Earth Sciences Commons^™

Enhancing Agricultural Sustainability Under Climate Change: A Multi-Scale Framework Integrating Climate Extremes, Resource Efficiency, And Data-Driven Modeling, Shahryar Fazli

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Agricultural systems are increasingly challenged by climate variability, where shifting temperature regimes, hydrological variability, and the rising frequency of compound and cascading extremes threaten global food security and resource sustainability. Addressing these challenges requires integrated frameworks that bridge biophysical monitoring, predictive modeling, and adaptive decision-making. This dissertation develops a data-driven, multi-scale framework to quantify and enhance agricultural resilience by integrating remote sensing, climate analytics, and machine learning across the United States, with a focus on California and the Western U.S.

First, hyperspectral and thermal remote sensing data from EMIT and OpenET are integrated to characterize crop nitrogen–water interactions and assess …

Long-Term Analysis Of Pm2.5 Elemental Composition And Source Contributions In Coastal Urban Environments Of Corpus Christi And Houston In Texas, Sai Deepak Pinakana, Jeremy A. Sarnat, Amit U. Raysoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Long-term assessments of fine particulate matter play a key role in identifying persistent and emerging emission contributors. Coastal urban areas are highly susceptible to transboundary dust and wildfire events in addition to local pollution sources. Multi-decadal assessments in these regions using chemical speciation data could offer insights into major pollutant sources and their trends. This study utilizes nearly two decades of PM2.5 elemental composition data at two major coastal cities in Texas: Houston and Corpus Christi. Fourteen trace elements were analyzed to characterize the seasonal variability and long-term source evolution using a combination of Spearman’s correlation analysis, principal component analysis, …

Evaluating The Transformation Of Land Cover, Land Surface Temperature, And Urban Heat Island In Sylhet Division Through Geospatial Analysis, Md Fazle Rabbi Joy, Md Abdur Rahim, Md Mahfuzar Rahman, Sumiaya Amin Preota, Mohammed Mahathee Hossain

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Rapid and unplanned urbanization has significantly transformed land use/land cover (LULC), contributing to increased land surface temperature (LST) and the emergence of urban heat islands (UHIs), especially in ecologically fragile regions. This study focuses on the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, assessing LULC changes, LST dynamics, and UHI expansion from 1994 to 2024 using Landsat satellite imagery, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference water index (NDWI) indices, and field-based LST validation. Unsupervised classification reveals a 191.75% increase in settlement areas and a 25.65% loss in forest cover. Correspondingly, the highest LST zones (> 30 °C) were absent in 1994 but …

Beyond Legacy Indices: A Critical Review Of The Modified Nemerow, Mean Enrichment Quotient, And Aggregated Multivariate Environmental Risk (Amer) Indices For Heavy Metal Pollution In Sediments, Md Shahnul Islam, Anjuman Ara

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Heavy metal pollution in sediments poses persistent ecological risks due to metal toxicity, bioaccumulation, and potential for remobilization. Legacy indices have been widely used for decades but suffer from fundamental flaws, including arbitrary background dependence, lack of grain-size normalization, and poor ecological relevance.

Objective: This review critically evaluates three emerging sediment pollution indices, the Modified Nemerow, Mean Enrichment Quotient (MEQ), and Aggregated Multivariate Environmental Risk (AMER) index, to assess their methodological advances and potential to replace legacy approaches.

Methods: A structured literature search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar (2010–2026). Using an adapted Birch framework, …

Toward Optimizing Fruit Production In Utah Soils: Apple Salt Tolerance Screening And Tart Cherry Fertility Management, Kaitlin Dabbs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Fruit production in Utah can be challenging due to local climate and soil conditions. Tart cherries and apples are major fruit crops in Utah, and improvements to these cropping systems would be beneficial for farmers and local consumers. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate desired improvements for these crops. The first study looked for salt tolerance in ten new apple rootstocks. Salty soils can be found throughout the state limiting the land suitable for apple production. When grown in salty soils apple trees often have reduced growth and production potential. A specialized drip irrigation system was constructed in a greenhouse …

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_26, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_25, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_24, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_23, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_22, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_21, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_20, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_19, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_18, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_17, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_16, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_15, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_14, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_13, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_12, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_11, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_10, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_9, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_8, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_7, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_6, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_5, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_4, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_3, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.

Mgrre_Thinsections_Mgrre_11_2, Mgrre

Thin Sections

No abstract provided.