Dynamical drivers of Greenland blocking in climate models

Blocking over Greenland is known to lead to strong surface impacts, such as ice sheet melting, and a change in its future frequency can have important consequences. However, as previous studies demonstrated, climate models underestimate the blocking frequency for the historical period. Even though some improvements have recently been made, the reasons for the model biases are still unclear. This study investigates whether models with realistic Greenland blocking frequency in winter have a correct representation of its dynamical drivers, most importantly, cyclonic wave breaking (CWB). Because blocking is a rare event and its representation is model-dependent, we use a multi-model large ensemble. We focus on two models that show typical Greenland blocking features, namely a ridge over Greenland and an equatorward-shifted jet over the North Atlantic. ECHAM6.3-LR has the best representation of CWB of the models investigated but only the second best representation of Greenland blocking frequency, which is underestimated by a factor of 2. While MIROC5 has the most realistic Greenland blocking frequency, it also has the largest (negative) CWB frequency bias, suggesting that another mechanism leads to blocking in this model. Composites over Greenland blocking days show that the present and future experiments of each model are very similar to each other in both amplitude and pattern and that there is no significant change in Greenland blocking frequency in the future. However, these projected changes in blocking frequency are highly uncertain as long as the mechanisms leading to blocking formation and maintenance in models remain poorly understood.

Determination of the price for a hydro resource with consideration of operating conditions of hydropower plants using complex criteria of profit maxmization

<span>In this paper, a universal method has been developed to determine the price of a hydro resource (one cubic meter) for the operational regulation of a hydropower plant (HPP), which is a combination of an optimization method and a method for assessing the marginal utility. The proposed approach is based on the correct representation of differential incremental rate characteristics of water at an HPP and fuel at a thermal power plant (TPP). To know the price of a hydro resource used for electricity generation at a hydropower plant. This gives the possibility to increase the efficiency of management both at a hydropower plant, and in a water utilization system as a whole. Using the examples of Novosibirsk HPP, it is expected to develop an estimation of economic effect from the implementation of the developed criteria, the proposed method of the calculation of a hydro resource price at HPP, and the method of separating fuel costs at CHPP. As a result of the implementation the developed method for the HPP, a price of electricity sold in the flexible energy market will be compared to the price of the electricity produced and sold at CHPP, being equal to approximately 330 rubles/MW h.</span>

Consumer Vs Producer Misperception: The Case of French Wine

Aims: The study aimed at assessing the similarities and the differences between French wine producers’ perception of Belarusian consumers and the actual behavior of Belarusian consumers. Study design: Questionnaires filled in individually were used to compare consumers and producers’ perception. The questionnaire was made up of general questions addressing socio-demographic data, the kind of beverage preferred, the frequency of consumption of wine, the type of wine preferred, the origin of the wine preferred (producer country), the price and the criteria for purchasing wine. The aim was to get to know their profiles, their habits regarding purchasing and consuming alcohol and more specifically wine. Place and Duration of Study: Consumer survey was undertaken in 2018 in Belarus and producers survey was undertaken in 2019 in France. Methodology: Subjects were all volunteers. Belarussian consumer subjects were healthy (especially no addiction to alcohol, no food disorders) and adult. French participants were experienced producers or novices separated in two sub-samples. Comparison between answers used t-test and z-test. Results: Producers have a correct representation of the type of wine sought by Belarusian consumers and of the criteria to select it but misperceive who shop for wine and how it is consumed. In addition, French producers imagine their wine to be preferred while it is this of Moldavia. Conclusion: This may lead the producers to offer the wrong product for the wrong consumer target and contribute to explain why French wines only ranked fourth regarding importation of wine in Belarus while France is the world's leading wine exporter. This also suggests that the teaching program in French wine schools might be adapted.

Dynamical drivers of Greenland blocking in climate models

Blocking over Greenland is known to lead to strong surface impacts, such as ice sheet melting, and a change in its future frequency can have important consequences. However, as previous studies demonstrated, climate models underestimate the blocking frequency for the historical period. Even though some improvements have recently been made, the reasons for the model biases are still unclear. This study investigates whether models with realistic Greenland blocking frequency have a correct representation of its dynamical drivers, most importantly, cyclonic wave breaking (CWB). Because blocking is a rare event and its representation is model-dependent, we here use a multi-model large ensemble. All of the models underestimate CWB frequency and four out of five models underestimate the frequency of Greenland blocking. Nevertheless, they all show the typical Greenland blocking features, namely a ridge with anticyclonic anomaly over Greenland and an equatorward-shifted jet over the North Atlantic. However, we find that the model with the most realistic Greenland blocking frequency, MIROC5, has the most negative CWB frequency bias. While in reanalysis CWB is an important mechanism leading to blocking formation, the link between blocking and CWB is much weaker in MIROC5, suggesting that another mechanism leads to blocking in this model. Composites over Greenland blocking days show that the present and future experiments of each model are very similar to each other in both amplitude and pattern and that there is no significant change of Greenland blocking frequency in the future. However, this result must be taken with caution since the Greenland blocking driver is not well represented in all models. This highlights the need to accurately understand and represent the mechanisms leading to blocking formation and maintenance in models to get more reliable future projections.

Are Environmentally Innovative Companies Inclined towards Integrated Environmental Disclosure Policies?

In recent years, the correct representation of environmental performance has become increasingly important. In light of this, in the academic field, numerous researchers have examined the level and quality of environmental disclosure. However, in the context of studies relating to the determinants of environmental disclosure, little attention has been paid to the role of environmental innovation. This study, in the context of voluntary disclosure theory, aims to fill this important gap through the analysis of the impact of environmental innovation on the level of integrated environmental information disclosed by companies and the analysis of environmental performance as a mediating factor in this relationship. The results show a positive relationship between environmental innovation and integrated environmental disclosure. In addition, they show that environmental performance represents a mediating factor in this relationship. However, complementary analyses show that responsible firms adopt silent strategies in their environmental integrated disclosure policies in order to limit the knowledge by external users of the different environmental actions implemented.

Impact of wind shear and stratification near the tropopause on baroclinic instability

&lt;p&gt;Many weather and climate models fail to represent the sharp vertical changes of vertical wind shear and stratification near the tropopause. This discrepancy results in errors in the horizontal gradient of potential vorticity (PV), which acts as a wave guide for Rossby waves that highly influence surface weather in midlatitudes. In an idealised quasi-geostrophic model developed from the Eady model, we investigate how variations in vertical wind shear and stratification near the tropopause affect baroclinic growth. Comparing sharp and smooth vertical profiles of wind shear and stratification across the tropopause for different tropopause altitudes, we find that both smoothing and tropopause altitude have little impact on the growth rate, wavelength, phase speed, and structure of baroclinic waves, despite a sometimes significant weakening of the maximum PV gradient for extensive smoothing. Instead, we find that baroclinic growth is more sensitive if the vertical integral of the PV gradient is not conserved across the tropopause. Furthermore, including mid-tropospheric latent heating highlights that errors in baroclinic growth related to a misrepresentation of latent heating intensity are typically much larger than those associated with the correct representation of vertical wind shear and stratification in the tropopause region. Our results thus indicate that the correct representation of latent heating in weather forecast models is of higher importance than adequately resolving the tropopause.&lt;/p&gt;

Statistical properties of the speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) paradigm in sentence processing

Studies of the speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) have been influential in arguing for the direct-access model of retrieval in sentence processing. The direct-access model assumes that long-distance dependencies rely on a content-addressable search for the correct representation in memory. Here, we address two important weaknesses in the statistical methods standardly used for analysing SAT data. First, these methods are based on non-hierarchical modelling. We show how a hierarchical model can be fit to SAT data, and we test parameter recovery in this more conservative model. The parameters most relevant to the direct-access account cannot be accurately estimated, and we attribute this to the standard SAT model being overparameterised for the limited data available to fit it. Second, the power properties of SAT studies are unknown. We conduct a power analysis and show that inferences from null results to the null hypothesis, though commonplace in the SAT literature, may be unwarranted.

The current state of affairs in 3D modeling of machine-building profile parts

The article discusses the method of improving the quality of computer-aided design of machine-building products based on the introduction of the concept of 3D drawing. A comparative analysis of the application of a 3D drawing and the use of a standard flat drawing for the manufacture of machine-building profile products on modern CNC machines is given. The 3D drawings of the products are developed in the SolidWorks software environment. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that the use of 3D drawings in compliance with their correct representation in computer-aided design systems will reduce the time for the manufacture of relevant parts.

Development of a Static Equivalent Model for Korean Power Systems Using Power Transfer Distribution Factor-Based k-Means++ Algorithm

This paper presents a static network equivalent model for Korean power systems. The proposed equivalent model preserves the overall transmission network characteristics focusing on power flows among areas in Korean power systems. For developing the model, a power transfer distribution factor (PTDF)-based k-means++ algorithm was used to cluster the bus groups in which similar PTDF characteristics were identified. For the reduction process, the bus groups were replaced by a single bus with a generator or load, and an equivalent transmission line was determined to maintain power flows in the original system model. Appropriate voltage levels were selected, and compensation for real power line losses was made for the correct representation. A Korean power system with more than 1600 buses was reduced to a 38-bus system with 13 generators, 25 loads, and 74 transmission lines. The effectiveness of the developed equivalent model was evaluated by performing power flow simulations and comparisons of various characteristics of the original and reduced systems. The simulation comparisons show that the developed equivalent model maintains inter-area power flows as close as possible to the original Korean power systems.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: How to Make Sense of Turkey’s S-400 Choice?

With the wrap-up of the S-400 deal with Russia in December 2017, critics argue that Turkey is caught between a rock and a hard place due to the adamant opposition of its NATO allies, the United States in particular, which has threatened Ankara with imposing severe sanctions. Would this be the correct representation of the situation at hand? Does it make any sense for Turkey to engage Russia, an archrival nation, to enhance the security of the country? Is the S-400 deal worth the risk of alienating the allied nations whose projected sanctions may have wide-ranging political, economic and military repercussions? With these questions in mind, this paper will try to shed light on the specifics of the S-400 deal that make one think that it may indeed make sense for Turkey to bear the brunt of engaging Russia. In the same vein, the paper will assess the impact of the S-400 deal on Turkey’s defense industries. The paper will also present the author’s conception of the current “international political non-order” as an underlying factor behind the deal. Finally, the paper will suggest that the S-400 deal must be approached from a wider perspective so as to grasp the extent of the service it has done in bolstering Turkey’s military-industrial complex.