Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Quantifying Uncertainty In Urban Flooding Analysis Considering Hydro-Climatic Projection And Urban Development Effects, Il-Won Jung, Heejun Chang, Hamid Moradkhani

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

How will the combined impacts of land use change, climate change, and hydrologic modeling influence changes in urban flood frequency and what is the main uncertainty source of the results? Will such changes differ by catchment with different degrees of current and future urban development? We attempt to answer these questions in two catchments with different degrees of urbanization, the Fanno catchment with 84% urban land use and the Johnson catchment with 36% urban land use, both located in the Pacific Northwest of the US. Five uncertainty sources – general circulation model (GCM) structures, future greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios, …

Implications Of Community Concordance For Assessing Stream Integrity At Three Nested Spatial Scales In Minnesota, U.S.A., Christine L. Dolph, David D. Huff, Christopher J. Chizinski, Bruce Vondracek

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

1. Fish and invertebrate assemblage data collected from 670 stream sites in Minnesota (U.S.A.) were used to calculate concordance across three nested spatial scales (statewide, ecoregion and catchment). Predictive taxa richness models, calibrated using the same data, were used to evaluate whether concordant communities exhibited similar trends in human-induced taxa loss across all three scales. Finally, we evaluated the strength of the relationship between selected environmental variables and the composition of both assemblages at all three spatial scales.

2. Significant concordance between fish and invertebrate communities occurred at the statewide scale as well as in six of seven ecoregions and …

Catch Of Channel Catfish With Tandem-Set Hoop Nets And Gill Nets In Lentic Systems Of Nebraska, Lindsey K. Richters, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Twenty-six Nebraska water bodies representing two ecosystem types (small standing waters and large standing waters) were surveyed during 2008 and 2009 with tandem-set hoop nets and experimental gill nets to determine if similar trends existed in catch rates and size structures of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus captured with these gears. Gear effi ciency was assessed as the number of sets (nets) that would be required to capture 100 channel catfish given observed catch per unit effort (CPUE). Efficiency of gill nets was not correlated with effi ciency of hoop nets for capturing channel catfish. Small sample sizes prohibited estimation of …

Influence Of Karst Landscape On Planetary Boundary Layer Atmosphere: A Weather Research And Forecasting (Wrf) Model–Based Investigation, Ronnie Leeper, Rezaul Mamood, Arturo I. Quintanar

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Personnel Publications

Karst hydrology provides a unique set of surface and subsurface hydrological components that affect soil moisture variability. Over karst topography, surface moisture moves rapidly below ground via sink holes, vertical shafts, and sinking streams, reducing surface runoff and moisture infiltration into the soil. In addition, subsurface cave blockage or rapid snowmelt over karst can lead to surface flooding. Moreover, regions dominated by karst may exhibit either drier or wetter soils when compared to nonkarst landscape. However, because of the lack of both observational soil moisture datasets to initialize simulations and regional land surface models (LSMs) that include explicit karst hydrological …

Time-Lapse Three-Dimensional Inversion Of Complex Conductivity Data Using An Active Time Constrained (Atc) Approach, M. Karaoulis, A. Revil, D. D. Werkema, B. J. Minsley, W. F. Woodruff, A. Kemna

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Staff Publications

Induced polarization (more precisely the magnitude and phase of impedance of the subsurface) is measured using a network of electrodes located at the ground surface or in boreholes. This method yields important information related to the distribution of permeability and contaminants in the shallow subsurface. We propose a new time-lapse 3-D modelling and inversion algorithm to image the evolution of complex conductivity over time.We discretize the subsurface using hexahedron cells. Each cell is assigned a complex resistivity or conductivity value. Using the finite-element approach, we model the in-phase and out-of-phase (quadrature) electrical potentials on the 3-D grid, which are then …

Small-Scale Fisheries Of Peru: A Major Sink For Marine Turtles In The Pacific, Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto, Jeffrey C. Mangel, Francisco Bernedo, Peter H. Dutton, Jeffrey A. Seminoff, Brendan J. Godley

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

1. Over the last few decades, evidence of marine vertebrate bycatch has been collected for a range of industrial fisheries. It has recently been acknowledged that large impacts may also result from similar interactions with small-scale fisheries (SSF) due largely to their diffuse effort and large number of vessels in operation. Marine mammals, seabirds, turtles as well as some shark species have been reported as being impacted by SSF worldwide.

2. From 2000 to 2007, we used both shore-based and onboard observer programmes from three SSF ports in Peru to assess the impact on marine turtles of small-scale longline, bottom …

Fin Whale (Balaenoptera Physalus) Population Identity In The Western Mediterranean Sea, Manuel Castellote, Christopher W. Clark, Marc O. Lammers

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Archival bottom-mounted audio recorders were deployed in nine different areas of the western Mediterranean Sea, Strait of Gibraltar, and adjacent North Atlantic waters during 2006–2009 to study fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) seasonal presence and population structure. Analysis of 29,822 recording hours revealed typical long, patterned sequences of 20 Hz notes (here called “song”), back-beats, 135–140 Hz notes, and downsweeps. Acoustic parameters (internote interval, note duration, frequency range, center and peak frequencies) were statistically compared among songs and song notes recorded in all areas. Fin whale singers producing songs attributable to the northeastern North Atlantic subpopulation were detected crossing …

Can Water Vapour Process Data Be Used To Estimate Precipitation Efficiency?, Shouting Gao, Xiaofan Li

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The precipitation efficiencies (RMPE, CMPE, and LSPE) can be defined as the ratio of rain rate to rainfall sources in the rain microphysical budget, the cloud microphysical budget, and the surface rainfall budget, respectively. The estimate of RMPE from grid-scale data serves as the true precipitation efficiency since the rain rate is a diagnostic term in the tropical rain microphysical budget. The accuracy of precipitation efficiency estimates with CMPE and LSPE is compared to that of RMPE by analyzing data from a 21-day two-dimensional cloud-resolving model simulation with imposed large-scale vertical velocity, zonal wind, and horizontal …

A Combined Visual And Acoustic Estimate Of 2008 Abundance, And Change In Abundance Since 1997, For The Vaquita, Phocoena Sinus, Tim Gerrodette, Barbara L. Taylor, René Swift, Shannon Rankin, Armando M. Jaramillo-Legorreta, Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

A line-transect survey for the critically endangered vaquita, Phocoena sinus, was carried out in October–November 2008, in the northern Gulf of California,Mexico. Areas with deeper water were sampled visually from a large research vessel, while shallow water areas were covered by a sailboat towing an acoustic array. Total vaquita abundance in 2008 was estimated to be 245 animals (CV = 73%, 95% CI 68– 884). The 2008 estimate was 57% lower than the 1997 estimate, an average rate of decline of 7.6%/yr. Bayesian analyses found an 89% probability of decline in total population size during the 11 yr period, …

Functional Responses And Scaling In Predator–Prey Interactions Of Marine Fishes: Contemporary Issues And Emerging Concepts, Mary E. Hunsicker, Lorenzo Ciannelli, Kevin M. Bailey, Jeffrey A. Buckel, J. Wilson White, Jason S. Link, Timothy E. Essington, Sarah Gaichas, Todd W. Anderson, Richard D. Brodeur, Kunk-Sik Chan, Kun Chen, Göran Englund, Kenneth T. Frank, Vània Freitas, Mark A. Hixon, Thomas Hurst, Darren W. Johnson, James F. Kitchell, Doug Reese, George A. Rose, Henrik Sjodin, William J. Sydeman, Henk W. Van Der Veer, Knut Vollset, Stephani Zador

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Predator–prey interactions are a primary structuring force vital to the resilience of marine communities and sustainability of the world's oceans. Human influences on marine ecosystems mediate changes in species interactions. This generality is evinced by the cascading effects of overharvesting top predators on the structure and function of marine ecosystems. It follows that ecological forecasting, ecosystem management, and marine spatial planning require a better understanding of food web relationships. Characterising and scaling predator– prey interactions for use in tactical and strategic tools (i.e. multi-species management and ecosystem models) are paramount in this effort. Here, we explore what issues are involved …

Cooperative Hunting Behavior, Prey Selectivity And Prey Handling By Pack Ice Killer Whales (Orcinus Orca), Type B, In Antarctic Peninsula Waters, Robert L. Pitman, John W. Durban

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Currently, there are three recognized ecotypes (or species) of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Antarctic waters, including type B, a putative prey specialist on seals, which we refer to as “pack ice killer whale” (PI killer whale). During January 2009, we spent a total of 75.4 h observing three different groups of PI killer whales hunting off the western Antarctic Peninsula. Observed prey taken included 16 seals and 1 Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) were taken almost exclusively (14/15 identified seal kills), despite the fact that they represented only 15% …

Evidence Of Susceptibility To Morbillivirus Infection In Cetaceans From The United States, T. K. Rowles, L. S. Schwacke, R. S. Wells, J. T. Saliki, L. Hansen, A. Hohn, F. Townsend, R. A. Sayre, A. J. Hall

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Cetacean morbilliviruses (CeMV) are viruses that can cause mass mortalities among various odontocete species. In this study levels of “herd” immunity in cetaceans from the U.S. coast are described from the distribution and prevalence of antibodies against morbilliviruses. Neutralizing antibody titers against dolphin morbillivirus (DMV), porpoise morbillivirus (PMV), phocine distemper (PDV), and canine distemper viruses (CDV) were measured. Positive samples had higher titers against the CeMV than against the other morbilliviruses tested, indicating that although PDV or CDV can be used to investigate exposure their use may result in a higher false negative rate. The results suggest that morbillivirus did …

Tropospheric Temperature Trends: History Of An Ongoing Controversy, Peter W. Thorne, John R. Lanzante, Thomas C. Peterson, Dian J. Seidel, Keith P. Shine

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Changes in atmospheric temperature have a particular importance in climate research because climate models consistently predict a distinctive vertical profile of trends. With increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, the surface and troposphere are consistently projected to warm, with an enhancement of that warming in the tropical upper troposphere. Hence, attempts to detect this distinct ‘fingerprint’ have been a focus for observational studies. The topic acquired heightened importance following the 1990 publication of an analysis of satellite data which challenged the reality of the projected tropospheric warming. This review documents the evolution over the last four decades of understanding of tropospheric temperature …

Evaluating The Utility Of Cox1 For Cetacean Species Identification, A. Viricel, P. E. Rosel

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1) gene has been promoted as a universal reference gene, or barcode, to identify organisms to the species level. We evaluated whether cox1 would be appropriate to diagnose cetacean species. The 5' end of cox1 (686 base pairs, bp) was sequenced for 46 of 86 recognized species of cetaceans. In addition, we included 105 sequences from GenBank, increasing our taxonomic coverage to 61 species. Particular focus was placed on sampling two subfamilies that contain closely related taxa: the Delphininae and the Globicephalinae. Species-specific sequences were observed for all but three taxa ( …

Inbreeding Effective Population Size And Parentage Analysis Without Parents, Robin S. Waples, Ryan K. Waples

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

An important use of genetic parentage analysis is the ability to directly calculate the number of offspring produced by each parent (k_i) and hence effective population size, N_e. But what if parental genotypes are not available? In theory, given enough markers, it should be possible to reconstruct parental genotypes based entirely on a sample of progeny, and if so the vector of parental k_i values. However, this would provide information only about parents that actually contributed offspring to the sample. How would ignoring the ‘null’ parents (those that produced no offspring) affect an estimate …

Icoads Release 2.5: Extensions And Enhancements To The Surface Marine Meteorological Archive, Scott D. Woodruff, Steven J. Worley, Sandra J. Lubker, Zaihua Ji, J. Eric Freeman, David I. Berry, Philip Brohan, Elizabeth C. Kent, Richard W. Reynolds, Shawn R. Smith, Clive Wilkinson

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Release 2.5 of the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) is a major update (covering 1662–2007) of the world’s most extensive surface marine meteorological data collection. Building on extensive national and international partnerships, many new and improved contributing datasets have been processed into a uniform format and combined with the previous Release 2.4. The new data range from early non-instrumental ship observations to measurements initiated in the twentieth century from buoys and other automated platform types. Improvements to existing data include replacing preliminary Global Telecommunication System (GTS) receipts with more reliable, delayed mode reports for post-1997 data, and in the …

Measuring Information Content From Observations For Data Assimilations: Utilities Of Spectral Formulations Demonstrated With Radar Observations, Qin Xu, Li Wei

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Utilities of the spectral formulations for measuring information content from observations are explored and demonstrated with real radar data. It is shown that the spectral formulations can be used (i) to precisely compute the information contents from one-dimensional radar data uniformly distributed along the radar beam, (ii) to approximately estimate the information contents from two-dimensional radar observations non-uniformly distributed on the conical surface of radar scan and thus (iii) to estimate the information losses caused by super-observations generated by local averaging with a series of successively coarsened resolutions to find an optimally coarsened resolution for radar data compression with zero …

Do Invasive Mussels Restrict Offshore Phosphorus Transport In Lake Huron?, Yoonkyung Cha, Craig A. Stow, Thomas F. Nalepa, Kenneth H. Reckhow

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Dreissenid mussels were first documented in the Laurentian Great Lakes in the late 1980s. Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) spread quickly into shallow, hard-substrate areas; quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) spread more slowly and are currently colonizing deep, offshore areas. These mussels occur at high densities, filter large water volumes while feeding on suspended materials, and deposit particulate waste on the lake bottom. This filtering activity has been hypothesized to sequester tributary phosphorus in nearshore regions reducing offshore primary productivity. We used a mass balance model to estimate the phosphorus sedimentation rate in Saginaw Bay, a shallow …

State Of The Climate In 2010, Jessica Blunden, Derek S. Arndt, Molly O. Baringer

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Several large-scale climate patterns influenced climate conditions and weather patterns across the globe during 2010. The transition from a warm El Niño phase at the beginning of the year to a cool La Niña phase by July contributed to many notable events, ranging from record wetness across much of Australia to historically low Eastern Pacific basin and near-record high North Atlantic basin hurricane activity. The remaining five main hurricane basins experienced below- to well-below-normal tropical cyclone activity. The negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation was a major driver of Northern Hemisphere temperature patterns during 2009/10 winter and again in late …

Estimates Of Duck Breeding Populations In The Nebraska Sandhills Using Double Observer Methodology, Mark P. Vrtiska, Larkin A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Nebraska Sandhills are an important area for breeding ducks in the Great Plains, but reliable estimates of breeding populations are unavailable. Double-observer methodology was used to estimate abundance of breeding duck populations in the Nebraska Sandhills. Aerial transect surveys were conducted using methodology similar to the cooperative Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service. Observations by two front-seat observers and one rear-seat observer were used to account for incomplete detectability. Transect-specific population size and detection probabilities were estimated using program SURVIV; estimates were species-specific by type of social …

Sensitivity Of Planetary Boundary Layer Atmosphere To Historical And Future Changes Of Land Use/Land Cover, Vegetation Fraction, And Soil Moisture In Western Kentucky, Usa, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Heat Flux Measurements And Modeling Of Malodorous Compounds Above An Anaerobic Swine Lagoon, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

Soil Moisture: A Central And Unifying Theme In Physical Geography, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Irrigation On Dry Season Precipitation In India, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.