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Evaluation Of Tseb Turbulent Fluxes Using Different Methods For The Retrieval Of Soil And Canopy Component Temperatures From Uav Thermal And Multispectral Imagery, Héctor Nieto, William P. Kustas, Alfonso F. Torres-Rúa, Joseph G. Alfieri, Feng Gao, Martha C. Anderson, W. Alex White, Lisheng Song, María Del Mar Alsina, John H. Prueger, Mac Mckee, Manal Elarab, Lynn G. Mckee

AggieAir Publications

The thermal-based Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) model partitions the evapotranspiration (ET) and energy fluxes from vegetation and soil components providing the capability for estimating soil evaporation (E) and canopy transpiration (T). However, it is crucial for ET partitioning to retrieve reliable estimates of canopy and soil temperatures and net radiation, as the latter determines the available energy for water and heat exchange from soil and canopy sources. These two factors become especially relevant in row crops with wide spacing and strongly clumped vegetation such as vineyards and orchards. To better understand these effects, very high spatial resolution remote-sensing data from …

Ability Of Ir And Nmr Spectral Data To Distinguish Between A Tetrel Bond And A Hydrogen Bond, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The placement of a nucleophile X along the R-CH3 axis of a methyl group can be described as either a trifurcated H-bond or as a tetrel bond between C and X. Quantum calculation of the vibrational and NMR spectral features of a number of systems are used to provide a framework by which to distinguish between the presence of a tetrel or H-bond. Both cationic and neutral methyl-containing Lewis acids (SMe3+, NMe4+, SMe2) are paired with both neutral and anionic Lewis bases (NH3, OH2, OCHNH2, OCH3-, OH-, HCOO-). As the base is moved away from the R-CH3 axis of the …

Environment And Past Land Use Together Predict Functional Diversity In A Temperate Forest, Meghna Krishnadas, Noelle G. Beckman, Jaun Carlos Peñagos Zuluaga, Yan Zhu, James Whitacre, John W. Wenzel, Simon A. Queenborough, Lize S. Comita

Biology Faculty Publications

Environment and human land use both shape forest composition. Abiotic conditions sift tree species from a regional pool via functional traits that influence species’ suitability to the local environment. In addition, human land use can modify species distributions and change functional diversity of forests. However, it is unclear how environment and land use simultaneously shape functional diversity of tree communities. Land-use legacies are especially prominent in temperate forest landscapes that have been extensively modified by humans in the last few centuries. Across a 900-ha temperate deciduous forest in the northeastern United States, comprising a mosaic of different-aged stands due to …

Waterfall Formation At A Desert River-Reservoir Delta Isolates Endangered Fishes, Charles N. Cathcart, Casey A. Pennock, Christopher A. Cheek, Mark C. Mckinstry, Peter D. Mackinnon, Mary M. Conner, Keith B. Gido

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Unforeseen interactions of dams and declining water availability have formed new obstacles to recovering endemic and endangered big-river fishes. During a recent trend of drying climate and declining reservoir water levels in the southwestern United States, a large waterfall has formed on two separate occasions (1989-1995 & 2001-present) in the transition zone between the San Juan River and Lake Powell reservoir because of deposited sediments. Because recovery plans for two large-bodied endangered fish species, razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), include annual stockings in the San Juan River, this waterfall potentially blocks upstream …

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, September 6, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Program Proposal

• Offering an Applied Mathematics Emphasis
• Establishing a Latinx Cultural Center
• Establishing a Center for Student Analytics

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Other

• Curriculog Updates
• R401 Process in Curriculog
• Prerequisites
• Cross-listed Courses

Toward Audio Beehive Monitoring: Deep Learning Vs. Standard Machine Learning In Classifying Beehive Audio Samples, Vladmir Kulyukin, Sarbajit Mukherjee, Prakhar Amlathe

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

Electronic beehive monitoring extracts critical information on colony behavior and phenology without invasive beehive inspections and transportation costs. As an integral component of electronic beehive monitoring, audio beehive monitoring has the potential to automate the identification of various stressors for honeybee colonies from beehive audio samples. In this investigation, we designed several convolutional neural networks and compared their performance with four standard machine learning methods (logistic regression, k-nearest neighbors, support vector machines, and random forests) in classifying audio samples from microphones deployed above landing pads of Langstroth beehives. On a dataset of 10,260 audio samples where the training and testing …

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, September 6, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Program Proposal

• Offering an Applied Mathematics Emphasis
• Establishing a Latinx Cultural Center
• Establishing a Center for Student Analytics

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Other

• Curriculog Updates
• R401 Process in Curriculog
• Prerequisites
• Cross-listed Courses
• Huntsman School of Business department split

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, September 6, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee report
• Academic Standards Subcommittee report
• General Education Subcommittee report
• Curriculog updates

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, September 6, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Efficiency Enhancement Of Perovskite Solar Cells With Plasmonic Nanoparticles: A Simulation Study, Ali Hajjiah, Ishac Kandas, Nader Shehata

Biology Faculty Publications

Recently, hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites have been extensively studied due to their promising optical properties with relatively low-cost and simple processing. However, the perovskite solar cells have some low optical absorption in the visible spectrum, especially around the red region. In this paper, an improvement of perovskite solar cell efficiency is studied via simulations through adding plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) at the rear side of the solar cell. The plasmonic resonance wavelength is selected to be very close to the spectrum range of lower absorption of the perovskite: around 600 nm. Both gold and silver nanoparticles (Au and Ag NPs) are selected …

Common Dna Variants Accurately Rank An Individual Of Extreme Height, Corinne E. Sexton, Mark T. W. Ebbert, Ryan H. Miller, Meganne Ferrel, Joann T. Tschanz, Chris D. Corcoran, Alzheimer’S Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, Perry G. Ridge, John S. K. Kauwe

Psychology Faculty Publications

Polygenic scores (or genetic risk scores) quantify the aggregate of small effects from many common genetic loci that have been associated with a trait through genome-wide association. Polygenic scores were first used successfully in schizophrenia and have since been applied to multiple phenotypes including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and height. Because human height is an easily-measured and complex polygenic trait, polygenic height scores provide exciting insights into the predictability of aggregate common variant effect on the phenotype. Shawn Bradley is an extremely tall former professional basketball player from Brigham Young University and the National Basketball Association (NBA), measuring 2.29 meters …

The Huntsman Post, September 2018, Usu Jon M. Huntsman School Of Business

Jon M. Huntsman School of Business Huntsman Post Issues Collection

Monthly newsletter for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

Simultaneous Rayleigh-Scatter And Sodium Resonance Lidar Temperature Comparisons In The Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Tao Yuan, Neal R. Criddle

All Physics Faculty Publications

The Utah State University (USU) campus (41.7°N, 111.8°W) hosts a unique upper atmospheric observatory that houses both a high-power, large-aperture Rayleigh lidar and a Na lidar. For the first time, we will present 19 nights of coordinated temperature measurements from the two lidars, overlapping in the 80–110 km observational range, over one annual cycle (summer 2014 to summer 2015). This overlap has been achieved through upgrades to the existing USU Rayleigh lidar that increased its observational altitude from 45–95 to 70–115 km and by relocating the Colorado State Na lidar to the USU campus. Previous climatological comparisons between Rayleigh and …

Research On The Development Of An Assessment To Measure Kindergarten Children's Abilities To Reason Computationally With Mathematical Problem-Solving Skills, Jody Clarke-Midura

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Fluid Mechanics: There’S An App For That | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The U.S. Navy has awarded a major grant to a team of Utah State University engineering researchers who are developing a unique educational tool designed to inspire the next generation of naval and ocean engineers.

First Observed Temporal Development Of A Noctilucent Cloud Ice Void, Linda Megner, Jacek Stegman, Pierre-Dominique Pautet, Michael J. Taylor

All Physics Faculty Publications

Noctilucent clouds are ice clouds that appear high in the atmosphere, about 80 km above the summer pole. By observing them we have learned a lot about the remote and inaccessible region where they form. Recently, a satellite borne instrument discovered nearly circular ice-free regions within the clouds, denoted as “ice voids.” The origin of these voids is a mystery—we do not know what causes the clouds to disappear in large circular areas. So far these voids have only been observed from satellites, which only can take pictures of the clouds when they pass above once every 1.5 hr—longer than …

Genome-Wide Association Study For Variants That Modulate Relationships Between Cerebrospinal Fluid Amyloid-Beta 42, Tau, And P-Tau Levels, Taylor J. Maxwell, Chris Corcoran, Jorge L. Del-Aguila, John P. Budde, Yuetiva Deming, Carlos Cruchaga, Alison M. Goate, John S. K. Kauwe, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Background: A relationship quantitative trait locus exists when the correlation between multiple traits varies by genotype for that locus. Relationship quantitative trait loci (rQTL) are often involved in gene-by-gene (G×G) interactions or gene-by-environmental interactions, making them a powerful tool for detecting G×G.

Methods: We performed genome-wide association studies to identify rQTL between tau and Aβ42 and ptau and Aβ42 with over 3000 individuals using age, gender, series, APOE ε2, APOE ε4, and two principal components for population structure as covariates. Each significant rQTL was separately screened for interactions with other loci for each trait in the rQTL model. Parametric bootstrapping …

Plasmonic-Ceria Nanoparticles As Fluorescence Intensity And Lifetime Quenching Optical Sensor, Nader Shehata, Effat Samir, Ishac Kandas

Biology Faculty Publications

Ceria nanoparticles have been recently used as an optical fluorescent material with visible emission under ultraviolet excitation, due to the formation of trivalent cerium ions with corresponding oxygen vacancies. This paper introduces the enhancement of both fluorescence emission and lifetime through adding gold nanoparticles. The reason is due to possible coupling between the plasmonic resonance of gold nanoparticles and the fluorescence emission of ceria that has been achieved, along with enhanced formation of trivalent cerium ions. Both factors lead to higher fluorescence intensity peaks and shorter fluorescence lifetimes. As an application, gold-ceria nanoparticles have been used as an optical sensing …

The Geometry Of N=3 Ads4 In Massive Iia, G. Bruno De Luca, Gabriele Lo Monaco, Niall T, Macpherson, Alessandro Tomasiello, Oscar J. Varela

All Physics Faculty Publications

The geometry of the N=3" role="presentation">N=3, SO(4)-invariant, AdS₄ solution of massive type IIA supergravity that uplifts from the N=3" role="presentation">N=3 vacuum of D = 4 N=8" role="presentation">N=8 dyonic ISO(7) supergravity is investigated. Firstly, a D = 4, SO(4)-invariant restricted duality hierarchy is constructed and used to uplift the entire, dynamical SO(4)-invariant sector to massive type IIA. The resulting consistent uplift formulae are used to obtain a new local expression for the N=3" role="presentation">N=3 AdS₄ solution in massive IIA and analyse its geometry. Locally, the internal S⁶ geometry corresponds to a warped fibration of …

On The Responses Of Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere Temperatures To Geomagnetic Storms At Low And Middle Latitudes, Jingyuan Li, Wenbin Wang, Jianyong Lu, Tao Yuan, Jia Yue, Xiao Liu, Kedeng Zhang, Alan G. Burns, Yongliang Zhang, Zheng Li

All Physics Faculty Publications

Observations from lidars and satellites have shown that large neutral temperature increases and decreases occur in the middle and low latitudes of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region during geomagnetic storms. Here we undertake first-principles simulations of mesosphere and lower thermosphere temperature responses to storms using the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model to elucidate the nature and causes of these changes. Temperature variations were not uniform; instead, nighttime temperatures changed earlier than daytime temperatures, and temperatures changed earlier at high latitudes than at low ones. Furthermore, temperatures increased in some places/times and decreased in others. As the simulation …

Latina/O Students In K-12 Schools: A Synthesis Of Empirical Research On Factors Influencing Academic Achievement, Amanda Taggart

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of the empirical evidence to date on the factors related to Latina/o student academic achievement in the country’s increasingly Latina/o K-12 schools. Factors found to be related to academic achievement outcomes (e.g., grades, test scores, high school completion, college enrollment) for Latina/o students include a combination of (1) demographic variables, (2) sociocultural variables, (3) academic experiences, (4) psychological variables, and (5) school/institutional variables. In addition, this research synthesis identified several methodological trends in the research on Latina/o student success.

Long-Term Evolution Of Sand Transport Through A River Network: Relative Influences Of A Dam Versus Natural Changes In Grain Size From Sand Waves, David J. Topping, Erich R. Mueller, John C. Schmidt, Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Dean, Paul E. Grams

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Temporal and spatial nonuniformity in supplies of water and sand in a river network leads to sand transport that is in local disequilibrium with the upstream sand supply. In such river networks, sand is transported downstream as elongating waves in which coupled changes in grain size and transport occur. Depending on the magnitude of each sand-supplying event and the interval between such events, changes in bed-sand grain size associated with sand-wave passage may more strongly regulate sand transport than do changes in water discharge. When sand transport is controlled more by episodic resupply of sand than by discharge, upstream dam …

The Influence Of Arctic Amplification On Mid-Latitude Summer Circulation, Dim Coumou, Giorgia Di Capua, Steve Vavrus, Lei Wang, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Accelerated warming in the Arctic, as compared to the rest of the globe, might have profound impacts on mid-latitude weather. Most studies analyzing Arctic links to mid-latitude weather focused on winter, yet recent summers have seen strong reductions in sea-ice extent and snow cover, a weakened equator-to-pole thermal gradient and associated weakening of the mid-latitude circulation. We review the scientific evidence behind three leading hypotheses on the influence of Arctic changes on mid-latitude summer weather: Weakened storm tracks, shifted jet streams, and amplified quasi-stationary waves. We show that interactions between Arctic teleconnections and other remote and regional feedback processes could …

Remarks On Legendrian Self-Linking, Chris Beasley, Brendan Mclellan, Ruoran Zhang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

The Thurston-Bennequin invariant provides one notion of self-linking for any homologically-trivial Legendrian curve in a contact three-manifold. Here we discuss related analytic notions of self-linking for Legendrian knots in R³. Our definition is based upon reformulation of the elementary Gauss linking integral and is motivated by ideas from supersymmetric gauge theory. We recover the Thurston-Bennequin invariant as a special case.

Regium Bonds Between Mn Clusters (M=Cu,Ag,Au And N=2-6) And Nucleophiles Nh3 And Hcn, Wiktor Zierkiewicz, Mariusz Michalczyk, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The most stable geometries of the coinagemetal (or regium) atom (Cu, Ag, Au) clusters Mn for n up to 6 are all planar, and adopt the lowest possible spin multiplicity. Clusters with even numbers of M atoms are thus singlets, while those with odd n are open-shell doublets. Examination of the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) of each cluster provides strong indications of the most likely site of attack by an approaching nucleophile, generally one of two positions. A nucleophile (NH3 or HCN) most favorably approaches one particular M atom of each cluster, rather than a bond midpoint or face. In …

Comparison Of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks And Edge Detectors For Image-Based Crack Detection In Concrete, Sattar Dorafshan, Robert J. Thomas, Marc Maguire

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper compares the performance of common edge detectors and deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) for image-based crack detection in concrete structures. A dataset of 19 high definition images (3420 sub-images, 319 with cracks and 3101 without) of concrete is analyzed using six common edge detection schemes (Roberts, Prewitt, Sobel, Laplacian of Gaussian, Butterworth, and Gaussian) and using the AlexNet DCNN architecture in fully trained, transfer learning, and classifier modes. The relative performance of each crack detection method is compared here for the first time on a single dataset. Edge detection methods accurately detected 53–79% of cracked pixels, but they …

Hybrid Iterative Approach For Simulation Of Radio-Frequency Fields In Plasma, Vladimir A. Svidzinski, Jin-Soo Kim, Liangji Zhao, S. A. Galkin, Joseph Andrew Spencer

Physics Student Research

A novel iterative approach for solving discretized linear wave equations in a frequency domain, which combines time evolution with iterative relaxation schemes, is presented. In this hybrid approach, each iteration cycle consists of evolution of electromagnetic (EM) fields in time over a specified number of field periods followed by several iterative relaxations. Provided that there is sufficient dissipation, both the time evolution and the iterative relaxations contribute to the convergence of the EM fields to the solution of the formulated full wave boundary value problem. Time evolution rapidly distributes EM fields, propagating with group velocity, over the simulation domain, while …

Electron Yield Comparisons Of Low And High-Density Polyethylene, Jordan Lee

Physics Capstone Projects

With continued growth of the aerospace industry and further reliance on its communication infrastructure, a general idea of environmental stresses and material feedback is needed. Terrestrial-based labs attempt to recreate certain conditions seen in orbit and beyond, in order to gauge how materials and equipment will react. The Electron Emissions Test (EET) Chamber, an apparatus of USU's Material Physics Group, is used to test certain characteristics of materials in space-like environments. This experiment attempted to discern electron yield characteristics of two molecularly similar polymers: Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE).

Utilizing Commercial Dslr For High Resolution Earth Observation Satellite, Nobutada Sako

Small Satellite Conference

CE-SAT-I, the first technology demonstration satellite from Canon Electronics Inc. has been launched on June 23, 2017 from India by PSLV-C38. Canon is to enter small satellite industry to exercise its precision manufacturing, image processing and mass production capabilities as a new business sector. In this study, commercial DSLR camera, Canon EOS 5D Mark III has been proposed as a detector of the satellite with 40cm aperture, 3720mm focal length telescope aiming to capture 0.9m GSD from LEO. The satellite size is 50 x 50 x 80cm and 65kg in weight. Advantage of area sensor by applying commercial DSLR camera …

The Role Of Fault-Zone Architectural Elements On Pore Pressure Propagation And Induced Seismicity, John P. Ortiz, Mark A. Person, Peter S. Mozley, James P. Evans, Susan L. Bilek

Geosciences Faculty Publications

We used hydrogeologic models to assess how fault‐zone properties promote or inhibit the downward propagation of fluid overpressures from a basal reservoir injection well (150 m from fault zone, Q = 5000 m3/day) into the underlying crystalline basement rocks. We varied the permeability of the fault‐zone architectural components and a crystalline basement weathered layer as part of a numerical sensitivity study. Realistic conduit‐barrier style fault zones effectively transmit elevated pore pressures associated with 4 years of continuous injection to depths of approximately 2.5 km within the crystalline basement while compartmentalizing fluid flow within the injection reservoir. The presence of a …