Sample records for focus area multiyear

  1. Area estimation using multiyear designs and partial crop identification

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sielken, R. L., Jr.

    1983-01-01

    Progress is reported for the following areas: (1) estimating the stratum's crop acreage proportion using the multiyear area estimation model; (2) assessment of multiyear sampling designs; and (3) development of statistical methodology for incorporating partially identified sample segments into crop area estimation.

  2. Inquiring into Pre-Service Content Area Teachers' Development of Literacy Practices and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mitton Kukner, Jennifer; Murray Orr, Anne

    2015-01-01

    The focus of this qualitative multi-year case study is on preservice teachers' experiences related to the development of their literacy practices in teaching high school science, math, social studies and other content area courses during their final field placement in a teacher education program. Results indicate tangible indicators of overall…

  3. A Multi-Year Study of Pre-Service Teachers' Literacy Practices in the Content Areas: Time Epistemologies and Indicators of Stasis and Growth

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mitton-Kükner, Jennifer; Murray Orr, Anne

    2018-01-01

    This three-year study focuses on 42 pre-service teachers' perspectives on integrating literacy into their content area teaching. Pre-service teachers described time as an influential factor shaping their teaching practices, and, we found, that perceptions of time influenced pre-service teachers' reported ability and willingness to plan for and…

  4. Variations in the Arctic's multiyear sea ice cover: A neural network analysis of SMMR-SSM/I data, 1979-2004

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Belchansky, G.I.; Douglas, David C.; Eremeev, V.A.; Platonov, Nikita G.

    2005-01-01

    A 26-year (1979-2004) observational record of January multiyear sea ice distributions, derived from neural network analysis of SMMR-SSM/I passive microwave satellite data, reveals dense and persistent cover in the central Arctic basin surrounded by expansive regions of highly fluctuating interannual cover. Following a decade of quasi equilibrium, precipitous declines in multiyear ice area commenced in 1989 when the Arctic Oscillation shifted to a pronounced positive phase. Although extensive survival of first-year ice during autumn 1996 fully replenished the area of multiyear ice, a subsequent and accelerated decline returned the depletion to record lows. The most dramatic multiyear sea ice declines occurred in the East Siberian, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas.

  5. Spatial and temporal multiyear sea ice distributions in the Arctic: A neural network analysis of SSM/I data, 1988-2001

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Belchansky, G.I.; Douglas, David C.; Alpatsky, I.V.; Platonov, Nikita G.

    2004-01-01

    Arctic multiyear sea ice concentration maps for January 1988-2001 were generated from SSM/I brightness temperatures (19H, 19V, and 37V) using modified multiple layer perceptron neural networks. Learning data for the neural networks were extracted from ice maps derived from Okean and ERS satellite imagery to capitalize on the stability of active radar multiyear ice signatures. Evaluations of three learning algorithms and several topologies indicated that networks constructed with error back propagation learning and 3-20-1 topology produced the most consistent and physically plausible results. Operational neural networks were developed specifically with January learning data, and then used to estimate daily multiyear ice concentrations from daily-averaged SSM/I brightness temperatures during January. Monthly mean maps were produced for analysis by averaging the respective daily estimates. The 14-year series of January multiyear ice distributions revealed dense and persistent cover in the central Arctic surrounded by expansive regions of highly fluctuating interannual cover. Estimates of total multiyear ice area by the neural network were intermediate to those of other passive microwave algorithms, but annual fluctuations and trends were similar among all algorithms. When compared to Radarsat estimates of multiyear ice concentration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (1997-1999), average discrepancies were small (0.9-2.5%) and spatial coherency was reasonable, indicating the neural network's Okean and ERS learning data facilitated passive microwave inversion that emulated backscatter signatures. During 1988-2001, total January multiyear ice area declined at a significant linear rate of -54.3 x 103 km2/yr-1 (-1.4%/yr-1). The most persistent and extensive decline in multiyear ice concentration (-3.3%/yr-1) occurred in the southern Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. In autumn 1996, a large multiyear ice recruitment of over 106 km2 (mostly in the Siberian Arctic) fully replenished the previous 8-year decline in total area, but it was followed by an accelerated and compensatory decline during the subsequent 4 years. Seventy-five percent of the interannual variation in January multiyear sea ice area was explained by linear regression on two atmospheric parameters: the previous inter's (JFM) Arctic Oscillation index as a proxy to melt duration and the previous year's average sea level pressure gradient across the Fram Strait as a proxy to annual ice export. Consecutive year changes (1994-2001) in January multiyear ice volume were significantly correlated with duration of the intervening melt season (R2 = 0.73, -80.0 km3/d-1), emphasizing a large thermodynamic influence on the Arctic's mass sea ice balance during summers with anomalous melt durations.

  6. Large Decadal Decline of the Arctic Multiyear Ice Cover

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comiso, Josefino C.

    2011-01-01

    The perennial ice area was drastically reduced to 38% of its climatological average in 2007 but recovered somewhat in 2008, 2009 and 2010 with the areas being 10%, 24%, and 11% higher than in 2007, respectively. However, the trends in the extent and area remain strongly negative at -12.2% and -13.5 %/decade, respectively. The thick component of the perennial ice, called multiyear ice, as detected by satellite data in the winters of 1979 to 2011 was studied and results reveal that the multiyear ice extent and area are declining at an even more rapid rate of -15.1% and -17.2 % per decade, respectively, with record low value in 2008 followed by higher values in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Such high rate in the decline of the thick component of the Arctic ice cover means a reduction in average ice thickness and an even more vulnerable perennial ice cover. The decline of the multiyear ice area from 2007 to 2008 was not as strong as that of the perennial ice area from 2006 to 2007 suggesting a strong role of second year ice melt in the latter. The sea ice cover is shown to be strongly correlated with surface temperature which is increasing at about three times global average in the Arctic but appears weakly correlated with the AO which controls the dynamics of the region. An 8 to 9-year cycle is apparent in the multiyear ice record which could explain in part the slight recovery in the last three years.

  7. Bioenergy Technologies Office Multi-Year Program Plan: November 2014 Update

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    None

    2014-11-01

    This is the November 2014 Update to the Multi-Year Program Plan, which sets forth the goals and structure of the Bioenergy Technologies Office. It identifies the RDD&D activities the Office will focus on over the next four years.

  8. Bioenergy Technologies Office Multi-Year Program Plan: March 2015 Update

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    none,

    2015-03-01

    This is the March 2015 Update to the Multi-Year Program Plan, which sets forth the goals and structure of the Bioenergy Technologies Office. It identifies the RDD&D activities the Office will focus on over the next four years.

  9. Arctic multiyear ice classification and summer ice cover using passive microwave satellite data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Comiso, J. C.

    1990-08-01

    The ability to classify and monitor Arctic multiyear sea ice cover using multispectral passive microwave data is studied. Sea ice concentration maps during several summer minima have been analyzed to obtain estimates of ice surviving the summer. The results are compared with multiyear ice concentrations derived from data the following winter, using an algorithm that assumes a certain emissivity for multiyear ice. The multiyear ice cover inferred from the winter data is approximately 25 to 40% less than the summer ice cover minimum, suggesting that even during winter when the emissivity of sea ice is most stable, passive microwave data may account for only a fraction of the total multiyear ice cover. The difference of about 2×106 km2 is considerably more than estimates of advection through Fram Strait during the intervening period. It appears that as in the Antarctic, some multiyear ice floes in the Arctic, especially those near the summer marginal ice zone, have first-year ice or intermediate signatures in the subsequent winter. A likely mechanism for this is the intrusion of seawater into the snow-ice interface, which often occurs near the marginal ice zone or in areas where snow load is heavy. Spatial variations in melt and melt ponding effects also contribute to the complexity of the microwave emissivity of multiyear ice. Hence the multiyear ice data should be studied in conjunction with the previous summer ice data to obtain a more complete characterization of the state of the Arctic ice cover. The total extent and actual areas of the summertime Arctic pack ice were estimated to be 8.4×106 km2 and 6.2×106 km2, respectively, and exhibit small interannual variability during the years 1979 through 1985, suggesting a relatively stable ice cover.

  10. Remote sensing study of land use and sedimentation in the Ross Barnett Reservoir, Jackson, Mississippi area

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mealor, W. T., Jr.; Pinson, T. W.; Wertz, D. L.; Hoskin, C. M.; Williams, D. C.

    1972-01-01

    This multi-year study is aimed at focusing on the recognition of sediment and other affluents in a selected area of the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The principle objectives are the determination of land use types, effect of land use on erosion, and the correlation of sediment with land use in the area. The I2S multi-band imagery was employed in conjunction with ground truth data for both water and land use studies. The selected test site contains approximately forty square miles including forest, open land, and water in addition to residential and recreational areas.

  11. Large Decadal Decline of the Arctic Multiyear Ice Cover

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comiso, Josefino C.

    2012-01-01

    The perennial ice area was drastically reduced to 38% of its climatological average in 2007 but recovered slightly in 2008, 2009, and 2010 with the areas being 10%, 24%, and 11% higher than in 2007, respectively. However, trends in extent and area remained strongly negative at -12.2% and -13.5% decade (sup -1), respectively. The thick component of the perennial ice, called multiyear ice, as detected by satellite data during the winters of 1979-2011 was studied, and results reveal that the multiyear ice extent and area are declining at an even more rapid rate of -15.1% and -17.2% decade(sup -1), respectively, with a record low value in 2008 followed by higher values in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Such a high rate in the decline of the thick component of the Arctic ice cover means a reduction in the average ice thickness and an even more vulnerable perennial ice cover. The decline of the multiyear ice area from 2007 to 2008 was not as strong as that of the perennial ice area from 2006 to 2007, suggesting a strong role of second-year ice melt in the latter. The sea ice cover is shown to be strongly correlated with surface temperature, which is increasing at about 3 times the global average in the Arctic but appears weakly correlated with the Arctic Oscillation (AO), which controls the atmospheric circulation in the region. An 8-9-yr cycle is apparent in the multiyear ice record, which could explain, in part, the slight recovery in the last 3 yr.

  12. Bioenergy Technologies Office Multi-Year Program Plan: July 2014

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    none,

    2014-07-09

    This is the May 2014 Update to the Bioenergy Technologies Office Multi-Year Program Plan, which sets forth the goals and structure of the Office. It identifies the research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities the Office will focus on over the next five years and outlines why these activities are important to meeting the energy and sustainability challenges facing the nation.

  13. Centralisation of Assessment: Meeting the Challenges of Multi-Year Team Projects in Information Systems Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooper, Grahame; Heinze, Aleksej

    2007-01-01

    This paper focuses on the difficulties of assessing multi-year team projects, in which a team of students drawn from all three years of a full-time degree course works on a problem with and for a real-life organization. Although potential solutions to the problem of assessing team projects may be context-dependent, we believe that discussing these…

  14. Area estimation using multiyear designs and partial crop identification

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sielken, R. L., Jr.

    1984-01-01

    Statistical procedures were developed for large area assessments using both satellite and conventional data. Crop acreages, other ground cover indices, and measures of change were the principal characteristics of interest. These characteristics are capable of being estimated from samples collected possibly from several sources at varying times, with different levels of identification. Multiyear analysis techniques were extended to include partially identified samples; the best current year sampling design corresponding to a given sampling history was determined; weights reflecting the precision or confidence in each observation were identified and utilized, and the variation in estimates incorporating partially identified samples were quantified.

  15. Tanks focus area multiyear program plan FY97-FY99

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    1996-08-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) continues to face a major tank remediation problem with approximately 332 tanks storing over 378,000 ml of high-level waste (HLW) and transuranic (TRU) waste across the DOE complex. Most of the tanks have significantly exceeded their life spans. Approximately 90 tanks across the DOE complex are known or assumed to have leaked. Some of the tank contents are potentially explosive. These tanks must be remediated and made safe. How- ever, regulatory drivers are more ambitious than baseline technologies and budgets will support. Therefore, the Tanks Focus Area (TFA) began operation in October 1994. Themore » focus area manages, coordinates, and leverages technology development to provide integrated solutions to remediate problems that will accelerate safe and cost-effective cleanup and closure of DOE`s national tank system. The TFA is responsible for technology development to support DOE`s four major tank sites: Hanford Site (Washington), INEL (Idaho), Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) (Tennessee), and Savannah River Site (SRS) (South Carolina). Its technical scope covers the major functions that comprise a complete tank remediation system: safety, characterization, retrieval, pretreatment, immobilization, and closure.« less

  16. State Performance-Based Regulation Using Multiyear Rate Plans for U.S. Electric Utilities

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lowry, Mark Newton; Makos, Matt; Deason, Jeff

    Electric utilities today must contain costs at a time when many need to modernize aging systems and all face major changes in technologies, customer preferences and competitive pressures.Most U.S. electric utility facilities are investor-owned, subject to rate and service regulation by state public utility commissions. Regulatory systems under which these utilities operate affect their performance and ability to meet these challenges. In this business environment, multiyear rate plans have some advantages over traditional rate regulation.The report focuses on key design issues and provides case studies of the multiyear rate plan approach, applicable to both vertically integrated and restructured states. Markmore » Newton Lowry and Matt Makos of Pacific Energy Group Research and Jeff Deason of Berkeley Lab authored the report; Lisa Schwartz, Berkeley Lab, was project manager and technical editor.The report is aimed primarily at state utility regulators and stakeholders in the state regulatory process. The multiyear rate approach also provides ideas on how to streamline oversight of public power utilities and rural electric cooperatives for their governing boards.Two key provisions of multiyear rate plans strengthen cost containment incentives and streamline regulation: 1. Reducing frequency of rate cases, typically to every four or five years 2. Using an attrition relief mechanism to escalate rates or revenue between rate cases to address cost pressures such as inflation and growth in number of customers, independently of the utility’s own cost Better utility performance can be achieved under well-designed multiyear rate plans while achieving lower regulatory costs. Benefits can be shared between utilities and their customers. But plans can be complex and involve significant changes in the regulatory system. Designing plans that stimulate utility performance without undue risk and share benefits fairly can be challenging.This report discusses the rationale for multiyear rate plans and their usefulness under modern business conditions. It then explains critical plan design issues and challenges and presents results from numerical research that considers the extra incentive power achieved under different plan provisions. Next, the report presents several case studies of utilities that have operated under formal multiyear rate plans or, for various reasons, have stayed out of rate cases for more than a decade. These studies consider the effect of multiyear rate plans and rate case frequency on utility cost, reliability and other performance dimensions.« less

  17. Microwave remote sensing of sea ice in the AIDJEX Main Experiment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Campbell, W.J.; Wayenberg, J.; Ramseyer, J.B.; Ramseier, R.O.; Vant, M.R.; Weaver, R.; Redmond, A.; Arsenaul, L.; Gloersen, P.; Zwally, H.J.; Wilheit, T.T.; Chang, T.C.; Hall, D.; Gray, L.; Meeks, D.C.; Bryan, M.L.; Barath, F.T.; Elachi, C.; Leberl, F.; Farr, Tom

    1978-01-01

    During the AIDJEX Main Experiment, April 1975 through May 1976, a comprehensive microwave sensing program was performed on the sea ice of the Beaufort Sea. Surface and aircraft measurements were obtained during all seasons using a wide variety of active and passive microwave sensors. The surface program obtained passive microwave measurements of various ice types using four antennas mounted on a tracked vehicle. In three test regions, each with an area of approximately 1.5 ?? 104 m2, detailed ice crystallographic, dielectric properties, and brightness temperatures of first-year, multiyear, and first-year/multiyear mixtures were measured. A NASA aircraft obtained passive microwave measurements of the entire area of the AIDJEX manned station array (triangle) during each of 18 flights. This verified the earlier reported ability to distinguish first-year and multiyear ice types and concentration and gave new information on ways to observe ice mixtures and thin ice types. The active microwave measurements from aircraft included those from an X- and L-band radar and from a scatterometer. The former is used to study a wide variety of ice features and to estimate deformations, while both are equally usable to observe ice types. With the present data, only the scatterometer can be used to distinguish positively multiyear from first-year and various types of thin ice. This is best done using coupled active and passive microwave sensing. ?? 1978 D. Reidel Publishing Company.

  18. 78 FR 63481 - Therapeutic Area Standards Initiative Project Plan; Availability

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-10-24

    ...] Therapeutic Area Standards Initiative Project Plan; Availability AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS... Therapeutic Area Standards Initiative Project Plan. This therapeutic area (TA) Project Plan will be the primary document for guiding all major aspects of FDA's multi-year initiative to develop and implement TA...

  19. Ranking Alaska moose nutrition: Signals to begin liberal antlerless harvests

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Boertje, Rodney D.; Kellie, Kalin A.; Seaton, C. Tom; Keech, Mark A.; Young, Donald D.; Dale, Bruce W.; Adams, Layne G.; Aderman, Andrew R.

    2007-01-01

    We focused on describing low nutritional status in an increasing moose (Alces alces gigas) population with reduced predation in Game Management Unit (GMU) 20A near Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. A skeptical public disallowed liberal antlerless harvests of this moose population until we provided convincing data on low nutritional status. We ranked nutritional status in 15 Alaska moose populations (in boreal forests and coastal tundra) based on multiyear twinning rates. Data on age-of-first-reproduction and parturition rates provided a ranking consistent with twinning rates in the 6 areas where comparative data were available. Also, short-yearling mass provided a ranking consistent with twinning rates in 5 of the 6 areas where data were available. Data from 5 areas implied an inverse relationship between twinning rate and browse removal rate. Only in GMU 20A did nutritional indices reach low levels where justification for halting population growth was apparent, which supports prior findings that nutrition is a minor factor limiting most Alaska moose populations compared to predation. With predator reductions, the GMU 20A moose population increased from 1976 until liberal antlerless harvests in 2004. During 1997–2005, GMU 20A moose exhibited the lowest nutritional status reported to date for wild, noninsular, North American populations, including 1) delayed reproduction until moose reached 36 months of age and the lowest parturition rate among 36-month-old moose (29%, n = 147); 2) the lowest average multiyear twinning rates from late-May aerial surveys (x̄ = 7%, SE = 0.9%, n = 9 yr, range = 3–10%) and delayed twinning until moose reached 60 months of age; 3) the lowest average mass of female short-yearlings in Alaska (x̄ = 155 ± 1.6 [SE] kg in the Tanana Flats subpopulation, up to 58 kg below average masses found elsewhere); and 4) high removal (42%) of current annual browse biomass compared to 9–26% elsewhere in boreal forests. When average multiyear twinning rates in GMU 20A (sampled during 1960–2005) declined to <10% in the mid- to late 1990s, we began encouraging liberal antlerless harvests, but only conservative annual harvests of 61–76 antlerless moose were achieved during 1996–2001. Using data in the context of our broader ranking system, we convinced skeptical citizen advisory committees to allow liberal antlerless harvests of 600–690 moose in 2004 and 2005, with the objective of halting population growth of the 16,000–17,000 moose; total harvests were 7–8% of total prehunt numbers. The resulting liberal antlerless harvests served to protect the moose population's health and habitat and to fulfill a mandate for elevated yield. Liberal antlerless harvests appear justified to halt population growth when multiyear twinning rates average ≤10% and ≥1 of the following signals substantiate low nutritional status: <50% of 36-month-old moose are parturient, average multiyear short-yearling mass is <175 kg, or >35% of annual browse biomass is removed by moose.

  20. Sex, Pregnancy and Contraception: A Report of Focus Group Discussions with Adolescents.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sugland, Barbara W.; Wilder, Kathleen J.; Chandra, Anita

    Findings in this report summarize the first phase of a larger, multi-year study that is combining qualitative and quantitative methods to outline a conceptual framework to guide future demographic/fertility research, pregnancy prevention programs and policies. Twelve focus groups--involving a multiculturally representative group of male and female…

  1. POLLUTION PREVENTION MULTI-YEAR PLAN

    EPA Science Inventory

    Over the last decade, the Agency has increasingly focused on pollution prevention when addressing high-risk human health and environmental problems. A preventive approach requires: (1) innovative design and production techniques that minimize or eliminate adverse environmental im...

  2. New developments in sampling and aggregation for remotely sensed surveys

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Feiveson, A. H. (Principal Investigator)

    1979-01-01

    Sampling techniques used to construct large area crop estimates are briefly reviewed. Problem areas in sampling and aggregation are covered. The natural sampling strategy, two phase sampling, weighted aggregation, and multiyear estimation are among the topics discussed.

  3. Policy Design of Multi-Year Crop Insurance Contracts with Partial Payments

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Ying-Erh; Goodwin, Barry K.

    2015-01-01

    Current crop insurance is designed to mitigate monetary fluctuations resulting from yield losses for a specific year. However, yield realization tendency can vary from year to year and may depend on the correlation of yield realizations across years. When the current single-year Yield Protection (YP) and Area Risk Protection Insurance (ARPI) contracts are extended to multiple periods, actuarially fair premium rate is expected to decrease as poor yield realizations in a year can be offset by another year’s better yield realizations. In this study, we first use simulations to demonstrate how significant premium savings are possible when coverage is based on the sum of yields across years rather than on a year-by-year basis. We then describe the design of a multi-year framework of crop insurance and model the insurance using a copula approach. Insurance terms are extended to more than a year and the premium, liability, and indemnity are determined by a multi-year term. Moreover, partial payment is provided at the end of each term to offset the possibility of significant loss in a single term. County-level data obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are used to demonstrate the implementations of the proposed multi-year crop insurance. The proposed multi-year plan would benefit farmers by offering insurance guarantees across years for significantly lower costs. PMID:26695074

  4. ESTUARINE HAZARD ASSESSMENT IN THE PENSACOLA BAY SYSTEM

    EPA Science Inventory

    ersonnel from the Gulf Ecology Division have conducted a multiyear evaluation of the environmental condition of areas in the Pensacola Bay System affected by point and nonpoint contamination. Areas of study included coastal rivers, residential canals, bayous and bays impacted by ...

  5. An examination of railroad yard worker safety

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2001-07-01

    This report presents the methods, findings and recommendations from a multi-year research program that examined worker safety issues in railroad yards. The research program focused on human factor-related hazards and solutions to railroad yard worker...

  6. Analysis of sea ice dynamics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zwally, J.

    1988-01-01

    The ongoing work has established the basis for using multiyear sea ice concentrations from SMMR passive microwave for studies of largescale advection and convergence/divergence of the Arctic sea ice pack. Comparisons were made with numerical model simulations and buoy data showing qualitative agreement on daily to interannual time scales. Analysis of the 7-year SMMR data set shows significant interannual variations in the total area of multiyear ice. The scientific objective is to investigate the dynamics, mass balance, and interannual variability of the Arctic sea ice pack. The research emphasizes the direct application of sea ice parameters derived from passive microwave data (SMMR and SSMI) and collaborative studies using a sea ice dynamics model. The possible causes of observed interannual variations in the multiyear ice area are being examined. The relative effects of variations in the large scale advection and convergence/divergence within the ice pack on a regional and seasonal basis are investigated. The effects of anomolous atmospheric forcings are being examined, including the long-lived effects of synoptic events and monthly variations in the mean geostrophic winds. Estimates to be made will include the amount of new ice production within the ice pack during winter and the amount of ice exported from the pack.

  7. EVALUATION OF SEVERAL ASSESSMENT METHODS AS INDICATORS OF ESTUARINE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Researchers from U.S. EPA's Gulf Ecology Division have conducted a multi-year evaluation of the environmental condition of near-coastal areas affected by different types of stressors. Areas of study have included coastal rivers, transportation canals, residential canals and estua...

  8. Reactive nitrogen impacts on ecosystem services

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) is a new, multi-year research initiative under development by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As one of its components, ESRP has chosen to focus on reactive Nitrogen (Nr) for stressor-specific ecosystem research through a...

  9. ANPP-precipitation relationships in multi-year drought experiments in natural ecosystems

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Background/Question/Methods Predicting the effects of a reduction in precipitations on ecosystem productivity confronts an uncertainty: the relationship between aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and precipitation differs if the focus is spatial, driven by the climatic mean annual precipi...

  10. Early Risers. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    What Works Clearinghouse, 2012

    2012-01-01

    "Early Risers" is a multi-year prevention program for elementary school children demonstrating early aggressive and disruptive behavior. The intervention model includes two child-focused components and two parent/family components. The Child Skills component is designed to teach skills that enhance children's emotional and behavioral…

  11. Nevada National Security Site: Site-Directed Research and Development (SDRD) Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bender, Howard A.

    This report presents results of multiple research projects, new and ongoing, funded under the Site-Directed Research and Development Program for the Nevada National Security Site during federal fiscal year 2015. The Site's legacy capabilities in remote sensing combined with new paradigms for emergency response and consequence management help drive the need to develop advanced aerial sensor platforms. Likewise, dynamic materials science is a critical area of scientific research for which basic physics issues are still unresolved. New methods of characterizing materials in extreme states are vitally needed, and these efforts are paving the way with new knowledge. Projects selected inmore » FY 2015 for the Exploratory Research portfolio exhibit a strong balance of NNSS mission relevance. Geoscience, seismology, and techniques for detecting underground nuclear events are still essential focus areas. Many of the project reports in the second major section of this annual report are ongoing continuations in multi-year lifecycles. Diagnostic techniques for stockpile and nuclear security science figured prominently as well, with a few key efforts coming to fruition, such as phase transition detection. In other areas, modeling efforts toward better understanding plasma focus physics has also started to pay dividends for major program needs.« less

  12. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Miller, N.; Ye, Z.

    This report documents part of a multiyear research program dedicated to the development of requirements to support the definition, design, and demonstration of a distributed generation-electric power system interconnection interface concept. The report focuses on the dynamic behavior of power systems when a significant portion of the total energy resource is distributed generation. It also focuses on the near-term reality that the majority of new DG relies on rotating synchronous generators for energy conversion.

  13. Browse biomass removal and nutritional condition of Alaska moose Alces alces

    Treesearch

    C.Tom Seaton; Thomas F. Paragi; Rodney D. Boertje; Knut Kielland; Stephen DuBois; Craig L. Fleener

    2011-01-01

    We present methodology for assessing browse removal to help evaluate resource limitation among moose Alces alces populations in large, potentially remote areas of boreal forest. During 2000-2007, we compared proportional removal (ratio of browse consumption to browse production) in eight areas of lnterior Alaska, USA, with multi-year twinning rates...

  14. Comparison of Two Stochastic Daily Rainfall Models and their Ability to Preserve Multi-year Rainfall Variability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kamal Chowdhury, AFM; Lockart, Natalie; Willgoose, Garry; Kuczera, George; Kiem, Anthony; Parana Manage, Nadeeka

    2016-04-01

    Stochastic simulation of rainfall is often required in the simulation of streamflow and reservoir levels for water security assessment. As reservoir water levels generally vary on monthly to multi-year timescales, it is important that these rainfall series accurately simulate the multi-year variability. However, the underestimation of multi-year variability is a well-known issue in daily rainfall simulation. Focusing on this issue, we developed a hierarchical Markov Chain (MC) model in a traditional two-part MC-Gamma Distribution modelling structure, but with a new parameterization technique. We used two parameters of first-order MC process (transition probabilities of wet-to-wet and dry-to-dry days) to simulate the wet and dry days, and two parameters of Gamma distribution (mean and standard deviation of wet day rainfall) to simulate wet day rainfall depths. We found that use of deterministic Gamma parameter values results in underestimation of multi-year variability of rainfall depths. Therefore, we calculated the Gamma parameters for each month of each year from the observed data. Then, for each month, we fitted a multi-variate normal distribution to the calculated Gamma parameter values. In the model, we stochastically sampled these two Gamma parameters from the multi-variate normal distribution for each month of each year and used them to generate rainfall depth in wet days using the Gamma distribution. In another study, Mehrotra and Sharma (2007) proposed a semi-parametric Markov model. They also used a first-order MC process for rainfall occurrence simulation. But, the MC parameters were modified by using an additional factor to incorporate the multi-year variability. Generally, the additional factor is analytically derived from the rainfall over a pre-specified past periods (e.g. last 30, 180, or 360 days). They used a non-parametric kernel density process to simulate the wet day rainfall depths. In this study, we have compared the performance of our hierarchical MC model with the semi-parametric model in preserving rainfall variability in daily, monthly, and multi-year scales. To calibrate the parameters of both models and assess their ability to preserve observed statistics, we have used ground based data from 15 raingauge stations around Australia, which consist a wide range of climate zones including coastal, monsoonal, and arid climate characteristics. In preliminary results, both models show comparative performances in preserving the multi-year variability of rainfall depth and occurrence. However, the semi-parametric model shows a tendency of overestimating the mean rainfall depth, while our model shows a tendency of overestimating the number of wet days. We will discuss further the relative merits of the both models for hydrology simulation in the presentation.

  15. A Systems-Based Approach To Integrated Nutrient Management in Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed.

    EPA Science Inventory

    EPA’s Office of Research and Development is embarking on a project to develop and demonstrate a systems-based management approach that will achieve more integrated and effective management of nutrients in southern New England. The geographic focus of this multi-year research proj...

  16. A Systems-Based Approach to Integrated Nutrient Management in Narragansett Bay and its Watershed

    EPA Science Inventory

    EPA’s Office of Research and Development is embarking on a project to develop and demonstrate a systems-based management approach that will achieve more integrated and effective management of nutrients in southern New England. The geographic focus of this multi-year research proj...

  17. Deciphering landscape complexity to predict (non)linear responses to extreme climatic events

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Extreme events are increasing in frequency and magnitude for many landscapes globally. Ecologically, most of the focus on extreme climatic events has been on effects of either short-term pulses (floods, freezes) or long-term drought. Multi-year increases in precipitation are also occurring with litt...

  18. SEDIMENT AND PERIPHYTON ASSESSMENT AS INDICATORS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION IN THE FLORIDA BAY-EVERGLADES TRANSITIONAL ZONE

    EPA Science Inventory

    Florida Bay and its watershed are currently the focus of numerous investigations designed to assess the extent and cause of deterioration in environmental quality observed during recent years. Periphyton and sediment bioassessment were used in a multiyear study to compare the rel...

  19. Making the Invisible of Learning Visible: Pre-Service Teachers Identify Connections between the Use of Literacy Strategies and Their Content Area Assessment Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mitton-Kukner, Jennifer; Orr, Anne Murray

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we describe four ways secondary pre-service teachers appeared to be developing assessment practices during field experience, after taking a content area literacy course. This paper arises from a multi-year study exploring pre-service and beginning content area teachers' use of literacy strategies in teaching mathematics, science, and…

  20. Theoretical and global scale model studies of the atmospheric sulfur/aerosol system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kasibhatla, Prasad

    1996-01-01

    The primary focus during the third-phase of our on-going multi-year research effort has been on 3 activities. These are: (1) a global-scale model study of the anthropogenic component of the tropospheric sulfur cycle; (2) process-scale model studies of the factors influencing the distribution of aerosols in the remote marine atmosphere; and (3) an investigation of the mechanism of the OH-initiated oxidation of DMS in the remote marine boundary layer. In this paper, we describe in more detail our research activities in each of these areas. A major portion of our activities during the fourth and final phase of this project will involve the preparation and submission of manuscripts describing the results from our model studies of marine boundary-layer aerosols and DMS-oxidation mechanisms.

  1. Identifying multiple timescale rainfall controls on Mojave Desert ecohydrology using an integrated data and modeling approach for Larrea tridentata

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ng, Gene-Hua Crystal; Bedford, David R.; Miller, David M.

    2015-01-01

    The perennial shrub Larrea tridentata is widely successful in North American warm deserts but is also susceptible to climatic perturbations. Understanding its response to rainfall variability requires consideration of multiple timescales. We examine intra-annual to multi-year relationships using model simulations of soil moisture and vegetation growth over 50 years in the Mojave National Preserve in southeastern California (USA). Ecohydrological model parameters are conditioned on field and remote sensing data using an ensemble Kalman filter. Although no specific periodicities were detected in the rainfall record, simulated leaf-area-index exhibits multi-year dynamics that are driven by multi-year (∼3-years) rains, but with up to a 1-year delay in peak response. Within a multi-year period, Larrea tridentata is more sensitive to winter rains than summer. In the most active part of the root zone (above ∼80 cm), >1-year average soil moisture drives vegetation growth, but monthly average soil moisture is controlled by root uptake. Moisture inputs reach the lower part of the root zone (below ∼80 cm) infrequently, but once there they can persist over a year to help sustain plant growth. Parameter estimates highlight efficient plant physiological properties facilitating persistent growth and high soil hydraulic conductivity allowing deep soil moisture stores. We show that soil moisture as an ecological indicator is complicated by bidirectional interactions with vegetation that depend on timescale and depth. Under changing climate, Larrea tridentata will likely be relatively resilient to shorter-term moisture variability but will exhibit higher sensitivity to shifts in seasonal to multi-year moisture inputs.

  2. Images Show Severity of California Drought

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-07-23

    The effects of California severe multiyear drought are seen in this pair of images acquired by NASA Terra spacecraft of the area northeast of Madera, in the Sierra Nevada Moutains foothills between Yosemite National Park and the San Joaquin Valley

  3. Multimodal Trip Planner System final evaluation report.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2011-05-01

    This evaluation of the Multimodal Trip Planning System (MMTPS) is the culmination of a multi-year project evaluating the development and deployment of a multimodal trip planner in the Chicagoland area between 2004 and 2010. The report includes an ove...

  4. Transportation Improvement Program of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1996-06-20

    The MORPC Transportation Improvement program (TIP) is a staged, multi-year schedule of regionally significant transportation improvements in the Columbus area. The Federal-aid Highway Act of 1962 and the federal Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 ...

  5. Teaching Neuroscience to Science Teachers: Facilitating the Translation of Inquiry-Based Teaching Instruction to the Classroom

    PubMed Central

    Roehrig, G. H.; Michlin, M.; Schmitt, L.; MacNabb, C.; Dubinsky, J. M.

    2012-01-01

    In science education, inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning provide a framework for students to building critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Teacher professional development has been an ongoing focus for promoting such educational reforms. However, despite a strong consensus regarding best practices for professional development, relatively little systematic research has documented classroom changes consequent to these experiences. This paper reports on the impact of sustained, multiyear professional development in a program that combined neuroscience content and knowledge of the neurobiology of learning with inquiry-based pedagogy on teachers’ inquiry-based practices. Classroom observations demonstrated the value of multiyear professional development in solidifying adoption of inquiry-based practices and cultivating progressive yearly growth in the cognitive environment of impacted classrooms. PMID:23222837

  6. Teaching neuroscience to science teachers: facilitating the translation of inquiry-based teaching instruction to the classroom.

    PubMed

    Roehrig, G H; Michlin, M; Schmitt, L; MacNabb, C; Dubinsky, J M

    2012-01-01

    In science education, inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning provide a framework for students to building critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Teacher professional development has been an ongoing focus for promoting such educational reforms. However, despite a strong consensus regarding best practices for professional development, relatively little systematic research has documented classroom changes consequent to these experiences. This paper reports on the impact of sustained, multiyear professional development in a program that combined neuroscience content and knowledge of the neurobiology of learning with inquiry-based pedagogy on teachers' inquiry-based practices. Classroom observations demonstrated the value of multiyear professional development in solidifying adoption of inquiry-based practices and cultivating progressive yearly growth in the cognitive environment of impacted classrooms.

  7. Mass Balance of Multiyear Sea Ice in the Southern Beaufort Sea

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-09-30

    Petty et al. We will extend these results by combining them with satelite -derived ice age data (Maslanik et al., 2007) to focus on the areal...from buoys and satelites with thickness data from AEM surveys, while for the repeat- Figure 1: “Pseudo-plumes” of icepass analysis we are also using

  8. Renewable Energy on the Front Lines - Continuum Magazine | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    , vehicles, the microgrid, and intelligent controls. Functional models of this system could be used to of the multi-year, multi-agency Smart Power Infrastructure Demonstration for Energy Reliability and Security (SPIDERS) project, which focuses on improving energy surety for military installations. Funded by

  9. PHYTOTOXICITY OF THREE SUBMERGED AQUATIC MACROPHYTE SPECIES TO COPPER AND ATRAZINE UNDER HIGH AND LOW NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    The effects of anthropogenic contaminants on Gulf of Mexico plant communities are poorly understood despite the declining number of seagrass communities and wetland habitats. This presentation focuses on the second phase of a multi-year study designed to determine the role of su...

  10. Assessing Multi-year Changes in Modeled and Observed Urban NOx Concentrations from a Dynamic Model Evaluation Perspective

    EPA Science Inventory

    An investigation of the concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from an air quality model and observations at monitoring sites was performed to assess the changes in NOx levels attributable to changes in mobile emissions. This evaluation effort focused on weekday morning rush hou...

  11. NUTRIENT METABOLISM AS A PHYTOTOXICITY INDICATOR OF THREE SAV SPECIES EXPOSED TO COPPER AND ATRAZINE UNDER SHORT-TERM CONDITIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    The effects of anthropogenic contaminants on indigenous Gulf of Mexico, near-coastal plant communities are poorly understood despite the declining number of seagrass communities and wetland emergent species. This study focuses on the third phase of a multi-year study designed to...

  12. Molecular Innovations Toward Theranostics of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-09-01

    divide between dendrimer preparation, peptide design and preparation, and the exploration of conjugation chemistries. Alkyne-functionalized dendrimers ...evaluation. Two conjugation strategies for ligating the therapeutic peptide to the dendrimer platform are being investigated. 15. SUBJECT TERMS none...4 INTRODUCTION: The goals of this multiyear effort focus on the synthesis and characterization of dendrimers

  13. Enhancing Teacher Moral Judgment in Difficult Political Times: Swimming Upstream

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benninga, Jacques S.; Sparks, Richard K.; Tracz, Susan M.

    2011-01-01

    Teachers at eight elementary schools in a large metropolitan school district participated in a multi-year program of professional ethical dilemma discussions that took place at monthly school meetings over a two-year or three-year period and focused on real-life situations faced by elementary school teachers. Discussions were structured using the…

  14. Developing Mathematical Thinking: Changing Teachers' Knowledge and Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brendefur, Jonathan L.; Thiede, Keith; Strother, Sam; Bunning, Kim; Peck, Duane

    2013-01-01

    In the present research, we evaluated the effectiveness of a multi-year professional development program in mathematics for elementary teachers. Each year the program focused on a different domain of mathematics. We found the program increased teachers' knowledge of (a) number and operations, (b) measurement and geometry, and (c) probability and…

  15. Principals' Sensemaking of Coaching for Ambitious Reading Instruction in a High-Stakes Accountability Policy Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matsummura, Lindsay Clare; Wang, Elaine

    2014-01-01

    In the present exploratory qualitative study we examine the contextual factors that influenced the implementation of a multi-year comprehensive literacy-coaching program (Content-Focused Coaching, CFC). We argue that principals' sensemaking of the dialogic instructional strategies promoted by the program in light of high-stakes accountability…

  16. A Cohort, Is a Cohort, Is a Cohort...or Is It?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pemberton, Cynthia Lee A.; Akkary, Rima Karami

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents findings from a multi-year qualitative study based upon life-history narratives of women pursuing doctoral degrees in Educational Leadership. This paper focuses on findings specific to educational cohort models, and suggests that perhaps, at least for women, naturally emergent cohorts--born of relationships of choice--may be…

  17. Patterns of Student Growth in Reasoning about Multivariate Correlational Problems.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ross, John A.; Cousins, J. Bradley

    Previous studies of the development of correlational reasoning have focused on the interpretation of relatively simple data sets contained in 2 X 2 tables. In contrast, this study examined age trends in subjects' responses to problems involving more than two continuous variables. The research is part of a multi-year project to conceptualize…

  18. Characterizing Arctic sea ice topography and atmospheric form drag using high-resolution IceBridge data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petty, A.; Tsamados, M.; Kurtz, N. T.; Farrell, S. L.; Newman, T.; Harbeck, J.; Feltham, D. L.; Richter-Menge, J.

    2015-12-01

    Here we present a detailed analysis of Arctic sea ice topography using high resolution, three-dimensional surface elevation data from the NASA Operation IceBridge Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) laser altimeter. We derive novel ice topography statistics from 2009-2014 across both first-year and multiyear ice regimes - including the height, area coverage, orientation and spacing of distinct surface features. The sea ice topography exhibits strong spatial variability, including increased surface feature (e.g. pressure ridge) height and area coverage within the multi-year ice regions. The ice topography also shows a strong coastal dependency, with the feature height and area coverage increasing as a function of proximity to the nearest coastline, especially north of Greenland and the Canadian Archipelago. The ice topography data have also been used to explicitly calculate atmospheric drag coefficients over Arctic sea ice; utilizing existing relationships regarding ridge geometry and their impact on form drag. The results are being used to calibrate the recent drag parameterization scheme included in the sea ice model CICE.

  19. Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2007

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-10-10

    economic health of farm and nonfarm households in rural areas. The multiyear, longitudinal data generated by this initiative will support the...programs administered by the Rural Development mission area. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts the Census of Agriculture and...Architecture and the USDA Enablers initiatives. On May 23, 2006, the House passed H.R. 5384, the Agriculture, Rural Development , Food and Drug

  20. Arctic multiyear ice classification and summer ice cover using passive microwave satellite data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comiso, J. C.

    1990-01-01

    Passive microwave data collected by Nimbus 7 were used to classify and monitor the Arctic multilayer sea ice cover. Sea ice concentration maps during several summer minima are analyzed to obtain estimates of ice floes that survived summer, and the results are compared with multiyear-ice concentrations derived from these data by using an algorithm that assumes a certain emissivity for multiyear ice. The multiyear ice cover inferred from the winter data was found to be about 25 to 40 percent less than the summer ice-cover minimum, indicating that the multiyear ice cover in winter is inadequately represented by the passive microwave winter data and that a significant fraction of the Arctic multiyear ice floes exhibits a first-year ice signature.

  1. Phytoremediation of Trichloroethylene and Perchloroethylene at the Savannah River Site

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brigmon, R.L.

    Bioremediation of chlorinated solvents, both natural and accelerated, is exemplified by phytoremediation and biodegradation by rhizosphere microorganisms. Phytoremediation is the use of vegetation for the treatment of contaminated soils, sediments, and water. The potential for phytoremediation of chlorinated solvents has been demonstrated at the Savannah River Site (SRS) Miscellaneous Chemical Basin, Southern Sector of A/M Area and TNX/D-Area. Recent characterization work at the SRS has delineated widespread plumes (1-2 miles) of low concentration (40 ppb -10-ppm range) trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) contaminated groundwater. Phytoremediation deployments are underway for TCE and PCE phytoremediation in select SRS areas. Phytoremediation appears tomore » be an excellent technology to intercept and control plume migration. The ongoing Southern Sector treatability study is part of a multi-year field study of SRS seepline-soil systems maintained under saturated conditions. The primary focus is on determining how trees, seepline groundcover, soil microbial communities, and geochemical and surface-volatilization processes affect TCE and PCE in contaminated groundwater that flows through surface seepline areas. Therefore, FY00 represented an initial acclimation phase for soil and plant systems and will facilitate examination of seepline phyto- and bioactivity in subsequent growth season in FY01.« less

  2. Simulating New Drop Test Vehicles and Test Techniques for the Orion CEV Parachute Assembly System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morris, Aaron L.; Fraire, Usbaldo, Jr.; Bledsoe, Kristin J.; Ray, Eric; Moore, Jim W.; Olson, Leah M.

    2011-01-01

    The Crew Exploration Vehicle Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) project is engaged in a multi-year design and test campaign to qualify a parachute recovery system for human use on the Orion Spacecraft. Test and simulation techniques have evolved concurrently to keep up with the demands of a challenging and complex system. The primary simulations used for preflight predictions and post-test data reconstructions are Decelerator System Simulation (DSS), Decelerator System Simulation Application (DSSA), and Drop Test Vehicle Simulation (DTV-SIM). The goal of this paper is to provide a roadmap to future programs on the test technique challenges and obstacles involved in executing a large-scale, multi-year parachute test program. A focus on flight simulation modeling and correlation to test techniques executed to obtain parachute performance parameters are presented.

  3. Report of the first Nimbus-7 SMMR Experiment Team Workshop

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Campbell, W. J.; Gloersen, P.

    1983-01-01

    Preliminary results of sea ice and techniques for calculating sea ice concentration and multiyear fraction from the microwave radiances obtained from the Nimbus-7 SMMR were presented. From these results, it is evident that these groups used different and independent approaches in deriving sea ice emissivities and algorithms. This precluded precise comparisons of their results. A common set of sea ice emissivities were defined for all groups to use for subsequent more careful comparison of the results from the various sea ice parameter algorithms. To this end, three different geographical areas in two different time intervals were defined as typifying SMMR beam-filling conditions for first year sea ice, multiyear sea ice, and open water and to be used for determining the required microwave emissivities.

  4. Why Ability Grouping Must End: Achieving Excellence and Equity in American Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braddock, Jomills Henry, II; Slavin, Robert E.

    This review of research focuses on policies and practices that result in placing students in groups that are more or less homogeneous with respect to academic performance. Recent analysis of data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 provides the largest and best-controlled multi-year study of ability grouping ever conducted…

  5. Getting to High School in Baltimore: Student Commuting and Public Transportation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stein, Marc L.; Grigg, Jeffrey; Cronister, Curt; Chavis, Celeste; Connolly, Faith

    2017-01-01

    This report is the first publication of a multi-year project examining the relationship between student commutes using public transportation and on-time arrival and absenteeism. This report begins to develop a basic understanding of how students commute to high school in Baltimore with a focus on those using public transportation. The report is…

  6. Global Scare Tactics and the Call for US Schools to Be Held Accountable

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koyama, Jill

    2013-01-01

    This article focuses on the response of educational leaders to No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) market-driven and sanctions-laden reforms as part of a political spectacle in which discourses link accountability and educational effectiveness to the advance of capitalism. Drawing on data collected during a multiyear ethnography of NCLB, this article…

  7. Multi-Year Professional Development Grounded in Educative Curriculum Focused on Integrating Technology with Reformed Science Teaching Principles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Longhurst, Max L.; Coster, Daniel C.; Wolf, Paul G.; Duffy, Aaron M.; Lee, Hyunju; Campbell, Todd

    2016-01-01

    Visions of science teaching and learning in the newest U.S. standards documents are dramatically different than those found in most classrooms. This research addresses these differences through closely examining one professional development (PD) project that connects teacher learning and teacher practice with student learning/achievement. This…

  8. 47 CFR 54.644 - Multi-year commitments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... SERVICE Universal Service Support for Health Care Providers Healthcare Connect Fund § 54.644 Multi-year commitments. (a) Participants in the Healthcare Connect Fund are permitted to enter into multi-year contracts...

  9. 47 CFR 54.644 - Multi-year commitments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... SERVICE Universal Service Support for Health Care Providers Healthcare Connect Fund § 54.644 Multi-year commitments. (a) Participants in the Healthcare Connect Fund are permitted to enter into multi-year contracts...

  10. Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-03-23

    Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress Ronald O’Rourke Specialist...Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition Congressional Research Service Summary Multiyear procurement (MYP) and... block buy contracting (BBC) are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of

  11. Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-07-25

    Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress Ronald O’Rourke Specialist...Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition Congressional Research Service Summary Multiyear procurement (MYP) and... block buy contracting (BBC) are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of

  12. Indicators and standards of quality for the Schoodic Peninsula section of Acadia National Park, Maine

    Treesearch

    James Bacon; Robert Manning; Steven Lawson; William Valliere; Daniel Laven

    2003-01-01

    A multi-year research initiative was undertaken to inform park planning and management efforts at the Schoodic Peninsula Section of Acadia National Park, Maine. This research focused on developing information that will enable formulation of indicators and standards of quality. The first phase of research in the summer of 2000 obtained descriptive information on visitor...

  13. "Seeing" the School Reform Elephant: Connecting Policy Makers, Parents, Practioners, and Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wagner, Tony; Sconyers, Nancy

    This report is part of a multi-year project conducted by the Institute for Responsive Education (IRE) and Boston University components of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools and Children's Learning. The report draws on results of a series of focus groups and interviews conducted in 1994 and 1995 to explore how policymakers and parents,…

  14. Interorganizational Relationships in the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Spark Together for Healthy Kids™: Insights from Using Network Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yessis, Jennifer; Riley, Barbara; Stockton, Lisa; Brodovsky, Sharon; Von Sychowski, Shirley

    2013-01-01

    The Heart and Stroke Foundation's Spark Together for Healthy Kids™ (Spark) is a multiyear initiative in Ontario, Canada, that takes a population approach to obesity prevention. It focuses on creating healthy environments by improving access to healthy foods and physical activity, with an emphasis on strengthening the advocacy capacity of…

  15. Assessing the Impact of a Multiyear Marriage Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Halloran, Mary Sean; Rizzolo, Sonja; Cohen, Marsha L.; Wacker, Robbyn

    2013-01-01

    This study measured marital satisfaction of low-income couples in a Western state following participation in the Building Healthy Marriages program, which aimed to educate couples and increase relationship satisfaction. The researchers' goals were the following: To determine the areas in which participants experienced the greatest number of…

  16. Pathways to School Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development, 2012

    2012-01-01

    In 2006, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development began implementing a multi-year school readiness project in several area schools. Evidence from both research and the field point to several key elements that foster school readiness and create pathways to school success for all children. This paper presents components of a…

  17. 24 CFR 125.501 - Fair Housing Organizations Initiative.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... establish a new organization in a locality not identified as a target area, but in such a case, the... multi-year basis contingent upon annual performance reviews and annual appropriations, new fair housing... contributions, in the year for which funding is sought. (c) Establishing new organizations—(1) Eligible...

  18. 24 CFR 125.501 - Fair Housing Organizations Initiative.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... establish a new organization in a locality not identified as a target area, but in such a case, the... multi-year basis contingent upon annual performance reviews and annual appropriations, new fair housing... contributions, in the year for which funding is sought. (c) Establishing new organizations—(1) Eligible...

  19. 24 CFR 125.501 - Fair Housing Organizations Initiative.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... establish a new organization in a locality not identified as a target area, but in such a case, the... multi-year basis contingent upon annual performance reviews and annual appropriations, new fair housing... contributions, in the year for which funding is sought. (c) Establishing new organizations—(1) Eligible...

  20. 24 CFR 125.501 - Fair Housing Organizations Initiative.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... establish a new organization in a locality not identified as a target area, but in such a case, the... multi-year basis contingent upon annual performance reviews and annual appropriations, new fair housing... contributions, in the year for which funding is sought. (c) Establishing new organizations—(1) Eligible...

  1. Evapotranspiration response to multi-year dry periods in the semi-arid western United States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rungee, J. P., II; Bales, R. C.

    2017-12-01

    Analysis of measured evapotranspiration shows multi-year regolith water storage can support evapotranspiration for years into a multi-year dry period. Measurements at 25 flux-tower sites in the semi-arid western United States, distributed across five primary land-cover types, show both resilience and vulnerability to multi-year dry periods. Average evapotranspiration ranged from about 700+200 mm per water year (October-September) in evergreen needleleaf forests to 350+150 mm per water year in grasslands and open shrublands. On average, in California's Mediterranean climate almost half of the water-year evapotranspiration is supported by seasonal and/or multi-year regolith water storage, compared to a characteristic 20 to 30 percent value of energy-limited and inland sites. Below 35oN latitude, water-year evapotranspiration exceeded estimated precipitation in over half of the years on record. For non-energy-limited sites, water-year evapotranspiration increased with precipitation up to a maximum water-year evapotranspiration value of about 900, 750, 600, 425 and 300 mm per water year for evergreen needleleaf forests, mixed forests, woody savannas, grasslands and open shrublands, respectively. There were 15 multi-year dry periods on record that exhibited either an attenuation in evapotranspiration, defined as an annual value below 80% of the wet-year average, or withdrawal from multi-year storage. A multi-year dry period was defined as three or more consecutive water years in which all water-year precipitation values and the mean period value were in the lower 50 and 35 percent of the historical record, respectively. For sites exhibiting evapotranspiration attenuation, resistance to multi-year dry periods ranged from 9 to 49 months, drafting as much as 444 mm of regolith storage. At some mountain sites regolith storage provided up to 678 mm, almost the equivalent of the average water-year evapotranspiration for these sites, over the extent of the multi-year dry period.

  2. Identifying representative crop rotation patterns and grassland loss in the US Western Corn Belt

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sahajpal, Ritvik; Zhang, Xuesong; Izaurralde, Roberto C.

    2014-10-01

    Crop rotations (the practice of growing crops on the same land in sequential seasons) reside at the core of agronomic management as they can influence key ecosystem services such as crop yields, carbon and nutrient cycling, soil erosion, water quality, pest and disease control. Despite the availability of the Cropland Data Layer (CDL) which provides remotely sensed data on crop type in the US on an annual basis, crop rotation patterns remain poorly mapped due to the lack of tools that allow for consistent and efficient analysis of multi-year CDLs. This study presents the Representative Crop Rotations Using Edit Distancemore » (RECRUIT) algorithm, implemented as a Python software package, to select representative crop rotations by combining and analyzing multi-year CDLs. Using CDLs from 2010 to 2012 for 5 states in the US Midwest, we demonstrate the performance and parameter sensitivity of RECRUIT in selecting representative crop rotations that preserve crop area and capture land-use changes. Selecting only 82 representative crop rotations accounted for over 90% of the spatio-temporal variability of the more than 13,000 rotations obtained from combining the multi-year CDLs. Furthermore, the accuracy of the crop rotation product compared favorably with total state-wide planted crop area available from agricultural census data. The RECRUIT derived crop rotation product was used to detect land-use conversion from grassland to crop cultivation in a wetland dominated part of the US Midwest. Monoculture corn and monoculture soybean cropping were found to comprise the dominant land-use on the newly cultivated lands.« less

  3. 7 CFR 22.304 - Multiyear planning and programming.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Multiyear planning and programming. 22.304 Section 22.304 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION Roles and Responsibilities of State Governments § 22.304 Multiyear planning and programming. State and multicounty...

  4. 7 CFR 22.304 - Multiyear planning and programming.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Multiyear planning and programming. 22.304 Section 22.304 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION Roles and Responsibilities of State Governments § 22.304 Multiyear planning and programming. State and multicounty...

  5. 7 CFR 22.304 - Multiyear planning and programming.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Multiyear planning and programming. 22.304 Section 22.304 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION Roles and Responsibilities of State Governments § 22.304 Multiyear planning and programming. State and multicounty...

  6. 7 CFR 22.304 - Multiyear planning and programming.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Multiyear planning and programming. 22.304 Section 22.304 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION Roles and Responsibilities of State Governments § 22.304 Multiyear planning and programming. State and multicounty...

  7. 7 CFR 22.304 - Multiyear planning and programming.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Multiyear planning and programming. 22.304 Section 22.304 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION Roles and Responsibilities of State Governments § 22.304 Multiyear planning and programming. State and multicounty...

  8. 48 CFR 217.174 - Multiyear contracts that employ economic order quantity procurement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... employ economic order quantity procurement. 217.174 Section 217.174 Federal Acquisition Regulations... TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Mulityear Contracting 217.174 Multiyear contracts that employ economic... defense committees at least 30 days before awarding— (1) A multiyear contract providing for economic order...

  9. Death Is Certain, Strategy Isn't: Assessing the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's End-of-Life Grant Making

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patrizi, Patricia A.

    2010-01-01

    The author discusses an assessment of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's work over a 20-year period to improve end-of-life care in America. The case illustrates the evolution of the strategy from one focused on a multiyear randomized control trial of a series of hospital-based interventions that produced findings of "no effects" into several…

  10. Multi-year Droughts in California in the Last Two Decades

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Myoung, B.; Kafatos, M.

    2016-12-01

    Multi-year droughts in California including the notorious 2013-2014 drought became serious problems recently, causing significant socio-economic damages. In the present study, focusing on the three multi-year droughts in California, i.e., 1999-2002, 2007-2009, and 2012-2014, during the recent two decades (1995-2014), we compared and investigated their characteristics of the atmosphere and the oceans. By positioning abnormally strong anticyclonic circulations at 500 hPa over the North Pacific, the droughts seem to start around strong La Niña years and continued or intensified until the year prior to an El Niño. While precipitation decreases in La Niña years have been well documented previously, the intensification of droughts in the later period has not. The Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) and correlation analyses suggest that, around strong La Niña years, the first EOF mode (EOF1) of the 500 hPa height is active, while the second EOF mode (EOF2) becomes active in moderate/weak La Nina years. It is also found that while EOF1 is sensitive to SST variability in the central Pacific which is associated with the major ENSO events, EOF2 is sensitive to that in the western/South Pacific. Relations to various climate variability other than ENSO, e.g., Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Tropical/Northern Hemisphere (TNH), Pacific/North American (PNA), and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), are also examined.

  11. Integrating social, economic, and ecological values across large landscapes

    Treesearch

    Jessica E. Halofsky; Megan K. Creutzburg; Miles A. Hemstrom

    2014-01-01

    The Integrated Landscape Assessment Project (ILAP) was a multiyear effort to produce information, maps, and models to help land managers, policymakers, and others conduct mid- to broad-scale (e.g., watersheds to states and larger areas) prioritization of land management actions, perform landscape assessments, and estimate cumulative effects of management actions for...

  12. Evaluating soybean germplasm and commercial varieties for resistance to Phomopsis seed decay

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soybean Phomopsis seed decay (PSD) is the major cause of poor seed quality in most soybean production areas of the United States. Very few soybean cultivars currently available for planting in the US have resistance to PSD. To identify new sources of resistance to PSD, a multistate and multiyear res...

  13. 75 FR 35478 - Funding Opportunity; Street Outreach Program

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-22

    ... congregate, including what times they gather in certain areas, and how many youth are contacted on any given... opportunities during adolescence, a time of rapid growth and change. With this support, they can develop self... of time into which a multi-year period of assistance is divided for budgetary and funding purposes...

  14. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Statistical Abstract 2006-2007

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Research Services, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 2007

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to present, in summary fashion, statistical information on the status of public education in Miami-Dade County. Information is provided in the areas of organization, educational programs and services, achievement, and other outcomes of schooling. Also included are multi-year statistics on student population,…

  15. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Statistical Abstract 2005-2006

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Research Services, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 2006

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to present, in summary fashion, statistical information on the status of public education in Miami-Dade County. Information is provided in the areas of organization, educational programs and services, achievement, and other outcomes of schooling. Also included are multi-year statistics on student population,…

  16. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Statistical Abstract 2004-2005

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Research Services, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 2005

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to present, in summary fashion, statistical information on the status of public education in Miami-Dade County. Information is provided in the areas of organization, educational programs and services, achievement, and other outcomes of schooling. Also included are multi-year statistics on student population,…

  17. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Statistical Abstract 2007-2008

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Research Services, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 2008

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to present, in summary fashion, statistical information on the status of public education in Miami-Dade County. Information is provided in the areas of organization, educational programs and services, achievement, and other outcomes of schooling. Also included are multi-year statistics on student population,…

  18. The Use of Satellite Observations in Ice Cover Simulations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-01-01

    Io rmotions have been used to map upper-level winds over polar diagnose the origins of a large area of reduced ice ,,ncfl.’c regions (Turner and...was motivated by the availability of coverage in the Arctic. Also shown are November-April s-ver!,_- the multiyear ice concentrations derived from

  19. Collaborative Approach in the Development of High‐Performance Brain–Computer Interfaces for a Neuroprosthetic Arm: Translation from Animal Models to Human Control

    PubMed Central

    Collinger, Jennifer L.; Kryger, Michael A.; Barbara, Richard; Betler, Timothy; Bowsher, Kristen; Brown, Elke H. P.; Clanton, Samuel T.; Degenhart, Alan D.; Foldes, Stephen T.; Gaunt, Robert A.; Gyulai, Ferenc E.; Harchick, Elizabeth A.; Harrington, Deborah; Helder, John B.; Hemmes, Timothy; Johannes, Matthew S.; Katyal, Kapil D.; Ling, Geoffrey S. F.; McMorland, Angus J. C.; Palko, Karina; Para, Matthew P.; Scheuermann, Janet; Schwartz, Andrew B.; Skidmore, Elizabeth R.; Solzbacher, Florian; Srikameswaran, Anita V.; Swanson, Dennis P.; Swetz, Scott; Tyler‐Kabara, Elizabeth C.; Velliste, Meel; Wang, Wei; Weber, Douglas J.; Wodlinger, Brian

    2013-01-01

    Abstract Our research group recently demonstrated that a person with tetraplegia could use a brain–computer interface (BCI) to control a sophisticated anthropomorphic robotic arm with skill and speed approaching that of an able‐bodied person. This multiyear study exemplifies important principles in translating research from foundational theory and animal experiments into a clinical study. We present a roadmap that may serve as an example for other areas of clinical device research as well as an update on study results. Prior to conducting a multiyear clinical trial, years of animal research preceded BCI testing in an epilepsy monitoring unit, and then in a short‐term (28 days) clinical investigation. Scientists and engineers developed the necessary robotic and surgical hardware, software environment, data analysis techniques, and training paradigms. Coordination among researchers, funding institutes, and regulatory bodies ensured that the study would provide valuable scientific information in a safe environment for the study participant. Finally, clinicians from neurosurgery, anesthesiology, physiatry, psychology, and occupational therapy all worked in a multidisciplinary team along with the other researchers to conduct a multiyear BCI clinical study. This teamwork and coordination can be used as a model for others attempting to translate basic science into real‐world clinical situations. PMID:24528900

  20. 48 CFR 217.173 - Multiyear contracts for military family housing.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... each year from annual appropriations for that year (10 U.S.C. 2829). [76 FR 58154, Sept. 20, 2011] ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Multiyear contracts for... enter into multiyear contracts for periods up to 4 years for supplies and services required for...

  1. Applying an Activity Theory Lens to Designing Instruction for Learning about the Structure, Behavior, and Function of a Honeybee System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Danish, Joshua A.

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on a study in which activity theory was used to design, implement, and analyze a 10-week curriculum unit about how honeybees collect nectar with a particular focus on complex systems concepts. Students (n = 42) in a multi-year kindergarten and 1st-grade classroom participated in this study as part of their 10 regular classroom…

  2. Consistency and Change in Participatory Action Research: Reflections on a Focus Group Study about How Farmers Learn

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Piercy, Fred P.; Franz, Nancy; Donaldson, Joseph L.; Richard, Robert F.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to reflect on our efforts to balance consistency in our multi-year participatory action research study with the need to adapt our research protocol to what we are learning along the way. While both are important, we share several examples of how our flexibility and openness to adapt our protocol to our research…

  3. En Face Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography for the Monitoring of Lesion Area Progression in Stargardt Disease

    PubMed Central

    Melillo, Paolo; Testa, Francesco; Rossi, Settimio; Di Iorio, Valentina; Orrico, Ada; Auricchio, Alberto; Simonelli, Francesca

    2016-01-01

    Purpose We investigated the progression of Stargardt disease (STGD1) over a multiyear follow-up by evaluating the macular lesion area as computed by an automatic algorithm from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods We reviewed medical records of STGD1 patients, with a clinical and molecular diagnosis of STGD1 at a single institution, who underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus photography, SD-OCT, full-field electroretinography, and, when available, fundus autofluorescence (FAF). Regression models were fitted on the selected clinical parameters; in particular, on the macular lesion area computed by SD-OCT, to evaluate the disease progression over a multiyear follow-up. Results The comparison between SD-OCT and FAF, available for 22 patients, showed that macular lesion area, assessed by SD-OCT, significantly correlated with the area of absent FAF (P < 0.001). Moreover, the longitudinal analysis, performed in 98 patients, showed a significant enlargement of macular lesion area at an estimated exponential rate of 4.6% per year (P = 0.046), together with a significant worsening of BCVA (0.06 logMAR per year; P < 0.001) and a significant decrease of macular thickness (1.6% per year; P = 0.005) over the follow-up. Conclusions The current study describes, for the first time in literature, a longitudinal analysis of the macular lesion area assessed by SD-OCT in STGD1 disease, showing a significant progression over the follow-up. Our findings suggest that the evaluation of macular lesion area by en face SD-OCT, together with FAF, could drive the choice of the most amenable candidates and the most suitable area to be treated in gene therapy clinical trials. PMID:27409479

  4. En Face Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography for the Monitoring of Lesion Area Progression in Stargardt Disease.

    PubMed

    Melillo, Paolo; Testa, Francesco; Rossi, Settimio; Di Iorio, Valentina; Orrico, Ada; Auricchio, Alberto; Simonelli, Francesca

    2016-07-01

    We investigated the progression of Stargardt disease (STGD1) over a multiyear follow-up by evaluating the macular lesion area as computed by an automatic algorithm from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). We reviewed medical records of STGD1 patients, with a clinical and molecular diagnosis of STGD1 at a single institution, who underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus photography, SD-OCT, full-field electroretinography, and, when available, fundus autofluorescence (FAF). Regression models were fitted on the selected clinical parameters; in particular, on the macular lesion area computed by SD-OCT, to evaluate the disease progression over a multiyear follow-up. The comparison between SD-OCT and FAF, available for 22 patients, showed that macular lesion area, assessed by SD-OCT, significantly correlated with the area of absent FAF (P < 0.001). Moreover, the longitudinal analysis, performed in 98 patients, showed a significant enlargement of macular lesion area at an estimated exponential rate of 4.6% per year (P = 0.046), together with a significant worsening of BCVA (0.06 logMAR per year; P < 0.001) and a significant decrease of macular thickness (1.6% per year; P = 0.005) over the follow-up. The current study describes, for the first time in literature, a longitudinal analysis of the macular lesion area assessed by SD-OCT in STGD1 disease, showing a significant progression over the follow-up. Our findings suggest that the evaluation of macular lesion area by en face SD-OCT, together with FAF, could drive the choice of the most amenable candidates and the most suitable area to be treated in gene therapy clinical trials.

  5. Building on Strengths and Resilience: Leisure as a Stress Survival Strategy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iwasaki, Yoshitaka; MacTavish, Jennifer; MacKay, Kelly

    2005-01-01

    Exploring the ways in which leisure contributes to managing, relieving, or counteracting stress has become an increasingly popular area of study in recent years. Findings from a multi-year study of stress and coping among diverse residents of a western Canadian city are reported in this paper. In particular, the key findings presented are specific…

  6. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Smith, Thomas M.; Berndt, Markus; Baglietto, Emilio

    The purpose of this report is to document a multi-year plan for enhancing turbulence modeling in Hydra-TH for the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) program. Hydra-TH is being developed to the meet the high- fidelity, high-Reynolds number CFD based thermal hydraulic simulation needs of the program. This work is being conducted within the thermal hydraulics methods (THM) focus area. This report is an extension of THM CASL milestone L3:THM.CFD.P10.02 [33] (March, 2015) and picks up where it left off. It will also serve to meet the requirements of CASL THM level three milestone, L3:THM.CFD.P11.04, scheduled formore » completion September 30, 2015. The objectives of this plan will be met by: maturation of recently added turbulence models, strategic design/development of new models and systematic and rigorous testing of existing and new models and model extensions. While multi-phase turbulent flow simulations are important to the program, only single-phase modeling will be considered in this report. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is also an important modeling methodology. However, at least in the first year, the focus is on steady-state Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence modeling.« less

  7. Controls on Arctic sea ice from first-year and multi-year survival rates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hunke, Jes

    2009-01-01

    The recent decrease in Arctic sea ice cover has transpired with a significant loss of multi year ice. The transition to an Arctic that is populated by thinner first year sea ice has important implications for future trends in area and volume. Here we develop a reduced model for Arctic sea ice with which we investigate how the survivability of first year and multi year ice control the mean state, variability, and trends in ice area and volume.

  8. Time scales of change in chemical and biological parameters after engineered levee breaches adjacent to Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kuwabara, James S.; Topping, Brent R.; Carter, James L.; Wood, Tamara M.; Parcheso, Francis; Cameron, Jason M.; Asbill, Jessica R.; Carlson, Rick A.; Fend, Steven V.

    2012-01-01

    Eight sampling trips were coordinated after engineered levee breaches hydrologically reconnected both Upper Klamath Lake and Agency Lake, Oregon, to adjacent wetlands. The reconnection, by a series of explosive blasts, was coordinated by The Nature Conservancy to reclaim wetlands that had for approximately seven decades been leveed for crop production. Sets of nonmetallic porewater profilers (U.S. Patent 8,051,727 B1; November 8, 2011; http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/ week45/OG/html/1372-2/US08051727-20111108.html.) were deployed during these trips in November 2007, June 2008, May 2009, July 2009, May 2010, August 2010, June 2011, and July 2011 (table 1). Deployments temporally spanned the annual cyanophyte bloom of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and spatially involved three lake and four wetland sites. Spatial and temporal variation in solute benthic flux was determined by the field team, using the profilers, over an approximately 4-year period beginning 3 days after the levee breaches. The highest flux to the water column of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was detected in the newly flooded wetland, contrasting negative or insignificant DOC fluxes at adjacent lake sites. Over the multiyear study, DOC benthic fluxes dissipated in the reconnected wetlands, converging to values similar to those for established wetlands and to the adjacent lake (table 2). In contrast to DOC, benthic sources of soluble reactive phosphorus, ammonium, dissolved iron and manganese from within the reconnected wetlands were consistently elevated (that is, significant in magnitude relative to riverine and established-wetland sources) indicating a multi-year time scale for certain chemical changes after the levee breaches (table 2). Colonization of the reconnected wetlands by aquatic benthic invertebrates during the study trended toward the assemblages in established wetlands, providing further evidence of a multiyear transition of this area to permanent aquatic habitat (table 3). Both the lake and wetland benthic environments substantively contribute to macro- and micronutrients in the water column. Wetland areas undergoing restoration, and those being used for water storage, function very differently relatively to the established wetland within the Upper Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge, adjacent Upper Klamath Lake. Developing long-term management strategies for water quality in the Upper Klamath Basin requires recognition of the multi-year time scales associated with restoring wetlands that provide natural, seasonal ecosystem function and services.

  9. Phenology from Landsat when data is scarce: Using MODIS and Dynamic Time-Warping to combine multi-year Landsat imagery to derive annual phenology curves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baumann, Matthias; Ozdogan, Mutlu; Richardson, Andrew D.; Radeloff, Volker C.

    2017-02-01

    Green-leaf phenology describes the development of vegetation throughout a growing season and greatly affects the interaction between climate and the biosphere. Remote sensing is a valuable tool to characterize phenology over large areas but doing at fine- to medium resolution (e.g., with Landsat data) is difficult because of low numbers of cloud-free images in a single year. One way to overcome data availability limitations is to merge multi-year imagery into one time series, but this requires accounting for phenological differences among years. Here we present a new approach that employed a time series of a MODIS vegetation index data to quantify interannual differences in phenology, and Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) to re-align multi-year Landsat images to a common phenology that eliminates year-to-year phenological differences. This allowed us to estimate annual phenology curves from Landsat between 2002 and 2012 from which we extracted key phenological dates in a Monte-Carlo simulation design, including green-up (GU), start-of-season (SoS), maturity (Mat), senescence (Sen), end-of-season (EoS) and dormancy (Dorm). We tested our approach in eight locations across the United States that represented forests of different types and without signs of recent forest disturbance. We compared Landsat-based phenological transition dates to those derived from MODIS and ground-based camera data from the PhenoCam-network. The Landsat and MODIS comparison showed strong agreement. Dates of green-up, start-of-season and maturity were highly correlated (r 0.86-0.95), as were senescence and end-of-season dates (r > 0.85) and dormancy (r > 0.75). Agreement between the Landsat and PhenoCam was generally lower, but correlation coefficients still exceeded 0.8 for all dates. In addition, because of the high data density in the new Landsat time series, the confidence intervals of the estimated keydates were substantially lower than in case of MODIS and PhenoCam. Our study thus suggests that by exploiting multi-year Landsat imagery and calibrating it with MODIS data it is possible to describe green-leaf phenology at much finer spatial resolution than previously possible, highlighting the potential for fine scale phenology maps using the rich Landsat data archive over large areas.

  10. Influence of Sea Ice Crack Formation on the Spatial Distribution of Nutrients and Microalgae in Flooded Antarctic Multiyear Ice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nomura, Daiki; Aoki, Shigeru; Simizu, Daisuke; Iida, Takahiro

    2018-02-01

    Cracks are common and natural features of sea ice formed in the polar oceans. In this study, a sea ice crack in flooded, multiyear, land-fast Antarctic sea ice was examined to assess its influence on biological productivity and the transport of nutrients and microalgae into the upper layers of neighboring sea ice. The water inside the crack and the surrounding host ice were characterized by a strong discoloration (brown color), an indicator of a massive algal bloom. Salinity and oxygen isotopic ratio measurements indicated that 64-84% of the crack water consisted of snow meltwater supplied during the melt season. Measurements of nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations within the slush layer pool (the flooded layer at the snow-ice interface) revealed the intrusion of water from the crack, likely forced by mixing with underlying seawater during the tidal cycle. Our results suggest that sea ice crack formation provides conditions favorable for algal blooms by directly exposing the crack water to sunlight and supplying nutrients from the under-ice water. Subsequently, constituents of the crack water modified by biological activity were transported into the upper layer of the flooded sea ice. They were then preserved in the multiyear ice column formed by upward growth of sea ice caused by snow ice formation in areas of significant snow accumulation.

  11. Snapshot of a Multi-Year Multidisciplinary Environmental Mapping and Restoration Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lusignan, Molly; Abilock, Debbie

    2008-01-01

    This article presents a snapshot of the authors' first restoration project with young children which grew out of a fourth- and fifth-grade forestry curriculum. The restoration project was part of a long-term plan for enhancing the wild areas of the campus for wildlife habitat and for educational use. It is a native oak woodland and riparian…

  12. What to Learn and How to Teach It: Five Years of Pre-Meetings for Training Directors in Psychiatry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pato, Michele T.; Cyr, Rebecca L.; Manley, Lucas N.; Morley, Christopher P.

    2013-01-01

    Objective: A multi-year conference grant (R13) supported an annual pre-meeting that served as a forum for psychiatry residency training directors to learn about and develop educational programs in their residencies in the area of scholarly activity. Methods: The authors sought to measure the success of these programs through both a…

  13. 50 CFR 622.12 - Annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for Caribbean island management...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... ACL, as specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for Puerto Rico management area species or... ensure landings do not exceed the applicable ACL. If NMFS determines the ACL for a particular species or... relative to the applicable ACL based on a moving multi-year average of landings, as described in the FMP...

  14. 50 CFR 622.12 - Annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for Caribbean island management...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... ACL, as specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for Puerto Rico management area species or... ensure landings do not exceed the applicable ACL. If NMFS determines the ACL for a particular species or... relative to the applicable ACL based on a moving multi-year average of landings, as described in the FMP...

  15. Effects of weather on the retrieval of sea ice concentration and ice type from passive microwave data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maslanik, J. A.

    1992-01-01

    Effects of wind, water vapor, and cloud liquid water on ice concentration and ice type calculated from passive microwave data are assessed through radiative transfer calculations and observations. These weather effects can cause overestimates in ice concentration and more substantial underestimates in multi-year ice percentage by decreasing polarization and by decreasing the gradient between frequencies. The effect of surface temperature and air temperature on the magnitudes of weather-related errors is small for ice concentration and substantial for multiyear ice percentage. The existing weather filter in the NASA Team Algorithm addresses only weather effects over open ocean; the additional use of local open-ocean tie points and an alternative weather correction for the marginal ice zone can further reduce errors due to weather. Ice concentrations calculated using 37 versus 18 GHz data show little difference in total ice covered area, but greater differences in intermediate concentration classes. Given the magnitude of weather-related errors in ice classification from passive microwave data, corrections for weather effects may be necessary to detect small trends in ice covered area and ice type for climate studies.

  16. Comparison of Envisat ASAR and Submarine Sea Ice Thickness Statistics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hughes, Nicolas E.; Rodrigues, Joao; Wadhams, Peter

    2010-12-01

    In April 2004 and March 2007 the Royal Navy sent the submarine HMS Tireless on missions into the Arctic Ocean. On both occasions the submarine traversed the area of remaining multi-year sea ice at latitude 85°N north of Greenland acquiring ice draft measurements using upward-looking sonar. The area is outside of the "Gore Box" used for the release of U.S. Submarine data and was beyond the latitude range of the radar altimeter satellites available at that time. This paper compares ice draft statistics with contemporary data from Envisat ASAR to evaluate the level of correlation between SAR backscatter and sea ice thickness. The decline in sea ice volume over the past decade has predominantly been caused by the loss of old multi-year ice due to increased outflow through Fram Strait. Although Tireless found little decrease in the overall ice thickness between 2004 and 2007, the ice rheology was significantly changed with greatly increased quantities of first- and second-year ice in 2007 than had been encountered in 2004. These are evident in changes to the ice draft probability density functions (PDFs) and the ice appearance as seen by the SAR, and presented here.

  17. Automated detection of slum area change in Hyderabad, India using multitemporal satellite imagery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kit, Oleksandr; Lüdeke, Matthias

    2013-09-01

    This paper presents an approach to automated identification of slum area change patterns in Hyderabad, India, using multi-year and multi-sensor very high resolution satellite imagery. It relies upon a lacunarity-based slum detection algorithm, combined with Canny- and LSD-based imagery pre-processing routines. This method outputs plausible and spatially explicit slum locations for the whole urban agglomeration of Hyderabad in years 2003 and 2010. The results indicate a considerable growth of area occupied by slums between these years and allow identification of trends in slum development in this urban agglomeration.

  18. Processing Multiyear Procurement (MYP) Submissions - A Handbook for Air Force Program Offices

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-05-01

    Contracting and Manufacturing Policy; "Policy Letter 84-1l - Multiyear Contracting Guidance" Headquarters, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C...supplement to Air Force FAR Sup No. 17.191: as enclosed in Thomas E. Lloyd, Colonel, USAF, Assistant DCS/Contracting , and Manufacturing , "DCS...Contracting and Manufacturing Policy Letter 84-16, Multiyear Contracting Guidance." Headquarters, Air Force Systems Command, Andrew Air Force Base

  19. Making intelligent systems team players: Additional case studies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Malin, Jane T.; Schreckenghost, Debra L.; Rhoads, Ron W.

    1993-01-01

    Observations from a case study of intelligent systems are reported as part of a multi-year interdisciplinary effort to provide guidance and assistance for designers of intelligent systems and their user interfaces. A series of studies were conducted to investigate issues in designing intelligent fault management systems in aerospace applications for effective human-computer interaction. The results of the initial study are documented in two NASA technical memoranda: TM 104738 Making Intelligent Systems Team Players: Case Studies and Design Issues, Volumes 1 and 2; and TM 104751, Making Intelligent Systems Team Players: Overview for Designers. The objective of this additional study was to broaden the investigation of human-computer interaction design issues beyond the focus on monitoring and fault detection in the initial study. The results of this second study are documented which is intended as a supplement to the original design guidance documents. These results should be of interest to designers of intelligent systems for use in real-time operations, and to researchers in the areas of human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence.

  20. A Method for the Selection of Exploration Areas for Unconformity Uranium Deposits

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Harris, DeVerle P.; Zaluski, Gerard; Marlatt, James

    2009-06-15

    The method we propose employs two analyses: (1) exploration simulation and risk valuation and (2) portfolio optimization. The first analysis, implemented by the investment worth system (IWS), uses Monte Carlo simulation to integrate a wide spectrum of uncertain and varied components to a relative frequency histogram for net present value of the exploration investment, which is converted to a risk-adjusted value (RAV). Iterative rerunning of the IWS enables the mapping of the relationship of RAV to magnitude of exploration expenditure, X. The second major analysis uses RAV vs. X maps to identify that subset (portfolio) of areas that maximizes themore » RAV of the firm's multiyear exploration budget. The IWS, which is demonstrated numerically, consists of six components based on the geologic description of a hypothetical basin and project area (PA) and a mix of hypothetical and actual conditions of an unidentified area. The geology is quantified and processed by Bayesian belief networks to produce the geology-based inputs required by the IWS. An exploration investment of $60 M produced a highly skewed distribution of net present value (NPV), having mean and median values of $4,160 M and $139 M, respectively. For hypothetical mining firm Minex, the RAV of the exploration investment of $60 M is only $110.7 M. An RAV that is less than 3% of mean NPV reflects the aversion by Minex to risk as well as the magnitude of risk implicit to the highly skewed NPV distribution and the probability of 0.45 for capital loss. Potential benefits of initiating exploration of a portfolio of areas, as contrasted with one area, include increased marginal productivity of exploration as well as reduced probability for nondiscovery. For an exogenously determined multiyear exploration budget, a conceptual framework for portfolio optimization is developed based on marginal RAV exploration products for candidate PAs. PORTFOLIO, a software developed to implement optimization, allocates exploration to PAs so that the RAV of the exploration budget is maximized. Moreover, PORTFOLIO provides a means to examine the impact of magnitude of budget on the composition of the exploration portfolio and the optimum allocation of exploration to PAs that comprise the portfolio. Using fictitious data for five PAs, a numerical demonstration is provided of the use of PORTFOLIO to identify those PAs that comprise the optimum exploration portfolio and to optimally allocate the multiyear budget across portfolio PAs.« less

  1. Know Your Rights Handbook: The 2007-08 New York State Education Budget and Reform Law and State Education Department Regulations, as Amended in 2008-09. New York City Edition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc., 2008

    2008-01-01

    In April 2007, the New York State Legislature and the Governor passed historic education legislation to provide a multi-year, massive infusion of new school funding; the creation of a clear cut system of accountability that will focus on putting into practice key educational strategies; and a fair and simple funding formula, known as Foundation…

  2. School Processes That Can Drive Scaling-Up of an Innovation, or Contribute to Its Abandonment. Conference Paper

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zacamy, Jenna; Newman, Denis; Lazarev, Valeriy; Lin, Li

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports findings from a multi-year study of the scale-up of Reading Apprenticeship (RA), an approach to improve academic literacy by helping teachers provide the support students need to be successful readers in the content areas. WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI), began developing the program in 1995 and has since reached…

  3. The Benefits of Multi-Year Research Experiences: Differences in Novice and Experienced Students’ Reported Gains from Undergraduate Research

    PubMed Central

    Thiry, Heather; Weston, Timothy J.; Laursen, Sandra L.; Hunter, Anne-Barrie

    2012-01-01

    This mixed-methods study explores differences in novice and experienced undergraduate students’ perceptions of their cognitive, personal, and professional gains from engaging in scientific research. The study was conducted in four different undergraduate research (UR) programs at two research-extensive universities; three of these programs had a focus on the biosciences. Seventy-three entry-level and experienced student researchers participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews and completed the quantitative Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment (URSSA) instrument. Interviews and surveys assessed students’ developmental outcomes from engaging in UR. Experienced students reported distinct personal, professional, and cognitive outcomes relative to their novice peers, including a more sophisticated understanding of the process of scientific research. Students also described the trajectories by which they developed not only the intellectual skills necessary to advance in science, but also the behaviors and temperament necessary to be a scientist. The findings suggest that students benefit from multi-year UR experiences. Implications for UR program design, advising practices, and funding structures are discussed. PMID:22949423

  4. Maintaining Balance: The Increasing Role of Energy Storage for Renewable Integration

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stenclik, Derek; Denholm, Paul; Chalamala, Babu

    For nearly a century, global power systems have focused on three key functions: generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity as a real-time commodity. Physics requires that electricity generation always be in real-time balance with load-despite variability in load on time scales ranging from subsecond disturbances to multiyear trends. With the increasing role of variable generation from wind and solar, the retirement of fossil-fuel-based generation, and a changing consumer demand profile, grid operators are using new methods to maintain this balance.

  5. Measuring outcomes for neurosurgical procedures.

    PubMed

    Theodosopoulos, Philip V; Ringer, Andrew J

    2015-04-01

    Health care evolution has led to focused attention on clinical outcomes of care. Surgical disciplines are increasingly asked to provide evidence of treatment efficacy. As the technological advances push the surgical envelope further, it becomes imperative that postoperative outcomes are studied in a prospective fashion to assess the quality of care provided. The authors present their experience from a multiyear implementation of an outcomes initiative and share lessons learned, emphasizing the important structural elements of such an endeavor. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Concurrent remote sensing of Arctic sea ice from submarine and aircraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wadhams, P.; Davis, N. R.; Comiso, J. C.; Kutz, R.; Crawford, J.; Jackson, G.; Krabill, W.; Sear, C. B.; Swift, R.; Tucker, W. B., III

    1991-01-01

    In May 1987 a concurrent remote sensing study of Arctic sea ice from above and below was carried out. A submarine equipped with sidescan and upward looking sonar collaborated with two remote sensing aircraft equipped with passive microwave, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a laser profilometer and an infrared radiometer. By careful registration of the three tracks it has been possible to find relationships between ice type, ice morphology and thickness, SAR backscatter and microwave brightness temperatures. The key to the process has been the sidescan sonar's ability to identify ice type through differences in characteristic topography. Over a heavily ridged area of mainly multiyear ice there is a strong positive correlation between SAR backscatter and ice draft or elevation. It was also found that passive and active microwave complement each other in that SAR has a high contrast between open water and multiyear ice, while passive microwave has a high contrast between open water and first-year ice.

  7. Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Farrell, John

    2016-04-11

    The Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative is a new DOE initiative focused on accelerating the introduction of affordable, scalable, and sustainable biofuels and high-efficiency, low-emission vehicle engines. The simultaneous fuels and vehicles research and development (R&D) are designed to deliver maximum energy savings, emissions reduction, and on-road vehicle performance. The initiative's integrated approach combines the previously independent areas of biofuels and combustion R&D, bringing together two DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy research offices, ten national laboratories, and numerous industry and academic partners to simultaneously tackle fuel and engine research and development (R&D) to maximize energymore » savings and on-road vehicle performance while dramatically reducing transportation-related petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This multi-year project will provide industry with the scientific underpinnings required to move new biofuels and advanced engine systems to market faster while identifying and addressing barriers to their commercialization. This project's ambitious, first-of-its-kind approach simultaneously tackles fuel and engine innovation to co-optimize performance of both elements and provide dramatic and rapid cuts in fuel use and emissions. This presentation provides an overview of the initiative and reviews recent progress focused on both advanced spark-ignition and compression-ignition approaches.« less

  8. 48 CFR 217.170 - General.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... contract to the cost of an annual procurement approach, using a present value analysis. Do not award the multiyear contract unless the analysis shows that the multiyear contract will result in the lower cost (10 U...

  9. Preparing your organization's training program for ICD-10.

    PubMed

    Carolan, Katie; Reitzel, David

    2011-10-01

    Training for ICD-10 is going to be expensive, though predictions of how expensive vary widely. Healthcare finance executives should create a flexible, multiyear capital and operating budget to prepare for ICD-10 conversion and the training and support that will be required. Healthcare organizations also should assess staff knowledge in the critical ICD-10 areas and begin training now to be ready for go-live by early 2013.

  10. Drought and Fire in the Western United States: Contrasting the Causes, Distributions, and Effects of Drought in the 20th and 21st Centuries with a Multiyear Moisture Deficit Drought Index

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crockett, J.; Westerling, A. L.

    2016-12-01

    The current drought in California is considered to be most severe drought event of the 20th and 21st century. Climate models forecast increasing temperatures in the Western United States but are less certain regarding precipitation patterns. Here we impose a novel index based on sustained, multiyear moisture deficit anomalies onto a 1/8° grid of the Western United States to investigate 1) whether California's drought is irregular in the recent history of the Western States; 2) how temperature and precipitation affected the development of large drought events; and 3) what impact did drought events have on burn area and severity of fires. Fire records were compiled from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity database and compared to drought events since 1984. Results indicate that drought events similar in size and duration to the current drought have occurred in the West since 1918, though previous drought events were not as severe nor centered on California. Six drought events of similar size to the 2012 - 2014 drought were compared: while they were characterized by negative precipitation anomalies, only the 2012 - 2014 event exhibited temperature anomalies that increased over the drought's duration. In addition, we found that large fires ( > 1000 acres) within drought areas had greater total area burned as well as area burned at medium and high severities compared to fires in non-drought areas. Our results suggest that though uncertainty of future precipitation patterns exists, increasing temperatures will exacerbate drought severity when events do occur. In addition, understanding the relationships between droughts and fire can guide land managers to more effective fire management during drought events.

  11. Time-dependence of sea-ice concentration and multiyear ice fraction in the Arctic Basin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gloersen, P.; Zwally, H.J.; Chang, A.T.C.; Hall, D.K.; Campbell, W.J.; Ramseier, R.O.

    1978-01-01

    The time variation of the sea-ice concentration and multiyear ice fraction within the pack ice in the Arctic Basin is examined, using microwave images of sea ice recently acquired by the Nimbus-5 spacecraft and the NASA CV-990 airborne laboratory. The images used for these studies were constructed from data acquired from the Electrically Scanned Microwave Radiometer (ESMR) which records radiation from earth and its atmosphere at a wavelength of 1.55 cm. Data are analyzed for four seasons during 1973-1975 to illustrate some basic differences in the properties of the sea ice during those times. Spacecraft data are compared with corresponding NASA CV-990 airborne laboratory data obtained over wide areas in the Arctic Basin during the Main Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (1975) to illustrate the applicability of passive-microwave remote sensing for monitoring the time dependence of sea-ice concentration (divergence). These observations indicate significant variations in the sea-ice concentration in the spring, late fall and early winter. In addition, deep in the interior of the Arctic polar sea-ice pack, heretofore unobserved large areas, several hundred kilometers in extent, of sea-ice concentrations as low as 50% are indicated. ?? 1978 D. Reidel Publishing Company.

  12. Overview of ground-water recharge study sites

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Constantz, Jim; Adams, Kelsey S.; Stonestrom, David A.; Stonestrom, David A.; Constantz, Jim; Ferré, Ty P.A.; Leake, Stanley A.

    2007-01-01

    Multiyear studies were done to examine meteorologic and hydrogeologic controls on ephemeral streamflow and focused ground-water recharge at eight sites across the arid and semiarid southwestern United States. Campaigns of intensive data collection were conducted in the Great Basin, Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, Rio Grande Rift, and Colorado Plateau physiographic areas. During the study period (1997 to 2002), the southwestern region went from wetter than normal conditions associated with a strong El Niño climatic pattern (1997–1998) to drier than normal conditions associated with a La Niña climatic pattern marked by unprecedented warmth in the western tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans (1998–2002). The strong El Niño conditions roughly doubled precipitation at the Great Basin, Mojave Desert, and Colorado Plateau study sites. Precipitation at all sites trended generally lower, producing moderate- to severe-drought conditions by the end of the study. Streamflow in regional rivers indicated diminishing ground-water recharge conditions, with annual-flow volumes declining to 10–46 percent of their respective long-term averages by 2002. Local streamflows showed higher variability, reflecting smaller scales of integration (in time and space) of the study-site watersheds. By the end of the study, extended periods (9–15 months) of zero or negligible flow were observed at half the sites. Summer monsoonal rains generated the majority of streamflow and associated recharge in the Sonoran Desert sites and the more southerly Rio Grande Rift site, whereas winter storms and spring snowmelt dominated the northern and westernmost sites. Proximity to moisture sources (primarily the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California) and meteorologic fluctuations, in concert with orography, largely control the generation of focused ground-water recharge from ephemeral streamflow, although other factors (geology, soil, and vegetation) also are important. Watershed area correlated weakly with focused infiltration volumes, the latter providing an upper bound on associated ground-water recharge. Estimates of annual focused infiltration for the research sites ranged from about 105 to 107 cubic meters from contributing areas that ranged from 26 to 2,260 square kilometers.

  13. Multi-year predictability of climate, drought, and wildfire in southwestern North America.

    PubMed

    Chikamoto, Yoshimitsu; Timmermann, Axel; Widlansky, Matthew J; Balmaseda, Magdalena A; Stott, Lowell

    2017-07-26

    Past severe droughts over North America have led to massive water shortages and increases in wildfire frequency. Triggering sources for multi-year droughts in this region include randomly occurring atmospheric blocking patterns, ocean impacts on atmospheric circulation, and climate's response to anthropogenic radiative forcings. A combination of these sources translates into a difficulty to predict the onset and length of such droughts on multi-year timescales. Here we present results from a new multi-year dynamical prediction system that exhibits a high degree of skill in forecasting wildfire probabilities and drought for 10-23 and 10-45 months lead time, which extends far beyond the current seasonal prediction activities for southwestern North America. Using a state-of-the-art earth system model along with 3-dimensional ocean data assimilation and by prescribing the external radiative forcings, this system simulates the observed low-frequency variability of precipitation, soil water, and wildfire probabilities in close agreement with observational records and reanalysis data. The underlying source of multi-year predictability can be traced back to variations of the Atlantic/Pacific sea surface temperature gradient, external radiative forcings, and the low-pass filtering characteristics of soils.

  14. FTA multi-year research program plan (FY 2009 - FY 2013).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2008-09-01

    The Multi-Year Research Program Plan (Program Plan), prepared by the Federal Transit Administrations (FTA) Office of : Research, Demonstration, and Innovation (TRI), is part of FTAs strategic planning process. It provides descriptive : summarie...

  15. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Southern H II Region Discovery Survey: pilot survey (Brown+, 2017)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, C.; Jordan, C.; Dickey, J. M.; Anderson, L. D.; Armentrout, W. P.; Balser, D. S.; Bania, T. M.; Dawson, J. R.; Mc Clure-Griffiths, N. M.; Wenger, T. V.

    2018-05-01

    The Southern H II Region Discovery Survey (SHRDS) is a multi-year project using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) to complement the GBT and Arecibo HRDS by extending the survey area into the southern sky (δ<-45°). This area includes the Southern end of the Galactic Bar, the Near and Far 3 kpc Arms, the Norma/Cygnus Arm, the Scutum/Crux Arm, the Sagitttarius/Carina Arm, and outside the solar circle, the Perseus Arm, and the Outer Arm. All pilot SHRDS observations used the ATCA in the five antenna H75 array configuration, giving a nominal maximum baseline of 75 m and a beam size of FWHM ~65" at 7.8 GHz depending on the declination and hour angles of the observations. The SHRDS pilot observations were done in two sessions. Epoch I, observed 2013 June 30, focused on candidates that were expected to show bright radio recombination line (RRL) detections, which they did. Epoch II, observed 2014 June 26 and 27, used a list of candidates with expected flux densities typical of the SHRDS catalog as a whole. The two epochs also used different longitude ranges in order to generate samples of H II regions with different Galactic radii. (3 data files).

  16. Stabilization Success in Afghanistan: The Challenges Within

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-12-01

    areas ( SIKa ) program are examples of multiyear projects that had total estimated costs of more than a billion dollars, so at first glance one...2011, or 2012 regarding the CDP, afghanistan Stabilization Initiative, or SIKa projects would be incorrect if it stated that uSaID has little...Kunduz and 27 in Baghlan. the program in northern afghanistan will now begin its own transition to something new. uSaID will implement the SIKa

  17. Bright is the New Black - Multi-Year Performance of Generic High-Albedo Roofs in an Urban Climate

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gaffin, S. R.; Imhoff, M.; Rosenzweig, C.; Khanbilvardi, R.; Pasqualini, A.; Kong, A. Y. Y.; Grillo, D.; Freed, A.; Hillel, D.; Hartung, E.

    2012-01-01

    High-albedo white and cool roofing membranes are recognized as a fundamental strategy that dense urban areas can deploy on a large scale, at low cost, to mitigate the urban heat island effect. We are monitoring three generic white membranes within New York City that represent a cross-section of the dominant white membrane options for U.S. flat roofs: (1) an ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber membrane; (2) a thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) membrane and; (3) an asphaltic multi-ply built-up membrane coated with white elastomeric acrylic paint. The paint product is being used by New York City s government for the first major urban albedo enhancement program in its history. We report on the temperature and related albedo performance of these three membranes at three different sites over a multi-year period. The results indicate that the professionally installed white membranes are maintaining their temperature control effectively and are meeting the Energy Star Cool Roofing performance standards requiring a three-year aged albedo above 0.50. The EPDM membrane however shows evidence of low emissivity. The painted asphaltic surface shows high emissivity but lost about half of its initial albedo within two years after installation. Given that the acrylic approach is an important "do-it-yourself," low-cost, retrofit technique, and, as such, offers the most rapid technique for increasing urban albedo, further product performance research is recommended to identify conditions that optimize its long-term albedo control. Even so, its current multi-year performance still represents a significant albedo enhancement for urban heat island mitigation.

  18. 48 CFR 217.171 - Multiyear contracts for services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... agency may enter into multiyear contracts for supplies and services required for management, maintenance..., maintenance, and support of facilities and installations. (ii) Maintenance or modification of aircraft, ships... services (e.g., ground maintenance, in-plane refueling, bus transportation, and refuse collection and...

  19. Maintaining Balance: The Increasing Role of Energy Storage for Renewable Integration

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stenclik, Derek; Denholm, Paul; Chalamala, Babu

    For nearly a century, global power systems have focused on three key functions: to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity as a real-time commodity. Physics requires that electricity generation always be in real-time balance with load, despite variability in load on timescales ranging from sub-second disturbances to multi-year trends. With the increasing role of variable generation from wind and solar, retirements of fossil fuel-based generation, and a changing consumer demand profile, grid operators are using new methods to maintain this balance.

  20. Maintaining Balance: The Increasing Role of Energy Storage for Renewable Integration

    DOE PAGES

    Stenclik, Derek; Denholm, Paul; Chalamala, Babu

    2017-10-17

    For nearly a century, global power systems have focused on three key functions: to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity as a real-time commodity. Physics requires that electricity generation always be in real-time balance with load, despite variability in load on timescales ranging from sub-second disturbances to multi-year trends. With the increasing role of variable generation from wind and solar, retirements of fossil fuel-based generation, and a changing consumer demand profile, grid operators are using new methods to maintain this balance.

  1. Sex-specific differences of craniofacial traits in Croatia: the impact of environment in a small geographic area.

    PubMed

    Buretic-Tomljanovic, Alena; Giacometti, Jasminka; Ostojic, Sasa; Kapovic, Miljenko

    2007-01-01

    Craniometric variation in humans reflects different genetic and environmental influences. Long-term climatic adaptation is less likely to show an impact on size and shape variation in a small local area than at the global level. The aim of this work was to assess the contribution of the particular environmental factors to body height and craniofacial variability in a small geographic area of Croatia. A total of 632 subjects, aged 18-21, participated in the survey. Body height, head length, head breadth, head height, head circumference, cephalic index, morphological face height, face breadth, and facial index were analysed regarding geographic, climatic and dietary conditions in different regions of the country, and correlated with the specific climatic variables (cumulative multiyear sunshine duration, cumulative multiyear average precipitation, multiyear average air temperatures) and calcium concentrations in drinking water. Significant differences between groups classified according to geographic, climatic or dietary affiliation, and the impact of the environmental predictors on the variation in the investigated traits were assessed using multiple forward stepwise regression analyses. Higher body height measures in both sexes were significantly correlated with Mediterranean diet type. Mediterranean diet type also contributed to higher head length and head circumference measures in females. Cephalic index values correlated to geographic regions in both sexes, showing an increase from southern to eastern Croatia. In the same direction, head length significantly decreased in males and head breadth increased in females. Mediterranean climate was associated with higher and narrower faces in females. The analysis of the particular climatic variables did not reveal a significant influence on body height in either sex. Concurrently, climatic features influenced all craniofacial traits in females and only head length and facial index in males. Mediterranean climate, characterized by higher average sunshine duration, higher average precipitation and higher average air temperatures, was associated with longer, higher and narrower skulls, higher head circumference, lower cephalic index, and higher and narrower faces (lower facial index). Calcium concentrations in drinking water did not correlate significantly with any dependent variable. A significant effect of environmental factors on body height and craniofacial variability was found in Croatian young adult population. This effect was more pronounced in females, revealing sex-specific craniofacial differentiation. However, the impact of environment was low and may explain only 1.0-7.32% variation of the investigated traits.

  2. Annual Cycles of Multiyear Sea Ice Coverage of the Arctic Ocean: 1999-2003

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kwok, R.

    2004-01-01

    For the years 1999-2003, we estimate the time-varying perennial ice zone (PIZ) coverage and construct the annual cycles of multiyear (MY, including second year) ice coverage of the Arctic Ocean using QuikSCAT backscatter, MY fractions from RADARSAT, and the record of ice export from satellite passive microwave observations. An area balance approach extends the winter MY coverage from QuikSCAT to the remainder of the year. From these estimates, the coverage of MY ice at the beginning of each year is 3774 x 10(exp 3) sq km (2000), 3896 x 10(exp 3) sq km (2001), 4475 x 10(exp 3) sq km (2002), and 4122 x 10(exp 3) sq km (2003). Uncertainties in coverage are approx.150 x 10(exp 3) sq km. In the mean, on 1 January, MY ice covers approx.60% of the Arctic Ocean. Ice export reduces this coverage to approx.55% by 1 May. From the multiple annual cycles, the area of first-year (FY) ice that survives the intervening summers are 1192 x 10(exp 3) sq km (2000), 1509 x 10(exp 3) sq km (2001), and 582 x 10(exp 3) sq km (2002). In order for the MY coverage to remain constant from year to year, these replenishment areas must balance the overall area export and melt during the summer. The effect of the record minimum in Arctic sea ice area during the summer of 2002 is seen in the lowest area of surviving FY ice of the three summers. In addition to the spatial coverage, the location of the PIZ is important. One consequence of the unusual location of the PIZ at the end of the summer of 2002 is the preconditioning for enhanced export of MY ice into the Barents and Kara seas. Differences between the minimums in summer sea ice coverage from our estimates and passive microwave observations are discussed.

  3. 48 CFR 17.107 - Options.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Options. 17.107 Section 17... CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 17.107 Options. Benefits may accrue by including options in a multiyear contract. In that event, contracting officers must follow the requirements...

  4. 48 CFR 217.171 - Multiyear contracts for services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Multiyear contracts for services. 217.171 Section 217.171 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS... instructor skills (e.g., training for pilots and aircrew members or foreign language training); (4) Base...

  5. 48 CFR 217.171 - Multiyear contracts for services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Multiyear contracts for services. 217.171 Section 217.171 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS... instructor skills (e.g., training for pilots and aircrew members or foreign language training); (4) Base...

  6. Data report on variations in the composition of sea ice during MIZEX/East'83 with the Nimbus-7 SMMR

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gloersen, P.

    1984-01-01

    Data acquired with the scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) on board the Nimbus-7 satellite for a six-week period including the 1983 MIZEX in Fram Strait were analyzed with the use of a previously developed procedure for calculating sea ice concentration, multiyear fraction, and ice temperature. These calculations can compared with independent observations made on the surface and from aircraft in order to check the validity of the calculations based on SMMR data. The calculation of multiyear fraction, which was known earlier to be invalid near the melting point of sea ice, was of particular interest during this period. The indication of multiyear ice was found to disappear a number of times, presumably corresponding to freeze/thaw cycles which occurred in this time period. Both grid-print maps and grey-scale images of total sea ice concentration and multiyear sea ice fraction for the entire period are included.

  7. A Multi-Year Aerosol Characterization for the Greater Tehran Area Using Satellite, Surface, and Modeling Data

    PubMed Central

    Crosbie, Ewan; Sorooshian, Armin; Monfared, Negar Abolhassani; Shingler, Taylor; Esmaili, Omid

    2014-01-01

    This study reports a multi-year (2000–2009) aerosol characterization for metropolitan Tehran and surrounding areas using multiple datasets (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), Goddard Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART), and surface and upper air data from local stations). Monthly trends in aerosol characteristics are examined in the context of the local meteorology, regional and local emission sources, and air mass back-trajectory data. Dust strongly affects the region during the late spring and summer months (May–August) when aerosol optical depth (AOD) is at its peak and precipitation accumulation is at a minimum. In addition, the peak AOD that occurs in July is further enhanced by a substantial number of seasonal wildfires in upwind regions. Conversely, AOD is at a minimum during winter; however, reduced mixing heights and a stagnant lower atmosphere trap local aerosol emissions near the surface and lead to significant reductions in visibility within Tehran. The unique meteorology and topographic setting makes wintertime visibility and surface aerosol concentrations particularly sensitive to local anthropogenic sources and is evident in the noteworthy improvement in visibility observed on weekends. Scavenging of aerosol due to precipitation is evident during the winter when aconsistent increase in surface visibility and concurrent decrease in AOD is observed in the days after rain compared with the days immediately before rain. PMID:25083295

  8. Spatial and Temporal Variations of Satellite-Derived Multi-Year Particulate Data of Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Aina, Yusuf A.; van der Merwe, Johannes H.; Alshuwaikhat, Habib M.

    2014-01-01

    The effects of concentrations of fine particulate matter on urban populations have been gaining attention because fine particulate matter exposes the urban populace to health risks such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Satellite-derived data, using aerosol optical depth (AOD), have been adopted to improve the monitoring of fine particulate matter. One of such data sources is the global multi-year PM2.5 data (2001–2010) released by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). This paper explores the satellite-derived PM2.5 data of Saudi Arabia to highlight the trend of PM2.5 concentrations. It also examines the changes in PM2.5 concentrations in some urbanized areas of Saudi Arabia. Concentrations in major cities like Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah and the industrial cities of Yanbu and Jubail are analyzed using cluster analysis. The health risks due to exposure of the populace are highlighted by using the World Health Organization (WHO) standard and targets. The results show a trend of increasing concentrations of PM2.5 in urban areas. Significant clusters of high values are found in the eastern and south-western part of the country. There is a need to explore this topic using images with higher spatial resolution and validate the data with ground observations to improve the analysis. PMID:25350009

  9. 41 CFR 101-25.108 - Multiyear subscriptions for publications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... for publications. 101-25.108 Section 101-25.108 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal...-GENERAL 25.1-General Policies § 101-25.108 Multiyear subscriptions for publications. Subscriptions for periodicals, newspapers, and other publications for which it is known in advance that a continuing requirement...

  10. NHEERL CONTAMINATED SEDIMENT RESEARCH MULTI-YEAR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (2005)

    EPA Science Inventory

    ORD has developed a multi-year plan (MYP) called the Contaminated Sites MYP to address the research needs of EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI). One of the long-term goals of the Contaminated Sites MYP relates to contaminated sediments, and t...

  11. 41 CFR 101-25.108 - Multiyear subscriptions for publications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... for publications. 101-25.108 Section 101-25.108 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal...-GENERAL 25.1-General Policies § 101-25.108 Multiyear subscriptions for publications. Subscriptions for periodicals, newspapers, and other publications for which it is known in advance that a continuing requirement...

  12. 41 CFR 101-25.108 - Multiyear subscriptions for publications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... for publications. 101-25.108 Section 101-25.108 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal...-GENERAL 25.1-General Policies § 101-25.108 Multiyear subscriptions for publications. Subscriptions for periodicals, newspapers, and other publications for which it is known in advance that a continuing requirement...

  13. 41 CFR 101-25.108 - Multiyear subscriptions for publications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... for publications. 101-25.108 Section 101-25.108 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal...-GENERAL 25.1-General Policies § 101-25.108 Multiyear subscriptions for publications. Subscriptions for periodicals, newspapers, and other publications for which it is known in advance that a continuing requirement...

  14. Characterizing drought in terms of changes in the precipitation-runoff relationship: a case study of the Loess Plateau, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Yuan; Feng, Xiaoming; Wang, Xiaofeng; Fu, Bojie

    2018-03-01

    The frequency and intensity of drought are increasing dramatically with global warming. However, few studies have characterized drought in terms of its impacts on ecosystem services, the mechanisms through which ecosystems support life. As a result, little is known about the implications of increased drought for resource management. This case study characterizes drought by linking climate anomalies with changes in the precipitation-runoff relationship (PRR) on the Loess Plateau of China, a water-limited region where ongoing revegetation makes drought a major concern. We analyzed drought events with drought durations ≥ 5 years and mean annual precipitation anomaly (PA) values ≤ -5 % during drought periods. The results show that continuous precipitation shifts are able to change the water balance of watersheds in water-limited areas, and multi-year drought events cause the PRR to change with a significantly decreasing trend (p < 0.05) compared to other historical records. For the Loess Plateau as a whole, the average runoff ratio decreased from 10 to 6.8 % during 1991-1999. The joint probability and return period gradually increase with increasing of drought duration and severity. The ecosystem service of water yield is easily affected by drought events with durations equal to or greater than 6 years and drought severity values equal to or greater than 0.55 (precipitation ≤ 212 mm). At the same time, multi-year drought events also lead to significant changes in the leaf area index (LAI). Such studies are essential for ecosystem management in water-limited areas.

  15. 48 CFR 317.107 - Options.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Options. 317.107 Section... CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multi-year Contracting 317.107 Options. When used as part of a multi-year contract, options shall not be used to extend the performance of the original requirement for...

  16. 7 CFR 1410.2 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... State, or (3) Alfalfa and other multi-year grasses and legumes grown in a rotation practice as approved... Deputy Administrator: for alfalfa and other multi-year grasses and legumes planted during 2002 through... approved combinations of certain grasses, legumes, forbs, shrubs and trees with a life span of 10 or more...

  17. 48 CFR 217.173 - Multiyear contracts for weapon systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... weapon systems. 217.173 Section 217.173 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION... Mulityear Contracting 217.173 Multiyear contracts for weapon systems. As authorized by 10 U.S.C. 2306b(h... contract for— (a) A weapon system and associated items, services, and logistics support for a weapon system...

  18. 75 FR 34942 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Multiyear Contract Authority for Electricity...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-21

    ...-AG48 Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Multiyear Contract Authority for Electricity... years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable energy. DATES: Effective Date: June 21... contract for a period not to exceed 10 years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable...

  19. 48 CFR 217.174 - Multiyear contracts for electricity from renewable energy sources.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... electricity from renewable energy sources. 217.174 Section 217.174 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Mulityear Contracting 217.174 Multiyear contracts for electricity from... not to exceed 10 years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable energy, as that term...

  20. 48 CFR 217.174 - Multiyear contracts for electricity from renewable energy sources.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... electricity from renewable energy sources. 217.174 Section 217.174 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Mulityear Contracting 217.174 Multiyear contracts for electricity from... not to exceed 10 years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable energy, as that term...

  1. 48 CFR 217.174 - Multiyear contracts for electricity from renewable energy sources.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... electricity from renewable energy sources. 217.174 Section 217.174 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Mulityear Contracting 217.174 Multiyear contracts for electricity from... not to exceed 10 years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable energy, as that term...

  2. 48 CFR 217.174 - Multiyear contracts for electricity from renewable energy sources.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... electricity from renewable energy sources. 217.174 Section 217.174 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Mulityear Contracting 217.174 Multiyear contracts for electricity from... not to exceed 10 years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable energy, as that term...

  3. 48 CFR 217.175 - Multiyear contracts for electricity from renewable energy sources.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... electricity from renewable energy sources. 217.175 Section 217.175 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Mulityear Contracting 217.175 Multiyear contracts for electricity from... not to exceed 10 years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable energy, as that term...

  4. 50 CFR 80.25 - Multiyear financing under the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Program.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ...-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Program. 80.25 Section 80.25 Wildlife and Fisheries UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE-WILDLIFE SPORT FISH... SPORT FISH RESTORATION ACTS § 80.25 Multiyear financing under the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration...

  5. How to Negotiate (Successfully) a Multi-Year Contract.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, John A.

    Multi-year employee contracts can substantially reduce the time and energy that goes into negotiations. In this transcript, panelists from the Strongsville (Ohio) city schools discuss their recent 5-year settlement with their non-teaching (classified) employees. Each panelist is introduced, and then the first, James Marietta, provides an overview…

  6. 75 FR 20085 - Subpart B-Advanced Biofuel Payment Program

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-04-16

    ... biofuels industry is very capital intensive, the Agency is proposing multi-year contracts to enable advanced biofuels producers the assurance of a multi-year revenue stream. This approach is consistent with the goal of creating a stable industry. Finally, the Agency is proposing a two- tiered payment...

  7. Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-27

    Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress Ronald O’Rourke Specialist...... block buy contracting (BBC) are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of

  8. Impacts of the Variability of Ice Types on the Decline of the Arctic Perennial Sea Ice Cover

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comiso, Josefino C.

    2005-01-01

    The observed rapid decline in the Arctic perennial ice cover is one of the most remarkable signal of change in the Arctic region. Updated data now show an even higher rate of decline of 9.8% per decade than the previous report of 8.9% per decade mainly because of abnormally low values in the last 4 years. To gain insights into this decline, the variability of the second year ice, which is the relatively thin component of the perennial ice cover, and other ice types is studied. The perennial ice cover in the 1990s was observed to be highly variable which might have led to higher production of second year ice and may in part explain the observed ice thinning during the period and triggered further decline. The passive microwave signature of second year ice is also studied and results show that while the signature is different from that of the older multiyear ice, it is surprisingly more similar to that of first year ice. This in part explains why previous estimates of the area of multiyear ice during the winter period are considerably lower than the area of the perennial ice cover during the preceding summer. Four distinct clusters representing radiometrically different types have been identified using multi-channel cluster analysis of passive microwave data. Data from two of these clusters, postulated to come from second year and older multiyear ice regions are also shown to have average thicknesses of 2.4 and 4.1 m, respectively, indicating that the passive microwave data may contain some ice thickness information that can be utilized for mass balance studies. The yearly anomaly maps indicate high gains of first year ice cover in the Arctic during the last decade which means higher production of second year ice and fraction of this type in the declining perennial ice cover. While not the only cause, the rapid decline in the perennial ice cover is in part caused by the increasing fractional component of the thinner second year ice cover that is very vulnerable to total melt due to warming in the Arctic, especially in spring.

  9. Multiyear ice transport and small scale sea ice deformation near the Alaska coast measured by air-deployable Ice Trackers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahoney, A. R.; Kasper, J.; Winsor, P.

    2015-12-01

    Highly complex patterns of ice motion and deformation were captured by fifteen satellite-telemetered GPS buoys (known as Ice Trackers) deployed near Barrow, Alaska, in spring 2015. Two pentagonal clusters of buoys were deployed on pack ice by helicopter in the Beaufort Sea between 20 and 80 km offshore. During deployment, ice motion in the study region was effectively zero, but two days later the buoys captured a rapid transport event in which multiyear ice from the Beaufort Sea was flushed into the Chukchi Sea. During this event, westward ice motion began in the Chukchi Sea and propagated eastward. This created new openings in the ice and led to rapid elongation of the clusters as the westernmost buoys accelerated away from their neighbors to the east. The buoys tracked ice velocities of over 1.5 ms-1, with fastest motion occurring closest to the coast indicating strong current shear. Three days later, ice motion reversed and the two clusters became intermingled, rendering divergence calculations based on the area enclosed by clusters invalid. The data show no detectable difference in velocity between first year and multiyear ice floes, but Lagrangian timeseries of SAR imagery centered on each buoy show that first year ice underwent significant small-scale deformation during the event. The five remaining buoys were deployed by local residents on prominent ridges embedded in the landfast ice within 16 km of Barrow in order to track the fate of such features after they detached from the coast. Break-up of the landfast ice took place over a period of several days and, although the buoys each initially followed a similar eastward trajectory around Point Barrow into the Beaufort Sea, they rapidly dispersed over an area more than 50 km across. With rapid environmental and socio-economic change in the Arctic, understanding the complexity of nearshore ice motion is increasingly important for predict future changes in the ice and the tracking ice-related hazards contaminants entrained in the ice. This work demonstrates the ability of low-cost easily-deployable Ice Trackers to generate to generate data of both scientific and operational value.

  10. Subsonic Transonic Applied Refinements By Using Key Strategies - STARBUKS In the NASA Langley Research Center National Transonic Facility

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Paryz, Roman W.

    2014-01-01

    Several upgrade projects have been completed at the NASA Langley Research Center National Transonic Facility over the last 1.5 years in an effort defined as STARBUKS - Subsonic Transonic Applied Refinements By Using Key Strategies. This multi-year effort was undertaken to improve NTF's overall capabilities by addressing Accuracy and Validation, Productivity, and Reliability areas at the NTF. This presentation will give a brief synopsis of each of these efforts.

  11. Observation of melt onset on multiyear Arctic sea ice using the ERS 1 synthetic aperture radar

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Winebrenner, D. P.; Nelson, E. D.; Colony, R.; West, R. D.

    1994-01-01

    We present nearly coincident observations of backscattering from the Earth Remote-Sensing Satellite (ERS) 1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and of near-surface temperature from six drifting buoys in the Beaufort Sea, showing that the onset of melting in snow on multiyear sea ice is clearly detectable in the SAR data. Melt onset is marked by a clean, steep decrease in the backscattering cross section of multiyear ice at 5.3 GHz and VV polarization. We investigate the scattering physics responsible for the signature change and find that the cross section decrease is due solely to the appearance of liquid water in the snow cover overlying the ice. A thin layer of moist snow is sufficient to cause the observed decrease. We present a prototype algorithm to estimate the date of melt onset using the ERS 1 SAR and apply the algorithm first to the SAR data for which we have corresponding buoy temperatures. The melt onset dates estimated by the SAR algorithm agree with those obtained independently from the temperature data to within 4 days or less, with the exception of one case in which temperatures oscillated about 0 C for several weeks. Lastly, we apply the algorithm to the entire ERS 1 SAR data record acquired by the Alaska SAR Facility for the Beaufort Sea north of 73 deg N during the spring of 1992, to produce a map of the dates of melt onset over an area roughly 1000 km on a side. The progression of melt onset is primarily poleward but shows a weak meridional dependence at latitudes of approximately 76 deg-77 deg N. Melting begins in the southern part of the study region on June 13 and by June 20 has progressed to the northermost part of the region.

  12. a New Idea of Bim System for Visualization, Web Sharing and Using Huge Complex 3d Models for Facility Management.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fassi, F.; Achille, C.; Mandelli, A.; Rechichi, F.; Parri, S.

    2015-02-01

    The work is the final part of a multi-year research project on the Milan Cathedral, which focused on the complete survey and threedimensional modeling of the Great Spire (Fassi et al., 2011) and the two altars in the transept. The main purpose of the job was to prepare support data for the maintenance operations involving the cathedral since 2009 and still in progress. The research job had begun addressing our efforts to identify which methods would allow an expeditious but comprehensive measure of complex architectural structure as a whole. (Achille et al., 2012) The following research works were focused mainly to find an efficient method to visualize, use and share the realized 3D model.

  13. 76 FR 14587 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Multiyear Contract Authority for Electricity...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-17

    ...-AG48 Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Multiyear Contract Authority for Electricity... 10 years for the purchase of electricity from sources of renewable energy, as that term is defined in... electricity under such contract is cost effective; and (2) It would not be possible to purchase electricity...

  14. Beaufort Sea ice zones as delineated by microwave imagery

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Campbell, W. J.; Gloersen, P.; Webster, W. J.; Wilheit, T. T.; Ramseier, R. O.

    1976-01-01

    Microwave and infrared data were obtained from a research aircraft over the Beaufort Sea ice from the shoreline of Harrison Bay northward to a latitude of almost 81 deg N. The data acquired were compared with microwave data obtained on the surface at an approximate position of 75 deg N, 150 deg W. Over this north-south transect of the polar ice canopy it was discovered that the sea ice could be divided into five distinct zones. The shorefast sea ice was found to consist uniformly of first-year sea ice. The second zone was found to be a mixture of first-year sea ice, medium size multiyear floes, and many recently refrozen leads, polynyas, and open water; considerable shearing activity was evident in this zone. The third zone was a mixture of first-year and multiyear sea ice which had a uniform microwave signature. The fourth zone was found to be a mixture of first-year sea ice and medium-to-large size multiyear floes which was similar in composition to the second zone. The fifth zone was almost exclusively multiyear ice extending to the North Pole.

  15. Multi-year climate variability in the Southwestern United States within a context of a dynamically downscaled twentieth century reanalysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carrillo, Carlos M.; Castro, Christopher L.; Chang, Hsin-I.; Luong, Thang M.

    2017-12-01

    This investigation evaluates whether there is coherency in warm and cool season precipitation at the low-frequency scale that may be responsible for multi-year droughts in the US Southwest. This low-frequency climate variability at the decadal scale and longer is studied within the context of a twentieth-century reanalysis (20CR) and its dynamically-downscaled version (DD-20CR). A spectral domain matrix methods technique (Multiple-Taper-Method Singular Value Decomposition) is applied to these datasets to identify statistically significant spatiotemporal precipitation patterns for the cool (November-April) and warm (July-August) seasons. The low-frequency variability in the 20CR is evaluated by exploring global to continental-scale spatiotemporal variability in moisture flux convergence (MFC) to the occurrence of multiyear droughts and pluvials in Central America, as this region has a demonstrated anti-phase relationship in low-frequency climate variability with northern Mexico and the southwestern US By using the MFC in lieu of precipitation, this study reveals that the 20CR is able to resolve well the low-frequency, multiyear climate variability. In the context of the DD-20CR, multiyear droughts and pluvials in the southwestern US (in the early twentieth century) are significantly related to this low-frequency climate variability. The precipitation anomalies at these low-frequency timescales are in phase between the cool and warm seasons, consistent with the concept of dual-season drought as has been suggested in tree ring studies.

  16. 40 CFR 412.4 - Best management practices (BMPs) for land application of manure, litter, and process wastewater.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... reaching surface waters. (3) Multi-year phosphorus application means phosphorus applied to a field in excess of the crop needs for that year. In multi-year phosphorus applications, no additional manure... phosphorus has been removed from the field via harvest and crop removal. (c) Requirement to develop and...

  17. 40 CFR 412.4 - Best management practices (BMPs) for land application of manure, litter, and process wastewater.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... reaching surface waters. (3) Multi-year phosphorus application means phosphorus applied to a field in excess of the crop needs for that year. In multi-year phosphorus applications, no additional manure... phosphorus has been removed from the field via harvest and crop removal. (c) Requirement to develop and...

  18. Development and Validation of a Measure of Elementary Teachers' Science Content Knowledge in Two Multiyear Teacher Professional Development Intervention Projects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maerten-Rivera, Jaime Lynn; Huggins-Manley, Anne Corinne; Adamson, Karen; Lee, Okhee; Llosa, Lorena

    2015-01-01

    Using data collected from two multiyear teacher professional development projects employing randomized control trials, this study describes the development and validation of a paper-based test of elementary teachers' science content knowledge (SCK). Evidence of construct validity is presented, including evidence on internal structural…

  19. Findings from a Multiyear Scale-Up Effectiveness Trial of Open Court Reading

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaden-Kiernan, Michael; Borman, Geoffrey; Caverly, Sarah; Bell, Nance; Sullivan, Kate; Ruiz de Castilla, Veronica; Fleming, Grace; Rodriguez, Debra; Henry, Chad; Long, Tracy; Hughes Jones, Debra

    2018-01-01

    This multiyear scale-up effectiveness study of Open Court Reading (OCR) involved approximately 4,500 students and more than 1,000 teachers per year in Grades K-5 from 49 elementary schools in seven districts across the country. Using a school-level cluster randomized trial design, we assessed the implementation and effectiveness of Open Court…

  20. A Multi-Year Light Curve of Scorpius X-1 Based on CGRO BATSE Spectroscopy Detector Observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    McNamara, B. J.; Harrison, T. E.; Mason, P. A.; Templeton, M.; Heikkila, C. W.; Buckley, T.; Galvan, E.; Silva, A.; Harmon, B. A.

    1998-01-01

    A multi-year light curve of the low mass X-ray binary, Scorpius X-1, is constructed based on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO) Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) Spectroscopy Detector (SD) data in the nominal energy range of 10-20 keV. A detailed discussion is given of the reduction process of the BATSE/SD data. Corrections to the SD measurements are made for off-axis pointings, spectral and bandpass changes, and differences in the eight SD sensitivities. The resulting 4.4 year Sco X-1 SD light curve is characterized in terms of the time scales over which various types of emission changes occur. This light curve is then compared with Sco X-1 light curves obtained by Axiel 5, the BATSE Large Area Detectors (LADs), and the RXTE all-sky monitor (ASM). Coincident temporal coverage by the BATSE/SD and RXTE/ASM allows a direct comparison of the behavior of Sco X-1 over a range of high energies to be made. These ASM light curves are then used to discuss model constraints on the Sco X-1 system.

  1. Drug Repurposing from an Academic Perspective.

    PubMed

    Oprea, Tudor I; Bauman, Julie E; Bologa, Cristian G; Buranda, Tione; Chigaev, Alexandre; Edwards, Bruce S; Jarvik, Jonathan W; Gresham, Hattie D; Haynes, Mark K; Hjelle, Brian; Hromas, Robert; Hudson, Laurie; Mackenzie, Debra A; Muller, Carolyn Y; Reed, John C; Simons, Peter C; Smagley, Yelena; Strouse, Juan; Surviladze, Zurab; Thompson, Todd; Ursu, Oleg; Waller, Anna; Wandinger-Ness, Angela; Winter, Stuart S; Wu, Yang; Young, Susan M; Larson, Richard S; Willman, Cheryl; Sklar, Larry A

    2011-01-01

    Academia and small business research units are poised to play an increasing role in drug discovery, with drug repurposing as one of the major areas of activity. Here we summarize project status for a number of drugs or classes of drugs: raltegravir, cyclobenzaprine, benzbromarone, mometasone furoate, astemizole, R-naproxen, ketorolac, tolfenamic acid, phenothiazines, methylergonovine maleate and beta-adrenergic receptor drugs, respectively. Based on this multi-year, multi-project experience we discuss strengths and weaknesses of academic-based drug repurposing research. Translational, target and disease foci are strategic advantages fostered by close proximity and frequent interactions between basic and clinical scientists, which often result in discovering new modes of action for approved drugs. On the other hand, lack of integration with pharmaceutical sciences and toxicology, lack of appropriate intellectual coverage and issues related to dosing and safety may lead to significant drawbacks. The development of a more streamlined regulatory process world-wide, and the development of pre-competitive knowledge transfer systems such as a global healthcare database focused on regulatory and scientific information for drugs world-wide, are among the ideas proposed to improve the process of academic drug discovery and repurposing, and to overcome the "valley of death" by bridging basic to clinical sciences.

  2. Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Farrell, John

    2016-03-24

    The Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative is a new DOE initiative focused on accelerating the introduction of affordable, scalable, and sustainable biofuels and high-efficiency, low-emission vehicle engines. The simultaneous fuels and vehicles research and development (R&D) are designed to deliver maximum energy savings, emissions reduction, and on-road vehicle performance. The initiative's integrated approach combines the previously independent areas of biofuels and combustion R&D, bringing together two DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy research offices, ten national laboratories, and numerous industry and academic partners to simultaneously tackle fuel and engine research and development (R&D) to maximize energymore » savings and on-road vehicle performance while dramatically reducing transportation-related petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This multi-year project will provide industry with the scientific underpinnings required to move new biofuels and advanced engine systems to market faster while identifying and addressing barriers to their commercialization. This project's ambitious, first-of-its-kind approach simultaneously tackles fuel and engine innovation to co-optimize performance of both elements and provide dramatic and rapid cuts in fuel use and emissions. This presentation provides an overview of the project.« less

  3. Drug Repurposing from an Academic Perspective

    PubMed Central

    Oprea, Tudor I.; Bauman, Julie E.; Bologa, Cristian G.; Buranda, Tione; Chigaev, Alexandre; Edwards, Bruce S.; Jarvik, Jonathan W.; Gresham, Hattie D.; Haynes, Mark K.; Hjelle, Brian; Hromas, Robert; Hudson, Laurie; Mackenzie, Debra A.; Muller, Carolyn Y.; Reed, John C.; Simons, Peter C.; Smagley, Yelena; Strouse, Juan; Surviladze, Zurab; Thompson, Todd; Ursu, Oleg; Waller, Anna; Wandinger-Ness, Angela; Winter, Stuart S.; Wu, Yang; Young, Susan M.; Larson, Richard S.; Willman, Cheryl; Sklar, Larry A.

    2011-01-01

    Academia and small business research units are poised to play an increasing role in drug discovery, with drug repurposing as one of the major areas of activity. Here we summarize project status for a number of drugs or classes of drugs: raltegravir, cyclobenzaprine, benzbromarone, mometasone furoate, astemizole, R-naproxen, ketorolac, tolfenamic acid, phenothiazines, methylergonovine maleate and beta-adrenergic receptor drugs, respectively. Based on this multi-year, multi-project experience we discuss strengths and weaknesses of academic-based drug repurposing research. Translational, target and disease foci are strategic advantages fostered by close proximity and frequent interactions between basic and clinical scientists, which often result in discovering new modes of action for approved drugs. On the other hand, lack of integration with pharmaceutical sciences and toxicology, lack of appropriate intellectual coverage and issues related to dosing and safety may lead to significant drawbacks. The development of a more streamlined regulatory process world-wide, and the development of pre-competitive knowledge transfer systems such as a global healthcare database focused on regulatory and scientific information for drugs world-wide, are among the ideas proposed to improve the process of academic drug discovery and repurposing, and to overcome the “valley of death” by bridging basic to clinical sciences. PMID:22368688

  4. The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flaugher, Brenna; Bebek, Chris

    2014-07-01

    The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is a Stage IV ground-based dark energy experiment that will study baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions with a wide-area galaxy and quasar spectroscopic redshift survey. The DESI instrument consists of a new wide-field (3.2 deg. linear field of view) corrector plus a multi-object spectrometer with up to 5000 robotically positioned optical fibers and will be installed at prime focus on the Mayall 4m telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona. The fibers feed 10 three-arm spectrographs producing spectra that cover a wavelength range from 360-980 nm and have resolution of 2000-5500 depending on the wavelength. The DESI instrument is designed for a 14,000 sq. deg. multi-year survey of targets that trace the evolution of dark energy out to redshift 3.5 using the redshifts of luminous red galaxies (LRGs), emission line galaxies (ELGs) and quasars. DESI is the successor to the successful Stage-III BOSS spectroscopic redshift survey and complements imaging surveys such as the Stage-III Dark Energy Survey (DES, currently operating) and the Stage-IV Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST, planned start early in the next decade).

  5. The ecology of catastrophic events: understanding abrupt spatial transitions in susceptibility of grasslands and croplands to multi-year drought

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Much of the central grasslands region (CGR) of North America experienced a multi-year extreme drought in the 1930s that combined with land management practices to result in broad-scale plant mortality, massive dust storms, and losses of soil and nutrients. All grassland types in the CGR were affecte...

  6. Multi-Year Revenue and Expenditure Forecasting for Small Municipal Governments.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1981-03-01

    Management Audit Econometric Revenue Forecast Gap and Impact Analysis Deterministic Expenditure Forecast Municipal Forecasting Municipal Budget Formlto...together with a multi-year revenue and expenditure forecasting model for the City of Monterey, California. The Monterey model includes an econometric ...65 5 D. FORECAST BASED ON THE ECONOMETRIC MODEL ------- 67 E. FORECAST BASED ON EXPERT JUDGMENT AND TREND ANALYSIS

  7. Integrating Chemical Information Instruction into the Chemistry Curriculum on Borrowed Time: A Multiyear Case Study of a Capstone Research Report for Organic Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobs, Danielle L.; Dalal, Heather A.; Dawson, Patricia H.

    2016-01-01

    To develop information literacy skills in chemistry and biochemistry majors at a primarily undergraduate institution, a multiyear collaboration between chemistry faculty and librarians has resulted in the establishment of a semester-long capstone project for Organic Chemistry II. Information literacy skills were instilled via a progressive…

  8. A Multi-Year Program Developing an Explicit Reflective Pedagogy for Teaching Pre-Service Teachers the Nature of Science by Ostention

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Mike U.; Scharmann, Lawrence

    2008-01-01

    This investigation delineates a multi-year action research agenda designed to develop an instructional model for teaching the nature of science (NOS) to preservice science teachers. Our past research strongly supports the use of explicit reflective instructional methods, which includes Thomas Kuhn's notion of learning by ostention and treating…

  9. Citizen Sky, An Update on the AAVSO's New Citizen Science Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Henden, A.; Stencel, R.; Kloppenborg, B.

    2011-01-01

    Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF-funded, citizen science project focusing on the bright variable star, epsilon Aurigae. Citizen Sky goes beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. The first year of the project, 2009-10, was dedicated to developing project infrastructure, educating participants about epsilon Aurigae, and training these participants to observe the star and report their data. Looking forward, years two and three of the project will focus on assembling teams of participants to work on their own analysis and research. Results will be published in a special issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of the AAVSO. This project has been made possible by the National Science Foundation.

  10. The importance of polynyas, ice edges, and leads to marine mammals and birds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stirling, Ian

    1997-01-01

    The correlation between areas of open water in ice-covered seas and increased biological productivity has been noted for some time. To date, most attention has been focused on larger polynyas, such as the Northeast Water and the Northwater. Although spectacular in their own right, these large polynyas represent only part of a vitally important continuum of biological productivity that varies significantly between geographic areas and ice habitats, that includes the multi-year pack of the polar ocean and small localized polynyas in annual ice. Surveys of the distribution and abundance of ringed seals in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago have shown differences in density that are correlated with the presence or absence of polynyas. There is also significant variation in the biological productivity of polynya areas of the Canadian High Arctic Archipelago and northern Greenland, all of which receive inflow from the polar basin. Long-term studies of polar bears and ringed seals in western Hudson Bay and the eastern Beaufort Sea show significant but dissimilar patterns of change in condition and reproductive rates between the two regions and suggest that fundamentally different climatic or oceanographic processes may be involved. Projections of climate models suggest that, if warming occurs, then the extent of ice cover in Hudson Bay may be among the first things affected. Long-term studies of polar bears and ringed seals in the eastern Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay would suggest these two species to be suitable indicators of significant climatic or oceanographic changes in the marine ecosystem.

  11. Observation of variations in the composition of sea ice in the Greenland MIZ during early summer 1983 with the Nimbus-7 SMMR. [Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ); Scanning Multichannel Microwave radiometer (SMMR)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gloersen, P.; Campbell, W. J.

    1984-01-01

    Data acquired with the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on board the Nimbus-7 Satellite for a six-week period in Fram Strait were analyzed with a procedure for calculating sea ice concentration, multiyear fraction, and ice temperature. Calculations were compared with independent observations made on the surface and from aircraft to check the validity of the calculations based on SMMR data. The calculation of multiyear fraction, which was known to be invalid near the melting point of sea ice, is discussed. The indication of multiyear ice is found to disappear a number of times, presumably corresponding to freeze/thaw cycles which occurred in this time period.

  12. Exploring geophysical processes influencing U.S. West Coast precipitation and water supply

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ralph, F.M.; Prather, K.; Cayan, D.

    2011-01-01

    CalWater Science Workshop; La Jolla, California, 8-10 June 2011 CalWater is a multiyear, multiagency research project with two primary research themes: the effects of changing climate on atmospheric rivers (ARs) and associated extreme events, and the potential role of aerosols in modulating cloud properties and precipitation, especially regarding orographic precipitation and water supply. Advances made in CalWater have implications for both water supply and flood control in California and other West Coast areas, both in the near term and in a changing climate.

  13. Second NASA Advanced Composites Technology Conference

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davis, John G., Jr. (Compiler); Bohon, Herman L. (Compiler)

    1992-01-01

    The conference papers are presented. The Advanced Composite Technology (ACT) Program is a major multi-year research initiative to achieve a national goal of technology readiness before the end of the decade. Conference papers recorded results of research in the ACT Program in the specific areas of automated fiber placement, resin transfer molding, textile preforms, and stitching as these processes influence design, performance, and cost of composites in aircraft structures. These papers will also be included in the Ninth Conference Proceedings to be published by the Federal Aviation Administration as a separate document.

  14. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Duberstein, Corey A.; Simmons, Mary Ann; Sackschewsky, Michael R.

    Mitigation threshold guidelines for the Hanford Site are based on habitat requirements of the sage sparrow (Amphispiza belli) and only apply to areas with a mature sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) overstory and a native understory. The sage sparrow habitat requirements are based on literature values and are not specific to the Hanford Site. To refine these guidelines for the Site, a multi-year study was undertaken to quantify habitat characteristics of sage sparrow territories. These characteristics were then used to develop a habitat suitability index (HSI) model which can be used to estimate the habitat value of specific locations on the Site.

  15. Increasing URM Undergraduate Student Success through Assessment-Driven Interventions: A Multiyear Study Using Freshman-Level General Biology as a Model System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carmichael, Mary C.; St. Clair, Candace; Edwards, Andrea M.; Barrett, Peter; McFerrin, Harris; Davenport, Ian; Awad, Mohamed; Kundu, Anup; Ireland, Shubha Kale

    2016-01-01

    Xavier University of Louisiana leads the nation in awarding BS degrees in the biological sciences to African-American students. In this multiyear study with ~5500 participants, data-driven interventions were adopted to improve student academic performance in a freshman-level general biology course. The three hour-long exams were common and…

  16. Projects without a purpose: Why a top down strategy to resilience matters

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kingery, Kristine M.; Fowler, Kimberly M.; Harrove

    Energy resilience is a key focus of the current administration and Department of Defense (DoD) leaders, and is in the title of every energy conference session. Most case studies and success stories focus on resilience projects hardening systems or microgriding critical infrastructure. Some case studies focus on unique financing approaches to bring private sector innovation and increased investment to military installations. Many times, what initially look like innovative resilience projects, end as isolated systems or stranded infrastructure. This article will explore how the DoD can make greater strides advancing resilience objectives and ultimately developing projects that support installation mission readinessmore » by first focusing on top down strategies. The Army established energy and water security/resilience requirements, developed a comprehensive measurement framework, is evolving integrated planning approaches in collaboration with local communities, and is supporting project development activities across third-party and appropriated programs. The Army’s multi-year strategic energy and water security planning activities can provide helpful guidance to both the lifecycle of programs or individual projects, and ensure resilience projects both have and achieve a purpose.« less

  17. Food security and development in South Sudan: a call to action.

    PubMed

    Tappis, Hannah; Doocy, Shannon; Paul, Amy; Funna, Sonya

    2013-09-01

    To examine household food insecurity and coping mechanisms in two relatively politically stable states of South Sudan. Cross-sectional assessment including structured interviews and focus group discussions with food aid programme beneficiaries and staff. Structured interview findings were analysed with descriptive statistics using the statistical software package STATA version 11. Rural households in four payams (sub-county administrative districts) benefiting from a multi-year assistance programme funded by the US Agency for International Development. The study was conducted in January 2012, six months after independence. Study subjects included eighty mothers of children aged 6–23 months in structured interviews and eight focus groups, each with six to ten participants, of mothers of children aged 6–23 months. Ninety-three per cent of households surveyed in Warrap and 100% of households in Northern Bahr el Ghazal states were severely food access insecure. Nearly all households (97?5%) surveyed in both states reported there were months in 2011 without enough food to eat. The majority of households (88%) reported sometimes or often going to bed hungry in the month preceding the study. A number of coping mechanisms were used when households did not have enough food, including reduced meal size, skipping meals, selling assets and engaging in some kind business in order to generate money to buy food. Given the highly volatile political, economic and humanitarian situation in South Sudan, the priorities of the international community are understandably focused on securing greater stability in South Sudan and preventing humanitarian needs from escalating significantly. There is a need, however, for simultaneous emphasis on food assistance and longer-term development strategies throughout South Sudan, particularly in areas of agriculture, livelihoods and food security.

  18. Mapping the EEZ

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richman, Barbara T.

    A cooperative, multi-year program to map the largely uncharted Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), begun last month, has the potential for piggybacking scientific observations and research. On March 10, 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the mineral-rich zone as the area between the U.S. shoreline and 200 nautical miles outward. The United States has sovereign rights for exploration, exploitation, conservation, and management of all living and nonliving resources within the zone.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will cooperate in the project that will map an area nearly twice the area of U.S. land. USGS responsibilities include definition of seafloor geology and definition of geological processes and resources, including sand and gravel, placers, phosphorites, manganese nodules, cobalt crusts, and sulfides (Eos, March 20, 1984, p. 105). NOAA, meanwhile, will be surveying, mapping, analyzing resources, and managing fisheries.

  19. Ice911 Research: Preserving and Rebuilding Multi-Year Ice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Field, L. A.; Chetty, S.; Manzara, A.

    2013-12-01

    A localized surface albedo modification technique is being developed that shows promise as a method to increase multi-year ice using reflective floating materials, chosen so as to have low subsidiary environmental impact. Multi-year ice has diminished rapidly in the Arctic over the past 3 decades (Riihela et al, Nature Climate Change, August 4, 2013) and this plays a part in the continuing rapid decrease of summer-time ice. As summer-time ice disappears, the Arctic is losing its ability to act as the earth's refrigeration system, and this has widespread climatic effects, as well as a direct effect on sea level rise, as oceans heat, and once-land-based ice melts into the sea. We have tested the albedo modification technique on a small scale over five Winter/Spring seasons at sites including California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, a Canadian lake, and a small man-made lake in Minnesota, using various materials and an evolving array of instrumentation. The materials can float and can be made to minimize effects on marine habitat and species. The instrumentation is designed to be deployed in harsh and remote locations. Localized snow and ice preservation, and reductions in water heating, have been quantified in small-scale testing. Climate modeling is underway to analyze the effects of this method of surface albedo modification in key areas on the rate of oceanic and atmospheric temperature rise. We are also evaluating the effects of snow and ice preservation for protection of infrastructure and habitat stabilization. This paper will also discuss a possible reduction of sea level rise with an eye to quantification of cost/benefit. The most recent season's experimentation on a man-made private lake in Minnesota saw further evolution in the material and deployment approach. The materials were successfully deployed to shield underlying snow and ice from melting; applications of granular materials remained stable in the face of local wind and storms. Localized albedo modification options such as the one being studied in this work may act to preserve ice, glaciers, permafrost and seasonal snow areas, and perhaps aid natural ice formation processes. If this method could be deployed on a large enough scale, it could conceivably bring about a reduction in the Ice-Albedo Feedback Effect, possibly slowing one of the key effects and factors in climate change. Test site at man-made lake in Minnesota 2013

  20. Controls on Arctic sea ice from first-year and multi-year ice survival rates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Armour, K.; Bitz, C. M.; Hunke, E. C.; Thompson, L.

    2009-12-01

    The recent decrease in Arctic sea ice cover has transpired with a significant loss of multi-year (MY) ice. The transition to an Arctic that is populated by thinner first-year (FY) sea ice has important implications for future trends in area and volume. We develop a reduced model for Arctic sea ice with which we investigate how the survivability of FY and MY ice control various aspects of the sea-ice system. We demonstrate that Arctic sea-ice area and volume behave approximately as first-order autoregressive processes, which allows for a simple interpretation of September sea-ice in which its mean state, variability, and sensitivity to climate forcing can be described naturally in terms of the average survival rates of FY and MY ice. This model, used in concert with a sea-ice simulation that traces FY and MY ice areas to estimate the survival rates, reveals that small trends in the ice survival rates explain the decline in total Arctic ice area, and the relatively larger loss of MY ice area, over the period 1979-2006. Additionally, our model allows for a calculation of the persistence time scales of September area and volume anomalies. A relatively short memory time scale for ice area (~ 1 year) implies that Arctic ice area is nearly in equilibrium with long-term climate forcing at all times, and therefore observed trends in area are a clear indication of a changing climate. A longer memory time scale for ice volume (~ 5 years) suggests that volume can be out of equilibrium with climate forcing for long periods of time, and therefore trends in ice volume are difficult to distinguish from its natural variability. With our reduced model, we demonstrate the connection between memory time scale and sensitivity to climate forcing, and discuss the implications that a changing memory time scale has on the trajectory of ice area and volume in a warming climate. Our findings indicate that it is unlikely that a “tipping point” in September ice area and volume will be reached as the climate is further warmed. Finally, we suggest novel model validation techniques based upon comparing the characteristics of FY and MY ice within models to observations. We propose that keeping an account of FY and MY ice area within sea ice models offers a powerful new way to evaluate model projections of sea ice in a greenhouse warming climate.

  1. Comment on "Multiyear prediction of monthly mean Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N".

    PubMed

    Vecchi, Gabriel A; Msadek, Rym; Delworth, Thomas L; Dixon, Keith W; Guilyardi, Eric; Hawkins, Ed; Karspeck, Alicia R; Mignot, Juliette; Robson, Jon; Rosati, Anthony; Zhang, Rong

    2012-11-02

    Matei et al. (Reports, 6 January 2012, p. 76) claim to show skillful multiyear predictions of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, these claims are not justified, primarily because the predictions of AMOC transport do not outperform simple reference forecasts based on climatological annual cycles. Accordingly, there is no justification for the "confident" prediction of a stable AMOC through 2014.

  2. Canadian Arctic sea ice reconstructed from bromine in the Greenland NEEM ice core.

    PubMed

    Spolaor, Andrea; Vallelonga, Paul; Turetta, Clara; Maffezzoli, Niccolò; Cozzi, Giulio; Gabrieli, Jacopo; Barbante, Carlo; Goto-Azuma, Kumiko; Saiz-Lopez, Alfonso; Cuevas, Carlos A; Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe

    2016-09-21

    Reconstructing the past variability of Arctic sea ice provides an essential context for recent multi-year sea ice decline, although few quantitative reconstructions cover the Holocene period prior to the earliest historical records 1,200 years ago. Photochemical recycling of bromine is observed over first-year, or seasonal, sea ice in so-called "bromine explosions" and we employ a 1-D chemistry transport model to quantify processes of bromine enrichment over first-year sea ice and depositional transport over multi-year sea ice and land ice. We report bromine enrichment in the Northwest Greenland Eemian NEEM ice core since the end of the Eemian interglacial 120,000 years ago, finding the maximum extension of first-year sea ice occurred approximately 9,000 years ago during the Holocene climate optimum, when Greenland temperatures were 2 to 3 °C above present values. First-year sea ice extent was lowest during the glacial stadials suggesting complete coverage of the Arctic Ocean by multi-year sea ice. These findings demonstrate a clear relationship between temperature and first-year sea ice extent in the Arctic and suggest multi-year sea ice will continue to decline as polar amplification drives Arctic temperatures beyond the 2 °C global average warming target of the recent COP21 Paris climate agreement.

  3. Emerging Stress and Relative Resiliency of Giant Sequoia Groves Experiencing Multiyear Dry Periods in a Warming Climate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Su, Yanjun; Bales, Roger C.; Ma, Qin; Nydick, Koren; Ray, Ram L.; Li, Wenkai; Guo, Qinghua

    2017-11-01

    The relative greenness and wetness of Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) groves and the surrounding Sierra Nevada, California forests were investigated using patterns in vegetation indices from Landsat imagery for the period 1985-2015. Vegetation greenness (normalized difference vegetation index) and thus forest biomass in groves increased by about 6% over that 30 year period, suggesting a 10% increase in evapotranspiration. No significant change in the surrounding nongrove forest was observed. In this period, local temperature measurements showed an increase of about 2.2°C. The wetness of groves (normalized difference wetness index) showed no overall long-term trend but responded to changes in annual water-year precipitation and temperature. The long-term trends of grove greenness and wetness varied by elevation, with the lower rain-snow transition elevation zone (1,700-2,100 m) marking a change from an increasing trend at lower elevations to a decreasing trend at higher elevations. The 2011-2015 drought brought an unprecedented drop in grove wetness, over 5 times the 1985-2010 standard deviation, and wetness in SEGI groves dropped 50% more than in nongrove areas. Overall, the wetness and greenness of SEGI groves showed a larger response to the warming climate and drought than nongrove areas. The influence of droughts on the wetness of SEGI groves reflected effects of both the multidecadal increase in forest biomass and the effects of warmer drought-year temperatures on the evaporative demand of current grove vegetation, plus sufficient regolith water storage of rain and snowmelt to sustain that vegetation through seasonal and multiyear dry periods.

  4. A climate trend analysis of Ethiopia

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Funk, Christopher C.; Rowland, Jim; Eilerts, Gary; Kebebe, Emebet; Biru, Nigist; White, Libby; Galu, Gideon

    2012-01-01

    This brief report, drawing from a multi-year effort by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), examines recent trends in March-June, June-September, and March-September rainfall and temperature, identifying significant reductions in rainfall and increases in temperature over time in many areas of Ethiopia. Conclusions: * Spring and summer rains in parts of Ethiopia have declined by 15-20 percent since the mid-1970s. * Substantial warming across the entire country has exacerbated the dryness.* An important pattern of observed existing rainfall declines coincides with heavily populated areas of the Rift Valley in south-central Ethiopia, and is likely already adversely affecting crop yields and pasture conditions. * Rapid population growth and the expansion of farming and pastoralism under a drier, warmer climate regime could dramatically increase the number of at-risk people in Ethiopia during the next 20 years.* Many areas of Ethiopia will maintain moist climate conditions, and agricultural development in these areas could help offset rainfall declines and reduced production in other areas.

  5. Dynamical Downscaling of NASA/GISS ModelE: Continuous, Multi-Year WRF Simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Otte, T.; Bowden, J. H.; Nolte, C. G.; Otte, M. J.; Herwehe, J. A.; Faluvegi, G.; Shindell, D. T.

    2010-12-01

    The WRF Model is being used at the U.S. EPA for dynamical downscaling of the NASA/GISS ModelE fields to assess regional impacts of climate change in the United States. The WRF model has been successfully linked to the ModelE fields in their raw hybrid vertical coordinate, and continuous, multi-year WRF downscaling simulations have been performed. WRF will be used to downscale decadal time slices of ModelE for recent past, current, and future climate as the simulations being conducted for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report become available. This presentation will focus on the sensitivity to interior nudging within the RCM. The use of interior nudging for downscaled regional climate simulations has been somewhat controversial over the past several years but has been recently attracting attention. Several recent studies that have used reanalysis (i.e., verifiable) fields as a proxy for GCM input have shown that interior nudging can be beneficial toward achieving the desired downscaled fields. In this study, the value of nudging will be shown using fields from ModelE that are downscaled using WRF. Several different methods of nudging are explored, and it will be shown that the method of nudging and the choices made with respect to how nudging is used in WRF are critical to balance the constraint of ModelE against the freedom of WRF to develop its own fields.

  6. Achieving meaningful use: a health system perspective.

    PubMed

    Bero, Cynthia L; Lee, Thomas H

    2010-12-01

    In 2002, Partners HealthCare (Partners) launched a strategy to accelerate the use of ambulatory electronic medical records across its network of 6000 physicians. Through focus on quality software products, creation of a system of financial incentives, and active engagement of health system leadership, Partners reached high levels of physician adoption by late 2006. Partners eventually introduced a mandate that made ambulatory electronic medical record use a requirement for all of its physicians. During this multi-year initiative, Partners also focused on the effective use of electronic medical records and introduced a series of tactics designed to optimize the use of these systems. With introduction of the meaningful-use concepts in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, Partners will transition its efforts toward this important national priority. Partners' experience offers some unique insights into the process of electronic medical record adoption across a large, diverse health system.

  7. Multiyear Procurement (MYP) and Block Buy Contracting in Defense Acquisition: Background and Issues for Congress

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-03-16

    principle reduce the cost of the weapons being procured in two primary ways:  Contractor optimization of workforce and production facilities. An...MYP contract gives the contractor (e.g., an airplane manufacturer or shipbuilder) confidence that a multiyear stream of business of a known volume...will very likely materialize. This confidence can permit the contractor to make investments in the firm’s workforce and production facilities that are

  8. Defense Acquisitions: How and Where DOD Spends Its Contracting Dollars

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-04-30

    process . GSA is undertaking a multi-year effort to improve the reliability and usefulness of the information contained in FPDS and other federal... Improve FPDS According to GSA, a number of data systems, including FPDS, are undergoing a significant overhaul. This overhaul is a multi-year process ...data accuracy and completeness, then initiating a process to ensure that these standards are met, would improve data accuracy and completeness.” U.S

  9. North Atlantic climate model bias influence on multiyear predictability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Y.; Park, T.; Park, W.; Latif, M.

    2018-01-01

    The influences of North Atlantic biases on multiyear predictability of unforced surface air temperature (SAT) variability are examined in the Kiel Climate Model (KCM). By employing a freshwater flux correction over the North Atlantic to the model, which strongly alleviates both North Atlantic sea surface salinity (SSS) and sea surface temperature (SST) biases, the freshwater flux-corrected integration depicts significantly enhanced multiyear SAT predictability in the North Atlantic sector in comparison to the uncorrected one. The enhanced SAT predictability in the corrected integration is due to a stronger and more variable Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and its enhanced influence on North Atlantic SST. Results obtained from preindustrial control integrations of models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) support the findings obtained from the KCM: models with large North Atlantic biases tend to have a weak AMOC influence on SAT and exhibit a smaller SAT predictability over the North Atlantic sector.

  10. Missing observations in multiyear rotation sampling designs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gbur, E. E.; Sielken, R. L., Jr. (Principal Investigator)

    1982-01-01

    Because Multiyear estimation of at-harvest stratum crop proportions is more efficient than single year estimation, the behavior of multiyear estimators in the presence of missing acquisitions was studied. Only the (worst) case when a segment proportion cannot be estimated for the entire year is considered. The effect of these missing segments on the variance of the at-harvest stratum crop proportion estimator is considered when missing segments are not replaced, and when missing segments are replaced by segments not sampled in previous years. The principle recommendations are to replace missing segments according to some specified strategy, and to use a sequential procedure for selecting a sampling design; i.e., choose an optimal two year design and then, based on the observed two year design after segment losses have been taken into account, choose the best possible three year design having the observed two year parent design.

  11. Sea ice type maps from Alaska synthetic aperture radar facility imagery: An assessment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fetterer, Florence M.; Gineris, Denise; Kwok, Ronald

    1994-01-01

    Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery received at the Alaskan SAR Facility is routinely and automatically classified on the Geophysical Processor System (GPS) to create ice type maps. We evaluated the wintertime performance of the GPS classification algorithm by comparing ice type percentages from supervised classification with percentages from the algorithm. The root mean square (RMS) difference for multiyear ice is about 6%, while the inconsistency in supervised classification is about 3%. The algorithm separates first-year from multiyear ice well, although it sometimes fails to correctly classify new ice and open water owing to the wide distribution of backscatter for these classes. Our results imply a high degree of accuracy and consistency in the growing archive of multiyear and first-year ice distribution maps. These results have implications for heat and mass balance studies which are furthered by the ability to accurately characterize ice type distributions over a large part of the Arctic.

  12. Oak Forest Responses to Episodic-Seasonal-Drought, Chronic Multi-year Precipitation Change and Acute Drought Manipulations in a Region With Deep Soils and High Precipitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanson, Paul J.; Wullschleger, Stan D.; Todd, Donald E.; Auge, Robert M.; Froberg, Mats; Johnson, Dale W.

    2010-05-01

    Implications of episodic-seasonal drought (extremely dry late summers), chronic multi-year precipitation manipulations (±33 percent over 12 years) and acute drought (-100 percent over 3 years) were evaluated for the response of vegetation and biogeochemical cycles for an upland-oak forest. The Quercus-Acer forest is located in eastern Tennessee on deep acidic soils with mean annual temperatures of 14.2 °C and abundant precipitation (1352 mm y-1). The multi-year observations and chronic manipulations were conducted from 1993 through 2005 using understory throughfall collection troughs and redistribution gutters and pipes. Acute manipulations of dominant canopy trees (Quercus prinus; Liriodendron tulipifera) were conducted from 2003 through 2005 using full understory tents. Regional and severe late-summer droughts were produced reduced stand water use and photosynthetic carbon gain as expected. Likewise, seedlings and saplings exhibited reduced survival and cumulative growth reductions. Conversely, multi-year chronic increases or decreases in precipitation and associated soil water deficits did not reduce large tree basal area growth for the tree species present. The resilience of canopy trees to chronic-change was the result of a disconnect between carbon allocation to tree growth (an early-season phenomenon) and late-season drought occurrence. Acute precipitation exclusion from the largest canopy trees also produced limited physiological responses and minimal cumulative growth reductions. Lateral root water sources were removed through trenching and could not explain the lack of response to extreme soil drying. Therefore, deep rooting the primary mechanism for large-tree resilience to severe drought. Extensive trench-based assessments of rooting depth suggested that ‘deep' water supplies were being obtained from limited numbers of deep fine roots. Observations of carbon stocks in organic horizons demonstrated accumulation with precipitation reductions and drying, but no change in mineral soil carbon pools attributable to changing precipitation. Measured changes in nitrogen and other element pools suggested that long term immobilization of elements with chronic drying would lead to reduced growth, but that deep rooting access to the key base cations would moderate such effects by providing a source of minerals to be cycled in near surface soils. Cumulative changes in canopy foliar production were evident over time showing sustained or even increased production with chronic drying. This unexpected response is hypothesized to result from the retention of nutrients in highly-rooted surface horizons made available for plant uptake during spring mineralization.

  13. Develop Improved Materials to Support the Hydrogen Economy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dr. Michael C. Martin

    The Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC) solicited and funded hydrogen infrastructure related projects that have a near term potential for commercialization. The subject technology of each project is related to the US Department of Energy hydrogen economy goals as outlined in the multi-year plan titled, 'Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan.' Preference was given to cross cutting materials development projects that might lead to the establishment of manufacturing capability and job creation. The Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC) used the US Department of Energy hydrogen economy goals to find and fund projects withmore » near term commercialization potential. An RFP process aligned with this plan required performance based objectives with go/no-go technology based milestones. Protocols established for this program consisted of a RFP solicitation process, white papers and proposals with peer technology and commercialization review (including DoE), EMTEC project negotiation and definition and DoE cost share approval. Our RFP approach specified proposals/projects for hydrogen production, hydrogen storage or hydrogen infrastructure processing which may include sensor, separator, compression, maintenance, or delivery technologies. EMTEC was especially alert for projects in the appropriate subject area that have cross cutting materials technology with near term manufacturing and commercialization opportunities.« less

  14. Multi-year Estimates of Methane Fluxes in Alaska from an Atmospheric Inverse Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miller, S. M.; Commane, R.; Chang, R. Y. W.; Miller, C. E.; Michalak, A. M.; Dinardo, S. J.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Hartery, S.; Karion, A.; Lindaas, J.; Sweeney, C.; Wofsy, S. C.

    2015-12-01

    We estimate methane fluxes across Alaska over a multi-year period using observations from a three-year aircraft campaign, the Carbon Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE). Existing estimates of methane from Alaska and other Arctic regions disagree in both magnitude and distribution, and before the CARVE campaign, atmospheric observations in the region were sparse. We combine these observations with an atmospheric particle trajectory model and a geostatistical inversion to estimate surface fluxes at the model grid scale. We first use this framework to estimate the spatial distribution of methane fluxes across the state. We find the largest fluxes in the south-east and North Slope regions of Alaska. This distribution is consistent with several estimates of wetland extent but contrasts with the distribution in most existing flux models. These flux models concentrate methane in warmer or more southerly regions of Alaska compared to the estimate presented here. This result suggests a discrepancy in how existing bottom-up models translate wetland area into methane fluxes across the state. We next use the inversion framework to explore inter-annual variability in regional-scale methane fluxes for 2012-2014. We examine the extent to which this variability correlates with weather or other environmental conditions. These results indicate the possible sensitivity of wetland fluxes to near-term variability in climate.

  15. Texture analysis of radiometric signatures of new sea ice forming in Arctic leads

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Eppler, Duane T.; Farmer, L. Dennis

    1991-01-01

    Analysis of 33.6-GHz, high-resolution, passive microwave images suggests that new sea ice accumulating in open leads is characterized by a unique textural signature which can be used to discriminate new ice forming in this environment from adjacent surfaces of similar radiometric temperature. Ten training areas were selected from the data set, three of which consisted entirely of first-year ice, four entirely of multilayer ice, and three of new ice in open leads in the process of freezing. A simple gradient operator was used to characterize the radiometric texture in each training region in terms of the degree to which radiometric gradients are oriented. New ice in leads has a sufficiently high proportion of well-oriented features to distinguish it uniquely from first-year ice and multiyear ice. The predominance of well-oriented features probably reflects physical processes by which new ice accumulates in open leads. Banded structures, which are evident in aerial photographs of new ice, apparently give rise to the radiometric signature observed, in which the trend of brightness temperature gradients is aligned parallel to lead trends. First-year ice and multiyear ice, which have been subjected to a more random growth and process history, lack this banded structure and therefore are characterized by signatures in which well-aligned elements are less dominant.

  16. Evaluation of Rainfall-induced Landslide Potential

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Y. R.; Tsai, K. J.; Chen, J. W.; Chue, Y. S.; Lu, Y. C.; Lin, C. W.

    2016-12-01

    Due to Taiwan's steep terrain, rainfall-induced landslides often occur and lead to human causalities and properties loss. Taiwan's government has invested huge reconstruction funds to the affected areas. However, after rehabilitation they still face the risk of secondary sediment disasters. Therefore, this study assessed rainfall-induced landslide potential and spatial distribution in some watersheds of Southern Taiwan to configure reasonable assessment process and methods for landslide potential. This study focused on the multi-year multi-phase heavy rainfall events after 2009 Typhoon Morakot and applied the analysis techniques for the classification of satellite images of research region before and after rainfall to obtain surface information and hazard log data. GIS and DEM were employed to obtain the ridge and water system and to explore characteristics of landslide distribution. A multivariate hazards evaluation method was applied to quantitatively analyze the weights of various hazard factors. Furthermore, the interaction between rainfall characteristic, slope disturbance and landslide mechanism was analyzed. The results of image classification show that the values of coefficient of agreement are at medium-high level. The agreement of landslide potential map is at around 80% level compared with historical disaster sites. The relations between landslide potential level, slope disturbance degree, and the ratio of number and area of landslide increment corresponding heavy rainfall events are positive. The ratio of landslide occurrence is proportional to the value of instability index. Moreover, for each rainfall event, the number and scale of secondary landslide sites are much more than those of new landslide sites. The greater the slope land disturbance, the more likely it is that the scale of secondary landslide become greater. The spatial distribution of landslide depends on the interaction of rainfall patterns, slope, and elevation of the research area.

  17. Mass Balance of Multiyear Sea Ice in the Southern Beaufort Sea

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-30

    1) Determination of the net growth and melt of multiyear (MY) sea ice during its transit through the southern Beaufort Sea 2) Identification of...which we refer to as the FGIV dataset. Analysis of melt processes from ice core and IMB data (Eicken) Through stratigraphic analysis of sea ice...samples that are brought back to shore were melted and used to determine profiles of salinity and stable isotope ratios. These data allow us to identify

  18. How to Fund Cancellation Ceilings on Multiyear Defense Contracts: A Risk Pooling Alternative

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-01-01

    R t- Government faces a termination liability after the first year of the contract for EOQ material. This causes a need for higher authorizations...le items to the Defense inventory. EOQ liability on multiyear programs is currently fully funded to guarantee delivery of all prior- year systems...ýach program years’ buy of systems and the entire EOQ liability each year. -- Best satisfies Congress’ desire for protection against long-term

  19. Radiative Transfer Modeling to Estimate the Impact of CDOM on Light Absorption within Changing Arctic Sea Ice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carns, R.; Light, B.; Frey, K. E.

    2016-12-01

    First-year sea ice differs from multi-year sea ice in several ways that can influence its optical properties. It is thinner than multi-year ice, which tends to increase light transmission. Also, first-year ice retains higher brine volumes in comparison to more heavily drained multi-year ice, in isolated pockets and channels. During melt season, patterns of pond formation on first-year sea ice differ from those on multi-year ice. As first-year sea ice comprises an increasingly large fraction of Arctic sea ice, it becomes more important to understand how much sunlight reaches the ecosystems within the ice, and how those changing ecosystems can feed back into the transmission of light. Colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and chlorophyll within the ice can absorb light, heating the ice and reducing transmission to the ocean below. Light also encourages algal growth within the ice while degrading CDOM, creating complex feedbacks. We use radiative transfer models to determine the overall effect of colored dissolved organic matter on the light regime within sea ice, both on the overall amount of energy transmitted and on the spectral distribution of energy. Using models allows us to estimate the impact of varying CDOM levels on a wide range of sea ice types, improving our ability to respond to conditions in a rapidly changing Arctic and predict important phenomena such as algal blooms.

  20. Multiyear Downstream Response to Dam Removal on the White Salmon River, WA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wilcox, A. C.; O'Connor, J. E.; Major, J. J.

    2017-12-01

    The 2011 removal of the 38 m tall Condit Dam on the White Salmon River, Washington was one of the largest dam removals to date, in terms of both dam height and sediment release. We examined the multiyear geomorphic response to this event, through 2015, including in a bedrock-confined canyon and in a less-confined, backwater-influenced pool reach near the river's mouth, to the large, rapid influx of fine reservoir sediment produced by the breach and to subsequent sediment transfer in the free-flowing White Salmon River. In the canyon reach, aggraded sediments were rapidly eroded from riffles, returning them toward pre-breach bed elevations within weeks, but pool aggradation persisted for longer. The downstream, less-confined reach transformed from a deep pool to a narrower pool-riffle channel with alternate bars; multiyear observations showed persistence of bars and of this new and distinct morphology. This downstream reach marks a rare case in post-dam removal channel response; in most dam removals, channels have rapidly reverted toward pre-removal morphology, as in the canyon reach here. Comparison of the multiyear geomorphic evolution of the White Salmon River to other recent large dam removals in the U.S. allows evaluation of the relative influences of antecedent channel morphology, post-breach hydrology, and dam removal style, as well as providing a basis for predicting responses to future dam removals.

  1. The Citizen Sky Planetarium Trailer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Wyatt, R.

    2011-05-01

    Citizen Sky is a multi-year, citizen science project focusing on the bright variable star, epsilon Aurigae. We have developed a six-minute video presentation describing eclipsing binary stars, light curves, and the Citizen Sky project. Designed like a short movie trailer, the video can be shown at planetariums before their regular, feature shows or integrated into a longer presentation. The trailer is available in a wide range of formats for viewing on laptops all the way up to state-of-the-art planetariums. The show is narrated by Timothy Ferris and was produced by the Morrison Planetarium and Visualization Studio at the California Academy of Sciences. This project has been made possible by the National Science Foundation.

  2. The Citizen Sky Planetarium Trailer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, R.; Price, A.; Wyatt, R.

    2012-06-01

    (Abstract only) Citizen Sky is a multi-year, citizen science project focusing on the bright variable star e Aurigae. We have developed a six-minute video presentation describing eclipsing binary stars, light curves, and the Citizen Sky project. Designed like a short movie trailer, the video can be shown at planetariums before their regular, feature shows or integrated into a longer presentation. The trailer is available in a wide range of formats for viewing on laptops all the way up to state-of-the-art planetariums. The show is narrated by Timothy Ferris and was produced by the Morrison Planetarium and Visualization Studio at the California Academy of Sciences. This project has been made possible by the National Science Foundation.

  3. Impacts of Pacific SSTs on California Winter Precipitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Myoung, B.; Kafatos, M.

    2017-12-01

    Consecutive below-normal precipitation years and resulted multi-year droughts are critical issues as the recent 2012-2015 drought of California caused tremendous socio-economic damages. However, studies on the causes of the multi-year droughts lack. In this study, focusing on the three multi-year droughts (1999-2002, 2007-2009, and 2012-2015) in California during the last two decades, we investigated the atmospheric and oceanic characteristics of the three drought events for winter (December-February, DJF) in order to understand large-scale circulations that are responsible for initiation, maintenance, and termination of the droughts. It was found that abnormally developed upper-tropospheric ridges over the North Pacific are primarily responsible for precipitation deficits and then droughts. These ridges developed when negative sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTs) including La Niña events are pervasive in the tropical Pacific. After 3 or 4 years, the droughts ended under the opposite conditions; upper-tropospheric troughs in the North Pacific with El Niño events in the tropics. Results of Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis for the 41-year (1974/75-2014/15) 500 hPa geopotential height in DJF revealed that, during the drought periods, the positive phases of the first and second EOF mode (EOF1+ and EOF2+, respectively) were active one by one, positioning upper-tropospheric ridges over the North Pacific. While EOF1+ is associated with cold tropical central Pacific and negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), EOF2+ is associated with the tropical east-west SST dipole pattern (i.e., warm western tropical Pacific and cool eastern tropical Pacific near the southern Peru). Based on these results, we developed a regression model for winter precipitation. While dominant SST factors differ by decades, for the recent two decades (1994/1995-2014/2015), 56% variability of DJF precipitation is explained by the tropical east-west SST dipole pattern and PDO (NINO3.4 signal removed) together. These results suggest that SST variability not only in the western/eastern tropical Pacific but also in the North Pacific independently contribute to precipitation variability and long-term droughts in California.

  4. Satellite mapping of Nile Delta coastal changes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Blodget, H. W.; Taylor, P. T.; Roark, J. H.

    1989-01-01

    Multitemporal, multispectral scanner (MSS) landsat data have been used to monitor erosion and sedimentation along the Rosetta Promontory of the Nile Delta. These processes have accelerated significantly since the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1964. Digital differencing of four MSS data sets, using standard algorithms, show that changes observed over a single year period generally occur as strings of single mixed pixels along the coast. Therefore, these can only be used qualitatively to indicate areas where changes occur. Areas of change recorded over a multi-year period are generally larger and thus identified by clusters of pixels; this reduces errors introduced by mixed pixels. Satellites provide a synoptic perspective utilizing data acquired at frequent time intervals. This permits multiple year monitoring of delta evolution on a regional scale.

  5. Two-Phase Flow Technology Developed and Demonstrated for the Vision for Exploration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sankovic, John M.; McQuillen, John B.; Lekan, Jack F.

    2005-01-01

    NASA s vision for exploration will once again expand the bounds of human presence in the universe with planned missions to the Moon and Mars. To attain the numerous goals of this vision, NASA will need to develop technologies in several areas, including advanced power-generation and thermal-control systems for spacecraft and life support. The development of these systems will have to be demonstrated prior to implementation to ensure safe and reliable operation in reduced-gravity environments. The Two-Phase Flow Facility (T(PHI) FFy) Project will provide the path to these enabling technologies for critical multiphase fluid products. The safety and reliability of future systems will be enhanced by addressing focused microgravity fluid physics issues associated with flow boiling, condensation, phase separation, and system stability, all of which are essential to exploration technology. The project--a multiyear effort initiated in 2004--will include concept development, normal-gravity testing (laboratories), reduced gravity aircraft flight campaigns (NASA s KC-135 and C-9 aircraft), space-flight experimentation (International Space Station), and model development. This project will be implemented by a team from the NASA Glenn Research Center, QSS Group, Inc., ZIN Technologies, Inc., and the Extramural Strategic Research Team composed of experts from academia.

  6. Understanding Nuisance Flooding Conceptualizations and Concerns of Stakeholders in the Northern U.S. Gulf Coast

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeLorme, D.; Collini, R.; Stephens, S. H.

    2017-12-01

    As sea level rises, nuisance flooding along coasts is increasing. There is a need to understand how the public views flooding events in order to tailor communications to different audiences appropriately and help improve community resilience. This interdisciplinary presentation is intended to foster greater awareness about present-day nuisance flooding, ongoing conversation about best practices for accurately and effectively communicating about this "cumulative hazard" and its risks, and consideration about possible preparation and mitigation options for community resilience. The presentation will begin by defining and explaining nuisance flooding according to scientific experts and the scholarly literature. Next, we will share several specific examples of how nuisance flooding is increasingly impacting certain areas in the Northern U.S. Gulf Coast to demonstrate the importance of raising attention to and better understanding of this phenomenon across a range of audiences. We will particularly focus on the complex interrelated social, economic, and ecological issues associated with this hazard. Then, we will compare and contrast conceptualizations of nuisance flooding (characteristics, causes, consequences) and associated concerns from the viewpoints and experiences of various stakeholders in the Northern U.S. Gulf Coast (e.g., natural resource managers, community planners, extension specialists). These data are synthesized from multiple research methods and engagement mechanisms (e.g., focus groups, workshop mapping exercises) implemented during the first year of a multi-year NOAA-sponsored interdisciplinary project on Dynamic Sea Level Rise Assessments of the Ability of Natural and Nature-based Features to Mitigate Surge and Nuisance Flooding. To conclude, we will provide future research recommendations along with references and resources about nuisance flooding.

  7. Investigation of land subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region of Texas by using the Global Positioning System and interferometric synthetic aperture radar, 1993-2000

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bawden, Gerald W.; Johnson, Michaela R.; Kasmarek, Mark C.; Brandt, Justin; Middleton, Clifton S.

    2012-01-01

    The interferograms show that the area of historical subsidence in downtown Houston along the Houston Ship Channel has stabilized and that recent subsidence occurs farther west and north of Galveston Bay. Three areas of recent subsidence were delineated along a broad arcuate (bowshaped) feature from Spring, Tex., southwest to Cypress, Tex., and south to Sugar Land, Tex., with subsidence rates ranging from 15 millimeters per year (mm/yr) to greater than 60 mm/yr. Multiyear interferograms near Seabrook, Tex., within the historical subsidence area and nearby Galveston Bay, show several fringes of subsidence (approximately 85 millimeters from January 1996 to December 1997) in the area; however it is difficult to determine the subsidence magnitude near Seabrook because many of the InSAR fringes were truncated or ill-defined. Horizontal and vertical GPS data throughout the area support the InSAR measured subsidence rates and extent. The subsidence rates for a few GPS stations northwest of Houston began to decrease in 2007, which may indicate that subsidence may be decreasing in these areas.

  8. Comparison of Remote Sensing and Fixed-Site Monitoring Approaches for Examining Air Pollution and Health in a National Study Population

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Prud'homme, Genevieve; Dobbin, Nina A.; Sun, Liu; Burnet, Richard T.; Martin, Randall V.; Davidson, Andrew; Cakmak, Sabit; Villeneuve, Paul J.; Lamsal, Lok N.; vanDonkelaar, Aaron; hide

    2013-01-01

    Satellite remote sensing (RS) has emerged as a cutting edge approach for estimating ground level ambient air pollution. Previous studies have reported a high correlation between ground level PM2.5 and NO2 estimated by RS and measurements collected at regulatory monitoring sites. The current study examined associations between air pollution and adverse respiratory and allergic health outcomes using multi-year averages of NO2 and PM2.5 from RS and from regulatory monitoring. RS estimates were derived using satellite measurements from OMI, MODIS, and MISR instruments. Regulatory monitoring data were obtained from Canada's National Air Pollution Surveillance Network. Self-reported prevalence of doctor-diagnosed asthma, current asthma, allergies, and chronic bronchitis were obtained from the Canadian Community Health Survey (a national sample of individuals 12 years of age and older). Multi-year ambient pollutant averages were assigned to each study participant based on their six digit postal code at the time of health survey, and were used as a marker for long-term exposure to air pollution. RS derived estimates of NO2 and PM2.5 were associated with 6e10% increases in respiratory and allergic health outcomes per interquartile range (3.97 mg m3 for PM2.5 and 1.03 ppb for NO2) among adults (aged 20e64) in the national study population. Risk estimates for air pollution and respiratory/ allergic health outcomes based on RS were similar to risk estimates based on regulatory monitoring for areas where regulatory monitoring data were available (within 40 km of a regulatory monitoring station). RS derived estimates of air pollution were also associated with adverse health outcomes among participants residing outside the catchment area of the regulatory monitoring network (p < 0.05).

  9. Regional-scale assessment of soil salinity in the Red River Valley using multi-year MODIS EVI and NDVI.

    PubMed

    Lobell, D B; Lesch, S M; Corwin, D L; Ulmer, M G; Anderson, K A; Potts, D J; Doolittle, J A; Matos, M R; Baltes, M J

    2010-01-01

    The ability to inventory and map soil salinity at regional scales remains a significant challenge to scientists concerned with the salinization of agricultural soils throughout the world. Previous attempts to use satellite or aerial imagery to assess soil salinity have found limited success in part because of the inability of methods to isolate the effects of soil salinity on vegetative growth from other factors. This study evaluated the use of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery in conjunction with directed soil sampling to assess and map soil salinity at a regional scale (i.e., 10-10(5) km(2)) in a parsimonious manner. Correlations with three soil salinity ground truth datasets differing in scale were made in Kittson County within the Red River Valley (RRV) of North Dakota and Minnesota, an area where soil salinity assessment is a top priority for the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). Multi-year MODIS imagery was used to mitigate the influence of temporally dynamic factors such as weather, pests, disease, and management influences. The average of the MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI) for a 7-yr period exhibited a strong relationship with soil salinity in all three datasets, and outperformed the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). One-third to one-half of the spatial variability in soil salinity could be captured by measuring average MODIS EVI and whether the land qualified for the Conservation Reserve Program (a USDA program that sets aside marginally productive land based on conservation principles). The approach has the practical simplicity to allow broad application in areas where limited resources are available for salinity assessment.

  10. Multi-Year Elevation Changes Near the West Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet from Satellite Radar Altimetry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lingle, Craig S.; Brenner, Anita C.; Zwally, H. Jay; DiMarzio, John P.

    1991-01-01

    Mean changes in the surface elevation near the west margin of the Greenland ice sheet are measured using Seasat altimetry and altimetry from the Geosat Exact Repeat Mission (ERM). The Seasat data extend from early July through early October 1978. The ERM data extend from winter 1986-87 through fall 1988. Both seasonal and multi-year changes are measured using altimetry referenced to GEM T2 orbits. The possible effects of orbit error are minimized by adjusting the orbits into a common ocean surface. Seasonal mean changes in the surface height are recognizable during the Geosat ERM. The multi-year measurements indicate the surface was lower by 0.4 +/- 0.4 m on average in late summer 1987 than in late summer 1978. The surface was lower by 0.2 +/- 0.5 m on average in late summer 1988 than in late summer 1978. As a control case, the computations art also carried out using altimetry referenced to orbits not adjusted into a common ocean surface.

  11. Skilful prediction of Sahel summer rainfall on inter-annual and multi-year timescales

    PubMed Central

    Sheen, K. L.; Smith, D. M.; Dunstone, N. J.; Eade, R.; Rowell, D. P.; Vellinga, M.

    2017-01-01

    Summer rainfall in the Sahel region of Africa exhibits one of the largest signals of climatic variability and with a population reliant on agricultural productivity, the Sahel is particularly vulnerable to major droughts such as occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Rainfall levels have subsequently recovered, but future projections remain uncertain. Here we show that Sahel rainfall is skilfully predicted on inter-annual and multi-year (that is, >5 years) timescales and use these predictions to better understand the driving mechanisms. Moisture budget analysis indicates that on multi-year timescales, a warmer north Atlantic and Mediterranean enhance Sahel rainfall through increased meridional convergence of low-level, externally sourced moisture. In contrast, year-to-year rainfall levels are largely determined by the recycling rate of local moisture, regulated by planetary circulation patterns associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Our findings aid improved understanding and forecasting of Sahel drought, paramount for successful adaptation strategies in a changing climate. PMID:28541288

  12. Active microwave measurements of sea ice under fall conditions: The RADARSAT/FIREX fall experiment. [in the Canadian Arctic

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Onstott, R. G.; Kim, Y. S.; Moore, R. K.

    1984-01-01

    A series of measurements of the active microwave properties of sea ice under fall growing conditions was conducted. Ice in the inland waters of Mould Bay, Crozier Channel, and intrepid inlet and ice in the Arctic Ocean near Hardinge Bay was investigated. Active microwave data were acquired using a helicopter borne scatterometer. Results show that multiyear ice frozen in grey or first year ice is easily detected under cold fall conditions. Multiyear ice returns were dynamic due to response to two of its scene constituents. Floe boundaries between thick and thin ice are well defined. Multiyear pressure ridge returns are similar in level to background ice returns. Backscatter from homogeneous first year ice is seen to be primarily due to surface scattering. Operation at 9.6 GHz is more sensitive to the detailed changes in scene roughness, while operation at 5.6 GHz seems to track roughness changes less ably.

  13. Every Student Counts: Broadening Participation in the Geosciences through a Multiyear Internship Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sloan, V.

    2010-12-01

    The number of Ph.D.s from underrepresented populations graduating each year in the geosciences lags behind all other sciences including physics. This results in a dearth of minorities acting as role models in higher education. Overall, African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics comprised a total of 6% of the Ph.D. graduates in 2005 compared to about 27% of the general population. African Americans were the most poorly represented relative to their proportion in the U.S. population, comprising only 1% of Ph.D.s in the geosciences compared to 12% of the population. Only one African American woman Ph.D. graduated in the geosciences in the U.S. in each of 2004 and 2005, while proportionally one would expect 28 to obtain a Ph.D. each year. Our multiyear internship program, RESESS helps to carry students from underrepresented minority populations through to graduate programs by preparing them for graduate school. Our interns experience an authentic summer research experience at a university, the USGS, or UNAVCO, while doing an intensive writing course and working closely with a science and writing mentor. We continue mentoring during the academic year, as students apply for graduate school and scholarships, and present their research results at professional conferences. RESESS focuses on the Earth sciences and partners with SOARS, which focuses on atmospheric and related sciences. Our future goals include developing more RESESS pods elsewhere in the country, making it possible for students to do community-driven research, and increasing the diversity of support for the program through new and stronger partnerships with organizations such as the U.S.G.S., the National Parks Service, and other universities. In this paper, we will present current statistics on diversity in higher education in the geoscience, details of our program, and conclusions about effective means of supporting minority students in the bridge to graduate school. When the numbers are this low, every student counts. Diana Prado Garzon at work in summer of 2010.

  14. Development of Methodologies for the Estimation of Thermal Properties Associated with Aerospace Vehicles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scott, Elaine P.

    1996-01-01

    A thermal stress analysis is an important aspect in the design of aerospace structures and vehicles such as the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center (NASA-LaRC). These structures are complex and are often composed of numerous components fabricated from a variety of different materials. The thermal loads on these structures induce temperature variations within the structure, which in turn result in the development of thermal stresses. Therefore, a thermal stress analysis requires knowledge of the temperature distributions within the structures which consequently necessitates the need for accurate knowledge of the thermal properties, boundary conditions and thermal interface conditions associated with the structural materials. The goal of this proposed multi-year research effort was to develop estimation methodologies for the determination of the thermal properties and interface conditions associated with aerospace vehicles. Specific objectives focused on the development and implementation of optimal experimental design strategies and methodologies for the estimation of thermal properties associated with simple composite and honeycomb structures. The strategy used in this multi-year research effort was to first develop methodologies for relatively simple systems and then systematically modify these methodologies to analyze complex structures. This can be thought of as a building block approach. This strategy was intended to promote maximum usability of the resulting estimation procedure by NASA-LARC researchers through the design of in-house experimentation procedures and through the use of an existing general purpose finite element software.

  15. Canadian snow and sea ice: historical trends and projections

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mudryk, Lawrence R.; Derksen, Chris; Howell, Stephen; Laliberté, Fred; Thackeray, Chad; Sospedra-Alfonso, Reinel; Vionnet, Vincent; Kushner, Paul J.; Brown, Ross

    2018-04-01

    The Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution (CanSISE) Network is a climate research network focused on developing and applying state of the art observational data to advance dynamical prediction, projections, and understanding of seasonal snow cover and sea ice in Canada and the circumpolar Arctic. Here, we present an assessment from the CanSISE Network on trends in the historical record of snow cover (fraction, water equivalent) and sea ice (area, concentration, type, and thickness) across Canada. We also assess projected changes in snow cover and sea ice likely to occur by mid-century, as simulated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) suite of Earth system models. The historical datasets show that the fraction of Canadian land and marine areas covered by snow and ice is decreasing over time, with seasonal and regional variability in the trends consistent with regional differences in surface temperature trends. In particular, summer sea ice cover has decreased significantly across nearly all Canadian marine regions, and the rate of multi-year ice loss in the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Arctic Archipelago has nearly doubled over the last 8 years. The multi-model consensus over the 2020-2050 period shows reductions in fall and spring snow cover fraction and sea ice concentration of 5-10 % per decade (or 15-30 % in total), with similar reductions in winter sea ice concentration in both Hudson Bay and eastern Canadian waters. Peak pre-melt terrestrial snow water equivalent reductions of up to 10 % per decade (30 % in total) are projected across southern Canada.

  16. Third NASA Advanced Composites Technology Conference, volume 1, part 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davis, John G., Jr. (Compiler); Bohon, Herman L. (Compiler)

    1993-01-01

    This document is a compilation of papers presented at the Third NASA Advanced Composites Technology (ACT) Conference. The ACT Program is a major multi-year research initiative to achieve a national goal of technology readiness before the end of the decade. Conference papers recorded results of research in the ACT Program in the specific areas of automated fiber placement, resin transfer molding, textile preforms, and stitching as these processes influence design, performance, and cost of composites in aircraft structures. Papers sponsored by the Department of Defense on the Design and Manufacturing of Low Cost Composites (DMLCC) are also included in Volume 2 of this document.

  17. Climate Change, Globalization and Geopolitics in the New Maritime Arctic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brigham, L. W.

    2011-12-01

    Early in the 21st century a confluence of climate change, globalization and geopolitics is shaping the future of the maritime Arctic. This nexus is also fostering greater linkage of the Arctic to the rest of the planet. Arctic sea ice is undergoing a historic transformation of thinning, extent reduction in all seasons, and reduction in the area of multiyear ice in the central Arctic Ocean. Global Climate Model simulations of Arctic sea ice indicate multiyear ice could disappear by 2030 for a short period of time each summer. These physical changes invite greater marine access, longer seasons of navigation, and potential, summer trans-Arctic voyages. As a result, enhanced marine safety, environmental protection, and maritime security measures are under development. Coupled with climate change as a key driver of regional change is the current and future integration of the Arctic's natural wealth with global markets (oil, gas and hard minerals). Abundant freshwater in the Arctic could also be a future commodity of value. Recent events such as drilling for hydrocarbons off Greenland's west coast and the summer marine transport of natural resources from the Russian Arctic to China across the top of Eurasia are indicators of greater global economic ties to the Arctic. Plausible Arctic futures indicate continued integration with global issues and increased complexity of a range of regional economic, security and environmental challenges.

  18. Requirements for long-life mechanical cryocoolers for space applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ross, R. G., Jr.

    1990-01-01

    The growing demand for long wavelength infrared and submillimeter imaging instruments for space observational applications, together with the emergence of the multiyear life Oxford University Stirling cycle cooler, has led to a rapidly expanding near term commitment to mechanical cryocoolers throughout the subkelvin to 150 K temperature range for long-life space missions. To satisfy this growing commitment, emerging cryocoolers must successfully address not only the input power, cooling power, and mass constraints of the spacecraft and instruments, but also the broad array of complex interface requirements that critically affect successful integration to the sensitive instrument detectors. Generic requirements are presented for each of the cryocooler requirement areas, which are then contrasted with the projected capabilities of emerging space cryocoolers. The degree of match is used to highlight both the strengths of existing technologies and the areas in need of increased development.

  19. Airborne Forward-Looking Interferometer for the Detection of Terminal-Area Hazards

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    West, Leanne; Gimmestad, Gary; Lane, Sarah; Smith, Bill L.; Kireev, Stanislav; Daniels, Taumi S.; Cornman, Larry; Sharman, Bob

    2014-01-01

    The Forward Looking Interferometer (FLI) program was a multi-year cooperative research effort to investigate the use of imaging radiometers with high spectral resolution, using both modeling/simulation and field experiments, along with sophisticated data analysis techniques that were originally developed for analysis of data from space-based radiometers and hyperspectral imagers. This investigation has advanced the state of knowledge in this technical area, and the FLI program developed a greatly improved understanding of the radiometric signal strength of aviation hazards in a wide range of scenarios, in addition to a much better understanding of the real-world functionality requirements for hazard detection instruments. The project conducted field experiments on three hazards (turbulence, runway conditions, and wake vortices) and analytical studies on several others including volcanic ash, reduced visibility conditions, in flight icing conditions, and volcanic ash.

  20. MESSOC capabilities and results. [Model for Estimating Space Station Opertions Costs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shishko, Robert

    1990-01-01

    MESSOC (Model for Estimating Space Station Operations Costs) is the result of a multi-year effort by NASA to understand and model the mature operations cost of Space Station Freedom. This paper focuses on MESSOC's ability to contribute to life-cycle cost analyses through its logistics equations and databases. Together, these afford MESSOC the capability to project not only annual logistics costs for a variety of Space Station scenarios, but critical non-cost logistics results such as annual Station maintenance crewhours, upweight/downweight, and on-orbit sparing availability as well. MESSOC results using current logistics databases and baseline scenario have already shown important implications for on-orbit maintenance approaches, space transportation systems, and international operations cost sharing.

  1. Beams-becoming enthusiastic about math and science - A Department of Energy research laboratory/school district partnership program

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Strozak, K.; Gagnon, S.

    1994-12-31

    BEAMS immerses fifth and sixth grade classes in CEBAF`s environment for a week of school. By exposing students and teachers to science`s excitement, challenges, and opportunities, BEAMS motivates students, enhances teachers, and involves parents, with the goal of improving scientific literacy and work force readiness. CEBAF and its school partners are extending BEAMS into a multi-year program, integrating educational partnerships active in the region. The planned focus emphasizes grades four through ten. A long-term evaluation model, incorporating measures of students attitudes, achievement, and academic course choices is being implemented. Three years of data on student attitudinal changes, referenced against controls,more » have been analyzed.« less

  2. Evaluating a Satellite-derived Time Series of Inundation Dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matthews, E.; Papa, F.; Prigent, C.; McDonald, K.

    2006-12-01

    A new data set of inundation dynamics derived from a suite of satellites (Prigent et al.; Papa et al.) provides the first global, multi-year observations of monthly inundation extent. Initial global and regional evaluation of the data set using data on wetland/vegetation distributions from traditional and remote-sensing sources, GCPC rainfall, and altimeter-derived river heights indicates reasonable spatial distributions and seasonality. We extend the evaluation of this new data set - using independent multi-date, high-resolution satellite observations of inundated ecosystems and freeze-thaw dynamics, as well as climate data - focusing on a variety of boreal and tropical ecosystems representative of global wetlands. The goal is to investigate the strengths of the new data set, and develop strategies for improving weaknesses where identified.

  3. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schwab, Amy

    The Bioenergy Technologies Office is one of the 10 technology development offices within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. This Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) sets forth the goals and structure of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (the Office). It identifies the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D), and market transformation and crosscutting activities the Office will focus on over the next five years and outlines why these activities are important to meeting the energy and sustainability challenges facing the nation. This MYPP is intended for use as an operational guide to help the Officemore » manage and coordinate its activities, as well as a resource to help communicate its mission and goals to stakeholders and the public.« less

  4. Future Aeronautical Communication Infrastructure Technology Investigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gilbert, Tricia; Jin, Jenny; Bergerm Jason; Henriksen, Steven

    2008-01-01

    This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Contractor Report summarizes and documents the work performed to investigate technologies that could support long-term aeronautical mobile communications operating concepts for air traffic management (ATM) in the timeframe of 2020 and beyond, and includes the associated findings and recommendations made by ITT Corporation and NASA Glenn Research Center to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The work was completed as the final phase of a multiyear NASA contract in support of the Future Communication Study (FCS), a cooperative research and development program of the United States FAA, NASA, and EUROCONTROL. This final report focuses on an assessment of final five candidate technologies, and also provides an overview of the entire technology assessment process, including final recommendations.

  5. Deployment of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope wide-field upgrade

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hill, Gary J.; Drory, Niv; Good, John M.; Lee, Hanshin; Vattiat, Brian L.; Kriel, Herman; Ramsey, Jason; Bryant, Randy; Elliot, Linda; Fowler, Jim; Häuser, Marco; Landiau, Martin; Leck, Ron; Odewahn, Stephen; Perry, Dave; Savage, Richard; Schroeder Mrozinski, Emily; Shetrone, Matthew; DePoy, D. L.; Prochaska, Travis; Marshall, J. L.; Damm, George; Gebhardt, Karl; MacQueen, Phillip J.; Martin, Jerry; Armandroff, Taft; Ramsey, Lawrence W.

    2016-07-01

    The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is an innovative large telescope, located in West Texas at the McDonald Observatory. The HET operates with a fixed segmented primary and has a tracker, which moves the four-mirror corrector and prime focus instrument package to track the sidereal and non-sidereal motions of objects. We have completed a major multi-year upgrade of the HET that has substantially increased the pupil size to 10 meters and the field of view to 22 arcminutes by replacing the corrector, tracker, and prime focus instrument package. The new wide field HET will feed the revolutionary integral field spectrograph called VIRUS, in support of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX§), a new low resolution spectrograph (LRS2), an upgraded high resolution spectrograph (HRS2), and later the Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF). The upgrade is being commissioned and this paper discusses the completion of the installation, the commissioning process and the performance of the new HET.

  6. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rosenthal, A

    Southwest Technology Development Institute (SWTDI), an independent, university-based research institute, has been the operator of the Southwest Region Photovoltaic Experiment Station (SWRES) for almost 30 years. The overarching mission of SWTDI is to position PV systems and solar technologies to become cost-effective, major sources of energy for the United States. Embedded in SWTDI's general mission has been the more-focused mission of the SWRES: to provide value added technical support to the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP) to effectively and efficiently meet the R&D needs and targets specified in the SETP Multi-Year Technical Plan. : The DOE/SETP goals of growingmore » U.S. PV manufacturing into giga-watt capacities and seeing tera-watt-hours of solar energy production in the U.S. require an infrastructure that is under development. The staff of the SWRES has supported DOE/SETP through a coherent, integrated program to address infrastructural needs inhibiting wide-scale PV deployment in three major technical categories: specialized engineering services, workforce development, and deployment facilitation. The SWRES contract underwent three major revisions during its five year period-of- performance, but all tasks and deliverables fell within the following task areas: Task 1: PV Systems Assistance Center 1. Develop a Comprehensive multi-year plan 2. Provide technical workforce development materials and workshops for PV stakeholder groups including university, professional installers, inspectors, state energy offices, Federal agencies 3. Serve on the NABCEP exam committee 4. Provide on-demand technical PV system design reviews for U.S. PV stakeholders 5. Provide PV system field testing and instrumentation, technical outreach (including extensive support for the DOE Market Transformation program) Task 2: Design-for-Manufacture PV Systems 1. Develop and install 18 kW parking carport (cost share) and PV-thermal carport (Albuquerque) deriving and publishing lessons learned Task 3: PV Codes and Standards 1. Serve as the national lead for development and preparation of all proposals (related to PV) to the National Electrical Code 2. Participate in the Standards Technical Panels for modules (UL1703) and inverters (UL1741) Task 4: Assess Inverter Long Term Reliability 1. Install and monitor identical inverters at SWRES and SERES 2. Operate and monitor all inverters for 5 years, characterizing all failures and performance trends Task 5: Test and Evaluation Support for Solar America Initiative 1. Provide test and evaluation services to the National Laboratories for stage gate and progress measurements of SAI TPP winners« less

  7. Protocol and baseline data for a multi-year cohort study of the effects of different mass drug treatment approaches on functional morbidities from schistosomiasis in four African countries.

    PubMed

    Shen, Ye; King, Charles H; Binder, Sue; Zhang, Feng; Whalen, Christopher C; Evan Secor, W; Montgomery, Susan P; Mwinzi, Pauline N M; Olsen, Annette; Magnussen, Pascal; Kinung'hi, Safari; Phillips, Anna E; Nalá, Rassul; Ferro, Josefo; Aurelio, H Osvaldo; Fleming, Fiona; Garba, Amadou; Hamidou, Amina; Fenwick, Alan; Campbell, Carl H; Colley, Daniel G

    2017-09-29

    The Schistosomiasis Consortium for Operational Research and Evaluation (SCORE) focus is on randomized trials of different approaches to mass drug administration (MDA) in endemic countries in Africa. Because their studies provided an opportunity to evaluate the effects of mass treatment on Schistosoma-associated morbidity, nested cohort studies were developed within SCORE's intervention trials to monitor changes in a suite of schistosomiasis disease outcomes. This paper describes the process SCORE used to select markers for prospective monitoring and the baseline prevalence of these morbidities in four parallel cohort studies. In July 2009, SCORE hosted a discussion of the potential impact of MDA on morbidities due to Schistosoma infection that might be measured in the context of multi-year control. Candidate markers were reviewed and selected for study implementation. Baseline data were then collected from cohorts of children in four country studies: two in high endemic S. mansoni sites (Kenya and Tanzania), and two in high endemic S. haematobium sites (Niger and Mozambique), these cohorts to be followed prospectively over 5 years. At baseline, 62% of children in the S. mansoni sites had detectable eggs in their stool, and 10% had heavy infections (≥ 400 eggs/g feces). Heavy S. mansoni infections were found to be associated with increased baseline risk of anemia, although children with moderate or heavy intensity infections had lower risk of physical wasting. Prevalence of egg-positive infection in the combined S. haematobium cohorts was 27%, with 5% of individuals having heavy infection (≥50 eggs/10 mL urine). At baseline, light intensity S. haematobium infection was associated with anemia and with lower scores in the social domain of health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) assessed by Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. Our consensus on practical markers of Schistosoma-associated morbidity indicated that height, weight, hemoglobin, exercise tolerance, HRQoL, and ultrasound abnormalities could be used as reference points for gauging treatment impact. Data collected over five years of program implementation will provide guidance for future evaluation of morbidity control in areas endemic for schistosomiasis. These cohort studies are registered and performed in conjunction with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Registry trials ISRCTN16755535 , ISRCTN14117624 , ISRCTN95819193 , and ISRCTN32045736 .

  8. Baffin Bay Ice Drift and Export: 2002-2007

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kwok, Ron

    2007-01-01

    Multiyear estimates of sea ice drift in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait are derived for the first time from the 89 GHz channel of the AMSR-E instrument. Uncertainties in the drift estimates, assessed with Envisat ice motion, are approximately 2-3 km/day. A persistent atmospheric trough, between the coast of Greenland and Baffin Island, drives the prevailing southward drift pattern with average daily displacements in excess of 18-20 km during winter. Over the 5-year record, the ice export ranges between 360 and 675 x 10(exp 3) km(exp 2), with an average of 530 x 10(exp 3) km(exp 2). Sea ice area inflow from the Nares Strait, Lancaster Sound and Jones Sound potentially contribute up to a third of the net area outflow while ice production at the North Water Polynya contributes the balance. Rough estimates of annual volume export give approximately 500-800 km(exp 3). Comparatively, these are approximately 70% and approximately 30% of the annual area and Strait.

  9. Validation Metrics for Improving Our Understanding of Turbulent Transport - Moving Beyond Proof by Pretty Picture and Loud Assertion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holland, C.

    2013-10-01

    Developing validated models of plasma dynamics is essential for confident predictive modeling of current and future fusion devices. This tutorial will present an overview of the key guiding principles and practices for state-of-the-art validation studies, illustrated using examples from investigations of turbulent transport in magnetically confined plasmas. The primary focus of the talk will be the development of quantiatve validation metrics, which are essential for moving beyond qualitative and subjective assessments of model performance and fidelity. Particular emphasis and discussion is given to (i) the need for utilizing synthetic diagnostics to enable quantitatively meaningful comparisons between simulation and experiment, and (ii) the importance of robust uncertainty quantification and its inclusion within the metrics. To illustrate these concepts, we first review the structure and key insights gained from commonly used ``global'' transport model metrics (e.g. predictions of incremental stored energy or radially-averaged temperature), as well as their limitations. Building upon these results, a new form of turbulent transport metrics is then proposed, which focuses upon comparisons of predicted local gradients and fluctuation characteristics against observation. We demonstrate the utility of these metrics by applying them to simulations and modeling of a newly developed ``validation database'' derived from the results of a systematic, multi-year turbulent transport validation campaign on the DIII-D tokamak, in which comprehensive profile and fluctuation measurements have been obtained from a wide variety of heating and confinement scenarios. Finally, we discuss extensions of these metrics and their underlying design concepts to other areas of plasma confinement research, including both magnetohydrodynamic stability and integrated scenario modeling. Supported by the US DOE under DE-FG02-07ER54917 and DE-FC02-08ER54977.

  10. SAPHYR: the Swiss Atlas of PHYsical properties of Rocks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wenning, Q. C.; Zappone, A. S.; Kissling, E.

    2015-12-01

    The Swiss Atlas of PHYsical properties of Rocks (SAPHYR) is a multi-year project, aiming to compile a comprehensive data set on physical properties of rocks exposed in Switzerland and surrounding areas. The ultimate goal of SAPHYR is to make these data accessible to an open and wide public, such as industrial, engineering, land and resource planning companies, as well as academic institutions. Since the early sixties worldwide geophysicists, petrologists, and engineers, focused their work on laboratory measurements of rocks physical properties, and their relations with microstructures, mineralogical compositions and other rock parameters, in the effort to constrain the geological interpretation of geophysical surveys. In combination with efforts to investigate deep structure of the continental crust by controlled source seismology, laboratories capable to reproduce pressure and temperature conditions to depth of 50km and more collected measurements of various parameters on a wide variety of rock types. In recent years, the increasing interest on non-traditional energy supply, (deep geothermal energy, shale gas) and CO2 storage renovated the interests in physical characterization of the deep underground. The idea to organize those laboratory data into a geographically referenced database (GIS) is supported by the Swiss Commission for Geophysics. The data refer to density and porosity, seismic, magnetic, thermal properties, permeability and electrical properties. An effort has been placed on collecting samples and measuring the physical properties of lithologies that are poorly documented in literature. The phase of laboratory measurements is still in progress. At present SAPHYR focuses towards developing a 3-D physical properties model of the Swiss subsurface, using the structure of the exposed geology, boreholes data and seismic surveys, combined with lab determined pressure and temperature derivatives. An early version of the final product is presented here.

  11. ADDRESSING EMERGING ISSUES IN WATER QUALITY ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Public concern over cleanliness and safety of source and recreational waters has prompted researchers to look for indicators of water quality. Giving public water authorities multiple tools to measure and monitor levels of chemical contaminants, as well as chemical markers of contamination, simply and rapidly would enhance public protection. The goals of water quality are outlined in the Water Quality Multi-year Plan [http://intranet.epa.gov/ospintra/Planning/wq.pdf] and the research in this task falls under GPRA Goal 2, 2.3.2, Long Term Goals 1, 2, and 4. The research focused on in the subtasks is the development and application of state-of the-art technologies to meet the needs of the public, Office of Water, and ORD in the area of Water Quality. Located In the subtasks are the various research projects being performed in support of this Task and more in-depth coverage of each project. Briefly, each project's objective is stated below.Subtask 1: To integrate state-of-the-art technologies (polar organic chemical integrative samplers, advanced solid-phase extraction methodologies with liquid chromatography/electrospray/mass spectrometry) and apply them to studying the sources and fate of a select list of PPCPs. Application and improvement of analytical methodologies that can detect non-volatile, polar, water-soluble pharmaceuticals in source waters at levels that could be environmentally significant (at concentrations less than parts per billion, ppb). IAG

  12. Impact of Plant Functional Types on Coherence Between Precipitation and Soil Moisture: A Wavelet Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Qi; Hao, Yonghong; Stebler, Elaine; Tanaka, Nobuaki; Zou, Chris B.

    2017-12-01

    Mapping the spatiotemporal patterns of soil moisture within heterogeneous landscapes is important for resource management and for the understanding of hydrological processes. A critical challenge in this mapping is comparing remotely sensed or in situ observations from areas with different vegetation cover but subject to the same precipitation regime. We address this challenge by wavelet analysis of multiyear observations of soil moisture profiles from adjacent areas with contrasting plant functional types (grassland, woodland, and encroached) and precipitation. The analysis reveals the differing soil moisture patterns and dynamics between plant functional types. The coherence at high-frequency periodicities between precipitation and soil moisture generally decreases with depth but this is much more pronounced under woodland compared to grassland. Wavelet analysis provides new insights on soil moisture dynamics across plant functional types and is useful for assessing differences and similarities in landscapes with heterogeneous vegetation cover.

  13. Third NASA Advanced Composites Technology Conference, volume 1, part 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davis, John G., Jr. (Compiler); Bohon, Herman L. (Compiler)

    1993-01-01

    This document is a compilation of papers presented at the Third NASA Advanced Composites Technology (ACT) Conference held at Long Beach, California, 8-11 June 1992. The ACT Program is a major multi-year research initiative to achieve a national goal of technology readiness before the end of the decade. Conference papers recorded results of research in the ACT Program in the specific areas of automated fiber placement, resin transfer molding, textile preforms, and stitching as these processes influence design, performance, and cost of composites in aircraft structures. Papers sponsored by the Department of Defense on the Design and Manufacturing of Low Cost Composites (DMLCC) are also included in Volume 2 of this document.

  14. Naval sensor data database (NSDD)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Robertson, Candace J.; Tubridy, Lisa H.

    1999-08-01

    The Naval Sensor Data database (NSDD) is a multi-year effort to archive, catalogue, and disseminate data from all types of sensors to the mine warfare, signal and image processing, and sensor development communities. The purpose is to improve and accelerate research and technology. Providing performers with the data required to develop and validate improvements in hardware, simulation, and processing will foster advances in sensor and system performance. The NSDD will provide a centralized source of sensor data in its associated ground truth, which will support an improved understanding will be benefited in the areas of signal processing, computer-aided detection and classification, data compression, data fusion, and geo-referencing, as well as sensor and sensor system design.

  15. EC93-41094-4

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1993-05-18

    A NASA F/A-18, specially modified to test the newest and most advanced system technologies, on its first research flight on May 21, 1993, at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. Flown by Dryden in a multi-year, joint NASA/DOD/industry program, the F/A-18 former Navy fighter was modified into a unique Systems Research Aircraft (SRA) to investigate a host of new technologies in the areas of flight controls, airdata sensing and advanced computing. The primary goal of the SRA program was to validate through flight research cutting-edge technologies which could benefit future aircraft and spacecraft by improving efficiency and performance, reducing weight and complexity, with a resultant reduction on development and operational costs.

  16. Simulated water sources and effects of pumping on surface and ground water, Sagamore and Monomoy flow lenses, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Walter, Donald A.; Whealan, Ann T.

    2005-01-01

    The sandy sediments underlying Cape Cod, Massachusetts, compose an important aquifer that is the sole source of water for a region undergoing rapid development. Population increases and urbanization on Cape Cod lead to two primary environmental effects that relate directly to water supply: (1) adverse effects of land use on the quality of water in the aquifer and (2) increases in pumping that can adversely affect environmentally sensitive surface waters, such as ponds and streams. These considerations are particularly important on the Sagamore and Monomoy flow lenses, which underlie the largest and most populous areas on Cape Cod. Numerical models of the two flow lenses were developed to simulate ground-water-flow conditions in the aquifer and to (1) delineate areas at the water table contributing water to wells and (2) estimate the effects of pumping and natural changes in recharge on surface waters. About 350 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water recharges the aquifer at the water table in this area; most water (about 65 percent) discharges at the coast and most of the remaining water (about 28 percent) discharges into streams. A total of about 24.9 Mgal/d, or about 7 percent, of water in the aquifer is withdrawn for water supply; most pumped water is returned to the hydrologic system as return flow creating a state of near mass balance in the aquifer. Areas at the water table that contribute water directly to production wells total about 17 square miles; some water (about 10 percent) pumped from the wells flows through ponds prior to reaching the wells. Current (2003) steady-state pumping reduces simulated ground-water levels in some areas by more than 4 feet; projected (2020) pumping may reduce water levels by an additional 3 feet or more in these same areas. Current (2003) and future (2020) pumping reduces total streamflow by about 4 and 9 cubic feet per second (ft3/s), corresponding to about 5 percent and 9 percent, respectively, of total streamflow. Natural recharge varies with time, over both monthly and multiyear time scales. Monthly changes in recharge cause pond levels to vary between 1 and 2 feet in an average year; annual changes in recharge, which can be much larger than monthly variations, can cause pond levels to vary by more than 10 feet in some areas over a period of years. Streamflow, which also changes in response to changes in recharge, varies by a factor of two over an average year and can vary more over multiyear periods. On average, monthly pumping ranges from 15.8 Mgal/d in March to 45.3 Mgal/d in August. Pumping and the distribution of return flow can seasonally affect the hydrologic system by lowering ground-water and pond levels and by depleting streamflows, particularly in the summer months. Maximum drawdowns in March and August exceed 3 feet and 6 feet, respectively, for current (2003) pumping. Simulated drawdowns from projected (2020) pumping, relative to water levels representing 2003 pumping conditions, exceed 2 feet in March and 5 feet in August. Current (2003) and future (2020) pumping can decrease pond levels in some areas by more than 3 feet; drawdown generally is largest during the month of August of an average year. Over multiyear periods, seasonal pumping can lower pond levels in some areas by more than 4 feet; the effects of seasonal pumping are largest during periods of reduced recharge. Monthly streamflow depletion varies in individual streams but can exceed 2 ft3/s in some streams. The combined effects of seasonal pumping and drought can reduce pond levels by more than 10 feet below average levels. Water levels in Mary Dunn Pond, which is in an area of large current and projected pumping, are predicted (2020) to decline during drought conditions by about 10.6 feet: about 6.9 feet from lower recharge, about 2.3 feet from current (2003) pumping, and about 1.4 feet from additional future (2020) pumping. The results indicate that pumping generally does not cause substantial

  17. Effect of Control Blade History, and Axial Coolant Density and Burnup Profiles on BWR Burnup Credit

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ade, Brian J; Marshall, William BJ J; Martinez-Gonzalez, Jesus S

    Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have initiated a multiyear project to investigate the application of burnup credit (BUC) for boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel in storage and transportation systems (often referred to as casks) and spent fuel pools (SFPs). This work is divided into two main phases. The first phase investigated the applicability of peak reactivity methods currently used in SFPs to transportation and storage casks and the validation of reactivity calculations and spent fuel compositions within these methods. The second phase focuses on extending BUC beyond peak reactivity. This paper documents themore » analysis of the effects of control blade insertion history, and moderator density and burnup axial profiles for extended BWR BUC.« less

  18. Verification and Validation Plan for Flight Performance Requirements on the CEV Parachute Assembly System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morris, Aaron L.; Olson, Leah M.

    2011-01-01

    The Crew Exploration Vehicle Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) is engaged in a multi-year design and test campaign aimed at qualifying a parachute recovery system for human use on the Orion Spacecraft. Orion has parachute flight performance requirements that will ultimately be verified through the use of Monte Carlo multi-degree of freedom flight simulations. These simulations will be anchored by real world flight test data and iteratively improved to provide a closer approximation to the real physics observed in the inherently chaotic inflation and steady state flight of the CPAS parachutes. This paper will examine the processes necessary to verify the flight performance requirements of the human rated spacecraft. The focus will be on the requirements verification and model validation planned on CPAS.

  19. Initial Impact of the Fast Track Prevention Trial for Conduct Problems: II. Classroom Effects

    PubMed Central

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the effectiveness of the universal component of the Fast Track prevention model: the PATHS (Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies) curriculum and teacher consultation. This randomized clinical trial involved 198 intervention and 180 comparison classrooms from neighborhoods with greater than average crime in 4 U.S. locations. In the intervention schools, Grade 1 teachers delivered a 57-lesson social competence intervention focused on self-control, emotional awareness, peer relations, and problem solving. Findings indicated significant effects on peer ratings of aggression and hyperactive–disruptive behavior and observer ratings of classroom atmosphere. Quality of implementation predicted variation in assessments of classroom functioning. The results are discussed in terms of both the efficacy of universal, school-based prevention models and the need to examine comprehensive, multiyear programs. PMID:10535231

  20. Investigating kleptothermy: a reptile-seabird association with thermal benefits.

    PubMed

    Corkery, Ilse; Bell, Ben D; Nelson, Nicola J

    2014-01-01

    Studies on interspecific interactions between vertebrates based on thermal benefits are poorly represented in the literature. Ecologists know little about a category of thermoregulation termed kleptothermy. We provide evidence that a close association between a medium-sized reptile (tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus) and a small seabird (fairy prion, Pachyptila turtur) enables the reptile to maintain higher-than-average body temperatures. This is the first multiyear data set to reveal that the presence of an endotherm within a burrow has direct, transferable thermal benefits to an ectotherm. It is possible that such positive interspecific interactions may alleviate thermal stress across the range of a single species. Currently, we know little about the evolutionary consequences of such interactions, and future work should focus on whether these thermal benefits increase fitness through increased growth rates or reproductive output.

  1. Comparison of remote sensing and fixed-site monitoring approaches for examining air pollution and health in a national study population

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prud'homme, Genevieve; Dobbin, Nina A.; Sun, Liu; Burnett, Richard T.; Martin, Randall V.; Davidson, Andrew; Cakmak, Sabit; Villeneuve, Paul J.; Lamsal, Lok N.; van Donkelaar, Aaron; Peters, Paul A.; Johnson, Markey

    2013-12-01

    Satellite remote sensing (RS) has emerged as a cutting edge approach for estimating ground level ambient air pollution. Previous studies have reported a high correlation between ground level PM2.5 and NO2 estimated by RS and measurements collected at regulatory monitoring sites. The current study examined associations between air pollution and adverse respiratory and allergic health outcomes using multi-year averages of NO2 and PM2.5 from RS and from regulatory monitoring. RS estimates were derived using satellite measurements from OMI, MODIS, and MISR instruments. Regulatory monitoring data were obtained from Canada's National Air Pollution Surveillance Network. Self-reported prevalence of doctor-diagnosed asthma, current asthma, allergies, and chronic bronchitis were obtained from the Canadian Community Health Survey (a national sample of individuals 12 years of age and older). Multi-year ambient pollutant averages were assigned to each study participant based on their six digit postal code at the time of health survey, and were used as a marker for long-term exposure to air pollution. RS derived estimates of NO2 and PM2.5 were associated with 6-10% increases in respiratory and allergic health outcomes per interquartile range (3.97 μg m-3 for PM2.5 and 1.03 ppb for NO2) among adults (aged 20-64) in the national study population. Risk estimates for air pollution and respiratory/allergic health outcomes based on RS were similar to risk estimates based on regulatory monitoring for areas where regulatory monitoring data were available (within 40 km of a regulatory monitoring station). RS derived estimates of air pollution were also associated with adverse health outcomes among participants residing outside the catchment area of the regulatory monitoring network (p < 0.05). The consistency between risk estimates based on RS and regulatory monitoring as well as the associations between air pollution and health among participants living outside the catchment area for regulatory monitoring suggest that RS can provide useful estimates of long-term ambient air pollution in epidemiologic studies. This is particularly important in rural communities and other areas where monitoring and modeled air pollution data are limited or unavailable.

  2. Phylogenetic and Epidemiologic Evidence of Multiyear Incubation in Human Rabies

    PubMed Central

    Boland, Torrey A.; McGuone, Declan; Jindal, Jenelle; Rocha, Marcelo; Cumming, Melissa; Rupprecht, Charles E.; Barbosa, Taciana Fernandes Souza; de Novaes Oliveira, Rafael; Chu, Catherine J.; Cole, Andrew J.; Kotait, Ivanete; Kuzmina, Natalia A.; Yager, Pamela A.; Kuzmin, Ivan V.; Hedley-Whyte, E. Tessa; Brown, Catherine M.; Rosenthal, Eric S.

    2014-01-01

    Eight years after emigrating from Brazil, an otherwise healthy man developed rabies. An exposure prior to immigration was reported. Genetic analysis revealed a canine rabies virus variant found only in the patient’s home country, and the patient had not traveled internationally since immigrating to the United States. We describe how epidemiological, phylogenetic, and viral sequencing data provided confirmation that rabies encephalomyelitis may present after a long, multiyear incubation period, a consideration that previously has been hypothesized without the ability to exclude a more recent exposure. Accordingly, rabies should be considered in the diagnosis of any acute encephalitis, myelitis, or encephalomyelitis. PMID:24038455

  3. Clinical skills-related learning goals of senior medical students after performance feedback.

    PubMed

    Chang, Anna; Chou, Calvin L; Teherani, Arianne; Hauer, Karen E

    2011-09-01

    Lifelong learning is essential for doctors to maintain competence in clinical skills. With performance feedback, learners should be able to formulate specific and achievable learning goals in areas of need. We aimed to determine: (i) the type and specificity of medical student learning goals after a required clinical performance examination; (ii) differences in goal setting among low, average and high performers, and (iii) whether low performers articulate learning goals that are concordant with their learning needs. We conducted a single-site, multi-year, descriptive comparison study. Senior medical students were given performance benchmarks, individual feedback and guidelines on learning goals; each student was subsequently instructed to write two clinical skills learning goals. Investigators coded the learning goals for specificity, categorised the goals, and performed statistical analyses to determine their concordance with student performance level (low, average or high) in data gathering (history taking and physical examination) or communication skills. All 208 students each wrote two learning goals and most (n=200, 96%) wrote two specific learning goals. Nearly two-thirds of low performers in data gathering wrote at least one learning goal that referred to history taking or physical examination; one-third wrote learning goals pertaining to the organisation of the encounter. High performers in data gathering wrote significantly more patient education goals and significantly fewer history-taking goals than average or low performers. Only 50% of low performers in communication wrote learning goals related to communication skills. Low performers in communication were significantly more likely than average or high performers to identify learning goals related to improving performance in future examinations. The provision of performance benchmarking, individual feedback and brief written guidelines helped most senior medical students in our study to write specific clinical skills learning goals. Many low-performing students did not write learning goals concordant with their areas of weakness. Future work might focus on enhancing low performers' continued learning in areas of performance deficits. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

  4. The Virtual Silk Highway -- Connectivity for Central Asia and the Caucasus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frese, Hans

    2007-04-01

    This presentation focuses on Internet for research and education communities in the countries along the Great Silk Road, eight republics of the Former Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia) and Afghanistan. When the Internet became a standard science tool in the nineties, connectivity to this area was limited to analog telephone lines. The TAE fiber was installed from Istanbul via Tashkent to Shanghai, but it was based on international ISDN telephone calls at 10 per minute, unaffordable to communities with salaries of 300 per month. Satellites offered connectivity on short notice at better prices but funding by the communities was out of the question. Aid programs stepped in, connecting individual institutes across the area to the outside world. ISPs catered to those who could afford it, such as universities selling MBA courses, but Internet for research and education was lacking. In 2001, the NATO Science Programme added to its grants to institutes a multi-year program of providing a shared satellite service for international connectivity to all the countries above. National connectivity and solving the ``last mile problem'' was also funded, provided that a National Research and Education Network (NREN) organization was created in the country. SILK-1 ran 2002-6 for 3.5m providing 30Mbps west->east and 6Mbps east->west. QOS was implemented for video and audio conferencing. Co-funding by NRENs and others was established, but sustainability is still outstanding. Only recently, affordable fiber (<1k/month for 1 Mbps) is offered in parts of the area, so the RFP of SILK-2 in 2006 was issued in a technology-neutral way. No fiber bids were received, but a cheaper satellite service providing a total of 120/30Mbps for 3.5m in 2007-8. With fiber initiatives under way, it is hoped that part of SILK-2 can switch to fiber in 2009.

  5. Mapping Multi-Cropped Land Use to Estimate Water Demand Using the California Pesticide Reporting Database

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Henson, W.; Baillie, M. N.; Martin, D.

    2017-12-01

    Detailed and dynamic land-use data is one of the biggest data deficiencies facing food and water security issues. Better land-use data results in improved integrated hydrologic models that are needed to look at the feedback between land and water use, specifically for adequately representing changes and dynamics in rainfall-runoff, urban and agricultural water demands, and surface fluxes of water (e.g., evapotranspiration, runoff, and infiltration). Currently, land-use data typically are compiled from annual (e.g., Crop Scape) or multi-year composites if mapped at all. While this approach provides information about interannual land-use practices, it does not capture the dynamic changes in highly developed agricultural lands prevalent in California agriculture such as (1) dynamic land-use changes from high frequency multi-crop rotations and (2) uncertainty in sub-annual crop distribution, planting times, and cropped areas. California has collected spatially distributed data for agricultural pesticide use since 1974 through the California Pesticide Information Portal (CalPIP). A method leveraging the CalPIP database has been developed to provide vital information about dynamic agricultural land use (e.g., crop distribution and planting times) and water demand issues in Salinas Valley, California, along the central coast. This 7 billion dollar/year agricultural area produces up to 50% of U.S. lettuce and broccoli. Therefore, effective and sustainable water resource development in the area must balance the needs of this essential industry, other beneficial uses, and the environment. This new tool provides a way to provide more dynamic crop data in hydrologic models. While the current application focuses on the Salinas Valley, the methods are extensible to all of California and other states with similar pesticide reporting. The improvements in representing variability in crop patterns and associated water demands increase our understanding of land-use change and precision of hydrologic decision models. Ultimately, further refinement to the parcel level will completely capture the changing topology of agricultural land use.

  6. Biotelemetry data for golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) captured in coastal southern California, November 2014–February 2016

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tracey, Jeff A.; Madden, Melanie C.; Sebes, Jeremy B.; Bloom, Peter H.; Katzner, Todd E.; Fisher, Robert N.

    2016-04-21

    The status of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in coastal southern California is unclear. To address this knowledge gap, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in collaboration with local, State, and other Federal agencies began a multi-year survey and tracking program of golden eagles to address questions regarding habitat use, movement behavior, nest occupancy, genetic population structure, and human impacts on eagles. Golden eagle trapping and tracking efforts began in October 2014 and continued until early March 2015. During the first trapping season that focused on San Diego County, we captured 13 golden eagles (8 females and 5 males). During the second trapping season that began in November 2015, we focused on trapping sites in San Diego, Orange, and western Riverside Counties. By February 23, 2016, we captured an additional 14 golden eagles (7 females and 7 males). In this report, biotelemetry data were collected between November 22, 2014, and February 23, 2016. The location data for eagles ranged as far north as San Luis Obispo, California, and as far south as La Paz, Baja California, Mexico.

  7. Development and Testing of a New Family of Supersonic Decelerators

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clark, Ian G.; Adler, Mark; Rivellini, Tommaso P.

    2013-01-01

    The state of the art in Entry, Descent, and Landing systems for Mars applications is largely based on technologies developed in the late 1960's and early 1970's for the Viking Lander program. Although the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory has made advances in EDL technology, these are predominantly in the areas of entry (new thermal protection systems and guided hypersonic flight) and landing (the sky crane architecture). Increases in entry mass, landed mass, and landed altitude beyond MSL capabilities will require advances predominantly in the field of supersonic decelerators. With this in mind, a multi-year program has been initiated to advance three new types of supersonic decelerators that would enable future large-robotic and human-precursor class missions to Mars.

  8. Geopolymer concretes: a green construction technology rising from the ash

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Allouche, E.

    2009-07-01

    Researchers at Louisiana Tech University have embarked on a multi-year research initiative to develop applications for inorganic polymer concrete, or geopolymer concrete, in the area of civil construction, and to bring solve of these applications to market. One objective was to produce a spray-on coating for use in the harsh environment of wastewater conveyance and treatment facilities. Another project is to establish relationships between fly ash composition and particle size distribution and the mechanical attributes and workability of the resulting geopolymer concrete. A third project is to develop a 'smart' geopolymer concrete whose response to a given electric current canmore » be correlated to the stress level to which the structure is subjected. 1 fig., 6 photos.« less

  9. Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2001-10-22

    This ASTER image was acquired on December 12, 2000, and covers an area of 38 x 48 km. Pine Island Glacier has undergone a steady loss of elevation with retreat of the grounding line in recent decades. Now, space imagery has revealed a wide new crack that some scientists think will soon result in a calving event. Glaciologist Robert Bindschadler of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center predicts this crack will result in the calving of a major iceberg, probably in less than 18 months. Discovery of the crack was possible due to multi-year image archives and high resolution imagery. This image is located at 74.1 degrees south latitude and 105.1 degrees west longitude. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11095

  10. Greenbelt Homes Pilot Energy Efficiency Program Phase 1 Summary. Existing Conditions and Baseline Energy Use

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wiehagen, J.; Del Bianco, M.; Wood, A.

    2013-02-01

    A multi-year pilot energy efficiency retrofit project has been undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 co-operative of circa 1930 and '40 homes. The three predominate construction methods of the townhomes in the community are materials common to the area and climate zone including 8” CMU block, wood frame with brick veneer and wood frame with vinyl siding. GHI has established a pilot project that will serve as a basis for decision making for the roll out of a decade-long community upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency to the building envelope and equipment with the modernization of othermore » systems like plumbing, mechanical equipment, and cladding.« less

  11. Greenbelt Homes Pilot Energy Efficiency Program Phase 1 Summary: Existing Conditions and Baseline Energy Use

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wiehagen, J.; Del Bianco, M.; Wood, A.

    2013-02-01

    A multi-year pilot energy efficiency retrofit project has been undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 co-operative of circa 1930 and '40 homes. The three predominate construction methods of the townhomes in the community are materials common to the area and climate zone including 8" CMU block, wood frame with brick veneer and wood frame with vinyl siding. GHI has established a pilot project that will serve as a basis for decision making for the roll out of a decade-long community upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency to the building envelope and equipment with the modernization of othermore » systems like plumbing, mechanical equipment, and cladding.« less

  12. More efficient optimization of long-term water supply portfolios

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kirsch, Brian R.; Characklis, Gregory W.; Dillard, Karen E. M.; Kelley, C. T.

    2009-03-01

    The use of temporary transfers, such as options and leases, has grown as utilities attempt to meet increases in demand while reducing dependence on the expansion of costly infrastructure capacity (e.g., reservoirs). Earlier work has been done to construct optimal portfolios comprising firm capacity and transfers, using decision rules that determine the timing and volume of transfers. However, such work has only focused on the short-term (e.g., 1-year scenarios), which limits the utility of these planning efforts. Developing multiyear portfolios can lead to the exploration of a wider range of alternatives but also increases the computational burden. This work utilizes a coupled hydrologic-economic model to simulate the long-term performance of a city's water supply portfolio. This stochastic model is linked with an optimization search algorithm that is designed to handle the high-frequency, low-amplitude noise inherent in many simulations, particularly those involving expected values. This noise is detrimental to the accuracy and precision of the optimized solution and has traditionally been controlled by investing greater computational effort in the simulation. However, the increased computational effort can be substantial. This work describes the integration of a variance reduction technique (control variate method) within the simulation/optimization as a means of more efficiently identifying minimum cost portfolios. Random variation in model output (i.e., noise) is moderated using knowledge of random variations in stochastic input variables (e.g., reservoir inflows, demand), thereby reducing the computing time by 50% or more. Using these efficiency gains, water supply portfolios are evaluated over a 10-year period in order to assess their ability to reduce costs and adapt to demand growth, while still meeting reliability goals. As a part of the evaluation, several multiyear option contract structures are explored and compared.

  13. Spacesuit Portable Life Support System Breadboard (PLSS 1.0) Development and Test Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vogel, Matt R.; Watts, Carly

    2011-01-01

    A multi-year effort has been carried out at NASA-JSC to develop an advanced Extravehicular Activity (EVA) PLSS design intended to further the current state of the art by increasing operational flexibility, reducing consumables, and increasing robustness. Previous efforts have focused on modeling and analyzing the advanced PLSS architecture, as well as developing key enabling technologies. Like the current International Space Station (ISS) Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) PLSS, the advanced PLSS comprises of three subsystems required to sustain the crew during EVA including the Thermal, Ventilation, and Oxygen Subsystems. This multi-year effort has culminated in the construction and operation of PLSS 1.0, a test rig that simulates full functionality of the advanced PLSS design. PLSS 1.0 integrates commercial off the shelf hardware with prototype technology development components, including the primary and secondary oxygen regulators, ventilation loop fan, Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swingbed, and Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME). Testing accumulated 239 hours over 45 days, while executing 172 test points. Specific PLSS 1.0 test objectives assessed during this testing include: confirming key individual components perform in a system level test as they have performed during component level testing; identifying unexpected system-level interactions; operating PLSS 1.0 in nominal steady-state EVA modes to baseline subsystem performance with respect to metabolic rate, ventilation loop pressure and flow rate, and environmental conditions; simulating nominal transient EVA operational scenarios; simulating contingency EVA operational scenarios; and further evaluating individual technology development components. Successful testing of the PLSS 1.0 provided a large database of test results that characterize system level and component performance. With the exception of several minor anomalies, the PLSS 1.0 test rig performed as expected; furthermore, many system responses trended in accordance with pre-test predictions.

  14. Encouraging a Culture of Outreach in Astronomy Clubs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manning, J.; Berendsen, M.; Schultz, G.; Gurton, S.; Santascoy, J.; White, V.; Frank, K.; Jones, E.; Yocco, V.; John, M. S.; Castori, P.

    2014-07-01

    Astronomy clubs constitute a “marching army” of knowledgeable, experienced astronomy enthusiasts deployed in a national network: an important resource for engaging the public through educational outreach events and activities. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) in partnership with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) and Inverness Research, Inc., has been engaged in a multi-year NSF-supported project focusing on this network and its potential to advance astronomy education and outreach. The project has explored the culture of astronomy clubs, identified impediments to building cultures of outreach within clubs, and developed and introduced new mechanisms to overcome these impediments and enhance clubs' abilities to encourage and sustain cultures that value and promote outreach efforts. This paper shares initial research, development and evaluation findings of the project, and describes ongoing supplemental efforts that continue to advance project objectives.

  15. Advances in Rotational Seismic Measurements

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pierson, Robert; Laughlin, Darren; Brune, Robert

    2016-10-19

    Rotational motion is increasingly understood to be a significant part of seismic wave motion. Rotations can be important in earthquake strong motion and in Induced Seismicity Monitoring. Rotational seismic data can also enable shear selectivity and improve wavefield sampling for vertical geophones in 3D surveys, among other applications. However, sensor technology has been a limiting factor to date. The US Department of Energy (DOE) and Applied Technology Associates (ATA) are funding a multi-year project that is now entering Phase 2 to develop and deploy a new generation of rotational sensors for validation of rotational seismic applications. Initial focus is onmore » induced seismicity monitoring, particularly for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) with fracturing. The sensors employ Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) principles with broadband response, improved noise floors, robustness, and repeatability. This paper presents a summary of Phase 1 results and Phase 2 status.« less

  16. The Great Plains Wind Power Test Facility

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schroeder, John

    2014-01-30

    This multi-year, multi-faceted project was focused on the continued development of a nationally-recognized facility for the testing, characterization, and improvement of grid-connected wind turbines, integrated wind-water desalination systems, and related educational and outreach topics. The project involved numerous faculty and graduate students from various engineering departments, as well as others from the departments of Geosciences (in particular the Atmospheric Science Group) and Economics. It was organized through the National Wind Institute (NWI), which serves as an intellectual hub for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, commercialization and education related to wind science, wind energy, wind engineering and wind hazard mitigation at Texasmore » Tech University (TTU). Largely executed by an academic based team, the project resulted in approximately 38 peer-reviewed publications, 99 conference presentations, the development/expansion of several experimental facilities, and two provisional patents.« less

  17. An assessment of differences in gridded precipitation datasets in complex terrain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Henn, Brian; Newman, Andrew J.; Livneh, Ben; Daly, Christopher; Lundquist, Jessica D.

    2018-01-01

    Hydrologic modeling and other geophysical applications are sensitive to precipitation forcing data quality, and there are known challenges in spatially distributing gauge-based precipitation over complex terrain. We conduct a comparison of six high-resolution, daily and monthly gridded precipitation datasets over the Western United States. We compare the long-term average spatial patterns, and interannual variability of water-year total precipitation, as well as multi-year trends in precipitation across the datasets. We find that the greatest absolute differences among datasets occur in high-elevation areas and in the maritime mountain ranges of the Western United States, while the greatest percent differences among datasets relative to annual total precipitation occur in arid and rain-shadowed areas. Differences between datasets in some high-elevation areas exceed 200 mm yr-1 on average, and relative differences range from 5 to 60% across the Western United States. In areas of high topographic relief, true uncertainties and biases are likely higher than the differences among the datasets; we present evidence of this based on streamflow observations. Precipitation trends in the datasets differ in magnitude and sign at smaller scales, and are sensitive to how temporal inhomogeneities in the underlying precipitation gauge data are handled.

  18. Estimation of soil erosion risk within an important agricultural sub-watershed in Bursa, Turkey, in relation to rapid urbanization.

    PubMed

    Ozsoy, Gokhan; Aksoy, Ertugrul

    2015-07-01

    This paper integrates the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) with a GIS model to investigate the spatial distribution of annual soil loss and identify areas of soil erosion risk in the Uluabat sub-watershed, an important agricultural site in Bursa Province, Turkey. The total soil loss from water erosion was 473,274 Mg year(-1). Accordingly, 60.3% of the surveyed area was classified into a very low erosion risk class while 25.7% was found to be in high and severe erosion risk classes. Soil loss had a close relationship with land use and topography. The most severe erosion risk typically occurs on ridges and steep slopes where agriculture, degraded forest, and shrubs are the main land uses and cover types. Another goal of this study was to use GIS to reveal the multi-year urbanization status caused by rapid urbanization that constitutes another soil erosion risk in this area. Urbanization has increased by 57.7% and the most areal change was determined in class I lands at a rate of 80% over 25 years. Urbanization was identified as one of the causes of excessive soil loss in the study area.

  19. Pilot study and evaluation of a SMMR-derived sea ice data base

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barry, R. G.; Anderson, M. R.; Crane, R. G.; Troisi, V. J.; Weaver, R. L.

    1984-01-01

    Data derived from the Nimbus 7 scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) are discussed and the types of problems users have with satellite data are documented. The development of software for assessing the SMMR data is mentioned. Two case studies were conducted to verify the SMMR-derived sea ice concentrations and multi-year ice fractions. The results of a survey of potential users of SMMR data are presented, along with SMMR-derived sea ice concentration and multiyear ice fraction maps. The interaction of the Arctic atmosphere with the ice was studied using the Nimbus 7 SMMR. In addition, the characteristics of ice in the Arctic ocean were determined from SMMR data.

  20. Microwave remote sensing of sea ice in the AIDJEX Main Experiment. [Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Campbell, W. J.; Wayenberg, J.; Ramseyer, J. B.; Ramseier, R. O.; Vant, M. R.; Weaver, R.; Redmond, A.; Arsenault, L.; Gloersen, P.; Zwally, H. J.

    1978-01-01

    A microwave remote sensing program of sea ice in the Beaufort Sea was conducted during the Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX). Several types of both passive and active sensors were used to perform surface and aircraft measurements during all seasons of the year. In situ observations were made of physical properties (salinity, temperature, density, surface roughness), dielectric properties, and passive microwave measurements were made of first-year, multiyear, and first-year/multiyear mixtures. Airborne passive microwave measurements were performed with the electronically scanning microwave radiometer while airborne active microwave measurements were performed by synthetic aperture radar, X- and L-band radar, and a scatterometer.

  1. Multi-Year Analysis Examines Costs, Benefits, and Impacts of Renewable Portfolio Standards

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    As states consider revising renewable portfolio standard (RPS) programs or developing new ones, careful assessments of the costs, benefits, and other impacts of existing policies will be critical. RPS programs currently exist in 29 states and Washington, D.C. Many of these policies, which were enacted largely during the late 1990s and 2000s, will reach their terminal targets by the end of this decade. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are engaged in a multi-year project to examine the costs, benefits, and other impacts of state RPS polices both retrospectively and prospectively. This fact sheetmore » overviews this work.« less

  2. IMPACT fragmentation model developments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sorge, Marlon E.; Mains, Deanna L.

    2016-09-01

    The IMPACT fragmentation model has been used by The Aerospace Corporation for more than 25 years to analyze orbital altitude explosions and hypervelocity collisions. The model is semi-empirical, combining mass, energy and momentum conservation laws with empirically derived relationships for fragment characteristics such as number, mass, area-to-mass ratio, and spreading velocity as well as event energy distribution. Model results are used for several types of analysis including assessment of short-term risks to satellites from orbital altitude fragmentations, prediction of the long-term evolution of the orbital debris environment and forensic assessments of breakup events. A new version of IMPACT, version 6, has been completed and incorporates a number of advancements enabled by a multi-year long effort to characterize more than 11,000 debris fragments from more than three dozen historical on-orbit breakup events. These events involved a wide range of causes, energies, and fragmenting objects. Special focus was placed on the explosion model, as the majority of events examined were explosions. Revisions were made to the mass distribution used for explosion events, increasing the number of smaller fragments generated. The algorithm for modeling upper stage large fragment generation was updated. A momentum conserving asymmetric spreading velocity distribution algorithm was implemented to better represent sub-catastrophic events. An approach was developed for modeling sub-catastrophic explosions, those where the majority of the parent object remains intact, based on estimated event energy. Finally, significant modifications were made to the area-to-mass ratio distribution to incorporate the tendencies of different materials to fragment into different shapes. This ability enabled better matches between the observed area-to-mass ratios and those generated by the model. It also opened up additional possibilities for post-event analysis of breakups. The paper will discuss a number of the modifications that have been made to improve IMPACT and why these modifications were made. Comparisons between observational data and the IMPACT predictions will be discussed in the context of these model revisions and the overall behavior of model results. A number of future areas of investigation that were uncovered in the process of the analysis efforts will also be reviewed.

  3. Gender Roles and Mental Health in Women With and at Risk for HIV

    PubMed Central

    Brody, Leslie R.; Stokes, Lynissa R.; Dale, Sannisha K.; Kelso, Gwendolyn A.; Cruise, Ruth C.; Weber, Kathleen M.; Burke-Miller, Jane K.; Cohen, Mardge H.

    2014-01-01

    Predominantly low-income and African American women from the same community, HIV-infected (n = 100; HIV+) and uninfected (n = 42; HIV−), were assessed on reported gender roles in sexual and other close relationships—including levels of self-silencing, unmitigated communion, and sexual relationship power—at a single recent study visit during 2008–2012. Recent gender roles were investigated in relation to depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life assessed both at a single visit during 2008–2012 and averaged over semiannual visits (for depressive symptoms) and annual visits (for quality of life) occurring between 1994 and 2012. Compared to HIV− women, HIV+ women reported significantly higher levels of several aspects of self-silencing, unmitigated communion, and multi-year averaged depressive symptoms as well as lower levels of sexual relationship power and recent and multi-year averaged quality of life. For both HIV+ and HIV− women, higher self-silencing and unmitigated communion significantly related to recent or multi-year averaged higher depressive symptoms and lower quality of life. Intervention strategies designed to increase self-care and self-advocacy in the context of relationships could potentially minimize depressive symptoms and enhance quality of life in women with and at risk for HIV. PMID:25492991

  4. Transition projects, Fiscal Year 1996: Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) for WBS 1.31, 7.1, and 6.13. Revision 1, Volume 1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cartmell, D.B.

    1995-09-01

    Based on US Department of Energy (DOE), Richland Operations Office (RL) review, specific areas of Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC), Transition Projects ``Draft`` Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) were revised in preparation for the RL approval ceremony on September 26, 1995. These changes were reviewed with the appropriate RL Project Manager. The changes have been incorporated to the MYPP electronic file, and hard copies replacing the ``Draft`` MYPP will be distributed after the formal signing. In addition to the comments received, a summary level schedule and outyear estimates for the K Basin deactivation beginning in FY 2001 have been included. The Kmore » Basin outyear waste data is nearing completion this week and will be incorporated. This exclusion was discussed with Mr. N.D. Moorer, RL, Facility Transition Program Support/Integration. The attached MYPP scope/schedule reflects the Integrated Target Case submitted in the April 1995 Activity Data Sheets (ADS) with the exception of B Plant and the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP). The 8 Plant assumption in FY 1997 reflects the planning case in the FY 1997 ADS with a shortfall of $5 million. PFP assumptions have been revised from the FY 1997 ADS based on the direction provided this past summer by DOE-Headquarters. This includes the acceleration of the polycube stabilization back to its originally planned completion date. Although the overall program repricing in FY 1996 allowed the scheduled acceleration to fall with the funding allocation, the FY 1997 total reflects a shortfall of $6 million.« less

  5. Seed banks of native forbs, but not exotic grasses, increase during extreme drought.

    PubMed

    LaForgia, Marina L; Spasojevic, Marko J; Case, Erica J; Latimer, Andrew M; Harrison, Susan P

    2018-04-01

    Extreme droughts such as the one that affected California in 2012-2015 have been linked to severe ecological consequences in perennial-dominated communities such as forests. In annual communities, drought impacts are difficult to assess because many species persist through facultative multiyear seed dormancy, which leads to the development of seed banks. Impacts of extreme drought on the abundance and composition of the seed banks of whole communities are little known. In 80 heterogeneous grassland plots where cover is dominated by ~15 species of exotic annual grasses and diversity is dominated by ~70 species of native annual forbs, we grew out seeds from soil cores collected early in the California drought (2012) and later in the multiyear drought (2014), and analyzed drought-associated changes in the seed bank. Over the course of the study we identified more than 22,000 seedlings to species. We found that seeds of exotic annual grasses declined sharply in abundance during the drought while seeds of native annual forbs increased, a pattern that resembled but was even stronger than the changes in aboveground cover of these groups. Consistent with the expectation that low specific leaf area (SLA) is an indicator of drought tolerance, we found that the community-weighted mean SLA of annual forbs declined both in the seed bank and in the aboveground community, as low-SLA forbs increased disproportionately. In this system, seed dormancy reinforces the indirect benefits of extreme drought to the native forb community. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

  6. CESDIS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1994-01-01

    CESDIS, the Center of Excellence in Space Data and Information Sciences was developed jointly by NASA, Universities Space Research Association (USRA), and the University of Maryland in 1988 to focus on the design of advanced computing techniques and data systems to support NASA Earth and space science research programs. CESDIS is operated by USRA under contract to NASA. The Director, Associate Director, Staff Scientists, and administrative staff are located on-site at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The primary CESDIS mission is to increase the connection between computer science and engineering research programs at colleges and universities and NASA groups working with computer applications in Earth and space science. Research areas of primary interest at CESDIS include: 1) High performance computing, especially software design and performance evaluation for massively parallel machines; 2) Parallel input/output and data storage systems for high performance parallel computers; 3) Data base and intelligent data management systems for parallel computers; 4) Image processing; 5) Digital libraries; and 6) Data compression. CESDIS funds multiyear projects at U. S. universities and colleges. Proposals are accepted in response to calls for proposals and are selected on the basis of peer reviews. Funds are provided to support faculty and graduate students working at their home institutions. Project personnel visit Goddard during academic recess periods to attend workshops, present seminars, and collaborate with NASA scientists on research projects. Additionally, CESDIS takes on specific research tasks of shorter duration for computer science research requested by NASA Goddard scientists.

  7. Tuning the Magnetic Transport of an Induction LINAC using Emittance

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Houck, T L; Brown, C G; Ong, M M

    2006-08-11

    The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Flash X-Ray (FXR) machine is a linear induction accelerator used to produce a nominal 18 MeV, 3 kA, 65 ns pulse width electron beam for hydrodynamic radiographs. A common figure of merit for this type of radiographic machine is the x-ray dose divided by the spot area on the bremsstrahlung converter where a higher FOM is desired. Several characteristics of the beam affect the minimum attainable x-ray spot size. The most significant are emittance (chaotic transverse energy), chromatic aberration (energy variation), and beam motion (transverse instabilities and corkscrew motion). FXR is in the midst ofmore » a multi-year optimization project to reduce the spot size. This paper describes the effort to reduce beam emittance by adjusting the fields of the transport solenoids and position of the cathode. If the magnetic transport is not correct, the beam will be mismatched and undergo envelope oscillations increasing the emittance. We measure the divergence and radius of the beam in a drift section after the accelerator by imaging the optical transition radiation (OTR) and beam envelope on a foil. These measurements are used to determine an emittance. Relative changes in the emittance can be quickly estimated from the foil measurements allowing for an efficient, real-time study. Once an optimized transport field is determined, the final focus can be adjusted and the new x-ray spot measured. A description of the diagnostics and analysis is presented.« less

  8. Regional grassland productivity responses to precipitation during multiyear above- and below-average rainfall periods.

    PubMed

    Petrie, Matthew D; Peters, Debra P C; Yao, Jin; Blair, John M; Burruss, Nathan D; Collins, Scott L; Derner, Justin D; Gherardi, Laureano A; Hendrickson, John R; Sala, Osvaldo E; Starks, Patrick J; Steiner, Jean L

    2018-05-01

    There is considerable uncertainty in the magnitude and direction of changes in precipitation associated with climate change, and ecosystem responses are also uncertain. Multiyear periods of above- and below-average rainfall may foretell consequences of changes in rainfall regime. We compiled long-term aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and precipitation (PPT) data for eight North American grasslands, and quantified relationships between ANPP and PPT at each site, and in 1-3 year periods of above- and below-average rainfall for mesic, semiarid cool, and semiarid warm grassland types. Our objective was to improve understanding of ANPP dynamics associated with changing climatic conditions by contrasting PPT-ANPP relationships in above- and below-average PPT years to those that occurred during sequences of multiple above- and below-average years. We found differences in PPT-ANPP relationships in above- and below-average years compared to long-term site averages, and variation in ANPP not explained by PPT totals that likely are attributed to legacy effects. The correlation between ANPP and current- and prior-year conditions changed from year to year throughout multiyear periods, with some legacy effects declining, and new responses emerging. Thus, ANPP in a given year was influenced by sequences of conditions that varied across grassland types and climates. Most importantly, the influence of prior-year ANPP often increased with the length of multiyear periods, whereas the influence of the amount of current-year PPT declined. Although the mechanisms by which a directional change in the frequency of above- and below-average years imposes a persistent change in grassland ANPP require further investigation, our results emphasize the importance of legacy effects on productivity for sequences of above- vs. below-average years, and illustrate the utility of long-term data to examine these patterns. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Modeling the Effects of Drought Events on Forest Ecosystem Functioning Historically and Under Scenarios of Climate Change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ren, J.; Hanan, E. J.; Kolden, C.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Tague, C.; Liu, M.; Adam, J. C.

    2017-12-01

    Drought events have been increasing across the western United States in recent years. Many studies have shown that, in the context of climate change, droughts will continue to be stronger, more frequent, and prolonged in the future. However, the response of forest ecosystems to droughts, particularly multi-year droughts, is not well understood. The objectives of this study are to examine how drought events of varying characteristics (e.g. intensity, duration, frequency, etc.) have affected the functioning of forest ecosystems historically, and how changing drought characteristics (including multi-year droughts) may affect forest functioning in a future climate. We utilize the Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) to simulate impacts of both historical droughts and scenarios of future droughts on forest ecosystems. RHESSys is a spatially-distributed and process-based model that captures the interactions between coupled biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles at catchment scales. Here our case study is the Trail Creek catchment of the Big Wood River basin in Idaho, the Northwestern USA. For historical simulations, we use the gridded meteorological data of 1979 to 2016; for future climate scenarios, we utilize downscaled data from GCMs that have been demonstrated to capture drought events in the Northwest of the USA. From these climate projections, we identify various types of drought in intensity and duration, including multi-year drought events. We evaluate the following responses of ecosystems to these events: 1) evapotranspiration and streamflow; 2) gross primary productivity; 3) the post-drought recovery of plant biomass; and 4) the forest functioning and recovery after multi-year droughts. This research is part of an integration project to examine the roles of drought, insect outbreak, and forest management activities on wildfire activity and its impacts. This project will provide improved information for forest managers and communities in the wild urban interface to adapt to climate change.

  10. High-resolution global fossil fuel CO2 emissions for 1992 to 2010 using integrated in-situ and remotely sensed data in a fossil fuel data assimilation system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asefi-Najafabady, S.; Gurney, K. R.; Rayner, P.; Huang, J.; Song, Y.

    2012-12-01

    The largest single net source of CO2 into the Earth's atmosphere is due to the combustion of fossil fuel and an accurate quantification of the fossil fuel flux is needed to better address the concern of rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. In the last decade, there has been a growing need, from both the science and policymaking communities for quantification of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions at finer space and time scales. Motivated by this concern, we have built a global fossil fuel CO2 emission inventory at 0.25° and 0.1° resolutions for the years of 1992 - 2010 using a combination of in situ and remotely sensed data in a fossil fuel data assimilation system (FFDAS). A suite of observations which include nightlights, population, sectoral national emissions and power plant stations are used to constrain the FFDAS model. FFDAS is based on a modified Kaya identity which expresses emissions as the product of areal population density, per capita economic activity, energy intensity of economic activity, and carbon intensity of energy consumption. Nightlights has been shown to correlate well with national and regional GDP and its relationship with population has been used as an initial means of downscaling fossil fuel emissions. However nightlights data are subject to instrumental saturation, causing areas of bright nightlights, such as urban cores, to be truncated. To address the saturation problem during several time periods, the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) has requested and received data collected at multiple fixed gain settings to observe the bright areas with no saturation. However, this dataset is limited to only four years (1999, 2002, 2006 and 2010). We have applied a numerical technique to these four years of data to estimate the unsaturated values for all years from 1992 to 2010. The corrected nightlights time series is then used in FFDAS to generate a multiyear fossil fuel CO2 emissions data product. Nightlights and population provide an approximate location and magnitude for fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Some emitting sectors, such as power plant emissions and heavy industry, are not coincident with where people live or lights are on. Therefore, for better accuracy, we used direct emissions information from power stations as a constraint to the FFDAS estimation. We present this new high resolution, multiyear emissions data product with analysis of the space/time patterns, trends and posterior uncertainty. We also compare the FFDAS results to the "bottom-up" high resolution fossil fuel CO2 emissions estimation generated by the Vulcan Project in the United States. Finally, we examine the sensitivity of the results to differences in the procedures used to generate the improved multiyear nightlights time series.

  11. Electrification Futures Study: End-Use Electric Technology Cost and Performance Projections through 2050

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jadun, Paige; McMillan, Colin; Steinberg, Daniel

    This report is the first in a series of Electrification Futures Study (EFS) publications. The EFS is a multiyear research project to explore widespread electrification in the future energy system of the United States. More specifically, the EFS is designed to examine electric technology advancement and adoption for end uses in all major economic sectors as well as electricity consumption growth and load profiles, future power system infrastructure development and operations, and the economic and environmental implications of widespread electrification. Because of the expansive scope and the multiyear duration of the study, research findings and supporting data will be publishedmore » as a series of reports, with each report released on its own timeframe.« less

  12. Developing decision-relevant data and information systems for California water through listening and collaboration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bales, R. C.; Bernacchi, L.; Conklin, M. H.; Viers, J. H.; Fogg, G. E.; Fisher, A. T.; Kiparsky, M.

    2017-12-01

    California's historic drought of 2011-2015 provided excellent conditions for researchers to listen to water-management challenges from decision makers, particularly with regard to data and information needs for improved decision making. Through the UC Water Security and Sustainability Research Initiative (http://ucwater.org/) we began a multi-year dialog with water-resources decision makers and state agencies that provide data and technical support for water management. Near-term products of that collaboration will be both a vision for a 21st-century water data and information system, and near-term steps to meet immediate legislative deadlines in a way that is consistent with the longer-term vision. While many university-based water researchers engage with state and local agencies on both science and policy challenges, UC Water's focus was on: i) integrated system management, from headwaters through groundwater and agriculture, and on ii) improved decision making through better water information systems. This focus aligned with the recognition by water leaders that fundamental changes in the way the state manages water were overdue. UC Water is focused on three "I"s: improved water information, empowering Institutions to use and to create new information, and enabling decision makers to make smart investments in both green and grey Infrastructure. Effective communication with water decision makers has led to engagement on high-priority programs where large knowledge gaps remain, including more-widespread groundwater recharge of storm flows, restoration of mountain forests in important source-water areas, governance structures for groundwater sustainability, and filling information gaps by bringing new technology to bear on measurement and data programs. Continuing engagement of UC Water researchers in public dialog around water resources, through opinion pieces, feature articles, blogs, white papers, social media, video clips and a feature documentary film have also been key to our continuing engagement. These novel partnerships are leading to decision-relevant tools and an improved integrated praxis in on-the-ground water-resources management. Our research is becoming more embedded in policies and our network remains interconnected with decision makers at multiple levels.

  13. ExCEL in Social Work: Excellence in Cancer Education & Leadership: An Oncology Social Work Response to the 2008 Institute of Medicine Report.

    PubMed

    Otis-Green, Shirley; Jones, Barbara; Zebrack, Brad; Kilburn, Lisa; Altilio, Terry A; Ferrell, Betty

    2015-09-01

    ExCEL in Social Work: Excellence in Cancer Education & Leadership was a multi-year National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded grant for the development and implementation of an innovative educational program for oncology social workers. The program's curriculum focused upon six core competencies of psychosocial-spiritual support necessary to meet the standard of care recommended by the 2008 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs. The curriculum was delivered through a collaborative partnership between the City of Hope National Medical Center and the two leading professional organizations devoted exclusively to representing oncology social workers--the Association of Oncology Social Work and the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers. Initial findings support the feasibility and acceptability of this tailored leadership skills-building program for participating oncology social workers.

  14. ExCEL in Social Work: Excellence in Cancer Education & Leadership An Oncology Social Work Response to the 2008 Institute of Medicine Report

    PubMed Central

    Otis-Green, Shirley; Jones, Barbara; Zebrack, Brad; Kilburn, Lisa; Altilio, Terry A.; Ferrell, Betty

    2014-01-01

    ExCEL in Social Work : Excellence in Cancer Education & Leadership was a multi-year National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded grant for the development and implementation of an innovative educational program for oncology social workers. The program’s curriculum focused upon six core competencies of psychosocial-spiritual support necessary to meet the standard of care recommended by the 2008 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs. The curriculum was delivered through a collaborative partnership between the City of Hope National Medical Center and the two leading professional organizations devoted exclusively to representing oncology social workers - the Association of Oncology Social Work and the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers. Initial findings support the feasibility and acceptability of this tailored leadership skills-building program for participating oncology social workers. PMID:25146345

  15. Evaluation of the Advanced Subsonic Technology Program Noise Reduction Benefits

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Golub, Robert A.; Rawls, John W., Jr.; Russell, James W.

    2005-01-01

    This report presents a detailed evaluation of the aircraft noise reduction technology concepts developed during the course of the NASA/FAA Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) Noise Reduction Program. In 1992, NASA and the FAA initiated a cosponsored, multi-year program with the U.S. aircraft industry focused on achieving significant advances in aircraft noise reduction. The program achieved success through a systematic development and validation of noise reduction technology. Using the NASA Aircraft Noise Prediction Program, the noise reduction benefit of the technologies that reached a NASA technology readiness level of 5 or 6 were applied to each of four classes of aircraft which included a large four engine aircraft, a large twin engine aircraft, a small twin engine aircraft and a business jet. Total aircraft noise reductions resulting from the implementation of the appropriate technologies for each class of aircraft are presented and compared to the AST program goals.

  16. Using Self-Determination Theory to build communities of support to aid in the retention of women in engineering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dell, Elizabeth M.; Verhoeven, Yen; Christman, Jeanne W.; Garrick, Robert D.

    2018-05-01

    Diverse perspectives are required to address the technological problems facing our world. Although women perform as well as their male counterparts in math and science prior to entering college, the numbers of women students entering and completing engineering programmes are far below their representation in the workforce. This paper reports on a qualitative, multiyear study of the experiences of women students in an Engineering Technology programme. The project addressed some of the unique, fundamental challenges that female students face within their programmes, and the authors describe a programmatic framework based on Self-Determination Theory as an intervention for the recruitment and retention of female engineering students. Data from focus groups and interviews show how students were supported in their undergraduate experiences and how inclusive learning environments are needed to further improve outcomes. Conceptual issues and methodological considerations of our outcomes are presented.

  17. HL-LHC and HE-LHC Upgrade Plans and Opportunities for US Participation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Apollinari, Giorgio

    2017-01-01

    The US HEP community has identified the exploitation of physics opportunities at the High Luminosity-LHC (HL-LHC) as the highest near-term priority. Thanks to multi-year R&D programs, US National Laboratories and Universities have taken the leadership in the development of technical solutions to increase the LHC luminosity, enabling the HL-LHC Project and uniquely positioning this country to make critical contributions to the LHC luminosity upgrade. This talk will describe the shaping of the US Program to contribute in the next decade to HL-LHC through newly developed technologies such as Nb3Sn focusing magnets or superconducting crab cavities. The experience gained through the execution of the HL-LHC Project in the US will constitute a pool of knowledge and capabilities allowing further developments in the future. Opportunities for US participations in proposed hadron colliders, such as a possible High Energy-LHC (HE-LHC), will be described as well.

  18. Managing students' learning in classrooms: Reframing classroom research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fawns, Rod; Salder, Jo

    1996-06-01

    Research on improving teaching typically focuses on the public statements of teachers and students. In the treatment of transcripts only the public “on task” utterances are usually coded and formally enter the research. In this paper the authors analysed Year 8 students' public and private statements to themselves and their peers collected in the course of their multi-year study of teacher management of communication in cooperative learning groups. The authors analysed the students' utterances as data about their cognitive and emotional responses to the management strategies The data reflect how the students perceived and responded to subtle features in the public enactment of the curriculum, the task and the setting during the ongoing lesson. The approach allows a better understanding of students' actual experiences, their responses to the overt and covert curriculum, their use of prior knowledge and their strategies for engaging with the science curriculum.

  19. A Multi-Year Study of Mosquito Feeding Patterns on Avian Hosts in a Southeastern Focus of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus

    PubMed Central

    Estep, Laura K.; McClure, Christopher J. W.; Burkett-Cadena, Nathan D.; Hassan, Hassan K.; Hicks, Tyler L.; Unnasch, Thomas R.; Hill, Geoffrey E.

    2011-01-01

    Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that cycles in birds but also causes severe disease in humans and horses. We examined patterns of avian host use by vectors of EEEV in Alabama from 2001 to 2009 using blood-meal analysis of field-collected mosquitoes and avian abundance surveys. The northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) was the only preferred host (fed on significantly more than expected based on abundance) of Culiseta melanura, the enzootic vector of EEEV. Preferred hosts of Culex erraticus, a putative bridge vector of EEEV, were American robin (Turdus migratorius), Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), barred owl (Strix varia), and northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottis). Our results provide insight into the relationships between vectors of EEEV and their avian hosts in the Southeast and suggest that the northern cardinal may be important in the ecology of EEEV in this region. PMID:21540380

  20. Parametric study using modal analysis of a bi-material plate with defects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Esola, S.; Bartoli, I.; Horner, S. E.; Zheng, J. Q.; Kontsos, A.

    2015-03-01

    Global vibrational method feasibility as a non-destructive inspection tool for multi-layered composites is evaluated using a simulated parametric study approach. A finite element model of a composite consisting of two, isotropic layers of dissimilar materials and a third, thin isotropic layer of adhesive is constructed as the representative test subject. Next, artificial damage is inserted according to systematic variations of the defect morphology parameters. A free-vibrational modal analysis simulation is executed for pristine and damaged plate conditions. Finally, resultant mode shapes and natural frequencies are extracted, compared and analyzed for trends. Though other defect types may be explored, the focus of this research is on interfacial delamination and its effects on the global, free-vibrational behavior of a composite plate. This study is part of a multi-year research effort conducted for the U.S. Army Program Executive Office - Soldier.

  1. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bohn, T. J.; Melton, J. R.; Ito, A.

    Wetlands are the world's largest natural source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The strong sensitivity of methane emissions to environmental factors such as soil temperature and moisture has led to concerns about potential positive feedbacks to climate change. This risk is particularly relevant at high latitudes, which have experienced pronounced warming and where thawing permafrost could potentially liberate large amounts of labile carbon over the next 100 years. However, global models disagree as to the magnitude and spatial distribution of emissions, due to uncertainties in wetland area and emissions per unit area and a scarcity of in situ observations.more » Recent intensive field campaigns across the West Siberian Lowland (WSL) make this an ideal region over which to assess the performance of large-scale process-based wetland models in a high-latitude environment. Here we present the results of a follow-up to the Wetland and Wetland CH 4 Intercomparison of Models Project (WETCHIMP), focused on the West Siberian Lowland (WETCHIMP-WSL). We assessed 21 models and 5 inversions over this domain in terms of total CH 4 emissions, simulated wetland areas, and CH 4 fluxes per unit wetland area and compared these results to an intensive in situ CH 4 flux data set, several wetland maps, and two satellite surface water products. We found that (a) despite the large scatter of individual estimates, 12-year mean estimates of annual total emissions over the WSL from forward models (5.34 ± 0.54 Tg CH 4 yr⁻¹), inversions (6.06 ± 1.22 Tg CH 4 yr⁻¹), and in situ observations (3.91 ± 1.29 Tg CH 4 yr⁻¹) largely agreed; (b) forward models using surface water products alone to estimate wetland areas suffered from severe biases in CH 4 emissions; (c) the interannual time series of models that lacked either soil thermal physics appropriate to the high latitudes or realistic emissions from unsaturated peatlands tended to be dominated by a single environmental driver (inundation or air temperature), unlike those of inversions and more sophisticated forward models; (d) differences in biogeochemical schemes across models had relatively smaller influence over performance; and (e) multiyear or multidecade observational records are crucial for evaluating models' responses to long-term climate change.« less

  2. WETCHIMP-WSL: Intercomparison of wetland methane emissions models over West Siberia

    DOE PAGES

    Bohn, T. J.; Melton, J. R.; Ito, A.; ...

    2015-06-03

    Wetlands are the world's largest natural source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The strong sensitivity of methane emissions to environmental factors such as soil temperature and moisture has led to concerns about potential positive feedbacks to climate change. This risk is particularly relevant at high latitudes, which have experienced pronounced warming and where thawing permafrost could potentially liberate large amounts of labile carbon over the next 100 years. However, global models disagree as to the magnitude and spatial distribution of emissions, due to uncertainties in wetland area and emissions per unit area and a scarcity of in situ observations.more » Recent intensive field campaigns across the West Siberian Lowland (WSL) make this an ideal region over which to assess the performance of large-scale process-based wetland models in a high-latitude environment. Here we present the results of a follow-up to the Wetland and Wetland CH 4 Intercomparison of Models Project (WETCHIMP), focused on the West Siberian Lowland (WETCHIMP-WSL). We assessed 21 models and 5 inversions over this domain in terms of total CH 4 emissions, simulated wetland areas, and CH 4 fluxes per unit wetland area and compared these results to an intensive in situ CH 4 flux data set, several wetland maps, and two satellite surface water products. We found that (a) despite the large scatter of individual estimates, 12-year mean estimates of annual total emissions over the WSL from forward models (5.34 ± 0.54 Tg CH 4 yr⁻¹), inversions (6.06 ± 1.22 Tg CH 4 yr⁻¹), and in situ observations (3.91 ± 1.29 Tg CH 4 yr⁻¹) largely agreed; (b) forward models using surface water products alone to estimate wetland areas suffered from severe biases in CH 4 emissions; (c) the interannual time series of models that lacked either soil thermal physics appropriate to the high latitudes or realistic emissions from unsaturated peatlands tended to be dominated by a single environmental driver (inundation or air temperature), unlike those of inversions and more sophisticated forward models; (d) differences in biogeochemical schemes across models had relatively smaller influence over performance; and (e) multiyear or multidecade observational records are crucial for evaluating models' responses to long-term climate change.« less

  3. Development of a structural concept to resist impacts from multiyear ice floes, ridges, and icebergs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gerwick, B.C.; Potter, R.E.; Rojansky, M.

    1984-05-01

    Large multi-year ice features and icebergs may have masses ranging up to 20 million tons or more and may move in the open water at speeds up to 1 knot, thus developing tremendous kinetic energy. A stepped structure concept has been developed to resist these impacts and to transfer the resultant forces and moments into the foundation thus developing a relatively high concentrated reaction force against the ice tending to spall and split it, thus causing a multi-modal failure of the ice, as well as using up kinetic energy at a relatively controlled rate. Calculated ice forces and ice failuremore » modes will be presented. The stepped structure concept is primarily applicable to production platforms in water depths of 50 to 200 meters, which are subject to impact of large ice features such as multi-year ridges, floes, and icebergs The resulting global ice loads are reduced by 50 percent or more as compared to those developed by a vertical or a steep sided structure. Overturning moments are reduced, thus reducing maxima soil bearing values. The structure itself is efficient in its use of structural materials, and is practicable for construction in prestressed reinforced concrete or steel/ concrete hybrid construction. It has acceptable draft during tow and can carry a fully outfitted deck. It is stable during all stages of installation.« less

  4. Truss-Integrated Thermoformed Ductwork Final Technical Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Steven Winter; Dianne Griffiths; Ravi Gorthala

    2007-08-30

    This report summarizes a multi-year research effort to develop a leak-free duct system that can be readily installed within the thermal envelope. There are numerous efforts underway to improve duct system efficiency. Most of these involve modifications to current technology such as air sealing techniques like mastic and aeroseal, snap together duct connections, and greater levels of insulation. This project sought to make a more significant stride forward by introducing a duct system of a material that can be more readily sealed and can exhibit lower friction losses. The research focused on the use of smooth internal surface, low frictionmore » plastic ducts that could be easily installed with very low air leakage. The initial system concept that was proposed and researched in Phase I focused on the use of thermoformed plastic ducts installed in a recessed roof truss underneath the attic insulation. A bench top thermoformed system was developed and tested during Phase I of the project. In Phase II, a first generation duct system utilizing a resin impregnated fiberglass duct product was designed and specified. The system was installed and tested in an Atlanta area home. Following this installation research and correspondence with code officials was undertaken to alleviate the continued concern over the code acceptance of plastic ducts in above ground applications. A Committee Interpretation response was received from the International Code Council (ICC) stating that plastic ducts were allowed, but must be manufactured from materials complying with Class 0 or Class 1 rating. With assurance of code acceptance, a plastic duct system using rotomolded high density polyethylene ducts that had passed the material test requirements by impregnating the material with a fire retardant during the molding process was installed in the basement of a new ranch-style home in Madison, WI. A series of measurements to evaluate the performance benefits relative to a similar control house with a standard sheet metal installation were made.« less

  5. Accountability Studies on Air Pollution and Health: the HEI Experience.

    PubMed

    Boogaard, Hanna; van Erp, Annemoon M; Walker, Katherine D; Shaikh, Rashid

    2017-12-01

    Assessing health effects of air quality interventions is of ever-increasing interest. Given the prominent role Health Effects Institute (HEI) has played in accountability research, this review focuses on HEI's recent experiences, the challenges it has encountered, and provides possible directions for future research. Most accountability studies to date have focused on effects of relatively short-term, local-scale, and sometimes temporary interventions. Only a few recent accountability studies have sought to investigate large-scale, multiyear regulatory programs. Common challenges encountered include lack of statistical power, how to account appropriately for background trends in air quality and health, and difficulties in direct attribution of changes in air pollution and health to a single intervention among many regulatory actions. New methods have been developed for accountability research that has shown promise addressing some of those challenges, including use of causal inference methods. These and other approaches that would enhance the attribution of changes in air quality and health directly to an intervention should continue to be further explored. In addition, integration of social and behavioral sciences in accountability research is warranted, and climate related co-benefits and dis-benefits may be considered.

  6. 50 CFR 80.35 - What additional requirements apply to multiyear licenses?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (CONTINUED) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE-WILDLIFE AND SPORT FISH RESTORATION PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, PITTMAN-ROBERTSON WILDLIFE RESTORATION AND DINGELL-JOHNSON SPORT FISH RESTORATION...

  7. Bright is the new black—multi-year performance of high-albedo roofs in an urban climate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gaffin, S. R.; Imhoff, M.; Rosenzweig, C.; Khanbilvardi, R.; Pasqualini, A.; Kong, A. Y. Y.; Grillo, D.; Freed, A.; Hillel, D.; Hartung, E.

    2012-03-01

    High-albedo white and cool roofing membranes are recognized as a fundamental strategy that dense urban areas can deploy on a large scale, at low cost, to mitigate the urban heat island effect. We are monitoring three generic white membranes within New York City that represent a cross section of the dominant white membrane options for US flat roofs: (1) an ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber membrane; (2) a thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) membrane; and (3) an asphaltic multi-ply built-up membrane coated with white elastomeric acrylic paint. The paint product is being used by New York City’s government for the first major urban albedo enhancement program in its history. We report on the temperature and related albedo performance of these three membranes at three different sites over a multi-year period. The results indicate that the professionally installed white membranes are maintaining their temperature control effectively and are meeting the Energy Star Cool Roofing performance standards requiring a three-year aged albedo above 0.50. The EPDM membrane shows evidence of low emissivity; however this had the interesting effect of avoiding any ‘winter heat penalty’ for this building. The painted asphaltic surface shows high emissivity but lost about half of its initial albedo within two years of installation. Given that the acrylic approach is such an important ‘do-it-yourself’, low-cost, retrofit technique, and, as such, offers the most rapid technique for increasing urban albedo, further product performance research is recommended to identify conditions that optimize its long-term albedo control. Even so, its current multi-year performance still represents a significant albedo enhancement for urban heat island mitigation.

  8. Sea-ice thickness from field measurements in the northwestern Barents Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    King, Jennifer; Spreen, Gunnar; Gerland, Sebastian; Haas, Christian; Hendricks, Stefan; Kaleschke, Lars; Wang, Caixin

    2017-02-01

    The Barents Sea is one of the fastest changing regions of the Arctic, and has experienced the strongest decline in winter-time sea-ice area in the Arctic, at -23±4% decade-1. Sea-ice thickness in the Barents Sea is not well studied. We present two previously unpublished helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM) ice thickness measurements from the northwestern Barents Sea acquired in March 2003 and 2014. The HEM data are compared to ice thickness calculated from ice draft measured by ULS deployed between 1994 and 1996. These data show that ice thickness varies greatly from year to year; influenced by the thermodynamic and dynamic processes that govern local formation vs long-range advection. In a year with a large inflow of sea-ice from the Arctic Basin, the Barents Sea ice cover is dominated by thick multiyear ice; as was the case in 2003 and 1995. In a year with an ice cover that was mainly grown in situ, the ice will be thin and mechanically unstable; as was the case in 2014. The HEM data allow us to explore the spatial and temporal variability in ice thickness. In 2003 the dominant ice class was more than 2 years old; and modal sea-ice thickness varied regionally from 0.6 to 1.4 m, with the thinner ice being either first-year ice, or multiyear ice which had come into contact with warm Atlantic water. In 2014 the ice cover was predominantly locally grown ice less than 1 month old (regional modes of 0.5-0.8 m). These two situations represent two extremes of a range of possible ice thickness distributions that can present very different conditions for shipping traffic; or have a different impact on heat transport from ocean to atmosphere.

  9. Rigidity of Major Plates and Microplates Estimated From GPS Solution GPS2006.0

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kogan, M. G.; Steblov, G. M.

    2006-05-01

    Here we analyze the rigidity of eight major lithospheric plates using our global GPS solution GPS2006.0. We included all daily observations in interval 1995.0 to 2006.0 collected at IGS stations, as well as observations at many important stations not included in IGS. Loose multiyear solution GPS2006.0 is based on daily solutions by GAMIT software, performed at SOPAC and at Columbia University; those daily solutions were combined by Kalman filter (GLOBK software) into a loose multiyear solution. The constrained solution for station positions and velocities was obtained without a conventional reference frame; instead, we applied translation and rotation in order to best fit the zero velocities of 76 stations in stable plate cores excluding the regions of postglacial rebound. Simultaneously, we estimated relative plate rotation vectors (RV) and the origin translation rate (OTR), and then corrected station velocities for it. Therefore, the velocities in GPS2006.0 are unaffected by the OTR error of ITRF2000 conventionally used to constrain a loose solution. The 1-sigma plate-residual velocity in a stable plate core is less than 1 mm/yr for the plates: Eurasia, Pacific, North and South Americas, Nubia, Australia, and Antarctica; it is 1.4 mm/yr for the Indian plate, most probably because of poorer data quality. Plate-residuals at other established plates (Arabia, Nazca, Caribbean, Philippine) were not assessed for lack of observations. From our analysis, an upper bound for the mobility of the plate inner area is 1 mm/yr. Plate- residual GPS velocities for several hypothesized microplates in east Asia, such as Okhotsk, Amuria, South China, are 3-4 times higher; corresponding strain rates for these microplates are an order of magnitude higher than for Eurasia, North America, and other large plates.

  10. Changes in summer sea ice, albedo, and portioning of surface solar radiation in the Pacific sector of Arctic Ocean during 1982-2009

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lei, Ruibo; Tian-Kunze, Xiangshan; Leppäranta, Matti; Wang, Jia; Kaleschke, Lars; Zhang, Zhanhai

    2016-08-01

    SSM/I sea ice concentration and CLARA black-sky composite albedo were used to estimate sea ice albedo in the region 70°N-82°N, 130°W-180°W. The long-term trends and seasonal evolutions of ice concentration, composite albedo, and ice albedo were then obtained. In July-August 1982-2009, the linear trend of the composite albedo and the ice albedo was -0.069 and -0.046 units per decade, respectively. During 1 June to 19 August, melting of sea ice resulted in an increase of solar heat input to the ice-ocean system by 282 MJ·m-2 from 1982 to 2009. However, because of the counter-balancing effects of the loss of sea ice area and the enhanced ice surface melting, the trend of solar heat input to the ice was insignificant. The summer evolution of ice albedo matched the ice surface melting and ponding well at basin scale. The ice albedo showed a large difference between the multiyear and first-year ice because the latter melted completely by the end of a melt season. At the SHEBA geolocations, a distinct change in the ice albedo has occurred since 2007, because most of the multiyear ice has been replaced by first-year ice. A positive polarity in the Arctic Dipole Anomaly could be partly responsible for the rapid loss of summer ice within the study region in the recent years by bringing warmer air masses from the south and advecting more ice toward the north. Both these effects would enhance ice-albedo feedback.

  11. Variability in the CO2-carbonic Acid System Parameters Across Coral Reef Settings in Hawaii: Perspectives from Multi-year Records from NOAA/PMEL MAPCO2 Buoys

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    De Carlo, E. H.; Drupp, P. S.; Thompson, R. W.; Mackenzie, F. T.; Muscielewicz, S.; Jones, S. M.; Feely, R. A.; Sabine, C. L.

    2012-12-01

    A series of MAP-CO2 buoys deployed in the coastal waters of Hawaii have produced multiyear high temporal resolution CO2 records in four different coral reef environments of the island of Oahu, Hawaii. This study is part of an integrated effort to understand the factors that influence the dynamics of CO2-carbonic acid system parameters in waters bathing Pacific high island coral reef ecosystems and subject to differing natural and anthropogenic stresses. The MAP-CO2 buoys are located in backreef, lagoonal, and fringing reef sites, and measure CO2 and O2 in seawater and in the atmosphere. Other sensors on the buoys record physical and biogeochemical parameters (CTD, chl-a, turbidity, pH, nitrate). The buoy records, when combined with data from synoptic spatial sampling, have allowed us to examine the interplay between biological cycles of productivity/respiration and calcification/dissolution and biogeochemical and physical forcing on hourly to inter-annual time scales, including those of land runoff. Our data demonstrate that coral reefs are subject to a wide range of pCO2, both on short and long time scales, and significant differences in the CO2-carbonic acid system dynamics across these various settings. We report that coral communities currently thrive in areas where the concentrations of CO2 can range from extremes as low as 200 ppm to as high as 1000 ppm and can fluctuate by ~500 ppm on any given day. The data provide evidence that net ecosystem calcification currently occurs in the presence of levels of CO2 predicted to occur well into the next century, although these coral reef ecosystems are only exposed to the extremes for short periods of time each day.

  12. Spatial comparability of drought characteristics and related return periods in mainland China over 1961-2013

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ayantobo, Olusola O.; Li, Yi; Song, Songbai; Yao, Ning

    2017-07-01

    The proper understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of multi-year droughts and return periods is important for drought risk assessment. This study evaluated and compared the spatiotemporal variations of drought characteristics and return periods within mainland China between 1961 and 2013. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and Composite Index (CI) were calculated at multiple timescales, the run theory was used for objective identification and characterization of drought events while Kendall's τ method was used to analyze their dependencies. Within the univariate framework, marginal distributions of duration, severity, and peak were derived by fitting Exponential, Weibull and GDP distributions respectively and the drought return periods was investigated and mapped. Comparison of drought indices showed that SPEI and CI performed better than SPI in delineating spatial patterns of drought characteristics. This might be attributed to the temperature effect on evapotranspiration and therefore on drought index. Considering the increasing trend in reference evapotranspiration in the 21st century, the importance of utilizing temperature-based drought index is imperative. Severe and extreme droughts occurred in the late 1990s in many places in China while persistent multi-year severe droughts occurred more frequently over North China, Northeast China, Northwest China and Southwest China. The spatial patterns showed that regions characterized by higher drought severity were associated with higher drought duration. The North China, Northwest China, and Southwest China had much longer drought durations during the 1990s and 2000s. As droughts normally cover large areas, regional drought return periods has been showed to be more effective in providing support for drought management than station based drought return periods. Studies on the spatial comparability of drought return periods across mainland China have therefore been undertaken for drought mitigation and effective utilization of water resources.

  13. Strong Communities for Children: Results of a multi-year community-based initiative to protect children from harm.

    PubMed

    McDonell, James R; Ben-Arieh, Asher; Melton, Gary B

    2015-03-01

    This article reports the evaluation results from Strong Communities for Children, a multi-year comprehensive community-based initiative to prevent child maltreatment and improve children's safety. The outcome study consisted of a survey of a random sample of caregivers of children under age 10 in the Strong Communities service area and a set of comparison communities matched at the block group level on demography. Survey data were collected in two waves 4 years apart. Data were collected on (a) perceptions of the neighborhood and neighbors (e.g., neighboring, collective efficacy), (b) perceptions of neighbors' parenting practices, (c) parental attitudes and beliefs (e.g., parental stress; parental efficacy), and (d) self-reported parenting practices. The survey data were supplemented by data on substantiated reported rates of child abuse and neglect per 1,000 children and ICD-9 coded child injuries suggesting child abuse and neglect per 1,000 children. Compared to the non-intervention sample across time, the Strong Communities samples showed significant changes in the expected direction for social support, collective efficacy, child safety in the home, observed parenting practices, parental stress, parental efficacy, self-reported parenting practices, rates of officially substantiated child maltreatment, and rates of ICD-9 coded child injuries suggesting child maltreatment. These promising results, obtained through multiple methods of evaluation, confirm that a community mobilization strategy can shift norms of parents' care for their children and neighbors' support for one another, so that young children are safer at home and in the community. Replications should be undertaken and evaluated in other communities under diverse auspices. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Pan-Arctic sea ice-algal chl a biomass and suitable habitat are largely underestimated for multiyear ice.

    PubMed

    Lange, Benjamin A; Flores, Hauke; Michel, Christine; Beckers, Justin F; Bublitz, Anne; Casey, John Alec; Castellani, Giulia; Hatam, Ido; Reppchen, Anke; Rudolph, Svenja A; Haas, Christian

    2017-11-01

    There is mounting evidence that multiyear ice (MYI) is a unique component of the Arctic Ocean and may play a more important ecological role than previously assumed. This study improves our understanding of the potential of MYI as a suitable habitat for sea ice algae on a pan-Arctic scale. We sampled sea ice cores from MYI and first-year sea ice (FYI) within the Lincoln Sea during four consecutive spring seasons. This included four MYI hummocks with a mean chl a biomass of 2.0 mg/m 2 , a value significantly higher than FYI and MYI refrozen ponds. Our results support the hypothesis that MYI hummocks can host substantial ice-algal biomass and represent a reliable ice-algal habitat due to the (quasi-) permanent low-snow surface of these features. We identified an ice-algal habitat threshold value for calculated light transmittance of 0.014%. Ice classes and coverage of suitable ice-algal habitat were determined from snow and ice surveys. These ice classes and associated coverage of suitable habitat were applied to pan-Arctic CryoSat-2 snow and ice thickness data products. This habitat classification accounted for the variability of the snow and ice properties and showed an areal coverage of suitable ice-algal habitat within the MYI-covered region of 0.54 million km 2 (8.5% of total ice area). This is 27 times greater than the areal coverage of 0.02 million km 2 (0.3% of total ice area) determined using the conventional block-model classification, which assigns single-parameter values to each grid cell and does not account for subgrid cell variability. This emphasizes the importance of accounting for variable snow and ice conditions in all sea ice studies. Furthermore, our results indicate the loss of MYI will also mean the loss of reliable ice-algal habitat during spring when food is sparse and many organisms depend on ice-algae. © 2017 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Disseminated Museum Displays and Participation of Students from Underrepresented Populations in Polar Research: Education and Outreach for Joint Projects in GPS and Seismology Solid Earth Science Community

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eriksson, S. C.; Wilson, T. J.; Anandakrishnan, S.; Aster, R. C.; Johns, B.; Anderson, K.; Taber, J.

    2006-12-01

    Two Antarctic projects developed by solid earth scientists in the GPS and seismology communities have rich education and outreach activities focused on disseminating information gleaned from this research and on including students from underrepresented groups. Members of the UNAVCO and IRIS research consortia along with international partners from Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the U.K. aim to deploy an ambitious GPS/seismic network to observe the Antarctic glaciological and geologic system using a multidisciplinary and internationally coordinated approach. The second project supports this network. UNAVCO and IRIS are designing and building a reliable power and communication system for autonomous polar station operation which use the latest power and communication technologies for ease of deployment and reliable multi-year operation in severe polar environments. This project will disseminate research results through an IPY/POLENET web-based museum style display based on the next-generation "Museum Lite" capability primarily supported by IRIS. "Museum Lite" uses a standard PC, touch-screen monitor, and standard Internet browsers to exploit the scalability and access of the Internet and to provide customizable content in an interactive setting. The unit is suitable for research departments, public schools, and an assortment of public venues, and can provide wide access to real-time geophysical data, ongoing research, and general information. The POLENET group will work with members of the two consortia to provide content about the project and polar science in general. One unit is to be installed at Barrow's Ilisagvit College through the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, one at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, and two at other sites to be determined (likely in New Zealand/Australia and in the U.S.). In January, 2006, Museum Lite exhibit was installed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Evaluation of this prototype is underway. These projects also have a special focus on engaging underrepresented groups in polar science through coalitions with existing recruitment networks and strong, currently operating programs such as the joint UNAVCO-IRIS-USGS program called Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students (RESESS) that provides multi-year research experiences, ongoing mentorship, and a learning community. Undergraduate students will participate in polar research or in development of the new polar equipment.

  16. 48 CFR 3.501-2 - General.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... submitted only for the total multiyear quantity; or (2) Priced options for additional quantities that... safeguards are available to the contracting officer to preclude recovery of buying-in losses (e.g...

  17. 48 CFR 3.501-2 - General.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... submitted only for the total multiyear quantity; or (2) Priced options for additional quantities that... safeguards are available to the contracting officer to preclude recovery of buying-in losses (e.g...

  18. Comprehensive evaluation of multi-year real-time air quality forecasting using an online-coupled meteorology-chemistry model over southeastern United States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Yang; Hong, Chaopeng; Yahya, Khairunnisa; Li, Qi; Zhang, Qiang; He, Kebin

    2016-08-01

    An online-coupled meteorology-chemistry model, WRF/Chem-MADRID, has been deployed for real time air quality forecast (RT-AQF) in southeastern U.S. since 2009. A comprehensive evaluation of multi-year RT-AQF shows overall good performance for temperature and relative humidity at 2-m (T2, RH2), downward surface shortwave radiation (SWDOWN) and longwave radiation (LWDOWN), and cloud fraction (CF), ozone (O3) and fine particles (PM2.5) at surface, tropospheric ozone residuals (TOR) in O3 seasons (May-September), and column NO2 in winters (December-February). Moderate-to-large biases exist in wind speed at 10-m (WS10), precipitation (Precip), cloud optical depth (COT), ammonium (NH4+), sulfate (SO42-), and nitrate (NO3-) from the IMPROVE and SEARCH networks, organic carbon (OC) at IMPROVE, and elemental carbon (EC) and OC at SEARCH, aerosol optical depth (AOD) and column carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and formaldehyde (HCHO) in both O3 and winter seasons, column nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in O3 seasons, and TOR in winters. These biases indicate uncertainties in the boundary layer and cloud process treatments (e.g., surface roughness, microphysics cumulus parameterization), emissions (e.g., O3 and PM precursors, biogenic, mobile, and wildfire emissions), upper boundary conditions for all major gases and PM2.5 species, and chemistry and aerosol treatments (e.g., winter photochemistry, aerosol thermodynamics). The model shows overall good skills in reproducing the observed multi-year trends and inter-seasonal variability in meteorological and radiative variables such as T2, WS10, Precip, SWDOWN, and LWDOWN, and relatively well in reproducing the observed trends in surface O3 and PM2.5, but relatively poor in reproducing the observed column abundances of CO, NO2, SO2, HCHO, TOR, and AOD. The sensitivity simulations using satellite-constrained boundary conditions for O3 and CO show substantial improvement for both spatial distribution and domain-mean performance statistics. The model's forecasting skills for air quality can be further enhanced through improving model inputs (e.g., anthropogenic emissions for urban areas and upper boundary conditions of chemical species), meteorological forecasts (e.g., WS10, Precip) and meteorologically-dependent emissions (e.g., biogenic and wildfire emissions), and model physics and chemical treatments (e.g., gas-phase chemistry in winter conditions, cloud processes and their interactions with radiation and aerosol).

  19. The study of ozone variations in the Las Vegas metropolitan area using remote sensing information and ground observations

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Xian, G.; Crane, M.

    2006-01-01

    Urban development in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, has grown rapidly in the past fifty years. Associated with this growth has been a change in landscape from natural cover types to developed urban land mixed with planned vegetation canopy throughout in the metropolitan area. Air quality in the Las Vegas Valley has been affected by increases in anthropogenic emissions and concentrations of carbon monoxide, ozone, and criteria pollutants of particular matter. Ozone concentration in the region is generally influenced by synoptic and mesoscale meteorological conditions, as well as regional transport of pollutants from the western side of Las Vegas. Local influences from ground-level nitrogen oxide emissions and vegetation canopy coverage also affect ozone concentration. Multi-year observational data collected by a network of local air monitoring stations in Clark County, Nevada, indicate that ozone maximums develop in May and June, while minimums exist primarily from November to February. Ozone concentrations are high on the west and northwest sides of the valley. A nighttime ozone reduction in the urban area characterizes the heterogeneous features of spatial distribution for average ozone levels in the Las Vegas urban area. The urban vegetation canopy has a locally positive effect by reducing ozone in urban areas. Decreased ozone levels associated with increased urban development density suggests that the highest ozone concentrations are associated with medium- to low-density urban development in Las Vegas.

  20. Utilizing wide area maritime domain awareness (MDA) data to cue a remote surveillance system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Isenor, Anthony W.; Cross, Richard; Webb, Sean; Lapinski, Anna-Liesa S.

    2013-10-01

    Defence Research and Development Canada - Atlantic (DRDC Atlantic) is currently involved in research on the topic of northern Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). One project, entitled Situational Information for Enabling Development of Northern Awareness (SEDNA), includes research on the exploitation of MDA data in northern areas. One aspect of this research is to utilize wide area MDA data to provide awareness to an unattended, land-based system. Wide area MDA is attained through the use of space-based AIS (SAIS) data, a data feed used by the Canadian Department of National Defence and supplied by the commercial provider exactEarth Ltd. The land-based surveillance system used is the remote northern system constructed within the DRDC Northern Watch Technology Demonstration Project. Northern Watch is a multi-year project intended to show state-of-the-art, unattended, surveillance capabilities in the Canadian north. The link between the SAIS and Northern Watch is provided by a research infrastructure that consists of an assembly of data sources, users, applications, and product management techniques that collectively support research in areas such as information management and MDA data exploitation. High-level descriptions of the systems are provided along with elaboration on the alerting algorithm, the notifications that would be sent to the Northern Watch southern command site, and the resulting actions that could be taken by the Northern Watch surveillance system.

  1. Development and validation of a habitat suitability model for ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    We developed a spatially-explicit, flexible 3-parameter habitat suitability model that can be used to identify and predict areas at higher risk for non-native dwarf eelgrass (Zostera japonica) invasion. The model uses simple environmental parameters (depth, nearshore slope, and salinity) to quantitatively describe habitat suitable for Z. japonica invasion based on ecology and physiology from the primary literature. Habitat suitability is defined with values ranging from zero to one, where one denotes areas most conducive to Z. japonica and zero denotes areas not likely to support Z. japonica growth. The model was applied to Yaquina Bay, Oregon, USA, an area that has well documented Z. japonica expansion over the last two decades. The highest suitability values for Z. japonica occurred in the mid to upper portions of the intertidal zone, with larger expanses occurring in the lower estuary. While the upper estuary did contain suitable habitat, most areas were not as large as in the lower estuary, due to inappropriate depth, a steeply sloping intertidal zone, and lower salinity. The lowest suitability values occurred below the lower intertidal zone, within the Yaquina River channel. The model was validated by comparison to a multi-year time series of Z. japonica maps, revealing a strong predictive capacity. Sensitivity analysis performed to evaluate the contribution of each parameter to the model prediction revealed that depth was the most important factor. Sh

  2. 7 CFR 623.2 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... multiyear grasses and legumes in rotation as approved by the Secretary. For purposes of determining crop... payment made by NRCS to assist program participants in establishing the practices required in a WRPO. (h...

  3. 7 CFR 623.2 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... multiyear grasses and legumes in rotation as approved by the Secretary. For purposes of determining crop... payment made by NRCS to assist program participants in establishing the practices required in a WRPO. (h...

  4. A satellite snow depth multi-year average derived from SSM/I for the high latitude regions

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Biancamaria, S.; Mognard, N.M.; Boone, A.; Grippa, M.; Josberger, E.G.

    2008-01-01

    The hydrological cycle for high latitude regions is inherently linked with the seasonal snowpack. Thus, accurately monitoring the snow depth and the associated aerial coverage are critical issues for monitoring the global climate system. Passive microwave satellite measurements provide an optimal means to monitor the snowpack over the arctic region. While the temporal evolution of snow extent can be observed globally from microwave radiometers, the determination of the corresponding snow depth is more difficult. A dynamic algorithm that accounts for the dependence of the microwave scattering on the snow grain size has been developed to estimate snow depth from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperatures and was validated over the U.S. Great Plains and Western Siberia. The purpose of this study is to assess the dynamic algorithm performance over the entire high latitude (land) region by computing a snow depth multi-year field for the time period 1987-1995. This multi-year average is compared to the Global Soil Wetness Project-Phase2 (GSWP2) snow depth computed from several state-of-the-art land surface schemes and averaged over the same time period. The multi-year average obtained by the dynamic algorithm is in good agreement with the GSWP2 snow depth field (the correlation coefficient for January is 0.55). The static algorithm, which assumes a constant snow grain size in space and time does not correlate with the GSWP2 snow depth field (the correlation coefficient with GSWP2 data for January is - 0.03), but exhibits a very high anti-correlation with the NCEP average January air temperature field (correlation coefficient - 0.77), the deepest satellite snow pack being located in the coldest regions, where the snow grain size may be significantly larger than the average value used in the static algorithm. The dynamic algorithm performs better over Eurasia (with a correlation coefficient with GSWP2 snow depth equal to 0.65) than over North America (where the correlation coefficient decreases to 0.29). ?? 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Diagnosis of inconsistencies in multi-year gridded precipitation data over mountainous areas and related impacts on hydrologic simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mizukami, N.; Smith, M. B.

    2010-12-01

    It is common for the error characteristics of long-term precipitation data to change over time due to various factors such as gauge relocation and changes in data processing methods. The temporal consistency of precipitation data error characteristics is as important as data accuracy itself for hydrologic model calibration and subsequent use of the calibrated model for streamflow prediction. In mountainous areas, the generation of precipitation grids relies on sparse gage networks, the makeup of which often varies over time. This causes a change in error characteristics of the long-term precipitation data record. We will discuss the diagnostic analysis of the consistency of gridded precipitation time series and illustrate the adverse effect of inconsistent precipitation data on a hydrologic model simulation. We used hourly 4 km gridded precipitation time series over a mountainous basin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California from October 1988 through September 2006. The basin is part of the broader study area that served as the focus of the second phase of the Distributed Model Intercomparison Project (DMIP-2), organized by the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). To check the consistency of the gridded precipitation time series, double mass analysis was performed using single pixel and basin mean areal precipitation (MAP) values derived from gridded DMIP-2 and Parameter-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) precipitation data. The analysis leads to the conclusion that over the entire study time period, a clear change in error characteristics in the DMIP-2 data occurred in the beginning of 2003. This matches the timing of one of the major gage network changes. The inconsistency of two MAP time series computed from the gridded precipitation fields over two elevation zones was corrected by adjusting hourly values based on the double mass analysis. We show that model simulations using the adjusted MAP data produce improved stream flow compared to simulations using the inconsistent MAP input data.

  6. The Irish Seabed Mapping Programme: INFOMAR - Integrated Mapping Survey for the Sustainable Developments of Ireland's Marine Resources. Progress to Date.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sacchetti, F.; Benetti, S.; Fitzpatrick, F.

    2006-12-01

    During the last six years, the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute of Ireland worked together on the multimillion Irish National Seabed Survey project with the purpose of mapping the Irish marine territory using a suite of remote sensing equipment, from multibeam to seismic, achieving 87% coverage of the marine zone. Ireland was the first country in the world to carry out an extensive mapping project of their extended Exclusive Economic Zone. The Irish National Seabed Survey is now succeeded by the multiyear INFOMAR Programme. INFOMAR will concentrate initially on mapping twenty-six selected priority bays, three sea areas and the fisheries-protection "Biologically Sensitive Area", and then will complete 100% mapping of the remainder of the EEZ. Designed to incorporate all elements of an integrated mapping programme, the key data acquisition will include hydrography, oceanographic, geological and heritage data. These data sets discharge Ireland's obligations under international treaties to which she is signatory and the uses of these data are vast and multipurpose: from management plans for inshore fishing, aquaculture, coastal protection and engineering works, to environmental impact assessments related to licensing activity and support to the evolving needs of integrated coastal zone management. INFOMAR also includes a data management, exchange and integration programme for the establishment of a National Marine Data Discovery and Exchange Service; providing improved dissemination of information to researchers, policy makers, the public and private sector and the adoption of standard operating procedures in data management to facilitate inter-agency data integration. During the first year of activity, INFOMAR carried out an integrated survey from the national research vessel, the RV Celtic Explorer, acquiring hydrographic, geophysical and groundtruthing data from Bantry and Dunmanus Bays, located off the South West coast of Ireland. Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) and small-vessel mapping surveys have also been carried out, giving detailed bathymetric, topographic and habitat information for the shoaler waters and inshore areas. This presentation will focus both on the general framework and scope of INFOMAR and the initial results and experiences of this year's survey.

  7. Thinning, tree-growth, and resistance to multi-year drought in a mixed-conifer forest of northern California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Vernon, Michael J.; Sherriff, Rosemary L.; van Mantgem, Phillip; Kane, Jeffrey M.

    2018-01-01

    Drought is an important stressor in forest ecosystems that can influence tree vigor and survival. In the U.S., forest managers use two primary management techniques to promote resistance and resilience to drought: prescribed fire and mechanical thinning. Generally applied to reduce fuels and fire hazard, treatments may also reduce competition for resources that may improve tree-growth and reduce mortality during drought. A recent severe and prolonged drought in California provided a natural experiment to investigate tree-growth responses to fuel treatments and climatic stress. We assessed tree-growth from 299 ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in treated and untreated stands during severe drought from 2012 to 2015 in the mixed-conifer forests of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (WNRA) in northern California. The treatment implemented at WNRA removed 34% of live basal area through mechanical thinning with a subsequent pile burning of residual fuels. Tree-growth was positively associated with crown ratio and negatively associated with competition and a 1-year lag of climate water deficit, an index of drought. Douglas-fir generally had higher annual growth than ponderosa pine, although factors affecting growth were the same for both species. Drought resistance, expressed as the ratio between mean growth during drought and mean growth pre-drought, was higher in treated stands compared to untreated stands during both years of severe drought (2014 and 2015) for ponderosa pine but only one year (2014) for Douglas-fir. Thinning improved drought resistance, but tree size, competition and species influenced this response. On-going thinning treatments focused on fuels and fire hazard reduction are likely to be effective at promoting growth and greater drought resistance in dry mixed-conifer forests. Given the likelihood of future droughts, land managers may choose to implement similar treatments to reduce potential impacts.

  8. Compositional Analysis of Fine Particulate Matter in Fairbanks, Alaska

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nattinger, K.; Simpson, W. R.; Huff, D.

    2015-12-01

    Fairbanks, AK experiences extreme pollution episodes that result in winter violations of the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards. This poses a significant health risk for the inhabitants of the area. These high levels result from trapping of pollution in a very shallow boundary layer due to local meteorology, but the role of primary (direct emission) of particulate matter versus secondary production (in the atmosphere) of particulate matter is not understood. Analysis of the PM2.5 composition is being conducted to provide insight into sources, trends, and chemistry. Methods are developed to convert carbon data from IMPROVE (post-2009 analysis method) to NIOSH (pre-2009 method) utilizing blank subtraction, sampler bias adjustment, and inter-method correlations from co-located samples. By converting all carbon measurements to a consistent basis, long-term trends can be analyzed. The approach shows excellent mass closure between PM2.5 mass reconstructed from constituents and gravimetric-analyzed mass. This approach could be utilized in other US locations where the carbon analysis methods also changed. Results include organic and inorganic fractional mass percentages, analyzed over an eight-year period for two testing sites in Fairbanks and two in the nearby city of North Pole. We focus on the wintertime (Nov—Feb) period when most air quality violations occur and find that the particles consist primarily of organic carbon, with smaller percentages of sulfate, elemental carbon, ammonium, and nitrate. The Fairbanks area PM2.5 organic carbon / elemental carbon partitioning matches the source profile of wood smoke. North Pole and Fairbanks PM2.5 have significant compositional differences, with North Pole having a larger percentage of organic matter. Mass loadings in SO42-, NO3-, and total PM2.5 mass correlate with temperature. Multi-year temporal trends show little if any change with a strong effect from temperature. Insights from this study regarding primary versus possible secondary PM2.5 production processes can help in identifying effective PM2.5 control strategies.

  9. The Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP): A Public/Private Partnership for Improving Short Term Wind Energy Forecasts and Quantifying the Benefits of Utility Operations. The Southern Study Area, Final Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Freedman, Jeffrey M.; Manobianco, John; Schroeder, John

    This Final Report presents a comprehensive description, findings, and conclusions for the Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP) -- Southern Study Area (SSA) work led by AWS Truepower (AWST). This multi-year effort, sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), focused on improving short-term (15-minute - 6 hour) wind power production forecasts through the deployment of an enhanced observation network of surface and remote sensing instrumentation and the use of a state-of-the-art forecast modeling system. Key findings from the SSA modeling and forecast effort include: 1. The AWST WFIP modeling system produced an overall 10more » - 20% improvement in wind power production forecasts over the existing Baseline system, especially during the first three forecast hours; 2. Improvements in ramp forecast skill, particularly for larger up and down ramps; 3. The AWST WFIP data denial experiments showed mixed results in the forecasts incorporating the experimental network instrumentation; however, ramp forecasts showed significant benefit from the additional observations, indicating that the enhanced observations were key to the model systems’ ability to capture phenomena responsible for producing large short-term excursions in power production; 4. The OU CAPS ARPS simulations showed that the additional WFIP instrument data had a small impact on their 3-km forecasts that lasted for the first 5-6 hours, and increasing the vertical model resolution in the boundary layer had a greater impact, also in the first 5 hours; and 5. The TTU simulations were inconclusive as to which assimilation scheme (3DVAR versus EnKF) provided better forecasts, and the additional observations resulted in some improvement to the forecasts in the first 1 - 3 hours.« less

  10. Tanks Focus Area Site Needs Assessment - FY 2001

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Allen, Robert W.; Josephson, Gary B.; Westsik, Joseph H.

    2001-04-30

    The TFA uses a systematic process for developing its annual program that draws from the tanks science and technology development needs expressed by the five DOE tank waste sites. TFA's annual program development process is iterative and involves the following steps: Collection of site needs; Needs analysis; Development of technical responses and initial prioritization; Refinement of the program for the next fiscal year; Formulation of the Corporate Review Budget (CRB); Preparation of Program Execution Guidance (PEG) for the next FY Revision of the Multiyear Program Plan (MYPP). This document describes the outcomes of the first phase of this process, frommore » collection of site needs to the initial prioritization of technical activities. The TFA received site needs in October - December 2000. A total of 170 site needs were received, an increase of 30 over the previous year. The needs were analyzed and integrated, where appropriate. Sixty-six distinct technical responses were drafted and prioritized. In addition, seven strategic tasks were approved to compete for available funding in FY 2002 and FY 2003. Draft technical responses were prepared and provided to the TFA Site Representatives and the TFA User Steering Group (USG) for their review and comment. These responses were discussed at a March 15, 2001, meeting where the TFA Management Team established the priority listing in preparation for input to the DOE Office of Science and Technology (OST) budget process. At the time of publication of this document, the TFA continues to finalize technical responses as directed by the TFA Management Team and clarify the intended work scopes for FY 2002 and FY 2003.« less

  11. Persistent leatherback turtle migrations present opportunities for conservation.

    PubMed

    Shillinger, George L; Palacios, Daniel M; Bailey, Helen; Bograd, Steven J; Swithenbank, Alan M; Gaspar, Philippe; Wallace, Bryan P; Spotila, James R; Paladino, Frank V; Piedra, Rotney; Eckert, Scott A; Block, Barbara A

    2008-07-15

    Effective transboundary conservation of highly migratory marine animals requires international management cooperation as well as clear scientific information about habitat use by these species. Populations of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the eastern Pacific have declined by >90% during the past two decades, primarily due to unsustainable egg harvest and fisheries bycatch mortality. While research and conservation efforts on nesting beaches are ongoing, relatively little is known about this population of leatherbacks' oceanic habitat use and migration pathways. We present the largest multi-year (2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2007) satellite tracking dataset (12,095 cumulative satellite tracking days) collected for leatherback turtles. Forty-six females were electronically tagged during three field seasons at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, the largest extant nesting colony in the eastern Pacific. After completing nesting, the turtles headed southward, traversing the dynamic equatorial currents with rapid, directed movements. In contrast to the highly varied dispersal patterns seen in many other sea turtle populations, leatherbacks from Playa Grande traveled within a persistent migration corridor from Costa Rica, past the equator, and into the South Pacific Gyre, a vast, low-energy, low-productivity region. We describe the predictable effects of ocean currents on a leatherback migration corridor and characterize long-distance movements by the turtles in the eastern South Pacific. These data from high seas habitats will also elucidate potential areas for mitigating fisheries bycatch interactions. These findings directly inform existing multinational conservation frameworks and provide immediate regions in the migration corridor where conservation can be implemented. We identify high seas locations for focusing future conservation efforts within the leatherback dispersal zone in the South Pacific Gyre.

  12. VizieR Online Data Catalog: NuSTAR serendipitous survey: the 40-month catalog (Lansbury+, 2017)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lansbury, G. B.; Stern, D.; Aird, J.; Alexander, D. M.; Fuentes, C.; Harrison, F. A.; Treister, E.; Bauer, F. E.; Tomsick, J. A.; Balokovic, M.; Del Moro, A.; Gandhi, P.; Ajello, M.; Annuar, A.; Ballantyne, D. R.; Boggs, S. E.; Brandt, W. N.; Brightman, M.; Chen, C.-T. J.; Christensen, F. E.; Civano, F.; Comastri, A.; Craig, W. W.; Forster, K.; Grefenstette, B. W.; Hailey, C. J.; Hickox, R. C.; Jiang, B.; Jun, H. D.; Koss, M.; Marchesi, S.; Melo, A. D.; Mullaney, J. R.; Noirot, G.; Schulze, S.; Walton, D. J.; Zappacosta, L.; Zhang, W. W.

    2017-09-01

    Over the period from 2012 July to 2015 November, which is the focus of the current study, there are 510 individual NuSTAR exposures that have been incorporated into the serendipitous survey. These exposures were performed over 331 unique fields (i.e., 331 individual sky regions, each with contiguous coverage composed of one or more NuSTAR exposures), yielding a total sky area coverage of 13deg2. Table 1 lists the fields chronologically. The fields have a cumulative exposure time of 20.4Ms. We have undertaken a campaign of dedicated spectroscopic follow-up in the optical-IR bands, obtaining spectroscopic identifications for a large fraction (56%) of the total sample. Since NuSTAR performs science pointings across the whole sky, a successful ground-based follow-up campaign requires the use of observatories at a range of geographic latitudes, and preferably across a range of dates throughout the sidereal year. This has been achieved through observing programs with, primarily, the following telescopes over a multiyear period (2012 Oct 10 to 2016 Jul 10): the Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory (5.1m; PIs F. A. Harrison and D. Stern); Keck I and II at the W. M. Keck Observatory (10m; PIs F. A. Harrison and D. Stern); the New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla Observatory (3.6m; PI G. B. Lansbury); the Magellan I (Baade) and Magellan II (Clay) Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory (6.5m; PIs E. Treister and F. E. Bauer); and the Gemini-South observatory (8.1m; PI E. Treister). (5 data files).

  13. Analyses of infrequent (quasi-decadal) large groundwater recharge events in the northern Great Basin: Their importance for groundwater availability, use, and management

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Masbruch, Melissa D.; Rumsey, Christine; Gangopadhyay, Subhrendu; Susong, David D.; Pruitt, Tom

    2016-01-01

    There has been a considerable amount of research linking climatic variability to hydrologic responses in the western United States. Although much effort has been spent to assess and predict changes in surface water resources, little has been done to understand how climatic events and changes affect groundwater resources. This study focuses on characterizing and quantifying the effects of large, multiyear, quasi-decadal groundwater recharge events in the northern Utah portion of the Great Basin for the period 1960–2013. Annual groundwater level data were analyzed with climatic data to characterize climatic conditions and frequency of these large recharge events. Using observed water-level changes and multivariate analysis, five large groundwater recharge events were identified with a frequency of about 11–13 years. These events were generally characterized as having above-average annual precipitation and snow water equivalent and below-average seasonal temperatures, especially during the spring (April through June). Existing groundwater flow models for several basins within the study area were used to quantify changes in groundwater storage from these events. Simulated groundwater storage increases per basin from a single recharge event ranged from about 115 to 205 Mm3. Extrapolating these amounts over the entire northern Great Basin indicates that a single large quasi-decadal recharge event could result in billions of cubic meters of groundwater storage. Understanding the role of these large quasi-decadal recharge events in replenishing aquifers and sustaining water supplies is crucial for long-term groundwater management.

  14. Self-confidence in financial analysis: a study of younger and older male professional analysts.

    PubMed

    Webster, R L; Ellis, T S

    2001-06-01

    Measures of reported self-confidence in performing financial analysis by 59 professional male analysts, 31 born between 1946 and 1964 and 28 born between 1965 and 1976, were investigated and reported. Self-confidence in one's ability is important in the securities industry because it affects recommendations and decisions to buy, sell, and hold securities. The respondents analyzed a set of multiyear corporate financial statements and reported their self-confidence in six separate financial areas. Data from the 59 male financial analysts were tallied and analyzed using both univariate and multivariate statistical tests. Rated self-confidence was not significantly different for the younger and the older men. These results are not consistent with a similar prior study of female analysts in which younger women showed significantly higher self-confidence than older women.

  15. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    None

    This document was developed to track and manage progress toward multi-year, average whole-building energy reduction research goals for new construction and existing homes, using a consistent reference point. This report corrects editorial errors that were in the original publication.

  16. Antimicrobial Resistance

    MedlinePlus

    ... http://www.who.int/images/default-source/imported/antibacterial-gel-homepage-630-jpg.jpg?sfvrsn=5d0525a6_0"," ... global, multi-year campaign has increasing volume of activities during the week of the campaign. The Global ...

  17. 48 CFR 52.217-2 - Cancellation Under Multiyear Contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... precluded anticipated benefits of Contractor or subcontractor learning. (g) The claim shall not include— (1...) This contract may include an Option clause with the period for exercising the option limited to the...

  18. Endeavour on the Horizon False Color

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2010-04-30

    NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera Pancam to capture this false-color view of the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover destination in a multi-year traverse along the sandy Martian landscape.

  19. Endeavour on the Horizon

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2010-04-30

    NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera Pancam to capture this view approximately true-color view of the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover destination in a multi-year traverse along the sandy Martian landscape.

  20. Review of ITS/CVO Institutional Issues Studies

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1997-03-01

    Several regional coalitions are developing multi-year programs for commercial vehicle opera-tions (CVO). This program will include the application of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies and services. This report identifies the insti...

  1. Impact Analysis | Energy Analysis | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    Impact Analysis Impact Analysis Our impact analysis work addresses the impacts of markets and Portfolio Standards We are engaged in a multi-year project to examine the costs, benefits, and other impacts

  2. Psyche: State of Knowledge from Ground-Based Observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reddy, V.; Shepard, M. K.; Takir, D.; Sanchez, J. A.; Richardson, J.; Emery, J. P.; Taylor, P. A.

    2017-07-01

    We present results from a multi-year campaign to characterize asteroid (16) Psyche, the target of NASA Discovery mission. Our results suggest that Psyche is covered with exogenic carbonaceous impactor similar to Vesta.

  3. A Multi-Year Study of Tobacco Control in Newspaper Editorials Using Community Characteristic Data and Content Analysis Findings.

    PubMed

    Stanfield, Kellie; Rodgers, Shelly

    2018-07-01

    We content analyzed 1,473 newspaper editorials for topic, tone, and slant, and connected the results to community characteristic data: clean indoor air ordinance status for cities, and official smoking rates for counties. The analysis occurred during a multi-year project aimed at prompting communities to adopt clean indoor air policies. The results showed that most editorials were about tobacco restrictions or ordinances, were neutral in tone, and provided factual information about tobacco control. More editorials were negatively slanted vs. positively slanted toward tobacco control. Most editorials with positive tones were published in newspapers in towns that already had clean indoor air policies. We concluded that editorials might hold increased weight in spurring change, as the percentage of smokers in a city is unrelated to the town enacting a clean indoor air ordinance.

  4. Satellite and aircraft passive microwave observations during the Marginal Ice Zone Experiment in 1984

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gloersen, Per; Campbell, William J.

    1988-01-01

    This paper compares satellite data on the marginal ice zone obtained during the Marginal Ice Zone Experiment in 1984 by Nimbus 7 with simultaneous mesoscale aircraft (in particular, the NASA CV-990 airborne laboratory) and surface observations. Total and multiyear sea ice concentrations calculated from the airborne multichannel microwave radiometer were found to agree well with similar calculations using the Nimbus SMMR data. The temperature dependence of the determination of multiyear sea-ice concentration near the melting point was found to be the same for both airborne and satellite data. It was found that low total ice concentrations and open-water storm effects near the ice edge could be reliably distinguished by means of spectral gradient ratio, using data from the 0.33-cm and the 1.55-cm radiometers.

  5. Final Report to the National Energy Technology Laboratory on FY14- FY15 Cooperative Research with the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vittal, Vijay; Lampis, Anna Rosa

    The Power System Engineering Research Center (PSERC) engages in technological, market, and policy research for an efficient, secure, resilient, adaptable, and economic U.S. electric power system. PSERC, as a founding partner of the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS), conducted a multi-year program of research for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) to develop new methods, tools, and technologies to protect and enhance the reliability and efficiency of the U.S. electric power system as competitive electricity market structures evolve, and as the grid moves toward wide-scale use of decentralized generation (such asmore » renewable energy sources) and demand-response programs. Phase I of OE’s funding for PSERC, under cooperative agreement DE-FC26-09NT43321, started in fiscal year (FY) 2009 and ended in FY2013. It was administered by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) through a cooperative agreement with Arizona State University (ASU). ASU provided sub-awards to the participating PSERC universities. This document is PSERC’s final report to NETL on the activities for OE, conducted through CERTS, from September 2015 through September 2017 utilizing FY 2014 to FY 2015 funding under cooperative agreement DE-OE0000670. PSERC is a thirteen-university consortium with over 30 industry members. Since 1996, PSERC has been engaged in research and education efforts with the mission of “empowering minds to engineer the future electric energy system.” Its work is focused on achieving: • An efficient, secure, resilient, adaptable, and economic electric power infrastructure serving society • A new generation of educated technical professionals in electric power • Knowledgeable decision-makers on critical energy policy issues • Sustained, quality university programs in electric power engineering. PSERC core research is funded by industry, with a budget supporting approximately 30 principal investigators and some 70 graduate students and other researchers. Its researchers are multi-disciplinary, conducting research in three principal areas: power systems, power markets and policy, and transmission and distribution technologies. The research is collaborative; each project involves researchers typically at two universities working with industry advisors who have expressed interest in the project. Examples of topics for recent PSERC research projects include grid integration of renewables and energy storage, new tools for taking advantage of increased penetration of real-time system measurements, advanced system protection methods to maintain grid reliability, and risk and reliability assessment of increasingly complex cyber-enabled power systems. A PSERC’s objective is to proactively address the technical and policy challenges of U.S. electric power systems. To achieve this objective, PSERC works with CERTS to conduct technical research on advanced applications and investigate the design of fair and transparent electricity markets; these research topics align with CERTS research areas 1 and 2: Real-time Grid Reliability Management (Area 1), and Reliability and Markets (Area 2). The CERTS research areas overlap with the PSERC research stems: Power Systems, Power Markets, and Transmission and Distribution Technologies, as described on the PSERC website (see http://www.pserc.org/research/research_program.aspx). The performers were with Arizona State University (ASU), Cornell University (CU), University of California at Berkeley (UCB), and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). PSERC research activities in the area of reliability and markets focused on electric market and power policy analyses. The resulting studies suggest ways to frame best practices using organized markets for managing U.S. grid assets reliably and to identify highest priority areas for improvement. PSERC research activities in the area of advanced applications focused on mid- to long-term software research and development, with anticipated outcomes that move innovative ideas toward real-world application. Under the CERTS research area of Real-time Grid Reliability Management, PSERC has been focused on Advanced Applications Research and Development (AARD), a subgroup of activities that works to develop advanced applications and tools to more effectively operate the electricity delivery system, by enabling advanced analysis, visualization, monitoring and alarming, and decision support capabilities for grid operators.« less

  6. Monitoring and validating spatio-temporal continuously daily evapotranspiration and its components at river basin scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, L.; Liu, S.; Kustas, W. P.; Nieto, H.

    2017-12-01

    Operational estimation of spatio-temporal continuously daily evapotranspiration (ET), and the components evaporation (E) and transpiration (T), at watershed scale is very useful for developing a sustainable water resource strategy in semi-arid and arid areas. In this study, multi-year all-weather daily ET, E and T were estimated using MODIS-based (Dual Temperature Difference) DTD model under different land covers in Heihe watershed, China. The remotely sensed ET was validated using ground measurements from large aperture scintillometer systems, with a source area of several kilometers, under grassland, cropland and riparian shrub-forest. The results showed that the remotely sensed ET produced mean absolute percent deviation (MAPD) errors of about 30% during the growing season for all-weather conditions, but the model performed better under clear sky conditions. However, uncertainty in interpolated MODIS land surface temperature input data under cloudy conditions to the DTD model, and the representativeness of LAS measurements for the heterogeneous land surfaces contribute to the discrepancies between the modeled and ground measured surface heat fluxes, especially for the more humid grassland and heterogeneous shrub-forest sites.

  7. New Brunswick Laboratory progress report, October 1989--September 1990

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    The New Brunswick Laboratory (NBL) has been tasked by the DOE Office of Safeguards and Security, Defense Programs (OSS/DP) to assure the application of accurate and reliable measurement technology for the safeguarding of special nuclear materials. NBL is fulfilling its mission responsibilities by identifying the measurement and measurement-related needs of the nuclear material safeguards community and addressing them by means of activities in the following program areas: (1) reference and calibration materials, (2) measurement development, (3) measurement services, (4) measurement evaluation, (5) safeguards assessment, and (6) site-specific assistance. Highlights of each of these program areas are provided in this summary.more » This progress report is written as a part of NBL's technology transfer responsibilities, primarily for the use and benefit of the scientific personnel that perform safeguards-related measurements. Consequently, the report is technical in nature. Many of the reports of multi-year projects are fragmentary in that only partial results are reported. Separate topical reports are to be issued at the completion of many of these projects. 30 refs.« less

  8. Comprehensive framework for visualizing and analyzing spatio-temporal dynamics of racial diversity in the entire United States

    PubMed Central

    Netzel, Pawel

    2017-01-01

    The United States is increasingly becoming a multi-racial society. To understand multiple consequences of this overall trend to our neighborhoods we need a methodology capable of spatio-temporal analysis of racial diversity at the local level but also across the entire U.S. Furthermore, such methodology should be accessible to stakeholders ranging from analysts to decision makers. In this paper we present a comprehensive framework for visualizing and analyzing diversity data that fulfills such requirements. The first component of our framework is a U.S.-wide, multi-year database of race sub-population grids which is freely available for download. These 30 m resolution grids have being developed using dasymetric modeling and are available for 1990-2000-2010. We summarize numerous advantages of gridded population data over commonly used Census tract-aggregated data. Using these grids frees analysts from constructing their own and allows them to focus on diversity analysis. The second component of our framework is a set of U.S.-wide, multi-year diversity maps at 30 m resolution. A diversity map is our product that classifies the gridded population into 39 communities based on their degrees of diversity, dominant race, and population density. It provides spatial information on diversity in a single, easy-to-understand map that can be utilized by analysts and end users alike. Maps based on subsequent Censuses provide information about spatio-temporal dynamics of diversity. Diversity maps are accessible through the GeoWeb application SocScape (http://sil.uc.edu/webapps/socscape_usa/) for an immediate online exploration. The third component of our framework is a proposal to quantitatively analyze diversity maps using a set of landscape metrics. Because of its form, a grid-based diversity map could be thought of as a diversity “landscape” and analyzed quantitatively using landscape metrics. We give a brief summary of most pertinent metrics and demonstrate how they can be applied to diversity maps. PMID:28358862

  9. Few multi-year precipitation-reduction experiments find a shift in the productivity-precipitation relationship

    DOE PAGES

    Estiarte, Marc; Vicca, Sara; Penuelas, Josep; ...

    2016-04-06

    Well-defined productivity–precipitation relationships of ecosystems are needed as benchmarks for the validation of land models used for future projections. The productivity–precipitation relationship may be studied in two ways: the spatial approach relates differences in productivity to those in precipitation among sites along a precipitation gradient (the spatial fit, with a steeper slope); the temporal approach relates interannual productivity changes to variation in precipitation within sites (the temporal fits, with flatter slopes). Precipitation–reduction experiments in natural ecosystems represent a complement to the fits, because they can reduce precipitation below the natural range and are thus well suited to study potential effectsmore » of climate drying. Here, we analyse the effects of dry treatments in eleven multiyear precipitation–manipulation experiments, focusing on changes in the temporal fit. We expected that structural changes in the dry treatments would occur in some experiments, thereby reducing the intercept of the temporal fit and displacing the productivity–precipitation relationship downward the spatial fit. Seventy two percent of expiriments showed that dry treatments did not alter the temporal fit. This implies that current temporal fits are to be preferred over the spatial fit to benchmark land-model projections of productivity under future climate within the precipitation ranges covered by the experiments. Moreover, in two experiments, the intercept of the temporal fit unexpectedly increased due to mechanisms that reduced either water loss or nutrient loss. The expected decrease of the intercept was observed in only one experiment, and only when distinguishing between the late and the early phases of the experiment. This implies that we currently do not know at which precipitation–reduction level or at which experimental duration structural changes will start to alter ecosystem productivity. Our study highlights the need for experiments with multiple, including more extreme, dry treatments, to identify the precipitation boundaries within which the current temporal fits remain valid.« less

  10. Space Suit Portable Life Support System Test Bed (PLSS 1.0) Development and Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Watts, Carly; Campbell, Colin; Vogel, Matthew; Conger, Bruce

    2012-01-01

    A multi-year effort has been carried out at NASA-JSC to develop an advanced extra-vehicular activity Portable Life Support System (PLSS) design intended to further the current state of the art by increasing operational flexibility, reducing consumables, and increasing robustness. Previous efforts have focused on modeling and analyzing the advanced PLSS architecture, as well as developing key enabling technologies. Like the current International Space Station Extra-vehicular Mobility Unit PLSS, the advanced PLSS comprises three subsystems required to sustain the crew during extra-vehicular activity including the Thermal, Ventilation, and Oxygen Subsystems. This multi-year effort has culminated in the construction and operation of PLSS 1.0, a test bed that simulates full functionality of the advanced PLSS design. PLSS 1.0 integrates commercial off the shelf hardware with prototype technology development components, including the primary and secondary oxygen regulators, Ventilation Subsystem fan, Rapid Cycle Amine swingbed carbon dioxide and water vapor removal device, and Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator heat rejection device. The overall PLSS 1.0 test objective was to demonstrate the capability of the Advanced PLSS to provide key life support functions including suit pressure regulation, carbon dioxide and water vapor removal, thermal control and contingency purge operations. Supplying oxygen was not one of the specific life support functions because the PLSS 1.0 test was not oxygen rated. Nitrogen was used for the working gas. Additional test objectives were to confirm PLSS technology development components performance within an integrated test bed, identify unexpected system level interactions, and map the PLSS 1.0 performance with respect to key variables such as crewmember metabolic rate and suit pressure. Successful PLSS 1.0 testing completed 168 test points over 44 days of testing and produced a large database of test results that characterize system level and component performance. With the exception of several minor anomalies, the PLSS 1.0 test rig performed as expected; furthermore, many system responses trended in accordance with pre-test predictions.

  11. Source apportionment of particulate organic matter using infrared spectra at multiple IMPROVE sites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuzmiakova, A.; Dillner, A. M.; Takahama, S.

    2016-12-01

    As organic aerosol is a dominant contributor to air pollution and radiative forcing in many regions in the United States, characterizing its composition and apportioning the organic mass to its major sources provides insight into atmospheric processes and guidance for decreasing its abundance. National networks, such as Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environment (IMPROVE), provide multi-site and multi-year particulate matter samples useful for evaluating sources over all four seasons. To this end, our study focuses on apportioning the particulate organic matter (OM) to specific anthropogenic and biological processes from year-long infrared aerosol measurements collected at six IMPROVE sites (five national park sites and one urban site) during 2011. Pooling these organic aerosol samples into one dataset, we apply factor and cluster analyses to extract four chemical factors (two dominated by processed emissions, one dominated by hydroxyl groups, and one by hydrocarbons) and ascribe each factor to a specific source depending on the site and season. We also present a method to characterize measurement uncertainty in infrared instrumental analysis and investigate sensitivity analysis in generated factors. In Phoenix (the urban site) we find the majority (80-95%) of the OM consisted of anthropogenic activities, such as traffic emissions, fossil fuel combustion (both all year long), and residential wood burning (fall to winter). Mineral dust emissions accounted for the rest of OM (5-20%). At the National Park sites the OM concentration was lower on average and consisted of marine and dust aerosols, summertime biomass burning and biogenic aerosols, processed fossil fuel combustion, and emissions from ships and oil refineries. Our study highlights the potential for further site-specific or multi-year aerosol characterization in the context of a long-term atmospheric sampling program to quantify sources of organic particles impacting air quality, aid in policy-making, and assess which (trans)formation mechanisms proposed in laboratory studies are consistent with observations.

  12. Few multi-year precipitation-reduction experiments find a shift in the productivity-precipitation relationship

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Estiarte, Marc; Vicca, Sara; Penuelas, Josep

    Well-defined productivity–precipitation relationships of ecosystems are needed as benchmarks for the validation of land models used for future projections. The productivity–precipitation relationship may be studied in two ways: the spatial approach relates differences in productivity to those in precipitation among sites along a precipitation gradient (the spatial fit, with a steeper slope); the temporal approach relates interannual productivity changes to variation in precipitation within sites (the temporal fits, with flatter slopes). Precipitation–reduction experiments in natural ecosystems represent a complement to the fits, because they can reduce precipitation below the natural range and are thus well suited to study potential effectsmore » of climate drying. Here, we analyse the effects of dry treatments in eleven multiyear precipitation–manipulation experiments, focusing on changes in the temporal fit. We expected that structural changes in the dry treatments would occur in some experiments, thereby reducing the intercept of the temporal fit and displacing the productivity–precipitation relationship downward the spatial fit. Seventy two percent of expiriments showed that dry treatments did not alter the temporal fit. This implies that current temporal fits are to be preferred over the spatial fit to benchmark land-model projections of productivity under future climate within the precipitation ranges covered by the experiments. Moreover, in two experiments, the intercept of the temporal fit unexpectedly increased due to mechanisms that reduced either water loss or nutrient loss. The expected decrease of the intercept was observed in only one experiment, and only when distinguishing between the late and the early phases of the experiment. This implies that we currently do not know at which precipitation–reduction level or at which experimental duration structural changes will start to alter ecosystem productivity. Our study highlights the need for experiments with multiple, including more extreme, dry treatments, to identify the precipitation boundaries within which the current temporal fits remain valid.« less

  13. Few multiyear precipitation-reduction experiments find a shift in the productivity-precipitation relationship.

    PubMed

    Estiarte, Marc; Vicca, Sara; Peñuelas, Josep; Bahn, Michael; Beier, Claus; Emmett, Bridget A; Fay, Philip A; Hanson, Paul J; Hasibeder, Roland; Kigel, Jaime; Kröel-Dulay, Gyorgy; Larsen, Klaus Steenberg; Lellei-Kovács, Eszter; Limousin, Jean-Marc; Ogaya, Romà; Ourcival, Jean-Marc; Reinsch, Sabine; Sala, Osvaldo E; Schmidt, Inger Kappel; Sternberg, Marcelo; Tielbörger, Katja; Tietema, Albert; Janssens, Ivan A

    2016-07-01

    Well-defined productivity-precipitation relationships of ecosystems are needed as benchmarks for the validation of land models used for future projections. The productivity-precipitation relationship may be studied in two ways: the spatial approach relates differences in productivity to those in precipitation among sites along a precipitation gradient (the spatial fit, with a steeper slope); the temporal approach relates interannual productivity changes to variation in precipitation within sites (the temporal fits, with flatter slopes). Precipitation-reduction experiments in natural ecosystems represent a complement to the fits, because they can reduce precipitation below the natural range and are thus well suited to study potential effects of climate drying. Here, we analyse the effects of dry treatments in eleven multiyear precipitation-manipulation experiments, focusing on changes in the temporal fit. We expected that structural changes in the dry treatments would occur in some experiments, thereby reducing the intercept of the temporal fit and displacing the productivity-precipitation relationship downward the spatial fit. The majority of experiments (72%) showed that dry treatments did not alter the temporal fit. This implies that current temporal fits are to be preferred over the spatial fit to benchmark land-model projections of productivity under future climate within the precipitation ranges covered by the experiments. Moreover, in two experiments, the intercept of the temporal fit unexpectedly increased due to mechanisms that reduced either water loss or nutrient loss. The expected decrease of the intercept was observed in only one experiment, and only when distinguishing between the late and the early phases of the experiment. This implies that we currently do not know at which precipitation-reduction level or at which experimental duration structural changes will start to alter ecosystem productivity. Our study highlights the need for experiments with multiple, including more extreme, dry treatments, to identify the precipitation boundaries within which the current temporal fits remain valid. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. EDMS Multi-year Validation Plan

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2001-06-01

    The Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS) is the air quality model required for use on airport projects by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This model has continued to be improved and recently has included several important enhanc...

  15. Downselection for Sample Return — Defining Sampling Strategies Using Lessons from Terrestrial Field Analogues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stevens, A. H.; Gentry, D.; Amador, E.; Cable, M. L.; Cantrell, T.; Chaudry, N.; Cullen, T.; Duca, Z.; Jacobsen, M.; Kirby, J.; McCaig, H.; Murukesan, G.; Rader, E.; Rennie, V.; Schwieterman, E.; Sutton, S.; Tan, G.; Yin, C.; Cullen, D.; Geppert, W.; Stockton, A.

    2018-04-01

    We detail multi-year field investigations in Icelandic Mars analogue environments that have yielded results that can help inform strategies for sample selection and downselection for Mars Sample Return.

  16. (TUCSON, AZ) SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF SUMMER 2004 DATA FROM DEARS

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Detroit Exposure and Aerosol Research Study (DEARS) represents a multi-year assessment field study involving summer and winter season collection of personal, residential indoor, residential outdoor and central community monitoring measurements.

  17. 23 CFR 1335.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ....5 of this part. For the purpose of this Part, an assessment includes an audit or a strategic planning analysis. (d) Strategic plan means a multi-year plan that meets the requirements of § 1335.6 of...

  18. 23 CFR 1335.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ....5 of this part. For the purpose of this Part, an assessment includes an audit or a strategic planning analysis. (d) Strategic plan means a multi-year plan that meets the requirements of § 1335.6 of...

  19. Multi-year analysis of distributed glacier mass balance modelling and equilibrium line altitude on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Falk, Ulrike; López, Damián A.; Silva-Busso, Adrián

    2018-04-01

    The South Shetland Islands are located at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). This region was subject to strong warming trends in the atmospheric surface layer. Surface air temperature increased about 3 K in 50 years, concurrent with retreating glacier fronts, an increase in melt areas, ice surface lowering and rapid break-up and disintegration of ice shelves. The positive trend in surface air temperature has currently come to a halt. Observed surface air temperature lapse rates show a high variability during winter months (standard deviations up to ±1.0 K (100 m)-1) and a distinct spatial heterogeneity reflecting the impact of synoptic weather patterns. The increased mesocyclonic activity during the wintertime over the past decades in the study area results in intensified advection of warm, moist air with high temperatures and rain and leads to melt conditions on the ice cap, fixating surface air temperatures to the melting point. Its impact on winter accumulation results in the observed negative mass balance estimates. Six years of continuous glaciological measurements on mass balance stake transects as well as 5 years of climatological data time series are presented and a spatially distributed glacier energy balance melt model adapted and run based on these multi-year data sets. The glaciological surface mass balance model is generally in good agreement with observations, except for atmospheric conditions promoting snow drift by high wind speeds, turbulence-driven snow deposition and snow layer erosion by rain. No drift in the difference between simulated mass balance and mass balance measurements can be seen over the course of the 5-year model run period. The winter accumulation does not suffice to compensate for the high variability in summer ablation. The results are analysed to assess changes in meltwater input to the coastal waters, specific glacier mass balance and the equilibrium line altitude (ELA). The Fourcade Glacier catchment drains into Potter cove, has an area of 23.6 km2 and is glacierized to 93.8 %. Annual discharge from Fourcade Glacier into Potter Cove is estimated to q ¯ = 25±6 hm3 yr-1 with the standard deviation of 8 % annotating the high interannual variability. The average ELA calculated from our own glaciological observations on Fourcade Glacier over the time period 2010 to 2015 amounts to 260±20 m. Published studies suggest rather stable conditions of slightly negative glacier mass balance until the mid-1980s with an ELA of approx. 150 m. The calculated accumulation area ratio suggests dramatic changes in the future extent of the inland ice cap for the South Shetland Islands.

  20. Diatom Surface Sediment Assemblages from the Bering Sea Shelf: a Tossed Salad or Faithful Recorder of 50 Years of Environmental Change?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caissie, B.; Brigham-Grette, J.; Kanamaru-Shinn, K.

    2010-12-01

    Recent environmental change in the Bering Sea includes a shift from the negative to positive phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation in 1976/77, a secondary shift in sea level pressure and sea surface temperatures in 1998, increasing sea surface temperatures, an earlier spring, an increase in the number of days that sea ice is present along the shelf-slope break, and a decrease in the number of days that sea ice is present in the Chukchi Sea and Arctic Ocean. These physical changes have manifest biological changes such as a northward migration of invertebrates and fish from the southern Bering Sea and shifts in the timing and duration of sea-ice related primary productivity and the spring bloom. We aim to see if diatom sediment assemblages are faithful recorders of these ecological changes in the Bering Sea or if bioturbation has essentially mixed today’s rapid change down core such that the signal is either muted or no longer apparent. Six continental shelf areas were examined in the Bering Sea ranging from northeast of St. Lawrence Island to the shelf-slope break in the south-central Bering Sea. Diatom assemblages from core tops collected as part of the PROBES program in the 1960s were compared to core tops taken nearby (<40 km away) in 2006 and 2007. Additionally, diatom assemblages, magnetic susceptibility, and grain size were examined in 3 short cores (<20 cm long) from the study area. In general, the diatom assemblages remain relatively stable over the past 50 years and in some cases the variability between sites in the same area is greater than the variability over the past 50 years. However, there are several apparent changes that may reflect changing ice conditions and the related sea-ice bloom. In general, cores collected in the 1960s have a greater relative percentage of Thalassiosira antarctica resting spores than their counterparts from 2006 and 2007. T. antarctica spores are often associated with thick (>7 m) multi-year ice so their decline may be related to the decrease in multi-year ice over the past 30 years. Additionally, in most cases, species diversity has declined over the past 50 years with Fragilariopsis oceanica and Fragilariopsis cylindrus accounting for a greater percentage of the sediment assemblages today. These two species are collectively considered indicators of seasonal sea ice; their relative abundance peaks when ice is present for 5 months per year. Ongoing down core analyses in these six areas will further reveal the nature of these assemblage changes.

  1. Advanced CHP Control Algorithms: Scope Specification

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Katipamula, Srinivas; Brambley, Michael R.

    2006-04-28

    The primary objective of this multiyear project is to develop algorithms for combined heat and power systems to ensure optimal performance, increase reliability, and lead to the goal of clean, efficient, reliable and affordable next generation energy systems.

  2. 2005 annual state highway collision data summary

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2006-01-01

    This report covers collisions on all State Highways in Washington State for the year 2005. Tables and charts will be used to show frequency and rate of : collisions, multi-year trends, collision types, contributing circumstances and other factors. : ...

  3. 2004 annual state highway collision data summary

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2006-01-01

    This report covers collisions on all State Highways in Washington State for the year 2004. Tables and charts will be used to show frequency and rate of : collisions, multi-year trends, collision types, contributing circumstances and other factors. : ...

  4. 48 CFR 617.105 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Policy. 617.105 Section 617.105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 617.105 Policy. ...

  5. 48 CFR 17.105 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Policy. 17.105 Section 17.105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 17.105 Policy. ...

  6. 2006 Washington State collision data summary : highways only

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2007-01-01

    This report covers collisions on all State Highways (includes Interstates and State Highways only) in Washington State for the year 2006. : Tables and charts show frequency and rate of collisions, multi-year trends, collision types, contributing circ...

  7. Risk Based Framework for Geotechnical Asset Management

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-12-28

    This report presents the outcome from a multi-year research study to incorporate a risk management framework for the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Geotechnical Asset Management (GAM) Plan. The GAM Plan was developed by Paul ...

  8. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mills, Evan; Jones, Richard B.

    Large yet infrequent disruptions of electrical power can impact tens of millions of people in a single event, triggering significant economic damages, portions of which are insured. Small and frequent events are also significant in the aggregate. This article explores the role that insurance claims data can play in better defining the broader economic impacts of grid disruptions in the U.S. context. We developed four case studies, using previously unpublished data for specific actual grid disruptions. The cases include the 1977 New York City blackout, the 2003 Northeast blackout, multi-year national annual lightning-related electrical damage and multi-year national line-disturbance events.more » Insured losses represent between 3 and 64 per cent of total loss costs across the case studies. Here, the household sector emerges as a larger locus of costs than indicated in previous studies, and short-lived events emerge as important sources of loss costs.« less

  9. Skilful multi-year predictions of tropical trans-basin climate variability

    PubMed Central

    Chikamoto, Yoshimitsu; Timmermann, Axel; Luo, Jing-Jia; Mochizuki, Takashi; Kimoto, Masahide; Watanabe, Masahiro; Ishii, Masayoshi; Xie, Shang-Ping; Jin, Fei-Fei

    2015-01-01

    Tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies influence the atmospheric circulation, impacting climate far beyond the tropics. The predictability of the corresponding atmospheric signals is typically limited to less than 1 year lead time. Here we present observational and modelling evidence for multi-year predictability of coherent trans-basin climate variations that are characterized by a zonal seesaw in tropical sea surface temperature and sea-level pressure between the Pacific and the other two ocean basins. State-of-the-art climate model forecasts initialized from a realistic ocean state show that the low-frequency trans-basin climate variability, which explains part of the El Niño Southern Oscillation flavours, can be predicted up to 3 years ahead, thus exceeding the predictive skill of current tropical climate forecasts for natural variability. This low-frequency variability emerges from the synchronization of ocean anomalies in all basins via global reorganizations of the atmospheric Walker Circulation. PMID:25897996

  10. Skilful multi-year predictions of tropical trans-basin climate variability.

    PubMed

    Chikamoto, Yoshimitsu; Timmermann, Axel; Luo, Jing-Jia; Mochizuki, Takashi; Kimoto, Masahide; Watanabe, Masahiro; Ishii, Masayoshi; Xie, Shang-Ping; Jin, Fei-Fei

    2015-04-21

    Tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies influence the atmospheric circulation, impacting climate far beyond the tropics. The predictability of the corresponding atmospheric signals is typically limited to less than 1 year lead time. Here we present observational and modelling evidence for multi-year predictability of coherent trans-basin climate variations that are characterized by a zonal seesaw in tropical sea surface temperature and sea-level pressure between the Pacific and the other two ocean basins. State-of-the-art climate model forecasts initialized from a realistic ocean state show that the low-frequency trans-basin climate variability, which explains part of the El Niño Southern Oscillation flavours, can be predicted up to 3 years ahead, thus exceeding the predictive skill of current tropical climate forecasts for natural variability. This low-frequency variability emerges from the synchronization of ocean anomalies in all basins via global reorganizations of the atmospheric Walker Circulation.

  11. An insurance perspective on U.S. electric grid disruption costs

    DOE PAGES

    Mills, Evan; Jones, Richard B.

    2016-10-12

    Large yet infrequent disruptions of electrical power can impact tens of millions of people in a single event, triggering significant economic damages, portions of which are insured. Small and frequent events are also significant in the aggregate. This article explores the role that insurance claims data can play in better defining the broader economic impacts of grid disruptions in the U.S. context. We developed four case studies, using previously unpublished data for specific actual grid disruptions. The cases include the 1977 New York City blackout, the 2003 Northeast blackout, multi-year national annual lightning-related electrical damage and multi-year national line-disturbance events.more » Insured losses represent between 3 and 64 per cent of total loss costs across the case studies. Here, the household sector emerges as a larger locus of costs than indicated in previous studies, and short-lived events emerge as important sources of loss costs.« less

  12. A low cost, high precision extreme/harsh cold environment, autonomous sensor data gathering and transmission platform.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chetty, S.; Field, L. A.

    2014-12-01

    SWIMS III, is a low cost, autonomous sensor data gathering platform developed specifically for extreme/harsh cold environments. Arctic ocean's continuing decrease of summer-time ice is related to rapidly diminishing multi-year ice due to the effects of climate change. Ice911 Research aims to develop environmentally inert materials that when deployed will increase the albedo, enabling the formation and/preservation of multi-year ice. SWIMS III's sophisticated autonomous sensors are designed to measure the albedo, weather, water temperature and other environmental parameters. This platform uses low cost, high accuracy/precision sensors, extreme environment command and data handling computer system using satellite and terrestrial wireless solution. The system also incorporates tilt sensors and sonar based ice thickness sensors. The system is light weight and can be deployed by hand by a single person. This presentation covers the technical, and design challenges in developing and deploying these platforms.

  13. Cutting Through Multiyear Ice

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-06-07

    ICESCAPE scientists watched from the deck of the Healy as it cut a path through thick multiyear ice on July 6, 2011. Cutting the path is key for getting researchers to remote research sites amid the sea ice. Credit: NASA/Kathryn Hansen The ICESCAPE mission, or "Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment," is a NASA shipborne investigation to study how changing conditions in the Arctic affect the ocean's chemistry and ecosystems. The bulk of the research took place in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas in summer 2010 and 2011. Credit: NASA/Kathryn Hansen NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  14. Microwave and physical properties of sea ice in the winter marginal ice zone

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tucker, W. B., III; Perovich, D. K.; Gow, A. J.; Grenfell, T. C.; Onstott, R. G.

    1991-01-01

    Surface-based active and passive microwave measurements were made in conjunction with ice property measurements for several distinct ice types in the Fram Strait during March and April 1987. Synthesis aperture radar imagery downlinked from an aircraft was used to select study sites. The surface-based radar scattering cross section and emissivity spectra generally support previously inferred qualitative relationships between ice types, exhibiting expected separation between young, first-year and multiyear ice. Gradient ratios, calculated for both active and passive data, appear to allow clear separation of ice types when used jointly. Surface flooding of multiyear floes, resulting from excessive loading and perhaps wave action, causes both active and passive signatures to resemble those of first-year ice. This effect could possibly cause estimates of ice type percentages in the marginal ice zone to be in error when derived from aircraft- or satellite-born sensors.

  15. Correlation studies of passive and active microwave data in the marginal ice zone

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comiso, J. C.

    1991-01-01

    The microwave radiative and backscatter characteristics of sea ice in an Arctic marginal ice zone have been studied using near-simultaneous passive and active synthetic aperture radar microwave data. Intermediate-resolution multichannel passive microwave data were registered and analyzed. Passive and active microwave data generally complement each other as the two sensors are especially sensitive to different physical properties of the sea ice. In the inner pack, undeformed first-year ice is observed to have low backscatter values but high brightness temperatures while multiyear ice has generally high backscatter values and low brightness temperatures. However, in the marginal ice zone, the signature and backscatter for multiyear ice are considerably different and closer to those of first-year ice. Some floes identified by photography as snow-covered thick ice have backscatter similar to that of new ice or open water while brash ice has backscatter similar to or higher than that of ridged ice.

  16. A Multi-Year Plan for Research, Development, and Prototype Testing of Standard Modular Hydropower Technology

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Smith, Brennan T.; Welch, Tim; Witt, Adam M.

    The Multi-Year Plan for Research, Development, and Prototype Testing of Standard Modular Hydropower Technology (MYRP) presents a strategy for specifying, designing, testing, and demonstrating the efficacy of standard modular hydropower (SMH) as an environmentally compatible and cost-optimized renewable electricity generation technology. The MYRP provides the context, background, and vision for testing the SMH hypothesis: if standardization, modularity, and preservation of stream functionality become essential and fully realized features of hydropower technology, project design, and regulatory processes, they will enable previously unrealized levels of new project development with increased acceptance, reduced costs, increased predictability of outcomes, and increased value to stakeholders.more » To achieve success in this effort, the MYRP outlines a framework of stakeholder-validated criteria, models, design tools, testing facilities, and assessment protocols that will facilitate the development of next-generation hydropower technologies.« less

  17. Multi-year Content Analysis of User Facility Related Publications

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Patton, Robert M; Stahl, Christopher G; Hines, Jayson

    2013-01-01

    Scientific user facilities provide resources and support that enable scientists to conduct experiments or simulations pertinent to their respective research. Consequently, it is critical to have an informed understanding of the impact and contributions that these facilities have on scientific discoveries. Leveraging insight into scientific publications that acknowledge the use of these facilities enables more informed decisions by facility management and sponsors in regard to policy, resource allocation, and influencing the direction of science as well as more effectively understand the impact of a scientific user facility. This work discusses preliminary results of mining scientific publications that utilized resources atmore » the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). These results show promise in identifying and leveraging multi-year trends and providing a higher resolution view of the impact that a scientific user facility may have on scientific discoveries.« less

  18. Lower Columbia River and Estuary Habitat Monitoring Study, 2011 - Final Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Borde, Amy B.; Kaufmann, Ronald M.; Cullinan, Valerie I.

    The Ecosystem Monitoring Program is a collaborative effort between the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (LCREP), University of Washington, Wetland Ecosystem Team (UW), US Geological Survey, Water Science Center (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA-Fisheries, hereafter NOAA), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Marine Sciences Laboratory (PNNL). The goal of the program is to conduct emergent wetland monitoring aimed at characterizing salmonid habitats in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE) from the mouth of the estuary to Bonneville Dam (Figure 1). This is an ecosystem based monitoring program focused on evaluating status and trends inmore » habitat and reducing uncertainties regarding these ecosystems to ultimately improve the survival of juvenile salmonids through the LCRE. This project comprehensively assesses habitat, fish, food web, and abiotic conditions in the lower river, focusing on shallow water and vegetated habitats used by juvenile salmonids for feeding, rearing and refugia. The information is intended to be used to guide management actions associated with species recovery, particularly that of threatened and endangered salmonids. PNNL’s role in this multi-year study is to monitor the habitat structure (e.g., vegetation, topography, channel morphology, and sediment type) as well as hydrologic patterns.« less

  19. Developing an Energy Performance Modeling Startup Kit

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wood, A.

    2012-10-01

    In 2011, the NAHB Research Center began the first part of the multi-year effort by assessing the needs and motivations of residential remodelers regarding energy performance remodeling. The scope is multifaceted - all perspectives will be sought related to remodeling firms ranging in size from small-scale, sole proprietor to national. This will allow the Research Center to gain a deeper understanding of the remodeling and energy retrofit business and the needs of contractors when offering energy upgrade services. To determine the gaps and the motivation for energy performance remodeling, the NAHB Research Center conducted (1) an initial series of focusmore » groups with remodelers at the 2011 International Builders' Show, (2) a second series of focus groups with remodelers at the NAHB Research Center in conjunction with the NAHB Spring Board meeting in DC, and (3) quantitative market research with remodelers based on the findings from the focus groups. The goal was threefold, to: Understand the current remodeling industry and the role of energy efficiency; Identify the gaps and barriers to adding energy efficiency into remodeling; and Quantify and prioritize the support needs of professional remodelers to increase sales and projects involving improving home energy efficiency. This report outlines all three of these tasks with remodelers.« less

  20. Multi-year monitoring of paddy rice planting area in Northeast China using MODIS time series data.

    PubMed

    Shi, Jing-jing; Huang, Jing-feng; Zhang, Feng

    2013-10-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate the tempo-spatial distribution of paddy rice in Northeast China using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. We developed an algorithm for detection and estimation of the transplanting and flooding periods of paddy rice with a combination of enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index with a central wavelength at 2130 nm (LSWI2130). In two intensive sites in Northeast China, fine resolution satellite imagery was used to validate the performance of the algorithm at pixel and 3×3 pixel window levels, respectively. The commission and omission errors in both of the intensive sites were approximately less than 20%. Based on the algorithm, annual distribution of paddy rice in Northeast China from 2001 to 2009 was mapped and analyzed. The results demonstrated that the MODIS-derived area was highly correlated with published agricultural statistical data with a coefficient of determination (R(2)) value of 0.847. It also revealed a sharp decline in 2003, especially in the Sanjiang Plain located in the northeast of Heilongjiang Province, due to the oversupply and price decline of rice in 2002. These results suggest that the approaches are available for accurate and reliable monitoring of rice cultivated areas and variation on a large scale.

  1. Multi-year monitoring of paddy rice planting area in Northeast China using MODIS time series data*

    PubMed Central

    Shi, Jing-jing; Huang, Jing-feng; Zhang, Feng

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate the tempo-spatial distribution of paddy rice in Northeast China using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. We developed an algorithm for detection and estimation of the transplanting and flooding periods of paddy rice with a combination of enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index with a central wavelength at 2 130 nm (LSWI2130). In two intensive sites in Northeast China, fine resolution satellite imagery was used to validate the performance of the algorithm at pixel and 3×3 pixel window levels, respectively. The commission and omission errors in both of the intensive sites were approximately less than 20%. Based on the algorithm, annual distribution of paddy rice in Northeast China from 2001 to 2009 was mapped and analyzed. The results demonstrated that the MODIS-derived area was highly correlated with published agricultural statistical data with a coefficient of determination (R 2) value of 0.847. It also revealed a sharp decline in 2003, especially in the Sanjiang Plain located in the northeast of Heilongjiang Province, due to the oversupply and price decline of rice in 2002. These results suggest that the approaches are available for accurate and reliable monitoring of rice cultivated areas and variation on a large scale. PMID:24101210

  2. Spatio-temporal assessment of ecological disturbance and its intensity in the Mangrove forest using MODIS derived disturbance index

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dutta, D.; Das, P. K.; Paul, S.; Sharma, J. R.; Dadhwal, V. K.

    2014-11-01

    The mangrove ecosystem of Sundarbans region plays an important ecological and socio-economical role in both India and Bangladesh. The ecological disturbance in the coastal mangrove forests are mainly attributed to the periodic cyclones caused by deep depression formed over the Bay of Bengal. In the present study, three of the major cyclones in the Sundarbans region were analyzed to establish the cause-and-effect relationship between cyclones and the resultant ecological disturbance. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time-series data was used to generate MODIS global disturbance index (MGDI) and its potential was explored to assess the instantaneous ecological disturbance caused by cyclones with varying landfall intensities and at different stages of mangrove phenology. The time-series MGDI was converted into the percentage change in MGDI using its multi-year mean for each pixel, and its response towards several cyclonic events was studied. The affected areas were identified by analyzing the Landsat-8 satellite data before and after the cyclone and the MGDI values of the affected areas were utilized to develop the threshold for delineation of the disturbed pixels. The selected threshold was applied on the time-series MGDI images to delineate the disturbed areas for each year individually to identify the frequently disturbed areas. The classified intensity map could able to detect the chronically affected areas, which can serve as a valuable input towards modelling the biomigration of the invasive species and efficient forest management.

  3. Developing a framework for critical science agency through case study in a conceptual physics context

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Basu, Sreyashi Jhumki; Calabrese Barton, Angela; Clairmont, Neil; Locke, Donya

    2009-06-01

    In this manuscript we examine how two students develop and express agency in and through high school physics. We tell the stories of two youth from a low-income, urban community to elucidate the important components of critical science agency in a physics context, and to situate a set of claims about how youth develop and express this concept. This research is part of a larger multiyear study of democratic practice in middle- and high-school science. We present three claims: (a) that critical science agency is intimately related to the leveraging and development of identity, (b) that critical science agency involves the strategic deployment of resources , and (c) that developing critical science agency is an iterative and generative process. Two university researchers have co-written this paper with the two students whose experiences serve as the cases under investigation, to provide both an "emic" perspective and student-focused voices that complement and challenge the researchers' voices.

  4. Encouraging A Culture Of Outreach In Astronomy Clubs: Findings From The Astronomical Society Of The Pacific, The Institute For Learning Innovation, And Inverness Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manning, Jim; Jones, E.; St. John, M.; Berendsen, M.; Schultz, G. R.; Gurton, S.; Yocco, V.; Castori, P.; Santascoy, J.; White, V.; FRANK, K.

    2013-01-01

    Astronomy clubs constitute a “marching army” of knowledgeable and experienced astronomy enthusiasts deployed in a national network: an enormously valuable and important resource for engaging the public through educational outreach events and activities. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) in partnership with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) and Inverness Research, Inc., has been engaged in a multiyear NSF-supported project focusing on this network and its potential to advance common astronomy education and outreach objectives. The project has explored the culture of astronomy clubs, identified impediments to building cultures of outreach within clubs, and developed and introduced new mechanisms to overcome these impediments and enhance clubs’ abilities to encourage and sustain cultures that value and promote outreach efforts. The presenter will share initial research, development and evaluation findings of the project, and describe ongoing supplemental efforts that continue to advance project objectives.

  5. Encouraging A Culture Of Outreach In Astronomy Clubs: Findings From The Astronomical Society Of The Pacific, The Institute For Learning Innovation, And Inverness Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manning, Jim; Jones, E.; St. John, M.; Berendsen, M.; Schultz, G.; Gurton, S.; Yocco, V.; Castori, P.; Santascoy, J.; White, V.; Frank, K.

    2012-05-01

    Astronomy clubs constitute a “marching army” of knowledgeable and experienced astronomy enthusiasts deployed in a national network: an enormously valuable and important resource for engaging the public through educational outreach events and activities. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) in partnership with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) and Inverness Research, Inc., has been engaged in a multi-year NSF-supported project focusing on this network and its potential to advance common astronomy education and outreach objectives. The project has explored the culture of astronomy clubs, identified impediments to building cultures of outreach within clubs, and developed and introduced new mechanisms to overcome these impediments and enhance clubs’ abilities to encourage and sustain cultures that value and promote outreach efforts. The presenter will share initial research, development and evaluation findings of the project, and describe ongoing supplemental efforts that continue to advance project objectives.

  6. Technical Guidance from the International Safety Framework for Nuclear Power Source Applications in Outer Space for Design and Development Phases

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Summerer, Leopold

    2014-08-01

    In 2009, the International Safety Framework for Nuclear Power Source Applications in Outer Space [1] has been adopted, following a multi-year process that involved all major space faring nations in the frame of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The safety framework reflects an international consensus on best practices. After the older 1992 Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space, it is the second document at UN level dedicated entirely to space nuclear power sources.This paper analyses aspects of the safety framework relevant for the design and development phases of space nuclear power sources. While early publications have started analysing the legal aspects of the safety framework, its technical guidance has not yet been subject to scholarly articles. The present paper therefore focuses on the technical guidance provided in the safety framework, in an attempt to assist engineers and practitioners to benefit from these.

  7. Formative evaluation of AARP's Active for Life campaign to improve walking and bicycling environments in two cities.

    PubMed

    Emery, James; Crump, Carolyn; Hawkins, Margaret

    2007-10-01

    AARP conducted a 2.5-year social-marketing campaign to improve physical activity levels among older adults in Richmond, Virginia and Madison, Wisconsin. This article presents formative evaluation findings from the campaign's policy/environmental change component. Evaluation data were abstracted from technical-assistance documentation and telephone interviews. Results include 11 policy and 14 environmental changes attained or in-process by campaign closure. Differences between the cities' results are explained through differences in program implementation (e.g., types of changes planned, formalization of partnerships). Project teams took less time deciding to pursue policy change than environmental change; however, planning the policy activities took longer than planning environmental-change activities. Recommendations for future policy/environmental change interventions focus on the selection of strategies; planning for administrative resources; formalizing partnerships to ensure sustainability of impact; ensuring training and technical assistance; and documenting progress. Similar intervention results may be attainable with a multi-year timeframe, adequate part-time coordination, and committed volunteers.

  8. The Undergraduate ALFALFA Team: A Model for Undergraduate Participation and Outreach in Large Research Collaborations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martin, A. M.; Koopmann, R.; Higdon, S.; Balonek, T. J.; Haynes, M. P.; Giovanelli, R.; Adams, E. A. K.; Kent, B. R.; Stierwalt, S.

    2011-09-01

    The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) blind neutral hydrogen survey is an ongoing project that includes an innovative undergraduate outreach component promoting the participation of students and faculty at undergraduate-focused institutions in a large, multi-year research collaboration. The survey, which will ultimately detect ˜30,000 gas-rich galaxies, provides resources and authentic opportunities for undergraduates and faculty, including a high fraction of women and minorities, through the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team (UAT), an NSF-sponsored consortium of 18 participating institutions. The UAT experience features annual workshops at the Arecibo Observatory with hands-on experience for undergrad participants and their faculty mentors. Graduate students on the Cornell ALFALFA Team help plan and facilitate UAT activities and benefit by developing their own skills as mentors, project supervisors, and science communicators. The UAT is developing online lesson plans and activity guides that make use of the ALFALFA online data archive and of innovative learning techniques supported by the findings of astronomy education research.

  9. Overview of SnowEx Year 1 Activities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, Edward; Gatebe, Charles; Hall, Dorothy; Newlin, Jerry; Misakonis, Amy; Elder, Kelly; Marshall, Hans Peter; Heimstra, Chris; Brucker, Ludovic; De Marco, Eugenia; hide

    2017-01-01

    SnowEx is a multi-year airborne snow campaign with the primary goal of addressing the question: How much water is stored in Earths terrestrial snow-covered regions? Year 1 (2016-17) focused on the distribution of snow-water equivalent (SWE) and the snow energy balance in a forested environment. The year 1 primary site was Grand Mesa and the secondary site was the Senator Beck Basin, both in western, Colorado, USA. Nine sensors on five aircraft made observations using a broad range of sensing techniques, active and passive microwave, and active and passive optical infrared to determine the sensitivity and accuracy of these potential satellite remote sensing techniques, along with models, to measure snow under a range of forest conditions. SnowEx also included an extensive range of ground truth measurements in-situ manual samples, snow pits, ground based remote sensing measurements, and sophisticated new techniques. A detailed description of the data collected will be given and some preliminary results will be presented.

  10. Greenbelt Homes Pilot Program: Summary of Building Envelope Retrofits, Planned HVAC Equipment Upgrades, and Energy Savings

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wiehagen, J.; Del Bianco, M.; Mallay, D.

    2015-05-01

    In the fall of 2010, a multiyear pilot energy efficiency retrofit project was undertaken by Greenbelt Homes, Inc, (GHI) a 1,566 home cooperative of circa 1930 and 1940 homes in Greenbelt, Maryland. GHI established this pilot project to serve as a basis for decision making for the rollout of a decade-long community-wide upgrade program that will incorporate energy efficiency improvements to the building envelope and mechanical equipment. It presents a unique opportunity to evaluate and prioritize the wide-range of benefits of high-performance retrofits based on member experience with and acceptance of the retrofit measures implemented during the pilot project. Addressingmore » the complex interactions between benefits, trade-offs, construction methods, project management implications, realistic upfront costs, financing, and other considerations, serves as a case study for energy retrofit projects to include high-performance technologies based on the long-term value to the homeowner. The pilot project focused on identifying the added costs and energy savings benefits of improvements.« less

  11. Are Two Voices Better Than One? Predicting Permanency for Minority Youth Using Multi-Informant Mental Health and Strength Data

    PubMed Central

    Toche-Manley, Linda L.; Dietzen, Laura; Nankin, Jesse; Beigel, Astrid

    2013-01-01

    Among youth in child welfare ages 6 to 17, 40% meet criteria for one or more DSM diagnoses. For minority youth in child welfare, poor mental health is compounded by limited access to care and racial disparity bias, leading to poorer outcomes. This paper uses data collected and analyzed by an automated behavioral health assessment system for a multi-year study that focused on ways to improve case planning in child welfare. Youth, their caseworkers and, in some cases, parents completed assessments that measured and monitored the youths’ needs and strengths. More than 60% of youth participating in the study were African American; permanency rates after six months of case planning were found to be only one-third. Predictive factors related to better behavioral health and permanency outcomes are identified and discussed, as well as the implications for improving case planning by incorporating the views of multiple informants, including the youth. PMID:22566058

  12. Hochauflösendes Monitoring von Karst-Grundwasserressourcen beiderseits des Jordangrabens - Konzepte und Anwendungsbeispiele

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmidt, Sebastian; Grimmeisen, Felix; Ries, Fabian; Goldscheider, Nico; Sauter, Martin

    2018-03-01

    In the semi-arid eastern Mediterranean water supply is highly dependent on karst aquifers. The region is characterized by multi-year dry and wet cycles combined with high hydrological dynamics, especially during intense precipitation events. The investigated karst regions in the West Bank and Jordan are experiencing strong urbanization within the groundwater catchments and hence a rising impact on water quality. Therefore, high resolution monitoring data are required for the assessment of available water resources and the hydrogeological characterization of the karst systems. These measurements are focused on the (natural) meteorological input signals and the system output signals at the karst springs. Also soil moisture and ephemeral runoff dynamics are investigated. The monitoring data enable (1) hydrogeological characterization of the aquifers, (2) estimation of groundwater recharge via soil water balance and reservoir models, and (3) assessment of contamination dynamics in groundwater (e. g. nitrate and E. coli concentrations), allowing an optimized raw water management. Several examples illustrate the importance of high-resolution hydrological monitoring data.

  13. EC91-436-8

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1991-08-16

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Systems Research Aircraft (SRA), a highly modified F-18 jet fighter, during a research flight. The former Navy aircraft was flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, to evaluate a number of experimental aerospace technologies in a multi-year, joint NASA/DOD/industry program. Among the more than 20 experiments flight-tested were several involving fiber optic sensor systems. Experiments developed by McDonnell-Douglas and Lockheed-Martin centered on installation and maintenace techniques for various types of fiber-optic hardware proposed for use in military and commercial aircraft, while a Parker-Hannifin experiment focused in alternative fiber-optic designs for position measurement sensors as well as operational experience in handling optical sensor systems. Other experiments flown on this testbed aircraft included electronically-controlled control surface actuators, flush air data collection systems, "smart" skin antennae and laser-based systems. Incorporation of one or more of these technologies in future aircraft and spacecraft could result in signifigant savings in weight, maintenance and overall cost.

  14. Shape priors for segmentation of the cervix region within uterine cervix images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lotenberg, Shelly; Gordon, Shiri; Greenspan, Hayit

    2008-03-01

    The work focuses on a unique medical repository of digital Uterine Cervix images ("Cervigrams") collected by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Health, in longitudinal multi-year studies. NCI together with the National Library of Medicine is developing a unique web-based database of the digitized cervix images to study the evolution of lesions related to cervical cancer. Tools are needed for the automated analysis of the cervigram content to support the cancer research. In recent works, a multi-stage automated system for segmenting and labeling regions of medical and anatomical interest within the cervigrams was developed. The current paper concentrates on incorporating prior-shape information in the cervix region segmentation task. In accordance with the fact that human experts mark the cervix region as circular or elliptical, two shape models (and corresponding methods) are suggested. The shape models are embedded within an active contour framework that relies on image features. Experiments indicate that incorporation of the prior shape information augments previous results.

  15. Drought effects on evapotransiration and subsurface water storage in the southern Sierra Nevada

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bales, R. C.; Goulden, M.; Hunsaker, C. T.; Conklin, M. H.; Hartsough, P. C.; O'Geen, T. T.; Hopmans, J. W.; Safeeq, M.

    2015-12-01

    Multi-year measurements of evapotranspiration (ET) at three elevations in the southern Sierra Nevada show the extent to which subsurface water storage in the regolith provides a buffer against multi-year dry periods. ET in a 2000-m elevation mixed-conifer forest showed a 24% decrease in ET in water-year 2014, the third dry year, as compared to the wet year of 2011. This decrease reflected reduced transpiration for the July to September period. Over half of the annual ET in both wet and dry years came from below the 1-m depth mapped soil, and with come coming from below the 2.5 m depth of our soil-moisture measurements. The ability of trees to access water from these depths does provide a 2-3 year buffer for ET, which also depends on forest density and the balance between perennial overstory and annual understory vegetation. An equally dense lower-elevation pine-oak forest (1160 m) showed nearly a 50% decrease in ET during the third year of drought, with significant visible effects on vegetation. While this lower elevation forest may have as much or more subsurface storage as does that at 2000-m elevation, the combination of lower precipitation as one goes down in elevation and very high forest density provides only a one-year buffer for ET in dry years. Regaining resiliency in this forest will only occur with significant reductions in biomass and commensurate lowering of ET. In a 400-m elevation oak savannah ET responds to annual precipitation, with essentially no multi-year buffer provided by subsurface storage.

  16. Analysis of the global ISCCP TOVS water vapor climatology

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wittmeyer, Ian L.; Vonder Haar, Thomas H.

    1994-01-01

    A climatological examination of the global water vapor field based on a multiyear period of successfull satellite-based observations is presented. Results from the multiyear global ISCCP TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) water vapor dataset as operationally produced by NESDIS and ISCCP are shown. The methods employed for the retrieval of precipitable water content (PWC) utilize infrared measurements collected by the TOVS instrument package flown aboard the NOAA series of operational polar-orbiting satellites. Strengths of this dataset include the nearly global daily coverage, availability for a multiyear period, operational internal quality checks, and its description of important features in the mean state of the atmosphere. Weaknesses of this PWC dataset include that the infrared sensors are unable to collect data in cloudy regions, the retrievals are strongly biased toward a land-based radiosonde first-guess dataset, and the description of high spatial and temporal variability is inadequate. Primary consequences of these factors are seen in the underestimation of ITCZ water vapor maxima, and underestimation of midlatitude water vapor mean and standard deviation values where transient atmospheric phenomena contribute significantly toward time means. A comparison of TOVS analyses to SSM/I data over ocean for the month of July 1988 shows fair agreement in the magnitude and distribution of the monthly mean values, but the TOVS fields exhibit much less temporal and spatial variability on a daily basis in comparison to the SSM/I analyses. The emphasis of this paper is on the presentation and documentation of an early satellite-based water vapor climatology, and description of factors that prevent a more accurate representation of the global water vapor field.

  17. The Fertilizing Role of African Dust in the Amazon Rainforest: A First Multiyear Assessment Based on CALIPSO Lidar Observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yu, Hongbin; Chin, Mian; Yuan, Tianle; Bian, Huisheng; Remer, Lorraine A.; Prospero, Joseph M.; Omar, Ali; Winker, David; Yang, Yuekui; Zhang, Yan; hide

    2015-01-01

    The productivity of the Amazon rainforest is constrained by the availability of nutrients, in particular phosphorus (P). Deposition of long-range transported African dust is recognized as a potentially important but poorly quantified source of phosphorus. This study provides a first multiyear satellite-based estimate of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin using three dimensional (3D) aerosol measurements over 2007-2013 from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The 7-year average of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin is estimated to be 28 (8 to approximately 48) Tg a(exp -1) or 29 (8 to approximately 50) kg ha(exp -1) a(exp -1). The dust deposition shows significant interannual variation that is negatively correlated with the prior-year rainfall in the Sahel. The CALIOP-based multi-year mean estimate of dust deposition matches better with estimates from in-situ measurements and model simulations than a previous satellite-based estimate does. The closer agreement benefits from a more realistic geographic definition of the Amazon Basin and inclusion of meridional dust transport calculation in addition to the 3D nature of CALIOP aerosol measurements. The imported dust could provide about 0.022 (0.0060.037) Tg P of phosphorus per year, equivalent to 23 (7 to approximately 39) g P ha(exp -1) a(exp -1) to fertilize the Amazon rainforest. This out-of-Basin P input largely compensates the hydrological loss of P from the Basin, suggesting an important role of African dust in preventing phosphorus depletion on time scales of decades to centuries.

  18. The fertilizing role of African dust in the Amazon rainforest: A first multiyear assessment based on data from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Hongbin; Chin, Mian; Yuan, Tianle; Bian, Huisheng; Remer, Lorraine A.; Prospero, Joseph M.; Omar, Ali; Winker, David; Yang, Yuekui; Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Zhibo; Zhao, Chun

    2015-03-01

    The productivity of the Amazon rainforest is constrained by the availability of nutrients, in particular phosphorus (P). Deposition of long-range transported African dust is recognized as a potentially important but poorly quantified source of phosphorus. This study provides a first multiyear satellite-based estimate of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin using three-dimensional (3-D) aerosol measurements over 2007-2013 from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The 7 year average of dust deposition into the Amazon Basin is estimated to be 28 (8-48) Tg a-1 or 29 (8-50) kg ha-1 a-1. The dust deposition shows significant interannual variation that is negatively correlated with the prior-year rainfall in the Sahel. The CALIOP-based multiyear mean estimate of dust deposition matches better with estimates from in situ measurements and model simulations than a previous satellite-based estimate does. The closer agreement benefits from a more realistic geographic definition of the Amazon Basin and inclusion of meridional dust transport calculation in addition to the 3-D nature of CALIOP aerosol measurements. The imported dust could provide about 0.022 (0.006-0.037) Tg P of phosphorus per year, equivalent to 23 (7-39) g P ha-1 a-1 to fertilize the Amazon rainforest. This out-of-basin phosphorus input is comparable to the hydrological loss of phosphorus from the basin, suggesting an important role of African dust in preventing phosphorus depletion on timescales of decades to centuries.

  19. Multi-year longitudinal profiles of cortisol and corticosterone recovered from baleen of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis).

    PubMed

    Hunt, Kathleen E; Lysiak, Nadine S; Moore, Michael; Rolland, Rosalind M

    2017-12-01

    Research into stress physiology of mysticete whales has been hampered by difficulty in obtaining repeated physiological samples from individuals over time. We investigated whether multi-year longitudinal records of glucocorticoids can be reconstructed from serial sampling along full-length baleen plates (representing ∼10years of baleen growth), using baleen recovered from two female North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) of known reproductive history. Cortisol and corticosterone were quantified with immunoassay of subsamples taken every 4cm (representing ∼60d time intervals) along a full-length baleen plate from each female. In both whales, corticosterone was significantly elevated during known pregnancies (inferred from calf sightings and necropsy data) as compared to intercalving intervals; cortisol was significantly elevated during pregnancies in one female but not the other. Within intercalving intervals, corticosterone was significantly elevated during the first year (lactation year) and/or the second year (post-lactation year) as compared to later years of the intercalving interval, while cortisol showed more variable patterns. Cortisol occasionally showed brief high elevations ("spikes") not paralleled by corticosterone, suggesting that the two glucocorticoids might be differentially responsive to certain stressors. Generally, immunoreactive corticosterone was present in higher concentration in baleen than immunoreactive cortisol; corticosterone:cortisol ratio was usually >4 and was highly variable in both individuals. Further investigation of baleen cortisol and corticosterone profiles could prove fruitful for elucidating long-term, multi-year patterns in stress physiology of large whales, determined retrospectively from stranded or archived specimens. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Technical report series on global modeling and data assimilation. Volume 6: A multiyear assimilation with the GEOS-1 system: Overview and results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Suarez, Max J. (Editor); Schubert, Siegfried; Rood, Richard; Park, Chung-Kyu; Wu, Chung-Yu; Kondratyeva, Yelena; Molod, Andrea; Takacs, Lawrence; Seablom, Michael; Higgins, Wayne

    1995-01-01

    The Data Assimilation Office (DAO) at Goddard Space Flight Center has produced a multiyear global assimilated data set with version 1 of the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS-1 DAS). One of the main goals of this project, in addition to benchmarking the GEOS-1 system, was to produce a research quality data set suitable for the study of short-term climate variability. The output, which is global and gridded, includes all prognostic fields and a large number of diagnostic quantities such as precipitation, latent heating, and surface fluxes. Output is provided four times daily with selected quantities available eight times per day. Information about the observations input to the GEOS-1 DAS is provided in terms of maps of spatial coverage, bar graphs of data counts, and tables of all time periods with significant data gaps. The purpose of this document is to serve as a users' guide to NASA's first multiyear assimilated data set and to provide an early look at the quality of the output. Documentation is provided on all the data archives, including sample read programs and methods of data access. Extensive comparisons are made with the corresponding operational European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyses, as well as various in situ and satellite observations. This document is also intended to alert users of the data about potential limitations of assimilated data, in general, and the GEOS-1 data, in particular. Results are presented for the period March 1985-February 1990.

  1. Effect of the environment on the hydrochemical characteristics of an alluvial aquifer following an exceptional multiyear drought (Mediterranean seashore, herault, France): Part II— Climatology and agronomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grillot, Jean-Claude; Chaffaut, Isabelle; Razack, Moumtaz

    1988-04-01

    The hydrochemical evolution of an alluvial groundwater located along the Mediterranean seashore is analyzed with respect to its agricultural and climatic environment, including degree of saturation of the soil; types of cultures, chemical fertilizers and phytosanitary treatments; selective irrigations of the cultivated areas; precipitations. It is shown that the environmental effect on the groundwater's vulnerability depends on two groups of factors: 1. Transfers from surface to groundwater of nitrates, chlorides, sulfates, and potassium, which are governed by: (a) the climatic conditions before the agricultural activities begin, (b) the kinds of agricultural activities and their distribution in time with respect to a given climatic context. Phenomena of retention and/or rapid diffusion are related to the sedimentary heterogeneities of the reservoir and to the differences of ternperatures between irrigation waters and precipitations.

  2. The future of nursing: monitoring the progress of recommended change in hospitals, nurse-led clinics, and home health and hospice agencies.

    PubMed

    Pittman, Patricia; Bass, Emily; Hargraves, John; Herrera, Carolina; Thompson, Pamela

    2015-02-01

    The objective of this study was to assess the implementation of recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. In 2010, the IOM made a series of recommendations aimed at transforming the role of nurses in healthcare delivery. We conducted a multiyear survey, in 2011 and 2013, with nurse leaders who were members of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the National Nursing Centers Consortium, or the Visiting Nurses Association of America. When comparing 2013 to 2011, we find progress in instituting the IOM's recommendations in 3 areas: (1) raising the proportion of employed RNs with at least a bachelor's degree; (2) expanding the proportion of healthcare institutions with nurse residency programs; and (3) offering opportunities for continuing nurse education Our findings suggest that healthcare organizations are transforming to support the recommendations of the IOM.

  3. The Quest for Ubuntu: Water and Health in Limpopo (WHIL) Partnership

    PubMed Central

    Boissevain, Jane; Richardson, Jeanita W; Netshandama, Vhonani; Dillingham, Rebecca

    2014-01-01

    Internationally, efforts to improve health in under-resourced areas of the world frequently involve coalitions, often with at least one partner from the “outside,” such as when NGOs or universities from Europe or the US work with institutions and communities in Africa or Asia. Little has been written about applying successful principles to multinational university collaborations as the unit of analysis and where challenges may be magnified by cultural differences and resource imbalances. The purpose of this article is to share the findings from an evaluation of the multi-year interdisciplinary public health Water and Health in Limpopo (WHIL) collaboration between the University of Venda (South Africa) and the University of Virginia (United States). We believe the learnings described easily transfer to collaborative educational endeavors because at their root they speak to the practices that enhance respectful engagement and partnership sustainability. PMID:25530712

  4. The Quest for Ubuntu: Water and Health in Limpopo (WHIL) Partnership.

    PubMed

    Boissevain, Jane; Richardson, Jeanita W; Netshandama, Vhonani; Dillingham, Rebecca

    2013-01-01

    Internationally, efforts to improve health in under-resourced areas of the world frequently involve coalitions, often with at least one partner from the "outside," such as when NGOs or universities from Europe or the US work with institutions and communities in Africa or Asia. Little has been written about applying successful principles to multinational university collaborations as the unit of analysis and where challenges may be magnified by cultural differences and resource imbalances. The purpose of this article is to share the findings from an evaluation of the multi-year interdisciplinary public health Water and Health in Limpopo (WHIL) collaboration between the University of Venda (South Africa) and the University of Virginia (United States). We believe the learnings described easily transfer to collaborative educational endeavors because at their root they speak to the practices that enhance respectful engagement and partnership sustainability.

  5. Designs for surge immunity in critical electronic facilities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roberts, Edward F., Jr.

    1991-01-01

    In recent years, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) embarked on a program replacing older tube type electronic equipment with newer solid state equipment. This replacement program dramatically increased the susceptibility of the FAA's facilities to lightning related damages. The proposal is presented of techniques which may be employed to lessen the susceptibility of new FAA electronic facility designs to failures resulting from lightning related surges and transients as well as direct strikes. The general concept espoused is one of a consistent system approach employing both perimeter and internal protection. It compares the technique presently employed to reduce electronic noise with other techniques which reduce noise while lowering susceptibility to lightning related damage. It is anticipated that these techniques will be employed in the design of an Air Traffic Control Tower in a high isokeraunic area. This facility would be subjected to rigorous monitoring over a multi-year period to provide quantitative data hopefully supporting the advantage of this design.

  6. Preparing and Restoring Composite Resin Restorations. The Advantage of High Magnification Loupes or the Dental Surgical Operating Microscope.

    PubMed

    Mamoun, John

    2015-01-01

    Use of magnification, such as 6x to 8x binocular surgical loupes or the surgical operating microscope, combined with co-axial illumination, may facilitate the creation of stable composite resin restorations that are less likely to develop caries, cracks or margin stains over years of service. Microscopes facilitate observation of clinically relevant microscopic visual details, such as microscopic amounts of demineralization or caries at preparation margins; microscopic areas of soft, decayed tooth structure; microscopic amounts of moisture contamination of the preparation during bonding; or microscopic marginal gaps in the composite. Preventing microscope-level errors in composite fabrication can result in a composite restoration that, at initial placement, appears perfect when viewed under 6x to 8x magnification and which also is free of secondary caries, marginal staining or cracks at multi-year follow-up visits.

  7. Initial Investigations of Controller Tools and Procedures for Schedule-Based Arrival Operations with Mixed Flight-Deck Interval Management Equipage

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Callantine, Todd J.; Cabrall, Christopher; Kupfer, Michael; Omar, Faisal G.; Prevot, Thomas

    2012-01-01

    NASA?s Air Traffic Management Demonstration-1 (ATD-1) is a multi-year effort to demonstrate high-throughput, fuel-efficient arrivals at a major U.S. airport using NASA-developed scheduling automation, controller decision-support tools, and ADS-B-enabled Flight-Deck Interval Management (FIM) avionics. First-year accomplishments include the development of a concept of operations for managing scheduled arrivals flying Optimized Profile Descents with equipped aircraft conducting FIM operations, and the integration of laboratory prototypes of the core ATD-1 technologies. Following each integration phase, a human-in-the-loop simulation was conducted to evaluate and refine controller tools, procedures, and clearance phraseology. From a ground-side perspective, the results indicate the concept is viable and the operations are safe and acceptable. Additional training is required for smooth operations that yield notable benefits, particularly in the areas of FIM operations and clearance phraseology.

  8. Scale Dependence of Spatiotemporal Intermittence of Rain

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kundu, Prasun K.; Siddani, Ravi K.

    2011-01-01

    It is a common experience that rainfall is intermittent in space and time. This is reflected by the fact that the statistics of area- and/or time-averaged rain rate is described by a mixed distribution with a nonzero probability of having a sharp value zero. In this paper we have explored the dependence of the probability of zero rain on the averaging space and time scales in large multiyear data sets based on radar and rain gauge observations. A stretched exponential fannula fits the observed scale dependence of the zero-rain probability. The proposed formula makes it apparent that the space-time support of the rain field is not quite a set of measure zero as is sometimes supposed. We also give an ex.planation of the observed behavior in tenus of a simple probabilistic model based on the premise that rainfall process has an intrinsic memory.

  9. [Clinical and pathogenetic aspects of the chronic occupational intoxication with fluorine compounds in modern reality].

    PubMed

    Roslaia, N A; Likhacheva, E I; Oranskiĭ, I E; Odinokaia, V A; Plotko, É G; Zhovtiak, E P; Fedorov, A A; Riabko, E V

    2012-01-01

    Multi-year follow-up of 358 workers of aluminum pot rooms, including 165 individuals suffering from fluorosis, has shown significant changes in the clinical picture of the chronic occupational fluorine intoxication, developed under modern conditions of production, at lower concentrations of fluorine compounds in the air of working area. In this connection, the pathology of the musculoskeletal system plays the dominating role in this clinical picture and has the large variability of combinations of the individual sections destructions of the bone tissue. The main criterion to establish the phase of the disease is still the number and severity of the signs of this destruction. The visceral pathology in contemporary production circumstances is registered with less frequency and loses a number of the previously described clinical manifestations, however, is still of some importance to identify the early signs of the disease and to prevent the dental fluorosis on time.

  10. 2016 Results for Avian Monitoring at the TA-36 Minie Site, TA-39 Point 6, and TA-16 Burn Ground at Los Alamos National Laboratory

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hathcock, Charles Dean; Thompson, Brent E.; Berryhill, Jesse Tobias

    Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) biologists in the Environmental Compliance and Protection Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) initiated a multi-year program in 2013 to monitor avifauna at two open detonation sites and one open burn site on LANL property. Monitoring results from these efforts are compared among years and with avifauna monitoring conducted at other areas across LANL. The objectives of this study are to determine whether LANL firing site operations impact bird abundance or diversity. LANS biologists completed the fourth year of this effort in 2016. The overall results from 2016 continue to indicate that operationsmore » are not negatively affecting bird populations. Data suggest that community structure may be changing at some sites and this trend will continue to be monitored.« less

  11. Artificial light at night confounds broad-scale habitat use by migrating birds

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McLaren, James D.; Buler, Jeffrey J.; Schreckengost, Tim; Smolinsky, Jaclyn A.; Boone, Matthew; van Loon, E. Emiel; Dawson, Deanna K.; Walters, Eric L.

    2018-01-01

    With many of the world's migratory bird populations in alarming decline, broad-scale assessments of responses to migratory hazards may prove crucial to successful conservation efforts. Most birds migrate at night through increasingly light-polluted skies. Bright light sources can attract airborne migrants and lead to collisions with structures, but might also influence selection of migratory stopover habitat and thereby acquisition of food resources. We demonstrate, using multi-year weather radar measurements of nocturnal migrants across the northeastern U.S., that autumnal migrant stopover density increased at regional scales with proximity to the brightest areas, but decreased within a few kilometers of brightly-lit sources. This finding implies broad-scale attraction to artificial light while airborne, impeding selection for extensive forest habitat. Given that high-quality stopover habitat is critical to successful migration, and hindrances during migration can decrease fitness, artificial lights present a potentially heightened conservation concern for migratory bird populations.

  12. Shape-Constrained Segmentation Approach for Arctic Multiyear Sea Ice Floe Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tarabalka, Yuliya; Brucker, Ludovic; Ivanoff, Alvaro; Tilton, James C.

    2013-01-01

    The melting of sea ice is correlated to increases in sea surface temperature and associated climatic changes. Therefore, it is important to investigate how rapidly sea ice floes melt. For this purpose, a new Tempo Seg method for multi temporal segmentation of multi year ice floes is proposed. The microwave radiometer is used to track the position of an ice floe. Then,a time series of MODIS images are created with the ice floe in the image center. A Tempo Seg method is performed to segment these images into two regions: Floe and Background.First, morphological feature extraction is applied. Then, the central image pixel is marked as Floe, and shape-constrained best merge region growing is performed. The resulting tworegionmap is post-filtered by applying morphological operators.We have successfully tested our method on a set of MODIS images and estimated the area of a sea ice floe as afunction of time.

  13. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Garzoglio, Gabriele

    The Fermilab Grid and Cloud Computing Department and the KISTI Global Science experimental Data hub Center are working on a multi-year Collaborative Research and Development Agreement.With the knowledge developed in the first year on how to provision and manage a federation of virtual machines through Cloud management systems. In this second year, we expanded the work on provisioning and federation, increasing both scale and diversity of solutions, and we started to build on-demand services on the established fabric, introducing the paradigm of Platform as a Service to assist with the execution of scientific workflows. We have enabled scientific workflows ofmore » stakeholders to run on multiple cloud resources at the scale of 1,000 concurrent machines. The demonstrations have been in the areas of (a) Virtual Infrastructure Automation and Provisioning, (b) Interoperability and Federation of Cloud Resources, and (c) On-demand Services for ScientificWorkflows.« less

  14. A climate trend analysis of Chad

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Funk, Christopher C.; Rowland, Jim; Adoum, Alkhalil; Eilerts, Gary; White, Libby

    2012-01-01

    This brief report, drawing from a multi-year effort by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), identifies significant decreases in rainfall and increases in air temperature across Chad, especially in the eastern part of the country. These analyses are based on quality-controlled station observations. Conclusions:* Summer rains have decreased in eastern Chad during the past 20 years. * Temperatures have increased by 0.8 °Celsius since 1975, amplifying the effect of droughts. * Crop yields are very low and stagnant. * The amount of farmland per person is low, and decliningrapidly.* Population growth combined with stagnating yieldscould lead to a 30 percent reduction in per capita cereal production by 2025.* In many cases, areas with changing climate are coincident with zones of substantial conflict, indicating some degree of association; however, the contribution of climate change to these conflicts is not currently understood.

  15. Phase 1 results from the Stirling-powered vehicle project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shaltens, Richard K.

    1988-01-01

    The NASA Technology Utilization (TU) Office is sponsoring a multiyear, multiphase demonstration program to assess the technology developed under the DOE/NASA automotive Stirling engine (ASE) program with engines installed in various Air Force vehicles while being evaluated by independent third parties under realistic conditions. This paper reviews the operational history of Phase 1 with a Mod 1 Stirling engine installed in an Air Force multistop van in a variety of missions. Ten months of operation were with Air Force personnel at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where over 1100 hr and 4000 mi were logged on the Langley flight line. The Stirling-powered van operated on unleaded gasoline, JP-4 aircraft fuel, and diesel fuel at Langley Air Force Base. Two months of operation were completed with Deere and Company personnel in the Moline, Illinois area where over 175 hr and 2650 mi were logged on a Deere mail delivery route.

  16. Visitor’s Guide to Oliktok Point Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility, North Slope of Alaska

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Desilets, Darin; Helsel, Fred M.; Bendure, Al O.

    2016-04-01

    The importance of Oliktok Point, Alaska, as a focal point for climate research in the Arctic continues to grow with the addition of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Monitoring (ARM) Climate Research Facility Mobile Facility (AMF) and the expansion of infrastructure to support airborne measurements. The site hosts a suite of instruments for making multi-year, high-fidelity atmospheric measurements; serves as a base of operations for field campaigns; and contains the only Restricted Airspace and Warning Area in the U.S. Arctic, which enables the use of unmanned aircraft systems. The use of this site by climate researchers involvesmore » several considerations, including its remoteness, harsh climate, and location amid the North Slope oilfields. This guide is intended to help visitors to Oliktok Point navigate this unique physical and administrative environment, and thereby facilitate safe and productive operations.« less

  17. Landlord project multi-year program plan, fiscal year 1999, WBS 1.5

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dallas, M.D.

    The MYWP technical baseline describes the work to be accomplished by the Project and the technical standards which govern that work. The mission of Landlord Project is to provide more maintenance replacement of general infrastructure facilities and systems to facilitate the Hanford Site cleanup mission. Also, once an infrastructure facility or system is no longer needed the Landlord Project transitions the facility to final closure/removal through excess, salvage or demolition. Landlord Project activities will be performed in an environmentally sound, safe, economical, prudent, and reliable manner. The Landlord Project consists of the following facilities systems: steam, water, liquid sanitary waste,more » electrical distribution, telecommunication, sanitary landfill, emergency services, general purpose offices, general purpose shops, general purpose warehouses, environmental supports facilities, roads, railroad, and the site land. The objectives for general infrastructure support are reflected in two specific areas, (1) Core Infrastructure Maintenance, and (2) Infrastructure Risk Mitigation.« less

  18. ECONOMICS AND DECISION SCIENCES MULTI-YEAR PLAN

    EPA Science Inventory

    As long as environmental policy is designed to change behaviors that cause environmental problems, economics and decision sciences research will be essential to understanding these behaviors. In addition, this research informs state and federal environmental agencies on how best ...

  19. General Motors Partners with NREL to Reduce Automotive Fuel Cell Costs |

    Science.gov Websites

    Reduce Automotive Fuel Cell Costs General Motors (GM) is partnering with NREL on a multiyear , multimillion-dollar joint research and development effort to lower the cost of automotive fuel cell stacks

  20. Initial development of prototype performance model for highway design

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1997-12-01

    The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has undertaken a multiyear project to develop the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM), which is a CADD-based integrated set of software tools to analyze a highway design to identify safety issues ...

  1. Replacement of chromates in paints and corrosion protection systems [Stage 1

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-05-01

    This technical report presents the first stage results of a multi-year project to develop chromate-free paints and corrosion protection systems. Chromate coatings and chromate-containing paints are very effective in providing corrosion resistance and...

  2. Development of the Sealzall Machine : Upgrade to the TTLS (Pavement Crack Sealer)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-10-31

    The AHMCT Research Center, together with Caltrans, has been leading a multi-year research effort to develop : innovative high production crack sealing equipment, which improves safety while reducing costs. The Sealzall : Machine development project i...

  3. MDOT Pavement Management System : Prediction Models and Feedback System

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2000-10-01

    As a primary component of a Pavement Management System (PMS), prediction models are crucial for one or more of the following analyses: : maintenance planning, budgeting, life-cycle analysis, multi-year optimization of maintenance works program, and a...

  4. National child safety seat distribution program evaluation

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1999-03-01

    The National Child Safety Seat Distribution Program (NCSS) was a multi-year, multi-phase program intended to distribute $8 million in child safety seats to low-income and special needs children in all fifty states. Non-profit organizations that recei...

  5. Hybrid FSAE Vehicle Realization

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2010-12-01

    The goal of this multi-year project is to create a fully functional University of Idaho entry in the hybrid FSAE competition. Vehicle integration is underway as part of a variety of 2010-11 senior design projects. This leverages a variety of analytic...

  6. Rail Modernization Study

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1987-04-01

    This study summarizes the results of a multi-year assessment of the rail transit and commuter rail systems. The work was based on an earlier study design effort. The purposes of the study were to determine the costs of upgrading and modernizing urban...

  7. 48 CFR 17.101 - Authority.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Authority. 17.101 Section 17.101 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 17.101 Authority. This subpart implements...

  8. NREL and General Motors Announce R&D Partnership to Reduce Cost of

    Science.gov Websites

    modeling studies to a multiyear National Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Learning Demonstration. Data from the Learning Demonstration were sent to the National Fuel Cell Technology Evaluation Center (NFCTEC), a data

  9. California Hydrogen Infrastructure Project

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Heydorn, Edward C

    2013-03-12

    Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has completed a comprehensive, multiyear project to demonstrate a hydrogen infrastructure in California. The specific primary objective of the project was to demonstrate a model of a real-world retail hydrogen infrastructure and acquire sufficient data within the project to assess the feasibility of achieving the nation's hydrogen infrastructure goals. The project helped to advance hydrogen station technology, including the vehicle-to-station fueling interface, through consumer experiences and feedback. By encompassing a variety of fuel cell vehicles, customer profiles and fueling experiences, this project was able to obtain a complete portrait of real market needs. The projectmore » also opened its stations to other qualified vehicle providers at the appropriate time to promote widespread use and gain even broader public understanding of a hydrogen infrastructure. The project engaged major energy companies to provide a fueling experience similar to traditional gasoline station sites to foster public acceptance of hydrogen. Work over the course of the project was focused in multiple areas. With respect to the equipment needed, technical design specifications (including both safety and operational considerations) were written, reviewed, and finalized. After finalizing individual equipment designs, complete station designs were started including process flow diagrams and systems safety reviews. Material quotes were obtained, and in some cases, depending on the project status and the lead time, equipment was placed on order and fabrication began. Consideration was given for expected vehicle usage and station capacity, standard features needed, and the ability to upgrade the station at a later date. In parallel with work on the equipment, discussions were started with various vehicle manufacturers to identify vehicle demand (short- and long-term needs). Discussions included identifying potential areas most suited for hydrogen fueling stations with a focus on safe, convenient, fast-fills. These potential areas were then compared to and overlaid with suitable sites from various energy companies and other potential station operators. Work continues to match vehicle needs with suitable fueling station locations. Once a specific site was identified, the necessary agreements could be completed with the station operator and expected station users. Detailed work could then begin on the site drawings, permits, safety procedures and training needs. Permanent stations were successfully installed in Irvine (delivered liquid hydrogen), Torrance (delivered pipeline hydrogen) and Fountain Valley (renewable hydrogen from anaerobic digester gas). Mobile fueling stations were also deployed to meet short-term fueling needs in Long Beach and Placerville. Once these stations were brought online, infrastructure data was collected and reported to DOE using Air Products Enterprise Remote Access Monitoring system. Feedback from station operators was incorporated to improve the station user's fueling experience.« less

  10. Factors affecting maintenance overlay ride quality : 1996 rideability status.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1997-01-01

    In early 1996, the Virginia Transportation Research Council initiated a formal analysis of the factors affecting overlay ride quality. As part of that effort, a statewide, multi-year survey of the ride quality for both new overlays and pavement await...

  11. Assessing Information Literacy Skills Development in First Year Students: A Multi-Year Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fain, Margaret

    2011-01-01

    Assessment data from 5 years of a pretest/posttest with first-year students was analyzed using McNemar's test. The results show that revisiting previous assessment data can identify significant changes in information literacy skill development.

  12. Replacement of chromates in paints and corrosion protection systems [Stage 2

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-05-01

    This technical report presents the second stage results of a multi-year project to develop chromate-free paints and corrosion protection systems. Chromate-containing coatings and paints are very effective in providing corrosion resistance and are wid...

  13. National study on carless and special needs populations mobilizing your community for emergency evacuation.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2012-12-01

    The National Study on Carless and Special Needs Evacuation Planning was a multi-year study funded by the Federal Transit Administration : to research how state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), transit ...

  14. Responsibility Center Management: An Assessment of RCM at IUPUI.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robbins, David L.; Rooney, Patrick Michael

    1995-01-01

    Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis is the first public institution to implement Responsibility Center Management (RCM), a comprehensive decentralized, incentive-base financial management system. RCM has strengthened academic planning, budget management, general accountability, and multiyear fiscal planning. Organizational…

  15. GLOBAL CHANGE MULTI-YEAR PLAN

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Global Change Research Act of 1990 establishes the U.S. Global Change Research Program to coordinate a comprehensive research program on global change. This is an inter-Agency effort, with EPA bearing responsibility to assess the consequences of global change on human health,...

  16. Monitoring Initiative Grants under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Each year, EPA provides funding to states, eligible interstate agencies, and eligible tribes to support ambient water quality monitoring programs and implement a multi-year survey of the condition of nation’s waters to track changes over time.

  17. MISR Science Data Validation Plan Summary Charts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Conel, J.; Ledeboer, W.; Ackerman, T.; Marchand, R.; Clothiaux, E.

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of the MISR experiment is to acquire systematic multi-angle imagery for global monitoring over a multi-year period of top-of-atmosphere and surface albedos and to measure the shortwave radiative properties of aerosols, clouds, and surface scenes.

  18. Grassland responses to precipitation extremes

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Grassland ecosystems are naturally subjected to periods of prolonged drought and sequences of wet years. Climate change is expected to enhance the magnitude and frequency of extreme events at the intraannual and multiyear scales. Are grassland responses to extreme precipitation simply a response to ...

  19. Meeting the Challenge.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Palestis, Ernest

    1997-01-01

    Describes the award-winning technology endeavors and parent involvement programs developed in the Mine Hill School District (New Jersey). Topics include the multiyear plan, community and board of education support, funding, measuring student learning outcomes, and evening computer education programs for parents and children. (LRW)

  20. Development of the Sealzall Machine : upgrade to the TTLS (pavement crack sealer).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-10-01

    The AHMCT Research Center, together with Caltrans, has been leading a multi-year research effort to develop innovative high production crack sealing equipment, which improves safety while reducing costs. The Sealzall Machine development project is th...

  1. East End transportation study final report September 17, 2009

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-09-17

    This report is the final component of a multi-year transit feasibility study conducted by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center on behalf fo the five Towns of the East End. The initial transit conceptunder evaluation, a proposed Coordinate...

  2. 48 CFR 17.105-2 - Objectives.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 17.105-2 Objectives. Use of... contracts. (d) Substantial continuity of production or performance, thus avoiding annual startup costs... otherwise willing or able to compete for lesser quantities, particularly in cases involving high startup...

  3. 48 CFR 17.105-2 - Objectives.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 17.105-2 Objectives. Use of... contracts. (d) Substantial continuity of production or performance, thus avoiding annual startup costs... otherwise willing or able to compete for lesser quantities, particularly in cases involving high startup...

  4. 48 CFR 17.105-2 - Objectives.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 17.105-2 Objectives. Use of... contracts. (d) Substantial continuity of production or performance, thus avoiding annual startup costs... otherwise willing or able to compete for lesser quantities, particularly in cases involving high startup...

  5. 48 CFR 17.105-2 - Objectives.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 17.105-2 Objectives. Use of... contracts. (d) Substantial continuity of production or performance, thus avoiding annual startup costs... otherwise willing or able to compete for lesser quantities, particularly in cases involving high startup...

  6. Seedbank dynamics of two swallowwort (Vincetoxicum) species

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Pale swallowwort (Vincetoxicum rossicum) and black swallowwort (V. nigrum; Apocynaceae, subfamily Asclepiadoideae) are European viny milkweeds that have become invasive in many habitats in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. A multi-year seed bank study was initiated in fall 201...

  7. 24 CFR 92.1 - Overview.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM General § 92.1 Overview. This part implements the HOME Investment Partnerships Act (the HOME Investment Partnerships Program). In general, under the HOME Investment Partnerships... jurisdictions may use HOME funds to carry out multi-year housing strategies through acquisition, rehabilitation...

  8. Chapter 9. Benefits of International Collaboration

    EPA Science Inventory

    In this chapter, we share what we have learned from working with our Brazilian colleagues on a multi university, multiyear, and multi basin ecological assessment and how those experiences were transmitted more broadly. These lessons (each of which is described in subsequent parag...

  9. Temporal variation of soil moisture over the Wuding River Basin assessed with an eco-hydrological model, in-situ observations and remote sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, S.; Mo, X.; Zhao, W.; Naeimi, V.; Dai, D.; Shu, C.; Mao, L.

    2008-12-01

    For integrative management of soil and water in the Wuding River basin, Loess plateau, China, where severe soil erosion damages are incurred, the ecohydrological behavior of the region is needed to be explored. In this study we focus on the evolution of soil moisture (SM) in the basin. Since there are only twelve years in-situ SM measurements available at two stations from 1992 to 2004, an eco-hydrological processes-based model (VIP, Vegetation Interface Processes model) is employed to simulate the long-term SM, evapotranspiration (ET), vegetation cover and production variation from 1956 to 2004, for the mechanical analysis of SM change. In-situ SM observations and a remotely sensed SM dataset retrieved by the Vienna University of Technology are used to validate the model. The results show that the model is able to capture seasonal SM variations. The seasonal pattern, multi-year variation, standard deviation and CV (coefficient of the variation) of SM at the daily, monthly and annual scale are well explained by the climatic and ecological factors such as precipitation, temperature, net radiation, evapotranspiration, and Leaf Area Index (LAI, denoted as LAI). The annual and inter-annual variability of SM is the lowest comparing with that for other 11-ecohydrological variables. The trend analysis shows that SM is in decreasing tendency at ∝=0.01 level of significance. Its significance is lower than that of runoff and that of temperature (∝=0.001), whereas higher than that of precipitation (∝=0.1). The products of these long-term SM data aim to help integrative management of soil and water resources.

  10. Societal Impacts of Natural Decadal Climate Variability - The Pacemakers of Civilizations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mehta, V. M.

    2017-12-01

    Natural decadal climate variability (DCV) is one of the oldest areas of climate research. Building on centuries-long literature, a substantial body of research has emerged in the last two to three decades, focused on understanding causes, mechanisms, and impacts of DCV. Several DCV phenomena - the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) or the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperature gradient variability (TAG for brevity), West Pacific Warm Pool variability, and decadal variability of El Niño-La Niña events - have been identified in observational records; and are associated with variability of worldwide atmospheric circulations, water vapor transport, precipitation, and temperatures; and oceanic circulations, salinity, and temperatures. Tree-ring based drought index data going back more than 700 years show presence of decadal hydrologic cycles (DHCs) in North America, Europe, and South Asia. Some of these cycles were associated with the rise and fall of civilizations, large-scale famines which killed millions of people, and acted as catalysts for socio-political revolutions. Instrument-measured data confirm presence of such worldwide DHCs associated with DCV phenomena; and show these DCV phenomena's worldwide impacts on river flows, crop productions, inland water-borne transportation, hydro-electricity generation, and agricultural irrigation. Fish catch data also show multiyear to decadal catch variability associated with these DCV phenomena in all oceans. This talk, drawn from my recently-published book (Mehta, V.M., 2017: Natural Decadal Climate Variability: Societal Impacts. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 326 pp.), will give an overview of worldwide impacts of DCV phenomena, with specific examples of socio-economic-political impacts. This talk will also describe national and international security implications of such societal impacts, and worldwide food security implications. The talk will end with an outline of needed actions to adapt to these impacts.

  11. Persistent Leatherback Turtle Migrations Present Opportunities for Conservation

    PubMed Central

    Shillinger, George L; Palacios, Daniel M; Bailey, Helen; Bograd, Steven J; Swithenbank, Alan M; Gaspar, Philippe; Wallace, Bryan P; Spotila, James R; Paladino, Frank V; Piedra, Rotney; Eckert, Scott A; Block, Barbara A

    2008-01-01

    Effective transboundary conservation of highly migratory marine animals requires international management cooperation as well as clear scientific information about habitat use by these species. Populations of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the eastern Pacific have declined by >90% during the past two decades, primarily due to unsustainable egg harvest and fisheries bycatch mortality. While research and conservation efforts on nesting beaches are ongoing, relatively little is known about this population of leatherbacks' oceanic habitat use and migration pathways. We present the largest multi-year (2004–2005, 2005–2006, and 2007) satellite tracking dataset (12,095 cumulative satellite tracking days) collected for leatherback turtles. Forty-six females were electronically tagged during three field seasons at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, the largest extant nesting colony in the eastern Pacific. After completing nesting, the turtles headed southward, traversing the dynamic equatorial currents with rapid, directed movements. In contrast to the highly varied dispersal patterns seen in many other sea turtle populations, leatherbacks from Playa Grande traveled within a persistent migration corridor from Costa Rica, past the equator, and into the South Pacific Gyre, a vast, low-energy, low-productivity region. We describe the predictable effects of ocean currents on a leatherback migration corridor and characterize long-distance movements by the turtles in the eastern South Pacific. These data from high seas habitats will also elucidate potential areas for mitigating fisheries bycatch interactions. These findings directly inform existing multinational conservation frameworks and provide immediate regions in the migration corridor where conservation can be implemented. We identify high seas locations for focusing future conservation efforts within the leatherback dispersal zone in the South Pacific Gyre. PMID:18630987

  12. EarthCube - A Community-led, Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Geoscience Cyberinfrastructure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allison, M. L.; Keane, C. M.; Robinson, E.

    2015-12-01

    The EarthCube Test Enterprise Governance Project completed its initial two-year long process to engage the community and test a demonstration governing organization with the goal of facilitating a community-led process on designing and developing a geoscience cyberinfrastructure. Conclusions are that EarthCube is viable, has engaged a broad spectrum of end-users and contributors, and has begun to foster a sense of urgency around the importance of open and shared data. Levels of trust among participants are growing. At the same time, the active participants in EarthCube represent a very small sub-set of the larger population of geoscientists. Results from Stage I of this project have impacted NSF decisions on the direction of the EarthCube program. The overall tone of EarthCube events has had a constructive, problem-solving orientation. The technical and organizational elements of EarthCube are poised to support a functional infrastructure for the geosciences community. The process for establishing shared technological standards has notable progress but there is a continuing need to expand technological and cultural alignment. Increasing emphasis is being given to the interdependencies among EarthCube funded projects. The newly developed EarthCube Technology Plan highlights important progress in this area by five working groups focusing on: 1. Use cases; 2. Funded project gap analysis; 3. Testbed development; 4. Standards; and 5. Architecture. There is ample justification to continue running a community-led governance framework that facilitates agreement on a system architecture, guides EarthCube activities, and plays an increasing role in making the EarthCube vision of cyberinfrastructure for the geosciences operational. There is widespread community expectation for support of a multiyear EarthCube governing effort to put into practice the science, technical, and organizational plans that have and are continuing to emerge.

  13. Coupled Global-Regional Climate Model Simulations of Future Changes in Hydrology over Central America

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oglesby, R. J.; Erickson, D. J.; Hernandez, J. L.; Irwin, D.

    2005-12-01

    Central America covers a relatively small area, but is topographically very complex, has long coast-lines, large inland bodies of water, and very diverse land cover which is both natural and human-induced. As a result, Central America is plagued by hydrologic extremes, especially major flooding and drought events, in a region where many people still barely manage to eke out a living through subsistence. Therefore, considerable concern exists about whether these extreme events will change, either in magnitude or in number, as climate changes in the future. To address this concern, we have used global climate model simulations of future climate change to drive a regional climate model centered on Central America. We use the IPCC `business as usual' scenario 21st century run made with the NCAR CCSM3 global model to drive the regional model MM5 at 12 km resolution. We chose the `business as usual' scenario to focus on the largest possible changes that are likely to occur. Because we are most interested in near-term changes, our simulations are for the years 2010, 2015, and 2025. A long `present-day run (for 2005) allows us to distinguish between climate variability and any signal due to climate change. Furthermore, a multi-year run with MM5 forced by NCEP reanalyses allows an assessment of how well the coupled global-regional model performs over Central America. Our analyses suggest that the coupled model does a credible job simulating the current climate and hydrologic regime, though lack of sufficient observations strongly complicates this comparison. The suite of model runs for the future years is currently nearing completion, and key results will be presented at the meeting.

  14. Multi-year objective analyses of warm season ground-level ozone and PM2.5 over North America using real-time observations and Canadian operational air quality models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Robichaud, A.; Ménard, R.

    2014-02-01

    Multi-year objective analyses (OA) on a high spatiotemporal resolution for the warm season period (1 May to 31 October) for ground-level ozone and for fine particulate matter (diameter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5)) are presented. The OA used in this study combines model outputs from the Canadian air quality forecast suite with US and Canadian observations from various air quality surface monitoring networks. The analyses are based on an optimal interpolation (OI) with capabilities for adaptive error statistics for ozone and PM2.5 and an explicit bias correction scheme for the PM2.5 analyses. The estimation of error statistics has been computed using a modified version of the Hollingsworth-Lönnberg (H-L) method. The error statistics are "tuned" using a χ2 (chi-square) diagnostic, a semi-empirical procedure that provides significantly better verification than without tuning. Successful cross-validation experiments were performed with an OA setup using 90% of data observations to build the objective analyses and with the remainder left out as an independent set of data for verification purposes. Furthermore, comparisons with other external sources of information (global models and PM2.5 satellite surface-derived or ground-based measurements) show reasonable agreement. The multi-year analyses obtained provide relatively high precision with an absolute yearly averaged systematic error of less than 0.6 ppbv (parts per billion by volume) and 0.7 μg m-3 (micrograms per cubic meter) for ozone and PM2.5, respectively, and a random error generally less than 9 ppbv for ozone and under 12 μg m-3 for PM2.5. This paper focuses on two applications: (1) presenting long-term averages of OA and analysis increments as a form of summer climatology; and (2) analyzing long-term (decadal) trends and inter-annual fluctuations using OA outputs. The results show that high percentiles of ozone and PM2.5 were both following a general decreasing trend in North America, with the eastern part of the United States showing the most widespread decrease, likely due to more effective pollution controls. Some locations, however, exhibited an increasing trend in the mean ozone and PM2.5, such as the northwestern part of North America (northwest US and Alberta). Conversely, the low percentiles are generally rising for ozone, which may be linked to the intercontinental transport of increased emissions from emerging countries. After removing the decadal trend, the inter-annual fluctuations of the high percentiles are largely explained by the temperature fluctuations for ozone and to a lesser extent by precipitation fluctuations for PM2.5. More interesting is the economic short-term change (as expressed by the variation of the US gross domestic product growth rate), which explains 37% of the total variance of inter-annual fluctuations of PM2.5 and 15% in the case of ozone.

  15. 48 CFR 217.171 - Multiyear contracts for services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., vehicles, and other highly complex military equipment; (3) Specialized training requiring high-quality instructor skills (e.g., training for pilots and aircrew members or foreign language training); (4) Base... substantial contingent liabilities for the assembly, training, or transportation of a specialized work force...

  16. Human factors of in-vehicle driver information systems : an executive summary

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1997-01-01

    This report summarizes a multiyear program concerning driver interfaces for future cars. The goals were to develop (1) human Factors guidelines, (2) methods for testing safety and ease of use, and (3) a model that predicts human performance with thes...

  17. Sensitivity analysis of reference evapotranspiration to sensor accuracy

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Meteorological sensor networks are often used across agricultural regions to calculate the ASCE Standardized Reference ET Equation, and inaccuracies in individual sensors can lead to inaccuracies in ET estimates. Multiyear datasets from the semi-arid Colorado Agricultural Meteorological (CoAgMet) an...

  18. 48 CFR 1917.102 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Policy. 1917.102 Section 1917.102 Federal Acquisition Regulations System BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 1917.102 Policy. When consistent with 22 U...

  19. 48 CFR 1917.102 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Policy. 1917.102 Section 1917.102 Federal Acquisition Regulations System BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 1917.102 Policy. When consistent with 22 U...

  20. 48 CFR 1917.102 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Policy. 1917.102 Section 1917.102 Federal Acquisition Regulations System BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS Multiyear Contracting 1917.102 Policy. When consistent with 22 U...

  1. Building accurate historic and future climate MEPDG input files for Louisiana DOTD.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-02-01

    The pavement design process (originally MEPDG, then DARWin-ME, and now Pavement ME Design) requires a multi-year set of hourly : climate input data that influence pavement material properties. In Louisiana, the software provides nine locations with c...

  2. 49 CFR 80.5 - Limitations on assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ..., the Secretary may consider making future-year or multi-year contingent commitments of budget authority... Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation CREDIT ASSISTANCE FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS... of the Secretary. In addition, applicants shall not include application charges or any other expenses...

  3. 49 CFR 80.5 - Limitations on assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., the Secretary may consider making future-year or multi-year contingent commitments of budget authority... Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation CREDIT ASSISTANCE FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS... of the Secretary. In addition, applicants shall not include application charges or any other expenses...

  4. 49 CFR 80.5 - Limitations on assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., the Secretary may consider making future-year or multi-year contingent commitments of budget authority... Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation CREDIT ASSISTANCE FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS... of the Secretary. In addition, applicants shall not include application charges or any other expenses...

  5. Herbicide volatilization trumps runoff losses, a multi-year investigation

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Surface runoff and volatilization are two processes critical to herbicide off-site transport. To determine the relevance of these off-site transport mechanisms, runoff and turbulent vapor fluxes were simultaneously monitored on the same site for eight years. Site location, herbicide formulations, ...

  6. Long-Term Stability of Spaceflight Food for Multi-Year Exploration Missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Douglas, G. L.; Barr, Y. R.

    2018-02-01

    Stability of macro- and micro-nutrients and undesirable changes to texture and taste will be evaluated in food samples returned from the Deep Space Gateway after 1, 3, and 5 years of storage in the deep space radiation environment.

  7. UMBC CENTER FOR URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

    EPA Science Inventory

    This was a multi-year project to establish the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) at UMBC. The Center was founded to advance understanding of the environmental, social and economic consequences of changes to the urban and suburban landscape.

    ...

  8. [Unionization on Campus].

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Douglas, Joel M., Ed.

    1982-01-01

    This newsletter issue considers in separate articles: (1) unionization in 1981 among college faculty in the United States; (2) unionization at the California State University and College System (CSU) (by Lisa Flanzraich); (3) multi-year agreements; (4) contract size; (5) and, in "Yeshivawatch," developments pertaining to the National…

  9. MERCURY RESEARCH STRATEGY.

    EPA Science Inventory

    The USEPA's ORD is pleased to announce the availability of its Mercury Research Strategy. This strategy guides ORD's mercury research program and covers the FY2001-2005 time frame. ORD will use it to prepare a multi-year mercury research implementation plan in 2001. The Mercury R...

  10. Decision Support Framework (DSF) (Formerly Decision Support Platform)

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Science Advisory Board (SAB) provided several comments on the draft Ecosystem Services Research Program's (ESRP's) Multi-Year Plan (MYP). This presentation provides a response to comments related to the decision support framework (DSF) part of Long-Term Goal 1. The comments...

  11. Proximate and Ultimate Limiting Nutrients in the Mississippi River Plume: Implications for Hypoxia Reduction Through Nutrient Management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fennel, K.; Laurent, A.

    2016-02-01

    A large hypoxic area (15,000 km2 on average) forms every summer over the Texas-Louisiana shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico due to decay of organic matter that is primarily derived from nutrient inputs from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River System. Efforts are underway to reduce the extent of hypoxic conditions through nutrient management in the watershed; for example, an interagency Hypoxia Task Force is developing Action Plans with input from various stakeholders that set out targets for hypoxia reduction. An open question is by how much nutrient loads would have to be decreased in order to produce the desired reductions in hypoxia and when these would be measurable over natural variability. We have performed a large number of multi-year nutrient load reduction scenarios with a regional biogeochemical model for the region. The model is based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), explicitly includes nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) species as inorganic nutrients, and has been shown to realistically reproduce the key processes responsible for hypoxia generation. We have quantified the effects of differential reductions in river N and P loads on hypoxic extent. An assessment of the effects of N versus P reductions is important because, thus far, nutrient management efforts have focused on N, yet P is known to limit primary production in spring and early summer. A debate is ongoing as to whether targets for P reductions should be set and whether nutrient reduction efforts should focus solely on P, which results primarily from urban and industrial point sources and is uncoupled from agricultural fertilizer application. Our results strongly indicate that N is the `ultimate' limiting nutrient to primary production determining the areal extent and duration of hypoxic conditions in a cumulative sense, while P is temporarily limiting in spring. Although reductions in river P load would decrease hypoxic extent in early summer, they would have a much smaller effect than N reductions on the cumulative extent and duration of hypoxic conditions. Combined reductions of N and P have the greatest effect.

  12. Proximate versus ultimate limiting nutrients in the Mississippi River Plume and Implications for Hypoxia Reductions through Nutrient Management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fennel, Katja; Laurent, Arnaud

    2016-04-01

    A large hypoxic area (15,000 km2 on average) forms every summer over the Texas-Louisiana shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico due to decay of organic matter that is primarily derived from nutrient inputs from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River System. Efforts are underway to reduce the extent of hypoxic conditions through nutrient management in the watershed; for example, an interagency Hypoxia Task Force is developing Action Plans with input from various stakeholders that set out targets for hypoxia reduction. An open question is how far nutrient loads would have to be decreased in order to produce the desired reductions in hypoxia and when these would be measurable given significant natural variability. We have simulated a large number of multi-year nutrient load reduction scenarios with a regional biogeochemical model for the region. The model is based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), explicitly includes nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) species as inorganic nutrients, and has been shown to realistically reproduce the key processes responsible for hypoxia generation. We have quantified the effects of differential reductions in river N and P loads on hypoxic extent. An assessment of the effects of N versus P reductions is important because, thus far, nutrient management efforts have focused on N, yet P is known to limit primary production in spring and early summer. A debate is ongoing as to whether targets for P reductions should be set and whether nutrient reduction efforts should focus solely on P, which results primarily from urban and industrial point sources and is uncoupled from agricultural fertilizer application. Our results strongly indicate that N is the 'ultimate' limiting nutrient to primary production determining the areal extent and duration of hypoxic conditions in a cumulative sense, while P is temporarily limiting in spring. Although reductions in river P load would decrease hypoxic extent in early summer, they would have a much smaller effect than N reductions on the cumulative extent and duration of hypoxic conditions. Combined reductions of N and P have the greatest effect.

  13. Multi-year strongest California drought from 500 m SNPP/VIIRS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, W.; Kogan, F.

    2016-12-01

    Starting in 2006, the western United States was affected by a 10-year long mega-drought. Among 17 western states, California was the most severely drought-affected, especially in 2012-2015, when the area of stronger than moderate vegetation stress reached 70%. This drought had considerable impacts on California's environmental, economy and society. Currently, drought in the USA is monitored by the US Drought Monitor (USDM), which estimates drought area and intensity on an area with an effective resolution of around 30-by-30 km. California produces more than 90% of US fruits, vegetables, berries and nuts, which are grown on relatively small areas (200-500 acres, or 0.5 to 2 km²). Since most of these crops are irrigated, it is important to estimate crop conditions on the area comparable to the size of the planted crop. This paper demonstrates how the new 0.5-by-0.5 km Vegetation health (VH) technology (VH-500) developed from the data collected by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite launched in 2011, monitors the current mega-drought in California, distinguishing drought-affected area with and without irrigation and estimating drought start/end, intensity, duration and impacts. The VH-500 method and data showed that California's vegetation was under medium-to-exceptional stress, especially in 2013 and 2014. However, in the middle of such intensive stress, in some of the 500-m areas of the Central Valley where principal crops are growing, vegetation experienced favorable conditions because some of these crops were irrigated. The VH-500 drought estimates showed general similarities with the assessed economic drought impacts (crop fallowing, employment loss and crop revenue change) in California.

  14. An Integrated Extravehicular Activity Research Plan

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abercromby, Andrew F. J.; Ross, Amy J.; Cupples, J. Scott

    2016-01-01

    Multiple organizations within NASA and outside of NASA fund and participate in research related to extravehicular activity (EVA). In October 2015, representatives of the EVA Office, the Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD), and the Human Research Program (HRP) at NASA Johnson Space Center agreed on a formal framework to improve multi-year coordination and collaboration in EVA research. At the core of the framework is an Integrated EVA Research Plan and a process by which it will be annually reviewed and updated. The over-arching objective of the collaborative framework is to conduct multi-disciplinary cost-effective research that will enable humans to perform EVAs safely, effectively, comfortably, and efficiently, as needed to enable and enhance human space exploration missions. Research activities must be defined, prioritized, planned and executed to comprehensively address the right questions, avoid duplication, leverage other complementary activities where possible, and ultimately provide actionable evidence-based results in time to inform subsequent tests, developments and/or research activities. Representation of all appropriate stakeholders in the definition, prioritization, planning and execution of research activities is essential to accomplishing the over-arching objective. A formal review of the Integrated EVA Research Plan will be conducted annually. External peer review of all HRP EVA research activities including compilation and review of published literature in the EVA Evidence Book is already performed annually. Coordination with stakeholders outside of the EVA Office, CTSD, and HRP is already in effect on a study-by-study basis; closer coordination on multi-year planning with other EVA stakeholders including academia is being actively pursued. Details of the current Integrated EVA Research Plan are presented including description of ongoing and planned research activities in the areas of: Benchmarking; Anthropometry and Suit Fit; Sensors; Human-Suit Modeling; Suit Trauma Monitoring and Countermeasures; EVA Workload and Duration Effects; Decompression Sickness Risk Mitigation; Deconditioned EVA Performance; and Exploration EVA Concept of Operations.

  15. Integrated Extravehicular Activity Human Research Plan: 2017

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abercromby, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    Multiple organizations within NASA as well as industry and academia fund and participate in research related to extravehicular activity (EVA). In October 2015, representatives of the EVA Office, the Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD), and the Human Research Program (HRP) at NASA Johnson Space Center agreed on a formal framework to improve multi-year coordination and collaboration in EVA research. At the core of the framework is an Integrated EVA Human Research Plan and a process by which it will be annually reviewed and updated. The over-arching objective of the collaborative framework is to conduct multi-disciplinary cost-effective research that will enable humans to perform EVAs safely, effectively, comfortably, and efficiently, as needed to enable and enhance human space exploration missions. Research activities must be defined, prioritized, planned and executed to comprehensively address the right questions, avoid duplication, leverage other complementary activities where possible, and ultimately provide actionable evidence-based results in time to inform subsequent tests, developments and/or research activities. Representation of all appropriate stakeholders in the definition, prioritization, planning and execution of research activities is essential to accomplishing the over-arching objective. A formal review of the Integrated EVA Human Research Plan will be conducted annually. Coordination with stakeholders outside of the EVA Office, CTSD, and HRP is already in effect on a study-by-study basis; closer coordination on multi-year planning with other EVA stakeholders including academia is being actively pursued. Details of the preliminary Integrated EVA Human Research Plan are presented including description of ongoing and planned research activities in the areas of: physiological and performance capabilities; suit design parameters; EVA human health and performance modeling; EVA tasks and concepts of operations; EVA informatics; human-suit sensors; suit sizing and fit; and EVA injury risk and mitigation. This paper represents the 2017 update to the Integrated EVA Human Research Plan.

  16. The melt pond fraction and spectral sea ice albedo retrieval from MERIS data: validation and trends of sea ice albedo and melt pond fraction in the Arctic for years 2002-2011

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Istomina, L.; Heygster, G.; Huntemann, M.; Schwarz, P.; Birnbaum, G.; Scharien, R.; Polashenski, C.; Perovich, D.; Zege, E.; Malinka, A.; Prikhach, A.; Katsev, I.

    2014-10-01

    The presence of melt ponds on the Arctic sea ice strongly affects the energy balance of the Arctic Ocean in summer. It affects albedo as well as transmittance through the sea ice, which has consequences on the heat balance and mass balance of sea ice. An algorithm to retrieve melt pond fraction and sea ice albedo (Zege et al., 2014) from the MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) data is validated against aerial, ship borne and in situ campaign data. The result show the best correlation for landfast and multiyear ice of high ice concentrations (albedo: R = 0.92, RMS = 0.068, melt pond fraction: R = 0.6, RMS = 0.065). The correlation for lower ice concentrations, subpixel ice floes, blue ice and wet ice is lower due to complicated surface conditions and ice drift. Combining all aerial observations gives a mean albedo RMS equal to 0.089 and a mean melt pond fraction RMS equal to 0.22. The in situ melt pond fraction correlation is R = 0.72 with an RMS = 0.14. Ship cruise data might be affected by documentation of varying accuracy within the ASPeCT protocol, which is the reason for discrepancy between the satellite value and observed value: mean R = 0.21, mean RMS = 0.16. An additional dynamic spatial cloud filter for MERIS over snow and ice has been developed to assist with the validation on swath data. The case studies and trend analysis for the whole MERIS period (2002-2011) show pronounced and reasonable spatial features of melt pond fractions and sea ice albedo. The most prominent feature is the melt onset shifting towards spring (starting already in weeks 3 and 4 of June) within the multiyear ice area, north to the Queen Elizabeth Islands and North Greenland.

  17. Inferring watershed hydraulics and cold-water habitat persistence using multi-year air and stream temperature signals.

    PubMed

    Briggs, Martin A; Johnson, Zachary C; Snyder, Craig D; Hitt, Nathaniel P; Kurylyk, Barret L; Lautz, Laura; Irvine, Dylan J; Hurley, Stephen T; Lane, John W

    2018-09-15

    Streams strongly influenced by groundwater discharge may serve as "climate refugia" for sensitive species in regions of increasingly marginal thermal conditions. The main goal of this study is to develop paired air and stream water annual temperature signal analysis techniques to elucidate the relative groundwater contribution to stream water and the effective groundwater flowpath depth. Groundwater discharge to streams attenuates surface water temperature signals, and this attenuation can be diagnostic of groundwater gaining systems. Additionally, discharge from shallow groundwater flowpaths can theoretically transfer lagged annual temperature signals from aquifer to stream water. Here we explore this concept using multi-year temperature records from 120 stream sites located across 18 mountain watersheds of Shenandoah National Park, VA, USA and a coastal watershed in Massachusetts, USA. Both areas constitute important cold-water habitat for native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Observed annual temperature signals indicate a dominance of shallow groundwater discharge to streams in the National Park, in contrast to the coastal watershed that has strong, apparently deeper, groundwater influence. The average phase lag from air to stream signals in Shenandoah National Park is 11 d; however, extended lags of approximately 1 month were observed in a subset of streams. In contrast, the coastal stream has pronounced attenuation of annual temperature signals without notable phase lag. To better understand these observed differences in signal characteristics, analytical and numerical models are used to quantify mixing of the annual temperature signals of surface and groundwater. Simulations using a total heat budget numerical model indicate groundwater-induced annual temperature signal phase lags are likely to show greater downstream propagation than the related signal amplitude attenuation. The measurement of multi-seasonal paired air and water temperatures offers great promise toward understanding catchment processes and informing current cold-water habitat management at ecologically-relevant scales. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. The Network Structure Underlying the Earth Observation Assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vitkin, S.; Doane, W. E. J.; Mary, J. C.

    2017-12-01

    The Earth Observations Assessment (EOA 2016) is a multiyear project designed to assess the effectiveness of civil earth observation data sources (instruments, sensors, models, etc.) on societal benefit areas (SBAs) for the United States. Subject matter experts (SMEs) provided input and scored how data sources inform products, product groups, key objectives, SBA sub-areas, and SBAs in an attempt to quantify the relationships between data sources and SBAs. The resulting data were processed by Integrated Applications Incorporated (IAI) using MITRE's PALMA software to create normalized relative impact scores for each of these relationships. However, PALMA processing obscures the natural network representation of the data. Any network analysis that might identify patterns of interaction among data sources, products, and SBAs is therefore impossible. Collaborating with IAI, we cleaned and recreated a network from the original dataset. Using R and Python we explore the underlying structure of the network and apply frequent itemset mining algorithms to identify groups of data sources and products that interact. We reveal interesting patterns and relationships in the EOA dataset that were not immediately observable from the EOA 2016 report and provide a basis for further exploration of the EOA network dataset.

  19. DRAGONS - A Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Impact Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liou, J. -C.; Corsaro, R.; Giovane, F.; Anderson, C.; Sadilek, A.; Burchell, M.; Hamilton, J.

    2015-01-01

    The Debris Resistive/Acoustic Grid Orbital Navy-NASA Sensor (DRAGONS) is intended to be a large area impact sensor for in situ measurements of micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) in the millimeter or smaller size regime. These MMOD particles are too small to be detected by ground-based radars and optical telescopes, but are still large enough to be a serious safety concern for human space activities and robotic missions in the low Earth orbit (LEO) region. The nominal detection area of a DRAGONS unit is 1 m2, consisting of several independently operated panels. The approach of the DRAGONS design is to combine different particle impact detection principles to maximize information that can be extracted from detected events. After more than 10 years of concept and technology development, a 1 m2 DRAGONS system has been selected for deployment on the International Space Station (ISS) in August 2016. The project team achieved a major milestone when the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) was completed in May 2015. Once deployed on the ISS, this multi-year mission will provide a unique opportunity to demonstrate the MMOD detection capability of the DRAGONS technologies and to collect data to better define the small MMOD environment at the ISS altitude.

  20. Extensive Liquid Meltwater Storage in Firn Within the Greenland Ice Sheet

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Forster, Richard R.; Box, Jason E.; vandenBroeke, Michael R.; Miege, Clement; Burgess, Evan W.; vanAngelen, Jan H.; Lenaerts, Jan T. M.; Koenig, Lora S.; Paden, John; Lewis, Cameron; hide

    2013-01-01

    The accelerating loss of mass from the Greenland ice sheet is a major contribution to current sea level rise. Increased melt water runoff is responsible for half of Greenlands mass loss increase. Surface melt has been increasing in extent and intensity, setting a record for surface area melt and runoff in 2012. The mechanisms and timescales involved in allowing surface melt water to reach the ocean where it can contribute to sea level rise are poorly understood. The potential capacity to store this water in liquid or frozen form in the firn (multi-year snow layer) is significant, and could delay its sea-level contribution. Here we describe direct observation of water within a perennial firn aquifer persisting throughout the winter in the southern ice sheet,where snow accumulation and melt rates are high. This represents a previously unknown storagemode for water within the ice sheet. Ice cores, groundairborne radar and a regional climatemodel are used to estimate aquifer area (70 plue or minus 10 x 10(exp 3) square kilometers ) and water table depth (5-50 m). The perennial firn aquifer represents a new glacier facies to be considered 29 in future ice sheet mass 30 and energy budget calculations.

  1. Twentieth century warming of the tropical Atlantic captured by Sr-U paleothermometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alpert, Alice E.; Cohen, Anne L.; Oppo, Delia W.; DeCarlo, Thomas M.; Gaetani, Glenn A.; Hernandez-Delgado, Edwin A.; Winter, Amos; Gonneea, Meagan E.

    2017-02-01

    Coral skeletons are valuable archives of past ocean conditions. However, interpretation of coral paleotemperature records is confounded by uncertainties associated with single-element ratio thermometers, including Sr/Ca. A new approach, Sr-U, uses U/Ca to constrain the influence of Rayleigh fractionation on Sr/Ca. Here we build on the initial Pacific Porites Sr-U calibration to include multiple Atlantic and Pacific coral genera from multiple coral reef locations spanning a temperature range of 23.15-30.12°C. Accounting for the wintertime growth cessation of one Bermuda coral, we show that Sr-U is strongly correlated with the average water temperature at each location (r2 = 0.91, P < 0.001, n = 19). We applied the multispecies spatial calibration between Sr-U and temperature to reconstruct a 96 year long temperature record at Mona Island, Puerto Rico, using a coral not included in the calibration. Average Sr-U derived temperature for the period 1900-1996 is within 0.12°C of the average instrumental temperature at this site and captures the twentieth century warming trend of 0.06°C per decade. Sr-U also captures the timing of multiyear variability but with higher amplitude than implied by the instrumental data. Mean Sr-U temperatures and patterns of multiyear variability were replicated in a second coral in the same grid box. Conversely, Sr/Ca records from the same two corals were inconsistent with each other and failed to capture absolute sea temperatures, timing of multiyear variability, or the twentieth century warming trend. Our results suggest that coral Sr-U paleothermometry is a promising new tool for reconstruction of past ocean temperatures.

  2. Twentieth century warming of the tropical Atlantic captured by Sr-U paleothermometry

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Alpert, Alice E.; Cohen, Anne L.; Oppo, Delia W.; DeCarlo, Thomas M.; Gaetani, Glenn A.; Hernandez-Delgado, Edwin A.; Winter, Amos; Gonneea, Meagan

    2017-01-01

    Coral skeletons are valuable archives of past ocean conditions. However, interpretation of coral paleotemperature records is confounded by uncertainties associated with single-element ratio thermometers, including Sr/Ca. A new approach, Sr-U, uses U/Ca to constrain the influence of Rayleigh fractionation on Sr/Ca. Here we build on the initial Pacific Porites Sr-U calibration to include multiple Atlantic and Pacific coral genera from multiple coral reef locations spanning a temperature range of 23.15–30.12°C. Accounting for the wintertime growth cessation of one Bermuda coral, we show that Sr-U is strongly correlated with the average water temperature at each location (r2 = 0.91, P < 0.001, n = 19). We applied the multispecies spatial calibration between Sr-U and temperature to reconstruct a 96 year long temperature record at Mona Island, Puerto Rico, using a coral not included in the calibration. Average Sr-U derived temperature for the period 1900–1996 is within 0.12°C of the average instrumental temperature at this site and captures the twentieth century warming trend of 0.06°C per decade. Sr-U also captures the timing of multiyear variability but with higher amplitude than implied by the instrumental data. Mean Sr-U temperatures and patterns of multiyear variability were replicated in a second coral in the same grid box. Conversely, Sr/Ca records from the same two corals were inconsistent with each other and failed to capture absolute sea temperatures, timing of multiyear variability, or the twentieth century warming trend. Our results suggest that coral Sr-U paleothermometry is a promising new tool for reconstruction of past ocean temperatures.

  3. Tank waste remediation system multi-year work plan

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    The Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Multi-Year Work Plan (MYWP) documents the detailed total Program baseline and was constructed to guide Program execution. The TWRS MYWP is one of two elements that comprise the TWRS Program Management Plan. The TWRS MYWP fulfills the Hanford Site Management System requirement for a Multi-Year Program Plan and a Fiscal-Year Work Plan. The MYWP addresses program vision, mission, objectives, strategy, functions and requirements, risks, decisions, assumptions, constraints, structure, logic, schedule, resource requirements, and waste generation and disposition. Sections 1 through 6, Section 8, and the appendixes provide program-wide information. Section 7 includes a subsectionmore » for each of the nine program elements that comprise the TWRS Program. The foundation of any program baseline is base planning data (e.g., defendable product definition, logic, schedules, cost estimates, and bases of estimates). The TWRS Program continues to improve base data. As data improve, so will program element planning, integration between program elements, integration outside of the TWRS Program, and the overall quality of the TWRS MYWP. The MYWP establishes the TWRS baseline objectives to store, treat, and immobilize highly radioactive Hanford waste in an environmentally sound, safe, and cost-effective manner. The TWRS Program will complete the baseline mission in 2040 and will incur costs totalling approximately 40 billion dollars. The summary strategy is to meet the above objectives by using a robust systems engineering effort, placing the highest possible priority on safety and environmental protection; encouraging {open_quotes}out sourcing{close_quotes} of the work to the extent practical; and managing significant but limited resources to move toward final disposition of tank wastes, while openly communicating with all interested stakeholders.« less

  4. Tank waste remediation system multi-year work plan

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1994-09-01

    The Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) Multi-Year Work Plan (MYWP) documents the detailed total Program baseline and was constructed to guide Program execution. The TWRS MYWP is one of two elements that comprise the TWRS Program Management Plan. The TWRS MYWP fulfills the Hanford Site Management System requirement for a Multi-Year Program Plan and a Fiscal-Year Work Plan. The MYWP addresses program vision, mission, objectives, strategy, functions and requirements, risks, decisions, assumptions, constraints, structure, logic, schedule, resource requirements, and waste generation and disposition. Sections 1 through 6, Section 8, and the appendixes provide program-wide information. Section 7 includes a subsectionmore » for each of the nine program elements that comprise the TWRS Program. The foundation of any program baseline is base planning data (e.g., defendable product definition, logic, schedules, cost estimates, and bases of estimates). The TWRS Program continues to improve base data. As data improve, so will program element planning, integration between program elements, integration outside of the TWRS Program, and the overall quality of the TWRS MYWP. The MYWP establishes the TWRS baseline objectives to store, treat, and immobilize highly radioactive Hanford waste in an environmentally sound, safe, and cost-effective manner. The TWRS Program will complete the baseline mission in 2040 and will incur costs totalling approximately 40 billion dollars. The summary strategy is to meet the above objectives by using a robust systems engineering effort, placing the highest possible priority on safety and environmental protection; encouraging {open_quotes}out sourcing{close_quotes} of the work to the extent practical; and managing significant but limited resources to move toward final disposition of tank wastes, while openly communicating with all interested stakeholders.« less

  5. Multiyear Program Plan for the High Temperature Materials Laboratory

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Arvid E. Pasto

    2000-03-17

    Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OHVT) prepared a Technology Roadmap describing the challenges facing development of higher fuel efficiency, less polluting sport utility vehicles, vans, and commercial trucks. Based on this roadmap, a multiyear program plan (MYPP) was also developed, in which approaches to solving the numerous challenges are enumerated. Additional planning has been performed by DOE and national laboratory staff, on approaches to solving the numerous challenges faced by heavy vehicle system improvements. Workshops and planning documents have been developed concerning advanced aerodynamics, frictional and other parasitic losses, and thermal management. Similarly,more » the Heavy Vehicle Propulsion Materials Program has developed its own multiyear program plan. The High Temperature Materials Laboratory, a major user facility sponsored by OHVT, has now developed its program plan, described herein. Information was gathered via participation in the development of OHVT's overall Technology Roadmap and MYPP, through personal contacts within the materials-user community, and from attendance at conferences and expositions. Major materials issues for the heavy vehicle industry currently center on trying to increase efficiency of (diesel) engines while at the same time reducing emissions (particularly NO{sub x} and particulates). These requirements dictate the use of increasingly stronger, higher-temperature capable and more corrosion-resistant materials of construction, as well as advanced catalysts, particulate traps, and other pollution-control devices. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a technique which will certainly be applied to diesel engines in the near future, and its use represents a formidable challenge, as will be described later. Energy-efficient, low cost materials processing methods and surface treatments to improve wear, fracture, and corrosion resistance are also required.« less

  6. Design, synthesis, manufacturing, and testing of a competitive FHSAE vehicle.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2012-06-01

    The goal of this multi-year project is to create a fully functional University of Idaho entry in the hybrid FSAE competition scheduled for : 2012. Vehicle integration has been completed as part of a variety of 2010-2011 senior design projects and 201...

  7. Internships Pave the Road to Success.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White-Stevens, Ellie

    2002-01-01

    Three American Indian college graduates describe how they benefitted from the "INROADS to the Stars Scholarship" program. A multi-year scholarship and summer internship program, INROADS places talented minority group students in internships with global corporations and provides leadership training. Students must major in geophysics,…

  8. Nutrient Budgets and Management Actions in the Patuxent River Estuary, Maryland

    EPA Science Inventory

    Multi-year nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) budgets were developed for the Patuxent River estuary, a seasonally stratified and moderately eutrophic tributary of Chesapeake Bay. Major inputs (point, diffuse, septic and direct atmospheric) were measured for 13 years during which la...

  9. 78 FR 44622 - Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review; Confidential Close Call Reporting System

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-24

    ... (OMB) for approval for renewal of information collection supporting a multi-year research study that... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Research and Innovative Technology Administration Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review; Confidential Close Call Reporting System AGENCY: Research & Innovative...

  10. The Administrative Contract: Implications for Reform.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Kenneth T.; Murray, Barbara A.

    1999-01-01

    Although most principals and superintendents must be awarded annual or multiyear employment contracts by their school districts, such contracts offer little protection from reassignment to a lesser position or even from dismissal. Inadequate remedies for breach of employment contracts subject school administrators to working solely at their…

  11. 75 FR 9114 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Additional Requirements Applicable to...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-01

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Acquisition Regulations System 48 CFR Part 217 Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Additional Requirements Applicable to Multiyear Contracts (DFARS Case 2008-D023) AGENCY: Defense Acquisition Regulations System. Department of Defense (DoD). ACTION: Interim rule...

  12. 76 FR 26716 - Notice of Submission for OMB Review

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-09

    ... requires recipients of ``forward funded'' grants that are awarded funds for their entire multi-year project... project success, impact and outcomes. In both the annual and final performance reports, grantees are... appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of...

  13. IMPACT OF LEAD ACID BATTERIES AND CADMIUM STABILIZERS ON INCINERATOR EMISSIONS

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Waste Analysis Sampling, Testing and Evaluation (WASTE) Program is a multi-year, multi-disciplinary program designed to elicit the source and fate of environmentally significant trace materials as a solid waste progresses through management processes. s part of the WASTE Prog...

  14. COASTAL EUTROPHICATION MONITORING FOR RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT

    EPA Science Inventory

    The US EPA=s Atlantic Ecology Division (AED) has embarked on a multi-year research program aimed at developing empirical nitrogen load-response models for small well-flushed embayments in southern New England. This is part of a national EPA effort to develop nutrient load-respon...

  15. Iodomethane phytotoxicity: potential role of plant nutrient uptake

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    In the spring of 2006 multi-year studies were initiated to evaluate the efficacy of Midas™ (iodomethane:chloropicrin 50:50, Arysta LifeScience Corp., Cary, NC) for production of ornamental cockscomb (Celosia argentea var. cristata) in Martin County, Florida. Treatments were untreated check, Midas™ a...

  16. 75 FR 2529 - Notice of Public Hearing

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Notice of Public Hearing AGENCY: U.S. Department of Education, National... was developed during a multi-year, widely-inclusive process. WestEd has conducted numerous forums and... 412 of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994, as amended. The Board formulates policy...

  17. Web Content Management and One EPA Web Factsheet

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    One EPA Web is a multi-year project to improve EPA’s website to better meet the needs of our Web visitors. Content is developed and managed in the WebCMS which supports One EPA Web goals by standardizing how we create and publish content.

  18. 12 CFR 195.27 - Strategic plan.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Assessing Performance § 195.27 Strategic plan. (a) Alternative election. The appropriate Federal banking... under an approved plan for at least one year. (b) Data reporting. The appropriate Federal banking agency... any multi-year plan must include annual interim measurable goals under which the appropriate Federal...

  19. 12 CFR 195.27 - Strategic plan.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Assessing Performance § 195.27 Strategic plan. (a) Alternative election. The appropriate Federal banking... under an approved plan for at least one year. (b) Data reporting. The appropriate Federal banking agency... any multi-year plan must include annual interim measurable goals under which the appropriate Federal...

  20. 12 CFR 195.27 - Strategic plan.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Assessing Performance § 195.27 Strategic plan. (a) Alternative election. The appropriate Federal banking... under an approved plan for at least one year. (b) Data reporting. The appropriate Federal banking agency... any multi-year plan must include annual interim measurable goals under which the appropriate Federal...

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