bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Finding God’s Purpose: Hermann Cohen’s Use of Maimonides to Establish the Authority of Mosaic Law
Authors: Kohler George Y.
Published: June 2010

The most important Jewish source for Hermann Cohen’s rational theology of Judaism is Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed. Indeed, the Guide is of such importance that Cohen bases his entire idealistic interpretation of the Jewish religion on it. In particular, Cohen derives his discussion of the continued authority of Mosaic law from the Guide. What follows focuses on Cohen’s discussion of the “Law” in his Religion of Reason out of the Sources of Judaism, and attempts to fill a gap in recent Cohen research by dealing with questions of halakhah and the interpretation of rabbinical sources. Cohen’s original reading of, inter alia, Guide III.31‐32 led him to formulate a theory wherein Mosaic law—and by extension Judaism—guarantees the highest end of human morality. In identifying God with this end, Cohen eventually finds the ultimate criterion for the decision of how much of traditional Jewish law must still be observed in the need for the preservation of the purest monotheism—another central point in Maimonides’ philosophy.
California Wintertime Precipitation Bias in Regional and Global Climate Models
Authors: Caldwell Peter
Published: June 2010

In this paper, wintertime precipitation from a variety of observational datasets, regional climate models (RCMs), and general circulation models (GCMs) is averaged over the state of California and compared. Several averaging methodologies are considered and all are found to give similar values when the model grid spacing is less than 3°. This suggests that California is a reasonable size for regional intercomparisons using modern GCMs. Results show that reanalysis-forced RCMs tend to significantly overpredict California precipitation. This appears to be due mainly to the overprediction of extreme events; RCM precipitation frequency is generally underpredicted. Overprediction is also reflected in wintertime precipitation variability, which tends to be too high for RCMs on both daily and interannual scales. Wintertime precipitation in most (but not all) GCMs is underestimated. This is in contrast to previous studies based on global blended gauge–satellite observations, which are shown here to underestimate precipitation relative to higher-resolution gauge-only datasets. Several GCMs provide reasonable daily precipitation distributions, a trait that does not seem to be tied to model resolution. The GCM daily and interannual variabilities are generally underpredicted.
Risk of Strong Hurricane Winds to Florida Cities
Authors: Malmstadt Jill C. , Elsner James B. , Jagger Thomas H.
Published: June 2010

A statistical procedure for estimating the risk of strong winds from hurricanes is demonstrated and applied to several major cities in Florida. The procedure, called the hurricane risk calculator, provides an estimate of wind risk over different length periods and can be applied to any location experiencing this hazard. Results show that the city of Miami can expect to see hurricane winds blowing at 50 m s−1 [45.5–54.5 m s−1 is the 90% confidence interval (CI)] or stronger, on average, once every 12 yr. In comparison, the city of Pensacola can expect to see hurricane winds of 50 m s−1 (46.9–53.1 m s−1, 90% CI) or stronger once every 24 yr. A quantile regression is applied to hurricane wind speeds in the vicinity of Florida. Results show that the strongest hurricanes are getting stronger as a consequence of higher offshore intensification rates.
Intercomparison Study of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Flashes Observed by KARITLDS and KLDN at South Korea
Authors: Kuk Bong-Jae , Kim Hong-Il , Ha Jong-Sung , Lee Hyo-Keun
Published: June 2010

Concern regarding lightning activity as a precursor of severe weather is increasing. Atmospheric electricity, including lightning phenomena, is one of most serious threats to successful space launch operations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of two different lightning detection networks using a time–range correlation method. Understanding lightning detection network performance enables the weather forecaster to support decisions made regarding space launch operations. The relative detection efficiency (ReDE), observation ratio, ellipse area for 50% probability of location, number of sensors reporting (NSR), time difference, and distance, as parameters that predict system performance, were calculated with the time-range correlation method using cloud-to-ground (CG) flash data from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute Total Lightning Detection System (KARITLDS) and from the Korean Meteorology Administration Lightning Detection Network (KLDN). In this study, 15 thunderstorms were selected from 2008–09 data. A total of 41 192 and 28 976 CG flashes were recorded by KARITLDS and KLDN, respectively. In all, 19 044 CG flashes were correlated as being the same flash. The observation ratios, ReDEKARITLDS, and ReDEKLDN were calculated as 1.42, 0.66, and 0.46, respectively. Eighty percent of CG flashes detected by the KARITLDS (KLDN) had elliptical areas less than 5 km2 (12 km2), where the elliptical areas were defined as having a 50% probability of containing the CG flash. Two regions showing a high observation ratio were due to high KARITLDS detection efficiency and to the blocking of electromagnetic wave propagation by Mount Hanla at 1950 m above sea level.
Seasonal Climate Trends, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and Salamander Abundance in the Southern Appalachian Mountain Region
Authors: Warren Robert J. , Bradford Mark A.
Published: June 2010

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a large-scale climate teleconnection that coincides with worldwide changes in weather. Its impacts have been documented at large scales, particularly in Europe, but not as much at regional scales. Furthermore, despite documented impacts on ecological dynamics in Europe, the NAO’s influence on North American biota has been somewhat overlooked. This paper examines long-term temperature and precipitation trends in the southern Appalachian Mountain region—a region well known for its biotic diversity, particularly in salamander species—and examines the connections between these trends and NAO cycles. To connect the NAO phase shifts with southern Appalachian ecology, trends in stream salamander abundance are also examined as a function of the NAO index. The results reported here indicate no substantial long-term warming or precipitation trends in the southern Appalachians and suggest a strong relationship between cool season (November–April) temperature and precipitation and the NAO. More importantly, trends in stream salamander abundance are best explained by variation in the NAO as salamanders are most plentiful during the warmer, wetter phases.
The Influence of Downstream Diurnal Heating on the Descent of Flow across the Sierras
Authors: Mayr Georg J. , Armi Laurence
Published: June 2010

The potential for a stably stratified air mass upstream of the Sierra Nevada (California) to descend as foehn into the nearly 3-km-deep Owens Valley was studied for the 2 March 2006 case with observations from sondes, weather stations, and two aircraft flights. While upstream conditions remained almost unchanged throughout the day, strong diurnal heating on the downstream side warmed the valley air mass sufficiently to permit flow through the passes to descend to the valley floor only in the late afternoon. Potential temperatures of air crossing the crest were too warm to descend past a virtual floor formed by the strong potential temperature step at the top of the valley air mass, the height of which changed throughout the day primarily due to diurnal heating in the valley. The descending stably stratified flow and its rebound with vertical velocities as high as 8 m s−1 were shaped by the underlying topography and the virtual valley floor.
Turbulence Closure Parameterization and Grid Spacing Effects in Simulated Supercell Storms
Authors: Fiori Elisabetta , Parodi Antonio , Siccardi Franco
Published: June 2010

Many meteorological organizations plan to substantially increase the resolution of the limited-area models used for severe weather prediction. Such an approach does not guarantee a priori the reduction of the uncertainty of the decision maker in the prediction of severe weather impact.

A deep moist convective process, a supercell, is studied in a simplified atmospheric scenario by means of high-resolution numerical simulations with the Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling (COSMO) model. Different turbulence closure models and their impact on the spatiotemporal properties of storm processes are discussed. In the range of grid spacing between 1 km and 100 m, also termed “terra incognita,” the simulations of a supercell converge with respect to flow field structure, transport properties, and precipitation fields when a turbulence closure derived from large-eddy simulation (LES) is used. In contrast, more simplified turbulence closures such as 1D (vertical) boundary layer approximations yield substantially worse results than the 0.2-km LES reference simulation.
Quasigeostrophic Transient Wave Activity Flux: Updated Climatology and Its Role in Polar Vortex Anomalies
Authors: Nakamura Mototaka , Kadota Minoru , Yamane Shozo
Published: June 2010

The climatology of transient wave activity flux defined by Plumb has been calculated for each calendar month, for high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) waves, using the NCAR–NCEP reanalyses for both hemispheres. Wave activity flux of both HF and LF waves shows upward propagation of waves from the lower troposphere into the upper troposphere, then into the lower stratosphere during the summer and at least up to the midstratosphere during other seasons. While the upward flux emanating from the lower troposphere is particularly large in the two storm tracks in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), it is large in most of the extratropics in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). The HF waves radiate equatorward most noticeably in the upper troposphere, whereas the LF waves do not show visible signs of equatorward radiation. The total horizontal flux is generally dominated by the advective flux that represents the eddy enstrophy advection by the mean flow and appears predominantly pseudoeastward. Divergence of the wave activity flux exhibits discernible large-scale characteristics at the lowest level in both hemispheres and in the upper troposphere in the NH. The divergence field indicates acceleration of the pseudoeastward mean flow near the surface in both hemispheres. In the NH, acceleration and deceleration, respectively, of the pseudoeastward mean flow in the storm tracks and downstream of the storm tracks in the upper troposphere are found. Seasonal variations in the wave flux are substantial in the NH but relatively minor in the SH. In the NH, the wave flux fields exhibit generally larger values during the cold months than during warm months. Also, the latitudes at which large wave flux values are seen are higher during warm months, as the jets and storm tracks shift northward from the winter to the summer.

Anomalously large vertical flux of both HF and LF wave activity propagating up from the lower troposphere throughout the troposphere and stratosphere in the northern flank of the North Atlantic storm track is found to precede anomalous deceleration in the NH winter polar vortex, while anomalously small vertical flux in the same area precedes anomalous acceleration of the vortex. The accompanying horizontal flux anomalies tend to counteract the action of the anomalous vertical flux. These cases are found to be dissipation of strong anomalies in the polar vortex. The anomalous flux divergence does not prove the active role of the waves in the anomalous change in the polar vortex, however. No signs of the wave flux originating from specific areas preceding anomalous change in the polar vortex are found for the SH.
The Resonant Excitation of Baroclinic Waves by the Divergent Circulation of Recurving Tropical Cyclones
Authors: Hodyss Daniel , Hendricks Eric
Published: June 2010

This paper explores the hypothesis that a tropical cyclone (TC) may produce baroclinic waves through the divergent circulation that arises from its low-level inflow and upper-level outflow. The model setting is a quasigeostrophic (QG) two-layer fluid in which the effect of the tropical cyclone is parameterized through a source term on the QG potential vorticity equation. Equations predicting the spectral subset of baroclinic waves that are excited through linear resonance are derived. The near-TC pattern of the baroclinic waves in the streamfunction field typically takes the form of a ridge–trough couplet whose phase with respect to the TC varies with the speed and direction of the TCs motion vector. The predictions from the linearized theory are verified in two ways: 1) fully nonlinear simulations are shown and 2) comparison is made to the observed upper-level ridge–trough couplets produced by recurving TCs in the Navy’s Operational Global Prediction System (NOGAPS). The implications of this work for the predictability of downstream impacts from recurving TCs are briefly described.
An Airborne Profiling Radar Study of the Impact of Glaciogenic Cloud Seeding on Snowfall from Winter Orographic Clouds
Authors: Geerts Bart , Miao Qun , Yang Yang , Rasmussen Roy , Breed Daniel
Published: June 2010

Data from an airborne vertically pointing millimeter-wave Doppler radar are used to study the cloud microphysical effect of glaciogenic seeding of cold-season orographic clouds. Fixed flight tracks were flown downstream of ground-based silver iodide (AgI) generators in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming. Composite data from seven flights, each with a no-seeding period followed by a seeding period, indicate that radar reflectivity was higher near the ground during the seeding periods. Several physical considerations argue in favor of the hypothesis that the increase in near-surface reflectivity is attributed to AgI seeding. While the increase in near-surface reflectivity and thus snowfall rate are statistically significant, caution is warranted in view of the large natural variability of weather conditions and the small size of the dataset.
Genesis of Indian Ocean Mixed Layer Temperature Anomalies: A Heat Budget Analysis
Authors: Santoso Agus , Sen Gupta Alexander , England Matthew H.
Published: June 2010

The genesis of mixed layer temperature anomalies across the Indian Ocean are analyzed in terms of the underlying heat budget components. Observational data, for which a seasonal budget can be computed, and a climate model output, which provides improved spatial and temporal coverage for longer time scales, are examined. The seasonal climatology of the model heat budget is broadly consistent with the observational reconstruction, thus providing certain confidence in extending the model analysis to interannual time scales. To identify the dominant heat budget components, covariance analysis is applied based on the heat budget equation. In addition, the role of the heat budget terms on the generation and decay of temperature anomalies is revealed via a novel temperature variance budget approach. The seasonal evolution of the mixed layer temperature is found to be largely controlled by air–sea heat fluxes, except in the tropics where advection and entrainment are important. A distinct shift in the importance and role of certain heat budget components is shown to be apparent in moving from seasonal to interannual time scales. On these longer time scales, advection gains importance in generating and sustaining anomalies over extensive regions, including the trade wind and midlatitude wind regimes. On the other hand, air–sea heat fluxes tend to drive the evolution of thermal anomalies over subtropical regions including off northwestern Australia. In the tropics, however, they limit the growth of anomalies. Entrainment plays a role in the generation and maintenance of interannual anomalies over localized regions, particularly off Sumatra and over the Seychelles–Chagos Thermocline Ridge. It is further shown that the spatial distribution of the role and importance of these terms is related to oceanographic features of the Indian Ocean. Mixed layer depth effects and the influence of model biases are discussed.
Surface Heat Flux Variations across the Kuroshio Extension as Observed by Surface Flux Buoys
Authors: Konda Masanori , Ichikawa Hiroshi , Tomita Hiroyuki , Cronin Meghan F.
Published: June 2010

Wintertime sea surface heat flux variability across the Kuroshio Extension (KE) front is analyzed using data from the Kuroshio Extension Observatory (KEO) buoy in the Kuroshio recirculation gyre south of the KE front and from the Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology KEO (JKEO) buoy in the north of the front. The coincident data used are from periods during two winters (2007 and 2008), when both buoys had a complete suite of meteorological data. In these two winter periods, the focus of this research is on three types of typical weather patterns referred to here as the northerly wind condition, the monsoon wind condition, and the normal condition. During the northerly wind condition, latent and sensible heat fluxes were large and often varied simultaneously at both sites, whereas during the monsoon wind condition the latent heat flux at the KEO site was significantly larger than that at the JKEO site. The difference between these heat flux patterns is attributed to the different airmass transformations that occur when prevailing winds blow across the KE front versus along the front. Reanalysis products appear to reproduce these heat flux spatial patterns at synoptic scales. It is suggested that the relative frequencies of these different types of weather conditions result in anomalous spatial patterns in the heat fluxes on monthly time scales.
Ensemble Construction and Verification of the Probabilistic ENSO Prediction in the LDEO5 Model
Authors: Cheng Yanjie , Tang Youmin , Jackson Peter , Chen Dake , Deng Ziwang
Published: June 2010

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) retrospective ensemble-based probabilistic predictions were performed for the period of 1856–2003 using the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, version 5 (LDEO5), model. To obtain more reliable and skillful ENSO probabilistic predictions, first, four ensemble construction strategies were investigated: (i) the optimal initial perturbation with singular vector of sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA), (ii) the realistic high-frequency anomalous winds, (iii) the stochastic optimal pattern of anomalous winds, and (iv) a combination of the first and the third strategy. Second, verifications were conducted to examine the reliability and resolution of the probabilistic forecasts provided by the four methods. Results suggest that reliability of ENSO probabilistic forecast is more sensitive to the choice of ensemble construction strategy than the resolution, and a reliable and skillful ENSO probabilistic prediction system may not necessarily have the best deterministic prediction skills. Among these ensemble construction methods, the fourth strategy produces the most reliable and skillful ENSO probabilistic prediction, benefiting from the joint contributions of the stochastic optimal winds and the singular vector of SSTA. In particular, the stochastic optimal winds play an important role in improving the ENSO probabilistic predictability for the LDEO5 model.
Persistence of Easterly Wind during Major Stratospheric Sudden Warmings
Authors: Tomikawa Yoshihiro
Published: June 2010

This study examines why the persistence of easterly wind during major stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs) varies from one SSW to another. From the 22 SSWs identified between 1979 and 2009, six long and six short SSWs of easterly wind periods longer than 20 days and shorter than 10 days, respectively, are chosen and their composites are compared. While the polar-night jet is stronger than the climatological jet before long SSWs, the preconditioning of the polar-night jet tends to occur before short SSWs. After the occurrence of SSWs, the easterly wind of short SSWs quickly returns to a westerly wind due to large positive Eliassen–Palm (E–P) flux divergence in the winter polar stratosphere. The easterly wind of long SSWs lasts for 20–40 days because the E–P flux divergence is small whether it is positive or negative. Such a difference in the E–P flux divergence originates from the difference in the upward E–P flux from the troposphere. On the other hand, the positive E–P flux divergence during short SSWs is not caused by the variation of upward E–P flux from the troposphere but could be due to the shear instability caused by the overreflection of zonal wavenumber 1 planetary waves at the critical surface. The difference in the persistence of easterly wind between long and short SSWs also has a large impact on the planetary wave activity in the winter stratosphere.
Global Variability of Mesoscale Convective System Anvil Structure from A-Train Satellite Data
Authors: Yuan Jian , Houze Robert A.
Published: June 2010

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) in the tropics produce extensive anvil clouds, which significantly affect the transfer of radiation. This study develops an objective method to identify MCSs and their anvils by combining data from three A-train satellite instruments: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for cloud-top size and coldness, Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) for rain area size and intensity, and CloudSat for horizontal and vertical dimensions of anvils. The authors distinguish three types of MCSs: small and large separated MCSs and connected MCSs. The latter are MCSs sharing a contiguous rain area. Mapping of the objectively identified MCSs shows patterns of MCSs that are consistent with previous studies of tropical convection, with separated MCSs dominant over Africa and the Amazon regions and connected MCSs favored over the warm pool of the Indian and west Pacific Oceans.

By separating the anvil from the raining regions of MCSs, this study leads to quantitative global maps of anvil coverage. These maps are consistent with the MCS analysis, and they lay the foundation for estimating the global radiative effects of anvil clouds.

CloudSat radar data show that the modal thickness of MCS anvils is ∼4–5 km. Anvils are mostly confined to within 1.5–2 times the equivalent radii of the primary rain areas of the MCSs. Over the warm pool, they may extend out to ∼5 times the rain area radii. The warm ocean MCSs tend to have thicker nonraining and lightly raining anvils near the edges of their actively raining regions, indicating that anvils are generated in and spread out from the primary raining regions of the MCSs. Thicker anvils are nearly absent over continental regions.
Momentum Flux Budget across the Air–Sea Interface under Uniform and Tropical Cyclone Winds
Authors: Fan Yalin , Ginis Isaac , Hara Tetsu
Published: June 2010

In coupled ocean–atmosphere models, it is usually assumed that the momentum flux into ocean currents is equal to the flux from air (wind stress). However, when the surface wave field grows (decays) in space or time, it gains (loses) momentum and reduces (increases) the momentum flux into subsurface currents compared to the flux from the wind. In particular, under tropical cyclone (TC) conditions the surface wave field is complex and fast varying in space and time and may significantly affect the momentum flux from wind into ocean. In this paper, numerical experiments are performed to investigate the momentum flux budget across the air–sea interface under both uniform and idealized TC winds. The wave fields are simulated using the WAVEWATCH III model. The difference between the momentum flux from wind and the flux into currents is estimated using an air–sea momentum flux budget model. In many of the experiments, the momentum flux into currents is significantly reduced relative to the flux from the wind. The percentage of this reduction depends on the choice of the drag coefficient parameterization and can be as large as 25%. For the TC cases, the reduction is mainly in the right-rear quadrant of the hurricane, and the percentage of the flux reduction is insensitive to the changes of the storm size and the asymmetry in the wind field but varies with the TC translation speed and the storm intensity. The results of this study suggest that it is important to explicitly resolve the effect of surface waves for accurate estimations of the momentum flux into currents under TCs.
The Obduction of Equatorial 13°C Water in the Pacific Identified by a Simulated Passive Tracer*
Authors: Qu Tangdong , Gao Shan , Fukumori Ichiro , Fine Rana A. , Lindstrom Eric J.
Published: June 2010

The obduction of equatorial 13°C Water in the Pacific is investigated using a simulated passive tracer of the Consortium for Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO). The result shows that the 13°C Water initialized in the region 8°N–8°S, 130°–90°W enters the surface mixed layer in the eastern tropical Pacific, mainly through upwelling near the equator, in the Costa Rica Dome, and along the coast of Peru. Approximately two-thirds of this obduction occurs within 10 years after the 13°C Water being initialized, with the upper portion of the water mass reaching the surface mixed layer in only about a month. The obduction of the 13°C Water helps to maintain a cool sea surface temperature year-round, equivalent to a surface heat flux of about −6.0 W m−2 averaged over the eastern tropical Pacific (15°S–15°N, 130°W–eastern boundary) for the period of integration (1993–2006). During El Niño years, when the thermocline deepens as a consequence of the easterly wind weakening, the obduction of the 13°C Water is suppressed, and the reduced vertical entrainment generates a warming anomaly of up to 10 W m−2 in the eastern tropical Pacific and in particular along the coast of Peru, providing explanations for the warming of sea surface temperature that cannot be accounted for by local winds alone. The situation is reversed during La Niña years.
Toward a Midlatitude Ocean Frequency–Wavenumber Spectral Density and Trend Determination
Authors: Wunsch Carl
Published: June 2010

The time- and space-scale descriptive power of two-dimensional Fourier analysis is exploited to reanalyze the behavior of midlatitude variability as seen in altimetric data. These data are used to construct a purely empirical and analytical frequency–zonal wavenumber spectrum of ocean variability for periods between about 20 days and 15 yr and on spatial scales of about 200–10 000 km. The spectrum is dominated by motions along a “nondispersive” line, which is a robust feature of the data but for whose prominence a complete theoretical explanation is not available. The estimated spectrum also contains significant energy at all frequencies and wavenumbers in this range, including eastward-propagating motions, which are likely some combination of nonlinear spectral cascades, wave propagation, and wind-forced motions. The spectrum can be used to calculate statistical expectations of spatial average sea level and transport variations. However, because the statistics of trend determination in quantities such as sea level and volume transports depend directly upon the spectral limit of the frequency approaching zero, the appropriate significance calculations remain beyond reach, because low-frequency variability is indistinguishable from trends already present in the data.
Evaluation of Surface Temperature and Emissivity Derived from ASTER Data: A Case Study Using Ground-Based Measurements at a Volcanic Site
Authors: Barreto África , Arbelo Manuel , Hernández-Leal Pedro A. , Núñez-Casillas Laia , Mira María , Coll César
Published: June 2010

The land surface temperature (LST) and emissivity (LSE) derived from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data were evaluated in a low spectral contrast volcanic site at an altitude of 2000 m on the island of Tenerife, Spain. The test site is almost flat, thermally homogeneous, and without vegetation cover or variation in its surface composition. ASTER data correspond to six scenes, under both day- and nighttime conditions during 2008. This case study analyzes the impacts of the sources of inaccuracies using the temperature–emissivity separation (TES) algorithm. Uncertainties associated with inaccurate atmospheric correction were minimized by means of local soundings and the climate advantages of the area.

Concurrent ground-based radiometric measurements were performed for LST, and laboratory and field measurements for LSE, to obtain reference values. The TES evaluation showed a good level of agreement in the emissivity derived for ASTER bands 13 and 14 [root-mean-square difference (RMSD) lower than 0.002] and discrepancies in ASTER bands 10 and 11 that were within the expected performance of the algorithm (±0.015). However, out-of-threshold errors were retrieved in band 12, producing an artificial increase in spectral contrast. The underestimated TES LSE spectra point to the presence of a roughness effect at measurement scales that may increase the laboratory band emissivity values. TES LST comparison with ground data showed an RMSD value of 0.5 K. ASTER standard products AST08 (LST) and AST05 (LSE) atmospherically corrected by means of Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) data were also tested, showing a similar level of performance for the TES implemented with local soundings, but failed in high-humidity atmospheric conditions.
A Revised Model for Radial Profiles of Hurricane Winds
Authors: Holland Greg J. , Belanger James I. , Fritz Angela
Published: June 2010

A revision to the Holland parametric approach to modeling the radial profile of winds in hurricanes is presented. The approach adopted uses information readily available from hurricane archives or in hurricane warning information and the profile can be readily incorporated into existing parametric models of the hurricane surface wind field. The original model utilized central and environmental surface pressures, maximum winds, and radius of maximum winds. In the revision a capacity to incorporate additional wind observations at some radius within the hurricane circulation was included. If surface observations are used, then a surface wind profile will result, obviating the need for deriving a boundary layer reduction from the gradient wind level. The model has considerably less sensitivity to data errors compared to the original and is shown to reproduce hurricane reconnaissance and surface wind profiles with high accuracy.
Rapid Intensification of a Sheared Tropical Storm
Authors: Molinari John , Vollaro David
Published: June 2010

A weak tropical storm (Gabrielle in 2001) experienced a 22-hPa pressure fall in less than 3 h in the presence of 13 m s−1 ambient vertical wind shear. A convective cell developed downshear left of the center and moved cyclonically and inward to the 17-km radius during the period of rapid intensification. This cell had one of the most intense 85-GHz scattering signatures ever observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The cell developed at the downwind end of a band in the storm core. Maximum vorticity in the cell exceeded 2.5 × 10−2 s−1. The cell structure broadly resembled that of a vortical hot tower rather than a supercell.

At the time of minimum central pressure, the storm consisted of a strong vortex adjacent to the cell with a radius of maximum winds of about 10 km that exhibited almost no tilt in the vertical. This was surrounded by a broader vortex that tilted approximately left of the ambient shear vector, in a similar direction as the broad precipitation shield. This structure is consistent with the recent results of Riemer et al.

The rapid deepening of the storm is attributed to the cell growth within a region of high efficiency of latent heating following the theories of Nolan and Vigh and Schubert. This view is supported by a rapid growth of wind speed and vorticity in the storm core during the 1-h lifetime of the cell, and by the creation of a narrow 7°C spike in 700-hPa temperature adjacent to the cell and coincident with the lowest pressure. The cell is not seen as the cause of rapid intensification. Rather, it is part of a multiscale process: (i) development of a new circulation center within the downshear precipitation shield, (ii) continued ambient shear creating a favored region for cell formation just downshear of the new center, and (iii) the development of the intense cell that enhanced diabatic heating close to the center in a region of high efficiency of kinetic energy production. This sheared, asymmetric rapid intensification of Tropical Storm Gabrielle is contrasted with the nearly symmetric composite given by Kaplan and DeMaria.
Characteristics of Summer Trade Wind Rainfall over Oahu
Authors: Hartley Treena Marie , Chen Yi-Leng
Published: June 2010

In this study, characteristics of summer trade wind rainfall over Oahu, Hawaii, are analyzed. In the early morning before sunrise, flow deceleration on the windward coastal area is the greatest when the island land surface is the coldest. Furthermore, relatively calm winds are found over central Oahu between the Ko’olau Mountains and the Waianae Mountains, with weak westerly katabatic winds on the windward side of the Waianae Mountains. Most windward stations have an early morning rainfall maximum with a secondary rainfall maximum in the early evening. Morning (afternoon) land (sea) breezes dominate under variable winds, and are more pronounced over leeward Oahu. Precipitation on the western leeside coast has a slight peak in the afternoon due to an increase of cloud development from the afternoon sea breezes. Daily orographic rainfall over Oahu is greater under the strong trade wind regime, and less under weak trade wind and variable-wind flow regimes. However, the maximum correlation between daily trade wind rainfall and trade wind speed is <0.3. Days with high rainfall generally occur under strong trades, but not all strong trade wind days produce significant rainfall. With its relatively low terrain height compared to lifted condensation level (LCL) and relatively small size, orographic lifting alone is inadequate to initiate precipitation through warm rain processes. The existence of trade wind cumuli upstream is necessary. In addition, a deeper moist layer and higher moisture content upstream are two conditions that are favorable for higher orographic precipitation over Oahu under undisturbed summertime trade wind weather.
Weather, Climate, and Environmental Water Transactions
Authors: Jones Lana , Colby Bonnie
Published: June 2010

Obtaining water for environmental purposes, such as habitat restoration or water quality improvements, has become an important objective in many parts of the world. Such water acquisitions are likely to become more challenging as regional water demand and supply patterns are altered by climate change. In regions where water supplies are already fully claimed, voluntary negotiated transactions have become a key means to obtain water for the environment. The cost of acquiring water in such transactions is hypothesized to vary with regional weather and climate conditions due to both the actual effects of temperature and precipitation on water supply and demand and the perceptions water users may hold about these effects.

This article develops econometric models to examine the effect of temperature and precipitation on water lease prices in four U.S. states located in the desert southwest. Water leases for environmental and nonenvironmental purposes are contrasted to understand the differing nature of these lease markets and the role of weather and climate variables. The authors’ analysis finds that temperature, precipitation, regional income, and population changes are variables that have differing effects in the two lease markets. Overall, analysis of over 20 yr of data shows the need to consider climate and weather factors given the growing importance of water leases as a tool to secure water for the environment.
“Old Indian Ways” of Predicting the Weather: Senator Robert S. Kerr and the Winter Predictions of 1950–51 and 1951–52
Authors: Peppler Randy A.
Published: June 2010

In September 1950, U.S. Senator Robert S. Kerr (D-Oklahoma) wrote to Indian leaders across the United States in order to “make some determination with regard to whether or not we are going to have an early winter and whether or not we may expect a hard winter.” Even though he had access to U.S. Weather Bureau predictions and other scientific data, Kerr and his administrative assistant, Ben Dwight, a member of the Choctaw Nation and its onetime Principal Chief, wrote that they “would like to know what some of the Indians in the various sections of the nation think about our coming winter probabilities.” Kerr and Dwight indicated they had a “high regard for the old Indian ways of determining such things—because they are practical and have always been able to make some very accurate predictions.” From 33 letters sent to tribes in 1950 (including 9 to tribes in Oklahoma) 3 responses were known to have been received; a follow-up letter-writing campaign in October 1951 was more fruitful, producing 8 known responses. This paper examines the tribal responses and explores the life and possible motivations of Senator Kerr, an influential man on the U.S. political stage during 1949–63, in seeking this information. This research is part of a broader field investigation that seeks to understand how Native Americans in Oklahoma conceptualize weather and climate, including traditional ways, and how their knowledge is helping to inform new efforts to farm sustainably and create food sovereignty.
Romantic Relationships and Substance Use in Early Adulthood
Authors: Fleming Charles B. , White Helene R. , Catalano Richard F.
Published: June 2010

This study used longitudinal data from 909 young adults to examine associations between substance use and the status and quality of romantic relationships. Heavy alcohol use, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking, as well as relationship status, relationship quality, partner substance use, and other salient life circumstances were assessed at four time points in the two years after high school. Marriage, cohabiting relationships, and noncohabiting dating relationships were associated with reductions in heavy drinking and marijuana use relative to non-dating, after adjusting for adolescent substance use; marriage compared to not dating was associated with reductions in cigarette smoking. For those in romantic relationships, partner substance use moderated the associations between relationship quality and substance use for heavy drinking and for marijuana use, supporting the hypothesis derived from the Social Development Model that the protective effect of stronger social bonds depends on the use patterns of the partner to whom an individual is bonded.
Institutions, Interest Groups, and Ideology
Authors: Quadagno Jill
Published: June 2010

A central sociological premise is that health care systems are organizations that are embedded within larger institutions, which have been shaped by historical precedents and operate within a specific cultural context. Although bound by policy legacies, embedded constituencies, and path dependent processes, health care systems are not rigid, static, and impervious to change. The success of health care reform in 2010 has shown that existing regimes do have the capacity to respond to new needs in ways that transcend their institutional and ideological limits. For the United States the question is how health care reform will reconfigure the existing network of public and private benefits and the power relationships between the numerous constituencies surrounding them. This article considers how institutions, interest groups, and ideology have affected the organization of the health care system in the United States as well as in other nations. It then discusses issues for future research in the aftermath of the 2009-10 health care reform debate.
Do Personality Traits Moderate the Effect of Late-Life Spousal Loss on Psychological Distress?
Authors: Pai Manacy , Carr Deborah
Published: June 2010

We use data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study to investigate the extent to which: (1) five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability/neuroticism, extraversion, and openness) moderate the effect of late-life spousal loss on depressive symptoms; (2) these patterns vary based on the expectedness of the death; and (3) the patterns documented in (1) and (2) are explained by secondary stressors and social support. Widowed persons report significantly more depressive symptoms than married persons, yet the deleterious effects of loss are significantly smaller for highly extraverted and conscientious individuals. The protective effects of personality traits, however, vary based on the expectedness of the death. Extraversion is protective against depression only for persons who had forewarning of the death. Extraverts may be particularly good at marshalling social support during prolonged periods of spousal illness. We discuss the ways that extraversion and conscientiousness may buffer against bereavement-related stressors.
The Cultivation of Esteem and Retrieval of Scientific Knowledge in Physician Networks
Authors: Menchik Daniel A. , Meltzer David O.
Published: June 2010

This article evaluates how physicians draw upon scientific and other forms of knowledge in different professional communities. We argue that because physicians will draw upon clinical research findings to improve their reputation with colleagues, and because the terms for accruing esteem in an academic hospital may differ depending on the dominant task structure of the organization, the form of knowledge that is valued by a physician will vary with his or her hospital’s level of prestige. We use social network and multivariate analyses to test this theory in six U.S. hospitals with varying levels of prestige. We find that in lower-prestige hospitals, physicians can improve their reputation by reading a relatively broad range of scientific journals, whereas in higher-prestige hospitals, esteem is allocated to those with a more elite medical school pedigree. Statistically significant differences also exist between hospitals in terms of whether work with patients is valued, with physicians who engage in more clinical activity in the highest-ranked hospitals receiving less esteem from their colleagues. We finish by discussing how the functioning of higher- and lower-prestige hospitals is interconnected in ways that sustain both the development of innovations and their widespread adoption.
Nonmarital Romantic Relationships and Mental Health in Early Adulthood
Authors: Simon Robin W. , Barrett Anne E.
Published: June 2010

Although social scientists have long assumed that intimate social relationships are more closely associated with women’s than men’s mental health, recent research indicates that there are no gender differences in the advantages of marriage and disadvantages of unmarried statuses when males’ and females’ distinct expressions of emotional distress are considered. These findings have led to the conclusion that there has been a convergence in the importance of intimate relationships for men’s and women’s mental health. However, these patterns may not be evident for nonmarital romantic relationships among current cohorts of young adults. In this article, we examine the associations among several dimensions of these relationships and symptoms of both depression and substance abuse/dependence in a diverse sample of young adults in Miami, Florida. We find gender differences that vary across dimensions of relationships: While current involvements and recent breakups are more closely associated with women’s than men’s mental health, support and strain in an ongoing relationship are more closely associated with men’s than women’s emotional well-being. Our findings highlight the need to consider the period in the life course as well as experiences of specific cohorts of men and women when theorizing about gender differences in the importance of intimate relationships for mental health.
Big Boys and Little Girls
Authors: Van Hook Jennifer , Baker Elizabeth
Published: June 2010

Previous research fails to find a consistent association between obesity and acculturation for children. We theorize that social isolation shelters children of immigrants from the U.S. “obesiogenic” environment, but this protective effect is offset by immigrant parents’ limited capacity to identify and manage this health risk in the United States. We further theorize that these factors affect boys more than girls. We use data from over 20,000 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort and find that boys whose parents were raised outside the United States weighed more and gained weight faster than any other group. However, within this group, sons of low English-proficient parents gained weight more slowly than sons of English-proficient parents. The results thus suggest that two dimensions of low acculturation—foreign place of socialization and social isolation—affect children’s weight gain in opposite directions and are more important for boys than girls.
Workplace bullying, industrial relations and the challenge for management in Britain and Sweden
Authors: Beale David , Hoel Helge
Published: June 2010

This article explores workplace bullying in Britain and Sweden. It compares and contrasts the patterns of bullying in the two countries, examines the attitudes and responses of employers and explores the different legal frameworks. It adopts a contextualized approach and explores the possibility of a connection between workplace bullying issues and the distinctive patterns of industrial relations in the two countries. The article draws on previously published material to examine these questions, suggesting possibilities for new empirical research.
Sectoral variation in collectively agreed employment protection: Evidence from Dutch flexicurity
Authors: Schils Trudie , Houwing Hester
Published: June 2010

This article addresses the flexicurity outcomes of sectoral collective bargaining in the Netherlands. Dutch experience — presented as a model by the European Commission — proves not to be a case of ‘one size fits all’. Taking an institutionalist but firm-centred perspective, our analysis links the flexicurity policy debate to the theoretical analyses of ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ (VoC), which also stress various institutional constellations that can lead to equally optimal outcomes. In contrast to the core argument of the VoC perspective that diversity between institutional regimes is persistent, we find convergence across sectors over time. However, sectoral differences in the negotiated flexicurity balance remain apparent.
European social dialogue on psychosocial risks at work: Benefits and challenges
Authors: Ertel Michael , Stilijanow Ulrike , Iavicoli Sergio , Natali Elena , Jain Aditya , Leka Stavroula
Published: June 2010

In many European countries, psychosocial risks such as work-related stress, violence, bullying and harassment have become major concerns for occupational safety and health. Has the development of instruments and approaches to meet these challenges kept pace? This article examines the role of European social dialogue as a relatively novel mode of regulation (‘soft law’) in the field of psychosocial risks, considering also the changing political and economic context of the enlarged EU. Although some progress has been achieved, diverging stakeholder perspectives and structural weaknesses still pose serious challenges to effective social dialogue in this area. We draw on the results of a recently completed project on psychosocial risk management, including the findings of a European stakeholder survey among experts in occupational safety and health.