100039 research outputs found
Sort by
Responding to Rising Waters and Temperatures: Greenhouse Gas Flux From a High-Latitude Coastal Wetland
No full textClimate change is exposing coastal landscapes to more flooding, in addition to rapidly rising temperatures. These changes are critical in the Arctic where the effects of sea level rise are exacerbated by the loss of sea ice protecting coasts, subsidence as permafrost thaws, and a projected increase in storms. Such changes will likely alter the land-atmosphere gas exchange of high-latitude coastal ecosystems, but the effects of flooding with warming remain unexplored. In this work we use a field experiment to examine the interacting effects of increased tidal flooding and warming on land-atmosphere CO2 and CH4 exchange in the coastal Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, a large sub-Arctic wetland and tundra complex in western Alaska. We inundated dammed plots to simulate two levels of future flooding: low-intensity flooding represented by one day of flooding per summer-month (June, July and August), and high-intensity flooding represented by three-consecutive days of flooding per summer-month, crossed with a warming treatment of 1.4 °C. We found that both flooding and warming influenced greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange. Low-intensity flooding reduced net CO2 uptake by 20% (0.78 µmol m−2 s−1) regardless of temperature, and marginally increased CH4 emissions 0.83 nmol m−2 s−1 (33%) under ambient temperature, while decreasing CH4 emissions by −1.96 nmol m−2 s−1 (40%) under warming. In contrast, high-intensity flooding restored net CO2 uptake to control levels due to enhanced primary productivity under both temperature treatments. High-intensity flooding decreased CHM4 emissions under ambient temperature by 0.76 nmol m−2 s−1 (30%), but greatly increased emissions under warming by 4.68 nmol m−2 s−1 (265%), presumably driven by increased plant-mediated CH4 transport. These findings reveal that GHG exchange responds rapidly and non-linearly to intensifying flooding, and highlight the importance of short-term flooding dynamics and warming in shaping future carbon cycling in this Arctic coastal wetland
Supplementary Files for: Structure Identification for High-Dimensional Data in the Vicinity of Bear Lake
No full textThis report focuses on seven water quality measurements taken at 43 different depths on the Bear Lake for the months of June - November in the years 2018 - 2023. These measurements create a high-dimensional dataset on which we apply state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) techniques to look for low-dimensional structure in the data. A similar effort was made for weather measurements taken near the lake. Our analysis revealed that water quality measurements tend to cluster (i.e., group together) by year, while weather measurements tend to cluster by time of the year. This suggests that the structure observed in the water quality measurements cannot be fully explained by seasonal changes, since the weather data structure is fundamentally different than the water quality data structure.
This in mind, we explored potential drivers of this strong year to year clustering in the water quality data. This included an exploration of land use change (see Appendix A) as well as an exploration of water inflows/outflows (see Appendix B). The land use/land cover analysis revealed that land use near the Bear Lake has remained remarkably stable over the past two decades, which means that land use change cannot explain the stark differences we see in lake measurements in the platform data.
In contrast, we find that a combination of max inflows from the Causeway, and max outflows from the Lifton Pumps, can explain about 50% of the variability in the position of each year within the low dimensional representations of the platform data. With only six years to compare, it is difficult to know whether or not this phenomenon is due to chance, but the discovery motivates further exploration of the lasting impact of the maximum inflow and outflows from the Lifton Pumps and the Causeway on the water quality measurements for the following year
A Systematic Review: Learning Emotion Regulation With Virtual Reality
Get PDFThis systematic review explored how immersive virtual reality (IVR) can help people manage emotions like stress and anxiety by analyzing existing studies. It highlighted therapies such as mindfulness, compassion therapy, and exposure therapy, showing how IVR can teach effective emotion-regulation skills. Researchers also identified innovative tools, like biofeedback, which uses physical signals such as heart rate to help people understand and control their emotional responses.
Interactive and gamified approaches, like Stressjam and Deep, demonstrated practical uses of IVR for mental health support. While the review confirmed IVR\u27s potential in therapy, it also revealed gaps in research, particularly in applying learning theories like flow theory. Future studies should integrate these theories and game design methods to make IVR therapies even more effective
Spatiotemporal Patterns of Chlorophyll-\u3ci\u3ea\u3c/i\u3e Concentration in a Hypersaline Lake Using High Temporal Resolution Remotely Sensed Imagery
Get PDFThe Great Salt Lake (GSL) is the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere. It supports billion-dollar industries and recreational activities, and is a vital stopping point for migratory birds. However, little is known about the spatiotemporal variation of phytoplankton biomass in the lake that supports these resources. Spectral reflectance provided by three remote sensing products was compared relative to their relationship with field measurements of chlorophyll a (Chl a). The MODIS product MCD43A4 with a 500 m spatial resolution provided the best overall ability to map the daily distribution of Chl a. The imagery indicated significant spatial variation in Chl a, with low concentrations in littoral areas and high concentrations in a nutrient-rich plume coming out of polluted embayment. Seasonal differences in Chl a showed higher concentrations in winter but lower in summer due to heavy brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) grazing pressure. Twenty years of imagery revealed a 68% increase in Chl a, coinciding with a period of declining lake levels and increasing local human populations, with potentially major implications for the food web and biogeochemical cycling dynamics in the lake. The MCD43A4 daily cloud-free images produced by 16-day temporal composites of MODIS imagery provide a cost-effective and temporally dense means to monitor phytoplankton in the southern (47% surface area) portion of the GSL, but its remaining bays could not be effectively monitored due to shallow depths, and/or plankton with different pigments given extreme hypersaline conditions
Starting Vegetable Seeds Indoors: I. Planning
Get PDFFor many Utah gardeners, starting vegetable seeds indoors offers both an exciting opportunity to experiment with new varieties and a practical necessity for ensuring the successful growth and production of certain crops in their unique environmental conditions. Vegetable gardening involves inherent risks, particularly for the plants, with weather being a significant and largely uncontrollable factor. Because of this, many gardeners are unsure about when to start certain crops and whether the crops should be started indoors or sown directly in the garden. This fact sheet, the first in a series of four, discusses planning considerations when starting seeds indoors
A Methodology to Quantify the Shielding Efficiency of Novel Radiation Shielding Materials
No full textRadiation shielding is a common method used to protect spacecraft from the radiation prevalent in the space environment. A current research area of interest is Z-graded shielding, which is radiation shielding composed of various materials layered together based off of the properties associated with the material\u27s atomic number, Z. This approach has the potential to produce new shielding materials that would be lighter and more compact than traditional shielding materials. Utah State University\u27s Material Physics Group developed an experimental setup and analysis methodology to quantify how effectively novel shielding materials blocked beta and gamma radiation. The materials\u27 effectiveness, termed shielding efficiency, was compared to the shielding efficiency of aluminum samples that were the thicknesses commonly used for spacecrafts. The methodology allows for calculation of the beta radiation shielding efficiency of the novel materials at any thickness. A graphical determination of shielding efficiency was developed to handle the complexities of the gamma testing
Genetic Analysis of Great Salt Lake Microbialites
No full textAmong the major contributors to the bottom of the food chain in Great Salt Lake (GSL), microbialites are mats of microorganisms supported by rock-like structures. The microbiome includes photosynthesizers such as cyanobacteria, but they also include more complex organisms such as algae. The microbialites are the foundation for the food chain in the lake, and without them, the food chain will likely face a collapse. As GSL is shrinking, more areas are exposed to drying out and high salt conditions. This project aims to analyze the genetic microbial community of the microbialites form 2016 and 2023 to see the effects of a major desiccation event in 2021. Additionally, analyzing the sequential pattern of regrowth from differing timeline tanks of 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. To analyze the difference in these timelines, a variety of techniques were used. Using data processing, figure building, diversity indexes (alpha and beta), and statistical models (NMDS, PCA, hierarchical clustering), shifts in microbial abundances were identified. With this information, isolation of a potential pioneer species cyanobacteria from the lake is being done for further characterization. The overall goal of this research is to genetically identify the species present in GSL microbialites in order to help recover microbiolites from environmental stressors that are a direct result of the lake shrinking. This issue is urgent because if the microbialites desiccate, then the food chain will crumble
Increased Angle Space for a Fourier Scatter Microscope via Simultaneous Axial and Off-Axis Imaging
No full textFourier Scatter Imaging (FSI) has proven to be an innovative tool for measuring particle size. This research incorporates Fourier optics into a scatter imaging system with the addition of an off-axis pathway in a Fourier Scatter Microscope. The system uses 0.28 numerical aperture (NA) long working distance objectives that provide angular resolution over +/- 16.3° in the forward direction and 90° +/- 16.3° in the off-axis direction. This setup enables simultaneous capture of axial and off-axis scatter signals using a shared camera, significantly enhancing the angular scattering measurement capabilities. This proof-of-principle system demonstrates the potential for improvements in scattering image resolution. Future iterations will incorporate long working distance objectives with larger NAs (up to 0.90), expanding angular measurements across a range of 218° (from -64° through 154°). The increased angular coverage is expected to enhance the system\u27s ability to measure chemically-induced scatter changes in human cells in vitro
BYU Rocketry: 2024 IREC & Spaceport America Cup
No full textBYU Rocketry competed in the 2024 IREC competition at the Spaceport America Cup in June 2024 in the 10,000 ft commercial motor category. The 12.5 ft and 67 lb. rocket, Alta, beckons to BYU Rocketry\u27s past while honoring some of Utah\u27s most towering peaks
BYU Rocketry: 2025 International Rocket Engineering Competition
No full textBYU Rocketry will compete in the 2025 IREC competition near Midland, Texas in in the 30,000 ft commercial motor category. The 10 ft and 76 lb. rocket, Escalante, is a tribute to the red rocks of southern Utah and is our next step on the staircase of progress as we attempt to go higher and faster than ever before