Precipitation is one of the atmospheric variables that characterize the climate of a region. The South Island of New Zealand (SI of NZ) has an unusually large number of distinct regional climates and its climatic diversity includes the coldest, wettest, driest and windiest places in New Zealand. This thesis focuses on identifying precipitation trends and rainfall fluctuations for the SI of NZ. First, homogeneity of 184 precipitation series is assessed with the combination of three homogeneity tests (Standard Normal Homogeneity Test, Easterling & Peterson test, Vincent�s Multiple Linear Regression). More than 60% of tested time series are found to contain at least one inhomogeneity. About 50% of the inhomogeneities can be traced to information in the station history files with nearly 25% of all inhomogeneities caused by the relocation of the precipitation gauge. Five coherent precipitation regions are defined by the Principal Component Analysis. The objective of identifying the periods of water deficit and surplus in spatial and temporal domains is achieved by using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The SPI series (for 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 months time scales) are calculated for each region and used for analysis of dry and wet periods. Clear differences in the frequency, length and intensity of droughts and wet periods were found between individual regions. There is a positive (i.e. increase in wet periods) trend in SPI time series for the North, Westland and Southland regions during the 1921-2003 period at all times scales, and a negative trend for Canterbury during the same period. The results show longer wet periods than dry periods at all time scales. Extreme heavy precipitation, which causes floods, is the most common type of natural disaster accounting for about 40% of all natural disasters worldwide. A set of ten extreme indices is calculated for 51 stations throughout the South Island for the period 1951-2003. The west-east division is found to be the dominant feature of extreme precipitation trends for all extreme indices with more frequent and more intense extreme precipitation in the west/southwest and with a declining trend in the east. The significant decrease in extreme precipitation frequency was detected in Canterbury with 3 days less of precipitation above the long-term 95th percentile by 2003 as compared to 1951. The variability of precipitation, expressed by the SPI, is correlated with local New Zealand atmospheric circulation indices and large-scale teleconnections. The precipitation variability in the South Island is governed largely by the local circulation characteristics, mainly the strength and position of the westerly flow. The increase in precipitation in the West and SouthEast is associated with enhanced westerlies. The correlations between New Zealand�s circulation indices and regional SPI are seasonally robust. The SouthEast region exhibits a strong relationship with the Southern Oscillation Index on seasonal and annual time scales,and with Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation at the decadal scale. The predictability of seasonal precipitation one season ahead is very limited.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-66).

The Canadian Precipitation Analysis (CaPA) system has been developed by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to optimally combine different sources of information to estimate precipitation accumulation across Canada. The system combines observations from different networks of weather stations and radar measurements with the background information generated by ECCC's Regional Deterministic Prediction System (RDPS), derived from the Global Environmental Multiscale (GEM) model. The main scope of this study is to assess the importance of weather stations when combined with the background information for hydrological modeling. A new approach to meteorological network design, considered to be a stochastic hydro-geostatistical scheme, is proposed and investigated which is particularly useful for augmenting data-sparse networks. The approach stands out from similar approaches of its kind in that it is comprised of a data assimilation component included based on the paradigm of an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE), a technique used to simulate data assimilation systems in order to evaluate the sensitivity of the analysis to new observation network. The proposed OSSE-based algorithm develops gridded stochastic precipitation and temperature models to generate synthetic time-series assumed to represent the 'reference' atmosphere over the basin. The precipitation realizations are used to simulate synthetic observations, associated with hypothetical station networks of various densities, and synthetic background data, which in turn are assimilated in CaPA to realize various pseudo-analyses. The reference atmosphere and the pseudo-analyses are then compared through hydrological modeling in WATFLOOD. By comparing the flow rates, the relative performance of each pseudo-analysis associated with a specific network density is assessed. The simulations show that as the network density increases, the accuracy of the hydrological signature of the CaPA precipitation products improves hyperbolically to a certain limit beyond which adding more stations to the network does not result in further accuracy. This study identifies an observation network density that can satisfy the hydrological criteria as well as the threshold at which assimilated products outperforms numerical weather prediction outputs. It also underlines the importance of augmenting observation networks in small river basins to better resolve mesoscale weather patterns and thus improve the predictive accuracy of streamflow simulation. / May 2017

Hot-work tool steels make up an important group of steels that are able to perform with good strength and toughness properties at elevated temperatures and stresses. They are able to gain this behavior through their alloy composition and heat treatment, which relies on the precipitation of alloy carbides to counter the loss in strength as the tempered material becomes more ductile. As demand grows for materials that are suitable for even harsher applications and that show improved mechanical qualities, the steel industry must continuously investigate the development of new steel grades. Within this context, the present work focuses on examining the mechanical properties and microstructure of two hot-work tool steels, of which one is a representative steel grade (Steel A) and the second a higher-alloyed variant (Steel B), at different tempering conditions. To complement the experimental work, precipitation simulations are used to monitor the progression of secondary carbide precipitation and to examine the predicted microstructural changes through varying the alloy composition. The study finds that Steel B does not actually have improved properties with respect to Steel A and suggests that the precipitation behavior of both steels is virtually identical. Despite this, the simulation work reveals that this behavior can change dramatically to favor more positive hardness contributions by increasing the alloy content of V. In short, with the project being part of an ongoing investigation, there remain several areas of analysis that need to be completed before offering a complete picture that can ultimately play a part in the development of a new hot-work tool steel grade.

Nutrient ion exchange was examined between simulated acid rain solutions and northern red oak (Ouercus rubra L.) leaves of trees growing in fertile, limestone-derived soil and less fertile, sandstone/shale-derived soil. Leaves harvested from trees growing on the fertile site had greater concentrations of total N, P, K, Ca, and Mn but less total Mg than leaves of trees on the less fertile site. Cation losses from leaves of both sites were similar when exposed T3 to simulated rain solutions of pH 5.6, 4.3, and 3.0. Simulated rain solutions of pH 3.0 leached the greatest amount of total cations from leaves of both sites. Differences in acidity between leachates and starting rain solutions increased as the acidity of starting solutions contacting leaves of either site increased. Differences in leaf nutrient status between sites typically did not affect leachate acidity. Hydrogen ion exchange, believed to be the main mechanism of cation loss from leaves of both sites, accounted for 30 to 44% of all cations leached from leaves of both sites. Concentrations of inorganic ions were measured in bulk rainfall and bulk throughfall collected beneath northern red oak trees growing on the fertile and less fertile sites. Rainfall passing through crowns at both sites was enriched with S0₄²⁻, P0₄³⁻, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, Mn²⁺, and Fe²⁺, but lost NH₄⁺ to the crowns. There was little difference in the inorganic chemistry of incident rainfall between sites. Large-particle dryfall ionic concentrations, rainfall volume, and leaf area were all larger at the fertile than at the less fertile site. Higher concentrations of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, NH₄⁺, Mn²⁺, and S0₄²⁻in throughfall at the fertile site compared to that of the less fertile site are likely due to the combination of these three factors. Historical northern red oak crown areas were estimated for the fertile and less fertile sites by a two step procedure using annual growth ring chronologies and published regression equations. These equations related total crown area to total crown dry weight. The usefulness of crown area estimates in throughfall studies was demonstrated by applying nutrient ion exchange data, collected beneath northern red oak crowns in 1984, to 1982 and 1930 crown area estimates. Smaller nutrient ion exchange estimates in 1930 were due to smaller crown area estimates. / Ph. D.

No description available.

The late Quaternary palaeoclimatic history of the lowland Southern Hemisphere Tropics of South America (SHTSA) has been little studied and analysis of key climatic events, such as the Last Glacial Maximum (centred ~ 21,000 years ago (21 cal. ka BP)) and the glacial-Holocene transition is limited. Studies from the SH tropical Andes and the Atlantic seaboard demonstrate a strengthening of the South American summer monsoon during the LGM, in tune with the ~ 20 kyr precession orbital cycle. However, palynological studies from SHTSA suggest a drier LGM. There are difficulties in interpreting different palaeoenvironmental proxy records and the extent to which they reflect changes in temperature, precipitation, and/or atmospheric CO2 concentrations. In particular, the palaeoenvironmental significance of palynological data is often unclear. Also, high frequency, millennial-scale events have not been captured in records from the lowland SHTSA due to a lack of high resolution temporal records. Diatoms have been used widely in other parts of the world to reconstruct lake level change and therefore provide an independent proxy for precipitation, and an understanding of the modern diatom ecology is essential for accurate palaeoreconstruction. The main rationale of this thesis is to address the uncertainty of the glacial-Holocene climate in South America. To this end, this thesis aims to: (a) investigate the distribution, ecology, and flora of diatom taxa at Laguna La Gaiba (17°45’S, 57°40’W) (LLG) in the heart of lowland tropical South America, where very few modern diatom studies exist; (b) determine whether modern diatom assemblages at LLG will provide a useful analogue for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, in particular, lake depth reconstruction; (c) provide a detailed late Quaternary lake level reconstruction for the lowland interior of SHTSA, based upon fossil diatom analysis of a sedimentary core in LLG. Descriptive, quantitative and multivariate analyses were applied to modern diatom assemblages and environmental variables to ascertain the modern diatom environment of LLG. Diatom, pollen, and geochemical analyses, chronologically constrained by 18 AMS 14C dates, were performed on a sediment core extracted from LLG. Key findings indicate: (1) Aulacoseira ambigua, A. ambigua var. robusta. A. distans and A. granulata var. angustissima were the most abundant species. Shallowwater species, such as Staurosira and Eunotia spp., dominated the shallows and littoral zone, whilst deep-water species, such as Aulacoseira sp., dominated in open water; (2) The highest percent variance in the diatom data was explained by depth and pH; (3) Analysis of fossil diatom assemblages from the LLG core demonstrated that the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and late glacial period (prior to 12.5 kyr BP) was drier than present. This corroborates and significantly strengthens pollen-based palaeo-hydrological reconstructions from the same core; (4) An abrupt shift from 12.5 kyr BP from shallow water to deep water diatoms signals major flooding of LLG associated with the transition from relatively drier glacial conditions to wetter Holocene conditions and also highlights an anomalously wet period centred over 12.2 kyr BP that falls within the Younger Dryas chronozone; (5) Deep-water diatoms remain high throughout the Holocene, which means that the mid-Holocene aridity inferred from the pollen data (expansion of seasonally-dry tropical forest) is not captured by the diatom data. These results not only present the modern diatom ecology of a little studied area in lowland Bolivia, but also highlight the potential of diatoms as a proxy for past lake level fluctuations, improving the understanding of late Quaternary palaeoclimate of tropical South America. Used as part of a multiproxy reconstruction, this record has provided a more complete picture of the variation between regions of late Quaternary climate change in South America, as evidence of a dry LGM climate contrasts with the robust, well-dated climate archives of the central Andes and E Brazil. This suggests the climate in the continental interior of SHTSA was not driven by the precesionally-forced monsoon cycle but is in step with changes in glacialinterglacial cycle boundary conditions.

Mountain precipitation, as a major component of global ecology and culture, requires diverse observation-based distribution studies to improve process characterisation and so enhance environmental management and understanding. Analysis of data from an array of precipitation gauges within the nationally important, and internationally extreme, mountainous Lake Pukaki catchment in New Zealand has been undertaken in an effort to provide such a study, while also improving local hydrological understanding. An objective observation based undercatch-corrected 1971-2000 average annual precipitation distribution has been prepared for the mountainous Lake Pukaki catchment, New Zealand. Precipitation records from 58 gauges at 51 sites, augmented with 10 new gauges, were used in preparation of the distribution. The assessed undercatch correction of 17 % across the catchment indicates that mountain hydrological investigations in New Zealand that use precipitation data and yet do not consider undercatch will be in considerable error. The average annual distribution confirms the existence of high precipitation magnitudes and horizontal gradients in the catchment in comparison with other mountain regions around the world. The high magnitude is unusual when its position in the lee of the principal orographic divide is considered indicating rare precipitation distribution processes occur in the region. Consideration of river flows, glacial change and evaporation led to a confirmation of the gauge derived average catchment precipitation. Precipitation to wind direction relationships identified the predominant westerly wind to be the primary precipitation generating direction with large magnitude events biased towards the northerly direction. All directions from the eastern side of the mountain divide had the lowest frequency and daily precipitation magnitude. Derivation of wind-classed precipitation distributions identified a distinctive south east to north west precipitation gradient for all wind directions, most severe for the north west direction and least severe for the easterly direction. Precipitation extent was greatest for the northerly direction and least for the south south westerly. The wind-classed distributions enable the estimation of daily precipitation likelihood and magnitude at any location in the catchment based on knowledge of the synoptic wind flow direction and precipitation at just one reference site. Improved river flow and lake inflow estimates resulted from the use of wind classed daily precipitation estimates validating the quality of the wind classed distributions. From 1939 to 2000 there has been no statistically significant trend in precipitation magnitudes, frequencies, or extremes in the catchment. At Aoraki/Mt Cook village, in the upper catchment, there have been significant increases in magnitude, frequency and extremes associated with the phase change of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) in 1978. This change can be explained by the increase in strength of westerly winds for the different IPO phases but not by a change in frequency of different wind directions. In the lower catchment the IPO relationship is of an opposite sense to that observed in the upper catchment, indicating that the areas operate under two different climate regimes with different precipitation controls. The significant relationship to the IPO phase indicates that it is more important than climate warming in terms of future precipitation distribution in the Lake Pukaki catchment, and by extension the Southern Alps. The distributions prepared provide a valuable tool for operational and academic hydrological applications in the region. In addition, they provide a valuable characterisation of the precipitation in a Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude lee to predominant westerlies glacierized mountain catchment. From this standpoint they highlight the contrast to Northern Hemisphere mountain precipitation distributions commonly used in model validation studies, thereby providing an extension of locations with which to refine orographic precipitation process understanding.

8 pp. / This publication provides an depth look at the North American Monsoon system and its impact on summer weather in Arizona.

Arid and semi-arid ecosystems of the southwestern U.S. are experiencing major changes that have profound impacts for community structure and ecosystem function. First, these ecosystems are experiencing dramatic shifts in vegetation composition as a result of the invasion of non-native species. Second these ecosystems are predicted to undergo substantial shifts in climate regime, which include increases in the variability and frequency of extreme temperature and precipitation events. It is not well understood how these current and predicted changes will affect the physiological performance of different plant types in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. To address the effect of these changes, this dissertation focused on the photosynthetic response of a native and non-native grass species, and dominant shrub species to precipitation across contrasting soil surfaces in southeastern Arizona. The native and non-native grasses were exposed to wet and dry seasonal precipitation and responses to precipitation events ('pulses') were measured over the course of a summer growing season. To gain a mechanistic understanding of these patterns, the biochemical and diffusion limitations to photosynthetic function were measured over the course of a pulse period. Building on this foundation, natural stands of the non-native grass species were exposed to sequences of different sized pulse events. The physiological performance of a dominant shrub species, Larrea tridentata, was measured in order to determine the biochemical and diffusional constraints to photosynthetic function across seasons and contrasting soil surfaces. The results showed that leaf area development of these grass species affects water availability and time lags in photosynthetic response. Initial soil moisture conditions across contrasting soil surfaces influence the magnitude of photosynthetic response in grasses. Large photosynthetic responses of the non-native grass require large and consecutive precipitation pulses. Co-limitation of photosynthesis of Larrea tridentata by diffusion and biochemistry does not illustrate typical trends across seasons and soil surfaces. Overall results demonstrate the importance of determining the mechanisms responsible for observed leaf-level photosynthetic patterns across individual pulse events, seasons, and contrasting soil surfaces. This is especially important for predicting the magnitude of the response of plant communities in arid and semi-arid ecosystems to species invasions and changes in climate.