Mean seasonal and spatial variability in global surface air temperature

Legates, David R.; Willmott, Cort J.

doi:10.1007/bf00866198

Cited by 574 publications

(289 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The gauged discharge data used were collated by the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) from 1348 gauging stations with tributaries larger than 2500 km 2 and with time series exceeding 12 years with < 10% missing data. The water balance model uses the data set of Legates and Willmott (1990a) for global precipitation, the formula of Hamon (1963) to calculate evapotranspiration on the basis of temperature (using the data set of Legates and Willmott, 1990b), soil type data from the FAO/UNESCO soil data bank (FAO/UNESCO, 1986), topographic data from the ETOPO5 global elevation data set (Edwards, 1989) and a contemporary land cover classification derived from the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (Melillo et al, 1993) with Olson's land use classification (Olson, 1991).…”

Section: Hydrological Data 221 Runoff Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating surface water concentrations of “down-the-drain” chemicals in China using a global model

Whelan¹,

Hodges²,

Williams³

et al. 2012

Environmental Pollution

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Predictions of surface water exposure to "down-the-drain" chemicals are presented which employ grid-based spatially-referenced data on average monthly runoff, population density, country-specific per capita domestic water and substance use rates and sewage treatment provision. Water and chemical load are routed through the landscape using flow directions derived from digital elevation data, accounting for in-stream chemical losses using simple first order kinetics. Although the spatial and temporal resolution of the model are relatively coarse, the model still has advantages over spatially inexplicit "unit-world" approaches, which apply arbitrary dilution factors, in terms of predicting the location of exposure hotspots and the statistical distribution of concentrations. The latter can be employed in probabilistic risk assessments. Here the model was applied to predict surface water exposure to "downthe-drain" chemicals in China for different levels of sewage treatment provision.Predicted spatial patterns of concentration were consistent with observed water quality classes for China.Key Words: Global, Exposure, Chemical, Model, China Capsule AbstractA global-scale model was used to predict spatial patterns of "down-the-drain" chemical concentrations in China. Predictions were consistent with observed water quality classes, demonstrating the potential value of the model.3

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Section: Hydrological Data 221 Runoff Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating surface water concentrations of “down-the-drain” chemicals in China using a global model

Whelan¹,

Hodges²,

Williams³

et al. 2012

Environmental Pollution

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“…A short-range NWP forecast demonstrates that SLIM cloud improves the simulated cloud cover when Legates and Willmott (1990) climatology. compared to observations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 5 shows how improvements to the global cloud structure lead to improvements in other parts of the model climatology. Comparison of the simulated 1.5-m temperature to the Legates and Willmott (1990) climatology demonstrates that the control run has a large region of Northern-Europe and Asia that shows a negative bias. The SLIM cloud simulation has caused some warming in this region, reducing the negative bias in the temperature and therefore improving the simulation.…”

Section: Climate Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parametrization of area cloud fraction

Boutle

Morcrette

2010

Atmospheric Science Letters

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Comparisons of radiosonde data to model profiles show that the relative coarseness of the vertical grid can lead to poorly resolved changes in thermodynamic properties. This can lead to the model underestimating cloud cover. A parametrization for area cloud fraction, compatible with a prognostic cloud scheme, is developed and tested. The parametrization is then implemented in a general circulation model and used to produce a weather forecast and a climate simulation. The simulated cloud cover is improved in both models, whilst feedbacks within the climate model lead to an improvement in the surface temperature, particularly in the Northern-Hemisphere winter.  Crown

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“…1a & c show the gridded temperature (Legates & Willmott 1990b) and precipitation values for Africa (Legates & Willmott 1990a). Based on the Legates & Willmott (1990b) temperature data, estimates of potential evapotranspiration were produced using the Thornthwaite model (Wilm et al 1944;Eqs. 3 to 6) (Fig.…”

Section: Climate Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the purposes of this study, the International Soil Reference Centre (ISRIC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNEP) sponsored 1987 Global Assessment of Soil Degradation (GLASOD) will be used to represent human-induced soil degradation between 1950 and 1980 (Oldeman 1988, Oldeman et Legates & Willmott (1990b); (b) potential evapotranspiration rates using the Thornthwaite method; and (c) precipitation estimates from Legates & Willmott (1990a) al. 1990, Middleton & Thomas 1992).…”

Section: Estimating Human-induced Soil Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimated impacts of soil degradation on the African water balance and climate

Feddema¹

1998

Clim. Res.

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This study uses a well-established water balance methodology, the Thornthwaite-Mather approach, to evaluate the effects of soil water holding capacity assumptions on estimates of African evapotranspiration rates, moisture deficit, and moisture surplus conditions. Under constant climate conditions, the model tests the impact of using a constant 150 mm soil water holding capacity compared to using a newly derived soil water holding capacity data set (the Dunne-Willmott data set). The study also uses a worldwide survey of soil degradation between 1950 and 1980 (GLASOD: Global Assessment of Soil Degradation) to evaluate the impacts of human-induced soil degradation on local water balances. The GLASOD data are used to alter local soil water holding capacities based on the DunneWillmott data to simulate human soil degradation patterns in Africa. Results indicate that the use of simplified soil water holding capacities can lead to significant errors in estimated evapotranspiration rates and water surplus and deficit conditions in Africa. Regions most affected are those with seasonal wet and dry climates, which are also those locations with the greatest climate variability. Because these are often the climates most studied to detect and model environmental change, it is important that accurate soil moisture estimates be used to simulate climate conditions in these regions. Results also indicate that soil degradation occurring over a 30 yr period (1950 to 1980) has had a significant impact on local water resources. The greatest impacts of these changes are in some of the more productive agricultural areas in the wetter sub-humid climates. Changes include increased runoff during wet seasons and an extended drought period during the dry seasons. Given that these agricultural systems have less flexibility to respond to long-term desiccation as compared to pastoral systems, this could lead to significant changes in local growing seasons and perhaps overall productivity in the future.

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Mean seasonal and spatial variability in global surface air temperature

Cited by 574 publications

References 18 publications

Estimating surface water concentrations of “down-the-drain” chemicals in China using a global model

Estimating surface water concentrations of “down-the-drain” chemicals in China using a global model

Parametrization of area cloud fraction

Estimated impacts of soil degradation on the African water balance and climate

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