Rainfall yield characteristics of electrical storm observed in the Spanish Basque Country area during the period 1992–1996

This paper is focused on the study of rainfall yield characteristics of electrical storms observed over the Northern Iberian Peninsula during 1992–1996. To this aim Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) method have been used. The SOM method is a group of artificial neural networks based on the topological properties of the human brain. Results clearly suggest that there exist three different meteorological patterns that are linked to the characteristics of electrical events found in the study area. In winter, most of the electrical events are formed under oceanic advection (NW air fluxes). On these cases, mean rainfall yield estimates reach values of 700 10⁴ m³ per cloud to ground lightning flash (CG flash). During summer most frequent electrical storms are associated to local instability shooting by surface heating with advection of humidity coming from the Iberian Peninsula. Under these meteorological situations, rain is scarcer if compared with oceanic events but lightning CG counts reach the maximum values found in the area (about 10 CG counts per 20 × 20 km² and day) giving this way the smallest rainfall yield with a mean value of 15 10⁴ m³ per CG flash. Iberian air fluxes associated with cold air in upper parts of the atmosphere represent the third meteorological pattern found. This pattern is most common in spring and autumn but is not unusual in the rest of the seasons. In those cases mean rainfall yield in the area is about 150 10⁴ m³ per CG flash. In all electrical episodes K instability index is greater than 15 °C but in the most lightning producing events, this index reaches in the area values greater than 24 °C. PCA results pointed out that there exists a relationship between rain and CG counts expressed by the first principal component computed from standardized data. However, we must notice that no event is solely linked to this axis, since a seasonal influence which decreases lightning production when rain increases is always present. Results found are of great interest for short term forecasting of flashfloods in mountainous areas like the Spanish Basque Country region.     

Fog collection in the western Mediterranean basin (Valencia region, Spain)

Four different mountainous locations were selected in the Valencia region, East coast of the Iberian Peninsula, for fog water collection studies. Data for 2004 were obtained by means of an instrument ensemble consisting essentially of a passive cylindrical fog water collector, a raingauge, a wind direction and velocity sensor and a temperature and humidity probe. An approximate data reduction technique was also found for this specific ensemble to eliminate the simultaneous rain water component from the fog water measurements. Main results indicate that fog water collection holds significant potential in this region, and especially for southern locations. Annual rates of fog water yield can be as high as 7.0 l/m²/day in the southern locations, in contrast to 2.0 l/m²/day collected at one site in a northern location. The highest summer fog water yield was 4.6 l/m²/day, a relatively large value. Except for the summer period, fog episodes delivering sizeable water volumes are inherently coupled to rainfall. Hourly frequencies of fog collection were also examined to show a distinct daily cycle in summer, denoting orographic fog formation during this period. Lastly, winds were analysed to resolve the most suitable directions for fog collector alignment.     

Scaling of tropical rainfall as observed by TRMM precipitation radar

We used a three-year (1998–2000) dataset of TRMM Precipitation Radar observations to investigate the scaling properties of spatial rainfall fields. This dataset allows consideration of spatial scales ranging from about 4.3 km to 138 km and short temporal scales corresponding to the sensor overpasses. The focus is on the marginal spatial moment scaling, which allows estimation of the scaling parameters from a single scene of data. Here we present a global perspective of the scaling properties of tropical rainfall in terms of its spatial variability, atmospheric forcing, predictability, and applicability. Our results reveal the following: 1) the scaling parameters exhibit strong variability associated with land/ocean contrast and mean precipitation at the synoptic scale; 2) there exists a one-to-one relationship between the scaling parameters and the large-scale spatial average rain rate of a universal functional form; 3) the majority of the scenes are consistent with the hypothesis of scale invariance at the moment orders of 0 and 2; 4) relatively there are more scale-invariant rain scenes over land than over ocean; and 5) for the scenes that are non-scale-invariant, deviation from scale-invariance mainly arises from the increasingly intermittent behavior of rainfall as spatial scale decreases. These results have important implications for the development and calibration of downscaling procedures designed to reproduce rainfall properties at different spatial scales and lead to a better understanding of the nature of tropical rainfall at various spatial resolutions.     

Dealing with drought: The challenge of using water system technologies to break dryland poverty traps

We explore strategies among farmers in semi-arid Tanzania to cope with drought, and investigate if access to a local supplemental irrigation system (the Ndiva system) can improve coping capacity. Results show high dependency on local ecosystem services when harvests fail, and indicate that farmers commonly exhaust asset holdings during droughts. Ndiva access did not have any direct effects on coping capacity, but seemed to have some indirect effects. Drawing on our findings we discuss the complexity of escaping persistent dryland poverty, and outline the circumstances under which small-scale water system technologies, such as Ndiva irrigation, may help.     

Droughts and famines: The underlying factors and the causal links among agro-pastoral households in semi-arid Makueni district, Kenya

Famines are often linked to drought in semi-arid areas of Sub-Saharan Africa where not only pastoralists, but also increasingly agro-pastoralists are affected. This study addresses the interplay between drought and famine in the rural semi-arid areas of Makueni district, Kenya, by examining whether, and how crop production conditions and agro-pastoral strategies predispose smallholder households to drought-triggered food insecurity. If this hypothesis holds, then approaches to deal with drought and famine have to target factors causing household food insecurity during non-drought periods. Data from a longitudinal survey of 127 households, interviews, workshops, and daily rainfall records (1961–2003) were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. This integrated approach confirms the above hypothesis and reveals that factors other than rainfall, like asset and labour constraints, inadequate policy enforcement, as well as the poverty-driven inability to adopt risk-averse production systems play a key role. When linking these factors to the high rainfall variability, farmer-relevant definitions and forecasts of drought have to be applied.     

多部雷达联合估算淮河流域降水

以淮河流域内6部CINRAD雷达基数据资料以及高密度自动雨量站观测资料为源,在应用多种方法进行降水估算和校准,并采用主成分集成方法进行集成应用的基础上,采用"先估算降水再拼图"和"重叠区域选取最大值"的方法来进行整个流域的降水估算结果拼图,从而实现了整个淮河流域的降水估算。从2007年7月初降水过程应用结果来看,经过校准以后估算误差在45%以下,并且能够反映出缺少地面雨量观测站的区域的降水分布,是一种切实可行的淮河流域降水估算的方法。     

X波段双极化多普勒天气雷达极限降水的估计能力

首先分析了X波段双极化多普勒天气雷达降水估计的误差来源及其影响,然后分析了信比、积累阶数对降水估计精度的影响,明确雷达系统本身的测量误差所能达到的理想程度,结果表明在双通道的积累次数M=64,信噪比SNR=10dB的条件下差分反射率的σ(ZDR)=0.32dB,则相应R(Z,ZDR)的降水估计精度最好能达到44%,同样条件下差分相位的σ(ΦDP)=0.08°,那么在降水率R=50mm/h时R(KDP)的降水估计精度最好能达8.6%。     

Climate-change driven increased flood magnitudes and frequency in the British uplands: Geomorphologically informed scientific underpinning for upland flood-risk management

Upland river systems in the UK are predicted to be prone to the effects of increased flood magnitudes and frequency, driven by climate change. It is clear from recent events that some headwater catchments can be very sensitive to large floods, activating the full sediment system, with implications for flood risk management further down the catchment. We provide a 15-year record of detailed morphological change on a 500-m reach of upland gravel-bed river, focusing upon the geomorphic response to an extreme event in 2007, and the recovery in the decade following. Through novel application of two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic modelling we evaluate the different energy states of pre- and post-flood morphologies of the river reach, exploring how energy state adjusts with recovery following the event. Following the 2007 flood, morphological adjustments resulted in changes to the shear stress population over the reach, resulting in higher shear stresses. Although the proportion of shear stresses in excess of those experienced using the pre-flood digital elevation model (DEM) varied over the recovery period, they remained substantially in excess of those experienced pre-2007, suggesting that there is still potential for enhanced bedload transport and morphological adjustment within the reach. Although volumetric change calculated from DEM differencing does indicate a reduction in erosion and deposition volumes in the decade following the flood, we argue that the system still has not fully recovered to the pre-flood state. We further argue that Thinhope Burn, and other similarly impacted catchments in upland environments, may not recover under the wet climatic phase currently being experienced. Hence systems like Thinhope Burn will continue to deliver large volumes of sediment further down river catchments, providing new challenges for flood risk management into the future.     

云南省降水与赤道西太平洋海温的关系分析

应用谱分析方法，讨论了云南省降水与赤道西太平洋海表温度的关系，结果表明，云南省降水与赤道西太平洋海温在３个月，５个月及１８．４月的振动周期上有很好的耦合关系，对于１８．４个月的周期性振荡，云南省降水落后赤道西太平洋海温３个月，且降水对海温的响应是由西向东传播。     

降水对荒漠土壤水热性质强迫研究

利用“我国西北干旱区陆气相互作用试验”在甘肃省敦煌的观测资料,分析了不同大小的降水对土壤湿度、反照率以及地表温度的影响;随着降水量的增大,各地表物理量恢复到原先的状态也越慢;强降水时,5cm土壤湿度的驰豫期为7天．中降水为4天,微量降水为2天。由于降水性质(水和雪)和土壤状态的差异,冬季和夏季相比．降水对地表物理量的影响差不多,但冬季地表物理量的恢复时间要比夏季长得多。土壤湿度和反照率的驰豫期与降水有很好的相关。