bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
X-ray imaging demonstrates that air-filled porosity and its connectivity controls carbon mineralisation near saturation in intact soil cores.
Authors: Coucheney Elsa , Casali Emilien , Jarvis Nicholas , Koestel Johannes
Published: February 2023

One source of uncertainty in the prediction of soil carbon (C) dynamics is the regulation of microbial activity by soil moisture. This important factor regulates both the survival and the activity of the microbial community through the availability of water, air and substrates. The role of soil structure in the response of C mineralisation to soil moisture is not taken into account in models. We need to better understand how the heterogeneity of the soil pore space and changes in soil structure affect C mineralisation through the regulation of soil water retention and thus the distribution of air and water in the pore system. We hypothesized that soil structure has a predominant effect on the response curve close to saturation by affecting the amount and distribution of the air phase in soil, in which the diffusion of gases takes place: transport of air (O2) to microbes and transport of the mineralisation product (CO2) back to the atmosphere.To obtain soils of contrasting structure, we sampled 8 intact cores (at a depth of 10-15 cm) from four blocks of an agricultural field experiment located in northern France a under conventional or no-till management. Each core (5 x 6.5 cm) was consecutively incubated over a period of one week after equilibration at water potentials of -2.5, -10, -20 and -30 cm and C mineralisation rates were estimated at day 1, 3 and 7. Air distributions in the soil pore networks were quantified by X-ray tomography between each equilibration/incubation period. Water retention curves, soil dry bulk density and porosity were estimated from water contents (weights) measured at each potential.The estimated porosity varied from 0.40 to 0.52 and the Van Genuchten parameter alpha (estimated from water retention curves) varied from 0.05 to 0.09 cm-1 and both were slightly smaller under no till compared to conventional management. Air contents varied from zero to 0.09 m3 m-3 and were positively correlated to the C mineralisation rates, which varied from 18 μg CO2 g-1C h-1 near saturation to 65 μg CO2 g-1C h-1 at water potentials of -20 to -30 cm. X-ray analyses carried out at the four different water potentials further showed that C mineralisation rates were positively correlated to the volume fraction of the air-filled porosity connected to the upper surface of the cores.These results confirm that soil structure is important in the C mineralisation response to soil moisture close to saturation by regulating the air content and its distribution in soil at water potentials ranging from 0 to -30 cm.
A peer review process for higher reproducibility of publications in GIScience can also work for Earth System Sciences
Authors: Nüst Daniel , Ostermann Frank O. , Granell Carlos
Published: February 2023

The Reproducible AGILE initiative (https://reproducible-agile.github.io/) successfully established a code execution procedure following the CODECHECK principles (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.51738.2) at the AGILE conference series (https://agile-online.org/conference). The AGILE conference is a medium-sized community-led conference in the domains of Geographic Information Science (GIScience), geoinformatics, and related fields. The conference is organised under the umbrella of the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE).Starting with a series of workshops on reproducibility from 2017 to 2019, a group of Open Science enthusiasts with the support of the AGILE Council (https://agile-online.org/agile-actions/current-initiatives/reproducible-publications-at-agile-conferences) was able to introduce guidelines for sharing reproducible workflows (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/CB7Z8) and establish a reproducibility committee that conducts code executions for all accepted full papers.In this presentation, we provide details of the taken steps and the encountered obstacles towards the current state. We revisit the process and abstract a series of actions that similar events or even journals may take to introduce a shift towards higher reproducibility of research publications in a specific community of practice.We discuss the taken approach in the light of the challenges for reproducibility in Earth System Sciences (ESS) around four main ideas.First, Reproducible AGILE’s human-centered process is able to handle the increasingly complex, large and varying data-based workflows in ESS because of the clear guidance on responsibilities (What should the author provide? How far does the reproducibility reviewer need to go?).Second, the communicative focus of the process is very well suited to, over time, help to establish a shared practice based on current technical developments, such as FAIR Digital Objects, and to reform attitudes towards openness, transparency and sharing. A code execution following the CODECHECK principles is a learning experience that may sustainably change researcher behaviours and practice. At the same time, Reproducible AGILE’s approach avoids playing catch-up with technology and does not limit researcher freedom or includes a need to unitise researcher workflows beyond providing instructions suitable for a human evaluator, similar to academic peer review.Third, while being agnostic of technology and infrastructures, a supportive framework of tools and infrastructure can of course increase the efficiency of conducting a code execution. We outline how existing infrastructures may serve this need and what is still missing.Fourth, we list potential candidates of event series or journals that could introduce a code checking procedure because of their organisational setup or steps towards more open scholarhip that were already taken.
Global Warming Level of Emergence and related population exposure to temperature and precipitation extremes
Authors: Wood Raul R. , Gampe David , Böhnisch Andrea , Mittermeier Magdalena , Schwingshackl Clemens
Published: February 2023

Communicating the uncertainty of natural climate variability to the public and researchers from other fields remains challenging. In this context, the concept of time of emergence (ToE) i.e., the year or decade when the climate signal emerges from the natural climate variability, has been well established over the past years. In addition, global warming levels (GWLs) are used more and more frequently to define the future projection horizon. However, only a few studies combined these two approaches. In this study, we utilize multiple initial condition large ensembles from CMIP6, to more robustly sample extreme events and account for natural climate variability, to estimate the global warming level of emergence (GWLoE) of various ETCCDI indicators. These indicators were selected to represent both precipitation and temperature extremes. Further, we analyze the impact of incremental temperature changes on the emergence of these indicators. Additionally, the GWLs are analyzed in relation to changes in the probability risk ratio to highlight that every degree of additional warming counts. Different scenarios for population changes are applied to estimate the population affected by the emergence of indicators as well as for a doubling in probability risk ratio. The combined GWLoE of all large ensembles highlights considerable regional differences among the individual ensembles. Similarly, regional differences arise for the GWL related to a doubling in probability risk ratio. The changes in population affected by these changes in risk ratio highlight the need to limit global warming as much as possible.
An innovative data driven approach improves drought impact analysis using earth observation data
Authors: Tuo Ye , Zhu Xiaoxiang , Disse Markus
Published: February 2023

Drought is a devastating natural hazard that can be of diverse magnitude, duration and intensity. It leads to economic and social losses and ecological imbalances. Ascribing to climate change, drought has occurred more frequently with high intensity worldwide in recent decades, such as the striking droughts in the summer of year 2022. In water resource aspect, one direct consequence of drought is the decrease of water amount in the rivers, which could further develop into water shortage for irrigation and drinking water supply, and cargo shipping disruption. Therefore, in order to make management decisions that help mitigate the drought damage, it is important to monitor river water anomalies and identify the vulnerable shrinking sections along the river network. Traditional river gauging stations only provide us limited observations of particular spots. A proper utilization of spatially distributed remote sensing data is necessary and effective. In this work, we develop a novel framework to monitor river water shrinking anomaly by including image processing and machine learning approaches, based on earth observation data. The Rhine, a major cargo-route river, is selected as the pilot case, because it had huge water decrease and caused shipping disruption during the 2022 summer’s drought in Germany. The Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) is calculated from the green and Shortwave-Infrared bands of Sentinel-2 satellite images.  MNDWI images of a specific non-drought period is defined as the reference datasets representing normal conditions. Afterwards, a new water shrinking index is introduced to quantify the river water anomaly during drought periods.  Specifically, a python based algorithm which includes image processing and machine learning clustering methods is developed to scan along the MNDWI images to compute the water shrinking index with adjustable river section size. With the index datasets, river sections are further grouped into categories with drought vulnerable levels. By parameterizing the section size, the algorithm is able to quantify and identify the vulnerable shrinking river sections with varying scales. It provides classified references of drought affected hotspots for the regional water management plans in case of drought mitigation. Such a scalable framework can offer a timely distributed monitoring of the drought impacts on the water resource along the river network. As a long term benefit, numerical connections can be identified between the river shrinking status and the economic losses of cargo shipping disruption due to drought.  This is of great value to facilitate the drought impact analysis and forecasts.
The multistage extensional structure and excitation mechanism of Himalayan orogeny
Authors: Bo Zhang
Published: February 2023

Gneiss dome records the deformation and tectonothermal evolution of orogenic belt and lithosphere, which provides a perfect window for studying of collisional orogenic process and tectonic evolution. The North Himalayan Gneiss Domes, trending East-West, as one of the important tectonic units of the Himalayan orogen, experienced deep materials uplifting and lateral flow. Based on the above observations, we suggest that the RBD experienced 4 periods of tectonothermal evolutions (D1-D4) and 2 stages of tectonic background transformations. (1) D1: Crustal thickening, regional metamorphism and anatexis occurred during plate collision in the Eocene (46.3-40.6 Ma). (2) D2: Partial melting of middle-lower crust result in the development of channel flow which reduced the rheology of the middle-lower crust and led to the onset of the STDS and crustal thinning in the early Miocene (26.1-21.0 Ma). Therefore, the tectonic background transformed from N-S compression to N-S extension (the first tectonic background transformation). (3) D3: The ongoing of the STDS contribute to the decompression melting, small-scale diapirism and accompanied magmatic emplacement. The activity of the NSTRs started at mid-Miocene (12.0-10.2 Ma), the tectonic background shifted from N-S extension to E-W extension (the second tectonic background transformation). (4) D4: +With NSTRs’ activity peaking in the late Miocene (8.7-7.6 Ma), further crustal thinning, decompression melting and leucogranite intrusion occurred under extensional condition, which result in the contact metamorphism, and established the final tectonic framework, geometry, and thermalstructure of the RBD. The tectonothermal evolution of the RBD supports the middle-lower crustal channel flow orogenic model.Fluid inclusion and oxygen isotope data for quartz veins in the Ramba Dome in the North Himalayan Gneiss Domes show limited variations in individual quartz veins, but δ18Oquartz values vary from 12.07 to 18.16‰ (V-SMOW) among veins. The corresponding δ18Ofluid values range from 7.71 to 13.80‰, based on equilibrium temperatures obtained from fluid inclusions. From the footwall to the detachment zone, δ18Ofluid values exhibit a broadly decreasing trend and indicate that the STDS dominated the fluid flux pathway in the crust, with more contributions of meteoric water in the detachment zone. We further quantified the contribution of meteoric fluids to 8–27% using a binary end-member mixing model. These data imply that the fluids were predominantly metamorphic/ magmatic in origin, and were mixed with infiltrating, isotopically light, meteoric water during extensional detachment shearing of the STDS. Based on the above research, we propose that metamorphic dehydration of lower crust and atmospheric precipitation "stimulate" new activity of Himalayan mountain building.
Constraining High Oxide Mineral Concentrations in High-Grade Metamorphic Rocks: Insights from Multidisciplinary Analysis
Authors: Blereau Eleanore , Piazolo Sandra , Macente Alice
Published: February 2023

Oxide mineral phases within high-grade metamorphic rocks are often largely ignored compared to silicate minerals, except for when constraining the redox state of a sample. It is becoming increasingly apparent that unusual concentrations of oxide phases (e.g. magnetite, ilmenite and spinel) are more common in granulite facies metamorphic rocks that previously thought. However, the mechanism of their formation remains poorly constrained. For example, it is currently unclear what process or combination of processes result in high (over 50% oxide concentration in a sample in some cases) concentrations. There is an ongoing debate if a single process can be applied across all protoliths, with the goal that these assemblages could be used to pinpoint particular crustal process(es). A number of mechanisms have been suggested to form such extreme concentrations of oxides within metamorphic rocks. These include melt fluxing in a deformation zone (Ghatak et al., 2022), partial melt loss (Morrissey et al., 2016), deformation related metamorphic reactions and protolith composition or a combination thereof. Within a collection of high grade metapelites from Rogaland, SW Norway, we see variations in mineralogy, including changes in orthopyroxene and cordierite content with oxide concentrations, variations in grain size, variable layering as well as variable signature of the amount of deformation. Using a combination of microstructures, EBSD, EDS, XCT and other data we will assess and illustrate the processes behind the generation of high oxide concentrations within metapelites and what this could mean for crustal processes during high-grade metamorphism. Ghatak, H., Gardner, R. L., Daczko, N. R., Piazolo, S., & Milan, L. (2022). Oxide enrichment by syntectonic melt-rock interaction. Lithos, 414–415, 106617. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LITHOS.2022.106617Morrissey, L. J., Hand, M., Lane, K., Kelsey, D. E., & Dutch, R. A. (2016). Upgrading iron-ore deposits by melt loss during granulite facies metamorphism. Ore Geology Reviews, 74, 101–121. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2015.11.012
Forchheimer gravity currents in porous media
Authors: Di Federico Vittorio , Lenci Alessandro , Majdabadi Farahani Sepideh
Published: February 2023

The displacement of one fluid by another in porous media is of interest in reservoir engineering, groundwater remediation, and subsurface heat recovery. In several instances, i.e. in coarse or macro porous media, or in heavily fractured rocks, the threshold Reynolds number is exceeded and inertial effects cannot be neglected. Consequently, the Forchheimer extension of Darcy’s law describes the motion, and a novel quantity, the Forchheimer or inertial coefficient, enters the picture, entailing implications on several coupled phenomena. We study plane gravity currents propagating in a homogeneous porous medium of given permeability saturated with a lighter fluid, but results are also valid for the displacement of a heavier ambient fluid (brine) by a lighter one advancing below the roof of a porous layer such as in CO2 injection. The injected fluid volume is given by a global conservation of mass and varies as a power-law function of time. Under the lubrication approximation, the pressure gradient is hydrostatic and the one-dimensional transient problem governing the current depth, when expressed in dimensionless form, depends uniquely by a pure number equal to the combination of a Reynolds number multiplied by a Forchheimer number and divided by the square of a densimetric Froude number. We explore the two limit cases of dominating inertial effects or prevailing viscous effects and demonstrate that in both cases the governing equations are amenable to a semi-analytic similarity solution governed by the aforementioned pure number. For a current with constant volume, the solution takes a closed form. 
Drought hazards and stakeholder perception: Unraveling the interlinkages between drought severity, perceived impacts, preparedness and management
Authors: Teutschbein Claudia , Albrecht Frederike , Blicharska Malgorzata , Tootoonchi Faranak , Stenfors Elin , Grabs Thomas
Published: February 2023

The future risk for droughts and water shortages calls for substantial efforts by authorities to adapt at local levels. Understanding their perception of drought hazards, risk and vulnerability can help to identify drivers of and barriers to drought risk planning and management in a changing climate at the local level. We present a novel interdisciplinary drought case study in a Nordic country that integrates soft data from a nation-wide survey among more than 100 local practitioners and hard data based on hydrological measurements to provide a holistic assessment of the links between drought severity and the perceived levels of drought severity, impacts, preparedness and management for two consecutive drought events. We highlight challenges for drought risk planning and management in a changing climate at the local level and elaborate on how improved understanding of local practitioners to plan for climate change adaptation can be achieved.
Global observations highlight regions where vegetation can enhance S2S predictability
Authors: Taylor Christopher , Harris Bethan
Published: February 2023

The land surface is a key source of predictability for forecasts at the subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S; 2 weeks to 2 months) timescale, since variables such as root zone soil moisture and leaf area vary more slowly than the atmospheric state. Previous work has mostly focused on the predictability gained from realistic soil moisture initialisations. Considering observable land surface variables, vegetation shows more persistent changes than surface soil moisture following subseasonal rainfall events, and therefore has the potential to provide predictability at longer lead times. We therefore perform the first investigation of vegetation feedbacks onto near-surface air temperatures using global daily data, to ascertain in which regions and seasons these feedbacks can provide S2S predictability. We use daily datasets of Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD, from the VODCA X-band product) and 2m temperature (from ERA5) at 0.25° horizontal resolution, and compute lagged correlations to identify where spatial structures in VOD anomalies are associated with similar structure in 2m temperature anomalies. Using daily data allows us to investigate how the correlations decay as a function of lead time within the S2S timescale. At zero lag, water-limited regions exhibit negative correlations, indicating that an increase in vegetation water content is associated with increased evapotranspiration and reduced sensible heat, leading to cooler near-surface air temperatures. We find extensive regions in the semi-arid tropics and sub-tropics where at certain times of year VOD anomaly patterns are anti-correlated with temperature patterns 2 weeks ahead. These periods tend to occur outside of the wettest time of year. In some regions, e.g. southern Africa in MAM,  predictability of temperature from VOD anomalies extends to lags of 30 days, suggesting that incorporating vegetation variability can improve S2S forecasting. We develop a model for the strength and persistence of vegetation feedbacks to near-surface temperatures based on seasonal cycles of rainfall and vegetation.
Impact of transport sector on air quality in Warsaw – a multi-tool study
Authors: Struzewska Joanna , Kawka Marcin , Sattari Anahita , Starzomska Aleksandra , Norowski Aleksander , Jeleniewicz Grzegorz , Gawuć Lech , Szymankiewicz Karol
Published: February 2023

Urban air quality is one of the challenges due to high exposure resulting from high population density and high pollutant concentrations. Developing effective strategies to improve air quality requires determining the contribution of different emission sources within the city compared to the influence of the inflow from surrounding areas.In Polish cities, the residential sector is a dominant source of particulate matter. However, transportation is also a significant source of pollution, especially concerning NO2.The main goal of the project was to assess the impact of the transportation sector on air quality in Warsaw. We have applied a muti-tool approach. The analysis of a 5-year series of air quality observations at urban background stations and the traffic station let to identify systemic differences attributed to road transport. Based on the GEM-AQ model results, the contribution of the transport setor in selected districts was assessed. The SHERPA bottom-up tool for Poland was applied to estimate the impact of line sources on PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations in Warsaw metropolitan area. Also, two local models were used – the IEP-NRI gaussian model combined with the machine learning techniques, and the ATMOSYS model developed by VITO. The intercomparison brought a valuable outcomes on the completeness and accuracy of the emission data applied.We will present and discuss the percentage contribution of road transport-related pollutant concentrations in Warsaw based on the different model results.
Validation of DSCOVR-based albedo estimate using a weather model
Authors: Vasiuta Maksym , Tuppi Lauri , Penttilä Antti , Muinonen Karri , Järvinen Heikki
Published: February 2023

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) is located near the Lagrangian L1 point of the Earth. Their EPIC images indicate exceptionally large values of the Earth's planetary albedo in December 2020, having daily average surged above 0.320 for consecutive three weeks. Independent evaluation of the Earth’s albedo using a numerical weather prediction model (OpenIFS of ECMWF) suggests that this is an over-estimate. Given the difference between satellite-based and model-based albedo estimates, the reconstructed from images top-of-atmosphere short-wave radiosity is over-estimated. We suggest the discrepancy is explained by a weakness of short-wave angular distribution models (ADMs) based on Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System’s The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (CERES/TRMM) in full back-scattering geometry. This conclusion is supported by disk-integrated short-wave anisotropy factors in December 2020, estimated using CERES ADMs, being lower than measured by NIST Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR).
The phase relation of solar wind parameters with a solar activity proxy
Authors: Reda Raffaele , Giovannelli Luca , Alberti Tommaso
Published: February 2023

Manifestations of the solar magnetic activity in several forms, such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), energetic particles and solar wind slow or high speed streams, strongly affect the terrestrial and circumterrestrial electromagnetic environments. Such phenomena primary affect the Earth's magnetosphere, which is perturbed and compressed, but subsequently they can have cascading effects on all the underlying systems, down to the upper atmosphere and the planetary surface. Because of the impact on the human activities too, it is of paramount importance to try to predict the time windows in which high speed solar wind is expected to occur. We study here the phase relation of a proxy of the solar activity, the Ca II K index, with solar wind parameters, such as speed and dynamic pressure. An unexpected relation between the parameters is found once the phases of the signals are considered, opening to the possibility to predict at least the expected mean solar wind conditions from the mentioned solar activity proxy. In this respect, it is essential to take into account for the presence of transients, which are responsible for the observed changes in the phase of the solar wind parameters. The method allows at least to predict the phase of the solar cycle in which high speed solar wind streams have the greatest probability of occurrence, as well as how their amplitudes are related to the solar cycle's one.
Influence of channel junction geometry on subtidal salt transport processes and salt intrusion
Authors: Jongbloed Hendrik , Schuttelaars Henk , Dijkstra Yoeri , Hoitink Ton
Published: February 2023

In estuarine networks, channel junctions control the division and dispersion of salt between network branches. Whereas dominant width-averaged salt transport processes in single channels are relatively well understood in an idealized sense (e.g. Hansen and Rattray (1965)), the intrinsic three-dimensional geometry and bathymetry in channel junctions, which in urbanized regions are often heavily influenced by human engineering, complicates similar idealized analyses. Expanding our knowledge of salt transport processes around channel junctions is needed to understand salt distribution in estuarine networks and develop efficient one-dimensional salt intrusion models.As a first step in resolving salt transport processes around junctions, we construct a three dimensional subtidal idealized model for water motion and salinity in partially stratified estuaries. It provides an extremely fast and numerically accurate way of computing salinity distributions in general geometries and analyzing the dominant salt transport processes. The model extends the width-averaged approaches of Hansen & Rattray (1965) and MacCready (2004) to general 3D geometries. Following these authors, the vertical dimension is solved analytically. The solutions for the horizontal dimensions is extended to a numerical finite element method with flexible grid size. The resulting coupled system of nonlinear partial differential equations is solved iteratively. The idealized model is limited to well-mixed and partially stratified conditions and will be compared to high-complexity numerical models to test its validity.As a proof of concept using the newly derived model, we investigate the sensitivity of dominant salt transport processes and salt intrusion with respect to channel junction geometries, such as cross-sectional shapes and angles between the branches. Systematic exploration of these sensitivities is expected to lead to improved salt dispersion coefficients and, eventually, nodal point relations between junction branches.ReferencesHansen, D. V., & Rattray, M. (1965). Gravitational circulation in straits and estuaries. Journal of Marine Research, 23(2), 104–122.MacCready, P. (2004). Toward a unified theory of tidally-averaged estuarine salinity structure. Estuaries, 27(4), 561–570. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02907644
Lagrangian dynamics of heavy inertial particles on vortical flows
Authors: Viswanathan Sreekumari Nath Anu , Roy Anubhab
Published: February 2023

We study the dynamics of dust particles in various vortical flows which is relevant to geophysical context. The inertial particles are advected by the background vortex flow. The dynamics is tracked using the Maxey-Riley equation. The finite inertia of the particles make their dynamics different from passive fluid parcels, which is interesting. The dust particles may show periodic dynamics or chaotic diffusion depending on parametric variations. The result contradicts the earlier predictions that only density matched inertial particles can have chaotic dynamics, which we justify through our explanation. In addition, the heavy inertial particles in a self rotating vortex patch is observed to be attracted near the vortical region, which is contrary to the physics where they should ideally centrifuged out. The reason behind this phenomena also we explore in detail here.
Income-Specific Vulnerability in Event-Based Models for the Impact Assessment of Tropical Cyclones
Authors: Hassel Jan , Vogt Thomas , Otto Christian
Published: February 2023

Tropical cyclones are among the meteorological and climatological extreme events with the largest economic impact worldwide, although they only affect coastal areas in certain geographical latitudes. At the same time, anthropogenic climate change affects the characteristics of tropical cyclones: they move more slowly, achieve greater intensities and reach higher latitudes more frequently.In view of these complex changes, there is great demand for models assessing the economic impact of tropical cyclones that are not based on simple macroscopic indicators. In a so-called event-based approach, a spatially and temporally resolved representation of a single tropical cyclone is blended with spatially resolved data on the distribution of economic capital. Thus, even complex changes in storm characteristics can be included in the impact assessment.The vulnerability of affected regions is expressed through impact functions that relate loss of economic capital to a storm’s local wind speed. These impact functions are calibrated against historic damage databases and then applied to hypothetical storm scenarios for risk analysis or climate change forecasting.This research aims at the calibration of impact functions that explicitly depend on the per capita income of the affected region. For this purpose, a United States damage database identifying impacts at the county level is introduced, allowing the investigation of the statistical relationship between vulnerability and per capita income of affected counties.A quantitative formulation of the income dependence of vulnerability will not only improve the overall predictive quality of event-based models, but also enhance the understanding of the impact of tropical cyclones on social inequality.We find that vulnerability is highest in the poorest affected regions, indicating the extraordinary relevance of tropical cyclones on low-income coastal communities. Furthermore, we can show that vulnerability mostly declines with per capita income.
Towards Integrating Rockwall Retreat into a Multilayer Landscape Evolution Model Using TopoToolbox to Investigate Plume Mode Erosion
Authors: Rau Maximilian , Schwanghart Wolfgang , Krautblatter Michael
Published: February 2023

Recently it has become clear that mantle-induced forces, and mantle plumes in particular, contribute significantly to uplift processes (Plume Mode). However, the formation of a landscape in uplift due to a plume in the subsurface has hardly been studied so far.Therefore, in a first approach, the modelling of valley development in a plume mode shaped area is planned using the Landscape Evolution Model (LEM) named TTLEM, which is part of the Matlab based program TopoToolbox. The model will first be adapted to be able to create a real multilayer model. In addition, TTLEM will be adjusted to better implement slope-parallel weathering in bedrock observed in nature, rather than describing slope inflow as implicit linear or nonlinear diffusion with a threshold slope, as all current LEM do at the moment.The model will be used to show that an upwelling plume influences erosion and sedimentation behavior at the surface. However, it will also be investigated which indications can be drawn from sediment distributions at the surface regarding the plume in the subsurface.Here we show how rockwall retreat can be integrated into a real multilayer LEM to study the evolution of a landscape characterized by a plume mode.
Temporal compounding of precipitation and its occurrence before landslide events over the Italian territory
Authors: Banfi Fabiola , De Michele Carlo
Published: February 2023

Compound climate-related events are impactful extreme events in which the interactions between multiple variables amplify the final impact. They may be classified depending on the types of interaction and the scales involved. For example, temporal compounding events are characterized by the occurrence of subsequent events in time, as in case of a temporal clustering of precipitation. This last trigger is of great importance when the antecedent soil saturation shapes the intensity or occurrence of a given natural hazard, like for floods or deep landslides. Here, we focus on the characteristics of temporal clustering of precipitation over the Italian territory and its link with landslides occurrence. First, we investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of temporal clustering and the synoptic conditions more prone to it, using Era5-Land dataset. Second, we link the identified clusters with the occurrence of different movements’ types (complex, debris flow, fall, flow, and sliding), using a shuffling procedure to assess the significance. Regarding the first point, clear differences emerged between the Italian regions and the four seasons. Clusters were more widespread in autumn and spring and more localized in winter and summer. During winter, we observed a negative link between the number of clusters and the Mediterranean oscillation index in south-central Italy. Regarding the second point, differences were found between the five landslide typologies: fall events were mostly preceded by an intense precipitation event, debris flow by a temporal clustering over small windows and complex, flow, and sliding with a temporal clustering over long windows.
Climate risk assessment for cereal and livestock sectors in Mediterranean areas
Authors: Mereu Valentina , Costa-Saura Josè Maria , Trabucco Antonio , Spano Donatella
Published: February 2023

Assessing climate-related risks on key economic sectors is of paramount relevance to inform policy makers and support the decision making process in designing adaptation plans and strategies to cope with climate change. Agriculture in the Mediterranean area is already experiencing negative impacts of climate changes and urgent adaptation actions are required to increase the resilience of agricultural systems. This study applied the impact chain approach to assess the expected climate risks for the cereal and livestock sectors to support the development of the Regional Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change (SRACC) of Sardinia (Italy) Region. Statistical socio-economic indicators were integrated with crop simulation models output and climate change scenarios to 2050, to investigate the exposure, vulnerability and hazard components according to the IPCC framework. The results were elaborated at the regional and municipal level to provided information for policy-makers at different administrative levels. This information allows the identification of the areas with greatest impact and the most critical aspects for which to focus adaptation efforts.
Evaluation of rock slope failure activity by comparison of multi-sensor InSAR datasets in the Sothern Swiss Alps
Authors: De Pedrini Alessandro , Ambrosi Christian , Manconi Andrea , Agliardi Federico
Published: February 2023

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) is commonly applied in mountain environments to detect and monitor mass movements to support local or regional natural hazard evaluation. InSAR technology is being increasingly used thanks to the recent open data policies or relatively low costs. Despite the remarkable advantage of observing wide regions, the technology presents intrinsic limitations which are emphasized or reduced depending on the satellite and the characteristics of the area investigated. Satellites with different revisiting times and operating in various bands, namely in the X (wavelength lambda = 3.1 cm), C (lambda of 5.6 cm), and L (lambda of 23.1 cm) bands, are suitable for observing mass movements with different characteristics depending on mountain relief, vegetation, and displacement rates. However, the use of a certain satellite can result in misleading displacement rates or a lack of measurements.In this work, we compare the data from different satellites to highlight the capabilities and the general limitations of the method for application in a 1’500 km2 wide area of the Southern Swiss Alps, covering the Canton Ticino and a portion of Canton Grisons. The main valleys have a north-south orientation, characterized by steep slopes of altitudes between 2’000 and 3’000 meters a.s.l., covered by typical alpine vegetation. The dataset processed includes the ERS, Envisat, Sentinel-1, and RadarSAT missions, both ascending and descending geometries for a time frame of several decades. The distribution of the instabilities of the whole region is provided by the update “Catalog of the instabilities of Canton Ticino, 2016” expanded to the adjacent Calanca and Mesolcina valleys of Canton Grisons. The mapping has been made by the Institute of Earth Sciences of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) in the framework of the Interreg AMALPI 18 project and the mapping of the geological maps Osogna, Grono, Biasca, and Mesolcina of the Swiss Geological Atlas AG25. We validate the InSAR results by comparing the surface velocities with terrestrial monitoring, field observations, and historical information that describe the rock slope failure activity.From the statistical information obtained by the comparison of slope displacements detected through the Permanent Scatterers technique PS, the areas affected by instability, and different movement rates, we make considerations on the use of the PS for monitoring rock slope failures of different types and rates of displacement in a mountain context.
New insights into the wet antenna attenuation effect based on data from a dedicated field experiment with CML antennas
Authors: Tiede Jonas , Siart Uwe , Chwala Christian , Kunstmann Harald
Published: February 2023

The monostatic field experiment ATTRRA2 uses six dual-polarized, customary CML antennas which operate at different frequency bands. The experiment is installed at the TERENO field site in Fendt, Germany. A mounted camera provides pictures of the antenna radomes, and, thereby, visual information about the wetness distribution on the antennas. On-site disdrometers provide a reference for the rainfall intensity. Transmit-receive signal level (TRSL) data commonly used for quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) is recorded into a minutely sampled time series together with the so-called antenna mismatch factor. The latter provides additional information about the radome condition in this use case and, thereby, serves as a proxy measurement of the wet antenna attenuation (WAA). Careful analysis of the data yields new insights into the temporal dynamics of WAA, especially during dewy periods before actual rain and drying periods after rain events. A comparison with established WAA correction methods shows that the proposed one performs promisingly, especially during periods of high TRSL fluctuations. A remaining challenge is the long-term stability of the instrument which will be specifically addressed in the future.
Developments during 15 years of seismic monitoring in the Caribbean Netherlands
Authors: Sleeman Reinoud , de Zeeuw-van Dalfsen Elske , Krietemeyer Andreas
Published: February 2023

In the Caribbean Netherlands, on Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) deploys the seismic network NA (Caribbean Netherlands Seismic Network) to monitor local tectonic earthquakes and volcanic seismicity. Saba and St. Eustatius are part of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc and each host an active but quiescent volcano: Mt. Scenery on Saba and The Quill on St. Eustatius. The network comprises 11 broadband seismometers of which data are a) transmitted to KNMI by DSL, cellular connection and VSAT, b) processed in real-time at KNMI using SeisComP and a coincidence trigger, c) forwarded in real-time to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and d) openly available to research and monitoring communities through ORFEUS/EIDA and EPOS via standardized services. In the past six years we detected and located more than 350 earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 0.4 to 6 within a 150 km radius from the center of the network. About 230 of these earthquakes were exclusively reported by KNMI as they were probably too small to be detected by, or too distant from, seismic networks operated by other agencies in the region. A previously unnoticed shallow (5-10 km depth) swarm of 22 tectonic earthquakes was detected and located through reanalysis of data from before 2017. This swarm took place in 2008, in the same area as the tectonic swarm of earthquakes in 1992, less than 15 km west of Saba, with magnitudes ranging between 2.3 and 4. One of the challenges for our network is building a reliable detection, identification and location system for volcanic earthquakes, which is hampered by the quiet state of both volcanoes. Another challenge is decreasing the hypocenter uncertainties, which are caused by the complex seismic velocity structure underneath the volcanoes, the large lateral velocity inhomogeneities in the subduction zone and the elongated set-up of the regional seismic networks.
Preliminary results of salt marsh transplants in rewilded coastal wetlands
Authors: Carneiro Inês , Carrasco A. Rita , Didderen Karin , Sousa Ana I.
Published: February 2023

The loss of coastal wetlands in the last decades has been dominated by human-induced pressures and sea-level rise. Still, wetlands restoration has gained political momentum (e.g., the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030) as means of coastal protection, while supporting nature values and its biodiversity, addressing causes and consequences of climate change and securing ecosystem services for human well-being. Assessing the success of ecological restoration projects is thus critical to support the use of restoration actions as a natural enhancement of ecosystem health and to improve current restoration practices. Though there is plenty of information about seagrass transplant and restoration, less is known about salt marsh restoration.We conducted a salt marsh vegetation transplant experiment in a rewilded wetland in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon (South Portugal). This study aimed to (1) advance knowledge on the facilitation of pioneer salt marsh species colonization and development in rewilded wetlands, and (2) monitor the evolution of flora biodiversity and phytosociology over time. Two pioneer and perennial halophyte species, the Spartina maritima and the Sarcocornia perennis, were transplanted from a natural donor place into a rewilded marsh. Biodegradable 3D BESE-elements® were implemented to facilitate the salt marsh plant establishment, sedimentation process, and natural recovery process. Data collected include ecological datasets, sediment characteristics, and hydrodynamics.Early results from the transplant experiment show that, four months later, S. maritima has successfully adapted to the restored area, while several transplants of S. perennis did not survive after this period. S. maritima leaves length increased on average >30% since the transplant was implemented. The elevation gradient, sediment geochemistry in the transplanted area, and probably the timing of the transplants were found to be determinants for S. perennis survival.  The preliminary results of this study highlight the importance of considering the bio-physical interactions in salt marsh restoration projects, and the use of environmental indicators to evaluate wetland-based solutions performances.
Understanding the seasonal and spatial variation of water balance in the Karnali basin in Nepal
Authors: Pokhrel Pranisha , Griffioen Jasper , Immerzeel Walter
Published: February 2023

The hydrology of large mountainous basins is sensitive to climate and land use change and impacts downstream availability in a diverse way. Our knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation of the water balance for large-scale mountainous basins like the Karnali (40,000 km2) is very limited.  Studies focus either on small alpine catchments or on major river basins of near continental scale. Studies focusing on the intermediate scale, where mountain water supply is directly linked to people and ecosystems downstream are scarce, but needed. In this study, we provide insight into the seasonal and spatial differences in meltwater contribution to streamflow, rain runoff, evapotranspiration and groundwater baseflow, with a particular focus on upstream-downstream dependencies. We use a high-resolution SPHY model, which we calibrate step-wise using satellite data of glacier mass balance and snow covers and observed river flow data. We explore the hydrological variability at the sub-basin scale, discuss the seasonal and spatial heterogeneity of the water balance components, and seek to understand the major drivers. Our results provide a baseline against which impacts of climate and land use changes will be assessed in a subsequent study.