Lucas Vaz Peres

Identification of influential events concerning the Antarctic ozone hole over southern Brazil and the biological effects induced by UVB and UVA radiation in an endemic treefrog species

The increased incidence of solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) due to ozone depletion has been affecting both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and it may help to explain the enigmatic decline of amphibian populations in specific localities. In this work, influential events concerning the Antarctic ozone hole were identified in a dataset containing 35 years of ozone measurements over southern Brazil. The effects of environmental doses of UVB and UVA radiation were addressed on the morphology and development of Hypsiboas pulchellus tadpole (Anura: Hylidae), as well as on the induction of malformation after the conclusion of metamorphosis. These analyzes were complemented by the detection of micronucleus formation in blood cells. 72 ozone depletion events were identified from 1979 to 2013. Surprisingly, their yearly frequency increased three-fold during the last 17 years. The results clearly show that H. pulchellus tadpole are much more sensitive to UVB than UVA light, which reduces their survival and developmental rates. Additionally, the rates of micronucleus formation by UVB were considerably higher compared to UVA even after the activation of photolyases enzymes by a further photoreactivation treatment. Consequently, a higher occurrence of malformation was observed in UVB-irradiated individuals. These results demonstrate the severe genotoxic impact of UVB radiation on this treefrog species and its importance for further studies aimed to assess the impact of the increased levels of solar UVB radiation on declining species of the Hylidae family.

Strategies to Implement Edge Computing in a P2P Pervasive Grid

The exponential dissemination of proximity computing devices (smartphones, tablets, nanocomputers, etc.) raises important questions on how to transmit, store and analyze data in networks integrating those devices. New approaches like edge computing aim at delegating part of the work to devices in the “edge” of the network. In this article, the focus is on the use of pervasive grids to implement edge computing and leverage such challenges, especially the strategies to ensure data proximity and context awareness, two factors that impact the performance of big data analyses in distributed systems. This article discusses the limitations of traditional big data computing platforms and introduces the principles and challenges to implement edge computing over pervasive grids. Finally, using CloudFIT, a distributed computing platform, the authors illustrate the deployment of a real geophysical application on a pervasive network.

STRATOSPHERE-TROPOSPHERE EXCHANGE AS AN OZONE SOURCE TO PLANETARY BOUNDARY LAYER

Stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) events were identified over southern Brazil acting as a stratospheric ozone source to the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) during 2011-2013 period. There were 13 events with direct influence between 29° and 31° S (center of Rio Grande do Sul), with increase in ozone total column. In these cases, 4 occurred in 2011, 5 in 2012 and 4 in 2013. They were divided: in relation to the exchange latitude, the upper-level Jet Stream act, altitude of source and arrive of air parcels. The air parcels cross the tropopause between 120 and 320 hPa (dynamic tropopause), entering troposphere until the lower troposphere. Most cases (30,8%) reached 1000 hPa and the rest between 600 and 900 hPa. Just in one day the STE occurred in a lower latitude than 29° S; in all the other days (92,3%), STEs occurred in higher latitudes than 31° S (the closer it gets to the pole, the bigger is the ozone concentration, except in Ozone Hole Influence events) or between 29° and 31° S. In most cases (61,5%) it was observed STE along with the Jet Streak act.

ATMOSPHERIC ANALYSIS OF THE EVENTS SECONDARY EFFECT OF ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE OVER THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL IN 2012. PART 1: IDENTIFICATION OF THE EVENTS AND ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC IN THE STRATOSPHERE

In this study were identified events of Influence of the Antarctic ozone hole over southern Brazil in the year 2012. For this, we analyzed the daily average data of total ozone column obtained through Brewer Spectrophotometer, installed in the southern Space Observatory-OESCRSINPE-MCTI (29.4° S; 53.8°; 488 m) and by satellite instruments Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), seeking days of falls in the ozone content. For these days, we analyzed potential vorticity maps made using Reanalysis data provided by NCEPNCAR and retroactive trajectories made through the Hysplit model of NOAA, in order to verify the origin of the polar air mass poor in ozone. In addition, it was also conducted a complementary analysis through the images of the ozone content of the OMI satellite, verifying the performance of the Antarctic Ozone Hole in polar regions and its connection with the Southern Brazil. The methodology used was shown to be effective in the identification of 2 events of side effect of the Antarctic ozone hole over the South of Brazil, which showed a fall of 12.1 ± 2.3 average in the ozone content.

ANÁLISE DOS DOIS PRINCIPAIS FATORES DE DECAIMENTO DA COLUNA TOTAL DE OZÔNIO SOBRE O SUL DA AMÉRICA DO SUL

Ozone (O3) is less than 1% of Earth’s atmospheric gases. However, it is essential for life on Earth because it absorbs ultraviolet radiation (UV-B), which is bad for the health of living beings. Since the beginning of 1980 it was reported that there was depletion in the ozone layer over Antarctica and that this could move to lower latitudes. The main objective of this work is the analysis of the main events of total ozone decay over southern South America (20°S, 40°S and 30°W, 80°W) for the period between 2004 and 2011 through comparison with the monthly average of six locations. When comparing the months of May and October for the year 2010 (two major consequent days under the threshold), values of ozone total column much lower than October were found, because of the Brewer-Dobson circulation that mixes the air poor in ozone in the tropical region with the air in the Antarctic region, where the ozone hole was found during the months of winter and spring.

ATMOSPHERIC ANALYSIS OF THE EVENTS SECONDARY EFFECT OF ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE OVER THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL IN 2012. PART 2: SYNOPTIC VERIFICATION OF THE TROPOSPHERE DURING THE EVENTS

In this work, it was verified the synoptic condition in the troposphere of the two events of the Influence of the Antarctic Ozone Hole that occurred over southern Brazil in the year 2012. Both events showed average drop of the 12.1 ± 2.3 in the ozone content in relation to their monthly climatological averages obtained through the data of the Brewer Spectrophotometer MKIII 167 installed on the southern Space Observatory-OESCRSINPE-MCTI and instrument of OMI satellite from NASA. Through wind maps at 250 hPa and 500 hPa and Omega in sea level pressure and thickness between 1000 and 500 hPa in addition to GOES 12 satellite images enhanced infrared, it was observed that the synoptic troposferica condition associated with passage of a wide area of atmospheric stability, without significant cloud cover, related to the remoteness of the subtropical jet stream to the Atlantic Ocean, superimposed by a large high-pressure systems after a few days of the passage of a frontal system stationary, favored the stratospheric transport causing such falls, arriving in one of the cases the configure Atmospheric blocking condition, suggesting that the more intense is the stable air mass front post, the greater the drop in ozone content.

OBTENÇÃO DA ALTURA DA CAMADA LIMITE PLANETÁRIA A PARTIR DO MÉTODO DAS IMAGENS

Este trabalho aborda a identificacao da altura da CLP a partir de uma nova tecnica intitulada Metodo das Imagens. Tal metodo foi empregado a partir de dados do sistema LIDAR, obtidos na campanha do projeto CHUVA-SUL e validado a partir de dados de radiossondagem.