Investigating a Hierarchy of Eulerian Closure Models for Scalar Transfer Inside Forested Canopies

Modelling the transfer of heat, water vapour, and CO₂ between the biosphere and the atmosphere is made difficult by the complex two-way interaction between leaves and their immediate microclimate. When simulating scalar sources and sinks inside canopies on seasonal, inter-annual, or forest development time scales, the so-called well-mixed assumption (WMA) of mean concentration (i.e. vertically constant inside the canopy but dynamically evolving in time) is often employed. The WMA eliminates the need to model how vegetation alters its immediate microclimate, which necessitates formulations that utilize turbulent transport theories. Here, two inter-related questions pertinent to the WMA for modelling scalar sources, sinks, and fluxes at seasonal to inter-annual time scales are explored: (1) if the WMA is to be replaced so as to resolve this two-way interaction, how detailed must the turbulent transport model be? And (2) what are the added predictive skills gained by resolving the two-way interaction vis-à-vis other uncertainties such as seasonal variations in physiological parameters. These two questions are addressed by simulating multi-year mean scalar concentration and eddy-covariance scalar flux measurements collected in a Loblolly pine (P. taeda L.) plantation near Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A. using turbulent transport models ranging from K-theory (or first-order closure) to third-order closure schemes. The multi-layer model calculations with these closure schemes were contrasted with model calculations employing the WMA. These comparisons suggested that (i) among the three scalars, sensible heat flux predictions are most biased with respect to eddy-covariance measurements when using the WMA, (ii) first-order closure schemes are sufficient to reproduce the seasonal to inter-annual variations in scalar fluxes provided the canonical length scale of turbulence is properly specified, (iii) second-order closure models best agree with measured mean scalar concentration (and temperature) profiles inside the canopy as well as scalar fluxes above the canopy, (iv) there are no clear gains in predictive skills when using third-order closure schemes over their second-order closure counterparts. At inter-annual time scales, biases in modelled scalar fluxes incurred by using the WMA exceed those incurred when correcting for the seasonal amplitude in the maximum carboxylation capacity (V _{cmax, 25}) provided its mean value is unbiased. The role of local thermal stratification inside the canopy and possible computational simplifications in decoupling scalar transfer from the generation of the flow statistics are also discussed.

“The tree, tilting its leaves to capture bullets of light; inhaling, exhaling; its many thousand stomata breathing, creating the air”. Ruth Stone, 2002, In the Next Galaxy

     

卫星遥感结合地面观测资料对中国西北干旱区地表热力输送系数的估算

本文利用黑河野外试验 (HEIFE) 地面观测资料, 采用空气动力学方法计算了干旱区内不同下垫面的地表热力输送系数CH, 结合由美国国家海洋和大气局 (NOAA) 系列卫星遥感观测的反映地表植被特征的归一化差值植被指数 (NDVI) 资料, 经拟合得到了针对我国西北干旱区不同下垫面的CH-NDVI参数化关系式, 并对此关系式进行了合理性检验。结果表明: 对于区域尺度而言, 在缺乏用其他方法获得较准确的区域CH值的情况下, 利用卫星遥感结合地面观测资料对其估算是较为可靠的方法。     

我国东、西部夏季水汽输送特征及其差异

本文利用ERA-40再分析每日资料分析了我国东部季风区与西北干旱—半干旱区夏季1971～2000年气候平均的水汽输送特征及其差异, 分析结果表明我国东部季风区与西北干旱—半干旱区夏季气候平均的水汽输送特征有明显的差异。由于亚洲夏季风从孟加拉湾、 南海和热带西太平洋输送大量水汽到我国东部季风区, 故在东部季风区夏季经向水汽输送通量比纬向水汽输送通量大。而西北干旱—半干旱区受中纬度西风带的影响, 夏季纬向水汽输送通量比经向水汽输送通量大, 且此区域夏季无论纬向或者经向水汽输送通量均比东部季风区的水汽输送通量小一量级。并且, 分析结果还表明: 我国东部季风区由于湿度大, 故夏季水汽输送通量的散度不仅依赖于湿度平流, 而且依赖于风场的辐合、 辐散, 而西北干旱—半干旱区夏季水汽输送通量的散度主要依赖于湿度平流。此外, 分析结果还表明了我国东部季风区的水分平衡与西北干旱—半干旱区的水分平衡也有明显的不同。     

台风韦帕全区性大暴雨过程分析

通过对2007年9月18-20日,青岛市破历史纪录的全区性大暴雨过程的天气实况、环流形势分析、物理量诊断和雷达资料分析表明,过程出现在西风槽、副热带高压和台风韦帕相互作用形成的高湿度、强上升运动区中.过程前期的降水,主要是高层的强抽吸起作用,降水较弱."韦帕"使得低层的辐合抬升进一步加强,上升运动更为强烈.对流层上层冷空气的活动,使得大气的层结不稳定进一步加强.3个系统的耦合,形成了这次大暴雨过程.过程的中小尺度扰动活跃.雷达资料分析发现,在低层一条线状呈气旋性弯曲的辐合抬升带,为海陆温差引起的陆风效应造成的海陆锋,是一条强降水带,伴随有强水平风切变.     

2003年江淮流域强降水过程与30—70d天低频振荡的联系

利用NCEP／NCAR再分析和地面观测站的逐日降水资料,研究了2003年夏季江淮流域强降水过程与低频振荡的联系。结果显示,主周期为30～70d的低频振荡对2003年江淮流域暴雨的形成具有重要贡献：低频涡旋在江淮地区降水期的对流层高、低层呈负、正配置,具有斜压结构,利于降水发生;850hPa上正涡度系统的传播具有明显的北传和西传特征;存在于西太平洋、西北太平洋及其以东地区的低频波列（P—J）的活动过程影响了我国2003年江淮低频强降水的形成;整层低频水汽通量显示来自副热带高压外围的西南季风对水汽输送的贡献较显著,且2003年江淮地区30-70d时间尺度上降水的水汽来源为南海而非孟加拉湾或西太平洋。     

济南市一次持续大雾过程分析

利用常规气象观测资料对2007年12月20-23日济南市一次持续大雾天气过程的大尺度天气背景、地面气压场、温度对数压力图以及单站气象要素进行了分析,结果表明:雾是在稳定的大气层结下出现的天气现象,根据大气稳定层结的状况及变化,可以判断大雾天气的有无及生消时间;近地面逆温和低空逆温同时存在,表明大气层结非常稳定,近地面逆温有利于近地面层水汽积累,低空逆温使近地面层水汽不易扩散而聚集,有利于近地面层维持潮湿,持续几天出现大雾;连续几天大气层结都处于稳定状态,地面风力很小,这些都限制了近地面层的水汽向外耗散,底层相对湿度较大,为大雾的形成提供了充沛的水汽条件.     

Yearly and seasonal variations of low albedo surfaces on Mars in the OMEGA/MEx dataset: Constraints on aerosols properties and dust deposits

The time variations of spectral properties of dark martian surface features are investigated using the OMEGA near-IR dataset. The analyzed period covers two Mars years, spanning from early 2004 to early 2008 (includes the 2007 global dust event). Radiative transfer modeling indicates that the apparent albedo variations of low to mid-latitude dark regions are consistent with those produced by the varying optical depth of atmospheric dust as measured simultaneously from the ground by the Mars Exploration Rovers. We observe only a few significant albedo changes that can be attributed to surface phenomena. They are small-scaled and located at the boundaries between bright and dark regions. We then investigate the variations of the mean particle size of aerosols using the evolution of the observed dark region spectra between 1 and 2.5 μm. Overall, we find that the observed changes in the spectral slope are consistent with a mean particle size of aerosols varying with time between 1 and 2 μm. Observations with different solar zenith angles make it possible to characterize the aerosol layer at different altitudes, revealing a decrease of the particle size of aerosols as altitude increases.     

iVINE – Ionization in the parallel tree/sph code VINE: first results on the observed age-spread around O-stars

We present a three-dimensional, fully parallelized, efficient implementation of ionizing ultraviolet (UV) radiation for smoothed particle hydrodynamics ( sph ) including self-gravity. Our method is based on the sph / tree code vine . We therefore call it iVINE (for Ionization + VINE). This approach allows detailed high-resolution studies of the effects of ionizing radiation from, for example, young massive stars on their turbulent parental molecular clouds. In this paper, we describe the concept and the numerical implementation of the radiative transfer for a plane-parallel geometry and we discuss several test cases demonstrating the efficiency and accuracy of the new method. As a first application, we study the radiatively driven implosion of marginally stable molecular clouds at various distances of a strong UV source and show that they are driven into gravitational collapse. The resulting cores are very compact and dense exactly as it is observed in clustered environments. Our simulations indicate that the time of triggered collapse depends on the distance of the core from the UV source. Clouds closer to the source collapse several 10⁵ yr earlier than more distant clouds. This effect can explain the observed age spread in OB associations where stars closer to the source are found to be younger. We discuss possible uncertainties in the observational derivation of shock front velocities due to early stripping of protostellar envelopes by ionizing radiation.     

The escape of ionizing photons from supernova-dominated primordial galaxies

In order to assess the contribution of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) and Lyman α emitters (LAEs) at redshifts  3 < z < 7  to the ionization of intergalactic medium (IGM), we investigate the escape fractions of ionizing photons from supernova-dominated primordial galaxies by solving the three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer. The model galaxy is employed from an ultra-high-resolution chemodynamic simulation of a primordial galaxy by Mori & Umemura, which well reproduces the observed properties of LAEs and LBGs. The total mass of model galaxy is  10¹¹ M_⊙  . We solve not only photoionization but also collisional ionization by shocks. In addition, according to the chemical enrichment, we incorporate the effect of dust extinction, taking the size distributions of dust into account. As a result, we find that dust extinction reduces the escape fractions by a factor of 1.5–8.5 in the LAE phase and by a factor of 2.5–11 in the LBG phase, while the collisional ionization by shocks increases the escape fractions by a factor of  ≈2  . The resultant escape fractions are 0.07–0.47 in the LAE phase and 0.06–0.17 in the LBG phase. These results are well concordant with the recent estimations derived from the flux density ratio at 1500 to 900 Å of LAEs and LBGs. Combining the resultant escape fractions with the luminosity functions of LAEs and LBGs, we find that high- z LAEs and LBGs can ionize the IGM at   z = 3–5  . However, ionizing radiation from LAEs as well as LBGs falls short of ionizing the IGM at   z > 6  . That implies that additional ionization sources may be required at   z > 6  .