POSTGRADUATE NEWS May 2006
SGES COMPETITION;
We need an inspiring name for our SGES HDR NEWSLETTER and are CALLING FOR SUGGESTIONS. Please email your ideas to Bianca by 16th May and we will have a vote. The person with the winning suggestion will receive 2 village cinema tickets.
CONGRATULATIONS
Nick Porch who submitted his PhD thesis "A method of reconstructing the Quaternary climates of Australia using fossil beetles".
Liam Brady and Wendy Stubbs who graduated in April.
Akiko Yamane has accepted a tenure track position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, California State University at Fresno. She is expected to start her job at the beginning of the US academic year in August/September 2006. We wish her the best of luck for career in academia!
SGES REVIEW OF RESEARCH TRAINING MEETING
Friday 12th May, 11:00 - 12:00 noon in the Mal Logan RoomThis meeting is for all academic and research staff and HDR students to put forward their views and contributions regarding the critical issues that need to be improved or positively highlighted in the forthcoming Academic Review of Research Training in the Faculty of Arts. This will enable us to identify areas where there is room for improvement and raise these concerns in the Schools submission to the Faculty.
CONFIRMATION OF CANDIDATURE WORKSHOP
Friday 19th May, 10:00am - 12:00noon in the Mal Logan Room We are holding an
SGES Confirmation of Candidature workshop to discuss the Confirmation
of Candidature/Candidature Review process and provide important advice
on the structure and analytical material that needs to be addressed
in the written document and the presentation.
All HDR students
intending to go through their Confirmation of Candidature/Candidature
Review process between now and April 2007 are required to attend
this workshop. Other interested candidates are welcome to attend.
Papers
Musa Kilinc's paper entitled
"The spatial and temporal distribution of lightning strikes and their relationship with vegetation type, elevation and fire scars in the Northern Territory" by M Kilinc and J Beringer has been accepted to the foremost and most well regarded Climate journal internationally. The editor has said that "as the Journal of Climate goes, these are excellent and unanimous reviews" and he commends the authors.
Abstract
Lightning strikes occur as a result of convection triggered by three mechanisms; free convection from surface heating; orographic uplift or forced convection, and convection triggered by mesoscale circulations. Lightning data provided by the Bureau of Meteorology was analysed for a six-year period (1998-2003), over the Northern Territory, Australia through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to determine the spatial and temporal characteristics of lightning strikes. In addition, the distribution of lightning strikes in relation to vegetation, elevation and fire scars were examined in relation to the three trigger mechanisms. The highest densities of lighting strikes occurred during the monsoon transitional period (dry to wet) and during the active monsoon periods, when moisture was most abundant. The lightning contrast between the ocean - land showed significantly higher lightning densities over land than over coastal waters. Differences in vegetation were shown to influence the lightning distribution over the top third of the N.T, but were not significant in the bottom half. Lightning strikes in the bottom half showed a positive relationship with elevations above 800 m. There was no relationship between lighting density and elevation in the top third, since the region contained no significant elevated regions above 400 m to drive forced convection via topographic uplift. It was thought that burn scars may drive mesoscale circulations and provide a possible trigger for lightning strikes. A comparison of lightning densities between burned and unburned areas showed high variability, however the fire scar analysis showed that with ideal atmospheric conditions, large scale fire scars (> 500 m) could produce lightning strikes triggered by either enhanced free convection or mesoscale circulations.
Andrew Coutts has had his paper entitled
"Impact of increasing urban density on local climate: spatial and temporal variations in the surface energy balance in Melbourne, Australia", accepted with the Journal of Applied Meteorology.Abstract
Variations in the characteristics of urban surfaces are known to alter the local climate though alterations of land surface processes which in turn influences the urban surface energy balance and boundary layer, leading to distinct urban climates, some of which can be undesirable. In Melbourne Australia, urban densities are planned to increase under a new strategic Melbourne plan. In this paper we determine the impact of increasing housing density on the surface energy balance using the eddy covariance technique and investigate the relationship to local climate in Melbourne, Australia. Across four sites of increasing housing density and varying land surface characteristics (3 urban, 1 rural) we found that the partitioning of available energy was similar at all 3 urban sites as illustrated by similar Bowen ratios. The greatest differences between sites was seen in urban heat storage, which was influenced by urban canopy complexity, albedo and thermal admittance. Bowen Ratios were consistently greater than one throughout the year at the urban sites (often as high as 5) compared to the rural site where Bowen Ratios were generally less than one due to higher rates of evapotranspiration. Resulting daily air temperatures were considerably different between urban and rural areas, however, differences in above canopy daytime air temperatures between the urban sites were small due to similar energy partitioning. However, greater nocturnal temperatures were observed with increasing density as a result of variations in heat storage release in part due to urban canyon morphology. Knowledge of the surface energy balance is imperative for urban planning schemes, which is an avenue for manipulation of land surface characteristics for improved urban climates.
SEMINARS
SEMINARS IN MAY
Confirmation of Candidature Seminars
Friday May 5th in SGO2, 11-1pm11.05 - 11.35"The
interaction between solar radiation and aerosols and its role in
Savanna productivity: an integrated approach"
Kasturi Kanniah
11.35 - 12.05 "The
carbon, water and energy fluxes of an old-growth Mountain Ash forest"
Musa Kilinc
12.05 - 12.35 "Adaptability
and change of customary forest institutions in Kerinci, Central Sumatra,
Indonesia"
Herlina Hartanto
Tricks of the Trade TUESDAYS 5-6.30pm in E457
2
May Library Resources
16 May The Literature Review
30 May Getting Started on Research
SGES
Lunchtime Seminars WEDNESDAYS 1-2pm in SGO2
May
3 "Landscape and Race in the United States"
Richard Schein, Department of Geography, University of Kentucky
May 10 "Historical Regulation of Victoria's
Water Sector: a case of government failure?"
Dr Edwyna Harris, Department of Economics, Monash University
May 17 PhD Confirmation of Candidature - Teresa Wilson
May 24 PhD Confirmation of Candidature - Jeremy Ash
May 31 To be advised
Details of other research seminars in related disciplinary areas can be found at:
SCIENCE FACULTY
http://www.sci.monash.edu.au/postgrad/seminar.html
ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
http://www.maths.monash.edu.au/research/seminars/
http://www.biolsci.monash.edu.au/research/seminars/index.html