Data gaps in Earth Science

Representative open questions

Showing 30 of 127 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

• Integrative evidence reveals adaptive divergence and speciation in gentoo penguins (2026) · doi

  The paper integrates species distribution modeling (biomod2) with climate data (Turner et al. 2005, 2017) to project Gentoo Penguin range shifts, but does not incorporate fine-scale oceanographic variables (sea surface temperature, ice concentration, prey availability) specific to foraging habitats during breeding versus non-breeding seasons. Dynamic species distribution models coupling breeding and non-breeding niche requirements with decadal-resolution oceanographic datasets are required to improve predictive accuracy.

• The impact of aerosol-ice nuclei-cloud interactions on a typical spring dust-precipitation event in China (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies scarcity of real-time observations as a critical barrier to exploring detailed microphysical processes and mechanisms governing CCN and IN effects on cloud formation. Future work requires expansion of observational networks capable of measuring ice nucleating particles, cloud condensation nuclei, and their size-resolved characteristics during dust events.

• The 2022 hydraulic stimulation at Utah FORGE: investigating fracturing mechanisms and testing forecasting approaches (2026) · doi

  Forecasting models require approximately 1 hour of data to achieve reliable predictions in the HM1D model before the given dataset, but more data are needed to establish robust thresholds for different formation types and injection scenarios. The specific data duration and volume requirements for reliable forecasts across varying permeability conditions and stress regimes should be systematically characterized.

• Identifying regions that can constrain anthropogenic Hg emissions uncertainties through modelling (2026) · doi

  Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere (Araujo et al., 2022) is identified as a significant process using mercury isotope evidence, but the paper does not specify how this re-emission source should be quantified and included in regional emission constraint models, or what additional measurements from the cryosphere are needed to reduce uncertainty in this feedback mechanism.

• Spatial perspective on environmental migration: Empirical insights from a spatiotemporal approach in the United States, 1970–2010 (2026) · doi

  The spatiotemporal approach to environmental migration analysis in this study covers only the 1970–2010 period in the United States; extension of this spatial regression methodology to post-2010 data and comparison with more recent climate extremes and migration patterns would clarify whether the identified spatial dynamics persist under contemporary environmental conditions.

• Assessing the outdoor thermal comfort impact of nature-based urban interventions in dense informal settlement upgrading processes: the case of Barrio 20 in Buenos Aires (2026) · doi

  The participatory design process embedded within the Urban Laboratory for Barrio 20 is noted as translating climate risk into tangible spatial outcomes, but the paper does not measure or evaluate changes in resident decision-making, uptake of NbS recommendations, or shifts in stakeholder mindsets, limiting empirical evidence on the effectiveness of simulation-mediated participation for climate justice outcomes.

• Revisiting the global budget of atmospheric glyoxal: updates on terrestrial and marine precursor emissions, chemistry, and impacts on atmospheric oxidation capacity (2026) · doi

  The contribution of marine isoprene emissions from seaweeds and phytoplankton to the global glyoxal budget remains poorly quantified; measurements of isoprene and glyoxal concentrations in coastal regions with varying biological activity and detailed process-based parameterizations for open ocean emissions are needed.

• Global atmospheric methanol emissions inferred from IASI satellite measurements and aircraft data (2026) · doi

  Soil pH distribution for SO2 ground resistance calculation (Eq. A15) is obtained from Hengl et al. (2017), but the applicability of this global soil pH map to regional methanol deposition modeling and the impact of soil pH uncertainty on the inversion results are not quantified.

• Dynamics of island mass effect – Part 2: Phytoplankton physiological responses (2026) · doi

  The comparison of in situ bio-optical properties (chlorophyll a, backscattering coefficient, iron stress index) between inbound and outbound transects is confounded by different water masses being sampled, particularly for the Society Islands where 38 days separated the two transects; concurrent temporal sampling or Lagrangian tracking of the same water masses is needed to isolate island mass effect processes.

• CMIP7 Data Request: atmosphere priorities and opportunities (2026) · doi

  Instantaneous ozone sampling methodology (first day of every month) versus monthly-mean climatological ozone fields for radiation scheme diagnostics creates temporal discontinuities that require evaluation. The impact of this sampling frequency mismatch on the accuracy of methane and ozone radiative forcing estimates in CMIP7 models has not been quantified.

• Transport of volcanic aerosol from the Raikoke eruption in 2019 through the Northern Hemisphere (2026) · doi

  The paper uses ERA5 reanalysis at 0.3° × 0.3° spatial and 1 h temporal resolution for primary simulations, but only compares output against coarser ERA5 configurations (1° × 1° at 6 h resolution) in the appendix; systematic sensitivity analysis of how ERA5 resolution affects CLaMS tracer distribution accuracy for volcanic aerosol transport is not provided.

• Fracture Complexity and Seismicity Influenced by Mineral Heterogeneity and Fluid Viscosity in Hydraulic Fracturing of Simulated Crystalline Rock (2026) · doi

  G1 exhibits both larger b-value reduction with viscosity changes and higher grain-scale heterogeneity compared to G2, but the paper does not establish a quantitative correlation between heterogeneity metrics (such as grain boundary density, grain size variance, or elastic property contrast) and the magnitude of viscosity-induced seismicity changes.

• A garden of forking paths: an ecosystem-based fisheries management case study of Florida red tides (2026) · doi

  The paper notes that some ecosystem issues may have no immediate fishery management response due to insufficient information, but does not specify which knowledge gaps about red tide formation, propagation, or ecosystem effects on the West Florida Shelf are most critical to prioritize for research recommendations to overcome statutory authority limitations.

• Linking hosts, landscapes, and climate to advance zoonotic arbovirus forecasting (2026) · doi

  The eBird relative abundance dataset represents 'typical year' patterns averaged across multiple years, but the paper does not assess how inter-annual variation in bird migration timing affects correlation estimates with EEEV seroprevalence during the observed 2005-2019 period.

• The interplay of habitat quality and temperature shape demographic patterns of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in North America (2026) · doi

  The analysis characterized habitat quality through seasonal suitability metrics and winter severity through standardized indices, but did not explicitly incorporate forage nutritional content (protein, digestibility) or quantify how shifts in forage phenology due to temperature changes affect mule deer recruitment independent of habitat area availability.

• Marine chemistry special issue: Aerosol chemistry and impacts on the ocean (2010) · doi

  Phosphorus bioavailability from aerosol deposition is understudied relative to iron and aluminum. Anderson et al. (2010) raise the question of what aerosol phosphorus associations can reveal about P bioavailability, but quantitative data on fractional solubility of different aerosol phosphorus forms (organic, inorganic, particulate, dissolved) and their biological uptake efficiency are sparse.

• Climate Change, Food Security, and Scheduled Caste Women’s Livelihoods: A Field-Based Study of Rajnagar Block, Birbhum, West Bengal (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies that climate change has affected agricultural production leading to crop failures but does not quantify specific climate variables (rainfall patterns, temperature anomalies, drought frequency) or their temporal correlation with food security deterioration in Rajnagar Block during the study period.

• Environmental chemistry is the importance of chemistry to the environment (2014) · doi

  Struvite crystallization for nutrient recovery from wastewater has been reported to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus, thereby mitigating eutrophication, but the paper does not specify optimal conditions (pH, temperature, magnesium-to-phosphorus ratio) for maximizing slow-release fertilizer yield or comparative N2O emission data versus conventional urea at field scales.

• BEYOND OIL: AZERBAIJAN’S CLIMATE ACTION IN PRACTICE AND ITS EMERGING LOW-CARBON PATH (2026) · doi

  The Green Energy Zone initiative is described as having a 'formal presidential order and international technical cooperation,' but the paper lacks concrete data on the planned capacity expansion timeline, grid integration capacity constraints, or operational efficiency metrics for the zone beyond the initial 230 MW Garadagh solar plant commissioning.

• Turf Algae Monitoring on Artificial Reefs Using Underwater Photography and ImageJ (2026) · doi

  The study examined only early-stage colonization on artificial reef modules; benthic community succession pathways and the long-term implications of sediment-suppressed turf algae for downstream coral recruitment and reef ecosystem development require multi-year monitoring with ImageJ-based quantification and coral settlement plate deployments.

• Atmospheric moisture transport anomalies and vegetation response in arid coastal ecosystems: insights from the 2017 coastal El Niño in northern Peru (2026) · doi

  The analysis does not account for human land management practices that influence vegetation activity; incorporating land-use/land-cover data and agricultural management information into the LAI-WVT framework would help isolate natural moisture transport effects from anthropogenic vegetation dynamics in coastal arid regions.

• Earthquake Induced Landslide Identification to Support Landuse Planning in Rapid Growing Settlements Area of Imogiri and Dlingo Sub-District, Yogyakarta (2026) · doi

  The study uses Landsat-based classification for landuse change detection between 2013-2022, but does not specify the minimum mapping unit or validation accuracy achieved for distinguishing settlement encroachment into medium-susceptibility areas (64.08 km², 57% of study area). Finer-resolution multispectral or SAR data validation would be needed to refine settlement boundary delineation in steep terrain where shadow and slope distortion affect classification.

• From Installation to Preservation: An Inspection-Based Case Study of Drainage Vulnerability During Active Construction (2026) · doi

  The paper addresses site-scale sediment-control reinforcement through perimeter fencing and erosion maintenance but does not quantify the relationship between sediment fence placement distance from active drainage features and the effectiveness of preventing sediment entry during concurrent construction activities. Field studies measuring sediment transport pathways relative to sediment fence location are needed.

• Machine learning driven land surface temperature prediction and urban heat risk assessment in the Gambia (2026) · doi

  Unregulated land sales and rapid urbanization in areas like Brikama create dynamic land-use changes that occur between decadal mapping intervals. Real-time or higher-frequency remote sensing monitoring combined with machine learning models is needed to detect intra-decadal urban heat responses to unplanned settlement expansion.

• Atmospheric Simulation Chambers in the ACTRIS Research Infrastructure (2026) · doi

  Multiple studies document secondary organic aerosol formation from α-pinene ozonolysis in atmospheric chambers, but direct systematic comparison of hygroscopicity and optical properties across different chamber designs, wall materials, and operating conditions (humidity, temperature, residence time) is lacking, preventing chamber-independent validated datasets for climate modeling.

• Comprehensive study of anthropogenically unstable territory around the Rivne NPP, Ukraine (2026) · doi

  The study creates multi-layered GIS integrating infrastructure, settlements, vegetation, and hydrography with geodynamic monitoring data, but does not include integration with socio-economic and environmental data for multi-criteria risk assessment. Future research should develop specific protocols for coupling vertical displacement maps from DInSAR with socio-economic vulnerability indices and environmental data for comprehensive infrastructure risk management around nuclear facilities.

• Ionic Composition and Driving Factors of Salt Lake Brines in the Burabay Massif, Eastern Kazakhstan (2026) · doi

  Heavy metal analysis revealed maximum copper content in bottom sediments (D-1 and D-12 samples) with elevated zinc and barium concentrations, indicating areas of intense leaching or heavy metal accumulation. The spatial distribution, source mechanisms (lithogenic versus anthropogenic), and mobility of these heavy metals in the water column across the three geochemical evolution stages remain uncharacterized.

• Long-term nitrogen burial exceeds denitrification in global fjords (2026) · doi

  The study compiled a global dataset of sediment burial and microbial N2 production rates from fjords, but does not specify whether temporal dynamics of nitrogen removal were captured at seasonal or interannual scales, limiting understanding of how climate-driven oxygen fluctuations affect long-term nitrogen burial versus denitrification partitioning.

• Mechanisms of Intermediate-Depth Seismicity in Eastern Java: Insights from the 2021 Malang Intraslab Earthquake Sequence and Earthquake-Hazard Assessment (2026) · doi

  The observation that low b-values and high stress drops in the 2021 Malang sequence indicate a high-stress environment within the slab is not contextualized against b-value and stress-drop statistics from other intermediate-depth earthquake sequences in the Sunda Arc or globally comparable subduction zones. Systematic comparative analysis of seismicity rate parameters across Java's intraslab domains and adjacent subduction systems would clarify whether the Malang zone represents an anomalously stressed region or typical intraslab behavior.

• Selective extraction of metals from polymetallic nodules of Central Indian Ocean Basin through chemical partitioning (2026) · doi

  The paper does not address how the presence of rare earth elements (REEs), which are noted as critical metals in polymetallic nodules, are partitioned between Mn-rich and Fe-rich fractions using the described chemical partitioning technique. Specific investigation of light REE, heavy REE, and yttrium adsorption behavior during Fe-hydroxide separation would inform REE recovery strategies from nodules.