bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Detection of anomalous NO2 emitting ships using AutoML on TROPOMI satellite data
Authors: Kurchaba Solomiia , van Vliet Jasper , Verbeek Fons J. , Veenman Cor J.
Published: February 2023

Starting from 2021 International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced more demanding NOx emission restrictions for ships operating in waters of the North and Baltic Seas. All methods currently used for ship compliance monitoring are financially and time-demanding. Thus, it is important to prioritize the inspection of ships that have a high chance of being non-compliant.  TROPOMI/S5P instrument for the first time allows a distinction of NO2 plumes from individual ships. Here, we present a method for the selection of potentially non-compliant ships using automated machine learning (AutoML) on TROPOMI/S5P satellite data. The study is based on the analysis of 20 months of data in the Mediterranean Sea region. To each ship, we assign a Region of Interest (RoI), where we expect the ship plume to be located. We then train a regression model to predict the amount of NO2 that is expected to be produced by a ship with specific properties operating in the given atmospheric conditions. We use a genetic algorithm-based AutoML for the automatic selection and configuration of a machine-learning pipeline that maximizes prediction accuracy. The difference between the predicted and actual amount of produced NO2 is a measure of inspection worthiness. We rank the analyzed ships accordingly.  We cross-check the obtained ranks using a previously developed method for supervised ship plume segmentation.  We quantify the amount of NO2 produced by a given ship by summing up concentrations within the pixels identified as a “plume”. We rank the ships based on the difference between the obtained concentrations and the ship emission proxy. Ships that are also ranked as highly deviating by the segmentation method need further attention. For example, by checking their data for other explanations. If no other explanations are found, these ships are advised to be the candidates for fuel inspection.
Wapienica dam as a contributing factor in (dis)connectivity associated with sediment transfer in mountain river catchment (Poland)
Authors: Piasecka-Rodak Joanna , Święchowicz Jolanta
Published: February 2023

The construction of reservoirs and associated river regulation, on the one hand, positively affects human quality of life and related economic considerations (i.e. construction of drinking water reservoirs, storage of water for farmland irrigation purposes, flood prevention measures), but on the other hand constitutes a major form of interference in the environment by generating irreversible changes in its functioning. One key impact of reservoir construction is the severance of natural connectivity in the river channel upstream of the dam. This leads to a disruption in the dynamic equilibrium of the river due to the accumulation of sediment upstream of the reservoir’s dam, limited sediment outflow from the reservoir, and increased downcutting downstream of the dam. The main aim of the present study is to examine the impact of a midsize reservoir and dam located along an upstream part of a mountain river and associated river engineering structures on the Wapienica River on (dis)connectivity in terms of sediment transfer.
The Wapienica river catchment area has an area of 51.36 km2 and is located in southern Poland (Śląskie Province). It has a longitudinal shape and runs from south to north across three geographic mesoregions – Beskid Śląski Mountains, Śląskie Foothills, Upper Vistula Valley. Each mesoregion is characterized by different relief, land use, and climate, all of which help determine a different rate of change of erosional processes in each of the studied regions.  The construction plan for the Wapienica Reservoir was created in 1911 in response to growing drought conditions in the region and increasing water usage by textile plants operating in the region. The reservoir was to  perform three distinct functions – water storage, flood control, and creation of a key source of drinking water for area residents. Construction work on the reservoir was completed in 1932.
Archived materials and maps, orthophotomaps  as well as a digital elevation model (DEM) with a resolution of one meter were examined in the study along with survey data on suspended sediment accumulation sites along the river. In addition, the Connectivity Index tool in ArcMap software was used, as well as the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT).
The internal structure of the studied catchment has changed due to strong human impact in the form of reservoir construction in the upstream part of the catchment and regulation in the river channel of the Wapienica along its entire length. This has made it possible to identify six zones characterized by different degrees of structural and functional connectivity.
Experiments of arsenic (V) adsorption on birnessite: implications on arsenic cycling
Authors: Huang Hao Wei , Yang Huai-Jen , Huang Li-Yun , Chieh Chia-Ju
Published: February 2023

Birnessite occurs as a major manganese oxide in sediments. It is characterized by a high adsorption capacity for trace elements, including arsenic. However, the effects of birnessite on arsenic cycling were less intensively investigated than that of goethite, a commonly recognized arsenic host. Therefore, this study utilizes arsenic-bearing solutions containing 0.1–50 ppm arsenic to synthesize birnessite and uses arsenic sequential extraction procedure (SEP) analysis to quantify its arsenic co-precipitation and adsorption capacity.    SEPs showed that adsorbed/structural arsenic ratio grew from 0:100 to 60:40, with arsenic concentration increasing from 0.1–50 ppm, implying saturation of structural arsenic. SEPs quantify the adsorbed and structural As of birnessite being 0.831 and 1.308 mg/g, respectively. However, the low arsenic concentrations of < 1% in residual solutions indicate nonattainment of the maximum adsorption capacity. Subsequent adsorption experiments using higher initial arsenic concentrations reaching 250 ppm determined the maximum arsenic adsorption capacity to be 19.81 mg/g at pH 7, comparable to the values of 15.3–22.5 mg/g at pH 6.5 (Manning et al., 2002; Singh et al., 2010) and that of 3.79–15.73 mg/g for goethite. It then appears that birnessite adsorption/desorption is more effective than precipitation/dissolution in controlling arsenic cycling. However, the consideration based on the maximum adsorption capacity might overrate the controls of adsorption/desorption relative to precipitation/dissolution because the natural water generally contains less arsenic than that used for the adsorption experiments. Therefore, we conducted adsorption experiments with low arsenic concentrations of 0.5 ppm and a solid/liquid ratio of 0.01 to 0.001. The results showed that adsorption capacity rose abruptly to 1.416 mg/g in two weeks and then slowly increased to 1.523 mg/g after three months. This feature indicated incomplete filling of the adsorption sites on the surface of birnessite at low As concentration despite its large specific surface area. Another controlling factor was the abundance of birnessite in sediments. If 10% of MnO (0.05–0.15%) in the Chianan sediments in southern Taiwan occurred as birnessite, the adsorbed arsenic was calculated to be 0.0005–0.022 mg, corresponding to < 2 % of adsorbed arsenic in 1 g sediments, based on the SEP data of Yang et al. (2016). In the extreme case that all the Mn occurred as birnessite, birnessite could account for up to 25% of the adsorbed arsenic. Apparently, birnessite is not a major contributor to surface arsenic cycling. However, this inference must be evaluated by considering the adsorption and co-precipitation data from goethite and goethite proportions in sediments.
Experimental calibration of oxygen diffusion in garnet and implications for retention of primary oxygen isotopic signatures
Authors: Scicchitano Maria Rosa , Jollands Michael C. , Williams Ian S. , Hermann Jörg , Rubatto Daniela , Kita Noriko T. , Nachlas William O. , Valley John W. , Escrig Stephane , Meibom Anders
Published: February 2023

Knowledge of oxygen diffusion in garnet is crucial for a correct interpretation of oxygen isotopic sig­natures in natural samples. Scicchitano et al. (2022) reported a series of experiments with pyrope and YAG at P-T of 1-atm to 2.5 GPa and 900 °C to 1600 °C, either under nominally-dry or water-saturated conditions, to better constrain the diffusivity of oxygen in garnet. Analysis of 18O/(18O+16O) profiles by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) shows that: (i) diffusivities in pyrope and YAG crystals annealed under similar conditions (P = 1 GPa and T = 900 °C) are comparable, suggesting a limited effect of chemical composition on oxygen diffusivity; (ii) diffusivity values calculated for water-saturated experiments at 900 °C fall on the Arrhenius curve described by nominally dry experiments performed at T = 1050-1600 °C; and (iii) several profiles deviate from the Gaussian error function, suggesting complex diffusion behaviour related to diffusion via interstitial (fast) and vacancy (slow) mechanisms. Modelling this process yields oxygen diffusion coefficients, D, that differ by approximately two orders of magnitude between the fast and slow diffusion mechanisms. The new experimental data suggest, however, that the slow mechanism is prevalent in natural garnet compositions and probably controls the retentivity of oxygen isotopic signatures in natural samples. Even though oxygen diffusivity in garnet is comparable to Fe-Mn and Ca diffusivity at high temperature (> 850 °C), oxygen diffusivity is slower than cation diffusivity at P-T conditions typical of crustal metamorphism due to its larger activation energy. Original oxygen isotopic signatures therefore can be retained in garnet showing zoning partially re-equilibrated by the diffusion of other major elements.                  ReferencesScicchitano et al. (2022), American Mineralogist, 107, 1425-1441.
Evapotranspiration of an Abandoned Grassland in the Italian Alps: Modeling the impact of shrub encroachment
Authors: Canone Davide , Gisolo Davide , Bevilacqua Ivan , Gentile Alessio , van Ramshorst Justus , Previati Maurizio , Ferraris Stefano
Published: February 2023

Shrub encroachment of grasslands in the Alps is still a poorly studied phenomenon. Therefore, this study analyses the possible effect of shrub encroachment on actual evapotranspiration (ETa) at an abandoned grassland in the Northwestern Italian Alps, colonised by Elaeagnus Rhamnoides shrubs. This is done by means of micrometeorological and eddy covariance data collected during four growing seasons. Additionally, the Hydrus 1D hydrological model modified to account for a soil column with two vegetation types is used.  This modified model is run with a variable percentage of shrubs on evapotranspiration, ranging from 0 to 80% and it is validated by using the measured eddy covariance-derived ETa. The Hydrus 1D model is also applied in its usual set-up, having only one vegetation type, to estimate the ETa from both grassland and shrubs separately.The performance of the modified model with two vegetation types is acceptable, although it is very variable between different growing seasons and in dry condition it could be further improved (R between 0.50 in 2016 and 0.73 in 2014 considering the probable actual percentage of ETa affected by shrubs. The percentage varies between 20% in 2016 and 60% in 2014). Besides, the model captures the inter-annual variability of ETa. The agreement of cumulative simulated and observed ETa is good, since the deviation between observed and modelled cumulative ETa is always lower, in the four analysed growing seasons, than 50 mm.The simulated ETa approximates the eddy covariance-derived ETa, however the modelled soil water content is very sensitive to precipitation events, more than the measured soil water content. Both models, with the modified and the usual setup, tend to overestimate the vegetation stress during dry periods. Nevertheless, the single vegetation model results allow us to conclude that the shrubs likely are responsible for an enhancement of ETa and an alteration of the hydrological cycle accordingly. Finally, we explore how some micro-meteorological drivers of ETa (vapour pressure deficit – VPD, net radiation, wind speed, air temperature and ground heat flux - G0) affect the difference between modelled and simulated ETa, and between simulated ETa from shrubs and from grass. Frequently, higher deviations from zero are found especially with high VPD and G0.
Global map of soil carbon in tidal marshes
Authors: Maxwell Tania L. , Spalding Mark , Worthington Thomas A. ,   global marsh soil C team
Published: February 2023

Tidal marshes are a threatened coastal ecosystem valued for their capacity as a carbon sink. Given that effective action on climate change includes the protection, enhancement and restoration of natural carbon sinks, it is crucial to accurately quantify and map the current soil carbon stocks in this ecosystem. We aim to produce the first globally consistent map of soil carbon storage in tidal marshes.A globally distributed soil carbon core dataset was compiled by a systematic literature review (n = 2,127 locations), supplemented by data from the Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network database (n = 1,798 locations). We then developed a list of global landscape-level environmental drivers that are important in determining variation in soil carbon, including vegetation indices, elevation, flow accumulation, water occurrence, tidal amplitude, and other climatic variables. Using the carbon cores as training data and the environmental driver data as covariate layers, we are developing a machine learning model to map global marsh carbon stocks and their uncertainties at 0-30 and 30-100 cm depths, at a high resolution, and applying these to a new globally consistent tidal marsh extent map. The model and the global map will be easily updatable when new information (i.e. additional soil cores) becomes available. This map will be valuable to support conservation efforts, compliment blue carbon studies, and Nationally Determined Contributions.
Oceanic  Rossby Wave Predictability in ECMWF’s Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Reforecasts
Authors: Christophersen Jonathan , Rydbeck Adam , Flatau Maria , Janiga Matthew , Reynolds Carolyn , Jensen Tommy , Smith Travis
Published: February 2023

In recent years, studies have put forth various theories and findings on the role of oceanic equatorial Rossby waves (OERW) in the subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) predictability of the Indian Ocean (IO). While much of the scientific literature uses data from in-situ, satellite, and/or reanalysis datasets, this study focuses on reforecast fields from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting’s (ECMWF) S2S dataset. Evaluation of the model’s predictive skill in representing OERWs and the associated variations in sub-surface-to-surface interaction and air-sea coupling are discussed. This work provides a unique methodology to calculate and evaluate the predictability of OERWs from model forecast data, which, to the author’s knowledge, is the first of its kind to do so. Our results indicate that the model forecasts OERWs with relatively high skill (anomaly correlation > 0.5 out to 40 days), indicating they are a key source of oceanic subseasonal predictability at extended lead times. Analysis of the wavenumber-frequency spectra for the IO indicates a reduction in power throughout the model forecast time period in the oceanic equatorial Kelvin wave (OEKW) regime, indicating the potential misrepresentation of the zonal winds. This erroneous weakening of the OEKWs are attributed to the weakening of the reflected oceanic equatorial Rossby waves (OERWs). This results in weaker transport of the associated westward advection of warm ocean heat content (OHC) anomalies via the OERWs, which has numerous implications for air-sea and sub-surface-to-surface coupling as will be discussed. In general, the atmospheric response to the waning westward transport of OHC anomalies in the western IO is associated with the weakening of precipitation anomalies related to the diminishing intraseasonal oscillation.
Combining Stochastic Parameterized Reduced-Order Models with Machine Learning for Data Assimilation and Uncertainty Quantification with Partial Observations
Authors: Mou Changhong , Smith Leslie M. , Chen Nan
Published: February 2023

A hybrid data assimilation algorithm is developed for complex dynamical systems with partial observations. The method starts with applying a spectral decomposition to the entire spatiotemporal fields, followed by creating a machine learning model that builds a nonlinear map between the coefficients of observed and unobserved state variables for each spectral mode. A cheap low-order nonlinear stochastic parameterized extended Kalman filter (SPEKF) model is employed as the forecast model in the ensemble Kalman filter to deal with each mode associated with the observed variables. The resulting ensemble members are then fed into the machine learning model to create an ensemble of the corresponding unobserved variables. In addition to the ensemble spread, the training residual in the machine learning-induced nonlinear map is further incorporated into the state estimation that advances the quantification of the posterior uncertainty. The hybrid data assimilation algorithm is applied to a precipitation quasi-geostrophic (PQG) model, which includes the effects of water vapor, clouds, and rainfall beyond the classical two-level QG model. The complicated nonlinearities in the PQG equations prevent traditional methods from building simple and accurate reduced-order forecast models. In contrast, the SPEKF model is skillful in recovering the intermittent observed states, and the machine learning model effectively estimates the chaotic unobserved signals. Utilizing the calibrated SPEKF and machine learning models under a moderate cloud fraction, the resulting hybrid data assimilation remains reasonably accurate when applied to other geophysical scenarios with nearly clear skies or relatively heavy rainfall, implying the robustness of the algorithm for extrapolation.
Variability of GNSS PWV in global tropics over different time scales
Authors: Bałdysz Zofia , Nykiel Grzegorz , Baranowski Dariusz B. , Latos Beata
Published: February 2023

The variability of water vapour in the global tropics has impacts on global circulation patterns through atmospheric teleconnections. Various timescales of its fluctuations strongly affect weather, including interannual to daily changes. Although traditional techniques of water vapour measurements have always been vital in understanding complex thermodynamic processes, they still face some limitations related to e.g. temporal sampling, non-automatic data collection, or cost efficiency. In light of this, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) can state for a valuable source of precipitable water vapour (PWV) data. Taking advantage of a long time series of collected by International GNSS Service (IGS) observations, we performed an analysis of the variability of 18-year GNSS PWV over the tropics, from interannual to daily time scales. Results have proved, that the GNSS technique is capable of capturing long-term changes in PWV resulting from climate modes, such as El Nino Southern Oscillations or Indian Ocean Dipole. Additionally, analysis of diurnal GNSS variability, together with satellite-based precipitation and cloudiness data, taken from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission gridded dataset (TRMM 3B42 v7) and the global, merged infrared (IR) dataset, have enabled reliable estimation of changes that are in line with various regimes of tropical deep convection.  In particular, our results show that the diurnal cycle of PWV and TB were almost entirely dominated by mono-modal distributions. The diurnal cycle of precipitation onshore (continental areas or big islands; continental regime) had a single late afternoon peak, and that offshore (small islands; oceanic regime) had both a midday and a nocturnal peak. The daily amplitude phase shift of PWV and precipitation at onshore stations with a continental regime consistently occurred at the same time, while TB maximum peaked about five hours later. Furthermore, results show that the daily mean and the amplitude of the diurnal cycle of PWV, precipitation, and TB appeared smaller on offshore stations, exhibited to an oceanic regime, than on onshore, continental stations.
Flow and Bed Conditions jointly control Debris-Flow Erosion and Bulking, Illgraben (CH)
Authors: de Haas Tjalling , McArdell Brian , Nijland Wiebe , Åberg Amanda , Hirschberg Jacob , Huguenin Pierre
Published: February 2023

Debris flows are water-laden masses of soil and rock, which are common geological hazards in mountainous regions worldwide. They can grow greatly in size and hazardous potential by eroding bed and bank materials. However, erosion mechanisms are poorly understood because debris flows are complex hybrids between a fluid flow and a moving mass of colliding particles, bed erodibility varies between events, and field measurements are hard to obtain. Here, we combine detailed flow measurements, rainfall data, and high-resolution UAV measurements of channel-bed erosion and deposition for 13 debris flows in the Illgraben (CH), to identify the key controls on debris-flow erosion and deposition. We show that flow conditions and bed wetness jointly control debris-flow erosion. Flow conditions that describe the cumulative forces exerted at the bed over the full event (flow volume, cumulative shear stress, and seismic energy) have the strongest correlations with measured erosion and deposition. However, we also find statistically significant correlations between erosion and deposition and frontal flow properties, including frontal velocity, flow depth, shear stress, and peak discharge. Antecedent rainfall over a period of 2-3 hours prior to the debris-flow events strongly correlates to erosion and deposition, while the correlation decreases in strength and diminishes towards shorter and longer time periods of antecedent moisture. Shear forces and particle-impact forces are strongly correlated and act in conjunction in the erosion process. A shear-stress approach accounting for bed erodibility may therefore be applicable for modelling and predicting debris-flow erosion.
Ensemble machine learning improves pedotransfer functions for predicting soil mineral associated organic carbon
Authors: Xiao Yi , Xue Jie , Zhang Xianglin , Wang Nan , Lugato Emanuele , Arrouays Dominique , Shi Zhou , Chen Songchao
Published: February 2023

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is a promising natural climate solution for capturing atmospheric CO2, and it provides crucial co-benefits in improving soil functions and services at the same time. Given that SOC is not a single, uniform entity, further knowledge of SOC fractions with distinctive properties, such as particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral associated organic carbon (MAOC), is necessary in order to fully comprehend how SOC responds to environmental changes. Despite their enormous significance, POC and MAOC information is still scarce in the soil databases, especially on a large scale. The pedotransfer function (PTF) is a useful method for estimating missing soil parameters, but its application in SOC fractions has not received much attention. We assessed the potential of MAOC prediction using machine learning-based PTF (random forest (RF), Cubist, and gradient boosted machine (GBM)) along with predictor selection methods (recursive feature elimination (RFE), and forward recursive feature selection (FRFS)) on 352 representative mineral topsoil samples (0-20 cm) from across Europe. The repeated validation (100 times) revealed that machine learning-based PTFs were capable of accurately predicting MAOC. RFE can effectively reduce the number of predictors from 21 to 12 with comparable performance to the models using all predictors. With only 6 predictors (SOC, silt + clay, nitrogen, nitrogen deposition, soil erosion, and sand), the suggested FRFS algorithm outperformed RFE and had the best model parsimony. Of the three machine learning models, Cubist performed the best when combined with FRFS. Our results also showed that, when compared to a single machine learning model, five model ensemble approaches can increase model accuracy and robustness. This study offers a valuable reference for coupling PTF and legacy soil databases, in order to improve the spatial coverage and effectiveness of SOC fraction forecasts based on machine learning.
Different glacier melt processes between the southern and northern Tibetan Plateau revealed by remote sensing and in-situ data
Authors: Yao Ruzhen
Published: February 2023

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has experienced twice as much global warming as other locations, and the region is thought to be experiencing more intense glacier melting than other places. The parameters of glacier melt, for example, may differ significantly between the southern and northern Tibetan Plateaus due to the enormous geographic disparities. Therefore, it is crucial to define the characteristics of melting between various Tibetan Plateau regions, especially between the southern and northern Tibetan Plateau.

We investigated the differences in the glacier mass balance and runoff in each region using an ARP model. In each of the southern and northern patterns, where the melting process is less intensive under increasing precipitation and improving westerly winds by the north, we have observed rising temperatures and decreasing precipitation along with a weakening Indian monsoon by the south. Enhanced glacier meltwater does not affect runoff by much because the glacier only covers a small region. The runoff that is dominated by precipitation falls in the southern TP and rises in the northern TP.
Amazonian terrestrial water balance inferred from satellite-observed water vapor isotopes
Authors: Worden John , Shi Mingjie , Bailey Adriana
Published: February 2023

Atmospheric humidity and soil moisture in the Amazon forest are tightly coupled to the region’s water balance, or the difference between two moisture fluxes, evapotranspiration minus precipitation (ET-P). However, large and poorly characterized uncertainties in both fluxes, and in their difference, make it challenging to evaluate spatiotemporal variations of water balance and its dependence on ET or P. Here, we show that satellite observations of the HDO/H 2O ratio of water vapor are sensitive to spatiotemporal variations of ET-P over the Amazon. When calibrated by basin-scale and mass-balance estimates of ET-P derived from terrestrial water storage and river discharge measurements, the isotopic data demonstrate that rainfall controls wet Amazon water balance variability, but ET becomes important in regulating water balance and its variability in the dry Amazon. Changes in the drivers of ET, such as above ground biomass, could therefore have a larger impact on soil moisture and humidity in the dry (southern and eastern) Amazon relative to the wet Amazon. 
Implementing microscopic water uptake in soil-plant interaction modelling for assessing effects on crop growth
Authors: Mulder Martin , Heinen Marius , Hack-ten Broeke Mirjam
Published: February 2023

Crop transpiration is one of the most important processes in simulating soil-water-plant-atmosphere interactions. Roots perform a crucial role by taking up water and thus contributing to transpiration and enabling crop growth. Shortage of water or oxygen in the root zone results in transpiration reduction as well as reduced crop yield.In the Netherlands we use SWAP (Soil Water Atmosphere Plant) for simulating effects of hydrology on transpiration and agricultural production. Within SWAP we have now implemented several concepts for root water uptake including two published different versions of so-called microscopic root water uptake.These microscopic concepts consider water fluxes in a soil column around roots towards and through the roots which results in a water flux to the leaves considering hydraulic characteristics of both soil and plants. Water flow in the soil towards the root is determined by a gradient in the matric flux potential, and the flux into the root and towards the leaves is determined by the hydraulic conductivity of the root wall and hydraulic conductance of the path root-stem-leaves and the gradient in pressure heads of the root system and leaves. Transpiration reduction occurs as a function of the leaf water potential.For all units of the Dutch Soil Physical Units Map simulations were peformed with these microscopic root water uptake concepts and the results were compared with the simulation results using the more traditional macroscopic root water uptake concept of Feddes. We found that the microscopic concepts both produced more reliable results than the traditional concept. In our presentation we will explain the concepts, show the differences in simulated crop yields, discuss the sensitivity of the microscopic models for the choice of their input parameters, and elaborate on which concepts we would propose for future studies to evaluate the effects of the soil-water system on crop production.
Soil enzymes as indicators of soil function: a step toward greater realism in microbial ecological modeling
Authors: Wang Gangsheng
Published: February 2023

Soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles and their complex responses to environmental changes have received increasing attention. However, large uncertainties in model predictions remain, partially due to the lack of explicit representation and parameterization of microbial processes. One great challenge is to effectively integrate rich microbial functional traits into ecosystem modeling for better predictions. Here, using soil enzymes as indicators of soil function, we developed a competitive dynamic enzyme allocation scheme and detailed enzyme-mediated soil inorganic N processes in the Microbial-ENzyme Decomposition (MEND) model. We conducted a rigorous calibration and validation of MEND with diverse soil C-N fluxes, microbial C:N ratios, and functional gene abundances from a 12-year CO2×N grassland experiment (BioCON) in Minnesota, USA. In addition to accurately simulating soil CO2 fluxes and multiple N variables, the model correctly predicted microbial C:N ratios and their negative response to enriched N supply. Model validation further showed that, compared to the changes in simulated enzyme concentrations and decomposition rates, the changes in simulated activities of eight C-N associated enzymes were better explained by the measured gene abundances in responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration. Our results demonstrated that using enzymes as indicators of soil function and validating model predictions with functional gene abundances in ecosystem modeling can provide a basis for testing hypotheses about microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes in response to environmental changes. Further development and applications of the modeling framework presented here will enable microbial ecologists to address ecosystem-level questions beyond empirical observations, toward more predictive understanding, an ultimate goal of microbial ecology.
When the desert was a lake: Tectonics, climate, river piracy and hominids in the Kalahari
Authors: Giosan Liviu , Canales Juan Pablo , Ivory Sarah , Shen Zhixiong , De Jonge Cindy , Eglinton Timothy , Lattaud Julie , Russo Nicole , Haghipour Negar , Filip Florin , Khonde Nitesh , Carter Andrew , Garzanti Eduardo , Ando Sergio , Franchi Fulvio , Kgosiemang Koobakile , Burrough Sallie , Thomas David , Mapeo Read , Laletsang Kebabonye ,   OKAMAK Extended Team
Published: February 2023

The Okavango rift zone/delta and the Makgadikgadi paleo-megalake form a dynamic system in northern Kalahari, where tectonic activity, climate change, sedimentation, and biota have interacted in a complex pattern. Previous research suggested that the region may have been a hotspot for hominid evolution.Here we present results from the first scientific deep drilling project (OKAMAK) in the northern Kalahari, Botswana. Two drill cores, OKA (230 meters) and MAK (210 m), were drilled in the Okavango delta and Makgadikgadi paleolake. Cores recovered shallow and deep-water sands, muds and evaporitic lithologies of the Cenozoic Kalahari Group extending across the unconformity into the Cretaceous/Jurassic Karoo Group sandstones.We discuss initial stratigraphy, chronologies and paleoenvironmental information for this novel sedimentary record, present hypotheses to be tested on the complex climate of the region, history of river piracy, evolution of the delta and infilling phases of Makgadikgadi and assess the international collaborative potential of this yet to be fully understood region within a future multi-platform ICDP-IODP initiative.
HyMap airborne imaging spectroscopy for mineral potential mapping of cupriferous mineralization in a semi-arid region based on pixel/sub-pixel hydrothermal alteration minerals mapping – A case study
Authors: Hajaj Soufiane , El Harti Abderrazak , Jellouli Amine , Beiranvand Pour Amin , Mnissar Himyari Saloua , Hamzaoui Abderrazak , Khalil Bensalah Mohamed , Benaouis Naima , Hashim Mazlan
Published: February 2023

Recently, hyperspectral datasets recognized a great interest in mineral exploration studies due to their high accuracy in detecting and mapping hydrothermal alteration minerals. Remote and mountainous regions are hardly accessible by geologists, while the spectral richness of imaging spectroscopy could provide detailed information about geology/mineralogy without having a direct contact with the ground surface. The Kerdous inlier in the Anti-Atlas belt of Morocco is recognized by several occurrences of Cu, Pb, Zn Au, Ag, and Mn mineral deposits. This study is carried out in Eastern Kerdous where the abandoned Idikel mine occurs in order to perform a high-resolution mineral potential map using Gamma-Fuzzy logic approach with twenty HyMap-derived layers. The HyMap-based thematic layers were generated using Directed Principal Component Analysis (DPCA), Relative Absorption Band Depth (RBD), and the Mixture Tuned Matched Filtering (MTMF) for pixel/sub-pixel mineral mapping. The hydrothermally altered regions within the study area reveal several Minerals/Mineral mixtures of hematite, illite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, muscovite, topaz, dolomite, and pyrophyllite. Then, the line density map extracted automatically from the HyMap data image was also integrated. The findings of the image processing were validated using field investigation, petrographic, and XRD analysis. This study demonstrates the great potential of the present research methodology and HyMap as a tool for mineral exploitation in similar areas in Morocco's western Anti-Atlas belt.
The geological period no one talks about: menstruation in the field
Authors: Pickering Robyn , Khosa Rivoningo
Published: February 2023

A simple Google search for the phrase “period in geosciences” will likely yield reference to geological time. However, ask any woman1 in geosciences, in either academia or industry, and they will have experienced at least one menstrual period in the field, predicted or not. Given the composition of most undergraduate classes, at least half the class are likely to be at risk of experiencing menstruation during field training, and yet, this issue remains unspoken of at best, taboo at worst. This is a global issue, with some Institutions leading the way with innovative policy and practical guidelines2.To get a sense of the scale of this issue in the South African setting, we ran an informal survey, during the Human Evolution Research Institute’s (HERI) All Womxn Field Camp. This is a three day, two night, women’s only field training camp, which in 2022 had 19 participants from five African countries. Participants ranged from undergarduates, to PhD candidates, post docs and permenant academic staff from the University of Cape Town and Iziko South African Museum. Participants all reported experiencing menstruation at some point during their field training and all expressed issues of discomfort, pain and anxiety affecting their ability to work optimally. Many indicated the inability to openly communicate with lecturers and/or demonstrators about menstruation related issues due to the surrounding stigma.Following this discussion and referring to best practice guidelines elsewhere2, we propose including sanitary wear in packing lists provided to students. We put together an emergency period kit to accompany every field excursion, containing a range of menstrual products, pain relief, sanitizer etc. We further recommend that bathroom breaks should be planned for and made frequent throughout all field excursion2,3. Finally, we advocate for open communication about this issue and hope that the emergency period kits can help facilitate this. The awkwardness and stigma that surrounds menstruation needs to be tackled head on, and we encourage all lecturers, demonstrators and PIs to actively participate in this endeavor to ensure that all geoscientists have a fair chance to engage optimally in field settings.References:1. we refer here to cisgendered women who menstruate; we could also have referred this group as people who menstruate2. Giles, S., Greene, S., Ashey, K., Dunne, E., Edgar, K., and Hanson, E. Getting the basics right: a field-teaching primer on toilet stops in the field, EGU General Assembly 2020, EGU2020-11723, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-11723, 20203. Pickering, R., Hasbibi, S., and Tostevin, R. Redesigning field training to provide an informative, safe, and even fun experience for first year students at the University of Cape Town, South Africa., EGU General Assembly 2022, EGU22-522, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-522, 2022
Tectonics and magma oceanography of rocky exoplanets
Authors: Lichtenberg Tim
Published: February 2023

The scarcity of geochemical constraints on the Hadean climate limits our understanding of the planetary environment that gave rise to life on the earliest Earth. I will describe how rocky exoplanets open a novel observational window into the geodynamic evolution of terrestrial worlds that is unavailable in the Solar System. Some of these planets orbit so closely to their star that they lack an atmosphere, which gives direct access to their surfaces. Geodynamic simulations of the super-Earths LHS 3844b and GJ 486b suggest that solid but tidally-locked rocky exoplanets undergo a hemispherically-forced tectonic regime, unknown in the Solar System, with volcanic activity focused either on the day- or nightside, potentially driving asymmetric outgassing. The dense sub-Earth GJ 367b, on the other hand, likely hosts a day-side magma ocean, enabling inferences on accretion regime and the evolution of melting geometry and surface composition over geologic time. Scheduled high-resolution observations with JWST of these and similar exoplanets will enable novel tests of fundamental models of planetary geodynamics, atmospheric formation, and planetary accretion.
Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) Accommodation on GOES-U
Authors: Dudley Renee , Krimchansky Alexander , Tadikonda Sivakumara , Thernisien Arnaud , Baugh Rebecca , Carter Michael
Published: February 2023

The CCOR-1 will monitor our Sun’s Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).  It will reside on the Sun-Pointing Platform (SPP) of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) -U in a geostationary orbit.  As a member of the GOES-R Series of satellites, GOES-U will provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s weather, oceans and environment, real-time mapping of total lightning activity, and as well as monitoring of solar activity and space weather. GOES-U is the final satellite in the GOES-R Series, with an expected launch date in April of 2024.  The Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) instrument was designed, built, and tested by the United States Naval Research Laboratory. CCOR-1, the first in a series of coronagraphs, is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and will ultimately be operated by NOAA.  Using a series of images of the Sun’s coronal white-light, scientists at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) can determine the size, velocity, and density of these CMEs.  This information can then be used to assess and prepare for potential impacts of these solar storms on infrastructure here on Earth, as well as assets in space.  CCOR-1 has completed instrument-level Integration and Testing (I&T), delivered to the GOES-U satellite integrator and is now mechanically integrated with the spacecraft. The integrated GOES-U satellite has completed Spacecraft-level Thermal Vacuum testing and is expected to complete all the remaining Spacecraft I&T activities by the EGU Conference date. This paper presents the details on the CCOR-1 instrument, its integration onto the GOES-U satellite bus, and the expected performance.
What future awaits us if we do not take action against climate change? CHANGE TO ANOTHER PLANET
Authors: Hernandez Carme
Published: February 2023

Tackling climate change and promoting sustainable development are two mutually reinforcing sides of the same coin; sustainable development will not be achieved without action against climate change. Conversely, many of the SDGs address the drivers of climate change.My school has designed and implemented a project called “An interplanetary travel” thanks to the collaboration of the ESERO Spain which provides us with a kit of materials for our purpose.The project is structured in different parts:-First, we ask our students what will happen if we do not take care of our planet today by recreating a radio program.Through a previous brainstorm the students consider the possibility of colonizing other planets of the Solar System in order to survive.-Second, to be able to choose the ideal future home, they must investigate various planets that match the requirements for the human being to live and do experiments in order to detect the existence of life.-Third, while some students are dedicated to designing and selling one-way tickets for this new place, through the creation of their own travel agency, and all the logistics involved others are dedicated to studying how to plan that trip . Subsequently, the "clients" select the agency that provides the best services.-Fourth, for the planning of the trip it is necessary that our students become spaceship engineers to design the space vehicle and the pertinent tests for its takeoff.To be able to build that spacecraft, it is necessary to investigate the different properties of the materials to find the perfect features that the different parts of the space vehicle must have: impact resistance, magnetism, densities, electrical properties and thermal conductivity, etc. and select the suitable ones to carry it out both the water rocket and the reentry capsule are designed and tested in an open field. The idea is to land in our future home.-Fifth, calculations are made for the different phases of our trip: launch phase, space phase and reentry phase. (Level adapted for high school students). For the reentry phase the parachute is designed and tested with an egg so that it can land without breaking.-Sixth, the students study the possible health consequences of future colonizers.For this we propose to design, through Arduino programming, an automatic irrigation of plants to be able to self-supply water and not waste it, making use of humidity sensors.-And finally, all student groups teach their peers the achievements through exhibitions.
Global Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing recordings of the February 2023 Turkey earthquake sequence.
Authors: Jousset Philippe , Wuestefeld Andreas , Krawczyk Charlotte , Baird Alan , Currenti Gilda , Landrø Martin , Nowacki Andy , Spica Zack , Barajas Sandra Ruiz , Lindner Fabian , Konca Özgün A. , Edme Pascal , Lai Voon Hui , Treshchikov Vladimir , Urmantseva Lena , Morten Jan Peter , Lienhart Werner , Lipovsky Bradley Paul , Schoenball Martin , Ma Kuo-Fong ,   “DAS-month” team (sample only!)
Published: February 2023

As part of a global distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) campaign, multiple DAS interrogators (from academia and industry) recorded simultaneously from 1st till 28th February 2023 in different regions of the globe. The objective is to define if and how a global monitoring system based on DAS could perform for teleseismic event record and analysis. Each participant uploaded triggered data window from earthquakes with magnitude larger than 5, as defined by global seismological networks, to a central storage location. Data was pre-processed following common filtering parameters (spatial and temporal sampling). Bottle-necks in data format, storage, and legal issues are identified and reviewed to pose the basis for a common DAS data archive strategy.
In this study, we present a selection of DAS records of the Turkey earthquake sequence, from borehole, surface, on-land, submarine telecommunication or dedicated cables all over the globe. They comprise a few kilometers long railroad track (Switzerland), an 0.8 km long deployed cable in the Limmat river, near Zürich (Switzerland), a 1 km deployed cable at Mt. Zugspitze in the Alps (Germany/Austria), a 21 km telecom cable in the forest around Potsdam (Germany), a 17 km telecom cable surface geothermal field (north Iceland), a 0.2 km borehole at Etna volcano (Italy), a telecom cable in the city of Istanbul (Turkey), a 25 km telecom cable in Melbourne (Australia), in the inner city line in Graz (Austria), in the city of Seattle, WA (USA), a submarine cable in the North Sea, a submarine cable connecting Ny Ålesund and Longyearbyen at Svalbard (Norway), a 0.8 km dedicated fibre in a quick clay area in Norway, amongst many others.
We show that signals from the two destructive earthquakes in Turkey were recorded all over the globe. We discuss the signal quality and their potential use to study teleseism signals. We analyze recorded strain amplitudes according to the different array geometries and the differing sensitivities to wave types (body, surface waves, possibly others) and deployment conditions. When available, comparison with other sensors located in the same place is performed. Finally, we analyze the influence of local geological conditions due to the passing large amplitudes waves.
With the increasing availability, reduced cost and improved simplicity of DAS systems and the wide spread existing fibre optic networks, we believe fibre-optic sensing will play an ever-increasing role in the global seismic monitoring.