Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Assessing Airborne Radar To Map Glacier Elevations In Alpine Terrain Including Estimated Glacier Volume Change, Bryce Allen Glenn

Dissertations and Theses

Alpine glaciers and perennial snowfields (G&PS) are important hydrologically and ecologically, providing meltwater during the hottest and driest summer periods. Climate warming shrinks these natural reservoirs while temporarily providing increased streamflow. To assess regional changes in glacier volume, from which contribution to streamflow can be estimated, I used NASA's Airborne Glacier and Ice Surface Topography Interferometer (GLISTIN). This instrument mapped the surface topography of alpine glaciers; differencing these elevations from historic elevations derived from topographic maps, volume change is calculated. GLISTIN was flown over the glacier-populated mountain ranges of the western U.S. Of the 3289 glaciers and perennial snowfields with …

Environmental And Spatial Factors Affecting Surface Water Quality In A Himalayan Watershed, Central Nepal, Janardan Mainali, Heejun Chang

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Various spatial interrelationships among sampling stations are not well explored in the spatial modeling of water quality literature. This research explores the relationship between water quality and various social, demographic, and topographic factors in an urbanizing watershed of Nepal with a comparison of different connectivity matrices to conceptualize spatial interrelationships. We collected electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen data from surface water bodies using a handheld probe and used the data to establish relationships with land use, topography, and population density-based explanatory variables at both watershed and 100-m buffer scales. The linear regression model was compared with different eigenvector-based spatial filtering …

The Right To Urban Streams: Quantitative Comparisons Of Stakeholder Perceptions In Defining Adaptive Stream Restoration, Chang-Yu Hong, Eun-Sung Chung, Heejun Chang

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assuring healthy streams in the urban environment is a major goal for restoration scientists, urban planners, and city practitioners around the globe. In South Korea, many urban stream restoration efforts are designed to provide safe water to society and enhance ecological functions. We examined the extent to which the individual interests and different values of multiple stakeholders were considered in previous decision-making in two urban stream restoration projects. The relevant data on stream restoration were collected through the nominal group technique (NGT) and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for the two stream cases of a populated inland area and a …

High-Severity And Short-Interval Wildfires Limit Forest Recovery In The Central Cascade Range, Sebastian Upton Busby, Kevan B. Moffett, Andres Holz

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasing forest fuel aridity with climate change may be expanding mid-to-high-elevation forests’ vulnerability to large, severe, and frequent wildfire. Long-lasting changes in forests’ structure and composition may occur if dominant tree species are poorly adapted to shifting wildfire patterns. We hypothesized that altered fire activity may lower existing forest resilience and disrupt the recovery of upper-montane and subalpine conifer forest types. We empirically tested this hypothesis by quantifying post-fire forest structure and conifer tree regeneration after spatially large, severe, and rapidly repeated wildfires (

Variability In Historical Fire Patterns Of A Moist Mixed-Conifer Forest In The Northern Blue Mountains Of Oregon, Laura Marie Platt

Dissertations and Theses

High variability in historical fire patterns characteristic to mixed-severity fire regimes is expected to have contributed to a structurally heterogeneous landscape throughout much of the forested ecosystems of the western United States. After more than a hundred years of fire exclusion in the region, many forests have shifted to a more homogeneous structure, which raises concern regarding these forests' ability to sustain expected increases in fire activity with a warming climate. The shift is not uniform across the west, however, and differences in historical disturbance patterns and changes due to land management are not well characterized in forests across a …

Pre-Emptive Detection Of Mature Pine Drought Stress Using Multispectral Aerial Imagery, Nancy Grulke, Jason Maxfield, Phillip Riggan, Charlie Schrader-Patton

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Drought, ozone (O₃), and nitrogen deposition (N) alter foliar pigments and tree crown structure that may be remotely detectable. Remote sensing tools are needed that pre-emptively identify trees susceptible to environmental stresses could inform forest managers in advance of tree mortality risk. Jeffrey pine, a component of the economically important and widespread western yellow pine in North America was investigated in the southern Sierra Nevada. Transpiration of mature trees differed by 20% between microsites with adequate (mesic (M)) vs. limited (xeric (X)) water availability as described in a previous study. In this study, in-the-crown morphological traits (needle chlorosis, …

A Multivariate Assessment Of Climate Change Projections Over South America Using Cmip5, Valerie Maria Thaler

Dissertations and Theses

A multivariate assessment of climate model projections over South America from the CMIP5 archive is presented. Change in near-surface temperature, precipitation, evapotranspiration, integrated water vapor transport (IVT), sea level pressure, and wind at multiple pressure levels is quantified across the multi-model suite and an assessment of model-to-model agreement on projected change performed. All models project warming by the mid- and late-21st century throughout the continent, with the highest magnitude projected over tropical regions. The CMIP5 models are in strong agreement that precipitation will decrease in all seasons over portions of Patagonia, especially along the northern portions of the current-climate mid-latitude …

Assessing Adaptive Capacity To Climate And Population Change At The Urban-Rural Interface: Human-Water System Dynamics In The Hood River Valley, Oregon, Alexander Reid Ross

Dissertations and Theses

An exurban nook on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge named after the Hood River that runs northward from the glaciers of Mount Hood to the confluence seems ideally poised for the kind of relaxed, natural lifestyle that once brought suburban areas their appeal. However, like other exurban areas, Hood River also lies at an uncertain fault-line between economic and environmental transformation in the U.S.'s exurbs.

This study maps the socio-economic and climatological transformations of exurban areas as they contend with different approaches to sustainability and resilience. To determine the major climate and development hazards facing exurban areas …

Wildlife Connectivity Modeling For The Northern Red-Legged Frog In The Portland Metropolitan Area, Oregon, Amanda Hilary Temple

Dissertations and Theses

Effective habitat connectivity tools that use GIS data perform well in remote areas but may not be as dependable in urban environments. The goal was to study uses and limitations of a conservation management tool in development, the Metro Regional Habitat Connectivity Toolkit, which evaluates connectivity for and permeability of wildlife movement. Habitat quality scores are generated from GIS-derived and field collected data such as connectivity patch/matrix characteristics, water source, vegetation, other structural components, wildlife observations, and human disturbance at survey sites. I compared GIS and field generated habitat quality scores for the Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora) …

A 30-Yr Climatology Of Meteorological Conditions Associated With Lightning Days In The Interior Western United States, Dmitri Alexander Kalashnikov, Paul Loikith, Arielle J. Catalano, Duane E. Waliser, Huikyo Lee, John T. Abatzoglou

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

A 30-yr climatology of lightning days and associated synoptic meteorological patterns are characterized across the interior western United States (WUS). Locally centered composite analyses show preferred synoptic meteorological patterns with positive 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies located to the northeast and negative sea level pressure anomalies to the northwest and collocated with local lightning days. Variations in preferred patterns for local lightning days are seen across the interior WUS. Areas not commonly affected by the North American monsoon system including the western Great Basin and northern Rocky Mountains show higher-amplitude anomalies of geopotential height, moisture, and midtropospheric instability patterns suggesting the …

Unpacking The Process And Outcomes Of Ethical Markets: A Focus On Certified B Corporations, Renée Bogin Curtis

Dissertations and Theses

The growth in conscious consumption presents an opportunity to 1) better understand the potential outcomes of ethical market practices as a community-advocacy tool and 2) to consider potential policy considerations. The marketplace has increasingly become an arena for social action. This leads to the question of how can markets facilitate ethical business practices and community benefits? The recent rise of social benefit corporations warrants an evaluation of the outcomes of ethically-driven markets. Using a comparative research design and qualitative interview methods, this study examines certified Benefit Corporations (B Corps) in two selected cities: Philadelphia and Portland. Through interviews with B …

Warmer Conditions Favor Conifer Tree Establishment At The Muddy River Lahar In Mt. St. Helens, Washington, Ignacio D. Falcon-Dvorsky

Dissertations and Theses

Climate variability impacts on Pacific Northwest forests are of great concern, especially on evergreen coniferous ecosystems which dominate a large portion of the landscape. Understanding the effect of climate variability and its potential impacts on forest regeneration is crucial, as this is a foundational process with long-lasting consequences on structure and composition of future ecosystems. The objective of this study was to uncover the possible influences of natural climate variability on conifer tree establishments on the Muddy Rivers Lahar following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, WA. We hypothesized that tree establishment increased gradually over time, tree establishments was …

Legal Geographies And Political Ecologies Of Water Allocation In Maui, Hawai'i, Alida Cantor, Kelly Kay, Chris Knudson

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Throughout the Hawaiian Islands, sugar plantations have controlled a large proportion of water resources for over a century, often leaving little water in streams to support ecosystems or Native Hawaiian cultural and agricultural practices. Recently, in Maui, Hawai‘i, community activists and lawyers representing Native Hawaiian and environmental interests have successfully reclaimed water resources for instream flow utilizing legal processes and tools such as Hawai‘i’s public trust doctrine, which has plural roots in both Hawaiian and Western legal traditions. In this paper, we use qualitative fieldwork, including interviews, participant observation, and archival data collection, to explore two recent and ongoing legal …

Glacial Meltwater Modeling To Simulate Lake Water Budget (1996-2013) In Taylor Valley, Antarctica, Julian Michael Cross

Dissertations and Theses

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), the largest ice-free region (4,500 km²) in Antarctica, are a polar desert with an average annual temperature of -18ºC. In Taylor Valley, one of the MDV, closed-basin, perennially ice-covered lakes occupy the valley floor. Their water balance is controlled by inflow from glacial meltwater runoff and loss due to sublimation, making them sensitive indicators of climate. In this study, a physically-based model of glacier meltwater and lake ice sublimation is adapted to explain modern (1996 to 2013) lake-level variations. Meltwater model results were improved by the inclusion of MODIS remotely-sensed albedo measurements (E …

Disturbance Refugia Within Mosaics Of Forest Fire, Drought, And Insect Outbreaks, Meg A. Krawchuk, Garrett W. Meigs, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Jonathan D. Coop, Raymond Davis, Andres Holz, Crystal Kolden, Arjan Jh Meddens

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Disturbance refugia – locations that experience less severe or frequent disturbances than the surrounding landscape – provide a framework to highlight not only where and why these biological legacies persist as adjacent areas change but also the value of those legacies in sustaining biodiversity. Recent studies of disturbance refugia in forest ecosystems have focused primarily on fire, with a growing recognition of important applications to land management. Given the wide range of disturbance processes in forests, developing a broader understanding of disturbance refugia is important for scientists and land managers, particularly in the context of anthropogenic climate change. We illustrate …

A Digital Archive Of Human Activity In The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Adrian Howkins, Stephen M. Chignell, Poppie Gullett, Andrew G. Fountain, Melissa Carrie Brett, Evelin Preciado

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last half century, the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of East Antarctica have become a globally important site for scientific research and environmental monitoring. Historical data can make important contributions to current research activities and environmental management in Antarctica but tend to be widely scattered and difficult to access. We address this need in the MDV by compiling over 5000 historical photographs, sketches, maps, oral interviews, publications, and other archival resources into an online digital archive. The data have been digitized and georeferenced using a standardized metadata structure, which enables intuitive searches and data discovery via an online interface. …

Socio-Hydrology: An Interplay Of Design And Self-Organization In A Multilevel World, David J. Yu, Heejun Chang, Taylor T. Davis, Vicken Hillis, Landon T. Marston, Woi Sok Oh, Murugesu Sivapalan, Timothy M. Waring

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The emerging field of socio-hydrology is a special case of social-ecological systems research that focuses on coupled human-water systems, exploring how the hydrologic cycle and human cultural traits coevolve and how such coevolutions lead to phenomena of relevance to water security and sustainability. As such, most problems tackled by socio-hydrology involve some aspects of engineering design, such as large-scale water infrastructure, and self-organization in a broad context, such as cultural change at the population level and the hydrologic shift at the river basin or aquifer level. However, within the field of socio-hydrology, it has been difficult to find general theories …

Associations Of Built Environment Attributes With Bicycle Use For Transport, Mohammad Javad Koohsari, Rachel Cole, Koichiro Oka, Ai Shibata, Akitomo Yasunaga, Tomoya Hanibuchi, Neville Owen, Takemi Sugiyama

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

An increasing number of studies have examined neighbourhood built environment attributes associated with cycling. Some of them suggest non-linear relationships between built environment attributes and cycling. This study examined the strength and shape of associations of cycling for transport with objectively measured built environment attributes. Data were from 9146 Australian adults who took part in the 2009 South-East Queensland Travel Survey. Participants (aged 18–64 years) completed a 24-hour travel survey, in which they reported modes of travel. Residential density, Walk Score and a Space Syntax measure of street integration were calculated at a neighbourhood level using geographic information systems. Multilevel …

Central Tokyo’S Low Response Rate To The 2015 Population Census And Its Related Factors, Tomoya Hanibuchi, Masakazu Yamauchi

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of “unreported” cases in the Population Census of Japan caused by nonresponses to the survey. Subsequently, this has led to data reliability challenges. In light of this problem, the factors related to the low response rate of the 2015 Population Census in the central Tokyo area are examined in the present study. An online survey was conducted among individuals residing in the three Special Wards of Tokyo to inquire about their responses (submitted or not submitted) to the previous census. The statistical analyses demonstrated that particularly in central Tokyo, middle-aged (35–49 …

Associations Of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Conditions With Self-Rated Health, Mental Distress, And Health Behaviors: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study In Japan, Tomoya Hanibuchi, Tomoki Nakaya

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although associations between neighborhood socioeconomic conditions and health have been well established, their geographical scope is mostly limited to Western societies, while multilevel studies in the non-Western context (e.g., Japan) are limited to specific cities/regions within countries. This consequently limits the external validity of the findings. To fill the gap, this study examined the associations between neighborhood socioeconomic conditions and health-related indicators by using nationwide cross-sectional data in Japan. Individual data was collected from a nationwide online survey conducted in 2015 (n = 4593). Self-rated health, mental distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale: K6), smoking, and physical activity were analyzed in …

Dropsonde Observations Of The Ageostrophy Within The Pre-Cold-Frontal Low-Level Jet Associated With Atmospheric Rivers, Rueben Demirdgian, Joel R. Norris, Andrew Martin, F. Martin Ralph

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The pre-cold-frontal low-level jet (LLJ) is an important contributor for water vapor transport within atmospheric rivers, though its dynamics are not completely understood. The present study investigates the LLJ using dropsonde observations from 24 cross-atmospheric river transects taken during the CalWater-2014, 2015 and the AR-Recon 2016, 2018 field campaigns. It is found that the LLJ, located at ;1-km elevation ahead of the cold front, has an average maximum wind speed of 30ms21 and is strongly supergeostrophic with an average ageostrophic component of 6ms21. The alongfront ageostrophy occurs within the atmospheric layer (750–1250 m) known to strongly control orographic precipitation associated …