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The adsorptive equilibration of H2O a with montomorillonite, a smectite clay has been measured. At low temperatures and pressures, equilibration can require many hours, effectively preventing smectites at the martian surface from responding rapidly to diurnal pressure and temperature variations.
By incorporating the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite orbital information into the Colorado State University General Circulation Model (CSU GCM), we are able to 'fly' a satellite in the GCM, and sample the simulated atmosphere in the same way as the TRMM sensors sample the real atmosphere. The TRMM-sampled statistics for precipitation and radiative fluxes at annual, intraseasonal, monthly-mean and seasonal-mean diurnal time scales are evaluated by comparing the satellite-sampled against fully-sampled simulated atmospheres. The sampling rates of the TRMM sensors are significantly affected by the sensors' swath widths. The TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and the Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) sample each 2.25 x 2.25 degree grid box in the Tropics and subtropics about once per day, but at a different local time every day, while the Precipitation Radar (PR) and the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) sensor visit each grid box about once every three days and twice per day, respectively. Besides inadequate samplings resulting from sensors' swath widths, there is a large, systematic diurnal undersampling associated with TRMM's orbital geometry for grid boxes away from the Equator. When only one month of TRMM data are used, this diurnal undersampling can lead to more daytime samples relative to nighttime samples in one hemisphere, and more nighttime samples relative to daytime samples in the other hemisphere. The resulting sampling biases (3-6 W m(exp-2)) are very pronounced in outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) over the subtropical land masses. The sampling errors in OLR monthly- and seasonal-means are less than 8 W m(exp-2) (5%) for each 2.25 x 2.25 degree grid box. The OLR monthly- and seasonal-means are not sensitive to diurnal undersamplings associated with the TRMM orbits and sensors' swath widths. However, this is not the case for total precipitation. Diurnal undersampling could produce errors as large as 20% in the Tropics and 40% in the subtropics, for the zonally averaged monthly-mean rain rates. The TRMM orbits sample each 2.25 x 2.25 degree grid box in the Tropics and subtropics 1-6 times for each hour of the day within a single season. The seasonal-mean diurnal cycles of precipitation and OLR are not well sampled for any one grid box. By either accumulating the satellite data for a long enough period, or averaging the data over a large area with a relatively uniform diurnal signal, the diurnal cycles of precipitation and OLR can be satisfactorily sampled. The effects TRMM sampling errors on the inferred tropical-mean hydrologic cycle and radiative fluxes are also evaluated. There are strong spurious oscillations associated with TRMM's orbital geometry, with periods of 23 days and 3-4 months, in tropical-mean daily and monthly precipitation. While the relative fluctuations of the sampled-OLR are negligible, the relative fluctuations of the sampled precipitation have magnitudes similar to those of the observed climate variability. Caution must therefore be used when applying TRMM observations of tropical-mean precipitation to interpret climate variations at intraseasonal and interannual scales.
The Greenland Ice Sheet has been the focus of much attention recently because of increasing melt in response to regional climate warming. To improve our ability to measure surface melt, we use remote-sensing data products to study surface and near-surface melt characteristics of the Greenland Ice Sheet for the 2007 melt season when record melt extent and runoff occurred. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daily land-surface temperature (LST), MODIS daily snow albedo, and a special diurnal melt product derived from QuikSCAT (QS) scatterometer data, are all effective in measuring the evolution of melt on the ice sheet. These daily products, produced from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, are sensitive to different geophysical features, though QS- and MODIS-derived melt generally show excellent correspondence when surface melt is present on the ice sheet. Values derived from the daily MODIS snow albedo product drop in response to melt, and change with apparent grain-size changes. For the 2007 melt season, the QS and MODIS LST products detect 862,769 square kilometers and 766,184 square kilometers of melt, respectively. The QS product detects about 11% greater melt extent than is detected by the MODIS LST product probably because QS is more sensitive to surface melt, and can detect subsurface melt. The consistency of the response of the different products demonstrates unequivocally that physically-meaningful melt/freeze boundaries can be detected. We have demonstrated that these products, used together, can improve the precision in mapping surface and near-surface melt extent on the Greenland Ice Sheet.
A microwave emissivity database has been developed with data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) and with ancillary land surface temperature (LST) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the same Aqua spacecraft. The primary intended application of the database is to provide surface emissivity constraints in atmospheric and surface property retrieval or assimilation. An additional application is to serve as a dynamic indicator of land surface properties relevant to climate change monitoring. The precision of the emissivity data is estimated to be significantly better than in prior databases from other sensors due to the precise collocation with high-quality MODIS LST data and due to the quality control features of our data analysis system. The accuracy of the emissivities in deserts and semi-arid regions is enhanced by applying, in those regions, a version of the emissivity retrieval algorithm that accounts for the penetration of microwave radiation through dry soil with diurnally varying vertical temperature gradients. These results suggest that this penetration effect is more widespread and more significant to interpretation of passive microwave measurements than had been previously established. Emissivity coverage in areas where persistent cloudiness interferes with the availability of MODIS LST data is achieved using a classification-based method to spread emissivity data from less-cloudy areas that have similar microwave surface properties. Evaluations and analyses of the emissivity products over homogeneous snow-free areas are presented, including application to retrieval of soil temperature profiles. Spatial inhomogeneities are the largest in the vicinity of large water bodies due to the large water/land emissivity contrast and give rise to large apparent temporal variability in the retrieved emissivities when satellite footprint locations vary over time. This issue will be dealt with in the future by including a water fraction correction. Also note that current reliance on the MODIS day-night algorithm as a source of LST limits the coverage of the database in the Polar Regions. We will consider relaxing the current restriction as part of future development.
Satellite-derived temperature profiles are used to determine if reliable estimates of synoptic-scale vertical motion can be obtained from the adiabatic, vorticity, and omega equation techniques. The period of study contains a short-wave trough over the Midwest and a convective outbreak over the middle Mississippi River Valley. Satellite soundings are available at 1-3 h intervals at five times. The emphasis is on assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the three vertical motion procedures, and determining the effects of short-interval observations on the calculations. Results show that the quasi-geostrophic omega equation provided patterns and magnitudes most consistent with observed weather events and 12 h radiosonde-derived motions. The vorticity method produced less satisfactory results, while adiabatic motions were unacceptable. The time derivative term dominated adiabatic motions and was a major influence in the vorticity method. Unrealistic temperature tendencies resulted from the retrieval algorithm; i.e., a diurnal temperature bias extended upwards to 500 mb, and there was a compensating effect at higher levels.
As a part of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Missioin (TRMM) ground truth program to determine the diurnal variability of the area wide rain rates, the rain rate PDFs, and their effect on the area integral algorithm, rain rate data have been collected from a network of gages located in the area near the Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, in the period beginning in September 1987. In the preliminary statistical analysis, based on the rain rates derived from the eleven gages, the seasonal diurnal rainfall and network averaged rain rates are determined. The analysis was performed in two steps: determination of the hourly and daily rain accumulations and rain rates; and computation of the fraction of hourly and daily rain rates that exceed a particular threshold, and analysis of the hourly and daily rain rate PDFs for the network. The results indicate that there are diurnal and seasonal variations in the components which determine the network rain rate PDFs.
Data obtained with the Mariner 9 infrared spectroscopy experiment during the Martian Dust Storm of 1971 to 1972 are examined for evidence of topographic influence on the atmospheric thermal structure. Temperature perturbations which are well correlated with the planetary scale topography are found superposed on the large amplitude diurnal thermal tide. Applications of tidal theory to the data indicate that the observed perturbations result from the kinematic interaction of the westward traveling diurnal wave with the large scale components of topography. The dominant mode is excited by the wave-number two topography component and is a vertically evanescent eastward traveling wave with an equivalent depth comparable to the atmospheric scale height. The principle dynamic effect of this mode is the enhancement of the amplitude of the near-surface diurnal wind to over 40m/sec in limited areas near 30 deg south latitude. It appears likely that dust was injected into the atmosphere in these regions during the storm.
Although the equatorial rotational speed of the solid surface of Venus is only 4 m s(exp-1), the atmospheric rotational speed reaches a maximum of approximately 100 m s(exp-1) near the equatorial cloud top level (65 to 70 km). This phenomenon, known as superrotation, is the central dynamical problem of the Venus atmosphere. We report here the results of numerical simulations aimed at clarifying the mechanism for maintaining the equatorial cloud top rotation. Maintenance of an equatorial rotational speed maximum above the surface requires waves or eddies that systematically transport angular momentum against its zonal mean gradient. The zonally symmetric Hadley circulation is driven thermally and acts to reduce the rotational speed at the equatorial cloud top level; thus wave or eddy transport must counter this tendency as well as friction. Planetary waves arising from horizontal shear instability of the zonal flow (barotropic instability) could maintain the equatorial rotation by transporting angular momentum horizontally from midlatitudes toward the equator. Alternatively, vertically propagating waves could provide the required momentum source. The relative motion between the rotating atmosphere and the pattern of solar heating, which as a maximum where solar radiation is absorbed near the cloud tops, drives diurnal and semidiurnal thermal tides that propagate vertically away from the cloud top level. The effect of this wave propagation is to transport momentum toward the cloud top level at low latitudes and accelerate the mean zonal flow there. We employ a semispectral primitive equation model with a zonal mean flow and zonal wavenumbers 1 and 2. These waves correspond to the diurnal and semidiurnal tides, but they can also be excited by barotropic or baroclinic instability. Waves of higher wavenumbers and interactions between the waves are neglected. Symmetry about the equator is assumed, so the model applies to one hemisphere and covers the altitude range 30 to 110 km. Horizontal resolution is 1.5 deg latitude, and vertical resolution is 1.5 km. Solar and thermal infrared heating, based on Venus observations and calculations drive the model flow. Dissipation is accomplished mainly by Rayleigh friction, chosen to produce strong dissipation above 85 km in order to absorb upward propagating waves and limit extreme flow velocities there, yet to give very weak Rayleigh friction below 70 km; results in the cloud layer do not appear to be sensitive to the Rayleigh friction. The model also has weak vertical diffusion, and very weak horizontal diffusion, which has a smoothing effect on the flow only at the two grid points nearest the pole.
It has been established, that the beginning of the change of vector of Solar-diurnal anisotropy of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) preceeds due to disturbed region (DR) of Solar wind existing time of which is Tau or = 8 days. The meridional gradient delta theta eta of density during the recurrent FD is valued.
On the basis of a linear theory it is shown that wind-induced diffusion associated with large-scale circulation in the Venus atmosphere leads to nighttime bulges in O, He, and H. The effect on He is very large with a 243-day rotation period of the atmosphere, yielding an upper limit for the maximum/minimum diurnal density ratio of approximately 1000. This ratio is much smaller for H (max/min of about 4) due to the greater importance of exospheric flow, which acts (as for He) as a damping mechanism. For the faster rotation period of 4 days consistent with the motions of the cloud tops, the diurnal variation of O is significantly reduced, contributing to an increase by a factor of two in the horizontal wind velocity. The same effect significantly reduces the He variations to an increase by a factor of 7 from day to night. The results suggest that composition and wind measurements provide valuable information on the rotation rate of the Cytherean thermosphere.
To quantify the diurnal radiative heating and cooling cycles of the earth and the atmosphere, data from instruments on the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) spacecraft and NOAA-9 satellites obtained from February 1985 through January 1986 were used to investigate longwave (LW) and shortwave (SW) flux as well as albedo for each month of the year. Seasonal variations of radiative parameters and their diurnal cycles are examined for the deserts, vegetated land, and oceans over the globe. The results show significant seasonal variations in both the outgoing LW and the absorbed SW flux, and a pronounced difference was found between oceanic and continental surfaces. Over much of the globe, LW warming is balanced by SW cooling, and clouds have a net cooling effect on the earth. Many areas of the earth were found to exhibit significant diurnal variations in both the LW flux and albedo.
BACKGROUND: The concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) in otherwise healthy subjects has been shown to predict future risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. CRP is synthesized by the liver in response to interleukin-6, the serum concentration of which is subject to diurnal variation. METHODS: To examine the existence of a time-of-day effect for baseline CRP values, we determined CRP concentrations in hourly blood samples drawn from healthy subjects (10 males, 3 females; age range, 21-35 years) during a baseline day in a controlled environment (8 h of nighttime sleep). RESULTS: Overall CRP concentrations were low, with only three subjects having CRP concentrations >2 mg/L. Comparison of raw data showed stability of CRP concentrations throughout the 24 h studied. When compared with cutoff values of CRP quintile derived from population-based studies, misclassification of greater than one quintile did not occur as a result of diurnal variation in any of the subjects studied. Nonparametric ANOVA comparing different time points showed no significant differences for both raw and z-transformed data. Analysis for rhythmic diurnal variation using a method fitting a cosine curve to the group data was negative. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that baseline CRP concentrations are not subject to time-of-day variation and thus help to explain why CRP concentrations are a better predictor of vascular risk than interleukin-6. Determination of CRP for cardiovascular risk prediction may be performed without concern for diurnal variation.
In September 2006, NASA Goddard s mobile ground-based laboratories were deployed to Sal Island in Cape Verde (16.73degN, 22.93degW) to support the NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (NAMMA) field study. The Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), a key instrument for spectrally characterizing the thermal IR, was used to retrieve the dust IR aerosol optical depths (AOTs) in order to examine the diurnal variability of airborne dust with emphasis on three separate dust events. AERI retrievals of dust AOT are compared with those from the coincident/collocated multifilter rotating shadow-band radiometer (MFRSR), micropulse lidar (MPL), and NASA Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) sensors. The retrieved AOTs are then inputted into the Fu-Liou 1D radiative transfer model to evaluate local instantaneous direct longwave radiative effects (DRE(sub LW)) of dust at the surface in cloud-free atmospheres and its sensitivity to dust microphysical parameters. The top-of-atmosphere DRE(sub LW) and longwave heating rate profiles are also evaluated. Instantaneous surface DRE(sub LW) ranges from 2 to 10 W/sq m and exhibits a strong linear dependence with dust AOT yielding a DRE(sub LW) of 16 W/sq m per unit dust AOT. The DRE(sub LW) is estimated to be approx.42% of the diurnally averaged direct shortwave radiative effect at the surface but of opposite sign, partly compensating for the shortwave losses. Certainly nonnegligible, the authors conclude that DRE(sub LW) can significantly impact the atmospheric energetics, representing an important component in the study of regional climate variation.
Mid-high latitude Northeast China witnessed significant crop greening from 2001 to 2020, as evidenced by satellite records and field observations. The land surface temperature of croplands during the growing season showed a decreasing trend, suggesting negative surface temperature feedback to crop greening of agricultural ecosystems in mid-high latitude Northeast China. Here, using time-series remote sensing products and long-term scenario simulations, the present study highlights that crop greening can slow climate warming. Our study noted a stronger surface cooling effect induced by crop greening during the growing season in the day than at the night, which contributed to asymmetric diurnal temperature cycle changes in Northeast China. In addition, our biophysical mechanism analysis revealed aerodynamic and surface resistances as the major driving factors for the daytime land surface temperature (LST) cooling effect induced by crop greening, while the ground heat flux and ambient temperature feedback as the major attributes of the nighttime LST cooling impact due to crop greening.
A new method to study dynamic behavior of the ionosphere-protonosphere coupling within the plasmasphere is developed and used to calculate ion distributions above 500 km using observed electron densities at 500 km. The method is based on the relation between the total magnetic flux tube content of H(+) above some reference height (e.g., 3000 km) and the H(+) flux at that height, which is uniquely determined by the coupled momentum and continuity equations for the quasi-steady state. The O(+) profile is perturbed from diffusive equilibrium only by ion drag with H(+). The time dependency is taken into account by applying self-consistent boundary conditions which are obtained from the solution of the time-dependent equation for the tube content of H(+). Calculations are carried out for two models. The first model deals with the ion dynamics in a tube of force which rotates with the earth. In the second model, effects of the cross-L plasma drifts are considered. Both models produce diurnal variations of H(+) and O(+) densities near 1000 km similar to observational results.
The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III has been operating on the International Space Station (ISS) since mid-2017. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) number density profiles are routinely retrieved from SAGE III/ISS solar occultation measurements in the middle atmosphere. Although NO2 density varies throughout the day due to photochemistry, the standard SAGE NO2 retrieval algorithm neglects these variations along the instrument’s line of sight by assuming that the number density has a constant gradient within a given vertical layer of the atmosphere. This assumption will result in a retrieval bias for a species like NO2 that changes rapidly across the terminator. In this work we account for diurnal variations in retrievals of NO2 from the SAGE III/ISS measurements, and we determine the impact of this algorithm improvement on the resulting NO2 number densities. The first step in applying the diurnal correction is to use publicly available SAGE III/ISS products to convert the retrieved number density profiles to optical depth profiles. The retrieval is then re-performed with a new matrix that applies photochemical scale factors for each point along the line of sight according to the changing solar zenith angle. In general NO2 that is retrieved by accounting for these diurnal variations is more than 10% lower than the standard algorithm below 30 km. This effect is greatest in winter at high latitudes and generally greater for sunrise occultations than sunset. Comparisons with coincident profiles from the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System (OSIRIS) show that NO2 from SAGE III/ISS is generally biased high; however the agreement improves by up to 20% in the mid-stratosphere when diurnal variations are accounted for in the retrieval. We conclude that diurnal variations along the SAGE III/ISS line of sight are an important term to consider for NO2 analyses at altitudes below 30 km.
Accurately simulating convective processes in complex terrain remains a critical challenge for global storm-resolving models (GSRMs). This study systematically evaluates moist convective biases in the Regionally Refined Mesh configuration of the U.S. Department of Energy Simple Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (RRM-SCREAM) using comprehensive observations and large-eddy simulations from the Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) campaign in the mountainous area of central Argentina. Comparisons of simulations with high-resolution observations and reanalysis data indicate that RRM-SCREAM effectively captures large-scale meteorological patterns, including regional atmospheric gradients and diurnal variability. However, RRM-SCREAM disproportionately produces smaller precipitation clusters referred to as “popcorn convection,” and exaggerated rainfall intensities compared to observations and reference models. Detailed examination of a representative orographic shallow-to-deep convective transition case shows that RRM-SCREAM delays initial shallow convection growth due to lower-tropospheric dryness and sustained convective inhibition, but once triggered, deep convection becomes overly vigorous with excessively strong vertical velocities and elevated cloud ice content, linked to a thermodynamic structure characterized by suppressed low-level moistening and excessive upper-level moisture retention. Our results highlight specific deficiencies in the model representation of convective vertical velocity, cloud microphysical processes, and convective precipitation organization within RRM-SCREAM. Addressing these biases is essential for improving the predictions of convective clouds and precipitation in the global high-resolution atmospheric models.
The fundamental diurnal component of temperature, composition and wind fields is discussed for the thermosphere, the results delineated in terms of energy sources in the lower atmosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere, illustrating their relative significance. The diurnal component in the composition of H, He, O, O2 and Ar has been analyzed in terms of effects from thermal expansion in diffusive equilibrium and transport processes associated with chemistry, wind circulation, exospheric flow and escape. Next to thermal expansion, wind-induced diffusion is the single most important process; it dominates the diurnal variations of He and prevails in the variations of O, O2 and Ar below 200 km.