Preprints
There are 7741 Preprints listed.
Earthquake damage mapping from Sentinel-1 modeling against coherence damage proxy
Published: 2026-09-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
This paper tests whether a supervised model that uses the same Sentinel-1 signal as the coherence damage proxy can rank earthquake damage better than the proxy itself. Damage grades from Copernicus EMS for four earthquakes are joined to 783 635 OpenStreet- Map footprints over 28 assessed areas, and the coherence drop is aggregated to buildings, morphological blocks and cells of 50 m to 400 m. A [...]
Super El Niño can raise coastal extreme sea-level risk tenfold
Published: 2026-09-30
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
El Niño-Southern Oscillation is a dominant mode of global climate variability with a range of societally relevant impacts. However, its effect on global coastal sea-level extremes remains poorly quantified, especially for very strong ("super") El Niños, which are rare. Here we analyse global reanalyses, hindcasts, and reconstructions to quantify how El Niño alters extreme sea level frequencies [...]
Transferability of ML emulators for polar RCM surface melt under different forcings: Limitations and recommendations
Published: 2026-09-30
Subjects: Climate, Glaciology
Machine learning emulators provide a computationally efficient alternative to physically based regional climate and surface mass balance models, but their applicability depends on their ability to generalize beyond training conditions. In this study, we assess the transferability of a melt emulator trained on output from the regional climate model HIRHAM5 forced by ERA-Interim, CESM2, and [...]
Annual mean methane emissions from individual oil-gas point sources worldwide inferred from multi-satellite plume-imaging observations
Published: 2026-09-30
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Plume-imaging satellite instruments routinely reveal large methane point source emissions from oil and gas systems. But the observations are for instantaneous plumes, and the instruments have limited detection and revisit capabilities, making it challenging to infer time-averaged emission rates as needed for emission inventories and reporting. Here we develop a general method to infer the [...]
Light- and CO2-dependent carbon isotope fractionation in the β-cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002
Published: 2026-09-30
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences
Carbon isotope fractionation during photosynthetic carbon fixation by phytoplankton (εₚ) underpins proxies for reconstructing past atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. The interpretation of εₚ is commonly based on steady-state flux-balance models that link isotopic fractionation to the balance between cellular carbon demand and supply, with Rubisco carboxylation providing the primary fractionating [...]
From Pixels to Mobile Pastoral Households: Scale Mismatch, Exposure Measurement, and Inference in Mongolian Rangeland Research
Published: 2026-09-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences
Spatially explicit Earth-observation products and machine-learning models increasingly support detailed monitoring of vegetation productivity and land-surface dynamics across Mongolia. Yet the spatial unit observed by a satellite, the area actually grazed by a mobile herd, the administrative unit used in official statistics, and the household unit used in socioeconomic surveys are rarely [...]
Vulnerability to flood-sensitive environmentally persistent zoonoses: a scoping review
Published: 2026-09-29
Subjects: Public Health
Background Environmentally persistent zoonoses (EPZs), such as leptospirosis and melioidosis, are caused by pathogens that can survive outside of a host for over 48 hours. Their transmission is sensitive to climate hazards such as flooding, which can disperse pathogens and increase opportunities for spillover. Risk of exposure to EPZs during flooding is influenced by the vulnerability of exposed [...]
Seasonal water-source transitions across livelihood systems in Somalia: Spatial heterogeneity and household correlates
Published: 2026-09-29
Subjects: Geography
Water access in dryland settings is commonly represented by a single primary drinking-water source, although households may reorganize their water supply as rainfall, source availability, mobility, and market access change between seasons. This study examines rainy-to-dry water-source transitions across livelihood systems in Somalia using the nationally representative 2022 Somalia Integrated [...]
Fit for purpose evapotranspiration measurements: A multi-site comparison of lower-cost approaches across croplands and shrublands
Published: 2026-09-29
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Evapotranspiration (ET) links the water and energy cycles, yet research-grade eddy covariance (EC) systems may not be the best option to deploy operationally for water management. Emerging lower-cost ET approaches may expand fit-for-purpose observations, but their reliability across contrasting ecosystems, climates, and instrumentation configurations remains uncertain. Here, we evaluate [...]
Fractures and Floods: Small-scale spatial and temporal processes driving change in a relic ice-shelf basal channel
Published: 2026-09-29
Subjects: Glaciology
Basal channels, which form beneath ice shelves due to localized warm or fast-moving water, may weaken ice shelves by localizing deformation that promotes crevasse formation. Here, we test this hypothesis and investigate the role of fracturing and melt generation in the evolution of an ice shelf basal channel. We use ground-based ice-penetrating radar imaging of change over 3 years for the [...]
Forecasting the moisture content of live forest fuels with a transformer machine learning model and Sentinel-2 satellite data
Published: 2026-09-29
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Monitoring, Forest Biology, Forest Sciences, Meteorology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Plant Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Hydrology, Planetary Sciences, Plant Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Live fuel moisture content (LFMC) provides an indicator of vegetation flammability, the potential for canopy dieback from drought, and habitat quality for arboreal fauna. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have increased the potential in meteorological forecasts for Earth surface forecasting. Combining weather forecasts with remotely sensed LFMC offers a promising avenue for short and [...]
Model-Based Assessment of Geogenic Radon Exposure in Chaco Canyon and Adjacent Ancestral Puebloan Residential Settings
Published: 2026-09-29
Subjects: Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Public Health, Geochemistry, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Physics, Paleontology, Sustainability
Naturally occurring radon-222 and its short-lived alpha-emitting progeny are important sources of environmental radioactivity in enclosed, earth-contact spaces, yet their potential relevance to archaeological built environments has rarely been quantified. Here we evaluate chronic radon exposure in Chaco Canyon, where Ancestral Pueblo people occupied earth-contact and semi-subterranean rooms [...]
Unlocking Historical Sea Level Records through Digitisation—A Review and Inventory
Published: 2026-09-28
Subjects: Life Sciences
Multi-decadal to centennial sea-level time series are essential for quantifying historic trends in mean and extreme sea levels, refining future projections, calibrating coastal models, and supporting coastal management and adaptation strategies. Data archaeology can increase the spatial coverage and length of timeseries through the recovery of historical observations from paper-based records. [...]
BEYOND PREDICTION: A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR ADVANCED AI IN AFRICAN SOIL INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Published: 2026-09-28
Subjects: Computer and Systems Architecture, Dynamical Systems, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Soil Science, Sustainability
Digital soil mapping has produced the first continent-wide baseline estimates of soil properties in Africa, yet existing soil information systems remain fragmented, poorly standardized, and largely confined to static offline spatial prediction. Their ability to capture near-real-time soil conditions or provide timely, field-level decision support is therefore limited. This paper argues that the [...]
Propagation of the Storegga tsunami in the southeastern North Sea
Published: 2026-09-28
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Numerical simulations of the 8150 BP Storegga slide event in the Norwegian Sea are necessary for understanding both landslide dynamics and tsunami propagation. Here we focus on the southern North Sea, South East of Dogger Bank, and the shores of Denmark and Germany where there have been reports of Storegga tsunami deposits. We simulate the slide using a recently developed cohesive landslide model [...]