Effects of nourishment on the form and function of an estuarine beach
N.L. Jackson, K.F. Nordstrom, S. Saini, D. R. Smith
2010, Ecological Engineering (36) 1709-1718
Beach nourishment programs in estuaries can enhance shore protection, but they decrease habitat suitability by creating higher berms and wider backshores than would occur under natural conditions. Use of sediment sources from outside the area can result in sedimentary characteristics that differ from native sediments on the surface and at...
Distribution, behavior, and transport of inorganic and methylmercury in a high gradient stream
J.R. Flanders, R.R. Turner, T. Morrison, R. Jensen, J. Pizzuto, K. Skalak, R. Stahl
2010, Applied Geochemistry (25) 1756-1769
Concentrations of Hg remain elevated in physical and biological media of the South River (Virginia, USA), despite the cessation of the industrial use of Hg in its watershed nearly six decades ago, and physical characteristics that would not seem to favor Hg(II)-methylation. A 3-a study of inorganic Hg (IHg) and...
Predicted and observed spectral response from collocated shallow, active- and passive- source Vs data at five ANSS sites, Illinois and Indiana, USA
J. K. Odum, W. J. Stephenson, R. A. Williams
2010, Seismological Research Letters (81) 955-964
[No abstract available]...
Uses and biases of volunteer water quality data
J.V. Loperfido, P. Beyer, C.L. Just, J. L. Schnoor
2010, Environmental Science & Technology (44) 7193-7199
State water quality monitoring has been augmented by volunteer monitoring programs throughout the United States. Although a significant effort has been put forth by volunteers, questions remain as to whether volunteer data are accurate and can be used by regulators. In this study, typical volunteer water quality measurements from laboratory...
Optimized autonomous space in-situ sensor web for volcano monitoring
W.-Z. Song, B. Shirazi, R. Huang, M. Xu, N. Peterson, R. LaHusen, J. Pallister, D. Dzurisin, S. Moran, M. Lisowski, S. Kedar, S. Chien, F. Webb, A. Kiely, J. Doubleday, A. Davies, D. Pieri
2010, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (3) 541-546
In response to NASA's announced requirement for Earth hazard monitoring sensor-web technology, a multidisciplinary team involving sensor-network experts (Washington State University), space scientists (JPL), and Earth scientists (USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO)), have developed a prototype of dynamic and scalable hazard monitoring sensor-web and applied it to volcano monitoring. The...
Assessment of extreme quantitative precipitation forecasts and development of regional extreme event thresholds using data from HMT-2006 and COOP observers
F.M. Ralph, E. Sukovich, D. Reynolds, M. Dettinger, S. Weagle, W. Clark, P.J. Neiman
2010, Journal of Hydrometeorology (11) 1286-1304
Extreme precipitation events, and the quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) associated with them, are examined. The study uses data from the Hydrometeorology Testbed (HMT), which conducted its first field study in California during the 2005/06 cool season. National Weather Service River Forecast Center (NWS RFC) gridded QPFs for 24-h periods at...
Inherent Limitations of Hydraulic Tomography
Geoffrey C. Bohling, J.J. Butler
2010, Ground Water (48) 809-824
We offer a cautionary note in response to an increasing level of enthusiasm regarding high-resolution aquifer characterization with hydraulic tomography. We use synthetic examples based on two recent field experiments to demonstrate that a high degree of nonuniqueness remains in estimates of hydraulic parameter fields even when those estimates are...
The areal extent of brown shrimp habitat suitability in Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA: Targeting vegetated habitat restoration
L.M. Smith, J.A. Nestlerode, L.C. Harwell, P. Bourgeois
2010, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (171) 611-620
The availability of wetlands and shallow water habitats significantly influences Gulf of Mexico (GOM) penaeid shrimp fishery productivity. However, the GOM region has the highest rate of wetland loss in the USA. Protection and management of these vital GOM habitats are critical to sustainable shrimp fisheries. Brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus)...
Extension in Mona Passage, Northeast Caribbean
J.D. Chaytor, Uri S. ten Brink
2010, Tectonophysics (493) 74-92
As shown by the recent Mw 7.0 Haiti earthquake, intra-arc deformation, which accompanies the subduction process, can present seismic and tsunami hazards to nearby islands. Spatially-limited diffuse tectonic deformation within the Northeast Caribbean Plate Boundary Zone likely led to the development of the submerged Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and...
Effects of coalbed natural gas development on fish assemblages in tributary streams of the Powder and Tongue rivers
W.N. Davis, R.G. Bramblett, A.V. Zale
2010, Freshwater Biology (55) 2612-2625
1. Extraction of coalbed natural gas (CBNG) often results in disposal of large quantities of CBNG product water, which may affect aquatic ecosystems. We evaluated the effects of CBNG development on fish assemblages in tributary streams of the Powder and Tongue rivers. We used treatment and control, impact versus reference...
Radiocarbon dating of small terrestrial gastropod shells in North America
J.S. Pigati, J.A. Rech, J.C. Nekola
2010, Quaternary Geochronology (5) 519-532
Fossil shells of small terrestrial gastropods are commonly preserved in wetland, alluvial, loess, and glacial deposits, as well as in sediments at many archeological sites. These shells are composed largely of aragonite (CaCO3) and potentially could be used for radiocarbon dating, but they must meet two criteria before their 14C...
Sampling in ecology and evolution - bridging the gap between theory and practice
C.H. Albert, Nigel G. Yoccoz, T.C. Edwards, C.H. Graham, N.E. Zimmermann, W. Thuiller
2010, Ecography (33) 1028-1037
Sampling is a key issue for answering most ecological and evolutionary questions. The importance of developing a rigorous sampling design tailored to specific questions has already been discussed in the ecological and sampling literature and has provided useful tools and recommendations to sample and analyse ecological data. However, sampling issues...
3D volumetric modeling of grapevine biomass using Tripod LiDAR
K.E. Keightley, G.W. Bawden
2010, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (74) 305-312
Tripod mounted laser scanning provides the means to generate high-resolution volumetric measures of vegetation structure and perennial woody tissue for the calculation of standing biomass in agronomic and natural ecosystems. Other than costly destructive harvest methods, no technique exists to rapidly and accurately measure above-ground perennial tissue for woody plants...
Molecular investigations into a globally important carbon pool: Permafrost-protected carbon in Alaskan soils
M. P. Waldrop, K.P. Wickland, Rickie White, A.A. Berhe, J.W. Harden, V.E. Romanovsky
2010, Global Change Biology (16) 2543-2554
The fate of carbon (C) contained within permafrost in boreal forest environments is an important consideration for the current and future carbon cycle as soils warm in northern latitudes. Currently, little is known about the microbiology or chemistry of permafrost soils that may affect its decomposition once soils thaw. We...
Monitoring on-orbit calibration stability of the Terra MODIS and Landsat 7 ETM+ sensors using pseudo-invariant test sites
G. Chander, X. Xiong, T. Choi, A. Angal
2010, Remote Sensing of Environment (114) 925-939
The ability to detect and quantify changes in the Earth's environment depends on sensors that can provide calibrated, consistent measurements of the Earth's surface features through time. A critical step in this process is to put image data from different sensors onto a common radiometric scale. This work focuses on...
Uncovering a latent multinomial: Analysis of mark-recapture data with misidentification
W.A. Link, J. Yoshizaki, L.L. Bailey, K. H. Pollock
2010, Biometrics (66) 178-185
Natural tags based on DNA fingerprints or natural features of animals are now becoming very widely used in wildlife population biology. However, classic capture-recapture models do not allow for misidentification of animals which is a potentially very serious problem with natural tags. Statistical analysis of misidentification processes is extremely difficult...
Reactive transport modeling to study changes in water chemistry induced by CO2 injection at the Frio-I Brine Pilot
T. Xu, Y.K. Kharaka, C. Doughty, B.M. Freifeld, T.M. Daley
2010, Chemical Geology (271) 153-164
To demonstrate the potential for geologic storage of CO2 in saline aquifers, the Frio-I Brine Pilot was conducted, during which 1600 tons of CO2 were injected into a high-permeability sandstone and the resulting subsurface plume of CO2 was monitored using a variety of hydrogeological, geophysical, and geochemical techniques. Fluid samples...
Silica in a Mars analog environment: Ka u Desert, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
K.D. Seelos, R. E. Arvidson, B.L. Jolliff, S.M. Chemtob, R.V. Morris, D. W. Ming, G.A. Swayze
2010, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (115)
Airborne Visible/Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data acquired over the Ka u Desert are atmospherically corrected to ground reflectance and used to identify the mineralogic components of relatively young basaltic materials, including 250-700 and 200-400 year old lava flows, 1971 and 1974 flows, ash deposits, and solfatara incrustations. To provide context,...
Protein expression and genetic structure of the coral Porites lobata in an environmentally extreme Samoan back reef: Does host genotype limit phenotypic plasticity?
D.J. Barshis, J.H. Stillman, R.D. Gates, R.J. Toonen, L.W. Smith, C. Birkeland
2010, Molecular Ecology (19) 1705-1720
The degree to which coral reef ecosystems will be impacted by global climate change depends on regional and local differences in corals' susceptibility and resilience to environmental stressors. Here, we present data from a reciprocal transplant experiment using the common reef building coral Porites lobata between a highly fluctuating back...
Computer algorithm for analyzing and processing borehole strainmeter data
John O. Langbein
2010, Computers & Geosciences (36) 611-619
The newly installed Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) strainmeters record signals from tectonic activity, Earth tides, and atmospheric pressure. Important information about tectonic processes may occur at amplitudes at and below tidal strains and pressure loading. If incorrect assumptions are made regarding the background noise in the strain data, then the...
Recruitment in a Colorado population of big brown bats: Breeding probabilities, litter size, and first-year survival
T. J. O'Shea, L.E. Ellison, D.J. Neubaum, M.A. Neubaum, C.A. Reynolds, R. A. Bowen
2010, Journal of Mammalogy (91) 418-428
We used markrecapture estimation techniques and radiography to test hypotheses about 3 important aspects of recruitment in big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) in Fort Collins, Colorado: adult breeding probabilities, litter size, and 1st-year survival of young. We marked 2,968 females with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags at multiple sites during...
Latitudinal variations in Titan's methane and haze from Cassini VIMS observations
P.F. Penteado, C.A. Griffith, M.G. Tomasko, S. Engel, C. See, L. Doose, K. H. Baines, R. H. Brown, B. J. Buratti, R. Clark, P. Nicholson, Christophe Sotin
2010, Icarus (206) 352-365
We analyze observations taken with Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), to determine the current methane and haze latitudinal distribution between 60??S and 40??N. The methane variation was measured primarily from its absorption band at 0.61 ??m, which is optically thin enough to be sensitive to the methane abundance...
Detrital zircon evidence for progressive underthrusting in Franciscan metagraywackes, west-central California
C.A. Snow, J. Wakabayashi, W. G. Ernst, J. L. Wooden
2010, Geological Society of America Bulletin (122) 282-291
We present new U/Pb ages for detrital zircons separated from six quartzose metagraywackes collected from different Franciscan Complex imbricate nappes around San Francisco Bay. All six rocks contain a broad spread of Late Jurassic-Cretaceous grains originating from the Klamath-Sierra Nevada volcanic-plutonic arc. Units young structurally downward, consistent with models of...
Diurnal variation in invertebrate catch rates by sticky traps: Potential for biased indices of piping plover forage
M.J. Anteau, M. H. Sherfy
2010, Wetlands (30) 757-762
Measuring abundance of invertebrate forage for piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; hereafter plovers), a federally listed species in the USA, is an important component of research and monitoring targeted toward species recovery. Sticky traps are commonly used to passively sample invertebrates, but catch rates may vary diurnally or in response to...
Time-dependent seismic tomography
B.R. Julian, G.R. Foulger
2010, Geophysical Journal International (182) 1327-1338
Of methods for measuring temporal changes in seismic-wave speeds in the Earth, seismic tomography is among those that offer the highest spatial resolution. 3-D tomographic methods are commonly applied in this context by inverting seismic wave arrival time data sets from different epochs independently and assuming that differences in the...
