Atmospheric Sciences Commons^™

Long-Term Ndvi And Recent Vegetation Cover Profiles Of Major Offshore Island Nesting Sites Of Sea Turtles In Saudi Waters Of The Northern Arabian Gulf, Rommel H. Maneja, Jeffrey D. Miller, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Ace Vincent B. Flandez, Joshua J. Dagoy, Joselito Francis A. Alcaria, Abdullajid U. Basali, Khaled A. Al-Abdulkader, Ronald A. Loughland, Mohamed A. Qurban

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Vegetation is an important ecological component of offshore islands in the Arabian Gulf (AG), which maintains long-term resilience of these islands. This is achieved by influencing sediment retention and moisture acquisition via condensation during periods of high humidity and by providing a variety of microhabitats for island fauna. The resilience of offshore islands’ ecosystems in the Saudi waters is important because they host the largest number of nesting hawksbill and green turtles in the AG. This study defines the characteristics and the long-term trends in vegetation cover of the offshore islands used by sea turtles as nesting grounds in the …

A Hydrometeorological Assessment Of The Historic 2019 Flood Of Nebraska, Iowa, And South Dakota, Paul Xavier Flanagan, Rezaul Mahmood, Natalie Umphlett, Erin M.K. Haacker, Chittaranjan Ray, Bill Sorensen, Martha Shulski, Crystal J. Stiles, David Pearson, Paul Fajman

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

During early 2019, a series of events set the stage for devastating floods in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota. When the floodwaters hit, dams and levees failed, cutting off towns, while destroying roads, bridges, and rail lines, further exacerbating the crisis. Lives were lost and thousands of cattle were stranded. Estimates indicate that the cost of the flooding has topped $3 billion as of August 2019, with this number expected to rise.

After a warm and wet start to winter, eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota endured anomalously low temperatures and record-breaking snowfall. By March …

Building Adaptive Capacity In Tribal Communities Of The Missouri River Basin To Manage Drought And Climate Extremes: A Case Study From The Wind River Indian Reservation, Crystal J. Stiles, Natalie Umphlett, Mitch Cottenoir

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Native American peoples of the Northern and Central Plains have long endured harsh climate conditions, such as floods and droughts, and they possess valuable traditional knowledges that have enhanced their resilience to these extreme events. However, in recent times, limited capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing climate combined with a lack of resources have increased tribes’ vulnerability to climate extremes and their associated impacts. In response, a number of projects have been developed to assist tribes with their self-identified climate- and drought-related needs, particularly in the context of on-reservation decision-making. In this case study, we present an engagement strategy …

Climate From The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 1986–2017: Surface Air Temperature Trends And Redefined Summer Season, Maciej K. Obryk, Peter T. Doran, Andrew G. Fountain, M. Myers, Christopher P. Mckay

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The weather of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, the largest ice‐free region of the Antarctica, has been continuously monitored since 1985 with currently 14 operational meteorological stations distributed throughout the valleys. Because climate is based on a 30‐year record of weather, this is the first study to truly define the contemporary climate of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Mean air temperature and solar radiation based on all stations were −20°C and 102 Wm⁻², respectively. Depending on the site location, the mean annual air temperatures on the valleys floors ranged between −15°C and −30°C, and mean annual solar radiation varied …

Droughtscape, Spring 2020, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

DroughtScape, Spring 2020

Changes In Atmospheric, Meteorological, And Ocean Parameters Associated With The 12 January 2020 Taal Volcanic Eruption, Feng Jing, Akshansa Chauhan, Ramesh P. Singh, Prasanjit Dash

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The Taal volcano erupted on 12 January 2020, the first time since 1977. About 35 mild earthquakes (magnitude greater than 4.0) were observed on 12 January 2020 induced from the eruption. In the present paper, we analyzed optical properties of volcanic aerosols, volcanic gas emission, ocean parameters using multi-satellite sensors, namely, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder), OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument), TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) and ground observations, namely, Argo, and AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) data. Our detailed analysis shows pronounced changes in all the parameters, which mainly occurred in the western and south-western regions because the …

What Is The Most Threatening Disaster To The Continental United States?, Aaron Spomer, Elijah Kaufman, Julisa Prieto-Garcia, Brooke Aschwanden

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Our goal for our project is to fully understand which natural disaster is the most destructive to the United States. We have chosen to compare hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, and nor’easters. We have researched the cost of the total damage and repair, how the warning systems have improved over time, the death tolls from each, and also the frequency at which each one occurs. Each group member will research a different disaster impact, and the data will create a comprehensive view of the level of devastation each disaster has. We collected data all the way from the early 1900s …

A Design For A Sustained Assessment Of Climate Forcing And Feedbacks Related To Land Use And Land Cover Change, Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

L and use and land cover change (LULCC) plays an important role in the climate system. Many studies have documented the impacts of LULCC on local, regional, and global climate. The National Climate Assessment Report (Melillo et al. 2014) identifies LULCC as a “cross cutting” issue of future climate change studies. This report, and the previous U.S. Climate Change Science Program strategic plan (2003), noted that land use and land cover (LULC) and its feedback is an important source of uncertainty within the climate system (Melillo et al. 2014). As a result, the report calls for a better understanding of …

Droughtscape, Winter 2019, Cory Matteson

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

Contents

From the Director

4th quarter climate summary

2019 year in review summary

4th quarter drought impact summary

2019 drought impact summary

New form helps ‘see more’ drought

Landscape photographers invited to submit photos

Helping Central and South America planning

Database includes more drought planning

Development Of A Sensor Suite For Atmospheric Boundary Layer Measurement With A Small Multirotor Unmanned Aerial System, Kevin A. Adkins, Christopher J. Swinford, Peter D. Wambolt, Gordon Bease

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) are increasingly being used to conduct atmospheric research. Because of the dynamic nature and inhomogeneity of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), the ability of instrumented sUAS to make on-demand 3-dimensional high-resolution spatial measurements of atmospheric parameters makes them particularly suited to ABL investigations. Both fixed-wing and multirotor sUAS have been used for ABL investigations. Most investigations to date have included in-situ measurement of thermodynamic quantities such as temperature, pressure and humidity. When wind has been measured, a variety of strategies have been used. Two of the most popular techniques have been deducing wind from inertial …

Assessing Agricultural Risk Management Using Historic Crop Insurance Loss Data Over The Ogallala Aquifer, Julian Reyes, Emile Elias, Erin M.K. Haacker, Amy Kremen, Lauren Parker, Caitlin Rottler

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Much of the agricultural production in the Ogallala Aquifer region relies on groundwater for irrigation. In addition to declining water levels, weather and climate-driven events affect crop yields and revenues. Crop insurance serves as a risk management tool to mitigate these perils. Here, we seek to understand what long-term crop insurance loss data can tell us about agricultural risk management in the Ogallala. We assess patterns and trends in crop insurance loss data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency. Indemnities, or insurance payments, totaled $22 billion from 1989–2017 for the 161 counties that overlie the Ogallala Aquifer. …

The Fluxnet2015 Dataset And The Oneflux Processing Pipeline For Eddy Covariance Data, Gilberto Pastorello, Timothy Arkebauer, Dave P. Billesbach, Anatoly Gitelson, Adam Liska, Andrew Suyker, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, More Than 200 Other

Adam Liska Papers

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as …

Atmospheric And Ionospheric Responses To Acoustic And Gravity Waves Driven By Earthquakes And Tsunamis, Pavel A. Inchin

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Natural hazards (NHs) are causes for significant concern due to their potentially catastrophic impacts on society. The study of their effects on the upper atmosphere can provide significant insight into the coupled nature of geophysical processes, and drives important applications for radio communication and navigation, leading potentially to the development of NH early-warning systems. Although general concepts underlying their coupling mechanisms are well understood, recent computational capabilities, supported by high temporal and spatial density of observations, have reached the level where such processes can be modeled with unprecedented realism for detailed case studies. The studies provided in this thesis are …

Land Cover Change Detection In The Urban Catchments Of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Using Remote Sensing And Gis Techniques, Philip Mzava, Joel Nobert, Patrick Valimba

Tanzania Journal of Science

In this study, the Maximum Likelihood (ML) classification, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) methods were applied to three (3) Landsat images collected over time (1979, 1998 and 2014), that contained historical land cover features for the urban catchments of Dar es Salaam. Five major land cover classes were identified, mapped, and the land cover changes investigated. The major land cover changes observed from post-classification comparisons of the classified images are: the forest land losing 17.09% of its area in the period 1979-1998 to other land covers, mainly turning to grassland, and from 1998 to 2014, …

Umphlett Qci Dec 2019, Natalie A. Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Soil Moisture Conditions

Agriculture

Energy

Infrastructure

Temperature

Precipitation

The Effect Of The 21 August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse On The Phase Of Vlf/Lf Signals, A. Rozhnoi, M. Solovieva, S. Shalimov, Dimitar Ouzounov, P. Gallagher, G. Verth, J. Mccauley, S. Shelyag, V. Fedun

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

An experimental study of the phase and amplitude observations of sub‐ionospheric very low and low frequency (VLF/LF) signals is performed to analyze the response of the lower ionosphere during the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse in the United States of America. Three different sub‐ionospheric wave paths are investigated. The length of the paths varies from 2,200 to 6,400 km, and the signal frequencies are 21.4, 25.2, and 40.75 kHz. The two paths cross the region of the total eclipse, and the third path is in the region of 40–60% of obscuration. None of the signals reveal any noticeable amplitude …

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 …

A Technical Overview Of The Kentucky Mesonet, Rezaul Mahmood, Megan Schargorodski, Stuart Foster, Andrew Quilligan

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

The Kentucky Mesonet is a research-grade weather and climate observing network with redundant sensors that monitors the near-surface atmosphere at 71 locations across Kentucky. The network measures temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed and direction every 5 min, with soil moisture and soil temperature measured every 30 min. In addition, it operates a camera at selected locations. All observations are transmitted via cellular modem every 5 min and become available to the general public through the World Wide Web within seconds after arrival at Kentucky Mesonet’s Network Operations Center. In between arriving at the IT …

Umphlett Qci Sept 2019, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Soil Moisture Conditions

Delayed/Prevented Planting

Forage Production

Infrastructure

Temperature

Precipitation

Measurement And Characterization Of Infrasound From A Tornado Producing Storm, Brian R. Elbing, Christopher E. Petrin, Matthew Van Den Broeke

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

A hail-producing supercell on 11 May 2017 produced a small tornado near Perkins, Oklahoma (35.97, –97.04) at 2013 UTC. Two infrasound microphones with a 59-m separation and a regional Doppler radar station were located 18.7 and 70 km from the tornado, respectively. Elevated infrasound levels were observed starting 7min before the verified tornado. Infrasound data below ~5Hz was contaminated with wind noise, but in the 5–50 Hz band the infrasound was independent of wind speed with a bearing angle that was consistent with the movement of the storm core that produced the tornado. During the tornado, a 75 dB peak …

Abrupt Climate Transitions, Christine J. Ramadhin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Earth’s climate system displays a long history of nonlinear abrupt transitions which have resulted in significant ecosystem disruption and are recorded in the geologic data. Today significant anthropogenic changes are occurring in many Earth systems that seem to be pushing these toward critical thresholds. Thus, increasing the possibility of a transition to alternative states which can have unfavorable consequences. Therefore, it becomes compelling to forecast when and how these transitions will occur so that decision-makers can devise appropriate strategies to avoid or cope with the effects of a changeover to a new alternative state. However, due to the highly …

An Observational Study Of Winter Weather-Related Traffic Crashes In Nebraska, Jacob Petr

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

The responsibilities of meteorologists have evolved over time from simply providing a forecast to needing to also understand how those predictions will impact society and then communicating those risks in a clear, concise, and consistent manner. Increased motor vehicle crash numbers due to adverse weather conditions represent one such impact worthy of further study. Snowfall, in particular, significantly increases the overall risk of a crash, which can result in extensive property damage, severe injuries, and even loss of life.This project seeks to supplement traffic crash information in Nebraska by assessing how snowfall impacts crashes across the state. Crash data were …

An Estimation Of Lower Tropospheric Mixing Derived From Inverse Modeling Of Boundary Layer Water Vapor Isotopologues On Graciosa Island, Azores, Jacquelyn M. Delp

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Recent studies have shown water vapor isotopologues to be sensitive tracers of mixing processes that govern low-cloud feedback in climate models. In this study, we develop an inverse model (MBL Mix inverse model) that uses one year of isotope and humidity observations from Graciosa Island, Azores to estimate mixing for four seasons. We show the dry end-member of the model, the lower free troposphere (LFT), can be represented using Rayleigh fractionation. Isotope observations from Graciosa Island are compared to other field locations to discuss controls on isotopic variability other than mixing. Output from the MBL Mix inverse model shows the …

An Estimation Of Lower Tropospheric Mixing Derived From Inverse Modeling Of Boundary Layer Water Vapor Isotopologues On Graciosa Island, Azores, Jacquelyn M. Delp

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Recent studies have shown water vapor isotopologues to be sensitive tracers of mixing processes that govern low-cloud feedback in climate models. In this study, we develop an inverse model (MBL Mix inverse model) that uses one year of isotope and humidity observations from Graciosa Island, Azores to estimate mixing for four seasons. We show the dry end-member of the model, the lower free troposphere (LFT), can be represented using Rayleigh fractionation. Isotope observations from Graciosa Island are compared to other field locations to discuss controls on isotopic variability other than mixing. Output from the MBL Mix inverse model shows the …

Droughtscape, Fall 2019, Cory Matteson

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

Contents

From the Director

Quarterly drought summary

Quarterly drought impacts

Ranchers delayed response to drought

Drought Monitor celebrates 20 years

Drought Monitor state impact tables

Directorcontributesto U.N.droughtproject

Updated Drought Risk Atlas

New fact sheet lists recovery resources

Droughtscape, Summer 2019, Cory Matteson

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

Contents

From the Director

Quarterly drought summary

Quarterly drought impacts

NDMC welcomes African visitors

Ready for Drought game debuts

U.S. Virgin Islands added to USDM

Australian programmer visits NDMC

Upcoming events

Partnerships with NDMC extended

Evaluation Of Viirs Nightfire Product And Comparison With Modis And Viirs Active Fire Products In A Russian Gas Flaring Region, Ambrish Sharma

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

Gas flaring is a commonly used practice for disposing of waste gases emerging from industrial oil drilling and production processes. It is a serious environmental and economic hazard with adverse impacts on air quality, climate, and the public health. Accurate determination of flare locations and estimation of associated emissions are therefore of prime importance. Recently developed Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nightfire product (VNF) has shown remarkable efficiency in detecting gas flares globally, owing primarily to its use of Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) band in its detection algorithm. This study compares and contrast nocturnal hot source detection by VNF to …

Umphlett Qci June 2019, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Soil Moisture Conditions

Delayed/Prevented Planting

Impacts to Cattle

Damage to Infrastructure

Temperature

Precipitation

Land – Atmosphere – Meteorological Coupling Associated With The 2015 Gorkha (M 7.8) And Dolakha (M 7.3) Nepal Earthquakes, Feng Jing, Ramesh P. Singh, Xuhui Shen

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Multiple parameters (brightness temperature, soil moisture, surface latent heat flux, surface air temperature and carbon monoxide) before and after the 2015 Nepal M7.8 Gorkha main earthquake and M7.3 Dolakha aftershock were analysed using satellite observation data. The thermal anomalies from optical and microwave data appear about two months prior to the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Some of the parameters show anomalous changes at different altitudes about 20 days prior to the main earthquake event and 10 days prior to the strong aftershock. Our results show that pre-earthquake anomalous signals propagate from the in situ to the top of atmosphere, and the …

Tropospheric And Ionospheric Anomalies Induced By Volcanic And Saharan Dust Events As Part Of Geosphere Interaction Phenomena, Valerio Tramutoli, Francesco Marchese, Alfredo Falconieri, Carolina Filizzola, Nicola Genzano, Katsumi Hattori, Mariano Lisi, Jann-Yenq Liu, Dimitar Ouzounov, Michel Parrot, Nicola Pergola, Sergey Pulinets

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this work, we assessed the possible relation of ionospheric perturbations observed by Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER), Global Positioning System total electron content (GPS TEC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-derived outgoing longwave-Earth radiation (OLR), and atmospheric chemical potential (ACP) measurements, with volcanic and Saharan dust events identified by ground and satellite-based medium infrared/thermal infrared (MIR/TIR) observations. The results indicated that the Mt. Etna (Italy) volcanic activity of 2006 was probably responsible for the ionospheric perturbations revealed by DEMETER on 4 November and 6 December and by GPS TEC observations on 4 November and 12 …