Determination and impact of surface radiative processes for TOGA COARE

Experiments using atmospheric general circulation models have shown that the atmospheric circulation is very sensitive to small changes in sea surface temperature in the tropical western Pacific Ocean warm pool region. The mutual sensitivity of the ocean and the atmosphere in the warm pool region places stringent requirements on models of the coupled ocean atmosphere system. At present, the situation is such that diagnostic studies using available data sets have been unable to balance the surface energy budget in the warm pool region to better than 50 to 80 W/sq m. The Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) is an observation and modelling program that aims specifically at the elucidation of the physical process which determine the mean and transient state of the warm pool region and the manner in which the warm pool interacts with the global ocean and atmosphere. This project focuses on one very important aspect of the ocean atmosphere interface component of TOGA COARE, namely the temporal and spatial variability of surface radiative fluxes in the warm pool region

A Hierarchical Modeling Study of the Interactions Among Turbulence, Cloud Microphysics, and Radiative Transfer in the Evolution of Cirrus Clouds

This project used a hierarchy of cloud resolving models to address the following science issues of relevance to CRYSTAL-FACE: What ice crystal nucleation mechanisms are active in the different types of cirrus clouds in the Florida area and how do these different nucleation processes influence the evolution of the cloud system and the upper tropospheric humidity? How does the feedback between supersaturation and nucleation impact the evolution of the cloud? What is the relative importance of the large-scale vertical motion and the turbulent motions in the evolution of the crystal size spectra? How does the size spectra impact the life-cycle of the cloud, stratospheric dehydration, and cloud radiative forcing? What is the nature of the turbulence and waves in the upper troposphere generated by precipitating deep convective cloud systems? How do cirrus microphysical and optical properties vary with the small-scale dynamics? How do turbulence and waves in the upper troposphere influence the cross-tropopause mixing and stratospheric and upper tropospheric humidity? The models used in this study were: 2-D hydrostatic model with explicit microphysics that can account for 30 size bins for both the droplet and crystal size spectra. Notably, a new ice crystal nucleation scheme has been incorporated into the model. Parcel model with explicit microphysics, for developing and evaluating microphysical parameterizations. Single column model for testing bulk microphysics parameterization

Evaluating Food Commodity Procurement Strategies

We use a case study approach to determine the primary factors affecting food manufacturers' commodity procurement decisions, as well as to examine the strategic nature of commodity procurement departments. The research fills a gap in both the commodity and procurement literature. A large literature exists on commodity marketing; however, very little exists on the topic of commodity procurement. Existing procurement literature tends to focus on non-commodity products rather than commodity products. The results suggest a model for the strategic role of commodity procurement departments within food manufacturers. The initial procurement strategy must be supply maintenance, which once accomplished, allows the commodity procurement department to progress to a profit-focused strategy, which is generally cost-based. Finally, the role of the commodity procurement department can expand by offering additional services to customers, such as designing promotional programs.Marketing,

‘It’s like equality now; it’s not as if it’s the old days’: an investigation into gender identity development and football participation of adolescent girls

This article explores the influence participating in football has on the development of adolescent girls’ gender identity, an area which currently lacks academic attention. Data were taken from an ethnographic study with a group of adolescent girls and boys and compared to Jeanes’ research. A social constructionist framework was deployed with links to both critical theory and feminist literature. Qualitative and participatory methods were used to fully engage with the complex issue of gender identity. The girls within this study were aware of the normative gender expectations linked to ‘being a female’ but did not find this restrictive. The girls moved between many changing identities and organised their ‘web of selves’ accordingly. The apparent need to measure success by the parameters of male standards created a barrier to girls’ identity development

MRSA Causing Infections in Hospitals in Greater Metropolitan New York: Major Shift in the Dominant Clonal Type between 1996 and 2014

A surveillance study in 1996 identified the USA100 clone (ST5/SCCmecII)–also known as the “New York/Japan” clone—as the most prevalent MRSA causing infections in 12 New York City hospitals. Here we update the epidemiology of MRSA in seven of the same hospitals eighteen years later in 2013/14. Most of the current MRSA isolates (78 of 121) belonged to the MRSA clone USA300 (CC8/SCCmecIV) but the USA100 clone–dominant in the 1996 survey–still remained the second most frequent MRSA (25 of the 121 isolates) causing 32% of blood stream infections. The USA300 clone was most common in skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) and was associated with 84.5% of SSTIs compared to 5% caused by the USA100 clone. Our data indicate that by 2013/14, the USA300 clone replaced the New York/Japan clone as the most frequent cause of MRSA infections in hospitals in Metropolitan New York. In parallel with this shift in the clonal type of MRSA, there was also a striking change in the types of MRSA infections from 1996 to 2014

Retrieval of cloud droplet size from visible and microwave radiometric measurements during INDOEX: Implication to aerosols’ indirect radiative effect

The effective radius of water cloud droplets is retrieved using remotely sensed passive microwave and visible data collected by aircraft during the Indian Ocean Experiment. The purpose of this study is to assess the aerosols’ effect on cloud microphysical and radiative properties. To study this effect, we investigate the relationships among effective radius, liquid water path and number concentration of cloud droplets. The effective radius retrieval uses imager observations of reflected sunlight at 0.64 mm and liquid water path derived frommicrowave measurements. Results of an error analysis show that retrieval error is the largest for thin clouds having small visible reflectances and small liquid water path. For this reason, only pixels with visible reflectances greater than 0.2 are used in our data analysis, so that the maximum RMS error in effective radius is limited to about 4 mm. The relation between liquid water path and effective radius is examined for four different latitudinal regions. Results show that for the same liquid water path, effective radii are significantly smaller in the north than in the south, in correspondence to the north-south gradient of aerosol concentration in this region. In situ aircraft observations reveal larger cloud droplet number concentrations in the north than in the south. The north-south gradient of these variables are consistent with the aerosols’ effect on cloud microphysics, that is, higher aerosol concentration increases the number concentration of cloud droplets, which, in turn, reduces droplet sizes given the same liquid water path and cloud thickness. Results based on comparison between data collected from northern and southern hemispheres suggest that the increase in aerosol number concentration alters cloud droplet numbers and sizes while leaving liquid water contents approximately the same.Keywords: aerosol indirect effect, liquid water path, Indian Ocean Experiment, cloud effective radiusKeywords: aerosol indirect effect, liquid water path, Indian Ocean Experiment, cloud effective radiu

Decadal variations in the global atmospheric land temperatures

Interannual to decadal variations in Earth global temperature estimates have often been identified with El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. However, we show that variability on time scales of 2-15 years in mean annual global land surface temperature anomalies T-avg are more closely correlated with variability in sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic. In particular, the cross-correlation of annually averaged values of T-avg with annual values of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index is much stronger than that of T-avg with ENSO. The pattern of fluctuations in T-avg from 1950 to 2010 reflects true climate variability and is not an artifact of station sampling. A world map of temperature correlations shows that the association with AMO is broadly distributed and unidirectional. The effect of El Nino on temperature is locally stronger, but can be of either sign, leading to less impact on the global average. We identify one strong narrow spectral peak in the AMO at period 9.10.4 years and p value of 1.7% (confidence level, 98.3%). Variations in the flow of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation may be responsible for some of the 2-15 year variability observed in global land temperatures.Keywords: global warming, decadal variations, Earth surface temperature, climate change, AM