Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Statistical Fetch Model For Water Wave Glint Correction Using Worldview-3 Imagery, Amanda Jade Quintanilla

Theses and Dissertations

Sun glint in satellite imagery of the water surface contaminates the upwelling signal received by a detector. Many models exist that attempt to correct for this wave facet effect and phenomena. In this work a model for sun glint correction is created using the comparison of image transects between two nearly simultaneously collected images of the same area, although with differing sensor geometry. One image utilized in this research is almost entirely glint free while the other is contaminated by water wave facet glint. Although many models for removing sun glint exist based on various techniques, none are completely accurate, …

Predictability Of The Overland Reintensification Of North Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Erin (2007), Ariel Tickner-Ernst

Theses and Dissertations

Tropical cyclones (TC) typically decrease in intensity upon interacting with land because of increased surface roughness and decreased surface evaporation. However, several studies have documented cases in which TCs maintain their intensity or even intensify over land within non- or weakly baroclinic environments. Yet, our understanding of the precise physical processes that support maintenance or intensification over land in non- or weakly baroclinic environments remains limited, and the predictive skill for these outcomes has yet to be quantified.

We begin this process by quantifying the predictive skill and forecast uncertainty of the overland intensification of North Atlantic Tropical Storm Erin …

The Relationship Between Biofouling Adhesion And Frequency Of Mechanical Cleaning To Control The Recruitment To Clear Coatings, Dylan Thomas Eggers

Theses and Dissertations

There is a need to control biofouling on sensors and transparent windows in the marine environment. Clear silicone coatings offer a method to reduce the adhesion strength of marine organisms to the surface, however, these also require mechanical cleaning to maintain the surfaces free of fouling. This research evaluated the performance of eighty seven formulations and took the top two candidates to investigate a) the frequencies of wiping required by a brush to maintain two coatings and uncoated glass surfaces free of fouling and b) the effects of clear silicone coatings fouling release properties on required frequencies. The panels were …

Decadal Climate Variability In Mesoscale-Resolving Coupled Models, Ilijana Mastilovic

Theses and Dissertations

Most of our knowledge about the causes of 20th-century climate change comes from simulation using numerical models. However, the observed climate variability and the one simulated by the state-of-the-art climate models exhibit substantial discrepancies at the decadal-to-multidecadal time scale and thus it hinders our fundamental understanding of the observed climate change. Evidence is mounting that vigorous intrinsic variability associated with mesoscale oceanic features contributes significantly to large-scale low-frequency climate variability, with fundamental implications for decadal climate low-frequency climate prediction. As of yet, extensive simulation of these decadal effects using high-resolution state-of-the-art coupled climate models has been computationally prohibitive, as it …

A Preliminary Characterization And Assessment Of Mesophotic Octocoral Microbiomes In The Western Gulf Of Mexico, Edward P. Gniffke

Theses and Dissertations

Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems are highly diverse and productive ecosystems in the western Gulf of Mexico which are composed of, in part, by octocorals (subclass Octocorallia). Despite their importance as foundational organisms octocorals are an understudied group in this region, with little known about their microbial community. Ninety-eight Octocoral samples collected from the western and northwestern Gulf of Mexico were sequenced using 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize their microbial communities. The sequenced microbiomes were generally low in diversity composed of a few core microbial taxa. Octocoral group was the main driver of microbiome composition as opposed to depth, season, region, and …

Using Asos Ceilings And Mesonet Relative Humidity To Improve General Aviation Flight Planning And Decision Making In Complex Terrain, Connor Hayden Welch

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the increasing availability of weather products and access to data, the issue of weather representativeness, especially in relation to terrain, persists in the aviation industry. Data-sparse regions pose a particular challenge, requiring focused research efforts to address this issue and reduce accident and fatality rates within the general aviation (GA) community. This thesis aims to tackle the specific problem of representing visibility conditions, with a focus on obscuration conditions in elevated terrain.

To achieve this goal, data from Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) ceilometers and nearby mesonet relative humidity (RH) were analyzed to establish a relationship between the lowest …

Obscuration Analysis Of Camera Imagery For Aviation Applications, Patrick James Roelant

Theses and Dissertations

Image feature detection is a potent tool with many applications, such as fog identification, roadway conditions, etc. As part of the recent surge in machine learning applications, cloud detection has also become an increasingly engaged area of research. Identifying low clouds is especially useful with respect to aviation, particularly in regions of complex topography prone to visibility-related hazards such as haze or fog. To address this issue, a threshold-based semi-automated algorithm was developed and tested to determine whether or not an image is obscured by fog or haze. Images were obtained from a ground-based camera network in Southern California, the …

Verification Of The Localized Aviation Mos Program (Lamp) At Major Us Airports For Ifr Conditions, Mackenzie O'Rourke

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research is to quantify the LAMP’s performance when forecasting for IFR conditions at specific major airports for forecast hours one, three, six, and twelve, and further determine how the LAMP performs seasonally at those specific airports and forecast hours. Two by two contingency tables were used to calculate the Probability of Detection (POD), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), Critical Success Index (CSI), Heidke Skill Score (HSS), and Bias score. The results show that the LAMP performs relatively better in the cool season compared to the warm season consistently at each chosen airport, and that the LAMP performs …

Tornado Outbreak False Alarm Probabilistic Forecasts With Machine Learning, Kirsten Reed Snodgrass

Theses and Dissertations

Tornadic outbreaks occur annually, causing fatalities and millions of dollars in damage. By improving forecasts, the public can be better equipped to act prior to an event. False alarms (FAs) can hinder the public’s ability (or willingness) to act. As such, a probabilistic FA forecasting scheme would be beneficial to improving public response to outbreaks.

Here, a machine learning approach is employed to predict FA likelihood from Storm Prediction Center (SPC) tornado outbreak forecasts. A database of hit and FA outbreak forecasts spanning 2010 – 2020 was developed using historical SPC convective outlooks and the SPC Storm Reports database. Weather …

Protecting The Vulnerable: Tornado Sheltering And Communication Of Public Shelters With A Case Study From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Craig Douglas Croskery

Theses and Dissertations

One of the greatest natural hazards that is faced with in much of the United States are tornadoes. Despite improvements in the warning processes, the risk of significant loss of life remains high. That is particularly true with vulnerable communities which have higher proportions of mobile homes; however, violent tornadoes are very difficult to manage in permanent homes or buildings as well. As a result, tornado shelters have been built in some communities and have become available to the public. However, their presence is intermittent, and there are many tornado-prone areas that lack such shelters.

After a public survey, it …

Evaluating The Relationship Between Methane Seeps And Seafloor Geomorphology On The Northern Us Atlantic Margin, Gabriel Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Methane seeps are a transport pathway for carbon from seafloor sediments to the marine environment with important implications for global biogeochemical cycling. Accordingly, there is substantial interest in better understanding the processes that control seep location and predicting the distribution of seeps with existing seafloor datasets. Visual evaluation of methane seeps, in multibeam sonar water column data, suggests a spatial relationship between seeps and specific seafloor morphologic features such as ridge crests. In this thesis, seafloor geomorphology at 1996 seep detection sites on the US Atlantic margin was quantitatively characterized by geomorphologic phonotype, bathymetric position index, slope, rugosity, and aspect …

Flow Monitoring And Tidal Exchange Ratio Estimation For The Bahia Grande After Widening Of The Carl Joe Gayman Pilot Channel: Bahia Grande, Cameron County, Tx, Sabas Lopez Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The Bahia Grande (BG) is an 8,500-acre set of coastal bays and wetlands located between Brownsville and Port Isabel, Tx, near the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) coastline. In 2005, the Carl Joe Gayman Pilot Channel was constructed to address hypersalinity concerns that resulted from natural and anthropogenically-caused tidal isolation since the early 1940’s. In 2022, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) increased the channel’s width and depth in anticipation of increasing tidal exchange ratios by a factor of two to three. Once the channel widening was complete, two SL-1500-3G side-looking acoustic doppler current profilers (ADCPs) were periodically deployed beneath the …

Long-Term Spatial And Temporal Assessment Of Criteria Air Pollutants Concentration Trends In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Region Of Texas, Usa, Md Salahuddin Majumder

Theses and Dissertations

Air pollution is a substantial environmental challenge all over the world. This study investigated the long-term air pollution levels in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region, by utilizing data collected from five continuous ambient monitoring stations in two counties over 23 years, from January 2000 to December 2022, to analyze daily, monthly, and seasonal variations of different pollutants, including ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide. This study also identified distinct daily and seasonal patterns for O3, PM2.5, PM10, and CO at each monitoring site, influenced by factors such as traffic emissions, temperature, solar radiation, indoor heating, and weather conditions. …

Effect Of Elevated Temperature And Roundup Exposure On Oxidative Stress And Antioxidant Status In The American Oyster, Afsana Chowdhury

Theses and Dissertations

Aquatic organisms are frequently exposed to various environmental stressors. In this study, we observed the short-term (1-week) combined dose-dependent effect of Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, and high temperature (30°C) on the morphology of gills and digestive glands, expression of heat shock protein-70 (HSP70), dinitrophenyl protein (DNP), nitrotyrosine protein (NTP), antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT) and superoxidase dismutase (SOD) in tissues of American oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Histological analyses showed an increase in mucous production in the gills and digestive glands, hemocyte aggregation in the connective tissues as well as structural change of the lumen in the digestive glands …

From The Sky To The Smartphone: Communicating Weather Information In A Digital Age, Cole M. Vaughn

Theses and Dissertations

As new technology has emerged in the digital era, the public can now choose from a variety of new media from which to get weather information. Weather applications (apps) and social media have emerged as some of the popular new media. This study sought to understand the extent to which these new media are used, how weather apps are perceived, how the news media used Twitter during Hurricane Irma, and how the public engaged with the news media’s tweets. A survey and dataset of tweets were used to evaluate the research questions and hypotheses of this research. The study found …

Salas Y Gómez Benthic Habitat And Community Assessment Of Seamounts And Oceanic Islands, Kara Eckley

Theses and Dissertations

Seamounts are essential benthic habitats that are ecologically important, providing habitat and functioning as stepping stones for dispersal and possible refugia, and economically valuable, supporting deep-sea fisheries and potential mineral mining activities. The Salas y Gómez Ridge in the southeast Pacific Ocean longitudinally contains dozens of seamounts that extend ~2,900 km across the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The ridge contains a range of oxygen and nutrient conditions that, along with the distance between seamounts, have led to high levels of endemism, reported in the few studies that have been conducted on seamounts of the region; this study is the first …

Investigating The Relationship Between Dissolved Oxygen And Nitrate Concentration As A Proxy For Marine Ecosystem Health, Natalia M. Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Coastal environments such as seagrass meadows span a wide range of spatial scales and can experience disturbances that cause rapid shifts to ecosystem dynamics. Increased pressure to the coastal zone has highlighted the need for constant, real-time monitoring to monitor current ecosystem status. A custom, low cost, high resolution, in situ sensor network was designed and tested in the Lower Laguna Madre, Texas to characterize primary productivity in seagrass meadows through gradient patterns of dissolved oxygen concentration, with the purpose of determining whether seagrass or phytoplankton were the more dominant primary producer. There was a distinct vertical and horizontal gradient …

Weather Parameters Influencing The Incidence Of Citrus Canker Caused By Aw Strain In The Rio Grande Valley, Amit Sharma

Theses and Dissertations

Citrus canker caused by bacterium Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) seriously affects the citrus industry by making the fruit unmarketable due to unsightly lesions on the fruit. Canker caused by Aw strain of Xcc was reported in the citrus trees located in the residential areas of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Canker severity differs amongst cultivars/varieties, and it is influenced by prevailing environmental conditions. Multiple regression modeling of the disease incidence with the environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, windspeed, wind gust, and rainfall was performed to understand the environmental conditions that are favorable for spread of citrus …

Conjunctive Management For Groundwater-Surface Water Resources: Numerical Modeling And Potential Assessment Of Managed Aquifer Recharge (Mar) At Lower Rio Grande Valley In South Texas, Dwight Zedric Q. Capus

Theses and Dissertations

Texas is well known to frequent floods and droughts, and yet has mounting concerns in very imbalanced water availability and water demands from growth in population and economical activities. Capturing and storing water is essential to long-term and climate-smart management of the “already-scarce” water resources. This study aimed to apply numerical modeling to evaluate potentials and impacts of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) to regional groundwater systems in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Using Visual MODFLOW Flex 3D package, different scenarios were simulated for groundwater flow patterns and storage capacities. Water injections tested ranged between 7.30x105 ft3 to 3.65x109 ft3 , …

A Protocol To Build Trust With Black Box Models, Timothy K. Thielke

Theses and Dissertations

Data scientists are more widely using artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) algorithms today despite the general mistrust associated with them due to the lack of contextual understanding of the domain occurring within the algorithm. Of the many types of ML algorithms, those that use non-linear activation functions are especially regarded with suspicion because of the lack of transparency and intuitive understanding of what is occurring within the black box of the algorithm. In this thesis, we set out to create a protocol to delve into the black box of an ML algorithm set to predict synoptic severe weather patterns …

Internal Waves Of Port Everglades: Experimental And Numerical Studies To Characterize Ambient Magnetic Signals, Johanna Riley Evans

Theses and Dissertations

Ocean dynamics are an important contributing factor to measurable environmental magnetic noise. Seawater is conductive and as an internal wave oscillates across Earth’s magnetic field, a small yet detectable induced magnetic field develops. A significant source of underwater magnetic noise off the southeast coast of Florida comes from internal waves. Characterizing the magnetic signals present required a combination of computational modeling effort and field experiments. For this research, undersea sensors were monitored as a continuous field experiment and a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) model was customized to simulate internal wave-induced magnetic fields at the site. I developed the …

Understanding Ecological Relationships To Improve Biofouling Management Practices In The Marine Environment, Ann Catherine Wassick

Theses and Dissertations

Biofouling, the growth of benthic invertebrates on anthropogenic surfaces, impacts many industries and is a major vector of non-native species worldwide. Understanding the ecological relationships between biofouling organisms and their environment is necessary to assist management practices. This study investigates the biofouling communities at Port Canaveral, Florida, in order to potentially refine biofouling mitigation practices. Recruitment panels were used to document the temporal changes in community composition, biofouling pressure, recruitment, and growth rates. These factors were also used to assess relationships with temperature and salinity. A second component of this work provided documentation on the variation in non-native species abundance …

Modeling Settlement And Filtration Of The Indian River Lagoon Benthic Community, With An Emphasis On Living Dock Restoration Mats, Sandra Lisette Rech

Theses and Dissertations

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America. An increase in population and anthropogenic effects have led to eutrophication, a decline in water quality, and overall degradation. The Living Docks program is a citizen science initiative started at the Florida Institute of Technology for lagoon restoration. In this program, public and private docks are volunteered to become Living Docks, where oyster mats made of plastic mesh and dead, dried oyster shells are attached to dock pilings in an effort to provide a natural substrate for benthic organism growth. The community which develops …

Cloud Image Classification Using Machine Learning, Marcus Peter Cote

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning is a rapidly expanding technology that has proven to be highly useful for image classification. Ground-based camera networks are an emerging resource for aviation weather information with near real-time imagery available online for public viewing and download. While raw web camera imagery can be analyzed by aviators, high pilot workload motivates the use of machine learning to autonomously interpret cloud type information from images that is relevant to aviation weather hazards. In particular, transfer learning is a machine learning approach by which elements of a pre-trained machine learning model are refitted for new tasks. By employing transfer learning …

Arctic Ocean And Subarctic Seas Dynamics In A Changing Climate, Sarah B. Hall

Theses and Dissertations

Salinity is the primary determinant of the Arctic Ocean’s vertical density stratification in the upper ocean, which has major implications on the ocean’s physical dynamics alongside a period of rapidly declining sea ice. In recent decades, the Arctic’s freshwater content (FWC) has increased as a result of the accumulation of freshwater source inputs. Additional freshwater exported to the North Atlantic may hinder overturning processes that are vital to the regulation of global climate. This dissertation employs in situ measurements, satellite observations, and ocean model simulations to better understand salinity and freshwater changes in the Arctic Ocean during this changing climate. …

Sources And Cycling Of Neodymium And Rare Earth Elements In The Arctic Amerasian Basin And Bering Sea, Brian D. Duggan

Theses and Dissertations

The isotopic composition of dissolved neodymium (¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd, expressed as εNd) behaves quasi-conservatively in the ocean and has been used as a palaeoceanographic tracer of ocean circulation. The εNd value of water masses is acquired—and often altered—during interaction with sediments along the margins; however, the processes involved in seawater εNd acquisition remains poorly characterized and quantified. Here we report the results of 349 Nd isotope and 354 rare earth element (REE) concentration measurements from 27 water column profiles across the Bering shelf and through the Arctic Amerasian Basin collected during U.S. Arctic GEOTRACES cruise HLY1502 (GEOTRACES section …

Tropical Cyclone And Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions In The Gulf Of Mexico, Emily Nichole Eley

Theses and Dissertations

The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is historically a favorable region for the formation, maintenance and intensification of tropical cyclones that frequently evolve into powerful hurricanes. These natural disasters threaten the basin’s innate habitat and wildlife diversity, and the expansive coastal economies and communities. The dominant ocean circulation feature in the GoM is the Loop Current System (LCS) which includes the Loop Current (LC) and its associated mesoscale eddy field. The LC originates at the Yucatán Channel, loops anticyclonically into the basin, and ends at the Florida Straits; further it produces both anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies. The existence of the LCS …

The Effects Of Incorporating 0-500 M Srh Into The Violent Tornado Parameter, Jay Palmer Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Between 2011-2021, violent tornadoes accounted for an average of 65% of all tornado-related fatalities. The Violent Tornado Parameter (VTP), created in 2018, attempts to address this forecast problem but has issues with false alarms. Storm Relative Helicity has historically been used in tornado forecasting. Recent studies have shown the 0-500 m effective layer SRH (ESRH) has skill in discerning significantly tornadic events from those that are not.

This study explored the effects of incorporating 0-500 m ESRH into the VTP and issues relating to the parameter’s false alarm rate by examining RUC/RAP forecast soundings for 302 U.S. tornadic events (83 …

Defining Viable Solar Resource Locations In The Southeast United States Using The Satellite-Based Glass Product, Jolie Kavanagh

Theses and Dissertations

This research uses satellite data and the moment statistics to determine if solar farms can be placed in the Southeast US. From 2001-2019, the data are analyzed in reference to the Southwest US, where solar farms are located. The clean energy need is becoming more common; therefore, more locations than arid environments must be observed. The Southeast US is the main location of interest due to the warm, moist environment throughout the year. This research uses the Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS) photosynthetically active radiation product (PAR) to determine viable locations for solar panels. A probability density function (PDF) along …

An Investigation Of Geostationary Satellite Imagery To Compare Developing And Non-Developing African Easterly Waves, Jenna Bartlett

Theses and Dissertations

African easterly waves (AEWs) are known precursors to tropical cyclone (TC) formation, although it is not always clear which AEWs will develop and which AEWs will not. To investigate AEW evolution, this study examines novel observations from the geostationary Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) during July-September 2019. Case studies are conducted for two AEWs: one that became Hurricane Dorian, the strongest and most devastating hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, and a long-lived September AEW that did not become a TC. Lower-level moisture and flow, and the strength and spatial distribution of convective activity, differed between these two waves. By …