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University of Massachusetts Amherst

Masters Theses

Theses/Dissertations

2019

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Arboriculture Safety Around The World, Jamie Lim Oct 2019

Arboriculture Safety Around The World, Jamie Lim

Masters Theses

Arboricultural work is inherently dangerous, with more serious injuries and fatalities than most other professions. Safety standards exist in some jurisdictions, but it is unclear how many standards exist, how they compare to one another, and whether (and how many) jurisdictions share standards. To establish a baseline understanding of these issues, my objectives were to (i) develop a database of existing standards, (ii) identify the most frequently occurring safety topics and (iii) describe similarities and differences in safety topics among standards from different countries. I worked with a variety of contacts and traditional university library resources to identify, obtain, analyze, …

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Using Visual Media To Empower Citizen Scientists: A Case Study Of The Outsmart App, Megan E. Kierstead Oct 2019

Using Visual Media To Empower Citizen Scientists: A Case Study Of The Outsmart App, Megan E. Kierstead

Masters Theses

To be successful citizen science projects need to do two key things: (1) they need to meaningfully engage the public and they must also provide people with the tools, expertise, and/or training needed to participate in rigorous research that can be used by the scientific community. In some ways, these requirements are potentially at odds. Emphasis on rigor and expertise risks excluding members of the public who do not feel qualified to participate in esoteric or technically difficult scientific research. Conversely, projects that eschew rigorous methods in favor of wider participation might lead to bad data that cannot be used …

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Defining And Addressing Interconnected Goals In Groundwater Management Planning Across The Usa, Allison Gage Oct 2019

Defining And Addressing Interconnected Goals In Groundwater Management Planning Across The Usa, Allison Gage

Masters Theses

Groundwater accounts for approximately 99% of the available freshwater on Earth, and is an important resource for irrigation, potable water, and domestic use in the United States. However, the overuse of groundwater has led to aquifer depletion in several basins across the USA, resulting in storage reduction, contamination, salt water intrusion, and depletion of surface waters. To properly manage groundwater for the future, there is a need for well-informed Groundwater Management Plans (GWMPs) in order to prevent further depletion and erosion of the resource. Previous studies have focused on groundwater management relative to groundwater laws, regulations, and institutional arrangements. This …

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Spatial And Temporal Mapping Of Distributed Precipitation, Surface And Groundwater Stable Isotopes Enables Insights Into Hydrologic Processes Operating At A Catchment Scale, Alison Cole Oct 2019

Spatial And Temporal Mapping Of Distributed Precipitation, Surface And Groundwater Stable Isotopes Enables Insights Into Hydrologic Processes Operating At A Catchment Scale, Alison Cole

Masters Theses

Isotopic analyses of d18O and d2H of water through the hydrologic cycle have allowed hydrologists to make better interpretations related to climate and relationships between precipitation, surface water, and groundwater. In this study 394 precipitation samples 1917 surface water samples and 1405 groundwater samples across Massachusetts was used to create an isoscape for each respective water. All samples have been collected by volunteers throughout Massachusetts. A state meteoric water line: d2H = 7.7*d18O + 9.8, surface water line: d2H = 5.7*d18O – 4.2, and groundwater line: d2 …

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Hydrologic Structure And Function Of Vernal Pools In South Deerfield, Massachusetts, Charlotte Axthelm Oct 2019

Hydrologic Structure And Function Of Vernal Pools In South Deerfield, Massachusetts, Charlotte Axthelm

Masters Theses

Vernal pools are small, ephemeral wetlands lacking an inlet or outlet. These wetlands, also known as seasonal pools, are found in a wide range of biomes, and their characteristics vary based on location. While the vegetation of western U.S. pools, and amphibians of eastern U.S. pools have been extensively studied, many aspects of vernal pools have not been fully characterized. In particular, although the general seasonal wetting and drying cycle is understood qualitatively, few studies have attempted to quantify the hydrological regime of vernal pools in New England. As water level variation drives many, if not all, of the characteristics …

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In-Situ Zircon And Monazite Geochronology From Compositionally Distinct Layers In A Single Migmatitic Paragneiss Sample Located In The Eastern Adirondack Mountains, Ny, Kaitlyn Suarez Aug 2019

In-Situ Zircon And Monazite Geochronology From Compositionally Distinct Layers In A Single Migmatitic Paragneiss Sample Located In The Eastern Adirondack Mountains, Ny, Kaitlyn Suarez

Masters Theses

Migmatites are a common rock type in the Adirondack Mountains, NY. We analyzed a single sample of biotite-garnet-sillimanite paragneiss with foliation parallel leucosome along Route 22 south of Whitehall, NY in order to determine the timing of melting using both in-situ monazite and zircon U/Pb geochronology from the restite and leucosome layers of the same rock. Monazite was analyzed via in-situ EMPA on the Ultrachron microprobe at the University of Massachusetts. Zircon was analyzed via LA-ICP-MS (in-situ and mounted mineral separates) at the LaserChron Center. Monazite analyses from the restite yielded six compositionally distinct populations with dates of 1178 ± …

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Eastern Whip-Poor-Will Habitat Associations In Fort Drum, Ny, Kimberly Spiller Jul 2019

Eastern Whip-Poor-Will Habitat Associations In Fort Drum, Ny, Kimberly Spiller

Masters Theses

The eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus: hereafter whip-poor-will) has been declining from historical population levels throughout its range in the northeast. Although whip-poor-wills have been reported to use a variety of habitats, most recent studies have associated whip-poor-wills with open habitat, such as early-successional habitats or forest edges. Population declines of other early-successional bird species have been attributed to the loss of early-successional disturbance-dependent habitats in the northeast, and it has been suggested that habitat loss is a significant factor in whip-poor-will population declines, as well. However, there remain substantial gaps in our understanding of whip-poor-will habitat associations, and …

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The Climatic And Hydrostratigraphic Controls On Brine-To-Freshwater Interface Dynamics In Hyperarid Climates: A 2-D Parametric Groundwater Modeling Study, Sarah Mcknight Jul 2019

The Climatic And Hydrostratigraphic Controls On Brine-To-Freshwater Interface Dynamics In Hyperarid Climates: A 2-D Parametric Groundwater Modeling Study, Sarah Mcknight

Masters Theses

Density dependent flow occurs in areas where high-salinity groundwater interacts with low-salinity groundwater to create a brine-to-freshwater interface that defies common assumptions about groundwater movement. Yet the geologic and hydrologic factors that impact interface dynamics and migration remain poorly defined. With less than 20 mm•yr-1 of precipitation and with an extremely dense (i.e. 1.2 g•cm-3) naturally occurring brine, Chile’s Salar de Atacama (SdA) provides an excellent analog for exploring interface dynamics in other arid regions. Site-specific 2-D models of the interface in the southeastern region of SdA, with interpretations of the hydrostratigraphic framework, provide an analysis for …

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Insar Simulations For Swot And Dual Frequency Processing For Topographic Measurements, Gerard Masalias Huguet Mar 2019

Insar Simulations For Swot And Dual Frequency Processing For Topographic Measurements, Gerard Masalias Huguet

Masters Theses

In Earth remote sensing precise characterization of the backscatter coefficient is important to extract valuable information about the observed target. A system that eliminates platform motion during near-nadir airborne observations is presented in this thesis, showing an improvement on the accuracy of measurements for a Ka- band scatterometer previously developed at Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL). These very same results are used to simulate the reflectivity of such targets as seen from a spaceborne radar and estimate height errors based on mission-specific geometry. Finally, data collected from a dual-frequency airborne interferometer com- prised by the Ka-band system and an S-band …

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Root-Driven Weathering Impacts On Mineral-Organic Associations Over Pedogenic Time Scales, Mariela Garcia Arredondo Mar 2019

Root-Driven Weathering Impacts On Mineral-Organic Associations Over Pedogenic Time Scales, Mariela Garcia Arredondo

Masters Theses

Plant roots are critical weathering agents in deep soils, yet the impact of resulting mineral transformations on the vast deep soil carbon (C) reservoir are largely unknown. Root-driven weathering of primary minerals may cause the formation of reactive secondary minerals, which protect mineral-organic associations (MOAs) for centuries or millennia. Conversely, root-driven weathering may also transform secondary minerals, potentially enhancing the bioavailability of C previously protected in MOAs. Here we examined the impact of root-driven weathering on MOAs and their capacity to store C over pedogenic time scales. I compared soil that experienced root-driven weathering, resulting in the formation of discrete …

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Legacy Sediment Controls On Post-Glacial Beaches Of Massachusetts, Alycia Ditroia Mar 2019

Legacy Sediment Controls On Post-Glacial Beaches Of Massachusetts, Alycia Ditroia

Masters Theses

Here we examine seasonal grain-size trends on 18 beaches in the Northeastern US and dispersed along the post-glacial coast of Massachusetts (USA) in order to explore the mechanisms influencing median grain size and slope. Over 800 grain size samples were collected along 200 summer and winter cross-shore beach elevation surveys. Obtained grain size and beach slope data are compared to coastal morphology, sediment source, wave height, and tidal magnitude in order to ascertain controls on beach characteristics. In general, median grain size increases with intertidal beach slope in the study region. However, grain sizes along post-glaciated beaches in the study …

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