Investigating the effects of a summer storm on the North Sea stratification using a regional coupled ocean-atmosphere model

The influence of a summer storm event in 2007 on the North Sea and its effects on the ocean stratification are investigated using a regional coupled ocean (Regional Ocean Modeling System, ROMS)-atmosphere (Weather Research & Forecasting model, WRF) modeling system. An analysis of potential energy anomaly (PEA, Φ) and its temporal development reveals that the loss of stratification due to the storm event is dominated by vertical mixing in almost the entire North Sea. For specific regions, however, a considerable contribution of depth-mean straining is observed. Vertical mixing is highly correlated with wind induced surface stresses. However, peak mixing values are observed in combination with incoming flood currents. Depending on the phase between winds and tides, the loss of stratification differs strongly over the North Sea. To study the effects of interactive ocean-atmosphere exchange, a fully coupled simulation is compared with two uncoupled ones for the same vertical mixing parameters to identify the impact of spatial resolution as well as of SST feedback. While the resulting new mixed layer depth after the storm event in the uncoupled simulation with lower spatial and temporal resolution of the surface forcing data can still be located in the euphotic zone, the coupled simulation is capable to mix the entire water column and the vertical mixing in the uncoupled simulation with higher resolution of the surface forcing data is strongly amplified. These differences might have notable implications for ecosystem modeling since it could determine the development of new phytoplankton blooms after the storm and for sediment modeling in terms of sediment mobilization. An investigation of restratification after the extreme event illustrates the persistent effect of this summer storm.     

Mesoscale variability in the Bransfield Strait region (Antarctica) during Austral summer

The Bransfield Strait is one the best-known areas of Antarctica’s oceanic surroundings. In spite of this, the study of the mesoscale variability of its local circulation has been addressed only recently.This paper focuses on the mesoscale structure of local physical oceanographic conditions in the Bransfield Strait during the Austral summer as derived from the BIOANTAR 93 cruise and auxiliary remote sensing data. Moreover, data recovered from moored current meters allow identification of transient mesoscale phenomena.     

The European-Mediterranean Earthquake Catalogue (EMEC) for the last millennium

The catalogue by Grünthal et al. (J Seismol 13:517?C541, 2009a) of earthquakes in central, northern, and north-western Europe with M _w????3.5 (CENEC) has been expanded to cover also southern Europe and the Mediterranean area. It has also been extended in time (1000?C2006). Due to the strongly increased seismicity in the new area, the threshold for events south of the latitude 44°N has here been set at M _w????4.0, keeping the lower threshold in the northern catalogue part. This part has been updated with data from new and revised national and regional catalogues. The new Euro-Mediterranean Earthquake Catalogue (EMEC) is based on data from some 80 domestic catalogues and data files and over 100 special studies. Available original M _w and M ₀ data have been introduced. The analysis largely followed the lines of the Grünthal et al. (J Seismol 13:517?C541, 2009a) study, i.e., fake and duplicate events were identified and removed, polygons were specified within each of which one or more of the catalogues or data files have validity, and existing magnitudes and intensities were converted to M _w. Algorithms to compute M _w are based on relations provided locally, or more commonly on those derived by Grünthal et al. (J Seismol 13:517?C541, 2009a) or in the present study. The homogeneity of EMEC with respect to M _w for the different constituents was investigated and improved where feasible. EMEC contains entries of some 45,000 earthquakes. For each event, the date, time, location (including focal depth if available), intensity I ₀ (if given in the original catalogue), magnitude M _w (with uncertainty when given), and source (catalogue or special study) are presented. Besides the main EMEC catalogue, large events before year 1000 in the SE part of the investigated area and fake events, respectively, are given in separate lists.     

A Global Inventory of Burned Areas at 1 Km Resolution for the Year 2000 Derived from Spot Vegetation Data

Biomass burning constitutes a major contribution to global emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, greenhouse gases and aerosols. Furthermore, biomass burning has an impact on health, transport, the environment and land use. Vegetation fires are certainly not recent phenomena and the impacts are not always negative. However, evidence suggests that fires are becoming more frequent and there is a large increase in the number of fires being set by humans for a variety of reasons. Knowledge of the interactions and feedbacks between biomass burning, climate and carbon cycling is needed to help the prediction of climate change scenarios. To obtain this knowledge, the scientific community requires, in the first instance, information on the spatial and temporal distribution of biomass burning at the global scale. This paper presents an inventory of burned areas at monthly time periods for the year 2000 at a resolution of 1 kilometer (km) and is available to the scientific community at no cost. The burned area products have been derived from a single source of satellite-derived images, the SPOT VEGETATION S1 1 km product, using algorithms developed and calibrated at regional scales by a network of partners. In this paper, estimates of burned area, number of burn scars and average size of the burn scar are described for each month of the year 2000. The information is reported at the country level. This paper makes a significant contribution to understanding the effect of biomass burning on atmospheric chemistry and the storage and cycling of carbon by constraining one of the main parameters used in the calculation of gas emissions.     

Footprint Analysis: A Closed Analytical Solution Based On Height-Dependent Profiles Of Wind Speed And Eddy Viscosity

Based on the theoretical background of existing models for the crosswind-integrated footprint, a new model is presented, which, in contrast to the existing models, describes the normalized footprint by a closed analytical formula. This was made possible by using well-known power profiles for wind speed and eddy viscosity instead of Monin–Obukhov based profiles at a certain stage of model development. However, the major difference between the new model and the existing models is that the so-called shape parameter of vertical plume dispersion, a function of upwind distance in the existing models, is set constant in the new model in order to circumvent a formal inconsistency found in the derivation of the existing models. Due to this inconsistency, the existing models do not generally satisfy the fundamental condition that the cumulative normalized footprint must approach unity for the upwind distance tending towards infinity.     

Comparing CO2 Storage and Advection Conditions at Night at Different Carboeuroflux Sites

Anemometer and CO₂ concentration data from temporary campaigns performed at six CARBOEUROFLUX forest sites were used to estimate the importance of non-turbulent fluxes in nighttime conditions. While storage was observed to be significant only during periods of both low turbulence and low advection, the advective fluxes strongly influence the nocturnal CO₂ balance, with the exception of almost flat and highly homogeneous sites. On the basis of the main factors determining the onset of advective fluxes, the ‘advection velocity’, which takes net radiation and local topography into account, was introduced as a criterion to characterise the conditions of storage enrichment/depletion. Comparative analyses of the six sites showed several common features of the advective fluxes but also some substantial differences. In particular, all sites where advection occurs show the onset of a boundary layer characterised by a downslope flow, negative vertical velocities and negative vertical CO₂ concentration gradients during nighttime. As a consequence, vertical advection was observed to be positive at all sites, which corresponds to a removal of CO₂ from the ecosystem. The main differences between sites are the distance from the ridge, which influences the boundary-layer depth, and the sign of the mean horizontal CO₂ concentration gradients, which is probably determined by the source/sink distribution. As a consequence, both positive and negative horizontal advective fluxes (corresponding respectively to CO₂ removal from the ecosystem and to CO₂ supply to the ecosystem) were observed. Conclusive results on the importance of non-turbulent components in the mass balance require, however, further experimental investigations at sites with different topographies, slopes, different land covers, which would allow a more comprehensive analysis of the processes underlying the occurrence of advective fluxes. The quantification of these processes would help to better quantify nocturnal CO₂ exchange rates.     

Rhönit aus einem Melaphonolith vom Puy de Saint-Sandoux (Auvergne)

Zusammenfassung Mineralbestand, Chemismus und Erstarrungsbedingungen eines rhönitreichen melaphonolithischen Differentiates der Olivinnephelinitplatte des Puy de Saint-Sandoux (Auvergne) werden beschrieben. Von dem Rhönit aus dem Melaphonolith und einem weiteren aus dem Nephelindolerit vom Löbauer Berg (Sachsen) werden die Ergebnisse der chemischen Analysen sowie die optischen Konstanten mitgeteilt. Es wird versucht, im Verein mit in der Literatur enthaltenen Beobachtungen und experimentellen Untersuchungen, die Bildungsbedingungen des Rhönits abzuleiten.

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Rhoenite from a metaphonolite of Puy de Saint-Sandoux (Auvergne)

Summary Modal and chemical composition of a melaphonolithic differentiate in an olivine-nephelinite layer of the Puy de Saint-Sandoux (Auvergne) are given together with a discussion of the conditions of crystallization. The chemical composition and the optical data of the rhoenite in this rock and of another rhoenite from Löbauer Berg (Saxony) are presented. The conditions of rhoenite-formation are discussed on the basis of observations made in this and previous studies, as well as on experimental data.

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Mit 2 Abbildungen     

Groundwater flow model of the Pipiripau watershed, Federal District of Brazil

In order to understand the groundwater dynamics and to improve the management of water resources in the Federal District of Brazil, this research proposes a 3D groundwater flow model to represent the groundwater level and flow system. The selected test site was the Pipiripau catchment. The development of the model was based on available geological, hydrogeological, geomorphological, climatological and pedological data. Geological and hydrogeological data were used to generate the 3D groundwater flow model. The 3D mesh elements of the domain were generated through the Groundwater Modeling System software, based on the logs of the well materials. The numerical simulation of the finite element method was implemented in the framework of the scientific software OpenGeoSys. With the 3D mesh-appropriated boundary conditions, annual average infiltration data and hydrogeological parameters were incorporated. Afterwards, the steady-state model was calibrated by the PEST software using available data of the water level from wells. The results showed the distribution of the steady-state hydraulic heads in the model domain, where the highest values occurred in the east and west recharge areas and the lowest values were found in the southwest of the basin. The results of this study can be a used as initial condition for the transient groundwater flow simulation and to provide a scientific basis for water resource management.