Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Thermal-Based Evaporative Stress Index For Monitoring Surface Moisture Depletion, Martha C. Anderson, Christopher R. Hain, Brian D. Wardlow, Agustin Pimstein, John R. Mecikalski, William P. Kustas

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The standard suite of indicators currently used in operational drought monitoring reflects anomalous conditions in several major components of the hydrologic budget—representing deficits in precipitation, soil moisture content, runoff, surface and groundwater storage, snowpack, and streamflow. In principle, it is useful to have a diversity of indices because drought can assume many forms (meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socioeconomic), over broad ranges in timescale (weeks to years), and with varied impacts of interest to different stakeholder groups. Farmers, for example, may be principally interested in soil moisture deficits, river forecasters will focus on streamflow fluctuations, and water managers will be concerned …

Winter 2012, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Gametogenesis And Spawning Of Solenastrea Bournoni And Stephanocoenia Intersepta In Southeast Florida, Usa, Jenna R. Lueg, Alison L. Moulding, Vladimir N. Kosmynin, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

This study constitutes the first report of the gametogenic cycle of the scleractinian corals Solenastrea bournoni and Stephanocoenia intersepta. Tissue samples were collected near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA between July 2008 and November 2009 and processed for histological examination in an effort to determine reproductive mode and potential spawning times. Both S. bournoni and S. intersepta are gonochoric, broadcast spawning species. Gametogenesis of S. bournoni began in April or May while S. intersepta had a much longer oogenic cycle that began in December with spermatogenesis beginning in July. Though spawning was not observed in situ, spawning was inferred …

Co-Cultures Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa And Roseobacter Denitrificans Reveal Shifts In Gene Expression Levels Compared To Solo Cultures, Crystal A. Conway, Nwadiuto Esiobu, Jose V. Lopez

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Consistent biosynthesis of desired secondary metabolites (SMs) from pure microbial cultures is often unreliable. In a proof-ofprinciple study to induce SM gene expression and production, we describe mixed “co-culturing” conditions and monitoring of messages via quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Gene expression of model bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and Roseobacter denitrificans Och114) was analyzed in pure solo and mixed cocultures to infer the effects of interspecies interactions on gene expression in vitro, Two P. aeruginosa genes (PhzH coding for portions of the phenazine antibiotic pathway leading to pyocyanin (PCN) and the RhdA gene for thiosulfate: cyanide sulfurtransferase …

Characterizing And Determining The Extent Of Coral Reefs And Associated Resources In Southeast Florida Through The Acquisition Of High-Resolution Bathymetry And Benthic Habitat Mapping, Brian K. Walker, Amanda Costaregni, Ian Rodericks, Greg Lewis, Nick Gadbois

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Effective marine resource management begins with knowing the distribution of resources within the region. Minimal data, and thus limited knowledge, exists about the reef resources of Martin County. The marine benthic habitats in Martin County need to be mapped to characterize and quantify the distribution of its coral and other benthic communities, therefore, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection – Coral Reef Conservation Program, FL Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and the National Coral Reef Institute at Nova Southeastern University have partnered to expand upon previous mapping efforts to identify and classify the benthic habitats in the southeast Florida region …

Submarine Landslides On The Upper Southeast Australian Passive Continental Margin – Preliminary Findings, S L. Clarke, T Hubble, D Airey, Phyllis Yu, R Boyd, J Keene, N Exon, James V. Gardner

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The southeast Australian passive continental margin is narrow, steep and sediment-deficient, and characterized by relatively low rates of modern sedimentation. Upper slope (<1200m) sediments comprise mixtures of calcareous and terrigenous sand and mud. Three of twelve sediment cores recovered from geologically-recent, submarine landslides located offshore New South Wales/Queensland (NSW/QLD) are interpreted to have sampled failure surfaces at depths of between 85 cm and 220 cm below the present-day seabed. Differences in sediment physical properties are recorded above and below the three slide-plane boundaries. Sediment taken directly above the inferred submarine landslide failure surfaces and presumed to be post-landslide, returned radiocarbon ages of 15.8 ka, 20.7 ka and 20.1 ka. The last two ages correspond to adjacent slide features, which are inferred to be consistent with their being triggered by a single event such as an earthquake. Slope stability models based on classical soil mechanics and measured sediment shearstrengths indicate that the upper slope sediments should be stable. However, multibeam sonar data reveal that many upper slope landslides occur across the margin and that submarine landsliding is a common process. We infer from these results that: a) an unidentified mechanism regularly acts to reduce the shear resistance of these sediments to the very low values required to enable slope failure, and/or b) the margin experiences seismic events that act to destabilise the slope sediments.

Evaluation Of Rockfish Abundance In Untrawlable Habitat: Combining Acoustic And Complementary Sampling Tools, Darin Jones, Christopher D. Wilson, Alex De Robertis, Chris Rooper, Thomas C. Weber, John L. Butler

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

—Rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) are an important component of North Pacific marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries. Because the rocky, high-relief substrate that rockfishes often inhabit is inaccessible to standard survey trawls, population abundance assessments for many rockfish species are difficult. As part of a large study to classify substrate and compare complementary sampling tools, we investigated the feasibility of using an acoustic survey in conjunction with a lowered stereo-video camera, a remotely operated vehicle, and a modified bottom trawl to estimate rockfish biomass in untrawlable habitat. The Snakehead Bank south of Kodiak Island, Alaska, was surveyed repeatedly over 4 days and …

Mapping Gas Seeps With The Deepwater Multibeam Echosounder On Okeanos Explorer, Thomas C. Weber, Larry A. Mayer, Jonathan Beaudoin, Kevin W. Jerram, Mashkoor A. Malik, Bill Shedd, Glen Rice

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

No abstract provided.

Detecting Ionospheric Tec Perturbations Caused By Natural Hazards Using A Global Network Of Gps Receivers: The Tohoku Case Study, A. Komjathy, D. A. Galvan, P. Stephens, M. D. Butala, V. Akopian, B. Wilson, O. Verkhoglyadova, A. J. Mannucci, M. Hickey

Physical Sciences - Daytona Beach

Recent advances in GPS data processing have demonstrated that ground-based GPS receivers are capable of detecting ionospheric TEC perturbations caused by surface-generated Rayleigh, acoustic and gravity waves. There have been a number of publications discussing TEC perturbations immediately following the M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011. Most investigators have focused on the ionospheric responses up to a few hours following the earthquake and tsunami. In our research, in addition to March 11, 2011 we investigate global ionospheric TEC perturbations a day before and after the event. We also compare indices of geomagnetic activity on all three …

Impact Of Hono On Global Atmospheric Chemistry Calculated With An Empirical Parameterization In The Emac Model, Yasin F. Elshorbany, B. Steil, C. Bruehl, J. Lelieveld

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

The photolysis of HONO is important for the atmospheric HOx (OH + HO2) radical budget and ozone formation, especially in polluted air. Nevertheless, owing to the incomplete knowledge of HONO sources, realistic HONO mechanisms have not yet been implemented in global models. We investigated measurement data sets from 15 field measurement campaigns conducted in different countries worldwide. It appears that the HONO/NOx ratio is a good proxy predictor for HONO mixing ratios under different atmospheric conditions. From the robust relationship between HONO and NOx, a representative mean HONO/NOx ratio of 0.02 has been derived. Using a global chemistry-climate model and …

Comparisons Of Observed And Modeled Oh And Ho2 Concentrations During The Ambient Measurement Period Of The Ho(X)Comp Field Campaign, Y. Kanaya, A. Hofzumahaus, H. -P. Dorn, T. Brauers, H. Fuchs, F. Holland

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

A photochemical box model constrained by ancillary observations was used to simulate OH and HO2 concentrations for three days of ambient observations during the HO(x)Comp field campaign held in Julich, Germany in July 2005. Daytime OH levels observed by four instruments were fairly well reproduced to within 33% by a base model run (Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism with updated isoprene chemistry adapted from Master Chemical Mechanism ver. 3.1) with high R-2 values (0.72-0.97) over a range of isoprene (0.3-2 ppb) and NO (0.1-10 ppb) mixing ratios. Daytime HO2(*) levels, reconstructed from the base model results taking into account the sensitivity …

Where Is The Rain-On-Snow Zone In The West-Central Washington Cascades?: Monte Carlo Simulation Of Large Storms In The Northwest, Matthew John Brunengo

Dissertations and Theses

Rain-on-snow (ROS) occurs when warm, wet air moves into latitudes and/or elevations having vulnerable snowpacks, where it can alter water inputs to infiltration, runoff and erosion. The Pacific Northwest is particularly susceptible: winter storms off the Pacific cause locally heavy rain plus snowmelt almost annually, and disastrous flooding and landsliding intermittently. In maritime mountainous terrain, the effects seem more likely and hydrologically important where warm rains and seasonal snowpacks are liable to coincide, in middle elevations. Several questions arise: (1) In the PNW, does ROS affect the long-term frequency and magnitude of water delivery to the ground, versus total precipitation …

Diatom Evidence For The Onset Of Pliocene Cooling From And-1b, Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica, Christina R. Riesselman, Robert B. Dunbar

ANDRILL Research and Publications

The late Pliocene, ~3.3–3.0 Ma, is the most recent interval of sustained global warmth in the geologic past. This window is the focus of climate reconstruction efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pliocene Research, Interpretation, and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) Data/Model Cooperative, and may provide a useful climate analog for the coming century. Reconstructions of past surface ocean conditions proximal to the Antarctic continent are essential to understanding the sensitivity of the cryosphere to this key interval in Earth’s climate evolution. An exceptional marine sediment core collected from the southwestern Ross Sea (78° S), Antarctica, during ANDRILL’s McMurdo Ice Shelf Project …

A Diatom Record Of Late Pliocene Cooling From The Ross Sea Continental Shelf, And-1b, Antarctica, Charlotte Sjunneskog, Diane Winter

ANDRILL Research and Publications

A late Pliocene – early Pleistocene, 2.9–2.0Ma, diatom record from the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL) MIS drillcore AND-1B is presented. This core, recovered from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf south of Ross Island, comprises multiple diatomaceous-sediment units deposited during interglacial periods with open water over the core site. These represent interglacial phases of orbitally paced climate cycles and are punctuated by glacial advances. Extant diatom assemblages have limited presence in the late Pliocene record, which makes environmental interpretation less straight forward. We employ modern ecological data in combination with late Pliocene to present variation in diatom assemblages across the …

Fragilariopsis Tigris Sp. Nov., A New Late Pliocene Antarctic Continental Shelf Diatom With Biostratigraphic Promise, Christina R. Riesselman

ANDRILL Research and Publications

Anew species within the genus Fragilariopsis, F. tigris, is described and illustrated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This species is restricted to a single 8-meter-thick diatom unit within the 585-meter-long section of alternating diatomites and diamictites recovered in the upper portion of the ANtarctic geological DRILLing (ANDRILL) McMurdo Ice Shelf Project (MIS) AND-1B marine sediment core. This new taxon from a diverse, well-preserved diatom assemblage is inferred to be the youngest member of the well-documented, biostratigraphically useful F. praeinterfrigidaria – F. interfrigidaria – F. weaveri lineage and may represent a near-shore corollary to the open-ocean species …

Droughtscape, Winter 2012, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Drought Planning for Kansas Ranchers Jan. 21

South Hoping La Niña Dryness Stays Away

2011 Brought Record-Breaking Extent of D4

Reported Impacts Ease as Growing Season Ends

Disaster Planning in Nanjing at Hohai U

Ag, Fire and Water Supply Topped 2011 Impacts

Hurricane Disturbance And Recovery Of Energy Balance, Co2 Fluxes And Canopy Structure In A Mangrove Forest Of The Florida Everglades, Jordan G. Barr, Vic Engel, Thomas J. Smith, José D. Fuentes

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Eddy covariance (EC) estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes and energy balance are examined to investigate the functional responses of a mature mangrove forest to a disturbance generated by Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005 in the Florida Everglades. At the EC site, high winds from the hurricane caused nearly 100% defoliation in the upper canopy and widespread tree mortality. Soil temperatures down to −50 cm increased, and air temperature lapse rates within the forest canopy switched from statically stable to statically unstable conditions following the disturbance. Unstable conditions allowed more efficient transport of water vapor and CO₂ from …

Characterization Of Temporal And Spatial Variation In Subwatersheds Of The Strawberry River, Ar, Prior To Implementation Of Agricultural Best Management Practices, T. R. Brueggen-Boman, J. L. Bouldin

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) assessments indicate alterations in physical and/or chemical factors making them valuable tools when attempting to assess agricultural best management practices (BMPs). The purpose of this study was to obtain pre-BMP land cover and macroinvertebrate community data in order to characterize temporal and spatial variation in three catchments: Little Strawberry (LS), Greasy Creek (GC), and Sandy Creek (SC) of the Strawberry River Watershed, located in north central Arkansas, in order to establish baseline conditions. BMIs were collected for the three subwatersheds in 1995, 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2009. Taxa richness, Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI) and Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and …

The Effects Of Climate On The Growth Of Winter Wheat And Spring Barley In An Irish Context, Adrian Kennedy

Theses

The climate of earth is always changing due to natural events, however it is thought that the rapid warming period currently taking place is primarily due human activity to (environmental protection agency 2012). Climate change is altering the environment and this will have consequences for agriculture (Teagasc publications 2012). In this study we examine the relationship between weather and the yield of winter wheat and spring barley in an Irish context using data gathered from 2004-2010 at the Teagasc Oak Park research centre in Carlow. The data was analysed using a mixed effect model to test which if any weather …

Function And Diversity Of The Ship, Trinity, And Tiger Shoal Complex, With Emphasis On Macrofauna And Spawning Blue Crabs (Callinectes Sapidus), Carey George Gelpi Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ecological and economic value of sandy shoals off the Louisiana coast is not well understood. During three years of comprehensive benthic sampling and environmental measurements I studied the Ship, Trinity, Tiger Shoal Complex (STTSC), which comprises changing and discrete benthic habitats including high relief sandy shoals, and muddier, mostly deeper off-shoal areas, prone to hypoxia. Benthic macrofaunal assemblages of shoals included endemic species, and shoal communities were significantly different from each other and the muddier offshoal habitat, contributing to northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) regional biodiversity. Sand percentage was the most influential environmental parameter shaping macrofaunal community composition across …