Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Slides: Winter, Wilderness & Climate: Threats & Solutions, Jim Ramey, Lindsay Bourgoine

Winter, Wilderness, and Climate--Threats and Solutions (October 12)

Presenters:

Jim Ramey, The Wilderness Society

Lindsay Bourgoine, Protect Our Winters

56 slides

A Complex Origin For The Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve, California, Usa: A Case Study Using A Simple Geochemical Method With Global Applications, Daniel R. Muhs, Nicholas Lancaster, Gary L. Skipp

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Kelso Dune field in southern California is intriguing because although it is of limited areal extent (~100 km2), it has a wide variety of dune forms and contains many active dunes (~40 km2), which is unusual in the Mojave Desert. Studies over the past eight decades have concluded that the dunes are derived primarily from a single source, Mojave River alluvium, under a dominant, westerly-to-northwesterly wind regime. The majority of these studies did not, however, present data to support the Mojave River as the only source.We conducted mineralogical and geochemical studies ofmost of the 14 geomorphically defined dune groups …

Weights And Balances: Integrating Models For Prevention And Response To Southern California Offshore Oil Spills, Carmen Watts Clayton, Amoret Bunn

STAR Program Research Presentations

Licensing offshore oil and gas reserves in the United States waters are overseen by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Enforcement (BSEE). The licensing application includes planning for any worst-case oil spill scenario between BSEE and the applicant based on lessons learned from historic offshore spills such as the Deepwater Horizon (2010), Exxon Valdez (1989), and the Union Oil Platform Blowout (1969). The process for planning to respond to oil spills involves coordination with multiple agencies, trustees, and stakeholders to ensure that oil spill responses consider multiple factors, including ecologically sensitive species, commercial transportation and fisheries, …

Water Quality Reporting Limits, Method Detection Limits, And Censored Values: What Does It All Mean?, Bradley J. Austin, J. Thad Scott, Mike Daniels, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resource Center Fact Sheets

The Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC) maintains a fee-based water-quality lab that is certified by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The AWRC Water Quality Lab analyzes water samples for a variety of constituents, using standard methods for the analysis of water samples (APHA 2012). The lab generates a report on the analysis, which is provided to clientele, and reports the concentrations or values as measured. Often times the concentrations or values might be very small, even zero as reported by the lab – what does this mean? How should we use this information? This document is intended to …

Database Analysis To Support Nutrient Criteria Development (Phase Ii), B. E. Haggard, M.A. Evans-White, L.B. Massey, E.M. Grantz

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The intent of this publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center is to provide a location whereby a final report on water research to a funding agency can be archived. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted with University of Arkansas researchers for a multiple year project titled “Database Analysis to Support Nutrient Criteria Development”. This publication covers the second of three phases of that project and has maintained the original format of the report as submitted to TCEQ. This report can be cited either as an AWRC publication (see below) or directly as the final report to TCEQ.

Database Analysis To Support Nutrient Criteria Development (Phase I), B. E. Haggard, J.T. Scott, M.A. Evans-White

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The intent of this publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center is to provide a location whereby a final report on water research to a funding agency can be archived. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted with University of Arkansas researchers for a multiple year project titled “Database Analysis to Support Nutrient Criteria Development”. This publication covers the first of three phases of that project and has maintained the original format of the report as submitted to TCEQ. This report can be cited either as an AWRC publication (see below) or directly as the final report to TCEQ.

Beaver Lake Numeric Chlorophyll-A And Secchi Transparency Standards, Phases Ii And Iii: Uncertainty And Trend Analysis, J. Thad Scott, Brian E. Haggard, Zachary Simpson, Matthew Rich

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The objective of Phases II and III of this study were to 1) assess the variation in chl‐a and ST across multiple spatial and temporal scales in Beaver Lake in order to validate the assessment method, and 2) quantify trends in chl‐a, ST, and nutrient (total phosphorus and total nitrogen) concentrations in Beaver Lake and the major inflowing rivers to verify any potential water quality impairment.

Database Analysis To Support Nutrient Criteria Development (Phase Iii), J. T. Scott, E.M. Grantz

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The intent of this publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center is to provide a location whereby a final report on water research to a funding agency can be archived. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted with University of Arkansas researchers for a multiple year project titled “Database Analysis to Support Nutrient Criteria Development”. This publication covers the third of three phases of that project and has maintained the original format of the report as submitted to TCEQ. This report can be cited either as an AWRC publication (see below) or directly as the final report to TCEQ.

Coral Disease In Chumbe Island Coral Park: A Baseline Survey Of The Prevalence Of Coral Disease And Other Afflictions Within Chumbe Marine Protected Area, Hannah Turley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Coral mortality from disease and other afflictions is a rising concern for reefs around the world. The aim of this study was to provide to a baseline for the prevalence of coral disease and other afflictions, which indicate compromised coral health, in Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Chumbe's reef experienced a widespread bleaching event earlier this year and this baseline study will provide a starting point to see how the bleaching event affected the prevalence of disease and other afflictions within the reef. A baseline study will also allow the park to investigate if their current monitoring procedures are …

Fish Diversity And Coral Health Of Tanzania's Reefs: A Comparative Study Between The Ushongo Village Reef And The Fungu Zinga Reef Over Time, Della Turque, Corinne Casper

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The world’s oceans are becoming increasing acidic due to global climate change, posing a threat to marine ecosystems, including coral carbonate systems. Environmental threats are exacerbated by human development stressors as well: growing populations, dependency on marine resources, and unsustainable practices invaluable marine ecosystems at risk. Tanzania’s coral reef system extends for 3580 km2 (Muhando et al. 2008) near the Tanga region, serving over half a million people who are highly dependent on fishing and other marine resources as their livelihoods (Samoilys et. al. 2008). With Tanzania’s population rapidly growing, the unsustainable pressure on coral reefs for sustenance and livelihood …

Dispersion Of Ammonia From Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Austin D. Wardall

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this research is to investigate the dispersion of ammonia (NH3) from three Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in western Kentucky, as well as to investigate the Weather Research and Forecasting – Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model’s sensitivity response to initial NH3 concentrations under both wet conditions (significant precipitation) and dry conditions (no precipitation). As expected, pollutant concentrations generally were significantly higher near their points of origin and generally declined away from the sources. Contrary to expectations, ammonia tended to rise through the planetary boundary layer (PBL) regardless of atmospheric conditions. Results showed modeled NH3 pollution levels at the surface …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- October 2016, Natalie Umphlett, Jamie Lahowetz, 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

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

Product highlight....................3

Partnership spotlight.............3

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

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

Regional news..........................5

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

Droughtscape, Fall 2016, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

NDMC welcome two to team

Third quarter drought summary: Drought still spreading

Third quarter drought impacts: It was a hot, dry summer

Drought management framework for Africa approved

MENA region update

US Virgin Islands one step closer to its own drought monitor

Montana looks to improve watershed resilience

Tournament tackles hazards

Web tool will help officials make drought-related decisions

Dry Horizons launches

Measuring Landfill Methane Emissions Using Satellite And Ground Data, Madjid Delkash, Bowen Zhou, Ramesh P. Singh

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Landfill methane emissions (LME) vary in short periods depending upon the meteorological and atmospheric conditions. In this paper, coupling the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) with the tracer dilution method (TDM) is proposed during unmeasured emission days to have a better annual estimation of the LME. Some assumptions were made to develop this proposed model. The atmospheric model Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) was employed to evaluate assumptions made during emission estimation using the proposed technique. Methane emissions of a landfill for 13 days during 2011–2013 were measured by the TDM and filtered to remove unreliable data. Then, the filtered data …

Coastal Groundwater Watch: A Citizen Science Project - Report No. 477, Alex Manda, Thomas Allen

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The goals of this study were to utilize citizen scientists in groundwater research in a coastal community where groundwater plays a large role in sustainable water resources management, and assess the extent of groundwater and marine inundation in response to future sea-level rise scenarios. A total of 7 citizen scientists participated in the study by measuring water levels from 15 groundwater monitoring wells using water level meters once a week over a 10-week period. Automated water level loggers were deployed in three of the same wells to assess the quality of the data collected by the citizen scientists. Additional water …

The Effects Of Sub-Lethal Predation On The Reproductive Output Of Acanthaster Planci (Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish), Emily Mucha

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Wide-scale declines in live coral cover have been observed throughout history. Modern day coral populations face a multitude of environmental disturbances, however one of the most devastating to the reefs in the Indo-Pacific is the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), which feeds on the tissues of live corals. The rate at which these individuals feed combined with the explosion of populations in times of outbreak have been seen to exert some of the biggest pressures on coral reefs to date. Following recent episodes of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) outbreaks, research on the organism has become increasingly prevalent on the scientific …

Lessons From The Past: Unfolding The Dynamics Among Climate, Balkan Landscapes, And Humans Over The Past Millennium, Charuta J. Kulkarni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The primary objective of this doctoral dissertation is to reconstruct the environmental history of the Central Balkans (Serbia) over the past millennium utilizing biological proxies (pollen, spores, and charcoal), geochemical signals through X-ray fluorescence (XRF), statistical analyses, and atomic mass spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C chronology. This dissertation establishes the first chronological framework for vegetation-landscape changes in Serbia and discusses the role of humans and climate as underlying processes.

Chapter 1 discusses the background and the nature of the research problem followed by the extensive literature review on the topic of the Holocene climate and paleoecology. The state of Holocene paleoecology …

Status Of Scientific Knowledge, Recovery Progress, And Future Research Directions For The Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser Oxyrinchus Desotoi Vladykov, 1955, K.J. Sulak, F. Parauka, W. T. Slack, R. T. Ruth, M. T. Randall, K. Luke, M. E. Price

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, is an anadromous species of Acipenseridae and native to North America. It currently inhabits and spawns in the upper reaches of seven natal rivers along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the Suwannee River, Florida, to the Pearl River, Louisiana, during spring to autumn. Next to the Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula), the Gulf Sturgeon is currently the largest fish species occurring in U.S. Gulf Coast rivers, attaining a length of 2.35 m and weights exceeding 135 kg, but historically attained a substantially larger size. Historically, the spawning populations existed in additional …

On The Importance Of Stratigraphic Control For Vertebrate Fossil Sites In Channel Islands National Park, California, Usa: Examples From New Mammuthus Finds On San Miguel Island, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Daniel R. Muhs, John P. Mcgeehin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Quaternary vertebrate fossils, most notably mammoth remains, are relatively common on the northern Channel Islands of California. Well-preserved cranial, dental, and appendicular elements of Mammuthus exilis (pygmy mammoth) and Mammuthus columbi (Columbian mammoth) have been recovered from hundreds of localities on the islands during the past half-century or more. Despite this paleontological wealth, the geologic context of the fossils is described in the published literature only briefly or not at all, which has hampered the interpretation of associated 14C ages and reconstruction of past environmental conditions. We recently discovered a partial tusk, several large bones, and a tooth enamel plate …

Assessing Aquatic System Metabolism Response To Disturbance, Traci Carmen Hudson

Student Theses and Dissertations

Until recently, agricultural drainage ditches and urban stream systems have been underrepresented within aquatic research studies. This underrepresentation has led to gaps in knowledge within the area of ecosystem structure and function, characteristics of agriculture and urban stream stressors, and management strategies for those streams. Many of the factors (increased nutrients, changes to the quantity and composition of organic carbon inputs, light alterations, and sedimentation) that impair water bodies associated with agricultural drainage and urbanization also influence stream processes. Stream organic matter production and consumption measured as ecosystem metabolism, is a fundamental process comprised of gross primary production (GPP) and …

Water Quality Monitoring At Impaired Sites On The Cache River, Ar, Usa, Molly Elaine Kennon-Lacy

Student Theses and Dissertations

Cache River Watershed, AR has several impairments, including: dissolved lead (Pb) and copper (Cu), and total dissolved solids (TDS). Eight sites were monitored monthly measuring: pH, conductivity, DO, total suspended solids (TSS), TDS, turbidity, hardness, dissolved and total nutrients and metals (Pb and Cu), to add to ADEQ’s database. Flow was measured to determine if there was a relationship between measured parameters and periods of low or high flow. Filtration size (0.45 vs 0.20 µm) was compared to conclude if using different size filters on water samples affected concentrations of metals in water. Bioassays were performed using aquatic organisms on …

Hydroclimatic Contrasts Over Asian Monsoon Areas And Linkages To Tropical Pacific Ssts, Hai Xu, Jianghu Lan, Enguo Sheng, Bin Liu, Keke Yu, Yuanda Ye, Zhengguo Shi, Peng Cheng, Xulong Wang, Xinying Zhou, Kevin M. Yeager

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Knowledge of spatial and temporal hydroclimatic differences is critical in understanding climatic mechanisms. Here we show striking hydroclimatic contrasts between northern and southern parts of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau (ETP), and those between East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and Indian summer monsoon (ISM) areas during the past ~2,000 years. During the Medieval Period, and the last 100 to 200 years, the southern ETP (S-ETP) area was generally dry (on average), while the northern ETP (N-ETP) area was wet. During the Little Ice Age (LIA), hydroclimate over S-ETP areas was wet, while that over N-ETP area was dry …

Drought In A Human-Modified World: Reframing Drought Definitions, Understanding, And Analysis Approaches, Anne F. Van Loon, Kerstin Stahl, Giuliano Di Baldassarre, Julian Clark4, Sally Rangecroft, Niko Wanders, Tom Gleeson, Albert I. J. M. Van Dijk, Lena M. Tallaksen, Jamie Hannaford, Remko Uijlenhoet, Adriaan J. Teuling, David M. Hannah, Justin Sheffield, Mark D. Svoboda, Boud Verbeiren, Thorsten Wagener, Henny A. J. Van Lanen

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

In the current human-modified world, or Anthropocene, the state of water stores and fluxes has become dependent on human as well as natural processes.Water deficits (or droughts) are the result of a complex interaction between meteorological anomalies, land surface processes, and human inflows, outflows, and storage changes. Our current inability to adequately analyse and manage drought in many places points to gaps in our understanding and to inadequate data and tools. The Anthropocene requires a new framework for drought definitions and research. Drought definitions need to be revisited to explicitly include human processes driving and modifying soil moisture drought and …

Tibetan Plateau Geladaindong Black Carbon Ice Core Record (1843–1982): Recent Increases Due To Higher Emissions And Lower Snow Accumulation, Matthew Jenkins, Susan Kaspari, Kang Shi-Chang, Bjorn Grigholm, Paul A. Mayewski

Student Published Works

Black carbon (BC) deposited on snow and glacier surfaces can reduce albedo and lead to accelerated melt. An ice core recovered from Guoqu glacier on Mt. Geladaindong and analyzed using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) provides the first long-term (1843–1982) record of BC from the central Tibetan Plateau. Post 1940 the record is characterized by an increased occurrence of years with above average BC, and the highest BC values of the record. The BC increase in recent decades is likely caused by a combination of increased emissions from regional BC sources, and a reduction in snow accumulation. Guoqu glacier …

Icelandic Fisheries: Scenario Planning For Climate Change, Tara Sorrels

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study aimed to develop an understanding of how a scenario planning process could be used to assist businesses to adapt to climate change. The focus of this study was on the Icelandic fishing industry since Iceland is experiencing firsthand climate change impacts. Mitigation strategies are the main focus in climate change research, but this study focused on a possible adaptation method that requires changing management practices in order to reduce the impact of climate change on the economy. Tours of Icelandic fisheries and interviews with individuals within the Icelandic fishing industry were conducted to assess the current adaptive capacity …

Umphlett Qci Sept 2016, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Streamflow Conditions

Challenging Season for Bird Breeding

Mixed Impacts to Agriculture this Summer

Unprecedented Fish Kill on Yellowstone River

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

Soil Moisture Conditions

Watershed Response To Climate Change And Fire-Burns In The Upper Umatilla River Basin Using The Precipitation Runoff Modeling System, Kimberly Crystal Yazzie

Dissertations and Theses

This study provides an analysis of watershed response to climate change and forest fire impacts, to better understand the hydrologic budget and inform water management decisions for present and future needs. The study site is 2,365 km², located in the upper Umatilla River Basin (URB) in northeastern Oregon. The Precipitation Runoff Modeling System, a distributed-parameter, physical-process watershed model, was used in this study. Model calibration yielded a Nash Sutcliffe Model Efficiency of 0.73 for both calibration (1995-2010) and validation (2010-2014) of daily streamflow. Ten Global Climate Models using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 experiments with Representative Concentration …

Comparing Carbon Dioxide And Water Vapor Fluxes From Tilled And Non-Tilled Maize Canopy Fields, Heather Sussman, Richard Grant

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Agricultural activities account for approximately 25% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Farm management practices, such as tillage and no-tillage, may contribute more to this percentage than others. The two most abundant greenhouse gases responsible for climate change are CO₂ and H₂O, therefore it is important to determine whether tillage or no-tillage emits less of these gases. Fluxes of CO₂ and H₂O from two maize canopy fields, one with tillage and one with no-tillage, were measured in Indiana during the 2016 growing season. This study utilized the eddy covariance method, which represents flux as a …

Measurement Of The Ocean Economy From National Income Accounts To The Sustainable Blue Economy, Charles S. Colgan

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The widespread efforts to incorporate the economic values of oceans into national income accounts have reached a stage where coordination of national efforts is desirable. A symposium held in 2015 began this process by bringing together representatives from ten countries. The symposium concluded that a definition of core ocean industries was possible but beyond that core the definition of ocean industries is in flux. Better coordination of ocean income accounts will require addressing issues of aggregation, geography, partial ocean industries, confidential, and imputation is also needed. Beyond the standard national income accounts, a need to incorporate environmental resource and ecosystem …

A Comparison Of Tropical Rainforest Phenology Retrieved From Geostationary (Seviri) And Polar-Orbiting (Modis) Sensors Across The Congo Basin, Dong Yan, Xiaoyang Zhang, Yunyue Yu, Wei Guo

GSCE Faculty Publications

The seasonal and interannual dynamics of tropical rainforests play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and climate change. This paper retrieved and compared land surface phenology from observations acquired by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) onboard geostationary satellites and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on polar-orbiting satellites over the Congo Basin. To achieve this,we first retrieved canopy greenness cycles (CGCs) and their transition timing from two-band enhanced vegetation index (EVI2) derived from SEVIRI and MODIS data between 2006 and 2013.We then assessed the influences of SEVIRI and MODIS data quality on the reconstruction of …