Short periodic variations of polar motion and hemispheric atmospheric angular momentum excitation functions in the period 1984-1992

Short periodic oscillations with the periods from 10 up to 110 days of the hemispheric components of effective atmospheric angular momentum (EAAM) excitation function and their correlation with polar motion excitation function have been analyzed. The EAAM data of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) computed for the two hemispheres and the very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) polar motion NGS 92 R01 data (NGS 1992), determined by the National Geodetic Survey were applied. The distinct oscillations with periods of about 28, 35–55 and 60–80 days were detected in the _y-component of both polar motion excitation function and northern EAAM excitation functions containing wind and pressure, with and without inverted barometric correction terms. The _y-component of the polar motion excitation function is significanly correlated (correlation coefficient equal to 0.55-0.75) with the _y-components of the northern EAAM excitation functions mentioned above, which are mostly induced by the atmospheric circulation over lands. No meaningful correlation between polar motion excitation function and the southern EAAM excitation functions was found. The _x-components of the EAAM and polar motion excitation functions are not significantly correlated. The strong short periodic variation of the length of day (LOD) and _y in the early 1988 seems to be caused by the above-mentioned 35–55 days oscillations of the northern hemisphere atmosphere. This variation can be related to the rapid passing from the El Niño to the La Niña phenomenon or from the minimum to the maximum in the Southern Oscillation Index in 1987-1989.     

Assessment of the Global and Regional Land Hydrosphere and Its Impact on the Balance of the Geophysical Excitation Function of Polar Motion

The impact of continental hydrological loading from land water, snow and ice on polar motion excitation, calculated as hydrological angular momentum (HAM), is difficult to estimate, and not as much is known about it as about atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) and oceanic angular momentum (OAM). In this paper, regional hydrological excitations to polar motion are investigated using monthly terrestrial water storage data derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission and from the five models of land hydrology. The results show that the areas where the variance shows large variability are similar for the different models of land hydrology and for the GRACE data. Areas which have a small amplitude on the maps make an important contribution to the global hydrological excitation function of polar motion. The comparison of geodetic residuals and global hydrological excitation functions of polar motion shows that none of the hydrological excitation has enough energy to significantly improve the agreement between the observed geodetic excitation and geophysical ones.     

地球自转及其和地球物理现象的联系：：Ⅱ.地极运动

地球自转运动包括岁差和章动，极移和日长的变化，极移指自转轴相对地壳的运动。其主要激发原因是地球上物质分布的变化。因而，对极移的观测和研究必然为全球性的地球物理现象提供着信息。     

Recent progress and future directions of ChinaFLUX

The eddy covariance technique has emerged as an important tool to directly measure carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat fluxes between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere after a long history of fundamental research and technological developments. With the realization of regional networks of flux measurements in North American, European, Asia, Brazil, Australia and Africa, a global-scale network of micrometeorological flux measurement (FLUXNET) was established in 1998. FLUXNET has made great progresses in investigating the environmental mechanisms controlling carbon and water cycles, quantifying spatial-temporal patterns of carbon budget and seeking the “missing carbon sink” in global terrestrial ecosystems in the past ten years. The global-scale flux measurement also built a platform for international communication in the fields of resource, ecology and environment sciences. With the continuous development of flux research, FLUXNET will introduce and explore new techniques to extend the application fields of flux measurement and to answer questions in the fields of bio-geography, eco-hydrology, meteorology, climate change, remote sensing and modeling with eddy covariance flux data. As an important part of FLUXNET, ChinaFLUX has made significant progresses in the past three years on the methodology and technique of eddy covariance flux measurement, on the responses of CO₂ and H₂O exchange between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere to environmental change, and on flux modeling development. Results showed that the major forests on the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) were all carbon sinks during 2003 to 2005, and the alpine meadows on the Tibet Plateau were also small carbon sinks. However, the reserved natural grassland, Leymus chinensis steppe in Inner Mongolia, was a carbon source. On a regional scale, temperature and precipitation are the primary climatic factors that determined the carbon balance in major terrestrial ecosystems in China. Finally, the current research emphasis and future directions of ChinaFLUX were presented. By combining flux network and terrestrial transect, ChinaFLUX will develop integrated research with multi-scale, multi-process, multi-subject observations, placing emphasis on the mechanism and coupling relationships between water, carbon and nitrogen cycles in terrestrial ecosystems.     

Analyses of zonal atmospheric excitation functions and their correlation with polar motion excitation functions

The atmospheric influence on the Earths, rotation can be described by the effective atmospheric angular momentum (EAAM) functions. In this study we focus on the analysis of short period variations of the equatorial components of the zonal EAAM excitation functions ₁ and ₂ and their influence on similar variations of polar motion. The global objective analysis data of the Japanese Meteorological Agency for the period 1986–1992 were used to compute the EAAM excitation functions in different latitude belts. Time- and latitude-variable amplitude spectra of variations of these functions with periods shorter than 150 days, containing pressure, pressure with the inverted barometric correction, and wind terms were computed. The spectra show distinct latitude and time variations of the prograde and retrograde oscillations which reach their maxima mainly in mid-latitudes. Prograde and retrograde oscillations with periods of about 40–60 days and about 110–120 days are seen in the spectra of pressure terms of the equatorial components of the zonal EAAM excitation functions. Additionally, correlation coefficients and cross-spectra between variations of the geodetic polar motion and equatorial components of the zonal EAAM excitation functions were computed to identify the latitude belts of the globe over which atmospheric circulation changes are correlated mostly with short period variations of the polar motion excitation functions. The correlation coefficients vary in time and latitude and reach maximum values in the northern latitudes from 50°N to 60°N. In the cross-spectra between the polar motion excitation functions and pressure terms of the zonal EAAM excitation functions there are peaks of common prograde oscillations with the periods around 20, 30, 40–50, 60 and 80–150 days and of common retrograde oscillations around 20, 30, 40 and 50–70 days.Paper presented at the IERS Workshop in Paris, March 1994     

Comparison of the geophysical excitations of polar motion from the period: 1980.0–2009.0

In this study we compared contributions to polar motion excitation determined separately from each of three kinds of geophysical data: atmospheric pressure, equivalent water height estimated from hydrological models, and harmonic coefficients of the Earth gravity field obtained from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Hydrological excitation function (Hydrological Angular Momentum — HAM) has been estimated from models of global hydrology, based on the observed distribution of surfacewater, snow, ice, and soil moisture. In our considerationwe used several global models of land hydrosphere and models ofAtmospheric Angular Momentum (AAM) and Oceanic Angular Momentum (OAM). All of themwere compared with observed Geodetic Angular Momentum (GAM). The spectra of the following excitation functions of polar motion: GAM, AAM+OAM, AAM+OAM+HAM, GAM-AAM-OAM residual geodetic excitation function, and HAM were computed too. The time variable spectra of geodetic, gravimetric, and the sum of atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrological excitation functions are also presented. Phasor diagrams of the seasonal components of polar motion excitation functions of all HAM excitation functions as well as of two GRACE solutions: Center for Space Research (CSR), Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales/Groupe de Recherche en Geodesie Spatiale (CNES/GRGS) were determined and discussed.     

Air temperature feedback and its contribution to global warming

Air temperature feedback results from the thermal-radiative coupling between the atmosphere and the surface and plays an important role in surface energy balance. This paper reveals the contribution of air temperature feedback to the global warming from 1980 to 2000. The air temperature feedback kernel, evaluated using the ERA-Interim reanalysis data, is used to discuss the physical mechanism for air temperature feedback, the dependency of the strength of air temperature feedback on the climatological spatial distributions of air temperature, water vapor and cloud content, and the contributions of air temperature feedback to rapid global warming. The coupling between temperature feedback and each of the external forcings and individual feedback processes will amplify the anomaly of direct energy flux convergence at the surface induced by the external forcings and individual processes. The air temperature feedback amplifies the initial surface warming due to the increase in CO₂ concentration, ice and snow melting, increase in water vapor, and change in ocean heat storage. It also amplifies the surface warming due to the longwave radiaitve forcing associated with the increase in cloud cover, which acts to suppress the cooling of the shortwave effect of cloud forcing. Overall, temperature feedback plays an important role in the global warming from 1980 to 2000, as the net positive contribution to the perturbation of global mean energy flux at the surface from the air temperature feedback is larger than the net negative contribution from external forcing and all non-temperature feedbacks.     

Hydrologic implications of the isotopic kinetic fractionation of open-water evaporation

The kinetic fractionation of open-water evaporation against the stable water isotope H_2 ~(18)O is an important mechanism underlying many hydrologic studies that use ~(18)O as an isotopic tracer. A recent in-situ measurement of the isotopic water vapor flux over a lake indicates that the kinetic effect is much weaker(kinetic factor 6.2‰) than assumed previously(kinetic factor14.2‰) by lake isotopic budget studies. This study investigates the implications of the weak kinetic effect for studies of deuterium excess-humidity relationships, regional moisture recycling, and global evapotranspiration partitioning. The results indicate that the low kinetic factor is consistent with the deuterium excess-humidity relationships observed over open oceans.The moisture recycling rate in the Great Lakes region derived from the isotopic tracer method with the low kinetic factor is a much better agreement with those from atmospheric modeling studies than if the default kinetic factor of 14.2‰ is used. The ratio of transpiration to evapotranspiration at global scale decreases from 84±9%(with the default kinetic factor) to 76±19%(with the low kinetic factor), the latter of which is in slightly better agreement with other non-isotopic partitioning results.     

Agreement between Earth's rotation and mass displacement as detected by GRACE

The progress in GRACE data processing should improve the estimation of low degree spherical harmonics which are expected to agree better with Earth's rotation observations. The polar motion and length-of-day excitations determined from the spherical harmonics of the GRGS latest release (RL02) are explored and compared to the previous release (RL01). The RL02 gives best fit of the observed annual variations than RL01 and geophysical models do. However, the observed residual signal obtained after removing annual and semiannual oscillations is still better explained by the geophysical models even if RL02 estimates are improved at these frequencies scales. Linear trends are also estimated over study period (2003–2008). The linear trends of χ₁ based on GRACE RL01/02 and EOP are similar but they are very different for χ₂. Further studies with longer time series of GRACE and future gravimetric missions could help better interpret the long term variations and the effects of ice sheet mass loss or post glacial rebound. Concerning LOD variations, GRACE/LAGEOS mass displacement information brings better agreement with EOP observations, compared to the pressure term estimated by models, however the RL02 has not shown significant improvement.     

Dependence of geomagnetic disturbances on extreme values of the solar wind <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">y</Emphasis></Subscript> component

The dependence of the zonal geomagnetic indices (AE, Ap, Kp, Kn, and Dst) on the solar wind parameters (the electric field E _y component, dynamic pressure P _d and IMF irregularity σB) has been studied for two types of events: magnetic clouds and high-speed streams. Based on the empirical relationships, it has been established that the AE, Ap, Kp, and Kn indices are directly proportional to the E _y value at E _y < 12 mV m^?1 and are inversely proportional to this value at E _y > 12 mV m^?1 for the first-type events. On the contrary, the dependence of Dst on E _y is monotonous nonlinear. A linear dependence of all geomagnetic indices on E _y is typical of the second-type events. It has been indicated that the specific features of geoeffectiveness of magnetic clouds and high-speed solar wind streams are caused by the dependence of the electric field potential across the polar cap on the electric field, solar wind dynamic pressure, and IMF fluctuations.     

Importance Profiles for Water Vapor

Motivated by the scientific desire to align observations with quantities of physical interest, we survey how scalar importance functions depend on vertically resolved water vapor. Definitions of importance begin from familiar examples of water mass I ^m and TOA clear-sky outgoing longwave flux I ^OLR, in order to establish notation and illustrate graphically how the sensitivity profile or “kernel” depends on whether specific humidity S, relative humidity R, or ln(R) are used as measures of vapor. Then, new results on the sensitivity of convective activity I ^con to vapor (with implied knock-on effects such as weather prediction skill) are presented. In radiative-convective equilibrium, organized (line-like) convection is much more sensitive to moisture than scattered isotropic convection, but it exists in a drier mean state. The lesson for natural convection may be that organized convection is less susceptible to dryness and can survive and propagate into regions unfavorable for disorganized convection. This counterintuitive interpretive conclusion, with respect to the narrow numerical result behind it, highlights the importance of clarity about what is held constant at what values in sensitivity or susceptibility kernels. Finally, the sensitivities of observable radiance signals I ^sig for passive remote sensing are considered. While the accuracy of R in the lower free troposphere is crucial for the physical importance scalars, this layer is unfortunately the most difficult to isolate with passive remote sensing: In high emissivity channels, water vapor signals come from too high in the atmosphere (for satellites) or too low (for surface radiometers), while low emissivity channels have poor altitude discrimination and (in the case of satellites) are contaminated by surface emissions. For these reasons, active ranging (LiDAR) is the preferred observing strategy.     

A method for estimating soil moisture storage in regions under water stress and storage depletion: a case study of Hai River Basin,North China

Soil moisture is a consideration for soil conservation, agricultural production and climate modelling. This article presents a simple method for estimating soil moisture storage under water stress and storage depletion conditions. The method is driven by the common agro‐hydrologic variables of precipitation (PPT), irrigation (IRR) and evapotranspiration (ET). The proposed method is successfully tested for the 152 000 km² floodplain region of Hai River Basin using 48 consecutive months (2003–2006) of data. Soil moisture data from global land data assimilation system/Noah land surface model are validated with ground‐truth data from 102 soil moisture monitoring sites. The validated soil moisture is used in combination with in situ groundwater data to quantify total water storage change (TWSC) in the region. The estimated storage change is in turn compared with gravity recovery and climate experiment‐derived TWSC for the study area. The soil moisture and TWSC terms show favourable agreements, with discrepancies of < 10% on the average. While there is no consistent seasonal trend in soil moisture, TWSC shows a strong seasonality. It is low in spring and high in summer. This trend corresponds with the IRR–PPT season in the study area. Change in groundwater and total water storage indicates storage depletion in the basin. Storage depletion in the region is driven mainly by groundwater IRR and ET loss. Despite the low PPT and high ET, there is narrowing seasonal trend in soil moisture. This is achieved at the expense of groundwater storage. IRR pumping has induced extensive groundwater depletion in the basin. It is therefore vital to develop cultivation strategies that aim at limiting IRR pumping and ET loss. Water management practices that not only reduce waste but also ensure high productivity and ecological sustainability could also mitigate storage depletion in the region. These measures could reduce further not only the seasonal trend in soil moisture but also that in groundwater storage. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地球自转周期、极移和章动与全球强震关联分析

目前,人们还无法准确地预报地震。找到地震和某种物理量之间的关系,积极地研究地震的触发因素具有非常深远的意义。漂浮在软流层上的地球板块随地球一起转动,地球自转变化可能对强震有一定的触发作用。统计2000年以后全球M_W7.9以上强震和地球自转周期、极移以及章动的关系,发现全球强震和大约13～15天的日长变化、大约一年周期极移变化以及十几天左右不规则章动有很强的关联性。通过贝叶斯公式分析,强震发生在日长变化拐点处的概率为随机概率的3倍,发生在极移X方向拐点处的概率为随机概率的6倍,发生在极移Y方向拐点处的概率为随机概率的3倍,发生在章动拐点处的概率为随机概率的2倍。这种拐点不是固定周期,它受到各种摄动因素而发生不规则漂移,全球强震往往发生在上述周期变化的拐点处。希望以上结论能对大地震预报提供有益的参考信息。     

Gradual late stage deepening of Gega ice-dammed lake,Tsangpo gorge,southeastern Tibet,indicated by preliminary sedimentary rock magnetic properties

Gega lake, in southeastern Tibet, was formed by the blocking of Yarlung Tsangpo gorge by a glacier and is a well-known example of geomorphological damming. However, the evolution of the damming process at the site is still not understood in detail. Here, we use measurements of multiple magnetic parameters of the sediments from the Yusong (YS) 3 section, which is well-dated by optically stimulated luminescence, to provide a detailed history of the late stage of Gega dammed lake since 17.0 ka. Low-frequency field magnetic susceptibility (χ_lf) increases upwards gradually from 25 to 79?×?10^?8 m³/kg above 5.5 m, but other magnetic properties, such as frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility (χ_fd % and χ_fd), susceptibility of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (χ_ARM), and saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) did not show a similar degree of enhancement. The magnetic grain size indicators of χ_ARM/χ_lf, χ_ARM/SIRM, and χ_lf/SIRM all indicate a trend of increasing magnetic grain size from the 5.5 m to the top of section; however, the bulk sediment grain size decreases gradually within the same interval. The total organic carbon is very low (0.2–0.7%), and thus, it is unlikely that the sedimentary environment is sufficiently strongly reducing to lead to the dissolution of magnetic minerals. Therefore, we infer that the coarsening-upwards of the magnetic grain size, and the increasing magnetic susceptibility from 5.5 m, reflect the gradual preferential preservation of magnetic minerals, caused by the deepening of the lake. Thus, we interpret the magnetic record of the section as reflecting the gradual deepening of the late stage of Gega ice-dammed lake. Last, the abrupt disappearance of the lake may have resulted in an outburst flood.     

Spatiotemporal variations of actual evapotranspiration over the Lake Selin Co and surrounding small lakes (Tibetan Plateau) during 2003–2012

Actual evapotranspiration(ET_a) over the Tibetan Plateau(TP) is an important component of the water cycle,and greatly influences the water budgets of the TP lake basins.Quantitative estimation of ET_a within lake basins is fundamental to physically understanding ET_a changes,and thus will improve the understanding of the hydro logical processes and energy balance throughout the lake basins.In this study,the spatiotemporal dynamic changes of ET_α within the Lake Selin Co(the TP's largest lake) and its surrounding small lakes and land area during 2003-2012 are examined at the basin scale.This was carried out using the well-established Water and Energy Budget-based Distributed Hydrological Model(WEB-DHM) for the land area,the Penman method for the water area when unfrozen,and a simple sublimation estimation approach for the water area when frozen.The relationships between ET_a changes and controlling factors are also discussed.Results indicate that the simulated land ET_a from the WEB-DHM reasonably agrees with the estimated ET_a values from the nonlinear complementary relationship model using appropriately calibrated parameter values at a point scale.Land ET_a displayed a non-significant increase of 7.03 mm year~(-1),and largely depends on precipitation.For the water area,the combined effects of reduced wind speed and net radiation offset the effect of rising temperature and vapor pressure deficit,and contributed to a non-significant decrease in evaporation of 4.17 mm year~(-1).Sensitivity analysis shows that vapor pressure deficit and wind speed are the most sensitive variables to the changes of evaporation from the water area.     

The rotational and gravitational signature of the December 26, 2004 Sumatran earthquake

Besides generating seismic waves, which eventually dissipate, an earthquake also generates a static displacement field everywhere within the Earth. This global displacement field rearranges the Earth’s mass thereby causing the Earth’s rotation and gravitational field to change. The size of this change depends upon the magnitude, focal mechanism, and location of the earthquake. The Sumatran earthquake of December 26, 2004 is the largest earthquake to have occurred since the 1960 Chilean earthquake. Using a spherical, layered Earth model, the coseismic effect of the Sumatran earthquake upon the Earth’s length-of-day, polar motion, and low-degree harmonic coefficients of the gravitational field are computed. Using a model of the earthquake source that is composed of five subevents having a total moment-magnitude M _w of 9.3, it is found that this earthquake should have caused the length-of-day to decrease by 6.8 microseconds, the position of the Earth’s generalized figure axis to shift 2.32 milliarcseconds towards 127° E longitude, the Earth’s oblateness J ₂ to decrease by 2.37 × 10⁻¹¹ and the Earth’s pear-shapedness J ₃ to decrease by 0.63 × 10⁻¹¹. The predicted change in the length-of-day, position of the generalized figure axis, and J ₃ are probably not detectable by current measurement systems. But the predicted change in oblateness is perhaps detectable if other effects, such as those of the atmosphere, oceans, and continental water storage, can be adequately removed from the observations.     

Modeling studies of tidal dynamics and the associated responses to coastline changes in the Bohai Sea,China

Over the past 30 years, reclamation projects and related changes have impacted the hydrodynamics and sediment transport in the Bohai Sea. Three-dimensional tidal current models of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea were constructed using the MIKE 3 model. We used a refined grid to simulate and analyze the effects of changes in coastline, depth, topography, reclamation, the Yellow River estuary, and coastal erosion on tidal systems, tide levels, tidal currents, residual currents, and tidal fluxes. The simulation results show that the relative change in the amplitude of the half-day tide is greater than that of the full-day tide. The changes in the tidal amplitudes of M₂, S₂, K₁, and O₁ caused by coastline changes accounted for 27.76–99.07% of the overall change in amplitude from 1987 to 2016, and water depth changes accounted for 0.93–72.24% of the overall change. The dominant factor driving coastline changes is reclamation, accounting for 99.55–99.91% of the amplitude changes in tidal waves, followed by coastal erosion, accounting for 0.05–0.40% of the tidal wave amplitude changes. The contribution of changes in the Yellow River estuary to tidal wave amplitude changes is small, accounting for 0.01–0.12% of the amplitude change factor. The change in the highest tide level (HTL) is mainly related to the amplitude change, and the correlation with the phase change is small. The dominant factor responsible for the change in the HTL is the tide amplitude change in M2, followed by S2, whereas the influence of the K1 and O1 tides on the change in the HTL is small. Reclamation resulted in a decrease in the vertical average maximum flow velocity (V_VAM) in the Bohai Sea. Shallower water depths have led to an increase in the V_VAM; deeper water depths have led to a decrease in the maximum flow velocity. The absolute value of the maximum flow velocity gradually decreases from the surface to the bottom, but the relative change value is basically constant. The changes in the tidal dynamics of the Bohai Sea are proportional to the degree of change in the coastline. The maximum and minimum changes in the tidal flux appear in Laizhou Bay (P-LZB) and Liaodong Bay (P-LDB), respectively. The changes in the tidal flux are related to the change in the area of the bay. Due to the reduced tidal flux, the water exchange capacity of the Bohai Sea has decreased, impacting the ecological environment of the Bohai Sea. Strictly controlling the scale of reclamation are important measures for reducing the decline in the water exchange capacity of the Bohai Sea and the deterioration of its ecological environment.     

Role of solar activity in formation of the anomalous El Nin’o current

Monthly indices of Southern Atmospheric Oscillation (SOI) and corresponding Wolf numbers, geoeffective solar flares, magnetic AE indices as well as daily average values of the southward component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF B _z) and data on the wind characteristics at Antarctic stations Vostok, Leningradskaya, and Russkaya are analyzed. It is shown that a sharp decrease in the SOI indices, which corresponds to the beginning of El Nin’o (ENSO), is preceded one or two months before by a 20% increase in the monthly average Wolf numbers. In warm years of Southern Atmospheric Oscillation a linear relationship is observed between the SOI indices and the number of geoeffective solar flares with correlation coefficients p < ?0.5. It is shown that in warm years a change in the general direction of the surface wind to anomalous at the above stations is preceded one or two days before by an increase in the daily average values of IMF B _z. An increase in the SOI indices is preceded one or two months before by a considerable increase in the monthly average values of the magnetic AE indices.     

Manifestations of cyclic variations in the solar magnetic field in long-term modulation of cosmic rays

The possibilities of improving the semiempirical model of cosmic ray (CR) modulation, proposed by us previously, are discussed. The following characteristics have been considered as model parameters in order to describe long-period CR variations using a unified model and to more completely reflect solar cycles in CR modulation as a complex interaction between two systems of fields (large-scale and local): the value and sign of the polar solar field, the average strength of the solar magnetic field (the B _ss integral index), partial indices (zone-even (ZE) and zone-odd (ZO) and sector-even (SE) and sector-odd (SO) indices), the tilt of the heliospheric current sheet, and the special index (F _x ) taking into account X ray flares. The role of each index in CR modulation has been revealed. When we described the long-term CR variations using many parameters and taking into account the integral index or one of four partial indices, the best results of modulation modeling during 1976–1999 were obtained for the B _ss total energetic index and SO index. A difference between the model calculations and observations increases beginning from the middle of 2000; the problem features of the CR behavior and the specific features of modeling this behavior in cycle 23 of solar activity (SA) are discussed. It is assumed that a decrease in the CR density at the last SA minimums (from cycle to cycle) can be related to a decrease in the ZO index and to a recently detected similar decrease in the vertical component of the solar dipole magnetic moment.     

Effect of water stress on ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration of a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leymus chinensis</Emphasis> steppe in Inner Mongolia

Many studies on global climate have forecast major changes in the amounts and spatial patterns of precipitation that may significantly affect temperate grasslands in arid and semi-arid regions. As a part of ChinaFLUX, eddy covariance flux measurements were made at a semi-arid Leymus chinensis steppe in Inner Mongolia, China during 2003–2004 to quantify the response of carbon exchange to environmental changes. Results showed that gross ecosystem production (F _GEP) and ecosystem respiration (R _eco) of the steppe were significantly depressed by water stress due to lack of precipitation during the growing season. Temperature was the dominant factor affecting F _GEP and R _eco in 2003, whereas soil moisture imposed a significant influence on both R _eco and F _GEP in 2004. Under wet conditions, R _eco showed an exponentially increasing trend with temperature (Q ₁₀ = 2.0), but an apparent reduction in the value of R _eco and its temperature sensitivity were observed during the periods of water stress (Q ₁₀=1.6). Both heat and water stress can cause decrease in F _GEP. The seasonality of ecosystem carbon exchange was strongly correlated with the variation of precipitation. With less precipitation in 2003, the steppe sequestrated carbon in June and July, and went into a senescence in early August due to water stress. As compared to 2003, the severe drought during the spring of 2004 delayed the growth of the steppe until late June, and the steppe became a CO₂ sink from early July until mid-September, with ample precipitation in August. The semi-arid steppe released a total of 9.7 g C·m^?2 from May 16 to the end of September 2003, whereas the net carbon budget during the same period in 2004 was close to zero. Long-term measurements over various grasslands are needed to quantify carbon balance in temperate grasslands.