Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Evaluation Of Spatial Generalization Characteristics Of A Robust Classifier As Applied To Coral Reef Habitats In Remote Islands Of The Pacific Ocean, Justin J. Gapper, Hesham El-Askary, Erik J. Linstead, Thomas Piechota

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

This study was an evaluation of the spectral signature generalization properties of coral across four remote Pacific Ocean reefs. The sites under consideration have not been the subject of previous studies for coral classification using remote sensing data. Previous research regarding using remote sensing to identify reefs has been limited to in-situ assessment, with some researchers also performing temporal analysis of a selected area of interest. This study expanded the previous in-situ analyses by evaluating the ability of a basic predictor, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), trained on Depth Invariant Indices calculated from the spectral signature of coral in one location …

High-Resolution Digital Surface Characterization Of The Rio Chama In New Mexico, Rowan L. Converse

Shared Knowledge Conference

Over the past eighty years, the Rio Chama, a major tributary of the Rio Grande in New Mexico, has been subject to significant disruption of historic hydrological flow regimes due to water use demands. In recent years, a multiagency management effort has been initiated to restore some measure of historic flow regimes in the 39.6 km congressionally designated Wild and Scenic stretch through the Rio Chama Canyon Wilderness. We collaborated with managers at the US Army Corps of Engineers to collect approximately 15,870 frames of 10cm resolution multispectral imagery of the 82 km stretch of the river between El Vado …

Elevated Black Carbon Concentrations And Atmospheric Pollution Around Singrauli Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plants (India) Using Ground And Satellite Data, Ramesh Singh, Sarvan Kumar, Abhay K. Singh

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The tropospheric NO₂ concentration from OMI AURA always shows high concentrations of NO₂ at a few locations in India, one of the high concentrations of NO2 hotspots is associated with the locations of seven coal-fired Thermal Power plants (TPPs) in Singrauli. Emissions from TPPs are among the major sources of black carbon (BC) soot in the atmosphere. Knowledge of BC emissions from TPPs is important in characterizing regional carbonaceous particulate emissions, understanding the fog/haze/smog formation, evaluating regional climate forcing, modeling aerosol optical parameters and concentrations of black carbon, and evaluating human health. Furthermore, elevated BC concentrations, over the …

The Challenges Of Geotechnical Exploration In Bangladesh For Sustainable Urban Development And Risk Reductions In Engineering Geology, Mir Fazul Karim, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Muhammad Qumrul Hasson, A.T.M. Shakhawat Hossain

Publications and Research

Bangladesh is a unique example of rapid urbanization where the urban population increased from 5 to 58 million in last four decades. Due to complex geology and active tectonic setting, the urban ground is impacted by fluvio-deltaic processes and regional seismicity. The densely populated cities of the country are facing risks from many natural hazards like floods, tidal surge, riverbank and coastal erosion, scour, landslides, soil collapse and foundation failures. Geologists anticipate severe seismic threats from yet-undefined tectonic structures and seek to determine their consequential geo-structural responses and conformance to the national building code. With rapid growth, demands on infrastructure …

Groundwater Contamination At Coal Ash Deposit Sites In Kentucky, Brandon Rose

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Flood And Flash Flood Comparison Of 1996 And 2017 Using Gis, Harrison Kelly

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (Ebfm) Risk Assessment Of The Western Australian Sea Cucumber Fishery, F J. Webster, Anthony M. Hart

WA Marine Stewardship Council report series

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the commercial Western Australian Sea Cucumber Fishery (SCF) and the outcomes from the 2016 ecological risk assessment for this fishery. Two key species, sandfish (Holothuria scabra) and redfish (Actinopyga echinites), are targeted by the commercial SCF through hand collection by diving and wading primarily in shallow waters of northern WA.

Hot Spots And Hot Moments Of Soil Moisture Explain Fluctuations In Iron And Carbon Cycling In A Humid Tropical Forest Soil, Diego Barcellos, Christine S. O'Connell, Whendee L. Silver, Christof Meile, Aaron Thompson

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Soils from humid forests undergo spatial and temporal variations in moisture and oxygen (O₂) in response to rainfall, and induce changes in iron (Fe) and carbon (C) biogeochemistry. We hypothesized that high rainfall periods stimulate Fe and C cycling, with the greatest effects in areas of high soil moisture. To test this, we measured Fe and C cycling across three catenas at valley, slope, and ridge positions every two days for a two-month period in a rainforest in Puerto Rico. Over 12 days without rain, soil moisture, Fe^II, rapidly reducible Fe oxides (Fe^III_RR), …

Postseismic Restoration Of The Ecological Environment In The Wenchuan Region Using Satellite Data, Zhibin Huang, Min Xu, Wei Chen, Xiaojuan Lin, Chunxiang Cao, Ramesh Singh

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Using Landsat remote-sensing data combined with geological information extracted from ALOS and Sentinel-1A radar data, the ecological environment was evaluated in the years 2007, 2008, 2013, and 2017 through gray correlation analysis on the basis of the construction of the pressure-state-response model. The main objective of this research was to assess the ecological environment changes in Wenchuan County before and after the earthquake, and to provide reference for future social development and policy implementation. The grading map of the ecological environment was obtained for every year, and the ecological restoration status of Wenchuan County after the earthquake was evaluated. The …

Applications Of Nasa Earth Observations For Monitoring Forest Loss In The Madre De Dios Region Of Peru, Andrea Nicolau, Kelsey Herndon, Africa Flores, Robert Griffin

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Evaluating A New Impact Assessment Method For Agricultural Productivity Treatments In Nepal Using Machine Learning And Space-Borne Data, Ronan Lucey

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Integrating Nasa Earth Observations To Monitor Thunderstorms And Assess Lightning Exposure And Risk In The Hindu-Kush Himalayan Region, Christine Evans, Sisam Shrestha, Essence Raphael, Robert Griffin

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Methods For Identifying And Monitoring Factors In The Puget Sound That Indicate Eutrophication And Hypoxia, Christine Evans, Emily Kinkle, Helen Baldwin, Yu Han, Robert Griffin

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Dealing With Climate Change Under The National Environmental Policy Act, Climate Change--Laws Regulations And Rules, Environmental Impact Statements, Greenhouse Gases, Arnold W. Reitze Jr.

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) was an important environmental law for several decades before climate change became an issue of concern. In the 1990s, efforts began to include in NEPA’s environmental assessments and environmental impact statements both the impact of federal government actions on climate change and the impact of climate change on proposed federal actions. These efforts were encouraged by the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”). However, implementation at the agency level has since been uneven. Some federal agencies have resisted making serious efforts to incorporate climate change impacts into their decision-making process. Moreover, the courts have not …

Spatial Analysis Of Borrow Pits Along The Platte River In South-Central Nebraska, Usa, In 1957 And 2016, Nicole M. Pauley, Mary J. Harner, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Paul R. Burger, Keith Geluso

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

The Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) of Nebraska provides critical habitat for wildlife, while serving agricultural, indus­trial, and other human uses. Mining of sand and gravel from the floodplain of the Platte River has supported construction of roads and other uses, and this extraction has created many borrow-pit ponds, lakes, and other small bodies of standing water (hereafter borrow-pits), further transforming riparian and prairie habitats. The objective of this study was to compare the abundance, size, and distribution of borrow pits before construction of Interstate 80 (1957) and at present (2016) from Lexington to Chapman, Nebraska, a length of river …

Land-Use/Land-Cover Changes And Their Influence On The Ecosystem In Chengdu City, China During The Period Of 1992–2018, Xiaojuan Lin, Min Xu, Chunxiang Cao, Ramesh P. Singh, Wei Chen, Hongrun Ju

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Due to urban expansion, economic development, and rapid population growth, land use/land cover (LULC) is changing in major cities around the globe. Quantitative analysis of LULC change is important for studying the corresponding impact on the ecosystem service value (ESV) that helps in decision-making and ecosystem conservation. Based on LULC data retrieved from remote-sensing interpretation, we computed the changes of ESV associated with the LULC dynamics using the benefits transfer method and geographic information system (GIS) technologies during the period of 1992–2018 following self-modified coefficients which were corrected by net primary productivity (NPP). This improved approach aimed to establish a …

Detection, Occurrence And Fate Of Emerging Contaminants In Agricultural Environments, Daniel D. Snow, David A. Cassada, Saptashati Biswas, Mohammedreza Shafieifini, Xu Li, Matteo D'Alessio, Laura Carter, J. Brett Sallach

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

A total of 75 papers published in 2017 were reviewed ranging from detailed descriptions of analytical methods, to fate and occurrence studies, to ecological effects and sampling techniques for a wide variety of emerging contaminants likely to occur in agricultural environments. New methods and studies on veterinary pharmaceuticals, steroids, antibiotic resistance genes, and engineered nanoparticles agricultural environments continue to expand our knowledge base on the occurrence and potential impacts of these compounds. This review is divided into the following sections: Introduction, Analytical Methods, Fate and Occurrence, Pharmaceutical Metabolites, Anthelmintics, Antibiotic Resistance Genes, and Engineered Nanomaterials.

Monitoring And Evaluating The Influences Of Class V Injection Wells On Urban Karst Hydrology, James Adam Shelley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The response of a karst aquifer to storm events is often faster and more severe than that of a non-karst aquifer. This distinction is often problematic for planners and municipalities, because karst flooding does not typically occur along perennial water courses; thus, traditional flood management strategies are usually ineffective. The City of Bowling Green (CoBG), Kentucky is a representative example of an area plagued by karst flooding. The CoBG, is an urban karst area (UKA), that uses Class V Injection Wells to lessen the severity of flooding. The overall effectiveness, siting, and flooding impact of Injection Wells in UKA’s is …

Indirect Greenhouse Gas Dynamics In Karst Groundwater Systems Under Agricultural Land Use, Stacy Wayne Antle

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are a major global environmental concern, because their concentrations have continuously increased over the past few centuries, due to global population growth, fossil fuel dependency, and the Industrial Revolution. Since these gases are naturally occurring phenomena, they will never be completely eliminated. Efforts to reduce them span numerous scientific attempts, with minimal improvements in reducing their atmospheric concentrations. In agricultural land practices, greenhouse gases are common byproducts that affect the atmosphere and, potentially, the groundwater where livestock and fertilizers are key contributors. Little is known about the fate of such greenhouse gases in dissolved form, known as …

Data On Ion Composition And X-Ray Diffraction Patterns Of Biosolids From Wastewater Treatment Plants In Lufkin And Nacogdoches, Texas, Usa, Kefa Karimu Onchoke, Christopher M. Franclemont, Paul W. Weatherford

Faculty Publications

The data presented in this article is related to the research article entitled, “Structural Characterization and Evaluation of Municipal Wastewater Sludge (Biosolids) from two Rural Wastewater Treatment Plants in East Texas, USA”, Onchoke, KK, Franclemont, C.M., Spectrochim. Acta A, In press[1]. The XRD profiles and composition of biosolids from wastewater treatment plant is presented. This study describes the composition of XRD crystalline phase patterns of the wastewater sludge. After the removal of the Ka2 peaks the d-spacing and hkl values were determined. In addition, the ion chromatographic profile of the seven anions (NO₃^-, NO_{2 …}

Droughtscape, Fall 2018, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

From the director

Drought greatly improves in Southern Plains and South

Texas, Missouri, and Colorado logged late-summer impacts

Memory, remote sensing and a new research methodology

Navigating the U.S. Drought Monitor

Planners discuss the barriers to effective drought mitigation planning

Exploring climate issues from a county management perspective

Strategic Framework for Drought Risk Management and Enhancing Resilience in Africa

Mena global policy forum looks from data to mitigation

About us

State-by-state drought classification table developed by NDMC graduate student

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- October 2018, Natalie Umphlett, Rezaul Mamood, Jamie Lahowetz, Warren Pettee, Dalton Van Stratten, Crystal J. Stiles

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the interim director........................................1

Staff spotlight...........................1

ACIS GIS portal release..........2

ACIS maps enhancement.....3

Product highlight....................4

Update on regional climate conditions..................................4

Update on tribal engagement............................................. 5

Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................6

The Influence Of Habitat Preference On Longitudinal Population Composition And Distribution Of Groupers (Serranidae) In Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar Tanzania, Caroline Daley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A survey of six common grouper (Serranidae) species was conducted on both the western protected and eastern unprotected reefs around Chumbe Island. Species, estimated maturity, and fundamental niche and general habitat preference was extrapolated based on observed realized niche and qualified according to substrate, depth, slope position, and general reef region. Abundance, biomass density, and biodiversity of Serranid populations were compared among locations on the reef with habitat preference in mind in order to best assess how habitat influences population composition, distribution, and health. The results of this study provide depth to previous research on the protected reef and indicate …

Correlations Between Reef Health And Vertical Zonation On Ushongo Village Reef And Fungu Zinga Reef, Daniel Gates

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

While the existence of vertical zonation on coral reefs is well-known, the driving mechanisms and the influence each has is not clear. This study seeks to investigate the influence of reef health on vertical zonation. Reef health is used as a potential factor since it is essentially a broad description of reef diversity. Therefore, a healthy reef which is very diverse is likely to have more and different interspecies interactions than an unhealthy one. This project investigates whether these altered interactions results in different depth distributions of various coral types, categorized broadly by colony shape. Reef health did not seem …

Patterns And Drivers Of Recent Disturbances Across The Temperate Forest Biome, Andreas Sommerfeld, Cornelius Senf, Brian Buma, Anthony W. D'Amato, Tiphaine Despres, Ignacio Díaz-Hormazábal, Shawn Fraver, Lee E. Frelich, Alvaro G. Gutiérrez, Sarah J. Hart, Brian J. Harvey, Hong S. He, Tomáš Hlásny, Andrés Holz, Multiple Additional Authors

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasing evidence indicates that forest disturbances are changing in response to global change, yet local variability in disturbance remains high. We quantified this considerable variability and analyzed whether recent disturbance episodes around the globe were consistently driven by climate, and if human influence modulates patterns of forest disturbance. We combined remote sensing data on recent (2001–2014) disturbances with in-depth local information for 50 protected landscapes and their surroundings across the temperate biome. Disturbance patterns are highly variable, and shaped by variation in disturbance agents and traits of prevailing tree species. However, high disturbance activity is consistently linked to warmer and …

La Calidad Del Agua Y El Impacto En La Salud Pública: Un Examen A Las Fuentes Del Agua En La Amazonia Cerca De Puyo, Ecuador Y La Salud De Las Comunidades Indígenas / Water Quality And The Impact On Public Health: An Examination Of Water Sources In The Amazon Near Puyo, Ecuador And The Health Of Indigenous Communities, Mary Kathryn Mcgregor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agua limpia es una de las cosas más importantes para la salud humana y el acceso a esta es un derecho humano. Sin embargo, mucha gente todavía no tiene acceso a agua limpia, especialmente en las áreas rurales. El objetivo de este proyecto fue determinar la salud de 3 de las 11 comunidades de la nacionalidad Shuar cerca de Puyo, Ecuador, en la región amazónica con análisis de macroinvertebrados, pH, temperatura y bacterias. Las comunidades de Yuu, Kunkuk y Pitirishca fueron elegidas porque Pitirishca tiene agua entubada y las otras no la tienen, así que necesitan tomar el agua de …

Characterizing Diatom Biofilms And Their Influence On The Sand Biogeochemistry Of High Energy Beaches, Logan C. Jarrell

Honors Theses

High energy beaches are among the most dynamic ecological settings on Earth. Compared to mudflats, diatoms of high energy beaches have been more neglected in the literature, particularly true of the intertidal biofilms that form and dissipate with nutrient cycling and light intensity over the tidal cycle. Although short lived, the productivity of these biofilms may be critical to the organic-poor sand. Through sediment coring and subsequent analyses of the uppermost sand of three suspected biofilm stations—non-runnel, runnel crest, and runnel trough—along with seemingly bare sand as a control, this study sought to verify the presence of diatom biofilms and …

Unearthing The X-Streams: Visualizing Water Contamination, Akangsha Bandalkul, Angad Srivastava, Kishan Bharadwaj Shridhar, Jason Guan Jie Ong, Yanrong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The datasets released for VAST 2018 Mini Challenge 2 pertain to sensor readings capturing chemical concentrations and physical properties from water bodies in the Boonsong Lekagul wildlife preserve. This challenge is in continuation to the VAST 2017 Challenge, where the company Kasios was identified as the culprit in dumping the chemical - Methylosmoline. In the absence of actual chemical measurements in the soil, challenge participants need to visualize chemical contamination based on the proximal water bodies to identify trends of interest. A horizon plot developed helps to narrow down the complete list of 106 chemicals provided to only 7, …

Evaluation Of The Bsc-Dream8b Regional Dust Model Using The 3d Livas-Calipso Product, Dimitra Konsta, Ioannis Binietoglou, Antonis Gkikas, Stavros Solomos, Eleni Marinou, Emmanouil Proestakis, Sara Basart, Carlos Pérez García-Pando, Hesham El-Askary, Vassilis Amiridis

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The ability of regional atmospheric models to accurately represent long-range transport of dust is crucial for describing dust effects on radiation and clouds and for reducing their uncertainties on these processes. The optimized CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) pure-dust product that provides the three-dimensional patterns of dust and its transport pathways is a unique tool that can address the aforementioned model's issues. In this study we use the CALIPSO dust extinction profiles as a tool for examining the performance of the regional dust model BSC-DREAM8b in space and time, for the period 2009–2013 over Northern Africa, the …

Deep Soils Modify Environmental Consequences Of Increased Nitrogen Fertilizer Use In Intensifying Amazon Agriculture, Kathijo Jankowski, Christopher Neill, Eric A. Davidson, Marcia Macedo, Ciniro Costa Jr., Gillian L. Galford, Leonardo Maracahipes Santos, Paul Lefebvre, Darlisson Nunes, Carlos E. P. Cerri, Richard Mchorney, Christine S. O'Connell, Michael T. Coe

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Agricultural intensification offers potential to grow more food while reducing the conversion of native ecosystems to croplands. However, intensification also risks environmental degradation through emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N₂O) and nitrate leaching to ground and surface waters. Intensively-managed croplands and nitrogen (N) fertilizer use are expanding rapidly in tropical regions. We quantified fertilizer responses of maize yield, N₂O emissions, and N leaching in an Amazon soybean-maize double-cropping system on deep, highly-weathered soils in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Application of N fertilizer above 80 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ increased maize yield and N …