Amount Of Atmospheric Precipitation Research Articles

Specific features of the interannual and seasonal variations of hydrometeorological conditions in the region of Kerch Strait for the last two decades

On the basis of the analysis of the archival data, we reveal some regularities of the interannual and seasonal variations of the parameters of atmospheric transport, winds, air temperature, the amount of atmospheric precipitation in the Kerch region, the temperature of water in the Kerch Strait, and the water discharge through the strait observed for about the last two decades. It is shown that the intensities of the southeast atmospheric transport and wind activity predominant for the previous 30-yr period decreased for the analyzed time period as compared with the previous period, whereas the amount of atmospheric precipitation and the annual average temperatures of water in the strait and air in the Kerch region increased. We also reveal the presence of direct qualitative relationship between the intensity of atmospheric transport over the Kerch Strait and the water discharge in its water area.

On the effect of large-scale atmospheric transport on chemistry and amount of atmospheric precipitation in the center of European Russia

The dependence of precipitation amount, acidity, and ionic composition on the atmospheric circulation is studied based on the computation of the back trajectories over the period of 1982–1993. Quantitative estimates of basic parameters of trajectories are derived, and their significant difference in the summer and wintertime is considered. The trajectory frequency for the cases with precipitation in the center of European Russia is computed at the regular grid points depending on the diurnal precipitation amount, acidity, and sulfate/chloride ratio. It is shown that in case of abundant precipitation both in summer and winter the highest frequency of trajectories is observed in the same regions. In the case of low precipitation, seasonal differences are observed. It is revealed that precipitation with pH > 5 is mostly connected with the air inflow from Scandinavia and the north of European Russia, while during the trajectory passage over Central and Southern Europe pH < 5 prevails in precipitation. The chlorine ions prevail most often when trajectories pass over central regions of the Mediterranean and of Middle Asia and (although somewhat less) over Scandinavia and northern Russian seas.

Influence of graduation towers in Inowrocław Spa Park (Poland) on chemical parameters of Mollic Gleysols

Calcium was the dominant element in the sorption complex of the analysed soils, regardless of the location of a soil profile. Moreover, in most of the endopedons, the concentration of Ca2+ was two or even three times higher than in non-saline soils, which were not affected by anthropopressure. One should, however, emphasize the fact that graduation towers are significant but not the dominant source of calcium in the analysed soil profiles. The concentration of Ca2+ is also strongly affected by the vicinity of the urban area and lime plants, as well as by the composition of the parent rock. The soils of the Spa Park in the town of Inowrocław are Mollic Gleysols with the elevated content of sodium, which together with a small amount of atmospheric precipitation and a constant inflow of sodium from the graduation towers, can bring about negative changes in their physical properties and the composition of the sorption complex. This negative influence of sodium cations can be counterbalanced by a high content of calcium ions. Among water-soluble anions, chloride anions had the highest concentration. The concentration of Cl- in the aqueous soil solution was increasing together with the depth of profiles and was significantly decreasing with the increasing distance from the graduation towers. Moreover, in the profiles located near the graduation towers, the concentration of chlorides in all soil horizons was higher than the permissible limit of 10 mg∙100 g-1.

Current changes of the atmospheric precipitation regime on the territory of Azerbaijan

Data from 40 meteorological stations have been used in investigating the changes of the precipitation regime on the territory of Azerbaijan during 1991–2006. It is shown that ubiquitous warming in most of the territory of the Republic is accompanied by a decrease of the annual mean amount of atmospheric precipitation, mainly through a reduction in precipitation during a warm period (April–October).

Effects of air pollution on precipitation in Kraków (Cracow), Poland in the years 1971–2005

Daily precipitation data from the period 1971–2005 from four stations in and around Krakow (Cracow), Poland (one urban and three rural ones) were analysed in order to find out whether the 80% decrease in air pollution after 1989 had an impact on the atmospheric precipitation amount and spatial distribution. The analyses were performed for the whole 35-year series and in two 17-year sub-periods: 1972–1988 (high air pollution) and 1989–2005 (low air pollution). No decreasing or increasing trend in the precipitation totals at the particular stations studied in the period 1971–2005 has been observed. The precipitation totals from 1972–1988 differ significantly from the ones of 1989–2005 only in case of Igolomia (one of the rural stations) in winter and at the urban station in autumn. The spatial pattern of precipitation did not change after 1989. The changes in air pollution affected the spatial pattern of days with precipitation mainly in spring and autumn for daily totals above 5 mm.

The hydrological properties of waterlogged and drained forests in Latvia

Almost half (47%) of Latvian forest areas (3611 thousand ha) are considered degraded or partly improved by the hydro-technical drainage. The degradation is caused by very poor soil aeration due to waterlogged conditions. The location of waterlogged forests in Latvia is neither uniform nor occasional. Comparison of the abundance of waterlogged forests and the amount of atmospheric precipitation showed that the waterlogged forests are mainly located in areas with least precipitation. This hydrological phenomenon is connected with water discharge in drainage ditches: even during the dry summers of the years 1963, 1964, 1975, 1976 and 2002 in the drained forests with deep peat soils water flowed continuously in 1 m deep ditches and the discharge exceeded the amount of precipitation. Using the data from 182 sample plots in drained forests with the peat layer depth of 4.2 m, it was found, that coniferous forests are most productive in areas where the peat layer is most dense. One of the possible explanations for this phenomenon is that the most intensive paludification and formation of most dense peat layer are characteristic for the areas with intensive water discharge from confined aquifers. This discharge provides necessary mineral nutrients for the forest soil regardless of the peat layer thickness. The forest productivity may increase several times due to the enhancement of water movement in soil and to improved soil aeration by hydro-technical drainage. Also the flow regime of rivers connected with the drained areas changes considerably, mitigating extremely high and low flow events.

Radioactive pollution of the Baikal area as a result of nuclear ground tests

Results of analyses for 137Cs in soils sampled in more than 800 localities have shown that the Baikal area pollution is much contributed by local radioactive fallout from the Semipalatinsk nuclear ground tests. We studied the effect of the amount of atmospheric precipitation and the types of landscapes and soils on the content of 137Cs in regional soils. Local radioactive fallout is confirmed by the total beta activity of daily atmospheric precipitation measured at regional weather stations.

The 4th Unit of the Chernobyl NPP: Its Present State and Problems Related to its Transformation into an Ecologically Safe System

ABSTRACTThe following problems related to the destroyed 4thUnit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) are considered.Monitoring of the unit's current state, including:1)Monitoring of the atmospheric release of radioactive elements in the form of aerosols. In this case the problem is the unqualified area of cracks and holes that have formed in the “Sarcophagus” (the “Shelter”) since 1986. In addition, the method used to evaluate the release, in which an uncontrolled escape of radioactive contamination is possible, raises objections;2)Monitoring of the aquatic medium both inside the “Shelter” and on the industrial site. At present, the quantity of water in the 4thUnit is about 3000 m, which in fact is low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste. This quantity is not constant and essentially varies depending on the season, amount of atmospheric precipitation, the intensity of dust suppression, etc. In this case the problem is that the paths of water migration inside the unit are not known, so that an uncontrolled penetration of water into the ground, via the damaged foundation slab or the unit's walls, is quite possible;3)Monitoring of the state of lava-like fuel-containing masses (LFCM) and the fuel. The problem is that the exact location of the fuel in the 4thUnit, the amount of fuel in major aggregates of LFCM, and the nuclear safety of these aggregates are all unknown to date.The arrangements for the stabilization of the 4thUnit first of all include the reinforcement of the structural construction.The transformation of the “Shelter” into an ecologically safe system is subject to many questions still unresolved. In particular:Whether to create a common “Shelter-2” for the 3rand 4thUnits or to merely encase the destroyed 4thUnit in concrete (the project “Cube”);Whether to peace a plant for conditioning and reprocessing of radioactive waste under the roof of the “Shelter-2”, or to build this plant separately;Where to create a temporary repository for containers of radioactive waste from the ChNPP 4thUnit;How to solve the problem of radioactive waste permanent storage in the territory of the Ukraine with proper observation of all nuclear and radiation safety requirements

Main investigation results on the forest radioecology in the Kyshtym and Chernobyl accident zones

As a result of the long-term studies of radionuclide migration in forest ecosystems in zones of radioactive contamination after the Kyshtym and Chernobyl accidents, the following trends were revealed: (1) High retention capacity of stand canopy with respect to radioactive fallout. This leads to high doses absorbed by apical and leaf meristems, β-radiation giving the main part of the dose; (2) Fast self-decontamination of crowns during the growth period and relatively slow decontamination in the phase of physiological rest, regardless of amount of atmospheric precipitation. The rate of crown decontamination determines the value and duration of radiation stress on woody plants; (3) Accumulation not less than 95% of the total radionuclide amount in the forest litter 1–2 years after the cessation of radioactive fallout; (4) Relatively slow migration of strontium and cesium radionuclides along the forest soil profile; (5) High capacity of the forest when serving as a biogeochemical barrier to the routes of horizontal and vertical radionuclide migration and export out of the zone of initial contamination, including migration into the river water; (6) Considerable difference between strontium and cesium when migrating in forest soils and in the soil-plant system; (7) Broad variations in transfer factors for uptake of cesium-137 from soil into forest plants depending on the plant species and soil type. The primary radiobiological effects connected with irradiation of organisms are considered and secondary disturbances due to changes of ecological bonds between the components of irradiated forest ecosystem are discussed.

The study of recent crustal movements from extensometric data

Extensometric observations provide valuable data on recent crustal movements because of the high sensitivity of geophysical instruments and their ability to produce observation series continuous in time. The problem is whether the tectonic component of the movement can be determined from extensometric data. In the present paper an attempt is made to identify tectonic deformations on the basis of observation series of a 20-year period conducted at one of the extensometric stations (Talgar). Preparatory studies are made to find the nature of seasonal variations in the deformation time changes. The correlation of these variations with changes in the amount of atmospheric precipitation, and also the general periodicity in the deformation curve and in the atmospheric precipitation curve, enable us to eliminate the deformation caused by atmospheric precipitation from the deformation curve. The residual deformation curve reveals variations coinciding in time with the periods of higher seismic activity in the region of observations. Harmonics are derived from the deformation curve and their periods coincide with the periods of recurrent local earthquakes of energetic class 13–14.

The study of recent crustal movements from extensometric data

Abstract Extensometric observations provide valuable data on recent crustal movements because of the high sensitivity of geophysical instruments and their ability to produce observation series continuous in time. The problem is whether the tectonic component of the movement can be determined from extensometric data. In the present paper an attempt is made to identify tectonic deformations on the basis of observation series of a 20-year period conducted at one of the extensometric stations (Talgar). Preparatory studies are made to find the nature of seasonal variations in the deformation time changes. The correlation of these variations with changes in the amount of atmospheric precipitation, and also the general periodicity in the deformation curve and in the atmospheric precipitation curve, enable us to eliminate the deformation caused by atmospheric precipitation from the deformation curve. The residual deformation curve reveals variations coinciding in time with the periods of higher seismic activity in the region of observations. Harmonics are derived from the deformation curve and their periods coincide with the periods of recurrent local earthquakes of energetic class 13–14.