Article
Environmental Sciences
Weibing Du, Yanchao Zheng, Yangyang Li, Anming Bao, Junli Li, Dandan Ma, Xin Gao, Yaming Pan, Shuangting Wang
Summary: This study develops models to analyze the seasonal surface elevation variations of alpine glaciers using digital elevation models and laser altimetry data. The study finds that the surface elevation of the Pamir glaciers has slightly increased from 2018 to 2021, with regional variations.
Article
Geography, Physical
Konstanze Stuebner, Bodo Bookhagen, Silke Merchel, Johannes Lachner, Mustafo Gadoev
Summary: The study in Bartang valley of northwestern Pamir utilizes cosmogenic Be-10 exposure ages to establish the timing and locations of glacial activities during the Middle Pleistocene, and highlights the instability of glacial sediments through catastrophic mega debris flows occurring after glacial retreat, with remobilized sediments providing valuable age constraints on glacial histories. The developed Gaussian separation algorithm allows for regional comparison of glacial chronologies, providing a summary of Middle and early Late Pleistocene glacial cycles in western High-Mountain Asia.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Yu Ren, Haipeng Yu, Chenxi Liu, Yongli He, Jianping Huang, Lixia Zhang, Huancui Hu, Qiang Zhang, Siyu Chen, Xiaoyue Liu, Meng Zhang, Yun Wei, Yaoxian Yan, Weiwei Fan, Jie Zhou
Summary: Central Asia has been experiencing significant warming and intensified hydrological changes. The wet season has become wetter and the dry season has become drier. Precipitation and vapor pressure deficit are the primary factors for the wet season, while precipitation, net radiation, and vapor pressure deficit are dominant factors for the dry season. Enhanced moisture flux from midwestern Eurasia contributes to increased wet season precipitation, while decreased moisture flux and enhanced local evapotranspiration explain the drying trend in the dry season.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Heran Yahefujiang, Jie Zou, Jianli Ding, Wensong Zou, Wulala Tangjialeke, Miao Yang
Summary: This study analyzed the spatial and temporal variation of ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE) and ecosystem photosynthetic efficiency (EPE) in Central Asia. The results showed a decrease in WUE and an increase in EPE over the 20-year study period. WUE was positively correlated with temperature and negatively correlated with precipitation, while EPE was positively correlated with both temperature and precipitation. These findings have important implications for ecosystem research, water resources management, and ecosystem restoration efforts in the region.
Article
Paleontology
Galina K. Melnikova, Ewa Roniewicz
Summary: This paper describes new Lower Jurassic corals from the South-Eastern Pamir Mountains (Tajikistan) and discusses their relationships with contemporaneous West Tethyan corals. The study indicates taxonomic similarities with Pliensbachian European and North African faunas, suggesting a Pliensbachian age for this fauna which was previously considered to be of Hettangian/Sinemurian age. The fauna consists of 30 species of 25 genera, including Triassic holdover genera and new Jurassic genera.
Article
Geography, Physical
Yuxian Pan, Jing Yang, Deliang Chen, Tao Zhu, Qing Bao, Peyman Mahmoudi
Summary: Accurately predicting wildfires is challenging but crucial for regional disaster mitigation due to increased damage caused by wildfires under global warming. Central Asia has the greatest seasonal extent and largest interannual variance of wildfire burned area (BA) during boreal summer (June-September: JJAS) over the Eurasian continent. A physically-based statistical-dynamical seasonal model is established for predicting Central Asian summer BA using observed March snow water equivalent (SWE) and dynamically-predicted JJAS 500 hPa geopotential height (GHT500). This model shows the highest operational prediction skill (0.58) among numerous tests and is stable using K-Fold cross-validation.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lulu Cai, Kangning Xiong, Ziqi Liu, Yuan Li, Bo Fan
Summary: Understanding the water use characteristics of plants is crucial for forest water management and vegetation restoration. This study investigated the water uptake patterns and efficiency of four woody plants in karst desertification areas using stable isotopes. The results showed flexible water uptake patterns and the importance of fissure soil water as a water source for vegetation restoration in karst areas.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Shengqian Chen, Jianhui Chen, Feiya Lv, Xiaokang Liu, Wei Huang, Tao Wang, Jianbao Liu, Juzhi Hou, Fahu Chen
Summary: During the past two decades, there have been numerous studies on Holocene moisture variations in arid central Asia, but these studies have yielded contradictory results. This study compiled 36 reliable records of Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia, revealing an overall long-term wetting trend. It also found that the contradictory variations were mainly due to proxy ambiguity.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Birgit M. Mueller, Hanna Schulz, Anja Hohne, Anke Putschew, Joerg Lewandowski
Summary: The attenuation of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in rivers is mainly due to microbial activity in the hyporheic zone. Our study found that seasonal differences and sediment conditions can influence the attenuation of TrOCs.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Johannes Rembe, Edward R. Sobel, Jonas Kley, Baiansulu Terbishalieva, Antje Musiol, Jie Chen, Renjie Zhou
Summary: The Permo-Triassic period in the Chinese North Pamir is characterized by well-preserved volcano-sedimentary sequences, providing important insights into the geodynamic evolution of Asia's pre-Cimmerian southern margin. Permian volcanism in the region was mainly pyroclastic and mafic to intermediate, while Triassic volcanic activity coincided with major Cimmerian intrusive events to the south. This suggests a complex tectonic history involving subduction, magmatic activity, and back-arc extension in the region.
Article
Geography, Physical
Xiaojian Zhang
Summary: This study showed that during the Holocene, the East Asian summer monsoon was able to transport water vapor to arid central Asia, playing a significant role in influencing precipitation and its delta O-18 in the region.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Qing Peng, Ranghui Wang, Yelin Jiang, Cheng Li, Wenhui Guo
Summary: The study in Central Asia reveals significant impacts of climate change on water dynamics and vegetation, with precipitation, terrestrial water storage, and soil moisture playing key roles in vegetation changes, especially with precipitation significantly influencing vegetation growth in spring.
THEORETICAL AND APPLIED CLIMATOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Zhu Liu, Jingheng Huang, Xiong Xiao, Xiaolong Tong
Summary: The study evaluated the abilities of 22 GCMs of CMIP6 in simulating extreme precipitation over Central Asia and found that models have difficulties in capturing overall spatial patterns, with better performance in summer but still room for improvements in consistent bias and spatial distribution.
ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yijie Cao, Yonggang Ma, Tie Liu, Junli Li, Ruisen Zhong, Zheng Wang, Chanjuan Zan
Summary: The Ili River Delta, located in the arid zone of Central Asia, has experienced significant changes in its wetland ecosystem due to climate change and the construction of a reservoir. This study used remote sensing images to analyze the wetland area, landscape pattern, NDVI, and NPP from 1975 to 2020, and identified the factors contributing to wetland evolution. The results provide important information for ecological protection and decision-making in the delta.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Donglin Li, Fengqin Chang, Xinyu Wen, Lizeng Duan, Hucai Zhang
Summary: Understanding the spatiotemporal distributions and variation characteristics of water quality parameters is crucial for ecosystem restoration and management of lakes, especially in Lake Qilu. The results showed a complex pattern in spatiotemporal distribution and variation, and reducing total phosphorus (TP) loading may be a more effective strategy to prevent harmful algal blooms.
Article
Water Resources
Stephan Schulz, Rike Becker, Juan Carlos Richard-Cerda, Muhammad Usman, Tim aus der Beek, Ralf Merz, Christoph Schueth
Summary: This study proposes an approach to quantify water balance components in warm, arid environments, specifically for irrigated agriculture with uncertain data basis, using a combination of traditional monitoring, remote sensing data analysis, and numerical modeling. By integrating soil moisture, energy balance, and satellite reflectance data, initial estimates of water balance components are derived, improved through simulations, and finalized through parameter optimization. The method, applied to an agricultural test site in Punjab, Pakistan, yielded final estimates for ETact and groundwater recharge, demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach in quantifying water balance components in such environments.
HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES
(2021)
Article
Water Resources
Izabela Bujak, Christin Mueller, Ralf Merz, Kay Knoeller
Summary: This study investigated the distribution of nitrate export and its drivers in an Alpine mesoscale river catchment through high-spatial resolution monitoring and various analytical methods. Land use was found to be a significant factor influencing nitrate export, with sources and transport pathways varying with land use patterns and seasons.
HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Ute Weber, Sabine Attinger, Burkard Baschek, Julia Boike, Dietrich Borchardt, Holger Brix, Nicolas Brueggemann, Ingeborg Bussmann, Peter Dietrich, Philipp Fischer, Jens Greinert, Irena Hajnsek, Norbert Kamjunke, Dorit Kerschke, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Arne Koertzinger, Christoph Kottmeier, Bruno Merz, Ralf Merz, Martin Riese, Michael Schloter, HaPe Schmid, Joerg-Peter Schnitzler, Torsten Sachs, Claudia Schuetze, Ralf Tillmann, Harry Vereecken, Andreas Wieser, Georg Teutsch
Summary: MOSES is an observation system designed to study the long-term impacts of dynamic events on environmental systems. It aims to capture these events, from their formation to their end, with high spatial and temporal resolution. It is a mobile and modular system to record energy, water, greenhouse gas, and nutrient cycles, especially the interactions between different compartments of the Earth.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
S. Basso, G. Botter, R. Merz, A. Miniussi
Summary: The study highlights the physically-based alternative distribution PHEV for predicting flood magnitude and frequency, which has better predictive capabilities compared to statistical methods, especially for rare floods. The analysis results demonstrate the applicability of PHEV to long time series and observational datasets in various hydro-climatic regions, with reduced prediction uncertainty in estimating flood magnitudes.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Water Resources
Sumra Mushtaq, Arianna Miniussi, Ralf Merz, Stefano Basso
Summary: Recent advances in the study of extreme values, specifically the Metastatistical extreme value (MEV) framework, have shown good performances in estimating extremes in various fields. In this study, MEV is applied to flood frequency analysis and its intrinsic property of allowing for the choice of the best distribution for ordinary peaks is leveraged to improve flood estimation. A non-parametric approach based on the tail ratio is developed to select the most suitable distribution of ordinary peaks between Gamma and Log-Normal. The method is tested using daily streamflow time series from 182 gauges in Germany and successfully identifies the most suitable distribution of ordinary peaks in the majority of the analyzed basins. It improves the estimation of frequent and rare floods compared to MEV applied with a single distribution and reduces the estimation uncertainty of high flood quantiles when compared to the standard Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution.
ADVANCES IN WATER RESOURCES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alexander Wachholz, James W. Jawitz, Olaf Buettner, Seifeddine Jomaa, Ralf Merz, Soohyun Yang, Dietrich Borchardt
Summary: Long-term monitoring of a central-European river, the Elbe, reveals significant changes in the seasonal pattern of nitrate concentrations over a 66-year period, potentially impacting the health of aquatic ecosystems. The observed shifts in stream nitrate seasonality are attributed to changes in the relative importance of catchment nutrient sources, influenced by socio-political factors and changes in anthropogenic nitrate emissions. Understanding these shifts is crucial for assessing and managing the impact of nutrient pollution on river ecosystems.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Bruno Merz, Stefano Basso, Svenja Fischer, David Lun, Guenter Bloeschl, Ralf Merz, Bjorn Guse, Alberto Viglione, Sergiy Vorogushyn, Elena Macdonald, Luzie Wietzke, Andreas Schumann
Summary: This review provides a coherent overview of the mechanisms causing heavy tails in flood distributions and their implications for science and practice. It discusses the statistical conditions for heavy tail behavior and recommends further research to test hypotheses and improve prediction.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Xiangqian Zhou, Seifeddine Jomaa, Xiaoqiang Yang, Ralf Merz, Yanping Wang, Michael Rode
Summary: Like many other regions in central Europe, Germany experienced summer droughts from 2015 to 2018, which significantly affected the river nitrate concentrations. In this study, a model was used to investigate the causal relations and spatial trends of nitrate concentrations in the Bode catchment. The model successfully captured the spatially contrasting trends of nitrate concentrations and revealed that droughts led to a decrease in nitrate concentrations due to reduced terrestrial export loading and increased in-stream retention efficiency. This study provides insights into water quality responses to future climate change.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Arianna Miniussi, Ralf Merz, Lisa Kaule, Stefano Basso
Summary: In this paper, an automated methodology for detecting flood divides in flood frequency curves is developed and applied to case studies in the USA and Germany. The reliability of the Physically-based Extreme Value (PHEV) distribution in identifying catchments with flood divides is assessed. The findings show that PHEV demonstrates its capability to detect flood divides, even when they are not visible in the observations.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Rike Becker, Christoph Schueth, Ralf Merz, Tasneem Khaliq, Muhammad Usman, Tim Aus Der Beek, Rohini Kumar, Stephan Schulz
Summary: Climate change and variability pose a threat to sustainable food production, particularly in semi-arid regions with limited water resources and widespread irrigation. Higher temperatures and heat stress, rather than increased irrigation, are found to be the main factors affecting future crop yields and water needs. These findings have implications for adapting to climate change in intensely irrigated regions.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Stefano Basso, Ralf Merz, Larisa Tarasova, Arianna Miniussi
Summary: River floods are a common natural disaster worldwide and have significant economic and humanitarian costs. Through analyzing long-term hydroclimatic records and using a flood hazard assessment model, it has been found that the spatial organization of stream networks and the river flow regime play a crucial role in the occurrence of flood divides and extreme floods. This research highlights the importance of using hazard mapping tools that consider the intrinsic properties of river basins, instead of solely relying on past flood records, to predict the risk of extreme floods.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Larisa Tarasova, David Lun, Ralf Merz, Guenter Bloeschl, Stefano Basso, Miriam Bertola, Arianna Miniussi, Oldrich Rakovec, Luis Samaniego, Stephan Thober, Rohini Kumar
Summary: Changes in flood generation processes have a greater impact on regional flood anomalies in Europe than changes in extreme rainfall. Flood-rich periods in the Atlantic region have increased due to rain falling on wet soil, while flood-poor periods have increased in the Mediterranean region. However, these changes may also lead to more frequent occurrence of singular extreme floods. These findings highlight the importance of considering flood generation processes in flood estimation and management.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Sumra Mushtaq, Arianna Miniussi, Ralf Merz, Larisa Tarasova, Francesco Marra, Stefano Basso
Summary: This study investigates the impact of various processes that generate river floods on flood hazard assessment. It introduces a statistical approach that takes into account different runoff-generation processes to predict the magnitude and frequency of exceptionally high floods. The study identifies 11 cases in German catchments where flood divides exist, and demonstrates that the distribution of at least one process is heavy-tailed. By considering the different tail behaviors of multiple processes, the study successfully reproduces flood-frequency curves and provides a method to improve the estimation of high flood quantiles in these high-risk cases.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Felipe A. Saavedra, Andreas Musolff, Jana von Freyberg, Ralf Merz, Stefano Basso, Larisa Tarasova
Summary: This study investigates the role of different runoff event types in shaping long-term C-Q relationships and their variability across catchments. It shows that different event types have contrasting levels of hydrologic connectivity, which play a key role in controlling nitrate transport.
HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Bruno Merz, Stefano Basso, Svenja Fischer, David Lun, Gunter Bloeschl, Ralf Merz, Bjorn Guse, Alberto Viglione, Sergiy Vorogushyn, Elena Macdonald, Luzie Wietzke, Andreas Schumann
Summary: In this review, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the heavy tail behavior in statistical distributions of flood peak discharge. They propose nine hypotheses on the mechanisms causing heavy tails and review the current knowledge supporting or contradicting these hypotheses.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2022)
