Geographical Information and Climatology

<p>Preface vii</p>
<p>Chapter 1. Basics of Climatological and Meteorological Observations for GIS Applications 1<br /> Wolfgang SCHOENER</p>
<p>1.1. Data measurements and observations in climatology 2</p>
<p>1.2. Data quality control and data homogenization in climatology 12</p>
<p>1.3. Metadata: documenting quality and usability 20</p>
<p>1.4. Future perspectives 25</p>
<p>1.5. Bibliography 26</p>
<p>Chapter 2. Spatial Analysis, Cartography and Climate 29<br /> Daniel JOLY</p>
<p>2.1. Introduction 29</p>
<p>2.2. Geographic information necessary for interpolation 32</p>
<p>2.3. The main interpolation methods 36</p>
<p>2.4. Geographic information used in statistical interpolations: advantages and disadvantages 42</p>
<p>2.5. Conclusion 67</p>
<p>2.6. Bibliography 69</p>
<p>Chapter 3. Geographical Information, Remote Sensing and Climatology 73<br /> Vincent DUBREUIL</p>
<p>3.1. Introduction 73</p>
<p>3.2. The development phases of meteorological satellites 74</p>
<p>3.3. Examples of how geostationary data are used in Brazil 85</p>
<p>3.4. Examples of NOAA–AVHRR data used in Western France 92</p>
<p>3.5. Conclusion 99</p>
<p>3.6. Acknowledgements 100</p>
<p>3.7. Bibliography 100</p>
<p>Chapter 4. Geographical Information for the Initialization of Numerical Weather Forecast Models and Climate Modeling 103<br /> Pierre BESSEMOULIN</p>
<p>4.1. Introduction 103</p>
<p>4.2. Brief description of the climate system 103</p>
<p>4.3. Brief overview of numerical weather forecast models 107</p>
<p>4.4. Role and description of the Earth s surface 111</p>
<p>4.5. Description of surface parameters used in a forecast model 119</p>
<p>4.6. Bibliography 123</p>
<p>Chapter 5. Assessing and Modeling the Urban Climate in Lisbon 125<br /> Maria Jo&atilde;o ALCOFORADO</p>
<p>5.1. Introduction 125</p>
<p>5.2. Historical evolution of urban climate studies 126</p>
<p>5.3. Spatial scales 127</p>
<p>5.4. Climatic modifications induced by settlements 128</p>
<p>5.5. Urban climate monitoring methods 130</p>
<p>5.6. Modeling&nbsp; 134</p>
<p>5.7. Modeling Lisbon s urban climate at the mesoscale 135</p>
<p>5.8. Modeling Lisbon s urban climate at the microscale (Telheiras city–district) 144</p>
<p>5.9. Conclusion 152</p>
<p>5.10. Acknowledgements 153</p>
<p>5.11. Bibliography 154</p>
<p>Chapter 6. Geographical Information, Climate and Atmospheric Pollution 159<br /> Isabelle ROUSSEL</p>
<p>6.1. Introduction 159</p>
<p>6.2. Peak pollution periods and alerts: pollution and climate paroxysm 161</p>
<p>6.3. LAURE and territory age 171</p>
<p>6.4. The geography of science and action 180</p>
<p>6.5. Conclusion 190</p>
<p>6.6. Bibliography&nbsp; 191</p>
<p>Chapter 7. Geographical Information and Climatology for Hydrology 195<br /> Jean–Pierre LABORDE</p>
<p>7.1. Hydrological problems of today s society&nbsp; 195</p>
<p>7.2. Pluviometry: a spatially continuous piece of geographical information 200</p>
<p>7.3. The problems associated with recording rainfall and average spatial rainfall 218</p>
<p>7.4. Conclusion 228</p>
<p>7.5. Bibliography 229</p>
<p>Chapter 8. Geographical Information, Climatology and Forest Fires 233<br /> Pierre CARREGA</p>
<p>8.1. Forest fires: associated risks and individual components 233</p>
<p>8.2. The influence that different climate and weather factors have on forest fires: the indexes 238</p>
<p>8.3. Using geographic information to work out the meteorological risks associated with forest fires 246</p>
<p>8.4. Conclusion</p>
<p>List of Authors 271</p>
<p>Index 273</p>