Abstract
The atmosphere displays linked spatial/temporal variability over wide ranges in scale. In this paper we study the scaling behaviour of the fluctuations. These properties are characterized by spectral exponents, and the extreme fluctuations by exponents of the corresponding probability distributions. Using both temperature and rain rate data from climatologically representative locations, we find very similar behaviour including relatively small dispersions in the estimated exponents. We also show that the effect of spatial averaging is primarily to reduce the amplitudes of both the fluctuations and their spectra by constant factors, a behaviour which is consistent with global space/time scaling. Finally we argue that these non-standard statistical procedures may be indispensable in taming extremely variable climatic and meteorological data.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Feller, W., 1971: An introduction to probability theory and its applications, vol.2, Wiley, New-York, 567pp.
Kolesnikova, V. N.,and A. S. Monin, 1965: The spectra of micrometeorological synoptic and climatic oscillations of meteorological fields. Meteorological Research. 16. 30–56. Soviet. Geophys. Committee, Acad. Sci. USSR, Canadian Meteorological Translation 17,1971.
Jones P. D., T. M. L. Wigley, and P. M. Kelly, 1982: Variations in surface air temperatures: Part I, Northern hemisphere, 1881–1980. Monthly Weather Rev., 110. 59–70.
Hemain, J. C, 1989: L’évenement du 3 octobre 1988. La Houille Blanche. 6, 423–428
Ladoy, Ph., D. Schertzer, S. Lovejoy, 1986a: Une étude d’invariance locale-regionale des températures, La Meteorologie 7, 23–34
Ladoy, Ph., 1986: Approche non-standard des series climatologiques, invariance d’echelle et intermittence. Thesis. Paris IV, 194pp.
Lovejoy, S., D. Schertzer, 1986a: Scale invariance, symmetries fractals and stochastic simulation of atmospheric phenomena. Bull AMS. 67,21–32.
Lovejoy, S., D. Schertzer, 1986b: Scale invariance in climatological temperatures and the local spectral plateau. Annalea Geophvsicae. B-4, 401–410.
Schertzer, D., S. Lovejoy, 1985: The dimension and intermittency of atmospheric dynamics. Turbulent Shear Flow. 4, 7–33, B. Launder ed., Springer, NY.
Schertzer, D., S. Lovejoy, 1987: Singularites anisotropes, et divergence de moments en cascades multiplicatifs. Annales Math. du Oué., 11. 139–181.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ladoy, P., Lovejoy, S., Schertzer, D. (1991). Extreme Variability of Climatological Data: Scaling and Intermittency. In: Schertzer, D., Lovejoy, S. (eds) Non-Linear Variability in Geophysics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2147-4_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2147-4_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7466-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2147-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive