Modelling Internal Boundary-Layer Development in a Region with a Complex Coastline

The purpose of this paper is to test the ability of two quite different models to simulate the combined spatial and temporal variability of the internal boundary layer in an area of complex terrain and coastline during one day. The simple applied slab model of Gryning and Batchvarova, and the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (CSU-RAMS) are tested by comparison with data gathered during a field study (called Pacific '93) of photochemical pollution in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The data utilised here are drawn from tethered balloon flights, free flying balloon ascents, and downlooking lidar operated from an aircraft flown at roughly 3500 m above sea level. Both models are found to represent the temporal and spatial development of the internal boundary-layer depth over the Lower Fraser Valley very well, and reproduce many of the finer details revealed by the measurements.     

Precipitation and evaporation budgets over the Baltic Proper: observations and modelling

Precipitation and evaporation budgets over the Baltic Sea were studied in a concerted project called PEP in BALTEX (Pilot study of Evaporation and Precipitation in the Baltic Sea), combining extensive field measurements and modelling efforts. Eddy-correlation-measurements of turbulent heat flux were made on a semi-continuous basis for a 12 month period at four well-exposed coastal sites in the Baltic Proper (the main basin of the Baltic Sea). Precipitation was measured at land-based sites with standard gauges and on four merchant ships travelling between Germany and Finland with the aid of specially designed ship rain gauges (SRGs). The evaporation and precipitation regime of the Baltic Sea was modelled for a 12 month period by applying a wide range of numerical models: the operational atmospheric High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM, Swedish and Finnish versions), the German atmospheric REgional-scale MOdel, REMO, the operational German Europe Model (only precipitation), the oceanographic model PROBE-Baltic, and two models that use interpolation of ground-based data, the Swedish MESAN model of SMHI and a German model of IFM-GEOMAR Kiel. Modelled precipitation was compared with SRG measurements on board the ships. A reasonable correlation was obtained, but the regional-scale models and MESAN gave some 20% higher precipitation over the sea than is measured. Bulk parameterisation schemes for evaporation were evaluated against measurements. A constant value of C_HN and C_EN with wind speed, underestimated large fluxes of both sensible and latent heat flux. The limited area models do not resolve the influence of the height of the marine boundary layer in coastal zones and the entrainment (on the surface fluxes), which may explain the observed low correlations between modelled and measured latent heat fluxes. Estimates of evaporation, E, and precipitation, P, for the entire Baltic Proper were made with several models for a 12 month period. While the annual variation was well represented by all predictions, there are still important differences in the annual means. Evaporation ranges from 509 to 625 mm year^-1 and precipitation between 624 and 805 mm year^-1 for this particular 12 month period. Taking the results of model verification from the present study into account, the best estimate of P-E is about 100 ± 50 mm for this particular 12 month period. But the annual mean of P-E varies considerably from year to year. This is reflected in simulations with the PROBE-Baltic model for an 18 year period, which gave 95 mm year^-1 for the 12 month period studied here and 32 mm year^-1 as an average for 18 years.     

Modulation of galactic cosmic rays in solar cycles 22–24: Analysis and physical interpretation

This work represents a physical interpretation of cosmic ray modulation in the 22nd–24th solar cycles, including an interpretation of an unusual behavior of their intensity in the last minimum of the solar activity (2008–2010). In terms of the Parker modulation model, which deals with regularly measured heliospheric characteristics, it is shown that the determining factor of the increased intensity of the galactic cosmic rays in the minimum of the 24th solar cycle is an anomalous reduction of the heliospheric magnetic field strength during this time interval under the additional influence of the solar wind velocity and the tilt angle of the heliospheric current sheet. We have used in the calculations the dependence of the diffusion tensor on the rigidity in the form K _ij ∝ R ^2?μ with μ = 1.2 in the sector zones of the heliospheric magnetic field and with μ = 0.8 outside the sector zones, which leads to an additional amplification of the diffusion mechanism of cosmic ray modulation. The proposed approach allows us to describe quite satisfactorily the integral intensity of protons with an energy above 0.1 GeV and the energy spectra in the minima of the 22nd–24th solar cycles at the same value of the free parameter. The determining factor of the anomalously high level of the galactic cosmic ray intensity in the minimum of the 24th solar cycle is the significant reduction of the heliospheric magnetic field strength during this time interval. The forecast of the intensity level in the minimum of the 25th solar cycle is provided.     

A model for the height of the internal boundary layer over an area with an irregular coastline

A model for the time and space variation of the internal boundary-layer height over a land area with an irregular coastline is presented. It is based on the analytical model of the boundary-layer height proposed by Gryning and Batchvarova (1990) and Batchvarova and Gryning (1991), The model accounts for the temperature jump and the mean vertical air motion at the top of the internal boundary-layer. Four cases from experiments in Nanticoke and Vancouver are used for model validation. The agreement between the calculated and measured internal boundary layer height at the observational sites is fairly good. The input information for the model consist of wind speed and direction, friction velocity and kinematic heat flux in time and space for the area, and the potential temperature gradient and the mean vertical air motion above the internal boundary layer. For the experiments used in the validation the effect of subsidence is relatively important in the afternoon under low wind speed high pressure conditions, lowering the height of the internal boundary layer by up to 10%, and it is negligible in the morning hours. The effect of the mixing height over the sea is found to be negligible.     

Statistical Links between Solar Cosmic Rays,Type-II Radio Emission,and Coronal Mass Ejections

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - Type-II radio emission often accompanies events in solar cosmic rays and is an indicator of the propagation of a shock wave in the solar corona. Conversely, the shock...     

Ostracod palaeoecology and environmental change in the Laptev and Kara seas (Siberian Arctic) during the last 18 000 years

Fossil ostracod assemblages were investigated in five AMS ¹⁴ C‐dated cores from various water depths of the Laptev and Kara seas ranging from the upper continental slope (270 m) to the present‐day shelf depth (40 m). Six fossil assemblages were distinguished. These represent the varying environmental conditions at the North Siberian continental margin since about 18 ka. In the cores from the shelf the ostracod assemblages reflect the gradual transition from an estuarine brackish‐water environment to modern marine conditions since 12.3 ka, as induced by the regional early Holocene transgression. The core from the upper continental slope dates back to c. 17.6 ka and contains assemblages that are absent in the shelf cores. The assemblage older than 10 ka stands out as a specific community dominated by relatively deep‐water Arctic and North Atlantic species that also contains euryhaline species. Such an assemblage provides evidence for past inflows of Atlantic‐derived waters from as early as c. 17.2 ka, probably facilitated by upwelling in coastal polynyas, and a considerable riverine freshwater influence with enhanced surface water stratification owing to the proximity of the palaeocoastline until early Holocene times. In all studied cores, relative increases in euryhaline species dominant in the inner‐shelf regions are recorded in the mid–late Holocene sediments (<7 ka), which otherwise already contain modern‐like ostracod assemblages with relatively deep‐water species. This observation suggests euryhaline species to be largely sea‐ice‐ and/or iceberg‐rafted and therefore may provide evidence for a climate cooling trend.