An Asphodelus ramosus dominated plant community in Montenegro

Our phytosociological study in Montenegro (Ćemovsko polje) deals with the syntaxonomy of arid grasslands in the Adriatic region and, in particular, different interpretations of plant communities dominated by Asphodelus ramosus. The main aims of this study were to contribute to knowledge of the composition of dry grasslands dominated by Asphodelus ramosus in Montenegro and to compare instances of Asphodelus ramosus dominated vegetation along the Adriatic. Our vegetation dataset included 82 phytosociological relevés: 17 from our recent field work and 72 relevés of South European Asphodelus ramosus communities. Ordination analysis (NMDS) was used for comparison of Asphodelus ramosus dominated communities in the Adriatic region. The Asphodelus ramosus community from Montenegro was classified into Bromo erecti-Chrysopogonetum grylli. The analysis revealed two distinct vegetation groups: grassland communities of the vegetation class Festuco-Brometea from Montenegro, Croatia and Albania, and edge vegetation of the new class Charybdido pancratii-Asphodeletea ramosi from Italy. Comparison with similar vegetation types shows high similarity with associations on the eastern Adriatic coast, where they are treated as grassland communities belonging to the alliance Chrysopogono grylli-Koelerion splendentis, order Scorzoneretalia villosae, class Festuco-Brometea.

Sustainable Performances of Small to Medium-Sized Airports in the Adriatic Region

The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the greenhouse gas savings and economic benefits associated with sustainable water and energy management at six small-to-medium airports in the Adriatic region. All the data were provided by the airport authorities in terms of the consumption of water, electricity, and energy for heating and company-operated vehicles for three years (2016–2018), as well as information about good practices and the sustainable use of water and energy resources. For the water and energy benchmarks, the most plausible predictive variables were selected according to the literature relevant to the environmental benchmarking of airports. The stepwise linear regression method was used to select the most significant predictive variables in explaining the dataset. The airports showed positive steps towards sustainability, such as a higher share of natural gas in the mix of fuel used for heating, and a green electricity tariff. The CO2 emissions and budget related to motor fuels were less than a quarter of the emissions and budget for energy consumption for heating and electricity. To achieve the goal of zero-emission airports, the decarbonisation of motor fuels and transport should follow the actions aimed at increasing energy efficiency and clean energy for heating and electricity.

A Weather-Type Classification and Its Application to Near-Surface Wind Climate Change Projections over the Adriatic Region

The main goal of this study is to present a recently developed classification method for weather types based on the vorticity and the location of the synoptic centers relative to the Adriatic region. The basis of the present objective classification, applied to the Adriatic region, is the subjective classification developed by Poje. Our algorithm considered daily mean sea-level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential height to define one out of 17 possible weather types. We applied the algorithm to identify which weather type was relevant in the generation of the two typical near-surface winds over the Adriatic region, namely Bora and Sirocco. Two high-resolution (0.11°) EURO-CORDEX regional climate models were used, SMHI-RCA4 and DHMZ-RegCM4, forced by several CMIP5 global climate models and analyzed for two 30-year periods: near-present day and mid-21st century climate conditions under the high-end Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP8.5) scenario. Bora and Sirocco days were extracted for each weather type and a distribution over the 30-year period was presented. Our results suggest that in the winter season, climate model projections indicate a reduction in the main cyclonic types relevant in the formation of Bora over the entire Adriatic region and an increase in the number of anticyclonic types relevant in Sirocco events. In contrast, for the summer season, an increase in the main anticyclonic Bora-related weather types is found in the ensemble over the northern Adriatic region.

Present Tectonic Dynamics of the Geological Structural Setting of the Eastern Part of the Adriatic Region Obtained from Geodetic and Geological Data

The Adriatic microplate has always attracted scientific attention, and various studies on the geodynamics of this area have been performed over the years. With the development of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology in the last 30 years, most significant research in this field has used it as the primary source of data on geodynamic movements. However, apart from a few global positioning system (GPS) campaigns conducted in the 1990s, the measurements had a low spatiotemporal density. Therefore, the eastern side of the Adria region or the territory of the Republic of Croatia was usually omitted from the results presented in the various published papers. A study of this literature concluded that the territory of Croatia represents a kind of scientific gap and that denser measurement data from GPS/GNSS stations could be used to supplement the geodynamic picture of the area in question. Thus, GPS/GNSS measurements from 83 stations (geodynamic, reference, and POS’ GPS/GNSS) all over Croatia and neighboring countries for a period of almost 20 years (1994–2013) were collected and processed with Bernese software to obtain a unique database of relative velocities. From the geological perspective, the most important and latest insights on the recent geological structural setting, tectonic movements, most active faults, and relationships and movements of structures were taken into account. It was important to compare the geodetic and geological data, observe the present tectonic dynamics of the geological structural setting, and determine the causes of the obtained directions of movement. The research presented in this paper, based on a combination of geodetic and geological data, was conducted to broaden the current knowledge of the present tectonic dynamics of the geological structural setting of the eastern part of the Adriatic region.

Simulated regional dust cycle in the Carpathian Basin and the Adriatic Sea region during the Last Glacial Maximum

<p>Different climate and environmental conditions dominated in the Carpathian Basin and the adjacent northern Italy/Adriatic region during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), as compared to today. For instance, high dust accumulation rates recorded in loess deposits point to an active dust cycle during the LGM. We investigated the climate conditions and regional dust cycle based on high-resolution (grid spacing of ~8.5 km) regional climate simulations for LGM conditions. The model output is in good agreement with proxy data, reproducing cold and dry conditions for the LGM. Highest dust emissions are simulated to the east of the Alpine ice sheet and in the Kvarner Bay region. While simulated dust deposition plumes in the northern Carpathian Basin indicate prevailing northerly (NW, N and NE) winds during dust events, strong Bora winds flowing down the slopes of the Dinaric Alps appear to play a major role in the local to regional dust cycle in the northern Adriatic region. From a seasonal perspective, the simulated dust cycle is most active during late winter and spring. A detailed analysis of climate and environmental conditions at key areas reveals that high wind speeds and low precipitation rates during late winter and spring correlate well with high dust emissions. In contrast, lower wind speeds, increasing precipitation, and the greening of vegetation prevent high dust emissions during summer and autumn. The occurrence of cyclonic circulation patterns in the Adriatic shelf region reveals that individual cyclones played an important role in transporting dust particles from the alluvial Po plain towards the eastern Adriatic loess deposition sites.</p>

Inspection of new thunderstorm intensity index

<p>Lightning data provide very high spatial and temporal resolution allowing us to decompose thunderstorms into smaller segments. By using those segments we introduce a new Thunderstorm Intensity Index (TSII). Based on the mathematical background of lightning jump, TSII aims to identify the area which is most affected by the storm. Such index captures location in space and time where a thunderstorm experienced a sudden positive change in lightning activity, using the Eulerian standpoint. The advantage is independence to total number of flashes produced by the storm (which can vary significantly), and high temporal monitoring (2 min). An ongoing research (within SWALDRIC project) is performed on period of 11 years of lightning data and in a study area of NE Adriatic region. Validation is done against precipitation, wind, hail, waterspouts and comparison with ERA5 instability indices is made. Results show very good agreement between higher rain intensities and total precipitation in vicinity of TSII. Good agreement with hail occurrence, waterspout presence and wind gusts within 15km radius. Also, TSII turned to be invariant to the size of the system, thus allowing us to recognise small scale intense thunderstorms.</p>

Petrinja M6.2 earthquake (Croatia) on 29/12/2020 occurred on the intersection of the two regional active faults at the transition between Dinarides and Pannonian basin

<p>Devastating M6.2 earthquake (1) hit Petrinja epicentral area (2) on 2020-12-29. M5.0 foreshock on 2020-12-28 (1) caused moderate damage on buildings and forced many inhabitants to move out form their homes. Thus, the foreshock was a kind of lucky event that saved many human lives.</p><p>Considering the shallow focal depth (1) and QMTS that show clear strike-slip focal mechanisms (3, 4), surface failures were expected after the mainshock. Immediate reports in media allowed quick online research of surface failures indicating that linear infrastructure damages appear along ~30 km long portion of sinistral NE-SW striking Sisak-Petrinja-Glina-Topusko Fault. Quick field inspection revealed that fresh fault planes in the bedrock appear mostly along longitudinal NW-SE striking (Dinaric strike) Pokupsko-Kostajnica-Banja Luka Fault, and show clear dextral co-seismic stike-slip displacements. The map view time-lapse animation of the seismic sequence (5) revealed that ~20 km long portion of the Pokupsko Fault was (re)activated. The two subvertical  mutually perpendicular faults intersect near the epicenters. The historically important Pokupsko earthquake occured in the vicinity (6), and was used by a famous Croatian geophysicist Andrija Mohorovičić to discover the MOHO discontinuity.</p><p>The fault system is textbook example of major failure in the upper crust along the pre-existing fault net (7) at the critical moment of centennial release of generally north-south oriented compressional strain that is accumulating in the crust because of continuous northward movement of the Adriatic microplate (Adria). Up to 10 mm/yr Adria GPS velocities measured in the Adriatic foreland are mostly accommodating along major External Dinarides active faults, since the Internal Dinarides GPS velocities are only 1-2 mm/yr, while the velocities in the Pannonian basin are near zero (8). The dextral Pokupsko-Banja Luka Fault could be one of the main inherited active faults between the crustal segments of the Adria, while sinistral Petrinja fault could represent reactivated Mesozoic transform fault bordering the crustal fragments (9) of once greater Adria (10).</p><ul><li>(1) https://www.pmf.unizg.hr/geof/seizmoloska_sluzba, Accessed: 2020-12-29 11:50 UTC</li> <li>(2) Stanko D, Markušić S, Korbar T, Ivančić J. (2020): Estimation of the High-Frequency Attenuation Parameter Kappa for the Zagreb (Croatia) Seismic Stations. Applied Sciences. 10(24):8974.</li> <li>(3) https://www.emsc-csem.org/#2, Accessed: 2020-12-28 05:28:07 UTC</li> <li>(4) https://www.emsc-csem.org/#2, Accessed: 2020-12-29 11:35 UTC</li> <li>(5) https://www.pmf.unizg.hr/geof/seizmoloska_sluzba, Accessed: 2021-01-03 07:50 UTC</li> <li>(6) Herak, D and Herak, M. (2010): The Kupa Valley (Croatia) earthquake of 8 October 1909 – 100 years later. Seismological research letters, 81, 30-36.</li> <li>(7) Pikija, M. (1987): Osnovna geološka karta SFRJ, 1: 100 000: List Sisak, L 33-93. hgi-cgs.hr</li> <li>(8) Battaglia, M., Murray, M.H., Serpelloni, E. and Bürgmann, R. (2004). The Adriatic region: An independent microplate within the Africa-Eurasia collision zone. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, 1–4.</li> <li>(9) Korbar (2009): Orogenic evolution of the External Dinarides in the NE Adriatic region: a model constrained by tectonostratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene carbonates. Earth Science Reviews, 96/4, 296-312.</li> <li>(10) van Hinsbergen, D.J.J., Torsvik, T.H., Schmid, S.M., Maţenco, L.C., Maffione, M., Vissers, R.L.M., Gürer, D., Spakman, W. (2020): Orogenic architecture of the Mediterranean region and kinematic reconstruction of its tectonic evolution since the Triassic. Gondwana Research, 81, 79-229.</li> </ul>

On Linear and Circular Approach to GPS Data Processing: Analyses of the Horizontal Positioning Deviations Based on the Adriatic Region IGS Observables

Global and regional positional accuracy assessment is of the highest importance for any satellite navigation system, including the Global Positioning System (GPS). Although positioning error can be expressed as a vector quantity with direction and magnitude, most of the research focuses on error magnitude only. The positional accuracy can be evaluated in terms of navigational quadrants as further refinement of error distribution, as it was shown here. This research was conducted in the wider area of the Northern Adriatic Region, employing the International Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Service (IGS) data and products. Similarities of positional accuracy and deviations distributions for Single Point Positioning (SPP) were addressed in terms of magnitudes. Data were analyzed during the 11-day period. Linear and circular statistical methods were used to quantify regional positional accuracy and error behavior. This was conducted in terms of both scalar and vector values, with assessment of the underlying probability distributions. Navigational quadrantal positioning error subset analysis was carried out. Similarity in the positional accuracy and positioning deviations behavior, with uneven positional distribution between quadrants, indicated the directionality of the total positioning error. The underlying distributions for latitude and longitude deviations followed approximately normal distributions, while the radius was approximated by the Rayleigh distribution. The Weibull and gamma distributions were considered, as well. Possible causes of the analyzed positioning deviations were not investigated, but the ultimate positioning products were obtained as in standard, single-frequency positioning scenarios.