Interannual modulation of subtropical Atlantic boreal summer dust variability by ENSO

Dust variability in the climate system has been studied for several decades, yet there remains an incomplete understanding of the dynamical mechanisms controlling interannual and decadal variations in dust transport. The sparseness of multi-year observational datasets has limited our understanding of the relationship between climate variations and atmospheric dust. We use available in situ and satellite observations of dust and a century-length fully coupled Community Earth System Model (CESM) simulation to show that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exerts a control on North African dust transport during boreal summer. In CESM, this relationship is stronger over the dusty tropical North Atlantic than near Barbados, one of the few sites having a multi-decadal observed record. During strong La Niña summers in CESM, a statistically significant increase in lower tropospheric easterly wind is associated with an increase in North African dust transport over the Atlantic. Barbados dust and Pacific SST variability are only weakly correlated in both observations and CESM, suggesting that other processes are controlling the cross-basin variability of dust. We also use our CESM simulation to show that the relationship between downstream North African dust transport and ENSO fluctuates on multidecadal timescales and is associated with a phase shift in the North Atlantic Oscillation. Our findings indicate that existing observations of dust over the tropical North Atlantic are not extensive enough to completely describe the variability of dust and dust transport, and demonstrate the importance of global models to supplement and interpret observational records.     

Limit-Cycle Behaviour of Thermally Unstable Accretion Flows on to Black Holes

Non-linear time-dependent calculations are being carried out in order to study the evolution of vertically integrated models of non-self-gravitating, transonic accretion discs around black holes. In this paper we present results from a new calculation for a high-α model similar to one studied previously by Honma, Matsumoto &38; Kato who found evidence for limit-cycle behaviour connected with thermal instability. Our results are in substantial agreement with theirs but, in our calculation, the disc material does not always remain completely optically thick and we include a suitable treatment for this. We followed the evolution for several cycles and determined the period of the cycle as being about 780 s. Advective cooling is dominant in the region just behind the outward-moving peak of surface density. The behaviour of this model is significantly different from what we saw earlier for low-α models (which we discussed in a previous paper) and we contrast and compare the two situations.     

Theoretical interpretation of the 0.7820 μm CO2 band and 0.8226 μm H2O line on Venus

We have analyzed the P6, P8, and P10 lines in the 0.7820 μm CO₂ band of Venus using a scattering model. Our new results compare favorably with previous results from the 1.05 μm CO₂ band. We considered nonabsorbing and absorbing clouds. We found that the anisotropic scattering mean free path for both models at the 0.2atm level is between 0.55 and 0.73km, a range close to the value of 1 km for terrestrial hazes. We used our scattering models to synthesize the 0.8226 μm H₂O line, assuming that the clouds are composed of sulfuric acid drops, and found our nonabsorbing cloud required a sulfuric acid concentration of 82% by weight, while our thicker absorbing cloud required a concentration of 89%. A comparison of the variation of optical depth with height for our cloud models with the variation reported by Prinn (1973, Science182, 1132–1134) showed that, within a factor of 2, the variation for Prinn's thinnest cloud agreed with ours. Whitehill and Hansen (1973, Icarus20, 146–152) have recently confirmed the work of Regas et al. (1973a, J. Quant. Spectry. Radiative Transfer13, 461–463) which showed that two cloud layers are not required to explain the CO₂ phase variation of Venus. Prinn's recent photochemical study of sulfuric acid clouds further supports a single, continuous cloud layer in the line formation region instead of two cloud layers with an extensive clear region between. The single layer model appears more likely because the maximum particle density in Prinn's cloud occurs in the clear region between the two layers in the models of Hunt (1972, J. Quant. Spectry. Radiative Transfer12, 405–419) and Carleton and Traub (1972, Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc.4, 362.).