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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Observation And Modeling Of Gravity Wave Propagation Through Reflection And Critical Layers Above Andes Lidar Observatory At Cerro Pachón, Chile, Bing Cao, Christopher J. Heale, Yafang Guo, Alan Z. Liu, Jonathan B. Snively Oct 2017

Observation And Modeling Of Gravity Wave Propagation Through Reflection And Critical Layers Above Andes Lidar Observatory At Cerro Pachón, Chile, Bing Cao, Christopher J. Heale, Yafang Guo, Alan Z. Liu, Jonathan B. Snively

Jonathan B. Snively

A complex gravity wave event was observed from 04:30 to 08:10 UTC on 16 January 2015 by a narrow-band sodium lidar and an all-sky airglow imager located at Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO) in Cerro Pachón (30.25∘S, 70.73∘W), Chile. The gravity wave packet had a period of 18–35 min and a horizontal wavelength of about 40–50 km. Strong enhancements of the vertical wind perturbation, exceeding10 m s−1, were found at ∼90 km and ∼103 km, consistent with nearly evanescent wave behavior near a reflection layer. A reduction in vertical wavelength was found as the phase speed approached the background wind speed …


Numerical Modeling Of A Multiscale Gravity Wave Event And Its Airglow Signatures Over Mount Cook, New Zealand, During The Deepwave Campaign, C. J. Heale, K. Bossert, J. B. Snively, D. C. Fritts, P. -D. Pautet, M. J. Taylor Oct 2017

Numerical Modeling Of A Multiscale Gravity Wave Event And Its Airglow Signatures Over Mount Cook, New Zealand, During The Deepwave Campaign, C. J. Heale, K. Bossert, J. B. Snively, D. C. Fritts, P. -D. Pautet, M. J. Taylor

Jonathan B. Snively

A 2-D nonlinear compressible model is used to simulate a large-amplitude, multiscale mountain wave event over Mount Cook, NZ, observed as part of the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) campaign and to investigate its observable signatures in the hydroxyl (OH) layer. The campaign observed the presence of a �x = 200 km mountain wave as part of the 22nd research flight with amplitudes of >20 K in the upper stratosphere that decayed rapidly at airglow heights. Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) showed the presence of small-scale (25–28 km) waves within the warm phase of the large mountain wave. The …


Nonlinear Ionospheric Responses To Large-Amplitude Infrasonic-Acoustic Waves Generated By Undersea Earthquakes, M. D. Zettergren, J. B. Snively, A. Komjathy, O. P. Verkhoglyadova Oct 2017

Nonlinear Ionospheric Responses To Large-Amplitude Infrasonic-Acoustic Waves Generated By Undersea Earthquakes, M. D. Zettergren, J. B. Snively, A. Komjathy, O. P. Verkhoglyadova

Jonathan B. Snively

Numerical models of ionospheric coupling with the neutral atmosphere are used to investigate perturbations of plasma density, vertically integrated total electron content (TEC), neutral velocity, and neutral temperature associated with large-amplitude acoustic waves generated by the initial ocean surface displacements from strong undersea earthquakes. A simplified source model for the 2011 Tohoku earthquake is constructed from estimates of initial ocean surface responses to approximate the vertical motions over realistic spatial and temporal scales. Resulting TEC perturbations from modeling case studies appear consistent with observational data, reproducing pronounced TEC depletions which are shown to be a consequence of the impacts of …


Consistency Of Projected Drought Over The Sahel With Changes In The Monsoon Circulation And Extremes In A Regional Climate Model Projections, M. B. Sylla, A. T. Gaye, G. S. Jenkins, Jeremy S. Pal, F. Giorgi Sep 2017

Consistency Of Projected Drought Over The Sahel With Changes In The Monsoon Circulation And Extremes In A Regional Climate Model Projections, M. B. Sylla, A. T. Gaye, G. S. Jenkins, Jeremy S. Pal, F. Giorgi

Jeremy Pal

As a step toward an increased understanding of climate change over West Africa, in this paper we analyze the relationship between rainfall changes and monsoon dynamics in high-resolution regional climate model experiments performed using the Regional Climate Model (RegCM3). Multidecadal simulations are carried out for present-day and future climate conditions under increased greenhouse gas forcing driven by the global climate model European Center/Hamburg 5 (ECHAM5). Compared to the present day, the future scenario simulation produces drier conditions over the Sahel and wetter conditions over orographic areas. The Sahel drying is accompanied by a weaker monsoon flow, a southward migration and …


Regional Climate Modeling For The Developing World: The Ictp Regcm3 And Regcnet, Jeremy S. Pal, Filippo Giorgi, Xunqiang Bi, Nellie Elguindi, Fabien Solmon, Xuejie Gao, Sara A. Rauscher, Raquel Francisco, Ashraf Zakey, Jonathan Winter, Moetasim Ashfaq, Faisal S. Syed, Jason L. Bell, Noah S. Diffenbaugh, Jagadish Karmacharya, Abourahamane Konaré, Daniel Martinez, Rosmeri P. Da Rocha, Lisa C. Sloan, Allison L. Steiner Sep 2017

Regional Climate Modeling For The Developing World: The Ictp Regcm3 And Regcnet, Jeremy S. Pal, Filippo Giorgi, Xunqiang Bi, Nellie Elguindi, Fabien Solmon, Xuejie Gao, Sara A. Rauscher, Raquel Francisco, Ashraf Zakey, Jonathan Winter, Moetasim Ashfaq, Faisal S. Syed, Jason L. Bell, Noah S. Diffenbaugh, Jagadish Karmacharya, Abourahamane Konaré, Daniel Martinez, Rosmeri P. Da Rocha, Lisa C. Sloan, Allison L. Steiner

Jeremy Pal

Regional climate models are important research tools available to scientists around the world, including in economically developing nations (EDNs). The Earth Systems Physics (ESP) group of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) maintains and distributes a state-of-the-science regional climate model called the ICTP Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3), which is currently being used by a large research community for a diverse range of climate-related studies. The RegCM3 is the central, but not only, tool of the ICTP-maintained Regional Climate Research Network (RegCNET) aimed at creating south–south and north–south scientific interactions on the topic of climate and …


Corn And Soybean Response To Sulfur Application On Iowa Soils, J. E. Sawyer, D. W. Barker Apr 2017

Corn And Soybean Response To Sulfur Application On Iowa Soils, J. E. Sawyer, D. W. Barker

John E. Sawyer

Historically sulfur (S) application has not been recommended on Iowa soils for com and soybean production. Prior research has not determined a consistent need for S fertilization in Iowa, with field research indicating no com or soybean yield response to applied S at virtually every site studied (Thorup and Leitch 1975; Webb, 1978; Alesii 1982; Killorn, 1984; Sexton et al., 1998; Mallarino et al., 2000). The soil supply, in combination with sources such as manure and atmospheric deposition has apparently met com and soybean S needs. Sulfur deficiencies have been reported over the years in various areas of the Midwestern …


Canada’S Regional Adaptation Collaboratives And Adaptation Platform: The Importance Of Scaling Up And Scaling Down Climate Change Governance Experiments, Adam Wellstead, Michael Howlett, Sreeja Nair, Jeremy Rayner Feb 2017

Canada’S Regional Adaptation Collaboratives And Adaptation Platform: The Importance Of Scaling Up And Scaling Down Climate Change Governance Experiments, Adam Wellstead, Michael Howlett, Sreeja Nair, Jeremy Rayner

Adam Wellstead

Policy experiments have often been touted as valuable mechanisms for ensuring sustainability transitions and climate change adaptation. However problems exist both in the definition of ‘experiments’, and in their design and realization. While valuable, most experiments examined in the literature to date have been small-scale micro-level deployments or evaluations of policy tools in which the most problematic element revolves around their “scaling-up” or diffusion. The literature on the subject has generally neglected the problems and issues related to another class of experiments in which macro or meso-level initiatives are ‘scaled-down’ to the micro-level. This paper examines a recent effort of …


Rate And Apparent Quantum Yield Of Photodissolution, Meg Estapa, Lawrence M. Mayer, Emmanuel Boss Jan 2017

Rate And Apparent Quantum Yield Of Photodissolution, Meg Estapa, Lawrence M. Mayer, Emmanuel Boss

Meg Estapa

We quantified rates of photochemical dissolution (photodissolution) of organic carbon in coastal Louisiana suspended sediments, conducting experiments under well-defined conditions of irradiance and temperature. Optical properties of the suspended sediments were characterized and used in a radiative transfer model to compute irradiances within turbid suspensions. Photodissolution rate increased with temperature (T), with activation energy of 32 ± 7 kJ mol−1, which implicates indirect (non-photochemical) steps in the net reaction. In most samples, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration increased approximately linearly with time over the first 4 h of irradiation under broadband simulated sunlight, after higher rates in the initial hour …


Role Of Iron And Organic Carbon In Mass-Specific Light Absorption By Particulate Matter From Louisiana Coastal Waters, Meg Estapa, Emmanuel E. Boss, Mayer M. Lawrence, Roesler S. Collin Jan 2017

Role Of Iron And Organic Carbon In Mass-Specific Light Absorption By Particulate Matter From Louisiana Coastal Waters, Meg Estapa, Emmanuel E. Boss, Mayer M. Lawrence, Roesler S. Collin

Meg Estapa

We investigated the influences of organic content and mineralogical composition on light absorption by mostly mineral suspended particles in aquatic and coastal marine systems. Mass-specific absorption spectra of suspended particles and surface sediments from coastal Louisiana and the lower Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers were measured with a centered sample-mount integrating sphere and analyzed in conjunction with organic carbon (OC), hydrochloric acid– (HCl-) extractable iron, and dithionite-extractable iron contents. Compositions and absorption properties were comparable to published values for similar particles. Dithionite-extractable iron was strongly correlated with absorption at ultraviolet (UV) and blue wavelengths, while OC and HCl-extractable iron were weakly …


Decoupling Of Net Community Production And Export Production At Submesoscale Fronts In The Sargasso Sea, Meg Estapa, D. A. Siegel, K O. Buesseler, R. H. R. Stanley, M. W. Lomas, N. B. Nelson Jan 2017

Decoupling Of Net Community Production And Export Production At Submesoscale Fronts In The Sargasso Sea, Meg Estapa, D. A. Siegel, K O. Buesseler, R. H. R. Stanley, M. W. Lomas, N. B. Nelson

Meg Estapa

Determinations of the net community production (NCP) in the upper ocean and the particle export production (EP) should balance over long time and large spatial scales. However, recent modeling studies suggest that a horizontal decoupling of flux-regulating processes on submesoscales (≤10 km) could lead to imbalances between individual determinations of NCP and EP. Here we sampled mixed-layer biogeochemical parameters and proxies for NCP and EP during 10, high-spatial resolution (~2 km) surface transects across strong physical gradients in the Sargasso Sea. We observed strong biogeochemical and carbon flux variability in nearly all transects. Spatial coherence among measured biogeochemical parameters within …


Carbon Flux From Bio-Optical Profiling Floats: Calibrating Transmissometers For Use As Optical Sediment Traps, Meg Estapa, Colleen Durkin, Ken Buesseler, Rod Johnson, Melanie Feena Jan 2017

Carbon Flux From Bio-Optical Profiling Floats: Calibrating Transmissometers For Use As Optical Sediment Traps, Meg Estapa, Colleen Durkin, Ken Buesseler, Rod Johnson, Melanie Feena

Meg Estapa

Our mechanistic understanding of the processes controlling the ocean's biological pump is limited, in part, by our lack of observational data at appropriate timescales. The “optical sediment trap” (OST) technique utilizes a transmissometer on a quasi-Lagrangian platform to collect sedimenting particles. This method could help fill the observational gap by providing autonomous measurements of particulate carbon (PC) flux in the upper mesopelagic ocean at high spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we used a combination of field measurements and laboratory experiments to test hydrodynamic and zooplankton-swimmer effects on the OST method, and we quantitatively calibrated this method against PC flux measured directly in …


Observations Of Carbon Export By Small Sinking Particles In The Upper Mesopelagic, Colleen A. Durkin, Meg Estapa, Ken O. Buesseler Jan 2017

Observations Of Carbon Export By Small Sinking Particles In The Upper Mesopelagic, Colleen A. Durkin, Meg Estapa, Ken O. Buesseler

Meg Estapa

Carbon and nutrients are transported out of the surface ocean and sequestered at depth by sinking particles. Sinking particle sizes span many orders of magnitude and the relative influence of small particles on carbon export compared to large particles has not been resolved. To determine the influence of particle size on carbon export, the flux of both small (11–64 μm) and large (> 64 μm) particles in the upper mesopelagic was examined during 5 cruises of the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) in the Sargasso Sea using neutrally buoyant sediment traps mounted with tubes containing polyacrylamide gel layers and tubes …


Autonomous, High-Resolution Observations Of Particle Flux In The Oligotrophic Ocean, Meg Estapa, K. Buesseler, E. Boss, G. Gerbi Jan 2017

Autonomous, High-Resolution Observations Of Particle Flux In The Oligotrophic Ocean, Meg Estapa, K. Buesseler, E. Boss, G. Gerbi

Meg Estapa

Observational gaps limit our understanding of particle flux attenuation through the upper mesopelagic because available measurements (sediment traps and radiochemical tracers) have limited temporal resolution, are labor-intensive, and require ship support. Here, we conceptually evaluate an autonomous, optical proxy-based method for high-resolution observations of particle flux. We present four continuous records of particle flux collected with autonomous profiling floats in the western Sargasso Sea and the subtropical North Pacific, as well as one shorter record of depth-resolved particle flux near the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) and Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) sites. These observations illustrate strong variability in particle flux …


Expression Of Cyanobacterial Fbp/Sbpase In Soybean Prevents Yield Depression Under Future Climate Conditions, Iris H. Kohler, Ursula M. Ruiz-Vera, Andy Vanloocke, Michell L. Thomey, Tom Clemente, Stephen P. Long, Donald R. Ort, Carl J. Bernacchi Jan 2017

Expression Of Cyanobacterial Fbp/Sbpase In Soybean Prevents Yield Depression Under Future Climate Conditions, Iris H. Kohler, Ursula M. Ruiz-Vera, Andy Vanloocke, Michell L. Thomey, Tom Clemente, Stephen P. Long, Donald R. Ort, Carl J. Bernacchi

Andy VanLoocke

Predictions suggest that current crop production needs to double by 2050 to meet global food and energy demands. Based on theory and experimental studies, overexpression of the photosynthetic enzyme sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (SBPase) is expected to enhance C3 crop photosynthesis and yields. Here we test how expression of the cyanobacterial, bifunctional fructose-1,6/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (FBP/SBPase) affects carbon assimilation and seed yield (SY) in a major crop (soybean, Glycine max). For three growing seasons, wild-type (WT) and FBP/SBPase-expressing (FS) plants were grown in the field under ambient (400 μmol mol−1) and elevated (600 μmol mol−1) CO2 concentrations [CO2] and under ambient and elevated temperatures (+2.7 …


The Costs Of Photorespiration To Food Production Now And In The Future, Berkley J. Walker, Andy Vanloocke, Carl J. Bernacchi, Donald R. Ort Jan 2017

The Costs Of Photorespiration To Food Production Now And In The Future, Berkley J. Walker, Andy Vanloocke, Carl J. Bernacchi, Donald R. Ort

Andy VanLoocke

Photorespiration is essential for C3 plants but operates at the massive expense of fixed carbon dioxide and energy. Photorespiration is initiated when the initial enzyme of photosynthesis, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/ oxygenase (Rubisco), reacts with oxygen instead of carbon dioxide and produces a toxic compound that is then recycled by photorespiration. Photorespiration can be modeled at the canopy and regional scales to determine its cost under current and future atmospheres. A regional-scale model reveals that photorespiration currently decreases US soybean and wheat yields by 36% and 20%, respectively, and a 5% decrease in the losses due to photorespiration would be worth approximately …