Earth Interactions最新文献

{"title":"Impact of Lockdown on Column and Surface Aerosol Content over Ahmedabad and a Comparison with the Indo-Gangetic Plain","authors":"Nisha Vaghmaria, James W. Me, A. S. Gautam, S. Gautam","doi":"10.3390/earth4020015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/earth4020015","url":null,"abstract":"Changes in vertical column concentration, size distribution, and surface concentration of aerosol associated with the lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 over the Ahmedabad region in Gujarat State, India, were analyzed. The results are compared with changes over selected Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) regions. On 25 March 2020, the prime minister of India declared a complete lockdown throughout the country and later lifted restrictions in a phased manner. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Ahmedabad region on 29 March dropped to as low as 0.11, and in the first two weeks of lockdown, the weekly average AOD was only 0.18. On almost all days of the lockdown period, AOD over the Ahmedabad region was lower than the decadal mean. It was found that the Ahmedabad region responded differently to lockdown conditions compared to the IGP regions. During the first lockdown phase, AOD decreased by about 29% compared to the pre-lockdown period over the Ahmedabad region. However, the average reduction over the IGP was much more, about 50%. The average Angstrom exponent (AE) of 0.96 during the pre-lockdown period over the Ahmedabad region increased phase-wise to 1.36 during the L3 lockdown phase, indicating dominance of fine-mode particles during the lockdown period. It suggests a reduction in anthropogenically produced coarse-mode particles, typically dust produced by vehicular movement, construction, and industrial activities. However, on the other hand, over the IGP region, the high dominance of fine-mode particles during the pre-lockdown period had changed to a high dominance of coarse-mode particles, especially over the Delhi region. This indicates a reduction in anthropogenically produced fine-mode particles, which are mainly generated by fossil and biofuels/biomass combustion, over the IGP region by lockdown conditions. Within a few days of lockdown, PM2.5 was reduced by 64% and 76% over the Ahmedabad and Delhi regions, respectively. The lockdown imposed by the pandemic provided an excellent opportunity to ascertain background aerosol conditions in the atmosphere.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84844811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of the RAPS Method for Determining the Dependence of Nitrate Concentration in Groundwater on the Amount of Precipitation","authors":"Marko Šrajbek, B. Đurin, Petra Sušilović, S. Singh","doi":"10.3390/earth4020014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/earth4020014","url":null,"abstract":"Protecting groundwater from contamination is today’s most current environmental protection topic. What can man do in his environment to reduce the harmful impact of contamination on the environment, and thus the immediate effect on groundwater? Agricultural production is an ongoing source of groundwater contamination due to the increasingly frequent use of nitrates in fertilizers, which are washed out from the soil into groundwater due to precipitation. This paper investigates three wellfields in the north of the Republic of Croatia near the town of Varaždin. With the application of the RAPS method, the dependence of nitrate concentration in groundwater on the amount of precipitation was established. The analysis results show the connection of the observed parameters, especially in the upper aquifer layer. In this layer, the coefficients of correlation are greater than 0.80 at all locations, which shows a strong positive connection between the parameters. In the lower aquifer, the values of the coefficients of correlation are lower, and the results mostly indicate a weak correlation. The obtained results will serve as a starting point for future studies, which will aim to precisely determine the factors that influence groundwater quality in the observed area.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88602553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrated Geospatial and Geophysical Approaches for Mapping Groundwater Potential in the Semi-Arid Bukombe District, Tanzania","authors":"Juma N. Kubingwa, Edikafubeni E. Makoba, K. Mussa","doi":"10.3390/earth4020013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/earth4020013","url":null,"abstract":"The rapid growth of civil societies coupled with population influx due to the artisanal mining industry in the Bukombe district (BD) has triggered a high demand for water resources. The daily consumption of water resources in the district surpasses the supply from available surface water sources. Thus, the situation has raised the demand for groundwater resources as an alternative. Despite the importance of groundwater resources, no current studies have spatially assessed groundwater potential to locate optimal points for borehole development. This study intended to investigate and map the groundwater potential areas (GWPAs) in the semi-arid BD using remote sensing (RS), the geographic information system (GIS), and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to help local communities access clean and safe water. Rainfall, geology, slope, drainage density, land use/land cover and lineament density were prepared to delineate the map of GWPAs. The map was categorized into poor (0.21%), moderate good (51.39%), good (45.70%) and very good (2.70%). Finally, the GWPA map was validated using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES), 2-D sections and a drilled borehole. The validation results confirmed that the applied approach provides significant results that can help in planning the sustainable utilization of groundwater resources.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89683082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Freshwater Shortage, Salinity Increase, and Global Food Production: A Need for Sustainable Irrigation Water Desalination—A Scoping Review","authors":"Marufa Khondoker, Sujata Mandal, Ranjit G Gurav, Sangchul Hwang","doi":"10.3390/earth4020012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/earth4020012","url":null,"abstract":"Climate-change-induced freshwater shortage and saline intrusion have been posing significant risks to agricultural sectors in arid and semi-arid regions, negatively impacting irrigation, crop yield, and food production. Climate-smart sustainable solutions are the requirement to combat these major concerns. To overcome freshwater scarcity, pressure-driven desalination techniques are used that require advanced operational systems and electricity, which creates an additional economic burden when applied in the agriculture sector. Therefore, more sustainable methods for soil and water desalination using plant-, microbial-, algal-, biomass-, and carbon-based systems are needed. This scoping review addresses the effects of climate change on freshwater shortage and global food production, the influence of salinity and sodicity on agriculture, and sustainable desalination technologies.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80158753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecotonic Communities of Diatoms in the Southeastern Part of the Kamchatka Peninsula","authors":"A. Fazlutdinova, R. Allaguvatova, L. Gaysina","doi":"10.3390/earth4020011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/earth4020011","url":null,"abstract":"Data about the ecotonic diatom communities of the Kamchatka Peninsula, a unique territory with strong volcanic activity, are very limited. We aimed to investigate diatom algae of the ecotones in the southeastern part of Kamchatka, including the Paratunka river valley, at the foot of the Vachkazhets volcano, and the bank of the Bystraya river. In total, 55 taxa were identified. The most diverse were the flora of the Paratunka river, with 31 taxa. Near the Bystraya river, 26 taxa were identified. Near the Vachkazhets volcano, 18 taxa were identified. Fragilariforma virescens, Planothidium lanceolatum, Pinnularia cf. subcapitata, Halamphora normanii, Nitzschia palea, and Eunotia exigua were the dominant species in the studied ecosystems, with the maximum abundance score. Pinnularia cf. subcapitata and Planothidium lanceolatum were found in all ecotones. In the studied habitats, small indifferent alkaliphilic cosmopolitan species prevailed. Our study revealed that the diatom species composition of the Kamchatka ecotones reflects their adaptability to survive in the extreme conditions of volcanic substrates. The results contribute to our knowledge of the ecology and biogeography of a number of diatom taxa.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85584905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria) Invasion Risk and Vegetation Damage in a Key Upsurge Area","authors":"Raphael Mongare, E. Abdel-Rahman, B. Mudereri, Emily K. Kimathi, S. Onywere, Henri E. Z. Tonnang","doi":"10.3390/earth4020010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/earth4020010","url":null,"abstract":"In the recent past, the Horn of Africa witnessed an upsurge in the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) invasion. This has raised major concerns over the massive food insecurity, socioeconomic impacts, and livelihood losses caused by these recurring invasions. This study determined the potential vegetation damage due to desert locusts (DLs) and predicted the suitable habitat at high risk of invasion by the DLs using current and future climate change scenarios in Kenya. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for the period 2018–2020 was computed using multi-date Sentinel-2 imagery in the Google Earth Engine platform. This was performed to assess the vegetation changes that occurred between May and July of the year 2020 when northern Kenya was the hotspot of the DL upsurge. The maximum entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm was used together with 646 DL occurrence records and six bioclimatic variables to predict DL habitat suitability. The current (2020) and two future climatic scenarios for the shared socioeconomic pathways SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 from the model for interdisciplinary research on climate (MIROC6) were utilized to predict the future potential distribution of DLs for the year 2030 (average for 2021–2040). Using Turkana County as a case, the NDVI analysis indicated the highest vegetation damage between May and July 2020. The MaxEnt model produced an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.87 and a true skill statistic (TSS) of 0.61, while temperature seasonality (Bio4), mean diurnal range (Bio2), and precipitation of the warmest quarter (Bio18) were the most important bioclimatic variables in predicting the DL invasion suitability. Further analysis demonstrated that currently 27% of the total area in Turkana County is highly suitable for DL invasion, and the habitat coverage is predicted to potentially decrease to 20% in the future using the worst-case climate change scenario (SSP5-8.5). These results have demonstrated the potential of remotely sensed data to pinpoint the magnitude and location of vegetation damage caused by the DLs and the potential future risk of invasion in the region due to the available favorable vegetational and climatic conditions. This study provides a scalable approach as well as baseline information useful for surveillance, development of control programs, and monitoring of DL invasions at local and regional scales.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85515273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Detection of land-use change and rapid recovery of vegetation after deforestation in the Congo Basin","authors":"Coralie E. Adams, L. Garcia-Carreras","doi":"10.1175/ei-d-22-0020.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/ei-d-22-0020.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The Congo Basin is severely understudied compared to other tropical regions; this is partly due to the lack of meteorological stations and the ubiquitous cloudiness hampering the use of remote-sensing products. Clustering of small-scale agricultural deforestation events within the Basin may result in deforestation on scales that are atmospherically important. This study uses 500 m MODIS data and the Global Forest Change dataset (GFC) to detect deforestation at a monthly and sub-km scale and to quantify how deforestation impacts vegetation proxies (VPs) within the Basin, the timescales over which these changes persist, and how they’re affected by the deforestation driver.\u0000Missing MODIS data has meant that a new method, based on two-date image differencing, was developed to detect deforestation at a monthly scale. Evaluation against the yearly GFC data shows that the highest detection rate was 79% for clearing sizes larger than 500 m2. Recovery to pre-deforestation levels occurred faster than expected; analysis of post-deforestation evolution of the VPs found 66% of locations recovered within a year. Separation by land-cover type also showed unexpected regrowth as over 50% of rural complex and plantation land recovered within a year. The fallow period in the study region was typically short; by the 6th year after the initial deforestation event, ~88% of the locations underwent a further considerable drop. These results show the importance of fine spatial and temporal information to assess Congo Basin deforestation and highlight the large differences in the impacts of land-use change compared to other rainforests.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47593196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating Drought Indices for Alaska","authors":"J. M. Walston, S. McAfee, D. McEvoy","doi":"10.1175/ei-d-22-0025.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/ei-d-22-0025.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Drought is a recurrent natural phenomenon, but there is concern that climate change may increase the frequency or severity of drought in Alaska. Because most common drought indices were designed for lower latitudes, it is unclear how effectively they characterize drought in Alaska’s diverse high-latitude climates. Here, we compare three commonly used meteorological drought indices (the standardized precipitation index (SPI), the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), and the self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI) to each other and to streamflow across Alaska’s 13 climate divisions. All of the drought indices identify major droughts, but the severity of the drought varies depending on the index used. The SPI and the SPEI are more flexible and often better correlated with streamflow than the scPDSI, and we recommend using them. Although SPI and SPEI are very similar in energy-limited climates, the drought metrics do diverge in drier locations in recent years, and considering the impact of temperature on drought may grow more important in the coming decades. Hargreaves PET estimates appeared more physically realistic than the more commonly used Thornthwaite equation and are equally easy to calculate, so we suggest using the Hargreaves equation when PET is estimated from temperature. This study, one of the first to evaluate drought indices for high-latitude regions, has the potential to improve drought monitoring and representation within the United States Drought Monitor, leading to more informed decision-making during drought in Alaska, and it improves our ability to track changes in drought driven by rising temperatures.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47053079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Review of Literature on the Usage of Low-Cost Sensors to Measure Particulate Matter","authors":"Amit U. Raysoni, Sai Deepak Pinakana, Esmeralda Mendez, Dawid Wladyka, Katarzyna Sepielak, Owen Temby","doi":"10.3390/earth4010009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/earth4010009","url":null,"abstract":"With advances in technological sciences, individuals can utilize low-cost air monitoring sensors to record air quality at homes, schools, and businesses. Air quality data collected from LCSs are publicly accessible, informing the community of the air quality around them. It is important to measure local and regional particulate matter (PM) concentrations to keep the public involved, especially those with specific health concerns, such as asthma, wheezing, and seasonal allergies. The number of studies involving the use of LCSs to evaluate PM levels is increasing with more manufacturers producing ‘easy to use’ LCSs targeting the public. The goal of this review is to understand and incorporate the findings from studies using LCSs to analyze PM of various sizes, i.e., PM1, PM2.5, PM4, and PM10. This review integrates analyses from 51 different studies in 14 countries, including the U.S. The findings indicate spatial heterogeneity in the PM concentrations across a region. Some of the low-cost sensor manufacturers mentioned in these studies include Plantower, AQMesh, Alpha-sense, PurpleAir, E-MOTEs, and Shinyei. This review emphasizes the importance of LCSs in the field of PM monitoring and its potential to inform the public about their exposure burden, and to aid state and federal decision makers in formulating policies for mitigating the effects of PM pollution in any urban or rural setting.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75352310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Regional Diagnosis of Onset and Demise of the Rainy Season over Tropical and Subtropical Australia","authors":"V. Misra, Shubham Dixit, C. Jayasankar","doi":"10.1175/ei-d-22-0026.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1175/ei-d-22-0026.1","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000In this paper we introduce a novel strategy to robustly diagnose the onset and demise of the rainy season using daily observed rainfall over seven specific regions across Australia, as demarcated by the Natural Resource Management (NRM) of Australia. The methodology lies in developing an ensemble spread of the diagnosed onset/demise from randomly perturbing the observed daily timeseries of rainfall at synoptic scales to obtain a measure of the uncertainty of the diagnosis. Our results indicate that the spread of the ensemble in the diagnosis of the onset and demise dates of the rainy season is higher in the subtropical compared to the tropical regions. Secular change of earlier onset, later demise, longer length, and wetter season are also identified in many of these regions. The influence of PDO at decadal, ENSO, and Indian Ocean Dipole at interannual, and MJO at intraseasonal scales also reveal significant influence on the evolution of the rainy season over these regions in Australia. Most importantly, the co-variability of the onset date with the length of the season and seasonal rainfall anomaly of the season is highlighted as a valuable relationship that can be exploited for real time monitoring and providing an outlook of the forthcoming rainy season, which could serve some of the NRM regions.","PeriodicalId":51020,"journal":{"name":"Earth Interactions","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42889972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}