Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Environmental Sciences
The impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on European hydro-power generation
Published: 2018-07-02
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
In this paper we analyse and quantify the impact of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the daily hydropower generation in the European countries. We create a consistent dataset of hydropower generation using a machine- learning methodology, this activity is an output of the Copernicus Climate Change Service ECEM contract. The model is set up using generation data on 2015-2016, and then an [...]
Cyclic CO2 – H2O injection and residual trapping: implications for CO2 injection efficiency and storage security
Published: 2018-06-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
To meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 2ºC or below it is widely accepted that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will have to be deployed at scale. The influence of residual trapping on CO2 well injectivity and its response over time has a major impact on the injection efficiency and storage capacity of CO2 storage sites. For the first time, experiments have been [...]
Micromorphological report of Hof ter Coign
Published: 2018-06-28
Subjects: Agriculture, Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Geology, Life Sciences, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Soil Science
Micromorphological report of the Hof ter Coign site (Belgium)
Evaluation of open-access global digital elevation models (AW3D30, SRTM and ASTER) for flood modelling purposes
Published: 2018-06-25
Subjects: Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computational Engineering, Computer Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management
Digital Elevation Models (DEM) are a key piece of information for the accurate representation of topographic controls exerted in hydrologic and hydraulic models. Many practitioners rely on open-access global datasets usually obtained from space-borne survey due to the cost and sparse coverage of sources of higher resolution. In may 2016 the Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency publicly released an [...]
Quantifying the Fate of Wastewater Nitrogen Discharged to a Canadian River
Published: 2018-06-21
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Systems Biology, Water Resource Management
Addition of nutrients, such as nitrogen, can degrade water quality in lakes, rivers, and estuaries. To predict the fate of nutrient inputs, an understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients is needed. We develop and employ a novel, parsimonious, process-based model of nitrogen concentrations and stable isotopes that quantifies the competing processes of volatilization, uptake, [...]
Farmer’s data sourcing: A best practise example for mapping soil properties in permanent crops in South Tyrol (northern Italy)
Published: 2018-06-20
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Soil Science
In agriculture, detailed knowledge of soil properties is a key element for high-quality food production. However, soil data at a single parcel scale are generally unavailable. In this study, a best practice framework is presented where, through an operational chain from an individual farmer through a centralised database and with a geostatistical approach, new knowledge has been generated that [...]
Landscape classification with deep neural networks.
Published: 2018-06-18
Subjects: Computer and Systems Architecture, Computer Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Other Statistics and Probability, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Statistics and Probability
The application of deep learning, specifically deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs), to the classification of remotely sensed imagery of natural landscapes has the potential to greatly assist in the analysis and interpretation of geomorphic processes. However, the general usefulness of deep learning applied to conventional photographic imagery at a landscape scale is, at yet, largely [...]
Secondary microplastics were prevalent in sediment in a freshwater UK urban river
Published: 2018-06-07
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Plastic pollution has been documented in terrestrial and aquatic environments worldwide, with growing concern for ‘microplastics’ (MPs, <5 mm). Understanding of the sources, fate, and impact of MPs remains limited, particularly in freshwater environments. Furthermore, their small sizes and a lack of standardised methodology hinders monitoring and risk assessment of these emerging contaminants. [...]
Steady state analysis of vegetation growth models with correlated white noises
Published: 2018-06-07
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Vegetation community plays a pivotal role in geomorphic processes. However, the growth of vegetation intrinsically depends on the effective shear stresses exerted by the flow of material (e.g. water or soil) along the slope. We comparatively assess the growth and decay of vegetation using linear and logistic growth model coupled with a runoff erosion model. The model parameters are calibrated [...]
Insights into agricultural influences and weathering processes from major ion patters
Published: 2018-06-04
Subjects: Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Hydrology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management
Karst areas and their catchments pose a great challenge for protection because fast conduit flow results in low natural attenuation of anthropogenic contaminants. Studies of the hydrochemistry of karst sources and river solutes are an important tool for securing and managing water resources. A study of the geochemical downriver evolution of the Wiesent River and its tributaries, located in a [...]
Micromorphological report of Tour Anneessens
Published: 2018-05-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Soil Science, Stratigraphy
Micromorphological description of the thin sections retrieved from the Tour Anneesseens site (Brussels, Belgium)
Vibrational modes of hydraulic fractures: Inference of fracture geometry from resonant frequencies and attenuation
Published: 2018-05-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
Oscillatory seismic signals arising from resonant vibrations of hydraulic fractures are observed in many geologic systems, including volcanoes, glaciers and ice sheets, and hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs. To better quantify the physical dimensions of fluid‐filled cracks and properties of the fluids within them, we study wave motion along a thin hydraulic fracture waveguide. We present a [...]
Towards a global interpretation of dual nitrate isotopes in natural water
Published: 2018-05-22
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management
Modern anthropogenic activities have significantly increased nitrate (NO3-) concentrations in surface waters. Stable isotopes (δ15N and δ18O) in NO3- offer a tool to deconvolute some of the human-made changes in the nitrogen cycle. They are often graphically illustrated on a template designed to identify different sources of NO3- and denitrification. In the two decades since this template was [...]
Metabolite cycling indicated by long-range correlation in a sediment bioreactor mixed microbial community
Published: 2018-05-16
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Geophysical surveys add value to biogeochemical studies because of their ability to characterize systems remotely, and their precise time resolution. One limitation, however, is their lack of biogeochemical process specificity. Here, electrochemical time series from an oxic-anoxic cyclical bioreactor experiment were reanalyzed with detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) to distinguish dominant [...]
Surface albedo as a proxy for land-cover clearing in seasonally dry forests: evidence from the Brazilian Caatinga
Published: 2018-05-16
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Ongoing increase in human and climate pressures, in addition to the lack of monitoring initiatives, makes the Caatinga one of the most vulnerable forests in the world. The Caatinga is located in the semi-arid region of Brazil and its vegetation phenology is highly dependent on precipitation, which has a high spatial and temporal variability. Under these circumstances, satellite image-based [...]