Dynamics of climate extremes in northern Eurasia in the late 20th century

Changes in climatic parameters and in temperature and precipitation extremes in northern Eurasia in the late 20th century are analyzed. A spatial distribution of temperature and precipitation anomalies and of a set of indices of climate extremes is presented. Changes in climate extremes show a tendency toward a milder climate, mainly in winter. At the same time, the frost-free period has substantially decreased in the eastern, northern, and central parts of European Russia. In some regions during summer, there is an increase in the frequency of extreme events such as heavy rains, droughts, and sharp cooling. It is shown that the geographic pattern of present-day climate anomalies is linked to variations in the large-scale atmospheric circulation. The main mechanism of the current warming in northern Eurasia is a winter intensification of zonal flow linked to the increased frequency of positive anomalies of the North Atlantic Oscillation index.     

Three-parameter model of turbulence for the atmospheric boundary layer over an urbanized surface

A modified three-parameter model of turbulence for a thermally stratified atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is presented. The model is based on tensor-invariant parametrizations for the pressure-strain and pressure-temperature correlations that are more complete than the parametrizations used in the Mellor-Yamada model of level 3.0. The turbulent momentum and heat fluxes are calculated with explicit algebraic models obtained with the aid of symbol algebra from the transport equations for momentum and heat fluxes in the approximation of weakly equilibrium turbulence. The turbulent transport of heat and momentum fluxes is assumed to be negligibly small in this approximation. The three-parameter E ? ε ? 2> model of thermally stratified turbulence is employed to obtain closed-form algebraic expressions for the fluxes. A computational test of a 24-h ABL evolution is implemented for an idealized two-dimensional region. Comparison of the computed results with the available observational data and other numerical models shows that the proposed model is able to reproduce both the most important structural features of the turbulence in an urban canopy layer near the urbanized ABL surface and the effect of urban roughness on a global structure of the fields of wind and temperature over a city. The results of the computational test for the new model indicate that the motion of air in the urban canopy layer is strongly influenced by mechanical factors (buildings) and thermal stratification.     

Multi-AUV Control and Adaptive Sampling in Monterey Bay

Operations with multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have a variety of underwater applications. For example, a coordinated group of vehicles with environmental sensors can perform adaptive ocean sampling at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales. We describe a methodology for cooperative control of multiple vehicles based on virtual bodies and artificial potentials (VBAP). This methodology allows for adaptable formation control and can be used for missions such as gradient climbing and feature tracking in an uncertain environment. We discuss our implementation on a fleet of autonomous underwater gliders and present results from sea trials in Monterey Bay in August, 2003. These at-sea demonstrations were performed as part of the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network (AOSN) II project     

Second-order moment advection scheme applied to Arctic Ocean simulation

We apply the second-order moment (SOM) advection scheme of (Prather, M.J. 1986. Numerical advection by conservation of second-order moments. J. Geophys. Res. 91, 6671–6681.) to the simulation of the large-scale circulation of the Arctic Ocean with a coupled ocean–sea-ice model. Compared to three other advection schemes commonly employed in ocean simulations (centred differences, flux corrected transport, and multidimensional positive definite advection transport), the SOM method helps preserve the vertical structure of Arctic water masses. The depth, thickness and hydrographic properties of the Arctic Surface Water and the Arctic Atlantic Layer are better represented with SOM than with any of the other three advection algorithms. We also present a convenient method for calculating the implicit numerical diffusivity of upstream based schemes, such as the SOM method, and discuss three approaches for improving the monotonicity properties of the SOM algorithm.     

Electronic atlas of the Russian Arctic coastal zone

A set of digital maps including geology, Quaternary sediments, landscapes, engineering-geological, vegetation, geocryological and the series of regional sources have been selected to characterize the Russian Arctic coast. Based on this data, new maps of engineering geocryological zoning and zoning of the coast with respect to the intensity of exogenous geological processes and risk of technogenic impacts have been generated at the scales of 1:4,000,000–1:8,000,000. These maps are a tool to assess the impact of industry on the Arctic coast of the country.     

Dynamic-Stochastic Modeling of Natural Processes

We propose a method for the construction of dynamic-stochastic models of natural systems based on the assimilation of the data of observations in the prognostic equations of coupled processes. In these models, the method of adaptive balance of causes is used to deduce evolutionary equations of the analyzed processes and assimilate the data of observations in these equations. The deduced general equations are considered for an example of a marine ecosystem characterized by the development of four coupled processes. It is shown that the optimal prediction of these processes requires the solution of 11 systems of equations with simultaneous adaptation of prognostic estimates and the coefficients of the models to the data of observations. A numerical simulation experiment explaining the algorithm of the proposed method of modeling is considered. A conclusion is made that the application of this method in the geoinformation systems of monitoring of the environment is quite promising.__________Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 6, pp. 31–42, November–December, 2004.     

Vertical distribution of the macrobenthic community and its relationships to trace metals and natural sediment characteristics in the lower Douro estuary, Portugal

Vertical distribution (0–15 cm) of the macrobenthic community and its relationships to natural sediment characteristics and trace metal contents and bioavailability were studied at five locations in the lower Douro estuary, Portugal. An analysis of vertical metal distribution, for the interpretation of anthropogenic impact on the estuarine sediments, was also investigated. Sediment characterisation included organic matter, grain size, metals (Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cd, Zn and Mn), acid volatile sulphide (AVS) and simultaneously extracted metals (SEM). The macrobenthic community had low diversity (14 species), was dominated by small size opportunists and seemed to be controlled mainly by natural factors such as grain size distribution, Al and Fe contents and sediment depth. The vertically heterogeneous distribution of macrobenthic community appears to affect redox status of the sediments and consequently metal bioavailability. Despite anthropogenic contamination in terms of Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr and Ni having already been detected in the north bank, the analysis of vertical distribution was essential for the identification of current anthropogenic contamination in terms of Zn, Pb and Cd in the south bank.