Main Climatic Zones Research Articles

A late Quaternary pollen dataset from eastern continental Asia for vegetation and climate reconstructions: Set up and evaluation

A total of 271 pollen records were selected from a large collection of both raw and digitized pollen spectra from eastern continental Asia (70°−135°E and 18°−55°N). Following pollen percentage recalculations, taxonomic homogenization, and age–depth model revision, the pollen spectra were interpolated at a 500-year resolution and a taxonomically harmonized and temporally standardized fossil pollen dataset established with 226 pollen taxa, covering the last 22calka. Of the 271 pollen records, 85% were published since 1990, with reliable chronologies and high temporal resolutions; of these, 50% have raw data with complete pollen assemblages, ensuring the quality of this dataset. The pollen records available for each 500-year time slice are well distributed over all main vegetation types and climatic zones of the study area, making their pollen spectra suitable for paleovegetation and paleoclimate research. Such a dataset can be used as an example for the development of similar datasets for other regions of the world.

Performance analysis of domestic rainwater harvesting systems under various European climate zones

Domestic Rainwater Harvesting (DRWH) is recognized as one of the widely accepted solutions to save potable water in buildings and has seen increasing popularity in Europe due to the improved reliability and understanding of system design and realization issues. In this paper, the performance of DRWH systems is examined in order to support their optimal design under various precipitation regimes. For this purpose 46 sites are selected within the European territory, equally distributed among 5 main climate zones based on the Köppen–Geiger classification. A behavioural model is implemented and non dimensional parameters are used to suitably compare the system performance under various environmental (i.e. hydrologic characteristics) and operational (storage capacity) conditions. Regression analysis is performed to investigate the relationship between hydrologic variables and the DRWH system performance examined in terms of the total water-saving efficiency index, E and the median value of the detention time, T. Results demonstrate that the Antecedent Dry Weather Period (ADWP) is the main hydrologic parameter affecting the system behaviour, while rainfall event characteristics (including event rainfall depth, intensity and duration) reveal weak correlations. Linear regression curves between the ADWP and the system performance are obtained with respect to each storage fraction.

The Mountain Observatory Bjelašnica - History, analysis, homogenization and interpretation of a more than 100 years long temperature data set

Bosnia and Herzegovina is situated at the junction of three main climatic zones, namely, the Mediterranean, the Mountain and the Moderate Continental one. The Mountain Observatory Bjelasnica is located at the boundary between these climatic zones. The special location at the sharp transition between different climate regimes creates surnormally variably climate conditions. This - along with the general sparseness of high elevation climate information ― makes a new centennial high elevation data set starting in 1895 particularly interesting for climate and climate change research. Our paper describes the historical background of the observatory - one of the fundamentals of appropriate homogenizing climate time series. The new temperature series is then implemented into the existing data collection HISTALP. Further our paper provides a first comparative analysis of the centennial trend, the decadal variations and the high-frequent variability of the first homogenized centennial summit series at the Balkan Peninsula. Homogenization tests detected four breaks in the 1895-2007 Bjelasnica summit series. The monthly adjustments ranged from -0.9 to +0.9°C. The average length of a homogeneous subinterval was 23 years. Although remote from the other high elevation summit sites of the Alps, the Bjelasnica-series shows astonishingly similar centennial and decadal scale trends and variations. The linear centennial trend 1895-2007 is +0.11°C/10a. Decadal variations are more accentuated in summer than in winter. The former are dominated by a two-step warming from cool 1910s summers to a first maximum near 1950 followed by a significant cooling until 1980 and then the well known recent warming which was strongest from 1980 to 2000. In the cold season decadal scale deviations from the centennial trends are less significant than in the summer half year season. There are only two main divergent subperiods - a cold one at the beginning of the series near 1900 and the main maximum in the 1990s. The Bjelasnica summit series is freely available now in the web on www.zamg.ac.at/histalp.

The relationship between invasive alien species and main climatic zones

Analysis of numbers of invasive species (insects, plants, plant diseases) in each of Chinese provinces and the world’s climatic zones respectively, demonstrated positive correlations between diversity of bioinvasion and air temperature and precipitation (the two main criteria for classifying world climate types). When the air temperature is within the range of 1–25°C, the degree of diversity of invasive alien species increases exponentially with air temperature. However, when the air temperature falls outside the range of 1–25°C, the diversity of harmful invasive alien species changes with air temperature in a parabolic pattern, showing a “mid-latitude bulge”. Namely, when air temperatures are too high or too low, a lower average invasion frequency of harmful alien species is observed. Invasion by harmful invasive alien species is more weakly related to precipitation. Different climatic zones showed dramatic differences in resistance to the invasion of invasive alien species due to their different characteristic climatic factors, mainly including air temperature and precipitation.

Bearing capacity and corrosion weight losses of the bonded metal joints in the conditions of Indonesia, North Sumatra province

: The article is focused on the analysis of the bonded metal joints capacity and corrosion weight losses in the conditions of equatorial Indonesia – North Sumatra province. For the purpose of the given article, the province was divided into three main climatic zones: Medan, Balige, Pagarbatu, where the dependence was observed of the bonded joints capacity on the duration of the weather exposure. The joints life and their further usability were predicted based on the analyses of the measured values.

Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration is affected by prevailing climatic conditions and soil organic carbon content: A trans-China based case study

Understanding the spatial variation of temperature sensitivity (i.e. Q 10) of soil respiration ( R s) and its controlling factors, is critical to improve the precision of carbon budget estimations at regional scales. In this study, data from 2–3 continuous years of R s measurements over 15 ecosystems of ChinaFLUX were summarized to analyze the response of R s to soil temperature. Moreover, we improved our dataset by collecting previously published Q 10 values from 34 ecosystems in China. The ecosystems studied were located in the main climatic zones of China, spanning from alpine via temperate to tropical. Spatial variations of Q 10 and its controlling factors were analyzed. The results showed that soil temperature at a 5 cm depth satisfactorily explained the seasonal variations in R s of the 15 ChinaFLUX ecosystems ( R 2 varying from 0.37 to 0.83). Based on the overall data, the Q 10 values of R s in China ranged from 1.28 to 4.75. The spatial variations in Q 10 were primarily determined by soil temperature during measurement periods, soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and ecosystem type. Ecosystems in colder regions and with higher SOC content had relatively higher Q 10 values. Moreover, ecosystems of different vegetation types showed different Q 10 values. A temperature- and SOC-dependent function for Q 10 is suggested, which could be a valuable reference for improving the regional-scale models of R s and ecosystem carbon cycles.

Finescale Evaluation of Drought in a Tropical Setting: Case Study in Sri Lanka

Abstract In regions of climatic heterogeneity, finescale assessment of drought risk is needed for policy making and drought management, mitigation, and adaptation. The relationship between drought relief payments (a proxy for drought risk) and meteorological drought indicators is examined through a retrospective analysis for Sri Lanka (1960–2000) based on records of district-level drought relief payments and a dense network of 284 rainfall stations. The standardized precipitation index and a percent-of-annual-average index for rainfall accumulated over 3, 6, 9, and 12 months were used, gridded to a spatial resolution of 10 km. An encouraging correspondence was identified between the spatial distribution of meteorological drought occurrence and historical drought relief payments at the district scale. Time series of drought indices averaged roughly over the four main climatic zones of Sri Lanka showed statistically significant (p < 0.01) relationships with the occurrence of drought relief. The 9-month cumulative drought index provided the strongest relationships overall, although 6- and 12-month indicators provided generally similar results. Some cases of appreciable drought without corresponding relief payments could be attributed to fiscal pressures, as during the 1970s. Statistically significant relationships between drought indicators and relief payments point to the potential utility of meteorological drought assessments for disaster risk management. In addition, the study provides an empirical approach to testing which meteorological drought indicators bear a statistically significant relationship to drought relief across a wide range of tropical climates.

Finescale Evaluation of Drought in a Tropical Setting: Case Study in Sri Lanka

In regions of climatic heterogeneity, finescale assessment of drought risk is needed for policy making and drought management, mitigation, and adaptation. The relationship between drought relief payments (a proxy for drought risk) and meteorological drought indicators is examined through a retrospective analysis for Sri Lanka (1960–2000) based on records of district-level drought relief payments and a dense network of 284 rainfall stations. The standardized precipitation index and a percent-of-annual-average index for rainfall accumulated over 3, 6, 9, and 12 months were used, gridded to a spatial resolution of 10 km. An encouraging correspondence was identified between the spatial distribution of meteorological drought occurrence and historical drought relief payments at the district scale. Time series of drought indices averaged roughly over the four main climatic zones of Sri Lanka showed statistically significant (p < 0.01) relationships with the occurrence of drought relief. The 9-month cumulative drought index provided the strongest relationships overall, although 6- and 12-month indicators provided generally similar results. Some cases of appreciable drought without corresponding relief payments could be attributed to fiscal pressures, as during the 1970s. Statistically significant relationships between drought indicators and relief payments point to the potential utility of meteorological drought assessments for disaster risk management. In addition, the study provides an empirical approach to testing which meteorological drought indicators bear a statistically significant relationship to drought relief across a wide range of tropical climates.

Global daily precipitation fields from bias-corrected rain gauge and satellite observations. Part I: Design and Development

Global daily precipitation analyses are mainly based on satellite estimates, often calibrated with monthly ground analyses or merged with model predictions. We argue here that an essential improvement of their accuracy is only possible by incorporation of daily ground measurements. In this work we apply geostatistical methods to compile a global precipitation product based on daily rain gauge measurements. The raw ground measurements, disseminated via Global Telecommunication System (GTS), are corrected for their systematic measurement errors and interpolated onto a global 1 degree grid. For interpolation ordinary block kriging is applied, with precalculated spatial auto-correlation functions (ACFs). This technique allows to incorporate additional climate information. First, monthly ACFs are calculated from the daily data; second, they are regionalised according to the five main climatic zones of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification. The interpolation error, a by-product of kriging, is used to flag grid points as missing if the error is above a predefined threshold. But for many applications missing values constitute a problem. Due to a combination of the ground analyses with the daily multi-satellite product of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP-1DD) not only these missing values are replaced but also the spatial structure of the satellite estimates is considered. As merging method bivariate ordinary co-kriging is applied. The ACFs necessary for the gauge and the satellite fields as well as the corresponding spatial cross-correlation functions (CCFs) are again precalculated for each of the five main climatic zones and for each individual month. As a result two new global daily data sets for the period 1996 up to today will be available on the Internet (www.gmes-geoland.info): A precipitation product over land, analysed from ground measurements; and a global precipitation product merged from this and the GPCP-1DD multi-satellite product.

Prevalence of Toxocara spp ., Toxascaris leonina and ancylostomidae in public parks and beaches in different climate zones of Costa Rica

This epidemiological study was conducted in different regions of Costa Rica to determine the prevalence of the developmental stages of potential zoonotic intestinal helminths of dogs and cats in public places. Samples were collected within three main climate zones including rural and urban areas during both the rainy and the dry season. Faecal and environmental samples were taken from 69 parks and beaches. Of the faecal samples 3% contained Toxascaris spp. eggs, 7% Toxocara spp. eggs and 55% contained ancylostomidae eggs. Of the soil samples, 2% contained ancylostomidae eggs and 0.8% contained ascarid eggs. Significant differences in the presence of parasites were found in faecal samples of dry, moist and wet climate zones and between the dry and rainy seasons. Significant differences in the presence of eggs and larvae were also found in the grass samples in the dry, the moist and the wet climate zones and between the different seasons. No significant differences were found between rural and urban areas.

Phenotypic Variation of Agromorphological Traits of the Shea Tree, Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn., in Mali

Forty-one shea tree populations were sampled, spanning the main climatic zones of Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn. in Mali and 10–35 adult trees were chosen randomly in the agroforestry parklands of each area. A total of 12 morphological traits, related to tree morphology, fruit size and leaf form were measured. The variance components showed that variation among populations represented the smaller percentage of the total variation with most of the values varying between 15 and 30%. The repeatability coefficient was generally high for tree within populations with values ranging between 0.23 and 0.78. Although genetic correlations cannot be accurately estimated, due to difficulties in separation from environmental effects, the results indicate that there is a very low genetic relation between the three kinds of traits, i.e., between those related to tree, those related to leaf and those related to fruit. Leaf and fruit size traits were positively and significantly correlated with rainfall, although tree circumference was negatively correlated with rainfall and the significantly larger shea trees were noted in the drier areas – an observation thought linked to human management of the parklands. Soil drainage and parkland density, however, did not explain differences between populations for fruit traits. This study offers preliminary information for the development of a breeding population for a shea tree improvement programme. The value of repeatability, the low correlation between sets of traits and the distribution of variation, suggest that selection of many individual trees within a few populations, would allow capture of large genetic gain especially for fruit traits.

Patterns of daily maximum and minimum temperature data in Nigeria

¶The knowledge of the dependence pattern of daily weather variables, which tend to persist in time, is important in developing techniques for simulating weather data. The dependence of daily maximum and minimum temperatures is presented for 17 stations in the three main climatic zones (humid, sub-humid and semi-arid) of Nigeria. Daily maximum and minimum temperatures have an average lag-one serial correlation coefficient of 0.833 and 0.802, respectively, depending more on latitude followed by elevation of the site. The correlation between maximum and minimum temperature averaged 0.387 and also varied with season and location. The results of the Student’s T-test show that persistence within maximum and minimum temperatures and interdependence between the two meteorological variables did not differ significantly, 95% of the times, at most of the sites. The implication of these in developing limited area models for weather forecasting and regional climate studies has been stressed.

Snow Avalanche Climatology of the Western United States Mountain Ranges

Abstract The snow avalanche climate of the western United States has long been suspected to consist of three main climate zones that relate with different avalanche characteristics: coastal, intermountain, and continental. The coastal zone of the Pacific mountain ranges is characterized by abundant snowfall, higher snow densities, and higher temperatures. The continental zone of the Colorado Rockies is characterized by lower temperatures, lower snowfall, lower snow densities, higher snow temperature gradients, and a more persistently unstable snowpack resulting from depth hoar. The intermountain zone of Utah, Montana, and Idaho is intermediate between the other two zones. A quantitative analysis of snow avalanche climate of the region was conducted based on Westwide Avalanche Network data from 1969 to 1995. A binary avalanche climate classification, based on well–known thresholds and ranges of snowpack and climatic variables, illustrates the broadscale climatology of the three major zones, some spatially ...

Training systems of fruit trees in Hungary

Growing sites and soil conditions of Hungary warrant profitable production of several temperate fruits at elevated levels of quality. The climate of the Carpathian basin is a mixtures of three main climatic zones the prevalence of which may change seasonally: Atlantic, continental and Mediterranean, therefore, growing sites are rather various. Temperature minima of the winter and late spring frosts are the main elements of risk. In choice of the system of cultivation, regularity of yields and intensity are to be observed equally. Regular yields are particularly aimed in stone fruit cultures.&#x0D; For apple and pear plantations of high density required for intense production are promoted favourably. Accessories of intense orchards (irrigation, supporting system, rootstocks, phytotechniques, etc.) are important. In peach and plum trees are trained to funnel-shape crowns, in general, intense-types are possible in plum, only. In apricots, a Hungarian speciality, the "umbrella" type of crown is applied, almost exclusively, according to Papp. In sweet and sour cherry, the harvest technique, manual or mechanised, according to the intended utilisation, are determining the form of training.&#x0D; Red and black currants as small fruits are grown mostly as bushes or hedgerows without any supporting system designed to facilitate mechanical harvest. Raspberries and blackberries are grown as hedges on trellis. Gooseberry is a special case, being a low, thorny bush difficult to be picked. Thus grafted small trees are attached to a wire-trellis which helps to solve problems of plant protection too.&#x0D;

Applicability of a Weather Simulation Model Based on Observed Daily Meteorological Data in Humid Tropical Climate

Long time series of daily meteorological data that are needed in various applications are not always available or appropriate for use at many locations. The Weather Generation Model (WGEN) developed by Richardson and Wright (1984) was evaluated as a substitute for daily observed data at 17 sites located in the main climatic zones of Nigeria. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U-test has shown that the number of months per year, for which the differences between the long-term monthly mean observed meteorological and WGEN simulated data, were significant, was less than 4 at most of the study sites.

Spectral analysis of climatological series in Duero Basin

General harmonic analysis (FFT) and maximum entropy spectral analysis (MEM) are used in order to study annual and monthly values of air temperature, precipitation and insolation in a number of weather stations in Duero Hydrographic Basin. The corresponding spectra estimates were prepared and compared. MEM estimates show better power resolution and a better spectral definition than FFT estimates. Based on the similarity behavior of the spectra, four main climatic zones were clearly defined. Finally, physical interpretation of the main features of the most representative spectra for the four regions was attempted.