bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of a storm surge event on salt intrusion: Insights from the Rhine-Meuse Delta
Authors: Gerritsma Avelon , Verlaan Martin , Pietrzak Julie
Published: March 2024

The Rhine-Meuse Delta is a low-lying delta in the Netherlands that is subject to both significant salt intrusion events and storm surges. Typically, these events do not co-occur. Salt intrusion occurs in the summer months (June, July, August) during droughts, while the storm season runs from October till April. The increased sea water level during a storm surge can temporarily cause increased salt intrusion. Because of the short time scales and higher discharges, storm surges generally do not cause problems with freshwater availability, in contrast to summer droughts.  However, on December 5th 2013, a storm surge event caused a significant amount of salt water to intrude into the Rhine-Meuse Delta. This was followed by weeks of increased salinity in parts of the delta. We simulated the event using a 3D numerical model of the Rhine-Meuse Delta, to capture the dynamics of the system and to improve our understanding of salt intrusion during storm surges. The Rhine-Meuse Delta is a mixed wave tide dominated delta with two main branches. One of the branches, the New Waterway, has an open connection with the North Sea and is the main outlet of the River Rhine. The other branch, the Haringvliet, is closed off at low water by the Haringvliet Gates. The Haringvliet Gates were built as a storm surge barrier to protect against storm surges after the 1953 flood. In addition, they are routinely used to maintain stable water levels in the river branches for shipping and fresh water supply. During the 2013 storm surge event, the Haringvliet Gates were closed. However, sea water entered the Rhine-Meuse Delta via the Rotterdam Waterway, which effectively acted as a backdoor for salt intrusion into the Haringvliet. Consequently the Haringvliet basin stored the saltwater and delivered it to connected parts of the system in the weeks following. We will refer to this phenomenon as “basin salt reflux”. Uniquely our model captured the salinity dynamics of the system during the 2013 event. Both the modelled salinity peaks during the storm, as well as the higher salinities after the storm agreed with available observations.  We present new insights on the dynamics of a salt intrusion event triggered by a storm surge in a semi-enclosed coastal system. With climate change and sea level rise, these events will most likely occur more frequently in the future. This highlights the importance of fundamental understanding and advanced 3D modelling of salt intrusion in complex deltas during storm surges.
The Meteosat Third Generation satellite, advantages for an enhancement of evapotranspiration and surface energy fluxes estimates in the LSA SAF Programme
Authors: Barrios José Miguel , Arboleda Alirio , Gellens-Meulenberghs Françoise
Published: March 2024

The Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis Programme (LSA SAF, http://lsa-saf.eumetsat.int/) has developed an operational service that delivers satellite-based information on the land’s surface. The portfolio of the LSA SAF comprises estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) and surface energy fluxes (SEF) on the basis of observations by the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite. Those estimates are generated every 30 minutes across Europe, Africa and Eastern South America at the spatial resolution of the SEVIRI instrument of MSG. The time step and timeliness of these products are seldom found in operational and ET/SEF products in spite of the relevance of accounting for the variability in energy exchange between land surface and atmosphere in the course of the day.The operational character of the LSA SAF programme has ensured the generation of a nearly 20 years-long archive of ET and SEF estimates (Barrios et al., 2024). The archive keeps growing as the ET/SEF estimates are generated in near-real time. The near real time operational data is freely available through the LSA SAF internet portal (https://landsaf2.ipma.pt/geonetwork/).The recent launch of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellite will bring improvements in the spatial detail of the ET/SEF products of the LSA SAF programme while remaining compatible with the existing archive. The imager onboard MSG (SEVIRI) delivers observations at ~3 km spatial resolution at sub-satellite position whereas the spatial detail derived from Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) onboard the MTG exhibits a spatial resolution of 1-2 km. This contribution will discuss the expected advances  in the LSA SAF ET/SEF products as a consequence of the operational ingestion of MTG-based observations in the forcing of the LSA SAF algorithm. Other synergies with spatial missions to further improve ET/SEF estimates will be discussed as well.Reference:Barrios, J. M., Arboleda, A., Dutra, E., Trigo, I., Gellens-Meulenberghs, F. 2024: Evapotranspiration and surface energy fluxes across Europe, Africa and Eastern South America throughout the operational life of the Meteosat second generation satellite. Geoscience Data Journal (accepted).
Soil water holding capacity as descriptor of soil health at district scale – a sensitivity study
Authors: Weninger Thomas , Schwaighofer Irene , Darmann Florian , Brunner Thomas , Strauss Peter
Published: March 2024

The proposal for the European Soil Monitoring Law includes an integrated value of soil water holding capacity to be determined as a proxy for soil quality for whole soil districts. As this is a relatively new but interesting approach, a number of details of the assessment procedure remain open at the current stage of formulation. The aim of this study is to quantify the effects of the choice of different options on the overall result, focusing on the delineation of soil districts in different sizes, the detailed definition of the respective soil property, and the treatment of sealed areas.High-resolution data for soil hydrological properties for two Austrian provinces are used as a basis, including different approaches to calculate soil water holding capacity. The size of the study area corresponds to the maximum size of a soil district as proposed. Thus, a variation of three size levels is possible, namely the whole area, major river catchments, and agro-geographical sub-units. The term soil water holding capacity is basically defined in the proposed EU Directive, but several options for its determination are possible. We used two different pedotransfer functions to derive soil water holding capacity values and an additional method based on averaging results from randomly located sampling points. Soil sealing is a major threat to hydrological soil functionality, and its assessment over large areas is still not standardized. Here, the European LUISA land use/land cover dataset for 2020 (1 km resolution) and a national dataset with higher resolution are used. Both datasets are optionally overlaid with the Copernicus imperviousness layer involves gradual information about surface imperviousness.By combining all these factors with each other, different ways were evaluated to determine the target value of soil water holding capacity integrated on a regional scale. Differences in the results and their sensitivity to input variations are quantified to inform policy decisions in the implementation of the European Soil Monitoring Law in the member states.
High-resolution fluvial geomorphology of dynamic volcanic environments of Costa Rica, Central America
Authors: Cui Jing , Granados Sebastián , Surian Nicola
Published: March 2024

Costa Rica is a small humid tropical country with an extension of 51,179 km2, it has an extensive network of diverse streams and rivers controlled by diverse environmental and geological conditions. Rugged terrain, active volcanism, and tectonic activity, along with intense and frequent precipitation, result in a dynamic drainage system characterized by a wide array of erosive and depositional fluvial landforms. Over 33% of Costa Rica’s territory is composed of Quaternary-Pleistocene volcanic landforms. These dynamic and high sediment source environments play a crucial role in the economy and society of the country. From the energy supply point of view, over 70% of the country’s electricity generation comes from hydropower plants located within volcanic formations. Mountain and highland volcanic areas are also the main source of drinking water for most of the population that live in the central part of Costa Rica.Using remote sensing techniques (UAV photogrammetry and satellite imagery), bidimensional hydraulic modelling and raster analysis we analyzed with high-resolution (
Investigating the absence of stellar CMEs through solar observations 
Authors: Pietrow Alexander G.M. , Cretignier Michael , Druett Malcolm K. , Alvarado-Gómez Julian D. , Hofmeister Stefan J. , Verma Meetu , Kamlah Robert , Barlatella Martina , Amazo-Gómez Eliana M. , Kontogiannis Ioannis , Dineva Ekatarina , Warmuth Alexander , Denker Carsten , Poppenhaeger Katja , Andriienko Olexa , Dumusque Xavier , Löfdahl Mats G.
Published: March 2024

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) remain a focal point of solar and stellar research due to their significant impact on space weather dynamics and exoplanet habitability. Unfortunately, it has so far proven difficult to measure these events on other stars, with only a handful of confirmed detections. On the Sun, strong flares (X1-class and above) are almost always accompanied by a CME. This connection has not been found for other stars, where strong flares are regularly detected without a CME counterpart. To investigate this discrepancy we compare resolved solar observations taken from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope with disk-integrated Sun-as-a-star observations taken from the HARPS-N solar telescope. We studied two strong X-class flares, one of which was accompanied by a large (halo)CME, and one that was not. While we have successfully detected flare-related signatures in the activity indices and the radial velocity profile in the Sun-as-a-star data, we detect no significant differences between the two flares and no indications of the presence of the CME, despite other works having previously detected CMEs in Sun-as-a-star data.We propose that the absence of CME signatures in our data is due to a geometric effect. CMEs far enough away from the disk center are likely to be oriented in such a way that they have limited line-of-sight velocity, and thus cannot produce a strong enough Doppler signature. Therefore, we believe that the lack of observed stellar CMEs is at least partly an observational limitation and does not necessarily represent the underlying physical reality.
Seismotectonics of the Southwestern Swiss Alps – Revisiting Faults, Earthquakes, and Crustal Stresses
Authors: Truttmann Sandro , Diehl Tobias , Cardello Giovanni Luca , Herwegh Marco
Published: March 2024

The Alps are a dynamic orogen, as evidenced by recent crustal uplift and seismic activity. Earthquakes are primarily occurring along the many pre-existing Neogene faults formed during the Alpine orogeny, making it challenging to predict which faults are being reactivated. Limited geophysical data, low strain rates, high erosion rates, and widespread faulting complicate the detection of active faults in low-strain regions. Currently there is a lack of knowledge about the abundance, architecture, and properties of active faults in the Alps, which is however critical for evaluating the regional seismic hazard.This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach to identify and characterize active faults in the Rawil depression and surrounding areas north of the Rhône-Simplon fault system, located in the southwestern Swiss Alps. A comprehensive seismotectonic description of the region is achieved by combining information from recent high-precision earthquake catalogs derived from relative relocations covering about 40 years, new fault maps using remote sensing and field surveys, updated stress inversion from extended focal mechanism catalogs and paleostress inversion from fault slip data, as well as GNSS data. Results from 3D imaging of active faults at depth, based on the high-precision hypocenter catalogs, reveal that subvertical faults, striking E-W, host most of the present-day earthquakes in the region. This imaging also uncovers previously unknown NW-SE striking active faults potentially contributing to the overall strain distribution in this part of the Alps. Compared to principal stress orientations in the upper crust derived from focal mechanisms, faults striking in both E-W and NW-SE directions appear to be optimally oriented for reactivation in the current stress field. Recent crustal stresses, consistent with the results obtained from paleostress inversion indicating NE/SW-directed transtension, suggest a relatively constant stress regime over the last couple of million years. This implies similarities between exhumed and seismically active faults at depth. The agreement between fault geometries exhumed at the surface and reconstructions of active faults at depth, as determined by hypocenter-based 3D imaging of active faults, support these findings. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that such interdisciplinary studies provide valuable insights into the deformation processes in tectonically active regions, contributing to refined seismic hazard assessments.
Linear and non-linear Time Series Analysis of pan-African Hydroclimate spanning the past 1,200 kyr
Authors: Fischer Markus L. , Marwan Norbert , Foerster Verena , Schaebitz Frank , Scerri Eleanor M.L. , Schwanghart Wolfgang , Kaboth-Bahr Stefanie , Trauth Martin H.
Published: March 2024

The time between 1,200 kyr BP and today includes the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, the Mid-Bruhnes Event, and the late Pleistocene. The Early-Mid Pleistocene Transition (~920 kyrs BP) is one of the most dramatic shifts in high-latitude climate and marked by the onset of the strong 100 kyr glacial-interglacial cycles. The Mid-Bruhnes Event marks a significant increase in the amplitude of the glacial-interglacial cycles. It has been identified mostly in marine sediments and Antarctic ice cores, but it is currently discussed whether it was a globally synchronous phenomenon, including the African continent. Marine records suggest a shift towards increased aridity in parts of Africa, and terrestrial records from eastern Africa indicate a generally wet climate, possibly with a transition from stable to unstable, as suggested by the Olorgesailie record. At this time, robust Australopithecines went extinct, and only the genus Homo survived as H. ergaster, which ultimately led to the emergence of our own species, H. sapiens. The time vector also includes the second major expansion wave of H. ergaster out of Africa (1.39–0.9 Ma, after the first wave at ~1.9–1.4 Ma), possibly through the Sinai land bridge, but expansions through the Gibraltar strait and via the Bab el- Mandeb strait and into the southern Arabian Peninsula are also subject to lively discussed.Here, we present the first insights into a comprehensive linear and non-linear analysis of five prominent records, which are (1) the dust record from ODP site 659 from western Africa, (2) the dust record from the Arabian Sea from ODP site 721/722, (3) the river runoff record from MD96-2048, (4) the combined dust and river runoff wetness index from ODP site 967, and (5) the south-western European ICDP record from Lake Ohrid. We use correlation metrics, such as the windowed Spearman correlation coefficient, to test for spatiotemporal synchronicity, asynchronicity, and possible interferences with the hominin fossil record. Furthermore, we use non-linear analysis, such as recurrence plots and recurrence quantification analysis, to test whether prominent climate transitions or spatiotemporal shifts in the fossil record are in temporal alignment with recurrence-based insights.
SaQC: Empowering Hydrological Data Integrity through Automated Quality Control  
Authors: Schäfer David , Lünenschloß Peter , Palm Bert , Schmidt Lennart , Schnicke Thomas , Rebmann Corinna , Rinke Karsten , Bumberger Jan
Published: March 2024

Global and regional hydrological databases, as well as domain-agnostic repositories, play a crucial role in advancing scientific research and decision-making processes. With new and existing data infrastructures such as TERENO and eLTER, as well as governmental monitoring initiatives, efforts to enhance the size, capabilities, and accessibility of these services are underway. However, a key challenge persists across large-scale data collections - the need for rigorous harmonization of diverse data from various sources. 

This challenge extends beyond obvious considerations like numerical precision and date formats, encompassing more nuanced aspects such as data quality and its representation. Hydrological time series data, often acquired from remote sensors and monitoring stations, are susceptible to errors arising from sensor malfunctions, anomalies, and environmental fluctuations. Unchecked, these inaccuracies can lead to erroneous results and compromise decision-making processes. 

Addressing this critical issue, the System for Automated Quality Control - SaQC emerges as a pioneering solution, offering a comprehensive tool/framework for automated and customizable quality control and processing of time series data. SaQC empowers researchers and practitioners in the hydrological sciences, providing a convenient and efficient means to identify and rectify data anomalies. In addition to a large body of built-in routines and algorithms, the framework's extensibility allows users to implement custom quality check routines and schemes, tailoring the quality control process to specific research objectives and the evolving needs of data services. 

This presentation delves into the core principles of SaQC, showcasing its flexibility in handling diverse data types and adapting to various hydrological monitoring scenarios. Through real-world examples of fully automatized quality control and data processing workflows, we highlight the benefits of SaQC in enhancing data integrity, reducing manual intervention, and expediting the analysis pipeline. SaQC not only identifies anomalies but also provides a systematic and transparent approach to data quality assurance, contributing to the overall reliability of hydrological datasets. 
 
Lennart Schmidt, David Schäfer, Juliane Geller, Peter Lünenschloss, Bert Palm, Karsten Rinke, Corinna Rebmann, Michael Rode, Jan Bumberger, System for automated Quality Control (SaQC) to enable traceable and reproducible data streams in environmental science, Environmental Modelling & Software, Volume 169, 2023, 105809, ISSN 1364-8152, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2023.105809. 
Enabling Aerosol-cloud interactions at GLobal convection-permitting scalES (EAGLES)
Authors: Ma Po-Lun
Published: March 2024

The role of aerosol and aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) in the Earth system is a major source of uncertainty in projections of Earth’s future climate and in interpreting how the climate has evolved in the past. The “Enabling Aerosol-cloud interactions at GLobal convection-permitting scalES (EAGLES)” project aims to achieve unprecedented realism in predictions of aerosol and ACI in the next-generation Earth system models. The effort includes improving the representation of aerosol and ACI processes with physics-based or data-driven methods, readying the parameterizations for kilometer-scale simulations, and constraining the model using process-oriented diagnostics based on both satellite and in-situ measurements. By combining process models, large-eddy simulations, and observational data from ARM, satellites, and other sources, stubborn model biases associated with resolution and physics have been addressed accordingly. We demonstrate that improved atmospheric simulations can be achieved with better physics, better integration with data, and better software. We also identify new opportunities for improvements.
Phytoplankton variable elemental composition modifies the marine biological pump and largely determines the global patterns of nutrient limitation
Authors: Wiseman Nicola , Moore J. Keith , Martiny Adam C.
Published: March 2024

Phytoplankton acclimate to increased nutrient stress by decreasing their cellular quotas (nutrient:carbon ratios). Reducing cellular quotas reduces the export efficiency of the limiting nutrient, helping sustain biological productivity. Here we present a version of the Community Earth System Model with phytoplankton group specific, fully variable C:N:P:Fe:Si ratios constrained by field observations of particulate organic matter stoichiometry and individual cell spectroscopy. We compare the results of a steady-state fully fixed stoichiometry model to the fully variable model and find that using a fixed Redfield stoichiometry leads to a decrease of 1PgC/yr carbon export, increase of 18 ppm atmospheric CO2, decrease of 55 TgN/yr nitrogen fixation, and decrease of 27/yr TgN nitrogen fixation. We also investigate the impacts of variable nutrient acquisition on global patterns of nutrient limitation and find that the weaker ability of phytoplankton to acclimate to N stress by lowering their cellular quotas relative to other nutrients pushes marine ecosystems towards nitrogen limitation. Only when the nutrient supply ratios are highly skewed, exceeding the ability of the phytoplankton to acclimate, do other nutrients become growth-limiting, as with iron in the High Nitrate, Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) regions. We show that in the oligotrophic gyres, variable plankton stoichiometry, given sufficient time, pushes the marine ecosystems towards co-limitation, as non-limiting nutrients are more efficiently drawn down and exported (higher cellular quotas), relative to the growth-limiting nutrient (lower cellular quotas).
Evaluation of WRF Simulations of Snow Storm and Polar Low Over Western Black Sea
Authors: Sahinoglu Sinan , Asilhan Sirdas Sevinc
Published: March 2024

Snowstorms are the dangerous weather event that effect daily life. In 24th January 2022 Istanbul is affected by a major snow storm, this storm caused financial loses and suspended the both public transportations and flights. For now this phenomena is similar to Polar Lows. Polar Lows are mesoscale phenomena that can produce gust force wind speed, their horizontal scale is 200 to 1000 km, lifetime of Polar Lows last hours to daily scale and they form and intensify in the presence of upper level trough, air-sea or sea-ice temperature difference, potential vorticity anomalies. In this study snowstorm occurred in Western Black Sea will be analyzed using Numerical Weather Prediction model called Weather Research and Forecasting Model and what kind of environment the low developed will be discussed. The upper level cut-off cyclone reached -44 °C in 24 January 2022 which creates a favorable environment for polar low formation and intensifies over the relatively warmer sea. WRF results suggested that wind speed and sea surface temperature minus T500 satisfied the determined criterion for polar lows with 20 m/s and 50 °C respectively. Diabatic processes are another mechanism that enhances the polar lows and, in this study, it is seen they were both equally contributing the polar low and cross sectional analysis showed the warm-core structure and deep moist convection in 24 January 2022 12UTC. However, questions still remaining such as baroclinic instability, condensational heating and other mechanisms that may contribute polar low intensification needs to be investigated comprehensively. From our results the polar low did not intensify because it is not remained over the relatively warm sea long time like the Arctic region and Japan Sea. From our knowledge this is the first study of polar low in Black Sea and it requires more investigation and sensitivity experiments like changing the model parameterization, increasing sea surface temperature etc. to understand polar low structure further more.
Accelerated Decline of Groundwater Levels in the 21st century, globally
Authors: Seybold Hansjoerg , Jasechko Scott , Perrone Debra , Fan Reinfelder Ying , Taylor Richard , Shamsudduha Mohammad , Fallatah Othman , Kirchner James
Published: March 2024

Groundwater is a vital resource for direct consumption as well as for agriculture, particularly in arid and semiarid climates where groundwater is often a primary water source for irrigation. Here, we analyze more than 170,000 groundwater level timeseries across the globe. We show that groundwater level declines accelerated over the past four decades. Accelerated declines are especially widespread in dry regions with extensive cropland. However, our study also reveals that there are areas where interventions have led to groundwater levels to recover.  This result provides a ray of hope for sustainable management of vital groundwater resources in the decades to come.
Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) Imaging and In-Situ Energetic Particle Exploration of the Jovian Magnetosphere and Moon Environment from JUICE/PEP
Authors: Brandt Pontus , Clark George , Kollmann Peter , Mitchell Donald G. , Gkioulidou Malamati , Haggerty Dennis , Barabash Stanislav , Wurz Peter , Krupp Norbert , Roussos Elias , Paty Carol , Jia Xianzhe , Khurana Krishan , Allegrini Frederic , Pontoni Angele , Smith H. Todd
Published: March 2024

The Jovian Energetic Neutrals and Ions (JENI) Camera and the Jovian Energetic Electrons (JoEE) belong to the six-sensor suite Particle Environment Package (PEP) on board the JUICE mission. JENI is a combined ion and ENA camera with 90˚x120˚ Field-of-View and an energy range from a few keV to 110 keV for ENAs and 5 MeV for ions. Only one mission, Cassini, has captured ENA images of the Jovian system before during its distant flyby. Those images revealed emissions coming from the Europa neutral gas torus, but were too distant to resolve details on its spatial distribution and variability. The Juno mission has detected ENA emissions originating from both the Europa and also the Io torus, that indicate azimuthally asymmetric distributions. In ENA mode, JENI will image the Europa and Io tori, to investigate their spatial distribution and long-term variability providing global constraints to physical models of their sources. Although a predominant fraction of the ENAs from the tori originate from charge exchange between magnetospheric energetic ions and the neutral gas, a significant fraction may originate from charge exchange between the energetic ions and the ambient plasma in the tori. This opens up the intriguing possibility to also diagnose the plasma dynamics and distribution of the tori. JENI also targets the explosive recurrences of vast regions of heated plasma in the Jovian magnetotail (“injections”) that may be the engine behind the periodic radio emissions from rotating, magnetized planets, such as Saturn, Jupiter and perhaps even brown dwarfs. In ion mode, JENI will provide the detailed in-situ measurements of the energetic ion environment necessary to understand the physical heating and transport processes underlying the global context provided by the ENA images. JoEE is an electron spectrometer that near-simultaneously provide the energetic electron spectrum in multiple look directions over the energy range from 28 keV up to 2 MeV. JoEE’s prime objectives are to investigate the acceleration mechanisms of Jovian radiation belt electrons and their interaction with the Jovian moons. The Juno mission has recently made important electron measurements that provides useful guidance for deepening the JoEE objectives.In this presentation an overview is given of JENI and JoEE, with emphasis on the ENA observations and their expected science return. This includes imaging of the Europa and Io tori distribution and variability, quasi-periodic magnetospheric injections, and their relation to rotationally periodic radio emissions from planets and brown dwarfs.
Bicycle-based aerosol measurements in the inner city of Budapest
Authors: Tordai Ágoston Vilmos , Mészáros Róbert
Published: March 2024

Atmospheric aerosol pollution in densely populated urban areas is a pressing concern. Complex building patterns, local circulation systems and widely varying sources of pollution make traditional aerosol measurements insufficient. However, using portable OPCs and low-cost, fixed and mobile sensors enables researchers to obtain high spatial and temporal resolution air quality data in urban areas.In recent years, the popularity of cycling and other forms of public transport has increased in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, raising concerns about individual aerosol exposure and its health effects. In our study, calibrated instruments mounted on bicycles are used to assess aerosol pollution along some of the most important bicycle routes in Budapest. The objectives of this project are to create a quality-assured reference database for further research (e.g. human health-related calculations), to identify trends and hotspots of air pollution, to develop a measurement methodology for mobile measurements by low-cost instruments, and to develop a relevant metadata structure.Two DustTrak™ II Aerosol Monitor 8532 instruments equipped with physical impactors were used to measure PM10 and PM2.5 in parallel. Air temperature and relative humidity were recorded using a Testo 635-2 datalogger with additional sensor shielding; both were sampled at 2-second resolution and averaged over 10 seconds. Detailed GPS data was recorded using a mobile phone application at a 1-second resolution. About 150 measurement datasets were recorded on pre-selected routes. The data is processed using a primarily automated algorithm written in Matlab. In order to allow comparison of individual routes and further statistical calculations, the data is projected onto a domain of 0.2° × 0.2° covered by a regular geographic grid with 200 grid cells in each direction (one grid cell measuring approximately 110 × 110 meters).This study outlines the measurement setup, the gridded dataset and demonstrates the applicability of our database through case studies. The ratio of PM2.5/PM10 and its spatial and temporal patterns are assessed using the entire dataset and in selected situations. Additionally, the percentage deviation of each PM fraction from the median for an entire measurement route and the spatial distribution of the deviations are presented.The research was funded by the National Multidisciplinary Laboratory for Climate Change, RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00014 project.
Is my teaching gender-fair? A self-assessment questionnaire.
Authors: Poblador Sílvia , Anton-Pardo Maria , Bartrons Mireia , Benito Xavier , Bernal Susana , Bohorquez Bedoya Eliana , Cañedo-Argüelles Miguel , Catalán Núria , Fernandes Isabel , Freixa Anna , Genua-Olmedo Ana , León-Palmero Elisabeth , Lupon Anna , Mendoza-Lera Clara , Pastor Ada , Rodríguez-Lozano Pablo , Zufiaurre Aitziber , Sánchez-Montoya María del Mar
Published: March 2024

The study of inland waters - Limnology - is full of fascinating women who have vastly contributed to our understanding of these valuable ecosystems. Although women’s visibility was low during the early years of Limnology, it has increased over time. Nowadays, women represent half of the early-career limnologists in Europe. However, as in many other fields, their scientific contributions have been traditionally neglected from schools to universities (i.e., the Matilda effect). The project “Gender LimnoEdu”, developed by the Gender&Science AIL group and funded by EGU (2020), aims to increase the visibility of women in Limnology and related subjects - such as Ecology, Hydrology or other Geosciences - in academic courses and lectures. We have created a set of online ready-to-use resources: (1) a self-evaluation form to detect gender biases and raise self-awareness for teachers of Limnology and Geosciences courses (the form is applicable to a wide range of courses and disciplines), (2) teaching nutshells highlighting key female limnologists (and their history) to help lecturers to acknowledge the role of women in Limnology in their courses, and (3) a complete teaching unit about the past and present situation of women in the field of Limnology. All these resources are freely available (https://www.genderlimno.org). Here, we will present this toolbox of resources and guide you on how to use them for your teaching needs. Moreover, we will share the preliminary results of the self-evaluation form to showcase how gender-fair Limnology lessons in high-education courses are. We welcome everybody to take it! https://www.genderlimno.org/gender-fair-lessons.html
Extending the measurement range for determining soil hydraulic properties with the simplified evaporation method using relative humidity sensors
Authors: Bosse Jannis , Iden Sascha C. , Durner Wolfgang , Sut-Lohmann Magdalena , Peters Andre
Published: March 2024

A precise knowledge of soil hydraulic properties is crucial for many applications, with the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity being most challenging to measure accurately. Direct measurement under dry conditions presents difficulties, lacking simple and precise methods. While the simplified evaporation method (SEM) has become the standard for determining the water retention curve (WRC) and hydraulic conductivity curve (HCC), its classic implementation only provides conductivity values within a relatively narrow suction range measurable by tensiometers, typically between 60 and 1000 cm.In this study, we extended the experimental setup of the SEM by incorporating small sensors to measure temperature and relative humidity alongside the tensiometers. Applying the Kelvin equation, this addition allows for suction measurements between the wilting point and air-dry conditions. Using this setup, we conducted evaporation experiments on soils spanning various textures, from silt loam to pure sand. Analyzing the data through (i) inverse modeling using the Richards equation and (ii) the SEM revealed that combining tensiometers and relative humidity sensors facilitates the determination of HCC over a broad moisture range. This includes the suction range covered between the measurement ranges of the sensors, given proper interpolation between the two sensor types.Crucially, successful inverse modeling relies on a suitable parametric representation of the soil hydraulic properties, considering water adsorption, film, and vapor flow. Our findings indicate that the classic SEM evaluation tends to overestimate HCC in the tensiometer's measuring range and underestimate it in the hygroscopic range, especially in coarse-textured soils with a narrow pore size distribution. Despite this limitation, the proposed test setup, when coupled with the SEM, offers practical advantages due to its relative simplicity and ease of data evaluation.
Ice Velocity Response to Surface Melt and Lake Drainages at a Land-Terminating Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Authors: Willis Ian , Donaldson Luke , Dell Becky
Published: March 2024

Approximately 50% of current mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet is from ice dynamics. It is important to understand the processes controlling ice dynamics to better calculate current rates of mass loss and predict rates into the future. Previous work has shown that both surface runoff and surface lake drainages control subglacial drainage development and therefore seasonal and annual velocities of the ice sheet, although few studies have considered these together. Here we analyse monthly patterns of runoff, lake drainages and ice velocities across a 6 753 km2 land terminating part of the ice sheet between 2016 and 2021. We find that annual runoff is inversely correlated with annual velocity across the study area, supporting previous work showing the importance of subglacial drainage development in driving down water pressures and therefore basal sliding speeds. We also show that rapid surface lake drainages (a surrogate for moulin formation by hydrofracture) have an impact superimposed on the runoff control. 2016 and 2019 have comparably high annual runoff totals but the former experiences three times more rapid lake drainages than the latter, resulting in greater depressurisation of the subglacial drainage system, greater net summer slowdown and lower annual velocities. We also demonstrate ‘interannual subglacial memory’ with years succeeding high runoff years showing net summer speedup, higher winter velocities and higher annual velocities than might otherwise be expected. We identify, therefore, high runoff ‘depressurisation’ years and subsequent ’recharge’ years, with effects on seasonal and annual glacier velocities. Finally, we see localised impacts of lake drainages on spatial patterns of net summer speed up or slowdown, with lake drainages acting to depressurise cavities causing local slowdown in some instances, or recharge cavities causing local speedup in others. These processes should be considered for modelling of the future impacts of climate-controlled runoff on ice sheet dynamics and mass balance.
High resolution surface soil moisture microwave products: intercomparison and evaluation over Spain
Authors: Ouaadi Nadia , Jarlan Lionel , Le Page Michel , Zribi Mehrez , Paolini Giovani , Ait Hssaine Bouchra , Escorihuela Maria Jose , Fanise Pascal , Merlin Olivier , Baghdadi Nicolas , Boone Aaron
Published: March 2024

Surface soil moisture (SSM) products at high spatial resolution are increasingly available, either from the disaggregation of coarse-resolution products such as SMAP and SMOS, or from high-resolution radar data such as Sentinel-1. In contrast to coarse resolution products, there is a lack of intercomparison studies of high spatial resolution products, which are more relevant for applications requiring the plot scale. In this context, the objective of this work is the evaluation and intercomparison of three high spatial resolution SSM products on a large database of in situ SSM measurements collected on two different sites in the Urgell region (Catalonia, Spain) in 2021. The satellite SSM products are: i) SSMTheia product at the plot scale derived from a synergy of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 using a machine learning algorithm; ii) SSMρ product at 14 m resolution derived from the Sentinel-1 backscattering coefficient and interferometric coherence using a brute-force algorithm; and iii) SSMSMAP20m product at 20 m resolution obtained from the disaggregation of SMAP using Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-2 data. Evaluation of the three products over the entire database showed that SSMTheia and SSMρ yielded a better estimate than SSMSMAP20m, and SSMρ is slightly better than SSMTheia. In particular, the correlation coefficient is higher than 0.4 for 72%, 40% and 27% of the fields using SSMρ, SSMTheia and SSMSMAP20m, respectively. The lower performance of SSMTheia compared to SSMρ is due to the saturation of SSMTheia at 0.3 m3/m3. The time series analysis shows that SSMSMAP20m is able to detect rainfall events occurring at large scale while irrigation at the plot scale are not caught. This is explained by the use of Sentinel-2 reflectances, which are not linked to surface water status, for the disaggregation of Sentinel-3 land surface temperature. The approach can therefore be improved by using high spatial and temporal resolution thermal data in the perspective of new missions such as TRISHNA and LSTM. Finally, the results show that although reasonable estimates are obtained for annual crops using SSMTheia and SSMρ, poor performance is observed for trees, suggesting the need for better representation of canopy components for tree crops in SSM inversion approaches.
Failures, successes and challenges of machine-learning-based engineering ground-motion models
Authors: Cotton Fabrice , Esfahani Reza , Lilienkamp Henning
Published: March 2024

The exponential growth of seismological data and machine learning methods offer new perspectives for analysing the factors controlling seismic ground motions and predicting earthquake shaking for earthquake engineering. However, the first models (e.g. Derras et al., 2012) using "simple" neural networks to predict seismic motions did not convince the earthquake engineering community, which continued to use more conventional models. We analyse the weaknesses (from the perspective of engineering seismology) of this first generation of ML-based ground motion models and explain why this first generation did not provide sufficient added value compared to conventional models.  Based on this experience, we propose two evolutions and new methods that have advantages over conventional methods and therefore have greater potential.  A first class of models (e.g. Lilienkamp et al., 2022), based on a U-net neural network, predicts spatial variations in seismic motions (e.g. site effects in three-dimensional basins) by considering seismic motions in map form. A second class of approaches) combines AI methods (conditional generative adversarial networks,  Esfahani et al., 2023) and hybrid databases (observations and simulations selected for their complementarity) to train simulation models capable of generating not only a few parameters (e.g. PGA) describing ground motions, but the full acceleration time histories. We will discuss the potential advantages of this new generation of ML-based methods compared to conventional methods, but also the challenges (and proposed solutions) to best combine simulations and observations, and to calibrate both the best estimate and the variability of future ground motions.
Data-driven approaches to infer transit time distributions from high-resolution tracer data
Authors: Benettin Paolo , Duchemin Quentin , Zanoni Maria Grazia , Rinaldo Andrea , Kirchner James
Published: March 2024

Catchment transit times are often inferred by assuming a transit time distribution (TTD) or a SAS function and calibrating their parameters against measured tracer data. In the presence of high-resolution tracer data, machine learning tools may offer a promising avenue for advancing TTD estimation by leveraging data-driven approaches, integrating diverse data sources, and improving accuracy, scalability, and adaptability. Here, we lump together ideas coming from Large Languages Models, survival analysis and sum of squares techniques to introduce a novel data-driven model for estimating TTDs. Our model is influenced by SAS-based approaches; however, unlike previous studies, we avoid imposing strong parametric assumptions on the SAS function. We showcase the performance of our model against a benchmark of eight virtual datasets that differ in precipitation amounts, seasonality and runoff flashiness. We find that machine learning methods may effectively predict solute concentration in streamflow yet struggle to accurately estimate the true TTDs. However, when the appropriate inductive bias is incorporated, numerous key aspects of TTDs, such as the young water fraction and the average TTDs, can be estimated robustly. We also identify settings where the estimation task is more challenging for our model. This analysis, based on reproducible virtual benchmarks, provides a first overview of machine learning capabilities in estimating TTDs and inspires future TTD model inter-comparisons.
Solar Wind Structures Impacting the Plasma Stability and Ion Energy Distribution Downstream of the Terrestrial Bow Shock
Authors: Koller Florian , Simon Wedlund Cyril , Temmer Manuela , Plaschke Ferdinand , Preisser Luis , Vörös Zoltan , Roberts Owen Wyn , Pöppelwerth Adrian , Raptis Savvas , Karlsson Tomas
Published: March 2024

The plasma properties of the incoming solar wind undergo significant changes as they cross the terrestrial bow shock and traverse the magnetosheath. The solar wind itself can be categorized into different categories depending on their solar origin and linked to large-scale structures like coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or stream interaction regions (SIRs) detected in near-Earth space. Using measurements from THEMIS combined with OMNI data spanning from 2008 onward, we provide a statistical overview of temperature anisotropy-driven plasma instabilities in the dayside magnetosheath. This analysis is conducted under various upstream solar wind conditions and structures, which significantly impact the plasma environment in the magnetosheath. We extend this analysis to transient phenomena such as dynamic pressure enhancements in the magnetosheath (so-called jets) as well.As a consequence of collisionless shock physics, the shocked plasma is expected to display vastly different behaviours in terms of plasma properties and stability when sorted into quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular downstream magnetosheath regions. However, this categorization is complicated by the presence of fast solar wind streams originating in solar coronal holes due to the significantly increased ion energy flux of the plasma. Consequently, in our statistical analysis, we emphasize the importance of magnetosheath classification under different solar wind plasma origins and show how stable the magnetosheath plasma is in any given upstream solar wind condition. Combining knowledge of solar wind origins and structures with shock and magnetosheath research can contribute to an improved classification of quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel shock conditions across all solar wind origins.
Climate change mitigation? Interactions between bio-weathering and soil organic carbon dynamics 
Authors: Steinwidder Laura , Boito Lucilla , Vienne Arthur , Rijnders Jet , Frings Patrick , Vicca Sara
Published: March 2024

There are two main processes acting as carbon sinks for CO2 on land: Silicate weathering and photosynthesis. The former creates bicarbonates which can be stored in soils or leached out and stored in the oceans, the latter leads to the formation of plant tissue which can be stored as soil organic matter. Soils are thus at the foundation of both of these land sinks and could therefore play a crucial role in tackling climate change. Either via enhanced silicate weathering (acceleration of the naturally extremely slow weathering process by finely grinding silicate rock and applying it on soils) or via improved management of soil organic carbon stocks.
However, there are still knowledge gaps regarding both, the natural weathering process and, more notably, the enhanced weathering process:

Does the presence of plants (further) accelerate the weathering rates?
Does an active weathering process increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stability?
Is there an interaction effect between the weathering process, plants and SOC?

Addressing these questions is crucial to evaluate effectiveness and safety of enhanced silicate weathering. For example, increased weathering rates due to the presence of plants, could increase the climate change mitigation effect, while increased organic matter decomposition could drastically reduce the mitigation potential of enhanced silicate weathering.
In an enhanced weathering experiment we investigated weathering rates, mineralogical changes, inorganic and organic carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions. First findings provide evidence of bio-weathering; soil planted with maize displayed higher dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity concentrations as compared to unplanted soil. These findings are also supported by mineralogical analyses which revealed more pronounced changes in the mineral composition of planted treatments. So far, we have not only found compelling evidence of bio-weathering but we have also identified a potential connection between bio-weathering and SOC dynamics. Soil analyses showed that there was no clear change in SOC contents in planted pots. Unplanted pots, however, displayed an increase in SOC contents when silicates were added.