The DataHubCommunity – fosteringFAIR and sustainable research data management across our research field

The DataHub of the Research Field Earth and Environment is a joint initiative of all centers of the Helmholtz Association participating in the research program \u27Changing Earth’. Within the DataHub, data management tools are developed and made available, and data products are offered in thematic viewers. The continuous and long-term development process of these solutions is the DataHub\u27s task. The here published poster has been presented during the General Assembly of the Program "Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future" (May 15-16, 2023) in Karlsruhe

CAT4KIT: A cross-institutional data catalog framework for the FAIRification of environmental research data

A contemporary and flexible Research Data Management (RDM) framework is required to make environmental research data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) and, hence, provide the foundation for open and reproducible earth system sciences. While data-sets that accompany scientific articles are typically published via large data repositories like Pangaea or Zenodo, intermediate, day-to-day, or actively-used data (e.g., data from research projects or prototypical data) is still exchanged via simple cloud storage services and email. And while the FAIR principles require data to be openly findable and accessible, it is often only available within closed and restricted infrastructures and local file systems. Our research project Cat4KIT hence aims to develop a cross-institutional catalog and RDM framework for the FAIRification of such day-to-day research data. This framework is comprised of four modules / services for providing access to data on storage systems through well-defined and standardized interfaces harvesting and transforming (meta)data into standardized formats making (meta)data accessible to the public using well-defined and standardized catalog services and interfaces enabling users to search, filter, and explore data from decentralized research data infrastructures. We develop, implement and evaluate each of these four modules within an inter-institutional consortium consisting of scientists, software developers and potential end-users. This allows us to include a wide-range of research data from multi-dimensional climate model outputs to high-frequency in-situ measurements. We emphasize the application of existing open-source solutions and community standards for data interfaces (THREDDS, STA, S3), (meta)data schemes, and catalog services (Spatio-Temporal Assets Catalog - STAC) in order to ensure an easy integration of research data into the Cat4KIT-framework and a straightforward extension to further research data infrastructures. In our presentation, we demonstrate the current status of our Cat4KIT-framework as an inter-institutional research data management and catalog platform for the FAIRification of day-to-day research data

Validation of IASI Level 2 Atmospheric Trace Gas Products using ground-based Fourier Transform Spectrometers: Projects VALIASI and NOVIA

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme ([FP7/2007-2013]) under grant agreement nº284421 and nº256961

Modeling of stable water isotopes in Central Europe with COSMOiso

Atmospheric water in form of vapor or clouds is responsible for ∼75 % of the natural greenhouse effect and carries huge amounts of latent heat. For this reason, a best possible description of the hydrological cycle is a prerequisite for reliable climate modelling. As the stable isotopes H216O, H218O and HDO differ in vapor pressure, they are fractionated during phase changes and contain information about the formation of precipitation, evaporation from the ground, etc. Therefore, the isotopic composition of atmospheric water is an useful tracer to test and improve our understanding of the extremely complex and variable hydrological cycle in Earth’s atmosphere. Within the project PalMod the isotope-enabled limited-area model COSMOiso will be used for high-resolution isotope simulations of paleo-climates. For validation with modern observations we compare 12 years of modelled isotope ratios from Central Europe to observations of the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) and to observations of isotope ratios of water vapor at different locations in Germany. We find a good agreement of modelled and observed isotope ratios in summer. In winter, we observe a systematic overestimation of modeled isotope ratios in precipitation and low-level water vapor. We relate those differences to specific circulation regimes with predominantly easterly moisture transport and the corresponding strong depen- dence of modelled isotope ratios on lateral boundary data. Furthermore, we investigate the dependence of modelled isotope ratios in winter on the type of isotope fractionation during surface evaporation at skin temperatures close to the freezing point

Detecting moisture transport pathways to the subtropical North Atlantic free troposphere using paired H2O-δD in situ measurements

We present two years of in situ measurements of water vapour (H$_{2}$O) and its isotopologue ratio (δD, the standardized ratio between H$_{2}$$^{16}$O and HD$^{16}$O), made at two remote mountain sites on Tenerife in the subtropical North Atlantic. We show that the data – if measured during night-time – are well representative for the lower/middle free troposphere. We use the measured H$_{2}$O-δD pairs, together with dust measurements and back trajectory modelling for analysing the moisture pathways to this region. We can identify four principally different transport pathways. The air mass transport from high altitudes and high latitudes shows two different scenarios. The first scenario brings dry air masses to the stations, as the result of condensation events occurring at low temperatures. The second scenario brings humid air masses to the stations, due to cross-isentropic mixing with lower-level and more humid air during transport since last condensation (LC). The third pathway is transportation from lower latitudes and lower altitudes, whereby we can identify rain re-evaporation as an occasional source of moisture. The fourth pathway is linked to the African continent, where during summer, dry convection processes over the Sahara very effectively inject humidity from the boundary layer to higher altitudes. This so-called Saharan Air Layer (SAL) is then advected westward over the Atlantic and contributes to moisten the free troposphere. We demonstrate that the different pathways leave distinct fingerprints on the measured H$_{2}$O-δD pairs

Accomplishments of the MUSICA project to provide accurate, long-term, global and high-resolution observations of tropospheric {H₂O, δD} pairs - A review

In the lower/middle troposphere, {H2O,δD} pairs are good proxies for moisture pathways; however, their observation, in particular when using remote sensing techniques, is challenging. The project MUSICA (MUlti-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water) addresses this challenge by integrating the remote sensing with in situ measurement techniques. The aim is to retrieve calibrated tropospheric {H2O,δD} pairs from the middle infrared spectra measured from ground by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometers of the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) and the thermal nadir spectra measured by IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) aboard the MetOp satellites. In this paper, we present the final MUSICA products, and discuss the characteristics and potential of the NDACC/FTIR and MetOp/IASI {H2O,δD} data pairs. First, we briefly resume the particularities of an {H2O,δD} pair retrieval. Second, we show that the remote sensing data of the final product version are absolutely calibrated with respect to H2O and δD in situ profile references measured in the subtropics, between 0 and 7 km. Third, we reveal that the {H2O,δD} pair distributions obtained from the different remote sensors are consistent and allow distinct lower/middle tropospheric moisture pathways to be identified in agreement with multi-year in situ references. Fourth, we document the possibilities of the NDACC/FTIR instruments for climatological studies (due to long-term monitoring) and of the MetOp/IASI sensors for observing diurnal signals on a quasi-global scale and with high horizontal resolution. Fifth, we discuss the risk of misinterpreting {H2O,δD} pair distributions due to incomplete processing of the remote sensing products

The MUSICA IASI CH4 and N2O products and their comparison to HIPPO, GAW and NDACC FTIR references

This work presents the methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) products as generated by the IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) processor developed during the project MUSICA (MUlti-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water). The processor retrieves CH4 and N2O with different water vapour and water vapour isotopologues (as well as HNO3) and uses a single a priori data set for all the retrievals (no variation in space and time). Firstly, the characteristics and errors of the products are analytically described. Secondly, the products are comprehensively evaluated by comparisons to the following reference data measured by different techniques and from different platforms as follows: (1) aircraft CH4 and N2O profiles from the five HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observation (HIPPO) missions; (2) continuous in situ CH4 and N2O observations performed between 2007 and 2017 at subtropical and mid-latitude highmountain observatories (Izaña Atmospheric Observatory and Jungfraujoch, respectively) in the framework of the WMO–GAW (World Meteorological Organization–Global Atmosphere Watch) programme; (3) ground-based FTIR (Fouriertransform infrared spectrometer) measurements made between 2007 and 2017 in the framework of the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) at the subtropical Izaña Atmospheric Observatory, the mid-latitude station of Karlsruhe and the Kiruna polar site. The theoretical estimations and the comparison studies suggest a precision for the N2O and CH4 retrieval products of about 1.5–3% and systematic errors due to spectroscopic parameters of about 2 %. The MUSICA IASI CH4 data offer a better sensitivity than N2O data. While for the latter the sensitivity is mainly limited to the UTLS (upper troposphere–lower stratosphere) region, for CH4 we are able to prove that at low latitudes the MUSICA IASI processor can detect variations that take place in the free troposphere independently from the variations in the UTLS region.We demonstrate that the MUSICA IASI data qualitatively capture the CH4 gradients between low and high latitudes and between the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere; however, we also find an inconsistency between low- and high-latitude CH4 data of up to 5 %. The N2O latitudinal gradients are very weak and cannot be detected. We make comparisons over a 10-year time period and analyse the agreement with the reference data on different timescales. The MUSICA IASI data can detect day-to-day signals (only in the UTLS), seasonal cycles and long-term evolution (in the UTLS and for CH4 also in the free troposphere) similar to the reference data; however, there are also inconsistencies in the long-term evolution connected to inconsistencies in the used atmospheric temperature a priori data. Moreover, we present a method for analytically describing the a posteriori-calculated logarithmic-scale difference of the CH4 and N2O retrieval estimates. By correcting errors that are common in the CH4 and N2O retrieval products, the a posteriori-calculated difference can be used for generating an a posteriori-corrected CH4 product with a theoretically better precision than the original CH4 retrieval products. We discuss and evaluate two different approaches for such a posteriori corrections. It is shown that the correction removes the inconsistencies between low and high latitudes and enables the detection of day-to-day signals also in the free troposphere. Furthermore, they reduce the impact of short-term atmospheric dynamics, which is an advantage, because respective signals are presumably hardly comparable to model data. The approach that affects the correction solely on the scales on which the errors dominate is identified as the most efficient, because it reduces the inconsistencies and errors without removing measurable real atmospheric signals. We give a brief outlook on a possible usage of this a posterioricorrected MUSICA IASI CH4 product in combination with inverse modelling

Empirical validation and proof of added value of MUSICA's tropospheric δD remote sensing products

The project MUSICA (MUlti-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water) integrates tropospheric water vapour isotopologue remote sensing and in situ observations. This paper presents a first empirical validation of MUSICA's H2O and δD remote sensing products, generated from ground-based FTIR (Fourier transform infrared), spectrometer and space-based IASI (infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer) observation. The study is made in the area of the Canary Islands in the subtropical northern Atlantic. As reference we use well calibrated in situ measurements made aboard an aircraft (between 200 and 6800 m a.s.l.) by the dedicated ISOWAT instrument and on the island of Tenerife at two different altitudes (at Izaña, 2370 m a.s.l., and at Teide, 3550 m a.s.l.) by two commercial Picarro L2120-i water isotopologue analysers.This study has been conducted in the framework of the project MUSICA which is funded by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement number 256961. E. Sepúlveda is supported by the Ministerio de Economía and Competitividad of Spain for the project NOVIA (CGL2012-37505). The aircraft campaign has been co-funded by the project MUSICA and the Spanish national project AMISOC (CGL2011- 24891). The Izaña aerosol in situ measurements are part of the project POLLINDUST (CGL2011-26259) funded by the Minister of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain. The AERONET sun photometer at Izaña (PI: Emilio Cuevas) has been calibrated within AERONET EUROPE TNA supported by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 Capacities program for Integrating Activities, ACTRIS grant agreement number 262254

An interlinked research data infrastructure for time-series data from the Helmholtz Research Field Earth & Environment

Time-series data are crucial sources of reference information in all environmental sciences. And beyond typical research applications, the consistent and timely publication of such data is increasingly important for monitoring and issuing warnings, especially in times of growing frequencies of climatic extreme events. In this context, the seven Centres from the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment (E&E) operate some of the largest environmental measurement-infrastructures worldwide. These infrastructures range from terrestrial observation systems in the TERENO observatories and ship-borne sensors to airborne and space-based systems, such as those integrated into the IAGOS infrastructures. In order to streamline and standardize the usage of the huge amount of data from these infrastructures, the seven Centres have jointly initiated the STAMPLATE project. This initiantive aims to adopt the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) SensorThings API (STA) as a consistent and modern interface tailored for time-series data. We evaluate STA for representative use-cases from environmental sciences and enhance the core data model with additional crucial metadata such as data quality, data provenance and extended sensor metadata. After centre-wide implementation, the standardized STA interface also serves community-based tools, e.g., for data visualization, data access, quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC), or the management of monitoring systems. By connecting the different STA endpoints of the participating research Centres, we establish an interlinked research data infrastructure (RDI) and a digital ecosystem around the OGC SensorThings API tailored towards environmental time-series data. In this presentation, we want to show the status of the project and give an overview of the current data inventory as well as linked tools and services. We will further demonstrate the practical application of our STA-based framework with simple and representative showcases. With our contribution, we want to promote STA for similar applications and communities beyond our research field. Ultimately, our goal is to provide an important building block towards fostering a more open, FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), and harmonized research data landscape in the field of environmental sciences