Comparison of quasi-biennial oscillations of stratospheric winds and atmospheric temperatures at different altitudes

During 1959-89, the 12-month running means of 50 hPa zonal winds, the average atmospheric temperatures in the northern and southern hemisphere at four altitude slabs (950 hPa, 850- 300 hPa, 300-100 hPa and 100-50 hPa), Pacific and Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) and-30hPa temperatures at North Pole and average for (10°-90° N), all showed quasi-biennial oscillations (QBO). However, whereas the wind QBO had an average spacing of 29 months, only temperatures at 300-100 hPa and Atlantic SST had similar average spacing. Other temperatures as also SO index (represented by Tahiti minus Darwin atmospheric pressure) had larger average spacing. Spectral analysis showed that whereas wind QBO had only one prominent peak at T=2.33 years, other parameters had weak QBOs near T=2.5-2.6 years except Pacific SST and 30 hPa North Pole temperature which had small peaks near T=2.3 years. All the temperatures had prominent peaks in the 3-6 year region which matched with similar peaks in the SO index. There is some indication that stratospheric wind QBO had some relation with parameters at all altitudes in tropics and with North Pole, while ENSO had considerable influence at other latitudes/altitudes.

The Long Grass at the North Pole

Though legally no more significant than any other point in the Arctic Ocean, into which State’s continental shelf the geographic North Pole will ultimately fall is politically charged for the three States involved – Canada, Denmark (Greenland) and Russia – that have submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf outer limits within which the Pole falls. The 2014 Danish submission, for an area extending beyond the equidistance line with Canada, was in that sense paradoxically helpful to Canada, as Denmark, with the northernmost land territory, is by definition closest to the Pole, which must therefore lie on its side of any such line drawn between itself and any other State; thus Denmark gave cover to Canada which needed to take a similar approach to define its continental shelf entitlement as including the North Pole. Boundaries will eventually have to be delimited, but as it likely to be 20 years before the Commission examines the last of the submissions, the three States have ample pretext to postpone this step until then, a solution likely to suit them all.

Wildfire smoke, Arctic haze, and aerosol effects on mixed-phase and cirrus clouds over the North Pole region during MOSAiC: an introduction

An advanced multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar was operated aboard the icebreaker Polarstern during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition to continuously monitor aerosol and cloud layers in the central Arctic up to 30 km height. The expedition lasted from September 2019 to October 2020 and measurements were mostly taken between 85 and 88.5∘ N. The lidar was integrated into a complex remote-sensing infrastructure aboard the Polarstern. In this article, novel lidar techniques, innovative concepts to study aerosol–cloud interaction in the Arctic, and unique MOSAiC findings will be presented. The highlight of the lidar measurements was the detection of a 10 km deep wildfire smoke layer over the North Pole region between 7–8 km and 17–18 km height with an aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 532 nm of around 0.1 (in October–November 2019) and 0.05 from December to March. The dual-wavelength Raman lidar technique allowed us to unambiguously identify smoke as the dominating aerosol type in the aerosol layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). An additional contribution to the 532 nm AOT by volcanic sulfate aerosol (Raikoke eruption) was estimated to always be lower than 15 %. The optical and microphysical properties of the UTLS smoke layer are presented in an accompanying paper (Ohneiser et al., 2021). This smoke event offered the unique opportunity to study the influence of organic aerosol particles (serving as ice-nucleating particles, INPs) on cirrus formation in the upper troposphere. An example of a closure study is presented to explain our concept of investigating aerosol–cloud interaction in this field. The smoke particles were obviously able to control the evolution of the cirrus system and caused low ice crystal number concentration. After the discussion of two typical Arctic haze events, we present a case study of the evolution of a long-lasting mixed-phase cloud layer embedded in Arctic haze in the free troposphere. The recently introduced dual-field-of-view polarization lidar technique was applied, for the first time, to mixed-phase cloud observations in order to determine the microphysical properties of the water droplets. The mixed-phase cloud closure experiment (based on combined lidar and radar observations) indicated that the observed aerosol levels controlled the number concentrations of nucleated droplets and ice crystals.

Sonic sense

This chapter aims to set up the context for novel engagements in notions of sense, knowledge, and meaning via sound. Sound is introduced as material as well as concept, and listening is considered at once as strategy and as expanded method to engage and challenge existing notions of prehension, interpretation, and significance, and to query their rationale. The suggestion is that the sonic offers itself to experience not as meaning but as a challenge to the making of sense, and that consequently through listening we can reach a different sense, that is plural and includes what we did not expect to know. These ideas are developed by listening to Christof Migone’s work HitParade (NewYork) (2012), a group performance which sounds bodies, surfaces, and microphones through their shared rhythm, and to Jana Winderen’s The Wanderer (2015), a field recording of zooplankton and phytoplankton between the North Pole and the Equator.

A Message in a Bottle From the North Pole–How Plastic Pollutes the Arctic Ocean

Did you know that plastic waste is so widespread across our planet that it can be found even in the far north, in the Arctic Ocean? Plastic ends up in the environment in many different ways, and researchers are trying to figure out how this pollution affects the animals and plants living in environments that contain plastic waste. Here comes a message in a bottle from the North Pole, telling you a story about tiny pieces of plastic in the Arctic Ocean. How is it even possible for plastic waste to reach the Arctic Ocean? What happens to the plastic once it is there? Is the plastic harming Arctic animals? And how can we prevent plastic pollution? Join us on a chilling story about plastic pollution in our northernmost waters: the fascinating Arctic Ocean.

Reaktualisasi Pengukuran Arah Kiblat Dengan Metode Segitiga Bola Pada Masjid Dan Musholla

An understanding of the Qibla direction is very important for Muslims, because facing the Qibla is one of the legal requirements for performing prayers. Although now the technology to determine the Qibla direction is sophisticated, it is necessary to know how to determine the actual Qibla direction. The determination of the direction of the Qibla with the spherical triangle method is based on a triangle on the surface of the globe which is formed by three large circles of the globe, namely two circles of the earth's longitude and one circle of Qibla. The intersection of the three large circles forms three points, namely point A (Makkah), point B (the location where the Qibla direction will be calculated), and point C (the North Pole). The steps in determining the Qibla direction include: (1) Prepare the data needed in calculating the Qibla direction of a place, namely latitude and longitude data for the Kaaba (Makkah city), as well as latitude and longitude data for the location/city to be calculated. the qibla direction; (2) Calculation of the Qibla direction using the formula , with: B = Angle of the direction of the Qibla of a place, C = The difference between the longitude of the Kaaba and the longitude of the place where the Qibla direction is being sought, a = 90o – tp (latitude), and b = 90o – ka (Kaaba latitude); (3) Calculation of true Qibla azimuth from true north in a clockwise direction, where true Qibla azimuth = 360o – Qibla direction angle (B); (4) Determination of the actual Qibla direction by measuring using an arc ruler as large as true Qibla azimuth from true north.