Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
A pipeline for representing buildings as fuels in wildland urban fire spread and risk modeling
Published: 2026-07-10
Subjects: Categorical Data Analysis, Databases and Information Systems, Engineering, Geographic Information Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Nature and Society Relations, Other Engineering, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Mechanical Engineering, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical and Environmental Geography, Risk Analysis, Software Engineering, Spatial Science
Wildfires pose an increasing risk to structures and communities located adjacent to or among vegetative landscapes. Yet most open landscape-scale fire modeling workflows still lack a reproducible way to represent buildings as combustible fuels rather than only as exposed assets or nonburnable developed land. This paper presents FireDX, a geospatial data engine that generates standardized, [...]
Novel Source Apportionment Methodologies for Secondary PM2.5 during Extreme Wintertime Meteorological Conditions in the Western U.S.
Published: 2026-06-15
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Traditional receptor-oriented source apportionment methods, such as positive matrix factorization and chemical mass balance, rely on vector-component analyses of robust observational records or pre-determined source fingerprints, respectively. These methods may struggle to resolve sources that are similar in composition due to source fingerprint collinearity. It is important to isolate [...]
The influence of speed and scale of carbon dioxide removal on overshoot peak temperature and duration
Published: 2026-06-11
Subjects: Other Earth Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
CO2 emissions are pushing global temperatures higher, with the Paris Agreement temperature target of limiting warming to no more than 1.5°C above the preindustrial average likely to be exceeded within the next two decades. Overshooting this target before reducing global temperature by the end of the century is increasingly viewed as a potential pathway to still meet the Paris Agreement target, [...]
Future hydrology of a Himalayan basin shaped by elevation dependent shifts in water balance components
Published: 2026-06-11
Subjects: Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Mountainous basins in the Himalayas serve as critical ``water towers'' sustaining downstream livelihoods, yet their hydrological response to climate change is complex due to extreme elevation gradients. This study investigates the future hydrology of the Karnali basin (situated in Western Nepal) by disaggregating water balance components along its elevation profile. Using the fully distributed [...]
vathra.xyz — Crowdsourced Monitoring of Greece's Geodetic Heritage: Architecture, Empirical Results, and Legal Framework
Published: 2026-03-05
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Other Earth Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Greece's national trigonometric network comprises 25,258 geodetic survey points established by the Hellenic Military Geographical Service (HMGS/GYS). This paper presents vathra.xyz, an open-source web platform for crowdsourced condition monitoring of these points using Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) methods. We describe the system architecture (React, PostGIS, Leaflet, browser-based AR [...]
Systematic Evaluation of the Influence of Camera Placement and Settings on the Quality of Photogrammetric Models of Rocks
Published: 2026-02-05
Subjects: Geology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Other Computer Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Despite the widespread adoption of photogrammetry across diverse disciplines, the relative influences of image acquisition parameters on the quality of photogrammetric models are seldom quantitatively understood. To address this, we conducted experiments under controlled lighting conditions, camera positions, and camera settings and evaluated the quality of the resultant models using both a [...]
A Multidisciplinary Data Synthesis for Environmentally-Relevant Beta-Emitting Radionuclides in the Back-End Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Published: 2025-12-14
Subjects: Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This study synthesizes multidisciplinary information—from nuclear physics and environmental science—related to environmentally relevant beta-emitting radionuclides in the back-end nuclear fuel cycle: H-3, C-14, Cl-36, Se-79, Sr-90, Tc-99, and I-129. First, our synthesis shows that these radionuclides are the key contaminants and dominant dose contributors, both in the high-level radioactive waste [...]
Emerging Remote Sensing Tools for Comprehensive Cryosphere Assessment
Published: 2025-10-27
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This review synthesizes current remote sensing (RS) applications for monitoring Earth's cryosphere, encompassing ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, snow cover, permafrost, and mountain ice features. It examines how satellite-based technologies, including radar interferometry, laser altimetry, passive microwave sensors, and optical imagery, have revolutionized cryospheric science by enabling [...]
Global Energy Sector Methane Emissions Estimated by using Facility-Level Satellite Observations
Published: 2025-05-06
Subjects: Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Methane emissions from energy sector facilities (oil, gas, and coal) represent a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions with substantial mitigation potential. We estimate global 2023 methane emissions from energy sector point-sources using the high spatial resolution GHGSat satellite constellation. GHGSat detected 8.30±0.24 Mt yr-1 of methane emissions from 3,114 attributed [...]
The impact hypothesis as a mechanism for the origin of the Amazon basin - analysis of antipodal impacts of celestial bodies and their impact on global morphotectonics
Published: 2025-04-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Amazon Basin is the largest fluvial system on Earth, yet its central subsidence and asymmetrical drainage pattern remain partially unexplained by traditional geological models. This study introduces a novel impact-based hypothesis, proposing that the Amazon depression is a result of tectonic deformation at the intersection of seismic shockwaves originating from two major planetary impacts: [...]
Spatio-temporal analysis of the extremes of precipitation and temperature in the capital cities of India
Published: 2025-01-15
Subjects: Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This study presents an analysis of extreme temperature and precipitation events in the capital cities of India during 40-years study period (1982-2022). Daily maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and rainfall from NASA-POWER were used to compute climate extreme indices, recommended by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) and Expert Team on Sector-Specific Climate [...]
Interactions between human activities and natural processes shape specific conductance and ion composition of United States lakes
Published: 2024-08-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Specific conductance (SC) and major ions are important water quality constituents and key indicators of freshwater salinization. Being relatively conservative and less influenced by biological activity, they integrate hydrologic, climatic, and anthropogenic influences, allowing us to track and understand lake responses to global change. However, the patterns and drivers of macroscale (regional to [...]
TROPICAL STORM SURGE: FORMATION, IMPACT, AND RECENT ADVANCES IN ITS PREDICTION TOWARDS DEVELOPING MITIGATION STRATEGIES
Published: 2024-07-19
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Planetary Sciences
Tropical storm surge poses significant risks to coastal areas, necessitating precise prediction for effective emergency preparedness and mitigation. Recent advances in numerical models such as SLOSH, ADCIRC, and FVCOM have revolutionized storm surge forecasting by accurately simulating complex hydrodynamic processes, bolstered by ADCIRC's use of high-resolution grids and parallel computing for [...]
Mitigating marine plastic debris in Hong Kong: an action plan
Published: 2024-06-01
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The impact of marine debris ranges from ecological and social to economic, including ingestion by wildlife, loss of tourist potential and high costs of clean-ups and reallocation of collected litter. In Hong Kong, an astounding amount of litter is collected annually, encompassing plastic food packaging, bottles and bottle caps. With over 60% of discarded items originating from shoreline [...]
Contemporary and Relic Waters Strongly Decoupled in Arid Alpine Environments
Published: 2023-10-02
Subjects: Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Deciphering the dominant controls on interconnections between groundwater, surface water, and climate is critical to understanding water cycles in arid environments, yet persistent uncertainties in the fundamental hydrology of these systems remain. The growing demand for critical minerals such as lithium and associated water demands in these arid environments has amplified the urgency to address [...]