The bright aurorae dancing in the sky are produced by charged particles traveling along the magnetic field lines from tens of planetary radii. By why do aurorae rotate at Saturn but not at Earth?
Editors’ Highlights
New Definition of Potential Spicity by the Least Square Method
A thermodynamic function of the potential spicity is defined and it is orthogonal to the potential density in the least square sense.
Fog Catching for Thirsty Locales
Many arid and semi-arid regions experience very little rainfall, but quite a bit of fog, which might be a viable source of drinking water.
What Makes a Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flash in Thunderclouds?
Two lightning flashes were observed in the same location: One produced a bright gamma-ray flash with about 1000 counts per millisecond, but the other did not.
Dolphins in Florida Show Exposure to Phthalate Contaminants
Scientists have detected exposure to phthalates among a majority of bottlenose dolphins sampled in Sarasota Bay, Florida (2016–2017), including some with levels comparable to those observed in humans.
Retrieving Tropospheric Ozone from Ground-based Spectroscopy
A new technique can retrieve the profile of ozone from surface to tropopause by MAX-DOS ground-based measurements.
Dropsondes Reveal Atmospheric Boundary Layers Over Antarctic
636 high-resolution dropsondes reveal four types of atmospheric boundary layer over the Antarctic, including well-mixed and convective types.
Polarization Measurements Probe the Physics of Lightning
A new measurement capability can detect the polarization of the radio frequency wave of lightning sources, which reveals different forms of lightning breakdown processes.
Diurnal Variation of Rainfall over the Equator Revisited
Radar data show an afternoon precipitation maximum in the equatorial Indian Ocean in addition to the nocturnal maximum; this occurs under light surface winds and suppressed large-scale convection.
Eddy Generation in the Central Bay of Bengal
Eddies in the central Bay of Bengal are generated near the eastern boundary of the basin, related to equatorial wind forcing, nonlinearity, and the topographic “bump” of Myanmar.
