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere impact crater finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 4.77 degrees south and minus 5.5 degrees south, respectively. It sets its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 0.42 degrees east and minus 0.31 degrees west, respectively. Airy Crater’s diameter measures 83.17 kilometers.

Airy Crater parents Airy-0 as the Airy Crater system’s sole satellite. Airy-0 shelters to the northwest of the midpoint of its parent’s interior floor.

Airy-0 is centered at minus 5.07 degrees south latitude, 0 degrees east longitude. The satellite confines its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to minus 5.07 degrees south and minus 5.08 degrees south, respectively. It limits its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 0.01 degrees east and minus 0.01 degrees west, respectively. Airy-0 has a diameter of 0.79 kilometers.

Airy Crater resides in the southern reaches of Meridiani Planum. The European Space Agency website situates Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the Martian southern highlands. The dark feature occupies a position midway between the low-lying vastness of the Hellas Basin, to the plain’s southeast, and the volcanic vastness of the Tharsis region, to the west of Meridiani Planum.

Meridiani Planum is centered at minus 0.04 degrees south latitude, 356.86 degrees east longitude. The equatorial plain’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 8.78 degrees north and minus 4 degrees south, respectively. The dark plain’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to 7 degrees east and 349.1 degrees east, respectively. At its longest extent, Meridiani Planum spans 1,058.53 kilometers.

Beer Crater and Mädler Crater occur as southern neighbors of Airy Crater on Meridiani Planum. Beer Crater lies to the southwest of Airy Crater in the southwestern Meridiani Planum. Mädler Crater lies to the southeast of Airy Crater.

Beer Crater is centered at minus 14.47 degrees south latitude, 351.83 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater marks its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 13.75 degrees south and minus 15.19 degrees south, respectively. It obtains its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 352.58 degrees east and 351.09 degrees east, respectively. Beer Crater’s diameter measures 85.5 kilometers.

Mädler Crater is centered at minus 10.65 degrees south latitude, 2.77 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater establishes its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 9.61 degrees south and minus 11.7 degrees south, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 3.83 degrees east and 1.7 degrees east, respectively. Mädler Crater’s diameter spans 124.16 kilometers.

Zarand Crater occurs as a northern neighbor of Airy Crater on the southern edge of Meridiani Planum. Zarand is located to the northwest of Airy Crater.

Zarand Crater is centered at minus 3.41 degrees south latitude, 358.5 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater restricts its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to minus 3.39 degrees south and minus 3.44 degrees south, respectively. The Meridiani Planum crater narrows its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 358.53 degrees east and 358.48 degrees east, respectively. Zarand Crater has a diameter of 2.78 kilometers.

Airy Crater appears on two of the 30 cartographic quadrangle maps of the Martian surface created by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Science Program. The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle, numbered as Mars Chart 19 (MC-19) in the series, encompasses 0 to 30 degrees south latitude and 0 to 45 degrees west longitude. The Sinus Sabaeus (Mars Chart 20; MC-20) quadrangle covers 0 degrees to 30 degrees south latitude and 0 degrees to 45 degrees east longitude.

Airy Crater honors British astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy (July 27, 1801-Jan. 2, 1892). Approval of Airy as the Martian impact crater’s official name was granted in 1973. Approval of Airy-0 as the Airy Crater system satellite’s official name was granted in 2003.

The takeaways for Airy Crater’s occupancy of the Red Planet’s Meridiani Planum are that the Martian impact crater parents one satellite, Airy-0, which is found off-center of its parent’s interior floor; that Airy Crater appears on two of the 30 cartographic quadrangles mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey; that Airy Crater’s southern neighbors include Beer Crater and Mädler Crater; and that Zarand Crater occurs as Airy Crater’s northwestern, named neighbor.

Detail of Sinus Sabaeus (Mars Chart 20; MC-20) quadrangle shows Airy Crater and southeastern neighbor Mädler Crater as Meridiani Planum occupants: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Team, Public Domain, via IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) / USGS Astrogeology Science Center

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Contopoulos, G. (George); and A. (Arnost) Jappel, eds. XVth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XV B Proceedings of the 15th General Assembly and Extraordinary General Assembly Sydney, Australia, August 21-30, 1973. Cambridge UK: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Jan. 1, 1974.
Available via IAU @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

Engvold, Oddbjørn, ed. XXVth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XXV B Proceedings of the 25th General Assembly Sydney, Australia, July 12-26, 2003. San Francisco CA: The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, July 22, 2008.
Available via IAU @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

European Space Agency. “Volcanic Ash in Meridiani Planum.” European Space Agency > Science & Exploration > Space Science > Mars Express. 12/05/2010.
Available @ http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Volcanic_ash_in_Meridiani_Planum

Grego, Peter. Mars and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. New York NY: Springer Science+Business Media, 2012.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Airy.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/114

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Airy-0.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Dec. 7, 2018.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/115

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Beer.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/659

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Mädler.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4092

Friday, August 2, 2013

Sinensis Variety Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant Botanical Illustrations

Summary: Sinensis variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations and images show small-leaved evergreens with single- to triple-clustered flowers.

Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, under synonym Camellia thea; F.E. Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen: Atlas (1888-1890),Plate 136: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Sinensis variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations and images allude to assorted shapes and sizes according to the ages and uses of the world's most famous and successful cultivated tea variety.

Camellia sinensis var. sinensis literally becomes "Chinese tea flower, Chinese variety" in English and boasts backstories that begin tea cultivation in ancient China around 2750 B.C. It counts among the more common currently cultivated varieties with Camellia sinensis var. assamica, Camellia var. cambodiensis, Camellia sinensis var. dehungensis and Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba. Carl Linnaeus's (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) and Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze's (June 23, 1843-Jan. 27, 1907) respective scientific descriptions in 1753 and 1887 dominate taxonomies.

Commercial tea plant cultivation emphasizes the Assamese and Chinese sinensis varieties in the Camellia genus examined by Jesuit Rev. George Kamel (April 21, 1661-May 2, 1706).

March through November, October through February, March through July and August through October furnish sinensis tea plant varieties with respective leafing, flowering, fruiting and seeding months.

Sinensis tea plant varieties generate one to two black-brown, somewhat globe-like, thick seeds with 0.39- to 0.55-inch (1- to 1.4-centimeter) diameters from every capsule-like, flattened fruit. They have brown-green, oblate, shiny, smooth, triangle-shaped, 0.75-inch- (1.91-centimeter-) long fruits whose capsule-like, three-celled coverings open to expose mature seeds for dispersion by wildlife and winds. Hermaphroditic, stalked, 0.98- to 1.57-inch (2.49- to 3.99-centimeter) diameter sinensis tea plant variety flowers incline, above two leaf-like, short-lived bracts, from leaf axil junctures with stems.

Sinensis variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations jumble into every white-yellow flower one ovary, one stylus, five sepals, six to eight petals and numerous stamens.

The inner floral circle keeps three to five white petals fused at their bases even as three to five outer-circle petals know hairy sepal inner-side-like looks.

The outermost of four to five circles of yellow stamens likewise looks fused even as a three-lobed scar lounges atop the hairy, 0.39-inch- (1-centimeter-) long stylus. Sinensis variety Camellia sinensis tea plants maintain lighter green upper-sides as young shoots and deeper greens as older foliage with elliptical-oblong shapes and short, white-haired undersides. The 1.58- to 5.91-inch- (4- to 15-centimeter-) long, 0.79 to 1.97-inch- (4- to 15-centimeter-) broad leaves nestle into alternate niches along the sides of their stems.

Sinensis variety Camellia sinensis tea plant botanical illustrations and images offer 10- to 15-foot- (3.05- to 4.57-meter-) tall, 6- to 10-foot- (1.83- to 3.05-meter-) wide shrubs.

Sinensis variety tea plants persist in moist, nutrient-rich, sunny to semi-shaded, well-drained soils up through 4,921.26- to 8,202.1-foot (1,500- to 2,500-meter) altitudes above sea level.

The bushy, evergreen, multi-stemmed, small-leaved natives of highland China's western Yunnan region queue up in United States Department of Agriculture cold hardiness zones 7 through 9. Their 120- to 140-year life cycles require 39.37-plus-inch (1,000-plus-millimeter) annual rainfall and winter temperature ranges between 45 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and degrees Celsius). They survive natively, as cha hua (插画, "tea flower"), among evergreen laurel forest undergrowth in subtropical chilly, dry winters and hot, humid summers.

Sinensis variety Camellia sinensis tea plant illustrations and images team white-haired red bark balding into yellow-gray, silver-haired end buds and short-petioled, wedge-shaped leaves with serrated margins.

Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze introduced distribution in United States: USDA PLANTS Database, via USDA NRCS (U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service)

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, under synonym Camellia thea; F.E. Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen: Atlas (1888-1890), Plate 136: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/303208

Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze introduced distribution in United States: USDA PLANTS Database, via USDA NRCS (U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service) @ https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=CASI16;
(former URL @ https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CASI16)

For further information:

"21. Camellia sinensis (Linnaeus) Kuntze." Flora of China > Family List > FOC Vol. 12 > Theaceae > Camellia.
Available @ http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200014043

"Camellia sect. Camellia L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/50315898

"Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/31600230

Köhler, F. E. (Franz Eugen). 1890. "Camellia Thea Link." Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen in Naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit Kurz Erläuterndem Texte. Atlas zur Pharmacopoea Germanica, Austriaca, Belgica, Danica, Helvetica, Hungarica, Rossica, Suecica, Neerlandica, British Pharmacopoeia, zum Codex Medicamentarius, Sowie zur Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America. Band II: 136. Gera-Untermhaus, Germany: Fr. Eugen Köhler, 1888-1890.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/302852

Kuntze, (Carl Ernst) Otto. 1887. "Plantae Orientali-Rossicae." Trudy Imperatorskago S-Peterburgskago Botanicheeskago Sada (Acta Horti Petropolitani), Tomus X, Fasciculus I: 135-262.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15903307

Linnaei, Caroli (Carl Linnaeus). 1753. "Camellia." Species Plantarum: Exhibentes Plantas Rite Cognitas, ad Genera Relatas, cum Differentiis Specificis, Nominibus Trivialibus, Synonymis Selectis, Locis Natalibus, Secundum Systema Sexuale Digestas. Tomus II: 698. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358719

Smith, Krisi. 2016. World Atlas of Tea: From the Leaf to the Cup, the World's Teas Explored and Enjoyed. London UK: Mitchell Beazley.