Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Assessing The Effects Of Climate Change And Addressing Solutions At L. F. Wade International Airport, Bermuda, Sebastian Romeo Phillip Brisson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to find how past trends and future predictions of climate change and associated factors would affect airport operations at the L. F. Wade International Airport. The Government of Bermuda's plans to build a new terminal were also analyzed to determine potential impacts. Predicted future trends of sea level rise and hurricane activity were assessed by analyzing previous occurrences and studies and depicted using GIS mapping data. Risk of storm surge to the L. F. Wade International Airport has become apparent, especially after Hurricane Fabian of 2003. The results of this study suggest that the …

Historical Diversification Of Montane Herpetofauna Within And Between The Sierras Of Mexico, Robert William Bryson Jr.

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Mexican highlands consist of four major mountain ranges spanning most of mainland Mexico. The evolutionary history of the Mexican highlands has been shaped by various geological and climatic events over the past several million years. The relative impacts of these historical events on diversification in montane taxa, however, remains uncertain. I used mitochondrial DNA data from three widely distributed species complexes of lizards as a model system to exemplify the potential roles of Neogene mountain formation and Quaternary climate change on timing and tempo of diversification across the Mexican highlands. My results suggested strong geographic partitioning of genetic variation …

Climate And Vegetation Change In The Newberry Mountains, Southern Clark County, Nevada, Ross Joseph Guida

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ecological studies have shown worldwide that vegetation is being affected by climate change. Species are shifting to new elevations and physiographic positions to adapt to changes in their environment. More specifically, paleoecology studies in the Mojave Desert have shown shifting vegetation patterns in response to past warming and precipitation changes. Recent studies have shown mortality among desert plants related to extended drought and warming. However, few studies have shown how the geographic distribution of Mojave Desert species has changed during this most recent period of warming. This study addresses this gap in the literature by focusing on several plant species …

Particle‐In‐Cell Simulation Of Incoherent Scatter Radar Spectral Distortions Related To Beam‐Plasma Interactions In The Auroral Ionosphere, M. A. Diaz, M. Oppenheim, J. L. Semeter, M. Zettergren

Publications

An electrostatic parallel particle‐in‐cell (EPPIC) code that allows for particle beam injections and multiple boundary conditions is used to investigate the beam‐plasma interaction and its manifestations in the incoherent scatter (IS) spectrum. Specifically, the code is used to investigate anomalous enhancements in the ion acoustic line through the destabilization of the plasma by injection (or precipitation) of low‐energy electron beams. This enhancement of the ion acoustic line is a form of IS distortion commonly observed in the vicinity of auroral arcs called the naturally enhanced ion‐acoustic line (NEIAL). Simulations confirm the parametric decay of Langmuir waves as a plausible mechanism, …

From Sustainability To Resilience: How Best To Communicate Great Challenges?, Wolfgang Brauner

Education for Sustainability Summer Institute

No abstract provided.

Do Wind Turbines Affect Weather Conditions?: A Case Study In Indiana, Meghan F. Henschen, Brittany Herrholtz, Lacey Rhudy, Kathryn Demchak, Brian Doogs, Joshua Holland, Erik Larson, Johnny Martin, Matthew Rudkin

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Wind turbines are becoming increasingly widespread in the United States as the world looks for cleaner sources of energy. Scientists, policymakers, and citizens have strong opinions regarding the positive and negative effects of wind energy projects, and there is a great deal of misinformation about wind energy circulating on the Web and other media sources. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how the rotation of hundreds of turbines can influence local weather conditions within a wind farm and in the surrounding areas. This experiment measures temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, …

Mercury In The Pelagic And Benthic Food Webs Of The Great Salt Lake, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Erin Fleming, Caleb Izdepski, Jodi Gardberg

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Molecular Assessment Of Speciation And Evolutionary History Of The Globally Distributed Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus Narinari), Vincent P. Richards, Marcy Henning, Wayne Witzell, Mahmood S. Shivji

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

The spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari), a species of conservation concern (Near Threatened IUCN category) is commonly associated with coral reef ecosystems worldwide where it is likely to play an important predatory role. Currently described as a single, circumglobally distributed species, geographic differences in parasite diversity have led to suggestions that A. narinari may constitute a species complex. There has been no systematic evidence to support this suggestion, however. If multiple species of spotted eagle ray exist, each will likely posses decreased geographic ranges and population sizes, altering the impacts of threats and requiring separate assessments of conservation …

Mesospheric Temperature Variability And Seasonal Characteristics Over The Andes, Jonathan Pugmire, Yucheng Zhao, Michael J. Taylor, P D. Pautet

Graduate Student Posters

The Utah State University CEDAR Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (MTM) is a high-quality CCD imager capable of remote sensing faint optical emissions from the night sky to determine mesospheric temperature and its variability at an altitude of ~87 km. The MTM was operated at the new Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO)located at Cerro Pachon, Chile (30.2° S, 70.7° W) since August 2009 to investigate the seasonal characteristic of the mesopause at mid-latitudes. Measurement were made alongside a powerful lidar capable of height sounding the mesosphere. In this study, the MTM data have been analyzed to determine night to night variability and seasonal …

The World's Most Sensitive Rayleigh-Scatter Lidar, Leda Sox, V. B. Wickwar, J P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham, Lance W. Peterson

Posters

No abstract provided.

Old Dominion University Climate Change And Sea Level Rise Initiative, Summer Update 2011, Larry P. Atkinson (Editor)

CCSLRI Newsletters

Summer 2011 Newsletter of the Old Dominion University Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative

Droughtscape, Summer 2011, Kelly Smith

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

New NDMC Website

Drought May Improve in Southeast and Southwest

Impacts Summary: Fire, Crop Loss and More

International Activities

NDMC Launches Ranch Planning Tool

Serving Data to Order

Workshop Builds Drought Planning Community

The Effect Of An Offshore Wind Turbine Array On Circulation In An Idealized Coastal Ocean, Mahmoud Kamel

OES Theses and Dissertations

The effect of arrays of wind turbines on circulation in the coastal ocean is analyzed with a coastal numerical model applied to a shallow coastal area like the Mid Atlantic Bight (MAB). A simplified model domain is specified with a linearly deepening shelf along a straight coastline. The initial density structure is a quasi-two layer situation with a sharp thermocline. Wind stress in most of the cases is either upwelling or downwelling favorable with constant amplitude continuing after a smooth start. There are two cases where oscillating wind forcing is used. Simulations consider wind arrays having different widths, different locations …

Identifying Changes In Climatic Trends And The Fingerprints Of Landuse And Landcover Changes In The High Plains Of The Usa, Denis Mutiibwa

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human activities such as conversion of natural ecosystem to croplands and urban-centers, deforestation and afforestation impact biophysical properties of land surface such as albedo, energy balance, and surface roughness. Alterations in these properties affect the heat and moisture exchanges between the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer. The objectives of this research were; (i) to quantitatively identify the High plains’ regional climate change in temperatures over the period 1895 to 2006, (ii) detect the signatures of anthropogenic forcing of LULC changes on the regional climate change of the High Plains, and (iii) examine the trends in evolving regional latent heat …

Controls On The Formation Of Algal Blooms In The Lower Chesapeake Bay And Its Tributaries, Ryan Eric Morse

OES Theses and Dissertations

Algal blooms occur seasonally in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and while the consequences of algal blooms have been qualitatively and quantitatively assessed, the causes of algal blooms and mechanisms of bloom initiation are still not well understood despite decades of research. In order to understand nutrient dynamics and other factors that promote the initiation of algal blooms, the Lafayette River, a tidal sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay that experiences seasonal algal blooms, was sampled daily in the fall of 2005. Three phytoplankton blooms (Chlorophyll a concentrations exceeding twice the average of monthly measurements from 2000-2009) occurred during this period, …

Sustainability Series: Creating Student Sustainable Practices Within Sfs And Beyond, Staci Hagen

Capstone Collection

The School for Field Studies (SFS) is a non-profit environmental research based study abroad program that integrates academic, research, social and community activities in a holistic education model. One of the six SFS centers is the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. At CCS, students take courses that explore local and regional environmental, social and economic problems and they have the opportunity to design their own research project. Even though students study these problems and come up with sustainable solutions, it does not mean that they make personal choices with the least impact on the environment. …

Lsuhsc Facilities Daily Updates: July 2011, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2011

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates from July 2011.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Lsuhsc Facilities Biweekly Update: July 2011, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates: 2011

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates from July 1, 15 and 29, 2011.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Model-Based Analyses Of Nitrogen On The Mid-Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf, Tian Tian

OES Theses and Dissertations

The biogeochemistry of continental shelf systems is an important, but poorly quantified, component of the global cycling of nitrogen and carbon. In this study, simulations obtained from a one-dimensional (ID) biogeochemical model developed for the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) portion of the U.S. eastern continental shelf were analyzed to investigate nitrogen cycling processes. The 1D model included lower trophic level interactions and was forced by advective fields obtained from a corresponding three-dimensional biogeochemical model. Taylor and target diagram analyses, which compared in situ measurements of sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity, and chlorophyll and particulate organic carbon (POC) derived from …

Limnological Assistance For Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Quarterly Report, Period Ending June 30, 2011, Margaret N. Rees

Limnological Studies

Project 1

• Technical assistance with the implementation of the Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (I-MAP) for Quagga Mussels is ongoing. During this quarter, analysis was completed for 42 juvenile/adult samples and analyses of the remaining samples are underway.
• As of 7/07/11 all sample sets will have been collected for Veliger abundance and settlement at different depths of Lake Mead; sampling continues for Growth of adult quagga mussels within Las Vegas Wash/Las Vegas Bay.
• The Interagency Quagga Mussel Meeting was held on 05/17/11; the next meeting is scheduled for 08/25/11.

Project 2

• Appendix 7, an addition to the Long-term Limnological and Aquatic …

Excitation Of Zero-Frequency Magnetic Field-Aligned Currents By Ionospheric Heating, A V. Streltsov, T R. Pedersen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Time-dependent, three-dimensional numerical simulations of the reduced MHD model describing shear Alfve ́n waves in the magnetosphere provide an interesting prediction superficially similar to results of several iono- spheric heating experiments conducted at high altitudes. In these experiments, heating of the ionospheric F-region with a constant/zero-frequency beam of HF waves causes luminous structures in the ionosphere in the form of a ring or a solid spot with a characteristic size comparable to the size of the heated spot. Simulations suggest that spots/rings or similar optical appearance might be associated with a magnetic field- aligned current system produced by the ionospheric …

The 2009 Samoa And 2010 Chile Tsunamis As Observed In The Ionosphere Using Gps Total Electron Content, David A. Galvan, Attila Komjathy, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D., Anthony J. Mannucci

Publications

Ground‐based Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) show variations consistent with atmospheric internal gravity waves caused by ocean tsunamis following two recent seismic events: the Samoa earthquake of 29 September 2009 and the Chile earthquake of 27 February 2010. Both earthquakes produced ocean tsunamis that were destructive to coastal communities near the epicenters, and both were observed in tidal gauge and buoy measurements throughout the Pacific Ocean. We observe fluctuations in TEC correlated in time, space, and wave properties with these tsunamis using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Global Ionospheric Mapping software. These TEC measurements were …

Building An Enhanced Drought Early Warning System (Dews): Tools And Services For Decision Support, Mark Svoboda

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Outline

• About the NDMC
• Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) Overview
• Tools (USDM, DIR, Atlas, VegDRI, + EPC/DRC)
• NDMC and the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)
• Toward a Global Drought Early Warning System (NIDIS)
• Toward a Global Drought Early Warning System (GDEWS)
• Summary
• Q&A

The Use Of Large-Scale Climate Data To Predict Drought, River Flows, And Vegetation Over Central-Southwest Asia, Matthew Barlow

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Central-Southwest Asia is a semi-arid, economically stressed region where droughts have severe societal impacts in terms of agriculture, farming, access to fresh water for drinking, and sanitation. There are two sources of drought predictability for this area: the influence of predictable modes of large-scale climate variability at both seasonal and intraseasonal timescales, and the importance of the snow pack to warm season river flows and vegetation. Local data scarcity is a critical problem for the region, both for historical analysis and for real-time monitoring. However, analysis shows that satellite data can be used to provide a considerable amount of high-resolution …

Analyzing Past And Predicting Future Drought With Comprehensive Drought Indices For Arkansas-Red River Basin, Lu Liu, Yang Hong, James E. Hocker

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

This study is intended to examine the past drought and predict future drought scenarios for Arkansas-Red River Basin with comprehensive drought indices ranging from meteorology, hydro-meteorology to hydrology. In this proceeding, we present some early results and analysis with the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Historical climate data within the 1900-2009 timeframe were archived to derive the drought indices calculations. The projected A2, A1B climate data modules from 16 statistically downscaled Global Climate Models (GCM) were applied in drought occurrence frequency and affected area prediction. The results from the SPI and PDSI show that …

Building An Enhanced Drought Early Warning System (Dews): Tools And Services For Decision Support, Mark Svoboda

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Perhaps no other hazard lends itself as well to the need for a diligent early warning system (DEWS) than drought. Droughts typically evolve slowly, but have the potential to cover very large areas compared to hazards like hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, which have a much smaller geographic footprint. The U.S. took first steps in 2006 toward developing coordinated and integrated DEWS through the creation of the National Integrated Drought Information System, or NIDIS. More recently, the National Drought Mitigation Center (http://drought.unl.edu) has been working with NIDIS and other international parties (WMO, GEO, United Nations, etc.) with a goal of developing …

Droughts In The 21st Century And Beyond, Vijay P. Singh, Chris Funk, Jim Angel, Mark Svoboda

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought: Science

• Characterization
• Mechanisms
• Modelings
• Prediction and Forecasting

Drought Monitoring

• Measurement
• Mapping
• Space
• Time
• Data Sharing
• Updating

Monitoring Drought Across Many Scales, Chris Funk

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Monitoring drought across many scales Chris Funk As gas and food prices increase while per capita harvested area decreases, drought and disruptions in food availability exert more and more pressure on the political and economic stability of ‘frailed’ states. Improved drought monitoring across many spatial and temporal time scales has therefore become increasingly important. As this need mounts, so have our capacities to observe and understand the earth’s climate. Relatively new satellite systems, such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, allow us to watch the earth at scales of ~100 meters. Improved rainfall retrievals give us more timely and accurate …

Exploring The Link Between Droughts And Atmospheric Aerosol Loading, Umarporn Charusombat, Dev Niyogi

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Are higher atmospheric aerosol levels and droughts related? To address this question, we explore the relation between atmospheric aerosol loading and droughts using insitu and satellite observations over different urban/rural settings and heterogeneous drought conditions. A related objective was to report on the relationship and the variability between aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and insitu particular matter (PM2.5 and PM10) over different land use. Daily measurement of PM2.5 and PM10 data were retrieved from seven EPA air quality monitoring stations in Indiana: Virgo, Lake and Clark County in urban area, Marion, Know and …

Monitoring Drought In The Midwest, Steve Hilberg

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Climate monitoring is one component of the mission of the Regional Climate Centers, and the Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC) has created web pages to provide near real-time monitoring of the weather and climate of the Midwest. A dedicated drought monitoring page was developed by the MRCC to provide a snapshot of current moisture conditions in the region using a number of specialized maps and products. Users are able to drill down to state and local conditions and impacts through links to the respective state climate offices and water resources agencies.