Search results for "Longwave radiation"
showing 10 items of 11 documents
Assessment of the Potential Evapotranspiration MODIS Product Using Ground Measurements in the Pampas
2018
Evapotranspiration is the hydrological variable of greatest relevance in the Argentina Pampas Region (APR). The estimation of potential evapotranspiration (PET) in this area becomes essential since primary productivity is directly linked to water availability. In order to evaluate the MOD16_A2 product of evapotranspiration (ET), a comparison with in situ measurements was conducted. We used ET data provided by the Oficina de Riesgo Agropecuario, corresponding to 24 stations placed in the region covering all seasons for the years 2012 to 2014. Results show an overestimation of 86% and 52% in Autumn-Winter and Spring-Summer, respectively. Mean Absolut Error (MAE) range between ±0.9 and ±2.1 mm…
Investigation of the mixing layer height derived from ceilometer measurements in the Kathmandu Valley and implications for local air quality
2017
Abstract. In this study 1 year of ceilometer measurements taken in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, in the framework of the SusKat project (A Sustainable Atmosphere for the Kathmandu Valley) were analysed to investigate the diurnal variation of the mixing layer height (MLH) and its dependency on the meteorological conditions. In addition, the impact of the MLH on the temporal variation and the magnitude of the measured black carbon concentrations are analysed for each season. Based on the assumption that black carbon aerosols are vertically well mixed within the mixing layer and the finding that the mixing layer varies only little during night time and morning hours, black carbon emission fluxe…
Recent changes in precipitation, ITCZ convection and northern tropical circulation over North Africa (1979-2007)
2011
This article focuses on some recent changes observed in the Tropics with special emphasis on the African monsoon region using high-resolution gridded precipitation from the Climatic Research Unit (period 1979–2002), outgoing longwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and atmospheric reanalyses from the Climate Prediction Center (NCEP-DOE2, period 1979–2007). The results show a rainfall increase in North Africa since the mid-90s with significant northward migrations of rainfall amounts, i.e. + 1.5° for the 400 mm July to September isohyets, whereas deep convection has significantly increased and shifted northward. The subsidence b…
On the angular variation of thermal infrared emissivity of inorganic soils
2012
[1] Land surface temperature (LST), a key parameter for many environmental studies, can be most readily estimated by using thermal infrared (TIR) sensors onboard satellites. Accurate LST are contingent upon simultaneously accurate estimates of land surface emissivity (e), which depend on sensor viewing angle and the anisotropy of optical and structural properties of surfaces. In the case of inorganic bare soils (IBS), there are still few data that quantify emissivity angular effects. The present work deals with the angular variation of TIR emissivity for twelve IBS types, representative of nine of the twelve soil textures found on Earth according to United States Department of Agriculture c…
A typology for intraseasonal oscillations
2013
This descriptive study attempts to document the diversity of intraseasonal oscillations (ISO) propagative and spatial patterns, as inferred from outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) variability. Main ISO events over the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool are first extracted using a local mode analysis (LMA) applied on the 20–120-d filtered OLR on the 1979–2008 period. One hundred and sixty-nine individual ISO are detected. Their propagative patterns are then objectively regrouped into a few types using a hierarchical agglomerative classification. Three alternative partitionings are retained, depending on the level of details expected from the typology. ISO events first regroup naturally into two well-sepa…
Variability of the African convection centre as viewed by outgoing longwave radiation records and relationships with sea-surface temperature patterns
1995
International audience; The main African convection centre (ACC) is delimited by the 5"-square areas with outgoing longwave radiation less than 235 W m-' in the domain 17.5°N-17.5"S and 18"W-46"E. Four parameters (latitude and longitude of the centre of gravity, mean intensity, and extension) were analysed during the period June 1974 to December 1991. The relationships between the variability of the ACC and the main sea-surface temperature (SST) patterns were then studied. Correlation and composite analyses demonstrate that the first principal component of SST, representing mainly the variability of the eastern and the central tropical Pacific, is associated strongly with the extension and …
Observed changes in the life time and amplitude of the madden-julian oscillation associated with interannual ENSO sea surface temperature anomalies
2007
Abstract The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is analyzed using the reanalysis zonal wind– and satellite outgoing longwave radiation–based indices of Wheeler and Hendon for the 1974–2005 period. The average lifetime of the MJO events varies with season (36 days for events whose central date occurs in December, and 48 days for events in September). The lifetime of the MJO in the equinoctial seasons (March–May and October–December) is also dependent on the state of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During October–December it is only 32 days under El Niño conditions, increasing to 48 days under La Niña conditions, with similar values in northern spring. This difference is due to faster eastw…
Influence of the Madden-Julian Oscillation on Southern African summer rainfall
2007
Rain-causing mechanisms over Southern Africa (south of 15˚S) involve both tropical and temperate dynamics. Most studies focused on the synoptical timescale, while the intraseasonal (20-120 days) variability has more been neglected to date. This study aims at determining whether the dominant mode of intraseasonal variability in the Tropics, namely the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), has a significant impact on Southern African rainfall and associated atmospheric dynamics. The examination of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) over Southern Africa shows indeed significant intraseasonal fluctuations at the 30-60 day timescale, i.e. in the pe- riods that are typically reminiscent of the MJO. In ord…
Characterization of the interannual and intraseasonal variability of West African vegetation between 1982 and 2002 by means of NOAA AVHRR NDVI data
2007
AbstractThe interannual and intraseasonal variability of West African vegetation over the period 1982–2002 is studied using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR).The novel independent component analysis (ICA) technique is applied to extract the main modes of the interannual variability of the vegetation, among which two modes are worth describing. The first component (IC1) describes NDVI variability over the Sahel from August to October. A strong photosynthetic activity over the Sahel is related to above-normal convection and rainfall within the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in summertime and is partly associated …
How do tropical temperate troughs form and develop over southern Africa?
2014
16 pages ; Corrigendum Figure (Macron C, B Pohl, Y Richard & M Bessafi (2014) CORRIGENDUM. Journal of Climate, 27, 5198-5199. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00319.1); International audience; This paper aims at separating the respective influences of tropical and midlatitude variability on the development and life cycle of tropical temperate troughs (TTTs) over southern Africa in austral summer (November-February). Cluster analysis is applied to 1971-2000 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) daily outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) anomalies to identify TTTs and monitor tropical convection. The same analysis applied to the zonal wind stretching deformation at 200 hPa (ZDEF) characterizes midlatitude trans…