ALBERT

Description: The climate change impact and adaptation simulations from the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) for wheat provide a unique dataset of multi-model ensemble simulations for 60 representative global locations covering all global wheat mega environments. The multi-model ensemble reported here has been thoroughly benchmarked against a large number of experimental data, including different locations, growing season temperatures, atmospheric CO2 concentration, heat stress scenarios, and their interactions. In this paper, we describe the main characteristics of this global simulation dataset. Detailed cultivar, crop management, and soil datasets were compiled for all locations to drive 32 wheat growth models. The dataset consists of 30-year simulated data including 25 output variables for nine climate scenarios, including Baseline (1980-2010) with 360 or 550 ppm CO2, Baseline +2oC or +4oC with 360 or 550 ppm CO2, a mid-century climate change scenario (RCP8.5, 571 ppm CO2), and 1.5°C (423 ppm CO2) and 2.0oC (487 ppm CO2) warming above the pre-industrial period (HAPPI). This global simulation dataset can be used as a benchmark from a well-tested multi-model ensemble in future analyses of global wheat. Also, resource use efficiency (e.g., for radiation, water, and nitrogen use) and uncertainty analyses under different climate scenarios can be explored at different scales. The DOI for the dataset is 10.5281/zenodo.4027033 (AgMIP-Wheat, 2020), and all the data are available on the data repository of Zenodo (doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4027033). Two scientific publications have been published based on some of these data here.

Description: The deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is accelerating across the globe, as prices continue to fall and countries begin their transition from fossil to renewable energy. Public auctions have become the dominant policy tool for solar PV deployment: 106 countries held renewable energy auctions (dominated by solar) by the end of 2018 (IRENA a, 2019). One third of the 55 countries that held renewable auctions in 2017 – 2018 did so for the first time (ibid.). Little solar-specific experience and capacity in newly adopting countries can result in technical failures and lower solar plant performance (IRENA 2017). For instance, it was reported that 30 percent of nearly 100 analysed projects in different countries indicate severe defects that impact performance (TÜV Rheinland 2015). This makes investment in solar plants in newcomer countries risky, hindering the development of the solar sector and undermining political targets of solar energy deployment in these countries. In this context, international organisations have suggested that policymakers in adopting countries include international quality standards1 as technical requirements in the design of public auctions. This policy brief outlines the potential benefits and challenges of doing so, highlighting the crucial role of the Quality Infrastructure (QI) system in newcomer countries. Key lessons learnt are synthesised from international experiences with technical requirements in solar PV auctions. On this basis, entry points are identified for the development of strategies for their introduction in newly adopting countries. The two key things policymakers should consider are the adoption of appropriate standards based on the specific country context and the implementation of real-time data monitoring.

Description: Wetlands in urban ecosystems provide significant environmental benefits. In the present study, the concept of urban constructed wetland development is studied from the viewpoint of urban planning with dynamic water level orifice setting controller. A two-step modelling procedure is carried out: (1) development of a hybrid model, by coupling a well-established two-dimensional hydrodynamic model (International River Interface Cooperative, iRIC) with a one-dimensional physically-based, distributed-parameter model (Storm Water Management Model, SWMM), to compute and map flood scenarios and to identify the flood-prone areas; and (2) use of SWMM to simulate the water inflow to the proposed constructed wetland, which acts as a cushion for storing excess flood water. The proposed methodology is implemented on the Jahangirpuri drain catchment located in Delhi, India. Results show that the hybrid model is effective, and the simulations are observed to be in good agreement with the recorded data, which assist in detecting the flood-prone areas. Further, an estimation of the impact of the proposed constructed wetland on catchment hydrology indicates an overall reduction of 23% in flooding adjacent to the channel with a significant reduction in backflow as well as water depth in the drain. The flapgate at the outlet of the wetland helps in maintaining the desired water depth in the wetland. The outcomes of this study will assist the hydrologists and administrators in urban stormwater management and planning to mitigate the impact of floods in urban watersheds.

Description: The presence of snow cover in any area has a strong imprint on the local climatology and hydrology. Moreover, glaciers are considered as the most active and efficient indicators to understand the climatic variability. Observation about the change in snow cover and glaciers provide an insight into the health of water resources. Large areas of north-western Himalaya receive precipitation in the form of snowfall due to low winter temperatures and high altitude. The continuous snowmelt contributes a major share in river flow of all major rivers and helps in keeping the Himalayan rivers perennial. These rivers are a significant source of Irrigation, industrial water supply, and hydropower in northern India and hence, snowmelt has a deterministic role for the uninterrupted supply of water. The areal extent of many glaciers in the Himalaya is decreasing whereas the number of glaciers is increasing. This increasing number is subject to the fragmentation of the glacier. In this study, the area drained by river Parbati, a tributary of river Beas was taken as the spatial unit of investigation. The largest glaciers in the Beas river basin are mainly located in the Parbati catchment. The primary objective of the investigation was to map the fragmentation of glaciers in the catchment area. The areal extent and distribution of major glaciers was studied and it was observed that these glaciers have faced massive disintegration during the study period.

Description: We present the surface wave dispersion results from the recorded data of 16 broadband seismic stations in the Higher Himalaya region. The Higher Himalayas is seismically very active due to the convergence of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate along a basal decollement known as the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT). A portion of the area is located in the Kashmir seismic gap, which lies between the Kangra earthquake of 1905 and the Kashmir earthquake of 2005. A surface wave dispersion analysis has been carried out in order to understand the seismotectonic structure beneath the research area. The fundamental mode Rayleigh wave Green's functions have been estimated for station pairs using cross-correlation of vertical component ambient noise data. The generated group velocity maps from 2 to 15s indicate the substantial variation in crustal structure and exhibit strong relationships with well-known geological and tectonic phenomena in the studied region. We found a low-velocity zone in the middle crust of the higher Himachal Himalayas portion between 12 and 15 km deep, which may be caused by the presence of a crustal ramp structure beneath 12 to 22 km of the Main Central Thrust (MCT). Likewise, a shear wave velocity model has been obtained by inverting surface wave dispersion measurements for the Kishtwar region.

Description: In this study we are focusing on the retrieval of quantitative precipitation estimates using C-band dual polarization radar installed at southern tip of India. Knowledge of spatial variability of precipitation would be helpful to better understand the dynamics of mesoscale cloud systems. A popular approach is to use doppler weather radar (DWR) data to obtain precipitation using some relationships. Usually power-law type relationships (Z = aR〈sup〉b〈/sup〉) between the rain rate (R) reflectivity (Z) are widely used for retrieval of rainfall. But Z-R relations have a great degree of uncertainty because of the large scatter in the Z-R scatter diagram which is usually used to obtain the Z-R relation. To overcome this issue, we have tried other relations between rain rate and polarimetric variables [e.g., Z〈sub〉h〈/sub〉, Z〈sub〉dr〈/sub〉, rho, K〈sub〉dp〈/sub〉]. we have adopted the T-matrix formulation to calculate the values of Z〈sub〉h〈/sub〉, Z〈sub〉dr〈/sub〉, rho, K〈sub〉dp〈/sub〉 for different 1-minute DSDs observed from optical disdrometer during pre-monsoon [Mar-Apr-May] of 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021. Then we have obtained relations between rain rate and different combinations of polarimetric variables [e.g., R(Z〈sub〉h〈/sub〉), R(K〈sub〉dp〈/sub〉), R(Z〈sub〉h〈/sub〉, Z〈sub〉dr〈/sub〉), R(K〈sub〉dp〈/sub〉, Z〈sub〉dr〈/sub〉)]. Further we evaluated them using the data of 2018 from the polarimetric DWR to find the best estimate among them. We have also tried a machine learning (ML) model to obtain precipitation estimate. Though the overall performance of different estimates is close to each other, there is hint that the ML model might be more useful in heavy precipitation.

Description: The Magnetosphere-Ionosphere (MI) system is primarily driven by solar wind dynamics. The energy transfer from the solar wind to the Earth’s magnetosphere is most efficient under southward IMF Bz conditions. Generally, the southward IMF Bz drives the ring current which is measured by the Dst/SYM-H index. The geomagnetic storm during 21-22 January 2005 is considered to be anomalous as growth of the ring current is found to be under northward IMF Bz conditions. The SYM-H continues to grow for more than six hours, reaching a minimum value of -101 nT. The WINDMI model is utilised to estimate the growth of the ring current by using several coupling functions. However, none of these coupling functions could predict this unusual growth of the ring current under the northward IMF Bz conditions. A highly dense plasma sheet was observed during the anomalous period and incorporating this in the WINDMI model led to the successful reproduction of the observed disturbance. This investigation clearly shows the important role of the state of the magnetosphere in energizing the ring current. Therefore, it is suggested that the space weather models need to include both the conditions of solar wind and magnetosphere in order to get a better prediction of the strength of the ring current.

Description: The Main Himalayan Thrust fault (MHT) marks the boundary of the Indian plate beneath the Himalaya and southern Tibet. As the Indian plate moves, stress builds up on the MHT, which leads to the occurrence of earthquakes on or along the MHT. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the geometry of MHT in different segments of Himalaya and how it varies along the arc. The central seismic gap is one of the most significant segments of the Himalaya, and is regarded as a potential region for proposed future great earthquake. We attempted to constrain the geometry of MHT, between the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT) and Southern Tibetan Detachment (STD), in the central seismic gap. We have applied the seismic interferometry technique to the earthquake waveforms recorded from over 100 seismic stations spread across the area. The results show that, in general, the MHT has flat-ramp-flat geometry. However, the position and geometry of the mid-crustal ramp varies within the central seismic gap

Description: We explore the pattern of seismic anisotropy beneath a ~300 km transect in the Kumaon Himalaya, an active, orogenic region formed by the collision between the India-Eurasian plates, and carrying world-wide attention for its mysterious geometry and seismic potential. Applying the shear wave splitting analysis of the teleseismic core-refracted phases (SKS, SKKS, PKS and PKKS) on a linear profile of 32 broadband seismograph stations, we uncover the signatures of enigmatic strain histories and mantle dynamics. The measured shear wave splitting parameters i.e. Φ (Fast Polarisation Direction, FPD) and δt (Delay Time, DT) carry extraordinary information of the anisotropy formed through the complex mantle-deformation. We observe a strong dependence of the splitting data on the back-azimuth directions, which fits fairly well with a two-layer anisotropy model, with the lower layer having a low dipping angle at most of the stations. We present a geodynamic model depicting the preserved and the current situation of the compression-forces at the India-Asia collision zone. Incidentally, the mean Φ are primarily sub-parallel to the North East (NE)-oriented absolute plate motions (APM), and nearly orthogonal to the major geological boundaries in the Higher Himalaya. In the Lesser Himalaya, the mean Φ are nearly orthogonal to the APM and are sub-parallel to the surface expressions of major geological features. Similarly, we observe a wide variation in the mean δt. Our detailed analysis indicates a predominantly asthenospheric source of anisotropy, and a possible slab-tearing for this segment of the Kumaun Himalaya.

Description: Recent studies have shown that the ion precipitation induced by EMIC waves can contribute significantly to the total energy flux deposited into the ionosphere and severely affect the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. During the geomagnetic storm of 27-28 May 2017, the ARASE and the RBSP-A satellite observed typical signatures of EMIC waves in the inner magnetosphere. The DMSP and NOAA/METOP satellites observed enhanced proton precipitation during the main phase of the storm. In order to understand the evolution of proton precipitation into the ionosphere, its correspondence to the time and location of excitation of the waves and its relation to the source and distribution of proton temperature anisotropy, we conducted two simulations of the BATSRUS+RAMSCBE model with and without EMIC waves included. At regions where Arase/RBSP-A satellite measurements recorded EMIC wave activity, an increase in the simulated growth rates of H- and He-band EMIC waves is observed indicating that the model is able to reproduce the EMIC wave activity. Simulation results suggest that the H- and He-band EMIC waves are excited within regions of strong temperature anisotropy of protons in the vicinity of the plasmapause. The RAM-SCBE simulation with EMIC waves reproduce the precipitating fluxes in the pre-midnight sector fairly well, and is found to be in good agreement with the DMSP and NOAA MetOP satellite observations. Results suggest that the EMIC wave scattering of ring current ions gives rise to the proton precipitation in the pre-midnight sector at sub auroral latitudes during the main phase of the 27 May 2017 storm.