Predicting soil moisture conditions across a heterogeneous boreal catchment using terrain indices Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-26-4837-2022 19 December 2022 Terrain indices constitute a good candidate for modelling the spatial variation of soil moisture conditions in many landscapes. In this study, we evaluate nine terrain indices on varying DEM resolution and user-defined thresholds with validation using an extensive field soil moisture class inventory. We demonstrate the importance of field validation for selecting the appropriate DEM resolution and user-defined thresholds and that failing to do so can result in ambiguous and incorrect results. Read more
GC Insights: Diversifying the geosciences in higher education: a manifesto for change Geoscience Communication DOI 10.5194/gc-5-275-2022 16 December 2022 In this manifesto, we offer six points of reflection that higher education geoscience educators can act upon to recognise and unlearn their biases and diversify the geosciences in higher education, complementing current calls for institutional and organisational change. This serves as a starting point to gather momentum to establish community-built opportunities for implementing and strengthening diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice holistically in geoscience education. Read more
Cloud adjustments from large-scale smoke–circulation interactions strongly modulate the southeastern Atlantic stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics DOI 10.5194/acp-22-12113-2022 14 December 2022 Smoke from southern Africa blankets the southeast Atlantic from June-October, overlying a major transition region between overcast and scattered clouds. The smoke affects Earth’s radiation budget by absorbing sunlight and changing cloud properties. We investigate these effects in regional climate and large eddy simulation models based on international field campaigns. We find that large-scale circulation changes more strongly affect cloud transitions than smoke microphysical effects in our case. Read more
Progress and challenges in glacial lake outburst flood research (2017–2021): a research community perspective Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/nhess-22-3041-2022 12 December 2022 Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) have attracted increased research attention recently. In this work, we review GLOF research papers published between 2017 and 2021 and complement the analysis with research community insights gained from the 2021 GLOF conference we organized. The transdisciplinary character of the conference together with broad geographical coverage allowed us to identify progress, trends and challenges in GLOF research and outline future research needs and directions. Read more
Observation-constrained estimates of the global ocean carbon sink from Earth system models Biogeosciences DOI 10.5194/bg-19-4431-2022 9 December 2022 Estimates of the ocean sink of anthropogenic carbon vary across various approaches. We show that the global ocean carbon sink can be estimated by three parameters, two of which approximate the ocean ventilation in the Southern Ocean and the North Atlantic, and one of which approximates the chemical capacity of the ocean to take up carbon. With observations of these parameters, we estimate that the global ocean carbon sink is 10% larger than previously assumed, and we cut uncertainties in half. Read more
Hydrography, circulation, and response to atmospheric forcing in the vicinity of the central Getz Ice Shelf, Amundsen Sea, Antarctica Ocean Science DOI 10.5194/os-18-1339-2022 7 December 2022 Ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are thinning rapidly as ocean currents bring warm water into cavities beneath the floating ice. We use 2-year-long mooring records and 16-year-long model simulations to describe the hydrography and circulation near the ice front between Siple and Carney Islands. We find that temperatures here are lower than at neighbouring ice fronts and that the transport of heat toward the cavity is governed by wind stress over the Amundsen Sea continental shelf. Read more
Shallow marine carbonates as recorders of orbitally induced past climate changes – example from the Oxfordian of the Swiss Jura Mountains Climate of the Past DOI 10.5194/cp-18-2117-2022 5 December 2022 Some 155 million years ago, sediments were deposited in a shallow subtropical sea. Coral reefs formed in a warm and arid climate during high sea level, and clays were washed into the ocean at low sea level and when it rained. Climate and sea level changes were induced by cyclical insolation changes. Analysing the sedimentary record, it appears that sea level rise today (as a result of global warming) is more than 10 times faster than the fastest rise reconstructed from the geologic past. Read more
Contrasting drought legacy effects on gross primary productivity in a mixed versus pure beech forest Biogeosciences DOI 10.5194/bg-19-4315-2022 2 December 2022 Identifying drought legacy effects is challenging because they are superimposed on variability driven by climate conditions in the recovery period. We develop a residual-based approach to quantify legacies on gross primary productivity (GPP) from eddy covariance data. The GPP reduction due to legacy effects is comparable to the concurrent effects at two sites in Germany, which reveals the importance of legacy effects. Our novel methodology can be used to quantify drought legacies elsewhere. Read more
Recession or resilience? Long-range socioeconomic consequences of the 17th century volcanic eruptions in northern Fennoscandia Climate of the Past DOI 10.5194/cp-18-2077-2022 30 November 2022 Tree-ring data and written sources from northern Fennoscandia reveal that large 17th century eruptions had considerable climatic, agricultural, and socioeconomic impacts far away from the eruption locations. Yet, micro-regional investigation shows that the human consequences were commonly indirect, as various factors, like agro-ecosystems, resource availability, institutions, and personal networks, dictated how the volcanic cold pulses and related crop failures materialized on a societal level. Read more
HORAYZON v1.2: an efficient and flexible ray-tracing algorithm to compute horizon and sky view factor Geoscientific Model Development DOI 10.5194/gmd-15-6817-2022 28 November 2022 Terrain horizon and sky view factor are crucial quantities for many geoscientific applications; e.g. they are used to account for effects of terrain on surface radiation in climate and land surface models. Because typical terrain horizon algorithms are inefficient for high-resolution (< 30 m) elevation data, we developed a new algorithm based on a ray-tracing library. A comparison with two conventional methods revealed both its high performance and its accuracy for complex terrain. Read more
