Simulating the Effects of Land Surface Characteristics on Planetary Boundary Layer Parameters for a Modeled Landfalling Tropical Cyclone

This study examined whether varying moisture availability and roughness length for the land surface under a simulated Tropical Cyclone (TC) could affect its production of precipitation. The TC moved over the heterogeneous land surface of the southeastern U.S. in the control simulation, while the other simulations featured homogeneous land surfaces that were wet rough, wet smooth, dry rough, and dry smooth. Results suggest that the near-surface atmosphere was modified by the changes to the land surface, where the wet cases have higher latent and lower sensible heat flux values, and rough cases exhibit higher values of friction velocity. The analysis of areal-averaged rain rates and the area receiving low and high rain rates shows that simulations having a moist land surface produce higher rain rates and larger areas of low rain rates in the TC’s inner core. The dry and rough land surfaces produced a higher coverage of high rain rates in the outer regions. Key differences among the simulations happened as the TC core moved over land, while the outer rainbands produced more rain when moving over the coastline. These findings support the assertion that the modifications of the land surface can influence precipitation production within a landfalling TC.

The Use of Surfacing Materials to Increase the Durability of Disc Harrow Working Elements

Introduction. For surface tillage operation there widely used disc harrows, working bodies of which are discs wearing out during operation. The wear intensity of discs depends on the wear resistance of their working surfaces, working modes and properties of the cultivated soil. It has been found that an effective way to increase the life of discs is surfacing them with wear-resistant materials. The aim of the work is to study the wear out of surfacing materials, which can be used to harden discs and to make recommendation for the use of these materials in the repair departments of agricultural enterprises. Materials and Methods. Surfacing with electrodes T-590 and powder wires PP-Np200Kh15S1GRT, VELTEK-N560.02 and PP-Np280Kh9F7SG4 were taken as test materials. For wear tests of materials in abrasive mass, there was used an apparatus to simulate the moisture content and composition (sandy loam or loam) of the soil. In the disk-pad tests, the effect of abrasive particle size, load and sliding friction velocity on the wear of the materials was studied. In field tests, wear of the disks made of 65G steel, surfaced toothed and solid disks were monitored. Results. Laboratory studies of the materials revealed the effect of soil moisture and composition, load, abrasive grit and sliding friction velocity on wear. The main factor determining the wear resistance of materials is their structural state. The indexes of wear resistance of surfacing were determined during the laboratory tests and confirmed by field tests. Discussion and Conclusion. Surfacing with flux-cored wire PP-Np280Kh9F7SG4 has the highest wear resistance of the studied materials. The technology of hard-facing disks with modern materials, in particular with flux-cored wire PP-Np280Kh9F7SG4, can be implemented in repair departments of agricultural enterprises when they have the equipment for hard-facing and sharpening of working surfaces.

Constant flux layers with gravitational settling: links to aerosols, fog and deposition velocities

Turbulent boundary layer concepts of constant flux layers and surface roughness lengths are extended to include aerosols and the effects of gravitational settling. Interactions between aerosols and the Earth's surface are represented via a roughness length for aerosol which will generally be different from the roughness lengths for momentum, heat or water vapour. Gravitational settling will impact vertical profiles and the surface deposition of aerosols, including fog droplets. Simple profile solutions are possible in neutral and stably stratified atmospheric surface boundary layers. These profiles can be used to predict deposition velocities and to illustrate the dependence of deposition velocity on reference height, friction velocity and gravitational settling velocity.

Dust Emission from Gobi under Different Dust Content Conditions: A Wind Tunnel Study atop the Mogao Grottoes

Dust emission from the Gobi desert is one of the major sources of global atmospheric aerosols. However, the main factors affecting dust emission from Gobi remain poorly understood. In this paper, field wind tunnel experiments were performed atop the Mogao Grottoes to determine the variation characteristics of the vertical dust flux (F) of particulate matter less than 10 μm (PM10) for Gobi surfaces with different dust content and wind speeds under external sand supply. The results demonstrate that F obeyed a power function with increasing friction velocity (U∗), and increased exponentially with the increasing surface dust content (C). The index of n-value in the formula F∝U∗n is taken in the range of 2.02–2.63 under the surface of 27.3–47.3% dust content (<100 µm), and the dust emission rate was significantly enhanced when the surface dust content exceeded approximately 37%. This study indicates that wind force is the primary dynamic condition affecting Gobi dust emission, and that surface dust content is a significant factor in determining the quantity of dust emission. Furthermore, the contribution of wind force to PM10 emission is greater than the surface dust content, and the higher the height, the greater the weight of friction velocity.

Spatial Distribution of Shrubs Impacts Relationships among Saltation, Roughness, and Vegetation Structure in an East Asian Rangeland

Vegetation influences the occurrence of saltation through various mechanisms. Most previous studies have focused on the effects of vegetation on saltation occurrence under spatially homogeneous vegetation, whereas few field studies have examined how spatially heterogeneous cover affects saltation. To examine how spatial heterogeneity of vegetation influences saltation, we surveyed the vegetation and spatial distribution of shrubs and conducted roughness measurements at 11 sites at Tsogt-Ovoo, Gobi steppe of Mongolia, which are dominated by the shrubs Salsola passerina and Anabasis brevifolia. Saltation and meteorological observations were used to calculate the saltation flux, threshold friction velocity, and roughness length. The spatial distribution of shrubs was estimated from the intershrub distance obtained by calculating a semivariogram. Threshold friction velocity was well explained by roughness length. The relationships among roughness, saltation flux, and vegetation cover depended on the spatial distribution of shrubs. When the vegetation was distributed heterogeneously, roughness length increased as the vegetation cover decreased, and the saltation flux increased because the wake interference flow became dominant. When the vegetation was spatially homogeneous, however, the saltation flux was suppressed even when the vegetation cover was small. These field experiments show the importance of considering the spatial distribution of vegetation in evaluating saltation occurrence.

Gravitational wave propagation beyond general relativity: waveform distortions and echoes

We study the cosmological propagation of gravitational waves (GWs) beyond general relativity (GR) across homogeneous and isotropic backgrounds. We consider scenarios in which GWs interact with an additional tensor field and use a parametrized phenomenological approach that generically describes their coupled equations of motion. We analyze four distinct classes of derivative and non-derivative interactions: mass, friction, velocity, and chiral. We apply the WKB formalism to account for the cosmological evolution and obtain analytical solutions to these equations. We corroborate these results by analyzing numerically the propagation of a toy GW signal. We then proceed to use the analytical results to study the modified propagation of realistic GWs from merging compact binaries, assuming that the GW signal emitted is the same as in GR. We generically find that tensor interactions lead to copies of the originally emitted GW signal, each one with its own possibly modified dispersion relation. These copies can travel coherently and interfere with each other leading to a scrambled GW signal, or propagate decoherently and lead to echoes arriving at different times at the observer that could be misidentified as independent GW events. Depending on the type of tensor interaction, the detected GW signal may exhibit amplitude and phase distortions with respect to a GW waveform in GR, as well as birefringence effects. We discuss observational probes of these tensor interactions with both individual GW events, as well as population studies for both ground- and space-based detectors.

Szélerózió okozta talaj-, humusz- és tápanyag-áthalmozás különbségeinek feltárása különböző szerkezeti adottságú csernozjom talajokon terepi szélcsatorna kísérletek alapján

Kutatásunk során Magyarország két dél-alföldi réti csernozjom talajú területét vizsgáltuk azon céllal, hogy in situ körülmények között számszerűsítsük a különböző szélesemények által okozott talajveszteség mértékét, az ezzel együtt járó humusz- és tápanyagáthalmozás nagyságrendjét, valamint a két terület defláció érzékenységében tapasztalt különbségek okait.Vizsgálati területeink Békés megyében, Makótól K-re mintegy 10 km-re, Apátfalva külterületén, valamint Csongrád megyében Szegedtől ÉNy-ra 2 km-re helyezkedtek el. Kutatásunk célkitűzései az alábbiak voltak: terepi szélcsatornás mérésekre alapozott laboratóriumi mérések alapján különböző szerkezeti állapotú csernozjom talajokra meghatározni◾az indítósebességet,◾a szélerózióval áthalmozott szedimentben mért makroelem, és humuszanyag feldúsulását,◾valamint az ezekre ható talajtani tényezőket.A hasonló mechanikai összetételű, Szeged és Apátfalva melletti réti csernozjom talajok aggregátum összetételében, valamint a CaCO3 és humusztartalomban megfigyelhető különbségek hatására a Szeged melletti csernozjom mintaterület talaja defláció érzékenyebb. A Szegedtől É-ra eső csernozjomokon 6,5–9,0 m s–1 közötti indítósebesség értékeket mértünk, míg Apátfalván 13,0 m s–1 volt az indítósebesség értéke. Az apátfalvi terület talajának magasabb karbonát- és humusztartalma, valamint aggregátum összetételében mért magasabb morzsa arány az indítósebességérték növelésének irányába hat. A feltalajban a 0,5 mm-nél kisebb aggregátumok magasabb aránya következtében nemcsak kisebb indítósebesség értékeket, hanem nagyobb áthalmozódó talajmennyiséget, valamint ezzel együtt nagyobb mennyiségű humusz- és foszfor elmozdulást mértünk az egységesen 10-10 perces fújatási kísérleteink alkalmával a szegedi mintaterületen. Megállapítható tehát, hogy egyazon talajtípusba eső, s azonos textúrájú (homokos vályog) talajok esetében az aggregátum összetételben, valamint a CaCO3 és humusztartalomban megfigyelhető eltérések hatására jelentős különbségek tapasztalhatók a defláció érzékenység, az indítósebesség, a szediment szállítás módja és a humusz- és elemáthalmozás mértéke között.In our research, two Chernozem soil areas were examined in the southern part of the Great Hungarian Plain in order to quantify the amount of the soil loss, humus and nutrient transport caused by different wind events and in order to show the causes of the differences in the sensitivity of deflation between the two areas.Our study areas were located in Békés County, one of them was near Apátfalva, about 10 km east of Makó, and the other one was 2 km northeast of Szeged in Csongrád County. Our in situ wind tunnel experiments were accomplished on 2–4 June 2011 at Apátfalva and in July 2013 in Szeged. The objectives of our research were the followings:◾determination of the enrichment ratios for humus, macro- and microelements in the wind eroded sediments in the case of Chernozem soils with different structures based on field experiments and laboratory measurements;◾determination the affecting actual soil factors;◾estimation of soil loss and element rearrangement trends on Chernozem arable lands under different wind velocity on plot scale.Because of the differences in the aggregate size distribution, CaCO3 and humus content, Chernozem soil near Szeged is more sensitive to deflation than near Apátfalva. Threshold friction velocity was measured between 6.5 and 9.0 m s–1 near Szeged, while the same parameter was 13.0 m s–1 at Apátfalva. The higher carbonate and humus content and the higher crumb ratio of the soil on the Apátfalva area result increasing threshold friction velocity. Due to the higher proportion of aggregates smaller than 0.5 mm in the topsoil, we have measured not only lower threshold friction velocities, but also a larger quantity of transported soil and a larger humus and phosphorus loss during the uniform 10-10 minute long wind tunnel experiments in the Szeged sample area. It can be concluded that even in spite of the same soil type and same texture there are significant differences between deflation sensitivity, threshold friction velocity, sediment transport mode, humus and nutrient transportation because of the significant differences in aggregate size distribution, CaCO3 and humus content.It means that the agronomic structure of the soils greatly influences the mitigation and aggravation of the soil the stress effects caused by climate change. Extreme weather situations have drawn attention to the fact that improperly applied cultivation methods, tools, and overuse of Chernozem soils can modify the soil structure. One of the most serious affect is the dusting of the surface layer of the soil. During this process the larger macroaggregates disintegrate into microaggregates and the resulting smaller fractions are more exposed to wind erosion.The dust load affecting our settlements is mainly originated from arable lands. The mitigation of this emission is fundamentally based on the regulation of land use, farming practices and deflation. “Best Management Practices” (BMPs) mean a group of selected tools that can reduce or eliminate the transport of pollutants from diffuse sources before, during and/or after agricultural activities. However, these diffuse agricultural loads caused by wind erosion can only be quantified if the magnitude and spatial movement of the dust and pollutants is monitored.

Inter-comparison of ABL height estimates from different profiling sensors and models in the framework of HyMeX-SOP1

This paper reports results from an inter-comparison effort involving different sensors/techniques used to measure the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) height. The effort took place in the framework of the first Special Observing Period of the Hydrological cycle of the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX-SOP1). Elastic backscatter and rotational Raman signals collected by the Raman lidar system BASIL were used to determine the ABL height and characterize its internal structure. These techniques were compared with co-located measurements from a wind profiler and radiosondes and with ECMWF-ERA5 data. In the effort we consider radiosondes launched in the proximity of the lidar site, as well as radiosondes launched from the closest radiosonde station included in the Integrated Global Radiosonde archive (IGRA). The inter-comparison effort considers data from October 2012. Results reveal a good agreement between the different approaches, with values of the correlation coefficient R2 in the range 0.52 to 0.94. Results clearly reveals that the combined application of different techniques to distinct sensors’ and model datasets allow getting accurate and cross-validated estimates of the ABL height over a variety of weather conditions. Furthermore, correlations between the ABL height and other atmospheric dynamic and thermodynamic variables as CAPE, friction velocity and relative humidity are also assessed to infer possible mutual dependences.

Mean flow and turbulence characteristics of a nocturnal downburst recorded on a 213 m tall meteorological tower

This study presents rare measurements and analysis of a nocturnal thunderstorm downburst on the 213 m tall Cabauw tower in The Netherlands. The event occurred on 12 March 2008 between 02:00 and 03:00 UTC and was measured using four ultrasonic 10-Hz anemometers positioned at 3, 60, 100, and 180 m above ground level. 1-second gusts in the outflow exceeded 30 m s−1 at 60 m and above. This wind event was accompanied by an abrupt change of wind direction from southwest to west. While the shift in wind direction corresponded with the change of upwind surface roughness, the time series of turbulence intensity and other turbulence characteristics were not affected. The statistical properties of this event were compared against the largest European database of thunderstorm winds measured in the Mediterranean. The study also demonstrated that primary and secondary vortex structures—secondary vortex being rarely observed in actual downbursts—developed at the forward edge of the cold outflow. The estimated diameter of the downdraft was 1200 m at 70 m above ground. The measured velocity profiles and friction velocity were compared against theoretical predictions of the Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory (MOST). MOST without stratification adjustment overestimated measured friction velocity twofold. Alternative values for surface roughness during the outflow were derived based on the measured friction velocity and MOST-based fit of measured velocity profiles. Ceilometer and radar measurements were supplementary data in this analysis.