Numerical simulation of the development of vortices over the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau

Summary Some of the vortices which develop over the Tibetan plateau during summer give rise to severe weather over eastern China. These weather developments can be difficult to forecast, but have been simulated successfully in a recently developed numerical model. It will be shown that different vortices respond differently to topographic effects, to nonlinear processes and to sensible and latent heating in their formation, maintenance, and motion. Elevated terrain appears to enhance the influence of thermodynamic processes, block airflow, and increase frictional dissipation.Sensible heating sometimes collaborates with topography in blocking cold air intrusions and is not only a function of terrain elevation but also of the synoptic situation. Without the input of latent heating, vortices over the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau tend to degenerate.

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Numerische Simulation von Wirbelbildungen über dem Hochland von Tibet

Zusammenfassung Einige der sich im Sommer über dem Hochland von Tibet entwickelnden Wirbel verursachen Unwetter in Ostchina. Die Vorhersage dieser Entwicklung kann schwierig sein, sie werden aber von einem kürzlich vorgestellten numerischen Modell erfolgreich simuliert. Es wird gezeigt, daß verschiedene Wirbel verschieden auf die Orographie, auf nichtlineare Vorgänge sowie auf fühlbare und latente Wärme in ihrer Entstehung, Erhaltung und Bewegung reagieren. Ein Hochland scheint den Einfluß thermodynamischer Vorgänge zu verstärken, Strömungen zu blockieren und die Reibungsdissipation zu steigern.Die fühlbare Wärme verhindert manchmal gemeinsam mit der Topographie Kaltlufteinbrüche, hängt aber nicht nur von der Hochland-sondern auch von der synoptischen Situation ab. Ohne latente Wärme neigen Wirbel über dem Ostteil des Hochlandes von Tibet zur Degeneration.

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With 22 Figures     

Characteristics of precipitation in northern Mauritania and its links with sea surface temperature

This paper deals with the periodic fluctuation of precipitation at three meteorological stations (Atar, Chenguitti, and Akjoujt) in the Adrar and Inchiri provinces in northern Mauritania and its links with sea surface temperature (SST). Trends for these three meteorological stations were evaluated using the Mann–Kendall (MK) nonparametric test, regression analysis, and autocorrelation for persistence analysis. The MK test showed a significant decreasing trend for Akjoujt and an insignificant trend for the other rainfall time series. However, the decreasing linear regression trends were highly significant for the different time series. On the other hand, persistence analysis indicated the presence of a linear Markov type. The cycles found by power spectrum analysis ranged from 0.5 years to about 11 years. The possibility of a connection between precipitation in this region and sunspot numbers was suggested. SST of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea have significant cross-correlations with precipitation in the study area. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation effect was found to be marginal.     

Storm rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows from recently burned areas in southwestern Colorado and southern California

Debris flows generated during rain storms on recently burned areas have destroyed lives and property throughout the Western U.S. Field evidence indicate that unlike landslide-triggered debris flows, these events have no identifiable initiation source and can occur with little or no antecedent moisture. Using rain gage and response data from five fires in Colorado and southern California, we document the rainfall conditions that have triggered post-fire debris flows and develop empirical rainfall intensity–duration thresholds for the occurrence of debris flows and floods following wildfires in these settings. This information can provide guidance for warning systems and planning for emergency response in similar settings.Debris flows were produced from 25 recently burned basins in Colorado in response to 13 short-duration, high-intensity convective storms. Debris flows were triggered after as little as six to 10 min of storm rainfall. About 80% of the storms that generated debris flows lasted less than 3 h, with most of the rain falling in less than 1 h. The storms triggering debris flows ranged in average intensity between 1.0 and 32.0 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows sufficiently large to pose threats to life and property from recently burned areas in south-central, and southwestern, Colorado are defined by: I = 6.5D^− 0.7 and I = 9.5D^− 0.7, respectively, where I = rainfall intensity (in mm/h) and D = duration (in hours).Debris flows were generated from 68 recently burned areas in southern California in response to long-duration frontal storms. The flows occurred after as little as two hours, and up to 16 h, of low-intensity (2–10 mm/h) rainfall. The storms lasted between 5.5 and 33 h, with average intensities between 1.3 and 20.4 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for life- and property-threatening floods and debris flows during the first winter season following fires in Ventura County, and in the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of southern California are defined by I = 12.5D^−0.4, and I = 7.2D^−0.4, respectively. A threshold defined for flood and debris-flow conditions following a year of vegetative recovery and sediment removal for the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of I = 14.0D^−0.5 is approximately 25 mm/h higher than that developed for the first year following fires.The thresholds defined here are significantly lower than most identified for unburned settings, perhaps because of the difference between extremely rapid, runoff-dominated processes acting in burned areas and longer-term, infiltration-dominated processes on unburned hillslopes.     

Simulating the 1999 Capbreton canyon turbidity current with a Cellular Automata model

A numerical model has been developed for the simulation of turbidity currents driven by nonuniform, non cohesive sediment and flowing over a complex three dimensional submarine topography. The model is based on an alternative approach known as Cellular Automata paradigm. The model is validated by comparing a simulation with a reported field-scale event. The chosen case is a turbidity current which occurred in Capbreton Canyon and was initiated by a storm in December 1999. Using data from recent oceanographic cruises, the deposit of the event has been precisely described, which constrain values of model parameters. The model simulates the 1999 turbidity current over the actual canyon topography and related turbidite using three different types of particle. The model successfully simulates areas of erosion and deposition in the canyon. It predicts the vertical and longitudinal grain size evolution, and shows that the fining-up sequence can be deposited by several phases of deposition and erosion related to the current energetic variation during its evolution. This result could explain the presence of intrabed contacts or the frequent lack of facies in Bouma sequences.     

A new interpretation of terraces in the Taranto Gulf: the role of extensional faulting

The Taranto Gulf of southern Italy provides an excellent case where it is possible to document the importance of normal faults in displacing terraced deposits. The study area is located at the front of the southern Apennines, that is a fold-and-thrust belt developed following the closure of the Mesozoic Tethys Ocean, and the deformation of the Adriatic passive margin during Tertiary and Quaternary times. The outer, eastern parts of the belt were structured in Quaternary, i.e. up to Middle Pleistocene times.The front of the chain is partially sealed by Pliocene–Pleistocene foredeep deposits, which represent the infill of the Bradanic Trough. The upper portion of the middle Pleistocene succession consists of marine sands and conglomerates that in the previous literature have been arranged in several orders of terraces. Analysis of aerial photographs and geomorphological mapping has shown the occurrence of prominent geomorphic lineaments, which appear to control the local drainage pattern. Some of these structures coincide with the map trace of normal faults that produce vertical offsets of the marine terrace surfaces in the order of ca. 10 m each. Many of the fault escarpments reduce their elevation and terminate laterally. In other cases fault escarpments are laterally continuous and can be traced for up to 3–4 km. Scarp height is between 2 and 10 m. Their mean trend ranges from NNE–SSW to ENE–WSW and defines an arcuate pattern that mimics the present coastline.An accurate geomorphological, sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis has been carried out in a selected area of the Bradanic Trough (Pisticci transect) to investigate in detail the relationships between normal faults and the development of the terraces. This analysis allowed us to recognise five facies associations related to the upper and lower beachface and to the neritic clays which represent the substratum of the terraces. More importantly, we observed that all the terraced deposits in the Pisticci transect could be referred to a single sedimentary body displaced by faults. The terraced deposits are related to an event of beach progradation, of Middle Pleistocene age, which has been documented in other areas of the Italian peninsula. These results outline an intimate relationship between the arcuate trend of the recognised fault set and the present coastline pattern. The development of the normal faults can be related to large-scale gravitational processes developed after the general tilting towards the SE of the Bradanic Trough.     

Seasonal and inter-annual relationships between vegetation and climate in central New Mexico, USA

Linear correlations between seasonal and inter-annual measures of meteorological variables and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are calculated at six nearby yet distinct vegetation communities in semi-arid New Mexico, USA Monsoon season (June–September) precipitation shows considerable positive correlation with NDVI values from the contemporaneous summer, following spring, and following summer. Non-monsoon precipitation (October–May), temperature, and wind display both positive and negative correlations with NDVI values. These meteorological variables influence NDVI variability at different seasons and time lags. Thus vegetation responds to short-term climate variability in complex ways and serves as a source of memory for the climate system.     

Estimation of water balance components in the Black Sea

Presented are the estimates of precipitation amount and evaporation for the Black Sea basin based on the data of numerical regional reanalysis. The spatial distribution of considered variables is compared with the results obtained before using the method of extrapolation of measurements at the coastal meteorological stations. The computed water balance components of the Black Sea compared with the available literature data are used for obtaining the estimate of the mean water discharge in the Bosphorus.