The role of tropopause polar vortices in the intensification of summer Arctic cyclones

Human activity in the Arctic is increasing as new regions become accessible, with a consequent need for improved understanding of hazardous weather there. Arctic cyclones are the major weather systems affecting the Arctic environment during summer, including the sea ice distribution. Mesoscale to synoptic-scale tropopause polar vortices (TPVs) frequently occur in polar regions and are a proposed mechanism for Arctic cyclone genesis and intensification. However, while the importance of pre-existing tropopause-level features for cyclone development, as well as being an integral part of the three-dimensional mature cyclone structure, is well established in the mid-latitudes, evidence of the importance of pre-existing TPVs for Arctic cyclone development is mainly limited to a few case studies. Here we examine the extent to which Arctic cyclone growth is coupled to TPVs by analysing a climatology of summer Arctic cyclones and TPVs produced by tracking both features in the latest ECMWF reanalysis (ERA5). The annual counts of Arctic cyclones and TPVs are significantly correlated for features with genesis either within or outside the Arctic, implying that TPVs have a role in the development of Arctic cyclones. However, only about one-third of Arctic cyclones have their genesis or intensify while a TPV of Arctic origin is (instantaneously) within about twice the Rossby radius of the cyclone centre. Consistent with the different track densities of the full sets of Arctic cyclones and TPVs, cyclones with TPVs within range throughout their intensification phase (matched cyclones) track preferentially over the Arctic Ocean along the North American coastline and Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In contrast, cyclones intensifying distant from any TPV (unmatched cyclones) track preferentially along the northern coast of Eurasia. Composite analysis reveals the presence of a distinct relative vorticity maximum at and above the tropopause level associated with the TPV throughout the intensification period for matched cyclones and that these cyclones have a reduced upstream tilt compared to unmatched cyclones. Interaction of cyclones with TPVs has implications for the predictability of Arctic weather, given the long lifetime but relatively small spatial scale of TPVs compared with the density of the polar observation network.

Design and construction of hardware and software for autonomous observations of Transient Luminous Events

Transient luminous events (TLE) are phenomena which are currently on the rise in terms of sightings. However, there is no widespread uniform method of their observation and subsequent image processing. Therefore, our project focuses on the design and construction of hardware that can record TLE. It consists of a low gain, colour, CMOS camera with a bright, wide lens connected to a small, power-efficient single board computer. The project also includes writing software to control the hardware. The software decides whether to capture or not and at what orientation there is the biggest chance to capture a TLE. The software can process and classify the created photos based on deep neural networks. As a final product, we have developed the whole apparatus from a hardware and software point of view and installed it at the Astronomical Observatory at Kolonica Saddle in Slovakia, Central Europe. The plan for the future is to make similar apparatuses to spread the observation network.

Software-defined radio-based HF doppler receiving system

High-frequency Doppler (HFD) sounding is one of the major remote sensing techniques used for monitoring the ionosphere. Conventional systems for HFDs mainly utilize analog circuits. However, existing analog systems have become difficult to maintain as the number of people capable of working with analog circuits has declined. To solve this problem, we developed an alternate HFD receiver system based on digital signal processing. The software-defined radio (SDR) technique enables the receiver to be set up without the knowledge of analog circuit devices. This approach also downsizes the system and reduces costs. A highly stabilized radio system for both the transmitter and receiver is necessary for stable long-term observations of various phenomena in the ionosphere. The global positioning system disciplined oscillator with an accuracy of $${10}^{-11}$$ 10 - 11 compensates for the frequency stability required by the new receiving system. In the new system, four frequencies are received and signal-processed simultaneously. The dynamic range of the new system is wider (> 130 dB) than that of the conventional system used in HFD observations conducted by the University of Electro-Communications in Japan. The signal-to-noise ratio significantly improved by 20 dB. The new digital system enables radio waves to be received with much smaller amplitudes at four different frequencies. The new digital receivers have been installed at some of the stations in the HFD observation network in Japan and have already captured various ionospheric phenomena, including medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances and sudden commencement induced electric field fluctuations, which indicates the feasibility of SDR for actual ionospheric observations. The new digital receiver is simple, inexpensive, and small in size, which makes it easy to deploy new receiving stations in Japan and elsewhere. These advantages of the new system will help drive the construction of a wide HFD observation network. Graphical Abstract

PROGRAMS FOR FORTIFICATION AREA CONSERVATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

The article is aimed at familiarizing readers and specialists with programs for the preservation of fortification territories and methods of using historical landscapes in the Netherlands, the legal aspect of preserving the remains of fortifications and terrain. The project method of integrating the territory into the tourist observation network is considered. Over the past 30 years, the Netherlands has been developing a legal framework in the intersectoral branch for the protection of a significant historical landscape, including existing or lost objects of fortification art of the XVIII and XX centuries. Reasonable protection criteria, a well-formed strategy for systematic use and subordination of the territory prevents violation of the legal framework of the monument and its physical integrity accelerates the process of developing architectural and design proposals for restoring the spatial appearance of the fortification object

A satellite-based method for modeling ionospheric slant TEC from GNSS observations: algorithm and validation

Total Electron Content (TEC) modeling is critical for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) users to mitigate ionospheric delay errors. The mapping function is usually used for Vertical TEC ionospheric correction models for slant and vertical TEC conversion. But the mapping function cannot characterize TEC variation in different azimuths between the user and satellites. The ionospheric modeling error resulting from the mapping function tends to be bigger in middle and low latitudes. Therefore, a new algorithm for ionospheric Slant TEC (STEC) modeling with Satellite-based Ionospheric Model (SIM) is proposed in this contribution. Validation tests are carried out with GNSS observation data from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China during different solar activities and in different seasons. The performance of SIM is compared with that of several commonly-used Global Ionospheric Map (GIM) and Regional Ionospheric Map (RIM) products. The results show that the STEC bias and STD of SIM are within 1.0 TECU and about 2.0 TECU, respectively, and SIM can correct over 90% STEC RMS errors, outperforming the GIM and RIM products. Consequently, the SIM algorithm can be a new option for high-accuracy ionospheric delay correction in regional and local GNSS networks.

Investigating consequences of choosing IDW interpolation parameters in East Java using raster analyses

An observation network will never be enough for creating good information about monthly rainfall. An interpolation method is always needed. For operational purposes, inverse distance weighting (IDW) method is used. In East Java, 197 observation points are involved, then IDW's parameters used are neighbor=12 and power=2. The consequences of this framework are investigated in this study. By reversing IDW's formula, two kinds of raster analyses are developed, distance to neighbor used (DNU) and coefficient from point (CFP). DNU shows how far points are used for doing interpolation in some area by kilometer (km) meanwhile CFP describes an area impacted by a point and value sent to another cell from an observation point. Data used in this study are longitude and latitude of 197 observation points. The scripts are written in R Language. Analysis based on local governmental region shows that Sumenep has very far DNU. In average, the first point used located more than 25 km, and its twelfth is 112 km (average other regions DNU1=7 km and DNU12=35 km). It means there should be a unique interpolation mechanism for Sumenep. CFP confirms that some points give impact in unnatural ways (impacted area=5741 km2). We propose DNU and CFP as alternative quality control parameters for investigating consequences in interpolating rainfall.

Prediction of dust storm events over northern parts of India using NCUM

Dust storms are common over north-west parts of India during the pre-monsoon season. The main objective of this study is to assess the movement of dust over Indian region during a dust event using the dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) forecast from an operational numerical weather prediction model. Observed values of visibility, wind speed are used to identify the dust events over a point location. In addition, satellite observations for the days prior to, during and after dust events are utilized to ascertain the dust event. The performance of operational NCMRWF Unified Model (NCUM) is analyzed in predicting the values of dust AOD during dust events over north west parts of India. Predicted values of dust AOD are compared with observations available from satellite and ground based network of Aerosol Observation Network (Aeronet). The dust event of 25th May, 2016 observed at Jaipur and Lucknow is well captured by NCUM up to Day-3 forecast. The comparison of predicted dust AOD at point locations Jaipur and Kanpur reveals that NCUM is capable in predicting the high values of AODs during dust event.