bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lithosphere structure beneath the Philippine Sea plate and adjacent regions caused by eastward mantle flow
Authors: Li Cuilin , Fan Jianke , Dong Dongdong , Wu Xiaoyang
Published: March 2024

The Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) is the largest trench-arc-basin system in the Western Pacific, which is completely surrounded by convergent boundaries and characterized by a complex evolution of back-arc systems and marginal basins involving lithospheric processes. The azimuthally anisotropy structure can be employed to reflect the deformation histories of the lithosphere mantle and help us to reveal the influencing factors of the marginal basins formation especially the West Philippine Basin (WPB). However, seismic anisotropic velocity structures have not been established reasonably due to lack of seismic stations in the interior of the PSP. In this study, high resolution 3-D shear-wave velocity structures and azimuthal anisotropy of the lithosphere mantle beneath the PSP are estimated using the continuous waveform data recording by broadband passive OBS stations and seismic stations surrounding the PSP. Strong and consistent N-S fast directions in the crust beneath the southern WPB are approximately perpendicular to the magnetic anomaly strips and subparallel to the seafloor spreading direction, which may be contributed to the remnant anisotropy accompanying with oceanic crust formation induced by the seafloor spreading. Whereas, relatively weak and inconsistent azimuthal anisotropy beneath the northern WPB might indicate that the oceanic crust was modified controlled by the subduction of the Pacific Plate. Prominent E-W fast direction in the lithosphere mantle beneath the northern WPB may be responsible for the eastward mantle flow triggered by the retreating of the Pacific plate along a stationary Marianas trench since the Miocene. While NE-SW fast direction beneath the southern WPB may correspond to the deformation filed controlled by the interactions both the eastward mantle flow and the collision between the Caroline Plate and PSP. Furthermore, anisotropy images reveal that lithosphere deformation and low-velocity zone in the asthenosphere beneath the marginal basins around the PSP including the Japan Sea and the South China Sea are controlled by the eastward mantle flow as a result of the retreat of the Pacific plate.
Pairing Traditional Approaches with High-resolution In-situ Sensors to Advance the Science of Nutrient Fluxes from Agricultural Catchments 
Authors: Toor Gurpal , Burgis Charles , Radolinski Jesse , Kennedy Bradley , Sun Fajun , Lucas Emileigh , Steinhilber Patricia
Published: March 2024

Agricultural catchments are hot spots of nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus) fluxes to downstream watersheds. New tools are needed to disentangle flow pathways, hot spots, and the interplay of nutrient dynamics. Yet, the constraints (cost, labor) have limited our ability to use the new tools to understand nutrient dynamics from land to water. The traditional approaches of water quality monitoring (grab or composite samples collected with autosamplers) remain the gold standard for water quality monitoring, although they yield limited information on the mechanistic controls of nutrient losses. This presentation will discuss how pairing the traditional approaches (such as autosamplers) with in-situ nutrient sensors in agricultural catchments furthered our understanding of hot spots, pathways, and stoichiometric controls on nitrate and orthophosphate losses and advanced the science of water quality monitoring in agricultural catchments.
RRR: Reliability, Replicability, Reproducibility for Climate Models  
Authors: Heerdegen Aidan , Jayasuriya Harshula , Gatti Tommy , Efremova Varvara , Druken Kelsey , Hogg Andy
Published: March 2024

It is difficult to reliably build climate models, reproduce results and so replicate scientific findings. Modern software engineering coupled with the right tools can make this easier. 

Some sources of complexity that make this a difficult problem:  

Climate models are an imperfect translation of extremely complex scientific understanding into computer code. Imperfect because many assumptions are made to make the problems tractable.  
Climate models are typically a number of separate models of different realms of the earth system, which run independently while exchanging information at their boundaries.   
Building multiple completely separate models and their many dependencies, all with varying standards of software engineering and architecture. 
Computational complexity requires high performance computing (HPC) centres, which contain exotic hardware utilising specially tuned software.  

ACCESS-NRI uses spack, a build-from-source package manager that targets HPC, and which gives full build provenance and guaranteed build reproducibility. This makes building climate models easier and reliable. Continuous integration testing of build correctness and reproducibility, model replicability, and scientific reproducibility eliminates a source of complexity and uncertainty. The model is guaranteed to produce the same results from the same code, or modified code, when those changes should not alter answers.  

Scientists can be confident that any variation in their climate model experiments is due to factors under their control, rather than changes in software dependencies, or the tools used to build the model. 
Sources and fate of dissolved inorganic carbon in rivers of Switzerland
Authors: Brunmayr Alexander , Rhyner Timo , Geissbühler Dylan , Minich Luisa , White Margot , Storck Florian , Passera Lucas , Zimmermann Stephanie , Moreno Duborgel Margaux , Laemmel Thomas , Mittelbach Benedict , Haghipour Negar , Eglinton Timothy , Szidat Sönke , Hagedorn Frank , Graven Heather
Published: March 2024

Each year, rivers export more than one teragram of carbon out of Switzerland as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), integrating diverse atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic carbon sources over their catchments. However, the contributions of the different carbon sources to riverine DIC – and thus the implications of DIC dynamics for the global carbon balance and climate – remain uncertain. Building upon the 50-year dataset from the national long-term river monitoring network of Switzerland (NADUF), we attempt to predict the vertical CO2 fluxes between rivers and the atmosphere, and to quantify catchment-scale DIC production through rock weathering, leaching of soil-respired CO2, and mineralization of organic carbon during fluvial transport. Supported by the national network of groundwater monitoring sites (NAQUA) and soil sampling sites covering Switzerland, a Bayesian mixing model disentangles the sources of riverine DIC using measured data of carbon and water isotopes (14C, 13C, 2H, 18O), as well as ion concentrations. The exchanges between river DIC and atmospheric CO2 across the air–water interface are predicted with a diffusion model, validated with measurements of the CO2 flux and isotopes from in situ floating-chamber experiments. Our predictions of the DIC source contributions and the net CO2 flux from rivers help to elucidate the role of DIC in the carbon balance of alpine and perialpine river catchments, and contribute towards closing the national carbon budget of Switzerland.
Leveraging machine learning and satellite observation for skillful flood forecasts
Authors: Sharma Sanjib , Bhatttarai Yogesh , Bista Sunil , Talchabhadel Rocky
Published: March 2024

Urban systems are highly exposed and vulnerable to extreme rainfall and flooding. Flood impacts span across various sectors, causing disruptions in transportation network, power supply, and access to emergency services. These impacts are expected to increase with expanding urban development, aging flood control infrastructure, and intensifying rainfall events. Reliable prediction of flood hazards is crucial to inform the design of sustainable risk management strategies. This study aims to advance predictive understanding of flood hazards by leveraging recent advances in numerical weather prediction, machine learning, satellite observations and high-performance computing. We compare the predictive skill of standalone machine learning with the hybrid models built by integrating process-based hydrodynamic model outputs with machine learning algorithms. We demonstrate the ability of machine learning surrogate models to capture spatio-temporal flood dynamics with reduced computational expense. This work contributes to strengthening the scientific foundation for flood-risk prediction that is of utmost importance to enhance community resilience in the face of evolving weather and climate extremes.
Beyond the Surface: Vertical distribution of plastic pollution in Dutch rivers 
Authors: Oswald Stephanie B. , Ragas Ad M. J , Schoor Margriet M , Collas Frank P. L.
Published: March 2024

Rivers act as the main transportation pathways for land-based plastic litter to the ocean. Recently, rivers have also been identified as potential sinks and reservoirs for plastics. A significant part of plastic remains in and around rivers for extended periods, and only travels short distances in river systems. However, knowledge of plastic transport over different depth profiles in rivers remains limited. In this study, we measured the vertical distribution of macro- and mesoplastic concentration and composition. An extensive monitoring campaign was performed in the river Rhine and its two major branches, i.e. Waal and IJssel using a larvae net and a trawl net, methodologies that allow for differentiating between sampling depths. Subsequently, in order to estimate the relationship between the surface transport of plastic items compared to the transport in deeper layers in the water column, an extrapolation factor was derived per day for the middle and bottom nets divided by those found in the surface net. The predominant recorded items among the investigated rivers and monitoring techniques were fragments of soft mesoplastic falling under the category “Plastic film plastics 0-2.5 cm (soft)". The distinction among the observed macro- and mesoplastic OSPAR categories collected in different layers in the water column was limited between techniques. At the sampling sites in the river Waal, river Rhine, and river IJssel, during larvae net monitoring, for both macroplastic and mesoplastics, hard plastics were more frequently found on the river surface, while soft plastics were more frequently detected near the river bottom. The average of the calculated extrapolation factor ranged between 0.45 - 3.51 and 0.70 – 1.72 for macroplastic and mesoplastic, respectively during larvae net monitoring. During trawl net monitoring, the average of the calculated extrapolation factor of macroplastic ranged from 0.82 – 1.30, and for mesoplastic transport ranged from 0.52 – 1.40. Additionally, during larvae net monitoring, extrapolation factor values indicated that mesoplastics showed varying abundances, with the greatest concentration at the bottom of the water column. Followed by high concentrations on the water surface, and with the lowest concentration located in the middle of the river. The trawl net method exhibited subtler differences in macro- and mesoplastic distribution across depths. Vertical mixing was intensified during higher discharge events as a result of turbulent flow. Overall, the findings of this study show that estimates of plastic concentrations solely based on surface transport could result in an underestimation of riverine plastic transport.
Achieve Vector Data Cube by Apache Parquet Partition: Building an Analysis-Ready Global Lidar Data (GEDI and ICESat-2) for Earth System Science applications
Authors: Ho Yu-Feng , Simoes Rolf , Parente Leandro , Hengl Tomislav
Published: March 2024

While DataCube is a concept of data storage in space (x, y or lon, lat) and time (t) dimensions. The concept accelerates the understanding and the usage of data as a defined space and time extent and is enormously helpful for geospatial analysis and modeling. Peter et al. (2018) describes this concept that generalizes the concept of seamless map from 2-D to n-D, and enables spatial analysis and multi-temporal analysis simultaneously. It is more trivial to realize in raster data due to its gridded structure, but not in the case of vector data, which is tabular data.
In the cloud world, vector data can be tiled and subsequently be reconstructed into a specific DataCube. Apache Parquet provides vector data with partitions that flexibly define space and time extent and create cloud objects that allow HTTP range requests. This research took two huge datasets as input, which are GEDI Level 2 version 2 A and B (~200 TB) and ICESat-2 ATL08 version 6 (~20TB). The data are stored in time-series sequence, from 2018-04-18 to 2023-03-26 and 2018-10-14 to 2023-06-21 respectively. Our approach took space and time partitions, given 1x1-degree tile and monthly interval. It reconstructs the data into a Vector DataCube that has a minimal unit of 1x1 degree and a single month (e.g. 044E10N-201910). Furthemore, due to the support of HTTP range requests in Parquet, users of these datasets are exempted from reading the whole dataset and subsetting the small portion. A simple metadata search has been developed, supporting direct access to data subsets without the computational overhead of opening and navigating through a massive data object simply to retrieve a small subset of bytes within it.
This Vector DataCube is crucial for data providers to handle large datasets on the cloud and then offer serverless computing. The structure of Vector DataCube allows users to navigate to their area of interest, cache the metadata and extract the data for subsequent analysis or modeling. The Vector DataCube created by partitioning offers an explicit manner to organize data that developers can further build upon to achieve higher level work, especially to support global mapping projects in the field of terrain modeling and canopy height mapping. 
The data of our work will be available as open data (CC-BY license) and analysis-ready and cloud-optimized (ARCO), and the presentation will also address the preliminary test of mapping capabilities of short vegetation height and production of the Ensemble Digital Terrain Model (EDTM).
Do religions matter? The empirical study of the religion-climate relation in Taiwan
Authors: Tsui Cheng Hsuan
Published: March 2024

In the Anthropocentric era, the human-driven climate crisis has become a serious global issue. To mitigate the impacts of climate change, it is crucial for humans to adopt a more sustainable way of living. Human behaviors are shaped by their culture, where religious beliefs play important roles. As a result, people turned to religions for addressing with climate change issues.Seeming to be unrelated, religions and climate issues have found connections through social systems and communication. By endowing climate issues with religions meanings, religions are able to resonate with the ecological crisis and take meaningful actions. Through this "resonance," religions contribute to climate issues by shaping worldviews, establishing sustainable habits, initiating actions, and influencing policies.Religious communities have recognized the severity of the human-driven climate crisis. Their call for action reflects the fact that Taiwanese society has failed to respond to the climate crisis due to its endless pursuit of consumerism. To deal with the challenges, religious communities have advocated for “Ecological Conversion”, which persuade people to save the nature for the sake of God.How religions can empirically contribute to environment issues has been a long-discussed topic. However, previous literatures only focus on the Western-Christian World. Countries with religious beliefs other than Judeo-Christian ethics are seldom discussed. To explore the relationship between religion and climate in Asian contexts, this research will focus on Taiwan, a multicultural country with various religions.Using the sample data from the 2020 Taiwan Social Change Survey, this study aims to explore the relationship between religion and climate by conducting factor analysis and ordinary least squares regressions.The evidence reveals a weak connection between religions and people's climate attitudes in Taiwan. Among all the religions in Taiwan, Buddhists and Christians tend to have the most eco-friendly attitudes. The social networks within these two religious communities foster an eco-friendly atmosphere, which highlights the importance of environmental conservation. However, when it comes to peoples’ willingness to pay, faith holders are less likely to show their supports.By illustrating the religion-climate relationship in Taiwan, this study demonstrates how these two fields intersect in a non-Western society. It also provides implications for how religions can inspire people's willingness to engage in environmental conservation efforts.
Exploring 6-month lead predictability of the Atlantic zonal mode in CMIP
Authors: Richter Ingo , Tozuka Tomoki , Kosaka Yu , Kido Shoichiro , Tokinaga Hiroki
Published: March 2024

Skillful prediction of the equatorial Atlantic zonal mode (AZM) remains challenging, with many prediction systems dropping below an anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC) of 0.5 beyond a lead time of 3 months. Since the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is well known to have global impacts, it could be expect to be a useful predictor of the AZM but its influence on the adjacent equatorial Atlantic basin is inconsistent. This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that the extreme 1982 and 1997 El Niño events were followed by Atlantic zonal mode (AZM) events of the opposite sign.Here we re-examine the potential role of ENSO in the predictability of the AZM using pre-industrial control simulations (piControl) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Phase 6 (CMIP6). The observed correlation between boreal winter (DJF) sea-surface temperature (SST) in the Niño 3.4 region and the following summer (JJA) SSTs in the ATL3 region is close to zero, indicative of the inconsistent relation between the two. Individual models, however, exhibit a wide range of behaviors with correlations ranging from about -0.5 to +0.5. While the influence of ENSO on equatorial Atlantic SST is inconsistent, the influence of ENSO on surface winds over the equatorial Atlantic is rather robust. All models show a negative correlation between DJF Niño 3.4 SST and boreal spring (MAM) surface winds over the western equatorial Atlantic. In addition, we find that SSTs in the South Atlantic act as a precursor to AZM events. Based on these relations, we construct a multi-linear regression model to predict AZM events in JJA based on Pacific and Atlantic SST in DJF. In most climate models, this simple scheme can predict AZM events with an ACC above 0.5 during ENSO years. We will discuss to what extent these insights may help in the prediction of real-world AZM events.
Secondary Flow and Turbulent Kinetic Energy in a Dredged Channel with Riverbank
Authors: Arora Sukhjeet , Kumar Patel Harish , Dilip Lade Abhijit , Kumar Bimlesh
Published: March 2024

Sand dredging from the rivers has become an uncontrolled practice that harms the river's ecology. It affects the flow structure of the river, leading to further deterioration of the river's morphology. Several field investigations and experimental studies have conformed to the erosive effects of sand mining pits upstream and downstream of mining locations. We conducted laboratory-scale flume experiments to study the impact of a mining pit on the secondary flow structure across a riverbank cross-section. Three bank slopes were tested, namely, 25°,31°, and 40°, and gravity flow experiments were conducted with and without a mining pit. Turbulent velocity data across the cross-section was analyzed to study the transverse and velocity distribution across the riverbank for both with-pit and without-mining-pit cases. Results show that dredging an upstream mining pit significantly affects the transverse and vertical velocities, especially on the bank slopes and near the bed in the main channel portion. The turbulent kinetic energy in the flow region on the bank slope and near the bed in the main channel portion significantly increases because of the pit excavation. These alterations in the secondary flow within the riverbank can lead to morphological changes and may affect the bank stability of rivers.Keywords: Sand Mining, Turbulent kinetic energy, turbulence
Play Fairway Analysis for Regional Screening of Multi-Resource Potential in Sedimentary Basins: Evaluating Potential for Geothermal, Carbon Storage, and Lithium in Brines
Authors: Gardner Rand , Birdwell Justin
Published: March 2024

Geological resources critical to the energy transition, such as sedimentary geothermal, carbon storage potential, and lithium in brines, often struggle for economic feasibility as standalone developments but become increasingly viable when the potential for more than one of these resources coexist in the same reservoir. Subsurface geophysical, geochemical, temperature, and pressure datasets were analyzed and integrated with finite element numerical basin modeling to evaluate the primary factors that impact the distribution of these resources in the onshore Gulf of Mexico basin, the largest sedimentary basin in the United States. Subsurface temperature, pressure, brine composition (Li content), and reservoir quality in sixteen depositional units have been visualized using common risk segment (CRS) mapping to high-grade areas where multiple resources likely coexist spatially within the same unit. Three categories denote the level of potential resource that have been assigned to each primary factor. For sedimentary geothermal, low, moderate, and high potential areas are defined as those with temperatures <90°C, 90-150°C, and >150°C, respectively. For CO2 storage, high potential areas exhibit supercritical CO2 conditions up to 80% of the fracture gradient. Areas between 80% and 100% of the fracture gradient are considered to exhibit moderate potential and areas where the fracture gradient is equal or greater than 100% are considered to have low potential. For lithium concentration, low, moderate, and high potential is defined by concentrations of <100 ppm, 100-200 ppm, and >200 ppm, respectively. Reservoir quality affects the viability of all three of these resources and is determined by the gross depositional environment (GDE) maps created for each unit in the model: individual depositional environment polygons are categorized as high, medium, or low potential according to the quality of reservoirs they may contain. The resulting CRS maps can be used for regional scale screening evaluations of these resources and identify areas of interest where more detailed, prospect-scale studies can be undertaken.
Historical changes in the seasonality and timing of extreme precipitation events
Authors: Gründemann Gaby , Zorzetto Enrico , van de Giesen Nick , van der Ent Ruud
Published: March 2024

Global warming alters the hydrological cycle, influencing the seasonality and timing of extreme precipitation events. Understanding historical changes in the occurrence of extreme precipitation is important for assessing their effects. This study examines the timing and seasonality of extreme precipitation using 63 years of ERA5 data. By using relative entropy, we can assess changes in extreme daily precipitation occurrence on the global domain. Findings show notable regional differences. In the second half of the 20th century, Africa and Asia had high clustering of extreme precipitation events. Over 60 years, clustering intensified in Africa but became more spread out in Asia. North America and Australia, initially with less clustering, saw slight increases. Extreme precipitation events in extra-tropical land regions mainly occurred in summer, with minor shifts in timing. These results are important for improving risk management for hazards like flash floods and landslides and highlight the need for region-specific strategies in adapting to these changes.
Lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling processes for 2022 Luding Ms6.8 earthquake in China
Authors: Zhang Xuemin , De Santis Angelo , Liu Jing , Campuzano Saioa , Yang Na , D’Arcangelo Serena , Ouyang Xinyan , De Caro Mariagrazia , Cianchini Gianfranco , Yang Muping , Fidani Cristiano , Li Xinyan , Orlando Martina , Liu Hong , Perrone Loredana , Nie Lei , Piscini Alessandro , Sabbagh Dario , Soldani Maurizio
Published: March 2024

Due to the significant earthquake-related perturbations observed in the ionosphere by ground-based stations and space-borne satellites, scientists have increasingly focused on the studying the possible coupling mechanism among lithosphere, atmosphere and ionosphere. In this work, we contribute to this research, analyzing the phase of preparation of the 2022 Ms6.8 Luding (China) earthquake with a multi-parameter and multi-level approach from ground and satellite data taken in lithosphere, atmosphere and ionosphere, including the b value, earth resistivity, ELF magnetic field emissions, atmospheric electric field, surface temperature, foF2 from Ionosonde, GNSS TEC, magnetic field and electron density from CSES and Swarm satellites, etc. The results are encouraging confirming a chain of processes starting from ground and proceeding to the above atmosphere and ionosphere.
Resolving Auckland’s CO2 budget: urban biosphere, diurnal cycle and constraints from isotopes
Authors: Naus Stijn , Mikaloff-Fletcher Sara , Bukosa Beata , Turnbull Jocelyn , Hilton Timothy , Keller Elizabeth , Moore Stuart , Kennett Daemon , Monteiro Vanessa , Brailsford Gordon , Gray Sally , Moss Rowena , Nichol Sylvia
Published: March 2024

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the single largest contributor to anthropogenic radiative forcing, with 70% of global CO2 emissions originating from urban areas. New Zealand has set ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and its largest city, Auckland, will play a key role in achieving those reductions as it houses over 25% of the national population. To meet reduction targets, it is vital to understand current emissions and monitor the impact of implemented policies (e.g., planting trees). For these reasons, we are developing the first observation-constrained, urban-scale emission estimation framework for Auckland. This work is part of the New Zealand CarbonWatch-NZ project that also includes emission estimation at the national scale.A new and developing atmospheric observation network is operated in and around Auckland to measure CO2, 14CO2, CO, CH4, and COS. The combination of trace gases is useful in distinguishing between source sectors, especially biosphere from anthropogenic fluxes. This is important for Auckland: a green city with a year-round growing season. High-resolution bottom-up emission estimates have been developed specifically for anthropogenic (Mahuika-Auckland) and biospheric (UrbanVPRM) CO2 fluxes in Auckland. We combine bottom-up estimates and atmospheric CO2 observations in an inverse emission estimation framework that includes atmospheric transport simulations with the Lagrangian NAME-III model, driven by meteorological data from the 333-m horizontal resolution Auckland Numerical Weather Prediction model. Use of such high-resolution meteorological data is unique and helps interpret atmospheric measurements in the heterogeneous landscape of Auckland, especially when combined with our high-resolution bottom-up estimates. Finally, we explore the value and difficulties of including the full diurnal cycle of CO2 data. The resulting emission product will be a policy-relevant instrument that can help evaluate and meet New Zealand’s emission reduction targets.
A Spaceborne Camera To Augment Future Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Observations
Authors: Gristey Jake , Schmidt Sebastian
Published: March 2024

Earth radiation budget (ERB) satellite observations require conversion of the measured radiance, which is a remotely-sensed quantity, to a derived irradiance, which is the relevant energy balance quantity routinely used in modelling and analysis of the climate system. The state-of-the-art approach for radiance-to-irradiance conversion taken by the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) benefits from the exhaustive sampling of radiance anisotropy by multiple CERES instruments across many years. Unfortunately, the CERES approach is not easily extended to new ERB spectral channels that lack previous sampling, such as the “split-shortwave” planned to be part of the next-generation ERB mission: Libera. As an alternative approach, the capability of a monochromatic, wide-field-of-view camera to provide dense angular sampling in a much shorter timeframe is assessed. We present a general concept for how this can be achieved and quantify the proficiency of a camera to provide rapid angular distribution model (ADM) generation for the new Libera ultraviolet-and-visible (VIS) sub-band. A single mid-visible camera wavelength (555 nm) is shown to be ideal for representing the VIS sub-band, requiring only basic scene stratification for 555 nm to VIS conversion. Synthetic camera sampling with realistic operating constraints also demonstrates that the angular radiance field of various scenes can be well populated within a single day of sampling, a notable advance over existing approaches. These results provide a path for generating observationally-based VIS ADMs with minimal lag time following Libera’s launch. Coupled with efforts to utilize a camera for scene identification, this may also pave the way for future ERB satellite systems to develop stand-alone irradiance products for arbitrary sets of spectral channels, opening up new measurement and science possibilities.
Climate Change both Increases and Decreases Winter Snowmelt across North America
Authors: Hatami Shadi , Zaerpour Masoud , Adamowski Jan , Papalexiou Simon Michael
Published: March 2024

Snowmelt is a vital source of freshwater for a large proportion of North America’s population. Sudden snowmelt can also lead to various extreme events and environmental hazards, such as floods in the cold season and droughts in the upcoming warmer months. However, this natural water resource is at risk due to climate change and variability. Temperature and precipitation are significant climatic controllers that regulate snowmelt dynamics. Warmer temperatures can affect snowmelt extremes, persistence, and distribution, while changing precipitation alters the available snow budget and, consequently, the snowmelt amount. Yet, the precise role of the compound changes in temperature and precipitation under changing climate on future snowmelt dynamics is unknown. To address this knowledge gap, we use observation-driven data and future projections to quantify the response of winter snowmelt to changes in temperature and precipitation across North America (United States and Canada). Our analysis of far-future (2091-2100) changes reveals a significant increase (> 60%) in winter (November-March) snowmelt in northern latitudes, while it declined (by up to< 38%) in southern latitudes. Higher temperatures proved to be the primary driver of the increased snowmelt, whereas decreased snowfall modulated the declines in snowmelt, with variability seen across the study domain. Our findings suggest that the probability of an increase in winter snowmelt is high under the warmer and wetter climatic conditions prevailing in northern regions. In contrast, winter snowmelt across southern latitudes is likely to decline. These findings have significant implications for freshwater availability in the future in the affected areas. 
Spatio-temporal changes and hydrological forces of wetland landscape pattern in the Yellow River Delta during 1986-2022
Authors: Qiu Mengqi
Published: March 2024

 Estuarine wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services, but 20-78% of coastal wetlands are facing the risk of loss by the end of the century. The Yellow River Delta (YRD) wetland, one of the most productive delta areas in the world, has undergone dramatic changes under the influence of a precipitous drop of sediment delivery and runoff, coupling with the invasion of Spartina alterniflora. Monitoring the spatio-temporal patterns, thresholds, and drivers of change in wetland landscapes is critical for sustainable management of delta wetlands. Combining 1728 Landsat 5‒8 and Sentinel-2 images, vegetation phenology, and remote sensing indices of vegetation and water body, a Random Forest supervised classification was used in the Google Earth Engine platform to map the annual typical salt marsh vegetation from 1986 to 2022. We identified three stages of landscape pattern evolution with 1997 and 2009 as turning points, including the rapid expansion stage, gradual decline stage, and bioinvasion stage. In the first phase, the wetland area was expanded by 70.45%, while the typical salt marsh vegetation, Phragmites australis area was reduced by 25%. In the second phase, the wetland was reduced by 21.33% and the Phragmites australis area was reduced by 15.96%. The third stage, Spartina alterniflora demonstrated an unstoppable trend of rapid expansion, with an area increase of 68 times relative to 2009, expanding at an average rate of 3.44 km2 per year. Areas of wetland, tidal flat, and Phragmites australis are significantly influenced by cumulative sediment and cumulative runoff, which total explain 61.5%, 75.7% and 63.8% of their variations, respectively. Wetland and tidal flat areas increased with the cumulative sediment, while cumulative runoff had a weak negative effect. As for Phragmites australis, cumulative runoff had a positive effect, whereas cumulative sediment had a negative effect. These findings provide important theoretical support for the water resources management of delta wetlands.
Turbulent fluxes at kilometer scale determined by optical-microwave scintillometry in a heterogeneous oasis cropland of the Heihe River Basin
Authors: Xu Feinan , Wang Weizhen , Huang Chunlin , Feng Jiaojiao , Wang Jiemin
Published: March 2024

Observations of kilometer-scale turbulent fluxes of sensible (H) and latent heat (LE) are required for the validation of flux estimate algorithms from satellite remote-sensing data and the development of parameterization schemes in the hydro-meteorological models. Since 2019, two sets of Optical and Microwave scintillometer (OMS) systems have been operated in the Heihe River Basin of northwestern China, one on an alpine grassland of upper reaches, another on an oasis cropland of middle reaches, to measure both the areal H and LE. Combined with the observations of eddy-covariance (EC) and meteorological tower systems in both sites, an improved procedure for OMS data processing is proposed. The newly proposed procedure especially improves the preprocessing of raw scintillation data, properly uses the current probably better Lüdi et al. (2005) method in deriving meteorological structure parameters, and chooses the coefficients of similarity functions by Kooijmans and Hartogensis (2016) in calculating fluxes. Evaluated with the results of rather homogeneous grassland, the area-averaged H and LE over the heterogeneous oasis are then determined. Estimates of H and LE agree reasonably well with those obtained from EC in most cases. However, the most interesting is that LE over the oasis during the early crop growing stages is clearly larger than that of EC; while both agree well during the longer crop grown periods. Footprint analysis shows that, compared with EC, the OMS has clearly larger source area that contains a slight area of orchard and shelterbelts distributed near the light path, leading to larger LE during the early stages of crop growth. The area-averaged evapotranspiration (ET) over the oasis is then analyzed more acceptably, which varies from 3 to 5 mm day-1 depending on meteorological conditions during the 39 days of the crop growing period. These results are used to validate the Penman-Menteith-Leuning Version 2 (PML-V2) scheme.
From Satellites to Soil: Integrating Satellite and Household Survey Data to Assess the Impacts of Adaptations on Smallholder Farmers’ Climate Resilience
Authors: Hinks Isabella , Gray Josh
Published: March 2024

Despite feeding the majority of the global population, small (
Hydro-E-scape: A digital adventure in Hydrology for learning and assessment
Authors: Gallagher Lisa , Leonarduzzi Elena , Maxwell Reed
Published: March 2024

Welcome to Hydro-E-scape, a digital hydrology escape room game that combines the thrill of escape room puzzles with the challenge of unraveling the mysteries of water. In Hydro-E-scape, your knowledge of hydrological processes becomes the key to unlocking a series of puzzles, and your ability to navigate through the aquatic realm determines your success in helping Dr. Sandy Loam and her friends through various challenges. From calibrating a conceptual hydrological model to understanding the dynamics of groundwater movement, each challenge is carefully crafted to test your hydrological knowledge in a fun and captivating way.But Hydro-E-scape is more than just a game—it's also an engaging tool for assessing and reinforcing learning. Participants not only have to rely on their problem-solving skills, but also on the knowledge they've gained about hydrological processes. The escape room style game provides a unique way for individuals to apply theoretical concepts in a practical context, solidifying their understanding while enjoying the excitement of the adventure.We will discuss how this game-based approach for teaching and assessment has been used and what we have learned so far. Come dive into Hydro-E-scape and put your hydrological knowledge to the test!
How Does the Government Regulation Affect Farmers’ Soil Remediation Behavior?—Based on a Mediation Effect Analysis of Farmers’ Cognition
Authors: Li Sixiao , Liu Jundi
Published: March 2024

The total area of soil degradation in China is about 460 million hectares, and the problem of soil degradation needs to be solved urgently. Can government regulation, as an important means to encourage farmers to use soil remediation technology, and guide farmers to improve their awareness and thus promoting their adoption? Based on the survey data of 403 rural households in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces of China, the orderly probit model was used to empirically analyze the direct effects of government regulations on various soil remediation behaviors of rural households. Factor analysis was used to measure the cognition level of policy effectiveness, ecological benefit, social value and subject responsibility, and their effect on the government regulation is analyzed through the intermediary effect model. It was found that farmers in loess area had good soil remediation behavior and adopted 3 remediation techniques on average. The influence of different government regulations on farmers' soil remediation behavior is heterogeneous. Government subsidies and technical training significantly promoted farmers to implement soil remediation behavior, while publicity and education had no significance and negative impact. Further mechanism test showed that policy cognition and subject responsibility cognition played a positive moderating role, while social value cognition and ecological benefit cognition played a negative masking effect. The influence of propaganda and training on farmers' soil remediation behavior was 42.69% and 32.73% through social value cognition by masking effect. Therefore, it was necessary to put more allowances, carry out in-depth and meticulous publicity and education, broaden technical guidance channels, and adhere to the combination of rewards and punishments, to promote farmers' scientific soil testing and precision fertilization, and improve the agricultural green development mechanism.
Methane fluxes from soil and tree stem surfaces in flooded and non-flooded forests in the Central Amazon basin.
Authors: del Aguila Pasquel Jhon , Sousa Moura Jose Mauro , Junior Miércio Ferreira , dos Santos Lima Keven , Tapajos Raphael , Brechet Laetitia M , van Haren Joost L M , Saleska Scott R
Published: March 2024

Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas with 35 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. In the last 15 years, the concentration of atmospheric CH4 has sharply increased and the signature of carbon stable isotope in CH4 has become more negative suggesting biotic sources, such as tropical wetlands, might be partly responsible of the current atmospheric methane budget. Floodplains in the Brazilian Amazon have been found to release vast amounts of CH4 but the methane dynamics in upland forests are not very well studied. We assessed the magnitude of CH4 fluxes from soil and tree stem surfaces across dry and wet seasons in two contrasting ecosystems in the Central Amazon basin: the seasonally flooded varzea and the upland terra firme forest. Likewise, some potential drivers of such fluxes were assessed: tree diameter, stem height of measurement, tree species, water table depth, and air temperature. Methane fluxes were measured using chamber-based techniques in the period 2022-2023. Overall, greater fluxes were released from the trees stems of the varzea forest during the first half of the wet season (June-August). On the other hand, the stem surface of upland trees emitted very low CH4 fluxes (< 1 mg m-2 h-1). Methane fluxes of most trees from the flooded forests decreased with stem height, a pattern not shown by tree fluxes in the upland forest. The fluxes from tree stem emissions varied by tree species in both forest types: Munguba tree (Pachira aquatica) and Jarana tree emitted more CH4 fluxes than other species in varzea and upland forests, respectively. The next step of our research will be the assessment of the microbial role in the methane cycle of both forest types using a combination of isotopic and -omic techniques.
A Forecast Test for Reducing Dynamical Dimensionality of Model Emulators
Authors: Xu Tongtong , Newman Matthew , Alexander Michael , Capotondi Antonietta
Published: March 2024

The climate system can be numerically represented by a set of physically-based dynamical equations whose solution requires substantial computational resources. This makes computationally efficient, low dimensional emulators that simulate trajectories of the underlying dynamical system an attractive alternative for model evaluation and diagnosis. We suggest that since such an emulator must adequately capture anomaly evolution, its construction should employ a grid search technique where maximum forecast skill determines the best reference model. In this study, we demonstrate this approach by testing different bases used to construct a Linear Inverse Model (LIM), a stochastically-forced multivariate linear model that has often been used to represent the evolution of coarse-grained climate anomalies in both models and observations. LIM state vectors are typically represented in a basis of the leading Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs), but while dominant large-scale climate variations often are captured by a subset of these statistical patterns, key precursor dynamics involving relatively small scales are not. An alternative approach is balanced truncation, where the dynamical system is transformed into its Hankel space, whose modes span both precursors and their subsequent responses. Constructing EOF- and Hankel-based LIMs from monthly observed anomalous Pacific sea surface temperatures, both for the 150-yr observational record and a perfect model study using 600 yrs of LIM output, we find that no balanced truncation model of any dimension can outperform an EOF-based LIM whose dimension is chosen to maximize independent skill. However, the dynamics of a high-dimensional EOF-based LIM can be efficiently reproduced by far fewer Hankel modes.
Local radical chemistry driven ozone pollution in a megacity: A case study
Authors: Zhang Guoxian , Guo Jingyi , Hu Renzhi , Lin Chuan , Xie Pinhua
Published: March 2024

To investigate the effect of oxidation on the formation of secondary pollution in different environmental conditions, a comprehensive field campaign (STORM) was carried out from October to November 2018 at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School (DXC, 22.60 °N, 113.97 °E) in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Precursor concentrations introduced typical urban characteristics on the modeled OH reactivity (kOH) levels with a broad range between 15.0 and 30.0 s-1. The daily maxima of the observed OH and HO2 radical concentrations were (2.3–12.8) × 106 cm-3 and (1.3–9.1) × 108 cm-3, respectively. In the polluted period, abundant photolysis sources (e.g., HONO, HCHO, and O3) intensified photochemistry. The OH radical concentration peaked 6.0 × 106 cm-3 at noon (11:00-13:00). The low kOH (12.0 s-1) in the clean atmosphere suggested that the reduction in termination efficiency prolonged the OH lifetime, so that the period maintained a sustained OH concentration comparable to the polluted period. In terms of meteorology, the dominating air mass was isolated from the east and northeast directions, which promoted the transition of ozone from mild pollution to severe pollution. The abundant precursor emissions at urban sites first compensated for the negative effect of declined solar radiation, and then they amplified radical propagation. Simultaneously amplified radical propagation promoted oxidation capacity, and increased the chain length (ChL) from 3.6 to 4.1, and P(O3) has lifted effectively by approximately 13.3 %. The stable wind direction and velocity reduced physical dilution losses and thus led to the rapid rise in Ox around 16:00. Further detailed investigations are required on the environmental causes of ozone pollution to address the influence of the oxidation processes on secondary pollution formation under other environmental conditions.
Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Pleistocene Maobitou Limestone in the Western Hengchun Tableland, southern Taiwan
Authors: Wong Q. Chelsea , Shyu J. Bruce H. , Wang Shih-Wei , Shea Kai-Shuan
Published: March 2024

The Hengchun Peninsula is the southernmost part of Taiwan Island, and marks the youngest portion of this active orogenic belt. At the southwestern corner of the peninsula, the Western Hengchun Tableland is underlain by the Pleistocene Hengchun Limestone, one of the youngest stratigraphic units of the Hengchun Peninsula. The Maobitou Limestone, which only crops out at the southern tip of the tableland, is a distinctive part within the Hengchun Limestone. Its ubiquitous large-scale cross beds have sparked controversy in its sedimentary environments. The location of this unit makes it a crucial stratigraphic marker for further understanding the growth processes of the peninsula, and even the orogen itself. However, the Maobitou Limestone has not been studied as much as the other parts of the Hengchun Limestone. Therefore, we investigated 15 outcrops of the Maobitou Limestone along the coastline for their detailed sedimentological and stratigraphical characteristics. We interpreted the limestone as a deposit under storm-influenced environment, due to the observations of (i) amalgamated beds with hummocky cross-stratification (HCS); (ii) graded grains observed within polished slabs; (iii) shelly beds rich in broken barnacles; (iv) various taphonomic conditions of fossils; (v) micrite found in grainstones; and (vi) slightly bioturbated or burrowed beds at bottom of units. Three lithofacies groups were established from these observations: (a) bioclastic packstone facies; (b) bioclastic packstone-grainstone facies, and (c) bioclastic grainstone facies. Variations within these groups were also identified through further subdivision with sedimentary structures and abundance of lithoclasts. We can further correlate these facies between stratigraphic columns using an irregular scouring surface at a similar horizon, and with a 70-m long borehole core. Based on biostratigraphy, the depositional age of the Maobitou Limestone likely ranges between 0.61 and 1.70 Ma, and appears to be different from the other parts of Hengchun Limestone. The source of winnowed skeletal materials may be a topographic high that is likely a coral reef area, supporting our interpretation that the Maobitou Limestone is deposited from high energy storm waves, above the storm wave base off the ramp. As the orogen grows, the depositional setting evolved from a storm-influenced middle ramp and shallowed upward into the inner ramp. 