scholarly journals Time Series of Daily Averaged Cloud Fractions over Landfast First-Year Sea Ice from Multiple Data Sources

2007 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 1818-1827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Jin ◽  
John M. Hanesiak ◽  
David G. Barber

Abstract The time series of daily averaged cloud fractions (CFs) collected from different platforms—two Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on Terra and Aqua satellites, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) model, a Vaisala 25K laser ceilometer, and ground-based manual observations (manobs)—above the winter camp of the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES) field experiment are analyzed in this study. Taking the manobs as standard, the authors conclude that 1) the NCEP products considerably underestimated CFs in spring (e.g., from April to May) and 2) the performance of two MODIS products depends on the variation of solar zenith angle (SZA). Aqua MODIS misrepresents the snow-covered surface as clouds with almost randomly distributed CFs during the dark winter [cos(SZA) < 0], leading to the overestimation of CFs in winter while Terra MODIS has good agreement with manobs. When 0.1 < cos(SZA) < 0.4, both MODIS products regularly misrepresent the snow-covered background as clouds, leading to the significant overestimation of CFs in late winter (February) and early spring (March). When cos(SZA) > 0.4, both MODIS products have good performance in detecting cloud masks over snow backgrounds. If the sky is slightly cloudy, surface-based meteorological observers tend to underestimate cloud amounts when there is a lack of light. Comparing the CFs from Terra and manobs, the authors conclude that this bias can be over 10%. Power spectral analysis and wavelet analysis show three results: 1) High clouds more frequently appear in winter than in spring with periods between 8 and 16 days, indicating their close connection with synoptic events. Current NCEP products can predict this periodicity but have a phase lag. 2) Middle and low clouds are more local and are common in mid- and late spring (April and May) with periods between 2 and 4 days. At the CASES winter and spring field site, the periodicity of high clouds is dominant. 3) The time-scale-dependent correlation coefficients (CCs) between both MODIS products, NCEP and manobs, show that with high frequent CF sampling per day, the CCs are stable when the time scale varies between 1 and 4 days: with Terra MODIS and NCEP, the value is about 0.6; with Aqua MODIS, between 0.4 and 0.5. All CCs get smaller when the time scale increases beyond 8 days: with respect to both MODIS products, the CCs get closer with values between 0.3 and 0.4; with respect to NCEP, the CC dramatically decreases from positive values to negative values, indicating the lack of accuracy in current NCEP cloud schemes.

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed Mehdipoor ◽  
Raul Zurita-Milla ◽  
Ellen-Wien Augustijn ◽  
Arnold van Vliet

The increasing availability of volunteered geographic information (VGI) enables novel studies in many scientific domains. However, inconsistent VGI can negatively affect these studies. This paper describes a workflow that checks the consistency of Volunteered Phenological Observations (VPOs) while considering the synchrony of observations (i.e., the temporal dispersion of a phenological event). The geographic coordinates, day of the year (DOY) of the observed event, and the accumulation of daily temperature until that DOY were used to: (1) spatially group VPOs by connecting observations that are near to each other, (2) define consistency constraints, (3) check the consistency of VPOs by evaluating the defined constraints, and (4) optimize the constraints by analysing the effect of inconsistent VPOs on the synchrony models derived from the observations. This workflow was tested using VPOs collected in the Netherlands during the period 2003–2015. We found that the average percentage of inconsistent observations was low to moderate (ranging from 1% for wood anemone and pedunculate oak to 15% for cow parsley species). This indicates that volunteers provide reliable phenological information. We also found a significant correlation between the standard deviation of DOY of the observed events and the accumulation of daily temperature (with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.78 for lesser celandine, and 0.60 for pedunculate oak). This confirmed that colder days in late winter and early spring lead to synchronous flowering and leafing onsets. Our results highlighted the potential of synchrony information and geographical context for checking the consistency of phenological VGI. Other domains using VGI can adapt this geocomputational workflow to check the consistency of their data, and hence the robustness of their analyses.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 5155-5172
Author(s):  
Quentin Jamet ◽  
William K. Dewar ◽  
Nicolas Wienders ◽  
Bruno Deremble ◽  
Sally Close ◽  
...  

AbstractMechanisms driving the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variability at low frequency are of central interest for accurate climate predictions. Although the subpolar gyre region has been identified as a preferred place for generating climate time-scale signals, their southward propagation remains under consideration, complicating the interpretation of the observed time series provided by the Rapid Climate Change–Meridional Overturning Circulation and Heatflux Array–Western Boundary Time Series (RAPID–MOCHA–WBTS) program. In this study, we aim at disentangling the respective contribution of the local atmospheric forcing from signals of remote origin for the subtropical low-frequency AMOC variability. We analyze for this a set of four ensembles of a regional (20°S–55°N), eddy-resolving (1/12°) North Atlantic oceanic configuration, where surface forcing and open boundary conditions are alternatively permuted from fully varying (realistic) to yearly repeating signals. Their analysis reveals the predominance of local, atmospherically forced signal at interannual time scales (2–10 years), whereas signals imposed by the boundaries are responsible for the decadal (10–30 years) part of the spectrum. Due to this marked time-scale separation, we show that, although the intergyre region exhibits peculiarities, most of the subtropical AMOC variability can be understood as a linear superposition of these two signals. Finally, we find that the decadal-scale, boundary-forced AMOC variability has both northern and southern origins, although the former dominates over the latter, including at the site of the RAPID array (26.5°N).


Soil Research ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
RB Garnsey

Earthworms have the ability to alleviate many soil degradational problems in Australia. An attempt to optimize this resource requires fundamental understanding of earthworm ecology. This study reports the seasonal changes in earthworm populations in the Midlands of Tasmania (<600 mm rainfall p.a.), and examines, for the first time in Australia, the behaviour and survival rates of aestivating earthworms. Earthworms were sampled from 14 permanent pastures in the Midlands from May 1992 to February 1994. Earthworm activity was significantly correlated with soil moisture; maximum earthworm activity in the surface soil was evident during the wetter months of winter and early spring, followed by aestivation in the surface and subsoils during the drier summer months. The two most abundant earthworm species found in the Midlands were Aporrectodea caliginosa (maximum of 174.8 m-2 or 55.06 g m-2) and A. trapezoides (86 m-2 or 52.03 g m-2), with low numbers of Octolasion cyaneum, Lumbricus rubellus and A. rosea. The phenology of A. caliginosa relating to rainfall contrasted with that of A. trapezoides in this study. A caliginosa was particularly dependent upon rainfall in the Midlands: population density, cocoon production and adult development of A. caliginosa were reduced as rainfall reduced from 600 to 425 mm p.a. In contrast, the density and biomass of A. trapezoides were unaffected by rainfall over the same range: cocoon production and adult development continued regardless of rainfall. The depth of earthworm aestivation during the summers of 1992-94 was similar in each year. Most individuals were in aestivation at a depth of 150-200 mm, regardless of species, soil moisture or texture. Smaller aestivating individuals were located nearer the soil surface, as was shown by an increase in mean mass of aestivating individuals with depth. There was a high mortality associated with summer aestivation of up to 60% for juvenile, and 63% for adult earthworms in 1993 in the Midlands. Cocoons did not survive during the summers of 1992 or 1994, but were recovered in 1993, possibly due to the influence of rainfall during late winter and early spring.


1959 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
William S. Hoar ◽  
G. Beth Robertson

Goldfish maintained under controlled photoperiods for 6 weeks or longer were relatively more resistant to a sudden elevation in temperature when the daily photoperiods had been long (16 hours) and relatively more resistant to sudden chilling when they had been short (8 hours). The magnitude of the effect varied with the season. Thyroid activity was slightly greater in fish maintained under the shorter photoperiods. The longer photoperiods stimulated more rapid growth of ovaries during late winter and early spring. The endocrine system is considered a link in the chain of events regulating seasonal variations in resistance to sudden temperature change.


1963 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 778 ◽  
Author(s):  
DE Harrison

During the late winter and early spring of 1960, and again to a lesser extent in 1961 and 1962, many lettuce crops in the Murray Valley area of north-western Victoria were seriously affected by a disease characterized by blackening, dry rotting, and collapse of the affected leaves. The incidence of disease varied from about 10% up to practically complete destruction of some plantings. A yellow bacterium was consistently isolated from affected plants and proved to be pathogenic to lettuce. Laboratory studies have shown that the organism agrees closely with the recorded description of Xanthomonas vitians (Brown) Dowson, which has not, apparently, been previously studied in Australia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5615
Author(s):  
Łukasz Sobolewski ◽  
Wiesław Miczulski

Ensuring the best possible stability of UTC(k) (local time scale) and its compliance with the UTC scale (Universal Coordinated Time) forces predicting the [UTC-UTC(k)] deviations, the article presents the results of work on two methods of constructing time series (TS) for a neural network (NN), increasing the accuracy of UTC(k) prediction. In the first method, two prepared TSs are based on the deviations determined according to the UTC scale with a 5-day interval. In order to improve the accuracy of predicting the deviations, the PCHIP interpolating function is used in subsequent TSs, obtaining TS elements with a 1-day interval. A limitation in the improvement of prediction accuracy for these TS has been a too large prediction horizon. The introduction in 2012 of the additional UTC Rapid scale by BIPM makes it possible to shorten the prediction horizon, and the building of two TSs has been proposed according to the second method. Each of them consists of two subsets. The first subset is based on deviations determined according to the UTC scale, the second on the UTC Rapid scale. The research of the proposed TS in the field of predicting deviations for the Polish Timescale by means of GMDH-type NN shows that the best accuracy of predicting the deviations has been achieved for TS built according to the second method.


2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 576-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Monzo ◽  
J.A. Qureshi ◽  
P.A. Stansly

AbstractThe Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama is considered a key citrus pest due to its role as vector of ‘huanglongbing’ (HLB) or citrus greening, probably the most economically damaging disease of citrus. Insecticidal control of the vector is still considered a cornerstone of HLB management to prevent infection and to reduce reinoculation of infected trees. The severity of HLB has driven implementation of intensive insecticide programs against ACP with unknown side effects on beneficial arthropod fauna in citrus agroecosystems. We evaluated effects of calendar sprays directed against this pest on natural enemy assemblages and used exclusion to estimate mortality they imposed on ACP populations in citrus groves. Predator exclusion techniques were used on nascent colonies of D. citri in replicated large untreated and sprayed plots of citrus during the four major flushing periods over 2 years. Population of spiders, arboreal ants and ladybeetles were independently assessed. Monthly sprays of recommended insecticides for control of ACP, adversely affected natural enemy populations resulting in reduced predation on ACP immature stages, especially during the critical late winter/early spring flush. Consequently, projected growth rates of the ACP population were greatest where natural enemies had been adversely affected by insecticides. Whereas, this result does not obviate the need for insecticidal control of ACP, it does indicate that even a selective regimen of sprays can impose as yet undetermined costs in terms of reduced biological control of this and probably other citrus pests.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Monnier ◽  
Michel Thibaudon ◽  
Jean-Pierre Besancenot ◽  
Charlotte Sindt ◽  
Gilles Oliver

&lt;p&gt;Knowledge:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rising CO2 levels and climate change may be resulting in some shift in the geographical range of certain plant species, as well as in increased rate of photosynthesis. Many plants respond accordingly with increased growth and reproduction and possibly greater pollen yields, that could affect allergic diseases among other things.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The aim of this study is the evolution of aerobiological measurements in France for 25-30 years. This allows to follow the main phenological parameters in connection with the pollination and the ensuing allergy risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Material and method:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The RNSA (French Aerobiology Network) has pollen background-traps located in more than 60 towns throughout France. These traps are volumetric Hirst models making it possible to obtain impacted strips for microscopic analysis by trained operators. The main taxa studied here are birch, grasses and ragweed for a long period of more than 25 years over some cities of France.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Results:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Concerning birch but also other catkins or buds&amp;#8217; trees pollinating in late winter or spring, it can be seen an overall advance of the pollen season start date until 2004 and then a progressive delay, the current date being nearly the same as it was 20 years ago, and an increasing trend in the quantities of pollen emitted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For grasses and ragweed, we only found a few minor changes in the start date but a longer duration of the pollen season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Discussion:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As regards the trees, the start date of the new production of catkins or buds is never the 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; of January but depends on the species. For example, it is early July for birch. For breaking dormancy, flowering, and pollinating, the trees and other perennial species need a period of accumulation of cold degrees (Chilling) and later an accumulation of warm degrees (Forcing). With climate change these periods may be shorter or longer depending of the autumn and winter temperature. Therefore, a change in the annual temperature may have a direct effect on the vegetal physiology and hence on pollen release. It may also explain why the quantities of pollen produced are increasing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Poaceae reserve, from one place to another and without any spatial structuring, very contrasted patterns which make it impossible to identify a general tendency. This is probably due to the great diversity of taxa grouped under the generic term Poaceae, which are clearly not equally sensitive to climate change.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trees with allergenic pollen blowing late winter or early spring pollinate since 2004 later and produce amounts of pollen constantly increasing. Grasses and ragweed have longer periods of pollination with either slightly higher or most often lower pollen production.&lt;/p&gt;


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junyuan Fei ◽  
Jintao Liu

&lt;p&gt;Highly intermittent rivers are widespread on the Tibetan Plateau and deeply impact the ecological stability and social development downstream. Due to the highly intermittent rivers are small, seasonal variated and heavy cloud covered on the Tibetan Plateau, their distribution location is still unknown at catchment scale currently. To address these challenges, a new method is proposed for extracting the cumulative distribution location of highly intermittent river from Sentinel-1 time series in an alpine catchment on the Tibetan Plateau. The proposed method first determines the proper time scale of extracting highly intermittent river, based on which the statistical features are calculated to amplify the difference between land covers. Subsequently, the synoptic cumulative distribution location is extracted through Random Forest model using the statistical features above as explanatory variables. And the precise result is generated by combining the synoptic result with critical flow accumulation area. &amp;#160;The highly intermittent river segments are derived and assessed in an alpine catchment of Lhasa River Basin. The results show that the the intra-annual time scale is sufficient for highly intermittent river extraction. And the proposed method can extract highly intermittent river cumulative distribution locations with total precision of 0.62, distance error median of 64.03 m, outperforming other existing river extraction method.&lt;/p&gt;


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