A SYNOPTIC CLIMATOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SUMMERTIME PRECIPITATION INTENSITY IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES

The spatial patterns of precipitation frequency and intensity over the eastern United States for summer from 1961 to 1990 are analyzed using a recently developed continental-scale air mass-based synoptic classification. This procedure, the spatial synoptic classification (SSC), is based on “seed” day identification of synoptic events and discriminant analysis to group together days that are within the same air-mass type. Results show differences in the types of precipitation associated with different air masses. Two air masses in particular-Moist Tropical and Moist Temperate-appear to be highly correlated with a majority of the precipitation, particularly in the southeast. The synoptic characteristics, daily intensity of rainfall, and radiosonde soundings during prevalence of these two air masses suggest that convective rainfall is common during Moist Tropical, and stratiform-type rainfall occurs during Moist Temperate. A simple stratification scheme based upon a synoptic-based air-mass delineation may be useful for studies that need to divide days into stratiform or convective regimes.     

Geographical analysis of river floods and their causes in southern East Siberia

Abstract

On the basis of analysing the genesis, recurrence and severity of flood hazards, a regional flood hazard analysis of the southern area of East Siberia has been carried out. The greatest flood hazard corresponds to the relatively densely populated area of southern East Siberia: the Upper Yenisei, Angara and Upper Lena river basins and the Lake Baikal watershed. Typically, the most hazardous floods include those caused by surges produced by damage to the dams of the Angara—Yenisei hydropower cascade; flash floods are also an extreme hazard. Maximum runoff factors were used to delineate regions within the study area, and the hazard severity was scored for the Irkutsk region. An inventory of the ice-dam and ice-jam areas, as well as of the streamflow sites with maximum runoff of different origins predominating in the Angara and Lena river basins, showed that the study area includes 78 and 19 ice-dam and ice-jam locations, respectively. A high recurrence of ice dams and ice jams is also observed on other rivers.     

Increasing rainfall,decreasing winds,and historical changes in Santa Catarina dunefields,southern Brazil

Morphological and vegetation changes on the Moçambique barrier dunefield system are examined for the period 1938–2002 from aerial photography, and a variety of factors are investigated as possible driving factors. Human factors include a decrease in grazing pressure and tree felling from the early 1960s onwards after 200 years of these activities, and fires. In the 1960s tree planting also took place. During the period 1963 to 1970 there was a marked decline in drift potential (DP – potential sand transport), and then a period of very low DPs (1970–1974). This period falls within the time interval when vegetation cover significantly increased by ~70% along the Moçambique barrier (from 1956 to 1978). During the 1960s to present, the rainfall increased. Analyses of other transgressive dunefields in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states show similar trends so it is likely that climatic factors such as increasing rainfall and decreasing DPs are responsible for driving dunefield changes and vegetation colonization of the barriers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene variability in climate and oceanic conditions in the winter rainfall zone of South Africa—inferred from a high resolution diatom record from Verlorenvlei

We present a diatom record from a well-dated 15.25 m composite sedimentary core from Verlorenvlei, a shallow coastal lake on the west coast of South Africa. We show that fluctuations in the diatom record occur in response to changes in sea level, ocean–atmosphere interactions and latitudinal shifts in the wind belts. During the early to mid-Holocene, the system primarily responds to sea level changes. A marine community that favours high nutrients is evident, particularly during 9200–8000, 7420–7000 and 6200–5600 cal a bp , corroborating periods of Benguela upwelling linked to fluctuations in the southeast trade winds. Increases in bioproductivity (%TOC, C/N) and fresher-water diatoms are associated with wetter conditions over the region and the northward migration of the southern westerly wind belt, most notably between 8000 and 7500 cal a bp and over the last 700 years. The latter trends are concomitant with changes in the extent of Antarctic sea ice and availability of moisture in southern South America. During the late Holocene, as sea levels stabilised to modern levels, climate variability is more strongly evident. The body of evidence further reveals the sensitivity of the region to high-latitude atmospheric mechanisms, but also showcases the significance of the southeast trade winds.     

Optimal design of snow stake networks to estimate snow depth in an alpine mountain range

Monitoring and estimation of snow depth in alpine catchments is needed for a proper assessment of management alternatives for water supply in these water resources systems. The distribution of snowpack thickness is usually approached by using field data that come from snow samples collected at a given number of locations that constitute the monitoring network. Optimal design of this network is required to obtain the best possible estimates. Assuming that there is an existing monitoring network, its optimization may imply the selection of an optimal network as a subset of the existing one (if there are no funds to maintain them) or enlarging the existing network by one or more stations (optimal augmentation problem). We propose an optimization procedure that minimizes the total variance in the estimate of snowpack thickness. The novelty of this work is to treat, for the first time, the problem of snow observation network optimization for an entire mountain range rather than for small catchments as done in the previous studies. Taking into account the reduced data available, which is a common problem in many mountain ranges, the importance of a proper design of these observation networks is even larger. Snowpack thickness is estimated by combining regression models to approach the effect of the explanatory variables and kriging techniques to consider the influence of the stakes location. We solve the optimization problems under different hypotheses, studying the impacts of augmentation and reduction, both, one by one and in pairs. We also analyse the sensitivity of results to nonsnow measurements deduced from satellite information. Finally, we design a new optimal network by combining the reduction and augmentation methods. The methodology has been applied to the Sierra Nevada mountain range (southern Spain), where very limited resources are employed to monitor snowfall and where an optimal snow network design could prove critical. An optimal snow observation network is defined by relocating some observation points. It would reduce the estimation variance by around 600 cm² (15%).     

Throughfall enrichment and stream nutrient chemistry in small headwater catchments with different land cover in southern Chile

Land cover changes have a great impact on nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) fluxes catchments. In this study, we wanted to compare different land covers: deciduous (D), evergreen (E) (both native forests), and exotic Eucalyptus globulus plantation (EP), affected precipitation, and stream discharge on N and P species concentrations and fluxes, under a low deposition climate in south‐central Chile. For this, we collected bulk precipitation, throughfall, and stream water samples after 41 rainfall events in E and EP, during the period June 2009–March 2011, and 31 rainfall events in D, during the period October 2009–March 2011. The highest canopy enrichment of N and P species for throughfall was observed in deciduous forest, while E. globulus showed the minimum enrichment. Total nitrogen (total‐N) discharge in EP was about 8.6 times higher than that of E and D catchments. Total‐N annual retention was positive only in E and D catchments. However, EP catchment showed a net loss (?4.79 kg N ha/year). The biggest difference was observed in nitrate stream concentrations, which showed low values for E (3.4 ± 1.3 μg/L), while EP and D showed higher nitrate concentrations (84.9 ± 16.7 and 134.7 ± 36.7 μg/L, for EP and D, respectively). Total phosphorous (total‐P) discharge flux was low in EP (0.4 kg P ha/year), and negligible in E and D forests (<0.1 kg P ha/year). Total‐P annual retention was near to 1.0 kg N ha/year (on E and D), while a net loss (?1.5 kg N ha/year) was observed for EP. We attribute the observed differences in nutrient throughfall enrichment due to high multi‐stratified canopies in the native forests. Both deciduous and evergreen native forest‐covered catchments showed the highest retention of total‐N and total‐P, in contrast to Eucalyptus‐covered plantation.     

南方红壤丘陵区人类活动强度的空间模拟与特征分析——以衡阳盆地为例

人类活动强度是地理学、生态学和自然资源学等多学科研究中的重要参数,定量化和空间化是当前人类活动强度研究的重点和难点。本文针对现有的人类活动强度定量化和空间化方法的不足,提出了一种以统计学和空间分析方法的空间模拟方法,对典型的南方丘陵区衡阳盆地人类活动强度的空间分布进行了定量研究。结果表明:衡阳盆地工业活动高强度区呈现一极一带分布,衡阳市市区为极强区,祁东县、常宁市和耒阳市形成了一条南北走向的较强带,工业活动低强度区呈以衡阳市市区为中心的环状分布;农业活动强度分布呈西北向东南逐渐减弱的趋势;交通活动整体分布较为均匀,高值区主要分布在国道和省道沿线;总的人类活动强度整体表现不强,但区域差异明显,衡阳市市区及其周边区域人类活动强度最大,低强度区位于衡东县内。根据研究结果,应采取发展北部工业、加强市区对周边区域工业带动和控制西北部农业等调控策略。     

赣南白面石铀矿区花岗岩的锆石年代学、地球化学及成因研究

赣南白面石铀矿区花岗岩的锆石年代学、 地球化学及成因研究     

闽南宗教文化旅游资源开发研究

中国闽南地区有着丰富的宗教文化旅游资源,其具有鲜明的特色、独特的文化内涵,但是在地区旅游开发中却未被充分的挖掘。在实际调研的基础上对闽南的宗教文化旅游资源进行全面的分析,把握其历史发展渊源,发现其存在的问题,着重提出闽南宗教文化旅游资源开发的思路：开展系列宗教文化活动,提高旅游吸引力;联合巡礼,合作促销;集中力量,择优开发;开发多样化的宗教文化旅游商品;确定宗教文化旅游资源的现代管理制度和利益分配机制;努力开拓客源市场;实施可持发展战略。