Characterizing land condition variability in Northern China from 1982 to 2011

For the last three decades, Northern China has been considered as one of the most sensitive areas regarding global environmental change. The integration of AVHRR GIMMS and MODIS NDVI data (1982–2011), of which for the overlapping period of 2000–2006 show good consistency, were used for characterizing land condition variability. The trends of standardized annually ΣNDVI, temperature, precipitation and PDSI were obtained using a linear regression model. The results showed that Northern China has a general increase in greenness for the period 1982–2011 (a = 0.05). Also, annually ΣNDVI is significantly correlated with temperature and precipitation data at the regional scale (p < 0.05), implying that temperature and precipitation are the dominant limiting factors for vegetation growth. Since the greening is not uniform, factors other than temperature and precipitation may contribute to greening in some areas, while the grassland and cropland ecosystem are becoming increasingly vulnerable to drought. The results of trend analysis indicate that greenness seems to be evident in most of the study areas.     

Research on Temporal and Spatial Variation Characteristics of Vegetation Cover in Qilian Mountains from 1982 to 2006

Based on GIMMS NDVI data of Qilian Mountains region during 1982-2006, using the maximum synthesis, mean method, slope analysis and correlation analysis, the spatial and temporal changes of vegetation cover and its correlations with climatic factors were studied in Qilian Mountains. The results showed that: ①Vegetation NDVI of Qilian Mountains increases from west to east in general, showing the distribution pattern of much more vegetation in east regions than in west regions; ②Vegetation NDVI of Qilian Mountains has generally increased in the past twenty five years, but there are obvious spatial differences, especially vegetation NDVI of middle and east regions increase obviously; ③There have been obvious differences on spatial variation of seasonal NDVI in the past twenty five years in Qilian Mountains, and the increased area of vegetation NDVI is the largest in summer, followed by autumn, spring, but the most reduced area of vegetation NDVI is in winter. The regions of increased vegetation NDVI concentrate on southern mountain of Qinghai Province and in Buha River Basin, while the regions of reduced vegetation NDVI concentrate on Wushaoling, Lenglongling and Daban mountain in each season; ④The correlations between monthly average vegetation NDVI and temperature and precipitation are very significant, which indicates that temperature and precipitation are the main factors affecting the change of vegetation NDVI in Qilian Mountains, but intensive human activities are also important factors affecting the change of vegetation NDVI in some areas.     

Geospatial analysis of Maize yield vulnerability to climate change in Nigeria

The fifth assessment report (AR5) predicted that land temperatures would rise faster over Africa than other global averages while changes in rainfall are uncertain across Sub-Saharan Africa. These portend water availability challenges with direct impacts on agricultural production. Existing studies on yield vulnerability in Nigeria are mostly at a national scale, which is not adequate for local decision making. This study provides a spatially explicit model of Maize yield vulnerabilities across the growing areas (GA). Thereby, turning available data into actionable information to support development actions. Yield vulnerability index was constructed as a relationship among exposure, yield sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Exposure was computed as the ratio between long and short-term climatic factors. Yield sensitivities were expressed as the ratio between expected and actual yield. Adaptive capacity was captured using a combination of socio-economic proxies. The result shows that Maize yields were vulnerable to climate variability across most of the GAs. Exposure values indicate a very high level of climate variability with the northern region more exposed. Yield sensitivity ranges between ranges 0.47 and 0.95, and highest along the northern extremes, moderate sensitivities were observed across large tracts of the north-west, northeast, south-east and south–south geopolitical regions. Adaptive capacity is highly variable ranging between 0.27 and 1. Yield vulnerability ranges between 0.46 and 1.51. The general assumption of a north–south divide for yield vulnerability was invalidated. Vulnerability is more disparate beyond latitudinal differences. The model presented, creates a framework to support targeted response, and opportunity for building resilience to climate change impact for crop yield.

     

Eocene prevalence of monsoon-like climate over eastern China reflected by hydrological dynamics

Hydrological dynamics of sedimentary basins are essential for understanding regional climatic pattern in the geological past. In previous qualitative studies lithologically depending on the occurrence of featured sedimentary rocks, the Eocene climate of China had been subdivided into three latitudinal zones, with one subtropical high-controlled arid zone throughout middle China, and two humid zones respectively in the north and south. However, recent advances on mammalian fauna distribution, plant fossil-based quantitative paleoclimatic reconstruction, and modeling experiment jointly suggest that the relatively humid monsoonal climate might have prevailed over the territory. Here we examine and compare sedimentary sequences of 10 Eocene sections across eastern China, and hence the lake level fluctuations, to discuss the nature of climate type. Our results show that, instead of the categorically zonal pattern, the hydroclimate dynamics is intensified landward. This is demonstrated by the fact that, in contrast to the wide developed coal layers around the periphery, evaporites are growingly occurred endocentrically to the central part of middle China. However, although we have had assumed that all evaporites are indicator of extreme aridity, the highly oscillated climate in the central part of middle China was humid in the majority of the Eocene, distinct from permanent arid as seen in deserts or steppe along modern horse latitude. From the upcountry distribution pattern of the Eocene hydrological dynamics, it appears that the relatively dry climate in central China was caused by the impact of continentality or rain shadow effect under monsoonal, or monsoon-like climate.     

Distribution of quartz in late Quaternary Atlantic sediments in relation to climate

The distribution of quartz in the surface sediments of the Atlantic Ocean reflects derivation from continents by means of rivers, wind, ice, and coastal erosion. Enrichment of quartz thus supplied has occurred in some deep basins of especially the southern high latitudes from winnowing of finegrained clays by bottom currents. Although similar modes of quartz transport may have operated both during the Holocene and the last glacial maximum (18,000 yr B.P.), significant differences in the intensity of transport and in the locii of deposition, which are attributable to climatic variations during these times, exist in some areas of the Atlantic. In Holocene sediments of the eastern equatorial Atlantic, a band of high percent quartz exists directly off the present Saharan Desert and Sahel region and reflects the trade-wind transport of dusts from these arid and semiarid regions. During the last glacial maximum (18,000 yr B.P.), this high quartz band expanded southward by about 8° of latitude. This expansion was caused not only by the southward expansion of aridity and desert dunes but also by the southward migration of the northerly belt of trade winds during the last glaciation. Relatively high abundances and accumulation rates of quartz during the last glaciation suggest higher intensities of trade winds during that time compared to the Holocene. In the North Atlantic, the abundances of quartz in Holocene sediments are high adjacent to Greenland-Iceland and in the areas off Newfoundland-Labrador, and gradually decrease toward the central areas. The polar front and limit of sea-ice melting are at present confined to the northern part of the North Atlantic. The ice-rafting of quartz grains is, therefore, effective in the areas adjacent to Greenland and to some extent off Labrador causing high abundances in these areas. In contrast to this, during the last glaciation, the quartz abundances and accumulation rates are high in the central areas of North Atlantic around 45°N and decrease toward Greenland-Newfoundland. The migration of the polar front to as far south as 45°N and the consequent southward migration of sea-ice melting and ice-rafting during the last glaciation apparently caused this change in distribution. In addition to ice-rafting at present, wave or current reworking of relict glacial-marine detritus may have caused the high abundance of quartz in the surface sediments off Newfoundland-Labrador. In 18,000 yr B.P. sediments of the Norwegian Sea, the area of high percent quartz (>10%) is more extensive than that in Holocene sediments. This reflects the greater influence of ice-rafting or glacier activity in the sediment dispersal in the Norwegian Sea during the last glacial times.     

Vegetation and climate during the last glacial maximum in Japan

The Japanese Archipelago was almost entirely covered by coniferous forests during the last glacial maximum. Northern Hokkaido was distinguished by coniferous parkland and tundra vegetation, while southern Hokkaido and northernmost Honshu were covered by northern boreal coniferous forests consisting mainly of Picea jezoensis, Picea glehnii, Abies sachalinensis, and Larix gmelinii; Tsuga was missing from the forest. More diverse boreal forests including species from Sakhalin and northern Japan grew together in northeastern Honshu. Central Honshu and the mountains of southwestern Japan supported subalpine coniferous forests which are now mainly restricted in distribution to the central mountains. Temperate coniferous forests (Picea polita, Abies firma, and Tsuga sieboldii) existed principally in the modern mid-temperate and evergreen laurel-oak forest regions. Haploxylon pine and tree birch were also abundant in the boreal and cool-temperate zones, as was Diploxylon in the southern temperate zone. Significant populations of Fagus were found along the Pacific coasts of Kyushu and Shikoku, but they were too small to be defined as a beech forest zone. Quercetum mixtum (Quercus, Ulmus, and Tilia) was more common in the coastal lowlands of southwestern Japan than those of northeastern Honshu; it was completely eliminated from Hokkaido. The reduced mean August temperature inferred from the floral assemblages showed a latitudinal gradient 20,000 yr ago; it was 8–9°C in northern Hokkaido, 7.7–8.7°C in northernmost Honshu, 7.2–8.4°C in the central mountains, 6.5°C in the Chugoku District, and 5–6°C in Kyushu. The probable annual precipitation ranged from 1050 to 1300 mm along coasts in southwestern Japan during the culmination of the last glaciation.     

2003-2012年四川省积雪时空动态变化与气候响应研究

积雪是地球表层覆盖的重要组成部分,以高反射率、低导热率对地球能量和辐射平衡产生重要影响。利用遥感和GIS等方法能够获得大范围的雪盖信息,了解其时空分布特征及变化规律,可以对有关部门提供防灾减灾的信息。采用2003-2012年MOD10A2数据和四川省48个气象观测站的温度、降水量、湿度、气压和日照时数等数据,分析了10a四川省积雪覆盖的时空变化特征及其与气候之间的关系。结果表明：四川省积雪覆盖的空间分布呈现出西部高原多积雪,成都平原覆盖少,东部盆地几乎无积雪覆盖的阶梯式结构;2003-2012年近10a来,积雪覆盖面积年际变化呈现出小幅度波动,峰值出现于2008年,从总体趋势来看,积雪覆盖面积呈现出微弱的下降趋势;通过分析10a来积雪覆盖率与气温、降水、湿度、气压、日照时数的相关性可知,积雪覆盖率的变化特征与气温和降水的关系最为密切,与湿度的相关性一般,与气压和日照时数的关系较弱。研究表明,四川省积雪变化受气温的影响大于降水的影响,气温越高,降水量越多,积雪面积越少,反之,积雪面积越大。     

Changes of treelines and alpine vegetation in relation to post‐glacial climate dynamics in northern Fennoscandia based on pollen and chironomid records

Palaeoclimatic records derived from a variety of independent proxies provide evidence of post‐glacial changes of temperature and soil moisture in northern Fennoscandia. We use pollen percentage, pollen influx, stomatal and chironomid records from Toskaljavri, a high‐altitude lake in northern Finland, to assess how treelines and alpine vegetation there have responded to these climate changes. The evidence suggests that the cool, moist climate of the early Holocene supported birch forest in the area 9600 cal. yr BP onwards and that a rise of temperature triggered the immigration of pine at 8300 cal. yr BP. At 6100–4000 cal. yr BP altitudinal treeline in the area was formed by pine, in contrast to the modern situation where mountain birch reaches a higher elevation. Alpine vegetation also demonstrates clear changes. Plant communities typical of dry, oligotrophic heaths of northern Fennoscandia expanded during the dry climatic period at 7000–4000 cal. yr BP and decreased in response to cooler and moister conditions after 4000 cal. yr BP. Alpine plant communities favouring moist sites show an inverse pattern, expanding after a change towards moister climate after 4000 cal. yr BP. In a redundancy analysis (RDA), a statistically significant proportion of the variability in the total chironomid assemblages was captured by changes in the pollen types reflecting alpine vegetation typical of moist sites. Although chironomid community changes appeared to follow the major patterns in the alpine vegetation succession, the present study does not support a direct link between the changing treeline position and chironomid stratigraphy. Rather, the data indicate that the terrestrial and aquatic environments have each responded directly to the same ultimate cause, namely changing Holocene climate. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatio-temporal variability of dry and wet conditions over East Africa from 1982 to 2015 using quantile regression model

Natural Hazards - Precipitation and temperature are critical climatic variables that drive catastrophic climatic events including droughts and floods. These variables continue to fluctuate, thereby...     

1979~2010年和墨洛绿洲区地下水时空演变与归因

地下水系统的演变机制对干旱区地下水资源的可持续管理至关重要。基于地下水观测数据、水文地质资料、气象资料和灌溉用水的统计数据,运用Mann-Kendall趋势检验、地质统计学和地下水储量计算法,研究了和田河流域1979~2010年地下水埋深和储量的时空变化,并应用灰色关联法分析了地下水时空演变的影响因素。结果表明：1979~2010年和墨洛绿洲地下水埋深呈增大趋势,枯水季增大趋势略大于丰水季。30年间地下水储量减小的平均速率为2567×10⁴m³/a,尤其是2004年以后地下水储量锐减,2004~2010年地下水储量的平均减小速率是1979~2004年的8.16倍。从空间分布上,地下水埋深增加有从冲洪积扇缘向扇顶递减的趋势。地下水埋深增大、地下水储量递减主要是由于灌溉面积增加导致地下水开采增加引起的,人类活动对地下水均衡变化的作用大于自然要素的影响。可持续的绿洲农业水资源管理,是维持绿洲地下水安全的关键。

     

Stability of aggregates of some weathered soils in south-eastern Nigeria in relation to their geochemical properties

The stability of some highly weathered soils of the tropics is controlled by their organo-mineral substances. Highly weathered soils from 10 different locations were sampled from their A and B horizons to determine their aggregate stability. The objective of the study was to determine the aggregate stability of the soils and their relationships with geochemical constituents. The major geochemical elements of the soils are quartz and kaolinite, SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and Fe₂O₃, while the dithionite extractable Fe and Al was greater than their corresponding oxalate and pyrophosphate forms. The mean-weight diameter from dried aggregates (MWD_d) and their corresponding wet mean-weight diameter (MWD_w) were related significantly (r = 0.64*). The dithionite extracted Al and Fe or the crystalline forms of these elements were outstanding in the stability of the aggregates. However, this did not diminish the influence of SOC reduced to third order level in the stability of the soils. The influence of SOC in these soils, however, indirectly manifested on the role of Fe_p and Al_p in the aggregation of these soils. The crystalline Fe and Al sesquioxides were very prominent in the aggregation and stability of these soils.     

Analysis of stability parameters in relation to precipitation associated with pre-monsoon thunderstorms over Kolkata,India

The upper air RS/RW (Radio Sonde/Radio Wind) observations at Kolkata (22.65N, 88.45E) during pre-monsoon season March–May, 2005–2012 is used to compute some important dynamic/thermodynamic parameters and are analysed in relation to the precipitation associated with the thunderstorms over Kolkata, India. For this purpose, the pre-monsoon thunderstorms are classified as light precipitation (LP), moderate precipitation (MP) and heavy precipitation (HP) thunderstorms based on the magnitude of associated precipitation. Richardson number in non-uniformly saturated (R _i *) and saturated atmosphere (R _i ); vertical shear of horizontal wind in 0–3, 0–6 and 3–7 km atmospheric layers; energy-helicity index (EHI) and vorticity generation parameter (VGP) are considered for the analysis. The instability measured in terms of Richardson number in non-uniformly saturated atmosphere ( \(R_{i}^{\mathrm {\ast } })\) well indicate the occurrence of thunderstorms about 2 hours in advance. Moderate vertical wind shear in lower troposphere (0–3 km) and weak shear in middle troposphere (3–7 km) leads to heavy precipitation thunderstorms. The wind shear in 3–7 km atmospheric layers, EHI and VGP are good predictors of precipitation associated with thunderstorm. Lower tropospheric wind shear and Richardson number is a poor discriminator of the three classified thunderstorms.     

Anomalous circulation patterns associated with 2011 heavy rainfall over northern Tanzania

Natural Hazards - The socio-economic impacts of floods calls for improved understanding of flood drivers. While the large-scale circulation anomalies associated with rainfall anomalies is a...     

Vegetation cover-abundance and litter accumulation in the humid rain forest of South Eastern Nigeria

Under natural growth/development with relatively less inhibiting factors, massive vegetation cover of the humid tropical rain forest could form litter accumulation with situation where the tree cover is subjected to intensive exploitation and other destructive environmental agents, sparse vegetation with insufficient litter becomes the existing state of the forest ecosystem.     

Global surface temperature in relation to northeast monsoon rainfall over Tamil Nadu

The local and teleconnective association between Northeast Monsoon Rainfall (NEMR) over Tamil Nadu and global Surface Temperature Anomalies (STA) is examined using the monthly gridded STA data for the period 1901–2004. Various geographical regions which have significant teleconnective signals associated with NEMR are identified. During excess (deficient) NEMR years, it is observed that the meridional gradient in surface air temperature anomalies between Europe and north Africa, in the month of September is directed from the subtropics (higher latitudes) to higher latitudes (subtropics). It is also observed that North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) during September influences the surface air temperature distribution over north Africa and Europe. Also, the NAO index in January shows significant inverse relationship with NEMR since recent times. The central and eastern equatorial Pacific oceanic regions have significant and consistent positive correlation with NEMR while the western equatorial region has significant negative correlation with NEMR. A zonal temperature anomaly gradient index (ZTAGI) defined between eastern equatorial Pacific and western equatorial Pacific shows stable significant inverse relationship with NEMR