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BioSentinel is the first biological CubeSat designed and developed for deep space. The main objectives of this NASA mission are to assess the effects of deep space radiation on biological systems and to engineer a CubeSat platform that can autonomously support and gather data from model organisms hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth. The articles in this special collection describe the extensive optimization of the biological payload system performed in preparation for this long-duration deep space mission. In this study, we briefly introduce BioSentinel and provide a glimpse into its technical and conceptual heritage by detailing the evolution of the science, subsystems, and capabilities of NASA's previous biological CubeSats. This introduction is not intended as an exhaustive review of CubeSat missions, but rather provides insight into the unique optimization parameters, science, and technology of those few that employ biological model systems.

The biological risks of the deep space environment must be elucidated to enable a new era of human exploration and scientific discovery beyond low earth orbit (LEO). There is a paucity of deep space biological missions that will inform us of the deleterious biological effects of prolonged exposure to the deep space environment. To safely undertake long-term missions to Mars and space habitation beyond LEO, we must first prove and optimize autonomous biosensors to query the deep space radiation environment. Such biosensors must contain organisms that can survive for extended periods with minimal life support technology and must function reliably with intermittent communication with Earth. NASA's BioSentinel mission, a nanosatellite containing the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is such a biosensor and one of the first biological missions beyond LEO in nearly half a century. It will help fill critical gaps in knowledge about the effects of uniquely composed, chronic, low-flux deep space radiation on biological systems and in particular will provide valuable insight into the DNA damage response to highly ionizing particles. Due to yeast's robustness and desiccation tolerance, it can survive for periods analogous to that of a human Mars mission. In this study, we discuss our optimization of conditions for long-term reagent storage and yeast survival under desiccation in preparation for the BioSentinel mission. We show that long-term yeast cell viability is maximized when cells are air-dried in trehalose solution and stored in a low-relative humidity and low-temperature environment and that dried yeast is sensitive to low doses of deep space-relevant ionizing radiation under these conditions. Our findings will inform the design and development of improved future long-term biological missions into deep space.

Issuing a disaster certificate, which is used to decide the contents of a victim’s support, requires accuracy and rapidity. However, in Japan at large, issuing of damage certificates has taken a long time in past earthquake disasters. Hence, the government needs a more efficient mechanism for issuing damage certificates. This study developed an estimation system of roof-damaged buildings to obtain an overview of earthquake damage based on aero-photo images using deep learning. To provide speedy estimation, this system utilized the trimming algorithm, which automatically generates roof image data using the location information of building polygons on GIS (Geographic Information System). Consequently, the proposed system can estimate, if a house is covered with a blue sheet with 97.57 % accuracy and also detect whether a house is damaged, with 93.51 % accuracy. It would therefore be worth considering the development of an image recognition model and a method of collecting aero-photo data to operate this system during a real earthquake.

The vicinity of the Rozprza archaeological site (central Poland) has been the area of a series of palaeoecological studies tracking the environmental history of the Luciąża River valley up to ca. 13,200 cal. BP. Numerous subfossil palaeomeanders of different sizes have been discovered in the valley floor. Here, we present the first results of multiproxy research on the paleo-oxbow lake fill, one of the oldest in the region. The wide range of palaeoecological analyses resulted in reconstructions of vegetation history, climatic, hydrological and habitat changes. The studied oxbow was an aquatic ecosystem with diverse invertebrate fauna until the end of Younger Dryas when it transformed into a limno-telmatic habitat. The sediment composition indicates active denudation processes and several episodes of turbulent hydrological conditions. Such an increased river activity could have caused flooding, resulting in an allochthonous matter supply to the oxbow lake in Late Vistulian. Environmental changes were strictly related to the regional features of the catchment, the transformation of soils, and the hydrogeological conditions. The chironomid- and pollen-inferred climatic reconstructions indicate periods of high and low continentality. The chironomid record indicates relatively cool summer conditions in the Allerød, especially ca. 13,000 cal. BP, possibly related to the Gerzensee Oscillation. On the other hand, a distinct increase of summer temperatures in Younger Dryas (up to 16 °C) was recorded. Such a situation was also confirmed in some other studies from the region, suggesting that it might be the effect of some specific, local palaeoclimatic conditions. Fundator badań: Fundator badań: Optional.empty

This paper presents a techno-economic model of two interconnected hybrid microgrids (MGs) whose electricity and thermal dispatch strategy are managed with Sequential Least Squares Programming (SLSQP) optimization technique. MGs combine multiple thermal and electric power generation, transmission, and distribution systems as a whole, to gain a tight integration of weather-dependent distributed renewable generators with multiple stochastic load profiles. Moreover MGs allow to achieve an improvement in the return of investment and better cost of energy. The first part of the work deals with a method to obtain an accurate prediction of climate variables. This method makes use of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and polynomial regression to manipulate climate datasets issued by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The second part of the work is focused on the optimization of interconnected MGs operations through the SLSQP algorithm. The objective is to obtain the best financial performance (IRR) when clean distributed energy resources (DERs) are exchanging both thermal and electric energy. SLSQP optimizes the energy flows by balancing their contribution with their nominal Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). The proposed algorithm is used to simulate innovative business scenarios where revenue streams are generated via sales of energy to end users, sell backs and deliveries of demand response services to the other grids. A business case dealing with two MGs providing clean thermal and electric energies to household communities nearby the city of Bremen (Germany) is examined in the last part of the work. This business case with a payback in two years, an internal rate of return (IRR) at 65% and a LCOE at 0.14 €/kWh, demonstrates how the interconnection of multiple hybrid MGs with SLSQP optimization techniques, makes renewable and DERs outcompeting and could strand investments in fossil fuel generation, shaping the future of clean energy markets.

Cyclone Pam swept through the archipelago of Vanuatu on 13-14 March 2015, with wind speeds exceeding those recorded anywhere in the South Pacific since the 1980s. Southern and central parts of the country were particularly affected. Material damage on Tongoa, one of the most afflicted islands, was extensive, but no deaths were reported. During the storm, villagers found shelter in their kitchen, in what is considered locally as a 'lifeboat'. The aftermath was managed and mitigated by international aid organisations. On Tongoa, this included a 'Shelter Cluster' programme, under which villagers were given house rebuilding kits. Elaborating upon extensive ethnographic investigations on site between 2011 and 2018, this paper explores and reveals the ways in which this aid generated confusion among the local population. In a larger context of regular disasters triggered by natural hazards, locals have found endogenous ways of dealing with such extreme climatic events, for the most part without any external assistance.في الفترة من 13 إلى 14 مارس 2015 ، اجتاح إعصار بام أرخبيل منطقة فان واتو بسرعات رياح تجاوزت تلك المسجلة في أي مكان في منطقة جنوب المحيط الهادئ منذ الثمانينيات. وقد تأثرت الأجزاء الجنوبية والوسطى من البلاد بشكل خاص. في تونغوا، إحدى الجزر الأكثر تضررًا، كانت الأضرار المادية جسيمة على الرغم من عدم الإبلاغ عن أي حالة وفاة. خلال العاصفة، وجد القرويون المأوى في مطبخهم، والذي اعتبروه محليًا "قوارب نجاة". تمت إدارة تداعيات الكارثة والتخفيف من حدتها من قبل منظمات الإغاثة الدولية. وشمل ذلك في تونغوا برنامج "مجموعة المأوى" حيث تم تزويد القرويين بمجموعات أدوات إعادة بناء المنازل. بالتفصيل في التحقيقات الإثنوغرافية المكثفة في الموقع التي أجريت بين عامي 2011 و 2018 ، تستكشف هذه المقالة وتكشف الطرق التي تسببت بها هذه المساعدة في حدوث ارتباك بين السكان المحليين. في سياق أكبر من الكوارث العادية التي تسببها الأخطار الطبيعية، وجد السكان المحليون طرقًا داخلية للتعامل مع مثل هذه الأحداث المناخية المتطرفة ، في الجزء الأكبر من دون أي مساعدات خارجية - مما يكشف عن ديناميكية المساعدات الإنسانية الكلمات الدالة: إعصار بام ، كارثة ، مساعدات إنسانية ، إعادة بناء ما بعد الكارثة ، تو نغوا ، فان واتو ، العمارة العامية.2015年3月13日-14日，飓风帕姆席卷瓦努阿图群岛，风速超过了自1980年代以来南太平洋地区任何地方的记录。该国南部和中部地区受到的影响尤其严重。汤戈阿是受灾最为严重的岛屿之一，虽然没有死亡报告，但财产损失很大。暴风雨期间，村民们都躲在厨房里避难，厨房被当地人视为是“救生艇”。国际援助组织为这场灾难提供了善后工作和减灾帮助。这包括一项“避难所助建”计划，向村民提供房屋重建工具包。本文详细阐述了2011年至2018年间，在现场进行的大范围民族学调查，探讨并揭示了这种援助对当地人造成混乱的各种情况。对于周期性的自然灾害，当地人在大多数没有任何外界援助的情况下，已经掌握了一些在处理此类极端气候事件的老办法，这也揭示了人道主义援助的动态 关键词：飓风帕姆，灾难，人道主义援助，灾后重建，汤戈阿，瓦努阿图，乡土建筑.

On the Ground • Multi-jurisdictional rangeland “mega-fires” are becoming more common. • Using interview data, we examined cross-boundary collaboration after the Soda Fire that burned approximately 113,312 ha (280,000 acres) of southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon. • We found relationships established in other management contexts were activated by individuals within agencies to share funding and resources to rehabilitate the landscape after the Soda Fire. • The fire's spatial proximity to Boise, Idaho, and temporal proximity to important federal policy decisions were primary collaboration drivers. • Barriers to collaborative efforts still exist; however, interviewees highlighted the importance of individual agency (bottom-up) changes in lessening top-down constraints.

Lead (Pb) is one of the most paradoxical elements, both having diverse practical uses, as well as being extremely toxic to humans, and especially to children. The use of Pb records a steady growth with annual production currently exceeding 10 million metric tons. In spite of the environmental awareness of modern society, humans are still exposed to Pb through its emission by smelting and mining activities, and also by Pb-bearing mine wastes and soils. Here, we review the chemical and mineralogical forms of Pb generated from smelting and mining processes and subsequently altered in tailings, slag piles, and soils. In smelter plumes, Pb is emitted to the atmosphere either in the form of smaller nano-size particulate matter (PM) often associated with S, or larger micrometer Pb-bearing PM matter accompanied by oxide-silicate matrices. Pb-bearing phases in mine tailings and impacted soils depict a greater mineralogical and chemical complexity than those emitted from smelters and the larger particle size of this PM also leads to a lower Pb bioavailability. High resolution observations in aquatic system, soils and rock coatings impacted by smelting and mining activities show the presence of Pb-bearing phosphates, sulfides, sulfates, carbonates, and oxide nanoparticles. Larger micrometer size particles of Pb-bearing minerals form often through the aggregation of Pb-bearing nanoparticles, a process commonly referred to as crystallization through particle attachment. Mobilization of Pb within soil columns is strongly affected by the transport of colloids, especially those composed of organic matter and Fe-hydroxides because Pb is taken up efficiently by these two soil components. The extraordinary variability and complexities of all of these processes suggest that future reduction of Pb contamination in the environment and its impact on human health mainly depends on eliminating or greatly reducing Pb-release from smelting operations and tailings impoundments.

Climate change is rapidly warming high latitude and high elevation regions influencing plant community composition. Changes in vegetation composition have motivated the coordination of ecological monitoring networks across the Arctic, including the International Tundra Experiment. We have established a long-term passive warming experiment using open-top chambers, which includes five distinct plant communities (Dry Heath; Tussock Tundra; and Dry, Mesic, and Wet Meadow). We measured changes in plant community composition based on relative abundance differences over 26 years. In addition, relative abundance changes in response to fertilization and warming treatments were analyzed based on a seven-year Community-Level Interaction Program experiment. The communities had distinct soil moisture conditions, leading to community-specific responses of the plant growth forms (deciduous shrubs, evergreen shrubs, forbs, and graminoids). Warming significantly affected growth forms, but the direction of the response was not consistent across the communities. Evidence of shrub expansion was found in nearly all communities, with soil moisture determining whether it was driven by deciduous or evergreen shrubs. Graminoids increased in relative abundance in the Dry Meadow due to warming. Growth form responses to warming are likely mediated by edaphic characteristics of the communities and their interactions with climate.

Alpine and Arctic bryophytes have been found to respond negatively to climate change, but as they are often analysed as one functional group, there is limited knowledge on species-specific responses. In this study, we examine how nearly two decades of experimental warming by open-top chambers and ambient warming have affected the bryophyte community structure in an alpine Dryas octopetala L. heath in Finse, southwest Norway. In contrast to what we expected, we found that bryophyte abundance, species richness, and evenness increased over time in the control plots, indicating a positive response to ambient warming. However, the increase in bryophyte abundance and cover was suppressed in experimentally warmed plots compared with control plots. Bryophyte community composition changed in a similar direction in response to both ambient and experimental warming. Acrocarpous mosses were not affected stronger by warming than pleurocarpous mosses, but individual species and taxa showed contrasting responses. Our study highlights the importance of studying bryophyte responses to environmental change, as well as combining long-term observations with experimental warming.

We review palaeoenvironmental proxies and combinations of these relevant for understanding hunter-gatherer niche construction activities in pre-agricultural Europe. Our approach consists of two steps: (1) identify the possible range of hunter-gatherer impacts on landscapes based on ethnographic studies; (2) evaluate proxies possibly reflecting these impacts for both the Eemian (Last Interglacial, Middle Palaeolithic) and the Early–Middle Holocene (Mesolithic). We found these paleoenvironmental proxies were not able to unequivocally establish clear-cut differences between specific anthropogenic, climatic and megafaunal impacts for either time period in this area. We discuss case studies for both periods and show that published evidence for Mesolithic manipulation of landscapes is based on the interpretation of comparable data as available for the Last Interglacial. If one applies the ‘Mesolithic’ interpretation schemes to the Neanderthal record, three common niche construction activities can be hypothesised: vegetation burning, plant manipulation and impact on animal species presence and abundance. Our review suggests that as strong a case can be made for a Neanderthal impact on landscapes as for anthropogenic landscape changes during the Mesolithic, even though the Neanderthal evidence comes from only one high-resolution site complex. Further research should include attempts (e.g. by means of modelling studies) to establish whether hunter-gatherer impact on landscapes played out at a local level only versus at a larger scale during both time periods, while we also need to obtain comparative data on the population sizes of Last Interglacial and Holocene hunter-gatherers, as these are usually inferred to have differed significantly.

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 COSPAR Magnetic helicity, an intrinsic property of eruptive helical flux ropes (FRs) forming coronal mass ejections (CMEs), plays an impor-tant role in determining CME geoeffectiveness. In the solar atmosphere and heliosphere, helicity remains conserved in a closed volume. Considering this fact as a basis of our study, we perform a quantitative comparison between total magnetic helicity and twisted flux in interplanetary CMEs and those transported to CMEs via magnetic reconnection at low corona. At the source, twisted/poloidal flux (/pcme) of CMEs is directly estimated from total reconnection flux, and CME helicity (Hcme) is obtained by combining reconnection flux information with CME physical parameters. At 1 AU, the twisted/poloidal flux (/pmc) and helicity (Hmc) of CMEs are obtained from in situ observations. Considering uncertainties steaming from FR length, reconnection flux and CME physical parameter estimations, poloidal flux and helicity of CMEs at 1 AU are found to be highly relevant ( /pmc /pcme = 0.4-1.5, HHcmemc= 0.3-1) to low-corona magnetic recon-nection at the wake of CMEs. This result remains unchanged despite CME association with pre-existing FRs. We show that a significant reduction in CME helicity during its heliospheric propagation may result from a high rate of FR erosion in the interplanetary medium. Our event analysis confirms that CME's intrinsic magnetic properties are transported to CME FRs during magnetic reconnection at sheared coronal arcades. A one-to-one correspondence between the chirality of 1-AU CMEs and their pre-eruptive structures complies with the fact that the sense of field line rotations in FRs may remain unchanged during coronal reconnection at the source. By connecting intrinsic magnetic properties of FRs through Sun-Earth medium, this study provides important implications for the origin of geoeffec-tiveness in CMEs. (c) 2021 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Understanding and predicting large-scale ecological responses to global environmental change requires comparative studies across geographic scales with coordinated efforts and standardized methodologies. We designed, applied and assessed standardized protocols to measure tundra herbivory at three spatial scales: plot, site (habitat), and study area (landscape). The plot and site-level protocols were tested in the field during summers 2014-2015 at eleven sites, nine of them comprising warming experimental plots included in the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). The study area protocols were assessed during 2014-2018 at 24 study areas across the Arctic. Our protocols provide comparable and easy-to-implement methods for assessing the intensity of invertebrate herbivory within ITEX plots and for characterizing vertebrate herbivore communities at larger spatial scales. We discuss methodological constraints and make recommendations for how these protocols can be used and how sampling effort can be optimized to obtain comparable estimates of herbivory, both at ITEX sites and at large landscape scales. The application of these protocols across the tundra biome will allow characterizing and comparing herbivore communities across tundra sites and at ecologically relevant spatial scales, providing an important step towards a better understanding of tundra ecosystem responses to large-scale environmental change. CGB was funded by the Estonian Research Council (grant IUT 20-28), and the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange). JDMS was supported by the Research Council of Norway (262064). OG and LB were supported by the French Polar Institute (program “1036 Interactions”) and PRC CNRS Russie 396 (program “ICCVAT”). DSH, NL, MAG, JB and JDR were supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada). NL, MAG, JB and JDR were supported by the Polar Continental Shelf Program. NL was supported by the Canada Research Chair program and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. NL and JB were supported by Environment Canada and Polar Knowledge Canada. NL and MAG were supported by the Government of Nunavut, the Igloolik Community, and Université de Moncton. NL, MAG and JB were supported by the Northern Scientific Training Program. JMA was funded by Carl Tryggers stiftelse för vetenskaplig forskning and Qatar Petroleum (QUEX-CAS-QP-RD-18_19). IHM-S was funded by the UK Natural Environmental Research Council Shrub Tundra (NE/M016323/1) grant. ISJ was funded by the University of Iceland Research Fund. Fieldwork in Yamal peninsula (Erkuta, Sabetta and Belyi) for DE, NS and AS was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (No: 18-05-60261 and No: 18-54-15013), Fram Centre project YaES (No: 362259), the Russian Center of Development of the Arctic, and the “Yamal-LNG” company. Fieldwork in Utqiaġvik was supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fieldwork in Svalbard was supported by the Norwegian Research Council (AFG No: 246080/E10), the Norwegian Polar Institute, Climate-ecological Observatory for Arctic Tundra – COAT, the Svalbard Environmental protection fund (project number 15/20), and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) and the AB-338/AB-838 students of 2018. Sampling at Billefjorden was supported by GACR 17- 20839S.

Exchange processes between a turbulent free flow and a porous media flow are sensitive to the flow dynamics in both flow regimes, as well as to the interface that separates them. Resolving these complex exchange processes across irregular interfaces is key in understanding many natural and engineered systems. With soil-water evaporation as the natural application of interest, the coupled behavior and exchange between flow regimes are investigated numerically, considering a turbulent free flow as well as interfacial forms and obstacles. Interfacial forms and obstacles will alter the flow conditions at the interface, creating flow structures that either enhance or reduce exchange rates based on their velocity conditions and their mixing with the main flow. To evaluate how these interfacial forms change the exchange rates, interfacial conditions are isolated and investigated numerically. First, different flow speeds are compared for a flat surface. Second, a porous obstacle of varied height is introduced at the interface, and the effects the flow structures that develop have on the interface are analyzed. The flow parameters of this obstacle are then varied and the interfacial exchange rates investigated. Next, to evaluate the interaction of flow structures between obstacles, a second obstacle is introduced, separated by a varied distance. Finally, the shape of these obstacles is modified to create different wave forms. Each of these interfacial forms and obstacles is shown to create different flow structures adjacent to the surface which alter the mass, momentum, and energy conditions at the interface. These changes will enhance the exchange rate in locations where higher velocity gradients and more mixing with the main flow develop, but will reduce the exchange rate in locations where low velocity gradients and limited mixing with the main flow occur., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Projekt DEAL

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have widely been used for decades as flame retardants in a variety of products like plastics for building insulation, upholstered furniture, electrical appliances, vehicles, aircrafts, polyurethane foams, textiles, cable insulation, appliance plugs and various technical plastics in concentrations of 5-30%. However, PBDEs also act as endocrine disrupters, neurotoxins, and negatively affect fertility. In 2001, worldwide consumption of technically relevant penta-BDEs was still estimated at 7500 tons, octa-BDEs at 3790 tons, and deca-BDE at 56,100 tons, but 50-60% of this total volume are discharged into the environment via sewage sludge and its agricultural use alone. In addition, soils are ubiquitously contaminated by the gaseous or particle-bound transport of PBDEs, which today has its main source in highly contaminated electronic waste recycling sites. The emitted PBDEs enter the food chain via uptake by the plants’ roots and shoots. However, uptake and intrinsic transport behaviour strongly depend on crop specifics and various soil parameters. The relevant exposure and transformation pathways, transport-relevant soil and plant characteristics and both root concentration factors (RCF) and transfer factors (TF) as derivable parameters are addressed and quantified in this review. Finally, a simple predictive model for quantification of RCF and TF based on log KOW values and the organic content of the soil/lipid content of the plants is also presented., Umweltbundesamt, Projekt DEAL

The Blanes submarine canyon (BC) deeply incises the Catalan continental shelf in the NW Mediterranean Sea. As a consequence of the closeness (only 4 km) of its head to the coastline and the mouth of the Tordera River, the canyon has a direct influence on the shelf dispersal system as it collects large amounts of sediment, mainly during high-energy events. Multibeam bathymetry, backscatter imagery and very-high resolution seismic reflection profiles have allowed characterizing the morphology of the continental shelf around the canyon head, also identifying sediment sources and transport pathways into the canyon. The morphological data have also been used to reconstruct the evolution of the continental shelf during the last sea-level transgression so that the current understanding of shelf-to-canyon sediment exchanges through time could be improved. The continental shelf surrounding the BC consists of both depositional and erosional or non-depositional areas. Depositional areas display prominent sediment bodies, a generally smooth bathymetry and variable backscatter. These include: (i) an area of modern coarse-grained sediment accumulation that comprises the inner shelf; (ii) a modern fine-grained sedimentation area on the middle shelf offshore Tossa de Mar; and (iii) a modern sediment depleted area that covers most of the middle and outer shelf to the west of the canyon head. Erosional and non-depositional areas display a rough topography and high backscatter, and occur primarily to the east of the canyon head, where the arrival of river-fed inputs is very small. In agreement with this pattern, the continental shelf north and west of the canyon head likely is the main source of shelf sediment into the canyon. To the north, a pattern of very high backscatter extends from the coastline to the canyon head, suggesting the remobilization and off-shelf export of fines. Additionally, relict near-shore sand bodies developed over the Barcelona shelf that extend to the canyon head rim constitute a source of coarse sediment. High-energy processes, namely river floods and coastal storms, are the main controls over the river-shelf-canyon sediment exchange. River floods increase the delivery of terrigenous particles to the coastal system. Storms, mainly from the east, remobilize the sediment temporarily accumulated on the shelf towards the canyon head, so that the finer fractions are preferentially removed and a coarse lag is normally left on the shelf floor. Exceptionally, very strong storms also remove the coarse fractions from the shelf drive them into the canyon. Processes like dense shelf water cascading, which is much more intense in canyons to the north of BC, and the Northern Current also contribute to the transport of suspended sediment from far distant northern sources. During the last post-glacial transgression the BC had a strong influence on the evolution of the inner continental margin, as it interrupted the shelf sediment dispersal system by isolating the shelves to its north and south, named La Planassa and Barcelona shelves, respectively.

Full list of authors: Harra, Louise; Andretta, Vincenzo; Appourchaux, Thierry; Baudin, Frédéric; Bellot-Rubio, Luis; Birch, Aaron C.; Boumier, Patrick; Cameron, Robert H.; Carlsson, Matts; Corbard, Thierry; Davies, Jackie; Fazakerley, Andrew; Fineschi, Silvano; Finsterle, Wolfgang; Gizon, Laurent; Harrison, Richard; Hassler, Donald M.; Leibacher, John; Liewer, Paulett; Macdonald, Malcolm; Maksimovic, Milan; Murphy, Neil; Naletto, Giampiero; Nigro, Giuseppina; Owen, Christopher; Martínez-Pillet, Valentín; Rochus, Pierre; Romoli, Marco; Sekii, Takashi; Spadaro, Daniele; Veronig, Astrid; Schmutz, W.--This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/., A mission to view the solar poles from high helio-latitudes (above 60°) will build on the experience of Solar Orbiter as well as a long heritage of successful solar missions and instrumentation (e.g. SOHO Domingo et al. (Solar Phys. 162(1-2), 1–37 1995), STEREO Howard et al. (Space Sci. Rev. 136(1-4), 67–115 2008), Hinode Kosugi et al. (Solar Phys. 243(1), 3–17 2007), Pesnell et al. Solar Phys. 275(1–2), 3–15 2012), but will focus for the first time on the solar poles, enabling scientific investigations that cannot be done by any other mission. One of the major mysteries of the Sun is the solar cycle. The activity cycle of the Sun drives the structure and behaviour of the heliosphere and of course, the driver of space weather. In addition, solar activity and variability provides fluctuating input into the Earth climate models, and these same physical processes are applicable to stellar systems hosting exoplanets. One of the main obstructions to understanding the solar cycle, and hence all solar activity, is our current lack of understanding of the polar regions. In this White Paper, submitted to the European Space Agency in response to the Voyage 2050 call, we describe a mission concept that aims to address this fundamental issue. In parallel, we recognise that viewing the Sun from above the polar regions enables further scientific advantages, beyond those related to the solar cycle, such as unique and powerful studies of coronal mass ejection processes, from a global perspective, and studies of coronal structure and activity in polar regions. Not only will these provide important scientific advances for fundamental stellar physics research, they will feed into our understanding of impacts on the Earth and other planets’ space environment. © The Author(s) 2021., Open Access funding provided by ETH Zurich., With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709.

So far no designated mission to either of the two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, exists. Almost all of our gathered information on these planets comes from remote sensing. In recent years, NASA and ESA have started planning for future mission to Uranus and Neptune, with both agencies focusing their attention on orbiters and atmospheric probes. Whereas information provided by remote sensing is undoubtedly highly valuable, remote sensing of planetary atmospheres also presents some shortcomings, most of which can be overcome by mass spectrometers. In most studies presented to date a mass spectrometer experiment is thus a favored science instrument for in situ composition measurements on an atmospheric probe. Mass spectrometric measurements can provide unique scientific data, i.e., sensitive and quantitative measurements of the chemical composition of the atmosphere, including isotopic, elemental, and molecular abundances. In this review paper we present the technical aspects of mass spectrometry relevant to atmospheric probes. This includes the individual components that make up mass spectrometers and possible implementation choices for each of these components. We then give an overview of mass spectrometers that were sent to space with the intent of probing planetary atmospheres, and discuss three instruments, the heritage of which is especially relevant to Uranus and Neptune probes, in detail. The main part of this paper presents the current state-of-art in mass spectrometry intended for atmospheric probe. Finally, we present a possible descent probe implementation in detail, including measurement phases and associated expected accuracies for selected species.

International audience; Ozone, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations over Paris, France and Stockholm, Sweden were modeled at 4 and 1 \unit{km} horizontal resolutions respectively for the present and 2050 periods employing decade-long simulations. We account for large-scale global climate change (RCP-4.5) and fine resolution bottom-up emission projections developed by local experts and quantify their impact on future pollutant concentrations. Moreover, we identify biases related to the implementation of regional scale emission projections over the study areas by comparing modeled pollutant concentrations between the fine and coarse scale simulations. We show that over urban areas with major regional contribution (e.g., the city of Stockholm) the bias due to coarse emission inventory may be significant and lead to policy misclassification. Our results stress the need to better understand the mechanism of bias propagation across the modeling scales in order to design more successful local-scale strategies. We find that the impact of climate change is spatially homogeneous in both regions, implying strong regional influence. The climate benefit for ozone (daily average and maximum) is up to -5 % for Paris and -2 % for Stockholm city. The joined climate benefit on PM2.5 and PM10 in Paris is between -10 and -5 % while for Stockholm we observe mixed trends up to 3 % depending on season and size class. In Stockholm, emission mitigation leads to concentration reductions up to 15 % for daily average and maximum ozone and 20 % for PM and through a sensitivity analysis we show that this response is entirely due to changes in emissions at the regional scale. On the contrary, over the city of Paris (VOC-limited photochemical regime), local mitigation of NOx emissions increases future ozone concentrations due to ozone titration inhibition. This competing trend between the respective roles of emission and climate change, results in an increase in 2050 daily average ozone by 2.5 % in Paris. Climate and not emission change appears to be the most influential factor for maximum ozone concentration over the city of Paris, which may be particularly interesting in a health impact perspective.

Despite the known hazards to wildlife, plastic waste to waterways and oceans continues to increase at alarming rates every year. Nanoplastics are a breakdown product of plastic debris in the environment (0.1–100 nm). Their small size renders them bioavailable, and they are likely to accumulate/adsorb persistent organic pollutants, which could increase their toxicity. In this study, we evaluated the effects of nanoplastics and phenanthrene on the early life stages of zebrafish. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to fluorescent nanoparticles and observed with fluorescence microscopy. Polystyrene nanoplastics (80 nm) attached to the embryonic chorionic membrane and were ingested when zebrafish reached 144 h after fertilization, the point at which they first open their mouth, as observed by the fluorescence in their intestines. Exposure alone or in combination with phenanthrene resulted in zebrafish pericardial edema, spinal curvature, increased embryonic heart rate, shortened body length, and increased mortality. Co-exposure to 5 mg/L nanoplastics and 0.1 mg/L phenanthrene caused more negative effects on length, teratogenicity and mortality of zebrafish embryos than the corresponding concentrations of single exposure. This study provides clear evidence that nanoplastics can be ingested by zebrafish larvae, thus future work to assess the toxicological effects is important to marine wildlife management.

Three sets of experiments were performed to test the stability and geologic importance of ferric (FeIII) chloride complexes in acidic, Cl-rich solutions at 150–300 °C, p = psat. Experiment Set A used the change in solubility of AgCl(s) in the presence of FeCl3 or FeCl2 to determine the stoichiometry of Fe(III) and Fe(II) chloride complexes at ΣCl = 0.1–3.0 molal. Results show that FeCl4− and FeCl2(aq) are the dominant Fe(III) and Fe(II) species, respectively, at T > 200 °C and ΣCl ≥ 1 m. Set B experiments used the solubility of elemental gold as a redox sensor to determine the aO2 of the FeCl4−/FeCl2(aq) boundary and log K values of +6.56 and +7.19 for the following reaction at 250 and 300 °C, respectively: FeCl2(aq) + ¼O2(g) + 2Cl− + H+ = FeCl4− + ½H2O(l). Ferric chloride complexes are stable under conditions of aCl−, aO2, and pH where gold is soluble as AuCl2−. Set C experiments measured the solubility of hematite in NaCl-HCl solutions at 200–300 °C by preparing a series of silica tubes with identical matrix chemistry (0.9 m NaCl + 0.1 m HCl) and increasing concentration of FeCl3. Hematite saturation was constrained by the tube with the lowest FeCl3 concentration that precipitated hematite at high temperature. Set C results were used to compute log K values of +3.6, +5.2, and + 7.4 for the following reaction at 200, 250 and 300 °C, respectively: 0.5Fe2O3(s) + 4Cl− + 3H+ = FeCl4− + 1.5H2O. Hematite solubility as FeCl4− is independent of redox state, and increases quickly with an increase in temperature, increase in Cl− concentration (power of 4), and decrease in pH (power of 3). Concentrations in excess of 100 mg/L ΣFe are attainable under geologically realistic conditions. Once formed, FeCl4− is an extremely effective oxidizing agent, capable of destabilizing any sulfide mineral and dissolving Fe, Au, and other metals (e.g., Cu, Pt, Pd) as chloride complexes. In deep hydrothermal systems, FeCl4− is a more viable oxidant than dissolved O2 gas, although its presence requires a source area with abundant hematite and a lack of reductants such as organic carbon, sulfides, or silicate minerals containing ferrous iron. Dissolved ferric chloride could be an important and previously overlooked reactant in the formation of certain types of hematite-rich hydrothermal mineral deposits, including iron oxide-copper–gold (IOCG) deposits.

Thorium mineralization is frequently hosted in carbonate-bearing rocks, and thorium commonly substitutes into the structures of carbonate-bearing minerals that have precipitated from or been modified by hydrothermal fluids. Given this common association, it is reasonable to consider the hypothesis that the presence of carbonate ligands in hydrothermal solutions promotes the transport of Th through the formation of stable aqueous complexes. Our ability to evaluate this hypothesis, however, is hindered by the lack of experimental data for Th-carbonate species at conditions beyond ambient. The low-temperature data indicate that carbonate is a strong complexing agent for Th. In this contribution, we investigate the solubility of Th in carbonate-bearing fluids relevant to natural systems (0.05–0.5 m NaHCO3/Na2CO3; pHT ~ 7.8–9.8) at elevated temperature (175–250 °C). We demonstrate that, in contrast to the behavior of Th at low temperature, the stability of Th-carbonate complexes is not sufficient for them to predominate at these conditions. Instead, the solubility of Th is governed by hydrolysis reactions. Under the experimental conditions investigated, the predominant hydroxyl complexes are Th(OH)40 and Th(OH)5−. Thermodynamic formation constants were derived for these species at the temperatures considered in our experiments (log β4 = 43.34 and 44.31 at 175 and 200 °C, respectively, and log β5 = 46.15 and 47.9 at 225 and 250 °C, respectively) to permit forward modeling of Th mobility in natural systems. Our study indicates that carbonate ions are unlikely to play a role in transporting Th in hydrothermal fluids. Summarizing the results of this study and our previous studies of the solubility of Th in hydrothermal fluids, we conclude that SO42− is the primary ligand responsible for the hydrothermal transport of Th.

Heavy metals that are adhered to the surfaces of microplastics in the natural marine environment pose potential threats to marine life. However, little is known about their adsorption mechanisms and composite risks. This study collected seawater, suspended particulate matter (SPM), plankton, and microplastic samples from the waters surrounding Hong Kong, established a method for analyzing 13 heavy metals in the plastisphere, and explored the extrinsic and intrinsic sources of the heavy metals by analyzing natural matrices (seawater, SPM, and plankton) and anthropogenic plastics. We found that heavy metals in the plastisphere were significantly affected by the surrounding matrices, as indicated by its positive correlations with the heavy metals in SPM and plankton at most of the sampling sites. Heavy metals in plankton usually occurred as traces of oxides such as As2O3 and ZnO. The partition coefficients of the studied heavy metals between seawater and the plastisphere were identical to those between the SPM and the plastisphere. No correlations were found between the concentrations of heavy metals in the plastisphere and the heavy metal concentrations, masses, quantities, or surface areas of the microplastics, although some polymer types contained extremely high Cd (676 mg/kg), Pb (1,742 mg/kg), and Zn (1,712 mg/kg) concentrations. Only the Cr, Cu, and Ni concentrations were positively correlated with the specific surface area of the microplastics. A cluster analysis showed that Cr, Cu, and Ni were derived from anthropogenic sources, indicating that adventive heavy metals could be adsorbed by plastics with large specific surface areas. We also established a new composite risk assessment method for heavy metals and microplastics that leverages the specific surface areas of microplastics. The assessment results showed that Cd from Tolo Harbor had a strong ecological risk, while As and Cd from the eastern waters off Hong Kong had moderate composite ecological risks.

Mineral replacement reactions are one of the most important phenomena controlling the geochemical cycle of elements on Earth. In the early years, solid-state diffusion was proposed as the main mechanism for mineral replacement reactions, but over the past 20 years the importance of the coupled dissolution-reprecipitation (CDR) mechanism has been recognized. In the presence of a fluid phase and at low temperatures (e.g.

Rare earth elements (REEs) mobilize, fractionate, and are re-distributed during supergene processes, and thus provide a powerful tool with which to quantitatively reconstruct the effects of chemical weathering. Moreover, under certain conditions, the REEs can concentrate to levels in the regolith sufficient to form giant regolith-hosted REE deposits, that are now responsible for much of the World’s production of heavy REEs (HREEs). Understanding the supergene behavior of the REEs is an important first step towards applying the REEs as a geochemical tool and meeting the growing global demand of the REEs. Thermodynamic calculations predict that dissolution of the main REE minerals in REE-rich protoliths, namely synchysite-(Y), gadolinite-(Y), hingganite-(Y), yttrialite-(Y), allanite-(Ce), eudialyte, chevkinite-(Ce), britholite, euxenite and loparite-(Ce), should occur spontaneously during weathering. It therefore follows that a high abundance of these minerals in the protolith implies high mobility of the REEs during weathering and consequently a high potential for the discovery of economic REE resources. Dissolution of apatite is promoted by metamictization or structural distortion and could be also important at low pH. In contrast, some LREE-fluorocarbonate minerals, notably bastnasite-(Ce) and parisite-(Ce), and monazite-(Ce) are likely thermodynamically stable in acidic environments. Thus, they would be preserved in the regolith. Zircon, titanite, aeschynite, fergusonite, and xenotime-(Y) are resistant to acidic dissolution, consistent with their common occurrence as residual minerals. In the cases of the world-class regolith-hosted REE deposits in South China, the groundwater is mildly acidic to circumneutral and carbonate-rich. The REEs are consequently transported dominantly as hydrated cations and carbonate complexes, depending on the pH. The general inheritance of the REE pattern of the regolith groundwater in the clay-sorbed fraction in the regolith indicates that the REEs in regolith are scavenged from the regolith groundwater. Elemental anomalies of specific REEs in the clay-sorbed fraction are very likely caused by an anomalously high REECO3+ fraction in the corresponding regolith groundwater, suggesting a preferential uptake of the REECO3+ complexes by the clay minerals, feasibly by halloysite through intercalation as interlayer complexes. This reaction is expected to be particularly important for the sorption and enrichment of the HREEs in the regolith. Depending on the pH and carbonate concentration of the water, surface complexation on clay minerals or interlayer intercalation particularly in halloysite control the pattern of REE enrichment. Mixing of the regolith groundwater with the alkaline and carbonate-rich aquifer groundwater increases the pH and carbonate concentration and, in turn, affects the ability of the mixed water to transport the HREEs. Interplay of aqueous complexation with the regolith mineralogy significantly affects the REE fractionation and re-distribution during groundwater-regolith interaction.

Given that poor air quality has obvious negative health impacts, predicting air pollution concentration is crucial and beneficial for public health. Motivated by recent advancements in deep-learning time series prediction, this study proposes a domain-specific Bayesian deep-learning model for long-term air pollution forecast in China and the United Kingdom. Our proposed model carries three novelties: First, we integrate a domain-specific knowledge taking into account the strong statistical relationship between PM2.5 and PM10 as a regularization term; Second, we include an attention layer capable of capturing the influential historical feature, the recursive temporal correlation of air quality data, in our pollution prediction; Third, results generated from different multi-step forecast strategies have been combined based on corresponding uncertainty measures to improve our model's performance. Using Beijing and London as our case studies, our results have shown that the Bayesian deep-learning model outperforms the baseline models. In particular, the incorporation of domain-specific knowledge into the Bayesian deep-learning model reduces prediction errors whilst the integration of Bayesian techniques allows the fusing of different forecast strategies to improve prediction accuracy. Feature selection can be performed and additional influential domain-specific features can be added in future to further improve our deep-learning model's prediction accuracy and interpretability.

In the field of forestry studies, microwave remote sensing has broad applications due to the penetration into the semi-transparent media. This feature is used for the estimation of biophysical parameters and monitoring of deforestation. Therefore, the estimation of biophysical parameters is essential for assessing carbon stock management. Hence, the aboveground biomass (AGB) using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data is recognized as typical approaches in forest application. However, the integrated use of polarimetric (PolSAR) and interferometric (PolInSAR) data might be more efficient tools for AGB mapping. Accordingly, in this study with the integrated data, the efficiency of machine learning techniques including random forest regression (RFR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) model were assessed and compared for the prediction of AGB. The analyses were performed using an image pair of fully polarimetric Radarsat-2 C-band data set and the related field data of Malhan Forest Range, Dehradun Forest Division, which were collected using the systematic sampling technique. Particularly, the training and testing of the models were done using the field sample plots. The experimental results showed that the RFR algorithm provided a better prediction result of AGB than the MLR model. The correlation coefficient (R 2) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) for the RFR algorithm was estimated to be around 0.65 and 24.33 Mg/ha, respectively, while for the MLR model, R2 and RMSE are estimated as 0.54 and 33.05 Mg/ha, respectively. Therefore, it was concluded that the prediction of AGB through the machine learning technique using PolSAR and PolInSAR data has a significant advantage for accurate estimation of the AGB.

Nowadays, and more than a decade after the first steps towards autonomous driving, we keep heading to achieve fully autonomous vehicles on our roads, with LiDAR sensors being a key instrument for the success of this technology. Such advances trigger the emergence of new players in the automotive industry, and along with car manufacturers, this sector represents a multibillion-dollar market where everyone wants to take a share. To understand recent advances and technologies behind LiDAR, this article presents a survey on LiDAR sensors for the automotive industry. With this work, we show the measurement principles and imaging techniques currently being used, going through a review of commercial systems and development solutions available in the market today. Furthermore, we highlight the current and future challenges, providing insights on how both research and industry can step towards better LiDAR solutions.

Growth hormone (GH) is secreted by cells in the anterior pituitary on two time scales: discrete pulses over minutes that occur within a 24-hr pattern. Secretion reflects the balance of stimulatory and inhibitory inputs from the hypothalamus and is influenced by gonadal steroids, stress, nutrition, and sleep/wake states. We propose a novel approach for the analysis of GH data and use this approach to quantify (i) the timing, amplitude and the number of GH pulses and (ii) GH infusion, clearance and basal secretion (i.e., time invariant) rates, using serum GH sampled every 10 minutes during an 8-hour sleep study in 18 adolescents. In our method, we approximate hormonal secretory events by deconvolving GH data via a two-step coordinate descent approach. The first step utilizes a sparse-recovery approach to estimate the timing and amplitude of GH secretory events. The second step estimates physiological parameters. Our method identifies the timing and amplitude of GH pulses and system parameters from experimental and simulated data, with a median R^2 of 0.93, among experimental data. Recovering GH pulses and model parameters using this approach may improve the quantification of GH parameters under different physiological and pathological conditions and the design and monitoring of interventions.

The study involves an object-based segmentation method to extract feature changes in tropical rainforest cover using Landsat image and airborne LiDAR (ALS). Disturbance event that are represents the changes are examined by the classification of multisensor data; that is a highly accurate ALS with different resolutions of multispectral Landsat image. Disturbance Index (DI) derived from Tasseled Cap Transformation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the ALS height are the variables for object-based segmentation process. The classification is categorized into two classes; disturbed and non-disturbed forest cover using Nearest Neighbor (NN), Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The overall accuracy ranging from 88% to 96% and kappa ranging from 0.79 to 0.91. Mcnemar’s test p-value (

Cambodia is witnessing a “Goldilocks moment” in demographic change concurrent with shifts in land use, hydrology, and climate. These trends interact and affect food production, food costs, and food security. Drivers of these trends are typically examined separately with interacting factors considered along disciplinary margins. While science models to explore these interacting effects have been proposed, there remains an applied research gap in integrating these pieces and assessing interdisciplinary opportunities for developing food security solutions. Developed following a request from USAID to elucidate food security conditions in Cambodia, here the authors present their geospatial synthesis of the biophysical and socioeconomic drivers of current food security risk, as well as explore future trends for those conditions. The overall structure shows several interlocking or mutually reinforcing trends in systems that point towards a significant intensification of food insecurity in the near future. They offer an assessment of future targets for food systems innovation.

Seafloor irregularities influence rupture behavior along the subducting slab and in the overriding plate, thus affecting earthquake cycles. Whether seafloor irregularities increase the likelihood of large earthquakes in a subduction zone remains contested, partially due to focus put either on fault development or on rupture pattern. Here, we simulate a subducting slab with a seafloor irregularity and the resulting deformation pattern of the overriding plate using the discrete element method. Our simulations illustrate the rupture along three major fault systems: megathrust, splay and backthrust faults. Our results show different rupture dimensions of earthquake events varying from tens to ca. 140 km. Our results suggest that the recurrence interval of megathrust events with rupture length of ca. 100 km is ca. 140 years, which is overall comparable to the paleoseismic records at the Mentawai area of the Sumatran zone. We further propose the coseismic slip amounts decrease and interseismic slip amounts increase from the surface downwards gradually. We conclude that the presence of seafloor irregularities significantly affects rupture events along the slab as well as fault patterns in the overriding plate.

Koopman mode decomposition is a flow analysis technique developed by Igor Mezic in 2004, based upon the Koopman operator first proposed by Bernard Koopman in 1931. Via Koopman decomposition any non-chaotic well-sampled dynamic system - linear, non-linear, laminar or turbulent - is broken down into single-frequency repetitive components (modes). This paper presents a survey consolidating published information regarding data-driven Koopman analysis techniques. It is intended to aid researchers exploring the suitability of data-driven Koopman analysis in anticipation of developing their own modeling. A basic mathematical explanation of Koopman analysis is given with emphasis toward the data-driven Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) solution, which converges to the Koopman operator given a highly-sampled dataset. The four primary uses of Koopman analysis: flow analysis, power grid analysis, building thermal analysis, and biomedical analysis are discussed, along with other publications. Finally, weaknesses and problems inherent within Koopman analysis/DMD will be enumerated, alongside potential solutions. Koopman analysis is a computationally complex, yet often suitable method for determining periodic motion in any highly-sampled dataset. When compared to a similar analysis method, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, Koopman analysis often provides additional detail regarding the structure of less significant modes present, albeit at the cost of increased computational complexity.

The coarse sand barrier (CSB) is a novel remediation measure to reinforce embankments against the internal erosion mechanism of backward erosion piping (BEP). The feasibility of the CSB is investigated in a research programme consisting of experiments at different scales, numerical analysis and application at a pilot site in the Netherlands. Laboratory experiments showed that the CSB increased the critical head drop for BEP by one order of magnitude. In this paper, the strength of the CSB is quantified using numerical modelling of the experiments. A local, scale-independent, strength criterion for the CSB is derived based on medium-scale experiments. The application of this local criterion is illustrated for a field-scale model, in which the critical head drop that can be retained increases by a factor two to three with the CSB.

Recent palaeomagnetic and seismological studies have strengthened the suggestion that the Moon once possessed a core dynamo. Despite its importance as a constraint on lunar evolution, there is currently no consensus on how such a dynamo was driven. Two groups working independently have arrived at the idea that the lunar dynamo was powered by mechanical stirring of the liquid core. Dwyer et al. investigate the mechanism of a dynamo driven by continuous mechanical stirring arising from the differential motion between the solid silicate mantle and the liquid core beneath. They show that the fluid motions and the power required to drive a dynamo operating continuously for more than 1 billion years are readily obtained by such mechanical stirring. Le Bars et al. propose a model whereby the dynamo action comes from impact-induced changes in the Moon's rotation rate. They show that basin-forming impact events are energetic enough to have unlocked the Moon from synchronous rotation, and that the subsequent large-scale fluid flows in the core, excited by the tidal distortion of the core–mantle boundary, could have powered a lunar dynamo. The origin of lunar magnetic anomalies1,2,3,4,5 remains unresolved after their discovery more than four decades ago. A commonly invoked hypothesis is that the Moon might once have possessed a thermally driven core dynamo3, but this theory is problematical given the small size of the core and the required surface magnetic field strengths6. An alternative hypothesis is that impact events might have amplified ambient fields near the antipodes of the largest basins7, but many magnetic anomalies exist that are not associated with basin antipodes. Here we propose a new model for magnetic field generation, in which dynamo action comes from impact-induced changes in the Moon’s rotation rate. Basin-forming impact events are energetic enough to have unlocked the Moon from synchronous rotation8, and we demonstrate that the subsequent large-scale fluid flows in the core, excited by the tidal distortion of the core–mantle boundary9, could have powered a lunar dynamo. Predicted surface magnetic field strengths are on the order of several microteslas, consistent with palaeomagnetic measurements5, and the duration of these fields is sufficient to explain the central magnetic anomalies associated with several large impact basins.

Drought and heat stress affect global wheat production and food security. Since these climate hazards are expected to increase in frequency and intensity due to anthropogenic climate change, there is a growing need for effective planning and adaptive actions at all timescales relevant to the stakeholders and users in this sector. This work aims at assessing the forecast quality in predicting the evolution of drought and heat stress by using user-relevant agro-climatic indices such as Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and Heat Magnitude Day Index (HMDI) on a multi-annual timescale, as this time horizon coincides with the long-term strategic planning of stakeholders in the wheat sector. We present the probabilistic skill and reliability of initialized decadal forecast to predict these indices for the months preceding the wheat harvest on a global spatial scale. The results reveal the usefulness of the study in a climate services context while showing that decadal climate forecasts are skillful and reliable over several wheat harvesting regions. We would like to acknowledge financial support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (MED-GOLD; Grant No. 776467, EUCP; Grant No. 776613 and FOCUS-Africa; Grant No. 869575) and from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) as part of the project CLINSA (Grant No. CGL2017-85791-R). This study has also received support from C3S_34c (contract number: ECMWF/COPERNICUS/2019/C3S_34c_DWD) of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) operated by ECMWF. B.S.M. acknowledges additional financial support from the Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship (Grant No. 713673) and from a fellowship of ’la Caixa’ Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/IN17/11620038.

Upcoming satellite missions will observe the sea surface height (SSH) fields at a very high spatial resolution, which has generated an urgent need to understand better how well geostrophy can represent the ocean current field at finer scales, particularly in coastal regions characterized by complex flow geometry. We conduct statistical and spectral analyses of high-resolution surface currents and SSHs off the Oregon coast to examine the relative contribution of geostrophy and ageostrophy in coastal ocean currents. We analyze forward numerical simulations based primarily on a regional ocean model (ROMS) and use regional observations of high-frequency radar (HFR)-derived surface currents and altimeter-derived geostrophic currents and a subset of global domain numerical simulations (MITgcm) as secondary resources. Regional submesoscale ageostrophic currents account for up to 50% of the total variance and are primarily associated with near-inertial currents and internal tides. Geostrophy becomes dominant at time scales longer than 3 to 10 days and at spatial scales longer than 50 km, and is dependent on the depth and distance from the coast in the cross-shore direction. Ageostrophy dominates in the near-inertial and super-inertial frequency bands, which correspond to near-inertial motions (Coriolis force dominates) and high-frequency internal waves/tides (pressure gradient dominates), respectively. Because of ageostrophy, it may not be possible to estimate submesoscale currents from SSHs obtained from upcoming satellite missions using the geostrophic relationship. Thus, other concurrent high-resolution in-situ observations such as HFR-derived surface currents, together with data assimilation techniques, should be used for constructive data integration to resolve submesoscale currents.

This contribution discusses the link between migrations in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV), and Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). We use a coupled climate model that allows us to integrate over climate noise and assess underlying mechanisms. We use an ensemble of ten 300-yr-long simulations forced by a 50-yr oscillatory North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)-derived surface heat flux anomaly in the North Atlantic, and a 4000-yr-long preindustrial control simulation performed with GFDL CM2.1. In both setups, an AMV phase change induced by a change in the AMOC’s cross-equatorial heat transport forces an atmospheric interhemispheric energy imbalance that is compensated by a change in the cross-equatorial atmospheric heat transport due to a meridional ITCZ shift. Such linkages occur on decadal time scales in the ensemble driven by the imposed forcing, and internally on multicentennial time scales in the control. Regional precipitation anomalies differ between the ensemble and the control for a zonally averaged ITCZ shift of similar magnitude, which suggests a dependence on timescale. Our study supports observational evidence of an AMV–ITCZ link in the twentieth century and further links it to the AMOC, whose long-time-scale variability can influence the phasing of ITCZ migrations. In contrast to the AMV, our calculations suggest that the PDO does not drive ITCZ migrations, because the PDO does not modulate the interhemispheric energy balance.

The mechanisms that amplify orbitally-driven changes in insolation and drive the glacial cycles of the past 2.6 million years, the Pleistocene, are poorly understood. Previous studies indicate that cloud-phase feedbacks oppose ice sheet initiation when orbital configuration supports ice sheet growth. Cloud phase was observationally constrained in a recent study and provides evidence for a weaker negative cloud feedback in response to carbon dioxide doubling. We observationally constrain cloud phase in the Community Earth System Model and explore how changes in orbital configuration impact the climate response. Constraining cloud phase weakens the negative high latitude cloud phase feedback and unmasks positive water vapor and cloud feedbacks (amount and optical depth) that extend cooling to lower latitudes. Snowfall accumulation and ablation metrics also support ice sheet expansion as seen in proxy records. This indicates that well-known cloud and water vapor feedbacks are the mechanisms amplifying orbital climate forcing.

A three-dimensional nonhydrostatic coastal model SUNTANS is used to study hyperpycnal plumes on sloping continental shelves with idealized domain setup. The study aims to examine the nonhydrostatic effect of the plunging hyperpycnal plume and the associated flow structures on different shelf slopes. The unstructured triangular grid in SUNTANS allows for local refinement of the grid size for regions in which the flow varies abruptly, while retaining low-cost computation using the coarse grid resolution for regions in which the flow is more uniform. These nonhydrostatic simulations reveal detailed three-dimensional flow structures in both transient and steady states. Via comparison with the hydrostatic simulation, we show that the nonhydrostatic effect is particularly important before plunging, when the plume is subject to significant changes in both the along-shore and vertical directions. After plunging, where the plume becomes an undercurrent that is more spatially uniform, little difference is found between the hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic simulations in the present gentle- and mild-slope cases. A grid-dependence study shows that the nonhydrostatic effect can be seen only when the grid resolution is sufficiently fine that the calculation is not overly diffusive. A depth-integrated momentum budget analysis is then conducted to show that the flow convergence due to plunging is an important factor in the three-dimensional flow structures. Moreover, it shows that the nonhydrostatic effect becomes more important as the slope increases, and in the steep-slope case, neglect of transport of the vertical momentum during plunging in the hydrostatic case further leads to an erroneous prediction for the undercurrent.

Current dust storms, originating from afar, are common in Israel and the eastern Mediterranean, and thus most dust sources are considered to be distal. However, recent studies suggest that the latest Quaternary loess accreted in the Northern Negev can also serve as a proximal source of dust. These sources were mostly neglected in past discussions as contributors of dust. Here, we demonstrate that such proximal dust sources, mostly the Negev loess, currently contribute relatively large amounts of recycled dust to the regional dust cycle. We conducted a sampling campaign of deposited dust during individual dust storms and identified high content of coarse silt grains and quartzo-feldspathic minerals within and adjacent to the Negev loess that gradually decreases toward the north. These grains, characteristics of the Negev loess, indicate a short transport distance. In addition, our data reveal that local wind speed is the limiting factor for emitting proximal dust, regardless of the synoptic system. We determined that proximal sources in Israel emit dust during either local events or as a part of regional dust storms originating from afar. We evaluate the minimal contribution of this proximal dust to the total mass of deposited dust as 58–74%, 54–70%, 52–64%, and 26–34% for the northern Negev, central Negev, central mountainous region, and northern Israel, respectively. These estimates indicate that at the desert fringe, both proximal and distal sources of dust should be considered when inferring dust sources from dust geochemistry that can sometimes be similar due to the long dust history.

In the last decades, several studies have revealed how critical the urban heat island (UHI) effect can be in cities located in cold climates, such as the Canadian one. Meanwhile, many researchers have looked at the impact of the city design over the urban microclimate, and have raised concerns about the development of too dense cities. Under the effect of the “Places to Growth” plan, the city of Toronto is experiencing one of the highest rates of building development in North America. Over 48,000 and 33,000 new home permits were issued in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and at the beginning of 2015, almost 500 high-rise proposals across the Greater Toronto Area were released. In this context, it is important to investigate how new constructions will affect the urban microclimate, and to propose strategies to mitigate possible UHI effects. Using the software ENVI-met, microclimate simulations for the Church-Yonge corridor both in the current situation and with the new constructions are reported in this paper. The outdoor air temperature and the wind speed are the parameters used to assess the outdoor microclimate changes. The results show that the new constructions could increase the wind speed around the buildings. However, high-rise buildings will somewhat reduce the air temperature during day-time, as they will create large shadow areas, with lower average mean radiant temperature.

In 2019, record-setting temperatures in Europe adversely affected human health and wellbeing (WMO 2020) and cities - thus, people in urban areas suffered particularly under heat stress. However, not only heat stress but also the differential vulnerability of people exposed is key when defining adaptation priorities. Up to now, local data on vulnerability and particularly adaptive capacities is rather rare. Various aspects of human vulnerability to heat and capacities to adapt to heat stress in urban areas still have to be explored and assessed, for example in terms of the adaptation at home, during work or while commuting to work. The paper presents new findings of a household survey on how and where different groups experience heat stress and how they assess their susceptibility and capacities to cope and adapt. The findings are based on a survey conducted in the medium-sized city of Ludwigsburg, Germany. Findings show significant linkages and correlations between socio-economic factors and heat vulnerability and capacities to respond. The analysis gives special emphasis to relationships between willingness to implement adaptive measures to reduce heat stress risks and risk perception and adaptive capacities. Particularly, the analysis of future adaptation options and the ability and willingness of different households to implement these provides new insights on the differential capacities to adapt and the need for tailor-made transformation programs., Projekt DEAL, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

The Unazuki Reservoir is located on the Kurobe River, which is influenced by a catchment with one of the highest sediment yields in Japan. Due to a sufficiently available discharge during flood events, annual sediment flushing with full water-level drawdown (i.e., free-flow sediment flushing) is conducted to preserve the effective storage capacity of the reservoir. Nevertheless, the upstream half of the reservoir (i.e., study segment) suffers from the excessive deposition of coarser sediments. Remobilization of these coarser materials and their transportation further downstream of the reservoir is a priority of reservoir owners for sustainable reservoir functions, such as flood-risk management and hydroelectric energy generation. In this paper, an already conducted sediment-flushing operation in the Unazuki Reservoir is simulated, and its effects on sediment scouring from the study segment of the reservoir together with changes in bed morphodynamics are presented. A fully 3D numerical model using the finite volume approach in combination with a wetting/drying algorithm was utilized to reproduce the hydrodynamics and bed changes using the available onsite data. Afterwards, the effects of discharge adjustment on the morphological bed changes and flushing efficiency were analysed in the study segment using an additional single-discharge pulse supplied from upstream reservoirs. Simulation results showed that an approximately 75% increase in the average discharge during the free-flow stage changed the dominant morphological process from deposition into an erosive mode in the study segment. If the increase in discharge reaches up to 100%, the flushed volume of sediments from the target segment can increase 2.9 times compared with the initiation of the erosive mode., Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (MEXT)

As connected platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok rise in popular use, communication strategies are forced to grow more condensed and to be transmitted primarily across digital screens. Online short-form video has consequently become a primary format for environmental communication, though research on digital communication remains largely limited to frame analysis and discussions of print and still images. Filling a need in current scholarship on environmental media and aiming to further bridge humanities and communication research, this article offers a model for assessing environmentally themed short-form videos that complements communication studies’ focus on messaging rhetoric with humanities-based film and visual culture analytic tools for assessing the connotative aspect of aesthetic and narrative elements. Intending to offer an applicable framework for environmental messengers, we develop a genre system of short-form videos along cognitive and emotional axes that can be quantitatively identified according to formal practices, demonstrated through an examination of four environmental short-form videos.

The INQUA Dunes Atlas project has developed a global digital database of chronological information for periods of inland or continental sand dune accumulation and stabilization. The database comprises information on the site location (including coordinates), dune type, and stratigraphic context, pertinent analytical information (e.g. luminescence procedures), and literature citations to the original data source. This paper discusses the background to the project, the concept and structure of the chronologic database that forms its core, and gives some examples of the scope of the database and ways in which it can contribute to greater understanding of the spatial and temporal variability in dune development. Fil: Lancaster, Nicholas. Desert Research Institut; Estados Unidos Fil: Wolfe, Stephen. Canadian Geological Survey; Canadá Fil: Thomas, David. University of Oxford; Reino Unido Fil: Bristow, Charlie. Birkbeck University; Reino Unido Fil: Bubenzer, Olaf. Universitat Zu Köln; Alemania Fil: Burrough, Sallie. University of Oxford; Reino Unido Fil: Duller, Geoff. Aberystwyth University; Reino Unido Fil: Halfen, Alan. University of Kansas; Estados Unidos Fil: Hesse, Paul. Macquarie University; Australia Fil: Roskin, Joel. University of Haifa; Israel Fil: Singhvi, Ashok. Physical Research Laboratory; India Fil: Tsoar, Haim. Ben Gurion University of The Negev; Israel Fil: Tripaldi, Alfonsina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Geociencias Basicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geociencias Basicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Yang, Xiaoping. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de China Fil: Zárate, Marcelo Arístides. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; Argentina