Comparison of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity Effects on the Northern Hemisphere Weather Changes

The changes of pressure and temperature fields in the winter lower troposphere observed in association with changes in solar and/or geomagnetic activity are compared. It is shown that the fact whether it was solar or geomagnetic activity was not so important as whether the levels of the two activities were high or low. The differences between the effects of solar/geomagnetic activity, however, are revealed, the pressure and temperature data being stratified according to the QBO phase. The relationship obtained are discussed from the viewpoint of mechanisms resting upon both the planetary wave propagation and the changes of atmospheric air currents in the global electric circuit.     

Vegetation re-establishment in polar "lichen-kill" landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact

It has been accepted that the extremely sparse vegetation currently observed in Canadian polar deserts is due to prevailing unfavourable climatic conditions, inhibiting plant establishment, growth and survival. Less considered in the literature is the additional antagonistic factor of episodic adverse climatic anomalies. Such was the most recent Little Ice Age (LIA) cooling which caused a setback to, or even largescale extinction of, high Arctic plant communities that had taken centuries to develop. The LIA brought about new glacial advances, expansion of permanent snow banks and formation of ice crusts over entire landscapes. The newly formed ice (and snow) killed the underlying vegetation, thus creating what is in the geological literature referred to as "lichen-kill zones." In these zones the current plant diversity and abundance are exceedingly low and the plants are all relatively young and even-aged, factors which all point to their recent origin. Here we maintain that this vegetation has not yet reached equilibrium with the present prevailing climate and that it is still in an initial stage of succession. We present results of eight upland sites sampled in the vicinity of Alexandra Fiord Lowland, Ellesmere Island, Canada, to demonstrate the slow recolonization process that has been occurring within the last 100–150 years after the LIA termination. The widespread presence of the "lichen-kill" zones throughout the Canadian polar regions reflects the extent and destructive nature of even minor climatic cooling on vulnerable polar ecosystems.     

Differential sedimentation versus coring artifacts: a comparison of two widely used piston-coring methods

In order to compare two widely used piston-coring techniques, parallel cores were taken with both a Kullenberg and a Livingstone corer in the deepest part of Soppensee (25 m), a small eutrophic Swiss lake containing varved sediments. The cores were taken within a horizontal distance of 3 m and yield comparable stratigraphic records. Differences in millimetre-scale microstructure are attributed to primary sedimentation processes at the water/sediment interface. Sediment thin-sections, as well as sediment x-radiograph investigations, reveal no difference in microstructure that could unequivocally be attributed to one of the coring methods used. The differences in deposition are therefore thought to reflect the inherent variability of lacustrine sedimentation in Soppensee.Major differences in overall core recovery do occur, however, in organic-rich, highly porous sediments. These variations are primarily attributed to differential gas expansion. Actual sediment-accumulation rates can therefore only be correctly estimated if the sedimentary record can be constrained within a high-resolution temporal framework, e.g. by annual laminations.     

A note on the Aitken nuclei and ion flow measurements in the lower stratosphere

In the light of new measurements of small aerosol particles in the lower stratosphere, some of the old investigations—which were only published in part in scientific journals—are reviewed and compared. The discussion focuses on whether the Aitken nuclei (AN) size distribution up to 20 km can be described by Junge’s or log-normal density functions and under what circumstances one can find a bimodal distribution of these particles. The ion flow in correlated to the stratospheric pollution (intercept with the jet aircraft, volcanic activity) and is, in mean, directly proportional to the aircraft altitude in the undisturbed lower stratosphere. Note: The GCCPR, Univ. Missouri at Rolla, reports quoted in the article can be obtained from the author.     

Optimization of interpolation parameters when deriving DEM from contour lines

Digital elevation models (DEMs) are still an important and current source of information for digital soil mapping and the modeling of soil processes. The grid DEM is often interpolated from contour lines. The contour sampling step becomes an additional interpolation parameter which can play an important role. The objective of this paper is to optimize the interpolation parameters of the Regularized spline with tension (RST) method, in order to prepare a DEM suitable as an input for erosion modeling. Two contrasting cases, with and without a reference DEM, were investigated. If a reference DEM was available, good results of interpolation were reached both by small and larger sampling steps. In the second case, it was found that small sampling steps should be avoided. The influence of the sampling was demonstrated by topographic potential for erosion and deposition.