Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Heavy Steers And Heifers Run At Low Stocking Rates Enhance Drought Resilience In A Pastoral Region Of Australia, Christophe D'Abbadie, Ross Kingwell, Philip E. Vercoe, Bradley Plunkett, Alan Peggs

Animal production and livestock research articles

CONTEXT

The semi-arid mulga lands of the Southern Rangelands of Western Australia experience frequent droughts. Maintaining a profitable animal grazing enterprise whilst preserving rangeland condition requires selecting an appropriate stocking rate and herd structure.

OBJECTIVE

We construct and apply bioeconomic models of beef enterprises for the semi-arid Southern Rangelands of Western Australia, to assess the profitability and relative riskiness of three different livestock production systems and three different stocking rates when exposed to different frequencies of drought.

METHODS

We construct bio-economic models of herd structures that separately focus on producing either: (i) 200 kg heifers and 210 kg steers (ii) …

Effects Of Urbanization On Eutrophication Parameters In Three Tidal Creeks, Ella Swantek

Honors Theses

Marshes and swashes are vital environments as a controlling barrier between land affected by various pollutants and the ocean. Eutrophication and the effects of this process can be detrimental for the areas experiencing it. I am interested in ways areas that have little contact with human interactions compare to areas that are heavily urbanized, and whether either of these locations is at a higher risk for eutrophication. Using spectrophotometry and fluorometry, I analyzed samples collected from the relatively undeveloped and restricted-access locations of Waities Island Beach and Dunn Sound monthly for dissolved nutrients, and chlorophyll. At the time of sampling, …

Impacts Of Hurricane Idalia’S Surge On Coastal Sand Biogeochemistry, Wendy "Cor" Mchone

Honors Theses

Beaches are heavily influenced by extreme events, such as hurricanes. Biological and chemical processes, such as primary production and diagenesis are often interrupted by these events. To examine the effects of hurricanes on coastal biogeochemistry, this study used sand and porewater samples from Waties Island, SC, which were collected before and after Hurricane Idalia. The samples were analyzed for macronutrient concentrations, organic content, and chlorophyll concentrations. Macronutrient pore water concentration changes were not uniform. The inventory of nitrite decreased significantly after the storm, which was reflected in slight increases in the inventories of nitrate and ammonium. Concentrations of nitrate, which …

Sedimentary Conditions At A Tidal Creek That Exhibits Seasonal Pelagic-Benthic Variations, Jack B. Corbin

Honors Theses

Tidal creeks in the Grand Strand of South Carolina are small but numerous connectors between land and ocean. One of these creeks, White Point Swash, exhibits a seasonal switch between planktonic and benthic photosynthesizers. As plankton become less abundant in fall, benthic macroalgae bloom, aided by lower water levels due to fall-winter dredging of the main channel, until late Spring. This study builds on previous findings and examines sedimentary conditions at this site further. Sedimentary chlorophyll a (in microphytobenthos) and pore water nutrient concentrations are confirmed to be higher than water-column concentrations. Sedimentary nutrient fluxes to the sediment-water interface, calculated …

Identifying High-Value Tactical Livestock Decisions On A Mixed Enterprise Farm In A Variable Environment, Michael Young, John Young, Ross S. Kingwell, Philip E. Vercoe

Animal production and livestock research articles

Context

Australia is renowned for its climate variation, featuring years with drought and years with floods, which result in significant production and profit variability. Accordingly, to maximise profitability, dryland farming systems need to be dynamically managed in response to unfolding weather conditions.

Aims

The aim of this study is to identify and quantify optimal tactical livestock management for different weather-years.

Methods

This study employed a whole-farm optimisation model to analyse a representative mixed enterprise farm located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Using this model, we investigated the economic significance of five key livestock management tactics. These included …

Glacier Lake Inventory And Lake Outburst Flood Hazard Assessment In Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, Nepal, Prabish Khadka Chhetri

Theses

This study presents a comprehensive assessment of glacial lakes and land surface temperature (LST) dynamics within the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) from 2010 to 2023. The KCA holds significant ecological importance, serving as a critical habitat for diverse flora and fauna, while also playing a vital role in regional hydrological systems. Additionally, its stunning landscapes attract tourists and mountaineers from around the world, further emphasizing the need for understanding environmental changes within the area. Utilizing medium to high-resolution satellite imagery from PlanetScope for glacial mapping and Landsat for LST analysis, the research aimed to achieve two primary objectives: creating an …

Quantification Of Surface Layer Turbulence Using Sensible Heat Values From Energy Balance Versus Aerodynamic Methods, Steven T. Fiorino, Yogendra Raut, Jaclyn Schmidt, Laura Slabaugh, Blaine Fourman, Jack E. Mccrae, Benjamin C. Wilson, Santasri R. Bose-Pillai

Faculty Publications

Surface layer optical turbulence values in the form of the refractive index structure function C_n^2 are often calculated from surface layer temperature, moisture, and wind characteristics and compared to measurements from sonic anemometers, differential temperature sensors, and imaging systems. A key derived component needed in the surface layer turbulence calculations is the sensible heat value. Typically, the sensible heat is calculated using the bulk aerodynamic method that assumes a certain surface roughness and a friction velocity that approximates the turbulence drag on temperature and moisture mixing from the change in the average surface layer vertical wind velocity. These assumptions/approximations generally …

2024 May 2 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Including Methane Emissions From Agricultural Ponds In National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Martino E. Malerba, Tertius De Kluyver, Nicholas J. Wright, Odebiri Omosalewa, Peter I. Macreadie

Climate Science Research Articles

Agricultural ponds are a significant source of greenhouse gases, contributing to the ongoing challenge of anthropogenic climate change. Nations are encouraged to account for these emissions in their national greenhouse gas inventory reports. We present a remote sensing approach using open-access satellite imagery to estimate total methane emissions from agricultural ponds that account for (1) monthly fluctuations in the surface area of individual ponds, (2) rates of historical accumulation of agricultural ponds, and (3) the temperature dependence of methane emissions. As a case study, we used this method to inform the 2024 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory reports submitted by the …

Opportunities For Urban Resilience To Climate Change: Understanding Local Climate Perceptions, Motivations, And Barriers To Green Infrastructure Use, Emmilene Berski

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global climate change poses a substantial threat to cities in the United States, particularly through increases in flooding and extreme heat. Cities must adapt to these threats to preserve their residents’ livelihoods and prevent economic loss. One adaptation strategy is the implementation of green infrastructure (GI). The opportunity for GI to foster urban resilience to climate change necessitates a deeper understanding of the extent to which cities utilize GI as a strategy for local climate change adaptation as well as perceptions and motivations surrounding the use of GI at a local level. I sought to address this need through a …

Changes In Zooplankton Community Structure In A Wetland Metacommunity Following Homogenization From Flooding, Kevin Peteroy

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Wetlands in urban areas provide ecosystem services that benefit the environment and society. Through these services, wetlands are able to help mitigate consequences of human activities such as flooding by increasing permeable surface coverage and contaminant filtering from polluted runoff. One such type of wetland, vernal pools, provide important temporary habitat for many organisms, including myriad zooplankton species. For planktonic organisms, flooding events might be disruptive or allow them to disperse to areas that would be otherwise inaccessible. I observed changing abiotic conditions and zooplankton communities in 20 vernal pools at a wetland in Wayne, New Jersey, USA over a …

Relationship Between Marine Heatwaves And Diadema Antillarum Settlement In The Florida Keys, David Ogando Jr.

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Ocean warming can have profound impacts on benthic marine invertebrates through direct physiological effects. Yet, the impacts of ocean warming on the long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum), a keystone grazer on western Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs, has received little attention. In the summer of 2023, the Caribbean basin experienced a strong marine heatwave event with sea temperatures ~1–3°C above average and the warmest on record in southern Florida. An ongoing field settlement sampling program for D. antillarum in the Florida Keys provided an opportunity to examine the correlative relationship between thermal exposure and larval settlement. Thermal exposure was quantified …

A Multi-Century Reconstruction Of Sea Surface Temperature, Salinity, And Density From A Northern Red Sea Coral., Daliza Nanette Rivera-Matos

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Red Sea Outflow Water (RSOW), an intermediate water mass formed in the northern Red Sea, is a primary Red Sea water circulation process. Understanding these water circulation processes gives us an insight into this region's climate dynamics. The intermediate water formation is one of the main processes of the water circulation in the northern Red Sea and feeds the Indian Ocean with saltier and colder water. Despite understanding the RSWO's association with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), its historical response to this climate mode remains unclear. There has not been a long-term record to analyze the relationship between the …

Understanding Variations And Trends In Convection Over The Congo Basin From A Diurnal Perspective, Kathrin Alber

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tropical rainforests regulate global and regional climate systems and play a vital role in the world’s water and carbon cycles. The Congo Basin, situated in central equatorial Africa, is home to the second largest rainforest on the planet and is one of the most convective regions in the world. Recent studies indicate that a large-scale and long-term drying trend, characterized by an increase in dry season length, a decrease in forest greenness, and a decrease in precipitation, has been stressing the region since the 1980’s. Despite the alarming drying trend and the Congo’s important role in the planetary circulation and …

The Impact Of Wildfire Activities On Air Quality And Solar Energy In New York And California, Chin-An Lin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An increasing trend of wildfire activity over North America over the past decades has been observed. Elevated surface fine mode particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration and reduction of solar radiation during the smoke episodes have been widely reported. Given that the intensity and frequency of wildfires are expected to increase under changing climate, the impact of smoke aerosols on air quality and solar energy could become more significant. This study aims to characterize the transport of smoke aerosols and quantify their impact on local air quality and solar energy over New York (NY) and California (CA) States. A multi-year analysis of …

The Role Of Climate Feedbacks, Poleward Energy Transport, And Clouds In Causing Arctic Amplification And Their Link To Sea-Ice Loss, Matthew Todd Jenkins

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Arctic amplification (AA) refers to larger warming in the Northern high latitudes than the rest of the world under increased greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. Many processes have been suggested to influence AA such as sea-ice loss, positive climate feedbacks, enhanced downwelling longwave (LW) radiation from increased water vapor and cloud cover, or enhanced poleward energy transport. However, many of these processes are coupled with each other and with Arctic warming, making it difficult to separate and quantify their individual contributions to Arctic warming and AA. This dissertation focuses on the roles of sea-ice loss, climate feedbacks, cloud property changes, and …

Cultural And Environmental Change In A Period Of Westernized Tourism: Bali, Indonesia, Barbara Buck

ALL - Honors Theses

Dutch colonizers opened Bali for tourism at the beginning of the 20th century, and since that time tourism has led to changes in Bali’s culture, environment, and local resources. In the late 1900s, tourism grew to a new level, which resulted in a shift of industry control away from Balinese people. This project examines the problem of tourism from a social and environmental science lens. By compiling literature and science from various fields of study, this project aims to illustrate the complexity of Bali’s tourism problem in an interdisciplinary way. The lack of local control over tourism perpetuated and exacerbated …

Evaluating And Enhancing The New York State Mesonet (Nysm) Snow Accumulation Estimation, Christopher Gilberti

ALL - Honors Theses

This research project aims to examine and enhance the performance of the New York State Mesonet (NYSM) Snow Accumulation Estimation. The NYSM is a state-of-the-art network of 126 standard weather stations located across the state of New York, collecting high-quality meteorological data to improve forecast accuracy, reduce uncertainty, and mitigate harm. All NYSM standard stations measure snow depth with Campbell Scientific’s SR50A ultrasonic distance sensor. This acoustic sensor measures the distance from the sensor to a rigid snowboard if there is no snow on the ground or the top of snow layer. A reference distance and a temperature correction are …

Categorizing The Societal Impacts From Extreme Rainfall In The New York City Metropolitan Area, Evan Belkin

ALL - Honors Theses

Numerous studies have shown that the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events have increased significantly across the contiguous United States (CONUS) over the past several decades associated with warming global temperatures. This surge in extreme rainfall has resulted in the loss of life and property within vulnerable communities due to widespread river and flash flooding. For example, 11 of the 14 fatalities in New York City associated with Tropical Cyclone Ida’s remnants in September 2021 occurred in flooded basement apartments. The creation of a scale to differentiate extreme rainfall events with higher societal impacts from those with lower impacts …

Diurnal To Seasonal Hurricane Variability And Predictability, Jeremiah Otero Piersante

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Prediction of tropical cyclone (TC) impact extends across a range of forecast lead times. At shorter timescales, radially outward-propagating, diurnal pulses in TCs are associated with TC intensity and structure changes. At weekly periods, synoptic-scale Rossby waves influence the direction of TC tracks. At seasonal timescales, climate modes affect the overall (in)favorability of TC activity. The research shown in this dissertation seeks to improve the understanding and predictability of TC variability across these scales using numerical weather prediction, reanalysis fields, and storm track observations.Diurnal pulses associated with cloud-top cooling, so-called cooling pulses (CPs), pose a risk for hazardous weather because …

Examining The Performance Of The High-Resolution Rapid Refresh Model During Clear, Isolated, And Widespread Convective Days In The New York State Capital Region, Rachel A. Eldridge

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Forecasting can be more challenging in areas of complex terrain, such as in and around the valleys and mountains of Upstate New York. Biases in numerical weather prediction models, related to the lack of resolution of the terrain and errors in physical parameterizations, can affect forecasts. The main goal of this research is to assess biases in the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model that could contribute to deficiencies in forecasts for days with and without convection. We investigate how the HRRR model performed in the New York Capital Region for 4 clear days, 4 isolated convective days, and 4 widespread …

Blade Design And Validation Of Hydrokinetic Turbine To Harvest Water Current Energy, Setare Sadeqi

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The innovative aspect of this research lies in the careful integration of cutting-edge technologies throughout the entire process of designing, fabricating, and testing the carbon fiber propeller for the 3-bladed horizontal axis ocean current turbine (OCT). SolidWorks software played a pivotal role in the initial design phase, enabling a meticulous and precise modeling of the propeller's geometry. The utilization of SolidWorks allowed for a detailed exploration of various design parameters, ensuring that the propeller's structure and form were optimized for performance in ocean current conditions. Moving beyond the realm of virtual design, the choice of carbon fiber as the fabrication …

Evaluating Novel Approaches For Improving Anadromous Fish Passage In Coastal Rivers, Aaron Bunch

All Dissertations

Few of the world's rivers remain free-flowing for over 1000 km, significantly impacting anadromous fish populations due to dam-induced habitat fragmentation. Three partial migration barriers (low-head dams) on North Carolina's Cape Fear River (USA)—lock and dam 1 (LD1), lock and dam 2 (LD2), and lock and dam 3 (LD3)—impact American shad Alosa sapidissima, Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, and striped bass Morone saxatilis populations. Mitigation strategies to pass fish upstream have included conservation locking, nature-like fishway construction, and environmental flows (e-flows). This study introduced a novel e-flow (dam submergence flow), tested acoustic double-tagging techniques for tracking American …

Patterns In Macrofaunal Abundance And Biodiversity At Sites In The Florida Keys, Cydney Wolff

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Coral reef health in the Florida Keys, USA has been declining in recent years. To gain an understanding of the current state of macrofaunal abundance and biodiversity on these reefs, research was conducted to identify and count the macrofauna colonizing standardized settlement plates at two coral reef sites, one in the middle (Delta Shoal) and one in the lower (Pelican Shoal) Florida Keys. Plates were deployed for a one-month period in June 2023. At each site, the plates were placed at two heights: ocean bottom and 2 m above ocean bottom (two plates per height per site for a total …

Coastal-Ocean And Estuarine Acidification In Long Bay, South Carolina: A Comparison Of In-Situ Water Quality Monitoring With Measured Carbonate System Parameters, Mary Olsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the major water-quality issues impacting our coast and estuaries is coastal-ocean and estuarine acidification. Due to a relative dearth of data in the southeastern United States it is increasingly difficult to determine the full extent and intensity of this problem. This study provides the first characterization of coastal-ocean and estuarine acidification in Long Bay, SC by attempting to leverage long-term water quality data sets at two coastal-ocean pier sites using in-situ YSI EXO sondes deployed at both the surface and bottom waters along with two estuarine sites sampled by volunteer monitors using Orion star multi-meters. Discrete samples (120) …

Understanding The Zonal Variability In Cmip6 Projections Of Sahelian Precipitation, Emmanuel Ogwuche Audu

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The uncertainty in model projections of future precipitation across the Sahel has persisted across many generations of Earth System Models (ESMs), with some models predicting drying and others moistening across this region. These discrepancies in future projections pose a challenge for stakeholders and decision makers. Many projections of Sahel precipitation found in the ESMs participating in the sixth phase of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) show a zonal dipole in precipitation trend, with moistening across the Central and Eastern Sahel and drying projected for the Western Sahel. Previous studies have connected precipitation variability across the Sahel to changes in various …

Polarimetric Radar Signatures In Significant Severe Left-Moving Supercells, Raychel Nelson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Left-moving (LM) supercells, though rarer than right-moving (RM) supercells, may produce significant severe weather. However, there are very few existing studies on LM supercells, particularly polarimetric radar analyses. The upgrade of the nationwide Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) network to polarimetric capability and subsequent studies vastly improved understanding of RM supercells, but similar efforts have largely not been made for LM supercells. This study employs an automated polarimetric radar signature detection algorithm to examine a dataset of significant severe (hail ≥ 2.00”, wind ≥ 65 kts) LM supercells to quantify their polarimetric signatures. Comparisons are made with RM supercells to …

A Dual-Polarimetric Analysis Of A Large Sample Of Left-Moving Supercells, Ben Schweigert

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Supercells have been researched extensively since they were first described over 50 years ago. They are prolific severe weather producers, responsible for the most severe hail, severe wind gusts, and tornadoes. These rotating thunderstorms require attention from forecasters to protect life and property from their threats, most effectively done with Doppler radars. While extensive amounts of radar-based investigations have been completed, they focused almost exclusively on right-moving (RM) supercells, resulting in a knowledge gap surrounding their counter-rotating (left-moving, LM) partners. This study works to fill the void by developing a dataset of LM supercells and analyzing the dual-polarimetric features observed …

A Compilation, Analysis, And Categorization Of 403 Atmospheric And Climate Science Misconceptions, Haeli Leighty

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) has listed the inaccessibility of research related to misconceptions in atmospheric and climate science as a Geoscience Education Research Grand Challenge (Cervato et al. 2018). This project was a direct response to this call for research and consisted of three distinct steps: 1) data gathering, which included reviewing the literature for relevant misconception data, 2) a qualitative analysis, which included compiling, organizing, and categorizing the data collected, and 3) a quantitative analysis, which included determining the prevalence of each misconception across topic categories, demographic categories, and over time. A total of 403 misconceptions …

Resource Scarcity Caused By Environmental Changes: Driving Factor In Terrorism Attacks In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Amaris Bustamante

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Climate change, resource scarcity, and terrorist attacks are ever-growing crises that disproportionately impact different states. They are crises that can impact the stability and resilience of humanity in the following decades if they are not addressed and mitigated. This study addresses the impact of resource scarcity caused by climate change that can then serve as a driving force in terrorist attacks in climate-sensitive and conflict-prone states. The objective of this mixed-methods study is to identify the correlation between climate changes that lead to resource scarcity such as rainfall and surface temperatures with terrorist attacks when taking into consideration other demographic, …