82 research outputs found
Naturalized Daily Streamflow Reconstruction for the Upper Wabash River
During the 1960s, the United States Army Corps of Engineers constructed a number of dams in the Upper Wabash watershed in Indiana, primarily for flood control, hydropower and recreation. In order to investigate the impact of other environmental changes, such as changes in land management and climate on streamflow, it is necessary to reconstruct what the natural flow of the impounded river would be without the influence of the upstream reservoirs
A spatially distributed model for the dynamic prediction of sediment erosion and transport in mountainous forested watersheds
Erosion and sediment transport in a temperate forested watershed are predicted with a new sediment model that represents the main sources of sediment generation in forested environments (mass wasting, hillslope erosion, and road surface erosion) within the distributed hydrology-soil-vegetation model (DHSVM) environment. The model produces slope failures on the basis of a factor-of-safety analysis with the infinite slope model through use of stochastically generated soil and vegetation parameters. Failed material is routed downslope with a rule-based scheme that determines sediment delivery to streams. Sediment from hillslopes and road surfaces is also transported to the channel network. A simple channel routing scheme is implemented to predict basin sediment yield. We demonstrate through an initial application of this model to the Rainy Creek catchment, a tributary of the Wenatchee River, which drains the east slopes of the Cascade Mountains, that the model produces plausible sediment yield and ratios of landsliding and surface erosion when compared to published rates for similar catchments in the Pacific Northwest. A road removal scenario and a basin-wide fire scenario are both evaluated with the model
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Separating snow, clean and debris covered ice in the Upper Indus Basin, Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalayas, using Landsat images between 1998 and 2002
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in the Journal of Hydrology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in the Journal of Hydrology
Volume 521, February 2015, Pages 46–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.11.048The full text of this version of the article is embargoed for 24 months from the date of publication to meet the publisher's requirementsThe Hindukush Karakoram Himalayan mountains contain some of the largest glaciers of the world, and supply melt water from perennial snow and glaciers to the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) upstream of Tarbela dam, which constitutes greater than 80% of the annual flows, and caters to the needs of millions of people in the Indus Basin. It is therefore important to study the response of perennial snow and glaciers in the UIB under changing climatic conditions, using improved hydrological modeling, glacier mass balance, and observations of glacier responses. However, the available glacier inventories and datasets only provide total perennial-snow and glacier cover areas, despite the fact that snow, clean ice and debris covered ice have different melt rates and densities. This distinction is vital for improved hydrological modeling and mass balance studies. This study, therefore, presents a separated perennial snow and glacier inventory (perennial snow-cover on steep slopes, perennial snow-covered ice, clean and debris covered ice) based on a semi-automated method that combines Landsat images and surface slope information in a supervised maximum likelihood classification to map distinct glacier zones, followed by manual post processing. The accuracy of the presented inventory falls well within the accuracy limits of available snow and glacier inventory products. For the entire UIB, estimates of perennial and/or seasonal snow on steep slopes, snow-covered ice, clean and debris covered ice zones are 7238 ± 724, 5226 ± 522, 4695 ± 469 and 2126 ± 212 km^2 respectively. Thus total snow and glacier cover is 19,285 ± 1928 km^2, out of which 12,075 ± 1207 km^2 is glacier cover (excluding steep slope snow-cover). Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) estimates based on the Snow Line Elevation (SLE) in various watersheds range between 4800 and 5500 m, while the Accumulation Area Ratio (AAR) ranges between 7% and 80%. 0 °C isotherms during peak ablation months (July and August) range between ~ 5500 and 6200 m in various watersheds. These outputs can be used as input to hydrological models, to estimate spatially-variable degree day factors for hydrological modeling, to separate glacier and snow-melt contributions in river flows, and to study glacier mass balance, and glacier responses to changing climate
Evaluating complementary and alternative medicine interventions: in search of appropriate patient-centered outcome measures
BACKGROUND: Central to the development of a sound evidence base for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) interventions is the need for valid, reliable and relevant outcome measures to assess whether the interventions work. We assessed the specific needs for a database that would cover a wide range of outcomes measures for CAM research and considered a framework for such a database. METHODS: The study was a survey of CAM researchers, practitioners and students. An online questionnaire was emailed to the members of the Canadian Interdisciplinary Network for CAM Research (IN-CAM) and the CAM Education and Research Network of Alberta (CAMera). The majority of survey questions were open-ended and asked about outcome measures currently used, outcome measures' assessment criteria, sources of information, perceived barriers to finding outcome measures and outcome domains of importance. Descriptive quantitative analysis and qualitative content analysis were used. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-four completed surveys were received. Of these, 62 respondents reported using outcome measures in their CAM research and identified 92 different specific outcomes. The most important barriers were the fact that, for many health concepts, outcome measures do not yet exist, as well as issues related to accessibility of instruments. Important outcome domains identified included physical, psychological, social, spiritual, quality of life and holistic measures. Participants also mentioned the importance of individualized measures that assess unique patient-centered outcomes for each research participant, and measures to assess the context of healing and the process of healing. CONCLUSION: We have developed a preliminary framework that includes all components of health-related outcomes. The framework provides a foundation for a larger, comprehensive collection of CAM outcomes. It fits very well in a whole systems perspective, which requires an expanded set of outcome measures, such as individualized and holistic measures, with attention to issues of process and context
Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change in Indiana and Potential Adaptations
While all sectors of the economy can be impacted by climate variability and change, the agricultural sector is arguably the most tightly coupled to climate where changes in precipitation and temperature directly control plant growth and yield, as well as livestock production. This paper analyzes the direct and cascading effects of temperature, precipitation, and carbon dioxide (CO2) on agronomic and horticultural crops, and livestock production in Indiana through 2100. Due to increased frequency of drought and heat stress, models predict that the yield of contemporary corn and soybean varieties will decline by 8–21% relative to yield potential, without considering CO2 enhancement, which may offset soybean losses. These losses could be partially compensated by adaptation measures such as changes in cropping systems, planting date, crop genetics, soil health, and providing additional water through supplemental irrigation or drainage management. Changes in winter conditions will pose a threat to some perennial crops, including tree and fruit crops, while shifts in the USDA Hardiness Zone will expand the area suitable for some fruits. Heat stress poses a major challenge to livestock production, with decreased feed intake expected with temperatures exceeding 29 °C over 100 days per year by the end of the century. Overall, continued production of commodity crops, horticultural crops, and livestock in Indiana is expected to continue with adaptations in management practice, cultivar or species composition, or crop rotation
Indiana’s Agriculture in a Changing Climate: A Report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment
Indiana has long been one of the nation’s leaders in agricultural productivity. Favorable temperatures and precipitation help Indiana farmers generate over $31 billion worth of sales per year, making the state 11th in total agricultural products sold.
Changes to the state’s climate over the coming decades, including increasing temperatures, changes in precipitation amounts and patterns, and rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air will result in several direct and indirect impacts to the state’s agricultural industry.
This report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) describes how projected changes in the state’s climate will affect the health of livestock and poultry, growing season conditions for crops, the types of crops that can be planted, soil health and water quality as well as weed, pest and disease pressure for agricultural production statewide
Return of non-ACMG recommended incidental genetic findings to pediatric patients: Considerations and opportunities from experiences in genomic sequencing
BACKGROUND: The uptake of exome/genome sequencing has introduced unexpected testing results (incidental findings) that have become a major challenge for both testing laboratories and providers. While the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics has outlined guidelines for laboratory management of clinically actionable secondary findings, debate remains as to whether incidental findings should be returned to patients, especially those representing pediatric populations.
METHODS: The Sequencing Analysis and Diagnostic Yield working group in the Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research Consortium has collected a cohort of pediatric patients found to harbor a genomic sequencing-identified non-ACMG-recommended incidental finding. The incidental variants were not thought to be associated with the indication for testing and were disclosed to patients and families.
RESULTS: In total, 23 non-ACMG-recommended incidental findings were identified in 21 pediatric patients included in the study. These findings span four different research studies/laboratories and demonstrate differences in incidental finding return rate across study sites. We summarize specific cases to highlight core considerations that surround identification and return of incidental findings (uncertainty of disease onset, disease severity, age of onset, clinical actionability, and personal utility), and suggest that interpretation of incidental findings in pediatric patients can be difficult given evolving phenotypes. Furthermore, return of incidental findings can benefit patients and providers, but do present challenges.
CONCLUSIONS: While there may be considerable benefit to return of incidental genetic findings, these findings can be burdensome to providers and present risk to patients. It is important that laboratories conducting genomic testing establish internal guidelines in anticipation of detection. Moreover, cross-laboratory guidelines may aid in reducing the potential for policy heterogeneity across laboratories as it relates to incidental finding detection and return. However, future discussion is required to determine whether cohesive guidelines or policy statements are warranted
The Future of Indiana’s Water Resources: A Report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment
This report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) applies climate change projections for the state to explore how continued changes in Indiana’s climate are going to affect all aspects of water resources, including soil water, evaporation, runoff, snow cover, streamflow, drought, and flooding. As local temperatures continue to rise and rainfall patterns shift, managing the multiple water needs of communities, natural systems, recreation, industry, and agriculture will become increasingly difficult. Ensuring that enough water is available in the right places and at the right times will require awareness of Indiana’s changing water resources and planning at regional and state levels
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