bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reflecting on how science-design processes at the interface between ecology-geomorphology-art-design-manufacturing-engineering can lead to important innovations and models of practice. 
Authors: Naylor Larissa A. , Clive Rachel , Metcalfe Daniel
Published: March 2022

As human populations rapidly urbanise and urban ecosystems and geosystems continue to degrade, there is an urgent need to green the greyest parts of our cities for biodiversity and climate change adaptation, as well as to create spaces where humans can interact and engage with nature. Although scientists and ecologists are often asked to inform designers, engineers and manufacturers engaged in integrated greening of grey infrastructures, it is rare for science-design collaborations to lead innovation and implementation in this field. We outline a long-term multidisciplinary project in which proven ecosystems engineering science was used as a starting point for a co-creating a collaborative, innovative multifunctional design; this co-design process can influence ecosystems engineering practices at various scales. 

 

Working on infrastructure projects involves people who speak very different languages and who have very different priorities and practical agendas working collaboratively. This can bring tensions as well as potentialities, both of which can affect implementation of innovation at scale. Increasingly, calls are being made by ecologists, social scientists and local communities for more reflexive practices in urban ecosystems projects which are working across traditional boundaries, to help steer a way through these complexities. Engaging in these processes is not an optional extra but a necessary part of the changes we need to make together. Responding to urgent demands to improve climate resilience, empower communities, and reduce the "extinction of experience of nature" facing many humans in urban areas, while also alleviating the effects of climate change on humans and built infrastructures, is daunting for practitioners. We reflect on our collaborative practice with academics and practical designers, mould makers and manufacturers, to share our learnings and introduce a visual / technical science-design process guide. We hope this will be valuable to those seeking collaborative ways of working on science-design projects that have practical infrastructure applications. 
Estimating tropical cyclone rainfall using the STORM dataset
Authors: Lord Natalie , Bloemendaal Nadia , Haigh Ivan , Quinn Niall , Uhe Pete , Sampson Chris
Published: March 2022

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are associated with multiple hazards both during and after landfall, including coastal flooding from storm surges, inland flooding due to heavy rainfall, and wind damage, all of which can result in loss of life, significant economic losses, and damage to the environment. It is therefore vital to understand the risk of different TC sub-hazards, to inform development and emergency response planning, as well as to minimise impacts on people, property, and the economy.

Here, a synthetic TC track dataset consisting of 10,000 years of TC activity produced using the STORM (Synthetic Tropical cyclOne geneRation Model) model is coupled to a statistical rain field model, resulting in a 10,000 year catalogue of TC rainfall. The modelled TC rainfall climatology is evaluated against TC rainfall observations. Global-scale return periods of TC rainfall are also calculated, which can be used in flood risk and impact assessments, particularly for extreme events with low probabilities and in regions that are at risk from TCs but have only been rarely/never hit during the historical observation period.
Reconstructing meso- and submesoscale dynamics in ocean eddies from current observations
Authors: Fischer Tim , Karstensen Johannes , Dengler Marcus , Onken Reiner , Holzapfel Martin
Published: March 2022

We reconstruct the 3-D meso- and submesoscale structure of selected oceanic eddies from ship-based field observations of current velocity, in the mixed layer and below, in order to explore two main questions: what information on upwelling/downwelling can be derived; and inside what eddy radius is water trapped and transported.

The selected eddies have been intensively surveyed during the collaborative project REEBUS (Role of Eddies in the Carbon Pump of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems) in the eastern tropical North Atlantic. Making use of vertical sections of current velocities we fit an optimum eddy-like structure to the data. The structure is assumed a slowly drifting, circular symmetric but not necessarily linear velocity field, separated in horizontal layers. The composition of the reconstructed layers provides a 3-D velocity structure which is used to calculate derived variables as vorticity and divergence. We find submesoscale divergence patterns which support vertical flux occurring in the eddies. We further use current velocities from a high-resolution regional model based on ROMS to validate the method and estimate uncertainties.
Variation of crustal thickness in Borneo and Sulawesi
Authors: Linang Harry Telajan , Gilligan Amy , Jenkins Jennifer , Pilia Simone , Greenfield Tim , Rawlinson Nicholas , Supendi Pepen , Tongkul Felix , Widiyantoro Sri
Published: March 2022

The Southeast Asia (SEA) region is tectonically very active as it accommodates the northward movement of the Indo-Australian plate in the south and the westward movement of the Philippine Sea plate in the east. Borneo and Sulawesi are located in the centre of SEA, which is our area of interest. Borneo has an intraplate setting, while Sulawesi is situated above several microplate boundaries. For that reason, Sulawesi is seismically and volcanically more active than Borneo. The tectonic link and evolution between the two islands are not well understood as we are missing some fundamental knowledge, such as the variations in their crustal thickness and structure. This includes the provenance of their respective lithosphere, which may have Eurasian and/or East Gondwana origin.

Here, we show the results obtained from the receiver function (RF) study on seismic stations in the region to have a better understanding of the crust and mantle lithosphere beneath the two islands. The RF study includes H-k stacking, time-depth migration of the RF and inversion to estimate crustal thickness and the shear speed variation with depth. The finding from this study shows that the crust in Sulawesi is much more complex than that of Borneo. The crustal thickness gradually changes throughout Borneo, with northern Borneo having an overall thicker crust than other parts of the island. In Sulawesi, the crustal thickness is much more varied across small distances, especially along the northern and southern arms of the island.

We also show some results from the Virtual Deep Seismic Sounding (VDSS) method, which we only applied to the seismic stations in northern Borneo. We used VDSS on Northern Borneo to learn more about its complex tectonic history, such as the two subduction episodes and a continent-continent collision in a recent geological time scale. Our finding reveals a band of alternating thick and thin crust striking NE-SW in this region, which we believed resulted from extensional tectonics related to the Sulu Sea basin opening in the Miocene.
A framework to assess cooperation benefits of new infrastructure in transboundary river basins without formal water sharing arrangements and operating rules
Authors: Gonzalez Jose M. , Matrosov Evgenii S , Obuobie Emmanuel , Harou Julien
Published: March 2022

New dams can alter river flow regimes impacting downstream benefits and multi-sector services from water infrastructure and ecosystems. Impacts can be unpredictable in complex transboundary river basins that do not follow standardised operating rules nor have extensive historical data. In this case it is more difficult to assess the consequences of new infrastructure and provide a structured approach to achieve cooperative operating strategies to avoid transboundary water conflicts. This study presents a framework to evaluate the benefits of cooperation on managing new dams in transboundary multi-sector river basins that do not have formal cooperating strategies. A case study of the new Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam (PMD) located in Ghana’s Volta river basin is provided. The PMD could impact downstream riverine livelihood, ecosystem services, and water infrastructure like the downstream Aksomobo hydropower plant, the country's largest installed generation plant (1,020 MW). Also, the PDM could be impacted by future irritation developments of the Bagre Dam, an existing upstream dam managed in Burkina Faso. We show that a non-cooperative operation between the PMD and the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso could reduce inflows into the Akosombo dam, negatively impacting national hydropower generation. Also, a non-cooperative operation could decrease floods in Northern Ghana, impacting environmental services and local communities that depend on flood recession activities. We show that cooperative infrastructure management achieved by the proposed approach could offset possible negative impacts produced by the new PMD.
Exploring the importance of interactive ozone chemistry under different GHG and ODS levels
Authors: Kult-Herdin Jessica , Sukhodolov Timofei , Chiodo Gabriel , Rieder Harald
Published: March 2022

Increasing computational resources have led to the advent of Earth System Models. However, to date many models still do not incorporate interactive chemistry due to its high computational costs. Previous work has shown the importance of interactive ozone in enhancing extreme springtime variability under present-day ozone depleting substance (ODS) levels. Here, we aim to understand the role of different greenhouse gas and ODS levels on this result. In the present study we aim to answer this question for the Arctic springtime stratosphere, contrasting a suite of multi-decadal simulations performed with the ESMs WACCM4 and SOCOLv3-MPIOM with interactive and prescribed ozone chemistry. Our analysis focuses on the contribution of carbon dioxide and ozone for temperature and temperature variability at lower, middle and upper stratospheric levels. The ensembles comprise simulations with 1xCO2 or 4xCO2  (without anthropogenic ODS) and year 2000 (peak ODS) forcings, allowing us to investigate the relative importance of interactive chemistry vs. prescribed ozone under different "climate states and ODS levels". Our results show 1) that CO2 is the primary driver of the mean temperature response in the upper stratosphere while ozone largely contributes to the mean change in the lower stratosphere; 2) the importance of interactive chemistry for a coherence (coupling) between temperature, zonal wind (used as proxy for the polar vortex strength) and ozone in the lower stratosphere; and 3) an important contribution of interactive chemistry to temperature variability under year 2000 but also 1xCO2 forcing in contrast to simulations forced with 4xCO2.
Are carbon-storing soils more sensitive to climate change? A laboratory evaluation for agricultural temperate soils.
Authors: Chenu Claire , Kpemoua Israel , Leclerc Sarah , Barre Pierre , Houot Sabine , Pouteau Valerie , Plessis Cedric
Published: March 2022

Global warming is leading to increased temperatures, accentuated evaporation of terrestrial water and increased the atmosphere moisture content, resulting in frequent droughts and heavy precipitation events. It necessary to assess the sensitivity of soil organic carbon (SOC) under storing practices in response to increasing soil moisture, temperature and frequent dry-wet cycles in order to anticipate future soil carbon losses. We evaluated the impact of these climatic events through an incubation experiment on temperate luvisols from conservation agriculture, organic agriculture, organic waste products applications, i.e. biowaste, residual municipal solid waste and farmyard manure composts compared with conventionally managemed soils. The alternative management options all have led to increased SOC stocks. Soil samples were incubated in the lab under different temperatures (20, 28 and 35°C), different moisture conditions (pF1.5; 2.5 and 4.2) and under dry(pF4.2)-wet (pF1.5) cycles. Dry-wet cycles caused CO2 flushes but overall did not stimulate soil carbon mineralization relative to wet controls (pF1.5 and pF2.5). Overall the additional SOC stored under alternative management options was not more sensitive to climate change (temperature, moisture, dry-wet cycles) than the existing SOC.
Mapping High Energy Particle Population in Earth's Magnetosphere Using Augmented Star Trackers
Authors: Toldbo Christina , Herceg Matija , Denver Troelz , Sushkova Julia , Benn Mathias , Jørgensen Peter S. , Jørgensen John Leif
Published: March 2022

The ESA Swarm mission, launched on 22 November 2013, consists of three spacecraft each equipped with a Micro Advanced Stellar Compass (μASC) designed and validated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Each Star Tracker features three Camera Head Units (CHUs) orientated orthogonally to avoid simultaneous blinding. The CCD sensor inside the star tracker is sensitive to energetic particle irradiation which appear as transient bright pixels dubbed 'hot spots' on the source images.

Conventionally hot spots are removed to support nominal attitude operation, however in February and March 2018 software was uploaded to the μASCs on-board Swarm, which in addition to using the hotspot measurements to improve the star tracking is moving the measured hotspot data to the telemetry to ground. This added functionality, enables detection and monitoring of high energy particles.

In this work we present processes and analysis of the high energy radiation data obtained from the Micro Advanced Stellar Compass (μASC) on board ESA's Swarm mission, from February 2018 to end of 2021. Taking advantage of three years of data, high sample rates (1-2 Hz), the beneficial orientation of the camera heads and simultaneous measurements from all three spacecraft it is possible to determine spatial and temporal derivatives of the electric and magnetic fields. Furthermore, since the Swarm spacecraft are in near-polar orbits at an altitude of 450-510 km above Earth's surface the spacecraft continuously monitor and map high energy particles at the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) of relevance for future mission planning as well as provide detailed time-radiation relations from charge injection processes from e.g. CMEs.
Preliminary results from the endemic mollusc-bearing Brașov Basin (Pliocene, Transylvanian Lake System, Romania)
Authors: Botka Dániel , Szappanos Bálint , Magasi Anna , Magyar Imre , Silye Lóránd
Published: March 2022

The Pliocene Transylvanian Lake System (TLS) was formed between the various units of the Eastern Carpathians, and consists of three major intermontane (Brașov, Ciuc, and Gheorgheni Basins) and some minor sub-basins containing a unique endemic-rich mollusc fauna.

The palaeogeographical connections of this system to the adjacent basins are still a matter of debate, but this area was probably not connected to the Pannonian, Transylvanian, or Dacian Basins in the latest Miocene-Pliocene. The area lacks numerical age data and a detailed stratigraphic age model; although, some attempts were made to correlate the sedimentary sequences within the TLS, but merely based on lithostratigraphy.

The last comprehensive monograph on this fauna was published by the Saxon palaeontologist, Erich Jekelius in 1932, therefore a taxonomic revision is unavoidable. Therefore, we revised the available museum collections, and collected new fossil material from several outcrops (mostly from localities of Jekelius). The studied outcrops were logged in order to infer their depositional environment, whilst the fossil molluscs were described and interpreted in terms of palaeoecology.

Our results show that offshore marls are dominated by the thin-shelled Paradacna fuchsi, which is very frequent throughout the Brașov Basin. Littoral sands frequently contain coquina of dreissenids, while nearshore clays are rich of different gastropod groups, such as neritids, bithyniids, planorbids, hydrobiids, valvatiids, and lymnaeids and bivalves, such as dreissenids, cardiids, and sphaeriids.

Our taxonomic revision combined with field sedimentology and stable isotope analyses will improve our knowledge on the Pliocene mollusc fauna of this segment of the Carpathian region. Comparison of the studied fauna with the well-known fossil remains of the “Paludina layers” in Croatia and Serbia will be crucial in reconstruction of the latest Miocene to Pliocene palaeogeography of the Carpathian-Pannonian region.

Supported by the ÚNKP-21-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.
Mid-latitude comparisons of ion and neutral velocity observations with general circulation model outputs.
Authors: Day Elliott , Grocott Adrian , Walach Maria , Wild Jim , Lu Gang , Ruohoniemi Michael , Makela Jonathan
Published: March 2022

Modelling of Joule heating is key to understanding the impact of space weather on the neutral atmosphere. One of the most commonly used models in the scientific community is the Thermosphere-Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM). The modelled plasma and neutral wind velocities are key parameters for Joule heating estimates, however there is limited validation of TIEGCM’s performance at mid-latitudes. In this study we use the Blackstone Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) and the Michigan North American Thermosphere Ionosphere Observing Network (NATION) Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) to obtain the local nightside plasma and neutral velocities at ~40 degrees geographic latitude during a 10 hour interval on 15 July 2014 and compare our observations with the outputs from TIEGCM. We find that TIEGCM lacks the variability seen in our observations while overestimating quiet time plasma velocities as well as neutral wind velocities during both quiet and active times compared to our observations. We also find that TIEGCM agrees with the observed neutral wind flow direction but disagrees with the observed plasma flow direction. We note that a better representation of the mid-latitude neutral winds and ion drifts is required in order to improve the accuracy of the modelled Joule heating rate. 
Modelling debris flows to enhance disaster risk management in the Zhouqu region, Gansu China
Authors: Jarsve Kristine , Xia Xilin , Dijkstra Tom , Liang Qiuhua , Meng Xingmin , Zhang Yi , Novellini Alessandro
Published: March 2022

The Zhouqu area of the Bailong River Basin (Z-BRB), Gansu Province, China is an area covering some 400 km2 and is characterised by a dynamic natural environment where lives, livelihoods and critical infrastructures are at risk from flooding and various mass movements in rock and soil. The Z-BRB area is characterized by a neo-tectonically active environment with high topographic relief and elevations ranging from 1200 m to more than 4000 m. Mass movements include large earthflows (several are more than 3 km in length), rock falls and debris flows, and these play a prominent role in shaping this landscape. The area is developing rapidly, going through major expansions of urban communities and infrastructure networks. To achieve long-term sustainable development, it is urgently needed to identify the spatial and temporal patterns of multiple, and often interacting geohazards. Dynamic terrains, such as in the Z-BRB area, evolve over time. The current state of the landscape is adjusting to a range of influences that can be thought of as a nested hierarchy of processes acting over different scales, both in time and space. To gain an improved insight into this state of the landscape it is important to unpack this hierarchy, identify interactions between processes and identify their magnitudes and rates of change. By combining geomorphological mapping and numerical modelling of landslides and tying it together with an understanding of the different timelines of the various processes our goal is to develop a risk management framework for the Z-BRB area. Currently the research is focused on modelling of debris flows using the numerical model HiPIMS, which couples shallow water and sediment transport equations. HiPIMS has been calibrated against a physical experiment and the 2010 Zhouqu disaster. This enhances our confidence that the model can be applied in similar catchments elsewhere in the Z-BRB. The aim of the modelling is to identify catchments at risk of debris flows, investigate how climate change, i.e.  higher precipitation and more extreme rainfall events, will affect the catchments, and how mitigation measures such as check dams will cope with an increase in magnitude and frequency of debris flows/mobility of earthflows.
Evaluating characteristics of Indian monsoon convection in high-resolution models with ground-based weather radars
Authors: Doyle Alex , Stein Thorwald , Turner Andrew
Published: March 2022

Operational ground-based weather radar data provide a unique opportunity to evaluate simulations of convection in high-resolution models. This is especially advantageous for tropical regions such as India where convection is frequent and interacts with the large-scale circulation. Here, storms derived from 15 Indian operational radars are directly compared to modelled storms at two convection-permitting resolutions, 1.5 and 4.4 km, for a period of 3 weeks during the peak 2016 monsoon season. We objectively identify different morphological properties of storms for 6 regions of India, that is to say their heights, sizes, and intensities. Both model resolutions are found to simulate too much shallow convection compared to radars for all 6 regions. Modelled convection is also frequently too wide and intense, but the 1.5 km model performs noticeably better. Modelled storms also exhibit a maximum area around the freezing level, higher than observed by radars, especially at 4.4 km resolution. We discuss various potential microphysical and dynamical reasons for the major differences seen, thus demonstrating the power of radar-based evaluation of monsoon convection for the Indian region.
The green, green sands of home: immersive experiences for raising soil awareness
Authors: Vancampenhout Karen , Van Der Veken Bas , Bastiaens Jan , Deckers Seppe
Published: March 2022

With one third of the world's fertile topsoil lost and most of the rest in a poor condition, there is no doubt that soils need more attention in society in general and in education in particular. Nevertheless, connecting people to soils in a current context of urbanisation and digitalisation is not straigtforward. We think that one of the hurdles in improving this soil connectivity is getting rid of the 'big brown blob': soils are often depicted as a dumbed-down, generic, boring brown structures even in educational graphics or pamflets. Obviously, it's difficult to get people exited about that. 

Only a very limited amount of people, often only in higher education, gets to experience what soils are actually like. In collaboration with educational experts, artists and landscape and heritage experts, we started a series of immersive educational and art projects. The concept was to spike people's interest by showing them the beauty and viariablilty of soils in landscapes, muze on their peculiarities and reflect on how the world above is influenced by what is hidden beneath. Soil monoliths, as life-like representations of actual landscapes, were combined to art installations indoors as well as in the field and coupled to the work of graphical and word artists, and how they percieve the soil. We also created digital below-ground 'tours' of how soils manifest themselves in the stories of our landscapes. In particular, our installations featuring Podzols and greensands were very popular, as they provide a quite dramatic and visually appealing spectacle that most people would not expect to find in soils. 

By immersing people into a world they usually have no access to, our goal was to evoke intrinsic interest and wonder by including them in the educational process, i.e. giving them the opportunity to do their own discoveries rather than talking to them about something they would have very little instrinsic affection to. In this contribution, we will highlight the main techniques we used and lessons we learned from the persons that contributed to visited our work. 
Hydrological Model Calibration Strategy for Climate Change Impacts Study  
Authors: Lee Ye-Rin , Kwon Yoon-Jeong , Kim Hojun , Kwon Hyun-Han
Published: March 2022

Hydrological models require calibration to provide accurate simulation, and the calibration usually often requires long-term historical hydrometeorological data. The calibrated parameters obtained from historical data are assumed to be stationary. However, the stationary assumption for the para terms in the hydrological modeling may not be appropriate for the future climate, especially in a changing climate. This study aims to explore different approaches to minimize this issue by comparing calibration frameworks and offer alternative strategies to improve model robustness for climate change impact studies. The optimization strategies consider nonstationarity in the model parameters associated with different climate regimes and provide a functional form with dynamic climate predictors to better represent abnormal climates informed by a set of climate change scenarios over South Korea.
Experimental and numerical investigation of acoustic emission and its moment tensors in sandstones during failure based on the elastoplastic approach
Authors: Grishko Elena , Yarushina Viktoriya , Bobrova Maria , Stanchits Sergei , Minakov Alexander , Stukachev Vladimir
Published: March 2022

Microseismicity and acoustic emission (AE) studies are a part of earthquake science. Compared to ordinary earthquakes, microseismic events are characterized by higher frequencies, lower magnitudes, shorter duration, and more complex source mechanisms. The researchers associate the induced seismicity with different processes: borehole breakouts, tunnel excavations, hydraulic fracturing, wastewater injection, and stimulation of geothermal reservoirs.

Acoustic emission represents elastic waves generated spontaneously due to the formation of microfractures when the rock is undergoing a sufficiently high load. AE can be used to obtain continuous data at various stages of the deformation process: from distributed plastic failure to localized macroscopic failure. The spatial distribution of AE events indicates the location of fractures, and the source mechanism provides information about the failure mode: a tensile fracture, a shear fracture, or a combination of both.

This work shows the results of an experimental study of borehole breakouts in sandstones. We measured AE during the deformation experiments and applied the moment tensor analysis to microseismic waveforms. We used a continuum mechanics model of Minakov and Yarushina [2021] to relate the laboratory AE data to the deformation processes. The comparison of the failure patterns and corresponding seismic responses obtained in laboratory and simulations, allows to classify the deformation regimes in real rocks based on seismic observables.

EG, MB, SS, and VS gratefully acknowledge support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation under agreement No. 075-15-2020-119 within the framework of the development program for a world-class Research Center.

 

References:

Minakov, A., Yarushina, V., Elastoplastic source model for microseismicity and acoustic emission, Geophysical Journal International, Volume 227, Issue 1, October 2021, Pages 33–53, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggab207
Water where there is no water – Atmospheric water captured by world deserts
Authors: Agam Nurit , Kool Dilia
Published: March 2022

Atmospheric water, or non-rainfall water inputs (NRWIs) are an important source of water in arid areas. Considering the large surface area of arid and extremely arid regions, NRWIs are a critical, albeit largely overlooked, component of the global hydrological cycle.  Water vapor adsorption is not only the least studied form of NRWI but likely the most common one in arid areas. The amount of water vapor adsorption mainly depends on the gradient between water vapor pressure between the air (ea) and the soil (es).  Sea breeze, which carries moist air from the sea landward, can result in a significant daily increase in ea in desert areas. 

We have examined the diurnal cycle of soil water content derived by water vapor adsorption and evaporation in two very different deserts: the Negev (loess soil, ~100 mm y-1) and the Namib (sand dunes, ~20 mm y-1).  Water vapor adsorption into the Negev’s loess soil has been established as the dominant NRWI (with 0.3-0.5 mm night-1). Even in the Namib, which is known as a fog desert, even on nights with fog, at least half of the water accumulation occurred via water vapor adsorption, before the onset of fog (0.1-0.2 mm night‑1).  
Spatial-temporal dynamics of positive social resilience to flood hazards
Authors: Yang Liang Emlyn
Published: March 2022

Concerns are rising that the earth system may reach some critical tipping points in the coming decades. Though, growing evidence also supports the potential of positive social tipping points that could propel transformative changes towards global sustainability. The recently approved ERC Starting Grant “StoRes” (Spatial-Temporal Dynamics of Flood Resilience) proposed a systematic analysis on unique cases of flood resilience, which is expected to demonstrate such a positive perspective over various spatial and temporal scales.

The ERC project focuses on the historical Tea Horse Road area (THR), a mountainous region of the Southeast Tibetan Plateau with well-documented history going back over 600 years. The study first sets up a theoretical framework on the multi-spatial-temporal features of flood resilience at the THR region, which covers the spatial differences (household, community, city and region) over the past 600 years regarding the governance, technology, society, and culture perspectives of flood resilience. A set of quantitative proxy data, historical archives, literature re-analysis, statistical data, observation data and field survey data are integrated into both the empirical study in the case areas and the agent-based modelling across the cases. Preliminary results indicated that, various strong and smart social regulations (governance, institutions, plans, management, motivations, orders, donations, dedication, etc.) enabled a wise development of many water conservancy projects that consequently enhanced the resilience of local communities to hydrological hazards.

The study aims to further 1) establish a theoretical understanding of the spatial-temporal scales of flood resilience; 2) investigate the spatial patterns and temporal evolution of flood resilience at the THR cases; 3) model the spatial-temporal dynamics of flood resilience using agent-based models; 4) transfer and generalize the research findings of the THR cases to the Mekong River basin and beyond. By doing so, the project will present pioneering work to shape the emerging research field of flood resilience, offering new and multi-dimensional knowledge on the dynamic nature of flood-society relations, and providing crucial missing links to understand how flood resilience develops within complex human-environment contexts.
Soil microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning assessment across Europe
Authors: Labouyrie Maeva , Romero Ferran , Panagos Panos , Jones Arwyn , Tedersoo Leho , Ballabio Cristiano , Lugato Emanuele , van der Heijden Marcel , Orgiazzi Alberto
Published: March 2022

The global area of cultivated land has increased considerably over the past five decades. Despite the many ecosystem services provided by soil, at large-scale, it is still poorly understood whether land-use intensification influences soil life and the services that rely upon it. Here we used an extensive soil metabarcoding database, derived from the European Union’s (EU) Land Use/Cover Area frame statistical Survey (LUCAS), to assess how vegetation (land) cover, biogeographic factors (i.e., climate) and soil properties influence the structure and potential functions of bacterial and fungal communities at a continental scale. We selected 715 LUCAS sampling locations, classified according to an increasing land-use intensification: from woodland (less disturbed), to grassland, and cropland (more disturbed). We found that croplands and grasslands had a higher microbial richness than woodlands. We observed that bacteria and fungi were not driven by the same environmental variables. While soil properties (e.g. pH, C:N ratio, potassium, phosphorus and carbonate contents) drove bacterial community composition, vegetation cover was the main driver for the fungal community. We found that vegetation cover, biogeographic factors and soil properties differently determined the distribution of main functional groups; for example, cropland soils with a higher pH and a lower C:N ratio hosted more nitrogen fixing bacteria whereas woodlands were dominated by ectomycorrhizal fungi, especially in non-compacted clay soils, with lower C:N ratio and potassium content. We observed that increasing aridity may inhibit functions beneficial for the plant communities (i.e. bacterial chemoheterotrophy and nitrogen fixation, arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis) and favour the spread of fungal pathogens. In addition, a high diversity was not always a positive aspect for ecosystem functioning, as for example, croplands were characterized by a higher presence of fungal pathogens. Maps of microbial functional groups for the EU were also generated. In conclusion, our results represent a step forward to a more comprehensive assessment of soil microbial diversity and associated functions across the European Union. Beside possible ecological implications, our findings can contribute to the development of indicators and implementation of soil management policies.

 
High-resolution water quality simulation to disentangle multiple stressor effects on aquatic species 
Authors: Kiesel Jens , Peters Kristin , Wagner Paul , Fohrer Nicola
Published: March 2022

Stream ecosystems are impacted by multiple stressors in complex spatio-temporal interactions. The lack of understanding of these interactions and impacts hampers the successful restoration of streams and rivers. The German Research Foundation-funded collaborative research centre RESIST (https://sfb-resist.de/index.html) aims to disentangle these complex dependencies applying a novel theoretical framework: the ‘Asymmetric Response Concept’. The concept hypothesizes that degradation and recovery processes depend on different, non-linear biotic and abiotic interactions between stressors, environmental variables, and organisms. Therefore, unprecedented data and information are required which are collected through lab and field experiments, species sampling, observations of environmental variables and modelling.

High-resolution ecohydrological modelling is a core component in this process to provide historic information on water quality in two mesoscale catchments (Boye with 124km² and Kinzig with 1065km²) in Germany. Due to history, storage- and hysteresis effects in the hydrologic system, the spatio-temporal dynamics of in-stream environmental variables follow an asymmetric function to degradation and recovery. The model SWAT+ (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) is therefore applied to simulate streamflow as well as the water quality components temperature, oxygen, nitrogen components and salinity (TONS) at more than 20 sites in each catchment.

We present the conceptual framework of the approach, including data sources and data collection, model parameterization, required code adaptations, calibration techniques and expected results. 
Circular material flow in construction – what to consider optimised mass management when waste is to become a resource 
Authors: Jennerheim Jessica , Hansson Maria , Hammer Edith , van Praagh Martijn
Published: March 2022

Annually, millions of tons of granular material such as excavated soil, asphalt, crushed rock and concrete are generated in the building and construction sector in Sweden alone. These materials often exhibit elevated concentrations of several potentially hazardous substances compared to background values. These materials are often being regarded and treated as waste due to a lack of appropriate and optimised environmental risk assessment for reuse purposes. Subsequently, this classification prevents materials technically suitable for reuse forming circular material flows. Standardized and scientifically based criteria for reclassifying these materials as products rather than waste are lacking.  

The goal of this project (co-financed by the Swedish Transport Authority and SBUF, the Swedish construction industry’s organisation for research and development) is to enable circular flow of surplus construction materials such as excavated soil, asphalt, crushed rock and concrete with regard to environmental and health risks.

To achieve this the project focuses on improving the knowledge on the environmental properties of those surplus materials as well as by developing methods to assess governing environmental risks associated with circular use on a scientific basis. These will form the backbone of criteria for when masses can seize to be considered waste and be turned into a product instead: the End-of-Waste criteria. As these materials are often in contact with soil or can potentially leak hazardous substances to soil, a working hypothesis for the project is that the protection of ecological soil functions is governing for environmentally sound reuse, and as such for End-of-Waste criteria. Aspects that need to be considered for End-of-Waste criteria for these materials are many, broad and complex: Chemical and physical properties of the materials, concentrations and properties of potentially hazardous substances, transport and alteration of potentially hazardous substances as a function of their use and suitability in constructions, aging of the material, soil properties, other environmental and human health risks but also and legal and societal aspects.

We will gather information about use, classification and management of these materials and assess knowledge gaps regarding their environmental properties and as well as their potential environmental effects in light of current risk assessment, on ecotoxicological effects in soil particularly. Moreover, we will test and develop methods to more accurately reflect environmental risks that recycling of these material entails. Results will be used to outline relevant End-of-Waste criteria with regard to environmental and health risks. These criteria will be tested and evaluated.

 
Quantifying the spatial and temporal non-CO2 effect of aviation by using algorithmic climate change functions
Authors: Dietmüller Simone , Matthes Sigrun , Grewe Volker , Yamashita Hiroshi , Dahlmann Katrin , Peter Patrick
Published: March 2022

Aviation aims to reduce its climate impact by adopting climate-optimized aircraft trajectories, avoiding those regions of the atmosphere where aviation emission have a large climate impact. For this purpose, dedicated MET services have to be made available to the flight planning procedures, which need to be predicted with current numerical weather prediction models.

In order to represent spatially and temporally resolved information on the climate impact in terms of future temperature changes due to aviation emissions at a given time and location in such an advanced MET service, we propose to use algorithmic climate change functions (aCCFs) developed in earlier research projects. They include CO2 and non-CO2 effects, comprising nitrogen oxide (NOx), water vapour and contrail-cirrus. These aCCFs allow to derive such climate impact information for flight planning directly from operational meteorological weather forecast data. By combining the individual aCCFs of water vapour, NOx and contrail-cirrus, also merged non-CO2 aCCFs can be generated.

With this study we aim  to identify specific weather situations which have the potential to provide a robust climate impact reduction despite uncertainties. This work is part of the SESAR project FlyATM4E. For this purpose, a systematic analysis of the meteorological conditions and situations is required. We will present the characteristic water vapour, NOx induced and contrail-cirrus aCCFs for a set of specific weather patterns based on 2018 reanalysis data. A detailed analysis of the variation in aCCFs will be presented, including the dependency of individual and merged aCCFs to seasonal cycle, different synoptical weather situations and cruise altitude.

 

Acknowledgement:

The current study has been supported by FlyATM4E project, which has received funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 891317 under European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. 
Medium-scale unsupervised landform mapping of the Yamal Peninsula (Russia) using 2D Fourier decomposition of the ArcticDEM
Authors: Kharchenko Sergey
Published: March 2022

The supervised mapping of landforms last years got high levels based on classic classification methods and new artificial intelligence techniques. However, it is often difficult to create train data for large and diverse areas, and we can face up with differences between expert-to-expert landforms interpretation. It can be solve using unsupervised classification - a less effective in general case, but more objective. The way to make more effective classification - to create special input variables (to account local specificity of landforms) aimed to show real terrain structure. Study region - Yamal Peninsula (Arctic coast of Russia), covered sea accumulative and erosional plains, reshaped by some cryogenic processes, especially thermokarst, with many lake hollows. We used ArcticDEM 32m and decomposition of DEM with 2D FFT by moving windows with sequence of sizes from 1.5 to 3 km (by the interval of 0.3 km) and with lag around 150 m (overlapping - 90-95 %). The 9 variables were computed: 1) magnitude of the main wave in the height field, 2) wavelength of the main wave, 3) importance (share of the height variation) of the fix pool of biggest harmonic waves, 4-6) orthogonal (N-S and W-E) components of the general direction of the height fluctuations (and the significance of the direction), 7-9) coefficients of the exponential trend equation for approximation wave's frequencies/magnitudes distribution. We then trained the model of landforms clustering for the study area using Kohonen network and the hierarchic clustering was used for additional generalization. The medium-scale (750 m / pix, it is matched to maps at the scale 1:500 000 - 1:1 000 000) map of Yamal Peninsula landforms was created. Seven classes of landforms were recognized. The study was supported by Russian Science Foundation (project no. 19-77-10036).
Ecotoxicological risk assessment of the Guadiamar Green Corridor soils 20 years after the Aznalcóllar mining accident
Authors: Paniagua-López Mario , Pastor-Jáuregui Rocío , Aguilar-Garrido Antonio , Romero-Freire Ana , Sierra-Aragón Manuel
Published: March 2022

The present study evaluates the potential toxicity of the soils of the Guadiamar Green Corridor (GGC) (Seville, SW Spain) affected by the Aznalcóllar mine spill, one of the most important mining accidents in Europe in recent decades. Twenty years after the accident, soils affected by residual contamination are still present in the area, for which their potential toxicity was assessed by carrying out bioassays with lettuce (Latuca sativa L.), earthworms (Eisenia andrei) and determining the microbial activity by measuring the basal respiration and the microbial metabolic quotient (qCO2) of these soils at surface level (0-10 cm). A total of 84 soil samples were taken along the GGC, which were divided into four types (SS1-SS4) according to their physicochemical properties. Soils SS1 and SS2 showed a higher environmental toxicity risk, with a reduction in root elongation of lettuce seeds of 57% and 34% compared to the control, as well as a higher metabolic quotient (23.9 and 18.1 ng CcO2 µg Cmicrob-1 h-1), significantly higher than those measured in SS3 and SS4.

The potential risk to humans of these soils through ingestion, inhalation, and skin exposure routes for the main potentially toxic elements (PTEs) present in the GGC (Pb, and As) was also evaluated based on EPA empirical models, in which the total exposure through each of the three routes was considered. The results obtained indicate that there is no potential risk for human health throughout the GGC considering the exposure for both adults and children, although there are areas of the corridor where the Guideline values for both Pb and As are exceeded. This, together with the potential toxicity of the soils to the ecosystem shown by the bioassays, indicate the need to monitor over time the human and environmental risks in the area to guarantee the safety and enjoyment of this natural area.
Soil Eukaryotes Diversity in the EU - Environmental drivers in agricultural land, forests and grasslands
Authors: Köninger Julia , Panagos Panos , Briones Maria J.I. , Orgiazzi Alberto
Published: March 2022

Despite that all above-ground life depends on that below-ground, the knowledge on soil biodiversity is still very limited. Conservation activities have been often postponed due to missing data. For example, this was the case in previous EU Common Agricultural Policy agreements, when environmental indicators for soil biodiversity were meant to be integrated comparable to biodiversity indicators in place. While massive sequencing of soil biodiversity contributes significantly to shredding light on below-ground life, sampling methods are not adequately harmonised, preventing the establishment of reliable quantifiable conservation targets. In addition, broad-scale studies are often biased towards microorganisms and hence, in the majority of the published literature, eukaryotes, and more specifically, animals and protists, are neglected. Therefore, in a first EU-wide study of 885 sites, we investigated the response of environmental factors (i.e., soil properties, biogeographical location and climate) and land cover (cropland, grassland and woodland) on soil eukaryotic diversity. The LUCAS survey and previously published studies provided soil, climate and land cover data. DNA metabarcoding of the 18S genes allowed us to assess the diversity of animals, protists and fungi, but due to their high variability in body size, we grouped them into micro-, meso- and macrofauna. For the bioinformatics analyses, we clustered sequence reads into amplicon sequence variants using DADA2 and thereafter, we assessed alpha and beta diversity and the relationships between eukaryotic diversity and environmental drivers using regression, ordination, and variance partitioning analyses. Our results allowed us to identify potential indicator species for EU soils, representing the effect of different drivers on eukaryotic diversity. These findings will help to understand the links between soil abiotic and biotic patterns at large scale, pathing the way for quantifiable goals to be included in conservation activities and policies.