Tracer experiments with turbulently dispersed air ions

Unipolar air ions released into the wind constitute a tracer which can be measured with high resolution. An ion source produces a cloud with homogeneous charge density, insensitive to source strength, dependent on time since formation only. It is well suited for tracing concentration changes due to turbulence, less suited for cloud size tracing. A tight array of 8 sensors has been used to examine turbulently dispersed ions. High-resolution records are presented and discussed. The highest concentrations measured could be undiluted source material. The frequency distribution within a plume did not differ from that in a multitude of puffs. The distribution seems to be log-normal with a geometric standard deviation of about 2.45. The time resolution used corresponds to volume resolutions of 40, 225, and 650 cm³. Sample size had no apparent effect.     

The influence of momentum advection on the Baltic Sea dynamics

Contribution of momentum advection to the formation of the low frequency fields of the Baltic Sea levels and currents is estimated using numerical experiments with a hydrodynamic model and statistical analysis of the experimental results. It is found that momentum advection has a significant influence on the formation of the mean level and its seasonal and synoptic variability in Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. The results show that nonlinear effects associated with advective accelerations can essentially contribute to the Neva River flood formation.     

SL-AV atmospheric model version using σ-<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> hybrid vertical coordinates

The SL-AV atmospheric model version using hybrid vertical coordinates combies the advantages of sigma and isobaric coordinates. The formulation and discretization of model equations maintain the equivalency of the new model version to the basic sigma version in the special case, when hybrid coordinates coincide with sigma coordinates. The SL-AV model version with hybrid vertical coordinate is verified with medium-range weather forecasts. The decrease in the errors of predicted geopotential height and wind as compared to the sigma model version is demonstrated. The use of hybrid coordinates also leads to a certain increase in forecast skill scores for some meteorological parameters characterizing aviation significant weather.     

Projected impact of deep ocean carbon dioxide discharge on atmospheric CO2 concentrations

An evaluation of oceanic containment strategies for anthropogenic carbon dioxide is presented. Energy conservation is also addressed through an input hydrocarbon-fuel consumption function. The effectiveness of the proposed countermeasures is determined from atmospheric CO₂ concentration predictions. A previous box model with a diffusive deep ocean is adapted and applied to the concept of fractional CO₂ injection in 500 m deep waters. Next, the contributions of oceanic calcium carbonate sediment dissolution, and of deep seawater renewal, are included. Numerical results show that for CO₂ direct removal measures to be effective, large fractions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide have to be processed. This point favors fuel pre-processing concepts. The global model also indicates that energy conservation, i.e. a hydrocarbon-fuel consumption slowdown, remains the most effective way to mitigate the greenhouse effect, because it offers mankind a substantial time delay to implement new energy production alternatives.     

Anthropogenic climate change over the Mediterranean region simulated by a global variable resolution model

Two 30-year simulations corresponding to 1960-1989 and 2070-2099 have been performed with a variable resolution atmospheric model. The model has a maximum horizontal resolution of 0.5° over the Mediterranean Sea. Simulations are driven by IPCC-B2 scenario radiative forcing. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are prescribed from monthly observations for the present climate simulation, and from a blend of observations and coupled simulations for the scenario. Another pair of forced atmospheric simulations has been run under these forcings with the same uniform low resolution as the coupled model. Comparisons with observations show that the variable resolution model realistically reproduces the main climate characteristics of the Mediterranean region. At a global scale, changes in latitudinal temperature profiles are similar for the forced and coupled models, justifying the time-slice approach. The 2 m temperature and precipitation responses predict a warming and drying of the Mediterranean region. A comparison with the coupled simulation and forced low-resolution simulation shows that this pattern is robust. The decrease in mean precipitation is associated with a significant decrease in soil wetness, and could involve considerable impact on water resources around the Mediterranean basin.     

Estimation of Regional Evapotranspiration by Combining Aircraftand Ground-Based Measurements

Two methods are examined for combining measurements from instrumented aircraftand towers to estimate regional scale evapotranspiration. Aircraft data provided spatially averaged values of properties of the surface, the evaporative fraction and maximum stomatal conductance. These quantities are less sensitive to meteorological conditions than the turbulent fluxes of heat and water vapour themselves. The methods allowed aircraft data collected over several days to be averaged and thus to reduce the random error associated with the temporal under-sampling inherent in aircraft measurements. Evaporative fraction is estimated directly from the aircraft data, while maximum stomatal conductance is estimated by coupling the Penman–Monteith equation to a simple model relating surface conductance to the incoming shortwave radiation and specific humidity saturation deficit. The spatial averages of evaporative fraction and maximum stomatal conductance can then be used with routine tower data to estimate the regional scale evapotranspiration. Data from aircraft flights and six ground based sites during the OASIS field campaign in south–east New South Wales in 1995 have been used to check the methods. Both the evaporative fraction and the maximum stomatal conductance derived from the aircraft data give information on the spatial variability of the surface energy budget at scales from 10 to 100 km. Daily averaged latent heat fluxes estimated using these methods for the OASIS study region agree with the available observations in quasi-stationary conditions or in weakly non-stationary conditions when the data from several aircraft flights are averaged to reduce the impact of short term imbalances in the surface energy budget.     

Estimating Buoyancy Heat Flux Using the Surface Renewal Technique over Four Amazonian Forest Sites in Brazil

The surface renewal (SR) method was applied for the first time to measurements of air temperature over four Amazonian forest sites and different seasons in order to obtain estimates of buoyancy heat flux. The required calibration of this method against eddy covariance resulted in a value for a specific parameter that is close to the range reported in other studies, contributing to the generalization of the SR method to different kinds of canopies. The comparison with fluxes obtained using the eddy covariance technique revealed a good match between the two methods for different sites, heights and seasons. Sites with high levels of non-stationarity in the signals of temperature and wind speed presented higher scatter in the regression with fluxes from eddy covariance. For a particular site with previously reported influence of low-frequency motions, the regression was only satisfactory, i.e., slope parameter close to unity and small offset, when oscillations with periods longer than $\approx $ ≈ 13 min were filtered out. The SR method has a great potential due to the simplicity of the instrumentation required. However, care should be taken when measuring under the influence of mesoscale motions, which can lead to high levels of non-stationarity, compromising the fundamental concepts of the SR theory.     

Vertical behaviour and meteorological properties of air masses in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (1997–2007)

Air masses are characterized by physical (temperature, humidity) and chemical (transported gases and aerosols) properties, being associated their arrival to different meteorological scenarios. The knowledge of the air masses over a region is fundamental as complementary information in several atmospheric studies, being the calculation of back-trajectory the most widely used tool whenever air masses are analyzed. A study of air masses has been carried out in southwestern Iberian Peninsula using 5-day kinematic back trajectories computed by the HYSPLIT model at three heights (500, 1,500 and 3,000 m) from 1997 to 2007. The main aims have been to characterize their vertical behaviour and their thermal and humidity properties. Thirteen trajectory clusters have been defined, showing the northerly and westerly clusters a high coupling degree. Seasonal daily variation of potential temperature and specific humidity has been analyzed, obtaining higher differences among clusters in the cold season.     

Diurnal variation of deep cloud systems over the Indian region using INSAT-1B pixel data

Summary Among the various time scales of deep clouds, diurnal variation is found to be prominent over the tropics. The present study examines the diurnal variation in the number and area cover associated with the cloud systems over the tropical Indian region using INSAT-1B pixel data. Three periods, namely, April–May 1988, July–August 1988, and January–February 1989 are considered. The dependence of diurnal characteristics on the temperature threshold, life duration and size of cloud systems, and land-sea contrast has been explored. The diurnal characteristics of cloud systems living for more than a day have been studied for the first time. It is shown that cloud systems exhibit strong diurnal dependence at the coldest temperature threshold used (201 K). Also, the diurnal variation is more for larger cloud systems and for longer living systems. In general, more deep cloud activity is found from the satellite data during the pre-dawn and early morning hours. Precipitation is enhanced during morning to early noon hours. Further, using data from a recent field experiment, clear evidence of diurnal variation in precipitation over the Bay of Bengal is also presented. Received March 20, 2000/Revised October 3, 2000     

Stratosphere-troposphere Dynamical Coupling over Boreal Extratropics during the Sudden Stratospheric Warming in the Arctic in January–February 2017

The dynamic coupling between the stratospheric and tropospheric processes is studied for the sudden stratospheric warming registered in January-February 2017. Also, the effects of these processes on the tropospheric circulation and weather conditions in the middle and high latitudes via the reflection of wave activity from the stratosphere are investigated.