Web-Based GIS as a Tool for Supporting Marine Research

Collecting marine data during hydroacoustic research surveys is a complex task, which not only consists of measurements but also analysis, validation, and interpretation of information acquired by various sensors. Automatic integration, visualization, and processing of collected data allow for a more precise investigation of the researched phenomena. The paper presents a dedicated Web-based system for fusion and dissemination of data from satellite imagery, hydrological measurements using CTD probes, acoustic surveys by multibeam systems, side-scan sonars and singlebeam echosounders, as well as live radar feed and oil spill spread models. The system has been designed as a tool for supporting research using the aforementioned techniques.     

Recent summer precipitation trends in the Greater Horn of Africa and the emerging role of Indian Ocean sea surface temperature

We utilize a variety of climate datasets to examine impacts of two mechanisms on precipitation in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) during northern-hemisphere summer. First, surface-pressure gradients draw moist air toward the GHA from the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Congo Basin. Variability of the strength of these gradients strongly influences GHA precipitation totals and accounts for important phenomena such as the 1960s–1980s rainfall decline and devastating 1984 drought. Following the 1980s, precipitation variability became increasingly influenced by the southern tropical Indian Ocean (STIO) region. Within this region, increases in sea-surface temperature, evaporation, and precipitation are linked with increased exports of dry mid-tropospheric air from the STIO region toward the GHA. Convergence of dry air above the GHA reduces local convection and precipitation. It also produces a clockwise circulation response near the ground that reduces moisture transports from the Congo Basin. Because precipitation originating in the Congo Basin has a unique isotopic signature, records of moisture transports from the Congo Basin may be preserved in the isotopic composition of annual tree rings in the Ethiopian Highlands. A negative trend in tree-ring oxygen-18 during the past half century suggests a decline in the proportion of precipitation originating from the Congo Basin. This trend may not be part of a natural cycle that will soon rebound because climate models characterize Indian Ocean warming as a principal signature of greenhouse-gas induced climate change. We therefore expect surface warming in the STIO region to continue to negatively impact GHA precipitation during northern-hemisphere summer.     

Biosorption of cadmium(II), lead(II) and cobalt(II) from aqueous solution by biochar from cones of larch (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Larix decidua</Emphasis> Mill. <Emphasis Type="Italic">subsp. decidua</Emphasis>) and spruce (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Picea abies</Emphasis> L. H. Karst)

Because of their physicochemical properties, biochars can be used as sorption materials for removal of toxic substances. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether biochar obtained from cones of larch (Larix decidua Mill. subsp. decidua) and spruce (Picea abies L. H. Karst) could be used as a sorbent for Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Co²⁺ in aqueous solutions. So far, this feedstock had not been tested in this respect. The material was subjected to pyrolysis at 500 and 600 °C for the duration of 5, 10 and 15 min. The obtained pyrolysates were found to differ in terms of pH and the contents of the essential macroelements. The different values of these parameters were determined for varying temperature, duration of the pyrolysis process and type of feedstock. Sorption capacities of the biochars for removal of Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Co²⁺ were examined using simulated contamination of aqueous solutions with salts of these metals. The findings showed the highest, nearly complete, removal for Pb²⁺ were maximum 99.7%, and almost three times lower value for Cd²⁺ and Co²⁺ (respectively, 35.7 and 24.8%). It was demonstrated that pyrolysis of conifer cones produced optimum sorption capacities when the process was conducted at a temperature of 500 °C for the duration of 5 min. It was shown that products of spruce cone pyrolysis were characterized by better sorption capacity in comparison with products of larch cone pyrolysis. The properties of conifer cone biochar create the possibility of using it as an adsorbent in water and wastewater treatment as well as in production of filters and activated carbon.     

Stable 18O and 13C isotope records of Viviparus diluvianus (Kunth, 1865) shells from Holsteinian (MIS 11) lakes of eastern Poland as palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic proxies

The oxygen and carbon stable isotope composition of Viviparus diluvianus shells was determined in the palaeolakes of the Holsteinian interglacial (MIS 11) in eastern Poland: the Ortel Królewski, Hrud, Ossówka, Roskosz and Szymanowo lakes. The occurrence of V. diluvianus covers the Taxus zone, the so‐called intra‐interglacial cooling period (Pinus‐Larix zone), the climatic optimum (Carpinus‐Abies zone) and the post‐optimal period with an undefined pollen zone. The isotope record of V. diluvianus shells allowed palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C vary from −8.7‰ in the post‐optimal period to −4.8‰ in the optimal period, and from −10.6‰ at the beginning of the Taxus zone to −4.2‰ at the climatic optimum, respectively. A positive correlation of the isotope curves indicates closed‐water bodies, and only at Roskosz was some occasional overflow inferred. Higher oxygen isotopes correspond to an increase in temperature and/or enhanced evaporation, which is well marked in the Carpinus‐Abies zone, whereas samples enriched in ¹³C are correlated with periods demonstrating a lower water level and higher productivity in the lakes. Episodes of lake shallowing and dense aquatic vegetation occurred in the Pinus‐Larix zone and during the climatic optimum. The isotope ratios for the climatic optimum significantly exceed those of the other periods, thus pointing to warmer conditions. An estimation of relative changes of average summer temperatures using the δ¹⁸O/temperature gradient yielded variation of 1–2 °C within the lakes. Absolute temperature reconstructions indicate the effects of specific local conditions. Hence, V. diluvianus shells offer a reliable proxy in qualitative studies of interglacial lake records.     

Simple two-dimensional kinematic framework designed to test warm rain microphysical models

This paper describes a two-dimensional kinematic framework designed to test warm rain microphysical models. The idealized flow field is based on a case study from the Hawaiian Rainband Project (1990). Analyses of radar and aircraft data collected in convective cells embedded in Hawaiian rainbands are included for model validation. A Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) activation spectrum, a condensational growth equation including the CCN chemical composition, collection efficiencies, and terminal velocities of the growing drops, are all provided. A sample set of figures from the test run with bulk microphysical parameterization illustrates the desired format for comparisons between the detailed model results and for validation of the model output with observations. This simple yet realistic test formulation includes vertical and horizontal advection, and can be used to evaluate microphysical model performance without complexities resulting from dynamical–microphysical interactions in dynamic cloud models. Without such interactions, scientists can focus on key physical processes involved in the formation of warm rain. The accurate representation of these processes in detailed models is essential to successfully simulate the observed evolution of warm precipitating clouds.     

Influence of Mean Rooftop-Level Estimation Method on Sensible Heat Flux Retrieved from a Large-Aperture Scintillometer Over a City Centre

The sensible heat flux (H) is determined using large-aperture scintillometer (LAS) measurements over a city centre for eight different computation scenarios. The scenarios are based on different approaches of the mean rooftop-level \((z_{H})\) estimation for the LAS path. Here, \(z_{H}\) is determined separately for wind directions perpendicular (two zones) and parallel (one zone) to the optical beam to reflect the variation in topography and building height on both sides of the LAS path. Two methods of \(z_{H}\) estimation are analyzed: (1) average building profiles; (2) weighted-average building height within a 250 m radius from points located every 50 m along the optical beam, or the centre of a certain zone (in the case of a wind direction perpendicular to the path). The sensible heat flux is computed separately using the friction velocity determined with the eddy-covariance method and the iterative procedure. The sensitivity of the sensible heat flux and the extent of the scintillometer source area to different computation scenarios are analyzed. Differences reaching up to 7% between heat fluxes computed with different scenarios were found. The mean rooftop-level estimation method has a smaller influence on the sensible heat flux (?4 to 5%) than the area used for the \(z_{H}\) computation (?5 to 7%). For the source-area extent, the discrepancies between respective scenarios reached a similar magnitude. The results demonstrate the value of the approach in which \(z_{H}\) is estimated separately for wind directions parallel and perpendicular to the LAS optical beam.     

The ‘Polish Solnhofen’: a long‐awaited alternative?

Here we briefly report on the discovery of a new Fossil‐Lagerstätte locality, Owadów‐Brzezinki quarry (central Poland), which exposes Late Jurassic (Late Tithonian) carbonate sediments with an extremely fossiliferous horizon of lithographic‐type limestones. Numerous specimens of horseshoe crabs were found in association with an enormously rich assemblage of the soft‐shelled bivalves Corbulomima obscura and Mesosaccella sp., the remains of various fishes and marine reptiles, rare ammonites, crustaceans, land insects and pterosaurs. The uniqueness of this new locality lies in its very close stratigraphical relationship to one of the most famous Fossil‐Lagerstätte localities in the world—Solnhofen, in southern Germany, with approximately 2 Ma separating them. Marine and terrestrial creatures lived and died during the Late Jurassic both at Solnhofen (Hybonotum Zone) and in another area (Owadów‐Brzezinki quarry, Zarajskensis Subzone), under closely related environmental conditions. The small palaeogeographical distance separating these two locations enables, for the first time, an effective palaeobiological test of the pace of evolutionary speciation amongst different groups of organisms.     

Preliminary Sunyaev–Zel'dovich observations of galaxy clusters with OCRA-p

We present 30-GHz Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) observations of a sample of four galaxy clusters with a prototype of the One Centimetre Receiver Array (OCRA-p) which is mounted on the Torun 32-m telescope. The clusters (Cl 0016+16, MS 0451.6–0305, MS 1054.4–0321 and Abell 2218) are popular SZ targets and serve as commissioning observations. All four are detected with clear significance  (4 –6σ)  and values for the central temperature decrement are in good agreement with measurements reported in the literature. We believe that systematic effects are successfully suppressed by our observing strategy. The relatively short integration times required to obtain these results demonstrate the power of OCRA-p and its successors for future SZ studies.     

Changes in The Dynamics And Thermal Regime of The Permafrost and Active Layer of The High Arctic Coastal Area in North‐West Spitsbergen,Svalbard

In this paper changes in the active layer of the high arctic coastal area in north‐west Spitsbergen, Svalbard are described. Analysis includes both the ground thawing depth and its near‐surface thermal structure. The study was conducted on the Kaffiøyra Plain (Svalbard) at several fixed sites, which represent places typical of the region: a sandy beach, a tundra plain and a moraine ridge. The results show that in recent years, at two measurement points a significantly deeper thawing was observed. In 1996–2012 on the beach and on the moraine the trend of active layer thickness change was +1.3 cm yr^?1 and +2.5 cm yr^?1, respectively. Generally, in the years 2008–2012 the mean thickness of the active layer in the Kaffiøyra region increased by 3% to 6%. Even at the spatially close sites, within similar environments, there are significant differences in the thickness of the active layer. Measurements show that significant changes also occurred in the thawed ground temperature. Mean values of the observed near‐surface temperature in recent years (2007–2011) were higher by more than 1.0°C, in comparison to the mean in the late 1970s.