Developing a large‐scale water‐balance approach to seasonal forecasting: application to the 2012 drought in Britain

Seasonal hydrological forecasts, or outlooks, can potentially provide water managers with estimates of river flows and water resources for a lead time of several months ahead. An experimental modelling tool for national hydrological outlooks has been developed which combines a hydrological model estimate of sub‐surface water storage across Britain with a range of seasonal rainfall forecasts to provide estimates of area‐wide hydrological conditions up to a few months ahead. The link is made between a deficit in sub‐surface water storage and a requirement for additional rainfall over subsequent months to enable sub‐surface water storage and river flow to return to mean monthly values. The new scheme is assessed over a recent period which includes the termination of the drought that affected much of Britain in the first few months of 2012. An illustration is provided of its use to obtain return‐period estimates of the ‘rainfall required’ to ease drought conditions; these are well in excess of 200 years for several regions of the country, for termination within a month of 1 April 2012, and still exceed 40 years for termination within three months. National maps of sub‐surface water storage anomaly show for the first time the current spatial variability of drought severity. They can also be used to provide an indication of how a drought situation might develop in the next few months given a range of possible future rainfall scenarios. © 2013 CEH/Crown and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of snow and soil frost melting on the concentrations of suspended solids and phosphorus in two rural watersheds in Western Finland

Hydrological processes are known to have a considerable effect on nutrient transport from agricultural land to watercourses. In cold temperate regions peak discharges are caused not only by storm conditions but also by melting of snow and frost. The objective of this work was to investigate the effects of snow and frost melt on concentrations of phosphorus and suspended solids. The samples were taken using flowweighted automatic sampling techniques from two agricultural drainage basins. During the beginning of the snowmelt period the concentration of suspended solids was rather low by comparison with the total phosphorus concentration and the discharge. The different behaviour compared with the relationships found during storm conditions was probably caused by continuous extraction of the soil surface by low ionic concentration melt water, and to some extent by leaching from plant residues. The gradual decrease of total phosphorus concentration during the frost thawing period could be attributed to the gradually increasing proportion of the subsurface and ground water discharge in the runoff.     

西北地区太阳辐射量变化的研究

根据西北地区１５个日射甲种站观测的近３０年来到达地面的太阳辐射量观测资料，经方差分析表明：太阳散射辐射量有２／５的地区在增加，２／５的地区在减少，还有１／５的地区太阳散射、直接辐射量在时间变化上差异都不明显；太阳直接辐射量有４／５的地区在显著减减少；太阳总辐射量几乎各地都在减少，这种减少趋势大致从１９７８年开始，并且用太阳辐射倾向率的形式概括出３种太阳辐射量季节变化类型。     

全球月平均高度距平场正斜压性的分析(I)--相关系数分布

利用欧洲中心全球客观分析的7层月平均位势高度距平资料,分别计算了相同格点上12-2月和6-8月各层高度距平之间的同时相关分布。结果表明:全球月平均位势高度距平场的正压、斜压性随地理区域变化很大,并有较明显的季节变化。其中12-2月对流层下部大气环流距平场在海洋上空有较好的相当正压性,在大陆上空正压性较差;对流层上部大气环流异常的正、斜压性分布与下部不同,赤道附近地区是相关系数的高值区,副热带地区主要是低值区;在对流层下部与上部大气环流距平场的相关系数分布图上,海洋上空并不总是高值区,在热带东太平洋区域就出现最强的负相关中心。与6-8月的相关系数分布型比较发现:特别明显的季节变化在非洲大陆和热带印度洋区域,12-2月为强正压区,6-8月为强斜压区。     

湖北省钟祥第四纪冰缘融冻构造的发现及其意义

笔者于1986年在钟祥首次发现了第四纪地层间的冰缘融冻构造——古冰楔与揉皱,其时代为早更新世末期—中更新世初期。它的发现不仅为建立本区第四纪地层层序,而且为确定更新世北方冰缘冻土的南界和研究长江中下游更新世古气候环境的演变提供了重要的科学依据。     

北京地区臭氧垂直分布的演变趋势与特征的研究——卫星SBUV资料与地面遥感对比分析

利用地面遥感O₃垂直分布的逆转方法〈C〉测量出的北京上空O₃剖面资料,对雨云7号卫星的SBUV系统测量的同地区的O₃垂直分布数据进行了订正.对订正后的长达8年（1979-1986年）的完整的SBUV资料进行了较为仔细的分析,得出了这一时期内的O₃垂直分布长期演变呈下降趋势.并在上层O₃含量的季节变化特征和周期振荡等方面,有新的发现,得出一些有意义的结果.     

温盐环流与全球增暖的数值模拟 (一)纬向平均温盐环流的模拟

本文是用简单海一气耦合模型模拟温盐环流在全球增暖事件中作用的研究工作的第一部分。为了建立一个简单海一气耦合模型，我们首先根据Ｗｒｉｇｈｔ和Ｓｔｏｋｅｒ等人的设计复制出一个包括大西洋、太平洋和南大洋在内的二维温盐环流模式，从等温、等盐和无运动的初始状态出发，在给定的年平均海表强迫下将模式积分了４０００年，模拟出了和原作相似的温盐环流。对模拟结果的分析表明，相对于北太平洋而言，北大西洋北部的高盐、低温特点（后者是由两大洋在地理上的差别决定的）是形成当代温盐环流的主要原因；从与温盐环流相联系的海表热通量来看，北大西洋北部是向大气提供热量的主要源地；模式温盐环流对于海表盐度通量的敏感性试验的结果表明，对于纬圈平均的二维模式而言，要想模拟出合理的温盐环流就必须人为地提高北大西洋北部的海表盐度，文章分析了这种作法的物理根据；模式中的对流过程对于温盐环流的维持是至关重要的，对比有无季节循环的试验结果可以看出，虽然温度场的明显的季节变化只出现在模式的最上面两层，但由于引进季节循环后冬季高纬海洋的对流活动加强，后者直接影响到温盐环流，使更多的深海热量上传并向大气释放。这是使海洋温跃层得以保持合理．厚度的一个重要原因。