Urban storage heat flux variability explored using satellite, meteorological and geodata

The storage heat flux (ΔQS) is the net flow of heat stored within a volume that may include the air, trees, buildings and ground. Given the difficulty of measurement of this important and large flux in urban areas, we explore the use of Earth Observation (EO) data. EO surface temperatures are used with ground-based meteorological forcing, urban morphology, land cover and land use information to estimate spatial variations of ΔQS in urban areas using the Element Surface Temperature Method (ESTM). First, we evaluate ESTM for four “simpler” surfaces. These have good agreement with observed values. ESTM coupled to SUEWS (an urban land surface model) is applied to three European cities (Basel, Heraklion, London), allowing EO data to enhance the exploration of the spatial variability in ΔQS. The impervious surfaces (paved and buildings) contribute most to ΔQS. Building wall area seems to explain variation of ΔQS most consistently. As the paved fraction increases up to 0.4, there is a clear increase in ΔQS. With a larger paved fraction, the fraction of buildings and wall area is lower which reduces the high values of ΔQS

Urban Multi-scale Environmental Predictor (UMEP) : An integrated tool for city-based climate services

UMEP (Urban Multi-scale Environmental Predictor), a city-based climate service tool, combines models and tools essential for climate simulations. Applications are presented to illustrate UMEP's potential in the identification of heat waves and cold waves; the impact of green infrastructure on runoff; the effects of buildings on human thermal stress; solar energy production; and the impact of human activities on heat emissions. UMEP has broad utility for applications related to outdoor thermal comfort, wind, urban energy consumption and climate change mitigation. It includes tools to enable users to input atmospheric and surface data from multiple sources, to characterise the urban environment, to prepare meteorological data for use in cities, to undertake simulations and consider scenarios, and to compare and visualise different combinations of climate indicators. An open-source tool, UMEP is designed to be easily updated as new data and tools are developed, and to be accessible to researchers, decision-makers and practitioners. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Urban Multi-scale Environmental Predictor - an extensive tool for climate services in urban areas

The city based climate service tool UMEP (Urban Multi-scale Environmental Predictor) is a coupled modelling system that combines models essential for urban climate processes and is developed as an extensive QGIS plugin. An application is presented to illustrate its potential, specifically of the identification of heat waves and cold waves in cities. The tool has broad utility for applications related to outdoor thermal comfort, urban energy consumption, climate change mitigation etc. It includes tools to: enable users to input atmospheric and surface data from multiple sources, prepare meteorological data for use in urban areas, undertake simulations and consider scenarios, and compare and visualize different combinations of climate indicators

Precision bond lengths for Rydberg Matter clusters KN (N = 19, 37, 61 and 91) in excitation levels n = 4 - 8 from rotational radio-frequency emission spectra

Clusters of the electronically excited condensed matter Rydberg Matter (RM) are planar and six-fold symmetric with magic numbers N = 7, 19, 37, 61 and 91. The bond distances in the clusters are known with a precision of +- 5% both from theory and Coulomb explosion experiments. Long series of up to 40 consecutive lines from rotational transitions in such clusters are now observed in emission in the radio-frequency range 7-90 MHz. The clusters are produced in five different vacuum chambers equipped with RM emitters. The most prominent series with B = 0.9292 +- 0.0001 MHz agrees accurately with expectation (within 2%) for the planar six-fold symmetric cluster K19 in excitation level n = 4. Other long series agree even better with K19 at n = 5 and 6. The ratio between the interatomic distance and the theoretical electron orbit radius (the dimensional ratio) for K19 in n = 4 is found to be 2.8470 +- 0.0003. For clusters K19 (n = 6) and K37 (n = 7 and 8) the dimensional ratio 2.90 is the highest value that is found, which happens to be exactly the theoretical value. Clusters K61 and K91 in n = 5 and 6 have slightly lower dimensional ratios. This is expected since the edge effects are smaller. Intensity alternations are observed of approximately 7:3. The nuclear spins interact strongly with the magnetic field from the orbiting electrons. Spin transitions are observed with energy differences corresponding accurately (within 0.6%) to transitions with apparent total (delta)F = -3 at excitation levels n = 5 and 6. The angular momentum coupling schemes in the clusters are complex but well understood.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figure

Total synthesis of the Amaryllidaceae alkaloid clivonine

Two syntheses of the Amaryllidaceae alkaloid clivonine (1) are described. Both employ previously reported 7-arylhydrindane 6 as an intermediate but differ in the method employed for subsequent introduction of what becomes the ring-B lactone carbonyl carbon (C7). The synthesis featuring a Bischler–Napieralski reaction for this transformation constitutes the first asymmetric synthesis of natural (+)-clivonine. Crystal structures for compounds (±)-13, (±)-16, (−)-20 and (±)-28 are also reported

Prediction of COPD by the single-breath nitrogen test and various respiratory symptoms

Early identification of subjects running an increased risk of contracting COPD enables focus on individual preventive measures. The slope of the alveolar plateau of the single-breath nitrogen washout test (N-2-slope) is a sensitive measure of small-airway dysfunction. However, its role remains unexplored in predicting hospital admission or death related to COPD, i.e. incident COPD events, in relation to the presence of various respiratory symptoms. A random population sample of 625 men, aged 50 (n=218) or 60 years (n=407), was followed for 38 years for incident COPD events. At baseline, a questionnaire on respiratory symptoms and smoking habits was collected, spirometry and the single-breath nitrogen test were performed, and the N-2-slope was determined. Proportional hazard regression (Cox regression) analysis was used for the prediction model. The N-2-slope improved the prediction of COPD events significantly beyond that of respiratory symptoms weighted all together and other covariates (hazard ratio 1.63, 95% CI 1.20-2.22; p<0.005), a prediction applicable to subjects without (p=0.001) and with (p<0.05) airway obstruction. Dyspnoea and wheezing were the most predictive symptoms. The combination of the N-2-slope and number of respiratory symptoms notably resulted in an effective prediction of incident COPD events even in nonobstructive subjects, as evidenced by a predicted incidence of similar to 70% and similar to 90% for a very steep N-2-slope combined with many respiratory symptoms in subject without and with airway obstruction, respectively. The alveolar N-2-slope should be considered in the critical need for further research on early diagnosis of COPD