Developing a digital field notebook for bioscience students in higher education

Copyright \ua9 2023 Maddison, Bevan and Marsham. Introduction: The use of mobile device presents both benefits and barriers. However, studies into the use of technology in fieldwork often focus only on either practitioner views or student views. Digital field notebooks (DFNs) are one-way mobile devices can be used to enhance fieldwork. Yet their use is limited to Geography, Earth and Environmental Science (GEES) disciplines, with students often playing a passive role during the development of DFNs. This research reports on the development of a DFN to enhance bioscience fieldwork in Higher Education (HE). Methods: Using interviews, focus groups, and survey methods we investigated how both fieldwork practitioners and learners view the role of technology in the field. Working in partnership with students, we explored their experiences of using a DFN during fieldwork. Feedback was utilized to make changes to the DFN to support its integration within bioscience fieldwork. Results: Overall, valuable developments related to content, technology, and pedagogy were made to the DFN, identifying value in a co-creation process. For example, students suggested the role of the DFN as a collaborative tool where individual entries were collated together. A workflow schematic and case study are presented for how a DFN can be used during bioscience fieldwork in HE. Discussion: Although students identified place connection and the development of reflective practice as particular affordances, students did not identify any digital skill development opportunities when using the DFN. Additionally, although students suggested the DFN was easy to use, barriers remain for students in using a DFN. We suggest further research on the complex issues of permission and perceptions of value of mobile device use during fieldwork. Additionally, more explicit reference to digital skill developments should be made when using a DFN

Can explicit convection improve modelled dust in summertime West Africa?

Global and regional models have large systematic errors in their modelled dust fields over West Africa. It is well established that cold-pool outflows from moist convection (haboobs) can raise over 50% of the dust over parts of the Sahara and Sahel in summer, but parameterised moist convection tends to give a very poor representation of this in models. Here, we test the hypothesis that an explicit representation of convection in the Met Office Unified Model (UM) improves haboob winds and so may reduce errors in modelled dust fields. The results show that despite varying both grid spacing and the representation of convection there are only minor changes in dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) and dust mass loading fields between simulations. In all simulations there is an AOD deficit over the observed central Saharan dust maximum and a high bias in AOD along the west coast: both features are consistent with many climate (CMIP5) models. Cold-pool outflows are present in the explicit simulations and do raise dust. Consistent with this, there is an improved diurnal cycle in dust-generating winds with a seasonal peak in evening winds at locations with moist convection that is absent in simulations with parameterised convection. However, the explicit convection does not change the AOD field in the UM significantly for several reasons. Firstly, the increased windiness in the evening from haboobs is approximately balanced by a reduction in morning winds associated with the breakdown of the nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ). Secondly, although explicit convection increases the frequency of the strongest winds, they are still weaker than observed, especially close to the observed summertime Saharan dust maximum: this results from the fact that, although large mesoscale convective systems (and resultant cold pools) are generated, they have a lower frequency than observed and haboob winds are too weak. Finally, major impacts of the haboobs on winds occur over the Sahel, where, although dust uplift is known to occur in reality, uplift in the simulations is limited by a seasonally constant bare-soil fraction in the model, together with soil moisture and clay fractions which are too restrictive of dust emission in seasonally varying vegetated regions. For future studies, the results demonstrate (1) the improvements in behaviour produced by the explicit representation of convection, (2) the value of simultaneously evaluating both dust and winds and (3) the need to develop parameterisations of the land surface alongside those of dust-generating winds

The early summertime Saharan heat low: sensitivity of the radiation budget and atmospheric heating to water vapour and dust aerosol

The Saharan heat low (SHL) is a key component of the west African climate system and an important driver of the west African monsoon across a range of timescales of variability. The physical mechanisms driving the variabil- ity in the SHL remain uncertain, although water vapour has been implicated as of primary importance. Here, we quan- tify the independent effects of variability in dust and water vapour on the radiation budget and atmospheric heating of the region using a radiative transfer model configured with observational input data from the Fennec field campaign at the location of Bordj Badji Mokhtar (BBM) in southern Al- geria (21.4◦ N, 0.9◦ E), close to the SHL core for June 2011. Overall, we find dust aerosol and water vapour to be of simi- lar importance in driving variability in the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation budget and therefore the column-integrated heating over the SHL (∼ 7 W m−2 per standard deviation of dust aerosol optical depth – AOD). As such, we infer that SHL intensity is likely to be similarly enhanced by the ef- fects of dust and water vapour surge events. However, the details of the processes differ. Dust generates substantial ra- diative cooling at the surface (∼ 11 W m−2 per standard devi- ation of dust AOD), presumably leading to reduced sensible heat flux in the boundary layer, which is more than com- pensated by direct radiative heating from shortwave (SW) absorption by dust in the dusty boundary layer. In contrast, water vapour invokes a radiative warming at the surface of ∼ 6 W m−2 per standard deviation of column-integrated wa- ter vapour in kg m−2 . Net effects involve a pronounced net atmospheric radiative convergence with heating rates on av- erage of 0.5 K day−1 and up to 6 K day−1 during synop- tic/mesoscale dust events from monsoon surges and convec- tive cold-pool outflows (“haboobs”). On this basis, we make inferences on the processes driving variability in the SHL associated with radiative and advective heating/cooling. De- pending on the synoptic context over the region, processes driving variability involve both independent effects of water vapour and dust and compensating events in which dust and water vapour are co-varying. Forecast models typically have biases of up to 2 kg m−2 in column-integrated water vapour (equivalent to a change in 2.6 W m−2 TOA net flux) and typically lack variability in dust and thus are expected to poorly represent these couplings. An improved representa- tion of dust and water vapour and quantification of associ- ated radiative impact in models is thus imperative to further understand the SHL and related climate processes

Group and individual analyses of pre-, peri-, and post-movement related alpha and beta oscillations during a single continuous monitoring task

Band power linked to lower and upper alpha (i.e. 8-10Hz; 10-12Hz) and lower and upper beta (i.e. 12-20Hz; 20-30Hz) were examined during response related stages, including anticipation, response execution (RE), response inhibition (RI) and post response recovery (PRR). Group and individual data from 34 participants were considered. The participant’s objective was to press a response key immediately following 4 non-repeating, single integer odd digits. These were presented amongst a continuous stream of digits and Xs. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded from 32 electrodes (pooled to 12 regions). In the group analyses, participant EEG response was compared to baseline revealing that upper alpha desynchronised during anticipation, RE and RI; lower beta during anticipation and RE; and upper beta just RE. Upper alpha desynchronisation during rapid, unplanned RI is novel. Also, upper alpha and lower/upper beta synchronised during PRR. For upper alpha, we speculate this indexes brief cortical deactivation; for beta we propose this indexes response set maintenance. Lastly, lower alpha fluctuations correlated negatively with RT, indexing neural efficiency. Individual analyses involved calculation of the proportion of individuals displaying the typical RE and PRR trends; these were not reflected by all participants. The former was displayed individually by the largest proportion in upper alpha recorded left fronto-centrally; the latter was most reliably displayed individually in lower beta recorded mid centro-parietally. Therefore, group analyses identified typical alpha and beta synchronisation/ desynchronisation trends, whilst individual analyses identified their degree of representation in single participants. Attention is drawn to the clinical relevance of this issue

The contrasting roles of water and dust in controlling daily variations in radiative heating of the summertime Saharan heat low

The summertime Sahara heat low (SHL) is a key component of the West African monsoon (WAM) system. Considerable uncertainty remains over the relative roles of water vapour and dust aerosols in controlling the radiation budget over the Sahara and therefore our ability to explain variability and trends in the SHL, and in turn, the WAM. Here, new observations from Fennec supersite-1 in the central Sahara during June 2011 and June 2012, together with satellite retrievals from GERB, are used to quantify how total column water vapour (TCWV) and dust aerosols (from aerosol optical depth, AOD) control day-to-day variations in energy balance in both observations and ECWMF reanalyses (ERA-I). The data show that the earth-atmosphere system is radiatively heated in June 2011 and 2012. Although the empirical analysis of observational data cannot completely disentangle the roles of water vapour, clouds and dust, the analysis demonstrates that TCWV provides a far stronger control on TOA net radiation, and so the net heating of the earth-atmosphere system, than AOD does. In contrast, variations in dust provide a much stronger control on surface heating, but the decreased surface heating associated with dust is largely compensated by increased atmospheric heating, and so dust control on net TOA radiation is weak. Dust and TCWV are both important for direct atmospheric heating. ERA-I, which assimilated radiosondes from the Fennec campaign, captures the control of TOA net flux by TCWV, with a positive correlation (r = 0.6) between observed and modelled TOA net radiation, despite the use of a monthly dust climatology in ERA-I that cannot capture the daily variations in dustiness. Variations in surface net radiation, and so the vertical profile of radiative heating, are not captured in ERA-I, since it does not capture variations in dust. Results show that ventilation of the SHL by cool moist air leads to a radiative warming, stabilising the SHL with respect to such perturbations. It is known that models struggle to capture the advective moistening of the SHL, especially that associated with mesoscale convective systems. Our results show that the typical model errors in Saharan water vapour will lead to substantial errors in the modelled TOA energy balance (tens of W m−2), which will lead to errors in both the SHL and the WAM

The turbulent structure and diurnal growth of the Saharan atmospheric boundary layer

The turbulent structure and growth of the remote Saharan atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is described with in situ radiosonde and aircraft measurements and a large-eddy simulation model. A month of radiosonde data from June 2011 provides a mean profile of the midday Saharan ABL, which is characterized by a well-mixed convective boundary layer, capped by a small temperature inversion (<1K) and a deep, near-neutral residual layer. The boundary layer depth varies by up to 100% over horizontal distances of a few kilometers due to turbulent processes alone. The distinctive vertical structure also leads to unique boundary layer processes, such as detrainment of the warmest plumes across the weak temperature inversion, which slows down the warming and growth of the convective boundary layer. As the boundary layer grows, overshooting plumes can also entrain freetropospheric air into the residual layer, forming a second entrainment zone that acts to maintain the inversion above the convective boundary layer, thus slowing down boundary layer growth further.Asingle-column model is unable to accurately reproduce the evolution of the Saharan boundary layer, highlighting the difficulty of representing such processes in large-scale models. These boundary layer processes are special to the Sahara, and possibly hot, dry, desert environments in general, and have implications for the large-scale structure of the Saharan heat low. The growth of the boundary layer influences the vertical redistribution of moisture and dust, and the spatial coverage and duration of clouds, with large-scale dynamical and radiative implications

A Characterization of Cold Pools in the West African Sahel

Cold pools are integral components of squall-line mesoscale convective systems and the West African Monsoon, but are poorly represented in operational global models. Observations of thirty-eight cold pools made at Niamey during the 2006 AMMA (African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis) campaign (1 June to 30 September 2006), are used to generate a seasonal characterization of cold-pool properties by quantifying related changes in surface meteorological variables. Cold pools were associated with temperature decreases of 2 to 14 ͦC, pressure increases of 0 to 8 hPa and wind gusts of 3 to 22 m s-1. Comparison with published values of similar variables from the Great Plains of the USA showed comparable differences. The leading part of most cold pools had decreased water vapour mixing ratios compared to the environment, with moister air, likely related to precipitation, approximately 30 minutes behind the gust front. A novel diagnostic used to quantify how consistent observed cold pool temperatures are with saturated or unsaturated descent from mid-levels (Fractional Evaporational Energy Deficit, FEED) shows that early-season cold pools are consistent with less saturated descents. Early season cold pools were relatively colder, windier and wetter, consistent with drier mid-levels, although this was only statistically significant for the change in moisture. Late season cold pools tended to decrease equivalent potential temperature from the pre-cold-pool value, whereas earlier in the season changes were smaller, with more increases. The role of cold pools may therefore change through the season, with early season cold-pools more able to feed subsequent convection

Moist convection and its upscale effects in simulations of the Indian monsoon with explicit and parametrised convection

In common with many global models, the Met Office Unified Model (MetUM) climate simulations show large errors in Indian summer monsoon rainfall, with a wet bias over the equatorial Indian Ocean, a dry bias over India, and with too weak low-level flow into India. The representation of moist convection is a dominant source of error in global models, where convection must be parametrised, with the errors growing quickly enough to affect both weather and climate simulations. Here we use the first multi- week continental-scale MetUM simulations over India, with grid-spacings that allow explicit convection, to examine how convective parametrisation contributes to model biases in the region. Some biases are improved in the convection-permitting simulations with more intense rainfall over India, a later peak in the diurnal cycle of convective rainfall over land, and a reduced positive rainfall bias over the Indian Ocean. The simulations suggest that the reduced rainfall over the Indian Ocean leads to an enhanced monsoon circulation and transport of moisture into India. Increases in latent heating associated with increased convection over land deepen the monsoon trough and enhance water vapour transport into the continent. In addition, delayed continental convection allows greater surface insolation and, along with the same rain falling in more intense bursts, generates a drier land surface. This increases land-sea temperature contrasts, and further enhances onshore flow. Changes in the low-level water vapour advection into India are dominated by these changes to the flow, rather than to the moisture content in the flow. The results demonstrate the need to improve the representations of convection over both land and oceans to improve simulations of the monsoon

Observations of mesoscale and boundary-layer circulations affecting dust uplift and transport in the Saharan boundary layer

International audienceObservations of the Saharan boundary layer, made during the GERBILS field campaign, show that mesoscale land surface temperature variations (which were related to albedo variations) induced mesoscale circulations, and that mesoscale and boundary-layer circulations affected dust uplift and transport. These processes are unrepresented in many climate models, but may have significant impacts on the vertical transport and uplift of desert dust. Mesoscale effects in particular tend to be difficult to parameterise. With weak winds along the aircraft track, land surface temperature anomalies with scales of greater than 10 km are shown to significantly affect boundary-layer temperatures and winds. Such anomalies are expected to affect the vertical mixing of the dusty and weakly stratified Saharan Air Layer (SAL). Mesoscale variations in winds are also shown to affect dust loadings in the boundary-layer. In a region of local uplift, with strong along-track winds, boundary-layer rolls are shown to lead to warm moist dusty updraughts in the boundary layer. Large eddy model (LEM) simulations suggest that these rolls increased uplift by approximately 30%. The modelled effects of boundary-layer convection on uplift is shown to be larger when the boundary-layer wind is decreased, and most significant when the mean wind is below the threshold for dust uplift and the boundary-layer convection leads to uplift which would not otherwise occur