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At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Ozone mitigates extended growing season and enhanced vegetation greenness driven by environmental change

Rising temperature and elevated CO 2 concentrations lead to extended growing seasons and enhanced vegetation greenness in terrestrial ecosystems, especially across the Northern Hemisphere. However, whether and to what extent surface ozone, an anthropogenic environmental factor, affects vegetation phenology and greenness remains unexplored at a large scale. Integrating ground-based ozone observations with multiple satellite observations, we demonstrate that surface ozone significantly shortened the growing season by delaying start of season and advancing end of season. Additionally, ozone reduced growing-season vegetation greenness, as reflected in decreased annual accumulated Enhanced Vegetation Index and maximum Enhanced Vegetation Index. These impacts show pronounced spatial heterogeneity, varying in magnitude across the United States, Europe, and China over the past decade, highlighting ozone’s diverse impact on vegetation across regions. Our study predicts that continuously increasing surface ozone concentration will mitigate warming-driven lengthening the growing season by 2 to 4 days, reduce maximum Enhanced Vegetation Index by 0.4% to 8.3%, and reduce annual accumulated Enhanced Vegetation Index by 1.0% to 5.6% in 2050 under Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5-8.5 scenario. Our findings highlight the imperative need for strategic surface ozone regulation to optimize vegetation health and maximize the capacity for carbon sequestration.

Yin, Hao [Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Seasonality regulates the structure and biogeochemical impact of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities across environmentally divergent neotropical dry forests

Abstract Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbioses support forest functioning globally, yet both the structure and function of ECM fungal communities in seasonally dry neotropical forests (SDTFs), known for extreme heterogeneity in vegetation and edaphic properties, remain under characterized. Here, we evaluated the relative influences of seasonal versus spatial variation in ECM fungal community structure in soils from four environmentally divergent SDTFs. We also assessed the importance of biotic and abiotic drivers of SDTF ECM fungal community structure at regional scales, as well as ECM impacts on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. ECM fungal frequency, relative abundance and richness all increased in the wet season, but spatial rather than seasonal effects explained more variation in community composition. Across the four SDTFs investigated, differences in tree communities drove ECM fungal community turnover more than geographic distances, site abiotic conditions or soil chemistry. Although soil moisture and ECM tree basal area were stronger predictors of soil biogeochemistry, incorporating ECM fungal community composition and relative abundance added explanatory power to models of soil C and N cycling in the wet season. Synthesis : Our results highlight the importance of seasonality and plant community composition in shaping different aspects of SDTF ECM fungal community structure and diversity as well as the potential for both the plant and fungal components of ECM symbioses to impact soil functioning across heterogenous SDTFs. Furthermore, our findings suggest that alterations in SDTF plant community composition due to climate or land‐use change will have important consequences for ECM fungal diversity and associated effects on soil biogeochemical cycling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Characterization of a 2016-2017 Human Seasonal H3 Influenza A Virus Spillover Now Endemic to U.S. Swine

In 2017, the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory detected a reverse-zoonotic transmission of a human seasonal H3 influenza A virus into swine (IAV-S) in Oklahoma. Pairwise comparison between the recently characterized human seasonal H3 IAV-S (H3.2010.2) hemagglutinin (HA) sequences detected in swine and the most similar 2016–2017 human seasonal H3 revealed 99.9% nucleotide identity. To elucidate the origin of H3.2010.2 IAV-S, 45 HA and 27 neuraminidase (NA) sequences from 2017 to 2020 as well as 11 whole-genome sequences (WGS) were genetically characterized. Time to most recent common human ancestor was estimated between August and September 2016. The N2 NA was of human origin in all but one strain from diagnostic submissions with NA sequences, and the internal gene segments from WGS consisted of matrix genes originating from the 2009 pandemic H1N1 and another 5 internal genes of triple reassortant swine origin (TTTTPT). Pigs experimentally infected with H3.2010.2 demonstrated efficient nasal shedding and replication in the lungs, mild pneumonia, and minimal microscopic lung lesions and transmitted the virus to indirect contact swine. Antigenically, H3.2010.2 viruses were closer to a human seasonal vaccine strain, A/Hong Kong/4801/2014, than to the H3.2010.1 human seasonal H3 viruses detected in swine in 2012. This was the second sustained transmission of a human seasonal IAV into swine from the 2010 decade after H3.2010.1. Monitoring the spillover and detection of novel IAV from humans to swine may help vaccine antigen selection and could impact pandemic preparedness.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assessment of InSAR Seasonal Movements at Bayou Choctaw SPR Site

Ground deformation is important to monitor for the ongoing safety and stability of underground caverns. Implementing InSAR technology to monitor site-wide surface deformation at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has revealed seasonal ground movements at Bayou Choctaw in Louisiana. The cyclic, seasonal pattern shows soil shrinkage during the spring and summer months and soil expansion during the fall and winter months. Prior to this report, no in-depth investigation was conducted to explain this seasonal phenomenon. However, the ground movement is believed to be near-surface and not geological due to the relatively insignificant movement between years. To better understand seasonality movements, soil properties, land cover, and climatic conditions are assessed to relate near-surface water and soil interactions. The soil, land, and climatic properties all contribute to seasonal ground movement, and vegetation cover and the soil's water capacity contribute to the spatial variability of InSAR seasonal measurements at Bayou Choctaw.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2022

Decline in Seasonal Snow during a Projected 20-Year Dry Spell

Snowpack loss in midlatitude mountains is ubiquitously projected by Earth system models, though the magnitudes, persistence, and time horizons of decline vary. Using daily downscaled hydroclimate and snow projections, we examine changes in snow seasonality across the U.S. Pacific Southwest region during a simulated severe 20-year dry spell in the 21st century (2051–2070) developed as part of the 4th California Climate Change Assessment to provide a “stress test” for water resources. Across California’s mountains, substantial declines (30–100% loss) in median peak annual snow water equivalent accompany changes in snow seasonality throughout the region compared to the historic period. We find that 80% of historic seasonal snowpacks transition to ephemeral conditions. Subsetting empirical-statistical wildfire projections for California by snow seasonality transition regions indicates a two-to-four-fold increase in the area burned, consistent with recent observations of high elevation wildfires following extended drought conditions. By analyzing six of the major California snow-fed river systems, we demonstrate snowpack reductions and seasonality transitions result in concomitant declines in annual runoff (47–58% of historical values). The negative impacts to statewide water supply reliability by the projected dry spell will likely be magnified by changes in snowpack seasonality and increased wildfire activity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ultra-clean and smoky marine boundary layers frequently occur in the same season over the southeast Atlantic

We study 41 d with daily median surface accumulation mode aerosol particle concentrations below 50 cm -3 (ultra-clean conditions) observed at Ascension Island (ASI; 7.9° S, 14.4° W) between June 2016 and October 2017 as part of the Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC) campaign. Interestingly, these days occur during a period of great relevance for aerosol–cloud–radiation interactions, the southeast Atlantic (SEATL)biomass-burning season (approximately June–October). That means that these critical months can feature both the highest surface aerosol numbers, from smoke intrusion into the marine boundary layer, as well as the lowest. While carbon monoxide and refractory black carbon concentrations on ultra-clean days do not approach those on days with heavy smoke, they also frequently exceed background concentrations calculated in the non-burning season from December 2016 to April 2017. This is evidence that even what become ultra-clean boundary layers can make contact with and entrain from an overlying SEATL smoke layer before undergoing a process of rapid aerosol removal. Because many ultra-clean and polluted boundary layers observed at Ascension Island during the biomass burning season follow similar isobaric back trajectories, the variability in this entrainment is likely more closely tied to the variability in the overlying smoke rather than large-scale horizontal circulation through the boundary layer. Since exceptionally low accumulation mode aerosol numbers at ASI do not necessarily indicate the relative lack of other trace pollutants, this suggests the importance of regional variations in what constitutes an “ultra-clean” marine boundary layer. Finally, surface drizzle rates, frequencies and accumulation – as well as retrievals of liquid water path– all consistently tend toward higher values on ultra-clean days. This implicates enhanced coalescence scavenging in low clouds as the key driver of ultra-clean events in the southeast Atlantic marine boundary layer. These enhancements occur against and are likely mediated by the backdrop of a seasonal increase in daily mean cloud fraction and daily median liquid water path over ASI, peaking in September and October in both LASIC years. Therefore the seasonality in ultra-clean day occurrence seems directly linked to the seasonality in SEATL cloud properties. These results highlight the importance of two-way aerosol–cloud interactions in the region.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

A thermal-driven graupel generation process to explain dry-season convective vigor over the Amazon

Large-eddy simulations (LESs) are conducted for each day of the intensive observation periods (IOPs) of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon) field campaign to characterize the updrafts and microphysics within deep convective cores while contrasting those properties between Amazon wet and dry seasons. Mean Doppler velocity (V dop ) values simulated using LESs are compared with 2-year measurements from a radar wind profiler (RWP) as viewed by statistical composites separated according to wet- and dry-season conditions. In the observed RWP and simulated LES V dop composites, we find more intense low-level updraft velocity, vigorous graupel generation, and intense surface rain during the dry periods compared with the wet periods. To investigate coupled updraft–microphysical processes further, single-day golden cases are selected from the wet and dry periods to conduct detailed cumulus thermal tracking analysis. Tracking analysis reveals that simulated dry-season environments generate more droplet-loaded low-level thermals than wet-season environments. This tendency correlates with seasonal contrasts in buoyancy and vertical moisture advection profiles in large-scale forcing. Employing a normalized time series of mean thermal microphysics, the simulated cumulus thermals appear to be the primary generator of cloud droplets. When subsequent thermals penetrate the ice crystal layer, droplets within the thermals interact with entrained ice crystals, which enhances riming in the thermals. This appears to be a production pathway of graupel/hail particles within simulated deep convective cores. In addition, less-diluted dry-case thermals tend to be elevated higher, and graupel grows further during sedimentation after spilling out from thermals. Therefore, greater concentrations of low-level moist thermals likely result in more graupel/hail production and associated dry-season convective vigor.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1974

Global seasonal atmospheric fluctuations on Mars

The analysis of Mariner 9 radio occultation data concerning the Mars' atmosphere provides information on seasonal changes in pressure, changes in temperature, and the exchange of carbon dioxide between the polar caps and the Martian atmosphere. An error analysis of occultation data is briefly discussed along with zonal analysis procedures, hemispheric elevation differences on Mars, seasonal temperature variations near the surface of Mars, a pressure analysis on surfaces of equal potential, seasonal pressure oscillations in local regions, global seasonal pressure oscillations, and seasonal pressure oscillations associated with seasonal growth and decay of polar caps.

Woiceshyn, P. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The seasonal cycle of water on Mars

A review of the behavior of water in the Mars atmosphere and subsurface is appropriate now that data from the Mariner and Viking spacecraft have been analyzed and discussed for several years following completion of those missions. Observations and analyses pertinent to the seasonal cycle of water vapor in the atmosphere of Mars are reviewed, with attention toward transport of water and the seasonal exchange of water between the atmosphere and various non-atmospheric reservoirs. Possible seasonally-accessible sources and sinks for water include water ice on or within the seasonal and residual polar caps; surface or subsurface ice in the high-latitude regions of the planet; adsorbed or chemically-bound water within the near-surface regolith; or surface or subsurface liquid water. The stability of water within each of these reservoirs is discussed, as are the mechanisms for driving exchange of the water with the atmosphere and the timescales for exchange. Specific conclusions are reached about the distribution of water and the viability of each mechanism as a seasonal reservoir. Discussion is also included of the behavior of water on longer timescales, driven by the variations in solar forcing due to the quasi-periodic variations of the orbital obliquity. Finally, specific suggestions are made for future observations from spacecraft which would further define or constrain the seasonal cycle of water.

Jakosky, B. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The atmospheric sulfur cycle over the Amazon Basin. II - Wet season

The fluxes and concentrations of atmospheric sulfur species were determined at ground level and from aircraft over the Amazon Basin during the 1987 wet season, providing a comprehensive description of the sulfur cycle over a remote tropical region. The vertical profile of dimethylsulfide (DMS) during the wet season was found to be very similar to that measured during the dry season, suggesting little seasonal variation in DMS fluxes. The concentrations of H2S were almost an order of magnitude higher than those of DMS, which makes H2S the most important biogenic source species in the atmosheric sulfur cycle over the Amazon Basin. Using the gradient-flux approach, the flux of DMS at the top of the tree canopy was estimated. The canopy was a source of DMS during the day, and a weak sink during the night. Measurements of sulfur gas emissions from soils, using the chamber method, showed very small fluxes, consistent with the hypothesis that the forest canopy is the major source of sulfur gases. The observed soil and canopy emission fluxes are similar to those measured in temperate regions. The concentrations of SO2 and sulfate aerosol in the wet season atmosphere were similar to dry season values.

Andreae, M. O.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Aerosol chemistry during the wet season in central Amazonia - The influence of long-range transport

The temporal variation in the concentration and chemistry of the atmospheric aerosol over central Amazonia, Brazil, during the 1987 wet season is discussed based on ground and aircraft collected data obtained during the NASA GTE ABLE 2B expedition conducted in April/May 1987. It is found that wet-season aerosol concentrations and composition are variable in contrast to the more uniform biogenic aerosol observed during the 1985 dry season; four distinct intervals of enhanced aerosol concentration coincided with short periods (3 to 5 d) of extensive rainfall. It is hypothesized that aerosol chemistry in Amazonia during the wet season is strongly influenced by long-range transport of soil dust, marine aerosol, and possibly biomass combustion products advected into the central Basin by large-scale tropospheric circulation, producing periodic pulses of material input to local boundary layer air. The resultant wet-season aerosol regime is dynamic, in contrast to the uniformity of natural biogenic aerosols during the dry season.

Talbot, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The role of the seasonal cycle in the quasi-biennial oscillation of ozone

The evidence for seasonal synchronization of the ozone quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is reviewed, showing how this behavior is not expected on the basis of QBO transport alone but may arise due to the seasonal cycle. Near the equator, the ozone QBO is closely tied to the dynamical QBO and exhibits the same period as that oscillation. Maximum column ozone is attained soon after the transition to westerlies at 50 mb. In the subtropics, the ozone QBO is strongly tied to the seasonal cycle, with anomalies centered in the winter-spring season irrespective of QBO phase. These anomalies result from the interaction of the annual cycle and the QBO. Numerical model results are reported which establish that hemispheric asymmetry in the ozone QBO does not require seasonal asymmetries in the strength or location of the Hadley circulation. The fundamental cause of hemispheric asymmetry in the subtropical ozone QBO is the timing of equatorial, ozone anomalies relative to the seasonal cycle.

Gray, Lesley J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Soil emissions of nitric oxide in a seasonally dry tropical forest of Mexico

Soil emissions of NO were measured at the Chamela Biological Station, Mexico, using soil covers and a field apparatus of NO detection based on CrO3 conversion of NO to NO2 and detection of NO2 by chemiluminescence with Luminol. Mean NO fluxes from forest soils ranged from 0.14 to 0.52 ng NO-N/sq cm/hr during the dry season and from 0.73 to 1.27 ng NO-N/sq cm/hr during the wet season. A fertilized floodplain pasture exhibited higher fluxes, but an unfertilized upland pasture, which represents the fastest growing land use in the region, had flux rates similar to the forest sites. Wetting experiments at the end of the dry season caused large pulses of NO flux, equaling 10 percent to 20 percent of the estimated annual NO emissions of 0.5-1.0 kg N/ha from the forest sites. Absence of a forest canopy during the dry season and the first wet season rain probably results in substantial NO(x) export from the forest system that may be important to regional atmospheric chemical processes. Wetting experiments during the wet season and a natural rain event had little or no stimulatory effect on NO flux rates.

Davidson, Eric A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Modeling the Martian seasonal CO2 cycle. I - Fitting the Viking Lander pressure curves. II - Interannual variability

The present diurnal and seasonal thermal model for Mars, in which surface CO2 frost condensation and sublimation are determined by the net effects of radiation, latent heat, and heat conduction in subsurface soil layers, in order to simulate seasonal exchanges of CO2 between the polar caps and atmosphere, successfully reproduces the measured pressured variations at the Viking Lander 1 site. In the second part of this work, the year-to-year differences between measured surface pressures at Viking sites as a function of season are used as upper limits on the potential magnitudes of interannual variations in the Martian atmosphere's mass. Simulations indicate that the dust layers deposited onto the condensing north seasonal polar cap during dust storms can darken seasonal frost deposits upon their springtime uncovering, while having little effect on seasonal pressure variations.

Wood, Stephen E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Simulations of the general circulation of the Martian atmosphere. II - Seasonal pressure variations

The CO2 seasonal cycle of the Martian atmosphere and surface is simulated with a hybrid energy balance model that incorporates dynamical and radiation information from a large number of general circulation model runs. This information includes: heating due to atmospheric heat advection, the seasonally varying ratio of the surface pressure at the two Viking landing sites to the globally averaged pressure, the rate of CO2 condensation in the atmosphere, and solar heating of the atmosphere and surface. The predictions of the energy balance model are compared with the seasonal pressure variations measured at the two Viking landing sites and the springtime retreat of the seasonal polar cap boundaries. The following quantities are found to have a strong influence on the seasonal pressures at the Viking landing sites: albedo of the seasonal CO2 ice deposits, emissivity of this deposit, atmospheric heat advection, and the pressure ratio.

Pollack, James B.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Remote Sensing of Seasonal Leaf Area Index Across the Oregon Transect

Remotely sensed data acquired from four remote-sensing instruments on three different aircraft platforms over a transect of coniferous forest stands in Oregon were analyzed with respect to seasonal leaf area index (LAI). Data from the four instruments were corrected for the varying seasonal and geographic atmospheric conditions present along the transect. Strong logarithmic relationships were observed between seasonal maximum and minimum LAI and the simple ratio (SR) (near infrared/red reflectance) calculated from the broad-spectral-band Thematic Mapper Simulator (TMS), as well as from the narrow-spectral-band Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI), and a Spectron SE590 spectro-radiometer (R(exp 2) = 0.82-0.97). The TMS SR reached an asymptote at an LAI of approx. 7-8. However, the SE590 and the CASI SR continued to increase up to the maximum LAI of 10.6. The variability of the relationship between the AVIRIS SR and LAI increased at stands with LAIs greater than 7, making a trend in the AVIRIS SR-LAI relationship at LAIs greater than 7 difficult to discern. The SRs of the coniferous forest stands measured by the narrow-spectral-band instruments were higher than they were from the broad-spectral-band TMS. This is attributed partially to the integration of the TMS over a broad wavelength region in the red and more strongly to calibration differences between the sensors. Seasonal TMS SR trends for four time periods for some of the stands deviated from the expected seasonal LAI trends, possibly because of smoke and very low sun angles during some of the acquisition periods. However, the expected SR differences for the seasonal minimum and maximum LAI were observed for all of the sensors for nearly all of the forest stands. This study, demonstrates that remotely, sensed data from both broad- and narrow spectral band instruments can provide estimates of LAI for use in forest ecosystems simulation models to estimate evapotranspiration, photosynthesis, canopy turnover, and net primary production over large areas.

Spanner, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1998

Statistical Aspects of Intense Hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin during the Past 49 Hurricane Seasons (1950-1998)

Statistical aspects of intense hurricanes (those of category 3 or higher) in the Atlantic basin for the interval of 1950-1998 are investigated with respect to the ENSC, cycle and the postulated 'more versus less' activity modes for intense hurricane activity. This is accomplished in order to evaluate the statistical basis for these specific groupings and to presage a forecast for the number of expected intense hurricanes during the forthcoming 1999 hurricane season. Statistically speaking, because the 1998-1999 La Nina (onset presumed to be September 1998) should persist longer than about a year - the average duration for La Nina events based on the 10 previously occurring La Nina, each having a duration in the range of 7-22 months - it seems likely that the 1999 season will be classified as a 'non-El Nino-related' (NENR) season. If true, then, greater than or equal to 2 intense hurricanes are to be expected. Based on Poisson statistics, the probability of greater than or equal to 2 events is about 77% when the season is classified as NENR, and it is about 87% when the season is classified as NENR and the 'more active' phase is in fashion; likewise, the probability of greater than or equal to 4 events is about 31% and 48%, respectively, for the two cases. Therefore, an above average rate (possibly, as many as 4 +/- 1, or higher) of intense hurricanes forming in the Atlantic basin seems a very distinct possibility during the 1999 season.

Wilson, Robert M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Seasonal Cycles of Meridional Overturning and Heat Transport of the Indian Ocean

A general circulation model of the Indian Ocean is fitted to monthly averaged climatological temperatures, salinities, and surface fluxes using the adjoint method. Interannual variability is minimized by penalizing the temporal drift from one seasonal cycle to another during a two-year integration. The resultant meridional overturning and heat transport display large seasonal variations, with maximum amplitudes of 18 and 22 (x 10(exp 6) cubic m/s) for the overturning and 1.8 and 1.4 (x 10(exp 15) W) for heat transport near 10 S and 10 N, respectively. A dynamical decomposition of the overturning and heat transport shows that the time-varying Ekman How plus its barotropic compensation can explain a large part of the seasonal variations in overturning and heat transport. The maximum variations at 10 deg N and 10 deg S are associated with monsoon reversal over the northern Indian Ocean and changes of the easterlies over the southern Indian Ocean. An external mode with variable topography has a moderate contribution where the Somali Current and the corresponding gyre reverse direction seasonally. Contribution front vertical shear (thermal wind and ageostrophic shear) is dominant near the southern boundary and large near the Somali Current latitudes. The dominant balance in the zonally integrated heat budget is between heat storage change and heat transport convergence except south of 15 S. Optimization with seasonal forcings improves estimates of sea surface temperatures, but the annual average overturning and heat transport are very similar to previous results with annual mean forcings. The annual average heat transport consists of roughly equal contributions from time-mean and time-varying fields of meridional velocities and temperatures in the northern Indian Ocean. indicating a significant rectification to the heat transport due to the time-varying fields. The time-mean and time-varying contributions are primarily due to the overturning and horizontal gyre, respectively. Inclusion of TOPEX data enhances the seasonal cycles of the estimated overturning and heat transport in the central Indian Ocean significantly and improves the estimated equatorial zonal flows but leads 10 unrealistic estimates of the velocity structure near the Indonesian Throughflow region, most likely owing to the deficiencies in the lateral boundary conditions.

Lee, Tong↗