Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.

Estrategias de adaptación al cambio climático en Mendoza

El cambio climático global se presenta como un sensible aumento de las temperaturas medias a nivel global. Las investigaciones recientes estiman que, en el oeste Argentino particularmente en la provincia de Mendoza, se presentará como una inminente reducción en las dotaciones de agua. Todos los agentes sociales y en particular los agentes sociales implicados en el sistema agrícola­productivo se verán afectados de manera diferencial. Entre estos agentes, los poderosos protagonistas de la 'nueva vitivinicultura' se han instalado en lo alto de la montaña con fincas sumamente tecnificadas, viñedos de altísima performance y mercados asegurados por sus vinculaciones internacionales. De este modo, y en términos técnicos, se aseguran aguas de buena calidad, cantidades adecuadas, y climas frescos (esto es especialmente importante ante un escenario de aumento promedio de las temperaturas). En términos individuales esta estrategia resulta muy beneficiosa para poderosos agentes involucrados en este campo. Dichos agentes, que se adaptaron o nacieron del proceso de reconversión productiva de los años '90, resultan grandes estrategas ante escenarios cambiantes, sin embargo, esta estrategia (si bien tiene en cuenta factores de largo plazo como el cambio climático) no constituye una racionalidad novedosa. Por el contrario, su estrategia de adaptación al cambio climático se basa en la profundización de la racionalidad instrumental propia de agentes empresarios