bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A New Sea Ice Type Concentration Retrieval Algorithm from Microwave Remote Sensing Data
Authors: Ye Yufang , Luo Yanbing , Shokr Mohammed , Chen Zhuoqi , Cheng Xiao
Published: March 2024

Sea ice types, e.g., first-year ice (FYI) and multi-year ice (MYI), can be discriminated based on their radiometric and scattering signatures. However, changes in ice surfaces caused by factors such as ice deformation and melt-refreeze events can lead to extensive ice type misclassification. To solve this problem, a new sea ice type concentration (SITC) algorithm from microwave observations (SITCAM) is proposed in this study. It builds upon a previous algorithm, namely ECICE, but improves from two perspectives. Firstly, a new cost function is employed, with weights indicating the separation efficiencies of microwave parameters. Secondly, a pre-classification scheme is incorporated to account for the bimodal distributions in microwave characteristics. With SITCAM, daily Arctic SITCs are retrieved for the winters of 2002–2011 using passive (AMSR-E) and active (QuikSCAT and ASCAT) microwave data. The results are compared with a sea ice age product (SIA) and evaluated with ice type samples and SAR images. Overall, SITCAM performs well on mitigating the misclassifications induced by the aforementioned factors. The Arctic MYI area agrees well with that from SIA. Compared to ECICE, the retrieval accuracy for MYI and FYI samples increases to 96% and 90%, respectively (increasing by 5% and 15%, respectively), in SITCAM. The bias in MYI concentration between the SITC retrievals and SAR-based results has reduced from 15% to 4%. Furthermore, instead of being limited to specific observations (e.g., Ku-band scatterometer data), SITCAM performs well with various combinations of microwave data, even solely passive microwave data. This universality allows for a long-term record of SITC, which enables the potential of dating SITC back to late 1970s.
Interpretably reconstruct physical processes with combined machine learning approaches, a case study of evapotranspiration
Authors: Hu Yucong , Jiang Yan
Published: March 2024

Machine learning has long been restricted by the mystery of its black box, especially in the fields like geosciences that emphasizes clear expressions of mechanisms. To deal with that issue, we provided a fundamental framework combining two branches, clusters and regressions in machine learning, specifically, spectral clustering in unsupervised clustering methods and artificial neural networks in regression models, to resemble calculations in process-based models. With a case study of evapotranspiration, it was demonstrated that our framework was not only able to discern two processes, aerodynamics and energy, similar to the process-based model, i.e., Penman-Monteith formula, but also provided a third space for potential underrepresented process from canopy or ecosystems. Meanwhile, with only a few hundred of training data in most sites, the simulation of evapotranspiration achieved a higher accuracy (R2 of 0.92 and 0.82; RMSE of 12.41W/m2 and 8.11 W/m2 in training set and test set respectively) than commonly used machine learning approaches, like artificial neural networks in a scale of 100,000 training set (R2 of 0.85 and 0.81; RMSE of 42.33W/m2 and 46.73 W/m2). In summary, our method provides a new direction of hybridizing machine learning approaches and mechanisms for future work, which is able to tell mechanisms from a little amount of data, and thus could be utilized in validating the known and even exploring the unknown knowledge by providing reference before experiments and mathematical derivations.
Assessing Multidimensional Climate Extremes and Associated Vulnerabilities Across the United States 
Authors: Bhattarai Saurav , Sharma Sanjib , Talchabhadel Rocky
Published: March 2024

Climate change is intensifying the occurrence of various extreme weather events across different geographic regions. While most research tends to concentrate on individual extremes, such as heatwaves, droughts, or floods, there’s been minimal exploration into how multiple, diverse extremes interact and compound impact social vulnerability. This study analyzes the overlapping spatial and temporal impact of temperature, precipitation, and hydroclimatic extremes across the US in the context of climate change. Using data and predictions from global and regional climate models for present (including historical) and future emissions scenarios, we compute several indices of different extremes related to heatwaves, floods, and droughts. The aim is to categorize regions, or states or counties, based on their exposure to simultaneous extremes, incorporating social vulnerability and socioeconomic factors. The combination of exposure to multiple hazards and social vulnerability reveals regions in the US that face the highest risks from climate change. Understanding the likelihood of compound climatic extremes occurring in areas with vulnerable populations can significantly aid in planning for adaptation and reducing the risk of disasters. By employing machine learning techniques to predict both multidimensional extremes and social vulnerability, policymakers can tailor evidence-based strategies to enhance community resilience. The methodology and findings provide a framework for evaluating multidimensional climate risks, applicable not just in the US but also in other countries and regions worldwide.
Improving satellite estimation of actual evapotranspiration using field monitoring and crop simulation
Authors: Dercas Nicholas , Tziatzios Georgios , Faraslis Ioannis , Dalezios Nicolas , Alpanakis Nicolas , Spiliotopoulos Marios , Sakellariou Stavros , Sidiropoulos Pantelis , Brissimis Vagelis
Published: March 2024

Water is a natural resource that is in shortage in many areas of the planet. This fact will be exacerbated in the context of the climate crisis. Agriculture is the major consumer of water in Greece but at the same time an important polluter of the environment (sea intrusion problem, pollution of aquifers with fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides). these conditions, the need to reduce water consumption and use it more efficiently is imperative, aiming at sustainable water management. Today there is technology available that allows the use of satellite images and the application of an energy balance at crop and ground level to estimate actual evapotranspiration. This method, to give values, close to reality, must be calibrated using ground data. For this reason, cotton, and maize fields in Thessaly (Central Greece) were systematically monitored for soil moisture and final yield. These water consuming plants are widely cultivated in the Thessalian plain even though the area has a negative water balance. The data collected from the monitoring together with the simulation with the AquaCrop model led to the estimation of the actual evapotranspiration. The model results are considered to correspond to real evapotranspiration since water balance application conditions were favourable (runoff and deep percolation had small or zero values). As a resiult, using the estimation of ETA in the plot we were led to improve the satellite estimation of evapotranspiration.Key words: Evapotranspiration, satellite images, monitoring, AquaCrop
Exploring the potential of cowpea inoculation in Namibia for improved resource use and human nutrition
Authors: Jeong Jihye , Jantke Kerstin , Schneider Uwe. A
Published: March 2024

Motivation, problem statement and aim
Cowpea is an important source of protein in the semiarid parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Even under water or temperature stress, cowpea can produce grain and fix nitrogen. The robustness of cowpea makes them a good choice especially for smallholder farmers with limited resource. Inoculated cowpea is not only more resilient against many plant diseases, but also can fix nitrogen more effectively.Located in sub-Saharan region, water supply is a constant struggle of Namibia. In addition, due to dry climate and soil characters, only 1% of the country is arable. In contrast to harsh natural condition, over 70% of population depends their livelihoods on agriculture. For insufficient production, food supply in Namibia is highly dependent on imports. This combination of natural and societal condition puts Namibian population into nutrition hazard.Thereby, the study aims to investigate the potential of cowpea inoculation in Namibia by answering the following questions:1) How much can inoculation increase cowpea production in Namibia?2) How much land and water resource can be saved by introducing inoculation in cowpea cultivation?Methodology
Environment Policy and Integrated Climate (EPIC) model is adopted for crop simulation. It is calibrated specifically to the Namibian agricultural environment. Different climate scenarios and agricultural management systems are simulated in EPIC. The simulation result is used in optimisation modelling using General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS). The model is simulated under objective of maximum food production given the current population.Result
Primarily, potential cowpea production is depicted in both inoculated and non-inoculated scenarios. The simulation considers the total arable land of the country and subsistence farming as the only farming management. Cowpea production increases by 26% with inoculation.The land and water use of inoculated cowpea cultivation is shown in relative to non-inoculated cowpea cultivation. In the perspective of current resource availability, the relative resource use is elaborated. Inoculation saves up to 23% of land and 79% of water use.Conclusion
By introducing inoculation in cowpea cultivation, Namibia is expected to have meaningful increase in production and decrease in both land and water use. Since cowpea is already well integrated in smallholder farmers’ practice, the adoption of inoculation can penetrate the positive effects into remote and vulnerable areas.
Hydromechanical impact of carbon mineralisation in basalts
Authors: Stavropoulou Eleni , Griner Cesare , Laloui Lyesse
Published: March 2024

Permanent CO2 storage in basalts by means of mineralisation is a promising cost-effective way to achieving reduction of carbon emissions in view of climate change mitigation. CO2 is dissolved in water before injection in the subsurface, resulting in increased trapping safety, since solubility has already taken place. Storage of dissolved CO2 in basalts at shallow depth has additional advantages such as rapid mineralisation (1-2 years), reduced drilling and monitoring cost and lower risk of leakage and induced seismicity events. However, large-scale application of this storage technology would require substantial amounts of water making it not ecologially viable. The use of seawater as a solute is an ideal alternative that is explored since recently in Iceland. Recent studies on basalt-seawater-CO2 interaction showed that the efficiency of carbon mineralisation in seawater remains significant. Batch reactor testing revealed a total mineralisation of 20% of the initial injected CO2 within five months, corresponding to carbonation rates similar to those observed in basalt-freshwater-CO2 interaction experiments (lab and field).Carbon mineralisation can substantially alter the pore space of the basaltic material, resulting in reduction of porosity, flow properties, and consequently overestimation of the injection and storage efficiency. While geophysical monitoring is not yet available, information on the reservoir properties of basalt remains limited. In this work, the impact of CO2 mineralisation on the hydromechanical properties of a basaltic sample is studied. For the first time, injection of CO2 dissolved in saline water is considered in view of a more ecological application of the technology at large scales. Fluid flow evolution before and after exposure to CO2 dissolved in seawater is measured in terms of hydraulic conductivity and permeability under field-like conditions over a duration of 1 to 3.5 months. Permeability reduction of up to one order of magnitude suggests porosity decrease due to mineral precipitation after CO2 exposure. X-ray tomographies of the tested cores reveal a maximum porosity decrease of 1.5% at the given resolution (50 μm/px). To better understand eventual modifications in the connected pore network after mineralisation, fluid flow simulations are performed on the 3D pore network of the material that is reconstructed from the acquired x-ray images. A double porosity is proposed: macro-porosity as visible from the tomographies (pores > 50 μm) and micro-porosity representing the solid matrix porosity (pores < 50 μm). To reproduce the post-CO2 exposure flow, reduction of macro-porosity is not enough. Instead, a decrease of the solid matrix porosity is necessary by up to 30%. The experimental and numerical results suggest that mineralisation can substantially modify the pore space of the intact basaltic material and consequently impact storage efficiency if flow is not preserved.
Fostering Open Science in Earth Data Science Research: Insights from Earthdata Forum
Authors: Mahmoud Hazem , Key Renee , Gummo Crystal , Bunch Brennan , Detweiler Pauline , Kizer Susan , Kusterer John , Tisdale Matthew , Walter Jeff
Published: March 2024

In the dynamic landscape of Earth Science research, the promotion of open science principles is paramount for advancing knowledge and collaboration. The Earthdata Forum is an actively maintained and operational user forum for all participating National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), and the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). The Forum serves as a cross-DAAC platform from which user communities can obtain authoritative information relating to NASA Earth Science. This abstract explores the role of the Earthdata Forum forum.earthdata.nasa.gov as a pivotal platform in fostering open science within the Earth Science community. The platform serves as a hub for researchers to actively engage in discussions, share datasets, and collaboratively tackle challenges in the field. Key aspects discussed include the platform's contribution to data accessibility, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. Forum.earthdata.nasa.gov provides a space where researchers transparently ask questions, discuss methodologies, share insights, and seek advice from a vibrant community. The resulting collaborative environment not only facilitates the exchange of ideas but also bolsters the collective knowledge base. The abstract also delves into the significance of community engagement within the platform, emphasizing how active participation contributes to the ethos of open science. Furthermore, discussions on open-source tools, policy considerations, and the sharing of educational resources underscore the multifaceted role of forum.earthdata.nasa.gov in advancing open science principles. As we navigate the evolving landscape of Earth Science research, understanding the impact of platforms like the Earthdata Forum on promoting transparency, accessibility, and collaboration becomes crucial. This abstract provides insights into the platform's role in nurturing an open science culture and its implications for the broader scientific community. 
Workflow Provenance with RO-Crate in Autosubmit
Authors: De Paula Kinoshita Bruno , Beltran Mora Daniel , G. Marciani Manuel , Tenorio Ku Luiggi
Published: March 2024

In this talk we present current work in Autosubmit to track workflow provenance using the community maintained open standard RO-Crate. Autosubmit is an experiment and workflow manager designed to conduct climate experiments in different platforms (local, HPC, cloud), and is part of different Earth Digital Twin initiatives (Destination Earth Climate Digital Twin, and the European Digital Twin of the Ocean).
Workflow managers have a central role in receiving user input, processing it with local and remote jobs that run on different platforms and that generate output data. RO-Crate enables tracking of workflow prospective (what should happen, e.g. workflow configuration, Slurm job settings) and retrospective (what happened, e.g. log files, performance indicators) provenance. By adopting an open standard that is used by other workflow managers (e.g. Galaxy, COMPSs, Streamflow, WfExS, Sapporo, and Autosubmit) and tools (e.g. Workflow Hub, runcrate) from various domains we show that it not only improves data provenance in Autosubmit, but also interoperability with other workflow managers and tools.
We also describe recent work to integrate RO-Crate with METACLIP, a language-independent framework for climate product provenance that was used in IPCC Atlas. METACLIP uses ontologies such as PROV to track the provenance of climate products. We describe how that relates to RO-Crate, and how we are integrating both via JSON-LD.
Joule-Thomson cooling and phase transitions during CO2 injection in depleted reservoirs
Authors: Tweed Lucy , Neufeld Jerome , Bickle Mike
Published: March 2024

Depleted oil and gas reservoirs are attractive sites for CO2 sequestration. However, the injection of CO2 into depleted reservoirs carries the potential for significant Joule-Thomson cooling, when dense, supercritical CO2 is injected into a low-pressure reservoir. The resulting low temperatures around the well-bore risk causing thermal fracturing and/or freezing of pore waters or precipitation of gas hydrates which would reduce injectivity and jeopardise near-well stability. Injection into reservoirs at subcritical pressure also leads to a phase transition from liquid to vapour CO2. This is accompanied by cooling, due to the latent heat of vaporisation, and dramatic changes in fluid properties including density, compressibility and viscosity.We present models of non-isothermal flow of CO2 in the near well-bore region, which demonstrate the controls on cooling and constrain the different pressure-temperature regimes that can emerge. We show that during radial injection, with fixed injection rate, transient Joule-Thomson cooling can be described by similarity solutions at early times. The positions of the CO2 and thermal fronts are described by self-similar scaling relations. The scaling analysis here identifies the parametric dependence of Joule-Thomson cooling. We present a sensitivity analysis which demonstrates that the primary controls on the degree of cooling are the injection rate and Joule-Thomson coefficient. The analysis presented provides a computationally efficient approach to assessing the degree of Joule-Thomson cooling expected during injection start-up, providing a complement to full numerical simulations.
Enhanced CO2 consumption rate from silicate weathering by landslide erosion in the volcanic island
Authors: Chen Chen , Gayer Eric , Gaillardet Jérôme , Louvat Pascale , Derry Louis
Published: March 2024

Silicate weathering plays an important role in sequestering CO2 over geological time scales. Physical erosion is an important process of mineral surface production, significantly promoting efficient chemical weathering. Landslides, in particular, contribute to physical erosion by generating debris avalanches, thereby accelerating the chemical weathering rate. On the one hand, this enhanced silicate weathering contributes to CO2 drawdown. On the other hand, the oxidation of sulfide minerals exposed by landslides produces H2SO4. H2SO4 weathers carbonate minerals and releases CO2 to the atmosphere, a faster weathering process than silicate dissolution. It is a consensus that landslide erosion favors chemical weathering, however, it still remains unclear to what extent it impacts chemical weathering fluxes, and resultant CO2 consumption rate or emission rate.Réunion Island, characterized by volcanic basalt composition, is a well-known hotspot of physical and chemical erosion (Louvat and Allègre, 1997) with particularly intense bedrock landslides and river incision (Garcin et al., 2005; Rault et al., 2022). It is a very high standing volcanic island with erosion rates exceeding most active mountain ranges due to the strong interaction between volcanic rocks and climate (Gayer et al., 2019). These characteristics of Réunion Island make it an excellent natural lab to study the relationships between erosion and weathering. In this study, we use stream water chemistry and discharge time series to calculate the decennial chemical weathering rates of the main catchments across Réunion Island. Our analysis unveils a substantial contribution not only from basalt dissolution in the stable area but also from hydrothermal activity and landslides to the chemical weathering flux, which results in high CO2 consumption rates. Notably, streams impacted by thermal springs and landslides show different relationships between runoff and chemical weathering rates. In addition, extreme precipitation events promote landslide weathering, instead of high average rainfall. We were able to quantify the effect of landslides on chemical weathering. For the Salazie basin, we find that the landslides contribute to chemical weathering rates up to 62 t/km²/a, accounting for 73% of the chemical weathering in the basin although landslides only affect about 1/5 of its total surface area. This corresponds to an annual CO2 consumption rate of 2.9 × 106 mol/km²/a, approximately 4 times higher than the CO2 consumption attributed to basalt weathering in landslide-free nearby areas, establishing landslide-enhanced-weathering as a significant carbon sink. Our study illuminates some of the mechanisms coupling physical and chemical weathering processes at the Earth’s surface and the impact on the climate.
Comparison of Analytical Methods to Determine Phthalates Release from Macroplastic and Presence in Seawater
Authors: Boldrini Amedeo , Gaggelli Nicola , Loiselle Steven
Published: March 2024

Plastic pollution is a global issue of growing concern because of the large amount of waste ending up into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, primarily due to inefficient methods of end-of-life treatment. Biodegradable plastics, capable of being decomposed into harmless compounds by microorganisms, are promoted as an eco-friendly alternative to fossil-based polymers. However, environmental impact of these materials is a matter of intense debate, due to the limited knowledge of the release and decomposition of the chemicals they contain and how living species are affected by biodegradable plastic waste.Since phthalates and other additives are generally not chemically bound to the polymers, a degradation experiment under natural environmental conditions was set up to evaluate the presence of phthalates and the release in natural seawater. Three biodegradable plastic films with similar weight and shape, made up of poly(lactic acid) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) samples were immersed in marine water for 120 days, one exposed to heat and sunlight, the other one shielded from UV light.The biobag samples were found to contain phthalic acid esters as additives, whether low molecular weight as dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate and dibutyl phthalate, or high molecular weight including di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate and di-n-octyl phthalate. Phthalates are considered as hazardous endocrine disrupting compounds, able to induce toxic effects in humans and aquatic animals. Quantification of these chemicals in examined biobags was performed by means of HPLC-DAD and resulted in concentrations in the μg/g range across all samples.Results of 1H-NMR analysis of seawater samples after the degradation experiment showed that phthalates leaching occurred in one of the DARK samples; however, quantification through HPLC was not achieved due to the low concentration or modification of chemical structure of phthalate esters through photo- or thermal degradation. Diverse factors can affect phthalate structure in aquatic environments, such as hydrolysis, photolysis and biodegradation, therefore a comprehensive analysis of which degradation mechanisms are involved in biodegradable plastic decomposition is crucial to assess how and at which concentration additives and breakdown products can harm living species.
The dynamic of surface elevation changes over a range of mangrove management strategies in degraded coastal zone of Java, Indonesia
Authors: Murdiyarso Daniel , Ardhani Trialaksita SP , Royna Mikah , Sagala Phidju M , Sasmito Sigit D
Published: March 2024

Over the years the northern coast of Java has been subjected to extensive land-use change due to high population pressure. Removal of mangroves and development of aquaculture are rampant. As a consequence, many parts of the region have been flooded and submerged. It is not clear however, whether the submergence is due to sea level rise or land subsidence or both. Here, we reveal the range of surface change with high accuracy following land management strategy post conversions. Mangroves in converted area suffered the most from subsidence, which ranged between 5 and 45 mm yr-1. Meanwhile, in protected areas, instead of subsidence, land build up or accretion which ranged between 11 and 22 mm yr-1 were observed. These data suggest that restoring degraded mangrove should take into account the accommodation capacity of the landscape in order to secure the survival of newly introduced seedlings. In addition, the threat of sea level rise of 4.7 mm yr-1.Keywords: accretion rate, restoration, rSET, sea level rise, sub-surface change
Interplay between early rifting and sedimentary filling along 250 Myr of a long-lived Tethys remnant: the Levant Basin
Authors: Sagy Yael , Gvirtzman Zohar
Published: March 2024

Rifted margins include the Earth’s most voluminous sediment accumulation, host important energy and natural resources providing a rich archive for global environmental changes. However, revealing the deep structure within rifted basins is challenging, because their deep part is commonly vogue in seismic images and their structure is complex because it is usually affected by several deformation phases that occurred during their long history. The Levant Basin is a good example for a deep Tethyan basin that formed alongside Gondwana breakup. Unlike many Tethyan basins that were eroded and/or severely deformed during the Alpine orogeny, the Levant Basin has preserved a thick (>15 km), long-lived (>250 Myr), and continuous sedimentary record providing a world-class archive to study the role of post-rift subsidence and sediment supply on depocenter evolution.We synthesize regional seismic interpretations from previous studies utilizing thousands of kilometers of seismic lines and tens of wells in a unified dataset. By applying a low pass post-stack filtering on 2D seismic reflection surveys covering the Israeli economic water, we improved the imaging of the deeper reflectors and enabled the distinction of the deep units, which otherwise appeared blurred at conventional industry processed data. Based on thickness analysis, we identify the syn-rift to post rift transition. The regional seismic horizon marking this transition is tied to dated horizons in wells providing a concrete age constraint of pre- 163 Ma (end of Callovian) for the end of rifting, which was previously debated. In addition, we show that rifting comprises at least two phases, which are equivalent to three extensional phases documented onshore: Permian, Mid-Late Triassic and Early-Mid Jurassic.Analysis of 11-thickness maps showcase the 250 Myr evolution of sedimentary filling, opening a discussion about the parameters that controlled depocenter migration in relation to tectonic subsidence and sediment supply. We distinguish between periods during which near margin accumulation dominated versus periods during which more sediments accumulated in the deep basin. We explain these variations in light of sediment sources in surrounding continents and paths of transport. Marginal accumulation periods (syn-rift, early post-rift, and Pliocene-Quaternary) represents dominance of shallow biogenic and nearby terrestrial (silisiclastic) sources, whereas, deep basin accumulation periods represent sediment supply that was either provided from the water column (pelagic micro- and nano-fossils, Santonian to Mid-Eocene), or transported mostly from Africa with minimal accumulation along the Levant margin (during the Late-Eocene to Miocene).
The impact of urbanization on ecosystem services and ecological security patterns
Authors: wu haoyu
Published: March 2024

This study compares and analyzes the impact of land use changes on ecosystem services and ecological security in different ecological backgrounds in Stockholm and Panjin. Using Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA), Analytic Hierarchy Process, and Circuit Theory, the dynamic changes in ecosystem services and ecological security patterns are assessed in these two regions. Based on the characteristics and land use changes from 2000 to 2020, four scenarios for 2050 are simulated using the PLUS model: Business-as-Usual (BAU), Priority Urban Development (PUD), Priority Ecological Protection (PEP), and Balanced Urban-Ecological Development.The results show that in Panjin, the growth rate of construction land was 21.49% from 2000 to 2020, and when this probability was applied to the transfer probability of Priority Urban Development in the Stockholm region, there was a significant change in the ecological security pattern. In contrast, in Stockholm County, the correlation between the change rates of all land use types and other indicators was weak, suggesting limited influence of these factors on land use changes. However, in Panjin, there was a strong positive correlation between the change rates of construction land, unused land, and population and GDP. This implies that in regions with lower economic levels, there is a higher dependence on ecosystem services and ecological security patterns compared to higher economic regions.Observations reveal an increase in forest and grassland area in Panjin City. However, the distribution of high-value ecological source areas is not concentrated enough and exhibits a high rate of change. In contrast, the Stockholm region has maintained a stable pattern of ecological source areas over the past 20 years. The Stockholm region has developed a relatively reasonable ecological security pattern, which is the result of continuous ecological protection and planning efforts over many years.
2-D Oceanic Core Complex Structure at the Semenov hydrothermal field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from New Wide-Angle Seismic Data
Authors: Lai Szu-Ying , Bayrakci Gaye , Murton Bramley , Minshull Tim , Gregory Emma , Yeo Isobel
Published: March 2024

We presented results from a new seismic refraction experiment at the Semenov hydrothermal area at 13°30’ N on the western flank of Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The survey was carried out on Cruise JC254 on RRS James Cook in November 2023. Semenov is a typical ultramafic-hosted field consisting of five active and extinct hydrothermal sites (Semenov-1 to 5) associated with massive sulphide mounds (SMS), hosted on a 20-km-long oceanic core complex (OCC). The OCC offers an exceptional opportunity to observe deep-seated ultramafic rocks exposed on the seafloor by detachment faulting. Semenov field is an ideal location to investigate the link between OCC-related detachment and SMS deposit formation. Here, we aim to determine the Semenov OCC crustal structure, geometry, and extent of subseafloor SMS mineralisation.Our seismic refraction survey revealed a detailed 2-D P-wave velocity structure beneath Semenov. We target the Semenov-3 and Semenov-4 hydrothermal sites sitting at either side of the seabed termination of the detachment fault. We focused on profiles crossing the OCC in E-W and N-S directions, shot with two GI guns (250G and 105I cubic inch) every 30 m. The data were recorded by a network of 18 ocean bottom nodes (OBX) at 0.4 to 1 km spacing, showing clear first-arrival refractions from beneath the OCC and the hanging wall. We expect to define the seismic structure down to 2 km beneath the seabed. The derived velocity model could give information to the lithology beneath the Semenov OCC-related detachment and possibly driving source for the hydrothermal circulation. Lastly, we compare our result with another detachment-related hydrothermal system at TAG, where the OCC is thought to be at the initial stage and the hydrothermal system is basalt-hosted.
Diffuse radiation characterized gross primary production over the globe
Authors: Shi Mingjie , Chakraborty Tirthankar
Published: March 2024

Diffuse radiation, which is modulated by cloud and aerosol conditions, can have varied impacts on gross primary production (GPP), with the specific impacts depending on vegetation density, environmental conditions, and the specific physiological characteristics of plants. To quantify the sensitivity of GPP variation to changes in diffuse radiation at the global scale, we use several reanalysis datasets and a satellite-derived products with distinct characterizations of the division between direct beam and diffuse radiation, to force the Energy Exascale Earth System Model Land Model (herein ELM). We find large variations in the range of GPP due to the change in ratio of diffuse radiation to the total downward shortwave radiation (or diffuse fraction). The research implies substantial control of diffuse radiation on atmosphere–biosphere interaction, and demonstrates the importance of thoroughly and systematically validating the simulated diffuse radiation by atmosphere modules, along with assessing the ecosystem responses to the diffuse radiation variations within global land models.
Digitalizing historical buildings of Western Greece – from point clouds, to building information modeling and 3D printing
Authors: Filippa Theodora , Tsikas Panagiotis , Kyriou Aggeliki , Triantafyllidis Panagiotis , Lyros Epameinondas , Nikolakopoulos Konstantinos , Koukouvelas Ioannis , Pappas Christoforos
Published: March 2024

Cultural heritage worldwide is of great interest for general public and scientific communities across disciplines. In the Mediterranean region, and in Greece in particular, historic buildings and monuments are widespread. Ongoing environmental change, and the increased frequency and severity of climatic extremes and natural hazards in the Mediterranean regions, challenge the protection of cultural heritage, making essential the detailed documentation and digitalization of these monuments in tailored geodatabases. In the present study, example historical buildings of Western Greece were selected, covering a wide environmental gradient from coastal to mountainous landscapes, namely, a 19th century emblematic stone-built lighthouse at Cape Drepano, close to Patras, in Northern Peloponnese, as well as historical buildings in the Aetolia-Acarnania region, including 19th and 20th century monuments in the lagoon region of Messolonghi (the Old Hatzikosta Hospital and the Palamas School), as well as a 18th century post-Byzantine monastery located in a mountainous area near Agrinio. Geodetic field surveys were conducted with Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry. The collected point clouds were processed to generate Building Information Models (BIMs) of the examined structures which were then 3D printed at scale. The derived digital database of these monuments offers a detailed documentation and baseline of the present status of these monuments. This baseline, when combined with future field surveys, set the basis for accurate monitoring of the response of these structures to natural and anthropogenic stressors (e.g., costal erosion, land displacement, etc.). Moreover, this documentation could assist the efficient planning of maintenance and restoration interventions, while the derived digital and printed 3D models offer tangible tools for raising public’s awareness and valorizing further these historical buildings. Technological advancements in geodetic instruments as well as the continuous development of numerical tools for BIM applications, 3D modeling and printing, facilitate the seamless digitalization of cultural heritage and its archiving into interactive geodatabases, complementing existing efforts towards coordinated documentation and monitoring of historical buildings at national and international levels.
Ongoing unrest at Campi Flegrei, Italy: clues from the antecrystic records
Authors: Lormand Charline , Caricchi Luca , Giordano Guido , Isaia Roberto
Published: March 2024

The largest deformation since the start of the ongoing unrest at Campi Flegrei caldera, Italy, was recorded in 2023 with an average uplift rate of 17 cm/year [1]. This coincides with the exponential increase of seismic events since 2017 by a factor of 32 (i.e., 6065 events in 2023 versus 3181 in 2022, 2232 in 2021, 1520 in 2020, 799 in 2019, etc.). Such observations raise questions regarding the origin and the future of the ongoing unrest especially in determining if the underlying cause involves ascent of magmatic fluids only or if magma is also involved. To this end, a forensic approach focusing on the characterisation of crystal cargoes from past eruptions help understanding of the conditions and pre-eruptive processes that occur within magmatic plumbing system prior to eruptions of different styles and comparing these possible scenarios with the current unrest.Juvenile clasts found in the base layer from deposits of past eruptions (e.g., Agnano-Monte Spina, Solfatara, Averno, Astroni, Monte Nuovo) of different eruption styles and size were collected. The 1538 eruption of Monte Nuovo is the ideal benchmark to link the petrological evidence to the precursory deformation documented, whereas the historical eruptions selected allow for consideration of a wider range of eruption scenarios. We will present machine learning thermobarometric data and chemical patterns inferred by clustering techniques used to constrain the temperature-pressure paths of the magma and to identify possible systematics during the period of magma migration to the surface preceding the eruption. Ultimately, we aim to link the petrological signatures conveyed by antecrysts with the deformation triggered during magma intrusion and expansion of volatiles upon ascent.Reference: [1] INGV. Bollettini di sorveglianza dei vulcani campani. http://www.ov.ingv.it/ov/bollettini-campi-flegrei/ (2016-2023).
Intercomparison of Pandora surface and vertical profile NO2 retrievals with in-situ network measurements and airborne observations across the Eastern USA
Authors: Place Bryan , Pandey Apoorva , Valin Lukas , St. Clair Jason , Hanisco Thomas , Abuhassan Nader , Cede Alexander , Spinei Elena
Published: March 2024

Trace gas total and tropospheric/stratospheric column retrievals from the Pandora instruments across the Pandonia Global Network (PGN) have played a key role in satellite validation. With the addition of multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) retrievals to the latest Pandora processing software (Blick v1.8), the PGN now generates surface and vertically-resolved trace gas measurements that will further aid in future satellite product validation. The MAX-DOAS retrievals developed for the Pandora instrument rely upon simple assumptions and measurements and do not require complex radiative transfer calculations, allowing for the columns to be retrieved at a sub-hourly timescale. In this presentation, we give a brief overview of the theory and measurements behind the Pandora MAX-DOAS retrievals and provide an evaluation of the MAX-DOAS NO2 products. For the evaluation we show an intercomparison of PGN NO2 surface products with co-located surface network measurements taken from the US Environmental Protection Agency Air Quality System (EPA AQS) database.  We also compare Pandora NO2 vertical profiles with profiles collected from both sonde and aircraft measurements in the Eastern United States.
Exploring Variability and Uncertainty in Precipitation within Earth System Models Using Parametric Estimates from the Precipitation Emulator MESMER-M-TP
Authors: Schöngart Sarah , Pfleiderer Peter , Schleußner Carl-Friedrich
Published: March 2024

We investigate the potential of utilizing the precipitation emulator MESMER-M-TP as a tool to gain insights into precipitation patterns derived from Earth System Models (ESMs). MESMER-M-TP generates spatially explicit, monthly mean precipitation fields (2.5°x2.5° resolution) by employing spatially explicit, monthly mean temperatures as input. The approach involves modeling local precipitation as the response variable of a generalized linear model (GLM) with local modes of temperature variability as predictive variables.The emulator is trained on 24 different ESMs from the CMIP6 dataset based on a single ensemble member across Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). This results in a set of 24 distinct parameter sets for each month and location. These parameters link precipitation to temperature via the GLM, providing a basis for quantitatively analyzing inter-model differences and parametric uncertainties. We focus on three key aspects: (1) Investigating parameter distributions to identify locations and months with poor inter-model agreement and understanding how individual predictors contribute to overall discrepancies. (2) Utilizing a clustering-based approach to group the 24 climate models based on their parameters, revealing consistency with genealogy and code streams of CMIP6 model development. (3) Exploring the sensitivity of the emulator to parameter choices.This explorative analysis offers valuable insights into the intricacies of precipitation modeling in ESMs by providing a quantitative understanding of inter-model variations and exploring sampling strategies that take inter-model variations into acocunt.
A Parametric Model of Elliptic Orbits for Annual Evolutions of Northern Hemisphere Stratospheric Polar Vortex and Their Interannual Variability
Authors: Secor Michael , Yu Yueyue , Sun Jie , Cai Ming , Luo Xinyue
Published: March 2024

The year-to-year varying annual evolutions of the stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) have an important downward impact on the weather and climate from winter to summer and thus potential implications for seasonal forecasts. This study constructs a parametric elliptic orbit model for capturing the annual evolutions of mass-weighted zonal momentum at 60° N (MU) and total air mass above the isentropic surface of 400 K (M) over the latitude band of 60–90° N from 1 July 1979 to 30 June 2022. The elliptic orbit model naturally connects two time series of a nonlinear oscillator. As a result, the observed coupling relationship between MU and M associated with SPV as well as its interannual variations can be well reconstructed by a limited number of parameters of the elliptic orbit model. The findings of this study may pave a new way for short-time climate forecasts of the annual evolutions of SPV, including its temporal evolutions over winter seasons as well as the spring and fall seasons, and timings of the sudden stratospheric warming events by constructing its elliptic orbit in advance.
Detecting the undecteable: transhumant nomads in palynological data
Authors: Izdebski Adam , Liakopoulos Georgios
Published: March 2024

Nomadic communities are difficult to detect in the written and material record historians and archaeologists traditionally use to study the past. Contrary to settled grain cultivators, who were easy target for state taxation and were often recorded in a variety of documents, or who left easy to detect traces of permanent villages, nomads often remained outside of the radar of the traditional sources. Nomadic communities, however, profoundly transformed landscapes they lived in. These landscapes, in turn, produced different environmental signals that are preserved in the sedimentary records. Pollen data, in particular, make it possible to reconstruct the presence and activities of nomads in a given area, filling in the gaps in the historical and archaeological record. In our short presentation, we will look at high resolution pollen evidence from Macedonia (Northern Greece) that could be used to trace the presence of transhumant nomads in this region in the last two millennia. We will show how the paleoenvironmental reconstruction can be connected to otherwise fragmentary and problematic written information to create a consilient reconstruction of the past, recovering the presence of diverse groups that inhabited the Northern Greek landscape in the medieval and early modern times.
Nature-Based Solutions for coastal risks protection: lessons learned from Dutch and English examples
Authors: d'Avdeew Marina
Published: March 2024

Nature-Based Solutions as a tool to reduce coastal risks have gained in popularity in the last 10 years. However, in France, their development still faces some limits and oppositions from local populations and stakeholders. The main reasons for this are the lack of knowledge and feedback, and the fear of being less protected with against floods with Nature-Based Solutions than with sea walls. This work will present the example of Criel-sur-Mer, in the North of France, where a project of restoration of intertidal habitats to reduce coastal risks is currently discussed and capitalize on feedbacks from three finalized projects from the Netherlands and England.This study is part of a PhD work on the mobilization of Nature-Based Solutions in coastal protection projects. This presentation is based: on field trips conducted between March and April in the Netherlands and England, on the sites of Hedwige & Prosperpolder (Netherlands, Belgian border), Freiston Shore and Abbotts Hall (England), and in September 2022 and March 2024 in Criel-Sur-Mer (France); on semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders on those sites; on semi-structured interviews conducted with 39 coastal engineers and environmentalists between June and August 2023 in Artelia, the engineering firm in charge of the project of intertidal habitats restoration in Criel-sur-Mer; and on observative participation to a public consultation workshop with local actors and stakeholders for the project of Criel-sur-Mer.The cross-study of the three Dutch and English projects gives us useful examples of the effectiveness of Nature-Based Solutions used as a tool to reduce coastal risks, that can be reused to enrich the project of Criel-sur-Mer. As the two English projects have been finalized in 2002, they are a source of extensive feedback on the evolution of intertidal ecosystems with managed realignment and their efficiency facing storms. The Dutch example started in 2005, but was finalized only in 2023, as it faced numerous social and political oppositions. These projects can thus be used as feedback on governance, project structuration and finding the right balance between different interests for the Criel-sur-Mer example.