Investigation and Prediction of the Land Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) Changes for Mashhad City in Iran during 1990–2030

Mansourmoghaddam, M., Rousta, I., Cabral, P., Ali, A. A., Olafsson, H., Zhang, H., & Krzyszczak, J. (2023). Investigation and Prediction of the Land Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) Changes for Mashhad City in Iran during 1990–2030. Atmosphere, 14(4), 1-21. [741]. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040741 --- Funding: This study was supported by the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission within the international cooperation framework of the Youth Scientists from the “One Atmosphere 2023, 14, 741 18 of 21 Belt and One Road” countries (2020–2023), and partially supported by the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) under the project UIDB/04152/2020—Centro de Investigação em Gestão de Informação (MagIC).Studies on how cities are affected by urban heat islands (UHI) are critical nowadays for a better understanding of the connected effects and for providing helpful insights for sustainable city development planning. In this study, Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper+ (ETM+), and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images were used to assess the dynamics of the spatiotemporal pattern of land use/land cover (LU/LC) and land surface temperature (LST) in the metropolitan city of Mashhad, Iran in the period between 1990 and 2019. The Markov chain model (MCM) was used to predict LU/LC and LST for 2030. In the analyzed LU/LC maps, three LU/LC classes were distinguished, including built-up land (BUL), vegetated land (VL), and bare land (BL) using the maximum likelihood (ML) classification method. The collected data showed different variations in the geographical pattern of Mashhad LST during the research period that impacted the LST in this metropolis. The study evaluated the variations in LU/LC classes and evaluated their impact on the LST. The value of the LST was positively correlated with the occurrence of the built-up land (BUL), and with the bare land areas, while it was negatively correlated with the occurrence of the VL areas. The analysis of changes observed over three decades with 10-year intervals and the prediction of the LU/LC and LST for 2030 constitute an important contribution to the delineation of the dynamics of long LU/LC and LST records. These innovative results may have an important impact on policymaking fostering environmental sustainability, such as the control and management of urban expansion of Mashhad in connection with UHI.publishersversionpublishe

Examining wheat yield sensitivity to temperature and precipitation changes for a large ensemble of crop models using impact response surfaces

Impact response surfaces (IRSs) depict the response of an impact variable to changes in two explanatory variables as a plotted surface. Here, IRSs of spring and winter wheat yields were constructed from a 25-member ensemble of process-based crop simulation models. Twenty-one models were calibrated by different groups using a common set of calibration data, with calibrations applied independently to the same models in three cases. The sensitivity of modelled yield to changes in temperature and precipitation was tested by systematically modifying values of 1981-2010 baseline weather data to span the range of 19 changes projected for the late 21st century at three locations in Europe

Probabilistic assessment of adaptation options from an ensemble of crop models: a case study in the Mediterranean

Effective adaptation of agricultural systems to climate change has to: Consider local specificities; provide sound and practical information and deal with the uncertainty We present a methodology for assessing different aspects of adaptation. Our study case is adaptation of winter wheat in the Mediterranean

CO2 flux measurements in the vegetation period of winter wheat in Lubelskie province

The assessment of net ecosystem exchange and respiration of ecosystem of terrestrial ecosystems is necessary to improve our knowledge about carbon cycle in nature. Here we present measurements of CO2 fluxes for a winter wheat temperate climate ecosystem (buckwheat in the previous years) located in the Lubelskie province (eastern Poland) using a closed dynamic chamber system over a 2013 vegetation season. Measurements of carbon dioxide emission from soils and its assimilation by plants were carried out on a typical for Lubelskie highland arable land located in the Stany Nowe (N50o49’17.0555”, E22o16’28.51”, height 243m above sea level) using the set of two chambers (transparent and dark). Carbon dioxide fluxes have been measured by EGM-4 PP Systems sensor during fixed stages of the plant growing season. During the experiment carbon emission from soil ranged from 151 to 764 mg C·m-2·h-1 and its assimilation by plants ranged from -148 (emission) to 1585 mg C·m-2·h-1. We found substantial differences in emission and assimilation of carbon in the winter wheat ecosystem. This, along with other measurements (meteorological factors and soil and plant parameters) carried out in the Stany Nowe can be used as a high quality data to verify various models of  emission of greenhouse gases. The chamber technique occurs to be  a useful tool for determining carbon dioxide exchange between ecosystem surface and the atmosphere

Self-similarity analysis of chosen agro-meteorological time series

The most usual records of observable agro-meteorological quantities are in the form of time series and the knowledge about their scaling properties is fundamental for  transferring locally measured fluctuations to larger scales and vice-versa. However, the scaling analysis of these quantities is complicated because of  the presence of localized trends and nonstationarities. The objective of this study was to characterize scaling properties (i.e. statistical self-similarity) of the  chosen agro-meteorological quantities through multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA). The MDFA analysis was performed  for time series of the air temperature, wind velocity and relative air humidity (at the height of 2 m above the  active surface) as well as the soil temperature (at 10 cm depth in the soil). The studied data were hourly interval, 12 years’ time series from the agro-meteorological station in Felin, near Lublin, Poland. The empirical singularity spectra  indicated their multifractal structure. The richness of the studied multifractals was evaluated by the width of their spectrum, indicating their considerable differences in dynamics and development. The log-log plots of the cumulative distributions of all the studied absolute and normalized meteorological parameters tended to linear functions for high values of the response  indicating that these distributions were consistent with the power law asymptotic behaviour. Additionally, we investigated the type of multifractality, that underlies the q-dependence of the generalized Hurst exponent, by analyzing the corresponding shuffled and surrogate time series. For majority of studied quantities, the multifractality was due to different long-range correlation for small and large fluctuations

Zależność zawartości azotu mineralnego i siarki siarczanowej w glebie od niektórych jej właściwości i zabiegów agrotechnicznych

In the years 2008-2010 an environmental study was conducted, the objective of which was to estimate the current content of mineral nitrogen (nitrate V and ammonium) and sulphate sulphur in the soils of south-eastern Poland and to determine the relations of those elements with certain soil properties and cultivation treatments. 333 sampling points were designated, in which soil was sampled from 0-30, 30-60 and 60-90 cm depths. In the collected soil samples the Particle Size Distribution (PSD) was assayed with the use of Laser Diffraction Method (LDM), organic C using Tiurin method and pH in 1 mol KCl dm–3. Phosphorus and potassium were assayed using Egner-Riehm method (DL), mineral nitrogen (with division into the nitrate (V) and the ammonium form) with the colorimetric method using a flow auto-analyser, total and sulphate sulphur with the nephelometric method and assimilable magnesium after the extraction from soil in 0.0125 mol CaCl2 dm–3 with an ASA method. The highest content of nitrate (V) and ammonium nitrogen was noted in the 0-30 cm layer, irrespective of the spring or autumn date of soil sampling. The content of sulphate sulphur in the topsoil (0-30 cm) was the highest in organic and in heavy soils, but usually it did not differ significantly from medium, light and very light soils. The content of mineral nitrogen in the 0-30 and 0-90 cm layers was significantly and positively correlated with most of the assayed soil properties, whereas total and sulphate sulphur depended significantly and positively not only on soil properties, but also on the cultivation treatments.W latach 2008-2010 przeprowadzone zostały badania środowiskowe których celem była ocena aktualnej zasobności gleb południowo-wschodniej Polski w azot mineralny (azotanowy V i amonowy) i siarkę siarczanową, a także określenie związków tych składników z niektórymi właściwościami gleby i przeprowadzanymi zabiegami agrotechnicznymi. Wyznaczono 333 punkty pobierania próbek glebowych, w których gleba została pobrana z warstw 0-30, 30-60 i 60-90 cm. W pobranych próbkach oznaczono: skład granulometryczny metodą dyfrakcji laserowej, C organiczny wg metody Tiuryna, pH w 1 mol KCl dm–3. Fosfor i potas przyswajalny oznaczony został metodą Egnera-Riehma (DL), azot mineralny z podziałem na formę azotanową (V) i amonową metodą kolorymetrii z użyciem autoanalizatora przepływowego, siarkę ogólną i siarczanową metodą nefelometryczną, a magnez przyswajalny po ekstrakcji z gleby w 0.0125 mol CaCl2 dm–3 metodą ASA. Największą zawartość azotu azotanowego (V) i azotu amonowego w badanych glebach stwierdzono w warstwie 0-30 cm, niezależnie od wiosennego czy jesiennego terminu poboru próbek. Zawartość siarki siarczanowej w warstwie wierzchniej (0-30 cm) była największa w glebach organicznych oraz ciężkich, nie różniła się na ogół istotnie od zawartości w glebach średnich, lekkich i bardzo lekkich. Zawartość azotu mineralnego w warstwach 0-30 i 0-90 cm zależała istotnie i dodatnio od większości oznaczanych właściwości gleby, natomiast zawartość siarki ogółem i siarczanowej zależała istotnie i dodatnio nie tylko od właściwości gleby, ale także od zabiegów agrotechnicznych

Relationship between assimilable-nutrient content and physicochemical properties of topsoil

In the years 2008-2011, an environmental study was conducted for Polish soils, focusing on the south-eastern Poland soils, as they exhibit significant acidification. This study aimed at assessing the current pHKCl and the supply of basic macro- (P, K, Mg and S-SO4) and microelements (B, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) in the collected soil samples, and also at determining their relationship with the soil agronomic category, humus content and pH class. Soil reaction and humus and macronutrient content were positively correlated with the amount of colloidal clay and particles < 0.02 mm. In the majority of cases, the macro-element content in the soil was positively correlated with soil pH and humus content. As for microelements, a usually significant and positive correlation was found between the soil agronomic category and the content of manganese, iron and zinc, whereas for the content of boron and copper, no such relationship was observed. A significant and positive correlation between soil reaction and the content of manganese, iron and boron was also found. Such correlations were not observed in relation to copper and zinc content. Statistical analysis indicated that the content of boron and manganese depended to the greatest extent on the investigated physicochemical properties

Monitoring of Carbon Monoxide (CO) changes in the atmosphere and urban environmental indices extracted from remote sensing images for 932 Iran cities from 2019 to 2021

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an important urban pollutant with a relation to transition economies based on emission intensities. In this study, Sentinel-5, MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Landsat-8 images were used to investigate the variations of CO and urban environmental indices and the correlations between them. From the assessed correlations for 932 Iranian cities, it occurred that the assessed indices were all correlated. The highest CO levels were 0.031 in the spring of 2019 and 2020, whereas in 2021 it was equal to 0.030 in both the spring and winter, respectively. In 2019 and 2020 the maximum values of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) in the spring were 0.181 and 0.183. Exceptionally high Absorbing Aerosol Index (AAI) values of – 0.834 and – 1.0, along with Urban Index (UI) of 0.102 and 0.092, were correlated with recorded spikes in CO level, despite that these seasons’ EVI values were not so abnormal. It was forecasted that in 2030 rises in the CO level by 13.2% in the winter and by 17.5% in the fall are expected, with the simultaneous increase of AAI by 204.5% and 980.2%, and Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) by 27% and 5% in the winter and spring, respectively