Breakthrough in atmospheric analysis: Chinese satellite delivers high spatial resolution ozone profiles

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ENGINEERING

 

IMAGE: TRENDS OF THE (A) OZONE PROFILE, (B) RH, (C) TIME SERIES OF 8-HOUR AVERAGE OZONE (BLUE) AND HOURLY MEAN CARBON MONOXIDE (RED) CONCENTRATIONS, AND (D) PV IN KAIFENG BETWEEN AUGUST 11 AND AUGUST 15, 2019. view more 

CREDIT: FEI ZHAO ET AL.

A breakthrough in satellite observations has allowed scientists to obtain high spatial resolution ozone profiles, enhancing our understanding of ozone distribution and its impact on the atmosphere. The research, conducted by the research team led by Cheng Liu and Fei Zhao at the University of Science and Technology of China, utilized data from the Environmental Trace Gases Monitoring Instrument (EMI) on the Gaofen-5 satellite, the first Chinese ultraviolet-visible hyperspectral spectrometer.

Ozone plays a crucial role in the atmosphere, and understanding its vertical distribution is key to comprehending its horizontal and vertical transport, as well as its physical and chemical properties. Satellite observations have emerged as one of the most effective methods for obtaining high-resolution ozone profiles. However, retrieving accurate ozone profiles using the EMI instrument poses unique challenges due to unavailable measurement errors and a low signal-to-noise ratio.

The team developed an algorithm specifically tailored to the characteristics of the EMI instrument, enabling them to retrieve ozone profiles that were in good agreement with ground-based ozonesonde measurements. The algorithm demonstrated an impressive fitting accuracy, with fitting residuals smaller than 0.3% in most regions. The retrieved ozone profiles showed maximum mean biases of 20% at five latitude bands. Moreover, when EMI averaging kernels were applied, the integrated stratospheric column ozone and tropospheric column ozone exhibited excellent agreement with ozonesonde data.

Remarkably, the research not only unveiled the seasonal variation of surface ozone in the lower layers (0-7.5 km) but also showcased distinct trends in the upper layers (9.7-16.7 km). In March, the ozone peak was found to occur at an altitude of 9.7-16.7 km, highlighting the intricate dynamics of ozone distribution.

Furthermore, the EMI ozone profiles, alongside potential vorticity and relative humidity data, accurately captured a significant stratospheric intrusion event that occurred in central China from August 11 to 15, 2019. This event shed light on the downward transport mechanism that intensifies surface ozone pollution, as evidenced by an increase in ozone concentration observed by the China National Environmental Monitoring Center (CNEMC).

The Gaofen-5 satellite, launched on May 9, 2018, has played a pivotal role in facilitating these groundbreaking findings. Equipped with the EMI instrument, the satellite has provided invaluable data for monitoring environmental trace gases, as well as housing the directional polarization camera (DPC) and the greenhouse gases monitoring instrument (GMI).

The study utilized an innovative retrieval algorithm, known as OEM, previously employed for TROPOMI ozone profile retrievals, to successfully retrieve ozone profiles from the backscattered radiance observed by the EMI instrument. This methodology has proven to be a game-changer in satellite-based ozone profile measurements.

The researchers open up new avenues in understanding ozone distribution and its impact on Earth's atmosphere. Further advancements in satellite observations and retrieval algorithms will undoubtedly contribute to our knowledge of ozone dynamics, facilitating effective strategies for monitoring and mitigating the impacts of ozone pollution.

The paper “High Spatial Resolution Ozone Profiles Retrieved from the First Chinese Ultraviolet–Visible Hyperspectral Satellite Instrument” has been published in Engineering, authored by Fei Zhao, Cheng Liu, Qihou Hu, Congzi Xia, Chengxin Zhang, Wenjing Su. Full text of the open access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2023.02.020. For more information about the Engineering, follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/EngineeringJrnl) & Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EngineeringPortfolio).

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JOURNAL

Engineering

DOI

10.1016/j.eng.2023.02.020 

ARTICLE TITLE

High Spatial Resolution Ozone Profiles Retrieved from the First Chinese Ultraviolet–Visible Hyperspectral Satellite Instrument

 

 

UMC Utrecht investigates the link between RSV infection and chronic respiratory tract disease

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER UTRECHT

 

IMAGE: COORDINATOR OF THE CLARITY STUDY, MARIANNE BOES PHD view more 

CREDIT: UMC UTRECHT

UMC Utrecht will lead an international consortium that will try to answer a key question that’s in the mind of many pediatricians, infectiologists, pulmonologists and other health professionals: “Why are children that had an RSV infection in early childhood at increased risk of developing asthma later in life?” The project - which will run for five years - is funded by a HORIZON HLTH 2023 grant from the European Commission of € 7 million.

Chronic respiratory tract diseases such as asthma and COPD are non-communicable diseases for which infections by several respiratory viruses and genetics constitute major risk factors. The molecular and physiological mechanisms of how these viral infections cause and contribute to non-communicable disease development are unknown. The Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a virus that infects nearly all infants before the age of 2 years and is linked to asthma development. However, it is not clear what changes in the immature lungs of susceptible infants that causes later asthma development. It’s also not yet clear how to revert possible damage done by RSV infection to immature lungs.

Interdisciplinary approach

In the CLARITY (Causative Link between respirAtory syncytial viRus and chronic lung diseases: Identifying Targets for therapY) research consortium, the investigators will use an integrative approach to identify genetic risk factors and mechanisms underlying virus-induced asthma. Specifically, using two national cohorts (Estonian and Spanish), they will try to identify human genetic risk factors and RSV strains that contribute to severe bronchiolitis. They will also analyze how RSV perturbs intracellular networks to change cellular properties that trigger asthma development. In addition, researchers will use artificial intelligence-based techniques to integrate generated data with the current biological knowledge, to generate RSV-induced perturbation signatures and to identify druglike compounds that are able to revert the effects of the RSV-induced perturbations. Finally they will validate both mechanisms and candidate compounds in patient derived airway organoid models and, if promising, in a controlled human infection model trial.

Virus-triggered asthma

Immunologist Marianne Boes PhD (Center for Translational Immunology and Department of Pediatrics, UMC Utrecht) is CLARITY project coordinator and principal investigator. She explains: “CLARITY is expected to impact the understanding, prevention and possibly treatment of virus-triggered asthma. The results will enable the development of a genetic risk score for long-term asthma development that enables personalized prevention campaigns, which will be developed jointly with patient groups. The molecular mechanisms discovered, and the drug-like compounds that revert the perturbation signatures, will enable development of mechanism-targeted drugs. Fundamentally, the mechanisms identified in this specific model for a strong viral contribution to non-communicable disease will likely represent general mechanisms of how viral infections cause onset and development of other non-communicable diseases.”

Impact

The expected outcomes of the project are of considerable socio-economic value, since they ultimately aim at reducing disease burden and promoting well-being and empowering patients, their caregivers and the public. The impact of the outcomes will be delivered at multiple levels and may contribute to advancing the management of respiratory diseases, providing to a certain extent real clinical utility, and improving public awareness of RSV and its link with chronic respiratory tract diseases such as asthma and COPD.

CLARITY consortium

In the CLARITY consortium – which will be coordinated by UMC Utrecht – nine partners from four EU countries will collaborate: one university, three clinical centers, one public health organization, three research institutions and one patient organization. The project – which will run for 5 years - is funded by a HORIZON HEALTH 2023 grant of € 7 million from the European Commission, of which close to € 2 million has been allocated to UMC Utrecht.

 

Di-isononyl phthalate disrupts pregnancy in mice, study finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CARL R. WOESE INSTITUTE FOR GENOMIC BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

 

IMAGE: FROM LEFT, JODI FLAWS, ARPITA BHURKE, AND INDRANI BAGCHI ARE STUDYING HOW DI-ISONONYL PHTHALATE AFFECTS THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OF WOMEN. view more 

CREDIT: ISAAC MITCHELL

We are constantly exposed to phthalates in our environment through plastic products such as storage containers, medical devices, packages, fabrics, and toys. Specifically, di-isononyl phthalate is inevitably becoming a part of our lives. Unfortunately, the impact of DiNP on the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy is largely unknown. In a new study, researchers used mice to understand how DiNP affects pregnancy.

“Although we finally recognize that environmental chemicals impact women's health, most studies have focused on men’s reproductive health and very few studies have looked at how these chemicals affect women,” said Jodi Flaws (EIRH co-leader/MME), a professor of comparative biosciences. “Our paper is novel because we are the first to look at this aspect of reproduction.”

For their study, the researchers chose a DiNP dose that humans are exposed to on a daily basis. They exposed pregnant female mice to DiNP orally for their first week of pregnancy, which is analogous to the first trimester in humans.

“I chose this window because most women don’t know from day one that they are pregnant. As a result, they maintain their general lifestyle for a while and may become more careful once they know that they are pregnant. During that time, however, they will continue to be exposed to DiNP,” said Arpita Bhurke, a postdoctoral fellow in the Bagchi lab and the first author of the paper.

In the early stages of pregnancy, the embryo attaches to the uterus and embeds in the maternal tissue, which supports the growth and development of the embryo. The process also stimulates the formation of new blood vessels, ensuring that the embryo has an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients from the mother. Using tissue-staining techniques, the researchers found that DiNP exposure impairs the formation of blood vessels in both the maternal tissue and the placenta.

“In mice, these maternal blood vessels are formed after the first week of pregnancy and they have been exposed to DiNP before this development happens,” said Indrani Bagchi (EIRH co-leader), a Billie Field Professor of Reproductive Biology. “As a result, the tissue formation is effected and it creates a ripple effect, impairing embryo growth.”

The impact of DiNP on the placenta had several consequences later on in the pregnancy. The researchers found that pregnant mice that had been exposed to DiNP had smaller litter sizes and shorter gestation periods. Mice that were fed corn oil instead of DiNP produced an average of 16 pups per litter, whereas DiNP-fed mice produced 11 pups, and on average the pups weighed less. Additionally, instead of delivering their litter in 20 days, DiNP-fed mice were giving birth 18-24 hours earlier.

“We know that DiNP causes defects in the formation of the placenta. However, it is unclear whether this is due to the effect of DiNP on the embryo or on the maternal tissue or both. We want to address this question in our future work,” Bagchi said.

The researchers are also interested in deciphering how the chemicals impact the uterine tissue and litter birth. “I will focus on cell culture systems because we want to distinguish between the embryo and the maternal tissue effects. By using just the cells, we can better understand how DiNP is impacting the placenta in both early and late stages of pregnancy,” Bhurke said.  

The study “Exposure to di-isononyl phthalate during early pregnancy disrupts decidual angiogenesis and placental development in mice” was published in Reproductive Toxicology and can be found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2023.108446. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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JOURNAL

Reproductive Toxicology

DOI

10.1016/j.reprotox.2023.108446 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Exposure to di-isononyl phthalate during early pregnancy disrupts decidual angiogenesis and placental development in mice

 

Alaska scientists heading to Greenland for glacier research, museum project

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists will make several trips to Greenland over two years to study how meltwater and the ocean affect glacial ice loss. 

The four-year research project, funded by a $565,000 National Science Foundation grant, will create a traveling museum exhibit about the drivers of Arctic climate change. The exhibit will appear first at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, likely in 2026.

Ice loss from the polar ice sheets is the largest anticipated contributor to global mean-sea-level rise in the coming century. Scientists need to better understand glacier behavior to improve predictions of sea-level rise.

At the study’s conclusion, the researchers will create software that others can use to analyze the effect of runoff and ocean interaction on any of Earth’s glaciers.

Glacier flow is dictated by three main conditions: geometry, ocean conditions and surface melt.

“We don't quite understand why some glaciers react to some things and other glaciers react to other things,” said physics professor Martin Truffer, who specializes in glacier dynamics at the UAF Geophysical Institute and is helping lead the research. 

Truffer, who has made several Greenland research trips, and Ph.D. student Amy Jenson, one of last year’s recipients of a Geophysical Institute Schaible Fellowship, will go to Greenland to study Jakobshavn Glacier. The glacier, whose Greenlandic name is Sermeq Kujalleq, is a well-studied ocean outlet glacier in west Greenland.

Also involved in the research is geophysics professor Jason Amundson of the University of Alaska Southeast. Amundson was Truffer’s first doctoral student and studied Jakobshavn Glacier for his Ph.D. The research project’s principal investigator is Lizz Ultee, assistant professor of Earth and climate science at Middlebury College in Vermont.

The team will investigate the short- and long-term effect of runoff on outlet glacier flow, how a glacier’s geometry affects its response to runoff, and how variations in runoff speed and speed of movement of the glacier’s terminal area influence each other.

“When water gets to the base of a glacier, at bedrock, it lubricates the base and the glacier moves faster,” Truffer said. “But you can actually have a situation where more water means slower flow. That’s because the glacier’s plumbing system actually adjusts if you keep putting in more water. Water melts the ice, widening the channels and making the glacier more efficient at draining the water — and that slows the glacier’s speed.”

“If you want to predict the future of a place like Greenland, then you have to know how fast the ice is moving, and that is why we need to know more about the effects of runoff and geometry on a glacier’s speed,” he said.

Jakobshavn Glacier, which is about 40 miles long and a mile thick, has lost more ice than any other part of Greenland’s ice sheet. It had been in general retreat for a number of decades but was relatively stable in the 1980s and 1990s. In the late 1990s it underwent a massive retreat accompanied by much faster flow of the ice into the ocean. 

The glacier’s advance slowed beginning in 2013. Although the glacier was still advancing, the European Space Agency reported in 2019 that the glacier’s drainage basin was still losing more ice to the ocean than it gains as snowfall, “therefore still contributing to global sea-level rise, albeit at a slower rate.”

As for the museum component, details have not yet been confirmed. Truffer will work with Roger Topp, director of exhibits, design and digital media at the UA Museum of the North.

The exhibit will be a partnership with Ilulissat Museum in Ilulissat, Greenland. The community sits at the entrance to Disko Bay, which Jakobshavn Glacier feeds into.

Topp said the exhibit will concentrate on Greenland, since that’s the focus of Truffer’s research, but that it will include some information about Alaska.

Topp, who has also been to Greenland, said the exhibit could include a three-dimensional model of a glacier to illustrate the loss of mass.

“What can make it a spatial experience, where people walking around an object matters to how they understand it?” Topp said. “Sometimes it’s a harpoon head, sometimes it’s a painting, sometimes it’s a model built for the express purpose of showing a theory or the result of research.”

Museums in recent decades have de-emphasized their role as a source of information from experts only, Topp said.

“Museums have come away from that and moved toward presenting stories about objects,” he said. “An object has stories, and the museum collects those stories from many perspectives.”

Truffer hopes the exhibit tells a story.

“What I would like people to realize from the exhibit is that landscapes are dynamic,” he said. “We tend to think of these landscapes as pretty fixed in time, but they’re changing all the time.’’

 

New research explains “Atlantification” of the Arctic Ocean

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS

New research by an international team of scientists explains what’s behind a stalled trend in Arctic Ocean sea ice loss since 2007. The findings indicate that stronger declines in sea ice will occur when an atmospheric feature known as the Arctic dipole reverses itself in its recurring cycle.

The many environmental responses to the Arctic dipole are described in a paper published online today in the journal Science. This analysis helps explain how North Atlantic water influences Arctic Ocean climate. Scientists call it Atlantification.

The research is led by professor Igor Polyakov of the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Natural Science and Mathematics. He is also affiliated with the International Arctic Research Center at UAF.

Co-authors include Andrey V. Pnyushkov, research assistant professor at the International Arctic Research Center; Uma S. Bhatt, atmospheric sciences professor at the UAF Geophysical Institute and UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics; and researchers from Massachusetts, Washington state, Norway, and Germany.

“This is a multidisciplinary view on what's going on in the Arctic and beyond,” Polyakov said of the new research. “Our analysis covered the atmosphere, ocean, ice, changing continents and changing biology in response to climate change.”

A wealth of data, including direct instrumental observations, reanalysis products and satellite information going back several decades, shows that the Arctic dipole alternates in an approximately 15-year cycle and that the system is probably at the end of the present regime.

In the Arctic dipole’s present “positive” regime, which scientists say has been in place since 2007, high pressure is centered over the Canadian sector of the Arctic and produces clockwise winds. Low pressure is centered over the Siberian Arctic and features counterclockwise winds.

This wind pattern drives upper ocean currents, with year-round effects on regional air temperatures, atmosphere-ice-ocean heat exchanges, sea-ice drift and exports, and ecological consequences.

The authors write that, “Water exchanges between the Nordic seas and the Arctic Ocean are critically important for the state of the Arctic climate system” and that sea ice decline is “a true indicator of climate change.”

In analyzing oceanic responses to the wind pattern since 2007, the researchers found decreased flow from the Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait east of Greenland, along with increased Atlantic flow into the Barents Sea, located north of Norway and western Russia.

The new research refers to these alternating changes in the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea as a “switchgear mechanism” caused by the Arctic dipole regimes.

The researchers also found that counterclockwise winds from the low-pressure region under the current positive Arctic dipole regime drive freshwater from Siberian rivers into the Canadian sector of the Arctic Ocean. 

This westward movement of freshwater from 2007 to 2021 helped slow the overall loss of sea ice in the Arctic compared to 1992 through 2006. The freshwater layer’s depth increased, making it too thick and stable to mix with the heavier saltwater below. The thick layer of freshwater prevents the warmer saltwater from melting sea ice from the bottom.

The authors write that the switchgear mechanism regulating inflows of sub-Arctic waters has “profound” impacts on marine life. It can lead to potentially more suitable living conditions for sub-Arctic boreal species near the eastern part of the Eurasian Basin, relative to its western part.

“We are beyond the peak of the currently positive Arctic dipole regime, and at any moment it could switch back again,” Polyakov said. "This could have significant climatological repercussions, including a potentially faster pace of sea-ice loss across the entire Arctic and sub-Arctic climate systems.”

The research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

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CONTACTS:

• Igor Polyakov, International Arctic Research Center, 907-474-2686, ivpolyakov@alaska.edu

• Rod Boyce, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, 907-474-7185, rcboyce@alaska.edu

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JOURNAL

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adh515 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

ARTICLE TITLE

Fluctuating Atlantic inflows modulate Arctic atlantification

 

SMART-BARN – a cutting-edge technology lab to study animal groups

A new large-scale research facility close by Konstanz allows the complex behaviour of animal groups to be studied in unprecedented detail

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF KONSTANZ

Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour (CASCB) and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior have converted a former barn into a cutting-edge technology lab for complex behavioral analysis. In it, they can now study the intricate behaviour of animal groups. The barn also served as a prototype for the largest swarm behaviour lab at the University of Konstanz: the Imaging Hangar.

A major limitation in behavioural research is that scientists can either study animals under highly-controlled, yet often unrealistically simplified and small, environments in the lab, or in largely uncontrolled conditions in the wild. This has limited our ability to study many facets of behaviour, including collective behaviour—the movements and interactions among animals that underlie their complex social lives. What is needed to address this? First, a place with lots of space. Second, state of the art technology.

Both are available in an 18th-century barn at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Möggingen near Konstanz and now in the Imaging Hangar, a hall the size of a gymnasium at the University of Konstanz. Both labs are used to closely examine the group behaviour of animals. To do so in a multidimensional way, researchers from the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior have developed a tool called SMART-BARN.

SMART-BARN is an acronym for Scalable Multimodal Arena for Real-time Tracking Behaviour of Animals in large numbers. “It is a new tool that allows studying complex behaviour traits of an individual or interactions between groups of animals like insects, birds, or mammals”, says Hemal Naik. Together with Máté Nagy, Co-Speaker of the Cluster, Iain Couzin, and colleagues developed SMART-BARN. The team was very interdisciplinary: Biologists, physicists, engineers and computer scientists developed it together.

Máté Nagy explains the tool further: “We are using high throughput measurement techniques like optical and acoustic tracking, with which we can study the exact 3D position and posture of animals and calculate their field of view”. Users of the new facility will have the flexibility to perform different experimental paradigms by leveraging the modular nature of the system.

Why scale matters
“SMART-BARN is designed to enhance the scale of typical indoor behavioural experiments in terms of experimental volume and measured behaviour traits and group sizes”, computer scientist Hemal Naik says and adds: “This means that users can measure previously unseen behaviour repertoire because animals have more space.” The facility can – depending on the size of the animals – host 100s of animals simultaneously and extend the possibility of experiments to novel species typically not studied in indoor environments. “In fact, we have now scaled this to work with many thousands of animals”, adds Couzin, “We recently conducted a study in the Imaging Hangar where we tracked 10,000 plague locusts. This would have been impossible without our SMART-BARN technology.”

How SMART-BARN can be used
So far, SMART-BARN was used within different experimental use cases involving subjects as diverse as pigeons, starlings, moth, bats, and humans. Naik is delighted because: “The facility is shaping important new interdisciplinary collaborations.” He continues: “For example, SMART-BARN offers the ability to track 3D gaze and posture of birds in a group of ten or more while maintaining their identity. This technique is being used by researchers to explore the role of gaze in decision making.” The same technique is used by computer scientists to design novel computer vision and AI based algorithms facilitating 3D tracking of animals without attaching any markers to them. “Our method has resulted in an even larger system in the Imaging Hangar at the University of Konstanz to track swarms of robots or thousands of insects”, says Iain Couzin.  

Máté Nagy says: “In a nutshell, the scope of its applications is only limited by our ability to come up with ideas of experimentation.” The team imagines the facility to be a collaborative space where researchers from all over the globe can contribute to the exploration of behavioural questions. Therefore, the team invites researchers across the world to connect with them and plan experiments.

 

Key facts:

• PUBLICATION DETAILS: Máté Nagy, Hemal Naik, Fumihiro Kano, Nora V. Carlson, Jens C. Koblitz, Martin Wikelski, Iain D. Couzin: SMART-BARN: Scalable Multimodal Arena for Real-time Tracking Behavior of Animals in large Numbers, Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf8068
• An interdisciplinary team from the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour (CASCB) at the University of Konstanz, and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, with biologists, physicists, engineers, and computer scientists developed the tool together. Máté Nagy and Hemal Naik are both first authors of the publication, Iain Couzin is senior author.
• To explore animal behaviour closely and multidimensionally, researchers from the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour have developed a new tool called SMART-BARN
• The study was among others funded by the Cluster of Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz, the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, and the ERC, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme.

 

 

Note to editors:
You can download images here:

Link: https://www.uni-konstanz.de/fileadmin/pi/fileserver/2023_EXSTRA/smart%20barn/barn.jpg
Bildunterschrift: SMART-BARN
Copyright: Christian Ziegler

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Bildunterschrift: Imaging Hangar
Copyright: Christian Ziegler

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Bildunterschrift: Iain Couzin
Copyright: Elisabeth Böker

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Bildunterschrift: Hemal Naik
Copyright: Christian Ziegler

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Bildunterschrift: Maté Nagy
Copyright: Anna Zafeiris

 

 

 

 

 

 

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adf8068 

ARTICLE TITLE

SMART-BARN: Scalable Multimodal Arena for Real-time Tracking Behavior of Animals in large Numbers

 

Groundwater depletion rates in India could triple in coming decades as climate warms, study shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Photos

ANN ARBOR—A new University of Michigan-led study finds that farmers in India have adapted to warming temperatures by intensifying the withdrawal of groundwater used for irrigation. If the trend continues, the rate of groundwater loss could triple by 2080, further threatening India's food and water security.

Reduced water availability in India due to groundwater depletion and climate change could threaten the livelihoods of more than one-third of the country's 1.4 billion residents  and has global implications. India recently overtook China to become the world's most populous nation and is the second-largest global producer of common cereal grains including rice and wheat.

"We find that farmers are already increasing irrigation use in response to warming temperatures, an adaptation strategy that has not been accounted for in previous projections of groundwater depletion in India," said study senior author Meha Jain, assistant professor at U-M's School for Environment and Sustainability. "This is of concern, given that India is the world's largest consumer of groundwater and is a critical resource for the regional and global food supply."

The lead author is Nishan Bhattarai of the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma, formerly a postdoctoral researcher in Jain's U-M lab.

The study, scheduled for online publication Sept. 1 in the journal Science Advances, analyzed historical data on groundwater levels, climate and crop water stress to look for recent changes in withdrawal rates due to warming. The researchers also used temperature and precipitation projections from 10 climate models to estimate future rates of groundwater loss across India.

Previous studies have focused on the individual effects of climate change and groundwater depletion on crop production in India. Those studies did not account for farmer decision-making, including how farmers may adapt to changing climate through changes in irrigation decisions.

The new study takes into account the fact that warmer temperatures may increase water demand from stressed crops, which in turn may lead to increased irrigation by farmers.

"Using our model estimates, we project that under a business-as-usual scenario, warming temperatures may triple groundwater depletion rates in the future and expand groundwater depletion hotspots to include south and central India," Bhattarai said.

"Without policies and interventions to conserve groundwater, we find that warming temperatures will likely amplify India's already existing groundwater depletion problem, further challenging India's food and water security in the face of climate change."

Previous studies found that climate change could decrease the yield of staple Indian crops by up to 20% by mid-century. At the same time, the country's groundwater is being depleted at an alarming rate, primarily because of water withdrawal for irrigation.

For the newly published study, the researchers developed a dataset that contains groundwater depths from thousands of wells across India, high-resolution satellite observations that measured crop water stress, and temperature and precipitation records.

Most climate models call for increased temperature, increased monsoon (June through September) precipitation and decreased winter precipitation in India over the coming decades. The U-M-led research team found that warming temperatures coupled with declining winter precipitation more than offset added groundwater recharge from increased monsoon precipitation, resulting in accelerated groundwater declines.

Across various climate-change scenarios, their estimates of groundwater-level declines between 2041 and 2080 were more than three times current depletion rates, on average.

In addition to Jain and Bhattarai, authors of the Science Advances study are David Lobell of Stanford University, Balwinder Singh of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in India and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in Western Australia, Ram Fishman of Tel Aviv University, William Kustas of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Yadu Pokhrel of Michigan State University.

The research was funded by a NASA Land-Cover Land-Use Change Grant and a NASA new investigator program award to Jain. It was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.

Study: Warming temperatures exacerbate groundwater depletion rates in India (available when embargo lifts)

 

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Warming temperatures exacerbate groundwater depletion rates in India

 

Invasive spotted lanternfly may not damage hardwood trees as previously thought

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENN STATE

 

IMAGE: SPOTTED LANTERNFLIES HAVE PIERCING/SUCKING MOUTHPARTS THAT THEY USE TO SUCK THE PHLOEM SAP OUT OF PLANTS. view more 

CREDIT: JOE KELLER

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In 2012, when the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) arrived in the U.S. from its home in China, scientists, land managers, and growers were understandably concerned that the sap-feeding insect would damage native and commercial trees. New long-term research led by Penn State has discovered that hardwood trees, such as maple, willow and birch, may be less vulnerable than initially thought.

“Since the lanternfly was first introduced to the northeastern U.S., the question has been, ‘How at-risk are our forests?’ said Kelli Hoover, professor of entomology at Penn State. “So far, we haven't had a good answer. Our study is the first to look at the long-term impacts of feeding pressure on northeastern hardwoods, and our results suggest that we are unlikely to see big impacts on the growth of trees.”

The findings published in the journal Environmental Entomology on August 29.

To determine the long-term effects of spotted lanternfly (SLF) feeding on hardwood trees, the team built large enclosures containing multiple species of tree, including the insect’s favorite food, the non-native tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), as well as native trees, including silver maple (Acer saccharinum), weeping willow (Salix babylonica) and river birch (Betula nigra). The team included tree-of-heaven in half of the enclosures to determine whether its presence would influence the feeding pressure on the native hardwoods.

Within the enclosures, the researchers reared different densities of spotted lanternflies for all or most of their lifecycle, from eggs through adults, to see if the number of insects feeding on a tree would impact its growth and survival. After the first two years, they reduced the density of the insects to see if trees would recover. They monitored leaf gas exchange and concentrations of nutrients that are important for photosynthesis and growth for the first two years and tree diameter growth for the full four years.

The team found that increased feeding pressure by spotted lanternfly resulted in reductions in key nutrients, which in turn, markedly impacted tree diameter growth during the first two years when feeding pressure was the most intense. However, in year three when the feeding pressure was reduced, the native trees recovered while tree-of-heaven’s growth remained flat. Leaf gas exchange did not differ significantly among the treatments.

“In the wild, we have seen that spotted lanternfly population numbers vary greatly from year to year on individual trees, and they move frequently among host trees,” Hoover said. “Our study represents a worst-case scenario in which the spotted lanternfly fed on the same trees for four consecutive growing seasons. While we did see reduced growth after two years of intense feeding, the native trees recovered when feeding was less intense. Importantly, over the four years, none of the trees died. Therefore, in a natural setting where the insects are constantly on the move, we would not expect significant negative impacts on forest or ornamental trees.”

Other authors on the paper include Lidiia Lavorivska, postdoctoral fellow, Penn State; Emily Lavely, tree fruit educator, Michigan State University; Osariyekemwen Uyi, research scientist, University of Georgia; Brian Walsh, extension educator, Penn State; Emelie Swackhamer, extension educator, Penn State; Anne Johnson, graduate student in entomology, Penn State; and David Eissenstat, professor emeritus of woody plant physiology, Penn State.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture supported this research.

To determine the long-term effects of spotted lanternfly (SLF) feeding on hardwood trees, the team built large enclosures containing multiple species of tree, including the insect’s favorite food, the non-native tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), as well as native trees.

CREDIT

Kelli Hoover, Penn State

New long-term research led by Penn State has discovered that hardwood trees, such as maple, willow and birch, may be less vulnerable to spotted lanternflies than initially thought.

CREDIT

Joe Keller

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JOURNAL

Environmental Entomology

DOI

10.1093/ee/nvad084 

Native American patients were sicker and more likely to die during the COVID-19 pandemic, UNM researchers find

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept into New Mexico in the spring of 2020, seriously ill patients from all over the state were brought to The University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where many wound up in intensive care, breathing with the help of ventilators.

Early on, researchers from the UNM Center for Global Health launched a study of hospitalized patients to gauge the severity of symptoms from the infection, gathering data on 475 patients from April 2020 through December 2021.

In paper published this week in PNAS Nexus, they reported that patients who identified as American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) were sicker and more likely to die in the hospital than Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients, even though they had fewer pre-existing conditions.

The study was led by Center Director D.J. Perkins, PhD, Professor of Medicine, and Research Associate Professor Ivy Hurwitz, PhD, both of whom donned protective gear to visit the ICU and obtain consent from patients willing to participate in the study.

“There was never an original plan based on race and ethnicity,” Perkins said. “We literally didn’t know about whether there would be disproportionate levels of hospitalization or severe disease.”

Hurwitz added that as they began recruiting patients in the hospital, “We saw a lot of people who were really, really sick in the ICU, and a lot of those people unfortunately were American Indian. It was really sad. They were really suffering disproportionately.”

The researchers collected data on patient demographics, infection duration, blood test results, comorbidities (underlying health risks), treatments that the patients received, major clinical events and in-hospital deaths.

In the patient pool, 47% self-identified as Hispanic, 31% were AI/AN and 19% were non-Hispanic white (the remainder, including Black and Asian American, were excluded from analysis for statistical reasons).

The scientists also assessed comorbid conditions known to worsen outcomes for COVID-19. “COPD, sleep apnea, hyperlipidemia, hypothyroidism, and history of past smoking differed among the groups and was lowest in AI/AN patients,” they wrote. In fact, non-Hispanic whites scored highest overall in comorbidities.

The American Indian patients were also younger on average, but more likely to need ventilators and have blood results indicating more severe disease. They were also more prone to shock and brain injury from the infection and were hospitalized longer.

A similar pattern of relatively severe disease in Native Americans was seen during the 1918 influenza pandemic, historical tuberculosis outbreaks, and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the authors noted.

The explanation for the disproportionate burden of severe disease and death in the AI/AN people likely involves multiple factors, the authors wrote, “and may include social determinants of health, as well as potential immunological responses to the virus, among many other non-medical and medical factors.”

An earlier phase of the research prior to emergence of the Delta variant showed that AI/AN patients had significantly higher and protracted SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in their blood.

“In a large group of people, be it pre-Delta or Delta, the strongest predictor of severe disease is virus in the blood and, what travels along with that, because they’re intertwined with their co-variants, is being self-identified American Indian,” Perkins said.

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JOURNAL

PNAS Nexus

DOI

10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad259 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Disproportionate impact of COVID-19 severity and mortality on hospitalized American Indian/Alaska Native patients