PMODTRAN: a parallel implementation based on MODTRAN for massive remote sensing data processing

MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) is a commercial remote sensing (RS) software package that has been widely used to simulate radiative transfer of electromagnetic radiation through the Earth's atmosphere and the radiation observed by a remote sensor. However, when very large RS datasets must be processed in simulation applications at a global scale, it is extremely time-consuming to operate MODTRAN on a modern workstation. Under this circumstance, the use of parallel cluster computing to speed up the process becomes vital to this time-consuming task. This paper presents PMODTRAN, an implementation of a parallel task-scheduling algorithm based on MODTRAN. PMODTRAN was able to reduce the processing time of the test cases used here from over 4.4 months on a workstation to less than a week on a local computer cluster. In addition, PMODTRAN can distribute tasks with different levels of granularity and has some extra features, such as dynamic load balancing and parameter checking.     

Ensemble simulation of land evapotranspiration in China based on a multi-forcing and multi-model approach

In order to reduce the uncertainty of offline land surface model(LSM) simulations of land evapotranspiration(ET), we used ensemble simulations based on three meteorological forcing datasets [Princeton, ITPCAS(Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Qian] and four LSMs(BATS, VIC, CLM3.0 and CLM3.5), to explore the trends and spatiotemporal characteristics of ET, as well as the spatiotemporal pattern of ET in response to climate factors over mainland China during 1982–2007. The results showed that various simulations of each member and their arithmetic mean(Ens Mean) could capture the spatial distribution and seasonal pattern of ET sufficiently well, where they exhibited more significant spatial and seasonal variation in the ET compared with observation-based ET estimates(Obs MTE). For the mean annual ET, we found that the BATS forced by Princeton forcing overestimated the annual mean ET compared with Obs MTE for most of the basins in China, whereas the VIC forced by Princeton forcing showed underestimations. By contrast, the Ens Mean was closer to Obs MTE, although the results were underestimated over Southeast China. Furthermore, both the Obs MTE and Ens Mean exhibited a significant increasing trend during 1982–98; whereas after 1998, when the last big EI Ni ?no event occurred, the Ens Mean tended to decrease significantly between 1999 and 2007, although the change was not significant for Obs MTE. Changes in air temperature and shortwave radiation played key roles in the long-term variation in ET over the humid area of China, but precipitation mainly controlled the long-term variation in ET in arid and semi-arid areas of China.     

1991—2015年三江源河曲高寒草甸干湿状况及牧草产量变化的气候归因研究

以三江源东部河曲高寒草甸为研究对象,通过分析1991—2015年气温、降水、潜在蒸散、湿润指数和牧草产量变化特征,探讨了地区干湿状况对牧草产量的影响。研究表明：1991—2015年河曲高寒草甸潜在蒸散以3.5 mm·a^-1的速率增加（P<0.01）,在年降水量按2.3 mm·a^-1呈非显著性（P>0.05）增加的趋势下,地区干湿状况基本保持平稳（多年均值为0.52）,隶属于半湿润气候区。25年来牧草干重产量平均为303.7 g·m^-2,并以3.0 g·m^-2·a^-1的速率下降。分析牧草产量与影响干湿状况的气候因素之间的相关性发现,气温对牧草产量影响不明显（P>0.05）,降水量表现为正相关关系（P>0.10）,说明该区域降水是牧草产量提高与否的主导因素;牧草产量与潜在蒸散表现为负相关关系（P>0.10）,与湿润指数表现为正相关关系（P>0.10）;在生长季时期,牧草产量与降水量、潜在蒸散和湿润指数的相关性关系达到了显著水平（P<0.10）,说明牧草产量在生长季对地区环境条件湿润与否较为敏感。     

黄河流域NDVI/土地利用对蒸散发时空变化的影响

基于蒸散发(ET)、归一化植被指数(NDVI)及土地利用数据利用M-K检验、Sen趋势分析等方法,研究2001—2015年黄河流域ET时空分布及不同植被覆盖/土地利用下的ET变化规律.结果 表明:(1)黄河流域年均ET呈东南高西北低的空间分布格局,与植被覆盖和土地利用的关系具有较好的一致性;(2)黄河流域ET、NDVI...     

Sensitivity of penman-monteith reference crop evapotranspiration in Tao’er River Basin of northeastern China

A non-dimensional relative sensitivity coefficient was employed to predict the responses of reference crop evapotranspiration （ET0） to perturbation of four climate variables in Tao＇er River Basin of the northeastern China. Mean monthly ET0 and yearly ET0 from 1961 to 2005 were estimated with the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith Equation. A 45-year historical dataset of average monthly maximum/minimum air temperature, mean air temperature, wind speed, sunshine hours and relative humidity from 15 meteorological stations was used in the analysis. Results show that： 1） Sensitivity coefficients of wind speed, air temperature and sunshine hours were positive except for those of air temperature of Arxan Meteorological Station, while those of relative humidity were all negative. Relative humidity was the most sensitive variable in general for the Tao＇er River Basin, followed by sunshine hours, wind speed and air temperature. 2） Similar to climate variable, monthly sensitivity coefficients exhibit large annual fluctuations. 3） Sensitivity coefficients for four climate variables all showed significant trends in seasonal/yearly series. Also, sensitivity coefficients of air temperature, sunshine hours and wind speed all showed significant trends in spring. 4） Among all sensitivity coefficients, the average yearly sensitivity coefficient of relative humidity was highest throughout the basin and showed largest spatial variability. Longitudinal distribution of sensitivity coefficients for air temperature, relative humidity and sunshine hours was also found, which was similar to the distribution of the three climate variables.     

1992-2015年中亚五国土地覆盖与蒸散发变化

1991年苏联解体,中亚五国独立使得土地覆盖与蒸散发格局发生深刻变化。以中亚五国为研究区,采用欧空局气候变化项目（CCI）土地覆盖和全球陆地数据同化系统（GLDAS）蒸散发数据,分析1992-2015年土地覆盖与蒸散发时空变化特征,进一步研究耕地蒸散耗水特征。结果表明：① 中亚五国土地覆盖变化具有阶段性特征,耕地扩张引起土地覆盖格局变化。1992-2003年耕地快速增加（1.1万km ²/a）,林地和草地大幅减少。2003-2015年耕地增速趋缓（0.3万km ²/a）,林地和草地有一定恢复,裸地和水体持续减少,城镇用地持续增长。耕地共增加12.3万km ²,林地和草地分别减少4.0万km ²和2.3万km ²,且集中于哈萨克斯坦中北部。裸地减少3.5万km ²,集中于哈萨克斯坦西南部,水体减少3.1万km ²,集中在咸海湖泊。乌兹别克斯坦耕地减少、裸地增加,吉尔吉斯斯坦、塔吉克斯坦和土库曼斯坦土地覆盖变化幅度较小;② 中亚五国蒸散发变化与土地覆盖格局基本一致。蒸散发总体呈增加态势（6 mm/a）,1992-2003年快速增加（11.3 mm/a）,2003-2015年缓慢上升（2.4 mm/a）。中亚五国年蒸散发达到276.8 mm,东南部的吉尔吉斯斯坦（347.3 mm）和塔吉克斯坦（302.9 mm）最高,中北部的哈萨克斯坦（297.9 mm）次之,西南部的乌兹别克斯坦（211.0 mm）和土库曼斯坦（150.0 mm）最低;③ 中亚五国蒸散耗水结构受耕地面积大小的影响。中亚五国耕地蒸散耗水的贡献由24.7%增至27.9%,土库曼斯坦耕地蒸散耗水仅占本国的11%,其他国家均超过25%。草地、林地和裸地的蒸散耗水贡献降低,但哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦和塔吉克斯坦仍以草地和林地蒸散耗水为主（≥ 50%）,土库曼斯坦（61.3%）和乌兹别克斯坦（46.4%）的裸地蒸散耗水占绝对优势。本文明确了中亚五国土地覆盖连续动态变化过程,细化各国土地覆盖与蒸散发特征及差异,增强对土地覆盖与蒸散发现状的认识,可为水土资源管理和生态环境保护提供数据参考。     

Application of S-SEBI model for crop evapotranspiration using Landsat-8 data over parts of North India

Estimation and monitoring of crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) or consumptive water use over large-area holds the key to irrigation management plans and regional drought preparedness. The objective of this study was to estimate ET_c by applying the simplified-surface energy balance index (S-SEBI) model to Landsat-8 data for the 2014–2015 period in parts of North India. An average ET_c was estimated 2.72 and 2.47 in mm day^?1 with 0.22, 0.18 standard deviation and 0.11, 0.07 standard error for Kharif and Rabi crops, respectively. On validation part, a close relationship was observed between S-SEBI derived and scintillometer observed evaporative fraction with 0.85 correlation coefficient and 0.86 agreement index. The statistical analysis also endorses the results accuracy and reliability with 0.026 and 0.602, relative root-mean square errors and model efficiency for wheat crop, respectively. The study showed that normalized difference vegetation index and LST are closely related and serve as a proxy for qualitative representation of ET_c.     

非平稳标准化降水蒸散指数构建及中国未来干旱时空格局

旱灾是一种致灾因子与成害机理均非常复杂的自然灾害,也是目前对其检测与风险防御最为困难的自然灾害种类之一。随着全球气候变化,干旱的变化逐渐趋于非平稳化,水文气象序列的非平稳性已有广泛研究,但在干旱检测指标中却鲜有考虑。基于标准化降水蒸散指数（SPEI）和非平稳性理论,构建非平稳性标准化降水蒸散指数（NSPEI）并进行适用性评价,利用NSPEI评估未来不同排放情景下中国气象干旱时空格局演变规律。结果表明：① 非平稳性站点集中在东北平原、黄淮海平原、长三角地区、青藏高原及周边区域,NSPEI拟合最优的站点占中国气象站点的88%（2177个站点）。② SPEI对温度较为敏感,在评估未来干旱变化时会高估干旱强度和持续时间性,而NSPEI能够克服这一弱点,较SPEI可更好的检测中国气象干旱,且能很好的刻画中国未来干旱变化。③ 低、高排放情景下中国北方干旱加剧,南方呈湿润化趋势;中排放情景下中国北方湿润化趋势明显,而中国南方则呈干旱化。基于NSPEI干旱检测结果,中高排放情景下中国未来极端干湿历时与发生频率均呈增加趋势。     

Cryosphere evapotranspiration in the Tibetan Plateau: A review

Land surface actual evapotranspiration is an important process that influences the Earth's energy and water cycles and determines the water and heat transfer in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system. Meanwhile, the cryosphere's hydrological process is receiving extensive attention, and its water problem needs to be understood from multiple perspectives. As the main part of the Chinese cryosphere, the Tibetan Plateau faces significant climate and environmental change. There are active interaction and pronounced feedback between the environment and ET_a in the cryosphere. This article mainly focuses on the research progress of ET_a in the Tibetan Plateau. It first reviews the ET_a process, characteristics, and impact factors of typical underlying surfaces in the Tibetan Plateau (alpine meadows, alpine steppes, alpine wetlands, alpine forests, lakes). Then it compares the temporal and spatial variations of ET_a at different scales. In addition, considering the current greening of cryosphere vegetation due to climate change, it discusses the relationship between vegetation greening and transpiration to help clarify how vegetation activities are related to the regional water cycle and surface energy budget.     

Impact of Grazing Exclusion on the Surface Heat Balance in North Tibet

The grazing exclusion program used by the Tibetan government to protect the ecological environment has changed the vegetation and impacted the surface heat balance in North Tibet. However, little information is available to describe the in?uences of the current grazing exclusion program on local surface heat balance. This study uses the records of fenced grassland patch locations to identify the impact of grazing exclusion on surface heat balance in North Tibet. The records of fenced grassland patch locations, including the longitude, latitude, and elevation of the vertices of each fenced patch (polygon shapes), were provided by the agriculture and animal husbandry bureaus of the counties where the patches were located. ArcGIS 10.2 was used to create polygon shapes based on patch location records. Based on satellite data and the surface heat balance system determined by the model, values for changes in land surface temperature (LST), albedo and evapotranspiration (ET) induced by grazing exclusion were obtained. All of these can influence surface heat balance and alter the fluctuation of LST in the northern Tibetan Plateau. The LST trends for day and night showed an asymmetric diurnal variation, with a larger magnitude of warming in the day than cooling at night. The maximum decrease in absorbed shortwave of LST (-0.5 - -0.4 ℃ per decade) occurred in the central region, while the minimum decrease (-0.2 - -0.1 ℃ per decade) occurred in the eastern region. The decreased latent heat lead to the LST increased maximum (>1 ℃ per decade) occurred in the central region, The eastern region increased at a rate of 0.2-0.5 ℃ per decade, while the minimum increase (0-0.1 ℃ per decade) occurred in the northwestern region.