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2009

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program: Helping Hands Across Public Lands – Phase Ii: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering October 1, 2009 To December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees Dec 2009

Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program: Helping Hands Across Public Lands – Phase Ii: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering October 1, 2009 To December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

  • The number of records in the volunteer database decreased by 14% over last quarter. The database now contains 5,996 records.
  • Website activity increased, recording an average of 121,918 hits per month, an increase of 8% from last quarter, with an average of 9,686 pages viewed per month.
  • Volunteer fall training has been completed.
  • One hundred and twenty-seven people attended the Volunteer Recognition Event.


Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees Dec 2009

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

Project 1. Relict Leopard Frog Monitoring, Management, and Research

  • All milestones and deliverables are on schedule
  • Fall surveys at all sites have been completed
  • Mark-recapture surveys scheduled for fall were completed
  • Short-term habitat improvements at two sites were conducted
  • RLFCT meeting was hosted
  • Draft annual report was written and presented at the RLFCT meeting

Project 2. Bald Eagle Winter Monitoring and Evaluation

  • All milestones and deliverables are on schedule
  • An annual project review presentation was given to Clark County
  • A draft final report was written and submitted to Clark County
  • All data for this project was transferred to the County …


Joint Fire Science Program – Lake Mead National Recreation Area Revegetating Burned Arid Lands: Identifying Successful Native Species Using Trait And Competition Analysis: Quarterly Progress Report, Time Period: October 1 — December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees Dec 2009

Joint Fire Science Program – Lake Mead National Recreation Area Revegetating Burned Arid Lands: Identifying Successful Native Species Using Trait And Competition Analysis: Quarterly Progress Report, Time Period: October 1 — December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Fire Science

• Article accepted for publication in Journal of Arid Environments.

• Recharged irrigation gel packs for outplanting and watered seed plots at Goodsprings site.

• Completed full year of seed granivory trials at Goodsprings site.

• Presented information on this Task Agreement to 4th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress.

• Maintained nursery plots and added installment of nitrogen treatment.


Resolution For Education For Sustainability At Wku, Office Of Sustainability, Christian Ryan-Downing Dec 2009

Resolution For Education For Sustainability At Wku, Office Of Sustainability, Christian Ryan-Downing

Sustainability Publications and Resources

No abstract provided.


The 2009-2010 El Nino: Hydrologic Relief To U.S. Regions, Glenn A. Tootle, Thomas C. Piechota, Oubeidillah Aziz, William Paul Miller, Venkat Lakshmi, John A. Dracup, Carly Jerla Dec 2009

The 2009-2010 El Nino: Hydrologic Relief To U.S. Regions, Glenn A. Tootle, Thomas C. Piechota, Oubeidillah Aziz, William Paul Miller, Venkat Lakshmi, John A. Dracup, Carly Jerla

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Current forecasts by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are that the Pacific Ocean will experience El Niño conditions in late 2009 and into 2010. These forecasts are similar to past El Niño events in 1972–1973, 1982–1983, 1986–1987, and 2002–2003.

Evaluating the hydrologic conditions for these past El Niño events reveals that during these times, surface water supply conditions improved in many parts of the United States, including the Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest. At the same time, the Pacific Northwest and other specific regions of the United States experienced below-average water supply conditions. This is consistent with the …


The Effect Of Consumerism And Regulation On Household Solid Waste Management In The United States And Germany: A Comparative Study, Amir Vafa Dec 2009

The Effect Of Consumerism And Regulation On Household Solid Waste Management In The United States And Germany: A Comparative Study, Amir Vafa

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

Private household recycling is a significant aspect of consumerism in economically developed countries and the inevitable question of household waste management has gained more importance among municipalities in recent years. The present study examined the effect of regulation on household solid waste management. Within a comparative, qualitative framework, the study explored and evaluated the pro-regulatory effects in Germany and the anti-regulatory policies in the United States by means of comparing two similar communities, Lincoln, Nebraska and Augsburg, Germany. By examining the present legislations, official documents, legal and operational procedures, and other relevant artifacts, laws, regulations and the degree of their …


The Ecological Advantages Of Nuclear Power, Fred P. Bosselman Dec 2009

The Ecological Advantages Of Nuclear Power, Fred P. Bosselman

All Faculty Scholarship

Major electric utilities are deciding whether to build nuclear power plants. How will their decision affect ecological processes and systems, both in the United States and globally? The article makes three arguments: (1) if nuclear power plants are not built, the gap will be filled by more coal-fired power plants; (2) the impact of coal-fired power plants on ecological processes and systems is likely to be increasingly disastrous; and (3) nuclear power’s ecological impacts are likely to be neutral or even positive.


Fractal Location And Anomalous Diffusion Dynamics For Oil Wells From The Ky Geological Survey, Keith Andrew, Karla M. Andrew, Kevin A. Andrew Dec 2009

Fractal Location And Anomalous Diffusion Dynamics For Oil Wells From The Ky Geological Survey, Keith Andrew, Karla M. Andrew, Kevin A. Andrew

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Utilizing data available from the Kentucky Geonet (KYGeonet.ky.gov) the fossil fuel mining locations created by the Kentucky Geological Survey geo-locating oil and gas wells are mapped using ESRI ArcGIS in Kentucky single plain 1602 ft projection. This data was then exported into a spreadsheet showing latitude and longitude for each point to be used for modeling at different scales to determine the fractal dimension of the set. Following the porosity and diffusivity studies of Tarafdar and Roy[1] we extract fractal dimensions of the fossil fuel mining locations and search for evidence of scaling laws for the set of deposits. The …


A Review Of Offshore Wind Technology And The Development Of The Virginia Coastline And Outer Continental Shelf, Ryan D. Geary Dec 2009

A Review Of Offshore Wind Technology And The Development Of The Virginia Coastline And Outer Continental Shelf, Ryan D. Geary

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Offshore wind power is an increasingly viable resource that is being considered by many coastal States in the U.S for development. This thesis provides a recommendation concerning the foundations that will be needed for the construction of offshore wind farms off the coast of Virginia. To accomplish this I reviewed current and prototype underwater foundation technologies in order to establish viable options for developers to use. I was also able to analyze a case study that conducted “an analysis and survey of the experiences and lessons learned by developers of offshore wind farms” in Europe. This case study focuses mainly …


A Simulation Model For Triclosan Concentrations In The North And Middle Rivers, Virginia, Preeyaporn Songkiatisak Dec 2009

A Simulation Model For Triclosan Concentrations In The North And Middle Rivers, Virginia, Preeyaporn Songkiatisak

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Incidences of fish kills and intersex phenomena have occurred extensively in the Shenandoah River since 2004. Pharmaceuticals including triclosan have been detected at low concentrations in the Shenandoah River. Scientists hypothesize that triclosan, an antibacterial agent, may be one of the pharmaceuticals that is responsible for fish kills and intersex phenomena. Methyl triclosan (MTS) were found in fish tissues at a significantly higher concentration in the part of the Shenandoah River where fish kills are present compared to a non-impact river. Triclosan is widely used in personal care products, such as soaps, shampoos, and toothpastes and is rinsed down the …


Solar Technology Innovation Meeting Summary, Solar Innovation And Technology Center Dec 2009

Solar Technology Innovation Meeting Summary, Solar Innovation And Technology Center

Meetings (SI)

On December 11, 2009, Senator Harry Reid and President Neal Smatresk (UNLV) conveyed a group of approximately 60 people (see attached lists) from the public and private sector to provide input on the structure, focus, and need for a Solar Innovation Technology Center. At this meeting, there were small group discussions followed by a larger group discussion on the needs in the areas of Workforce / Training, Marketing and Finance, Economic and Policy Making, Infrastructure and Manufacturing, Technology Transfer and Commercialization, and Research. The notes below summarize the major comments from the group. This represents individual comments and in other …


Analysis Of Expedient Field Decontamination Methods For The Xmx/2l-Mil High-Volume Aerosol Sampler, Brandon C. Laroche Dec 2009

Analysis Of Expedient Field Decontamination Methods For The Xmx/2l-Mil High-Volume Aerosol Sampler, Brandon C. Laroche

Theses and Dissertations

The XMX/2L-MIL is a high volume air sampler used by the Air Force Bioenvironmental Engineering community to collect biological aerosols. Without a verified decontamination technique, however, the XMX cannot be used effectively. The objective of this study was to evaluate several proposed methods for expedient field decontamination of the XMX. This study centered on the inactivation of Bacillus atrophaeus spores and vegetative Erwinia herbicola organisms from the XMX inner canister. The goals in this investigation were twofold: 1) to verify the antimicrobial efficacy of a 10% bleach solution and 2) to determine if wiping the components with a bleach-soaked paper …


Nest And Brood Survival And Habitat Selection Of Ring-Necked Pheasants And Greater Prairie-Chickens In Nebraska, Ty Matthews Dec 2009

Nest And Brood Survival And Habitat Selection Of Ring-Necked Pheasants And Greater Prairie-Chickens In Nebraska, Ty Matthews

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

Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) populations have declined in the Midwest since the 1960’s. Research has suggested decreased nest and brood survival are the major causes of this decline due to the lack of suitable habitat. Habitat degradation has been attributed to the shift to larger crop fields, lower diversity of crops, and more intensive pesticide and herbicide use. A primary goal of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is to mitigate the loss of wildlife habitat. Early research found that CRP increased the amount of suitable nesting and brood rearing cover …


Development Of The Mask Scentometer, A Comparison Of Ambient Odor Assessment Methods, And Their Application In Ground Truthing Atmospheric Dispersion Models, Christopher G. Henry Dec 2009

Development Of The Mask Scentometer, A Comparison Of Ambient Odor Assessment Methods, And Their Application In Ground Truthing Atmospheric Dispersion Models, Christopher G. Henry

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation is organized as four stand-alone papers. Paper No. 1 describes the development of the Mask Scentometer and reports dilution ratios measured during use by twelve different people. Dilution ratios at the Mask Scentometer’s five dilution-to-threshold (D/T) settings were found to be 0.35, 1, 2, 4.5 and 18. In Paper No.’s 2 and 4, ambient odor assessment methods were compared in both controlled laboratory conditions and in the field. Laboratory analysis of ambient air samples using dynamic triangular forced-choice olfactometry (DTFCO) did not correlate well with any of the ambient odor assessment methods. Average intensity-predicted D/T was roughly five …


Interview With Jim Quinn, Metro's Hazardous Waste Program, 2009 (Audio), Jim Quinn Dec 2009

Interview With Jim Quinn, Metro's Hazardous Waste Program, 2009 (Audio), Jim Quinn

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Jim Quinn by Sean Quigley at Metro in Portland, Oregon on December 2nd, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.


College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2009, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas Dec 2009

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2009, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Each student in his or her senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. The senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real-world solution to an engineering challenge.

A highlight of the year-long senior design project is the senior design competition. This competition, which usually takes place the week before finals each semester, helps focus the senior students on increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects.

Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on innovation, commercial …


Satellite-Based Estimation Of Chlorophyll-A Concentration In Turbid Productive Waters, Wesley Moses Dec 2009

Satellite-Based Estimation Of Chlorophyll-A Concentration In Turbid Productive Waters, Wesley Moses

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

Inland, coastal, and estuarine waters, which are often turbid and biologically productive, play a crucial role in maintaining global bio-diversity and are of immense value to aquatic life as well as human-beings. Concentration of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) is a key indicator of the trophic status of these waters, which should be regularly monitored to ensure that their ecological balance is not disturbed. Remote sensing is a powerful tool for this.

Due to the optical complexity of turbid productive waters, standard algorithms that use blue and green reflectances are unreliable for estimating chl-a concentration. Algorithms based on red and near-infrared (NIR) reflectances …


Social Behaviors Of Modern And Indigenous Peoples Impacting The Ecology Of The Amazon Rain Forest In Brazil, Josef W. Schaffer Dec 2009

Social Behaviors Of Modern And Indigenous Peoples Impacting The Ecology Of The Amazon Rain Forest In Brazil, Josef W. Schaffer

Earth and Soil Sciences

Human induced disruption of the environment is prevalent in every culture. In Brazil, the effects of massive deforestation have become apparent since the nineteen eighties. However, along with deforestation, and a coinciding loss in an economic resource for the country, is a significant loss of natural habitat and species extinction. The Amazon in Brazil contains a large proportion of the world’s species diversity that is threatened by the socio-economic activities of modern Brazilian culture. Historically and presently, indigenous groups have contributed to insignificant levels of ecological disruption and are themselves threatened by the activities of modern Brazilians. The effects of …


Development Of Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves For The Santa Cruz Mountains, Sarah Howell Dec 2009

Development Of Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves For The Santa Cruz Mountains, Sarah Howell

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This study was conducted to develop regional hydraulic geometry curves for the Santa Cruz Mountains that could be used in stream related and/or engineering projects. Data used to form these curves was collected from the USGS and by conducting stream geometry surveys. The resulting regional curves had high R² values ranging from .82 to .92. Compared to other regional curves in nearby areas, the Santa Cruz Mountains regional curve equations have higher exponents, meaning bankfull channel measurements increase at faster rates as drainage areas increases. Further measurements and analysis should be done before applying these curves to project sites.


The Malawi Project: From Conventional To Holistic Decision Making, Grace Wetmore Dec 2009

The Malawi Project: From Conventional To Holistic Decision Making, Grace Wetmore

Animal Science

How the Cal Poly Malawi Appropriate Technologies Team, and other development groups, can use Holistic Management to aid developing countries in an effort towards a sustainable future.


Evaporation Estimation Of Rift Valley Lakes: Comparison Of Models, Assefa M. Melesse, Wossenu Abtew, Tibebe Dessalegne Dec 2009

Evaporation Estimation Of Rift Valley Lakes: Comparison Of Models, Assefa M. Melesse, Wossenu Abtew, Tibebe Dessalegne

Department of Earth and Environment

Evapotranspiration (ET) accounts for a substantial amount of the water flux in the arid and semi-arid regions of the World. Accurate estimation of ET has been a challenge for hydrologists, mainly because of the spatiotemporal variability of the environmental and physical parameters governing the latent heat flux. In addition, most available ET models depend on intensive meteorological information for ET estimation. Such data are not available at the desired spatial and temporal scales in less developed and remote parts of the world. This limitation has necessitated the development of simple models that are less data intensive and provide ET estimates …


An Enduring Technology: The Horse Logging Tradition In Maine, James E. Passanisi Dec 2009

An Enduring Technology: The Horse Logging Tradition In Maine, James E. Passanisi

Maine History

No abstract provided.


Sfa Weather Station-December 2009, Arthur Temple College Of Forestry And Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University Dec 2009

Sfa Weather Station-December 2009, Arthur Temple College Of Forestry And Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University

Weather Station Data

No abstract provided.


Carbon Finance Ii: Investing In Forests For Climate Protection, Jamie Carlson, Bryan Garcia, Claire Jahns, Eric Roberts, Katie Schindall Dec 2009

Carbon Finance Ii: Investing In Forests For Climate Protection, Jamie Carlson, Bryan Garcia, Claire Jahns, Eric Roberts, Katie Schindall

Yale School of the Environment Publications Series

Carbon Finance II: Investing in Forests for Climate Protection is a collection of lectures given during the 2008-2009 Carbon Finance Speaker Series at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The annual series is hosted by the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale and supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and the Henry P. Kendall Foundation. The 2008-2009 speaker series focused on forest carbon and the opportunities and obstacles to including forests in greenhouse gas emission reduction policies, carbon markets, and cap-and-trade systems.


Solar Ready Buildings Planning Guide, L. Lisell, T. Tetreault, A. Watson Dec 2009

Solar Ready Buildings Planning Guide, L. Lisell, T. Tetreault, A. Watson

Publications (E)

This document identifies the important aspects of building design and construction to enable installation of solar photovoltaic and heating systems at some time after the building is constructed. This document addresses photovoltaic (PV), solar hot water (ST), and solar ventilation preheat (SVP) systems.


Reflective Optics Cpv Panels Enabling Large Scale, Reliable Generation Of Solar Energy Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels, S. Horne, M. Mcdonald, N. Hartsoch, K. Desy Dec 2009

Reflective Optics Cpv Panels Enabling Large Scale, Reliable Generation Of Solar Energy Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels, S. Horne, M. Mcdonald, N. Hartsoch, K. Desy

Publications (E)

The objective of this 18 month subcontract was the improvement of reflective optics CPV panels to enable the large-scale, reliable production of solar electricity to meet SAI-established LCOE targets, and ultimately provide a path to solar power at parity with or better than the cost of energy generated utilizing fossil fuels. To this end, SolFocus has completed this subcontract with great success as evidenced by the end results of a CPV panel with conversion efficiencies greater than the targeted 22% and manufacturing capabilities with a run rate capacity far exceeding the milestone benchmark >3MW.


Wind Energy And Power System Operations: A Review Of Wind Integration Studies To Date, Jennifer Decesaro, Kevin Porter Dec 2009

Wind Energy And Power System Operations: A Review Of Wind Integration Studies To Date, Jennifer Decesaro, Kevin Porter

Publications (E)

This paper provides an overview of the challenges associated with wind integration and summarizes the findings of the wind integration studies conducted over the course of the past five years. We begin with an overview of the approximate time frames used in grid operations. We then describe how wind integration studies are conducted, discuss the results on wind integration costs and grid impacts from these grid integration studies, and assess some of the grid planning and operation changes that may be necessary to incorporate higher levels of wind generation. We close with several conclusions.


Economic Investigation Of Community-Scale Versus Building Scale Net-Zero Energy, N. Fernandez, S. Katipamula, M. R. Brambley, T. A. Reddy Dec 2009

Economic Investigation Of Community-Scale Versus Building Scale Net-Zero Energy, N. Fernandez, S. Katipamula, M. R. Brambley, T. A. Reddy

Publications (E)

The study presented in this report examines issues concerning whether achieving net-zero energy performance at the community scale provides economic and potentially overall efficiency advantages over strategies focused on individual buildings.


Wind Energy Assessment Study For Nevada -- Tall Tower Deployment (Stone Cabin), Darko Koracin, R. Reinhardt, Gregory D. Mccurdy, Marshall Liddle, Travis E. Mccord, Ramesh Vellore, Timothy B. Minor, Bradley F. Lyles, D. Miller, Lycia M. Ronchetti Dec 2009

Wind Energy Assessment Study For Nevada -- Tall Tower Deployment (Stone Cabin), Darko Koracin, R. Reinhardt, Gregory D. Mccurdy, Marshall Liddle, Travis E. Mccord, Ramesh Vellore, Timothy B. Minor, Bradley F. Lyles, D. Miller, Lycia M. Ronchetti

Publications (E)

The objective of this work effort was to characterize wind shear and turbulence for representative wind-developable areas in Nevada.


Biodiesel Handling And Use Guide: Fourth Edition (Revised), National Renewable Energy Laboratory Dec 2009

Biodiesel Handling And Use Guide: Fourth Edition (Revised), National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publications (T)

This document is a guide for those who blend, store, distribute, and use biodiesel and biodiesel blends. It provides basic information on the proper and safe use of biodiesel and biodiesel blends in compression-ignition engines and boilers, and it is intended to help fleets, individual users, blenders, distributors, and those involved in related activities understand procedures for handling and using biodiesel fuels.