scholarly journals Sval_Imp: a gridded forcing dataset for climate change impact research on Svalbard

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 875-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Vikhamar Schuler ◽  
Torbjørn Ims Østby

Abstract. We present Sval_Imp, a high-resolution gridded dataset designed for forcing models of terrestrial surface processes on Svalbard. The dataset is defined on a 1 km grid covering the archipelago of Svalbard, located in the Norwegian Arctic (74–82∘ N). Using a hybrid methodology, combining multidimensional interpolation with simple dynamical modeling, the atmospheric reanalyses ERA-40 and ERA-Interim by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting have been downscaled to cover the period 1957–2017 at steps of 6 h. The dataset is publicly available from a data repository. In this paper, we describe the methodology used to construct the dataset, present the organization of the data in the repository and discuss the performance of the downscaling procedure. In doing so, the dataset is compared to a wealth of data available from operational and project-based measurements. The quality of the downscaled dataset is found to vary in space and time, but it generally represents an improvement compared to unscaled values, especially for precipitation. Whereas operational records are biased to low elevations around the fringes, we stress the hitherto underused potential of project-based measurements at higher elevation and in the interior of the archipelago for evaluating atmospheric models. For instance, records of snow accumulation on large ice masses may represent measures of seasonally integrated precipitation in regions sensitive to the downscaling procedure and thus providing added value. Sval_Imp (Schuler, 2018) is publicly available from the Norwegian Research Data Archive NIRD, a data repository (https://doi.org/10.11582/2018.00006).

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Vikhamar Schuler ◽  
Torbjørn Ims Østby

Abstract. We present Sval_Imp_v1, a high resolution gridded dataset designed for forcing models of terrestrial surface processes on Svalbard. The dataset is defined on a 1 km grid covering the archipelago of Svalbard, located in the Norwegian Arctic (74–82° N). Using a hybrid methodology combining multi-dimensional interpolation with simple dynamical modelling, the atmospheric reanalyses ERA-40 and ERA-interim by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting have been downscaled to cover the period 1957–2017 at steps of 6 h. The dataset is publicly available from a data repository. In this paper, we describe the methodology used to construct the dataset, present the organization of the data in the repository and discuss the performance of the downscaling procedure. In doing so, the dataset is compared to a wealth of data available from operational as well as project-based measurements. The quality of the downscaled dataset is found to vary in space and time, but generally represents an improvement compared to unscaled values, especially for precipitation. Whereas operational records are biased to low-elevations around the fringes of the archipelago, we stress the hitherto under-used potential of project-based measurements for evaluating atmospheric models. For instance, records of snow accumulation on large ice masses may represent measures of seasonally-integrated precipitation in regions sensitive to the downscaling procedure, thus providing added value.


MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-416
Author(s):  
GAJENDRA KUMAR ◽  
RANJU MADAN ◽  
K.C. SAIKRISHNAN ◽  
S.K. KUNDU ◽  
P.K. JAIN

In recent years, the upper air radiosounding system based on Global Positioning System (GPS) is used as an effective method. GPS receiving device in a Radiosonde improves observation accuracy, allowing simplification of ground equipment. To get improved quality of upper air data, ten stations have been upgraded with new upper air systems based on GPS. This paper describes the upper air radiosounding system that adopts the GPS. After the introduction of GPS Radiosonde in the network at 10 places, data quality has improved substantially at these stations, which has been validated by National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). In all cases the quality change has been remarkable and as a result black list tag is removed by ECMWF for the Indian GPS stations.


Author(s):  
João Rocha da Silva ◽  
Cristina Ribeiro ◽  
João Correia Lopes

This chapter consists of a solution for the management of research data at a higher education and research institution. The chapter is based on a small-scale data audit study, which included contacts with researchers and yielded some preliminary requirements and use cases. These requirements led to the design of a data curation workflow involving the researcher, the curator, and a data repository. The authors describe the features of the data repository prototype, which is an extension to the widely used DSpace repository platform and introduced a set of features mentioned by the majority of the interviewed researchers as relevant for a data repository. The data repository platform contributes to the curation workflow at the university, with XML technology at its core—data is stored using XML documents, which can be systematically processed and queried unlike its original-format counterpart. This system is capable of indexing, querying, and retrieving, in whole or in part, datasets represented in tabular form. There is also the possibility of using elements from domain-specific XML schemas for the cataloguing process, improving the interoperability and quality of the deposited data.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish Steptoe ◽  
Nicholas Henry Savage ◽  
Saeed Sadri ◽  
Kate Salmon ◽  
Zubair Maalick ◽  
...  

AbstractHigh resolution simulations at 4.4 km and 1.5 km resolution have been performed for 12 historical tropical cyclones impacting Bangladesh. We use the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting 5th generation Re-Analysis (ERA5) to provide a 9-member ensemble of initial and boundary conditions for the regional configuration of the Met Office Unified Model. The simulations are compared to the original ERA5 data and the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) tropical cyclone database for wind speed, gust speed and mean sea-level pressure. The 4.4 km simulations show a typical increase in peak gust speed of 41 to 118 knots relative to ERA5, and a deepening of minimum mean sea-level pressure of up to −27 hPa, relative to ERA5 and IBTrACS data. The downscaled simulations compare more favourably with IBTrACS data than the ERA5 data suggesting tropical cyclone hazards in the ERA5 deterministic output may be underestimated. The dataset is freely available from 10.5281/zenodo.3600201.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 724
Author(s):  
Alicja K. Zawadzka

The paper presents the results of a study on the attractiveness to tourists and natives of the cultural qualities of coastal towns on The Pomeranian Way of St. James that are members of the Cittaslow network. Attention to the quality of urban life is inscribed in the development policies of towns applying to join the Cittaslow movement. In order to join the network (apart from the size criterion), towns need to meet a minimum of 50% plus one of the 72 criteria grouped into seven categories. One of the category is Quality of Urban Life Policy, so the towns applying to join Cittaslow commit themselves to actions aimed at improving the quality of urban life. The study on the attractiveness of cultural qualities of towns to tourists and natives was conducted using the author’s BRB method, whose added value is its universality and the possibility to study small towns regardless of their membership in the Cittaslow network. BRB is an acronym that stands for BUILDINGS, RELATIONSHIPS, BALANCE, and comprises three scopes of activities: BUILDINGS (iconic building and important sites where the inhabitants and the tourists are present); RELATIONSHIPS (the visual effects of the relations between the inhabitants and the town) and BALANCE (solutions that implement modern technologies). This method enables identification of places that are important to the inhabitants, where urban life takes place and which are often created with the involvement of the inhabitants. These are often the same spaces as those that attract tourists and perhaps stimulate them the desire to visit the town again (BRB—be right back). The aim of the BRB method is shown the attractiveness of small towns. The study has shown that the characteristic feature of Polish Cittaslow towns is their diversity: the architectural attractiveness of three towns is high both to tourists and natives. On the other hand, the urban attractiveness of the examined towns is an insufficient.


GigaScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Arend ◽  
Patrick König ◽  
Astrid Junker ◽  
Uwe Scholz ◽  
Matthias Lange

Abstract Background The FAIR data principle as a commitment to support long-term research data management is widely accepted in the scientific community. Although the ELIXIR Core Data Resources and other established infrastructures provide comprehensive and long-term stable services and platforms for FAIR data management, a large quantity of research data is still hidden or at risk of getting lost. Currently, high-throughput plant genomics and phenomics technologies are producing research data in abundance, the storage of which is not covered by established core databases. This concerns the data volume, e.g., time series of images or high-resolution hyper-spectral data; the quality of data formatting and annotation, e.g., with regard to structure and annotation specifications of core databases; uncovered data domains; or organizational constraints prohibiting primary data storage outside institional boundaries. Results To share these potentially dark data in a FAIR way and master these challenges the ELIXIR Germany/de.NBI service Plant Genomic and Phenomics Research Data Repository (PGP) implements a “bring the infrastructure to the data” approach, which allows research data to be kept in place and wrapped in a FAIR-aware software infrastructure. This article presents new features of the e!DAL infrastructure software and the PGP repository as a best practice on how to easily set up FAIR-compliant and intuitive research data services. Furthermore, the integration of the ELIXIR Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (AAI) and data discovery services are introduced as means to lower technical barriers and to increase the visibility of research data. Conclusion The e!DAL software matured to a powerful and FAIR-compliant infrastructure, while keeping the focus on flexible setup and integration into existing infrastructures and into the daily research process.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e039517
Author(s):  
Gaurav Jyani ◽  
Shankar Prinja ◽  
Sitanshu Sekhar Kar ◽  
Mayur Trivedi ◽  
Binod Patro ◽  
...  

IntroductionQuality-adjusted life year (QALY) has been recommended by the government as preferred outcome measure for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in India. As country-specific health-related quality of life tariff values are essential for accurate measurement of QALYs, the government of India has commissioned the present study. The aim of this paper is to describe the methods for the Development of an EQ-5D Value set for India using an Extended design (DEVINE) Study. Additionally, this study aspires to establish if the design of 10-time trade-off (TTO) blocks is enough to generate valid value sets.Methods and analysisA cross-sectional survey using the EuroQol Group’s Valuation Technology (EQ-VT) will be undertaken in a sample of 2700 respondents selected from six different states of India using a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The participants will be interviewed using computer-assisted personal interviewing technique. The TTO valuation will be done using 10 composite TTO (c-TTO) tasks and 7 discrete choice experiment (DCE) tasks. Hybrid modelling approach using both c-TTO and DCE data to estimate the potential value set will be applied. Values of all 3125 health states will be predicted using both the conventional EQ-VT design of 10 blocks of 10 TTO tasks, and an extended design of 18 blocks of 10 TTO tasks. The potential added value of the eight additional blocks in overall validity will be tested. The study will deliver value set for India and assess the adequacy of existing 10-blocks design to be able to correctly predict the values of all 3125 health states.Ethics and disseminationThe ethical approval has been obtained from Institutional Ethics Committee of PGIMER, Chandigarh, India. The anonymised EQ-5D-5L value set will be available for general use and in the HTAs commissioned by India’s central HTA Agency.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1298-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Jara ◽  
Gérard Cliquet ◽  
Isabelle Robert

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to tackle the issue of store brand equity by considering two store brand’s positioning strategies: those with high perceived added value (the organic store brands), as opposed to economic brands. It takes place in the current environmental considerations showing the important role played by the packaging in determining the store brand equity. Design/methodology/approach A PLS Path model divided into four sub-models enables the authors to make specific predictions about customers’ purchase intentions. It also provides a concise operational calculation of the brand equity of each studied store brand. Findings Results show that economic brands build their equity with reinforced packaging, and organic brands maximise their brand equity by using simple packaging. In general, reinforced packaging improves the perceived quality of economic store brands but destroys that of organic brands. The calculations of overall equity scores for each studied store brand reveal that economic brands could benefit from further development whilst organic brands already maximise their equity. Practical implications Results will enable large retailers to develop effective campaigns focussing on perceived quality and more specifically by designing packaging that are suitable for the positioning of their brands – a simple packaging for organic brands and a reinforced packaging for economic brands to maximise customers’ value. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to deepen the store brand equity, comparing two contrasting types of brands, by studying specifically variations of the levels of customers’ perceived quality depending of two types of packaging.


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