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Urban areas are known to modify the spatial pattern of precipitation climatology. Existing observational evidence suggests that precipitation can be enhanced downwind of a city. Among the proposed mechanisms, the thermodynamic and aerodynamic processes in the urban lower atmosphere interact with the meteorological conditions and can play a key role in determining the resulting precipitation patterns. In addition, these processes are influenced by urban form, such as the impervious surface extent. This study aims to unravel how different urban forms impact the spatial patterns of precipitation climatology under different meteorological conditions. We use the Multi‐Radar Multi‐Sensor quantitative precipitation estimation data products and analyze the hourly precipitation maps for 27 selected cities across the continental United States from the years 2015–2021 summer months. Results show that about 80% of the studied cities exhibit a statistically significant downwind enhancement of precipitation. Additionally, we find that the precipitation pattern tends to be more spatially clustered in intensity under higher wind speed; the location of radial precipitation maxima is located closer to the city center under low background winds but shifts downwind under high wind conditions. The magnitude of downwind precipitation enhancement is highly dependent on wind directions and is positively correlated with the city size for the south, southwest, and west directions. This study presents observational evidence through a cross‐city analysis that the urban precipitation pattern can be influenced by the urban modification of atmospheric processes, providing insight into the mechanistic link between future urban land‐use change and hydroclimates.

 

Physically unclonable hardware fingerprints can be used for device authentication. The photo-response non-uniformity (PRNU) is the most reliable hardware fingerprint of digital cameras and can be conveniently extracted from images. However, we find image post-processing software may introduce extra noise into images. Part of this noise remains in the extracted PRNU fingerprints and is hard to be eliminated by traditional approaches, such as denoising filters. We define this noise as software noise, which pollutes PRNU fingerprints and interferes with authenticating a camera armed device. In this paper, we propose novel approaches for fingerprint matching, a critical step in device authentication, in the presence of software noise. We calculate the cross correlation between PRNU fingerprints of different cameras using a test statistic such as the Peak to Correlation Energy (PCE) so as to estimate software noise correlation. During fingerprint matching, we derive the ratio of the test statistic on two PRNU fingerprints of interest over the estimated software noise correlation. We denote this ratio as the fingerprint to software noise ratio (FITS), which allows us to detect the PRNU hardware noise correlation component in the test statistic for fingerprint matching. Extensive experiments over 10,000 images taken by more than 90 smartphones are conducted to validate our approaches, which outperform the state-of-the-art approaches significantly for polluted fingerprints. We are the first to study fingerprint matching with the existence of software noise. 

Gap closure to eliminate physical discontinuities and restore tissue integrity is a fundamental process in normal development and repair of damaged tissues and organs. Here, we demonstrate a nonadhesive gap closure model in which collective cell migration, large-scale actin-network fusion, and purse-string contraction orchestrate to restore the gap. Proliferative pressure drives migrating cells to attach onto the gap front at which a pluricellular actin ring is already assembled. An actin-ring segment switching process then occurs by fusion of actin fibers from the newly attached cells into the actin cable and defusion from the previously lined cells, thereby narrowing the gap. Such actin-cable segment switching occurs favorably at high curvature edges of the gap, yielding size-dependent gap closure. Cellular force microscopies evidence that a persistent rise in the radial component of inward traction force signifies successful actin-cable segment switching. A kinetic model that integrates cell proliferation, actin fiber fusion, and purse-string contraction is formulated to quantitatively account for the gap-closure dynamics. Our data reveal a previously unexplored mechanism in which cells exploit multifaceted strategies in a highly cooperative manner to close nonadhesive gaps.

 

Abstract. This study investigates and compares soil moisture andhydrology projections of broadly used land models with permafrost processesand highlights the causes and impacts of permafrost zone soil moistureprojections. Climate models project warmer temperatures and increases inprecipitation (P) which will intensify evapotranspiration (ET) and runoff inland models. However, this study shows that most models project a long-termdrying of the surface soil (0–20 cm) for the permafrost region despiteincreases in the net air–surface water flux (P-ET). Drying is generallyexplained by infiltration of moisture to deeper soil layers as the activelayer deepens or permafrost thaws completely. Although most models agree ondrying, the projections vary strongly in magnitude and spatial pattern.Land models tend to agree with decadal runoff trends but underestimaterunoff volume when compared to gauge data across the major Arctic riverbasins, potentially indicating model structural limitations. Coordinatedefforts to address the ongoing challenges presented in this study will helpreduce uncertainty in our capability to predict the future Arctichydrological state and associated land–atmosphere biogeochemical processesacross spatial and temporal scales. 

The emergence of wearable electronics puts batteries closer to the human skin, exacerbating the need for battery materials that are robust, highly ionically conductive, and stretchable. Herein, we introduce a supramolecular design as an effective strategy to overcome the canonical tradeoff between mechanical robustness and ionic conductivity in polymer electrolytes. The supramolecular lithium ion conductor utilizes orthogonally functional H-bonding domains and ion-conducting domains to create a polymer electrolyte with unprecedented toughness (29.3 MJ m⁻³) and high ionic conductivity (1.2 × 10⁻⁴S cm⁻¹at 25 °C). Implementation of the supramolecular ion conductor as a binder material allows for the creation of stretchable lithium-ion battery electrodes with strain capability of over 900% via a conventional slurry process. The supramolecular nature of these battery components enables intimate bonding at the electrode-electrolyte interface. Combination of these stretchable components leads to a stretchable battery with a capacity of 1.1 mAh cm⁻²that functions even when stretched to 70% strain. The method reported here of decoupling ionic conductivity from mechanical properties opens a promising route to create high-toughness ion transport materials for energy storage applications.

 

Introduction:As challenges to biodiversity mount, land-use policies have been implemented to balance human needs and the integrity of ecological systems. One such program, Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), incentivizes resource users to protect ecosystem services and has been implemented around the world to reduce soil erosion, create or improve wildlife habitats, and improve water quality and other environmental goals. The PES policy, at its core, is a concept that aims to capture the reciprocal relationships between human systems and ecological function and process. As such, PES epistemologically embodies a coupled human and natural systems approach.

Outcomes:Yet, despite this conceptual alignment, the on-the-ground implementation or evaluation of PES typically does not adopt this coupled approach and PES programs have little integration between socioeconomic, sociocultural, human demographic, and ecological elements. To advance the evolution of PES, we consider what and how socioeconomic and ecological factors have been incorporated into PES program implementation and evaluation. We also present a conceptual model to articulate how PES research can capture the reciprocal relationships among socioeconomics, demography, and ecology and discuss the quantitative modeling approaches that can support this conceptual development, i.e., structural equation and agent-based modeling, and latent trajectory models.

Conclusions:By strengthening the conceptual framework for PES within a coupled human and natural systems approach and identifyinganalytical approaches that can be used to quantify and characterize these complex cross-disciplinary relationships, we aim to support the evolution and advancement of PES, in service of more meaningful and positive outcomes for human well-being and ecological sustainability.