Minimum Temperature Range Research Articles

RANCANG BANGUN JEMURAN KERUPUK OTOMATIS BERBASIS IOT UNTUK PRODUSEN KERUPUK IKAN DI SIDAYU GRESIK

Gresik Regency is one of the regencies in East Java province with a geographical location directly adjacent to the coast of the Java Sea. The amount of milkfish cultivation that can be produced from ponds located on the north coast of Gresik Regency has a high potential value to be utilized as processed fish products. One of the most widely produced processed fish products is milkfish crackers. The availability of easily obtained raw materials does not make it difficult to process fish crackers. Drying crackers by drying in the sun will run smoothly in hot weather or dry season. However, when entering the rainy season, there are often many obstacles, namely the heat of the sun that does not match what is needed, such as cloudy weather and even if it suddenly rains, which sometimes causes mold on the crackers because there is not enough time to take the crackers that are being dried. The drying process must always be supervised directly by humans, besides that there are several types of crackers with different compositions that have different drying times. This tool is enabled to recognize the weather including light intensity, air temperature, and rainfall so that it is considered more efficient to use during the rainy season. The user simply puts the fish crackers on the clothesline and when the tool recognizes rainy or cloudy conditions, the fish cracker clothesline will be pulled by an electric motor to be put into the room. When the user is away, the clothesline can also be monitored and controlled remotely. As a result, the IoT-based Automatic Cracker Clothesline System can recognize whether the weather is sunny, hot, or rainy. The system can also extend the clothesline automatically when the weather is sunny or hot, the system can pull the clothesline when it rains or cloudy automatically. The system can send notifications to the smartphone according to the weather conditions and the position of the clothesline being pulled or extended in realtime, the system can display the indicators of each sensor to the smartphone. Users can also enter the drying time and minimum temperature range into the system. As a result, the system can run well to recognize the weather around the cracker clothesline and can insert crackers when it is raining, cloudy or when the drying time has expired automatically.

Evaluating micronutrients effects on yield and quality attributes of chrysanthemum (Dendrathemum Grandiflorum Tzeuleu) cv.CO1

The field experiment was conducted in the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, and Tamil Nadu in chrysanthemum (Dendrathemum grandiflorum Tzeuleu) cv.CO 1. The experimental site situated approximately 6 km west of the Bay of Bengal, positioned at 11o 24' North latitude and 79o 41' East longitude, with an altitude of +5.79 meters above mean sea level. The maximum mean temperature range from 29.7ºC to 38.3ºCwith a mean of 32.4ºC, while the minimum temperature range from 21.10ºC to 27.0ºC with a mean value of 25.3ºC. Its receives an annual rainfall of 1500 mm with a relative humidity of 85%. From the results, it can be concluded that soil application of micronutrients mixture @12.5 kg ha-1 in split as basal, 25, 50 and 75 DAT was found to have beneficial effect on yield and quality attributes of chrysanthemum.

Unravelling the Fractal Complexity of Temperature Datasets across Indian Mainland

Studying atmospheric temperature characteristics is crucial under climate change, as it helps us to understand the changing patterns in temperature that have significant implications for the environment, ecosystems, and human well-being. This study presents the comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal variability of scaling behavior of daily temperature series across the whole Indian mainland, using a Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MFDFA). The analysis considered 1° × 1° datasets of maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), mean temperature (Tmean), and diurnal temperature range (DTR) (TDTR = Tmax − Tmin) from 1951 to 2016 to compare their scaling behavior for the first time. Our results indicate that the Tmin series exhibits the highest persistence (with the Hurst exponent ranging from 0.849 to unity, and a mean of 0.971), and all four-temperature series display long-term persistence and multifractal characteristics. The variability of the multifractal characteristics is less significant in North–Central India, while it is highest along the western coast of India. Moreover, the assessment of multifractal characteristics of different temperature series during the pre- and post-1976–1977 period of the Pacific climate shift reveals a notable decrease in multifractal strength and persistence in the post-1976–1977 series across all regions. Moreover, for the detection of climate change and its dominant driver, we propose a new rolling window multifractal (RWM) framework by evaluating the temporal evolution of the spectral exponents and the Hurst exponent. This study successfully captured the regime shifts during the periods of 1976–1977 and 1997–1998. Interestingly, the earlier climatic shift primarily mitigated the persistence of the Tmax series, whereas the latter shift significantly influenced the persistence of the Tmean series in the majority of temperature-homogeneous regions in India.

PGPR-based biofertilizer modulates strawberry photosynthetic apparatus tolerance responses by severe drought, soil salinization and short extreme heat event

Drought, soil salinization and the extreme heat events increments associate to climate change will notably impact sensitive crop species, such as strawberry. A greenhouse experiment was arranged to evaluate the potential of a PGPR-based biofertilizer, with multiple PGP properties, including ACC deaminase production highly related to the limitation of ethylene levels under abiotic stress, in modulation of photosynthetic apparatus tolerance responses by severe drought (complete water withholding), salinity in irrigation water (340 mM NaCl) and short extreme heat event (37/28 °C maximum and minimum temperature range). Our results show that all stress factors triggered acute injury effects on strawberry carboxylation capacity and photosystem II energy assimilation efficiency ability; whose intensity varied depending on factor nature. However, bacterial inoculation diminished ∼67 %, 20 % and 18 % the deleterious impact imposed by drought, heat and salinity stress on the net photosynthetic rate (AN). This effect was primarily mediated by counterbalancing the diffusion of CO2 in the stomata and biochemical limitations in response to heat and salinity stress, while the reduction of biochemical damage was more notable in response to drought. Complementarily, inoculation was able to highly buffer the photochemical limitations imposed by all abiotic stress factors tested. Despite these positive effects, the application of PGPR-based biofertilizer was unable to completely reverse the impact of stress factors on strawberry photosynthesis metabolism. However, the signal of these ameliorative effects was significant enough to consider the implementation of PGPR-based biofertilizer application as a complementary tool in the management of strawberry cultivation in increasingly stressful agronomic contexts.

Thermal germination characteristics of three High Arctic plants: Implications for their response to climate warming

Although temperature plays a crucial role in governing seed reproduction in High Arctic plants, little is known about the germination response of these plants to climate warming. We conducted a germination experiment to examine the thermal germination characteristics of three common High Arctic plant species in Svalbard: Dryas octopetala, Oxyria digyna, and Salix polaris. We exposed the seeds to two temperature regimes: gradually increasing and decreasing temperatures between 4 and 15 °C. Additionally, we measured the ground surface temperatures at the study site. All three High Arctic plant species exhibited no specific temperature requirements for germination, with minimum germination temperatures falling within the range of 4–8 °C. Based on the ground surface temperature data, the period during which the weekly average ground surface temperature exceeded this minimum germination temperature range (period available for germination) spanned from mid-June to mid-August. By simulating a warming scenario of 2 and 4 °C, we estimated that the onset of the period available for germination would advance by 1–2 and 2–3 weeks, respectively. Furthermore, our results suggest the possibility of autumn germination in the High Arctic region under future warming conditions.

Graphene nanoplatelets and copper foams for improving passive cooling performance of PCMs in Singapore's tropical climate

In Singapore's hot tropical climate, phase change materials (PCMs) hold significant promise for year-round passive cooling solutions in buildings. However, the narrow diurnal temperature range of 24–32 °C poses a great challenge for pure PCMs with poor thermal conductivity to undergo complete melting-freezing cycles. Herein, we tested two composite PCMs in a self-designed thermal box: (1) paraffin RT28HC/graphene nanoplatelets (GNP-PCMs) and (2) paraffin RT28HC/copper foam (CF-PCMs). The passive cooling performance of the composite PCMs was evaluated based on their charging power at 32 °C and discharging power at 24 °C. The focus is on convection heat transfer between the composite PCMs and ambient air, with considering various factors, including GNPs content (0.1–0.9 wt%), CF pore density (40 pores per inch (PPI) and 70 PPI), airflow rate (natural convection and forced convection), and orientation (horizontal and vertical). The results indicate that a minimum temperature range of 26.6–30.3 °C is necessary for complete melting-freezing cycles. The effect of GNPs content is more sensitive to orientation, whereas the effect of CF pore density is more affected by airflow rate. In all cases, the CF-PCMs exhibit superior temperature uniformity than the GNP-PCMs. Under forced convection, the charging power and discharging power of pure PCM reached a maximum of 110.8 and 163.5 W/m2, respectively. The addition of GNPs enhanced the charging power and discharging power of pure PCM by up to 14.2 % and 10.2 %, respectively. Moreover, the incorporation of CF boosted the charging power and discharging power of pure PCM by up to 75.1 % and 64.3 %, respectively.

Identifying heat thresholds for South Africa towards the development of a heat-health warning system.

Exposure to heatwaves may result in adverse human health impacts. Heat alerts in South Africa are currently based on defined temperature-fixed threshold values for large towns and cities. However, heat-health warning systems (HHWS) should incorporate metrics that have been shown to be effective predictors of negative heat-related health outcomes. This study contributes to the development of a HHWS for South Africa that can potentially minimize heat-related mortality. Distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNM) were used to assess the association between maximum and minimum temperature and diurnal temperature range (DTR) and population-adjusted mortality during summer months, and the effects were presented as incidence rate ratios (IRR). District-level thresholds for the best predictor from these three metrics were estimated with threshold regression. The mortality dataset contained records of daily registered deaths (n = 8,476,532) from 1997 to 2013 and data for the temperature indices were for the same period. Maximum temperature appeared to be the most statistically significant predictor of all-cause mortality with strong associations observed in 40 out of 52 districts. Maximum temperature was associated with increased risk of mortality in all but three of the districts. Our results also found that heat-related mortality was influenced by regional climate because the spatial distribution of the thresholds varied according to the climate zones across the country. On average, districts located in the hot, arid interior provinces of the Northern Cape and North West experienced some of the highest thresholds compared to districts located in temperate interior or coastal provinces. As the effects of climate change become more significant, population exposure to heat is increasing. Therefore, evidence-based HHWS are required to reduce heat-related mortality and morbidity. The exceedance of the maximum temperature thresholds provided in this study could be used to issue heat alerts as part of effective heat health action plans.

Programmable heating and quenching for enhancing coal pyrolysis tar yield: A ReaxFF molecular dynamics study

In this paper, the impact of the programmable heating and quenching (PHQ) method on coal pyrolysis tar yield was investigated via ReaxFF molecular dynamics method. Firstly, thermostatic pyrolysis simulations of coal were performed to determine the range of maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperatures for the PHQ method. Then, the effects of the ratio of heating time (th) and cooling time (tc), Tmax, and Tmin on pyrolysis tar yield were investigated. The results showed that reducing th/tc, Tmax, and Tmin helped to improve tar yield. Finally, the effects upon pyrolysis products were compared between the conventional continuous heating (CCH) method and the PHQ method. It was revealed that 37.67 % increase in tar yield was achieved with the PHQ method compared to the CCH method. The main basic reactions during coal pyrolysis were analyzed to reveal the mechanism of the PHQ method on tar yield. There were three ways to increase tar yield with the PHQ method: (1) the elevated production of OH radicals during each heating stage facilitated the decomposition of char into tar; (2) the reduction of temperature during each quenching stage hindered the condensation reactions among tar molecules; (3) the reactivity of the tar was also diminished.

A critical review on renewable battery thermal management system using heat pipes.

The critical review presented here exclusively covers the studies on battery thermal management systems (BTMSs), which utilize heat pipes of different structural designs and operating parameters as a cooling medium. The review paper is divided into five major parts, and each part addresses the role of heat pipes in BTMS categorically. Experimental studies, numerical analyses, combined experimental and numerical investigations, optimum utilization of a phase-change material (PCM) with a heat pipe (HP), oscillating heat pipe (OHP), and micro heat pipes combined with PCM for Li-ion BTMS using heat pipes are presented. The usage of HP's and PCM can keep the temperature of the battery system in the desirable limit for a longer duration compared to other traditional and passive methods. More emphasis is made on how one can achieve a suitable cooling system design and structure, which may tend to enhance the energy density of the batteries, improve thermal performance at maximum and minimum temperature range. Arrangement of battery cells in a pack or module, type of cooling fluid used, heat pipe configuration, type of PCM used, working fluid in a heat pipe, and surrounding environmental conditions are reviewed. According to the study, the battery's effectiveness is significantly influenced by temperature. The usage of flat HPs and heat sink proves to be the best cooling method for keeping the battery working temperature below 50°C and reduces the heat sink thermal resistance by 30%. With an intake temperature of 25°C and a discharge rate of 1 L per minute, an HP that uses water as a coolant is also effective at regulating battery cell temperature and maintaining it below the permissible 55°C range. Using beeswax as a PCM in HPs reduces the temperature of BTMS by up to 26.62°C, while the usage of RT44 in HPs reduces the temperature of BTMS by 33.42°C. The use of fins along with copper spreaders drastically decreases the temperature capability of HPTMS by 11°C. MHPA shows excellent performance in controlling the battery temperature within 40°C. The effective thermal management can be done by incorporating heat pipe alone or by coupling with liquid cooling or metal plate. However, extensive and extended research is required to improve thermal management to safely and effectively use the battery for day-to-day applications.

Weather associations with physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep patterns of Australian adults: a longitudinal study with implications for climate change

BackgroundWeather is a potentially important influence on how time is allocated to sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity across the 24-h day. Extremes of weather (very hot, cold, windy or wet) can create undesirable, unsafe outdoor environments for exercise or active transport, impact the comfort of sleeping environments, and increase time indoors. This 13-month prospective cohort study explored associations between weather and 24-h movement behaviour patterns.MethodsThree hundred sixty-eight adults (mean age 40.2 years, SD 5.9, 56.8% female) from Adelaide, Australia, wore Fitbit Charge 3 activity trackers 24 h a day for 13 months with minute-by-minute data on sleep, sedentary behaviour, light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) collected remotely. Daily weather data included temperature, rainfall, wind, cloud and sunshine. Multi-level mixed-effects linear regression analyses (one model per outcome) were used.ResultsNinety thousand eight hundred one days of data were analysed. Sleep was negatively associated with minimum temperature (-12 min/day change across minimum temperature range of 31.2 °C, p = 0.001). Sedentary behaviour was positively associated with minimum temperature (+ 12 min/day, range = 31.2 oC, p = 0.006) and wind speed (+ 10 min/day, range = 36.7 km/h, p< 0.001), and negatively associated with sunshine (-17 min/day, range = 13.9 h, p < 0.001). LPA was positively associated with minimum temperature (+ 11 min/day, range = 31.2 °C, p = 0.002), cloud cover (+ 4 min/day, range = 8 eighths, p = 0.008) and sunshine (+ 17 min/day, range = 13.9 h, p < 0.001), and negatively associated with wind speed (-8 min/day, range = 36.7 km/h, p < 0.001). MVPA was positively associated with sunshine (+ 3 min/day, range = 13.9 h, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with minimum temperature (-13 min/day, range = 31.2 oC, p < 0.001), rainfall (-3 min/day, range = 33.2 mm, p = 0.006) and wind speed (-4 min/day, range = 36.7 km/h, p < 0.001). For maximum temperature, a significant (p < 0.05) curvilinear association was observed with sleep (half-U) and physical activity (inverted-U), where the decrease in sleep duration appeared to slow around 23 °C, LPA peaked at 31 oC and MVPA at 27 °C.ConclusionsGenerally, adults tended to be less active and more sedentary during extremes of weather and sleep less as temperatures rise. These findings have the potential to inform the timing and content of positive movement behaviour messaging and interventions.Trial registrationThe study was prospectively registered on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12619001430123).

Clumped and oxygen isotope sclerochronology methods tested in the bivalve Lucina pensylvanica

Geochemical signatures preserved within the geologic record can be used to reconstruct past mean temperature and seasonality, but in order to accurately apply any geochemical proxy method in the past, a rigorous study of how the recorded proxy is related to temperature in the modern setting must be conducted. Here, we assess the ability of multiple isotope techniques to correctly record mean annual temperature and seasonality in the bivalve Lucina pensylvanica. We compare subannual-resolution δ18O-based, seasonally-targeted and continuous high-resolution (H.R.) clumped isotope (Δ47)-based thermometry methods, as well as multiple data treatment methods for each, to determine which approach best matches known modern temperatures (maximum and minimum absolute temperature and annual temperature range), with the goal of defining the ideal sampling scheme for use on fossil shells. In L. pensylvanica shells collected from 7 sites, we observe neither mean temperature nor seasonal biases. Mean annual temperature is best matched by averaging all seasonally-targeted Δ47-temperatures. Seasonality is best matched by averaging δ18Ocarb-based temperatures from all summers and all winters before taking the difference. Of two data treatment approaches applied to the continuous high-resolution Δ47-based temperatures, “data optimization” is apparently better at resolving smaller seasonal temperature differences. In contrast, “data smoothing” produces a temperature record unbiased by prior assignment of seasonal extremes and has the simultaneous ability to detect subannual variability in δ18Ow. However, accurate application of H.R. Δ47 methods must balance sampling resolution and growth rate. If sampling resolution is high enough relative to the growth rate (∼1 pt./month or better), we recommend continuous high-resolution Δ47-thermometry with data smoothing. If this resolution cannot be achieved due to slow growth rates or insufficient shell size, we recommend pairing subannual δ18Ocarb-based and seasonally-targeted Δ47-based temperature reconstruction to acquire seasonal range in temperature and absolute temperature extremes.

Impact of beverage temperature on consumer preferences for black coffee

We recently performed a systematic investigation of consumer preferences for black coffee versus key brewing parameters, including total dissolved solids, extraction yield, and brewing temperature (Cotter et al. in J Food Sci 86(1):194–205, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.15561). An experimental goal in that work was for participants to taste the coffee at a beverage temperature of 65 °C, but the large sample size of more than 3000 individual tastings, combined with natural variations in the brewing and cooling processes, meant that coffees were assessed over a normally distributed range of temperatures between 56 and 71 °C. Here we use those data to provide a more detailed analysis of the impact of beverage temperature on consumer acceptance of the coffee, with a key objective of identifying beverage temperatures at which no consumers assess the coffee either as too hot or too cold. Using a 5-point just-about-right (JAR) scale, we find that a majority of consumers (> 50%) assessed the temperature as JAR at all temperatures tested up to 70 °C. A substantial fraction of consumers, approximately 6–12%, assessed the coffee as too cold over the range 56–68 °C. Only above 70 °C did a majority of consumers assess the coffee as too hot and none assessed it as too cold, albeit with 40% still assessing it as JAR. Complementary analyses indicate that beverage temperature over this range had little impact on assessments of the adequacy of flavor intensity, acidity, and mouthfeel, but did correlate slightly with overall liking and purchase intent. Overall, the results suggest that temperatures over the range of 58–66 °C maximize consumer acceptance, and that 68–70 °C is the minimum temperature range at which no consumers will assess black coffee as too cold.

Contribution of Environment in Comorbidities in Children with Sickle Cell Disease: A Prospective Observational Study at a Tertiary Care Center in India

Key words -environmental determinants, morbidity, sickle cell disease, children Sickle cell disease (SCD) presents with highly variable clinical consequences, which are noted even among identical twins residing in different geographical areas, but remain unexplained even after extensive genetic studies. India has 2nd largest number of births with SCD, only second to Africa. Different regions in India also have variability in climate and environment which also varies from season to season. Therefore, we aimed to study the contribution of environmental determinants associated with morbidity in children with SCD. We conducted a prospective observational study in hospitalized children diagnosed with SCD in a tertiary care center in Government medical college, Nagpur, Maharashtra in India. Our study included 88 females (41.51%) and 124 males (58.49%) in the age group of 6 months -14 years, but majority were between 5-10 years of age (50.94%). Children living outside a radius of 10 km from the hospital where study is conducted and children with systemic disorders were excluded. Convenience sampling method was used to examine the effect of several environmental factors including temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2021. We correlated the association of these environmental factors with the severity of morbidity related to the duration of hospital stay, infection, vasoocclusive crises (VOC), intensive care utilization (ICU) & number of blood transfusions. In our study population maximum duration of hospital stay was 44 days and minimum of 2 days. The cause of admissions included VOCs (54.25%), severe anemia requiring blood transfusion (41.98%), and infections (34.91%). During our 2 years study period, range of maximum and minimum temperature was 22-46.8 and 0 -30.8degree Celsius, relative humidity of 20-100%, wind speed of 0-28 knots, rainfall of 0-100.3 mm, NO2 levels of 0-95 ug/mm3, SO2 levels of 0-39ug/mm3 & 0zone of 0-148ug/mm3. Maximum number of admissions (62.73%) occurred in the months of June - November. High relative humidity (p value =0.0001) was the most important factor leading to an increase in hospital admissions, followed by rainfall (p value =0.0004). Among air pollutants, increase in NO2(p value =0.0002) and SO2(p value =0.0014) levels were associated with higher number of admissions, whereas ozone levels had no significant impact on number of admissions (p value =0.1499). (More statistical analysis will be provided at the time of presentation). Surprisingly COVID-19 pandemic substantially reduced the number of SCD patients seeking medical attention in our tertiary care center. It is also likely that our results may be influenced by a change in the environmental exposure due to the pandemic. Also, the current observations are from a single city. However, our data provide a 'proof of principle' that the environment contributes to the comorbidities of SCD and offer support to undertake larger studies in different geographic regions of tropical countries. We conclude that environmental factors are important determinants of acute complications in children with SCD. Identification of such environmental factors will help develop strategies to prevent/reduce the comorbidities of SCD and improving the quality of life for children and perhaps adults with SCD.

Occurrence pattern and morphological polymorphism of Chinese weedy rice

Rice, the main food crop in China, has been sporadically reported to suffer from weedy rice infestation. However, the overall occurrence and distribution pattern of Chinese weedy rice remains unclear because a systematic survey has not been conducted. In order to reveal the infestation of Chinese weedy rice, a field survey was conducted in 999 sampling sites all over the rice-growing regions in China from 2009 to 2016 using seven-scale visual scoring of the level of weed infestation. Weedy rice was found 39% occurrence incidence in a total of 387 sites. The sampling sites with 50% or higher overall weedy rice infestation index mainly radiated from Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Ningxia and Guangdong to the whole East China, Northeast China, Northwest China and South China. A total of 45 morphological characters from 287 populations (collected simultaneously with the field survey) out of those occurred sites were observed and analyzed using multivariate analysis in common gardens with the same cultivation conditions in 2017 and 2019. Canonical correlation analysis showed that 45 morphological characters were significantly related to the latitude, mean temperature, minimum temperature, precipitation and mean diurnal range factors. The 287 weedy rice populations were divided into three morphological groups with climate-dependent geographical differentiation: strong tiller type only in Jiangsu, large leaf type in South China and Central China and large grain type mainly in North China. Weedy rice seriously infested rice fields and had a geography, climate and cultivated rice type-dependent morphological and biotype differentiation in China. It is suggested to pay attention to the harmfulness of weedy rice and adopt comprehensive control strategies.

Spatiotemporal variations of seasonal temperature at different percentiles in the three provinces of northeast China from 1961 to 2019

AbstractThe three provinces of northeast China (NEPs) were one of the major grain producing areas in China and has undergone significant climate warming during past decades. However, nowadays researches on climate warming mostly focused on variations of mean temperature or temperature extremes, which missed much information in the other parts of temperature. Therefore, taken NEPs as study area, variations of maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin) and diurnal temperature range (DTR) at every 10% percentile from 1961 to 2019 in NEPs were analysed at seasonal scale. The abrupt changes and decadal shifts of Tmax, Tmin and DTR at different percentiles were further highlighted. Results show that (a) for either regional average or station cases, fluctuations of daily Tmax and daily Tmin both decreased in spring and winter, but increased in autumn. In summer, fluctuations of daily Tmin decreased while those of daily Tmax increased. (b) Spatially, Tmax heated up more in south of NEPs at lower percentiles, and in northwest of NEPs at higher percentiles in spring, summer and winter. Tmin and DTR overall showed consistent spatial differences that changes in north and northwest of NEPs were with greater magnitudes. (c) In spring and winter, the higher Tmax/Tmin had earlier abrupt changes than lower Tmax/Tmin, while in summer and autumn, the abrupt changes occurred earlier for lower Tmax/Tmin. (d) In winter, overwhelming positive shifts were significant before 2000, but turned negative after 2000. In summer, Tmax heated up quickly since 1990s and Tmin since 1980s. Shifts in spring and autumn varied during different periods and generally presented alternative warming at higher and lower percentiles. The research can help better depict the warming patterns and figure out the detailed warming procedures in NEPs, which is a strong supplement for current climate change research.

Long term monthly and inter-seasonal weather variability analysis for the lower Shivalik foothills of Punjab

This paper aims to study the long-term trends in different weather parameters, i.e., temperature, rainfall, rainy days, sunshine hours, evaporation, relative humidity and temperature over Lower Shivalik foothills of Punjab. The daily weather data of about 35 years from agrometeorological observatory of Regional Research Station Ballowal Saunkhri representing Lower Shivalik foothills had been used for trend analysis for kharif (May - October), rabi (November - April), winter (January - February), pre-monsoon (March - May), monsoon (June - September) and post monsoon (October - December) season. The linear regression method has been used to estimate the magnitude of change per year and its coefficient of determination, whose statistical significance was checked by the F test. The annual maximum temperature, morning and evening relative humidity has increased whereas rainfall, evaporation sunshine hours and wind speed has decreased significantly at this region. No significant change in annual minimum temperature and diurnal range has been observed. Monthly maximum temperature revealed significant increase except January, June and December, whereas, monthly minimum temperature increased significantly for February, March and October and decreased for June. Among different seasons, maximum temperature increased significantly for all seasons except winter season, whereas, minimum temperature increased significantly for kharif and post monsoon season only. The evaporation, sunshine hours and wind speed have also decreased and relative humidity decreased significantly at this region. Significant reduction in kharif, monsoon and post monsoon rainfall has been observed at Lower Shivalik foothills. As the region lacks assured irrigation facilities so decreasing rainfall and change in the other weather parameters will have profound effects on the agriculture in this region so there is need to develop climate resilient agricultural technologies.

Impact of Climate Change on the Hydrology of the Upper Awash River Basin, Ethiopia

This study investigated the impacts of climate change on the hydrology of the Upper Awash Basin, Ethiopia. A soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model was calibrated and validated against observed streamflow using SWAT CUP. The Mann–Kendall trend test (MK) was used to assess climate trends. Meteorological drought (SPEI) and hydrological drought (SDI) were also investigated. Based on the ensemble mean of five global climate models (GCMs), projected increases in mean annual maximum temperature over the period 2015–2100 (compared with a 1983–2014 baseline) range from 1.16 to 1.73 °C, while increases in minimum temperature range between 0.79 and 2.53 °C. Increases in mean annual precipitation range from 1.8% at Addis Ababa to 45.5% over the Hombole area. High streamflow (Q5) declines at all stations except Ginchi. Low flows (Q90) also decline with Q90 equaling 0 m3 s−1 (i.e., 100% reduction) at some gauging stations (Akaki and Hombole) for individual GCMs. The SPEI confirmed a significant drought trend in the past, while the frequency and severity of drought will increase in the future. The basin experienced conditions that varied from modest dry periods to a very severe hydrological drought between 1986 and 2005. The projected SDI ranges from modestly dry to modestly wet conditions. Climate change in the basin would enhance seasonal variations in hydrological conditions. Both precipitation and streamflow will decline in the wet seasons and increase in the dry seasons. These changes are likely to have an impact on agricultural activities and other human demands for water resources throughout the basin and will require the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures.

Influence of seedling age on growth, productivity and heat use efficiency of rice genotypes in North West India

An experiment was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India during kharif 2017 and 2018 to determine the effect of seedling age on growth, phenology and thermal energy utilization by different rice genotypes. The field experiment was laid–out in factorial RCBD design keeping three seedling age (25, 35, 45 days) and four rice genotypes (PR 121, PR 122,PR 124, PR 126) with three replicates. The prevalence of dry weather conditions especially during September month of 2017, which coincides with graingrowth phase was congenial for rice crop and was reflected in the yield and yield attributes. There was consistent decline in grain and straw yield of rice with increase in seedling age due to reduced leaf area index (LAI), dry matter partitioning to grain/culm and SPAD value. This may be due to prevalence of higher range of minimum temperature resulting into more respiratory losses and thereby leading to lower heat use efficiency. Among genotypes, PR 126 was found to be most heat use efficient owing to its shorter duration (93.9 days), where as PR 121 and PR 122 recorded the highest grain and straw yield due to higher accumulation of growing degree and more congenial temperature leading to more number of panicles m-2 along with the bold grains. It was also observed that increasing seedling age beyond 25 days caused sharp decline in grain and straw yield of PR 124 and PR 126 through effect on panicles m-2,SPAD value and AGDD; while PR 121 and PR 122 gave similar yield when transplanted using 25 to 45 days older seedlings. Harvest index did not differ due to various treatments.

Maximum, Minimum, and Daily Air Temperature Range in Orchards: What Do Observations Reveal?

This study was designed to better understand vegetation’s impact on air maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin), and daily temperature range (DTR), as well as seasonality and variability. We selected a flat, under synoptic-scale, northern Serbian region with an operational network of automated weather stations (AWS) for the study. Data were collected directly from the eighteen AWSs placed in the orchard canopy during 2013–2018. Meteorological data, plant phenological data in the form of the BBCH scale, and orchards’ soil characteristics data were collected. Environmental factors influencing the temperature were classified as static (slow or unchangeable) and dynamic (fast-changing). The impact of both factors on maximum, minimum, and daily temperature range and its variability were analyzed. Results show that static factors (like soil texture) affect the annual variation of Tmax, Tmin, and DTR rather than its variability over the season. The dynamic factors, mainly coming from the plant’s phenology, substantially affected the seasonal variability of these variables. Studies like this suffer from missing data and sparse spatial coverage by the AWS network. Therefore, the alternatives of orchard micrometeorological data, nearest climatological station, and ERA5-Land reanalysis data are tested. Both data sets showcased limitations in their applicability, while reanalysis data deviated more from the in-situ measurements, both seasonally and regionally.

Contrasting ice formation in Arctic clouds: surface-coupled vs. surface-decoupled clouds

Abstract. In the Arctic summer of 2017 (1 June to 16 July) measurements with the OCEANET-Atmosphere facility were performed during the Polarstern cruise PS106. OCEANET comprises amongst other instruments the multiwavelength polarization lidar PollyXT_OCEANET and for PS106 was complemented with a vertically pointed 35 GHz cloud radar. In the scope of the presented study, the influence of cloud height and surface coupling on the probability of clouds to contain and form ice is investigated. Polarimetric lidar data were used for the detection of the cloud base and the identification of the thermodynamic phase. Both radar and lidar were used to detect cloud top. Radiosonde data were used to derive the thermodynamic structure of the atmosphere and the clouds. The analyzed data set shows a significant impact of the surface-coupling state on the probability of ice formation. Surface-coupled clouds were identified by a quasi-constant potential temperature profile from the surface up to liquid layer base. Within the same minimum cloud temperature range, ice-containing clouds have been observed more frequently than surface-decoupled clouds by a factor of up to 6 (temperature intervals between −7.5 and −5 ∘C, 164 vs. 27 analyzed intervals of 30 min). The frequency of occurrence of surface-coupled ice-containing clouds was found to be 2–3 times higher (e.g., 82 % vs. 35 % between −7.5 and −5 ∘C). These findings provide evidence that above −10 ∘C heterogeneous ice formation in Arctic mixed-phase clouds occurs by a factor of 2–6 more often when the cloud layer is coupled to the surface. In turn, for minimum cloud temperatures below −15 ∘C, the frequency of ice-containing clouds for coupled and decoupled conditions approached the respective curve for the central European site of Leipzig, Germany (51∘ N, 12∘ E). This corroborates the hypothesis that the free-tropospheric ice nucleating particle (INP) reservoir over the Arctic is controlled by continental aerosol. Two sensitivity studies, also using the cloud radar for detection of ice particles and applying a modified coupling state detection, both confirmed the findings, albeit with a lower magnitude. Possible explanations for the observations are discussed by considering recent in situ measurements of INP in the Arctic, of which much higher concentrations were found in the surface-coupled atmosphere in close vicinity to the ice shore.