The Three-Dimensional Distribution of Clouds over the Southern Hemisphere High Latitudes

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (22) ◽  
pp. 5799-5811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Verlinden ◽  
David W. J. Thompson ◽  
Graeme L. Stephens

Abstract The authors exploit three years of data from the CloudSat and Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellites to document for the first time the seasonally varying vertical structure of cloudiness throughout Antarctica and the high-latitude Southern Ocean. The results provide a baseline reference of Southern Hemisphere high-latitude cloudiness for future observational and modeling studies, and they highlight several previously undocumented aspects and key features of Antarctic cloudiness. The key features of high-latitude Southern Hemisphere cloudiness documented here include 1) a pronounced seasonal cycle in cloudiness over the high-latitude Southern Hemisphere, with higher cloud incidences generally found during the winter season over both the Southern Ocean and Antarctica; 2) two distinct maxima in vertical profiles of cloud incidence over the Southern Ocean, one centered near the surface and another centered in the upper troposphere; 3) a nearly discontinuous drop-off in cloudiness near 8 km over much of the continent that peaks during autumn, winter, and spring; 4) large east–west gradients in upper-level cloudiness in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula that peak during the austral spring season; and 5) evidence that cloudiness in the polar stratosphere is marked not by a secondary maximum at stratospheric levels but by a nearly monotonic decrease with height from the tropopause. Key results are interpreted in the context of the seasonally varying profiles of vertical motion and static stability and compared with results of previous studies.

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 10549-10576
Author(s):  
M. Zou ◽  
X. Xiong ◽  
N. Saitoh ◽  
J. Warner ◽  
Y. Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Space-borne observations of atmospheric methane (CH4) have been made using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS/Aqua satellite since August 2002 and the Thermal and Near-infrared Sensor for Carbon Observation Fourier Transform Spectrometer (TANSO-FTS) on the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) since April 2009. This study compared the GOSAT TANSO-FTS thermal infrared (TIR) version 1.0 CH4 product with the collocated AIRS version 6 CH4 product using data from 1 August 2010 to 30 June 2012, including the CH4 mixing ratios and the total column amounts. The results show that at 300–600 hPa, where both AIRS and GOSAT-TIR CH4 have peak sensitivities, they agree very well, but GOSAT-TIR retrievals tend to be higher than AIRS in layer 200–300 hPa. At 300 hPa the CH4 mixing ratio from GOSAT-TIR is, on average, 10.3 ± 31.8 ppbv higher than that from AIRS, and at 600 hPa GOSAT-TIR retrieved CH4 is -16.2 ± 25.7 ppbv lower than AIRS CH4. Comparison of the total column amount of CH4 shows that GOSAT-TIR agrees with AIRS to within 1 % in the mid-latitude regions of Southern Hemisphere and in tropics. In the mid to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, GOSAT-TIR is ~ 1–2 % lower than AIRS, and in the high-latitude regions of Southern Hemisphere the difference of GOSAT from AIRS varies from −3 % in October to +2 % in July. The difference between AIRS and GOSAT TANSO-FTS retrievals is mainly due to the difference in retrieval algorithms and instruments itself, and the larger difference in the high latitude regions is associated with the low information content and small degree of freedoms of the retrieval. The degree of freedom of GOSAT-TIR retrievals is lower than that of AIRS also indicates that the constraint in GOSAT-TIR retrieval may be too strong. From the good correlation between AIRS and GOSAT-TIR retrievals and the seasonal variation they observed we are confident that the thermal infrared measurements from AIRS and GOSAT-TIR can provide valuable information to capture the spatial and temporal variation of CH4, especially in the mid-upper troposphere, in most time and regions.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Poulsen ◽  
◽  
Jiang Zhu ◽  
Andrew Vande Guchte

Author(s):  
Satoshi Fujita ◽  
Keisuke Minagawa ◽  
Mitsuru Miyazaki ◽  
Go Tanaka ◽  
Toshio Omi ◽  
...  

This paper describes three-dimensional isolation performance of seismic isolation system using air bearings. Long period seismic waves having predominant period of from a few seconds to a few ten seconds have recently been observed in various earthquakes. Also resonances of high-rise buildings and sloshing of petroleum tanks in consequence of long period seismic waves have been reported. Therefore the isolation systems having very long natural period or no natural period are required. In a previous paper [1], we proposed an isolation system having no natural period by using air bearings. Additionally we have already reported an introduction of the system, and have investigated horizontal motion during earthquake in the previous paper. It was confirmed by horizontal vibration experiment and simulation in the previous paper that the proposed system had good performance of isolation. However vertical motion should be investigated, because vertical motion varies horizontal frictional force. Therefore this paper describes investigation regarding vertical motion of the proposed system by experiment. At first, a vertical excitation test of the system is carried out so as to investigate vertical dynamic property. Then a three-dimensional vibration test using seismic waves is carried out so as to investigate performance of isolation against three-dimensional seismic waves.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Matthias Moros ◽  
Patrick De Deckker ◽  
Kerstin Perner ◽  
Ulysses S. Ninnemann ◽  
Lukas Wacker ◽  
...  

Abstract Northern and southern hemispheric influences—particularly changes in Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SSW) and Southern Ocean ventilation—triggered the stepwise atmospheric CO2 increase that accompanied the last deglaciation. One approach for gaining potential insights into past changes in SWW/CO2 upwelling is to reconstruct the positions of the northern oceanic fronts associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Using two deep-sea cores located ~600 km apart off the southern coast of Australia, we detail oceanic changes from ~23 to 6 ka using foraminifer faunal and biomarker alkenone records. Our results indicate a tight coupling between hydrographic and related frontal displacements offshore South Australia (and by analogy, possibly the entire Southern Ocean) and Northern Hemisphere (NH) climate that may help confirm previous hypotheses that the westerlies play a critical role in modulating CO2 uptake and release from the Southern Ocean on millennial and potentially even centennial timescales. The intensity and extent of the northward displacements of the Subtropical Front following well-known NH cold events seem to decrease with progressing NH ice sheet deglaciation and parallel a weakening NH temperature response and amplitude of Intertropical Convergence Zone shifts. In addition, an exceptional poleward shift of Southern Hemisphere fronts occurs during the NH Heinrich Stadial 1. This event was likely facilitated by the NH ice maximum and acted as a coup-de-grâce for glacial ocean stratification and its high CO2 capacitance. Thus, through its influence on the global atmosphere and on ocean mixing, “excessive” NH glaciation could have triggered its own demise by facilitating the destratification of the glacial ocean CO2 state.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1847-1863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiming Li ◽  
Qiaoyi Lv ◽  
Min Zhang ◽  
Tianhe Wang ◽  
Kazuaki Kawamoto ◽  
...  

Abstract. Based on 8 years of (January 2008–December 2015) cloud phase information from the GCM-Oriented Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Cloud Product (GOCCP), aerosol products from CALIPSO and meteorological parameters from the ERA-Interim products, the present study investigates the effects of atmospheric dynamics on the supercooled liquid cloud fraction (SCF) during nighttime under different aerosol loadings at global scale to better understand the conditions of supercooled liquid water gradually transforming to ice phase. Statistical results indicate that aerosols' effect on nucleation cannot fully explain all SCF changes, especially in those regions where aerosols' effect on nucleation is not a first-order influence (e.g., due to low ice nuclei aerosol frequency). By performing the temporal and spatial correlations between SCFs and different meteorological factors, this study presents specifically the relationship between SCF and different meteorological parameters under different aerosol loadings on a global scale. We find that the SCFs almost decrease with increasing of aerosol loading, and the SCF variation is closely related to the meteorological parameters but their temporal relationship is not stable and varies with the different regions, seasons and isotherm levels. Obviously negative temporal correlations between SCFs versus vertical velocity and relative humidity indicate that the higher vertical velocity and relative humidity the smaller SCFs. However, the patterns of temporal correlation for lower-tropospheric static stability, skin temperature and horizontal wind are relatively more complex than those of vertical velocity and humidity. For example, their close correlations are predominantly located in middle and high latitudes and vary with latitude or surface type. Although these statistical correlations have not been used to establish a certain causal relationship, our results may provide a unique point of view on the phase change of mixed-phase cloud and have potential implications for further improving the parameterization of the cloud phase and determining the climate feedbacks.


1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1107-1133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Fleet

A review of electrochemical reactor systems for the recovery of metals and for pollution control applications is presented. The major engineering factors which influence the design of reactors are evaluated and the key features of two-dimensional and three-dimensional reactor designs are discussed. Some examples of the application of electrochemical reactors to the recovery of metals from dilute solutions are given in the form of case studies, covering both pollution control and resource recovery processes. Finally a comparison is made of the relative technical and economic merits of electrochemical recovery pollution control systems and conventional chemical waste treatment routes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 561-562
Author(s):  
James G. Phillips ◽  
Rowan P. Ogeil

AbstractEvidence from egocentric space is cited to support bicoding of navigation in three-dimensional space. Horizontal distances and space are processed differently from the vertical. Indeed, effector systems are compatible in horizontal space, but potentially incompatible (or chaotic) during transitions to vertical motion. Navigation involves changes in coordinates, and animal models of navigation indicate that time has an important role.


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