Preprints
There are 7999 Preprints listed.
On the Emergence of Tortured Phrases: A Threat to Scientific Integrity - The Example of 'Heavy Metal'
Published: 2024-07-17
Subjects: Education, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
For some time, I have advocated for banning the term "heavy metal" from scientific literature due to its frequent misuse, suggesting "potentially toxic element" as a replacement. The rise of "tortured phrases," generated by paraphrasing software to avoid plagiarism detection, now further threatens scientific integrity. These nonsensical terms complicate comprehension and dilute the clarity [...]
geodl: An R package for geospatial deep learning semantic segmentation using torch and terra
Published: 2024-07-18
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Programming Languages and Compilers
Convolutional neural network (CNN)-based deep learning (DL) methods have transformed the analysis of geospatial, Earth observation, and geophysical data due to their ability to model spatial context information at multiple scales. Such methods are especially applicable to pixel-level classification, or semantic segmentation, tasks. A variety of R packages have been developed for processing and [...]
Equality, diversity and inclusion recommendations and best practice from NERC Doctoral Training Partnerships & Centers for Doctoral Training: DEI Forum Report 2023
Published: 2024-07-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Education, Environmental Sciences, Higher Education
This report represents the collective voice of NERC DTPs & CDTs, demonstrating the reality of nurturing Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the ground level from the perspectives of staff and students. Individually, we have faced common barriers towards improving DEI within our host universities and honed our expertise in realising DEI through extensive research and [...]
Understanding Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Urban Water Bodies via Multi-Classifier Machine Learning Approaches in Semi-Arid Ahmedabad City
Published: 2026-10-08
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Hydrology, Remote Sensing, Spatial Science, Water Resource Management
The research examines the spatiotemporal change of water bodies in Ahmedabad city in western part of India which is a rapidly urbanizing area. It integrates high-resolution remote sensing data with modern machine learning approaches. Understanding the long-term pattern is crucial to understanding and managing the water resources in the changing climate, also city experiences the low precipitation [...]
Relating Multi-Scale Plume Detection and Area Estimates of Methane Emissions: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis
Published: 2024-07-23
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Methodologies for inferring surface emissions of atmospheric trace gases can be categorized into plume detection and area-scale estimation. Plume detections are observations of emissions from either individual or clustered point sources. Area estimates are derived from top-down atmospheric flux inversion models or bottom-up inventories, which infer mean emissions typically over spatial scales [...]
Ground Motion Characteristics of Subshear and Supershear Ruptures in the Presence of Sediment Layers
Published: 2024-07-19
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We investigate the impact of sediment layers on ground motion characteristics during subshear and supershear rupture growth. Our findings suggest that sediment layers may lead to local supershear propagation, affecting ground motion, especially in the fault parallel (FP) direction. In contrast to homogeneous material models, we find that in the presence of sediment layers, a larger fault normal [...]
TROPICAL STORM SURGE: FORMATION, IMPACT, AND RECENT ADVANCES IN ITS PREDICTION TOWARDS DEVELOPING MITIGATION STRATEGIES
Published: 2024-07-19
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics, Planetary Sciences
Tropical storm surge poses significant risks to coastal areas, necessitating precise prediction for effective emergency preparedness and mitigation. Recent advances in numerical models such as SLOSH, ADCIRC, and FVCOM have revolutionized storm surge forecasting by accurately simulating complex hydrodynamic processes, bolstered by ADCIRC's use of high-resolution grids and parallel computing for [...]
Sensitivity of modelled mass balance and runoff to representations of debris and accumulation on the Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Canada
Published: 2024-07-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Glaciology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Runoff contributions from glacierized catchments are changing in response to accelerating mass loss. We reconstruct the 1980-2022 mass balance, runoff and water budget of the ~70% glacierized Kaskawulsh River headwaters in Yukon, Canada, using an enhanced temperature-index model driven by downscaled and bias-corrected reanalysis data. Debris is treated using melt-scaling factors based on [...]
The Spatial Journey: A Visual Narrative of the Keffi to Makurdi Field Trip
Published: 2026-10-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Outdoor Education, Physical and Environmental Geography, Spatial Science
Background: Field-based education is a critical academic component in geographical studies, designed to bridge theoretical knowledge with empirical observation. This paper reports on the development of a visual and interactive geospatial narrative based on a five-day geography educational field trip from Keffi to Makurdi, Nigeria, from the 26th to the 30th of August 2024. Objective: The primary [...]
rmacrostrat: An R package for accessing and retrieving data from the Macrostrat geological database
Published: 2024-07-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The geological record is a vast archive of information that provides the only empirical data about the evolution of the Earth. In recent years, concentrated efforts have been made to compile macrostratigraphic data into the online centralized database Macrostrat (https://macrostrat.org). Macrostrat is a global stratigraphic database containing information regarding surface and subsurface rock [...]
Groundwater Exploration Methods in West Africa: A Review.
Published: 2024-07-25
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The focus of groundwater research has evolved, expanded, and adapted to meet the water demands of society. In recent years, discernible trends have emerged in groundwater studies, particularly in the domains of exploration and exploitation. Groundwater exploration in West Africa has predominantly been driven by demand and ease of accessing water in its hosting environment. In light of the [...]
Signal and noise in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26°N
Published: 2024-07-27
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is key to the redistribution of heat in the climate system. It is projected to weaken due to climate change. The RAPID mooring array observes the strength of the AMOC, showing an overall weakening of 1.0 Sv/decade from 2004–2023. However, the significance of this trend is controversial. Here we consider the RAPID observations in a [...]
The impact of abrupt sunlight reduction scenarios on renewable energy production
Published: 2024-07-26
Subjects: Climate, Engineering
To combat global warming, energy systems are transitioning to generation from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, which are sensitive to climate conditions. While their output is expected to be little affected by global warming, wind and solar electricity generation could be affected by more drastic climatic changes, such as abrupt sunlight reduction scenarios (ASRSs) caused by nuclear war [...]
More biomass burning aerosol is being advected westward over the southern tropical Atlantic since 2003
Published: 2024-07-26
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate
Each year, agricultural fires in southern continental Africa emit approximately one third of the world’s biomass burning aerosol. This is advected westward by the prevailing circulation winds over a subtropical stratocumulus cloud deck. The radiative effects from the aerosol and aerosol-cloud interactions impact regional circulations and hydrology. Here we examine how concurrent changes in the [...]
LATTE: Open-source, high-performance acoustic and elastic traveltime computation, tomography, and source location
Published: 2024-07-26
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics