Unanswered Questions
1,609 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
27
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0
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587
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Is it possible for a sting jet to form over a continental landmass?
Sting jets are thought to be responsible for some of the most damaging winds associated with extratropical cyclones in the mid-latitudes. So far they have only been confirmed in the European region, ...
25
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0
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How are Mauna Loa $\ce{CO2}$ monthly trends computed?
The problem
I am trying to figure out how $\ce{CO2}$ concentration trends are computed in the data provided by the Earth Systems Research Laboratory Mauna Loa Observatory. The data contains monthly ...
CommunityBot
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24
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0
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376
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How reliable were early measurements of palaeomagnetic directions?
The methodology and equipment for palaeomagnetic studies in the 1960s and 1970s was often rather primitive by today's standards. For example, Doell and Cox (1967) imply that the standard procedure for ...
CommunityBot
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18
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244
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How much heat is transported from the interior to the surface in the form of hydration enthalpy?
Heat is transferred from the interior to the surface through several methods. One is simply the conduction of sensible heat through the crust - I would guess this accounts for most of it. But some is ...
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17
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0
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780
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How will climate change affect the entropy budget of the atmosphere?
The entropy per unit mass of moist air can be defined as
$$s=(1-q_t)(C_{pd} \ln{T}-R_d\ln{p_d})+q_tC_l\ln{T} + \frac{q_vL_v}{T}-q_vR_v\ln{\mathcal{H}}$$
And in statistical equilibrium, the entropy ...
CommunityBot
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16
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0
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4k
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What is the global distribution of oil filled geodes?
In a general 40 mile radius of Keokuk, Iowa many sedimentary geodes can be found. They are abundant in the Warsaw Formation with the type section at Geode Glenn in Warsaw, Illinois. In one specific ...
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15
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173
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What are the ground motion prediction equations for 3-D ruptures?
Ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) estimate ground motion at any given site due to an earthquake at a distance. There are many such equations, each with different parameters.
Can somebody ...
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14
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213
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Will global climate change alter the interannual and/or intraseasonal variance of temperature and/or precipitation?
A quick skim of the regional chapters in AR5 shows predicted changes to average temperature and precipitation. If I understand (in rough terms) the modelling methodologies used, a variety of models (...
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14
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87
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Why were no interferometers launched on weather satellites between the '69-'72 IRIS-D and the 2002-onward AIRS?
As early as the late 1960s / early 1970s, Nimbus-3 carried Iris-B and Nimbus-4 carried Iris-D, both infrared spectroradiometers with a moderate spectral resolution. Subsequently, I believe it was not ...
- 11.7k
13
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108
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How are scatterometer observations standardised before being fed into reanalysis models?
This very basic question occurred to me during a talk on reanalysis data sets. Often we know the observations produced by a particular instrument, say rain radar, are biased from one year to the next ...
- 11.7k
13
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191
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Oceanic-atmospheric coupling between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean basins
The two great basins - Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean have their respective oscillations: Indian Ocean Dipole and El Nino Southern oscillation that affect the climate of the regions as well as the ...
- 4,051
12
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0
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169
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Is there a distinction between gap winds and channelled flow?
I have seen gap flows mentioned in the literature, for example [Gohm et al. 2004, Zängl 2002, Mayr et al. 2007]. Whiteman 2000 defines a gap as a "major erosional opening through mountain ranges" and ...
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12
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156
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Using sodium chloride load as a point source pollutant variable in SWAT model?
I'm currently working with the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). My task is to model the loading of sodium chloride into streams.
One approach I would like to take is to use the point ...
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11
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121
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How much does the Meridional Overturning Circulation strengthen the Gulf Stream?
While the Gulf Stream is a western boundary current (WBC), one professor told me that the Gulf Stream is stronger than it should be just by using theoretical calculations of WBC. How much is the heat+...
- 15.5k
10
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0
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290
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How much heat flow is needed to maintain plate tectonics?
The Earth is emitting about 47 terawatts of heat energy, producing a heat flow of 0.0921 W/m$^2$ due to radiogenic and primordial heat energy. The heat flow drives mantle convection which in turn ...
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