Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ensemble Sensitivity Analysis For Targeted Observations Of Supercell Thunderstorms, George L. Limpert, Adam L. Houston

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Ensemble sensitivity analysis (ESA) has been demonstrated for observation targeting of synoptic-scale and mesoscale phenomena, but could have similar applications for storm-scale observations with mobile platforms. This paper demonstrates storm-scale ESA using an idealized supercell simulated with a 101-member CM1 ensemble. Correlation coefficients are used as a measure of sensitivity and are derived from single-variable and multivariable linear regressions of pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind with forecast response variables intended as proxies for the strength of supercells. This approach is suitable for targeting observing platforms that simultaneously measure multiple base-state variables. Although the individual correlations are found to be noisy …

An Observational And Modeling Study Of Mesoscale Air Masses With High Theta-E, Wolfgang Hanft, Adam L. Houston

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Typically, the cool side of an airmass boundary is stable to vertical motions due to its associated negative buoyancy. However, under certain conditions, the air on the cool side of the boundary can undergo a transition wherein it assumes an equivalent potential temperature and surface-based convective available potential energy that are higher than those of the air mass on the warm side of the boundary. The resultant air mass is herein referred to as a mesoscale air mass with high theta-e (MAHTE). Results are presented from an observational and mesoscale modeling study designed to examine MAHTE characteristics and the processes …

Evaluating Soil Moisture–Precipitation Interactions Using Remote Sensing: A Sensitivity Analysis, Trent W. Ford, Steven M. Quiring, Balbhadra Thakur, Rohit Jogineedi, Adam Houston, Shanshui Yuan, Ajay Kalra, Noah Lock

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The complex interactions between soil moisture and precipitation are difficult to observe, and consequently there is a lack of consensus as to the sign, strength, and location of these interactions. Inconsistency between soil moisture–precipitation interaction studies can be attributed to a multitude of factors, including the difficulty of demonstrating causal relationships, dataset differences, and precipitation autocorrelation. The purpose of this study is to explore these potential confounding factors and determine which are most important for consideration when assessing statistical coupling between soil moisture and precipitation. Soil moisture is assessed via three remote sensing datasets: theAdvancedMicrowave Scanning Radiometer for EarthObserving System, …

Joint And Lineament Patterns Across The Midcontinent Indicate Repeated Reactivation Of Basement-Involved Faults, Caroline M. Burberry, Jerlyn L. Swiatlowski, Mindi L. Searls, Irina Filina

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Joint networks hosted in successively younger rocks, developing as a result of forced (trishear) folding of a rock mass above a deep-seated fault, can be used to infer the reactivation history of that deep-seated fault. This study aims to use joint networks in Pennsylvanian, Permian and Cretaceous rocks to document evidence of reactivation on basement faults during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic of Nebraska and Kansas. The most prominent basement features in southeast Nebraska and northeast Kansas are oriented NE-SW, likely related to the Midcontinent Rift System and Nemaha Uplift, and oriented NW-SE, likely related to fabrics from the Central Plains …

An Approach To Hydrogeological Modeling Of A Large System Of Groundwater-Fed Lakes And Wetlands In The Nebraska Sand Hills, Usa, Nathan Rossman, Vitaly A. Zlotnik, Clinton Rowe

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The feasibility of a hydrogeological modeling approach to simulate several thousand shallow groundwater-fed lakes and wetlands without explicitly considering their connection with groundwater is investigated at the regional scale (~40,000 km²) through an application in the semi-arid Nebraska Sand Hills (NSH), USA. Hydraulic heads are compared to local land-surface elevations from a digital elevation model (DEM) within a geographic information system to assess locations of lakes and wetlands. The water bodies are inferred where hydraulic heads exceed, or are above a certain depth below, the land surface. Numbers of lakes and/or wetlands are determined via image cluster analysis …

First U-Pb Zircon Ages For Late Miocene Ashfall Konservat-Lagerstatte And Grove Lake Ashes From Eastern Great Plains, Usa, Jon J. Smith, Elijah Turner, Andreas Moller, Robert M. Joeckel, Rick E. Otto

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

This paper documents the first U-Pb zircon ages for Ashfall Fossil Beds (Nebraska, USA), a terrestrial Konservat-Lagerstatte mass-death assemblage that is arguably the most diverse of its type and age. The Ashfall tephra was correlated with ignimbrites from the Bruneau-Jarbidge volcanic field (12.7–10.5 Ma) in southwest Idaho based on geochemical analysis. The methods and geochemical data supporting the original age assessment of the ash bed, however, were never published, and there has been a persistent misconception that dateable heavy minerals (e.g., zircon) are absent. Notwithstanding, we recovered abundant zircons from Ashfall Fossil Beds, and from an ash bed ~6 km …

Sheeting Joints And Polygonal Patterns In The Navajo Sandstone, Southern Utah: Controlled By Rock Fabric, Tectonic Joints, Buckling, And Gullying, David B. Loope, Caroline M. Burberry

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sheeting joints are ubiquitous in outcrops of the Navajo Sandstone on the west-central Colorado Plateau, USA. As in granitic terrains, these are opening- mode fractures and form parallel to land surfaces. In our study areas in south-central Utah, liquefaction during Jurassic seismic events destroyed stratification in large volumes of eolian sediment, and first-order sheeting joints are now preferentially forming in these structureless (isotropic) sandstones. Vertical cross-joints abut the land-surface-parallel sheeting joints, segmenting broad (tens of meters) rock sheets into equant, polygonal slabs ~5 m wide and 0.25 m thick. On steeper slopes, exposed polygonal slabs have domed surfaces; eroded slabs …

Considerations For Atmospheric Measurements With Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Jamey D. Jacob, Phillip B. Chilson, Adam L. Houston, Suzanne Weaver Smith

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

This paper discusses results of the CLOUD-MAP(Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics) project dedicated to developing, fielding, and evaluating integrated small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for enhanced atmospheric physics measurements. The project team includes atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, engineers, computer scientists, geographers, and chemists necessary to evaluate the needs and develop the advanced sensing and imaging, robust autonomous navigation, enhanced data communication, and data management capabilities required to use sUAS in atmospheric physics. Annual integrated evaluation of the systems in coordinated field tests are being used to validate sensor performance while integrated into various sUAS platforms. This …

Existing And Regularity Of Minimizers For Nonlocal Energy Functionals, Mikil D. Foss, Petronela Radu, Cory Wright

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we consider minimizers for nonlocal energy functionals generalizing elastic energies that are connected with the theory of peridynamics [19] or nonlocal diffusion models [1]. We derive nonlocal versions of the Euler-Lagrange equations under two sets of growth assumptions for the integrand. Existence of minimizers is shown for integrands with joint convexity (in the function and nonlocal gradient components). By using the convolution structure, we show regularity of solutions for certain Euler-Lagrange equations. No growth assumptions are needed for the existence and regularity of minimizers results, in contrast with the classical theory.

Crop Height Estimation With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Carrick Detweiler, David Anthony, Sebastian Elbaum

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be configured for crop height estimation. In some examples, the UAV includes an aerial propulsion system, a laser scanner configured to face downwards while the UAV is in flight, and a control system. The laser scanner is configured to scan through a two-dimensional scan angle and is characterized by a maxi mum range. The control system causes the UAV to fly over an agricultural field and maintain, using the aerial propulsion system and the laser scanner, a distance between the UAV and a top of crops in the agricultural field to within a programmed …

The Groundwater Atlas Of Red Willow County, Nebraska, Dana Divine, Duane Eversoll, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The purpose of this groundwater atlas is to synthesize a wealth of hydrogeologic data for Red Willow County that has not been published in readily accessible formats previously. Many of the maps presented here are based on geologic information from registered wells and test holes that is publically available on-line, which becomes more valuable when compiled, analyzed, and discussed as a whole.

In Red Willow County, the aquifers are alluvial sand and gravel in the river and stream valleys and the High Plains aquifer beneath the uplands. The High Plains aquifer in Red Willow County consists primarily of the Ogallala …

Combining Hydraulic Head Analysis With Airborne Electromagnetics To Detect And Map Impermeable Aquifer Boundaries, Jesse T. Korus

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Impermeable aquifer boundaries affect the flow of groundwater, transport of contaminants, and the drawdown of water levels in response to pumping. Hydraulic methods can detect the presence of such boundaries, but these methods are not suited for mapping complex, 3D geological bodies. Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) methods produce 3D geophysical images of the subsurface at depths relevant to most groundwater investigations. Interpreting a geophysical model requires supporting information, and hydraulic heads offer the most direct means of assessing the hydrostratigraphic function of interpreted geological units. This paper presents three examples of combined hydraulic and AEM analysis of impermeable boundaries in glacial …

Three-Dimensional Modeling Of Nitrate-N Transport In Vadose Zone: Roles Of Soil Heterogeneity And Groundwater Flux, Simin Akbariyeh, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Daniel D. Snow, Xu Li, Zhenghong Tang, Yusong Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Contamination of groundwater from nitrogen fertilizers in agricultural lands is an important environmental and water quality management issue. It is well recognized that in agriculturally intensive areas, fertilizers and pesticides may leach through the vadose zone and eventually reach groundwater. While numerical models are commonly used to simulate fate and transport of agricultural contaminants, few models have considered a controlled field work to investigate the influence of soil heterogeneity and groundwater flow on nitrate-N distribution in both root zone and deep vadose zone.

In this work, a numerical model was developed to simulate nitrate-N transport and transformation beneath a center …

A Novel Application Of Fiber Bragg Grating (Fbg) Sensors In Mpgd, Duccio Abbaneo, Vallary Bhopatkar, Marcus Hohlmann, Ajit K. Mohapatra, Aiwu Zhang

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We present a novel application of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors in the construction and characterisation of Micro Pattern Gaseous Detector (MPGD), with particular attention to the realisation of the largest triple (Gas electron Multiplier) GEM chambers so far operated, the GE1/1 chambers of the CMS experiment at LHC. The GE1/1 CMS project consists of 144 GEM chambers of about 0.5 m² active area each, employing three GEM foils per chamber, to be installed in the forward region of the CMS endcap during the long shutdown of LHC in 2108-2019. The large active area of each GE1/1 chamber consists of …

Search For Standard Model Production Of Four Top Quarks With Same-Sign And Multilepton Final States In Proton–Proton Collisions At √S=13tev, A. M. Sirunyan, Marc M. Baarmand, Vallary Bhopatkar, Stefano Colafranceschi, Marcus Hohlmann, Daniel Noonan, Tuhin S. Roy, F. Yumiceva, The Cms Collaboration

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

A search for standard model production of four top quarks (t t ¯ t t ¯) is reported using events containing at least three leptons (e , μ) or a same-sign lepton pair. The events are produced in proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV at the LHC, and the data sample, recorded in 2016, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb-1. Jet multiplicity and flavor are used to enhance signal sensitivity, and dedicated control regions are used to constrain the dominant backgrounds. The observed and expected signal significances are, respectively, 1.6 and 1.0 standard deviations, and the t …

Measurement Of Prompt And Nonprompt Charmonium Suppression In Pbpb Collisions At 5.02 Tev, A. M. Sirunyan, Marc M. Baarmand, Vallary Bhopatkar, Stefano Colafranceschi, Marcus Hohlmann, Daniel Noonan, Tuhin S. Roy, F. Yumiceva, The Cms Collaboration

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

The nuclear modification factors of J / ψ and ψ(2S) mesons are measured in PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN=5.02TeV. The analysis is based on PbPb and p p data samples collected by CMS at the LHC in 2015, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 464μb-1 and 28pb-1, respectively. The measurements are performed in the dimuon rapidity range of | y| < 2.4 as a function of centrality, rapidity, and transverse momentum (pT) from pT= 3 GeV/c in the most forward region and up to 50GeV/c. Both prompt and nonprompt (coming from b hadron decays) J / ψ mesons are observed to be increasingly suppressed with centrality, with a magnitude similar to the one observed at sNN=2.76TeV for the two J / ψ meson components. No dependence on rapidity is observed for either prompt or nonprompt J / ψ mesons. An indication of a lower prompt J / ψ meson suppression at pT> 25 GeV/c is seen with respect to that observed at intermediate pT. The prompt ψ(2S) meson yield is found to be more suppressed than that of the prompt J / ψ mesons in the entire …

Cyber Law And Espionage Law As Communicating Vessels, Asaf Lubin

Books & Book Chapters by Maurer Faculty

Professor Lubin's contribution is "Cyber Law and Espionage Law as Communicating Vessels," pp. 203-225.

Existing legal literature would have us assume that espionage operations and “below-the-threshold” cyber operations are doctrinally distinct. Whereas one is subject to the scant, amorphous, and under-developed legal framework of espionage law, the other is subject to an emerging, ever-evolving body of legal rules, known cumulatively as cyber law. This dichotomy, however, is erroneous and misleading. In practice, espionage and cyber law function as communicating vessels, and so are better conceived as two elements of a complex system, Information Warfare (IW). This paper therefore first draws …

A Frame-Based Nlp System For Cancer-Related Information Extraction, Yuqi Si, Kirk Roberts

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We propose a frame-based natural language processing (NLP) method that extracts cancer-related information from clinical narratives. We focus on three frames: cancer diagnosis, cancer therapeutic procedure, and tumor description. We utilize a deep learning-based approach, bidirectional Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) Conditional Random Field (CRF), which uses both character and word embeddings. The system consists of two constituent sequence classifiers: a frame identification (lexical unit) classifier and a frame element classifier. The classifier achieves an F

Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of A 17–Year Lightning Climatology Over Bangladesh With Lis Data, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Saw Assisted Domain Wall Motion In Co/Pt Multilayers, Westin Edrington, Uday Singh, Maya Abo Dominguez, James Rehwaldt Alexander, Rabindra Nepal, Shireen Adenwalla

Shireen Adenwalla Papers

The motion of domain walls in thin ferromagnetic films is of both fundamental and technological interest. In particular, the ability to use drivers other than magnetic fields to control the positions of domain walls could be exciting for memory applications. Here, we show that high frequency dynamic strain produced by surface acoustic waves is an efficient driver of magnetic domain walls in ferromagnetic films with perpendicular anisotropy. A standing surface acoustic wave of resonant frequency 96.6MHz increases the domain wall velocities in thin films of [Co/Pt]n by an order of magnitude compared to magnetic fields alone. This effect is highly …

Exploring How Integrating Art & Animation In Teaching Text-Based Programming Affects High School Students' Interest In Computer Science, Hadeel Mohammed Jawad

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

As oil is the fuel of the industrial society, software is the fuel of our current information society. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be more demand for computing jobs in the future. By 2024, more than one million computing jobs will be available. Statistics show that there is more demand for computing jobs than there is a supply of qualified graduates from universities. In this experimental study, three groups of high school students were targeted to explore how integrating art, animation, and code sharing into programming affects their interest in pursuing a degree in computer science …

Synthesis And Catalytic Testing Of A Proline Functionalized Amphiphilic Block Copolymer, Eric Firestone

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Catalysts are reagents used to reduce the amount of energy that a reaction needs to execute, allowing it to proceed at a higher rate while not being consumed. The use of catalyst functionalized amphiphilic copolymer allows easier recovery of the catalyst at the end of the synthesis and allows for the reaction. In water, under appropriate conditions, the amphiphilic block copolymers will form micelles and allow the reaction to occur on the interior of the micelle. The synthesis of amphiphilic copolymer with a hydrophobic O-methacryloyl-trans-4- hydroxy-L-proline and methyl methacrylate end and a hydrophilic acrylic acid end was characterized. The polymer …

Access Granted: A Study Of The Factors Affecting The Development Of Technology Literacy In Black Males, Carlton Bernard Bell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

One of the most urgent challenges of the digital divide is the need to expand technology literacy. Access to technology was believed to be one of the causes for the discrepancy that exists, but there is a deeper divide: the divide that exists between technology literacy, and career readiness. Although access to technology has improved over time, the educational outcomes for Black males in related fields have not. A critical area of concern is the lack of a Black male professional presence in technology fields, which has serious implications for the future of our society. These implications include a less …

Students’ Interpretations Of Categorical Data Using Dynamic Graphical Representations, Adam Eide

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Statistical association is an important concept in statistics. An exploratory study examined how students reason about statistical association utilizing graphical representations constructed with CODAP, a dynamic statistical graphing software. Task-based interviews were conducted with three 6th grade students prior to formal instruction. Students’ conceptions of a statistical relationship, proportional reasoning skill level, ability to interpret bivariate categorical graphs (particularly segmented bar graphs and two-way binned plots), and ability to identify association of two categorical variables were all investigated through interview tasks and responses to inquiry. Students were found to have developing proportional reasoning skills and struggled to correctly define and …

Impact Of Highway Work Zones On Traffic Crashes: A Case Study In Michigan, Qadri Hafez Shaheen

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Infrastructure in the US is severely aged and outdated. This presents a seemingly paradoxical problem in the field of construction management: In order to fix and make roads and highways more safe, construction zones must become inherently less safe in the process. There is a high cost to taxpayers and drivers, as work zones experience a significant amount of crashes and fatalities each year. To mitigate some of the factors that contribute to these crashes, this paper attempts to deliver guidelines on how to update relevant crash data, identify relevant factors, and create recommendations accordingly. The research focused particularly on …

Virtual Collaboration With Mobile Social Media In Multiple-Organization Projects, Zhaojun Yang, Jun Sun, Yali Zhang, Ying Wang

Information Systems Faculty Publications

This study investigates the use of mobile social media as emerging collaboration tools by virtual teams. Based on the construal level theory, it develops a research model hypothesizes that collaboration tool effectiveness influence contextual performance and task performance through the mediation of procedure agreeability. In addition, geographic dispersion, team size and project duration serve as moderators as they reflect virtual collaboration complexity. Empirical findings support most hypothesized relationships. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Pricing Of Games As A Service: An Analytical Model For Interactive Digital Services With Hedonic Properties, Tayfun Keskin

Information Systems Faculty Publications

This study explores optimal pricing strategies in games and other interactive digital goods under incomplete information, when bundling is an option. Drawing from research on the pricing of information goods, we propose a pattern of optimal pricing strategies in which hedonic characteristics affect the utility of interactive digital goods and services. This is a new approach to games, to treat them as a service to determine pricing strategies. Findings reveal that there is an optimal pricing solution for firms in the gaming industry. This finding holds both in bundling and non-bundling cases. Utilizing analytical modeling methodology, we propose pricing-inspired business …

Intensity Inhomogeneity Correction Of Sd-Oct Data Using Macular Flatspace, Andrew Lang, Aaron Carass, Bruno M. Jedynak, Sharon D. Solomon, Peter A. Calabresi, Jerry L. Prince

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Images of the retina acquired using optical coherence tomography (OCT) often suffer from intensity inhomogeneity problems that degrade both the quality of the images and the performance of automated algorithms utilized to measure structural changes. This intensity variation has many causes, including off-axis acquisition, signal attenuation, multi-frame averaging, and vignetting, making it difficult to correct the data in a fundamental way. This paper presents a method for inhomogeneity correction by acting to reduce the variability of intensities within each layer. In particular, the N3 algorithm, which is popular in neuroimage analysis, is adapted to work for OCT data. N3 works …

Bootcmatch: A Software Package For Bootstrap Amg Based On Graphweighted Matching, Pasqua D'Ambra, Salvatore Filipone, Panayot S. Vassilevski

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article has two main objectives: one is to describe some extensions of an adaptive Algebraic Multigrid (AMG) method of the form previously proposed by the first and third authors, and a second one is to present a new software framework, named BootCMatch, which implements all the components needed to build and apply the described adaptive AMG both as a stand-alone solver and as a preconditioner in a Krylov method. The adaptive AMG presented is meant to handle general symmetric and positive definite (SPD) sparse linear systems, without assuming any a priori information of the problem and its origin; the …

Watershed Management Tools: Hazardous Site Case History, Reference Stream Analysis, And Gis Analysis Of Fire Risk, Patrick Doyle

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

My portfolio explores some tools that are used to protect or assess watershed health and the experiences and lessons I learned during my time in the Environmental Studies program. The first piece in my portfolio is a case study that looks at the history of pollution ad cleanup of the kraft pulp mill along the Clark Fork River. In my study, I look closely at the EPA’s investigation of the site and the community’s reaction to the findings. In my second piece, I describe my field and lab experience working for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. During this time, …