Search results for "Geophysic"

Mg/Ca ratios in coralline algae record northwest Atlantic temperature variations and North Atlantic Oscillation relationships

2010

Climate variability in the North Atlantic has been linked in part to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The NAO influences marine ecosystems in the northwestern Atlantic and transport variability of the cold Labrador Current. Understanding historic patterns of NAO variability requires long‐term and high‐resolution climate records that are not available from instrumental data. Here we present the first century‐scale proxy record of sea surface temperature (SST) variability from the Newfoundland shelf, a region from which other annual‐resolution shallow marine proxies are unavailable. The 116 year record was obtained from three sites along the eastern Newfoundland shelf using laser ablatio…

The 2-μm spectroscopy of Huygens probe landing site on Titan with Very Large Telescope/Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System Near-Infrared Imager and Spectr…

2007

[1] Several ground-based telescopes followed the event of the Huygens probe descent through Titan's atmosphere (14 January 2005). We used the Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System Near-Infrared Imager and Spectrograph (NACO) adaptive optics system at the UT-4 of the Very Large Telescope in Chile to perform both spectroscopic and imaging measurements of Titan. We present here a selected sample of the spectra we acquired on 16 January 2005 in the K band between 2.03 and 2.40 μm. Our spectra include the Huygens landing site and surrounding dark and bright areas. We apply a radiative transfer code using new methane absorption coefficients calculated in the 2-μm region. The analysis of the data yields …

Recent climate variability around the Kerguelen Islands (Southern Ocean) seen through weather regimes

2021

AbstractDaily weather regimes are defined around the Kerguelen Islands (Southern Ocean) based on daily 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies derived from the ERA5 ensemble reanalysis over the period 1979-2018. Ten regimes are retained as significant. Their occurrences are highly consistent across reanalysis ensemble members. Regimes show weak seasonality and non-significant long-term trends in their occurrences. Their sequences are usually short (1-3 days), with extreme persistence values above 10 days. Seasonal regime frequency is mostly driven by the phase of the Southern Annular Mode over Antarctica, mid-latitude dynamics over the Southern Ocean like the Pacific South American mode, and …

2016

Abstract. Scanning spectrometer networks using scattered solar radiation in the ultraviolet spectral region have become an increasingly important tool for monitoring volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. Often measured spectra are evaluated using the differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) technique. In order to obtain absolute column densities (CDs), the DOAS evaluation requires a Fraunhofer reference spectrum (FRS) that is free of absorption structures of the trace gas of interest. For measurements at volcanoes such a FRS can be readily obtained if the scan (i.e. series of measurements at different elevation angles) includes viewing directions where the plume is not seen. I…

Mixing and ageing in the polar lower stratosphere in winter 2015–2016

2018

We present data from winter 2015–2016, which were measured during the POLSTRACC (The Polar Stratosphere in a Changing Climate) aircraft campaign between December 2015 and March 2016 in the Arctic upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). The focus of this work is on the role of transport and mixing between aged and potentially chemically processed air masses from the stratosphere which have midlatitude and low-latitude air mass fractions with small transit times originating at the tropical lower stratosphere. By combining measurements of CO, N2O and SF6 we estimate the evolution of the relative contributions of transport and mixing to the UTLS composition over the course of the winte…

Freshening of the Alaska Coastal Current recorded by coralline algal Ba/Ca ratios

2011

Arctic Ocean freshening can exert a controlling influence on global climate, triggering strong feedbacks on ocean‐atmospheric processes and affecting the global cycling of the world’s oceans. Glacier‐fed ocean currents such as the Alaska Coastal Current are important sources of freshwater for the Bering Sea shelf, and may also influence the Arctic Ocean freshwater budget. Instrumental data indicate a multiyear freshening episode of the Alaska Coastal Current in the early 21st century. It is uncertain whether this freshening is part of natural multidecadal climate variability or a unique feature of anthropogenically induced warming. In order to answer this, a better understanding of past var…

Diurnal variability, photochemical production and loss processes of hydrogen peroxide in the boundary layer over Europe

2019

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) plays a significant role in the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere. It is an efficient oxidant in the liquid phase and serves as a temporary reservoir for the hydroxyl radical (OH), the most important oxidizing agent in the gas phase. Due to its high solubility, removal of H2O2 due to wet and dry deposition is efficient, being a sink of HOx (OH+HO2) radicals. In the continental boundary layer, the H2O2 budget is controlled by photochemistry, transport and deposition processes. Here we use in situ observations of H2O2 and account for chemical source and removal mechanisms to study the interplay between these processes. The data were obtained during five ground-base…

Dynamics of Rossby Wave Packets in a Quantitative Potential Vorticity–Potential Temperature Framework

2016

Abstract Rossby wave packets (RWPs) have been associated with increased atmospheric predictability but also with the growth and propagation of forecast uncertainty. To address the important question of under which conditions RWPs imply high and low predictability, a potential vorticity–potential temperature (PV–θ) framework is introduced to diagnose RWP dynamics. Finite-amplitude RWPs along the midlatitude waveguide are considered and are represented by the synoptic-scale, wavelike undulations of the tropopause. The evolution of RWPs is examined by the amplitude evolution of the individual troughs and ridges. Troughs and ridges are identified as PV anomalies on θ levels intersecting the mid…

Quasi-decadal signals of Sahel rainfall and West African monsoon since the mid-twentieth century

2013

[1] Sahel rainfall shows pronounced decadal variability and a negative trend between wet conditions in the 1950s–1960s and dry ones in the 1970s–1980s. Using continuous wavelet transform, the quasi-decadal variability (QDV) of rainfall reveals zonal contrasts. The highest QDV is identified in the 1950s–1960s over western Sahel and in the 1970s–1980s over eastern Sahel. The quasi-decadal atmospheric anomalies have been reconstructed using Fourier transform for the 1950s–1960s and the 1970s–1980s, respectively, and assessed by the composite analysis of the QDV phases for the periods before and after 1968. Over western Sahel, the rainfall QDV in the 1950s–1960s is related to the North Atlantic…

Regionalizing Rainfall at Very High Resolution over La Réunion Island: A Case Study for Tropical Cyclone Ando

2016

AbstractEnsemble simulations of Tropical Cyclone (TC) Ando (31 December 2000–9 January 2001) are performed over the southwest Indian Ocean using the nonhydrostatic WRF Model. Nested domains centered over the island of La Réunion allow for the simulation of local rainfall amounts associated with TC Ando at very high resolution (680-m grid spacing). The model is forced by and nudged toward ERA-Interim during the first (1–6) day(s) of the TC’s life cycle. The nudging ends at various dates to constrain either the whole life cycle or only parts of it.As expected, results show weakened member dispersion, as the relaxation lasts longer, with more members producing similar cyclone tracks and intens…