Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Possible Precursor Events To Earthquakes And The Resulting Effects On Organic Material In The Surrounding Water Bodies, Kiyoko Nakatsui

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Being located on the “Ring of Fire” Japan experiences many seismic events. Adding to this, it is located at the convergence of four fault lines where seismic activity will be even more frequent and severe. Although small tremors occurring in an area are indicators of an earthquake to come it only gives minutes of warning. Scientists are now trying to see if latent heat and gas release from fault lines can indicate an earthquake to come with hours or even days of warning. MODIS aqua and terra data will be analyzed in order to see if such precursors can be …

Evaluation Of Temperature Anomalies And Ocean Productivity During The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake, Cora Byers, Brenna Mcnabb

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The oceanic productivity of the Indian Ocean and temperature anomalies prior to the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (MW =9.3) and tsunami (December 26th 2004) were studied. Data was obtained via NASA’s Giovanni program to determine the effect on phytoplankton (primary producers) and temperature changes over the region of the earthquake. Seasonal trends were visible in the concentrations of chlorophyll a, coccolithophores, cyanobacteria, chlorophytes, diatoms and absorption coefficient, in addition to storm trends.

Effects Of El Niño On Ecological Growth Along Californian And Peruvian Coasts, Alexandra Sidun

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study examines the mechanisms of El Niño to further understand the ecological effects it may have along the Californian and Peruvian coasts. El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). While it is a global phenomenon, these two locations were investigated for their nearly equal and opposite conditions during storm months. California, which is in an extreme state of drought, often receives heavy rainfall during El Niño and understanding its potential effects is crucial. El Niño causes upwellings along the CA coast and warm water from the region displaces the normally cool waters along …

Assessing Water Quality In The Gulf Of Mexico Using Remote Sensing Data., Alliyah Thomas

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Hypoxia, or oxygen depletion, is a process that occurs in conjunction with eutrophication. In hypoxic conditions the dissolved oxygen levels in the water column sink to unlivable conditions for the marine organisms causing them to flee or die. Despite efforts of improvement, the annual summer Gulf of Mexico dead zone continues to be a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems. The 2012 smaller than usual dead zone was a false indicator of future improvement. The 2012 dead zone decrease was connected to the drought and inability of large amounts of runoff to flow into the gulf. Water quality analysis was done …

Urban Scale Modeling Of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide And Validation Of Emission Inventories, James E. Powell, Christopher L. Butenhoff, Andrew L. Rice

Student Research Symposium

There exists a pressing need for high resolution emissions inventories for cities. For greenhouse gases, cities and regions need a careful analysis of their carbon footprint to design effective policies to control and mitigate emissions. High resolution emissions inventories can be used in conjunction with meteorology models and atmospheric measurements to place top-down constraints on emissions. High resolution emissions inventories for criteria pollutants like NO_x, CO, and O₃ enable urban-scale air pollution modeling down to the neighborhood level. For example, the Vulcan project estimates CO₂ using county-scale vehicle miles traveled (VMT) from the National Mobile Inventory …

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 12, 2015, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 12, 2015 (5/12/15) 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.

The Human And Environmental Effects Of Cbrn Weapons, Brendan M. Doran

Student Theses 2015-Present

Since the first use of modern weapons of mass destruction during the First World War, the World has lived in fear of these horrifying instruments of death. Gripped by this fear, countries around the world have continued to research, develop, and test these weapons in the spirit of mutually assured destruction. Over the years, science and warfare have continually refined their methods of human extermination, bringing forth some of the most terrifyingly effective weapon systems ever devised. However, the testing and use of these weapons is often a step into the unknown. The repercussions of deploying these weapons are sometimes …

U.S. Drought Monitor, May 5, 2015, Mark D. Svoboda

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for May 5, 2015 (5/5/15) 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.

Geochemical Analysis Of Surface Materials Surrounding The Bautsch-Gray Mine Superfund Site Near Galena, Illinois, Ryan Plath

Geology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The Bautsch-Gray zinc and lead mine, near Galena, IL, was in operation from the early 1900s until closing in 1975. The mine’s tailings pile has documented elevated lead and zinc concentrations in the surface materials surrounding the site. Numerous floods have caused contaminated sediment to migrate off the mine tailings pile, across Blackjack Road and into an outwash basin, and towards Smallpox Creek. Since this site was designated an EPA priority list Superfund site in 2010, the EPA has conducted numerous remediation efforts. This study attempts to develop a better understanding of the contamination within the soils of the outwash …

Combining And Aggregating Environmental Data For Status And Trend Assessments: Challenges And Approaches, Kathleen G. Maas-Hebner, Michael Harte, Nancy Molina, Robert M. Hughes, Carl B. Schreck, J. Alan Yeakley

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasingly, natural resource management agencies and nongovernmental organizations are sharing monitoring data across geographic and jurisdictional boundaries. Doing so improves their abilities to assess local-, regional-, and landscape-level environmental conditions, particularly status and trends, and to improve their ability to make short-and long-term management decisions. Status monitoring assesses the current condition of a population or environmental condition across an area. Monitoring for trends aims at monitoring changes in populations or environmental condition through time. We wrote this paper to inform agency and nongovernmental organization managers, analysts, and consultants regarding the kinds of environmental data that can be combined with suitable …

Using Kriging, Cokriging, And Gis To Visualize Fe And Mn In Groundwater, Crystal Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For aesthetic, economic, and health-related reasons, allowable concentrations of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) found present in drinking water are 0.3 mg/L and 0.05 mg/L, respectively. Water samples taken from private drinking wells in the rural communities within Buncombe County, North Carolina contain amounts of these metals in concentrations higher than the suggested limits. This study focused on bedrock geology, elevation, saprolite thickness, and well depth to determine factors affecting Fe and Mn. Using ArcGIS 10.2, spatial trends in Fe and Mn concentrations ranges were visualized, and estimates of the metal concentrations were interpolated to unmonitored areas. Results from this …

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 28, 2015, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for April 28, 2015 (4/28/15) 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.

Local Response To Climate Change: A Case Study Approach, Nora Gimpel

Honors Theses

The scientific consensus on the causes and consequences of climate change is clear and experts continue to strongly recommend immediate mitigation and adaptation responses (IPCC, 2014). Responses to climate change are occurring at the international, national, and subnational level, but adaptation to climate change is also highly local. Local communities across the world are organizing groups and institutions to determine their best responses for local mitigation and adaptation actions. This study analyzed the formal local community organization, the Kalamazoo Climate Change Coalition (KCCC), and its structured activities in order to evaluate how Kalamazoo has responded to climate change. Methodology for …

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 21, 2015, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for April 21, 2015 (4/21/15) 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.

Developmental Toxicity Of Tetrakis (Hydromethyl) Phosphonium Chloride (Thpc) In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) Embryos, Lan L. Nguyen

Honors College Theses

Tetrakis (hydromethyl) phosphonium chloride (THPC) is a tetrakis (hydromethyl) phosphonium salt commonly used by the textile industry and is polymerized onto cotton fabrics to provide a flame-retardant finish. Traces of THPC were found in the Ogeechee River, a 294 mile-long black river in Georgia, and could have been a toxin contributing to the mass killing of aquatic animals in May 2011. THPC has been known to be carcinogenic and cause other systemic toxicity in various mammalian animals. However given that the chemical is mostly discharged in natural waters, the environmental impact of the discharge on water quality and there by …

U.S. Drought Monitor, April 14, 2015, Michael J. Brewer

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for April 14, 2015 (4/14/15) 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 Earth Observations To Map And Model The Spread Of Invasive Asiatic Bush Honeysuckle On The Cumberland Plateau, Daryl Ann Winstead, Brandie Stringer, Michael Logsdon

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Digitization Of Disturbance History For Swanton Pacific Ranch From 1989 To 2015, Daniel Mcquillan

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty In Simulating Gross Primary Production Of Cropland Ecosystem From Satellite-Based Models, Wenping Yuan, Wenwen Cai, Anthony L. Nguy-Robertson, Huajun Fang, Andrew E. Suyker, Yang Chen, Wenjie Dong, Shuguang Liu, Haicheng Zhang

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Accurate estimates of gross primary production (GPP) for croplands are needed to assess carbon cycle and crop yield. Satellite-based models have been developed to monitor spatial and temporal GPP patterns. However, there are still large uncertainties in estimating cropland GPP. This study compares three light use efficiency (LUE) models (MODIS-GPP, EC-LUE, and VPM) with eddy-covariance measurements at three adjacent AmeriFlux crop sites located near Mead, Nebraska, USA. These sites have different croprotation systems (continuous maize vs. maize and soybean rotated annually) and water management practices (irrigation vs. rainfed). The results reveal several major uncertainties in estimating GPP which need to …

The Restoration Process: Lessons From A Community-Based Conservation Initiative In Tunkhel, Mongolia, John Wendt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As policy makers transition away from central planning, Mongolia’s natural resource professionals are challenged with cultivating community support for stewardship in a time of escalating ecological disturbance. Nutag Action Research Partners has partnered with community members and government officials in Tunkhel, a small village in north-central Mongolia, to develop local resource management capacity and jointly draft a Conservation Plan for a commonly grazed riparian pasture. This study is a preliminary assessment of the ecological and social factors influencing project implementation. Information was collected using a variety of qualitative methods including meeting observation, surveys, interviews, photographs, and a review of previous …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- April 2015, Martha Shulski, Natalie A. Umphlett, Bill Sorensen, Crystal J. Stiles

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

Inside this issue:

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

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

Stakeholder engagement activities......................................2

Partnership spotlight.............2

AWDN information.................3

Update on regional climate conditions..................................3

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

Research highlight..................4

Outreach events......................5

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

A Feasibility Study Of Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles To Survey Avian Abundance By Using Audio Recording, Janine M. Barr, Andrew M. Wilson

Student Publications

Roadside counts are commonly used to assess songbird abundance, but they result in oversampling habitat edges and underrepresenting core habitats, areas of steep terrain, and wetlands. Accessing off-road habitats can be logistical challenging and time-consuming, resulting in low survey efficiency. Aerial ecological surveys, using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) have already proven to be valuable in wildlife monitoring. Previous studies have used photography or videography to provide permanent documentation of wildlife surveys through low altitude aerial imagery. A significant advantage of UAVs over manned aircraft is their greater safety and lower costs. We propose that UAVs can also be …

Drougthscape, Spring 2015, Kelly Smith

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

Contents

Director’s column.

South Plains ranch workshops 3

First quarter drought summary

First quarter impacts summary

Gary’s favorite pond, D1-4

NDMC’s Haigh leads U2U pubs

SW Montana watersheds convene

Wind River monitors drought

Morocco’s new drought index

Northeast Brazil drought monitoring

EU’s drought initiative

U.S. Drought Monitor Forum

How Colorado tourism coped in 2012

Spatial And Temporal Relationships Between Forest Bird Declines And Prevalence Of The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid In The Northeastern United States, Julie E. Blum, Andrew M. Wilson

Student Publications

The eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a vital foundation tree species throughout the eastern United States, providing essential structural diversity and habitat for more than 120 different animal species. Within the past few decades, T. canadensis has undergone significant declines that are largely associated with the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae), an exotic, aphid-like insect native to East Asia. From the 1970s to present day, the HWA has spread throughout southern New England, large portions of the Mid-Atlantic region, and parts of Tennessee and the Carolinas. Research has shown that loss of the eastern hemlock is …

Climate Change And Land Management Impact Rangeland Condition And Sage-Grouse Habitat In Southeastern Oregon, Megan K. Creutzburg, Emilie B. Henderson, David R. Conklin

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Contemporary pressures on sagebrush steppe from climate change, exotic species, wildfire, and land use change threaten rangeland species such as the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). To effectively manage sagebrush steppe landscapes for long-term goals, managers need information about the potential impacts of climate change, disturbances, and management activities. We integrated information from a dynamic global vegetation model, a sage-grouse habitat climate envelope model, and a state-and-transition simulation model to project broad-scale vegetation dynamics and potential sage-grouse habitat across 23.5 million acres in southeastern Oregon. We evaluated four climate scenarios, including continuing current climate and three scenarios of global …

Gouldian Finch Non Breeding Population And Habitat Assessment 2015: Ord-East Kimberley Expansion Project - Weaber Plain Development Area, Save The Gouldian Fund

Irrigated Agricultural Development in the North

As part of the requirement for State approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, an assessment and regular monitoring of the endangered Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae) is required during the operation of the Ord River Irrigation Area Weaber Plain Development Project in Kimberley, Western Australia. This report details the findings from 1) surveys of non-breeding Gouldian finches and vegetation assessment of their associated feeding habitats during the non breeding season (September 2014 – December 2014), and 2) wet season vegetation surveys of Gouldian finch feeding grasses (November 2014 – March 2015).

Development In Alaska/British Columbia Transboundary Watersheds: A Campaign For International Joint Commission Involvement, Elizabeth Purdy

Capstone Collection

This case study in policy advocacy examines a campaign based in Southeast Alaska known as “Salmon Beyond Borders.” Run by a regional coalition of environmental organizations, indigenous tribes, local municipalities, commercial and sport fishing groups, policy experts, scientists, and concerned citizens, the Salmon Beyond Borders (SBB) campaign seeks a formal referral for International Joint Commission (IJC) involvement from the U.S. Department of State and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs. SBB would like the IJC to study the cumulative impacts of mining development in the region’s transboundary watersheds and offer non-binding recommendations from which the U.S. and Canada can negotiate …

Existential Avalanche The Lived Experience Of Climate Change In Dolpo And Mustang, Nepal, Keegan Mcchesney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Himalayan communities stand precariously in an era of phenomenological uncertainty. Climate change is merely a lens through which we may observe and begin to understand such localized modern complexities. The people of the Tarap Valley in Dolpo, Nepal have experienced an increase in avalanches, snow leopard attacks and unpredictable precipitation patterns in recent years. In upper Mustang, Nepal, people have endured the harshest winter in generations and suffered from reduced water access. Environmental, climatic and weather related changes in both Himalayan districts have severely impacted traditional livelihoods and led some to adopt modern means of adaptation. Despite the scientific evidence …

U.S. Drought Monitor, March 31, 2015, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for March 31, 2015 (3/31/15) 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.

Housatonic Organic Contaminants: Physical Data Archive, Michael M. Whitney

Department of Marine Sciences

This archive includes physical data from a Connecticut Sea Grant Project on organic contaminants in the Housatonic River estuary and Long Island Sound. The data included are water: temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and current velocities. Observations were collected in 2012 and 2013 from the R/V Weicker.