Search results for "Spatial variability"
showing 10 items of 162 documents
The effects of anthropogenic organic matter inputs on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in organisms from different trophic levels in a southern Me…
2005
Stable isotope ratios were used to determine the impact of anthropogenically derived organic matter from onshore and offshore fish farming and a sewage outfall on organisms at different trophic levels (primary producers and consumers) on the south-east coast of Sicily (Italy, Mediterranean). Representative macroalgae and consumers were collected in three sampling locations: "Impact" and two putative "Controls" sited to the north of the impacted location. While delta(13)C values of both organic matter sources and consumers varied little between locations, delta(15)N spatial variability was higher and delta(15)N was shown to be a good descriptor of organic enrichment and uptake of anthropogen…
The fate of organic matter sources in coastal environments: a comparison of three Mediterranean lagoons
2008
Trophic processes in coastal lagoons are strongly influenced by freshwater inputs and water exchanges with the sea. In recent years, stable isotope analysis has become a widespread and reliable method for the examination of trophic structure over time and space, also in complex ecosystems such as coastal lagoons. Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen were studied in primary producers and consumers to identify organic matter source pools from terrestrial, benthic and pelagic environments and to characterise the trophic structure in three Mediterranean coastal lagoons (Lake Fusaro, the Lake of Sabaudia and Stagnone di Marsala). The results highlighted the negligible importance of terrestrial…
A distributed agro-hydrological model for irrigation water demand assessment
2008
Abstract The actual irrigation water demand in a district in Sicily (Italy) was assessed by the spatially distributed agro-hydrological model SIMODIS (SImulation and Management of On-Demand Irrigation Systems) . For each element with homogeneous crop and soil conditions, in which the considered area can be divided, the model numerically solves the one-dimensional water flow equation with vegetation parameters derived from Earth Observation data. In SIMODIS, the irrigation scheduling is set by means of two parameters: the threshold value of soil water pressure head in the root zone, h m , and the fraction of soil water deficit to be re-filled, Δ . This study investigated the possibility of i…
Evaluation of the coupled high-resolution atmospheric chemistry model system MECO(n) using in situ and MAX-DOAS NO<sub>2</sub&am…
2021
Abstract. We present high spatial resolution (up to 2.2×2.2 km2) simulations focussed over south-west Germany using the online coupled regional atmospheric chemistry model system MECO(n) (MESSy-fied ECHAM and COSMO models nested n times). Numerical simulation of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) surface volume mixing ratios (VMRs) are compared to in situ measurements from a network with 193 locations including background, traffic-adjacent and industrial stations to investigate the model's performance in simulating the spatial and temporal variability of short-lived chemical species. We show that the use of a high-resolution and up-to-date emission inventory is crucial for reproducing the spatial varia…
Nonlinear PCA for Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Earth Observation Data
2020
Remote sensing observations, products, and simulations are fundamental sources of information to monitor our planet and its climate variability. Uncovering the main modes of spatial and temporal variability in Earth data is essential to analyze and understand the underlying physical dynamics and processes driving the Earth System. Dimensionality reduction methods can work with spatio-temporal data sets and decompose the information efficiently. Principal component analysis (PCA), also known as empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) in geophysics, has been traditionally used to analyze climatic data. However, when nonlinear feature relations are present, PCA/EOF fails. In this article, we pro…
A carbon sink-driven approach to estimate gross primary production from microwave satellite observations
2019
Abstract Global estimation of Gross Primary Production (GPP) - the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by plants through photosynthesis - is commonly based on optical satellite remote sensing data. This presents a source-driven approach since it uses the amount of absorbed light, the main driver of photosynthesis, as a proxy for GPP. Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) estimates obtained from microwave sensors provide an alternative and independent data source to estimate GPP on a global scale, which may complement existing GPP products. Recent studies have shown that VOD is related to aboveground biomass, and that both VOD and temporal changes in VOD relate to GPP. In this study, we build upon…
Explicit incorporation of spatial variability in a biomass dynamics assessment model
2021
Abstract The sustainable management of fisheries has largely relied on stock assessment models that assume stocks are homogeneous throughout their domain. However, ignoring complex underlying spatial patterns can lead to increased risk of failures in management. Utilizing geostatistical approaches in conjunction with a traditional fishery biomass dynamics model, we develop a spatially-explicit modelling framework that treats the underlying population dynamics as spatial processes. Simulation experiments demonstrate that this approach reliably estimates variance parameters and accurately captures true patterns of population change. We further demonstrate the utility of our modelling framewor…
Spatial, seasonal and long-term variability of phytoplankton photosynthesis in lakes
1994
Relationships between climatic parameters and forest vegetation: application to burned area in Alicante (Spain)
2000
Abstract The main aims of this study is to examine the variability of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) on forest vegetation in Alicante (Spain) between 1984 and 1994 and to analyse the influence of climatic parameters in the regeneration of forest areas burned by fires. The zone of study is located between XUTM (m) 730400-760400 and YUTM (m) 4274000-4304000 and is characterised by a great topographic complexity that leads to diverse microclimatic conditions. In this area, the maximum annual rainfall of the Valencian Community is recorded, reaching 850 mm of average annual rainfall ( Belda, 1997 ). We examined the spatial and temporal analyse of rainfall and soil moisture over t…
Growth of pikeperch in relation to lake characteristics: total phosphorus, water colour, lake area and depth
2003
The growth of pikeperch Sander lucioperca was studied in 41 lakes in central Finland. The backcalculated average total length of 3 year-old pikeperch was used as an indicator of growth. The growth correlated positively with total phosphorus and water colour and negatively with lake area and depth. The reason for differences in growth may be differences in the amount of suitable food, foraging success or temperature dynamics in different lakes.