Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Soil Composition

Activities

Soil, dirt, sediment, what’s the difference? Depending upon whom you ask, you might get a radically different answer. Some sources state that the only difference between them has to do with their location: soil is the unconsolidated material on the ground, dirt is that same matter on your hands or clothes, and sediment is the same material on the bottom of a river or lake. Others define the differences based upon the size and shape of the material grains. For the purposes of this activity, we are going to define things the following ways. Soil is a complex, unconsolidated mixture …

Stable Isotopes In Atmospheric Water Vapour From Mauna Loa, Hawaii, 2016-2017, Joseph Galewsky

Earth and Planetary Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The isotopic composition of atmospheric water vapor (1H216O, H218O, and 1H2H16O) was continuously measured at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) from April 8, 2016 through March 13, 2017 using Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy (OA-ICOS). The dataset has been carefully corrected for humidity-dependent biases and calibrated against the international VSMOW-SLAP scale to provide a precise, continuous, nearly yearlong dataset from a dynamic subtropical setting. The measurements are provided with 15-minute and 6-hourly resolution.

Impact Of Heatwave On A Megacity: An Observational Analysis Of New York City During July 2016, Prathap Ramamurthy, Jorge Gonzalez, Luis E. Ortiz, Mark Arend, Fred Moshary

Publications and Research

More than half of the world's current population resides in urban areas, and cities account for roughly three-quarters of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Current and future trends in urbanization will have significant impacts on global climate. However, our collective understanding of the climate of urban areas remains deficient, which is mainly related to significant knowledge gaps in observations. The New York City Summer Heat Campaign was initiated to address some of these critical knowledge gaps. As part of the campaign the urban boundary layer over New York City was continuously monitored during July 2016, a period that witnessed three …

Small-Scale Maine Farmers’ Perceptions And Adaptations To Climate Change, Shireen Luick

Honors College

Climate change is affecting agricultural practices in Maine and all over the world, and this research aims to highlight the effects of climate change on small-scale Maine farmers. Maine has a highly variable climate as well as a strong tradition in agriculture and thus it is important to understand how the different changes may affect farmers statewide. Ten interviews were conducted with small-scale farmers in western Maine. We ask what farmers are perceiving in terms of climatic changes and how they may be adapting to those ongoing changes. Several adaptations resulted from both shifting temperature and precipitation patterns. This research …

A Supply Chain Framework For Characterizing Indirect Vulnerability, Charlotte Kendra Z. Gotangco, Abigail Marie T. Favis, Ma. Aileen Leah G. Guzman, Marion Lara Tan, Carissa Quintana, Jairus Carmela C. Josol

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Purpose

Climate vulnerability assessments are often operationalized by the analysis of indicators defined by the spatial boundaries of the community under study. These, however, sometimes fail to capture interdependency among communities for basic resources. This paper aims to propose a framework for characterizing vulnerability caused by interdependency by adapting a supply chain lens.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proposes a definition for “indirect vulnerability” that recognizes the transboundary and teleconnected nature of vulnerability arising from resource networks among cities and communities. A conceptual framework using a supply chain approach is presented for climate hazards in particular. This approach is then demonstrated through …

Ergot And Loline Alkaloid Concentrations In Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Tillers, Rebecca L. Mcculley

Forage Climate Change Experiment Research Data

Approximately 40 tall fescue tillers were randomly collected and frozen from each of the 20 treatment plots.

Tillers were cut at 7.6 cm above ground level and tested for the presence of the Epichloe endophyte using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Tillers from each plot were sorted into 'infected' vs 'uninfected' groups, lyophilized, and ground through a 1mm screen using a Cyclotec 1093 mill.

Ground material from the endophyte infected tillers was analyzed for ergot and loline alkaloids in the lab of Lowell Bush at the University of Kentucky, Plant and Soil Sciences Dept.

For details on alkaloid analyses see: McCulley …

Long-Term Analysis Of The Asynchronicity Between Temperature And Precipitation Maxima In The United States Great Plains, Paul Flanagan, Jeffrey B. Basara, Xiangming Xiao

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Agriculture is a critical industry to the economy of the Great Plains (GP) region of North America and sensitive to change in weather and climate. Thus, improved knowledge of meteorological and climatological conditions during the growing season and associated variability across spatial and temporal scales is important. A distinct climate feature in the GP is the asynchronicity (AS) between the timing of temperature and precipitation maxima. This study investigated a long-term observational data set to quantify the AS and to address the impacts of climate variability and change. Global Historical Climate Network Daily (GHCN-Daily) data were utilized for this study; …

Geospatial Drivers Of The Groundwater Δ18o Isoscape In A Temperate Maritime Climate (Republic Of Ireland), S. Regan, R. Goodhue, O. Naughton, Paul Hynds

Articles

In recent years, the concept of “isoscapes” has been used to describe spatiotemporal stable isotope distributions within natural environments including groundwater systems at multiple scales. This study presents an updated groundwater δ18O isoscape for the Republic of Ireland and describes the climatic and geological drivers influencing 18O composition. In all, 142 geographically and geologically representative groundwater installations were sampled and analysed, in addition to 35 samples from six nested boreholes. Geospatially, Irish groundwater exhibits high δ18O values in southern and western coastal regions, becoming progressively depleted inland before reaching lowest measured values along the eastern coast, equating to a national …

Biotic Changes Around The Radioisotopically Constrained Carboniferous-Permian Boundary In The Boskovice Basin (Czech Republic), Stanislav Oplustil, Jakub Jirásek, Mark Schmitz, Dalibor Matýsek

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presented is an analysis of vegetation patterns across the Carboniferous-Permian boundary in continental setting constrained for the first time in Europe and North America by high-precision U-Pb radioisotopic dating. The analysis is performed on the fossil record of the Boskovice Basin (Czech Republic), a Late Palaeozoic half-graben having ~ 5 km of cumulative thickness. It is dominantly a red bed succession containing numerous grey, mostly lacustrine horizons bearing fairly rich fossil floras and faunas of Late Pennsylvanian to Cisuralian age. U-Pb geochronology on single zircon crystals separated from a volcanic tuff near the top of the Rosice-Oslavany Formation, in the …

Wind Climatology: A Study Of Trends On Rodgers' Dry Lakebed, Dana Coppernoll-Houston

STAR Program Research Presentations

A number of smaller projects at the Armstrong Flight Research Center fly on or close to the ground and are subject to ground-level winds. Many of these are new prototype models, such as PRANDTL-D (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag). Waiting for the right conditions on a day of variable winds can sometimes mean that teams fail to complete testing. A strategic analysis of wind behavior at a locations where winds can vary greatly due to terrain could lend insight into the best times to test for near-ground aircraft. The purpose of this project was to data mine historical …

Water Resilient Cities: Climate Change, Infrastructure, Economies And Governance In The Great Lakes Basin, Wendy A. Kellogg

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Infrastructure, Economies, And Governance In The Great Lakes Basin, Wendy A. Kellogg

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Experimental Evidence For Drought Induced Alternative Stable States Of Soil Moisture, David A. Robinson, Scott B. Jones, Inma Lebron, Sabine Reinsch, Maria T. Dominguez, Andrew R. Smith, Davey L. Jones, Miles R. Marshall, Bridget A. Emmett

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Ecosystems may exhibit alternative stable states (ASS) in response to environmental change. Modelling and observational data broadly support the theory of ASS, however evidence from manipulation experiments supporting this theory is limited. Here, we provide long-term manipulation and observation data supporting the existence of drought induced alternative stable soil moisture states (irreversible soil wetting) in upland Atlantic heath, dominated by Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. Manipulated repeated moderate summer drought, and intense natural summer drought both lowered resilience resulting in shifts in soil moisture dynamics. The repeated moderate summer drought decreased winter soil moisture retention by ∼10%. However, intense summer drought, …

Nres/Metr/Bsen 479/879: Hydroclimatology—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Francisco Munoz-Arriola

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Rising temperatures and extreme hydrometeorological and climate events are evidences of a changing climate. An increasing population together with their demands for food, energy and water make changes in climate evidence the need to train a new generation of multidisciplinary professionals with a clear understanding of the effects of a changing climate in their activities. Historically, climate sciences were used for scientific and weather operational contexts and engineers applied stationary assumptions for multi-term planning. My goal is to identify elements built from classroom experiences about (a) the suitability of a hydroclimatology course for engineers and scientists; (b) the multidisciplinary skills; …

Controls On Interannual Variability In Lightning-Caused Fire Activity In The Western Us, John T. Abatzoglou, Crystal A. Kolden, Jennifer K. Balch, Bethany A. Bradley

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Lightning-caused wildfires account for a majority of burned area across the western United States (US), yet lightning remains among the more unpredictable spatiotemporal aspects of the fire environment and a challenge for both modeling and managing fire activity. A data synthesis of cloudto-ground lightning strikes, climate and fire data across the western US from 1992 to 2013 was conducted to better understand geographic variability in lightning-caused wildfire and the factors that influence interannual variability in lightning-caused wildfire at regional scales. Distinct geographic variability occurred in the proportion of fires and area burned attributed to lightning, with a majority of fires …

Not Only Climate: Interacting Drivers Of Treeline Change In Europe, Dominik Kulakowski, Ignacio Barbeito, Alejandro Casteller, Ryszard J. Kaczka, Peter Bebi

Geography

Treelines have long been recognized as important ecotones and likely harbingers of climate change. However, over the last century many treelines have been affected not only by global warming, but also by the interactions of climate, forest disturbance and the consequences of abrupt demographic and economic changes. Recent research has increasingly stressed how multiple ecological, biophysical, and human factors interact to shape ecological dynamics. Here we highlight the need to consider interactions among multiple drivers to more completely understand and predict treeline dynamics in Europe.

Models Describing The Sea Level Rise In Key West, Florida, Karm-Ervin Jean

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lately, we have been noticing an unusual rise in the sea level near many Floridian cities. By 2060, scientists believe that the sea level in the city of Key West will reach between 22.86 to 60.96 centimeters (Strauss et al. 2012). The consequences of sea level rise are unpleasant by gradually tearing away our beaches and natural resources, destroying our homes and businesses, etc. Definitively, a continual increase of the sea level will affect everyone either directly or indirectly.

In this study, the sea level measurements of four Floridian coastal cities (including Key West) are collected in order to describe …

Sustainability@Bsu - Fall 2015, Center For Sustainability, Bridgewater State University

Center for Sustainability Magazine

No abstract provided.

Slides: Gwc Review Report, Larry Macdonnell

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Larry MacDonnell, University of Colorado Law School

12 slides

Springtime Melt Onset On Arctic Sea Ice From Satellite Observations And Related Atmospheric Conditions, Angela C. Bliss

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The timing of snowmelt onset (MO) on Arctic sea ice derived from passive microwave satellite data is examined by determining the melting area (in km²) on a daily basis for the spring and summer melt season months over the 1979 – 2012 data record. The date of MO on Arctic sea ice has important implications for the amount of total solar energy absorbed by the ice-ocean system in a given year. Increasingly early mean MO dates have been recorded over the 34-year data record as evidenced by statistically significant trends of 6.6 days decade^-1 over the extent …

Strengthening The Role Of Universities In Addressing Sustainability Challenges: The Mitchell Center For Sustainability Solutions As An Institutional Experiment, David Hart, Kathleen P. Bell, Laura Lindenfeld, Shaleen Jain, Teresa Johnson, Darren Ranco, Brian Mcgill

Publications

As the magnitude, complexity, and urgency of many sustainability problems increase, there is a growing need for universities to contribute more effectively to problem solving. Drawing upon prior research on social-ecological systems, knowledge-action connections, and organizational innovation, we developed an integrated conceptual framework for strengthening the capacity of universities to help society understand and respond to a wide range of sustainability challenges. Based on experiences gained in creating the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions (Mitchell Center), we tested this framework by evaluating the experiences of interdisciplinary research teams involved in place-based, solutions-oriented research projects at the scale …

Perspectivas Culturais Na Comunicação Climática (Cultural Perspectives On Climate Communication), Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

Este artigo considera que a previsão climática deve ser interpretada dentro de contextos sociais, culturais e linguísticos. Dentro de uma perspectiva antropológica baseada em entrevistas, observações e um questionário, será investigado como mudanças no meio-ambiente são entendidas por diferentes indivíduos, e transformadas em previsões que são comunicadas a diversos públicos. A linguagem utilizada e a maneira como a previsão é comunicada depende da experiência e dos objetivos do previsor, enquanto que a interpretação e a avaliação da previsão por outros são influenciadas por seus diferentes objetivos, atitudes, conhecimento e práticas. Esta etnografia da comunicação enfatiza o processo da comunicação das …

Negative Feedbacks On Bark Beetle Outbreaks: Widespread And Severe Spruce Beetle Infestation Restricts Subsequent Infestation, Sarah J. Hart, Thomas T. Veblen, Nathan Mietkiewicz, Dominik Kulakowski

Geography

Understanding disturbance interactions and their ecological consequences remains a major challenge for research on the response of forests to a changing climate. When, where, and how one disturbance may alter the severity, extent, or occurrence probability of a subsequent disturbance is encapsulated by the concept of linked disturbances. Here, we evaluated 1) how climate and forest habitat variables, including disturbance history, interact to drive 2000s spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) infestation of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) across the Southern Rocky Mountains; and 2) how previous spruce beetle infestation affects subsequent infestation across the Flat Tops Wilderness in northwestern Colorado, which experienced …

Climate, Environmental And Socio-Economic Change: Weighing Up The Balance In Vector-Borne Disease Transmission, Paul E. Parham, Joanna Waldock, George K. Christophides, Deborah Hemming, Folashade Agusto, Katherine J. Evans, Nina Fefferman, Holly Gaff, Abba Gumel, Shannon Ladeau

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Arguably one of the most important effects of climate change is the potential impact on human health. While this is likely to take many forms, the implications for future transmission of vector-borne diseases (VBDs), given their ongoing contribution to global disease burden, are both extremely important and highly uncertain. In part, this is owing not only to data limitations and methodological challenges when integrating climate-driven VBD models and climate change projections, but also, perhaps most crucially, to the multitude of epidemiological, ecological and socio-economic factors that drive VBD transmission, and this complexity has generated considerable debate over the past 10-15 …

Remote Sensing And Modeling Of Atmospheric Dust And Studying Its Impact On Environment, Weather, And Climate, Hesham El-Askary, Seon K. Park, Slobodan Nickovic, Mian Chin

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

An overview of the 2015 volume of Advances in Meteorology, which was co-edited by Chapman faculty member Dr. Hesham El-Askary.

Decision Support Tools To Address Climate Change: Climate Model - Land Surface Models, Zea Mays L. (Corn) Phenology And Evapotranspiration-Yield Sensitivity Models For Nebraska, Usa., Jane A. Okalebo

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nebraska's climate is highly variable and is expected to change in the future with anthropogenic global warming (AGW), resulting in warmer spring and summer temperatures coupled with more erratic rainfall events. This has strong implications for agriculture in the region, yet it is not clear that current modeling and decision-support tools are adequate to address these looming changes and provide planning, mitigation and adaptation strategies. To address climate change and its implications to agriculture in Nebraska, a set of robust decision support tools are very crucial. This study herein are divided into three chapters, with each chapter addressing a specific …

Effects Of Ocean Acidification On The Dissolution Rates Of Reef-Coral Skeletons, Robert Van Woesik, Kelly Van Woesik, Liana Van Woesik, Sandra Van Woesik

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification threatens the foundation of tropical coral reefs. This study investigated three aspects of ocean acidification: (i) the rates at which perforate and imperforate coral-colony skeletons passively dissolve when pH is 7.8, which is predicted to occur globally by 2100, (ii) the rates of passive dissolution of corals with respect to coral-colony surface areas, and (iii) the comparative rates of a vertical reef-growth model, incorporating passive dissolution rates, and predicted sea-level rise. By 2100, when the ocean pH is expected to be 7.8, perforate Montipora coral skeletons will lose on average 15 kg CaCO3 m􀀀2 y􀀀1, which is approximately …

Evidence Of Climate Variability And Tropical Cyclone Activity From Diatom Assemblage Dynamics In Coastal Southwest Florida, Emily R. Nodine

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Estuaries are dynamic on many spatial and temporal scales. Distinguishing effects of unpredictable events from cyclical patterns can be challenging but important to predict the influence of press and pulse drivers in the face of climate change. Diatom assemblages respond rapidly to changing environmental conditions and characterize change on multiple time scales. The goals of this research were to 1) characterize diatom assemblages in the Charlotte Harbor watershed, their relationships with water quality parameters, and how they change in response to climate; and 2) use assemblages in sediment cores to interpret past climate changes and tropical cyclone activity.

Diatom assemblages …

Eocene-Oligocene Latitudinal Climate Gradients In North America Inferred From Stable Isotope Ratios In Perissodactyl Tooth Enamel, Alessandro Zanazzi, Emily Judd, Andrew Fletcher, Harold Bryant, Matthew J. Kohn

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Eocene-Oligocene transition (~ 34 Ma) was one of the most pronounced episodes of climate change of the Cenozoic. In order to investigate this episode of global climate cooling in North America, we analyzed the carbon and oxygen stable isotope composition of the carbonate component of 19 perissodactyl (horse and rhino) tooth enamel samples from the Eocene-Oligocene rocks of the Cypress Hills Formation (southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada); we then compared the results with previously published data from the US Great Plains (Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming).

Average (± 1σ) perissodactyl enamel δ¹³C values (vs. V-PDB) in the Eocene (-8.8 …

Discovery Of Shallow-Marine Biofacies Conodonts In A Bioherm Within The Carboniferous-Permian Transition In The Omalon Massif, Ne Russia Near The North Paleo-Pole: Correlation With A Warming Spike In The Southern Hemisphere, Vladimir I. Davydov, Alexander S. Biakov

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The conodont genera Hindeodus and Streptognathodus are reported for the first time within the Carboniferous-Permian transition in the northern high latitudes of the Paren’ River, Omolon Massif, NE Russia. Several fossil groups, including brachiopods, bivalves, scaphopods and microgastropods were found to be prolific in the invertebrate-dominated bioherms. These bioherms occur within predominantly siliciclastic sequences with extremely poor fauna, whereas in the studied bioherms the diversity of the bivalves and brachiopods exceeded observed diversity elsewhere in coeval facies in NE Russia. The bioherms are biostratigraphically constrained as uppermost Pennsylvanian to lowermost Cisuralian based on ammonoids. The very unusual peak of bivalve …