Estimate of Boundary-Layer Depth Over Beijing,China, Using Doppler Lidar Data During SURF-2015

Planetary boundary-layer (PBL) structure was investigated using observations from a Doppler lidar and the 325-m Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) meteorological tower in the centre of Beijing during the summer 2015 Study of Urban-impacts on Rainfall and Fog/haze (SURF-2015) field campaign. Using six fair-weather days of lidar and tower data under clear to cloudy skies, we evaluate the ability of the Doppler lidar to probe the urban boundary-layer structure, and then propose a composite method for estimating the diurnal cycle of the PBL depth using the Doppler lidar. For the convective boundary layer (CBL), a threshold method using vertical velocity variance \((\sigma _w^2 >0.1\,\hbox {m}^{2}\hbox {s}^{-2})\) is used, since it provides more reliable CBL depths than a conventional maximum wind-shear method. The nocturnal boundary-layer (NBL) depth is defined as the height at which \(\sigma _w^2\) decreases to 10 % of its near-surface maximum minus a background variance. The PBL depths determined by combining these methods have average values ranging from \(\approx \)270 to \(\approx \)1500 m for the six days, with the greatest maximum depths associated with clear skies. Release of stored and anthropogenic heat contributes to the maintenance of turbulence until late evening, keeping the NBL near-neutral and deeper at night than would be expected over a natural surface. The NBL typically becomes more shallow with time, but grows in the presence of low-level nocturnal jets. While current results are promising, data over a broader range of conditions are needed to fully develop our PBL-depth algorithms.     

Extra-tropical atmospheric response to ENSO in the CMIP5 models

The seasonal mean extra-tropical atmospheric response to El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is assessed in the historical and pre-industrial control CMIP5 simulations. This analysis considers two types of El Niño events, characterized by positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in either the central equatorial Pacific (CP) or eastern equatorial Pacific (EP), as well as EP and CP La Niña events, characterized by negative SST anomalies in the same two regions. Seasonal mean geopotential height anomalies in key regions typify the magnitude and structure of the disruption of the Walker circulation cell in the tropical Pacific, upper tropospheric ENSO teleconnections and the polar stratospheric response. In the CMIP5 ensembles, the magnitude of the Walker cell disruption is correlated with the strength of the mid-latitude responses in the upper troposphere i.e., the North Pacific and South Pacific lows strengthen during El Niño events. The simulated responses to El Niño and La Niña have opposite sign. The seasonal mean extra-tropical, upper tropospheric responses to EP and CP events are indistinguishable. The ENSO responses in the MERRA reanalysis lie within the model scatter of the historical simulations. Similar responses are simulated in the pre-industrial and historical CMIP5 simulations. Overall, there is a weak correlation between the strength of the tropical response to ENSO and the strength of the polar stratospheric response. ENSO-related polar stratospheric variability is best simulated in the “high-top” subset of models with a well-resolved stratosphere.     

Use of archaeology to date liquefaction features and seismic events in the New Madrid seismic zone,Central United States

Prehistoric earthquake-induced liquefaction features occur in association with Native American occupation horizons in the New Madrid seismic zone. Age control of these liquefaction features, including sand-blow deposits, sand-blow craters, and sand dikes, can be accomplished by extensive sampling and flotation processing of datable materials as well as archaeobotanical analysis of associated archaeological horizons and pits. This approach increases both the amount of carbon for radiocarbon dating and the precision dating of artifact assemblages. Using this approach, we dated liquefaction features at four sites northwest of Blytheville, Arkansas, and found that at least one significant earthquake occurred in the New Madrid seismic zone between A.D. 1180 and 1400, probably about A.D. 1300 ± 100 yr. In addition, we found three buried sand blows that formed between 3340 B.C. and A.D. 780. In this region where very large to great earthquakes appear to be closely timed, archaeology is helping to develop a paleoearthquake chronology for the New Madrid seismic zone. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A Clovis well at the type site 11,500 B.C.: The oldest prehistoric well in America

An enigmatic circular pit uncovered during archaeological excavations at the Clovis type site, Blackwater Draw, New Mexico, in 1964 has been reexposed and posited as a water well excavated by Clovis people around 11,500 B.C. The prehistoric well, the oldest in the New World, was probably a dry hole. Other Clovis wells may exist in the area. The excavation of wells near where there had been surface water shortly before adds to the evidence for drought during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.