Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Effects Of Local Meteorology And Aerosols On Ozone And Nitrogen Dioxide Retrievals From Omi And Pandora Spectrometers In Maryland, Usa During Discover-Aq 2011, Andra J. Garner, Anne M. Thompson, Debra E. Kollonige, Douglas K. Martins, Maria A. Tzortziou, Jay R. Herman, Timothy A. Berkoff, Nader K. Abuhassan, Alexander Cede

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

An analysis is presented for both ground- and satellite-based retrievals of total column ozone and nitrogen dioxide levels from the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan area during the NASA-sponsored July 2011 campaign of Deriving Information on Surface COnditions from Column and VERtically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ). Satellite retrievals of total column ozone and nitrogen dioxide from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite are used, while Pandora spectrometers provide total column ozone and nitrogen dioxide amounts from the ground. We found that OMI and Pandora agree well (residuals within ±25 % for nitrogen dioxide, …

Design, Development, And In-Flight Testing Of A Pointer/Tracker For In-Flight Experiments To Measure Aero-Optical Effects Over A Scaled Turret, Matthew J. Krizo, Salvatore J. Cusumano, Steven T. Fiorino, Ryan Heap, Victor Velten, Joshua Brown, Richard J. Bartell

Faculty Publications

We address the design, development, and testing of a pointer/tracker as a probe beam for the purpose of making high-speed, aero-optical measurements of the flow over a scaled beam director turret. The tracker uses retro-reflection of the probe beam off of a Reflexite annulus surrounding the turret. The constraints of the design required a near-total-commercial off the shelf system that could be quickly installed and removed in a rented aircraft. Baseline measurements of environmental vibrations are used to predict pointing performance; mitigation of line-of-sight jitter on the probe beam is achieved through passive isolation and the design of relay optics. …

The Production Of Organic Nitrates In Portland Oregon And The Columbia River Gorge, Holly Ann Neill

Dissertations and Theses

This work studied the production of aerosol-phase organic nitrates in both Portland and the Columbia River Gorge (CRG). Ozone and NO_x species were investigated for correlation with organic nitrate aerosol, as they function as precursors to the production of organic nitrates. These ambient gas-phase measurements were collected in the same locations as high-volume (Hi-Vol) filters samples, in an urban and rural gorge setting to investigate correlations at the origin of the pollution plume and downwind. A novel Soxhlet extraction method for Hi-Vol filters was developed based on literature and EPA standard methods. Analysis for nitrate production was done by …

R/V Falkor Multibeam Echosounder System Review, Jonathan Beaudoin, Paul D. Johnson, Ashton F. Flinders

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Sfa Weather Station-April 2013, Arthur Temple College Of Forestry And Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University

Weather Station Data

No abstract provided.

Ionospheric Induced Scintillation: A Space Weather Enigma, Jan Josef Sojka

All Physics Faculty Publications

The effect of scintillation on radio signals whose propagation path involves the Earth’s ionosphere is analogous to the allies of World War II receiving radio messages that had passed through the Enigma machine. In both these cases, man-made information has been encrypted and transmitted via radio. The two encryption methods are shown in Figure 1. The right panel shows a World War II Enigma machine used extensively by German U-boats to convey encrypted messages transmitted by radio [Perera, 2010]. The left panel gives an extreme example of a mapping of ionospheric irregularities at 3 m, which creates very severe scintillation …

A Magical Look At The Shore, Suzanne Zack

Wrack Lines

A free digital resource helps you sea Connecticut changing.

3-D Modeling Of Coastal Aquifers, Seth Mullendore

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

The purpose of this project is to assess the accuracy of a simplified computer modeling approach to coastal fresh/salt water interface groundwater flow. A number of test cases will be run to compare the results of the sophisticated USGS computer program SEAWAT with those of the program AnAqSim (analytic aquifer simulator), written by Dr. Charles Fitts. In order to reduce input complexity and model processing time, AnAqSim uses several simplifying assumptions. The analysis will lead to guidance regarding the range of conditions where the simplified approach is applicable, and the nature of the errors that may be introduced.

Underwater Radiated Noise Levels Of A Research Icebreaker In The Central Arctic Ocean, Ethan H. Roth, Val E. Schmidt, John A. Hildebrand, Sean M. Wiggins

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy's underwater radiated noise signature was characterized in the central Arctic Ocean during different types of ice-breaking operations. Propulsion modes included transit in variable ice cover, breaking heavy ice with backing-and-ramming maneuvers, and dynamic positioning with the bow thruster in operation. Compared to open-water transit, Healy's noise signature increased approximately 10 dB between 20 Hz and 2 kHz when breaking ice. The highest noise levels resulted while the ship was engaged in backing-and-ramming maneuvers, owing to cavitation when operating the propellers astern or in opposing directions. In frequency bands centered near 10, 50, and 100 Hz, …

Nor'easter, Geneva Renegar

Wrack Lines

An ode to New England fishermen.

Circulation, Vol. 18, No. 2, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Malcolm Scully

CCPO Circulation

Spring 2013 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article "Physical Modulation of Dissolved Oxygen in Chesapeake Bay" by Dr. Malcolm Scully

Microhabitat Selection By Marine Mesoconsumers In A Thermally Heterogeneous Habitat: Behavioral Thermoregulation Or Avoiding Predation Risk?, Jeremy Vaudo, Michael Heithaus

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Habitat selection decisions by consumers has the potential to shape ecosystems. Understanding the factors that influence habitat selection is therefore critical to understanding ecosystem function. This is especially true of mesoconsumers because they provide the link between upper and lower tropic levels. We examined the factors influencing microhabitat selection of marine mesoconsumers – juvenile giant shovelnose rays (Glaucostegus typus), reticulate whiprays (Himantura uarnak), and pink whiprays (H. fai) – in a coastal ecosystem with intact predator and prey populations and marked spatial and temporal thermal heterogeneity. Using a combination of belt transects and data …

Florida Keys Population Abundance Estimates For Nine Coral Species Proposed For Listing Under The U.S. Endangered Species Act, Steven Miller, William F. Precht, Leanne M. Rutten, Mark Chiappone

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

This report presents abundance and size-class distribution estimates for nine coral species in the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas, all of which are proposed for listing or reclassification under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The lack of population data for these species was highlighted as a deficiency in the ESA Review Process by the Biological Review Team (BRT) in their Status Review (Brainard et al. 2011) and also by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Federal Register 2012). Field sampling protocols were adapted from Aronson et al. (1994) and the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment program (Kramer …

Coral Population Trajectories, Increased Disturbance And Management Intervention: A Sensitivity Analysis, Bernhard Riegl, M. L. Berumen, Andrew Bruckner

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral reefs distant from human population were sampled in the Red Sea and one-third showed degradation by predator outbreaks (crown-of-thorns-starfish = COTS observed in all regions in all years) or bleaching (1998, 2010). Models were built to assess future trajectories. They assumed variable coral types (slow/fast growing), disturbance frequencies (5,10,20 years), mortality (equal or not), and connectivity (un/connected to un/disturbed community). Known disturbances were used to parameterize models. Present and future disturbances were estimated from remote-sensing chlorophyll and temperature data. Simulations and sensitivity analysis suggest community resilience at >20-year disturbance frequency, but degradation at higher frequency. Trajectories move from fast-grower …

Changes In A Tropical Seagrass Environment After Installation Of Small Artificial Reefs, Joseph M. Penta

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The 3-dimensional structural complexity of coral reef environments is positively correlated with measurements of biodiversity and biomass. EcoReefs are a type of artificial reef that resemble branching corals, such as Acropora cervicornis, which provide an environment of high structural diversity, and that are effective at recruiting and sustaining fish populations. Little is known, however, about the effects of EcoReefs on the surrounding environments in which they are deployed, so this study examined the results after installing Ecoreef modules in a seagrass environment. The installation occurred in March 2009 at Coco Cay in the Berry Island chain in the Bahamas …

A Review Of Predator-Prey Interactions Within Marine Ecosystems With A Focus On Top Predator Influences On Ecosystem Stability And Fisheries Management Implications, Kathleen Cook Hollowell

HCNSO Student Capstones

The objective of this paper is to review the effects top predators have on and within marine ecosystems, although the full impact that they have isn’t well understood. This paper will define and explain different types of direct and indirect interactions of predators on prey, the types of models or observing techniques currently used to study these interactions, the reasons for top predator loss and the impact top predator loss could have on marine ecosystems.

Droughtscape, Spring 2013, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

Contents

Director’s report

First quarter climate summary and outlook

Impacts: Crop indemnities set records in 2012; water conflicts escalating

International meeting recommends countries have drought policies

NDMC plays key role in international drought policy meeting

EDEN and VOAD guide helps build community drought capacity

Svoboda, other experts and policymakers focus on food and water security

New Mexico ranching workshop set for May 29 in Socorro

Ranch planning updates: archived webinars, new publications

Tune in to the US Drought Monitor Forum, April 16-18

Archived webinar looks at using drought simulations in planning

CoCoRaHS WxTalk on drought

Implications For Soil Microbe Research: Investigations Into The Feasibility Of Dna Amplification From Stained Roots And Temporal Patterns In Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities., Catherine Ausland

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are obligate biotrophs that form symbiotic relationships with 80% of vascular plants around the world. Because of their beneficial relationship with plants in almost all terrestrial ecosystems, the implication of utilizing AM fungi in ecological restorations is immense. The following investigations seek to increase knowledge of the community ecology of AM fungi in order to enhance the potential for use of AM in ecological restoration. The first investigation replicated a novel method of AM visualization in plant roots, utilizing ink and vinegar as less destructive staining agents, to determine whether molecular studies could be feasibly performed …

Ethical Ambivalence In Local Television Weathercasting: A Rossian Analysis, Vernon Keith Thompson

Masters Theses

Today’s television weathercasters are being called upon increasingly to go beyond benign weather prognostications to become the “newsroom experts” for science topics. The expectation to act as both scientists and journalists can cause ethical ambivalence (EA), a sociological condition in which, faced with conflicting norms, the subject feels that he/she is being pulled psychologically in two different directions (Jansen & Von Glinow, 1985). This thesis presents a Rossian analysis of climate change in weathercasting, a topic that captures the most important ethical tensions arising from conflicting duties within the weathercaster role, specifically: a) how might the duties of the television …

Evaluation Of A Wind-Wave System For Ensemble Tropical Cyclone Wave Forecasting. Part I: Winds, Steven M. Lazarus, Samuel T. Wilson, Michael E. Splitt, Gary A. Zarillo

Aeronautics Faculty Publications

A computationally efficient method of producing tropical cyclone (TC) wind analyses is developed and tested, using a hindcast methodology, for 12 Gulf of Mexico storms. The analyses are created by blending synthetic data, generated from a simple parametric model constructed using extended best-track data and climatology, with a first-guess field obtained from the NCEP-NCAR North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR). Tests are performed whereby parameters in the wind analysis and vortex model are varied in an attempt to best represent the TC wind fields. A comparison between nonlinear and climatological estimates of the TC size parameter indicates that the former yields …

Modeling Studies Of Antarctic Krill (Euphausia Superba) Survival During Transport Across The Scotia Sea And Environs, Bettina Andrea Fach

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) populations at South Georgia, which is in the eastern Scotia Sea, are hypothesized to be sustained by import of individuals from upstream regions, such as the western Antarctic Peninsula. To test this hypothesis a modeling framework consisting of the Harvard Ocean Prediction System (HOPS) and a time-dependent, size-structured, physiologically-based krill growth model was developed. The simulated circulation fields obtained from HOPS were used with drifter studies to determine regions and pathways that allow transport of Antarctic krill to South Georgia. Pelagic phytoplankton concentrations along the simulated drifter trajectories were extracted from historical Coastal …

Environmental And Physiological Influences On Productivity And Carbon Isotope Discrimination In Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.), Meredith Leigh Mcpherson

OES Theses and Dissertations

A short-term longitudinal study was used to examine the relations of achievement motivation, general motivation, interest, and self-regulatory predictors to cognitive strategy use and academic performance. A total of 102 college undergraduates enrolled in their first college-level introductory psychology course completed an Achieving Tendency Scale of achievement motivation, the Motivated Strategies For Learning Questionnaire, and an Interest Profile in psychology during the first two weeks of the semester. At midterm they completed the Study Activity Survey of cognitive strategy use. At the end of the semester exam grades, total points earned in the course, and grade point average were obtained. …

Response Of Natural Estuarine Algal Communities To Nitrogen Additions, Christopher Schweitzer

OES Theses and Dissertations

Coastal eutrophication resulting from nutrient over-enrichment plagues coastal waterways worldwide. In addition to dissolved inorganic N, many marine microbes, including phytoplankton, have the capacity to use certain dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) compounds. However, while we know that many specific DON compounds are labile, the bulk of the DON pool in nature is uncharacterized. The bioavailability of DON to estuarine microbes currently remains unclear.

It is becoming evident that natural phytoplankton assemblages in estuarine waters are capable of using both inorganic and organic N compounds for growth, both of which are present in anthropogenic point and non-point source discharges. Methods for …

Using Neural Networks To Provide Local Weather Forecasts, Andrew Culclasure

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been applied extensively to both regress and classify weather phenomena. While one of the core strengths of neural networks is rendering accurate predictions with noisy datasets, there is currently not a significant amount of research focusing on whether ANNs are capable of producing accurate forecasts of relevant weather variables from small-scale, imperfect datasets. Also, there is not a significant amount of research focusing on the forecasting performance of neural networks applied to weather datasets that have been temporally rolled-up from a base dataset. In this paper, a survey of existing research on applying ANNs to …

Evaluation Of A Wind-Wave System For Ensemble Tropical Cyclone Wave Forecasting. Part Ii: Waves, Steven M. Lazarus, Samuel T. Wilson, Michael E. Splitt, Gary A. Zarillo

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

A wind-wave forecast system, designed with the intention of generating unbiased ensemble wave forecasts for extreme wind events, is assessed. Wave hindcasts for 12 tropical cyclones (TCs) are forced using a wind analysis produced from a combination of the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) and a parametric wind model. The default drag parameterization is replaced by one that is more in line with recent studies where a cap at weak-to-moderate wind speeds is applied. Quadrant-based significant wave height (Hs) statistics are composited in a storm-relative reference frame and stratified by the radius of maximum wind, storm speed, and storm intensity. …

Evaluation Of A Wind-Wave System For Ensemble Tropical Cyclone Wave Forecasting. Part I: Winds, Steven M. Lazarus, Samuel T. Wilson, Michael E. Splitt, Gary A. Zarillo

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

A computationally efficient method of producing tropical cyclone (TC) wind analyses is developed and tested, using a hindcast methodology, for 12 Gulf of Mexico storms. The analyses are created by blending synthetic data, generated from a simple parametric model constructed using extended best-track data and climatology, with a first-guess field obtained from the NCEP-NCAR North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR). Tests are performed whereby parameters in the wind analysis and vortex model are varied in an attempt to best represent the TC wind fields.Acomparison between nonlinear and climatological estimates of the TC size parameter indicates that the former yields a much …

Parallel And Distributed Performance Of A Depth Estimation Algorithm, Brian R. Calder

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Expansion of dataset sizes and increasing complexity of processing algorithms have led to consideration of parallel and distributed implementations. The rationale for distributing the computational load may be to thin-provision computational resources, to accelerate data processing rate, or to efficiently reuse already available but otherwise idle computational resources. Whatever the rationale, an efficient solution of this type brings with it questions of data distribution, job partitioning, reliability, and robustness. This paper addresses the first two of these questions in the context of a local cluster-computing environment. Using the CHRT depth estimator, it considers active and passive data distribution and their …

Aquatic Invasive Plant Surveys In The Blm Medford District During 2012, Rich Miller, Vanessa Morgan, Mark D. Sytsma

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Aquatic plant surveys were conducted at 22 waterbodies located within the Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District during the summer of 2012. Sites included eleven lakes, ponds or reservoirs and six reaches along the Rogue and Applegate Rivers. Five sampling areas surveyed during 2010 and 2011 were revisited to determine the extent of known non-native species infestations, positively identify rare species, or verify the absence of an expected non-native species. Plant specimens were collected at up to 50 sites at each waterbody using plant rakes or by observation. The non-native submersed species curly leaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus) and …

Precipitation Modulation By The Saint Lawrence River Valley In Association With Transitioning Tropical Cyclones, Shawn M. Milrad, Eyad H. Atallah, John R. Gyakum

Publications

The St. Lawrence River valley (SLRV) is an important orographic feature in eastern Canada that can affect surface wind patterns and contribute to locally higher amounts of precipitation. The impact of the SLRV on precipitation distributions associated with transitioning, or transitioned, tropical cyclones that approached the region is assessed. Such cases can result in heavy precipitation during the warm season, as during the transition of Hurricane Ike (2008). Thirty-eight tropical cyclones tracked within 500 km of the SLRV from 1979 to 2011. Utilizing the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), 19 of the 38 cases …

Ocean Current Measurements: Challenges And Opportunities In The Florida Current, William E. Baxley

HCNSO Student Capstones

The water velocities offshore south Florida are dominated by the Florida Current, and these effects result not only from the tremendous flow of water between Florida and the Bahamas, but also from the eddies and other rotational components imparted by the change in flow direction from eastward to northward along the Florida Keys and the end of the peninsula. These currents have been measured for decades, with methods ranging from subsurface floats to acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) and surface current measuring radars. Data suggests that there is a large degree of variability in the mean flow, including significant vorticity …