|
SIMB reminder December 2013 |
Seasons In My Biome |
|
|
author: Markus Eugster |
|
|
Editorial
Dear colleagues In my region we had quite a classic passage of the seasons. You can detect this in a simple series of pictures of grassland: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/112pictures.php?fold=simb01104 This is so to say a storybook change from green-down to freeze-up. From week to week the aspect changed from green over brown to white – this would by the way be a classic task for our upcoming PhenoCam project to produce time lapse films and detect color changes (see 10: Projects).
|
|
0 |
New front page picture
This picture is unusual as several things had to occur to make it possible: The beeches were still leaved, there was snow on the leaves, the afternoon sun just started to melt a part of this snow, the brown leaves might have been slightly warmer than the air that was cooling off now, so that the icicles could grow, and the sun was still above the horizon and gave the light for the picture. Amazing that they didn’t grow vertically… See http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/index.html
|
|
1 |
Seasonality
We are here on our journey around the sun: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311322.jpg and http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311321.jpg There are different approaches to define the seasons. On the above pictures you can see mainly the astronomical (colors inside) and the common (colors around). Both of them are fixed. I want to develop a flexible approach that shows the seasons in a certain location at a specific moment in time which would make possible to detect changes. My idea is to take into account phenological, meteorological, seasonal and other observations. More about this next year.
As I mentioned above, we had a steady / classic change from autumn to winter. You should see it also in the following series of pictures which show a forest in my region – by the way: a picture taken from this location is used in the official GLOBE SAB document to visualize the deciduous forests of the temperate zone: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311026.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311094.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311206.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311236.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311281.jpg
Here you can compare snow cover and the Polar sea ice extent at the beginning and end of November. Again there is quite a difference, the snow line moved southward in Europe, Asia and America. In the Antarctic a huge hole opens in the sea ice in the Ross Sea area; this area had already another color in the left picture dated November 8th: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311323.jpg
I’m happy to present you some pictures from South America that show you how their last winter was. They were taken in August 2013; add half a year and you understand that this corresponds to our February which in my region is often deep winter. http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111308041.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111308071.jpg
At school (renovation) things are slowly looking up. This allowed me to start updating your series (no fear: I will update all series, and the sequence isn’t a measure of how I appreciate you...). Some updated series are here: from Estonia: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/112pictures.php?fold=simb03601 from Latvia: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/112pictures.php?fold=simb03001 from Iceland: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/112pictures.php?fold=simb03401 from Alaska: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/112pictures.php?fold=simb03501
Here you should read the comment: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/view.php?img=simb02101/02101131203.jpg
Again I have a new photographer who will open us a window into the Swiss Jura: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/view.php?img=simb03701/03701131127.jpg
In my region timber is often harvested in winter. Clear-felling isn’t practised any more here, only small areas are cut down as this picture shows: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311202.jpg There were some quite old trees at this cutting place; here you can count... http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311092.jpg
Some seasonal sounds: you can use the player on these pages: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311231.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311239.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311271.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311293.jpg
|
|
2 |
Phenology
This sent me this link: I’m sure you will like this video very much: http://climatewisconsin.org/story/phenology
Here are some phenological observations in my region for November 2013:
At the beginning November was very mild. The phacelia which isn’t perennial was still in flower. This farmer used it as a green manure for his field: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311024.jpg
Coloring of tree leaves: This is an extraordinarily colored leaf of a spindle tree [Euonymus europaeus]. I wonder why it turns like this http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311031.jpg
These pictures show how the front page’s beech leaves changed color: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311028.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311095.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311208.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311237.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311284.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311316.jpg
This colorful leaf of a European aspen [Populus tremula] http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311289.jpg hides a secret: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311291.jpg And this is really one of the very last colored leaves I saw this year: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311319.jpg
This is how a banewort [Atropa belladonna] changes when winter comes: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311021.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311201.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311273.jpg
During the whole month I found several mushrooms in our forest: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311034.jpg
One of them looks very unusual and was already in my October gallery. I wonder whether it survives freezing: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311022.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311274.jpg
|
|
3 |
Atmosphere
After an unusually mild beginning the temperature dropped by more than 20°C within some days (from max=18°C to min=-3°C) and for the rest of the month temperature was between 5 and -5°C: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/temp1311.jpg The first frost of the season was on November 13th and the first snow cover on November 21st. November 2013 was quite a wet month with totally 113.2mm of precipitation: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/dailymeans1311.jpg The average temperature was less than 4°C and about normal for the month: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/temp1214.jpg
During the cool second half of the month we often had high fog. Here you can see the lake of Geneva with some sunbeams penetrating the fog in the eastern Valais part. The Valais is an inner Alpine valley with above average sunshine. http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311161.jpg
At the end of the month it was cold with fresh snow. When wet air came in ground fog formed, sometimes only 2-3m high: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311307.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311308.jpg
Clouds: I took all these cloud pictures on November 9th when the temperature started to drop by totally 20°C: Strange Cirrus patterns: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewclouds.php?img=simb71311/713111311093.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewclouds.php?img=simb71311/713111311097.jpg At the same time Cumulus... http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewclouds.php?img=simb71311/713111311094.jpg ... and colorful Cirrus: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewclouds.php?img=simb71311/713111311095.jpg
After the cold front that passed on November 9th/10th we had snow down to about 700m:
For the first time in this season the world’s coldest place was on the northern hemisphere (before it was for about half a year in Antarctica): http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131122/ew131122z.html
A swarm of more than 100 tornados devastated hundreds of homes: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131122/ew131122x.html
|
|
4 |
Climate
In 2007 when I had my first SAB workshop in Fairbanks, Alaska, I learnt that winter comes there at the beginning of October and then it normally was frozen until April or May of the next year. This autumn they had only some night frost in October and winter came on November 1st only:
WMO reports: 2012: more greenhouse gases than ever before: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131108/ew131108c.html
…and already a new record is predicted for 2013: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131122/ew131122a.html
Quickly warming Pacific Ocean: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131108/ew131108a.html
|
|
5 |
Earth as a system
Three ESA satellites explore the Earth’s magnetic field closer than ever before: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/The_Living_Planet_Programme/Earth_Explorers/Swarm
There were many typhoons in the south east Asian zone, one of them very devastating (Philippines: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131108/ew131108e.html http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131115/ew131115e.html http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131115/ew131115b.html ), but only a few hurricanes in America this year. This must have a reason. What? http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131101/ew131101e.html
One cyclone even hit Somalia: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131115/ew131115h.html
And – even more curious for us – another Sardinia: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131122/ew131122x.html
Will the Fukushima radioactivity arrive in Alaska? http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131108/ew131108b.html
Rare type of lava discovered in a Chilean volcano: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131115/ew131115d.html
Fukushima Nuclear Refugees May Never Go Home: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131115/ew131115a.html
Powerful blasts for weeks from Sumatra’s Mount Sinabung volcano: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131122/ew131122d.html
New island in the Pacific Ocean: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131129/ew131129d.html
Have you seen the end of comet ISON? http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=28&month=11&year=2013
|
|
6 |
Life on Earth
I harvested my last grapes in November only. This hornet was lucky that I left some over: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311032.jpg
In Switzerland we normally don’t see cranes, but this autumn there were as many as never before migrating southward. Here is a podcast about it: http://drs.srf.ch/www/de/drs1/sendungen/wissen-aktuell/2802.sh10201706.html I also took a picture of unusually big birds in the sky – are these cranes? http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311098.jpg
A pack of 10 wolves has been seen in the Tamina valley – not far from where I had my last teachers’ workshop excursion…
In the newspaper I read that the Tiger mosquito has crossed the Alps and for the first time eggs have been found. It seems that what I considered Tiger mosquitos (http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91307/913071307138.jpg ) have been other Asian mosquitos: Hulecoeteomyia japonica: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatische_Buschm%C3%BCcke
I’m fascinated by primordial plants such as mosses and lichens. I observe some of them on a twig; here you can see how the looked like on different November days: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311033.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311238.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311288.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311318.jpg
With the snow cover “my” anthill was better visible than ever and bigger than last year. I would like to steal a glance into it: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311317.jpg
Asian ladybugs not only in Switzerland but also in the U. S.: http://www.earthweek.com/2013/ew131108/ew131108g.html
|
|
7 |
Questions
http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb99999/913111311285.jpg
Are these cranes? http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311098.jpg
|
|
8 |
Gallery
I finally could fix the bug in my gallery2 and now the pictures should appear chronologically for the first time: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/350gallery2.php?fold=simb91311
Many pictures are described above. As snow and ice manifest in countless different forms I give you some examples here. There must be much more in Polar regions... Water falls in heavy drops from trees and form a specific surface of the snow with many tiny towers of ice: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311231.jpg The wood in a little creek was soon covered by a layer of ice: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311271.jpg Air bubbles often form incredible patterns on the layer of ice in a puddle: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311275.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311278.jpg
Even in sunny locations we had already frozen puddles: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311276.jpg
Sometimes little crystals grow on the surface of the ice: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311279.jpg
Many green and one icy needle: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311282.jpg
This puddle is just about to freeze up: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311305.jpg
|
|
9 |
School / GLOBE
My students manufactured their own frost tubes according to http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/dld/AnleitungF-Tube.pdf and one week later we could already protocol the first results: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311262.jpg
We have completed our green-down observations. Unfortunately the GLOBE visualization doesn’t work yet. Another project: create an own visualization...
Also our school pond froze up during this cold spell in November: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311261.jpg
Surface Temperature Campaign 2013: Kevin organizes and runs this campaign every year in December. If you want to participate it would be a good idea to follow this year and participate next year. For teachers it would be a good idea to make the measurements yourself at first (this year), so you will be prepared for 2014 with your students. I have created a protocol sheet for the measurements of one week. It can be downloaded here: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/600links.html German: Protokoll Surface-T English: Surface-T protocol
During the 2010 IPY Oslo conference my roommate was Antony Jinman. I’ll never forget when he showed pictures and told stories of his expedition to the North Pole (without any engine) which wasn’t repeated by anybody since then. Now he is on an even braver expedition: he wants to go solo to the South Pole. He started in November and plans to be at the Pole 77 days later. He wanted me to be in his discussion panel – I wish him all the best for this adventure! See http://www.eteteachers.org/The-South-Pole
|
|
10 |
Projects
Our CCES@school PhenoCam project will soon reach an intermediate goal: I could present the project at the Swiss Geoscience Meeting at Lausanne http://geoscience-meeting.scnatweb.ch/sgm2013/index.html We were in a modern building: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311162.jpg http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311163.jpg This also presented his OpenNature project with a poster: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/viewgallery.php?img=simb91311/913111311164.jpg In February I will give a first teachers’ workshop: http://www.globe-swiss.ch/de/Uber_GLOBE/Ausbildung/ (scroll down to PhenoCam) If you are interested you can download the software (still in progress) here: http://phenocam.granjow.net/download.html
|
|
|
Epilogue
For some observations and also private issues I sometimes use a seasonal calendar. It divides the year in four parts with 13 weeks each and might be useful for others as well. You can download and have a look at it here: http://www.seasonsandbiomes.net/600links.html (Seasonal Cal. 2014 / Jahreszeitenkal. 2014)
Among others all my active SIMB photographers will get some Christmas mail from me – please be sympathetic about it as it won’t arrive in time. I planned to prepare it in October but work for the school renovation took so much time. The good thing about it is that it gives you more time for pleasant anticipation… - and tell me if never arrives.
It’s not new to you but her words are worth reading once again:
Susan Grace: Winter:
Then comes winter in all of her glory With snow and ice and darkness of the day With a smile frozen on your face and frost in your hair Watch the northern lights and you know why you are here It's the season of time and reflection Singin' by the stove all through the night Listen 'er so closely to the stillness of the earth And your heart shines with peace from deep inside.
Best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year Markus Eugster
May the hand of a friend always be near you. Old Irish Blessing
Please send an e-mail to me (markus.eugster@schule-uzwil.ch) if you want me to delete your address in my SIMB mailing list. |
