PALM-USM v1.0: A new urban surface model integrated into the PALM large-eddy simulation model

Urban areas are an important part of the climate system and many aspects of urban climate have direct effects on human health and living conditions. This implies that reliable tools for local urban climate studies supporting sustainable urban planning are needed. However, a realistic implementation of urban canopy processes still poses a serious challenge for weather and climate modelling for the current generation of numerical models. To address this demand, a new urban surface model (USM), describing the surface energy processes for urban environments, was developed and integrated as a module into the PALM large-eddy simulation model. The development of the presented first version of the USM originated from modelling the urban heat island during summer heat wave episodes and thus implements primarily processes important in such conditions. The USM contains a multi-reflection radiation model for shortwave and longwave radiation with an integrated model of absorption of radiation by resolved plant canopy (i.e. trees, shrubs). Furthermore, it consists of an energy balance solver for horizontal and vertical impervious surfaces, and thermal diffusion in ground, wall, and roof materials, and it includes a simple model for the consideration of anthropogenic heat sources. The USM was parallelized using the standard Message Passing Interface and performance testing demonstrates that the computational costs of the USM are reasonable on typical clusters for the tested configurations. The module was fully integrated into PALM and is available via its online repository under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The USM was tested on a summer heat-wave episode for a selected Prague crossroads. The general representation of the urban boundary layer and patterns of surface temperatures of various surface types (walls, pavement) are in good agreement with in situ observations made in Prague. Additional simulations were performed in order to assess the sensitivity of the results to uncertainties in the material parameters, the domain size, and the general effect of the USM itself. The first version of the USM is limited to the processes most relevant to the study of summer heat waves and serves as a basis for ongoing development which will address additional processes of the urban environment and lead to improvements to extend the utilization of the USM to other environments and conditions

Sensitivity analysis of the PALM model system 6.0 in the urban environment

Sensitivity of the PALM model 6.0 with respect to land-surface and building properties is tested in a real urban environment in the vicinity of a typical crossroads in a densely built-up residential area in Prague, Czech Republic. The turbulence-resolving PALM is able to simulate the urban boundary layer flow for realistic setups. Besides an accurate representation of the relevant physical processes, the model performance also depends on the input data describing the urban setup, namely the building and land-surface properties. Two types of scenario are employed. The first one is the synthetic scenarios altering mainly surface and material parameters such as albedo, emissivity or wall conductivity, testing sensitivity of the model simulations to potentially erroneous input data. Second, urbanistic-type scenarios are analysed, in which commonly considered urban heat island mitigation measures such as greening of the streets or changing surface materials are applied in order to assess the limits of the effects of a particular type of scenario. For the synthetic scenarios, surface parameters used in radiation balance equations are found to be the most sensitive overall followed by the volumetric heat capacity and thermal conductivity of walls. Other parameters show a limited average effect; however, some can still be significant during some parts of the day, such as surface roughness in the morning hours. The second type, the urbanistic scenarios, shows urban vegetation to be the most effective measure, especially when considering both physical and biophysical temperature indicators. The influence of both types of scenario was also tested for air quality, specifically PM2.5 dispersion, which generally shows opposite behaviour to that of thermal indicators; i.e. improved thermal comfort brings deterioration of PM2.5 concentrations. © 2021 Michal Belda et al

Termální konvekce v pláštích terestrických těles

V této práci prezentujeme výsledky numerických modelů termálního vývoje Země a terestrických planet. Zaměřili jsme se zejména na dva problémy: I) studi- um vnitřní struktury Venuše a Merkuru s využitím měřených dat - geoidu a povrchové topografie, a II) vliv post-perovskitu na chladnutí Země. V části I jsme provedli simulace tečení v plášti Venuše v modelech s různým reolog- ickým popisem. Modelová spektra geoidu a topografie jsme porovnali se spek- try měřených dat. Nejlepší shodu s daty dostáváme pro model s radiálním profilem viskozity charakterizovaným 200 km silnou litosférou, bez astenosféry a s nárustem viskozity ve spodním plášti. Naopak, žádný z našich modelů Merku- ru nevystihoval pozorovaná data. To naznačuje, že geoid a topografie na Meruku- ru mají jiný než dynamický původ. V části II jsme se zabývali otázkou, jak přítomnost nízkoviskozního post-perovskitu ovlivní konvekci a chladnutí Země. Ukázali jsme, že přítomnost post-perovskitu výrazně zvýší efektivitu chladnutí jádra. Oproti tomu zahrnutí hloubkově závislých materiálových parametrů (tep- lotní roztažnost a vodivost) chladnutí zpomaluje. 1In this thesis, we present results of a numerical modelling study focused on the thermal evolution of the Earth and terrestrial planets. We focus particularly on two problems: I) constraining the internal structure of Venus and Mercury using their geoid and surface topography data and II) evaluating the effects of a rhe- ologically distinct post-perovskite on the secular cooling of the Earth. In part I, we performed simulations in a broad group of models of the Venusian man- tle, characterised by different rheological descriptions, and we compared spectra of their geoid and their surface topography with the observed quantities. Our analysis suggested that the geoid and the surface topography of Venus are con- sistent with a radially symmetric viscosity model with a strong 200 km thick lithosphere, without an asthenosphere and with a gradual viscosity increase in the underlying mantle. In the case of Mercury, none of our models was able to predict observed data, thus suggesting other than a dynamic origin of observed geoid and topography. In part II, we investigated style of Earth's mantle con- vection and its long-term evolution in the models that take into account a weak post-perovskite. We conclude that the presence of the weak post-perovskite en- hances the core cooling. This effect is comparable in...Katedra geofyzikyDepartment of GeophysicsFaculty of Mathematics and PhysicsMatematicko-fyzikální fakult

Thermal Convection in Terrestrial Planetary Mantles

In this thesis, we present results of a numerical modelling study focused on the thermal evolution of the Earth and terrestrial planets. We focus particularly on two problems: I) constraining the internal structure of Venus and Mercury using their geoid and surface topography data and II) evaluating the effects of a rhe- ologically distinct post-perovskite on the secular cooling of the Earth. In part I, we performed simulations in a broad group of models of the Venusian man- tle, characterised by different rheological descriptions, and we compared spectra of their geoid and their surface topography with the observed quantities. Our analysis suggested that the geoid and the surface topography of Venus are con- sistent with a radially symmetric viscosity model with a strong 200 km thick lithosphere, without an asthenosphere and with a gradual viscosity increase in the underlying mantle. In the case of Mercury, none of our models was able to predict observed data, thus suggesting other than a dynamic origin of observed geoid and topography. In part II, we investigated style of Earth's mantle con- vection and its long-term evolution in the models that take into account a weak post-perovskite. We conclude that the presence of the weak post-perovskite en- hances the core cooling. This effect is comparable in..

Termální konvekce v pláštích terestrických těles

V této práci prezentujeme výsledky numerických modelů termálního vývoje Země a terestrických planet. Zaměřili jsme se zejména na dva problémy: I) studi- um vnitřní struktury Venuše a Merkuru s využitím měřených dat - geoidu a povrchové topografie, a II) vliv post-perovskitu na chladnutí Země. V části I jsme provedli simulace tečení v plášti Venuše v modelech s různým reolog- ickým popisem. Modelová spektra geoidu a topografie jsme porovnali se spek- try měřených dat. Nejlepší shodu s daty dostáváme pro model s radiálním profilem viskozity charakterizovaným 200 km silnou litosférou, bez astenosféry a s nárustem viskozity ve spodním plášti. Naopak, žádný z našich modelů Merku- ru nevystihoval pozorovaná data. To naznačuje, že geoid a topografie na Meruku- ru mají jiný než dynamický původ. V části II jsme se zabývali otázkou, jak přítomnost nízkoviskozního post-perovskitu ovlivní konvekci a chladnutí Země. Ukázali jsme, že přítomnost post-perovskitu výrazně zvýší efektivitu chladnutí jádra. Oproti tomu zahrnutí hloubkově závislých materiálových parametrů (tep- lotní roztažnost a vodivost) chladnutí zpomaluje. 1In this thesis, we present results of a numerical modelling study focused on the thermal evolution of the Earth and terrestrial planets. We focus particularly on two problems: I) constraining the internal structure of Venus and Mercury using their geoid and surface topography data and II) evaluating the effects of a rhe- ologically distinct post-perovskite on the secular cooling of the Earth. In part I, we performed simulations in a broad group of models of the Venusian man- tle, characterised by different rheological descriptions, and we compared spectra of their geoid and their surface topography with the observed quantities. Our analysis suggested that the geoid and the surface topography of Venus are con- sistent with a radially symmetric viscosity model with a strong 200 km thick lithosphere, without an asthenosphere and with a gradual viscosity increase in the underlying mantle. In the case of Mercury, none of our models was able to predict observed data, thus suggesting other than a dynamic origin of observed geoid and topography. In part II, we investigated style of Earth's mantle con- vection and its long-term evolution in the models that take into account a weak post-perovskite. We conclude that the presence of the weak post-perovskite en- hances the core cooling. This effect is comparable in...Department of GeophysicsKatedra geofyzikyFaculty of Mathematics and PhysicsMatematicko-fyzikální fakult

Thermal convection in the Earth mantle

Katedra geofyzikyDepartment of GeophysicsFaculty of Mathematics and PhysicsMatematicko-fyzikální fakult

Thermal Convection in Terrestrial Planetary Mantles

In this thesis, we present results of a numerical modelling study focused on the thermal evolution of the Earth and terrestrial planets. We focus particularly on two problems: I) constraining the internal structure of Venus and Mercury using their geoid and surface topography data and II) evaluating the effects of a rhe- ologically distinct post-perovskite on the secular cooling of the Earth. In part I, we performed simulations in a broad group of models of the Venusian man- tle, characterised by different rheological descriptions, and we compared spectra of their geoid and their surface topography with the observed quantities. Our analysis suggested that the geoid and the surface topography of Venus are con- sistent with a radially symmetric viscosity model with a strong 200 km thick lithosphere, without an asthenosphere and with a gradual viscosity increase in the underlying mantle. In the case of Mercury, none of our models was able to predict observed data, thus suggesting other than a dynamic origin of observed geoid and topography. In part II, we investigated style of Earth's mantle con- vection and its long-term evolution in the models that take into account a weak post-perovskite. We conclude that the presence of the weak post-perovskite en- hances the core cooling. This effect is comparable in..

Neurotropic and antioxidative activity of some selected species of monocotyledonous alkaloidal plants in vitro. II.

Benešová N.: Neurotropic and antioxidative activity in vitro of monocotyledonous alkaloidal plants II. Diploma thesis, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Departement of Pharmaceutical Botany and Ecology, Hradec Králové 2012, 72 p. The aim of this diploma thesis was to analyse alkaloidal extracts of six selected plants from Amaryllidaceae family (Nerine filifolia, Nerine undulata, Nerine filamentosa, Scadoxus multiflorus, Sprekelia formosissima, Sternbergia lutea) and test their biological activity to human cholinesterases (HuAChE, HuBuChE) using Ellman's method and antioxidative activity measured by DPPH test. Thanks to GC/MS analysis was identified a huge range of alkaloids of Amaryllidaceae family that belongs to various structural types. Some of them have not been determined yet due to unavailability of their spectras in commercial libraries and literature. The best inhibitory activity against human blood acetylcholinesterase was described in alkaloidal extracts of Nerine undulata (IC50 14,30 ± 1,20 µg/ml) and Nerine filifolia (IC50 18,54 ± 0,79 µg/ml) and against human plasma butyrylcholinesterase in extracts of Sternbergia lutea (IC50 3,07 ± 0,05 µM) and Nerine filamentosa (IC50 13,00 ± 0,71 µg/ml). Antioxidative activity of alkaloidal extracts from the bulbs..