Storm Development Research Articles

Precipitation, microphysical and environmental characteristics for shallow and deep clouds over Yangtze-Huaihe River Basin

The precipitation, microphysical, and environmental characteristics of shallow and deep precipitation clouds (SPCs and DPCs) are investigated over the Yangtze-Huaihe River during the summers from 2014 to 2021, using the observational data from dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) on board Global Precipitation Mission and the reanalysis data. DPCs (SPCs) are mainly associated with convective (stratiform) precipitation, contributing approximately 2% ∼ 15% (20% ∼ 40%) to the total precipitation events, while contributing only around 0.05–0.15% (below 0.05%) to the total rainfall. Compared to SPCs, the rain hydrometeors for DPCs are mainly composed of lower concentrations of larger-sized hydrometeors near the surface, showing larger mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm: 1.0 to 3.0 mm) and lower generalized intercept parameter (Nw: 20 to 40 dBNw) at 2 km in altitude. Below the melting layer, the Dm, reflectivity, and rain rate of DPCs decrease rapidly as the decreasing altitude, reflecting the breakup or the evaporation of liquid hydrometeors, while those of SPCs rapidly increase, indicating vigorous processes of collision and coalescence. DPCs tend to occur in environmental conditions with increased convective available potential energy (CAPE) and higher surface air temperatures, but drier low-level humidity, compared to SPCs. Furthermore, the DPCs tend to occur in the environment with more significant updraft (≥5 m s−1) in comparison with SPCs. Especially at 4 km and 10 km in altitude, the updraft fractions could reach 45% and 38%, respectively. These results may provide an observational reference for the microphysical parameterization in numeric models for the vertical development of storms.

Characteristics of Western Disturbance intensification and associated induced circulations over the Indian Region

Western Disturbances (WD) are significantly important weather systems causing precipitation in the Western Himalayan region during Indian Winter months. WDs have two major components-the eastward propagating upper-level trough originating in the mid-latitudes and the low-level Induced Circulation (IC) prevailing over the Northern Indo-Pak region. The present work aims to study the genesis and movement of these upper-level systems using composite analysis of 10 WD events during the Indian winter season that caused extreme precipitation over the western Himalayan region with emphasize on associative mechanisms leading to the IC. Further, we find that the Meridional Temperature Gradient (MTG) is responsible for the development of extra-tropical storms initiated by frontal genesis over the mid-latitude regions. The frontal genesis occurs due to the polar cold air outbreak (CAO) over higher latitudes, causing meandering of the jet stream and leading to the development of the upper-level perturbation that intensifies into a trough. Prior to the IC intensification, the upper-level moisture transport dominates, and during the intensification process, the combined effect of the upper-level trough and IC facilitates a drastic increase in moisture flux from the Arabian Sea at the lower levels. The moisture transport from the Arabian Sea is, therefore, a primary precursor to heavy precipitation in the Himalayan vicinity due to rapid vertical ascent and intense cloud formation because of orographic effects.

The molecular mimicry and COVID-19

A significant part of the complications of COVID-19 and manifestations of post-COVID syndrome is associated with autoimmune reactions caused by SARS-CoV-2. The key mechanism for enabling autoimmunity in COVID-19 results from molecular mimicry, which is involved in developing cytokine storm, systemic multiorgan hyperinflammation, endothelial dysfunction, also being a trigger for arising post-COVID-19 autoimmune diseases (autoimmune thrombocytopenia, autoimmune vasculitis, Guillain–Barrésyndrome, Miller–Fisher syndrome, autoimmune neuropathy, autoimmune thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.). Overall, there have been identified 59 common immune determinants in 80 epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and 53 anti-inflammatory proteins, receptors regulating cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis as well as immune response. It was found that among the 37 viral proteins, only 8 of them bear no immunogenic regions identical to human proteins. Cross-reactivity results in emergence of more than 15 distinct types of autoantibodies including antiphospholipid antibodies against cardiolipin and beta-2-glycoprotein I, antibodies specific to transmembrane adenosine receptor A2b, adiponectin, phosphatidylserine-prothrombin, antinuclear antigens, mitochondrial M2, type I interferons, and other cytokines, chemokines, complement components and cell membrane proteins. Autoantibodies formed during COVID-19 react to antigens of cells located in the thyroid gland, cardiac and skeletal muscles, lung, joints, liver, kidneys, brain and bone marrow, peripheral nervous system, skin and adipose tissue, gastrointestinal tract, testicles, eyes as well as mitochondrial antigens, mediating development of severe disease-related complications and post-COVID syndrome. The presence of 24 homologous pentapeptides with those found inB. pertussis, C. diphtheriae,C. tetani,H. influenzaeandN. meningitidisposes a risk of developing ineffective vaccination immune response paralleled with higher risk of autoimmune complications. It is imperative to take into account the phenomenon of molecular mimicry while proposing new approaches for rehabilitation and treatment of COVID-19 as well as in development and testing of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.

Early Detection and Analysis of an Unpredicted Convective Storm over the Negev Desert

On 15 September 2015, a convective storm yielded heavy rainfalls that caused the strongest flash flood in the last 50 years in the South Negev Desert (Israel). None of the operational forecast models predicted the event, and thus, no warning was provided. We analyzed this event using satellite, radar, and numerical weather prediction model data. We generated cloud-free climatological values on a pixel basis using Temporal Fourier Analysis on a time series of MSG geostationary satellite data. The discrepancy between the measured and climatological values was used to detect “cloud-contaminated” pixels. This simple, robust, fast, and accurate method is valuable for the early detection of convection. The first clouds were detected 30 min before they were detected by the official MSG cloud mask, 4.5 h before the radar, and 10 h before the flood reached the main road. We used the “severe storms” RGB composite and the satellite-retrieved vertical profiles of cloud top temperature–particle’s effective radius relations as indicators for the development of a severe convective storm. We also reran the model with different convective schemes, with much-improved results. Both the satellite and model-based analysis provided early warning for a very high probability of flooding a few hours before the actual flooding occurred.

Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances During Geomagnetic Storms of 17 March and 23 June 2015 in the Australian Region

AbstractLarge scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (LSTIDs) can be detected using the critical frequency of F2 layer (foF2) of the ionosphere. The HF interferometry (HF‐int) technique is applied to the ionosonde data from low and mid latitude stations over Australia. For the first time, we present a comparison of TIDs detected during the geomagnetic storms of 17 March and 23 June 2015. The TID response for these two comparable superstorms is significantly different owing to the differing storm evolution patterns. The storm associated TIDs are more intense and longer compared to the solar terminator. Results demonstrate that the morphology of parameters continually varies over time due to highly dynamic ionospheric response to geomagnetic storms. For the March storms, TIDs velocities were 400–700 m/s at the onset phase, ∼500 m/s during the main phase and ∼600 m/s during the recovery phase. Their propagation directions were equatorward with east/west deviations. Lower period (∼60 min) TIDs were determined during storm onset whereas higher periods (∼140 min) were detected during the recovery phase. The June storm produced a different response. The TID velocity at the onset phase was ∼500 m/s but during the main and recovery phases the velocities were greater than 1,000 m/s. There were large deviations in velocity vectors at the different stations suggesting multiple sources of TID generation and possible resonating effects at middle and low latitude stations. Our findings indicate that while TID detection and storm phases co‐occur, the propagation characteristics of TIDs change dramatically throughout the storm.

The variable source of the plasma sheet during a geomagnetic storm

Both solar wind and ionospheric sources contribute to the magnetotail plasma sheet, but how their contribution changes during a geomagnetic storm is an open question. The source is critical because the plasma sheet properties control the enhancement and decay rate of the ring current, the main cause of the geomagnetic field perturbations that define a geomagnetic storm. Here we use the solar wind composition to track the source and show that the plasma sheet source changes from predominantly solar wind to predominantly ionospheric as a storm develops. Additionally, we find that the ionospheric plasma during the storm main phase is initially dominated by singly ionized hydrogen (H+), likely from the polar wind, a low energy outflow from the polar cap, and then transitions to the accelerated outflow from the dayside and nightside auroral regions, identified by singly ionized oxygen (O+). These results reveal how the access to the magnetotail of the different sources can change quickly, impacting the storm development.

Simulated Atmospheric Response to Large‐Scale Dust Forcing and Implications for Martian Dust Storm Growth

AbstractThe response of tidal, “weather,” and intra‐seasonal transient eddies in a global numerical model to dust imposed in different latitudinal bands and seasons has been examined in order to investigate the impact of regional scale dust storm episodes on large‐scale circulation and hence on further dust storm development. The eddy kinetic energy and surface friction speed for each eddy group were derived using wavelet analysis from multi‐year simulations and statistical comparisons were made among the experiments. Results show that different eddy categories respond differently to dust storm forcing, and that the responses are dependent upon both modeled storm location and season. These responses can be cast in terms of potential positive and negative feedbacks on large‐scale dust storm development and have implications for the cascade of dust storms through different scales and circulation components. The model results suggest positive feedback between northern high latitude dust forcing and weather transients in the same latitudes in Quartober (Ls = 185°–245°), which weakens or disappears in Sixtober (Ls = 295°–360°). The results also suggest positive feedback between dust heating in the tropics/subtropics and tidal eddies, which may enhance the southward transport of “flushing” storms. However, southern high latitude dust forcing suppresses northern weather transients in both pseudo‐season sextons, suggesting negative feedback which may terminate northern frontal/flushing dust storm sequences and hence weaken further development of a dust storm episode through this mechanism.

Potential impact of all‐sky assimilation of visible and infrared satellite observations compared with radar reflectivity for convective‐scale numerical weather prediction

AbstractAlthough cloud‐affected satellite observations are heavily used for nowcasting applications, their use in regional data assimilation is very limited despite possible benefits for convective‐scale forecasts. In this article, we estimate the potential impact of assimilating cloud‐affected satellite observations of visible (0.6 m) and near thermal infrared wavelengths (6.2 and 7.3 m) relative to the impact of assimilating radar reflectivity observations. We employed observing‐system simulation experiments with a perfect‐model forecast for two cases of strong convective summertime precipitation. Observations are simulated using the radiative transfer model RTTOV/MFASIS and assimilated by the ensemble adjustment Kalman filter in the Data Assimilation Research Testbed. The Weather Research and Forecasting model at 2‐km grid resolution was used for forecasts. Results show that satellite observations can be nearly as beneficial as three‐dimensional radar reflectivity observations. Under favorable conditions, where the prior contains no error in the stage of storm development but only in horizontal position and strength, the assimilation of visible observations leads to 88% of the radar impact. Under more difficult conditions, the impact of visible and infrared observations still reached 50 and 79%, respectively.

Large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances over central and eastern Europe during moderate magnetic storm period on 22–24 September 2020

We present the results of ground based remote sensing observations of large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (LSTIDs) occurring during the moderate magnetic storm evolution (22–24 September 2020) over central and eastern Europe. Three ionosondes located in Juliusruh, Pru˚honice and near Kharkiv, and the Kharkiv incoherent scatter radar were employed to study temporal and spatial LSTID signatures in ionospheric F2 peak density and height and electron density variations at the heights of 100–300 km. Two types of LSTIDs are detected, which are originated during enhancement in auroral activity (2 events) and local sunrise terminator passage (3 events) from the ionosonde data. The magnetic storm-related LSTIDs exhibit equatorward propagation with the horizontal phase velocities of 546 m/s and 576 m/s, similar dominant periods of 135–150 min and 165–180 min over all three sites and a longitudinal dependence in fractional (relative) amplitudes of electron density perturbation. The solar terminator induced LSTIDs demonstrate the variety in both relative amplitudes and dominant periods over different locations. They have a westward apparent horizontal phase velocities of 288–345 m/s, which are close to the solar terminator velocity at ionospheric heights. Employment of incoherent scatter data enabled the detection of additional LSTIDs over Ukraine with the periods in a broader range of 41–168 min, an establishment of phase and onset differences for the oscillations in the ionospheric F2 peak electron density and height.

Probing Dust and Water in Martian Atmosphere with Far-Infrared Frequency Spacecraft Occultation

Airborne dust plays an active role in determining the thermal structure and chemical composition of the present-day atmosphere of Mars and possibly the planet’s climate evolution over time through radiative–convective and cloud microphysics processes. Thus, accurate measurements of the distribution and variability of dust are required. Observations from the Mars Global Surveyor/Thermal Emission Spectrometer Mars Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter/Mars Climate Sounder and Mars Express/Fourier Transform Spectrometer and the Curiosity Rover have limited capability to measure dust. We show that spacecraft occultation of the Martian atmosphere at far-infrared frequencies between 1 and 10 THz can provide the needed global and temporal data on atmospheric dust by providing co-located measurements of temperature and dust opacity from the top of the atmosphere all the way down to the surface. In addition, spacecraft occultation by a small-satellite constellation could provide global measurements of the development of dust storms.

The Influence of KE and EW Dipeptides in the Composition of the Thymalin Drug on Gene Expression and Protein Synthesis Involved in the Pathogenesis of COVID-19.

Thymalin is an immunomodulatory drug containing a polypeptide extract of thymus that has demonstrated efficacy in the therapy of acute respiratory distress syndrome and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as in complex therapy related to severe COVID-19 in middle-aged and elderly patients.. KE and EW dipeptides are active substances of Thymalin. There is evidence that KE stimulates cellular immunity and nonspecific resistance in organisms, exerting an activating effect on macrophages, blood lymphocytes, thymocytes, and neutrophils, while EW reduces angiotensin-induced vasoconstriction and preserves endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation by inhibiting ACE2, the target protein of SARS-CoV-2. However, the mechanism of the immunomodulatory action of Thymalin, KE, and EW during COVID-19 remains unclear. To identify the potential mechanism of action underlying the immunomodulatory activity of Thymalin and its active components, EW and KE dipeptides, we assessed inflammatory response in the context of COVID-19. Interactions between EW and KE dipeptides and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) were investigated by molecular modeling and docking using ICM-Pro. Analysis of the possible effect of EW and KE dipeptides on gene expression and protein synthesis involved in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 was conducted through the use of bioinformatics methods, including a search for promoter sequences in the Eukaryotic Promoter Database, the determination of genes associated with the development of COVID-19 using the PathCards database of human biological pathways (pathway unification database), identification of the relationship between proteins through cluster analysis in the STRING database ('Search Tool for Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins'), and assessment of the functional enrichment of protein-protein interaction (PPI) using the terms of gene ontology (GO) and the Markov cluster algorithm (MCL). After that, in vitro studying of a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced model of inflammation using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells was performed. ELISA was applied to assess the level of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα) in the supernatant of cells with or without the impact of EW and KE peptides. Blood samples were obtained from four donors; for each cytokine, ELISA was performed 2-4 times, with two parallel experimental or control samples for each experiment (experiments to assess the effects of peptides on LPS-stimulated cells were repeated four times, while additional experiments with unstimulated cells were performed two times). Using molecular docking, GGAG was found to be the best dsDNA sequence in the classical B-form for binding the EW dipeptide, while GCGC is the preferred dsDNA sequence in the curved nucleosomal form for the KE dipeptide. Cluster analysis revealed that potential target genes for the EW and KE peptides encode the AKT1 and AKT2 proteins involved in the development of the cytokine storm. The specific targets for the EW peptide are the ACE2 and CYSLTR1 genes, and specific target for the KE peptide is the CHUK gene. Protein products of the ACE2, CYSLTR1, and CHUK genes are functionally associated with IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-4, and IL-10 cytokines. An in vitro model of an inflammatory reaction demonstrated that Thymalin and EW and KE dipeptides reduced the synthesis of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α cytokines in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells by 1.4-6.0 times. The immunomodulatory effect of Thymalin under the inflammatory response conditions in COVID-19 is based on the potential ability of its active components, EW and KE dipeptides, to regulate protein synthesis involved in the development of the cytokine storm.

Ionospheric Weather at Two Starlink Launches during Two-Phase Geomagnetic Storms.

The launch of a series of Starlink internet satellites on 3 February 2022 (S-36), and 7 July 2022 (S-49), coincided with the development of two-phase geomagnetic storms. The first launch S-36 took place in the middle of the moderate two-phase space weather storm, which induced significant technological consequences. After liftoff on 3 February at 18:13 UT, all Starlink satellites reached an initial altitude of 350 km in perigee and had to reach an altitude of ~550 km after the maneuver. However, 38 of 49 launched spacecrafts did not reach the planned altitude, left orbit due to increased drag and reentered the atmosphere on 8 February. A geomagnetic storm on 3-4 February 2022 has increased the density of the neutral atmosphere up to 50%, increasing drag of the satellites and dooming most of them. The second launch of S-49 at 13:11 UT on 7 July 2022 was successful at the peak of the two-phase geomagnetic storm. The global ionospheric maps of the total electron content (GIM-TEC) have been used to produce the ionospheric weather GIM-W index maps and Global Electron Content (GEC). We observed a GEC increment from 10 to 24% for the storm peak after the Starlink launch at both storms, accompanying the neutral density increase identified earlier. GIM-TEC maps are available with a lag (delay) of 1-2 days (real-time GIMs have a lag less than 15 min), so the GIMs forecast is required by the time of the launch. Comparisons of different GIMs forecast techniques are provided including the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE), Beijing (BADG and CASG) and IZMIRAN (JPRG) 1- and 2-day forecasts, and the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC-ionSAT) forecast for 6, 12, 18, 24 and 48 h in advance. We present the results of the analysis of evolution of the ionospheric parameters during both events. The poor correspondence between observed and predicted GIM-TEC and GEC confirms an urgent need for the industry-science awareness of now-casting/forecasting/accessibility of GIM-TECs during the space weather events.

СТРУКТУРА ПОЛОСЫ ОБНОВЛЕНИЯ В МОЩНЫХ КОНВЕКТИВНЫХ ШТОРМАХ

Based on several examples of radar observations in the North Caucasus and the Republic of Moldova, the renewal of deep convective cloud systems (storms) due to feeder clouds are investigated. It is shown that the direction of the renewal band coincides with the storm evolution vector. The structure of the renewal band for multicell and supercell storms differs, because the supercells contain the mesocyclones that generate convergent flows around the center of rotation. A new phenomenon was found: two multicell storms merged at a node of a mesoscale convective structure and then split up and continued to develop along divergent trajectories. The study results are applicable in hail protection, precipitation redistribution operations, and storm warning of the population.

Occurrence of heavy precipitation influenced by solar wind high-speed streams through vertical atmospheric coupling

A tendency of heavy rainfall-induced floods in Canada to follow arrivals of solar wind high-speed streams (HSSs) from coronal holes is observed. Precipitation events during the winter, including extreme freezing rain events in the province of New Brunswick, also tend to occur following HSSs. More direct evidence is provided using the satellite-based gridded precipitation dataset Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) in the superposed epoch analysis of high-rate precipitation. The results show an increase in the high-rate daily precipitation occurrence over Canada following arrivals of major HSSs. This is consistent with previously published results for other mid-latitude geographic regions. The ERA5 meteorological reanalysis is used to evaluate the slantwise convective available potential energy (SCAPE) that is of importance in the development of storms. The role of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere coupling, mediated by globally propagating aurorally excited atmospheric gravity waves releasing the conditional symmetric instability in the troposphere leading to convection and precipitation, is proposed.

The Effectiveness of Using Herbal Packages (VCO, Honey, Black Seed) as Alternative Treatment for Covid-19 in the Community

<div><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="left"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p><em>Covid-19 is an infectious disease that can cause death. Herbal medicines have anti-inflammatory properties associated with cytokine storm development. This means it prevents increases in inflammatory mediators, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), interleukin (IL)-6, and C-reactive protein (CRP). This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of using herbal packages (VCO, honey, Black Seed) as an alternative treatment for Covid-19 in the community. This research is a Quasi-experimental quantitative study with a control group design (control group design) Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design design. This research was conducted in Boyolali Regency. This research was conducted from October 2022 - January 2023. The population in this study were individuals with a history of Covid-19 disease in Boyolali Regency, 82 in December 2022. The research sampling technique was simple random sampling. The research sample consisted of 46 people consisting of the intervention group of 23 respondents and the control group of 23 respondents. The research instruments were questionnaires, observation forms, and other forms, and measurements were made using a sphygmomanometer, oxymeter, and thermometer. Analysis of bivariate analysis research data using the Paired Sample t-test, Independent Sample t-test, and the help of the SPSS software computer application. The analysis results obtained the p-value for saturation measurement in the treatment group, namely p = 0.024 <0.05, and for temperature measurements, p = 0.014 <0.05, so it can be concluded that herbal packages are effective as an alternative treatment for the Covid-19 virus in the community. It is known that most respondents in the treatment group felt better after consuming the herbal package. Herbal packages have proven effective in dealing with the sequelae caused by Covid-19 and are effective as a companion to the treatment of Covid-19 patients.<strong></strong></em></p><p><strong><em> </em></strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong><em> <strong> Black Seed, Covid-19, Effectiveness, Honey, Virgin Coconut Oil</strong></em>

Can the Assimilation of the Ascending and Descending Sections’ Data from Round-Trip Drifting Soundings Improve the Forecasting of Rainstorms in Eastern China?

To further examine the effectiveness of the ascending and descending sections of the new round-trip drifting sounding system in forecasting high-impact weather such as heavy rainfall, in this study, three assimilation experiments were designed for a rainstorm in eastern China using WRF (Weather Research and Forecast) and WRFDA-3DVAR. Then, the reasons for the improvement in the effects of forecasting rainfall after assimilation were analyzed from various perspectives. The results showed that the assimilation of round-trip drifting sounding data can increase the accuracy of regions of heavy precipitation and improve the effectiveness of rainstorm forecasting. The quality of the wind field improved after the assimilation of the round-trip drifting sounding data, which improved the conditions of moisture transport, resulting in increased humidity in the lower layer, which accumulated more unstable energy for the development of storms. In addition, the enhanced low-level convergence after the assimilation of the new sounding data created a strong upward motion, which was more conducive to triggering heavy rainfall, thus improving the ability to forecast such heavy rainfall.

A study of Solar Flares and Geomagnetic Storms Impact on Total Electron Content Over High-Latitude Region During July- November 2021: The Case of Tromso Station

This study investigates the impact of geomagnetic storms and solar flares on total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere of high-latitude auroral station at Tromso(Geog. Lat. 69.66° N, Geog.Long. 18.94 ° E, and Geomag.Lat. 66°). The rate of increase or decrease in TEC value indicator (ROTIave) are used as the ionospheric irregularities proxy to prob occurrence of TEC alteration during months of July, August, September, October and November 2021. The deviation of TEC (in percentage) denoted by ΔTEC(%) was utilized to examine the impact of geomagnetic storms and solar flares on the ionospheric storms over aurora region. The study finds that a remarkable boost of TEC values up to the order of about 7–10 TECU was noticed over Tromso station during moderate geomagnetic storms of 28 August 2021, 12 and 17 October 2021 and a strong geomagnetic storm of 4 November 2021. The investigation also finds suppression of ionospheric irregularities during peak of X-type solar flare of 28 October 2021. The suppression is probably attributed to effect of accelerated energetic particles associated to solar flare eruption and coronal mass ejection (CME). On the other hand, moderate occurrence of irregularity was observed during main and recovery storm phase of 4 November 2021 at 18:00–24:00 UT and 1:00 UT-3:00 UT. This article presents the consequence of geomagnetic storms and solar flare on characteristics evolution of phase fluctuations and ionospheric storm during July, August, September, October and November.

METHODOLOGICAL FEATURES OF CALCULATING ERRORS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF ELECTROSTATIC FIELD STRENGTH

Measuring the intensity of the electric field of the atmosphere today has become a widespread task of modern meteorology. After all, the distribution of the intensity of the local electric field near the surface of the earth is closely related to the global distribution of thunderstorms and electrified clouds.
 The force characteristic of an electric field is its intensity. The change in the atmospheric electric field occurs relatively slowly, so electrostatic field mill (EFM) are most widely used to measure the electric field strength.
 Electrostatic field mills have been used to monitor the electric field in good weather, measure the vertical electric field inside clouds, and observe the movement and evolution of storms. Various designs of EFM have been developed and documented for more than a century, but since the subject is not popularized, their construction methods and calculation features are not documented. Therefore, there was a need to generalize the structure of the device and calculate its metrological characteristics.
 The work is aimed at increasing the accuracy of measurement and improving the hardware of electrostatic field mills. The task of increasing the accuracy of measuring the electrostatic field on a straight line depends on reducing the errors that occur in the device. The causes of these errors can be attributed to the imperfection of the measurement method or the inconsistency of the measurement object to its model, as well as the properties of the measurement tools. In previous studies, the authors used a mathematical model of the EF sensor, which does not correspond to the real shape of the signal, which created the need for its improvement.
 In this work, the authors proposed and substantiated a universal mathematical model of the EFM sensor. The paper also provides an analysis of the components of the proposed mathematical model, which will allow choosing the optimal structural parameters of the EFM sensor, which will increase its sensitivity. In addition, the paper proposed its own functional scheme of the EFM and developed a methodology for calculating its instrumental error, which allows to single out critical parameters during the selection of components for the construction of the device.
 The aspects considered in this article substantiate the relevance of increasing the accuracy of measuring the electrostatic field strength. The work carried out is the beginning of research aimed at improving the hardware of electrostatic field mills.

Anticipated Capabilities of the ODYSEA Wind and Current Mission Concept to Estimate Wind Work at the Air–Sea Interface

The kinetic energy transfer between the atmosphere and oceans, called wind work, affects ocean dynamics, including near-inertial oscillations and internal gravity waves, mesoscale eddies, and large-scale zonal jets. For the most part, the recent numerical estimates of global wind work amplitude are almost five times larger than those reported 10 years ago. This large increase is explained by the impact of the broad range of spatial and temporal scales covered by winds and currents, the smallest of which has only recently been uncovered by increasingly high-resolution modeling efforts. However, existing satellite observations do not fully sample this broad range of scales. The present study assesses the capabilities of ODYSEA, a conceptual satellite mission to estimate the amplitude of wind work in the global ocean. To this end, we use an ODYSEA measurement simulator fed by the outputs of a km scale coupled ocean–atmosphere model to estimate wind work globally. The results indicate that compared with numerical truth estimates, the ODYSEA instrument performs well globally, except for latitudes north of 40∘N during summer due to unresolved storm evolution. This performance is explained by the wide-swath properties of ODYSEA (a 1700 km wide swath with 5 km posting for winds and surface currents), its twice-a-day (daily) coverage at mid-latitudes (low latitudes), and the insensitivity of the wind work to uncorrelated errors in the estimated wind and current.

Dynamic evolution of spring sand and dust storms and cross-border response in Mongolian plateau from 2000 to 2021

ABSTRACT According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15.3), frequent sand and dust storms (SDSs) in the spring are a long-term challenge to the prevention and control of land degradation on the Mongolian plateau. In this study, MODIS remote sensing data are used to monitor and analyse SDS events on the Mongolian Plateau. The annual distribution of spring SDSs (March to May) from 2000 to 2021 are obtained based on the dust storm detection index. The overall classification accuracy is 85.24% and the kappa coefficient is 0.7636. Results show a decrease in the overall frequency of SDS events, where storm events in 2000–2010 are significantly higher than those in the second decade. The cross-border regions between China and Mongolia appear to be SDS intensity centers, particularly those in southern Mongolia. Precipitation exhibits a strong negative correlation with the area affected by SDS, and the correlation coefficient is – 0.72. The increase in barren and sand contributes primarily to the increase in SDS, whereas wind prevention and sand control projects undertaken by the Mongolian and Chinese governments promote regional restoration. Policies pertaining to cross-board sandstorm responses on the Mongolian Plateau are recommended.