Preprints
There are 7691 Preprints listed.
Systematic validation of 3D ground-based radars for tracking birds and bats
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Ground-based radar (GBR) is increasingly used to quantify bird and bat movement in support of ecological studies, environmental monitoring, and collision risk assessment, yet few studies have systematically validated radar-derived tracks against targets with known positions. We evaluated the performance of two commercially available 3D GBRs using controlled drone flights that were designed to [...]
P-T-t-d history of the Greater Himalayan Sequence in the Zanskar Shear Zone, NW India
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
A synthesis of pressure-temperature-time-deformation (P-T-t-d) conditions tracks the evolution of the Greater Himalaya Sequence (GHS) exhumed along the Zanskar Shear Zone (ZSZ), the western arm of the South Tibetan Detachment that spans the entirety of the Himalayan range. The dominant mineralogy is Qz + Kfs + Pl + Bt + Grt + Ilm + Sil(Fi) ± Ms ± Ky ± St. P-T paths constructed from pseudosection [...]
Urban Sprawl and Traffic-Related Air Pollution in Greater Gaborone: A Spatial Analysis of the Land Use–Transport–Environment Relationship
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Rapid urban sprawl in many Sub-Saharan African cities has significantly reshaped urban mobility patterns, resulting in longer commuting distances, increased private vehicle dependence, and growing pressure on major transport corridors. These trends have important implications for environmental quality, urban sustainability, and climate resilience. This paper investigates the spatial relationship [...]
Changes to the Madden-Julian Oscillation with Surface Temperature Warming in Aquaplanet Simulations
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Interactions between waves and the mean-state in the tropics are of fundamental importance for reliable future projection of tropical waves and their impacts under anthropogenic climate change. The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is the dominant source of weather variability over many parts of the globe on intraseasonal timescales. In this study, we investigate the influence of mean-state changes [...]
Assessment of methods for collection, preservation, and storage of water samples for dissolved methane and nitrous oxide concentration measurements
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) are potent greenhouse gases produced and consumed in freshwater and marine systems. Their measurement in water is challenging due to contamination risks at various sampling, storage, and analysis stages. Samples that are stored before analysis are commonly preserved with mercuric chloride (HgCl2), which is highly toxic. To date, no studies have conducted a [...]
Estimating Extreme Gusts via Optical Flow Tracking from Defoliated Tree Motion
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Meteorology
Peak 3-second gusts (s₃) during severe storms are critical drivers of wind damage, yet their fine-scale dynamics remain difficult to measure. Visual Anemometry (VA) unlocks the possibility of spatially dense wind speed estimates, yet its performance under extreme winds remains poorly understood. Here, we combine physics-based simulations of tree motion with Optical Flow Tracking Velocimetry [...]
Seasonal and interannual dynamics of estuary connectivity along the California coast
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Remote Sensing
Intermittently closed estuaries are globally widespread and ecologically important, yet their mouth-state dynamics are difficult to observe simultaneously at multiple estuaries, limiting understanding of how regional forcing and local controls shape estuary-ocean connectivity. We developed a multi-year record of estuary mouth connectivity for 66 intermittently closed estuaries along the [...]
Predicting Elephant Crop-Raiding with Machine Learning to Inform Conservation Planning: A Case Study Comparing the Performance and Tradeoffs of GeoAI Algorithms in Northwestern Zimbabwe
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Natural Resources and Conservation, Nature and Society Relations, Remote Sensing, Spatial Science
Human–elephant conflict (HEC) is a persistent socio-environmental challenge arising from the intersection of wildlife ecology, land use change, and development. African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) come into conflict with humans when space and resource needs overlap. Patterns of HEC are complex and the relationships between drivers and conflict are not always linear. In northwestern [...]
DispSAC: Surface-wave dispersion inversion using soft actor-critic reinforcement learning
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Surface-wave inversion (SWI) is widely used to image shear-wave velocity structure in the crust and upper mantle. Locally linearized methods offer computational efficiency but can be sensitive to the initial model and regularization, whereas Bayesian sampling methods can characterize model uncertainty at substantial computational cost. Neural networks provide another route to efficient inversion, [...]
Hydrogeochemical Vectoring to Concealed Porphyry Copper Systems Using Unsupervised Machine Learning: A Case Study from Central British Columbia, Canada
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Geochemistry, Geology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing
Environments with thick cover present a challenge to surficial exploration efforts the Canadian Cordillera has extensive Quaternary glacial till and sediment cover, making it difficult to find hidden ore bodies. An alternative is using hydrogeochemistry as an exploration tool, to detect anomalies associated with mineralization. This study demonstrates the hydrogeochemical vectoring to [...]
Encouraging Wildfire Mitigation Action Via National Weather Service Fire Weather Products
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Geography, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability
Wildfire mitigation actions intend to reduce the probability and consequences (risk) of wildfire to critical assets by protecting the life and property of the public and emergency responders during and after a wildfire event. Given mitigation activities span a continuum of timescales from minutes to years and multiple orders-of-magnitude in terms of costs, an opportunity exists to encourage [...]
Sparse validation can mask process errors in urban flood modelling: evidence from large multimodal model-assisted video observations
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Hydraulic Engineering
Urban flood models support drainage-system planning and flood risk management. However, due to the scarcity of monitoring data, model calibration and validation often rely on sparse observations, leaving the process fidelity of models insufficiently assessed. Here, we used large multimodal model-assisted video interpretation to derive minute-level ordinal inundation observations and evaluate the [...]
Assessing the carbon footprint of a large international research program: study case of the BRIDGES kick-off meeting
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Environmental Sciences
There is a rising concern in the academic community about the environmental impact of research activities. Carbon footprints are typically evaluated at the laboratory or institutional level, but there are lacking an evaluations at the level where research is actually performed, i.e. at the level of research projects. In this work, we focus on the french BRIDGES international research program as a [...]
Skillful Seasonal Tropical Cyclone Prediction with AI Weather--Climate Models Forced by Dynamically Predicted SSTs
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
AI weather-climate models are far cheaper than dynamical seasonal prediction models and have shown skillful tropical cyclone (TC) prediction under persisted sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, but their skill under dynamically predicted ocean boundary conditions, benchmarked against an established dynamical seasonal prediction system, is untested. We evaluate eight seasonal hindcast [...]
Groundwater-dependent ecosystems are missing from global research and policy agendas
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Hydrology, Sustainability, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management
A groundwater-dependent ecosystem (GDE) can be a stream or wetland sustained by groundwater, a terrestrial ecosystem that relies on groundwater for root water uptake, or the biodiversity that lives within aquifers. These ecosystems perform hydrological, ecological, and climate functions, and are meaningful to people through recreational, spiritual, and cultural practices. Traditionally studied at [...]