Assessing distribution of migratory fishes and connectivity following complete and partial dam removals in a North Carolina River
Joshua K. Raabe, Joseph E. Hightower
2014, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (34) 955-969
Fish, especially migratory species, are assumed to benefit from dam removals that restore connectivity and access to upstream habitat, but few studies have evaluated this assumption. Therefore, we assessed the movement of migratory fishes in the springs of 2008 through 2010 and surveyed available habitat in the Little River, North...
Habitat use and selection by adult pallid sturgeon in the lower Mississippi River
Jason R. Herrala, Patrick T. Kroboth, Nathan M. Kuntz, Harold L. Schramm Jr.
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 153-163
The Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus is an endangered riverine sturgeon with historical distribution restricted to the Yellowstone, Missouri, Mississippi, and Atchafalaya rivers. Although not abundant, Pallid Sturgeon in the lower Mississippi River appear to be naturally recruiting, and information about habitat use is important to conserve this species. Thirty-four adult...
Seismometer Self-Noise and Measuring Methods
Adam T. Ringler, R. Sleeman, Charles R. Hutt, Lind S. Gee
2014, Book chapter, Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering
Seismometer self-noise is usually not considered when selecting and using seismic waveform data in scientific research as it is typically assumed that the self-noise is negligibly small compared to seismic signals. However, instrumental noise is part of the noise in any seismic record, and in particular, at frequencies below a...
Monitoring conterminous United States (CONUS) land cover change with Web-Enabled Landsat Data (WELD)
M.C. Hansen, Alexey Egorov, P.V. Potapov, S.V. Stehman, A. Tyukavina, S.A. Turubanova, David P. Roy, S.J. Goetz, Thomas R. Loveland, J. Ju, A. Kommareddy, Valeriy Kovalskyy, C. Forsyth, T. Bents
2014, Remote Sensing of Environment (140) 466-484
Forest cover loss and bare ground gain from 2006 to 2010 for the conterminous United States (CONUS) were quantified at a 30 m spatial resolution using Web-Enabled Landsat Data available from the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) (http://landsat.usgs.gov/WELD.php). The approach related multi-temporal WELD metrics and expert-derived...
Incorporating detection probability into northern Great Plains pronghorn population estimates
Christopher N. Jacques, Jonathan A. Jenks, Troy W. Grovenburg, Robert W. Klaver, Christopher S. DePerno
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 164-174
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) abundances commonly are estimated using fixed-wing surveys, but these estimates are likely to be negatively biased because of violations of key assumptions underpinning line-transect methodology. Reducing bias and improving precision of abundance estimates through use of detection probability and mark-resight models may allow for more responsive pronghorn...
Land cover characterization and mapping of South America for the year 2010 using Landsat 30 m satellite data
Chandra Giri, Jordan Long
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 9494-9510
Detailed and accurate land cover and land cover change information is needed for South America because the continent is in constant flux, experiencing some of the highest rates of land cover change and forest loss in the world. The land cover data available for the entire continent are too coarse...
A design for a sustained assessment of climate forcings and feedbacks on land use land cover change
Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood
2014, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (95) 1563-1572
Land use and land cover change (LULCC) significantly influences the climate system. Hence, to prepare the nation for future climate change and variability, a sustained assessment of LULCC and its climatic impacts needs to be undertaken. To address this objective, not only do we need to determine contemporary trends in...
Science applications of a multispectral microscopic imager for the astrobiological exploration of Mars
Jorge Nunez, Jack Farmer, R. Glenn Sellar, Gregg A. Swayze, Diana L. Blaney
2014, Astrobiology (14) 132-169
Future astrobiological missions to Mars are likely to emphasize the use of rovers with in situ petrologic capabilities for selecting the best samples at a site for in situ analysis with onboard lab instruments or for caching for potential return to Earth. Such observations are central to an understanding of the potential for past...
Mapping saltwater intrusion in the Biscayne Aquifer, Miami-Dade County, Florida using transient electromagnetic sounding
David V. Fitterman
2014, Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics (19) 33-43
Saltwater intrusion in southern Florida poses a potential threat to the public drinking-water supply that is typically monitored using water samples and electromagnetic induction logs collected from a network of wells. Transient electromagnetic (TEM) soundings are a complementary addition to the monitoring program because of their ease of use, low...
Spatio-temporal patterns and climate variables controlling of biomass carbon stock of global grassland ecosystems from 1982 to 2006
Jiangzhou Xia, Shuguang Liu, Shunlin Liang, Yang Chen, Wenfang Xu, Wenping Yuan
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 1783-1802
Grassland ecosystems play an important role in subsistence agriculture and the global carbon cycle. However, the global spatio-temporal patterns and environmental controls of grassland biomass are not well quantified and understood. The goal of this study was to estimate the spatial and temporal patterns of the global grassland biomass and...
Multielevation calibration of frequency-domain electromagnetic data
Burke J. Minsley, M. Andy Kass, Greg Hodges, Bruce D. Smith
2014, Geophysics (79) E201-E216
Systematic calibration errors must be taken into account because they can substantially impact the accuracy of inverted subsurface resistivity models derived from frequency-domain electromagnetic data, resulting in potentially misleading interpretations. We have developed an approach that uses data acquired at multiple elevations over the same location to assess calibration errors....
Segmentation of plate coupling, fate of subduction fluids, and modes of arc magmatism in Cascadia, inferred from magnetotelluric resistivity
Philip E. Wannamaker, Rob L. Evans, Paul A. Bedrosian, Martyn J. Unsworth, Virginie Maris, R. Shane McGary
2014, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (15) 4230-4253
Five magnetotelluric (MT) profiles have been acquired across the Cascadia subduction system and transformed using 2-D and 3-D nonlinear inversion to yield electrical resistivity cross sections to depths of ∼200 km. Distinct changes in plate coupling, subduction fluid evolution, and modes of arc magmatism along the length of Cascadia are...
Evapotranspiration variability and its association with vegetation dynamics in the Nile Basin, 2002–2011
Henok Alemu, Gabriel B. Senay, Armel T. Kaptue, Valeriy Kovalskyy
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 5885-5908
Evapotranspiration (ET) is a vital component in land-atmosphere interactions. In drylands, over 90% of annual rainfall evaporates. The Nile Basin in Africa is about 42% dryland in a region experiencing rapid population growth and development. The relationship of ET with climate, vegetation and land cover in the basin during 2002–2011...
Detecting the influence of best management practices on vegetation near ephemeral streams with Landsat data
Matthew B. Rigge, Alexander Smart, Bruce K. Wylie, Kendall de Van Kamp
2014, Rangeland Ecology and Management (67) 1-8
Various best management practices (BMPs) have been implemented on rangelands with the goals of controlling nonpoint source pollution, reducing the impact of livestock in ecologically important riparian areas, and improving grazing distribution. Providing off-stream water sources to livestock in pastures, cross-fencing, and rotational grazing are common rangeland BMPs that have...
A universal Model-R Coupler to facilitate the use of R functions for model calibration and analysis
Yiping Wu, Shuguang Liu, Wende Yan
2014, Environmental Modelling and Software (62) 65-69
Mathematical models are useful in various fields of science and engineering. However, it is a challenge to make a model utilize the open and growing functions (e.g., model inversion) on the R platform due to the requirement of accessing and revising the model's source code. To overcome this barrier, we...
Detecting emergence, growth, and senescence of wetland vegetation with polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data
Alisa L. Gallant, Shannon G. Kaya, Lori White, Brian Brisco, Mark F. Roth, Walter J. Sadinski, Jennifer Rover
2014, Water (6) 694-722
Wetlands provide ecosystem goods and services vitally important to humans. Land managers and policymakers working to conserve wetlands require regularly updated information on the statuses of wetlands across the landscape. However, wetlands are challenging to map remotely with high accuracy and consistency. We investigated the use of multitemporal polarimetric synthetic...
Development of a generic auto-calibration package for regional ecological modeling and application in the Central Plains of the United States
Yiping Wu, Shuguang Liu, Zhengpeng Li, Devendra Dahal, Claudia J. Young, Gail L. Schmidt, Jinxun Liu, Brian Davis, Terry L. Sohl, Jeremy M. Werner, Jennifer Oeding
2014, Ecological Informatics (19) 35-46
Process-oriented ecological models are frequently used for predicting potential impacts of global changes such as climate and land-cover changes, which can be useful for policy making. It is critical but challenging to automatically derive optimal parameter values at different scales, especially at regional scale, and validate the model performance. In...
Transcriptomic effects-based monitoring for endocrine active chemicals: Assessing relative contribution of treated wastewater to downstream pollution
Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt, Alvine C. Mehinto, Gerald T. Ankley, Nancy D. Denslow, Larry B. Barber, Kathy Lee, Ryan J. King, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Anthony L. Schroeder, Daniel L. Villeneuve
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 2385-2394
The present study investigated whether a combination of targeted analytical chemistry information with unsupervised, data-rich biological methodology (i.e., transcriptomics) could be utilized to evaluate relative contributions of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents to biological effects. The effects of WWTP effluents on fish exposed to ambient, receiving waters were studied at...
Structure and seismic hazard of the Ventura Avenue anticline and Ventura fault, California: Prospect for large, multisegment ruptures in the Western Transverse Ranges
Judith Hubbard, John H. Shaw, James F. Dolan, Thomas L. Pratt, Lee J. McAuliffe, Thomas K. Rockwell
2014, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (104) 1070-1087
The Ventura Avenue anticline is one of the fastest uplifting structures in southern California, rising at ∼5 mm/yr. We use well data and seismic reflection profiles to show that the anticline is underlain by the Ventura fault, which extends to seismogenic depth. Fault offset increases with depth, implying that the...
Identifying non-point sources of endocrine active compounds and their biological impacts in freshwater lakes
Beth H. Baker, Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt, Mark L. Ferrey, Larry B. Barber, Jeffrey H. Writer, Donald O. Rosenberry, Richard L. Kiesling, James R. Lundy, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
2014, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (67) 374-388
Contaminants of emerging concern, particularly endocrine active compounds (EACs), have been identified as a threat to aquatic wildlife. However, little is known about the impact of EACs on lakes through groundwater from onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS). This study aims to identify specific contributions of OWTS to Sullivan Lake, Minnesota,...
1.13 – Emerging contaminants
Larry B. Barber
2014, Book chapter, Comprehensive water quality and purification
Since the Industrial Revolution, a diversity of large-scale chemical innovations has impacted aquatic systems in urban environments. Beginning in the 1990s, there has been a growing scientific interest and public awareness of the effects of the chemicals used in domestic, commercial, industrial, and agricultural applications, referred to in this article...
Science is the first step to siting nuclear waste repositories
Christopher E. Neuzil
2014, Eos, Earth and Space Science News (95) 71-71
As Shaw [2014] notes, U.S. research on shale as a repository host was halted before expending anything close to the effort devoted to studying crystalline rock, salt, and - most notably - tuff at Yucca Mountain. The new political reality regarding Yucca Mountain may allow reconsideration of the decision to...
Landsat: Sustaining earth observations beyond Landsat 8
Francis P. Kelly, Thomas M. Holm
2014, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (80) 15-15
The Landsat series of Earth-observing satellites began 41-years ago as a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the Department of the Interior (DOI) and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). For the past 41 years, Landsat satellites and associated U.S. Government ground processing, distribution, and archiving systems...
Decadal-scale variability of diffuse CO2 emissions and seismicity revealed from long-term monitoring (1995–2013) at Mammoth Mountain, California, USA
Cynthia A. Werner, Deborah Bergfeld, Chris Farrar, Michael P. Doukas, Peter J. Kelly, Christoph Kern
2014, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (289) 51-63
Mammoth Mountain, California, is a dacitic volcano that has experienced several periods of unrest since 1989. The onset of diffuse soil CO2 emissions at numerous locations on the flanks of the volcano began in 1989–1990 following an 11-month period of heightened seismicity. CO2 emission rates were measured yearly from 1995...
Latest Quaternary paleoseismology and evidence of distributed dextral shear along the Mohawk Valley fault zone, northern Walker Lane, California
Ryan D. Gold, Richard W. Briggs, Stephen Personius, Anthony J. Crone, Shannon A. Mahan, Stephen Angster
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 5014-5032
The dextral-slip Mohawk Valley fault zone (MVFZ) strikes northwestward along the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada in the northern Walker Lane. Geodetic block modeling indicates that the MVFZ may accommodate ~3 mm/yr of regional dextral strain, implying that it is the highest slip-rate strike-slip fault in the region; however,...
