A complexity view of rainfall

被引:153
作者
Peters, O
Hertlein, C
Christensen, K
机构
[1] Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, Blackett Lab, London SW7 2BW, England
[2] Univ Freiburg, Fak Phys, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
关键词
D O I
10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.018701
中图分类号
O4 [物理学];
学科分类号
0702 ;
摘要
We show that rain events are analogous to a variety of nonequilibrium relaxation processes in Nature such as earthquakes and avalanches. Analysis of high-resolution rain data reveals that power laws describe the number of rain events versus size and number of droughts versus duration. In addition, the accumulated water column displays scale-less fluctuations. These statistical properties are the fingerprints of a self-organized critical process and may serve as a benchmark for models of precipitation and atmospheric processes.
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页数:4
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