Gridded daily 2-m air temperature dataset for Ethiopia derived by debiasing and downscaling ERA5-Land for the period 1981-2010.

A gridded maximum and minimum (Tx and Tn) daily temperature dataset derived by spatial downscaling and bias correction of the ERA5-Land (ERA5L) for the period 1981-2010 is presented. Observed daily Tx and Tn at 154 stations in Ethiopia covering record lengths of 5-30 years were used as a reference. The statistics that define the Gaussian distribution (mean and standard deviation) of Tx and Tn from the station observations were interpolated in space to create a monthly climatology and interannual statistics at 0.

Modeling distributed metal pollution transport in a mine impacted catchment: Short and long-term effects.

A spatially distributed trace metal transport and transformation module was developed and implemented within the hydrological model TOPKAPI-ETH. The new module can be used to better understand, at high spatial and temporal resolution, the transport and reactions of trace metals as they move through a catchment from upland sources to downstream areas and water bodies. The newly developed module takes into consideration solid metal in multiple chemical phases with different reactivity and simulates their mutual transformation over time, which gives the possibility to analyze the fraction of different solid metal phases present in the river suspended sediment.

Magnitude of urban heat islands largely explained by climate and population.

Urban heat islands (UHIs) exacerbate the risk of heat-related mortality associated with global climate change. The intensity of UHIs varies with population size and mean annual precipitation, but a unifying explanation for this variation is lacking, and there are no geographically targeted guidelines for heat mitigation. Here we analyse summertime differences between urban and rural surface temperatures (ΔT) worldwide and find a nonlinear increase in ΔT with precipitation that is controlled by water or energy limitations on evapotranspiration and that modulates the scaling of ΔT with city size.

The nitrogen cycle in highly urbanized tropical regions and the effect of river-aquifer interactions: The case of Jakarta and the Ciliwung River.

Groundwater is extensively used in Jakarta to compensate for the limited public water supply network. Recent observations show a rise in nitrate (NO3(-)) levels in the shallow aquifer, thus pointing at a potential risk for public health. The detected levels are still below national and international regulatory limits for drinking water but a strategy is necessary to contain the growing problem.

Modeling terrestrial carbon and water dynamics across climatic gradients: does plant trait diversity matter?

Plant trait diversity in many vegetation models is crudely represented using a discrete classification of a handful of 'plant types' (named plant functional types; PFTs). The parameterization of PFTs reflects mean properties of observed plant traits over broad categories ignoring most of the inter- and intraspecific plant trait variability. Taking advantage of a multivariate leaf-trait distribution (leaf economics spectrum), as well as documented plant drought strategies, we generate an ensemble of hypothetical species with coordinated attributes, rather than using few PFTs.