An Operational Precipitable Water Vapor Retrieval Algorithm for Fengyun-2F/VISSR Using a Modified Three-Band Physical Split-Window Method

The Visible and Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer(VISSR) onboard the Fengyun-2(FY-2) satellite can provide valuable thermal infrared observations to help create a precipitable water vapor(PWV) product with high spatial and temporal resolutions. The current FY-2/VISSR PWV product in operation is produced by using a traditional two-band physical split-window(PSW) method, which produces low quality results under dry atmospheric conditions. Based on the sensitivity characteristics of FY-2 F/VISSR water vapor channel and two split-window channels to atmospheric water vapor, this study developed a new, robust operational PWV retrieval algorithm for FY-2 F to improve the operational precision of the current PWV product. The algorithm uses a modified three-band PSW method, which adds a scale for the water vapor channel in the improved three-band PSW method. Integrated PWV products from the radiosonde data in 2016 are used here to validate the precision of the PWV retrieved by the modified three-band and traditional two-band PSW methods. The mean bias, root mean square error(RMSE), and correlation coefficient of the PWV retrieved by the modified three-band PSW method are 0.28 mm, 4.53 mm, and 0.969, respectively. The accuracy is much better than the PWV retrieved by the two-band method, whose mean bias, RMSE, and correlation coefficient are 12.67 mm, 29.35 mm, and 0.23. Especially, in mid-or high-latitude regions, the RMSE of the PWV is improved from 10 to 2 mm by changing the inversion in the two-band method to the modified three-band PSW method. Furthermore, the modified three-band PSW results show a better consistency with the radiosonde PWV at any zonal belt and season than the two-band PSW results. This new algorithm could significantly improve the quality of the current FY-2 F/VISSR PWV product, especially at sites where the actual PWV are lower than 15 mm.     

三江源区大气可降水量时空特征及其与降水关系

利用1979—2016年欧洲中期天气预报中心(ECMWF) ERA-Interim (1°×1°)再分析资料中的经、纬向水汽通量和大气可降水量(precipitation water vapor,PWV)数据,采用相关性分析、趋势分析法、累积距平、IDW等方法,分析三江源地区PWV与水汽通量的时空分布特征、降水转化率(precipitati-on conversion efficiency,PCE)变化规律。结果表明:过去的38 a,经、纬向多年平均水汽通量分别为50. 2、196. 7 kg·m-1·s^(-1),纬向水汽通量气候倾向率比经向大。南边界为纬向主要水汽输入边界,东边界为经向主要水汽输出边界,纬向水汽输送大于经向输送。多年平均PWV为1998. 3 mm,近38 aPWV呈现微弱增加趋势,1979—1997年,PWV呈下降趋势,1998年后PWV呈增加趋势,同期降水也在增加,说明该时段三江源地区气候转湿。PWV与水汽通量的年际变化趋势和转折年相一致。三江源区多年平均PCE为24. 57%,1989年PCE最高,达32. 76%,各季节平均PCE空间分布与年平均PCE分布一致,均表现出南部、东南部高,西部、东北部低的变化特征,各季节PCE大小差异明显,春季多年平均PCE为15. 92%,夏季25. 67%,秋季21. 01%,冬季仅7. 03%。     

内蒙古东北部地区一次极端降雪过程的水汽输送特征

利用内蒙古呼伦贝尔市常规观测资料和GDAS、NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,采用欧拉方法分析了2016年春季内蒙古东北部地区一次极端暴雪过程的水汽输送及收支特征,利用HYSPLIT模式和聚类分析模拟计算了此次暴雪天气过程的水汽源地、主要水汽输送通道及其对水汽输送的贡献,并与传统的欧拉方法结果进行对比。结果表明:(1)有3支不同源地的水汽流在内蒙古东北部地区交汇,对呼伦贝尔地区暴雪的发生与维持有重要影响;(2)经向和纬向输送为此次暴雪天气的发生提供了充足的水汽,暴雪区水汽主要源于中高层的南边界和随西风气流的西边界;(3)利用HYSPLIT模式模拟发现,在此次暴雪天气过程中水汽主要来源于新地岛以西洋面、日本海以及巴尔喀什湖,且三者贡献率大致相当。     

冬季北半球风暴轴的多尺度能量变化特征及其可能机制

基于1971—2016年NCEP/NCAR(美国环境预报中心和国家大气研究中心)的逐日再分析资料及NCPC(美国国家海洋和大气管理局气候预报中心)的海温、大气环流及海洋指数等资料通过多尺度能量分析(MS-EVA)等方法,把冬季北半球风暴轴看做一整体,分析了风暴轴区域多尺度的能量变化特征及其可能机制。主要结论概括如下:(1)多年气候平均状态下,风暴轴的动能来源主要表现为在风暴轴中上游先由低频尺度向天气尺度输送有效位能,随后在风暴轴主体区再由天气尺度有效位能转换为天气尺度动能,其中风暴轴西端可直接由低频尺度向天气尺度输送动能。(2)北半球三大风暴轴联合EOF结果表明:第一模态下,主要体现了北西伯利亚风暴轴与北太平洋风暴轴强度的减弱(增强),同时伴随着北大西洋风暴轴位置北抬(南压);第二模态下,主要体现了北西伯利亚风暴轴强度减弱(增强),同时北太平洋风暴轴位置北抬(南压)中东部强度增强(减弱),而北大西洋风暴轴位置南压(北抬)。(3)回归分析表明:北半球风暴轴异常在不同模态下与低频尺度环流联系密切。低频尺度波动可通过海温及西风急流等异常变化先影响风暴轴区域多尺度间的能量转换,进而影响风暴轴整体的异常变化。     

近50多年来淮河流域气候水分盈亏时空变化

水分盈亏是区域干湿气候划分的重要依据。基于淮河流域63个气象台站1957—2014年逐日观测数据,运用累积距平、Mann-Kendall突变分析、Morlet小波分析及ArcGIS反权重空间插值法,结合Penman-Monteith蒸散计算模型获得淮河流域水分盈亏量的周期特征、突变特征及其时空分布特征,并分析其主要影响因子。结果表明:(1)水分盈亏月变化基本符合5月最低,7月最高。(2)从季节分布来看,水分亏缺面积秋季春季冬季夏季,亏缺程度春季最强。从平均年水分盈亏量分布来看,水分盈亏量由南向北递减。且不论季节还是年状况,山地及河流对区域水分盈亏量的南北递减存在滞后作用。(3)从各因子气候倾向率的时空分布来看,江苏东南部、山东西部、河南大部、湖北中部水分盈亏量变化的主导因子为潜在蒸散量,其他区域的主导因子为降雨量。(4)淮河流域水分盈亏量存在周期特征,第一主周期为10 a。     

Latitudinal and Scan-dependent Biases of Microwave Humidity Sounder Measurements and Their Dependences on Cloud Ice Water Path

The relationship between differences in microwave humidity sounder(MHS)–channel biases which represent measured brightness temperatures and model-simulated brightness temperatures, and cloud ice water path(IWP) as well as the influence of the cloud liquid water path(LWP) on the relationship is examined. Seven years(2011–17) of NOAA-18 MHS-derived measured brightness temperatures and IWP/LWP data generated by the NOAA Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System Microwave Surface and Precipitation Products System are used. The Community Radiative Transfer Model, version2.2.4, is used to simulate model-simulated brightness temperatures using European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis data as background fields. Scan-angle deviations of the MHS window channel biases range from-1.7 K to1.0 K. The relationships between channels 2, 4, and 5 biases and scan angle are symmetrical about the nadir. The latitudedependent deviations of MHS window channel biases are positive and range from 0–7 K. For MHS non-window channels,the latitudinal deviations between measured brightness temperatures and model-simulated brightness temperatures are larger when the detection height is higher. No systematic warm or cold deviations are found in the global spatial distribution of difference between measured brightness temperatures and model-simulated brightness temperatures over oceans after removing scan-angle and latitudinal deviations. The corrected biases of five different MHS channels decrease differently with respect to the increase in IWP. This decrease is stronger when LWP values are higher.     

Measuring,mapping and quantifying the effects of trust and informal communication on transboundary collaboration in the Great Lakes fisheries policy network

Ecosystem-based management of fisheries and other transboundary natural resources require a number of organizations across jurisdictions to exchange knowledge, coordinate policy goals and engage in collaborative activities. Trust, as part of social capital, is considered a key mechanism facilitating the coordination of such inter-organizational policy networks. However, our understanding of multi-dimensional trust as a theoretical construct and an operational variable in environmental and natural resource management has remained largely untested. This paper presents an empirical assessment of trust and communication measures applied to the North American Great Lakes fisheries policy network. Using a scale-based method developed for this purpose, we quantify the prevalence of different dimensions of trust and in/formal communication in the network and their differentiated impacts on decision-making and goal consensus. Our analysis reveals that calculation-based ‘rational trust’ is important for aligning mutual goals, but relationship-based ‘affinitive trust’ is most significant for influencing decision-making. Informal communication was also found to be a strong predictor of how effectively formal communication will influence decision-making, confirming the “priming” role of informal interactions in formal inter-agency dealings. The results also show the buffering and interactive functions of these components in strengthening institutional resilience, with procedural trust undergirding the system to compensate for a lack of well-developed relationships. Overall, this study provides evidence to suggest that informal communication and multi-dimensional trust constitute a crucial element for improving collaboration and reducing conflict in the networked governance of transboundary natural resource systems.     

Integrating farmers’ adaptive knowledge into flood management and adaptation policies in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: A social learning perspective

Flood management and adaptation are important elements in sustaining farming production in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). While over the past decades hydraulic development introduced by the central government has substantially benefited the rural economy, it has simultaneously caused multiple barriers to rural adaptation. We investigate the relational practices (i.e., learning interactions) taking place within and across the flood management and adaptation boundaries from the perspective of social learning. We explore whether and how adaptive knowledge (i.e., experimental and experiential knowledge) derived from farmers’ everyday adaptation practices contributes to local flood management and adaptation policies in the selected areas. We collected data through nine focus groups with farmers and thirty-three interviews with government officials, environmental scientists, and farmers. Qualitative analysis suggests that such processes are largely shaped by the institutional context where the boundary is embedded. This study found that while the highly bureaucratic operation of flood management creates constraints for feedback, the more informal arrangements set in place at the local level provide flexible platforms conducive to open communication, collaborative learning, and exchange of knowledge among the different actors. This study highlights the pivotal role of shadow systems that provide space for establishing and maintaining informal interactions and relationships between social actors (e.g., interactions between farmers and extension officials) in stimulating and influencing, from the bottom-up, the emergence of adaptive knowledge about flood management and adaptation in a local context.     

Cross-site analysis of perceived ecosystem service benefits in multifunctional landscapes

Rural development policies in many Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries promote sustainable landscape management with the intention of providing multiple ecosystem services (ES). Yet, it remains unclear which ES benefits are perceived in different landscapes and by different people. We present an assessment of ES benefits perceived and mapped by residents (n = 2,301) across 13 multifunctional (deep rural to peri-urban) landscapes in Europe. We identify the most intensively perceived ES benefits, their spatial patterns, and the respondent and landscape characteristics that determine ES benefit perception. We find outdoor recreation, aesthetic values and social interactions are the key ES benefits at local scales. Settlement areas are ES benefit hotspots but many benefits are also related to forests, waters and mosaic landscapes. We find some ES benefits (e.g. culture and heritage values) are spatially clustered, while many others (e.g. aesthetic values) are dispersed. ES benefit perception is linked to people’s relationship with and accessibility to a landscape. Our study discusses how a local perspective can contribute to the development of contextualized and socially acceptable policies for sustainable ES management. We also address conceptual confusion in ES framework and present argumentation regarding the links from services to benefits, and from benefits to different types of values.     

闽中南罕见冬季锋前暴雨个例特征分析

利用福建省逐小时加密自动站资料、风廓线、S波段双偏振雷达与雨滴谱等新型探测资料以及NCEP逐6 h的1°×1°大气再分析资料,分析了2017年2月21—22日福建中南部一次预报失败的冬季暴雨过程。结果表明:(1)此次暴雨过程类似于锋前暖区暴雨,自2000年以来仅此一例,十分罕见,是在低空急流偏强并长时间维持的背景下产生的,并未受到南支槽和冷空气的影响。(2)闽中大到暴雨带和闽南暴雨区的对流系统相互独立,有多个对流系统影响闽中地区,仅两个对流系统影响闽南地区。降水有较明显对流特征,属暖云弱对流降水,容易导致预报员对雨强估计不足。(3)此次冬季暴雨过程的水汽主要来自南海地区,低层水汽条件与汛期暴雨相当,但整层水汽条件较汛期略差;低空急流对暖湿气流的输送使暴雨区趋于不稳定,但对流不稳定度较汛期弱。(4)高空辐散低层辐合的配置为冬季暴雨带来了有利的动力抬升条件,但暴雨区涡旋性不强,无明显正涡度柱。其中,闽中大到暴雨主要与条件性对称不稳定有关,是在湿斜压作用下倾斜上升运动中产生,而闽南暴雨区既存在对流不稳定,也存在条件性对称不稳定。