Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Vertical Distributions Of Zooplankton At The Mouth Of Chesapeake Bay And Calibration Of Backscatter From An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, Arthur Keith Jenkins

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the physical factors influencing the vertical distribution of zooplankton at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and attempted to derive biological data from acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) backscatter. A single site was occupied in the North Channel at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay (37° 04' N, 75° 58' W) from 17.0–19.7 November 1999. Temperature, salinity, fluorescence, light transmission, current velocity and backscatter were measured throughout the sampling period. Plankton samples were collected every hour from 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 m.

We found little association between ADCP backscatter and plankton concentrations, but stronger correlations between backscatter and …

Quantification Of The Effects Of Data Denial And Limitation In Mm5 Initialization On Forecast Accuracy, Robert W. Evans

Theses and Dissertations

The current hub-and-spoke network in the European Theater is made up of locations built and organized around a Cold War threat. The threat of large-scale attrition warfare seems to have passed, and the threat of multiple, smaller scale contingencies has placed greater demands on the US military's ability to transport equipment and personnel to multiple locations simultaneously. This research effort utilizes a Multiple Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) model to analyze optimal hub locations in USEUCOM. The model used to analyze the network was developed in Microsoft Excel and followed MOLP techniques to determine the trade-offs between the two constructs of …

The Horizontal Extent Of Lightning Based On Altitude And Atmospheric Temperature, David R. Vollmer

Theses and Dissertations

Due to multiple factors, including an increase in military operations tempo and the improved resolution of meteorological models, demand for access to customized aviation weather products has increased exponentially. This has given rise to a need for a multi-purpose interactive aviation weather product generation software solution. This software solution must be platform-independent, multiple data source access configurable, robust, extensible or upgradeable, user-friendly, and an improvement over current visualization applications used in the operational military aviation weather community. This thesis determines whether Unidata MetApps meets these criteria. A software reuse and component-based engineering approach was taken in this thesis. Two experimental …

Gps-Derived Precipitable Water Compared With The Air Force Weather Agency's Mm5 Model Output, Patricia A. Vollmer

Theses and Dissertations

Lightning poses a threat to aircraft in flight. To mitigate this threat, the U.S. Air Force requested a study of lightning distances. Three-Dimensional lightning data were examined for this study, spanning 1 March 1997 to 31 May 2001 and obtained from the Lightning Detection and Ranging System (LDAR) at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. The LDAR data points were first grouped into lightning flashes and branches using spatial and temporal criteria. Rawinsonde data were vertically interpolated to determine the temperature at the flash source point and each branch end point. The horizontal distance from flash sources to branch end was …

Near-Real-Time Applications Of A Mesoscale Analysis System To Complex Terrain, Steven M. Lazarus, Carol M. Ciliberti, John D. Horel, Keith A. Brewer

Aeronautics Faculty Publications

Several mesoscale data analysis systems are reviewed, of which one is then adapted and applied to the complex terrain of northwest Utah and the western United States. The analysis system relies on the simple, but computationally efficient, successive correction methodology. Near-real-time three-dimensional mesoscale analyses are produced hourly over northwest Utah at 1-km horizontal resolution while analyses are produced every 15 min for surface fields over northwest Utah and the western United States. Surface analyses over the western United States are also generated at 0000 and 1200 UTC to help to initialize 36- h mesoscale model forecasts. Comparisons between the 1-km …

Suitability Of Unidata Metapps For Incorporation In Platform-Independent User-Customized Aviation Weather Products Generation Software, Harmen P. Visser

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Combat Climatology Center (AFCCC) is tasked to provide long-range seasonal forecasts for worldwide locations. Currently, the best long-range temperature forecasts the weather community has are the climatological standard normals. This study creates a stepping-stone into the solution of long-range forecasting by finding a process to predict temperatures better than those using climatological standard normals or simple frequency distributions of occurrences. Northern Hemispheric teleconnection indices and the standardized Southern Oscillation index are statistically compared to three-month summed Heating Degree Days (HDDs) and Cooling Degree Days (CDDs) at 14 U.S. locations. First, linear regression was accomplished. The results showed …

Verification Of Mm5 Cloud Microphysics Schemes For East Asia, Dean J. Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Using the 3-Dimensional Variational Analysis data assimilation scheme and the (MM5), input observations were denied in three different categories: total, upper air, and surface observation denial. Two control groups were run using all available data as received by AFWA. The main control group used a 6 hours old first guess as a baseline. The data denied test cases and the secondary control group used a 30-hour old first guess because it was not possible to deny data from the first guess. The secondary control group was used to estimate errors resulting from the use of different first guess forecasts between …

Verification And Comparison Of Polar Mm5 And Afwa Mm5 Forecasts Over Alaska, William E. Courtemanche

Theses and Dissertations

This research compares biases of the Reisner Mixed-Phase Explicit Moisture Microphysics graupel and non-granpel schemes to determine if including graupel and riming processes within the Fifth Generation Mesoscale Model (MM5) will lead to improved forecasts of winter precipitation for Korea and Japan. MM5 forecasts were generated every 12 hours for a 20 days case period from January 1998. Model derived meteorological fields were interpolated to the station coordinates of four verification sites within the East Asian domain and radiosonde observations were used to compare the differences between the average temperature and water vapor errors of the two cloud microphysics schemes. …

Designing An Algorithm To Predict The Intensity Of The Severe Weather Season, Hugh J. Freestrom

Theses and Dissertations

The Mesoscale Model 5th Generation (MM5) is used for operational support to Air Force missions in the Alaskan Theater. The 11th Operational Weather squadron has identified problems with the MM5 producing excessively warm surface temperatures. The Polar MM5 (PMM5), developed by the Byrd Polar Research Center for high latitude ice sheets, is tested over the Alaskan domains used by the Air Force Weather Agency to determine the utility in replacing the MM5 with the PMM5. The verification of surface temperature, pressure and wind as well as upper-air temperature, geopotential height, and relative humidity of 27-hour PMM5 forecasts are compared to …

Synthesis Of 3-Dimensional Lightning Data And Weather Radar Data To Determine The Distance That Naturally Occurring Lightning Travels From Thunderstorms, Lee A. Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Military base weather stations are required to issue lightning warnings to protect military equipment and personnel. The issuance of warnings is based on a 5 nautical mile (n mi) distance criterion. This criterion appears to have evolved over time as a balance between safety and mission impact. The goal of this thesis is to challenge the 5 n mi lightning warning criteria by quantifying the distance that CG lightning travels. A secondary goal is to examine the characteristics of the peak current of CG lightning strokes to determine if a relationship exists between peak current, the distance a stroke travels, …

Exploration Of Teleconnection Indices For Long-Range Seasonal Temperature Forecasts, Robb M. Randall

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to examine the possibility of establishing guidance for lightning avoidance and lightning warning criteria based upon lightning radar reflectivity signatures. Determining how far naturally occurring lightning normally travels from thunderstorms can provide insight to decision makers concerning in-flight and ground safety measures. 3D lightning data are merged with archived weather radar data. To analyze the radar characteristics of the lightning data, radar data are interpolated to a 3D grid of reflectivity. Lightning flashes were analyzed to resolve the reflectivity of the flash origin and to determine the distance of the flash origin from the …

Estimation Of Atmospheric Precipitable Water Using The Global Positioning System, David A. Garay

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on using the Global Positioning System (GPS) for atmospheric precipitable water (PW) estimation. Water vapor, measured in terms of PW, plays a crucial role in atmospheric processes and short-term weather forecasting. Traditional methodologies for measuring atmospheric water vapor distributions have known inadequacies, resulting in the motivation to gain good water vapor characterization via GPS. The ability to accurately forecast cloud formation and other weather phenomenon is critical, especially in the case of military operations. Using a network of GPS receivers, it is possible to estimate precipitable water throughout the network region with better accuracy than traditional methods …

Application Of The Wind Gust Estimate And Comparison To The Afwa Mm5 Wind Gust Algorithm, Kevin W. Lacroix

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) runs the Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model 5 (MM5) as their main mesoscale weather forecast model. One of the post-processing procedures is a diagnostic algorithm, which is used to help identify convective and non-convective wind gusts. O. Brassuer has identified a new Wind Gust Estimate (WGE), as a physically based method of computing non-convective wind gusts. The WGE surmises that Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) transfers the momentum of faster upper-air winds to the surface, overcoming the buoyant energy of the surface layer. This work converts Brassuer's WGE to FORTRAN code and utilizing post-processed CONUS AFWA …

Extratropical Transition Of Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclones. Part I: Climatology And Mean Structure Changes, Mark R. Sinclair

Applied Aviation Sciences - Prescott

A database of tropical cyclone best track and intensity information for the southwest Pacific Ocean basin is used to construct a 28-year climatology for tropical cyclones that move into middle latitudes. Of the nine or so tropicalcyclones that form each year, an average of about three can be expected to migrate south of 35°S, with the greatest fraction in March. Storms entering the Tasman Sea west of New Zealand (NZ) move almost due south on average and retain greater intensity than those to the east of NZ, where storms decay quickly while moving rapidly away to the southeast. Storms east …

Crop Updates 2002 - Cereals, Peter Burgess, Gary Fawell, Dean A. Diepeveen, Tim Setter, Jeff Russell, Tony Seymour, Robin Wilson, Iain Barclay, Robyn Mclean, Robert Loughman, Jenny Garlinge, Bill Lambe, Neil Venn, Peter Clarke, Mohammad Amjad, Wal Anderson, Raffael Del Cima, James Bee, Darshen Sharma, Sheena Lyon, Melaine Kupsch, Pam Burges, Veronika Reck, Brenda Shackley, Ray Tugwell, Bindi Webb, Steve Penny Jr, James Fisher, Bill Bowden, Craig Scanlan, Senthold Asseng, Michael Robertson, M. A. Hamza, G. Mcconnell, W. K. Anderson, Md Shahajahan Miyan, Darshan Sharma, Daya Patabendige, Patrick Gethin, Stephen Loss, Tim O'Dea, Ryan Guthrie, Lisa Leaver, Tyrone Henning, Lionel Martin, Narelle Hill, Simon Wallwork, Laurence Carslake, Darren Hughes, Glen Mcdonald, Nichole Burges, Dominie Wright, Jenny Hawkes, Roger Jones, Kith Jayasena, Kazue Tanaka, Vanessa Johnson, Robert Loughman, Josh Jury, Sean Kelly, Shashi Sharma, Robert Park, Phil Michael, Debbie Thackray, Christopher Newman, Garren Knell, Kevin Povey, David Stephens

Crop Updates

This session covers thirty one papers from different authors:

VARIETIES AND BREEDING

1. Agronomic evaluation of wheat and barley in the central wheatbelt of Western Australia, Peter Burgess¹and Gary Fawell², ¹Agritech and ²Farmanco Management

2. Evaluating stress tolerance to terminal drought by Western Australian wheats, Dean Diepeveen and Dr Tim Setter, Department of Agriculture

3. Broadscale wheat variety comparisons featuring Wyalkatchem, Jeff Russell, Department of Agriculture

4. Australian crop accreditation system variety selector, Tony Seymour, Australian Crop Accreditation System

5. Future wheat varieties, Robin Wilson, Iain Barclay,Robyn McLean, Robert Loughman, …

Comparative Analysis Of Pollution In Farmington Bay And The Great Salt Lake, Utah, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Amy M. Marcarelli, Cameron Christison, Joel Moore, Donovan Gross, Sophia Bates, Sara Kircher

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Farmington Bay covers 94 mi2 (260 km2) in the SW comer of the Great Salt Lake, and is essentially a separate lake because it is enclosed by Antelope Island and a causeway leading to the island from the mainland. The bay has received wastes from the adjoining Salt Lake City metropolitan area for decades. Because of water quality concerns for Farmington 8ay, the Aquatic Ecology Laboratory class at Utah State University studied the bay and a nearby control site (Bridger Bay) in the Great Salt Lake during the fall of 2001. Field sampling and laboratory experiments, as well as other …

Airborne Sampling Of Aerosol Particles: Comparison Between Surface Sampling At Christmas Island And P-3 Sampling During Pem-Tropics B, Jack E. Dibb, R. Talbot, Garry Seid, C. E. Jordan, Eric Scheuer, Elliot Atlas, Nicola J. Blake, D R. Blake

Earth Sciences

Bulk aerosol sampling of soluble ionic compounds from the NASA Wallops Island P-3 aircraft and a tower on Christmas Island during PEM-Tropics B provides an opportunity to assess the magnitude of particle losses in the University of New Hampshire airborne bulk aerosol sampling system. We find that most aerosol-associated ions decrease strongly with height above the sea surface, making direct comparisons between mixing ratios at 30 m on the tower and the lowest flight level of the P-3 (150 m) open to interpretation. Theoretical considerations suggest that vertical gradients of sea-salt aerosol particles should show exponential decreases with height. Observed …

The Horizontal Extent Of Cloud-To-Ground Lightning Over The Kennedy Space Center, Todd M. Mcnamara

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) runs the Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model 5 (MM5) as their main mesoscale weather forecast model. One of the post-processing procedures is a diagnostic algorithm, which is used to help identify convective and non-convective wind gusts. O. Brassuer has identified a new Wind Gust Estimate (WGE), as a physically based method of computing non-convective wind gusts. The WGE surmises that Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) transfers the momentum of faster upper-air winds to the surface, overcoming the buoyant energy of the surface layer. This work converts Brassuer's WGE to FORTRAN code and utilizing post-processed CONUS AFWA …

Sensitivity Analysis Of The Florida Tech Utc-M Mesoscale Atmopsheric Seabreeze Model To Estimates Of Water And Land Heating Rates Using Avhrr Sst And Coastal Margin Land Temperatures, Charles R. Bostater Jr., Lisa Huddleston, Jerome King

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper we conduct sensitivity analyses of the land surface boundary conditions and parameterizations in the UTC-M primitive equation atmospheric planetary boundary layer Seabreeze model. The boundary conditions for temperature of the ocean and land surface is based upon satellite derived AVHRR estimates over the water (SST) and coastal land margins. The sensitivity analysis ofthe boundary conditions as well as the heating and cooling rates in the planetary boundary layer model are also described. The model domain of interest is the region over the Space Coast of Central Florida. This region is unique because of its complex coastal water-land …

Chiasmodontidae: Swallowers., J. D. Mceachran, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Is The Ozone Hole Over Your Classroom?, Eugene Cordero

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

First year university science students are surveyed about their understanding of the ozone layer, ozone depletion and the effect of ozone depletion on Australia. Although students seem to understand the basic function of the ozone layer, over 65% of students incorrectly believe that the ozone hole is over Australia, and over 90% of students incorrectly believe that the ozone hole is present during the summer. Together these ideas seem to explain why nearly 75% of students blame the ozone hole for Australia’s high rate of skin cancer. Survey results also indicate that students seem confused about global warming, and the …

Illinois River Phosphorus Sampling Results And Mass Balance Computation, Marc Nelson, K.L. White, T.S. Soerens

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Phosphorus levels in the Illinois River are of great interest to the people of the States of Arkansas and Oklahoma. A great deal of effort has been expended to ascertain and modify the phosphorus impacts on the river. An automatic water sampling station was installed on the Illinois River just upstream from the State line in 1996 to accurately quantify the phosphorus in the Arkansas portion of the watershed. This paper summarizes five years worth of phosphorus sampling results at that site. In addition, a simple mass balance for phosphorus in the Illinois River Watershed above the sampling station was …

Topo-Morphometric Analysis Of Lake-Stream Interactions In Alpine Watersheds, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Michelle A. Baker

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing Vulnerability To Agricultural Drought: A Nebraska Case Study, Olga V. Wilhelmi, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Recent drought events in the United States and the magnitude of drought losses indicate the continuing vulnerability of the country to drought. Until recently, drought management in many states, including Nebraska, has been largely response oriented with little or no attention to mitigation and preparedness. In 1998, Nebraska began to revise its drought plan in order to place more emphasis on mitigation. One of the main aspects of drought mitigation and planning is the assessment of who and what is vulnerable and why. This paper presents a method for spatial, Geographic Information Systems-based assessment of agricultural drought vulnerability in Nebraska. …

Spatial Representation Of Agroclimatology In A Study Of Agricultural Drought, Olga V. Wilhelmi, Kenneth Hubbard, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Agricultural drought is the leading cause for crop failure throughout the world. In the USA, significant impacts of recent droughts on agricultural production indicate the continuing vulnerability of the country to drought. This paper presents a methodology for spatial representation of the agroclimatic component of agricultural drought vulnerability. This methodology was developed as a part of an integrated assessment of drought vulnerability. For the spatial analysis, the state of Nebraska was selected as a study area because of the considerable variation in climatology, soil characteristics, land use, and cropping patterns. The underlying approach assumes that the best spatial characterization of …

Acoustic Remote-Sensing Of Reef Benthos In Broward County, Florida (Usa), Ryan P. Moyer, Bernhard Riegl, Richard E. Dodge, Brian K. Walker, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Benthic assemblages of variable density cover three progressively deeper ridges that parallel the Broward County, Florida, coast. An acoustic bottom classification survey using QTCView5 with a 50 kHz transducer showed different acoustic classes on the shallow reef-ridge and the two deeper reef-lines, which both showed the same acoustic signature. Ground-truthing showed that the differences in acoustic signature corresponded to different benthic assemblages: nearshore hardgrounds had low live cover and were dominated by algae covering substrate, the two deeper reef-ridges had the same acoustic signature and similar benthic assemblages (dominated by sponges and gorgonians). The QTCView5 was also able to differentiate …

Soil Leachate Responses During 10 Years Of Induced Whole-Watershed Acidification, Pamela J. Edwards, James N. Kochenderfer, Dean W. Coble, Mary Beth Adams

Faculty Publications

Soil solution was collected from zero-tension lysimeters for 10 yr on two small central Appalachian watersheds in West Virginia, U.S.A. Ammonium sulfate fertilizer was applied to one catchment 3 times per year during each year. The other watershed was used as a reference to account for ambient baseline conditions. Ca and Mg concentrations collected below the A- and B-horizons of the treated watershed increased and then decreased over time as a result of the treatment. By contrast, Ca and Mg concentrations in the C-horizon continued to increase throughout the study period.

Circulation, Vol. 8, No. 3, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson

CCPO Circulation

Winter 2002 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article "High School Students Learn by Direct Experiences on the Effects of Recent Drought on the Water Properties of a Subtributary to the Chesapeake Bay" by Arnoldo Valle-Levinson

Winter 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Rates Of Sedimentation In The Central Arctic Ocean, Jan Backman, Martin Jakobsson, Reidar Lovlie, Leonid Polyak

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The Arctic Ocean is presently undergoing geoscientific investigations of the type that occurred during the late 1940's through 1960's in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Seismic reflection and refraction data are scarce in the Arctic Ocean and large areas are virtually unsampled with respect to piston or gravity coring. The vast majority of available cores are less than10 m in length and largely lack biostratigraphically useful calcareous and siliceous microfossils. No drill cores exist from the ridges or deep basins in the central Arctic Ocean. Considering the limited geophysical and geological data available, it is not surprising that current …