How organized is deep convection over Germany?

Deep moist convection shows a tendency to organize into mesoscale structures. To be able to understand the potential effect of convective organization on the climate, one needs first to characterize organization. In this study, we systematically characterize the organizational state of convection over Germany based on two years of cloud-top observations derived from the Meteosat Second Generation satellite and of precipitation cores detected by the German C-band radar network. The organizational state of convection is characterized by commonly employed organization indices, which are mostly based on the object numbers, sizes and nearest-neighbour distances. According to the organization index Iorg, cloud tops and precipitation cores are found to be in an organized state for 69% and 92% of the time, respectively. There is an increase in rainfall when the number of objects and their sizes increase, independently of the organizational state. Case-studies of specific days suggest that convectively organized states correspond to either local multi-cell clusters, with less numerous, larger objects close to each other, or to scattered clusters, with more numerous, smaller organized objects spread out over the domain. For those days, simulations are performed with the large-eddy model ICON with grid spacings of 625, 312 and 156?m. Although the model underestimates rainfall and shows a too large cold cloud coverage, the organizational state is reasonably well represented without significant differences between the grid spacings

IMPLAN MODELING APPLICATIONS IN STATE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Fertigung laminarer optischer Gitter am HZB

Laminare optische Gitter stellen höchste Anforderungen an die mikrosystemtechnische Fertigung der Mikro und Nano strukturen in Hinsicht auf Präzision und Homogenität. Im Rahmen des EU Projektes Aufbau eines Technologiezent rums für hocheffiziente optische Präzisionsgitter am Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin HZB EFRE Vertrag Nr. 20072013 2 43 [1,2] wurden die für die Herstellung von laminaren und geblazten Gittern notwendigen Anlagen in Betrieb ge nommen. Gleichzeitig wurde mit der Prozessentwicklung begonnen. In diesem Artikel werden die neuesten Prozessergebnisse von durch Laserinterferenzlithographie LIL in Photoresist erzeugter Gitterstrukturen und deren nur wenige Nanometer tiefe Übertragung in Siliziumsubstrate mittels Ionenstrahl ätzen vorgestellt. english version Laminar optical gratings impose highest demands on microsystem technological manufacturing with regard to precision and uniformity. Within the project Installation of a technology centre for highly efficient precision gratings at Helm holtz Zentrum Berlin HZB EFRE Vertrag Nr. 20072013 2 43 [1,2] the necessary systems for the manufacturing of laminar and blazed gratings were taken into operation and process development has started. In this article we present the results of grating structures manufactured with laser interference lithography and subse quent ion beam etchin

Advanced deep space communication systems study Final report

Deep space communication system requirements for period 1970 to 198

Tobac 1.2: Towards a flexible framework for tracking and analysis of clouds in diverse datasets

We introduce tobac (Tracking and Object-Based Analysis of Clouds), a newly developed framework for tracking and analysing individual clouds in different types of datasets, such as cloud-resolving model simulations and geostationary satellite retrievals. The software has been designed to be used flexibly with any two-or three-dimensional timevarying input. The application of high-level data formats, such as Iris cubes or xarray arrays, for input and output allows for convenient use of metadata in the tracking analysis and visualisation. Comprehensive analysis routines are provided to derive properties like cloud lifetimes or statistics of cloud properties along with tools to visualise the results in a convenient way. The application of tobac is presented in two examples. We first track and analyse scattered deep convective cells based on maximum vertical velocity and the threedimensional condensate mixing ratio field in cloud-resolving model simulations. We also investigate the performance of the tracking algorithm for different choices of time resolution of the model output. In the second application, we show how the framework can be used to effectively combine information from two different types of datasets by simultaneously tracking convective clouds in model simulations and in geostationary satellite images based on outgoing longwave radiation. The tobac framework provides a flexible new way to include the evolution of the characteristics of individual clouds in a range of important analyses like model intercomparison studies or model assessment based on observational data. © 2019 Author(s)

INTRASEASONAL VARIABILITY OF GUANO STAINS IN A REMOTELY SENSED PENGUIN COLONY USING UAV AND SATELLITE

Remote sensing of penguins gives a unique opportunity to observe ecosystem changes in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean at a continent-wide scale. The extent of guano is the best proxy to the size of penguin populations but frequent cloud cover limits the number of available images. This study focuses on the correlation between guano coverage visible in aerial and satellite images and breeding pair numbers in the course of the breeding seasons 2016/17 and 2017/18 in a colony of Pygocelid penguins on Ardley Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Multitemporal UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) orthomosaics and high-resolution satellite images were collected of Ardley Island as well as data on breeding phenology, weather conditions and snow coverage. “Fresh” guano stains were classified using different methods of Geographical Object-based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) and differentiated from weathered guano stains. Analysis of this data shows that guano stains in an Antarctic Pygoscelid penguin colony undergo significant intraseasonal changes in extent, texture and spectral signature. Hence, the timing of image acquisition and the advance of snow melt during Antarctic spring matter when determining penguin populations and should be considered during the analysis. Our results show changes of up to 25 % of the total guano covered surface due to individual weather events and changes up to 80 % in the time between the peak of egg laying and the occurrence of the first crèche

A Synthetic Glycan Microarray Enables Epitope Mapping of Plant Cell Wall Glycan-Directed Antibodies

In the last three decades, more than 200 monoclonal antibodies have been raised against most classes of plant cell wall polysaccharides by different laboratories worldwide. These antibodies are widely used to identify differences in plant cell wall components in mutants, organ and tissue types, and developmental stages. Despite their importance and broad use, the precise binding epitope has been determined for only a few of these antibodies. Here, we use a plant glycan microarray equipped with 88 synthetic oligosaccharides to comprehensively map the epitopes of plant cell wall glycan-directed antibodies. Our results reveal the binding epitopes for 78 arabinogalactan-, rhamnogalacturonan-, xylan-, and xyloglucan-directed antibodies. We demonstrate that, with knowledge of the exact epitopes recognized by individual antibodies, specific glycosyl hydrolases can be implemented into immunological cell wall analyses, providing a framework to obtain structural information on plant cell wall glycans with unprecedented molecular precision

Tree canopy extent and height change in Europe, 2001-2021, quantified using Landsat data archive

European forests are among the most extensively studied ecosystems in the world, yet there are still debates about their recent dynamics. We modeled the changes in tree canopy height across Europe from 2001 to 2021 using the multidecadal spectral data from the Landsat archive and calibration data from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and spaceborne Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidars. Annual tree canopy height was modeled using regression tree ensembles and integrated with annual tree canopy removal maps to produce harmonized tree height map time series. From these time series, we derived annual tree canopy extent maps using a >= 5 m tree height threshold. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) for both ALS-calibrated and GEDI-calibrated tree canopy height maps was = 94% for the tree canopy extent maps and >= 80% for the annual tree canopy removal maps. Analyzing the map time series, we found that the European tree canopy extent area increased by nearly 1% overall during the past two decades, with the largest increase observed in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and the British Isles. However, after the year 2016, the tree canopy extent in Europe declined. Some regions reduced their tree canopy extent between 2001 and 2021, with the highest reduction observed in Fennoscandia (3.5% net decrease). The continental extent of tall tree canopy forests (>= 15 m height) decreased by 3% from 2001 to 2021. The recent decline in tree canopy extent agrees with the FAO statistics on timber harvesting intensification and with the increasing extent and severity of natural disturbances. The observed decreasing tree canopy height indicates a reduction in forest carbon storage capacity in Europe

The impact of mineral dust on cloud formation during the Saharan dust event in April 2014 over Europe

A regional modeling study on the impact of desert dust on cloud formation is presented for a major Saharan dust outbreak over Europe from 2 to 5 April 2014. The dust event coincided with an extensive and dense cirrus cloud layer, suggesting an influence of dust on atmospheric ice nucleation. Using interactive simulation with the regional dust model COSMO-MUSCAT, we investigate cloud and precipitation representation in the model and test the sensitivity of cloud parameters to dust–cloud and dust–radiation interactions of the simulated dust plume. We evaluate model results with ground-based and spaceborne remote sensing measurements of aerosol and cloud properties, as well as the in situ measurements obtained during the ML-CIRRUS aircraft campaign. A run of the model with single-moment bulk microphysics without online dust feedback considerably underestimated cirrus cloud cover over Germany in the comparison with infrared satellite imagery. This was also reflected in simulated upper-tropospheric ice water content (IWC), which accounted for only 20&thinsp;% of the observed values. The interactive dust simulation with COSMO-MUSCAT, including a two-moment bulk microphysics scheme and dust–cloud as well as dust–radiation feedback, in contrast, led to significant improvements. The modeled cirrus cloud cover and IWC were by at least a factor of 2 higher in the relevant altitudes compared to the noninteractive model run. We attributed these improvements mainly to enhanced deposition freezing in response to the high mineral dust concentrations. This was corroborated further in a significant decrease in ice particle radii towards more realistic values, compared to in situ measurements from the ML-CIRRUS aircraft campaign. By testing different empirical ice nucleation parameterizations, we further demonstrate that remaining uncertainties in the ice-nucleating properties of mineral dust affect the model performance at least as significantly as including the online representation of the mineral dust distribution. Dust–radiation interactions played a secondary role for cirrus cloud formation, but contributed to a more realistic representation of precipitation by suppressing moist convection in southern Germany. In addition, a too-low specific humidity in the 7 to 10&thinsp;km altitude range in the boundary conditions was identified as one of the main reasons for misrepresentation of cirrus clouds in this model study.</p