Surface Air Temperature Fluctuations Research Articles

The potential of near-entrance stalagmites as high-resolution terrestrial paleoclimate proxies: Application of isotope and trace-element geochemistry to seasonally-resolved chronology

Sub-annually resolved environmental proxies can be valuable archives of climate change, but they are rare in terrestrial settings, and it can be difficult to verify their annual nature. We suggest that speleothems that grow in well-ventilated zones of caves may preserve such high-resolution records. Near-entrance cave environments are characterized by year-round, near-atmospheric CO2 concentrations and are significantly influenced by surface air temperature fluctuations, particularly in temperate latitudes. Previous monitoring studies of a well-ventilated, temperate-latitude cave (Westcave Preserve, central Texas) have documented seasonal variations in the oxygen isotope composition of calcite grown on glass substrates (with winter δ18O maxima and summer δ18O minima) as well as seasonal variations in drip water trace element compositions. Extending this work to a stalagmite (WC-3) from the same drip site, we find that stalagmite δ18O variations are similar in magnitude to the seasonal δ18O variations previously observed for calcite grown on glass substrates, that stalagmite [Mg] variations have a similar seasonal period with winter minima and summer maxima, and that geochemical variations follow stalagmite growth fabric as mm-scale couplets comprising thin, slow-growing, compact sparry calcite laminae (winters) and thicker, fast-growing, porous-elongate columnar calcite laminae (summers). We interpret a high-resolution (weekly to monthly) 52-year record of δ18O, Mg, Sr, and Ba in WC-3, and report new monthly measurements of drip water and associated calcite grown on glass substrates. We find drip water δ18O and [Mg]/[Ca] are essentially invariant and that seasonal variations in WC-3 calcite δ18O and Mg concentration agree well with predicted temperature-dependent fractionation between water and calcite. WC-3 calcite Sr and Ba also vary, but with higher and more variable frequencies compared to δ18O and [Mg]. The annual nature of δ18O and [Mg] cycles is supported by monitoring and 14C bomb-peak chronology. We suggest that stalagmite δ18O and [Mg] vary primarily in response to large seasonal temperature changes in this setting, allowing for unambiguous differentiation between summer and winter calcite growth. From such δ18O- and [Mg]- derived sub-annual chronologies, the timing of enrichments in other geochemical species that are less directly coupled to external cave temperature (e.g., calcite Sr and Ba) can be considered as proxies of other important processes such as water-rock interaction in the epikarst, precipitation events, or subsurface respiration rates. The potential for this kind of multi-proxy, seasonally-resolved dating may add near-entrance stalagmites to the list (ice cores, lake varves, tree rings) of high-resolution terrestrial proxies available for paleoclimate studies.

Spatio-temporal structure of surface air temperature fluctuations in the Southern Urals

Spatio-temporal structure of surface air temperature fluctuations in the Southern Urals

Surface Air Temperature Fluctuations and Lapse Rates on Olivares Gamma Glacier, Rio Olivares Basin, Central Chile, from a Novel Meteorological Sensor Network

Empirically based studies of glacier meteorology, especially for the Southern Hemisphere, are relatively sparse in the literature. Here, we use an innovative network of highly portable, low-cost thermometers to report on high-frequency (1-min time resolution) surface air temperature fluctuations and lapse rates (LR) in a ~800-m elevational range (from 3,675 to 4,492 m a.s.l.) across the glacier Olivares Gamma in the central Andes, Chile. Temperatures were measured during an intense field campaign in late Southern summer, 19–27 March 2015, under varying weather conditions. We found a complex dependence of high-frequency LR on time of day, topography, and wider meteorological conditions, with hourly temperature variations during this week that were probably mainly associated with short- and long-wave radiation changes and not with wind speed/direction changes. Using various pairs of sites within our station network, we also analyze spatial variations in LR. Uniquely in this study, we compare temperatures measured at heights of 1-m and 2-m above the glacier surface for the network of five sites and found that temperatures at these two heights occasionally differed by more than ±4°C during the early afternoons, although the mean temperature difference is much smaller (~0.3°C). An implication of our results is that daily, hourly, or even monthly averaged LR may be insufficient for feeding into accurate melt models of glacier change, with the adoption of subhourly (ideally 1–10-min) resolution LR likely to prove fruitful in developing new innovative high-time-resolution melt modelling. Our results are potentially useful as input LR for local glacier melt models and for improving the understanding of lapse rate fluctuations and glacier response to climate change.

Geothermal energy in loess

Ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems efficiently heat and cool buildings by using sustainable geothermal energy accessed by way of ground heat exchangers (GHEs). Loess covers vast parts of the world, about 10% of the landmass; therefore, the use of piles or ‘micropiles’ is extensive in these areas, particularly where the thickness of loessic soils is significant. These deep foundations have the potential to be used as ‘energy piles’ in GSHP systems, with a minimal additional cost. This paper presents a case study of a representative real building in Córdoba, Argentina, where foundations are also used as GHEs. The thermal properties of local soils were experimentally measured and used in recently developed detailed state-of-the-art finite-element models. Results from the realistic simulations show that the partial substitution of electrical heating and cooling systems with geothermal systems could significantly reduce energy consumption and the size of associated infrastructure, despite the relatively low thermal conductivity of local loess. Moreover, the effects of surface air temperature fluctuations, which are routinely ignored in GHE design, are accounted for in these simulations. This case study shows the potential of GSHP technology in loessic environments and gives incentives to engineers to start considering the technology in their designs and practices.

The importance of surface air temperature fluctuations on long-term performance of vertical ground heat exchangers

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems efficiently heat and cool buildings using geothermal energy accessed via ground heat exchangers (GHEs). The thermal performance of GHEs is usually studied with equivalent groups of linear heat sinks/sources or with more advanced numerical models. In most cases, in regions with common geothermal gradients, the ground temperature is assumed to be constant with depth, a simplification that is reasonable for typical borehole GHEs which are at least 50 m deep. However, the increasing use of piles (and other geo-structures) as GHEs, which are typically shallower than borehole GHEs requires a re-assessment of the thermal effects of the surface air temperature changes on GHEs. This work introduces and addresses such issues using the newly developed 3D detailed numerical model of GHEs and highlights its significant influence on thermal performance. Numerical results show that in the cases studied herein, accounting for the surface air temperature fluctuations may result in up to about 11% shorter GHEs than if these effects are ignored.

What are daily maximum and minimum temperatures in observed climatology?

Instrumental daily maximum and minimum temperatures are reported and archived from various surface thermometers along with different average algorithms in historical and current U.S. surface climate networks. An instrumental bias in daily maximum and minimum temperatures caused by surface temperature sensors due to the different sampling rates, average algorithms, and sensor's time constants was examined using a Gaussian-distributed function of surface air temperature fluctuations in simulation. In this study, the field observations were also included to examine the effects of average algorithms used in reporting daily maximum and minimum temperatures. Compared to the longest-recorded and standard liquid-in-glass maximum and minimum thermometers, some surface climate networks produced a systematic warming (cooling) bias in daily maximum (minimum) temperature observations, thus, resulting biases made the diurnal temperature range (DTR) more biased in extreme climate studies. Our study clarified the ambiguous concepts on daily maximum and minimum temperature observations defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in terms of sensor's time constants and average lengths and an accurate description of daily maximum and minimum temperatures is recommended to avoid the uncertainties occurred in the observed climatology. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society

Fine wire resistance thermometer amplifier for atmospheric measurements

An improved amplifier for atmospheric fine wire resistance thermometry is described. The amplifier uses a low excitation current (50μA). This is shown to ensure negligible self-heating of the low mass fine wire resistance sensor, compared with measured nocturnal surface air temperature fluctuations. The system provides sufficient amplification for a ±50°C span using a ±5V dynamic range analog-to-digital converter, with a noise level of less than 0.01°C. A Kelvin four-wire connection cancels the effect of long lead resistances: a 50m length of screened cable connecting the Reading design of fine wire thermometer to the amplifier produced no measurable temperature change at 12bit resolution.

Temperature fluctuations in the atmospheric surface layer over the thermally inhomogeneous underlying surface

The influence of both spatial and temporal temperature inhomogeneities of the underlying surface on the temperature field in an unstably stratified atmospheric surface layer is considered. The methods of correlation and spectral analyses are proposed to estimate statistical characteristics of surface-air temperature fluctuations caused by both turbulent mixing and inhomogeneities in the temperature of the underlying surface. Analysis of experimental data obtained from measurements in the atmospheric surface layer yields estimates for the contribution made by the time-dependent thermal properties of the underlying surface to the total variance of air-temperature fluctuations. It is shown that the additional air-temperature fluctuations generated by surface-temperature inhomogeneities and unrelated to shear flow may reach 70% and 30% of the total variance of measured fluctuations under variable cloudiness and clear skies, respectively. For the height z = 2 m within the wave-number range 2 × 10−3 rad m−1 < k < 0.1 rad m−1, the contribution made by a spatial surface-temperature inhomogeneity to the variance of air-temperature fluctuations does not exceed 10% of the total variance. Correlation and spectral analyses of experimental data make it possible to isolate the spectra of properly turbulent fluctuations from the measured fluctuations and thus to obtain more accurate values of the universal function of similarity theory for temperature in the range of small wave numbers beyond the inertial range.

Scaling of atmosphere and ocean temperature correlations in observations and climate models.

Power-law scaling of near surface air temperature fluctuations and its geographical distribution is analyzed in 100-yr observations and in a 1000-yr simulation of the present-day climate with a complex atmosphere-ocean model. In observations and simulation detrended fluctuation analysis leads to the scaling exponent alpha approximately 1 over the oceans, alpha approximately 0.5 over the inner continents, and alpha approximately 0.65 in transition regions [spectrum S(f) approximately f(-beta),beta=2alpha-1]. Scaling up to decades is demonstrated in observations and coupled atmosphere-ocean models with complex and mixed-layer oceans. Only with the complex ocean model the simulated power laws extend up to centuries.

Fluctuations of surface air temperature in the Eastern Mediterranean

Changes in surface air temperature during the last century are widely discussed among researchers in the field of climatic change. Using various techniques, we investigate trends and periodicity of surface air temperature series from eight meteorological stations in the Eastern Mediterranean. For the analysis, we use the Mann-Kendall rank test, low-pass filtering, autocorrelation spectral analysis and maximum entropy spectral analysis. The latter two tests are compared. The study is based on series over one hundred years in length for four stations, and over fifty years in length for the other four. Increasing and decreasing surface temperature trends were found. These trends, however, are only significant for Malta, Jerusalem, and Tripoli at the 99% confidence level (positive trend) and for Amman at the 95% confidence level (negative trend). We also found inter-decadal variations in surface air temperature, including a fairly regular quasi 20-year oscillation, although its amplitude varied between different cycles. A period of warming began around 1910 at all stations. During the 1970s, the annual mean temperature series exhibit warming, but this warming was not uniform, continuous or of the same order at all the stations. The results of the Autocorrelation Spectral Analysis and the Maximum Entropy Spectral Analysis are similar, pointing to the reliability of the results. The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) exists at all stations during both increasing and decreasing trends. Similarly, a broad maximum from 3–8 years (related to El Nino) is found at Malta, Athens, Jerusalem, Beirut, and Latakia. An inverse relationship between El Nino and the North Atlantic Oscillation with surface air temperature over the Eastern Mediterranean is found at a highly significant confidence level.

Surface Air Temperature Simulations by AMIP General Circulation Models: Volcanic and ENSO Signals and Systematic Errors

Thirty surface air temperature simulations for 1979–88 by 29 atmospheric general circulation models are analyzed and compared with the observations over land. These models were run as part of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP). Several simulations showed serious systematic errors, up to 4°–5°C, in globally averaged land air temperature. The 16 best simulations gave rather realistic reproductions of the mean climate and seasonal cycle of global land air temperature, with an average error of −0.9°C for the 10-yr period. The general coldness of the model simulations is consistent with previous intercomparison studies. The regional systematic errors showed very large cold biases in areas with topography and permanent ice, which implies a common deficiency in the representation of snow-ice albedo in the diverse models. The SST and sea ice specification of climatology rather than observations at high latitudes for the first three years (1979–81) caused a noticeable drift in the neighboring land air temperature simulations, compared to the rest of the years (1982–88). Unsuccessful simulation of the extreme warm (1981) and cold (1984–85) periods implies that some variations are chaotic or unpredictable, produced by internal atmospheric dynamics and not forced by global SST patterns. Among the 16 best simulations, 8 reproduced the dominant El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) mode in the 10-yr period, which includes the 1982–83 and 1986–87 warm episodes and the 1988 cold episode. On the average, the ENSO mode explains about 30% of the total variance in surface air temperature fluctuation and has a 2-month lag from the Southern Oscillation index. In this mode, North America displays a Pacific–North American–like anomaly pattern, but Eurasia gave little response to warm SSTs in the eastern equatorial Pacific, in good agreement with results based on historical data. The special design of the AMIP experiment provides a unique opportunity to estimate the effects of the El Chichón volcanic eruption in spring 1982, which was not included in the model forcing. Comparison of the simulations with data delineated a visible global cooling in the first months following the El Chichón eruption, in addition to the cooling from the volcanic eruption of Nyamuragira in December 1981, due to the reduction of incoming solar radiation by volcanic aerosols. However, the mean climate shift in the AMIP experiment due to the forcing data discontinuity at the end of 1981 made the quantitative estimate of El Chichón global cooling influence impossible. The contrast between the simulated ENSO signal and observations shows that the major warming over the northern continents during the 1982/83 winter (DJF) is not an ENSO-like signal. Instead it is most likely a pattern resulting from the enhanced polar vortex produced by a larger pole-to-equator temperature gradient. This gradient was due to the larger absorption of radiation in low latitudes by the El Chichón volcanic sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere. These results suggest that during the Northern Hemisphere wintertime, the stratospheric polar vortex has substantial influence on surface air temperature fluctuations through its effects on vertically propagating planetary waves of the troposphere, and imply that current GCMs are deficient in simulation of stratospheric processes and their coupling with the troposphere.

The Arctic oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fields

The leading empirical orthogonal function of the wintertime sea‐level pressure field is more strongly coupled to surface air temperature fluctuations over the Eurasian continent than the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). It resembles the NAO in many respects; but its primary center of action covers more of the Arctic, giving it a more zonally symmetric appearance. Coupled to strong fluctuations at the 50‐hPa level on the intraseasonal, interannual, and interdecadal time scales, this “Arctic Oscillation” (AO) can be interpreted as the surface signature of modulations in the strength of the polar vortex aloft. It is proposed that the zonally asymmetric surface air temperature and mid‐tropospheric circulation anomalies observed in association with the AO may be secondary baroclinic features induced by the land‐sea contrasts. The same modal structure is mirrored in the pronounced trends in winter and springtime surface air temperature, sea‐level pressure, and 50‐hPa height over the past 30 years: parts of Eurasia have warmed by as much as several K, sea‐level pressure over parts of the Arctic has fallen by 4 hPa, and the core of the lower stratospheric polar vortex has cooled by several K. These trends can be interpreted as the development of a systematic bias in one of the atmosphere's dominant, naturally occurring modes of variability.

Interannual fluctuations of surface air temperature over north america and its relationship to the north pacific SST anomaly

The characteristics of interannual fluctuations of the surface air temperature over North America are investigated by using the surface air temperature data of 130 stations during 1941 through 1980. It is found that the surface air temperature bears about ten—year time scale oscillation over the southeastern and northwestern North America and along the west coast of the United States, and it has the characteristics of quasibiennial oscillation over the eastern North America. The ten-year scale oscillation of the surface air temperature is related to that of the sea surface temperature (SST) of North Pacific through the PNA pattern atmospheric circulation anomaly over North Pacific through North America. It is shown that the North Pacific SST has a closer association with the surface air temperature over North America than the central and eastern equatorial Pacific SST. The characteristics of the seasonal variations of the relationship between the North Pacific SST and the surface air temperature over North America are also analyzed.

One hundred years of Arctic ice cover variations as simulated by a one‐dimensional, ice‐ocean model

A one‐dimensional ice‐ocean model consisting of a second moment, turbulent closure, mixed layer model and a three‐layer snow‐ice model has been applied to the simulation of Arctic ice mass and mixed layer properties. The results for the climatological seasonal cycle are discussed first and include the salt and heat balance in the upper ocean. The coupled model is then applied to the period 1880–1985, using the surface air temperature fluctuations from Hansen et al. (1983) and from Wigley et al. (1981). The analysis of the simulated large variations of the Arctic ice mass during this period (with similar changes in the mixed layer salinity) shows that the variability in the summer melt determines to a high degree the variability in the average ice thickness. The annual oceanic heat flux from the deep ocean and the maximum freezing rate and associated nearly constant minimum surface salinity flux did not vary significantly interannually. This also implies that the oceanic influence on the Arctic ice mass is minimal for the range of atmospheric variability tested.