Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Oh Chemistry Of Non-Methane Organic Gases (Nmogs) Emitted From Laboratory And Ambient Biomass Burning Smoke: Evaluating The Influence Of Furans And Oxygenated Aromatics On Ozone And Secondary Nmog Formation, Matthew M. Coggon, Christopher Y. Lim, Abigail R. Koss, Kanako Sekimoto, Bin Yuan, Jessica B. Gilman, David H. Hagan, Vanessa Selimovic, Kyle J. Zarzana, Steven S. Brown, James M Roberts, Markus Müller, Robert Yokelson, Armin Wisthaler, Jordan E. Krechmer, Jose L. Jimenez, Christopher Cappa, Jesse H. Kroll, Joost De Gouw, Carsten Warneke

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Chamber oxidation experiments conducted at the Fire Sciences Laboratory in 2016 are evaluated to identify important chemical processes contributing to the hydroxy radical (OH) chemistry of biomass burning non-methane organic gases (NMOGs). Based on the decay of primary carbon measured by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS), it is confirmed that furans and oxygenated aromatics are among the NMOGs emitted from western United States fuel types with the highest reactivities towards OH. The oxidation processes and formation of secondary NMOG masses measured by PTR-ToF-MS and iodide-clustering time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometry (I-CIMS) is interpreted using a box model employing …

Helium In Stream Water As A Volcanic Monitoring Tool, W. Payton Gardner, David D. Susong

Geosciences Faculty Publications

We show that synoptic sampling of streams can be used to characterize volcanic volatiles in groundwater over large spatial scales. Synoptic sampling of dissolved noble gases, 222Rn, major ions, and stream discharge was carried out along a 30 km reach of the Gibbon River, near Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Groundwater discharge location, volume, and composition were estimated by constrained calibration of a stream flow and solute transport model. Estimated groundwater composition from stream modeling was compared to shallow groundwater concentrations measured in nearby springs. 3He, 222Rn, and Cl− aq signatures in the Gibbon River are indicative …

Isotopic Characterization Of Nitrogen Oxides (NoX), Nitrous Acid (Hono), And Nitrate (PNo3-) From Laboratory Biomass Burning During Firex, Jiajue Chai, David J. Miller, Eric Scheuer, Jack Dibb, Vanessa Selimovic, Robert Yokelson, Kyle K. Zarzana, Steven Brown, Abigail R. Koss, Carsten Warneke, Meredith Hastings

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

New techniques have recently been developed and applied to capture reactive nitrogen species, including nitrogen oxides (NOx D NOCNO2), nitrous acid (HONO), nitric acid (HNO3), and particulate nitrate (pNO3 ), for accurate measurement of their isotopic composition. Here, we report – for the first time – the isotopic composition of HONO from biomass burning (BB) emissions collected during the Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments Experiment (FIREX, later evolved into FIREX-AQ) at the Missoula Fire Science Laboratory in the fall of 2016. We used our newly developed annular denuder system (ADS), which was verified to completely capture HONO associated …

Natural Disasters: Resource Lists, Hilary Martens

Open Educational Resources (OER) at University of Montana

This record includes a syllabus, unit-by-unit lists of open and free resources, a course project description, and additional, optional resources used in a course on natural disasters. The course covers plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, climate change, floods, fires, landslides, avalanches, and impacts with space objects.

Development Of Probabilistic Cardinal Models, Oliver Serang

University Grant Program Reports

Cardinal models solve problems of the form Y=X_1+X_2+...+X_n, where we have discrete distributions on each random variable. The objective was to improve the usability and performance of Evergreen, an engine for solving cardinal models and to create cardinal models using them.

Nepal Ambient Monitoring And Source Testing Experiment (Namaste): Emissions Of Particulate Matter And Sulfur Dioxide From Vehicles And Brick Kilns And Their Impacts On Air Quality In The Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, Min Zhong, Eri Saikawa, Alexander Avramov, Chen Chen, Boya Sun, Wenlu Ye, William C. Keene, Robert J. Yokelson, Thilina Jayarathne, Elizabeth A. Stone, Maheswar Rupakheti, Arnico K. Panday

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Air pollution is one of the most pressing environmental issues in the Kathmandu Valley, where the capital city of Nepal is located. We estimated emissions from two of the major source types in the valley (vehicles and brick kilns) and analyzed the corresponding impacts on regional air quality. First, we estimated the on-road vehicle emissions in the valley using the International Vehicle Emissions (IVE) model with local emissions factors and the latest available data for vehicle registration. We also identified the locations of the brick kilns in the Kathmandu Valley and developed an emissions inventory for these kilns using emissions …

Production Of Secondary Organic Aerosol During Aging Of Biomass Burning Smoke From Fresh Fuels And Its Relationship To Voc Precursors, A. T. Ahern, E. S. Robinson, D. S. Tkacik, R. Saleh, L. E. Hatch, K. C. Barsanti, C. E. Stockwell, R. J. Yokelson, A. A. Presto, A. L. Robinson, R. C. Sullivan, N. M. Donahue

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

After smoke from burning biomass is emitted into the atmosphere, chemical and physical processes change the composition and amount of organic aerosol present in the aged, diluted plume. During the fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment, we performed smog-chamber experiments to investigate formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and multiphase oxidation of primary organic aerosol (POA). We simulated atmospheric aging of diluted smoke from a variety of biomass fuels while measuring particle composition using high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry. We quantified SOA formation using a tracer ion for low-volatility POA as a reference standard (akin to a naturally occurring internal standard). …

In Situ Measurements Of Trace Gases, Pm, And Aerosol Optical Properties During The 2017 Nw Us Wildfire Smoke Event, Vanessa Selimovic, Robert J. Yokelson, Gavin R. Mcmeeking, Sarah Coefield

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

In mid-August through mid-September of 2017 a major wildfire smoke and haze episode strongly impacted most of the NW US and SW Canada. During this period our ground-based site in Missoula, Montana, experienced heavy smoke impacts for ∼ 500h (up to 471μ-3 hourly average PM2.5). We measured wildfire trace gases, PM2.5 (particulate matter ≤2.5μm in diameter), and black carbon and submicron aerosol scattering and absorption at 870 and 401nm. This may be the most extensive real-time data for these wildfire smoke properties to date. Our range of trace gas ratios for δNH3 δCO and δC2H4 δCO confirmed that the smoke …

Speciated And Total Emission Factors Of Particulate Organics From Burning Western Us Wildland Fuels And Their Dependence On Combustion Efficiency, Coty N. Jen, Lindsay E. Hatch, Vanessa Selimovic, Robert J. Yokelson, Robert Weber, Arantza E. Fernandez, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Kelley C. Barsanti, Allen H. Goldstein

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Western US wildlands experience frequent and large-scale wildfires which are predicted to increase in the future. As a result, wildfire smoke emissions are expected to play an increasing role in atmospheric chemistry while negatively impacting regional air quality and human health. Understanding the impacts of smoke on the environment is informed by identifying and quantifying the chemical compounds that are emitted during wildfires and by providing empirical relationships that describe how the amount and composition of the emissions change based upon different fire conditions and fuels. This study examined particulate organic compounds emitted from burning common western US wildland fuels …

Probing Earth Deformation In Response To Localized Hydrologic Mass Loading, Susitna River Basin, Alaska, Andrew Parker Keene

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Surface mass loading contributes a ubiquitous signal to GPS time series that can be modeled and removed for individual sources. We utilize nine GPS stations in the Susitna River watershed, Alaska, to investigate surface displacements from surface mass loading. We find that modeling atmospheric surface pressure and regional hydrologic mass reduces root mean square (RMS) error by 27-39% for all GPS time series. We observe moderate correlation between residual time series pairs and distance, with elevation differences influencing the strength of this correlation. Seasonal horizontal and vertical displacements are observed after removal of all loading models; stations displace downward and …

Development Along Rattlesnake Creek: An Assessment Of Stream Health, Channel Form, And Land Cover, Christopher D. Miller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Using existing water quality data, historical aerial photographs, and recent orthoimagery, this research assessed how the environmental conditions of Rattlesnake Creek near Missoula, Montana have changed over nearly 90 years of human alteration of the Rattlesnake valley. To characterize stream health, the following indicators were investigated: fish genetic composition and species distribution, water temperature, streamflow, and nutrient levels. Five overlapping aerial photos from 1929 were georectified and compared to 2015 orthoimagery to assess changes in channel form (particularly channel straightening) and land cover across the Rattlesnake Creek valley bottom. Results indicate that trout species in Rattlesnake Creek have hybridized, in …

Zero-Knowledge De Novo Algorithms For Analyzing Small Molecules Using Mass Spectrometry, Patrick Anthony Kreitzberg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the analysis of mass spectra, if a superset of the molecules thought to be in a sample is known a priori, then there are well established techniques for the identification of the molecules such as database search and spectral libraries. Linear molecules are chains of subunits. For example, a peptide is a linear molecule with an “alphabet” of 20 possible amino acid subunits. A peptide of length six will have 20⁶ = 64, 000, 000 different possible outcomes. Small molecules, such as sugars and metabolites, are not constrained to linear structures and may branch. These molecules are …

Student's Self Discovery Of Right Triangle Trigonometry., Elizabeth Dereu

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Research has shown that right triangle trigonometry poses a significant learning challenge for high school geometry students. One potential source of this challenge is the tendency for students to experience right triangle trig as an exclusively action-oriented set of strategies (i.e. SOHCAHTOA). This article describes a teaching experiment where students built understanding of right triangle trig using a unique set of manipulatives and direct measurement. Results of the experiment show that the lessons provided opportunities for students to develop their understanding beyond action-oriented strategies.

A Hydrogen-Bond Stabilized Mechanism Of Oxygen Evolution In Photosystem Ii: A Proposed Computational Experiment, Christopher King

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The ability of plants to take in water and release oxygen into the atmosphere is crucial to the survival of life on Earth. During photosynthesis, water is oxidized to O₂ (dioxygen) at the Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC) of Photosystem II. Structurally, the OEC resembles a box with an open lid, consisting of metal atoms (four manganese and one calcium) bridged by oxygen atoms. The mechanism of action of this complex, however, is not well understood. Various mechanisms have been proposed in recent years to explain how the OEC oxidizes water to dioxygen, but all of these mechanisms contain gaps …

Looking Past, Looking Forward: America's National Parks, Archaeology And Climate Change, Rachel Marie Blumhardt

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

America’s National Parks are rich with cultural history, flora, fauna and some of nature’s most impressive landscapes. As climate change continues to accelerate, these parks and their cultural and natural resources are being threatened. In this project, I will present a colorful, informational booklet that concentrates on 4 specific parks: Yellowstone National Park, National Park of American Samoa, Glacier Bay National Park and Mesa Verde National Park. I will focus on the archaeology and cultural significance of these parks, while also examining the ways that climate change is putting these, and other associated assets of the parks, at risk. I …

Through The Eyes Of Locals: A Changing Climate In Bolivia, Jacob D. Rex

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Deforestation and Agricultural Land-Use Change in Bolivia as a Function of Socio-Economic Realities.

This research combines semi-structured interviews of key informants and local participants, as well as field observations, which were conducted between January and April of 2019 in the Departments of Santa Cruz & Chuquisaca.

Utilization Of Various Methods And A Landsat Ndvi/Google Earth Engine Product For Classifying Irrigated Land Cover, Andrew Nemecek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Methods for classifying irrigated land cover are often complex and not quickly reproducible. Further, moderate resolution time-series datasets have been consistently utilized to produce irrigated land cover products over the past decade, and the body of irrigation classification literature contains no examples of subclassification of irrigated land cover by irrigation method. Creation of geospatial irrigated land cover products with higher resolution datasets could improve reliability, and subclassification of irrigation by method could provide better information for hydrologists and climatologists attempting to model the role of irrigation in the surface-ground water cycle and the water-energy balance. This study summarizes a simple, …

Environmental Site Assessment And Hydrogeologic Impacts To Groundwater At St. Ignatius, Montana And Hanford, Washington, Ryan M. Carter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The following Environmental Studies Master’s Portfolio is a compilation of works completed individually and with peers in order to fulfill requirements for the Master of Science degree. These works demonstrate range, depth, and the interdisciplinary nature of the course of study. As an undergraduate student at Eastern Washington University, I studied Environmental Science with a concentration in hydrogeology. I was interested in learning about the natural world and wanted to develop a deeper connection to it. Inevitably, I was exposed to courses that examined the causes and effects of hazardous waste site remediation, and this topic became my passion. The …

Avoiding Adverse Effects: New Ideas In Drug Discovery For Targeting Pparγ, Trey M. Patton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) has been a drug target to treat type 2 diabetes for the last 20 years when rosiglitazone and pioglitazone were approved by the FDA in 1999. While effective at increasing insulin sensitivity, these drugs cause serious adverse effects due to their full agonist characteristics. For that reason, drug discovery efforts have attempted to reduce or prevent the amount of agonist character of new PPARγ targeting ligands. Unfortunately, there have been no new FDA approved drugs for the receptor. There is a need for new ideas to produce better quality pharmaceuticals that lessen the impact of …

Development Of An Open-Source, Custom Environmental Data Logger For Spatially Scalable Data Collection, Tim Anderson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Characterizing the processes that lead to differences in ecosystem productivity and watershed hydrology across complex terrain remains a challenge. This difficulty can be partially attributed to the cost of installing networks of proprietary data loggers that monitor differences in the biophysical factors contributing to vegetation growth or hydrological processes. Studies that aim to compare concurrent time-series data sets across multiple locations must therefore balance the high cost of these data logger systems with the need for spatial resolution in their data. Here, we present the design, implementation, and case study for an open-source “Pinecone” data logger system, released under the …

Ice Flow Impacts The Firn Structure Of Greenland's Percolation Zone, Rosemary C. Leone

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

One dimensional simulations of firn evolution neglect horizontal transport as the firn column moves down slope during burial. This approach is justifiable near Greenland's ice divide, where ice flow is near vertical, but fidelity is lost in the percolation zone where horizontal ice flow advects the firn column through climate gradients. We simulate firn evolution processes under advection conditions using a transient, thermo-mechanically coupled model for firn densification and heat transfer with various schemes for meltwater penetration and refreezing. The simulations isolate processes in synthetic runs and investigate an ice core site and four transects of Greenland’s percolation zone. The …

A Dual State Hierarchical Ensemble Kalman Filter Algorithm, William J. Cook, Jesse Johnson, Marko Maneta, Doug Brinkerhoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dynamic models that simulate processes across large geographic locations, such as hydrologic models, are often informed by empirical parameters that are distributed across a geographical area and segmented by geological features such as watersheds. These parameters may be referred to as spatially distributed parameters. Spatially distributed parameters are frequently spatially correlated and any techniques utilized in their calibration ideally incorporate existing spatial hierarchical relationships into their structure. In this paper, a parameter estimation method based on the Dual State Ensemble Kalman Filter called the Dual State Hierarchical Ensemble Kalman Filter (DSHEnKF) is presented. This modified filter is innovative in that …

The Impact Of Terrain And Other Factors On Wild Fires, Matthew L. Kingston

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Abstract - Wild fires have become an annual concern in the United States, and despite the vast amount of resources and manpower used to combat the spread of wild fires, the success rate tends to vary. With this in mind, a research project has commenced which is primarily aimed at discovering the relationship between environmental factors and wild fire growth, or lack of growth. This research analyzes data available in the Google Earth Engine and includes geographical features such as roads, elevation, and other factors like humidity and wind. Using Google Earth Engine programs, the goal is to establish meaningful …

Difference In Physical Traits Of Rocky Mountain Tailed Frogs In Burned And Unburned Streams, Daniel M. Franz

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Large Wood On Sediment Routing In A Mixed Bedrock-Alluvial Stream, Robin Welling

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sediment storage by instream wood in forested mountain streams mediates sediment movement from hillslopes through the channel network and can alter channel morphology at multiple spatial scales. Mixed bedrock-alluvial channels are prevalent in mountain stream networks, yet the distribution and geomorphic impact of large wood within these streams are poorly understood. To estimate how the distribution of large wood in a mixed bedrock-alluvial stream relates to sediment storage, we measured and characterized large wood, and surveyed the volume of associated sediment within a stream in the Bitterroot Mountains, Montana. The upstream portion of the study reach is predominantly alluvial and …

An Assessment Of Fecal Water Contamination In The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Daniel Paul Pendergraph 5024527

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wilderness water sources are often defined as pristine or high quality due to the lack of point source pollution. Non-point source pollution from recreation to water resources can be extensive and is well-studied in protected areas globally. Bacterial contamination, specifically fecal bacteria, poses a significant threat to human health because of the risk for outbreaks of illness and disease. Water sources in designated Wilderness areas are particularly vulnerable to fecal water contamination due to high volume of backpackers and lack of backcountry waste facilities. To estimate the occurrence of fecal water contamination in Wilderness water resources, an exploratory analysis was …

Methods For Estimating Mountain Goat Occupancy And Abundance, Molly Mcdevitt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abundance and occupancy are two parameters of central interest to the field of ecology. Furthermore, accurate (both precise and unbiased) estimates are key pieces to the puzzle of effective wildlife management decision-making. While there exist a variety of sampling techniques and statistical models for effectively estimating population parameters for frequently encountered and large mammals, methods for sampling unmarked and rare species are few and far between. The first step to acquiring usable parameter estimates is through the use of sampling theory and incorporation of probabilistic sampling designs to collect count-data and occurrence-data. Often, it is assumed that probabilistic sampling designs …

A Record Of The Precambrian-Cambrian Transition In Sw Montana: A Late Neoproterozoic To Early Cambrian Stratigraphic Window, Fortunian Biostratigraphic Assemblage And Treptichnus Pedum, R. Reid Trippe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study documents a Late Neoproterozoic through Early Cambrian stratigraphic record in the Humbolt anticline of southwestern Montana. The Precambrian-Cambrian transition includes a Fortunian-aged biostratigraphic trace-fossil assemblage with the ichnofossil Treptichnus pedum. The Humbolt anticline represents an inverted paleo-graben that exposes a stratigraphic window interpreted to be a record of rifting along the Cordilleran miogeoclinal margin, linked with the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent. The graben subsided and captured sediment during late-stage rifting and final-stage dissociation along the rift margin. Its structural axis paralleled the rift margin. Sevier/Laramide orogenic thrusting inverted the graben into the Humbolt anticline. The Late …

Determining The Precambrian Structure And Thermotectonic Evolution Of The Central Ruby Range, Southwest Montana, Sara Vivienne Stotter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Ruby Range in southwestern Montana is a fundamental location within the Archean Wyoming craton for examining Precambrian crustal architecture and determining the thermotectonic evolution of the region. Monazite, zircon, and garnet geochronology from each of the three major units within the Ruby Range reveal two distinct metamorphic age populations: an older population ca. 2.55-2.45 Ga (the Tendoy orogeny) and a second, younger population ca. 1.78-1.72 Ga (the Big Sky orogeny). Phase equilibria modeling for the Big Sky orogeny within the confines of the Mine Gulch 7.5’ quadrangle reveal discrete pressure-temperature (P-T)histories for each of the three major …

The Application Of Contemporary Numerical Methods To The Modeling, Analysis, And Uncertainty Quantification Of Glacier Dynamics, Jacob Zachary Downs

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Warming temperatures have led to accelerating ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet, contributing to global sea level rise. Understanding the stability of the Greenland ice sheet to further warming is crucial to estimating rates of sea level rise over the next century. Estimating sea level rise is complicated by uncertainties in the physical mechanisms governing ice motion as well as uncertainties in the broader Arctic climate system of which the ice sheet is an integral part. In chapter 2, we focus on how surface melt water input to the ice sheet bed influences the rate of basal sliding, which …