Digital Commons Network^™

Influence Of Land Cover And Soil Moisture Based Brown Ocean Effect On An Extreme Rainfall Event From A Louisiana Gulf Coast Tropical System, Udaysankar S. Nair, Eric Rappin, Emily Foshee, Warren Smith, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Rezaul Mahmood, Jonathan L. Case, Clay B. Blankenship, Marshall Shepherd, Joseph A. Santanello, Dev Niyogi

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Extreme flooding over southern Louisiana in mid-August of 2016 resulted from an unusual tropical low that formed and intensified over land. We used numerical experiments to highlight the role of the ‘Brown Ocean’ effect (where saturated soils function similar to a warm ocean surface) on intensification and it’s modulation by land cover change. A numerical modeling experiment that successfully captured the flood event (control) was modified to alter moisture availability by converting wetlands to open water, wet croplands, and dry croplands. Storm evolution in the control experiment with wet antecedent soils most resembles tropical lows that form and intensify over …

The Total Solar Eclipse Of 2017: Meteorological Observations From A Statewide Mesonet And Atmospheric Profiling Systems, Rezaul Mahmood, Megan Schargorodski, Eric Rappin, Melissa Griffin, Patrick Collins, Kevin Knupp, Andrew Quilligan, Ryan Wade, Kevin Cary, Stuart Foster

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

A total solar eclipse traversed 37 the continental United States on August 21, 2017. It 38 was the first such event in 99 years and provided a rare opportunity to observe the atmospheric response from a variety of instrumented observational platforms. This paper discusses the high quality observations collected by the Kentucky Mesonet (www.kymesonet.org), a research-grade meteorological and climatological observation network consisting of 72 stations and measuring air temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, and wind direction. The network samples the atmosphere, for most variables, every three seconds and then calculates and records observations every five minutes. During …

Conducting A Drought-Specific Thira (Threat And Hazard Identification And Risk Assessment): A Powerful Tool For Integrating All-Hazard Mitigation And Drought Planning Efforts To Increase Drought Mitigation Quality, Elliot Wickham, Deborah J. Bathke, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Tonya K. Bernadt, Denise Bulling, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Crystal J. Stiles, Nicole Wall

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

In the United States, drought is the second costliest natural disaster, which leads to the need for increased drought mitigation efforts over time. However, drought planning has lagged behind other hazard mitigation efforts, which is likely due to the lack of a national drought planning policy. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires all jurisdictions have a hazard mitigation plan (HMP) to receive pre-disaster mitigation funds, drought has only recently been a requirement in HMPs. In 2012, Nebraska witnessed its worse drought in recent history, which exposed the gaps in drought planning effectiveness at all jurisdictional levels. To address …

The Impacts Of Land Use And Land Cover Change On Water Quality In The Big Sioux River: 2007-2016, Dinesh Shrestha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between 2006 and 2012, conversion of 485,000 acres of grassland to cropland in eastern South Dakota was reported. In 2012, the Big Sioux River (BSR) running through most of eastern South Dakota was listed among the dirtiest rivers in the nation. This rating convinced state authorities to study trends of land cover changes in the BSR watershed and its association with BSR water quality with respect to increases in nitrate levels. This research i) quantifies spatial and temporal changes in the land cover types within the BSR watershed, and ii) identifies any correlation between these changes and changes in BSR …

Land Cover Changes Within And Around Protected Areas In Côte D’Ivoire From 1986 To 2017: A Case Study Of The Mabi-Yaya-Songan-Tamin Reserved Forests, Olena Boiko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tropical forests mitigate climate change, provide habitat for the most biologically diverse terrestrial communities, and yield ecosystem services that support human wellbeing. These forests are some of the most threatened ecosystems because of the increasing human impact on the environment. Côte d’Ivoire has one of the highest deforestation rates in sub-Saharan Africa, and the expansion of agriculture to produce cash crops, such as cocoa and rubber, is presented as the primary reason for forest loss. These changes are apparent even within the boundaries of the protected areas, which raises concerns about the effectiveness of the protection strategies. This project illustrates …

Joint Determination Of Residential Relocation And Commuting: A Forecasting Experiment For Sustainable Land Use And Transportation Planning, Jaewon Lim, Jae Hong Kim

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

This article applies matrix forecasting methods to the investigation of residential relocation and commuting patterns that are highly interconnected, but often analyzed separately. More specifically, using recent inter-county migration and commuting pattern data for the three largest metropolitan areas in California, it examines how residential relocation and commuting are associated in the regions and whether a unified framework—in which household relocation and commuting flow matrices are jointly determined—can improve the forecasting performance. The relocation–commuting association is found to differ substantially by region, suggesting the importance of region-specific factors in shaping the interrelationship. Joint forecasting, however, can attain a higher accuracy …

Ua66/7/3 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Chemistry Centers & Laboratories, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Chemistry centers and laboratories.

The Impact Of Deicing Materials On The Middle And Lower Passaic River Basins, New Jersey : A Geostatistical And Hydrochemical Analysis, Peter Joseph Soriano

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Regression analyses of major ion concentration, and specific conductance were compared on a decadal basis from field data of the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s to find if there is a statistically significant increase in calcium, chloride, and sodium compared to other major groundwater ions in the Middle and Lower Passaic River Basins. Time series graphical analyses, bivariate coefficient relationships, statistical prediction interval evaluations, and multivariate analyses were used to determine the significance of the individual ion concentration trends. Through ArcGIS, bedrock geochemistry was examined in correlation with well locations, ion concentrations, and road placements. GIS was used to …

Tribute From The Underworld : The Historical Ecology Of The Maya Postclassic Fish Trade With Isotopic Analysis Of Otoliths From MayapáN And Caye Coco, Jeffrey Michael Bryant

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation investigates the Maya fish trade through the extensive analysis of fish otoliths (ear stones), from the Postclassic sites of Mayapán, and Caye Coco, and provides an initial foundation for the development of a historical ecology program. Through osteometry, thin-section microscopy of growth rings, and microscale stable isotope analysis (δC13 and δO18), a spectrum of data is produced to characterize the Postclassic fish trade. These data are used to illuminate themes of the seasonality of the fish harvest, diet, biodiversity, fish population demography, environmental change, sustainability, and resilience. The timing of a seasonal intensification of the harvest is viewed …

Biodiversity Offsets In Eia: Getting The Timing Right, Marlene De Witt, Jenny Pope, Francois Retief, Alan Bond, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Carli Steenkamp

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Major developments can result in significant impacts on biodiversity, which the mandated process of environmental impact assessment (EIA) aims to mitigate. There has been a recent move towards the application of biodiversity offsets as a last-resort, compensatory measure when options at the earlier stages in the mitigation hierarchy of avoidance, minimisation and restoration have been exhausted. Guidance on biodiversity offset planning available in different jurisdictions, however, demonstrates a lack of consensus about when biodiversity offsets should be formally introduced into the EIA process, and previous research has highlighted the perceived risks associated with commencing detailed offset planning too early as …

Effective Modeling For Integrated Water Resource Management: A Guide To Contextual Practices By Phases And Steps And Future Opportunities, Jennifer Badham, Sondoss Elsawah, Joseph H.A. Guillaume, Serena H. Hamilton, Randall J. Hunt, Anthony J. Jakeman, Suzanne A. Pierce, Valerie O. Snow, Meghna Babbar-Sebens, Baihua Fu, Patricia Gober, Mary C. Hill, Takuya Iwanaga, Daniel P. Loucks, Wendy S. Merritt, Scott D. Peckham, Amy K. Richmond, Fateme Zare, Daniel Ames, Gabriele Bammer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The effectiveness of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) modeling hinges on the quality of practices employed through the process, starting from early problem definition all the way through to using the model in a way that serves its intended purpose. The adoption and implementation of effective modeling practices need to be guided by a practical understanding of the variety of decisions that modelers make, and the information considered in making these choices. There is still limited documented knowledge on the modeling workflow, and the role of contextual factors in determining this workflow and which practices to employ. This paper attempts …

Simulating Rewetting Events In Intermittent Rivers And Ephemeral Streams: A Global Analysis Of Leached Nutrients And Organic Matter, Oleksandra Shumilova, Dominik Zak, Thibault Datry, Daniel Von Schiller, Roland Corti, Arnaud Foulquier, Biel Obrador, Klement Tockner, Daniel C. Allan, Florian Altermatt, María Isabel Arce, Shai Arnon, Damien Banas, Andy Banegas‐Medina, Erin Beller, Melanie L. Blanchette, Juan F. Blanco‐Libreros, Joanna Blessing, Iola Gonçalves Boëchat, Kate Boersma, Michael T. Bogan, Núria Bonada, Nick R. Bond, Kate Brintrup, Andreas Bruder, Ryan Burrows, Tommaso Cancellario, Stephanie M. Carlson, Sophie Cauvy‐Fraunié, Núria Cid, Michael Danger, Bianca De Freitas Terra, Anna Maria De Girolamo, Ruben Del Campo, Fiona Dyer, Arturo Elosegi, Emile Faye, Catherine Febria, Ricardo Figueroa, Brian Four, Mark O. Gessner, Pierre Gnohossou, Rosa Gómez Cerezo, Lluís Gomez‐Gener, Manuel A.S. Graça, Simone Guareschi, Björn Gücker, Jason L. Hwan, Skhumbuzo Kubheka, Simone Daniela Langhans, Catherine Leigh, Chelsea J. Little, Stefan Lorenz, Jonathan Marshall, Angus Mcintosh, Clara Mendoza‐Lera, Elisabeth Irmgard Meyer, Marko Miliša, Musa C. Mlambo, Marcos Moleón, Peter Negus, Dev Niyogi, Athina Papatheodoulou, Isabel Pardo, Petr Paril, Vladimir Pešić, Pablo Rodriguez‐Lozano, Robert J. Rolls, Maria Mar Sanchez‐Montoya, Ana Savić, Alisha Steward, Rachel Stubbington, Amina Taleb, Ross Vander Vorste, Nathan Waltham, Annamaria Zoppini, Christiane Zarfl

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Climate change and human pressures are changing the global distribution and the extent of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which comprise half of the global river network area. IRES are characterized by periods of flow cessation, during which channel substrates accumulate and undergo physico‐chemical changes (preconditioning), and periods of flow resumption, when these substrates are rewetted and release pulses of dissolved nutrients and organic matter (OM). However, there are no estimates of the amounts and quality of leached substances, nor is there information on the underlying environmental constraints operating at the global scale. We experimentally simulated, under standard laboratory …

Success Factors For Power Project Development Businesses In Sub-Saharan Africa, Kodjo Galevissi Afidegnon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the financing gap in the sub-Saharan Africa power sector, private investors struggle to capitalize on the opportunity because of the high failure rate of power project development companies. Using the conceptual framework of the behavioral finance theory, this multiple case study was conducted to explore the strategies used by executives of 4 companies in sub-Saharan Africa who successfully developed power projects within the last 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and a review of government and institutions' websites. Yin's 5-phased cycle for analyzing case studies provided the guidelines for data analysis. Three themes emerged from data analysis: …

The Alchemy Of Sustaining New Business Ventures, Alicia R. Hooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high failure rates of new business ventures (NBV) negatively affect employment and potential contributions to the economic health of communities. The high NBV failure rate is essential, as NBV sustainability influences job creation and increases employment rates in communities surrounding the NBV. The purpose of this qualitative single case study, using the effectuation conceptual framework, was to explore strategies organization leaders in the state of Missouri used for sustaining NBV operations beyond 5 years. The sample consisted of 6 NBV consultants from a single Missouri NBV consulting firm who have sustained NBVs beyond 5 years. The 6 NBV consultants …

A Geographic Study Of Lung And Bronchus Cancer Rates In Kentucky, Gabriel Njoh Dikong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The average age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer is 55% and 56% higher in Kentucky than the national averages in the United States, respectively. Populations with low income and educational attainment, and those who live close to the mining regions across Kentucky are more affected by the high prevalence and resulting mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer. This study was conducted because of the high incidence of lung and bronchus cancer and resulting mortality rates in the state of Kentucky that may not be caused solely by social and demographic factors. The theoretical foundation for …

A Geographic Study Of Lung And Bronchus Cancer Rates In Kentucky, Gabriel Njoh Dikong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The average age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer is 55% and 56% higher in Kentucky than the national averages in the United States, respectively. Populations with low income and educational attainment, and those who live close to the mining regions across Kentucky are more affected by the high prevalence and resulting mortality rates of lung and bronchus cancer. This study was conducted because of the high incidence of lung and bronchus cancer and resulting mortality rates in the state of Kentucky that may not be caused solely by social and demographic factors. The theoretical foundation for …

Sustainability Education And Organizational Change: A Critical Case Study Of Barriers And Change Drivers At A Higher Education Institution, Edwin E. Akins Ii, Elizabeth Giddens, David Glassmeyer, Amy Gruss

Faculty Articles

Integrating sustainability within institutions of higher education can have a tremendous impact on students, faculty, and the larger community. Sustainability efforts also experience many barriers to implementation within higher education contexts. A change management perspective can help characterize these barriers and ways to overcome them. In this critical case study, we use a process model to examine the kinds of barriers Kennesaw State University (KSU) has faced regarding implementation of academic sustainability and to evaluate change drivers that can advance sustainability during a time of leadership change. The process model evaluates barriers and change drivers according to published frameworks, and …

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

Improving Access To Clean Water In Rural Ecuador: The Connection Between Willingness To Pay And Population Health, Micalea Leaska

Capstone Collection

Climate change is affecting social and environmental determinants of health through access to safe drinking water, safely managed sanitation systems, and access to health care services and the ability for individuals to break free from unsuitable circumstances. Ecological disturbances such as those caused by climate change can cause a shift in host vectors or a change in habitat that results in a greater likelihood of the pathogen coming in contact with humans. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and their accessibility to populations can directly impact a community’s vulnerability to diseases and limiting factors to increase economic growth. If rural …

University Of North Florida Environmental Center Annual Report 2019, James W. Taylor, Erin Largo-Wight, John Carlisle, Maria Mark, Jennifer Grissom, Justin M. Lemmons

Annual Reports

2019 Annual Report of the Environmental Center at the University of North Florida

Post-Glacial Fire History Of Horsetail Fen And Human-Environment Interactions In The Teanaway Area Of The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Serafina Ferri

All Master's Theses

Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest have been shaped by dramatic shifts in climate since the last glacial maximum and more recently, by human activity. However, it is unclear how past relationships between people, fire, and climate interacted on the landscape. The purpose of this research was to reconstruct the post-glacial fire history of a wetland known as Horsetail Fen, located in the Teanaway area of the eastern Cascades of Washington State. The goal was to evaluate how fire activity has varied under different climatic scenarios during the last ~16,000 years and in relation to human land-use actions. This lake was …

Holocene Fire History Reconstruction Of A Mid-Evaluation Mixed-Conifer Forest In The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Zoe Rushton

All Master's Theses

Fire histories of mid-elevation mixed-conifer forests (MEMC) are uncommon, particularly in the eastern Cascades of Washington. As a result, fire regimes and the effects of 20th century fire suppression in these forests are not well understood. In the summer of 2014 a 7.80 meter-long sediment core was extracted from Long Lake, located approximately 45 km west of Yakima, WA, which exists in a grand fir-dominated mixed-conifer forest. Fire activity for the Long Lake watershed was reconstructed using macroscopic charcoal analysis and pollen analysis was used to reconstruct vegetation change through time. Charcoal results show low fire activity in the early …

Community-Centered Sustainable Conservation And Ecotourism Planning In The Bossou Forest Reserve, Guinea, West Africa, Destina Samani

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ecotourism management has evolved over the years towards responsible conservation of the natural environment, sustaining the well-being of local people, enriching personal experiences and increasing environmental awareness. The development of a forest reserve is characteristic of the management–visitor–host community interface and the attendant competing interests in the face of new challenges, ideas and theories. In particular, host community participation in the conservation of the forest space tends to breakdown under weak ecotourism management, partly evident by the imbalanced exploitation of ecosystem services resulting in wildlife and society’s inability to cope effectively with the changes (Walker et al., 2016).

The Bossou …

Predicting Spawning Habitat For Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch), Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha), And Steelhead (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) Using Geospatially Constructed Stream Morphology From High-Resolution Lidar-Derived Digital Elevation Model And Field Survey Data In The Indian Creek Watershed, Mendocino County, California, Justin Patrick Bissell Mr.

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Restoration of anadromous salmonid habitat is of primary importance to the economic, historical, and cultural geography of the Pacific Northwest. Derivation and use of geospatial habitat models as guides to pinpoint key areas where limited restoration funding can be cost-effectively employed is of great importance. To this purpose, 1 meter resolution lidar-derived Digital Elevation Model data was acquired for the Indian Creek and neighboring watersheds in Mendocino County, California, and used together with field-acquired geomorphic stream data to geospatially model stream widths, depths, and streambank morphology. These geospatial covariates were field-verified in selected locations and then used in conjunction with …

Exploring Community Knowledge And Perceptions Of Flooding And Sea-Level Rise In King Salmon, California, Kristina Kunkel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The coastal community of King Salmon, California could be at the highest risk of relative sea-level rise on the entire U.S. West Coast. In 2019, the community already experiences severe flooding at least annually and may be regularly inundated as early as 2050. Until this study, there had been no documented effort to reach out to the community to show them future sea-level rise projections, understand the context of life in King Salmon, and listen to their reactions and perceptions. This research utilized a mixed methods grounded theory approach integrating semi-structured interviews with King Salmon stakeholders, qualitative data analysis, public …

A Comparison Of Neighborhood-Scale Interventions To Alleviate Urban Heat In Doha, Qatar, Salim Ferwati, Cynthia Skelhorn, Vivek Shandas, Yasuyo Makido

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent evidence suggests that many densely populated areas of the world will be uninhabitable in the coming century due to the depletion of resources, climate change, and increasing urbanization. This poses serious questions regarding the actions that require immediate attention, and opportunities to stave off massive losses of infrastructure, populations, and financial investments. The present study utilizes microclimate modeling to examine the role of landscape features as they affect ambient temperatures in one of the fastest growing regions of the world: Doha, Qatar. By modeling three study sites around Doha—one highly urbanized, one newly urbanizing, and one coastal low-density urbanized—the …

Urban Development Of A City In Niger Delta Region Of Nigeria, Chinyere Emmanuel Igwe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The issue of indiscriminate urban expansion is not uncommon in Africa. It has created haphazard, unplanned, and unapproved development that negatively affected urban planning for cities in the Niger Delta Region in Nigeria. Using Stone's urban regime theory, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore from the perspective of developers, associations, and government agencies (referred to as stakeholders), the roots causes of indiscriminate urban development and their activities in the process in the Niger Delta Region. Data were collected through semi structured telephone interviews with 10 participants who had at least 5 years experience working in public and …

Historic Log Buildings As Archives Of Past Forest Ecology, Kristen K. De Graauw

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is composed of three separate but related manuscripts with the common theme of using historic log buildings from the central Appalachian Mountain region of eastern North America as ecological archives. In Chapter 1, I explore the biases, limitations, and ecological applications of tree-ring data from historic log buildings. European immigrants selected trees from a forested stand based on species, log sizes, and construction locations. Despite this selection bias, ecological information can be gleaned from historic log buildings, which offer a complementary record of past forest ecology and represent a site type that is not often associated with old-growth …

An Assessment Of Farmer Participation In The United States Department Of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services’ Conservation Technical Assistance Program In West Virginia, Matt D. Oliver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Food and fiber production on America’s farmlands have a major influence on the environment, therefore, soil and water conservation practices are critical. NRCS has provided no-fee technical assistance for nearly 100 years through the Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) program. The CTA program is essential because it provides technical knowledge directly to farmers for planning and implementing conservation practices that are proven to benefit environmental health and on-farm production. CTA program funds support NRCS staff and training and are thereby the local service delivery vehicle for all NRCS programs. However, in recent years, funding for CTA has remained relatively constant while …

Impacts Of Climate Change On Water Balance Components In The Central Appalachian Mountains, Usa, Brandi Anne Gaertner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research investigated the impact of climate and land cover on water balance components including evapotranspiration and runoff in the mountainous central Appalachian region of the United States. The first studyanalyzed trends in climatologic, hydrologic, and growing season length variables, identified the important variables effecting growing season length changes, and evaluated the influence of a lengthened growing season on increasing evapotranspiration trends. The results showed that growing season length has increased, on average, by ~22 days and evapotranspiration has increased ~12 mm. The second study quantified long-term historical and future climate trends, evaluated water balance sensitivity to change, and quantified …