scholarly journals Factors controlling Slope Environmental Lapse Rate (SELR) of temperature in the monsoon and cold-arid glacio-hydrological regimes of the Himalaya

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 5645-5686 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Thayyen ◽  
A. P. Dimri
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Distribution ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Temperature Lapse Rate ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Ladakh Himalaya ◽  
Temperature Ranges ◽  
The Himalaya ◽  
Hydrological Regimes

Abstract. Moisture, temperature and precipitation interplay forced through the orographic processes sustains the Himalayan cryospheric system. However, factors controlling the Slope Environmental Lapse Rate (SELR) of temperature along the higher Himalayan mountain slopes across various glacio-hydrologic regimes remain as a key knowledge gap. Present study dwells on the orographic processes driving the moisture–temperature interplay in the monsoon and cold-arid glacio-hydrological regimes of the Himalaya. Systematic data collection at three altitudes between 2540 and 3763 m a.s.l. in the Garhwal Himalaya (hereafter called monsoon regime) and between 3500 and 5600 m a.s.l. in the Ladakh Himalaya (herefater called cold-arid regime) revealed moistrue control on temperature distribution at temporal and spatial scales. Observed daily SELR of temperature ranges between 9.0 to 1.9 °C km−1 and 17.0 to 2.8 °C km−1 in the monsoon and cold-arid regimes respectively highlighting strong regional variability. Moisture influx to the region, either from Indian summer monsoon (ISM) or from Indian winter monsoon (IWM) forced lowering of SELR. This phenophena of "monsoon lowering" of SELR is due to the release latent heat of condensation from orographically focred lifted air parcel. Seasonal response of SELR in the monsoon regime is found to be closly linked with the variations in the local lifting condensation levels (LCL). Contrary to this, cold-arid system is characterised by the extremely high values of daily SELR upto 17 °C km−1 signifying the extremely arid conditions prevailing in summer. Distinctly lower SELR devoid of monsoon lowering at higher altitude sections of monsoon and cold-arid regimes suggests sustained wetter high altitude regimes. We have proposed a SELR model for both glacio-hydrological regimes demostrating with two sections each using a derivative of the Clausius–Clapeyron relationship by deriving monthly SELR indices. It has been proposed that the manifestations of presence or absence of moisture is the single most important factor determining the temperature distribution along the higher Himalayan slopes driven by the orographic forcings. This work also suggests that the arbitary use of temperature lapse rate to extrapolate temperature to the higher Himalaya is extremely untenable.

scholarly journals Modeling Slope Environmental Lapse Rate (SELR) of temperature in the monsoon glacio-hydrological regime of the Himalaya

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renoj J. Thayyen ◽  
Ashok P. Dimri
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Temperature Lapse Rate ◽  
Annual Variations ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Hydrologic Regimes ◽  
Himalayan Mountain ◽  
The Himalaya

Abstract. Moisture, temperature and precipitation interplay forced through the orographic processes sustain and regulate the Himalayan cryospheric system. However, factors influencing the Slope Environmental Lapse Rate (SELR) of temperature along the Himalayan mountain slopes and an appropriate modeling solution remains a key knowledge gap. Present study evaulates the SELR variations in the monsoon regime of the Himalaya and proposes a modeling solution for the valley scale SELR assessment. SELR of selected station pairs in the Sutlej and Beas basins ranging between 662 m a.s.l. to 3130 m a.s.l. and that of Garhwal Himalaya ranging between 2540 m a.s.l. and 3763 m a.s.l. were assessed in this study. Study suggests moisture- temperature interplay is forcing the seasonal as well as elevation depended variability of SELR. SELR constrianed to the nival- glacier regime is found to be comparable with the saturated adiabatic lapse rate (SALR) and lower than the valley scale SELR. Moisture influx to the region, during Indian summer monsoon (ISM) is found to be lowering the seasonal valley scale SELR to SALR levels during July and August months. Highest valley scale SELR was observed in the months of April, May and June, which susequently lowered to the SALR level with the influx of monsoon moisture. This seasonal variability of SELR is found to be closly linked with the variations in the local lifting condensation levels (LCL). Inter-annual variations in SELR of the nival-glacier regime is found to be significant while that of the valley scale SELR is more stable. Hence, it is proposed to use the valley scale SELR for glacier melt/runoff studies. We propose a simple model for deriving the valley scale SELR of monsoon regime using a derivative of the Clausius–Clapeyron relationship. SELR modeling solution is achieved by deriving separate monthly SELR indices from one of the station pairs in the Beas basin from 1986–1990 and sucessfully applied for other select station pairs in Sutlej and Garhwal basins as well as for different time periods. This work emphasis that the arbitary use of temperature lapse rate is extremely untenable in the Himalayan region and significant further research is required to build data and concepts for a comphrehensive atmospheric model valid across the glacio-hydrologic regimes of the Himalaya.

scholarly journals Shallow Temperature Lapse Rate Signified Elevation Dependent Warming in Different Treeline Environments in the Himalaya- Possible Implications to Treeline Vegetation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Joshi ◽  
Ninchhen Dolma Tamang ◽  
Surendra Pratap Singh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Moisture Regime ◽  
Temperature Lapse Rate ◽  
The One ◽  
The Himalaya

Abstract There are emergent evidences that the rise in temperature in high altitude regions in comparison to low altitude of the Himalaya is more rapid than other parts of the World. This Elevation-dependent warming (EDW) can accelerate the rate of change in mountain ecosystems, including cryosphere, hydrology, biodiversity and socio-economic systems. In this paper, we present Temperature Lapse Rates (TLRs) from 20 stations for three treeline transects representing different climate regimes along the Himalayan arc. TLRs were calculated based on high temporal resolution data collected for two year (2017-18) from complex mountain terrain of treeline environment. The annual mean TLR increased with decreasing moisture, being markedly high at dry WH transect (-0.66℃/100 m) and lowest (-0.50℃/100 m) for moist EH transect. The One-Way ANOVA confirms that the TLR varied spatially, declining from West to East across the Himalayan arc, and significantly differ among seasons (F=3.2175; P = 0.03). The lowest mean TLRs were found during the winter season (EH: -0.46℃/100m; CH: -0.40℃/100m; WH: -0.31℃/100m). The monthly TLR varied within a narrow range (-0.49℃/100m to -0.54℃/100m) at EH transect, -0.24℃/100m to -0.68℃/100m at CH transect and from -0.26℃ to -0.90℃ at WH transect with lowest monthly TLR in December (-0.24 to -0.32℃/ 100m) for all three sites. Study shows moisture, snow albedo and reflectance play a key role as controlling factors on TLR in treeline environments. Higher growing season temperatures observed for treelines in Himalaya (8.4±1.8℃, 10.3±1.4℃, and 7.5±2.7℃) shows warmer treeline in Himalaya. The EDW may impact the dynamics of treeline, snow and moisture regime, surface energy balance, increased water stress, species distribution, and growing season of alpine vegetation in the Himalaya. The findings of the study could provide useful insight (ground-based) to re-parameterize the climate models over the Himalayan region. This study can facilitate improving interpolation of air temperature for ecological modeling studies in ungauged and the data-sparse regions, especially for the higher Himalaya where ground based station data are extremely scarce.

scholarly journals Interpretation of the Chemical and Physical Time-Series Retrieved from Sentik Glacier, Ladakh Himalaya, India

1984 ◽  
Vol 30 (104) ◽  
pp. 66-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Mayewski ◽  
W. Berry Lyons ◽  
N. Ahmad ◽  
Gordon Smith ◽  
M. Pourchet
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Reactive Iron ◽  
Physical Time ◽  
Ladakh Himalaya ◽  
Data Density ◽  
Mass Circulation ◽  
The Himalaya ◽  
Analysis Of Time Series

AbstractSpectral analysis of time series of a c. 17 ± 0.3 year core, calibrated for total ß activity recovered from Sentik Glacier (4908m) Ladakh, Himalaya, yields several recognizable periodicities including subannual, annual, and multi-annual. The time-series, include both chemical data (chloride, sodium, reactive iron, reactive silicate, reactive phosphate, ammonium, δD, δ(18O) and pH) and physical data (density, debris and ice-band locations, and microparticles in size grades 0.50 to 12.70 μm). Source areas for chemical species investigated and general air-mass circulation defined from chemical and physical time-series are discussed to demonstrate the potential of such studies in the development of paleometeorological data sets from remote high-alpine glacierized sites such as the Himalaya.

scholarly journals Thermal structure of intense convective clouds derived from GPS radio occultations

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5309-5318 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Biondi ◽  
W. J. Randel ◽  
S.-P. Ho ◽  
T. Neubert ◽  
S. Syndergaard
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Temperature Lapse Rate ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Convective Clouds ◽  
Strong Inversion ◽  
Cloud Tops

Abstract. Thermal structure associated with deep convective clouds is investigated using Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation measurements. GPS data are insensitive to the presence of clouds, and provide high vertical resolution and high accuracy measurements to identify associated temperature behavior. Deep convective systems are identified using International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) satellite data, and cloud tops are accurately measured using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIPSO) lidar observations; we focus on 53 cases of near-coincident GPS occultations with CALIPSO profiles over deep convection. Results show a sharp spike in GPS bending angle highly correlated to the top of the clouds, corresponding to anomalously cold temperatures within the clouds. Above the clouds the temperatures return to background conditions, and there is a strong inversion at cloud top. For cloud tops below 14 km, the temperature lapse rate within the cloud often approaches a moist adiabat, consistent with rapid undiluted ascent within the convective systems.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Climate Change and Extreme Weather from 1951 to 2011 in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 2540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunli Zhao ◽  
Jianguo Chen ◽  
Peng Du ◽  
Hongyong Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Seasonal Fluctuation ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Weather Variation ◽  
Variation Characteristics ◽  
Established Fact ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

It has been demonstrated that climate change is an established fact. A good comprehension of climate and extreme weather variation characteristics on a temporal and a spatial scale is important for adaptation and response. In this work, the characteristics of temperature, precipitation, and extreme weather distribution and variation is summarized for a period of 60 years and the seasonal fluctuation of temperature and precipitation is also analyzed. The results illustrate the reduction in daily and annual temperature divergence on both temporal and spatial scales. However, the gaps remain relatively significant. Furthermore, the disparity in daily and annual precipitation are found to be increasing on both temporal and spatial scales. The findings indicate that climate change, to a certain extent, narrowed the temperature gap while widening the precipitation gap on temporal and spatial scales in China.

scholarly journals A New Methodology for Estimating the Surface Temperature Lapse Rate Based on Grid Data and Its Application in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Qin ◽  
Guoyu Ren ◽  
Tianlin Zhai ◽  
Panfeng Zhang ◽  
Kangmin Wen
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
North China ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Vertical Gradient ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Grid Data ◽  
Temperature Lapse Rate

Land surface temperature (LST) is an important parameter in the study of the physical processes of land surface. Understanding the surface temperature lapse rate (TLR) can help to reveal the characteristics of mountainous climates and regional climate change. A methodology was developed to calculate and analyze land-surface TLR in China based on grid datasets of MODIS LST and digital elevation model (DEM), with a formula derived on the basis of the analysis of the temperature field and the height field, an image enhancement technique used to calculate gradient, and the fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering applied to identify the seasonal pattern of the TLR. The results of the analysis through the methodology showed that surface temperature vertical gradient inversion widely occurred in Northeast, Northwest, and North China in winter, especially in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the northern and the western parts of the Greater Khingan Mountains, the Lesser Khingan Mountains, and the northern area of Northwest and North China. Summer generally witnessed the steepest TLR among the four seasons. The eastern Tibetan Plateau showed a distinctive seasonal pattern, where the steepest TLR happened in winter and spring, with a shallower TLR in summer. Large seasonal variations of TLR could be seen in Northeast China, where there was a steep TLR in spring and summer and a strong surface temperature vertical gradient inversion in winter. The smallest seasonal variation of TLR happened in Central and Southwest China, especially in the Ta-pa Mountains and the Qinling Mountains. The TLR at very high altitudes (>5 km) was usually steeper than at low altitudes, in all months of the year.

scholarly journals On what scales can GOSAT flux inversions constrain anomalies in terrestrial ecosystems?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Byrne ◽  
Dylan B. A. Jones ◽  
Kimberly Strong ◽  
Saroja M. Polavarapu ◽  
Anna B. Harper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Net Ecosystem Exchange ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Climate Anomalies ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Emergent Constraint ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Interannual variations in temperature and precipitation impact the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems, leaving an imprint in atmospheric CO2. Quantifying the impact of climate anomalies on the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of terrestrial ecosystems can provide a constraint to evaluate terrestrial biosphere models against, and may provide an emergent constraint on the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. We investigate the spatial scales over which interannual variability in NEE can be constrained using atmospheric CO2 observations from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT). NEE anomalies are calculated by performing a series of inversion analyses using the GEOS-Chem model to assimilate GOSAT observations. Monthly NEE anomalies are compared to proxies, variables which are associated with anomalies in the terrestrial carbon cycle, and to upscaled NEE estimates from FLUXCOM. Strong agreement is found in the timing of anomalies in the GOSAT flux inversions with soil temperature and FLUXCOM. Strong correlations are obtained (P  RNINO3.4) in the tropics on continental and larger scales, and in the northern extratropics on sub-continental scales during the summer (R2 ≥ 0.49). These results, in addition to a series of observing system simulation experiments that were conducted, provide evidence that GOSAT flux inversions can isolate anomalies in NEE on continental and larger scales. However, in both the tropics and northern extratropics, the agreement between the inversions and the proxies/FLUXCOM is sensitive to the flux inversion configuration. Our results suggest that regional scales are likely the minimum scales that can be resolved in the tropics using GOSAT observations, but obtaining robust NEE anomaly estimates on these scales may be difficult.

scholarly journals A Method for Calculating the Height of Overshooting Convective Cloud Tops Using Satellite-Based IR Imager and CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar Observations

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 479-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Griffin ◽  
Kristopher M. Bedka ◽  
Christopher S. Velden
Keyword(s):  
Brightness Temperature ◽  
Characteristic Temperature ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Lapse Rate ◽  
Temperature Lapse Rate ◽  
Cloud Tops ◽  
Height Assignment ◽  
Vertical Level

AbstractAssigning accurate heights to convective cloud tops that penetrate into the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere (UTLS) region using infrared (IR) satellite imagery has been an unresolved issue for the satellite research community. The height assignment for the tops of optically thick clouds is typically accomplished by matching the observed IR brightness temperature (BT) with a collocated rawinsonde or numerical weather prediction (NWP) profile. However, “overshooting tops” (OTs) are typically colder (in BT) than any vertical level in the associated profile, leaving the height of these tops undetermined using this standard approach. A new method is described here for calculating the heights of convectively driven OTs using the characteristic temperature lapse rate of the cloud top as it ascends into the UTLS region. Using 108 MODIS-identified OT events that are directly observed by the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), the MODIS-derived brightness temperature difference (BTD) between the OT and anvil regions can be defined. This BTD is combined with the CPR- and NWP-derived height difference between these two regions to determine the mean lapse rate, −7.34 K km−1, for the 108 events. The anvil height is typically well known, and an automated OT detection algorithm is used to derive BTD, so the lapse rate allows a height to be calculated for any detected OT. An empirical fit between MODIS and geostationary imager IR BT for OTs and anvil regions was performed to enable application of this method to coarser-spatial-resolution geostationary data. Validation indicates that ~75% (65%) of MODIS (geostationary) OT heights are within ±500 m of the coincident CPR-estimated heights.

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