There is a critical need for sensitive remote sensing approaches to monitor the parameters governing photosynthesis, at the temporal scales relevant to their natural dynamics. The photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and chlorophyll fluorescence (F) offer a strong potential for monitoring photosynthesis at local, regional, and global scales, however the relationships between photosynthesis and solar induced F (SIF) on diurnal and seasonal scales are not fully understood. This study examines how the fine spatial and temporal scale SIF observations relate to leaf level chlorophyll fluorescence metrics (i.e., PSII yield, YII and electron transport rate, ETR), canopy gross primary productivity (GPP), and PRI. The results contribute to enhancing the understanding of how SIF can be used to monitor canopy photosynthesis. This effort captured the seasonal and diurnal variation in GPP, reflectance, F, and SIF in the O2A (SIFA) and O2B (SIFB) atmospheric bands for corn (Zea mays L.) at a study site in Greenbelt, MD. Positive linear relationships of SIF to canopy GPP and to leaf ETR were documented, corroborating published reports. Our findings demonstrate that canopy SIF metrics are able to capture the dynamics in photosynthesis at both leaf and canopy levels, and show that the relationship between GPP and SIF metrics differs depending on the light conditions (i.e., above or below saturation level for photosynthesis). The sum of SIFA and SIFB (SIFA+B), as well as the SIFA+B yield, captured the dynamics in GPP and light use efficiency, suggesting the importance of including SIFB in monitoring photosynthetic function. Further efforts are required to determine if these findings will scale successfully to airborne and satellite levels, and to document the effects of data uncertainties on the scaling.

Rheologic variations in the Earth's crust (like elastic plate thickness [EPT] or crustal rigidity) modulate the rate at which seismic moment accumulates for potentially hazardous faults of the San Andreas Fault System (SAFS). To quantify rates of seismic moment accumulation, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar data were used to constrain surface deformation rates of a four‐dimensional viscoelastic deformation model that incorporates rheological variations spanning a 900 km section of the SAFS. Lateral variations in EPT, estimated from surface heat flow and seismic depth to the lithosphere‐asthenosphere boundary, were converted to lateral variations in rigidity and then used to solve for seismic moment accumulation rates on 32 fault segments. We find a cluster of elevated seismic moment rates (11–20 × 1015 Nm year−1 km−1) along the main SAFS trace spanning the historical Mw 7.9 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake rupture length; present‐day seismic moment magnitude on these segments ranges from Mw 7.2–7.6. We also find that the average plate thickness in the Salton Trough is reduced to only 60% of the regional average, which results in a ∼60% decrease in moment accumulation rate along the Imperial fault. Likewise, a 30% increase of average plate thickness results in at least a ∼30% increase in moment rate and even larger increases are identified in regions of complex plate heterogeneity. These results emphasize the importance of considering rheological variations when estimating seismic hazard, suggesting that meaningful changes in seismic moment accumulation are revealed when considering spatial variations in crustal rheology.

Contemporary earthquake hazard models hinge on an understanding of how strain is distributed in the crust and the ability to precisely detect millimeter-scale deformation over broad regions of active faulting. Satellite radar observations revealed hundreds of previously unmapped linear strain concentrations (or fractures) surrounding the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. We documented and analyzed displacements and widths of 169 of these fractures. Although most fractures are displaced in the direction of the prevailing tectonic stress (prograde), a large number of them are displaced in the opposite (retrograde) direction. We developed a model to explain the existence and behavior of these displacements. A major implication is that much of the prograde tectonic strain is accommodated by frictional slip on many preexisting faults.

A major challenge for understanding the physics of shallow fault creep has been to observe and model the long-term effect of stress changes on creep rate. Here we investigate the surface creep along the southern San Andreas fault (SSAF) using data from interferometric synthetic aperture radar spanning over 25 years (ERS 1992-1999, ENVISAT 2003, and Sentinel-1 2014. The main result of this analysis is that the average surface creep rate increased after the Landers event and then decreased by a factor of 2-7 over the past few decades. We consider quasi-static and dynamic Coulomb stress changes on the SSAF due to these three major events. From our analysis, the elevated creep rates after the Landers can only be explained by static stress changes, indicating that even in the presence of dynamically triggered creep, static stress changes may have a long-lasting effect on SSAF creep rates.Plain Language Summary There are two significant conclusions from this study. First, we analyzed 25 years of InSAR measurements over the Southern San Andreas Fault system to document a major increase in the average creep rate following the 1992 Mw 7.3 Landers Earthquake which is then followed by creep rate reductions after the 1999 Mw 7.1 Hector Mine Earthquake and the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Major Cucapah Earthquake. Second, we attribute all these creep rate changes to the Coulomb stress variations from these three major Earthquakes. The dynamic Coulomb stress changes are similar for all three events, contributing to triggered creep on the SSAF. In contrast, the static Coulomb stress changes on the SSAF are positive after the Landers and negative after the Hector Mine and El Major Cucapah, coinciding with the higher average creep rate after the Landers and lower rates after the other two events. An implication of this study is that small but steady Coulomb stress changes have a larger impact on shallow creep than the larger dynamic stress changes associated with passing seismic waves. These results illuminate the significance of time scale-dependent complexity of shallow fault creep and how these behaviors are communicated by stress perturbations from regional earthquakes.

As a Pacific Island, Hawaiʻi's hydrological processes are influenced by strong spatio-temporal gradients in, and close interactions between, rainfall, land-use, near-surface geological conditions, and complicated subsurface hydrogeology. Due to their volcanic nature, the hydrogeology of Hawaiʻi predominantly consists of basaltic bedrock formations that vary in terms of, for example, the type of lava flow deposit ('A'ā vs. Pāhoehoe), age, and thickness of individual flow units. Several factors, such as the age of the islands and climatic variability, control regolith development, and its characteristics (Ryu et al., 2014;P. Vitousek, 2004).Hawaiian hydrogeology possesses strong spatio-temporal gradients and heterogeneity at a variety of spatial scales (Figure 1). For example, basaltic formations are dominated by both small-and intermediate-scale fractures and large-scale faults that strongly affect chemical fate and transport processes (Deng & Spycher, 2019). Mechanical weathering and chemical alteration create saprolite layers with low hydraulic conductivity, forming barriers to flow (Figure 1) and/or causing groundwater to be trapped in perched formations (Hunt, 1996;Mink & Lau, 1980;Oki, 2005). On the island of Oʻahu, as well as on other Pacific islands, valley-ridge complexes are known to generate highly complicated groundwater systems (Oki, 2005). Older alluvium deposits, created during periods of extensive erosion that carved deep valleys in the original volcanoes, are of hydrological importance due to their relatively low hydraulic conductivity, estimated to be in the range of 3.96 × 10 −3 m/day (0.013 ft/day) to 0.33 m/day (1.08 ft/day) (Wentworth, 1938). The low permeability is related to chemical alteration, weathering, and compaction (Oki, 2005;Wentworth, 1951).