1.       Vujnović, V., G. Verbanac, J. Orešković, A. Marki, K. Marić, I. Lisac and M. Ivandić (2004): Results of the preliminary geomagnetic field strength measurements in the northern part of middle Croatia. Geofizika, 21, 1-14. 

 

ABSTRACT:

 

In autumn 2003 we made a survey of total magnetic field strength in a part of Croatia from river Drava north to river Sava and Pokuplje, between the lines Zagreb – Koprivnica on west, and Hrvatska Kostajnica – Virovitica on east. Thirty positions were surveyed in the net with spacing of 15 –20 km. For data reduction, the field variations were recorded at the base station in Pokupsko, acting as provisional geomagnetic observatory. A geomagnetic map was constructed and discussed. The gradient of the field generally points to the north-east, having at minimum 18 nT/10 km, and at maximum 38 nT/10 km. Accounting for the all inaccuracies, we find the positional error of the isodynames to be 1.3 to 3.0 km, depending on the field gradient found in the area.

Using scarce data published for the epoch 1927.5, we found an average change of 2900 nT and obtained an estimate of the secular variation equal to +40 nT/year. By exploiting the data of geomagnetic survey in Hungary for the epoch 1995.0, we have improved a part of the geomagnetic map close to the Hungarian border. Further, we have compared hourly means for the observational periods September 22–29, 2003 and October 14–20, 2003 with the data obtained at the Niemegk Observatory (Germany). As a numerical parameter describing the differences we introduced the average standard deviation of differences between signals Niemegk-Pokupsko; this changed from the first to the second observational period from 5.2 nT to 8.7 nT. We also compared our 1-minute means with the similar recordings of observatories in Tihany and l’Aquila for the most disturbed day.

 

Keywords: Geomagnetic field, total field strength, secular variation, northern middle Croatia

 

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2.       Radić, V., Z. Pasarić and N. Šinik (2004): Analysis of Zagreb climatological data series using empirically decomposed intrinsic mode functions. Geofizika, 21, 15-36.

 

ABSTRACT:

The empirical mode decomposition method (EMD) (Huang, 1998) is applied to the series of annual and seasonal averages of temperature, cloudiness, air pressure and annual and seasonal sums of global radiation and precipitation, all observed in Zagreb-Grič in the period 1862–2002. The method itself decomposes the original series into so called intrinsic mode functions (IMF), each being characterized by its own, intrinsic time scale.

Sums of the low-frequency IMFs for the single element revealed present climatic fluctuations on the decade-to-century scale. It is confirmed that climatic fluctuations of every single element, particularly temperature and cloudiness, are the results of variations in the global atmospheric circulation above the whole Europe. Trend and long-term variations of Zagreb temperature fits to globally observed increase of temperature but also to variations of zonal circulation index. Exchange of Hadley’s zonal and Rossby’s wave regime of the general atmospheric circulation at the beginning of the 20th century is observed in the long-term variations of almost every element. Linear correlation coefficients between annual and seasonal long-term variations are calculated. It is shown that spring and winter variations mostly influenced annual fluctuations that are due to internal feed-back processes. Also, correlation coefficients for every pair of climatic element are calculated, enabling conclusions about interaction between elements on long-term scales.

 

Keywords: Empirical mode decomposition, intrinsic mode functions, climatological series, climatic fluctuations, Zagreb

 

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3.       Ferreira de Pinho, U., P. C. Liu and C. E. Parente Ribeiro (2004): Freak Waves at Campos Basin, Brazil. Geofizika, 21, 53-67.

 

ABSTRACT:

 

Freak waves occur abundantly in Campos Basin, located on the northeast coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the South Atlantic Ocean. This surprising and unexpected discovery was made from a search of the time-series data of wave measurements recorded in the Campos Basin from 1991 to 1995. In a study on the occurrence of freak waves and their relevant properties, we have also found that freak waves are not of rare occurrence as conventionally presumed, and they occur not only during storm conditions but also during fair weather states as well. While the conventional approach of spectrum analysis provides some weak inference of freak wave effects, the basically stationary random process approach is clearly incapable of contending with the localized non-stationary process of freak wave occurrences.

 

Keywords: Freak waves, ocean waves, wave data analysis

 

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4.       Pasarić, M. and M. Orlić (2004): Meteorological forcing of the Adriatic: present vs. projected climate conditions. Geofizika, 21, 69-87.

 

ABSTRACT:

 

Meteorological forcing of the Adriatic is examined under the present and predicted climate conditions. Fields from the time slice-experiment performed with ECHAM4 model (W. May and E. Roeckner: A time-slice experiment with the ECHAM4 AGCM at high resolution – the impact of horizontal resolution on annual mean climate change, Climate Dynamics, 17, 2001, 407–420) are closely analysed for the Adriatic region. Results obtained for the control period, when compared to a number of data, are found to reproduce the main features of the present-day surface heat flux, water flux and wind field above the Adriatic. In the future, the Adriatic should experience a reduction of heat loss to the atmosphere as well as an enhanced evaporation accompanied with a reduced precipitation leading to an overall increase of fresh-water loss to the atmosphere. The changes in synoptic activity should lead to an abatement of bora winds and to a reduced frequency of sirocco events which, however, are expected to be much more persistent. Finally, changes in the dynamics of the Adriatic, induced by altered meteorological forcing, are briefly discussed.

 

Keywords: Climate change, meteorological forcing, Adriatic

 

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5.       Kos, I., D. Belušić, A. Jeričević, K.Horvath, D. Koračin and M. Telišman Prtenjak (2004): Education and research: Initial development of the Atmospheric Lagrangian Particle Stochastic (ALPS) Dispersion Model. Geofizika, 21, 37-52.

 

ABSTRACT:

 

The Atmospheric Lagrangian Particle Stochastic (ALPS) dispersion model was created as an experimental student project and tested under idealized and complex atmospheric and topographic conditions. The challenge of the project was to bring current scientific technology to the direct involvement of students in the framework of problem based learning educational theory. The model simulates dispersion of a passive scalar in the atmosphere by calculating a large number of Lagrangian particle trajectories. It uses meteorological model output to obtain mean meteorological fields. The predicted turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) from a higher order turbulence closure nonhydrostatic meteorological model is used for the simulations. Idealized tests showed that ALPS is correctly responding to different static stability conditions and associating dispersion of particles according to the magnitude of turbulence, satisfying the well-mixed criterion.

 

Keywords: Student project, air quality modelling, idealized simulations

 

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