According to NOAA space weather scales, geomagnetic storms of scales G5 (3-h index of geomagnetic activity Kp=9), G4 (Kp=8) and G3 (Kp=7) are dangerous for satellites, aircrafts, and even for technology on the ground (influence on power systems, on spacecraft operations, on HF radio-communications and others). We show on the basis of statistical data, that these geomagnetic storms, mostly accom...

Dust storms in northern China strongly affect the living and health of people there and the dusts could travel a full circle of the globe in a short time. Historically, more frequent dust storms occurred during cool periods, particularly the Little Ice Age (LIA), generally attributed to the strengthened Siberian High. However, limited by chronological uncertainties in proxy records, this mechan...

mineral dust can directly affect the solar and terrestrial radiation in both visible and infrared (ir) spectral regions through scattering and absorption processes. due to specific optical properties of dust particles, satellite observed radiances carry the spectral signatures of dust particles that are different from molecular, cloud, and underlying surface. based on these differences, various...

This study documents the preferred location and diurnal cycle of extreme convective storms that occur in the tropical band containing the east Pacific Ocean, Central and South America, the Atlantic Ocean, and northern Africa. Data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar show three types of convective-stratiform structures that constitute extreme convective events...

Data are presented indicating the complexity and highly variable response of beaches to cold front passages along the northern Gulf of Mexico, in addition to the impacts of tropical cyclones and winter storms. Within the past decade, an increase in the frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes impacting the northern Gulf has dramatically altered the long-term equilibrium of a large portion of...

A radar-based climatology of 91 unique summertime (May 2000–August 2009) thunderstorm cases was examined over the Indianapolis, Indiana, urban area. The study hypothesis is that urban regions alter the intensity and composition/structure of approaching thunderstorms because of land surface heterogeneity. Storm characteristics were studied over the Indianapolis region and four peripheral rural c...

Because of the broad range of altitudes spanned by its catchment, the American River is notable for its occasional, very large winter floods. These floods typically are spawned by warm and exceptionally wet storms that deposit heavy rain or wet snows on broad expanses of the river’s watershed, generating rapid runoff and high streamflows. On flood and longer time scales, the American River is n...

We studied storm discharges of nitrate and dissolved and particulate forms of ammonium, organic N, phosphate, and organic P from four adjacent small watersheds of differing land use on the Atlantic Coastal Plain in Maryland. We used V-notch weirs and automated storm samplers to measure discharges and collect samples at flow intervals during 76 storms. The watershed aquifers are perched on an im...