Sometimes dry soils yield more cloudsJuly 12, 2002Symposium of the American Meteorological Society in Wageningen (The Netherlands) Cloud formation does not always follow beaten tracks. The formation of low clouds during nice weather conditions will normally take place above moist soils. Under specific atmospheric conditions, which can occur in Europe, drier soils yield more clouds, according to a study of the American meteorologist Mike Ek and dr. Bert Holtslag, professor in Meteorology and Air Quality at Wageningen University in The Netherlands. "It is somewhat counter-intuitive, but is in fact a good illustration of the complexity of soil, water, and atmosphere systems. The phenomenon only occurs during the day under nice weather conditions, when the atmospheric boundary layer is relative deep (more than a kilometre). Under these conditions drier soils yield a greater relative humidity tendency at the boundary layer top, and thus a greater cloud cover. This is of great interest in the study of land-atmosphere interactions", says Holtslag. He heads the international symposium 'Boundary Layers and Turbulence', which will take place from 15 till 19 July in Wageningen, The Netherlands. More than 250 presentations and posters on the role of turbulence and boundary layers on weather and climate will be presented on this symposium. Knowledge of these processes is of great interest to understand local weather behaviour (e.g. city climate or fog development) and can be applied in weather models. It is the first time that the Boundary Layers Symposium of the American Meteorological Society is organised in the Netherlands. The subjects on this symposium include observational methods, turbulence, aerosol and chemical processes in the atmospheric boundary layers and their relevance to health, policy and agriculture. Wageningen meteorologists were invited to host this meeting because of their excellent reputation in the field of boundary layer and turbulence research. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Science Research Departments
Earth Science Alternative Energy | Anthropology and Archaeology | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | Environment and Nature News | Global Warming | High-Energy and Particle Physics | Ozone Hole | Scientists Slow Light | Tsunami Space Science Astronomy and Space News | Black Holes | Chandra X-Ray Observatory | Extrasolar Planets | Hubble Telescope | International Space Station | Jupiter Galileo Mission | Jupiter Cassini Mission Flyby | Mars Exploration | Mars Odyssey 2001 | Mars Global Surveyor | Mars Polar Lander | Mars Climate Orbiter | Mars Pathfinder | Meteors and Asteroids | Mir Space Station | NEAR Asteroid Probe Mission | Pluto Planet Debate | Search for Extraterrestrial Life | Space Shuttle Program | Space Shuttle Mission: STS-102 | Space Weather Life Science Animal News | Biotechnology and Genetics | Brain Research | Human Cloning | Dinosaur and Fossil Discoveries | Endangered Species | Gene Therapy | Genetically Modified Food | Stem Cell Research | Whales and Whaling |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||