bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using combined quantitative geophysical methods to delimit physical properties of low porosity permafrost bedrocks 
Authors: Offer Maike , Scandroglio Riccardo , Mamot Philipp , Keuschnig Markus , Krautblatter Michael
Published: March 2022

Degradation of mountain permafrost poses an increasing hazard to the stability of high-alpine infrastructures, which are predominantly located in low porosity bedrocks. Considering the dramatic climate change-induced temperature increase and the recent tourism expansion in these regions, safe long-lasting constructions and maintenance of infrastructures at high altitudes requires a complete process understanding of these permafrost systems. 

Non-invasive, geophysical measurements such as Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Seismic Refraction Tomography (SRT) are the state of the art today in permafrost research due to their capability to distinguish between frozen and unfrozen medium. Thanks to their complementary sensitive records, it is common to combine electrical and seismic data sets by using petrophysical relations. Several multimethod approaches were already successfully applied in ice-rich conditions, however quantitative studies in ice-poor bedrock characterized by different physical properties are rarely investigated.  

In this study, we present a quantitative multimethod approach for long-term monitoring of low porosity permafrost bedrock. ERT and SRT data sets were recorded between 2010 and 2021 at the Zugspitze crest (Germany, 2.885 m asl) and in the Hanna-Stollen at the Kitzsteinhorn (Austria, 3.029 m asl). Both locations are visited every day by thousands of tourists, present infrastructure founded in bedrock with porosity of 0.2 to 5.0 % and are affected by degrading permafrost, although showing different lithologies. A combined analysis of resistivities and p-wave velocities, supported by their laboratory temperature calibrations with water-saturated samples from the field, allowed us to quantitatively estimate site-specific permafrost changes. The preliminary results show a clear warming of the permafrost core and a thickening of the active layer, well in agreement with other long-term permafrost observation at the Zugspitze summit and at further alpine sites (e.g. Scandroglio et. al, 2021).

In summary, our quantitative multimethod analysis for ice-poor bedrock provides fundamental contributions for planning and maintenance of permafrost-founded infrastructure under the influence of climate change. In the future, we aim at developing a new benchmark approach for hazard potential assessment of high-alpine infrastructures with foundations and anchoring in thawing permafrost.

 

Scandroglio, R., Draebing, D., Offer, M., & Krautblatter, M. (2021). 4D quantification of alpine permafrost degradation in steep rock walls using a laboratory-calibrated electrical resistivity approach. Near Surface Geophysics, 19, 2:241-260, doi: 10.1002/nsg.12149.
Scaling properties of sea surface temperature for various global warming levels in CMIP6 models
Authors: Milovac Josipa , Iturbide Maialen , Bedia Joaquin , Fernandez Jesus , Gutierrez Jose Manuel
Published: March 2022

Mean sea surface temperature (SST) increased during the 20th century and continues to rise on average at a rate of 0.14 ºC per decade. In the last decade, mean SST showed an increase of 0.88 ºC compared to the pre-industrial era and, according to the latest IPCC report (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2021), 83% of the ocean surface will very likely continue to warm up until the end of this century in all Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP). Global mean surface air temperature (GSAT) has increased by 1.09 ºC since the pre-industrial times, and it is projected to continue to rise by 1.0 - 5.7 ºC (depending on the SSP scenario) until the end of the 21st century. GSAT incorporates land surface air temperature (LSAT) and sea surface air temperature (SSAT) in the models. 

In this study we analyze the CMIP6 ensemble of global climate models to identify projected scaling properties between SST, SSAT, and GSAT under various SSP scenarios. Preliminary analysis indicates that the temperatures are linearly correlated, with the scaling factor of ~0.8 for SSAT and GSAT, ~0.7 for SST and GSAT, and ~0.87 for SST and SSAT at the global warming level of 2 ºC. Such scaling is regionally dependent, and does not apply to the polar oceanic regions. Furthermore, we explore the dependence of the scaling properties on the global warming levels, and how sensitive the results are for the coastal regions.

References:

IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.

Acknowledgements:

We acknowledge the support from the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación through the Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu with reference MDM-2017-0765., and the support from the projects CORDyS (PID2020-116595RB-I00) and ATLAS (PID2019-111481RB-I00), both funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.
A releasing-bend at the northern termination of the Alfeo-Etna shear zone (Western Ionian Sea, Italy): seismotectonic implications and relation with Mt. Etna volcanism
Authors: Monaco Carmelo , Barreca Giovanni , Bruno Valentina , De Guidi Giorgio , Ferlito Carmelo , Gambino Salvatore , Gross Felix , Mattia Mario , Scarfì Luciano
Published: March 2022

Offshore data in the western Ionian Sea indicate that the NW-SE trending dextral shear zone of the Alfeo-Etna fault system turns to N-S direction near the Ionian coastline, where the Timpe fault system occurs. This latter deform the lower eastern slope of Mt. Etna, showing NNW-SSE to NNE-SSW orientation and resulting from E-W trending regional extension. They are seismically active having given rise to shallow and low-moderate magnitude earthquakes in the last 150 years. Morpho-structural data show that NW-SE trending right-lateral strike-slip faults connect the Timpe fault system with the upper slope of the volcano, where the eruptive activity mainly occurs along N-S to SW-NE trending fissures. As a whole, morpho-structural, geodetic and seismological data, seismic profiles and bathymetric maps suggest that similar geometric and kinematic features characterize the shear zone both on the eastern flank of the volcano and in the Ionian offshore. The Alfeo-Etna fault system probably represents a major kinematic boundary in the western Ionian Sea associated with the relative motion of Africa and Eurasia since it accommodates, by dextral transtensional kinematics, diverging motions in adjacent western Ionian compartments. Along this major tectonic alignment, crustal structures such as releasing bends, pull-apart basins and extensional horsetails occur both offshore and on-land, where they probably represent the pathway for magma uprising from depth.
Predicting plant water limitation in heterogeneously drying soils: the upscaling approach to improving soil-plant hydrodynamics in ESMs
Authors: Bouda Martin , Vandergborght Jan , Couvreur Valentin , Javaux Mathieu
Published: March 2022

Limitation of photosynthesis by soil moisture variability is increasingly understood to be a central factor in the land carbon balance. Soil moisture dynamics are thought to be responsible for the bulk of interannual variability in the land carbon sink as well as the uncertainty in predicting it.

A key challenge in understanding this process is the mismatch between the spatial scales of cause and effect. Sharp and localised gradients in soil moisture availability can develop during drought, presenting a difficulty both for plants and researchers. Soil moisture heterogeneity triggers nonlinearities in flow in both the soil and plant, whose effects are not captured by current earth system models (ESM).

Most descriptions of soil moisture limitation of plants at earth system scales rely on a heuristic macro-scale ‘stress factor’ formulation that fails to adequately reflect current understanding of the inherently small-scale process. Recently, some models have adopted a linearised formulation of bulk flows in response to water potential gradients. While this step theoretically improves mechanistic representation of the process, increased prediction errors persist when vertical differences in soil moisture emerge while horizontal heterogeneity is commonly not represented at all.

This presentation introduces the upscaling approach to addressing this knowledge gap, which seeks new formulations of soil-plant hydrodynamics that bridge the scales of cause and effect. This approach relies on describing soil-plant hydrodynamics from first principles at small scale and mathematically scaling up the resulting formulations: deriving simple bulk scale forms while introducing as few approximations or errors as possible. Recent advances in this line of research include a fully general algorithm for upscaling the nonlinear equations describing flows in the root system without introducing discretisation error or increasing computational cost of finding solutions. Ongoing work aims to explore opportunities for addressing nonlinearities in the soil that arise from conceptual advances achieved in upscaling the plant flows. Applying the outputs of this promising theoretical approach in earth system models will require future empirical work to constrain the parameters of the new models at multiple scales.
Climate analogs as input for ice sheet models during the glacial
Authors: Zolles Tobias , Born Andreas
Published: March 2022

Simulations of continental ice sheets require climate forcing over time periods that are infeasible to run with comprehensive climate models. The alternative to use climate models of reduced complexity often yields data of insufficient quality for a good simulation of the ice sheet surface mass balance. Here we reconstruct the climate of the last glacial climate based on 22 marine proxy records and two Greenland ice cores for the Atlantic region. The reconstruction is based on multiple climate simulations, which serve as potential analogs.

The analog search is based on air and sea surface temperatures.  To mitigate regional biases due to the availability of reconstructions, and to filter non-essential modes of variability, the search is carried out in the reduced space of the first few principal components. For every hundred years of proxy data the best ten climate analogs are identified and their weighted sum serves as the reconstruction. The obtained climate fields provide a full set of atmospheric variables to be used as input for our surface mass balance model.

We assess the quality and uncertainty of our reconstruction by using different objectives for the analog search as well as accounting for the different spatial and temporal distributions of the proxies. In addition, the method is evaluated in comparison to reconstructions based on the glacial index. 

The performance of the method decreases during the deep glacial period with the used model pool. In addition, the climate model data does not sufficiently explain the variability observed in the marine proxy data.
Improved hydrogeophysical imaging with ERT using direct push data as priors and geostatistical regularization
Authors: Günther Thomas , Greskowiak Janek , Grünenbaum Nele , Skibbe Nico , Vienken Thomas
Published: March 2022

Imaging saltwater/freshwater interfaces is of importance to understand flow and transport in coastal aquifers. For hydrogeophysical imaging the method of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) yields high-resolution images and is suited for monitoring. However, there is an intrinsic ambiguity in the inversion of the data that limits accurate quantification. In contrast, direct push (DP) data provide accurate point information. Moreover, DP fluid sampling helps to transfer the measured electrical conductivity into salinity by computing a spatially variable formation factor. Both data show typically the same structures but contradict in detail.
We present a methodology to combine both methods using joint inversion. To this end, DP data are treated like geophysical data with standard deviations derived from statistics so that the resistivity distribution strives to match the DP data at the given point. Additionally, the spatial distribution of DP data can be used to derive geostatistical correlation lengths in the horizontal and vertical directions that are incorporated into the ERT inversion using an anisotripic geostatistical regularization operator. Synthetic modellings with geostatistical media show that the ERT image is improved, not only in the vicinity of the sampling points.
We present data from the northern beach of the North Sea island of  Spiekeroog where we want to image the circulation cell that formes under the influence of the tides (upper saline plume). There is a significant improvement of the classical smoothness-constrained inversion compared to the DP-guided inversion. As a result, we observe a split into several circulation cells with local groundwater discharge zones. Our hypothesis is that these are mainly driven by the changing beach morphology.
Extending paleo-tsunami records south of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami patch, Sumatra, Indonesia: 2022 update
Authors: Majewski Jedrzej , Richards Geoffrey , Daly Patrick , Switzer Adam , Ismail Nazli , Afrizal Tomi , Christie Margaret , Horton Benjamin
Published: March 2022

Our team has previously built a ~7500 year tsunami history for the northern patch of the Sunda Megathrust. However, the paleo-tsunami history south of Aceh province and the 2004 rupture patch remains poorly understood. We conducted geological investigation to better define the boundaries of rupture patches along the Megathrust.

 

We utilized satellite imagery to pinpoint potential sites likely to archive evidence of paleo tsunami inundations and co-seismic land-level change. Due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions, our researchers from Singapore, and USA could not travel to Indonesia. However, because of the longstanding close collaboration between the Earth Observatory of Singapore and Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the project continued to progress. The Syiah Kuala University team investigated nearly 20 sites between Banda Aceh in the northern patch of the of Sumatra Megathrust and Padang in the south. Several sites preserved probable paleo-tsunami sediments. The paleo-tsunami sediments were identified from anomalous layers of sand in low energy environments where they would not normally occur, such as mangroves, coastal lowlands, and/or swales.

 
Here we present results of litho-, bio- and chronostratigraphical analysis from Susoh as well as preliminary information from sites along the coastline between Meulaboh and Padang. From Susoh we described stratigraphy from a series of cores to a depth of 4.75 m. The top 2.5 meters was dominated by muds typical of estuarine or tidal flat settings, but it is interrupted by three pulses of sandy muds. At 2.55 m we encountered a 0.2 m thick layer of course sand, underlain by a 0.5 m thick mangrove peat with a gradual transition into organic sandy muds and sands. Pollen analysis from the fine-grained organic layers indicate they were formed in a mangrove environment. Radiocarbon dating of the organic macrofossils from the mangrove peat indicate the tsunami event occurred post 1850 cal. yrs BP. Our research continues to improve our understanding of the Sumatran Megathrust.
An organic geochemical reconstruction of North American temperature gradients over the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary
Authors: O'Connor Lauren , Jerrett Rhodri , Price Greg , van Dongen Bart , Crampton-Flood Emily , Lengger Sabine
Published: March 2022

Latitudinal temperature gradients are a critical component of the climate system and control the transport of heat and moisture. However, this process is poorly understood during past intervals of extreme greenhouse climate, in particular owing to models suggesting that gradients must be much steeper than proxy data imply. Palaeotemperature records Late Cretaceous–Early Paleogene can provide insight into how the global climate system operates under greenhouse conditions.

Much of our understanding of palaeotemperatures and gradients therein during this interval comes from marine sea-surface temperature proxy data, with very few terrestrial records. These palaeoclimate reconstructions are hampered by poor temporal resolution, difficulties in correlating between sites, and limited spatial coverage.

Lipids from fossil peats across North America provide an opportunity to investigate terrestrial palaeotemperatures across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary and how these differ across a range of latitudes. Here we present a mean annual air temperature record spanning this interval from the Canadian High Arctic (~75°N palaeolatitude). Our data show that temperatures ranged from 0–18°C, compared with 13–27°C at contemporaneous peat-accumulating sites in Saskatchewan (~60°N palaeolatitude). These data indicate a temperature gradient of approximately 10°C. These values are similar to those modelled for the latest Cretaceous, and the latitudinal difference is comparable to the modern gradient across North America (UCAR), albeit ~20°C warmer.

Our study demonstrates that although the Arctic experienced high terrestrial temperatures, the K-Pg interval saw a well-defined latitudinal temperature gradient. Further, our reconstructions fill an existing gap in the terrestrial record and highlight the value of fossil peats in palaeoclimate studies.
The role of trait variation of non-vascular vegetation for their impact on biogeochemical cycles
Authors: Porada Philipp
Published: March 2022

Non-vascular vegetation, such as lichens, mosses, or terrestrial algae and cyanobacteria, carry out key functions in various ecosystems world-wide.
These functions include effects on hydrological processes, net exchange of CO2, and the nutrient budget of ecosystems. The impact of the organisms on ecosystem functions, however, is not uniform, but it may strongly depend on the distribution of traits in individual non-vascular communities. Hence, to estimate large scale effects of non-vascular vegetation on biogeochemical cycles, it is crucial to predict their spatially and temporally dynamic community composition with respect to key traits.

The few currently available large-scale estimates do not examine systematically the role of traits for the biogeochemical effects of non-vascular vegetation, A better assessment of the patterns of key eco-physiological traits is, however, urgently needed, since climate change will likely substantially affect non-vascular community composition and, consequently, ecosystem functions.

Here, I will present a process-based modeling approach which provides quantitative estimates on the trait distributions of non-vascular vegetation communities, and relates these to biogeochemical functions. The so-called LiBry model has been extensively applied to simulate effects of non-vascular organisms on global biogeochemical cycles, focusing on cycles of carbon, water, and nitrogen. The model is, however, applicable at site scale as it accounts for key ecophysiological processes which control the carbon balance and the growth of an individual organism. By simulating at each location a large number of individuals which differ broadly with regard to 12 key physiological trait values, the model explicitly represents physiological diversity of non-vascular communities. The long-term carbon balance of each individual is then used as the criterion for relative success in the process of natural selection, shaping the trait distribution of communities at different locations. In this way, effects of environmental conditions on trait distributions and their consequences for ecosystem functions of non-vascular vegetation can be represented in a quantitative way.

I will provide an overview on large-scale biogeochemical impacts of non-vascular vegetation, derived by the LiBry model. In particular, I will show examples of how patterns in key traits, and also dynamic changes in community mean trait values, affect the biogeochemical functions of the organisms.
Non-thermal features in proton and alpha velocity distribution functions in the solar wind in the inner heliosphere
Authors: DAmicis Raffaella , Bruno Roberto , De Marco Rossana , Velli Marco , Telloni Daniele , Perrone Denise , Sorriso-Valvo Luca , Panasenco Olga
Published: March 2022

The solar wind is a highly variable, weakly collisional plasma originating from the Sun. The recent launches of PSP and Solar Orbiter have opened the way for the exploration of the innermost regions of our solar system and will greatly advance our understanding of several plasma phenomena occurring in the near-Sun environment, such as the heating and the acceleration of the solar wind. 

Plasma waves and wave-particle interactions play a relevant role in such phenomena, determining significant deviations of the Velocity Distribution Function (VDF) from the Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium. These deviations retain information of the interaction of particles with the turbulent electromagnetic fields and can be identified as thermal anisotropy, or non-thermal ion beams and heavy ion differential streaming in the ion component of the solar wind. This study will cover these topics with particular reference to new in-situ data from Solar Orbiter, PSP and with observations at L1  (e.g. Wind), with a focus on the central role Alfvénic fluctuations play in the evolution of the VDF features mentioned above.
Urban water metabolism of Brisbane city: a multi-scale interdisciplinary evaluation framework
Authors: Moravej Mojtaba , Tussupova Kamshat , Persson Kenneth M
Published: March 2022

Continually providing water services for increasing urban population while minimising the impacts of urbanisation on the environment is becoming challenging. The technological/engineering solutions alone are not sufficient. Interventions from other disciplines such as urban design, planning, and social science are needed in addition to engineering solutions to overcome the challenges. However, suboptimal integration of interdisciplinary interventions might lead to unintended and undesirable outcomes. There is a need to holistically evaluate the benefits (and potential drawbacks) of integrated interventions, which is missing from the literature. Urban water metabolism at multiple scales as an evaluation framework for testing and comparing interdisciplinary interventions has been introduced. Urban water metabolism is a conceptual model for describing water flows in and out of urban areas, which can be used to study the interactions between natural landscape, built-environment, and socio-technological systems. It is based on urban water mass balance principles accounting for all water flows including natural and anthropogenic flows. The quantitative capacity of the evaluation framework at the development scale (i.e. site-scale) and city-scale is shown in the Australian city of Brisbane using a set of water performance indicators (e.g. naturalness ratios). Six scenarios were developed representing a variety of demand management strategies (e.g. efficient appliances), on-site water servicing technologies (e.g. rainwater tanks), and architectural design interventions. The results show, depending on the interventions implemented, stormwater runoff spikes between 332 to 392%, evapotranspiration is reduced in the range of 41 to 83%, and infiltration shrinks to 34 to 71% of the flows in the natural landscape (i.e. natural hydrology). More than 36% of water demand can be met internally at the site (i.e. self-sufficiency) if smart irrigation systems are installed, the efficiency of appliances and water fixtures is increased, on-site storage for local harvest is introduced, and architectural design is optimised. The framework developed in our study is useful for evaluating interdisciplinary options quantitatively and systematically. Additionally, it has applications as a design tool to identify and test alternatives to achieve greener and more sustainable urban spaces.
Mapping debris thickness on alpine glaciers using UAV thermography and photogrammetry
Authors: Groos Alexander Raphael , Messmer Jérôme
Published: March 2022

Supraglacial debris covers the tongue of many mountain glaciers. In the course of ongoing climate change and the rapid melting of glaciers, debris extent and thickness will continue to increase. The thickness and other inherent properties of the debris layer control sub-debris melt rates and influence how glaciers respond to climate change. It is therefore essential to consider the impact of supraglacial debris on ablation in glacier surface mass balance models and glacier evolution models. However, this requires detailed knowledge on the debris thickness distribution. As debris thickness is spatially very variable, it remains a challenge to map debris thickness across the entire ablation zone of a glacier. Here we present the preliminary results of a feasibility study on the Kanderfirn in the Swiss Alps, where we deployed an Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with a visible and thermal infrared camera to map and analyse spatial variations in debris surface temperature, debris thickness, and sub-debris melt rates. Two independent approaches originally developed for satellite data were tested and compared to map debris thickness in high resolution. First, we used the statistical relationship between spatial UAV observations and in-situ point measurements (mapped surface temperature vs. measured debris thickness) to derive spatial debris thickness variations from mapped surface temperature variations. Second, we calculated distributed sub-debris melt rates from UAV-based elevation-change maps and quantified debris thickness through the inversion of a sub-debris ice melt model. Both methods deliver promising results. Despite the remaining challenges, the results emphasise the potential of UAVs equipped with visible and thermal infrared cameras for glacier-wide debris thickness mapping.
A source attribution system based on Lagrangian simulations, emission inventories and satellite data: an example of application to the MOSAiC campaign
Authors: Bucci Silvia , Duetsch Marina , Stohl Andreas
Published: March 2022

We present here a semi-automatic system of source apportionment analysis for long-term observations sites (e.g. measurement stations) and measurements campaigns. We will use as an example the application to the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) campaign, which involved a one-year-long ship expedition into the Central Arctic (September 2019 - October 2020)

The system is based on the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART (Stohl et al., 2005; Pisso et al., 2019). The simulations are driven with hourly ERA5 data at 0.5° horizontal resolution. The cluster of back-trajectories can be released at any time resolution along the period of interest (the higher the resolution, the higher the computational cost). For the one-year campaign, we have chosen a 3-hours resolution, which will therefore represent the resolution of our timeseries of source contribution. The system can also be adjusted for the number of particles released, length of simulations, and aerosol or gas species that need to be simulated, which will therefore be applied to each simulation release. For our example application we use 100000 particles and a maximum time of transport of 30 days, and CO, SO2, BC and a generic air tracer as chosen species.

The simulations can then be coupled with emissions fluxes, to give a description of the transport conditions of a specific species from its source to the point of measurements. We use in our case the ECLIPSE v4 database for anthropogenic emissions and the GFED one for the fires emissions. With a similar approach, any gridded information from model output or satellite data can also be coupled with the air tracer back-trajectories. In our example, the analysis has been coupled to daily-resolved satellite data of sea ice cover to provide an estimate of the sea ice influence and its seasonal variability vs. the influence from the open ocean and continental land surface. The results of the whole set of simulations, including the quick-looks and resulting time series can also be easily automatically organized in directories. In our application, the data and the plots have been collected and distributed on a dedicated website which allow for an easy browsing of the results for the MOSAiC campaign.
Comparative Assessment of Available Soil Nutrients under Different Tillage and Crop Residue Management Practices in Rice-Wheat Cropping System
Authors: Singh Deepti , Mina Dr. Usha
Published: March 2022

Soil is a natural resource providing numerous ecosystem services and provision of these services totally depends on soil health and its nutrient balance which is affected by different agricultural management practices. So it’s very important to understand the effect of these practices on soil functioning. In the present study the effect of different tillage and crop residue management practices on available soil macro and micronutrients have been evaluated.To conduct the study, two treatments of farmer’s practices have been taken. First is multiple tillage with complete burning of paddy residues (Conventional practice/T1) and second one is zero tillage with complete retention of paddy residues (Conservation practice/control).Samples were collected from two soil depths (0-5 and 5-15 cm) before and after burning of residues. Available soil phosphorous, available potassium, available SOC all were increased by 10%,14.85%, 2.4% respectively at 0-5 cm depth in after residue burning samples as compare to before burning samples whereas available soil nitrogen, available micronutrients (Cu, Zn, Mn, Ni and Fe)and microbial biomass carbon(MBC) were found to be decreased in after burning samples as compare to before burning samples at same 0-5cm depth. Available P, available SOC, MBC, available potassium all were found to be 13.89%,17.7%,6.9%and 0.5% higher in control treatment as compare to T1 however micronutrient concentrations were decreased in control. The increase in some nutrient concentration due to burning of residues may be attributed to sudden increase in ash content however decrease in some parameters like MBC may be attributed to decrease in microbial population.Also the results signifies the positive impacts of conservation practices over conventional one.

Keywords: Residue management, Tillage, Available nutrients.
Is renewable energy resources availability decisive for Energy Cooperatives' existence? A spatiotemporal analysis
Authors: Lode Maria Luisa , Ramirez Camargo Luis , Coosemans Thierry
Published: March 2022

Increased adoption of local renewable energy sources and larger active participation of energy end-consumers in the energy transition are attributed to Energy Cooperatives (ECoops). These are the most common organizational form of energy communities, which are currently one of the key strategies of the European Union to advance the energy transition. Getting to understand better which factors facilitate and benefit the existence and development of ECoops might help to foster a larger adoption of energy communities. Most studies addressing this are of qualitative character, while large-scale quantitative studies trying to understand general trends are scarce. None of them has paid attention to the impact of the type and quality of renewable energy resources (RES)  available at the location of ECoops.

We conduct an exploratory spatial data analysis on the NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions levels to explore which characteristics of RES availability co-occur with the presence of ECoops across Europe. The characteristics of RES availability include total solar irradiation, average wind speeds, complementarity between solar and wind resources as well as resource droughts. We use multiple decades of ERA5 and ER5-land data to determine the average RES characteristics for each NUTS region. The location of ECoops is derived from the database on ECoops by ReScoop.

Results contribute to the understanding if there is any spatial relationship between the existence of ECoops and RES availability. Clusters of NUTS regions with rather low RES availability and flourishing ECoops, as well as regions with good resources and a low number or no ECoops, are identified. Further, the study identifies hot-spots that require special attention to become auspicious for energy communities due to the rather challenging conditions of RES availability.
Estimates of the dependence of snow cover extent on surface air temperature variations of the Northern Hemisphere for the last several decades
Authors: Parfenova Maria , Arzhanov Maxim , Mokhov Igor I.
Published: March 2022

Understanding the ongoing climate change is impossible without evaluating the contributions of both anthropogenic and natural variabilities. In present paper, natural variability is examined by estimating the dependence of snow cover extent on surface air temperature variations of the Northern Hemisphere for the last several decades. The relationship was evaluated with correlation analysis of the results of simulations with the ensemble of global climate models CMIP6 and the respected satellite and ERA5 reanalyzes data. The estimated snow cover extent sensitivity to the temperature changes for the last four decades (1979 2019) has been compared with that obtained for the last fifteen years (2005–2019). Seasonal features of the snow cover extent temperature relationship have been noted, particularly during the formation of snow cover in autumn. An increase in the absolute value of the sensitivity parameter of the snow cover extent to the surface air temperature changes is noted, with an overall statistically insignificant negative correlation for the last four decades.
Plastic pollution impacts riverbed sand transport processes
Authors: Russell Catherine , Fernández Roberto , Parsons Daniel , Gabbott Sarah
Published: March 2022

Rivers are the primary link between terrestrial and ocean environments, crosscutting the landscape whilst providing fresh water, nutrients, and sediment to diverse ecosystems. However, over the past 50 years, rivers have become increasingly significant vectors for plastic pollution. On a riverbed, sediment migrates downstream as bedforms, such as dunes, via well-understood morphodynamic processes, yet the impact of plastic on sediment transport behaviours is unknown and so has been widely assumed as passive, whereby the sediment buries plastic between flood events and is otherwise unaffected. Here we find, through undertaking studies using an experimental recirculating flume tank, that when plastic particles are introduced to riverbed sand dunes, even at relatively low concentrations, novel morphologies and altered morphodynamic processes emerge, including irregular stoss-side erosion and dune wash out. We detail new mechanisms of plastic sequestration and transport to outline how plastic particles interacting with riverbed dunes fundamentally influence sediment transport processes, and the resulting deposits. We find that: i) plastic is not a passive component on riverbeds as it significantly speeds up morphological transformations, affecting bed topography and increasing dune erosion rates, which at present has unknown consequences for the wider landscape; ii) plastic inclusion locally changes the ratio of suspended load to bedload material as plastics create a local and temporal shift towards more sediment in suspension, thereby causing the river to develop more conduit-like than storage-like properties with unknown consequences for overall sediment transport fluxes and increased local turbidity; and iii) inclusion of plastic in the sediment layer creates heterogeneous deposits that propagates the disruption of sedimentary processes and forms irregular distribution of plastic on the riverbed that will affect the possibilities of representative sampling. Such insights shed light onto a new branch of environmental consequences of plastic in the environment that requires further research, as a new branch of sedimentology: plastic and sediment interactions. With plastic being continually added to our environments globally, this new field is set to be increasingly relevant amongst emerging challenges of the Anthropocene.
Extreme winds over Greenland in the CARRA dataset
Authors: Weitzel Philipp , Ólafsson Haraldur
Published: March 2022

A dynamic downscaling of atmospheric flow over Greenland in the CARRA dataset is explored with emphasis on wind extremes.  Regions of frequent strong winds are defined and the dynamics dominating windstorms in these regions are brought to light by references to mechanisms of acceleration of stably stratified atmospheric flow above or in the vicinity of mountains and the interaction between the atmosphere and the heterogenous surface of the earth. Some of the jets are well known, such as the Cape Farewell Tip jet, while other jets have not received much, if any, attention by the meteorological community.  One of these undescribed jets is the NE-Greenland downslope wind in westerly flows.
Presenting the AtRIS code as a future tool to investigate the atmospheric impactof SEP events
Authors: Pohland Patrick , Vogt Adrian , Banjac Sasha , Burmeister Sönke , Giese Hanna , Heber Bernd , Herbst Konstantin , Romaneehsen Lisa , Wallmann Carsten
Published: March 2022

Within the wider scope of improving Space weather forecast by the EUHFORIA project, we present an updated version of the AtRIS code designed to simulate the count rates and dose deposits of space weather events in the atmosphere. As more and more of modern technological infrastructure is sensitive to radiation exposure space weather forecast can develop into a critical tool to protect it from possible damage. Thereby, AtRIS can be applied  to analyse the impact of past Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events, complementary to the analysis and comparisons of measurements both at top the  atmosphere and at ground level by e.g. NAVIDOS and DOSTEL. AtRIS thereby is designed as a framework of the well established GEANT4 code, offering   the possibility to implement the atmospheric composition in a layer-wise model. Furthermore, it offers the possibility to select the thickness of the  shielding between 0 and 20 mm of aluminium. Here we will present the physics implemented into AtRIS, its validation, and show preliminary results for  selected past events utilising different layers of shielding.The Kiel team received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and  innovation programme under grant agreement No 870405.
Pollution severity regulates the effects of roof strategies on China’s winter PM2.5
Authors: Gao Meng
Published: March 2022

Urbanization took place rapidly over recent decades and is expected to continue in the future, producing a series of environmental issues, including heat stress. Cool roof and green roof strategies have been adopted in a number of megacities to mitigate urban heat and carbon emissions, yet China is lagging behind developed countries in the implementation. One reason is the lack of careful and thoughtful assessment of potential effects of roof strategies, including their influences on winter PM2.5. With numerical simulations in this study, we assess how cool and green roof strategies affect winter PM2.5 pollution in North China, and we find that adoptions of cool roofs tend to aggravate PM2.5 pollution in lightly polluted regions. When PM2.5 pollution worsens, the negative effects of cool roofs are likely to be diminished. Green roofs cause less enhancements of PM2.5 pollution as a result of inhibited evapotranspiration in winter. We demonstrate that the effects of roof strategies are regulated by pollution severity and conclude that green roofs with suppressed evapotranspiration and thus weaker penalty on winter PM2.5 pollution seem to be better choices given the current pollution severity level in China, especially for regions suitable for growth of broadleaf plants.
Obliquity and rifting: Interaction of faulting and magma propagation during volcano-tectonic events in North Iceland using UAV-based structural data
Authors: Panza Elisabetta , Ruch Joël
Published: March 2022

Volcano-tectonic systems involve a relation between magma propagation and faulting that is fundamental in volcanology research. Earth’s upper crust is often modelled as homogeneous and elastic. However, fracturing and reactivation of pre-existing structures plays a key role in volcano-tectonic processes and magma propagation. Moreover, obliquity affects > 70% of Earth’s rifts. This study aims at investigating inherited structures’ role on magma propagation in extensional settings, subject to different degrees of opening obliquity.

We performed a detailed and extensive structural mapping based on UAV imagery and field observations in the North Volcanic Zone, choosing representative rift segments that have likely a cyclic nature and display different obliquity degrees. We selected four zones within the Askja and Bárðarbunga volcanic systems, delimited by the Fjallagjá graben to the North and the Holuhraun graben to the South. Structures progressively bend from an almost N-S orientation in the North to a rather NE-SW to the South, while the strain field orientation of the rift shows a constant extension vector’s azimuth of ~104°. Recently, the 2021 Fagradalsfjall volcano-tectonic event show an extreme case of high obliquity end-member system along the plate boundary.

We did a detailed morphostructural analysis of the processed imagery (~3 cm/px DEMs and ~2cm/px orthomosaics) and analysed fracture orientations, sense of opening and the effect of topography on the rift segments. The strength of the obliquity signal increases going from North (where no clear obliquity dominance is observed) to South (where Holuhraun shows distinct obliquity with a left lateral sense of shear), following the curvature of the overall rift segments. The processed imagery revealed typical structures related to volcano-tectonic processes, such as monoclines, open fractures, nested grabens with fault scarps that suggest reactivation, and intrusions oblique to the graben shoulders. For example, in the northern zone, we observe that eruptive fissures are ~ parallel to the main orientation of the plate boundary extension, but ~10°-20°consistently oblique to the enclosing graben shoulders.

Our observations help constraining the stress configuration and their evolution during intrusions.
The aim is to unveil the processes that govern magma propagation in a fractured crust at divergent plate boundaries from depth to the surface, which exert a fundamental influence on eruptions locations.
The RETINA Project: Dynamic monitoring, reporting and verification for implementing negative emission strategies in managed ecosystems
Authors: Cowdery Elizabeth , Yeluripati Jagadeesh
Published: March 2022

The amount of data that can be being collected and openly distributed is increasing daily, but only a fraction of this data is being used to constrain models of agricultural systems under global change and help land managers make informed land-use decisions. Until we can make models accessible to the greater public and bring models and data together, none of these resources can be used to their full potential.

Here we present the (RETINA) project: Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems implemented at the farm level, used to quantify soil carbon change and greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions combined with novel approaches in predictive modelling and stakeholder engagement, culminating in negative emission strategies in managed ecosystems.

By developing a dynamic digital system that connects multi-scale sensors using AI to novel cloud-based soil carbon and GHG modelling approaches, we can detect changes in organic matter and GHG emissions across land uses. Additionally, individual user-based inputs through a mobile RETINA app capture changes in agriculture management. This data is used within the Predictive Ecosystem Analyser framework to produce forecasts of GHG emissions and carbon sequestration. Landowners are provided with decision tools to not only interpret the effects of current land management practices on future emissions and carbon sequestration, but also to explore alternative interventions that can help mitigate the effects of climate change. This study to demonstrates smart farming at a local scale, however, these approaches are applicable globally. The RETINA project provides an accessible, automated and repeatable framework that moves us towards realizing this goal.
Why is the atmosphere becoming drier? - An investigation of the role of dynamical drivers on recent trends in relative humidity
Authors: Weber Kirsten Maria Florentine , Jones Julie , Willett Kate M , Osborne Colin , Bryant Robert
Published: March 2022

Relative humidity (RH) over land has declined steeply since 2000. The drying signal is relatively consistent from the edge of the deep tropics to the mid-latitudes of both hemispheres, whereas regions equatorward and poleward show increasing RH trends. The drying trend observed in the gridded global humidity dataset, HadISDH, could not be captured by the CMIP5 climate models [1, 2].

The drying trend finds partial explanation through thermodynamic drivers. Global warming causes an increase in both latent and sensible heat in the atmosphere. Over land, the increase in latent heat is much lower than that of sensible heat. Due to slower warming rates over the ocean compared to land, not sufficient humidity is evaporated and transported towards the coast to keep RH over land constant [3].

Temperature and moisture in many regions are influenced by the atmospheric circulation, therefore can influence RH. In this study, we investigate the potential influence of atmospheric circulation on the observed regional RH changes. We have done this for selected regions with a strong RH trend (including the western US, eastern Brazil, Greenland's coastal areas, southern Africa, the Caspian Sea, Mongolia and Tibet). We firstly calculate correlation and regression coefficients between gridded and regional RH and a range of dynamical drivers (including the Northern and Southern Annular Modes, ENSO and the PDO). We also explored the relationship between regional RH and global fields of sea surface temperature (SST), sea level pressure (SLP), and wind from the ERA-Interim reanalysis. We find a significant relationship between RH and the dynamical drivers in many regions (for example with the ENSO in eastern Brazil), as well as the impact of small-scale atmospheric circulations on land cover change, which then impacts RH (for example evaporation over the Caspian Sea). We will present these results, and try to quantify the contribution of these drivers to recent trends.

[1] Willet et al. (2014), HadISDH land surface multi-variable humidity and temperature record for climate monitoring

[2] Dunn et al. (2017), Comparison of land surface humidity between observations and CMIP5 models

[3] Sherwood and Fu (2014), A Drier Future?