Atmospheric Sciences Commons^™

Kinetic Modeling Of Ionospheric Outflows Observed By The Visions-1 Sounding Rocket, Robert M. Albarran Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Plasma escape from the high-latitude ionosphere (ion outflow) serves as a significant source of heavy plasma to magnetospheric plasma sheet and ring current regions. Outflows alter mass density and reconnection rates, hence global responses of the magnetosphere. The VISIONS-1 (VISualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral atom imaging during a Substorm) sounding rocket was launched on Feb. 7, 2013 at 8:21 UTC from Poker Flat, Alaska, into an auroral substorm with the objective of identifying the drivers and dynamics of nightside ion outflow at altitudes where it is initiated, below 1000 km. Energetic ion data from the VISIONS-1 polar cap boundary crossing …

A Review On Natural Gamma Radiation Dose Levels And Its Health Effects, Shankramma K, Kamsali Nagaraja, Sathish L A, Charan Kumar K

International Journal of Health and Allied Sciences

Exposure to the natural background gamma radiations in both indoor and outdoor environments is inevitable. The long-term exposure to such radiations could result in lung cancer (sometimes leukaemia, CNS tumours); and hence it must be constantly monitored. In this paper, an attempt is made to review the background natural gamma radiation doses reported at various locations for the south Indian environment and it was found that the gamma levels in coastal regions were relatively higher than those in sub continental locations but in most of the locations the annual effective dose rate was within the permissible limits as per UNSCEAR

Ionospheric Feedback And Ulf Quarter-Waves, Anatoly Streltsov, Evgeny V. Mishin

Publications

This paper presents results from the numerical investigation of nonlinear feedback interactions between ULF field-aligned currents (FACs) and the ionospheric plasma in the global magnetospheric resonator with a non-symmetrical distribution of the plasma density in the conjugate hemispheres. The density asymmetry is enhanced by the introduction of the ionospheric valley in the hemisphere where the plasma density is already lower. The main result from this study is that in the non-symmetrical resonator, the ionospheric feedback mechanism, driven by the electric field with the maximum amplitude of 50 mV/m, develops nonlinear, intense, small-scale upward currents with a characteristic quarter-wavelength structure along …

Utilizing Nasa/Ames Global Circulation Model To Locate Low-Level Jets On Mars, Sydney Rau

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Design And Implementation Of An Airborne Particulate-Matter Sensor, Leonard Hochmuth, Todd Mckinney

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Smoke Particles Toward Improved Remote Sensing Retrievals And Chemical Transport Modeling, Chenchong Zhang

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Wildfires increase in extent, intensity, and frequency across the globe over the recent decades. The uncontrolled fires trigger cascading effects on local ecosystems and the fire emissions pose a higher risk to air quality and climate. Wildfire emissions contain a variety of trace gases and particulate matters. The particle-phase emissions, especially those light-absorbing species including black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC), significantly affect the regional and global climate by modulating the radiative transfer phenomena in the atmosphere. A great discrepancy still exists between model- and observation-based estimates of aerosol-radiation interactions (ARI). The discrepancy is partially attributed to the mischaracterizations …

Impacts Of Physical Parameterization Schemes And Soil Moisture Initialization On Boundary Layer Evolution In The Weather Research And Forecasting (Wrf) Model, Grace Cutting

Dissertations & Theses in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Numerical weather prediction (NWP) models have become a necessary addition to the atmospheric research community over the last several decades, and atmospheric modeling has been used internationally for numerous operational and research purposes. NWP models contain a vast number of combinations of physical and dynamical parameterization schemes; however, they are not always accurate in forecasting weather phenomena at a particular location, as different combinations of parameterization schemes represent differing conditions. Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations were run to explore which of the commonly used planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes best represented upper-air data (as well as PBL evolution) …

Machine Learning For Earth Systems Modeling, Analysis And Predictability, Linsey Passarella

Doctoral Dissertations

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods and applications have been continuously explored in many areas of scientific research. While these methods have lead to many advances in climate science, there remains room for growth especially in Earth System Modeling, analysis and predictability. Due to their high computational expense and large volumes of complex data they produce, earth system models (ESMs) provide an abundance of potential for enhancing both our understanding of the climate system as well as improving performance of ESMs themselves using ML techniques. Here I demonstrate 3 specific areas of development using ML: statistical downscaling, predictability …

Development And Use Of An Agent-Based Model To Assess The Effect Of Forecast Credibility On Urban Traffic During Snow Events, Lillie Farrell

Theses and Dissertations

With the difficulties in snow accumulation prediction, the potential for false alarms and forecast misses arise. These forecast errors can lead to a lack of public trust and poor decisions in responding to future weather hazards. There has been little research on how individuals respond in the future to false alarms and forecast inconsistencies. We developed an agent-based traffic model to demonstrate how snow forecasts and public response interplay. This model factors receptiveness to expertise, forecast severity, and forecast credibility into the agents’ work-related travel decisions. Agents are grouped into three categories: firm workers, service workers, and household workers, where …

Glaciochemical Investigations In Three Southern Hemisphere Mountain Sites, Mariusz Potocki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on glaciochemical records of trace elements, major ions, and stable water isotopes from three mountain regions: the Antarctic Peninsula, the Central Chilean Andes, and South Georgia Island.

The first section reports a significant increase in U concentration over 27 years on Detroit Plateau, Antarctic Peninsula. U concentrations in the ice core increase by as much as 102 between the 1980s and 2000s, accompanied by increased variability in recent years. The U concentration increase coincides with expanded open pit mining in the Southern Hemisphere, most notably Australia. Since other land-source dust elements do not …

Changes Of Winter Severity In Arkansas During 1901-2100, Christian Garcia

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to quantify the winter severity in a way that was reproduceable and easy to understand. The Accumulated Winter Severity Seasonal Index (AWSSI) was chosen for this reason and was used to quantify winter severity by season across the state of Arkansas. The variables that go into the AWSSI calculation are maximum daily temperature, minimum daily temperature, daily snowfall, and daily snow depth. When the snowfall and snow depth were missing, they can be estimated using daily temperature and precipitation. Then the estimated snowfall and snow depth can be subsequently used to quantify the winter …

Using Remote And In Situ Observations From Torus To Investigate A Preexisting Airmass Boundary And Its Influence On A Tornadic Supercell On 28 May 2019, Kristen Axon

Dissertations & Theses in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

During the 2019 field phase of Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells (TORUS), a preexisting airmass boundary was sampled on 28 May 2019 in north-central Kansas in close proximity to a tornadic supercell. This work hypothesized that the preexisting airmass boundary was associated with a mesoscale air mass with high theta-E (MAHTE) that favorably interacted with the tornadic supercell to increase the likelihood of tornadogenesis. Observations from TORUS including mobile mesonets, unoccupied aerial vehicles, soundings, and ground-based mobile radar were used along with GOES-16 visible satellite imagery, Kansas mesonet surface stations, and KUEX WSR-88D data to investigate this …

Kinetics, Products, And Brown Carbon Formation By Aqueous-Phase Reactions Of Glycolaldehyde With Atmospheric Amines And Ammonium Sulfate (Raw Data), David O. De Haan, Alyssa A. Rodriguez, Michael A. Rafla, Hannah G. Welsh, Elyse A. Pennington, Jason R. Casar, Lelia N. Hawkins, Natalie G. Jimenez, Alexia De Loera, Devoun R. Stewart, Antonio Rojas, Matthew-Khoa Tran, Peng Lin, Alexander Laskin, Paola Formenti, Mathieu Cazaunau, Edouard Pangui, Jean-François Doussin

Chemistry and Biochemistry: Faculty Scholarship

The zipped data files are in the following formats: Metadata: Word documents (.docx), Chamber data: Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx) and European Data Format files (.edf), organized by experiment number and instrumentation. “CAPS” files contain cavity attenuated phase shift (CAPS) extinction and scattering data; “SMPS” files contain scanning mobility particle sizing aerosol number and aerosol mass data.

Response Of Surface And Atmospheric Parameters Associated With The Iran M 7.3 Earthquake, Feng Jing, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Multiparameter observed from satellite, including microwave brightness temperature, skin temperature, air temperature, and carbon monoxide, have been analyzed to identify the anomalous signals associated with the M 7.3 Iran earthquake of November 12, 2017. Besides removing the multiyear variability of parameters as background, the effect of surface and atmosphere of a dust storm event in Middle East region during October 29–November 1 is considered to distinguish the possible anomalies associated with the earthquake. The characteristic behaviors of surface and atmospheric parameters clearly show the signals associated with the M 7.3 earthquake and the dust storm event. The multiple parameters at …

Interactions Between Tropical Cyclones And The Midlatitude Waveguide: Downstream Impacts And The Role Of Convective Processes, Kevin Prince

Theses and Dissertations

Significant amplification to the waveguide can occur when a recurving tropical cyclone (TC) interacts with the midlatitude flow, leading to significant downstream impacts. To this point in time, TC-midlatitude waveguide interactions have been conceptualized as primarily being driven by large-scale processes, with convective-scale contributions having been parameterized or neglected. This three-part study diagnoses the impact TC-midlatitude waveguide interactions have on the intensity evolution of downstream TCs and the role convective-scale processes play in TC-midlatitude waveguide interactions. Recurving TCs in both the North Atlantic and western North Pacific basins frequently interact favorably with upstream troughs, where a favorable interaction entails the …

Modeling Studies Of Gravity Wave Dynamics In Highly Structured Environments: Reflection, Trapping, Instability, Momentum Transport, Secondary Gravity Waves, And Induced Flow Responses, Wenjun Dong, David C. Fritts, Michael P. Hickey, Alan Z. Liu, Thomas S. Lund, Shaodong Zhang, Yanying Yan, Fan Yang

Publications

A compressible numerical model is applied for three-dimensional (3-D) gravity wave (GW) packets undergoing momentum deposition, self-acceleration (SA), breaking, and secondary GW (SGW) generation in the presence of highly-structured environments enabling thermal and/or Doppler ducts, such as a mesospheric inversion layer (MIL), tidal wind (TW), or combination of MIL and TW. Simulations reveal that ducts can strongly modulate GW dynamics. Responses modeled here include reflection, trapping, suppressed transmission, strong local instabilities, reduced SGW generations, higher altitude SGW responses, and induced large-scale flows. Instabilities that arise in ducts experience strong dissipation after they emerge, while trapped smaller-amplitude and smaller-scale GWs can …

Multi-Sectoral Impact Assessment Of An Extreme African Dust Episode In The Eastern Mediterranean In March 2018, Alexandra Monteiro, Sara Basart, Stelios Kazadzis, Antonis Gkikas, Sophie Vandenbussche, Aurelio Tobias, Carla Gama, Carlos Pérez García-Pando, Enric Tarradellas, George Notas, Nick Middleton, Jonilda Kushta, Vassilis Amiridis, Kostas Lagouvardos, Panagiotis G. Kosmopoulos, Vasiliki Kotroni, Maria Kanakidou, Nikos Mihalopoulos, Nikos Kalivitis, Pavla Daggson-Waldhauserová, Hesham El-Askary, Klaus Sievers, T. Giannaros, Lucia Mona, Marcus Hirtl, Paul Skomorowski, Slobodan Nickovic, Athanasios Votsis, Timo H. Virtanen, Theodoros Christoudias, Biagio Di Mauro, Serena Trippetta, Stanislav Kutuzov, Outi Meinander

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In late March 2018, a large part of the Eastern Mediterranean experienced an extraordinary episode of African dust, one of the most intense in recent years, here referred to as the “Minoan Red” event. The episode mainly affected the Greek island of Crete, where the highest aerosol concentrations over the past 15 yeas were recorded, although impacts were also felt well beyond this core area. Our study fills a gap in dust research by assessing the multi-sectoral impacts of sand and dust storms and their socioeconomic implications. Specifically, we provide a multi-sectoral impact assessment of Crete during the occurrence of …

Improving On Atmospheric Turbulence Profiles Derived From Dual Beacon Hartmann Turbulence Sensor Measurements, Alexander S. Boeckenstedt, Jack E. Mccrae, Santasri Bose-Pillai, Benjamin Wilson

Faculty Publications

Atmospheric turbulence is an inevitable source of wavefront distortion in all fields of long range laser propagation and sensing. However, the distorting effects of turbulence can be corrected using wavefront sensors contained in adaptive optics systems. Such systems also provide deeper insight into surface layer turbulence, which is not well understood. A unique method of profile generation by a dual source Hartmann Turbulence Sensor (HTS) technique is introduced here. Measurements of optical turbulence along a horizontal path were taken to create C2n profiles. Two helium-neon laser beams were directed over an inhomogeneous horizontal path and captured by the HTS. The …

Understanding Ch4 Emissions From Compostables: An Exploration Of Local Ch4 Emissions From Landfilled Compostables And The Efficacy Of Emission Mitigation Via Anaerobic Biogas Digestion, Jordan-Yoosuf Aljbour

University Honors Theses

Methane (CH₄) is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas within the atmosphere, comprising ~16% of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas composition on Earth. It has an ~12-year lifetime relative to its eventual oxidation via reaction with tropospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH), and has a 100-year indirect global warming potential (GWP) approximately ranging between 28-36 [Environmental Protection Agency, 2021]. In recent years, the observed average global concentration of atmospheric CH₄ has increased by ~11.0% from 2020 (~15.3 ppb) to 2021 (~17.0 ppb) [Dlugokencky et al., …

Understanding Coastal And Inland Hydrometeorological Hazards Produced By Extratropical And Tropical Cyclones Along The East Coast Of The United States, Katherine Towey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As global temperatures continue to rise, the effects of anthropogenic climate change will impact the magnitude and frequency of pluvial, fluvial, and coastal flooding events. If we want to accurately predict changes in these flooding events, we need to fully understand them in the current climate. As such, this research examines the relationship between hydrometeorological hazards and the characteristics of the storm types, such as extratropical cyclones (ETCs) and tropical cyclones (TCs), that produce such hazards. Through the use of observational and reanalysis data, the work herein utilizes a cyclone-hazard association algorithm and extreme value analysis to assess the extent, …