This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other
Aug 16, 2008 16:57
15 yrs ago
English term
California Court Certified Interpreter
Native in: Russian 
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Spanish to English, and 3 more.
Budyko-Lettau dryness ratio
English
Science
Environment & Ecology
climatology
What I need is an explanation of the term from someone really knowledgeable in this area of science. This comes from an article on ethnology, and the article gives the following explanation: "This ratio contrasts the amount of evaporative energy available in a given environment relative to the amount of precipitation. It is a more sensitive indicator of stress in arid environments than those used in more standard climate classification systems, which may mislead one into thinking that all "desert" environments are similar in nature".
I'm afraid that I still don't understand what this ratio is, and how exactly it is different from other indicators used, other than it is less misleading.
I would be very grateful if somebody explains it to me in layman terms.
I'm afraid that I still don't understand what this ratio is, and how exactly it is different from other indicators used, other than it is less misleading.
I would be very grateful if somebody explains it to me in layman terms.
Responses
| 4 | Budyko-Lettau dryness ratio |
Demi Ebrite
|
Responses
4 hrs
Budyko-Lettau dryness ratio
The Budyko-Lettau dryness ratio reflects the ratio between evaporative energy (evaporative solar heat) and moisture (water available) as precipitation in a given environment.
Mean annual net solar radiation
Dryness Ratio= Mean annum precipitation
Latent heat of evaporation
Other indicators measure precipitation or temperatures, but not the ratio of evaporative energy between them, marking regions with low precipitation as 'desert regions', and similar in nature, and misrepresenting other regions which have a higher level of precipitation, yet the ratio of evaporative energy rendering the area as hyper-arid and harsh to live in.
VERY basically, as for 'stress', the more harsh (hyper-arid) the geographical region, the more patrist and violent the inhabitants are.
James DeMeo identified a region he calls"Saharasia". To best understand how the Budyko-Lettau ratio works and relates to your topic of ethnology, viewing (and reading) DeMeo's theories on
the geographical aspects of anthropology and climatology can help enormously.
De Mateo's 'World Behavior map' and his map using the 'Budyko-Lettau dryness ratio' to illustrate how hyper-arid (a B-L ratio >10) regions correlate with extreme patrist societies may be helpful.
I found the summary article online. Please refer to the maps of Figure 1 and Figure 2 for these map illustrations in the orgonelab URL.
hth
S A H A R A S I A Resource Page:
http:/www.saharasia.com
Mean annual net solar radiation
Dryness Ratio= Mean annum precipitation
Latent heat of evaporation
Other indicators measure precipitation or temperatures, but not the ratio of evaporative energy between them, marking regions with low precipitation as 'desert regions', and similar in nature, and misrepresenting other regions which have a higher level of precipitation, yet the ratio of evaporative energy rendering the area as hyper-arid and harsh to live in.
VERY basically, as for 'stress', the more harsh (hyper-arid) the geographical region, the more patrist and violent the inhabitants are.
James DeMeo identified a region he calls"Saharasia". To best understand how the Budyko-Lettau ratio works and relates to your topic of ethnology, viewing (and reading) DeMeo's theories on
the geographical aspects of anthropology and climatology can help enormously.
De Mateo's 'World Behavior map' and his map using the 'Budyko-Lettau dryness ratio' to illustrate how hyper-arid (a B-L ratio >10) regions correlate with extreme patrist societies may be helpful.
I found the summary article online. Please refer to the maps of Figure 1 and Figure 2 for these map illustrations in the orgonelab URL.
hth
S A H A R A S I A Resource Page:
http:/www.saharasia.com
Reference:
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Ken Cox
: See discussion comment (not enough room for it here)
24 mins
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Thank you, Ken. Your definiton of BLDR is concise and correct. My answers come directly from DeMeo's book. DeMeo's usage is ltd to support his theories re: climate/patrist societies; a link between climatology & ethnology.
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| neutral |
Rachel Fell
: Hi Debrite: nor did I see it, but it appears in a muddled way (on my computer) if you click on it...\\Looked again and it was clearer
1 hr
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Thank you, Rachel ~ In DeMeo's book, it is a ref., among many, to support his dissertation and book. Ken has a concise definition of BLDR - I have studied DeMeo's work for a long time. It's broad! I may have made a mess of it!
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Reference comments
48 mins
Sabine Akabayov, PhD
Israel
Israel
Israel
Scientist and Translator
Native in: German 
Works in: English to German, Hebrew to German, Latin to German, and 3 more.
Reference:
there is a good explanation in this book
Peer comments on this reference comment:
| agree |
Ken Cox
: The definition given in the asker's source text is apparently imprecise.
2 hrs
|
3 hrs
Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
United Kingdom
Thorough, knowledgeable and resourceful
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, Italian to English, and 4 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Reference:
never heard of it, but here is some info. in case it's useful -
Figure 2. Budyko-Lettau Dryness Ratio: Contrasting the relative dryness of different arid lands around the world. Values reflect the ratio between precipitation and evaporative energy; values of 2 receive twice as much evaporative solar heat as moisture from precipitation, while values of 10 receive ten times as much. (DeMeo 1986, 1998)
Arid to Semi-Arid Environments
Hyper-Arid Environments
...
his ratio contrasts the amount of evaporative energy available in a given environment relative to the amount of precipitation. It is a more sensitive indicator of stress within arid environments than those used in more standard climate classification systems, which may mislead one into thinking that all "desert" environments are similar in nature. Maps identifying other stressful environmental extremes, such as greatest precipitation variability, highest mean monthly maximum temperatures, vegetation-barren regions, regions of lowest carrying capacity, regions of desert soils, and uninhabited regions show very similar distributions of their most intense, widespread aspects within this same extreme desert-patrist territory (DeMeo 1986, DeMeo 1998). I have given the name Saharasia to this broad expanse of correlated extreme climate and culture.
http://www.second-congress-matriarchal-studies.com/DeMeo.htm...
you can see some of the pages of the book mentioned above here:
http://tinyurl.com/6lulpf
Figure 2. Budyko-Lettau Dryness Ratio: Contrasting the relative dryness of different arid lands around the world. Values reflect the ratio between precipitation and evaporative energy; values of 2 receive twice as much evaporative solar heat as moisture from precipitation, while values of 10 receive ten times as much. (DeMeo 1986, 1998)
Arid to Semi-Arid Environments
Hyper-Arid Environments
...
his ratio contrasts the amount of evaporative energy available in a given environment relative to the amount of precipitation. It is a more sensitive indicator of stress within arid environments than those used in more standard climate classification systems, which may mislead one into thinking that all "desert" environments are similar in nature. Maps identifying other stressful environmental extremes, such as greatest precipitation variability, highest mean monthly maximum temperatures, vegetation-barren regions, regions of lowest carrying capacity, regions of desert soils, and uninhabited regions show very similar distributions of their most intense, widespread aspects within this same extreme desert-patrist territory (DeMeo 1986, DeMeo 1998). I have given the name Saharasia to this broad expanse of correlated extreme climate and culture.
http://www.second-congress-matriarchal-studies.com/DeMeo.htm...
you can see some of the pages of the book mentioned above here:
http://tinyurl.com/6lulpf
Discussion
Ken, the original sentence does indeed come from DeMeo's article. His theories have interested me for quite a while, and I even own his book. It's not a book easy to read, but gives you a lot of food for thought.
However, what I'd like to know is this: how often do scientist use the BLDR, if at all, and is its use controversial in any way? (DeMeo's hypothesis certainly is, as you can see, for example, from this link: http://www.suppressedhistories.net/saharasia.html).
In other words, I would like to an explanation (in layman terms, if possible) from a source independent from DeMeo's work.