Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “climate simulation”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4

Sphingomonas clade and functional distribution with simulated climate change

Microbes are essential for the functioning of all ecosystems, and as global warming and anthropogenic pollution threaten ecosystems, it is critical to understand how microbes respond to these changes. We investigated the climate response of Sphingomonas, a widespread gram-negative bacterial genus, during an 18-month microbial community reciprocal transplant experiment across a Southern California climate gradient. We hypothesized that after 18 months, the transplanted Sphingomonas clade and functional composition would correspond with site conditions and reflect the Sphingomonas composition of native communities. We extracted Sphingomonas sequences from metagenomic data across the gradient and assessed their clade and functional composition. Representatives of at least 12 major Sphingomonas clades were found at varying relative abundances along the climate gradient, and transplanted Sphingomonas clade composition shifted after 18 months. Site had a significant effect (PERMANOVA; P < 0.001) on the distribution of both Sphingomonas functional (R 2 = 0.465) and clade composition (R 2 = 0.400), suggesting that Sphingomonas composition depends on climate parameters. Additionally, for both Sphingomonas clade and functional composition, ordinations revealed that the transplanted communities shifted closer to the native Sphingomonas composition of the grassland site compared with the site they were transplanted into. Overall, our results indicate that climate and substrate collectively determine Sphingomonas clade and functional composition.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Methane-cycling microbial communities from Amazon floodplains and upland forests respond differently to simulated climate change scenarios

Seasonal floodplains in the Amazon basin are important sources of methane (CH 4 ), while upland forests are known for their sink capacity. Climate change effects, including shifts in rainfall patterns and rising temperatures, may alter the functionality of soil microbial communities, leading to uncertain changes in CH 4 cycling dynamics. To investigate the microbial feedback under climate change scenarios, we performed a microcosm experiment using soils from two floodplains (i.e., Amazonas and Tapajós rivers) and one upland forest. We employed a two-factorial experimental design comprising flooding (with non-flooded control) and temperature (at 27 °C and 30 °C, representing a 3 °C increase) as variables. We assessed prokaryotic community dynamics over 30 days using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and qPCR. These data were integrated with chemical properties, CH 4 fluxes, and isotopic values and signatures. In the floodplains, temperature changes did not significantly affect the overall microbial composition and CH 4 fluxes. CH 4 emissions and uptake in response to flooding and non-flooding conditions, respectively, were observed in the floodplain soils. By contrast, in the upland forest, the higher temperature caused a sink-to-source shift under flooding conditions and reduced CH 4 sink capability under dry conditions. The upland soil microbial communities also changed in response to increased temperature, with a higher percentage of specialist microbes observed. Floodplains showed higher total and relative abundances of methanogenic and methanotrophic microbes compared to forest soils. Isotopic data from some flooded samples from the Amazonas river floodplain indicated CH 4 oxidation metabolism. This floodplain also showed a high relative abundance of aerobic and anaerobic CH 4 oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea. Taken together, our data indicate that CH 4 cycle dynamics and microbial communities in Amazonian floodplain and upland forest soils may respond differently to climate change effects. We also highlight the potential role of CH 4 oxidation pathways in mitigating CH 4 emissions in Amazonian floodplains.

16S rRNA sequencing↗

Microbial extracellular enzyme activity with simulated climate change

It is critical to understand the consequences of environmental change for the microbial regulation of carbon and nutrient cycling. Specifically, understanding microbial community traits, such as extracellular enzyme activity, can help inform nutrient cycling models and address knowledge gaps. We analyzed data on extracellular enzyme activities and litter decomposition from an 18-month experiment in which microbial communities were reciprocally transplanted along a climate gradient in Southern California. Communities were from desert, scrubland, grassland, pine–oak, and subalpine ecosystems. We aimed to test how enzyme activities responded to climate change following transplantation and how those responses related to decomposition rates. We hypothesized that microbial communities would specialize on their native climate conditions, resulting in higher enzyme activities when transplanted back into their native climate. We investigated the relationship between extracellular enzyme Vmax values, substrate mass loss, and microbial biomass as well as variation in these variables across the climate gradient. We found little evidence for climate specialization, and there was rarely a reduction in enzyme functioning after microbial communities were transplanted into new climate conditions. Moreover, observed differences in decomposition were not related to changes in extracellular enzyme potential, although there were significant differences in enzyme activities and decomposition rates across sites. These results suggest that direct, physiological impacts of climate are likely to be important for enzyme-mediated decomposition, but climate specialization will not constrain the microbial response to climate change in our system.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The sensitivity of numerically simulated climates to land-surface boundary conditions

Eleven sensitivity experiments that were made with general circulation models to see how land-surface boundary conditions can influence the rainfall, temperature, and motion fields of the atmosphere are discussed. In one group of experiments, different soil moistures or albedos are prescribed as time-invariant boundary conditions. In a second group, different soil moistures or different albedos are initially prescribed, and the soil moisture (but not the albedo) is allowed to change with time according to the governing equations for soil moisture. In a third group, the results of constant versus time-dependent soil moistures are compared.

Mintz, Y.↗

The sensitivity of numerically simulated climates to land-surface boundary conditions

Eleven sensitivity experiments that were made with general circulation models to see how land-surface boundary conditions can influence the rainfall, temperature, and motion fields of the atmosphere are discussed. In one group of experiments, different soil moistures or albedos are prescribed as time-invariant boundary conditions. In a second group, different soil moistures or different albedos are initially prescribed, and the soil moisture (but not the albedo) is allowed to change with time according to the governing equations for soil moisture. In a third group, the results of constant versus time-dependent soil moistures are compared. Previously announced in STAR as N83-27536

Mintz, Y.↗

The Response of Lower Atmospheric Ozone to ENSO in Aura Measurements and a Chemistry-Climate Simulation

The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of tropical variability on interannual time scales. ENSO appears to extend its influence into the chemical composition of the tropical troposphere. Recent work has revealed an ENSO-induced wave-1 anomaly in observed tropical tropospheric column ozone. This results in a dipole over the western and eastern tropical Pacific, whereby differencing the two regions produces an ozone anomaly with an extremely high correlation to the Nino 3.4 Index. We have successfully reproduced this feature using the Goddard Earth Observing System Version 5 (GEOS-5) general circulation model coupled to a comprehensive stratospheric and tropospheric chemical mechanism forced with observed sea surface temperatures over the past 25 years. An examination of the modeled ozone field reveals the vertical contributions of tropospheric ozone to the column over the western and eastern Pacific region. We will show composition sensitivity in observations from NASA s Aura satellite Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Tropospheric Emissions Spectrometer (TES) and a simulation to provide insight into the vertical structure of these ENSO-induced ozone changes. The ozone changes due to the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) in the extra-polar upper troposphere and lower stratosphere in MLS measurements will also be discussed.

Oman, L. D.↗

NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) Advanced Technology AT5 Virtualized Infiniband Report

The NCCS is part of the Computational and Information Sciences and Technology Office (CISTO) of Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Sciences and Exploration Directorate. The NCCS's mission is to enable scientists to increase their understanding of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe by supplying state-of-the-art high performance computing (HPC) solutions. To accomplish this mission, the NCCS (https://www.nccs.nasa.gov) provides high performance compute engines, mass storage, and network solutions to meet the specialized needs of the Earth and space science user communities

cloud↗

Tropical Waves and the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation in a 7-km Global Climate Simulation

This study investigates tropical waves and their role in driving a quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO)-like signal in stratospheric winds in a global 7-km-horizontal-resolution atmospheric general circulation model. The Nature Run (NR) is a 2-year global mesoscale simulation of the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, version 5 (GEOS-5). In the tropics, there is evidence that the NR supports a broad range of convectively generated waves. The NR precipitation spectrum resembles the observed spectrum in many aspects, including the preference for westward-propagating waves. However, even with very high horizontal resolution and a healthy population of resolved waves, the zonal force provided by the resolved waves is still too low in the QBO region and parameterized gravity wave drag is the main driver of the NR QBO-like oscillation (NRQBO). The authors suggest that causes include coarse vertical resolution and excessive dissipation. Nevertheless, the very-high-resolution NR provides an opportunity to analyze the resolved wave forcing of the NR-QBO. In agreement with previous studies, large-scale Kelvin and small-scale waves contribute to the NRQBO driving in eastward shear zones and small-scale waves dominate the NR-QBO driving in westward shear zones. Waves with zonal wavelength,1000 km account for up to half of the small-scale (,3300 km) resolved wave forcing in eastward shear zones and up to 70% of the small-scale resolved wave forcing in westward shear zones of the NR-QBO.

NR-QBO↗