Beyond “Lawn People”: The Role of Emotions in Suburban Yard Management Practices

Many recent studies have applied satellite remote sensing data to large-scale hydrologic and biospheric modeling. It is widely accepted that the thermal infrared observations from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) have the potential to estimate land surface conditions, such as surface temperature, near surface air temperature, and near surface water vapor. In this study, algorithms to estimate all three variables are presented and applied to an area covering the state of Oklahoma for a six day period in August, 1994. The results were validated using ground observations from the 111 station Oklahoma Mesonet. Validation of the remote sensing algorithms with Mesonet observations produced comparable results to previous validation studies. In addition, the validation process revealed inadequacies in thermal modeling that had not been detected in previous validation studies leading to the development of a new approach to estimate atmospheric water vapor.     

An integrated approach for evaluating the effectiveness of landslide risk reduction in unplanned communities in the Caribbean

Despite the recognition of the need for mitigation approaches to landslide risk in developing countries, the delivery of ‘on-the-ground’ measures is rarely undertaken. With respect to other ‘natural’ hazards, it is widely reported that mitigation can pay. However, the lack of such an evidence base in relation to landslides in developing countries hinders advocacy amongst decision makers for expenditure on ex-ante measures. This research addresses these limitations directly by developing and applying an integrated risk assessment and cost–benefit analysis of physical landslide mitigation measures implemented in an unplanned community in the Eastern Caribbean. In order to quantify the level of landslide risk reduction achieved, landslide hazard and vulnerability were modelled (before and after the intervention), and project costs, direct and indirect benefits were monetised. It is shown that the probability of landslide occurrence has been substantially reduced by implementing surface-water drainage measures and that the benefits of the project outweigh the costs by a ratio of 2.7–1. This paper adds to the evidence base that ‘mitigation pays’ with respect to landslide risk in the most vulnerable communities—thus strengthening the argument for ex-ante measures. This integrated project evaluation methodology should be suitable for adoption as part of the community-based landslide mitigation project cycle, and it is hoped that this resource, and the results of this study, will stimulate further such programmes.     

The atmospheric heat budget over the western part of the Tibetan plateau during Monex, 1979

The atmospheric heat source strength over western Tibet has been computed for the period beginning with the last ten days in May, 1979 and extending through August, 1979. Our results show a significantly smaller heat source than that obtained by other authors. The discrepancy is mainly due to adjustments in the dray, coefficient suggested by observations and numerical modeling experiments. We subdivided western Tibet into northern and southern parts. In the north sensible heating, SH, provides the dominant input into the atmospheric heat source, whereas in the southern part latent heat, LP, offers a significant contribution after the start of the rainy season.Detailed heat budget calculations were also carried out over limited regions of southwestern Tibet which hau good station coverage. During periods with area-averaged rainfall ≤1 mm/day an atmospheric heat source maximum was located over southwestern Tibet near the 500 hPa level, while a heat sink dominated the upper troposphere in a layer of subsidence. When rainfall exceeded 4 mm/day, ascending motions and heal sources prevailed throughout the troposphere with maxima near 400 hPa. Time series analyses of the heat sourcs components show that the total atmospheric heat source is strongly modulated by the release of latent heat. Atmospheric radiational cooling reveals a phase shift in its relation with precipitation. During the first part of the observation period a correlation of that cooling exists mainly with the net radiation at the top of the atmosphere, during the last part with the net radiation at the ground.     

Resourcing Future Generations: A Contribution by the Earth Science Community

The last 50 years saw a dramatic increase in living standards and improvement in the quality of life for many of the world’s poorest. Mortality rates fell, life expectancy rose and per capita incomes swelled. That improvement has been underpinned by technological development and the ubiquitous use of metal and mineral resources. To maintain such progress while addressing climate change and a rising world population, sustainable sources of raw materials will be required, in both developed and developing countries. Delivering the UN Agenda 2030 with its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the Paris Agreement of December 2015 will require technologies that consume both traditional and new minerals. Metal recycling and technological change will contribute, but mining must continue and grow for the foreseeable future. Of the 200 or so countries in the world, 60 are open to large-scale mining but 140 are not. New resource governance linkages are needed between existing institutional frameworks so that continuity of global mineral supply is assured over coming decades. Such arrangements would oversee responsible sourcing of minerals, directions of mineral exploration and sustainability of mining and ore processing, raising of consumer awareness and sharing the wealth generated by mining more fairly.     

Are band-pass variance statistics useful measures of storm track activity? Re-examining storm track variability associated with the NAO using multiple storm track measures

Over the past few decades, band-pass filtered (BP) variance statistics have been widely used as indicators of storm track activity. A recent study suggested that these statistics may be subjected to biases related to Doppler shifting of variance into and out of the fixed frequency band, in the process perhaps greatly exaggerating the correlation between BP variance and mean flow variability. In this study, BP statistics are examined together with other storm track measures to assess whether BP variances are useful indicators of the patterns of storm track activity. Storm track variability related to the North Atlantic Oscillation, as well as the five leading EOFs of 300 hPa BP filtered variance statistics, have been examined. Results presented here suggest that BP variance statistics are useful measures of the patterns of storm track activity. Firstly, BP variance statistics largely reflect changes in total unfiltered transient eddy variance as well as spatially filtered statistics. Secondly, different BP statistics all give qualitatively similar patterns. Thirdly, patterns derived from BP statistics are well correlated (spatially) with precipitation anomalies. In addition, BP statistics are straightforward to compute, and easily reproducible. Moreover, BP variance and covariance statistics are closely related to how storm tracks interact with the large scale circulation. However, results shown in this paper support the suggestion that some biases may be caused by the Doppler effect, especially for variations such as the NAO which are tightly tied to changes in the background flow speed. Thus it is argued that BP statistics should be examined together with other measures of storm track activity to obtain a broader perspective on storm track variations.