bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geographical traceability in grapes: possible applications of trace and ultratrace elements
Authors: Vaccaro Carmela , Faccia Fabio Alessandro , Sansone Luigi , Marrocchino Elena
Published: March 2021

In the last decades the demand for information and criteria, suitable for connecting products to their production regions, is becoming more urgent in order to protect the qualitative high-level productions by forgery. Wine is one of the products that could benefit of a scientific system of analysis able to define its production area. Features of the association between wine and territory are not only related to pedological but also to geographical aspects. Currently, several studies to define markers, such as isotopic ratios of O, C, and N, able to identify types of wine has been carried out, but they are not suitable to univocally define a specific type of wine in particular due to the high variability of some factors (temperature, age of the vineyard, period of such us isotopic…). Several samples of soils and grapes have been collected within the narrow area, characterized by quite heterogeneous lithologies, of the Euganei Hills area (NE of Italy) in order to identify possible markers typical of the growing area. The concentration of 25 elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Pb, Th) have been determined on grapes by using ICP-MS and on soils by using XRF techniques. Moreover, grapes have been further refined and separated in two different fractions (one residual solid fraction and one liquid fraction). The concentration of Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu have been determined on both these fractions in order to implement and complete the distribution pattern of REEs in the samples. Areas with geochemically different soils have been identified and in each one of these areas have been collected grapes of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Moreover, in most areas, several cultivars have been collected in order to better understand how biological variables could affect the assimilation of chemical elements from soils. Chemical composition of the grapes’ inorganic fraction seems more influenced by soils than by cultivar type. In fact, REEs distribution patterns tend to differ more considering the same cultivar grown in areas with different pedological features.
Tracing the Anthropocene bomb-spike in urban strata of Vienna
Authors: Meszar Maria , Hain Karin , Wagreich Michael , Lappé Kira , Mosser Martin , Hornek Katrin , Koukal Veronika , Litschauer Constance , Piperakis Nikolaos
Published: March 2021

Urban anthropogenic strata forms the layered archaeosphere in the underground of large cities. In a transdisciplinary project involving geosciences, isotope physics and urban archaeology, funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), we looked for artificial isotopes in urban layers around the proposed starting date of the Anthropocene in the middle of the 20th century. The tested archaeological site is situated in the heart of Vienna, in a park area at Karlsplatz, adjacent to the renovated Vienna Museum. Excellent and detailed 3D archaeological stratigraphy sets age constraints around 1922, post-1945, and around the 1960s. A layer on top of the WWII rubble that fills fundaments of a 1922 building post-dates 1945, and pre-dates the finishing shaping of the human-made park ground of 1959, the date of the opening of the Vienna Museum. We focused on the fine-grained (clayey-sandy) sediment matrix on top of the WWII rubble, at the base of and mixed with backfilled soil material. The sieved fraction below 2 mm grain size was dried and pulverised. This sediment sample was prepared for chemical separation of actinides which were then analysed by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) using the setup at the Vienna Environmental Research Accelerator (VERA, Isotope Physics Group). We identified several artificial radionuclides including U-236, Np-237, Pu-239, Pu-240. Isotope ratios like Pu-240/Pu-239 and in particular U-233/U-236, which was only recently introduced as anthropogenic tracer by the VERA group, clearly point to atmospheric atomic bomb fallout material of the 1950s to 1960s. A significant input of Chernobyl (1986) material can be excluded based on the ratio Pu-241/Pu-239. Thus, the 1952-1964 bomb-spike as the possible primary (GSSP) marker of the Anthropocene can be identified and used even in coarse urban anthropogenic sediments of big cities, exemplifying the correlation potential of these radionuclide markers.
Evaluation of three short-range (0-6h) rain ensemble forecasts: study of the Aude October 2018 flash floods (southeastern France)
Authors: Charpentier-Noyer Maryse , Payrastre Olivier , Gaume Eric , Nicolle Pierre , Bouttier François , Marchal Hugo
Published: March 2021

The Aude river flash floods that occurred on October 15 and 16, 2018 are among the most important in southeastern France in recent years. The triggering rainfall of the event was characterized by a very fast evolution and low predictability. During the night, nearly 243.5mm of rain in 6 hours was recorded near the city of Carcassonne. In addition to significant considerable material damage, 15 people lost their lives during this flood and 99 people were injured. After the event, the CNRM proposed new forecast ensembles, targeting the possibility of short-term nowcasting (0-6h) of this phenomenon. These ensembles are based on the several NWP models of Météo France: the first ensemble corresponds to the operational AROME-PE product (12 members), the second is a combination of the AROME-PE and AROME-PI models (18 members); finally, the last ensemble corresponds to the second one with a spatial perturbation (90 members). In addition to these ensemble forecasts, ANTILOPE J+1 high resolution observed precipitation data are available.  The work presented here aims to evaluate, from a hydrological point of view, these three rainfall ensembles specifically designed to improve short-range rainfall now casting. Based on the CINECAR distributed hydrological model, discharge ensembles are calculated for nearly 1200 sub-watersheds with an elementary drainage area of 5km². These  forecasts  are compared for each sub-basin with the CINECAR simulation obtained with ANTILOPE J+1 rainfall data.This evaluation approach enables to compensate the lack of discharge observations during the event and to enlarge the dataset used for evaluation. The evaluation results presented combine synthetic scores (CRPS and rank diagrams) often used for ensemble forecasts, but also a user-oriented evaluation framework based on threshold exceedance detection and anticipation. Thresholds for each sub-watershed correspond to the 5, 10, 20 and 50 year return period discharges (SHYREG database). ROC curves are at first established independently of the level of anticipation. In a second time, the anticipation delays are analyzed,. This work finally reveals that (1) synthetic ensemble forecast evaluation scores are not always sufficient to evaluate forecasts; (2) the user oriented evaluation shows a clear hierarchy between the three forecast product ensembles in terms of threshold exceedance detection, but not in terms of anticipation levels.
A Major Ecosystem Shift in Coastal East African Waters during the 1997/98 Super El Niño as Detected Using Remote Sensing Data
Authors: Jacobs Zoe , Jebri Fatma , Srokosz Meric , Raitsos Dionysios , Painter Stuart , Nencioli Francesco , Osuka Kennedy , Samoilys Melita , Sauer Warwick , Roberts Mike , Taylor Sarah , Scott Lucy , Kizenga Hellen , Popova Ekaterina
Published: March 2021

Under the impact of natural and anthropogenic climate variability, upwelling systems are known to change their properties leading to associated regime shifts in marine ecosystems. These often impact commercial fisheries and societies dependent on them. In a region where in situ hydrographic and biological marine data are scarce, this study uses a combination of remote sensing and ocean modelling to show how a stable seasonal upwelling off the Kenyan coast shifted into the territorial waters of neighboring Tanzania under the influence of the unique 1997/ 98 El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole event. The formation of an anticyclonic gyre adjacent to the Kenyan/ Tanzanian coast led to a reorganization of the surface currents and caused the southward migration of the Somali–Zanzibar confluence zone and is attributed to anomalous wind stress curl over the central Indian Ocean. This caused the lowest observed chlorophyll-a over the North Kenya banks (Kenya), while it reached its historical maximum off Dar Es Salaam (Tanzanian waters). We demonstrate that this situation is specific to the 1997/ 98 El Niño when compared with other the super El-Niño events of 1972,73, 1982–83 and 2015–16. Despite the lack of available fishery data in the region, the local ecosystem changes that the shift of this upwelling may have caused are discussed based on the literature. The likely negative impacts on local fish stocks in Kenya, affecting fishers’ livelihoods and food security, and the temporary increase in pelagic fishery species’ productivity in Tanzania are highlighted. Finally, we discuss how satellite observations may assist fisheries management bodies to anticipate low productivity periods, and mitigate their potentially negative economic impacts.
A Numerical Simulation of Poroelastic Cylinder Decompression Problem on CUDA in an Axisymmetric Domain
Authors: Ishbulatov Salavat , Yarushina Viktoriya , Podladchikov Yury
Published: March 2021

The reliability of geomechanical and petrophysical laboratory experiments depends on coring operation. One of the steps where the core material undergoes critical loads is decompression during the core retrieval operation. Currently, a few numerical and analytical models simulate that process only with critical simplifications. The analytical solution considers only homogeneous media that neglects micro defects. FEM methods calculate slower than FDM up to several orders, simulating lifting processes with dynamic boundary conditions.

We present an axisymmetric cylindrical model of fully coupled fluid flow and elastic deformation solution by pseudo-transient numerical method. Calculation in the physical domain allows for high efficiency of parallelization on GPU, making it possible to simulate with high resolution of loading a core sample.
Composition of ultrafine particles in urban Beijing: Measurement using a thermal desorption chemical ionization mass spectrometer
Authors: Li Xiaoxiao , Li Yuyang , Lawler Michael , Hao Jiming , Smith James , Jiang Jingkun
Published: March 2021

Ultrafine particles (UFPs) dominate the particle number population in the urban atmosphere and revealing their chemical composition is important. The thermal desorption chemical ionization mass spectrometer (TDCIMS) can semi-continuously measure UFP composition at the molecular level. We modified a TDCIMS and deployed it in urban Beijing. Radioactive materials in the TDCIMS for aerosol charging and chemical ionization were replaced by soft X-ray ionizers so that it can be operated in countries with tight regulations on radioactive materials. Protonated N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone ions were used as the positive reagent ion, which selectively detects ammonia and low-molecular weight-aliphatic amines and amides vaporized from the particle phase. With superoxide as the negative reagent ion, a wide range of inorganic and organic compounds were observed, including nitrate, sulfate, aliphatic acids with carbon numbers up to 18, and highly oxygenated CHO, CHON, and CHOS compounds. The latter two can be attributed to parent ions or the decomposition products of organonitrates and organosulfates/organosulfonates, respectively. Components from both primary emissions and secondary formation of UFPs were identified. Compared to the UFPs measured at forest and marine sites, those in urban Beijing contain more nitrogen-containing and sulfur-containing compounds. These observations illustrate unique features of the UFPs in this polluted urban environment and provide insights into their origins.
Implications of aerosol-induced snow darkening on regional hydroclimate over the Himalayas
Authors: Nair Vijayakumar Sivadasan , Keshav Hasyagar Usha , Babu Surendran Nair Suresh
Published: March 2021

The snow-covered mountains of Himalayas are known to play a crucial role in the hydrology of South Asia and are known as the “Asian water tower”. Despite the high elevations, the transport of anthropogenic aerosols from south Asia and desert dust from west Asia plays a significant role in directly and indirectly perturbing the radiation balance and hydrological cycle over the region. Absorbing aerosols like black carbon (BC) and dust deposited on the snow surface reduces the albedo of the Himalayan snow significantly (snow darkening or snow albedo effect). Using a Regional Climate Model (RegCM-4.6.0) coupled with SNow, ICe and Aerosol Radiation (SNICAR) module, the implications of aerosol-induced snow darkening on the regional hydroclimate of the Himalayas are investigated in this study. The aerosols deposited on snow shows a distinct regional heterogeneity. The albedo reduction due to aerosols shows a west to east gradient during pre-monsoon season and this results in the positive radiative effect of about 29 Wm-2, 17 Wm-2 and 5 Wm-2 over western, central and eastern Himalayas respectively. The reduction in the snow albedo also results in the sign reversal of the aerosol direct radiative effect i.e., from warming to cooling at the top of the atmosphere during pre-monsoon season. The excess solar energy trapped at the surface due to snow darkening warms the surface (0.66-1.9 K) and thus decreases the snow cover extent significantly. This results in the reduction of the number of snow-covered days by more than a month over the western Himalayas and about 10 – 15 days over the central Himalayas. The early snowmelt due to aerosol-induced snow darkening results in the increase of runoff throughout the melting season. Therefore, the present study highlights the heterogeneous response of aerosol induced snow albedo feedbacks over the Himalayan region and its impact on the snowpack and hydrology, which has further implications on the freshwater availability over the region.
Analysing surface water-groundwater interactions on selected sites of the River Moselle: Identifying transport processes along an important inland waterway in Germany
Authors: Mischel Simon , Engel Michael , Quanz Sabrina , Radny Dirk , Schmidt Axel , Schlüsener Michael , Wick Arne
Published: March 2021

Hydraulic engineering structures like locks affect the natural hydraulic conditions and have a relevant impact on surface water – groundwater interactions due to enlarging the hydraulic gradient. For this, these sites are excellent areas to study associated flow paths, mass transport and their spatial and temporal variability in higher detail. However, no large-scale study at an inland waterway is available in Germany until now.

Our work aims to close this gap by applying a multiparameter approach for analyzing surface water-groundwater-interactions by using pH, electrical conductivity, major ions in combination with various other tracers like stable water isotopes, 222-Rn, and tritium. In this context, we also investigate the usability of organic trace compounds and their associated transformation products as potential new tracers.

The main study approach is based on the hypothesis that i) gaining stream sections show relatively high 222-Rn concentrations originating from discharging groundwater and ii) losing stream sections which are characterized by low 222-Rn concentrations as well as lower tritium and organic trace compounds inventories compared to unaffected areas.

During different flow-scenarios of the river Moselle, we test these hypotheses by means of a high-resolution longitudinal sampling at 2 km intervals of the main stream (along 242 km) and its major tributaries in combination with groundwater sampling at numerous wells.

Here, we present the first results of the longitudinal sampling campaign of the river Moselle in October 2020, which took place during intermediate flow conditions (Q=200 m³/s). We used on-site and in-situ 222-Rn measurements and electrical conductivity as a tracer to immediately identify zones along the Moselle with increased groundwater inflow.

With the use of these tracers, we will deepen the conceptual process understanding of surface water – groundwater interactions occurring at larger streams and during different flow conditions, which may lead to a general river characterization of losing and gaining stream reaches. Moreover, understanding the sources of water compounds and the processes involved during transportation and transformation is crucial for maintaining a good quality of the water body, which is key for proper water management. The findings obtained in the region of the Moselle river might be further transferred to other waterways and support decision making.
Projected climate change in the South Asia and northern Indian Ocean by the end of the 21st century as obtained from a Regional Earth System Model
Authors: Dvornikov Anton Yu. , Sein Dmitry V. , Martyanov Stanislav D. , Ryabchenko Vladimir A. , Kumar Pankaj
Published: March 2021

Detailed atmospheric, ocean physical and biogeochemical characteristics for the period 2015-2100 within the South Asia CORDEX domain have been obtained from simulations of the Regional Earth System Model ROM.

Comparative analysis of average climatic characteristics for the past (1975-2004) and future (2070-2099) climates has been carried out. It shows significant future SST increase, reaching 3ºC on average, over the considered area. The salinity of the ocean's upper layer will decrease by 1 ‰ on average, which indicates a change in the precipitation-evaporation balance in the future climate. The simulated annual MLD will decrease by 5 m in the future. However, this MLD change will be strongly irregular, both in time and space. Simulations also show a widespread decrease of the chlorophyll-a concentration in the surface layer (up to 2 mg Chl m-3) in the future, especially pronounced in the northern and western parts of the Arabian Sea. It is a significant change, given that absolute chlorophyll-a concentration in these areas is typically 3-4 mg Chl m-3 in spring and 5-8 mg Chl m-3 in summer, as obtained for the 1975-2004 model run. The model also shows that the chlorophyll-a concentration at the surface will decrease by 1–2 mg Chl m-3 along the western coast of the Bay of Bengal in the future. The relative decrease in the surface chlorophyll-a concentration will be about 40% in the future climate in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

The model solution according to the SSP5-8.5 scenario shows a decrease in the amount of precipitation in the future climate (up to 3-4 mm/day) over the northeastern part of India and over Nepal in summer. But over the central part of India, in the Andaman Sea, over Thailand and Myanmar, there will be an increase in the amount of precipitation. The total continental runoff into the Bay of Bengal will increase, but the runoff in the Ganges delta will be greatly weakened. Thus, despite the decrease in the runoff of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, the total continental runoff into the Bay of Bengal turns out to be higher in the future climate (2070-2099) relative to retrospective calculations (1975-2004) due to the runoff of smaller rivers.

 

Acknowledgements: This work is funded by Russian Science Foundation (RSF, Project 19-47-02015) and Department of Science and Technology (DST, Govt. of India, grant DST/INT/RUS/RSF/P-33/G). The research was performed in the framework of the state assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia (theme No. 0128-2021-0014). This work used resources of the Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ) granted by its Scientific Steering Committee (WLA) under project ID ba1144.
Comparing urban sub-catchment delineation approaches for dynamic hydrological modelling
Authors: Back Yannick , Funke Fabian , Bach Peter Marcus , Leitao Joao Paulo , Rauch Wolfgang , Kleidorfer Manfred
Published: March 2021

In the face of rapid urban and population growth and with climate change altering precipitation patterns, urban water management is becoming increasingly demanding. Numerous software, tools and approaches to study urban water flow behaviour and model hydrological processes exist. However, the understanding of water movement in urban areas, especially during extreme events, and the physical principles behind them, as well as the interaction between the natural and the urban hydrological cycle is still incomplete. For decades, models suited for urban hydrological analysis greatly impacted the improvement of flood protection, public health and environmental protection, changing the way we look at urban water and stormwater management. In order to calculate accurate quantities of runoff in any rainfall/runoff model, information about urban sub-catchment characteristics plays an important role. Size, shape, topography, as well as land use influencing infiltration rates and evapotranspiration, are of great importance to calculate accurate runoff quantities on the urban scale. New implementations to reduce runoff towards the sewer system, such as decentralised stormwater techniques, increase the urgent need for accurate and high-resolution local/neighbourhood-scale information. Spatial and temporal developments require water management models to be connected with GIS (Geographical Information Systems). Initially not being developed to interact with each other, multiple approaches exist to combine GIS with water management models. Nevertheless, defining urban sub-catchments for rainfall-runoff modelling is often still performed manually using specific maps or using simple surface partitioning algorithms such as the Thiessen polygons. A significant disadvantage in generating urban sub-catchments manually is the fact that natural surface inclination is usually not considered, influencing the size and shape of the delineated sub-catchments. So far, only a few studies have devoted attention to improving the way urban sub-catchments are delineated and the information about their surface characteristics is generated. This study evaluates a GIS-based approach to automatically delineate urban sub-catchments accounting for the location of nodes (actual manholes or drain inlets) as sub-catchment outlets. In order to compare the influence of the sub-catchment delineation methods (1 to 3), we use (1) a digital surface model (DSM) and (2) a digital elevation model (DEM) to automatically delineate the urban sub-catchments and compare these two methods with each other as well as with (3) already manually derived sub-catchments of a specific case study. Furthermore, we compare hydraulic simulation results from the software SWMM with measured flow data to infer the most accurate sub-catchment delineation method.
Solar type III radio burst fine structure from Langmuir wave motion through turbulent plasma
Authors: Kontar Eduard , Reid Hamish
Published: March 2021

The Sun frequently accelerates near-relativistic electron beams that travel out through the solar corona and interplanetary space. Interacting with their plasma environment, these beams produce type III radio bursts, the brightest astrophysical radio sources detected by humans. The formation and motion of type III fine frequency structures is a puzzle but is commonly believed to be related to plasma turbulence in the solar corona and solar wind. Combining a theoretical framework with kinetic simulations and high-resolution radio type III observations, we quantitatively show that the fine structures are caused by the moving intense clumps of Langmuir waves in a turbulent medium. Our results show how type III fine structure can be used to remotely analyse the intensity and spectrum of compressive density fluctuations, and can infer ambient temperatures in astrophysical plasma, both significantly expanding the current diagnostic potential of solar radio emission.

 
Millipedes cluster into distinct ecophysiological guilds based on their microbiome, with clear ecosystem implications
Authors: Angel Roey , Šustr Vladimír , Eyiuche Nweze Julius , Gupta Shruti , Horváthová Terézia , M. Ardestani Masoud , Petrová Eva , Faktorová Lucie
Published: March 2021

Millipedes are among the largest and most important invertebrates, with over 12,000 identified and 80,000 expected species worldwide. Millipedes are detritivores living on leaf litter, deadwood, or soil. Because of the poor nature of their diets, millipedes compensate through high food consumption. Thanks to this, they are keystone species in many terrestrial ecosystems. In fact, in tropical and temperate zones, they rank the third most essential macrodetritivores after termites and earthworms and consume 10-36% of the annual litter. Thus, they contribute to soil formation and are essential forest ecosystem engineers. Despite their ecological importance, it remains unclear what role does their microbiome play in their diet.

We studied the gut microbiota of 11 millipede species and measured key physicochemical conditions (redox, pH and O2 levels). We found that the bacterial and archaeal communities were phylogenetically conserved while the fungi matched the diet. Methanogenic millipedes had a distinct community dominated by fermenting and syntrophic microorganisms. Follow-up experiments on the methanogenic and non-methanogenic species Epibolus pulchripes and Glomeris connexa, respectively, showed that both could survive prolonged antibiotic treatment, although with some disruption of their digestion. Antibiotics treatment significantly reduced the faecal bacterial colony counts after seven days in both species. Additionally, methane production dropped by 74% in the group treated with antibiotics and 52%, in the group that received sterile feed without antibiotics.

Microbiome analysis of these groups showed major shifts of the community composition in response to antibiotics, but less so with sterile feed. Apart from the presence of methanogens, high methane production correlated with a high relative abundance of Bacteroidia, while Gammaproteobacteria dominated the guts of millipedes with low, or no, methane production.

By supplementing the millipedes' diet with BES, methane production could be suppressed entirely within 21 days. Microscopic analysis of the faeces (using CARD-FISH) revealed methanogens from the orders Methanobacteriales and Methanomassiliicoccales associated with ciliates. These methanogens persisted even in the absence of methane production.

Our results indicate a significant gut microbiome activity in cellulolytic, fermentative and methanogenic litter decomposition processes, however,  unlike in ruminants and termites with a limited nutritional contribution to the host.
Atmospheric monitoring with a new GNSS network in the south-central Andes
Authors: Antonoglou Nikolaos , Balidakis Kyriakos , Bookhagen Bodo , Dick Galina , Zus Florian , Wickert Jens , de la Torre Alejandro
Published: March 2021

The Central Andes are characterized by a steep climatic and environmental gradient with large spatial and temporal variations of associated hydrological parameters. There are two main atmospheric processes that influence climate conditions in our study area in northwestern Argentina: the South American Monsoon System that transports moisture via the low-level jet and the orographic barrier of the Eastern Cordillera that forces focused rainfall at the windward facing slopes.
As part of the International Research Training Group-StRATEGy project, our research aims at monitoring integrated water vapour (IWV) in the south-central Andes, in order to track moisture propagation. In accordance with the needs of the research, we processed data from two new Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) ground stations that were installed in spring 2019 along with - already calculated - solutions that were derived from an existing network. We used 10 year-long time-series from 31 stations spanning an altitude range from 198 to 5141m asl and stretching from the mountain front to the interior of the mountain range. This enhanced network helped us to examine spatial correlations, as well as differences in behaviour of the IWV across the climatic gradient. Moreover, we retrieved the gradients of the IWV at single positions, in order to study seasonal correlations between wind and gradient direction.
Future humidity extremes in an urban-rural context - using regional climate model projections down to convection permitting scales for Berlin
Authors: Langendijk Gaby S. , Rechid Diana , Jacob Daniela
Published: March 2021

Urban areas are prone to climate change impacts. A transition towards sustainable and climate-resilient urban areas is relying heavily on useful, evidence-based climate information on urban scales. However, current climate data and information produced by urban or climate models are either not scale compliant for cities, or do not cover essential parameters and/or urban-rural interactions under climate change conditions. Furthermore, although e.g. the urban heat island may be better understood, other phenomena, such as moisture change, are little researched. Our research shows the potential of regional climate models, within the EURO-CORDEX framework, to provide climate projections and information on urban scales for 11km and 3km grid size. The city of Berlin is taken as a case-study. The results on the 11km spatial scale show that the regional climate models simulate a distinct difference between Berlin and its surroundings for temperature and humidity related variables. There is an increase in urban dry island conditions in Berlin towards the end of the 21st century. To gain a more detailed understanding of climate change impacts, extreme weather conditions were investigated under a 2°C global warming and further downscaled to the 3km scale. This enables the exploration of differences of the meteorological processes between the 11km and 3km scales, and the implications for urban areas and its surroundings. The overall study shows the potential of regional climate models to provide climate change information on urban scales.
Indicator-based proposal for the analysis of Municipal Solid Waste management systems 
Authors: Carnero Pousa María-Luisa , Rodrigo-Ilarri Javier , Rodrigo-Clavero María-Elena
Published: March 2021

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management activities are important tasks of both national and local governments, as they can induce significant impacts on the environment, the economy and the living quality of the population involved.

The optimal design of a MSW management plan depends greatly on the waste production values and its distribution over the territory, among others. For the optimal design of a MSW system the use of indicators is proposed. Indicators are defined as "the numerical expression, of non-dimensional character, obtained from the fusion of several environmental variables by means of specifically defined weighting criteria". In the scientific literature several proposals about indicators that are focused only on operational aspects of MSW management activities (collection, street cleaning, etc.) are found. Only a decade ago, some indicator groups have begun to emerge in different countries. Such indicators include, in addition to the operational context, social, economic or environmental aspects related to waste management.

The objective of the work has been to make a choice and proposal of a set of social, economic and environmental indicators related to waste management activities, which will allow the analysis of integrated management systems of solid urban waste, considering all the implications that the operations of production, collection, transport, separation, recovery and disposal of the waste suppose from the economic, social and environmental perspectives.
Insights in the reactivity of CH2ICH2OH with OH radicals: implications for atmospheric iodine chemistry
Authors: Figueiredo Alexandre , Taamalli Sonia , Kozakova Silvia , Černušák Ivan , Louis Florent , Bosland Loïc , Strekowski Rafal , Wortham Henri
Published: March 2021

In the case of a nuclear power plant accident, fission products may be released into the atmosphere like during the Fukushima Daichi accident. To better understand the radiological consequences of such releases, especially for iodine 131, different theoretical simulation tools were developed and used to predict its chemical atmospheric evolution. Nevertheless, significant differences have been observed between the measured and modeled atmospheric Japan concentrations of iodine 131. This can be attributed to the high reactivity of atmospheric iodine that is not fully considered in the current atmospheric dispersion codes. To address this, a new gas-phase mechanism of atmospheric iodine chemistry was developed containing 248 reactions [1]. The 0D simulation results showed a partial and rapid transformation of the gas-phase iodinated compounds (I2, CH3I, HOI…) into organic iodinated compounds (like short chain volatile alcohol or carboxylic acids compounds containing iodine). However, their decomposition kinetics by oxidant compounds (like atmospheric OH radical) is not known and is thus not addressed in these tools.  

The main objective of this work is to provide reliable kinetic and thermodynamic data for the gas phase reaction of CH2ICH2OH with the major atmospheric photooxidant, namely hydroxyl radical (OH) using high-level ab initio calculations. Several reaction pathways have been studied to assess the branching ratios between H and I atoms abstraction from CH2ICH2OH molecule. The structures (optimized geometries and vibrational frequencies) for all stationary points on the potential energy surface are obtained at the MP2/cc-pVTZ level of theory. The potential energies have been calculated at the DK-CCSD(T)/ANO-RCC (VTZP and VQZP) level of theory on the previous optimized geometries. The spin-orbit coupling effects have been determined using the RASSCF/CASPT2/RASSI computational protocol.

The obtained results and their implications for the modeling of iodine atmosphere chemistry will be presented and discussed in this poster.

Reference:

[1] Camille Fortin, Valérie Fèvre-Nollet, Frédéric Cousin, Patrick Lebègue, Florent Louis, Box modelling of gas-phase atmospheric iodine chemical reactivity in case of a nuclear accident, Atmospheric Environment, 214, 116838, 2019.
Characteristics and robustness of Agulhas Leakage estimates: an inter-comparison study of Lagrangian methods
Authors: Schmidt Christina , Schwarzkopf Franziska , Rühs Siren , Biastoch Arne
Published: March 2021

The exchange of water between the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic with their different thermohaline properties via Agulhas Leakage is important for the meridional overturning circulation. Agulhas Leakage as well as the output of ocean general circulation models in general can be analysed using a Lagrangian approach with a variety of different tools available. Here, Agulhas Leakage is estimated with both the newly developed tool Parcels and the well established tool Ariane, and different designs of the Lagrangian experiment are analysed. In a hindcast simulation with the eddy-rich ocean sea-ice model INALT20 (1/20° horizontal resolution) under the new JRA55-do forcing, Agulhas Leakage increases from the early 1960s to mid 1980s, but there is no clear trend afterwards, which is in contrast to earlier studies using hindcast simulations under the CORE forcing. During the transit from the Agulhas Current at 32°S to the Cape Basin, a cooling and freshening of Agulhas Leakage waters occurs especially in the western part of the Retroflection, resulting in a density increase as the thermal effect dominates. The average transport, its variability, trend and the transit time from the Agulhas Current to the Cape Basin of Agulhas Leakage is simulated equally with the Lagrangian tools Ariane and Parcels, emphasising the robustness of our method.
Detection of land use-land cover changes in Anzali Wetland using a remote sensing-based approach
Authors: Jamaat Amirmoez , Safaie Ammar
Published: March 2021

Wetlands are valuable ecological resources which play an essential and important role in the ecosystem of the region. Hence, there is a crucial need for monitoring and characterization of wetland changes caused by natural and anthropogenic disturbance. In this study, we developed a remote sensing-based approach to investigate long term land use/land cover changes (LULC) of Anzali Lagoon located in the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. In recent years, Anzali Wetland has experienced severe threats by human- and climate-induced changes and is drying up at an alarming rate. Here, an enhanced LULC change detection method is presented using a seasonal harmonic analysis of satellite image based on Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)   that combined with remotely-sensed thermal observations. Machine learning and object-oriented approaches were implemented on high-resolution satellite images to obtain a comprehensive land-use classification map of the study area. Then, wetland vegetation changes, such as marshes, were investigated during 2013 to 2020. Additionally, the long-term sea level trend in Caspian Sea was used, along with groundwater storage changes derived by GRACE satellite data, to study their impacts on wetland ecological changes. Results of the developed hybrid model indicate that the western and central parts of the wetland are more subjected to drought stress. Moreover, spatial and temporal changes in density of aquatic plants related to external stressors were identified in the wetland. The results of this study enhance a better understanding of long-term LULC changes in coastal wetlands in response to climate changes and anthropogenic activities.

 

 
NUKLEUS - User-relevant and applicable kilometer-scale climate information for Germany
Authors: Sieck Kevin , Tiedje Bente , Feldmann Hendrik , Pinto Joaquim
Published: March 2021

Given the current developments in climate science it becomes more a more feasible to provide climate information at the kilometer-scale from convection-permitting climate simulations. This progress will enable many users to directly feed high-resolution climate information into their impact-models for climate impact studies at the local scale. Examples include urban heat stress at street level or the design of drainage systems for future precipitation extremes. Within the RegIKlim (Regional information for action on climate change) consortium, the NUKLEUS (Actionable local climate information for Germany) project will not only provide climate information at the local scale, but also to co-develop interfaces between climate and impact models, in order to fulfil the needs of the impact modelling community as good as possible. Within the RegIKlim consortium, the impact modelling community is organised in six “model regions” across Germany, which cover a wide range of geographical and socio-economic conditions.

For the NUKLEUS project, the baseline will be the latest generation of EURO-CORDEX downscaled CMIP6 simulations, which will be further refined to roughly 3 km horizontal resolution and 30-year time-slices for Germany with convection-permitting climate models (ICON CLM, COSMO-CLM, REMO-NH) and statistical-dynamical downscaling approaches. A detailed analysis on the performance of the multi-model mini-ensemble is planned to assess the quality of the provided data. At the interface to the users, we will follow three different approaches to provide usable climate information at the kilometer-scale. One is to provide easy-access to data and post-processing opportunities using the FREVA system. FREVA offers various access-levels from shell to web-based, which serves different levels of user-expertise. In addition, it provides a transparent way of post-processing data by workflow sharing mechanisms. The second one is to develop appropriate additional downscaling methods for the “last mile” where needed. For this “last mile”, we will apply dynamical and statistical methods such as urban climate models and/or weather generators. With the third approach we explicitly aim at integrating a collected user-feedback into the regional modelling systems used within NUKLEUS. Specifically, we intend to identify and incorporate data processing that is best done during the simulation permanently into the models. Examples are wind speeds at rotor heights of windmills or high frequency precipitation sums. NUKLEUS is a contribution to the German research program RegIKlim funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Inventory and genesis of glacial lakes in Switzerland since the Little Ice Age
Authors: Mölg Nico , Huggel Christian , Herold Thilo , Storck Florian , Allen Simon , Haeberli Wilfried , Schaub Yvonne , Odermatt Daniel
Published: March 2021

The deglaciation since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA, ~1850) has given way to >700km² of “new” landscape in Switzerland. Glacial lakes are a conspicuous feature of this new landscape – with relevance for natural hazards, hydropower and landscape planning. In this study, we compiled an inventory of glacial lakes for Switzerland for the year 2016. Using existing data, we investigated the evolution of glacial lakes in Switzerland for six time periods since the LIA. Additionally, we compiled information constituting a basis for hazard assessment for all ice-contact lakes in 2016 and all lakes >0.5 ha, i.e. surface outflow, dam type and material, and lake freeboard.

We found that a total of 1230 lakes formed over the period of ~170 years, 982 still existing in 2016. The largest lakes are >0.4 km² (40 ha) in size, while the majority (>90%) are smaller than 0.01 km². Annual increase rates in area and number peaked in 1946-1973, decreased towards the end of the 20th century, and reached a new high in the latest period 2006-2016. For a period of 43 years, we compared modelled overdeepenings from previous studies to actual lake genesis. For a better prioritisation of formation probability, we included glacier-morphological criteria such as glacier width and visible crevassing. About 40% of the modelled overdeepened area actually filled with water. The inclusion of morphological aspects clearly aided in linking a lake formation probability to a modelled overdeepening.

<img src="https://contentmanager.copernicus.org/fileStorageProxy.php?f=gnp.d3501255f60064578601161/sdaolpUECMynit/12UGE&app=m&a=0&c=a53c560cf096fb15e526d1d230f3d1bf&ct=x&pn=gnp.elif&d=1" alt="" width="381" height="225">

Fig. 1: Glacial lake distribution in Switzerland and its evolution over time. 
Climatology and variability of cyclone clustering
Authors: Weijenborg Chris , Spengler Thomas
Published: March 2021

The existence of cyclone clustering, the succession of multiple extratropical cyclones during a short period of time, indicates that the baroclinicity feeding these storms undergoes longer lasting episodic cycles supporting multiple cyclones. However, the generally accepted paradigm for baroclinic instability implies that individual cyclones reduce baroclinicity to support their growth. This apparent contradiction motivates our hypothesis that some cyclones within increase baroclinicity, yielding a pathway for cyclone clustering. A case study of the extreme storm Dagmar confirms that a particular sequence of storms culminating in a severe cyclone is due to the fact that the previous storms act to maintain or increase the background baroclinity along which the succeeding storms evolved. 

Using a new cyclone clustering diagnostic based on spatio-temporal distance between cyclone tracks, we analyse cyclone clustering globally for the period 1979 until 2016. We complement this analysis with a baroclinicity diagnostic based on the slope of isentropic surfaces. With the isentropic slope and its tendencies, the relative roles of diabatic and adiabatic effects associated with extra-tropical cyclones in maintaining baroclinicity are assessed. We present a climatological analysis of where and when cyclone clustering occurs. We compare these findings to composites of clustered and non-clustered cyclones to quantify how consistent the proposed clustering mechanism is and its relation to changes in the frequency of atmospheric rivers. We complement this with an EOF analysis to investigate the variability of the clusters and how it covaries with the jet and diabatic heating.
Satellite Radar Interferometry on corner reflectors in the area of mining region in Poland
Authors: Wielgocka Natalia , Pawluszek-Filipiak Kamila , Tondaś Damian , Borkowski Andrzej
Published: March 2021

The EPOS-PL project is the Polish realization of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) initiative, which aims at the integration of existing and newly created research infrastructures to facilitate the use of multidisciplinary data and products in the field of Earth sciences in Europe. Within the EPOS, one of the tasks aims at SAR data utilization for deformation monitoring in the area of Rydułtowy mine. The Rydułtowy mine is the oldest active mining in the Upper Silesia Coal Basin in Poland. In the area of this mine, five Corner Reflectors (CRs) have been deployed in the framework of the EPOS- PL. Additionally, in the area of interest one high-frequency GNSS receiver working permanently has been placed. This GNSS permanent station (RES100POL) enables estimating of deformation time-series based on multi-GNSS observation in post-processing.

In this study, we use Sentinel-1A/B TOPSAR images acquired between 25 June 2018 and 14 July 2019 in one ascending and two descending geometries with revisiting time of 6-days. Additionally, we use ground truths of two leveling and GNSS measurement campaigns carried out to precisely estimate deformations on five CRs (2nd-4th of July 2018 and 28th-30th of June 2019). GNSS static measurements were carried out via three independent measurement sessions. Coordinates of the station RES100POL and static GNSS and leveling measurements ware were used for validation of SAR measurements.

SAR data has been processed by means of classical consecutive Differential Interferometry (DInSAR) as well as Persistent Scattering (PSInSAR) approach. During SAR data processing, snow coverage accumulated on the CRs caused that some Sentinel-1 images from the winter season have been removed from DInSAR as well as PSInSAR processing. Results from ascending and descending orbits allow the estimation of vertical as well as east-west deformation components. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between CRs measured by conventional geodetic techniques and DInSAR was estimated as 31mm and 38mm for east-west and vertical deformation components, respectively. RMSE measured between PSInSAR and GNSS was estimated as 5mm and 7mm for east-west and vertical components, respectively. RMSE of 15mm and 3mm was estimated for DInSAR with respect to GNSS from RES100POL station for east-west and vertical components, respectively. Subsequently, RMSE of 4mm and 5mm was estimated as deformation time variations between PSInSAR and GNSS from RES1 station for east-west and vertical components, respectively. These measures indicate clearly the advantage of the PSInSAR method. However,  the PSInSAR approach was able to estimate deformations only for three CRs due to the fast and non-linear deformation pattern observed on other two CRs.