Larval Fish Community in the Northwestern Iberian Upwelling System during the Summer Period

The Galician shelf (northwestern Iberian Peninsula) is a highly dynamic area with an important multi-species fisheries industry that exploits resources from several habitats, characterized by being not only highly diverse, rich, and productive but also seasonally and interannually variable. Early life stages of different species are distributed throughout the year, with fluctuating abundances and community composition. Likewise, the influence of environmental factors and processes on larval production and survival remains unknown. Sampling was carried out in July 2012, and all the larvae obtained were identified to establish the specific composition of the community in a summer upwelling scenario. The results show no zonation in the species distribution, a consequence of the mixing effects of the upwelling and eddies, with high diversity but low abundance, which render in a slight predominance of a few species. Due to the dependence of planktonic populations on upwelling events, which was not highly pronounced in 2012, we cannot conclude that this was a typical conformation of the Galician summer larval fish community, but it is a first approach to comprehend the community composition.

An exploratory performance assessment of the CHIMERE model (version 2017r4) for the northwestern Iberian Peninsula and the summer season

Here, the capability of the chemical weather forecasting model CHIMERE (version 2017r4) to reproduce surface ozone, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide concentrations in complex terrain is investigated for the period from 21 June to 21 August 2018. The study area is the northwestern Iberian Peninsula, where both coastal and mountain climates can be found in direct vicinity and a large fraction of the land area is covered by forests. Driven by lateral boundary conditions from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Composition Integrated Forecast System, anthropogenic emissions from two commonly used top-down inventories and meteorological data from the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, CHIMERE's performance with respect to observations is tested with a range of sensitivity experiments. We assess the effects of (1) an increase in horizontal resolution, (2) an increase in vertical resolution, (3) the use of distinct model chemistries, and (4) the use of distinct anthropogenic emissions inventories, downscaling techniques and land use databases. In comparison with the older HTAP emission inventory downscaled with basic options, the updated and sophistically downscaled EMEP inventory only leads to partial model improvements, and so does the computationally costly horizontal resolution increase. Model performance changes caused by the choice of distinct chemical mechanisms are not systematic either and rather depend on the considered anthropogenic emission configuration and pollutant. Although the results are thus heterogeneous in general terms, the model's response to a vertical resolution increase confined to the lower to middle troposphere is homogeneous in the sense of improving virtually all verification aspects. For our study region and the two aforementioned top-down emission inventories, we conclude that it is not necessary to run CHIMERE on a horizontal mesh much finer than the native grid of these inventories. A relatively coarse horizontal mesh combined with 20 model layers between 999 and 500 hPa is sufficient to yield balanced results. The chemical mechanism should be chosen as a function of the intended application.

Hydrometeorological droughts in the Miño–Limia–Sil hydrographic demarcation (northwestern Iberian Peninsula): the role of atmospheric drivers

Drought is one of the world's primary natural hazards because of its environmental, economic, and social impacts. Therefore, monitoring and prediction for small regions, countries, or whole continents are challenging. In this work, the meteorological droughts affecting the Miño–Limia–Sil hydrographic demarcation in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula during the period of 1980–2017 were identified. For this purpose and to assess the combined effects of temperature and precipitation on drought conditions, the 1-month standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI1) was utilized. Some of the most severe episodes occurred during June 2016–January 2017, September 2011–March 2012, and December 2014–August 2015. An empirical-orthogonal-function analysis revealed that the spatial variability of the SPEI1 shows strong homogeneity in the region, and the drought phenomenon consequently behaves in the same way. Particular emphasis was given to investigating atmospheric circulation as a driver of different drought conditions. To this aim, a daily weather type classification based on the Lamb weather type (LWT) classification was utilized for the entire Iberian Peninsula. Results showed that atmospheric circulation from the southwest, west, and northwest are directly related to wet conditions in the Miño–Limia–Sil hydrographic demarcation during the entire hydrological year. Contrastingly, weather types imposing atmospheric circulation from the northeast, east, and southeast are best associated with dry conditions. Anomalies of the integrated vertical flow of humidity and their divergence for the onset, peak, and termination of the 10 most severe drought episodes also confirmed these results. In this sense, the major atmospheric teleconnection patterns related to dry and wet conditions were the Arctic Oscillation, Scandinavian pattern, and North Atlantic Oscillation. Hydrological drought investigated through the standardized runoff index was closely related to dry and wet conditions revealed by the SPEI at shorter temporal scales (1–2 months), especially during the rainy months (December–April).

An exploratory performance assessment of the <i>CHIMERE</i> model (version 2017r4) for the northwestern Iberian Peninsula and the summer season

Here, the capability of the chemical weather forecasting model CHIMERE (version 2017r4) to reproduce surface ozone, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide concentrations in complex terrain is investigated for the period from June 21 to August 21, 2018. The study area is the northwestern Iberian Peninsula, where both coastal and mountain climates can be found in direct vicinity and a large fraction of the land area is covered by forests. Driven by lateral boundary conditions from the ECMWF Composition Integrated Forecast System, anthropogenic emissions from two commonly used top-down inventories and meteorological data from the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, CHIMERE's performance with respect to observations is tested with a range of sensitivity experiments. We assess the effects of 1) an increase in horizontal resolution, 2) an increase in vertical resolution, 3) the use of distinct model chemistries and 4) the use of distinct anthropogenic emissions inventories, downscaling techniques and landuse databases. In comparsion with the older HTAP emission inventory downscaled with basic options, the updated and sophistically downscaled EMEP inventory only leads to partial model improvements and so does the computationally costly horizontal resolution increase. Model performance changes caused by the choice of distinct chemical mechanisms are not systematic either and rather depend on the considered anthropgenic emission configuration and pollutant. Albeit the results are thus heterogeneous in general terms, the model's response to a vertical resolution increase confined to the lower to middle troposphere is homogeneous in the sense of improving virtually all verification aspects. We conclude that, as long as the aforementioned top-down emission inventories are used, it is generally not necessary to use a horizontal model mesh much finer than the native grid of the inventories. A relatively coarse horizontal mesh combined with 20 model layers between 999 and 500 hPa is sufficient to yield balanced results. The chemical mechanism should be chosen as a function of the intended application.

Covering Layers on Granite Buildings of Northwestern Iberian Peninsula: When Observable Characteristics and Lab Characterization Do Not Match

Illustrated glossaries on stone pathologies help to describe deterioration forms in built heritage without resorting to any laboratory analyses. In this way, terms such as crust, deposit, and soiling which according to ICOMOS-ISCS: Illustrated Glossary on Stone Deterioration Patterns may include exogenic material, a patina which results from ageing of the material in an endogenous process, and a film included under the broad term of a coating layer in the glossary, can be macroscopically identified on site. However, a definition on the basis of characteristics only observable with the naked eye (without further analysis in the laboratory) is certainly complicated, and if in addition, the case studies are on granitic rock (a major building stone used across Europe), the picture becomes even more complicated. The intention of this brief report is to engender an open, constructive debate about the casuistry of the covering layers on granite (a poorly reactive and less porous rock) and the difficulty of using the ICOMOS nomenclature on them.

A estátua-menir do Pedrão ou de São Bartolomeu do Mar (Esposende, noroeste de Portugal) no contexto arqueológico da fachada costeira de entre os rios Neiva e Cávado

The statue-menhir of Pedrão was studied and revaluated in 2018 and it was found that it had a head, a rounded base and engravings, some of them destroyed by the anthropic action. It was found that the arrangement of the eight cup-marks on the south face, if joined, would form the typical rectangular motif of the northwestern Iberian Peninsula statues-menhirs, so it should be included in this group and in the same generic age. This statue-menhir is out of place, although testimonies and popular traditions indicate that it would be close to its original context: on the coastal platform in front of Mount of Sanfins. It will has functioned as a symbol of identity and power marking a geostrategic place of encounter between populations for religious, social and exchange purposes.