Exploration of Synoptic-Scale Patterns in Early-Season Snowfall around the Lake Michigan Region

This research is part of a broader project that explores the role of Lake Michigan in the regional snowfall climatology. This study explores the statistics of snowfall through the month of November in the Lake Michigan region. Each November snowfall event was classified by whether it was a synoptic event or a lake-effect snow event. From these classifications, a table of dates and snowfall statistics were compiled for Lake Michigan snowfall events from 1950 to 2012. This table was used in coordination with NCDC netCDF re-analysis files to find relationships between the type of the event and 850-hPa, 500-hPa, and 300-hPa temperature, height, wind speed, and wind direction. In order to further understand the climatological development of the snow events around Lake Michigan, composite datasets were also assembled and analyzed. By doing this, the “mean-state” of lake-effect and synoptic snow events around Lake Michigan can be studied. Additionally, the variance between the two modes of snowfall can be statistically analyzed

Comparative assessment of the vulnerability and resilience of 10 deltas : work document

Background information about: Nile delta (Egypt), Incomati delta (Mozambique), Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (Bangladesh), Yangtze (China), Ciliwung (Indonesia), Mekong (Vietnam), Rhine-Meuse (The Netherlands), Danube (Romania), California Bay-Delta, Mississippi River Delta (USA

Comparitive assessment of the vulnerability and resilience of 10 deltas, synthesis report

The proposed framework for delta assessment and especially the scorecards are intended to enhance awareness raising, discussion and prioritization on most relevant delta issues, in each delta but also in comparison with other deltas. This should lead to more efficient and effective (multi-sectoral) policy formulation, management design and implementation, in concrete Delta plans, pilot-projects and (research) programmes. The target groups are all stakeholders who are involved in delta management at different levels and with different interests (government, private companies, NGOs, public), and who wish to contribute to the resilience of their own delta and other deltas worldwide

Focus on language versus content in the pre-task: Effects of guided peer-video model observations on task performance

The present experimental study examined whether a different focus during a pre-task planning observation task affects learners’ subsequent oral task performance. Forty-eight ninth-grade students learning German as a foreign language were randomly assigned to two different planning conditions: video observations with a focus on language (FonL) and video observations with a focus on content (FonC). With a communicative oral task we measured the effects on oral task performance, in terms of attempted (accurate) use of the target structure and complexity, in terms of number of words, subordination and coordination. In addition we investigated whether there was a trade-off between attempted (accurate) use of the target structure and complexity. Results showed that the focus of the observations at the pre-task stage did indeed lead to different outcomes: students in the language condition used the grammatical target structure more often and more accurately, whereas students of the content condition generated more coordinate and subordinate clauses. Trade-offs were found between attempted (accurate) use of the target structure and the use of subordinate clauses. These findings imply that, depending on the purposes of the lesson, the observation of peer-model videos with different planning foci can be effectively used to promote (accurate) use of targeted grammatical structures and improve complexity during subsequent task performance