Relationship between Amazon biomass burning aerosols and rainfall over La Plata Basin

High aerosol loads are discharged into the atmosphere by biomass burning in Amazon and Central Brazil during the dry season. These particles can interact with clouds as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) changing cloud microphysics and radiative properties and, thereby, affecting the radiative budget of the region. Furthermore, the biomass burning aerosols can be transported by the low level jet (LLJ) to La Plata Basin where many mesoscale convective systems (MCS) are observed during spring and summer. This work proposes to investigate whether the aerosols from biomass burning may affect the MCS in terms of rainfall over La Plata Basin during spring. Since the aerosol effect is very difficult to isolate because convective clouds are very sensitive to small environment disturbances, detailed analyses using different techniques are used. The binplot, 2D histograms and combined empirical orthogonal function (EOF) methods are used to separate certain environment conditions with the possible effects of aerosol loading. Reanalysis 2, TRMM-3B42 and AERONET data are used from 1999 up to 2012 during September-December. The results show that there are two patterns associated to rainfall-aerosol interaction in La Plata Basin: one in which the dynamic conditions are more important than aerosols to generate rain; and a second one where the aerosol particles have a role in rain formation, acting mainly to suppress rainfall over La Plata Basin.CAPESFAPESP - 2012/08115-

Relationship between Amazon biomass burning aerosols and rainfall over the La Plata Basin

High aerosol loads are discharged into the atmosphere\ud by biomass burning in the Amazon and central\ud Brazil during the dry season. These particles can interact with\ud clouds as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) changing cloud\ud microphysics and radiative properties and, thereby, affecting\ud the radiative budget of the region. Furthermore, the biomass\ud burning aerosols can be transported by the low-level jet (LLJ)\ud to the La Plata Basin, where many mesoscale convective\ud systems (MCS) are observed during spring and summer.\ud This work proposes to investigate whether the aerosols from\ud biomass burning may affect the MCS in terms of rainfall over\ud the La Plata Basin during spring. Aerosol effects are very difficult\ud to isolate because convective clouds are very sensitive\ud to small environment disturbances; for that reason, detailed\ud analyses using different techniques are used. The binplot,\ud 2-D histograms and combined empirical orthogonal function\ud (EOF) methods are used to identify certain environmental\ud conditions with the possible effects of aerosol loading. Reanalysis\ud 2, TRMM-3B42 and AERONET data are used from\ud 1999 up to 2012 during September–December. The results\ud show that there are two patterns associated with rainfall–\ud aerosol interaction in the La Plata Basin: one in which the\ud dynamic conditions are more important than aerosols to generation\ud of rain; and a second one where the aerosol particles\ud have a more important role in rain formation, acting mainly\ud to suppress rainfall over the La Plata Basin. However, these\ud results need further investigation to strengthen conclusions,\ud especially because there are limitations and uncertainties in\ud the methodology and data set usedCAPESFAPESP - 2012/08115-

El efecto de exposición en el patrón sedimen- tario del sector submareal de tres playas en la Ría de Muros y Noia (NO de España)

En este trabajo se presenta la comparación de los sedimentos superficiales de la plataforma proximal de tres complejos playeros situados en las inmediaciones de la embocadura de la Ría de Muros y Noia. En cada uno de ellos, se han identificado las distintas poblaciones sedimentarias en función de los análisis granulométricos realizados. La aplicación de un análisis estadístico de componentes principales a las fracciones granulométricas, contenido en carbonatos y materia orgánica, ha permitido diferenciar poblaciones de muestras y la interpretación sedimentaria de las mismas. Las diferencias observadas en la distribución de las poblaciones sedimentarias de los tres complejos estudiados son una consecuencia del grado de exposición de cada complejo al oleaje dominante y de la presencia de afloramientos rocosos sumergidos que ejercen un efecto barrera.The subaquatic sediments from the inner continental shelf of three beach systems located in the surrondings of Ría de Muros y Noia mouth are compared. Different sedimentary populations have been stablished according to the granulometric distribution from each system. The grain-size distribution, carbonate and organic matter content have been compared by means of a principal component analysis. The results allow the identification of different populations as well as their sedimentary significance. The observed differences between the sedimentary populations from each system are explained as a consequence of their grade of exposure towards the dominant waves and the presence of subaquatic rocks, which introduce a barrier effect

A comparison of ensemble strategies for flash flood forecasting: The 12 October 2007 case study in Valencia, Spain

On 12 October 2007, several flash floods affected the Valencia region, eastern Spain, with devastating impacts in terms of human, social, and economic losses. An enhanced modeling and forecasting of these extremes, which can provide a tangible basis for flood early warning procedures and mitigation measures over the Mediterranean, is one of the fundamental motivations of the international Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX) program. The predictability bounds set by multiple sources of hydrological and meteorological uncertainty require their explicit representation in hydrometeorological forecasting systems. By including local convective precipitation systems, short-range ensemble prediction systems (SREPSs) provide a state-of-the-art framework to generate quantitative discharge forecasts and to cope with different sources of external-scale (i.e., external to the hydrological system) uncertainties. The performance of three distinct hydrological ensemble prediction systems (HEPSs) for the small-sized Serpis River basin is examined as a support tool for early warning and mitigation strategies. To this end, the Flash-Flood Event-Based Spatially Distributed Rainfall-RunoffTransformation-Water Balance (FEST-WB) model is driven by ground stations to examine the hydrological response of this semiarid and karstic catchment to heavy rains. The use of a multisite and novel calibration approach for the FEST-WB parameters is necessary to cope with the high nonlinearities emerging from the rainfall-runofftransformation and heterogeneities in the basin response. After calibration, FEST-WB reproduces with remarkable accuracy the hydrological response to intense precipitation and, in particular, the 12 October 2007 flash flood. Next, the flood predictability challenge is focused on quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs). In this regard, three SREPS generation strategies using the WRF Model are analyzed. On the one side, two SREPSs accounting for 1) uncertainties in the initial conditions (ICs) and lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) and 2) physical parameterizations are evaluated. An ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) is also designed to test the ability of ensemble data assimilation methods to represent key mesoscale uncertainties from both IC and subscale processes. Results indicate that accounting for diversity in the physical parameterization schemes provides the best probabilistic high-resolution QPFs for this particular flash flood event. For low to moderate precipitation rates, EnKF and pure multiple physics approaches render undistinguishable accuracy for the test situation at larger scales. However, only the multiple physics QPFs properly drive the HEPS to render the most accurate flood warning signals. That is, extreme precipitation values produced by these convective-scale precipitation systems anchored by complex orography are better forecast when accounting just for uncertainties in the physical parameterizations. These findings contribute to the identification of ensemble strategies better targeted to the most relevant sources of uncertainty before flash flood situations over small catchments

Environmental drivers of salp Thalia democratica population dynamics from in situ observations

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Inter-Research for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Ecology Progress Series 561 (2016): 189-201, doi:10.3354/meps11915.Thalia democratica blooms are a recurrent phenomenon in many coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and have significant ecological effects. To better understand the environmental drivers of salp blooms, we conducted 8 surveys to sample T. democratica in contrasting seasonal, temperature and chlorophyll conditions. In each survey, short-term variations in the abundances of different salp stages were assessed by sampling the same population at 30 min intervals. Using these data, we estimated the parameters in a set of stage-classified matrix population models representing different assumptions about the influence of temperature and chlorophyll on each stage. In the model that best explains our observations, only females are affected by changes in water temperature. Whether this is a direct influence of temperature or an indirect effect reflecting low food availability, female reproduction cessation seems to slow population growth under unfavourable conditions. When conditions become favourable again, females liberate the embryo and change sex to male, allowing for mating under extremely low salp densities and triggering the bloom. In contrast to previous findings, our results suggest that females, rather than oozooids, are responsible for the sustainability of salp populations during latency periods.This work was founded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under the Fishjelly project, the European commission ENPI CBC MED project under the Jellyrisk project and the European LIFE Commission under the Cubomed project. M. G. Neubert acknowledges the support of the US National Science Foundation (DEB-1145017 and DEB-1257545)

Loss and the Experience of Emotional Distress in Childhood

The objective of this study was to investigate loss and the experience of emotional distress through a series of three studies. In Study 1, results indicated that when controlling for the total number of traumas experienced, children with loss traumas did not differ significantly from children with other types of traumas in terms of the level of PTSD symptoms reported and diurnal cortisol levels. In Study 2, results indicated that youth with loss traumas had significantly higher parent-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms than control participants. In Study 3, we replicated and extended findings from Study 1 using an independent sample of non-clinic-referred youth. Findings are discussed in terms of how loss events may constitute a traumatic stressor in youth

Diversity, structure and spatial distribution of megabenthic communities in Cap de Creus continental shelf and submarine canyon (NW Mediterranean)

The continental shelf and submarine canyon off Cap de Creus (NW Mediterranean) were declared a Site of Community Importance (SCI) within the Natura 2000 Network in 2014. Implementing an effective management plan to preserve its biological diversity and monitor its evolution through time requires a detailed character ization of its benthic ecosystem. Based on 60 underwater video transects performed between 2007 and 2013 (before the declaration of the SCI), we thoroughly describe the composition and structure of the main mega benthic communities dwelling from the shelf down to 400 m depth inside the submarine canyon. We then mapped the spatial distribution of the benthic communities using the Random Forest algorithm, which incor porated geomorphological and oceanographic layers as predictors, as well as the intensity of the bottom-trawling fishing fleet. Although the study area has historically been exposed to commercial fishing practices, it still holds a rich benthic ecosystem with over 165 different invertebrate (morpho)species of the megafauna identified in the video footage, which form up to 9 distinct megabenthic communities. The continental shelf is home to coral gardens of the sea fan Eunicella cavolini, sea pen and soft coral assemblages, dense beds of the crinoid Leptometra phalangium, diverse sponge grounds and massive aggregations of the brittle star Ophiothrix fragilis. The submarine canyon off Cap de Creus is characterized by a cold-water coral community dominated by the scleractinian coral Madrepora oculata, found in association with several invertebrate species including oysters, brachiopods and a variety of sponge species, as well as by a community dominated by cerianthids and sea urchins, mostly in sedimentary areas. The benthic communities identified in the area were then compared with habitats/biocenoses described in reference habitat classification systems that consider circalittoral and bathyal environments of the Mediterranean. The complex environmental setting characteristic of the marine area off Cap de Creus likely produces the optimal conditions for communities dominated by suspension- and filter-feeding species to develop. The uniqueness of this ecosystem and the anthropogenic pressures that it faces should prompt the development of effective management actions to ensure the long-term conservation of the benthic fauna representative of this marine area3,26