NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN HEMISPHERIC POLAR LOWS——A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Northern Hemispheric“polar lows”,i.e.maritime,small,but fairly intense cyclonic systems have been studied formore than two decades.Recently researchers have turned their attention towards the occurrence of polar lows and othersmall-scale cyclonic disturbances on the Southern Hemisphere.In this paper a short account of our present knowledgeof Northern Hemispheric polar lows will be given,followed by some preliminary results of an investigation of the natureand occurrence of polar lows on the Southern Hemisphere.     

Estimation of snow water equivalent using microwave radiometry over Arctic first‐year sea ice

The magnitude and spatial distribution of snow on sea ice are both integral components of the ocean–sea‐ice–atmosphere system. Although there exists a number of algorithms to estimate the snow water equivalent (SWE) on terrestrial surfaces, to date there is no precise method to estimate SWE on sea ice. Physical snow properties and in situ microwave radiometry at 19, 37 and 85 GHz, V and H polarization were collected for a 10‐day period over 20 first‐year sea ice sites. We present and compare the in situ physical, electrical and microwave emission properties of snow over smooth Arctic first‐year sea ice for 19 of the 20 sites sampled. Physical processes creating the observed vertical patterns in the physical and electrical properties are discussed. An algorithm is then developed from the relationship between the SWE and the brightness temperature measured at 37 GHz (55°) H polarization and the air temperature. The multiple regression between these variables is able to account for over 90% of the variability in the measured SWE. This algorithm is validated with a small in situ data set collected during the 1999 field experiment. We then compare our data against the NASA snow thickness algorithm, designed as part of the NASA Earth Enterprise Program. The results indicated a lack of agreement between the NASA algorithm and the algorithm developed here. This lack of agreement is attributed to differences in scale between the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and surface radiometers and to differences in the Antarctic versus Arctic snow physical and electrical properties. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Opening of the Fram Strait gateway: A review of plate tectonic constraints

We have revised the regional crustal structure, oceanic age distribution, and conjugate margin segmentation in and around the Lena Trough, the oceanic part of the Fram Strait between the Norwegian–Greenland Sea and the Eurasia Basin (Arctic Ocean). The Lena Trough started to open after Eurasia–Greenland relative plate motions changed from right-lateral shear to oblique divergence at Chron 13 times (33.3 Ma; earliest Oligocene). A new Bouguer gravity map, supported by existing seismic data and aeromagnetic profiles, has been applied to interpret the continent–ocean transition and the influence of Eocene shear structures on the timing of breakup and initial seafloor spreading. Assuming that the onset of deep-water exchange depended on the formation of a narrow, oceanic corridor, the gateway formed during early Miocene times (20–15 Ma). However, if the initial Lena Trough was blocked by terrigenous sediments or was insufficiently subsided to allow for deep-water circulation, the gateway probably formed with the first well developed magnetic seafloor spreading anomaly around Chron 5 times (9.8 Ma; Late Miocene). Paleoceanographic changes at ODP Site 909 (northern Hovgård Ridge) are consistent with both hypotheses of gateway formation. We cannot rule out that a minor gateway formed across stretched continental crust prior to the onset of seafloor spreading in the Lena Trough. The gravity, seismic and magnetic observations question the prevailing hypotheses on the Yermak Plateau and the Morris Jesup Rise as Eocene oceanic plateaus and the Hovgård Ridge as a microcontinent.     

Competition within the marine microalgae over the polar dark period in the Greenland Sea of high Arctic

Abstract-With the onset of winter, polar marine microalgae would have faced total darkness for aperiod of up to 6 months. A natural autumn community of Arctic sea ice microalgae was collected fordark survival experiments from the Greenland Sea during the ARKTIS-XI/2 Expedition of RV Po-larstern in October 1995. After a dark period of 161 days, species dominance in the algal assemblagehave changed from initially pennate diatoms to small phytoflagellates (<20μm). Over the entire darkperiod, the mean algal growth rate was-0.01 d~(-1). Nearly all diatom species had negative growthrates, while phytoflagellate abundance increased. Resting spore formation during the dark period was ob-served in less than 4.5% of all cells and only for dinoflagellates and the diatom Chaetoceros spp. We as-sume that facultative heterotrophy and energy storage are the main processes enabling survival during thedark Arctic winter. After an increase in light intensity, microalgal cells reacted with fast growth withindays. Phytoffa     

台湾山地的雨影效应及其表现

台湾岛的雨量受台湾山地的雨影效应影响明显,各地各月随着风向的不同,雨量表现出很大的差异。福建沿海一线存在着一个雨量低值区,主要是由于该地带所处的地理位置及地形条件所决定,与台湾山地的雨影效应无关。     

The influence of 30~60 d oscillation on the development of the South China Sea summer monsoon

Using the National Center for Enviromental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data and NOAA satellite-obser ved outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) data, the development of the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon and intraseasonal (30-60 d) oscillation (ISO) have been examined. The results show that there exists obvious interannual variability of intraseasonal oscillaiton. Using the 16 a time series of filtered OLR averaged over the SCS, an index is defined to define ““onset events““ over the SCS on the ISO time scales. Of the 16 a examined here, 10 shows a strong ISO signal in the onset of monsoon convection over the SCS. In these cases, the ISO initially suppresses the seasonal development of southwesterly and cyclonic circulation over the SCS before the ISO onset. As the ISO propagates northeastward, the low frequency cyclonic circulation anomaly occurs in the SCS and the low frequency southwesterly wind and convection over here dramatically intensify. The northeast progression of the ISO anomaleis plays a role in the initial suppression and then acceleration of the seasonal cycle of the SCS summer monsoon.