bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Slope Stability Assessment of Half Tunnel near Thopan area on National Highway-05 in Kinnaur District, NW Himalaya, India using Empirical, Kinematic and Limit Equilibrium methods
Authors: Parkash Jai , Thakur Mahesh , Singh Jugraj , Negi Virender Singh
Published: February 2023

Half tunnels occurring as ‘overhangs’ within steep slopes of massive and hard rock mass have advantages over full tunnels or open excavations as they are economical and take short time in construction. Because of their sporadic occurrence along NH-05 the stability analysis of half tunnels in these areas is undone and some are still unexplored. These half tunnels are excavated through a highly jointed/fractured rock slopes which may be the threat to people’s lives and can disrupt the transportation in any time if any reinforcement is not given. The detached rock blocks from these half tunnels and surrounding rocky slopes took many local peoples and tourists lives in the past. These half tunnels in the Himalayan regions have existed since many years despite any reinforcement given to them. The stability analysis of these fractured and jointed rock mass associated with half tunnels are needs to be carried out and requires proper remedial measures and reinforcements to avoid any mishap in future. Therefore, in this regard, the present study endeavors the slope stability assessment of one such half tunnel, a stretch of ca.1km located near Thopan on NH- 05 in Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Basic Rock Mass Rating (RMR basic) has been used to classify and evaluate rock mass exposed in this half tunnel. Total six slopes have been chosen for stability assessment. Rock mass classification done by Basic Rock Mass Rating (RMRbasic) categorizes all six rock slopes into class II (good rock).  Continuous Slope Mass Rating (CSMR) was used to evaluate the stability of these six slopes in which 5 slopes fall into the Class V category and one slope fall into Class III category. The kinematic analysis demonstrates that wedge failure is the most common and likely failure type amongst the three failures (wedge, planar, and toppling) in the jointed rock slopes of half tunnel. The Factor of Safety (FoS) was also calculated for all the six slopes having the lowest CSMR values in the wedge failure case. All these 6 slopes are unstable showing FoS values less than one. Keywords: Slope Stability, NW Himalaya, Half Tunnels, Rock slopes, RMR, CSMR, Kinematic Analysis, FoS, Swedge model.
Physics-Constrained Deep Learning for Downscaling
Authors: Harder Paula , Ramesh Venkatesh , Hernandez-Garcia Alex , Yang Qidong , Sattigeri Prasanna , Szwarcman Daniela , Watson Campbell , Rolnick David
Published: February 2023

The availability of reliable, high-resolution climate and weather data is important to inform long-term decisions on climate adaptation and mitigation and to guide rapid responses to extreme events. Forecasting models are limited by computational costs and, therefore, often generate coarse-resolution predictions. Statistical downscaling can provide an efficient method of upsampling low-resolution data. In this field, deep learning has been applied successfully, often using image super-resolution methods from computer vision. However, despite achieving visually compelling results in some cases, such models frequently violate conservation laws when predicting physical variables. In order to conserve physical quantities, we develop methods that guarantee physical constraints are satisfied by a deep learning downscaling model while also improving their performance according to traditional metrics. We compare different constraining approaches and demonstrate their applicability across different neural architectures as well as a variety of climate and weather data sets, including ERA5 and WRF data sets.
Urban moisture based on commercial microwave links (CML) data and relation to land-cover – case of Tel- Aviv metropolitan area
Authors: Rubin Yoav , Sohn Shira , Alpert Pinhas
Published: February 2023

The near-surface humidity is a crucial variable in many atmospheric processes, mostly in those related to development of clouds and rain. The humidity at the height of a few tens of meters above surface is highly influenced by the surface characteristics. In many cases the land-cover (LC) is responsible for the spatial variation of the surface humidity field, therefore, it is a major factor in determining the conditions for rainfall. Cities are one of the primary LCs which have a substantial impact on the humidity field. Large urban areas are expanding, causing a significant change in the near-surface humidity field. Measuring the near-surface humidity in high resolution, where most of the humidity’s sinks and sources are, is challenging with the common tools available today. Current measurement tools do not satisfactorily assess the cities’ effects on the humidity field. A new approach for measuring the humidity, based on the cellular network, provides high resolution information on the near-surface humidity. Therefore, we can examine the land-cover effect on the humidity in the low atmosphere in fine scale. In this study, the humidity field around Tel Aviv was retrieved from the cellular network during the summer of 2017. The results show a well-noticed impact of the city and other LC types on the humidity field over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. The method presented here can offer an improved description of the humidity field at the city-canopy level and therefore provide a better assessment of the urban/LC effects on the environment, atmospheric modeling, and particularly on clouds/rain development.
Long-term trend of equatorial Atlantic zonal SST gradient linked to the tropical Pacific cold tongue mode under global warming
Authors: Li Yang
Published: February 2023

The equatorial Atlantic zonal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient, which has significant climatic and biogeochemical effects, is closely associated with the equatorial Pacific zonal SST gradient through Walker circulation on seasonal and interannual time scales. However, discrepancies in current SST datasets mean that its long-term trend is not well understood. Here, using multiple datasets, we find a robust weakening long-term trend (i.e., greater warming in the east than west) in the equatorial Atlantic zonal SST gradient over the period 1900–2010 in all datasets. We also find that this weakening trend is closely linked to the tropical Pacific cold tongue mode (CTM), which corresponds to a strong increasing long-term trend of zonal SST gradient along the equatorial Pacific (i.e., warming in the west and cooling in the east). Specifically, the long-term cooling SST anomalies associated with the CTM modify the Walker circulation, and leads to weaker trade winds over the western equatorial Atlantic. These in turn deepen the thermocline in the eastern equatorial Atlantic, and cause the weakening long-term trend of SST gradient along the equatorial Atlantic. The long-term trend of the CTM is induced by ocean dynamical feedback in response to global warming, suggesting that global warming could affect the equatorial Atlantic zonal SST gradient via the CTM. Our results provide a novel explanation of the linkages between the long-term trend of equatorial Atlantic zonal SST gradient and the CTM under global warming, which carries important implications for the relationship between global warming and the equatorial Atlantic zonal SST gradient.
Radio wAve Propagation In thE solaR wind (RAPIER)
Authors: Krupar Vratislav , Kruparova Oksana , Merka Jan , Pasanen Jacob
Published: February 2023

Type II and III radio bursts are associated with solar eruptive events–CMEs and solar flares. Since radio wave propagation in the interplanetary medium is strongly affected by random electron density fluctuations, radio bursts provide us with a unique diagnostic tool for solar wind remote plasma measurements.  Radio wAve Propagation In thE solaR wind (RAPIER) is a proposal submitted to the Heliophysics Theory, Modeling, Simulations (H-TMS) program, which is a component of the Heliophysics Research Program (NASA). Within this project, we intend to analyze spacecraft data and computer simulations to improve our knowledge of the generation and propagation of type II and III radio bursts and density fluctuations in the inner heliosphere. We will achieve this goal by answering the following science question: “What is the role of solar wind structures on radio burst propagation?” We will study the role of small and large scale density structures on the propagation of radio waves in the solar wind using computer simulations. Specifically, we will focus on disentangling the intrinsic variations in solar radio emissions from propagation effects. We will study the role of scattering by plasma density inhomogeneities on the propagation of radio waves using computer simulations. It allows us to remotely investigate density fluctuations near the Sun, where plasma turbulence evolves and dissipates to heat and accelerate solar wind plasma. Recent solar radio dedicated instruments in space (Parker and Solar Orbiter) allow us for the first time to accurately track radio bursts from the photosphere to the inner heliosphere, and to quantitatively test our radio wave propagation model.
Progress in assessing resilience to climate-related flood risks thanks to a comparative study between two francophone methods
Authors: Heinzlef Charlotte , Casault Aglaé , Thomas Isabelle , Serre Damien
Published: February 2023

Urban resilience has now become an international imperative. Preparing, adapting and assisting urban territories in a resilient adaptation to climate risks is one of the modern challenges. However, the concept of resilience remains fuzzy, complicated to operationalize for  local actors. Operationalization requires first of all the measurement of resilience levels. This measurement is done above all through the development of indicators. The indicators are often based on the analysis of the resilience of critical infrastructure. Questions of material resistance and return to service are the most frequent. Measuring the territory and the population in a holistic and systemic way is more complex. However, some approaches have co-developed indicators with local actors to measure and define urban resilience by integrating socio-economic, urban, technical and environmental dimensions. We will analyze here two approaches: one developed and tested on two French territories, the other developed and tested in municipalities of Quebec.What advances have been made in the development and application of urban resilience indicators in Francophone territories? What types of data are used and what are the geovisualization tools? What are the best choices to develop decision support processes with local actors? This comparison between the different methods and respective advances will allow to identify the most suitable practices for initiating and consolidating informed decision support and innovative practices in terms of urban resilience.  
The Key Role of Plate Tectonics for Accelerating the Evolution of Complex Life: Quest for the Missing Extraterrestrial Civilizations
Authors: Gerya Taras , Stern Rbert
Published: February 2023

It is often assumed that quest for intelligent life is equivalent to quest for any life in general. In particular, the Drake Equation predicts that there should be many exoplanets in our galaxy hosting active, communicative civilizations (ACCs) but the Fermi Paradox notes that there is no evidence that any others exist. The paradox may be explained by recognizing that advanced complex life is only likely to develop on a very small fraction of planets hosting any life. Here, we suggest that ACCs can only develop on a convecting silicate body with life, prolonged plate tectonics and significant expanses of oceans and continents, and that meeting all three of these requirements may be extremely difficult to achieve.  Continents and oceans are required because early life evolution must happen in water but late evolution capable of creating technology must happen on slowly but continuously evolving land masses due to the critical influence of landscape and habitat diversity in space and time for accelerating the evolution of complex species. We further suggest that oceanic-continental plate tectonic environments of the modern Earth have formed only very recently at 1.0-0.5 Ga and accelerated the evolution of complex life in five ways: 1) increased nutrient supply; 2) increased free oxygen in the atmosphere and ocean; 3) climate amelioration; 4) accelerated habitat formation; and 5) moderate sustained environmental pressure.  The absence of comparable factors on the other possible types of global tectonic environments (such as squishy lid, stagnant lid, volcanic heat pipe) characteristic for silicate bodies (e.g., early Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Io) makes the emergence of both complex life and ACCs on such bodies unlikely.  The Fermi Paradox may therefore be resolved if: 1) two additional terms are added to the Drake Equation: foc (the fraction of exoplanets with significant continents and oceans) and fpt (the fraction of habitable planets that have had plate tectonics operating for at least 500 Ma; and 2) the product of foc and fpt is very small.  The lack of evidence for extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy may reflect the scarcity of long-lived oceanic-continental plate tectonic environments in particular requiring goldilocks condition in term of the stable surface water volume allowing for long-term coexistence of both dry lands and oceans. 
Estimating root-zone soil moisture from gamma radiation monitoring data
Authors: Akter Sonia , Huisman Johan Alexander , Bogena Heye Reemt
Published: February 2023

Root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) information is valuable in a wide range of applications, including weather forecasting, hydrological and land surface modeling, and agricultural production. However, there is still a lack of sensing information that adequately represents RZSM, especially with regard to longer periods and larger spatial scales. For example, active and passive microwave remote sensing observations for soil moisture are limited to the topsoil and can be influenced by land cover type. One option for RZSM observation is terrestrial gamma radiation as it is inversely related with soil moisture. Hence, the near-real-time data of more than 4600 gamma radiation monitoring stations archived by the EUropean Radiological Data Exchange Platform (EURDEP) may be a potential source to develop a RZSM product for Europe without extra investments in sensors. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent the EURDEP data can be used for RZSM estimation. For this, two gamma radiation monitoring stations were equipped with in-situ soil water content sensors to measure reference RZSM. The terrestrial component of gamma radiation was extracted after eliminating the contribution of secondary cosmic radiation. For this, it was assumed that the long-term contribution of secondary cosmic radiation is constant and that the variations are caused by changes in atmospheric pressure and incoming neutrons. In addition, precipitation effects creating a sudden increase in gamma radiation due to atmospheric washout of radon progenies to the ground were eliminated by excluding time periods with precipitation. Finally, multi-year terrestrial gamma radiation measurements were used to estimate weekly RZSM and the results were compared with the reference measurements. It was found that the seasonal variation of RZSM can be reasonably well predicted with an RMSE of 7 – 9 vol.% from gamma radiation measurements. However, the radiation-based RZSM estimates fluctuated with a much greater amplitude compared to the reference data, especially during the winter and spring season. This may be related to unknown or neglected additional sources that affect the gamma radiation signal and this needs to be further investigated. Although the accuracy of radiation-based RZSM estimates is not as good as many other in-situ sensors, this technique is still competitive with satellite-based remote sensing technique to estimate RZSM on the continental scale.
Implementing Urban Resilience at the Local Level: Three Francophone Urban Case Studies
Authors: Heinzlef Charlotte , Casault Aglaé , Serre Damien , Thomas Isabelle
Published: February 2023

Preparing for climate change and uncertainties associated with it has become the priority of urban territories. Among these climate risks, flood risk is the most expensive risk worldwide. Yet, local actors are struggling to operationalize the concept of resilience and to equip themselves to prepare and adapt their territories.Developing decision-making tools to support, guide and accompany territories in their adaptation is becoming an urgent and essential issue. Two decision support tools have been developed in France and in Quebec to increase the resilience of three territories at risk of river and coastal flooding. Located in the southwestern part of the province of Quebec, in the Laurentian region, and at the confluence of the North, Ouataouais and Saint-André rivers, the municipality of Saint-André -d'Argenteuil is particularly at risk. Faced with the severe flooding of 2017, the community has therefore embarked on a long-term resilience and adaptation process. The city of Avignon, in the south of France, is located at the confluence of the Rhône and Durance rivers. The numerous floods that the city has experienced has allowed the development of a risk culture, enabling the implementation of resilience strategies with local stakeholders. Finally, French Polynesia is extremely vulnerable to climate risks. The major floods of 2017, which paralyzed the territory, alerted and trained local actors in a search for adapted and long-term resilience strategies.We will analyze the issues of these territories, the two tools co-developed with local actors, their respective contributions and their limits. Finally, we will question the potential genericity of the tools and their capacity to support different types of territories and local actors over the long term.
Data-driven simulation of a magnetic flux rope in the heliosphere: from birth to death
Authors: Guo Jinhan , Ni Yiwei , Guo Yang , Xia Chun , Chen Pengfei , Poedts Stefaan , Schmieder Brigitte
Published: February 2023

Magnetic flux ropes are bundles of twisted magnetic field lines produced by the internal flowing electric currents, which are regarded as one of the basic and pivot structures in solar and space physics. Statistics showed that about 90% of the erupting filaments are supported by flux ropes, implying that the majority of solar eruptions are driven by flux ropes. Moreover, the post-eruption flux ropes in interplanetary space, called interplanetary magnetic clouds, are the major drivers of geomagnetic storms. As such, a numerical model that is capable of capturing the whole process of the flux rope from its birth to its death or eruption is certainly crucial for predicting adverse space weather events. Recently, we develop a data-driven model combined with the observed vector magnetic field and velocity field, which reproduces the formation and confined eruption of an observed flux rope. We find that the photospheric shearing and converging plasma flows play a critical role in the flux rope formation, and the magnetic configuration is analogous to the “tether-cutting”  reconnection illustration. Regarding the confined eruption, we find that the deformation of the flux rope during the eruption causes an increase in downward tension force, which suppresses the ascendence of the flux rope. This finding might shed light on why many large-angle rotation events are always confined and torus unstable.
Localisation of the ruins of ancient megalithic structures near water sources – a case study at Porto Santo Island, Portugal
Authors: Kukela Agnese , Seglins Valdis
Published: February 2023

Porto Santo Island  is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe and Africa. The island is rare populated as result of historical terrace farming decline because of island slopes erosion and shortage of water resources. Modern days these areas are under afforestation activities.Our research carried out in summer 2022 indicates that Porto Santo Island was inhabited before it was discovered by the Portuguese. The ruins of megalithic structures priory discovered on the island of Madeira, led to assumption that such ruins could also be found on Porto Santo. When the island, some stone blocks processed with stone tools were found. Additionally, the characteristic shapes given to the stones of ancient megalithic cultures have been determined, and the very simplified treatment of their surface with stone tools has been documented. Fragments of ancient marks and sings are still traceable on the surfaces of some stones, which are being studied. In some parts of the island the concentration of megaliths is higher, and the ruins of building structures can be mostly found in the eastern and northern parts of the island.Typically, such ruins are not concentrated at the coastal area, but are located on an elevated relief surface at a height of about 130-150 meters. At this level, where the terrain is crossed by ravines with periodically flowing streams, there are places where the ruins of megalithic structures are most often found. In this area the ravine streams are still constant throughout the year, but towards the ocean they completely disappear and resume their flow only during the rainy season.Most likely, the connection directly to water sources, which is a critical resource for life on the island, has determined the location of the monuments of the megalithic culture. Presumably, such a connection has also existed in the settlements of the inhabitants in unknown antiquity.The limited number of monumental ruins on the island indicates the relative temporality of the existence of this ancient culture, as well as the small size of its population. When due to climatic changes, the rainy season is short and the amount of precipitation is insufficient for their infiltration, and such a phenomenon lasts for decades, the sources of drinking water dry up irretrievably and people must leave the island. In the case of Porto Santo, it is likely that the ancient inhabitants migrated to the nearby island of Madeira, which is richer in water resources.Key words: ancient cultures, prehistory, stone processing, stone marksThe study has been founded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation project No.2018-1-0137 “EU-WATERRES: EU-integrated management system of cross-border groundwater resources and anthropogenic hazards”.
Modelling Earth's lithospheric magnetic field using satellites in low-perigee elliptical orbits
Authors: Olsen Nils
Published: February 2023

The sensitivity of magnetic measurements taken by satellites in elliptical orbits to the lithospheric magnetic field is studied by comparing the formal error variances of the lithospheric Gauss coefficients for various satellite orbital constellations.We compare the results obtained using a satellite in a near-polar circular orbit at 350 km altitude with those from a satellite in an elliptical orbit with perigee at 140 km (and apogee at 1500 km) and find that the latter leads to Gauss coefficient variances at spherical harmonic degree n = 180 (corresponding to a horizontal wavelength of λ= 220 km) that are 104 times smaller compared to those derived from a similar number of data measured at 350 km altitude. These findings are supported by an analysis of synthetic magnetic data along simulated satellite orbits from which the lithospheric Gauss coefficients are estimated and compared with the original ones used to generate the synthetic data.The analysis demonstrates that low-altitude magnetic data collected by satellites in low-perigee elliptical orbits - although only available for a fraction of each orbit - enable improved global lithospheric field modelling at spatial wavelengths well beyond what is currently possible with data from satellites in circular orbits that do not reach such low altitudes. We applied the approach to the orbital configuration proposed for the Daedalus satellite mission (140 km perigee); the method will however also help in the preparation for other satellite missions in near-polar low-perigee elliptical orbits like the Macau Science Satellite pair MSS-2A and MSS-2B (perigee of 200 km or lower).
Transient effects in the atmosphere/ionosphere and their re-occurrence before large earthquakes. Case study for the 2022 “anniversary” events.
Authors: Ouzounov Dimitar , Pulients Sergey , Liu Jann-Yenq , Hattori Katsumi , Kafatos Menas , Taylor Patrick
Published: February 2023

We present a study on temporal and spatial characteristics of Thermal Radiation anomalies (TRA) and ionospheric total electron content (TEC) pre-earthquake abnormalities associated with the occurred in 2022 “anniversary” earthquakes. “Anniversary”  is a quake occurring on the same date and following the years after the main earthquake, plus or minus several days.We studied eleven large earthquakes in four regions: i/Japan: M7.3 of 03.16.2022 and M9.0 of 03.11.2011 East Coast Honshu; ii/Mexico: M7.6 of 09.19.2022 Michoacan; M7.1 of 09.19.2017 Puebla and M8.0 of 09.19.1985 Mexico City;/iii Chile: M5.7 02.28.2022 Bio-Bio and M8.8 02.27.2010 Maule and /iv Taiwan: M6.9 of 09.18.2022 Taitung and M7.7 of 09.21.1999 Chi-Chil and M6.7 of 03.22.2022 Taitung and M6 of 03.27.2013 Nantou earthquake.We analyzed for TRA and TEC anomalies concerning the earthquake preparation zone (EPZ). For EPZ estimates, we use Dobrovolsky et al. (1979), and Bowman et al. (1998) estimates where the EPZ radius scales exponentially with earthquake magnitude, especially from Mw ≥ 6.0 onwards, and gives an extended coverage at larger magnitudes to examine TRA and ionospheric TEC anomalies. The main goals of this study were: 1/to understand the seismotectonic conditions that preceded the earthquake re-occurrence in the same place and on the same day(s): 2/ to perform a validation study about pre-earthquake signal occurrences in the same atmospheric and solar-geophysical conditions and 3/ to understand the potential triggering mechanism. Our preliminary results show synergetic coordination between the appearance of pre-earthquake transients’ effects in the atmosphere and ionosphere (with a short time lag, from hours up to a few days). The spatial characteristics of pre-earthquake anomalies were associated with the large area but inside the preparation region estimated by Dobrovolsky-Bowman. The pre-earthquake nature of the signals in the atmosphere and ionosphere was revealed by simultaneous analysis of satellite, GPS/TEC, and Satellite Earth observations. The “anniversary” events are recognized with common pre-earthquake transient re-occurrence patterns in the atmosphere/ionosphere within EPZ, scaled to the extent of the earthquake magnitude.
Influence of MJO on cyclone activity in the north Indian Ocean and Western North Pacific
Authors: Raghudhas Rahul , Kuttippurath Jayanarayanan , Chakraborty Arun , Rajeev Akhila
Published: February 2023

We investigate the changes in cyclogenesis and tropical cyclone (TC) activity by the warped life cycle of MJO triggered by the two-fold expansion of the warm pool that occurred during the period of the past 40 years (1979-2019). To study the impact of MJO on TC genesis and activity, we have used the genesis potential index (GPI), accumulated cyclonic energy (ACE) and frequency of cyclones in the active, moderately active and non-active periods of MJO in the North Indian Ocean (NIO) and Western North Pacific (WNP). We find an inverse characteristic of anomalies of relative humidity, vertical wind shear, absolute vorticity, potential intensity, GPI and sea surface temperature over the tropical region between active and non-active years of MJO (1979-2019). High TC activity is experienced during the moderately active years of MJO over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and WNP. The impact of MJO on TC activity over WNP from October to December (OND) is not particularly dominant during the active years. The genesis of TCs over the Arabian Sea (AS) have also increased during the active years of MJO; indicating that the impact of MJO is increasing over AS. In addition, stalling of eastward propagation of MJO is noticed over the Maritime Continent (MC) during the active and moderately active MJO years. After phase 5, a strong decline in the trend of the phase duration over WNP is noticed, which can be attributed to the reduced TC genesis and activity over WNP during the MJO active years. Reduced MJO activity during OND over WNP, along with lower absolute vorticity and vertical velocity, resulted in lower TC activity and genesis. Our analysis reveals the basin dependency of TC activity and genesis over AS, BoB and WNP due to the stalled propagation of MJO over MC by the extended Indo-Pacific warm pool driven by anthropogenic activities.
Evaluation of the impact of climate change on the shallow aquifer of Grombalia (Tunisia)
Authors: Tanda Maria Giovanna , Akrout Hanene , Secci Daniele , Todaro Valeria , Zanini Andrea , D'oria Marco , Baccouche Hatem , Mansouri Iobna , Mellah Thouraya , Ghrabi Ahmed
Published: February 2023

Climate change presents a serious problem for water resources (WR) and the shallow aquifers are strongly affected. This type of WR presents fundamental importance in certain regions, due to their accessibility and sometimes, for their quality, it is preferred to surface water sources, often polluted. It is also, affected by overexploitation problems, which contribute to the destruction of the sustainability of the aquifer system. This study considers the Grombalia aquifer in Tunisia which has suffered from climate change’s impact in recent years due to water resources scarcity. Aim of the present research is to evaluate the impact of climate change on this aquifer that is one of the pilot sites in the European project InTheMed. First, a collection of historical temperature, precipitation and groundwater level data in the period 1976-2020 was carried out. Then, starting from the few available geological cross sections, a two-dimensional numerical model of the aquifer was developed in MODFLOW. The groundwater numerical model reproduces the whole basin, from the recharge area to the outlet in the Mediterranean Sea. The area is characterized by agricultural intensive activities and high-water demand. For this reason, the model required a calibration of hydraulic parameters, recharge and pumping rate. After the calibration, the numerical model was able to estimate the groundwater flow across the entire watershed of Grombalia aquifer. To evaluate the impact of climate change on the future groundwater availability, the model was driven using future precipitation and temperature projections. The water abstractions were assumed to remain unchanged in the future and equal to the condition of existing wells at 2020. To describe the future climate, 17 combinations of Regional Climate Models (RCM) and General Circulation Models (GCMs), developed within the EURO-CORDEX initiative, were used. The simulations were performed for the period 2006-2100, and according to the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Before their use, the climate projections were downscaled and bias corrected with reference to the historical temperature and precipitation data. The results are evaluated in terms of local variations of the groundwater level and their uncertainty is expressed with reference to the variability of the 17 RCM-GCM combinations.Acknowledgments This work was developed under the scope of the InTheMED project. InTheMED is part of the PRIMA program supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 1923. 
Analyzing the effect of the duration of soil warming on subarctic grasslands using high-resolution multispectral images
Authors: Hamedpour Amir , D. Sigurdsson Bjarni , Peñuelas Josep , Filella Iolanda , Einarsson Hafsteinn , Latré Steven , Stefánsson Tryggvi
Published: February 2023

Climate change is causing rapid changes in sub-Arctic and Arctic terrestrial ecosystems compared to the other biomes. As these ecosystems are so sensitive to climate change, more research on how the rising of temperature affects these ecosystems is essential.This study is implemented in the ForHot research site located in Iceland encompassing geothermally heated natural grasslands. This research site contains two areas, one that has been warmed geothermally for over 60 years (long-term warming; LTW) and the other since 2008 (medium-term warming; MTW). The LTW area contains 24 plots and the MTW contains 30 plots, with the mean annual soil temperature ranging between 5 to 21 °C for LTW and 6 to 46 °C for MTW in 2022. The main goal of this study was to understand how the warming level and the duration of warming (MTW vs. LTW) have affected the average seasonal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) during 2022.For this study, we repeatedly collected high-resolution multispectral data using Micasense dual camera system and DJI Matrice 600 drone each month from April 2022 to October 2022 as well as soil temperature data of each plot, and some other parameters such as precipitation, air temperature, wind speed, and soil water content.Here we present the results on how the warming level and the duration of warming affected the monthly and seasonal average NDVI in the MTW and LTW grassland ecosystems.
An Application of UAV in Open-pit Gold Deposit Geological Field Mapping
Authors: Wang Jiayi , Qiu Kunfeng , Fu Jianan
Published: February 2023

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can greatly improve the geological field mapping. However, applications of UAV in the investigations of the deposit still remain to be explored. The Liba gold deposit, located at the Li-Min gold belt to the western Qinling orogenic belt, is a typical open-pit gold deposit. The associated (local) landscape and geomorphology provide an excellent natural laboratory to explore the UAV in deposit field mapping. Here, UAV-based photogrammetry was performed to get the aerial photos across the mining area, as well asoutcrop information from the Liba gold mine. In the combination with a detailed field work, alteration zones with the regional faults can be efficiently interpreted and evaluated, both from the macro- to micro scale. According to the work, we established a general working flow of the usage of UAV deposit field exploration to improves the field work. By demonstrating the UAV-based technical applied in Liba, this work can strongly promote the understanding and interpretation of regional geology during the field work.Key words: Open-pit Gold Deposit, Liba gold deposit, UAV-drone photogrammetry, Geological field mapping
Imaging magma beneath the rift zones of Axial Seamount on the Juan de Fuca Ridge
Authors: Lee Michelle , Carbotte Suzanne , Arnulf Adrien
Published: February 2023

Axial Seamount is an active submarine volcano formed by the intersection of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Cobb-Eickelberg hot spot. The Axial Seamount volcanic system includes the central volcano marked by a caldera and bounding northern and southern rift zones. Prior studies of the last three eruptions at Axial (Jan. 1998, Apr. 2011, Apr. 2015) indicate lava flows and earthquake swarms extending from the summit caldera and into the rift zones. These eruptions are believed to have been sourced from the well-imaged large magma reservoir found beneath the summit caldera of Axial (Arnulf et al., 2014, Carbotte et al., 2020). However, areas beyond the summit caldera have not been explored for potential magma sources that could have contributed to these events.
In this study, we process and analyze multi-channel seismic (MCS) data acquired in 2002 from the Juan de Fuca Ridge to characterize the internal structure of the rift zones. The reflective profiles reveal small crustal magma bodies beneath and in the vicinity of lava flows in rift zones from the three prior eruptions. These magma bodies are less than 5km wide and are located at depths of ~1.5-5.2km beneath the seafloor. We also image wide magma bodies within the overlap regions between the rift zones and the neighboring Juan de Fuca segments. We image a 6.4km wide body under the eastern flank of the northern rift zone overlapping with the Coaxial segment and a 1km wide, ~400-500km thick magma body under the overlapping basin between the southern rift zone and Vance segment. Collectively the new observations from the MCS data reveals that, in addition to the main magma reservoir, there are also multiple small and discontinuous crustal magma bodies underlying the Axial segment. Through interpretations of the seismicity pattern and lava flow compositions, we believe that these magma bodies likely contribute the rift zone magmatism.  
Hazard index applied to natural rivers – Preliminary result from a case study of mountain trails in southern Brazil
Authors: Refatti Fagundes Marina , Mainardi Fan Fernando , Michel Gean Paulo , Campagnolo Karla , Kobiyama Masato , Pöppl Ronald , Abatti Bruno Henrique
Published: February 2023

Trails are one of the main places for ecotourism practitioners’ activities. Many of them are located close to watercourses, and it is often necessary for practitioners to cross them. This often leads to dangerous situations, since critical conditions of water stages and flow velocity can make people lose their walking stability. One way to quantify these hazards is the hazard index (HI) which, in general, is defined as the product of the flow velocity by its depth (Stephenson, 2002). Although many studies have been carried out to determine the HI values as safety limits for people exposed to water flows, none of them analyzed the natural river conditions like those encountered during an ecotourism trail. In these environments, locomotion is hampered due to the surface which is usually highly irregular and often contains slippery rocks and sediments. Thus, that there is a gap related to the HI analysis in natural rivers, and more research becomes necessary, since more people have sought to carry out activities related to ecotourism. The main objective of this research is to apply HI approach in natural rivers so that its results can be utilized in the management of trails containing watercourses crossing. Initially, a bibliographic review was carried out, where some important concerns related to people's loss of stability were analyzed. The results of the bibliographic review were organized within a summary table which permits verifying variables with stronger influence on people's stability, during these walks. After this first stage, three mountain trails located in the Aparados da Serra National Park, in southern Brazil, were selected for field measurements. In all of these trails, measurements of flow depth and velocity were carried out using a small current meter and the granulometry of the river sediments was measured through an adaptation of the Pebble Count method. The measurements were taken at all points where tourists cross the riverbed during the trails, i.e., 23 measurement sites in total. The analysis of these data resulted in preliminar information: (i) an easy-to-interpret diagram that indicates the thresholds values of HI in natural rivers, named Hazard Index Diagram of Natural River (HIDNR); and (ii) list of the main variables responsible for people's loss of stability, in order to contribute to the safety of ecotourism practitioners. One of the next steps of the work is to analyze how the sediment transport and connectivity behaviour could give us insights about hazard levels.REFERENCESSTEPHENSON, D. (2002). Integrated flood plain management strategy for the Vaal. Urban Water, v. 4, n. 4, p. 423-428.
From Dense Flows to Powder Cloud Simulations: The OpenFOAM Avalanche Module
Authors: Rauter Matthias , Kowalski Julia , Fellin Wolfgang
Published: February 2023

OpenFOAM [1] is a well-known and widely used framework for physical simulations. Its Finite Area Framework allows the depth-integrated simulation of flows on nearly arbitrary surfaces. It was shown that this framework can be applied to snow avalanche simulations in natural terrain [2].We will present the latest updates to the framework and the implementation of the avalanche module. The module provides not only a model for dense flow avalanches [2], but was lately extended to simulate powder snow avalanches and mixed snow avalanches. Various well-known friction and snow entrainment models are available for use, as well as unique models for deposition and coupling of dense flow and powder cloud layer in mixed snow avalanches. For practical applications, the module provides interfaces and methods for the integration of geographic information systems (GIS) and is fully capable of using raster and shape files for in- and output.The avalanche module is built to integrate well in the OpenFOAM structure and follows the common user concepts of OpenFOAM. Therefore, users familiar with OpenFOAM should be able to accommodate quickly to the module and to run simulations after a short time. The module is provided as open source and its structure enables and encourages the implementation and experimenting with new ideas. One mayor goal of the module is to reduce the time from model development to model evaluation and application.The module is hosted and developed collaboratively on develop.openfoam.com/Community/avalanche. We will provide an introduction into the framework and development process and provide interested people pointers on how to get started with the module and how to implement their own ideas.[1] Weller, H. G., Tabor, G., Jasak, H., & Fureby, C. (1998). A tensorial approach to computational continuum mechanics using object-oriented techniques. Computers in physics, 12(6), 620-631.[2] Rauter, M., Kofler, A., Huber, A., & Fellin, W. (2018). faSavageHutterFOAM 1.0: depth-integrated simulation of dense snow avalanches on natural terrain with OpenFOAM. Geoscientific Model Development, 11(7), 2923-2939.
Has the frequency of Mediterranean Marine Heatwaves really increased in the last decades?
Authors: Marullo Salvatore , De Toma Vincenzo , di Sarra Alcide , Iacono Roberto , Landolfi Angela , Leonelli Francesca , Napolitano Ernesto , Meloni Daniela , Organelli Emanuele , Pisano Andrea , Santoleri Rosalia , Sferlazzo Damiano
Published: February 2023

Marine Heat Waves (MHWs) are events of prolonged anomalously warm water, in portions of the oceans, which may have severe impacts on the local marine ecosystems.  In a climate change scenario, with increasing temperatures and more frequent atmospheric extreme events, the frequency and intensity of the MHWs are expected to increase. However, in a warming ocean, the choice of the long-term baseline used to compute SST anomalies becomes a critical issue, since it can significantly affect the frequency and intensity of the events. It may be argued that this climate change signal should be removed, in some way, to allow for a correct detection of MHWs.Here, we critically address the problem of how to characterize and define MHWs in the present warming climate scenario by evaluating the impact of different SST climatic baselines, and the effects of removing climate trends from the original SST time series. We focus on the Mediterranean Sea, a hot spot region for climate change, where a strong mean SST increasing trend (about 0.045 °C/year) has been observed in the last 40 years.  Specifically, we use the Mediterranean SSTs, a satellite-based daily gap-free (level-4) SST provided in near real time at 1 km grid resolution and distributed through the Copernicus Marine Service (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00172 ).We then examine the strong Mediterranean MHW of 2022, which started in May and is not yet extinguished at the time of this writing (December 2022). The MHW extended its presence through the summer and autumn seasons, with a sequence of intense events that interested between 30% to 60% of the Mediterranean area. The intensity of the 2022 MHW was comparable to that of the famous 2003 event, but the durations of the two MHWs have been quite different: in 2003 the areal threshold of 30% was exceeded from May to August (4 months) while in 2022 that threshold was exceeded from May to December and continues in January 2023. The evolution of the 2022 MHW is also discussed in relation to the corresponding atmospheric events occurred over the western portion of Europe and of the Mediterranean Sea and complemented with in situ data acquired at the ENEA station for climate observation of Lampedusa.This work is funded in the framework of project “Detection and threats of marine heat waves -CAREHeat” of the European Space Agency - ESA – OCEAN HEALTH  program.
Historical flood classification system. Study cases obtained from the AMARNA database (CE 1035-2022)
Authors: Tuset Jordi , Barriendos Mariano , Barriendos Josep , Balasch Josep Carles , Castelltort Xavier , Gil-Guirado Salvador , Mazón Jordi , Pérez-Morales Alfredo , Pino David
Published: February 2023

Extreme precipitation events are characteristic of regions with a Mediterranean climate. In the framework of the current climate change, precipitation behaviours are different from those that occurred during the 20th century (instrumental period). The possibility that climate change may induce alterations in the patterns of this type of phenomena makes it desirable to prepare and analyse episode chronologies broader than those of the instrumental period. The availability of more extraordinary episodes is relativized by their qualitative information. Pre-instrumental sources of information hardly provide numerical data comparable to the flow records of river floods of modern period.The analysis of high-severity and low-frequency episodes requires the development of specific methodologies for cataloguing and classifying the qualitative information. This work aims to show a proposal for a classification system for flood events on a historical scale. The key aspect of this methodology is the capacity to collect qualitative information on different variables of these events and convert them into numerical indices. The proposal consists of considering a total of three different variables on scales from 0 to 3:            - First, the hydrological behaviour of the event (pluvial floods, fluvial floods or river overflows).- Second, the impact on infrastructures, from minor damages to the destruction of built elements.- Third, human vulnerability, from effects on mobility and transport to loss of human lives.This methodology has been applied to the floods catalogued in the AMARNA flood database (from original language, Multidisciplinary Database for Natural Risk Analysis). This database was created after two Spanish research projects, PREDIFLOOD and MEDIFLOOD (2013-2019) to preserve flood information from Spanish Mediterranean basins.Along with the development of this methodology, we present some examples of the application of this classification system with flood episodes from the AMARNA database. These examples are a selection of historical and instrumental period flood episodes that are cartographically represented using GIS tools. 