116,864 research outputs found
The GFZ GRACE RL06 Monthly Gravity Field Time Series: Processing Details and Quality Assessment
Time-variable gravity field models derived from observations of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission, whose science operations phase ended in June 2017 after more than 15 years, enabled a multitude of studies of Earthâs surface mass transport processes and climate change. The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), routinely processing such monthly gravity fields as part of the GRACE Science Data System, has reprocessed the complete GRACE mission and released an improved GFZ GRACE RL06 monthly gravity field time series. This study provides an insight into the processing strategy of GFZ RL06 which has been considerably changed with respect to previous GFZ GRACE releases, and modifications relative to the precursor GFZ RL05a are described. The quality of the RL06 gravity field models is analyzed and discussed both in the spectral and spatial domain in comparison to the RL05a time series. All results indicate significant improvements of about 40% in terms of reduced noise. It is also shown that the GFZ RL06 time series is a step forward in terms of consistency, and that errors of the gravity field coefficients are more realistic. These findings are confirmed as well by independent validation of the monthly GRACE models, as done in this work by means of ocean bottom pressure in situ observations and orbit tests with the GOCE satellite. Thus, the GFZ GRACE RL06 time series allows for a better quantification of mass changes in the Earth system.DFG, FOR 2736, New Refined Observations of Climate Change from Spaceborne Gravity Missions (NEROGRAV)BMBF, 03F0654A, GRACE-FO - Projektmanagement, Aufbau eines wissenschaftlichen Auswertesystems und Aufbau eines GRACE-FO ProjektbĂŒro
Arctic air pollution: Challenges and opportunities for the next decade
The Arctic is a sentinel of global change. This region is influenced by multiple physical and socio-economic drivers and feedbacks, impacting both the natural and human environment. Air pollution is one such driver that impacts Arctic climate change, ecosystems and health but significant uncertainties still surround quantification of these effects. Arctic air pollution includes harmful trace gases (e.g. tropospheric ozone) and particles (e.g. black carbon, sulphate) and toxic substances (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) that can be transported to the Arctic from emission sources located far outside the region, or emitted within the Arctic from activities including shipping, power production, and other industrial activities. This paper qualitatively summarizes the complex science issues motivating the creation of a new international initiative, PACES (air Pollution in the Arctic: Climate, Environment and Societies). Approaches for coordinated, international and interdisciplinary research on this topic are described with the goal to improve predictive capability via new understanding about sources, processes, feedbacks and impacts of Arctic air pollution. Overarching research actions are outlined, in which we describe our recommendations for 1) the development of trans-disciplinary approaches combining social and economic research with investigation of the chemical and physical aspects of Arctic air pollution; 2) increasing the quality and quantity of observations in the Arctic using long-term monitoring and intensive field studies, both at the surface and throughout the troposphere; and 3) developing improved predictive capability across a range of spatial and temporal scales
Towards Exascale Scientific Metadata Management
Advances in technology and computing hardware are enabling scientists from
all areas of science to produce massive amounts of data using large-scale
simulations or observational facilities. In this era of data deluge, effective
coordination between the data production and the analysis phases hinges on the
availability of metadata that describe the scientific datasets. Existing
workflow engines have been capturing a limited form of metadata to provide
provenance information about the identity and lineage of the data. However,
much of the data produced by simulations, experiments, and analyses still need
to be annotated manually in an ad hoc manner by domain scientists. Systematic
and transparent acquisition of rich metadata becomes a crucial prerequisite to
sustain and accelerate the pace of scientific innovation. Yet, ubiquitous and
domain-agnostic metadata management infrastructure that can meet the demands of
extreme-scale science is notable by its absence.
To address this gap in scientific data management research and practice, we
present our vision for an integrated approach that (1) automatically captures
and manipulates information-rich metadata while the data is being produced or
analyzed and (2) stores metadata within each dataset to permeate
metadata-oblivious processes and to query metadata through established and
standardized data access interfaces. We motivate the need for the proposed
integrated approach using applications from plasma physics, climate modeling
and neuroscience, and then discuss research challenges and possible solutions
No Consistent Evidence for Advancing or Delaying Trends in Spring Phenology on the Tibetan Plateau
Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator of climate change and has significant effects on the exchange of carbon, water, and energy between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere. The Tibetan Plateau, the Earth\u27s âthird pole,â is a unique region for studying the longâterm trends in vegetation phenology in response to climate change because of the sensitivity of its alpine ecosystems to climate and its lowâlevel human disturbance. There has been a debate whether the trends in spring phenology over the Tibetan Plateau have been continuously advancing over the last two to three decades. In this study, we examine the trends in the start of growing season (SOS) for alpine meadow and steppe using the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS)3g normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data set (1982â2014), the GIMMS NDVI data set (1982â2006), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI data set (2001â2014), the Satellite Pour l\u27Observation de la Terre Vegetation (SPOTâVEG) NDVI data set (1999â2013), and the Seaâviewing Wide FieldâofâView Sensor (SeaWiFS) NDVI data set (1998â2007). Both logistic and polynomial fitting methods are used to retrieve the SOS dates from the NDVI data sets. Our results show that the trends in spring phenology over the Tibetan Plateau depend on both the NDVI data set used and the method for retrieving the SOS date. There are large discrepancies in the SOS trends among the different NDVI data sets and between the two different retrieval methods. There is no consistent evidence that spring phenology (âgreenâupâ dates) has been advancing or delaying over the Tibetan Plateau during the last two to three decades. Groundâbased budburst data also indicate no consistent trends in spring phenology. The responses of SOS to environmental factors (air temperature, precipitation, soil temperature, and snow depth) also vary among NDVI data sets and phenology retrieval methods. The increases in winter and spring temperature had offsetting effects on spring phenology
Scientific Objectives, Measurement Needs, and Challenges Motivating the PARAGON Aerosol Initiative
Aerosols are involved in a complex set of processes that operate across many spatial and temporal scales. Understanding these processes, and ensuring their accurate representation in models of transport, radiation transfer, and climate, requires knowledge of aerosol physical, chemical, and optical properties and the distributions of these properties in space and time. To derive aerosol climate forcing, aerosol optical and microphysical properties and their spatial and temporal distributions, and aerosol interactions with clouds, need to be understood. Such data are also required in conjunction with size-resolved chemical composition in order to evaluate chemical transport models and to distinguish natural and anthropogenic forcing. Other basic parameters needed for modeling the radiative influences of aerosols are surface reflectivity and three-dimensional cloud fields. This large suite of parameters mandates an integrated observing and modeling system of commensurate scope. The Progressive Aerosol Retrieval and Assimilation Global Observing Network (PARAGON) concept, designed to meet this requirement, is motivated by the need to understand climate system sensitivity to changes in atmospheric constituents, to reduce climate model uncertainties, and to analyze diverse collections of data pertaining to aerosols. This paper highlights several challenges resulting from the complexity of the problem. Approaches for dealing with them are offered in the set of companion papers
In situ measurements of tropospheric volcanic plumes in Ecuador and Colombia during TC^4
A NASA DC-8 research aircraft penetrated tropospheric gas and aerosol plumes sourced from active volcanoes in Ecuador and Colombia during the Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC^4) mission in JulyâAugust 2007. The likely source volcanoes were Tungurahua (Ecuador) and Nevado del Huila (Colombia). The TC^4 data provide rare insight into the chemistry of volcanic plumes in the tropical troposphere and permit a comparison of SO_2 column amounts measured by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite with in situ SO_2 measurements. Elevated concentrations of SO_2, sulfate aerosol, and particles were measured by DC-8 instrumentation in volcanic outflow at altitudes of 3â6 km. Estimated plume ages range from ~2 h at Huila to ~22â48 h downwind of Ecuador. The plumes contained sulfate-rich accumulation mode particles that were variably neutralized and often highly acidic. A significant fraction of supermicron volcanic ash was evident in one plume. In-plume O_3 concentrations were ~70%â80% of ambient levels downwind of Ecuador, but data are insufficient to ascribe this to O_3 depletion via reactive halogen chemistry. The TC^4 data record rapid cloud processing of the Huila volcanic plume involving aqueous-phase oxidation of SO_2 by H_2O_2, but overall the data suggest average in-plume SO_2 to sulfate conversion rates of ~1%â2% h^(â1). SO_2 column amounts measured in the Tungurahua plume (~0.1â0.2 Dobson units) are commensurate with average SO_2 columns retrieved from OMI measurements in the volcanic outflow region in July 2007. The TC^4 data set provides further evidence of the impact of volcanic emissions on tropospheric acidity and oxidizing capacity
Development of an empirical model for chlorophyll-a and Secchi Disk Depth estimation for a Pampean shallow lake (Argentina)
Shallow Pampean lakes are located in the most productive plain of Argentina. They are highly variable in salinity, turbidity and surface area. Laguna ChascomĂșs has been monitored as a representative example of them. We developed a linear model based on satellite images validated against field measurements (2001â2011 period). A vegetation index and Landsat Surface Reflectance (Band 4) produced the best correlations with chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and Secchi Disk Depth (SDD), respectively. In a second instance, a retrospective analysis (1986â2013) was performed. As a result, significant positive trends were observed for SDD and Chl-a. In addition, both variables displayed trends related to rainfall and site depth.Fil: Bohn, Vanesa Yael. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - BahĂa Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de GeografĂa y Turismo; ArgentinaFil: Carmona, Facundo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Rectorado. Instituto de HidrologĂa de Llanuras - Sede Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. GobernaciĂłn. ComisiĂłn de Investigaciones CientĂficas. Instituto de HidrologĂa de Llanuras - Sede Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Rivas, RaĂșl Eduardo. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Rectorado. Instituto de HidrologĂa de Llanuras - Sede Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. GobernaciĂłn. ComisiĂłn de Investigaciones CientĂficas. Instituto de HidrologĂa de Llanuras - Sede Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Lagomarsino, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas "Dr. RaĂșl AlfonsĂn" (sede ChascomĂșs). Universidad Nacional de San MartĂn. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas "Dr. RaĂșl AlfonsĂn" (sede ChascomĂșs); ArgentinaFil: Diovisalvi, Nadia Rosalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas "Dr. RaĂșl AlfonsĂn" (sede ChascomĂșs). Universidad Nacional de San MartĂn. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas "Dr. RaĂșl AlfonsĂn" (sede ChascomĂșs); ArgentinaFil: Zagarese, Horacio Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas "Dr. RaĂșl AlfonsĂn" (sede ChascomĂșs). Universidad Nacional de San MartĂn. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas "Dr. RaĂșl AlfonsĂn" (sede ChascomĂșs); Argentin
Recent La Plata basin drought conditions observed by satellite gravimetry
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) provides quantitative
measures of terrestrial water storage (TWS) change. GRACE data show a
significant decrease in TWS in the lower (southern) La Plata river basin of
South America over the period 2002-2009, consistent with recognized drought
conditions in the region. GRACE data reveal a detailed picture of temporal and
spatial evolution of this severe drought event, which suggests that the drought
began in lower La Plata in around austral spring 2008 and then spread to the
entire La Plata basin and peaked in austral fall 2009. During the peak, GRACE
data show an average TWS deficit of ~12 cm (equivalent water layer thickness)
below the 7 year mean, in a broad region in lower La Plata. GRACE measurements
are consistent with accumulated precipitation data from satellite remote
sensing and with vegetation index changes derived from Terra satellite
observations. The Global Land Data Assimilation System model captures the
drought event but underestimates its intensity. Limited available
groundwater-level data in southern La Plata show significant groundwater
depletion, which is likely associated with the drought in this region.
GRAC-observed TWS change and precipitation anomalies in the studied region
appear to closely correlate with the ENSO climate index, with dry and wet
seasons corresponding to La Ni\~na and El Ni\~no events, respectively
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