Greenwich Meridian Research Articles

The Greenwich Meridian of Finance: London’s Struggle to Maintain its Role in the Global Banking (1970s – Early 2020s)

The article analyzes the development of London as a world and national banking centre over the past 50 years, from the early 1970s to the present. The study is based on large arrays of historical statistics, systematized and processed by the author. London was the largest banking centre in the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it gradually lost its position thereafter; by 1970, it was at third place in the global hierarchy. New factors that emerged in the 1970s (for example, the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system) contributed to the further decline of London. At the next historical stage, the situation changed radically as a result of the deregulation of the national financial system, implemented by the Conservative governments of Thatcher and Major (1979–1997) and then Blair's New Labour (1997–2007). Taking advantage of new business freedoms, British banks significantly expanded the scope and directions of their activities. In 2008, London ranked second in the world in terms of banking assets. However, this was largely the result of overproducing risky financial instruments. The British banking system suffered a severe downturn during the Great Recession of 2008–2009. Nevertheless, the main problems were then concentrated not in London, where banks remained relatively stable, but in Edinburgh. Later, London-based corporations led the recovery of the national banking system. London, which has long lost its absolute leadership, still remains a very important financial hub and is undoubtedly one of the five or six largest banking centres in the world.

A Brief History of UTC Leap Second

Approximately once a year, since 1972, a leap second is introduced into UTC, the world's atomic time scale for civil time, to keep it in phase with the rotation of the Earth. Leap seconds ensure that, on average, the Sun continues to be overhead on the Greenwich meridian at noon to within about 1 s. The question of leap second is being debated since 2000 in different working groups of various international organizations, especially in the ITU-R WP 7A, is whether there still a need for the leap second, with its many technical inconveniences. In these groups overwhelmingly prevails an opinion that it would be better simply to let atomic time run freely and accept that the world's civil time scale will slowly diverge from the rotation of the Earth. The National Institute of Telecommunications in recent years became one of the leaders of this process. This article gives brief history of the current practice of UTC and outlines various solutions.

Quantifying dissolution rates of Antarctic icebergs in open water

Abstract At any one time 130 000 icebergs are afloat in the Southern Ocean; 97% of these are too small to be registered in current satellite-based databases, yet the melting of these small icebergs provides a major input to the Southern Ocean. We use a unique set of visual size observations of 53 000 icebergs in the South Atlantic Ocean, the SCAR International Iceberg Database, to derive average iceberg dissolution rates. Fracture into two parts is the dominant dissolution process for tabular icebergs, with an average half-life of 30 days for icebergs <4 km length and 60 days for larger icebergs. Complete shatter producing many icebergs <1 km length is rare. A side attrition rate of 0.23 m d−1 combined with drift speed of 6 km d−1, or any proportional change in both numbers fits the observed changes in iceberg distribution. The largest injection into the Southern Ocean of fresh water and any iceberg-transported material takes place in a ~2.3 × 10⁶ km2 zone extending east-northeast from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Greenwich meridian. The iceberg contribution to salinities and temperatures, with maximum contribution north of the Weddell Sea, differs in some regions, from those indicated by tracking large icebergs.

Downstream development during ridging South Atlantic Ocean anticyclones

Ridging South Atlantic high pressure systems (ridging highs) are often accompanied by cut-off low (COL) pressure systems aloft, but may also occur without them, in which case a linear baroclinic wave would be observed propagating across the South African domain in the upper troposphere. Using 41 years of ERA-5 reanalysis data, this study documents differences between the characteristics of the prevailing dynamical processes and associated local eddy kinetic energy generation, its downstream transfer and dissipation during these two scenarios. The study shows that when COLs are present then baroclinic conversion is strong and it is confined east of the Greenwich Meridian, whereas it is located downstream of South Africa and it is much weaker, when ridging occurs without COLs. The differences in strength and locations of the baroclinic conversion are associated with the differing jet streak configurations between the two scenarios; which lead to Rossby wave breaking and the absence thereof when there are COLs and when ridging occurs without COLs, respectively. The presence of breaking during COLs leads to trans-ridge downstream development that facilitates energy transfer from the midlatitudes into the South African domain. When there are no COLs present, the trans-trough downstream development is stronger than it is across the upstream ridge. Barotropic conversion from eddy kinetic energy to mean kinetic energy occurs in the South African domain during COLs, but occurs much further downstream when there are no COLs during ridging highs. The difference in the characteristics identified in this study can be traced back to the differences in the potential vorticity anomaly structures, which are largely due to whether the waves break or do not during the evolution of ridging events in the South African domain.

Анализ вариаций в движении Северного полюса для повышения точности координатно-временных определений

This article considers a method for predicting the coordinates of the north pole, taking into account the influence of trend, quasi-periodic, regular and high-frequency variations. The necessary graphic material is given, illustrating the picture of the listed variations from 2000 to the present. In particular, a regular change in the amplitude of the Chandler period (СP) is shown. So, from 2006 to 2017, the amplitude of the СP gradually decreases from the maximum to zero, and from 2020 to the present, it has been steadily increasing. Based on the analysis of the behavior of trend changes in the pole coordinates, it is shown that at present the movement of the average pole is directed towards the Greenwich meridian, and not towards North America, as it is given in a number of literary sources. The practical implementation of the proposed method resulted in the creation of programs for predicting the coordinates of the pole and Universal Time for periods from one to 90 days. At the same time, the accuracy of forecasts calculated using these programs exceeds the accuracy of similar forecasts posted on the website of the International Earth Rotation Service. The problem of high-precision prediction of the coordinates of the pole and the Universal Time has now acquired particular relevance, especially in the light of the adopted Federal Target Program for the development of GLONASS up to 2030. In the field of improving the accuracy of ephemeris-time support (ETS).

A Multidisciplinary Approach for A Better Knowledge of the Benthic Habitat and Community Distribution in the Central and Western English Channel

About 80% of the seabed of the English Channel (EC) is covered by coarse sediment, from coarse sand to pebbles. Quantitative data on the benthic macrofauna in these types of sediment remains are rare due to the difficulty of using grab corers in such hard substrates. The deepest central part of the EC (45–101 m depth) was prospected during two VIDEOCHARM surveys in June 2010 and June 2011 to increase knowledge of such sublittoral coarse sediment benthic habitats. Sampling focussed on a longitudinal transect in the deepest part of the EC (13 boxes), extending from the western approach to the Greenwich meridian. Both indirect (side scan sonar, Remote Operated Vehicule) and direct (grab sampling with benthos determination, and grain-size analyses) approaches were used and combined, permitting description of the benthic habitats and communities using seven methods. Five benthic EUNIS habitats (European Nature Information System) were reported: MC3215, MD3211, MC4, MC3212 and MC4215, of which two extended main habitats (MC3211 and M23212) corresponded to an eastern/western gradient from sandy gravel to sandy gravel and pebbles sediment. Three other spatially discrete habitats were associated with poor coarse sand and gravel habitats as well as sandy gravel and pebbles with the presence of the brittle star Ophiothrix fragilis. Taxonomic richness of both extended habitats was on the same order of magnitude as the coarse sand habitat reported elsewhere in the EC, whilst the abundances were among the lowest in deeper areas with low nutrient input and low primary production. The epifauna appeared relatively homogenous in this type of sediment at the scale of the sampling area and was not determined to assign a EUNIS habitat/class. ROV footage illustrated the presence of large epifauna and provided valuable information to ground truth in other sampling methods such as side scan sonar mosaic. Grab photos showing surface sediment was relevant to determine the sediment type, whilst granulometric analyses gave additional information on fine particles content (typically very low).

Adoption of agricultural innovations among rice farmers in federal capital territory, Nigeria

The study accessed rice farmers’ adoption of innovations in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. The FCT has six area council; Abaji, kuje, Municipal, Kwali, Bwari and Gwagwalada. The study area covers a land mass of 8,000 kilometer (km2). It is bordered by four states Kaduna, Nassarawa, Kogi and Niger, it lies between latitude 80 251 and 90 251 North of the equator and longitudes 60 451 and 70 451 east of the Greenwich meridian. Abuja is located in the middle belt of Nigeria, its size is equivalent to 0.8% of Nigeria. There exist expansive fertile marshy plains good for rice production. The multistage sampling method was used to sample a total of 120 rice farmer using structured questionnaires as instruments in Gwagwalada council, 20 farm cells were selected, 6 farmers were then randomly selected from each cell. The data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. Most of the farmers (87.5%) were male. 6-11 persons (33.3%) per house-hold constituted the largest household size of the total farmers sampled. Majority of the farmers (26.76%) earned only between N21, 000 and N60, 000 annually. Adoption rate of some agricultural innovation in rice were rated as Fertilizer (60.2%), herbicides (60.2%), improved seed (30.8%), use of agricultural extension services (3.3%) use of farm machinery (2.1%) and silos (1.1%). Constraints faced by farmers in the study area were inadequate capital (80%), inadequate extension services (85.8%) poor market price (30.8%), high cost of agro chemicals (98.3%), inadequate storage and processing facilities (92.5%), No access to loans and credits (95.0%). The research recommended public private partnership (PPP) to sensitize and educate farmers to enable them benefit from the new innovations and technology that abound in rice farming.

CYTOTAXONOMIC STUDIES ON NIGERIAN VERNONIA ADOENSIS LOWE & SOLADOYE

Nigeria, the study area lies between latitude 40 and 140 north of the equator and between longitudes 30 and 150 east of the Greenwich meridian with two major landforms- lowlands and highlands. The vegetation is made up of forests in the southern part and savanna in the northern part. The major soil types are ferruginous tropical soils, lithosols, vertisols, regosols, ferrasols and alluvial soils. Cytological and morphological studies were carried out on Nigerian Vernonia adoensis Lowe & Soladoye. Chromosome counts of n=10 was obtained for Vernonia stenostegia while V. tenoreana and V. kotschyana had n=9 which differed from earlier report. Pollen fertility test revealed that the 3 different species had normal regular bivalent pairing during meiosis, suggesting that they were diploids and hybridization was not responsible for their differences. Anonocytic stomata withagenous ontogeny was observed in all the 3 species, the epidermal walls of the 3 species differed from each other, the presence of contiguous stomata in V. tenoreana and the presence of eglandular multicellular trichomes in V. stenostegia and V. tenoreana is reported for the first time. the achenes of the 3 species differed from each other. Ecological, morphological and cytological observations have been discussed. They have proved that the habit and habitat preference is not responsible for their differences and thus V. adoensis was actually 3 species lumped together.

Traduzir é resistir: Subversão e ateísmo como dispositivo de internacionalização da cultura brasileira

A resistência, a autonomia e a subversão da língua e da literatura no Brasil têm suas raízes no século XIX e se estendem no século XX, o que propiciou uma nacionalidade literária, uma independência cultural e literária, se demarcando da língua e literatura portuguesa da metrópole. Na primeira parte deste artigo, faço uma breve análise histórica da criação de uma língua (português do Brasil) dentro da língua (português da Metrópole) resistência às imposições literárias portuguesas a partir de dois exemplos de escritores brasileiros, José de Alencar e Mário de Andrade, e dos seus respectivos romances, Iracema e Macunaíma. E, na segunda parte, reflito sobre o lugar do Brasil literário no mapa mundial das literaturas a partir da teoria da multiplicação dos Mapas-Múndi de José Lambert e da teoria de Pascale Casanova sobre o parâmetro do Meridiano de Greenwich e das literaturas dominantes e dominadas assim como a questão do poder e da dominação das línguas-culturas. Toda argumentação se faz sob o prisma da tradução como meio de resistência ao poder hegemônico e como forma de ateísmo cultural.

Characteristics of Ionospheric Storm on October 13, 2016 at the Greenwich Meridian

AbstractAn ionospheric positive disturbance during a moderate geomagnetic storm on October 13, 2016 was studied with total electron content (TEC) from a chain of GNSS receivers and F2 layer peak parameters from two ionosondes at the Greenwich meridian. During a slow decrease of Dst, a large enhancement of the daytime TEC was observed from high to middle latitudes successively while there was small disturbance observed in low latitudes. The occurrence of TEC peak delayed with decreasing latitude. Similarly, positive disturbance of hmF2 and foF2 was recorded and their onsets were earlier in high latitude than middle latitude. These observations indicated that the ionospheric positive disturbance propagated equatorward which denied the dominant effect of prompt penetration eastward electric field (PPEF). Using the latitudinal and temporal variations of TEC peaks, the propagation velocity of the disturbance was estimated and found to decrease with decreasing latitude. Two available Fabry‐Perot interferometers (FPI) at the meridian W of the Greenwich showed that nighttime equatorward wind in middle latitude increased significantly after the storm sudden commencement (SSC), while no change of that was observed in low latitude. The coincidence of the directional and latitudinal features between the ionospheric disturbance and the wind observation suggested the impact of the positive storm was most likely the equatorward wind surge which raised the ionosphere to higher altitude where lower chemical loss led to increase of electron density in the daytime.

The Greenwich Meridian of Literature and the „Peripheries” of World Literature: Lu Xun’s Alternative Cartography

The article discusses Pascale Casanova’s mapping of world literature according to a division into center and peripheries, focusing on her idea of the Greenwich Meridian of literature as a spatial and temporal measure of the world’s literary production. The related idea of literary consecration of peripheral writers is explained. The possibility of an alternative cartography that emphasizes literary transfers via translations between peripheries is analyzed on the basis of the famous modern Chinese writer Lu Xun’s theoretical and translation output. His practice of translating peripheral writers, often carried out second-hand via German editions, potentially challenges popular contemporary mappings of literary space such as those developed by P. Casanova and F. Moretti.

해상시계 사용 전 유럽 고지도의 본초자오선과 한반도 주변 경도 표기에 관하여

When studying the old European maps and nautical charts related to the Korean Peninsula, it is necessary to separate the maps before and after the late 18th century according to the invention of the marine chronometer by John Harrison. Furthermore, the Canary Islands chosen by Ptolemy or Azores Isle or Cape Verde by the discovery of the zero-deviation meridian in the Atlantic Ocean were adopted as the prime meridian, or prime meridians of observatories were used till standardization at the international conferences held in Washington D.C. in 1884. It is also possible to estimate the country of manufacture and the year of publication from the longitude notation of maps and charts before the adoption of the Greenwich prime meridian. The shape and location of the Korean Peninsula are also significantly different due to the inaccurate measurement of longitude prior to the use of the maritime chronometer.

Analiza kartografske projekcije karte Nova Lusitania

The map named Carta Geographica de Projecçaõ Espherica Orthogonal da Nova Lusitania ou America Portugueza e Estado do Brazil from 1798, together with its 1795 (?), 1797 and 1803 versions, is undoubtedly one of the cartographic monuments developed by Portuguese cartography from the late eighteenth century. Its organizer was the geographer, astronomer, and frigate captain Antonio Pires da Silva Pontes Leme, who relied on the work of 34 people, including astronomers, geographers, and engineers, who, although only mentioned in the 1798 version, contributed to the creation of all versions. All of them are similar in appearance, but differ in size, content, details, amount, and distribution of toponyms, which will be the subject of another paper. The greatest similarity, however, concerns the defined map projection. The objective of this paper is to analyse and present the possible hypotheses and conclusions about which map projection was adopted for all versions of Nova Lusitania, through the identification of characteristics that allowed to infer and prove the adopted projection. The applied methodology verified that in the bibliographic search, the information about the map structure is insufficient. An article presented by General Djalma Polli Coelho in October 1950 states that the projection suggested by its title, as orthogonal spherical, appeared to be the Sanson-Flamsteed equal-area projection. However, the expression Carta Geographica de Projecçaõ Espherica Orthogonal allows us to infer also the transverse orthographic projection. Through parameters defined for the two projections, it was possible to establish the comparative elements for a cartographic analysis, which would allow us to conclude and prove the structure adopted for the map, allowing to conclude if the adopted projection for the Nova Lusitania was an azimuthal orthographic equatorial projection, or a Sanson-Flamsteed, sinusoidal projection on the meridian 315°, defined west-east, (counterclockwise), from the El Hierro (Ferro) Island. This meridian is referenced approx. –62°39'46" off the Greenwich meridian.

At the ends of the line: How the Airy Transit Circle was gradually overshadowed by the Greenwich Prime Meridian.

The Greenwich Prime Meridian is one of the iconic features of the Royal Museums Greenwich. Visitors to the Museum even queue up to pose with one leg on either side of the Line. Yet, the Airy Transit Circle, the instrument that defined the meridian, is almost always excluded from these photographs. This paper examines how the instrument has become hidden in plain sight within the stories of Greenwich Time and Greenwich Meridian, as well as within the public imagination, by providing an analysis of the instrument's transformation from a working astronomical instrument to a museum object. The paper highlights the gradual decoupling of the instrument from narratives of Time and Longitude, which resulted in the Line's popularity overshadowing the instrument that defined it. By doing so, the paper aims at showing the symbiotic relationship between the materiality of the instrument and the meridian line that it defined. Approaching the instrument through the lenses of object biographies, the paper raises the question of whether the life of the instrument came to an end once operations with it were terminated. The analysis of the Transit Circle's life reveals that it reached its end multiple times, which shifts the emphasis away from a single and ultimate end of scientific objects to a process of gradual downfall, during which they can "end" several times. In addition, through the object biography approach, the Transit Circle no longer appears as a dead object reaching an afterlife within a museum setting. Instead, the approach demonstrates that, though the instrument can still be restored to an operational order, doubts about its accuracy, and its relevancy to today's astronomical methods, have led the instrument to be considered obsolete, transforming it into a museum object on display.

Pascal Casanova's "Greenwich Meridian: A Review of Literature Time" Boron on translation

Pascal Casanova's "Greenwich Meridian: A Review of Literature Time" Boron on translation

Dynamical evolution of vertical profile of rain structures observed using ground-based radar over a tropical station

In this study, measurements of vertical profiles of rain parameters have been made using vertically pointing micro rain radar (VPMRR) at Akure (7.30° N, 5.13° E). Rain parameter data collected over seven-month rainfall episodes during the intense rainy season (April to October) have been analyzed for a dynamical evolutionary trend over the site. Nearly all the episodes observed followed a similar pattern, hence, a single continuous rainfall episode occurring between 20:45:00 h and 21:14:00 h Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) local time on 6th August 2018 is presented in this report. The results show no significant changes to the rain parameters (such as rain rate and liquid water content) nor contributed to the raindrop size distribution, based on average fall velocity of 6.55 m s−1 and rain rates within 1.3 and 2.6 mm h−1. This is to enable a stable fall for the dominant drops during the period. Further, the results revealed the transformation and collision of smaller drops to enhance a stable fall of larger drops during the rain event. The information from the study will be useful for radar meteorologists and microwave engineers in their designs.

Paris, « un lieu centre de tous les centres ». Est-ce toujours d’actualité ?

Paris, “The Centre of All Centres”. Is It Still the Case? In La République Mondiale des Lettres published in 1999 and 2008, Ms. Casanova wrote: “Paris is the Greenwich meridian for literature” for the 19th and 20th centuries. Writers and artists have come to the city in the past because it was extremely attractive for creative and economic reasons. But at the beginning of the 21st century, with the rise of the New Media for writing, publishing and diffusing, is it correct to say that Paris is still supreme? Is location more important than the time devoted to writing and reading?
 The claims on which Ms. Casanova builds her assertions are not supported by the facts of recent history and geography. She refers to “La belle santé économique et la liberté” in Paris but she forgot to mention why artists came from central Europe. It was just because the life was cheaper in Paris than in Berlin, as Walter Benjamin observed in 1926. She notes that Paris was the world centre for high fashion and that writers came together there to be inspired by the place and each other. But these things are no longer true: Paris is one of the most unaffordable cities in the world. Fashion in clothes is determined in many centres, with fashion weeks held in New York, Milan and China; aesthetics no longer depend on a single country. Literary creativity has spread across many continents and the internet and social media provide access to millions of people around the globe. Globalisation has unified the world, note Jean-Philippe Toussaint and Sylvain Tesson, and brought the standardization of cultures.
 There is also the matter of the dominant language today. The French language has not changed since Ms. Casanova was doing her research, but French writers now dream of being translated into English to reach the largest audience around the world. Publishers also favour English to make the most profit because literature and art are now worldwide commodities. Writers and researchers use the Internet, which connects them with documents, libraries and people all over the world. Newspapers such as Le Monde and Le Figaro in France provide literary reviews from around the world; for example, Histoire de la Traduction Littéraire en Europe Médiane, compiled by Antoine Chalvin, Marie Vrinat-Nikolov, Jean-Léon Muller and Katre Talviste, was written up in Cahiers Littéraires du Monde. What about the readership? If publishing and merchandizing are accelerating and globalizing because of how the Internet changes time and distance, the writer still has to follow the rhythm of the subject.

The flow and moisture fluxes associated with ridging South Atlantic Ocean anticyclones during the subtropical southern African summer

AbstractUsing 38 years of ERA‐Interim reanalyses, this study examines the flow and associated moisture fluxes induced by ridging South Atlantic Ocean anticyclones over South Africa. The flow and moisture fluxes are divided into their geostrophic and ageostrophic components. Composite analysis reveals that ridging high pressure systems are modulated by Rossby wave trains that develop upstream in the middle latitudes near South America and the South Atlantic Ocean near the Greenwich Meridian. The wave trains are similar to those that are associated with tropical temperate troughs (TTTs) and nearly all TTTs are followed by ridging, whilst 20% of the ridging events are linked to TTTs. Composite analysis also shows that ridging‐induced moisture fluxes affecting South Africa originate from different areas of the surrounding oceans at different times during the evolution of ridging highs. In the early stages, moisture enters the country along the southeastern coast through ageostrophic processes from a moisture divergence region located adjacent to the coast and remains largely south of 30°S latitude line. The moisture fluxes have a northeastern orientation on land, following the geometry of the eastern coast. These ageostrophic fluxes contribute to the occurrence of rainfall during the ridging process in the region located between Lesotho and Swaziland. Ridging events are associated with about 60% of rainfall days in summer over southern Africa whilst TTTs contribute about 21% summer rainfall days. During the later stages of the evolution of ridging, geostrophic fluxes enter the southern parts of Mozambique and contribute the accumulation of moisture in that region. The associated moisture divergence region is always located ahead of its ageostrophic counterpart, with a local maximum eventually forming in the Mozambique Channel.

Proposals to Move the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1836–1944

In 1939, the British Admiralty agreed to move the Royal Observatory from Greenwich to a better site away from London. The removal was postponed due to the Second World War, and the observatory’s re-establishment at Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex in the 1940s and 1950s was further delayed by post-war economic difficulties. This paper examines several proposals to remove the observatory that were put forward over a period spanning slightly more than a century before 1939 and asks why none of these were taken up. I argue that the lateness of the move was due partly to astronomers’ fears that the observatory would lose its prestige if moved away from the famous Greenwich meridian and also to certain cultural aspects of professional astronomy in early twentieth-century Britain.

Greenwich Meridian in New York? The Basque Literary Field in World Literature

In this paper, I analyse the place of the Basque Literary Field (BLF) in World Literature. Based on a systemic approach to literature, I propose a dichotomy between Pascale Casanova’s theory, where Paris is the centre of World Literature, and Serge Guilbaut’s ideas, where New York is the world’s art capital. Thus, I research the historical dynamics of the BLF and, in particular, its link with different literary capitals: Paris, San Sebastian, Madrid, and New York. New York, as the global capital of the cultural world, has been exerting more and more influence on the BLF, both on a new generation of writers (Cano, Uribe) and on some writers of the older generation—especially on Atxaga, who is the most international. I finish the paper by postulating that this tendency of the BLF, as an emergent Literary Field, may be interpreted as a global dynamic of World Literature.