Evaluation of soil moisture in CMIP5 simulations over the contiguous United States using in situ and satellite observations

This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of soil moisture simulations in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) extended historical experiment (2003 to 2012). Soil moisture from in situ and satellite sources is used to evaluate CMIP5 simulations in the contiguous United States (CONUS). Both near-surface (0–10 cm) and soil column (0–100 cm) simulations from more than 14 CMIP5 models are evaluated during the warm season (April–September). Multimodel ensemble means and the performance of individual models are assessed at a monthly timescale. Our results indicate that CMIP5 models can reproduce the seasonal variability in soil moisture over CONUS. However, the models tend to overestimate the amount of both near-surface and soil column soil moisture in the western US and underestimate it in the eastern US. There are large variations across models, especially for the near-surface soil moisture. There are significant regional variations in performance as well. Results of a regional analysis show that in the deeper soil layers, the CMIP5 soil moisture simulations tend to be most skillful in the southern US. Based on both the satellite-derived and in situ soil moisture, CESM1, CCSM4 and GFDL-ESM2M perform best in the 0–10 cm soil layer and CESM1, CCSM4, GFDL-ESM2M and HadGEM2-ES perform best in the 0–100 cm soil layer

Soil moisture–precipitation coupling: observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet and underlying physical mechanisms

Interactions between soil moisture and the atmosphere are driven by the partitioning of sensible and latent heating, through which soil moisture has been connected to atmospheric modifications that could potentially lead to the initiation of convective precipitation. The majority of previous studies linking the land surface to subsequent precipitation have used atmospheric reanalysis or model data sets. In this study, we link in situ observations of soil moisture from more than 100 stations in Oklahoma to subsequent unorganized afternoon convective precipitation. We use hourly next generation (NEXRAD) radar-derived precipitation to identify convective events, and then compare the location of precipitation initiation to underlying soil moisture anomalies in the morning. Overall we find a statistically significant preference for convective precipitation initiation over drier than normal soils, with over 70 % of events initiating over soil moisture below the long-term median. The significant preference for precipitation initiation over drier than normal soils is in contrast with previous studies using satellite-based precipitation to identify the region of maximum precipitation accumulation. We evaluated 19 convective events occurring near Lamont, Oklahoma, where soundings of the atmospheric profile at 06:00 and 12:00 LST are also available. For these events, soil moisture has strong negative correlations with the level of free convection (LFC), planetary boundary layer (PBL) height, and surface temperature changes between 06:00 and 12:00 LST. We also find strong positive correlations between morning soil moisture and morning-to-afternoon changes in convective available potential energy and convective inhibition. In general, the results of this study demonstrate that both positive and negative soil moisture feedbacks are important in this region of the USA

Estimating root zone soil moisture using near-surface observations from SMOS

Satellite-derived soil moisture provides more spatially and temporally extensive data than in situ observations. However, satellites can only measure water in the top few centimeters of the soil. Root zone soil moisture is more important, particularly in vegetated regions. Therefore estimates of root zone soil moisture must be inferred from near-surface soil moisture retrievals. The accuracy of this inference is contingent on the relationship between soil moisture in the near-surface and the soil moisture at greater depths. This study uses cross correlation analysis to quantify the association between near-surface and root zone soil moisture using in situ data from the United States Great Plains. Our analysis demonstrates that there is generally a strong relationship between near-surface (5–10 cm) and root zone (25–60 cm) soil moisture. An exponential decay filter is used to estimate root zone soil moisture using near-surface soil moisture derived from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite. Root zone soil moisture derived from SMOS surface retrievals is compared to in situ soil moisture observations in the United States Great Plains. The SMOS-based root zone soil moisture had a mean R2 of 0.57 and a mean Nash–Sutcliffe score of 0.61 based on 33 stations in Oklahoma. In Nebraska, the SMOS-based root zone soil moisture had a mean R2 of 0.24 and a mean Nash–Sutcliffe score of 0.22 based on 22 stations. Although the performance of the exponential filter method varies over space and time, we conclude that it is a useful approach for estimating root zone soil moisture from SMOS surface retrievals

Application of Balsam Fir Sawfly Nucleopolyhedrovirus against its Natural Host Neodiprion abietis (Hymenoptera : Diprionidae)

University of New Brunswick (Canada)Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service -Atlantic Forestry CentreProceedings : IUFRO Kanazawa 2003 "Forest Insect Population Dynamics and Host Influences"., Scedule:14－19 September 2003, Vemue: Kanazawa Citymonde Hotel, Kanazawa, Japan, Joint metting of IUFRO working groups : 7.01.02 Tree resistance to Insects | 7.03.06 Integrated management of forset defoloating insects | 7.03.07 Population dynamics of forest insects, Sponsored by: IUFRO-J | Ishikawa Prefecture | Kanazawa City | 21st-COE Program of Kanazawa University, Editors: Kamata, Naoto | Liebhold, Nadrew M. | Quiring, Dan T. | Clancy, Karen M

Can filesharers be triggered by economic incentives? Results of an experiment

Illegal filesharing on the internet leads to considerable financial losses for artists and copyright owners as well as producers and sellers of music. Thus far, measures to contain this phenomenon have been rather restrictive. However, there are still a considerable number of illegal systems, and users are able to decide quite freely between legal and illegal downloads because the latter are still difficult to sanction. Recent economic approaches account for the improved bargaining position of users. They are based on the idea of revenue-splitting between professional sellers and peers. In order to test such an innovative business model, the study reported in this article carried out an experiment with 100 undergraduate students, forming five small peer-to-peer networks.The networks were confronted with different economic conditions.The results indicate that even experienced filesharers hold favourable attitudes towards revenue-splitting.They seem to be willing to adjust their behaviour to different economic conditions

Influence of a foliar endophyte and budburst phenology on survival of wild and laboratory-reared eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana on white spruce (Picea glauca)

A manipulative field study was carried out to determine whether the foliar endophyte fungus, Phialocephala scopiformisDAOM229536, decreased the performance of eastern spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana larvae developing on white spruce trees. Overwintered second-instar budworm larvae from a laboratory colony or from a wild population were placed on endophyte positive or negative trees one or two weeks before budburst. The presence of the endophyte in the needles reduced the survival of C. fumiferana from both a wild population and a laboratory colony. Survival for budworm juveniles up to pupation and to adult emergence was 13% and 17% lower, respectively, on endophyte positive trees. The endophyte did not influence the size or sex of survivors and budwor

Toward a Unified Genetic Map of Higher Plants, Transcending the Monocot-Dicot Divergence

Closely related (confamilial) genera often retain large chromosomal tracts in which gene order is colinear, punctuated by structural mutations such as inversions and translocations 1. To explore the possibility that conservation of gene order might extrapolate to more distantly related taxa, we first estimated an average structural mutation rate. Nine pairs of taxa, for which there exist both comparative genetic maps and plausible estimates of divergence time, showed an average of0.14 (±0.06) structural mutations per chromosome per million years of divergence (Myr; Table 1). This value is offered as a first approximation, acknowledging that refined comparative data and/or divergence estimates may impel revision

Avaliação da relação seca/produtividade agrícola em cenário de mudanças climáticas.

As mudanças climáticas alertam para um possível aumento de eventos meteorológicos extremos em todo o mundo, sendo crescente a preocupação de como o clima pode mudar o ambiente e afetar a produção das culturas agrícolas. Este estudo investiga a relação entre a produtividade agrícola e a seca em algumas mesorregiões do estado de Minas Gerais, em cenários de mudanças climáticas. Foram utilizados dados meteorológicos diários projetados pelo modelo ECHAM5/MPI-OM, para o período de 2008 a 2020 para o cenário A1B. Utilizou-se a metodologia da zona agroecológica (AEZ) para estimar a produtividade futura do milho. Empregou-se o índice de seca Z de Palmer em um modelo de regressão linear com a produtividade do milho estimada pela metodologia da AEZ. O desempenho dos modelos foi verificado por meio das estatísticas: coeficiente de determinação (r2), raiz do erro quadrático médio(RMSE), erro absoluto médio (MAE) e índice de concordância de Willmott (d). Os resultados do índice de concordância de Willmott variaram entre 0,48 e 0,90, e os valores de r2 foram pouco expressivos.Contudo, a produtividade estimada pela metodologia AEZ projetou maiores perdas na produtividade do milho devido a limitações por água para os anos agrícolas de 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2014/2015,2018/2019 para as mesorregiões Triângulo/Alto Paranaíba, Central Mineira e Jequitinhonha

Identification of Retinal Transformation Hot Spots in Developing Drosophila Epithelia

Background: The retinal determination (RD) network is an evolutionarily conserved regulatory circuit that governs early events in the development of eyes throughout the animal kingdom. Ectopic expression of many members of this network leads to the transformation of non-retinal epithelia into eye tissue. An often-overlooked observation is that only particular cell-populations within a handful of tissues are capable of having their primary developmental instructions superseded and overruled. Methodology/Preliminary Findings: Here we confirm that indeed, only a discrete number of cell populations within the imaginal discs that give rise to the head, antenna, legs, wings and halteres have the cellular plasticity to have their developmental fates altered. In contrast to previous reports, we find that all transformable cell populations do not lie within the TGFb or Hedgehog signaling domains. Additionally neither signaling cascade alone is sufficient for non-retinal cell types to be converted into retinal tissue. The transformation ‘‘hot spots’ ’ that we have identified appear to coincide with several previously defined transdetermination ‘‘weak spots’’, suggesting that ectopic eye formation is less the result of one network overriding the orders of another, as previously thought, but rather is the physical manifestation of redirecting cell populations of enormous cellular plasticity. We also demonstrate that the initiation of eye formation in non-retinal tissues occurs asynchronously compared to that of the normal eye suggesting that retinal development is not under the control o