Małgorzata Biniak-Pieróg

Evaluation of relationship between air pollutant concentration and meteorological elements in winter months

Abstract The paper presents the evaluation of the relation between meteorological elements and air pollutants’ concentrations. The analysis includes daily concentrations of pollutants and variation of meteorological elements such as wind speed, air temperature and relative humidity, precipitation and total radiation at four monitoring stations located in the province of Lower Silesia in individual months of the winter half-year (November–April, according to hydrological year classification) of 2005–2009. Data on air quality and meteorological elements came from the results of research conducted in the automatic net of air pollution monitoring conducted in the range of the State Environment Monitoring. The effect of meteorological elements on analysed pollutant concentration was determined using the correlation and regression analysis at significance level α < 0.05. The occurrence of maximum concentration of NO, NO2, NOX, SO2 and PM10 occurred in the coldest months during winter season (January, February and December) confirmed the strong influence of “low emission” on air quality. Among the meteorological factors assessed wind speed was most often selected component in step wise regression procedure, then air temperature, less air relative humidity and solar radiation. In the case of a larger number of variables describing the pollution in the atmosphere, in all analyzed winter seasons the most common set of meteorological elements were wind speed and air temperature.

Dynamics of water content in light bare soil in summer half-year in the period of 2003-2012 and its agro-meteorological determinants

Abstract The objective of the study was the estimation of decade variation of water content in layers with thickness of 0–10, 0–20, 0–40 and 0–60 cm of a bare light brown soil in the summer half-year (May–October) in the 10-year period of 2003–2012 against the background of agro-meteorological conditions. The study was based on results of measurement of the moisture of a bare soil with the use of the TDR method, sums of atmospheric precipitations and ground water levels, conducted in the area of the Agro- and Hydrometeorology Observatory of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, situated in Wrocław-Swojec. The analyses revealed slight variation of mean decade values of water content in the bare soil in the summer half-year during the ten-year period under analysis. Irrespective of the thickness of the soil layer, precipitation in the 10-year period of 2003–2012 had a highly significant effect on the water content in the 2nd decade of July. In the case of soil layers with thickness down to 0–20 cm a statistically significant relation between soil water content and ground water levels was noted for the 3rd decade of May, July, and in the 3rd decade of September. In the layer with thickness of 0–60 cm the relations were statistically significant almost throughout the summer half-year, with the exception of the 1st and 2nd decades of May. Analysis of trends of mean water content of the bare soil over the 10-year period of 2003–2012 indicated their statistically significant increase in the case of most of the decades of the summer half-year only in soil layers with thickness of 0–10 and 0–20 cm.

EFFECT OF THERMAL CONDITIONS AND PRECIPITATION ON GROWTH RATE OF SCOTS PINE

The aim of the experiment presented in this paper is to assess the relationship between the height and diameter increase rate and the thermal conditions and precipitation during its growth. The experiment was carried out in the Agroand Hydrometeorology Observatory of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences in 2013–2015. The height and diameter measurement was made each time on the same 43 plants, randomly selected at the stage of setting up the experiment in 2012 and specially marked. Plants included in further analyses were divided into 5 classes and the classification criterion was their height in the 3rd year of cultivation. Initially, an analysis of relationships of selected morphological parameters of Scots pine was carried out, i.e. of the heights and diameters against the changing weather conditions, i.e. precipitations and air temperatures. Subsequently, an effect of the thermal conditions and the amount of precipitation on growth of Scots pine was assessed with the use of the two meteorological parameters mentioned above. These parameters were used as their accumulated sums, calculated as of the dates of biometric measurements, made at the end of each month (the last ten days of a month) in the summer half-year period. Multiple regression analysis was applied to evaluate the effect of thermal conditions and precipitation on the growth of Scots pine in both variants and the significance of the relationships under study was examined with the use of an adjusted coefficient of determination R2. The analyses and calculations indicate a close significant relationship between the height of pine trees and their diameter at the base on any measurement date. Analyses of different measurement periods indicated a decrease in significance of the relationships between the height of pine trees and their diameter at the base. A decrease in these relationships is becoming more and more pronounced with the age of the trees. Of the two weather parameters, i.e. total air temperature and total precipitation, the precipitation dominates in the relationship with the trees height and air temperature – with the trees diameter.

Effect of night and day temperature on the cover colour and quality parameters of apple

Abstract The colour of fruits is considered to be an important quality indicator. Sale ability greatly depends on how well covered the colour is of the specific type of fruits. We used a visual colour scale (0-100 percent) for evaluation of colorization. We distinguished the yellow, green and red cultivars. In the following studies we show those results which consider the red type apples only. Cover colour is one of the phenometric variables and it is a well-known fact that significant differences can be experienced year by year. The experienced oscillation can be the cause of inappropriate water- and nutriment supply; however it can be the result of some kind of plant disease, extremely high or low temperature, setting rate above the average and outstanding fruit density. In the present examination it is postulated that the degree of cover colour is mostly influenced by day and night temperature. Therefore, our study aims to find out whether it is true or not. Cover colour belongs to those phenometric characteristic features, only the final value of which is taken into consideration; due to their nature of establishment or forming time it seems useless to follow closely the change in the time of vegetation. We analysed the ripening groups of apple varieties separately. We have found that at winter ripening cultivars has bigger importance of genetic properties whilst at summer and autumnal ripening ones the weather effects have bigger importance. The research results shows that the day and night temperature has an important role on fruit quality parameters as sugar content, vitamin C content and on acidity also. Because we can modify the canopy temperature by using evaporative cooling system we have a chance to set up an optimal value of day and night temperature difference in the orchards. Dobre wybarwienie owoców jest jednym z najważniejszych wskaźników ich jakości, ponieważ decyduje ono o możliwości zbytu, a zatem opłacalności uprawy. Różni się ono istotnie w poszczególnych latach, do czego przyczynia się z pewnością niewłaściwe zaopatrywanie w wodę i składniki pokarmowe. Przyczyną mogą być także choroby drzew, ekstremalnie niska lub wysoka temperatura powietrza. W niniejszej pracy przeprowadzono analizę wpływu dziennej i nocnej temperatury na stopień wybarwienia czerwonych odmian jabłek. Materiał badawczy pochodził z Újfehértó (Węgry). Analizy przeprowadzono oddzielnie dla trzech grup jabłek: dojrzewających latem, jesienią oraz zimą. Do analiz wykorzystano dzienne i nocne wartości temperatury powietrza oraz ich dobowe różnice. Stopień wybarwienia owoców oceniano w skali procentowej. Przeprowadzone analizy wykazały, że dla odmian dojrzewających w zimie większe znaczenie mają ich właściwości genetyczne, w przypadku pozostałych większą rolę odgrywają warunki pogodowe. Zarówno dzienna, jak i nocna temperatura powietrza ma istotny wpływ na jakość owoców, tj. zawartość cukru, witaminy C czy kwasowość. Poprzez zwiększenie procesu parowania z koron drzew jabłoniowych można obniżać ich temperaturę. To działanie pozwala na optymalizację różnic między dziennymi i nocnymi wartościami tego elementu.

Empirical coefficients for estimating evapotranspiration of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) - preliminary research

The objective of this study was to develop empirical coefficients for the estimation of evapotranspiration of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). A field experiment was conducted in the area of the Department Agroand Hydrometeorology Observatory, University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Wrocław, Poland, from the 1 st of May till the 31 st of October, 2016. Measurements of evapotraspiration (ETR) were conducted in soil evaporimeters in three replicates. In parallel to the evaporimeter measurements, direct measurements of actual values of evaporation from open water surface (EW) were conducted with the use of an evaporimeter type EWP 992. In addition, the diurnal values of index evaporation were calculated with the FAO Penman-Monteith formula (EP). Empirical decade indices for the estimation of Scots pine evapotranspiration were determined in two variants. The first variant consisted in the determination of the quotient of measured evapotranspiration ETR and evaporation from open water surface EW (index kw). In the second variant, the components of the quotient were the ETR and the index evaporation calculated with the FAO Penman-Monteith formula (EP) (index kp). The conducted analysis showed that variation in the values of evapotranspiration totals is more pronounced with extension of the time step, for which it is summed up. Basing on precipitation water alone, Scots pine adapts its evapotranspiration to the rhythm of water supply. In the case of the conditions of Wrocław, the maximum evapotranspiration total for a month occurs in July. Analyses of the possibility of determination of empirical indices on the basis of measurements of evaporation from open water surface performed by means of the evaporimeter type EWP 992 and of diurnal values of index evaporation calculated with the FAO-Penman-Monteith formula indicate a possibility of spatial interpretation of Scots pine evapotranspiration.

Evaluation of methods of comparative analysis of sums of atmospheric precipitation measured with the classical method and with a contact-less laser rain gauge

Abstract Evaluation of methods of comparative analysis of sums of atmospheric precipitation measured with the classical method and with a contact-less laser rain gauge. The paper concerns on the evaluation of a preliminary method of comparing data on diurnal sums of atmospheric precipitation acquired with the classic method and by means of Thies Clima laser precipitation monitor - disdrometer. The objective of the study was realized with the use of results of measurements of diurnal sum of precipitation conducted from 1 July to 31 August 2012, in the area of the Faculty Agro and Hydrometeorology Observatory of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. Information about precipitation measured by means of disdrometer and processed by the authors’ software DisPre led to the development of three variants of precipitation totals counting (1 - data processed by means of the program supplied as standard by the manufacturer of the disdrometer, 2 - totals calculated from the volume of particular hydrometeors - 11 classes, and 3 - totals calculated basing on droplets’ diameters - 22 classes). The tests showed that the totals processed by the program supplied by the manufacturer proved to be the closest to the measurements taken with the Hellmann rain gauge as the method of precipitation calculation during a 24-hour period. The reason for the divergences of the observed values should be certainly sought in the method of measurement itself. Due to the high sensitivity of disdrometer on the external factors, it is absolutely necessary to conduct daily checks of cleanliness of the instrument - especially in the summer period. Streszczenie Ocena metod analizy porównawczej sum opadów atmosferycznych mierzonych metodą klasyczną i bezstykowym deszczomierzem laserowym. W pracy przeprowadzono analizę porównawczą wyników pomiarów dobowych sum opadów atmosferycznych prowadzonych metodą standardową z zastosowaniem klasycznego deszczomierz Hellmanna oraz optycznego deszczomierza laserowego firmy Thies Clima - disdrometru. W tym celu wykorzystano dobowe wyniki pomiarów opadów atmosferycznych prowadzonych od 1 lipca do 31 sierpnia 2012 roku na terenie Wydziałowego Obserwatorium Agro i Hydrometeorologii należącego do Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego we Wrocławiu. Informacje o opadach pomierzonych deszczomierzem laserowym i przetworzone za pomocą autorskiego oprogramowania DisPre pozwoliły na rozróżnienie trzech sposobów zliczania sum dobowych opadów (sumy generowane przez oryginalne oprogramowanie dostarczone przez producenta disdrometru, sumy wyznaczone na podstawie objętości poszczególnych hydrometeorów - 11 klas cząsteczek, oraz sumy obliczone na podstawie średnic kropel - 22 klasy cząsteczek). Przeprowadzone analizy wskazują, że sumy generowane przez oryginalne oprogramowanie producenta są najbardziej zbliżone do wartości pomierzonych klasycznym deszczomierzem. Rozbieżności w pozyskanych wartościach upatrywać należy w samej metodzie prowadzenia pomiaru. Z uwagi na bardzo dużą wrażliwość disdrometru na czynniki zewnętrzne należy bezwzględnie dokonywać kontroli czynności tego urządzenia, zwłaszcza w okresie letnim.