Physics Commons^™

Solutions For Fermi Questions, January 2022: Question 1: Snow Volume; Question 2: Longbow Arrow Velocity, Larry Weinstein

Physics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Urbanization On Temperature Indices In The Philippines, John A. Manalo, Jun Matsumoto, Hiroshi G. Takahashi, Marcelino Q. Villafuerte Ii, Lyndon Mark P. Olaguera, Guoyu Ren, Thelma Cinco

Physics Faculty Publications

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the effect of urbanization on the surface air temperature (SAT) from 1951 to 2018 in the Philippines. The daily minimum temperature (T_min) and daily maximum temperature (T_max) records from 34 meteorological stations were used to derive extreme temperature indices. These stations were then classified as urban or rural based on satellite night-lights. The results showed a significant difference in the SAT trends between urban and rural stations, indicative of the effect of urbanization in the country. Larger and more significant warming trends were observed in indices related …

Aerosol Particle And Black Carbon Emission Factors Of Vehicular Fleet In Manila, Philippines, Leizel Madueño, Simonas Kecorius, Wolfram Birmili, Thomas Müller, James Bernard Simpas, Edgar Vallar, Maria Cecilia Galvez, Mylene Cayetano, Alfred Wiedensohler

Physics Faculty Publications

Poor air quality has been identified as one of the main risks to human health, especially in developing regions, where the information on physical chemical properties of air pollutants is lacking. To bridge this gap, we conducted an intensive measurement campaign in Manila, Philippines to determine the emission factors (EFs) of particle number (PN) and equivalent black carbon (BC). The focus was on public utility jeepneys (PUJ), equipped with old technology diesel engines, widely used for public transportation. The EFs were determined by aerosol physical measurements, fleet information, and modeled dilution using the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM). The results …

Activity Pattern Of School/University Tenants And Their Family Members In Metro Manila – Philippines, Simonas Kecorius, Everlyn Gale Tamayo, Maria Cecilia Galvez, Leizel Madueño, Grace Betito, Mylene Gonzaga-Cayetano, Edgar Vallar, Alfred Wiedensohler

Physics Faculty Publications

Existing studies that focus on personal exposure to or the deposition dose of particulate pollution in developing regions are limited. Hence, in this study, as a first step, we present results on how people spend their daily time in Metro Manila, Philippines. This information is critical to assessing personal exposure to and the deposition dose of particulate pollutants. We found that people spend less time at home on workdays than weekends (52% versus 70%), the fraction of time spent at work/school increases with age until retirement, adult males spend less time at home than females (18% versus 28%), and people …

Ozone Depletion, A Big Threat To Climate Change: What Can Be Done?, Sumera Aziz Ali, Savera Aziz Ali, Nadir Suhail

Community Health Sciences

Ozone in the stratosphere is very important as it acts as a safeguard for the earth and protects life from harmful ultraviolet radiations coming from the sun. Depletion of stratospheric ozone, resulting from atmospheric pollution has led to increased ultraviolet radiation at the earth’s surface as well as spectral shifts to the more biologically damaging shorter wavelengths. A decrease in the concentration of stratospheric ozone enhances the solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is harmful to the growth of the plant and various other metabolic processes of the organisms and might cause changes in pigment concentrations, nucleic acids, and proteins. Multiple …

Retrival Of Atmospheric Aerosol Size Distributions Using Stochastic Particle Swarm Optimization, Benjamin D. Nault-Maurer

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

A stochastic particle swarm optimization (SPSO) technique’s robustness is studied in regards to atmospheric aerosol size distribution estimations for a bimodal distribution that focuses on Aitken and accumulation mode aerosols. The SPSO method is used to calculate a set of 11 aerosol optical depth (AOD) values based on a size distribution and match them to an inputted set of AOD values. This method is tested using computer generated AOD values with fixed distribution parameters, generated AOD values with varying distribution parameters, two sets of AOD measurements in clear conditions, and one set of AOD values in hazy conditions. The SPSO …

Boom Or Bust? Mapping Out The Known Unknowns Of Global Shale Gas Production Potential, Jérôme Hilaire, Nico Bauer, Robert J. Brecha

Physics Faculty Publications

To assess the global production costs of shale gas, we combine global top-down data with detailed bottom-up information. Studies solely based on top-down approaches do not adequately account for the heterogeneity of shale gas deposits and hence, are unlikely to appropriately capture the extraction costs of shale gas. We design and provide an expedient bottom-up method based on publicly available US data to compute the levelized costs of shale gas extraction. Our results indicate the existence of economically attractive areas but also reveal a dramatic cost increase as lower-quality reservoirs are exploited. At the global level, our best estimate suggests …

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.

Significant Impacts Of Radiation Physics In The Wrf Model On The Precipitation And Dynamics Of The West African Monsoon, R. Li, J. Jin, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, R. R. Gillies

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Precipitation from the West African Monsoon (WAM) provides food security and supports the economy in the region. As a consequence of the intrinsic complexities of the WAM’s evolution, accurate simulations of the WAM and its precipitation regime, through the application of regional climate models, are challenging. We used the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Community Land Model (CLM) to explore impacts of radiation physics on the precipitation and dynamics of the WAM. Our results indicate that the radiation physics schemes not only produce biases in radiation fluxes impacting radiative forcing, but more importantly, result in large bias in …

Rayleigh Lidar Temperature Studies In The Upper Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Matthew T. Emerick

Posters

Rayleigh lidar technology opened the middle atmosphere (from 30–90 km) to ground-based observations. The upgraded system at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) on the campus of Utah State University (41.74, 111.81) has shown that these ground-based observations can be extended to 109 km, with the goal of reaching 120 km. The resultant study of short and long-term temperature trends, using Rayleigh lidar, contributes immensely to the overall understanding of the properties and dominant physical processes in the middle atmosphere and Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere (MLT) region. Temperature variations on short time scales, from minutes to days, give insight into the effects of …

The Greenhouse Effect At The Molecular Level, Michael Monce

Physics, Astronomy and Geophysics Faculty Publications

The greenhouse effect is generally modeled on a macro scale by designating energy balance for the planetary system. This involves the incoming solar radiation, reflected solar energy, absorbed solar energy at the ground, and subsequent re-radiation at longer wavelengths from the ground. The reradiated energy is then either transmitted out of the system or absorbed by the greenhouse gases and thus changing the overall energy balance.

However, the entire notion of the effects of so-called greenhouse gases hinges on the absorption and reemission of radiation at the individual molecular level. This paper presents an evaluation of that process by utilizing …

Rose: Roadmaps Towards Sustainable Energy Futures And Climate Protection: A Synthesis Of Results From The Rose Project, Elmar Kriegler, Ioanna Mouratiadou, Gunnar Luderer, Nico Bauer, Katherine Calvin, Enrica Decian, Robert J. Brecha, Wenying Chen, Aleh Cherp, Jae Edmonds, Kejun Jiang, Shonali Pachauri, Fabio Sferra, Massimo Tavoni, Ottmar Edenhofer

Physics Faculty Publications

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Exploring energy demand and supply uncertainty: An exploration of uncertainty on drivers of energy demand and supply is indispensable for better understanding the prospects of long-tern climate stabilization. The RoSE study is the first of its kind to systematically explore the impact of economic growth, population and fossil fuel scarcity, in scenarios with and without climate policy, using a model ensemble. A feature of RoSE is the participation of five established integrated assessment modelling teams from three important regions in international climate policy negotiations: the EU, the USA and China.

Economic growth: Neither slow nor rapid economic growth …

First Temperature Observations With The Usu Very Large Rayleigh Lidar: An Examination Of Mesopause Temperatures, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham, Lance W. Petersen, Matthew T. Emerick

Posters

As the impetus for extended observational measurements throughout the middle atmosphere has increased1 , the limits of previous instrumentation need to be pushed. The Rayleigh lidar group at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) at Utah State University has pushed such limits on existing Rayleigh scatter lidar technology and, through major upgrades to the previous lidar system, has been able to gather temperature measurements in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere from approximately 70P109 km. A data campaign with the new system was conducted around the annual temperature minimum, centered on late June 2012, in this region. The temperatures from this …

Upgraded Alo Rayleigh Lidar System And Its Improved Gravity Wave Measurements, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham

Graduate Student Posters

The Rayleigh-Scatter lidar system at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) on the Utah State campus is currently going through a series of upgrades to significantly improve its observational abilities. A specific objective of these upgrades is to expand the altitude range over which backscattered photons can be collected. A second objective is to increase the sensitivity of the instrument to be able to analyze the raw data at finer temporal and/or spatial resolutions. By measuring relative densities, the system will be able to produce absolute temperatures and relative density perturbations, which illustrate gravity wave structures. Gravity wave studies will significantly …

Observations With The Most Sensitive Rayleigh-Scatter Lidar, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Joshua P. Herron, Marcus J. Bingham

Graduate Student Posters

The mesosphere is the most unexplored region of the atmosphere. Its altitude range of 50-85 km lies in between the reaches of data collecting instruments like weather balloons and satellites. For this reason, remote sensing systems, such as lidar, which are able to employ ground-based instruments to make extensive measurements in this difficult to detect region. The Rayleigh-scatter lidar at USU is currently being redeveloped to be the most powerful and sensitive of its kind. This type of lidar exploits light and particle interactions, like those that account for the blue color of the sky, to make relative density and …

Global Variations Of Hdo And Hdo/H2o Ratios In The Upper Troposphere And Lower Stratosphere Derived From Ace-Fts Satellite Measurements, William J. Randel, Elisabeth Moyer, Mijeong Park, Eric Jensen, Peter Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

High-quality satellite observations of water and deuterated water in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) are used to map global climatological behavior. Spatial and temporal variability in these data suggest that convection plays a significant role in setting water vapor isotopic composition in these regions. In many instances, enhancements in HDO/H₂O (i.e., δD) are closely tied to patterns of climatological deep convection and uncorrelated with water vapor, although convection appears to have different isotopic effects in different locations. The ACE-FTS data reveal seasonal variations in the tropics …

Humidity And Temperature Boundaries For Biofilm Formation In Yucca Mountain, Terry Ann Else, Penny S. Amy, James Jay, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

To determine the long-term success of the recommended Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository, studies of bacterial colonization and biofilm development are needed. Bacteria involved in microbially-influenced corrosion and degradation are known to form biofilms with the potential to impact the integrity of repository packaging and structural materials. Temperature and humidity are environmental factors that can greatly affect biofilm formation. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the temperature and humidity conditions that affect biofilm formation. Microcosms, which simulated the repository environment of Yucca Mountain, were placed at temperatures ranging from 30° C to 70° C and in relative humidities ranging …

Wind Climatology At 87 Km Above The Rocky Mountains At Bear Lake Observatory--Fabry-Perot Observations Of Oh, V. B. Wickwar, I K. Monson, C M. Vadnais, D Rees

Reports

This paper presents the neutral -wind climatology at approximately 87-km 53 altitude from Utah State University's Bear Lake Observatory (BLO). a mid-latitude site 54 situated in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. The winds were determined using a very 55 sensitive Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) observing the OH Me inel (6-2) PI (3) line al 56 843 nm. The climatology. determined from monthly averages of the nightly evolution of 57 the geographic meridional and zonal wind components over forty· five months, has three 58 distinct seasonal patterns: winter (November- February), summer (May-Jul y), and late 59 Slimmer (August and September). The …