Monitoring, analyzing, and modeling global climate

Diabatic heating rate estimates as residuals of the dry thermodynamic equation were generated for May 1, 1985 to December 1989 in pentad resolution. Published results show moderate correlations (approx. .6) between heating rate and outgoing long wave radiation for periods under 90 days in the tropics and many extratropical locations. Nine years of simulation with the Community Climate Model 1 (CCM1) using R15 and observed sea surface temperatures shows that the model retains significantly more heat at the surface and in the free atmosphere than does the actual earth system. A post-processor for the CCM1, with capabilities to produce simulated microwave sounding unit (MSU) brightness temperatures was written. Techniques were refined considerably and validation studies were carried out to verify the globally distributed free atmosphere temperature anomalies derived from MSU data. The precision is such that detailed, long-term climate monitoring is well within the capability of these data

Global-scale, intraseasonal fluctuations of diabatic forcing of the atmosphere

Fields of diabatic heating rate estimates (H) for 5-day periods were calculated from the European Center for Medium Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses since 1985 as the residual of the dry thermodynamic equation. Included in these fields are the horizontal and vertical divergences of heat for both mean and eddy statistics. Previous work dealt with 4-day periods, however, with the emphasis in the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) for 5-day period totals the change was made to accommodate the GPCP product. H has long been associated with cold tropical cloud-top temperatures as measured by polar orbiting outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) sensors. Correlations between H and OLR fields on three time scales indicate a moderate amount of agreement. For periods less than 90 days, significant negative correlations are found between H and OLR for (1) tropical and NH midlatitude oceanic areas, and (2) for zonal and hemispheric mean values. Positive correlations are seen in NH mean and continental areas of N. Africa, N. America, N. Asia and Antarctica. These latter results reflect seasonal heating and cooling. Comparisons have been made between H as H as calculated from the ECMWF analyses and output from the CCM1 T42 simulations. The CCM1 tends to have a more cellular structure with more heating (precipitation) over land versus that observed (ECMWF) over oceans

ECONOMIC FORCES INFLUENCING VALUE-ADDED FOOD INDUSTRIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE

Agribusiness,

A Search for Relativistic Magnetic Monopoles with the IceCube 22-String Detector

Magnetic monopoles are particles which act as a source for divergent magnetic fields, equivalent to a proton's electric field. Beyond simply adding the final symmetry to Maxwell's equations, their existence would solve numerous outstanding problems in the particle physics community. However, no conclusive evidence for their existence has been found. Magnetic monopoles possess many unique characteristics that allow for detection from a variety of experimental methods. One property is the large scaling of the Cherenkov radiation (&#8764; 8300) compared to electrically charged particles. Magnetic monopoles are postulated to be extremely heavy (&#8764; 104&#8722;1017 GeV). However, they would be topologically stable and accelerated via magnetic field lines throughout the universe, potentially reaching energies &#8764; 1015 GeV. Therefore, searches for relativistic magnetic monopoles incident on Earth are an important piece to the overall experimental search. The IceCube neutrino observatory, located at the South Pole, offers a novel environment to search for these particles. IceCube is a km3</super grid of light sensors buried deep within the Antarctic Ice Shelf and represents the most colossal neutrino telescope in the world. The large instrumented volume and relatively clear glacial ice allows for a significant improvement in sensitivity to the bright tracks relativistic magnetic monopoles would exhibit. The main background comes from large muon bundles produced in air showers generated by the highest energy cosmic rays. The depth of the detector allows for a limited rejection of these events from the Southern Hemisphere, while the Earth acts as an opaque shield to these events traveling from the Northern Hemisphere. In contrast, a large range of potential magnetic monopole masses and energies considered (M & 107 GeV, E & 1011 GeV) can travel completely through the Earth while remaining relativistic. This dissertation details the first search performed for these relativistic magnetic monopoles with IceCube data. The data is from 2007, when IceCube operated as a partially completed detector with an instrumented volume of &#8764;0.2 km3. It considers monopoles at four discrete speeds: &#946; = 0.76, 0.8, 0.9, 0.995, ranging from just above the Cherenkov threshold in ice to a boost factor of 10. Discrimination between a potential magnetic monopole signal and background is achieved by considering the brightness and direction of the event. After an initial search revealed deficiencies in the simulated background model, a more conservative analysis produces limits that are &#8764; 10 x better than previous searches. The final limits are then transformed to be a limit on an isotropic flux at the Earth's surface, due to the dependence on direction to the overall sensitivity of the analysis

Wet Meadow Plant Associations, Double O Unit, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Harney County, Oregon

This report summarizes vegetation data collected in July 2015 in wet meadow and marshy habitats on the Double O Unit of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR). Because vegetation sampled at the Double O was wetter and more alkaline than wet meadows sampled at the south end of the refuge in 2012 and 2013 (Christy 2014), data from the Double O Unit were analyzed and summarized separately. A total of 83 plots were sampled in 2015, and analysis of the data identified 14 plant associations: Alopecurus aequalis - Juncus balticus, Alopecurus pratensis - Potentilla anserina, Carex praegracilis - Juncus balticus, Cicuta douglasii - Carex nebrascensis, Distichlis spicata - Amphiscirpus nevadensis, Distichlis spicata - Nitrophila occidentalis, Eleocharis palustris - Juncus balticus, Eleocharis rostellata, Juncus balticus - Glaux maritima, Hippuris vulgaris - Triglochin maritima, Leymus triticoides - Juncus balticus, Schoenoplectus americanus, Spartina gracilis, and Triglochin maritima. Plant associations spanned a wetland gradient from seasonally moist to seasonally or perennially flooded, but surface water had left most stands at time of sampling. Mean Wetland Indicator Status scores and species composition help to place the plant associations within gradients in soil moisture and alkalinity. Seven of the 14 plant associations are listed in the International Vegetation Classification, and the remaining types are provisiona

The Discovery of 1000 km/s Outflows in Massive Post-starburst Galaxies at z=0.6

Numerical simulations suggest that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play an important role in the formation of early-type galaxies by expelling gas and dust in powerful galactic winds and quenching star formation. However, the existence of AGN feedback capable of halting galaxy-wide star formation has yet to be observationally confirmed. To investigate this question, we have obtained spectra of 14 post-starburst galaxies at z~0.6 to search for evidence of galactic winds. In 10/14 galaxies we detect Mg II 2796,2803 absorption lines which are blueshifted by 490 - 2020 km/s with respect to the stars. The median blueshift is 1140 km/s. We hypothesize that the outflowing gas represents a fossil galactic wind launched near the peak of the galaxy's activity, a few 100 Myr ago. The velocities we measure are intermediate between those of luminous starbursts and broad absorption line quasars, which suggests that feedback from an AGN may have played a role in expelling cool gas and shutting down star formation.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted to ApJ Letter