January Air Temperature Research Articles

Evidence for the early onset of the Ipswichian thermal optimum: palaeoecology of Last Interglacial deposits at Whittlesey, eastern England

Fossiliferous deposits infilling a channel at Whittlesey, eastern England, are dated by amino acid racemization to the Last Interglacial, and pollen analysis indicates deposition in Ipswichian biozones Ip Ib and Ip IIb. Multidisciplinary palaeoenvironmental analyses of these deposits provide a rare insight into Ip Ib subzone conditions. Specifically, the Ip Ib deposits contain exotic thermophiles Naias minor , Belgrandia marginata , Bembidion elongatum , Pelochares versicolor , Caccobius schreberi, Onthophagus massai and Emys orbicularis , usually associated with Ip IIb. Combined palaeotemperature reconstructions based on beetle, ostracod and vertebrate assemblages of the Ip Ib deposits indicate that summers (mean July range +19 to +22°C) were at least 2°C warmer than at present, whereas winters (mean January air temperature range 0 to +7°C) were probably similar to those of today. These palaeotemperature ranges encompass those for Ip IIb deposits at Trafalgar Square (+20 to +21°C and +1.5 to +3°C), previously considered the only Ipswichian site to record temperatures significantly warmer than Holocene temperatures. Of particular significance is that thermal optimal conditions commenced in Ip Ib, rather than being confined to Ip IIb. This demonstrates rapid warming and biological response to early Ipswichian climate amelioration, which accords with the deep-sea Last Interglacial and European Eemian records. Supplementary material: Supplementary Tables S1-S7 are available at http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3830221 .

Long-term variations in surface air pressure and surface air temperature in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes

The spatiotemporal variability of surface air pressure and surface air temperature in the Northern Hemisphere troposphere in 1990-2014 is described. In 2005 the low-frequency component (LFC) of average air temperature in January averaged over the latitude zone of 32.5°-67.5° N has stopped its increase that lasted for 35 years (from 1970). The LFC of air temperature in July has continued growing since 1975 (for 39 years). The anomalies of air pressure and air temperature for thirty-year periods and the dynamics of LFC of air temperature and air pressure in the atmospheric centers of action are analyzed.

Assessment of spatial variations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in Bahrain identified by air quality index (AQI)

The rapid urbanization, industrialization, modernization, and the frequent Middle Eastern dust storms have negatively impacted the ambient air quality in Bahrain. The objective of this study is to identify the most critical atmospheric air pollutants with emphasis on their potential risk to health based on calculated AQI (air quality index) values using EPA approach. The air quality datasets of particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) were measured in January 2012 and August 2012 using five mobile air quality monitoring stations located at different governorates. The results of this study demonstrated that PM10 and PM2.5 are the most critical air pollutants in Bahrain with PM2.5 prevailing during January 2012 and PM10 prevailing during August 2012. The corresponding AQI categories were utilized to evaluate spatial variability of particulate matters in five governorates. The impact of meteorological factors such as ambient air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and total precipitation on ambient air quality were discussed. The analysis demonstrated that the highest PM10 concentrations were observed in the Northern Governorate while the highest PM2.5 concentrations were observed in the Capital, Central, and Northern Governorates during August 2012. It was observed that the levels of PM2.5 pollution were higher within proximity of the industrial zone. The results suggested that the average PM2.5/PM10 ratio in August 2012 was lower than in January 2012 due to the Aeolian processes. This study concludes that higher wind speed, total precipitation, relative humidity rates, and lower ambient air temperature in January 2012 assisted with the dissipation of particulate matter thus lowering the pollution levels of both PM10 and PM2.5 in comparison to August 2012.

Classification of Agroclimatic Zones Considering the Topography Characteristics in South Korea

This study was conducted to classify agroclimatic zones in South Korea. To classify the agroclimatic zones, such climatic factors as amount of rainfall from April to May, amount of rainfall in October, monthly average air temperature in January, monthly average air temperature from April to May, monthly average air temperature from April to September, monthly average air temperature from December to March, monthly minimum air temperature in January, monthly minimum air temperature from April to May, Warmth Index were considered as major influencing factors on the crop growth. Climatic factors were computed from monthly air temperature and precipitation of climatological normal year (1981∼2010) at 1 km grid cell estimated from a geospatial climate interpolation method. The agroclimatic zones using k-means cluster analysis method were classified into 6 zones.

Картографирование температурных аномалий за период 1991–2010 гг. на Европейской территории России

Abstract: Processing archive data and mapping anomalies of air temperature in the European territory of Russia for the period 1991–2010 are reviewed. A brief description of the methodology for assessing the temperature anomalies is given. The methods of interpolation of data to create maps of anomalies of air temperature are considered. The applicability of geographical interpolation and groups of interpolation methods, combined with the term «kriging» were evaluated The results of experimental works and four maps of background values of anomalies of mean monthly air temperature in January, April, July and October in the European territory of Russia are shown. A spatial and climatic analysis of the temperature anomalies was made. By the authors’ maps the regularities of the spatial distribution of temperature anomalies in the Central months of the seasons, including their extreme values (more than +3 °C in January) in the European territory of the Russian Arctic were settled.

Testing the Doran summer climate rules in Upper Wright Valley, Antarctica

AbstractBased on data from low elevation lake sites, previous studies have suggested three quantitative relationships related to summer (December, January and February) air temperatures in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica: i) decrease with altitude at the dry lapse rate of 9.8°C km-1, ii) increase with distance from the coast at a rate of 0.09°C km-1, and iii) degree-days above freezing during the summer months is logarithmically proportional to the maximum summer air temperature. Here, we tested the first two of these rules at high elevation sites in Upper Wright Valley. Direct measurements confirmed that the summer lapse rate followed the dry lapse rate. For the three furthest stations, Tyrol Valley, Mount Fleming and Horseshoe Crater, the average difference between the measurements and the predicted summer monthly averages are -2.1±1.4°C, -0.5±1.0°C and -0.4±0.9°C, respectively. By contrast, at Linnaeus Terrace (54 km from the coast) the monthly average is warmer than predicted by several degrees: +4.3±1.3°C. The inland temperature gradient at these high elevation sites may result from sunlight effects rather than coastal wind as previously shown for the lower valleys. The warm conditions observedc. 50 km from the coast may reflect a zone affected by both sunlight and coastal wind.

Northern Russian chironomid-based modern summer temperature data set and inference models

West and East Siberian data sets and 55 new sites were merged based on the high taxonomic similarity, and the strong relationship between mean July air temperature and the distribution of chironomid taxa in both data sets compared with other environmental parameters. Multivariate statistical analysis of chironomid and environmental data from the combined data set consisting of 268 lakes, located in northern Russia, suggests that mean July air temperature explains the greatest amount of variance in chironomid distribution compared with other measured variables (latitude, longitude, altitude, water depth, lake surface area, pH, conductivity, mean January air temperature, mean July air temperature, and continentality). We established two robust inference models to reconstruct mean summer air temperatures from subfossil chironomids based on ecological and geographical approaches. The North Russian 2-component WA-PLS model (RMSEPJack=1.35°C, rJack2=0.87) can be recommended for application in palaeoclimatic studies in northern Russia. Based on distinctive chironomid fauna and climatic regimes of Kamchatka the Far East 2-component WAPLS model (RMSEPJack=1.3°C, rJack2=0.81) has potentially better applicability in Kamchatka.

Ostracoda from inland waterbodies with saline influence in Central Germany: Implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction

As a necessary precursor to reconstructing the palaeoenvironmental conditions likely to be temporarily influenced by salt bearing ground waters, modern sites of Central Germany, known from the literature to be continental salt water localities, were investigated for their ostracod faunas. Analysing their associations enables the test of several methods in palaeoenvironmental analysis based on ostracods. In total, 54 ostracod taxa are documented. One species, Microdarwinula zimmeri, is new for the area. Interesting is the historical occurrence of Cyprideis torosa and Cytheromorpha fuscata, typically regarded as indicators of brackish water. The draining of wetlands has led to the disappearance of many former inland salt sites so that only a few of the sampled water bodies still show slightly elevated salinity (oligohaline range). The most important factors for the distribution of ostracod associations are groundwater influence, turbidity and ecological stability, whereas the type of dominating ions is of lesser importance because of time-averaging using taphocoenoses from surface sediments in our study. The relative proportion of ecological groups of ostracods appears to be the best tool for reconstructing past habitat types. The newly established Ostracod Permanence Index and Ostracod Turbulence Index allow the recognition of the influx of ground and surface waters, perennial habitats and flowing waters. A test of the Mutual Ostracod Temperature Range (MOTR) method demonstrates its capability to reconstruct, with a precision of +/−2°C, the mean July and January air temperatures for the time interval 2002–2012. Additionally, the study contributes to the poorly known Recent distribution of ostracods in Central Germany.

Gender-specific characteristics of tree-ring growth and differential responses to climate change in the dioecious tree Populus cathayana in Xiaowutai Mountains, China

Aims While the phenomena that environmental stresses induce growth differentiations between male and female seedlings are confirmed by many controlled experiments in recent years, the potential impacts on adult trees of dioecious plants caused by climate change have not yet attracted much attention. In order to further reveal the differential effects of climate warming on the dendrological characteristics of female and male trees, a typical dioecious plant, Populus cathayana, was selected as a test material in the study. Methods Wood samples were taken from 40 adult trees of P. cathayana (including 20 female and 20 male individuals, respectively). We employed the dendroclimatological approach to analyze the gender-specific differences in seven tree-ring variables (i.e. maximum ring density, latewood mean density, earlywood mean density, minimum ring density, annual ring width, earlywood width, and latewood width), and their differential responses to climate factors (monthly mean, minimum and maximum air temperature and precipitation) in Xiaowutai Mountains of China. Important findings Firstly, with an increase in the local air temperature during the past 30 years (1982–2011), the male and female P. cathayana trees exhibited the similar trend in radial growth but with apparent differences in the pattern of density growth. Compared with the males, the female trees displayed significantly (p < 0.05) higher maximum ring density and latewood mean density. Secondly, there was a similar pattern of variations in the residual chronologies between the male and female trees, but the male trees showed much higher magnitude of variations than the female trees. Thirdly, based on the residual chronologies, it was found that the response months are quite different between the two sexes. For the female trees, maximum ring density had a significant positive 黄科朝等: 小五台山青杨雌雄植株树轮生长特性及其对气候变化的响应差异 271 doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1258.2014.00024 correlation with the maximum air temperature in current August. However, the maximum ring density was significantly and negatively correlated with the air temperature in current January and April for the male trees. Fourthly, for trees of both sexes, climate change prior to growing season limited the radial growth while maximum air temperature in current June obviously restricted the growth of earlywood. These results indicate that there are different tree-ring growth strategies between trees of different sexes in response to global warming in dioecious plants, and that the female trees invest more in density growth than the male trees.

Geographic variation in Megalorchestia californiana allele frequencies may be caused by winter rather than summer temperatures

There are many allozyme polymorphisms with latitudinal clines, for which selection by climate is one obvious explanation. Both warm summer temperatures and cold winter temper- atures could plausibly impose selection on enzyme polymorphisms, but because summer and win- ter temperatures are usually geographically correlated, there has been little attempt to use pat- terns of geographic variation to discriminate between these possible selective factors. The glucose-6-phosphate isomerase and mannose-6-phosphate isomerase allozyme polymorphisms in the amphipod crustacean Megalorchestia californiana have clines that are strongly associated with mean January air temperature but are only weakly associated with mean August air temper- ature. This suggests that winter temperatures are more likely than summer temperatures to be a selective factor on these polymorphisms.

새만금에서 발생한 상괭이(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)의 대량 폐사: 이상 저온에 따른 영향의 증거

On 3 February 2011, a mass mortality of finless porpoises Neophocaena asiaeorientalis occurred at a dike of the Saemangeum Sea dike. A total of 249 carcasses were collected; these had been stranded by a sea dike and had floated into the lake formed by the dike. Eight bodies were measured, and four of these were dissected to analyze stomach contents. The blubber thicknesses of five bodies were compared with those of caught finless porpoises in the Yellow Sea from 2010. Finless porpoises at the Saemangeum Sea dike exhibited better nutritive conditions than finless porpoises in the Yellow Sea. Air temperature in January 2011 was lower than the prior 5-year average (P had been recorded, and the majority of the dike lake had frozen over. The mass mortality of finless porpoises may have been caused by these unusually low temperatures.

1월 일최저기온 평균을 이용한 한국의 재현기간별 일 최저기온 극값 예측

이 연구는 1월 일 최저기온의 평균을 이용하여 재현기간별 일 최저기온의 극값을 예측하는 방법을 개발하기 위해서 수행되었다. 전국 61개 기상관서의 1961~2010년의 50년 간의 일 최저기온자료를 이용하여 전체 연구를 수행하였다. 1월의 일 최저기온의 분포는 대부분 정규분포를 나타내고 있어, 이는 평균과 표준편차로부터 일 최저기온을 확률적인 기댓값으로 예측될 수 있었다. 이를 위하여 일 최저기온평균으로부터 일 최저기온의 표준편차의 변이를 추정하는 2차식을 개발하였다. 과거 10, 20, 30, 40, 50년의 재현 기간별로 관측된 일 최저기온의 평균, 표준편차, 극값을 분석하여 재현기간별 극값을 예측할 수 있는 계수를 도입하였고, 이 계수를 재현기간별로 추정할 수 있는 로그함수식도 개발하였다. 이 방법을 이용하여 과거 두 기간의 30년 자료를 이용하여 61개 지점에 대해 검증하였는데 평균 <TEX>$1.1^{\circ}C$</TEX>, 최대 <TEX>$5.3^{\circ}C$</TEX>의 오차를 가지고 과거 30년 재현기간의 일 최저기온의 극값을 예측할 수 있었다. This study was conducted to develop a practical method for estimating the extremes of minimum air temperature with given return-period based on the frequency distribution of daily minimum air temperature in January. Daily temperature data were collected from 61 meteorological observatories country-wide from 1961 to 2010. Most of daily minimum temperature in January could be represented by a normal-distribution, so it is possible to predict stochastically the lowest temperature by the mean and standard deviation. We developed a quadratic function to estimate standard deviation in terms of daily minimum temperature in January. Also, we introduced a coefficient which can be used to predict an extreme of minimum temperature with mean and standard deviation, and is dependent on return-periods. Using this method, we were able to reproduce the past 30-year extremes with an error of 1.1 on average and 5.3 in the worst case.

Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Temperature and Humidity in &lt;i&gt;Taxodium distichum&lt;/i&gt; Shelterbelts of Jiangmen, South China

Temporal and spatial patterns of temperature and humidity in shelterbelts of Taxodium distichum were investigated using routine observation and gradient observation methods in sampling plots placed in Taxodium distichum shelterbelts, sugarcane, and open (blank) fields, respectively. The results showed that: 1) Taxodium distichum shelterbelts mitigated air temperature in July. Air temperature of Taxodium distichum shelterbelts was 0.7 °C and 1.7 °C lower than that of sugarcane field and blank field in July, respectively, while less change of air temperature in January was recorded. Air temperature at 20 cm from the ground in the Taxodium distichum shelterbelts was the highest in April, October and January, but the lowest in July; 2) Relative humidity in the Taxodium distichum shelterbelts was higher than in blank field through the four seasons, but lower than in sugarcane field in July, October and January. Relative humidity in sugarcane field and Taxodium distichum shelterbelts was higher near the ground, and relative humidity in sugarcane field increased significantly; 3) One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD indicated that both air temperature and relative humidity were significantly different with a seasonal pattern among shelterbelts of Taxodium distichum, sugarcane field and open field (P＜0.001).

Changes in Climate Parameters at Wakkanai Area, Which is Located at Most Northern Part in Japan

We evaluated the climate change in Wakkanai area, which is located at most northern part and typically rural area in Japan. Climate parameters i.e. atmospheric pressure, air temperature, humidity, velocity, daylight hours and snow fall were obtained from Japan Meteorological Agency. Positive changes in parameters in air temperature, especially mean of the lowest air temperature (r = 0.508, p < 0.0001) were noted. In addition, parameters of air temperature in January were significantly and positively correlated with years. However, atmospheric pressure (land) and mean velocity were negatively correlated with years. Global warming was also proved at Wakkanai area, especially in winter, in Japan.

Extracting neuronal ensemble from dorsal root ganglia to encode hand/arm trajectories in monkeys

As a necessary precursor to reconstructing the palaeoenvironmental conditions likely to be temporarily influenced by salt bearing ground waters, modern sites of Central Germany, known from the literature to be continental salt water localities, were investigated for their ostracod faunas. Analysing their associations enables the test of several methods in palaeoenvironmental analysis based on ostracods. In total, 54 ostracod taxa are documented. One species, Microdarwinula zimmeri, is new for the area. Interesting is the historical occurrence of Cyprideis torosa and Cytheromorpha fuscata, typically regarded as indicators of brackish water. The draining of wetlands has led to the disappearance of many former inland salt sites so that only a few of the sampled water bodies still show slightly elevated salinity (oligohaline range). The most important factors for the distribution of ostracod associations are groundwater influence, turbidity and ecological stability, whereas the type of dominating ions is of lesser importance because of time-averaging using taphocoenoses from surface sediments in our study. The relative proportion of ecological groups of ostracods appears to be the best tool for reconstructing past habitat types. The newly established Ostracod Permanence Index and Ostracod Turbulence Index allow the recognition of the influx of ground and surface waters, perennial habitats and flowing waters. A test of the Mutual Ostracod Temperature Range (MOTR) method demonstrates its capability to reconstruct, with a precision of +/− 2 °C, the mean July and January air temperatures for the time interval 2002–2012. Additionally, the study contributes to the poorly known Recent distribution of ostracods in Central Germany.

Interdecadal and decadal variation of temperature over North Pole area and the relation with solar activity

Obvious tendency and periodicity of the air temperature can be detected over the North Pole area. They are reflected as follows: a. the air temperature at the earth surface and in the middle layer of the stratosphere tends to be increased either in winter or in summer. The air temperature has increased 1.3 °C for about 50 years at a speed about 0.025 °C/year in January, and 0.013 °C/year in July. The air temperature in the middle layer of the stratosphere (10 hPa) in January has increased 10 °C. The temperature rising speed in July is 0.14 °C/year. Generally speaking, the temperature rising speed is quicker in winter than in summer and quicker in the upper layer than at the earth surface. b. The air temperature at the top layer of the troposphere (100 hPa) over the North Pole area tends to be increased either in winter or in summer. The air temperature in January has decreased 5.0 °C for about 50 years at a temperature decreasing speed about 0.094 °C/year, and at a temperature decreasing speed about 0.032 °C/year in July. The speed of the temperature decreasing is greater in winter than in summer. c. Periodicity. The air temperature respectively at different altitudes over the North Pole possesses interdecadal variation with a period of 22 years. In July the amplitude of the variation with a period of 22 years decreases rapidly from the high altitude to the low. This means that the 22-year’s period is more obvious at the high altitude than at the low altitude. At the earth surface layer in North Pole there also is obvious decadal variation with a period of 11 years. The analysis indicates that the 22-years’ period temperature variation is associated with the periodic variation of the solar magnetic field. The 11-year period temperature variation is corresponding to 11 year’ period of the variation of the sunspot number.

Quantitative reconstruction of lake conductivity in the Quaternary of the Near East (Israel) using ostracods

Surface sediments, water samples and environmental data from 37 lakes, ponds and streams in Israel were analysed to determine the main variables controlling ostracod species distributions. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that the greatest amounts of variation in the distribution of the ostracod taxa among the 37 water bodies were explained by the host water δD value (12.9%), water temperature (11.0%), mean January air temperature (10.5%), electrical conductivity (9.5%), and the Mg and NO3 concentrations (7.8 and 7.1%, ion concentrations as % of the anions or cations). A supplementary data set comprising ostracod species composition and electrical conductivity readings for 24 water bodies was available from previous research and was merged with the 37 samples data set to develop an ostracod-based transfer function for the reconstruction of electrical conductivities. A weighted averaging partial least squares regression (WA-PLS) provided the best results with a relatively high coefficient of determination (r2) between measured and inferred electrical conductivity values of 0.73, a root mean square error of prediction of 0.13 (13.4% of gradient length) and a maximum bias of 0.24 (23.9% of gradient length), as assessed by leave-one-out cross-validation based on 56 water bodies. The application of the EC transfer function onto (sub)fossil ostracod assemblages from Holocene and early to mid Pleistocene lake sediments provided EC values consistent with other proxies and demonstrated that Quaternary ostracod assemblages from subaqueous sediments can now be used to trace the hydrological history of water bodies in the Near East. A better understanding of past hydrological conditions in response to the natural climate variability is crucial in regions that face restricted water resources and rising demands in times of rapid climate and environmental change.

Variability of Northeast China river break-up date

This paper investigates the variability of the break-up dates of the rivers in Northeast China from their icebound states for the period of 1957–2005 and explores some potential explanatory mechanisms. Results show that the break-up of the two major rivers (the Heilongjiang River and Songhuajiang River) was about four days earlier, and their freeze-up was about 4–7 days delayed, during 1989–2005 as compared to 1971–1987. This interdecadal variation is evidently associated with the warming trend over the past 50 years. In addition, the break-up and freeze-up dates have large interannual variability, with a standard deviation of about 10–15 days. The break-up date is primarily determined by the January-February-March mean surface air temperature over the Siberian-Northeast China region via changes in the melting rate, ice thickness, and snow cover over the ice cover. The interannual variability of the break-up date is also significantly connected with the Northern Annular Mode (NAM), with a correlation coefficient of 0.35–0.55 based on the data from four stations along the two rivers. This relationship is attributed to the fact that the NAM can modulate the East Asian winter monsoon circulation and Siberian-Northeast China surface air temperature in January–February–March.

Weather peculiarities of the 2007–2008 cold season in the Northern Caspian Sea

Weather patterns of the cold season in the studied region of the Caspian Sea are quite complicated; ice processes here represent an actual threat for hydrotechnical and other engineering constructions located both on the coast and the Northern Caspian Sea shelf, as well as for the navigation in the ice covered sea. Analysis of the materials obtained from the researches performed in November 2007–March 2008 showed that weather patterns of the 2007–2008 cold season in the Northern Caspian Sea formed under the influence of synoptic processes differed from the multiyear norm. The unusually high frequency of anticyclonic processes (especially, the Siberian anticyclone) defined the low monthly average air temperature in January that was 2–5°C below the climatologic norm over the entire Northern Caspian water area.

Evaluation methodology of monthly highest and lowest air temperatures in heat island phenomenon survey

AbstractThe specificity and generality of using the monthly highest and lowest air temperatures to demonstrate the thermal condition were studied. The monthly highest and lowest air temperature data in August and January were examined. Not only the monthly highest but also the lowest air temperatures described the thermal condition correctly without large variation. The monthly highest air temperature in August reflected particular meteorological conditions relatively easily and correctly described the thermally severe condition. The monthly lowest air temperature in January was the most accurate at describing the thermal condition. The outlier hardly appeared in the monthly lowest air temperature in January. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society