bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modelling environmental interactions of large-scale, closed seasonal thermal energy storage systems
Authors: Bott Christoph , Bayer Peter
Published: March 2022

Efficient thermal energy storage concepts are key for achieving the ambitious international climate targets. Implemented in thermal energy networks with a high contribution made by volatile renewable energy sources, large-scale applications for sensible heat and cold storage are favourable. They compensate for short-term fluctuations in the energy demand profiles, and they enable solar energy harvested in summer to be recovered for use in winter. Especially when pre-existing infrastructure facilities (e.g., basin installations from disused industrial, water treatment, and stormwater retention facilities) are reused as framework structures for thermal energy storage devices, environmental boundary conditions are often adverse. This is, for example, due to interference with near-subsurface aquifers or due to a suboptimal geometry of the given storage structure. For identifying strengths and weaknesses of a storage facility, and for technological optimization, simulation of thermal processes is vital. By this, the role of subsurface heterogeneity and slowly evolving transient thermal conditions in the storage device as well as in the ambient ground can be analysed. Thus, different degrees of utilisation, potential lateral energy losses or gains, and ultimately the economic viabilities of potential solutions can be evaluated. Most of the existing modelling applications do not address these issues in full detail. In fact, previous studies revealed that originally predicted efficiencies and amortization periods are often not achieved. This can be attributed to insufficiently represented boundary conditions (e.g., steady and uniform ambient temperatures at all exterior storage interfaces) or to rigorous simplifications by symmetric modelling techniques (no possibility to implement asymmetric processes, e.g., groundwater flow in surrounding subsurface).

In our study, we use a new numerical model to represent hydrogeological processes around ground-based thermal storage devices at high resolution and in different respects. In a series of generic scenarios, we focus on fundamental parameters of groundwater and environmental conditions, such as different groundwater levels and flow velocities, and we inspect the influence of various thermophysical (thermal conductivity/storage capacity) and hydraulic material parameters (e.g., porosity, permeability). With these, we analyse effects on storage utilisation rates, thermal losses, and temperature conditions in the surrounding area. Finally, we provide insight into previously neglected influencing factors and offer improvement strategies for the planning and implementation of large-scale, closed, seasonal thermal energy storage systems.
COASTMOVE: A global agent-based model of adaptation and migration decisions in face of sea level rise
Authors: Tierolf Lars , Haer Toon , de Bruijn Jens , Botzen Wouter , Reimann Lena , Ton Marijn , Aerts Jeroen
Published: March 2022

Sea-level rise (SLR) and socioeconomic trends are increasing the population and assets exposed to extreme coastal flood events in the coming decades. People residing in communities experiencing this increase in coastal flood risk may choose to stay, to stay and adapt, or to migrate towards safer areas. However, these migration decisions are influenced by many socio- economic and environmental factors. For example, current assessments of SLR adaptation and migration do often not address risk perceptions of residents related to different environmental risks, such as flooding and erosion. These factors influence adaptation decisions, and thus exposure and vulnerability. In this study, we aim to improve the representation of the dynamics of adaptive behavior of coastal communities in flood risk assessment by including human behavior and its effect on adaptation decisions, in face of SLR. Therefore, we develop an agent-based model grounded in subjective expected utility theory and simulate adaptation- and migration decisions of households facing coastal flood risk in France between 19xx and 2020. The model is empirically calibrated using survey data on flood risk perception and people’s willingness to implement adaptation measures. Then, we use socio-demographic projections to estimate future changes (2020-2080) in demographic composition, and apply the model to simulate coastal adaptation. The agent-based model presented in this study functions as a platform for further development of 1) more realistic decision models and 2) global modelling approaches of both coastal adaptation and migration under projections of future development.
A modified USLE-based approach combined with sediment delivery module to estimate soil loss and reservoir sedimentation rates in Alpine basins
Authors: Kaffas Konstantinos , Pisinaras Vassilios , Al Sayah Mario , Santopietro Simone , Righetti Maurizio
Published: March 2022

Reservoir sedimentation constitutes a major issue worldwide and a long-lasting priority for dam managers, especially when hydropower, and hence profit, is involved. Commonly, the problem of excessive sedimentation is attributed to failed prediction of the sediment supply from the upland basin prior to the construction of dams, namely to the underestimation of sediment inflow to the reservoir.

The sediment input in the Rio di Pusteria reservoir (South Tyrol, Italy) between two consecutive sediment flushing operations in June 2014 and May 2019, was determined by obtaining the volumetric difference between very high resolution (0.25 m) reservoir bathymetries conducted after the flushing of 2014 and before the flushing of 2019. The sediment yield in the reservoir during the latter period was found to be 453,783 t.

To calculate the sediment yield in the reservoir, we have applied a gridded seven-factor Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) combined with a Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) module in a high resolution (2.5 m) GIS environment, which enabled an accurate representation of the rapidly shifting Alpine topography. An additional factor for coarse fragments was added to the conventional six-factor USLE to account for the non-erodible part of the basin. This is of great importance as the USLE-based models are criticized to produce extreme erosion rates in uplands and mountain areas. The topographic factor, LS, was refined by the use of a fine scale DEM and the slope length factor, L, was adjusted to the Alpine terrain by means of a regulating threshold. The proposed SDR module does not rely on one but on several physiographic, topographic and hydrologic characteristics of the basin. Finally, the rainfall erosivity factor, R, was determined in two different ways, one representing the rainfall climatology of the study area and one the specific rainfall conditions of the study period, hence the application of the model in two distinct configurations.

The application of the combined USLE-SDR model resulted in five-year reservoir sedimentation rates of 439,279.2 t and 589,520.5 t, with deviations from the measured sediment yield of 3.3% and -25.5%. Excluding very high altitudes with glaciers and perennial snow, we consider the proposed modeling approach ideal for upper lands and mountainous areas such as the Alps.
How the co-evolution of major mountain ranges affects global climate
Authors: Mutz Sebastian G. , Ehlers Todd A.
Published: March 2022

The topographic formation of large mountains and plateaus significantly impacts regional and global climate. Previous studies demonstrated that major mountain ranges can explain important aspects of synoptic scale climate dynamics and notable features of the climate system, such as the position of the intertropical convergence zone. Quantifying the synergistic climatic effects of the coeval evolution of major mountain ranges fosters a deeper understanding of climate and Earth system dynamics. Furthermore, it helps estimate where (and by how much) a regional climate signal recorded in a geological archive is affected by topographic changes in distant, off-site orogens. In this study, we use ECHAM5-wiso General Circulation Model (GCM) simulations to explore the synergistic global effects of systematically co-varying the height of the Andean and Himalaya-Tibet Plateaus. The simulations are conducted with different topographic evolution scenarios for these orogens, while environmental boundary conditions, such as global ice cover and greenhouse gas concentrations, are kept constant. More specifically, the topographies of the orogens are incrementally reduced by 25% of their current height. This results in 5 topographic scenarios for the Himalaya-Tibet by setting its elevation to 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% and 0% of current values. These are nested in the analogous 5 topographic scenarios for the Andes, resulting in a total of 25 scenarios and GCM simulations. We then conduct an empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) analysis on the pressure fields produced by each of the simulations to track changes in quasi stable pressure systems. Furthermore, we track changes in cross-equatorial atmospheric transport and synoptic scale atmospheric flow. While most of the regional impacts of evolving topographies can be explained by atmospheric lapse rates and physical air flow disruption, global impacts can be explained by changes in surface heat distribution and pressure centres affecting synoptic scale atmospheric flow. We also find that the height of Himalaya-Tibet modifies the impact of Andean topography on northern hemisphere climate, highlighting interhemisphere climate teleconnections between the two orogens. Our results suggest that robust interpretations of climate signals recorded in geological archives in many regions on Earth are only possible when the global climatic effects of the topography of distant, off-site orogens are considered.
INTEGRATE: A higher-education teaching package for climate science
Authors: Mutz Sebastian G. , Boateng Daniel , Mohadjer Solmaz
Published: March 2022

Many issues related to contemporary climate change (e.g. reduced crop yield and diminishing water reservoirs) cannot be effectively addressed without improving the understanding of the climate system in future scientists, communicators and policy makers. Many higher education climate courses, however, are overspecialised, inaccessible and didactically inflexible, making it difficult to transfer them to other learning settings or instructors. INTEGRATE (Integrated Teaching of Atmospheric Science, Technical Skills and Empirical Methods) is an EGU-supported, open-access teaching package that is designed to remove barriers for teaching climate science in a higher education setting. The teaching package is self-contained and covers basic concepts of physical climatology, as well as programming and empirical analysis needed to work with climate datasets. The teaching approach includes hands-on activities for collecting and analysing atmospheric data, such as assembling and operating simple weather stations with affordable hardware. The course material, including source code, instructions, and figures, is available as a git repository (https://github.com/sebastian-mutz/integrate) and compiles into a complete course website (e.g. integrate.mutz.science). While the course was originally designed and tested as a series of lectures and computer exercises for BSc and MSc level university students, it has been revised to allow for adaptation to different teaching and learning levels and strategies in higher education. In this presentation, we introduce the course website and give examples of course content that can be used to instill a deeper understanding of theoretical and practical knowledge of climate science in university students.
Understanding salt marsh resilience to changes in external disturbance
Authors: Pannozzo Natascia , Smedley Rachel , Chiverrell Richard , Carnacina Iacopo , Leonardi Nicoletta
Published: March 2022

Salt marshes are valuable ecosystems that provide numerous services and act as natural coastal defences by buffering storm waves and stabilising sediments. However, it is not clear whether they will be able to retain their resilience with accelerating rate in sea-level rise, possible increases in storm intensity, increasing land reclamation and changes in sediment supply. The current paradigm is that a positive sediment budget supports the survival and accretion of salt marshes while a negative sediment budget causes marsh degradation. Here we present the results of two studies (Pannozzo et al., 2021a,b; Pannozzo et al., 2021c) that used an integration of modelling and paleoenvironmental analysis and a sediment budget approach to investigate the resilience of estuaries and salt marshes to projected rise in sea-level, possible increases in storm activity, existing anthropogenic disturbance and natural sediment supply. The studies were conducted using the Ribble Estuary - North-West England - as a test case, the hydrodynamic model Delft3D to simulate the estuary morpho-dynamics under selected scenarios, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), geochemistry and particle size distribution analysis to reconstruct the past evolution and adaptation of the estuary morphology. Pannozzo et al. (2021a,b) showed that sea-level rise threatens estuary and marsh stability by promoting ebb dominance and triggering a net export of sediment. Conversely, storm surges aid the resilience of the system by promoting flood dominance and triggering a net import of sediment and have the potential to counteract the negative impact of sea-level rise by masking its effects on the sediment budget. Pannozzo et al. (2021c) showed that the addition of embankments can further promote ebb dominance in the system and intensify sediment export, further threatening marsh stability. This latest effect, however, becomes negligible with high natural sediment supply to the system.

References

Pannozzo N., Leonardi N., Carnacina I., Smedley R., 2021. Salt marsh resilience to sea-level rise and increased storm intensity. Geomorphology, 389 (4): 107825.

Pannozzo N., Leonardi N., Carnacina I., Smedley R., 2021. Dataset of results from numerical simulations of increased storm intensity in an estuarine salt marsh system. Data in Brief, 38 (6): 107336.

Pannozzo N., Smedley R., Chiverrell R., Carnacina I., Leonardi N., 2021. Influence of sediment availability and embankment construction on salt marsh resilience to sea-level rise. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, In review.
Rainfall extremes in the Nordic-Baltic region
Authors: Olsson Jonas , Verpe Dyrrdal Anita , Médus Erika , Aniskeviča Svetlana , Arnbjerg-Nielsen Karsten , Førland Eirik , Mačiulytė Viktorija , Mäkelä Antti , Post Piia , Liedke Thorndahl Søren , Wern Lennart
Published: March 2022

Rainfall extremes, not least short-duration (sub-daily) extremes, are associated with a range of societal hazards, notably pluvial flooding but in addition e.g. debris flow and erosion-driven nutrient transport. Fundamental for all analysis, modelling and risk assessment related to rainfall extremes is the access to and analysis of observations. In this study, rainfall observations from meteorological stations in the Nordic-Baltic region were collected, quality controlled and consistently analyzed in terms of records, return levels and trends as well as geographical, climatic and seasonal dependencies. In terms of daily extremes, long-term analyses (since 1901) were performed at 138 stations and short-term analyses (since 1969) at 724 stations. In terms of sub-daily extremes, fewer stations and shorter records are available, and long-term analyses (since 1981) were performed at 47 stations and short-term analyses (since 2000) at 370 stations. The results reflect the heterogeneous rainfall climate in the region, with longitudinal and latitudinal gradients in the return levels as well as their time of occurrence for different durations (and return periods). Trend analyses show a majority of positive trends, both at daily and sub-daily scales, with geographical differences. Observations and data from the study are provided open access and we hope that this will be useful e.g. for regional harmonization of rainfall statistics used in infrastructural design and for climate model evaluation.
Magnesium isotopic composition of back-arc basin lavas and its implication for the recycling of serpentinite-derived fluids
Authors: Ding Yi , Jin Xianglong , Li Xiaohu , Li Zhenggang , Liu Jiqiang , Wang Hao , Zhu Jihao , Zhu Zhimin , Chu Fengyou
Published: March 2022

Dehydrated fluids expelled from serpentinized mantle in the subducted slab are gradually recognised as a vital role in generating arc magmatism and element cycling in the Earth. However, it remains not clear about their recycling at various depth in subduction zones and if slab serpentinite-derived fluids contribute to the genesis of lavas from the back-arc basins. Here, we study the magnesium (Mg) isotopic compositions of lavas from the Okinawa Trough (OT) and Lau basin (LB) as Mg isotopes have shown great potential to trace dehydration of slab serpentinites in recent years. Overall, lavas from the OT and LB have averagely heavier Mg isotopic compositions relative to the mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) mantle, which could be attributed to the involvement of slab serpentinite-derived fluids rather than crustal assimilation or input of subducted sediments as indicated by the isotopic modelling results. The δ26Mg values of the southern OT (SOT) and southern LB (SLB) are generally higher than the middle OT (MOT) and northern LB (NLB), respectively, with an average of -0.11 ± 0.06‰ (2SD, n=5) for the SOT, -0.20 ‰ ± 0.04 (2SD, n=5) for the MOT, -0.13 ‰ ± -0.08 for the SLB (2SD, n=6) and -0.19 ‰ ± 0.06 (2SD, n=10) for the NLB. The binary modelling results have shown that various amounts of serpentinite-derived fluids could explain the variations in Mg isotopic compositions observed in the OT and LB. Combined published δ26Mg values in subduction zones with our data, the thermal structure of inter-subduction zone may play a first control on the signal of Mg-rich serpentinite-derived fluids. By contrast, the contributions of these fluids to different segments in a specific subduction zone may depend on the slab depth beneath magmatic activity sites.
How soil, water, and crop change along with farm sizes: insights from a new high-resolution farm-size specific and crop-specific map covering 56 countries
Authors: Su Han , Willaarts Barbara , Luna Gonzalez Diana , S. Krol Maarten , J. Hogeboom Rick
Published: March 2022

Over 608 million farms exist around the world, occupying 36.9% of global land and 72% of annual freshwater withdrawals. These farms are highly diverse and heterogeneous. More than 80% of them are smaller than 2 hectares and they only utilize around 20% of farmlands but support millions of livelihoods in the rural area. Many datasets are available describing the global crops, soil conditions, and water availability. A few of them are farm-size specific. There is a lack of a global overview on how the soil-water-agriculture system is different across farm sizes.
This study aims to explore how soil, water, and crop change along with farm sizes. Specifically, we used the current best available databases on cropland extent, farm size structure, crop-specific harvested area, and field size distribution to develop a gridded, farm-size specific, and crop-specific harvested area map for 56 countries, representing half global cropland, using a downscaling algorithm. The resulting maps were validated by empirical data and compared to previous similar studies. We then overlapped the farm-size specific, and crop-specific map with global soil and water scarcity maps to explore differences between small and large farms on planted crops, soil nutrient availability, and level of water scarcity.
Our results show, in comparison to larger farms, smaller farms plant more pulses, roots and tubers, vegetables, and fewer oilcrops, sugar crops, and fodder crops. The majority of small farms do not have severe limitations on soil nutrient availability, but they do face severe water scarcity. Large farms, on the other hand, do not confront severe water scarcity but do face severe limitations on soil nutrient availability. Small farms may also be less capable of adapting to water scarcity through irrigation. However, there is still spatial variation in our results. Our results can help to further differentiate the sustainable soil, water, and agriculture management for small and large farms. 
The drivers of changing fire regimes: an assessment of anthropogenic influence on fire history in the Iberian Peninsula during the Holocene
Authors: Sweeney Luke , Harrison Sandy P. , Vander Linden Marc
Published: March 2022

Climate changes have been invoked to explain recent changes in wildfire regimes in Mediterranean regions, and climate projections suggest that there will be an increase in fire weather during the 21st century. However, humans influence natural fire regimes today directly by supressing or igniting fires, and indirectly by changing fuel types and fuel structure through land use changes. Recent observations provide only a limited basis for determining the relative importance of climate and human activities for fire. The diachronous introduction of agriculture during the Neolithic provides an opportunity to examine the potential impact of human activities on fire regimes. We reconstruct fire history using sedimentary charcoal records and population change based on summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates on archaeological material, focusing on the interval between 10,000 and 3,500 cal. BP. The archaeological radiocarbon dates are also used to map the onset of agriculture through time across the region. For Iberia as a whole, we identify two periods of rapid population growth, centred on ca. 7,400 and ca. 5,400 cal. BP. However, these periods of rapid population growth are not synchronous with changes in charcoal accumulation. Changes in charcoal accumulation are not aligned with the time-transgressive dates for the introduction of agriculture across the region; charcoal accumulation was already increasing ca. 400 years prior to the onset of agriculture and continues to increase for ca. 200 years afterwards. There is also no consistent correlative relationship between population and fire across the period of analysis.  Our analyses show that there are no direct links between the introduction of agriculture or subsequent increases in population and changes to fire regimes in Iberia in the early to mid-Holocene, suggesting that changes in fire regimes were largely driven by climate changes.
Influence of climate change and CO2 fertilization on vegetation and catchment erosion: A coupled modelling approach
Authors: Schaller Mirjam , Ehlers Todd , Hirsch Pascal , Hickler Thomas , Fuentes-Espoz Juan-Pabloe , Maldonado Antonio , Paulino Leandro
Published: March 2022

The Earth’s surface is shaped by a complex interplay between tectonics, lithology, climate and biota. Previous work has shown that vegetation cover effects on erosion rates are non-linear and depend on the ecosystem investigated. Vegetation cover is not only influenced by climate (via changes in precipitation, temperature and solar radiation) but also by changes in the atmospheric CO2 concentration through a fertilization effect and increased water use efficiency. However, disentangling the influence of variable climate or atmospheric CO2 concentrations on vegetation cover, and hence erosion rates, is difficult. Here we present results from a series of coupled model runs aimed at quantifying the non-linear interactions between these different processes.

We apply a landscape evolution model (Landlab) that is coupled to a dynamic vegetation model (LPJ-GUESS) driven by general circulation model predictions of climate change over the last 21 kyr. Three different scenarios are simulated from the Last Glacial Maximum to present-day: 1) Changing climate and changing atmospheric CO2 concentration; 2) Changing climate but constant atmospheric CO2 concentration; and 3) Constant climate but changing atmospheric CO2 concentration. The simulations are adapted to represent four study areas along the extreme climate and ecological gradient of the Chilean Coastal Cordillera (26 º to 38º S). Results indicate that transients in climate and CO2 from glacial to interglacial conditions induce a ~10-25% temporal change in catchment erosion, and should be detectable with different measurement techniques. In more detail, we find that precipitation changes exert a stronger influence on erosion rates than changing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, the relative roles of precipitation vs. plant-physiological CO2 effects on catchment erosion varies with the climate and ecological zone investigated such that the effects of CO2 fertilization on erosion are larger in temperate than arid settings.
Phosphorite series from Maastrichtian to the Lutetian cover of Tadla Plain, Morocco: New insights from lithofacies analysis, granulometric and mineralogical compositions
Authors: Hdoufane Mustapha , Mouflih Mustapha , Skikra Hamza , Amrouch Khalid , Soulaimani Abderrahmane
Published: March 2022

The Ouled Abdoun sedimentary basin in Morocco contains the largest phosphate reserves in the world. In the southeastern parts of the basin, the phosphorite deposits lay from the Maastrichtian to the Lutetian sediments of the Tadla Plain. This section has a thickness of ~ 30 m and generally protected from erosion by a relatively strong Turritella slab cover. The phosphorite deposits are distributed in horizontal strata interbedded with levels of limestone, marl and clay, that present various silicifications from the Ypresian. This work aims to study and determine their petrographic, granulometric and mineralogical compositions. A multidisciplinary approach was adopted to achieve these objectives. First, the use of sedimentology and the application of sequence stratigraphy allowed the definition of three depositional sequences in this deposit. Second, the granulometric analysis of the phosphate facies reflects a dominance of well classified medium grains. Furthermore, the analysis of the Visher curves revealed up to three major modes of transport: traction, saltation and suspension. Based on their mineral composition, the microfacies are classified into two phosphate families (or types): Coprolite Intraphospharenite type and Granular Pelphosphalrenite type. Finally, the mineral parageneses recognized by the XRD analyses revealed that phosphorits consist mainly of carbonate, silica and apatitic phases in the section of Tadla.

Keywords: Phosphorite deposit, Tadla plain, Maastrichtian-Lutetian.
Bridging the gap in polar altimetry
Authors: Shepherd Andrew , Farrell Sinead , Fleury Sara
Published: March 2022

With the accelerated melting of the ice sheets and the sea ice cover, Earth’s Polar Regions are major witnesses to global warming. Arctic Amplification already modifies lifestyles, economies, ecologies, industries, and transportation across the region. But as a result of teleconnections with the climate system, the Polar Regions also impact on a global scale, affecting sea level rise, ocean circulation and weather patterns, which, in turn, disrupt the natural environment and society. Because of their scale and inaccessibility, observation of the Polar Regions requires a collection of space-based techniques.  Satellite altimetry provides a unique capability to monitor changes in the thickness of land ice and sea ice, and in the Polar Oceans. This information is essential for charting the response of the Polar Regions to climate change, and for predicting their future interactions with, and impacts on, the global climate system.

Although at least 7 satellite altimeters are in orbit today, only two reach polar latitudes: CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2.  CryoSat-2 was launched in 2010 and although it is still operational, it is projected to reach end of life between 2024 and 2026 due to known fuel leakage and battery degradation. ICESat-2 was launched in 2018 with a design-life of 3 years. Other satellite altimeters in lower inclination orbits, including Sentinel-3, survey only minor fractions of the Arctic sea ice pack and the polar ice sheets, and are therefore unable to provide observations of their overall imbalance. The European Commission has initiated the CRISTAL polar altimeter as a high priority candidate mission in partnership with the European Space Agency, in view of their Arctic policy, and based on user requirements. The earliest launch date for CRISTAL is in the final quarter of 2027.

Without successful mitigation, there will be a gap of between 2 and 5 years in our polar satellite altimetry capability. This gap will introduce a decisive break in the long-term records of ice sheet and sea ice thickness change and polar oceanography and this, in turn, will degrade our capacity to assess and improve climate model projections. These capabilities are of major societal importance. In order to ensure the continuity of polar altimetry, there is an urgent need to consider mitigation measures. This paper aims to stimulate a community discussion and position on possible solutions, including extending the lifetime of CryoSat-2 or ICESat-2, manoeuvring an alternative satellite into a high-inclination orbit, accelerating the launch of CRISTAL, and initiating a systematic airborne measurement programme as a bridging capability. 

 

 

 
On the transport and fate of heavy metals in calcareous soils – a spectral induced polarization study 
Authors: Furman Alex , Ben Moshe Shany
Published: March 2022

The fate and transport of heavy metals in the soil have been intensively studied over the last decades due to its implications on public health and the environment. The mobility of heavy metals in the soil depends on the surface characteristics of the soil minerals and other solid components such as organic matter, the pore water pH and its composition, among others. Specifically, in calcareous soils, the introduction of heavy metals has been shown to induce dissolution of the calcite and formation of metal-based carbonate minerals. The study of such processes traditionally involves intensive sample collection and chemical analysis of multiple species. In this study, we use spectral induced polarization (SIP) to in-situ monitor the transport three heavy metals (Pb, Zn and Cu) through soil that contain calcite to different extents. In SIP, an alternating current in wide range of frequencies is injected, and the phase and amplitude difference between the injected and induced potential are measured and translated into a complex conductivity spectrum. These measurements are sensitive to both pore water characteristics and to surface processes. Our experimental setup involves flow-through columns packed with different types of soil, through which the inflow solution is passed. Electrical potentials are recorded at three locations along the column. The analyzed SIP measurements allow not only non-invasive, non-destructive monitoring of the metal progression through the soil but also deduction of its fate through combination with elemental analysis.  The results show that both the real and the imaginary components of the complex conductivity are sensitive to the minerals’ dissolution/precipitation. The conductivity values at the peak polarization frequency over time depict the progression of the dissolution/precipitation ‘front’ along the soil profile.
Atmospheric Deposotion Impacts on Marine Biogeochemistry
Authors: Paytan Adina
Published: March 2022

Atmospheric deposition of trace elements and nutrients to the ocean can significantly modify seawater chemistry and influence oceanic productivity.  However, mounting evidence suggests that the response of phytoplankton to atmospheric deposition depends on the chemical composition of the aerosols and varies across different phytoplankton species.  Responses are also different depending on oceanographic setting and season. To determine if and how nutrients, metals and other constituents from atmospheric deposition influence plankton activity and community structure in the ocean we analysed nutrient and metal concentrations in marine aerosols and tested how these constituents impact phytoplankton.  This is done using incubation experiments with natural phytoplankton assemblages and different sources and amounts of aerosol or pure nutrients and metal additions.  Variance in utilization of nutrients and susceptibility to metal toxicity was identified among different taxa, suggesting that aerosol deposition could potentially alter patterns of marine primary production and phytoplankton community structure.  In addition, input of bioaerosols can also affect phytoplankton communities and should be considered. Importantly, up to 25% of airborne microbes are viable upon deposition and may compete for resources with marine organisms. Airborne viruses can also infect specific phytoplankton hosts and hence impact the ecosystem. Natural and anthropogenic change could impact the chemical and biological composition of aerosols with consequences to ocean chemistry and productivity with potential feedbacks to the carbon cycle.
Subseafloor mineralization related to shallow seawater-hydrothermal circulation in the Longqi hydrothermal field, Southwest Indian Ridge (49.6°E): Evidence from in situ trace element and sulfur isotope compositions of pyrite varieties
Authors: Meng Xingwei , Li Xiaohu , Jin Xianglong , Chu Fengyou , Zhu Jihao , Wang Yejian
Published: March 2022

Shallow seawater-hydrothermal circulation plays a crucial role in the subseafloor mineralization of the hydrothermal system. However, its key fluid processes and impacts on the metal mobilization and sulfur cycles in the stockwork mineralization are still poorly understood. We first present the systemic variations in micro-scale trace element and sulfur isotope compositions of pyrite varieties in a stockwork-like sulfide from the Longqi hydrothermal field to constrain the metal transport and deposition and sulfur origins and cycles in the shallow seawater-hydrothermal circulation. Pyrites considered as the dominant sulfides can be clarified into disseminated fine-grained (Py-I), euhedral (Py-II), and subhedral-euhedral (Py-III) varieties based on texture. The wall-rock-derived elements Ti, Cu, Ni, Mg, and Mn and seawater-derived elements Mo, V, and U are concentrated in Py-I within the breccias and related to the fluid-rock reaction and fluid-seawater mixing in the shallow seawater-hydrothermal circulation system. Short-lived shallow circulation results in fluid fluctuation and oscillatory-zoned Py-II with depletion of Co, Ni, Cu, As, and Se in the mantles relative to those in the rims and cores. As the later hydrothermal activity was active, Py-III that was overgrown from Py-II is rich in hydrothermally inherited metals Se, Te, and Co, possibly implying the hydrothermal field is coming into the main mineralization. The sulfur isotope compositions of pyrites range from 4.30 to 9.98‰ (n=37), with distinct δ34S variations in the individual Py-I crystal (> 1.5 ‰ within a 20 × 20 µm2 region). This variation is attributed to changes in the relative proportion of sulfur sourced from (i) the shallow-origin reduced seawater via reduction by ferrous iron released from basalt (ii) the reduction of pre-existing anhydrite by later hydrothermal overprinting in the shallow subseafloor. These findings provide evidence for a model to better understand the effect of shallow seawater-hydrothermal circulation on the subseafloor stockwork mineralization of hydrothermal fields.
Properties and processing of aviation induced aerosol within the UTLS observed from the IAGOS-CARIBIC Flying Laboratory
Authors: Mahnke Christoph , Gomes Rita , Bundke Ulrich , Berg Marcel , Ziereis Helmut , Sharma Monica , Righi Mattia , Hendricks Johannes , Zahn Andreas , Petzold Andreas
Published: March 2022

The impact of aviation on atmospheric aerosol, its processing, and its effects on climate is still associated with large uncertainties. We identified aircraft exhaust plumes observed during flights of the IAGOS-CARIBIC Flying Laboratory and performed a dedicated analysis of the aviation related atmospheric aerosol properties.

The European Research Infrastructure IAGOS (www.iagos.org) is using in-service aircraft as observation platforms, equipped with instrumentation for measuring gaseous species, aerosols, and cloud particles. From July 2018 to March 2020 the IAGOS-CARIBIC Flying Laboratory (equipped with 15 scientific instruments) conducted 42 operational flights aboard a Lufthansa Airbus A340-600 passenger aircraft. These flights covered routes between Munich (Germany) and destinations in North America, South Africa, and East Asia.

The IAGOS-CARIBIC data set resulting from these flights includes a wide variety of aerosol and trace gas measurements, which could be fully synchronised for a subset of 36 flights. An algorithm was developed and implemented to automatically identify unique aircraft exhaust plumes based on the 1 Hz resolved NOy and aerosol data sets. For the years 2018 to 2020, the algorithm detected about 1100 unique aircraft exhaust plumes. These exhaust plumes were further categorised as tropospheric (37 %) and stratospheric (63 %) as well as in-cloud (12 %) and clear sky (82 %) conditions, providing a solid statistical bases and global insight into the impact of aviation on aerosol and trace gas properties. For each plume the measured parameters were further divided into their respective background and plume excess values.

The analysis of the plume excess characteristics (e.g., in terms of the fraction of accumulation mode particles or the non-volatile aerosol fraction) shows that the aerosol properties inside the plume are independent from their background environment in the upper troposphere, the tropopause region, and the lowermost stratosphere. This would allow a parameterization of the plume aerosol properties independent of the flight altitude. Furthermore, we discuss the evolution of the aerosols aging/processing for the encountered aircraft exhaust plumes.

Acknowledgments: Part of this study is funded by the ACACIA project (EU Grant Agreement Number 875036). We thank all members of IAGOS-CARIBIC, in particular Deutsche Lufthansa and Lufthansa Technik for enabling the IAGOS-CARIBIC observatory. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is acknowledged for financing the instruments operation and data analysis as part of the joint project IAGOS-D under grants 01LK1301A and 01LK1301C.
Future Planet Studies: embedding soil science in an interdisciplinary sustainability bachelor program
Authors: Jansen Boris
Published: March 2022

In the last decades we have increasingly seen a shift in higher education away from teaching soil science at the undergraduate level as stand-alone program or as part of more traditional Earth sciences programs. Instead, soil science is increasingly embedded in larger interdisciplinary programs. These can be programs within the realm of the natural sciences, e.g. combining soil science and ecology to study ecosystem functioning. Or they may be broader still, and include elements from the social sciences, economics, political science, etc.. Such broad interdisciplinary sustainability programs offer great opportunities, as they enable students to study soil sciences as part of the complex human-nature interactions that underpin the grand challenges of our time. However, teaching soil science in such in the context of an interdisciplinary sustainability program faces important challenges as well. These include finding a proper balance between broad orientation and specialization, and finding the truly interdisciplinary professors to teach the program.

At the University of Amsterdam, in 2006 we embedding our soil science teaching in the interdisciplinary Bachelor program Future Planet Studies (FPS) that includes natural sciences and social sciences components. In my presentation I aim to share some experiences from the evolution of the FPS program over the last 15 years. I will highlight some of our successes, and some of the challenges that we are still struggling with. With this I hope to initiate a discussion about the role of soil science in interdisciplinary programs, and learn from the experience of others.
Regional GIA: modelling choices and community needs
Authors: Riva Riccardo
Published: March 2022

GIA is a global process, because of gravitational effects, its interplay with earth rotation, and the large spatial extent of ice-sheet and ocean loading. However, mainly due to the presence of heterogeneities in the structure of crust and upper mantle, modelling of GIA signals often requires a regional approach. This is particularly true in the light of continuous advances in earth observation techniques, that allow increasingly accurate determination of land deformation, coastal sea level change, and mass balance of glaciers and ice sheets.

This talk will address a number of open issues related to regional GIA models, such as the effect of transient and non-linear rheologies, and the complementary role of forward and semi-empirical approaches, with an eye on the needs of the geodetic, sea level and cryosphere communities.
Convolutional neural networks for skillful global probabilistic predictions of temperature and precipitation on sub-seasonal time-scales
Authors: Horat Nina , Lerch Sebastian
Published: March 2022

Reliable sub-seasonal forecasts for precipitation and temperature are crucial to many sectors including agriculture, public health and renewable energy production. Since the forecast skill of numerical weather forecasts for lead times beyond two weeks is limited, the World Meteorological Organization launched a Challenge to improve Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Predictions using Artificial Intelligence, which was held from June to October 2021. Within the framework of this challenge, we have developed a hybrid forecasting model based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) that combines post-processing ideas with meteorological process understanding to improve sub-seasonal forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

Here, we present a refined version of our model that predicts tercile probabilities for biweekly averaged temperature and accumulated precipitation for weeks 3 – 4 and 5 – 6. Our model is trained on limited-area patches that are sampled from global predictor fields. It uses anomalies of large-scale predictors and features derived from the target variable forecasts as inputs. Spatial probabilistic forecasts are obtained by estimating coefficient values for local, spatially smooth basis functions as outputs of the CNN. Our CNN model provides calibrated and skillful probabilistic predictions, and clearly improves over climatology and the respective ECMWF baseline forecast in terms of the ranked probability score for weeks 3 – 4 and 5 - 6.
Lagrangian Ocean Ventilation: Improved Subgrid-Scale Dispersion on Neutral Surfaces
Authors: Reijnders Daan , Deleersnijder Eric , van Sebille Erik
Published: March 2022

Mesoscale eddies play a major role in ocean ventilation by stirring ocean tracers, such as carbon, along sloping surfaces of neutral buoyancy. To capture the effects of these turbulent eddies, coarse resolution ocean models resort to tracer diffusion parameterizations that take into account neutral surface slopes. Likewise, when studying tracer pathways in a Lagrangian framework, the effect of eddy dispersion needs to be parameterized when coarse models are used.

Dispersion in Lagrangian simulations is traditionally parameterized by random walks, equivalent to diffusion in Eulerian models. Beyond random walks, there is a hierarchy of stochastic parameterizations, where stochastic perturbations are added to Lagrangian particle velocities, accelerations, or hyper-accelerations. These parameterizations are referred to as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd order ‘Markov models’ (Markov-N) respectively. Most previous studies investigate these parameterizations in two-dimensional setups, often restricted to the ocean surface. The few studies that investigated Lagrangian dispersion parameterizations on three-dimensional neutral surfaces have focused only on random walk (Markov-0) dispersion.

Here, we present a three-dimensional isoneutral formulation of the Markov-1 model. We also implement an anisotropic, shear-dependent formulation of Lagrangian random walk dispersion, originally formulated as a Eulerian diffusion parameterization by Le Sommer et al (2011). Random walk dispersion and Markov-1 are compared using an idealized setup as well as more realistic coarse and coarsened (50 km) ocean model output. While random walk dispersion and Markov-1 produce similar particle distributions over time, Markov-1 yields more realistic Lagrangian trajectories and leads to a smaller spurious dianeutral flux.
Increasing water system robustness: potential of cross-sectoral water reuse
Authors: Bartholomeus Ruud , Pronk Geertje , Stofberg Sija , Krajenbrink Henk , Raat Klaasjan
Published: March 2022

We are increasingly confronted with drought damage in agriculture and nature as well as an increasing pressure on the availability of water for high-grade applications such as the production of drinking water. Strategies are being developed to control these risks and to secure long-term supplies of freshwater. These include increasing regional self-sufficiency in meeting the demand for freshwater and improving the utilization of the available water sources. We provide examples of adaptation measures to reduce the gap between water demand and availability under climate and water use changes, including reuse of water resources across sectors. Water reuse has the potential to substantially reduce the demand on groundwater and surface water. We present an integrative framework to evaluate the potential of water reuse schemes in a regional context and demonstrate how water reuse propagates through the water system and potentially reduces pressure on groundwater resources. The use of Sankey diagram visualisation provides a valuable tool to explore and evaluate regional application of water reuse, its potential to reduce groundwater and surface water demand, and the possible synergies and trade-offs between sectors. The approach is demonstrated for the Dutch anthropogenic water system in the current situation and for a future scenario with increased water demand and reduced water availability due to climate change. Four types of water reuse are evaluated by theoretically upscaling local or regional water reuse schemes based on local reuse examples: municipal and industrial wastewater effluent reuse for irrigation, effluent reuse for industrial applications, and reuse for groundwater replenishment. Doing so, we share a general framework for developing strategies to integrate water reuse in a robust regional water system. Responsible water reuse requires a multidisciplinary approach with knowledge on water demand and availability, water quality and health, technology and governance. Systematic evaluation of these aspects can help determine when water reuse is, or is not (!), a viable part of a regional strategy. This integrative context, including water systems thinking and modelling to identify risks and benefits, is essential for a successful implementation of water reuse in practice.