A Monte Carlo Model Of The Nocturnal Surface Temperatures In Urban Canyons

A model for the urban canyon is formulated for meteorologicalconditions of weak winds at night time. Thermal radiation, conductivity and convection are simulated by means of the Monte Carlo method. These are the main physical processesof energy transfer that give rise to the characteristic temperaturedistribution in these systems. The model has been satisfactory tested under ideal conditions for which analytical solutions exist.The predictions of the model under morerealistic conditions accurately reproduce the observationalresults. A strong temperature gradient across streets, with the canyon corners up to 4 °C warmer than the canyon centre, is found for the deepest canyons. This theoretical predictionhas been successfully verified with measurementstaken in a number of streets of the city of Granada in Spain.     

Estimation of Sensible Heat Flux from Surface Temperature Wave and One-Time-of-Day Air Temperature Observation

By means of the algorithm presented here, the temporal course H(t) and the daily mean H¯ of the sensible heat flux H can be estimated from measurements of the thermodynamic surface temperature (as a function of time) and from a one-time-of-day air temperature observation. In addition to these temperatures, one needs estimates for daily mean wind speed, for the roughness lengths of momentum and heat transfer, and for the displacement height. First, a quite general solution of the equation for heat conductance (equation for the vertical profile of potential temperature (z,t)) in the dynamic sublayer will be presented. The undetermined parameters in this solution will be defined with the aid of the above mentioned measurements. The influence of horizontal advection will be taken into account. After that, the sensible heat flux can be evaluated from the temperature difference between surface and air with the well known resistance formulae. In this paper the algorithm is derived for areas with homogeneous surfaces, i.e., with uniform surface temperatures. Finally, the method will be verified by measurements taken during the field campaigns HIBE 89 (Hildesheimer Börde in Germany) and EFEDA 91 (Spain). The root mean square errors (RMSE) for the comparison between measurement and model with regard to the temperature difference of surface and air amount to one or two degrees Kelvin, and the error of H¯ reaches 10 to 25 per cent. The method can be used to determine the sensible heat flux from measurements of surface temperatures by satellites (e.g., METEOSAT), but can also be applied to ground based measurements. For instance, horizontal temperature advection can be estimated from measurements at a single location, especially if more than one near-surface air temperature is available. The procedure can be generalized for larger areas, which consist of various surface types with different surface temperatures. This generalization of the algorithm is in progress and will be addressed in a subsequent paper. It will allow us to improve the estimates for H(t) by means of temperature measurements from, e.g., NOAA/AVHRR or LANDSAT/TM, taking into account the heterogeneity of the area that is contained in one METEOSAT pixel.     

Dynamical Initialization of Boundary-Layer Data

A procedure for the dynamic initialization of wind and temperature fields within the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is presented. The procedure uses transilient turbulence theory to assess the turbulent fluxes from observed wind and temperature data, which are used to estimate the eddy transfer coefficients, so enabling a local closure ABL model to be integrated forward in time to a new steady state. The method has been applied to initialize kytoon data taken at Kharagpur (22.3° N, 87.2° E) during the MONTBLEX field programme. Results of a case study for 17 June 1990 are discussed.     

How to increase technology transfers to developing countries: a synthesis of the evidence

The existing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has failed to deliver the rate of low-carbon technology transfer (TT) required to curb GHG emissions in developing countries. This failure has exposed the limitations of universalism and renewed interest in bilateral approaches to TT. Gaps are identified in the UNFCCC approach to climate change TT: missing links between international institutions and the national enabling environments that encourage private investment; a non-differentiated approach for (developing) country and technology characteristics; and a lack of clear measurements of the volume and effectiveness of TTs. Evidence from econometric literature and business experience on climate change TT is reviewed, so as to address the identified pitfalls of the UNFCCC process. Strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches are highlighted. International policy recommendations are offered aimed at improving the level of emission reductions achieved through TT.     

Advective heat transfer and fabric development in a shallow crustal intrusive granite — the case of Proterozoic Vellaturu granite,south India

Syntectonic plutons emplaced in shallow crust often contain intermediate-to low-temperature deformation microstructures but lack a high-temperature, subsolidus deformation fabric, although the relict magmatic fabric is preserved. The Proterozoic Vellaturu granite emplaced at the eastern margin of the northern Nallamalai fold belt, south India during the late phase of regional deformation has a common occurrence of intermediate-to low-temperature deformation fabric, superimposed over magmatic fabric with an internally complex pattern. But high-T subsolidus deformation microstructure and fabric are absent in this pluton. The main crystal plastic deformation and fluid enhanced reaction softening was concentrated along the margin of the granite body. Resulting granite mylonites show Y-maximum c-axis fabric in completely recrystallized quartz ribbonds, dynamic recrystallization of perthites, and myrmekite indicative of fabric development under intermediate temperature (∼ 500–400°C). The weakly-deformed interior shows myrmekite, feldspar microfracturing and limited bulging recrystallization of quartz. The abundance of prism subgrain boundaries is indicative of continuing deformation through low-temperature (∼ 300°C). The relative rates of cooling influenced by advective heat transfer and deformation of the pluton seem to control the overall subsolidus fabric development. The rapid advective heat transfer from the interior in the early stages of subsolidus cooling was followed by slow cooling through intermediate temperature window as a well-developed phyllosilicate rich mylonitic skin around the granite body slowed down conductive heat loss. Low-T crystal plastic deformation of quartz was effected at a late stage of cooling and deformation of the shallow crustal granite body emplaced within the greenschist facies Nallamlai rocks.     

海洋风暴形成的一种动力学机制

文中从观测统计学、瞬变涡动能量学和 MM5中尺度数值模拟角度 ,研究了海洋风暴 (爆发性气旋 )形成的气候特征及其可能的动力学机制 ,揭示了一幅爆发性发展的物理图像。结果表明 ,在冷季大气特别是日本以东洋面上大气特有的热力气候背景下 ,通过同海洋风暴过程相联系的涡动热通量 vθ的向极地输送 (- vθ· θm>0 ) ,将季节尺度的时间平均有效位能向瞬变涡旋时间尺度的涡动有效位能转换 ,是海洋风暴形成的主要动力机制。在该过程中转换来的具有最大贡献的涡动有效位能 ,连同具有次大贡献的积云加热制造的涡动有效位能(q3 )一起 ,通过暖异常区 (α >0 )暖湿空气上升运动 (-ω >0 )的斜压转换 (-ωα) ,促使涡动动能增长。同时 ,补充的涡动有效位能又加强了暖异常区的暖湿空气上升运动 ,进而产生积云对流活动及其潜热释放的正反馈过程 ,最终导致涡动动能急剧增长和海洋风暴的形成。海-气潜热输送的作用是在风暴形成初期提供后来积云尺度对流活动及潜热释放的水汽潜力。研究还表明 ,海洋风暴主要发生在冷季月份 1 3 0°E以东的中高纬洋面上 ,这种对特定季节和特定海域的依赖性是大气和海洋气候背景的动力 /热力共同作用的结果     

Transfer processes in a simulated urban street canyon

The transfer processes within and above a simulated urban street canyon were investigated in a generic manner. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to aid understanding and to produce some simple operational parameterisations. In this study we addressed specifically the commonly met situation where buoyancy effects arising from elevated surface temperatures are not important, i.e. when mechanical forces outweigh buoyancy forces. In a geophysical context this requires that some suitably defined Richardson number is small. From an engineering perspective this is interpreted as the important case when heat transfer within and above urban street canyons is by forced convection. Surprisingly, this particular scenario (for which the heat transfer coefficient between buildings and the flow is largest), has been less well studied than the situation where buoyancy effects are important. The CFD technique was compared against wind-tunnel experiments to provide model evaluation. The height-to-width ratio of the canyon was varied through the range 0.5–5 and the flow was normal to the canyon axis. By setting the canyon’s facets to have the same or different temperatures or to have a partial temperature distribution, simulations were carried out to investigate: (a) the influence of geometry on the flow and mixing within the canyon and (b) the exchange processes within the canyon and across the canyon top interface. Results showed that the vortex-type circulation and turbulence developed within the canyon produced a temperature distribution that was, essentially, spatially uniform (apart from a relatively thin near-wall thermal boundary layer) This allowed the temperatures within the street canyon to be specified by just one value T _can , the canyon temperature. The variation of T _can with wind speed, surface temperatures and geometry was extensively studied. Finally, the exchange velocity u _E across the interface between the canyon and the flow above was calculated based on a heat flux balance within the canyon and between the canyon and the flow above. Results showed that u _E was approximately 1% of a characteristic wind velocity above the street canyon. The problem of radiative exchange is not addressed but it can, of course, be introduced analytically, or computationally, when necessary.     

Water on an urban planet: Urbanization and the reach of urban water infrastructure

Urban growth is increasing the demand for freshwater resources, yet surprisingly the water sources of the world's large cities have never been globally assessed, hampering efforts to assess the distribution and causes of urban water stress. We conducted the first global survey of the large cities’ water sources, and show that previous global hydrologic models that ignored urban water infrastructure significantly overestimated urban water stress. Large cities obtain 78 ± 3% of their water from surface sources, some of which are far away: cumulatively, large cities moved 504 billion liters a day (184 km³ yr⁻¹) a distance of 27,000 ± 3800 km, and the upstream contributing area of urban water sources is 41% of the global land surface. Despite this infrastructure, one in four cities, containing $4.8 ± 0.7 trillion in economic activity, remain water stressed due to geographical and financial limitations. The strategic management of these cities’ water sources is therefore important for the future of the global economy.     

Radiative Heat Transfer and Hydrostatic Stability in Nocturnal Fog

We have performed a one-dimensional and transient radiative heat transfer analysis in order to investigate interaction between atmospheric radiation and convective instability within a nocturnal fog. The radiation element method using the Ray Emission Model (REM²), which is a generalized numerical method, in conjunction with a line-by-line (LBL) method, is employed to attain high spectral resolution calculations for anisotropically scattering fog. The results show that the convective instability has a strong dependence on radiative properties of the fog. For the condition of a 20-m droplet diameter and liquid water content of 0.1 × 10^–3 kg m^–3;, the temperature profile within the fog becomes S shaped, and a convective instability layer forms in the middle or lower level of the fog. However, for the same water content and a 40-m diameter droplet, no strong convective instability layer forms, whereas for a 10-m diameter droplet a strong convective instability is observed.