Parameterization of the Absorption of the H2O Continuum, CO2, O2, and Other Trace Gases in the Fu-Liou Solar Radiation Program

The absorption properties of the water vapor continuum and a number of weak bands for H2O, O2, CO2, CO, N2O, CH4, and O3 in the solar spectrum are incorporated into the Fu-Liou radiation parameterization program by using the correlated k-distribution method (CKD) for the sorting of absorption lines. The overlap absorption of the H2O lines and the H2O continuum (2500-14500 cm^-1) are treated by taking the two gases as a single-mixture gas in transmittance calculations. Furthermore, in order to optimize the computation efforts, CO2 and CH4 in the spectral region 2850-5250 cm^-1 are taken as a new singlemixture gas as well. For overlap involving other absorption lines in the Fu-Liou spectral bands, the authors adopt the multiplication rule for transmittance computations under which the absorption spectra for two gases are assumed to be uncorrelated. Compared to the line-by-line (LBL) computation, it is shown that the errors in fluxes introduced by these two approaches within the context of the CKD method are small and less than 0.48% for the H20 line and continuum in the 2500-14500 cm^-1 solar spectral region, -1% for H2O (line) H2O (continuum) CO2 CH4 in the spectral region 2850-5250 cm^-1, and -1.5% for H2O (line) H2O (continuum) O2 in the 7700-14500 cm^-1 spectral region. Analysis also demonstrates that the multiplication rule over a spectral interval as wide as 6800 cm^-1 can produce acceptable errors with a maximum percentage value of about 2% in reference to the LBL calculation. Addition of the preceding gases increases the absorption of solar radiation under all sky conditions. For clear sky, the increase in instantaneous solar absorption is about 9%-13% (-12 W m^-2) among which the H20 continuum produces the largest increase, while the contributions from O2 and CO2 rank second and third, respectively. In cloudy sky, the addition of absorption amounts to about 6-9 W m^-2. The new, improved program with the incorporation of the preceding gases produces a smaller solar absorption in clouds due to the reduced solar flux reaching the cloud top.     

Parameterization of the Absorption of the H_2O Continuum,CO_2,O_2,and Other Trace Gases in the Fu-Liou Solar Radiation Program

The absorption properties of the water vapor continuum and a number of weak bands for H2O, O2, CO2, CO, N2O, CH4, and O3 in the solar spectrum are incorporated into the Fu-Liou radiation parameterization program by using the correlated k-distribution method (CKD) for the sorting of absorption lines. The overlap absorption of the H2O lines and the H2O continuum (2500-14500 cm-1) are treated by taking the two gases as a single-mixture gas in transmittance calculations. Furthermore, in order to optimize the computation efforts, CO2 and CH4 in the spectral region 2850-5250 cm-1 are taken as a new single-mixture gas as well. For overlap involving other absorption lines in the Fu-Liou spectral bands, the authors adopt the multiplication rule for transmittance computations under which the absorption spectra for two gases are assumed to be uncorrelated. Compared to the line-by-line (LBL) computation, it is shown that the errors in fluxes introduced by these two approaches within the context of the CKD method are small and less than 0.48% for the H2O line and continuum in the 2500-14500 cm-1 solar spectral region, -1% for H2O (line) H2O (continuum) CO2 CH4 in the spectral region 2850-5250 cm-1, and -1.5% for H2O (line) H2O (continuum) O2 in the 7700-14500 cm-1 spectral region. Analysis also demonstrates that the multiplication rule over a spectral interval as wide as 6800 cm-1 can produce acceptable errors with a maximum percentage value of about 2% in reference to the LBL calculation. Addition of the preceding gases increases the absorption of solar radiation under all sky conditions. For clear sky, the increase in instantaneous solar absorption is about 9%-13% (~12 W m~2) among which the H2O continuum produces the largest increase, while the contributions from O2 and CO2 rank second and third, respectively. In cloudy sky, the addition of absorption amounts to about 6-9 W m-2. The new, improved program with the incorporation of the preceding gases produces a smaller solar absorption in clouds due to the reduced solar flux reaching the cloud top.     

The Effect of the Slightly Inclined Terrain on the Wind Shear near the Surface ,

ＴＨＥＥＦＦＥＣＴＯＦＴＨＥＳＬＩＧＨＴＬＹＩＮＣＬＩＮＥＤＴＥＲＲＡＩＮＯＮＴＨＥＷＩＮＤＳＨＥＡＲＮＥＡＲＴＨＥＳＵＲＦＡＣＥＺｈａｎｇＹｏｎｇｐｉｎｇ（张永萍），ＬｉＸｉｎｇｓｈｅｎｇ（李兴生），ＺｈｏｕＸｉｕｊｉ（周秀骥）ａｎｄＢｉａｎＬｉｎ...     

Dynamics of accumulation of heavy metals by subcolloidal fraction of bottom sediments is a result of biochemical processes in the marginal filter of the Razdol’naya River (the Amur Bay, the Sea of Japan)

Determined is the content of Fe, Mn, V, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, As, and Sc in the subcolloidal fraction of sediments of the Razdol’naya River marginal filter using the method of atomic emission spectroscopy. Proposed is one of the variants of separating biochemical zones with the increased content of Fe and Mn and other metals in the bottom sediments of the marginal filter: the river zone, the zone of flocculation and formation of Fe and Mn hydroxides, and the zone of biochemical metal accumulation (marine). In the sediments of the river zone and the zone of flocculation and formation of Fe and Mn hydroxides, two bottom areas are identified with the high content of the elements under study that is associated with long-term and seasonal variations of the river runoff.     

Paleoclimate Modelling at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Paleoclimate modelling is one of the core topics in the Past Global Changes project under the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and has received much attention worldwide in recent decades. Here we summarize the research on the Paleoclimate modeling, including the Holocene, Last Glacial Maximum, and pre-Quaternary climate intervals or events performed at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP/CAS) for over one decade. As an attempt to review these academic activities, we emphasize that vegetation and ocean feedbacks can amplify East Asian climate response to the Earth’s orbital parameters and atmospheric CO2 concentration at the mid-Holocene. At the Last Glacial Maximum, additional cooling in interior China is caused by the feedback effects of East Asian vegetation and the ice sheet over the Tibetan Plateau, and the regional climate model RegCM2 generally reduces data-model discrepancies in East Asia. The simulated mid-Pliocene climate is characterized by warmer and drier conditions as well as significantly weakened summer and winter monsoon systems in interior China. On a tectonic timescale, both the Tibetan Plateau uplift and the Paratethys Sea retreat play important roles in the formation of East Asian monsoon-dominant environmental pattern during the Cenozoic.     

MM5 Simulations of the China Regional Climate During the LGM.Ⅱ: Influence of Change of Land Area, Vegetation, and Large-scale Circulation Background

Using a regional climate model MM5 nested to an atmospheric global climate model CCM3, a series of simulations and sensitivity experiments have been performed to investigate the relative LGM climate response to changes of land-sea distribution, vegetation, and large-scale circulation background over China.Model results show that compared with the present climate, the fluctuations of sea-land distribution in eastern Asia during the LGM result in the temperature decrease in winter and increase in summer. It has significant impact on the temperature and precipitation in the east coastal region of China. The impact on precipitation in the east coastal region of China is the most significant one, with 25%-50% decrease in the total precipitation change during the LGM. On the other hand, the changes in sea-land distribution have less influence on the climate of inland and western part of China. During the LGM, significant changes in vegetation result in temperature alternating with winter increase and summer decrease, but differences in the annual mean temperature are minor. During the LGM, the global climate, i.e., the large-scale circulation background has changed significantly. These changes have significant influences on temperature and precipitation over China. They result in considerable temperature decreases in this area, and direct the primary patterns and characteristics of temperature changes. Results display that, northeastern China has the greatest temperature decrease, and the temperature decrease in the Tibetan Plateau is larger than in the eastern part of China located at the same latitude. Moreover, the change of large-scale circulation background also controls the pattern of precipitation change. Results also show that, most of the changes in precipitation over western and northeastern parts of China are the consequences of changing large-scale circulation background, of which 50%-75% of precipitation changes over northern and eastern China are the results of changes in large-scale circulation background. Over China, the LGM climate responses to different mechanisms in order of strength from strong to weak are, the large-scale circulation pattern, sea-land distribution, vegetation, CO2 concentration, and earth orbital parameters.     

Rainfall in the Garden of the United States Great Plains, 1870–1889

The recent accumulation of all published precipitation records from 1870–1889 in the central and northern Great Plains of the United States provides a renewed potential in analyzing climatic reality during early settlement, corresponding to a time when some written histories documented that the Rain followed the Plow. Growing season precipitation in the central and northern Great Plains from 1870–1889 were examined relative to modern climatic normals (1961–1990). Growing season totals mostly exhibit little changes in precipitation in the region as compared to today. Some wetter springs and summers occurred in the Dakotas during the late 1870s and early 1880s, subsequent to the drier early-mid 1870s and corresponding to the Great Dakota Boom. Wetter summers occurred over the central Plains in the mid-1880s, corresponding to increased migration in Nebraska and Kansas. Drier summers occurred during the early 1870s and inactive settlement in the early 1880s. Although increased rainfall may have been conducive for early settlement, in general the Rain did not follow the Plow, with extreme seasonal and monthly heavy precipitation events at the subregional scale perhaps playing important roles on settlers' climatic perceptions. The results of this study provide a framework in order to conduct historical climate impact analyses as well as information that can be applied towards understanding spatial climatic variations further back into time.     

Application of the K?ppen classification for climatic zoning in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

The knowledge of the climatic conditions of a region is crucial for its agricultural development. It is also extremely important for understanding the fact that certain cultures have to develop under prevailing temperature and humidity conditions and assist in the adoption of a suitable irrigation technique, as well as its management and operationalization. The K?ppen system of climate classification is widely used for the identification of homogeneous climate zones as it considers only rainfall and temperature as the meteorological elements for classification. For this study, we used climatic databases of rainfall and temperature in a raster format, with a spatial resolution of 30″ of arc (an approximate area of 0.86?km²?pixel^?1), from 1961 to 1990. Through geoprocessing techniques, we obtained a map of climatic classification for the state of Minas Gerais. We found that the state has the following three major climatic groups: A, B and C, which correspond to tropical rainy, dry and warm temperate climates, respectively. The climate classes obtained were Aw, Am, BSh, Cwa and Cwb, with Aw, Cwa and Cwb classes occupying 99.89% of the territorial area of the state. The validation of the results showed a satisfactory agreement, with 93.75% reliability.     

Analysis of Basic Features of the Onset of the Asian Summer Monsoon

In this paper,a relatively systematic climatological research on the onset of the Asian tropical summer monsoon(ATSM)was carried out.Based on a unified index of the ATSM onset,the advance of the whole ATSM was newly made and then the view that the ATSM firstly breaks out over the tropical eastern Indian Ocean and the middle and southern Indo-China Peninsula was further documented,which was in the 26th pentad(about May 10),then over the South China Sea(SCS)in the 28th pentad.It seems that the ATSM onset over the two regions belongs to the different stages of the same monsoon system.Then,the onset mechanism of ATSM was further investigated by the comprehensive analysis on the land-sea thermodynamic contrast,intraseasonal oscillation,and so on,and the several key factors which influence the ATSM onset were put forward.Based on these results,a possible climatological schematic map that the ATSM firstly breaks out over the tropical eastern Indian Ocean,the Indo-China Peninsula,and the SCS was also presented, namely seasonal evolution of the atmospheric circulation was the background of the monsoon onset;the enhancement and northward advance of the convections,the sensible heating and latent heating over the Indo-China Peninsula and its neighboring areas,the dramatic deepening of the India-Burma trough,and the westerly warm advection over the eastern Tibetan Plateau were the major driving forces of the summer monsoon onset,which made the meridional gradient of the temperature firstly reverse over this region and ascending motion develop.Then the tropical monsoon and precipitation rapidly developed and enhanced. The phase-lock of the 30-60-day and 10-20-day low frequency oscillations originated from different sources was another triggering factor for the summer monsoon onset.It was just the common effect of these factors that induced the ATSM earliest onset over this region.     

MM5 Simulations of the China Regional Climate During the LGM. Ⅱ： Influence of Change of Land Area,Vegetation, and Large-scale Circulation Background

Using a regional climate model MM5 nested to an atmospheric global climate model CCM3, a series of simulations and sensitivity experiments have been performed to investigate the relative LGM climate response to changes of land-sea distribution, vegetation, and large-scale circulation background over China. Model results show that compared with the present climate, the fluctuations of sea-land distribution in eastern Asia during the LGM result in the temperature decrease in winter and increase in summer. It has significant impact on the temperature and precipitation in the east coastal region of China. The impact on precipitation in the east coastal region of China is the most significant one, with 25%-50% decrease in the total precipitation change during the LGM. On the other hand, the changes in sea-land distribution have less influence on the climate of inland and western part of China. During the LGM, significant changes in vegetation result in temperature alternating with winter increase and summer decrease, but differences in the annual mean temperature are minor. During the LGM, the global climate, i.e., the large-scale circulation background has changed significantly. These changes have significant influences on temperature and precipitation over China. They result in considerable temperature decreases in this area, and direct the primary patterns and characteristics of temperature changes. Results display that, northeastern China has the greatest temperature decrease, and the temperature decrease in the Tibetan Plateau is larger than in the eastern part of China located at the same latitude. Moreover, the change of large-scale circulation background also controls the pattern of precipitation change. Results also show that, most of the changes in precipitation over western and northeastern parts of China are the consequences of changing large-scale circulation background, of which 50%-75% of precipitation changes over northern and eastern China are the results of changes in large-scale circulation backgrou     

Evaluation of the Climatic Change Impacts on the Inland Lake – A Case Study of Lake Qinghai, China

A catchment model coupled with a lake thermal model has been used to simulate the lake water balance of Lake Qinghai, a large inland lake on the northeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. The sensitivity analyses show that changes in precipitation will produce larger changes in runoff than temperature and cloudiness, whereas changes in lake level are equally sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation. With a doubling of CO₂ in the atmosphere, four GCMs experiments predict warmer and wetter conditions in the Qinghai region than at present. The total runoff in the lake basin and evaporation will, in most cases, increase as conditions become warmer and wetter. The lake level changes would remain uncertain because the effects of an increase in precipitation are countered by the rise of temperature.     

The discursive politics of ‘fracking’: Frames,storylines, and the anticipatory contestation of shale gas development in the United Kingdom

How contested sources of energy such as shale gas are perceived in frontier countries considering their development is incredibly important to national and international climate policies. The UK shale development case is of particular interest currently as the Government attempts to position the UK as a pioneer of European, safe, sustainable shale gas development. We conduct a mixed-methods analysis of the UK policy debate on shale gas development involving 30 stakeholder interviews and 1557 political documents. This empirical focus extends the existing literature by identifying the use of frames in and through the institutions and practices of formal UK politics. We identify nine key frames and their associated storylines, analyse their use over time, and compare these findings with other national case studies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given most UK Governments within our timeframe have supported shale development, pro-shale development frames dominate in the policy debate; however, we also find a high level of anti-shale development frame use, suggesting a deep and ongoing framing contest in national formal political sites. We find in particular a more prominent focus on land-use issues and impacts on the landscape than other UK studies or other national contexts. Conceptually, the study puts forward an integrative approach to the related concepts of frames and storylines, as well as arguments concerning the impotence of storylines in anticipatory political debate and the polyvalence of framing strategies. Questions about governance are raised by the general lack of consensus over the framing of shale development within formal political sites, let alone amongst the broader public; and by the lack of a coherent response from the Government to criticisms of its approach. Finally, we reflect on the apparent lack of evidence for Hajer’s ‘communicative miracle’ in our case, and speculate as to whether the lack of broad-based resonance of the ‘bridge’ storyline signals trouble for the positive-sum thinking of ecological modernisation.     

Far Reach of the Tenth Century Eldgjá Eruption, Iceland

At the end of Iceland's settlement period in the 10th century, a great basalt fissure eruption known as Eldgjá (Fire Chasm) occurred near the southern settlements and destroyed a portion of them. This lava outpouring was one of the two largest terrestrial fissure eruptions of the last 11 centuries. Historical documents from Iceland, western Europe, and the Middle East are used to trace the eruption's possible climatic and demographic consequences. The cloud of aerosols from the eruption, traversing northern Europe, dimmed and reddened the Sun. There followed a very cold winter, famine, and a widespread disease epidemic during the next year and, again, 5 to 7 years after the eruption, probably as a result of the long-lived stratospheric aerosol veil. Convergent lines of evidence point to 934 as the year of the eruption. Accordingly, it becomes possible to date within a year a prominent acid horizon in ice laid down in central Greenland and, tentatively, to interpret some critical events and dates in early Icelandic history.     

Climatology of thunderstorms in the Baltic countries, 1951–2000

This paper provides an overview of the thunderstorm climate of the Baltic countries during the period of 1951–2000. Our study area is in northeastern Europe and encompasses Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Visual thunderstorm observations at 59 weather stations were used as a data source. The mean annual number of thunderstorm days was 12–29.5. The seasonal cycle of thunderstorm hours with a daily step unexpectedly showed two maxima, whereas the monthly numbers of thunderstorm days had one clear mid-latitude specific peak between June and August. The diurnal cycle of thunderstorm hours showed a peak between 1400 and 1800 local time and a minimum between 0400 and 1000 hours local time. The average annual duration of thunderstorm events was 112 min. The average number of thunderstorm events per thunderstorm day was around 1.1–1.2. Our results showed that the thunderstorm climate of the Baltic countries generally resembles that of other mid-latitude study sites.     

Influences of the Extratropical Pacific SST on the Precipitation of the North China Region

ＩｎｆｌｕｅｎｃｅｓｏｆｔｈｅＥｘｔｒａｔｒｏｐｉｃａｌＰａｃｉｆｉｃＳＳＴｏｎｔｈｅＰｒｅｃｉｐｉｔａｔｉｏｎｏｆｔｈｅＮｏｒｔｈＣｈｉｎａＲｅｇｉｏｎＧｅｎｇＱｕａｎｚｈｅｎ（耿全震），ＤｉｎｇＹｉｈｕｉ（丁一汇）ａｎｄＨｕａｎｇＣｈａｏｙｉｎｇ...     

Variability of droughts in the Czech Republic, 1881–2006

We analyze droughts in the Czech Republic from 1881–2006 based on the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) and the Z-index using averaged national temperature and precipitation series for the calculations. The standardized precipitation index (SPI), PDSI and Z-index series show an increasing tendency towards longer and more intensive dry episodes in which, for example, droughts that occurred in the mid-1930s, late 1940s–early 1950s, late 1980s–early 1990s and early 2000s were the most severe. Cycles at periods of 3.4–3.5, 4.2–4.3, 5.0–5.1 and 15.4 years exceeded 95% confidence levels in application of maximum entropy spectral analysis. These are expressed at different intensities throughout the period studied. The occurrence of extremely dry and severely dry months is associated with a higher frequency of anticyclonic situations according to the classification employed by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. Principal component analysis documents the importance of the ridge from the Siberian High over Central Europe when extreme and severe droughts in months of the winter half-year are considered in terms of sea-level pressure. In the summer half-year, the ridge of the Azores High over Central Europe is the most important. Drought episodes have a profound effect on national and regional agricultural production, with yields being consistently lower than in normal years, as is documented through the example of spring barley, winter wheat, forage crops on arable land, and hay from meadows. Seasons with pronounced drought during the April–June period (e.g., 1947 and 2000) show the most significant yield decreases. Forests appear to be very vulnerable to long-term drought episodes, as it was the case during the dry years of 1992–1994. This study clearly confirms the statistically significant tendency to more intensive dry episodes in the region, driven by temperature increase and precipitation decrease, which has already been suggested in other studies.     

Revision and necessary correction of the long-term temperature series of Hohenpeissenberg, 1781–2006

Having been in use at Hohenpeissenberg from 1781–1841, the Palatina thermometer was found to suffer from a positive bias of 0.5°R (or 0.63°C) as discovered by Lamont following a re-calibration made in 1842. The main reason was due to the composition of the glass used during the early instrumental period. Glass of this period tended to contract over many years due to thermal aftereffects, resulting in a gradual rise of the freezing point position in consequence of the shrinking bulb forming the mercury reservoir. While the problem of the gradually rising zero point was recognised relatively early, the reason was attributed to wrong causes. Around 1880, scientists recognised that the chemical composition of glass might be responsible for the drift of the zero point. New glass types were developed which were free from such effects. Although these facts became known, no correction was applied to the Hohenpeissenberg temperature series when in 1981, the complete 200-year series was published. Most probably this bias is also relevant for other stations, at least those of the network of the Societas Meteorologica Palatina that were supplied with thermometers manufactured in Mannheim. Another problem originates from the different observing times for the period 1879–1900, which were set to 0800, 1400 and 2000 hours instead of 0700, 1400 and 2100 hours before and afterwards. In addition, a new formula to calculate the daily mean was established resulting in the temperature being too low by 0.5°C in that period. The overall trend changes after application of the two necessary corrections. There remain two biases that cannot be quantified without a major detailed study being made: (1) At the start of the observations, the window of the observation room was always kept “open during dry weather”. It is not known how long this practice was remained in use. (2) Lamont also employed an easily melting glass to construct his thermometers which in use between 1841 and 1878. An analysis of the glass composition seems to be necessary to find out whether it also suffered from a rising freezing point. Lamont replaced the Hohenpeissenberg thermometer in 1842 by a new instrument produced in his own workshop. One still existing Lamont thermometer, but not that one of Hohenpeissenberg, was re-calibrated and the zero point found to have lowered by ?1.4°C. Since the opposite drift had been expected and the original Lamont-type Hohenpeissenberg thermometer is no longer available, no correction is justified for the period in which this thermometer was in use.     

The Dynamic Mechanism of the Formation of the Low Level Jet

The ordinary multidimensional reductive perturbation method is generalized so as to apply to the general case including the dissipative factor. With this the corresponding Cubic-Schrbdinger equation is deduced, and by the preliminary study of its solution, it shows that it is more admissible to consider atmospheric meso-scale systems as the nonlinear Cubic-Schrbdinger waves.With suitable boundary and initial conditions, the Cubic-Schrodinger equation is numerically integrated so as to investigate the possible dynamic mechanism as well as the impacts of the nonlinear action, turbulent friction and topogrphy to the formation of the LLJ. The results indicate that the downward transfer of the momentum and the effect of the surface friction are responsible for the concentration of the momentum in the layer between 850 and 700 hPa. The location of the horizontal concentration of momentum depends on the propagation of momentum, in the process the inertia-gravity internal wave is very important, whereas turbule     

The Theory Study of the Influence of the Topography on the Cold Frontal Motion

In order to study the characteristics of cold frontal motion over the arbitrary topography, the velocity of cold frontal movement is derived by using the one layer shallow-water model. The results show that there exist the retardation in upwind side and rapid descent in the lee slope when the cold front crosses the topography.