Study on the Relationship between the Oceanic Nino Index and Surface Air Temperature and Precipitation Rate over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abnormal weather conditions and extreme weather existed over the Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA) through the last decades. The present paper investigates the relationship between the Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) and variability of surface air temperature and precipitation rate over KSA through the period from 1950 to 2015 year. The NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis of monthly data sets of the mean surface air temperature and precipitation rate for the domain of the KSA is used. In addition, El Nino3.4 monthly data through the period (1950-2015) are used. For that period, the data set of the three months moving average of Nino3.4 anomaly, Oceanic Nino index (ONI), is used and analyzed. The time series, anomaly and correlation coefficient techniques are used to analyze the data sets through the present study. The results revealed that the KSA climate parameters, temperature and precipitation rates are controlled by ONI mainly in the autumn and winter seasons.

Impact of temperature and precipitation lapse rate on hydrological modelling over Himalayan Gandak River Basin

The hydrology of Himalayan region is influenced by temperature lapse rate(TLAPS)and precipitation lapse rate(PLAPS).Therefore,hydrological modeling considering TLAPS and PLAPS is crucial to manage the water resources in these terrains.In this research,Himalayan Gandak River basin is considered as the study area where TLAPS and PLAPS vary significantly due to high altitude of Himalayas.To assess the impact of TLAPS and PLAPS on water balance components,Soil Water Assessment Tool(SWAT)model was calibrated(2000-2007)and validated(2008-2014)on daily time step for three projects i.e.,Reference Project(RP),Snowmelt Project(SP)and distributed elevation band snowmelt project(SWAT-ETISM).The analysis discloses that SWAT-ETISM model(which has TLAPS and PLAPS parameters)outperforms the RP and the SP models in predicting streamflow with improved statistical indicators R2=0.88,NSE=0.84 and PBIAS=11.9.Furthermore,it was observed that SWAT-ETISM model comprehensively improved the streamflow statistics by improving the snow water equivalent and water balance components through the consideration of TLAPS and PLAPS values for the region.Hence,the proposed SWAT-ETISM model can be used for estimation of the water budget at the high-altitude and data scarce alpine Himalayan regions and worldwide,where PLAPS and TLAPS are substantial due to altitudinal variation.

Precipitation Responses to Radiative Effects of Ice Clouds:A Cloud-Resolving Modeling Study of a Pre-Summer Torrential Precipitation Event

The precipitation responses to the radiative effects of ice clouds are investigated through analysis of five-day and hori- zontally averaged data from 2D cumulus ensemble model experiments of a pre-summer torrential precipitation event. The exclusion of the radiative effects of ice clouds lowered the precipitation rate through a substantial reduction in the decrease of hydrometeors when the radiative effects of water clouds were switched on, whereas it increased the precipitation rate through hydrometeor change from an increase to a decrease when the radiative effects of ice clouds were turned off. The weakened hydrometeor decrease was associated with the enhanced longwave radiative cooling mainly through the decreases in the melt- ing of non-precipitating ice to non-precipitating water. The hydrometeor change from an increase to a decrease corresponded to the strengthened longwave radiative cooling in the upper troposphere through the weakened collection of non-precipitating water by precipitation water.

Effects of Na_4EDTA and EDTA on seeded precipitation of sodium aluminate solution

Na4EDTA and EDTA were adopted as new additives to intensify the seeded precipitation process of sodium aluminate solution. The effects of the two additives at certain concentrations on the seeded precipitation rate of sodium aluminate solution, particle size distribution (PSD) and morphology of precipitated gibbsite were investigated using titration method, particle size analyzer and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. The results show that the two additives can accelerate the seeded precipitation rate of sodium aluminate solution. At relatively high concentration, the facilitative effect of EDTA on sodium aluminate solution is more obvious than that of Na4EDTA. EDTA makes gibbsite particles thinner than Na4EDTA. The Na+ and H+ result in the different effects on the seeded precipitation rate of sodium aluminate solution in spite of the same EDTA anion in the two additives.

Comparisons of Several Evaporation/Precipitation Datasets for the Bohai Sea Based on Salinity Simulation

Evaporation （E） rate and precipitation （P） rate are two significant meteorological elements required in the ocean baro- clinic modeling as external forcings. However, there are some uncertainties in the currently used E/P rates datasets, especially in terms of the data quality. In this study, we collected E/P rates data from ERA-40, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis, HOAPS for the Bohai Sea and nine routine stations around Laizhou Bay, and made comparisons among them. It was found that the differences in E/P rates between land and sea are remarkable, which was due to the difference in underlying surfaces. Therefore, the traditional way of using E/P rates acquired on land directly at sea is not correct. Since no final conclusion has been reached concerning the net water transport between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, it is unfeasible to judge the adequacy of the four kinds of data by using the water budget equation. However, the E/P rates at ERA-40 sea points were considered to he the optimal in terms of temporal/spatial coverage and resolution for the hindcast of salinity variation in the Bohai Sea. Besides, using the 3-D hydrodynamic model HAMSOM （HAMburg Shelf Ocean Model）, we performed numerical experiments with different E/P datasets and found that the E/P rates at sea points from ERA-40 dataset are better than those from NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis dataset. If NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis E/P rates are to be used, they need to be adjusted and tested prior to simulation so that more close-to-reality salinity values can be reproduced.

Characterization of γ′ precipitates in a nickel base superalloy quenching from aging temperature at different rates

The characteristics of γ′ precipitates in a superalloy quenched from 1050°C at different rates were investigated using field emission scanning electron microscope（FESEM）.When quenched from 1050°C, the size of primary aging γ′ precipitates has a small increase in the specimens that experienced iced-brine-quenching, oil-quenching, and air-cooling-quenching conditions and a drastic increase in the specimen that experienced a furnace-cooling-quenching condition.The cooling γ′ precipitates have unimodal distributions after quenching at the air-cooling rate and bimodal distributions after quenching at the furnace-cooling rate, but there are not these distributions in the specimens that experienced iced-brine-quenching and oil-quenching conditions.When aging at 760°C, the size of primary aging γ′ precipitates appears unaffected in the specimens that experienced iced-brine-quenching, oil-quenching, and air-cooling-quenching conditions.However, it has a drastic increase in the specimen that experienced a furnace-cooling-quenching condition, and it is interesting that the bigger cooling γ′ precipitates have a coalescence and octodendritic shape.The microhardness study indicates that the hardness has no variation in the specimens that experienced iced-brine-quenching, oil-quenching, and air-cooling-quenching conditions and has a drastic decrease in the specimens that experienced a furnace-cooling-quenching condition and obtains the minimum microhardness value 390.8 HV.

A Preliminary Analysis of the Relationship between Precipitation Variation Trends and Altitude in China

Characteristics of the relationship between precipitation variation trends (PVT) and altitude were analyzed using monthly mean precipitation data from 526 observation stations in China from 1961 to 2008.With respect to elevation,China was divided into three subregions,below 200 m,200-1500 m,and above 1500 m.The results showed that the correlations between annual PVT and altitude are different among the three regions.In the region below 200 m in elevation,the best relationship has a correlation coefficient of-0.19 (0.49),passing the 90% (99.9%) significance level south (north) of 35 N.However,the correlation coefficient is close to zero,and the latitude strongly governs the spatial distribution of the amplitude of annual PVT in the 200-1500-m elevation region.In most of the Tibetan Plateau,where the elevation is greater than 1500 m,there is a weak negative correlation.The Mann-Kendall method was used to test the trend of regional mean annual precipitation,which indicated that the annual mean precipitation had no obvious trend of change in China due to the reverse significant variation trends in different areas of the country.

A method for calculation of ion distribution in reaction system forming hydroxide

A formula was proposed to calculate the distribution of metal ions quantitatively in chemical reaction system forming hydroxide where precipitation and complex are formed together. The effects of some factors on formation of precipitation and complex were investigated, and the corresponding precipitation rates of zinc, iron （III）, aluminum, copper and magnesium were calculated. As a result, it shows that the proposed formula is reliable. By the proposed formula, the existence state of metal ions in hydroxides reaction system with any metal ions can be well described and the effects of some factors on the distribution of metal ions were determined.

Catalytic performance of biological method seeds on jarosite process

The catalytic performance on jarosite process of jarosite seeds via biosynthesis and chemical processes were studied, respectively. The SEM and XRD results showed that biosynthetic jarosite seeds （BIO seeds） had smooth surface and mainly consisted of potassium jarosite. The chemical synthesis jarosite seeds （CHM seeds） had a loose cauliflower-like surface and mainly consisted of hydronium jarosite. The catalytic performance of BIO seeds was better than that of CHM seeds on the formation of final jarosite product. The induction time can be shortened to 20 min, the reaction temperature can be reduced to only 75 ℃, and the initial reaction speed was enhanced obviously, up to 3.933%/min. The crystallinity of final jarosite product using BIO seeds can achieve 97.22%, while it was only 12.89% without seeds. This indicates that the precipitation process of jarosite is more complete with BIO seeds.

An assessment of variations in mercury deposition to Antarctica over the past 34,000 years

We performed a comparison analysis of the variations .in Mercury ( Hg) concentrations and the precipitation proxies ( e. g. , 18 O values and 10 Be concentrations) in the Dome C ice core. The results showed that there were significant correlations between Hg and δ 10O values, 10Be concentrations, indicating that the accumulation rate in Dome C is one of the key factors controlling the variations of Hg concentrations in the past 34 ,000 years, and implying that Hg concentrations in ice core can be used as another reliable proxy of precipitation rate in Antarctica. Based upon the high-resolution δ 18O values, we estimated the variations in mercury deposition flux to Antarctica over the past 34,000 years. The highest mercury deposition flux is about 3. 80 pg cm-2 yr-1 during the Last Glacial Maxium (LGM) as high as 3. 5 times of the mercury deposition flux ( about 1. 08 pg cm -2 yr -1) in Holocene due to the fluctuations in natural mercury emissions such as the oceanic biological emissions.

Spatial-Temporal Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosols via Airborne Spectral Imaging and Growing Hierarchical Self-Organizing Maps

Neural network analysis based on Growing Hierarchical Self-Organizing Map (GHSOM) is used to examine Spatial-Temporal characteristics in Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), Ångström Exponent (ÅE) and Precipitation Rate (PR) over selected East African sites from 2000 to 2014. The selected sites of study are Nairobi (1°S, 36°E), Mbita (0°S, 34°E), Mau Forest (0.0° - 0.6°S;35.1°E - 35.7°E), Malindi (2°S, 40°E), Mount Kilimanjaro (3°S, 37°E) and Kampala (0°N, 32.1°E). GHSOM analysis reveals a marked spatial variability in AOD and ÅE that is associated to changing PR, urban heat islands, diffusion, direct emission, hygroscopic growth and their scavenging from the atmosphere specific to each site. Furthermore, spatial variability in AOD, ÅE and PR is distinct since each variable corresponds to a unique level of classification. On the other hand, GHSOM algorithm efficiently discriminated by means of clustering between AOD, ÅE and PR during Long and Short rain spells and dry spell over each variable emphasizing their temporal evolution. The utilization of GHSOM therefore confirms the fact that regional aerosol characteristics are highly variable be it spatially or temporally and as well modulated by PR received over each variable.

Charting the ‘composition–strength’ space for novel austenitic,martensitic and ferritic creep resistant steels

We report results of a large computational ＇alloy by design＇ study, in which the ＇chemical composition-mechanical strength＇ space is explored for austenitic, ferritic and martensitic creep resistant steels. The approach used allows simultaneously optimization of alloy composition and processing parameters based on the integration of thermodynamic, thermo-kinetics and a genetic algorithm optimization route. The nature of the optimisation depends on both the intended matrix（ferritic, martensitic or austenitic） and the desired precipitation family. The models are validated by analysing reported strengths of existing steels. All newly designed alloys are predicted to outperform existing high end reference grades.