Watershed management in New Zealand : status and research needs

Nature has endowed New Zealand with unique geologic, climatic, and biotic conditions. Her volcanic cones and majestic Southern Alps and her verdant plains and rolling hills provide a landscape as rugged and beautiful as will be found anywhere. Her indigenous fauna and flora are often quite different from that of the rest of the world and consequently have been of widespread interest to biologists everywhere. Her geologic youth and structure and her island climate, in combination with the biological resources, have made a land which is ecologically on edge. These natural endowments along with the manner in which she has utilized her land, have given New Zealand some of the most spectacular and rapid erosion to be found. It is quite evident that geologic and climatic conditions combine to give unusually high rates of natural erosion. Present topographic features indicate the past occurrence of large-scale flooding as well. Prior to the arrival of the Maori, it is very likely that most of the land mass of New Zealand below present bush lines was covered with indigenous bush or forest. Forest fires of a catastrophic nature undoubtedly occurred as a result of lightning, and volcanic eruptions. The exposed soils left by these catastrophes contributed to natural deterioration. While vast areas of forest cover were destroyed, they probably were healed by nature with forest or with grass or herbaceous cover. Further, it is probable that large areas in the mountains were, as they are now, subject to landslides and slipping due to earthquakes and excessive local rainfall. Again, the healing process was probably rapid in most of such exposed areas

Surface water

Bibliography: page [9].OWRR Project A-002-COLO; grant nos. 14-01-0001-553, 726, 900, 1074, 1625

Technical Note: New ground-based FTIR measurements at Ile de La Réunion: observations, error analysis, and comparisons with independent data

Ground-based high spectral resolution Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) solar absorption spectroscopy is a powerful remote sensing technique to obtain information on the total column abundances and on the vertical distribution of various constituents in the atmosphere. This work presents results from two FTIR measurement campaigns in 2002 and 2004, held at Ile de La Réunion (21° S, 55° E). These campaigns represent the first FTIR observations carried out at a southern (sub)tropical site. They serve the initiation of regular, long-term FTIR monitoring at this site in the near future. To demonstrate the capabilities of the FTIR measurements at this location for tropospheric and stratospheric monitoring, a detailed report is given on the retrieval strategy, information content and corresponding full error budget evaluation for ozone (O3), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon monoxide (CO), ethane (C2H6), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF) and nitric acid (HNO3) total and partial column retrievals. Moreover, we have made a thorough comparison of the capabilities at sea level altitude (St.-Denis) and at 2200 m a.s.l. (Maïdo). It is proved that the performances of the technique are such that the atmospheric variability can be observed, at both locations and in distinct altitude layers. Comparisons with literature and with correlative data from ozone sonde and satellite (i.e., ACE-FTS, HALOE and MOPITT) measurements are given to confirm the results. Despite the short time series available at present, we have been able to detect the seasonal variation of CO in the biomass burning season, as well as the impact of particular biomass burning events in Africa and Madagascar on the atmospheric composition above Ile de La Réunion. We also show that differential measurements between St.-Denis and Maïdo provide useful information about the concentrations in the boundary layer.Peer reviewe

Comparisons between SCIAMACHY and ground-based FTIR data for total columns of CO, CH₄, CO₂ and N₂O

Total column amounts of CO, CH4, CO2 and N2O retrieved from SCIAMACHY nadir observations in ist near-infrared channels have been compared to data from a ground-based quasi-global network of Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. The SCIAMACHY data considered here have been produced by three different retrieval algorithms, WFM-DOAS (version 0.5 for CO and CH4 and version 0.4 for CO2 and N2O), IMAP-DOAS (version 1.1 and 0.9 (for CO)) and IMLM (version 6.3) and cover the January to December 2003 time period. Comparisons have been made for individual data, as well as for monthly averages. To maximize the number of reliable coincidences that satisfy the temporal and spatial collocation criteria, the SCIAMACHY data have been compared with a temporal 3rd order polynomial interpolation of the ground-based data. Particular attention has been given to the question whether SCIAMACHY observes correctly the seasonal and latitudinal variability of the target species. The present results indicate that the individual SCIAMACHY data obtained with the actual versions of the algorithms have been significantly improved, but that the quality requirements, for estimating emissions on regional scales, are not yet met. Nevertheless, possible directions for further algorithm upgrades have been identified which should result in more reliable data products in a near future

Evaluation of the inter-annual variability of stratospheric chemical composition in chemistry-climate models using ground-based multi species time series

The variability of stratospheric chemical composition occurs on a broad spectrum of timescales, ranging from day to decades. A large part of the variability appears to be driven by external forcings such as volcanic aerosols, solar activity, halogen loading, levels of greenhouse gases (GHG), and modes of climate variability (quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)). We estimate the contributions of different external forcings to the interannual variability of stratospheric chemical composition and evaluate how well 3-D chemistry-climate models (CCMs) can reproduce the observed response-forcing relationships. We carry out multivariate regression analyses on long time series of observed and simulated time series of several traces gases in order to estimate the contributions of individual forcings and unforced variability to their internannual variability. The observations are typically decadal time series of ground-based data from the international Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) and the CCM simulations are taken from the CCMVal-2 REF-B1 simulations database. The chemical species considered are column O3, HCl, NO2, and N2O. We check the consistency between observations and model simulations in terms of the forced and internal components of the total interannual variability (externally forced variability and internal variability) and identify the driving factors in the interannual variations of stratospheric chemical composition over NDACC measurement sites. Overall, there is a reasonably good agreement between regression results from models and observations regarding the externally forced interannual variability. A much larger fraction of the observed and modelled interannual variability is explained by external forcings in the tropics than in the extratropics, notably in polar regions. CCMs are able to reproduce the amplitudes of responses in chemical composition to specific external forcings. However, CCMs tend to underestimate very substantially the internal variability and hence the total interannual variability for almost all species considered. This lack of internal variability in CCMs might partly originate from the surface forcing of these CCMs by analysed SSTs. The results illustrate the potential of NDACC ground-based observations for evaluating CCMs

Diet and food strategies in a southern al-Andalusian urban environment during Caliphal period, ecija, Sevilla

The Iberian medieval period is unique in European history due to the widespread socio-cultural changes that took place after the arrival of Arabs, Berbers and Islam in 711 AD. Recently, isotopic research has been insightful on dietary shifts, status, resource availability and the impact of environment. However, there is no published isotopic research exploring these factors in southern Iberian populations, and as the history of this area differs to the northern regions, this leaves a significant lacuna in our knowledge. This research fills this gap via isotopic analysis of human (n = 66) and faunal (n = 13) samples from the 9th to the 13th century Écija, a town renowned for high temperatures and salinity. Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes were assessed from rib collagen, while carbon (δ13C) values were derived from enamel apatite. Human diet is consistent with C3 plant consumption with a very minor contribution of C4 plants, an interesting feature considering the suitability of Écija to C4 cereal production. δ15N values vary among adults, which may suggest variable animal protein consumption or isotopic variation within animal species due to differences in foddering. Consideration of δ13C collagen and apatite values together may indicate sugarcane consumption, while moderate δ15N values do not suggest a strong aridity or salinity effect. Comparison with other Iberian groups shows similarities relating to time and location rather than by religion, although more multi-isotopic studies combined with zooarchaeology and botany may reveal subtle differences unobservable in carbon and nitrogen collagen studies alone.OLC is funded by Plan Galego I2C mod.B (ED481D 2017/014). The research was partially funded by the projects “Galician Paleodiet” and by Consiliencia network (ED 431D2017/08) Xunta de GaliciaS

Understanding Theodora : the role of the Empress in sixth century imperial religious policy

College of Liberal Arts; Department: History; Advisor: Dr. Johanna Shields; Date: 1993; Pages: 26 p.; includes endnotes and bibliograph

A review of hydrologic research in the tussock grasslands and mountain lands of New Zealand

Deficiencies in regional and national goals and objectives for water management make it difficult to assess the relevance of New Zealand's hydrologic research effort to present and probable future needs. The situation is further confounded because the results from much hydrologic research are unpublished and publicly unavailable. This review of published and “unpublished” research reports indicates that the attention paid to any topic does not necessarily reflect its hydrologic significance. The reader may well conclude that more difficult topics have been ignored in favour of those that are easier and less expensive to research. In commenting on future directions for research, the authors have declined to list topics. To do so would merely reflect their biases. Instead, they believe that this should properly be the responsibility of a task force convened by the National Research Advisory Council. The authors do, however, set out their attitudes to future research and research administration