Engineering Commons^™

Fine-Resolution Climate Projections Enhance Regional Climate Change Impact Studies, Edwin P. Maurer, Levi Brekke, Tom Pruitt, Philip P. Duffy

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

A new data set enhances the abilities of researchers and decision-makers to assess possible future climates, explore societal impacts, and approach policy responses from a risk-based perspective. The data set, which consists of a library of 112 fine-resolution climate projections, based on 16 climate models and three greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, is now publicly available. Monthly climate projections from 1950 to 2099 were downscaled to a spatial resolution of 1/8° (about 140 square kilometers per grid cell) covering the conterminous United States and portions of Canada and Mexico.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 49 Number 2, Fall 2007, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE PRESIDENT By Ron Hansen. Set your alarm clock early-then get up and follow Paul Locatelli, S.J., through a day of leading the University and serving as pastor, professor, mayor, and CEO.

22 - BUILT BY IMMIGRANTS By Gerald McKevitt, S.J. How Italian Jesuits helped shape the American West, from religious devotions to curriculum to pasta.

28 - YOU ARE HERE By Sarah Stanek. SCU students and faculty collaborate on a groundbreaking project documenting early life at Mission Santa Clara-and the result is a book that's the first of its kind for …

Bright-Field Transmission Imaging Of Carbon Nanofibers On Bulk Substrate Using Conventional Scanning Electron Microscopy, Makoto Suzuki, Quoc Ngo, Hirohiko Kitsuki, Kristofer Gleason, Yusuke Ominami, Cary Y. Yang

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The authors present scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on a bulk substrate using conventional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) without specimen thinning. By utilizing the electron beam tilted >85° from the substrate normal, bright-field STEM contrast is obtained for the CNFs on substrate with conventional SEM. Analysis of the observed contrast using Monte Carlo simulation shows that the weakly scattered electrons transmitted from the CNF are selectively enhanced by the largely tilted substrate and result in the observed STEM contrast. This mechanism provides a useful STEM imaging technique to investigate the internal structure of materials on bulk …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 49 Number 1, Summer 2007, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - A CENTURY OF BRONCO BASKETBALL, By Jed Mettee and Steven Boyd Saum. Celebrating the first hundred seasons.

12 - A FAMILY SHOW By Steven Boyd Saum. Meet new men's basketball coach Kerry Keating.

14 - A SPACE THAT TALKS TO NATURE By Miriam Schulman. A team of SCU students aim to win the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon. And save the planet.

19 - EPITAPH FOR THE JOURNEY A poem by Paul Mariani.

22 - THE BUZZ ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY By John Farnsworth. When we talk about "sustainability," what are we really talking about?

26 - THE GREEN TAX …

Detection, Attribution, And Sensitivity Of Trends Toward Earlier Streamflow In The Sierra Nevada, Edwin P. Maurer, Iris T. Stewart-Frey, Celine Bonfils, Philip B. Duffy, Daniel R. Cayan

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Observed changes in the timing of snowmelt dominated streamflow in the western United States are often linked to anthropogenic or other external causes. We assess whether observed streamflow timing changes can be statistically attributed to external forcing, or whether they still lie within the bounds of natural (internal) variability for four large Sierra Nevada (CA) basins, at inflow points to major reservoirs. Streamflow timing is measured by “center timing” (CT), the day when half the annual flow has passed a given point. We use a physically based hydrology model driven by meteorological input from a global climate model to quantify …

Uncertainty In Hydrologic Impacts Of Climate Change In The Sierra Nevada, California Under Two Emissions Scenarios, Edwin P. Maurer

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

A hydrologic model was driven by the climate projected by 11 GCMs under two emissions scenarios (the higher emission SRES A2 and the lower emission SRES B1) to investigate whether the projected hydrologic changes by 2071–2100 have a high statistical confidence, and to determine the confidence level that the A2 and B1 emissions scenarios produce differing impacts. There are highly significant average temperature increases by 2071–2100 of 3.7°C under A2 and 2.4°C under B1; July increases are 5°C for A2 and 3°C for B1. Two high confidence hydrologic impacts are increasing winter streamflow and decreasing late spring and summer flow. …

Current-Induced Breakdown Of Carbon Nanofibers, Makoto Suzuki, Yusuke Ominami, Quoc Ngo, Cary Y. Yang, Alan M. Cassell, Jun Li

Electrical and Computer Engineering

We present a study of high-field transport in carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and breakdown phenomena due to current stress. In situ measurements with scanning transmission electron microscopy reveal that the failure mode of CNFs is strongly related to the morphology of graphite layers comprising CNFs. Comparison with carbon nanotube (CNT) breakdown is made, demonstrating that the current capacity of CNFs is described by a similar model as that of CNTs with a modification of the current capacity of each graphitic layer. The maximum current density is correlated with resistivity, leading to the conclusion that lower resistivity results in higher current capacity …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 48 Number 4, Spring 2007, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - ARCHAEOLOGISTS OF THE CARIBBEAN By Monte Lorenzet. Eye patch and peg leg-we all know what makes a pirate. Or do we? Only recently have scientists taken a serious look at the archeology of piracy, with SCU's Russ Skowronek one of the hearties unearthing facts buried beneath centuries of myth.

12 - ARE PEOPLE GETTING CRAZIER? By Thomas G. Plante. From what the media offers every day, you can't help but think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. What's really going on? And what can we do about it?

21 - A TEACHABLE MOMENT Q&A with …

Monte Carlo Simulation Of Scanning Electron Microscopy Bright Contrast Images Of Suspended Carbon Nanofibers, Makoto Suzuki, Toshishige Yamada, Cary Y. Yang

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The authors present a Monte Carlo study of previously observed bright contrast from carbon nanofibers suspended over the underlying substrate using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analysis shows that the origin of the bright contrast is mainly the increase in the secondary electron signal from the substrate when a gap between the nanofiber and substrate exists. The SEM signal dependence on the gap height is well reproduced by Monte Carlo simulation as well as a derived analytical expression. The bright contrast prevails when the SEM beam size is much smaller than the nanofiber diameter.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 49 Number 3, Winter 2007, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - TOUGH CALL By Jim Shepard. Mike Carey '71 reveals what it takes to earn your stripes as a head ref in the NFL.

16 - REDEFINING NATURE By Steven Boyd Saum. Is it the end of wilderness as we know it? And could genetically modified crops be better for the environment? Read what SCU scientists are saying.

18 - THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU A transglobal photo essay by David Pace.

24 - PANETTA ON IRAQ By Farid Senzai. A Q&A with Leon Panetta '60, J.D. '63, member of the Iraq Study Group and chief of staff …