Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

About: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research is a facility organization based out in Potsdam, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Climate change & Global warming. The organization has 1519 authors who have published 5098 publications receiving 367023 citations.

Consensus over directed static networks with arbitrary finite communication delays

Abstract: We study the consensus problem in directed static networks with arbitrary finite communication delays and consider both linear and nonlinear coupling. For the considered networked system, only locally delayed information is available for each node and also the information flow is directed. We find that consensus can be realized whatever the communications delays are. In fact, we do not even need to know the explicit values of the communication delays. One well-informed leader is proved to be enough for the regulation of all nodes' final states, even when the external signal is very weak. Numerical simulations for opinion formation in small-world and scale-free networks are given to demonstrate the potentials of our analytic results.

A resampling scheme for regional climate simulations and its performance compared to a dynamical RCM

Abstract: A new statistical method for regional climate simulations is introduced. Its simulations are constrained only by the parameters of a linear regression line for a characteristic climatological variable. Simulated series are generated by resampling from segments of observation series such that the resulting series comply with the prescribed regression parameters and possess realistic annual cycles and persistence. The resampling guarantees that the simulated series are physically consistent both with respect to the combinations of different meteorological variables and to their spatial distribution at each time step. The resampling approach is evaluated by means of a cross validation experiment for the Elbe river basin: Its simulations are compared both to an observed climatology and to data simulated by a dynamical RCM. This cross validation shows that the approach is able to reproduce the observed climatology with respect to statistics such as long-term means, persistence features (e.g., dry spells) and extreme events. The agreement of its simulations with the observational data is much closer than for the RCM data.

Consistency of MODIS surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function and albedo retrievals: 1. Algorithm performance

Abstract: [1] The first consistent year (November 2000 to November 2001) of global albedo product was produced at 1-km resolution every 16 days from the observations of the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft. We evaluated the quality of the operational albedo retrievals in two ways: (1) by examining the algorithm performance using the product quality assurance (QA) fields (this paper) and (2) by comparing retrieved albedos with those observed at ground stations and by other satellite instruments (in a companion paper). The internal diagnostics of the retrieval algorithm adequately reflect the goodness of the model fit and the random noise amplification in the retrieved albedo. Global QA statistics show that the RossThick-LiSparse-Reciprocal model fits the atmospherically corrected surface reflectances very well, and the random noise amplification factors for white sky albedo and reflectance are generally less than 1.0. Cloud obscuration is the main reason for the activation of the backup magnitude retrieval algorithm. Over the 60°S to 60°N latitude band, 50% of the land pixels acquire more than six clear looks during 14–29 September 2001, and only 5% of these pixels are inverted with the backup algorithm. The latitude dependence and temporal distribution of the QA fields further demonstrate that the retrieval status mainly follows the pattern of angular sampling determined by cloud climatology and the instrument/orbit characteristics. A case study over the west coast of the United States shows that white sky shortwave albedos retrieved from magnitude inversions agree on average with those from full inversions to within 0.033 in reflectance units and have a slightly lower bias ranging from 0.014 to 0.023. We also explored the effect of residual cloud and aerosol contamination in the atmospherically corrected surface reflectance inputs in another case study over southern Africa. The quality assurance procedure of the operational MODIS bidirectional reflectance distribution function and albedo algorithm compensates for some of these residual effects and improves the albedo retrieval results by an order of 0.005 (10%) in the visible for more than 12% of pixels.

Author Correction: Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: Author(s): Liu, Zhu; Ciais, Philippe; Deng, Zhu; Lei, Ruixue; Davis, Steven J; Feng, Sha; Zheng, Bo; Cui, Duo; Dou, Xinyu; Zhu, Biqing; Guo, Rui; Ke, Piyu; Sun, Taochun; Lu, Chenxi; He, Pan; Wang, Yuan; Yue, Xu; Wang, Yilong; Lei, Yadong; Zhou, Hao; Cai, Zhaonan; Wu, Yuhui; Guo, Runtao; Han, Tingxuan; Xue, Jinjun; Boucher, Olivier; Boucher, Eulalie; Chevallier, Frederic; Tanaka, Katsumasa; Wei, Yiming; Zhong, Haiwang; Kang, Chongqing; Zhang, Ning; Chen, Bin; Xi, Fengming; Liu, Miaomiao; Breon, Francois-Marie; Lu, Yonglong; Zhang, Qiang; Guan, Dabo; Gong, Peng; Kammen, Daniel M; He, Kebin; Schellnhuber, Hans Joachim | Abstract: A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20254-5.

Advances in water resources assessment with SWAT—an overview

Abstract: This paper introduces a Special Issue of Hydrological Sciences Journal containing 10 research papers which present current applications of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for water resources assessment. First, an overview of selected, recently published papers with application of SWAT is given. The papers address the following topics: nutrients and related best management practices (BMPs); sediments and related BMPs; impoundment and wetlands; irrigation; bioenergy crops; climate change impact; and land-use change impacts. Then, papers from this Special Issue are briefly described, covering the themes: surface runoff and sediments; nonpoint-source pollution; surface water and groundwater; impacts of climate and land-use change; and large-scale SWAT applications. The presented model applications of SWAT were conducted across a variety of spatial scales, physiographic regions and climatic zones. This collection of papers demonstrates that applications of SWAT for water resources assessment ...