Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Life In Hampton Roads: Sea Level Rise And Flooding, Public Affairs & News Bureau, Old Dominion University

News Items

No abstract provided.

Odu Scientists Address Antarctic Ice Melt Affecting Sea Levels, Miasia Osbey

News Items

No abstract provided.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Roads, Keith Pierce

News Items

No abstract provided.

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- October 2017, Natalie Umphlett, Warren Pettee, Crystal J. Stiles

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

Inside this issue:

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

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

Tribal engagement.................2

Product highlights..................3

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

ENSO tool...................................4

Wind River project..................5

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

The Sponge Microbiome Project, Lucas Moitinho-Silva, Shaun Nielsen, Amnon Amir, Antonio Gonzalez, Gail Ackermann, Carlo Cerrano, Carmen Astudillo-Garcia, Cole Easson, Detmer Sipkema, Fang Liu, Georg Steinert, Giorgos Kotoulas, Grace Mccormack, Guofang Feng, James J. Bell, Jan Vicente, Johannes R. Bjork, Jose M. Montoya, Julie B. Olson, Julie Reveillaud, Laura Steindler, Mari-Carmen Pineda, Maria V. Marra, Micha Ilan, Michael W. Taylor, Paraskevi Polymenakou, Patrick M. Erwin, Peter J. Schupp, Rachel L. Simister, Rob Knight, Robert W. Thacker, Rodrigo Costa, Russell T. Hill, Susanna Lopez-Legentil, Thanos Dailianis, Timothy Ravasi, Ute Hentschel, Zhiyong Li, Nicole S. Webster, Torsten Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Marine sponges (phylum Porifera) are a diverse, phylogenetically deep-branching clade known for forming intimate partnerships with complex communities of microorganisms. To date, 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies have largely utilised different extraction and amplification methodologies to target the microbial communities of a limited number of sponge species, severely limiting comparative analyses of sponge microbial diversity and structure. Here, we provide an extensive and standardised dataset that will facilitate sponge microbiome comparisons across large spatial, temporal, and environmental scales. Samples from marine sponges (n = 3569 specimens), seawater (n = 370), marine sediments (n = 65) and other …

Do Advisors Perceive Climate Change As An Agricultural Risk? An In-Depth Examination Of Midwestern U.S. Ag Advisors’ Views On Drought, Climate Change, And Risk Management, Sarah P. Church, Michael Dunn, Nicholas Babin, Amber Saylor Mase, Tonya Haigh, Linda Stalker Prokopy

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Through the lens of the Health Belief Model and Protection Motivation Theory, we analyzed interviews of 36 agricultural advisors in Indiana and Nebraska to understand their appraisals of climate change risk, related decision making processes and subsequent risk management advice to producers. Most advisors interviewed accept that weather events are a risk for US Midwestern agriculture; however, they are more concerned about tangible threats such as crop prices. There is not much concern about climate change among agricultural advisors. Management practices that could help producers adapt to climate change were more likely to be recommended by conservation and Extension advisors, …

Bacteria Mitigation In Sponge Mariculture, Jambiani Zanzibar, Claire Johnston

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The declining seaweed industry coupled with efforts by the NGO Marine Cultures have led to the establishment of sponge mariculture in Jambiani, Zanzibar. However, growing cyanobacteria levels have substantially increased sponge mortality rates. In order to determine successful cyanobacteria mitigation treatments, six populations of farm ropes, support lines, and sponges were (a) untreated, (b) manually cleaned or submerged in solutions of (c) 2% hydrogen peroxide, (d) 4% hydrogen peroxide, (e) 50 g/L salt, or (f) 70 g/L salt. No conclusions were drawn from rope treatments, no techniques were effective for support line treatments, and both concentrations of hydrogen peroxide were …

Agricultural Responses To Climate Change: A Study Of Adaptive Farming Methods In Kizanda Village, Bailey Smith-Helman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agriculture is vital to the economic and social systems in Tanzania, composing 30% of the country’s GDP as well as 80% of employment (FAO, 2014). Despite agriculture’s important role, it remains one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. Current trends project global average temperature to increase by 0.8-2.6 degrees Celsius, leaving farmers to face changes in rainfall, soil quality, and new pests and diseases (IPCC, 2007). Farmers will be forced to adapt to the changing climate if they are to sustain their livelihoods and the Tanzanian economy. For these reasons, it is important to understand the types of …

The Effect Of Warming On Wind Speed And Potential Wind Power In Iceland, Alexei Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Climate change is causing a shift in the temperature and pressure gradient between the Arctic and the Equator, with the Arctic warming at a faster rate than the Equator. This shift has the potential to alter the seasonal wind speeds in the Northern Hemisphere, which could in turn affect the wind power density potential. In this study, a wind model was created to predict future wind speeds and wind power density for 6 weather stations in Iceland. According to the model, winter wind speeds and wind power density potential will either stay the same or increase slightly (0 – 4%), …

Origins And Transformations Of Dissolved Organic Matter In Large Arctic Rivers, Karl Kaiser, Maria Canedo-Oropeza, Rachel Mcmahon, Eainer M. W. Amon

OES Faculty Publications

Arctic river watersheds are important components of the global climate system and show an amplified response to climate change. Here, we characterize origins and transformations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in five major Arctic rivers (Kolyma, Lena, Yenisei, Ob, Mackenzie) over 3 years with seasonal sampling periods using measurements of carbohydrates, amino acids, bacterial biomarkers (D-amino acids), and plant protein biomarkers (hydroxyproline). A strong seasonal cycle of bioavailable DOM export was observed that correlated with discharge, vegetation, river morphology and water residence time. The chemical composition of bioavailable DOM was different among rivers reflecting unique characteristics of Arctic river watersheds. …

A Near-Global Atmospheric Distribution Of N2o Isotopologues, Peter F. Bernath, Mahdi Yousefi, Eric Buzan, Chris D. Boone

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The distributions of the four most abundant isotopologues and isotopomers (N₂O, ¹⁵NNO, N¹⁵NO, and NN¹⁸O of nitrous oxide have been measured in the Earth's stratosphere by infrared remote sensing with the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) Fourier transform spectrometer. These satellite observations have provided a near-global picture of N₂O isotopic fractionation. The relative abundances of the heavier species increase with altitude and with latitude in the stratosphere as the air becomes older. The heavy isotopologues are enriched by 20-30% in the upper stratosphere and even more over the poles. These observations are …

Droughtscape, Fall 2017, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Drought worsens in northern Great Plains

Drought takes toll on agriculture, livestock

Study examines ag advisors’ views on climate change

New drought definition could lead to better preparation

McCook takes big steps toward drought readiness

Group hopes to map drought planning process for Korea

South African researcher working to forecast drought

Cultivating drought preparedness in South Africa

The Clean Air Act And Its Impact On Ground Level Ozone Pollution Levels In Los Angeles, California, Rebecca G. Ford

Honors Theses

Ozone (O₃) occurs naturally as a protective, ultraviolet radiation-shielding “Ozone Layer” in the Stratosphere and as a photochemically produced pollutant in the Troposphere. The Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970 regulates the emission and concentration of O₃ and five other atmospheric pollutants. Since the signing of the CAA, the ongoing question has been whether or not the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and regulatory policies have had an effect on decreasing O₃ concentration. The Los Angeles metropolitan area is a prime example of how O₃ can be a public health hazard, and taint a …

A Comparative Assessment Of Projected Meteorological And Hydrological Droughts: Elucidating The Role Of Temperature, Ali Ahmadalipour, Hamid Moradkhani, Mehmet C. Demirel

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The changing climate and the associated future increases in temperature are expected to have impacts on drought characteristics and hydrologic cycle. This paper investigates the projected changes in spatiotemporal characteristics of droughts and their future attributes over the Willamette River Basin (WRB) in the Pacific Northwest U.S. The analysis is performed using two subsets of downscaled CMIP5 global climate models (GCMs) each consisting of 10 models from two future scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for 30 years of historical period (1970–1999) and 90 years of future projections (2010–2099). Hydrologic modeling is conducted using the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) as a …

Distributions Of Polychaetes As A Function Of Sediment Composition In A Subtropical Lagoon, Anthony William Cox

Theses and Dissertations

Fine-grained organic-rich sediments (FGORS) in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), Florida, the human activities and nutrient inputs and have a varied composition, including water content, silt-clay content, and organic matter. When these constituents reach, by weight, 75%, 60% dry, and 10% dry, respectively, this is sometimes referred to as IRL “muck”. Many polychaetes inhabit the benthic sediments of estuaries and must tolerate various degrees of FGORS. The Cox IRL Muck Index (CMI) is proposed as a mechanism for determining the organic sediment tolerances of infaunal species in a simple and direct manner. IRL muck will have a minimum CMI of …

Asean And The South China Sea: Approaches To Resolving The Conflict, Jennifer Jie Li

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In recent years, tensions have escalated between actors in the South China Sea, one of which is the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the region’s primary intergovernmental organization. The purpose of this report is to determine the effectiveness of ASEAN in resolving the South China Sea disputes and to clarify how geopolitical factors have impacted the organization’s actions. Through an analysis of evolving maritime claims and the current state of affairs, this paper suggests that ASEAN must be involved in any attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully. Acknowledging the importance of the diplomatic channels that ASEAN has created to …

2017 October - Tennesee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

The Capabilities Of The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (Goes-16), Brandon M. Kane

Student Works

This report investigates the capability of the new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) satellite to display 16 channels of the electromagnetic spectrum, to produce images at a higher resolution at increased intervals, and to detect and display lightning. This report also discusses the main instrumentation aboard the new geostationary satellite and how it aids in creating accurate data collection, which in turn, produces quicker weather forecasts and warnings. The 16 different channels produced by the Advanced Baseline Imager aboard the new satellite are analyzed in detail as to the functions and wavelengths on which the channels operate. The image resolution …

Selenium Distribution And Cycling In The Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean, Zoe Wambaugh

OES Theses and Dissertations

Oxygen minimum zones in oceanic waters have become increasingly important to the marine environment and society. Low oxygen waters affect not only the distribution and abundance of marine organisms, but also impact the solubility and transport of trace elements that are of biological importance, with the chemical speciation and solubility depending on the actual redox poise of the waters. One redox sensitive trace element of interest is selenium, which can be both toxic and essential for organisms, depending on its chemical speciation. In 2013, the US GEOTRACES program completed the GP16 transect from Peru to Tahiti, going through the oxygen …

Flood-Inundation Maps For The Meramec River At Valley Park And At Fenton, Missouri, 2017, Benjamin J. Dietsch, Jacob N. Sappington

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Two sets of digital flood-inundation map libraries that spanned a combined 16.7-mile reach of the Meramec River that extends upstream from Valley Park, Missouri, to downstream from Fenton, Missouri, were created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, Missouri Department of Transportation, Missouri American Water, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 7. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science website at https://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/, depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels …

You, Me And Life In The Sea Ocg 106g, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Additive Negative Effects Of Anthropogenic Sedimentation And Warming On The Survival Of Coral Recruits, Francesca Fourney, Joana Figueiredo

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Corals worldwide are facing population declines due to global climate change and local anthropogenic impacts. Global climate change effects are hard to tackle but recent studies show that some coral species can better handle climate change stress when provided with additional energy resources. The local stressor that most undermines energy acquisition is sedimentation because it impedes coral heterotrophic feeding and their ability to photosynthesize. To investigate if reducing local sedimentation will enable corals to better endure ocean warming, we quantitatively assessed the combined effects of increased temperature and sedimentation (concentration and turbidity) on the survival of coral recruits of the …

Role Of Viruses Within Metaorganisms: Ciona Intestinalis As A Model System, Brittany A. Leigh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Marine animals live and thrive in a literal sea of microorganisms, yet are often able to maintain specific associations that are largely dictated by the environment, host immunity and microbial interactions. Animal-associated microbiomes include bacteria and viruses that vastly outnumber host cells, especially in the gut environment, and are considered to be integral parts of healthy, functioning animals that act as a metaorganism. However, the processes underlying the initial establishment of these microbial communities are not very well understood. This dissertation focuses on the establishment of a well-known developmental animal model, Ciona intestinalis (sea squirt), to study the establishment and …

The Influence Of Recurrent Modes Of Climate Variability On The Occurrence Of Monthly Temperature Extremes Over South America, Paul C. Loikith, Judah Detzer, Carlos R. Mechoso, Huikyo Lee, Armineh Barkhordarian

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The associations between extreme temperature months and four prominent modes of recurrent climate variability are examined over South America. Associations are computed as the percent of extreme temperature months concurrent with the upper and lower quartiles of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Atlantic Niño, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index distributions, stratified by season. The relationship is strongest for ENSO, with nearly every extreme temperature month concurrent with the upper or lower quartiles of its distribution in portions of northwestern South America during some seasons. The likelihood of extreme warm temperatures is enhanced …

Collaborative Research: Synergistic Merging Of Traditional Aeronomy With Targeted High-Frequency (Hf) Heating Diagnostics, Herbert C. Carlson

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Redox-Mediated Quorum Sensing In Plants, Alexandra W. Fuller, Phoebe Young, B. Daniel Pierce, Jamie Kitson-Finuff, Purvi Jain, Karl Schneider, Stephen Lazar, Olga Teran, Andrew G. Palmer, David G. Lynn

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The rhizosphere, the narrow zone of soil around plant roots, is a complex network of interactions between plants, bacteria, and a variety of other organisms. The absolute dependence on host-derived signals, or xenognosins, to regulate critical developmental checkpoints for host commitment in the obligate parasitic plants provides a window into the rhizosphere's chemical dynamics. These sessile intruders use H2O2 in a process known as semagenesis to chemically modify the mature root surfaces of proximal host plants and generate p-benzoquinones (BQs). The resulting redox-active signaling network regulates the spatial and temporal commitments necessary for host attachment. Recent evidence from non-parasites, including …

Ionospheric Gravity Waves Driven By Oceanic Gravity Waves In Resonance: A Modeling Study In Search Of Their Spectra, Michael P. Hickey, Yonghui Yu

Publications

Ionospheric observations associated with the 2011 Tohoku tsunami have revealed gravity waves having spectral characteristics that depend on their proximity to the epicenter. There is a preponderance of medium-scale waves in the vicinity of the epicenter, a significant bifurcation into short- and long-period waves over the Hawaiian archipelago, and a narrow and rich spectrum of waves over the West Coast and inland of the United States (U.S.). Guided by these previous observations, we consider wave sources as triads of nonlinearly interacting oceanic gravity waves, whose wave parameters satisfy resonant conditions. These waves are simulated using a 2-D nonlinear model describing …

Light Rare Earth Element Depletion During Deepwater Horizon Blowout Methanotrophy, Alan M. Shiller, Eric W. Chan, D.J. Joung, Molly Redmond, John D. Kessler

Faculty Publications

Rare earth elements have generally not been thought to have a biological role. However, recent work has demonstrated that the light REEs (LREEs: La, Ce, Pr, and Nd) are essential for at least some methanotrophs, being co-factors in the XoxF type of methanol dehydrogenase (MDH). We show here that dissolved LREEs were significantly removed in a submerged plume of methane-rich water during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) well blowout. Furthermore, incubation experiments conducted with naturally methane-enriched waters from hydrocarbon seeps in the vicinity of the DWH wellhead also showed LREE removal concurrent with methane consumption. Metagenomic sequencing of incubation …

Characteristics Of Mesospheric Gravity Waves Over Antarctica Observed By Angwin (Antarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network) Imagers Using 3-D Spectral Analyses, Takashi S. Matsuda, Takuji Nakamura, Mitsumu K. Ejiri, Masaki Tsutsumi, Yoshihiro Tomikawa, Michael J. Taylor, Yucheng Zhao, Pierre-Dominique Pautet, Damian J. Murphy, Tracy Moffat-Griffin

Publications

We have obtained horizontal phase velocity distributions of the gravity waves around 90 km from four Antarctic airglow imagers, which belong to an international airglow imager/instrument network known as ANGWIN (Antarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network). Results from the airglow imagers at Syowa (69°S, 40°E), Halley (76°S, 27°W), Davis (69°S, 78°E), and McMurdo (78°S, 167°E) were compared, using a new statistical analysis method based on 3-D Fourier transform (Matsuda et al., 2014) for the observation period between 7 April and 21 May 2013. Significant day-to-day and site-to-site differences were found. The averaged phase velocity spectrum during the observation period showed preferential …

Virginia Homeowners Handbook: Helping Homeowners Prepare For Hurricanes And Other Natural Hazards, Jon Cawley

News Items

No abstract provided.