Environmental and Earth Sciences

Abstract: County-level hurricane power outage risk prediction faces a mismatch in spatial support among hazard rasters, infrastructure exposure, and outage labels. Conventional county-mean aggregation can weaken the spatial association between local hazard peaks and transmission corridors. To address this issue, we propose the Raster-to-Grid Spatiotemporal GeoAI Network (R2G-STGeoNet). It first combines Sentinel-1 SAR, precipitation, wind fields, and geographic environmental information to encode multi-source hazard states. Raster-to-Grid Exposure Projection (R2GEP) then transforms continuous hazard fields into features including county exposure, along-line exposure, local peaks, and lengths of above-threshold exposure. A dual-relation spatiotemporal graph combining geographic adjacency and transmission-corridor relationships jointly predicts outage occurrence probability and outage rate. Using hurricanes as case studies, we evaluate matched-input baselines, structural ablations, cross-event transfer, and spatial holdout, accounting for missing labels and data latency. The full model achieves an AUROC of 0.913; replacing R2GEP with county means lowers AUROC to 0.867. With identical R2G inputs, the proposed model outperforms R2G-ST-GNN (AUROC = 0.895). The results indicate that spatial support transformation and infrastructure relation modeling improve county-level outage risk prediction under extreme weather.

Abstract: The rapid expansion and structural complexity of applied clay science create a pressing need for process-oriented educational frameworks to replace traditional descriptive instruction. To address this challenge, this technical note introduces an illustrative, process-based approach supported by generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to clarify clay mineral modification pathways. Utilizing AI-enhanced prompt workflows integrated with literature synthesis, we developed a systematic "toolbox" framework that visually categorizes key physical and chemical pathways, including acid/alkali etching, thermal activation, mechanochemical milling, organo-functionalisation, and nanoparticle decoration; They link directly to property outcomes and target applications. Furthermore, we map the innovation pathway from laboratory synthesis to commercial production, detailing critical high-attrition failure points along the translation process. This AI-powered visual strategy bridges fundamental clay mineralogy with real-world technological, environmental, and agricultural applications.

Abstract: Smart agricultural technologies can improve input efficiency and environmental performance, but their benefits depend on farmers’ knowledge and use. This study assessed knowledge and use of new agricultural technologies among Greek crop farmers, perceptions of sustainable agriculture and environmental impacts, and the usefulness of agricultural education. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 2023 to May 2024 among 1,054 crop farmers across all 13 Greek regions using convenience sampling. Pearson’s chi-square tests and Cramer’s V examined associations between technology knowledge and age, education, and agricultural experience. Overall, 56.8% reported knowledge of new technologies, 29.7% reported technologically equipped machinery, and 17.9% reported using such technologies. Knowledge was significantly associated with age (χ²(4) = 64.41, V = 0.249), education (χ²(5) = 204.02, V = 0.444), and experience (χ²(9) = 182.51, V = 0.420; all p < 0.001). Furthermore, 70.1% reported no knowledge of sustainable agriculture, while the perceived usefulness of agricultural education was very high (mean = 4.73/5). The findings indicate a gap between reported technological knowledge and actual use and support practical training in smart machinery, digital skills, environmental protection, and agronomic practices. Given the cross-sectional design, convenience sampling, and self-reported measures, the observed associations should not be interpreted causally.

Abstract: Jurisdictional REDD+ is widely promoted as a mechanism to align forest conservation, and climate mitigation, through standardized readiness frameworks and multilevel governance, yet a persistent dilemma remains: how can politically divergent subnational states converge on the same international climate finance outcomes? This study addresses that question by comparing two contrasting Brazilian Amazon states that both secured funding under the REDD+ Early Movers (REM) program. Methodologically, the research employs comparative process tracing, drawing on 287 documents and 74 semi-structured interviews, and applies Van Evera's evidence tests to assess the strength of causal explanations for program approval. The results reveal five necessary conditions for REM financing, formal compliance with REDD+ Readiness requirements was neither necessary nor sufficient for success; instead, informal arrangements, historical political trajectories, paradiplomatic networks, and multilevel coalitions among social actors played a decisive role. These findings lead to the conclusion that jurisdictional REDD+ operates less as a hierarchical implementation of institutional models and more as a polycentric governance process emerging from dynamic interactions across governance scales. By reconstructing the causal mechanisms that link international climate finance to subnational forest politics, this study advances theoretical debates on climate finance while offering practical insights for policy design in heterogeneous political contexts.

Abstract: Recognition of past and present figures among the members of a scientific community is one ob-servable trace of disciplinary memory, but it is not the same as historical influence. This article reports a purposive, single-round expert nomination survey of geoscientists working in Portugal. Respondents were asked to nominate up to ten geoscientists whom they considered most relevant to the development of geological knowledge in each of seven chronological and thematic do-mains, from the Geotectonic Framework of the Iberian Peninsula to the Meso-Cenozoic of the Atlantic Islands. In 2026, 230 geoscientists affiliated with ten Portuguese public universities were invited. Of the 129 responses received, 45 were complete, and 39 of these contained nominations: 818 nominations in 126 domain lists (mean 6.5 names per list), naming 212 distinct geoscientists. Nominations are strongly concentrated. António Ribeiro is the most nominated geoscientist in four domains (tied with Nery Delgado in the Lower Paleozoic), Paul Choffat in the Mesozoic, João Pais in the Cenozoic and José Madeira in the Atlantic Islands, while most nominees receive a sin-gle nomination. Three figures born in the nineteenth century (Carlos Ribeiro, Nery Delgado and Paul Choffat) account for 9.2% of all nominations. An operational criterion of the project Geology of Portugal through Faces (GeoFaces), at least three nominations (five in the Geotectonic Framework), defines a biographical corpus of 53 individuals (83 domain-level memberships), three of whom are women. Adding partial responses removes no one from the corpora and leaves every domain’s leading nominee in first place (in the Lower Paleozoic the tie is resolved in favour of Ribeiro). The results describe recognition among the respondent panel. They do not establish a consensus of the Portuguese geoscientific community or the historical influence of the nominees.

Abstract: Thermokarst is a leading destructive geomorphic process in permafrost regions, triggered by the melting of ground ice. Ice-wedge thermokarst features, such as thermokarst lakes and drained-lake basins, are the most abundant thermokarst landforms in the Arctic. In this study, we reassess interactions among factors that drive thermokarst development and evaluate the role of ice-wedge systems in thermokarst-lake formation and evolution. We summarize the factors affecting thermokarst and evaluate mechanisms that facilitate thermokarst-lake development in landscapes of the continuous permafrost zone with abundant ice wedges. Specifically, we (1) review the conditions governing thermokarst development, including climate, ground-ice content, and regional variability; (2) compare the roles of vegetation, soil, snow, water, and disturbance in initiating thermokarst; and (3) examine the patterns and processes governing thermokarst-lake development in the continuous permafrost zone, where ice wedges are abundant and strongly control landscape evolution. Once thermokarst is initiated, both ice wedges and segregated ice are important to the formation and evolution of thermokarst lakes, whereas ice wedges alone are rarely responsible for lake formation. We identify key processes in thermokarst-lake formation in ice-wedge environments and synthesize their roles into a new conceptual model that better accounts for patterns observed across lake-dominated Arctic landscapes.

Abstract: Accurate prediction of the rainy-season onset is crucial for many in Southeast Africa. This paper explores the application of the Random Forest (RF) machine learning method to forecast the start of the October-November-December (OND) rainy season across the region. Our RF model was trained to predict onset dates using historical precipitation data, observations and forecasts of key climate drivers, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and onset forecasts derived from dynamical seasonal forecast models. Comparing our RF model with the widely used ECMWF System 5.1 dynamical forecast showed improvements of 2-15 days in RMSE, particularly for forecast initialised in August-September, and CRPSS gains of up to +0.15 for individual countries for the same start dates. The results demonstrate that our RF model captures regional variability in onset timing and consistently outperforms climatology. Notably, predictions for the 2023 and 2024 rainy seasons reveal significant shifts driven by ENSO phase transitions. This study highlights the robustness of our RF approach in dealing with complex climate variables and underscores the potential for improving seasonal rainfall forecasts in the region, helping stakeholders make more informed decisions based on these forecasts.

Abstract: Community-based ecosystem restoration is increasingly promoted to achieve ecological recovery and livelihood benefits, yet empirical evidence on factors influencing early restoration outcomes remains limited. This study examines seedling survival across restoration sites in sixteen villages in Seruyan and Kotawaringin Barat, Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, representing diverse ecosystem types, land cover, and tenure arrangements. Using field monitoring data, descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations were applied to assess associations between survival and governance, management, and biophysical factors. Survival rates varied substantially across sites, ranging from 3.8% to 95% (mean = 46%). Governance and management variables—particularly maintenance (r = 0.768), complementary livelihood-related activities (r = 0.742), stakeholder engagement (r = 0.575), land management (r = 0.530), and community participation (r = 0.497)—showed stronger associations with survival than biophysical factors (r < 0.30). These findings highlight the importance of sustained post-planting management, livelihood integration, and institutional capacity. The findings also suggest that meaningful participation requires not only community involvement but access to technical, ecological, and market information for informed restoration decisions. Overall, this study supports integrated, adaptive restoration approaches combining local engagement, knowledge exchange, livelihood incentives, and collaborative governance.

Abstract: Coastal erosion constitutes a global and alarming problem, as 70% of the shorelines are retreating. Especially in Europe, it is estimated that 15 km2 of shorelines are retreating annually while more than 5 million people live in areas threatened by coastal erosion. In this paper, the problem of coastal erosion in a characteristic coastal area from the Region of Attica in Greece is discussed, using the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Responses (DPSIR) framework and the engineering resilience approach. To this direction the Resilience Index (RI) is going to be implemented taking into consideration: (1) the drivers and pressures which are expected to arise from climate change in the case study area, (2) the existing adaptation methods (state), (3) the challenges and risks (impact), and (4) the measures to deal with the problems that are applied in the selected region with its specific social and environmental situations (response). The main scope of the Directorate of Technical Works (Piraeus and Islands Regional Unit) of the Region of Attica is to apply science and engineering to configure an integrated approach to risk reduction through measures that also improve social, economic, and ecosystem resilience. Since many countries cope with similar coastal erosion problems, the ultimate scope of this paper is to contribute to sustainable global development and mitigation of climate change in the coastal erosion issues, highlighting how Engineering Geology practice and research should further evolve in a rapidly changing world.

Abstract: Recurrent landscape fires may threaten biodiversity in small protected areas embedded within human-dominated landscapes. We assessed fire occurrence and its spatial coincidence with species of conservation concern in protected natural area “Lalinačka Slatina”, by integrating stakeholder surveys, NASA FIRMS active-fire records, hydrometeorological data, and field-based mapping of selected plant and bird features. Stakeholders identified 48 fire-associated locations in the past decade, over 93% of which were linked to agricultural land or waste-disposal sites. The FIRMS dataset contained 1,073 active-fire detections, while 80% of MODIS detections recorded during 2001–2025 occurred between July and October. Maximum monthly temperature was positively associated with fire activity (IRR = 1.071, p = 0.0015), whereas precipitation had a negative effect (IRR = 0.957, p < 0.001). Direct correspondence between stakeholder-derived polygons and FIRMS detections was limited, indicating that the two sources captured complementary aspects of local fire occurrence. Fire exposure of selected species was spatially heterogeneous, reaching 98.8% in one mapped bird area and 100%, 96.5%, and 66.6% in several plant subpopulations. These results identify specific conservation-important areas where recurrent fire exposure is concentrated and provide a basis for targeted prevention, surveillance, and future ecological monitoring.

Abstract: The study aims to improve the procedures of state cadastral valuation of agricultural lands by incorporating spatial information on geo-ecological threats. Mudflow-prone plots of the Talgar District in the Almaty Region are examined as a test site. The methodological framework relies on a GIS-overlay that integrates land-use vector boundaries with the Ile-Alatau Mudflow Hazard Typization Map. The transformation of physical disaster characteristics into an economic indicator is carried out through the mathematical toolkit of value functions v(x). The final stage involves calculating the mudflow hazard discounting coefficient (Kc). An analysis of the current regulatory framework (Art. 11 of the Land Code of the RK) revealed a significant methodological gap: the dynamics of exogenous processes are entirely omitted from calculation algorithms. Testing the updated approach on data from nine land parcels demonstrates the necessity of revising base rates. The application of the Kc parameter results in a 49–80% drop in normative value for transit zones, while foothill risk lands receive a fixed price reduction of 30%. The proposed computational model helps mitigate overestimated cadastral values and land lease fees for agricultural enterprises, synchronizing land prices with their actual productivity. The resulting financial discount takes the form of indirect preventive insurance. Responsibility for potential damage is appropriately distributed between the budget and the tenant. Such a practice can protect the budget from unforeseen compensation costs after mudflow events, while simultaneously motivating farmers to invest in the construction of local mudflow protection barriers.

Abstract: The most crucial environmental issue threatening public health is air pollution, which is strongly associated with respiratory, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. Increased concentrations of air pollutants, particularly from industrial activities, fossil fuel combustion, and transportation, have become a major global concern. Fine particulate matter emitted from diesel vehicles, biomass burning, and coal combustion has been identified as one of the most important contributors to adverse health outcomes. Previous studies have demonstrated that meteorological conditions and air pollutant concentrations may influence the transmission dynamics and severity of respiratory viral infections, including COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique global-scale environmental experiment by temporarily reducing anthropogenic activities, including transportation and industrial processes, through lockdown measures. These restrictions resulted in short-term improvements in outdoor air quality and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in many regions. However, these temporary improvements also highlighted the need for long-term structural strategies rather than short-term reductions in human activities to mitigate climate change. In this review, the interactions among air pollution, climatological parameters, and COVID-19 transmission are critically evaluated, and the impacts of COVID-19-related lockdown measures on outdoor air quality are summarized. Furthermore, the potential implications of the pandemic experience for future environmental health strategies and climate change mitigation policies are discussed. The findings of this review provide valuable insights into the relationship between human activities, environmental quality, and public health, emphasizing the importance of integrated approaches to address future environmental challenges.

Abstract: The transformation of food systems has driven the growth of urban agriculture and, in particular, community gardens as green infrastructure offering social, health and envi-ronmental benefits; however, little is known about how governance shapes these out-comes. This study analyses and compares the governance models of seven urban gardens in the Valencia Functional Urban Area (Spain) and explores their social dimensions: participation, community cohesion, inclusion and learning. A qualitative cross-sectional design with intra-method triangulation was employed, combining 10 semi-structured interviews and 5 focus groups (33 participants in total) selected through purposive sampling and analysed using thematic analysis. The allotments do not follow a single model, but rather form a continuum between community self-management and insti-tutional management, with three coexisting configurations (self-managed, institutional and hybrid), the hybrid model being the predominant one in practice. Institutional support is crucial to their survival, but only when it complements rather than replaces the community; the main vulnerability does not stem from community dynamics, but from the legal and administrative framework that subordinates allotment use to the management of public land. The social function takes precedence over the productive one. It is concluded that governance is the central mediating factor, and it is recom-mended that the complementarity of the municipal, associative and hybrid models be recognised.

Abstract: Digital Twins (DTs) are increasingly proposed as decision-support environments for complex urban and infrastructural systems, yet documented applications to urban river corridors remain limited. This paper applies a DT methodology, developed within the Agenzia del Demanio guidelines prepared by CITERA, to the urban stretch of the Tiber River in Rome. The case study covers approximately 8 km of the urban stretch between Ponte Milvio and the Tiber Island, with detailed survey and documentation concentrated on the sixteen bridges and the adjoining banks between Ponte della Musica and Ponte Palatino and was carried out within an AUBAC-CITERA research agreement. Three objectives were adopted: condition-based maintenance of riverbed and bank hydraulic works, hydraulic-risk monitoring, and hydro-pluviometric monitoring in support of flood-risk and water-governance decisions. The application produced high-resolution point clouds, Scan-to-BIM information models of the sixteen bridges exported in IFC 4.3, geospatial contextualisation in Autodesk InfraWorks, and a target architecture for federation with AUBAC's WebGIS environment and future monitoring flows. Sensor deployment, continuous data flows, machine-learning components, dashboard operation and indicator validation remain planned and not yet operational. The system should therefore be understood as a digital model and target DT architecture prepared for evolution towards a digital shadow and, subsequently, an operational Digital Twin. The contribution lies in documenting how a pre-existing methodology performs in a complex institutional urban-river context, what information assets it yields, and which implementation constraints must be addressed before an operational DT can be claimed.

Abstract: Agricultural soils worldwide face a growing imbalance of heavy metal(loid)s—arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and chromium (Cr)—driven by mining, industry, and intensive farming inputs. Because bioavailability rather than total content governs crop uptake, metal(loid)s accumulate in edible tissues and threaten food safety, particularly in rice-based diets. This review critically evaluates green management strategies that control metal(loid) accumulation along the soil–crop–food continuum while preserving soil functions and minimizing energy inputs. We first synthesize sources, soil biogeochemical controls on bioavailability, and plant uptake and translocation pathways, then appraise four strategy families: water, redox, and agronomic management; immobilization amendments, including lime, biochar, iron/manganese oxides, and nano-enabled sorbents; plant-based strategies, from low-accumulation cultivars to silicon/selenium supplementation and phytoextraction; and microbial-assisted remediation. We then link these strategies to food-safety outcomes, comparing international regulatory limits for staple foods, and identify field validation, amendment longevity, co-metal trade-offs, and life-cycle sustainability as the key remaining challenges. An integrated, site-specific green management framework—coupling cultivar selection, water control, and low-cost amendments—emerges as the most practical route to safe production on contaminated land.

Abstract: The disciplinary memory of a scientific community, the collective recognition of the researchers who have most contributed to a field, is a sociologically relevant yet underexplored dimension of Earth sciences. This study presents consensus rankings of geoscientists that developed scientific research about Geology of Portugal. A nomination survey, organized into seven chrono-thematic domains (Geotectonic Framework of the Iberian Peninsula, Precambrian, Lower Paleozoic, Upper Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, and Meso-Cenozoic of the Portuguese Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira), was distributed in 2026 to a purposive sample of 230 geoscientists affiliated with Portuguese public universities. Of the 129 responses received, 45 complete responses were included in the ranking analysis. For each domain, complete descriptive statistics are presented, together with rankings of geoscientists with three or more nominations and the cut-off criteria for the biographical corpus. In total, 45 respondents produced 817 nominations, with an average of 6.5 names per list. The results reveal cross-domain consensus, with figures such as António Ribeiro, Paul Choffat, José Madeira, and João Pais emerging as canonical references. At the same time, the asymmetric distribution of nominations, with long tails of geoscientists mentioned only once, indicates that the community's knowledge of past contributions is diverse and partly idiosyncratic. To the best of the authors' knowledge, these rankings constitute the first evidence-based systematization of the disciplinary memory of Portuguese geosciences and provide the empirical basis for the project Geology of Portugal through Faces.

Abstract: This article presents preliminary results from a geoarchaeological and geomorphological investigation of Amazigh agricultural landscapes in the western Anti Atlas (Morocco). Fieldwork followed two main survey transects across contrasting physiographic units, including external plateaus, synclinal depressions, the Kerdous inlier, and spring fed inner oases. The survey documented a wide range of landesque and associated agrarian features, including agricultural terraces, check dams, cisterns, threshing platforms, settlements, and fortified collective granaries (igoudar). Their distribution shows a strong relationship with geology, slope morphology, sediment availability, water circulation, and settlement organisation. On plateaus and synclines, agrarian structures are closely associated with igoudar, settlements, runoff control, and crop processing areas. Within the Kerdous inlier, extensive terracing occurs across rugged slopes, while inner oases combine spring fed agroforestry on valley floors with dense terracing along basin margins. These results suggest that the western Anti Atlas should be understood as a long term engineered socio ecological landscape shaped by Amazigh collective strategies for soil conservation, water management, cultivation, storage, and territorial protection.

Abstract: The work proposes a model of ball lightning (BL). Ball lightning is considered as a thin-walled bubble of foamed molten glass filled with hot gas. The BL shell material is formed from molten soil components because of an electrical discharge in the soil caused by cloud-to-ground lightning strike. The bubble is inflated by gases released from the discharge channel. The shell thickness can range from tens to hundreds of micrometers, and the BL mass reaches several tens of grams for medium-sized BL (20–40 cm). The pressure of the hot gas filling the BL differs only slightly from the atmospheric pressure, which ensures the integrity of the BL shell. Ball lightning may not have internal energy sources, acquiring energy at birth. The initial temperature of long-lived ball lightning is about 2500 K, this value decreases due to the cooling of the BL. Ball lightning may or may not have an electric charge, this is not a decisive factor for its existence.

Abstract: Agroforestry is widely promoted as a socioecological strategy that can integrate biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, sustainable production, and rural development, yet the relative position of rural livelihoods within the scientific structure of the field remains insufficiently understood. This study evaluated the temporal evolution, conceptual organization, and geographical and economic distribution of global agroforestry research, with particular attention to the autonomy of livelihood-related research. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 5,713 Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 1976 and 2025. Records were classified into four non-exclusive analytical domains: biodiversity/conservation, climate-carbon-soil, production/silvopastoral-agronomic systems, and livelihoods/socioeconomic dimensions. The analysis combined temporal bibliometric indicators, semantic normalization of Author Keywords, Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Sankey mapping, domain proportion tests, chord diagrams, and chi-square tests. Agroforestry research expanded substantially and became thematically more diversified. Climate-carbon-soil and production/silvopastoral-agronomic systems showed the highest proportional contributions, whereas rural livelihoods were visible but did not form an autonomous conceptual domain. Instead, livelihood-related terms were embedded within a broader socioecological/conservation cluster. Livelihoods/socioeconomic research was more strongly represented in Africa, Asia, and lower-middle- and low-income contexts. These findings indicate that rural livelihoods are present in agroforestry research but remain less conceptually autonomous than environmental, climate-related, and production-oriented domains.

Abstract: The banana pseudostem is a plentiful lignocellulosic biomass residue that results from banana cultivation and which is typically thrown away without proper usage. The effect of particle sizes and moisture content on biogas formation from banana pseudostem under anaerobic digestion conditions has been studied in this experiment with FTIR used to assess structural degradation of the lignocellulosic biomass. Three different sizes (8, 14, and 18 BSS) of banana pseudostems have been taken and their moisture contents varied into three percentages, namely 70%, 80%, and 90%. Anaerobic digestion studies have been performed for 21 days with cow dung slurry as the inoculum. It was clearly evident from the findings that both particle sizes and water contents had a profound effect on biogas formation. In week one, the maximum amount of biogas (70 mL) formed by any treatment was that of 8 BSS with 80% water content. However, in weeks two and three, the maximum amount of biogas (95 mL) was formed by the 18 BSS treatment having 80% water content. The cumulative analysis of biogas formations found the treatment combination of 18 BSS particle size with 80% water content to be the optimum treatment producing 238 mL of biogas. The gas analysis by gas chromatography confirmed the presence of methane gas in the produced biogas. Further, it was observed through FTIR analysis that there were gradual changes in the functional groups of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin components. This research demonstrates that banana pseduostem is a potential renewable feedstock for biogas production, and an optimized particle size and moisture content have significant effects on improving anaerobic digestion efficiency. These results contribute to the utilization of agricultural waste from bananas as renewable energy sources.