Search results for " ecology"

Seasonal Analysis of Surface Soil Moisture Dry-Downs in a Land-Atmosphere Hotspot as Seen by LSM and Satellite Products

2018

The soil drying process is a challenging framework to assess climatic, hydrologic and ecosystem processes. This work develops a seasonal analysis of temporal e-folding decay ( $\tau$ ) of surface soil moisture dry-downs using ORCHIDEE land surface model and SMOS observations over South Eastern South America (SESA). Results show that the soil drying process depends on both location and season, and that the modeled drying velocity is faster than the observed one, even when modeled data is sampled at the same frequency as the observations. Differences between observed and modeled data have been found both in the analysis of the regional overall $\tau$ and in the spatial patterns of $\tau$ esti…

2019

Abstract. This study uses the synergy of multi-resolution soil moisture (SM) satellite estimates from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, a dense network of ground-based SM measurements, and a soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer (SVAT) model, SURFEX (externalized surface), module ISBA (interactions between soil, biosphere and atmosphere), to examine the benefits of the SMOS level 4 (SMOS-L4) version 3.0, or “all weather” high-resolution soil moisture disaggregated product (SMOS-L43.0; ∼1 km). The added value compared to SMOS level 3 (SMOS-L3; ∼25 km) and SMOS level 2 (SMOS-L2; ∼15 km) is investigated. In situ SM observations over the Valencia anchor station (VAS; SMOS calibrati…

The global forest above-ground biomass pool for 2010 estimated from high-resolution satellite observations

2021

Funding Information: We are thankful to the GlobBiomass project team and Frank Martin Seifert (ESA) for valuable suggestions and stimulating scientific discussions. We are thankful to Takeo Tadono (JAXA EORC), Masato Hayashi, (JAXA EORC), Kazufumi Kobayashi (RESTEC), Åke Rosenqvist (soloEO), and Josef Kellndorfer (EBD) for support with the use and interpretation of the ALOS PALSAR mosaics. Support by the CCI Land Cover project team, in particular Sophie Bontemps (UCL), is greatly acknowledged. The help from Martin Jung (MPI-BGC) in feature selection and Ulrich Weber (MPI-BGC) for data processing for the GSV-to-AGB conversions is greatly acknowledged. Forest inventory data for the validation…

Developing an indicator-modelling approach to forecast changes in nitrogen critical load exceedance across Europe arising from agricultural reform

2011

International audience; Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition above the critical load causes eutrophication with adverse impacts on biodiversity. Average Accumulated critical load Exceedance (AAE) is a measure of the amount of critical load exceedance and the area of habitat which is affected, and has been adopted in Europe as a pressure indicator for biodiversity. In Europe, AAE is calculated by the Coordination Centre for Effects (CCE) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe based on modelled nitrogen deposition and country-level reporting of critical load thresholds and ecosystem area. Due to differences in country-level reporting, AAE values for semi-natural habitats may show…

Climate indices for the Baltic states from principal component analysis

2017

Abstract. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to derive climate indices that describe the main spatial features of the climate in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Monthly mean temperature and total precipitation values derived from the ensemble of bias-corrected regional climate models (RCMs) were used. Principal components were derived for the years 1961–1990. The first three components describe 92 % of the variance in the initial data and were chosen as climate indices in further analysis. Spatial patterns of these indices and their correlation with the initial variables were analyzed, and it was detected (based on correlation coefficient between principal compon…

Contribution of environmental factors to temperature distribution at different resolution levels on the forefield of the Loven Glaciers (Svalbard)

2007

ABSTRACTThe climate and its components (temperature and precipitation) are organised according to different spatial scales that are structured hierarchically. The aim of this paper is to explore the dependence between temperature and deterministic factors at different scales on a 10 km2 study area on the northwestern coast of Svalbard. A GIS was developed which contained three sources of information: temperature, remotely sensed imagery and digital elevation models (DEM), and derived raster data layers. The first layer, temperatures, was acquired at regularly observed temporal intervals from 53 stations. The second layer comprised remotely sensed images (aerial photography and SPOT imagery)…

Exploring Effective Ecosystems in Disaster Management: Case studies of Japan and Nepal

2017

Projecting Exposure to Extreme Climate Impact Events Across Six Event Categories and Three Spatial Scales

2020

Summarization: The extent and impact of climate‐related extreme events depend on the underlying meteorological, hydrological, or climatological drivers as well as on human factors such as land use or population density. Here we quantify the pure effect of historical and future climate change on the exposure of land and population to extreme climate impact events using an unprecedentedly large ensemble of harmonized climate impact simulations from the Inter‐Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project phase 2b. Our results indicate that global warming has already more than doubled both the global land area and the global population annually exposed to all six categories of extreme events co…

Humusica 2, article 19: Techno humus systems and global change - Conservation agriculture and 4/1000 proposal

2018

International audience; Philosophy can overlap pedology. It is not casual that life begins and finishes in the soil. We separated the concepts of Humipedon, Copedon and Lithopedon. Some sections were dedicated to the founders of the movement for a new type of agriculture (agroecology). They simply proclaim to accompany the process of natural evolution instead of spending a lot of energy in hunting competitor organisms with pesticides or boosting the soil with mineral fertilisation and tillage. The core of the article is built on a biological concept of the soil and shows researches supporting this view. After pointing to the soil structure and illustrating its natural genesis, explaining wh…

Steroid Biomarkers Revisited - Improved Source Identification of Faecal Remains in Archaeological Soil Material.

2017

Steroids are used as faecal markers in environmental and in archaeological studies, because they provide insights into ancient agricultural practices and the former presence of animals. Up to now, steroid analyses could only identify and distinguish between herbivore, pig, and human faecal matter and their residues in soils and sediments. We hypothesized that a finer differentiation between faeces of different livestock animals could be achieved when the analyses of several steroids is combined (Δ5-sterols, 5α-stanols, 5β-stanols, epi-5β-stanols, stanones, and bile acids). We therefore reviewed the existing literature on various faecal steroids from livestock and humans and analysed faeces …