The latitudinal distribution of carbon monoxide across the pacific from California to Antarctica

The results of a research study of the carbon monoxide concentration from California to 90° S, Antarctica are presented. The data both extend and support other research studies of the latitudinal distribution of carbon monoxide in that higher concentrations are evident over the Northern Hemisphere than over the Southern Hemisphere. Carbon monoxide concentrations range between 50 to 60 ppb with a few peaks into the 60s in the latitudinal area south of the ITCZ and values of 80 ppb or higher at latitudes north of Hawaii. A comparison is also made of carbon monoxide and ozone concentrations along the flight tract between California and Antarctica, over the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica, and between 78° S and the South Pole. These ozone-carbon monoxide data show statistically significant negative correlations in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over Antarctica. It is believed that this is a good indication of mixing across the tropopause.     

Organization of convection and monsoon forecasts

Summary In this paper we address the issue of monsoon forecasts in relation to the organization of convection. Given a physical initialization procedure, within a data assimilation, it is possible to use the detailed distribution of rainfall from mesoconvective precipitating elements to define the initial state of a global model. If that is carried out using a very high resolution model then the initial state can carry within it an organization of convection within the resolvable scales. Then the impact of physical initialization on the maintenance and prediction of tropical weather such as the monsoon can be determined. Lacking such an initialization, one can expect the convectively driven energetics to be biased, and a slow degradation of the forecasts can follow. Several examples of forecasts at different resolutions are discussed here. The main findings of this study are that improved forecast results are obtained when physical initialization is invoked where the observed rain and the model resolution are comparable, i.e. the footprint of the highest resolutions rainfall estimates obtained from satellite based data sets (principally we use the SSM/I instrument over the oceans). At this resolution, we note that the model is able to carry an organization of convection in the initialization and in the forecasts through the medium-range time scale.We have compared our results of monsoon studies at a resolution T255 with those at resolution T62. The transform grid separation at the resolution T255 is approximately 50 km and at the resolution T62, it is approximately 200 km. We find that the model at the higher resolution (T255) performs better and has more realistic energy conversions for the convectively driven synoptic scale monsoon.An organization of convection, at the synoptic scales, is not seen in the forecasts at lower resolutions, T62, where the rainfall patterns are generally much broader and tend to be more zonal. Such organization appears more realistic at the resolution T255. Variances of the energy conversion, calculated in the two-dimensional spectral space, from physically initialized short range forecasts at the higher resolution are seen to be largest on the scales of the monsoon. Similar calculations for the reanalyzed fields at lower resolutions show the spectral distribution of variances to be biased towards local Hadley scale overturnings.With 12 Figures     

Untersuchungen über die Bodenfauna des Litorals im eutrophierenden Sempachersee

The Sempachersee (Switzerland), a facultatively oligomictic lake with visibility measuring according to Secchi of between 1.3 m and 12.9 m, is characterized by an oxygen minimum of 4 mg O₂/l in the metalimnion in autumn and an almost total lack of oxygen in the greatest depths of the lake. Phosphate-phosphorus is used up in the trophogenic zone and is found in quantities of between 20 and 24 μg/l during the overturn period. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations of between 0.55 and 0.6 mg/l are also present during overturn. Phanerogamic growth along the shore is sparse; the variety of animal species as well as the respective number of organisms are limited although the reason for this has not been determined.      

Wassermilben aus dem Amazonasgebiet (Hydrachnellae,Acari)

Zusammenfassung Erstmalig aus dem Amazonasgebiet wurden nach den SammlungenSioli undBraun die Hydrachnellae untersucht. Von den 104 festgestellten Arten bzw. Unterarten waren 64 neu für die Wissenschaft; 5 neue Genera bzw. Subgenera wurden aufgestellt. Durch 171 ausgewertete F?nge wurden 1033 Individuen ermittelt, eine im Vergleich mit anderen Sammlungen geringe Menge sowohl im ganzen gesehen, als auch die Individuen pro Fang betrachtet, als auch im Hinblick auf die hohe Zahl der neuen Formen in der kleinen Individuenmenge. Als Ursache dieser Diskrepanz werden neben extensivem Sammelverfahren chemisch-physikalische Faktoren der Gew?sser vermutet. Die Amazonas-Wassermilben werden nach Biotopen-stehende und fliessende Gew?sser-untersucht; dazu kommen Angaben über Frequenz, über jahreszeitliche Verteilung und das Verh?ltnis der Geschlechter. Der besondere Chemismus der Amazonasgew?sser-die im allgemeinen niedrigen pH-Werte-, dazu die klimatisch bedingte inkonstanz mancher Faktoren scheint bei der wohl grossen Toleranz der Wassermilben diesen Faktoren gegenüber weniger direkt, vielleicht aber indirekt die Nahrungstiere und damit das zahlenm?ssige Auftreten der Hydrachnellae zu beeinflussen. Ein Vergleich der Wassermilben aus den bislang untersuchten tropischen Gebieten kann noch nicht zu allgemeinen Ergebnissen gelangen, weil einheitlich zutreffende Vergleichspunkte noch kaum gegeben sind.