bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An integrated atmospheric-hydrological model for high-resolution climate projections in the Adriatic Sea basin
Authors: Senatore Alfonso , Verri Giorgia , Furnari Luca , Coppini Giovanni , Mendicino Giuseppe
Published: March 2021

AdriaClim is a project funded by the Italy-Croatia CBC Programme aimed at improving climate change information and providing monitoring and management tools for adaptation strategies in Adriatic coastal areas. Among the innovative tools planned, an integrated online coupled (Hydro-Meteo-Ocean-Wave-Biogeochemistry) model for the Adriatic Sea will be developed, which will run high-resolution simulations for the present/past time and future newly developed scenarios. The concept behind the integrated model is a comprehensive high-resolution representation of the hydrological cycle at the regional (Adriatic basin) level, overcoming classical approaches partitioning the description of the main physical processes into different compartments (i.e., ocean, atmosphere and terrestrial hydrology) interacting poorly each other and possibly missing crucial feedback, especially for long-term (climate) analyses.

This note presents the coupling approach for the atmospheric-hydrological component, introducing the main features that will be developed and the pilot areas used as test cases. The modelling system will be based on the WRF-Hydro architecture, which provides an extensible, multi-scale and multi-physics modelling capability for land-atmosphere coupling studies. WRF-Hydro modelling system will be applied over the whole Adriatic Basin, encompassing many catchments extending over six countries. A single 6 km-resolution domain will be used concerning atmospheric processes, with a further downscaling until 600 m-resolution for hydrological modelling. The hydrological model will be preliminary calibrated against multiple discharge observations in river sections as close to the rivers' mouths as possible with one full year simulation. Later, climatic simulations will be executed in fully coupled fashion for the historical period 2001-2020 and the future period 2031-2050 using the available EUROCORDEX ensembles as regional climate forcings.

First results of the ongoing activities will be presented, highlighting both the main outcomes in terms of modelling performance and the potential of further coupling to ocean, waves and biogeochemistry modelling components. The complete modelling system will be used for addressing a wide range of issues, including inundation/storm surge, salt wedge intrusion, sediment transport, transport and diffusion of E. coli, deterioration of transitional and coastal waters.
Advances on urban air quality modeling: bias correction approach for estimated annual NO2 levels and macroscopic traffic simulators for scenario planning
Authors: Mateu Armengol Jan , Rodriguez-Rey Daniel , Benavides Jaime , Jorba Oriol , Guevara Marc , Pérez García-Pando Carlos , Soret Miravet Albert
Published: March 2021

Awareness of air pollution impacts on public health is quickly increasing, especially in urban areas where legal air quality (AQ) limits are often exceeded. This awareness has driven policymakers to minimize citizens' exposure not only by direct legislative control in emissions (i.e., the application of a Low Emission Zone), but also by applying mobility restrictions to modify traffic patterns, and by the use of forecasted warnings to alert citizens of air pollution episodes. The European AQ directives encourage the use of numerical models to support the design and evaluation of such strategies.

In this framework, we present a versatile AQ model, CALIOPE-Urban (Benavides et al., 2019), able to address the threefold objectives to (i) compute urban air quality forecast at the street-scale resolution; (ii) to perform reanalysis studies of historical periods using a bias correction methodology that preserves the model spatial variability; and (iii) to simulate the traffic flow response to the application of different traffic restrictions and their effect on urban AQ.

In this contribution, we discuss two specific applications. On the one hand, CALIOPE-Urban is used to estimate the NO2 levels in the city of Barcelona (Spain) during the entire year of 2019. To do so, we report accurate maps of NO2 levels during the whole year by consistently integrating the AQ model data with publicly available observations from the official monitoring network in Catalonia (XVPCA) available in Barcelona by means of a bias correction method. On the other hand, the macroscopic traffic simulator BCN-VML (Rodriguez-Rey et al. 2021) coupled with CALIOPE-Urban is used to assess the AQ impact of the traffic flow-induced changes after the application of a traffic restriction policy. 

References

Benavides, J., Snyder, M., Guevara, M., Soret, A., Pérez García-Pando, C., Amato, F., Querol, X., and Jorba, O.: CALIOPE-Urban v1.0: coupling R-LINE with a mesoscale air quality modelling system for urban air quality forecasts over Barcelona city (Spain), Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 2811–2835, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-2811-2019, 2019.

Rodriguez-Rey, D., Guevara, M., Linares, MP., Casanovas, J., Salmerón, J., Soret, A., Jorba, O., Tena, C., Pérez García-Pando, C.: A coupled macroscopic traffic and pollutant emission modelling system for Barcelona, Transportation Research Part D, accepted for publication.
The quantification and possible sources of spatially structured and large amplitude geomagnetic depressions during strong geomagnetic storms measured by IMAGE
Authors: Dimmock Andrew , Rosenqvist Lisa , Viljanen Ari , Forsyth Colin , Freeman Mervyn , Rae Jonathan , Yordanova Emiliya
Published: March 2021

Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs) are a space weather hazard that can negatively impact large ground-based infrastructures such as power lines, pipelines, and railways. They are driven by the dynamic spatiotemporal behaviour of currents flowing in geospace, which drive rapid geomagnetic disturbances on the ground. In some cases, geomagnetic disturbances are highly localised and spatially structured due to the dynamical behaviour of geospace currents and magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) coupling dynamics, which are complex and often unclear.

In this work, we investigate and quantify the spatial structure of large geomagnetic depressions exceeding several hundred nT according to the 10 strongest events measured over Fennoscandia by IMAGE. Using ground magnetometer measurements we connect these spatially structured geomagnetic disturbances to possible M-I coupling processes and identify their likely magnetospheric origin. In addition, the ability for these disturbances to drive large GICs is assessed by calculating their respective geoelectric fields in Sweden using the SMAP ground conductivity model. To compliment the observations, we also utilise high resolution runs (>7 million cells) of the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) to determine to what extent global MHD models can capture this behaviour.
Quasi-two-day waves at 53°N latitude
Authors: He Maosheng , Forbes Jeffrey, M. , Li Guozhu , Jacobi Christoph , Hoffmann Peter
Published: March 2021

The quasi-two-day wave (Q2DW) is the strongest and most widely-studied planetary wave occurring in the mesosphere. Existing observational analyses are based on either single-satellite or -station approaches, which suffer from temporal and spatial aliasing, respectively. The current work implements and develops dual-station approaches to investigate the mesospheric Q2DWs  and their nonlinear interactions with tides using winds from two longitudinal sectors at 53°N latitude.  An 8-year composite analysis reveals seasonal and altitude variations of Q2DWs and their secondary waves (SWs) from nonlinear interactions with tides.   The Q2DWs maximize in local summer, whereas their 16hr and 9.6hr SWs appear more in winter.
Scale discrepancy paradox between observation and modelling in fractured reservoir models in oil and gas industry.
Authors: Richard Pascal , Bazalgette Loic
Published: March 2021

Naturally fractured reservoirs represent one of the most challenging resource in the oil and gas industry. The understanding based on centimeter scale observations is upscaled and modeled at 100-meter scale.

In this paper, we will illustrate with case study examples of conceptual fracture model elaborated using static and dynamic data, the disconnect between the scale of observation and the scale of modelling. We will also discuss the potential disconnect between the detail of fundamental, but necessary, research work in universities against the coarse resolution of the models built in the oil industry, and how we can benefit of the differences in scales and approaches.

 

The appraisal and development of fractured reservoirs offer challenges due to the variations in reservoir quality and natural fracture distribution. Typically, the presence of open, connected fractures is one of the key elements to achieve a successful development. Fracture modelling studies are carried out routinely to support both appraisal and development strategies of these fractured reservoirs.

Overall fracture modelling workflow consists first of a fracture characterization phase concentrating on the understanding of the deformation history and the evaluation of the nature, type and distribution of the fractures; secondly of a fracture modelling part where fracture properties for the dynamic simulation are generated and calibrated against dynamic data. The pillar of the studies is the creation of 3D conceptual fracture diagrams/concepts which summarize both the understanding and the uncertainty of the fracture network of interest. These conceptual diagrams rely on detailed observations at the scale of the wellbore using core and borehole image data which are on contrasting scale compare to the 10’s of meters to 100’s of meter scale of the grid cells of the dynamic models used for the production history match and forecast. These contrasting scales will be the thread of the presentation.
Multi-year assessment of ocean surface currents from Copernicus Sentinel-1 and HF radar in the German Bight
Authors: Gommenginger Christine , Martin Adrien C. H. , Jacob Benjamin , Staneva Joanna
Published: March 2021

Direct estimate of ocean surface motion sensed by the Doppler shift of the surface includes ocean surface current and a wind-wave induced artefact surface velocity (WASV). The Sentinel-1 (S1) C-band SAR mission includes direct ocean surface motion estimates as an operational Level-2 Ocean (OCN) Radial VeLocity (RVL) product. The existing operational RVL products suffer from significant uncorrected platform and instrument effects that presently prevent exploitation of the data. This paper proposes a simple method to calibrate and correct for these effects and evaluate the benefit of these corrections over 2.5 years S1A acquisition against ground truth measurements. A specific geometry for S1 has been chosen for S1-A over the HF radar (HFR) instrumented site in the German Bight. The 78 S1A snapshots end in 56 match-ups within 20 minutes of HFR measurements. HFR velocity fields were projected in the same radial direction as S1A. Land calibration corrects for constant snapshot biases of the operational products up to 2 m/s. Besides these constant biases there is persistent relative biases within snapshots between up to 0.4 m/s in addition to the TOPSAR uncorrected scalloping effect with an amplitude of 0.1 m/s. After calibration, corrected RVL are compared against HFR with various WASV correction. Applying WASV correction with a reduced 70% C-Dop model, gives the best results with a precision of 0.25 m/s and correlation in time of 0.9. This might be due to C-Dop amplitude in up/downwind being too strong for a coastal environment as encountered in the German Bight. Quadratic mean of all 78 S1A snapshots after all corrections applied exhibits coastal current jets in good agreement with bathymetry channels and is promising as a cheap way to infer local bathymetry channels.
Predicting drought-induced cracks in dikes with machine learning algorithms
Authors: Chotkan Shaniel , Aguilar-López Juan Pablo , van der Meij Raymond , Vardon Phil , Jan Klerk Wouter , Chacon Hurtado Juan Carlos
Published: March 2021

During intense periods of drought, the development of cracks is observed in peat and clay dikes. Asset managers of the dikes increase the inspection frequency in times of drought to be able to monitor these cracks. Significant development of the cracks contributes to the development of different failure mechanisms. In this study, the occurrence of the cracks is predicted at a large spatial scale. An inspection database in which the observations from the last three years are stored is used as the basis. The database contains hundreds of observed cracks including the  location and time in which they were observed. The database was extended with attributes such as the precipitation deficit, the peat width at the surface, the orientation of the dike body, the subsidence of the dike body and the soil stiffness. Decision tree algorithms were then used to classify which circumstances will lead to cracks and which circumstances will not. From the resulting decision trees it was deduced that high precipitation deficits, low soil stiffness and the peat width can be used as the main predictors for the occurrence of cracks. Both subsidence of the foundation and the dike body being orientated to the sunny side are also contributors, although less prominent. Time-independent cracking criteria were then used to classify which regions are prone to cracking. Dikes which are rich in peat with a low stiffness were thus highlighted. The Mathews correlation coefficient was used as performance criteria resulting in a 0.3 value for the obtained tree. Application of a random forest increased the coefficient to 0.8. An important conclusion is that proper monitoring of the peat width, soil stiffness and precipitation may result in better asset management.
The North Atlantic Ocean as a Modulator of Vegetation Greening/Browning in the Northern High Latitudes?
Authors: Borchert Leonard F. , Winkler Alexander J.
Published: March 2021

Vegetation in the northern high latitudes shows a characteristic pattern of persistent changes as documented by multi-decadal satellite observations. The prevailing explanation that these mainly increasing trends (greening) are a consequence of external CO2 forcing, i.e., due to the ubiquitous effect of CO2-induced fertilization and/or warming of temperature-limited ecosystems, however does not explain why some areas also show decreasing trends of vegetation cover (browning). We propose here to consider the dominant mode of multi-decadal internal climate variability in the north Atlantic region, the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV), as the missing link in the explanation of greening and browning trend patterns in the northern high latitudes. Such a link would also imply potential for decadal predictions of ecosystem changes in the northern high latitudes.

An analysis of observational and reanalysis data sets for the period 1979-2019 shows that locations characterized by greening trends largely coincide with warming summer temperature and increasing precipitation. Wherever either cooling or decreasing precipitation occurs, browning trends are observed over this period. These precipitation and temperature patterns are significantly correlated with a North Atlantic sea surface temperature index that represents the AMV signal, indicating its role in modulating greening/browning trend patterns in the northern high latitudes.

Using two large ensembles of coupled Earth system model simulations (100 members of MPI-ESM-LR Grand Ensemble and 32 members of the IPSL-CM6A-LR Large Ensemble), we separate the greening/browning pattern caused by external CO2 forcing from that caused by internal climate variability associated with the AMV. These sets of model simulations enable a clean separation of the externally forced signal from internal variability. While the greening and browning patterns in the simulations do not agree with observations in terms of magnitude and location, we find consistent internally generated greening/browning patterns in both models caused by changes in temperature and precipitation linked to the AMV signal. These greening/browning trend patterns are of the same magnitude as those caused by the external forcing alone. Our work therefore shows that internally-generated changes of vegetation in the northern lands, driven by AMV, are potentially as large as those caused by external CO2 forcing. We thus argue that the observed pattern of greening/browning in the northern high latitudes could originate from the combined effect of rising CO2 as well as the AMV.
Poroelastoplastic modeling of borehole shear bands on high order curvilinear meshes using CUDA technology
Authors: Vershinin Anatoly , Levin Vladimir , Podladchikov Yury
Published: March 2021

The presentation describes an approach to solving problems of modeling the development of zones of localization of plastic deformations within the framework of a poroelastoplastic model generalizing Biot's model. A distinctive feature of this model is a two-way coupling between mechanical processes occurring in a porous elastoplastic matrix and a saturating viscous fluid.

  For the numerical solution of the problem, a variational formulation based on the Galerkin method and the isoparametric  spectral element method (SEM) is used to discretize the geometric model and PDEs on curvilinear unstructured SEM meshes. SEM orders up to the 15th were used for calculations.

  The software implementation of the developed algorithm based on SEM is performed using CUDA. A spectral element mesh is naturally mapped to a CUDA grid of SMs, and accordingly, each spectral element is mapped to a streaming block, within which individual nodes are processed by the corresponding threads within the block.

The research for this article is performed partially in Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth of the Russian Academy of Sciences and supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grant № 19-77-10062.
Carbon and nitrogen budgets of a winter rapeseed field in Estonia: a methodology for the quantification of all relevant pools and fluxes
Authors: Escuer-Gatius Jordi , Lõhmus Krista , Shanskiy Merrit , Kauer Karin , Vahter Hanna , Mander Ülo , Astover Alar , Soosaar Kaido
Published: March 2021

Agricultural activities can have several adverse impacts on the environment; such as important greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To implement effective mitigation measures and create effective policies, it is necessary to know the full carbon and nitrogen budgets of agro-ecosystems. However, very often, information regarding the pools or fluxes involved in the carbon and nitrogen cycles is limited, and essential complementary data needed for a proper interpretation is lacking.

This study aimed to quantify all the relevant pools and fluxes of a winter rapeseed, a widely spread crop in the Europe and Baltic regions. The N2O and CH4 fluxes were measured weekly using the closed static chamber method from August 2016 to August 2017 in a winter rapeseed field in Central Estonia. Additionally, nutrient leaching and soil chemical parameters, as well as environmental parameters like soil moisture, electrical conductivity and temperature were monitored. At the end of the season, the rapeseed and weed biomasses were collected, weighed and analyzed. The remaining relevant fluxes in the N cycle were calculated using various non-empirical methods: NH3 volatilization was estimated from slurry and environmental parameters, N deposition and NOx emissions were obtained from national reports, and N2 emissions were calculated with the mass balance method. Regarding the C cycle, gross primary production (GPP) of the rapeseed field was also calculated by the mass balance method. Simultaneously, for comparison and validation purposes, GPP was estimated from the data provided by MOD17A2H v006 series from NASA, and N2 was estimated from the measured emissions of N2O using the N2:N2O ratio calculated from the DAYCENT model equations.

N2 emissions and GPP were the biggest fluxes in the N and C cycles, respectively. N2 emissions were followed by N extracted with plant biomass in the N cycle, while in the carbon cycle soil and plant respiration and NPP were the highest fluxes after GPP. The carbon balance was positive at the soil level, with a net increase in soil carbon during the period, mainly due to GPP carbon capture. Contrarily, the nitrogen balance resulted in a net loss of N due to the losses related to gaseous emissions (N2 and N2O) and leaching.

To conclude, it was possible to close the C and N budgets, despite the inherent difficulties of estimating the different C and N environmental pools and fluxes, and the uncertainties deriving from some of the fluxes estimations.
Global carbon isotope signal in the Middle Triassic on Svalbard
Authors: Engelschiøn Victoria S. , Hammer Øyvind , Wesenlund Fredrik , Hurum Jørn H. , Mørk Atle
Published: March 2021

Several carbon isotope curves were recently published for the Early and Middle Triassic in Tethys. Recent work has also been done on the Early Triassic of Svalbard, but not yet for the Middle Triassic. This work is the first to measure δ13C for different Middle Triassic localities on Svalbard, which was then part of the Boreal Ocean on northern Pangea. Our aim is to understand the controls on the Svalbard carbon isotope curve and to place them in a global setting.

Correlating Triassic rocks around the world is interesting for several reasons. The Triassic Period was a tumultuous time for life, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard has shown to be an important locality to understand the early radiation of marine vertebrates in the Triassic. Much effort is also made to understand the development of the Barents Sea through Svalbard’s geology.

Carbon isotope curves are controlled by depositional environment and global fluctuations. Global factors such as the carbon cycle control the long-term carbon isotopic compositions, while short-term fluctuations may reflect the origin of organic materials in the sediment (e.g. algal or terrestrial matter), stratification of the water column, and/or surface water productivity. Carbon isotopes can therefore be useful to understand the depositional environment and to correlate time-equivalent rocks globally.

The dataset was collected through three seasons of fieldwork in Svalbard with localities from the islands Spitsbergen, Edgeøya and Bjørnøya. Detailed stratigraphic sampling has resulted in high-resolution δ13C curves. These show three strong transitions; 1) on the boundary between the Early and Middle Triassic, 2) in the middle of the formation and 3) at the Middle and Late Triassic boundary. Several Tethyan localities show a possibly similar Early-Middle Triassic signal. Current work in progress is sedimentological analysis by thin sections and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) to further understand the sedimentary environment.
Aquatic organism behaviours at multiple trophic levels for water monitoring: the case of Gran Sasso - Sirente aquifer
Authors: Di Giacinto Federica , Berti Miriam , Carbone Luigi , Caprioli Riccardo , Colaiuda Valentina , Lombardi Annalina , Tomassetti Barbara , Tuccella Paolo , De Iuliis Gianpaolo , Pietroleonardo Adelina , Mascilongo Giuseppina , Di Renzo Ludovica , D’Alterio Nicola , Ferri Nicola
Published: March 2021

Emerging contaminants could exert combined toxic effects, including synergetic and antagonistic ones, that cannot be identified by chemical analysis tools. The biological early warning systems (BEWS) perform a real-time and continuous (24 h) monitoring of physiological and/or behavioural parameters of organism alterations, potentially correlated to water pollution. They are based on the response of living sentinels (i.e. molluscs, algae, crustaceans, fish) to a contaminant or mixture of them. Early warnings can be sent by SMS, e-mail, etc. to operators, in order to activate response actions. Belonging to different trophic levels, the crustacean D. magna, the alga C. vulgaris and the mollusc P. casertanum have been used to control Gran Sasso-Sirente aquifer in three different locations. Drinkable water of Teramo province and irrigation water of L’Aquila have been continuously monitored by the commercial tools “bbe® Daphnia Toximeter (DTOX)” and “bbe® Algae Toximeter (ATOX)”, respectively. In Tirino river spring, a novel sensor “SmartShell” has registered for the first time the valve movements of the autochthonous bivalve. After the first testing period, DTOX and ATOX did not register any typology of alarms in the potable and irrigation water. The valve movements of P. casertanum have been examined through spectral analysis in order to evaluate the behavioural rhythms useful for further investigation on their alterations as early warnings. The objective has been to reinforce the aquifer protection by installing instruments internationally recognised as efficient tools and exploring new proposals for guaranteeing human and ecosystem health.
Establishment of State-of-the-Art Geodesy Village in India: Current status and Outlook
Authors: Dhar Sujata , Tiwari Ashutosh , Balasubramanian Nagarajan , Devaraju Balaji , Dikshit Onkar , Prakash Jai , Mishra Prashant , Agarwal Drishti , Sharma Vipul , Varade Divyesh , Laha Arnab , Kumar Ashwini , Singh Shivangi , Bihari Narayan Singh Avadh , Goyal Ropesh , Kumar Vikas
Published: March 2021

National Centre for Geodesy (NCG) has been established in IIT Kanpur, India with the vision of acting as a hub of excellence in geodetic research at the National and International level. Working towards its mission, it has initiated this state-of-the- art establishment for improving the space geodetic infrastructure of the country and encouraging more researches in the geodesy field. The presentation will discuss the current status of the planned core site and its future establishments. It will provide detailed description of all the facilities installed in the site right now, and the future extensions. This new core-site will house facilities for three technologies – Space, Time and Earth gravity domain. The main purpose of establishing this site is for improving the realization of terrestrial and celestial reference frames, Earth Orientation Parameters (EOPs) and other data products essential for understanding the Earth’s environment. This co-located site with four space geodetic techniques will help in the International campaign for determination of TRF with 1mm accuracy and 0.1 mm/yr. stability. Moreover, this site location will improve the uniformity in geographical distribution of the ITRF observatories and the necessity of this station has been confirmed by simulation modelling.

Keywords: NCG, India, Core site, TRF, stability, uniformity.
Subaqueous speleothems from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, as palaeohydrological archives for the arid zone
Authors: Gould-Whaley Calla , Drysdale Russell , May Jan-Hendrick , Hellstrom John , Cheng Hai , Woodhead Jon , Greig Alan , Corrick Ellen , Cohen Timothy
Published: March 2021

Australia is the driest continent outside of Antarctica yet relatively little is known about its long-term moisture history. Many local palaeoclimate archives suffer preservation problems, particularly in the arid centre of the continent, where weathering and erosion leave behind an incomplete record. In an attempt to redress the paucity of arid-zone palaeoclimate records, we investigate ‘pendulites’, subaqueous speleothems that grow episodically according to fluctuations in local groundwater levels. At Mairs Cave (central Flinders Ranges, South Australia), pendulites have formed around stalactites. During the first sustained episode of drowning, the stalactite is veneered by subaqueous calcite, sealing it and preventing further stalactitic growth after water levels fall. Once sealed, the pendulites only record periods of persistent drowning, assumed to correspond to major pluvial episodes.

Age data from two pendulite samples collected from close to the ceiling where the highest water levels have reached reveal two main groundwater ‘high-stand’ phases centred on ~67 and ~48 ka, coincident with Southern Hemisphere summer insolation maxima. This suggests that precession-driven southward migration of the ITCZ resulted in regular and persistent incursions of tropical air masses to the central Flinders Ranges. Trace element, stable isotope and growth-rate changes reveal that these orbitally controlled growth intervals are superimposed by regional climate responses to Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events. The results from Mairs Cave shed new light on the moisture history of central Australia, in particular the competing influences of tropical and middle-latitude circulation systems. This provides a precisely dated regional palaeoclimate template for reconstructing ecosystem changes, understanding human migration/dispersal patterns of the first Australians, and the progressive demise of megafauna. We also highlight the utility of subaqueous speleothems more generally as important archives for investigating arid-zone palaeoclimate.
Connectivity in geomorphology
Authors: Pöppl Ronald E. , Keesstra Saskia D. , Parsons Anthony J.
Published: March 2021

In the past two decades, connectivity has emerged as a relevant conceptual framework for understanding the transfer of water and sediment through landscapes. In geomorphology, the concept has had particular success in the fields of fluvial geomorphology and soil erosion to better explain rates and patterns of geomorphic change in catchment systems. Sediment (dis)connectivity in geomorphic systems is generally governed by the spatial arrangement of sediment sources, transfer pathways and sinks (i.e. the structural component) as well as the interactions between landscape compartments and the frequency-magnitude relationships that dictate the relative effectiveness of geomorphic processes (i.e. the structural component; Poeppl et al., 2020). This presentation will provide a short general overview on existing concepts of connectivity in geomorphology, further highlighting and discussing recent developments in geomorphological connectivity research.

References

Ronald E. Poeppl, Kirstie A. Fryirs, Jon Tunnicliffe, Gary J. Brierley (2020). Managing sediment (dis)connectivity in fluvial systems, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 736, 139627
Overcoming conflicting notions of climate forecasts reliability and skill in the agricultural sector: lessons from the MED-GOLD project
Authors: Calmanti Sandro , Bruno Soares Marta , Dell’Aquila Alessandro , Ponti Luigi , De Felice Matteo , González-Reviriego Nube , Marcos-Matamoros Raül , Terrado Marta , Graça António , Fontes Natacha , Teixeira Marta , Monotti Chiara , López Nevado Javier , Manstretta Valentina
Published: March 2021

During the project MED-GOLD, whose aim is to co-develop pilot climate services for three staple Mediterranean agri-food systems: grape, olive and durum wheat, key challenges emerged in the process of identifying useful climate indicators and actionable definitions of the reliability of climate information. To address such conflicting notion of the reliability of climate information, a participatory workshop was organised with providers (mainly climate scientists) and users of climate data and information (representatives from agri-food companies but also providers of agromet services for farmers) to facilitate an open discussion and find ways of moving forward methodologically and practically towards the development of prototype services. We found that the scientists and users had very different conceptions and interpretations of terms such as skill and reliability of climate information. Furthermore, such disparate understandings created a level of friction between what the scientists understood as scientifically robust and credible climate information and what the users required in terms of saliency of the climate information developed in order to effectively support their decisions. Through an iterative and open discussion, scientists and users agreed the decision making landscape and on a notion of reliability of climate predictions connected to the type of decisions that climate information would support. We will describes the process of developing a common understanding on working definitions of the reliability of climate predictions in the MED-GOLD project and, provide a practical example of the application of this definition to a real case study focused on durum wheat cultivation in Italy.
The WMO Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning Advisory and Assessment System (VFSP-WAS): Concept, current capabilities, research and development challenges and the way ahead
Authors: Baklanov Alexander , Chew Boon Ning , Frassoni Ariane , Gan Christopher , Goldammer Johann Georg , Keywood Melita , Mangeon Stéphane , Manseau Patrick M. , Pavlovic Radenko
Published: March 2021

Vegetation fires – including the application of fire in land use, land-use change and uncontrolled wildfire – affect the functioning of the Earth System and impose significant threats to public health and security.  This paper presents the concept of a Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning Advisory and Assessment System (VFSP-WAS*). It describes the scientific rationale for the system and provides guidance for addressing the issues of vegetation fire and smoke pollution, including key research challenges. The paper  proposes the establishment of VFSP-WAS regional centers and describes  Potential examples of  this VFSP-WAS concept are described from two regions in (South-East Asia and North America) where regional centers will partner with Regional Fire Monitoring / Fire Management Resource Centers.

*) https://community.wmo.int/activity-areas/gaw/science/modelling-applications/vfsp-was 
Large-scale dune aurora event investigation combining Citizen Scientists' photographs and spacecraft observations
Authors: Grandin Maxime , Palmroth Minna , Whipps Graeme , Kalliokoski Milla , Ferrier Mark , Paxton Larry J. , Mlynczak Martin G. , Hilska Jukka , Holmseth Knut , Vinorum Kjetil , Whenman Barry
Published: March 2021

Recently, citizen scientist photographs led to the discovery of a new auroral form called "the dune aurora" which exhibits parallel stripes of brighter emission in the green diffuse aurora at about 100 km altitude. This discovery raised several questions, such as (i) whether the dunes are associated with particle precipitation, (ii) whether their structure arises from spatial inhomogeneities in the precipitating fluxes or in the underlying neutral atmosphere, and (iii) whether they are the auroral manifestation of an atmospheric wave called a mesospheric bore. This study investigates a large-scale dune aurora event on 20 January 2016 above Northern Europe. The dunes were observed from Finland to Scotland, spanning over 1500 km for at least four hours. Spacecraft observations confirm that the dunes are associated with electron precipitation and reveal the presence of a temperature inversion layer below the mesopause during the event, creating suitable conditions for mesospheric bore formation. The analysis of a time lapse of pictures by a citizen scientist from Scotland leads to the estimate that, during this event, the dunes propagate toward the west-southwest direction at about 200 m/s, presumably indicating strong horizontal winds near the mesopause. These results show that citizen science and dune aurora studies can fill observational gaps and be powerful tools to investigate the least-known region of near-Earth space at altitudes near 100 km.
Vegetation restoration alleviated the soil surface organic carbon redistribution in the hillslope scale on the Loess Plateau, China
Authors: Liang Yipeng , Zha Tonggang , Li Xiang , Zhang Xiaoxia
Published: March 2021

ABSTRACT 

Redistribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) in response to soil erosion along slopes plays an important role in understanding the mechanisms of SOC’s spatial distribution and turnover. Consequently, SOC redistribution has been considered in many conceptual or mathematical models of soil carbon stability and storage. Vegetation restoration has been identified as an effective method to alleviate soil erosion on the Loess Plateau, however, little research has addressed vegetation restoration’s effect on the SOC redistribution processes, particularly SOC’s spatial distribution and stability. This study quantified the SOC stock and pool distribution on slopes along geomorphic gradients in naturally regenerating forests (NF) and an artificial black locust plantation (BP), and used a corn field as a control (CK). The following results were as follows: (1) Vegetation restoration, particularly NF, slowed the migration of SOC and reduced the heterogeneity of its distribution effectively. The topsoil SOC ratios of the sedimentary area to the stable area were 109%, 143%, and 210% for NF, the BP and CK, respectively; (2) Vegetation restoration decreased the loss of labile organic carbon by alleviating the loss of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC). The DOC/SOC in the BP and NF increased significantly, and were 13.14 and 17.57 times higher, respectively, than in the CK (p < 0.05), while the EOC/SOC in the BP and NF was slightly higher than in the CK. (3) A relevant schematic diagram of SOC cycle patterns and redistribution along the Loess slope was drawn under vegetation restoration. These results suggest that vegetation restoration in the Loess slope effectively alleviated the redistribution and spatial heterogeneity of SOC through reducing soil erosion. Thus, the effects of vegetation restoration on SOC redistribution should be pay more attention in regional carbon storage estimation, especially in the Loess gully regions.

Keywords: Vegetation Restoration, Soil Organic Carbon Redistribution, Loess Slope, Soil Erosion, Soil Organic Carbon Stability
The nature of the variability of wave particle interactions in the inner magnetosphere and consequences for diffusion models
Authors: Watt Clare , Allison Hayley , Thompson Rhys , Bentley Sarah , Rae Jonathan , Meredith Nigel , Glauert Sarah , Horne RIchard , Zhang Shuai , Degeling Alex , Tian Anmin , Shi Quanqi
Published: March 2021

It is important to understand the variability of plasma processes across many different timescales in order to successfully model plasma in the inner magnetosphere. In this presentation, we focus on the interplay between the variability cold plasmaspheric plasma, whistler-mode wave activity, and the efficacy of wave-particle interactions in the inner magnetosphere. We use in-situ observations to quantify the amount and timescales of variability in pitch-angle diffusion due to plasmaspheric hiss in Earth’s inner magnetosphere, and suggest reasons for the variability. We then use a stochastic parameterization scheme to investigate the consequences of that variability in a numerical diffusion model. The results from the stochastic parameterization are contrasted with the standard approach of constructing averaged diffusion coefficients. We demonstrate that even when the average diffusion rates are the same, different timescales of variability in the wave-particle interactions lead to different end results in numerical diffusion models. We discuss the implications of our results for the modelling of wave-particle interactions in magnetospheres, and suggest quantifications that are vital for accurate modelling.
Ectomycorrhizal communities along a precipitation gradient in Bavaria (Germany)
Authors: Pritsch Karin , Roth Max , Weikl Fabian
Published: March 2021

Altered temperature and precipitation regimes particularly prolonged drought periods when combined with heat strongly affect forests in the last decades. However, neither did all trees die nor even stop growing at all sites. We are interested in the question if below ground interaction with ectomycorrhizal fungi could be partly mediating strong soil drought. For this purpose, we established sampling sites with Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies or Pinus sylvestris along a natural precipitation gradient of 400 km length in Bavaria (Germany). We hypothesized root associated fungal communities to reflect long-term adaptation to local edaphic and climate conditions and that the resulting tree-fungal partnerships have distinct compositional patterns.
Monitoring sediment transport and grain size dynamics along the Israeli continental shelf with multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data 
Authors: Giladi Asaf , Kanari Mor , katz Timor , Tibor Gideon
Published: March 2021

In 2017, the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) started an annual seafloor monitoring program. The aim of the program is to evaluate the rate of erosion/deposition and the influence of man-made infrastructures on the seabed along the Israeli continental shelf south of Akko. The survey program onboard R/V Bat-Galim includes a multibeam (Kongsberg EM2040), sub-bottom (Knudsen 3260 Chirp) mapping and box-core sediment sampling along 13 transects across the shelf, from WD 10-100 m. The multibeam was operated at 400-kHz yielding a horizontal resolution of 0.25-1.0 m (depending on water depth), and vertical uncertainty of several centimeters. Using the QPS FMGT software, both angular response curves (ARA) and 0.5 m horizontal resolution of Backscatter data (BS) were derived. The multibeam acoustic return intensities (BS) were locally calibrated at selected reference areas using in-situ sediment sampling. 
The main source of sediments along the Israeli continental shelf is the Nile Delta which undergoes erosion since 1960 when the Aswan dam was constructed. Along the Israeli inner-shelf, these sediments are transported northward and westward by wind-derived currents and storms. The analysis of the bathymetric surfaces from the consecutive years 2017-2020 shows that the shelf is stable in terms of sediment processes except along the marine infrastructures and natural seafloor features (e.g. rocky bottom outcrops) where patterns of sediment accumulation and erosion are observed. The variability along the marine infrastructures is mostly seen in the shallow water (less than 30 m) where yearly changes of up to +/-0.4 m of sediment accumulation/erosion in the vertical axis were measured.
The locally calibrated multibeam BS enabled grain size mode evaluation ranging from very fine gravel (-1 phi) to clay (9 phi). Additional in-situ sampling validated the reliability of the grain size classification method for the Israeli, continental shelf. Accordingly, we show that the Israeli continental shelf south of Haifa Bay is characterized by a sandy seafloor strip at WD 0-35 m and a muddy strip that extends west up to WD 100 m (in agreement with previous studies). Gravelly areas are identified at the coast-parallel Kurkar outcrops (Calcareous sandstone rocky ridges or rock patches) in water depths of 10-15m and 35-40m and in some places even at WD of 90 m. This demonstrates that grain size classification by locally calibrated multibeam BS is likely to be a very useful and fast method for monitoring changes in seafloor characteristics over large areas over time.

 
The Virtual Water Gallery: a collaborative science and art project
Authors: Arnal Louise , Clark Martyn , Dumanski Stacey , Pomeroy John
Published: March 2021

Water is life and so water-related challenges, such as droughts, floods and water quality degradation, affect everyone. Conceptualizing water-related environmental and social problems in novel ways, with engagement between the public and science researchers, may lead to new and more comprehensive solutions to complex problems. A society that makes decisions informed by science and science that approaches problems in a transdisciplinary manner are key elements in finding creative and holistic solutions to the water-related challenges we all face. We believe that art can help co-establish new social norms to help us grasp and tackle water-related challenges in a more holistic manner.

The Virtual Water Gallery* is a science and art pilot project funded by Global Water Futures (GWF). GWF is a University of Saskatchewan-led research program that is funded in part by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund. Its overarching goal is to deliver risk management solutions, informed by leading-edge water science, to manage water futures in Canada and other cold regions where global warming is changing landscapes, ecosystems and the water environment. Launched in Summer 2020, the Virtual Water Gallery aims to provide a safe, inclusive and collaborative space for fully open discussions between scientists, artists, and a wider public, to explore past, present and future water challenges.

As part of this pilot project, 13 artists were paired with teams of GWF scientists to co-explore specific water challenges in various Canadian ecoregions and river basins, including the Arctic, the mountains, boreal forests, prairies, farmlands, lakes, rivers, and communities. These collaborations are leading to the co-creation of science and art pieces which will be exhibited online on a Virtual Water Gallery. By making this online exhibition accessible to a global audience, we hope that the co-created art pieces will open creative and informative discussions about urgent water challenges to a wider audience via the gallery space.

*More information about the Virtual Water Gallery on the GWF webpage: https://gwf.usask.ca/outreach/virtual-water-gallery.php
Winter leaf reddening phenomenon: the long-term track of PRI and phenological changes in a temperate Japanese cypress forest at Kiryu Japan.
Authors: Chen Siyu , Kosugi Yoshiko , Jiao Linjie , Nakaji Tatsuro , Noda Hibiki , Hikosaka Kouki , Nasahara Kenlo
Published: March 2021

Winter leaf reddening is a phenomenon that evergreen species’ leaf color changes into red resulting from the accumulation of red pigments before or during winter, which persists for several months before dissipating with springtime warming. Among the many hypotheses about the winter leaf reddening, photoprotection is currently the favored hypothesis. Several studies focused on leaf reddening in angiosperms species. Yet, little researches concerned about leaf reddening in gymnosperms species. In gymnosperms, a kind of xanthophyll pigment rhodoxanthin was reported to play an important role. However, the xanthophyll cycle is the main protection mechanism of plants to deal with excessive light energy.

To track the winter leaf reddening phenomenon, we utilized the carotenoid-based vegetation index, the photochemical reflectance index (PRI), which is sensitive to changes in carotenoid pigments (e. g. xanthophyll pigments) in live foliage, as a tool to reflect the invisible phenology of photosynthesis by assessing carotenoid pigment dynamics. We used the CO2 flux data and the micrometeorological data collected from the temperate Japanese cypress forest from 2014 to 2019. We also made use of the digital camera to monitor the canopy phenology changes from 2016 to 2019. The digital camera took photos in 3 hours intervals with 3 different ROI (region of interest), the RGB channels of image data were extracted to calculate the RGB chromatic coordinates and the Red-Green vegetation index (RGVI).

Our findings demonstrated that air temperature reached the lowest point had a one-month lag in the time than that of PAR. The imbalance between light energy absorption and light energy utilization might activate the photoprotection mechanism. The change in light use efficiency (LUE) might confirm this conjecture. LUE reached its peak at the end of December and then dropped sharply. It suggested the photoprotection mechanism was activated. The RGVI fluctuation showed the seasonal changes with that of PRI almost in contrast. PRI was highly correlated with RGVI (R=-0.806928034317071 in Pearson’s correlation test). It suggested that the winter leaf reddening phenomenon caused the decline of PRI. Further, the PRI and RGVI both were highly correlated with air temperature and PAR. Based on current observations, there are still many unclear mechanisms. In the future, we will try to better explain the mechanism of winter reddening with a new set of experiments.

 

Keyword: winter leaf reddening, Japanese cypress, photochemical reflectance index (PRI), Red-Green vegetation index (RGVI), phenological analysis, digital camera