@inproceedings{FrechenHinzMcGrath, author = {Frechen, Tobias Nanu and Hinz, Christoph and McGrath, Gavan S.}, title = {Relating biomass and vegetation structure in water limited ecosystems using a celluar automata based model}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2015, Vienna, Austria, 13 April - 17 May 2015}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2015, Vienna, Austria, 13 April - 17 May 2015}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{JozefikFrechenHinzetal., author = {Jozefik, Zoltan and Frechen, Tobias Nanu and Hinz, Christoph and Schmidt, Heiko}, title = {A cellular automata approach for modeling surface water runoff}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2015, Vienna, Austria, 13 April - 17 May 2015}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2015, Vienna, Austria, 13 April - 17 May 2015}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HinzSchuembergKubitzetal., author = {Hinz, Christoph and Sch{\"u}mberg, Sabine and Kubitz, Anita and Frank, Franzi and Cheng, Zhang and Frechen, Tobias Nanu and Pohle, Ina}, title = {Dynamic effects of wet-dry cycles and crust formation on the saturated hydraulic conductivity of surface soils in the constructed H{\"u}hnerwasser ("Chicken Creek") catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2016, Vienna, Austria}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2016, Vienna, Austria}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {Highly disturbed soils and substrates used in land rehabilitation undergo rapid changes after the first wetting events which in turn can lead to ecosystem degradation. Such changes were detected during the early development of the constructed H{\"u}hnerwasser ("Chicken Creek") catchment in Lusatia, Germany. Surface substrates consisting of quaternary sandy sediments formed surface seals during the first rainfall events leading to reduced infiltration and substantially increased surface runoff. Subsequently biological soil crusts formed and stabilised the surface. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that cause the hydraulic conductivity to decrease using undisturbed and disturbed soil samples. Based on the hypothesis that physical and biological crusts lower the hydraulic conductivity, the first set of experiments with undisturbed soil cores from the H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment were carried out to measure the saturated hydraulic conductivity using the constant head method. Measurements were done with intact cores and repeated after the surface crust was removed. As the quaternary glacial sediments tend to display hard setting behaviour, we further hypothesised that the mobilisation of fine particles within the cores lead to pore clogging and that wet-dry cycles will therefore decrease hydraulic conductivity. A second set of experiments using the same methodology consisted of five repeated measurements of hydraulic conductivity after each drying cycle. These measurements were done with undisturbed core samples as well as repacked cores in order to assess how dry packing affects the dynamics of the hydraulic conductivity somewhat similar to the situation during the first wetting after completion of the catchment construction. For all experiments, the temporal evolution of hydraulic conductivity was measured and the turbidity of the effluent was recorded. The results clearly demonstrated that the substrate is highly unstable. The first set of experiments showed that the removal of the crust lead generally to a decrease in hydraulic conductivity. The process of crust removal represented a severe disturbance of the surface soil which to our understanding causes particle mobilisation and subsequent pore clogging. The first hypothesis could neither be rejected nor accepted. The second set of experiments showed that the hydraulic conductivity significantly dropped in particular after the first drying event. This was observed for both undisturbed and repacked samples. The following drying cycles further decreased the hydraulic conductivity in the repacked samples. The decrease in hydraulic conductivity was positively correlated to turbidity values in the effluent of the samples, indicating particle mobilisation in all samples. The results imply that hydraulic properties in such substrates undergo rapid changes that depend on the temporal dynamics of atmospheric drivers, precipitation and evaporative demand, controlling the degree of wetness and the rate and degree of drying during the very early stage after placement. Associated with the dynamics of the atmospheric drivers are the biological changes due to the formation of biological soil crusts and the establishment of vegetation, both of them contributing to the stabilisation of hydraulic properties.}, language = {en} } @misc{KaestnerCaviedesVoulliemeFrechenetal., author = {K{\"a}stner, Karl and Caviedes-Voullieme, Daniel and Frechen, Tobias Nanu and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Theory and empirical evidence for the irregularity of self-organized vegetation patterns}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23-27 May 2022}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23-27 May 2022}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11905}, abstract = {In arid environments, vegetation tends to self-organize into patches separated by bare soil. This is necessitated by the lack of water for sustaining a continuous vegetation cover and facilitated by the attraction of water from barren interpatch areas by the vegetation. This process is a positive feedback which introduces spatially heterogeneity into otherwise homogeneous environments, characterised by regular patterns. These patterns are typically considered to be periodic and distinguished on hand of their wavelength. Such patterns have so far been studied with numerical models which generate periodic patterns in homogeneous environments. However, environments are rarely homogeneous, as topography and soil-hydraulic properties vary in space. This raises the questions to which degree heterogeneity of vegetation is self-organized or imposed by the environment, and how environmental heterogeneity interacts with the self-organization process. In contrast to the persisting conceptual model of periodic patterns, natural vegetation exhibit a high degree of irregularity. Several studies have linked this irregularity to heterogeneity in the environment, but a comprehensive theory for analysing the irregularity has not yet been established. Furthermore remains the extend of irregularity unexplored on a global scale. To fill this gap, we, demonstrate empirically the global prevalence of irregularity in vegetation patterns and find that natural vegetation patterns are stochastic, rather than periodic. We then propose a stochastic framework to conceptually describe and measure the regularity, based on the spectral density of the patterns. In addition to the dominant wavelength, measuring the spatial scale, it reveals a novel parameter, measuring the regularity. The parameter is determined by the correlation structure and discriminates gradually between the limit cases of periodicity and white noise. Applied to natural and computer-generated patterns, we find that the former are highly irregular, while the latter are close to periodic. We reproduce the stochasticity of patterns with numerical models by introducing spatial heterogeneity of the model coefficients. We provide a fresh look at the nature of vegetations patterns and present a comprehensive theory for a more holistic understanding of self-organized systems.}, language = {en} } @misc{KaestnerHinzCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {K{\"a}stner, Karl and Hinz, Christoph and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Frechen, Tobias Nanu and Vijsel, Roeland C. van de}, title = {A metaanalysis of the regularity of environmental spatialpatterns and a theory relating them to stochastic processes}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5817}, language = {en} }