W will use these new data to improve the way we model the carbon cycle of the dry tropics, and test key theories. By understanding where these processes are happening, we will improve our knowledge of the processes involved. This will provide the first estimates of key carbon fluxes across all of the dry tropics, including the amount of carbon being released by forest degradation and deforestation and how much carbon is being taken up by the intact vegetation in the region. and complement this with radar remote sensing to quantify how the carbon cycle of the dry tropics has changed over the last 15 years. In SECO we will create a network of over 600 field plots to understand how the vegetation of the dry tropics is changing. We have successfully demonstrated that such data can be used to accurately map woody biomass change for all 5 million sq km of southern Africa. Radar remote sensing is therefore ideal to monitor tree biomass in the dry tropics. Long wavelength radar remote sensing avoids this problem as it is insensitive to the presence of leaves or grass, and also is not affected by clouds, smoke or the angle of the sun, all of which complicate optical remote sensing. However, most ecosystems in the dry tropics, especially savannas, comprise a mixture of grass and trees, and many optical remote sensing approaches (akin to enhanced versions of the sensors on digital cameras) struggle to distinguish changes between the two. Satellite remote sensing, combined with ground measurements, offers the ideal way to overcome these challenges, as it can provide regular, consistent monitoring at relatively low cost. This gap in knowledge arises because we do not have a systematic network of observations of vegetation change in the dry tropics, and thus have not, until now, been able to use observations of how things are changing to understand the processes involved and to test key theories. However, both of these processes are poorly understood, in terms of their magnitude and causes, and the net carbon balance and its future remain unclear.
#Weather network radar exeter series#
The data from the new system will begin flowing to your favourite weather app in roughly eight weeks following a series of tests.Abstract: The ecosystems of the dry tropics are in flux: the savannas, woodlands and dry forests that together cover a greater area of the globe than rainforests are both a source of carbon emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation, and also a sink due to the enhanced growth of trees.
#Weather network radar exeter upgrade#
"It's not just the King City upgrade that's going to be a help with this, but it's the whole radar network being upgraded and forecasters across the country, in the Prairies, in Quebec, in the Maritimes will be able to utilize this increased ability," he noted. The radar tower in Britt at the north end of Georgian Bay will also be finished later this summer.Ĭoulson said the state-of-the-art technology would help severe weather meteorologists identify dangerous storms and issue warnings sooner. The weather agency is replacing 32 weather radar stations across Canada with the new technology.Įngineers already completed the upgrades in Exeter near London. "You are getting a better idea of the size of the raindrops, the size of the snowflakes, the size of the hail particles, and that's really going to help us with what we call quantitive precipitation estimation," Coulson added. The new system will be more powerful and utilize both horizontal and vertical microwave beams to peer into the atmosphere than the current Doppler radar that has been in operation since 1984. "King City provides a key role in one of the most populated areas in Canada," said severe weather meteorologist Geoff Coulson. Environment Canada will soon have more up-to-date, detailed information than ever before with a new weather radar tower perched on a hilltop in King City, Ont.
0 kommentar(er)
