A quasi-nine year oscillation of the water level in Lake Copais (Greece) cited by Theophrastus (4th Century B.C.) and Pliny (1st Century A.D.)

From the analysis of the modern rainfall data in the area of Lake Copais in Beotia of eastern Greece and on the basis of the observations of the water level quoted by Theophrastus (4th century B.C.) from earlier days than his own, as well as by Pliny (1st Century A.D.), it seems that a quasi-nine year oscillation becomes prevalent from time to time in the rainfall of the general area of this lake though we do not know the physical cause of the phenomenon.     

Representativeness of total ozone trends as derived from satellite BUV and ground-based measurements

The information content of the 7-year BUV data set has been reexamined by a comparison with a fairly large set of ground Dobson and M-83 instruments. The satellite-ground intercomparison of total ozone was done under different types of ground observation techniques (observation code) and different instrument exposure (exposure code) and for various distances of the subsatellite point from the station. Because of the existing latitudinal gradient in total ozone, at a given station the bias ground-BUV tends to be smaller when the subsatellite point is at a latitude higher than the station's latitude. Knowing the total ozone gradient at a given station, the BUV total ozone has been corrected to account for the ozone gradient and the correlation was calculated with the corresponding ground observations. These correlations seem to offer no improvement when compared with the correlations between the ground ozone and the actual BUV ozone at distances of the subsatellite point from the station within 200 km from the station used in previous studies. The seasonal variation of the BUV-ground correlation reveals information on the noise level of the measurements and the geographical distribution of the percentage mean bias: (Ground-BUV)×100/(Ground) is discussed. Both on short and on longer time scales it appears that the BUV derived recommended total ozone data set is reasonably good and possible instrumental drifts are not large. The analysis includes an extension through April 1977 of the BUV and contour-derived total ozone trends byLondon andLing (1980). Over the northern hemisphere both data sets (contour and BUV) show comparable trends over middle and high latitudes which range from –3 D.U./year to –5 D.U./year during the 7-year period April 1970–April 1977. In the southern hemisphere, however, long-term variation in total ozone cannot be determined from ground observations alone. It is concluded that for unknown reasons during the 7-year period of study, total ozone has been decreasing over most of the globe. The negative growth rates at high latitudes of the northern hemisphere are highly significant.     

A note on the intercornparison between monthly mean radiance equivalent and rocketsonde temperatures

Summary Rocketsonde monthly mean temperature structure of the stratosphere is compared with that derived from Nimbus-5 SCR radiance measurements for the solsticial months in 1973 and for the equinoctial months in 1974. The comparison shows good agreement only at pressure levels between about 5 mb and 15 mb (upper-middle stratosphere). The satellite minus rocket bias is highest at the stratopause region possibly due to the constraints applied in retrieving the radiance equivalent temperatures.

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Über einen Vergleich zwischen Monatsmittelwerten von strahlungsäquivalenten Temperaturen und Temperaturen von Raketensonden

Zusammenfassung Die mit Raketensonden gewonnene mittlere monatliche Temperaturstruktur der Stratosphäre wird mit der aus Strahlungsmessungen von Nimbus-5 SCR abgeleiteten für die Monate Juni und Dezember 1973 und für März und September 1974 verglichen. Der Vergleich zeigt eine gute Übereinstimmung nur in den Druckniveaus zwischen 5 mb und 15 mb, das ist in der oberen mittleren Stratosphäre. Die Differenz zwischen den mit Satelliten und den mit Raketensonden gewonnenen Temperaturen ist am größten in der Stratopausenregion, möglicherweise zufolge der zur Ableitung der strahlungsäquivalenten Temperaturen angewendeten Methode.

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With 2 Figures     

Efficient strong motion duration of pulse-like records for nonlinear structural analyses

The special interest produced by near-field directivity records and their effect on structural response has given a new significance in the velocity time history, its pulse-like content, and relevant parameters and indices. Recent research has shown that directivity pulses inherent in these records govern the linear and the nonlinear response of a wide range of structures. Based on this observation, it is suggested in this paper that a truncated ground motion, limited to the duration of the predominant velocity pulse, can be efficiently used to predict the structural response, instead of the base motion with the total duration, reducing significantly the required runtimes. The proposed methodology is verified for a series of medium to high rise reinforced concrete buildings, for which nonlinear time-history analyses are performed for a vast suite of pulse-like near-field records applied as base excitations with their total duration and the proposed truncated one. Comparison of the results for the response displacements and forces shows very good agreement, permitting the acceptance of the pulse duration as the efficient strong motion time interval of the original record, which determines the response and, thus, it can be used for nonlinear structural analyses.     

The time-latitude distribution of solar flares accompanied by type IV radio bursts during the period 1956 to 1969

A list of nearly 350 flares accompanied by type IV radio bursts by Krüger et al. (1971), which covers a period of 14 yr (1956–1969), was expanded to include all PCA and solar cosmic ray events during this entire period. This list, which includes practically all of the most energetic events during the maxima of two consecutive solar cycles, was used to investigate the latitudinal distribution of the above-mentioned flares, as well as of all PCA events, solar cosmic ray events and plage regions associated with them.Histograms of these occurences show clearly the appearance of two peaks in both solar maxima, which confirm the observations of Gnevyshev (1967). Latitudinal analysis of these histograms shows that in cycle 20 the two peaks are independent and their relative strength varies strongly with latitude. In cycle 19, however, this effect is not clearly evident, possibly because of the extremely high level of activity during this cycle. In both cycles, the second maximum shows the highest concentration of the most energetic events.During 1971–1972 visiting Professor of Astrophysics at the National University of Athens, Athens, Greece.     

Rocket sonde-derived stratospheric temperature changes associated with a major solar cosmic ray event

A significant cooling of the upper stratosphere at high latitudes following the major solar proton event of August 1972 is reported. The observed cooling is consistent with a decrease in upper stratospheric ozone after the same proton event that has been reported by Heath,et al. (1977). It is also in agreement with the cooling predicted by tentative model calculations of radiative equilibrium temperature changes following the deozonizing effect of nitric oxides produced at high latitudes by solar protons.