Atmospheric Sciences Commons^™

Investigating The Growth Of Algae Under Low Atmospheric Pressures For Potential Food And Oxygen Production On Mars, Leena M. Cycil, Elisabeth M. Hausrath, Douglas W. Ming, Christopher T. Adcock, James Raymond, Daniel Remias, Warren P. Ruemmele

Geoscience Faculty Research

With long-term missions to Mars and beyond that would not allow resupply, a self-sustaining Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS) is essential. Algae are promising candidates for BLSS due to their completely edible biomass, fast growth rates and ease of handling. Extremophilic algae such as snow algae and halophilic algae may also be especially suited for a BLSS because of their ability to grow under extreme conditions. However, as indicated from over 50 prior space studies examining algal growth, little is known about the growth of algae at close to Mars-relevant pressures. Here, we explored the potential for five algae species …

Real-Time Pm10 Emission Rates From Paved Roads By Measurement Of Concentrations In The Vehicle's Wake Using On-Board Sensors Part 2. Comparison Of Scamper, Traker™, Flux Measurements, And Ap-42 Silt Sampling Under Controlled Conditions, Dennis R. Fitz, Kurt Bullimer, Vic Etyemezian, Hampden D. Kuhns, John A. Gillies, George Nikolich, David E. James, Rodney Langston, Russell S. Merle Jr.

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Representative soil was evenly applied to an 800-m section of road surface. The test area was of sufficient length to allow for measurement at constant speeds of up to 72 km hr−1. SCAMPER and TRAKER™ mobile measurement vehicles made repeated test runs while an instrumented tower measured upwind-downwind horizontal PM10 flux. AP-42 methods were used to collect silt samples and calculate PM10 emission factors. Both silt loadings and vehicle speeds were varied during the experiment. Street sweeping the as-found roadway showed an initial rise in PM10 emission rates. Both TRAKER and SCAMPER measured rapid decay of PM10 emission rates after …

Changes In Pm2.5 Peat Combustion Source Profiles With Atmospheric Aging In An Oxidation Flow Reactor, Judith C. Chow, Junji Cao, Lung-Wen Anthony Chen, Xiaoliang Wang, Qiyuan Wang, Jie Tian, Steven Sai Hang Ho, Adam C. Watts, Tessa B. Carlson, Steven D. Kohl, John G. Watson

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Smoke from laboratory chamber burning of peat fuels from Russia, Siberia, the USA (Alaska and Florida), and Malaysia representing boreal, temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions was sampled before and after passing through a potential-aerosol-mass oxidation flow reactor (PAM-OFR) to simulate intermediately aged (∼2 d) and well-aged (∼7 d) source profiles. Species abundances in PM2.5 between aged and fresh profiles varied by several orders of magnitude with two distinguishable clusters, centered around 0.1 % for reactive and ionic species and centered around 10 % for carbon. Organic carbon (OC) accounted for 58 %–85 % of PM2.5 mass in fresh profiles with …

Formation Of Evolved Rocks At Gale Crater By Crystal Fractionation And Implications For Mars Crustal Composition, Arya Udry, Esteban Gazel, Harry Y. Mcsween Jr.

Geoscience Faculty Research

The recent discovery of some ancient evolved rocks in Gale crater by the Curiosity rover has prompted the hypothesis that continental crust formed in early Martian history. Here we present petrological modeling that attempts to explain this lithological diversity by magma fractionation. Using the thermodynamical software MELTS, we model fractional crystallization of different Martian starting compositions that might generate felsic igneous compositions like those analyzed at Gale crater using different variables, such as pressure, oxygen fugacities, and water content. We show that similar chemical and mineralogical compositions observed in Gale crater felsic rocks can readily be obtained through different degrees …

Propagation Of Lightning Through Thick Thunderclouds, Isaiah Henry, Dieudonné D. Phanord

McNair Poster Presentations

The phenomenon that is lightning, have sparked the interest of physicists and scientists for centuries. The journey to understanding this phenomenon of high-current electric discharge, can unlock the secret to other lightning related phenomenons. Lightning is a major source of interference in many types of radio communications. The effects of lightning on space crafts, nuclear power plants, and sophisticated military equipment, are problems of increasing concern. The purpose of this research is to study the propagation of lightning through optically thick thunderclouds by applying knowledge of cloud micro-physics, the physics of lightning, diffusion approximations, and an understanding of the scattering …

Epa's Proposed Greenhouse Gas Regulation For Power Plants: How Does It Work And What Will It Mean For Nevada?, Adele C. Morris

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed important new limits on carbon dioxide emissions from existing U.S. power plants. The new regulation is the centerpiece of the Obama Administration’s climate policy. If the controversial rule is finalized as planned next year, it will cover about a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This lecture will explain the legal, environmental, and economic issues posed by the rule and highlight the important role for states in implementing it. The lecture will also review the implications and options for achieving the emissions target the EPA set for Nevada.

Estimating Annual Precipitation For The Colorado River Basin Using Oceanic-Atmospheric Oscillations, Ajay Kalra, Sajjad Ahmad

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Estimating long-lead time precipitation under the stress of increased climatic variability is a challenging task in the field of hydrology. A modified Support Vector Machine (SVM) based framework is proposed to estimate annual precipitation using oceanic-atmospheric oscillations. Oceanic-atmospheric oscillations, consisting of Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) for a period of 1900–2008, are used to generate annual precipitation estimates with a 1 year lead time. The SVM model is applied to 17 climate divisions encompassing the Colorado River Basin in the western United States. The overall results revealed that …

Sustainability And Climate Models For The Intermountain West: An Annotated Bibliography, Marianne A. Buehler, William E. Brown Jr.

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This resource on climate models and sustainability in the Intermountain West, a region that includes the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, is a collaborative effort between the UNLV Libraries (http://library.unlv.edu/) and Brookings Mountain West (http://brookingsmtnwest.unlv.edu/).

The selected citations include academic, government, and non-profit information that highlight ongoing research on climate models and sustainability efforts in the region. The websites, government studies, independent reports, scholarly articles, and media reports reflect the diversity and complexity of climate change and sustainability issues in a region that contains widely varying ecosystems. The Intermountain West, with its deserts, basins, mountains, …

2011-2012 Unlv Mcnair Journal, Cyndy Anang, Sajar Camara, Pamela Cornejo, Carla Antonieta Farcello, Ilse Anahi Garcia, Natiera Magnuson, William L. Mccurdy, Lorena Munoz, Maxym V. Myroshnychenko, Ricardo Rios, Theodore Waldeck, Barbara Wallen, Ana Zuniga, Brenda M. Aguilar, Tiffany Alexandra Alvarez, Daniel N. Erosa, Paige C. Espinosa, Carla Antonieta Farcello, Julienne Jochel Paraiso, Nathaniel Derek Phillipps, Carmen Vallin, Jacent N. Wamala, Ernesto Zamora-Ramos

McNair Journal

Journal articles based on research conducted by undergraduate students in the McNair Scholars Program

Table of Contents

Biography of Dr. Ronald E. McNair

Statements:

Dr. Neal J. Smatresk, UNLV President

Dr. Juanita P. Fain, Vice President of Student Affairs

Dr. William W. Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Retention and Outreach

Mr. Keith Rogers, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach

McNair Scholars Institute Staff

Sparticus: Small Particles In Cirrus Science And Operations Plan, J. Mace, E. Jensen, G. Mcfarquhar, J. Comstock, T. Ackerman, David L. Mitchell, X. Liu, T. Garrett

Publications (E)

From a mass-weighted perspective, cirrus clouds exert an enormous influence on the radiative energy budget of the earth?s climate system. Owing to their location in the cold upper troposphere, cirrus can significantly reduce the outgoing longwave radiation while, at the same time, remaining relatively transmissive to solar energy. Thus, cirrus clouds are the only cloud genre that can exert a direct radiative warming influence on the climate system (Ackerman et al. 1988). It is not surprising, therefore, that general circulation models (GCMs) are especially sensitive to the presence of cirrus in the model atmosphere. Lohmann and Roeckner (1995), for instance, …

Coupled Oceanic-Atmospheric Variability And U.S. Streamflow, Glenn A. Tootle, Thomas C. Piechota, Ashok Singh

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

A study of the influence of interdecadal, decadal, and interannual oceanic-atmospheric influences on streamflow in the United States is presented. Unimpaired streamflow was identified for 639 stations in the United States for the period 1951–2002. The phases (cold/negative or warm/positive) of Pacific Ocean (El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)) and Atlantic Ocean (Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)) oceanic-atmospheric influences were identified for the year prior to the streamflow year (i.e., long lead time). Statistical significance testing of streamflow, based on the interdecadal, decadal, and interannual oceanic-atmospheric phase (warm/positive or cold/negative), was performed by …

Mass Loading Measurements In Amargosa Valley, John C. Sagebiel, Alan W. Gertler, Amy J. Smiecinski, David Shafer

Publications (YM)

This work will be conducted under Task DRI-FI-001, “Mass Loading Measurements in Amargosa Valley.” The objective of this task is to measure, with known accuracy, the levels of atmospheric mass loading (mass concentration of suspended particulates) accompanying soil surface disturbing activities in Amargosa Valley. Mass loading is used in the biosphere model to calculate inhalation exposure for the human receptor, the maximally reasonably exposed individual (RMEI). The mass loading currently used in the biosphere model is based on literature data from the analog sites rather than on site-specific conditions. This work is subject to the Nevada System of Higher Education …

Calculated Current Velocity Data, U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

Data collected at various stations around the Lake Mead vicinity. Air temperature, lake elevation, weather, and wind velocity is recorded, as well as the depth, magnitude, resolved angle, and bearing of the water currents.

Preliminary Report: Monolayer Behavior Studies, 1959, Bureau Of Reclamation

Publications (WR)

During the fall of 1959, monolayer behavior studies were made on two lakes in the southwest; Boulder Basin of Lake Mead, Nevada, and Lake Sahuaro near Phoenix, Arizona.

These studies were made to evaluate the effect of geographical and climatological conditions on movement and behavior of monolayers. The Lake Sahuaro tests also were used to provide data for design and development of improved methods of application and maintenance of a film on this lake in anticipation of full scale, evaporation-reduction tests to be performed there during the summer of I960.

The Lake Mead studies produced the following general points of …