Preprints
There are 5472 Preprints listed.
Systemic Vulnerabilities in Hispanic and Latinx Immigrant Communities Led to the Reliance on an Informal Warning System in the December 10–11, 2021 Tornado Outbreak
Published: 2022-12-09
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
On December 10–11, 2021, the deadliest December tornado outbreak on record produced a family of EF4 tornadoes that severely impacted communities in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Although the National Weather Service anticipated the outbreak three days earlier, not all communities received life-saving information before, during, or after the disaster. To examine systemic [...]
Correlation of geological complexes of the Khan-Tengri Mountain massif
Published: 2022-12-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Researchers of the border regions of Xinjiang and the Central Asian countries are actively discussing two alternative models for the relationships between the main structural units of the Tianshan mountains. Most researchers believe that the Kyrgyz Middle Tianshan wedges out to the east along the Atbashi-Inylchek-Nalati marginal fault. According to the second hypothesis, the structures of the [...]
Extracting information from ocean color
Published: 2022-12-09
Subjects: Oceanography, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
Products derived from remote sensing reflectances ($R_{rs}(\lambda)$), e.g. chlorophyll, phytoplankton carbon, euphotic depth, or particle size, are widely used in oceanography. Problematically, $R_{rs}(\lambda)$ may have fewer degrees of freedom (DoF) than measured wavebands or derived products. A global sea surface hyperspectral $R_{rs}(\lambda)$ dataset has DoF=4. MODIS-like multispectral [...]
Climate change impacts on surface heat fluxes in a deep monomictic lake
Published: 2022-12-08
Subjects: Life Sciences
Turbulent and radiative energy exchanges between lakes and the atmosphere play an important role in determining the process of lake-mixing and stratification, including how lakes respond to climate and to climate change. Here we use a one-dimensional hydrodynamic lake model to assess seasonal impacts of climate change on individual surface heat flux components in Lough Feeagh, Ireland, a deep, [...]
Global climate change trends detected in indicators of ocean ecology
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Oceanography
Climate change-driven trends in phytoplankton populations, as viewed by Earth-observing satellites, were thought to be masked by strong natural variability, so that >30 years of continuous data was needed to detect a climate trend. Here we show that climate change trends emerge more rapidly in ocean color (remote sensing reflectance, Rrs), as Rrs is multivariate and some wavebands have low [...]
Basin-scale hydrodynamics and physical connectivity in a Great Patagonian Lake
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Patagonian lakes are one of the most unexplored aquatic environments on Earth, and little is known about their thermo-hydrodynamics and current trophic state. Meanwhile, increasing urbanization and industrialization in their catchments compromise their health. Here, we investigate Lake Llanquihue, one of the Earth's great freshwater bodies in Northern Patagonia, Chile. Still considered a pristine [...]
Quantification of the impact of acidified brine on fracture-matrix transport in a naturally fractured shale using in situ imaging and modeling
Published: 2022-12-07
Subjects: Geotechnical Engineering, Hydrology
Understanding flow, transport, chemical reactions, and hydro-mechanical processes in fractured geologic materials is key for optimizing a range of subsurface processes including carbon dioxide and hydrogen storage, unconventional energy resource extraction, and geothermal energy recovery. Flow and transport processes in naturally fractured shale rocks have been challenging to characterize due to [...]
Modeling Earthquake-induced Landslide initiation using the Fibre Bundle Model
Published: 2022-12-05
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Hydrology
Co-seismic landslides are triggered by strong ground shaking in mountainous areas, resulting in threats to human activity and infrastructure. Methods for physically-based modelling of co-seismic landslide triggering play an important role in disaster prevention and mitigation. Current approaches, however, focus on direct and full failure of sloping rocks and soils, and do not cover the dynamics [...]
Global methane pledge versus lower CO2 emissions
Published: 2022-12-05
Subjects: Climate
Methane (CH$_4$) is a potent greenhouse gas whose contribution to anthropogenic radiative forcing of the climate system is second only to carbon dioxide (CO$_2$). CH$_4$ emission reduction has become central to global climate mitigation policy, resulting most notably in the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), pledging a 30\% reduction of CH$_4$ emissions by 2030. Methane is, however, much shorter-lived [...]
A breakthrough in fast flood simulation
Published: 2022-12-05
Subjects: Fluid Dynamics, Hydrology
The current status of technological advancement does not allow to generate complete flood simulations in real-time for large geographic areas. This hinders warning-systems, interactive planning tools and detailed forecasts and as a consequence the population cannot be quickly or reliably informed of where large masses of water will flow. Our novel method computes flood hazard maps over three [...]
Subsurface fracturing of sedimentary stones caused by bullet impacts
Published: 2022-12-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences
The immovable nature of built heritage means that it is particularly vulnerable during times of armed conflict. Although impacts from small arms and shrapnel leave relatively inconspicuous impact scars, they may elevate the risk of future stone deterioration. This study investigates the subsurface damage caused by bullet impacts, which is not apparent from surface inspection, in order to better [...]
Prescribed burns as a tool to mitigate future wildfire smoke exposure: Lessons for states and rural environmental justice communities
Published: 2022-12-04
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Smoke from wildfires presents one of the greatest threats to air quality, public health, and ecosystems in the United States, especially in the West. Here we quantify the efficacy of prescribed burning as an intervention for mitigating smoke exposure downwind of wildfires across the West during the 2018 and 2020 fire seasons. Using the adjoint of the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, we [...]
Functional relationships reveal differences in the water cycle representation of global water models
Published: 2022-12-04
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Global water models are increasingly used to understand the past, present, and future water cycle, but disagreements between models make model-based inferences uncertain. While there is empirical evidence of a number of large-scale hydrologic relationships, these relationships are rarely used for model evaluation. Here we evaluate global water models using functional relationships that capture [...]
A Web-based Analytical Urban Flood Damage and Loss Estimation Framework
Published: 2022-12-04
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering, Risk Analysis, Systems and Communications
Information and communication technology serves a crucial role in communicating flood risk and consequences to a broad range of stakeholders and facilitating mitigation decisions. While studies extensively utilize flood inundation maps for communicating flood risks, there is a need to integrate a broad spectrum of physical vulnerability parameters into risk estimates at various spatial scales. [...]
An interconnected palaeo-subglacial lake system in the central Barents Sea
Published: 2022-12-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Sedimentology
Drainage of meltwater beneath an ice sheet influences ice-flow dynamics. To better predict ice sheet behaviour, it is crucial to understand subglacial hydrological processes. Subglacial lakes are important components of the subglacial hydrological system, with many observed and predicted at the beds of contemporary and palaeo-ice sheets. The technical and logistical challenges of studying [...]