WRF‐TEB: implementation and evaluation of the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Town Energy Balance (TEB) model

Urban land surface processes need to be represented to inform future urban‐climate and building‐energy projections. Here, the single layer urban canopy model Town Energy Balance (TEB) is coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to create WRF‐TEB. The coupling method is described generically, implemented into software, and the issue of scientific reproducibility is addressed by releasing all code and data with a Singularity image. The coupling is implemented modularly and verified by an integration test. Results show no detectable errors in the coupling. Separately, a meteorological evaluation is undertaken using observations from Toulouse, France. The latter evaluation, during an urban canopy layer heat island episode, shows reasonable ability to estimate turbulent heat flux densities and other meteorological quantities. We conclude that new model couplings should make use of integration tests as meteorological evaluations by themselves are insufficient, given that errors are difficult to attribute because of the interplay between observational errors and multiple parameterization schemes (e.g. radiation, microphysics, boundary layer)

Evaluación de la dinámica temporal de la materia orgánica en la cuenca de klyazma utilizando monitoreo remoto y qgis trends.earth

El artículo está dedicado al estudio de la dinámica de los procesos biológicos en los paisajes en los limites de la zona de captación. Se eligió como zona modelo la cuenca del río Klyazma (que esta entrando con un afluente de cuarto orden a la cuenca del Volga), que es una combinación bastante compleja de diferentes paisajes. El estudio se basó en datos de teledetección. Se eligieron como parámetros los indicadores de fito-productividad y de carbono del suelo. Se estableció que en los distintos paisajes los procesos biológicos difieren tanto en velocidad como en intensidad y responden de forma ambigua a los cambios en los parámetros climáticos y al cambio en el uso del suelo. Sin embargo, en general, la cuenca hidrográfica, como ecosistema único, mostró suficiente estabilidad en los procesos dinámicos. Esto indica que los ecosistemas naturales holísticos tienen internas propiedades compensatoria

Costs of Water Risks – Case of a Peruvian Agricultural Company

Water risk assessment is becoming an essential part of any decision-making process in the business sector. In the world where freshwater resources are becoming scarcer, water risks are growing and causing high costs to businesses. Therefore, numerous frameworks, guidelines, methodologies, tools, and other approaches were developed during the last century. Various scholars have appeared to give an economic value or price for environment goods in order to understand trade-offs better. Nowadays, the corporate world tends to use different approaches to convert sustainability management data to the financial language of decision-makers. This study explores the possible ways for a company to measure the costs of water related risks. It examines how to convert water risks to financial risks using a Peruvian agricultural company. The results show, that from all today’s available frameworks, guidelines or tools there is no one commonly accepted and recognised as the best for water risk assessment and monetising. It was learned, that available tools could provide just a simple overview of possible water related risks and calculate their costs in a very general way. The work also highlights the importance of regular and appropriate data collection on the company level in order to be able to assess water risk related costs for the business

Orographic Precipitation Extremes: An Application of LUME (Linear Upslope Model Extension) over the Alps and Apennines in Italy

Critical hydrometeorological events are generally triggered by heavy precipitation. In complex terrain, precipitation may be perturbed by the upslope raising of the incoming humid airflow, causing in some cases extreme rainfall. In this work, the application of LUME-Linear Upslope Model Extension-to a group of extreme events that occurred across mountainous areas of the Central Alps and Apennines in Italy is presented. Based on the previous version, the model has been "extended" in some aspects, proposing a methodology for physically estimating the time-delay coefficients as a function of precipitation efficiency. The outcomes of LUME are encouraging for the cases studied, revealing the intensification of precipitation due to the orographic effect. A comparison between the reference rain gauge data and the results of the simulations showed good agreement. Since extreme precipitation is expected to increase due to climate change, especially across the Mediterranean region, LUME represents an effective tool to investigate more closely how these extreme phenomena originate and evolve in mountainous areas that are subject to potential hydrometeorological risks

Modelado off-line da calidade do aire a escalas rexional e continental

A contaminación atmosférica, en tódalas súas dimensións, é un dos principais problemas a enfrontar na actualidade, en especial en zonas de alta densidade de poboación. O alto número de substancias implicadas e o dinamismo do sistema atmosférico fan que do estudio dos episodios de contaminación unha tarefa de gran complexidade. Máis aló, a atmosfera é un medio propicio para o desenvolvemento de reaccións químicas que poden xerar novos contaminantes a partir dos xa emitidos. Un dos procesos máis representativos é o que da lugar á aparición de ozono troposférico, unha substancia altamente oxidante con gran capacidade para afectar a persoas, animais, plantas e obxectos. Ademais, no medio propicio para a súa formación adoita haber unha mistura de substancias nocivas denominada smog fotoquímico. O interese en coñecer as causas destes episodios de alta concentración de contaminante, que axude a predicir ocorrencias futuras, levou ao estudo e desenvolvemento dos modelos atmosféricos. Neste senso, os primeiros traballos enfocáronse na predición meteorolóxica, modelando os procesos físicos que se producen na atmosfera para obter así un coñecemento exhaustivo da formación e evolución dos fenómenos meteorolóxicos. Aínda que o desenvolvemento destes modelos non estivo carente de dificultades, na actualidade son coñecidos os límites do seu funcionamento, o que achanza o camiño da investigación na busca de melloras