bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How do land use and land cover changes affect soil properties and nutrients in abandoned agricultural terraces?
Authors: Lana-Renault Noemí , Llena Manel , Arnáez José , Gómez-Eguílaz Elena , Nadal-Romero Estela , Cammeraat Erik
Published: March 2024

Agricultural terraces are very conspicuous features of many mountain landscapes in the world. In the Mediterranean region, rural depopulation and farmland abandonment has led to a process of vegetation expansion on former cultivated terraces, either by natural revegetation or afforestation programs. The main objectives of this study were i) to determine land use changes in a representative Mediterranean mountain area dominated by agricultural terraces in the past, and ii) investigate the effect of different land use and land cover (LULC) on soil properties, SOC and N stocks. For this purpose, five different LULCs (cultivated land, dense and sparse shrublands, old Q. ilex forest and P. sylvestris afforestation) were selected in terraced slopes in the Iberian range, in N. Spain. For each LULC, soil samples were collected every 10 cm down to 50 cm. The results showed that in the last 70 years, shrub cover has doubled (from 280 ha in 1957 to 430 ha in 2020) and forest cover has increased from 46 ha to 171 ha. SOC and N contents strongly decreased with depth, except for the cultivated plots, where the values remain similar through the soil profile. In the top layer, SOC contents were higher in Q. ilex, followed by afforested P. sylvestris, dense and sparse shrubland and cultivated plots. N contents presented a similar pattern except for afforested P. sylvestris, which presented the lowest values. SOC and N stocks were higher in Q. ilex, cultivated land, dense and sparse shrubs, and afforested P. sylvestris. Understanding the effects of LULCC on soil properties and nutrients is essential to assess land management practices after farmland abandonment on agricultural terraces.Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the MANMOUNT project (PID2019-105983RB-100/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), funded by the MICINN-FEDER.
Tracing Volcanic Degassing Dynamics During the 2021-2023 Eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, via OP-FTIR measurements
Authors: Scott Samuel , Pfeffer Melissa , Oppenheimer Clive , Stefánsson Andri
Published: March 2024

The recent eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula presented an exceptional opportunity for in-depth analyses of volcanic gas emissions. Utilizing Open-path Fourier Transform Infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopy, we analyzed the abundance of major and minor gas molecular species, including H2O, CO2, SO2, HCl, HF and CO, in the gas emissions on more than twenty occasions throughout the eruptions in 2021-2023. Predominantly water-rich emissions (60-95 mol % H2O) suggest fractional degassing and substantial CO2 loss at depth. Significant temporal variations in gas composition were observed, with lower H2O/CO2 and H2O/SO2 ratios and higher SO2/HCl ratios measured early in the early stages of the Fagradalsfjall eruption and higher H2O/CO2 and H2O/SO2 ratios and lower SO2/HCl ratios during later stages and subsequent eruptions. A unique set of measurements, conducted at close range and high temporal resolution during the 2021 lava fountaining phase, provided insights into the dynamics of gas segregation at shallow depths. These findings help explain the pulsatory nature of the lava fountaining, driven by pressure fluctuations in a shallow magma-filled cavity. Furthermore, the gas emission chemistry varied significantly with the degassing style, with gas emitted by surface lava flows characterized by higher H2O/CO2 and H2O/SO2 and lower SO2/HCl and SO2/HF ratios compared to gas emitted at actively erupting vents. This study underscores the effectives of OP-FTIR techniques for tracking the spatiotemporal evolution of basaltic magma degassing, offering valuable insights into volcanic processes.
Statistical modelling of Urban Heat Island using Local Climate Zone classification.
Authors: Gousseff Matthieu , Bocher Erwan , Bernard Jérémy
Published: March 2024

Air temperature over cities shows a very strong spatial and temporal heterogeneity, and therefore, models to properly predict this variability are often complex and computationaly heavy.Yet, it is sometimes difficult to establish the strongly needed dialogue with policy makers and city planners when models are too complex to comprehend, or when a long time is needed to produce simulations of different scenarios and their impact on societally relevant issues, like human thermal comfort, air quality etc.Predicting how intense the urban heat island intensity can be during summer night conditions, and where it is most likely to be strong, using only input data that stakeholders can comprehend is probably an effective first step.Relatively simple methods are proposed with this contribution, which can approximate the results of far more heavy thermal physics models with an acceptable residual mean square error and a good spatial representation. They combine factorial analysis and linear models with mixed effects, using Local Climate Zones, population, and accessible geographical indicators as predictors.The loss of precision is a good trade-off in regard of the gain in explainability and rapidity of use. Once the parameters of the model are estimated, one can explore the impact of a major urban renovation project with almost no delay as long as the geographical information before and after the project are available.
TRISHNA : towards innovative infra-red data for environmental monitoring
Authors: Raynaud Jean-Louis , Gamet Philippe , Salcedo Corinne , Lyard Loïc , Amiot Carole , Picard Cécile , Roujean Jean-Louis , Bhattacharya Bimal
Published: March 2024

Planned to be launched in 2026, the TRISHNA mission (Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment) aims at providing visible and infra-red measurements with a worldwide coverage, for continents and coastal ocean. During its 5-year mission lifetime, it will acquire signal of the surface-atmosphere system with a 60-meter resolution. With such characteristics, TRISHNA mission can be considered as a precursor for future missions, such as SBG (NASA) or LSTM (ESA/COPERNICUS), with which a synergy has been established to allow a long term data inter-comparison.Resulting from a cooperation between CNES and ISRO, TRISHNA mission will take advantage of two mission centers, in France and in India, to provide users with Level 1C, 2 and 3 products. Based on identical algorithms specifications and products definitions, these ground segments will process and deliver data with Near Real Time demonstration objectives. Indeed, to allow quick decisions, some Level 2 products (for instance water stress indexes) shall be made available to users in less than 12 hours after acquisition.This presentation will give an update of the status of TRISHNA mission, focusing on the details of products which will be provided and their potential application in environmental remote sensing. The French ground segment will also be described to enhance how TRISHNA data will be processed and delivered.
Towards a global km-scale flood forecasting system
Authors: Denissen Jasper , Arduini Gabriele , Zsoter Ervin , Mazzetti Cinzia , Prudhomme Christel , Harrigan Shaun , Balsamo Gianpaolo , Ayan-Miguez Iria , Dueben Peter , Sandu Irina , Vanniere Benoit
Published: March 2024

River discharge has direct influence on the water-food-energy-environment nexus and can have devastating impacts during extreme events with rapid onsets such as floods. Floods often occur after extreme precipitation events, which are challenging to forecast accurately, both in time and space. Unresolved small-scale processes and features, including convection and orography, have a detrimental effect on precipitation and consequently hydrological forecast skill. This calls for a spatial resolution increase in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models, including their land component.The Destination Earth programme of the European Commission addresses this with globally coupled forecasts at spatial resolutions down to the km-scale with lead times of 5 days: the Digital Twin on Weather-Induced Extremes (EDT). These meteorological forecasts are used to force ECMWF’s Land Surface Modelling System (ECLand), the land component of the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS), to generate runoff. Subsequently, the river-routing scheme CaMa-Flood, effectively 1-way coupled to the IFS, is used to route runoff in rivers and to produce hydrological simulations. Essentially, CaMa-Flood will be part of the continuous component of the EDT, which in phase 2 of Destination Earth will provide daily high-resolution forecasts to monitor extreme events, such as floods, in real time. As river discharge acts as a natural integrator of the water cycle, CaMa-Flood can be used as a diagnostic tool to assess the hydrological response to increases in spatial resolution of the forcing and the river-routing network.In this study, two data products are derived: i) long-term hydrological simulations forced by atmospheric analysis data (e.g. ERA5 or ECMWF operational analysis) and ii) hydrological forecasts (daily forecasts in June - July 2021 and January - February 2022 as well as selected flood cases). To assess their quality, these data are validated with point-observed river-discharge time series. Analysis shows that the long-term hydrological simulations benefit from spatial resolution increases in the meteorological forcing and to a lesser extent from spatial resolution increases in the river-routing network. This is evidenced by higher Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE), higher correlations and lower biases across 876 river stations in Europe. Further, hydrological forecasts also benefit from higher spatial resolution meteorological forcing, evidenced both by higher correlations of the continuous summer/winter forecasts against river discharge observations from 798 river stations across Europe and by more pronounced flood peak magnitude for selected flood cases. These results highlight the added value of high resolution for hydrological forecast accuracy.
How does urbanization shape the record-breaking temperatures in Izmir, Turkey ?
Authors: Saka Fatma Başak , Unal Yurdanur
Published: March 2024

The urban heat island effect, denoting the temperature difference between urban and rural areas, has become more widely recognized due to the increasing urbanization over the years. Recent studies related to the urban heat island effect mainly focus on changes in atmospheric changes and their role in triggering significant weather phenomena. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for making future projections. This research is motivated by the need to understand how the urban heat island intensity affects the boundary layer and temperature structure of İzmir, Türkiye during a record-breaking temperature period, in July 2023.  Temperatures in the Aegion region for July 2023 are above season normals of the 1991-2020 period by 1.7ºC. To investigate how urbanization contributed to the temperature changes the chosen timeframe is modeled using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model (version 4.3). To enhance spatial resolution, we integrated the Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) land cover data into the model, employing a nested domain setup ranging from outer to inner domains with resolutions of 9-3-1 km. ERA5 Reanalysis was chosen as the initial condition to force the model throughout the selected period. Following the simulations using the parameterizations set optimized for the Izmir region in July 2023, the obtained results were scrutinized through a comparison with data from meteorological observation stations to analyze the accuracy and performance of the simulations.    Then, to examine how urban areas affect atmospheric behavior under record-breaking conditions, atmospheric conditions of  July 2003 were simulated by utilizing the same parameterizations and boundary conditions with altered land use categories.   The urban land-use categories within the domain were changed to the most dominant rural land-use category.   In evaluating the city's influence on record-breaking temperatures, the analysis focused on changes in the atmospheric boundary layer and its associated parameters by comparing the simulations with urbanizations and without urbanization in İzmir.
Modeling spatio-temporal variation of longitudinal connectivity and its relation to meander evolution
Authors: Blåfield Linnea , Calle Mikel , Alho Petteri , Kasvi Elina
Published: March 2024

Transfer of material inside a river reach is usually explained through connectivity - more specifically, functional connectivity, which refers to the system dynamics and sediment transfer in a geomorphological system at a certain spatio–temporal scale. Connectivity is usually understood as the cause of river forms, such as meander planform types but measuring and quantifying sediment connectivity variation over time still remains as a challenge. Many studies have quantified connectivity through digital elevation models of difference of two time-steps but this approach lacks the temporal variation between the time-steps. In this study we run detailed morphodynamic model of one hydrological year in order to assess weekly spatio-temporal variation of longitudinal functional connectivity over 6-kilometre sub-arctic river reach. Comprehensive field datasets (including sediment sampling, monitoring of morphological change and continuous discharge and water level measurements) were collected multiple times during the year to calibrate and validate the model over various discharge events. The results revealed detailed spatio-temporal morphological changes, the timing and magnitude of sediment cascade and the variation of connectivity inside the reach during the modelled year. We could define connectivity thresholds for certain discharge events and evaluate the interplay between sediment cascade and meander planform types. These threshold values can contribute in evaluating the climate change effect on sediment cascade in sub-arctic areas, and offer further understanding of complex interplay of connectivity and river forms in present and future.
Hydro-meteorological and Agricultural drought assessment under Solar Radiation Modification over the Niger river basin in West Africa
Authors: Coulibaly Amadou , Ballo Abdoulaye , Akpoti Komlavi , Sawadogo Windmanagda ,   Amadou Coulibaly1*
Published: March 2024

West African countries are vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate extremes such as drought which are becoming more frequent and more intense over the past decades. However, drought characterization and its associated drivers are not well understood in the region. In this study, we will investigate the implication of Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) in Hydro-meteorological and Agricultural drought over the Niger River Basin, as well as their larger-scale atmospheric and ocean-atmosphere drivers. The impacts of SRM on these aspects of drought will be assessed using ARISE/GeoMIP Global Climate Model (GCM) data. The study will use three drought indices: Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) over each grid point for each dataset for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) employed as an indicator of rainfall concentration for annual and seasonal scales (wet and dry seasons). Precipitation Concentration Degree (PCD) and Precipitation Concentration Period (PCP) to measure the rainfall distribution and the peak rainfall date, based on the daily or monthly total precipitation. Standardized runoff index (SRI) and standardized soil moisture index (SSWI). The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) will be used to assess the current and future water balance in the basin and to estimate the features of meteorological, hydrological and agricultural droughts. The model with be driven by a statistically downscaled of the SRM climate model data. In the Preliminary results, models reproduce the near normal drought for each type of drought over the basin. The ssp585 shows less dry condition in the far future over the basin. The model intervention reduces the gap and has serious implications for future management of droughts over the basins. This is an ongoing study. The results of this research will provide valuable insights to stakeholders in the region on the regional impacts of a global climate mitigation solution such as SRM on key socio-economic climate hazards. Details results from the study will be presented in oral at the workshop. The results will enable much better-informed contributions from African policymakers in the UNFCCC and other fora where the pros and cons of geoengineering of climate in general, and SRM in particular, are being debated.
Evaluating the UK forest demography and carbon cycle using a process-based Land Surface Model, JULES-RED
Authors: Chou Hsi-Kai , Harper Anna , Argles Arthur , Duran-Rojas Carolina , Littleton Emma , Cox Peter
Published: March 2024

Global warming and climate change caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is projected to have multiple impacts on the forest ecosystems. To mitigate these impacts, the UK Government has set a goal of net zero emissions of GHG by 2050. One core strategy is to use afforestation and forestry management to implement large-scale Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR). However, the effectiveness of afforestation as a GGR strategy is difficult to fully evaluate with standard empirical models due to the complexities of environmental conditions under a changing climate. Alternatively, process-based land surface models (LSM), such as the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES), are increasingly being used to evaluate forest growth within a national GGR context as they are driven by environmental drivers. By coupling the Robust Ecosystem Demography (RED) model with JULES, we model the forest dynamic and carbon sequestration among a set of Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) projections geographically across the UK up to 2080. Our results demonstrate the capability of mapping the potential GGR across the UK while also accounting for the changing environment and risks of climate change. The results show that JULES-RED can provide an effective tool for national-scale afforestation evaluation toward the 2050 net-zero targets.
A high-resolution hydrological model at planetary scale : conceptual study of the distribution and evolution of water reservoirs on early Mars.
Authors: Gauvain Alexandre , Forget François , Turbet Martin , Clément Jean-Baptiste
Published: March 2024

In past decades, the study of Mars revealed geological and geochemical indicators regarding the past presence of valley networks, lakes and even possibly oceans, particularly at the end of the Noachian and the beginning of the Hesperian epochs. These indicators suggest a potentially long stable period during which early Mars could have had a climate warm and wet enough to allow the presence of surface liquid water and precipitation.To understand the evolution of the planet's hydrological cycle, we developed a new high-resolution surface hydrological model to constrain hydrological processes. The resolution of our model is obtained from the data of MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) topographic map (1/128°). Our approach is based on the creation of a global hydrological database to define the location of topographic depressions and their spillover flow point, the hydrological connection between watersheds, and a relationship between elevation, volume, and area of generated lakes. This database significantly accelerates the computation speed of the hydrological model. The hydrological model can simulate the drying up or formation of lakes and oceans based on various parameters. In this conceptual study, we primarily explore the variability in the location of precipitation and the amount of available water on the surface of Mars, in Global Equivalent water Layer (GEL) units.The hydrological model performs detailed simulations by transferring water between watersheds according to their water storage capacity. Simulations are run in steady state, to ensure that inflow (precipitation) and outflow (evaporation and overflow) are equal. The model provides the location and extent of lakes and oceans depending on the amount and location of precipitation. Lake overflow rates are used as markers to identify runoff. To align with one of our plausible conceptual models, we use the relative climate aridity indicator (X-ratio) to position our study in relation to previous studies and highlight the contribution of this new model. Simulation results are compared with geological and geomorphological observations such as opened and closed lakes, deltas, and valley networks.The next steps in our work aim to enhance the robustness of our hydrological model by integrating it into a global climate model (GCM) and a planetary evolution model (PEM). This connection will provide a better understanding of the interactions between Mars' hydrological regime and its global climate. We also plan to add subsurface/groundwater flows to our model, providing a perspective on the distribution and dynamics of water under the Martian surface.
A transdisciplinary approach to improving urban air pollution
Authors: von Schneidemesser Erika , Schmitz Sean , Caseiro Alexandre , Kerschbaumer Andreas
Published: March 2024

In Berlin, Germany, new laws have been passed in the past 5 years seeking to transform the city’s mobility infrastructure to be climate neutral and environmentally friendly. Given Berlin’s size, history, and diverse governance structures, these new mobility measures (e.g. new bike lanes, temporary street closures) are typically implemented piecemeal in heterogeneous districts that makes measuring their individual environmental impacts challenging. Using the transdisciplinary research approach of the Research Institute for Sustainability of the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS), the planning and execution of several measurement campaigns, and the subsequent uptake of results into policymaking, was conducted with local stakeholders in the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Urban Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action (SenUMVK). To assess individual measures’ impacts on local air quality, a metric important to policymakers’ assessments of their success, before and after measurements of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) were conducted. This talk will focus on the transdisciplinary approach to research and how such an approach can address air pollution and climate change synergies, but also how such an approach facilitates uptake of research results by decision-makers.
High precision isotope ratio analysis for Cosmochemistry applications using the Thermo Scientific Neoma MC-ICP-MS.
Authors: Craig Grant , Pfeifer Markus , Williams Neil , Mournier Lionnel , Bouman Claudia , Lloyd Nicholas
Published: March 2024

               Within the first five years of the initial introduction of multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) with the VG Elemental Plasma 54 the potential for the technique to be applied to Isotope Cosmochemistry applications had already been recognized1. Early work focused on the 182Hf-182W chronometer, which had up until the introduction of MC-ICP-MS, been extremely difficult to measure with existing thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) techniques due to the extremely high first ionization potential of W.In the following 25 years the use of MC-ICP-MS for Isotope Cosmochemistry applications has expanded to numerous other isotopic systems, including, but not limited to 26Al-26Mg, 146Sm-142Nd and 60Fe-60Ni, not just 182Hf-182W.  A general feature of these measurements is typically a reliance on excellent precision, on the order of a few ppm, 2RSD [2]. The high count rates required to achieve such excellent precision take time in order to achieve. Excellent precision over such time scales require a high performance mass spectrometer, capable of high sensitivity, stable throughout the course of the measurement and equipped with a low-noise detection array.For over 20 years Thermo Fisher Scientific has pioneered developments in multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). The latest generation Thermo Scientific™ Neoma™ MC-ICP-MS, blends cutting-edge and field proven technology from the Ultra™ HR-IRMS and iCAP Qnova™ Series ICP-MS [3] and has the capability to complement and enhance Isotope Cosmochemistry applications [4]. Here we report our investigations into using the Neoma MC-ICP-MS and Neoma MS/MS MC-ICP-MS for a selection of Isotope Cosmochemistry application, including high precision Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn and W measurements.[1] A. Halliday, D. Lee, J. Christensen, M. Rehkämper, W. Yi, X. Luo, C. Hall, C. Ballentine, T. Pettke, C. Stirling, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1998, 62, 919-940.[2] S. Goderis, R. Chakrabarti, V. Debaille, J. Kodolányi, 2016, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2016, 31, 841-862.[3] Thermo Fisher Scientific, 2020, BR30600-EN 0520C: Neoma Multicollector ICP-MS [pdf], Thermo Fisher Scientific.[4] Z. Deng, M. Schiller, M. G. Jackson, M-A. Millet, L. Pan, K. Nikoljsen, N. S. Saji, D. Huang, M. Bizzarro, Nature, 2023, 621, 100-104
River Temperature Gradients from Foreland to High-Mountain Environments
Authors: Smith Taylor , Bookhagen Bodo
Published: March 2024

Temperature lapse rates are a key parameter describing how topography influences surface temperatures along elevation gradients. These rates have long been used to estimate ambient temperatures in unmonitored regions, as well as in climate and ecosystem modeling. In this work, we extend the concept of a lapse rate to alpine and peri-alpine rivers to examine variability in downstream temperature changes over steep mountains and their foreland areas.Rivers in the Himalaya vary from glaciated to rain-fed, and have a large east-west gradient in water source, with the western regions receiving far more winter snowfall and the eastern regions monsoonal rain. Over the past decades, there has been an extreme build-up of hydropower, irrigation, and groundwater pumping infrastructure in the region, which has drastically altered the way water moves through the landscape; there remain, however, significant unmanaged and high-altitude catchments throughout the Himalaya. By comparing these diverse river reaches, we aim to decipher the role of both climate and anthropogenic influence in driving river temperature gradients at the regional scale.Using Landsat data from 1983-2023, we first quantify how quickly temperatures change through different segments of rivers in varied geomorphic settings. We then further examine whether those downstream temperature change rates are constant through time or have shifted over the past decades, and to what degree anthropogenic influences (e.g., dams, irrigation) have changed these rates. We find that climate patterns – e.g., summer vs winter precipitation – play a strong role in controlling the rate of river temperature change along stream. We further note distinct spatial patterns in the rate of change (1983-2023), with strong differences in temperature trends between high- and low-elevation river reaches.
Solving Shallow Water Equations with Topography using Physics-Informed Neural Networks 
Authors: Dazzi Susanna
Published: March 2024

Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have recently been developed as a novel solution approach for physical problems governed by partial differential equations (PDEs). Compared to purely data-driven methods, PINNs have the advantage of embedding physical constraints in the training process, thus increasing their reliability. Compared to traditional numerical methods for PDEs, PINNs have the advantage of being “meshless”; they are in general less accurate and more computationally expensive, but also more suitable to sparse-data assimilation and to inverse modelling, which is increasing their popularity in many scientific fields. However, hydraulic applications of PINNs in the context of free-surface flows are still in their infancy.In this work, the effectiveness of PINNs to model one-dimensional free-surface flows over non-horizontal bottom is tested. The governing PDEs are the shallow water equations (SWEs), which represent the mass and momentum conservation in free-surface flows. The inclusion of a spatially variable topography in a meshless method such as PINNs is not trivial. Here, the idea of solving the augmented system of SWEs with topography is exploited. Augmentation consists in treating the bed elevation as a conserved variable (together with water depth and unit discharge) and adding a fictitious equation to the system, which states that this variable is constant in time (i.e., its time derivative is null), while it can be variable in space (its space derivative is included in the bed slope source term). In this way, bed elevation can be easily provided with other initial conditions, and the fixed-bed constraint preserves its value in time.Different cases of unsteady flows with flat and non-flat bottom are considered, and the accuracy obtained using PINNs with augmented SWEs is checked by comparing PINNs predictions with analytical solutions. Results show that a fair accuracy for depth and velocity can be obtained, even for some challenging test cases such as the dam-break over a bottom step and the planar flow over a parabolic basin (Thacker’s test case). Moreover, it is shown that, if PINNs are applied to a case with horizontal bottom, for which topography is not strictly necessary, similar accuracy and computational time are obtained when PINNs solve standard SWEs or augmented SWEs. It can therefore be concluded that the augmentation of SWEs is a simple but promising strategy to deal with flows over complex bathymetries using PINNs, which paves the way for applications to flows over more realistic topographies.
Toward an event-driven infrastructure for in-situ monitoring systems 
Authors: Cannata Massimiliano , Strigaro Daniele , Primerano Claudio , Antonovic Milan , Pozzoni Maurizio
Published: March 2024

Monitoring systems are used to understand and predict natural phenomena so that science-based wise decision can be opportunely taken to preserve natural resources and ecosystems. Today, thanks to IoT technologies, in-situ sensors allow to collect unprecedent number of observations of several environmental parameters at high frequency and at high spatial resolution so that fast evolving phenomena, that cannot be derived from satellite information, can be detected and analysed. The management of these data pose new challenges and requires a paradigm shift to fully exploit their potential by moving from time-based to event-based management. For this reason, we are redesigning istSOS, a long-lasting Open-Source project implementing the Sensor Observation Service: an interoperable Open Standards from the Open Geospatial Consortium. The new solution, that is currently under intense development, is based on the following individuated requirements: (i) Open Source software to guarantee the forever free usage for everyone with full open rights; (ii) Interoperability to offer a standard interface for data and metadata; (iii) reliability of adopted solutions to guarantees a solution to be used in production; (iv) microservices based, so that specialized tasks can be performed atomically using the best technologies; (v) reactive approach that enable real-time and asynchronous exploitation of information; (vi) choreographed architecture which permits single tasks to be autonomously executed without any external coordinator. To respond to the individuated requirements the new system is based on the OM:Observation standard as a core element to describe observations and Apache Kafka as reliable, scalable, durable and high performing solution for data stream management. Based on these two core elements, several microservices for observation consuming, archiving, processing and notification have been created and integrated in the architecture which is available as containerized composed solution. The solution is being tested in production environment for the management of the hydro meteorological monitoring data for the Canton Ticino in Southern Switzerland. With this work we share our results and our experience and discuss individuated challenges and barriers. 
Geochemical Insights into Neo-Tethyan Ophiolites of Indo-Myanmar Orogenic Belt, Northeast India: Multistage Melting and Supra-Subduction Zone Modification of Upper Mantle Rocks.
Authors: Chaubey Monika , Singh A. Krishnakanta
Published: March 2024

Upper mantle rocks from tectonically emplaced fragments of the oceanic lithosphere are generally considered to represent variably depleted residues of the oceanic upper mantle remaining after mantle melting and crust-mantle segregation. Geochemical data of these mantle rocks and their compositions of mineral phases are pondered as a powerful petrogenetic indicator and their chemical compositions are dependent on the conditions and degree of partial melting and melt-rock interactions and also contribute to our understanding of the original tectonic setting of lithosphere generation. The Neo-Tethyan ophiolites of the Indo-Myanmar Orogenic Belt (IMOB), northeast India which lie along the southern extension of the Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ) are investigated through the mantle-derived peridotite sequence. The lithology of the IMOB comprises ultramafic tectonic (dunite–harzburgite–lherzolite), ultramafic–mafic cumulates (pyroxenite–gabbro), mafic intrusives, volcanic, and volcano-clastics dominated by basalt, spilite, and marine sediments. A wide range of chemical compositions is observed in the mantle sequence of the IMOB ophiolites. Lherzolites display low Cr# (0.12-0.26) and TiO2 (
Monitoring Changes In Agricultural Field Boundaries Using Spatiotemporal Remote Sensing Data
Authors: Saxena Nikita , Annkah Abigail , Deshpande Ishan , Wilson Alex , Talekar Alok
Published: March 2024

In the domain of precision agriculture, land-use planning, and resource management, the precise delineation of field boundaries is pivotal for informed decision-making. The dynamic nature of agricultural landscapes, particularly in smallholder farming, introduces seasonal changes that pose challenges to accurately identify and update field boundaries. The conventional approach of relying on high-resolution imagery for this purpose proves to be economically impractical on a seasonal basis. We propose a framework that utilizes a spatiotemporal series of medium-resolution public imagery (e.g., Sentinel-2) in conjunction with an outdated high-resolution image as a reference for super-resolution reconstruction. The developed methodology incorporates super-resolution techniques to enhance the spatial resolution while simultaneously performing semantic segmentation at the higher resolution. We evaluate the proposed model's performance in predicting seasonal field boundaries at a pan-India level. The validity of these findings is established through assessment by a team of human annotators.Our approach aims to offer a scalable spatiotemporal solution for accurate field boundary identification at a national level by combining information from different satellites at different resolutions.
Thresholds of Meteorological Factors Conductive to Severe Summer Ozone Pollution in China and Relation of Occurrence Frequency with Large Scale Circulations
Authors: Li Yingxin , Gao Qingxian , Gao Wenkang , Du Wupeng , Rehfeld Kira
Published: March 2024

Daily thresholds of meteorological factors relative to severe summer ozone pollution are determined in the North China Plain (NCP), the Fenhe River and Weihe River Plain (FWP), the Sichuan Basin (SCB), the Changjiang River Plain (CJR) and Pearl River Delta (PRD) by combing ozone concentrations at air quality monitoring stations and meteorological elements at weather stations. These regions share same daily thresholds, namely maximum temperature above 30 °C, relative humidity below 80%, rainfall below 10 mm and radiation in the scope of 17~27 MJ/m2 together with wind speed in the range of 0.5~3.0 m/s. The adverse meteorological frequency combining daily thresholds of wind speed and radiation shows individual trend and periodic characteristics in each region after conducting 10-year moving average, namely rising with 3~6 percentage points/decade in NCP (in June), FWP (in June, July and August) and CJR (in July) while decreasing with 2~3 percentage points in SCB in July and August. However, there are no apparent trends in PRD. Additionally, these frequencies are periodic with 8.3 years to 25 years. The frequencies are positively related to Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) in NCP, FWP, CJR and PRD, while negatively relevant in SCB. The correlate coefficients between Southern Oscillation and the frequencies vary in regions and months. With cyclo-stationary empirical orthogonal function analysis, we also substantiate impacts of global warming, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, El-Nino and La-Nina on WPSH in two typical months. These would give us more insights on meteorological effects on ozone pollution and be helpful for its projection.
Bioaerosol’s contribution to the atmospheric Phosphorus in Athens, Greece
Authors: Papoutsidaki Kyriaki , Tsiodra Irini , Grivas Georgios , Bougiatioti Aikaterini , Oikonomou Konstantina , Kozonaki Faidra Aikaterini , Tavernaraki Kalliopi , Tsagkaraki Maria , Nenes Athanasios , Mihalopoulos Nikolaos , Kanakidou Maria
Published: March 2024

Phosphorus (P) is a key macronutrient vital for all organisms, and it undergoes redistribution between terrestrial and oceanic systems through processes such as atmospheric emission, transport, transformation, and deposition. P is a limiting factor for primary productivity in the east Mediterranean Sea and the atmosphere is an important source of P for the marine ecosystems. Atmospheric P is present as both organic and inorganic species in dissolved and particulate forms and originates from both natural and anthropogenic sources. However, its sources remain uncertain since observational data show that the prevailing fraction of soluble, bioavailable, atmospheric P cannot be attributed to desert dust. Bioaerosols have been proposed as important carriers of nutrients and especially of bioavailable P to the marine ecosystems, potentially contributing to the missing sources of atmospheric P in the Mediterranean. In this study, a large number (234) of ambient PM2.5 24-h samples that were collected over a multi-yearlong sampling campaign (Dec. 2018 – Jul. 2021) conducted in Athens, one of the largest urban centres in south eastern Mediterranean, were analysed for total phosphorus (TP). In addition to P, chemical components, such as saccharides that are used as proxies of bioaerosols, but also organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble OC, major inorganic anions and cations, elements of crustal origin and trace elements were determined. Preliminary results show the highest concentrations of TP and organic phosphorus (OP) in spring. Inorganic phosphorus exhibits similar levels throughout the seasons, with a small increase in spring. The observed concentrations of anhydro sugars were higher in winter and autumn than in summer due to biomass burning processes, while primary sugars and sugar alcohols indicative of bioaerosols increased throughout the growing season, peaking in spring as found also for total phosphorus concentrations. Positive Matrix Factorization analysis (PMF) is employed to identify the individual sources that affected the air samples and in particular P. Thus, the fraction of P in aerosols attributed to bioaerosol has been estimated. Aerosol sampling has been performed in the frame of the ERC PyroTRACH grant #726165. This work has been supported by the HFRI grant # 4050 BIOCAN.
Detect and characterize swarm-like seismicity
Authors: Passarelli Luigi , Cesca Simone , Mizrahi Leila , Petersen Gesa
Published: March 2024

Tectonic earthquake swarms exhibit a distinct temporal and spatial pattern compared to mainshock-aftershock sequences. Unlike the latter ones, where the earthquake sequence typically starts with the largest earthquake that triggers an Omori-Utsu temporal decay of aftershocks, earthquake swarms show a unique increase in seismic activity without a clear mainshock. The largest earthquake(s) in a swarm sequence often occur(s) later, and the sequence consists of multiple earthquake bursts showing spatial migration. This erratic clustering behavior of earthquake swarms arises from the interplay between the long-term accumulation of tectonic elastic strain and short-term transient forces. Detecting and investigating earthquake swarms challenges the community and ideally requires an unsupervised approach, which has led in recent decades to the emergence of numerous algorithms for earthquake swarm identification.In a comprehensive review of commonly used techniques for detecting earthquake clusters, we applied a blend of declustering algorithms and machine learning clustering techniques to synthetic earthquake catalogs produced with a state-of-the-art ETAS model, with a time-dependent background rate mimicking realistic swarm-like sequences. This approach enabled the identification of boundaries in the statistical parameters commonly used to distinguish earthquake cluster types, i.e., mainshock-aftershock clusters versus earthquake swarms. The results obtained from synthetic data helped to have a more accurate classification of seismicity clusters in real earthquake catalogs, as it is the case for the 2010-2014 Pollino Range (Italy) seismic sequence, the Húsavík-Flatey transform fault seismicity (Iceland), and the regional catalog of Utah (USA). However, the classification obtained through automated application of these findings to real cases depends on the clustering algorithm utilized, the statistical completeness of catalogs, the spatial and temporal distribution of earthquakes, and benefits of a posteriori manual inspection. Nevertheless, the systematic assessment and comparison of commonly used methods - benchmarked in this work to synthetics catalogs and real seismicity – allows the community to have clear and thorough guidelines to identify swarm-like seismicity.
Effect of cohesive sediments on coastal bar morphology under waves and currents 
Authors: Baar Anne , Murphy Brendan , McLelland Stuart , Parsons Daniel
Published: March 2024

Coastal systems are highly dynamic systems where sand and mud are transported under the complex interactions of bathymetry, currents and waves. A better understanding of the natural dynamics at the scale of individual bars is required for a fundamental understanding of the formation of coastal environments and how they will respond to changes in the future. The current research aims to characterize the relative influence of mud on the morphodynamic change of coastal bars under the combined action of waves and currents. To this end, experiments were conducted in the Total Environment Simulator, a large-scale wave-current flume facility at the University of Hull (6m x 11m, 0.4m deep). The experimental setup consisted of a circular mound of a mixture of sand and clay, placed on top of a flat sand bed in the centre of the flume. The experimental conditions were systematically varied between runs, with 4 different clay percentages of the mound, and 5 different combinations of wave height and current velocity. Flow velocity, water level and bed levels were monitored during each run, providing well-controlled bed development data over time. Preliminary observations of the mound morphology show lateral diffusion due to sediment transport perpendicular to the wave direction under the influence of gravity, and streamwise migration due to sediment transport in the direction of the flow. Increasing the cohesivity altered the relative influence of the waves and currents on the direction of sediment transport and therefore the final shape of the mound. Wave height had a greater control on the morphology with increasing clay content, since higher waves were more effective in winnowing out the clay into suspension and thereby mobilizing the sand fraction. Future analyses will focus on linking the change in direction of sediment transport under combined waves and currents to landscape evolution, to study the larger-scale implications of the observed differences in transport mechanisms.
Quantification of the surface deformation on salt diapirs using high-resolution Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Multi-Spectral satellite imagery, Zagros mountains, southern Iran
Authors: Rieger Stefanie , Závada Prokop , Bruthans Jiří , Dusingizimana Mugabo Wilson , Plattner Christina , Kahle Beth , Friedrich Anke
Published: March 2024

Salt diapirs are ubiquitous in the Zagros Mountains, but salt-flow dynamics in their extrusive parts and interaction with their caprocks are complex and poorly understood. For a better understanding of the interaction between salt dynamics and the caprock on the surface of the salt extrusions, knowledge of high-resolution spatiotemporal surface deformation and multispectral satellite imagery analysis is essential. However, the contemporary vertical surface deformation pattern across salt diapirs is difficult to detect and interpret along disciplinary boundaries. With the aid of high-resolution PSI measurements and multispectral imagery analysis we detected high-precision spatiotemporal deformation patterns of the surfaces of salt diapirs and their caprocks. Furthermore, time-series analysis helped to distinguish between salt-supply-driven domal uplift and vertical surface modification induced by precipitation, dissolution, and erosion.In this study, we analysed Sentinel-1 PSI time-series, processed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), to obtain the highest available spatiotemporal resolution of the vertical surface-deformation pattern across three diapirs – Karmostaj, Siah Taq, and Champeh – in the Zagros.Furthermore, the Persistent Scatterers are correlated to their lithological composition based on multispectral analysis of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite images. Preliminary results indicate that the deformation pattern of the salt diapirs does not correlate with seasonal effects, such as precipitation and heat. The vertical surface deformation pattern on these three diapirs implies that these diapirs are active and that caprock influences the salt flow pattern.Unnderstanding the activity of salt diapirs in general is also important, for example, in the feasibility studies of salt diapirs as strategic storage facilities for hydrocarbons, waste material, and CO2 storage over longer time-scales worldwide.