The calculation of view factors from fisheye‐lens photographs: Research note

Abstract

Two soil water models, the Versatile Soil Moisture Budget and the Aridity Index Model were used to investigate differences in modelling results as a consequence of using as input mean‐daily data, derived from historical monthly values, instead of actual daily data. Four different available water‐holding capacities, six different initial soil water contents and 30‐year precipitation and potential evapotranspiration data from 16 climate stations across Canada were used as input to the models. Using mean‐daily data as opposed to daily data resulted in model predictions that underestimated deep drainage and aridity indices and overestimated actual evapotranspiration. The differences in model output decreased when the available water‐holding capacity increased and the initial soil water content decreased. The use of mean‐daily data in the soil water models investigated is not recommended, until improved techniques that retain the characteristics of the highly variable weather conditions can be ascertained.     

Spatial and temporal changes in aridity index in northwest China: 1960 to 2010

Northwest China is the driest region in China and the regional climate fluctuated dramatically during the last century. Aridity index, as the ratio between potential evapotranspiration and precipitation, is a good indicator to represent regional climate character. In this study, the change and attribution of the aridity index was investigated in northwest China using the observed climate data from 80 national meteorological stations during 1960–2010. The spatial and temporal variabilities of the aridity index shows that the annual aridity index decreased significantly (P?<?0.05) by 0.048 year^?1, indicating that northwest China became wetter from 1960 to 2010. A differentiation equation method was used to attribute the change in aridity index to climate variables. The results indicate that the aridity index was most sensitive to the change in precipitation, followed by vapor pressure, solar radiation, wind speed, and air temperature. Increase in air temperature should have led to an increase in aridity index, but this effect had been offset by the increase in precipitation and vapor pressure and the decrease in wind speed. Increasing precipitation, which contributed 91.7 % of the decrease in the aridity index, was the dominant factor to the decrease in the aridity index in northwest China from 1960 to 2010.     

Comparison of the streamflow sensitivity to aridity index between the Danjiangkou Reservoir basin and Miyun Reservoir basin, China

The central route of China’s South-to-North Water Diversion Project would divert water from the Danjiangkou Reservoir basin (DRB) to Beijing beginning in the year 2014. The current main surface water source for Beijing is the Miyun Reservoir basin (MRB). The observed streamflows into the DRB and the MRB decreased significantly due to climatic variation and human activities from 1960 to 2005. The climate elasticity method is widely used to quantitatively separate the impacts of climatic variation and human activities on streamflow. One of the uncertainties of the method is that the impacts of changes in precipitation and potential evapotranspiration on streamflow are separated with the assumption that they are independent. However, precipitation and potential evapotranspiration are not totally independent. Aridity index, as the ratio between potential evapotranspiration and precipitation, could be considered as the representative indicator of climatic variation. In this study, the sensitivity of streamflow to aridity index is evaluated to assess the impact of climatic variation on streamflow in the DRB and the MRB. The result shows that streamflow in the MRB is more sensitive to climatic variation than that in the DRB. However, the effective impact of aridity index on streamflow is the product of the sensitivity and the change rate of aridity index. The attribution results show that change in aridity index contributed 68.8 % of the decrease in streamflow in the DRB while it contributed 31.5 % of the decrease in streamflow in the MRB. This indicated that the impact of climatic variation was the main reason of decrease in streamflow in the DRB while human activities such as increasing water consumption and land use change were the main reasons of decreasing streamflow in the MRB.     

近40年河北省地表干燥度的时空变化

利用河北省1970-2007年48个气象台站逐日资料, 采用Penman-Monteith模型计算潜在蒸散量, 由潜在蒸散量和降水量之比构建干燥度指数, 并采用Kriging插值法进行空间插值以分析其区域特征。结果表明:1970-1985年, 由于降水量减少和潜在蒸散量减少, 蒸散量的减少速率大于降水量的减少速率, 地表干燥度指数呈下降趋势, 潜在蒸散量的显著减少是地表干燥度下降的主要原因, 而风速和日照时数的显著降低决定了潜在蒸散量的显著下降; 1986-2007年, 由于年平均气温的显著升高, 潜在蒸散量增加, 使得地表干燥度略呈上升趋势。河北省地表干燥度高值区分布在张家口地区的桑洋盆地和坝西高原, 而低值区主要在燕山南麓低山丘陵地区的承德西南部、唐山的北部和秦皇岛中北部大部分地区。干燥度减少区域主要集中在河北省东北部至河北省西部的带状区域。     

The analysis of aridity in Central Serbia from 1949 to 2015

In this study, we apply De Martonne and Pinna combinative indices to analyze the aridity in Central Serbia. Our dataset consists of mean monthly surface air temperature (MMT) and mean monthly precipitation (MMP) for 26 meteorological stations during the period 1949–2015. MMT and MMP are used for calculating monthly, seasonal, and annual aridity indices for period of 66 years. According to the De Martonne climate classification, we determine five, three, and four types of climate on the monthly, seasonal, and annual basis, respectively. During the observed period, winter was extremely humid, spring and autumn were humid, and summer was semi-humid. Humid and semi-humid climate with Mediterranean vegetation are identified by the annual Pinna combinative index. We find that there is no change in aridity trend in Central Serbia for the period 1949–2015. Aridity indices are additionally compared with the North Atlantic Oscillation and El-Niño South Oscillation in order to establish a possible connection with the large-scale processes. Results are further compared with several earlier studies of aridity in Serbia. With this study, the analysis of aridity in whole Serbia has become complete.     

Climatic trends in Israel 1970–2002: warmer and increasing aridity inland

Climatic trends in Israel during the period 1970–2002 were studied in detail on the basis of three parameters: average annual temperature, annual precipitation and the annual aridity (humidity) index P/PET (P = Precipitation; PET = Potential Evapotranspiration). Significant warming is evident in all 12 evaluated meteorological stations, situated in different parts of Israel. Along the Mediterranean coast, the average annual precipitation and P/PET values remained more or less at the same level. However, more inland, both eastward and southward, precipitation and P/PET trends are declining, indicating increased aridity. Eilat, Beer Sheva and Sedom Pans, situated in the desert, showed the most significant increase in aridity among the 12 meteorological stations we investigated. The relationship between changes in temperature and precipitation showed a negative correlation in all cases except for Eilat, the southernmost and driest part of Israel. The negative correlations for Negba, Kefar Blum, Har Kena’an, Beer Sheva and Sedom Pans are statistically significant. In conclusion, the climate in Israel has become more arid in most regions, except for the coastal plain.     

Spatiotemporal variations of potential evapotranspiration and aridity index in relation to influencing factors over Southwest China during 1960–2013

This study investigated the spatial–temporal patterns and trends of potential evapotranspiration (ET₀) and aridity index (AI) over Southwest China during 1960–2013 based on daily temperature, precipitation, wind speed, sunshine duration, total solar radiation, and relative humidity data from 108 meteorological stations. The Penman–Monteith model, Mann–Kendall (M–K) test, moving t test, and Morlet wavelet method were used. The results indicated that ET₀ and AI across the region displayed decreasing trends, but the former was significant. After 2000, regionally average trends in ET₀ and AI increased rapidly, indicating that droughts increased over Southwest China in recent years. Spatially, the changes of ET₀ and AI were dissimilar and not clustered, either. Temporally, both ET₀ and AI displayed obvious abrupt change points over different timescales and that of AI was during the winter monsoon period. Significant periodic variations with periods of 27, 13, and 5 years were found in ET₀, but only of 13 and 5 years existed in AI. Correlation analysis revealed that the sunshine duration and wind speed were the dominant factors affecting ET₀ and that AI showed strong negative correlation with precipitation. The findings of this study enhance the understanding of the relationship between climate change and drought in Southwest China, while the mechanism controlling the variation in drought requires further study.     

Changes in future climate indices using Statistical Downscaling Model in the upper Baro basin of Ethiopia

Climate indices are the diagnostic tools used to define the state of climate system. The main objective of this study was to investigate the climate index change in future time periods in the upper Baro basin of Ethiopia. The daily precipitation and maximum and minimum temperature data were downscaled using Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM). The precipitation and temperature data were estimated according to UK Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3 (HadCM3) global circulation model with medium-high (A2) and medium-low emission (B2) scenarios in three future time interval periods. The De Martonne Aridity Index and Pinna Combinative Index change of the future time periods centered at 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s was computed. The analysis was based on percentage change between the baseline and three future time periods. The monthly De Martonne Aridity Index result showed that there are months in the dry season classified as semi-dry with value of less than 20 and the land needs irrigation in these months. The Pinna Combinative Index value also showed the same trend like that of the De Martonne Aridity Index and a high correlation coefficient was noticed, verifying similar trend of the two indices for the three future time period changes. Overall, humidity is expected to decrease in most of the months in the three future time periods for both A2 and B2 emission scenarios because of the increment of temperature in the future.     

Non-parametric trend analysis of the aridity index for three large arid and semi-arid basins in Iran

Currently, an important scientific challenge that researchers are facing is to gain a better understanding of climate change at the regional scale, which can be especially challenging in an area with low and highly variable precipitation amounts such as Iran. Trend analysis of the medium-term change using ground station observations of meteorological variables can enhance our knowledge of the dominant processes in an area and contribute to the analysis of future climate projections. Generally, studies focus on the long-term variability of temperature and precipitation and to a lesser extent on other important parameters such as moisture indices. In this study the recent 50-year trends (1955–2005) of precipitation (P), potential evapotranspiration (PET), and aridity index (AI) in monthly time scale were studied over 14 synoptic stations in three large Iran basins using the Mann–Kendall non-parametric test. Additionally, an analysis of the monthly, seasonal and annual trend of each parameter was performed. Results showed no significant trends in the monthly time series. However, PET showed significant, mostly decreasing trends, for the seasonal values, which resulted in a significant negative trend in annual PET at five stations. Significant negative trends in seasonal P values were only found at a number of stations in spring and summer and no station showed significant negative trends in annual P. Due to the varied positive and negative trends in annual P and to a lesser extent PET, almost as many stations with negative as positive trends in annual AI were found, indicating that both drying and wetting trends occurred in Iran. Overall, the northern part of the study area showed an increasing trend in annual AI which meant that the region became wetter, while the south showed decreasing trends in AI.     

Assessment of an Evapotranspiration Deficit Drought Index in Relation to Impacts on Ecosystems

Ecosystems have increasingly been subject to the challenge of heavy drought under global warming. To quantitatively evaluate the impacts of drought on ecosystems, it is necessary to develop a drought index that can sensitively depict the response of vegetation to drought evolution at a biological time scale. For the ability of direct connection between climate and ecosystem by deficit of evapotranspiration, in the present study, a drought index was defined based on standardized evapotranspiration deficit (SEDI), according to the difference between actual and potential evapotranspiration, to meet the need for highlighting drought impacts on ecological processes. Comparisons with traditional indices show that SEDI can reasonably detect droughts and climatic dry and wet transitions, especially at a monthly time scale, and can also regenerate long-term trends. Moreover, SEDI can more sensitively capture the biological changes of ecosystems in response to the dynamics of drought intensity, compared with the indices of precipitation and temperature. SEDI is more practical than the precipitation and temperature indices to highlight signals of biological effects in climate droughts. Hence, it has potential for use in assessments of climate change and its impact on ecosystems.     

近46年青藏高原干湿气候区动态变化研究

利用青藏高原62个气象站1961～2006年逐日气象资料, 用世界粮农组织 (FAO) 在1998年推荐的、并唯一承认的Penman-Menteith模式计算潜在蒸散量; 比较了降水量、积温降水比、气温降水比、蒸散降水比和降水蒸散比5种湿润度指标在青藏高原的适用性, 用常规统计方法和墨西哥帽小波变换分析青藏高原各气候区干湿状况及其界线的动态变化。结果表明: 5种指标中, 用降水蒸散比得到的青藏高原湿润、半湿润、半干旱、干旱和极端干旱气候区的分区结果比较合理; 近46年来青藏高原大部分地区湿润度和每个气候区的平均湿润度均呈增加趋势, 半干旱和半湿润气候区的界线呈向西北推进趋势, 气候在向暖湿方向发展。     

Comparison of dryland climate change in observations and CMIP5 simulations

A comparison of observations with 20 climate model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase5(CMIP5) revealed that observed dryland expansion amounted to 2.61 × 106km2 during the 58 years from 1948 to 2005,which was four times higher than that in the simulations(0.55 × 106km2). Dryland expansion was accompanied by a decline in aridity index(AI)(drying trend) as a result of decreased precipitation and increased potential evapotranspiration across all dryland subtype areas in the observations, especially in the semi-arid and dry subhumid regions. However, the CMIP5multi-model ensemble(MME) average performed poorly with regard to the decreasing trends of AI and precipitation. By analyzing the factors controlling AI, we found that the overall bias of AI in the simulations, compared with observations, was largely due to limitations in the simulation of precipitation. The simulated precipitation over global drylands was substantially overestimated compared with observations across all subtype areas, and the spatial distribution of precipitation in the MME was largely inconsistent in the African Sahel, East Asia, and eastern Australia, where the semi-arid and dry subhumid regions were mainly located.     

The potential of vegetation feedback to alleviate climate aridity over the United States associated with a 2×CO2 climate condition

This study examines the potential impact of vegetation feedback on changes in summer climate aridity over the contiguous United States (US) due to the doubling of atmospheric CO₂ concentration using a set of 100-year-long climate simulations made by a global climate model interactively coupled with a dynamic vegetation model. The Thornthwaite moisture index (I _m ), which quantifies climate aridity on the basis of atmospheric water supply (i.e., precipitation) and atmospheric water demand (i.e., potential evapotranspiration, PET), is used to measure climate aridity. Warmer atmosphere and drier surface resulting from increased CO₂ concentration increase climate aridity over most of the contiguous US. This phenomenon is due to larger increments in PET than in precipitation, regardless of the presence or absence of vegetation feedback. Compared to simulations without active dynamic vegetation feedback, the presence of vegetation feedback significantly alleviates the increase in aridity. This vegetation-feedback effect is most noticeable in the subhumid regions such as southern, midwestern and northwestern US, primarily by the increasing vegetation greenness. In these regions, the greening in response to warmer temperatures enhances moisture transfer from soil to atmosphere by evapotranspiration (ET). The increased ET and subsequent moistening over land areas result in weaker surface warming (1–2?K) and PET (3–10?mm?month^?1), and greater precipitation (4–10?mm?month^?1). Collectively, they result in moderate increases in I _m . Our results suggest that moistening by enhanced vegetation feedback may prevent aridification under climatic warming especially in areas vulnerable to climate change, with consequent implications for mitigation strategies.     

中国干湿变化的高分辨率区域气候模式预估

本文使用三个全球气候模式驱动下的高分辨率区域气候模式RegCM4的试验数据,首先评估了RegCM4对参考时段（1986～2005年）中国干燥度指数（AI）的模拟能力,而后根据典型浓度路径中等排放（RCP4.5）情景下RegCM4试验对中国未来干湿变化进行了预估研究。结果表明,RegCM4能够合理模拟中国区域AI的空间分布。两种潜在蒸散发计算方法得到的参考时段AI在空间分布和数值上存在一定差异,尤其是在中国西部高海拔地区和北方地区。在三个全球气候模式驱动场作用下的RegCM4预估试验中,21世纪中期（2046～2065年）和末期（2081～2098年）中国区域平均AI较参考时段分别减小2%～4%和2%～5%,其中西北中部变湿,其他地区均变干。不同地区未来干湿变化的主要影响因素存在差异,西北中部降水变化为主导因素,其他地区主要受控于升温所引起的潜在蒸散发变化。     

Temporal and Spatial Variations in the Climate Controls of Vegetation Dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau during 1982–2011

The ecosystem of the Tibetan Plateau is highly susceptible to climate change. Currently, there is little discussion on the temporal changes in the link between climatic factors and vegetation dynamics in this region under the changing climate.By employing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data, the Climatic Research Unit temperature and precipitation data,and the in-situ meteorological observations, we report the temporal and spatial variations in the relationships between the vegetation dynamics and climatic factors on the Plateau over the past three decades. The results show that from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, vegetation dynamics in the central and southeastern part of the Plateau appears to show a closer relationship with precipitation prior to the growing season than that of temperature. From the mid-1990s, the temperature rise seems to be the key climatic factor correlating vegetation growth in this region. The effects of increasing temperature on vegetation are spatially variable across the Plateau: it has negative impacts on vegetation activity in the southwestern and northeastern part of the Plateau, and positive impacts in the central and southeastern Plateau. In the context of global warming, the changing climate condition(increasing precipitation and significant rising temperature) might be the potential contributor to the shift in the climatic controls on vegetation dynamics in the central and southeastern Plateau.     

近47年哈密地区气候变化

利用新疆哈密地区5个气象台站1961~2007年气候资料,采用线性回归、Morlet小波和Mann-Kendall突变检测等方法,对哈密地区近47年的年平均气温、降水量、日照时数、年平均风速和相对湿度等气候要素以及年潜在蒸散量和地表干燥度的变化趋势和变化特征进行了研究。结果表明：①近47年哈密地区年平均气温、降水量和相对湿度呈升高趋势,日照时数和年平均风速呈减小趋势;②潜在蒸散量与年平均气温、日照时数和平均风速呈极显著的正相关关系,而与年降水量和相对湿度呈极显著的负相关关系。受上述各气候要素变化的综合影响,近47年,哈密地区潜在蒸散量和地表干燥度呈极显著的减小趋势;③突变检测表明,哈密地区年平均气温、降水量分别在1973年、1965年发生了突变性的升高,而风速、潜在蒸散量和地表干燥度分别于1980年、1980年和1975年发生了极显著的突变性减小,综合气温和地表干燥度的突变特征,可以认为,哈密地区气候在1973~1975年发生了＂暖湿化＂的突变;④各气候要素和潜在蒸散量、地表干燥度分别存在不同时间尺度的周期性变化。     

云南初夏干湿演变特征和基于CMIP6模式模拟的预估分析

使用1961—2020年的观测数据和2021—2080年的模式预估数据,首先分析了云南初夏干燥度指数（aridity index,AI）的演变特征和影响因子相对贡献,然后采用国际耦合模式比较计划第六阶段（CMIP6）中的20个全球模式,对SSP1-2.6、SSP2-4.5以及SSP5-8.5情景下云南初夏未来干湿变化进行了预估研究。结果表明：(1) 1961—2020年云南初夏气候整体湿润,但为变干燥的趋势,有明显的年代际变化特征,1960s、1970s以及2000s气候相对湿润,其余年代相对干燥,2000s（2010s）为1961年以来最湿润（干燥）的10年。(2) 2021—2080年在3种排放情景下,云南初夏气候较1995—2014年均为变干燥的趋势,SSP1-2.6、SSP2-4.5以及SSP5-8.5情景下,AI分别减少13.9%、17.9%以及24.9%,西南部将可能是湿润度降幅最大值中心。(3) 1961—2020年,降水对云南初夏气候干湿变化的贡献大于潜在蒸散量;而2021—2080年,潜在蒸散量对气候变干燥的贡献大于降水量,且随排放情景的增高和时间推移,其贡献将逐渐增大。     

Dryland expansion in northern China from 1948 to 2008

This study examines the expansion of drylands and regional climate change in northern China by analyzing the variations in aridity index(AI), surface air temperature(SAT), precipitation and potential evapotranspiration(PET) from 1948 to 2008.It is found that the drylands of northern China have expanded remarkably in the last 61 years. The area of drylands of the last 15 years(1994–2008) is 0.65 × 106km2(12%) larger than that in the period 1948–62. The boundary of drylands has extended eastward over Northeast China by about 2° of longitude and by about 1° of latitude to the south along the middleto-lower reaches of the Yellow River. A zonal band of expansion of semi-arid regions has occurred, stretching from western Heilongjiang Province to southern Gansu Province, while shifts to the east of semi-arid regions in dry subhumid regions have also occurred. Results show that the aridity trend of drylands in northern China is highly correlated with the long-term trend of precipitation and PET, and the expansion of semi-arid regions plays a dominant role in the areal extent of drylands, which is nearly 10 times larger than that in arid and subhumid regions.     

滕州市近50年气候干湿变化

利用滕州市1956~2005年降水量、平均气温资料,用Holdridge干燥度指数来分析近50年气候干湿变化趋势和特征。滕州市近50年来在年生物温度、年可能蒸散量极显著上升背景下,年降水量不显著的减小趋势,造成年水分盈亏量显著亏损及年干燥度指数显著增大,总体呈现暖干化趋势。年干燥度指数变化有明显的阶段性,干湿期交替变化,大体经历了3个湿期和2个干期。1976年年干燥度指数发生由偏湿向偏干的突变,突变后气候类型分布发生显著变化。通过对近50年年干燥度指数滑动平均值和标准差分析发现:随着干燥度指数平均值的增大,异常湿事件明显减少,而异常干事件明显增多,同时,随着标准差的增大,异常干湿事件频率明显增大。     

Future climate resources for tourism in Europe based on the daily Tourism Climatic Index

Climate is an important resource for many types of tourism. One of several metrics for the suitability of climate for sightseeing is Mieczkowski’s “Tourism Climatic Index” (TCI), which summarizes and combines seven climate variables. By means of the TCI, we analyse the present climate resources for tourism in Europe and projected changes under future climate change. We use daily data from five regional climate models and compare the reference period 1961–1990 to the A2 scenario in 2071–2100. A comparison of the TCI based on reanalysis data and model simulations for the reference period shows that current regional climate models capture the important climatic patterns. Currently, climate resources are best in Southern Europe and deteriorate with increasing latitude and altitude. With climate change the latitudinal band of favourable climate is projected to shift northward improving climate resources in Northern and Central Europe in most seasons. Southern Europe’s suitability for sightseeing tourism drops strikingly in the summer holiday months but is partially compensated by considerable improvements between October and April.