Reference crop evapotranspiration derived from geo-stationary satellite imagery: a case study for the Fogera flood plain, NW-Ethiopia and the Jordan Valley, Jordan

First results are shown of a project aiming to estimate daily values of reference crop evapotranspiration ET0 from geo-stationary satellite imagery. In particular, for Woreta, a site in the Ethiopian highland at an elevation of about 1800 m, we tested a radiation-temperature based approximate formula proposed by Makkink (MAK), adopting ET0 evaluated with the version of the Penman-Monteith equation described in the FAO Irrigation and Drainage paper 56 as the most accurate estimate. More precisely we used the latter with measured daily solar radiation as input (denoted by PMFAO-Rs). Our data set for Woreta concerns a period where the surface was fully covered with short green non-stressed vegetation. Our project was carried out in the context of the Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LANDSAF) facility. Among others, the scope of LANDSAF is to increase benefit from the EUMETSAT Satellite Meteosat Second Generation (MSG). In this study we applied daily values of downward solar radiation at the surface obtained from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) radiometer. In addition, air temperature at 2m was obtained from 3-hourly forecasts provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Both MAK and PMFAO-Rs contain the psychrometric "constant", which is proportional to air pressure, which, in turn, decreases with elevation. In order to test elevation effects we tested MAK and its LANDSAF input data for 2 sites in the Jordan Valley located about 250 m b.s.l. Except for a small underestimation of air temperature at the Ethiopian site at 1800 m, the first results of our LANDSAF-ET0 project are promising. If our approach to derive ET0 proves successfully, then the LANDSAF will be able to initiate nearly real time free distribution of ET0 for the full MSG disk

Kalman filter physical retrieval of surface emissivity and temperature from SEVIRI infrared channels: A validation and intercomparison study

A Kalman filter-based approach for the physical retrieval of surface temperature and emissivity from SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager) infrared observations has been developed and validated against in situ and satellite observations. Validation for land has been provided based on in situ observations from the two permanent stations at Evora and Gobabeb operated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) within the framework of EUMETSAT’s Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF). Sea surface retrievals have been intercompared on a broad spatial scale with equivalent satellite products (MODIS, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, and AVHRR, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) and ECMWF (European Centre for Medium- RangeWeather Forecasts) analyses. For surface temperature, the Kalman filter yields a root mean square accuracy of ≈ ±1:5° C for the two land sites considered and ≈ ±1:0° C for the sea. Comparisons with polar satellite instruments over the sea surface show nearly zero temperature bias. Over the land surface the retrieved emissivity follows the seasonal vegetation cycle and permits identification of desert sand regions using the SEVIRI channel at 8.7 μm due to the strong quartz reststrahlen bands around 8–9 μm. Considering the two validation stations, we have found that emissivity retrieved in SEVIRI channel 10.8 μm over the gravel plains of the Namibian desert is in excellent agreement with in situ observations. Over Evora, the seasonal variation of emissivity with vegetation is successfully retrieved and yields emissivity values for green and dry vegetation that are in good agreement with spectral library data. The algorithm has been applied to the SEVIRI full disk, and emissivity maps on that global scale have been physically retrieved for the first time

An overview of jets and outflows in stellar mass black holes

In this book chapter, we will briefly review the current empirical understanding of the relation between accretion state and and outflows in accreting stellar mass black holes. The focus will be on the empirical connections between X-ray states and relativistic (`radio') jets, although we are now also able to draw accretion disc winds into the picture in a systematic way. We will furthermore consider the latest attempts to measure/order jet power, and to compare it to other (potentially) measurable quantities, most importantly black hole spin.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to appear in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI - The Physics of Accretion on to Black Holes (Springer Publisher

The balance of power: accretion and feedback in stellar mass black holes

In this review we discuss the population of stellar-mass black holes in our galaxy and beyond, which are the extreme endpoints of massive star evolution. In particular we focus on how we can attempt to balance the available accretion energy with feedback to the environment via radiation, jets and winds, considering also possible contributions to the energy balance from black hole spin and advection. We review quantitatively the methods which are used to estimate these quantities, regardless of the details of the astrophysics close to the black hole. Once these methods have been outlined, we work through an outburst of a black hole X-ray binary system, estimating the flow of mass and energy through the different accretion rates and states. While we focus on feedback from stellar mass black holes in X-ray binary systems, we also consider the applicability of what we have learned to supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei. As an important control sample we also review the coupling between accretion and feedback in neutron stars, and show that it is very similar to that observed in black holes, which strongly constrains how much of the astrophysics of feedback can be unique to black holes.Comment: To be published in Haardt et al. Astrophysical Black Holes. Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer 201

A climatology of cyclones in the Mediterranean region

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN040195 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Assimilating synthetic land surface temperature in a coupled land–atmosphere model

A realistic simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) depends on an accurate representation of the land–atmosphere coupling. Land surface temperature (LST) plays an important role in this context and the assimilation of LST can lead to improved estimates of the boundary layer and its processes. We assimilated synthetic satellite LST retrievals derived from a nature run as truth into a fully coupled, state‐of‐the‐art land–atmosphere numeric weather prediction model. As assimilation system a local ensemble transform Kalman filter was used and the control vector was augmented by the soil temperature and humidity. To evaluate the concept of the augmented control vector, two‐day case‐studies with different control vector settings were conducted for clear‐sky periods in March and August 2017. These experiments with hourly LST assimilation were validated against the nature run and overall, the RMSE of atmospheric and soil temperature of the first‐guess (and analysis) were reduced. The temperature estimate of the ABL was particularly improved during daytime as was the estimate of the soil temperature during the whole diurnal cycle. The best impact of LST assimilation on the soil and the ABL was achieved with the augmented control vector. Through the coupling between the soil and the atmosphere, the assimilation of LST can have a positive impact on the temperature forecast of the ABL even after 15 hr because of the memory of the soil. These encouraging results motivate further work towards the assimilation of real satellite LST retrievals