Ice storms,tree throw,and hillslope sediment transport in northern hardwood forests

In December 2008, 694 trees uprooted within a 108 ha (1·08 km²) watershed in central Massachusetts due to a severe ice storm, resulting in the displacement of ~1300 m³ of root material, unconsolidated sediment, and fractured bedrock. Overall, we find that uprooting and tree throw is often grouped in clusters and cascades; conifers displace more material than deciduous trees; areas with abundant mature hemlock and steep slopes are more susceptible to tree throw, with clusters as dense as 125 per hectare; and failure is predominantly downhill, suggesting that ice storms promote efficient downslope hillslope sediment transport in northern hardwood forests. Combining the recurrence interval of severe storms in New England (20–75 years) with the forest response presented here, we calculate a sediment transport rate of 2–5 × 10^?5 m³ m^?1 a^?1 averaged over the entire watershed. Forest susceptibility to tree throw differed based on location in the watershed; some areas experienced up to ~30× higher than average sediment transport rates, while others experienced no tree throw. Two severe storms following the 2008 ice storm (hurricane in 2011; snow storm in October 2012) did not result in significant tree throw within the study area, highlighting that the coupling of storm severity and forest susceptibility controls the amount of tree throw during a given forest disturbance. In addition to recent tree throw from the 2008 ice storm, widespread pit and mound microtopography in the study area indicates that tree throw is a recurrent process in this landscape. Two factors emerge that will influence future ice storms related hillslope sediment transport in the steep forested hillslopes of New England: regional climate gradients and changing climate determine the size, intensity and recurrence of ice storms; forest management practices and health control the tree age and type. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characteristics of severe Atlantic hurricanes in the United States: 1949–2006

Property insurance data available for 1949–2006 were assessed to get definitive measures of hurricane losses in the U.S. Catastrophes, events causing >$1 million in losses, were most frequent in the Southeast and South climate regions. Losses in these two regions totaled $127 billion, 85% of the nation’s total losses. During the period 1949–2006 there were 79 hurricane catastrophes, causing $150.6 billion in losses and averaging $2.6 billion per year. All aspects of these hurricanes showed increases in post-1990 years. Sizes of loss areas averaged one state in 1949–1967, but grew to 3 states during 1990–2006. Seven of the ten most damaging hurricanes came in 2004 (4) and 2005 (3). The number of hurricanes also peaked during 1984–2006, increasing from an annual average of 1.2 during 1949–1983 to 2.1 per year. Losses were $49.3 billion in 1991–2006, 32% of the 58-year total. Various reasons have been offered for such recent increases in hurricane losses including more hurricanes, more intense tropical storms, increased societal vulnerability in storm-prone areas, and a change in climate due to global warming, although this is debatable.     

ANTHROPOGENIC GEOMORPHOLOGY IN NORTHERN ALASKA

Two classes of anthropogenic landforms can be recognized in the permafrost environment of northern Alaska. Primary anthropogenic landforms result from the operation of natural geomorphic processes on man-made features such as roads or gravel berms. Secondary anthropogenic forms are identical to natural geomorphic features, but evolve as indirect consequences of human actions. The first group is illustrated by a badly thermokarsted road, which has caused serious drainage disruptions likely to persist over a long time period. Secondary forms are exemplified by fields of palsa-like features, which are common where pipeline-related construction activities or structures cause shallow ponding. Because they evolve rapidly, anthropogenic permafrost landforms can provide great insight into the development of natural periglacial features.     

Kinematics and Microphysical Characteristics of the First Intense Rainfall Convective Storm Observed by Jiangsu Polarimetric Radar Network

The polarimetric radar network in Jiangsu Province has just been operationalized since 2020. The first intense precipitation event observed by this polarimetric radar network and disdrometer occurred during August 28-29, 2020 and caused severe flooding and serious damage in eastern Jiangsu Province. The microphysics and kinetics for this heavy precipitation convective storm is diagnosed in this study, in order to promote the application of this polarimetric radar network. Drop size distribution(...     

河西走廊夏季强沙尘暴数值模拟试验

影响我国的沙尘暴灾害性天气多发生在春季,很少在夏季发生。文章利用我国科学家自主研发的GRAPES-DAM沙尘气溶胶模式对2005年7月一次罕见的影响河西走廊地区的群发性强沙尘暴进行了数值模拟,对夏季小概率强沙尘暴灾害天气的可预报性进行了个例研究。试验结果表明:模式对此次过程的地面大风、沙尘暴的范围、移动等均能做出较好的模拟;对于夏季群发性强沙尘暴过程,基于数值预报方法的沙尘气溶胶模式在天气模式预报准确的条件下,可以对这种小概率事件做出有应用意义的预报结果。     

5月孟加拉湾风暴不同移动路径典型个例的大气环境场对比分析

利用JTWC最佳路径数据集及欧洲中心ERA-Interim再分析资料,分析了5月孟加拉湾气旋和风暴的活动特征,并重点分析了4个不同路径的典型孟加拉湾风暴大气环境场差异,初步探讨了影响风暴移动的关键大气环流因子。研究表明:5月孟加拉湾风暴路径分为北上、东北移、西北移、转向4种,其中东北移路径最多,北上路径最少;孟加拉湾风暴的生成和移动与阿拉伯副热带高压和西太平洋副热带高压的相对强弱和位置,以及中高纬度槽脊波动密切联系,同时还与孟加拉湾风暴的生成位置有一定关系,10°N以北孟加拉湾海域生成的风暴容易东北移,10°N以南孟加拉湾海域生成的风暴却容易西北移,这与西太平洋副热带高压边缘不同引导气流的作用有关;孟加拉湾风暴移动路径还与高空急流变化有关,风暴有趋于高空急流右侧辐散区运动的趋势;孟加拉湾风暴生成于弱的垂直纬向风切变区,纬向风移动增强的方向指示孟加拉湾风暴移动的方向。     

Study of the total lightning activity in a hailstorm

A thunderstorm that developed over northeastern Spain on 16 June 2006 is analyzed. This severe thunderstorm produced hailstones as large as 40 mm and had a lifetime of 3 h and 30 min. Radar cross-sections show strong vertical development with cloud echo tops reaching an altitude of 13 km. The specific characteristics of the lightning activity of this storm were: (i) a large amount (81%) of negative cloud-to-ground (−CG) flashes with very low peak currents (< 10 kA in absolute value), (ii) a very large proportion of intra-cloud (IC) flashes with an IC/CG ratio reaching about 400, (iii) a large number of “short” IC flashes (with only 1-VHF source according to SAFIR detection), (iv) a large increase of the −CG flash rate and of the CG proportion near the end of the storm. The rate of −CG flashes with a low peak current were observed to evolve similarly to the rates of IC flashes. Most of them have been assumed to be IC flashes misclassified by the Spanish Lightning Detection Network (SLDN). They have been filtered as it is usually done for misclassified +CG flashes. After this filtering, CG flash rates remained very low (< 1 min^− 1) with +CG flashes sometimes dominant. All the particular lightning activity characteristics similar to those observed in the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS) campaigns support the hypothesis that this thunderstorm could have had an inverted-polarity or complex charge structure. The maximum IC flash rate (67 min^− 1) peaked 24 min before the presence of reflectivity higher than 60 dBZ. The IC activity abruptly decreased during the period when reflectivity was dramatically increasing. The time of maximum reflectivity observed by radar was consistent with the times of reported hail at the ground.     

西南季风潮与2004年5月我国南方暴雨

以2004年5月初及5月中旬我国华南等地两次较大暴雨过程为例, 分析了西南季风潮与我国前汛期降水的关系。初步结论指出:西南季风潮的爆发与我国华南降水, 特别是大暴雨的形成关系极为密切, 而这次西南季风潮的爆发又与来自南半球的越赤道气流直接有关。同时指出, 这次西南季风潮的爆发主要与来自85°~95°E孟加拉湾地区所在经度的越赤道气流有关, 它们是印度洋“半球间宏观系统”的一个部分。而南海季风潮仅仅是西南季风潮的一种特例, 在这两次重大降水过程中没有南海季风潮的爆发和影响。     

Origins and development of Holocene coral reefs: a revisited model based on reef boreholes in the Seychelles, Indian Ocean

 Until recently, concepts of coral reef growth and accumulation have been predominantly based on a Darwinian model. In this, the upwards and outwards growth of a reef core (a coral framework) takes place over a foreslope consisting of reef talus, with the simultaneous filling of the back-reef lagoon by reef-derived debris. The principal adaptations of this pattern relate to the influence of relative changes in sea level and commonly ignore oceanographic factors such as storm frequency and severity. Boreholes through the outer edge of a fringing reef in the Seychelles, western Indian Ocean, reveal a record of Holocene sediment accumulation first established approximately 8 ka ago. Faunal and floral associations show that growth of this body began in relatively deep water but that this shallowed to <5 m within 1 ka. Subsequent accumulation was of “keep-up” style but, as the rate of sea-level rise slowed, shoaling became more frequent and aggradation was limited by reducing accommodation space. Constructional facies are characterised either by massive corals, including Leptastrea, Porites and faviids, or by branching corals, typically Acropora of the danai-robusta group. Coral surfaces may be encrusted by red algae, foraminifera and vermetids, and are commonly bored by filamentous algae, clionids and molluscs. However, detrital facies are volumetrically dominant, and the paucity of a constructional framework requires a re-evaluation of models of reef accretion. New models relate the geometry of accretion to the interplay between extreme storm events and fairweather hydrodynamic conditions. These suggest that a contiguous framework forms in areas of moderate fairweather energy without extreme storm events. Severe storms destroy the continuity of reef structures and generate increasing volumes of coarse detritus. Low storm severity, coupled with low fairweather hydrodynamic energy, may promote the accumulation of fine-grained reef-derived sediments that inhibit framework growth. While ecology reflects year-by-year sea conditions, lithology and structure are controlled by exceptional storms, with the effects of changing sea level superimposed. Received: 30 November 1998 / Accepted: 4 November 1999