We live in an “Ice House” world that has extensive ice cover at both poles. However, it has not always been this way. During the last 540 million years there have been only 4 other time intervals characterized by extensive polar ice caps (latest Ordovician, latest Devonian, Permo-Carboniferous, and late Cenozoic). The combined duration of these frigid intervals was approximately 160 million years, or ~30% of Phanerozoic history. During the remaining 380 million years the Earth lacked permanent polar ice caps, though some winter snow and ice may have accumulated at high latitudes during cool, greenhouse intervals (Silurian-early Devonian, late Jurassic – early Cretaceous). The modern ice house world is probably the most severe of all ice house worlds because it is the only time in Earth history when the North and South polar regions were concurrently glaciated. Using the compilation of lithologic indicators of glacial conditions (tillites, dropstone, & glendonites) compiled by Boucot et al. (2013), I have mapped the areal extent of polar ice caps (millions of km2) for the time periods when ice house conditions prevailed. Using a simple algorithm that estimates the thickness of the ice based on the total area of the ice cap, I have calculated the corresponding volume of continental ice (millions of km3) for each of these time intervals. Converting solid ice to liquid water, the equivalent volume of evaporated ocean water was calculated. Expressed as a percentage of the present-day volume of ocean water (1.35 billion km3), I estimated the amount of water removed from the oceans during each of these ice house intervals. Preliminary results, indicate that the five largest ice volume events were the Hirnantian (444.5 Ma) – 2%, Modern World – 2%, Pliocene (3 Ma) – 2%, early Permian (280 Ma) – 1.5%, and late Miocene (10-15 Ma) – 1.4%. Since the water removed from the oceans by evaporation is preferential enriched in 16O, it is possible to calculate the resulting δ18O of the remaining oceanic reservoir. These calculations may be useful when estimating paleotemperatures from the δ18O record of fossil organisms.

River corridors, the spatial domains around rivers in which river water interacts with surrounding sediment and rock, are important components of watersheds. They comprise extremely complex ecosystems: heterogeneous at all spatial scales with strong temporal dynamics, coupled biological, geochemical, and hydrologic processes, and ubiquitous human impacts. We present several ways that our project, focused around the 75 km Hanford Reach of the Columbia River but with multiple connections to other systems, is addressing this challenge. These include 1) deployment of intensive, automated sensor networks supplemented by data from the Hanford Environmental Information System (HEIS) for hyporheic zone monitoring 2) data assimilation of these and other data into models using joint hydrologic and geophysical inversion, 3) integrating MASS2 model outputs and bathymetry data using machine learning to classify hydromorphologic features, 4) a community-based effort to develop broad understanding of organic carbon biogeochemistry and microbiomes in diverse river systems, and 5) use of multi-‘omics data to develop new biogeochemical reaction networks. These underpin the incorporation of process understanding and diverse data into high-resolution mechanistic models, and employment of those models to develop reduced-order models that can be applied at large scales while retaining the effects of local features and processes. In so doing we are contributing to reduction of uncertainties associated with major Earth system biogeochemical fluxes, thus improving predictions of environmental and human impacts on water quality and riverine ecosystems and supporting environmentally responsible management of linked energy-water systems.

Accurate kinematic models are fundamental to enhance our knowledge of the seismic cycle as well as to improve surface ground motion prediction. However, the solution of the ill-posed kinematic inverse problem is non-unique (e.g., Cohee & Beroza, 1994; Wald & Heaton, 1994; Cotton & Campillo, 1995 and Minson et al., 2013) and, according to current acquisition systems surrounding active faults, this problem is highly underdetermined, in spite of its rather simple formulation as a linear inverse problem. Non-linear formulations of the problem, based on model reduction strategies, alleviate the underdetermination of the problem. However, non-linear formulations imply drastic assumptions on the rupture history and they complicate the use of linear algebra tools to assess the uncertainties of results. Regardless of the assumed inverse formulation, the incorporation of physical constrains and prior information into the inverse problem is necessary to provide more robust and plausible solutions. In this work (Sanchez-Reyes et al. 2018), we present a new hierarchical linear time domain kinematic source inversion method able to assimilate data traces through evolutive time windows. This progressive approach, both on the data and model spaces, does require mild assumptions based on prior knowledge or preconditioning strategies on the slip rate local gradient estimations. Contrary to similar approaches (Fan et al., 2014), this strategy benefits from the sparsity and causality of the seismic rupture while still ensuring the positivity of the solution. While standard regularization terms are used for stabilizing the inversion, strategies based on parameter reduction leading to a non-linear relationship between the source history and the observed seismograms are avoided. Rise time, rupture velocity and other attributes can be extracted later on from the slip-rate inversion we perform. . Satisfactory results are obtained on synthetic benchmarks proposed by the Source Inversion Validation project (Mai et al. 2016) and for the 2016 M$_w$7.0 Kumamoto mainshock. Our specific formulation combined with simple prior information, as well as numerical results obtained so far, yields interesting perspectives for a quasi-real-time implementation and to ease the uncertainty quantification of such ill-conditioned problem.

Improved observations of ice hydrometeors can lead to better weather predictions and understanding of the hydrological cycle. Global coverage is best achieved by satellites, using active and passive microwave remote sensing due to the inherent penetration capability and sensitivity to the snow and ice cloud particles which scatter and absorb the radiation. Snow and cirrus cloud particles are to a large degree composed of aggregates. While it is known that the shape of these aggregates influence microwave measurements to various degrees, it is currently not fully clear to what extent certain particle features are of importance. For example, of what importance is the shape of individual crystals in the aggregates? This work is an attempt at improving our knowledge on the impact of ice aggregate microphysics on microwave and sub-millimetre scattering properties from a modelling point of view. A large amount of aggregates (roughly 4000) where modelled through several semi-physical stochastic simulations. The aggregates are composed of hexagonal ice crystals of varying axis ratio, ranging from 1/15 (plates) to 15 (columns), and assumed to be oriented in the horizontal plane. Single scattering properties of over 1000 aggregates were then assessed for zenith/nadir observations, using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) at three typical radar bands (13.4, 35.6, 94.1 GHz) and three passive microwave frequencies (183.3, 325.15 and 664 GHz). An analysis on the sensitivity of these scattering data to various aggregate parameters is presented. In general, extinction was found to be less sensitive to shape than back-scattering at investigated at frequencies. Extinction at 664 GHz in particular was found to be shape insensitive; promising for the sake of the Ice Cloud Imager (ICI) on the upcoming Metop-SG satellite. In contrast, evaluation of triple frequency signatures showed relatively high shape sensitivity; of relevance to future multi-frequency radars.

Studies of the dissolved and sediment composition of global rivers provide crucial insights into the relationship between climate, weathering, and landscape dynamics. The chemical composition of suspended riverine sediment constrains contemporary erosion and chemical weathering, and is critical to the interpretation of sedimentary records, such as continental shelf deposits. Here we present suspended sediment flux and chemical composition data from the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) and Salween (Thanlwin) rivers in Myanmar, from samples collected in the wet and dry seasons in 2017-2018. Analyses of major element, 87/86Sr, and εNd composition are combined with a multi-step leaching protocol to determine the ccompositions of silicate, carbonate, and iron oxide components in the bulk sediment. Sources of the organic matter are determined by analyses of carbon and nitrogen isotopes. We show that, as in other large rivers, suspended sediment concentration and composition in the river channel is depth-dependent due to hydrodynamic sorting. Depth profile sampling is therefore required for the complete characterization of the sediment flux and composition in these rivers. Having accounted for hydrodynamic sorting, we demonstrate that there are key differences in the composition of the Irrawaddy and the Salween rivers at the mouth. We further show how the composition of the Irrawaddy sediments evolves along a downstream transect from the northern headwaters to the delta, due to inputs from tributaries draining distinct lithologies and the continued weathering of sediments transported through the floodplain. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the interpretation of offshore sedimentary deposits and for quantifying the regional chemical weathering and carbon budgets.

Although it has been well recognized that clouds tremendously affect the surface solar irradiance and its direct and diffuse partitions, accurately forecasting solar radiation in cloudy conditions remains a major challenge. This study focuses on two aspects of the challenge: impacts of cloud microphysics and model domain size. First, we will examine the sensitivity of surface solar radiation and its partitions to cloud microphysics by using the state of art Weather Research and Forecasting model specifically designed for simulating and forecasting solar radiation (WRF-Solar). A number of microphysical schemes will be tested, and comparison against the measurements of shallow cumulus clouds and stratiform clouds selected at the DOE ARM SGP Site. Efforts will be made to quantify the resultant uncertainty spread. Second, identifying the physical causes of the underlying model differences is even more challenging. To address this, we will introduce a new model evaluation framework based on different setups of WRF-Solar (single column, LES, and nested WRF). In particular, we will examine the effect of the number of LES grid columns and its lower limit producing reasonable results. Commonly used evaluation metrics will be used in our model evaluation, including the used RMSE, MAE, MAPE, and relative Euclidean distance. The results will provide physical insight into the understanding of cloud-radiation interactions and forecasting of solar radiation in cloudy conditions.

The unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution of the sixty-four dual electron and ion spectrometers comprising the Fast Plasma Investigation (FPI) onboard the four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft enables us to compute terms of the Vlasov equation and thus compare MMS measurements directly to kinetic theory. Here we discuss our techniques for determining spatial and velocity-space gradients of the ion and electron distribution function from the skymaps provided by FPI. We present initial results validating and comparing the contributions from ∂f/∂t, v·∇f, and a·∇vf for a variety of kinetic plasma contexts including both reconnection and non-reconnection events, such as electron diffusion regions (EDRs), magnetic holes, and thin electron-scale current sheets. The ability to resolve gradients of the distribution function motivates comparison of MMS observations to predictions from gyro-kinetic theory and particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations as an approach for determining which physical mechanism is responsible for generating ion and electron crescent distributions observed in association with EDRs and thin boundary layers.

Seawater rare earth element (REE) concentrations are increasingly applied to reconstruct water mass histories by exploiting relative changes in the distinctive normalised patterns. However, the mechanisms by which water masses gain their REE patterns are yet to be fully explained. To examine this, we collected water samples along the Extended Ellett Line (EEL), an oceanographic transect between Iceland and Scotland, and measured dissolved REE by offline automated chromatography (SeaFAST) and ICP-MS. The proximity to two continental boundaries, the incipient spring bloom coincident with the timing of the cruise, and the importance of deep water circulation in this climatically sensitive gateway region make it an ideal location to investigate sources of REE to seawater and the effects of vertical cycling and lateral advection on their distribution. The deep waters have REE concentrations closest to typical North Atlantic seawater and are dominated by lateral advection. Comparison to published seawater REE concentrations of the same water masses in other locations provides a first measure of the temporal and spatial stability of the seawater REE signature. We demonstrate the REE pattern is replicated for Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) in the Iceland Basin from adjacent stations sampled 16 years previously. A recently published Labrador Sea Water dissolved REE signature is reproduced in the Rockall Trough but shows greater light and mid REE alteration in the Iceland Basin, possibly due to the dominant effect of ISOW and/or continental inputs. An obvious concentration gradient from seafloor sediments to the overlying water column in the Rockall Trough, but not the Iceland Basin, highlights release of light and mid REE from resuspended sediments and pore waters, possibly a seasonal effect associated with the timing of the spring bloom in each basin. This study highlights the need for fully constrained REE sources and sinks, including the temporary nature of some sources, to achieve a balanced budget of seawater REE. In this contribution, I discuss some of the potential mechanisms and their implications for the longevity of the seawater REE signature.

Water resources management is a non-trivial process requiring a holistic understanding of the factors driving the dynamics of human-water systems. Policy-induced or autonomous behavioral changes in human systems may affect water and land management, which may affect water systems and feedback to human systems, further impacting water and land management. Currently, hydro-economic models lack the ability to describe such dynamics either because they do not account for the multi-factor/multi-output nature of these systems, and/or are not designed to operate at a river basin scale. This paper presents a flexible and replicable methodological framework for integrating a microeconomic multi-factor/multi-output Positive Multi-Attribute Utility Programming (PMAUP) model with an eco-hydrologic model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The connection between the models occurs in a sequential modular approach through a common spatial unit, the “Hydrologic-Economic Representative Units” (HERUs), derived from the boundaries of decision-making entities and hydrologic responsive units. The resulting SWAT-PMAUP model aims to provide the means for exploring the dynamics between the behavior of socio-economic agents and their connection with the water system through water and land management. The integrated model is illustrated by simulating the impacts of irrigation restriction policies on the Río Mundo sub-basin in south-eastern Spain. The results suggest that agents’ adaptation strategies in response to the irrigation restrictions have broad economic impacts and subsequent consequences on surface and groundwater resources. We suggest that the integrated modeling framework can be a valuable tool to support decision-making in water resources management across a wide range of scales.

Geoscience doctoral programs are among the least diverse among STEM fields, with no progress since 1973 on ethnic and racial diversity among U.S. citizens earning doctorates in the earth, atmosphere and ocean sciences [1]. In this contribution, we examine Asian American representation in U.S. geoscience doctoral programs (defined here as U.S. citizens and permanent residents) [2]. Temporal trends of geoscience Ph.D. recipients lead to four key findings. (1) Since 1973, Asian Americans make up 5.3% of geoscience doctorates, below the current U.S. citizenry. However, since 2001, the proportion of Asian American geoscience doctorates has declined to 4.4% since 2001, while degrees earned by temporary residents have greatly increased (>85% of all Asians since 2006). (2) Trends since 1973 are impacted by a short-lived spike in Asian American geoscience Ph.D. recipients in the mid-1990s. (3) Gender parity among Asian Americans has improved from 16% female in the 1970s to 51% since 2001. (4) Within the geoscience disciplines (earth, ocean, and atmospheric), the earth sciences have lagged in Asian American representation with only 3.7% of total graduates since 2001 concentrated in a few U.S. states. In sum, Asian Americans are similar to other minority groups in that gender parity has been reached, although proportional representation has not. Additionally, the high proportion of temporary residents may bias the perception of participation by Asian Americans. Despite these findings, participation gaps from Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American groups lag those of Asians significantly [1]. While not categorized as ‘underrepresented’ in 2016, Asian Americans are still a minority and therefore face similar challenges to other minority groups. Further, Asian Americans represent diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds not captured by current survey methods. The active inclusion of Asian American groups in the diversity conversation may increase engagement in the geosciences and potentially encourage Asian Americans to act as allies to other groups. Through this contribution we hope to place Asian representation in the context of minority participation in the geosciences and foster a network of Asian American geoscientists. 1. doi:10.1038/s41561-018-0116-6 2. https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsf18304/

The morphodynamic response of the Dutch Wadden Islands to the effects of climate change (e.g. sea level rise) or human interventions (e.g. nourishments) is closely tied to the evolution of the ebb-tidal deltas between them. To understand the fate of these ebb-tidal deltas, we must quantify the behaviour and transport patterns of sediment as it moves across them. In September 2017, 2000 kg of dual signature (fluorescent and ferrimagnetic) sediment tracer was deployed on the seabed at Ameland ebb-tidal delta in the Netherlands. The tracer’s physical characteristics (d50= 285 μm, ρ = 2628 kg/m3) closely matched those of the native sediment to ensure that it was eroded, transported and deposited in a similar manner. The tracer study was complemented by simultaneous measurements of hydrodynamics and suspended sediment at four locations across the ebb-tidal delta. Over the subsequent 41 days, the tracer’s dispersal was monitored via the collection of seabed grab samples and determination of tracer content and particle size within each sample. In addition, high-field magnets mounted on mooring lines 1, 2, and 5 m above the seabed at strategic locations around the deployment site were used to sample tracer particles travelling in suspension. Tracer particles were recovered from over 60 of approximately 200 samples, despite the occurrence of two significant storm events (Hs > 4 m). Although hydrodynamic measurements suggest an eastward tidal residual flow, the spatial pattern of the recovered tracer indicates that transport is highly dispersive, likely due to the storms. Furthermore, the samples recovered from the suspended magnets show an upward fining trend in grain size through the water column. The active sediment tracing approach provides useful insight into sediment transport patterns and sorting processes in energetic coastal environments. The study also demonstrated the potential of dual signature sediment tracers to monitor sand nourishment effectiveness. In particular, the use of magnets proved highly effective at sampling tracer travelling in suspension, enabling both bed load and suspended load transport processes to be investigated. The data obtained through this study will serve as a basis for future numerical model calibration and validation.

Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) is a novel remote sensing technique for monitoring land deformation on large scale. It is economic and can be used for detection of land surface deformation in the past given that the sensor should have passed over the area. The millimetric precision of the technique makes it very useful. One of its application is monitoring of slow moving landslides. In this study we have focused upon monitoring of slow moving landslides in Tehri region of Uttarakhand state of India. This area is landslide prone. Its susceptibility to landslide has increased due to construction of artificial reservoir in the region. The variation in reservoir drawdown level can be cited as one of the reasons. In this study we have applied Persistent Scatterer Interferometry on the stack of 20 Single Look Complex (SLC) scenes of Envisat satellite of European Space Agency. We have performed time-series analysis for period starting from 12 May 2008 to 26 July 2010. The methodology consists of selection of master image, coregistration of other slave images to master image, calculation of amplitude stability index, generation of reflectivity map. After this 19 interferograms were generated. On basis of this selection of Persistent Scatterers (PS) is done. After that estimation and removal of Atmospheric Phase Screen (APS) was done. In the end calculation of time-series displacement of PSs is performed. From this analysis we are able to identify the spatial location of slow moving landslides. In this study we have identified PSs having nearly 40 mm/year of velocity. Detected areas showing land movement away from the line of sight of satellite, can be found on the rim of reservoir as well as areas 4 kilometres interior, away from the boundary of reservoir. These areas are located near roads and places where anthropogenic interference is there.

Cyclostratigraphy’s near 100% success rate in statistical cycle identification suggests confirmation bias; absence of cyclicity is not regarded as a possible outcome. Vaughan et al 2011 (VBS) showed that the usual methods of estimating confidence levels (CLs) admit numerous false cycle detections, but in subsequent debate it is asserted that the corrections recommended by VBS do not apply in cyclostratigraphy because they lead to rejection of the expected orbital periods. Is there a deeper problem? VBS particularly criticised universal failure to correct CLs for the unavoidably multiple nature of significance tests of power spectra. However, the multiple-test problem is compounded by assumptions of unlimited freedom to vary procedures to allow for properties of individual datasets. Statistical analysis in cyclostratigraphy operates in a large variable-space, both of target hypotheses (many orbital cycles and combinations thereof), and of procedures (many pre- and syn-processing options). Each of the many data-contingent choices made before and during spectral analysis and significance-testing implies the existence of alternatives: in effect, the reported analysis is only one of many. Given that multiple experiments will eventually achieve a positive result purely by chance, unadjusted significance thresholds will result in large numbers of spurious cycle identifications, a possible explanation for observed success rates. Additional multiplicity is implied by the practice of treating CLs as a guide, rather than as a definitive signal:noise discriminator; treating CLs as movable (or even optional) negates the concept that the particular dataset is just one realisation of many permitted by the noise model; without pre-selection of a CL the statistics are meaningless. Suggestions for practical improvements include: better hypothesis formulation (with attention to the prior probability of signal preservation in an unreliable recording medium); more care in discriminating between the exploratory (hypothesis-setting) and confirmatory (hypothesis-testing) modes of data analysis; advance definition of analytical protocols; and publication of all results whether positive or negative. Reference: Vaughan et al 2011: doi:10.1029/2011PA002195.

To improve surface mass balance (SMB) estimates for the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), we develop a spatially and temporally high resolution polar regional climate model combining the Japan Meteorological Agency Non-Hydrostatic atmospheric Model and the Snow Metamorphism and Albedo Process model (NHM–SMAP). At present, the horizontal resolution of the model is set to be 5 km with the temporal interval of 1-hour. The model forced by the Japanese 55year Reanalysis (JRA-55) has been evaluated in the GrIS during the 2011–2014 mass balance years using in-situ surface meteorological and stake measurement data [1]. Results show that the model reproduced the measured features of the GrIS climate, diurnal variations, and even a meso-scale strong wind event. In particular, it reproduces the GrIS surface melt area extent well. Recently, near real-time calculations with the model are conducted operationally. Here we introduce the concept and framework of the model, then present performance of the model from various aspects. In addition, some new results from the operational near-real time calculations will be shown and discussed. Reference [1] Niwano et al. (2018) NHM-SMAP: Spatially and temporally high resolution non-hydrostatic atmospheric model coupled with detailed snow process model for Greenland Ice Sheet. The Cryosphere, 12, 635-655, doi:10.5194/tc-12-635-2018.

WBSCAT is a new terrestrial microwave scatterometer supporting polarimetric observations over 1 to 40 GHz. This instrument is being developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) to conduct microwave studies of a wide range of ground covers including snow and ice. This instrument is built upon the heritage of SnowScat , operating over the range of 9.2 to 17.8 GHz, that has been used for generating tomographic time-series of snow pack and is part of the ongoing ESA SnowLab project [2]. WBSCAT, like its predecessor, acquires coherent data and can measure polarimetric scattering matrices, interferometric phase, and coherence. Both instruments will be operated in Winter 2018/2019 in Davos Laret, Switzerland mounted on a 10- meter tower and performing multiple daily observations of the snow pack. Either instrument can be attached to a 2.2-meter linear scanner inclined at 45-degrees permitting tomographic snow profiling [1]. The WBSCAT instrument uses radial-scan aperture synthesis to acquire independent observations of the scattering volume and also to restrict the field of view to the undisturbed test site, despite wide antenna beamwidths at low frequencies. The 6 horn antennas, with overlapping frequency ranges of 1 to 6, 2 to 18, and 10 to 40 GHz, are mounted approximately 60 cm radially from the rotation axis of the pan/tilt scanner. The antennas can be scanned between +35 and -45 degrees in elevation and +/- 90 degrees in azimuth, creating a synthetic aperture. The aperture dimensions are mostly determined by the antenna pattern, but at low frequencies, the antenna beamwidth exceeds 90 degrees. Aperture synthesis substantially increases the number of looks for improved radiometric resolution and is a novel approach for ground-based microwave scatterometry. Combining ranging information along with WBSCAT aperture synthesis perpendicular to the line of sight, has the potential for direct 3D imaging of the snow pack.

The Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault (EPGF), one of two left-lateral transforms that define the Caribbean-North American plate boundary in Haiti, plunges beneath Lake Azuei in the eastern part of the country. In 2017, we acquired 220 km of sub-bottom and multichannel seismic reflection profiles (CHIRP and MCS) in a 1.2 km grid pattern across the lake. The two seismic methods achieved subbottom penetration of up to 15 m and 200 m, respectively. CHIRP and MCS data reveal folded turbidites across the expected extension of the EPGF fault zone at the south end of the lake, although direct evidence for faulting is lacking. Along the west side of the lake, however, MCS data image a broad NW-SE monoclinal fold whose geometry is compatible with an underlying SW-dipping blind thrust fault. CHIRP profiles image patches of soft- sediment deformations above the monoclinal fold; they also image a distinctive 11 m-deep paleoshoreline all around the lake that is uplifted by 1-2 m above that fold. These results are compatible with a scenario where some large slip event(s) on the presumed blind thrust occurred after formation of the paleoshoreline, locally uplifting the lakebed and causing liquefaction. Two short sediment cores sampled a layer correlatable to a reflection in the CHIRP profiles. That reflection extends laterally below the 11m shoreline, and thus predates its formation. On-going 14C dating of material from the two cores are expected to provide a maximum age for the shoreline, and thus for some hypothetical slip event(s) on the presumed blind thrust fault. The prominent character of the paleoshoreline suggests that it was stable, something best achieved if the lake level was controlled by the sill depth of an outlet. Presently, no such outlet exists and the lake level fluctuates. Pending results from radiometric dating, we propose that, earlier in the Holocene, the lake overflowed eastward into adjacent Lake Enriquillo along the narrow valley marking the extension of the EPGF fault zone - a valley that is presently blocked by an alluvial fan. Regardless of the relevance of that model, the uplifted shoreline implies a significant uplift rate on a structure extending up to 10 km north of the EPGF fault zone and striking oblique to it, confirming that transpressional tectonics is partitioned over an area at least as broad as Lake Azuei.

Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) based mapping of surface deformation has proven valuable in a variety of geoscience applications. Conventional approaches to DInSAR analysis require significant expertise and are not suited to addressing the opportunities and challenges presented by the large multi-temporal SAR datasets generated by future radar constellations. As a result, the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) developed, in support of Natural Resources Canada and Government of Canada priorities, a system for automatic generation of standard and advanced deformation products based on DInSAR technology from RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Existing RADARSAT-2 processing algorithms were adapted to RCM specifications and novel advanced processing algorithms were developed to address the large data sets resulting from the constellation’s four-day rapid revisit cycle. This permitted expanding the DInSAR functionality across a wide-range of spatial and temporal scales. The system architecture is scalable and can be expanded to serve a large number of clients; it can simultaneously address multiple application areas including natural and anthropogenic hazards, natural resource development, permafrost and glacier monitoring, coastal and environmental change and wetlands mapping.

Over-pumping and extended drought events have raised awareness on groundwater resources management within the Mediterranean Basin. As groundwater often has an important role in sustaining certain types of aquatic, terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, water policy makers should pay special concern to maintain groundwater contribution to the environmental flow. To this aim, the present study focuses on the assessment of a newly introduced groundwater management tool, the Groundwater Footprint (GWF) (Gleeson et al., 2012). GWF represents a water balance between aquifer inflows and outflows, focusing on environmental flow requirements and expresses the area required to sustain groundwater use and groundwater dependent ecosystem services. GWF is applied to a pilot aquifer in the Mediterranean Basin, crossed by an intermittent river. Total abstraction, natural and artificial recharge, groundwater contribution to environmental stream flow are the critical parameters related to GWF estimation. In order to estimate groundwater contribution to the environmental stream flow, the assumption that groundwater contributes to the environmental flow to the same percentage as baseflow contributes to the natural flow has been made. However, the main constraint met in GWF estimation has been the estimation of the environmental flow in non-perennial river, as the quantification of the environmental flow requirements has been mainly studied for perennial rivers. For this reason, the available to the literature studies referring to environmental flow requirements have been assessed and the most appropriate method for the specific pilot area has been applied. The ratio GWF to the actual area of the aquifer (A) can be used to assess groundwater management, as GWF/A>1 indicates unsustainable groundwater consumption. Consequently, GWF/A may consist a comprehensible to the general public groundwater stress indicator and can be used to raise awareness.