Droughts and wet spells

Author(s):  
Stephen Burt ◽  
Tim Burt

This brief chapter analyses the extremes of precipitation excess and deficit recorded at the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford since 1827. Tables of noteworthy spells of drought are included together with precipitation depth–duration extremes from 1 day to 1 year, updated to 2018.

2021 ◽  
Vol 165 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Thian Yew Gan ◽  
Xuezhi Tan
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Mubashshir Ali ◽  
Olivia Martius ◽  
Matthias Röthlisberger

<p>Upper-level synoptic-scale Rossby wave packets are well-known to affect surface weather. When these Rossby wave packets occur repeatedly in the same phase at a specific location, they can result in persistent hot, cold, dry, and wet conditions. The repeated and in-phase occurrence of Rossby wave packets is termed as recurrent synoptic-scale Rossby wave packets (RRWPs). RRWPs result from multiple transient synoptic-scale wave packets amplifying in the same geographical region over several weeks.</p><p>Our climatological analyses using reanalysis data have shown that RRWPs can significantly modulate the persistence of hot, cold, dry, and wet spells in several regions in the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere.  RRWPs can both shorten or extend hot, cold, and dry spell durations. The spatial patterns of statistically significant links between RRWPs and spell durations are distinct for the type of the spell (hot, cold, dry, or wet) and the season (MJJASO or NDJFMA). In the Northern Hemisphere, the spatial patterns where RRWPs either extend or shorten the spell durations are wave-like. In the Southern Hemisphere, the spatial patterns are either wave-like (hot and cold spells) or latitudinally banded (dry and wet spells).</p><p>Furthermore, we explore the atmospheric drivers behind RRWP events. This includes both the background flow and potential wave-triggers such as the Madden Julian Oscillation or blocking. For 100 events of intense Rossby wave recurrence in the Atlantic, the background flow, the intensity of tropical convection, and the occurrence of blocking are studied using flow composites.</p>


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3051
Author(s):  
Girma Berhe Adane ◽  
Birtukan Abebe Hirpa ◽  
Chul-Hee Lim ◽  
Woo-Kyun Lee

This study aimed to analyze the probability of the occurrence of dry/wet spell rainfall using the Markov chain model in the Upper Awash River Basin, Ethiopia. The rainfall analysis was conducted in the short rainy (Belg) and long rainy (Kiremt) seasons on a dekadal (10–day) scale over a 30-year period. In the Belg season, continuous, three-dekad dry spells were prevalent at all stations. Persistent dry spells might result in meteorological, hydrological, and socio-economic drought (in that order) and merge with the Kiremt season. The consecutive wet dekads of the Kiremt season indicate a higher probability of wet dekads at all stations, except Metehara. This station experienced a short duration (dekads 20–23) of wet spells, in which precipitation is more than 50% likely. Nevertheless, surplus rainwater may be recorded at Debrezeit and Wonji only in the Kiremt season because of a higher probability of wet spells in most dekads (dekads 19–24). At these stations, rainfall can be harvested for better water management practices to supply irrigation during the dry season, to conserve moisture, and to reduce erosion. This reduces the vulnerability of the farmers around the river basin, particularly in areas where dry spell dekads are dominant.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuewu Fu ◽  
Yang Xu ◽  
Xiaofang Lang ◽  
Jun Zhu ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Mercury (Hg) concentrations and deposition fluxes in precipitation and litterfall were measured at multiple sites (six rural sites and an urban site) across a broad geographic area in China. The annual deposition fluxes of Hg in precipitation at rural sites and an urban site were 2.0 to 7.2 µg m−2 yr−1 and 12.6 ± 6.5 µg m−2 yr−1, respectively. Wet deposition fluxes of Hg at rural sites showed a clear regional difference with elevated deposition fluxes in the subtropical zone, followed by the temporal zone and arid/semi-arid zone. Precipitation depth is the primary influencing factor causing the variation of wet deposition. Hg fluxes through litterfall ranged from 22.8 to 62.8 µg m−2 yr−1, higher than the wet deposition by a factor of 3.9 to 8.7 fluxes and representing approximately 75 % of the total Hg deposition at the forest sites in China. This suggests that uptake of atmospheric Hg by foliage is the dominant pathway to remove atmospheric mercury in forest ecosystems in China. Wet deposition fluxes of Hg at rural sites of China were generally lower compared to those in North America and Europe, possibly due to a combination of lower precipitation depth, lower GOM concentrations in the troposphere and the generally lower cloud base heights at most sites that washout a smaller amount of GOM and PBM during precipitation events.


1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (17) ◽  
pp. 3367-3370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiguo Dai ◽  
Kevin E. Trenberth ◽  
Thomas R. Karl
Keyword(s):  

2013 ◽  
Vol 118 (10) ◽  
pp. 4025-4048 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. van der Schrier ◽  
J. Barichivich ◽  
K. R. Briffa ◽  
P. D. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Data Set ◽  

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snezana Nenadovic ◽  
Milos Nenadovic ◽  
Ivana Vukanac ◽  
Aleksandar Djordjevic ◽  
Slavoljub Dragicevic ◽  
...  

This paper introduces the distribution background and unique characteristics of 137Cs in cultivated and undisturbed areas. The samples were taken from three measuring points of the depth of 1 m. We examined all visible horizons and determined their classifications. There were four horizons in one profile. All four horizons had a different zone thickness. 137Cs is an artificial radionuclide that has been produced primarily as a result of atmospheric thermonuclear weapon tests since the 1950. Also, the great amount of 137Cs (~85 PBq) was released in the atmosphere during the Chernobyl accident. So, 137Cs has been globally distributed, with fallout rates generally related to latitude and precipitation depth. The movement of 137Cs in soil is primarily controlled by soil erosion processes, such as processes caused by water, wind, and tillage. Thus, 137Cs is a valuable tracer to study soil erosion. The specific activity of 137Cs in soil and sediment samples was determined by using the gamma-spectrometric method.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1194-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayang Mohd Deni ◽  
Abdul Aziz Jemain ◽  
Kamarulzaman Ibrahim

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