Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
MonteCarlo Biphasic Estimation of Fire Properties (McBEF): Part II, Night-time VIIRS Implementation
Published: 2026-03-30
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistics and Probability
This study presents the application and global evaluation of the Monte Carlo Biphasic Estimation of Fire Properties (McBEF) algorithm using nighttime observations from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). McBEF extends traditional fire retrieval techniques by partitioning sub-pixel combustion into flaming and smoldering phases, enabling the estimation of phase-specific [...]
MonteCarlo Biphasic Estimation of Fire Properties (McBEF): Part I, Algorithm formulation
Published: 2026-03-30
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistics and Probability
Sub-pixel fire characterization is essential for quantifying wildfire energetics, combustion phase dynamics, and their atmospheric impacts from satellite observations. This study presents a series of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) to systematically evaluate the influence of temperature phase complexity, channel selection, and intra-phase temperature heterogeneity on the [...]
A snag for nutrient fertilization: decoupled production and export
Published: 2026-03-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Microbiology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Interest in nutrient fertilization waned after inconclusive field experiments, but has resurged. Collating Southern Ocean \textit{in-situ} observations and available fertilization simulations, we find phytoplankton primary production and organic carbon export are uncorrelated in the largest high-nutrient-low-chlorophyll (HNLC) region, while model estimates cast doubt on realistic deployments [...]
No place to hide? Regional resilience and vulnerability to global catastrophic risk
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Agriculture, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Food Science, Forest Sciences, Geography, Public Health
What places on Earth are most resilient to global catastrophic risk (GCR)? We provide the first systematic study of what locations are more resilient to a range of catastrophic threats. We reviewed the literature on resilience factors against the impacts of nuclear war, near-Earth objects, large-magnitude volcanic eruptions, large-scale cyberattacks, high altitude electromagnetic pulse, [...]
Geological controls on Underground Hydrogen Storage in depleted gas fields
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sustainability
The geological storage of hydrogen is an alternative for large-scale energy storage in support of expanding renewable energy systems. The North Sea has hundreds of depleted gas fields that are potential storage sites. Robust screening procedures are necessary to select the most suitable reservoirs in terms of geology. This study investigates the geological controls on hydrogen storage in depleted [...]
Decadal Evolution of Supraglacial Hydrology on the Nivlisen Ice Shelf: From Localized Ponding to Spatially Synchronized Hydrofracture Forcing (2015-2026)
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Computational Engineering, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics
Understanding the mechanical response of Antarctic ice shelves to surface meltwater is critical for evaluating their structural stability. This study presents 11 austral summer seasons (AS 2015-2016 to AS 2025-2026) assessment of supraglacial melt pond dynamics and their mechanical implications for the Nivlisen Ice Shelf grounding zone using Landsat-8/9 imagery combined with in-situ validation [...]
mineralML: Leveraging Machine Learning for Probabilistic Mineral Classification
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Probability, Statistical Methodology, Statistics and Probability, Volcanology
Characterizing phase assemblages in igneous rocks and the chemical variability within these phases is the fundamental basis of many petrological investigations. We present mineralML (mineral classification using Machine Learning), an open-source Python package that classifies common igneous minerals based on oxide chemical data, with prediction scores. mineralML employs a two-stage neural [...]
Nearly three decades of laser altimetry reveal strong regional contrasts and glacier-driven ice losses in Greenland
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Greenland Ice Sheet, a major contributor to sea-level rise, loses mass through complex processes that are not fully understood. Laser altimetry provides direct and accurate measurements of ice sheet surface elevation. Here, we present the first continuous, laser altimetry-based annual reconstruction of Greenland Ice Sheet mass change from 1994 to 2020 at 1 km horizontal resolution. Our novel [...]
Seasonal Anomaly Detection in the Halda River Using a Multivariate Deep Learning Framework
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Monitoring river water quality is essential to preserving ecological integrity, especially in ecologically significant rivers like the Halda, which is renowned for its natural freshwater carp spawning. This study presents a deep learning-based approach using a deep autoencoder neural network for unsupervised anomaly detection in water quality data. Two-year time-series data including daily [...]
Dataset of DInSAR wrapped phase signals for AI-based automated detection and classification of mass movements
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
With the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in remote sensing of mass movements, available datasets for model training and validation are increasingly needed. Although Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) is a widely used technique for studying mass movements, wrapped interferograms remain less exploited, and the importance of geomorphological expertise in their [...]
Analyzing Seasonal Variations in Air Quality with Google Earth Engine: A Case Study of Chattogram, Bangladesh
Published: 2026-03-26
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences
Air pollution is a serious environmental challenge in Bangladesh, significantly affecting public health and the ecosystem. This study considers analyzing the seasonal fluctuation of air quality in Chattogram by analyzing 13 significant areas near the industrial zone by using Google Earth Engine (GEE) to explore the SENTINEL-5P satellite data for key pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), [...]
Atsusa samusa mo higan made: Statistical validation of a Japanese weather proverb across eight stations over 76 years
Published: 2026-03-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Background: Weather proverbs encode centuries of observational knowledge, yet few have been subjected to rigorous statistical testing. The Japanese proverb atsusa samusa mo higan made ("heat and cold last only until the equinox") asserts that seasonal temperature transitions coincide with the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Despite growing international interest in weather folklore verification, [...]
Spatiotemporal Assessment of Urbanisation and Deforestation Impacts on Forest Structure and Vegetation Health in Ekiti State, Nigeria Using Multi-Sensor SAR, Optical, and GEDI Data.
Published: 2026-03-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences
Nigeria’s urban population is projected to reach 70% by 2050, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable land management strategies. This study integrates multi-sensor SAR (ALOS PALSAR, Sentinel-1), optical imagery (Landsat, Sentinel-2), and spaceborne LiDAR (GEDI) to quantify the impacts of urbanization and deforestation on forest structure in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Using Random Forest and [...]
On the Origin of Directional Variability in Earthquake Response Spectra: A Stochastic Covariance Framework
Published: 2026-03-22
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geophysics and Seismology
Directional variability of horizontal earthquake response spectra is commonly described using rotation-based measures such as RotD50 and RotD100, yet its physical and statistical origin remains unclear. This study shows that directional anisotropy arises fundamentally from finite-sample fluctuations of the covariance matrix of filtered ground-motion response. Even under perfectly isotropic [...]
Tectonic reconstruction
Published: 2026-03-21
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This is a book chapter that explains tectonic reconstruction techniques, from the field to the plate scale. It is directed at field geologists who want to place their detailed observations in regional (plate) tectonic context, relative to major plates, mantle or spin axis.