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Evapotranspiration (ET) from the land surface to the atmosphere is a major component of Earth's water cycle, and comprises both transpiration (T) of xylem water from plants and evaporation (E) of water from soils and vegetation surfaces. These two component fluxes respond differently to changes in temperature, water availability and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Concurrent eddy covariance (EC) measurements above and below forest canopies provide a promising approach to partition ET into E and T. However, below-canopy EC measurements are rare, and questions remain regarding their spatial variability, canopy coupling, and temporal dynamics. To address these challenges, we measured and partitioned ET over more than three years, using concurrent above- and below-canopy EC towers in a montane forest at Sagehen Creek in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. This is the establishing study for the AmeriFlux site US-SHC. The main environmental control for ET was available energy; other important controls were canopy & soil temperature, soil moisture, vapor pressure deficit, and wind speed. Below-canopy measurements at two locations within the above-canopy footprint were similar to one another, suggesting low spatial heterogeneity in understory ET near the creek at our Sagehen site. We observed a total forest ET of 606 ± 50 mm yr−1 with 275 ± 17 mm yr−1 measured in the understory (all mean ± SD) during the water years 2018–2020. Interannual variability in ET and T was small despite large variability in precipitation totals; thus the P–ET water balance was mainly driven by variations in water supply. Partitioning the components of total forest ET at Sagehen with concurrent EC measurements showed that on average, 67–74% of ET originated from T (47% from trees and 20–27% from understory vegetation), while 26–33% were from E (mostly from the understory). Our results demonstrate the potential of concurrent above- and below-canopy EC measurements for ET partitioning. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 346 ISSN:1873-2240 ISSN:0168-1923

The strong control that the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have over Earth's climate identifies the need for accurate quantification of the emitted CO2 and its redistribution within the Earth system. The ocean annually absorbs more than a quarter of all CO2 emissions and this absorption is fundamentally altering the ocean chemistry. The ocean thus provides a fundamental component and powerful constraint within global carbon assessments used to guide policy action for reducing emissions. These carbon assessments rely heavily on satellite observations, but their inclusion is often invisible or opaque to policy. One reason is that satellite observations are rarely used exclusively, but often in conjunction with other types of observations, thereby complementing and expanding their usability yet losing their visibility. This exploitation of satellite observations led by the satellite and ocean carbon scientific communities is based on exciting developments in satellite science that have broadened the suite of environmental data that can now reliably be observed from space. However, the full potential of satellite observations to expand the scientific knowledge on critical processes such as the atmosphere-ocean exchange of CO2 and ocean acidification, including its impact on ocean health, remains largely unexplored. There is clear potential to begin using these observation-based approaches for directly guiding ocean management and conservation decisions, in particular in regions where in situ data collection is more difficult, and interest in them is growing within the environmental policy communities. We review these developments, identify new opportunities and scientific priorities, and identify that the formation of an international advisory group could accelerate policy relevant advancements within both the ocean carbon and satellite communities. Some barriers to understanding exist but these should not stop the exploitation and the full visibility of satellite observations to policy makers and users, so these observations can fulfil their full potential and recognition for supporting society. Earth-Science Reviews, 250 ISSN:0012-8252 ISSN:1872-6828

Reusing high-value construction materials from existing buildings that otherwise would be discarded as waste is a key strategy for achieving a circular economy. However, this potential for reuse is often hindered by a critical information gap between material life cycles. Reliable, accurate, and sufficient information in digital form for the characterization and assessment of recovered materials for reuse is typically not available, nor are there well-established processes for generating such information. This review aims to understand how to address this broad knowledge gap to help scale up material reuse in the built environment. A flexible pattern-matching methodology is used to illuminate the research-industry gap by synthesizing insights from state-of-the-art literature on material reuse strategies as well as empirical data from various real-world cases. Results indicate that the organization of construction material information for reuse can be categorized into three main categories: information property attributes, information source, and reuse actions. This research contributes to the existing body of literature on building material reuse by a) synthesizing the current state-of-the-art in building material reuse research, b) identifying gaps and recurring themes across research and industrial practices, and c) contrasting theoretical approaches with real-world applications, highlighting areas of convergence and divergence. This study provides a taxonomy that can be useful for industry practitioners and academics, offering actionable insights to accelerate the transition to a more circular construction paradigm. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 45 ISSN:2352-5509

Problem: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yields may be reduced by projected rainfall decline due to climate change as well as environmental protection demands for less nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs. Research question: Therefore, our study aims to determine how projected decreases in rainfall due to climate change and the reduction of N fertilizer inputs might impact the production of different wheat genotypes. Methods: A field experiment was carried out in a warm-summer humid continental climate in Switzerland with two water treatments: rainfed and rainout shelters to reduce rainfall during grain filling. This was overlaid with two N treatments (non-fertilized and enough N supply to reach 180 kg N ha−1), four winter wheat genotypes, and three pre-crops (barley, Hordeum vulgare L.; oilseed rape, Brassica napus L.; winter pea, Pisum sativum L.) across three field seasons. Grain yield and protein content, yield related components, water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), N use efficiency (NUE) and N associated traits, were among the assessed variables. Additionally, soil mineral N (Nmin) was measured at beginning of tillering. The three seasons encompassed both average and above average precipitation. The rainout shelter extended the rainfall range to low rainfall during grain filling, compared to the last 30 years. Results: The reduced rainfall during grain filling had no impact on yield, regardless of crop season, N fertilizer application, pre-crop, initial Nmin, or genotype. N fertilizer applications had no impact on wheat yield when fields had an initial Nmin > 50 kg N ha−1, nor after a poor crop establishment caused by a wet autumn. During a wet season with initial Nmin ≤ 50 kg N ha−1, wheat responded to N fertilizer after a brassica pre-crop, but less so after a legume or a cereal crop. The genotype with a mean of 29% more grains per unit area, yielded up to 8.2 t ha−1 in one plot and, on average, about 25% higher than the mean of the other genotypes. Conclusions: In the short term, wheat production in warm-summer humid continental climates appears resilient to projected rainfall decline from climate change and reductions of N fertilizer inputs, but excessive rainfall during sowing causing poor crop establishment might be much more devastating. The impact on wheat yields observed only on the third year of consecutive cultivation without N fertilizer, suggests the potential for decreasing N supply over a few years. Implications or significance: This study underscores wheat's short-term resilience to drought and reduced N use, bolstering food security efforts. Field Crops Research, 308 ISSN:0378-4290 ISSN:1872-6852

In 2021/2022 a consortium of European universities delivered a scientific basis for a policy fighting fake news and hate speech with support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, describing also the technical and legal basics of both phenomena. In this context a survey was performed with the delegates of the Congress and the book, which contained also the survey results, was presented to the Congress in its Spring Session 2022. In 2023 a broader survey was done in a selection of countries, which also returned 675 filled-in questionnaires from Romania. The part of the questionnaire dealing with possible remedies contained questions which remedies are considered technically and legally feasible by the participants. Confirming the results of the survey in 2021/2022 the results for Romania showed a severe lack of basic knowledge about how the internet works and its governance. In this paper we want to show the results for Romania in detail, discuss them and suggest possible training measures which seem necessary to make the local and regional politics and administration fit for the Digitalization.The analysis of data from other European countries showed that this phenomenon is not restricted to Romania but is widely recognizable all over Europe. It also confirms the results from the survey among the Congress delegates. Therefore, this paper may be based on the Romanian dataset, however it signifies a pan-European issue.The authors are grateful to Vice Dean Nicolae Urs (Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca) and Catalin Vrabie (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration) for their support in spreading the survey among Romanian municipalities.

Cultural heritage (CH) sites are frequently exposed to natural elements, and their exposure becomes particularly precarious with the onset of climate change. This increased vulnerability places these sites at risk of deterioration or complete destruction. Risks such as land deformation, floods, acid rain, and erosion significantly threaten historic monuments, while water-related hazards, significantly influenced by both climate change and human activities, present a particularly grave risk to these invaluable sites. Considerable research efforts have focused on safeguarding CH sites. However, there remains a deficiency in systemic approaches towards identifying and mitigating risks for CH sites. The TRIQUETRA project proposes a technological toolbox and a methodological framework for tackling climate change risks and natural hazards threatening CH in the most efficient way possible. It aims at creating an evidence-based assessment platform allowing precise risk stratification as well as a database of available mitigation measures and strategies, acting as a Decision Support System (DSS) towards efficient risk mitigation and site remediation. TRIQUETRA is a European project that brings together a diverse group of researchers with varied expertise, encompassing university research groups, research institutes, public entities, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. In this article, TRIQUETRAs overall methodology is presented, and preliminary results concerning risk identification, TRIQUETRAs knowledge base, as well as novel sensors and coatings, are discussed.

Community gardens are growing in popularity worldwide, especially in densely populated urban areas. They provide semi-public spaces for joint gardening activities and serve as social and ecological retreats. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions in movement and leisure activities led to a changed demand for urban green spaces, but it remains unclear how it affected the overall trend in demand for community gardens. We measured interest to participate in community gardening between 2018 and 2022 based on a combination of counted application numbers and qualitative responses from garden coordinators. Out of 373 contacted community gardens, 70 replied, distributed across 43 cities in Switzerland, Germany, UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand. We find an increase in demand for participation in community gardens from 2018 to 2022, both based on counted application numbers and memory-based interest in participation. A generalized linear mixed model shows significant increases in applications from 2018 to 2019 (19 %), 2020 to 2021 (25 %) and 2021 to 2022 (16 %), but not from 2019 to 2020 (−0.32 %). These results confirm an ongoing trend of increasing demand for community gardens, with momentary reduced activity during 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, followed by a subsequent surge in demand. The peak increase in application numbers in 2021, along with the overall rise from 2018 to 2022, underscores the crucial role of community gardens in an urbanizing world, especially during challenging times. It is essential for urban planners to prioritize meeting this increasing demand as part of their efforts to make cities more sustainable. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 92 ISSN:1618-8667

Autonomous non-destructive testing (NDT) on reinforced concrete structures has a large potential to overcome the limitations of current routine inspection techniques, often not capable of detecting corrosion at an early stage. Here, the development and validation of two probes, tailored to acquire contact-based NDT data with the help of a hexacopter, is presented. Each probe allows the combined measurement of two essential parameters in the condition assessment: half-cell potentials and concrete electrical resistivity. Strategies are presented to monitor probe functionality during operation and detect loss of contact between probe and structure, which is considered essential for autonomous NDT. The presented approach enables effective and reliable autonomous corrosion inspection, surpassing traditional visual inspections by localizing corrosion at an early stage, allowing engineers a better planning of maintenance. The successful application in a concrete bridge inspection sets the stage for future research in autonomous inspections with robots in various fields of applications. Automation in Construction, 158 ISSN:0926-5805