Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Circulation, Volume 25, No. 1, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Tal Ezer

CCPO Circulation

Fall 2019 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring the article, "The International Reach of CCPO in Ocean Modeling and Education: Reflections from a Recent Trip to China," by Tal Ezer.

Age And Growth Of Hardhead Catfish And Gafftopsail Catfish In Coastal Louisiana, Usa, Shane Flinn, Stephen Midway

Faculty Publications

The Hardhead Catfish Ariopsis felis and Gafftopsail Catfish Bagre marinus are marine catfishes that have low recreational and commercial landings in U.S. waters, although they are among the most abundant species in coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Few biological studies exist on marine catfishes, with most studies focusing on their unique reproductive biology. This study evaluated weight-length relationships for Gafftopsail Catfish (n = 264) and Hardhead Catfish (n = 823) sampled from across coastal Louisiana, USA, during 2016-2018; subsamples (93 and 266, respectively) were aged using lapilli for age and growth analyses. Hardhead Catfish showed a small but …

2019 October - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- October 2019, Crystal J. Stiles, Rezaul Mamood, Logan Winters, Paul Flanagan, Natalie Umphlett

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the director........................................1

Staff spotlight...........................1

Workshops focus on climate services in Kansas....................2

Research highlights................3

AMS Annual Meeting.............3

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

New ACIS Climate Summary Maps available..........................5

Track precipitation with CLIMOD.......................................5

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

The Influence Of Location, Positioning, And Seasonality On Feeding Behavior Of The Sydney Oyster (Saccostrea Glomerata) In New South Wales, Australia, Nathaniel Hess

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Oysters are hard shelled bivalves that aggregate over time to create structures in estuarine systems, known as oyster reefs. These reefs are important for the promotion of estuarine biodiversity by supporting many species of fish, invertebrates, and plants. They also act as a key contributor to water health by using active suspension feeding mechanisms and selective feeding to remove nutrients and water borne pollutants from estuarine systems. They have been touted as possible bio-remediators. They also effect rates of sedimentation in estuaries.

Oyster reefs have historically been threatened by anthropogenic influences such as overharvesting, destructive fishing practices, water pollution, CO2 …

A Delicate Balance: The Effects Of Habitat Type On Frog Communities: A Three-Pronged Study Examining The Effects Of Differing Habitat Characteristics On Anuran Diversity At El Centro De Investigación Sumak Kawsay In Situ, Ecuador, Zane Libke

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

We conducted 60 hours of visual encounter surveys and 3 hours of calling surveys on 6 different habitat types near Sumak Kawsay in situ Reserva (SKIS) near Mera, Pastaza, Ecuador. We defined habitat types defined by two variables: type of forest and proximity to water. The aim of the study was to determine what effect each variable has on anuran community composition. We compared the effectiveness of the two survey methods as well. High anuran community dissimilarity was found between each habitat type surveyed, indicating that both forest type and proximity to water are important factors that shape species richness …

36 Years After The Species' Mass-Mortality: Diadema Antillarum Test Sizes, Population Densities, And Substrate Preferences In Three Guna Yala Reefs Near Wichub Wala Island, Bimini Horstmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In January 1983, a waterborne pathogen beginning near the Atlantic Panama Canal entrance caused history's largest recorded marine animal die-off, wiping out 95-99% of Diadema antillarum populations throughout the Caribbean. D. antillarum, the long-spined sea urchin, is a keystone herbivore in coral reefs and its decreased densities have caused many reefs to suffer macroalgal phase shifts. Modest recovery of this species has been documented in some Caribbean locations, but reefs in Guna Yala, Panama continued to experience population decline. This study investigates density, test size, and substrate preferences of D. antillarum in three shallow coral reef areas to update the …

Optimizing Water Quality And Temperature Parameters To Increase Survival Rates Of Anotheca Spinosa (Anura: Hylidae) Eggs At The El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, Morgan Oestereich

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Amphibians globally are facing extinction due to the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). This has resulted in a worldwide push for increased conservation efforts. These efforts include those of the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center (EVACC) in El Valle de Antón, Panama, where captive assurance colonies of many native amphibian species are housed. Among these species is Anotheca spinosa, a species of tree frog native to mountainous regions of Central America. This study was performed to analyze the relationship between water quality parameters and egg survival and reproductive success of EVACC’s captive population of A. spinosa and assess how related husbandry …

Climate-Smart Agriculture: Building Resilience For Women Farmers In Kalchebeshi, Nepal, Annika Ruben

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This case study outlines women’s involvement in climate-smart agriculture and key climate adaptation strategies which are being implemented in the town of Kalchebeshi, Nepal. Kalchebeshi is considered a Resilient Mountain Village because of the town’s integrated approach to addressing climate change and building resilience for farmers. Key findings examined gender differences in farming responsibilities and the significance of farmers’ groups in women’s overall decision making and community involvement. Additionally, changes in water management and pesticide use have been shown to have a positive impact on the lives of women farmers in Kalchebeshi. This paper reinforces the importance of involving vulnerable …

The Relationship Between Forest Management And Stream Discharge In Mazumbai And Baga Ii Forest Reserves, Tanga Region, Tanzania, Shannon Duffy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Deforestation is known to alter hydrology by reducing interception, transpiration and infiltration capacity, and increasing runoff which all leads to higher stream discharge. For rural Tanzanian communities, surface water resources are crucial for meeting basic needs, so the integrity of headwater catchments need to be maintained to ensure their reliability. The objectives of this study were to a) map the streams in the two forests because none currently exist and b) determine the effect of deforestation on discharge variability. Over fifteen days of data collection, this study analyzed variability of discharge and the degree of correlation between discharge and rainfall …

Coastal Stream Salinity And Its Impacts On Pemba Agriculture, Sara Mccormack

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The extent of saltwater inundation of coastal streams was assessed on Pemba Island near agricultural areas in northeastern and northwestern regions of the island. Conductivity and pH were measured from water samples collected at various distances along the stream to determine the extent of salinity at different points in the tidal cycle. This salinity data, as well as the context of recent weather events, runoff, and geological characteristics of the region were used to determine the primary factors that influence changes in surface water salinity. The primary factor that influences surface water salinity was determined to be changes in stream …

Water And War: The Potential For Perpetuation Of Conflict Due To Climate Change, Kaufman Butler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Climate change has had a dramatic impact on the world’s weather for years, scientists can only make predictions about how global climate will continue to change going forward; but in all scenarios the circumstances are quite dire. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will see some of the most severe effects of climate change, which will permanently alter the lives of millions of people in the region. In the MENA region, climate change is projected to result in extreme drought and temperatures which will lead to increased water scarcity, in what is already the most water poor region in …

Informing Joyality 4 Kids: Ecopsychology Education To Support Upper Primary Children’S Well-Being Through Environmental And Social Crisis, Cambry Baker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Responding to climate change and the state of the world demands psychological resilience and a transformative shift towards sustainable behavior. Children inheriting our uncertain future require psychological support and tools of well-being to fuel emotionally sustainable activism. In this paper I investigate how best to support upper primary aged children through environmental and social issues with Joyality 4 Kids, an educational ecopsychology program.

During November of 2019 I completed the Joyality Program processes independently, then conducted two focus group interviews with five individuals experienced in the Joyality Program and/or environmental education to develop the processes for an eight-hour Joyality 4 …

Sediment Resuspension In A Microtidal Estuary: Causative Forces And Links With Algal Blooms, Samantha C. Mcgill

OES Theses and Dissertations

After years of efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay, bacterial levels are down and species diversity has increased, however, algal blooms (primarily dinoflagellates) persist, occurring nearly every summer. Dinoflagellates produce resting cysts that accumulate in the bottom sediments and are thought to provide seed populations for future algal blooms when they are resuspended. When estuarine sediments are advected from a bed, other materials, such as pollutants, nutrients, and organic matter are also released into the water column. Thus, resuspended sediments can contribute to the degradation of water quality, habitat, and aquatic life, and impart negative impacts on local ecosystems and …

Pacts 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard For Paleoclimate Data, D. Khider, J. Emile-Geay, N. P. Mckay, Y. Gil, D. Garijo, V. Ratnakar, M. Alonso-Garcia, S. Bertrand, O. Bothe, P. Brewer, A. Bunn, M. Chevalier, L. Comas-Bru, J. Hertzberg, Y. Zhou

OES Faculty Publications

The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges on the data being standardized. Accordingly, the lack of community-sanctioned data standards in paleoclimatology has largely precluded the benefits of Big Data advances in the field. Building upon recent efforts to standardize the format and terminology of paleoclimate data, this article describes the Paleoclimate Community reporTing Standard (PaCTS), a crowdsourced reporting standard for such data. PaCTS captures which information should be included when reporting paleoclimate data, with the goal of …

Coastal Flooding And Inundation And Inland Flooding Due To Downstream Blocking, Leonard J. Pietrafesa, Hongyuan Zhang, Shaowu Bao, Paul T. Gayes, Jason O. Hallstrom

Marine Science

Extreme atmospheric wind and precipitation events have created extensive multiscale coastal, inland, and upland flooding in United States (U.S.) coastal states over recent decades, some of which takes days to hours to develop, while others can take only several tens of minutes and inundate a large area within a short period of time, thus being laterally explosive. However, their existence has not yet been fully recognized, and the fluid dynamics and the wide spectrum of spatial and temporal scales of these types of events are not yet well understood nor have they been mathematically modeled. If present-day outlooks of more …

Improving Thorium-230 Determination In Marine Sediment, Katherine Mateos

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Our oceans are intimately related to the climate of our planet. Paleoceanographic approaches aim to study oceans through geologic time to improve models of future climate. Radioisotopes provide us with chemical tracers that help us understand change through time. The uraniumseries decay chain contains thorium-230, a decay product of uranium-234. This isotope is useful to paleoceanographers in its disequilibrium to its parent isotope and in determining the flux of sediment falling to the ocean floor. In order to use 230Th to study oceans, we must be able to accurately measure the amount of thorium in sediment samples. Thorium is found …

What About The Environment?: Exploring The Neglected Third Dimension Of Antimicrobial Resistance, Paige E. Montfort

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most urgent and complex health risks of our time, with links to human health, animal health, and the environment. The majority of research and policy related to AMR, however, has been dedicated to human and animal health. The third dimension — the environment — has been relatively neglected. Conversations about this problem have begun, but gaps in understanding remain. This study explores the key barriers that have hindered developments related to the environmental aspect of AMR and some of the solutions that have begun to or could be utilized to overcome these barriers. …

Cambios En El Cronograma De Temporadas Reproductivas De Pingüinos De Magallanes (Spheniscus Magellanicus): Relaciones Entre Eventos Fenológicos Y Variables Climáticas, Grace Neumiller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Estudios a largo plazo han demostrado que hay fluctuaciones a lo largo de la fenología de la vida silvestre a causa de los cambios climáticos (Black, 2016). Los pingüinos de Magallanes (Spheniscus magellanicus) exhiben cambios en el cronograma de los eventos fenológicos de sus temporadas reproductivas a causa de variables oceanográficas y climáticas de su ambiente. A partir de fotos de cámaras trampas, este trabajo describe y analice algunos eventos en la fenología de los pingüinos de Magallanes en Isla Martillo, Canal Beagle, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina: el inicio de la temporada reproductiva, el periodo de muda de pichones, y …

Designing An Accessible Wave Energy Conversion Device For Powering Ocean Sensors, Sophie Coppieters ‘T Wallant

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Currently, less than 5% of our oceans are comprehensively monitored and much more ocean data is needed to facilitate understanding of ocean physics, carbon cycling, and ocean ecosystems. Today, most autonomous ocean sensors are powered by primary battery, which have both limited capacity and lifetime. The goal of this research is to design a small, accessible renewable wave energy device to power autonomous free-floating ocean sensors. By designing a cheap, accessible, and simple wave energy converter, this work hopes to make ocean sensor deployment easier and cheaper for researchers, increase the lifetime of autonomous ocean sensors, and reduce the reliance …

Assessing The Implications Of A Tidal Barrage Power Plant In Hvalfjörður, Iceland, Olive M. Colangelo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As climate change continues to threaten the future state of our world, we are searching for measures to take for mitigation. Among these measures, the most talked about method is the development of renewable energies. Great amounts of attention is paid to solar and wind power, but relatively little effort is given to researching the possibilities of ocean energy, particularly tidal barrage energy. This study assesses the possibility of a tidal barrage plant in Hvalfjörður, Iceland. This hypothetical power plant in Hvalfjörður would have an installed capacity of 840MWh and could produce 613GWh per year. This is less than 0.01% …

An Evaluation Of Soils On Sólheimajökull Glacier Foreland: Using Invertebrates And Decomposition As Bio-Indicators Of Soil Quality, Carolyn Weisman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Anthropogenic climate change has led to the retreat of glaciers globally. As glaciers melt, they expose the underlying land- termed the glacier foreland. These forelands provide a natural laboratory for studying ecological succession after a massive disturbance, which is in this case glaciation. In this study, soil invertebrates and decomposition are used as bio-indicators of the soil quality in the foreland of Sólheimajökull Outlet Glacier. Soil cores were collected from five sites (A-E) located 300m apart moving away from the glacier terminus. The abundance of each observed invertebrate taxa and the dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were taken for 30 soil …

Vulnerability And Adaptability Of Mangrove Forests On Misali Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Samantha A. Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As climate change threatens to cause heightened sea levels and decreased rainfall patterns in the Indian Ocean, mangrove forests are forced to adapt or suffer. This study aims to analyze the persistence of four prominent mangrove forests on Misali Island based on vulnerability and adaptability. The study focuses on three types of forests: overwash, coastal fringing, and scrub. Forest A, an overwash forest, was the main site of study and was surveyed for species type and seedling/sapling counts using ten transects which ranged from 40 to 91.7 meters in length. Data was analyzed in order to determine biodiversity, zonation, and …

Barriers And Opportunities To Electric Vehicle Development In Nepal, Allyson Krupa

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the global carbon dioxide level reaches its highest point in human history (407.4 parts per million), energy systems must transition from fossil fuel to renewable-powered sources. Since the transportation sector contributes nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, electric mobility offers a significant opportunity to reduce GHG emissions. Globally, there has been a rise in demand for electric vehicles. In Nepal, a clean energy transition within the context of rising urbanization and air pollution is imperative for quality of life, socio-economic development, and broadly climate change mitigation/adaptation. Furthermore, Nepal’s vast hydropower potential may increase energy independence and provide …

Spatiotemporal Downscaling Rainfall Predictions Of North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program For Entire Virginia, Zhaoyi Cai

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis developed a statistical downscaling approach, which consists of a series of linear regression equations, to spatiotemporally downscale the rainfall predictions from North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) in accordance with the 15-min observed rainfall data at the rain gauges across the state of Virginia. NARCCAP has generated twelve different region-global climate models (RCM-GCMs) with a temporal resolution of 3 hr and a spatial resolution of 50 km over the entire America. Although it has been downscaled already, such resolutions are still too coarse to represent the rain gauges. This means that the RCM-GCMs’ predictions need to …

Removal Of Selected Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products In Wastewater Treatment Plant In Jordan, Othman Al-Mashaqbeh, Diya Alsafadi, Sahar Dalahmeh, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The largest wastewater treatment plant in Jordan was monitored in the summer to determine the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Grab samples were collected from the influent and effluent of As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) were utilized to determine the concentrations of 18 compounds of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). The results showed that 14 compounds were detected in the collected samples from the influent and effluent of As-Samra WWTP. These compounds are 1,7-dimethylxanthine, amphetamine, acetaminophen, caffeine, carbamazepine, cimetidine, cotinine, diphenhydramine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), morphine, phenazone, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole, thiabendazole, and …

Wildlife In Parks And Communities: Institutionalizing Wildlife Conservation In Park Systems Through Municipal-Wide Planning Efforts, John J. Pipoly Iii, Lajuan Tucker, Patrick Fitzgerald, Scott Gilmore

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

Wildlife populations are declining in the United States. As development increases, local parks and natural areas often become safe-havens for wildlife, including birds, pollinators and small mammals. Creeks, rights-of-way, roadsides and even private, commercial and public landscapes can create corridors for wildlife in urban and suburban areas, helping wildlife survive and minimizing human-wildlife conflicts. While many park departments and municipalities have some nature or wildlife programs at nature centers and public parks or manage some properties as natural areas, most do not integrate best practices for managing wildlife into park and recreation master plans or municipalwide sustainability, green infrastructure or …

A Toolkit For Managing The Ee (Environmental Education) And Esd (Education For Sustainable Development) Continuum, Attiyya Atkins, John J. Pipoly Iii

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

Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) represent extremes of a global continuum. EE stresses awareness of process about, from and for the environment (Vrasidas 2007). ESD is defined as education empowering communities to acquire best management practices engendering human, social, economic and natural sustainability (UNESCO 2012) and developing their resilience despite environmental changes (Fastenrath et al. 2019). ESD is a critical component of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (UN 2012), which grew from the Millennium Development Goals (UN 2000). Each park agency should develop research-based educational programs that address both EE and ESD. The ESD must promote …

Coccidioidomycosis: Medical And Spatio-Temporal Perspectives, Nikias Sarafoglou, Rafael Laniado-Laborin, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Coccidioidomycosis (CM) is a disease of major public health importance due to the challenges in its diagnosis and treatment. To understand CM requires the attributes of a multidisciplinary network analysis to appreciate the complexity of the medical, the environmental and the social issues involved: public health, public policy, geology, atmospheric science, agronomy, social sciences and finally humanities, all which provide insight into this population transformation.

In section 1 of this paper, we describe the CM-epidemiology, the clinical features, the diagnosis and finally the treatment.

In section 2, we highlight the most important contributions and controversies in the history of the …

Connecting Local-Scale Heavy Precipitation To Large-Scale Meteorological Patterns Over Portland, Oregon Using Observations And Climate Models, Christina Marie Aragon

Dissertations and Theses

Precipitation timing and magnitude is essential to human, ecological, and economic systems. Climate change may be altering the character of precipitation locally to globally, thus it is vital that resource managers, practitioners, and decision makers understand the nature of this change. This thesis was conducted in partnership with the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), and the Portland Water Bureau (PWB) in order to support resiliency planning around precipitation and precipitation extremes.

This work has two primary phases, which are discussed in chapter 2 and 3 of this thesis. The first phase of this research entails characterization of …