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2026 May 28 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Warming On Growth And Leaf Colonization By Litter Mat-Forming Fungi In A Wet Tropical Forest In Puerto Rico, Ari E. Puentes, D. Jean Lodge, Deyaneira A. Ortiz-Iglesias, Tatiana Barreto-Vélez, Laura C. Rubio-Lebrón, Hieu Chu, Christine S. O'Connell, Sasha C. Reed, Tana E. Wood

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Wet tropical forests are experiencing rising temperatures and increased frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, such as cyclones, which can increase rates of soil erosion and surface runoff. Fungal litter mats, formed by agaric decomposer fungi, play a crucial role in stabilizing slopes, preventing erosion, and aiding nutrient cycling; however, little is known about how warming affects litter mat growth and function. We investigated two litter mat-forming fungi, Gymnopus johnstonii and Marasmius aff. crinis-equi, in warmed (+4°C above ambient) and control plots in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Growth and time-to-leaf colonization were monitored over 6 weeks …

Lowland Tropical Forests Remain A Methane Sink Under Warming And Long-Term Hurricane Disturbance Recovery, Gabriele Larocca Conte, Lucia Zuvela, Rachel Cruz-Pérez, Tatiana Barreto-Vélez, Nibia Becerra-Santillan, Sophia F. Campbell, Hieu P. Chu, Trung Dam, Iana F. Grullón-Penkova, Miriam Kleit, Deyaneira A. Ortiz-Iglesias, Laura C. Rubio-Lebrón, Molly A. Cavaleri, Sasha C. Reed, Debjani Sihi, Tana E. Wood, Christine S. O'Connell

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Methane (CH₄) is a potent greenhouse gas, and tropical forests account for roughly one–third of global atmospheric CH₄ uptake by soils. Projected warming and more frequent hurricanes in these ecosystems may alter soil CH₄ sink strength, as warmer and wetter soils enhance methanogenesis activity. We measured soil CH₄ and CO₂ efflux during the calendar summer months of 2023 and 2024 alongside continuous records of soil moisture, soil and air temperature, and precipitation in an in–situ warming experiment (TRACE) located in a lowland tropical forest in Puerto Rico, six to seven years after Hurricanes Irma …

Linking Fishery Productivity To Child Health In The Coastal Tropics, Francisco Flores-Mejia

Master's Theses

Fish are a primary source of calories, macronutrients, and income for coastal communities around the world, but overfishing and environmental changes have dramatically reduced productivity in the majority of small-scale fisheries. The social costs of these losses are believed to be large, particularly in poorer communities, but most estimates of fishery productivity effects on households are contextual and difficult to generalize. We combine a remote sensing measure of pelagic fishery productivity with geolocated child health and growth data from 34 countries in the coastal tropics. We estimate that the difference between sustainedly good versus bad fishing conditions corresponds up to …

2026 May 14 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

2026 May 21 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Climate Policy Uncertainty And Housing Prices: Analyzing Bidirectional Transmission Across U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Sourav Batabyal, Alper Gormus

Finance and Economics

This study examines the relationship between climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and residential housing prices across U.S. metropolitan areas using the U.S. CPU index developed by Gavriilidis in 2021 and monthly S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, covering January 1991 to May 2024. Employing a Fourier-augmented Toda–Yamamoto causality framework that accounts for both abrupt and gradual structural breaks, we document significant CPU → housing prices transmission in multiple metropolitan markets, with bidirectional transmission dynamics emerging in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco, as well as at the U.S. national level. The results reveal substantial spatial heterogeneity across various …

2026 May 7 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Do National Parks Significantly Improve Air Quality?, Xinyi Liu

Honors Capstones

Healthy living has long been a goal pursued by individuals. In an era where PM2.5 concentrations and greenhouse gas levels are steadily increasing, many people prefer to live in areas with relatively lower levels of air pollution. National parks, as well-known protected areas, typically contain more vegetation and water resources, along with lower levels of human activity. This suggests two potential mechanisms: first, pollutant emissions are expected to be lower; second, vegetation, water bodies, and non-urban land may contribute to the removal or deposition of airborne pollutants, including particulate matter. In everyday experience, people often perceive the air to be …

Urban Heat Mitigation In Newark, New Jersey Using Remote Sensing And Spatial Analysis, Ama Akowa Rhule

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study examines urban heat patterns in Newark, New Jersey, using remote sensing and spatial analytics to support targeted mitigation strategies. Land Surface Temperature (LST) was derived from a Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager/Thermal Infrared Sensor (OLI/TIRS) scene acquired on July 28, 2025, representing a summer snapshot of surface thermal conditions. While urban heat island effects are typically considered long-term climatic phenomena, this study uses a single-date observation to capture spatial variability in temperature across the city. Land cover variables, including tree canopy and impervious surface fractions, were obtained from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), and demographic variables, including …

Dendroclimatic Response Of The Wet Miombo Woodland Species: A Case Study Of Mufulira District, Copperbelt Province, Zambia, Collins Chibuye Malubeni

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Zambia is a tropical, landlocked country that lies in the South-Central part of Africa. The climate in Zambia includes distinct dry and rainy seasons, mainly influenced by the north-south movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which shifts seasonally. This research is focused on understanding the relationship between tree growth and climate using dendrochronology. Forty-nine tropical species, including Julbernardia paniculata, Brachystegia longifolia, and Pericopsis angolensis, were analysed for dendroclimatic potential, and 70% showed clear ring formation, indicating that trees in this locality produce distinct annual ring boundaries. For the single species chronology, thirteen cores from eight trees that were initially …

A Climatology Of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings And Their Tropospheric Response, Joe Lovelien, Mark Sinclair

Publications

Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSWs) are major disruptions of the wintertime polar vortex that can significantly influence surface weather, including cold air outbreaks (CAOs) across the midlatitudes. This study presents a climatology of SSWs from 1948-2024 using NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data and examines their temporal distribution, relationships with large-scale climate variability, and impacts on surface temperatures in the United States. SSWs are identified using previously published definitions based on the reversal of zonal-mean winds at 60°N and 10 hPa. A total of 44 SSW events were identified, with a strong seasonal preference for January through March. Some decadal variability is observed, though …

Clear-Air Turbulence Climatology And Trends, Liam Rodgers, Mark Sinclair

Publications

Clear‑air turbulence (CAT) is a major aviation hazard that occurs near airline cruising altitudes in both cloud and cloud‑free environments. Its lack of a distinct visual signature makes detection and avoidance difficult. CAT is associated with wind shear near jet streams, gravity waves, and Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and may be further enhanced by climate change. This study examines the climatology, spatial distribution, seasonal variability, and trends of CAT over the contiguous United States.

Pilot Reports (PIREPs) from 2001–2025 between 100 and 400 hPa are analyzed alongside jet stream, shear, and stability diagnostics derived from NCEP–NCAR Reanalysis data. Proxies such as inverse …

Examining Extremes: A Comparison Between Machine Learning Based Southwestern Conus Seasonal Drought And High Fire Risk Event Synoptic Climatologies, Ethan M. Greenberg

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Southwestern United States (SW CONUS), comprised of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, is a vast region that tens of millions of people call home. Hosting ecosystems ranging from grasslands and shrublands to temperate forests and climate zones ranging from Mediterranean climates to arid deserts, the region is nearly unanimously prone to intense droughts and devastating wildfires. While fire weather conditions and drought are often studied separately or mentioned as background conditions for the other, there are relatively few studies that compare the typical meteorological conditions between the two. This study aims to more closely understand the meteorological relationship between …

Comparing Awssi And Traditional Winter Metrics For Predicting Overwinter Survival Of Juvenile Walleye (Sander Vitreus), Camille N. Shifrin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Winter conditions are an important driver of recruitment variability in freshwater fishes, yet winter severity is often characterized using single climate metrics. These simplified approaches may not capture the cumulative stress experienced by fishes during winter. The Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI) integrates multiple components of winter climate and may therefore provide a more biologically relevant indicator of overwinter survival. In this study, we compared AWSSI with traditional winter severity metrics to explain interannual variation in overwinter survival of juvenile Walleye (Sander vitreus) in Harlan County Reservoir, Nebraska. Model comparisons using Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) indicated that …

2026 May - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All,

The main weather and climate story for May 2026 across Tennessee was the weather whiplash that many experienced with severe and extreme drought conditions giving way to flash flooding later in the month. Additionally, many saw large and rapid temperature swings with two strong blasts of cold air sending temperatures into the 30’s or low 40’s for many early in the month and again on May 14-15. Followed by a heat wave that brought an early taste of summer to the state from May 16-21. The Bristol/Tri-Cities airport experienced a 2-day span between freezing temperatures and 90-degree heat …

2026 May - Tennessee Climate Snapshot, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

No abstract provided.

Warming Climate Amplifies Vapor Pressure Deficit Limits On Gross Primary Productivity, Shiqin Xu, Nate G. Mcdowell, Tim R. Mcvicar, Diego G. Miralles, Stephen Sitch, Pablo Sanchez-Martinez, Joshua B. Fisher, Pierre Friedlingstein, Hylke E. Beck, Matthew F. Mccabe

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Ongoing climate warming may profoundly impact terrestrial gross primary productivity (GPP), a key component of the global carbon cycle. However, uncertainty in the relative roles of atmospheric water demand (vapor pressure deficit, VPD) and root-zone soil moisture (SM) limits predictions of drought impacts on GPP. Here, we show that growing-season GPP was more strongly constrained by VPD than SM globally, based on observation-constrained model estimates, satellite retrievals and Dynamic Global Vegetation Model simulations. The importance of VPD increased with higher temperatures and more severe and prolonged droughts. This pattern reflects VPD’s critical role in regulating stomatal conductance and plant hydraulic …

2026 April 30 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Panoramic Analysis And Strategic Proposals Of Helium Research In China Based On Knowledge Graph, Huayang Li, Quanyou Liu, Dongya Zhu, Xiaoqi Wu, Chi Zhang, Zehui Shi

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Helium is a critical rare gas essential for aerospace, medical devices, and semiconductor production. With about 85% of its helium coming from imports, China’s advancement of exploration and development technologies is vital for national resource security. This study analyzes helium-related publications from CNKI (2000–2025) using advanced data visualization and statistical methods. It introduces a three-pronged approach–data-driven analysis, visual representation, and mechanistic explanation–to offer the first comprehensive examination of China’s helium exploration and development research, revealing its evolution and current state from multiple perspectives and providing fresh insights. By examining publication trends, institutional contributions, and evolving research priorities, the study maps …

Risks And Challenges Under Approaching Climate Tipping Points And Governance Recommendations, Chengdong Huang, Xiaohong Chen, Zhifang Zhou

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Climate tipping points represent critical thresholds at which Earth’s climate subsystems undergo abrupt transitions, characterized by irreversibility, self-perpetuation, and complex interconnections, posing severe challenges to global climate governance. This study systematically elucidates the scientific implications and key features of climate tipping points, with a focus on analyzing the multifaceted risks triggered by their activation, including climatic physical risks, socio-economic systemic risks, and national security risks. To address these challenges, the research proposes a governance framework centered on “preventing abrupt changes—maintaining resilience—actively adapting”, emphasizing pathways such as enhanced monitoring and early warning, cultivating new quality productive forces, and constructing a global …

Recent Wetland Elevation Dynamics In Coastal Louisiana, Usa, Elizabeth Harris

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal marshes globally are increasingly vulnerable to accelerating relative sea-level rise (RSLR), which threatens their capacity to maintain elevation through feedbacks among sediment supply, vegetation productivity, hydrology, and soil processes. Although many marshes can persist under moderate rates of sea-level rise through vertical accretion and belowground biomass production, this resilience is strongly constrained by sediment availability and subsurface processes such as autocompaction and organic matter decomposition. High accretion is often assumed to confer marsh resilience; however, subsurface processes, particularly autocompaction driven by surface loading, can substantially offset elevation gains. Coastal Louisiana experiences among the highest rates of RSLR worldwide due …

2026 April 16 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Climate Change And Transportation, Paul J. Marchese

Open Educational Resources

This module examines how climate change is affecting transportation systems across multiple sectors, including roads, rail, air, maritime, and active transportation. It highlights key climate trends such as rising temperatures, sea level rise, and extreme weather, and explains how these factors disrupt infrastructure, operations, and safety. The module also explores the economic, operational, and policy challenges associated with maintaining resilient transportation systems under changing environmental conditions. Finally, it presents a range of adaptation and mitigation strategies, emphasizing engineering solutions, sustainable technologies, and data-driven decision-making.

Prediction Of Future Mushroom Fruiting Success And Dispersion Based On Models Of Changing Surface Air Temperature In Oaxaca, Mexico, Frida Martinez

ATU Scholars Symposium

Mushrooms serve various purposes, including medicinal, culinary, and cultural significance for indigenous groups, as well as recreational and ecosystem services. Oaxaca, Mexico, is a hotspot for mushroom biodiversity including the following varieties: Amanita muscaria, Schizophyllum commune and Coprinellus disseminates. The purpose of this study is to determine if a changing Mean Surface Air Temperature will have an influence on these mushrooms. We obtained, analyzed, and compared historical and future climate data from the World Bank Group Climate Change Knowledge Portal to identify if any of the mushroom species would be impacted. The study revealed a general trend of warming Mean …

2026 April 9 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Regional Drought Modulation By Enso And Iod As Indicated By The Standardized Precipitation Index, Arpit Tiwari, Preethi Nanjundan, Tanu Sharma, Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Satyaban Bishoyi Ratna

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Understanding the modulation of drought by large-scale ocean–atmosphere teleconnections is crucial for strengthening drought prediction and resilience in India. This study investigates the influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on meteorological drought characteristics across India from 1950 to 2024 using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at a 12-month timescale. Drought events were quantified in terms of frequency, duration, severity, and intensity and linked to ENSO–IOD variability through composite, correlation, and mediation analyses. Results reveal that El Niño events consistently correspond to widespread and severe droughts, particularly over central and southern India, with drought …

Preliminary Sonification Of Enso Using Traditional Javanese Gamelan Scales, Sandy Hs Herho, Rusmawan Suwarman, Nurjanna J. Trilaksono, Iwan P. Anwar, Faiz R. Fajary

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Sonification—the mapping of data to non-speech audio—offers an underexplored channel for representing complex dynamical systems. We treat El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a canonical example of low-dimensional climate chaos, as a test case for culturally-situated sonification evaluated through complex systems diagnostics. Using parameter-mapping sonification of the Niño 3.4 sea surface temperature anomaly index (1870–2024), we encode ENSO variability into two traditional Javanese gamelan pentatonic systems (pelog and slendro) across four composition strategies, then analyze the resulting audio as trajectories in a two- dimensional acoustic phase space. Recurrence-based diagnostics, convex hull ge- ometry, and coupling analysis reveal that the sonification …

2026 April 2 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Developing A Multi-Band Gnss Remote Sensing Station To Measure Precipitable Water Vapor For Flash Flood Nowcasting, Madison Gleydura

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Flash flood nowcasting in Central and Southern Appalachia is particularly challenging due to steep terrain, narrow valleys, highly localized rainfall patterns, and limited measurement coverage. Traditional remote sensing methods, such as Doppler radar and microwave radiometry, suffer from reduced resolution at long range and signal blockage by mountains. GNSS-meteorology offers an established alternative for measuring precipitable water vapor and is currently integrated into several numerical weather models. Recent research demonstrates that commercial-grade GNSS receivers can produce tropospheric products comparable to those from geodetic-grade equipment. The gaps in mountain coverage can be addressed by developing a low-cost, self-contained embedded system that …