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Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation-Forced Regional Summertime Precipitation Variations In The Central United States, Michael C. Veres

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this research is to identify the regional mechanisms by which the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) influences summer (June-August) precipitation in the central U.S. This was accomplished by running two different sets of simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model, one forced by observations and the other forced only by variations in the AMO as obtained via a global climate model (GCM). The results reveal a complex set of mechanisms active in the lower and middle troposphere by which the AMO influences summer circulation and precipitation in the central U.S. During the cold phase …

Spatial Accuracy Of Climate Networks In Nebraska, Andrea J. Coop

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Climate data has become increasingly scrutinized for its accuracy because of the need for reliable predictions about climate change. The U.S. has taken great strides to keep up with the demand for accurate climate data. Over the last thirty years, vast improvements to instrumentation, data collection, and station siting have created more accurate data records. This study is to explore the accuracy of existing networks. This study analyzes three climate networks used in Nebraska: the U.S. Historical Climatology Network (HCN), the Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN), and the newest network, the U.S. Climate Reference Network (CRN). Each of these networks …

Joining The Great Plains In Space, Place, And Time Questioning A Time Zone Boundary, Rob Kuper

Great Plains Quarterly

Standard time zone boundaries are invisible in the landscape, yet they abruptly delineate a temporal difference of one hour between two large areas located relative to one another on Earth. In most cases, standard time zone boundaries follow political ones and define areas within which daylight saving time (DST)-the seasonal advancement of standard time by one hour-is observed. Moving time zone boundaries and the decision to observe daylight saving time occurs throughout the world for various reasons that result in the synchronization of socioeconomic and political activities within and between communities and the simultaneous separation from others.

The zone boundary …

Multidecadal Otolith Growth Histories For Red And Gray Snapper (Lutjanus Spp.) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Usa, Bryan A. Black, Robert J. Allman, Isaac D. Schroeder, Michael J. Schirripa

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis) techniques were applied to develop chronologies from the annual growth-increment widths of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus) otoliths sampled from the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. Growth increment widths showed considerable synchrony within and across species, indicating that some component of environmental variability influenced growth. The final, exactly dated red snapper chronology continuously spanned 1975 through 2003, while the gray snapper chronology continuously spanned 1975 through 2006. To determine baseline climategrowth relationships, chronologies were compared to monthly averages of sea surface temperatures, U winds (west to east), V winds …

Farmer Perceptions Of Sustainable Agriculture Practices And Drought Risk Reduction In Nebraska, Usa, Cody L. Knutson, Tonya Haigh, Michael J. Hayes, Melissa Widhalm, J. Nothwehr, M. Kleinschmidt, L. Graf

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Social factors, such as farming methods, have an impact on farm vulnerability to drought, but have received little research or policy attention. Some researchers and advocates have argued that sustainable agriculture systems are less vulnerable to climate risk than conventional systems because sustainable agriculture requires producers to have skills promoting adaptability. In this paper, we investigate producers’ perceptions on the use of sustainable agriculture in reducing drought risk, and what they believe would help them better adapt to drought. We surveyed and interviewed farmer members of two sustainable agriculture organizations in Nebraska, USA, during a multi-year drought period from 1999 …

Farmer Perceptions Of Sustainable Agriculture Practices And Drought Risk Reduction In Nebraska, Usa, Cody L. Knutson, Tonya Haigh, Michael J. Hayes, Melissa Widhalm, J. Nothwehr, M. Kleinschmidt, L. Graf

Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Social factors, such as farming methods, have an impact on farm vulnerability to drought, but have received little research or policy attention. Some researchers and advocates have argued that sustainable agriculture systems are less vulnerable to climate risk than conventional systems because sustainable agriculture requires producers to have skills promoting adaptability. In this paper, we investigate producers’ perceptions on the use of sustainable agriculture in reducing drought risk, and what they believe would help them better adapt to drought. We surveyed and interviewed farmer members of two sustainable agriculture organizations in Nebraska, USA, during a multi-year drought period from 1999 …

Methodologies For Simulating Impacts Of Climate Change On Crop Production, Jeffrey W. White, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Bruce A. Kimball, Gerard W. Wall

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Ecophysiological models are widely used to forecast potential impacts of climate change on future agricultural productivity and to examine options for adaptation by local stakeholders and policy makers. However, protocols followed in such assessments vary to such an extent that they constrain cross-study syntheses and increase the potential for bias in projected impacts. We reviewed 221 peer-reviewed papers that used crop simulation models to examine diverse aspects of how climate change might affect agricultural systems. Six subject areas were examined: target crops and regions; the crop model(s) used and their characteristics; sources and application of data on [CO₂] …

Land Use And Climate Influences On Waterbirds In The Prairie Potholes, Greg M. Forcey, Wayne E. Thogmartin, George M. Linz, William J. Bleier, Patrick C. Mckann

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Aim We examined the influences of regional climate and land-use variables on mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), blue-winged teal (Anas discors), ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) and pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) abundances to inform conservation planning in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States.

Location The US portion of Bird Conservation Region 11 (US-BCR11, the Prairie Potholes), which encompasses six states within the United States: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa.

Methods We used data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (NABBS), the National Land Cover Data Set, and the …

Land Use/Land Cover Changes And Climate: Modeling Analysis And Observational Evidence, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Andy Pitman, Dev Niyogi, Rezaul Mahmood, Clive Mcalpine, Faisal Hossain, Kees Klein Goldewijk, Udaysankar S. Nair, Richard Betts, Souleymane Fall, Markus Reichstein, Pavel Kabat, Nathalie De Noblet

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This article summarizes the changes in landscape structure because of human land management over the last several centuries, and using observed and modeled data, documents how these changes have altered biogeophysical and biogeochemical surface fluxes on the local, mesoscale, and regional scales. Remaining research issues are presented including whether these landscape changes alter large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns far from where the land use and land cover changes occur. We conclude that existing climate assessments have not yet adequately factored in this climate forcing. For those regions that have undergone intensive human landscape change, or would undergo intensive change in the …