Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Returning Power To The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe: Energy Policy And Tribal Autonomy, Nicolas Land-Kazlauskas

Capstone Collection

This policy brief addresses tribal autonomy, energy policy, and the resources of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. Tribal sovereignty has been a difficult and often painful area of discussion for many tribal communities. For generations, tribes have had to carefully navigate their interactions with colonial forces and the residues of colonialist legacies, especially tied to resource wealth and decision-making. Even with the best of efforts by the tribe, their actions often have not impacted the basic legal or economic situations on-the-ground. Their on-going relationships with states and companies continue to undermine tribal autonomy and sovereignty oftentimes simply because they …

2024 August 8 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Projected Climate Change Impacts On The Number Of Dry And Very Heavy Precipitation Days By Century’S End: A Case Study Of Iran’S Metropolises, Rasoul Asfari, Mohammad Nazari-Sharabian, Ali Hosseini, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

This study explores the impacts of climate change on the number of dry days and very heavy precipitation days within Iran’s metropolises. Focusing on Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz, the research utilizes the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) Global Circulation Models (GCMs) to predict future precipitation conditions under various Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) from 2025 to 2100. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how climate change will affect precipitation patterns in these major cities. Findings indicate that the SSP126 scenario typically results in the highest number of dry days, suggesting that …

How Can Event Attribution Science Underpin Financial Decisions On Loss And Damage?, Dim Coumou, Paola A. Arias, Ana Bastos, Charlotte Kendra Z. Gotangco Gonzales, Gabriele C. Hegerl, Pandora Hope, Christopher Jack, Friederike Otto, Fahad Saeed, Olivia Serdeczny, Theodore G. Shepherd, Robert Vautard

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

With climate extremes hitting nations across the globe, disproportionately burdening vulnerable developing countries, the prompt operation of the Loss and Damage fund is of paramount importance. As decisions on resource disbursement at the international level, and investment strategies at the national level, loom, the climate science community’s role in providing fair and effective evidence is crucial. Attribution science can provide useful information for decision makers, but both ethical implications and deep uncertainty cannot be ignored. Considering these aspects, we articulate a vision that integrates established attribution methods and multiple lines of evidence within a coherent logical framework.

2024 August - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

2024 August 1 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Artificial Intelligence On Drought Impact Monitoring And Assessment, Beichen Zhang

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Drought, a prevalent and consequential natural disaster, poses widespread, indirect challenges across environmental and societal dimensions. Despite considerable focus on monitoring meteorological and hydrological drought and studying their characteristics, there is a gap in assessing its multifaceted impacts, especially on societal sectors. The dissertation comprises three research essays utilizing artificial intelligence to quantitatively study multi-dimensional drought impacts. The first essay leveraged deep learning and natural language processing to predict multi-dimensional drought impacts from textual datasets, including social media, news media, and citizen scientist reports. The findings demonstrate superior performance over traditional methods and unveil the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of …

Sensitivity Of Present And Future Seasonal Precipitation Over Central United States To The Representation Of Rocky Mountain Topography, Ranasinghe Disanayakalage Sherly Shelton Ranathunga

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Precipitation change across the Central United States (USA) is of great interest to the research community. Studies using global climate simulations suggest that the “100^th-Meridian”, which separates the “dry west” from the “moist east” will shift to the east as the climate responds to future emissions pathways. However, these simulations are run at relatively coarse resolutions, which do not accurately represent topography. Here, we perform regional simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to explore the sensitivity of present and future precipitation patterns across the central USA to the representation of the Rocky Mountains (RM). We …

We're Swarming Again! Swarming, Collectivity, And Trope: The Case Of Extinction Rebellion, Tyler J. Behymer

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores the rhetoric of the eco-movement Extinction Rebellion, focusing on the use of swarming and nature tropes to mobilize collective action and revivify contemporary notions of collectivity. Drawing on rhetoric of social movement scholarship, cultural studies, and psychoanalysis, this essay theorizes swarming as a tropological economy that expands the conditions of propriety in the context of collectivity. Through an analysis of Extinction Rebellion’s discourse, this study demonstrates how the naturalization of swarming tropes works in various ways to rewild conventional political discourse, galvanize disruptive collective assembly, and challenge green neoliberalism.

Advisor: Casey Ryan Kelly

Soil Additives And Alternative Crops For Drought Defense In The Intermountain West, Tina M. Sullivan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The Western U.S. looks for water optimization and conservation as agriculture is the largest water diverter, and resources are pressured by urban growth, winter snowpack instability, and drought persistence. Agricultural producers have several potential options to optimize water use with different investments associated with them. Options with varying levels of risks and known management practices include alternative crops, soil wetting agents, and crop biologicals.

An alternative crop that grew incredibly fast in popularity was industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) despite limited agronomic knowledge for best management practices. Field trials occurred (2020-2022) near Logan, UT to test a total of …

Ocean Temperatures Do Not Account For A Record-Setting Winter In The U.S. West, Matthew D. Laplante, Liping Deng, Luthiene Dalanhese, Shih-Yu Wang

Journalism and Communication Faculty Publications

The record-setting winter of 2022–2023 came as an answer to both figurative and literal prayers for political leaders, policy makers, and water managers reliant on snowpacks in the Upper Colorado River Basin, a vital source of water for tens of millions of people across the Western United States. But this “drought-busting” winter was not well-predicted, in part because while interannual patterns of tropical ocean temperatures have a well-known relationship to precipitation patterns across much of the American West, the Upper Colorado is part of a liminal region where these connections tend to be comparatively weak. Using historical sea surface temperature …

2024 July 25 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

2024 July 18 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Artificial Carbon Sequestration In Utah, Signee Storrud, Kendall Becker, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas that helps keep Earth warm and habitable. But since humans began burning large quantities of fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution, there has been a rapid increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from approximately 280 parts per million in 1750 to more than 420 parts per million in 2024. Natural carbon storage processes have been unable to keep up with humans’ carbon dioxide emissions, and the sudden rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide has led to rapid global warming and climate change. One climate adaptation tool that may help rebalance Earth’s carbon cycle is artificial …

2024 July 11 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

A Seasonal Decomposition Comparison Between Forest And Turf Habitats: Implications For Climate Change, Amanda Shirmer

DePaul Discoveries

Decomposition is an essential ecosystem service in which microorganisms breakdown organic matter. This process improves soil health and acts as a vital step in global carbon cycles. In this study, we examined decomposition rates and associated soil properties in turf and forest habitats across summer and fall seasons in order to determine how land management practices and climate change may be altering local decomposition regimes. Our study determined that there was a statistically significant difference between decomposition rates in turf and forest ecosystems (P=0.003) and a significant difference in decomposition rate across season (P

Fe-Rich X-Ray Amorphous Material Records Past Climate And Persistence Of Water On Mars, Anthony D. Feldman, Elisabeth M. Hausrath, Elizabeth B. Rampe, Valerie Tu, Tanya S. Peretyazhko, Christopher Defelice, Thomas Sharp

Geoscience Faculty Research

X-ray amorphous material comprises 15-73 wt.% of sedimentary rocks and eolian sediments in Gale crater. This material is variably siliceous and iron rich but aluminum poor. The presence of volatiles is consistent with the existence of incipient weathering products. To better understand the implications of this material for past aqueous conditions on Mars, here we investigate X-ray amorphous material formation and longevity within terrestrial iron rich soils with varying ages and environmental conditions using bulk and selective dissolution methods, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Results indicate that in situ aqueous alteration is required to concentrate iron into clay-size fraction …

2024 July 4 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Balloon Borne Gps-Enabled Radiosondes That Enable Simultaneous Multi-Point Atmospheric Sensing With A Single Ground Station, Peter A. Ribbens

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Radiosondes are balloon borne atmospheric instruments that are a critical tool for understanding dynamics in the lower layers of the atmosphere. The low-cost radiosondes developed in the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab have been further developed to improve the system's use as a science-quality atmospheric instrument that is unique in its ability to simultaneously track multiple sondes with a single ground station. Sensors to measure temperature and pressure were added to improve measurements of the atmospheric state. A printed circuit board shield and 3D-printed shell were designed to make mass manufacturing possible. A thermistor-based temperature sensor was developed and tested …

Biostratigraphic Revision Of Esthonyx (Tillidontia, Mammalia) In The Contect Of Climate Change In The Lower Eocene Of The Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, John Colter Johnson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Esthonyx is an early Eocene tillodont found in North America, Europe, and India. The genus was named by Edward Drinker (E. D.) Cope in 1874 based on specimens from the San Jose Formation in New Mexico. Since then, several species of Esthonyx have been described from North America alone. The best record of Esthonyx comes from the central Bighorn Basin (BHB) in Wyoming, where it appears in 220 localities in a 640 m-thick stratigraphic succession. Since the last summary of Esthonyx in the BHB, several hundred new specimens have been collected and curated at the Denver Museum of Nature and …

Design And Evaluation Of An Esa-Based Method Of Ensemble Subsetting For A Wofs (Warn On Forecast-Like System), Daniel J. Butler

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Forecasting severe thunderstorm environments in the southeastern United States can be challenging due to mesoscale heterogeneities such as shortwave troughs, pre-existing airmass boundaries, cold fronts aloft, low-level jets, dry air intrusions, and mesoscale lows. To combat these challenges, ensemble sensitivity analysis (ESA) may be applied to a Warn-on-Forecast (WOF)-like ensemble to improve forecasts of severe convection through ensemble weighting and subsetting. Ensemble-based weighting and subsetting uses ensemble members that most accurately represent the thunderstorm environment in areas of mesoscale heterogeneity. This study creates and evaluates the ensemble-based weighting and subsetting in four cases of severe thunderstorm occurrence. The open parameter …

Hybridization Between The Rare Gray-Headed Chickadee And The Abundant Boreal Chickadee In The Midst Of Shifting Climate, Matthew R. Armstrong

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As species respond to changing climate, distributions and abundances may shift and alter species interactions. Hybridization, a relatively widespread phenomenon becoming more common with climate change, can have beneficial and detrimental effects on population growth rates and genetic integrity. Beneficial effects due to the introduction of advantageous alleles and increased genetic diversity may result from hybridization. Species may also accrue fitness costs associated with changing climates if mismatches occur between environmental variables and phenotypes. The gray-headed chickadee, Poecile cinctus lathami, is an extremely rare songbird that has experienced marked declines in recent decades within its restricted distribution in Alaska …

Linkages Of The 2022 Unprecedented Global Heatwave Events To Triple-Dip La Niña, Sachi Perera, Joshua B. Fisher, Mohamed Allali, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Heatwaves are influenced significantly by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which alters temperature and precipitation patterns throughout the world. Since 2020, we have witnessed a "triple dip" La Niña conditions persisting for three consecutive years resulting in severe weather and climate driven events globally. In this study, we identified the dominant frequency of Niño 3.4 Sea Surface Temperature (SST) signals and correlated them with regions experiencing unprecedented heat waves in 2022, namely, the Indian Ocean, the North Atlantic around England and Spain, and the Mediterranean Sea. The signal's power spectrum and its three highest power components are determined based on the …

Enhancing Sustainable Development Goals Through Future Vapor Pressure Deficit Analysis In The Nile River Basin, Surendra Maharjan, Wenzhao Li, Shahryar Fazli, Hani Sewilam, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) is crucial in meteorology and agriculture for understanding plant-environment interactions. Its application as an indicator in agricultural practices notably advances Sustainable Development Goals such as Zero Hunger (SDG 2) and Climate Action (SDG 13). This research focuses on the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and food security in the Nile River Basin (NRB), emphasizing the role of VPD, temperature, and precipitation. Utilizing Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) datasets from NEX-GDDP-CMIP6, the study analyzes key climatic variables that influence agricultural conditions. The study applies the Mann-Kendall test to evaluate VPD trends from 2000 …

2024 July - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Heat Stress Changes The Bovine Methylome And Transcriptome And Investigation Of Two Novel Genetic Defects In Cattle, Rachel Renae Reith

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Heat stress is a major concern for livestock producers due to its negative impact on animal health and productivity. Heat stress does so by altering expression of genes through different regulatory mechanisms such as DNA methylation. Understanding how heat stress alters gene expression will help elucidate the genetic basis of physiological changes as well as identify targets for possible heat stress mitigation. The purpose of the first study was to understand how heat stress alters the adipose and skeletal muscle transcriptomes in zilpaterol-fed Brahman, as zilpaterol improves muscle growth and may mitigate the effects of heat stress. Differential expression and …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of The Roadside Transportation-Related Air Quality (Startraq 2022): Data-Driven Exposure Analysis By Transportation Modes, Jaymin Kwon, Yushin Ahn, Steve Chung

Mineta Transportation Institute

Particulate matter (PM) pollution poses significant health risks, influenced by various meteorological factors and seasonal variations. This study investigates the impact of temperature and other meteorological variables on PM10 and PM2.5 levels in Fresno County, known for high air pollution. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and generalized additive models (GAMs) assess the significance of these relationships. Analyzing data from Fresno County, we examine PM10 and PM2.5 levels across "hot" (June to August) and "cool" (September to May) seasons. Findings indicate PM10, both MLR and GAM models identify statistically significant variables, excluding temperature and wind direction in each season. However, during the …

2024 June 27 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Resolving Antarctic Margin Paleoceanography For Two Different Timescales And Archives, Theresa M. King

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent decades have seen increased rates of ice mass loss from Antarctic ice sheets, through thinning of many ice shelves around the periphery of the continent. The most vulnerable are the glacial systems that are marine-terminating and grounded below sea level, a characteristic that exposes these systems to sea level rise and warming oceans. Enhanced basal melting under the influence of warm ocean water masses can lead to thinning and retreat of glaciers, and ultimately to the acceleration of grounded ice loss. To contextualize current ice mass loss and contribute to accurate model projections for future retreat scenarios, it is …

Antarctic Atmosphere-Ocean-Ice Interactions During Past Warm Climates: An Ice-Proximal Perspective, Imogen Mireille Browne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Antarctica’s ice sheets contain 58 m of sea level equivalent ice and thus exert a fundamental control on global sea level on decadal to million-year timescales. Interactions between Antarctica’s ice sheets, regional atmospheric circulation, and the Southern Ocean influence ice sheet mass balance, sea ice formation, and deep water production, which regulate Earth’s climate. At present, Antarctica’s fringing ice shelves and outlet glaciers, particularly in West Antarctica, are losing mass as warm ocean waters move landward across the continental shelves, melting the underside of ice shelves and eroding glacial grounding lines. In East Antarctica, net ice mass gain is occurring …