Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Umphlett Qci Sept 2017, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Drought

Wildfires Impact Montana and Beyond

Kansas City, MO Area Flooding

Numerous Impacts to Agriculture

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

A Synergistic Approach For Evaluating Climate Model Output For Ecological Applications, Rachel D. Cavanagh, Eugene J. Murphy, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, John Turner, Cheryl A. Knowland, Stuart P. Corney, Walker O. Smith Jr., Claire M. Waluda, Nadine M. Johnston, Richard G. J. Bellerby, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Increasing concern about the impacts of climate change on ecosystems is prompting ecologists and ecosystem managers to seek reliable projections of physical drivers of change. The use of global climate models in ecology is growing, although drawing ecologically meaningful conclusions can be problematic. The expertise required to access and interpret output from climate and earth system models is hampering progress in utilizing them most effectively to determine the wider implications of climate change. To address this issue, we present a joint approach between climate scientists and ecologists that explores key challenges and opportunities for progress. As an exemplar, our focus …

Tropical Cyclones Disrupt The Relationship Between Tree Height And Species Diversity: Comment, Teng-Chiu Lin, Lixin Wang, Chengyang Zheng, Ryan W. Mcewan, Chung-Te Chang, Jyh-Min Chiang, Chung-Hao Chi

Biology Faculty Publications

In a recent report on the patterns of tree species richness in eastern and western North America, Marks et al. (2016) claimed to have identified an operational indicator of environmental harshness (maximum tree height) and concluded that environmental stressors that limit tree height also act as ecological filters on species richness. Marks et al. (2017) attributed the positive association between species richness and maximum tree height to both the direct effects of environmental harshness on species richness and the indirect effects of environmental harshness on species richness as mediated by maximum tree height.

This finding overlooked the fact that many …

Enhancing The Teaching And Learning Of Biometeorology In Higher Education, David R. Perkins Iv, Jennifer Vanos, Christopher Fuhrmann, Michael Allen, David Knight, Cameron C. Lee, Angela Lees, Andrew Leung, Rebekah Lucas, Hamed Mehdipor

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Information about the annual meeting organized by the organizations the International Society of Biometeorology (ISB) and the Students and New Professionals (SNP) held in Norfolk, Virginia from July 28 to August 1, 2016 is presented. The event was organized to improve the teaching methods of teachers and learning of students on high education biometeorology and the presentations, practical sessions and group discussions participated by attendees.

2017 September - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Using P-Band Signals Of Opportunity Radio Waves For Root Zone Soil Moisture Remote Sensing, Phillip H. Lipinski, Benjamin R. Nold, James L. Garrison

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Retrieval of Root Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM) is important for understanding the carbon cycle for use in climate change research as well as meteorology, hydrology, and precision agriculture studies. A current method of remote sensing, GNSS-R uses GPS signals to measure soil moisture content and vegetation biomass, but it is limited to 3-5 cm of soil penetration depth. Signals of Opportunity (SoOp) has emerged as an extension of GNSS-R remote sensing using communication signals. P-band communication signals (370 MHz) will be studied as an improved method of remote sensing of RZSM. P-band offers numerous advantages over GNSS-R, including stronger signal …

The Mean And Turbulent Properties Of A Wildfire Convective Plume, Neil Lareau, Craig Clements

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

The time-mean and time-varying smoke and velocity structure of a wildfire convective plume is examined using a high-resolution scanning Doppler lidar. The mean plume is shown to exhibit the archetypal form of a bent-over plume in a crosswind, matching the well-established Briggs plume-rise equation. The plume cross section is approximately Gaussian and the plume radius increases linearly with height, consistent with plumerise theory. The Briggs plume-rise equation is subsequently inverted to estimate the mean fire-generated sensible heat flux, which is found to be 87 kW m22 . The mean radial velocity structure of the plume indicates flow convergence into the …

Large Marine Protected Areas Represent Biodiversity Now And Under Climate Change, T. E. Davies, S. M. Maxwell, K. Kaschner, C. Garilao, N. C. Ban

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Large marine protected areas (>30,000 km²) have a high profile in marine conservation, yet their contribution to conservation is contested. Assessing the overlap of large marine protected areas with 14,172 species, we found large marine protected areas cover 4.4% of the ocean and at least some portion of the range of 83.3% of the species assessed. Of all species within large marine protected areas, 26.9% had at least 10% of their range represented, and this was projected to increase to 40.1% in 2100. Cumulative impacts were significantly higher within large marine protected areas than outside, refuting the …

Effects Of Climate Warming On Net Primary Productivity In China During 1961–2010, Fengxue Gu, Yuandong Zhang, Mei Huang, Bo Tao, Rui Guo, Changrong Yan

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The response of ecosystems to different magnitudes of climate warming and corresponding precipitation changes during the last few decades may provide an important reference for predicting the magnitude and trajectory of net primary productivity (NPP) in the future. In this study, a process-based ecosystem model, Carbon Exchange between Vegetation, Soil and Atmosphere (CEVSA), was used to investigate the response of NPP to warming at both national and subregional scales during 1961–2010. The results suggest that a 1.3°C increase in temperature stimulated the positive changing trend in NPP at national scale during the past 50 years. Regardless of the magnitude of …

Passing It Along: Experiments On Creating The Negative Externalities Of Climate Change, Alessandro Del Ponte, Andrew W. Delton, Reuben Kline, Nicholas A. Seltzer

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Climate change is a global social dilemma. Mitigating it is partly a political problem created by inequitable distributions of the benefits of carbon emissions and the costs of climate change; that is, the people who benefit the most are not the same set of people who pay the most costs. Here we use an experimental economic approach to political science to study these inequities. In two experiments, we show that people willingly create climate problems when those problems are passed along to others. Surprisingly, this is not further exacerbated if those others are from another country. We also show that, …

A Landscape Of Thermal Inequity: Social Vulnerability To Urban Heat In U.S. Cities, Bruce Coffyn Mitchell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A combination of the urban heat island effect and a rising temperature baseline resulting from global climate change inequitably impacts socially vulnerable populations residing in urban areas. This dissertation examines distributional inequity of exposure to urban heat by socially disadvantaged groups and minorities in the context of climate justice. Using Cutter’s hazards-of-place model, variables indicative of social vulnerability and biophysical vulnerability are statistically tested for their associations. Biophysical vulnerability is conceptualized utilizing a urban heat risk index calculated from summer 2010 LANDSAT imagery to measure land surface temperature , structural density through the normalized difference built-up index, and vegetation abundance …

Nuclear Weapons In A Changing Climate: Probability, Increasing Risks, And Perception, Adam Liska, Tyler R. White, Eric Holley, Robert J. Oglesby

Adam Liska Papers

Many people tend to think that the outcome of any nuclear weapons use today will result in an escalatory situation with apocalyptic outcomes for the countries involved. Yet many factors are increasing the probability of the limited use of nuclear weapons (e.g., 1 to 20 warheads) in a range of conflict scenarios. Previous atmospheric model simulations of regional nuclear conflicts employing many relatively small bombs have been estimated to cause a global “nuclear autumn,” with great reductions in agricultural productivity, stratospheric ozone loss, and spread of hazardous radioactive fallout. The totality of these effects would result in widespread damage …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- July 2017, Natalie Umphlett, Bill Sorensen, 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

Drought update.......................2

Update on regional climate conditions..................................2

Product highlights..................3

AWDN information.................4

Climate adaptation award announcement.........................4

Workshops update..................5

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

Book Review: Peak Oil: Apocalyptic Environmentalism And Libertarian Political Culture, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, The University Of Chicago Press, Chicago And London (2015), Corrie Grosse

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Measuring Inorganic Carbon Fluxes From Carbonate Mineral Weathering From Large River Basins: The Ohio River Basin, Autumn B. Singer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations have motivated efforts to better quantify reservoirs and fluxes of Earth’s carbon. Of these fluxes from the atmosphere, one that has received relatively little attention is the atmospheric carbon sink associated with carbonate mineral dissolution. Osterhoudt (2014) and Salley (2016) explored new normalization techniques to improve and standardize a process for measuring this flux over large river basins. The present research extends this work to the 490,600 km2 Ohio River drainage basin and 11 subbasins. The study estimated the DIC flux leaving these basins between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2014, based on secondary hydrogeochemical, …

Mesonets: Mesoscale Weather And Climate Observations For The United States, Rezaul Mahmood, Ryan Boyles, Kevin Brinson, Christopher Fiebrich, Stuart Foster, Ken Hubbard, David Robinson, Jeff Andresen, Dan Leathers

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Mesoscale in situ meteorological observations are essential for better understanding and forecasting the weather and climate and to aid in decision-making by a myriad of stakeholder communities. They include, for example, state environmental and emergency management agencies, the commercial sector, media, agriculture, and the general public. Over the last three decades, a number of mesoscale weather and climate observation networks have become operational. These networks are known as mesonets. Most are operated by universities and receive different levels of funding. It is important to communicate the current status and critical roles the mesonets play. Most mesonets collect standard meteorological data …

Evidence For Late Pliocene Deglacial Megafloods From Giant Sediment Waves In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Zexuan Wang

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Laurentide Ice Sheet outburst floods to the Gulf of Mexico have been mainly documented based on deep-sea cores, especially the megafloods, only during the last several interglacial episodes in the late Pleistocene. The paleoclimatic significance of giant sedimentary structures developed under unconfined Froude-supercritical turbidity currents in subaqueous settings is considerably under-examined. This research extensively documents >20-km-wide and 200-m-thick Plio-Pleistocene giant sediment waves for the first time on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope using 3D seismic data, which show waveform morphology in unprecedented detail. The results suggest that such large-scale bedforms were formed under sheet-like unconfined Froudesupercritical turbidity currents …

Droughtscape, Summer 2017, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Drought policy write shops conclude in Caribbean

Drought encroaches on Northern Plains in second quarter

Impact tool racks up submissions in second quarter

Maps on new website highlight drought effects on ag industry

Centers release new flash drought tool: QuickDRI

NDMC contributes to EU report on disaster risk management

Groups earn Climate Adaptation award for work with tribes

NDMC, ICPAC director talk collaboration on drought in Greater Horn of Africa

Up next in MENA: Drought vulnerability assessments

Investigating Physical Processes Associated With Chesapeake Bay And Changjiang Estuary, Arash Niroomandi

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Coastal and estuaries are landforms that not only have great impacts on large marine ecosystem, but also play a significant role in moderating or aggravating natural hazards and erosion risks that are expected to increase with climate change. This dissertation explores some of the concerns associated with coasts and coastal systems. In the second chapter, a thirty seven year wave hindcast (1979-2015) in Chesapeake Bay using NCEP's Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) wind is presented. The long-term significant wave heights are generated by the third-generation nearshore wave model SWAN, which is validated using the wave height measurements at buoy stations …

Potential Impacts Of Accelerated Sea-Level Rise And Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge In Western Pasco County, Florida, Kittiya Harris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sea levels have risen approximately 20 cm since the beginning of the 20th century and more than 3 cm in the past 20 years, suggesting that global sea level rise is accelerating. As sea levels continue to rise and storms become more intense, coastal property and populations become more susceptible to damage. Florida is especially vulnerable to hurricane-induced storm surge (HSS) and the onset of accelerated sea-level rise (ASLR) due to its extensive coastline and high population density along the coast. The main purpose of this research is to assess the potential economic impacts of ASLR and HSS for two …

Spatial Analysis Of Tornado Warning System Understanding And Relationship With Tornado Occurrence, Chesnea A. Skeen

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Tornadoes present a significant threat to life and property. The National Weather Service watch and warning system warns the public of tornadoes. If these warnings are not heeded by the public, the potential fatalities and destruction of property cannot be minimized. Thus, to prevent further loss of life and property, it is necessary to understand how the public understands the watch and warning system, as well as how they react. This paper aims to understand the correlation between understanding of watches and warnings and the occurrence of tornadoes, as well as how understanding varies spatially. Survey data were collected from …

Storm Chasing Across The Plains: An Experience Portfolio, Isaac Bowers

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The opportunity to predict and document severe weather across the Plains is not available to many, but it is a vital experience for those who hope to truly excel in meteorology. The ability to travel alongside one of the professors that has guided you through the program, apply the knowledge gained from that professor and many others, and view nature’s breathtaking power in person is truly a capstone experience for any meteorology major. Luckily, the B.S. Meteorology Program at WKU offers a select group of students this opportunity annually. This portfolio report will consist of documentation I recorded during my …

The Rhetoric Of Scientific Authority: A Rhetorical Examination Of _An Inconvenient Truth_, Alexander W. Morales

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project examines how scientific authority is produced through rhetorical practices instead of the “information deficit” model of science communication. By conducting a rhetorical analysis of the science documentary An Inconvenient Truth, this project demonstrates how the documentary format itself and the film’s leading agent, former United States Vice President Al Gore, attempt to persuade audiences through building degrees of scientific authority by employing multiple rhetorics or narrative themes of science to bolster the scientific facts supporting anthropogenic climate change. Additionally, I demonstrate how these narrative themes parallel three scholarly themes within the rhetoric of science literature: science …

The Spectral And Chemical Measurement Of Pollutants On Snow Near South Pole, Antarctica, Kimberly A. Casey, Susan D. Kaspari, S. M. Skiles, K. Kreutz, M. J. Handley

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Remote sensing of light-absorbing particles (LAPs), or dark colored impurities, such as black carbon (BC) and dust on snow, is a key remaining challenge in cryospheric surface characterization and application to snow, ice, and climate models. We present a quantitative data set of in situ snow reflectance, measured and modeled albedo, and BC and trace element concentrations from clean to heavily fossil fuel emission contaminated snow near South Pole, Antarctica. Over 380 snow reflectance spectra (350–2500 nm) and 28 surface snow samples were collected at seven distinct sites in the austral summer season of 2014–2015. Snow samples were analyzed for …

Economic Evaluation Of Coastal Land Loss In Louisiana, Stephen R. Barnes, Craig Bond, Nicholas Burger, Kate Anania, Aaron Strong, Sarah Weilant, Stephanie Virgets

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Louisiana has lost approximately 1,880 square miles of land over the past eighty years. Projections suggest that in a future without action, the next fifty years could result in the loss of 1,750 additional square miles of land area. As land loss continues, a large portion of the natural and man-made capital stocks of coastal Louisiana will be at greater risk of damage, either from land loss or from the associated increase in storm damage. We estimate the replacement cost of capital stock directly at risk from land loss ranges from approximately $2.1 billion to $3.5 billion with economic activity …

Lichen Conservation In Eastern North America: Population Genomics, Climate Change, And Translocations, Jessica Allen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Conservation biology is a scientific discipline that draws on methods from diverse fields to address specific conservation concerns and inform conservation actions. This field is overwhelmingly focused on charismatic animals and vascular plants, often ignoring other diverse and ecologically important groups. This trend is slowly changing in some ways; for example, increasing number of fungal species are being added to the IUCN Red-List. However, a strong taxonomic bias still exists. Here I contribute four research chapters to further the conservation of lichens, one group of frequently overlooked organisms. I address specific conservation concerns in eastern North America using modern methods. …

Umphlett Qci June 2017, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Snowpack and Streamflow

Historic Flooding in Missouri

Spring Conditions Impact Agriculture

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

Depletion Of Ozone And Reservoir Species Of Chlorine And Nitrogen Oxide In The Lower Antarctic Polar Vortex Measured From Aircraft, T. Jurkat, C. Voigt, S. Kaufmann, J.-U. Grooß, H. Ziereis, A. Dörnbrack, P. Hoor, H. Bozem, A. Engel, H. Bönisch, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Novel airborne in situ measurements of inorganic chlorine, nitrogen oxide species, and ozone were performed inside the lower Antarctic polar vortex and at its edge in September 2012. We focus on one flight during the Transport and Composition of the LMS/Earth System Model Validation (TACTS/ESMVal) campaign with the German research aircraft HALO (High-Altitude LOng range research aircraft), reaching latitudes of 65°S and potential temperatures up to 405 K. Using the early winter correlations of reactive trace gases with N₂O from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment-Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS), we find high depletion of chlorine reservoir gases up to ∼40% …

Proposed Legislation Seeks To Stimulate Investment In Coastal Resiliency, Jon Cawley

News Items

No abstract provided.

The Arctic: Science, Law, And Policy, Charles H. Norchi, Paul A. Mayewski

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In 1959, Sir Charles Snow (C.P. Snow) delivered a lecture at Cambridge University entitled The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution in which he identified a duality of cultures. There were the scientists and the humanists--two dimly acquanited cultures that rarely communicated, and when they did it was usually at cross-purposes. One culture was contentedly unknowing and skeptical of science, and the other was marginal to the great social questions of the time. For C.P. Snow, the polarization and lack of communication between the two groups could be fatal to the Western World. The 21st century has also revealed polarized …