Cross-shore distribution of longshore sediment transport rates on a barred non-tidal beach

This study was conducted to relate the cross-shore distribution of longshore sediment transport and grain size characteristics to cross-shore and longshore current velocities on a sandy low-energy beach in a non-tidal embayment of the Baltic Sea. Simultaneous measurements of current velocities and amount of sand caught in streamer traps were made on 31 sampling runs on 6 d in April 1999 at three fixed sites including the swash zone on the upper foreshore, the lower foreshore, and the crest of the most landward of four bars. Spilling waves broke frequently on the bar but rarely on the lower foreshore, even during onshore wind speeds up to 11.0 m s⁻¹. Waves always broke as plunging waves at the step at the base of the upper foreshore and were converted directly into swash. The greatest longshore current velocities in the swash occurred when wind speeds and water levels were greatest, but wind direction was nearly directly onshore. Longshore velocities were greater in the swash zone than at other sites except when relatively strong winds blew nearly parallel to the shoreline, causing a pronounced wind-induced current at the other two sites. Calculated longshore shear stress and rate of sediment trapped were highly correlated on the bar (r=0.90), less highly correlated in the swash zone, and least highly correlated (r=0.66) on the lower foreshore. Mean trapping rates in the swash were 14.6 times greater than on the lower foreshore and 7.2 times greater than on the bar. Greater trapping rates in the swash are attributed to the greater turbulence mobilizing sediments in the uprush and backwash. Little of the finer-grained sediment on the offshore sites was reworked under low energy conditions. The study reveals the dominance of swash transport on steep, reflective, low-energy beaches where wave energy dissipation takes place over small distances on the upper foreshore.     

Opening and closure of a marginal Southern California lagoon inlet

Over the past 50 yr, direct observations of the inlet status (open or closed) of San Dieguito Lagoon, a typical southern California lagoon located in Del Mar, California, have shown that river flooding is the major natural determinant of inlet conditions on time scales longer than a few years. River flooding is strongly dependent on rainfall in the San Dieguito River watershed and on the influences of two water storage reservoirs in the area. Rainfall fluctuates on yearly and longer time scales and undergoes cycles of wet and dry periods. Over short time periods, ranging from a few months to several years, inlet status is primarily determined by the available tidal prism and littoral sand transport. Recognition of these factors is crucial in order to correctly evaluate the probability that a small lagoon will remain open naturally. A probability approach is essential because the variables controlling inlet conditions are random in nature. The results of our study show that the inlet will remain open naturally 34% of the time. The tendency to remain open is vastly smaller during years of dry weather (12%) versus times of above-average rainfall (66%).     

Magnitude,Scale, and Dynamics of the 2020 Mei-yu Rains and Floods over China※

Large parts of East and South Asia were affected by heavy precipitation and flooding during early summer 2020. This study provides both a statistical and dynamical characterization of rains and floods affecting the Yangtze River Basin (YRB). By aggregating daily and monthly precipitation over river basins across Asia, it is shown that the YRB is one of the areas that was particularly affected. June and July 2020 rainfall was higher than in the previous 20 years, and the YRB experienced anomalously high rainfall across most of its sub-basins. YRB discharge also attained levels not seen since 1998/1999. An automated method detecting the daily position of the East Asian Summer Monsoon Front (EASMF) is applied to show that the anomalously high YRB precipitation was associated with a halted northward progression of the EASMF and prolonged mei-yu conditions over the YRB lasting more than one month. Two 5-day heavy-precipitation episodes (12?16 June and 4?8 July 2020) are selected from this period for dynamical characterization, including Lagrangian trajectory analysis. Particular attention is devoted to the dynamics of the airstreams converging at the EASMF. Both episodes display heavy precipitation and convergence of monsoonal and subtropical air masses. However, clear differences are identified in the upper-level flow pattern, substantially affecting the balance of airmass advection towards the EASMF. This study contextualizes heavy precipitation in Asia in summer 2020 and showcases several analysis tools developed by the authors for the study of such events.     

On the cold start problem in transient simulations with coupled atmosphere-ocean models

Finite computer resources force compromises in the design of transient numerical experiments with coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models which, in the case of global warming simulations, normally preclude a full integration from the undisturbed pre-industrial state. The start of the integration at a later time from a climate state which, in contrast to the true climate, is initially in equilibrium then induces a cold start error. Using linear response theory a general expression for the cold start error is derived. The theory is applied to the Hamburg CO₂ scenario simulations. An attempt to estimate the global-mean-temperature response function of the coupled model from the response of the model to a CO₂ doubling was unsuccessful because of the non-linearity of the system. However, an alternative derivation, based on the transient simulation itself, yielded a cold start error which explained the initial retardation of the Hamburg global warming curve relative to the IPCC results obtained with a simple box-diffusion-upwelling model. In the case of the sea level the behaviour of the model is apparently more linear. The cold start error estimations based on a CO₂ doubling experiment and on an experiment with gradually increasing CO₂ (scenario A) are very similar and explain about two thirds of the coupled model retardation relative to the IPCC results.     

Comprehensive study of the biophysical parameters of agricultural crops based on assessing Landsat 8 OLI and Landsat 7 ETM+ vegetation indices

For three agricultural crop types, winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and canola (Brassica napus L.), we estimated biophysical parameters including fresh and dry biomass, leaf area index (LAI), and vegetation water content, for which we found the equivalent water thickness (EWT), fuel moisture content per fresh weight (FMC_FW), and fuel moisture content per dry weight (FMC_DW). We performed these estimations using data from the newly launched Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor, as well as its predecessor the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+). Progress in the design of the new sensor (i.e., Landsat 8), including narrower near-infrared (NIR) wavebands, higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and greater radiometric resolution highlights the necessity to investigate the biophysical parameters of agricultural crops, especially compared to data from its predecessor. This study aims to evaluate vegetation indices (VIs) derived from the Landsat 8 OLI and the Landsat 7 ETM+. Both the Landsat 8 OLI and Landsat 7 ETM+ VIs agreed well with in-situ data measurements. However, the Landsat 8 OLI-derived VIs were generally more consistent with in situ data than the Landsat 7 ETM+ VIs. We also note that the Landsat 8 OLI is better able to capture the small variability of the VIs because of its higher SNR and wider radiometric range; in addition, the saturation phenomenon occurred earlier for the Landsat 7 ETM+ than for the Landsat 8 OLI. This indicates that the new sensor is better able to estimate the biophysical parameters of crops.     

Synthetic design hydrographs for ungauged catchments: a comparison of regionalization methods

Design flood estimates for a given return period are required in both gauged and ungauged catchments for hydraulic design and risk assessments. Contrary to classical design estimates, synthetic design hydrographs provide not only information on the peak magnitude of events but also on the corresponding hydrograph volumes together with the hydrograph shapes. In this study, we tested different regionalization approaches to transfer parameters of synthetic design hydrographs from gauged to ungauged catchments. These approaches include classical regionalization methods such as linear regression techniques, spatial methods, and methods based on the formation of homogeneous regions. In addition to these classical approaches, we tested nonlinear regression models not commonly used in hydrological regionalization studies, such as random forest, bagging, and boosting. We found that parameters related to the magnitude of the design event can be regionalized well using both linear and nonlinear regression techniques using catchment area, length of the main channel, maximum precipitation intensity, and relief energy as explanatory variables. The hydrograph shape, however, was found to be more difficult to regionalize due to its high variability within a catchment. Such variability might be better represented by looking at flood-type specific synthetic design hydrographs.     

Transient simulation of the last glacial inception. Part II: sensitivity and feedback analysis

The sensitivity of the last glacial-inception (around 115 kyr BP, 115,000 years before present) to different feedback mechanisms has been analysed by using the Earth system model of intermediate complexity CLIMBER-2. CLIMBER-2 includes dynamic modules of the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial biosphere and inland ice, the last of which was added recently by utilising the three-dimensonal polythermal ice-sheet model SICOPOLIS. We performed a set of transient experiments starting at the middle of the Eemiam interglacial and ran the model for 26,000 years with time-dependent orbital forcing and observed changes in atmospheric CO₂ concentration (CO₂ forcing). The role of vegetation and ocean feedback, CO₂ forcing, mineral dust, thermohaline circulation and orbital insolation were closely investigated. In our model, glacial inception, as a bifurcation in the climate system, appears in nearly all sensitivity runs including a run with constant atmospheric CO₂ concentration of 280 ppmv, a typical interglacial value, and simulations with prescribed present-day sea-surface temperatures or vegetation cover—although the rate of the growth of ice-sheets growth is smaller than in the case of the fully interactive model. Only if we run the fully interactive model with constant present-day insolation and apply present-day CO₂ forcing does no glacial inception appear at all. This implies that, within our model, the orbital forcing alone is sufficient to trigger the interglacial–glacial transition, while vegetation, ocean and atmospheric CO₂ concentration only provide additional, although important, positive feedbacks. In addition, we found that possible reorganisations of the thermohaline circulation influence the distribution of inland ice.     

The loss of K,REE, Th,and U from a Martian and a terrestrial basalt by acidic leaching

Abstract— The mobilization of K, rare earth elements (REE), Th, and U from Martian surface material upon contact with acidic solutions probably occurred extensively on Mars about 4 to 3.5 Ga ago and seems to have occurred locally in more recent times. We have studied the dissolution of these elements by leaching the basaltic shergottite Zagami and the terrestrial basalt BE‐N at constant pH values ranging from 5 to 1 in the absence and presence of added salts. Potassium is nearly immobile in Zagami and mobilized readily from BE‐N. The REE reside mostly in calcium phosphates and dissolve readily, with those in whitlockite of Zagami reacting slightly better than those in apatite of BE‐N. Thorium and U also reside mostly in calcium phosphates. Both dissolve similarly for both basalts and less readily than the REE. The experiments indicate the extent of the mobilization of K, REE, Th, and U, when acidic water leached the surface of Mars. Potassium was released slowly and in a small relative amount. The REE, and particularly the LREE, became mobile readily and were possibly distributed over large areas before immobilization. Thorium and U dissolved more slowly than the REE and were distributed less widely.