Changes of cloud water chemical composition in the Western Sudety Mountains, Poland

The changing chemical composition of cloud water and precipitation in the Western Sudety Mountains are discussed against the background of air-pollution changes in the Black Triangle since the 1980s until September 2004. A marked reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions between the early 1990's and the present (from almost 2 million tons to around 0.2 million tons) has been observed, with a substantial decline of sulphate and hydrogen concentration in cloud water (SO₄²⁻ from more than 200 to around 70 μmol l^− 1; H⁺ from 150 to 50 μmol l^− 1) and precipitation (SO₄²⁻ from around 80 to 20–30 μmol l^− 1; H⁺ from around 60 to 10–15 μmol l^− 1) samples. At some sites, where fog/cloud becomes the major source of pollutants, deposition hot spots are still observed where, for example, nitrogen deposition can exceed 20 times the relevant critical load. The results show that monitoring of cloud water chemistry can be a sensitive indicator of pollutant emissions.     

Fog water interception by Sophora denudata trees in a Reunion upper-montane forest, Indian Ocean

The forest water balance has never been studied in Reunion Island (Indian Ocean). This study focuses on the interception of fog water by Sophora denudata, an endemic tree, which provides an important water input into the hydrologic budget of the upper-montane forest. Canopy throughfall, rainfall and fog have been compared. The first data were obtained in 2001 in Nez de Bœuf, 2040 m asl, from manual rain gauges. The measurements were made during the day only. The aim was to propose a typology of events, to understand the spatial pattern of canopy throughfall, especially fogdrip, and their relation to the trade-wind direction. A second series of experiments, carried out in 2004 in Piton de Tangues, 2150 m asl, investigated how throughfall and atmospheric water varied with time, using automatic instruments such as the shielded Grunow-type fog collector. Here measurements were made continuously and night data were not excluded. Over a period of 8 months, the throughfall gauges, which were placed under the trees, indicated 1180 mm whereas the total amount of rainfall had reached only 948 mm. The difference (232 mm) is attributed to fog. Of 278 events, 234 showed fog contribution; fog occurred alone in 167 cases. The observations confirm what was found in Nez de Bœuf, namely that fog or rain can occur separately or together. The role of fog contribution to the forest water budget is significant: the spatial variation of canopy throughfall does not only depend on the type of event, but also on wind direction.     

机场低能见度自动观测设备测量数据对比

基于民航机场的实际应用,对比安装在陕西省西安咸阳国际机场跑道一端的大气透射仪和前向散射仪2013年1月—2014年8月测量的跑道视程数据,结果表明:整体上,当跑道视程R > 400 m时,前向散射仪测量数据大于大气透射仪数据的比例高;当跑道视程R≤400 m时,大气透射仪测量数据大于等于前向散射仪数据的比例更高。当跑道视程R≤600 m时,两种设备测量数据具有很好的相互替代性;当跑道视程R > 1000 m时,两种设备测量数据差距较大。在雾、冻雾、霾和暴雨天气时,两种设备测量数据在时间上具有很好的一致性,且在跑道视程R≤1000 m时,两种设备测量数据具有很好的相互替代性,而在雪、烟和扬沙天气时两种设备测量的数据差距较大。     

The spatial structure of turbulence at production wavenumbers using orthonormal wavelets

Orthonormal wavelet expansions are applied to surface-layer measurements of vertical wind speed under various atmospheric, stability conditions. The orthonormal wavelet transform allows for the unfolding of these measurements into space and scale simultaneously to reveal the large intermittent behavior in space for the turbulent production wavenumbers. Both Fourier and wavelet power spectra indicated the existence of a –1 power law for the vertical velocity measurements at the production wavenumbers. The –1 power law in the turbulent production range was derived from surface-layer similarity theory. A dimensionless skewness, structure function is applied to the wavelet decomposed vertical velocity field to trace the destruction of the shear-or buoyancy-induced anisotropy under various stability conditions. The structure skewness function revealed shear- or buoyancy-induced eddy asymmetry dependence on stability at each scale within the –1 power-law wavenumber range with more isotropy during propagation from smaller to larger wavenumbers. The asymmetry of these events at the turbulent production wavenumbers appeared very localized in space, as well as in scale, and could be described with a simple eddy-overturning model. It is demonstrated that the wavelet transform is suitable for such analysis.     

Urban growth effects on low-temperature fog in Edmonton

Visibility observations at rural and urban airports in the Edmonton area during the severe winter of 1968–69 are compared with similar observations described in 1955 by G. W. Robertson for the winter of 1949–50. The new observations tend to confirm Robertson's finding that low-temperature fog in Edmonton is due mainly to saturation of the air by water vapour produced in burning natural gas. Visibilities in such fog are strongly temperature-dependent. The urban population more than doubled between 1950 and 1969, and new large sources of water vapour were added to the city. The effects of both changes are apparent in the visibility data. Computations of excess water content and temperature increases are made assuming that an isothermal layer develops as rural air passes over the city and is modified by the combustion of natural gas and motor vehicle fuel. The results are consistent with local measurements of surface temperature and vertical temperature gradients in the lowest 100 m over the city. Computations of excess water content are presented for fuel consumption rates corresponding to populations of 150000 to 800000. Measurements of the thickness of the fog layer over the city and of the frozen water content of ice fog for various visibilities are needed for additional verification of the calculations.Presented at the 5th Annual Congress of the Canadian Meteorological Society, Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, 1971.     

Wet deposition due to fog in the Po Valley,Italy

Wet deposition due to radiation fog is examined in this paper. The area where the reported measurements were performed, the Po Valley, northern Italy, is characterized by both a high fog occurrence during the fall-winter months and fog water solutions of high ionic concentration and acidity.Estimated wet deposition for NH ₄ ⁺ , NO _inf3 ^sup- and SO _inf4 ^sup2- ions due to fog droplet settling to the ground accounts for 13.2, 12.1 and 5.3 percent with respect to bulk precipitations over the same period: January–March and October–December (fog season).Fog deposition rates show that this process can be an important pathway of trace gases and particles loss from the air. First indicative results of fog removal efficiency with respect to air particulate matter are presented.Dry deposition parameters should be taken into account in evaluating the potential effect of fog droplet deposition on vegetation.     

An Improved Mellor–Yamada Level-3 Model with Condensation Physics: Its Design and Verification

A computational scheme for an improved Mellor–Yamada(M–Y) Level-3 model with condensation physics is proposedand its performance is examined against large-eddy-simulationdata on radiation fog. The improved M–Y model greatlycorrects several shortcomings of the original M–Y model:the underestimations of the mixed-layer depth and themagnitude of turbulent kinetic energy, and the discrepanciesin the formation and dissipation times of the fog. Inaddition the improved M–Y model can reproduce theoccurrence of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and periodicoscillations due to its energy cycle. It is shown that theoptimization of both the closure constants and the masterlength scale is required for this improvement.The improved M–Y model has an improvement also in theLevel-2.5 version. Although the performance of theLevel-2.5 version is not so good as that of the Level-3version, the former has the advantage of relatively lowcomputational cost and is popularly used in operationalweather forecasts. Our computational scheme for theimproved M–Y model allows us to switch its hierarchylevels easily according to the purpose.     

Temporal characteristics and fog water collection during summer in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)

The study of fog dynamics in the island of Tenerife began in 1993 at six sites. The analysis of the relationship between fog and several meteorological parameters was conducted at the site located at Anaga. Anaga is located at the summit of a mountain range, at an altitude of 842 m and 3.5 km away from the north-western coastline of the island. The study uses hourly data of the three summer months (June, July and August) that were collected over a period of nine years — from 1996 to 2005. The mean summer (June–August) rainfall was found to be 21.2 mm whilst the total volume of fog water collected was 879.9 l m^− 2; the daily average fog water collection was 9.5 l m^− 2 day^− 1, and the hourly average about 0.4 l m^− 2 h^− 1. Although these amounts were recorded with wind speeds of between 8 and 12 m s^− 1, the correlation between water collected and wind speed is not statistically significant. In spite of this, the volume of fog water collected and wind speed showed a very distinct daily behavioural pattern, their frequency and speed reaching their minimum at 12 a.m. and their maximum from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. GMT. The importance of this research is that it shows that the fog in the Canary Islands occurs more frequently and makes a more significant contribution to the growth of vegetation in the summer (the dry season) than in the winter, when fog accompanies rainfall.     

Trends in fog frequencies in the Los Angeles Basin

Data from throughout the Los Angeles area were examined to determine the horizontal distribution of dense fog (visibility < 400 m) in the region and trends over time. The relationship between the occurrence of dense fog to the phase of two atmosphere–ocean cycles: the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) measured by the PDO Index and the Southern Oscillation measured by the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was investigated. In addition, the influence of the urban heat island and the amount of suspended particulate matter were assessed. For the three stations that had 22 or more years of data, we examined trends and the relation to atmosphere–ocean cycles. Results show a decrease in the occurrence of very low visibilities (< 400 m) at the stations in close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Long Beach International Airport (LGB). Occurrence of the frequency of low visibilities at these two locations was also highly correlated with the phase of the PDO. Only a weak, non-statistically significant relationship was seen with the SOI. At Burbank, a reporting station about 30 km from the ocean, no trends were noted, and there was no evidence of a correlation with either the PDO Index or the SOI. In the Los Angeles Central Business District (CBD) when comparing dense fog occurrence in the early 1960s to a similar period in the early 2000s we saw a decrease in dense fog from a mean of 10 h per year to a mean of 3 h per year. Also contributing to the decrease was decreasing particulate pollution and increased urban warming. A downward trend in particulate concentrations coupled with an upward trend in urban temperatures were associated with a decrease in dense fog occurrence at both LAX and LGB. These trends were evident for the period 1966–1997, but appear to have ended by the late 1990s.     

Continuous scanning of the mobility and size distribution of charged clusters and nanometer particles in atmospheric air and the Balanced Scanning Mobility Analyzer BSMA

Measuring of charged nanometer particles in atmospheric air is a routine task in research on atmospheric electricity, where these particles are called the atmospheric ions. An aspiration condenser is the most popular instrument for measuring atmospheric ions. Continuous scanning of a mobility distribution is possible when the aspiration condenser is connected as an arm of a balanced bridge. Transfer function of an aspiration condenser is calculated according to the measurements of geometric dimensions, air flow rate, driving voltage, and electric current. The most complicated phase of the calibration is the estimation of the inlet loss of ions due to the Brownian deposition. The available models of ion deposition on the protective inlet screen and the inlet control electrofilter have the uncertainty of about 20%. To keep the uncertainty of measurements low the adsorption should not exceed a few tens of percent. The online conversion of the mobility distribution to the size distribution and a correct reduction of inlet losses are possible when air temperature and pressure are measured simultaneously with the mobility distribution. Two instruments called the Balanced Scanning Mobility Analyzers (BSMA) were manufactured and tested in routine atmospheric measurements. The concentration of atmospheric ions of the size of about a few nanometers is very low and a high air flow rate is required to collect enough of ion current. The air flow of 52 l/s exceeds the air flow in usual aerosol instruments by 2–3 orders of magnitude. The high flow rate reduces the time of ion passage to 60 ms and the heating of air in an analyzer to 0.2 K, which suppresses a possible transformation of ions inside the instrument. The mobility range of the BSMA of 0.032–3.2 cm² V^− 1 s^− 1 is logarithmically uniformly divided into 16 fractions. The size distribution is presented by 12 fractions in the diameter range of 0.4–7.5 nm. The measurement noise of a fraction concentration is typically about 5 cm^− 3 and the time resolution is about 10 min when measuring simultaneously both positive and negative ions in atmospheric air.     

华北地区雾和霾天气环流特征聚类分析

根据2000~2013年华北地区72个地面观测站点的雾、霾日数资料挑选出华北地区出现雾、霾天气现象站数较多的40个样本,再利用这些样本同期的NCEP逐日再分析资料,对位势高度场进行聚类分析,结果表明华北地区发生雾或霾天气时的近地面环流形势可分别分为4类和5类。聚类结果揭示了雾和霾发生时大气环流具有不同的分型特征,只有弱高压型为雾、霾发生时的共有型,湿度场和冷暖平流输送在雾和霾天气发生时也存在显著差异。此外,在分析过程中发现同一天中存在雾、霾天气转换及同一时刻雾、霾共存的现象,本文也分析了这两种情形的环流形势特征,解释了其成因。     

Summertime Seawater Concentrations of Dimethylsulfide in the Western Indian Ocean: Reconciliation of Fluxes and Spatial Variability with Long-Term Atmospheric Observations

Dimethylsulfide (DMS) measurements in the seawater of the subtropical and the temperate western Indian Ocean were conducted for the first time from 3 December to 20 December 1997. In total, 443 surface seawater DMS determinations were performed between 24°–49° S and 50° E–77° E with a frequency of 1 sample every 10 km. An important spatial variability was observed in seawater DMS concentrations with values ranging from 0.9 to 35.8 nM. DMS maxima coincided in most cases with thermal fronts and were in reasonable agreement with mean pigment figures obtained from satellite observations. The deduced DMS fluxes are consistent with long-term observations of atmospheric DMS and rainwater concentrations of nss- SO4= and MSA measured at Amsterdam island (37° S, 77° E); then account for the differences observed in atmospheric DMS concentrations between Amsterdam island and Cape Grim, Indian Ocean monitoring stations.     

Radiative Heat Transfer and Hydrostatic Stability in Nocturnal Fog

We have performed a one-dimensional and transient radiative heat transfer analysis in order to investigate interaction between atmospheric radiation and convective instability within a nocturnal fog. The radiation element method using the Ray Emission Model (REM²), which is a generalized numerical method, in conjunction with a line-by-line (LBL) method, is employed to attain high spectral resolution calculations for anisotropically scattering fog. The results show that the convective instability has a strong dependence on radiative properties of the fog. For the condition of a 20-m droplet diameter and liquid water content of 0.1 × 10^–3 kg m^–3;, the temperature profile within the fog becomes S shaped, and a convective instability layer forms in the middle or lower level of the fog. However, for the same water content and a 40-m diameter droplet, no strong convective instability layer forms, whereas for a 10-m diameter droplet a strong convective instability is observed.     

On the formation and growth of atmospheric nanoparticles

In this paper we summarize recent experimental, theoretical and observational results on the formation and growth of atmospheric nanoparticles. During the last years significant progress has occurred to explain atmospheric nucleation and initial steps of the growth. Due to climatic and health effects of fine and ultrafine particles the formation and growth of new aerosol particles is of growing interest. The question “How and under which conditions does the formation of new atmospheric aerosol particles take place?” has exercised the minds of scientists since the time of John Aitken, who in the late 1880s built the first apparatus to measure the number of dust and fog particles. However, only during the last 15–20 years has the measurement technology developed to such a level that size distributions of nanometer-size particles and concentrations of gases participating in particle formation can be measured in the atmosphere. Also from a theoretical point of view atmospheric nucleation mechanisms have not been resolved: several mechanisms such as ion-induced (or ion mediated) nucleation, ternary and kinetic (barrier-less) nucleation have been suggested. In the most recent theory, the activation of existing neutral and/or ion clusters has been suggested.     

江苏地区一次罕见持续性强浓雾过程的成因分析

2013年11月30日—12月9日,江苏出现持续10 d的强浓雾天气。利用秒级探空资料、能见度资料、江苏省高速公路沿线高时空密度的交通气象观测站资料以及NCEP/NCAR的1°×1°的分析资料,结合天气形势、气象要素、物理量场,对这次持续性强浓雾的特点和形成、维持机制进行分析。结果表明,(1)此次雾过程持续时间长、范围广、强度大、污染重。(2)在大陆高压控制下,江苏长时间处于高压带的均压区内是这次连续性强浓雾过程的重要天气条件。(3)地面辐射冷却、低空下沉气流以及东南暖湿气流是强浓雾形成的重要原因。(4)双层逆温和深厚的逆温层是出现强浓雾的重要热力条件。(5)弱冷空气入侵,是雾体爆发增强的促发因子。      

In situ measurements of contributions to the global electrical circuit by a thunderstorm in southeastern Brazil

The global electrical circuit, which maintains a potential of about 280 kV between the earth and the ionosphere, is thought to be driven mainly by thunderstorms and lightning. However, very few in situ measurements of electrical current above thunderstorms have been successfully obtained. In this paper, we present dc to very low frequency electric fields and atmospheric conductivity measured in the stratosphere (30–35 km altitude) above an active thunderstorm in southeastern Brazil. From these measurements, we estimate the mean quasi-static conduction current during the storm period to be 2.5 ± 1.25 A. Additionally, we examine the transient conduction currents following a large positive cloud-to-ground (+ CG) lightning flash and typical − CG flashes. We find that the majority of the total current is attributed to the quasi-static thundercloud charge, rather than lightning, which supports the classical Wilson model for the global electrical circuit.     

The Potential Response of Terrestrial Carbon Storage to Changes in Climate and Atmospheric CO2

We use a georeferenced model of ecosystem carbon dynamics to explore the sensitivity of global terrestrial carbon storage to changes in atmospheric CO₂ and climate. We model changes in ecosystem carbon density, but we do not model shifts in vegetation type. A model of annual NPP is coupled with a model of carbon allocation in vegetation and a model of decomposition and soil carbon dynamics. NPP is a function of climate and atmospheric CO₂ concentration. The CO₂ response is derived from a biochemical model of photosynthesis. With no change in climate, a doubling of atmospheric CO₂ from 280 ppm to 560 ppm enhances equilibrium global NPP by 16.9%; equilibrium global terrestrial ecosystem carbon (TEC) increases by 14.9%. Simulations with no change in atmospheric CO₂ concentration but changes in climate from five atmospheric general circulation models yield increases in global NPP of 10.0–14.8%. The changes in NPP are very nearly balanced by changes in decomposition, and the resulting changes in TEC range from an increase of 1.1% to a decrease of 1.1%. These results are similar to those from analyses using bioclimatic biome models that simulate shifts in ecosystem distribution but do not model changes in carbon density within vegetation types. With changes in both climate and a doubling of atmospheric CO₂, our model generates increases in NPP of 30.2–36.5%. The increases in NPP and litter inputs to the soil more than compensate for any climate stimulation of decomposition and lead to increases in global TEC of 15.4–18.2%.     

Particulate contribution to extinction of visible radiation: Pollution, haze, and fog

A data set acquired by eight particle-dedicated instruments set up on the SIRTA (Site Instrumental de Recherche par Télédétection Atmosphérique, which is French for Instrumented Site for Atmospheric Remote Sensing Research) during the ParisFog field campaign are exploited to document microphysical properties of particles contributing to extinction of visible radiation in variable situations. The study focuses on a 48-hour period when atmospheric conditions are highly variable: relative humidity changes between 50 and 100%, visibility ranges between 65 and 35 000 m, the site is either downwind the Paris area either under maritime influence. A dense and homogeneous fog formed during the night by radiative cooling. In 6 h, visibility decreased down from 30 000 m in the clear-sky regime to 65 m within the fog, because of advected urban pollution (factor 3 to 4 in visibility reduction), aerosol hydration (factor 20) and aerosol activation (factor 6). Computations of aerosol optical properties, based on Mie theory, show that extinction in clear-sky regime is due equally to the ultrafine modes and to the accumulation mode. Extinction by haze is due to hydrated aerosol particles distributed in the accumulation mode, defined by a geometric mean diameter of 0.6 μm and a geometric standard deviation of 1.4. These hydrated aerosol particles still contribute by 20 ± 10% to extinction in the fog. The complementary extinction is due to fog droplets distributed around the geometric mean diameter of 3.2 μm with a geometric standard deviation of 1.5 during the first fog development stage. The study also shows that the experimental set-up could not count all fog droplets during the second and third fog development stages.     

Extended-range prediction experiments using an 11-level GCM

Summary Recent research in dynamical extended-range prediction at the UK Meteorological Office (UKMO), based on 40-day integrations of a global 11-level general circulation model, is described. The forecast anomaly correlation scores, calculated with respect to some set of background atmospheric normals, contain a significant contribution due to differences between the normals and the true atmospheric climate for the years containing the experimental initialization dates. This contribution varies according to the choice of normals. The best set to use in practice are those which minimize the measured scores, since they are closest to the true climate. The model's own climatology is sufficiently realistic for it to be suitable for long-range forecasting. However, significant climate drift still occurs in all seasons, and empirical correction for this increases the model's skill substantially, although the use of dependent data exaggerates the improvement some-what. On average, the skill of winter and spring forecasts exceeds that of summer and autumn cases for days 1–15 and 6–20, for the domain 30–90° N. Although the mean skill remains well above zero throughout the forecast period, there are few cases of high skill, on the hemispheric scale, at extended-range. However, study of local skill, over a region centred on the UK, shows that the model's ability to forecast surface pressure anomalies compares favourably with that of the experimental long-range forecasts produced at UKMO using statistical forecasting techniques and medium-range dynamical predictions. The major improvement is for days 6–15. Based on the anomaly correlation score, encouraging results are obtained concerning the frequency with which the degree of local skill reaches a potentially useful level, and the prospects for predicting this skill in advance. However, further analysis using alternative skill scores is required to confirm these results.With 24 Figures     

A simple model for estimating methane concentration and lifetime variations

A simple methane model is presented in which lifetime changes are expressed as a function of CH₄ concentration and emissions of NO_x CO and NMHCs. The model parameters define the relative sensitivities of lifetime to these determining factors. The parameterized model is fitted to results from five more complex atmospheric chemistry models and to 1990 IPCC concentration projections. The IPCC data and four of the five models are well fitted, implying that the models have similar relative sensitivities. However, overall sensitivities of lifetime to changes in atmospheric composition vary widely from model to model. The parameterized model is used to estimate the history of past methane emissions, lifetime changes and OH variations, with estimates of uncertainties. The pre-industrial lifetime is estimated to be 15–34% lower than today. This implies that 23–55% of past concentration changes are due to lifetime changes. Pre-industrial emissions are found to be much higher (220–330 TgCH₄/y) than the best estimate of present natural emissions (155 TgCH₄/y). The change in emissions since pre-industrial times is estimated to lie in the range 160–260 TgCH₄/y, compared with the current best guess for anthropogenic emissions of 360 TgCH₄/y. These results imply either that current estimates of anthropogenic emissions are too high and/or that there have been large changes in natural emissions. 1992 IPCC emissions scenarios are used to give projections of future concentration and lifetime changes, together with their uncertainties. For any given emissions scenario, these uncertainties are large. In terms of future radiative forcing and global-mean temperature changes over 1990–2100 they correspond to uncertainties of at least ±0.2 Wm^–2 and ± 0.1° C, respectively.