County Precipitation Estimates, January 2009

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau.

County Precipitation Estimates, February 2009

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau.

County Precipitation Estimates, March 2009

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau.

County Precipitation Estimates, April 2009

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau.

County Precipitation Estimates, May 2009

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau.

County Precipitation Estimates, June 2009

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau.

County Precipitation Estimates, July 2009

Report produced by the The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Climatology Bureau.

Nutrient leaching potential following application of papermill lime-sludge to an acidic clay soil

This experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions with soil pots during 210 days, to evaluate the effect of calcitic papermill lime-sludge application (at the rates 0, 773, 1.547, and 2.320 mg kg-1 or respective equivalents to control, 2, 4, and 6 t ha-1), on chemical composition of soil leachate and its effects on eucalypt growth and yield. Highest soil leachate pH, SO4, and Na concentrations occurred in the 4 and 6 t ha-1 treatments. Soil leachate nitrate concentrations decreased with increasing lime-sludge rate. Soil leachate phosphate remained low (below the detection limit) in all treatments until 120 days, while the concentration increased in the lime-sludge treatments at 210 days (last sampling) in about 600 mg L-1. Lime-sludge decreased leachate Mg concentration, but had no significant effect among rates. Soil leachate Ca, K, B, Cu, Fe, and Zn did not change significantly for any lime-sludge application rates. The maximum NO3, Ca, Mg, K, and Na concentrations in the soil leachate occurred at 60 days after lime-sludge application (leaching equivalent to 1 pore volume), but for pH and SO4, the maximum occurred at 210 days (leaching equivalent to 4 pore volumes). Lime-sludge application decreased the concentration of exchangeable Al in the soil. Plant diameter growth and dry matter yield were increased with increasing lime-sludge rate. Beneficial effects on mineral nutrition (P, K, Ca, B, and Zn) of eucalypts were also obtained by the application of 4 and 6 t ha-1 of lime-sludge.

Broad-scale adaptive genetic variation in alpine plants is driven by temperature and precipitation.

Identifying adaptive genetic variation is a challenging task, in particular in non-model species for which genomic information is still limited or absent. Here, we studied distribution patterns of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) in response to environmental variation, in 13 alpine plant species consistently sampled across the entire European Alps. Multiple linear regressions were performed between AFLP allele frequencies per site as dependent variables and two categories of independent variables, namely Moran's eigenvector map MEM variables (to account for spatial and unaccounted environmental variation, and historical demographic processes) and environmental variables. These associations allowed the identification of 153 loci of ecological relevance. Univariate regressions between allele frequency and each environmental factor further showed that loci of ecological relevance were mainly correlated with MEM variables. We found that precipitation and temperature were the best environmental predictors, whereas topographic factors were rarely involved in environmental associations. Climatic factors, subject to rapid variation as a result of the current global warming, are known to strongly influence the fate of alpine plants. Our study shows, for the first time for a large number of species, that the same environmental variables are drivers of plant adaptation at the scale of a whole biome, here the European Alps.

The effects of alkaline fly ash precipitation on the Sphagnum mosses in Niinsaare bog, NE Estonia

Tiivistelmä: Emäksisen tuhkalaskeuman vaikutus rahkasammaliin Niinsaarensuolla Koillis-Virossa

Peanut response to lime and molybdenum application in low pH soils

Liming acid soils is considered to assure the availability of Mo in crops. Additionally, in peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) the positive response to liming is associated to a better supply of Ca+2, Mo for the nitrogenase-complex activity, and other non-nitrogen fixing activities of the crop. This study was thus undertaken to assess the effect of lime, Mo, and the lime-Mo interaction on peanut crop, on an acid Ultisol at the Mococa Experimental Station, Instituto Agronômico, São Paulo State, Brazil, from 1987 to 1990. A randomized complete block design with four replications, in a 4 x 4 factorial arrangement, was used in the study. The factors included four lime rates (0, 2, 4, and 6 t ha-1) broadcast and incorporated into the soil, and Mo (0, 100, 200, and 300 g ha-1) as (NH4)2MoO4 applied as seed dressing. Lime was applied once at the beginning of the study while Mo was applied at every planting. Peanut seed cv 'tatu' was used. Significant increase in peanut kernel yield with liming was only evident in the absence of Mo, whereas the peanut response to Mo was observed in two out of the three harvests. A higher yield response (28 % increase) was found when Mo was applied without liming. Soil molybdenum availability, as indicated by plant leaf analysis, increased significantly when lime was applied. Molybdenum fertilization led to higher leaf N content, which in turn increased peanut yield in treatments with smaller lime doses.

Enhanced radar precipitation estimates using a combined clutter and beam blockage correction technique

Weather radar observations are currently the most reliable method for remote sensing of precipitation. However, a number of factors affect the quality of radar observations and may limit seriously automated quantitative applications of radar precipitation estimates such as those required in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) data assimilation or in hydrological models. In this paper, a technique to correct two different problems typically present in radar data is presented and evaluated. The aspects dealt with are non-precipitating echoes - caused either by permanent ground clutter or by anomalous propagation of the radar beam (anaprop echoes) - and also topographical beam blockage. The correction technique is based in the computation of realistic beam propagation trajectories based upon recent radiosonde observations instead of assuming standard radio propagation conditions. The correction consists of three different steps: 1) calculation of a Dynamic Elevation Map which provides the minimum clutter-free antenna elevation for each pixel within the radar coverage; 2) correction for residual anaprop, checking the vertical reflectivity gradients within the radar volume; and 3) topographical beam blockage estimation and correction using a geometric optics approach. The technique is evaluated with four case studies in the region of the Po Valley (N Italy) using a C-band Doppler radar and a network of raingauges providing hourly precipitation measurements. The case studies cover different seasons, different radio propagation conditions and also stratiform and convective precipitation type events. After applying the proposed correction, a comparison of the radar precipitation estimates with raingauges indicates a general reduction in both the root mean squared error and the fractional error variance indicating the efficiency and robustness of the procedure. Moreover, the technique presented is not computationally expensive so it seems well suited to be implemented in an operational environment.

Trends in indices of daily precipitation extremes in Catalonia (NE Spain), 1951-2003

The aim of this paper is to quantitatively characterize the climatology of daily precipitation indices in Catalonia (northeastern Iberian Peninsula) from 1951 to 2003. This work has been performed analyzing a subset of the ETCCDI (Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices) precipitation indices calculated from a new interpolated dataset of daily precipitation, namely SPAIN02, regular at 0.2° horizontal resolution (around 20 km) and from two high-quality stations: the Ebro and Fabra observatories. Using a jack-knife technique, we have found that the sampling error of the SPAIN02 regional averaged is relatively low. The trend analysis has been implemented using a Circular Block Bootstrap procedure applicable to non-normal distributions and autocorrelated series. A running trend analysis has been applied to analyze the trend persistence. No general trends at a regional scale are observed, considering the annual or the seasonal regional averaged series of all the indices for all the time windows considered. Only the consecutive dry days index (CDD) at annual scale shows a locally coherent spatial trend pattern; around 30% of the Catalonia area has experienced an increase of around 2¿3 days decade¿1. The Ebro and Fabra observatories show a similar CDD trend, mainly due to the summer contribution. Besides this, a significant decrease in total precipitation (around ¿10 mm decade¿1) and in the index "highest precipitation amount in five-day period" (RX5DAY, around ¿5 mm decade¿1), have been found in summer for the Ebro observatory.

Fate of nickel ion in (II-III) hydroxysulphate green rust synthesized by precipitation and coprecipitation

In order to investigate the efficiency of sulfate green rust (GR2) to remove Ni from solution, GR2 samples were synthesized under controlled laboratory conditions. Some GR2 samples were synthesized from Fe(II) and Fe(III) sulfate salts by precipitation. Other samples were prepared by coprecipitation, of Ni(II), Fe(II) and Fe(III) sulfate salts, i.e., in the presence of Ni. In another sample, Ni(II) sulfate salt was added to pre-formed GR2. After an initial X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization all samples were exposed to ambient air in order to understand the role of Ni in the transformation of the GR2 samples. XRD was repeated after 45 days. The results showed that Nious GR2 prepared by coprecipitation is isomorphous to Ni-free GR2, i.e. Ni is incorporated into the crystalline structure. Fe(II) was not replaced by Ni(II) in the crystalline structure of GR2 formed prior to exposure to solution-phase Ni. This suggests Ni was adsorbed to the GR2 surface. Sulfate green rust is more efficient in removing Ni from the environment by coprecipitation.

Impact of precipitation on the water table level of different ombrotrophic raised bog complexes, central Estonia

Sadannan vaikutus vedenpinnan tasoon kohosuolla