Impact of vegetation changes on a mesoscale convective system in West Africa

The evolution of precipitating convective systems in West Africa has been a research topic throughout the past three decades and is considered to be influenced by surface–atmosphere interactions. This study builds on the previous research by examining the sensitivity of a mesoscale convective system (MCS) to a change in the vegetation cover by using a regional atmospheric model with a high horizontal resolution. Vegetation cover values in the region between 10 and 15°N have increased by 10–30% over the last 20 years. The effect of both an increase and a decrease in vegetation cover by 10, 20 and 30% is investigated. The MCS case selected occurred on 11 June 2006 and was observed during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis field campaign in Dano, Burkina Faso. The model is able to reproduce the most important characteristics of the MCS and the atmospheric environment. For the investigated case, no clear precipitation response of the MCS to the applied vegetation scenarios is found. The vegetation changes do alter the surface fluxes in the days before the MCS arrives, which have a clear effect on the modelled convective available potential energy (CAPE) values. However, a link between CAPE, mesoscale circulation and rainfall amounts could not be demonstrated as a dynamical mechanism is found to counteract the CAPE signal. By using a kilometre-scale model, a change in the cold pool dynamics of the MCS could be detected which results from alterations in boundary layer moisture. The effect of vegetation changes on the MCS is thus not straightforward and a complex interaction between different processes should be taken into account.     

Impact of the moisture transport formulation on the simulated tropical rainfall in a general circulation model

The impact of numerical modeling of moisture transport on the simulation of the seasonal mean pattern of precipitation in the tropics is studied. The NCAR CCM2 with spectral and semi-Lagrangian moisture transport has been used for this purpose. The differences in the numerical modeling of moisture transport are found to have a significant impact on the simulation of the seasonal mean patterns. The major differences while using the spectral method (vis-a-vis the semi-Lagrangian method) are (1) a decrease in rainfall over the Indian monsoon region, (2) a decrease in rainfall over the west Pacific region and (3) an increase in rainfall over the central and east Pacific regions. There are substantial differences in the amount of precipitable water vapor simulated by the two moisture transport techniques. It is shown that the difference in precipitable water vapor between the two simulations is associated with changes in the vertical moist static stability (VMS) of the atmosphere, and differences in the simulated precipitation patterns. Received: 7 August 1998 / Accepted: 15 October 1999     

Groundwater storage change detection from in situ and GRACE-based estimates in major river basins across India

ABSTRACT

India has been the subject of many recent groundwater studies due to the rapid depletion of groundwater in large parts of the country. However, few if any of these studies have examined groundwater storage conditions in all of India’s river basins individually. Herein we assess groundwater storage changes in all 22 of India’s major river basins using in situ data from 3420 observation locations for the period 2003–2014. One-month and 12-month standardized precipitation index measures (SPI-1 and SPI-12) indicate fluctuations in the long-term pattern. The Ganges and Brahmaputra basins experienced long-term decreasing trends in precipitation in both 1961–2014 and the study period, 2003–2014. Indeterminate or increasing precipitation trends occurred in other basins. Satellite-based and in situ groundwater storage time series exhibited similar patterns, with increases in most of the basins. However, diminishing groundwater storage (at rates of >0.4 km³/year) was revealed in the Ganges-Brahmaputra River Basin based on in situ observations, which is particularly important due to its agricultural productivity.     

翼龙类在初龙形类中的系统发育位置

In 1996 Bennett published a cladistic analysis of the Archosauromorpha with 14 taxa and 126 characters, combining all the characters from several previous analyses (e.g., Gauthier 1984, Sereno and Arcucci 1990, Benton and Clark 1988) unless justification for discarding a character could be presented.     

Seasonal variations of atmospheric sulfur dioxide and dimethylsulfide concentrations at Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean

Daily measurements of atmospheric sulfur dioxide (SO₂) concentrations were performed from March 1989 to January 1991 at Amsterdam Island (37°50 S–77°30 E), a remote site located in the southern Indian Ocean. Long-range transport of continental air masses was studied using Radon (²²²Rn) as continental tracer. Average monthly SO₂ concentrations range from less than 0.2 to 3.9 nmol m^-3 (annual average = 0.7 nmol m^-3) and present a seasonal cycle with a minimum in winter and a maximum in summer, similar to that described for atmospheric DMS concentrations measured during the same period. Clear diel correlation between atmospheric DMS and SO₂ concentrations is also observed during summer. A photochemical box model using measured atmospheric DMS concentrations as input data reproduces the seasonal variations in the measured atmospheric SO₂ concentrations within ±30%. Comparing between computed and measured SO₂ concentrations allowed us to estimate a yield of SO₂ from DMS oxidation of about 70%.     

Glaciation and Permafrost Dynamics on the Antarctic Peninsula in the 21st Century

The results of mass balance observations of the ice dome and measurements of the active layer thickness on the Fildes Peninsula, King George (Waterloo) Island, Western Antarctica are presented for the period of 2007 to 2019. The dynamics of the main meteorological parameters affecting the active layer thickness is determined. The numerical experiments based on the mathematical model are performed to determine the effects of various parameters on the active layer thickness. The calculated and measured values of the active layer thickness are compared. The thermal instability of permafrost in the study area in some years with high (above the means) summer air temperature is demonstrated. The climate cooling which started in the region in the recent years has increased the number of years with the positive ice mass balance. However, the positive ice mass balance has not yet become a dominant factor against a background of the negative balance in the previous years.     

Boundary-layer depth and entrainment zone characterization with a boundary-layer profiler

A technique for determining the height of the convective atmospheric boundary layer (CBL) with a 915 MHz boundary-layer profiler is discussed. The results are compared with CBL heights determined from radiosonde measurements. The profiler provides continuous CBL height measurements with very good time resolution (30 minutes or less), allowing for detailed understanding of the growth and fluctuations of the CBL. In addition, the profiler provides information about the degree of definition of the CBL top and the thickness of the entrainment zone. The measurements discussed were taken during the Rural Oxidants in the Southern Environment II (ROSE II) experiment.