Thanks for the very complete explanation.
Chuck Norcutt
Brian Swale wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Chuck asked about snow levels etc in the top photo of this link
> http://www.brianswale.com/zuikoholics/index.htm
>
> Explanation ....
>
> New Zealand has essentially a maritime climate for the most part since it is
> narrow and few places are far from the moderating influence of the oceans.
>
> Except for Central Otago which, at Alexandra, is as far from the sea as one
> can get here. So the climate is more like a continental climate here, than
> anywhere else in NZ.
>
> But, the range of climatic zones is compressed compared with western
> Canada, for example; their 12,000 feet set of climate and vegetation zones
> is compressed into about 5,000 feet vertical in NZ.
>
> In NZ, since it is south of the equator, south facing slopes are cold since
> they face away from the sun, and north facing slopes are hot as they get the
> full blast of the mid-day sun..
>
> Alexandra is in an intermontane basin ringed by mountains with the Clutha
> River entering through a gorge from the north (now flooded by Lake Dunstan
> for hydro-electricity generation) and departing at the south at Alexandra
> township. It is also a very dry climate and some parts seem like a desert.
>
> Leaning Rock mountain, altitude 1647metres, is the highest point of the
> Dunstan Range, and the side facing the camera (top link) is the cold south
> side. Yes, there are a few km between that rock and the camera.
>
> The second link photo is from the northern edge of Alexandra looking west
> to the Old Man range across the Clutha river (in those willows) to the
> eastern-facing slopes which have a modest amount of snow at the moment.
> It does sometimes come right down to Alex. At the bottom of the photo you
> can see some "tailings" from one of the 87 gold dredges that were busy in
> the late 1800's and early 1900's.
>
> The third photo is from near central Alexandra looking south to a range of
> hills that face directly into the blast of the mid-day sun. It is very rocky
> as
> you can see; the strong NW winds that blow sometimes have blown away all
> the soil that might ever have been there, and there is mainly rock. The
> occasional self-sown pines you can see there are Pinus radiata, native to
> California's coastal fog belt, and which grows very well in New Zealand
> where it is the mainstay of the plantation forest industry, with Douglas-fir
> a
> close second.
>
> The bottom photo link is from the same spot as the 3rd, looking 150 degrees
> clockwise to the NW, back to the Old Man range. I have only little (if at
> all)
> altered the colours, as what motivated me to make the photo was the colour
> similarity between the sky and the Beaurepaires sign. If I use the tools I
> have at my easy disposal to lighten up the dark wall, that process destroys
> the essential blues and browns of the background.
>
> These E-3 (L SF ) jpg photos were reduced in size in 3 - 4 steps using Fast-
> stone Image viewer, with mild sharpening after each reduction. This
> stepwise method has minimised the creation of jaggies where angled
> straight lines occur.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Brian Swale.
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