Diversity and equality in honours and awards programs – steps towards a fair representation of membership

Honours and awards bestowed by professional societies recognize and reward members who have advanced the goals and values of that society. All too often, however, awards reflect a small network of people who know about the awards and participate in the process. This network works wonderfully for the people lucky enough to be in it, but typically neglects the full range and breadth of scholarship and service within the society. We represent a combined 15C years’ experience on the honours’ committee for a large professional society (the American Geophysical Union) and here offer strategies to increase the representation of honourees.Women represented less than 20%of awardees when we first became committee members in 2008; women represented 50% of awardees in 2019. There is still much to do to ensure that members from other typically underrepresented groups (non-US members, members from underrepresented races/ethnicities) are truly represented and honoured for outstanding science and service. We recommend forming canvassing committees that will scour the literature, conferences, and membership lists for appropriate and otherwise overlooked nominees; providing implicit bias training to selection committees; and ensuring selection committees focus on the criteria for the award rather than non-pertinent, often personal, information, as well as additional strategies that allow us to recognize our worthy colleagues

Simulation of surface ozone pollution in the Central Gulf Coast region during summer synoptic condition using WRF/Chem air quality model

AbstractWRF/Chem, a fully coupled meteorology–chemistry model, was used for the simulation of surface ozone pollution over the Central Gulf Coast region in Southeast United States of America (USA). Two ozone episodes during June 8–11, 2006 and July 18–22, 2006 characterized with hourly mixing ratios of 60–100ppbv, were selected for the study. Suite of sensitivity experiments were conducted with three different planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes and three land surface models (LSM). The results indicate that Yonsei–University (YSU) PBL scheme in combination with NOAH and SOIL LSMs produce better simulations of both the meteorological and chemical species than others. YSU PBL scheme in combination with NOAH LSM had slightly better simulation than with SOIL scheme. Spatial comparison with observations showed that YSUNOAH experiment well simulated the diurnal mean ozone mixing ratio, timing of diurnal cycle as well as range in ozone mixing ratio at most monitoring stations with an overall correlation of 0.726, bias of –1.55ppbv, mean absolute error of 8.11ppbv and root mean square error of 14.5ppbv; and with an underestimation of 7ppbv in the daytime peak ozone and about 8% in the daily average ozone. Model produced 1–hr, and 8–hr average ozone values were well correlated with corresponding observed means. The minor underestimation of daytime ozone is attributed to the slight underestimation of air temperature which tend to slow–down the ozone production and overestimation of wind speeds which transport the produced ozone at a faster rate. Simulated mean horizontal and vertical flow patterns suggest the role of the horizontal transport and the PBL diffusion in the development of high ozone during the episode. Overall, the model is found to perform reasonably well to simulate the ozone and other precursor pollutants with good correlations and low error metrics. Thus the study demonstrates the potential of WRF/Chem model for air quality prediction in coastal environments

Diversity and equality in honours and awards programs – steps towards a fair representation of membership

Honours and awards bestowed by professional societies recognize and reward members who have advanced the goals and values of that society. All too often, however, awards reflect a small network of people who know about the awards and participate in the process. This network works wonderfully for the people lucky enough to be in it, but typically neglects the full range and breadth of scholarship and service within the society. We represent a combined 15C years’ experience on the honours’ committee for a large professional society (the American Geophysical Union) and here offer strategies to increase the representation of honourees.Women represented less than 20%of awardees when we first became committee members in 2008; women represented 50% of awardees in 2019. There is still much to do to ensure that members from other typically underrepresented groups (non-US members, members from underrepresented races/ethnicities) are truly represented and honoured for outstanding science and service. We recommend forming canvassing committees that will scour the literature, conferences, and membership lists for appropriate and otherwise overlooked nominees; providing implicit bias training to selection committees; and ensuring selection committees focus on the criteria for the award rather than non-pertinent, often personal, information, as well as additional strategies that allow us to recognize our worthy colleagues

The Southern Climate Monitor is available at www.srcc.lsu.edu & www.southernclimate.orgSouthern Climate Monitor, December 201 3 Understanding the Role of Ammonia in Air Quality

Understanding the dynamics of air pollution is vital to the health of all Americans. In the cities that struggle with poor air quality, many people are exposed to air pollutants on a daily basis. Keeping track of ammonia (NH 3) in the atmosphere is important for determining the quality of air within a region. Most of the excess NH 3 in the environment originates from agricultural activities such as livestock waste and fertilizer application. While surface runoff and leaching into inland and coastal waters are the most visible pathways for NH 3 to enter other systems, volatilization directly into the atmosphere accounts for as much as 50 % of ammonia loss under certain conditions 1. In addition, motor vehicles emit NH 3 in their exhaust and are the primary source of NH 3 in some urban areas 2. N

Recent trends in gas-phase ammonia and PM_2.5 ammonium in the Southeast United States

<div><p>Ammonia measurements from the Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization (SEARCH) study network were analyzed for trends over 9 yr (2004–2012) of observations. Total ammonia concentrations, defined as the sum of gas-phase ammonia and fine particle ammonium, were found to be decreasing by 1–4% yr⁻¹ and were qualitatively consistent with ammonia emission estimates for the SEARCH states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida. On the other hand, gas-phase ammonia mixing ratios were found to be slightly rising or steady over the region, leading to the observation that the gas-phase fraction of total ammonia has steadily increased over 2004–2012 as a result of declining emissions of the strong acid precursor species sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and consequent reduced partitioning of ammonia to the fine particle phase. Because gas-phase ammonia is removed from the atmosphere more rapidly than fine particle ammonium, an increase in the gas-phase fraction of total ammonia may result in shifted deposition patterns as more ammonia is deposited closer to sources rather than transported downwind in fine particles. Additional long-term measurements and modeling studies are needed to determine if similar transitions of total ammonia to the gas phase are occurring outside of the Southeast and to assess if these changes are impacting plants and ecosystems near major ammonia sources. Unusually high ammonia concentrations observed in 2007 in the SEARCH measurements are hypothesized to be linked to emissions from wildfires that were much more prevalent across the Southeast during that year due to elevated temperatures and widespread drought. Although wildfires are currently estimated to be a relatively small fraction (3–10%) of total ammonia emissions in the Southeast, the projected increased incidence of wildfires in this region as a result of global climate change may lead to this source’s increased importance over the rest of the 21st century.</p><p>Implications: <i>Ammonia concentrations from the Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization study (SEARCH) network are analyzed over the 9-yr period 2004–2012. Total ammonia (gaseous ammonia + PM_2.5 ammonium) concentrations declined at a rate of 1–4% yr⁻¹, consistent with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission estimates for the Southeast United States, but the fraction of ammonia in the gas phase has risen steadily (+1–3% yr⁻¹) over the time period. Declining emissions of SO₂ and NO_x resulting from imposed air quality regulations have resulted in decreased atmospheric strong acids and less ammonia partitioning to the particle phase, which may impact the amount and overall pattern of ammonia deposition.</i></p></div

A field evaluation of the SoilVUE10 soil moisture sensor

Abstract The U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) has been engaged in ground‐based soil water and soil temperature observations since 2009. As a nationwide climate network, the network stations are distributed across vast complex terrains. Due to the expansive distribution of the network and the related variability in soil properties, obtaining site‐specific calibrations for sensors is a significant and costly endeavor. Presented here are three commercial‐grade electromagnetic sensors, with built‐in thermistors to measure both soil water and soil temperature, including the SoilVUE10 Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) probe (hereafter called SP) (Campbell Scientific, Inc.), 50 MHz coaxial impedance dielectric sensor (model HydraProbe, Stevens Water Monitoring Systems, Inc.) (hereafter called HP), and the TDR‐315L Probe (model TDR‐315L, Acclima, Inc.) (hereafter called AP), which were evaluated in a relatively nonconductive loam soil in Oak Ridge, TN, from 2021 to 2022. The HP manufacturer‐supplied calibration equation for loam soils was used in this study. While volumetric water content data from HP and AP were 82–99% of respective gravimetric observations at 10 cm, data from SP were only 65–81% of respective gravimetric observations in the top 20‐cm soil horizon, where soil water showed relatively large spatial variability. The poor performance of the SP is likely due to poor contact between SP sensor electrodes and soil and the presence of soil voids caused by the installation method used, which itself may have caused soil disturbance