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    Extreme fire events are related to previous-year surface moisture conditions in permafrost-underlain larch forests of Siberia
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2012) Forkel, Matthias; Thonicke, Kirsten; Beer, Christian; Cramer, Wolfgang; Bartalev, Sergey; Schmullius, Christiane
    Wildfires are a natural and important element in the functioning of boreal forests. However, in some years, fires with extreme spread and severity occur. Such severe fires can degrade the forest, affect human values, emit huge amounts of carbon and aerosols and alter the land surface albedo. Usually, wind, slope and dry air conditions have been recognized as factors determining fire spread. Here we identify surface moisture as an additional important driving factor for the evolution of extreme fire events in the Baikal region. An area of 127 000 km2 burned in this region in 2003, a large part of it in regions underlain by permafrost. Analyses of satellite data for 2002–2009 indicate that previous-summer surface moisture is a better predictor for burned area than precipitation anomalies or fire weather indices for larch forests with continuous permafrost. Our analysis advances the understanding of complex interactions between the atmosphere, vegetation and soil, and how coupled mechanisms can lead to extreme events. These findings emphasize the importance of a mechanistic coupling of soil thermodynamics, hydrology, vegetation functioning, and fire activity in Earth system models for projecting climate change impacts over the next century.
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    Magnetocaloric performance of the three-component Ho1-xErxNi2 (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75) Laves phases as composite refrigerants
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2022) Ćwik, Jacek; Koshkid’ko, Yurii; Nenkov, Konstantin; Tereshina-Chitrova, Evgenia; Małecka, Małgorzata; Weise, Bruno; Kowalska; Karolina
    To date, significant efforts have been put into searching for materials with advanced magnetocaloric properties which show promise as refrigerants and permit realization of efficient cooling. The present study, by an example of Ho1−xErxNi2, develops the concept of magnetocaloric efficiency in the rare-earth Laves-phase compounds. Based on the magneto-thermodynamic properties, their potentiality as components of magnetocaloric composites is illustrated. The determined regularities in the behaviour of the heat capacity, magnetic entropy change, and adiabatic temperature change of the system substantiate reaching high magnetocaloric potentials in a desired temperature range. For the Ho1−xErxNi2 solid solutions, we simulate optimal molar ratios and construct the composites used in magnetic refrigerators performing an Ericsson cycle at low temperatures. The tailored magnetocaloric characteristics are designed and efficient procedures for their manufacturing are developed. Our calculations based on the real empirical data are very promising and open avenue to further experimental studies. Systems showing large magnetocaloric effect (MCE) at low temperatures are of importance due to their potential utilization in refrigeration for gas liquefaction.