Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Environmental And Climatic Constraints On Large-Scale Camelina Production In Eastern Arkansas, Benjamin Robert Tracy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Camelina sativa is a cold weather crop that is typically grown in semi-arid environments in the Western United States, usually as a spring crop, but sometimes during the winter. Research analyzing climate data and soil hydrology is important to better understand the environmental and terrain conditions necessary for Camelina farming wherever it is proposed for large-scale production. This study focused on various conditions and constraints pertaining to the potential for Camelina as a crop biofuel in Eastern Arkansas. Due to interest in the economic potential of crop biofuels in this area, and in particular the low input costs for Camelina, …

"There Is No Planet B": Frame Disputes Within The Environmental Movement Over Geoengineering, David Russell Zeller Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines frame disputes within the environmental movement over geoengineering proposals. Among other core framing tasks, social movement organizations must evaluate solutions and strategies for the social problems they seek to address. These framings are frequently disputed by those within the movement. Recent controversies regarding a set of climate intervention proposals commonly known as geoengineering offer the opportunity to document the ongoing construction of competing visions of environmental sustainability. The nascent quality of these proposals generate dissonant framings—episodes where organizations within the environmental movement exhibit disagreement about one or more core framing tasks—a situation Goffman referred to as a …

A Supply Chain Framework For Characterizing Indirect Vulnerability, Charlotte Kendra Z. Gotangco, Abigail Marie T. Favis, Ma. Aileen Leah G. Guzman, Marion Lara Tan, Carissa Quintana, Jairus Carmela C. Josol

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Purpose

Climate vulnerability assessments are often operationalized by the analysis of indicators defined by the spatial boundaries of the community under study. These, however, sometimes fail to capture interdependency among communities for basic resources. This paper aims to propose a framework for characterizing vulnerability caused by interdependency by adapting a supply chain lens.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper proposes a definition for “indirect vulnerability” that recognizes the transboundary and teleconnected nature of vulnerability arising from resource networks among cities and communities. A conceptual framework using a supply chain approach is presented for climate hazards in particular. This approach is then demonstrated through …

A Multi-Proxy Stalagmite Reconstruction Of The Climate Of Southwestern North America From The Middle To Late Holocene, Christine Allen

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The seasonal balance of moisture has a significant effect on natural ecosystems and culture in southwestern North America (SWNA), and it thus is necessary to understand the cause of this moisture variability in order to better predict the scope of potential future changes. Studies of modern SWNA climate indicate that most of the annual moisture at this site comes from monsoonal summer precipitation and a lesser amount of Pacific winter moisture. The climate of the Holocene is of particular interest for constraining natural variability of interglacial climates prior to any anthropogenic influence. An overall transition to a wetter Late Holocene …

Ergot And Loline Alkaloid Concentrations In Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Tillers, Rebecca L. Mcculley

Forage Climate Change Experiment Research Data

Approximately 40 tall fescue tillers were randomly collected and frozen from each of the 20 treatment plots.

Tillers were cut at 7.6 cm above ground level and tested for the presence of the Epichloe endophyte using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Tillers from each plot were sorted into 'infected' vs 'uninfected' groups, lyophilized, and ground through a 1mm screen using a Cyclotec 1093 mill.

Ground material from the endophyte infected tillers was analyzed for ergot and loline alkaloids in the lab of Lowell Bush at the University of Kentucky, Plant and Soil Sciences Dept.

For details on alkaloid analyses see: McCulley …

Long-Term Analysis Of The Asynchronicity Between Temperature And Precipitation Maxima In The United States Great Plains, Paul Flanagan, Jeffrey B. Basara, Xiangming Xiao

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Agriculture is a critical industry to the economy of the Great Plains (GP) region of North America and sensitive to change in weather and climate. Thus, improved knowledge of meteorological and climatological conditions during the growing season and associated variability across spatial and temporal scales is important. A distinct climate feature in the GP is the asynchronicity (AS) between the timing of temperature and precipitation maxima. This study investigated a long-term observational data set to quantify the AS and to address the impacts of climate variability and change. Global Historical Climate Network Daily (GHCN-Daily) data were utilized for this study; …

2016 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

The San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative is a network for public agencies that serves the San Diego region to share expertise, leverage resources and advance comprehensive solutions to facilitate climate change planning. By partnering with academia, nonprofits, and businesses, the SDRCC also works to leverage the profile of regional leadership. This is the 2016 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report.

Biotic Changes Around The Radioisotopically Constrained Carboniferous-Permian Boundary In The Boskovice Basin (Czech Republic), Stanislav Oplustil, Jakub Jirásek, Mark Schmitz, Dalibor Matýsek

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presented is an analysis of vegetation patterns across the Carboniferous-Permian boundary in continental setting constrained for the first time in Europe and North America by high-precision U-Pb radioisotopic dating. The analysis is performed on the fossil record of the Boskovice Basin (Czech Republic), a Late Palaeozoic half-graben having ~ 5 km of cumulative thickness. It is dominantly a red bed succession containing numerous grey, mostly lacustrine horizons bearing fairly rich fossil floras and faunas of Late Pennsylvanian to Cisuralian age. U-Pb geochronology on single zircon crystals separated from a volcanic tuff near the top of the Rosice-Oslavany Formation, in the …

The Influence Of Canopy Cover And Climate On Early Life-Stage Vital Rates For Northern Red-Legged Frogs (Rana Aurora), And The Implications For Population Growth Rates, Kecly Mcharry

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Many amphibian species are in decline due to habitat loss and changing climates. Understanding how habitat characteristics and climate influence vital rates, and if they act in concert or in opposition can inform management decisions. This study investigated the potential interaction of canopy cover and climate on early stage vital rates of northern red-legged frogs. Demographic data were collected from sample populations in experimental canopy cover treatments across a latitudinal distribution. Rearing cages were used to estimate hatch success, and mark-recapture surveys to estimate tadpole survival. Ambient air temperature was used as an index of climate because it is easily …

Geospatial Drivers Of The Groundwater Δ18o Isoscape In A Temperate Maritime Climate (Republic Of Ireland), S. Regan, R. Goodhue, O. Naughton, Paul Hynds

Articles

In recent years, the concept of “isoscapes” has been used to describe spatiotemporal stable isotope distributions within natural environments including groundwater systems at multiple scales. This study presents an updated groundwater δ18O isoscape for the Republic of Ireland and describes the climatic and geological drivers influencing 18O composition. In all, 142 geographically and geologically representative groundwater installations were sampled and analysed, in addition to 35 samples from six nested boreholes. Geospatially, Irish groundwater exhibits high δ18O values in southern and western coastal regions, becoming progressively depleted inland before reaching lowest measured values along the eastern coast, equating to a national …

Influence Of Volcanic Eruptions On Tropical Hydroclimate During The Last Millennium, Christopher Colose

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Volcanic eruptions exert the most important radiative forcing on Earth’s climate during the pre-industrial interval of the last millennium. In this thesis, I investigate the role of volcanic eruptions in altering tropical climate, including temperature and rainfall. I primarily use forced transient simulations of the last millennium as a tool to explore how explosive volcanic events project onto the hydrologic cycle, as well as the imprint of water isotopologues (H216O, H218O) associated with rainfall. Attention is given to the South American continent specifically (in chapter 2), and to the entire tropics (in chapter 3).

Impacts Of Internal Variability On Climate Trends In Large Ensemble Simulations By Two Climate Models, Christine Bloecker

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Internal climate variability (ICV) can influence trends in observations and model simulations over periods spanning decades, making it difficult to quantify the response of the climate system to external forcing. We analyze two large ensembles of climate simulations from 1950-2100 by two fully coupled climate models, namely the CanESM2 and CESM1, to quantify the effects of ICV on apparent trends in annual surface air temperature (T) and precipitation (P) over different time periods and regions. In comparison with observations, the CanESM2 overestimates the global T and P trends during 1979-2014 while they fall within the ICV-induced range of the CESM1. …

Post-Wildfire Black Carbon Deposition On The Snowpack In The Cascade Range, Washington State: Temporal And Spatial Variability With Implications For Accelerated Melt, Ted Uecker

All Master's Theses

Wildfires in the seasonal snow zone affect both snow accumulation and ablation patterns by decreasing forest canopy and depositing light absorbing impurities (LAI) on the snowpack. LAI such as black carbon (BC), burned woody debris, and dust reduce snow albedo (reflectance), accelerate melt, and affect the timing and availability of water resources. Charred trees in post-wildfire forests provide a significant source of BC that is deposited on the snowpack for years following a wildfire, and this effect varies with burn conditions and forest structure. Snow samples were gathered from five sites of varying burn age (0.7, 2.7, 3.8, and 9.8 …

A Palynostratigraphic Investigation Of Holocene Coastal Texas Bays: Implications For Future Coastal Change, Shannon Marie Ferguson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Although the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most studied basins in the world, a majority of the focus has been driven by petroleum exploration and/or on seismic and sedimentological facies models. Rarely has the intent of previous studies been to characterize the Holocene climatic record of coastal Texas. Of those studies that discuss Holocene vegetation change, the majority focus on the Mississippi River Delta, the Edwards Plateau or central Florida, leaving an absence of insight to western Gulf of Mexico climate changes. The Texas coastline stretches 595 km across almost 4° of latitude and the strong northwestern precipitation …

The Cloud-Radiative Forcing Of The U.S. Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers, Qianwen Luo

Open Access Dissertations

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are narrow channels in the atmosphere that transport an enormous amount of moisture from the tropics to the higher latitudes. Streaks of highly reflective clouds are observed along with the ARs in satellite imagery. These clouds both influence the moisture transport of ARs, as well as modify the Earth-Atmospheric energy budget through pathways such as cloud-radiative forcing (CRF). This dissertation studies the CRF of the U.S. Landfalling ARs in weather and climate scales. Three crucial questions are addressed. First, how do clouds produced by the ARs modulate the moisture and heat balance of the Earth-Atmospheric system? Even …

Climate In The Pilbara, Robert Sudmeyer

Bulletins 4000 -

The Pilbara is characterised by very hot summers, mild winters and low and variable rainfall. It is classified as hot desert in northern and inland areas and hot grasslands in the north-west. The Pilbara claims a number of climate records:

• seven of Western Australia’s top 10 hottest days, with Mardie recording the hottest day on record — 50.5 degrees Celsius (°C)
• most sunshine hours a day in Australia (more than 10 hours a day)
• second highest inter-annual variability in rainfall (second only to central Australia)
• the most cyclone-prone area along the Australian coastline.

During summer and early autumn (December to …

Changing Trends In Wave Heights In The U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region, Hillary Lane

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The pace and effects of climate change are an area of constant focus for coastal engineers as evolving patterns in the atmosphere worldwide affect the oceans and coasts on a regional and global scale. Surface waves respond to changing wind patterns both locally and from propagating swell, and the difficulty in predicting future wind patterns is well-established. Expectations that climate change will result in more frequent and intense coastal storms and consequently greater wave heights in the North Atlantic are still unrealized, and recent forecasts from a variety of atmosphere-ocean coupled global climate models instead predict decreasing wave heights through …

1904, Water Resources In Salinas, United States Department Of Interior, Homer Hamlin

State and Federal Documents Relating to Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties

The 1904 report pertains largely to that portion of the Salinas Valley lying within the boundaries of Monterey County. It describes the geography, topography, geology, climate factors and hydrology of the region discussing the methods of irrigation and irrigation systems, the extent of underground waters, and the possibility of extending irrigation by utilization of surface streams and impounding of flood waters.

1924, Soil Survey Of King City Area, California

State and Federal Documents Relating to Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties

1924 report by E. J. Carpenter, A. E. Kocher and F. O. Youngs on the King City area of Monterey, California, including location and boundaries, climate, agriculture and the classes of soil.

1925, Soil Survey Of The Salinas Area, California, E. J. Carpenter And Stanley W. Cosby

State and Federal Documents Relating to Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties

The 1925 reports describes the area surveyed, the climate, agriculture, soils, irrigation and drainage of the Salinas Valley. The report was prepared by E. J. Carpenter, United States Department of Agriculture and Stanley W. Cosby, University of California. The report covers the greater part of the area previously addressed in the Lapham and Heileman 1901 soil survey report.

Wind Climatology: A Study Of Trends On Rodgers' Dry Lakebed, Dana Coppernoll-Houston

STAR Program Research Presentations

A number of smaller projects at the Armstrong Flight Research Center fly on or close to the ground and are subject to ground-level winds. Many of these are new prototype models, such as PRANDTL-D (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag). Waiting for the right conditions on a day of variable winds can sometimes mean that teams fail to complete testing. A strategic analysis of wind behavior at a locations where winds can vary greatly due to terrain could lend insight into the best times to test for near-ground aircraft. The purpose of this project was to data mine historical …

Testing Of The Late-Ordovician Pre-Gice Warm Water Carbonate Hypothesis In Alabama, Brandon Euker, Stacey Law

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The Guttenberg Carbon Isotope Excursion (GICE) (uppermost Sandbian-lower Katian, Late Ordovician) has been suggested to represent the transition from a Cambrian-Ordovician greenhouse world to Late Ordovician icehouse world. This transition is thought to coincide with a proposed shift from deposition of warm water carbonate rocks to cool water carbonate rocks in the North American midcontinent. We used oxygen isotopes (d¹⁸O) of conodonts to test the idea that the rocks below the GICE interval represent a consistently warm environment. Conodonts were isolated from samples of the Chickamauga Group collected at the Tidwell Hollow section in Blount County, AL, from …

Water Resilient Cities: Climate Change, Infrastructure, Economies And Governance In The Great Lakes Basin, Wendy A. Kellogg

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Infrastructure, Economies, And Governance In The Great Lakes Basin, Wendy A. Kellogg

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Experimental Evidence For Drought Induced Alternative Stable States Of Soil Moisture, David A. Robinson, Scott B. Jones, Inma Lebron, Sabine Reinsch, Maria T. Dominguez, Andrew R. Smith, Davey L. Jones, Miles R. Marshall, Bridget A. Emmett

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Ecosystems may exhibit alternative stable states (ASS) in response to environmental change. Modelling and observational data broadly support the theory of ASS, however evidence from manipulation experiments supporting this theory is limited. Here, we provide long-term manipulation and observation data supporting the existence of drought induced alternative stable soil moisture states (irreversible soil wetting) in upland Atlantic heath, dominated by Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. Manipulated repeated moderate summer drought, and intense natural summer drought both lowered resilience resulting in shifts in soil moisture dynamics. The repeated moderate summer drought decreased winter soil moisture retention by ∼10%. However, intense summer drought, …

2015 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

The San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative is a network for public agencies that serves the San Diego region to share expertise, leverage resources and advance comprehensive solutions to facilitate climate change planning. By partnering with academia, nonprofits, and businesses, the SDRCC also works to leverage the profile of regional leadership. This is the 2015 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report.

Nres/Metr/Bsen 479/879: Hydroclimatology—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Francisco Munoz-Arriola

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Rising temperatures and extreme hydrometeorological and climate events are evidences of a changing climate. An increasing population together with their demands for food, energy and water make changes in climate evidence the need to train a new generation of multidisciplinary professionals with a clear understanding of the effects of a changing climate in their activities. Historically, climate sciences were used for scientific and weather operational contexts and engineers applied stationary assumptions for multi-term planning. My goal is to identify elements built from classroom experiences about (a) the suitability of a hydroclimatology course for engineers and scientists; (b) the multidisciplinary skills; …

Changes In Wetland Conditions And Wetland Plant Communities In The Prairie Pothole Region After 50 Years, Ryann Cressey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands in Stutsman County, North Dakota were revisited after 50 years to assess changes in wetland conditions and plant communities within wetland zones in the Prairie Pothole Region. In 1961-1966, Robert E. Stewart and Harold A. Kantrud conducted a study to investigate the relationship of wetland plant communities to variations of water permanence and chemistry on three study areas: Crystal Springs, Cottonwood, and Mt. Moriah. Within in this region, a severe drought occurred in 1988- 1992 followed by the longest deluge starting in 1993 with wetlands still impacted today. In 2013 and 2014, I revisited 80 of the original wetlands …

Petrography, Mineralogy, And Geochemistry Of Greenish- And Reddish-Gray Siltstones Straddling The Vertebrate-Defined Permian–Triassic Boundary In South Africa, Jiawen Li

Honors Theses

The Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction (PTME) is considered the largest in Earth’s history, yet the terrestrial response is not well understood. The Karoo Basin, South Africa, hosts abundant exposures of terrestrial deposits that span the Permian– Triassic Boundary (PTB). The terrestrial PTB is defined by a turnover in vertebrate assemblage zones and has been associated with a transition from greenish-gray to reddish-gray siltstone. The current PTME model states that the siltstone color change is a reflection of aridification and eolian deposition, which is believed to represent rapid climate change directly linked with the event. Greenish- and reddish-gray siltstones were collected from …

An Assessment Of Long-Term Changes In The Characterisitcs Of Precipitation In The Upper Midwest, Blake Steven Lea

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

As climate change progresses, many forecasts for the upper Midwest predict increases in annual precipitation, but with a shift in seasonal patterns that will leave the summer months drier with less frequent, higher magnitude storm events. Changes in precipitation patterns have the potential to alter the sediment budget and discharge patterns in watersheds. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects changes in frequency, magnitude, duration, and intensity of precipitation might have on streamflow and sediment budgets in the upper Midwest. This analysis was carried out using hourly precipitation data from 1948 to 2013 from 23 sites and …