GeoRoundup: the highlights of EGU Journals published during October!

Each month we feature specific Divisions of EGU and during the monthly GeoRoundup we will be putting the journals that publish science from those Divisions at the top of the Highlights roundup. For October, the Divisions we are featuring are: Natural Hazards (NH), Hydrological Sciences (HS) and Seismology (SM). They are served by the journals: Geoscientific Model Development (GMD), Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS), Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS), SOIL, and Solid Earth (SE).

Featured highlights

Geoscientific Model Development:

Predicting the morphology of ice particles in deep convection using the super-droplet method:development and evaluation of SCALE-SDM 0.2.5-2.2.0, -2.2.1, and -2.2.2 – 1 October 2020

Using the super-droplet method, we constructed a detailed numerical model of mixed-phase clouds based on kinetic description and subsequently demonstrated that a large-eddy simulation of a cumulonimbus which predicts ice particle morphology without assuming ice categories or mass–dimension relationships is possible. Our results strongly support the particle-based modeling methodology’s efficacy for simulating mixed-phase clouds.

An improved mechanistic model for ammonia volatilization in Earth system models: Flow of Agricultural Nitrogen version 2 (FANv2) – 27 October 2020

Mostly emitted by the agricultural sector, ammonia has an important role in atmospheric chemistry. We developed a model to simulate how ammonia emissions respond to changes in temperature and soil moisture, and we evaluated agricultural ammonia emissions globally. The simulated emissions agree with earlier estimates over many regions, but the results highlight the variability of ammonia emissions and suggest that emissions in warm climates may be higher than previously thought.

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS)

In situ measurements of soil and plant water isotopes: a review of approaches, practical considerations and a vision for the future – 13 October 2020

Water isotopes are a scientific tool that can be used to identify sources of water and answer questions such as From which soil depths do plants take up water?, which are highly relevant under changing climatic conditions. In the past, the measurement of water isotopes required tremendous effort. In the last decade methods have advanced and can now be applied in the field. Herein, we review the current status of direct field measurements of water isotopes and discuss future applications.

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS)

Storm tide amplification and habitat changes due to urbanization of a lagoonal estuary – 13 October 2020

The geometry of estuaries is often altered through dredging to make room for ships and with extensive landfill over wetlands to enable development. Here, we use historical maps to help create computational models of seawater flow around and into a lagoonal bay of New York City for the 1880s and 2010s. Our results show that these past man-made changes cause higher coastal storm tides and that they result specifically from deeper depths, expanded inlet width, and landfill.