bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Magma dynamics using FD-PDE: a new, PETSc-based, finite-difference staggered-grid framework for solving partial differential equations
Authors: Pusok Adina E. , May Dave A. , Katz Richard F.
Published: March 2020

All divergent plate boundaries are associated with magmatism, yet its role in their dynamics and deformation is not known. The RIFT-O-MAT project seeks to understand how magmatism promotes and shapes rifts in continental and oceanic lithosphere by using models that build upon the two-phase flow theory of magma/rock interaction. Numerical models of magma segregation from partially molten rocks are usually based on a system of equations for conservation of mass, momentum and energy. One key challenge of these problems is to compute a mass-conservative flow field that is suitable for advecting thermochemically active material that feeds back on the flow. This feedback tends to destabilise the coupled mechanics+thermochemical solver. 

Staggered grid finite-volume/difference methods are: mimetic (i.e., discrete differential operators mimic the properties of the continuous differential operators); conservative by construction; inf-sup stable and "light weight" (small stencil) thus they are well suited to address these problems. We present a new framework for finite difference staggered grids for solving partial differential equations (FD-PDE) that allows testable and extensible code for single-/two-phase flow magma dynamics. We build the framework using PETSc (Balay et al., 2019) and make use of the new features for staggered grids, such as DMStag. The aim is to separate the user input from the discretization of governing equations, allow for extensible development, and implement a robust framework for testing. Any customized applications can be created easily, without interfering with previous work or tests.

Here, we present benchmark and performance results with our new FD-PDE framework. In particular, we focus on preliminary results of a two-phase flow mid-ocean ridge (MOR) model with a free surface and extensional boundary conditions. We compare flow calculations with previous work on MORs that either employed two-phase flow dynamics with kinematic boundary conditions (i.e., corner flow, Spiegelman and McKenzie, 1987), or single-phase flow dynamics with free surface (i.e., Behn and Ito, 2008). In the latter case, the effect of magma is parameterised according to a priori expectations of its role. 

 

Balay et al. (2019), PETSc Users Manual, ANL-95/11 - Revision 3.12, 2019.

Spiegelman and McKenzie (1987), EPSL, 83 (1-4), 137-152.

Behn and Ito (2008), Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9, Q08O10.
Tracking of mesoscale atmospheric phenomena in satellite mosaics using deep neural networks
Authors: Grashchenkov Kirill , Krinitskiy Mikhail , Verezemskaya Polina , Tilinina Natalia , Gulev Sergey
Published: March 2020

Polar Lows (PLs) are intense atmospheric vortices that form mostly over the ocean. Due to their strong impact on the deep ocean convection and also on engineering infrastructure, their accurate detection and tracking is a very important task that is demanded by industrial end-users as well as academic researchers of various fields. While there are a few PL detection algorithms, there are no examples of successful automatic PL tracking methods that would be applicable to satellite mosaics or other data, which would as reliably represent PLs as remote sensing products. The only reliable way for the tracking of PLs at the moment is the manual tracking which is highly time-consuming and requires exhaustive examination of source data by an expert.

At the same time, visual object tracking (VOT) is a well-known problem in computer vision. In our study, we present the novel method for the tracking of PLs in satellite mosaics based upon Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) of a specific architecture. Using the Southern Ocean Mesocyclones database gathered in the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, we trained our model to perform the assignment task, which is an essential part of our tracking algorithm. As a proof of concept, we will present preliminary results of our approach for PL tracking for the summer period of 2004 in the Southern Ocean.
Estimating IDF-Relations consistently using a duration-dependent GEV with spatial covariates
Authors: Ulrich Jana , Peter Madlen , Jurado Oscar E. , Rust Henning W.
Published: March 2020

Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves are a popular tool in Hydrology for estimating the properties of extreme precipitation events. They describe the relationship between rainfall intensity and duration for a given non-exceedance probability (or frequency). For a site where precipitation measurements are available, these curves can be estimated consistently over durations using a duration-dependent GEV (d-GEV, after Koutsoyiannis et al. 1998). In this approach, the probability distributions are modeled simultaneously for all durations.

Additionally, we integrate covariates to describe the spatial variability of the d-GEV parameters so that we can model the distribution of extreme precipitation for a range of durations and locations in one step. Thus IDF Curves can be estimated even at ungauged sites. Further advantages are parameter reduction and more efficient use of the available data. We use the Quantile Skill Score to investigate under which conditions this method leads to an improved estimate compared to the single-site approach and to evaluate the performance at ungauged sites.
High-resolution reconstruction of extreme hydrological events occurred in the Douro River estuary (Portugal, Iberian Northwest) during the 19th century
Authors: Amorim Inês , Sousa Silva Luís , Garcia João Carlos
Published: March 2020

Flood historical records are important to place current flooding events into a long-term perspective. With these data sets it is possible to identify patterns in past recent floods and use these to characterize and model future floods. In what concerns to Portugal, some studies had already used some documentary evidence in order to reconstruct flood events, in particular centered in the year 1786 that was the rainiest in Portugal, triggering floods in northwestern and central Portugal, followed by a extremely wet and rainfall 1788 year that caused floods along the largest Iberian rivers: Douro, Mondego and Tagus. However, very little is known about the characteristics of these events prior to the beginning of regular meteorological/hydrological observations (late 19th century in Portugal).

Within this framework, we aim to reconstruct a high-resolution history of floods occurred on the estuary of the Douro River (near the city of Porto, Portugal, Iberian’ Northwest) during the 19th century. The Douro River is the third-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula (after the Tagus and the Ebro rivers) and it drains an area of 97.600 square kilometers (the most largely in the Iberian Peninsula). To achieve our main aim, early instrumental observations and documentary evidence from multiple archival sources were collected. Further, the flooding archive was used to make a serial analysis of the years of floods, their chronological distribution, frequency, duration and intensity, associated with meteorological phenomena and their impacts.
Dismantling of Printed Circuit Boards by Bioleaching Solution
Authors: Monneron Benjamin , Schlömann Michael
Published: March 2020

Electronic waste is a very complex matrix containing valuables and toxic metals. Some very specific metals like Gallium are mainly used for electronic components while also considered a “critical raw element” by the European Commission. Since those metals are used in small quantities, recovery after grinding is impossible. Consequently, those metals must be recovered by separating the components before the milling process. This separation is called dismantling and is usually done pyrometallurgically.  Here we present dismantling by means of bioleaching for the very first time.

Dismantling by bioleaching was compared with solutions containing either ferric or ferrous iron for 20 days. Although bioleaching resulted in a separation of approximately 70 %, the ferric solution reached 100 %; separation by ferrous iron was negligible.

After dismantling, the concentration of critical metals increased by a factor of 3, which can be further increased by discriminating between different components e.g. Integrated circuits resistors, capacitors.
Deciphering compositional processes in inner airless bodies of our Solar System
Authors: Zambon Francesca , Tosi Federico , Besse Sébastien , Brunetto Rosario , Carli Cristian , Combe Jean-Philippe , Forni Olivier , Klima Rachel , Krohn Katrin , Rothery David , Stephan Katrin , Donaldson-Hanna Kerri , Barraud Oceane , Nava Jacopo
Published: March 2020

Over the last decades, the exploration of our Solar System carried out by automatic probes allowed a huge leap in our understanding of the planets, their main satellites and minor bodies such as asteroids and comets. However, despite the large number of diverse datasets available nowadays, comparative studies of different bodies are still poorly addressed in several cases, in particular for airless bodies.

The primary goal of our two-year project, selected in the framework of the “ISSI/ISSI-BJ Joint Call for Proposals 2019 for International Teams in Space and Earth Sciences”, is to quantify similarities and differences in the surface mineralogy of Vesta, Mercury and the Moon, substantially enhancing the scientific return of individual instrumental datasets and/or individual space missions. Here, we give an overview of our project, we clarify what is the status after the first team meeting held in March 2020.

Our project focuses on two specific questions:

Why do chemical changes induced by space weathering in the surface regolith appear to be different on Vesta, Mercury and the Moon, and what is the role and importance of mineralogy and composition? To address this question, irradiation experiments will be carried out on selected HED meteorite samples to directly simulate space weathering effects on Vesta.

Olivine has been identified on the Moon, it was reported on Vesta, although with some uncertainties, and it was not found on Mercury. What are the implications for all of these three planetary bodies? We will specifically address the ambiguous case of Vesta: Is olivine really present only in a limited number of specific sites, or is it rather widespread with a relatively low volumetric abundance? An answer to this question requires a precise identification of olivine in the most up-to-date spectroscopic datasets, and understanding the relationship existing between olivine and other associated mineral phases.

Our overall approach is to apply various techniques of analysis on hyper- and multispectral data sets that are publicly available, such as those on acquired by the Dawn mission at Vesta, MESSENGER datasets obtained at Mercury and Chandrayaan-1 data for the Moon.

This work is supported by the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) and by INAF-IAPS.
Retrievals of Parameters Characterising Land Surface Interactions from the satellite-derived Ts/VI Feature Space
Authors: Petropoulos George P. , Hristopulos Dionissios , Sandric Ionut
Published: March 2020

Earth Observation (EO) when used synergistically with simulation process models provides a promising direction towards estimating key parameters characterising land surface interactions (LSIs). Some of the most commonly used techniques for this purpose are based on the physical relationships encapsulated in the feature space established when a satellite-derived land surface temperature (Ts) is plotted against a spectral vegetation index (VI).

The objective of this study has been two-fold: first to explore the effectiveness of one such Ts/VI technique, commonly called the “triangle” method, to retrieve soil moisture and evapotranspiration rates, when integrated with ESA’s Sentinel-3 satellite data. Secondly, to appreciate the ability of this technique to retrieve new biophysical parameters characterising LSIs, namely the Evaporative (EF) and Non-Evaporative (NEF) fractions, CO2 & O3 fluxes and Water Use Efficiency (WUE).

Predicted parameters were compared against co-orbital ground measurements acquired from several European sites belonging to the CarboEurope ground observational network. The main preliminary findings of the study are presented and the main challenges that still impede their accurate spatio-temporal estimation by the TS/VI domain are also highlighted.

To our knowledge, this study represents the first comprehensive exploration of the performance of this particular methodological implementation using Sentinel-3 EO and is the first investigation into the effect of extending this particular method to retrieve spatiotemporal estimates of other key LSI parameters from the TS/VI domain. As such, this study is of considerable value in regards to the future use of this inversion modelling scheme, opening up potentially new opportunities in future implementations of it in many practical applications and research investigation alike.

In the present work Dr Petropoulos participation has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ENViSIoN under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 752094.

KEYWORDS: land surface interactions, Sentinel 3, Ts/VI domain, triangle, CarboEurope
Blowing snow in Antarctica and its contribution to the surface mass balance
Authors: Gerber Franziska , Sharma Varun , Lehning Michael
Published: March 2020

On the windiest, coldest and driest continent of the world, blowing snow is frequently active, especially during the winter months. Coastal regions with strong katabatic winds are especially prone to blowing snow and its sublimation. However, the contribution of blowing snow to the surface mass balance from snow blown off the continent and blowing snow sublimation is not well constraint by direct measurements. Furthermore, model and satellite assessments disagree on the magnitude of the effect.

Current studies of the Antarctic surface mass balance are mainly based on regional climate models. However, most models rely on rather simple representations of the snow cover as well as blowing snow. With the aim of improving the surface mass balance representation and specifically snow transport and sublimation due to blowing snow, we coupled the well-established snow model SNOWPACK to the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The new coupled model, called ‘CRYOWRF’, is aimed at an improved representation of snow and snow-atmosphere interaction in all cryospheric environments.

CRYOWRF simulations show good agreement with measurements at meteorological stations on the Antarctic continent. Moreover, the timing of modeled blowing snow events agrees well with few local blowing snow measurements. Monthly frequencies of simulated and satellite-derived spatial blowing snow distributions result in similar patterns. We will present estimates of the amount and importance of blowing snow on the surface mass balance in Antarctica based on 8 years of simulations (2010-2018), with a special focus on blowing snow sublimation. The introduced model will be useful for future predictions of surface mass balance estimates, which are important to assess the contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet to sea level rise in a warming world.
Supporting users to implement uncertainty of climate change information in adaptation studies
Authors: Zsebeházi Gabriella , Bán Beatrix
Published: March 2020

There is a growing need to develop climate services both at national and international level, to bridge the gap between the providers and the end-users of climate information. Several national climate services are aiming to serve the local users’ needs by creating web portals. Thanks to this trend, the number of available climate data (both measured and modelled) is rapidly growing and often there is not any personal contact between the users and the climate scientists via the web portals. Therefore, it is important to make this service usable and informative and train the potential users about the nature, strengths and limits of climate data.

Within the framework of a national funded project (KlimAdat), the regional climate model projections of the Hungarian Meteorological Service are extended and a representative climate database is developed. Regular workshops are organised, where we get hands-on information about the requirements and give training about climate modelling in exchange. One of the most discussed issue during the workshops is tackling with uncertainty information of climate projections in climate change adaptation studies. The future changes are quantified in probabilistic form, applying ensemble technique, i.e. several climate model simulations prepared with different global and regional climate models and anthropogenic scenarios are evaluated simultaneously.

In order to help the users orienting through the mushrooming climate projections, a user guide is prepared. Topics are e.g. how to select model simulations, how to take into account model validation results and what is the difference between signal and noise. The guideline is based on 24 simulations of the 12-km resolution Euro-CORDEX regional climate models, driven by the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Two target groups are distinguished based on the required level of post-processing climate data: 1) climate impact modellers, who need large amount of raw or bias corrected data to drive their own impact model; 2) decision makers and planners, who need heavily processed but lightweight data. The purpose of our guideline is to provide insight into the customized methodologies used at the Hungarian Meteorological Service for fulfilling users’ needs.
On the Ensemble Transfer Entropy Analysis of Non-Stationary Geophysical Time Series: The Case of Magnetospheric Response
Authors: Stumpo Mirko , Consolini Giuseppe , Alberti Tommaso , Quattrociocchi Virgilio
Published: March 2020

The fundamental question what causes what has always been the motivating motto for natural sciences, being the study of causality a crucial point for characterizing dynamical relationships. In the framework of complex dynamical systems, both linear statistical tools and Granger causality models drastically fail to detect causal relationships between time series, while a powerful model-free statistical framework is offered by the information theory. 

Here we discuss how to deal with the problem of measuring causal information in non-stationary complex systems by considering a local estimation of the information-theoretic functionals via an ensemble-based statistics. Then, its application for investigating the dynamical coupling and relationships between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere is also presented. 
Quarry waste for the production of sustainable and innovative constructional materials
Authors: Antonietti Samuel , Schenker Filippo Luca , Blazquez Victor , Voney Vera , Odaglia Pietro , Zerbi Stefano , Coppola Luigi , Bernardi Chiara , Corboud Federico , Ferrari Domenico , Ambrosi Christian , Pozzoni Maurizio
Published: March 2020

In Canton Ticino, Switzerland, the exploitation of natural stone, mostly gneisses, is an important activity of valley’s economies but in the last decades the local quarries are facing severe economic difficulties. The current rules on the disposal of quarry wastes and the territorial planning that regulates the structure of quarries and inert landfills, is putting pressure on the economy and profitability of quarries, as the wastes represent up to 40% of the extracted material and disposal costs are huge given the important volumes. Therefore, the sustainable development of the quarry sector needs new and effective strategies, in particular in the management of quarry waste to reduce its disposal costs and possibly to re-enhance this material. Here, we propose an example of an environmentally friendly circular economy based on crushed aggregates of quarry waste for the building of high added value constructional elements.

In this applied study, we characterized the waste materials (different types of gneisses) and evaluated the crushed aggregates for their use in traditional concretes and in innovative geopolymers to use in 3D printing systems. The results showed that the concretes produced with 100% quarry waste (crushed aggregate) have good mechanical properties but moderate durability. However, it has been observed that even by simply mixing these crushed aggregates with a part of fluvial sand (allochthonous) it is possible to improve the performance of the concrete in all respects. Hence, this environmentally friendly material is suitable for many applications in the concrete industry. The aggregates were also tested for powder bed 3D printing that uses geopolymers as a binder. The first tests with this printed geopolymer suggest that this innovative constructional material may be used in non-structural architectural elements, however, further investigation is needed.

In this project it has been mapped, within the construction industry, how the economic supply chain could be configured for the reuse of this material. In particular, the usability in the production of concretes, geopolymers and mortars was highlighted, both in traditional applications and with innovative applications such as 3D printing. The analysis was carried out with particular attention to the concepts of circular economy and sustainability, identifying the main actors and their potential interests within the supply chain.
Intercomparisons of liquid water path based on SEVIRI images and gradient boosting regression trees with in-situ observations and satellite-derived products
Authors: Kim Miae , Cermak Jan , Andersen Hendrik , Fuchs Julia , Stirnberg Roland
Published: March 2020

This contribution presents a technique for the machine-learning-based retrieval of cloud liquid water path. Cloud effects are among the major uncertainties in climate models for estimating and predicting the Earth’s energy budget. The study of cloud processes requires information on cloud physical properties, such as the liquid water path (LWP), which is commonly retrieved from satellite sensors using look-up table approaches. However, the accuracy of LWP varies temporally and spatially, also due to assumptions inherent in any physical retrieval. The aim of this study is to improve the accuracy of LWP and analyze quantitatively the accuracy and its errors. To this end, a statistical LWP retrieval was developed using spectral information from geostationary satellite channels (Meteosat Spinning-Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager, SEVIRI), and satellite viewing geometry. The machine-learning method chosen is gradient-boosted regression trees (GBRTs), which is an ensemble of decision trees but more effective than traditional tree-based models. This study reports on first results, as well as a comparison between the GBRT-derived LWP estimates and those from the SEVIRI-based products of the Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility (CM-SAF, CLAAS-A2), as well as MODIS products. We use case studies for individual in-situ measurement sites in Europe under varying meteorological conditions to determine the factors influencing LWP retrieval quality.
Analysis on spectral reflectivity of deep convective clouds towards vicarious calibration of UV/VIS hyperspectral instruments onboard geostationary satellites
Authors: Lee Yeeun , Ahn Myoung-Hwan , Kang Mina
Published: March 2020

To meet the increasing demand for obtaining reliable information on the atmospheric distribution of trace gases and aerosols, GEO-constellation consisting of Geostationary Korean Multi-Purpose Satellite-2B (GK-2B), Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution and Sentinel-4 are planned to be operated in this decade. As one of the environmental instruments, Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) onboard GK-2B planned to launch in February 2020 is designed to provide spectral radiance in the wavelength range of 300-500 nm as observing the tropical western Pacific region. To prepare a means of monitoring the calibration accuracy of GEMS, we aim to evaluate the feasibility of deep convective clouds (DCCs) as a possible target for vicarious calibration of GEMS. While the DCC calibration technique has been continuously verified from various meteorological satellite programs, it has been rarely researched in the ultraviolet and visible spectral region especially for the hyperspectral data of the environmental sensor. To finely detect DCCs reflecting stable signal throughout the spectral range of GEMS, we update the DCC detection thresholds based on the conventional detection method by applying both visible and infrared detection thresholds. To examine the effectiveness of the detection, Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) onboard Sentinel-5 Precursor is used as a proxy of GEMS. Advanced Himawari Imager onboard Himawari-8 is also used to construct the collocated data with TROPOMI since the environmental sensor only provides spectral radiance at shorter wavelengths. The DCCs detected by the updated thresholds show higher reflectivity over 0.9 as presenting homogeneous spectral features even at the Fraunhofer lines in which the atmospheric effects are prominent. Cloud properties such as the cloud optical thickness and cloud top height also become relatively homogeneous when both visible and infrared thresholds are used for the DCC detection since both radiation thresholds can be complement to limit the cloud properties of the detected clouds. With the detailed results, bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) is also to be estimated by applying the updated DCC detection method hereafter in the study.
Deep Learning P and S wave phase picking of Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) data
Authors: Fernandez-Prieto Luis , Villaseñor Antonio , Cabieces Roberto
Published: March 2020

Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) are the primary instruments used in the study of marine seismicity. Due to the characteristics of their emplacement on the sea bottom, these instruments have a much lower signal-noise ratio than land seismometers. Therefore, difficulties arise on the analysis of the data, specially when using automatic methods.

During recent years the use of machine learning methods applied to seismic signal analysis has increased significantly. We have developed a neural network algorithm that allows to pick seismic body signals, allowing to correctly identify P and S waves with a precision higher than 98%. This network was trained using data of the Southern California Seismic Network and was applied satisfactorily in analysis of data from Large-N experiments in different regions from Europe and Asia.

One of the remarkable characteristics of the network is the ability to identify the noise, both in the case of seismic signals with low signal-noise ratio and in the case of large amplitude non-seismic signals, such as human-induced noise. This feature makes the network an optimal candidate to study data recorded using OBS.

We have modified this neural network in order to analyze OBS data from different deployments. Combined with the use of an associator, we have successfully located events with very low signal-noise ratio, achieving results with a precision comparable or superior to a human operator.
Low-cost sensor system based on LoraWAN for monitoring water distribution systems
Authors: Roclawski Harald , Krätzig Thomas , Dewals Benjamin , Vercouter Laurent , Saliba Aloysio , Theis Anika , Pirard Thomas , Donancio Henrique , Archambeau Pierre , Erpicum Sébastien
Published: March 2020

In the research project Iot.H2O, which is funded under the Water JPI Joint Call 2017 IC4WATER, the potential of the Internet of Things concept is investigated for monitoring and controlling water distribution systems. Smart sensors are used which send data via LoraWAN to gateways which are connected to the Internet. The aim of the project is to use low-cost sensors and open-source software.

In the presentation, a prototype on a laboratory scale will be shown. The design of the monitoring system will be explained in detail and compared to the design of standard SCADA systems. Results on a pump test rig based on a laboratory scale will be shown as well as first results of field tests in a real water distribution system in Germany.

The presentation will also detail how data gathered through the smart sensors will be integrated into software modelling and optimization of water distribution systems. Combined with the new data, such tools offer a range of applications of practical relevance, such as the identification of optimal locations of micro-turbines for energy recovery in water distribution networks and the estimation of water demand throughout the network.
Analysis of Blue Discharges in Thunderclouds
Authors: Dimitriadou Krystallia , Chanrion Olivier , Neubert Torsten , Heumesser Matthias , Protat Alain , Louf Valentin , Christian Hugh , Blakeslee Richard , Köhn Chris , Østgaard Nikolai , Reglero Victor
Published: March 2020

The Modular Multispectral Imaging Array (MMIA) of the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) contains 3 photometers and 2 cameras, that monitors electrical discharges in and above thunderstorms. The 3 photometers sample in the bands:  337/4 nm, the VUV band 180-230 nm and 777.4/5 nm at 100 kHz; and the 2 cameras record in the bands 337/5 nm and 777.4/3 nm, with a temporal resolution of 12 frames per second. The 337 nm band corresponds to the strongest line of N22P, the VUV band include part of the N2 LBH and the 777.4 nm band corresponds to the OI line which is the strongest emission line of lightning leader channel. Here, we analyse observations of flashes that are predominantly blue. We will discuss the leader/streamer nature of these flashes. The analysis incorporates satellite cloud observations and weather radar measurements for the characterization of the thunderstorm clouds and their phase of development. In our optical analysis we incorporate also comparisons with data from NASA’s Lightning Imaging Sensor on the ISS (ISS-LIS) and VAISALA’s lightning location network GLD360.
Laboratory- and field-based investigation on macrofaunal control of microbial community structure and activity in intertidal sediment
Authors: Deng Longhui , Fiskal Annika , Bölsterli Damian , Lever Mark
Published: March 2020

Benthic macrofauna occupy most of the oxygenated seafloor, where they have a strong influence on microbial activity and are major regulators of carbon and other elemental cycles. To explore the yet-elusive relationships between faunal sediment alteration (bioturbation), microbial community structure, and microbial activity, we conducted aquarium incubations of Abarenicola pacifica and Nereis vexillosa in a seawater flow system and field manipulation experiments in a sandy intertidal zone. Microsensor and geochemical profiling show strong impacts of both worms on the pore-water concentrations of electron acceptors (O2, NO3-, and SO4-) and metabolites (NH4+, HS-, and Fe2+), and suggest the distinctly different advective and diffusive type of bioirrigations generated by A. pacifica and N. vexillosa, respectively, in sediment. Comprehensive analyses on microbial community structure and activity using amplicon sequencing and quantitative-(Reverse Transcription)-PCR of 16S rRNA and functional genes suggest that the metabolically active microbial community structure in intertidal sandy sediments is highly resilient to macrofaunal disturbance. This resilience likely stems from metabolic versatility that enables dominant microorganisms to switch between (micro)aerobic and anaerobic lifestyles under the fluctuating redox conditions in these environments. Significant changes of microbial community structure were only locally observed in the fecal pellet and feeding funnel of A. pacifica and mucus of N. vexillosa, likely due to the distinct organic matter composition and/or higher exposure time to oxygen in these microenvironments. Results from the field-based manipulation experiments further suggest that, in addition to macrofaunal bioturbation, conditions of temperature, tidal movement, and supply of photosynthetic organic matter also play important roles in controlling microbial activity and community structure in intertidal sediment.
A Geospatial Information Knowledge Platform for NBS tackling hydro-meteorological hazards: key features and innovative aspects
Authors: Leo Laura S. , Vranic Sasa , Kalas Milan , Debele Sisay E. , Bertini Flavio , Ommer Joy , Montesi Danilo , Pavlova Irina , Kumar Prashant , Di Sabatino Silvana
Published: March 2020

As part of H2020 OPERANDUM project, a multi-dimensional, open and user-friendly platform is being developed, named OPERANDUM Geospatial Information Knowledge Platform (GeoIKP), which enables stakeholders and end-users to improve their knowledge of nature-based solutions (NBS) as a long-term and sustainable measure for mitigation and reduction of flooding, coastal erosion, landslide and other hydro-meteorological hazards.

 This contribution offers an overview of GeoIKP and discusses in detail some of the innovative aspects of the platform, such as a the integration of a NBS data management portal with a web application offering advanced webGIS tools, a comprehensive catalogue of NBS, as well as analytical algorithms to demonstrate the effectiveness of NBS in reducing hydro-meteorological risks.

The platform design is being based on intuitive techniques, ease of access, dynamic navigability, interactive knowledge management, and multiple format compatibility. It empowers the multiple and diverse actors involved in the NBS co-design/co-development process (policymakers, citizens, enterprises, scientists, etc.) to visualize and query geo-referenced data for the specific area of interest.

In its first - yet preliminary - release, GeoIKP already offers a variety of functionalities and geo-referenced data of relevance for NBS, while at the same time it provides more standardized ways for NBS data (and metadata) management and cataloging.

 We conclude by reflecting on some of the current challenges associated with NBS data, such as adequacy and discoverability.
INTAROS teaching and outreach materials: how a multidisciplinary project creates opportunities for teachers and the general public.
Authors: Higgins Ruth , Juul-Pedersen Thomas , Goździk Agata , Oechl Walter , Zona Donatella , Lygre Kjetil , Sandven Stein
Published: March 2020

The INTAROS project has a strong multidisciplinary focus, with tools for integration of data from atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and terrestrial sciences, provided by institutions in Europe, North America and Asia. The dissemination activities aim to share knowledge about the Arctic with academia and with the general public.

The dissemination and exploitation activities are closely linked with communication and stakeholder engagement: the target audiences include research, public services, commercial operators, investment, insurance, environmental organizations, policy makers, local communities, and educational institutes. One of the INTAROS objectives is to disseminate project results to raise awareness of Arctic challenges and to inform and engage key users and stakeholder communities to improve their understanding of the Arctic environmental state and processes. The further aim is to build capacity in using the new products and services originating from the INTAROS project.

This contribution provides an overview of dissemination materials and products that are targeted towards teaching and/or intended for outreach purposes. The referenced teaching materials include products aimed at students ranging from school to university level, as well as the general public. The outreach materials are aimed at communicating knowledge about the INTAROS project, the scientific work, key findings as well as promoting general knowledge about climate and climate change.

 
Highly-resolved hydro-meteorological trends in Norway: impacts of observed climate change on snowmelt- and rainfall dominated streamflow in Western vs. Eastern Norway
Authors: Vormoor Klaus , Skålevåg Amalie , Bronstert Axel
Published: March 2020

Mountainous and Nordic regions are experiencing more rapid temperature increases as compared to regions at lower altitudes and latitudes. This will impact the hydrology in these regions.  For Norway, there is increasing evidence for gradually increasing temperatures and recent changes in the amount, intensity, and frequency of precipitation as well as in the number of days with snow cover. The most pronounced differences regarding their hydro-meteorological regime can be found between Western and Eastern Norway (Vestlandet vs. Østlandet). Most catchments in these regions are characterized by mixed snowmelt/rainfall streamflow regimes with peak flows during spring (dominant in Østlandet) and autumn (dominant in Vestlandet). Changes in the hydro-meteorological drivers will have direct implications on the snow regime, and thus, also on streamflow via their direct effect on the relative importance of snowmelt vs. rainfall for streamflow generation.

In this study, we analyze daily-resolved streamflow trends for 112 catchments in Western vs. Eastern Norway for the period 1983-2012 and compare them with daily-resolved trends in the hydro-meteorological drivers. We also estimate the relative contribution of snowmelt and rainfall on daily streamflow for each catchment and identify trends therein. This process-orientated approach at high temporal resolution allows for a better identification of (in)consistencies with changes in the hydro-meteorological drivers than simple seasonal comparisons. Lastly, we aim to attribute observed changes in daily streamflow to the most dominant hydro-meteorological drivers by applying seasonal multiple-regressions. The major findings of this study are as follows:

The high-resolution trend analysis allows for in-depth seasonal-specific insights into the hydrological response of catchments with different hydrological regimes to changes in the hydro-meteorological drivers.

Increasing (decreasing) contributions of rainfall (snowmelt) to streamflow generally agree with prior expectations. The trends, however, show differences in magnitude and timing, depending on the geographical location (Vestlandet vs. Østlandet) and altitude.

The seasonal multiple regression approach suggests that daily streamflow changes can be explained best by adding temperature as an additional predictor to snowmelt and rainfall, which may indicate the changing relevance of evapotranspiration particularly during summer.
Deformation of continental blocks within convergent plates: Anatolia as a case study
Authors: Zabcı Cengiz , Sançar Taylan , Yazıcı Müge , Friedrich Anke M. , Akçar Naki
Published: March 2020

Anatolia is part of the west-central Alpide plate-boundary zone, particularly where the deformation is characterized by the westward extrusion of this continental block between the Arabian-Eurasian collision in the east and the Hellenic Subduction in the west. Although, this motion mostly happens along the boundary structures, i.e., the North Anatolian and East Anatolian shear zones, there are multiple studies documenting the active deformation along NE-striking sinistral and NW-striking dextral strike-slip faults within the central and eastern parts of Anatolia. These secondary faults slice Anatolia into several pieces giving formation of the Malatya-Erzincan, Cappadocian and Central Anatolian slices from east to west, where their boundary geometries are strongly controlled by the weak zones, the Tethyan Suture Zones.

We compiled all geological slip-rate and palaeoseismological studies, which point out inhomogeneous magnitude of deformation along different sections of these secondary structures. The Central Anatolian Fault Zone, the westernmost NE-striking sinistral strike-slip structure and the western boundary between the Central Anatolia and Cappadocian slices, has an average horizontal slip-rate of about 1 to 1.5 mm/a for the last few tens of thousands of years. The earthquake recurrence of about 4500 years between two events revealed on the northern sections of the CAFZ also support this rate of deformation. However, the Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone has a bimodal behaviour in terms of deformation rate, which is 2.5 times higher along its northern member, the Ovacık Fault (OF) than the southern one, the Malatya Fault (MF) (2.5 to 1 mm/a), respectively. This velocity difference between two distinct members of the same fault zone can be explained by the relative westward motion of slices where the OF makes the direct contact between the Central Anatolian and Malatya-Erzincan, and the MF delimits Cappadocian and Malatya-Erzincan slices. Although these structures, which are shallow and probably deform only the upper crust, are of having secondary importance, yet they are still capable of producing infrequent but strong earthquakes within this highly deforming convergent setting. This study is supported by TÜBİTAK projects no. 114Y227 and 114Y580.
MAVEPROS: a new open source software to predict mantle elastic properties and build realistic tomographic models
Authors: Faccenda Manuele
Published: March 2020

Coupling large-scale geodynamic and seismological modelling appears a promising methodology for the understanding of the Earth’s recent dynamics and present-day structure. So far, the two types of modelling have been mainly conducted separately, and a code capable of linking these two methodologies of investigation is still lacking.

In this contribution I present MAVEPROS, a new open source software that allows both for the modelling of strain-induced mantle fabrics and seismic anisotropy, and for the generation of realistic synthetic tomographic models.

As an input, the software requires the velocity, pressure, temperature (and additionally the fraction of deformation accommodated by dislocation creep) fields (averaged each 100 kyr for typical mantle strain rates) outputted by the large-scale mantle flow models.

The strain-induced mantle fabrics are then modelled with D-Rex (Kaminski et al., 2004, GJI), an open source code that has been parallelized and modified to account for fast computation, combined diffusion-dislocation creep (Faccenda and Capitanio, 2012a, GRL; 2013, Gcubed), LPO of transition zone and lower mantle polycrystalline aggregates, P-T dependence of single crystal elastic tensors (Faccenda, 2014, PEPI), advection and non-steady-state deformation of crystal aggregates in 2D/3D cartesian/spherical grids with basic/staggered velocity nodes (Hu et al., 2017, EPSL), homogeneous sampling of the mantle by implementation of the Deformable PIC method (Samuel, 2018, GJI), apparent anisotropy in layered or crack-bearing rocks estimated with the Differential Effective Medium (DEM) (Sturgeon et al., Gcubed, 2019). The new version of D-Rex can solve for the LPO evolution of 100.000s polycrystalline aggregates of the whole mantle in a few hours, outputting the full elastic tensor of poly-crystalline aggregates as a function of each single crystal orientation, volume fraction and P-T scaled elastic moduli.

The crystal aggregates can then be interpolated in a tomographic grid for either visual inspection of the mantle elastic properties  (such as Vp and Vs isotropic anomalies; radial, azimuthal, Vp and Vs anisotropies; reflected/refracted energy at discontinuities for different incidence angles as imaged by receiver function studies; ), or to generate input files for large-scale synthetic waveform modelling (e.g., SPECFEM3D format; FSTRACK format to calculate SKS splitting (Becker et al., 2006, GJI)).
Estimation of flood loss functions by activity sectors in the Pamplona metropolitan area in Spain by using insurance flood direct damage data
Authors: Mediero Luis , Soriano Enrique , Santillán David , Cueto-Felgueroso Luis , Garrote Luis
Published: March 2020

Flood risk assessment studies require information about direct damages that depend on several variables, such as water depth, water velocity, flood duration, activity sector and type of building, among others. However, loss functions are usually simplified through flow depth-direct damage curves. Direct flood damages driven by a given flood event can be estimated directly from such loss functions by using either known or estimated water depths.

In his study, flow depth-direct damage curves are estimated for a set of activity sectors in the Pamplona metropolitan area located in the northern part of Spain, within the activities of the EIT Climate-KIC SAFERPLACES project. A dataset containing all flood direct damages in the Pamplona metropolitan area in the period 1996-2018 were supplied by the Spanish ‘Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros’ (CSC), benefiting from the fact that CSC is the insurance company that covers all damages produced by natural hazards in Spain. Flood direct damages are classified by activity sectors and postal codes. In addition, observed streamflow data at a set of gauging sites in the Ulzama and Arga rivers were supplied by both the Ebro River Basin Authority and the Regional Government of Navarre. A set of seven flood events with both streamflow and direct damage data available were selected. Flood hydrographs in the Arga River at Pamplona were obtained with a temporal resolution of 15 minutes. The Regional Government of Navarre supplied the real flood extensions for a set of flood events. With such real flood extensions, the two-dimensional hydrodynamic IBER model was calibrated. Flood extensions and water depths with a spatial resolution of 1 m were estimated with the calibrated hydrodynamic model for the seven flood events. Combining the dataset of direct damages with standard flow depth-direct damage curves and with water depths simulated by the hydrodynamic model, flood depth-damage curves were estimated by municipalities and postal codes. Such curves were obtained for activity sectors, considering residential, commercial and industrial assets.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the project SAFERPLACES funded by the EIT Climate-KIC. The authors also acknowledge the ‘Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros’ for providing the flood direct damage dataset and the Regional Government of Navarre for providing the real flood extensions for given flood events.