The present study focuses on quantifying the impact of the choice of spatio-temporal resolution and hydrology models on the projection of extreme flow and their link to the catchment size. We use two process-based distributed hydrology models forced with a large-ensemble regional climate model (50-member ClimEx dataset) over the 1990-2100 period at different spatio-temporal scales. The extreme summer-fall flow corresponding with each spatio-temporal resolution was extracted by pooling the members together and computing the empirical cumulative distribution function. The results show that by refining the time-step from daily to sub-daily, the summer-fall extreme flow projected over the future period exceeds that of the reference period for the small but not large catchments. By increasing the catchment size, the hydrology model’s contribution to the variability of extreme flow increases. Moreover, the choice of spatial resolution affects the extreme flow’s trend in terms of magnitude, significance, and direction. But no pattern regarding the catchment size and spatial discretization variations exists.

Under the dual influence of socioeconomic development and climate change, water resources in China are under increasing stress. It is of great significance to comprehensively explore the changing trend of China’s water footprint (WF) in the future, clarify the water resource challenges that China will face, and alleviate water shortage and water pollution problems. This paper uses System Dynamics (SD) to build a simulation model of China’s WF, calculate China’s WF from 2000 to 2019, and for the first time, simulate and optimize China’s WF from 2020 to 2050 under the SSP-RCP scenario matrix composed of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). The results are as follows. (1) From 2000 to 2019, China’s WF increased to 2009 and began to decline. The main contributors are gray WF and agricultural WF. (2) From 2020–2050, different socioeconomic development and climate change conditions under the five SSP-RCP scenarios will lead to different trends in China’s WF and its composition. (3) Based on the changes in WF and water resources supply/demand ratio under different scenarios, the SSP1-2.6 scenario is the best scenario to mitigate a future water shortage and water pollution in China. The research results can help decision-makers formulate relevant management policies and socioeconomic development models for water resource utilization and provide decision support for alleviating water shortages and water pollution in China.

Impacts of small-scale surface irregularities, or surface roughness, of atmospheric ice crystals on lidar backscattering properties are quantified. Geometric ice crystal models with various degrees of surface roughness and state-of-the-science light-scattering computational capabilities are used to simulate single-scattering properties across the entire practical size parameter range. The simulated bulk lidar and depolarization ratios of polydisperse ice crystals at 532 nm are strongly sensitive to the degree of surface roughness. Comparisons of these quantities between the theoretical simulations and counterparts inferred from spaceborne lidar observations for cold cirrus clouds suggest a typical surface roughness range of 0.03--0.15, which is most consistent with direct measurements of scanning electron microscopic images. The degree of surface roughness needs to be accounted for to properly interpret lidar backscattering observations of ice clouds.

We report the first detection of unrest at Socompa, Northern Chile, a stratovolcano which has recorded no eruptions since ~7,200 years ago. We measure deformation at and around Socompa using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) observations between Jan 2018 and Oct 2021. We find that, whilst initially inactive, Socompa shows a steady uplift (17.5 mm/yr) from Dec 2019, independently recorded by near-field continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) data. The data can be fit with pressure increase in an ellipsoidal source region stretching from 1.9 to 9.5 km, with a volume change rate of ~5.8×106 m3/yr. Our observations of the onset of uplift preclude the possibility that a nearby Mw 6.8 deep intraslab earthquake on 3rd June 2020 triggered the unrest. The deformation signal we detect indicates the initiation of unrest at Socompa, after at least two decades without measurable deformation, and many thousands of years without volcanic activity.

Climate change has altered the frequency, intensity, and timing of mean and extreme precipitation events. Extreme precipitation has caused tremendous socio-economic losses and displays strong regional variability. Although many previous studies have addressed daily extreme precipitation, hourly extreme rainfall still needs to be thoroughly investigated. In this study, we investigated the trends, spatio-temporal variability, and long-term variations in mean and extreme precipitation over South Korea using daily and hourly observational data. During the past 50 years (1973–2022), there has been a notable escalation in maximum hourly precipitation, although the boreal summer mean precipitation has increased only marginally. Regionally, an increase in mean and extreme rainfall occurred in the northern part of the central region. Moreover, increased intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation have contributed more to the total summer precipitation in recent years. Our findings provide scientific insights into the progression of extreme summer precipitation events in South Korea.

Attention is increasingly being turned towards an investigation of extreme hydrometeorological events within the context of land-atmosphere coupling in the wider hydrological cycle, particularly with respect to the identification of compound and seesaw events. To examine these events, accurate soil moisture data are essential. Here, soil moisture from three reanalysis products (ERA5-Land, BARRA and ERA5) are compared to station observations from 12 sites across New Zealand for an average timespan of 18 years. Soil moisture data from all three reanalyses were subsequently used to investigate land-atmosphere coupling with gridded (observational) precipitation and temperature. Finally, compound (co-occurrence of hot and dry) and seesaw (transitions from dry to wet) periods were identified and examined. No best performing reanalysis dataset for soil moisture is evident (min r = 0.78, max r = 0.80). All datasets successfully capture the seasonal and residual component of soil moisture, but not the observed soil moisture trends at each location. Strong coupling between soil moisture and temperature occurs across the predominately energy-limited regions of the lower North Island and entire South Island. Consequently, these regions reveal a high frequency of compound period occurrence and potential shifts in land states to a water limited phase during compound months. A series of seesaw events are also detected for the first time in New Zealand (terminating an average of 17% of droughts), with particularly high frequency of seesaw event occurrence detected in previously identified areas of atmospheric river (AR) activity, indicating the likely wider significance of ARs for drought termination.

The strength of Pacific Walker circulation (PWC) significantly affects the global weather patterns, the distribution of mean precipitation, and modulates the rate of global warming. Different indices have been used to assess the PWC strength. Evaluated on different datasets for various study periods, the indices show large discrepancies between the reported trends. In this study, we performed sensitivity analysis of 10 PWC indices and compared them over the 1951-2020 period using the ERA5 reanalyses. The time series of normalised indices generally agree on the annual-mean PWC strength. The highest correlations (exceeding r=0.9) are between the indices that describe closely linked physical processes. The trends of PWC strength are strongly affected by the choice of representative time period. For the commonly used 1981-2010 period, the trends show strengthening of the PWC. However, trends computed for longer period (i.e. 1951-2020) are mostly neutral, whereas the past two decades (2000-2020) display weakening of the PWC, although it is statistically not significant. The temporal evolution of trends suggests multidecadal variability of PWC strength with a period of about 35 years, implying a continued weakening of the PWC in the next decade.

Volcanic hazards associated with lava flows advancing on a snow cover are often underrated. On 16 March 2017, during a mild effusive-explosive eruption at Mt Etna (Italy) a slowly advancing lava lobe interacted with the snow cover producing a sudden, short-lasting sequence of explosions. White vapor, brown ash and coarse material were suddenly ejected, and the products hit a group of people, injuring some of them. The proximal deposit formed a continuous mantle of ash, lapilli and decimetric-sized bombs, and the ballistic material reached up to 200 meters away from the lava edge. A total deposit mass of 7.1 ± 0.8 × 104 kg was estimated, corresponding to a lava volume removed by the explosion of 32.0 ± 3.6 m3. Textural and morphological data on the ejected clasts were used to constrain a model of lava-snow interaction. Results suggest that the mechanism responsible for the explosions was the progressive pressure build-up due to vapor accumulation under the lava flow, while no evidence was found for the occurrence of fuel-coolant interaction processes driving the explosions. Although these low-intensity explosions are not too frequent, the collected data represent a unique dataset which provides useful information on the involved processes and the associated hazard, but also on possible measures of mitigation to prevent potentially dramatic accidents at volcanoes like Etna, recording up to thousands of visitors per day.

East Africa hosts significant reserves of untapped geothermal energy. Most exploration has focused on geologically young (<1 Ma) silicic caldera volcanoes, yet there are many sites of geothermal potential where there is no clear link to an active volcano. The origin and architecture of these systems is poorly understood. Here, we combine remote sensing and field observations to investigate a fault-controlled geothermal play located north of lake Abaya in the Main Ethiopian Rift. Soil gas CO2 and temperature surveys were used to examine permeable pathways and showed elevated values along a ~110 m high fault which marks the western edge of the Abaya graben. Ground temperatures are particularly elevated where multiple intersecting faults form a wedged horst structure. This illustrates that both deep penetrating graben bounding faults and near-surface fault intersections control the ascent of hydrothermal fluids and gases. Total CO2 emissions along the graben fault are ~300 t d–1; a value comparable to the total CO2 emission from silicic caldera volcanoes. Fumarole gases show δ13C of –6.4 to –3.8 ‰ and air-corrected 3He/4He values of 3.84–4.11 RA, indicating a magmatic source originating from an admixture of upper mantle and crustal helium. Although our model of the North Abaya geothermal system requires a deep intrusive heat source, we find no ground deformation evidence for volcanic unrest nor recent volcanism. This represents a key advantage over the active silicic calderas that typically host these resources and suggests that fault-controlled geothermal systems offer viable prospects for further exploration and development.

We directly estimate the in situ current density of the Earth’s ring current (RC) using the curlometer method and investigate its morphology using the small spatial separations and high accuracy of the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS). Through statistical analysis of data from September 2015 to the end of 2016, covering the region of 2-8 RE (Earth radius, 6371 km), we reveal an almost complete near-equatorial (within ) RC morphology in terms of radial distance and local time (MLT) which complements and extends that found from previous studies. We found no evidence of RC enhancement on the dusk-side during geomagnetic active periods, but details of local time (MLT) asymmetries in, and the boundary between, the inner (eastward) and outer (westward) currents are revealed. We propose that part of the asymmetry demonstrated here suggests that in addition to the overall persistence of the westward RC, two large banana-like currents are directly observed, one which could arise from a peak of plasma pressure near ~4.8 RE on the noon side and the other from a valley of plasma pressure which could arise near ~4.8 RE on the night side.

The pore structure of marine sediments varies with the distribution of gas-hydrate, hence affecting the gas-water permeability. CT image is a conventional approach to view the internal structure, while for hydrate-bearing sediment investigation, rather poor resolution of obtained image has limited the accuracy of the analysis. Recently, super-resolution (SR) reconstruction techniques have been used to enhance the spatial resolution of CT images with varying degrees of improvement. Typical Image Pairs-Based SR (PSR) methods require higher resolution matching images for training, which is challenging for hydrate samples in dynamic temperature and pressure conditions. Here, we introduced a self-supervised learning (SLSR) method that only relies on a single input image to complete the process of training and reconstruction. We conducted a complete training to establish an end-to-end network consisting of two sub-networks, an SR network and a downscaling network. Self-built datasets from three hydrate samples with different sediment grains were trained and tested. Compared with the typical method, the SR results show that our method provides higher resolution while improving clarity. Moreover, in the subsequent calculation of porosity parameters, it has the highest consistency with the liquid saturation method. This study contributes to investigating the water seepage and energy transfer in the gas hydrate bearing sediments, which is particularly important for the exploration and development of marine natural gas hydrate resources. The image super-resolution method established by us has also a broad application prospect in the field of CT imaging.

Physical properties of soils are ubiquitously heterogeneous. This spatial variability has a profound, yet still partially understood, impact on conservative transport. Moreover, molecular diffusion is often a disregarded process that can have an important counter-intuitive effect on transport: diffusion can prevent non-Fickian tailing by mobilizing mass otherwise trapped in low velocity zones. Here, we focus on macroscopically homogeneous soils presenting small scale heterogeneity, as described by the Miller-Miller method. We then analyze the dynamic control of soil heterogeneity, advection and diffusion on conservative transport. We focus especially on the importance of diffusion and of its tortuosity-dependent spatial variability on the overall transport. Our results indicate that high Peclet number systems are highly sensitive to the degree of heterogeneity, which promotes non-Fickian transport. Also, diffusion appears to have a profound impact on transport, depending on both the degree of heterogeneity and the Peclet number. For a high Peclet number and a very heterogeneous system, diffusion leads to the counter-intuitive decrease of non-Fickian macrodispersion described previously. This is not observed for a low Peclet number due to the non-trivial impact of the spatial variability in the diffusion coefficient, which appears to be a significant controlling factor of transport by promoting or preventing the accumulation of mass in low velocity zones. Globally, this work (1) highlights the complex, synergistic effect of soil heterogeneity, advective fluxes and diffusion on transport and (2), alerts on potential upscaling challenges when the spatial variability of such key processes cannot be properly described.

During the first 2934 sols of the Curiosity rover’s mission 33,468 passive visible/near-infrared reflectance spectra were taken of the surface by the mast-mounted ChemCam instrument on a range of target types. ChemCam spectra of bedrock targets from the Murray and Carolyn Shoemaker formations on Mt. Sharp were investigated using principal component analysis (PCA) and various spectral parameters including the band depth at 535 nm and the slope between 840 nm and 750 nm. Four endmember spectra were identified. Passive spectra were compared to Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) data to search for correlations between spectral properties and elemental abundances. The correlation coefficient between FeOT reported by LIBS and BD535 from passive spectra was used to search for regions where iron may have been added to the bedrock through oxidation of ferrous-bearing fluids, but no correlations were found. Rocks in the Blunts Point-Sutton Island transition that have unique spectral properties compared to surrounding rocks, that is flat near-infrared (NIR) slopes and weak 535 nm absorptions, are associated with higher Mn and Mg in the LIBS spectra of bedrock. Additionally, calcium-sulfate cements, previously identified by Ca and S enrichments in the LIBS spectra of bedrock, were also shown to be associated with spectral trends seen in Blunts Point. A shift towards steeper near-infrared slope is seen in the Hutton interval, indicative of changing depositional conditions or increased diagenesis.

The ability of satellite instruments to accurately observe long-term changes in atmospheric temperature depends on many factors including the absolute accuracy of the measurement, the stability of the calibration of the instrument, the stability of the satellite orbit, and the stability of the numerical algorithm that produces the temperature data. We present an example of algorithm instability recently discovered in the temperature dataset from the SABER instrument on the NASA TIMED satellite. The instability resulted in derived temperatures that were substantially colder than anticipated from mid-December 2019 to mid-2022. This algorithm-induced change in temperature over one to two years corresponded to the expected change over several decades from increasing anthropogenic CO2. This paper highlights the importance of algorithm stability in developing Geospace Data Records (GDRs) for Earth’s mesosphere and lower thermosphere. A corrected version (Version 2.08) of the temperatures from SABER is described.

Volcanic seismicity provides essential insights into the behavior of an active volcano across multiple time scales. However, to understand how magma moves as an eruption evolves, better knowledge of the geometry and physical properties of the magma plumbing system is required. In this study, using full-wave ambient noise tomography, we image the 3-D crustal shear-wave velocity structure below GreatSitkin Volcano in the central Aleutian Arc. The new velocity model reveals two low-velocity anomalies, which correlate with the migration of volcanic seismicity. With a partial melt of up to about 30%, these low-velocity anomalies are characterized as mushy magma reservoirs. We propose a six-stage eruption cycle to explain the migration of seismicity and the alternating eruption of two reservoirs with different recharging histories. The findings in this study have broad implications for the dynamics of magma plumbing systems and the structural control of eruption behaviors.Published on GRL on 6/8/2023: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2022GL102438

River flows change on timescales ranging from minutes to millennia. These variations influence fundamental functions of ecosystems, including biogeochemical fluxes, aquatic habitat, and human society. Efforts to describe temporal variation in river flow—i.e., flow regime—have resulted in hundreds of unique descriptors, complicating interpretation and identification of global drivers of flow dynamics. Here, we used a cross-disciplinary analytical approach to investigate two related questions: 1. Is there a low-dimensional structure that can be used to simplify descriptions of streamflow regime? 2. What catchment characteristics are most associated with that structure? Using a global database of daily river discharge from 1988-2016 for 3,120 stations, we calculated 189 traditional flow metrics, which we compared to the results of a wavelet analysis. Both quantification techniques independently revealed that streamflow data contain substantial low-dimensional structure that correlates closely with a small number of catchment characteristics. This structure provides a framework for understanding fundamental controls of river flow variability across multiple timescales. Climate was the most important variable across all timescales, especially those lasting several weeks, and likely contributes as much as dams in controlling flow regime. Catchment area was critical for timescales lasting several days, as was human impact for timescales lasting several years. In addition, both methods suggested that streamflow data also contain high-dimensional structure that is harder to predict from a small number of catchment characteristics (i.e. is dependent on land use, soil structure, etc.), and which accounts for the difficulty of producing simple hydrological models that generalize well.

Oceanic emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) account for roughly one-third of all natural sources to the atmosphere. Hot-spots of N2O outgassing occur over oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), where the presence of steep oxygen gradients surrounding anoxic waters leads to enhanced N2O production from both nitrification and denitrification. However, the relative contributions from these pathways to N2O production and outgassing in these regions remains poorly constrained, in part due to shared intermediary nitrogen tracers, and the tight coupling of denitrification sources and sinks. To shed light on this problem, we embed a new, mechanistic model of the OMZ nitrogen cycle within a three-dimensional eddy-resolving physical-biogeochemical model of the ETSP, tracking contributions from remote advection, atmospheric exchange, and local nitrification and denitrification. Our results indicate that net N2O production from denitrification is approximately one order of magnitude greater than nitrification within the ETSP OMZ. However, only ~30% of denitrification-derived N2O production ultimately outgasses to the atmosphere in this region (contributing ~34% of the air-sea N2O flux on an annual basis), while the remaining is exported out of the domain. Instead, remotely-produced N2O advected into the OMZ region accounts for roughly half (~56%) of the total N2O outgassing, with smaller contributions from nitrification (~7%). Our results suggests that, together with enhanced production by denitrification, upwelling of remotely-derived N2O (likely produced via nitrification in the oxygenated ocean) contributes the most to N2O outgassing over the ETSP OMZ.

Previous studies on South China’s convective precipitation forecast focused on the effects of multi-scale dynamics and microphysics parameterizations. However, how the uncertainty in aerosol data might cause errors in quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) has yet to be investigated. In this case study, we estimate the impact of aerosol uncertainties on the QPF for South China’s severe convection using convection-permitting simulations. The variability range of aerosol concentrations is estimated with past observation for the pre-summer months. Simulation results suggest that the rainfall pattern and intensity change notably when aerosol concentrations are varied. The simulation with low aerosol concentrations produces the most intense precipitation, approximately 50\% stronger than the high-concentration simulation. Decreasing aerosol hygroscopicity also increases precipitation intensity, especially in pristine clouds. The aerosol uncertainty changes alter the number of cloud condensation and ice nuclei, which modifies the altitude and amount of latent heating and thereby modulates convection.