Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 5, 2014, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 5, 2014 (8/5/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Time, Money, And Melting Ice: Proposal For A Coopertive Study Of The World’S Cave Ice In A Race Against Climate Change, George Veni, Lewis Land, Aurel Perşoiu

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

Climate change is a global phenomenon that is melting and threatening to melt ice deposits in many of the world’s ice caves. The National Cave and Karst Research Institute of the USA is concerned that major and important paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental records stored in cave ice will soon be lost, and is proposing an international collaborative effort to overcome funding and logistical challenges to sample and analyze at least a representative collection of ice from several regions before further melting occurs.

Climate Study In An Abandoned Auto Tunnel In Alaska, Usa, Andreas Pflitsch, David Holmgren

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

An abandoned auto tunnel in south central Alaska in an elevation of 118 m above sea level seemed to be a perfect laboratory for studying the evolution of ice speleothems in a yearly cycle. More than 1,500 ice forms like stalagmites, stalactites, columns in various shape and arrangements, developed in just 2 month to a high up to 6 meters and lasted for another 5 to 6 month. In October just the remains of the melted ice in rings and rectangular patterns of a white powder could be found. Unfortunately the mostly sealed tunnel was opened in January 2014 by …

The Monica (Monitoring Of Ice Within Caves) Project: A Multidisciplinary Approach For The Geophysical And Paleoclimatic Characterization Of Permanent Ice Deposits In The Southeastern Alps, Renato R. Colucci, Emanuele Forte, Barbara Stenni, Marco Basso Bondini, Mauro Colle Fontana, Costanza Del Gobbo, Daniele Fontana, Doriana Belligoi, Valter Maggi, Marco Filipazzi

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

On days 30 September and 1-2 October 2013, a 7.8 m long ice core has been extracted from a permanent ice cave deposit in the Southeastern Alps (Vasto’s cave, Mt.Canin - Julian Alps). Each 20 to 100 cm long section of the ice core have been immediately stored in plastic bags and preserved thanks to dry ice. The ice samples, thanks to the helicopter, has been subsequently brought on valley and promptly stored in a refrigerated van, made available by BoFrost. Thus the ice cores has been transported intact to the EUROCOLD laboratory in Milan. These operations have been carried …

A Comparative Study Of Underwater Robot Path Planning Algorithms For Adaptive Sampling In A Network Of Sensors, Sreeja Banerjee

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Monitoring lakes, rivers, and oceans is critical to improving our understanding of complex large-scale ecosystems. We introduce a method of underwater monitoring using semi-mobile underwater sensor networks and mobile underwater robots in this thesis. The underwater robots can move freely in all dimension while the sensor nodes are anchored to the bottom of the water column and can move only up and down along the depth of the water column. We develop three different algorithms to optimize the path of the underwater robot and the positions of the sensors to improve the overall quality of sensing of an area of …

U.S. Drought Monitor, July 29, 2014, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for July 29, 2014 (7/29/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, July 22, 2014, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for July 22, 2014 (7/22/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Using Temporal Changes In Drought Indices To Generate Probabilistic Drought Intensification Forecasts, Jason A. Otkin, Martha C. Anderson, Christopher Hain, Mark Svoboda

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

In this study, the potential utility of using rapid temporal changes in drought indices to provide early warning of an elevated risk for drought development over subseasonal time scales is assessed. Standardized change anomalies were computed each week during the 2000–13 growing seasons for drought indices depicting anomalies in evapotranspiration, precipitation, and soil moisture. A rapid change index (RCI) that encapsulates the accumulated magnitude of rapid changes in the weekly anomalies was computed each week for each drought index, and then a simple statistical method was used to convert the RCI values into drought intensification probabilities depicting the likelihood that …

U.S. Drought Monitor, July 15, 2014, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for July 15, 2014 (7/15/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, July 8, 2014, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for July 8, 2014 (7/8/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, July 1, 2014, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for July 1, 2014 (7/1/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Droughtscape, Summer 2014, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Outlook

Drought & climate summary

Drought impacts

International drought monitoring and planning

Visiting scholars

North American Drought Monitor Forum

New primary Dust Bowl source

New additions to online webinar archive

Community Capitals Framework Institute

U.S. Drought Monitor, June 24, 2014, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for June 24, 2014 (6/24/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, June 17, 2014, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for June 17, 2014 (6/17/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, June 10, 2014, Matthew Rosencrans

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for June 10, 2014 (6/10/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, June 3, 2014, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for June 3, 2014 (6/3/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Climate Change And Forest Fires Synergistically Drive Widespread Melt Events Of The Greenland Ice Sheet, Kaitlin M. Keegan, Mary R. Albert, Joseph R. Mcconnell, Ian Baker

Dartmouth Scholarship

In July 2012, over 97% of the Greenland Ice Sheet experienced surface melt, the first widespread melt during the era of satellite remote sensing. Analysis of six Greenland shallow firn cores from the dry snow region confirms that the most recent prior widespread melt occurred in 1889. A firn core from the center of the ice sheet demonstrated that exceptionally warm temperatures combined with black carbon sediments from Northern Hemisphere forest fires reduced albedo below a critical threshold in the dry snow region, and caused the melting events in both 1889 and 2012. We use these data to project the …

Umphlett Qci June 2014, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

􏰞􏰥􏰬􏰨􏰤􏰮􏱨Streamflow

Drought Impacts to Livestock

Continued Cold Hampers Producers in North

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 27, 2014, Michael J. Brewer

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 27, 2014 (5/27/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 20, 2014, Michael J. Brewer

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 20, 2014 (5/20/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 13, 2014, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 13, 2014 (5/13/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 6, 2014, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 6, 2014 (5/6/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Investigating Telogenetic Karst Aquifer Processes And Evolution In South-Central Kentucky, U.S., Using High-Resolution Storm Hydrology And Geochemistry Monitoring, Nicholas Lawhon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Recent studies have investigated the hydrological and geochemical characteristics of karst aquifers in different settings; however, telogenetic karst aquifer processes remain poorly understood. In south-central Kentucky, the iconic Lost River Cave and Valley represents a large, complex telogenetic karst drainage basin with a series of discharge points along a collapsed section of the cave. Two Campbell Scientific® CR1000 automated dataloggers were installed at Blue Hole Four, a primary discharge point of the Lost River Karst Aquifer (LRKA). These dataloggers recorded spring discharge, water temperature, specific conductance (SpC), and pH at ten-minute intervals from January to November, 2013. During the year, …

Water-Use Restriction Information: Information Sharing Between Public Water Systems And State Government Offices, Christopher Carparelli

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

In many states there is an absence of communication between the state and local levels about many aspects of water resource management. This research examines the interaction between the state and local levels regarding water-use restrictions for public water systems (PWSs). This information is useful for state-level drought planning and mitigation through the assessment of drought impacts on public water supplies. Officials from five state-level entities that collect and disseminate local water-use restriction information were interviewed over the phone for this research. Each official was asked eleven questions about how and why their state collects and disseminates PWS water-use restriction …

Estimating Nitrogen Fixation Rates, Importance, And Short-Term Efficiency In Small, Temperate Reservoirs Using Delta15n Techniques, Bryant Christopher Baker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen (N2) fixation can give certain species of cyanobacteria a competitive advantage in lake and reservoir phytoplankton. These species of cyanobacteria, along with others that cannot fix N2, can form toxic compounds that impair water quality when present in high concentrations. N2 fixation rates may be substantial in small (< 1.0 km2), temperate reservoirs since these systems experience thermal stratification and often nitrogen (N) limitation throughout a substantial proportion of the year. However, the effects of N2 fixation on N cycling, alleviation of short-term N limitation, and water quality are not well-understood. A mesocosm experiment and ecosystem-scale observational study were conducted to 1) determine the efficiency of N2 fixation under varying N relative to phosphorus (P) supply, 2) examine the effects of N2 fixation on autotrophic biomass accumulation and microcystin production, and 3) measure N2 fixation rates and importance to autotrophic N demand and zooplankton N assimilation. Results of the mesocosm experiment indicated that N2 fixation was increased at low N:P supply under high P. However, N2 fixation was inefficient at alleviating N limitation when fixed N was the primary source of N. Additionally, microcystin production occurred only at high N:P supply when N2 fixation was low, indicating that reducing external N inputs may have a positive effect on water quality. Results of whole-reservoir determination of N2 fixation using seston δ15N natural abundances indicated that N2 fixation rates throughout the warm season were substantial and influenced by water temperature. Annual N2 fixation rates ranged from 2.2 - 6.6 g N m-2 yr-1, and contributed up to 19% of the annual autotrophic N demand. Zooplankton were assimilating fixed N in most of the study reservoirs, representing a possible mechanism of ecosystem fixed N retention. Collectively, these results suggest that N2 fixation plays a substantial role in N cycling in small, temperate reservoirs, but likely cannot alleviate short-term N limitation.

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 29, 2014, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for April 29, 2014 (4/29/14) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

Management And Climate Contributions To Satellite-Derived Active Fire Trends In The Contiguous United States, Hsiao-Wen Lin, Jessica L. Mccarty, Dongdong Wang, Brendan M. Rogers, Douglas C. Morton, G. James Collatz, Yufang Jin, James T. Randerson

Michigan Tech Research Institute Publications

Fires in croplands, plantations, and rangelands contribute significantly to fire emissions in the United States, yet are often overshadowed by wildland fires in efforts to develop inventories or estimate responses to climate change. Here we quantified decadal trends, interannual variability, and seasonality of Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations of active fires (thermal anomalies) as a function of management type in the contiguous U.S. during 2001–2010. We used the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity database to identify active fires within the perimeter of large wildland fires and land cover maps to identify active fires in croplands. A third class …

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 22, 2014, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for April 22, 2014 (4/22/14) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 15, 2014, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for April 15, 2014 (4/15/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 8, 2014, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for April 8, 2014 (4/8/14) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.