A case study of the impact of INSAT derived humidity profiles on precipitation forecast by limited area model

The impact of humidity profiles estimated from INSAT digital IR cloud imagery data on initial moisture analysis in the IMD's operational limited area forecast system has been investigated. Method for assimilation of humidity profiles data as pseudo observations in the analysis scheme has been developed and implemented in the regional analysis scheme. Verification of humidity analysis with this data has shown substantial improvements in the moisture analysis over the data sparse region of tropics. Impact of the improved humidity analysis on model predicted rainfall is examined. The experiments show improved rainfall prediction.

Kalappia celebica, an endemic wood from Sulawesi Island: Chemical composition and its resistance against white rot fungi Ganoderma tsugae and G. lucidium

Kalapi wood (Kalappia celebica kosterm) is endemic to Sulawesi Island and is a monotype species in the Fabaceae family with limited distribution. This study investigates the chemical composition and natural durability of Kalapi (K. celebica Kosterm) wood against white rot fungi Ganoderma tsugae and G. lucidium. This study was conducted based on the TAPPI standard for moisture analysis content, ASTM-D for extractive content, holocelluloce, and lignin, and method Cross and Bevan for cellulose. Durability observation was conducted in 12 weeks by assessing the percentage damage of wood samples caused by the fungi according to SNI standards 01-7207-2014. Results show that K. celebica has holocelullose, cellulose, and extractives at a high level, lignin was moderate, and had low hemicellulose. The results of testing the durability of wood shown that K. celebica has resistance to G. tsugae attack (class II) but is not resistant to G. lucidium (class IV), with an average weight loss of 3.14 % and 18.82 %, respectively.

Historic Building Simulation of the Internal Insulation Behavior in Climate of Slovakia in a Case Study

Main topic of the article speaks about historic building renovation in Košice. Nowadays, the building is in use as puppet theatre. The theatre suffers from various disorders caused by humidity. The envelope of building has been renovated several times, however, over time, the faults return over and over. The article can be divided into two parts. The first one presents the results of moisture analysis of the support wall. The samples from the facade probes were evaluated by gravimetric method. The second part of the article discusses the interior insulation of a historic building. Internal insulation is one of the solutions to reduce heat loss of historic buildings. The use of this type of insulation brings risks that affect the thermal-humidity behaviour of the perimeter structure. These risks are assessed using a simulation model. In addition to the risks, the impact of the insulation on the original wall structure and the impact on the indoor environment were also assessed. Based on the simulation results, we can assess whether the restoration approach is appropriate in this specific case of using insulation. The study shows that the initial humidity of the perimeter wall structure is an important factor for internal insulation. Before applying the internal insulation, it is necessary to examine the moisture and material properties of the masonry.

Dry and Wet Climate Periods over Eastern South America: Identification and Characterization through the SPEI Index

A large part of the population and the economic activities of South America are located in eastern regions of the continent, where extreme climate events are a recurrent phenomenon. This study identifies and characterizes the dry and wet climate periods at domain-scale occurring over the eastern South America (ESA) during 1980–2018 through the multi-scalar Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). For this study, the spatial extent of ESA was defined according to a Lagrangian approach for moisture analysis. It consists of the major continental sink of the moisture transported from the South Atlantic Ocean throughout the year, comprising the Amazonia, central Brazil, and the southeastern continental areas. The SPEI for 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of accumulation was calculated using monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration time series averaged on ESA. The analysis of the climate periods followed two different approaches: classification of the monthly SPEI values as mild, moderate, severe, and extreme; the computation of the events and their respective parameters (duration, severity, intensity, and peak). The results indicate that wet periods prevailed in the 1990s and 2000s, while dry conditions predominated in the 2010s, when the longest and more severe dry events have been identified at the four scales.