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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Sciences

Recurrent Pattern Of Extreme Fire Weather In California, Rackhun Son, S-Y Simon Wang, Seung Hee Kim, Hyungjun Kim, Jee-Hoon Jeong, Jin-Ho Yoon Aug 2021

Recurrent Pattern Of Extreme Fire Weather In California, Rackhun Son, S-Y Simon Wang, Seung Hee Kim, Hyungjun Kim, Jee-Hoon Jeong, Jin-Ho Yoon

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Historical wildfire events in California have shown a tendency to occur every five to seven years with a rapidly increasing tendency in recent decades. This oscillation is evident in multiple historical climate records, some more than a century long, and appears to be continuing. Analysis shows that this 5–7 year oscillation is linked to a sequence of anomalous large-scale climate patterns with an eastward propagation in both the ocean and atmosphere. While warmer temperature emerges from the northern central Pacific to the west coast of California, La Niña pattern develops simultaneously, implying that the lifecycle of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation …


Investigating Decadal Changes Of Multiple Hydrological Products And Land-Cover Changes In The Mediterranean Region For 2009–2018, Wenzhao Li, Sachi Perera, Erik Linstead, Rejoice Thomas, Hesham El-Askary, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa Mar 2021

Investigating Decadal Changes Of Multiple Hydrological Products And Land-Cover Changes In The Mediterranean Region For 2009–2018, Wenzhao Li, Sachi Perera, Erik Linstead, Rejoice Thomas, Hesham El-Askary, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Land-cover change is a critical concern due to its climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic consequences. In this study, we used multiple variables including precipitation, vegetation index, surface soil moisture, and evapotranspiration obtained from different satellite sources to study their association with land-cover changes in the Mediterranean region. Both observational and modeling data were used for climatology and correlation analysis. Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) were used to extract surface soil moisture and evapotranspiration data. Intercomparing the results of FLDAS and GLDAS suggested that FLDAS data had better …


An Assessment Of The Filling Process Of The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam And Its Impact On The Downstream Countries, Prakrut Kansara, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Venkat Lakshmi, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa, Mohamed Abdelaty Sayed Feb 2021

An Assessment Of The Filling Process Of The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam And Its Impact On The Downstream Countries, Prakrut Kansara, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Venkat Lakshmi, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa, Mohamed Abdelaty Sayed

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), formerly known as the Millennium Dam, has been filling at a fast rate. This project has created issues for the Nile Basin countries of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The filling of GERD has an impact on the Nile Basin hydrology and specifically the water storages (lakes/reservoirs) and flow downstream. In this study, through the analysis of multi-source satellite imagery, we study the filling of the GERD reservoir. The time-series generated using Sentinel-1 SAR imagery displays the number of classified water pixels in the dam from early June 2017 to September 2020, indicating a contrasting …


An Assessment Of The Hydrological Trends Using Synergistic Approaches Of Remote Sensing And Model Evaluations Over Global Arid And Semi-Arid Regions, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Rejoice Thomas, Surya Prakash Tiwari, Karuppasamy Manikandan, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa Dec 2020

An Assessment Of The Hydrological Trends Using Synergistic Approaches Of Remote Sensing And Model Evaluations Over Global Arid And Semi-Arid Regions, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Rejoice Thomas, Surya Prakash Tiwari, Karuppasamy Manikandan, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Drylands cover about 40% of the world’s land area and support two billion people, most of them living in developing countries that are at risk due to land degradation. Over the last few decades, there has been warming, with an escalation of drought and rapid population growth. This will further intensify the risk of desertification, which will seriously affect the local ecological environment, food security and people’s lives. The goal of this research is to analyze the hydrological and land cover characteristics and variability over global arid and semi-arid regions over the last decade (2010–2019) using an integrative approach of …


Characterizing El Niño-Southern Oscillation Effects On The Blue Nile Yield And The Nile River Basin Precipitation Using Empirical Mode Decomposition, Justin A. Le, Hesham El-Askary, Mohamed Allali, Eman Sayed, Hani Sweliem, Thomas C. Piechota, Daniele C. Struppa Nov 2020

Characterizing El Niño-Southern Oscillation Effects On The Blue Nile Yield And The Nile River Basin Precipitation Using Empirical Mode Decomposition, Justin A. Le, Hesham El-Askary, Mohamed Allali, Eman Sayed, Hani Sweliem, Thomas C. Piechota, Daniele C. Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Using new mathematical and data-driven techniques, we propose new indices to measure and predict the strength of different El Niño events and how they affect regions like the Nile River Basin (NRB). Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), when applied to Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), yields three Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF) tracking recognizable and physically significant non-stationary processes. The aim is to characterize underlying signals driving ENSO as reflected in SOI, and show that those signals also meaningfully affect other physical processes with scientific and predictive utility. In the end, signals are identified which have a strong statistical relationship with various physical …


Long-Term Ndvi And Recent Vegetation Cover Profiles Of Major Offshore Island Nesting Sites Of Sea Turtles In Saudi Waters Of The Northern Arabian Gulf, Rommel H. Maneja, Jeffrey D. Miller, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Ace Vincent B. Flandez, Joshua J. Dagoy, Joselito Francis A. Alcaria, Abdullajid U. Basali, Khaled A. Al-Abdulkader, Ronald A. Loughland, Mohamed A. Qurban Jun 2020

Long-Term Ndvi And Recent Vegetation Cover Profiles Of Major Offshore Island Nesting Sites Of Sea Turtles In Saudi Waters Of The Northern Arabian Gulf, Rommel H. Maneja, Jeffrey D. Miller, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Ace Vincent B. Flandez, Joshua J. Dagoy, Joselito Francis A. Alcaria, Abdullajid U. Basali, Khaled A. Al-Abdulkader, Ronald A. Loughland, Mohamed A. Qurban

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Vegetation is an important ecological component of offshore islands in the Arabian Gulf (AG), which maintains long-term resilience of these islands. This is achieved by influencing sediment retention and moisture acquisition via condensation during periods of high humidity and by providing a variety of microhabitats for island fauna. The resilience of offshore islands’ ecosystems in the Saudi waters is important because they host the largest number of nesting hawksbill and green turtles in the AG. This study defines the characteristics and the long-term trends in vegetation cover of the offshore islands used by sea turtles as nesting grounds in the …


Earth Observation And Cloud Computing In Support Of Two Sustainable Development Goals For The River Nile Watershed Countries, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Venkat Lakshmi, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa Apr 2020

Earth Observation And Cloud Computing In Support Of Two Sustainable Development Goals For The River Nile Watershed Countries, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Venkat Lakshmi, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In September 2015, the members of United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with universal applicability of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. The SDGs are consequential for the development of the countries in the Nile watershed, which are affected by water scarcity and experiencing rapid urbanization associated with population growth. Earth Observation (EO) has become an important tool to monitor the progress and implementation of specific SDG targets through its wide accessibility and global coverage. In addition, the advancement of algorithms and tools deployed in cloud computing platforms provide an equal opportunity to use EO …


Incorporating Antecedent Soil Moisture Into Streamflow Forecasting, Abdoul Oubeidillah, Glenn Tootle, Thomas Piechota Jun 2019

Incorporating Antecedent Soil Moisture Into Streamflow Forecasting, Abdoul Oubeidillah, Glenn Tootle, Thomas Piechota

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

This study incorporates antecedent (preceding) soil moisture into forecasting streamflow volumes within the North Platte River Basin, Colorado/Wyoming (USA). The incorporation of antecedent soil moisture accounts for infiltration and can improve streamflow predictions. Current Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) forecasting methods are replicated, and a comparison is drawn between current NRCS forecasts and proposed forecasting methods using antecedent soil moisture. Current predictors used by the NRCS in regression-based streamflow forecasting include precipitation, streamflow persistence (previous season streamflow volume) and snow water equivalent (SWE) from SNOTEL (snow telemetry) sites. Proposed methods utilize antecedent soil moisture as a predictor variable in addition …


Assessment Of Agricultural Drought Considering The Hydrological Cycle And Crop Phenology In The Korean Peninsula, Chul-Hee Lim, Seung Hee Kim, Jong Ahn Chun, Menas Kafatos, Woo-Kyun Lee May 2019

Assessment Of Agricultural Drought Considering The Hydrological Cycle And Crop Phenology In The Korean Peninsula, Chul-Hee Lim, Seung Hee Kim, Jong Ahn Chun, Menas Kafatos, Woo-Kyun Lee

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Hydrological changes attributable to global warming increase the severity and frequency of droughts, which in turn affect agriculture. Hence, we proposed the Standardized Agricultural Drought Index (SADI), which is a new drought index specialized for agriculture and crops, and evaluated current and expected droughts in the Korean Peninsula. The SADI applies crop phenology to the hydrological cycle, which is a basic element that assesses drought. The SADI of rice and maize was calculated using representative hydrological variables (precipitation, evapotranspiration, and runoff) of the crop growing season. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of SADI, the three-month Standardized Precipitation Index, which …


On The Relationship Between Spring Nao And Snowmelt In The Upper Southwestern United States, Boksoon Myoung, Seung Hee Kim, Jinwon Kim, Menas Kafatos Mar 2017

On The Relationship Between Spring Nao And Snowmelt In The Upper Southwestern United States, Boksoon Myoung, Seung Hee Kim, Jinwon Kim, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

This study examines the relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and snowmelt in spring in the upper southwestern states of the United States (UP_SW) including California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, using SNOTEL datasets for 34 yr (1980–2014). Statistically significant negative correlations are found between NAO averages in the snowmelt period and timings of snowmelt (i.e., positive NAO phases in spring enhance snowmelt, and vice versa). It is also found that correlations between El Niño–Southern Oscillation and snowmelt are negligible in the region. The NAO–snowmelt relationship is most pronounced below the 2800-m level; above this level, the relationship becomes weaker. …


Variability And Trends Of Aerosol Properties Over Kanpur, Northern India Using Aeronet Data (2001–10), Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis, Ramesh P. Singh, Ritesh Gautam, Manish Sharma, P. G. Kosmopoulos, S. N. Tripathi Jan 2012

Variability And Trends Of Aerosol Properties Over Kanpur, Northern India Using Aeronet Data (2001–10), Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis, Ramesh P. Singh, Ritesh Gautam, Manish Sharma, P. G. Kosmopoulos, S. N. Tripathi

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Natural and anthropogenic aerosols over northern India play an important role in influencing the regional radiation budget, causing climate implications to the overall hydrological cycle of South Asia. In the context of regional climate change and air quality, we discuss aerosol loading variability and trends at Kanpur AERONET station located in the central part of the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), during the last decade (2001-10). Ground-based radiometric measurements show an overall increase in column-integrated aerosol optical depth (AOD) on a yearly basis. This upward trend is mainly due to a sustained increase in the seasonal/monthly averaged AOD during the winter (Dec-Feb) …