Article
Engineering, Geological
Zonglin Zhang, Runqiang Zeng, Xingmin Meng, Shufen Zhao, Jianhua Ma, Hong Wang, Xiangpei Meng, Hailong Yin, Yunqi Yao, Weiwei Guo, Dengju Xie, Bin He
Summary: This study explores the factors controlling differential soil actual evaporation at different parts of a slope. It discovers the impact of historical rainfall on soil erosion, which leads to significant differences in soil moisture and evaporation at different locations on the slope.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yousef A. Y. Albuhaisi, Ype van der Velde, Sander Houweling
Summary: An important uncertainty in modeling methane emissions from natural wetlands is the wetland area. It is difficult to model wetlands' methane emissions due to various factors, including spatial heterogeneity at different scales. This study investigates the impact of model resolution on simulated wetland methane emissions and finds a strong relation between emissions and resolution, which is sensitive to the sub-grid treatment of the wetland fraction.
Article
Engineering, Civil
I. P. Senanayake, I-Y Yeo, G. R. Willgoose, G. R. Hancock
Summary: This study compares two soil thermal inertia-based downscaling models to meet the required level of spatial resolution for various applications. The findings show that both models performed well in estimating soil moisture at a high spatial resolution in semi-arid regions.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Mahmoud Shehata, Pierre Gentine, Natalie Nelson, Chadi Sayde
Summary: Fiber-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing combined with the Single-probe Heat-pulse technique can measure soil moisture across spatial scales. This study tested a new methodology using Gaussian processes model to account for the spatial variability in the relationship between soil thermal conductivity and soil moisture. The findings provide key information for scaling soil moisture across different spatial resolutions.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiali Du, Xiaoqin Dai, Zailin Huo, Xingwang Wang, Shuai Wang, Chaozi Wang, Chenglong Zhang, Guanhua Huang
Summary: Populus popularis, as a tree species of shelterbelts, plays significant ecological roles in arid and semiarid areas. However, the dynamics of stand transpiration (T) and canopy conductance (gc) of P. popularis in arid irrigated areas with shallow groundwater fluctuations are not clear. In this study, we investigated the responses of T and gc to meteorological factors, soil water, and shallow groundwater in a typical arid area of China. The findings revealed the influence of solar radiation, vapor pressure deficit (VPD), groundwater table depth (GTD), and soil water content (SWC) on T and gc, providing an essential basis for water use strategy and stand water resources management in arid regions.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Paolo Filippucci, Luca Brocca, Christian Massari, Carla Saltalippi, Wolfgang Wagner, Angelica Tarpanelli
Summary: Rainfall monitoring is crucial for various hydrological applications. While in-situ measurements have limitations, satellite products like SM2RAIN show promise. This study explores the self-calibration of SM2RAIN using ASCAT soil moisture data, with promising results for rainfall estimation.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yongfei Gao, Pengyuan Yang
Summary: Soil water repellency (SWR) in grassland soils can lead to erosion and degradation. This study examined the temporal and spatial distribution of SWR in Inner Mongolia grassland soils and identified the physical-chemical properties that contribute to SWR. The results showed that SWR was correlated with hydrophobic matter content, particle size, and soil moisture. The study emphasized the importance of considering SWR in reducing the risk of soil erosion and degradation in grasslands.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
K. Sakaguchi, L. K. Berg, J. Chen, J. Fast, R. Newsom, S. L. Tai, Z. Yang, W. I. Gustafson, B. J. Gaudet, M. Huang, M. Pekour, K. Pressel, H. Xiao
Summary: The study focuses on quantifying spatial scales of land-atmosphere interactions over heterogeneous soil moisture patterns, using high-resolution numerical experiments. The simulations compare different scenarios of land cover and soil moisture, showing variations in surface sensible heat flux at different scales and secondary circulations induced by land cover variations. The results highlight the importance of considering non-linear effects of soil moisture variability in large-scale models, despite their small areal coverage.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Yangxiaoyue Liu, Yaping Yang
Summary: This study systematically investigated the trends of soil moisture and the factors impacting it in China. The results showed that the spatial-temporal variation in soil moisture in China is unbalanced, with drying trends in northern and central northeastern regions and wetting trends in the Kunlun and Tianshan Mountains. The depth of the soil also played a role, with increasing drought in drying regions and decreasing wetness in wetting regions as the depth increased. Precipitation and evaporation were found to be the dominant climatic drivers of soil moisture variability, while human water withdrawal also had a continuous impact on deeper layers.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ashish Navale, L. Karthikeyan
Summary: Land evapotranspiration significantly affects the continental precipitation of India during monsoons. This study utilizes the Eulerian water vapor-tagging technique to analyze the soil moisture-precipitation feedbacks and quantifies recycled precipitation. Results show a high recycling ratio in Central India, Gangetic plain, and Northeast India, increasing with monsoon progression and peaking in September. The Himalaya and transient low-pressure systems from the Bay of Bengal play vital roles in precipitation recycling in India.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Han Yang, Lihua Xiong, Dedi Liu, Lei Cheng, Jie Chen
Summary: This study assimilated multiple remote-sensed PSM data into a high spatial resolution distributed hydrological model, generating high-resolution PSM estimations which were found to be more accurate than both the original remote-sensed PSM data and the model-simulated PSM. The assimilation of the SMAP PSM dataset into the model showed potential for improving streamflow simulations for the studied catchments.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yarong Sun, Chao Liu, Min Zhao, Le Liu, Siqi Liang, Yajuan Wang, Yunming Chen
Summary: Extreme rainfall events can significantly impact soil carbon release, leading to increased CO2 emissions from deep soil and affecting regional carbon emissions.
Article
Ecology
Alexander Kuhn-Regnier, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Peer Nowack, Matthias Forkel, I. Colin Prentice, Sandy P. Harrison
Summary: Fuel accumulation dynamics have a significant impact on fire seasonality and extreme wildfires. Considering different timescales of fuel production and accumulation can improve the accuracy of fire models.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ying Zhang, Jinliang Hou, Chunlin Huang
Summary: Precipitation monitoring is crucial for earth system modeling and environmental management. Traditional gauge measurements and satellite-derived rainfall have limitations in spatial representativeness and resolution. This study proposes an integration framework using multiple soil moisture datasets and machine learning methods to improve the accuracy of rainfall estimation, resulting in a successful rainfall product.
Article
Engineering, Civil
Yao Lai, Jie Tian, Weiming Kang, Chao Gao, Weijie Hong, Chansheng He
Summary: Rainfall estimation in mountainous areas is crucial for water supply and ecosystem services in arid regions. Traditional rain gauge measurements are limited in mountainous areas, while satellite and reanalysis products often have high uncertainty at high elevations. A novel bottom-up approach called SM2RAIN, which estimates rainfall from soil moisture dynamics, shows potential as an alternative method. This study evaluates the performance of SM2RAIN in high-altitude mountainous areas using data from 9 observation stations in the Qilian Mountains. The results highlight the strengths and limitations of SM2RAIN, and suggest that calibration using high-resolution soil moisture data and bias-correction methods can improve its accuracy in data-scarce mountainous regions.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Filippo Giorgi, Erika Coppola, Daniela Jacob, Claas Teichmann, Sabina Abba Omar, Moetasim Ashfaq, Nikolina Ban, Katharina Buelow, Melissa Bukovsky, Lars Buntemeyer, Tereza Cavazos, James Ciarlo, Rosmeri Porfirio da Rocha, Sushant Das, Fabio di Sante, Jason P. Evans, Xuejie Gao, Graziano Giuliani, Russell H. Glazer, Peter Hoffmann, Eun-Soon Im, Gaby Langendijk, Ludwig Lierhammer, Marta Llopart, Sebastial Mueller, Rosa Luna-Nino, Rita Nogherotto, Emanuela Pichelli, Francesca Raffaele, Michelle Reboita, Diana Rechid, Armelle Remedio, Thomas Remke, Windmanagda Sawadogo, Kevin Sieck, Jose Abraham Torres-Alavez, Torsten Weber
Summary: This article describes the first effort of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX)-CORE EXP-I, which involves using regional climate models (RCMs) to downscale global climate model (GCM) simulations from the CMIP5 program. The results cover a wide range of topics, including extreme indices, storms, monsoons, and more. The CORDEX-CORE EXP-I ensemble provides unprecedented downscaled information to improve understanding of regional climate change and impacts.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Sanaa Hobeichi, Gab Abramowitz, Anna M. Ukkola, Martin De Kauwe, Andy Pitman, Jason P. Evans, Hylke Beck
Summary: The latest report confirms that global warming has caused significant changes in the global terrestrial hydrological cycle, but the inconsistencies in reported trends indicate a lack of rigorous observation-based assessment of the different components of the cycle. By analyzing the major components of the hydrological cycle and vegetation greenness, this study provides important insights into the changes and offers opportunities for water resources management and climate risk assessment.
NPJ CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Nina N. Ridder, Andy J. Pitman, Anna M. Ukkola
Summary: Many natural disasters in Australia are compound events, caused by multiple meteorological factors occurring together. These compound events pose greater risks to socio-economic and ecological systems compared to single meteorological events. Heatwaves and drought, as well as strong winds and heavy precipitation, are two important hazard combinations in Australia. The north-western Australian coast is particularly prone to the joint occurrence of wind and precipitation extremes. Heatwaves and drought frequently co-occur multiple times per year over most of Australia, with shorter return periods in the tropical north. CMIP6 models accurately capture the return periods of both compound events. Future projections show that co-occurring heatwaves and droughts are expected to become more frequent in southern Australia, while northern Australia is projected to face increased risk from wind and precipitation extremes. The high skill of CMIP6 models in simulating these compound events and the consistent spatial patterns projected suggest that these models can be used to assess the large-scale risk of compound events and support national scale planning for future risks.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE EXTREMES
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jatin Kala, Annette L. Hirsch, Tilo Ziehn, Sarah E. Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Martin G. De Kauwe, Andy Pitman
Summary: Adapting to future warming is a challenge, and one proposed strategy is crop albedo enhancement for reducing heatwave impacts. This study shows that increasing crop albedo can reduce heatwave frequency and temperature anomalies, but has limited effect on heatwave duration. The changes are largely driven by reduced net radiation and sensible heat flux, presenting advantages for implementation.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE EXTREMES
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Hooman Ayat, Jason P. Evans, Steven C. Sherwood, Joshua Soderholm
Summary: The study examines a coastal site in Sydney, Australia, using 20 years of radar data to establish a regional precipitation system climatology. The findings reveal that extreme storms with high translation-speed, size, and rainfall intensity usually occur in the warm season, specifically between 10 am and 8 pm. Precipitation systems are more frequent in the cold season and typically initiate over the ocean and move northward. Clustering algorithms identify five distinct precipitation system types that peak in different seasons. Although there is no overall link between rainfall statistics and climate modes, some system types show connections using a multivariate approach.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jasper M. C. Denissen, Adriaan J. Teuling, Andy J. Pitman, Sujan Koirala, Mirco Migliavacca, Wantong Li, Markus Reichstein, Alexander J. Winkler, Chunhui Zhan, Rene Orth
Summary: Climate change is projected to shift the balance between energy and water limitations in terrestrial ecosystems, with important implications for food production and carbon uptake. Using Earth system model simulations, the study demonstrates a widespread regime shift from energy to water limitation between 1980 and 2100, driven by changes in net radiation and soil moisture.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Youngil Kim, Jason P. Evans, Ashish Sharma
Summary: To improve modeling capacities, a better understanding of physical relationships and higher skill climate models are needed. Regional Climate Models (RCMs) are commonly used to resolve finer scales, but their application is restricted by systematic biases within Global Climate Models (GCMs) datasets. Hence, it is advisable to remove these biases in GCM simulations prior to downscaling. Various techniques have been formulated to correct the biases, but most correct each variable independently, leading to physical inconsistencies. This study investigates bias corrections ranging from simple to complex techniques and shows that applying bias correction to RCM boundaries significantly improves model performance, with multivariate bias correction better representing extreme events.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Moutassem El Rafei, Steven Sherwood, Jason Evans, Andrew Dowdy
Summary: Extreme wind gusts cause significant socioeconomic damage. It is challenging to analyze these rare and localized events using either modeling or empirical approaches. A 23-year long data record from 29 automatic weather stations in eastern Australia was used to study the distribution, frequency, and average recurrence intervals of extreme gusts. The study confirms the dominant role of thunderstorms in producing the most extreme gusts in the region and shows that wind risk varies strongly with distance from the coast.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Alejandra Isaza, Merlinde Kay, Jason P. Evans, Abhnil Prasad, Stephen Bremner
Summary: The Black Summer bushfires in 2019-2020 had significant impacts on health, wildlife, and infrastructure in eastern Australia. The smoke-related aerosols generated from these fires also had a negative effect on solar energy production. This study examines the effects of high particulate matter (PM) concentrations on photovoltaic (PV) energy production in New South Wales during the bushfire season, finding that polluted conditions led to reductions in PV generation, especially in areas near the burning bushfires. High-speed winds carried the smoke hundreds of kilometers, affecting air quality and PV energy generation in Sydney.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Moutassem El Rafei, Steven Sherwood, Jason P. Evans, Fei Ji
Summary: The study examines extreme wind gust events in eastern Australia using long-term reanalysis data and station observations. By utilizing the generalised Pareto distribution and a decision tree model, the study estimates return values and distinguishes between convective and synoptic gust events. The reanalysis data proves to be valuable, especially in regions with limited observational coverage.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE EXTREMES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Michael R. Grose, Sugata Narsey, Ralph Trancoso, Chloe Mackallah, Francois Delage, Andrew Dowdy, Giovanni Di Virgilio, Ian Watterson, Peter Dobrohotoff, Harun A. Rashid, Surendra Rauniyar, Ben Henley, Marcus Thatcher, Jozef Syktus, Gab Abramowitz, Jason P. Evans, Chun -Hsu Su, Alicia Takbash
Summary: A multi-scenario, multi-model ensemble of simulations from regional climate models is used to generate climate projections and a climate change service. The selected models are chosen based on their performance and representativeness, and they provide key data for future climate planning in Australia.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Moutassem El Rafei, Steven Sherwood, Jason Evans, Andrew Dowdy, Fei Ji
Summary: Preparing for environmental risks requires estimating the frequencies of extreme events, often from data records that are too short to confirm them directly. Fitting a statistical distribution to the data is necessary, but pooling data from neighboring sites into single samples can introduce unexpected biases in typical situations. Previous analyses may have overestimated the likelihood of extreme events arising from natural weather variability.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hylke E. Beck, Tim R. Mcvicar, Noemi Vergopolan, Alexis Berg, Nicholas J. Lutsko, Ambroise Dufour, Zhenzhong Zeng, Xin Jiang, Albert I. J. M. van Dijk, Diego G. Miralles
Summary: This study introduces Version 2 of the widely used 1-km Koppen-Geiger climate classification maps, which include historical and future climate conditions. The maps are based on high-resolution observation data and climate projections. The results show that approximately 5% of the global land surface has transitioned to a different major climate class in the past, and this proportion is projected to increase in the future under different emissions scenarios.
Article
Forestry
Sami Ullah Shah, Marta Yebra, Albert I. J. M. Van Dijk, Geoffrey J. Cary
Summary: The study found a positive correlation between fire danger classes and burned area in Australia's inland regions, but elevated fire danger classes did not contribute to this trend. In coastal regions, there was no relationship between fire danger classes and burned area.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jiawei Hou, Albert I. J. M. van Dijk, Hylke E. Beck, Luigi J. Renzullo, Yoshihide Wada
Summary: Large dam reservoirs have been constructed worldwide to increase water supplies and support economic growth. Using remote sensing technology, the monthly water storage of 6695 reservoirs between 1984 and 2015 was reconstructed. It was found that 23% of reservoirs experienced significant decreases in storage, while 21% experienced increases. These changes were primarily influenced by precipitation and river inflow, highlighting the importance of long-term precipitation changes for reservoir water storage.
HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
(2022)