Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Organochlorine Chemical Residues In Fish From The Mississippi River Basin, 1995, C.J. Schmitt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

µ≤≥

Fish were collected in late 1995 from 34 National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP) stations and 13 National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) stations in the Mississippi River basin (MRB) and in late 1996 from a reference site in West Virginia. Four composite samples, each comprising (nominally) 10 adult common carp (Cyprinus carpio) or black bass (Micropterus spp.) of the same sex, were collected from each site and analyzed for organochlorine chemical residues by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. At the NCBP stations, which are located on relatively large rivers, concentrations of organochlorine chemical residues were generally lower than …

Evidence For The Timing And Duration Of The Last Interglacial Period From High-Precision Uranium-Series Ages Of Corals On Tectonically Stable Coastlines, Daniel R. Muhs

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The last interglacial period has a timing and duration that can be estimated from U-series dating of emergent, coral-bearing deposits on tectonically stable coastlines. High-precision dating from Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Australia suggests that the last interglacial period had a sea level at least as high as present from ∼128,000 to 116,000 yr B.P. Sea level reached a near-present level more quickly after the close of the penultimate glacial period than at the close of the last glacial period and the duration of high sea level is longer than that implied by the deep-sea record.

Age Of Ground Water At City Of Lincoln's Municipal Well Field Near Ashland, Nebraska, Gregory V. Steele

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

The Platte River alluvial aquifer, which underlies the Plaue River Valley, is an important source of water for public supply in central and eastern Nebraska. Knowing the age of ground water can help scientists and water managers better understand the dynamics of the groundwater system. In turn, this knowledge will help in calibrating groundwater-flow models and aid in developing a conceptual understanding of how long it takes for recharge water to reach certain areas of the aquifer. Although previous studies (Davis, 1992; Steele and Verstraeten, 1999; Verstraeten et al., 1999) reported the interaction of surface water and ground water at …

Evaluation Of Nile Tilapia Pond Management Strategies In Egypt, Bartholomew W. Green, Zenab El Nagdy, Hussein Hebicha

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Five pond management strategies for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) production were evaluated in 0.1-ha earthen ponds in Egypt during a 145-day production cycle. Pond management strategies developed by the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program (PD/A CRSP) were compared to a traditional and to a modified Egyptian pond management strategy. Young-of-year Nile (mixed-sex or sex-reversed) tilapia were stocked into ponds at 20,000 fish ha^-1. Sex-reversed tilapia were stocked into chemical fertilization, organic fertilization plus formulated feed, and feed only treatment ponds, while mixed-sex tilapia were stocked into organic fertilization plus formulated feed, and chemical plus organic …

A Procedural Evaluation Of An Analytic-Deliberative Process: The Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment, Aimee Guglielmo Kinney, Thomas M. Leschine

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The U.S. Department of Energy's Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CRCIA) was an ambitious attempt to direct its cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation toward the most significant risks to the Columbia River resulting from past plutonium production. DOE's approach was uncommonly open, including tribal, regulatory agency, and other Hanford interest group representatives on the board that was to develop the assessment approach. The CRCIA process had attributes of the ``analytic-deliberative'' process for risk assessment recommended by the National Research Council. Nevertheless, differences between the DOE and other participants over what was meant by the term ``comprehensive'' in the group's …

Derivation Of A Tasselled Cap Transformation Based On Landsat 7 At-Satellite Reflectance, C. Huang, Wylie L. Yang, Collin Homer, G. Zylstra

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A new tasselled cap transformation based on Landsat 7 at-satellite reflectance was developed. This transformation is most appropriate for regional applications where atmospheric correction is not feasible. The brightness, greenness and wetness of the derived transformation collectively explained over 97% of the spectral variance of the individual scenes used in this study.

Strontium Isotopic Signatures Of The Streams And Lakes Of Taylor Valley, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: Chemical Weathering In A Polar Climate, W. B. Lyons, Carmen A. Nezat, Larry V. Benson, Thomas D. Bullen, Elizabeth Y. Graham, Jesicca Kidd, Kathleen A. Welch, James M. Thomas

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We have collected and analyzed a series of water samples from three closed-basin lakes (Lakes Bonney, Fryxell, and Hoare) in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, and the streams that flow into them. In all three lakes, the hypolimnetic waters have different ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios than the surface waters, with the deep water of Lakes Fryxell and Hoare being less radiogenic than the surface waters. The opposite occurs in Lake Bonney. The Lake Fryxell isotopic ratios are lower than modern-day ocean water and most of the whole-rock ratios of the surrounding geologic materials. A conceivable source of Sr to the system …

Poor Water Resources And Drought In The Gujarat/Saurashtra Regions Of India, K. K. Nathan

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Inadequate water resources pose a big threat to the economy, human activities, and livelihood in the Gujarat/Saurashtra regions of India. Scanty rainfall with wide aberrations in its distribution has made the situation worse, leading to chronic drought in the state in 2001. With the exception of the Narmada and Tapi rivers, there are hardly any water resources to sustain agricultural production in the region. The gradual disappearance of forest cover in the state has further aggravated the drought situation. This has led to large-scale erosion of the topsoil, particularly near the riverside. There is apprehension that the region will soon …

Creating A Network Of Regional Drought Preparedness Networks: A Call For Action, Donald A. Wilhite

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Drought is a creeping, slow-onset natural hazard that is a normal part of climate for virtually all regions of the world; it results in serious economic, social, and environmental impacts. Its onset and end are often difficult to determine, as is its severity. Drought affects more people than any other natural hazard. Lessons from developed and developing countries demonstrate that drought results in significant impacts, regardless of level of development, although the character of these impacts will differ profoundly. At the Meeting on Opportunities for Sustainable Investment in Rainfed Areas of West Asia and North Africa (WANA), held in June …

Announcements: Summer/Fall 2001

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Contents:

Allocating and Managing Water for a Sustainable Future: Lessons from Around the World

Defending the Integrity of Ground Water: Understanding the Impacts of Natural and Manmade Disasters

Conference on Energy Climate, Environment and Water—Issues and Opportunities for Irrigation and Drainage

An Analysis Of Recent Drought Conditions In Turkey In Relation To Circulation Patterns, Ali Umran Komuscu

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Drought commonly is perceived to be a prolonged period with a significant reduction in precipitation. Namias (1985) argues that drought is associated with persistent or persistently recurring atmospheric circulation patterns. For example, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has a major role in controlling European climate and appears to exert a strong influence in modulating North Atlantic ecosystems. During the positive phases of NAO, the North Atlantic westerlies, which provide much of the atmospheric moisture to north Africa and Europe, shift northward. This, in turn, results in drier conditions over southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and northern Africa (Hurrell, 1995; Hurrell …

Announcements: Spring 2001

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Contents:

IAEM’s 49th Annual Conference and Exhibit

International Conference on Drought Mitigation and Prevention of Land Desertification

New Book

Results Of A Rapid Appraisal Study: Agricultural Producers’ Perceptions Of Drought Vulnerability And Mitigation—Howard County, Nebraska, Cody L. Knutson, Matthew L. Blomstedt, Kara Slaughter

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Drought is the leading natural disaster in the United States in terms of monetary losses. The National Research Council (1995) estimates that drought costs the United States an average of $6–8 billion per year. Because of these losses and the great effects of drought on many citizens’ quality of life, drought planning is gaining widespread support in the United States. However, U.S. drought planning within the agricultural sector has historically focused on response measures that help producers, primarily farmers, deal with and recover from drought. It has been found that these often ad-hoc drought responses are very expensive and do …

Droughts And Dew Bean Productivity In Northwestern Arid Rajasthan, India, Pratap Narain, R. S. Singh, D. Kumar

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Arid ecosystems constitute an important part of the world’s dry climates. The Indian arid zone is characterized by a harsh and fragile system, which influences the productivity (both quantitative and qualitative) and socioeconomic status of the inhabitants. The study discussed in this article was conducted in the Bikaner region, which is one of the most drought-prone districts of Rajasthan (Figure 1). Annual rainfall in the district is 268 mm, of which 85% occurs during the southwest summer monsoon (July–September). The region is known to experience extreme variations in diurnal and seasonal temperatures and high wind velocity, particularly during summers, associated …

Winter Drought In Iran: Associations With Enso, M. J. Nazemosadat

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

The Islamic Republic of Iran (Figure 1) has an area of 1,648,000 km² and a population of 65 million people (1995 estimate). The country has arid and semiarid climates and the occurrence of rainfall is unreliable, with a coefficient of variation as high as 70%. The average annual precipitation over the country is around 250 mm. Two mountain ridges, the Alborz and Zagros (Figure 1), which run east and southeast from the northwest corner of the country, play an influential role in determining the amount and spatial distribution of rainfall. The peaks of Alborz and Zagros are about 5,700 …

From The Director: Spring 2001, Donald A. Wilhite

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

I recently participated in an advanced course, “Management Strategies to Mitigate Drought in the Mediterranean: Monitoring, Risk Analysis, and Contingency Planning”, in Rabat, Morocco (May 21– 26). The course was organized by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (CIHEAM– IAMZ) and the Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II in Rabat, Morocco, with contribution from the European Commission. The National Drought Mitigation Center’s Mark Svoboda also participated. Other lecturers included M. Wassif (Desert Research Center, Cairo); Eddy dePauw (ICARDA); Ana Iglesias (Universidad Politecnica, Madrid, and Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University); Karl Monnik (Institute for Soil, Climate and Water/ARC, South …

Inhibition Of Erythrocyte Δ- Aminolevulinic Acid Dehydratase (Alad) Activity In Fish From Waters Affects By Lead Smelters, Christopher J. Schmitt, Colleen A. Caldwell, Bill Olsen, Dave Serdar

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We assessed the effects on fish of lead (Pb) released to streams by smelters located in Trail, BC (Canada), E. Helena, MT, Herculaneum, MO, and Glover, MO. Fish were collected by electrofishing from sites located downstream of smelters and from reference sites. Blood from each fish was analyzed for δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity and hemoglobin (Hb), and samples of blood, liver, or carcass were analyzed for Pb, zinc (Zn), or both. Fish collected downstream of all four smelters sites had elevated Pb concentrations, decreased ALAD activity, or both relative to their respective reference sites. At E. Helena, fish from …

Impact Of Climate And Parent Material On Chemical Weathering In Loess-Derived Soils Of The Mississippi River Valley, Daniel R. Muhs, E. A. Bettis Iii, J. Been, J. P. Mcgeehin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Peoria Loess-derived soils on uplands east of the Mississippi River the midcontinent of North America (Ruhe, 1969; Hall valley were studied from Louisiana to Iowa, along a south-to-north and Anderson, 2000), Alaska (Muhs et al., 2001), and gradient of decreasing precipitation and temperature. Major element China (Maher et al., 1994). Critical to paleoclimatic interanalyses of deep loess in Mississippi and Illinois show that the composi- pretations, using paleosols, are reliable climofunctions tion of the parent material is similar in the northern and southern for modern soils, which give an understanding of soil parts of the valley. We hypothesized that in …

Effects Of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper And Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus Radiometric And Geometric Calibrations And Corrections On Landscape Characterization, James E. Vogelmann, Dennis Helder, Ron Morfitt, Michael J. Choate, James W. Merchant, Henry Bulley

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Thematic Mapper (TM) instruments on board Landsats 4 and 5 provide high-quality imagery appropriate for many different applications, including land cover mapping, landscape ecology, and change detection. Precise calibration was considered to be critical to the success of the Landsat 7 mission and, thus, issues of calibration were given high priority during the development of the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+). Data sets from the Landsat 5 TM are not routinely corrected for a number of radiometric and geometric artifacts, including memory effect, gain/bias, and interfocal plane misalignment. In the current investigation, the effects of correcting vs. not correcting …

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin Induces Apoptotic Cell Death And Cytochrome P4501a Expression In Developing Fundulus Heteroclitus Embryos, Barbara Holland Toomey, Susan Bello, Mark E. Hahn, Susannah Cantrell, Peggy Wright, Donald E. Tillitt, Richard T. Di Giulio

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Fundulus heteroclitus embryos were exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) during early development using nanoinjection or water bath exposure. TCDD caused developmental abnormalities that included hemorrhaging, loss of vascular integrity, edema, stunted development and death. The LC₅₀ and LD₅₀ of TCDD for Fundulus embryos were ~19.7 ± 9.5 pg TCDD/µl (water bath) and 0.25 ± 0.09 ng TCDD/g embryo (nanoinjection). To identify a possible cause for these developmental abnormalities we analyzed the effects of TCDD on apoptotic cell death and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) expression in the embryos. TCDD exposure increased apoptotic cell death in several tissues including brain, …

Fluvial Processes And Passive Rehabilitation Of The Lisbon Bottom Side-Channel Chute, Lower Missouri River, Robert B. Jacobson, Mark S. Laustrup, Michael D. Chapman

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Multiple large floods in 1993-1997 on the Lower Missouri River carved a side-channel chute through the river bottom at Lisbon, Missouri. Although similar in some respects to engineered side-channel chutes designed for habitat rehabilitation projects, the Lisbon Bottom chute has been unique in that it was allowed to evolve for more than four years with minimal stabilization. During the wet years, 1996-1999, the chute was subjected to abnormally high discharges and passed as much as 20% of the total discharge of the Missouri River. Relatively unrestrained fluvial processes during this time created a wide channel with highly diverse habitats. The …

Announcements: Fall 2000

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Contents:

2000 National Disaster Medical System Conference

Management Strategies to Mitigate Drought in the Mediterranean: Monitoring, Risk Analysis and Contingency Planning

Potential Use Of Noaa/Avhrr Satellite Data For Monitoring Environmental Change In Turkey, Ali Umran Komuscu

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

In Turkey, desertification has been taking place in areas of low rainfall and minimal vegetative cover. In particular, the central, eastern, and southeastern parts of the country are vulnerable to desertification because of erosion, deforestation, and degradation of vegetative cover. Rivers of those regions are characterized by very high sediment yields. Nearly 60% of the country’s soils are subjected to severe erosion and approximately 450 million tons of sediment are carried to rivers each year. Meanwhile, wind erosion has been a very effective desertification process in central and southeastern parts of the country, where annual rainfall varies around 400–500 mm/year. …

Workshop On Drought-Related Issues In Fars Province, Iran: Critical Points And Resolutions, M. J. Nazemosadat, S. Amin, A. A. Kamgare-Haghighi, D. Khalili

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

As a result of the occurrence of overwhelming severe drought over most parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran, an educational/professional workshop on drought issues was held at the College of Agriculture, Shiraz University in Iran, October 18–19, 2000. The workshop was sponsored by the College of Agriculture, the office of Fars Provincial Government, the Agricultural Bank, and Shiraz Abfa Company. The workshop was mainly focused on the assessment of drought impacts and severity in Fars province, in the southern part of Iran.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by some of the parliament members (from Fars province), the Chancellor of …

From The Director: Fall 2000, Donald A. Wilhite

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

The NDMC hosted the first annual “Drought Monitor Forum” in November. Most of the readers of Drought Network News are probably aware of the Drought Monitor web site (http://enso.unl.edu/ monitor/index.html) and the products that are provided to users. (Mark Svoboda of the NDMC provided an overview of the Drought Monitor product in the Winter/Spring 2000 issue of Drought Network News.) This weekly product, jointly produced by the NDMC, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, has been widely accepted in the United States, and other countries are considering the adoption of a similar technique for mapping drought …

Improving Drought Early Warning Systems In The Context Of Drought Preparedness And Mitigation, Donald A. Wilhite, M. V. K. Sivakumar, Deborah Wood

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Effective drought early warning systems are an integral part of efforts worldwide to improve drought preparedness. Timely and reliable data and information must be the cornerstone of effective drought policies and plans. In pursuit of the goal of improving the effectiveness of drought early warning systems, participants of the experts meeting were asked to address three fundamental questions:

1. What is your assessment of the current status of drought early warning systems?
2. What are the shortcomings, limitations, and needs for drought early warning systems?
3. How can drought early warning systems be improved to better support drought preparedness and …

Using The Spi To Monitor The 1999-2000 Drought In Northeastern Argentina, Roberto Zanvettor, Andres Ravelo

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Drought risk is a major concern across many regions of Argentina because precipitation is extremely variable. One of these regions, the Pampas, is the main agricultural and livestock production area, extending over 60 million hectares. This region was recently surveyed to detect, monitor, and assess the occurrence of drought using a network of 27 meteorological stations and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), developed by McKee et al. (1993). The SPI has various categories that define drought intensities. A period is considered humid when the SPI value is greater than +1 and a period is considered dry when the value of …

Conclusions And Recommendations From The Central And Eastern European Workshop On Drought Mitigation

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

The importance of prevention and planning in drought mitigation was the impetus for the Central and Eastern European Workshop on Drought Mitigation, held April 12–15, 2000, in Budapest-Felsoőgöd, Hungary. The workshop was organized and sponsored by several Hungarian agencies: the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Ministry for Environment; Ministry of Transport, Communication and Water Management; Research and Development Division of the Ministry of Education; and Hungarian Meteorological Service. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC JRC–ISPRA), European Regional …

India’S Arid Region And The Current Drought, Pratap Narain, K. D. Sharma, A. S. Rao, D. V. Singh, B. K. Mathur, Usha Rani Ahuja

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

We recently surveyed some of the drought-affected areas (Figure 1) in the Indian arid region in a publication entitled “Strategy to Combat Drought and Famine in the Indian Arid Zone.” This article is a summary of the report.

The present drought in the arid and semiarid regions of India is due to the cumulative effect of inadequate rainfall during 1997–99. Twelve states in India are in the grip of severe drought, with Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh (Table 1) being the most affected. The Indian arid zone encompasses 32 million ha and is highly prone to droughts and …

The Drought In Chile And La Niña, Juan Quintana

Drought Network News (1994–2001)

Precipitation is one of the climatic elements most affected by the presence of La Niña in Chile. An important precipitation deficit begins during La Niña events, from latitude 45°S to the north. This deficit prevails most of the year, with winter (April–September) being most vulnerable to these anomalies. The central region of Chile (30°S to 40°S) has negative anomalies, with precipitation values 35% to 100% below the climatologic annual average. These rain deficiencies in Chile are determined by the persistence of anomalies of anticyclonal circulation of middle and subtropical latititudes and an area of anomalies of cyclonic circulation in the …