scholarly journals Precipitable water characteristics during the 2013 Colorado flood using ground-based GPS measurements

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4055-4066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah K. Huelsing ◽  
Junhong Wang ◽  
Carl Mears ◽  
John J. Braun
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Precipitable Water ◽  
Tropical Eastern Pacific ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Maximum Rainfall ◽  
Water Characteristics ◽  
Synoptic Features ◽  
Saturated Atmosphere

Abstract. During 9–16 September 2013, the Front Range region of Colorado experienced heavy rainfall that resulted in severe flooding. Precipitation totals for the event exceeded 450 mm, damages to public and private properties were estimated to be over USD 2 billion, and nine lives were lost. This study analyzes the characteristics of precipitable water (PW) surrounding the event using 10 years of high-resolution GPS PW data in Boulder, Colorado, which was located within the region of maximum rainfall. PW in Boulder is dominated by seasonal variability with an average summertime maximum of 36 mm. In 2013, the seasonal PW maximum extended into early September and the September monthly mean PW exceeded the 99th percentile of climatology with a value 25 % higher than the 40-year climatology. Prior to the flood, around 18:00 UTC on 8 September, PW rapidly increased from 22 to 32 mm and remained around 30 mm for the entire event as a result of the nearly saturated atmosphere. The frequency distribution of September PW for Boulder is typically normal, but in 2013 the distribution was bimodal due to a combination of above-average PW values from 1 to 15 September and much drier conditions from 16 to 30 September. The above-normal, near-saturation PW values during the flood were the result of large-scale moisture transport into Colorado from the Tropical Eastern Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. This moisture transport was the product of a stagnating cutoff low over the southwestern United States working in conjunction with an anticyclone located over the southeastern United States. A blocking ridge located over the Canadian Rocky Mountains kept both of the synoptic features in place over the course of several days, which helped to provide continuous moisture to the storm, thus enhancing the accumulated precipitation totals.

scholarly journals Precipitable Water Characteristics during the 2013 Colorado Flood using Ground-Based GPS Measurements

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah K. Huelsing ◽  
Junhong Wang ◽  
Carl Mears ◽  
John J. Braun
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Precipitable Water ◽  
Front Range ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Maximum Rainfall ◽  
Water Characteristics ◽  
Synoptic Features ◽  
Saturated Atmosphere

Abstract. During 9th–16th September 2013, the Front Range region of Colorado experienced heavy rainfall that resulted in severe flooding. Precipitation totals for the event exceeded 450 mm, damages to public and private properties were estimated to be over $ 2 billion, and nine lives were lost. This study analyzes the characteristics of precipitable water (PW) surrounding the event using 10 years of high-resolution GPS PW data in Boulder, Colorado, which was located within the region of maximum rainfall. PW in Boulder is dominated by seasonal variability with an average summertime maximum of 36 mm. In 2013, the seasonal PW maximum extended into early September and the September monthly mean PW exceeded the 99th percentile of climatology with a value 25 % higher than the 40 year climatology. Prior to the flood, around 18 UTC on 8 September, PW rapidly increased from 22 mm to 32 mm and remained around 30 mm for the entire event as a result of the nearly saturated atmosphere. The frequency distribution of September PW for Boulder is typically normal, but in 2013 the distribution was bimodal due to a combination of above average PW values from September 1st–15th and much drier conditions from 16th–30th September. The above normal, near saturation PW values during the flood were the result of large-scale moisture transport into Colorado from the eastern tropical Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. This moisture transport was the product of a stagnating, cutoff low over the southwestern United States working in conjunction with an anticyclone located over the southeastern United States. A blocking ridge located over the Canadian Rocky Mountains kept both of the synoptic features in place over the course of several days, which helped to provide continuous moisture to the storm, thus enhancing the accumulated precipitation totals.

scholarly journals Aerial Rivers and Lakes: Looking at Large-Scale Moisture Transport and Its Relation to Amazonia and to Subtropical Rainfall in South America

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 543-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefina Moraes Arraut ◽  
Carlos Nobre ◽  
Henrique M. J. Barbosa ◽  
Guillermo Obregon ◽  
José Marengo
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Precipitable Water ◽  
Trade Wind ◽  
Strong Increase ◽  
The North ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Southern Amazonia

Abstract This is an observational study of the large-scale moisture transport over South America, with some analyses on its relation to subtropical rainfall. The concept of aerial rivers is proposed as a framework: it is an analogy between the main pathways of moisture flow in the atmosphere and surface rivers. Opposite to surface rivers, aerial rivers gain (lose) water through evaporation (precipitation). The magnitude of the vertically integrated moisture transport is discharge, and precipitable water is like the mass of the liquid column—multiplied by an equivalent speed it gives discharge. Trade wind flow into Amazonia, and the north/northwesterly flow to the subtropics, east of the Andes, are aerial rivers. Aerial lakes are the sections of a moisture pathway where the flow slows down and broadens, because of diffluence, and becomes deeper, with higher precipitable water. This is the case over Amazonia, downstream of the trade wind confluence. In the dry season, moisture from the aerial lake is transported northeastward, but weaker flow over southern Amazonia heads southward toward the subtropics. Southern Amazonia appears as a source of moisture to this flow. Aerial river discharge to the subtropics is comparable to that of the Amazon River. The variations of the amount of moisture coming from Amazonia have an important effect over the variability of discharge. Correlations between the flow from Amazonia and subtropical rainfall are not strong. However, some months within the set of dry seasons observed showed a strong increase (decrease) occurring together with an important increase (decrease) in subtropical rainfall.

Corridors of Warm Season Precipitation in the Central United States

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (9) ◽  
pp. 2297-2317 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Tuttle ◽  
Chris A. Davis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Maximum Rainfall ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Precipitation Forecasting ◽  
Central United States ◽  
Mesoscale Convective

Abstract During the warm season in the central United States there often exists a corridor of precipitation where a succession of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) follow similar paths lasting several days. The total cumulative rainfall within a corridor can be substantial while precipitation at nearby regions may be below normal. Understanding the nature of the corridors and the environmental factors important for their formation thus has important implications for quantitative precipitation forecasting and hydrological studies. In this study a U.S. national composite radar dataset and model-analyzed fields are used for the 1998–2002 warm seasons (July–August) to understand the properties of corridors and what environmental factors are important for determining when and where they develop. The analysis is restricted to a relatively narrow longitudinal band in the central United States (95°–100°W), a region where convection often intensifies and becomes highly organized. It is found that ∼68% of MCSs were members of a series and that corridors typically persist for 2–7 days with an extreme case lasting 13 days. Cumulative radar-derived maximum rainfall ranges from 8 to 50 cm, underscoring the fact that corridors can experience excessive rainfall. Combining radar with Rapid Update Cycle model kinematic and thermodynamic fields, 5-yr composites are presented and stratified according to the environmental conditions. While the corridors show the expected association with areas of enhanced CAPE and relatively strong northwesterly/westerly shear, the strongest association is with the northern terminus region of the nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ). Furthermore, the relative intensity of the rainfall is positively correlated with the strength of the LLJ. The LLJ is thought to play a role through enhanced convergence and lifting, moisture transport, and frontogenesis. In the five years analyzed, the large-scale environment varied considerably, but the role of the LLJ in the formation of corridors remained persistent.

Quality Control of Data in a Large-Scale Cancer Register Program

1966 ◽  
Vol 05 (02) ◽  
pp. 67-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. I. Lourie ◽  
W. Haenszeland
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Quality Control ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Newly Diagnosed ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Cancer Register ◽  
Independent Review ◽  
End Results

Quality control of data collected in the United States by the Cancer End Results Program utilizing punchcards prepared by participating registries in accordance with a Uniform Punchcard Code is discussed. Existing arrangements decentralize responsibility for editing and related data processing to the local registries with centralization of tabulating and statistical services in the End Results Section, National Cancer Institute. The most recent deck of punchcards represented over 600,000 cancer patients; approximately 50,000 newly diagnosed cases are added annually.Mechanical editing and inspection of punchcards and field audits are the principal tools for quality control. Mechanical editing of the punchcards includes testing for blank entries and detection of in-admissable or inconsistent codes. Highly improbable codes are subjected to special scrutiny. Field audits include the drawing of a 1-10 percent random sample of punchcards submitted by a registry; the charts are .then reabstracted and recoded by a NCI staff member and differences between the punchcard and the results of independent review are noted.

Social inequality in the evolution of human societies

2019 ◽  
pp. 98-120
Author(s):  
Georgi Derluguian
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Tangible Assets ◽  
Transition To Agriculture ◽  
New Institutions ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

The author develops ideas about the origin of social inequality during the evolution of human societies and reflects on the possibilities of its overcoming. What makes human beings different from other primates is a high level of egalitarianism and altruism, which contributed to more successful adaptability of human collectives at early stages of the development of society. The transition to agriculture, coupled with substantially increasing population density, was marked by the emergence and institutionalisation of social inequality based on the inequality of tangible assets and symbolic wealth. Then, new institutions of warfare came into existence, and they were aimed at conquering and enslaving the neighbours engaged in productive labour. While exercising control over nature, people also established and strengthened their power over other people. Chiefdom as a new type of polity came into being. Elementary forms of power (political, economic and ideological) served as a basis for the formation of early states. The societies in those states were characterised by social inequality and cruelties, including slavery, mass violence and numerous victims. Nowadays, the old elementary forms of power that are inherent in personalistic chiefdom are still functioning along with modern institutions of public and private bureaucracy. This constitutes the key contradiction of our time, which is the juxtaposition of individual despotic power and public infrastructural one. However, society is evolving towards an ever more efficient combination of social initiatives with the sustainability and viability of large-scale organisations.

Utopias of One

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Kotin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War I ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Original Research ◽  
The Soviet Union

This book is a new account of utopian writing. It examines how eight writers—Henry David Thoreau, W. E. B. Du Bois, Osip and Nadezhda Mandel'shtam, Anna Akhmatova, Wallace Stevens, Ezra Pound, and J. H. Prynne—construct utopias of one within and against modernity's two large-scale attempts to harmonize individual and collective interests: liberalism and communism. The book begins in the United States between the buildup to the Civil War and the end of Jim Crow; continues in the Soviet Union between Stalinism and the late Soviet period; and concludes in England and the United States between World War I and the end of the Cold War. In this way it captures how writers from disparate geopolitical contexts resist state and normative power to construct perfect worlds—for themselves alone. The book contributes to debates about literature and politics, presenting innovative arguments about aesthetic difficulty, personal autonomy, and complicity and dissent. It models a new approach to transnational and comparative scholarship, combining original research in English and Russian to illuminate more than a century and a half of literary and political history.

Situational Breakdowns

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Nassauer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Outcomes ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Collective Decisions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Impact

This book provides an account of how and why routine interactions break down and how such situational breakdowns lead to protest violence and other types of surprising social outcomes. It takes a close-up look at the dynamic processes of how situations unfold and compares their role to that of motivations, strategies, and other contextual factors. The book discusses factors that can draw us into violent situations and describes how and why we make uncommon individual and collective decisions. Covering different types of surprise outcomes from protest marches and uprisings turning violent to robbers failing to rob a store at gunpoint, it shows how unfolding situations can override our motivations and strategies and how emotions and culture, as well as rational thinking, still play a part in these events. The first chapters study protest violence in Germany and the United States from 1960 until 2010, taking a detailed look at what happens between the start of a protest and the eruption of violence or its peaceful conclusion. They compare the impact of such dynamics to the role of police strategies and culture, protesters’ claims and violent motivations, the black bloc and agents provocateurs. The analysis shows how violence is triggered, what determines its intensity, and which measures can avoid its outbreak. The book explores whether we find similar situational patterns leading to surprising outcomes in other types of small- and large-scale events: uprisings turning violent, such as Ferguson in 2014 and Baltimore in 2015, and failed armed store robberies.

Ban Ki-moon, 2007–2016

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Gowan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Central African Republic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cautious Approach ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
The Face

During Ban Ki-moon’s tenure, the Security Council was shaken by P5 divisions over Kosovo, Georgia, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine. Yet it also continued to mandate and sustain large-scale peacekeeping operations in Africa, placing major burdens on the UN Secretariat. The chapter will argue that Ban initially took a cautious approach to controversies with the Council, and earned a reputation for excessive passivity in the face of crisis and deference to the United States. The second half of the chapter suggests that Ban shifted to a more activist pressure as his tenure went on, pressing the Council to act in cases including Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, and Syria. The chapter will argue that Ban had only a marginal impact on Council decision-making, even though he made a creditable effort to speak truth to power over cases such as the Central African Republic (CAR), challenging Council members to live up to their responsibilities.

scholarly journals Urban Policies and Large Projects in Central City Areas: The Example of Madrid (Spain)

Urban Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Dolores Brandis García
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Central City ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Urban Policies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The City

Since the late 20th century major, European cities have exhibited large projects driven by neoliberal urban planning policies whose aim is to enhance their position on the global market. By locating these projects in central city areas, they also heighten and reinforce their privileged situation within the city as a whole, thus contributing to deepening the centre–periphery rift. The starting point for this study is the significance and scope of large projects in metropolitan cities’ urban planning agendas since the final decade of the 20th century. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the correlation between the various opposing conservative and progressive urban policies, and the projects put forward, for the city of Madrid. A study of documentary sources and the strategies deployed by public and private agents are interpreted in the light of a process during which the city has had a succession of alternating governments defending opposing urban development models. This analysis allows us to conclude that the predominant large-scale projects proposed under conservative policies have contributed to deepening the centre–periphery rift appreciated in the city.

scholarly journals Scaling Up Delivery of Biofortified Staple Food Crops Globally: Paths to Nourishing Millions

2021 ◽  
pp. 037957212098250
Author(s):  
Jennifer K. Foley ◽  
Kristina D. Michaux ◽  
Bho Mudyahoto ◽  
Laira Kyazike ◽  
Binu Cherian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pearl Millet ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Seed Systems ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Public And Private Sector

Background: Micronutrient deficiencies affect over one quarter of the world’s population. Biofortification is an evidence-based nutrition strategy that addresses some of the most common and preventable global micronutrient gaps and can help improve the health of millions of people. Since 2013, HarvestPlus and a consortium of collaborators have made impressive progress in the enrichment of staple crops with essential micronutrients through conventional plant breeding. Objective: To review and highlight lessons learned from multiple large-scale delivery strategies used by HarvestPlus to scale up biofortification across different country and crop contexts. Results: India has strong public and private sector pearl millet breeding programs and a robust commercial seed sector. To scale-up pearl millet, HarvestPlus established partnerships with public and private seed companies, which facilitated the rapid commercialization of products and engagement of farmers in delivery activities. In Nigeria, HarvestPlus stimulated the initial acceptance and popularization of vitamin A cassava using a host of creative approaches, including “crowding in” delivery partners, innovative promotional programs, and development of intermediate raw material for industry and novel food products. In Uganda, orange sweet potato (OSP) is a traditional subsistence crop. Due to this, and the lack of formal seed systems and markets, HarvestPlus established a network of partnerships with community-based nongovernmental organizations and vine multipliers to popularize and scale-up delivery of OSP. Conclusions: Impact of biofortification ultimately depends on the development of sustainable markets for biofortified seeds and products. Results illustrate the need for context-specific, innovative solutions to promote widespread adoption.

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