Till We Have Faces: A Restoration of Perspective on the Condition of Man

Man’s relationship to a Divine Being is one of the persisting concerns of literature, with modern leanings contending that God does not exist or does not involve himself with man. C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces concerns itself with this approach to God, proposing that it might not be God who is the problem but man’s perception of him. Presented at the 1997 Frances White Ewbank Colloquium

A Simulated Spectrum of Convectively Generated Gravity Waves: Propagation from the Tropopause to the Mesopause and Effects on the Middle Atmosphere

This work evaluates the interaction of a simulated spectrum of convectively generated gravity waves with realistic middle atmosphere mean winds. The wave spectrum is derived from the nonlinear convection model described by Alexander et al. that simulated a two-dimensional midlatitude squall line. This spectrum becomes input to a linear ray tracing model for evaluation of wave propagation as a function of height through climatological background wind and buoyancy frequency profiles. The energy defined by the spectrum as a function of wavenumber and frequency is distributed spatially and temporally into wave packets for the purpose of estimating wave amplitudes at the lower boundary of the ray tracing model. A wavelet analysis provides an estimate of these wave packet widths in space and time. Without this redistribution of energies into wave packets the Fourier analysis alone inaccurately assumes the energy is evenly distributed throughout the storm model domain. The growth with height of wave amplitudes is derived from wave action flux conservation coupled to a convective instability saturation condition. Mean flow accelerations and wave energy dissipation profiles are derived from this analysis and compared to parameterized estimates of gravity wave forcing, providing a measure of the importance of the storm source to global gravity wave forcing. The results suggest that a single large convective storm system like the simulated squall line could provide a significant fraction of the zonal mean gravity wave forcing at some levels, particularly in the mesosphere. The vertical distributions of mean flow acceleration and energy dissipation do not much resemble the parameterized profiles in form because of the peculiarities of the spectral properties of the waves from the storm source. The ray tracing model developed herein provides a tool for examining the role of convectively generated waves in middle atmosphere physics

Extratropical signature of the quasi-biennial oscillation

Using the assimilated data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis, we show that the extratropical signature of the tropical quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is seen mostly in the North Annular Mode (NAM) of atmospheric variability. To understand the extratropical manifestation of the QBO, we discuss two effects that have been suggested earlier: (1) The extratropical circulation is driven by the QBO modulation of the planetary wave flux, and (2) the extratropical circulation is driven by the QBO-induced meridional circulation. We found that the first effect is seen in wave 1 in the beginning of winter and in wave 2 in the end of winter. The QBO-induced circulation affects midlatitude regions over the entire winter. To investigate the QBO-NAM coupling, we use an equation that relates the stream function of the meridional circulation and the polar cap averaged temperature, which is a proxy for the NAM index. In addition to the annual Ω_a and the QBO frequency Ω_Q the spectrum of its solutions indicates the satellite frequencies at Ω_a ± Ω_Q

Climate Stability and the Origin of Agriculture

Although modern man had developed long before the migration from Africa began ∼ 55,000 years ago, no agricultural societies developed until about ∼ 10,000 years ago. But in the next 5000 years, agricultures developed in several unrelated regions of the world. It was not a chance occurrence that new agricultures independently appeared in the same 5000 years. The question is what inhibited agriculture worldwide for 44,000 years and what changed ∼ 10,000 years ago? We suggest that a major factor influencing the development of agricultural societies was climate stability. From the experience of several independent cultures, we estimate that the development of agriculture needed about 2000 years of climate free from significant climate variations on time scales of a few centuries

A Simulated Spectrum of Convectively Generated Gravity Waves: Propagation from the Tropopause to the Mesopause and Effects on the Middle Atmosphere

This work evaluates the interaction of a simulated spectrum of convectively generated gravity waves with realistic middle atmosphere mean winds. The wave spectrum is derived from the nonlinear convection model described by Alexander et al. [1995] that simulated a two-dimensional midlatitude squall line. This spectrum becomes input to a linear ray tracing model for evaluation of wave propagation as a function of height through climatological background wind and buoyancy frequency profiles. The energy defined by the spectrum as a function of wavenumber and frequency is distributed spatially and temporally into wave packets for the purpose of estimating wave amplitudes at the lower boundary of the ray tracing model. A wavelet analysis provides an estimate of these wave packet widths in space and time. Without this redistribution of energies into wave packets the Fourier analysis alone inaccurately assumes the energy is evenly distributed throughout the storm model domain. The growth with height of wave amplitudes is derived from wave action flux conservation coupled to a convective instability saturation condition. Mean flow accelerations and wave energy dissipation profiles are derived from this analysis and compared to parameterized estimates of gravity wave forcing, providing a measure of the importance of the storm source to global gravity wave forcing. The results suggest that a single large convective storm system like the simulated squall line could provide a significant fraction of the zonal mean gravity wave forcing at some levels, particularly in the mesosphere. The vertical distributions of mean flow acceleration and energy dissipation do not much resemble the parameterized profiles in form because of the peculiarities of the spectral properties of the waves from the storm source. The ray tracing model developed herein provides a tool for examining the role of convectively generated waves in middle atmosphere physics

Architectural Constraints on the Bootstrapping of a Personal Health Record

During the last decade we have seen a proliferation of electronic personal health record systems (PHRs) aiming to change the way people manage and receive healthcare. However, many of these initiatives have failed to take-off. We inquire into such unsatisfactory outcomes by drawing upon the perspective proposed in the information infrastructure (II) literature. This literature views the value of PHRs as dependent on the number of actors using them. This poses a challenge for designers (referred to as ‘bootstrapping’): how to persuade users to adopt a PHR when the user base is still small. To address the bootstrap- ping challenge, II literature suggests starting with a simple solution that creates immediate user value and enables users to enroll gradually. This paper seeks to explore how PHR architecture can hinder PHR bootstrapping through a longitudinal case study on the implementation of an integrated PHR. Our case analysis identifies four architectural constraints: poor data quality; coordination across heterogeneity; privacy and control; and re-configurability. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for the literature on personal and electronic health records and on the design of information infrastructures

Bordoni Receives 2009 James R. Holton Junior Scientist Award

Simona Bordoni received the 2009 James R. Holton Junior Scientist Award at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, held 14–18 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award recognizes outstanding research contributions by a junior atmospheric scientist within 3 years of his or her Ph.D