bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Do Laymen’s Perceptions of Sea Level Rise Risk Conform to the Scientific Projections?
Authors: Shao Wanyun , Moftakhari Hamed , Moradkhani Hamid
Published: March 2020

Sea level rise (SLR) in the 21st century poses fundamental risks to coastal residents. The U.S. Gulf of Mexico Coast (Gulf Coast) is among the regions experiencing the most rapid SLR. In addition to its increasing exposure to SLR and related coastal flooding, the Gulf Coast is home to a large percentage of population that displays high social vulnerability. How the coastal population in this vulnerable region perceives the impending risks posed by SLR warrants further examination. The gap between scientific assessment and laymen’s perceptions of climate change and its impacts has posed fundamental challenges in risk communication. Without a thorough understanding of how probabilistic SLR projections would be perceived by the public, scientific communication and adaptation efforts may be hindered. Using a new comprehensive Gulf Coast survey data, this study examines perceptions of future sea level change and provides the first explicit  comparison of coastal residents’ expectation with scientific projections of SLR by mid-21st cenruty.
Crust and upper mantle structure of North Borneo explored using surface waves from ambient noise
Authors: Volk Omry , Bacon Conor , Tongkul Felix , Rawlinson Nick
Published: March 2020

South-East Asia is one of the most tectonically complex regions on Earth. North Borneo in particular is home to a number of intriguing features, the formation of which is not fully understood. These include the North-West Borneo trough, the rapidly uplifted 4000m high Mt Kinabalu and the uplifted circular sedimentary basins such as the Maliau Basin. To study North Borneo's tectonics in depth we deployed a new dense temporary network of 46 broadband seismometers across the regionin a semi-regular grid pattern with approximately 40km spacing. This closely spaced network, which operated for 22 months, allows a high-resolution seismic analysis of the crust and mantle under North Borneo. Here, we use ambient noise cross-correlations to measure phase velocities of surface waves. We then use the phase velocities to analyze the crustal and upper mantle structure.
Electron Kinetic Instability Driven by Electron Temperature Anisotropy and Electron Beam in the Solar Wind
Authors: Zhao Jinsong , Sun Heyu , Liu Wen , Xie Huasheng , Wu Dejin
Published: March 2020

Electron temperature anisotropy instabilities are believed to constrain the distributions of the electron parallel and perpendicular temperatures in the solar wind. When the electron perpendicular temperature is larger than the parallel temperature, the whistler instability is normally stronger than the electron mirror instability. While the electron parallel temperature is larger than the perpendicular temperature, the electron oblique firehose instability dominates the parallel firehose instability. Therefore, previous studies proposed the whistler and electron oblique firehose instabilities constraint on the electron dynamics in the solar wind. Based on the fact that there always exists the differential drift velocity among different electron populations, we consider the electron kinetic instability in the plasmas containing the electron anisotropic component and the electron beam component. Consequently, we give a comprehensive electron kinetic instability analysis in the solar wind. Furthermore, we propose that the electron acoustic/magneto-acoustic instability can arise in the low electron beta regime, and the whistler electron beam instability can be triggered in a wide beta regime. These two instabilities can provide a constraint on the electron beam velocity. Moreover, we find a new instability in the regime of the electron beta ~ 1, and this instability produces obliquely-propagating fast-magnetosonic/whistler waves. These results would be helpful for distinguishing the electron instability and for analyzing the constraint mechanism on the electron temperature distribution in the solar wind.
1-D Dam-Break Modeling: Case Study of Successive Dam-Break
Authors: Kim Byunghyun , Kim Hyun Il , Han Kun Yeun
Published: March 2020

Unexpected disastrous floods or flash floods caused by climate change are becoming more frequent. Therefore, there is a possibility of dam failure due to natural disasters including heavy rainfall, landslide and earthquakes, and an unexpected emergencies may be caused by the defect of dams or appurtenant structures due to the aging of the dam. It is desirable to prevent in advance because emergencies such as dam failure can cause many casualties and property damage.

Dam failure rapidly propagates enormous flow to the downstream, so the evacuation time is short and causes many casualties compared to other types of floods. In order to minimize casualties from dam failure, it is important to establish emergency action plan, flood hazard map and advance warning system. For the establishment of these three, accurate dam failure modeling is required. Most of the studies on dam failure modeling have been conducted for single dam failure rather than successive failure of two or more dams. This study conducted a successive failure modeling of Janghyun Dam and Dongmak Dam in Korea, which collapsed due to Typhoon Rusa in 2002.

The DAMBRK (Dam-Break Flood Forecasting Model) has been applied to the successive failure modeling of two dams which are located in parallel. The relaxation scheme was added to DAMBRK to consider the tributary cross-section. In addition, this study proposed a method to estimate the dam failure duration using empirical formulas for the peak discharge of dam failure and failure formation time of ASDSO (Association of State Dam Safety Officials). The failure hydrograph of two dams was estimated using the proposed method and the discharge and water surface elevation were predicted at the main locations of downstream according to the propagation of dam failure discharge. The accuracy and applicability of the modeling were validated by comparing the predicted water surface elevations with field surveyed data and showing good agreements between predictions and measurements.

Keywords:  Successive Dam-Break, Flooding, DAMBRK

Acknowlegement

This work was supported by Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute(KEITI) though Water Management Research Program, funded by Korea Ministry of Environment(MOE)(79609)
ExoMars-2020 Landing Platform scientific payload
Authors: Rodionov Daniel , Zelenyi Lev , Korablev Oleg , Chulkov Ilya , Anufreychik Konstantin , Marchenkov Konstantin , Vago Jorge
Published: March 2020

ExoMars is a joint project between ESA and Roscosmos to develop and launch two ExoMars missions - in 2016 and 2020. The first mission is currently in progress, studying Mars’ atmospheric composition in unprecedented details.

The second ExoMars mission is scheduled to be launched in Aug 2020 to target an ancient location at Oxia Planum interpreted to have strong potential for past habitability and for preserving physical and chemical biosignatures. The mission will deliver a Landing Platform with instruments for atmospheric and geophysical investigations and a Rover tasked with searching for signs of extinct life. The ExoMars rover will have the capability to drill to depths of 2 m to collect and analyze samples that have been shielded from the harsh conditions prevailing on the surface, where radiation and oxidants can destroy organic materials.

The Landing Platform is equipped with set of instruments (LPSP – Landing Platform Scientific Payload) to study the Martian environment at the landing site. After the Rover egress the Landing Platform will serve as long-lived stationary platform with expected lifetime of one Martian year.

LPSP consists of 13 instruments with total mass of 45 kg. LPSP is being developed by Space Research Institute of RAS (Moscow, Russia) with contribution from Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Finland, Czech Republic, France and Italy. LPSP will have strong synergies with other parts of ExoMars mission, thus extending the scientific output of whole project.

The main objectives of LPSP are:

Context imaging

Long-term climate monitoring and atmospheric investigations.

Studies of subsurface water distribution at the landing site.

Atmosphere/surface volatile exchange.

Monitoring of the radiation environment.

Geophysical investigations of Mars’ internal structure

LPSP Flight Models have been delivered and integrated on board of ExoMars 2020 descent module in TAS-F (Cannes, France).
Daily snow cover mapping based on Dynamic Wavelength Warping using geostationary satellite data
Authors: Jin Donghyun , Choi Sungwon , Seong Noh-Hun , Jeong Daeseong , Han Kyung-Soo
Published: March 2020

Snow cover mapping is a form of precipitation that detects snow-covered pixels by observing snow accumulated on the ground. Snow is the largest single component of the cryosphere and has high reflectance compared to other index, so it plays an important role in maintaining heat balance between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, or in maintaining the balance of the Earth’s energy balance in terms of global or regional aspects. In case of snow cover mapping using satellite data, a wide range of data can be easily obtained and time series observations can be made periodically for the same area. Although the characteristics of snow appear in satellite data show differences in reflectance compared to snow-free, the reflectance change pattern depending on wavelength also has a unique pattern. We focused to the unique reflectance change pattern according to the wavelength of the snow, and used the Dynamic Wavelength Warping (DWW) method to perform the snow cover mapping using the unique pattern. The DWW is a method that determines the similarity of change patterns by using reflectance change pattern according to wavelength. in this study, daily composite snow cover mapping was calculated using snow cover data calculated using DWW method. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the synthetic snow cover data calculated from this study, we used the Global Multisensor Automated Snow/Ice Map (GMASI) data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and conducted quantitative and qualitative evaluations. As a result, Probability of Detection (POD) was 97.14 % and False Alarm Ratio (FAR) was 1.96 %.
Variability of Sea Surface Salinity in the Southeastern Arabian Sea: Driving mechanisms and influence on the Arabian Sea mini Warm Pool
Authors: Valiya Parambil Akhil , Lengaigne Matthieu , Vialard Jerome , Krishnapillai Sukumarapillai Krishnamohan , Madhavan Girijakumari Keerthi
Published: March 2020

With sea surface temperatures (SST) exceeding 30˚C in May, the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) hosts one of the warmest open ocean region globally, which appears to play an important role in the summer monsoon onset. Freshwater input from the Bay of Bengal precede the SEAS warm pool build-up by a few months, and are believed to influence its temperature through its impact on oceanic stability and vertical mixing of heat. SSS interannual variations in the SEAS region have not been extensively described before, and their potential feedback on the warm pool build-up and the monsoon are still debated. In the present study, we describe the SEAS SSS seasonal and interannual variability, its driving mechanisms and potential impact on the monsoon. To that end, we analyse experiments performed with a regional 25-km ocean model, both forced and coupled to a regional atmospheric model. The forced and coupled simulations both reproduce the main oceanic features in the SEAS region, including the salinity seasonal cycle and interannual variability. Winter salinity stratification inhibits the vertical mixing of heat, thereby warming the mixed layer by ~0.5°C.month-1. This salinity-induced warming is however compensated by a salinity-induced cooling by air-sea fluxes. Salinity stratification indeed yields a thinner mixed layer which is more efficiently cooled by negative surface heat fluxes at this season. Overall, salinity has thus a negligible impact on the SST seasonal cycle. SEAS SSS interannual variations are largely remotely driven by the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), an indigenous interannual climate mode in the equatorial Indian Ocean. The IOD remotely impacts coastal currents along the Indian coastline, and hence modulates freshwater transport from the Bay of Bengal into the SEAS. This yields positive SSS anomalies in the SEAS during the boreal winter that follows positive IOD events. Those SSS anomalies however do not appear to significantly alter the interannual surface layer heat budget. Coupled model sensitivity experiments, in which the influence of haline stratification on vertical mixing is neglected, further confirm that the SEAS winter freshening does not significantly influence the SEAS warm-pool build-up nor the monsoon onset
Soil respiration and soil organic matter pools in soils amended for 7 years with biochar combined with mineral and organic fertilizers
Authors: Benavente-Ferraces Iria , Esteban Fátima , Courtier-Murias Denis , Rey Ana , Zaccone Claudio , Moreno-Jiménez Eduardo , Gascó Gabriel , Panettieri Marco , Delgado María del Mar , García-Gil Juan C. , Plaza César
Published: March 2020

Biochar application is now considered to be one of the most promising agricultural practices to mitigate climate change. However, to fully assess the benefits of biochar, we still need to better understand its effects on soil properties, and particularly on native soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics.

In this work, we investigated soil respiration and changes in SOM pools (mineral-free, intra-aggregate, and mineral-associated SOM) as affected by the application of 20 t / ha per year of biochar alone or combined with mineral fertilizer, municipal solid waste compost, or sewage sludge. The experiment was run for 7 years in a semiarid agricultural soil. We found that biochar had no effect on soil respiration with respect to mineral fertilization and no amendment (control), and tended to decrease CO2 emissions from soils amended with municipal solid waste compost and sewage sludge. Biochar accumulated mainly in the mineral-free SOM fraction and its addition, especially in combination with municipal solid waste compost, promoted the amount of SOM occluded with aggregates and associated to mineral surfaces.

Acknowledgments: to the Spanish MICINN (MINECO, AEI, FEDER, EU) for supporting the research project AGL2016-75762-R.
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion will promote the activities of female students in Japan
Authors: Kawahata Hodaka
Published: March 2020

I got Ph.D. on the subseafloor hydrothermal system along the mid-ocean ridges. However, I changed my topics to global carbon cycle in the modern state and in the past when I was 35 year old. Therefore my research room has been interested in wide range of topics in geoscience: material cycle in the Earth’s surface, including C and water cycles, paleo and modern climate/environmental change and mineral resources. Since I believe that the real innovation has been carried out in human society and I think that some researchers have limited view of thinks, I have never strongly pushed the students to go to Ph.D. course. Therefore many highly competent students started to work at companies/ government after getting Master Degree. In spite of these circumstances, 22 students got Ph.D. at my research room during the last 25 years. The number is much larger than those of common geoscience research rooms at Japanese universities. Especially the female Ph.D.s (11) are just 50%, the largest in Japanese geoscience community. By the way, the relative abundances of female students in the JPGU participants and in Japanese Ph.D. course are around 30% and <20%, respectively. I have never invited female students, more than male students, on purpose. Every student at my research room receives equal good treatment. I am very often saying to the students, ”if you have any problem, please tell me. I do work for you.”. Female student at my laboratory mostly got Bachelor’s degree at the high rank university and therefore is very capable with her own opinion. I welcome her opposite view against me. Also she can give her frank opinion to our laboratory’s members although female people often have reserved attitude in Japan, which she would experience after leaving my research room. Although I have done nothing for special purpose, I respect Diversity, Equality, and Inclusions very much and take much care of her own effort to develop her ability and to cultivate her individuality. She has job that would stretch herself after Ph.D.. Currently 100% of female students at my laboratory, who would to become scientific researchers, succeeded in getting permanent/regular positions at Japanese universities/national laboratories. I have been saying that I would like to work for both male and female younger generations because I have one daughter and one son.
The Mw 4.9 Le Teil seismic event (France): a possible case of triggered seismicity
Authors: Convertito Vincenzo , De Novellis Vincenzo , Casu Francesco , Lanari Riccardo , Monterroso Fernando , Valkaniotis Sotiris , Pino Nicola Alessandro
Published: March 2020

In the last decades, the triggered seismicity has represented one of the most debated issue. Fluid pressure changes with/without fluid flow in rock fractures/pores, thermal stress changes due to temperature gradients, and the volumetric changes or mass removal/accumulation can be included in the geoengineering processes that can induce or trigger seismic activity.

In this work we analyse the Le Teil earthquake (LTe), which occurred on November 11, 2019 (MW 4.9) in Ardèche region (south-eastern France), as a possible triggered event originated by rock mass removal in the Lafarge quarry operating since 1833. The structural area where LTe occurred is part of the St. Thomé‐La Rouvière fault system, located in the Cévennes fault bundle, which marks the south-eastern border of the Massif central over almost 150 km long; this fault presents a NE-SW trend and its geometry characterized by several uncertainties due to the absence of dip measurements.

As first step, to estimate the removed volume of rock in the Lafarge quarry, we use multi-temporal digital surface models and, in particular, the archive stereo aerial image pairs from IGN for 1946, 1979, 2007 and 2011; our analysis is restricted to the modern period where detailed topographic data are available. Subsequently, we generate the coseismic deformation maps by applying the Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) technique to SAR data collected along ascending and descending orbits by the Sentinel-1 (S1) constellation of the European Copernicus Programme. In order to retrieve the seismogenic fault parameters, we jointly invert the so-generated S1 DInSAR measurements by performing a consolidated two-step approach: it consists of a non-linear optimization to constrain the fault geometry with uniform slip, followed by a linear inversion to retrieve the slip distribution on the fault plane.

Finally, our Coulomb stress changes analysis on the fault along the slip direction suggests a clear positive triggering relation between the long-term activity in the Lafarge quarry and the Le Teil earthquake.

This work is supported by: the 2019-2021 IREA-CNR and Italian Civil Protection Department agreement; the EPOS-SP project (GA 871121); and the I-AMICA (PONa3_00363) project.
Modern plate tectonic cycles are inherited from Hadean mantle convection
Authors: Mitchell Ross N. , Spencer Christopher J. , Kirscher Uwe , Wilde Simon A.
Published: March 2020

Earth’s oldest preserved crustal archive, the Jack Hills zircon of Western Australia, has been controversial to interpret in terms of the onset of plate tectonics. Here we conduct time series analysis on hafnium isotopes of the Jack Hills zircon and reveal an array of statistically significant cycles that are reminiscent of plate tectonics, i.e., subduction. At face value, such cycles may suggest early Earth conditions similar to today—the uniformitarian “day one” hypothesis. On the other hand, in the context of expected secular changes due to planetary evolution and geological observations, the cycles could instead imply that modern plate tectonic subduction inherited convective harmonics already facilitated by an early phase of stagnant-lid delamination—the “lid-to-plates” hypothesis. Either way, any model for the initiation of plate tectonics must begin in Hadean time.
Characterising transition towards more ephemeral streams in Australian catchments
Authors: Saft Margarita , Peel Murray , Peterson Tim
Published: March 2020

Many streams experienced a prominent increase in proportion of cease to flow conditions during and after the multiyear drought in Australia (Millennium drought, circa 1997 – 2009). Change in zero flow occurrence frequency reflects the general transition of stream reaches from gaining to losing conditions, from losing to losing more, and ultimately to the disconnected state. We track and characterise these changes in groundwater-surface water connection using zero flow conditions as a proxy and explore the spatial and temporal patterns in flow regime transformation. The implications for upstream / downstream water availability and management of environmental flows and ecosystems are discussed in view of projected drier future climate.
Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sequence stratigraphy, Miocene Dam Formation, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Bashri Mazin , Abdullatif Osman , Salih Moaz , Kaminski Michael , Babalola Lamidi , Adam Ammar
Published: March 2020

Sequence stratigraphy of the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate successions is considered to be more complex than their counterparts of pure siliciclastic or carbonate systems. This is due to the higher number of controlling factors in the depositional environment. Consequently, the reservoir and source rock characterization within these systems is relatively more difficult in term of the spatial distribution of the lithologic unit and its petrophysical properties heterogeneity.

Following Scharland et al., 2001, the Miocene Dam Formation is regarded as a third-order sequence which consists of both siliciclastic and carbonate sediments, with the dominance of carbonates. Three fourth-order sequences are well exposed in the Lidam area, Eastern Saudi Arabia. Sequence boundaries are delineated using the existing Rhizolith and desiccation cracks in the most upper part of the high stand systems tract, where it is dominated by shallow marine carbonate deposits. The early low stand systems tract is of dolomitic mudstone interbedded with dissolved chicken-wire anhydrite. Fine sandstone of estuarine origin, in addition to intertidal mudstone-sandstone succession, represent the late low stand systems tract. Transgressive surfaces are either sharp erosional surfaces or ravinement surfaces with intraformational lag deposits. Subtidal quartz skeletal wackestone with pieces of evidence of storm events represent the transgressive systems tract. Going toward the end of the vertical succession of the Dam Formation, shallow marine siliciclastics dominate. A set of incised channels filled with intraformational boulders of calcareous sandstone lies over the shallow marine siliciclastics succession, indicating a great drop in the sea level. Finally, a fluvial system of high energy braided stream origin, composed of medium to coarse ferruginous sandstone within a fining upward succession and high abundance of plant remains, represent the Hufouf Formation base and the start of a new third-order sequence. The heterogeneity of the lithofacies is intense, but the sequence stratigraphic framework helps in their rearrangement vertically into packages, which helps in the prediction of their spatial distribution.   

 

 
Large-eddy Simulation of Plume Dispersion over Hypothetical Urban Areas
Authors: Wu Zhangquan , Liu Chun-Ho
Published: March 2020

More than 80% of people living in urban areas that exposed to air quality levels that exceed WHO guideline limits both indoors and outdoors. Road transport has been found to be one of major anthropogenic sources of aerosol particles and many gaseous pollutants in urban areas. Dispersion of pollutants emitted from vehicles over urban areas largely affects pedestrian-level air quality. A good understanding of pollutant transport, mixing process and removal mechanism is crucial to effectuate air quality management. In this study, turbulent dispersion of reactive pollutants in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over hypothetical urban area in the form of an array of idealised street canyons is investigated using large-eddy simulation (LES). The irreversible ozone O3 titration oxidizes nitric oxide NO to nitrogen dioxide NO2, representing the typical anthropogenic air pollution chemistry. Nitric oxide (NO) is emitted from the ground level of the first street canyon into the urban ABL doped with ozone (O3). From the LES results, negative vertical NO flux is found at the roof level of the street canyons.  By looking into the different plume behavior and vertical flux between the inert pollutant and chemically reactive pollutant, a fundamental understanding of exchange processes of anthropogenic chemicals between an urban surface and the atmosphere is developed. 
Impacts of solar events on atmospheric density variations as revealed by Satellite Laser Ranging orbits.
Authors: Deleflie Florent , Hé Changyong , Briand Carine , Sammuneh Muhammad Ali , Visser Pieter
Published: March 2020

This paper is focused on precise orbitography with SLR data, using as well when they are available accelerometric data, as in the GRACE mission. The main purpose of this paper is to analyse whether low SLR satellite orbits (namely Starlette, Stella, Lares, Ajisai) are sensitive or not to variations of the atmospheric density due to solar events over the period 2003-2019, and including the ones that occurred in 2017.

The relationships between solar events and the way they modify the density of the Earth's thermosphere, as revealed by perturbations induced on artificial satellites orbits, are in fact of crucial importance for satellite operators. A wide literature focused on these issues already exists, but it appears to the authors that some improvements of thermosphere models are still expected, especially at high latitudes. This paper aims, hence, at contributing to fill a gap in that direction.  

We first select over the period 1984-2019 a list of solar events that may be representative of the conditions that may heat the terrestrial atmosphere, in terms of geometrical configurations and the intensity of solar activity. The goal is to identify whether these events have impacted or not the thermospheric density at some relevant altitudes; therefore, a post-fit residual analysis is provided, accounting for the whole set of tracking data acquired by the stations of the ILRS network. A comprehensive comparison between precise results obtained with SLR and accelerometric data, using different atmospheric drag modelling, is then provided.
Modelling glaciers bed overdeepenings and possible future lakes in deglaciating landscapes of the French Alps
Authors: Cathala Maeva , Magnin Florence , Linsbauer Andreas , Haeberli Wilfried , Ravanel Ludovic , Deline Philip
Published: March 2020

Alpine glacier retreat due to global warming generates major landscape changes in high mountain environments. New lakes can potentially form in Glaciers Bed Overdeepenings (GBOs). Those new water bodies, sometimes located near potentially instable slopes or behind unstable moraine dams, can increase outburst flood hazards, generating risks for valley floors. Such GLOF events (Glacial Lake Outbrust Floods) can result from displacement waves triggered by rock fall into lakes and/or sudden dam breaching. Those events can travel far down to low altitude areas and turning into high magnitude debris flows. Beyond the threats, those lakes can also represent opportunities for tourism, hydropower production or fresh water supply.

 

Anticipating location and formation of potential future lakes is thus essential for risk mitigation and seizing the opportunities. In the French Alps so far, potential future lakes have only been investigated in the Mont Blanc massif, while several other glaciated high mountain ranges may also yield water bodies in the near future. This study aims to identify and characterize the location of potential future lakes for each mountain massif of the French Alps (mainly the Mont Blanc, Grandes Rousses, Vanoise and Écrins massifs).

 

To do so, we first ran GlabTop model, a GIS scheme calculating ice thickness from surface slope via basal shear stress, to map potential GBOs. We also ran GlabTOP 2, which is based on the same concept but is fully automated. In this study, we compared the results between GlabTop and GlabTop 2. We then estimated the level of confidence of the predicted GBOs using morphometric analysis (slope angle at GBOs and downstream, presence/absence of crevasse fields, presence/absence of bedrock threshold) and classification of lakes according to their susceptibility of formation.

 

GlabTOP output thus revealed 89 GBOs (>1ha) which can potentially be sites for future lakes. 20 lakes are predicted in Écrins, 2 in Grandes Rousses, 39 in Vanoise and 30 on the French side of the Mont Blanc massif. The lakes with the highest surfaces/thicknesses are situated in the latter. Among the 89 predicted water bodies, 41 are highly susceptible to be formed. Some can already be observed in GBOs in recently deglaciated areas like at the Bionnassay and Tré la Tête glaciers (Mont Blanc massif).

 

This communication will present the approach, the detailed results and possible implications for landscape management at the French Alps scale.
Application of Assessment Framework for Forest Carbon Ecosystem Services Considering Various Modelling and Social Survey in South Korea
Authors: Song Cholho , Park Eunbeen , Kim Jiwon , Kim Moonil , Lee Woo-Kyun
Published: March 2020

Ecosystem services are based on ecosystem functions which are ecological structures and processes. The forest carbon is important factors to understand the quality of the forest ecosystem as well as the quantity of greenhouse gas sequestration as the climate regulation service. The forest carbon can be assessed by various spatio-temporal modelling which reflects forest growth and management activities in the aspects of ecosystem function. In addition, this constructs the potential supply-side value of forest carbon. However, the value of forest carbon is affected by public interests and socio-economic circumstances. Thus, the demand-side value of forest carbon depends on the value recognitions. This study focused on the gap between the value from modelling of ecosystem functions and value recognitions according to the social survey in the Republic of Korea. As the pilot study, three modelling methods were applied based on the National Forest Inventory, the Statistical Yearbook of Forestry, and the InVEST models. The acceptable forest carbon values were generated from a social survey. The annual CO2 sequestration as the supply was derived from 45,671,000 ton CO2 to 53,306,000 ton CO2 in 2010 and 2015, respectively, with different modellings in South Korea. This converted the economic value from existing value transfer methods around KRW 545.2 billion minimum to KRW 4.948.2 maximum. The demand is indiscriminate and non-exclusive, so the public survey was conducted using 660 and 510 samples with ±3.10 allowable error. With considering the value from the demand, the value of forest carbon ecosystem services can be KRW 594,280 per ha when recognized as the equilibrium demand and supply of ecosystem services. The assessment framework for ecosystem services considering demand and supply may consist of various forms and can help fill the gap in value recognition in societal policy through ecosystem services assessment. However, the conceptual complexity of the ecosystem services still exists, so enhancing public communication is required among policymakers, stakeholders, and local communities.
Relating soil structure and hydrophysical characteristics to aerobic and anaerobic soil respiration
Authors: Ghezzehei Teamrat , Alvarez Jennifer , Villa Yocelyn , Ryals Rebecca
Published: March 2020

The dynamics of soil organic matter is strongly controlled by the hydrophysical environmental factors, including motility, aqueous diffusivity of substrates, gaseous diffusivity, and energetic constraints on microbial physiology. The relationships among these physical factors depend on soil moisture and the architecture of the soil pores. In this regard, the soil water retention curve can serve as a macroscopic signature of pore-size distribution. Therefore, the sensitivity of aerobic and anaerobic microbial activity must be closely associated with the shape of the soil water retention curve. The soil water retention curve is, in turn, strongly dependent on soil texture and structure. Here, we present a physically-based model of aerobic and anaerobic microbial respiration rates. We also present a novel experimental technique for the characterization of the soil-moisture sensitivity of soil microbial activity. The proposed experimental and modeling approaches allow direct coupling of the fate soil organic matter with the nature of soil structure.
Al-rich industrial residues for mineral binders in ESEE region
Authors: Šter Katarina , Kramar Sabina
Published: March 2020

Al-rich mineral resources are one of the essential components for the production of the novel sustainable mineral binders. Belite-sulfoaluminate (BCSA) cements, which are considered as low-carbon and low-energy, allows the substitution of natural raw materials with secondary ones. In East-Southeast European countries (ESEE) there are huge amounts of various industrial and mine residues that are either landfilled or currently have a low recycling rate. These residues are generated from mining activities (mine waste) and as a by product of different types of industry, such as thermal power plants, steel plants or the aluminium industry (slags, ashes, red mud, etc.). Within the framework of the RIS-ALiCE project, in cooperation with 15 project partners from Slovenia, Austria, France, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia, a network of relevant stakeholders has been established in the field of currently unused aluminium-containing mine and industrial residues. Inside the created network mine and industrial residues have been mapped and valorised in order to evaluate their suitability for the use in innovative and sustainable low CO2-mineral binder production. Aluminium-containing residues are characterized with respect to their chemical, physical and radiological composition using different analytical methods such as X ray fluorescence spectroscopy, ICP optical emission spectrophotometry, gravimetry, X ray powder diffraction, gamma spectroscopy, etc. The long-term activity of network between wastes holders/producers and mineral end users will be enabled via developed Al-rich residues registry, including a study of the potential technological, economic and environmental impacts of applying the innovative methodology of the sustainable secondary raw materials management in ESEE region. Developed registry with the data valuable for both, waste providers as waste users in ESEE region, can be later-on upscaled also to other regions of Europe. It will provide the data on the available and appropriate Al-rich secondary resources, which will enablethe production of innovative low-CO2 cements.

Keywords: secondary raw material, alternative binders, Al-rich residues, networking, mapping, valorisation, registry.
The effect of drought on functional traits and diversity in Douglas Fir: snapshots before, during, and after the summer 2018 European drought event
Authors: March Rosaleen , Paardekooper Marjolein , Timmermans Joris , Huisman Celine , van der Aa Manouk , Chen Qi , Corbin Amie , van Bodegom Peter
Published: March 2020

The summer of 2018 brought a record-breaking heat wave and record low rainfall, resulting in a severe drought in much of northern and central Europe. In the following year, precipitation increased but in many locations remained below average. A temporal study that began in 2017 in a temperate evergreen forest in the Netherlands allowed the opportunity examine the effects of this drought on functional traits before, during, and after the event. This gave us new trait-based insight into the resistance, resilience, and recovery abilities of the Douglas Fir to drought. During the growing season of 2017-2019, leaves were collected every 2-4 weeks. Functional traits were derived, including total chlorophyll, carotenoids, specific leaf area, and leaf dry matter content. Functional diversity metrics were also derived to examine response to drought. Using ANOVA to compare trait values during the same parts of the season, we found all traits showed significant changes at some point, but chlorophyll and carotenoids had the largest responses to the drought. Chlorophyll concentrations showed a continued decrease into 2019. Carotenoid concentration increased across the years, which has been shown to be an indication of plant stress. Though Douglas Fir has been considered drought resistant, this study reveals that the intensity of the 2018 drought had an impact on its traits and its resilience without sufficient soil moisture relief in the following year. Much attention has been paid to extreme events with climate change; however, it is these events paired with a lack of adequate recovery conditions that can push ecosystems past their tipping point.
Combination of Hydraulic and Thermal Tracer Tomography in a Heterogeneous Transient Groundwater Model
Authors: Qi Junjie , Hu Rui , Liu Quan , Hu Linwei , Ptak Thomas
Published: March 2020

Abstract: In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to engineering projects, such as the remediation of contaminated groundwater, the restoration of water quality, and the seepage control of building foundations. For all these projects, detailed knowledge of the spatial distribution of aquifer hydraulic parameters is required. Inversion based tomography can be considered a promising subsurface investigation approach to obtain aquifer characterization with a high spatial resolution. However, single inversion cannot avoid parameter uncertainty and non-uniqueness problems. Combination of different independent inversions can help to reduce these problems. The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct cross-well hydraulic conductivity profiles by jointly using hydraulic tomography and thermal tracer tomography in a heterogeneous transient groundwater model.

In this study, based on a three-dimensional data set derived from an aquifer analogue outcrop study, a numerical ground water model is set up to simulate a number of short-term hot water injection tests in a tomographical array, and to perform 2D hydraulic tomography based on hydraulic travel time and attenuation inversions. Consequently, the hydraulic conductivity is calculated from the obtained diffusivity and specific storage values. Parallel to this, the temperature breakthrough curves of the active thermal tracers were utilized to reconstruct the cross-well hydraulic conductivity profiles by using travel-time-based thermal tracer tomography. Comparisons between the results and the “true values” of the analog have shown the satisfying accuracy of the subsurface investigation and advantages when using combined tomographical methods.
Major increases projected in extreme surface melt events in Antarctica, even under a moderate emission scenario
Authors: Feron Sarah , Cordero Raul
Published: March 2020

Surface Melt (SM) is one of the factors that contribute to sea level rise; surface meltwater draining through the ice and beneath Antarctic glaciers may cause acceleration in their flow towards the sea. Changes in the frequency of relatively warm days (including heatwaves) can substantially alter the SM variability, thus leading to extreme melting events. By using simulations from 13 Global Climate Models (GCMs) and according to a moderate representative concentration pathways (RCP4.5), here we show that the frequency of extreme SM events (SM90; according to the 90th percentile over the reference period 1961-1990) may significantly increase in coastal areas of West Antarctica; in particular in the Antarctic Peninsula. By the end of the century SM90 estimates are expected to increase from currently 0.10 kg/m2/day to about 0.45 kg/m2/day in the Antarctic Peninsula. Increments in SM90 estimates are not just driven by changes in the average SM, but also by the variability in SM. The latter is expected to increase by around 50% in the Antarctic Peninsula.
A comprehensive evaluation of wavelet functions to analyse the groundwater storage trends
Authors: Kasiapillai Sudalaimuthu Kasiviswanathan , Mohanavelu Aadhityaa , Bankaru-Swamy Soundharajan , Teutschbein Claudia
Published: March 2020

India, the country which is highly dependent on groundwater for its drinking and irrigation requirements (88% and 85% respectively), is already facing an acute water crisis. The groundwater storage in major cities is predicted to reach absolute zero by the end of 2020 (CWMI report 2018). While the demand is projected to increase double fold than the supply by 2030, the need for better understanding the behaviour of groundwater storage is very important to come up with better management policies. Analysing the presence of non-parametric linear trend in groundwater studies has been well recognised as it clearly reveals the detail of declining groundwater storage.  For this endeavour, methods like Theil-Sen Slope estimator (SS), to detect linear trend, has often been applied with the assumption of stationary. However, highly complex, dynamic and non-linear behaviour of groundwater systems require alternate methods besides SS to improve our understanding in the cases where groundwater system exhibits non-stationarity in the trend. Recently wavelet based method has been explored for the trend analysis of several hydro-climatic variables including the groundwater storage.  Wavelet being empirical in nature still requires further investigation as the selection of particular wavelet function carries subjectivity. In this study, we made an attempt to comprehensively analyse the use of different wavelet function in the groundwater storage trend analysis and to further reduce the uncertainty to select the best suitable wavelet function. To demonstrate our approach, the groundwater data collected from two contrasting river basin (i.e., Beas in the Himalayas and Godavari in the Deccan plateau) which has high distress for declining storage, were used. In the overall context, the focus of the study was to overcome the mis-conclusions due to the survivor biases caused by data gaps while predicting the actual long term groundwater storage trend.
Seismotectonics of the Ionian-Akarnania Block (IAB) and Western Greece deduced from a local seismic deployment.
Authors: Haddad Antoine , Ganas Athanassios , Kassaras Ioannis , Lupi Matteo
Published: March 2020

From July 2016 to May 2017, we deployed a local seismic network composed of 15 short-period seismic stations to investigate the ongoing seismotectonic deformation of Western Greece with emphasis on the region between Ambrakikos Gulf (to the north) and Kyparissia (to the south). The network was deployed to investigate the behavior of key crustal blocks in western Greece, such as the Ionian-Akarnania Block (IAB).

After applying automatic P- and S- wave phase picking we located 1200 local earthquakes using HypoInverse and constrained five 1D velocity model by applying the error minimization technique. Events were relocated using HypoDD and 76  focal mechanisms were computed for events with magnitudes down to ML 2.3 using first motion polarities.

We combined the calculated focal mechanisms and the relocated seismicity to shed light on the IAB block boundaries. Three boundaries highlighted by previous studies were also evidenced :

-The north-west margin of the block, the Cephalonia Transform Fault, Europe‘s most active fault. NW-striking dextral strike-slip motion was recognized for this fault near the Gulf of Myrtos and the town of Fiskardo.

- The south-east margin is the Movri-Amaliada right-lateral Fault Zone, activated during the Movri Mt. Mw 6.4 earthquake sequence.

- The Ambrakikos Gulf (a young E-W rift) and the NW-striking left-lateral Katouna-Stamna Fault zone depict the north and north-eastern margins of the IAB block.

Seismicity lineaments and focal mechanisms define theKyllini-Cephalonia left-lateral fault, which is also highlighted by bathymetry data. We interpret this fault as the south-western margin of IAB separating an aseismic area observed between Cephalonia and Akarnania from a seismogenic zone north of Zakynthos Island and bridging NW Peloponnese with Cephalonia.
Mountain forest ecosystem services – maintaining resilience in the face of disturbances
Authors: Stritih Ana , Bebi Peter , Grêt-Regamey Adrienne
Published: March 2020

For centuries, mountain forests in the Alps have provided essential ecosystem services such as wood production and protection from natural hazards (e.g. avalanches and landslides), which enable mountain societies to thrive in these marginal environments. These ecosystem services are affected by climate and land use change, as well as changes in societal demand and management regimes. In recent years, the management of mountain forests has been increasingly driven by forest disturbances, such as windthrow, bark beetle outbreaks, and forest fires. The increasing rate of disturbances has the potential to convert forests from carbon sinks to carbon sources, and may also affect the provision of other ecosystem services, such as avalanche protection. The capacity of forests to provide services, their vulnerability to disturbance, and their resilience depend on their structure, composition and management regime. Forests with a heterogeneous structure and species composition are expected to better maintain their protection function after disturbances.

Information on forest structure and its link to functions and services is available from a variety of sources, from Earth Observation and in-situ data, existing process-based models, to local expert knowledge. We use Bayesian Networks to integrate these different types of information and model ecosystem services (carbon sequestration, wood production, and avalanche protection) in the Swiss Alps. This probabilistic modelling approach allows us to identify knowledge gaps and explore uncertainties in the future provision of ecosystem services. Since disturbances are a major source of uncertainty, we combine remote sensing and forest management data to investigate how disturbance severity and post-disturbance recovery are influenced by stand characteristics, such as structural heterogeneity. Based on this analysis, we discuss how forest management can help ensure the provision of mountain forest ecosystem services under changing disturbance regimes. 