A Lagrangian Backward Air Parcel Trajectories Clustering Framework

Many studies concerning atmosphere moisture paths use Lagrangian backward air parcel trajectories to determine the humidity sources for specific locations. Automatically grouping trajectories according to their geographical position simplifies and speeds up their analysis. In this paper, we propose a framework for clustering Lagrangian backward air parcel trajectories, from trajectory generation to cluster accuracy evaluation. We employ a novel clustering algorithm, called DenLAC, to cluster troposphere air currents trajectories. Our main contribution is representing trajectories as a one-dimensional array consisting of each trajectory’s points position vector directions. We empirically test our pipeline by employing it on several Lagrangian backward trajectories initiated from Břeclav District, Czech Republic.

Analysis on Variation and Potential Source Regions of Greenhouse Gases Concentrations at Akedala Station, China

The research on the variation of greenhouse gases concentrations in typical regions is one of the significant tasks to cope with climate change. Especially at present, the number of extreme weather events is gradually increasing and the trend of global warming is becoming increasingly obvious, the study on variation of greenhouse gases concentrations and their potential source regions can contribute to a scientific formulation of policies regarding greenhouse gas emission reduction as well as to the coordinated development of human and environment. Based on the data of greenhouse gases of Akedala Station from 2009 to 2019, this research studies characteristics of the time series and seasonal trends of greenhouse gases at this station and testes whether abrupt change exists by applying the linear trend analysis method, the contrastive and statistical analysis method and Mann-Kendall method. In addition, Pearson Correlation Coefficient is used to determine the correlation and homology among the four greenhouse gases and backward trajectories model is also used to explore the potential source regions of greenhouse gases at Akedala Station in different seasons. The greenhouse gases concentrations at Akedala Station show a trend of year-on-year growth, with CO2 concentrations ranging from 389.80×10− 6 to 408.79×10− 6 (molar fraction of substances, same below), CH4 concentrations ranging from1890.07×10− 9 to 1976.32×10− 9, N20 concentrations ranging from 321.26×10− 9 to 332.03×10− 9, and SF6 concentrations ranging from 7.04×10− 12 to 10.07×10− 12, the growth rate of which is similar to the decadal average growth rate in the northern hemisphere. There exist obvious seasonal variations, with CO2 concentrations showing high in winter and low in summer and CH4 showing a distinct “W”- shaped trend while N20 and SF6 showing little difference between the four seasons. A relatively strong correlation and homology exist among the four greenhouse gases except in summer, and the analysis based on backward trajectories model shows that the Akedala Station is influenced by the airflow from northwest or southwest throughout the year. Besides, the concentrations of greenhouse gas are closely related to source region of the emissions, biological and non-biological sources, monsoon, and atmospheric photochemical processes.

On the structure of $ \alpha $-limit sets of backward trajectories for graph maps

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>In the paper we study what sets can be obtained as <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$ \alpha $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>-limit sets of backward trajectories in graph maps. We show that in the case of mixing maps, all those <inline-formula><tex-math id="M3">\begin{document}$ \alpha $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>-limit sets are <inline-formula><tex-math id="M4">\begin{document}$ \omega $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>-limit sets and for all but finitely many points <inline-formula><tex-math id="M5">\begin{document}$ x $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>, we can obtain every <inline-formula><tex-math id="M6">\begin{document}$ \omega $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>-limits set as the <inline-formula><tex-math id="M7">\begin{document}$ \alpha $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>-limit set of a backward trajectory starting in <inline-formula><tex-math id="M8">\begin{document}$ x $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>. For zero entropy maps, every <inline-formula><tex-math id="M9">\begin{document}$ \alpha $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>-limit set of a backward trajectory is a minimal set. In the case of maps with positive entropy, we obtain a partial characterization which is very close to complete picture of the possible situations.</p>

Tracing devastating fires in Portugal to a snow archive in the Swiss Alps: a case study

Recent large wildfires, such as those in Portugal in 2017, have devastating impacts on societies, economy, ecosystems and environments. However, wildfires are a natural phenomenon, which has been exacerbated by land use during the past millennia. Ice cores are one of the archives preserving information on fire occurrences over these timescales. A difficulty is that emission sensitivity of ice cores is often unknown, which constitutes a source of uncertainty in the interpretation of such archives. Information from specific and well-documented case studies is therefore useful to better understand the spatial representation of ice-core burning records. The wildfires near Pedrógão Grande in central Portugal in 2017 provided a test bed to link a fire event to its footprint left in a high-alpine snowpack considered a surrogate for high-alpine ice-core sites. Here, we (1) analysed black carbon (BC) and microscopic charcoal particles deposited in the snowpack close to the high-alpine research station Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps; (2) calculated backward trajectories based on ERA-Interim reanalysis data and simulated the transport of these carbonaceous particles using a global aerosol-climate model; and (3) analysed the fire spread, its spatial and temporal extent, and its intensity with remote-sensing (e.g. MODIS) Active Fire and Burned Area products. According to modelled emissions of the FINN v1.6 database, the fire emitted a total amount of 203.5 t BC from a total burned area of 501 km2 as observed on the basis of satellite fire products. Backward trajectories unambiguously linked a peak of atmospheric-equivalent BC observed at the Jungfraujoch research station on 22 June – with elevated levels until 25 June – with the highly intensive fires in Portugal. The atmospheric signal is in correspondence with an outstanding peak in microscopic charcoal observed in the snow layer, depositing nearly as many charcoal particles as during an average year in other ice archives. In contrast to charcoal, the amount of atmospheric BC deposited during the fire episode was minor due to a lack of precipitation. Simulations with a global aerosol-climate model suggest that the observed microscopic charcoal particles originated from the fires in Portugal and that their contribution to the BC signal in snow was negligible. Our study revealed that microscopic charcoal can be transported over long distances (1500 km) and that snow and ice archives are much more sensitive to distant events than sedimentary archives, for which the signal is dominated by local fires. The findings are important for future ice-core studies as they document that, for BC as a fire tracer, the signal preservation depends on precipitation. Single events, like this example, might not be preserved due to unfavourable meteorological conditions.

Semi-continuous measurements of water-soluble inorganic ions over a high-altitude background site in central Taiwan

&lt;p&gt;To better understand the abundance and sources of water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs), semi-continuous measurements of WSIIs were performed during autumn 2015 and spring 2016 at a high-altitude background station (2,862 m above sea level) on the summit of Mt. Lulin in central Taiwan. During autumn, the mass concentration of PM&lt;sub&gt;2.5&lt;/sub&gt;, major WSIIs, and CO increased significantly from 12:00 to 18:00 hrs local standard time (LST), whereas the visibility and concentration of O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; decreased at the same time. The backward trajectories analyses showed that the sampling site was under the influence of lifted air masses by the upslope wind from 12:00 to 18:00 hrs. Thus the mountain-valley (M-V) circulation could be the major driving force for the observed aerosol diurnal patterns over the study region during autumn. In sharp contrast to autumn, five high aerosol loading events were observed during spring with each event lasting for a few days. These events were synchronized with the long-range transport of biomass burning (BB) smoke emissions from the Indochina region, as revealed from the fire count map and backward trajectories. The plumes appear to mask their characteristic diurnal features that are driven by the local M-V circulation. These plumes also affected the acidity of ambient aerosol. During BB events, aerosol was found to be relatively more alkaline in nature as revealed by higher molar ratio of [NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt;]&lt;sub&gt;calc&lt;/sub&gt;/[NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt;]&lt;sub&gt;meas&lt;/sub&gt; during BB events (0.88 &amp;#177; 0.25) than that of the whole spring season (0.81 &amp;#177; 0.33). The third BB event (BB3), March 29 to April 04, 2016, was the most prominent one among all BB events. During BB3, the mass concentration of PM&lt;sub&gt;2.5&lt;/sub&gt;, NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt;, K&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt;, NO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;-&lt;/sup&gt; and SO&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2-&lt;/sup&gt; increased from 8.3 to 29, 0.01 to 2.0, 0.02 to 0.4, 0.01 to 1.6, and 0.4 to 4.1 &amp;#956;g m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;, respectively as compared to before the event. A fog event (March 31; 0:00 to 10:00 LST) was also observed during the BB3 event that decreased the mass concentration of all the species significantly. It suggested that aerosol scavenging and cloud-active processing may occur in this fog event.&lt;/p&gt;

A Three-Dimensional Trajectory Model with Advection Correction for Tropical Cyclones: Algorithm Description and Tests for Accuracy

When computing trajectories from model output, gridded winds are often temporally interpolated to a time step shorter than model output intervals to satisfy computational stability constraints. This study investigates whether trajectory accuracy may be improved for tropical cyclone (TC) applications by interpolating the model winds using advection correction (AC) instead of the traditional linear interpolation in time (LI) method. Originally developed for Doppler radar processing, AC algorithms interpolate data in a reference frame that moves with the pattern translation, or advective flow velocity. A previously developed trajectory AC implementation is modified here by extending it to three-dimensional (3D) flows, and the advective flows are defined in cylindrical rather than Cartesian coordinates. This AC algorithm is tested on two model-simulated TC cases, Hurricanes Joaquin (2015) and Wilma (2005). Several variations of the AC algorithm are compared to LI on a sample of 10 201 backward trajectories computed from the modeled 5-min output data, using reference trajectories computed from 1-min output to quantify position errors. Results show that AC of 3D wind vectors using advective flows defined as local gridpoint averages improves the accuracy of most trajectories, with more substantial improvements being found in the inner eyewall where the horizontal flows are dominated by rotating cyclonic wind perturbations. Furthermore, AC eliminates oscillations in vertical velocity along LI backward trajectories run through deep convective updrafts, leading to a ~2.5-km correction in parcel height after 20 min of integration.

Seasonal characteristics of trace gas transport into the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

To investigate the seasonal characteristics of trace gas distributions in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (ExUTLS) as well as stratosphere–troposphere exchange processes, origin fractions of air masses originating in the stratosphere, tropical troposphere, midlatitude lower troposphere (LT), and high-latitude LT in the ExUTLS are estimated using 10-year backward trajectories calculated with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim data as the meteorological input. Time series of trace gases obtained from ground-based and airborne observations are incorporated into the trajectories, thus reconstructing spatiotemporal distributions of trace gases in the ExUTLS. The reconstructed tracer distributions are analyzed with the origin fractions and the stratospheric age of air (AoA) estimated using the backward trajectories. The reconstructed distributions of SF6 and CO2 in the ExUTLS are linearly correlated with those of AoA because of their chemically passive behavior and quasi-stable increasing trends in the troposphere. Distributions of CH4, N2O, and CO are controlled primarily by chemical decay along the transport path from the source region via the stratosphere and subsequent mixing of such stratospheric air masses with tropospheric air masses in the ExUTLS.

On the Connection between Atmospheric Moisture Transport and Dry Conditions in Rainfall Climatological Zones of the Niger River Basin

The hydroclimatology of the Niger River basin, located in West Africa, is very complex. It has been widely studied because of its importance to the socioeconomic activities of the countries that share its natural resources. In this study, to better understand the causes and mechanisms that modulate the rainfall over the Niger River basin, we identified the most relevant moisture sources for precipitation within the basin. The Lagrangian model FLEXPART was utilised to track backward trajectories of air parcels initially losing humidity over climatological rainfall zones of the basin. Along 10-day backward trajectories, we computed the budget of the difference between evaporation and precipitation (E − P) from 1000 to 0.1 hPa, permitting the identification of those regions where moisture uptake ((E − P) > 0) prevail. The study was conducted for the period 1980–2017. Monthly maps of ((E − P) > 0 were developed to illustrate the regions from where moisture is transported, contributing to precipitation in the Niger River basin. The spatial variability of the sources matches the precipitation variability over the basin restricted to surrounding areas of the Niger River basin during months with low average precipitation and widely spreading over the continent and the Atlantic Ocean in months with high average precipitation. During climatological dry months (e.g., December, January and February) the continental sources of West and Northeast Africa and the climatological rainfall zones themselves provide most of the moisture for precipitation. However, during the rainy season, the moisture supplies from oceanic sources increase, becoming greater than the contribution from land-based sources during August (the rainiest month). Dry conditions were identified for each climatological rainfall zone using the Standardised Precipitation Index. Similar to many previous studies, we found that the 1980s were highlighted by dry conditions. Local recycling and particularly moisture uptake from the tropical South Atlantic Ocean seem to be highly related to dry and wet conditions in the basin. A reduction on the moisture uptake from surrounding continental sources and the tropical South Atlantic Ocean is almost persistent during extremely dry conditions. Ascending movements are restricted to the lower troposphere during extremely dry conditions and oscillate latitudinally as well as precipitation.