Other Earth Sciences Commons^™

How To Reduce Drought Risk, Cody Knutson, Mike Hayes, Tom Phillips

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

This guide describes a practical step-by-step process for identifying actions that can be taken to reduce potential drought-related impacts before a drought occurs. Step 1 begins with making sure that the right people are brought together and supplied with adequate data to make informed and equitable decisions during the process. Steps 2 and 3 narrow the focus of the study by identifying high priority drought-related impacts that are relevant to the user’s location or activity. Step 4 demonstrates that in order to reduce the potential for the identified impacts to occur in the future, it is necessary to understand the …

Chapter 2 Climate, Donald A. Wilhite, Kenneth G. Hubbard

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The broad climatic patterns of the Sand Hills region are also characteristic of the central Great Plains environment. The spatial and temporal patterns of these climatic variables have a significant effect on the natural resources of the region.

Evaluation Of Lake Fertilization As A Tool To Assist In The Recovery Of The Snake River Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka), Howard P. Gross

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I analyzed lake fertilization (with nitrogen and phosphorus) as a tool to assist in the recovery of the Snake River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the oligotrophic Sawtooth Valley Lakes in southcentral Idaho. These analyses involved monitoring, manipulating, and modelling several aspects of the lakes' primary producer, nutrient, and light parameters.

In Pettit Lake, I evaluated the effects of metalimnetic and epilimnetic fertilization in 330-m³ mesocosms. The metalimnetic treatment was equal to or more effective than the epilimnetic treatment in increasing chlorophyll a, phytoplankton biovolume, and primary productivity, yet caused smaller changes in periphyton growth and …

Relating United States Crop Land Use To Natural Resources And Climate Change, K. G. Hubbard, F. J. Flores-Mendoza

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Crop production depends not only on the yield but also on the area harvested. The yield response to climate change has been widely examined, but the sensitivity of crop land use to hypothetical climate change has not been examined directly. Crop land-use regression models for estimating crop area indices (CAIs) - the percent of land used for corn, soybean, wheat, and sorghum production - are presented. Inputs to the models include available water-holding capacity of the soil, percent of land available for rain-fed agricultural production, annual precipitation, and annual temperature. The total variance of CAI explained by the models ranged …

Drought Profile: Haryana State In North India, K. Kailasa Nathan

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Haryana state is considered the breadbasket of India, along with the Punjab state. The effects of drought (and mitigation of those effects) are, therefore, of considerable importance for the state. This article considers the state’s drought profile through a study of six drought years in Haryana.

The Potential Effects Of Climate Change On Summer Season Dairy Cattle Milk Production And Reproduction, Peggy L. Klinedinst, Donald A. Wilhite, G. Leroy Hahn, Kenneth G. Hubbard

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The potential direct effects of possible global warming on summer season dairy production and re-production were evaluated for the United States and Europe. Algorithms used for milk production and conception rate were previously developed and validated. Three widely known global circulation models (GISS, GFDL, and UKMO) were used to represent possible scenarios of future climate. Milk production and conception rate declines were highest under the UKMO model scenario and lowest under the GISS model scenario. Predicted declines for the GCM scenarios are generally higher than either “l year in 10” probability-based declines or declines based on the abnormally hot summer …

Effects Of Waterlogging On Crop And Pasture Production In The Upper Great Southern, Western Australia, J F. Wallace, G A. Wheaton, D J. Mcfarlane

Technical Bulletins

Separate estimates of the effect of waterlogging on cereal yields were made using rainfall and crop yield statistics, and remote sensing. Both methods showed that waterlogging costs tens of millions of dollars each year in lost crop production in the Upper Great Southern Statistical Division. The costs will be over $100 m in wet years. Losses in pasture production are likely to be of a similar magnitude, but are harder to quantify.

A Field Perspective On Groundwater Contamination, John A. Cherry

Maine Collection

A Field Perspective on Groundwater Contamination

Geological Society of Maine Distinguished Lecturer John Cherry, University of Waterloo, Ontario, sponsored by the Department of Geosciences, University of Southern Maine, 19th May 1988.

Contents: Lecture 1 : Contaminant Migration Processes Illustrated by Field Experiments / Lecture 2 : Behavior of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids, Illustrated by Lab Experiments and Conceptual Examples / Lecture 3 : Field Case Histories on Groundwater Contamination / Lecture 4 : Hydrogeological Concepts and Criteria for Waste Disposal / Waterloo Center for Groundwater Research Publications List

Drought Management: The Role Of Near- Real Time Weather Data, Donald A. Wilhite, Kenneth G. Hubbard

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The ability to collect weather data in near-real time has improved because of technological advances, enabling weather data users to obtain more weather data over wider areas, and in a more timely fashion. The number of near-real time climate networks is increasing as new applications are found for climate data. More than fifteen states in the United States have established automated weather station networks. This paper presents an overview of recent developments in automated weather data collection in the United States and gives a detailed description of the network in Nebraska.

Near-real time weather data has many applications in agricultural …

Cropstatus--A Computer Program To Assess The Effects Of Seasonal Weather Changes On Nebraska's Agriculture, R. E. Neild, Donald A. Wilhite, K. G. Hubbard

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

CROPSTATUS is a series of programs residing in Nebraska's AGNET system using daily weather data to assess seasonal changes in crops, livestock, and other agricultural conditions. Assessments are based on parameters developed from accumulations of current daily temperature and precipitation data collected from a network of synoptic, climate, and automated micrometeorological stations in Nebraska in comparison with daily normals. The daily normals were derived from monthly summaries using multiple regression models to compute daily values as a function of Julian day numbers. Crop phenology models based on growing degree days were used to monitor and forecast the progress of different …

Improving Projected Potential Evapotranspiration Estimates Using National Weather Service Forecasts, Steven J. Meyer, Kenneth G. Hubbard, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

In a recent survey conducted by the University of Nebraska's Center for Agricultural Meteorology and Climatology of Agricultural Network (AGNET) users, the results of potential evapotranspiration (ET_p) projections (calculated using the Blaney-Criddle approach, which employs "normal" climatic data to project ET_p estimates up to three days into the future) were labeled "unrealistic." To improve these projections, National Weather Service (NWS) forecast variables were used as input into the Blaney-Criddle and Penman equations. ET_p projections calculated according to the Penman equation, with data measured by automated weather stations as input, were assumed to represent the "best" …

The Nebraska Agricultural Climate Situation Committee, R. E. Neild, K. G. Hubbard, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The Nebraska Agricultural Climate Situation Committee consisting of an interdisciplinary group of extension specialists provides up-to-date information and advice on seasonal changes in crop/ weather conditions. The committee meets each Monday during the growing season to review:

1. Maps and tabular data developed by a computer program CIS /Crop Weather Information System/ that is linked to a network of weather stations and computer terminals in county agent offices.

2. Insect, plant disease and weed surveys.

3. Weekly weather and crop reports from the State/Federal System.

4. Weather outlooks from the National Weather Service.

5. Climate probabilities.

Situation reports and advisories …

Government Response To Drought In The United States: With Particular Reference To The Great Plains, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought relief has become an expected response of the federal government to periods of widespread drought in the United States. A wide range of emergency, short-term and long-term drought programs were formulated to deal with the extreme drought of the 1930's. By 1977 there were 40 separate programs administered by 16 different federal agencies. This paper traces the development of federal drought relief bureaucracy, including drought designation criteria and procedures.

Two obvious deficiencies of past drought relief efforts in the United States are noted. First, drought relief organizations and programs have been hastily assembled during periods of crisis. This has …

Annotated Biobliography Of Remote Sensing For Highway Planning And Natural Resources, An, Daniel L. Civco, William C. Kennard, Michael Wm. Lefor

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

No abstract provided.

Changing Fields: Agricultural Land Use Changes In Nebraska 1925-1974, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The series of graphs and maps which follow illustrate agricultural land use changes in Nebraska from 1925 to 1974. With these graphs and maps, the major agronomic crops of corn (dryland and irrigated), wheat, sorghum and soybeans are analyzed. The purpose of this analysis is to provide a pictorial history of Nebraska's ever-changing cropping system and, hopefully, to stimulate ideas and discussion with regard to trends and future directions. The Nebraska Water Resources Center is deeply interested in both the past and the future of Nebraska's agriculture because of the demands which agriculture places on the state's water resources. An …

Turbulence Spectra Above A Vegetated Surface Under Conditions Of Sensible Heat Advection, Raymond P. Motha, Shashi B. Verma, Norman J. Rosenberg

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Spectra of vertical and horizontal velocity, air temperature and humidity fluctuations were analyzed from measurements made over a well-watered alfalfa crop under conditions of sensible heat advection. Vertical velocity and air temperature spectra as well as cospectra of momentum, sensible heat and water vapor were found to be dependent on atmospheric thermal stratification. These spectra and cospectra were shifted toward higher frequencies under advective as compared to lapse conditions. These results indicate that the predominant eddy sizes are relatively smaller under advective conditions. Humidity spectra, on the other hand, were independent of daytime thermal stratification conditions but were influenced by …

Extreme Evapotranspiration By Irrigated Alfalfa: A Consequence Of The 1976 Midwestern Drought, Norman J. Rosenberg, Shashi B. Verma

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The rate of evapotranspiration by irrigated alfalfa at Mead, NE (41°09'Nj 96°30'W, elevation 354 m) reached record levels in 1976. Evapotranspiration was measured with precision weighing lysimeters in a field 1.9 ha in size. Evapotranspiration ranged during the growing season from 4.75 to 14.22 mm day^-l and exceeded 10 mm day^-I on one-third of the days studied. On each day of study the ratio of latent heat flux density (LE) to the sum of the net radiation and soil heat flux densities (Rn+S) was such that LE/ (Rn+S) > 1, indicating the occurrence of significant …

A Preliminary Survey Of The Damariscotta River Estuary, Lincoln County, Maine, Maine Department Of Economic Development

Maine Collection

A Preliminary Survey of the Damariscotta River Estuary, Lincoln County, Maine

Part I - Hydrology; Part II - Sediments

"Prepared Under a Grant From the Maine Marine Stipend Program".

Maine Department of Economic Development - Division of Science, Technology & Mineral Resources, Augusta, Maine (July 1969 - June 1970).