Tests of the higher order turbulence model for atmospheric circulations (HOTMAC) at Deseret Chemical Depot

Deseret Chemical Depot is one of the US Army`s storage facilities for its stockpile of chemical weapon agents. Congress has directed the Department of Defense to eliminate the aging stockpiles, which have existed since the end of World War II, and the US Army is destroying these lethal chemical munitions. Although the danger is slight, accurate predictions of the wind field in the valley are necessary for dispersion calculations in the event of an accident involving toxic chemicals at the depot. There are several small communities in Rush and Tooele valleys, including the town of Tooele, and Salt Lake City is located 65 km to the Northeast of Deseret Chemical Depot South area, at 1,300 m MSL and beyond the Oquirrh Mountains. The purpose of this report is to carry out three-dimensional numerical simulations of the atmospheric circulations in the region around Deseret Chemical Depot with the Higher Order Turbulence Model for Atmospheric Circulations (HOTMAC) and to evaluate the performance of the model. The code had been modified to assimilate local meteorological observations through the use of Newtonian nudging. The nudging scheme takes advantage of the extensive network of local observations in the valley

Model simulations of the influence of synoptic conditions on vertical motions in the Salt Lake City region

The Salt Lake City basin is one of a number of broad valleys in northern Utah. It was the location of the Vertical Transport and Mixing (VTMX) program field experiment in October of 2000, and it is an area that has experienced urban air quality problems within the basin. During this experiment, flow through the Jordan Narrows, the gap in the Traverse Range that divides the Salt Lake basin from the Utah basin to the south, was found to be significant, in addition to the known night time drainage from canyons that enter the valley from the east. In earlier studies, similar flow through a gap has been found to exist between the Tooele and Rush Valleys, just to the west. The earlier studies also indicated flows, through passes, between the Rush Valley and the valleys to its east. This paper will present the results of numerical simulations of the Salt Lake City Basin and the surrounding region, including the Utah, Tooele, and Rush Valleys. The discussion will focus on how the circulations within the Salt Lake City basin are influenced by flows that enter or exit the basin from nearby canyons and basins. We will also investigate the role of synoptic weather conditions in this exchange

How Big of an Effect Do Small Dams Have? Using Geomorphological Footprints to Quantify Spatial Impact of Low-Head Dams and Identify Patterns of Across-Dam Variation

Citation: Fencl, J. S., Mather, M. E., Costigan, K. H., & Daniels, M. D. (2015). How Big of an Effect Do Small Dams Have? Using Geomorphological Footprints to Quantify Spatial Impact of Low-Head Dams and Identify Patterns of Across-Dam Variation. Plos One, 10(11), 22. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141210Longitudinal connectivity is a fundamental characteristic of rivers that can be disrupted by natural and anthropogenic processes. Dams are significant disruptions to streams. Over 2,000,000 low-head dams (<7.6 m high) fragment United States rivers. Despite potential adverse impacts of these ubiquitous disturbances, the spatial impacts of low-head dams on geomorphology and ecology are largely untested. Progress for research and conservation is impaired by not knowing the magnitude of low-head dam impacts. Based on the geomorphic literature, we refined a methodology that allowed us to quantify the spatial extent of low-head dam impacts (herein dam footprint), assessed variation in dam footprints across low-head dams within a river network, and identified select aspects of the context of this variation. Wetted width, depth, and substrate size distributions upstream and downstream of six low-head dams within the Upper Neosho River, Kansas, United States of America were measured. Total dam footprints averaged 7.9 km (3.0-15.3 km) or 287 wetted widths (136437 wetted widths). Estimates included both upstream (mean: 6.7 km or 243 wetted widths) and downstream footprints (mean: 1.2 km or 44 wetted widths). Altogether the six low-head dams impacted 47.3 km (about 17%) of the mainstem in the river network. Despite differences in age, size, location, and primary function, the sizes of geomorphic footprints of individual low-head dams in the Upper Neosho river network were relatively similar. The number of upstream dams and distance to upstream dams, but not dam height, affected the spatial extent of dam footprints. In summary, ubiquitous low-head dams individually and cumulatively altered lotic ecosystems. Both characteristics of individual dams and the context of neighboring dams affected low-head dam impacts within the river network. For these reasons, low-head dams require a different, more integrative, approach for research and management than the individualistic approach that has been applied to larger dams

The disappearing act: a dusty wind eclipsing RW Aur

The authors acknowledge support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council through grants no. ST/K502339/1 and ST/M001296/1, and the Science Foundation Ireland through grant no. 10/RFP/AST2780.RW Aur is a young binary star that experienced a deep dimming in 2010-11in component A and a second even deeper dimming from summer 2014 to summer 2016. We present new unresolved multi-band photometry during the 2014-16 eclipse, new emission line spectroscopy before and during th dimming, archive infrared photometry between 2014-15, as well as an overview of literature data. Spectral observations were carried out witht he Fibre-fed RObotic Dual-beam Optical Spectrograph on the Liverpool Telescope. Photometric monitoring was done with the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network and James Gregory Telescope. Ourphotometry shows that RW Aur dropped in brightness to R = 12.5 in March 2016. In addition to the long-term dimming trend, RW Aur is variable on time-scales as short as hours. The short-term variation is most likely due to an unstable accretion flow. This, combined with the presence of accretion-related emission lines in the spectra suggest that accretion flows in the binary system are at least partially visible during the eclipse. The equivalent width of [O I] increases by a factor of ten in 2014, coinciding with the dimming event, confirming previous reports.The blueshifted part of the Hα profile is suppressed during the eclipse. In combination with the increase in mid-infrared brightness during the eclipse reported in the literature and seen in WISE archival data, and constraints on the geometry of the disk around RW Aur A we arrive at the conclusion that the obscuring screen is part of a wind emanating from the inner disc.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Pollutant transfer through air and water pathways in an urban environment

The authors are attempting to simulate the transport and fate of pollutants through air and water pathways in an urban environment. This cross-disciplinary study involves linking together models of mesoscale meteorology, air pollution chemistry and deposition, urban runoff and stormwater transport, water quality, and wetland chemistry and biology. The authors are focusing on the transport and fate of nitrogen species because (1) they track through both air and water pathways, (2) the physics, chemistry, and biology of the complete cycle is not well understood, and (3) they have important health, local ecosystem, and global climate implications. The authors will apply their linked modeling system to the Los Angeles basin, following the fate of nitrates from their beginning as nitrate-precursors produced by auto emissions and industrial processes, tracking their dispersion and chemistry as they are transported by regional winds and eventually wet or dry deposit on the ground, tracing their path as they are entrained into surface water runoff during rain events and carried into the stormwater system, and then evaluating their impact on receiving water bodies such as wetlands where biologically-mediated chemical reactions take place. In this paper, the authors wish to give an overview of the project and at the conference show preliminary results

Delayed gastric emptying and reduced postprandial small bowel water content of equicaloric whole meal bread versus rice meals in healthy subjects: novel MRI insights

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Postprandial bloating is a common symptom in patients with functional gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Whole meal bread (WMB) often aggravates such symptoms though the mechanisms are unclear. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor the intragastric fate of a WMB meal (11% bran) compared to a rice pudding (RP) meal. SUBJECTS/METHODS: 12 healthy volunteers completed this randomised crossover study. They fasted overnight and after an initial MRI scan consumed a glass of orange juice with a 2267 kJ WMB or an equicaloric RP meal. Subjects underwent serial MRI scans every 45 min up to 270 min to assess gastric volumes and small bowel water content and completed a GI symptom questionnaire. RESULTS: The MRI intragastric appearance of the two meals was markedly different. The WMB meal formed a homogeneous dark bolus with brighter liquid signal surrounding it. The RP meal separated into an upper, liquid layer and a lower particulate layer allowing more rapid emptying of the liquid compared to solid phase (sieving). The WMB meal had longer gastric half emptying times (132±8 min) compared to the RP meal (104±7 min), P<0.008. The WMB meal was associated with markedly reduced MRI-visible small bowel free mobile water content compared to the RP meal, P<0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: WMB bread forms a homogeneous bolus in the stomach which inhibits gastric sieving and hence empties slower than the equicaloric rice meal. These properties may explain why wheat causes postprandial bloating and could be exploited to design foods which prolong satiation

Stimulation of colonic motility by oral PEG electrolyte bowel preparation assessed by MRI : comparison of split vs single dose

Peer reviewe

Advancing Equity Planning Now

What can planners do to restore equity to their craft? Drawing upon the perspectives of a diverse group of planning experts, Advancing Equity Planning Now places the concepts of fairness and equal access squarely in the center of planning research and practice. Editors Norman Krumholz and Kathryn Wertheim Hexter provide essential resources for city leaders and planners, as well as for students and others, interested in shaping the built environment for a more just world.Advancing Equity Planning Now remind us that equity has always been an integral consideration in the planning profession. The historic roots of that ethical commitment go back more than a century. Yet a trend of growing inequality in America, as well as other recent socio-economic changes that divide the wealthiest from the middle and working classes, challenge the notion that a rising economic tide lifts all boats. When planning becomes mere place-making for elites, urban and regional planners need to return to the fundamentals of their profession. Although they have not always done so, planners are well-positioned to advocate for greater equity in public policies that address the multiple objectives of urban planning including housing, transportation, economic development, and the removal of noxious land uses in neighborhoods