DMS and SO2 at Baring Head, New Zealand: Implications for the Yield of SO2 from DMS

Atmospheric dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) concentrations were measured at Baring Head, New Zealandduring February and March 2000. Anti-correlated DMS and SO₂ diurnalcycles, consistent with the photochemical production of SO₂ from DMS, were observed in clean southerly air off the ocean. The data is used to infer a yield of SO₂ from DMS oxidation. The estimated yields are highly dependent on assumptions about the DMS oxidation rate. Fitting the measured data in a photochemical box model using model-generated OH levels and the Hynes et al. (1986) DMS + OH rate constant suggests that theSO₂ yield is 50–100%, similar to current estimates for the tropical Pacific.However, the observed amplitude of the DMS diurnal cycle suggests that the oxidation rate is higher than that used by the model, and therefore, that theSO₂ yield is lower in the range of 20–40%.     

Effective timescales of coupling within fluvial systems

This paper presents a review of the coupling concept in fluvial geomorphology, based mainly on previously published work. Coupling mechanisms link the components of the fluvial system, controlling sediment transport down the system and the propagation of the effects of base-level change up the system. They can be viewed at several scales: at the local scale involving within-hillslope coupling, hillslope-to-channel coupling, and within-channels, tributary junction and reach-to-reach coupling. At larger scales, coupling can be considered as zonal coupling, between major zones of the system or as regional coupling, relating to complete drainage basins. These trends are illustrated particularly by the examples of hillslope-to-channel coupling in the Howgill Fells, northwest England, badland systems in southeast Spain, alluvial fans in Spain, USA and UAE, and base-level-induced dissection of Neogene sedimentary basins in southeast Spain. As the spatial scales increase, so do the timescales involved. Effective temporal scales relate to magnitude and frequency characteristics, recovery time and propagation time, the relative importance changing with the spatial scale. For downsystem coupling at the local scale, the first two are important, with propagation time increasing in importance in larger systems, especially in those involving upsystem coupling related to base-level change. The effective timescales range from the individual event, with a return period of decades, through decadal to century timescales for downsystem coupling, to tens to hundreds of thousands of years for the basinwide response to base-level change. The effective timescales influence the relative importance of factors controlling landform development.     

Roughness length in the turbulent Ekman layer above the sea bed

Roughness lengths were determined from average current profiles in the logarithmic boundary layer at a site in the southern North Sea. Grab samples indicated that the bed configuration controlling the bed roughness was unlikely to change even at maximum spring tides, but the measured roughness lengths were found to decrease as the speed of the flow 10 m above the bed increased. This has been qualitatively interpreted in terms of the size of the turbulent eddies within the flow and their effectiveness at “feeling” the size of the elements forming the bed roughness. It is also shown that the dependence of the observed drag coefficient on the Rossby number follows closely the theoretical form when the roughness length decreases with increasing flow speed.     

An assessment of the potential impact of a downward shift of tropospheric water vapor on climate sensitivity

This work uses an energy balance climate model (EBCM) with explicit infrared radiative transfer, parametrized tropospheric temperature and humidity profiles, and separate stratosphere, troposphere, and surface energy balances, to investigate claims that a downward redistribution of tropospheric water vapor in response to surface warming could serve as a strong negative feedback on climatic change. A series of sensitivity tests is carried out using: (1) a variety of relationships between total precipitable water in the troposphere and temperature; (2) feedbacks between surface temperature and the vertical distribution of tropospheric water vapor at low latitudes; and (3) feedback between surface temperature or meridional temperature gradient and lapse rate. Fixed relative humidity (RH) enhances the global mean surface temperature response to a CO₂ doubling by only 50% compared to fixed absolute humidity, giving a response of 1.8 K. When water vapor is assumed to be redistributed downward between 30°S–30°N such that a 1 K surface warming reduces total precipitable water above 600 hPa by 10%, the global mean surface air temperature response is reduced to 1.2 K. Assuming a stronger downward redistribution in relation to surface temperature change has a rapidly diminishing marginal effect on global mean and tropical surface temperature response, while slightly increasing the warming at high latitudes due to the parametrized dependence of middle-to-high latitude lapse rate on the meridional temperature gradient. A modest downward water vapor redistribution, such that absolute humidity in the upper troposphere at subtropical latitudes is constant as total precipitable water increases, can reduce the tropical temperature sensitivity to less than 1 K, while increasing the equator-to-pole amplification of the surface air temperature response from a factor of about three to a factor of four. However, it is concluded that whatever changes in future GCM response might occur as a result of new parametrizations of subgrid-scale processes, they are exceedingly unlikely to produce a climate sensitivity to a CO₂ doubling of less than 1 K even if there is a strong downward shift in the water vapor distribution as climate warms. Received: 23 February 1998 / Accepted: 1 November 1999     

Measuring Urban Streetscapes for Livability: A Review of Approaches

Increasing interest in urban livability demands that geographers and planners more precisely define what constitutes a livable streetscape, a fundamental building block of urban places. Widespread examination of streetscape livability will require precise and efficient measurements of (1) physical characteristics at the spatial scale of individual streetscapes and (2) indicators of experiential quality based on revealed behavior or stated preference. This article reviews approaches to collecting both types of measurements, showing that innovative methods using geographic information systems (GIS), Internet-enabled surveys, and even social media could be useful complements to traditional qualitative methods for collecting streetscape measurements.     

Prehistoric soil and water detention structures (gabarbands) at Phang,Sindh Kohistan,Pakistan: An adaptation to environmental change?

Five gabarbands (dams), components of integrated soil and water conservation systems, were investigated in the arid region of Sindh Kohistan. The dams are associated with two prehistoric Kot Dijian settlements, Phang and Kohtrash (3200–2800 B. C.). The dams were constructed with relatively permeable materials. Three of the dams, South, East, and North, close off water gaps and a strike valley, respectively, to form a detention basin. The West Dam, located on Phang Nai, upstream of the detention basin removed the coarser sediment fraction from the flows. Spring Dam, located in a water gap to the north of the detention basin, acted as a low-head weir to distribute flow from a perennial spring onto the floodplain of Baran Nai, where double-cropping was probably practiced. Faulting eliminated the spring, which had probably supported the Kohtrash site, and led to construction of the detection basin for the purposes of subsurface storage of detained flows. Association of both modern and prehistoric sites with springs suggests that there has not been appreciable climate change in Sindh Kohistan in the last 5000 years. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The fate of terrestrial organic matter in two Scottish sea lochs

Sea lochs are zones of rapid organic matter (OM) turnover. Most of this OM is of allochthonous origin, being introduced into the lochs via freshwater input. In this study the behaviour of terrestrially derived OM was elucidated using a combination of parameters which indicate OM diagenesis in the near surface sediments from two Scottish sea lochs, Loch Creran and Loch Etive. Alkaline CuO oxidation was used to determine lignin phenols which serve as biomarkers for terrestrial OM in sediments. Stable carbon isotope, total carbon and nitrogen and total OM (including the labile and refractory fractions) compositions were also determined.