Characteristic Decrease in the Value of Rapeseed Evapotranspiration after Its Ripening

This paper presents the methodology of taking measurements of active surface energy balance components using the Bowen method. It discusses the applied measurement system, an important part of which are HMD 50U/50Y measurement sensors from Vaisala, adapted to work in the field. Their operation is a source of data for determining vertical profiles of temperature and water vapour pressure. These data are used to determine the turbulence components of the energy balance, i.e., sensible and latent heat. Measurements taken during the vegetative season on rape field showed that intensive evaporation occurred in the period until the end of June and that its decrease coincided with the decrease in the value of the degree of plant development determined on the basis of LAI records. In spring, during the period of intensive plant development, the decade sums of evaporation reached 30 mm, after which their quantities fell to the range of 10–15 mm. They became higher only in the periods of precipitation, when the water from the interception was available.

The transpiration and respiration as mechanisms of water loss in cold storage of figs

Transpiration and respiration are two mechanisms of water loss in fresh agricultural products, resulting in visual and texture degradation. Neglecting respiration as a mechanism of water loss may lead to erroneous results at saturation where water vapour pressure deficit is zero and thus water loss is expected to be zero, however, the existence of a finite water loss is noted. In this context, an analysis of the associated with transpiration and respiration water loss in figs (Ficus carica L.) was carried out at 0oC, 10oC and 20oC and 45.64%, 80.22% and 98.65% relative humidity as well as the air conditions of walk-in cold storage rooms. The estimated transpiration rate ranged between 0.11-1.416 mg cm-2 h -1 for a water vapour pressure deficit of 0.0-0.98 kPa. The water vapour pressure deficit estimation was based on the difference between cold air temperature and figs’ surface temperature. The respiration rate was calculated at 0oC, 10oC and 20oC as 0.47±0.08, 0.94±0.11 and 2.69±0.17 mLCO2100g-1 h -1 . Quantification of the water loss showed that at 20oC and saturation, the water loss due to respiration accounts for 3.9% of the respective water loss due to water vapour pressure deficit while on average, the water loss due to respiration accounts for 1.5%, 2.1% and 2.6% of the water loss due to water vapour pressure deficit at 0oC, 10oC and 20oC.

EMO-5: A high-resolution multi-variable gridded meteorological data set for Europe

In this paper we present EMO-51, a European high-resolution, (sub-)daily, multi-variable meteorological data set built on historical and real-time observations obtained by integrating data from 18,964 ground weather stations, four high-resolution regional observational grids (i.e. CombiPrecip, ZAMG - INCA, EURO4M-APGD and CarpatClim) as well as one global reanalysis (ERA-Interim/Land). EMO-5 includes at daily resolution: total precipitation, temperatures (mean, minimum and maximum), wind speed, solar radiation and water vapour pressure. In addition, EMO-5 also makes available 6-hourly precipitation and mean temperature. The raw observations from the ground weather stations underwent a set of quality controls, before SPHEREMAP and Yamamoto interpolation methods were applied in order to estimate for each 5 x 5 km grid cell the variable value and its affiliated uncertainty, respectively. The quality of the EMO-5 precipitation data was evaluated through (1) comparison with two regional high resolution data sets (i.e. seNorge2 and seNorge2018), (2) analysis of 15 heavy precipitation events, and (3) examination of the interpolation uncertainty. Results show that EMO-5 successfully captured 80 % of the heavy precipitation events, and that it is of comparable quality to a regional high resolution data set. The availability of the uncertainty fields increases the transparency of the data set and hence the possible usage. EMO-5 (release 1) covers the time period from 1990 to 2019, with a near real-time release of the latest gridded observations foreseen soon. As a product of Copernicus, the EU's Earth observation programme, EMO-5 dataset is free and open, and can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.2905/0BD84BE4-CEC8-4180-97A6-8B3ADAAC4D26 (Thiemig et al., 2021).1 EMO stands for “European Meteorological Observations”, whereas the 5 denotes the spatial resolution of 5 km.

On the Global Contrasting Temperature-Precipitation Phase Mechanisms in the Last Century

Global precipitation patterns have changed compared to the before 1960 (pre-industrial period). By now the temperature has risen by approximately 1°C. The atmospheric heat-retaining constituents have been raised by human-induced activities. It is influencing the composition of the atmospheric gases and water vapour leading to tropospheric energy budget imbalance affecting atmospheric pressure systems. Increased atmospheric warming leads water holding capacity to rise. Such changes insinuated contrasting phases: decreased (increased) temperature- increased (decreased) precipitation in the last century. Mechanisms of these in- and out- phases are investigated. In the total four (two colder-wet and two warmer-dry) global conditions are observed. These time slices indicate a gradual increase in global temperature and a decrease in precipitation. Clausius-Clapeyron relation suggests abrupt warming and increased water vapour pressure in recent decades. In addition, the global climate system is shifting towards abnormal warm-wet or warm-dry conditions. Further, contrasting changes in global precipitation have been seen, in particular after 1960 (post-industrial period). It is significantly noted that there has been a global contrasting temperature-precipitation phase mechanism in the last century.

Time Changes Everything: Analysing Temporal Patterns of Evaporative Water Loss

Higher air temperatures and drier conditions may create stronger water vapour pressure and increase rates of cutaneous water loss, while elevated body temperatures may in turn directly speed up metabolic rates that lead to higher respiratory water loss. Therefore, water budgets are an important organismal trait for understanding their responses to climate change. The most common method of water loss estimation combines respiratory and cutaneous pathways by measuring body weight loss over a defined period of time. Currently, obtained values are often summed or averaged for population or species comparisons. We warn about potential statistical problems using average or summed values of water loss due to emerging temporal patterns. In this study we used a model dataset of lizards and to investigate temporal patterns in water loss datasets. We found that temporal patterns strongly vary across datasets and often deviate from the summed/average profile. Also, the duration of the experiment needs to remain long enough to detect the temporal patterns and produce representative results, while averages at different end-points of the experiment will also vary with temporal patterns. We propose that a simple statistical approach including hour of the experiment as non-linear explanatory variable in GAMM is used to investigate and adequately account for temporal patterns, which will ensure comparability of studies using meta-analyses in the future. Found signal of temporal variation in water loss also suggests that it holds significant biological relevance, potentially mostly connected to behavioural but also physiological adjustments and needs research attention in the future.

Estimation of Geoclimatic Factor for Nigeria through Meteorological Data

Geoclimatic factor variable is one of the most important radio climatic variables in the planning of the radio links in any region. A fade margin that takes into account multipath fading has to be incorporated in the link budget in the design of terrestrial line of sight communication system. This work involves the determination of the refractivity gradient over the first 100 m above ground level in Nigeria and by using the determined refractivity gradient, the geo-climatic factor (K) was calculated for typical links in Nigeria. The Geo-climatic factor (K) for the six major cities representing each geopolitical zone in Nigeria is determined in-order to improve future planning of the radio links in the regions. Measurement of meteorological parameters for five years taken in Ikeja, Lagos (Latitude 6º27´11´´N, Longitude 3º23´44´´E), Enugu (Latitude 6º27´35.8704´´N, Longitude 7º32´56.2164´´E), Kaduna (Latitude 10º31´23´´N, Longitude 7º26´25´´E), Port Harcourt (Latitude 4º47´21´´N, Longitude 6º59´54´´E), Kano (Latitude 12º3’N,Longitude 8º32´N) and Abuja (Latitude 9º10´32´´N Longitude 7º10´50´´E) were employed to estimate the country value of K. The pressure, P(hPa), temperature, T(ºC) and the relative humidity, (%), for the six location used were taken for a period of five years (2011-2015). The value of humidity were converted to water vapour pressure, e(hPa). In processing of the data, the average values of each month collected over a period of five years was used. The monthly data was used to calculate the values of the refractivity at the ground level and at 100 m altitude. From the calculated values of refractivity,the values of the refractivity gradient of heights of 65 m and at 100 m was computed and thereafter the geo-climatic factor (K) was calculated for the six geopolitical region of the country.

Fast in-situ X-ray scattering reveals stress sensitivity of gypsum dehydration kinetics

The dehydration of gypsum to hemihydrate has been studied for decades because it is an important model reaction for understanding fluid-triggered earthquakes, and due to the global use of plaster of Paris in the construction industry. The dehydration kinetics of gypsum strongly depend on temperature and water vapour pressure. Here, we perform fast, time-resolved synchrotron X-ray scattering on natural alabaster samples, finding that a small elastic load accelerates the dehydration reaction significantly. The mechanical acceleration of the reaction consumes about 10,000 times less energy than that due to heating. We propose that this thermodynamically surprising finding is caused by geometry-energy interactions in the microstructure, which facilitate nucleation and growth of the new crystalline phase. Our results open research avenues on the fundamental thermo-mechanics of crystal hydrates and the interaction of stress and chemical reactions in crystalline solids with a wide range of implications, from understanding dehydration-triggered earthquakes to the energy-efficient design of calcination processes.

Estimation methodology and the significance of the atmospheric water exchange flux in the river-lake systems of selected lobelia lakes in the vicinity of the Tri-City in Poland

The article aims to present the methodology of estimating the atmospheric water exchange components in the lake. In the absence of direct precipitation and evaporation measurements, these water balance elements need to be estimated. However, the inadequate selection of precipitation and evaporation estimation methods causes the incorrect determination of the hydrological function of the lake and the effect it has on the formation of river drainage. Determination of the evaporation from the lake’s surface was based on the Davidov formula, which considered the monthly average surface temperature of a given lake. The saturated water vapour pressure under the lake’s monthly mean surface water temperature (TWP) was calculated according to ISO 13788 standard. The interpolation method, which is the inverse-distance deterministic method (IDW), was used to calculate precipitation reaching the lake surface. The calculations were made for three hydrological years diverse in terms of humidity and thermal conditions. The methodology for estimating the components of atmospheric water exchange was presented on a small river-lake system of the upper Gościcina River catchment, an example of a postglacial lake district area. The lake elements of this system are lobelia lakes, poorly known in terms of water circulation. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, unjustified activities regarding assessing the water circulation conditions in this river-lake system led to changes in water relations, causing environmental, financial and social losses.

Daily and seasonal variabilities of thermal stress (based on the UTCI) in air masses typical for Central Europe: an example from Warsaw

The objective of research involved the comparison of daily and seasonal courses of thermal stress occurring in Central Europe depending on the inflowing air mass. The analysis used data from Warsaw (1991–2000), including air temperature (°C), water vapour pressure (hPa), wind speed (m s−1) and cloud cover (%). Universal thermal climate index was calculated and subsequently averaged for the individual months and four types of atmospheric air masses: polar maritime (mP), arctic(A), polar continental (cP) and tropical (T). The studies analysed differences in daily patterns of the averaged values of universal thermal climate index between air masses and determined the frequency of days with various types of thermal stress in individual air masses. The analyses indicated that under the conditions of Central Europe, the highest daily variance of biothermal conditions occurs between the masses of cP and T in the spring and autumn. Considerably greater diversity of biothermal conditions was observed between the masses during daytime compared with nighttime, especially in the warm half of the year. The thermal stress, which can be encountered in Central Europe, ranges from an “extreme cold stress” in winter at night and early morning hours to “very strong heat stress” in summer at noon. Extreme thermal stress is related primarily to the masses of cP, A and T. The most optimal biothermal conditions occur during the advection of mP air.