bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stratospheric ozone-climate interactions in idealized DECK experiments from CMIP
Authors: Chiodo Gabriel , Wang Jingyu , Sukhodolov Timofei , Ball William , Diallo Mohamadou , Hassler Birgit , Keeble James , Nowack Peer , Orbe Clara
Published: March 2024

Rising greenhouse gases (GHG) and decreasing anthropogenic ozone-depleting substances (ODS) are the main drivers of stratospheric climate evolution in the 21st century. However, our understanding of the coupling between stratospheric composition, radiation and dynamics is still a subject to many uncertainties, partly because of the simplified representation of ozone in many current climate models. In our work, we study stratospheric ozone-climate interactions using idealized CMIP6 DECK experiments (pre-industrial control, abrupt quadrupling of CO2, and 1 % yr−1 CO2 increase). This set up provides longer time-series and stronger GHG forcing than in the historical period. The 6th phase of CMIP has a larger number of participating models with interactive chemistry (“CHEM”) to be contrasted against the models where it is prescribed (“NOCHEM”) than in previous generations of CMIP models. Our findings show that CMIP6 models broadly exhibit a similar ozone response to CO2 with increased ozone in the upper stratosphere (US), driven mostly by rapid adjustments (chemistry), and slow transport-driven decrease in the tropical lower stratosphere (LS), and increase in the extratropical LS. The total column ozone response is small in the tropics and positive at high latitudes, with large inter-model discrepancy, possibly arising from model biases in polar vortex dynamics. We also quantify, for the first time, the radiative and dynamical impacts of ozone and quantify their inter-model uncertainty, by means of radiative transfer calculations and careful comparison of chem vs nochem models. First, we find that CHEM models are colder than NOCHEM models in the UTLS region, consistent with the ozone changes in these regions. Second, we find that the large-scale circulation response is systematically different in CHEM and NOCHEM. Lastly, climate sensitivity tends to be lower in CHEM than NOCHEM models, although the uncertainty across models is large and processes that are not tied to ozone cannot be ruled out. Taken together, our work demonstrates that ozone changes can potentially modulate the modeled response to elevated CO2 levels, stressing the importance of interactive chemistry in the future generation of models, in order to correctly simulate the coupling between chemistry, radiative and dynamical processes under climate change.
Sulfur incorporation in (foraminiferal) calcite
Authors: Karancz Szabina , Uchikawa Joji , de Nooijer Lennart J. , Wolthers Mariëtte , Conner Kyle , Hite Corinne , Brummer Geert-Jan A. , Lattaud Julie , Haghipour Negar , Rosenthal Yair , Zeebe Richard E. , Sharma Shiv , Reichart Gert-Jan
Published: March 2024

Sulfur over calcium ratio (S/Ca) in foraminiferal calcite has been suggested as a potential tool to reconstruct seawater carbonate ion concentration ([CO32-]). The approach of using sulfur incorporation as a proxy for the carbon system was based on benthic foraminiferal controlled growth experiments, which suggested that foraminifera incorporate more sulfur when there is less [CO32-] available in the seawater. With sulfate ([SO42-]) being proposed to be the dominant form in which sulfur is incorporated in the calcium carbonate of the foraminiferal shells, S/Ca would provide an independent parameter for the reconstruction of seawater inorganic carbon chemistry. To further explore the potential of this proxy, we used five planktonic foraminiferal species collected from the field. S/Ca values in planktonic foraminifera collected from core-top sediments that span a large range of growth conditions (temperature, salinity, [CO32-] and [HCO3-]) reveal an opposite trend with [CO32-] compared to the results from the benthic foraminifera culture experiments. Moreover, we found an additional effect of incorporation of Mg on S/Ca ratios, or a combined effect on both. Using the ratio of S to Mg overcomes this issue and S/Mg ratios correlate with [CO32-]. Still, these correlations are likely affected by multiple parameters and/or incorporation pathways other than only SO42- as suggested by our inorganic calcite growth experiments. Results of this study suggest a critical evaluation of the use of foraminiferal S/Ca, considering the aqueous species involved during uptake and potentially combining other elements that may share controls.
Analysis of moisture recycling at unprecedented resolution in the western Mediterranean region 
Authors: Insua Costa Damián , Keune Jessica , Koppa Akash , Massari Christian , G. Miralles Diego
Published: March 2024

The western Mediterranean region is a climate change hotspot, where the increase in temperature far exceeds the global average. This is causing its hydrological cycle to be highly impacted, with an increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts, extreme precipitation and floods. For this reason, a more holistic understanding of the atmospheric branch of water cycle and its connexion to meteorological changes is needed. Here we use satellite-based observational data recently generated within the 4DMED-Hydrology ESA project to analyse the atmospheric water transport in the region at an unprecedented resolution. Specifically, we combine a Lagrangian back-trajectory model for moisture tracking (FLEXPART–HAMSTER; Keune et al., 2022) with observed evaporation and precipitation data to quantify moisture recycling at 1 km spatial resolution. Our results show average local precipitation recycling rates close to 30% in summer months, in agreement with previous studies (Batibeniz et al., 2020), but this rate is highly variable over time, being much higher in periods of drought, when water supply is most needed. Likewise, the results reveal that evaporation recycling is highly spatially variable, meaning that moisture evaporated in some parts of the Mediterranean region is much more efficiently rained within the same region than others. For instance, in the Po Valley, the fraction of evaporation that returns to the region as rain is much higher than in its surroundings, which is why we consider it as a Mediterranean moisture source hotspot. Our findings demonstrate how meteorological anomalies can affect the transfer of water through the atmosphere in the region, and highlight the importance of investing in high-resolution Earth observation to advance our understanding of the different branches of the hydrological cycle. 

References: 

Keune, J., Schumacher, D. L., & Miralles, D. G. (2022). A unified framework to estimate the origins of atmospheric moisture and heat using Lagrangian models. Geoscientific Model Development, 15(5), 1875–1898. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1875-2022 

Batibeniz, F., Ashfaq, M., Önol, B., Turuncoglu, U. U., Mehmood, S., & Evans, K. J. (2020). Identification of major moisture sources across the Mediterranean Basin. Climate Dynamics, 54, 4109-4127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-020-05224-3 
Effect of volcanic islands offshore morphology on the tsunami generation and hazard extent from coastal cliff-failures.
Authors: Ramalho Inês , Omira Rachid , Kim Jihwan
Published: March 2024

Mass-wasting events on volcano islands flanks are a recognized source of tsunami. Nonetheless, little is known about the failure mechanisms, dynamics that lead to the wave formation and the tsunami extent when the displaced material plunges into the sea and moves downslope. Owing to the lack of direct and instrumental observations, the main indicator of tsunamigenesis for mass-wasting events is the volume of the failure material, often inferred from mass transport deposits offshore and/or collapse scars onshore.This work addresses the influence of islands offshore morphology on the formation and hazard extent of tsunamis triggered by coastal cliff-failures. Particularly, we explore two common coastal morphologies of ocean volcanic islands: a volcanic island with and without insular shelves. We seek to better understand how the presence of these shallow submarine platforms constrains the dynamics of the collapses and, consequently, the tsunami generation and its hazard extent. To this end, we performed numerical simulations using different morphologic configurations and landslide volumes and allowing to simulate and analyse the formed tsunami energy (both potential and kinetic). The results show that, for the same coastal cliff-failure volume, the islands offshore morphology highly influence the tsunami generation and hazard extent. We found that tsunamis forming on islands with insular shelves have initial solitary-like waveshape with relatively short wavelength, while those on islands without shelves show N-wave shape with longer wavelength. The latter have higher energy, both potential and kinetic, allowing the tsunami to travel away from the shore and cause larger hazard extent than those occurring on islands without shelves. Our results demonstrate that offshore island morphology is a particularly determining factor in the dynamics of collapsed sectors and, therefore, on their tsunamigenesis and hazard extent.This work is supported by projects MAGICLAND (PTDC/CTA-GEO/30381/2017) and HAZARDOUS (PTDC/CTA-GEO/0798/2020) FCT-funded projects. This work was funded by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) – UIDB/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/50019/2020), UIDP/50019/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/50019/2020) and LA/P/0068/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0068/2020).
Seasonal snow cover variations in Central Asia based on remote sensing data
Authors: Gafurov Akmal , Mamaraimov Adkham , Friedrich Busch , Gafurov Abror
Published: March 2024

Snow is an important hydrological component in Central Asia. The snowmelt contributes to about 50 % of total water formation in the region, depending on geographic conditions. Many hydro-meteorological phenomena such as floods or drought conditions can be triggered by snowmelt amounts in Central Asia. The amount of snow accumulation in the mountains of Tian-Shan and Pamir also defines the availability of water for summer months to be used for agricultural production or re-filling of reservoirs for energy production in the winter period. Thus, it is of high importance to better understand the seasonal variation of snow and if the over the global average climate warming in the region is affecting the processes related to snow accumulation and melt.In this study, we analyze 22 years of daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Radiometer (MODIS) snow cover data that was processed using the MODSNOW-Tool, including cloud elimination. Additionally, observed snow depth data from meteorological stations were used to estimate trends related to snow cover change. We used several parameters such as snow cover duration, snow depth, snow cover extent, and snowline elevation to analyze changes.  We conducted this analysis in 18 river basins across the Central Asian domain with each river basin having different geographic conditions and the results show varying tendencies. In many river basins, a clear decrease of snow cover was found to be significant, whereas in some river basins also increase in the snow cover extent in particular months could be identified. We attributed the changes related to snow cover to available historical temperature and precipitation records from meteorological stations to better understand the driving forces. The results of this study indicate seasonal snow cover variations but also potential water shortages in particular months as well as water abundance in months where water demand is not high in Central Asia.
Simulation of Carbonated Fault Zones Hydrodynamics and Transport Considering Parametric and Predictive Uncertainty
Authors: Aurelie Boura , Yohann Cousquer , Victor Clauzon , Rémi Valois , Véronique Leonardi
Published: March 2024

Hydrodynamic understanding of karstic aquifers is a real challenge due to the complexity of their internal structures. However, their societal significance lies in the substantial quantity of groundwater resources they embody. Among these complexities, faults partially control the organization of flows in these systems. The nature of this control can either facilitate rapid flow transfer or act as a barrier, impacting both groundwater quality and quantity. Understanding the behavior of fault zone features is crucial for efficiently management of karstic aquifer resources. However, there is a lack of studies that estimate and simulate flow within fault zones. In this study we estimate the hydraulic properties of the fault zone within carbonate karstic aquifers for flow and transport forecasting purposes based on cross-hole pumping tests simulation and inversion. The flow and transport are modeled using MODFLOW6 and MODPATH7. The inverse modeling approach is based on the Gauss-Levenberg-Marquardt Algorithm (GLMA) and the Iterative Ensemble Smoother (IES) integrated into the PEST++ code. Initially, we applied and validated the approach on a synthetic fault zone and subsequently on a real case studies within karstic carbonate aquifers of interest (Lez aquifer, Montpellier (France)). The inverse modeling approach has proven efficient in exploring hydrodynamic properties and then obtained both flow and transport forecasts with a satisfactory level of uncertainty. These works contribute to a better understanding of the hydrodynamic aspects of fault zones in carbonate environments through an innovative approach specific to its application. This study offers a reproducible method to understand and quantify hydrodynamics in aquifer in general and carbonated aquifer fault zones in particular. This improvement enhances the management strategies for groundwater resources in carbonated aquifers.
Heat content and temperature trends for different depth layers in the Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Mieruch Sebastian , Kubin Elisabeth , Menna Milena , Mauri Elena , Notarstefano Giulio , Poulain Pierre-Marie
Published: March 2024

The Mediterranean Sea is very sensitive to climatic changes due to its semi-enclosed nature and is therefore defined as one of the hotspots in future climate change projections. In this study, we use Argo float data to assess climatologies and trends in temperature and Ocean Heat Content (OHC) throughout the Mediterranean Sea and for specific sub-basins (e.g. Western and Eastern Mediterranean, Gulf of Lion, South Adriatic). The amount of the OHC, spatially averaged in bins of 1°x1° over the period from 2001 to 2020, increases from west to east in the Mediterranean Sea. Time series of temperature and OHC from 2005 to 2020, estimated in the surface and intermediate layers (5-700 m) and deeper layer (700-2000 m), reveal significant warming trends and an increase of OHC. The upper 700 m of the Mediterranean Sea show a temperature trend of 0.041±0.012 °C·yr-1, corresponding to an annual increase in OHC of 3.59±1.02 W·m-2. The Western Mediterranean Sea (5-700 m) is warming fastest with an increase in temperature at a rate of 0.070±0.015 °C·yr-1, corresponding to a yearly increase in OHC of 5.72±1.28 W·m-2. Mixing and convection events within convection sites and along boundary currents transport and disperse the temperature and OHC changes. Significant warming trends are evident in the deeper layers (700-2000 m) of the two deep convection sites in the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lion, South Adriatic), with an exceptionally strong warming trend in the South Adriatic from 2013 to 2020 of 0.058±0.005 °C·yr-1, corresponding to a yearly increase in OHC of 9.43±0.85 W·m-2. The warming of the different water masses will show its feedback on ocean dynamics and air-sea fluxes in the next years, decades, and even centuries as these warming waters spread or re-emerge. This will provide more energy to the atmosphere, resulting in more extreme weather events and will also stress ecosystems and accelerate the extinction of several marine species. This study contributes to a better understanding of climate change in the Mediterranean region, and should act as another wake-up call for policy makers and society.
Seasonal variations in seismic velocities within the Swiss Jura using Ambient Noise Interferometry
Authors: Henry Michaïl , Savard Geneviève , Muñoz Francisco , Lupi Matteo
Published: March 2024

In recent years, seismic ambient noise interferometry has become a promising non-invasive time-lapse monitoring tool for near-surface studies. Indeed, researches have revealed that the coda of ambient noise cross-correlations can detect subsurface velocity changes (dv/v) as small as 0.01%. Seismic interferometry applications have been demonstrated for monitoring natural processes (groundwater cycle, volcano eruption dynamics) and human operations affecting the subsurface (e.g. geothermal, wastewater disposal). In such applications investigating human-induced effects, careful consideration must be given to site-specific natural background fluctuations to confidently determine if observed velocity changes can be attributed to human interventions. An upcoming Enhanced Geothermal System will be developed in the Swiss Jura mountains. Before seismic interferometry can be deployed to monitor geothermal operations, it is important to understand seasonal variations of the noise field. Hence, we are conducting a seismic interferometry study to investigate natural dv/v fluctuations in the area of the future geothermal plant. Using four years of continuous seismic data (August 1, 2017 to June 1, 2021) recorded by four triaxial high-gain broadband stations part of the Swiss national seismic network, we are applying both the moving window cross-spectral (MWCS) and stretching techniques across multiple cross-components. The objective is to quantify the range and magnitude of seasonal seismic velocity changes in the subsurface. Furthermore, our investigations involve exploring correlations between observed velocity changes and specific environmental factors, such as precipitation, groundwater level variations, and temperature fluctuations. 
AI classification of marine birds and mammals based on aerial imagery of the German North and Baltic Seas
Authors: Sommer Christian , Seuret Mathias , Gourmelon Nora , Christlein Vincent , Braun Matthias
Published: March 2024

Following the current expansion of offshore constructions for the production of renewable energy as well as shipping traffic, assessments of impacts on marine ecosystems are becoming increasingly important. Thus, accurate knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of animal species is mandatory regarding the preservation of biodiversity and management of offshore wind farms and further economic activities. High-resolution optical imagery of airborne remote sensing sensors enables the observation of marine birds and mammals within large ocean areas. However, the identification of features at the ocean surface as well as the separation of animals and further objects, such as wave structures, ships or buoys, requires time-consuming visual inspection of the acquired image sequences by trained personnel. Here, we apply an AI-based approach to automatically detect and classify various features above the sea surface based on aerial imagery of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea. A large number of optical images at a spatial resolution of 2 cm have been acquired by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) during repeated monitoring flights since 2018. These images are preprocessed and geolocated by assigning respective auxillary informations to create an extensive database on marine animal observations. The AI method which we are developing has to be responsible both for detecting birds in images, and for tracking instances of a same element present on multiple frames in order to avoid counting an individual multiple times. Some of the main challenges which will have to be dealt with are the following. First, luminosity conditions cannot be controled and might be suboptimal in a large fraction of the images, rendering animals completely white or black, or difficult to distinguish from the background. Second, smaller animals might consist only of little pixel blobs, and thus be difficult to distinguish. Third, flying birds might have shadows, which, while bird-shaped, must not be classified as birds. Fourth, in bird flocks overlapping tricks the AI into detecting one bird instead of several ones, which renders tracking significantly more challenging. We aim at tackling the third and fourth issues by incorporating cinematic estimation of the plane‘s and animal‘s movements, and estimating the direction of the sun in each frame, into the tracking system. In the future, our system will be used by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) to monitor bird and mammal populations, and evaluate the effectiveness of preservation measures. 
Open-hardware-based data logger platform for independently operating outdoor instrumentation
Authors: Weimar Jannis , Köhli Markus
Published: March 2024

Open hardware-based microcontrollers, especially the Arduino platform, have become a comparably easy-to-use tool for rapid prototyping, stand-alone systems and implementing creative solutions. Such devices in combination with dedicated frontend electronics, external sensors and modems can offer low cost alternatives for student projects and independently operating small scale instrumentation. The capabilities of sensor-to-sensor communication can be extended to data taking and signal analysis at decent rates. Low-cost approaches to environmental monitoring will be critical for developing the evidence base needed to better understand the climate system, specifically in our case for understanding the water cycle. Off-the-shelf-components-based, internet-connected devices are easy to monitor and maintain, low risk and capable of extensive deployment to address the challenge of geographical variability and can address user- and site-specific demands. We present our project of a data logger platform "nCollector" based on an Arduino DUE, including data storage on SD cards, serial data transmission via USB, RS485, SDI-12, telemetry via GSM (4G), Nb-IoT and LoRa including its power supply and a minimal user interface. For outdoor instrumentation we specifically designed a solution with a low power demand of 0.2 W in order to realize 24/7 operation under harsh conditions with medium sized PV panels and batteries. With our presentation we want to provide a model case for other researchers to take inspiration from, share our experience with building and deploying over 100 systems all over Europe and help engaging the community to enhance their own instrumentation and data taking. 
Improving Maize Water Use Efficiency: Strategies for Mitigating Water Demand Challenges in a Changing Environment
Authors: Srivastava Antriksh , Srinivasan Venkatraman
Published: March 2024

Improving Maize Water Use Efficiency: Strategies for Mitigating Water Demand Challenges in a Changing Environment  AbstractMaize, a significant food source compared to other crops, has seen yield improvements due to genetic enhancements. However, to meet future demands, further enhancements are essential. Stagnant crop water use efficiency (WUE) poses a challenge to food security, emphasizing the importance of addressing inefficient crop water use. The current CO2 saturation in maize crop photosynthesis (Anet) offers a potential avenue for enhancing water use efficiency by genetically reducing stomatal conductance (gs). While this reduction in gs is anticipated to lower transpiration without impacting Anet, it simultaneously raises leaf temperature (Tleaf) and water vapor pressure deficits (VPD). Here, we use a mechanistic C4 leaf model (vLeaf) to explore the impact of gs reduction on leaf-level processes, revealing both direct effect (primary) and indirect feedback (secondary) of gs reduction on leaf WUE. Our simulations show that secondary effects can counteract the water-saving advantages derived from decreased transpiration, leading to a decline in WUE gains from 40% to 20%. Despite this notable decrease, it is important to highlight that these reductions do not nullify the WUE benefits associated with lowered gs. Moreover, simulations conducted under anticipated future conditions, characterized by elevated CO2 levels and drier air, indicate that a reduction of gs by 29% can yield WUE improvements of up to 28%. This study emphasizes the potential of reducing gs as an effective strategy to tackle the issue of water demand.
Developing trace element proxy calibrations for reconstructing polar surface ocean hydrography based on laboratory-grown planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma
Authors: Westgård Adele , Meilland Julie , Sykes Freya E. , Chalk Thomas B. , Foster Gavin L. , Chierici Melissa , Ezat Mohamed M.
Published: March 2024

Proxy based records of past changes in the polar surface ocean-cryosphere-climate interactions can provide invaluable constraints on ongoing and future climate change. However, studying polar ocean palaeoceanography remains challenging largely due to a lack of robust proxy calibrations. For example, the commonly used foraminiferal Mg/Ca paleothermometer does not have a reliable calibration at polar conditions and there are currently limited trace element proxies for other environmental variables such as salinity or carbonate chemistry. In addition, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, the dominant foraminifera species in polar regions, sometimes grows a thick calcite crust outside its main growth phase calcite with different geochemical composition. This poses a challenge to the Mg/Ca paleothermometer as the crusts have lower Mg/Ca than the ontogenetic calcite.To address this, we cultivated >1500 individual specimens of N. pachyderma over a wide range of temperatures (2 to 9°C), salinities (~30 to 36.5), pHs (~7.7 to 8.4 total scale), carbonate ion concentrations (~100-250 µmol/mol at stable and variable pH), and Ba concentrations (2-4 times natural). The experimental water was spiked with 135Ba to label laboratory-grown calcite. Elemental ratios in the specimens have been analysed using laser ablation mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), providing high resolution elemental profiles of intra-shell variability.Our microscopic observations and element ratios results suggest the growth and addition of crust in all treatments, allowing, for the first time, laboratory-based proxy calibrations for N. pachyderma’s crust. A preliminary data analysis show variability in trace element ratios in relation to variable temperature, salinity, barium concentration and carbonate chemistry. Our results also indicate significant distinction in trace element ratios between crust and ontogenetic calcite components of the N. pachyderma tests when both are grown in culture. We are in the process of developing separate laboratory-based proxy calibrations for the crust and ontogenetic calcite which will significantly improve the applicability of the proxy calibrations as well as our understanding of crust formation in this species. We aim to present Mg/Ca-temperature calibrations for the crust and ontogenetic parts separately as well as detailing the respective effects of salinity and carbonate chemistry on Mg/Ca ratios.  
Simulating high-resolution climate over East Asia for the Last Glacial Maximum utilising the pseudo-global warming approach
Authors: Xiang Ruolan , Steger Christian R. , Schär Christoph
Published: March 2024

To better understand the landscape dynamics and changes in habitat connectivity influenced by glacial and interglacial oscillations over the biodiversity-rich Hengduan Mountains (HM) region, located at the south-eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), high-resolution climate data for past periods are essential. We apply the non-hydrostatic limited-area model COSMO with a resolution of 12 km over East Asia for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), a period characterized by a generally colder and dryer climate compared to present-day conditions. We perform the downscaling with a novel approach for paleoclimate modelling, the Pseudo-Global Warming (PGW) method. The PGW method minimizes Global Climate Models' (GCMs') inherent biases and reduces computational demands. Despite its widespread use in future climate downscaling, this study represents the first application of the PGW method for paleoclimate simulation to our knowledge. The COSMO PGW simulation for the LGM shows that the regional climate model (RCM) replicates the large-scale dynamics of the driving GCM simulation in the colder climate. Both models suggest weaker Asian summer monsoon systems for this period. Consequently, regions such as the Bay of Bengal, the South China Sea, and the coastal region of China, which typically receive substantial monsoon rainfall, experienced significantly reduced precipitation. However, besides these model similarities, the high-resolution COSMO simulation exhibits distinctive differences on a smaller scale for variables like near-surface wind and precipitation — particularly over land. For instance, COSMO suggests a more significant southward shift of the jet stream during the LGM winter, with more pronounced annual cooling and a prolonged Meiyu season in southern China. Moreover, the COSMO simulation features increased LGM precipitation amounts for the majority of the HM despite the overall weaker summer monsoon circulation. Regarding snowfall, which is a crucial factor for the glaciation extent of the TP during LGM, COSMO suggests increases for certain sub-areas (e.g., central TP) during all seasons, while in the GCM, the increase is primarily constrained to summer and limited to a smaller region near the Himalayas. Furthermore, evaluation with proxy data indicates an improved representation of local climate by COSMO for specific regions. Our study suggests that the resource-saving PGW approach is a suitable method to bridge the gap between coarser climate data and regional climate impacts, also for past periods like the LGM.
Linking headland bypassing to the evolution of a spit and beach ridge system - Slocums River Embayment, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, USA
Authors: Tas Silke , Hughes Zoe , FitzGerald Duncan , Xie Danghan , Asik Zaman Tansir , Fagherazzi Sergio
Published: March 2024

The northwestern Buzzards Bay shoreline in Massachusetts, USA is a complex system consisting of multiple headlands, dividing the coastline into several coastal cells containing tidal inlets and mixed-sediment beaches. While these compartments form (mostly) closed sediment cells during regular wave conditions, high energy events can generate sediment pulses past headlands. As a result, infrequent extreme events, like hurricanes, play a major role in the long-term evolution of this shoreline. The inlet of Slocums River is situated near the mouth of Buzzards Bay, between the two headlands of Barneys Joy Point and Mishaum Point. The western side of the inlet is characterized by a mixed sand-gravel beach, a sandy spit and a series of beach ridges. This study aims to link headland bypassing volumes and frequencies to the spit and beach ridge evolution near Slocums River inlet, closing the gap between the time scales of headland bypassing (storm-induced, hours to days) and spit and beach ridge evolution (years to centuries).  We developed two numerical models in Delft3D, a large-scale grid to model the headland bypassing on shorter time scales, and a finer grid to model the longer term morphodynamic evolution inside the embayment, using a morphological acceleration factor. The long-term spit and beach ridge evolution was studied using aerial and LIDAR images.
Using Deep Learning and High-Resolution Imagery to Map the Condition of Scotland’s Peatland Resource.
Authors: Macfarlane Fraser , Robb Ciaran , McKeen Margaret , Aitkenhead Matt , Matthews Keith
Published: March 2024

Peat makes up roughly 28% of Scotland’s soil and is critical in many areas, including biodiversity and habitat support, water management, and carbon sequestration. The latter is only possible in healthy, undisturbed peatland habitats where the water table is sufficiently high, otherwise this potential carbon sink becomes a carbon source, that if left untreated will disappear forever. Drainage and erosion features are crucial indicators of peatland condition and are key for estimating national greenhouse gas emissions.    Previous work on mapping peat depth and condition in Scotland has provided maps with reasonable accuracy at 100 metre resolution, allowing land managers and policymakers to both plan and manage these soils and to work towards identifying priority peat sites for restoration. However, the spatial variability of the surface condition is much finer than this scale, limiting the ability to inventory greenhouse gas emissions or develop site-specific restoration and management plans.    This work involves an updated set of mapping using high-resolution (25 cm) aerial imagery which provides the ability to identify and segment individual drainage channels and erosion features. Combining this imagery with a classical deep learning-based segmentation model, enables high spatial resolution, national scale mapping to be carried out allowing for a deeper understanding of Scotland’s peatland resource and which will enable various future analyses using this data.
Destination Earth Data Lake (DEDL) Service – Access and discovery data through the Harmonized Data Access (HDA) 
Authors: Grzybowski Patryk , Ziółkowski Marcin , Lambare Aubin , Le Carvennec Arnaud , Reimer Christoph , Schick Michael
Published: March 2024

Destination Earth initiative (DestinE), driven by the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) aims to create a highly accurate replica or Digital Twin of the Earth. The first two Digital Twins describe weather-induced and geophysical extremes, as well as climate change adaptation, but the number of Digital Twins will continue to grow. To develop new models, there is a high need to gain access to data and dedicated services. One of the three key components of DestinE is the Destination Earth Data Lake (DEDL) which provides discovery, access, and big data processing services.DEDL facilitates data storage and access through three primary types of data entry points: the Fresh Data Pool (FDP), Federated Datasets (FED), and the Digital Twins Data Warehouse. DEDL offers big data processing which allows near-data processing and by this conceptually supports ML/AI applications executed on the DEDL. The DestinE data lake federates with existing data holdings as well as with complementary data from diverse sources like in-situ, socio-economic, or data-space data. Thanks to DEDL, it is possible to get immediate access to data like Sentinel-1/2/3/5P missions. What is more, all this data is provided as a full archive immediately available to the user. With instant access to current Earth Observation (EO) data, researchers and other users can conduct time-sensitive analyses without the delays associated with data ordering. Moreover, having a comprehensive archive of EO data enables trend analysis and the investigation of long-term changes.In this presentation we will demonstrate how to use Harmonized Data Access (HDA) – one of the tools developed within the DEDL. We will present the available datasets provided through HDA and guide you on how to use it to search collections and products. as Additionally, we will demonstrate how to obtain these datasets for use in your own environment. As SpatioTemporal Asset Catalogs (STAC) is used as a metadata standard, discovery and work with data provided by DEDL is user-friendly. Thanks to HDA it is possible to use a single account to explore data across tens of collections and petabytes of products.The DestinE Data Lake is an initiative that revolutionizes the handling of Earth Observation data, improving capabilities in climate research, and supporting sustainable development efforts. The principles behind the DEDL will enable data harmonization and federation on a scale beyond current capabilities. 
Influence of river sediment management on the sedimentology and ecology of shellfish beds within the World Heritage site ‘Wadden Sea’
Authors: Nordhaus Inga , Merk Verena , Scheiffarth Gregor
Published: March 2024

Soft sediment coasts are shaped by interactions between sedimentological and biological processes. Intertidal shellfish beds of the World Heritage site ‘Wadden Sea’ are an important habitat with a variety of sedimentological and ecological functions. They are dominated by two ecosystem engineers, the native Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and the invasive Pacific oyster (Magallana gigas). Their extents and biomasses are highly variable and are influenced by many environmental factors as well as human interventions. Among the latter, continuous dredging and dumping of sediments for the maintenance of shipping channels and harbours in the large German estuaries and rivers have led to a change in natural sediment dynamics and are suspected to influence the occurrence of mussel beds and seagrass areas in the Wadden Sea National Parks. The outer Ems estuary is a prime example in this context. River deepening and maintenance dredging have been taking place for decades and have led to heavy siltation and lack of oxygen in the lower Ems and an increased water turbidity can also be observed in the outer Ems. In addition, coastal construction measures have caused morphological changes in ​​the Ems estuary.Within an interdisciplinary project, changes in the morphodynamics, sediment transport and currents are being investigated and methods are developed that allow an assessment of resulting ecological effects on mussel beds, as well as their sedimentological feedbacks in the outer Ems estuary. Investigations on the extent to which sediment shift and deposition affect the occurrence of mussel beds are lacking in the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea. For this purpose, detailed measurements of sedimentation and erosion on selected mussel beds and analyses of the sediment composition were conducted with high spatial and temporal resolution between 2019 and 2023 using sedimentation-erosion-bars and analysis of grain size composition. Mussel beds with different distance to the sediment deposition sites and areas with dense mussel and oyster colonization, gaps in the mussel bank and the tidal flats around the banks were compared. In addition, the extent and biomass of the mussel beds and the condition of Blue mussels were examined and related to sedimentation rates. The results will be presented and discussed against the background of sea level rise in the Wadden Sea and will be provided as a basis for the development of an ecological sediment management for the outer Ems estuary. Within the interdisciplinary project it will be considered how sediments can be sensibly directed to prevent siltation of mussel and seagrass areas on the one hand and to support the natural growth of the seabed where sediments are needed on the other hand, safeguarding the outstanding universal value of the World Heritage site.
A cascaded framework for unified access to and analysis of kilometer scale global simulations across a federation of data centers
Authors: Modali Kameswarrao , Peters-von Gehlen Karsten , Ziemen Florian , Saini Rajveer , Grasse Simon , Schultz Martin
Published: March 2024

As the High Performance Computing (HPC) marches into the exascale era, earth system models have transformed into a numerical regime wherein simulations with a 1 km spatial resolution on a global scale are a reality and are currently being performed at various HPC centers across the globe. In this contribution, we provide an overview of the strategy  and plans to adapt the data handling services and workflows available at the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ) and the Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC) to enable efficient data access, processing and sharing of output from such simulations using current and next generation Earth System Models. These activities are carried out in the framework of projects funded on an EU as well as national level, such as NextGEMS, WarmWorld and EERIE. With the increase in spatial resolution comes the inevitable jump in the volume of the output data. In particular, the throughput due to the enhanced computing power always surpasses the capacity of single-tier storage systems made up of homogeneous hardware  and necessitates multi-tier storage systems consisting of heterogeneous hardware . As a consequence, new issues arise for an efficient, user-friendly data management within each site. Sharing of model outputs that may be produced at different data centers and stored across different multi-tier storage systems poses additional challenges, both in terms of technical aspects (efficient data handling, data formats, reduction of unnecessary transfers) and semantic aspects (data discovery and selection across sites). Furthermore, there is an increasing need for scientifically operational solutions, which requires the development of long-term strategies that can be sustained within the different data centers. To achieve all of this, existing workflows need to be analyzed and largely rewritten. On the upside, this will allow the introduction of new concepts and technologies, for example using the recent zarr file format instead of the more traditional netCDF format.More specifically, in WarmWorld, the strategy is to create an overarching user interface, to enable the discovery of the federated data, and implement the backend infrastructure for handling the movement of the data, across the storage tiers (SSD, HDD, tape, cloud), within as well as across the HPC centers, as necessitated by the analytical tasks. This approach will also leverage the benefits of community efforts  in redesigning the way km-scale models provide their output, i.e. on hierarchical grids and in relatively small chunks.We present specific ongoing work to implement this data handling strategy across HPC centers and outline the vision for the handling of high-volume climate model simulation output in the exascale era to enable the efficient analysis of the information content from these simulations. 
Informativeness of teleconnections in local and regional frequency analysis of rainfall extremes
Authors: Magnini Andrea , Castellarin Attilio
Published: March 2024

Numerous studies have established strong long-range relationships (teleconnections) between global climatic indexes and precipitation across diverse geographical regions worldwide. Typically, these investigations focus on the number of wet days or cumulative rainfall over specific seasons or the entire year, while only a few explicitly explore the informative value of teleconnections in describing the frequency regime of sub-daily rainfall annual maxima. Furthermore, most studies analyze the correlation between rainfall characteristics and teleconnection index values at individual gauge stations within the same season and without considering any time lag. 

Our study provides a comprehensive assessment of the potential and informative content of teleconnections for representing and modeling the frequency regime of rainfall extremes, addressing the limitations mentioned above. Our dataset comprises annual maximum series (AMS) of sub-daily rainfall depth recorded between 1921 and 2022 at approximately 2300 rain gauges spanning a large and climatically diverse region in Northern Italy. Based on a comprehensive literature review, we selected six global climate indexes and evaluated their correlation with time series of gridded regional L-moments, statistical measures characterizing the distribution of sub-daily rainfall extremes. In analyzing the spatial patterns of gridded L-moments, we considered time aggregation intervals (durations) ranging from 1 to 24 hours, discretization of the study region with tile sizes (resolutions) up to 100 km, and time lags in teleconnections up to 30 years. Our results reveal significant spatial patterns in the teleconnections, with the Western Mediterranean Oscillation Index exhibiting stronger relationships. The robustness of these spatial patterns is confirmed by their limited sensitivity to the chosen grid resolution and time lag, likely arising from the utilization of time series of spatially smoothed statistics of AMSs (gridded L-moments) rather than raw annual sequences of rainfall maxima. Consequently, our research suggests promising pathways for climate-informed local and regional frequency analysis of rainfall extremes. 
Long-term observing system for the oceanic regime of Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica (Weddell Watch)
Authors: Østerhus Svein
Published: March 2024

Long-term observations of the flow of dense waters from their area of formation to the abyss of the World Ocean, and the return flow of warm waters, are crucial for advancing climate research. For the Weddell Sea an important component of such a system entail monitoring the formation of High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) on the continental shelf north of Ronne Ice Front, its transformation to Ice Shelf Water (ISW) beneath the floating Filchner-Ronne ice shelf, and the subsequent transport of ISW overflowing the continental shelf break into the deep Weddell Sea. Equally important is the return flow of warm water toward the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf system.
Here, we present our observing systems with focus on the long-term observations of temperature, salinity and velocity beneath the Ronne Ice Shelf and in the ISW plume on the Filchner sill.
 
Comprehensive Hydrological Modeling Tool for Flood Discharge Estimation in Sicilian Watersheds
Authors: Cipolla Giuseppe , Francipane Antonio , Treppiedi Dario , Mattina Calogero , Noto Leonardo Valerio
Published: March 2024

Designing hydraulic infrastructures and/or carry out a flood risk assessment analysis, as mandated by Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament regarding the assessment and management of flood risk, needs estimating flood discharges for different return periods. In the current era, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) make more efficient the integration of spatially distributed data and advanced analytical tools for hydrological applications.This work introduces a Python-based tool that merges GIS functionalities (i.e., open-source geospatial libraries, such as native QGIS plugins, GDAL, SAGA) with hydrological modeling techniques, providing a comprehensive framework for watershed analysis aimed to derive synthetic flood hydrographs for specified return periods. The tool is composed of different modules, performing different operations: following the delineation of the watershed based on a user-specified outlet, the tool uses a regionalized approach to establish Depth-Duration-Frequency (DDF) curves and derives the synthetic Chicago hyetographs for specified return periods. The tool comprises a module for calculating runoff depths using the Curve Number method and another module where flow hydrographs are derived by using distributed unit hydrograph (D-UH) through a spatial representation of times of concentration, accounting for varying flow velocities within the watershed. Additionally, the tool allows for the simulation of the basin response to historical precipitation. In the present study, the tool underwent testing on catchments of Sicily (Italy) even if it is worth noting that the tool can be customized for application in various regions worldwide.