Europe is covered by various networks of GNSS stations maintained by different agencies with different technical and scientific objectives. The EPOS-IP (European Plate Observing System – Implementation Phase) project aims to harmonize and standardize data collection and processing and to design and establish dedicated products and services that benefit the existence of national and pan-European infra-structures (in particular EUREF), optimized for Solid Earth Research applications.

Sea ice extent in the Bering Sea during the winter of 2017–2018 was the lowest on record with ice cover attaining less than half the long-term average. Mandt’s Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle mandtii), one of the few Arctic ice-obligate seabirds, typically winters in the Marginal Ice Zone over the Bering Sea shelf, occurring as far south as the shelf break. Adult survival and breeding biology of the species has been studied since 1975 at a breeding colony near Point Barrow, Alaska in the western Beaufort Sea, with nonbreeding distribution and movements monitored since 2011 with light-sensitive geolocators. Preliminary analysis of geolocators retrieved at the start of the 2018 breeding season indicates guillemots wintered further north than in any previous year with most birds remaining near the Bering Strait or in the southern Chukchi Sea. It appears the lack of sea ice in the traditional wintering area and resulting anomalous winter distribution had a major effect on the survival and condition of Mandt’s Black Guillemot in the Western Arctic, although direct causative factors have yet to be determined. Adult overwinter apparent mortality was the highest on record with 32 percent of the birds breeding in 2017 failing to return to the colony, compared to 11 percent apparent overwinter mortality for the period 1976–2013. Of the 70 pairs occupying nest sites in 2018, only 50 pairs produced eggs. Of those 50 nests, nearly one-half had no incubation occur after egg laying. Nonbreeding by established breeders occupying nest sites and abandonment of nests immediately after egg laying were extremely rare in earlier years. The number of breeding birds in 2018 was the lowest in four decades and punctuates a long-term decrease in the population since 1989. Analysis of geolocation and behavioral data from the 2017–2018 nonbreeding period will lend insights into how the anomalous winter sea ice conditions might have contributed to the observed high mortality and poor condition of surviving birds. Decreased prey availability in the Arctic Basin and Bering Strait regions, compared to the southern Bering Sea shelf, could be a factor, as could atypical oceanographic and sea ice conditions in the winter Marginal Ice Zone.

A modified version of the commercially available RheOptiCAD® was developed to examine the conformational changes and break-up of flocs in clay suspensions in microscopic detail, under shearing action. In contrast to the RheOptiCAD®, our device aims to enable the structural observation of suspensions even when coagulation or settling of particles onto the bottom plate of the shear cell occurs. This challenge was met by using an upright modular microscope instead of an inverted one, equipped with a CMOS camera to record the structural evolution of samples as a function of shear. The verification of the design was done by analysing a model system of un-flocculated and flocculated kaolin suspensions. Additional experiments with natural clay (mud) suspensions were performed.

Climate change affects the global water cycle and has the potential to alter water availability for food-energy-water production and the ecosystems services on regional and local scales. In southeastern Brazil, the Cantareira Water Supply System reached unprecedented low levels in January 2015 compromising the water supply for the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP). However, there is still few studies investigating the effects of climate change on water availability in this region. Here, we assess the influence of climate change on water availability in the Jaguari Basin, Southeastern Brazil using a modeling approach. This basin covers and area of about 1200 km2 and it is the main source of the Cantareira Water Supply System, responsible for providing water for about 7 million people in the MRSP. To evaluate climate change scenarios, we use the lumped conceptual HYMOD model on daily time step. This model was calibrated and evaluated using daily observed data of precipitation, evapotranspiration, and discharge for the period of 1990 to 2009. To evaluated climate change scenarios, we used data of an ensemble of 17 General Circulation Models (GCMs), downscaled by MarkSim GCM working off a 30 arc-second climate surface spatial resolution forced by two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP): RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. These data were integrated into the HYMOD to projected scenarios (up to 2095) of water discharge. We find values of Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency Coefficient (NSE) and Coefficient of Determination (R2) greater than 0.80 for the calibration and evaluation period. We also noticed an increase in the peak of runoff and a decrease and baseflow for both scenarios. Such changes reflect in a higher interannual variability, therefore, increasing the risk of drought and flood. In terms of Environmental Flow Requirement, the probability of exceedance Q90, reveal a clear pattern of decreasing, about 23% from 2010 to 2040, and reaching 28% by the end of the century. Our findings indicate that the water discharge could not be enough for the current and future water demand. Our results expose the fragility of the studied basin, presenting a technical and scientific information focusing on guiding the plans and strategies to deal with situations of water scarcity.

The original Evaporometer prototype was designed by the Openly Published Environmental Sensing (OPEnS) Lab at Oregon State University to remotely collect near real-time environmental data, including temperature, humidity, luminosity, and amount of precipitation, and transmit it to a receiver hub, where it can be viewed online by researchers worldwide. This eliminates costly and time-consuming site visits. Deployed during the summer of 2017 in OSU’s HJ Andrew’s Experimental Forest, the prototype failed after three months due to excess moisture entering the enclosure and damaging the hardware. Over its first two months, the prototype performed well, gathered over 90,000 data points, updating every five minutes. To extend the lifespan of the Evaporometer, the enclosure was redesigned to improve weatherproofing, include additional sensors, and improve the accuracy of data readings. These improvements will extend the Evaporometer’s field life, allowing it to reliably gather and transmit data for longer periods of time while the ability to gather albedo measurement expands the device’s sensing capabilities. The upgraded Evaporometer provides researchers with a reliable, low-cost, and open-sourced method of collecting environmental data in locations that may not have previously been feasible.

Crop monitoring requires both high spatial resolution data (HSR) for observing within sub-parcel scale, and high temporal resolution (HTR) to monitor vegetation changes during along the crop cycle. However, these simultaneous requirements are difficult to fulfill by the same satellite. In temperate areas such as the Versailles Plain, near Paris, France, HRS data have at best a dozen images exploitable per year, even with Sentinel-2 because of cloud cover, while those with medium spatial resolution (MRS) provide daily images, but at the generally mixed pixel scale. In France, the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) is an information system of the crop types declared by farmers, providing reference information about the annual crops cultivated within each agricultural parcel. In this work, the objective was to monitor the phenology of annual crops recorded in the LPIS of 2016, using satellite image time series from HRS Sentinel-2 (10m) and MRS Proba-V (100m) acquired from early to end of 2016 over the Versailles Plain, a small agricultural region (221 km2) cultivated with annual crops. From the two types of time series, the temporal variations of vegetation indices (NDVI / EVI2) of crops were extracted in order to analyze the crop seasonal variations of winter wheat, winter oilseed rape and maize over 2857 parcels with average size of 6.88 ha. The linear method of spatial disaggregation was applied on the MRS data, using fractions of each crop type in the mixed pixels calculated from the 2016-LPIS. The temporal responses from HRS data were compared with those of the MRS sub-pixels. Comparisons between both time series revealed significant correlations for the three studied crops (winter wheat = 0.94, winter oilseed rape = 0.74 and maize = 0.79). By improving the temporal frequency of the monitoring, from13 images for HRS to 25 images for MRS, the disaggregated MRS time series enabled to distinguish the phenological stages of the three studied crops better than the HRS time series. In conclusion, our method of spatial disaggregation can be used to improve the exploitation of satellite data at MRS in seasonal crop monitoring, especially during the transition periods when the spectral indices of crops are likely to change quickly.

Whereas scientific explanations have expanded our understanding of nature, they are often inappropriate for communicating the relevance of science to a lay audience. The arts avert these intellectual hurdles in permitting people to appreciate nature, while also informing scientific endeavors. This project combines the art of sculpture with the technology of electro mineral accretion (EMA) and the science of coral reef restoration. A DNA-inspired sculpture permits the transmission of a minimal DC current that extracts minerals from seawater and deposits them on the steel surface, thus creating a habitat for transplanted corals or settling larvae. Live streaming video (via a webcam) of these processes and related ocean data is sent out worldwide from this underwater art installation in Cozumel, Mexico. Snorkelers can visit the developing reef and students can participate in planting corals or monitoring conditions in the surrounding seawater. Divers and dive instructors have shown an interest in the project, which focuses on generating, rather than exploiting, reefs and welcomes curious locals and tourists. Mineral accretion reefs can adopt a range of shapes, sizes and arrangements on the ocean floor, thus facilitating an evaluation of how different designs influence the coral recruitment, growth, and survival, as well as how the evolving ecosystem protects shorelines and mitigates sea level rise. Research indicates that neighboring reefs are interconnected in many ways (as a network), contributing to their resilience. This sculpture serves as an artificial reef patch among the damaged natural reefs and could eventually contribute larvae from selected species. It is also an example of integrative emergence inasmuch as it substitutes for the natural growth of a reef’s substrate. In uniting wildlife preservation, marine science/education and ecotourism, the project exemplifies the nexus of functional art and environmental solutions.

In 2018 Ocean Networks Canada initiated an Artist in Residence program, despite uncertainties about what to expect and how to best manage it. To our surprise, the announcement call attracted immediate interest from artists around the world. Partnering with the University of Victoria Faculty of Fine Arts, we formed a selection committee who chose our first Artist in Residence. Since then, the program has exceeded our expectations and brought us into the compelling realm of transdisciplinary collaboration between ocean science and the arts. This collaboration is bearing fruit not only through the creation of new artistic works, but also as a venue for hosting conversations that can help bridge disciplinary boundaries across campus and across continents. This presentation will recap our Artist in Residence program and the artists who have been engaged both formally and informally through this initiative, as well as some of the fascinating and diverse work they have produced. We will describe our management processes, outreach efforts and some of the new challenges and opportunities we have encountered along the way. We will also share advice and insights from artists who have engaged in explorations along the Art-Science interface.

As already presented at previous conferences, we have developed an innovative technique for ocean wave observations from space: A dedicated reprocessing of spotlight-mode synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data enables us to produce a series of images covering a total time interval of a few seconds, in which moving wave patterns become visible. In most cases, the duration and quality of the image series is sufficient for computing a wavenumber-frequency spectrum and applying a dispersion relation filter to separate signatures of actual ocean waves from contributions of other physical phenomena and noise. Then the extracted wave signatures can be inverted into surface slope and displacement fields (in the space-time domain) and / or spectra (in the wavenumber-frequency domain) by applying relatively simple linear modulation transfer functions. Altogether this process is much more straightforward than traditional wave retrieval techniques for SAR images, and we think it produces more accurate results, although a full quantitative validation is still to be completed. This presentation at Ocean Sciences 2020 will not focus on the waves themselves, but on secondary information that can be retrieved from the moving wave patterns: Since the dispersion relation of ocean waves depends on water depth and surface current, these two parameters need to be tuned to fit the shape of the “dispersion shell” to the observed spectral energy distribution in each subwindow of a SAR image for which the wave field is analyzed. Accordingly, depth and surface current are obtained as additional outputs of the dispersion relation filter. This methodology is well established in the marine radar community, but has not been applied to satellite data before, where it presents a range of new opportunities as well as specific challenges. We will discuss the potential of the proposed method for practical applications and show first examples of retrieved nearshore wave, depth, and surface current fields.

On this poster we explore how well global HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) simulations predict (semidiurnal) internal tides and their decay. We explore two important factors that govern the internal tide predictability: model resolution (8 km vs. 4 km) and wave drag. We validate these simulations with internal-tide sea-surface height amplitudes from altimetry, surface-tide dissipation rates estimated from an altimetry-constrained model, finestructure and microstructure dissipation rates, and modal-conversion rates computed from analytical models. To compare HYCOM to various altimetry data sets, we derive a spatially varying correction factor that accounts for the effect of time series duration on non-stationarity. We perform tidal energy balances and decompose the M2 internal tides into vertical modes.

Measurements of dust size usually obtain the optical or the projected area-equivalent diameters, whereas model calculations of dust impacts use the geometric and the aerodynamic diameters. As such, accurate conversions between the four types of diameters are critical. However, most current conversions assume dust is spherical, which is problematic as numerous studies show that dust is highly aspherical. Here, we obtain conversions between different diameter types that account for dust asphericity. Our conversions indicate that optical particle counters using optical diameter to determine dust size underestimate dust geometric diameter at coarse sizes. We further use the diameter conversions to obtain a consistent observational constraint of size distributions of emitted dust in terms of geometric and aerodynamic diameters. The resulting size distributions are coarser than accounted for by parameterizations used in climate models, which which underestimate the mass of emitted dust within 10≤D_geo≤20 μm by a factor of ~2 and do not account for dust emission with D_geo≥20 μm. This finding suggests that current models substantially underestimate coarse dust emission.

Disabled scientists are severely underrepresented in geosciences, including paleo-related fields. In this presentation, I will explain how potential benefits from remote work can help improve access for disabled scientists (broadly defined). Some improvements include fewer barriers due to commuting to work (which contributes to fatigue) or physical access to buildings and labs, reduced stimuli (potentially helpful for learning disabilities and migraines), and more flexible working hours (helpful for a range of disabilities). Although restricted access to labs may change research directions, it’s possible for some computational research to continue. However, there are also new challenges arising from remote work, from social isolation to non-ideal work environments, that may have a disproportionate impact on disabled researchers. The pandemic has also forced some researchers to disclose their health conditions to explain that they are at a high risk for severe illness from COVID-19. I suggest that, even after COVID-19 is resolved, the paleo communities continue to support flexible work options, which could improve the representation of disabled scientists. Furthermore, we can use this period of reduced fieldwork and remote teaching to consider how to improve access for all scientists at field sites, in classrooms, and in labs.

The Vavilov Ice Cap destabilized in 2013. It reached its highest annual ice loss rate of 4.48 km3/yr between 2015 and 2016, a rate that is more than half of the entire combined ice loss from all the other ice caps in the Russian Arctic. To understand the mechanics of how the surge took place and what will happen in the future, we investigate surface elevation and glacier velocities using the Cryosphere And Remote Sensing Toolkit (CARST), an open-access python toolbox designed for processing temporal changes of high-resolution remote sensing data. We use optical satellite images from WorldView, Landsat, and Sentinel-2 and their derived elevation and velocity products to track the history of the surge between 2010 and the present. We propose that the surge initiated when the ice front overrode weak marine sediments in 2013, leading to a reduction of frontal friction. Velocity time series show that the glacier reached a maximum speed of 25 m/day (9 km/yr) in late 2015, when a piedmont-like ice lobe stretched more than 10 km into the Kara Sea. However, in spring 2017 the glacier slowed down to 7-9 m/day with the development of a new channel inside the piedmont lobe, with new shear margins visible from optical imagery. The channelized flow pushes through the grounded portion of the piedmont glacier, and suggests a further reorganization of resistive forces. The unprecedented evolution of the surge at Vavilov Ice Cap shows a strong connection to the status of the terminus, which might pose general concern for the stability of marine- or lake-terminating glaciers regardless of their locations on Earth.

The Chilean subduction zone is one of the most seismically active regions on Earth, due to the shallow depth of the seismogenic zone in combination with the high coupling coefficients and high plate convergence rate. On February 27, 2010, the Maule earthquake, which is one of the strongest instrumentally registered megathrust earthquakes, occurred in Darwin seismic gap – a seismically calm zone existed near the coast of Chile since 1835. We use the keyboard model of generation of strong subduction earthquakes [Lobkovky et al., 1991] to analyze the peculiarities of seismic deformation cycle (SDC) related to the Darwin seismic gap and the 2010 earthquake. Keyboard structure of the South American continental margin near the source zone of the Maule earthquake is confirmed by seismological and geological data. Using of keyboard model allows us to associate interseismic, coseismic and postseismic deformations observed by satellite geodesy with the action of particular geodynamic processes and, therefore, to study their features. To achieve this aim, we analyze the data of almost 10 years of continuous observations at 76 stations of the Chilean GPS network deployed along the source zone of the 2010 Maule earthquake. The analysis of variations in surface deformation fields is based on displacement rates fields of GPS stations estimated over 1-year intervals. On the basis of registered coseismic displacements we construct a model of slip distribution in the source zone of the Maule earthquake and determine the magnitudes of instantaneous shifts of seismogenic blocks towards the ocean, which reached 1-3 meters. In the first two years after the 2010 earthquake GPS stations shift toward the ocean over the whole Central Chile region, which indicates passing of aftershock stage of the SDC. Over the next 7 years of observations, the observed displacements can be mainly explained by the process of restoring the stationary state of stress accumulation for seismogenic blocks in the frontal part of the subduction zone in combination with the continuing displacement of the rear massif by a viscous asthenospheric flow. To assess the time of transition of seismogenic zone to stationary state of accumulation of elastic stresses we construct models of frictional afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation in the asthenosphere. The durations of the afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation processes for the Maule earthquake are according to our estimates about half a year and more than 15 years respectively. Understanding of the features of the SDC plays a significant role in the seismic hazard assessment of the Maule and Biobio regions of Chile.

The InSight mission [1] landed in November 2018 in the Elysium Planitia region [2] bringing the first geophysical observatory to Mars. Since February 2019 the seismometer SEIS [3] has continuously recorded Mars’ seismic activity, and a list of the seismic events is available in the InSight Marsquake Service catalog [4]. In this study, we predict present-day seismic velocities in the Martian interior using the 3D thermal evolution models of [5]. We then use the 3D velocity distributions to interpret seismic observations recorded by InSight. Our analysis is focused on the two high quality events S0173a and S0235b. Both have distinguishable P- and S-wave arrivals and are thought to originate in Cerberus Fossae [6], a potentially active fault system [7]. Our results show that models with a crust containing more than half of the total amount of heat producing elements (HPE) of the bulk of Mars lead to large variations of the seismic velocities in the lithosphere. A seismic velocity pattern similar to the crustal thickness structure is observed at depths larger than 400 km for cases with cold and thick lithospheres. Models, with less than 20% of the total HPE in the crust have thinner lithospheres with shallower but more prominent low velocity zones. The latter, lead to shadow zones that are incompatible with the observed P- and S-wave arrivals of seismic events occurring in Cerberus Fossae, in 20° - 40° epicentral distance. We therefore expect that future high-quality seismic events have the potential to further constrain the amount of HPE in the Martian crust. Future work will combine the seismic velocities distribution calculated in this study with modeling of seismic wave propagation [8, 9]. This will help to assess the effects of a 3D thermal structure on the waveforms and provide a powerful framework for the interpretation of InSight’s seismic data. [1] Banerdt et al., Nat. Geo. 2020; [2] Golombek et al., Nat. Comm. 2020, [3] Lognnoné et al., Nat. Geo. 2020, [4] InSight MQS, Mars Seismic Catalogue, InSight Mission V3, 2020, https://doi.org/10.12686/A8, [5] Plesa et al., GRL 2018, [6] Giardini et al., Nat. Geo. 2020, [7] Taylor et al., JGR 2013, [8] Bozdag et al., SSR 2017, [9] Komatitsch & Tromp, GJI 2002.

The retroarc of the North American Cordilleran orogen in Nevada and Utah has been divided into the frontal Sevier fold-thrust belt in Utah, which accommodated shortening between ~145 and ~50 Ma, and a broad region of Nevada referred to as the ‘Sevier hinterland’. The hinterland is hypothesized to have developed into a high-elevation orogenic plateau (or ‘Nevadaplano’) at some point between the Late Jurassic and the Paleogene. Recent paleoaltimetry utilizing clumped isotope temperature estimates suggests that at least some basins on the Nevadaplano were at an elevation of 2.2-3.1 km by the latest Cretaceous. However, it remains uncertain precisely when the Nevadaplano attained these high elevations and if surface uplift developed steadily along with protracted shortening in the Sevier fold-thrust belt or occurred rapidly and was decoupled from the shortening record. In order to extend the surface elevation history of the Nevadaplano further back in time, we have investigated the type-exposure of the mid-Cretaceous (~113-98 Ma) Newark Canyon Formation (Knc) in central Nevada. The Knc records synorogenic sedimentation in the Sevier hinterland during the early to middle stages of shortening in the Sevier thrust belt. We will present terrestrial surface temperature estimates from clumped isotope analyses derived from palustrine, lacustrine, and pedogenic carbonate-bearing facies. Contextualized by structural evidence and corrected for secular climate change, these data suggest that the studied Knc basin had not developed substantial surface elevation by the mid-Cretaceous. However, there was likely some considerable surface relief in this region associated with active fold-thrust structures in the upper crust. Preliminary temperature estimates range between 22 and 70°C. These temperatures reflect a range of facies-specific differences in primary carbonate formation, as well as, diagenetic overprinting of some samples. Consistently warm temperatures throughout the stratigraphic section suggest that there was no significant cooling due to elevation gain between ~113 and ~98 Ma. We will discuss the implications of these results for the style and timing of deformation and surface uplift within the Nevadaplano.

Representation of canopy and tree function in earth system models (ESMs) is going through rapid advancements in the last decade. The simplistic big-leaf representation of canopy in model is being expanded and replaced by more complex canopy representations that include multiple functional types, species and age/size stages, multiple patches with different canopy height and leaf area characteristics, and vertically detailed representations with between 2 (light and shade) to n canopy leaf layers. Recently, the hydrodynamic approach to modeling stomata conductance has advanced, and many ESMs include a hydrodynamic version. Under the hydrodynamic approach, stomata respond to water availability in the xylem, and not directly in the soil. The result is a model that include the stem, and xylem dimensions as canopy characteristics for determining the flow and storage of water in the xylem. However, pipe diameter, area and volume do not scale linearly, and thus, the simulations cannot resolve canopy-scale hydrodynamics by pulling all the stem conductive area and volume to a single virtual patch scale, but instead, need to consider the hydrodynamics of a single virtual tree and scale its resulting fluxes to the entire canopy. While that is trivial in a homogeneous canopy, the difference between the tree-level description of the hydrodynamic canopy and the horizontally pulled description of the canopy in the surface-flux and radiation-exchange modules leads to a conundrum. Imagine a mixed canopy: 50% oaks and 50% maples. Assume oaks have 20% more LAI and are 1 m taller than the maples. As far as hydrodynamics are concerned, the evaporative demands of maple follow from light attenuation and leaf area profiles of a maple-like canopy. However the roughness length and aerodynamic resistance, and the resulting wind profile inside the canopy is not characteristic of maple or oak but is a result of the mixed canopy. I will present formulation for a consistent scaling of tree-level canopies to patch-level for mixed forests with multiple species of different functional types. The formulation scales canopy characteristics and the resulting canopy fluxes from tree to forest in an energy and mass-conservative way, and allow a smooth and consistent multi-species canopy description for hydrodynamic models in mixed-forests.

Submarine slope failures and the tsunamis they generate pose risks to coastal communities and infrastructure. While slope failures on passive margins represent some of the largest mass failures on Earth, little is known about their dynamics. The recurrence interval of submarine slope failures on passive margins is longer than on active margins, which facilitates thick sediment accumulation before failure, yields larger failures, and may be associated with higher potential for tsunami generation. While numerous studies model failure likelihood based on temporal distribution, overpressure, or earthquake proximity, there is limited insight linking initial conditions, preconditioning, slope failure initiation, and failure evolution. We observed dynamic submarine slope failure processes via physical experiments in a benchtop flume. Submarine slope failures were induced under controlled pore pressure with varied sand-clay mixtures (0%, 2%, 4%, and 5%, clay, by weight) constrained to a constant pre-failure slope geometry. Commercially obtained fine-grained sand (subangular quartz; 87% SiO2; D50 = 195 µm) and clay (dioctahedral smectite; 63% SiO2 and 21% Al2O3; D90 = 44 µm) were used. Pore pressure required to induce slope failure, slope-failure initiation and evolution, and post-failure morphology were recorded and analysed via photogrammetry. Numerical models were developed to quantify the physical processes observed in flume experiments. Increased clay content corresponded to increased cohesion and pore pressure required for failure. Subsurface fractures and tensile cracks were only generated in experiments containing clay. Falling head tests showed a log-linear relation between hydraulic conductivity and clay content which we used in our numerical models. Models of our experiments effectively simulate overpressure (pressure in excess of hydrostatic) and failure potential for (non)cohesive sediment mixtures. Overall our work shows the importance of clay in reducing permeability and increasing cohesion to create different failure modes due to overpressure. Ongoing work is investigating the effects of higher clay content and the role of seismic energy in slope failure morphology.