Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Discovery Of Novel Viruses From Animals, Plants, And Insect Vectors Using Viral Metagenomics, Terry Fei Fan Ng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding emerging viruses is critical for disease monitoring and prediction; however, surveys of novel viruses are hindered by the lack of a universal assay for viruses. Viral metagenomics, consisting of viral particle purification and shotgun sequencing, is a powerful technique for discovering viruses in a wide variety of sample types. However, current protocols are not effective on tissue samples (e.g., lungs, livers and tumors), where they are hindered by the high amount of host nucleic acids which limits the percentage of sequences that originate from viruses. In this dissertation, a modified viral metagenomics protocol was developed and utilized to effectively …

A Study To Minimize Or Eliminate Hardbottom And Reef Impacts From Anchoring Activities In Designated Anchorages At The Ports Of Miami And Palm Beach, Brian K. Walker

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Global Patterns And Predictions Of Seafloor Biomass Using Random Forests, Chih-Lin Wei, Gilbert T. Rowe, Elva Escobar-Briones, Antje Boetius, Thomas Soltwedel, M. Julian Caley, Yousria Soliman, Falk Huettmann, Fangyuan Qu, Zishan Yu, C. Roland Pitcher, Richard L. Haedrich, Mary K. Wicksten, Michael A. Rex, Jeffrey G. Baguley, Jyotsna Sharma, Roberto Danovaro, Ian R. Macdonald, Clifton C. Nunnally, Jody W. Deming, Paul Montagna, Mélanie Lévesque, Jan Marcin Weslawski, Maria Wlodarska-Kowalczuk, Baban S. Ingole, Brian J. Bett, David S. M. Billett, Andrew Yool, Bodil A. Bluhm, Katrin Iken, Bhavani E. Narayanaswamy

Biology Faculty Publication Series

A comprehensive seafloor biomass and abundance database has been constructed from 24 oceanographic institutions worldwide within the Census of Marine Life (CoML) field projects. The machine-learning algorithm, Random Forests, was employed to model and predict seafloor standing stocks from surface primary production, water-column integrated and export particulate organic matter (POM), seafloor relief, and bottom water properties. The predictive models explain 63% to 88% of stock variance among the major size groups. Individual and composite maps of predicted global seafloor biomass and abundance are generated for bacteria, meiofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna (invertebrates and fishes). Patterns of benthic standing stocks were positive …

Quantifying Canal Leakage Rates Using A Mass-Balance Approach And Heat-Based Hydraulic Conductivity Estimates In Selected Irrigation Canals, Western Nebraska, 2007 Through 2009, Christopher M. Hobza, Michael J. Andersen

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

The water supply in areas of the North Platte River Basin in the Nebraska Panhandle has been designated as fully appropriated or overappropriated by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NDNR). Enacted legislation (Legislative Bill 962) requires the North Platte Natural Resources District (NPNRD) and the NDNR to develop an Integrated Management Plan (IMP) to balance groundwater and surface-water supply and demand in the NPNRD. A clear understanding of the groundwater and surface-water systems is critical for the development of a successful IMP. The primary source of groundwater recharge in parts of the NPNRD is from irrigation canal leakage. Because …

Transport Of Nordic Seas Overflow Water Into And Within The Irminger Sea: An Eddy-Resolving Simulation And Observations, Xiaobiao Xu, W.J. Schmitz Jr., Harley E. Hulbert, Patrick J. Hogan, Eric P. Chassignet, H.M. Van Aken

Faculty Publications

Results from a climatologically forced, eddy-resolving (1/12 degrees) Atlantic simulation using the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model help clarify some presently unresolved connections between volume transports of Nordic Seas overflow water at key locations in the northernmost North Atlantic Ocean. The model results demonstrate that, in addition to the known westward flow through the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ), some Iceland Scotland overflow water (ISOW) flows westward through gaps in the Reykjanes Ridge north of the CGFZ into the Irminger Sea, and some flows southward along the eastern flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge into the West European Basin. These results provide …

Ua668/4 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Administration, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the administration of the Geography & Geology department.

Uncertainty Associated With Modeling The Global Ionosphere, Janelle V. Jenniges, Ariel O. Acebal, Larry Gardner, Robert W. Schunk, Lie Zhu

Physics Student Research

A study has been conducted of the effect that different physical assumptions have on global models of the electron density distribution. The study was conducted with the Ionosphere Forecast Model (IFM) and the Ionosphere Plasmasphere Model (IPM) developed by Utah State University. Both physics-based, time-dependent, global models use the same empirical models for the neutral atmosphere (MSIS) and neutral wind (Horizontal Wind Model, HWM), but the altitude range, thermal structure, number of ion species, and magnetic 2ield are different. The IFM covers the altitude range from 90-1400 km, calculates the densities for four ions (NO+, O2+, N2+, O+), has a …

Invasive Species And Climate Change, Invasive Species Advisory Committee

National Invasive Species Council

ISSUE

Climate change interacts with and can often amplify the negative impacts of invasive species. These interactions are not fully appreciated or understood. They can result in threats to critical ecosystem functions on which our food system and other essential provisions and services depend as well as increase threats to human health. The Invasive Species Advisory Committee to the National Invasive Species Council recognizes the Administration’s commitment to dealing proactively with global climate change. However, unless we recognize and act on the impact of climate change and its interaction with ecosystems and invasive species, we will fall further behind in …

Sfa Weather Station-December 2010, Arthur Temple College Of Forestry And Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University

Weather Station Data

No abstract provided.

Propagating And Non-Propagating Intraseasonal Oscillations In The Tropical Atmosphere: Their Vertical And Horizontal Structures And Developing Mechanisms, Zhaoning Liang

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A fixed beamformer is proposed and designed to identify source regions of Intra-Seasonal Oscillations (ISO) in the tropical atmosphere. After tested by simulations of single and complex sources of waves, the fixed beamformer is applied to the ECMWF interpolated data grids to detect and identify source regions of the ISO in the tropical Indian and Pacific Ocean region. Results show that the fixed beamforming technique can uniquely identify the source region of the ISO, the source regions of all major ISO in the tropical Indian and western equatorial Pacific region from 1974 to 2002 have been identified.

Examinations of ISO …

Seasonal Aggregations Of The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) In The Port Everglades And Intracoastal Regions Of Fort Lauderdale, Florida., Jaime M. Goldman

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, is one of the most endangered marine mammals in United States waters. The Florida manatee is the only manatee that ranges into subtropical and temperate regions. During the winter months manatees adopt a “refuging strategy” where they aggregate at warm-water sources immediately following decreases in the ambient water temperature to below 20° C (68° F) in order to avoid cold stress syndrome (CSS). During the winter manatees aggregate in warm water refuges, including natural warm water springs and the effluent discharges of power plants.

The …

The Effect Of Enso On Nebraska Winter Snowfall, Jonathan Burnham

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

No abstract provided.

Statistical Analysis Of The Usu Lidar Data Set With Reference To Mesospheric Solar Response And Cooling Rate Calculation, With Analysis Of Statistical Issues Affecting The Regression Coefficients, Troy Alden Wynn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Though the least squares technique has many advantages, its possible limitations as applied in the atmospheric sciences have not yet been fully explored in the literature. The assumption that the atmosphere responds either in phase or out of phase to the solar input is ubiquitous. However, our analysis found this assumption to be incorrect. If not properly addressed, the possible consequences are bias in the linear trend coefficient and attenuation of the solar response coefficient.

Using USU Rayleigh lidar temperature data, we found a significant phase offset to the solar input in the temperatures that varies ±5 years depending on …

A Comprehensive Uncertainty Analysis And Method Of Geometric Calibration For A Circular Scanning Airborne Lidar, Michael Oliver Gonsalves

Dissertations

This dissertation describes an automated technique for ascertaining the values of the geometric calibration parameters of an airborne lidar. A least squares approach is employed that adjusts the point cloud to a single planar surface which could be either a narrow airport runway or a dynamic sea surface. Going beyond the customary three boresight angles, the proposed adjustment can determine up to eleven calibration parameters to a precision that renders a negligible contribution to the point cloud’s positional uncertainty.

Presently under development is the Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar (CZMIL), which, unlike most contemporary systems that use oscillating mirrors …

Lsuhsc Facilities Daily Update: December 2010, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2010

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates from December 2010.

On the original documents, the daily update for Thursday, December 2, 2010 is misdated as Thursday, November 2, 2010; and the daily update for Thursday, December 9, 2010 is misdated as Thursday, December 10, 2010.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Lsuhsc Facilities Biweekly Update: December 2010, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates: 2010

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates from December 3 and 17, 2010.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Uncertainty Of Dimensional Measurments Obtained From Self-Initialized Instruments, Vincent Lee

All Dissertations

Precision dimensional measurement instruments often contain sensors that can only measure displacement of a moving body from some reference position. In order to measure the length of an object they often require a calibrated artifact to initialize their measurement sensors so that they may provide an absolute measurement instead of displacement. Instruments which can realize a null value, i.e. zero length, don't require one; however instruments which can't need to reference an object of known size. These calibration artifacts also serve as part of the chain of metrological traceability.
The group of instruments presented in this dissertation can self-initialize by …

The Distribution And Comparative Biogeochemistry Of Silver With Other Selected Trace Metals In Coastal Waters Near Massachusetts, Usa, Christian F. Krahforst

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Water samples and hydrologic data were collected during 1994-1996 in New England coastal waters near Massachusetts, USA to examine the distribution of silver and other trace metals (Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn, and Fe) in the coastal systems of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays. These investigations were designed to test the hypothesis that silver could serve as a tracer of dispersion of municipal wastewater in Boston Harbor into Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays and estimate the relative contribution of wastewater discharge to the overall silver budget of the Massachusetts Bays system. Silver concentrations in both particulate and filtered (<0.4 µm) fractions averaged 103 and 117 pmol kg-1 for Boston Harbor, 34 and 10 pmol kg-1 in western Massachusetts Bay, and 11 and 7 pmol kg-1 in the central portion of Massachusetts Bay, respectively. Average Ag concentrations in southern Gulf of Maine coastal waters were 10 and 2 pmol kg-1 for filtered and particulate fractions, respectively. While nearly half of the silver existed in particulate form in Boston Harbor, nearly 80% of the silver in Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays occurred in the filterable fraction. Coastal water surveys revealed non-conservative Ag behavior and probably the result of incomplete mixing of three or more water masses with unique Ag signatures (e.g., Merrimack River, Boston Harbor, surface and intermediate Gulf of Maine waters). Quasi-steady state mass balance approaches estimate most of the silver entering into the Massachusetts Bays system during the study period was the result of municipal wastewater discharge to Boston Harbor (84-93%).

Multivariate analyses …

Removal Of Arsenic And Strontium From Aqueous Solution Using Ironoxide Coated Zeolitized Tuff, Nataliya V. Kasimtseva

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As world population grows so does the demand for safe drinking water. Meanwhile water resources become increasingly scarce and quality of natural water decreases due to a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. Industry and agriculture have become a premiere source of hazardous constituents, along with natural processes such as rock weathering and volcanic eruptions. Our ability to remove hazardous constituents from water depends on chosen technology and nature of contaminant. Sorption and ion-exchange have been widely applied for water purification. Natural zeolites have been widely applied in water and waste water treatment as ion-exchangers for removal of harmful contaminants …

A Comprehensive Rocket And Radar Study Of Midlatitude Spread F, G.D. Earle, P. Bhaneja, P.A. Roddy, C.M. Swenson, A. Barjatya, R. L. Bishop, Et. Al

Publications

An instrumented sounding rocket launched from Wallops Island Virginia has flown through a midlatitude spread F (MSF) event in conjunction with simultaneous ionosonde, HF radar, and 244 MHz scintillation observations from the ground. The in situ measurements include the electric field, horizontal neutral wind, and plasma density within the spread F region. The ground‐based HF radar measurements of wave signatures in the bottomside F region ledge reveal the presence of waves propagating to the north and northwest prior to and during the spreading event. The periods of these bottomside waves range from 16 to 60 min, and they are shown …