Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Climate And Soil Moisture Dynamics Inform Potential Climate Change Impacts On Available Moisture And Juvenile Tree Survival In Semiarid Forests, Carolyn R. Koehn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Trees in semiarid forests and woodlands of the western United States need soil moisture to transpire and function. Juvenile trees are especially vulnerable during periods of low soil moisture as their rooting zones are smaller and shallower than those of adult trees. This thesis focuses on two soil moisture-driven aspects of semiarid forests that may be modified by climate change: seasonal soil moisture patterns and juvenile tree survival.

In chapter 1, I investigated the influence of precipitation on soil moisture across seasons, elevations, soil layers, and periods of low and high precipitation. I developed time-varying definitions of winter (snow accumulation), …

Utilization Of Remote Sensing Data For Estimation Of The Groundwater Storage Variation, Gaurang Mistry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Groundwater is the most extracted raw material, with an average withdrawal rate of 982 km3 per year, where 70 percent of the total groundwater withdrawn is used for agriculture globally (Margat & van der Gun, 2013). With climate change and increased water demands in recent years, monitoring the changes in the groundwater storage is of the utmost importance. This thesis presents an analysis that determines the rates, trends, and directions where groundwater storage is going in Pakistan. It also correlates fluctuations in groundwater storage with variations in precipitation and agricultural productivity in the country. The overall objectives of this thesis …

Hydroclimatic Forecasting In The Western United States Using Paleoclimate Reconstructions And Data-Driven Models, Christopher Allen Carrier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis investigated climate variability and their associated hydrologic responses in the western United States. The western United States faces the problem of water scarcity, where the management and mitigation of available water supplies are further complicated by climate variability. Climate variability associated with the phases of oceanic-atmospheric oscillations has been shown to influence streamflow and precipitation, where predictive relationships have led to the possibility of producing long-range forecasts. Based on literature review, four oceanic-atmospheric oscillation indices were identified in having the most prominent influence over the western United States including the El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal …