NWO-I

The conservation and management of marine ecosystems hinge on a comprehensive understanding of the status and trends of top predators. This review delves into the ecological significance of marine top predators, examining their roles in maintaining ecosystem stability and functioning through an integrated analysis of current scientific literature. We first assess the efficacy of various monitoring methods, ranging from traditional field observations to cutting-edge technologies like satellite tracking and environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis and evaluating their strengths and limitations in terms of accuracy, spatial coverage, and cost-effectiveness, providing resource managers with essential insights for informed decision-making. Then, by synthesizing data from diverse marine ecosystems, this study offers a comprehensive overview of the trends affecting top predator populations worldwide. We explore the multifaceted impacts of human activities, climate change, and habitat degradation on the abundance and distribution of these key species. In doing so, we shed light on the broader implications of declining top predator populations, such as trophic cascades and altered community structures. Following a thorough assessment of successful strategies for reversing the decline of top predators, a compilation of recommendations is presented, encompassing effective governance interventions. A crucial aspect of effective ecosystem-based management is the implementation of robust monitoring strategies. Mitigation measures are imperative to reverse the adverse impacts on marine top predators. We present a comprehensive array of mitigation options based on successful case studies. These include the establishment of marine protected areas, the enforcement of fisheries regulations, and the promotion of sustainable fishing practices. We deepen the synergies between these strategies and their potential to mitigate human-induced stressors on top predator populations to safeguard their pivotal role in maintaining marine ecosystem structure and function. By examining marine top predators’ ecological significance, analyzing population trends, discussing monitoring techniques, and outlining effective mitigation strategies, we provide a comprehensive resource for researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders engaged in fostering ecosystem-based management approaches. We conclude that integrating these insights into current management frameworks will be essential to safeguard both top predators and the broader marine environment for future generations.

The Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on ESA Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite (S5-P) monitors the total column concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) as one of its primary targets. In this study, we present an approach to analyze the large amount of TROPOMI CO data and to estimate urban emissions on sub-city scales for metropolises like Mexico City. The results demonstrate the advance in using TROPOMI observations for monitoring regional air quality. To this end, we analyze about two years of TROPOMI CO measurements with 551 overpasses over Mexico City using tracer simulations of the regional Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Ten separate CO tracers for emissions of the districts Tula, Pachuca, Tulancingo, Ciudad de Mexico, Toluca, CDMX, Cuernavaca, Cuautla, Tlaxcala, and Puebla are used to conclude on the emissions of different urban districts. A regularized source inversion minimizes the difference with respect to a prior emission estimate. Here, the degree of freedom of the inferred sources is a powerful tool to filter on measurement information and forward model errors e.g. due to erroneous wind fields. We compare the estimated emissions with those of the national inventory ``Inventario Nacional de Emisiones de Contaminantes Criterio'' (INEM) multiplied by 0.48 to make it applicable for the years 2017 to 2019. Overall, TROPOMI confirms the total INEM CO emissions form the area but indicates clear differences in relative distribution of the emissions between the districts. For example, TROPOMI yields 0.11 Tg/yr and 0.10 Tg/yr CO emissions for the urban districts Tula and Pachuca in the North of Mexico City, which exceeds the INEM emissions of <0.008 Tg/yr. Also, for the central part of Mexico City (CDMX) the TROPOMI estimate with 0.14 Tg/yr differs significantly from the inventory with 0.25 Tg/yr. Moreover, we found that the retrieved emissions for CDMX and Ciudad de Mexico follow a clear weakly cycle with a minimum during the weekend in agreement with ground-based in situ measurements of the ``Secretaria del Medio Ambiente'' (SEDEMA) and column measurements of a Fourier Transform Spectrometer in Mexico City operated by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). To improve further the TROPOMI CO data exploitation, our study clearly indicates the need for improvements of regional models like WRF, in particular with respect to the prediction of the local wind fields.

Abstract To simplify shared-memory concurrent programming, languages have started to offer core support for high-level communications primitives, in the form of message passing though channels, in addition to lower-level synchronisation primitives. Yet, a growing body of evidence suggests that channel-based programming abstractions also have their issues. The Discourje project aims to help programmers cope with channels and concurrency bugs in Clojure programs, based on dynamic analysis. The idea is that programmers write not only implementations of communication protocols in their Clojure programs, but also specifications. Discourje then offers a run-time verification library to ensure that channel actions in implementations are safe relative to specifications. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of Discourje, including case studies, theoretical foundations, and practical aspects.

This report contains detailed information on the novel products for the Copernicus Marine Service concerning pollutants (mercury, plastic, oil, and different families of POPs) and stressors (bottom trawl fishery, climate change, and multiple stress) that will be delivered by NECCTON WP8. It provides specifications about the variables embedded in each product (Section 3). The different products are applied to different geographic areas (North-West European Shelf, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Arctic), as described in the dataset tables (Section 4).