Correlation Between Total Lightning Activity and Precipitation Particle Characteristics Observed from 34 Thunderstorms

A total of 34 thunderstorms around Shanghai and Wuhan of China are analyzed in order to determine the relationship between total lightning activity and precipitation particle characteristics.Precipitation particle concentration data are obtained from the 2A12 product of TRMM/TMI(Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission/TRMM Microwave Image) and lightning activity data are from the TRMM/LIS(Lightning Imaging Sensor) and SAFIR3000(Surveillance et Alerte Founder par Interferometric Radioelectirque).On a spatial ...     

Epikarst hydrology and implications for stalagmite capture of climate changes at Grotta di Ernesto (NE Italy): results from long‐term monitoring

Grotta di Ernesto is a cave site well suited for palaeoclimate studies because it contains annually laminated stalagmites and was monitored from 1995 to the end of 2008 for microclimate, hydrology and hydrochemistry. Long‐term monitoring highlighted that cave drips show three different hydrological responses to rainfall and infiltration: (1) fast seasonal drips in the upper part of the cave, which are mostly fed by fractures, (2) slow seasonal drips, located at mid‐depth in the cave characterized by mixed feeding and (3) slow drips, mostly located in the deeper gallery, which are fed by seepage flow from bulk porosity with a minor fracture‐fed component. The slow drips display daily cycles during spring thaw. Monitoring also indicated that drip waters are only slightly modified by degassing within the soil zone and aquifer and by prior calcite precipitation. Hydrochemical studies show a clear seasonality in calcite saturation index, which results in most cave calcite precipitation occurring during late autumn and winter with similar amounts of precipitated calcite on most stalagmites, regardless of drip rate (discharge) differences. Drip rate, and drip rate variability, therefore, has a minor role in modulating the amount of annual calcite formation. In contrast, drip rate, when associated with moderate reduction in calcite saturation index, clearly influences stalagmite morphology. Increasing drip rate yields a passage from candle‐, to cone‐ to dome‐shaped stalagmites. Very high drip rates feed speleothems with flowstone morphology. In summary, monitoring provides information about the karst aquifer and how hydrology influences those physical and chemical characteristics of speleothems which are commonly used as climate proxies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A 200-year precipitation index for the central English Lake District / Un indice de précipitation de 200 ans pour la Région des Lacs en Angleterre

Abstract

Abstract The geographical context and hydroclimatology of the English Lake District means that the region is an important monitor of changes to nationally significant environmental assets. Using monthly rainfall series for sites in and around the central Lake District, a continuous ~200-year precipitation index was constructed for a representative station close to Grasmere. The bridged series shows a significant decline in summer rainfall since the 1960s, offset by increases in winter and spring that are strongly linked to North Atlantic forcing. Over longer time periods, the index exhibits several notable dry (1850s, 1880s, 1890s, 1930s, 1970s) and wet (1820s, 1870s, 1920s, 1940s, 1990s) decades. These patterns are strongly reflected by reservoir inflow series and by indicators of the biological status of the region’s freshwater lakes. It is argued that long-term climate indices will become increasingly important as managers seek to evaluate recent and project environmental changes within the context of long-term natural variability.     

Absorption and desorption of dichloromethane vapor by water drops in air. An experimental test of scavenging theory

An experimental study of the scavenging of dichloromethane vapor by water drops falling at terminal velocity, has been carried out in the UCLA precipitation shaft, in order to test the predictions of theoretical washout models. Whereas good agreement between theory and experiment was found for drops of radius 0.332 mm, computed gas uptake rates for 1.253 and 2.21 mm radius drops were much slower than those measured, just as reported previously for the washout of both sulfur dioxide and acetaldehyde. An analysis shows that theory can be reconciled with all of the experimental data by replacing the compound specific aqueous phase Fickian molecular diffusion coefficient used in the theory, by an effective diffusivity, having a constant value, (3×10^-4 cm² s^-1), independent of the physical and chemical nature of the absorbed species, for all drops of equivalent radii greater than 0.9 mm.     

Simulation of the time-space evolution of an extratropical cyclonic precipitation field over USA

The time-space evolution of an extratropical cyclonic precipitation field over U S A is simulated in a stochastic setting as outlined in Kavvas et al. (1988). The birth of a cyclonic storm is characterized by the simultaneous birth of a cyclone center and births of subsynoptic precipitation areas (SPA) at preferred locations around the cyclone center. The precipitation cores and cells which are used as the fundamental building blocks of the SPAs are approximated by circular precipitation areas (CPA) of different sizes. The time space evolution of the precipitation field after the birth is governed by (1) the movement of the synoptic cyclone described by the cyclone center trajectory, (2) independent nonidentically distributed random velocities of the individual CPAs relative to the cyclone center, (3) the births of new CPAs in time and space relative to the cyclone center, (4) the independent evolution in time of the individual spatially uniform intensities of the existing CPAs, (5) the expansion and shrinkage of the existing CPAs in the course of movement and (6) the dissipation (death) of a random number of existing CPAs within the cyclonic system. The computer simulation, the results of which are presented in this paper, successfully reproduced the general mesoscale and synoptic scale features of the radar detected cyclonic rain fields as observed by Austin and Houze (1972), Houze et al. (1976), Hobbs (1978), Hobbs and Locatelli (1978), Houze (1981), Houze and Hobbs (1982) and others.     

Applications of satellite data in the study of monsoon variability

This paper discusses the use of satellite data for studying climate change, with particular emphasis on the inter-annual variability of the Indian southwest monsoon. Precipitation estimates made from INSAT-1B radiance data are shown to bring out the variations that occurred in the monsoon rainfall of 1987 and 1988. Outgoing Longwave Radiation derived from INSAT-1B shows good correspondence with precipitation patterns.     

天山头屯河水沙情势变化分析

近三十年水文、气象资料表明，头屯河水量的９０％由制材厂水文站以上流域汇入，河道泥沙主要来自水库实验以上中游河段，河道来水量与输沙量变化不完全一致，年径流量的多寡与年降水量密切相关，河流输沙量则与春、夏季节的暴雨或阵发性降水有关。头屯河最大月径流量出现在７月份，而最大月输沙量则出现在６月份，与最大降水月（６月）出现时间一致。汛期河道来水量占全年总数的６０－６５％，而来沙量占全年总数的８０－８５％，后     

基于栅格数据的流域降雨径流模型

本文在研究降雨时空分布不均匀与下垫面自然地理参数空间分布不均匀，对降雨径流过程影响的基础上，提出了一种在地理信息系统支持下的动态分布式降雨径流流域模型，实现了基于栅格的坡面产汇流与河道汇流的数值模拟，能够获得流域上任意模拟时刻任意栅格的径流量。模型视栅格为水文一致性单元，水文参数在栅格内一致，在相邻栅格间变化，采用Ｈｏｌｔａｎ模型计算下渗率，水量平衡方程和线性水库的马斯京根法进行栅格产汇流演算，模     

西北地区降水对陆面特征敏感性的数值试验

本文是一个用大气环境模式研究中国西北地区陆面特征改变之后影响其降水的数值试验，模式中假定西北地区的植被完全被裸陆代替，对６、７、８月进行数值积分，以便检查夏季大气环流对陆面特征的响应，数值试验的结论是：陆面反照率升高后，与之相伴随的是降水率下降，并且大气的下沉运动控制了该地区。