Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Environmental Sciences
Multidimensional Inconsistency in Forest Ecosystem Representation: An NLP-Assisted Thematic Review
Published: 2026-05-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography
Forest ecosystem monitoring increasingly relies on multisensor remote sensing approaches integrating optical imagery, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and LiDAR observations to assess biomass, degradation, and ecosystem condition. However, these systems frequently generate inconsistent representations of the same ecosystem due to differences in sensor sensitivity, ecological complexity, scale [...]
Spatiotemporal Evolution of Urban Thermal Conditions, Vegetation Dynamics, and Built-up Expansion in Ahmedabad, India (2000–2025) Using Multi-Temporal Landsat Analysis.
Published: 2026-05-11
Subjects: Climate, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Sustainability, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Rapid urban expansion has substantially altered urban thermal conditions across many semi-arid cities. This study examined spatiotemporal variation in land surface temperature (LST), vegetation cover, and built-up intensity across Ahmedabad, India, between 2000 and 2025 using multi-temporal Landsat imagery and the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Spatial analysis revealed progressive expansion [...]
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 [...]
Ecosystem metabolism in the lower Columbia and Willamette Rivers, USA: Insights into the juvenile salmonid food web
Published: 2026-05-08
Subjects: Environmental Sciences
The Columbia River and its major tributary, the Willamette River, are large systems impacted by human activities, including the installation of hydroelectric dams. Hourly measurements of dissolved oxygen (DO) from in situ sensors and laboratory incubations showed that daily net ecosystem production (NEP) was slightly positive in the Columbia, with annual NEP of 121.30 gC m-2 y-1. In the [...]
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 Multi-Dimensional Framework for Diagnosing Inconsistencies in Remote Sensing-Based Ecosystem Assessment
Published: 2026-05-04
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography
Remote sensing-based ecosystem assessment increasingly relies on the integration of spectral, structural, and model-derived datasets; however, inconsistencies among these data sources can produce divergent representations of vegetation dynamics and carbon processes. This study proposes a multi-dimensional framework to diagnose such inconsistencies by integrating scale, dimensional, and variable [...]
Vehicle-Based Methane Detection, Attribution, and Quantification in the Upstream Oil and Gas Sector: Method Overview and Controlled Release Validation
Published: 2026-05-04
Subjects: Environmental Sciences
Vehicle-based measurement systems occupy an important niche in the multi-scale methane measurement landscape between component-level technologies (e.g. OGI) and aerial-based methods. Performance evaluations are often limited to one dimension (e.g. quantification), while methodological opacity limits interpretation and inter-comparisons between technologies. Here, we develop a vehicle-based [...]
From 2D labels to 3D structure: Scalable label transfer and benchmarking of 3D vegetation models in rangeland ecosystems
Published: 2026-05-03
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 [...]
Reduced geomagnetic shielding increased UV-B radiation at Earth’s surface during the Laschamps Event
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Astrophysics and Astronomy, Atmospheric Sciences, Biochemistry, Biogeochemistry, Biology, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Life Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Life Sciences, Paleobiology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Geochemistry, Planetary Geology, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Statistics and Probability
Exposure to excess UV-B radiation can harm organisms through DNA damage and oxidative stress, and has likely been a key ecological and evolutionary driver throughout Earth’s history. Here, we show UV-B at Earth’s surface was significantly increased during the Laschamps Event, the last major geomagnetic excursion ca. 41ka BP. During the Laschamps, we find significant and prolonged (lasting [...]
Direct quantification of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence using compact solar-blind optical radiometers
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Optics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) provides a non-invasive, quantitative measure of plant photosynthetic activity, linking leaf-level physiology to canopy and ecosystem behavior and the global carbon cycle. Current SIF measurements rely on hyperspectral retrievals of the weak fluorescence signal from small changes in Fraunhofer lines or atmospheric absorption features [...]
Climate Change Driven Disruptions in Health Service Uptake and Gender Role Inequities in SubSaharan Africa: A Scoping Review
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Environmental Sciences
Background SubSaharan Africa (SSA) faces deeply intersecting crises in which high climate vulnerability interacts with entrenched gender role inequities, severely compromising population health and resilience. Climatedriven shocks including droughts and floodsdisrupt health systems and disproportionately affect women and girls due to preexisting socioeconomic and cultural [...]
Living on the Edge: Unequal Rise of Global Population Exposure on Steep Terrain
Published: 2026-04-30
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Sustainability
The global population living on steep terrain is rising, so is their landslide risk. However, hotspots and driving mechanisms of increasing exposure remain poorly understood. We assess changes in global gridded population and settlement characteristics on steep terrain (≥ 10◦ hillslope inclination) aggregated over topographic catchments (mean area ∼10,000 km2) for 1975–2025. We find that about [...]
Soil Remineralization in Agroecological Systems: A Critical Review
Published: 2026-04-28
Subjects: Agriculture, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Soil degradation threatens global food security, human nutrition, biodiversity, water resources, and climate stability by depleting soil organic matter, exhausting nutrient reserves, and disrupting carbon and nitrogen cycles. Conventional input‑intensive agriculture has delivered yield gains but has also contributed to widespread micronutrient deficiencies, nutrient loading of waterways, soil [...]
Continuous Water Surface Elevation Estimates Using Deep Learning with Legacy Altimetry and Surface Water and Ocean Topography Data
Published: 2026-04-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management
We present the development of a high-temporal-resolution global dataset of daily river water surface elevation (WSE), spanning January 2008 through May 2025. By utilizing a deep learning framework to integrate legacy satellite altimetry and the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission data, we produced a continuous record covering 9,184 river reaches, 5,926 rivers, and 1,342 basins. The [...]