Tropical and subtropical moisture and southerly displaced North Pacific storm track: factors in the growth of late Quaternary lakes in the Mojave Desert

Historical flood events produced lakes in the Mojave River watershed in southeastern California and represent climatic conditions similar to those in the late Quaternary when perennial lakes formed in the Mojave Desert. Historical lakes are related to tropical and subtropical sources of moisture and an extreme southward shift of storm tracks. It is suggested that this atmospheric pattern occurred frequently during earlier periods with perennial lakes in the Mojave River drainage basin.

Water-soluble part of the aerosol in the dust storm season - evidence of the mixing between mineral and pollution aerosols

IEECAS SKLLQG

Simulating a typhoon storm surge in the East Sea of China using a coupled model

A coupled numerical model with a 2' x 2' resolution grid has been developed and used to simulate five typical typhoon storm surges (5612, 7413, 7910, 8114, and 9711) in the East Sea of China. Three main driving forces have been considered in this coupled model: wave radiation stress, combined wave-current bottom shear stress and wave-state-dependent surface wind stress. This model has then been compared with in situ measurements of the storm set-up. The effect of different driving force components on the total storm surge has also been investigated. This study has found that the coupled model with high resolution is capable of simulating the five typical typhoons better than the uncoupled models, and that the wave-dependent surface wind stress plays an important role in typhoon storm surge-wave coupling in this area and can increase the storm set-up by 1 m. The study of the five typhoon cases has shown that the general coupling effects could increase storm set-up by 20-32%. Thus, it is suggested that to predict typhoon storm surges in the East Sea of China, a storm surge-wave coupled model be adopted. (C) 2008 National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited and Science in China Press. All rights reserved.

An analysis of the recent severe storm surge disaster events in China

The economic loss caused by the storm surge disasters is much higher than that caused by any other marine disaster in China, the loss from the severe storm surge disaster being the highest. Statistics show that there were 62 typhoon landings over the east-southeast coast of China since 1990, three of which, occurring in 1992, 1994 and 1997, respectively, caused the most severe damage. The direct economic losses due to these events are 9.3, 17.0 and 30 billion yuan (RMB, or about 1.7, 2.6 and 3.8 billion USD, respectively), which is much greater than the loss of 5.5 billion yuan (RMB) on an average every year during the 1989-1991 period. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the damage caused by the three events and presents an overview of progress of precautions against storm surge disaster in China. The suggested counter measures to mitigate the loss from the severe storm surge disasters in China is as follows: (1) Raise the whole society awareness of precaution against severe storm surge disaster; (2) Work out a new plan for building sea walls; (3) Improve and perfect the available warning and disaster relief command system; (4) Develop the insurance service in order to promptly mitigate the loss caused by severe storm surge disaster event.

Effects of winds, tides and storm surges on ocean surface waves in the Sea of Japan

Ocean surface waves are strongly forced by high wind conditions associated with winter storms in the Sea of Japan. They are also modulated by tides and storm surges. The effects of the variability in surface wind forcing, tides and storm surges on the waves are investigated using a wave model, a high-resolution atmospheric mesoscale model and a hydrodynamic ocean circulation model. Five month-long wave model simulations are inducted to examine the sensitivity of ocean waves to various wind forcing fields, tides and storm surges during January 1997. Compared with observed mean wave parameters, results indicate that the high frequency variability in the surface wind filed has very great effect on wave simulation. Tides and storm surges have a significant impact on the waves in nearshores of the Tsushima-kaihyo, but not for other regions in the Sea of Japan. High spatial and temporal resolution and good quality surface wind products will be crucial for the prediction of surface waves in the JES and other marginal seas, especially near the coastal regions.

Dependence of severe storm occurrence on circulation types in Poland

The paper investigates the relationships between the occurrence of thunderstorms with heavy precipitation (> 30 mm) and atmospheric circulation types. The study covers the period 1951–1998 and is based on a matching span of records of thunderstorm occurrence and daily precipitation totals at 47 weather stations in Poland. A catalogue of circulation types by Osuchowska-Klein, data on frequency of fronts over south-eastern Poland by Niedźwiedź and weather maps were used. In Poland, days with a thunderstorm and more than 30 mm of precipitation are extremely rare and occur mainly in summer. Their recurrence period amounts to about two to four years, with the exception of mountain areas (southern Poland) where they occur nearly every year. The heaviest precipitation on a day with thunderstorm, 166.1 mm, was recorded at a high-mountain station on Mt. Kasprowy Wierch. Apart from this station the highest precipitation was 141.0 mm and only eight stations had at least one record of more than 100 mm. Four regions characterised by different circulation types most favourable for the occurrence of thunderstorms with heavy precipitation were identified. In all of them southerly advection was most favourable for the occurrence of the phenomena studied (Sc, SEc, Sa/c), but that effect was especially prominent in the south-western region. Most of the days with thunderstorm and heavy precipitation coincided with the passing of an atmospheric front over Poland (53.8–81.9% days depending on the station). Days with air-mass thunderstorm and heavy precipitation were rare and mostly occurred in areas of variable topography.