Mitigating Agricultural Emissions of Methane

Agricultural crop and animal production systems are important sources and sinks for atmospheric methane (CH4). The major CH4 sources from this sector are ruminant animals, flooded rice fields, animal waste and biomass burning which total about one third of all global emissions. This paper discusses the factors that influence CH4 production and emission from these sources and the aerobic soil sink for atmospheric CH4 and assesses the magnitude of each source. Potential methods of mitigating CH4 emissions from the major sources could lead to improved crop and animal productivity. The global impact of using the mitigation options suggested could potentially decrease agricultural CH4 emissions by about 30%.     

About the Role of Quinones in the Action of Some Polyphenols on the Streaming of Protoplasm in Nitella sp. Cells

The concentration of phenols and quinones which stopped the protoplasmic movement in the Nitella cells after 15 min was determined. The quinones (β-naphthoquinone, α-naphthoquinone, p-benzoquinone, o-toluquinone, o-bromanil) stopped the protoplasmic movement in the concentration of (1 3) 10^?4 M, phenols (m-cresol, p-cresol, hydroquinone, guaiacol, phenol, gallic acid, pyrogallic acid, resorcinol) in the concentration of (0.2 5) 10^?2 M, except catechol – 2 10^?3 M. Very high toxicity of catechol and in the prolonged experiments (3 hours) also of hydroquinone is connected with the action of quinonoid productions of its oxidation. This suggestion is confirmed by the experiments:

• – by adding the phenol solutions to Nitella shoots (catechol, hydroquinone, resorcinol) we observed the greatest increase of oxygen absorption in case of catechol (86%), less in case of hydroquinone (38%), and for resorcinol oxygen absorption practically remained on the control level;
• – the action of catechol, hydroquinone and p-benzoquinone did not take place in the presence of glutathione and cysteine (but not cystine and oxidated glutathione);
• – diethyldithiocarbamate as an inhibitor of o-diphenoloxidase reduced the ability of catechol solutions to stop the protoplasmic movement;
• – the low concentrations of benzoquinones were able to stop the protoplasmic movement;
• – for stopping the protoplasmic movement under the prolonged time of incubation from 15 min to 3 hours there was necessary a lower concentration of solutions of hydroquinone and catechol in comparison with resorcinol.

     

The ADSS-3 broadband stand-alone digital seismic station

The SSD-3 three-channel seismic recorder and the ADSS-3 three-component broadband standalone digital seismic station based on the SSD-3 together with SM-3E seismic sensors were developed. The main advantage of this equipment in comparison with foreign and domestic analogs is simplicity and convenience while maintaining high technical characteristics. The structure and operation of the seismic sensor and seismic recorder are considered, and their main technical characteristics are given. Laboratory, bench, and comparative tests of the seismic recorder and station demonstrated their working capacity and compliance with the development goal. Based on the test results, the ADSS-3 seismic station was commissioned as a three-component broadband observation point of the Mikhnevo small-aperture seismic array. The data obtained using the ADSS-3 made is possible to study the structure of the crust and upper mantle of this region using the receiver function method.     

A sensitivity analysis of Hortonian flow

We present a sensitivity analysis for infiltration excess (Hortonian) overland flow based on a classic laboratory experiment by Smith and Woolhiser [Smith RE, Woolhiser DA. Overland flow on an infiltrating surface. Water Resour Res 1971;7(4):899–913]. The model components of the compartment approach are comprised of a diffusive wave approximation to the Saint–Venant equations for overland flow, a Richards model for flow in the variably saturated zone, and an interface coupling concept that combines the two components. In the coupling scheme a hydraulic interface is introduced to allow the definition of an exchange flux between the surface and the unsaturated zone. The effects of friction processes, soil capillarity, hydraulic interface, and vertical soil discretization on both infiltration and runoff prediction are investigated in detail. The corresponding sensitivity analysis is conducted using a small-perturbation method. As a result the importance of the hydraulic processes and related parameters are evaluated for the coupled hydrosystem.     

Tropical Cyclones and Possible Winter Thunderstorms on Kamchatka

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The influence of tropical cyclones on the thunderstorm activity on the Kamchatka peninsula for winter thunderstorms in the 2008–2018 period is studied. The...     

U.S. National Forests adapt to climate change through Science–Management partnerships

Developing appropriate management options for adapting to climate change is a new challenge for land managers, and integration of climate change concepts into operational management and planning on United States national forests is just starting. We established science–management partnerships on the Olympic National Forest (Washington) and Tahoe National Forest (California) in the first effort to develop adaptation options for specific national forests. We employed a focus group process in order to establish the scientific context necessary for understanding climate change and its anticipated effects, and to develop specific options for adapting to a warmer climate. Climate change scientists provided the scientific knowledge base on which adaptations could be based, and resource managers developed adaptation options based on their understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and management. General adaptation strategies developed by national forest managers include: (1) reduce vulnerability to anticipated climate-induced stress by increasing resilience at large spatial scales, (2) consider tradeoffs and conflicts that may affect adaptation success, (3) manage for realistic outcomes and prioritize treatments that facilitate adaptation to a warmer climate, (4) manage dynamically and experimentally, and (5) manage for structure and composition. Specific adaptation options include: (1) increase landscape diversity, (2) maintain biological diversity, (3) implement early detection/rapid response for exotic species and undesirable resource conditions, (4) treat large-scale disturbance as a management opportunity and integrate it in planning, (5) implement treatments that confer resilience at large spatial scales, (6) match engineering of infrastructure to expected future conditions, (7) promote education and awareness about climate change among resource staff and local publics, and (8) collaborate with a variety of partners on adaptation strategies and to promote ecoregional management. The process described here can quickly elicit a large amount of information relevant for adaptation to climate change, and can be emulated for other national forests, groups of national forests with similar resources, and other public lands. As adaptation options are iteratively generated for additional administrative units on public lands, management options can be compared, tested, and integrated into adaptive management. Science-based adaptation is imperative because increasing certainty about climate impacts and management outcomes may take decades.     

Using Scintillometry to Estimate Sensible Heat Fluxes over Water: First Insights

An extra large aperture scintillometer (XLAS) was used over several months across the Thau Lagoon (South of France) to retrieve one-wavelength scintillation and, thence, sensible heat flux. We present the experiment with the XLAS, an eddy-covariance station and meteorological stations measuring on or near the Thau Lagoon. Changes implemented to adapt the scintillometry processing schemes to the above water conditions are presented together with a full error budget, including sensitivity tests to the relevant parameters of the scintillometer processing scheme. The XLAS error budget amounts to 16% (systematic part) ±50% (random part). Sensible heat fluxes obtained using the XLAS under unstable atmospheric conditions are then compared to eddy-covariance estimates used as a reference. The scintillometry technique proved to perform satisfactorily in such a watery environment. Some discrepancies observed between the XLAS and eddy-covariance measurements were investigated according to the lagoon fraction of the source area, to discriminate whether they were related to deviations from the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory or to different atmospheric conditions at the respective instrument locations. Local atmospheric conditions agreed well with the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, especially measurements with source areas largely composed of the lagoon surface. Retaining only the measurements with almost only the lagoon surface in the source area improved the agreement between the XLAS and eddy-covariance measurements. The remaining discrepancies are interpreted as being due to significant location differences between the two instruments, resulting in different atmospheric conditions, and to size differences in the source areas.     

Sea breeze development under an offshore synoptic wind in the South-Western Cape and implications for the Stellenbosch wine-producing area

Summary Sea breezes were investigated during the maturation period of wine grapes in the South-Western Cape under particular synoptic wind conditions (onshore for Table Bay and offshore for False Bay). Observations from an automatic weather station network located in the Stellenbosch wine-producing area as well as the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (RAMS, non-hydrostatic, parallel, version 4.3) were used. Results showed that two sea breezes developed, one from Table Bay late in the morning, and the other from False Bay later in the afternoon. The coastal low strengthened and deflected the sea breeze from Table Bay towards the south and south-east of the study area, while the offshore large-scale circulation hindered the development of the sea breeze in the opposite direction over False Bay and delayed its movement towards land. The decrease in temperature resulting from the onset of the sea breeze from the Atlantic early in the afternoon could be significant for viticulture, reducing the duration and intensity of high temperature stress on grapevine functioning at the coolest locations.     

How to Parametrize Urban-Canopy Drag to Reproduce Wind-Direction Effects Within the Canopy

The mean wind direction within an urban canopy changes with height when the incoming flow is not orthogonal to obstacle faces. This wind-turning effect is induced by complex processes and its modelling in urban-canopy (UC) parametrizations is difficult. Here we focus on the analysis of the spatially-averaged flow properties over an aligned array of cubes and their variation with incoming wind direction. For this purpose, Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations previously compared, for a reduced number of incident wind directions, against direct numerical simulation results are used. The drag formulation of a UC parametrization is modified and different drag coefficients are tested in order to reproduce the wind-turning effect within the canopy for oblique wind directions. The simulations carried out for a UC parametrization in one-dimensional mode indicate that a height-dependent drag coefficient is needed to capture this effect.