Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

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

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2011

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates from May 2011.

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

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

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates: 2011

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates from May 6 and 20, 2011.

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

Pleistocene Climate In Alaska From Stable Isotopes In An Ice Wedge, Corinne Y. Griffing

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The CRREL permafrost tunnel offers a unique opportunity to sample ice wedges in a climate-controlled environment, penetrating frozen silts which host massive ground ice that may record Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) and Heinrich Events. Ice wedges in the tunnel have been dated to approximately 36-22 ka (Hamilton et al., 1988), allowing the paleoclimate of the region to be reconstructed during MIS 3, when D-O and Heinrich events were documented in various other records. These climate cycles are rapid climate oscillations that have been recognized in records from the Arctic and subarctic, and suggest that climate can rapidly shift by 10°C over millennial …

Extent Of Gully Erosion In An Agricultural Field In Northeastern Nebraska At Section 35 Township 29 North Range 1 West In Cedar County, Crystal Starkel

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

My thesis project examined a gully within Section 35 Township 29 North Range 1 West. This gully has been noticed for five years and has grown substantially in those five years. The extent and causes of gully erosion were examined by considering the soil, the climate, the land management history, by measuring the gully physically, by using GIS, and by using an economic support tool was estimate soil loss. Appropriate recommendations were developed to reduce gully erosion.

Climate Change And Community Dynamics: A Hierarchical Bayesian Model Of Resource-Driven Changes In A Desert Rodent Community, Glenda M. Yenni

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Predicting effects of climate change on species persistence often assumes that those species are responding to abiotic effects alone. However, biotic interactions between community members may affect species’ ability to respond to abiotic changes. Latent Gaussian models of resource availability using precipitation and NDVI and accounting for spatial autocorrelation and rodent group-level uncertainty in the process are developed to detect differences in seasons, groups, and the experimental removal of one group. Precipitation and NDVI have overall positive effects on rodent energy use as expected, but meaningful differences were detected. Differences in the importance of seasonality when the dominant group was …

Dynamics Of Equatorial Spread F Using Ground-Based Optical And Radar Measurements, Narayan P. Chapagain

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Earth's equatorial ionosphere most often shows the occurrence of large plasma density and velocity fluctuations with a broad range of scale sizes and amplitudes. These night time ionospheric irregularities in the F-region are commonly referred to as equatorial spread F (ESF) or plasma bubbles (EPBs). This dissertation focuses on analysis of ground-based optical and radar measurements to investigate the development and dynamics of ESF, which can significantly disrupt radio communication and GPS navigation systems. OI (630.0 nm) airglow image data were obtained by the Utah State University all-sky CCD camera, primarily during the equinox period, from three different longitudinal …

Individualistic Response Of Piñon And Juniper Tree Species Distributions To Climate Change In North America's Arid Interior West, Jacob R. Gibson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Piñon and juniper tree species have species-specific climatic requirements, resulting in unique distributions and differential responses to climate change. Piñons and junipers co-dominate the arid woodlands of North America as groups with widespread hybridization. Two piñons, Pinus edulis; P. monophylla, and four junipers, Juniperus deppeana var. deppeana; J. monosperma; J. occidentalis; J. osteosperma, are endemic to the midlatitude interior west and form three groups of hybridizing sister species, P. edulis-P. monophylla; J. deppeana var. deppeana-J. monosperma; J. occidentalis-J. osteosperma. Recent droughts have caused widespread mortality among piñons, but have had less impact on …

Surface Morphology Implications On Langmuir Probe Measurements, Padmashri Suresh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Langmuir probes are extensively employed to study the plasmas in space and laboratory environments. Successful measurements require a comprehensive modeling of both the plasma environment and the probe conditions in the form of current collection models. In this thesis, the surface morphology implications on the probe current collection are investigated. This problem is applied and solved in the context of a CubeSat regime. The first problem that is investigated is the consequence of surface structural variability on the current measurements. A new model for dealing with non-uniformity of the probe surface structure is developed in this paper. This model is …

Nudibranch Predators Of Octocorallia, Eric Brown

HCNSO Student Capstones

Nudibranchs are soft-bodied marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs which lack a shell and mantle cavity. The basic body plan is bilaterally symmetrical with an expanded notum, but in regards to other physical characteristics they exhibit a wide range of forms. Compared to other molluscs, evolutionarily the head and body became flattened and streamlined and tentacles have been lost or shifted to different areas of the body. Nudibranchs are found in many variations of size and color; despite the fact that these animals in general are noted for flamboyant colors and prominent external anatomical structures, many species rely upon a more cryptic …

A New Species Of Leucothoid Amphipod, Anamixis Bananarama, Sp. N., From Shallow Coral Reefs In French Polynesia (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Leucothoidae), James Darwin Thomas, Traudl Krapp-Shickel

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Both leucomorph and anamorph developmental stages of Anamixis bananarama sp. n., are illustrated and described from shallow back reef environments of Moorea, French Polynesia. Distinguished by vestigial fi rst gnathopods that persist in post-transformational adult males, this is the second species in the genus to exhibit this unusual character. In other features such as coxae and second gnathopods A. bananarama sp. n. resembles other Pacific Plate endemics of Anamixis known from the region. Specific host association is not documented but suspected to be small calcareous asconoid sponges associated with coral rubble.

Super-Aggregations Of Krill And Humpback Whales In Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctic Peninsula, Douglas P. Nowacek, Ari S. Friedlaender, Patrick N. Halpin, Elliott L. Hazen, David W. Johnston, Andrew J. Read, Boris Espinasse, Meng Zhou, Yiwu Zhu

Environmental, Earth, and Ocean Sciences Faculty Publication Series

Ecological relationships of krill and whales have not been explored in the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), and have only rarely been studied elsewhere in the Southern Ocean. In the austral autumn we observed an extremely high density (5.1 whales per km²) of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding on a super-aggregation of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in Wilhelmina Bay. The krill biomass was approximately 2 million tons, distributed over an area of 100 km² at densities of up to 2000 individuals m⁻³; reports of such ‘super-aggregations’ of krill have been absent in …

Verification Of The Cobb Snowfall Forecasting Algorithm, Josh Barnwell

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

 Forecasting storm total snow accumulation is one of the most difficult aspects of meteorological forecasting.  The forecaster has to interpret three main variables in order to forecast snowfall accurately.  These forecasting variables are the duration of the snowfall, the amount of liquid water the storm will produce, and the snow density or snow ratio.  With the advancement of computer models in recent history, the need for a quick and easy interpretation of these variables has grown, and to improve on previous forecasting techniques’ disadvantages with including the three snow forecasting variables.  The Cobb Method snowfall forecasting algorithm utilizes model data …

Climate Change: Partisanship, Understanding, And Public Opinion, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Carsey Publications

In 2010, Carsey Institute researchers began including three new questions about climate change on a series of regional surveys. They asked how much people understand about the issue of global warming or climate change; whether they think that most scientists agree that climate change is happening now as a result of human activities; and what they believe personally about the topic. Survey results show that while large majorities agree that climate change is happening now, they split on whether this is attributed mainly to human or natural causes. Brief author Lawrence Hamilton concludes that most people gather information about climate …

Evaluation Of Drought Indices Based On Thermal Remote Sensing Of Evapotranspiration Over The Continental United States, Martha C. Anderson, Christopher R. Hain, Brian Wardlow, Agustin Pimstein, John R. Mecikalski, William P. Kustas

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The reliability of standard meteorological drought indices based on measurements of precipitation is limited by the spatial distribution and quality of currently available rainfall data. Furthermore, they reflect only one component of the surface hydrologic cycle, and they cannot readily capture nonprecipitation-based moisture inputs to the land surface system (e.g., irrigation) that may temper drought impacts or variable rates of water consumption across a landscape. This study assesses the value of a new drought index based on remote sensing of evapotranspiration (ET). The evaporative stress index (ESI) quantifies anomalies in the ratio of actual to potential ET (PET), mapped using …

Effects Of Rodent Species, Seed Species, And Predator Cues On Seed Fate, Kelly J. Sivy, Steven M. Ostoja, Eugene W. Schupp, Susan Durham

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Seed selection, removal and subsequent management by granivorous animals is thought to be a complex interaction of factors including qualities of the seeds themselves (e.g., seed size, nutritional quality) and features of the local habitat (e.g. perceived predator risk). At the same time, differential seed selection and dispersal is thought to have profound effects on seed fate and potentially vegetation dynamics. In a feeding arena, we tested whether rodent species, seed species, and indirect and direct predation cues influence seed selection and handling behaviors (e.g., scatter hoarding versus larder hoarding) of two heteromyid rodents, Ord’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii) and …

Investigating The Potential For Nitrate-N Removal In Rhode Island Transient Headwater Streams, Molly Welsh, Kelly Addy, Art Gold, Suzanne Cox

Discovery@URI

Excess nitrogen (N) can have detrimental effects on the environment, particularly in coastal waters where inputs from septic systems and agricultural runoff can lead to algal blooms and hypoxic zones. However, transient headwater streams, which comprise a significant portion of streams in watersheds, may have the potential to remove N given their low flow rates, high surface to volume ratios, long retention times, and hydric soils. We investigated the physical characteristics and N removal capacity of transient headwater streams. Four bromide (Br) and nitrate-N slug tests were conducted in four streams in southern RI. Streams were sampled repeatedly as the …

Development Of High Resolution Sea Floor Mapping Tools And Techniques, Gabrielle Inglis, J. Ian Vaughn, Clara Smart, Christopher N. Roman

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

There is a persistent need for high resolution photographic and bathymetric maps of the sea floor for many research areas in marine geology, biology and archaeology. This poster will present recent work using high frequency multibeam sonars, stereo vision and structured light laser imaging techniques to create maps with centimeter resolution for these applications. This research involves the development of new image and sonar processing techniques that combat the typical difficulties of imperfect navigation information, limited sensor ranges and adverse environmental conditions associated with using marine robotic vehicles in the ocean. Data for this work has been collected with the …

Multi-Scale Modeling Study Of The Source Contributions To Near-Surface Ozone And Sulfur Oxides Levels Over California During The Arctas-Carb Period, M. Huang, Gregory R. Carmichael, S N. Spak, B Adhikary, S Kulkarni, Y Cheng, C Wei, Y Tang, A D'Allura, Paul Wennberg, L Gregory Huey, Jack E. Dibb, Jose L. Jimenez, Michael J. Cubison, Andrew Weinheimer, Ajith P. Kaduwela, Chenxia Cai, M Wong, R Bradley Pierce, J Al-Saadi, David G. Streets, Q Zhang

Earth Sciences

Chronic high surface ozone (O₃) levels and the increasing sulfur oxides (SO_x = SO₂+SO₄) ambient concentrations over South Coast (SC) and other areas of California (CA) are affected by both local emissions and long-range transport. In this paper, multi-scale tracer, full-chemistry and adjoint simulations using the STEM atmospheric chemistry model are conducted to assess the contribution of local emission sourcesto SC O₃ and to evaluate the impacts of transported sulfur and local emissions on the SC sulfur budgetduring the ARCTAS-CARB experiment period in 2008. Sensitivity simulations quantify contributions of biogenic and fire …

Responsibility To Protect, Libya To Japan, Linda A. Malone

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion Presentation: Consequences Of Global Climate Change For Water Quality And Community Sustainability Along The U.S.-Mexico Trans-Border Region, Jorge Duran Encalada

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

Case Studies of Reynosa/McAllen and Laredo/Nuevo Laredo:

- Water availability and quality in Reynosa/McAllen and Laredo/Nuevo Laredo

- Water Consumption

- Socioeconomic Conditions

- Water Quality Scenarios

- Conclusions & Recommendations

Panel Discussion Presentation: The Colorado River — Operation And Current Conditions, Lorri Gray-Lee

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Perspectives

The Colorado River: Operation and Current Conditions

- Overview of Basin
- Overview of the Interim Guidelines
- Current and Projected System Conditions

Panel Discussion Presentation: Thoughts On Energy/Water Nexus – Energy Technologies, California Case, Terry Surles

North American Energy Water Nexus Roundtable

Panel Discussion: U.S.-Canada Transboundary Perspectives

Energy/Security/Water Problem Confluence:

There remains a critical need to make the best use possible of indigenous
national resources
- Water in the Southwest
- Energy resources in the region and nation

International energy resource competition will require effective development and use of national resources
- Geothermal, solar, wind, coal, uranium

Changing climate can produce "winners" as well as "losers" — requires an
understanding of past climate events and the impact on cultures
- Northern countries may benefit: Canada, Russia
- Temperate countries may suffer due to loss of cropland and increase of
tropical diseases and …

Impact Of Climate Change And Climate Variability On Productivity Of Grain Crops, P. V. Vara Prasad

INTSORMIL Presentations

1. Climate change and climate variability (past and future). 2. Temperature and carbon dioxide: response of grain sorghum and dry bean. 3. Climate change and variability in El Salvador (climate models). 4. Impact of temperature increaseongrainyieldofsorghum,maizeanddrybeaninElSalvador(cropsimulationmodels). 5.Concludingremarks.

Streamlining Sound Speed Profile Pre-Processing: Case Studies And Field Trials, Jonathan Beaudoin, A. Furlong, Steve Smyth, Henri Floc'h, Xavier Lurton

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

High rate sound speed profiling systems have the potential to maximize the efficiency of multibeam echosounder systems (MBES) by increasing the accuracy at the outer edges of the swath where refraction effects are at their worst. In some cases, high rate sampling on the order of tens of casts per hour is required to capture the spatio-temporal oceanographic variability and this increased sampling rate can challenge the data acquisition workflow if refraction corrections are to be applied in real-time. Common bottlenecks result from sound speed profile (SSP) preprocessing requirements, e.g. file format conversion, cast extension, reduction of the number of …

The Effect Of Air Temperature On The Incubation Period And Hatching Success Of In Situ Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta Caretta) Clutches In Broward County, Florida, Lucy Teal Kawana, Curtis M. Burney, Louis Fisher

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

The survival rates of pre-emergent sea turtle hatchlings are critically dependent upon temperature. This study aims to determine if changes in air temperature have influenced the incubation time and/or the survivorship of the pre-emergent loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) hatchlings for past sea turtle nesting seasons in Broward County. Air temperature data within the hatching seasons of 1999 to 2009 was obtained from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center’s Fort Lauderdale beach station. The loggerhead sea turtle hatching data collected by the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program from the same time period was examined to assess the …

Circulation, Vol. 16, No. 3, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Larry P. Atkinson

CCPO Circulation

Spring 2011 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article "Offshore Wind Power and Oceanography" by Larry Atkinson

Droughtscape, Spring 2011, Kelly Smith

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

Register Now

Forecasters Say Dryness in TX and SW to Continue

Drought Planning, The Game: Coming Soon

Ding Takes New Post

South and Southwest Lose Crops, Fight Fires

Drought Monitor Authors Review Enhanced GIS Tools and New Processes

2010 Western Pacific Bathymetry Mapping For U.S. Law Of The Sea, James V. Gardner, Andy Armstrong

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

The Port Norfolk Project: Improved Raster Navigation Products From High Resolution Source Data, Matt Wilson, James J. Miller, Vanessa Self Miller, Kolleen Mortimer, Katrina Wyllie

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

With increasing capabilities in technology, modern hydrographic surveys are comprised of similarly increasing amounts of data, only a minute fraction of which is currently available in the nautical charts produced by the NOAA Office of Coast Survey (OCS). Simultaneously, a tremendous amount of effort goes into the generalization and optimal cartographic representation of the hydrographic data onto raster products, from which the vector products are digitized. Preserving and maintaining a single database of high-resolution vector source data will retain— and make accessible—much more of the hydrographic data collected, alleviate the burden of generalization, and would allow for delivery of high-resolution …

Estimation Of Land Surface Evapotranspiration With A Satellite Remote Sensing Procedure, Ayse Kilic, Ian Ratcliffe, Pariskhit Ranade, Kenneth Hubbard, Ramesh K. Singh, Babuarao Kamble, Jeppe Kjaersgaard

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

There are various methods available for estimating magnitude and trends of evapotranspiration. Bowen ratio energy balance system and eddy correlation techniques offer powerful alternatives for measuring land surface evapotranspiration. In spite of the elegance, high accuracy, and theoretical attractions of these techniques for measuring evapotranspiration, their practical use over large areas can be limited due to the number of sites needed and the related expense. Application of evapotranspiration mapping from satellite measurements can overcome the limitations. The objective of this study was to utilize the METRIC^TM (Mapping Evapotranspiration at High Resolution using Internalized Calibration) model in Great Plains environmental …