Statistical analysis of short-term water stress conditions at Riggs Creek OzFlux tower site

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - A large range of indices and proxies are available to describe the water stress conditions of an area subject to different applications, which have varying...     

Long-term snow and weather observations at Weissfluhjoch and its relation to other high-altitude observatories in the Alps

Snow and weather observations at Weissfluhjoch were initiated in 1936, when a research team set a snow stake and started digging snow pits on a plateau located at 2,540?m asl above Davos, Switzerland. This was the beginning of what is now the longest series of daily snow depth, new snow height and bi-monthly snow water equivalent measurements from a high-altitude research station. Our investigations reveal that the snow depth at Weissfluhjoch with regard to the evolution and inter-annual variability represents a good proxy for the entire Swiss Alps. In order to set the snow and weather observations from Weissfluhjoch in a broader context, this paper also shows some comparisons with measurements from five other high-altitude observatories in the European Alps. The results show a surprisingly uniform warming of 0.8°C during the last three decades at the six investigated mountain stations. The long-term snow measurements reveal no change in mid-winter, but decreasing trends (especially since the 1980s) for the solid precipitation ratio, snow fall, snow water equivalent and snow depth during the melt season due to a strong temperature increase of 2.5°C in the spring and summer months of the last three decades.     

Spectral Characteristics and Correction of Long-Term Eddy-Covariance Measurements Over Two Mixed Hardwood Forests in Non-Flat Terrain

We present turbulence spectra and cospectra derived from long-term eddy-covariancemeasurements (nearly 40,000 hourly data over three to four years) and the transferfunctions of closed-path infrared gas analyzers over two mixed hardwood forests inthe mid-western U.S.A. The measurement heights ranged from 1.3 to 2.1 times themean tree height, and peak vegetation area index (VAI) was 3.5 to 4.7; the topographyat both sites deviates from ideal flat terrain. The analysis follows the approach ofKaimal et al. (Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 98, 563–589, 1972) whose results were based upon 15 hours of measurements atthree heights in the Kansas experiment over flatter and smoother terrain. Both thespectral and cospectral constants and stability functions for normalizing and collapsingspectra and cospectra in the inertial subrange were found to be different from those ofKaimal et al. In unstable conditions, we found that an appropriate stabilityfunction for the non-dimensional dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy is of the form ₍₎ = (1 - b^-)^-1/4 - c^-, where representsthe non-dimensional stability parameter. In stable conditions, a non-linear functionG_xy() = 1 + b_xy^c _xy (c_xy < 1) was found to benecessary to collapse cospectra in the inertial subrange. The empirical cospectralmodels of Kaimal et al. were modified to fit the somewhat more (neutraland unstable) or less (stable) sharply peaked scalar cospectra observed over forestsusing the appropriate cospectral constants and non-linear stability functions. Theempirical coefficients in the stability functions and in the cospectral models varywith measurement height and seasonal changes in VAI. The seasonal differencesare generally larger at the Morgan Monroe State Forest site (greater peak VAI) andcloser to the canopy.The characteristics of transfer functions of the closed-path infrared gas analysersthrough long-tubes for CO₂ and water vapour fluxes were studied empirically. This was done by fitting the ratio between normalized cospectra of CO₂ or watervapour fluxes and those of sensible heat to the transfer function of a first-order sensor.The characteristic time constant for CO₂ is much smaller than that for water vapour. The time constant for water vapour increases greatly with aging tubes. Three methods were used to estimate the flux attenuations and corrections; from June through August, the attenuations of CO₂ fluxes are about 3–4% during the daytime and 6–10% at night on average. For the daytime latent heat flux (Q_E), the attenuations are foundto vary from less than 10% for newer tubes to over 20% for aged tubes. Correctionsto Q_E led to increases in the ratio (Q_H + Q_E)/(Q^* - Q_G) by about 0.05 to0.19 (Q_H is sensible heat flux, Q^* is net radiation and Q_G is soil heat flux),and thus are expected to have an important impact on the assessment of energy balanceclosure.     

Scalar Similarity for Relaxed Eddy Accumulation Methods

The relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) method allows the measurement of trace gas fluxes when no fast sensors are available for eddy covariance measurements. The flux parameterisation used in REA is based on the assumption of scalar similarity, i.e., similarity of the turbulent exchange of two scalar quantities. In this study changes in scalar similarity between carbon dioxide, sonic temperature and water vapour were assessed using scalar correlation coefficients and spectral analysis. The influence on REA measurements was assessed by simulation. The evaluation is based on observations over grassland, irrigated cotton plantation and spruce forest.Scalar similarity between carbon dioxide, sonic temperature and water vapour showed a distinct diurnal pattern and change within the day. Poor scalar similarity was found to be linked to dissimilarities in the energy contained in the low frequency part of the turbulent spectra ( < 0.01 Hz).The simulations of REA showed significant change in b-factors throughout the diurnal course. The b-factor is part of the REA parameterisation scheme and describes a relation between the concentration difference and the vertical flux of a trace gas. The diurnal course of b-factors for carbon dioxide, sonic temperature and water vapour matched well. Relative flux errors induced in REA by varying scalar similarity were generally below ± 10%. Systematic underestimation of the flux of up to − 40% was found for the use of REA applying a hyperbolic deadband (HREA). This underestimation was related to poor scalar similarity between the scalar of interest and the scalar used as proxy for the deadband definition.     

Atmospheric Circulation Changes in Response to an Observed Stratospheric Zonal Ozone Anomaly

Abstract

In a sensitivity study, the influence of an observed stratospheric zonal ozone anomaly on the atmospheric circulation was investigated using the Fifth Generation European Centre Hamburg Model (ECHAM5) which is a general circulation model. The model was run from 1960 to 1999 (40 years) with a mean seasonal cycle of zonally symmetric ozone. In order to isolate the induced dynamical influence of the observed zonally asymmetric part of the three-dimensional stratospheric ozone, a second run was performed for the boreal extratropics using prescribed monthly means from the 40-year reanalysis dataset from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ERA-40). The main findings are the interdecadal westward shift of the polar vortex at about 65°N and a significant increase in the number of stratospheric sudden warmings during the 1980–99 period. Under the action of zonally asymmetric ozone a decrease in the Arctic Oscillation was identified between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. The lag correlation between the mean Arctic Oscillation at the surface and the daily stratospheric northern annular mode increased in mid-winter. Furthermore, we examined the influence of the stratospheric zonal ozone anomaly on Rossby wave breaking in the upper troposphere and found a significant westward shift of poleward Rossby wave breaking events over western Europe in the winter. By this we show that the stratospheric zonal ozone anomaly has a strong influence on the tropospheric circulation as a result of enhanced dynamical coupling processes.     

Further Studies Of Atmospheric Turbulence In Layers Near The Surface: Scaling The Tke Budget Above The Roughness Sublayer

The second of two experimental studies of the TKE budget conducted on sites of different roughness is described, and results are compared. The first took place within a shallow layer above a small field of mostly bare, cultivated soil; the second was carried out above a roughness sublayer of significant depth on an extensive plain of tall dry grass. Budget terms observed in the second study were scaled with a modified u which compensated for effects of an unusually large stress gradient and ensured that the _m functions would be collinear. By showing that the modification becomes negligible in smaller gradients, it is demonstrated that in normal conditions, budgets observed above significant roughness sublayers should be normalized by scaling in terms of the unreduced Reynolds stress at the sublayer's upper surface. This procedure is shown to be consistent with the expectation that TKE budgets in layers near the surface all scale in fundamentally the same way.Other findings include: (1) the fact that most _m functions previously reported are not quite collinear is attributed to a type of overspeeding known to affect three-cup anemometers; (2) revised _m functions, collinear and largely free of the effects of overspeeding, are determined from a well-established characteristic of the linear _m relation for the stable case; (3) data that define collinear _m functions can also be represented with single hyperbolic curves; (4) dissipation is found to be 10 to 15% too small to balance total TKE production in unstable and neutral conditions and to decrease with increasing z/L in thestable regime; and (5) new relations for based on the observed behaviour of the dissipation deficit provide an improved closure for the set of equations that express the budget terms as functions of _m and z/L.