Search results for "climatology"

Corrigendum: A new archive of large volcanic events over the past millennium derived from reconstructed summer temperatures (2017 Environ. Res. Lett.…

2017

Vegetation and environmental changes in tropical South America from the last glacial to the Holocene documented by multiple cave sediment proxies

2019

Abstract δ 18 O values in speleothems have been utilized to document past changes in South American monsoon intensity. However, changes in regional vegetation and ecosystems have not been part of this discussion, and other cave proxies such as speleothem δ 13 C values, a useful proxy for vegetation reconstruction, have been neglected due to interpretive complexities. Here we report δ 13 C values and 87Sr/86Sr ratios in stalagmites, together with XRF-derived elemental chemistry, δ 13 Corg values and carbon content from a sedimentary profile from the same cave where the stalagmites were collected. In combination with a previously published δ 18 O record, this enables us to clarify climate and…

Recent Change—Atmosphere

2015

This chapter examines past and present studies of variability and changes in atmospheric variables within the North Sea region over the instrumental period; roughly the past 200 years. The variables addressed are large-scale circulation, pressure and wind, surface air temperature, precipitation and radiative properties (clouds, solar radiation, and sunshine duration). Temperature has increased everywhere in the North Sea region, especially in spring and in the north. Precipitation has increased in the north and decreased in the south. There has been a north-eastward shift in storm tracks, which agrees with climate model projections. Due to large internal variability, it is not clear which a…

Temporal analysis of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST) parameters to detect changes in the Iberian lan…

2011

In past decades, the Iberian Peninsula has been shown to have suffered vegetation changes such as desertification and reforestation. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST) parameters, estimated from data acquired by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor onboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite series, are particularly adapted to assess these changes. This work presents an application of the yearly land-cover dynamics (YLCD) methodology to analyse the behaviour of the vegetation, which consists of a combined multitemporal study of the NDVI and LST parameters on a yearly basis. Throughout the 1…

Moroccan speleothem and tree ring records suggest a variable positive state of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the Medieval Warm Period

2013

We present a magnesium (Mg) and strontium (Sr) record from an aragonitic speleothem (Grotte de Piste, Morocco, 34‬°N; 04°W) providing a reconstruction of effective rainfall from 619 to 1962 AD. The corresponding drip site was monitored over 2 yr for drip water Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios. Results show evidence for prior aragonite precipitation, which can explain negative correlations between speleothem Mg and Sr concentrations. The data shown here have important climate implications concerning the evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A comparison of the stalagmite data from Grotte de Piste with an updated tree ring based drought reconstruction from Morocco and other NAO related pro…

Net radiation of the Iberian Peninsula from NOAA-AVHRR data

1998

In this work, we present a methodology to obtain the daily net radiation flux from NOAA-AVHRR data. To get this objective we need firstly to obtain shortwave net radiation flux from the solar global radiation flux and the albedo map. Secondly, we need to obtain the upward longwave radiation flux from surface temperature and emissivity and the downward longwave radiation flux from air temperature. Like an example of application of this methodology a daily net radiation flux image of the Iberian Peninsula is presented, in which we show that daily net radiation flux can be obtained with a satisfactory precision lower than 1.0 mmday -1 .

Precipitation and Temperature

2016

Climatological studies indicate that climate change lead to an increase in the mean global temperature of around 0.5 °C until the end of the twentieth century. This warming impacts the atmospheric humidity, wind, radiation, and precipitation. However, the magnitude of changes is not equally distributed over the globe but differs markedly with regions, making a regionalization of the global information essential. The GLOWA-Danube project follows such a downscaling approach with the focus on the drainage basin of the Upper Danube River.

Changes in vegetation spring dates in the second half of the twentieth century

2011

This study aims at estimating trends in spring phenology from vegetation index and air temperature at 2 m height. To this end, we have developed a methodology to infer spring phenological dates from Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies GIMMS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI time-series, which are then extrapolated to the period 1948–2006 with the help of Reanalysis data, using its 2 m height air temperature parameter. First, yearly NDVI is fitted to a double-logistic function for the whole extent of the GIMMS database 1981–2003. This fitting procedure allows us to describe, on a yearly basis, the NDVI evolution for each pixel through the estimation of six parameters whic…

Recent Change—Terrestrial Cryosphere

2015

This chapter compiles and assesses information on recent and current change within the terrestrial cryosphere of the Baltic Sea drainage basin. Findings are based on long-term observations. Snow cover extent (SCE), duration and amount have shown a widespread decrease although there is large interannual and regional variation. Few data are available on changes in snow structural properties. There is no evidence for a recent change in the frequency or severity of snow-related extreme events. There has been a decrease in glacier coverage in Sweden and glacier ice thickness in inland Scandinavia. The European permafrost is warming, and there has been a northward retreat of the southern boundary…

Trace elements mobility in soils from the active hydrothermal area of Nisyros (Greece)

2014

Nisyros Island, Greece, is a stratovolcano known for its intense hydrothermal activity. On June 2013, during a multidisciplinary field campaign, soil samples were collected in the caldera area to determinate the main mineralogical paragenesis and to investigate the distribution of trace elements concentrations and the possible relationship to the contribution of deep originated fluids. Soil samples were analysed with XRD and for the chemical composition of their leachable (deionized water) and near total (microwave digestion) fraction both for major and trace elements. All data were compared to a local background soil. The results allow to divide the samples in 2 groups: Lakki Plain and Ste…