Preprints
There are 5432 Preprints listed.
Interactive annular mode links jet stream-ocean coupling to decadal Northern Hemispheric warmth
Published: 2025-03-17
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The atmospheric jet stream governs the distribution and intensity of midlatitude weather systems and climate variability. In the Northern Hemisphere, meridional migrations of the jet stream are directly linked to the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events. While previous studies have established that jet stream fluctuations are modulated by spatio-temporal variations in diabatic [...]
Origin of the Harappan Ernestites: Fabrication and Raw Materials
Published: 2025-03-17
Subjects: Geochemistry, Geology, Other Earth Sciences
Significant developments in stone bead technology in South Asia, including drilling techniques, happened during the Harappan civilization. Among the stone drill bits used for bead making, long and constricted cylindrical drill bits made from a unique stone named Ernestite were exclusive to the Harappan civilization. Most Ernestites have been discovered in the Harappan cities in Gujarat, India. [...]
Orogenic architecture diagrams to reconstruct paleogeography and plate tectonics: Newfoundland (Canada) as a case study
Published: 2025-03-17
Subjects: Geology, Tectonics and Structure
Reconstructing paleogeography from accretionary records is challenging due to the difficulty of integrating data sources from different specialized fields. Here, we present the ‘orogenic architecture diagram’ method to systematically compile geological data in temporal and spatial context at the scale of nappes - the ‘building blocks’ of orogens - and to use their interpreted geological histories [...]
A Data-Driven Method for Improving Historical Maps' Positional Accuracy
Published: 2025-03-16
Subjects: Engineering, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Other Engineering
Positional accuracy improvement (PAI) of historical maps involves correcting their inherent geometric distortions, which often limit their usability in modern applications. Although resurveying an entire map provides the most accurate solution for PAI, it is costly, time-consuming, and often impossible. This study proposes a cost-effective, alternative data-driven method, using Generalized [...]
Towards HydroLLM: A Benchmark Dataset for Hydrology-Specific Knowledge Assessment for Large Language Models
Published: 2025-03-15
Subjects: Environmental Engineering
The rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) has enabled their integration into a wide range of scientific disciplines. This paper introduces a comprehensive benchmark dataset specifically designed for testing recent large language models in hydrology domain. Leveraging a collection of research articles and hydrology textbook and, we generated a wide array of hydrology-specific questions [...]
Reflections on the first State of the Map Conference in Malawi
Published: 2025-03-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Remote Sensing, Spatial Science
State of the Map (SotM) conferences are important events that enable OpenStreetMap (OSM) contributors and users to present and discuss their work. However, when international SotM conferences are held in the Global North countries, participation by African geoscientists is not guaranteed due to various barriers, including travel costs and visa restrictions. Conversely, locally held SotM [...]
How to deal w___ missing input data
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Hydrology, Water Resource Management
Deep learning hydrologic models have made their way from research to applications. More and more national hydrometeorological agencies, hydro power operators, and engineering consulting companies are building Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) models for operational use cases. All of these efforts come across similar sets of challenges—challenges that are different from those in controlled scientific [...]
Understanding Flood Risk in Public Transit Systems: Insights from Accessibility and Vulnerability Analysis in Iowa
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering, Risk Analysis, Spatial Science, Transportation Engineering
Flooding is a major challenge for urban transportation systems, hindering access to essential services and jobs, especially for vulnerable populations. This study examines the impact of large flood extents on public transportation in Johnson and Linn counties, Iowa, United States, focusing on flood-prone bus routes, reduced service frequency, and access to job locations. Using Geographic [...]
Embracing Large Language Model (LLM) Technologies in Hydrology Research
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Hydrology
The growing complexity of hydrological systems necessitates innovative approaches to data management, knowledge management, and model development. Large Language Models (LLMs) have great potential to revolutionize hydrological research by unifying and advancing these three critical aspects. In this perspective work, we review recent advances and applications of LLMs and exemplify using LLMs in [...]
Summertime sediment storage on the Alaskan Beaufort Shelf and implications for ice-sediment rafting and shelf erosion
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Arctic coastlines are known to be rapidly eroding, but the fate of this material in the coastal ocean (and the sedimentary dynamics of Arctic continental shelves in general) is less well-constrained. This study used summertime mooring data from the Alaskan Beaufort Shelf to study sediment-transport patterns which are dominated by waves and wind-driven currents. Easterly wind events account for [...]
Thermogenic Methane Production in Antarctic Subglacial Hydrocarbon Seeps
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Methane forms beneath ice sheets through microbial methanogenesis and thermogenic breakdown of organic matter, creating a potentially large greenhouse gas reservoir prone to release during glacial retreat. Subglacial thermogenic methanogenesis can increase gas buildup and create oases for life, but this process has not yet been observed in Antarctica, contributing to uncertainty in the spatial [...]
Collaborative Assessment of a Large-Scale Integrated Landscape Restoration Project in the Steep-Slope Regions of Central Africa
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Engineering, Life Sciences
Landscape restoration projects are among the most extensive conservation actions at the global level that have been promoted in the last three decades. Such projects, however, cannot exclusively be based on the restoration of natural and semi-natural ecosystems, but should focus on a cultural landscape approach balancing environmental and socio-economic needs. One of the largest restoration [...]
Ediacaran coupling of climate and biosphere dynamics
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Climate, Glaciology, Paleontology, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Throughout the Phanerozoic (538.8 Ma to present), climate change is demonstrably linked to radiations, extinctions, and turnovers in the biosphere. Here, we show that this connection existed in the late Ediacaran (~579 to 538.8 Ma), the first interval in Earth’s history to host complex macro-organisms, including early metazoans. Current correlations of glacial sedimentary deposits have been used [...]
Solar control of global mean temperature outweighed since 1940s by anthropogenic warming (by airborne soot, not CO2): literature synthesis
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
Primarily solar control of global warming and cooling for the last 9,000 years is proven by the striking likeness between published graphs of (1) average near-surface air temperature (from proxies and, since 1880, NASA-GISS thermometer data) and (2) solar-magnetic output. Graph-to-graph visual cross-matching of spikes (peaks, troughs) and of multi-century trends reveals a ~150-year temperature [...]
Hothouse hydrology: Evolving river dynamics in the Eocene Montllobat and Castissent Formations, Southern Pyrenees
Published: 2025-03-14
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Environmental forcings have shaped landscapes and basins across geologic history, and Earth’s surface is projected to undergo rapid change in the near future amidst increasing climate extremes. Rivers are highly sensitive to climate and tectonic change, and understanding how fluvial systems respond to greenhouse climates in dynamic tectono-geomorphic settings is vital to projecting imminent [...]