scholarly journals Evaluating the robustness of snow climate indicators using a unique set of parallel snow measurement series

Author(s):  
Moritz Buchmann ◽  
Michael Begert ◽  
Stefan Brönnimann ◽  
Christoph Marty
2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Zhang-Hua XU ◽  
Jian LIU ◽  
Kun-Yong YU ◽  
Cong-Hong GONG ◽  
Meng-Ya TANG ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Bilal ◽  
Muhammad Farhan Bashir ◽  
Khurram Shahzad ◽  
Bushra Komal ◽  
Muhammad Adnan Bashir ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 166 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Gerst ◽  
Melissa A. Kenney ◽  
Irina Feygina

AbstractVisual climate indicators have become a popular way to communicate trends in important climate phenomena. Producing accessible visualizations for a general audience is challenging, especially when many are based on graphics designed for scientists, present complex and abstract concepts, and utilize suboptimal design choices. This study tests whether diagnostic visualization guidelines can be used to identify communication shortcomings for climate indicators and to specify effective design modifications. Design guidelines were used to diagnose problems in three hard-to-understand indicators, and to create three improved modifications per indicator. Using online surveys, the efficacy of the modifications was tested in a control versus treatment setup that measured the degree to which respondents understood, found accessible, liked, and trusted the graphics. Furthermore, we assessed whether respondents’ numeracy, climate attitudes, and political party affiliation affected the impact of design improvements. Results showed that simplifying modifications had a large positive effect on understanding, ease of understanding, and liking, but not trust. Better designs improved understanding similarly for people with different degrees of numerical capacity. Moreover, while climate skepticism was associated with less positive subjective responses and greater mistrust toward climate communication, design modification improved understanding equally for people across the climate attitude and ideological spectrum. These findings point to diagnostic design guidelines as a useful tool for creating more accessible, engaging climate graphics for the public.


Author(s):  
Samweli Faraja Miyayo ◽  
Patrick Opiyo Owili ◽  
Miriam Adoyo Muga ◽  
Tang-Huang Lin

In 2018, 70% of global fatalities due to pneumonia occurred in about fifteen countries, with Tanzania being among the top eight countries contributing to these deaths. Environmental and individual factors contributing to these deaths may be multifaceted, but they have not yet been explored in Tanzania. Therefore, in this study, we explore the association between climate change and the occurrence of pneumonia in the Tanga Region, Tanzania. A time series study design was employed using meteorological and health data of the Tanga Region collected from January 2016 to December 2018 from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority and Health Management Information System, respectively. The generalized negative binomial regression technique was used to explore the associations between climate indicators (i.e., precipitation, humidity, and temperature) and the occurrence of pneumonia. There were trend differences in climate indicators and the occurrence of pneumonia between the Tanga and Handeni districts. We found a positive association between humidity and increased rates of non-severe pneumonia (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.01; 95% CI: 1.01–1.02; p ≤ 0.05) and severe pneumonia (IRR = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01–1.03; p ≤ 0.05). There was also a significant association between cold temperatures and the rate of severe pneumonia in Tanga (IRR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11–1.33; p ≤ 0.001). Other factors that were associated with pneumonia included age and district of residence. We found a positive relationship between humidity, temperature, and incidence of pneumonia in the Tanga Region. Policies focusing on prevention and control, as well as promotion strategies relating to climate change-related health effects should be developed and implemented.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-341
Author(s):  
Rafał Gawałkiewicz ◽  
Anna Szafarczyk

Mounds, as anthropogenic constructions of a very delicate structure, are subdued to constant changes, which, due to the impact of external factors (prolonged precipitation, tremors) are subdued to deformations in the form of mass movements. These phenomena usually have the character of mild soil creep in time and sometimes, as a result of rapid loss of stability, they are seriously damaged by landslide. This phenomenon causes temporary exclusion of the object from use. In the framework of the protection of these objects, the maintenance was carried out within the preventive measures referring to the construction and surveying monitoring of the geometry changes in time, as a result of phenomena taking place in the ground medium under the influence of environmental factors causing strains. The process of the deformation of mounds is similar to the characteristic, according to the Terzagie's theory. The application of surveying technologies of high precision allows the monitoring of changes in their geometry in time. The properly defined study area and the proper selection of measurement technology in the aspect of the accuracy of the prediction of changes, can efficiently help in defining the scale of deformations in the decisive process referring to the way of efficient protection of barrows. The article presents the results of point monitoring carried out with surveying technologies within 11 measurement series carried out on the selected measurement base of the Wanda Mound. The use of measurement technologies of integrated and specialist software, allows complex assessment of the degree of deformation and the trends of these changes in time, as well as identifying anomaly zones in the framework of the landslide monitoring.


2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1227-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Zemp ◽  
E. Thibert ◽  
M. Huss ◽  
D. Stumm ◽  
C. Rolstad Denby ◽  
...  

Abstract. Glacier-wide mass balance has been measured for more than sixty years and is widely used as an indicator of climate change and to assess the glacier contribution to runoff and sea level rise. Until recently, comprehensive uncertainty assessments have rarely been carried out and mass balance data have often been applied using rough error estimation or without consideration of errors. In this study, we propose a framework for reanalysing glacier mass balance series that includes conceptual and statistical toolsets for assessment of random and systematic errors, as well as for validation and calibration (if necessary) of the glaciological with the geodetic balance results. We demonstrate the usefulness and limitations of the proposed scheme, drawing on an analysis that comprises over 50 recording periods for a dozen glaciers, and we make recommendations to investigators and users of glacier mass balance data. Reanalysing glacier mass balance series needs to become a standard procedure for every monitoring programme to improve data quality, including reliable uncertainty estimates.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Feng ◽  
Paul Houser

In this study, we developed a suite of spatially and temporally scalable Water Cycle Indicators (WCI) to examine the long-term changes in water cycle variability and demonstrated their use over the contiguous US (CONUS) during 1979–2013 using the MERRA reanalysis product. The WCI indicators consist of six water balance variables monitoring the mean conditions and extreme aspects of the changing water cycle. The variables include precipitation (P), evaporation (E), runoff (R), terrestrial water storage (dS/dt), moisture convergence flux (C), and atmospheric moisture content (dW/dt). Means are determined as the daily total value, while extremes include wet and dry extremes, defined as the upper and lower 10th percentile of daily distribution. Trends are assessed for annual and seasonal indicators at several different spatial scales. Our results indicate that significant changes have occurred in most of the indicators, and these changes are geographically and seasonally dependent. There are more upward trends than downward trends in all eighteen annual indicators averaged over the CONUS. The spatial correlations between the annual trends in means and extremes are statistically significant across the country and are stronger forP,E,R, andCcompared todS/dtanddW/dt.


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