Soil moisture is a key variable in dryland ecosystems since it determines the occurrence and duration of vegetation water stress and affects the development of weather patterns including rainfall. However, the lack of ground observations of soil moisture and rainfall dynamics in many drylands has long been a major obstacle in understanding ecohydrological processes in these ecosystems. It is al...

      Aridity as a spatial concept and drought as a temporal concept have always been studied in different aspects as two distinct categories. However, both concepts indicate anomalies from normal condition. Several indices have been introduced to examine each of these concepts using one or more hydrological cycle’s components. Meanwhile, soil moisture and changes in its spatial and temporal va...

Fire danger rating systems are used to assess the potential for bushfire occurrence, fire spread and difficulty of fire suppression. Typically, fire danger rating systems combine meteorological information with estimates of the moisture content of the fuel to produce a fire danger index. Fire danger indices are used to declare fire bans and to schedule prescribed burns, among other applications...

Pearl millet is one of the most important cereals grown in drought-prone areas and is the staple grain for million of people in West Africa and India. Breeding for drought-prone environments is constrained by lack of suitable selection indices of drought stress resistance. The present study is conducted to determine the reliability of in vitro screening method for initiating drought breeding pr...

The evolution of plateau monsoons is essential to synoptic climatology processes over the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Based on ERA-Interim Reanalysis data covering 1979–2014 from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), we propose a new plateau monsoon index (ZPMI) that can effectively reflect the evolution of monsoons and compare this new index with the existing Plateau Mons...

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: mountain climate montane circulation land-use change ice-field We compare surface climate (temperature and moisture) measured on an hourly basis at ten elevations on Kilimanjaro with equivalent observations in the free atmosphere from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, for September 2004–July 2008. On the lower forested slopes the mountain surface is consistently cooler ...

9 Across most Mediterranean-type climate regions, seasonal drought desiccates plants, facilitating ignition 10 and the spread of wildfires. Along the California coast, summertime fog has the potential to ameliorate 11 drought conditions and thus reduce plant flammability during a critical time of elevated fire risk. This 12 study investigated the uptake of dry season fog and how it affects live...

Wildland firefighters work in unfavourable environments involving both heat and moisture. Moisture in clothing systems worn by wildland firefighters may increase or decrease heat transfer, depending on its source and location in the clothing system, location on the body, timing of application and degree of sorption. In this experiment, 4 outerwear/underwear combinations were exposed to 1 of 5 d...