Application of Low-Cost MEMS Spectrometers for Forest Topsoil Properties Prediction.

Increasing temperatures and drought occurrences recently led to soil moisture depletion and increasing tree mortality. In the interest of sustainable forest management, the monitoring of forest soil properties will be of increasing importance in the future. Vis-NIR spectroscopy can be used as fast, non-destructive and cost-efficient method for soil parameter estimations. Microelectromechanical system devices (MEMS) have become available that are suitable for many application fields due to their low cost as well as their small size and weight. We investigated the performance of MEMS spectrometers in the visual and NIR range to estimate forest soil samples total C and N content of Ah and Oh horizons at the lab. The results were compared to a full-range device using PLSR and Cubist regression models at local (2.3 ha, n: Ah = 60, Oh = 50) and regional scale (State of Saxony, Germany, 184,000 km2, n: Ah = 186 and Oh = 176). For each sample, spectral reflectance was collected using MEMS spectrometer in the visual (Hamamatsu C12880MA) and NIR (NeoSpetrac SWS62231) range and using a conventional full range device (Veris Spectrophotometer). Both data sets were split into a calibration (70%) and a validation set (30%) to evaluate prediction power. Models were calibrated for Oh and Ah horizon separately for both data sets. Using the regional data, we also used a combination of both horizons. Our results show that MEMS devices are suitable for C and N prediction of forest topsoil on regional scale. On local scale, only models for the Ah horizon yielded sufficient results. We found moderate and good model results using MEMS devices for Ah horizons at local scale (R2≥ 0.71, RPIQ ≥ 2.41) using Cubist regression. At regional scale, we achieved moderate results for C and N content using data from MEMS devices in Oh (R2≥ 0.57, RPIQ ≥ 2.42) and Ah horizon (R2≥ 0.54, RPIQ ≥2.15). When combining Oh and Ah horizons, we achieved good prediction results using the MEMS sensors and Cubist (R2≥ 0.85, RPIQ ≥ 4.69). For the regional data, models using data derived by the Hamamatsu device in the visual range only were least precise. Combining visual and NIR data derived from MEMS spectrometers did in most cases improve the prediction accuracy. We directly compared our results to models based on data from a conventional full range device. Our results showed that the combination of both MEMS devices can compete with models based on full range spectrometers. MEMS approaches reached between 68% and 105% of the corresponding full ranges devices R2 values. Local models tended to be more accurate than regional approaches for the Ah horizon. Our results suggest that MEMS spectrometers are suitable for forest soil C and N content estimation. They can contribute to improved monitoring in the future as their small size and weight could make in situ measurements feasible.

Observational evidence of legacy effects of the 2018 drought on a mixed deciduous forest in Germany.

Forests play a major role in the global carbon cycle, and droughts have been shown to explain much of the interannual variability in the terrestrial carbon sink capacity. The quantification of drought legacy effects on ecosystem carbon fluxes is a challenging task, and research on the ecosystem scale remains sparse. In this study we investigate the delayed response of an extreme drought event on the carbon cycle in the mixed deciduous forest site 'Hohes Holz' (DE-HoH) located in Central Germany, using the measurements taken between 2015 and 2020. Our analysis demonstrates that the extreme drought and heat event in 2018 had strong legacy effects on the carbon cycle in 2019, but not in 2020. On an annual basis, net ecosystem productivity was [Formula: see text] higher in 2018 ([Formula: see text]) and [Formula: see text] lower in 2019 ([Formula: see text]) compared to pre-drought years ([Formula: see text]). Using spline regression, we show that while current hydrometeorological conditions can explain forest productivity in 2020, they do not fully explain the decrease in productivity in 2019. Including long-term drought information in the statistical model reduces overestimation error of productivity in 2019 by nearly [Formula: see text]. We also found that short-term drought events have positive impacts on the carbon cycle at the beginning of the vegetation season, but negative impacts in later summer, while long-term drought events have generally negative impacts throughout the growing season. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of considering the diverse and complex impacts of extreme events on ecosystem fluxes, including the timing, temporal scale, and magnitude of the events, and the need to use consistent definitions of drought to clearly convey immediate and delayed responses.

Overbank silt-clay deposition and intensive Neolithic land use in a Central European catchment - Coupled or decoupled?

Hydro-sedimentary processes such as soil erosion, sediment transport, deposition, and re-deposition influence the environmental evolution of floodplains, especially in loess-covered catchments. Holocene floodplain deposits are thus a source of information on previous hydro-sedimentary dynamics and land use in the catchment. Resulting from forest clearings in the catchment, the onset of overbank silt-clay deposition is considered as an initial and significant human-induced process affecting Central European floodplain evolution and ecosystems. However, it is difficult to separate climate-related from anthropogenic forces on depositional environments, and the complexity of the hydro-sedimentary responses is part of an ongoing debate in geoscientific, ecological, and archaeological communities. This study focuses on the Central European Weiße Elster river system, where humans have been influencing hydro-sedimentary processes since the Early Neolithic due to land-use-induced soil erosion predominantly in the loess-covered sub-basin of the middle course. A catchment-scale XRF element record of fluvial sediment sources combined with the geochemical characterisation of Holocene floodplain deposits aim for a better understanding of the interplay between past soil erosion, overbank deposition in the floodplain, and potential changes in sediment provenances. The Weiße Elster floodplain chronosequences show a geochemical differentiation into a lower (Neolithic) and an upper (post-Neolithic) overbank silt-clay deposition. The construction of a sediment source fingerprinting mixing model yields the significant finding that the Neolithic overbank silt-clay deposition reveals a remote provenance signal from the upper catchment and less from the proximal loess-covered sub-catchment. According to a systematic archaeological data survey, the upper catchment was not permanently settled and used for agriculture in the Neolithic period. This contradicts the previous assumption that Neolithic overbank silt-clay deposition primarily originates from forest clearings and subsequent farming-induced soil erosion in the catchment. From a more general perspective, further examination of existing hypotheses concerning overbank silt-clay deposition in Central European floodplains is thus in order.

Compilation of different data sets of the Late Neolithic wetland site of Pestenacker and of the adjacent valley depositions.

This document contains data sets of the valley depositions of the Loosbach valley and data of the Late Neolithic wetland site of Pestenacker. It consists of raw data and graphical figures of direct push-based electrical conductivity and colour logs and driving core recoveries as well as hand drilling recoveries presented by Köhler et al. [1]. We reviewed unpublished archaeological profiles to determine the incision levels of former stream phases at Pestenacker site. Here, we provide the new, reusable and accessible data set. The data sets and figures of the valley depositions can be used for further analyses, including statistical ones, to improve the methods of the direct-push sensing and to compare it with the sedimentological features recovered from driving core and hand drillings. In addition, the data set is useful for further issues in Pestenacker as well as in the whole central Europe. Especially in the circum-Alpine region, as a comparison with other pile dwellings or stilt houses built from the Neolithic to the Bronce Age.

Data of a high temperature heat injection test.

This document compiles the data related to a high temperature heat injection test, which was carried out at an injection temperature of 74 °C in a shallow aquifer and is presented by Heldt et al. [1]. The data set contains transient measurements of temperatures at 18 wells in 10 depths and measurements of the experimental boundary conditions (injection temperature and flow rate) at a temporal resolution of up to 1 min. The spatial configuration and the technical details about where and how the data have been measured are provided. In addition, data of a multilevel multi well pumping test are shown. The presented data is useful to gain insights into the thermohydraulic processes induced by a high temperature heat injection test and can furthermore be used for the development and verification of numerical models of the presented experiment and similar applications like high temperature aquifer thermal energy storage.

Monitoring of the effects of a temporally limited heat stress on microbial communities in a shallow aquifer.

Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) is a key concept for the use of renewable energy resources. Interest in ATES performed at high temperature (HT-ATES; > 60 °C) is increasing due to higher energetic efficiencies. HT-ATES induces temperature fluctuations that exceed the natural variability in shallow aquifers, which could lead to adverse effects in subsurface ecosystems by altering the groundwater chemistry, biodiversity, and microbial metabolic activity, resulting in changes of the groundwater quality, biogeochemical processes, and ecosystem functions. The aim of this study was to emulate the initial operating phase of a HT-ATES system with a short-term infiltration of warm water into Pleistocene sandur sediment and, consequently, to monitor the thermal effects on the groundwater microbiome inhabiting an imitated affected space of an HT-ATES system. Therefore, local groundwater was withdrawn, heated up to 75 °C, and re-infiltrated into a shallow aquifer located near Wittstock/Dosse (Brandenburg, Germany) for around five days. Groundwater samples taken regularly before and after the infiltration were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing for microbial diversity analyses as well as total cell counting. During the infiltration, a thermal plume with groundwater temperatures increasing from 9 ± 2 to up to ~65 °C was recorded. The highest temperature at which groundwater samples were taken was 34.9 °C, a temperature typically arising in the affected space of an HT-ATES system. The microbial communities in the groundwater were mainly composed of Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia, and Actinobacteria, and the total cell numbers ranged from 3.2 * 104 to 3.1 * 106 cells ml-1. Neither the compositions of the microbial communities nor the total number of cells in groundwater were significantly changed upon moderate temperature increase, indicating that the diverse groundwater microbiome was resilient to the temporally limited heat stress.

Adaptive observation-based subsurface conceptual site modeling framework combining interdisciplinary methodologies: a case study on advancing the understanding of a groundwater nitrate plume occurrence.

Traditional site characterization and laboratory testing methods are insufficient to quantify and conceptualize subsurface contaminant source-pathway-receptor heterogeneity issues, as they hamper groundwater risk assessment and water resource management using mathematical modeling. To address these issues, we propose an adaptive observation-based conceptual site modeling framework, which emphasizes the need for the iterative testing of hypotheses centered on specific questions with clearly defined objectives using interdisciplinary tools (including, but not limited to, geology, microbiology, hydrogeology, geophysics, and the chemistry of solute fate and transport). Under this framework, we present a case study aimed at a goal-oriented investigation of the source and occurrence of a groundwater nitrate plume previously identified using chemical concentration data from sparsely distributed, conventional, and regional groundwater monitoring wells. These investigations occurred in stages, with the first comprehensive outcome of cost-efficient, non-invasive surface geophysical surveys localizing subsurface heterogeneities laying the groundwork for collaborative, minimally invasive, direct push-based investigations followed by groundwater chemical and stable isotope analyses for source fingerprinting and bioprocess evaluation. Despite the obvious need for further refinement of the conceptual site model as new data become available, we illustrate that the step-by-step integrative framework was useful for systematic maximization of the strengths of different investigation methodologies. Such frameworks and approaches should be encouraged for successful environmental site characterization, monitoring, and modeling.

River water infiltration enhances denitrification efficiency in riparian groundwater.

Nitrate contamination in ground- and surface water is a persistent problem in countries with intense agriculture. The transition zone between rivers and their riparian aquifers, where river water and groundwater interact, may play an important role in mediating nitrate exports, as it can facilitate intensive denitrification, which permanently removes nitrate from the aquatic system. However, the in-situ factors controlling riparian denitrification are not fully understood, as they are often strongly linked and their effects superimpose each other. In this study, we present the evaluation of hydrochemical and isotopic data from a 2-year sampling period of river water and groundwater in the riparian zone along a 3rd order river in Central Germany. Based on bi- and multivariate statistics (Spearman's rank correlation and partial least squares regression) we can show, that highest rates for oxygen consumption and denitrification in the riparian aquifer occur where the fraction of infiltrated river water and at the same time groundwater temperature, are high. River discharge and depth to groundwater are additional explanatory variables for those reaction rates, but of minor importance. Our data and analyses suggest that at locations in the riparian aquifer, which show significant river water infiltration, heterotrophic microbial reactions in the riparian zone may be fueled by bioavailable organic carbon derived from the river water. We conclude that interactions between rivers and riparian groundwater are likely to be a key control of nitrate removal and should be considered as a measure to mitigate high nitrate exports from agricultural catchments.

Noninvasive characterization of the Trecate (Italy) crude-oil contaminated site: links between contamination and geophysical signals.

The characterization of contaminated sites can benefit from the supplementation of direct investigations with a set of less invasive and more extensive measurements. A combination of geophysical methods and direct push techniques for contaminated land characterization has been proposed within the EU FP7 project ModelPROBE and the affiliated project SoilCAM. In this paper, we present results of the investigations conducted at the Trecate field site (NW Italy), which was affected in 1994 by crude oil contamination. The less invasive investigations include ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys, together with direct push sampling and soil electrical conductivity (EC) logs. Many of the geophysical measurements were conducted in time-lapse mode in order to separate static and dynamic signals, the latter being linked to strong seasonal changes in water table elevations. The main challenge was to extract significant geophysical signals linked to contamination from the mix of geological and hydrological signals present at the site. The most significant aspects of this characterization are: (a) the geometrical link between the distribution of contamination and the site's heterogeneity, with particular regard to the presence of less permeable layers, as evidenced by the extensive surface geophysical measurements; and (b) the link between contamination and specific geophysical signals, particularly evident from cross-hole measurements. The extensive work conducted at the Trecate site shows how a combination of direct (e.g., chemical) and indirect (e.g., geophysical) investigations can lead to a comprehensive and solid understanding of a contaminated site's mechanisms.