The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT), developed by NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory, is one of the most widely used models for atmospheric trajectory and dispersion calculations. We present the model’s historical evolution over the last 30 years from simple hand-drawn back trajectories to very sophisticated computations of transport, mixing, chemical transformation, and deposition of pollutants and hazardous materials. We highlight recent applications of the HYSPLIT modeling system, including the simulation of atmospheric tracer release experiments, radionuclides, smoke originated from wild fires, volcanic ash, mercury, and wind-blown dust.

/pdf/noaa-s-hysplit-atmospheric-transport-and-dispersion-modeling-2wocdjl6c5.pdf

NOAA’s HYSPLIT Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion Modeling System

Despite their adverse impacts, definitions and measurements of heat waves are ambiguous and inconsistent, generally being endemic to only the group affected, or the respective study reporting the analysis. The present study addresses this issue by employing a set of three heat wave definitions, derived from surveying heat-related indices in the climate science literature. The definitions include three or more consecutive days above one of the following: the 90th percentile for maximum temperature, the 90th percentile for minimum temperature, and positive extreme heat factor (EHF) conditions. Additionally, each index is studied using a multiaspect framework measuring heat wave number, duration, participating days, and the peak and mean magnitudes. Observed climatologies and trends computed by Sen's Kendall slope estimator are presented for the Australian continent for two time periods (1951–2008 and 1971–2008). Trends in all aspects and definitions are smaller in magnitude but more significant for ...

On the Measurement of Heat Waves

A review on the scientific understanding of heatwaves—Their measurement, driving mechanisms, and changes at the global scale

The effects of the anomalously warm European summer of 2003 highlighted the importance of understanding the relationship between elevated atmospheric temperature and human mortality. This review is an extension of the brief evidence examining this relationship provided in the IPCC’s Assessment Reports. A comprehensive and critical review of the literature is presented, which highlights avenues for further research, and the respective merits and limitations of the methods used to analyse the relationships. In contrast to previous reviews that concentrate on the epidemiological evidence, this review acknowledges the inter-disciplinary nature of the topic and examines the evidence presented in epidemiological, environmental health, and climatological journals. As such, present temperature–mortality relationships are reviewed, followed by a discussion of how these are likely to change under climate change scenarios. The importance of uncertainty, and methods to include it in future work, are also considered.

https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/5958/1/Gosling_et_al_Climatic_Change_Submission_2.pdf

Associations between elevated atmospheric temperature and human mortality: a critical review of the literature

https://cyberleninka.org/article/n/1276528.pdf

Review : Untangling the influence of air-mass history in interpreting observed atmospheric composition

Cluster analysis of five years of back trajectories arriving in Athens, Greece

An assessment of the summer human thermal climate over the period 1966-1995 for Athens, Greece, was undertaken using the predicted mean vote (PMV). At the seasonal (diurnal) time scale human thermal discomfort reaches a maximum over a 20 d (4 to 6 h) period centred on the end of July (14:00 h LST). Not only are general levels of thermal discomfort variable at the intra- and inter-annual time scales, but the timing of discomfort season onset and cessation is highly variable from year to year. Mann-Kendall tests for trends of discomfort season diagnostics revealed that there has been a tendency towards an increase in the length of the discomfort season over the study period. The implications of Athens' harsh human thermal climate for staging athletic events are discussed, and the concept of cool and warm synthetic summers is introduced as a basis for the planning of human activities.

/pdf/an-evaluation-of-the-nature-and-timing-of-summer-human-wbsvw1zlxa.pdf

M.T. Markou

Papers

Cluster analysis of five years of back trajectories arriving in Athens, Greece

An evaluation of the nature and timing of summer human thermal discomfort in Athens, Greece

Sky type classification in Central England during winter

A new statistical methodology for classification of sky luminance distributions based on scan data

Generation of daylight reference years for two European cities with different climate: Athens, Greece and Bratislava, Slovakia