Relationship between thermal anomalies in Tibetan Plateau and summer dust storm frequency over Tarim Basin,China

The dust storm is the most important and frequent meteorological disaster over Tarim Basin, which causes huge damages on local social economics. How to predict the springtime and summertime dust storm oc- currence has become a hot issue for meteorologists. This paper employed the data of dust storm frequency and 10-m wind velocity at 35 stations over Tarim Basin and the reanalysis data from the National Center for Environ- mental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research （NCEP/NCAR） during 1961-2007 to study the relationship between dust storm frequency （DSF） in summer over Tarim Basin and the thermal anomalies in Tibetan Plateau in May by using the statistical methods, such as Empirical Orthogonal Function （EOF）, correlation and binomial moving average. The results show when negative anomalies in Tibetan Plateau and positive anomalies in its southern region are present along 30~N （the second mode of surface temperature anomalies by EOF decomposition） in May, the time coefficient （PC2） plays an important role in summer DSF variation and has a close relation with the summer DSF at both inter-annual and decadal time scales. When negative anomalies in Tibetan Plateau and positive anomalies are present in its southern region （PC2 in positive phase）, there is an anomalous anticyclone in North China, which weakens the northwest wind and is not beneficial for cold air moving from high latitude to the Tarim Basin, and the circulation pattern is hard to result in dust storm weather. Furthermore, the sea level pressure （SLP） increased over Tarim Basin and the direction of SLP gradient reversed, which resulted in the 10-m wind velocity slowing down, so the DSF decreased. From above all, it can be conclude that the thermal anomalies in Tibetan Plateau in May has important effects on the summertime dust storm frequency over Tarim Basin and the PC2 can be used as a prediction factor for the summertime dust storm occurrence.

The Effects of the Thermal Anomalies over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Vicinities on Climate Variability in China

The evident effects of the thermal anomalies over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its vicinities are summarized and discussed in this paper. By the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique and numerical simulations of the effect of the snow depth anomaly over the TP, it is shown that the snow depth anomaly, especially in winter, is one of the factors innuencing precipitation in China, and the winter snow anomaly is more important than the spring one. The relations between the sensible heat anomaly over the TP and the intensity of the South China Sea summer monsoon (SCSSM) are studied, too, and two key areas of the sensible heat anomaly over the TP are found. The relationships between the South Asia High (SAH) and the precipitation in the years with typical droughts or floods in the mid to lower valleys of the Yangtze River (MLVYR) and North China are investigated in some detail. It is found that not only the intensity of the SAH over the TP, but also the 100-hPa height in a large area influences the precipitation in the above two regions. The effects of the SAH on the onsets of the tropical Asian summer monsoon (TASM) including the SCSSM and the tropical Indian summer monsoon (TISM) are studied as well. It is found that the onset times of both the SCSSM and the TISM are highly dependent upon the latitudinal position of the SAH center.

Surface latent heat flux anomalies preceding inland earthquakes in China

Using data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction （NCEP）, the paper analyzed the surface latent heat flux （SLHF） variations for five inland earthquakes occurred in some lake area, moist area and arid area of China during recent years. We used the SLHF daily and monthly data to differentiate the global and seasonal variability from the transient local anomalies. The temporal scale of the observed variations is 1-2 months before and after the earthquakes, and spatial scale is about 10°×10°. The result suggests that the SLHFs adjacent the epicenters all are anomalous high value （〉μ＋2σ） 8-30 days before the shocks as compared with past several years of data. Different from the abnormal meteorological phenomenon, the distribution of the anomalies was isolated and local, which usually occurred in the epicenter and its adjacent area, or along the fault lines. The increase of SLHF was tightly related with the season which the earthquake occurs in; the maximal （125 W/m^2, Pu＇er earthquake） and minimal （25 W/m^2, Gaize earthquake） anomalies were in summer and winter, respectively. The abundant surface water and groundwater in the epicenter and its adjacent region can provide necessary condition for the change of SLHF. To further confirm the reliability of SLHF anomaly, it is necessary to explore its physical mechanism in depth by more earthquake cases.

The Relationship of Land-Ocean Thermal Anomaly Difference with Mei-yu and South China Sea Summer Monsoon

Based on the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data for the period of 1948-2004 and the monthly rainfall data at 160 stations in China from 1951 to 2004, the relationships among the land-ocean temperature anomaly difference in the mid-lower troposphere in spring （April-May）, the mei-yu rainfall in the Yangtze River- Huaihe River basin, and the activities of the South China Sea summer monsoon （SCSSM） are analyzed by using correlation and composite analyses. Results show that a significant positive correlation exists between mei-yu rainfall and air temperature in the middle latitudes above the western Pacific, while a significant negative correlation is located to the southwest of the Baikal Lake. When the land-ocean thermal anomaly difference is stronger in spring, the western Pacific subtropical high （WPSH） will be weaker and retreat eastward in summer （June-July）, and the SCSSM will be stronger and advance further north, resulting in deficient moisture along the mei-yu front and below-normal precipitation in the mid and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and vice versa for the weaker difference case. The effects and relative importance of the land and ocean anomalous heating on monsoon variability is also compared. It is found that the land and ocean thermal anomalies are both closely related to the summer circulation and mei-yu rainfall and SCSSM intensity, whereas the land heating anomaly is more important than ocean heating in changing the land-ocean thermal contrast and hence the summer monsoon intensity.

Thermal structure about southwest sub-basin of South China Sea

There are some factors, such as the topographic relief, sedimentary thickness and thermal conductivity, magmatic activity and thermal cooling, influencing the seafloor heat flow and the evolution of lithosphere structure in southwest sub-basin （SWSB）, South China Sea. On the base of the geological structure characteristic of SWSB this paper will discuss some other factors including thermal anomaly area, dike produced by magma intrusion and lithosphere relief, by modeling and calculating. Calculating results indicate partial areas where temperature is higher than vicinity in the lithosphere, which we call thermal anomaly here containing thermal anomaly area and dike in this paper, could decrease heat flow below, increase above, and gradually increase to two sides; heat flow in upwelling parts of lithosphere is usually higher than sinking parts, and in the middle is of a gradual transition.

Probable satellite thermal infrared anomaly before the Zhangbei M_s=6.2 earthquake on January 10, 1998

This paper used the thermal infrared data of the satellite NOAA-AAVHRR of the north pat of North China (113°~119°E, 38°~42°N), and processed the remote sensing data through radiation adjustment, geometric adjust ment and so on by the software 'The Monitoring and Fast Process System of Earthquake Precursor Thermal Infra red Anomaly', inversed the each surface temperature. Some disturbances effect had been excluded, and thermal infrared temperature anomaly had been extracted by the picture difference method. The Zhangbei M_s=6.2 earth quake is used as the example in the paper, so that in the paper thermal infrared characteristics on time-space before earthquake and the relationship between the anomaly and the earthquake prediction have been summarized. Within more than ten days before the Zhangbei earthquake, the thermal infrared anomaly had emerged widely along Zhangjiakou-Bobal seismic belt, and the anomalous region seemed like a belt and it is also consistent with the tectonic background there; the anomaly expanded from the outside toward the earthquake focus, but the focus lay at the edge of the thermal infrared region. So it is possible to explore a new anomaly observation method for earthquake prediction by observing and studying the satellite thermal infrared anomaly before big earthquakes happen.

Cold Thermal Anomalous Structure within Lower Mantle and Its Geodynamic Implications

The lateral temperature anomalous structure of the lower mantle is reconstructed from the seismic tomographical model and high temperature and high pressure laboratory results. A significant correlation between the distribution of the cold anomaly and the location of past subduction belts shows that the shallower anomaly corresponds to the younger subduction sites, while the deeper anomaly to the older ones. This correlation also suggests that the cold anomaly may have come from the subduction slabs and the scale of mantle convection may have been completed. The coldest and largest anomaly is concentrated near the core mantle boundary (CMB). Few cold anomalies float in the shallower and middle parts of the lower mantle, suggesting that the downward migration of the subduction slabs, discontinuous and step like, may be divided into the following three stages: subduction, stagnation at the 670 km discontinuity due to the phase transition, and disintegration when the size exceeds the critical point.

The Bionic Anticipation of Natural Disasters

After major natural disasters, such as the recent earthquake-tsunami event in South Asia, reports appear about the mysterious ability of animals to anticipate and to escape the impending danger. This is an opportunity to recall the long history of this phenomenon in the traditions of different civilizations, to evaluate Chinese efforts, 30-40 years ago, to use this phenomenon for earthquake prediction, and to judge its state of acceptance in modem science. An effort is made to introduce this phenomenon as a research field of modem bionics. The timing is favorable since, increasingly, infrared thermal anomalies, monitored from satellite, suggesting litho-atmospheric processes, are found to precede earthquakes. They were unexpected by seismologists and are here suggested to essentially reflect the energy conversion patterns responsible for the signals monitored by animals. The aim is to learn from animals in the long term how natural disasters can better be anticipated, and how simple technical warning systems can be developed. Some challenges are analyzed. One is interpretation of the nature of energy release prior to the main earthquake disaster resulting in ＂macro-anomaly＂ precursors, another is better to understand the effect on animal senses. The role of non-linear cooperative phenomena including tsunamitype waves is emphasized.

Atmosphere-ionosphere response to the M9 Tohoku earthquake revealed by multiinstrument space-borne and ground observations:Preliminary results

We retrospectively analyzed the temporal and spatial variations of four different physical parameters characterizing the state of the atmosphere and ionosphere several days before the M9 Tohoku, Japan earthquake of March 11, 2011. The data include outgoing long wave radiation （OLR）, GPS/TEC, lower Earth orbit ionospheric tomography and critical frequency foF2. Our first results show that on March 7th a rapid increase of emitted infrared radiation was observed from the satellite data and an anomaly developed near the epicenter. The GPS/TEC data indicate an increase and variation in electron density reaching a maximum value on March 8. Starting from this day in the lower ionosphere also there was confirmed an abnormal TEC variation over the epicenter. From March 3 to 11 a large increase in electron concentration was recorded at all four Japanese ground-based ionosondes, which returned to normal after the main earthquake. The joint preliminary analysis of atmospheric and ionospheric parameters during the M9 Tohoku, Japan earthquake has revealed the presence of related variations of these parameters implying their connection with the earthquake process. This study may lead to a better understanding of the response of the atmosphere/ionosphere to the great Tohoku earthquake.

Digital thermal monitoring of the Amazon forest:an intercomparison of satellite and reanalysis products

Remote sensing and climate digital products have become increasingly available in recent years.Access to these products has favored a variety of Digital Earth studies,such as the analysis of the impact of global warming over different biomes.The study of the Amazon forest response to drought has recently received particular attention from the scientific community due to the occurrence of extreme droughts and anomalous warming over the last decade.This paper focuses on the differences observed between surface thermal anomalies obtained from remote sensing moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer(MODIS)and climatic(ERA-Interim)monthly products over the Amazon forest.With a few exceptions,results show that the spatial pattern of standardized anomalies is similar for both products.In terms of absolute anomalies,the differences between the two products show a bias near to zero with a standard deviation of around 0.2 K,although the differences can be up to 1 K over particular regions and months.Despite this general agreement,the proper filtering of MODIS daily values in order to construct a new monthly product showed a dramatic reduction in the number of reliable pixels during the rainy season,while for the dry season this reduction is only seen in Northern Amazonia.

Recovering Period of Postseismic Fluid Pressure in Fault Valve

The present study aims to reveal the recovering period of the postseismic fluid pressure in fault zone, offering an insight into earthquake recurrence. Numerical modeling is performed based on a 2D simple layered fault-valve model to simulate the fluid activities within the earthquake fault. In order to demonstrate the features of postseismic fluid pressure in natural state, the interference of tectonic movements is not considered. The recovering period of postseismic fluid pressure includes a sudden- changing period and a much longer fluctuating period. Modeling results show that fault permeability and porosity are sensitive parameters and reversely proportional to the recovering period of the fluid pressure in earthquake fault zone. When the permeability reduces from 10^-15 to 10^-18 m^2, the recovering period increases from 400 to 2 000 yrs, correspondently. The upper and lower fluid pressures are sepa- rated by the valve seal, causing their fluctuations in opposite tendencies.