Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Earth Sciences
Current deformation in Hispaniola from InSAR--derived surface velocities
Published: 2026-05-11
Subjects: Earth Sciences
The oblique convergence between the Caribbean and North American plates is accommodated, in Hispaniola, by left-lateral strike-slip on two major left--lateral fault systems and by intra-arc shortening. We apply a Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSInSAR) approach to Sentinel-1 data using six tracks acquired between 2016 and 2023 to generate time series of interseismic velocities over the [...]
Reassessing long-term exhumation rates in magmatic terranes
Published: 2026-05-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Tectonics and Structure
Crustal exhumation is central to mountain building, weathering, and sediment production processes, which significantly influence the composition and behavior of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. It also controls the formation, enrichment, and preservation of porphyry copper deposits, which are a vital source of metals for the clean energy technologies underpinning the global green energy transition. [...]
TiMEpy: A Python Package for Analyzing Tidal Modulation of Fast and Slow Earthquakes
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Due to interactions between the solid Earth and tidal forces, the crust experiences continuous stress perturbations. Understanding how earthquakes respond to tidal stresses provides unique insights into the mechanisms governing earthquake nucleation. Here, we present TiMEpy, an open-source Python package designed to detect tidal modulation in both fast and slow earthquakes. TiMEpy includes [...]
Adaptive Model Parameter Estimation Triggered by the Beneficial Observation Rate from Forecast Sensitivity to Observations
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
In NWP, the assimilation of various observations contributes to improving forecast accuracy. The contribution of each observation can be estimated by existing methods. Empirically, it is well known that only a fraction of assimilated observations are diagnosed as beneficial, meaning that they improve forecast accuracy. Previous studies have indicated that the beneficial observation rate depends [...]
Extreme Heat and Rainfall Risk Attributed to Cumulative CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Producers
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Legal and political approaches to climate accountability require demonstrating that a particular emitter contributed to a climate impact, but quantitative solutions to this attribution challenge remain nascent. This study leverages the proportionality of global warming to cumulative CO2 emissions to develop statistical models that directly predict extreme climate risk from cumulative emissions. [...]
Polar ice-cores unravel the formation of a UV window during magnetic field collapse ~ 42 ka BP
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
During geomagnetic excursions (GEs), compromised magnetic field and increased cosmic-ray bombardment can deplete the ozone layer forming ‘UV window(s)’ in the Earth’s atmosphere. Here, using triple sulfur-isotope systematics in polar ice-core sulfate record spanning 600 years of the Laschamp GE, we provide direct evidence of the formation of a UV window. Several events of UV-induced anomalous [...]
TUD-L2B-EWH\_UNC-GRACE: A Global Level‑2B GRACE(-FO) EWH Uncertainty Product
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Hydrology, Other Earth Sciences
We present a globally gridded Level-2B GRACE(-FO) equivalent water height (EWH) data product that provides a complete characterisation of uncertainty, enabling easy direct use in Earth system research. Unlike conventional uncertainty estimates that either require propagation of full normal matrices or rely on empirical assumptions about temporal and spatial correlations, [...]
EGMSpy: an open-source Python toolkit for scalable data handling, classification, clustering, and visualisation of Copernicus EGMS InSAR data
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Geomorphology
The Copernicus European Ground Motion Service (EGMS) provides millimetre-accuracy line-of-sight displacement measurements for over five billion coherent scatterers across Europe, derived from Sentinel-1 SAR interferometry over the period 2015--2023. Despite the unprecedented spatial coverage and measurement density of this dataset, no open-source integrated toolchain exists for processing, [...]
Forest or tundra? How different vegetation reconstructions of Last Glacial landscapes in Europe may shape our perception of early human dispersal processes
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geography, Human Geography, Nature and Society Relations, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical and Environmental Geography
Regional variability and long-term changes of past ecosystems likely had a strong impact on hunter-gatherer population dynamics, including the expansion of anatomically modern humans and the disappearance of Neanderthals. However, our understanding of these ecosystems remains limited, even when looking at large-scale patterns, such as the extent and distribution of forested areas. Vegetation [...]
Remotely sensed evapotranspiration for corporate water stewardship: Opportunities and limitations in agricultural landscapes
Published: 2026-05-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
Corporate water stewardship (CWS), in which companies engage in or incentivize actions to advance sustainable water resource management, can positively affect water resources, reduce water-related business risks, and support Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainability reporting efforts. Agricultural landscapes affect diverse industries including finance, technology, fuel [...]
A comprehensive study of the CO2-O2 isotope exchange technique to standardize triple oxygen measurements in CO2
Published: 2026-05-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry
A research roadmap for assessing the feasibility of warming Mars
Published: 2026-05-04
Subjects: Astrophysics and Astronomy, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Planetary Sciences
This roadmap outlines research pathways to determine whether Mars could be warmed withnon-biological methods. It does not presuppose that warming Mars is desirable; its purposeis to identify what would need to be true for Mars to be warmed, what it would cost, and whatcould go wrong. Three complementary research tracks appear promising. Solid-stategreenhouse membranes offer local warming, aiding [...]
From 2D labels to 3D structure: Scalable label transfer and benchmarking of 3D vegetation models in rangeland ecosystems
Published: 2026-05-02
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Biogeochemistry, Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing
Three-dimensional (3D) characterisation of vegetation structure at the level of individual growth forms is critical for understanding ecosystem function and resilience, yet remains challenging in rangelands because vegetation is sparse, low-stature, and structurally heterogeneous. Recent 3D deep-learning models perform strongly in forests, but their transfer beyond closed-canopy benchmarks is [...]
Extreme recharge triggers seismicity in a confined karst aquifer in southern Spain
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology, Tectonics and Structure
Hydrological forcing during extreme recharge events can perturb crustal stress and trigger seismicity in a critically stressed crust, yet the coupling between aquifer dynamics and the spatio-temporal distribution of earthquake swarms remains poorly constrained. Here we document such a response during an exceptional rainfall episode in early 2026 that affected a confined karst aquifer in southern [...]
How Do Discrete Global Grid Systems Actually Perform? A Systematic Benchmark Across Geometry, Computation and Relational Joins
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Computer and Systems Architecture, Databases and Information Systems, Earth Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Software Engineering, Spatial Science
As geospatial datasets exceed the billion-row threshold, Discrete Global Grid Systems (DGGS) promise to replace expensive vector spatial joins with fast relational hash-joins on discrete cell identifiers. However, the real-world performance of different grid implementations and the upfront cost of converting vector geometries into grid indexes remains largely unquantified. This paper introduces [...]