Interannual Variability of the Annual Cycle of Temperature over Northern Africa

In this study, the imprints of two major atmospheric variability modes - ENSO and NAO - on the annual cycle of temperature over Northern Africa, a region sensitive to both modes, are investigated. Results from adjusting the annual cycle from daily data on a high resolution grid, indicate that both NAO and ENSO are able to influence significantly the amplitude and phase of the seasonal cycle and, consequently, that interannual trends found in amplitude and phase can be not exclusively due to greenhouse gases effects.     

Spatial and environmental patterns of off-road vehicle recreation in a semi-arid woodland

Outdoor recreation is a widely recognized cultural ecosystem service. Ensuring that appropriate, high quality recreation opportunities are available requires, among other factors, knowledge of the environmental preferences of recreation users and spatial indicators of where those environmental features exist on the landscape and offer the potential to meet recreation goals. Diverse types of outdoor recreation exist, and different forms of recreation may be associated with different environmental features. The focus of this study is off-road vehicle (ORV) recreation. We demonstrate how readily available spatial environmental datasets, including high resolution image data provided within GoogleEarth, can be used to develop a cost-effective, objective indicator of ORV recreation across a landscape, which can inform management to provide desired recreation opportunities while protecting ecologically sensitive areas.ORV recreational tracks were delineated from GoogleEarth imagery throughout our study area in the Great Western Woodlands of Western Australia. In this region, ORV use is a popular recreation activity and a growing concern of conservation organizations, but is not yet actively managed. Most recreational ORV tracks in the study area are informal and user-created. Mapped ORV recreation tracks were used to model and map the environmental associations of ORV recreation. The pattern of existing tracks indicated associations between recreation and noteworthy environmental amenities in the study area such as the shores of salt lakes and rock outcrops with high ecological and cultural value. However, one of the most important determinants of ORV track presence was accessibility, especially proximity to a road. Access infrastructure, such as proximity to roads, is often used to proxy demand and use in expert-based spatial assessments of ecosystem services. The results of our empirical model underscore the importance of incorporating patterns of both supply (i.e., desired natural amenities) and demand (i.e., access) into ecosystem service assessments. In addition, when integrated with maps of environmental sensitivity and more detailed information about human use, the predictive map of areas providing potential recreation experiences can be used for comprehensive spatial planning of sustainable ORV recreation. One possibility suggested by our results is that careful planning and management of access routes may be an effective means to achieve sustainable ORV recreation.     

甘肃永登强对流云的雷达气候学特征分析

利用甘肃永登19年(1971—1985年,1999—2003年)的雷达回波资料,分析了强对流云回波形成及分布特征与甘肃永登地区特殊地形的关系;强对流天气大尺度天气背景和相应的强对流雷达回波的移动、高度、强度和回波谱等特征。结果表明,该区的特殊地形造成气流阻挡并使其折转汇合、垂直运动剧烈加速,使得对流云迅速发展,这是该区对流云形成和分布的决定因素;高空天气形势和对流云结构制约了对流云雷达回波的移动和基本特征。雹云回波谱表明,雹暴对流活动一般均处于旺盛状态,强回波高度和其所处的云内温度是形成雹云的重要条件。     

A Climatological Investigation of the Activity of Summer Subtropical Vortices

By applying a new vortex detection method to the ECMWF 40-yr reanalysis (ERA40) data from 1985 to 2002, the climatology of summer vortices has been investigated in five subtropical regions, i.e., the northwestern Pacific, northeastern Pacific, northwestern Atlantic, northeastern Atlantic, and Australia-South Pacific, followed by validation with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Results are as follows: (1) The spatial distributions of ERA40 vortex activities (VAC) were well consistent with those of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (NRA) results in all regions, especially in northwestern Pacific. (2) Because of different model resolutions, both the number and intensity of vortices obtained from NRA were significantly weaker thanERA40's. (3) Vortices mainly cruised in coasts and the adjacent seas, from where to the land or the open sea vortex activities were gradually decreased. (4) There were two active centers in the northwestern Pacific:one was located in South China Sea and the other, as the largest center of the five regions, spread from the east side of the Philippines to Japan. (5) Over the northwestern Atlantic, most vortices occurred in Panama and its west-side offshore. (6) The spatial distributions of vortices were alike between the northeastern Pacific and northeastern Atlantic, both spreading from coasts to the west-side sea at 5°-20°N. (7) In the Anstralia-South Pacific, vortices were not as active as those in the other four regions, and mostly took place in the equator-side of near ocean areas. (8) Except the northwestern Pacific and northwestern Atlantic, the VAC interannual variations in the other three regions were different between ERA40 and NRA data. (9)In the northwestern Pacific and northwestern Atlantic, the VAC interannual variation could be separated to several distinct stages. (10) Since the mid 1980s, mean vortex intensity was getting increased in the northwestern Pacific, which was most significant in the subtropical areas on a global basis. In the western North Atlantic, there was a decreasing (increasing) trend of the mean vortex intensity before (after) the mid1990s.     

Landscape persistence and stakeholder perspectives: The case of Romania's Carpathians

The traditional use of land for food, fuel and wood created cultural landscapes, which are threatened across Europe. The factors which contributed to their endangerment need to be identified to achieve effective preservation of such landscapes. The aim of our study was to identify landscapes with historical persistence in a GIS-based comparative analysis of historical and contemporary maps and the most prominent causes of the past landscape changes, based on stakeholders' perspective. We considered a case study in Romania's Carpathians. Three major land cover types were extracted from maps dating from 1912, 1980 and 2009: built-up, pastures and forests. The historical persistence of all land cover types was poor (<20%) and profound changes were quantitatively confirmed. Large, compact patches of unchanged forests were located in the neighbourhood of a national park. The persistent pastures were situated close to human settlements, and their preservation can be related to local traditional agro-silvo-pastoral management. Although the built-up area has increased over time, the corresponding surfaces are small and consist of scattered patches located around historical monuments. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate stakeholders' perspective. Using cluster analysis five prominent causes of past landscape changes are identified: 'increasing tourism', 'land tenure and social changes', 'land-use intensification', 'post-communist transition', and 'foreign investments'. We join the results of the GIS analysis with those from stakeholders' perspective to gain more insights into the landscape changes. This research offers important information that could be used for the further planning of these valuable cultural landscapes in order to avoid potential conflicts and degradation.     

Progresses in the Atmospheric Electricity Researches in China during 2006--2010

Atmospheric electricity is composed of a wide range of electric phenomena in the troposphere, strato- sphere, and even lower ionosphere. Research progress on atmospheric electricity in the past 5 years in China are briefly reviewed here. This research area has been greatly expanded through rocket-triggered lightning experiments and the increased use of high spatio-temporal resolution techniques for the detection and location of lightning. The main results described in this review are summarized in the following five aspects:(1) processes and parameters inferred from rocket-triggered lightning, (2) lightning physics and effects (observations and theoretical study), (3) lightning activities associated with different thunderstorms, (4) charge structure of thunderstorms (observations and simulation), and (5) the VHF/UHF lightning location techniques and discharge channel mapping.     

粤港澳文化整合与区域经济发展关系研究

通过探讨粤港澳三地文化的特色与关系以及三地文化整合的必要性与可能性,研究三地文化整合对区域经济发展的促进作用,增强对区域文化整合在区域经济发展中地位的认识.并提出目前粤港澳三地文化整合中存在的主要问题及对策.     

广东地闪时空特征及与降水关系分析

利用2016—2020年粤港澳闪电定位数据和广东86个国家地面观测站逐小时降水资料,分析了广东地闪频次和地闪强度的时空分布特征,以及地闪与降水量、强降水频次之间的相关关系。结果表明：(1)广东逐月地闪频次与降水变化均呈双峰型分布,峰值在6和8月,两者相关系数达到0.95。日变化中,地闪频次高值集中在12:00—20:00,占比为61.4%;地闪频次与逐时雨量均为单峰型,峰值出现在15:00,两者相关系数0.90。(2)地闪密度大值区以广州为中心向四周递减,中心值达到33次/(km²·年)以上;地闪强度分布与地闪密度相反,地闪密度大的地区,其平均地闪强度小。(3)全省大部分地区地闪密度与降水量、强降水频次相关性强,而在粤东及粤北地区相关性较差。相较于降水量,地闪密度大值区与强降水频次的相关性更好;而地闪强度与降水量的相关性,比其与强降水频次相关性要更好。     

我国高空风速的气候学特征

利用全国119个探空站1980~2006年13个等压面和地面附近的月平均风速资料,分析了不同高度年、季节平均风速的气候学特征。结果表明,全国平均200hPa以下风速随高度增加而增加,200hPa~30hPa之间风速随高度增加而降低,30hPa以上风速随高度增加而再呈增加趋势;春、秋季平均风速随高度变化与年平均相似,但冬、夏季的垂直分布差异明显;700hPa及其以上最大风速出现在1月,最小风速在7月或8月;850hPa和地面最大风速发生在4月;对流层风速年较差从下向上增加,在200hPa附近风速年较差最大。我国地面风速在东、西部地区较大,中部地区较小;500hPa年平均风速分布呈西低东高态势,最大中心出现在辽东半岛东部;200hPa年平均风速在江淮地区出现高值中心;500hPa冬季最大风速区在大陆南部,夏季北移并向西扩展;200hPa各季强风速区基本呈东西走向的带状分布,其中春季在江淮地区,夏季移至西北,秋季位于黄淮地区,冬季位置最南。     

Coral mass bleaching and reef temperatures at Navassa Island, 2006

Bleaching and associated mortality is an extreme threat to the persistence of coral populations in the projected warming regime of the next few decades. Recent evidence indicates that thermal bleaching thresholds may be affected by water quality gradients. The unexpected encounter of a coral mass bleaching event at a remote, uninhabited Caribbean island (Navassa) during a routine reef assessment cruise in November 2006 provided the opportunity to characterize bleaching responses and thermal exposure in an oceanic area with negligible continental influence or human impact on water quality. The coral taxa most susceptible to bleaching were Agaricia spp. and Montastraea faveolata. Siderastraea siderea, Diploria spp. and Porites porites were intermediately affected, while Porites astreoides and Montastraea cavernosa were minimally affected and negligible bleaching was observed in Acropora palmata. Bleaching prevalence (colonies > 4 cm diameter) ranged from 0.16 to 0.63 among sites. Deeper sites (between 18 and 37 m) had significantly higher prevalence of bleaching than shallow sites (<10 m). This general pattern of more bleaching in deeper sites also occurred within species. Though exposure to high-temperature stress was not greater at deeper sites, water motion, which may bolster bleaching resistance, was likely less. In situ loggers indicated temperatures over 30 °C initiated at shallow sites in mid-August, at deeper sites in early September, and were persistent at all sites until mid-October. Long term (1983–2007) climatologies constructed from AVHRR SSTs suggest that the mass bleaching event observed at Navassa in 2006 corresponded with greater intensity and duration of warm temperature anomalies than occurred in 2005, for which no in situ observations (bleaching nor temperature) are available.