Atmospheric Sciences Commons^™

Field And Smog Chamber Studies Of Agricultural Emissions And Reaction Products, Derek J. Price

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agricultural emissions are an important contributor to atmospheric aerosol. These emissions include nitrogen containing organic compounds, primarily as amines, which have not been well investigated to date. Although there have been several studies that have looked at the emission of gas phase amines, there are only a few studies that have focused on ambient amine-based aerosol. There have also only been a handful of smog chamber studies that have investigated amine aerosol chemistry. Kinetic studies have looked at the reactions of amines with OH and ozone. However, amine reactions with nitrate radical (NO₃) are not well understood. Several …

Intercomparison Of Prism And Daymet Temperature Interpolation From 1980 To 2003, Rebecca A. Scully

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As ecosystem modeling becomes increasingly integrated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) there is a rise in demand for spatially and temporally continuous meteorological data. But in order to justify management decisions or to provide robust scientific insights, the accuracy of meteorological data used as model input must be thoroughly quantified. Current methods to create spatially continuous climate data from discrete weather station data include inverse distance weighting, geostatistical techniques such as kriging and splines, local regression models such as Parameter-Elevation Regression on Independent Slope Model (PRISM) and Daymet, and regional regression models. For the conterminous United States, PRISM and Daymet …

Impact Of Mineral Dust On Nitrate, Sulfate, And Ozone In Transpacific Asian Pollution Plumes, T D. Fairlie, D J. Jacob, Jack E. Dibb, B Alexander, M A. Avery, Aaron Van Donkelaar, L Zhang

Earth Sciences

We use a 3-D global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to interpret aircraft observations of nitrate and sulfate partitioning in transpacific dust plumes during the INTEX-B campaign of April–May 2006. The model includes explicit transport of size-resolved mineral dust and its alkalinity, nitrate, and sulfate content. The observations show that particulate nitrate is primarily associated with dust, sulfate is primarily associated with ammonium, and Asian dust remains alkaline across the Pacific. This can be reproduced in the model by using a reactive uptake coefficient for HNO₃ on dust (γ(HNO₃) ~10⁻³) much lower than commonly assumed in …

Droughtscape, Spring 2010, Kelly Smith

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

NDMC and NC Drought Council Team Up

Drought to Intensify in Northwest and Hawaii

International Work

Impacts Recorded in Hawaii and Western States

U.S. Drought Monitor Archives Enhanced

Low-Water Impact Surveys Completed

K-12 Drought Outreach

A Balloon Sounding Technique For Measuring So2 Plumes, Gary A. Morris, Walter D. Komhyr, Jun Hirokawa, James Flynn, Barry Lefer, Nicholay Krotokov, Fong Ngan

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

This paper reports on the development of a new technique for inexpensive measurements of SO2 profiles using a modified dual-ozonesonde instrument payload. The presence of SO2 interferes with the standard electrochemical cell (ECC) ozonesonde measurement, resulting in –1 molecule of O3 reported for each molecule of SO2 present (provided [O3].[SO2]). In laboratory tests, an SO2 filter made with CrO3 placed on the inlet side of the sonde removes nearly 100% of the SO2 present for concentrations up to 60 ppbv and remained effective after exposure to 2.8 3 1016 molecules of SO2 [equivalent to a column ;150 DU (1 DU …

Passive Ranging Using Infra-Red Atmospheric Attenuation, Douglas J. Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Methods of estimating range to an emissive target based on the depth of an atmospheric absorption band are demonstrated. The present work uses measurements of the CO2 absorption band centered at 2.0 µm where signal-to-background ratios are maximum for many applications. Model results, based on high-resolution transmission molecular absorption (HITRAN) database cross sections, are used to predict range accuracy at ranges of up to 50 km and are compared with short range (<5km) experimental results. The spectra of 23 high explosive events were used to validate the model. Using the assumption of a blackbody spectrum, extracted ranges consistently underestimated the true range by approximately 13%. By incorporating the stoichiometry of the fireball from previous research and using particulate contribution as a parameter, the error for the range estimates could be reduced to 3%.

Evaluation Of Interplanetary Magnetic Field Tracing Models Using Impulsive Seps, Brian P. Elliott

Theses and Dissertations

Current Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) models are evaluated in this study to determine which model(s) perform an accurate representation of this magnetic structure. These IMF models include the Parker Spiral model, the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model, the Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) model and the ENLIL model. Impulsive Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) are used as tracers to determine the magnetic structure of the IMF and provide source locations for model comparisons. Each individual model is analyzed, compared to the identified solar source region and a longitude/latitude offset of these traces assigned. The model connection of the PFSS and Parker models is …

Application Of Satellite-Derived Wind Profiles To Joint Precision Airdrop System (Jpads) Operations, David C. Meier

Theses and Dissertations

The Joint Precision Airdrop System has revolutionized military airdrop capability, allowing accurate delivery of equipment and supplies to smaller drop zones, from higher altitudes than was previously possible. This capability depends on accurate wind data which is currently provided by a combination of high-resolution forecast models and GPS dropsondes released in the vicinity of the dropzone shortly before the airdrop. This research develops a windprofiling algorithm to derive the needed wind data from passive IR satellite soundings, eliminating the requirement for a hazardous dropsonde pass near the drop zone, or allowing the dropsonde to be dropped farther from the dropzone. …

Experimental Validation Techniques For The Heleeos Off-Axis Laser Propagation Model, John D. Haiducek

Theses and Dissertations

The High Energy Laser End-to-End Operational Simulation (HELEEOS) off-axis scattering algorithm is designed to predict the irradiance that will be detected at a given off-axis location due to atmospheric scattering of a high-energy laser. The HELEEOS system models the propagation of the laser through the atmosphere, accounting for such effects as turbulence, thermal blooming, and atmospheric absorption. The HELEEOS off-axis scattering algorithm uses the scattering phase functions of the Mie scattering models to predict the amount of radiation that will be scattered toward a particular observation location from each point along the beam path, and the total irradiance that will …

A Regional Scale Modeling Analysis Of Aerosol And Trace Gas Distributions Over The Eastern Pacific During The Intex-B Field Campaign, B Adhikary, Gregory R. Carmichael, S Kulkarni, C Wei, Y Tang, A D'Allura, M Mena-Carrasco, David G. Streets, Q Zhang, R B. Pierce, J Al-Saadi, L K. Emmons, G G. Pfister, M A. Avery, J D. Barrick, D R. Blake, William H. Brune, Robert C. Cohen, Jack E. Dibb, A Fried, B J. Heikes, L Gregory Huey, D W. O'Sullivan, G W. Sachse, R E. Shetter, H B. Singh, T L. Campos, C A. Cantrell, F Flocke, E J. Dunlea, Jose L. Jimenez, Andrew Weinheimer, John D. Crounse, Paul Wennberg, James J. Schauer, E A. Stone, D A. Jaffe, D R. Reidmiller

Earth Sciences

The Sulfur Transport and dEposition Model (STEM) is applied to the analysis of observations obtained during the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-Phase B (INTEX-B), conducted over the eastern Pacific Ocean during spring 2006. Predicted trace gas and aerosol distributions over the Pacific are presented and discussed in terms of transport and source region contributions. Trace species distributions show a strong west (high) to east (low) gradient, with the bulk of the pollutant transport over the central Pacific occurring between ∼20° N and 50° N in the 2-6 km altitude range. These distributions are evaluated in the eastern Pacific by comparison with …

Design Of A Software Framework Prototype For Scientific Model Interoperability, Eric Fritzinger, Sohei Okamoto

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

19 PowerPoint slides Session 2: Infrastructure Convener: Sergiu Dascalu, UNR Abstract: -What are models? -Mathematical models used to describe a system -E.g. Atmospheric, Oceanic, Ecological, etc… -Algorithmic calculations which take input and produce estimated results -Weather forecasting, global warming predictions, sea level estimations, etc… -Models are invaluable

Research Poster: Climate Prediction Downscaling Of Temperature And Precipitation In The Great Basin Region, Ramesh Vellore, Benjamin J. Hatchett, Darko Koracin

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

Research poster

Research Poster: Measuring The Aerosol Asymmetry Parameter G Instrument Description And Initial Measurements, Guoxun Tian, Hans Moosmuller, W. Patrick Arnott

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

Research poster

A Multiscale And Multidisciplinary Investigation Of Ecosystem- Atmosphere Co2 Exchange Over The Rocky Mountains Of Colorado, Jielun Sun, Steven Oncley, Sean Burns, Britton Stephens, Donald Lenschow, Teresa Campos, Russell Monson, David Schimel, William Sacks, Stephan Dewekker, Chun-Ta Lai, Brian Lamb, Dennis Ojima, Patrick Ellsworth, Leonel Sternberg, Sharon Zhong, Craig Clements, David Moore, Dean Anderson, Andrew Watt, Jia Hu, Mark Tschudi, Steven Aulenbach, Eugene Allwine, Teresa Coons

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

A significant fraction of Earth consists of mountainous terrain. However, the question of how to monitor the surface–atmosphere carbon exchange over complex terrain has not been fully explored. This article reports on studies by a team of investigators from U.S. universities and research institutes who carried out a multiscale and multidisciplinary field and modeling investigation of the CO2 exchange between ecosystems and the atmosphere and of CO2 transport over complex mountainous terrain in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado. The goals of the field campaign, which included ground and airborne in situ and remote-sensing measurements, were to characterize unique features …

Temperature Trends And Episodic Changes Of The Middle Atmosphere Over Logan Utah With Consideration To Model Specification, Troy A. Wynn, Vincent B. Wickwar

Reports

A summary of the linear trends estimated from the USU Rayleigh Lidar (41.74o N, 118oW) temperature data set. The data set covers a time span from September, 1993 to August, 2003 and an altitude range of 45 to 80 km. The data set includes 584 data points at 45 km to 580 data points at 80 km. Cooling trend profiles are calculated and compared to results from other researchers. Collinearity and bias are also considered as issues that could affect the regression results. Also considered is the possibility that the Mt. Pinatubo eruption has influenced temperature trend estimates. This is …

A Passive Sampler For Ambient Gaseous Oxidized Mercury Concentrations, Seth N. Lyman, Mae Sexauer Gustin, Eric M. Prestbo

USU Uintah Basin Faculty Publications

This paper reports on the development of a passive sampler for estimating gaseous oxidized mercury concentrations. Atmospheric gaseous oxidized mercury concentrations calculated from passive sampler data were correlated with those obtained using an automated analyzer (r2 = 0.71, p < 0.01, n = 110 for one-week deployments; r2 = 0.89, p < 0.01, n = 22 for two-week deployments). Sampler uptake was not significantly affected by changes in temperature, humidity, or ozone concentration, but it was slightly dependent on wind speed. As such, an equation for correcting data due to this factor was developed based on wind tunnel and field data. The detection limit for a two-week sampler deployment was ∼5 pg m−3. Field data collected in Nevada and the southeastern United States showed these samplers are useful for investigating spatial and temporal variability in gaseous oxidized mercury concentrations.

Droughtscape, Winter 2010, Kelly Smith

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

USDM Forum Highlights

Drought Likely to Ease

Research Shows Birds Vulnerable to Drought

Drought Recedes in 2009

CA, TX Suffer Impacts from Ongoing Drought

NDMC Wishes Ryu Well

Conferees Pick SPI for Global Drought Index

Post-Coring Entrapment Of Modern Air In Some Shallow Ice Cores Collected Near The Firn-Ice Transition: Evidence From Cfc-12 Measurements In Antarctic Firn Air And Ice Cores, Murat Aydin, S. A. Montzka, M. O. Battle, M. B. Williams, Warren J. De Bruyn, J. H. Butler, K. R. Verhulst, C. Tatum, B. K. Gun, D. A. Plotkin, B. D. Hall, Eric S. Saltzman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

In this study, we report measurements of CFC-12 (CCl2F2) in firn air and in air extracted from shallow ice cores from three Antarctic sites. The firn air data are consistent with the known atmospheric history of CFC-12. In contrast, some of the ice core samples collected near the firn-ice transition exhibit anomalously high CFC-12 levels. Together, the ice core and firn air data provide evidence for the presence of modern air entrapped in the shallow ice core samples that likely contained open pores at the time of collection. We propose that this is due to closure of the open pores …

Retrieval Of Atmospheric Elemental Carbon Records Using Lake Sediments : Implications In Radiative Forcing, Tanveer Ahmed

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Elemental or black carbon (EC or BC) aerosols produced during incomplete combustion strongly absorb solar radiation and contribute to global warming, and cause cardiopulmonary disease. Long-term atmospheric EC measurements, [EC]_atm, are needed to validate global climate models to estimate the impact of EC on earth's temperature. Such data is sparse.

Effect Of Noise In Principal Component Analysis With An Application To Ozone Pollution, Katerina G. Tsakiri

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis analyzes the effect of independent noise in principal components of k normally distributed random variables defined by a covariance matrix. We prove that the principal components as well as the canonical variate pairs determined from joint distribution of original sample affected by noise can be essentially different in comparison with those determined from the original sample. However when the differences between the eigenvalues of the original covariance matrix are sufficiently large compared to the level of the noise, the effect of noise in principal components and canonical variate pairs proved to be negligible. The theoretical results are supported …

Tropical Cyclogenesis Associated With Extratropical Precursors In The North Atlantic Basin, Thomas J. Galarneau

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis investigates genesis pathways of tropical cyclones (TCs) over the North Atlantic basin during 2004-2008 with a focus on TCs that form in conjunction with extratropical precursor disturbances. These genesis pathways are nonbaroclinic, low-level baroclinic, trough-induced, transient-trough interaction, weak tropical transition (TT), and strong TT. The transient-trough interaction, trough-induced, weak TT, and strong TT genesis pathways all occur in conjunction with extratropical precursor disturbances. This thesis will assess the physical and dynamical mechanisms relevant to TC genesis among these genesis pathways via composite and case study analyses.

Role Of Equatorial Waves In Tropical Cyclogenesis, Carl J. Schreck, Iii

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Tropical cyclones typically form within preexisting wavelike disturbances that couple with convection. Using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) multisatellite rainfall estimates, this study determines the relative number of tropical cyclones that can be attributed to various wave types, including the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), Kelvin waves, equatorial Rossby (ER) waves, mixed Rossby-gravity (MRG) waves, and tropical depression (TD)-type disturbances. Tropical cyclogenesis is attributed to an equatorial wave's convection when the filtered rainfall anomaly exceeds a threshold value at the genesis location.

Comparison Of In Situ And Columnar Aerosol Spectral Measurements During Texaqs-Gomaccs 2006: Testing Parameterizations For Estimating Aerosol Fine Mode Properties, Dean B. Atkinson, Paola Massoli, Norman T. O'Neill, Patricia K. Quinn, Sarah D. Brooks, Barry Lefer

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study and Gulf of Mexico Atmospheric Composition and Climate Study (TexAQS-GoMACCS 2006), the optical, chemical and microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosols were measured on multiple mobile platforms and at ground based stations. In situ measurements of the aerosol light extinction coefficient (σep) were performed by two multi-wavelength cavity ring-down (CRD) instruments, one located on board the NOAA R/V Ronald H. Brown (RHB) and the other located at the University of Houston, Moody Tower (UHMT). An AERONET sunphotometer was also located at the UHMT to measure the columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD). The σep data …

Mixing By Shear Instability At High Reynolds Number, W. R. Geyer, A. C. Lavery, M. E. Scully, J. H. Trowbridge

CCPO Publications

Shear instability is the dominant mechanism for converting fluid motion to mixing in the stratified ocean and atmosphere. The transition to turbulence has been well characterized in laboratory settings and numerical simulations at moderate Reynolds number-it involves "rolling up", i.e., overturning of the density structure within the cores of the instabilities. In contrast, measurements in an energetic estuarine shear zone reveal that the mixing induced by shear instability at high Reynolds number does not primarily occur by overturning in the cores; rather it results from secondary shear instabilities within the zones of intensified shear separating the cores. This regime is …

Analysis Of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Characteristics And The Synoptic-Scale Weather Pattern At The Potosi, Wi Slams Monitor, Sean K. Newlin

Honors Program Theses

Boundary layer parameters were analyzed for high impact fine-particulate pollution days for the years 2006 through 2009 in Potosi, Wisconsin. Potosi has seen recent 24-hour PM2.s design values at or near the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 35 micrograms per cubic meter. Every sampling date in the years 2006 through 2009 with a 24- hour PM2.5 particulate concentration above the year's trend line was studied as were the cleanest 10 days of each year. In particular, composite upper air profiles were constructed using observations from the nearby radiosonde stations, surface and S00mb weather maps were retrieved, the virtual …

Effects Of Lightning And Other Meteorological Factors On Fire Activity In The North American Boreal Forest: Implications For Fire Weather Forecasting, David Peterson, Jun Wang, Charles Ichoku, Lorraine Remer

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The effects of lightning and other meteorological factors on wildfire activity in the North American boreal forest are statistically analyzed during the fire seasons of 2000–2006 through an integration of the following data sets: the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) level 2 fire products, the 3-hourly 32-km gridded meteorological data from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and the lightning data collected by the Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN) and the Alaska Lightning Detection Network (ALDN). Positive anomalies of the 500 hPa geopotential height field, convective available potential energy (CAPE), number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, and the number of consecutive dry …

The Composition Of Precipitation In El Paso, Texas, Sonny P. Emmert

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The composition of precipitation reflects the transport of particles from varying air mass source regions as well as input from local environmental and anthropogenic activities. Air research in El Paso, TX, U.S.A/Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico has been traditionally limited to studies of local inputs of air pollution; no transition has been made to studying the scavenging, washout, and transport of pollutants by precipitation. The goal of this research project was to identify transported pollutants in precipitation, and determine if there were any health and ecological implications. The research investigated biological, chemical, and geological constituents in precipitation samples collected between September …

Climatological Aspects Of The Optical Properties Of Fine/Coarse Mode Aerosol Mixtures, Thomas F. Eck, B. N. Holben, Aliaksandyr Sinyuk, R. T. Pinker, P. Goloub, H. Chen, B. Chatenet, Z. Li, Ramesh P. Singh, Sachchida N. Tripathi, J. S. Reid, D. M. Giles, O. Dubovik, N. T. O'Neill, A. Smirnov, P. Wang, X. Xia

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Aerosol mixtures composed of coarse mode desert dust combined with fine mode combustion generated aerosols (from fossil fuel and biomass burning sources) were investigated at three locations that are in and/or downwind of major global aerosol emission source regions. Multiyear monitoring data at Aerosol Robotic Network sites in Beijing (central eastern China), Kanpur (Indo-Gangetic Plain, northern India), and Ilorin (Nigeria, Sudanian zone of West Africa) were utilized to study the climatological characteristics of aerosol optical properties. Multiyear climatological averages of spectral single scattering albedo (SSA) versus fine mode fraction (FMF) of aerosol optical depth at 675 nm at all three …

Complementary Nature Of Surface And Atmospheric Parameters Associated With Haiti Earthquake Of 12 January 2010, Ramesh P. Singh, Waseem Mehdi, Manish Sharma

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The present paper describes surface (surface air temperature) and atmospheric parameters (relative humidity, surface latent heat flux) over the epicenter (18A degrees 27A ' 25A ' A ' N 72A degrees 31A ' 59A ' A ' W) of Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010. Our analysis shows pronounced changes in surface and atmospheric parameters few days prior to the main earthquake event. Changes in relative humidity are found from the surface up to an altitude of 500 hPa clearly show atmospheric perturbations associated with the earthquake event. The purpose of this paper is to show complementary nature of the …

On The Fractional Solubillity Of Copper In Marine Aerosols: Toxicity Of Aeolian Copper Revisited, Edward R. Sholkovitz, Peter N. Sedwick, Thomas M. Church

OES Faculty Publications

Paytan et al. (2009) argue that the atmospheric deposition of aerosols lead to copper concentrations that are potentially toxic to marine phytoplankton in a large area of tropical and subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. A key assumption in their model is that all marine aerosols (mineral dust and anthropogenic particles) have a high (40%) fractional solubility of copper. Our data show that the fractional solubility of copper for Saharan dust over the Sargasso Sea and Bermuda is significantly lower (1-7%). In contrast, anthropogenic aerosols with non-Saharan sources have significantly higher values (10-100%). Hence, the potential Cu toxicity in the tropical and …