Wind climate trends in the Pacific Northwest and the implications to renewable energy supply

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): This paper examines the influence of wind climate variations on new Pacific Northwest renewable energy sources. Wind represents a potentially valuable supplemental source of energy in the region. ... The recent period of weaker winds may be associated with a stronger North Pacific Low in the last decade. This would result in winter storms more often being deflected farther north, to Canada. Also, in the last dozen years, lower SOI values were common. Other investigators have found low SOI to be associated with drier conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

Air temperature trends in California

"Greenhouse heating" of the atmosphere due to trace gases seems apparent to those who model with averages but not to those who examine individual temperature records. Temperature trends are on the minds of all those concerned with the environmental influence of the increasing human population. The big problem remains - where and how do we take the Earth's temperature? ... In California, there are 112 temperature records for 1910 to 1989; all of them were used here to examine trends in annual temperature.

One hundred years of rainfall trends in California

This paper is an examination of precipitation trends in California for 100 years based on 96 rain records. The study resulted from an attempt to develop a wetness index for the San Francisco Bay area, where declining rainfall trends indicated a lot more rainfall in the first 50 years of the study period. A regular pattern of decline was found in California coastal stations, concurrent with an increasing trend at inland stations.

The California heat island: seasonal trends in maximum and minimum temperatures

This paper summarizes progress in an ongoing study of California's temperature trends. It supplements studies reported at PACLIM in 1984, 1986, and 1987. ... Objectives of this study are twofold: to examine and map the trends in maximum and minimum temperatures for the warm and cool seasons separately, and to examine regional differences in maximum and minimum temperature trends in California.

Simulation of recent global temperature trends [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Observations show that global average tropospheric temperatures have been rising during the past century, with the most recent portion of record showing a sharp rise since the mid-1970s.

Climate forcing by changing solar radiation

By how much does changing radiation from the Sun influence Earth's climate compared with other natural and anthropogenic processes? Answering this question is necessary for making policy regarding anthropogenic global change, which must be detected against natural climate variability. Current knowledge of the amplitudes and time scales of solar radiative output variability available from contemporary solar monitoring and historical reconstructions can help specify climate forcing by changing radiation over multiple time scales.

Recent trends in the climate of the tropical Pacific region

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Observations of climate variables in the tropical Pacific region are examined for the period 1970-1994. We look at a variety of climate variables, including upper ocean temperatures, surface wind stress, precipitation, and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and find evidence for two distinct decadal-scale warmings in the tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere climate system during this period.

Potential solar radiation at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Potential (clear-sky) radiation receipt is modeled for the slopes of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in the foothills of the southern Cascade mountains of central Oregon. The modeling method developed by Williams is selected and applied to the forest area for the times of the solstices and equinox as well as mid-month times in January, February, April, and May in order to completely characterize the seasonal change of potential radiation at the location. ... It seems that Lookout Creek approximately divides the Andrews Forest into an area of relatively high potential radiation to the north of the creek and relatively lower potential radiation values to the south of the creek. Potential radiation values seem to be associated with the Andrews GIS data layers of debris flows and predominant tree species zones.

Marine pollution and zooplankton: some recent trends in marine pollution studies

The presence of even very minute quantities of pollutants may become harmful either due to their direct effect on zooplankton or indirectly due to the transfer of the pollutants to other trophic levels through zooplankton. The recent trend in marine pollution studies is therefore to find out the effects of very minute quantities of these pollutants on marine zooplankton and the methods of their accumulation and transfer to the organisms of higher trophic level including man. A review of laboratory and field studies concerning the effects of pollutants such as hydrocarbons, crude oil, heavy metals, pesticides and heated waste water on the survival, breeding, movement, faecal pellet production, growth and development on marine zooplankton is presented.

Trends in development in the prawn fishing technique in India: a review

The paper provides some background information about the developments in the prawn fishing technique. The important indigenous gear for prawns are the filtering type nets like the stake nets, boat seines and beach seines with bag. The only indigenous net, which can be compared in design with the modern bottom trawling gear, is the "Thuri Valai" of the Madras Coast. Prawns have also been reported from the catches of gill nets and cast nets. Dredges and beam trawls are simplest among the dragged gear. Even though several earlier attempts were made with the beam trawl, in 1959 season a detailed experiment was made to study the fishing features of this gear. The subsequent experiments conducted were for comparison with otter trawl, towing of 2 beam trawls one behind the other and the use of tickler chain. The initial experiments with otter trawls were mainly directed towards operational aspects. The experiments were to evaluate the effectiveness of fully mechanised and partially mechanised operation, the effect of extra buoyancy of floats and the use of tickler chain. Subsequent developments had been on the structure and design of prawn trawling gear. Effect of long wings and sweeps were tested. Catches of nylon and cotton nets were compared. The sizes of meshes of the cod-end have also been increased.

Effects of gamma radiation on nutritional and microbial quality of Pampus chinensis (Euphrasen 1788)

To evaluate the efficiency of gamma radiation in combination with low temperature Chinese pomfret, Pampus chinensis were preserved by the treatment of different doses of gamma radiation (3, 5 and 8 KGy) at freezing temperature (-20°C) during 90 days of storage period. Quality assessments for fish were carried out at an interval of 15 days during the storage period. Quality assessments were done by organoleptic, chemical (Total Volatile Nitrogen, TVN and Trimethylamine, TMA) and microbiological (Total Bacterial Count, TBC and Total Mould Count, TMC) evaluation. From the analysis of all parameters, maximum shelf-life was observed for irradiated (8 KGy) sample. It remained acceptable up to 75 days and that was the highest duration among 4 types of samples.

Studies on radiation pasteurisation of medium fatty fish 1. Control of radiation induced oxidative changes in white pomfret (Stromateus cinereus) by vacuum packaging

Marked differences were observed in proximate biochemical compositions of the skin and muscle of white pomfret. The skin showed comparatively higher content of extractable lipids and was more susceptible to radiation-induced oxidative changes like development of rancid odours and yellow discolouration than the muscle. Irradiation of skin samples under vacuum suppressed these changes. The present paper also reports on the efficacy of vacuum packaging in controlling oxidative rancidity and yellow discolouration in white pomfret skin subjected to irradiation and subsequent storage at 0-2°C.

Studies on radiation pasteurisation of medium fatty fish 3. Storage properties of white pomfret (Stromateus cinereus) fillets

White pomfret fillets packed under aerobic conditions had a limited shelf life of 8 days as against 10 days for samples packed under vacuum and stored at 0-2°C. Irradiation and subsequent storage of the fillets under vacuum at 0-2°C exhibited shelf lives of 30, 50 and 60 days for radiation doses of 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 Mrad respectively in contrast to aerobically packed fillets which showed only 20, 35 and 50 days of storage life for the same levels of radiation doses and developed yellow discolouration and rancid odours.

Studies on radiation pasteurisation of medium fatty fish 2. Precursors of yellow discolouration in irradiated white pomfret (Stromateus cinereus)

Triglycerides, phospholipids and sarcoplasmic proteins fractions of white pomfret produced considerable amounts of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBRS) on irradiation. Incubation of malonaldehyde with pomfret skin under aseptic conditions developed yellow pigmentation of the skin tissues, similar in spectral characteristics to those produced on irradiation of the skin.