Beryllium-7 wet deposition variation with storm height, synoptic classification, and tree canopy state in the mid-Atlantic USA

This is the peer reviewed version of the article which has been published in final form at 10.1002/hyp.10571. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving: http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-820227.html#termsShort-lived fallout isotopes, such as beryllium-7 (7Be), are increasingly used as erosion and sediment tracers in watersheds. Beryllium-7 is produced in the atmosphere and delivered to Earth's surface primarily in precipitation. However, relatively little has been published about the variation in 7Be wet deposition caused by storm type and vegetation cover. Our analysis of precipitation, throughfall, and sediments in two forested, headwater catchments in the mid-Atlantic USA indicates significant variation in isotope deposition with storm type and storm height. Individual summer convective thunderstorms were associated with 7Be activity concentrations up to 5.0 Bq L−1 in precipitation and 4.7 Bq L−1 in throughfall while single-event wet depositional fluxes reached 168 Bq m−2 in precipitation and 103 Bq m−2 in throughfall. Storms originating from the continental USA were associated with lower 7Be activity concentrations and single-event wet depositional fluxes for precipitation (0.7 – 1.2 Bq L−1 and 15.8 – 65.0 Bq m−2) and throughfall (0.1 – 0.3 Bq L−1 and 13.5 – 98.9 Bq m−2). Tropical systems had relatively low activity concentrations, 0.2 – 0.5 Bq L−1 in precipitation and 0.2 – 1.0 Bq L−1 in throughfall, but relatively high single-event depositional fluxes due to large rainfall volumes, 32.8 – 67.6 Bq m−2 in precipitation and 25.7 – 134 Bq m−2 in throughfall. The largest sources of 7Be depositional variation were attributed to storm characteristics including precipitation amount and maximum storm height. 7Be activity associated with fluvial suspended sediments also exhibited the highest concentration and variability in summer (175 – 1450 Bq kg−1). We conclude the dominant source of variation on event-level 7Be deposition is storm type. Our results illustrate the complex relationships between 7Be deposition in precipitation and throughfall and demonstrate event-scale relationships between the 7Be in precipitation and on suspended sediment.National Science Foundatio

Peak grain forecasts for the US High Plains amid withering waters

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This paper stems from discussions during the Ettersburg Ecohydrology Workshop in Germany (October 2018), with the corresponding manuscript preparation ensuing in subsequent months. The workshop was funded by the UNIDEL Foundation, Inc. and the University of Delaware. Accordingly, partial support for this paper derived from funding for the workshop. A.M. was supported by the US NSF (Grants NSF-AGS-1644382 and NSF-IOS-175489).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effect of biotic and abiotic factors on inter- and intra-event variability in stemflow rates in oak and pine stands in a Mediterranean mountain area

Stemflow, despite being a small proportion of gross rainfall, is an important and understudied flux of water in forested areas. Recent studies have highlighted its complexity and relative importance for understanding soil and groundwater recharge. Stemflow dynamics offer an insight into how rain water is stored and released from the stems of trees to the soil. Past attempts have been made to understand the variability of stemflow under different types of vegetation, but rather few studies have focused on the combined influence of biotic and abiotic factors on inter and intra-storm stemflow variability, and none in Mediterranean climates. This study presents stemflow data collected at high temporal resolution for two species with contrasting canopies and bark characteristics: Quercus pubescens Willd. (downy oak) and Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) in the Vallcebre research catchments (NE of Spain, 42° 12′N, 1° 49′E). The main objective was to understand how the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors affected stemflow dynamics. Mean stemflow production was low for both species (∼1% of incident rainfall) and increased with rainfall amount. However, the magnitude of the response depended on the combination of multiple biotic and abiotic factors. Both species produced similar stemflow volumes and the largest differences were found among trees of the same species. The combined analysis of biotic and abiotic factors showed that funneling ratios and stemflow dynamics were highly influenced by the interaction of rainfall intensity and tree size

Soil moisture: A central and unifying theme in physical geography

Soil moisture is a critical component of the earth system and plays an integrative role among the various subfields of physical geography. This paper highlights not just how soil moisture affects atmospheric, geomorphic, hydrologic, and biologic processes but that it lies at the intersection of these areas of scientific inquiry. Soil moisture impacts earth surface processes in such a way that it creates an obvious synergistic relationship among the various subfields of physical geography. The dispersive and cohesive properties of soil moisture also make it an important variable in regional and microclimatic analyses, landscape denudation and change through weathering, runoff generation and partitioning, mass wasting, and sediment transport. Thus, this paper serves as a call to use research in soil moisture as an integrative and unifying theme in physical geography. © The Author(s) 2010

Rainfall interception loss by forest canopies. In: Forest Hydrology and Biogeochemistry: Synthesis of Past Research and Future Directions

Abstract Background Evaluations on different aspects of the performance of public hospitals in China have been conducted, usually based on indicators developed by literature review and expert suggestions. The patient perspective was not always considered. This study aims to identify what patients care most about in China’s public hospitals exclusively from a patient perspective. Methods A mix of stratified sampling and typical sampling was used to select 15 public hospitals in Jiangsu Province of China. In each sampled hospital, a convenient sample of six outpatients and six inpatients was selected to conduct face-to-face individual interviews. An interview guide consisting of six open-ended questions was designed. Donabedian’s quality of care framework was applied to categorize themes and subthemes, which were generated from patients’ interviews by using the conventional content analysis approach. Frequencies of themes and subthemes were counted. Results Nine key themes were identified regarding patients’ concerns about hospital care, which were environment and facilities, professional competence, hospital reputation, and morals of medical staff in the “structure” category of Donabedian’s framework, caring attitudes and emotional support, medical costs, communication and information, and efficiency and coordination of care in the “process” category, and health outcomes in the “outcome” category. Conclusions This study has identified and prioritized the aspects that patients care most about in China’s public hospitals in Jiangsu Province exclusively from a patient perspective. A measurement tool of patient-reported experiences in public hospitals could be built based on this study. Efforts should be made to represent the patient perspective to further improve the reform of public hospitals in China

Measuring the Recreational Value of Open Space

The working papers in this series are preliminary and circulated for the purpose of discussion. The views expressed in the papers do not reflect those of the Center for Agricultural Economic Research