Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Knowledge graph and dataset of global storms (1990–2023)
Published: 2026-11-12
Subjects: Education, Engineering, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
From 1990 to 2023, storms accounted for 45.3% of recorded disaster damage and 18.2% of disaster deaths. Yet impact records do not say how strong a storm was where it struck, who was exposed or why a value is missing. This knowledge graph and dataset cover storms of eleven subtypes recorded in the Emergency Events Database from 1990 to 2023, in 1,595 country-years and 3,492 storm- country records. [...]
Adjoint measurement and calibration of Manning roughness in E3SM's river dynamical core
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We present a transient discrete adjoint of RDycore, the river dynamical core of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM), and use it to measure how much of a flood model's error its roughness parameter can remove. We differentiate the production solver in place rather than port it to a differentiable-programming framework: one exact, assembled shallow-water Jacobian serves the implicit [...]
Contrasting rainfall and heat risks to southern African maize during El Niño
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
El Niño poses substantial risks to maize production in southern Africa, but the relative contributions of rainfall deficits and heat, and the opportunities to anticipate these hazards, vary geographically. We combine historical climate–yield analysis across ten southern African countries with verification of forecasts from two models to assess these risks and their predictability. National and [...]
A new approach to the retrieval of Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity from multi-channel instruments: an Optimal Estimation methodology for the ASTER instrument
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
With increasing demand for higher-spatial-resolution land surface temperature (LST) data, there is a need to characterise the thermal land surface in terms of both LST and land surface emissivity (LSE). This paper presents the first optimal estimation retrieval of LST and LSE from high-spatial-resolution, multi-band thermal infrared observations, demonstrated using the five-channel ASTER [...]
GeoPFN: subsecond geological field reconstruction with constrained uncertainty maps
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Characterising spatially variable geological fields from sparse, noisy measurements remains challenging, particularly where abrupt geological contacts occur between sensors. This study presents GeoPFN, a prior-data fitted network that reconstructs clean hydraulic conductivity and pointwise predictive uncertainty from readings on irregular sensor layouts and a supplied noise level in less than a [...]
Imbibition in 3D porous media is shaped by long-range capillary- and shear-driven flow-field dynamics
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
As a wetting fluid invades a porous material, it displaces a less-wetting fluid through sudden pore-scale events, commonly breaking the latter into isolated ganglia that can be trapped, mobilised and fragmented. Three-dimensional flows inside the ganglia shape the displacement dynamics but are difficult to measure and thus currently poorly characterised. Here, 3D X-ray particle tracking [...]
A Thermodynamic Framework for Quantifying Firn Thermal Evolution: Cold Content Depletion, Energy Barrier Reduction and Thermal Commitment of Austfonna Ice Cap, Svalbard (2009-2022)
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Svalbard is warming several times faster than the global mean, yet most glaciological studies characterise firn thermal change through temperature trends alone rather than the underlying thermodynamic state. This study develops a linked diagnostic framework, cold content (CCcol), energy barrier (EBrelative), advective Péclet number (Peadv), and thermal relaxation time (τ) and applies it to a [...]
Submesoscale dynamics of dense overflows. Part II: Near-inertial wave trapping and reflection
Published: 2026-11-10
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Near-inertial waves (NIWs) are energetic at high latitudes, yet their interactions with the strongly baroclinic flows of the dense overflows that ventilate the deep ocean have received little attention. Combining linear ray tracing and spectral analysis with a three-dimensional large-eddy simulation of an idealized dense overflow, we examine how the background flow and potential vorticity (PV) [...]
Submesoscale dynamics of dense overflows. Part I: Potential vorticity fluxes and symmetric instability
Published: 2026-11-10
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Dense overflows descending from continental shelves are a key component of the global overturning circulation, yet the submesoscale processes that shape their potential vorticity (PV) structure and drive cross-shelf exchange remain poorly understood. This study uses a three-dimensional large-eddy simulation of a dense overflow to examine how surface cooling and the descending gravity current set [...]
Permeability anisotropy systematically deflects fluid flow in volcanic media
Published: 2026-11-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Permeability is fundamental in volcanic systems, governing heat and mass transfer across spatial scales and controlling pressurisation of the edifice and conduit. In nature, permeability is rarely isotropic and should be treated as a second-order tensor rather than a scalar. This contribution experimentally demonstrates directional dependence of permeability in transversely isotropic volcanic [...]
Advanced flood hazard zonation, risk profiling and Susceptibility mapping in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, using a Hybrid GloFAS-NASA DEM-MERIT HAND-socioeconomic vulnerability mapping Approach, validated using Sentinel-1 SAR in the Google Earth Engine computing environment.
Published: 2026-11-10
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Flood incidents in Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria, are one of the most frequently occurring natural disasters in recent times, which poses significant threat to lives, infrastructure and buildings in Urban and semi-urban districts of the city. Despite significant research effort geared towards flood susceptibility mapping globally, limited success has been achieved in the global south, due [...]
Cyclone--Anticyclone Asymmetry Organizes Local Energy Transfers during Mixed Layer Instability
Published: 2026-11-06
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Mixed layer instability (MLI) generates submesoscale fronts, filaments, and eddies, yet how cyclone--anticyclone asymmetry shapes the spatial distribution of energy transfers remains unclear. Ageostrophic convergence during frontal sharpening amplifies cyclonic vorticity, first producing a positively skewed vorticity distribution and later a cyclonically biased flow. We analyze a freely evolving [...]
GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF STREAM SEDIMENTS IN PART OF GIDA KWANO CAMPUS, FUT, MINNA (ZUNGERU SHEET 163SE)
Published: 2026-11-06
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This geochemical study analyzes ten stream sediment samples from the Gidan Kwano area in Minna (Zungeru Sheet 163SE), located in North-Central Nigeria, to evaluate the region's geological history, mineral potential, and environmental characteristics. Geological mapping identified three distinct rock units: granite, granitoid, and diorite. Using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, the study [...]
UpStream: A Modular, Metadata-First Architecture for Environmental Sensing During Intensive Observation Periods
Published: 2026-11-05
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Campaign-scale environmental sensing produces heterogeneous, high-frequency datasets that strain file- and portal-centric workflows and impede decision support. This paper presents UpStream, an API-first, metadata-supported, modular prototype for campaign-scale environmental sensor data. Co-designed with the SNIFFER air-quality laboratory, UpStream treats campaigns as first-class entities with [...]
Role of Reforestation in Reducing Landslide Risk in Galyat, Pakistan: A Remote Sensing and GIS-Based Temporal Analysis (2011–2025)
Published: 2026-11-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Landslides are among the most common natural hazards in mountainous regions, often resulting in loss of life, damage to infrastructure, and destruction of agricultural land. Forest cover plays an important role in slope stabilization, soil erosion control, and landslide-risk reduction; however, empirical evidence regarding this relationship in specific mountainous landscapes remains limited. This [...]