Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Statement Of World Aquatic Scientific Societies On The Need To Take Urgent Action Against Human-Caused Climate Change, Based On Scientific Evidence [Dear Colleague Letter], Scott A. Bonar, Brian R. Murphy, Leanne H. Roulson, Jesse T. Trushenski, Douglas J. Austen, Michael Edward Douglas

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Dear Colleague Letter from the American Fisheries Society to fellow scientific societies, July 25, 2020, about the urgent need for responsive collective action to mitigate impending radical climate change. Includes the Statement of World Aquatic Scientific Societies on the Need to Take Urgent Action Against Human-Caused Climate Change, Based on Scientific Evidence, emphasizing the importance of aquatic ecosystems. Includes extensive citations and notes.

"Water is the most important natural resource on Earth as it is vital for life. Aquatic ecosystems, freshwater or marine, provide multiple benefits to human society, such as provisioning of oxygen, food, drinking water, genetic resources; regulation …

Homestead National Monument Of America, Acoustic Monitoring, 2011-2012

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

This report presents acoustical data gathered by Student Conservation Association interns and the Natural Resource Specialist at Homestead National Monument of America in 2011 and 2012. Data were collected at four sites to provide park managers with information on the acoustical environment, sources of noise, and the existing ambient sound levels within the monument. The data will also inform the park managers with information regarding the potential impact of traffic on Highway 4.

Monitoring occurred at each site during two different seasons (except HOME002) in order to document seasonal variations. In each deployment, sound pressure level (SPL) was …

Quantification Of Cloud Condensation Nuclei Effects On The Microphysical Structure Of Continental Thunderstorms Using Polarimetric Radar Observations, Kun-Yuan Lee

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

Aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are crucial to the microphysical structure of thunderstorms. They can also alter the rate of cloud microphysical processes, the moisture profile and the local temperature as a result of latent heating/cooling in the early stage of thunderstorm development. Continental thunderstorms are characterized by high complexity and are highly influenced by environmental conditions. The purpose of this study is to determine the influences of CCN concentration on the microphysics of continental thunderstorms, using a sample of storms from northwestern Oklahoma. The Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) at Vance Air Force Base (KVNX) was upgraded …

Utilizing A Consumer-Grade Camera System To Quantify Surface Reflectance, Joseph J. Lehnert

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Consumer-grade camera systems are often employed in aerial remote sensing to provide insight into patterns and processes of interest to science and industry, a trend that has largely been encouraged by the rapid growth of the small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) industry. However, little research exists on the ability of these systems to accurately measure surface reflectance in specific wavebands, a crucial consideration for many remote sensing applications. This research was conducted on the premise that with proper equipment and calibration techniques consumer-grade cameras would be capable of accurately measuring surface reflectance in user-defined wavebands of interest. A stereo-pair, Fujifilm …

Nuclear Weapons In A Changing Climate: Probability, Increasing Risks, And Perception, Adam Liska, Tyler R. White, Eric Holley, Robert J. Oglesby

Adam Liska Papers

Many people tend to think that the outcome of any nuclear weapons use today will result in an escalatory situation with apocalyptic outcomes for the countries involved. Yet many factors are increasing the probability of the limited use of nuclear weapons (e.g., 1 to 20 warheads) in a range of conflict scenarios. Previous atmospheric model simulations of regional nuclear conflicts employing many relatively small bombs have been estimated to cause a global “nuclear autumn,” with great reductions in agricultural productivity, stratospheric ozone loss, and spread of hazardous radioactive fallout. The totality of these effects would result in widespread damage …

Aerial Water Sampler, Carrick Detweiler, John-Paul Ore, Baoliang Zhao, Sebastian Elbaum

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

In one aspect, a vehicle includes an aerial propulsion system, an altitude sensor system, a water sampling system, and a control system. The water sampling system includes a water sampling extension configured to extend away from the vehicle, one or more water sample receptacles, and a water pump. The control system is configured to perform operations including: guiding, using the aerial propulsion system, the vehicle over a water Source; causing, using sensor data from the altitude sensor system, the vehicle to descend towards the water source so that the water sampling extension contacts the water source; and causing, using the …

Homestead National Monument Of America, Bat Acoustic Monitoring, September 2016, Daniel S. Licht

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

Homestead National Monument of America is a 211-acre park located in an agrarian landscape in southeastern Nebraska. From September 16 to October 1, 2016, park staff deployed acoustic monitors at three sites in the park for purposes of monitoring night-time bat activity. The three sites averaged 179, 48, and 33 bat detections per night. Night-time bat activity was generally highest in the 1-2 hours following sunset.

Based on the acoustic surveys the big brown (Eptesicus fuscus), eastern red (Lasiurus borealis), northern long-eared (Myotis septentrionalis) and evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) were present at the …

Multiple Drivers Of Seasonal Change In Pri: Implications For Photosynthesis 2. Stand Level, Anatoly A. Gitelson, John A. Gamon, Alexei E. Solovchenko

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The goal of this study was to explore the relationships between stand-level photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and canopy structure/ pigment pools, as well as light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthetically active vegetation focusing on seasonal or ontogenetic time frames. PRI was originally designed as a means of assessing the xanthophyll cycle and LUE over short (e.g. diurnal) time frames, and few studies have explored the drivers of PRI over longer, seasonal time frames, particularly in crops having different photosynthetic pathways or canopy structures. Consequently, our purpose was to understand and quantify the drivers of PRI responses over seasonal time scales …

Carbon Nanotubes Affect The Toxicity Of Cuo Nanoparticles To Denitrification In Marine Sediments By Altering Cellular Internalization Of Nanoparticle, Xiong Zheng, Yinglong Su, Yinguang Chen, Rui Wan, Mu Li, Haining Huang, Xu Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Denitrification is an important pathway for nitrate transformation in marine sediments, and this process has been observed to be negatively affected by engineered nanomaterials. However, previous studies only focused on the potential effect of a certain type of nanomaterial on microbial denitrification. Here we show that the toxicity of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) to denitrification in marine sediments is highly affected by the presence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). It was found that the removal efficiency of total NO_X⁻-N (NO₃⁻-N and NO₂⁻-N) in the presence of CuO NPs was only 62.3%, but it …

Informative Spectral Bands For Remote Green Lai Estimation In C3 And C4 Crops, Oz Kira, Anthony L. Nguy-Robertson, Timothy J. Arkebauer, Raphael Linker, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Green leaf area index (LAI) provides insight into the productivity, physiological and phenological status of vegetation. Measurement of spectral reflectance offers a fast and nondestructive estimation of green LAI. A number of methods have been used for the estimation of green LAI; however, the specific spectral bands employed varied widely among the methods and data used. Our objectives were (i) to find informative spectral bands retained in three types of methods, neural network (NN), partial least squares (PLS) regression and vegetation indices (VI), for estimating green LAI in maize (a C4 species) and soybean (a C3 species); (ii) to assess …

Automated Cropping Intensity Extraction From Isolines Of Wavelet Spectra, Bingwen Qiu, Zhuangzhuang Wang, Zhenghong Tang, Chongcheng Chen, Zhanling Fan, Weijiao Li

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Timely and accurate monitoring of cropping intensity (CI) is essential to help us understand changes in food production. This paper aims to develop an automatic Cropping Intensity extraction method based on the Isolines of Wavelet Spectra (CIIWS) with consideration of intra- class variability. The CIIWS method involves the following procedures: (1) characterizing vegetation dynamics from time–frequency dimensions through a continuous wavelet transform performed on vegetation index temporal profiles; (2) deriving three main features, the skeleton width, maximum number of strong brightness centers and the intersection of their scale intervals, through computing a series of wavelet isolines from the wavelet spectra; …

Aulacoseira Stevensiae Sp. Nov. (Coscinodiscophyceae, Bacillariophyta), A New Diatom From Ho Ba Bê, Bac Kan Province, Northern Viêt Nam, D. Marie Weide

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

A new species of Aulacoseira Thwaites is described from piston core samples from Ho Ba Bê in the karst region of northern Viêt Nam. Although it closely resembles Aulacoaseira subborealis (Nygaard) Denys, Muylaert & Krammer, A. stevensiae Weide sp. nov. is designated a new species based mainly on morphological differences in the spines, including invariably inclined spines that are rounded, differences in the Ringleiste, areola pattern and overall size. Aulacoseira stevensiae is present throughout a core that spans the last 500 years. It was a major component of the diatom community, but the populations have recently decreased, possibly being outcompeted …

Early Miocene Antarctic Glacial History: New Insights From Heavy Mineral Analysis From Andrill And–2a Drill Core Sediments, Francesco Iacoviello, Giovanna Giorgetti, Isabella Turbanti Memmi, Sandra Passchier

ANDRILL Research and Publications

The present study deals with heavy mineral analysis of late Early Miocene marine sediments recovered in the McMurdo Sound region (Ross Sea, Antarctica) during the ANDRILL— SMS Project in 2007. The main objective is to investigate how heavy mineral assemblages reflect different source rocks and hence different provenance areas. These data contribute to a better understanding of East Antarctica ice dynamics in the Ross Sea sector during the Early Miocene (17.6–20.2 Ma), a time of long-term global warming and sea level rise. The AND-2A drill core recovered several stratigraphic intervals that span from Early Miocene to Pleistocene and it collected …

Multi-Scale Evaluation Of Light Use Efficiency In Modis Gross Primary Productivity For Croplands In The Midwestern United States, Qinchuan Xin, Mark Broich, Andrew E. Suyker, Le Yu, Peng Gong

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Satellite remote sensing provides continuous observations of land surfaces, thereby offering opportunities for large-scale monitoring of terrestrial productivity. Production Efficiency Models (PEMs) have been widely used in satellite-based studies to simulate carbon exchanges between the atmosphere and ecosystems. However, model parameterization of the maximum light use efficiency (ε*_GPP) varies considerably for croplands in agricultural studies at different scales. In this study, we evaluate cropland ε*_GPP in the MODIS Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) model (MOD17) using in situ measurements and inventory datasets across the Midwestern US. The site-scale calibration using 28 site-years tower measurements derives ε*_GPP values …

On Underestimation Of Global Vulnerability To Tree Mortality And Forest Die-Off From Hotter Drought In The Anthropocene, Craig D. Allen, David D. Breshears, Nate G. Mcdowell

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Patterns, mechanisms, projections, and consequences of tree mortality and associated broadscale forest die-off due to drought accompanied by warmer temperatures—‘‘hotter drought’’, an emerging characteristic of the Anthropocene—are the focus of rapidly expanding literature. Despite recent observational, experimental, and modeling studies suggesting increased vulnerability of trees to hotter drought and associated pests and pathogens, substantial debate remains among research, management and policy-making communities regarding future tree mortality risks. We summarize key mortalityrelevant findings, differentiating between those implying lesser versus greater levels of vulnerability. Evidence suggesting lesser vulnerability includes forest benefits of elevated [CO2] and increased water-use efficiency; observed and modeled increases …

Climate Change And Its Implications For The Insurance Industry, Adam Liska, Eric Holley

Adam Liska Papers

Climate change will lead to a probable increase in the occurrence of weather-related disaster events. These events could lead to declining revenue in the insurance industry, the world’s largest economic sector, with revenue of $4.6 trillion per year, or 7% of the global economy (Mills, 2012). Climatic events have accounted for 72% of global insurance claims and insured losses from 1980 to 2012, totaling $0.97 trillion (Munich Re, 2013). Estimated losses are ~0.5% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and losses are increasing at ~6% a year in real terms (Lomborg, 2010). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change …

Aerosol Association With Severe Weather In The Great Plains, Gabriel A. Lojero

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

Aerosols particles may serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and therefore play an important role in modulating cloud microphysics, to the point where convective storm intensity may be altered. The purpose of this study is to determine the impacts of biomass burning aerosols on convective storms over the Great Plains, especially the southern Great Plains, and to show synoptic regimes characterizing differing aerosol concentrations. A new technique to identify days with a high concentration of biomass burning aerosols was developed by using organic carbon, potassium, zinc, and bromine as the predominant tracers. An eleven-year climatology (2002-2012) for the biomass burning …

Data-Driven Diagnostics Of Terrestrial Carbon Dynamics Over North America, Jingfeng Xiao, Scott V. Ollinger, Steve Frolking, George Hurtt, David Y. Hollinger, Kenneth J. Davis, Yude Pan, Xiaoyang Zhang, Feng Deng, Jiquan Chen, Dennis D. Baldocchi, Beverly E. Law, M. Altaf Arain, Ankur R. Desai, Andrew D. Richardson, Ge Sun, Brian Amiro, Hank Margolis, Lianhong Gu, Russell L. Scott, Peter D. Blanken, Andrew E. Suyker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The exchange of carbon dioxide is a key measure of ecosystem metabolism and a critical intersection between the terrestrial biosphere and the Earth’s climate. Despite the general agreement that the terrestrial ecosystems in North America provide a sizeable carbon sink, the size and distribution of the sink remain uncertain. We use a data-driven approach to upscale eddy covariance flux observations from towers to the continental scale by integrating flux observations, meteorology, stand age,aboveground biomass, and a proxy for canopy nitrogen concentrations from AmeriFlux and Fluxnet-Canada Research Network as well as a variety of satellite data streams from the MODIS sensors. …

Interannual And Spatial Impacts Of Phenological Transitions, Growing Season Length, And Spring And Autumn Temperatures On Carbon Sequestration: A North America Flux Data Synthesis, Chaoyang Wu, Alemu Gonsamo, Jing Ming Chen, Werner A. Kurz, David T. Price, Peter M. Lafleur, Rachhpal S. Jassal, Danilo Dragoni, Gil Bohrer, Christopher M. Gough, Shashi B. Verma, Andrew E. Suyker, J. William Munger

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Understanding feedbacks of ecosystem carbon sequestration to climate change is an urgent step in developing future ecosystem models. Using 187 site-years of flux data observed at 24 sites covering three plant functional types (i.e. evergreen forests (EF), deciduous forests (DF) and non-forest ecosystems (NF) (e.g., crop, grassland, wetland)) in North America, we present an analysis of both interannual and spatial relationships between annual net ecosystem production (NEP) and phenological indicators, including the flux-based carbon uptake period (CUP) and its transitions, degree-day-derived growing season length (GSL), and spring and autumn temperatures. Diverse responses were acquired between annul NEP and these indicators …

Identifying Changes In Climatic Trends And The Fingerprints Of Landuse And Landcover Changes In The High Plains Of The Usa, Denis Mutiibwa

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human activities such as conversion of natural ecosystem to croplands and urban-centers, deforestation and afforestation impact biophysical properties of land surface such as albedo, energy balance, and surface roughness. Alterations in these properties affect the heat and moisture exchanges between the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer. The objectives of this research were; (i) to quantitatively identify the High plains’ regional climate change in temperatures over the period 1895 to 2006, (ii) detect the signatures of anthropogenic forcing of LULC changes on the regional climate change of the High Plains, and (iii) examine the trends in evolving regional latent heat …

Spatial Patterns Of Drought Triggers And Indicators, Joseph P. Robine

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Drought is a reoccurring phenomenon with widespread economic, social, and environmental impacts. Unlike other disasters, a drought cannot be easily detected. In addition, droughts are widespread and develop slowly over time making it difficult to detect its onset and monitor its severity and impacts. To assist in monitoring the severity and spatial extent of droughts, drought managers frequently use indicators and triggers. Drought indicators are meteorological or hydrological variables or indices that quantify or describe the level of drought severity. A drought trigger is a value of an indicator that initiates management and response actions. Despite the clear importance of …

Trends Of Wind And Wind Power Over The Coterminous United States, Eric M. Holt

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

The trends of wind and wind power at a typical wind turbine hub height (80 m) are analyzed using the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) dataset for 1979-2009. Based upon the wind speeds at NARR’s vertical layers right above and below the 80 m level, the wind speeds at 80 m are estimated using two methods assuming the wind profile respectively as linear and power-law distribution with respect to the altitude in the lower boundary layer. Furthermore, we calculate the following variables at 80 m that are needed for the estimation and interpretation of wind power: the air density, zonal …

State Of The Climate In 2010, Jessica Blunden, Derek S. Arndt, Molly O. Baringer

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Several large-scale climate patterns influenced climate conditions and weather patterns across the globe during 2010. The transition from a warm El Niño phase at the beginning of the year to a cool La Niña phase by July contributed to many notable events, ranging from record wetness across much of Australia to historically low Eastern Pacific basin and near-record high North Atlantic basin hurricane activity. The remaining five main hurricane basins experienced below- to well-below-normal tropical cyclone activity. The negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation was a major driver of Northern Hemisphere temperature patterns during 2009/10 winter and again in late …

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 …

Impacts Of Meteorological Factors On Modis-Observed Fire Activity In The North American Boreal Forest: The Role Of Lightning, David A. Peterson

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

The meteorological impact on wildfire activity in the North American boreal forest during the fire seasons of 2000 – 2006 is statistically analyzed 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), the instantaneous 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 days are found …

Differential Expression Of Immune Response Genes In Steller Sea Lions (Eumetopias Jubatus): An Indicator Of Ecosystem Health?, Lizabeth Bowen, Brian Aldridge, Kimberlee Beckmen, Tom Gelatt, Lorrie Rea, Kathy Burek, Ken Pitcher, Jeffrey L. Stott

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Characterization of the polygenic and polymorphic features of the Steller sea lion major histocompatibility complex (MHC) provides an ideal window for evaluating immunologic vigor of the population and identifying emergence of new genotypes that reflect ecosystem pressures. MHC genotyping can be used to measure the potential immunologic vigor of a population. However, since ecosystem-induced changes to MHC genotype can be slow to emerge, measurement of differential expression of these genes can potentially provide real-time evidence of immunologic perturbations. MHC DRB genes were cloned and sequenced using peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes derived from 10 Steller sea lions from southeast Alaska, Prince …

Identifying Potential Conflict Associated With Oil And Gas Exploration In Texas State Coastal Waters: A Multi-Criteria Spatial Analysis, Samuel Brody, Himanshu Grover, Sarah Bernhardt, Zhenghong Tang, Bianca Whitaker, Colin Spence

Community and Regional Planning Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Recent interest in expanding offshore oil production within waters of the United States has been met with opposition by groups concerned with recreational, environmental, and aesthetic values associated with the coastal zone. Although the proposition of new oil platforms off the coast has generated conflict over how coastal resources should be utilized, little research has been conducted on where these user conflicts might be most intense and which sites might be most suitable for locating oil production facilities in light of the multiple, and often times, competing interests. In this article, we develop a multiple-criteria spatial decision support tool that …

Close-Range And Satellite Remote Sensing Of Algal Biomass In The Iowa Great Lakes, Eric A. Wilson

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The utility of both close-range and satellite remote sensing for assessing inland water quality was examined in the Iowa Great Lakes. The water quality of this system is of considerable interest because of its status as an environmental, recreational, and therefore, economic resource. The broad range of optical conditions present in the lakes and the wealth of literature on the system make it an ideal environment for water quality remote sensing research. The goal of this research was to survey the water quality of the Iowa Great Lakes via remote sensing, evaluate different predictive algorithms, and map the distribution of …

Some Trends In Forecast Skill At The National Severe Storms Forecast Center, Allen Pearson, Steven J. Weiss

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Tornado watch and severe local storm outlook verification statistics reveal the trends in forecast skill at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center. The skill level of the outlook has been steadily increasing since 1973. The percentage of watches verifying has been gradually increasing since 1970. While the probability of detection for tornadoes has decreased slightly since 1974, this appears to be highly correlated with the number of outbreak tornadoes reported in a given year. During significant tornado days, a much higher degree of skill is exhibited for both outlooks and watches. Factors influencing the results are discussed, including the impact …