The interactions of clouds with radiation influence climate. Many of these impacts appear to be related to the radiative heating and cooling from high-level clouds in the upper troposphere, but few studies have explicitly tested this. Here, we use simulations with the ICON-ESM global atmosphere model to understand how high-level clouds through their radiative heating and cooling of the atmosphere, influence the large-scale atmospheric circulation and precipitation in the present-day climate. We introduce a new method to diagnose the radiative heating of high-level clouds: we use a temperature threshold of -35°C to define high-level clouds and also include the lower parts of these clouds at warmer temperatures. The inclusion of the lower cloud parts circumvents the creation of artificial cloud boundaries and strong artificial radiative heating at the temperature threshold. To isolate the impact of high-level clouds, we analyze simulations with active cloud-radiative heating, with the radiative heating from high-level clouds set to zero, and with the radiative heating from all clouds set to zero. We show that the radiative interactions of high-level clouds warm the troposphere and strengthen the eddy-driven jet streams, but have no impact on the strength of the Hadley circulation and the latitude of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Consistent with their positive radiative heating and energetic arguments, high-level clouds reduce precipitation throughout the tropics and lower midlatitudes. Overall, our results confirm that the radiative interactions of high-level clouds have important impacts on climate and highlight the need for better representing their radiative interactions in models.

The withdrawal of fluid from a reservoir results in a decline of the fluid pressure followed by a consequent change in stress state in porous rocks. Stress change may cause irreversible deformation and compaction. Such compaction is generally the result of pore collapse and shear-enhanced compaction caused by changes at a microscopic level in the porous rocks. Pore collapse and shear-enhanced compaction are considered as potential problems during reservoir production and drilling operations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the pore collapse and shear-enhanced compaction in hydrocarbon reservoirs using coupled poro-elastoplasticity and permeability. This coupling is implemented using a sequentially coupled scheme with a fixed stress split. In this coupling, the poro-elastoplasticity analysis includes the linear component based on Biot’s theory and the nonlinear component based on a cap plasticity model. The fluid flow formulation is defined by Darcy’s law, including nonlinear permeability model. The numerical approximation is implemented using continuous finite element approximations for rock deformation and mixed finite element approximation for pore pressure and flux. Several numerical simulations are performed to indicate the onset of pore collapse and shear-enhanced compaction and evaluate their effects on reservoir performance.

NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission launched in September 2018 and is now providing high-resolution surface elevation profiling across the entire globe, including the sea ice cover of the Arctic and Southern Oceans. For sea ice applications, successfully discriminating returns between sea ice and open water is key for accurately determining freeboard, the extension of sea ice above local sea level, and new information regarding the geometry of sea ice floes and leads. We take advantage of near-coincident optical imagery obtained from the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-2 (S-2) satellite over the Western Weddell Sea of the Southern Ocean in March 2019 and the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean in May 2019 to evaluate the surface classification scheme in the ICESat-2 ATL07 and ATL10 sea ice products. We find a high level of agreement between the ATL07 (specular) lead classification and visible leads in the S-2 imagery in these two scenes across all six ICESat-2 beams, increasing our confidence in the freeboard products and deriving new estimates of the sea ice state. The S-2 overlays provide additional evidence of the misclassification of dark leads, which are no longer used to derive sea surface in the third release (r003) ICESat-2 sea ice products. We show estimates of lead fraction and more preliminary estimates of chord length (a proxy for floe size) using two metrics for classifying sea surface (lead) segments across both the Arctic and Southern Ocean for the first winter season of data collection.

We present a data-driven approach to clustering or grouping Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations according to their observed velocities, displacements or other selected characteristics. Clustering GNSS stations has the potential for identifying useful scientific information, and is a necessary initial step in other analysis, such as detecting aseismic transient signals (Granat et. al., 2013). Desired features of the data can be selected for clustering, including some subset of displacement or velocity components, uncertainty estimates, station location, and other relevant information. Based on those selections, the clustering procedure autonomously groups the GNSS stations according to a selected clustering method. We have implemented this approach as a Python application, allowing us to draw upon the full range of open source clustering methods available in Python’s scikit-learn package (Pedregosa et. al., 2011). The application returns the stations labeled by group as a table and color coded KML file and is designed to work with the GNSS information available from GeoGateway (Heflin et. al., 2020; Donnellan et al, 2021) but is easily extensible. We focused on California and western Nevada. The results show partitions that follow faults or geologic boundaries, including for recent large earthquakes and post-seismic motion. The San Andreas fault system is most prominent, reflecting Pacific-North American plate boundary motion. Deformation reflected as class boundaries is distributed north and south of the central California creeping section. For most models the southernmost San Andreas fault connects with the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) rather than continuing through the San Gorgonio Pass.

The phenomenon of freezing point depression in frozen soils results in the co-existence of ice and liquid water in soil pores at temperatures below 273.15 K, and is thought to have two causes: i) capillary effects, where the phase transition relationship is modified due to soil-air-water-ice interactions, and ii) solute effects, where the presence of salts lowers the freezing temperature. The soil freezing characteristic curve (SFC) characterizes the relationship between liquid water content and temperature in frozen soils. Most hydrological models represent the SFC using only capillary effects with a relationship known as the Generalized Clapeyron Equation (GCE). In this study, we develop and test a salt exclusion model for characterizing the SFC, comparing this with the GCE-based model and a combined capillary-solute effect model. We test these models against measured SFCs in laboratory and field experiments with diverse soil textures and salinities. We consistently found that the GCE-based models under-predicted freezing-point depression. We were able to match the observations with the salt exclusion model and the combined model, suggesting that salinity is a dominant control on the SFC in real soils that always contain solutes. In modelling applications where the salinity is unknown, the soil bulk solute concentration can be treated as a single fitting parameter. Improved characterization of the SFC may result in improvements in coupled mass-heat transport models for simulating hydrological processes in cold regions, particularly the hydraulic properties of frozen soils and the hydraulic head in frozen soils that drives cryosuction.

This paper represents the first national-level (United States) estimate of the economic impacts of vibriosis cases as exacerbated by climate change. Vibriosis is an illness contracted through foodborne and waterborne exposures to various Vibrio species (e.g., non-V. cholerae O1 and O139 serotypes) found in estuarine and marine environments, including within aquatic life such as shellfish and finfish. Objectives The objective of this study was to project climate-induced changes in vibriosis related to sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and associated economic impacts in the U.S. Methods Our analysis constructed three logistic regression models by Vibrio species, using vibriosis data sourced from the Cholera and Other Vibrio Illness Surveillance (COVIS) system and using historical SSTs. We relied on previous estimates of the cost-per-case of vibriosis to estimate future total annual medical costs, lost income from productivity loss, and mortality-related indirect costs throughout the U.S. We separately report results for V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus, V. alginolyticus, and “V. spp” given the different associated health burden of each. Results By 2090, increases in SST are estimated to result in a 51 percent increase in cases annually relative to the baseline era (1995) under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and a 108 percent increase under RCP8.5. The cost of these illnesses is projected to reach over $5.2 billion annually under RCP4.5 and $7.3 billion annually under RCP8.5, relative to $2.2 billion in the baseline (2018 dollars), equivalent to 140 percent and 234 percent increases respectively. Discussion Vibriosis incidence is likely to increase in the U.S. under moderate and unmitigated climate change scenarios through increases in SST, resulting in a substantial burden of morbidity and mortality, and costing millions of dollars. These costs are mostly attributable to deaths, primarily from exposure to V. vulnificus. Evidence suggests that other factors, including sea surface salinity, may contribute to further increases in vibriosis cases in some regions of the U.S. and should be investigated.

The present work is part of a greater research project aiming at creating knowledge-base for the future managerial plans dedicated to the protection of caves heritage in the Correntes Basin (3904 km 2) located in the central Brazil. Here, a GIS-based relief compartment mapping of the area is done using satellite images, geological map and cave location map as input data layers. As a result four geomorphological domains were identified as i) lowlands (282 km 2) with a base-level in silicates and carbonates, ii) the karst terrains (994 km 2) which were developed in carbonates trapped by siltstone lenses iii) the talus (1483 km 2) having colluvial and alluvial units deposited by the Urucuia escarpment retreat and iv) the highlands (1143.7 km 2) developed over the sandstone of the Urucuia Group. The intersection of landforms and geological maps resulted in two abrupt contacts, the first between lowland and karst terrains, and second between the talus and highlands which formed canyon and escarpment, respectively. Two types of the cave systems are proposed in the region as superior/vadose that collect floods from hillslopes and deep epigene fluvio-karst.

New Caledonia’s Ni deposits account for ~ 8.2% of the world’s production of mined nickel, with a major smelting facility located in the country’s capital city of Nouméa (population 100,000). There are emerging concerns relating to contamination of human and natural ecosystems from dust and soil contamination from mineral processing emissions, which started the late 19th century. There is widespread reuse of Ni smelter slag in the city for multiple uses (e.g. building aggregate, erosion control, added to soil and surface as ‘gravel’) in the city, which contains up to 2% Cr. This study provides the first integrated environmental analysis of the impact of the smelter and associated anthropogenic trace element contamination of Noumea’s natural and human environments. To assess the impacts from smelting, hundreds of trace element data points were collected across Nouméa in a variety of matrices. These include natural rocks and deep soils, top soils, deposited dusts, residential garden soils, indoor vacuum dusts, honey bees and honey produced within the city’s urban environment. Rocks, soils and exterior and interior vacuum dusts were analysed for their trace element concentrations using X-ray fluorescence at < 100 locations within a 3 km radius of Nouméa’s Ni smelter. Samples of bees (live and dead), honey, soil and deposited dust were collected at 15 beehive locations across the Noumea area to ascertain if and what contaminants are being remobilized in dust, contaminating both food and ecological systems. Natural/background values were assessed using two bee hive locations, distant from the smelter, along with analysis of rocks and sub-surface soils from the main geological strata present in the city. Preliminary environmental data show that anthropogenic contaminants Cr, Ni, Pb and S exceed natural values by up to 8, 2.5, 10 and 15 times in different matrices. Analysis shows that CrVI is present in the slag and surface dusts (x̅ total Cr in deposited dust = 450 µg/m2) and that more than 60% of Ni dust loadings are > 1000 µg/m2 (x̅ Ni in dust = 2,400 µg/m2). The presentation will detail trace element concentrations in live and dead bees and corresponding honey samples and evaluate the data against corresponding levels measured in the adjoining environment to assess the remobilization and recycling of anthropogenic contaminants.

The substorm current wedge (SCW) is believed to be driven by pressure gradients and vortices associated with fast flows. Therefore, it is expected that relevant observations are organized by the SCW’s central meridian, which cannot be determined using in-situ observations. This study takes advantage of the SCW inversion technique, which provides essential information about an SCW (e.g., location and strengths of field-aligned currents (FACs) and investigates the generation mechanisms of the SCW. First, we have found good temporal and spatial correlations between earthward flows and substorm onsets identified using the midlatitude positive bay (MPB) index. Over half of the flows are observed within 10 minutes of substorm onsets. Most flows (85%) were located inside the SCW between its upward and downward FACs. Second, superposed epoch analysis (SPEA) shows that the onset-associated flow velocity has a flow-scale (3-min) peak, while the equatorial thermal pressure has a substorm-scale (>30 min) enhancement and a trend similar to the westward electrojet and FACs in the SCW. Third, the pressure gradient calculated using in-situ observations is well organized in the SCW frame and points toward the SCW’s central meridian. These facts suggest that the SCW is likely sustained by substorm-scale pressure gradient rather than flow-scale flow vortices. The nonalignment between the pressure gradient and flux tube volume could generate an SCW with a quadrupole FAC pattern, similar to that seen in global MHD and RCM-E simulations. Their magnetic effects on the ground and geosynchronous orbit resemble a classic one-loop SCW.

Field research was conducted in the central research farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), during the period from October 2020 to March 2021. The experiment was a layout with RCBD design to evaluate the effect of selected fungicides (Indofil, Mancer, and Ridomil Gold), micronutrients (Zinc, Boron, and Magnesium), and botanicals (neem and eucalyptus leave extract) on purple blotch complex of onion. Data were collected on percent disease incidence and percent disease index, the number of leaves per plant, leaf length, bulb diameter, bulb weight (fresh and dry), and yield. The local cultivar Faridpuri was used as a tested variety. Among the selected fungicides, Ridomil Gold gave a better result than other fungicides in controlling the percent disease incidence (52.67%) and percent disease index (49.00%) with the highest number of yield qualities per plant. In addition to this, the highest bulb diameter (18.23 cm), single bulb weight (47.98 g), fresh weight (3.16 Kg/plot), and dry weight (2.88Kg/plot) were also obtained in Ridomil Gold treated plots. This treatment also gave better yield performance (9.60 t ha-1) followed by Indofil (8.20 t ha-1) and Mancer (7.90 t ha-1), and increased yield by 54.34% over the control treatment. From the study, it was also found that among the micronutrients, boron gave more satisfactory results than botanicals.

Geodetic observations after large subduction earthquakes reflect multiple postseismic processes, including megathrust relocking. What the timing of relocking is, and how well observations constrain it, is unclear. It has been inferred to explain some observed landward motion that occurs within months. It has also been considered unable to explain other, greater landward motion, including off the coast of Japan beginning weeks after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, which is attributed to postseismic relaxation. We use generic, 3D numerical models to show that relocking, particularly of the shallow interface, is needed for postseismic relaxation to produce landward motion on the tip of the overriding plate. We argue that this finding is consistent with previous simulations that implicitly relock the megathrust where afterslip is not included, that the Tohoku megathrust thus relocked within less than two months of the earthquake, and that the shallow megathrust probably behaves as a true, unstably sliding asperity.

The feasibility of detection of electromagnetic response in the upper ionosphere to ground large-scale ultra-low-frequency (ULF) and extremely-low-frequency (ELF) transmitters by low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites is considered. As an example of such transmitters, we consider the ZEVS 82 Hz transmitter for submarine communication, FENICS experiments with decommissioned electric power lines driven by 0.5–150 Hz generator, and industrial 50 Hz power transmission lines. We numerically model the ULF/ELF wave energy leakage into the upper ionosphere from an oscillating grounded linear current of a finite length suspended above a high-resistive ground. A realistic altitudinal profile of the plasma parameters has been reconstructed with the use of the IRI ionospheric model. For the ZEVS transmitter powered by 200 A current the modeled amplitudes of electromagnetic response can reach in the upper nightside ionosphere up to 60~$\mu$V/m and 6 pT. The assumption of an infinite source scale overestimates the ionospheric response by a factor of $\sim$6 as compared with realistic scale 60 km of the ZEVS transmitter. Unbalanced 50 Hz current of 10 A in large-scale ($>100$~km) power transmission lines can produce the electric response in the upper ionosphere that is sufficient to be detected by electric sensors at LEO satellite. The stimulation of artificial Pc1 pulsations (0.5 Hz) with amplitudes $\sim1$~pT and $\sim10$~$\mu$V/m by large-scale decommissioned power lines is possible with driving current $>120$~A.

Amongst various applications that experience a multi-directional particle source is the muon scattering tomography where a number of horizontal detectors of a limited angular acceptance conventionally track the cosmic-ray muons. In this study, we exhibit an elementary strategy that might be at disposal in diverse computational applications in the GEANT4 simulations with the purpose of hemispherical particle sources. To further detail, we initially generate random points on a spherical surface for a sphere of a practical radius by employing Gaussian distributions for the three components of the Cartesian coordinates, thereby obtaining a generating surface for the initial positions of the corresponding particles. Since we do not require the half bottom part of the produced spherical surface for our tomographic applications, we take the absolute value of the vertical component in the Cartesian coordinates by leading to a half-spherical shell, which is traditionally called a hemisphere. Last but not least, we direct the generated particles into the target material to be irradiated by favoring a selective momentum direction that is based on the vector construction between the random point on the hemispherical surface and the origin of the target material, hereby optimizing the particle loss through the source biasing. We also show a second scheme where the coordinate transformation is performed between the spherical coordinates and the Cartesian coordinates, and the above-mentioned procedure is applied to orient the generated muons towards the target material. In the end, a recipe hinged on the restrictive planes from our previous study is furthermore provided, and we incorporate our strategies by using G4ParticleGun in the GEANT4 code. While we plan to exert our strategy in the computational practices for muon scattering tomography, these source schemes might find its straightforward applications in different neighboring fields including but not limited to atmospheric sciences, space engineering, and astrophysics where a 3D particle source is a necessity for the modeling goals.

Civil and environmental engineering research and development are essential in the efforts to assess, design, improve, and implement infrastructure. Engineering disciplines are vital to adequately identifying infrastructure problems, improving designs, developing new technologies, and ensuring safety. While engineering is effective in assessing and improving infrastructure in general, it is significantly less effective in conducting research and development to combat fundamental environmental injustices. There exists no tool to design, execute and evaluate engineering infrastructure research and development through an environmental justice framework, which is vital to realize Justice 40 Executive Order 14008, which aims to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure that is specifically allocated towards environmental justice initiatives for disenfranchised communities. In the absence of a framework, various sectors, whether it be the private sector, philanthropy, academia, or government, each conduct engineering research and development under different theories as to how to realize positive change. Not only are some common engineering theories of change ineffective at addressing fundamental injustices, but many aspects result in the further perpetuation of inequities. Engineering disciplines need to adopt an equitable framework through which to engage in environmental justice efforts. The work herein presents a theory of change framework that various sectors can use to improve the equity and effectiveness of engineering research and development of infrastructure. We assess common engineering theories of change practiced in the private sector, philanthropy, academia, and government, and provide analysis, critique, and recommendations as to how engineering processes can effectively realize Justice 40.

Intermediate, eastward zonal jets connect the oxygen-rich western boundary of the Atlantic Ocean with the oxygen minimum zones on the eastern boundary. These jets are not well represented in climate models because the low horizontal resolution of these models yields excessive viscosity. We use two physical-biogeochemical model configurations of the Tropical Atlantic Ocean to show that the increase in resolution results in more robust intermediate zonal jets and a better representation of the OMZs. The OMZ structure is distorted in the low-resolution run as westward jets advect low-oxygen waters from the eastern boundary further west than in the climatology. The emergence of more robust eastward jets in the high-resolution run alleviate this problem and provide a more realistic structure of the OMZs. The asymmetry between the effect of westward and eastward jets occurs because the former are associated with homogenous potential vorticity regions in the eastern boundary while the latter are associated with potential vorticity gradients. Intermediate, eastward jets constrain the westward expansion of the OMZs by supplying oxygen to their western edge. Within the isotropic OMZs, high resolution better represents the boundary current system and eddying processes at depth which are important in the redistribution of low oxygen values from the eastern boundary. Our results show that basin-scale, high-resolution simulations reproduce more accurately the transfer of energy across scales that results in robust zonal jets as well as their impact on the biogeochemistry . Accurate model predictions provide a pathway to disentangle natural and anthropogenic causes of ocean deoxygenation.

The Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) separate the warmer lithosphere of the West Antarctic rift system and the colder East Antarctic craton. Low velocity zones beneath the TAM imaged in recent seismological studies have been interpreted as warm low-density mantle material, suggesting a strong contribution of thermal support to the uplift of the TAM. We present new Curie Depth Point (CDP) and geothermal heat flow (GHF) maps of the northern TAM and adjacent Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) based on high resolution magnetic airborne measurements. We find shallow CDP and high GHF, beneath the northern TAM reinforcing the idea of thermal support of the topography of the mountain range. Additionally, locally high GHF is observed in the Central Basin of the WSB and the Rennick Graben, which has not been resolved previously, while the broader WSB show lower GHF. Across the study area the GHF values range from 30 to 110 mW/m2. Lastly, we compare our CDP estimates to recent Moho depth estimates and our GHF estimates to sparse in situ GHF measurements as well as to existing continent-wide GHF estimates, which shows closed agreement to previous seismic estimates.

Calculated lithospheric strength envelopes (s) are rheological models of the lithosphere that are useful in understanding the elastic () and seismogenic () thicknesses of the lithosphere. Determinations of Te for Mars using different techniques use different models of Te as indicated by rheology in LSEs, and LSEs indicate that the differential stress fields that cause deformation must be considered in the determination of both Te and Ts. We do not attempt to review the literature here or to rank different methods. Our goal is to provide a better understanding of the different values of Te and Ts published in the literature and to encourage integration of these data with a physical understanding of the lithosphere in time and space.

Subducted reliefs, such as seamounts and ridges, affect fluid processes in accretionary prisms of subduction zones. The Kyushu–Palau Ridge subducts along with the Philippine Sea Plate in Hyuganada, which is one of the regions that are best suited for studying the role of subducting topography. This study investigates the shear wave velocity structure using an array of ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) with a 2 km radius. Teleseismic Green’s functions and a surface wave dispersion curve are inverted to one-dimensional shear wave velocity structures using transdimensional inversion. The results indicate the presence of a low-velocity zone 3–4 km below the seafloor. The reduced shear wave velocities are consistent with a compressional velocity structure obtained in a previous seismic refraction survey. We conclude that the low velocities are representative of high pore fluid pressure. In addition, the resolved lithological boundaries exhibit a sharp offset that consistently appears across the OBS array, suggesting the presence of a blind fault beneath it. The predicted fault, which is located at the flank of the Kyushu–Palau Ridge and oriented roughly parallel to the ridge axis, is likely caused by the ridge subduction. The fracture caused by the ridge subduction may act as a fluid conduit, forming a fluid reservoir beneath the well-compacted sediment layers. The compilation of previous refraction surveys implies that the reservoir has a lateral extension of >100 km. Its spatial distribution roughly correlates with the ridge location, highlighting the significant role the ridge plays in the formation of the reservoir.