bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Do more complex hydrological models produce more skilful streamflow forecasts?
Authors: Donegan Seán , Murphy Conor , Broderick Ciaran , Foran Quinn Dáire , Golian Saeed , Harrigan Shaun
Published: March 2022

Ensemble streamflow prediction (ESP) is a well-established and widely used approach to hydrological forecasting, the application of which requires a hydrological model that can contribute to forecast skill by providing: (i) accurate initial hydrological conditions; and (ii) accurate transformation of climate to river flow signals. It is widely known that there exists a relationship between ESP skill and the hydrological regime of a catchment, and several studies have correlated forecast quality with sets of catchment descriptors. The choice of hydrological model is therefore significant. Whilst a parsimonious structure may be preferable for efficiency, potential skill could be lost if the model’s simplicity means it cannot adequately reproduce key hydrological processes in the catchment. This work seeks to examine the contribution of hydrological model complexity to forecast skill. Using a parsimonious model as a reference, we investigate if additional model complexity adds forecast skill at different lead times and initialisation months through the use of models with different structures and parametric complexity. Forecast skill is evaluated within a hindcast experiment for a selection of Irish river catchments using the continuous ranked probability skill score. Results are presented for our reference model, GR4J (Génie Rural à 4 paramètres Journalier), and our complex model, SMART (Soil Moisture Accounting and Routing for Transport). The performance of each model is viewed in the context of its ability to reproduce key hydrological signatures known to control forecast quality in Ireland (e.g., baseflow index).
Observation-based quantification of forest management in Europe
Authors: Suvanto Susanne , Esquivel-Muelbert Adriane , Schelhaas Mart-Jan , Ruiz-Benito Paloma , Henttonen Helena , Zavala Miguel , Kändler Gerald , Stadelmann Golo , Talarczyk Andrzej , Fridman Jonas , Govaere Leen , Cienciala Emil , Pugh Thomas
Published: March 2022

Forests in Europe have been modified by centuries of intensive land use, substantially influencing forest dynamics and biomass stocks, as well as forest interactions with climate. This makes the accounting for forest management crucial in any large-scale analysis of forest ecosystems, including the estimation of the forest carbon sink dynamics. However, the realistic representation of management in projection models is still hindered by the availability of data. To fill this gap, we analyzed recent forest harvest information in permanent plots of national forest and landscape inventories in several European countries. We used the harvest status information of individual trees between two measurements to characterize probability of different types of harvest events (partial cut vs removal of all trees), harvest intensity and characteristics of harvested trees on a plot level. These results were aggregated to a spatial grid, catching variations on sub-national scale. We then quantified the relationships of harvest events and their properties with potential predictors, including pre-harvest status of the forest (e.g., stand basal area, species and size structure of trees) and climatic, abiotic and socio-economic variables. The results reveal the variation in how forests are currently managed across the continent, with the differences stemming from different climatic and ecological conditions as well as different histories, priorities and goals of forest use and management. For example, the prevalence of even-aged rotation forestry with clear cuts in northern Europe is captured in the results as higher intensities of harvest events and higher probabilities for removing all trees. The results provide a realistic quantification of the current forest harvesting regimes across Europe, providing much needed detail in our understanding of contemporary management practices and a finer spatial resolution compared to existing data sources, such as national-level harvest statistics.
A multi-disciplinary approach to characterize groundwater systems in coastal areas: the case studies of the Muravera Plain (Sardinia, Italy)
Authors: Arras Claudio , Biddau Riccardo , Botti Paolo , Buttau Cristina , Cidu Rosa , Funedda Antonio , Lobina Francesca , Loi Alfredo , Lorrai Mario , Porru Maria Chiara , Testa Maurizio , Da Pelo Stefania
Published: March 2022

A multi-disciplinary approach for the hydrogeological assessment and characterization of groundwaters in a coastal area with high anthropogenic pressure and ongoing seawater intrusion phenomena is presented. Such phenomena are increasingly widespread in coastal areas all over the world and could seriously threaten groundwater resources and socio-economic development of territories.

The coastal plain of Muravera, in south-eastern Sardinia (Italy), has been studied since the sixties because of important seawater intrusion phenomena. Over the years, many research and studies, including geological, geophysical and geochemical, have been carried out, but dynamics and processes controlling the groundwater flow system were not fully understood. To define a three-dimensional (3D) hydrogeological conceptual model, all the available existing data were integrated within a 3D GIS environment along with those collected during new field surveys, including piezometric, hydrochemical and multi-isotope data, namely deuterium and oxygen isotopic composition of water (δ2H and δ18O), tritium(3H), strontium (86Sr/87Sr), and boron (δ11B). Stratigraphic logs and geophysical, interpreted according to a geological–depositional model based on sequential stratigraphy, allowed to constrain the geometry of the groundwater system, resulting in a complex multilayer aquifer, mostly phreatic and locally confined. Results from bulk chemistry and isotopes provided information regarding recharge sources, flow paths and residence times of groundwaters.  Four main flow paths, including lateral recharge from bedrock, surface water infiltration from the Flumendosa river and Rio Flumini Uri, and the occurrence of young mixing processes between fresh and sea waters were recognized. Moreover, a major contribution of meteoric water to groundwater recharge has been documented.

The proposed approach improves the understanding of the aquifer system under investigation and reduces uncertainties about main groundwater dynamics. Moreover, results of the conceptualization become new input information and data required in the development of a groundwater flow numerical model. The latter represents a useful tool for an efficient management of groundwater resources aimed at improving the quality and availability of water resources by local government.
Validation of marine plastic litter distribution models on the North-Western Mediterranean
Authors: Brandini Carlo , Doronzo Bartolomeo , Bendoni Michele , Stefano Taddei , Maria Fattorini , Massimo Perna , Chiara Lapucci , Panti Cristina , Baini Matteo , Galli Alessandro , Fossi Maria Cristina
Published: March 2022

Marine plastic litter is one of the most significant signal of the impact of human activities on the marine environment. Therefore, improved methods and models are needed to better understand the distribution pattern of plastics (mainly microplastics) on the sea surface, along the water column, and on the seabed. So far, most plastics sampling campaigns have collected sea surface data, but these data were very scattered and mostly unrepresentative of the seasonal variability of their distribution. A comprehensive overview of the presence of plastic litter in marine enviroment must rely on models having the skill to better represent spatial patterns, interactions with marine ecosystems, and even predict the possible presence of plastic clusters at a specific time and position. Numerous studies adopted models of plastic transport which consider some sources of pollution (rivers, ports, ship routes) to determine plastic distribution in the open sea due to meteo-marine forcing. However, most of these models have not been validated against field data.

In this presentation we show the results of a validation procedure of the modelled marine debris distributions expected in the North-Western Mediterranean between May and September 2019, through the comparison with field observations on the sea surface from campaigns carried out within the Interreg Med project Plastic Busters MPA. Marine debris observations show a significant variability, especially along the coasts, highlighting the need to employ a hydrodynamic model with a resolution much higher than that of basin-scale models. In the comparison between the observed and modelled surface plastic concentrations, the effect of model resolution will be specifically addressed.
Assessment of short-term effect of CNPS stoichiometry on SOC and soil properties using Vis-NIR spectra
Authors: Panthi Sharan , Amin Nazish , O'Rourke Sharon
Published: March 2022

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is known to play a crucial role in soil quality. The general approach to enhance SOC is to minimise soil disturbance and ensure fresh C-inputs to the soil. However, current sustainable land management practices do not always result in an increase in SOC and are not precise enough to prescribe C-inputs to achieve a target soil C stock and management of soil quality. Recently, CNPS stoichiometry has been shown to limit the stabilised SOC pool. The aim of this study was to test CNPS stoichiometry to increase organic matter (OM) mineralization and examine the effect on soil properties following straw incorporated with supplementary nutrients in a soil incubation experiment. The objectives were to (i) quantify the dynamic change in SOC and particulate organic matter (POM) in response to straw incorporation with and without supplementary nutrients based on CNPS stoichiometry and (ii) determine if the limits of detection for visible near-infrared spectroscopy (vis-NIR) can capture short-term change in SOC and POM. Five soils (40g) varying in clay content were incubated for 12 weeks at 25℃ and 70 % field capacity. Soils received straw at a rate of 8 t/ha with and without supplementary nutrients (N, P and S) based on stoichiometric inputs. Vis-NIR measurements were collected for the soil samples post incubation with soil structure intact and and removed (sieved to <2 mm). Laboratory analysis of soil properties is underway. Preliminary exploratory analysis of the spectra was performed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Preliminary results of the PCA show that the first two principal components captured the soil variability (PC1 56.09%, PC2 36.0%) however no obvious treatment effect was observed. Further modelling work will investigate if the straw treatments with and without nutrient supplementation produced a measurable change in SOC and POM and if the dynamic change in soil carbon can be detected in the spectra using regression analysis.
Meso and submesoscale study of the phytoplankton compartment over part of the southern Canary Islands system during the transition period between the warm West African monsoon season and the cold upwelling season
Authors: Beye Aida , Machu Eric , Artigas Luis Felipe
Published: March 2022

Abstract

The Senegalese coastal and shelf systems comprises a southern part of the Canary Islands upwelling system. The present study focuses on the study of phytoplankton from meso- to submesoscale during the transition period from the warm West African monsoon season to the cold upwelling season. This period coincides with the return of sardinella from their northward migration to its second most important spawning area resulting in a high retention on the southern coast, as well as possible events of the Senegalese fishermen's skin disease (as it was the case in November 2020). This is a very poorly documented period. The last studies allowing the study of the phytoplankton compartment date from the 1980s. Several data on phytoplankton were collected during the period from 29 November to 02 December 2017 for addressing phytoplankton distribution and dynamics: pigmentary data, microscopic counts, metabarcoding analysis of plankton diversity, single-cell analysis and characterization of optical groups by automated (in vivo) flow cytometry (CytoSen) as well as in vivo characterization of spectral/pigmentary groups by multispectral fluorometry (Fluoroprobe). Environmental data was supplied by CTD RBR concerto and the analysis of several physical and chemical parameters. In particular, FluoroProbe continuous subsurface measurements and profiles made it possible to considerably improve the spatial and temporal resolution of measurements and the dynamics of phytoplankton groups at submesoscale. Moreover, it was possible to follow spatial and temporal changes in the phytoplankton community, particularly at stations sampled twice at few days interval. Many unknown species characterized this period, especially in the nanophytoplankton size range. Distinct communities were found in the upwelling on the coastal fringe and in the old waters offshore, as shown by multispectral analysis. Phytoplankton blooms were observed, some of which being caused by the upwelling of cold water, but intermittently and weakly. In some stations, toxic species were found, such as species belonging to the genus Pseudo-Nitzschia.

 

Keywords: Upwelling, multi-spectral fluorometry, CTD, automated flow cytometry, metabarcoding, microscopy, phytoplankton diversity and dynamics.
Methane observations from TROPOMI suggest CAMS products underestimate methane across the UK 
Authors: Saboya Eric , Graven Heather
Published: March 2022

Satellite observations of greenhouse gases are used to constrain some global forecast models and are included in reanalysis models. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) produces twice daily atmospheric composition forecasts using a data assimilation approach, with satellite observations forming part of the initial conditions in this forecast model. Global reanalysis of atmospheric composition, through data assimilation, is also produced by CAMS, where currently the fourth generation of the ECMWF global reanalysis (EAC4) is used.

The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) makes daily, high-resolution observations of atmospheric methane (CH4) in the short-wave infrared band from space. The high-resolution of TROPOMI observations allows for urban and regional-scale CH4 emissions evaluation but cloud coverage and data quality can limit the number of days with useful data. TROPOMI CH4 observations are not included in the data assimilation of the CAMS global atmospheric composition forecast model nor in CAMS EAC4 and can therefore be used to independently evaluate atmospheric CH4forecasts and EAC4 model estimates.

There are eight days in 2019-2020 with TROPOMI CH4 observations that have sufficient coverage and pixel-density across the UK for comparison with CAMS daily CH4 forecasts and EAC4 reanalysis values. We find average negative biases of ~55 ppb in CAMS forecasts and ~50 ppb in CAMS reanalysis compared to TROPOMI observations for these eight days across the UK. Differences could be due to i) the anthropogenic emissions used in the models; ii) biases in the stratosphere part of the CAMS models; iii) the TROPOMI retrieval algorithm, where biases could arise from the surface albedo and aerosol optical thickness values for certain pixels. To better understand and attribute the biases in CAMS we plan to explore parts of the CAMS model that relate to the stratospheric bias. Correct for the biases in CAMS yields average differences of around ±30 ppb across the UK suggesting additional discrepancies resulting from random error.
Making Room for Wetlands- Considerations for Long Term Resilience 
Authors: van Proosdij Danika , Graham Jennie , Bowron Tony , Lewis Sam , Elliot Megan , Poirier Emma , Ellis Kirsten , Lundholm Jeremy , Pett Bob
Published: March 2022

This presentation will examine factors influencing the restoration trajectory of tidal wetland restoration projects in Nova Scotia, Canada, and considerations for long term resilience.  Rates of relative sea level rise in Nova Scotia are projected up to 1.5 m by 2100 (RCP 8.5) and restoration of tidal wetlands are important for climate change adaptation and mitigation.  Over the last 15 years, CBWES, Saint Mary’s University and the Province have restored close to 400 ha of tidal wetland habitat by enlarging culverts or realigning dyke infrastructure.  Comprehensive pre and 5-year post restoration monitoring and insights from the Making Room for Wetlands project reveal marked differences in the rate of vegetation recolonization, surface elevation change and overall restoration trajectory between Atlantic and Fundy marshes.   Differences are also recorded between sites in the Lower Bay (6 m tidal range) and Upper Bay of Fundy (16 m tidal range).  This presentation will focus on the influence of sediment supply, tidal range (inundation frequency and duration), restoration design and seasonal timing of re-introduction of tidal flow on the rate of vegetation recolonization and implications for long term resilience.  
The September 2021 eruption at Cumbre Vieja volcano (La Palma, Canary Islands): investigation on the pre- and co-eruptive phases through DInSAR measurements and analytical modelling
Authors: De Luca Claudio , Valerio Emanuela , Giudicepietro Flora , Macedionio Giovanni , Casu Francesco , Lanari Riccardo
Published: March 2022

Since 19 September 2021, an intense eruptive activity has begun at Cumbre Vieja volcano (La Palma, Canary archipelago, Spain), causing huge social and economic damage. The eruption was preceded and accompanied by several phenomena, such as ground deformations and seismic activity. In this work, we analyse the Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) measurements obtained by processing Sentinel-1 images acquired from both ascending and descending orbits, in order to quantify the retrieved pre- and co-eruptive deformation patterns. In particular, we exploit the Advanced DInSAR technique referred to Parallel-Small BAseline Subsets (P-SBAS), showing the importance for oceanic islands, such as La Palma, of investigating DInSAR products retrieved from time series, instead of single interferograms. Indeed, this may allow us to effectively remove possible atmospheric artifacts within the retrieved displacement measurements. Subsequently, we invert the processed DInSAR measurements through analytical modelling with the aim of examining the characteristics of the volcanic sources responsible for the observed deformations. In detail, our results highlight that a sill-like source was active in the pre-eruptive phase (8 – 16 September) and it can be interpreted as the effect of the temporary accumulation of magma during its transport toward the surface. On the other hand, the action of two dikes prevailed during the co-eruptive phase (17 – 22 September), causing the eruptive vent opening. Therefore, our results suggest that a complex network of sills and dikes has allowed the magma rising. Moreover, our findings are in good agreement with the seismicity recorded by the Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN) network, and several geophysical evidences (i.e., resistivity anomaly, petrographic analyses, computation of the erupted magma volumes, field observations).
Application Of Geochemical Weathering Indices To Loess -Paleosol Sequences From Central Asia (Tajikistan)
Authors: Aquino Andrea , Lezzerini Marco , Scardia Giancarlo , Prud'Homme Charlotte , Dave Aditi Krishna , Engström Johansson Alexandra , Marquer Laurent , Safaraliev Nosir , Fitzsimmons Kathryn
Published: March 2022

Loess deposits are well known as repositories of information about climatic and environmental variations occurring over the Quaternary. Over the years, numerous weathering indices relating to the geochemical characteristics of loess sediments have been developed to provide insights into environmental changes through time. In this study, we characterize the major element chemistry of the uppermost 20 m of the Karamaidan loess deposit in Tajikistan, which spans the last full glacial cycle. We compare major element ratios (Al/Ti, Fe/Ti, and Al/Fe), together with ternary A-CN-K diagram and enrichment/depletion of the elements relative to the upper continental crust, down the Karamaidan sequence, and compare our results to other regional and supraregional loess deposits and their change through time. We investigate different weathering indices (A and B indices, PWI, bases vs. Al ratio, CIW, PIA, and YANG indices, WI-1, WI-2, and CPA and FENG) in order to identify those most applicable to our study. We compare our results magnetic susceptibility down the stratigraphic profile to derive a direct index for alteration of the deposit.
Compost amendments to alleviate saline water stress on organic green bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) cultivated in sandy and clay soils under arid climate
Authors: Azim Khalid , Maatougui Meryem , Bouabid Rachid
Published: March 2022

Salinity is one of the most important abiotic stresses that decrease yields of most crops around the world, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The addition of organic amendments is one of the mitigation methods that has been tested in our experiment. In this context, we have investigated the effect of organic amendment (compost) on the green bean resilience to the water salinity in sandy and clay soils. Two levels of salinity of irrigation water (1.5 and 4 dS / m) with and without compost amendments. Most parameters measured (yield, chlorophyll, proline, content of the mineral elements) in this study were significantly influenced by the salinity levels and organic amendments. The use of compost decreased the amount of sodium in the soil and plant, even for a high salinity level. The decrease in Na+ resulted in an increase in the level of other mineral elements such as calcium, nitrogen, magnesium, and potassium. In the case of the clay soil, the addition of compost with the use of low saline irrigation water gave a higher yield (17.6%) compared to the control (without compost amendment). Increasing the salinity level of irrigation water to 4 dS / m resulted in a 43.2% reduction of the yield in the amended soil. For sandy soils, the yield was higher (10.6%) in amended soil with compost compared to the control at 1.5 dS / m level. The increase of salinity level to 4 dS / m resulted in a yield decrease of 46.7% with organic amendment and 51.8% in the absence of organic amendment. The results of this work indicate that the addition of organic matter reduces the negative effects of salinity by improving soil physic-chemical conditions, reducing salt accumulation, increasing photosynthetic pigments and the content of proline in the plant, promotes the absorption of mineral elements and decreases the effect of salt stress on vegetative growth.

Key words: Salinity, stress, organic amendment, irrigation water, green beans, yield, proline, mineral elements.
A 500-year annual runoff reconstruction for 14 selected European catchments
Authors: Nasreen Sadaf , Vargas Godoy Mijael Rodrigo , Singh Ujjwal , Součková Markéta , Markonis Yannis , Rakovec Oldrich , Kumar Rohini , Martin Hanel
Published: March 2022

Since the beginning of this century, Europe has been experiencing severe drought events (2003, 2007, 2010, 2018 and 2019) which have had an adverse impacts on various sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, water management, health,and ecosystems. During the last few decades, projections of the impact of climate change on hydroclimatic extremes were often capable of reproducing changes in the characteristics of these extremes. Recently, the research interest has been extended to include reconstructions of hydro-climatic conditions, so as to provide historical context for present and future extremes. While there are available reconstructions of temperature, precipitation, drought indicators, or the 20th century runofffor Europe, multi-century annual runoff reconstructions are still lacking. In this study, we have used reconstructed precipitation and temperature data, Palmer Drought Severity Index and available observed runoff across fourteen European catchments in order to develop annual runoff reconstructions for the period 1500–2000 using two data-driven and one conceptual lumped hydrological model. The comparison to observed runoff data has shown a good match between the reconstructed and observed runoff and their characteristics, particularly deficit volumes. On the other hand, the validation of input precip-itation fields revealed an underestimation of the variance across most of Europe, which is propagated into the reconstructedrunoff series. The reconstructed runoff is available via figshare, an open source scientific data repository, under the DOIhttps://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.15178107, (Sadaf et al., 2021).
Creating a spatially explicit road-river infrastructure dataset to benefit people and nature
Authors: Bristol Rochelle , Januchowski-Hartley Stephanie , Pawar Sayali , Yang Xiao , Shinebayar Kherlen , Jorissen Michiel , Mantel Sukhmani , Pregnolato Maria , White James
Published: March 2022

Worldwide, roads cross most rivers big and small, but if nobody maps the locations, do they exist? In our experiences, the answer is no, and structures such as culverts and bridges at these road-river crossings have gone overlooked in research into the impacts that infrastructure can have on rivers and the species that depend on them. There remains a need for spatially explicit data for road-river crossings as well as identification of structure types to support research and monitoring that guides more proactive approaches to infrastructure management. Our initial focus was on mapping road-river structures in Wales, United Kingdom so to better understand how these could be impacting on nature, particularly migratory fishes. However, as we began developing the spatial dataset, we became aware of broader applications, including relevance to hazard management and movement of people and goods so to support livelihoods and well-being. In this talk, I will discuss our initial approach to tackling this problem in Wales, and how we learned from that experience and refined the approach for mapping in England, including our use of openly available remotely sensed imagery from Google and Ordnance Survey so to ensure the data can be reused and modified by others for their needs and uses. I will present a spatially explicit dataset of road-river structures in Wales, including information about surrounding environmental attributes and discuss how these can help us to better understand infrastructure vulnerability and patterns at catchment and landscape scales. I will discuss the potential for diverse applications of this road-river structure dataset, particularly in relation to supporting real-time monitoring and providing the baseline data needed for any futuer machine learning or computation modelling advances for monitoring road-river structures.
Three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations of non-dipolar minimagnetospheres and comparison to the experiment.
Authors: Divin Andrey , Shaikhislamov Ildar , Paramonik Igor , Rumenskikh Marina , Korovinskiy Daniil , Deca Jan
Published: March 2022

Magnetospheres are formed when plasma flow interacts with an external source of the magnetic field. Objects (with a size comparable to or less than the ion inertial length or ion gyroradius) formed by relatively weak magnetic field sources are called minimagnetospheres since they are rather different from more common large planetary magnetospheres. 

Moon surface has regions called Lunar Magnetic Anomalies (LMAs) where the remanent magnetization of the Lunar crust provides sources of the magnetic field strong enough to stand off the solar wind. These fields produce minimagnetospheres of the size of the several ion inertial lengths (or gyroradii) or below, typically having weakly structured topology and mostly non-dipolar nature. In this study, we combine numerical simulations and laboratory experiments to investigate ion scattering and basic properties of a non-dipolar minimagnetosphere.  A series of laboratory experiments were carried out on the KI-1 facility (Novosibirsk, Russia) to investigate minimagnetosphere properties for the case of a quadrupolar magnetic field source. The experiment consists of a vacuum chamber, of 5 m length and 1.2 m diameter (with a residual pressure of ~10-7 Torr) filled with a moving plasma. The quadrupolar magnetic field is generated by two coils connected in anti-parallel. The experimental results are supported by the Particle-in-Cell (PIC) three-dimensional simulations using code iPIC3D which capture the full kinetic behavior of the interaction. 

We report several important results based on both the experiment and numerical simulations: 1) a majority of particles is reflected by the Hall electric field formed due to the formation of the magnetopause electron current; however, a hotter portion of the inbound distribution also experiences magnetic deflection closer to the B field source; 2) reflecting electrostatic potential is smaller in the quadrupolar case (if compared to dipolar minimagnetosphere); 3) numerical simulations reproduce well the ion reflection pattern seen in the laboratory experiment, but simulations show slightly less reflected ions which might be attributed to unsteady processes developing during each laboratory run.
Main ionospheric trough and field-aligned currents responses to the geomagnetic storms in October 2015 and September 2017
Authors: Chuchra-Konrad Agata , Przepiórka Dorota , Matyjasiak Barbara , Rothkaehl Hanna
Published: March 2022

The Earth's ionosphere is a coupled system affected by interactions with precipitating energetic particles and electrical currents from the Earth's magnetosphere, and in addition by upward propagating disturbances from lower atmospheric layers. Geomagnetic disturbances triggered by solar activity influence the ionosphere, its fine and global structures. The energy injection into the magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms and substorms directly affects the auroral and sub-auroral region of the Earth’s ionosphere, where auroral oval expansion and variations of plasma density and field-aligned currents intensity can be observed. Main ionospheric trough (MIT) and field-aligned currents (FACs) are very sensitive to geomagnetic conditions. This work analyses both phenomenon response to the elevated geomagnetic conditions during October 2015 and September 2017 geomagnetic storms. The analysis is based on the data from the Swarm and DMSP missions.
Dynamic glaciers improve LGM simulation in High Mountain Asia
Authors: Wei Qiang , Liu Yonggang , Hu Yongyun
Published: March 2022

Glaciers on Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding areas were much more extensive during Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when global mean temperature was 5-8 K lower than today. Accurately reconstructing glaciers on and around Tibetan Plateau remains vital towards understanding glaciers’ sensitivity against climate change, and vice versa.

Previous simulations on glaciers in High Mountain Asia during LGM are usually forced with prescribed climatology without considering the bi-directional feedbacks. We instead coupled a climate model (CESM) to an ice-sheet model (ISSM). Our results show that the interactions between HMA glaciers and climate was significant. Uncoupled runs that ignore such interaction yielded glacial coverage roughly 10% more than coupled runs. Regional glacial features change considerably in coupled simulation. Glaciers on the mid-west Tibetan Plateau decreased while those in Qilian Mountains, Tianshan Mountains and Pamir Plateau saw pronounced increase. Compared with uncoupled simulations, our coupled results is in better agreement with reconstructions of LGM glaciers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

KEY WORDS: Glacier; Ice-sheet; Tibetan Plateau; High Mountain Asia; Numerical simulation; Climate modelling

 
Lunar TLP's and the tectonic processes of the Earth and the Moon
Authors: Ouzounov Dimitar , Taylor Patrick , Kafatos Menas , Cutchins Kayden
Published: March 2022

We are studying the transient lunar phenomena (TLP) as an indicator of lunar tectonics. Seismic events can be used as a direct indicator of some tectonic activities of the planets. The Moon-Earth gravitational interaction has been studied extensively as a triggering mechanism for earthquakes. However, this is a controversial topic. Our present study investigated the reverse Earth-Moon interaction concerning the TLP activities. The lunar outgassing is potentially the leading source of TLP activities. We have investigated both Earth venting and earthquakes and have found that radon was frequently activated before significant seismic events due to the Moon-Sun interaction with the Earth (Ouzounov et al., 2018). Earthquake lights, an associated phenomenon reported before some major earthquakes, are analogous to TLP activities on the Moon. In 1972, N. Kozyrev suggested a possible lunar response to the significant seismic events on the Earth. To understand whether TLP's have any possible connection with earthquakes, we performed a statistical review between significant earthquakes, using the NEIC catalog and TLPs during 1907-1977, for four lunar areas: Aristarchus, Plato, Gassendi, and Alphonsus. We used TLP catalogs published by Middlehurst et al. 1968; Cameron, 2006; and Crotts, 2008.  Our results revealed a causal relationship between significant earthquakes and TLP events. However, the strength of this relationship varies from the location and depth of the earthquakes. Deformation on the Moon triggers the degassing process, and TLPs are indicators for those underlying activities. Our work can provide new information about the origin of TLP and the existence of a possible relationship between the tectonic processes of Earth and the Moon. The Earth causes crustal tides on the Moon, and the Moon produces tides on the Earth.

 
The GWIII contribution to the IPCC AR6 and its relevance to Energy Meteorology and Climate
Authors: Hahmann Andrea
Published: March 2022

The Working Group III contribution to the Sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report-- mitigation of climate change-- will be publically released on 4 April 2022. The sections on "Mitigation Options: Energy Sources and Energy Conversion", "Climate Change Impacts on the Energy System", and a BOX on "Energy Resilience" are highly relevant to the Energy Meteorology community. As a Chapter Lead Author, I will summarise the findings of Chapter 6, Energy System, and emphasise their relevance to Energy Meteorology and Climate. I will also discuss my experience as a lead author and the challenges of communication between such different research communities. 
Using historic records of compound flood events to identify site-specific thresholds for flooding in UK estuaries
Authors: Robins Peter , Lyddon Charlotte , Lewis Matt , Barkwith Andrew , Vasilopoulos Greg , Coulthard Tom
Published: March 2022

Estuarine flooding is driven by extreme sea-levels and river discharge, either occurring independently or at the same time, or in close succession to exacerbate the hazard, known as compound events. There is a need to identify site-specific thresholds for flooding in estuaries, which represent the magnitude of key drivers over which flooding occurs. Site-specific thresholds for flooding can be used to support forecasts and warnings, emergency response and long-term management plans. This research uses historic records of flooding in estuaries around the UK combined with 40 years of historical 15-minute frequency sea-level and river discharge data to establish the magnitude and relative timing of the drivers of flooding in 11 estuaries. The results identify estuaries which are more likely to experience flooding due to extreme compound events, e.g. Conwy, N-Wales, or independent extreme events e.g. Humber, E-England. The key limitation of using historic records of flooding is that not all flooding events have been documented, and there are gaps in the record. Therefore, this research also identified the top 50 extreme sea-level and river discharge events in the historic gauge measurements at each estuary, and cross-checked these against online sources (news reports and academic literature), to establish if these events also led to flooding. A more comprehensive historic record of flooding allows more accurate thresholds for flooding to set in each estuary. Future work will utilise numerical modelling tools in 4 estuaries to simulate flooding under different sea-level and river discharge conditions to further isolate accurate thresholds.
The stationary phase approximation in seismic interferometry: Error quantification and the effects of source correlations.
Authors: Ayala-Garcia Daniella , Branicki Michal , Curtis Andrew
Published: March 2022

Seismic interferometry is a powerful and well-established technique that relies on cross-correlating seismic observations at different receiver locations to yield new seismic responses that, under certain conditions, provide a useful estimate of the Green's function between the given receiver locations, as if there was a source at one of these locations. The inter-receiver signals thus estimated allow us to monitor and remotely illuminate near-surface crustal structures.

Underpinning seismic interferometry is the principle of stationary phase, which states that non-trivial contributions to highly oscillatory integrals, such as those found in interferometry, arise from stationary points of the phase of these cross-correlations. This principle is widely invoked to make approximations in interferometry, both in theory, to derive and simplify interferometric formulations, as well as in practical applications, to justify the use of non-ideal source or receiver distributions. Further, it has been established that spatial variations in the source intensity must be smooth in order to apply this approximation.

While there have been some empirical explorations of the uncertainty introduced by this approximation, the errors have not yet been quantified analytically, and neither the effects of non-smooth variations in the sources, nor of statistical correlations between sources, have been formally considered. In this work, we apply a mathematical framework to seismic interferometry in two dimensions. This analysis yields an exact expression for the error in the interferometric estimate of the inter-receiver Green’s function. Moreover, we extend this approach to a scenario of inhomogeneous, statistically correlated sources, and illustrate the effects of source correlation and roughness on the phase and amplitude of the stationary-phase interferometric estimate. We provide statistical conditions to ensure that the stationary phase estimate is unbiased, and give an explicit bound for the error in the estimated spectrum. These error quantities are given in terms of parameters that are either known (such as the inter-receiver distance), or can be estimated from empirical data. Therefore, we expect these results to be applicable in practical interferometric studies that make use of the stationary phase approximation, as a tool to quantify error and uncertainty in empirical results.
Flood detection products to support emergency management services in the Lombardy region
Authors: Gatti Ignacio , Taramelli Andrea , Martina Mario , Sapio Serena , Jimenez Maria , Arosio Marcello , Schiavon Emma , Monteleone Beatrice , Righini Margherita
Published: March 2022

Earth Observation (EO) environments have been increasing exponentially in the last decades. New generation of satellites are designed for monitoring climate related hazards, providing higher spatial and temporal resolution images. Hazards processes are triggered by anomalies in precipitation. The service will be able to provide information on the extent of the flood footprint. The test area is located south of the city of Milan, where the urban area of Pavia is located. There was an unexpected high runoff of the Ticino river that produced high water in the flood-plain surface, affecting the local population for three consecutive days and with a total damage estimate of 250,699 euro.

The identification of datasets counts on a broad availability of EO data processed, such as C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the Sentinel 1 satellite constellation together with X-band SAR data provided by the TerraSAR-X.  Methods include in-SAR coherence, by cross-multiplying the two SAR images or techniques like threshold with a final pixel size of Sentinel 1 of 8.9 m and 1.8 m of TerraSAR-X. Imagery from the 25th of November (Sentinel 1) with a VV (vertical transmit, vertical receive) polarization and from the 27th of November (TerraSAR-X) with a HH (for horizontal transmit and horizontal receive) polarization were selected. Different bands have different characteristics, for instance in penetration and spatial resolution.

Obtained products include urban footprint and flood detection maps. Results could provide an important decision support tool for a wide range of actors, including public authorities to support the preparedness, mitigation and response phases of the emergency management cycle. In addition, adaptation measurements, intervention and urban planning, as well as flood mitigation activities are additional benefits. Future analysis will include impact estimates and vulnerability analysis on the urban footprint area.

 
ETNA 2021 13th December eruption: does SEVIRI data contribute to the early detection of lateral event? 
Authors: Musacchio Massimo , Silvestri Malvina , Puglisi Giuseppe , Buongiorno Maria Fabrizia
Published: March 2022

Infrared remotely sensed data can be used to evaluate the surface thermal state of active volcanoes. Because the spectral radiance emitted by hot spots reaches its maximum in the region of Mid Infra-Red (MIR), the early detection of an impending eruption has been highlighted by exploiting the SEVIRI 3.9 mm channel. Despite its spatial resolution (3x3 sqkm at nadir), the presence of a high temperature source, even affecting only a small portion of one large pixel, causes a dramatic increase of the emitted MIR radiance easily detectable also at 4x5 sqKm (mid latitude).

The procedure named MS2RWS (MeteoSat to Rapid Response Web Service) allowed us to identify the Mt Etna summit area eruption since February 2010, when it was developed to detects the beginning and to estimates the duration of an eruption [1,2]. The procedure starts from the assumption that in a remote sensing image a pixel may assume a limited number of radiance values ranging from 0 up to the saturation. The radiance of a given pixel, in clear sky condition and no eruption ongoing, follows a characteristic Gaussian trend related to the Sun elevation and this trend varies during an eruption affecting, in particular, the pixel centred over the summit Mt. Etna craters [3].

On 13th December 2021 an eruptive vent opened in the eastern flank of Mt. Etna volcano, at an elevation of 2100 m a.s.l., about 3.5 km far from the summit craters. This eruption lasted only one day and produced a small lava flows (less than 1 km length). Thus it might be considered as a “punctual event” in the eruptive history of the volcano and ideal for validating the capability of the MS2RWS procedure in detecting flank eruptions since their beginning. This experiment succeed, demonstrating that the MS2RWS procedure has the capability to detect also lateral eruption, as this was, giving a further contribute on the monitoring of volcanic activity by space.
The connection of Stratocumulus Clouds at the West Coast of South America to environmental parameters.
Authors: Schween Jan H. , Löhnert Ulrich
Published: March 2022

Marine stratocumulus clouds above the eastern Pacific form one of the largest permanent cloud fields of the planet.
They play an essential role in the Earth's energy and radiation budget. At the west coast of South America they reach the continent and provide a major water source for the hyperarid Atacama desert.  As part of the DFG collaborative research center 'Earth evolution at the dry limit' we observed these clouds over one year with state of the art remote sensing instruments from the coastal town of Iquique at 20.5°S.  The instruments provide vertical profiles of wind, turbulence and temperature, as well as integrated values of water vapor and liquid water. The cloudnet algorithm is used to exploit instrument synergy and provides vertical cloud structure information. 

The stratocumulus shows here a distinct diurnal behaviour with the cloud dissolving in the morning, and recurring in the afternoon. The observations show that the clouds dissolve from the surface. Comparison with surface measurements reveals that this is the result of an interplay between surface heating and a somewhat delayed advection of dry air from the desert during night and early morning and moist air from the ocean during daytime. 

The annual course with stratocumulus at nearly all times in austral winter and less frequent and higher clouds in austral summer shows a strong connection to sea surface temperature (SST): During winter stratification in the maritime boundary layer (MBL) is neutral and temperature is about that of the ocean surface. In contrast hereto stratification in summer is slightly stable and the MBL is warmer than the ocean. This inhibits moisture transport into the MBL and thus does not allow a persistent stratocumulus cloud. Interestingly the temperature of the coastal MBL would be in equilibrium with the SST some 50 km off the coast. The low coastal SST is related to upwelling of ocean water along the coast, while the warmer waters off the coast are result of a displacement of the cold waters of Humboldt current in summer. 
This points to a rather complex interplay of ocean dynamics and atmospheric circulation.

 
ORBiDANSe: Orbital Big Datacube Analytics Service
Authors: Baumann Peter , Misev Dimitar
Published: March 2022

Datacubes form an accepted cornerstone for analysis (and visualization) ready spatio-temporal data offerings. The increase in user friendliness is achieved by abstracting away from the zillions of files in provider-specific organization. Data¬cube query languages additionally establish actionable datacubes enabling users to ask "any query, any time" with zero coding.

However, typically datacube deployments are aiming at large scale, data center environments accommodating Big Data and massive parallel processing capabilities for achieving decent performance. In this contribution, we conversely report about a downscaling experiment. In the ORBiDANSE project a datacube engine, rasdaman, has been ported to a cubesat, ESA OPS-SAT, and is operational in space. Effectively, the satellite thereby becomes a datacube service offering the standards-based query capabilities of the OGC Web Coverage Processing (WCPS) geo datacube analytics language.
We believe this will pave the way for on-board ad-hoc pro-cessing and filtering on Big EO Data, thereby unleashing them to a larger audience and in substantially shorter time.

In our talk, we report about the concept, technology, and experimental results of ad-hoc on-board datacube query processing.

 