Diagnosing the Scale and Space Dependent Horizontal Eddy Diffusivity at the Global Surface Ocean

Author(s):  
Aleksi Nummelin ◽  
Julius J. M. Busecke ◽  
Thomas W. N. Haine ◽  
Ryan P. Abernathey

AbstractOceanic tracers are transported by oceanic motions of all scales, but only the large scale motions are resolved by the present-day Earth System Models. In these models, the unresolved lateral sub-gridscale tracer transport is generally parameterized through diffusive closures with a scale-independent diffusion coeffcient. However, evidence from observations and theory suggests that diffusivity varies spatially and is length-scale dependent. Here we provide new scale-dependent quantification of the global surface diffusivities. To this end we use a recently developed statistical inversion method, MicroInverse, to diagnose horizontal surface diffusivities from observed sea surface temperature and idealized model simulation. We compare the results to theoretical estimates of mixing by the large scale shear and by the sub-gridscale velocity fluctuations. The diagnosed diffusivity magnitude peaks in the tropics and western boundary currents with minima in the sub-tropical gyres (~3000 m2s−1 and ~100 m2s−1) at ~40 km scale, respectively. Focusing on the 40-200 km length scale range, we find that the diffusivity magnitude scales with the length scale to a power (n) that is between 1.22-1.54 (90% confidence) in the tropics and also peaks at values above 1 in the boundary currents. In the midlatitudes we find that 0:58 < n < 0:87 (90% confidence). Comparison to the theory suggests that in regions with n > 1 the horizontal mixing is dominated by large scale shear, whereas in regions where n < 1 the horizontal mixing is due to processes that are small compared to the 40-200 km length scale range considered in this study.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Taszarek ◽  
John T. Allen ◽  
Mattia Marchio ◽  
Harold E. Brooks

AbstractGlobally, thunderstorms are responsible for a significant fraction of rainfall, and in the mid-latitudes often produce extreme weather, including large hail, tornadoes and damaging winds. Despite this importance, how the global frequency of thunderstorms and their accompanying hazards has changed over the past 4 decades remains unclear. Large-scale diagnostics applied to global climate models have suggested that the frequency of thunderstorms and their intensity is likely to increase in the future. Here, we show that according to ERA5 convective available potential energy (CAPE) and convective precipitation (CP) have decreased over the tropics and subtropics with simultaneous increases in 0–6 km wind shear (BS06). Conversely, rawinsonde observations paint a different picture across the mid-latitudes with increasing CAPE and significant decreases to BS06. Differing trends and disagreement between ERA5 and rawinsondes observed over some regions suggest that results should be interpreted with caution, especially for CAPE and CP across tropics where uncertainty is the highest and reliable long-term rawinsonde observations are missing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Kawamura ◽  
Suzune Nishikawa ◽  
Kotaro Hirano ◽  
Ardianor Ardianor ◽  
Rudy Agung Nugroho ◽  
...  

AbstractAlgal biofuel research aims to make a renewable, carbon–neutral biofuel by using oil-producing microalgae. The freshwater microalga Botryococcus braunii has received much attention due to its ability to accumulate large amounts of petroleum-like hydrocarbons but suffers from slow growth. We performed a large-scale screening of fast-growing strains with 180 strains isolated from 22 ponds located in a wide geographic range from the tropics to cool-temperate. A fast-growing strain, Showa, which recorded the highest productivities of algal hydrocarbons to date, was used as a benchmark. The initial screening was performed by monitoring optical densities in glass tubes and identified 9 wild strains with faster or equivalent growth rates to Showa. The biomass-based assessments showed that biomass and hydrocarbon productivities of these strains were 12–37% and 11–88% higher than that of Showa, respectively. One strain, OIT-678 established a new record of the fastest growth rate in the race B strains with a doubling time of 1.2 days. The OIT-678 had 36% higher biomass productivity, 34% higher hydrocarbon productivity, and 20% higher biomass density than Showa at the same cultivation conditions, suggesting the potential of the new strain to break the record for the highest productivities of hydrocarbons.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Nilsson-Kerr ◽  
Pallavi Anand ◽  
Philip B. Holden ◽  
Steven C. Clemens ◽  
Melanie J. Leng

AbstractMost of Earth’s rain falls in the tropics, often in highly seasonal monsoon rains, which are thought to be coupled to the inter-hemispheric migrations of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone in response to the seasonal cycle of insolation. Yet characterization of tropical rainfall behaviour in the geologic past is poor. Here we combine new and existing hydroclimate records from six large-scale tropical regions with fully independent model-based rainfall reconstructions across the last interval of sustained warmth and ensuing climate cooling between 130 to 70 thousand years ago (Marine Isotope Stage 5). Our data-model approach reveals large-scale heterogeneous rainfall patterns in response to changes in climate. We note pervasive dipole-like tropical precipitation patterns, as well as different loci of precipitation throughout Marine Isotope Stage 5 than recorded in the Holocene. These rainfall patterns cannot be solely attributed to meridional shifts in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 4384-4399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolando R. Garcia ◽  
Ruth Lieberman ◽  
James M. Russell ◽  
Martin G. Mlynczak

Abstract Observations made by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on board NASA’s Thermosphere–Ionosphere–Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite have been processed using Salby’s fast Fourier synoptic mapping (FFSM) algorithm. The mapped data provide a first synoptic look at the mean structure and traveling waves of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) since the launch of the TIMED satellite in December 2001. The results show the presence of various wave modes in the MLT, which reach largest amplitude above the mesopause and include Kelvin and Rossby–gravity waves, eastward-propagating diurnal oscillations (“non-sun-synchronous tides”), and a set of quasi-normal modes associated with the so-called 2-day wave. The latter exhibits marked seasonal variability, attaining large amplitudes during the solstices and all but disappearing at the equinoxes. SABER data also show a strong quasi-stationary Rossby wave signal throughout the middle atmosphere of the winter hemisphere; the signal extends into the Tropics and even into the summer hemisphere in the MLT, suggesting ducting by westerly background zonal winds. At certain times of the year, the 5-day Rossby normal mode and the 4-day wave associated with instability of the polar night jet are also prominent in SABER data.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Germana Landi ◽  
Fabiana Zama ◽  
Villiam Bortolotti

This paper is concerned with the reconstruction of relaxation time distributions in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) relaxometry. This is a large-scale and ill-posed inverse problem with many potential applications in biology, medicine, chemistry, and other disciplines. However, the large amount of data and the consequently long inversion times, together with the high sensitivity of the solution to the value of the regularization parameter, still represent a major issue in the applicability of the NMR relaxometry. We present a method for two-dimensional data inversion (2DNMR) which combines Truncated Singular Value Decomposition and Tikhonov regularization in order to accelerate the inversion time and to reduce the sensitivity to the value of the regularization parameter. The Discrete Picard condition is used to jointly select the SVD truncation and Tikhonov regularization parameters. We evaluate the performance of the proposed method on both simulated and real NMR measurements.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora Henriques ◽  
Ana R. Lopes ◽  
Nor Chejanovsky ◽  
Anne Dalmon ◽  
Mariano Higes ◽  
...  

AbstractWith a growing number of parasites and pathogens experiencing large-scale range expansions, monitoring diversity in immune genes of host populations has never been so important because it can inform on the adaptive potential to resist the invaders. Population surveys of immune genes are becoming common in many organisms, yet they are missing in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), a key managed pollinator species that has been severely affected by biological invasions. To fill the gap, here we identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a wide range of honey bee immune genes and developed a medium-density assay targeting a subset of these genes. Using a discovery panel of 123 whole-genomes, representing seven A. mellifera subspecies and three evolutionary lineages, 180 immune genes were scanned for SNPs in exons, introns (< 4 bp from exons), 3’ and 5´UTR, and < 1 kb upstream of the transcription start site. After application of multiple filtering criteria and validation, the final medium-density assay combines 91 quality-proved functional SNPs marking 89 innate immune genes and these can be readily typed using the high-sample-throughput iPLEX MassARRAY system. This medium-density-SNP assay was applied to 156 samples from four countries and the admixture analysis clustered the samples according to their lineage and subspecies, suggesting that honey bee ancestry can be delineated from functional variation. In addition to allowing analysis of immunogenetic variation, this newly-developed SNP assay can be used for inferring genetic structure and admixture in the honey bee.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (20) ◽  
pp. 6037-6050 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Lawrence ◽  
M. Salzmann

Abstract. Global chemistry-transport models (CTMs) and chemistry-GCMs (CGCMs) generally simulate vertical tracer transport by deep convection separately from the advective transport by the mean winds, even though a component of the mean transport, for instance in the Hadley and Walker cells, occurs in deep convective updrafts. This split treatment of vertical transport has various implications for CTM simulations. In particular, it has led to a misinterpretation of several sensitivity simulations in previous studies in which the parameterized convective transport of one or more tracers is neglected. We describe this issue in terms of simulated fluxes and fractions of these fluxes representing various physical and non-physical processes. We then show that there is a significant overlap between the convective and large-scale mean advective vertical air mass fluxes in the CTM MATCH, and discuss the implications which this has for interpreting previous and future sensitivity simulations, as well as briefly noting other related implications such as numerical diffusion.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1551-1571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Xia

Purpose The main purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive upscale theory of the thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation for three-dimensional (3D) large-scale non-isothermal problems, so that a small 3D length-scale particle model can exactly reproduce the same mechanical and thermal results with that of a large 3D length-scale one. Design/methodology/approach The objective is achieved by following the scaling methodology proposed by Feng and Owen (2014). Findings After four basic physical quantities and their similarity-ratios are chosen, the derived quantities and its similarity-ratios can be derived from its dimensions. As the proposed comprehensive 3D upscale theory contains five similarity criteria, it reveals the intrinsic relationship between the particle-simulation solution obtained from a small 3D length-scale (e.g. a laboratory length-scale) model and that obtained from a large 3D length-scale (e.g. a geological length-scale) one. The scale invariance of the 3D interaction law in the thermo-mechanical coupled particle model is examined. The proposed 3D upscale theory is tested through two typical examples. Finally, a practical application example of 3D transient heat flow in a solid with constant heat flux is given to illustrate the performance of the proposed 3D upscale theory in the thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation of 3D large-scale non-isothermal problems. Both the benchmark tests and application example are provided to demonstrate the correctness and usefulness of the proposed 3D upscale theory for simulating 3D non-isothermal problems using the particle simulation method. Originality/value The paper provides some important theoretical guidance to modeling 3D large-scale non-isothermal problems at both the engineering length-scale (i.e. the meter-scale) and the geological length-scale (i.e. the kilometer-scale) using the particle simulation method directly.


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