Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Aquatic Macrophytes As Nature-Based Solutions: Challenges And Opportunities Across Inland And Coastal Waters, Morgan Botrel, Roxane Maranger, Lindsay L. Trottier, Mathieu Cusson, Lars L. Iverson, Fanny Noisette, Christian Nozais, Katrine Turgeon, Andrea Bertolo, Thibaud André-Alphonse, Simon Bélanger, Arthur De Grandpré, Jean-Olivier Goyette, Sabine Hilt, Ladd Johnson, Valérie Langlois, Martin Laporte, Félix Lauzon, Brigitte Légaré, Anne Ola, Marie-Pomme Presne-Poissant, Matthieu Prugne, Caroline Susini, Richard Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

Macrophytes are foundation species whose use as nature-based solution (NbS) in aquatic ecosystems can help reduce climate change impacts while mitigating biodiversity loss. The discrepancy in research and application of macrophytes as NbS across inland and marine coastal ecosystems is an opportunity to expand the concept and learn from different approaches. We report on an initiative uniting marine and freshwater scientists that compared knowledge on macrophytes as NbS across realms, identified advances and gaps in their use, and synthesized challenges and opportunities for application. We conducted a bibliometric analysis and an expert participatory exercise around recent review papers. We reveal …

Revisiting The Life Cycle Of Margalefidinium Polykrikoides Group Iii, Eduardo Pérez-Vega, Kenneth N. Mertens, Pjotr Meyvisch, Margaret R. Mulholland

OES Faculty Publications

Dinoflagellates produce cysts as a strategy to withstand environmental stressors, with nutrient depletion generally considered a key trigger for cyst production. Resting cysts are thick-walled, typically composed of one to several layers, and characterized by a prolonged dormancy period. In contrast, pellicle cysts possess a thin, single wall and exhibit no dormancy or a markedly shorter dormancy than resting cysts of the same species. Margalefidinium polykrikoides produces pellicle and resting cysts, whereas its congener, M. fulvescens, has been shown to produce pumpkin-like structures. Using phase-contrast microscopy, time-lapse microscopy, FlowCam, and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (ATR μ-FTIR), …

The Effects Of A Microplate On Plume-Ridge Interactions: Constraints From Comparing Easter And Juan Fernandez Microplates In The Eastern Pacific Ocean, Katherine Ames, Jennifer Georgen

OES Faculty Publications

This study investigates the nature of plume-ridge interactions near a tectonic microplate using mantle Bouguer anomaly (MBA) gravity calculations. The focus of this investigation is a comparison of the Easter and Juan Fernandez microplates, which are located in the eastern Pacific Ocean along the Pacific, Nazca, and Antarctic plate boundaries. The microplates have several similar characteristics, including general size, time of formation, and clockwise rotation within the larger bounding mid-ocean ridge systems. Unlike the Juan Fernandez microplate, however, the Easter microplate is located near a mantle plume (Easter/Salas y Gomez). Previously published geochemical data suggest that material from this plume …

Remote Sensing Of Particulate Organic Carbon And Phytoplankton Carbon In The Northern South China Sea, Xiaoju Pan, Tung-Yuan Ho, George T. F. Wong, Jen-Hua Tai, Lijuan Nie

OES Faculty Publications

Surface concentrations of particulate organic carbon (POC) and phytoplankton carbon (C_phy) in the northern South China Sea (NSCS) have been assessed successfully by remote sensing with appropriate regional tuning. Match-up comparisons between satellite derivations and field observations showed uncertainties of ± 28.5% for POC and ± 37.0% for C_phy. The satellite-derived climatological distributions are consistent with previous reports. In the open NSCS where phytoplankton growth is controlled primarily by the convective overturn, both POC and C_phy are higher in winter, associating with the effect of stronger northeast monsoons and surface cooling, than in summer, when …

Microplastics Suppress Copepod Grazing Of The Harmful Algal Bloom-Forming Dinoflagellate, Alexandrium Catenella, Megan Ladds, Christopher Gobler

OES Faculty Publications

While harmful algal blooms (HABs) are prominent occurrences in coastal zones where microplastic concentrations are maximal, the manner in which microplastics may influence food webs and HABs is poorly understood. This study explored how polystyrene microplastics affected copepod grazing of the saxitoxin-synthesizing harmful dinoflagellate, Alexandrium catenella, as well as a non-toxic dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium aureolum. Experiments were performed using multiple densities of microplastics (250 – 10,000 mL^–¹) of differing sizes (4 and 10 µm), as well as multiple densities of microalgae in microplates. The addition of 10 µm microplastics at densities of 1000 – 10,000 beads mL^{– …}

Investigation Of Mercury Bioaccessibility In Subsistence Fishes From The Canadian Subarctic, Kiran Mateo Sharma Mr

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Fish consumption is the primary pathway for human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), a global contaminant of concern known to cause adverse health effects. Fort Albany First Nation, a remote Indigenous community in northern Ontario that relies on fish for both subsistence and cultural practices, has expressed concern regarding the safety of local fish consumption. Community members and leaders have communicated several priorities for scientific research that are the foundation of this thesis. Specifically, consumers of wild-caught fish have asked how traditional cooking methods may affect mercury concentrations in fish, and how mercury concentrations in little-studied organs, such as liver and …

Workshop Outcomes Report: 2nd International Workshop On Seismic Resilience Of Arctic Infrastructure And Social Systems, Majid Ghayoomi, Daniela Morganti

Faculty Publications

The report provides an overview of the second international workshop on Seismic Resilience of Arctic Infrastructure and Social Systems. The report discusses agenda, workshop activities, interdisciplinary working groups, and results. It ends with several strategic questions and investigation plans that were developed as part of the workshop activities.

The Effects Of Downdraft And Radial Ventilation In Hurricanes Earl (2010) And Edouard (2014), Jacob Vile

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Tropical cyclone (TC) intensity change in moderate vertical wind shear (VWS) is difficult to predict. Specifically, ventilation, the intrusion of dry and/or cool (i.e., low equivalent potential temperature (theta-e) air inside the TC, can have differing effects on TCs. Downdraft ventilation is the downward transport of below-mean  theta-e air by downdrafts, and radial ventilation is the inward transport of below-mean theta-e air by storm-relative radial winds. If this low theta-e air is able to get ingested by updrafts, it can result in a reduction of convection in the TC, thereby reducing intensity. Although most studies of ventilation have been conducted …

Key Processes Involved In The Vortex Alignment Of Sheared Tropical Cyclones, Luis O. Hernandez

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are challenging to forecast when under vertical wind shear (VWS). VWS tilts a TC’s vortex, creating asymmetries in its structure that impedes intensification. Although work has been done to conceptualize and understand how TCs evolve under shear and how they axisymmetrize and intensify, vortex alignment remains a complex and unresolved topic. The goal of this study is to assess what physical processes are important to tilt reduction and how these processes evolve in weak TCs. Using the Hurricane Analysis Forecast System Model-B (HAFS-B) 2.1, a case study on two storms, Hurricane Earl (2022) and Hurricane Lee (2023) …

Drivers Of Extreme Streamflow During A Snowmelt-Enhanced Heavy Rainfall And Atmospheric River Event In The Catskill Mountains Of New York, Christopher A. Gilberti

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This study uses atmospheric reanalysis, precipitation and snow water equivalent (SWE) analyses, mesonet observations, and streamflow records to examine the impact of an atmospheric river storm that produced heavy rainfall and snowpack ablation across the Catskill Mountains of New York on 24–25 December 2020. Earlier in December, an antecedent storm produced SWE values in the Catskills above the 90^th percentile for that point in the season. The atmospheric river event followed with strong southerly warm-air advection ahead of an anomalously deep trough, temperatures and dewpoints that exceeded 10°C, and heavy orographically enhanced rainfall and rapid snowmelt. Sensible heat fluxes …

The Predictability And Verification Of Precipitation From Landfalling Tropical Cyclones Using An Object-Based Framework, Melissa Piper

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Precipitation from landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) poses a significant risk to life and property in both coastal and inland communities. Early warning systems can help mitigate the impacts of TC-induced flooding; however, this requires accurate quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs). Forecasting precipitation from landfalling TCs is a challenge, as the intensity, duration, and location of precipitation can be dependent on numerous storm-related and environmental factors. Previous studies have attempted to identify and correct NWP model deficiencies and reduce forecast uncertainty by applying traditional and advanced verification metrics to TC QPF. However, these studies have mostly used gridpoint verification metrics, limited samples …

Weather-Related Road Condition Detection Using Co-Developed Machine Learning Methods, Carly Sutter

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Transportation agencies make critical operational decisions during hazardous weather events, including assessment of road conditions and resource allocation. In this study, machine learning models are developed to provide additional support for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) by automatically classifying road conditions across the state. Convolutional neural networks and random forests are trained on NYSDOT roadside camera images and weather data to predict road surface conditions. This task draws critically on a labeled dataset of 22,000 camera images containing six road surface conditions (severe snow, snow, wet, dry, poor visibility, and obstructed) generated from an iterative hand-labeling process …

On The City-Scale Energy Balance Under Electrification And Renewable Generation: The New York City Case, Nour Elgalad

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Integration of renewable resources to meet the growing energy demand of dense urban regions is becoming a global priority under decarbonization mandates. This study contributes to these ongoing efforts by assessing the feasibility of using locally deployable urban renewable resources, namely offshore wind in the New York Bight region and rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems over New York City, to meet the electricity demand of the city, and the grid vulnerabilities that emerge, during two contrasting extreme-weather periods: the intense heatwave of June 2025 and a fully electrified winter cold snap in January 2018. A unified, meteorologically driven modelling framework, based …

Changepoint Analyses Confirms Global Tropical Cyclone Frequency Decline, Michael Wehner, Thomas Fisher, Norou Diawara, Robert Lund

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Changes in tropical cyclone frequencies as the climate warms is a topic of significant current debate [1, 2]. There is no accepted theory of how tropical cyclogenesis might respond to a warmer ocean-atmosphere system as multiple controlling factors exist [3–7]. Anthropogenic warming of surface ocean temperatures due to increased greenhouse gas concentrations [8] increases the potential for tropical cyclogenesis [9–11]; however, realized cyclogenesis also requires an initial local disturbance [12–16] to develop. Most multi-decadal tropical cyclone permitting climate models (i.e. resolutions of 15-50km) exhibit frequency decreases in warmer climates, despite the increase in tropical cyclogenesis potential [17–25]. In this paper, …

A Composite Narxnn Approach To Photovoltaic Power Forecasting With Integrated Weather Inputs And Uncertainty Quantification, Denisse Urenda Castañeda, Sharmin Abdullah, Jackson Morgan, Honglun Xu, Michael Pokojovy, Tzu-Liang Tseng

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Solar photovoltaics (PV) are a major source of sustainable energy. Yet, their power output is highly sensitive to environmental variability, particularly solar irradiance, cloud cover, wind, and temperature. Accurate forecasting of PV power is essential for efficient grid integration and energy planning, especially in applications requiring reliable longer-term forecasting rather than one-step-ahead predictions. This study presents a PV power forecasting approach using Nonlinear Autoregressive models with Exogenous Inputs (NARX), integrating large-scale numerical weather historical data as exogenous variables. Although NARX models effectively capture temporal dependencies, they can become overly dependent on historical power values, reducing responsiveness to real-time weather changes. …

State Climate Superfunds, Rachel Rothschild

Articles

The harmful effects of climate change have already arrived in cities and states across America, with disasters increasing markedly in recent years along with more gradual environmental changes like sea-level rise and drought. To protect populations and natural resources, significant funding will be necessary for preventative measures as well as disaster response.

At present, it is states and ordinary taxpayers who must shoulder the enormous costs and planning for climate adaptation. A number of state legislators, however, have recently proposed enacting new laws that would require the companies who have most profited from fossil fuel usage to assist in funding …

Geographic Variation In Proteomic Responses To Ocean Acidification In A Cold-Water Coral (Balanophyllia Elegans), Keana A. Richmond

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In the face of a rapidly changing climate, assessing organismal responses to future stressors in the context of current, natural exposure to stress could provide key insights to understanding marine ecosystem resilience. I used Balanophyllia elegans, a cold-water, solitary, azooxanthellate coral as a model to better understand how varying oceanographic conditions across its geographic range have shaped its ability to tolerate and potentially adapt to current and future ocean acidification conditions. I collected B. elegans individuals from four sites across 2,500km of their range and subjected them to two pH treatments to investigate site-specific protein expression in response to …

Larval Crowding In Culex Pipiens Generates Cumulative Cascading Effects Under Changing Environmental Conditions, Sengul Talay, Zafer Sakaci, Michele C. Weigle, Bugrahan Regaip Kilinc, Jenah Parman, Holly Gaff, Deniz Sirin, Bulent Alten, Dennis Bente, Sirri Kar

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Density-dependent population regulation is a fundamental driver in the population dynamics of living systems, ensuring a balanced and sustainable maintenance in nature. It has been suggested that the adverse developmental and morphological effect of high larval density in container mosquitoes represents a significant limiting factor for population density, and the need to investigate this possible importance within the framework of field-based principles has been emphasized. This semi-field study, conducted under the natural thermal regime and using a natural population in Turkish Thrace, aimed to examine the effects of non-food-limiting larval density (crowding effect) in the mosquito species, Culex pipiens ( …

Global Evidence On Scaling Nature-Based Solutions For Compound Hazards, Sina Razzaghi Asl, Anahita Azadgar

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly promoted for climate adaptation to compound hazards, but systematic evidence of their effectiveness is still scarce. We address this gap with a systematic review of 38 studies. Each study was sorted by what its measurement design can support, not by what its authors claim. This produced four groups. Direct studies attribute a measured hazard reduction to the intervention, proxy studies infer protection from ecosystem condition, prioritization studies map suitable locations without estimating performance, and qualitative studies describe effectiveness without measuring it. We detect trends in geographic distribution, hazard combinations, intervention types, methodological approaches, and strength …

Recent Climatology And Changes In Precipitating Storm Characteristics Over Conus, Tyler Landsparger

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

As anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions continue to warm the global climate system, improving our understanding of how precipitating storms are responding in the real world has become increasingly important.  This study leverages 22 years of high-resolution hourly precipitation data from the NCEP Stage IV dataset to produce a seasonal climatology and long-term trend analysis of precipitating storm frequency, duration, area, and intensity across the Contiguous United States (CONUS) from March 2002 through February 2024.  Storms were identified and tracked using an object-tracking algorithm and their characteristics were computed for each season, from which 22-year climatology and trends were derived.  The …