Advances in Geophysics serial highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters. Each chapter is written by an international board of authors.

Building Energy Flexibility and Demand Management looks at the high penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources and the need for increased flexibility. Ensuring electrical power systems adapt to dynamic energy demand and supply conditions, the book supports the transition to a renewable energy future with current fluctuating power generation. By facilitating the penetration of renewable energy sources into the building sector, and balancing electricity supply with demand in real-time, this book will provide fundamental concepts, theories, and methods to understand, quantify, design and optimize building energy flexibility. In addition, the book also provides case studies with emerging technologies to enhance building energy flexibility and demonstrate how demand management strategies can utilize energy flexibility for demand reduction and load shifting. It will be useful for all those researchers and engineers working in flexible energy systems and advanced demand side management strategies.

COVID-19 and the Sustainable Development Goals: Societal Influence explores how the coronavirus pandemic impacts the implementation of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), paying particular attention to socioeconomic and disaster risk management dimensions. Sections provide a foundational understanding of the virus and its risk factors, cover relevant mitigation measures for minimizing the spread of COVID-19, explore the virus's originations and transmission mechanisms, and look at gold standard procedures for COVID-19 testing and antibody-based diagnosis. Final sections present the latest insights on the global effects of COVID-19 and examine potential future challenges, opportunities and strategic responses.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Smart City Planning shows the reader practical applications of AIML techniques and describes recent advancements in this area in various sectors. Owing to the multidisciplinary nature, this book primarily focuses on the concepts of AIML and its methodologies such as evolutionary techniques, neural networks, machine learning, deep learning, block chain technology, big data analytics, and image processing in the context of smart cities. The text also discusses possible solutions to different challenges posed by smart cities by presenting cutting edge AIML techniques using different methodologies, as well as future directions for those same techniques.

The inaction of nation states and international bodies has posed significant risks to the environment. By contrast, cities are sites of action and innovation. In Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City Governance, contributors researching in the areas of law, urban planning, geography, and philosophy identify approaches for tackling many of the most challenging environmental problems facing cities today. Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City Governance facilitates two strands of dialogue about climate change. First, it integrates legal perspectives into policy debates about urban sustainability and governance, from which law has typically stood apart. Second, it brings case studies from Quebec into a rare conversation with examples drawn from elsewhere in Canada. The collection proposes humane and inclusive processes for arriving at effective policy outcomes. Some chapters examine governance mechanisms that reconcile clashes of incommensurable values and resolve conflicts about collective interests. Other chapters provide platforms for social movements that have faced obstacles to communicating to a broad public. The collection's proposals respond to drastic changes in urban environments. Some changes are imminent. Others are upon us already. All threaten the present and future well-being of urban communities.

Andean Structural Styles: A Seismic Atlas is a comprehensive reference illustrating the variability in structural styles and hydrocarbon traps that exist in the Andean chain. The Andean chain, stretching over more than 5,000 km (3,000 mi) from Venezuela to Argentina, contains a large number of sedimentary basins which have developed in a wide range of tectonic settings. Some of these basins are highly mature, with hydrocarbon production from Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sedimentary sequences, while others are still underexplored. Andean Structural Styles: A Seismic Atlas covers topics including fold types, thrust faults, triangle zones, inversion structures, synorogenic deposits, and growth stratal geometries. These topics are illustrated by thirty-two seismic examples interpreted and uninterpreted, covering most of the Andean basins, and five chapters reviewing the structural styles of the Andes, the complexity of processing seismic in these settings, how analogue models help in the interpretation, and several outcrop analogues. This reference is invaluable to both hydrocarbon exploration of the Andes and researchers and students in the fields of exploration geology and structural geology. Also, those teaching structural geology and seismic interpretation will find a valuable resource with lots of uninterpreted seismic examples that can be used in their lectures.

Wetlands provide a key service in an ecosystem such as providing resilience against drought and diverse habitats that support biodiversity. Because of their ephemeral character and their small size, however, these vulnerable ecosystems are declining rapidly as climate change continues to surge and human activities expand. Rational management of wet ecosystems need accompanying actions covering research, systematic observation, and more. Wetland Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and the Impact of Climate Change produces innovative concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications for ecosystem service valuation, wetland biodiversity conservation, fresh water supply, agricultural production, food security, wetland management, and its impact on biodiversity. It assesses the cumulative risk posed to wetland habitats and species by human activities and explores the consequences for the delivery of ecosystem services and biodiversity at local, regional, and global scales, as well as the impacts of climate change on wetland ecosystems and water resources. Covering topics such as geochemistry, invasive species, and sedimentary change, this premier reference source is an indispensable resource for government officials, engineers, environmental managers, environmentalists, students and educators of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

Environmental Noise Pollution, Second Edition, addresses the key debates surrounding environmental noise pollution, its modelling and mitigation using examples from across the globe. Environmental noise pollution is now an established concern in environmental and public policy and is considered one of the most important environmental stressors affecting public health throughout the world. Thoroughly revised, this new edition includes updated global case studies as well as new chapters on 'soundscapes and noise mapping' and 'environmental noise and technology'. This book examines environmental noise pollution, its health implications, noise modelling, the role of strategic noise mapping for problem assessment, major sources of environmental noise pollution, noise mitigation approaches, and related procedural and policy implications. Drawing on the authors' considerable research expertise in the area, the book is a fully updated resource on this major environmental stressor that crosses disciplinary, policy and national boundaries.

Stochastic Modeling: A Thorough Guide to Evaluate, Pre-Process, Model and Compare Time Series with MATLAB Software allows for new avenues in time series analysis and predictive modeling which summarize more than ten years of experience in the application of stochastic models in environmental problems. The book introduces a variety of different topics in time series in the modeling and prediction of complex environmental systems. Most importantly, all codes are user-friendly and readers will be able to use them for their cases. Users who may not be familiar with MATLAB software can also refer to the appendix. This book also guides the reader step-by-step to learn developed codes for time series modeling, provides required toolboxes, explains concepts, and applies different tools for different types of environmental time series problems.

Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds, Second Edition provides the most updated and comprehensive review on the evolution of behavior in tropical landbirds. The book reviews gaps in our knowledge that were identified twenty years ago when the first edition was published, highlights recent discoveries that have filled those gaps, and identifies new areas in urgent need of study. It covers key topics, including timing of breeding, movement ecology, life history traits, slow vs. fast pace of life, mating systems, mate choice, territoriality, communication, biotic interactions, and conservation. Written by international experts on the behavior of tropical birds, the book explores why the tropics is a unique natural laboratory to study the evolution of bird behavior and why temperate zone species are so different. A recent surge of studies on tropical birds has helped to reduce the temperate zone bias that arose because most avian model species in behavioral ecology were adapted to northern temperate climates. This is an important resource for researchers, ecologists and conservationists who want to understand the rich and complex evolutionary history of avian behavior.

CO2 Acidification in Aquatic Ecosystems: An Integrative Approach to Risk Assessment focuses on the characterization of different aspects of ecosystem science to describe the situation of CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems. This extensive coverage looks at the effects of CO2 acidification throughout all oceans and coastal areas. In addition, the book describes integrative approaches based on global case studies to determine the effects associated with this kind of acidification. It allows the reader to understand the different sources of CO2 in the aquatic ecosystems and the different approaches and lines of evidence available to characterize the impact of this acidification. This book provides researchers, professors and post graduate students in oceanography and aquatic ecology with a new and complete tool set to address and understand the potential impacts of CO2 acidification in aquatic ecosystems.

Ecosystems of Resilience Practices: Contributions for Sustainability and Climate Change Adaptation focuses on resilience in action by exploring and providing approaches, perspectives, toolboxes, and theoretical discourses for the improvement and enhancement of territorial and community resilience practices towards sustainability and climate change mitigation/adaptation. The book develops a set of tools and design criteria to support the dissemination of resilience practices. This new toolset will support the expansion and reinforcement of resilience practices and the building of solutions related to climate change. The book is divided into three sections: Section one investigates the contribution this kind of resilience approach could have on sustainable development goals as related to climate change. It also includes other environmental challenges such as ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. Chapters dedicated to exploring the issues for a renovated governance of territorial transformation processes are included. Section two focuses on the eco-systems of resilience practices characterization, including discourses on international networking of transitions initiatives. Section three presents operative guidelines, instruments, and proposals for the resilience practices "stabilization," "blooming," and "up scaling," aiming at a more effective and consistent contribution of resilience practices in reaching sustainability, adaptation goals, and scenarios at local and global scales.

Climate Impacts on Extreme Weather: Current to Future Changes on a Local to Global Scale presents fundamentals and advances in the science of weather and climate extremes, building on the existing knowledge by using regional and global case studies. The book provides an analysis of historical and future changes, physical processes, measurements, space-time variability, socioeconomic impact, and risk management. It provides policy makers, researchers and students working in climate change with a thorough reference for understanding the diverse impacts of extreme weather and climate change on varying geographic scales. With contributions from experts across the globe, the book utilizes methods, case studies, modeling, and analysis to present valuable, up-to-date knowledge about the interaction of climate change, weather and the many implications of the changing environment.

Wildland fires have an irreplaceable role in sustaining many of our forests, shrublands and grasslands. They can be used as controlled burns or occur as free-burning wildfires, and can sometimes be dangerous and destructive to fauna, human communities and natural resources. Through scientific understanding of their behaviour, we can develop the tools to reliably use and manage fires across landscapes in ways that are compatible with the constraints of modern society while benefiting the ecosystems. The science of wildland fire is incomplete, however. Even the simplest fire behaviours - how fast they spread, how long they burn and how large they get - arise from a dynamical system of physical processes interacting in unexplored ways with heterogeneous biological, ecological and meteorological factors across many scales of time and space. The physics of heat transfer, combustion and ignition, for example, operate in all fires at millimetre and millisecond scales but wildfires can become conflagrations that burn for months and exceed millions of hectares. Wildland Fire Behaviour: Dynamics, Principles and Processes examines what is known and unknown about wildfire behaviours. The authors introduce fire as a dynamical system along with traditional steady-state concepts. They then break down the system into its primary physical components, describe how they depend upon environmental factors, and explore system dynamics by constructing and exercising a nonlinear model. The limits of modelling and knowledge are discussed throughout but emphasised by review of large fire behaviours. Advancing knowledge of fire behaviours will require a multidisciplinary approach and rely on quality measurements from experimental research, as covered in the final chapters.

Freshwater Mycology: Perspectives of Fungal Dynamics in Freshwater Ecosystems presents chapters from expert contributors around the world. Through the contributed chapters, the contributors explore the perspectives of fungal dynamics in freshwater ecosystems, especially their diversity, distribution, functioning and role, biotransformation and bioprospecting potential, methodical advancements and metagenomic insights. Written with aquatic ecologists in mind, this book provides information on oceanic, estuarine and freshwater ecosystems not currently well understood and identifies new questions and answers about the roles of mycology in aquatic ecosystems. This topic is becoming an increasingly important area to understand due to the increasing global transports of microbes due to climate change and human actions. This is leading to a rapid loss of healthy freshwater ecosystems, the grave problem of antibiotic resistance, and the rarity of qualified mycology taxonomists and molecular systematicians.