Digital Commons Network^™

Large Wind Shift On The Great Plains During The Medieval Warm Period, Venkataramana Sridhar, David B. Loope, James B. Swinehart, Joseph A. Mason, Robert J. Oglesby, Clinton M. Rowe

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Spring-summer winds from the south move moist air from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Plains. Rainfall in the growing season sustains prairie grasses that keep large dunes in the Nebraska Sand Hills immobile. Longitudinal dunes built during the Medieval Warm Period (800 to 1000 years before the present) record the last major period of sand mobility. These dunes are oriented NW-SE and are composed of cross-strata with bipolar dip directions. The trend and structure of the dunes record a drought that was initiated and sustained by a historically unprecedented shift of spring-summer atmospheric circulation over the Plains: Moist …

Indiana Wildlife Disease News, Volume 1, Issue 3 -- July 2006

Indiana Wildlife Disease News

Special points of interest:
• Special Issue on rabies
• Oral rabies vaccination zone
• Update - avian influenza surveillance in wild birds in Indiana
• Indiana Rabies Task Force
• An update on wildlife disease in Indiana and surrounding states

Inside this issue:
Oral Rabies Vaccination 2
Mechanics of a Rabies Infection 2
Rabies in Indiana 3 Submitting Animals for Testing 4
AI Update Avian Botulism 5
Canine Distemper 5
Indiana Rabies Task Force 6

Factors Contributing To Dust Emissions In Clark County, Nevada Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 15, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Dust Emissions from Public Lands

• Hiring of post-doctoral scholar is currently being finalized.

• Modification to task agreement has been processed.

Sunrise… Sunset…, Alex Friedlander, Tzippora Resnick

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Sunrise and sunset are obviously a part of our everyday life. Our connection to the movement of celestial bodies, including the Sun, has been somewhat diminished by modern life, in contrast to the practical interest, fascination or even awe of earlier civilizations. Mathematics and astronomy have a long history of cooperative work, but due to their complexity and technical difficulty, usually those who participated in this endeavor were at the advanced studies level, or occupied high religious positions.

Geospatial Ontology Development And Semantic Analytics, I. Budak Arpinar, Cartic Ramakrishnan, Molly Azami, Amit P. Sheth, E. Lynn Usery, Mei-Po Kwan

Kno.e.sis Publications

Geospatial ontology development and semantic knowledge discovery addresses the need for modeling, analyzing and visualizing multimodal information, and is unique in offering integrated analytics that encompasses spatial, temporal and thematic dimensions of information and knowledge. The comprehensive ability to provide integrated analysis from multiple forms of information and use of explicit knowledge make this approach unique. This also involves specification of spatiotemporal thematic ontologies and populating such ontologies with high quality knowledge. Such ontologies form the basis for defining the meaning of important relations terms, such as near or surrounded by, and enable computation of spatiotemporal thematic proximity measures we …

The Social Nature Of Natural Resources - The Case Of Water, Jamie Linton

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Of all things, water is among the most difficult to pin down. It is nevertheless characteristic of modernity that we ascribe to it an essence, on which basis particular kinds of human-water relations are made possible while others are denied. The ascription of an essential identity to water constitutes a social and political act by which it is both made known to people and made available for people. This paper explores the implications of ascribing to water an identity as "resource." Water was pronounced a resource in the United States early in the last century in the context of the …

Review Of The Environmental Justice Reader: Politics, Poetics & Pedagogy, Edited By Mei Mei Evans Admson And Rachel Stein, Katie Ahearn

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

The editors of The Environmental Justice Reader: Politics, Poetics, & Pedagogy (2002) chose to include at least five scholarly essays, comprising one third of the book's content, that directly address the theme of water, thus illuminating the importance of this topic in the realms of environmental and social justice. Contributors to the anthology, ranging from urban activists to literary and anthropological scholars, address a wide variety of national and international environmental disasters from the complex vantage point of the intersection among race, politics, and class, so that the inevitable blurring of the boundaries between traditionally distinct academic disciplines …

Growing Up With Glen, Kathryn Miles

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Ecologists refer to it as 'shifting baselines.' Anthropologists call it 'environmental generational amnesia.' Both refer to the slow change in the ways we respond to and define the environment. As biologists and social scientists have deftly argued, definitions of environmentalism and sustainable resource use are often based on our earliest experiences with nature. We then use these memories as the basis for our understanding of the natural world and its use. Ultimately, this creates a generational approach to issues of conservation, particularly with regards to such contentious issues as water rights and the changing face of the American West. At …

Temporal Dynamics Of The Urban Heat Island Of Singapore, Winston T. L. Chow, Matthias Roth

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The temporal variability of the canopy‐level urban heat island (UHI) of Singapore is examined for different temporal scales on the basis of observations during a 1‐year period. Temperature data obtained from different urban areas (commercial, Central Business District (CBD), high‐rise and low‐rise housing) are compared with ‘rural’ reference data and analysed with respect to meteorological variables and differences in land use. The results indicate that the peak UHI magnitude occurs 3–4 h (>6 h) after sunset in the commercial area, (at other urban sites). Higher UHI intensities generally occur during the southwest monsoon period of May–August, with a maximum …

Geomorphic Impact And Rapid Subsequent Recovery From The 1996 Skeióarársandur Jökulhlaup, Iceland, Measured With Multi-Year Airborne Lidar, Laurence C. Smith, Yongwei Sheng, Francis J. Magilligan, Norman D. Smith, Basil Gomez, Leal A. K. Mertes, William B. Krabill, James B. Garvin

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The November 1996 jökulhlaup that burst from the Vatnajökull ice cap onto Skeiðarársandur was the highest-magnitude flood ever measured on the largest active glacial outwash plain (sandur). Centimeter-scale elevation transects, measured from repeat-pass airborne laser altimetry missions flown in 1996 (pre-flood), 1997, and 2001, show that sediment deposition exceeded erosion across the central Skeiðarársandur and established an average net elevation gain of +22 cm for the event. Net elevation gains of +29 and +24 cm occurred in braided channels of the Gígjukvísl and Skeiðará rivers, respectively. Nearly half of these gains, however, were removed within 4 years, and the two …

Agenda: Climate Change And The Future Of The American West: Exploring The Legal And Policy Dimensions, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Sponsors: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; BP America; Holland & Hart; Patrick, Miller & Krope, P.C.; The Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Rocky Mountain Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation, Western Water Assessment.

Exploring the legal and political dimensions that climate change will bring to the American West will be the focus of the CU-Boulder Natural Resources Law Center's 27th Annual Summer Conference.

Titled "Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions," the conference will be held June 7-9 at the Fleming Law Building on the University of Colorado at …

Wmi Outdoor News Bulletin * June 2006, Volume 60, No. 6

Wildlife Management Institute Outdoor News Bulletin

Contents:

WMI value substantially increased by a Ruble

72nd Conference Special Sessions announced and prospective presenters invited

Thinking Like a Manager—A new WMI book

A louder, clearer come-back call for bobwhites

Nominations open for WMI's Touchstone and Presidents awards

Mapping the Platte River management plan

New publication reports on effectiveness of Farm Bill conservation programs

Recovering black-footed ferrets may get the shaft

Worth reading: The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine

Population Assessment Of Western Gray Whales In 2006, Justin G. Cooke, David W. Weller, Amanda L. Bradford, Alexander M. Burdin, Robert L. Brownell Jr.

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

A population assessment of the western gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) was conducted using the Photo-identification data collected off Sakhalin Island under the joint Russia-U.S. program from 1994 to 2005. This is an update of the assessment by Reeves et al (2005) which used data up to 2003, fitted to the same, individually-based population model. New median estimates of key population parameters (with 90% Bayesian confidence intervals) are 0.986 (0.975 - 0.995) for the adult survival rate; 0.72 (0.60 - 0.83) for the survival rate from calf to yearling; 3.0% per annum (2.1% – 4.2%) for the average annual …

Will Lowering Estuarine Salinity Increase Gulf Of Mexico Oyster Landings?, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

Previous studies provide conflicting opinions on whether lower than average salinities in Gulf of Mexico (GOM) estuaries are likely to increase or decrease oyster harvests (Crassostrea virginica), which represented 69% and 54% of the United States oyster landings by weight, and dockside value, respectively, in 2003. The present study examined a 54-yr record (1950–2003) of oyster harvests and river discharge in five major estuaries in GOM states (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas). Oyster landings were inversely related to freshwater inflow. Peaks in landings, 21 of 23 in West Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas combined, were coincidental with …

Book Reviews: Raptors In Your Pocket: A Guide To Great Plains Birds Of Prey; Dakota Flora: A Seasonal Sampler; The National Grasslands, Paul M. Konrad, Bonnie Heidel, F. L. Knopf

The Prairie Naturalist

Reviews of:

Raptors in Your Pocket: A Guide to Great Plains Birds of Prey, Dana Gardner, 2006, University of Iowa Press, 16 pages (laminated).

Dakota Flora: A Seasonal Sampler, David J. Ode, 2006, South Dakota State Historical Society Press, Pierre, South Dakota, 260 pages.

The National Grasslands, Francis Moul, 2006, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, 153 pages.

Achieving Energy Efficiency In Buildings In Developing Countries, Pavel Ponomarev

Physics

No abstract provided.

A Multimetric Benthic Index For Georgia's Wadeable Streams, Amanda Lynn Middleton

Theses and Dissertations

Using an ecoregional approach, multimetric indices were developed to describe stream condition in each geographically distinct region of Georgia. Collected from predetermined reference and impaired condition streams, macroinvertebrate data were used to develop multimetric indices. Multimetric indices identified a range of stream conditions, as well as, the overall health of aquatic ecosystems. Based on multimetric indices, the Multimetric Rating System grouped streams according to overall stream condition. The Multimetric Rating System used multiple indices to describe various facets of stream condition. Therefore, it may be concluded that the Multimetric Rating System is a robust water management tool that may be …

Project Title: Sustainable Adaptations To Drought And Climate Variability In Agricultural Production Systems Across Nebraska, Cody L. Knutson, Michael J. Hayes, Robert K. Hitchcock, Jeffrey Peake, Martin Kleinschmit

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought is a normal part of Nebraska’s climate. It is also the leading cause of monetary disaster loss in the United States. FEMA (1995) has estimated that U.S. drought losses average $6-8 billion dollars per year. A majority of these losses are incurred in the agricultural sector. Nebraska’s losses alone topped $1.2 billion in 2002 (AP 2003).
To enhance viable operations in this variable climate, many Nebraska farmers and ranchers have begun making the transition to agricultural practices that fall into the realm of sustainable agriculture. Sustainability has been increasingly stressed as essential for creating more resilient systems and reducing …

The Effect Of Temperature And Humidity On The Bionomics Of Six African Egg Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), A. Kalyebi, W. A. Overholt, F. Schulthess, J. M. Mueke, S. Sithanantham

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The life table statistics of six native Kenyan species/strains of Trichogramma and Trichogrammatoidea were established using a factitious host Corcyra cephalonica, Stainton (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), at eight different temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 28, 30, 32 and 35°C) and two humidity levels (40-50 and 70-80%). The objective was to select insects with superior attributes for augmentative release against lepidopteran pests in horticultural crops. Both temperature and humidity affected developmental time and life table parameters of the parasitoids but temperature played a more critical role. Developmental time was inversely related to temperature. The intrinsic and finite rates of increase increased with temperature …

Report I: An Assessment Of The Coastal And Marine Economies Of Massachusetts, University Of Massachusetts Donahue Institute, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

This three-part study — An Assessment of the Coastal and Marine Economies of Massachusetts — provides an analysis of the economic value of the coastal and marine economies as well as an overview of employment, wages, business activities and trends within important sectors of the Massachusetts marine economy. The data used is primarily from 2004, unless otherwise noted.

Environmental Policy In Jordan : Analysis, Gap Identification, And Strategies For Improvement, Diana Saed

Theses

Jordan is a country with a tremendously fragile environment. It faces substantial environmental challenges due to its delicate environmental resources and its limited financial assets. These challenges are aggravated by the scarcity of available water, deterioration of the water resources, land contamination, desertification, mismanagement of land use, and air pollution. Attempting to describe the “State of the Environment” and to provide an informed analysis of the threats to the nation’s environment is a Herculean task. This analysis examines the efforts made by Jordan in regard to protection and management of the environment. This thesis provides a snapshot of the major …

Understanding Eurasian Convergence: Application Of Kohonen Self-Organizing Maps, Joel I. Deichmann, Abdolreza Eshghi, Dominique Haughton, Selin Sayek, Nicholas Teebagy, Heikki Topi

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Kohonen self-organizing maps (SOMs) are employed to examine economic and social convergence of Eurasian countries based on a set of twenty-eight socio-economic measures. A core of European Union states is identified that provides a benchmark against which convergence of post-socialist transition economies may be judged. The Central European Visegrád countries and Baltics show the greatest economic convergence to Western Europe, while other states form clusters that lag behind. Initial conditions on the social dimension can either facilitate or constrain economic convergence, as discovered in Central Europe vis-à-vis the Central Asian Republics. Disquiet in the convergence literature is resolved by providing …

Hydrolgeologic Groundwater Sensitivity And Vulnerability Mapping In South Central Kentucky, Andrea Croskrey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Groundwater sensitivity (Ray and O'dell 1993 a) refers to the inherent ease with which groundwater can be contaminated based on hydrogeologic characteristics. We have developed digital methods for identifying areas of varying groundwater sensitivity for a ten county area of south-central Kentucky relevant to a scale of 1: 24,000. The study area includes extensive limestone karst sinkhole plains, with groundwater that is generally extremely sensitive to contamination. Digitally Vectorized Geologic Quadrangles (DVGQs) were combined with elevation data to both identify hydrogeologic groundwater sensitivity regions and to identify zones of "high risk runoff where contaminants could be transported in runoff from …

Spatial Characteristics Of Paleochannels In Association With The Mississippian/Pennsylvanian Systematic Boundary In Western And South-Central Kentucky, Scott Schoefernacker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The basal Pennsylvanian Caseyville Formation of south-central Kentucky includes an extensive network of paleochannels, which unconformably overlie various Mississippian (Chesterian Series) rocks. Questions have been raised about the extent and orientation of paleochannels and the systemic boundary in the region. The problematical systemic boundary is quite significant in cases where marker beds are lacking or where sandstone facies of Pennsylvanian age are juxtaposed on lithologically similar Mississippian-age strata. Discerning the systemic boundary may also be complicated by facies changes in Chesterian strata. This study employs various data to investigate the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian systemic boundary such as well logs, outcrops, and subsurface-to-outcrop …

Geochemistry Of Benthic Foraminifera As An Environmental Indicator: A Study From Multiple Hydrographic Regimes, Chandranath Basak

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The geochemistry (stable isotopes and Lracc clements) or living (sLaincd) calcareous benthic foraminifera was compared with ambient botlom water stable isotope values to provide modern analog conditions and calibrations for environmental and paleoenvironmental assessments. Stable isotope values of live (stained) bcnthic foraminifera were investigated from push core and multicorer samples from the North Pacific (on the Aleutian margin, water depth 1988m) and the South Australian Bight (water depth 2476m and 1634m). Living benthic foraminifera specimens collected from contaminated sites in the Venice Lagoon were analyzed for trace elements. Both the isotopic and the trace element study involved interpretation of modern …

People, Pixels, & Weights: Some Novel Applications Of Remote Sensing And Geographically Weighted Regression For Evansville, Indiana, Eric W. Lafary

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The exploration of urban-environmental changes and how those transformations co-vary with observed socio-economic realities is currently a major research initiative in geography. To that end, this thesis develops an urban-environmental assessment regime that examines how environmental change co-varies with observed socio-economic conditions. Research has demonstrated existing linkages between observed conditions in regard to socio-economic status (SES) and a particular greenness index, as represented by, normal difference vegetation index (NDVI). However, a gap within the literature has been identified concerning the current methodologies that propose to predict SES using remotely sensed data. Therefore, this thesis addresses this gap within the related …

The Influence Of North Pacific Atmospheric Blocking On Colorado Lee Cyclogenesis, Diana S. Dickey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

North Pacific atmospheric blocking is an upper tropospheric phenomenon that occurs modally in the northwestern quadrant of the North American cyclogenetic region primarily during the winter season. In this study, Colorado lee cyclones, which develop to the east of the Rocky Mountains, are investigated to see if differing strengths of North Pacific atmospheric blocking influences cyclone frequency, intensity and tracks during the study period 1965-1995. Three blocking categories, strong blocking, anti-blocking and weak-index blocking were created based on indices provided by previously published research. Additionally, an analysis of upper tropospheric circulation during strong blocking and anti-blocking winter seasons was made …

Water Current, Volume 38, No. 2. Spring 2006

Water Current Newsletter

Contents

• July Water and Natural Resources Tour To Look at Missouri River and Northeast Nebraska by Steve Ress

• Adaptive Management Sees Resilience, Uncertainty as Allies; Third Annual Conference Looks at Innovation in Water Management by Charles Flowerday

• From the Director

• Meet the Faculty

• Great Plains CESU Funding Assistance For UNL Nears $1 Million by Steve Ress

• Two Join Staff of Water Center and Water Resources Research Initiative

• Water Quality Improvement Grant for Papillion Creek Watershed by Steve Ress

• Managing Drought and Water Scarcity in Vulnerable Environments: Creating a Roadmap for Change in …

Mutual Knowledge And Its Impact On Virtual Team Performance, Alanah Davis, Deepak Khazanchi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

This paper describes the notion of mutual knowledge and its potential impact on virtual team performance. Based on a review of the literature, including proponents and opponents for the concept of mutual knowledge in group interaction, we suggest that there is a gap in our understanding of what is known about mutual knowledge as it impacts team dynamics and ultimately virtual team performance. We conclude the paper by discussing the importance of mutual knowledge for virtual team performance and the research issues that need to be addressed in this domain.

Adaptive Management Report For The Clark County, Nevada Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Desert Conservation Program

Publications (C)

This is a status report on the effectiveness of conservation actions implemented by the Desert Conservation Program, land use trends, habitat loss, species population trends, and ecosystem health. Four Adaptive Management Program (AMP) tasks are defined in the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP: section 2) and the Biological Opinion for the section 10 take permit (p 2.11). The tasks are: a) provide an analysis of all land-use trends in Clark County to ensure that take and habitat disturbance is balanced with solid conservation, b) monitor population trends and ecosystem health, c) evaluate effectiveness of management actions at meeting MSHCP …