A radar simulator for polarimetric radar variables, including reflectivities at horizontal and vertical polarizations, the differential reflectivity, and the specific differential phase, has been developed. This simulator serves as a test bed for developing and testing forward observation operators of polarimetric radar variables that are needed when directly assimilating these variables into s...

The origin of continental flood basalts has been debated for decades. These eruptions often produce millions of cubic kilometers of basalt on timescales of only a million years. Although flood basalts are found in a variety of settings, no locale is more puzzling than cratonic areas such as southern Africa or the Siberian craton, where strong, thick lithosphere is breached by these large basalt...

Cyanobacteria and lichens living under sandstone surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys require snow for moisture. Snow accumulated beyond a thin layer, however, is counterproductive, interfering with rock insolation, snow melting, and photosynthetic access to light. With this in mind, the facts that rock slope and direction control colonization, and that climate change results in regional extinct...

Introduction: In contrast to a " warm and wet " early Mars climate scenario [1,2], recent Late Noachian GCMs produce mean annual temperatures (MAT) well below 0°C. Above a few tens of millibars, atmospheric-surface coupling yields adiabatic cooling [3] and creates a highlands cold trap leading to a Late Noachian Icy Highlands (LNIH) climate model [4]. Melting to account for the abundant LN fluv...

During two periods of snow melting daily bulk samples of snow were taken on a Dolomite plateau in the rural karst region of northeast Bavaria (Federal Republic of Germany). The snow samples were analysed for PAHs by HPTLC and for BHCs by GC. Conductivity and pH were also measured. Molecular substance ratios, pollutant loadings and enrichment factors in the meltwater were calculated from the con...

Accurate measurements of snowpack are needed both by scientists to model climate and by water supply managers to predict/mitigate drought and flood conditions. Existing in situ snow sensors/networks lack the necessary spatial and temporal sensitivity. Satellite measurements currently assess snow cover rather than snow depth. Existing GPS networks are a potential source of new snow data for clim...

[1] This study analyzes diurnal and seasonal variations of snow albedo at four Baseline Surface Radiation Network stations in the Arctic and Antarctica from 2003 to 2008 to elucidate similarities and differences in snow albedo diurnal cycles across geographic zones and to assess how diurnal changes in snow albedo affect the surface energy budget. At the seasonal scale, the daily albedo for the ...