Changes in Imja Lake and Karda Lake in the Everest Region of Himalaya

The Himalaya is a region sensitive to climate change. Changes in the glacial regime are one indicator of global climate changes. There are several studies focusing on analysis of temporal changes of these glacial lakes in the Himalaya region. However, the researches on addressing these trends in relation with surrounding topographical conditions are quite limited. In this study, we analyzed spatio-temporal changes in Imja Lake, located on the southern slope, and Karda Lake, located on the northern slope of the Mt. Everest region, in 1976, 1992, 2000, and 2008. Moreover, we examined whether the topographic conditions differ between the two slopes. Landsat and ASTER GDEM (advanced space borne thermal emission and reflection radiometer, global digital elevation model) data were used to identify boundaries of target glacial lakes and to calculate three indices of growth rate compared to year of 1976 (%, GRa), growth rate compared to preceding year (%, GRb), and growth speed (m2/year, GS) of the two lakes. The topographic conditions in circular buffer zones from the centroid of the two lakes were analyzed. Although the area of two lakes demonstrated linear increase from 1976 to 2008, growth rate compared to year of 1976 (GRa) differed significantly (Kruskal-Wallis test, p squared test for independence on m × n contingency table between 1976, 1992, 2000, and 2008 on growth speed (GS)). The two slopes differed in terms of three topographical variables: altitude, aspect, and angle of inclination (Kruskal-Wallis test,

Quantifying the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the armed conflict with Russia on Sentinel 5P TROPOMI NO_(2)changes in Ukraine

This study investigated variations in nitrogen dioxide(NO_(2))levels in Ukraine during two significant periods:the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020 and the armed conflict with Russia in 2022.Original and reprocessed Sentinel 5P data products were utilized for the analysis.A machine learning model was employed to generate a business-as-usual NO_(2)time series that accounted for meteorological variability.For the nine most populous cities in Ukraine,during the lockdown in 2020 we observed a moderation of increases in NO_(2)levels during the lockdown compared to the pre-lockdown levels.Looking at the same months during the conflict period in 2022,we identified much more significant reductions in NO_(2)level in these cities,averaging 12.1%for original and 18.1%for reprocessed datasets.Besides our examination of major urban areas,we observed reductions in NO_(2)levels in areas surrounding coal power plants damaged or destroyed by the conflict.For the major urban areas in Ukraine,we conclude that changes in daily anthropogenic activities due to the conflict-related events had more substantial impacts on NO_(2)levels than did COVID-19 lockdown.

Digital Earth:A platform for the SDGs and green transformation at the global and local level,employing essential SDGs variables

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals present clear directions toward the green transformation being sought by the global com-munity.The SDGs are an integrated framework,with a complex network of interlinkages between the goals,targets and indicators,and they pose wicked problems to society.Consequently,measur-ing progress and achievements with the SDGs requires the integra-tion of various spatio-temporal datasets from different domains and the synthesis of disciplines to describe a system of systems.The Group on Earth Observations has developed the concept of Essential Variables to describe systems across Societal Benefit Areas that are applicable for this purpose.Digital Earth is a virtual representation of the planet,potentially encompassing all its sys-tems and life forms,including human societies.Designed as a multidimensional,multi-scale,multi-temporal,and multi-layer informa-tion facility,Digital Earth is a valuable platform that can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and a green transformation.To that end,a set of Essential SDGs Variables(ESDGVs)for the platform are proposed and cases of implementation and use are introduced.