The UKC3 regional coupled environmental prediction system

This paper describes an updated configuration of the regional coupled research system, termed UKC3, developed and evaluated under the UK Environmental Prediction collaboration. This represents a further step towards a vision of simulating the numerous interactions and feedbacks between different physical and biogeochemical components of the environment across sky, sea and land using more integrated regional coupled prediction systems at kilometre-scale resolution. The UKC3 coupled system incorporates models of the atmosphere (Met Office Unified Model), land surface with river routing (JULES), shelf-sea ocean (NEMO) and ocean surface waves (WAVEWATCH III®), coupled together using OASIS3-MCT libraries. The major update introduced since the UKC2 configuration is an explicit representation of wave–ocean feedbacks through introduction of wave-to-ocean coupling. Ocean model results demonstrate that wave coupling, in particular representing the wave-modified surface drag, has a small but positive improvement on the agreement between simulated sea surface temperatures and in situ observations, relative to simulations without wave feedbacks. Other incremental developments to the coupled modelling capability introduced since the UKC2 configuration are also detailed. Coupled regional prediction systems are of interest for applications across a range of timescales, from hours to decades ahead. The first results from four simulation experiments, each of the order of 1 month in duration, are analysed and discussed in the context of characterizing the potential benefits of coupled prediction on forecast skill. Results across atmosphere, ocean and wave components are shown to be stable over time periods of weeks. The coupled approach shows notable improvements in surface temperature, wave state (in near-coastal regions) and wind speed over the sea, whereas the prediction quality of other quantities shows no significant improvement or degradation relative to the equivalent uncoupled control simulations

The UKC2 regional coupled environmental prediction system

It is hypothesized that more accurate prediction and warning of natural hazards, such as of the impacts of severe weather mediated through various components of the environment, require a more integrated Earth System approach to forecasting. This hypothesis can be explored using regional coupled prediction systems, in which the known interactions and feedbacks between different physical and biogeochemical components of the environment across sky, sea and land can be simulated. Such systems are becoming increasingly common research tools. This paper describes the development of the UKC2 regional coupled research system, which has been delivered under the UK Environmental Prediction Prototype project. This provides the first implementation of an atmosphere–land–ocean–wave modelling system focussed on the United Kingdom and surrounding seas at km-scale resolution. The UKC2 coupled system incorporates models of the atmosphere (Met Office Unified Model), land surface with river routing (JULES), shelf-sea ocean (NEMO) and ocean waves (WAVEWATCH III). These components are coupled, via OASIS3-MCT libraries, at unprecedentedly high resolution across the UK within a north-western European regional domain. A research framework has been established to explore the representation of feedback processes in coupled and uncoupled modes, providing a new research tool for UK environmental science. This paper documents the technical design and implementation of UKC2, along with the associated evaluation framework. An analysis of new results comparing the output of the coupled UKC2 system with relevant forced control simulations for six contrasting case studies of 5-day duration is presented. Results demonstrate that performance can be achieved with the UKC2 system that is at least comparable to its component control simulations. For some cases, improvements in air temperature, sea surface temperature, wind speed, significant wave height and mean wave period highlight the potential benefits of coupling between environmental model components. Results also illustrate that the coupling itself is not sufficient to address all known model issues. Priorities for future development of the UK Environmental Prediction framework and component systems are discussed

Sekundäre Lücken im Recht | Richterliche Rechtsanpassungen angesichts des Umstands- und Wertewandels

Gesetze bestehen in der Zeit und sind auch den Einflüssen der jeweiligen Zeit ausgesetzt. In vielen Bereichen scheint das Recht einer sich ständig verändernden Wirklichkeit hinterherzuhinken. Der Erlass eines neuen Gesetzes kann aber einige Zeit in Anspruch nehmen. Kann beziehungsweise muss nun die dritte Gewalt die Gesetze verändern, während der Gesetzgeber untätig bleibt? Das Bundesverfassungsgericht erkennt die Möglichkeit einer Anpassung der Rechtsordnung aufgrund gewandelter Umstände in seiner ständigen Rechtsprechung an und betont, dass es die Aufgabe der Rechtsprechung sei, den vom Gesetzgeber festgelegten Gesetzeszweck über die Zeit hinweg ›zuverlässig‹ zur Geltung zu bringen.Diese Arbeit setzt sich zum Ziel, dieses überzeugende Diktum des Bundesverfassungsgerichts zu konkretisieren. Dazu entwickelt sie unter Rückgriff auf die methodische Kategorie der sekundären Lücke ein überzeugendes Konzept, das es dem Rechtsanwender ermöglicht, die Forderung einer Rechtsfortbildung wegen veränderter Umstände anhand rationaler Kriterien zu reflektieren.»Secondary Loopholes in Law«: Laws exist in time and are also subject to the influence of time. Not infrequently, the law lags behind a rapidly changing reality. The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (»Bundesverfassungsgericht«) demands from the courts that the purpose of the law, as determined by the legislature, be reliably enforced over time. The dissertation concretizes this requirement and, drawing on the methodological category of the secondary loophole, designs a convincing concept for capturing change in the law

CyberArts 2002

This publication contains information on the winners of the Prix Ars Electronica for the 2002 Ars Electronica festival. The book's structure follows that of the event, which was divided into five categories: Net Vision and Net Excellence, Interactive Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects, Digital Musics, and Cybergeneration. Includes texts by jury members introducing each category, and brief statements by selected artists. Biographical notes

Bioconda: A sustainable and comprehensive software distribution for the life sciences

We present Bioconda (https://bioconda.github.io), a distribution of bioinformatics software for the lightweight, multi-platform and language-agnostic package manager Conda. Currently, Bioconda offers a collection of over 3000 software packages, which is continuously maintained, updated, and extended by a growing global community of more than 200 contributors. Bioconda improves analysis reproducibility by allowing users to define isolated environments with defined software versions, all of which are easily installed and managed without administrative privileges