bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A comparison of staff perceptions and student experiences of issues associated with university
Authors: Briggs Steve , Pritchett Norma
Published: March 2021

A significant body of research (Yorke, 1999a; 1999b; 2000a; 2000b) has examined difficulties experienced by students who withdraw from university. However, less work has been undertaken around students who experience difficulties but choose to remain in their studies. Similarly, limited work has addressed how tutors and university support staff perceive difficulties associated with the student experience and whether these are in line with student accounts. The lack of research around university staff perceptions is surprising given that tutors must have a good knowledge of the student experience in order to be able to understand and support learning. The purpose of this study was twofold. Firstly, to examine what difficulties students reported experiencing during university and secondly, to ascertain if university staff knowledge of student difficulties were in line with student accounts. Using semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire, staff and student perceptions of university difficulties were examined. Results showed that all students experienced difficulties whilst studying. It was generally found that university staff had a good knowledge of student difficulties. However, two types of difficulty were identified (related to university systems and experience of teaching) of which staff were less aware. Possible explanations for findings are offered along with recommendations as to how findings might influence a learning developer.
Engaging Biological Sciences Students in the Development of Employability Skills through Creative Teaching and Peer Reviewed Action Plans
Authors: Turner Ian J , Day Liz
Published: March 2021

In this article the authors describe how creative learning experiences can be developed within the curriculum to enhance employability skills and engage the students in their personal development planning. A novel approach using a subject specific employability exercise and the production of peer critiqued action plans is described along with a summary of studentsÃ¢â¬â¢ responses.
Teachers' interpretation of Bildung in practice: examples from higher education in Sweden and Denmark
Authors: Avery Helen , Wihlborg Monne
Published: March 2021

While higher education is expected to prepare students so they can reflect and act in relation with a changing world, many structural forces instead favour procedural learning. There are fundamental contradictions between the aim of independent thinking and standardised evaluation, as well as reasoning/speaking as an emancipatory force, and teaching as explanations. Other contradictions exist between holistic and fragmented learning. An important dimension of these contradictions is who can become a speaker. What are the terms for negotiating meaning? The study builds on qualitative interviews, and the analysis remains close to the narratives. Ways university teachers interpret Bildung are investigated, how they implement their aims in practice, and how their interpretation corresponds to institutional constraints and visions. In this article, three cases are presented, as an illustration of practices that may enhance in-depth reflection, holistic understanding and personal development. The teachers' perception of student learning and other outcomes of a Bildung approach are discussed. In particular, the importance of a space for negotiation and becoming a speaker are stressed.
Investigating the Relationship between Extracurricular Activities, Learning Approaches and Academic Outcomes in Chinese Sub-degree Students
Authors: Chan Yiu Kong Ringo
Published: March 2021

BiggsÃ¢â¬â¢s 3P model on student learning has identified the relationship among individual difference, learning approaches and academic achievement in higher education. Previous studies have typically revealed that the deep approach is positively associated with academic achievement. It is argued that extracurricular activities enhance studentsÃ¢â¬â¢ confident in their ability which encourage a deep motive in their learning. Comparatively little is known about such relationship in Hong Kong Chinese continuing education context especially for full-time sub-degree students under the new secondary school system in Hong Kong. The research aims to investigate the relationships of extracurricular activities, learning approaches and academic outcomes among Hong Kong Chinese sub-degree students. 131 full-time sub-degree students participated in this research on a voluntary basis by using BiggsÃ¢â¬â¢s Revised Two-Factor Study Processes Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) to examine the fit of the variables to hypothesized model. The results indicated that sub-degree students with lots of extracurricular activities experiences were more likely to use the deep approach.
Ensuring Economic Growth through the Development of Digital Technologies in Uzbekistan
Authors: Mirzakarimova Muyassar Muminovna  , Narmanov Ulugbek Abdugapparovich
Published: March 2021

Development of the digital economy in the period of the global pandemic is one of the issues of strategic importance for Uzbekistan, like other countries, which determines its world-wide competitiveness, and through this, it shows that it is necessary to address the issues of socio-economic development of the country. The gradual transition to a digital economy in Uzbekistan will help solve many economic and promising problems and ensure economic growth. A number of issues and challenges have been addressed in terms of ensuring economic growth through the development of the digital economy and its economic significance.
The Relevance of the absorptive capacity in firms’ innovation strategies measured via bibliometric analysis
Authors: Vlačić Ernest , Dabić Marina , Gonan Božac Marli
Published: March 2021

Absorptive capacity (ACAP) as a function of systematic knowledge management is widely recognized as the catalyst for successful innovation performance in firms, particularly when it comes to identifying business opportunity information from the outside world and assimilating it into a firm’s innovation process. The concept of absorptive capacity became a widely researched topic in the area of organization and management, consequently, the definition of the ACAP components, its operationalization and outcomes, is extremely heterogeneous and has greatly affected the research production on ACAP. Therefore, the question arising is: Which approach to absorptive capacity will enable it is being truly recognized as a concept at a global level, and in which areas of economy and business is ACAP most frequently encountered, particularly when it is connected to innovation processes? Based on a sample of 1288 papers within Web of Science Core Collection, this paper presents a bibliometric analysis of relevant publications on ACAP with the specific aim of gaining a deeper insight into the relevance of the impact of absorptive capacity on a firm’s innovation strategy. The results were systematized in a form of quantitative bibliographic review. The purpose of the analysis was to determine the existing level of the empirical and theoretical efforts in the research on ACAP, with a particular focus on firms and their innovation processes as well as knowledge management processes.
El desarrollo de las habilidades del pensamiento geométrico espacial: una mirada desde la validación neutrosófica
Authors: Ortiz Aguilar Wilber , Gutiérrez Quiñónez Tatiana Verónica , Gómez Romero Lenin Stalyn , Iturburu Salvador Daniel Douglas , Castro Rosado Julio Cesar
Published: March 2021

El desarrollo del pensamiento geométrico espacial es un aspecto esencial para asimilar los contenidos matemáticos relacionados con la geometría del espacio, y de esta forma, enfrentarse con éxito a la resolución de problemas geométricos de estereometría. Sin embargo, aún subsisten insuficiencias en esta temática, las cuales fueron constatadas en el estudio exploratorio fáctico y causal desarrollado en carreras técnicas. Es por ello que, el objetivo del presente libro es proponer una metodología contentiva de procedimientos desarrolladores, eslabones, componentes, acciones y orientaciones metodológicas, para elevar los niveles de desarrollo de las habilidades del pensamiento geométrico espacial en los estudiantes de las carreras de ingeniería, de la educación universitaria. Dicha metodología es validada a través de un pre-experimento mediante el uso de los conjuntos neutrosóficos de valor único (SVNS) asociados a variables lingüísticas, lo que aumenta la posibilidad de interpretación en los modelos de recomendación y en el empleo de la indeterminación.
Participación y empoderamiento de las mujeres en las cooperativas: un estudio sobre la participación de mujeres en cooperativas de la agricultura familiar en Brasil
Authors: Zimmermann Silvia , Oliveira Garcias Marcos , Basso Dirceu
Published: March 2021

La práctica cooperativa es ancestral y el movimiento cooperativo ha avanzado en busca de respuestas a los desafíos y formas de pensar sobre el trabajo cooperativo. Entre las cuestiones actuales del cooperativismo destacamos la comprensión de la participación de las mujeres en el manejo de las iniciativas cooperativas, sus limitaciones y motivaciones en un intento por comprender qué proyectos o políticas pueden contribuir a una mayor participación de las mujeres en estos espacios. Por demanda de la comisión de género de la Reunión Especializada sobre Agricultura Familiar del Mercosur (REAF-Mercosur) se llevó a cabo una investigación con el objetivo de verificar con más detalle cuestiones relacionadas la participación de las mujeres en las cooperativas. Se entiende que las mujeres participan en la cooperativa, pero que la percepción de esta participación ocurre, o se refuerza, en el momento de la participan más activa en la producción del producto o servicio que son intercambiados con la cooperativa.
Effects of the Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS) on the expansion of Spartina alterniflora at the Yellow River Estuary, China
Authors: Shao Dongdong
Published: March 2021

In recent decades, the invasion of saltmarsh plant Spartina alterniflora (S. alterniflora) over a large part of coastal wetlands in China, including the Yellow River Estuary (YRE) as a regional economic hub and global ecosystem services hotspot, has caused increasing concern because of its serious threats to native ecosystems. During the same period, local authorities have implemented a Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS) in the Yellow River for flood mitigation and delta restoration purposes. The altered hydrological regime has resulted in unintended changes to estuarine ecosystem. However, the direct consequence of the WSRS on the expansion of S. alterniflora remains unclear. In this study, quantitative relationship between the inter- and intra-annual expansion patterns of S. alterniflora represented by relevant landscape metrics and indicators that quantify the concurrent variations of river and sediment discharges as the proxy of the WSRS impacts were analysed over the period of Year 2011 to 2018, and the analyses were performed on the YRE as a whole and on five different zones subdivided based on the invasion sequence. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the inter-annual area variation of S. alterniflora between the years with and without WSRS. Compared with the years without WSRS (2016-2017), the intra-annual (monthly) increment of the various landscape metrics (i.e. NP (number of patches), CA (class area), LPI (largest patch index) and AI (aggregation index)) were found to be significantly higher in the initial stage of peak growing season (June-July) than in the mid- and late stages (July-September) in the years with WSRS (2011-2015, 2018) in the subregion located close to the south bank of YRE as the most prominent impact zone. In addition, F (mean flow), Ff (number of high flow pulses), Tf (Julian date of maximum flow) and D (duration of WSRS) were identified as the explanatory variables for the intra-annual vegetation landscape pattern changes, and their relative contributions to resultant changes were also assessed. Our results broaden the understanding of estuarine hydrological disturbance as a potential driver regulating the saltmarsh vegetation, and also have implications for S. alterniflora invasion control at estuaries under changing environment.
Late Paleozoic oroclinal bending, arc amalgamation, and large-scale transcurrent tectonics in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt: termination of accretionary orogenesis and initiation of aridification in Central Asia?
Authors: Li Pengfei
Published: March 2021

The western Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) underwent the prolonged accretion from Neoproterozoic to latest Paleozoic, and evolved into an intracontinental orogenic environment in the Mesozoic to Cenozoic, which was accompanied by significant changes of climatic environments. To constrain earlier accretion mechanisms and processes of the CAOB is fundamentally important given its control on the orogenic architecture and paleogeography, which inevitably affects the subsequent intracontinental orogeny. Here, I focus on the late Paleozoic tectonic reconstruction of the western CAOB with an aim to understand the role of oroclinal bending, arc amalgamation, and large-scale transcurrent tectonics in shaping the orogenic architecture of the western CAOB. My results show that the development of the U-shaped Kazakhstan Orocline in the western CAOB may have been controlled by the along-strike variation of the trench retreat, which was accompanied by the consumption of the Junggar Ocean in the core area of the orocline. The subsequent amalgamation of multiple arcs in the western CAOB may further amplify the oroclinal structure, and I emphasize that the orogen-parallel extension plays a significant role in arc amalgamation of the western CAOB. In the Permian, the large scale of strike-slip faults characterized the western CAOB with sinistral shearing in the north (Chinese Altai) and dextral kinematics in the south (Tianshan), which together indicates the eastward migration of orogenic materials (current coordinate). Following the termination of accretionary orogeny, the western CAOB was in an intracontinental environment with relatively arid climate in the early to middle Triassic as indicated by the widespread occurrence of red beds, which may mark the initiation of aridification in Central Asia.

Acknowledgements: this study was financially supported by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council (HKU17302317), the international partnership program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (132744KYSB20200001), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC0601205), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41872222) and a project from Guangdong Province (2019QN01H101).
Extreme aridity in the south-eastern part of Romania
Authors: Nagavciuc Viorica , Ionita Monica , Roibu Cătălin-Constantin
Published: March 2021

Drought is one of the most complex phenomena which may have a strong impact on agriculture, society, water resources, and ecosystems. In Romania, drought has a very strong impact on agriculture and affects 7.1 million ha, which represent 48% of the total agricultural land. The south, southeast, and eastern parts of Romania, including the Dobrogea region, are the most affected areas. During extremely dry years the average yields of various crops represent only 35% ÷ 60% of the potential yields. By employing three different drought indices (e.g. the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), we show that there is a significant trend towards aridity especially from the 1980’s up to present in the south-eastern part of Romania. The Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) at Sulina station (situated in the Doborgea region) for 12 months (SPEI12) indicates that over the last 30 years, this region was continuously affected by prolong droughts and there is a statistically significant shift towards dryer periods over the last 30 years compared to the period 1877 – 1990, thus indicating a critical situation for this region. Over the last 30 years, the long-term drought variability (SPI12, SPEI12, and PDSI) has increased both in duration and intensity up to maximum rates. The driest summers on record, over the region, are 2001, 2003 and 2007. These extremely dry summers are unprecedented throughout the observational record (~145 years). The history of drought in Dobrogea includes also many dry years, of which are to be mentioned: 1894, 1888, 1904, 1918, 1934, 1945.
VELOX - A new thermal infrared imager for airborne remote sensing of cloud and surface properties
Authors: Schäfer Michael , Wolf Kevin , Ehrlich André , Hallbauer Christoph , Jäkel Evelyn , Röschenthaler Timo , Stevens Bjorn , Wendisch Manfred
Published: March 2021

The new airborne thermal infrared imager VELOX (Video airbornE Longwave Observations within siX channels) is introduced. It covers six spectral bands in the thermal infrared wavelength range from 7.7 μm to 12 μm and is operated on board of the German High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Luft und Raumfahrtzentrum, DLR). The imager measures two-dimensional (2D) fields of the upward terrestrial radiance within a field of view of 35.5° by 28.7° with 640 by 512 spatial pixels. These 2D radiance fields can be converted into 2D fields of brightness temperature. With a horizontal resolution of better than 10 m VELOX extends the HALO remote sensing instrument suite to observe clouds and surface properties. The calibration and correction procedures for VELOX are presented. First measurements, collected during the ElUcidating the RolE of Cloud-Circulation Coupling in ClimAte (EUREC4A) campaign are shown, including analysis of the cloud top brightness temperature, cloud mask/fraction calculations, cloud top altitude estimates, and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) analysis. The investigations reveal that the cloud top temperature can be resolved with a resolution of about 0.1 K, which translates into a vertical resolution of about 10 m with respect to cloud top altitude.
Enhanced calving rates related to meltwater plume occurrence at Eqip Sermia, Greenland
Authors: Wehrlé Adrien , Lüthi Martin P , Walter Andrea , Jouvet Guillaume , Vieli Andreas
Published: March 2021

Glacier calving plays a key role in the recently observed dynamic mass
loss of the Greenland ice sheet. Calving waves, generated by the
sudden detachment of ice from the glacier terminus, can reach tens of
meters of height and have devastating effects upon impact on
surrounding shores. In this study, we describe a new method for the
detection of source location and timing of calving waves, and the
analysis of their magnitude and spreading properties using a
terrestrial radar interferometer (TRI). This method was applied to
11,500 minute-interval TRI acquisitions from Eqip Sermia, Greenland.
More than 2,000 calving waves were detected within seven
days. Quantitative assessment with a Wave Power Index (WPI) showed
spatially distinctive patterns: the sector of the calving front ending
in deep water shows a higher wave activity (+49%) with higher
cumulative WPI (+34%) than the shallow sector. In combination with
a detection of meltwater plume locations, we highlighted a 2.3 times
higher occurrence of visible meltwater plumes in the deep sector than the
shallow one. We found both the cumulated WPI and the number of waves
to increase by more than 80% in the presence of a meltwater plume
in the deep sector while only by 30% in the shallow sector.  We
therefore explain the higher calving activity in the deep sector to be 
strongly related to a combination of higher occurrence of meltwater plumes 
and more efficient calving enhancement linked to better connections 
to deep warm waters.
Statistical and machine learning methods for postprocessing ensemble forecasts of wind gusts
Authors: Schulz Benedikt , Lerch Sebastian
Published: March 2021

We conduct a systematic and comprehensive comparison of state-of-the-art postprocessing methods for ensemble forecasts of wind gusts. The compared approaches range from well-established techniques to novel neural network-based methods. Our study is based on a 6-year dataset of forecasts from the convection‐permitting COSMO‐DE ensemble prediction system, with hourly lead times up to 21 hours and forecasts of 57 meteorological variables, and corresponding observations from 175 weather stations over Germany. We find that simpler methods such as ensemble model output statistics (EMOS), member-by-member postprocessing and a novel isotonic distributional regression approach, which utilize ensemble forecasts of wind gusts as sole inputs, already result in improvement in terms of the mean CRPS of up to 40% compared to the raw ensemble predictions. This can be substantially improved upon by more complex machine learning methods such as gradient boosting-based extensions of EMOS, quantile regression forests, and variants of neural network-based approaches that are capable of incorporating additional information from the large variety of available predictor variables.
Drivers of carbon emissions and active layer thickening from boreal wildfires in a continuous permafrost region of Northeast Siberia
Authors: Delcourt Clement J.F. , Akhmetzyanov Linar , Izbicki Brian , Kukavskaya Elena A. , Mack Michelle C. , Maximov Trofim C. , Petrov Roman E. , Rogers Brendan M. , Sass-Klaassen Ute , Scholten Rebecca C. , Shestakova Tatiana A. , van Wees Dave , Veraverbeke Sander
Published: March 2021

The circumpolar boreal biome is affected by increases in fire frequency and severity associated with climate warming. About 30% of the world’s terrestrial carbon (C) is stored in the boreal region. Fires can produce large C emissions when substantial amounts of aboveground and belowground biomass and soil organic matter are combusted. Quantification and understanding of the drivers of C combustion is crucial to better assess the role of boreal fires in the global carbon cycle.

Despite the fact that the majority of boreal burned area occurs on the Eurasian continent, relatively few measurements of C combustion have been made in Eurasian boreal ecosystems. Here we synthetized data from 41 field sites collected during the summer of 2019 in Eastern Siberian larch forests. C combustion from surface and stand-replacing fires varied between 1.54 and 5.38 kg C/m2. Belowground pools contributed in average to 73.9% of total C combustion. C combustion was higher in open larch-dominated forests (Larix cajanderi) and open forests with a mixture of larch and pine (Pinus sylvestris). High severity crown fires were observed in dense larch-dominated forests, yet C combustion was in average 23% lower than in the open stands. To our knowledge, this study is the first to quantify C combustion from wildfires in a continuous permafrost terrain in Northeast Siberia. We also investigated the effects of fire weather and pre-fire stand characteristics (e.g., stand age, drainage conditions, overstory tree species composition) on C combustion.

Because fires can also have a longer-term impact on permafrost environments through changes in surface energy balance and ground thermal regime, we also quantified active layer deepening in our study area. We measured thaw depth in 13 burned and 6 unburned sites one year after the fire. We explored the interactions between fire, vegetation, drainage conditions, and thaw depth. Our study shows that fire deepens the active layer, yet the magnitude of the effect is controlled by vegetation characteristics and topo-edaphic factors. Our findings provide insight to feedbacks between climate warming and boreal fires in permafrost-underlain larch forests in Siberia.
Alternate history: A synthetic ensemble of ocean chlorophyll concentrations
Authors: Elsworth Geneviève , Lovenduski Nicole , McKinnon Karen
Published: March 2021

Internal climate variability plays an important role in the abundance and distribution of phytoplankton in the global ocean. Previous studies using large ensembles of Earth system models (ESMs) have demonstrated their utility in the study of marine phytoplankton variability. These ESM large ensembles simulate the evolution of multiple alternate realities, each with a different phasing of internal climate variability. However, ESMs may not accurately represent real world variability as recorded via satellite and in situ observations of ocean chlorophyll over the past few decades. Observational records of surface ocean chlorophyll equate to a single ensemble member in the large ensemble framework, and this can cloud the interpretation of long-term trends: are they externally forced, caused by the phasing of internal variability, or both? Here, we use a novel statistical emulation technique to place the observational record of surface ocean chlorophyll into the large ensemble framework. Much like a large initial condition ensemble generated with an ESM, the resulting synthetic ensemble represents multiple possible evolutions of ocean chlorophyll concentration, each with a different phasing of internal climate variability. We further demonstrate the validity of our statistical approach by recreating a ESM ensemble of chlorophyll using only a single ESM ensemble member. We use the synthetic ensemble to explore the interpretation of long-term trends in the presence of internal variability. Our results suggest the potential to explore this approach for other ocean biogeochemical variables.
Nexus approaches to foster sustainable resource use: relations between stocks and flows of materials, services, and practices
Authors: Haberl Helmut , Schmid Martin , Haas Willi , Wiedenhofer Dominik , Rau Henrike , Winiwarter Verena
Published: March 2021

Societies use material and energy resources to build up, maintain and utilize long-lasting structures such as buildings, infrastructures or machinery, and in the process release huge amounts of wastes and emissions. While in 1900 less than a quarter of all material use served to build up new material stocks, this fraction is now ~60% globally. Nexus approaches provide useful heuristics for interdisciplinary analyses of (un)sustainable resource use and the potentials and limitations of societal agency for interventions. Such a nexus can be conceptualized between different resources (e.g. land, materials, energy, or water), between biophysical stocks and flows involved in social metabolism, and the services and contributions to human well-being they provide. The novel concept of a stock-flow-service nexus explicitly recognizes the diverse and potentially conflicting purposes of resource use (e.g. products, services), thereby enriching concepts of “eco-efficiency”. At the same time, its applicability is in some contexts reduced by its dependence on the valuation of services, which has been subject to controversy and debate. Focusing on relationships between stocks, flows and practices, e.g. linkages between the routines of everyday life and the consumption of resources such as materials and energy, the complementary approach of a “stock-flow-practice” nexus avoids some of these challenges. Building on prominent theories of practice, especially those that have gained traction in consumption research, it offers a new conceptual basis for engaging with human agency and its implications for resource use. Both nexus approaches emphasize the key role of patterns of material stocks (e.g., settlement patterns, transport or production infrastructures, machinery) in shaping the (un)sustainability of resource use and the importance of services- and practice-oriented efforts to reshape these patterns when aiming to tackle the present sustainability crisis. In this presentation, we discuss how these two complementary nexus approaches can serve as heuristic models for interdisciplinary sustainability research, sketch the different conceptual and empirical research directions each of these two approaches inspires, and reflect on their importance for conceptualizing agency.
Automatic Detection and Classification of ICMEs in Solar Wind Data
Authors: Ruedisser Hannah , Windisch Andreas , Amerstorfer Ute V. , Amerstorfer Tanja , Moestl Christian , Bailey Rachel L.
Published: March 2021

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are one of the main drivers for space weather disturbances. In the past, different machine learning approaches have been used to automatically detect events in existing time series resulting from solar wind in situ data. However, classification, early detection and ultimately forecasting still remain challenges when facing the large amount of data from different instruments. We attempt to further enhance existing convolutional neural network (CNN) models through extending their possibilities to process data from multiple spacecraft and to include a post processing step commonly used in the area of computer vision. Additionally, we make an effort to extend the previously binary classification problem to a multiclass classification, to also include corotating interaction regions (CIRs) into the range of detectable phenomena. Ultimately, we aspire to explore the suitability of several other methods used in time series forecasting, in order to pave the way for the elaboration of an early warning system.
Aeolus: ESA’s wind mission. Status and future challenges
Authors: Parrinello Tommaso , Straume Anne Grete , Von Bismark Jonas , Bley Sebastian , Tran Viet Duc , Fisher Peggy , Wernham Denny , Kanitz Thomas , Fehr Thorsten , De Laurentis Marta , Alvarez Emilio , Krish Isabell , Reithebuch Oliver , Rennie Michael
Published: March 2021

The European Space Agency (ESA)’s wind mission, Aeolus, was launched on 22 August 2018. It is a member of the ESA Earth Explorer family and its main objective is to demonstrate the potential of Doppler wind Lidars in space for improving weather forecast and to understand the role of atmospheric dynamics in climate variability. Aeolus carries a single instrument called ALADIN: a high sophisticated spectral resolution Doppler wind Lidar which operates at 355 which is the first of its kind to be flown in space.

Aeolus provides profiles of single horizontal line-of-sight winds (primary product) in near-real-time (NRT), and profiles of atmospheric backscatter and extinction. The instrument samples the atmosphere from about 30 km down to the Earth’s surface, or down to optically thick clouds. The required precision of the wind observations is 1-2.5 m/s in the troposphere and 3-5 m/s in the stratosphere while the systematic error requirement be less than 0.7 m/s. The mission spin-off product includes information about aerosol and cloud layers. The satellite flies in a polar dusk/dawn orbit (6 am/pm local time), providing ~16 orbits per 24 hours with an orbit repeat cycle of 7 days. Global scientific payload data acquisition is guaranteed with the combined usage of Svalbard and Troll X-band receiving stations.

After almost three years in orbit and despite performance issues related to its instrument ALADIN, Aeolus has achieved most of its objectives. Positive impact on the weather forecast has been demonstrated by multiple NWP centres world-wide with four European meteorological centres now are assimilating Aeolus winds operationally. Other world-wide meteo centers wull start to assimilate data in 2021. The status of the Aeolus mission will be presented, including overall performance, planned operations and exploitation. Scope of the paper is also to inform about the programmatic highlights and future challenges.
Scaling approach for physical modelling of pier scour
Authors: Fliszar Robert , Gilja Gordon , Harasti Antonija , Potočki Kristina
Published: March 2021

Physical modelling of local scour around bridge piers is challenging due to the three different similarity criteria that need to be satisfied for the complete similitude of the model and the prototype. To achieve the complete similitude, geometry, flow and sediment material in the model scale need to be scaled simultaneously. Aim of this paper is to calculate the scale parameters of the physical model used for scour assessment next to piers protected with riprap. The scale parameters are calculated individually for each prototype – two bridges located on the Drava River and one on the Sava River. Hydrological conditions are determined by analysis of flood wave amplitude and duration from the nearby hydrological station adjacent to the pilot bridge. Experiments will be conducted with different pier shapes and sizes, as well as with two different materials representing the riverbed – same density as prototype and lower density material. Range of discharges used for simulating various flow conditions are selected to be compatible with the flume pump capacity. To calculate required thickness of sediment trap layer in the hydraulic flume, expected scour depth is estimated. Sensitivity analysis of 13 empirical equations was conducted due to differences in hydraulic and geometric conditions of each prototype [1]. Bathymetric survey was the basis for establishing a numerical model, and its results were input parameters for empirical equations. Finally, scour depths were estimated as the average of all equations results except those results that turned out to be inadequate. Scaling affects the time parameter of the scouring process, and therefore an adequate time scale is calculated to achieve full development of the scour hole with respect to flow conditions. Finally, as a result of the flume restrictions, advantages and disadvantages of the physical model distortion are discussed.

[1] Cikojević, A., Gilja, G., Kuspilić, N.: Sensitivity analysis of empirical equations applicable on bridge piers in sand-bed rivers, Proceedings of International Symposium on Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, pp. 100-108, (2019)

Acknowledgments

This work has been supported in part by Croatian Science Foundation under the project R3PEAT (UIP-2019-04-4046).
Seasonal prediction of Indian Summer Monsoon onset with machine learning
Authors: Mitsui Takahito , Boers Niklas
Published: March 2021

The prediction of the onset date of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) is crucial for effective agricultural planning and water resource management on the Indian subcontinent, with more than one billion inhabitants. Existing approaches focus on extended-range to subseasonal forecasts, i.e., provide skillful predictions of the ISM onset date at horizons of 10 to 60 days. Here we propose a method for ISM onset prediction and show that it has high forecast skill at longer, seasonal time scales. The method is based on recurrent neural networks and allows for ensemble forecasts to quantify uncertainties. Our approach outperforms state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction models at comparable or longer lead times. To our knowledge, there is no statistical forecasting approach at comparable, seasonal time scales. Our results suggest that predictability of the ISM onset emerges earlier than previously assumed.
Comparison of water-stable aggregates on different soil types and land-uses in a Portuguese Mediterranean catchment
Authors: Klíč Radek , Sofia Santos Ferreira Carla , Ferreira António , Kravka Miroslav
Published: March 2021

Erosion is one of the main soil threats in the Mediterranean region, leading to degradation and desertification of several areas. Water stable aggregates (WSA) is a rate of the extent to which soil aggregates resist falling apart when wetted and hit by rain drops, indicating also the resistence of soil to compaction and soil quality status. This study aims to determine the WSA in differrent soils, characterized by distinct land-uses and soil types. This work is part of Ribeira dos Covões catchment research, in the suburbs of Coimbra, the largest city of central Portugal, where research dealing with soil and hydrological properties has been developed for long time. WSA were investigated for agricultural and forest soils, on both sandstone and limestone. Soil surface samples (0-10cm) were collected in December 2020, and analysed through wet sieving method which quantifies the amount of water-stable soil aggregates fractions.

Not surprisingly, the results showed that forest soils contain a much higher proportion of water-stable soil aggregates of larger fractions than agricultural soil, where the smaller fractions prevailed. Similar results have been also reported in previous studies and found during our previous research at Praha-Suchdol locality (Housle), in Czech Republic. The fraction distribution of WSA in sandstone and limestone was comparable for forest soils. In case of agricultural soils, distribution of WSA was slightly different. WSA are a relevant part of soil surface layer, with important impacts on other soil properties (e.g. soil moisture, hydrophobicity, infiltration), thus affecting the rainfall-runoff-erosion processes, previously investigated in the study area. Further research will be developed to better assess WSA differences between distinct forest types, given the relevance of vegetation species for example on hydrophobicity and WSA dynamics. A better understanding of WSA in different soil types will be useful to support improved soil management and mitigate land degradation.
Miocene structural inversion of the Adjara-Trialeti back-arc basin as a far-field effect of the Arabia-Eurasia collision
Authors: Gusmeo Thomas , Cavazza William , Alania Victor , Enukidze Onise , Zattin Massimiliano , Corrado Sveva
Published: March 2021

Young back-arc rift basins, because of the not yet dissipated extensional thermal signature, can be easily inverted following changes in the geodynamic regime and/or far-field stress transmission. Structural inversion of such basins mainly develops through reactivation of normal faults, particularly if the latter are favourably oriented with respect to the direction of stress transfer. The Adjara-Trialeti fold-and-thrust belt of SW Georgia is an example of this mechanism, resulting from the structural inversion of a continental back-arc rift basin developed on the upper plate of the northern Neotethys slab in Paleogene times, behind the Pontides-Lesser Caucasus magmatic arc. New low-temperature thermochronological data [apatite fission-track (AFT) and (U-Th)/He (AHe) analyses] were obtained from a number of samples, collected across the Adjara-Trialeti belt from the former sedimentary fill of the basin and from syn-rift plutons. AFT central ages range between 46 and 15 Ma, while AHe ages cluster mainly between 10 and 3 Ma. Thermal modelling, integrating AFT and AHe data with independent geological constraints (e.g. depositional/intrusion age, other geochronological data, thermal maturity indicators and stratigraphic relationships), clearly indicates that the Adjara-Trialeti back-arc basin was inverted starting from the late Middle Miocene, at 14-10 Ma. This result is corroborated by many independent geological evidences, found for example in the adjacent Rioni, Kartli and Kura foreland basins and in the eastern Black Sea offshore, which all suggest a Middle-Late Miocene phase of deformation linked with the Adjara-Trialeti FTB building. Adjara-Trialeti structural inversion can be associated with the widespread Middle-to-Late Miocene phase of shortening and exhumation that is recognised from the eastern Pontides to the Lesser Caucasus, the Talysh and the Alborz ranges. This tectonic phase can in turn be interpreted as a far-field effect of the Arabia-Eurasia collision, developed along the Bitlis suture hundreds of kilometres to the south.
Analyzing Deep Learning Performance for Seismic Waveform Discrimination at Global Distances
Authors: Arora Rayna , Arora Nimar , Le Bras Ronan
Published: March 2021

Deep Learning has shown a lot of promise in analyzing seismic waveforms for a number of tasks. However, most studies have focused on detections made at nearby stations that are roughly within 100km. These methods are not readily applicable for global-scale networks such as those maintained by the International Monitoring System (IMS). We look at the task of discriminating between earthquakes and explosions and attempt to apply a number of recent approaches for this task. In particular, we focus on events with magnitude between 3-4 mb that have been unambiguously classified by the International Seismological Center (ISC). We analyze the performance of methods that have been developed using a mix of Convolutional Neural Nets (CNNs) and Recursive Neural Nets (RNNs) as well as methods that use the so called GAN (Generative Adversarial Net)-“critic” approach of building features on seismic waveforms. We provide the guidance for the applicability of these methods for treaty monitoring purposes as well as building earthquake hazard maps using the IMS data.
One million years of seasonal seesaw in East Asian monsoon winds
Authors: Huang Jie , Sarnthein Michael
Published: March 2021

Glacial-to-interglacial variations in East Asian summer and winter monsoon are widely ascribed to orbital and/or global ice-sheet forcing. However, the relative impact of orbital and millennial-scale factors on Pleistocene variations in East Asian monsoon still remain controversial. To better constrain the differential response of seasonal monsoon winds over the last million years we present paired records of siliciclastic silt grain sizes, pollen, minerals, and geochemical tracers obtained from high-sedimentation rate deposits at ODP Sites 1144 and 1146 in the northern South China Sea. The proxy records show that loess-style dust supply of winter monsoon was dominant and fluvial input reduced during peak glacials over the last 900 kyr, moreover, during Heinrich stadials, while fluvial mud marked interglacial regimes as result of enhanced summer monsoon, then completely superimposing the weakened dust input of winter monsoon. A dominating superposition of fluvial mud on top of eolian dust, however, also prevailed during the initial part of most glacial stages during and after the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), in part possibly modulated by long-term groundwater reserves and/or unknown climate forcings linked to the southern Hemisphere. Prior to the MPT, during glacial stages 24–32, prolonged groundwater reserves and/or a more limited extent of northern-Hemisphere ice sheets, or unknown southern Hemisphere forcing may have controlled an ongoing interglacial-style humid climate in East Asia. In summary, our findings suggest that variations of sediment signals of seasonal East Asian monsoon variability in part may have been more sensitive to secondary factors of groundwater storage, plant cover as well as to the redistribution of insolation energy amongst various climate subsystems than to direct orbital and/or northern ice-sheet forcing.
Quantifying Mountain Aquifer Recharge Rates Using Storage-Discharge Functions in the Sierra Nevada, California 
Authors: Ajami Hoori , Schreiner-McGraw Adam
Published: March 2021

Mountain System Recharge (MSR) is one of the main components of recharge in many arid and semi-arid aquifers, yet the mechanisms of MSR in high-elevation mountain ranges are poorly understood. The complexity of recharge processes and the lack of groundwater observations in mountain catchments contribute to this problem. MSR consists of two distinct pathways: 1) mountain bedrock aquifer recharge (MAR) consists of snowmelt or rainfall derived infiltration into the mountain bedrock, which either discharges to streams as baseflow or reaches an alluvial aquifer in an adjacent valley via lateral subsurface flow referred to as mountain block recharge (MBR), and 2) Mountain front recharge (MFR) consists of streamflow infiltration at the mountain front. Here, we apply streamflow recession analysis across 11 anthropogenically unaffected catchments in the Sierra Nevada to derive seasonally distinct storage-discharge functions and quantify MAR in response to changes in precipitation. Median annual recharge efficiencies (ratio of annual MAR to precipitation) range from 4 to 28% and can reach up to 60% during the wettest years on record. We implement a global sensitivity analysis to identify parameters that significantly impact MAR rates. Results illustrate that MAR estimates are mostly sensitive to the filter parameters for streamflow data selection used during the recession analysis, and the number of dry days after a rain event where streamflow data are excluded has the greatest impact. Our results demonstrate that storage-discharge functions are useful for quantifying groundwater recharge in mountainous catchments under perennial flow conditions. However, estimated MAR rates are impacted by the uncertainty in streamflow data, filtering of streamflow time series and model structure. Future work will be focused on quantifying uncertainty in MAR estimates caused from various sources.

 
correlation between Low-level Jets and fog events in Tianjin
Authors: Wu Bingui
Published: March 2021

Correlation between Low-level Jets and Fog Events in Tianjin  

Bingui Wu1,2 Zongfei Li1,2 , Tingting Ju3,&, Hongsheng Zhang4

1 Affiliation:Tianjin Key Labarotory of Marine Meteorology, Tianjin 300074, China.

2 Affiliation: Tianjin Meteorological Bureau, Tianjin 300074, China.

Address: Tianjin Meteorological Bureau, No.100 Weather Station Road Hexi District, Tianjin, 300074, China.

3 Affiliation: Institute of Navigation College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China

Address: Dalian Maritime University, No.1 LinghaiRoad Ganjingzi District, Dalian 116026, China

4 Affiliation: Laboratory for Climate and Ocean-Atmosphere Studies, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Address: Peking University, No.5 Yiheyuan Road Haidian District, Beijing 100871, China

KEY WORDS: low level jet, fog, Tianjin

Abstract

Fog and low level jet (LLJ) greatly affect aviation. Both of them are cared more, while not for their relationship. In this study, the relationship between the LLJs and fog are studied using the observational hourly wind proﬁle data and the automatic meteorological observation data from Xiqing in 2016. The results show that LLJs play an important role in the fog events. The fog events tend to occur frequently with the occurrence of LLJs, especially in spring and summer, which suggest the LLJs seem to be more important for triggering advection fogs. In addition, the relationship between LLJs and fog events occur simultaneously and one, two and three days after the occurrence of LLJs are compared, and a pronounced relation are observed between LLJs and fog events one day after, a lag effect of LLJs on fog events is verified. For the condition that the LLJ and fog event occur on the same day, the differences of specific humidity between the occurrence of LLJs and fogs. In the case that the occurrence of LLJ is prior to fog, persistent southwest wind support the fog formation. While the differences of specific humidity between the occurrence of LLJs and fogs, in the case that the occurrence of LLJ is posterior to fog are always larger or close to zero, and the prevailing wind direction is north wind, which suggest that the main contribution of LLJs to fog is leading to fog dissipation and short duration in this condition. For the condition that the occurrence of LLJ one day prior to fog event, a pronounced negative correlation between the height of LLJs and the duration of fog is observed.