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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Climate Anomalies Correlation with Population Trends of the Eastern Towhee in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

The species of sparrow identified by foraging under dense thickets, the Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) resides in the Eastern United States, some populations either permanently living in the southeastern US or migratory populations living in the North. The mostly migratory Eastern Towhee has been experiencing population changes since the 1980s in the Eastern Seaboard. This species is increasing during the winter and decreasing during the summer, which is their breeding season. The Christmas Bird Count shows that in the winter, the Eastern Towhee populations have been increasing in their northern wintering range by 0.2625% in Maryland, 0.056% in West Virginia, 0.133% in New Jersey, 0.049% in Virginia, and 0.224% in Delaware from 1984-2019. The Breeding Bird Survey Data shows that in the summer, the Eastern Towhee populations have been declining in the Eastern United States by -4.0635% in Maryland, -3.073% in West Virginia, -15.0722% in New Jersey, -3.9375% in Virginia, and -6.3735% in Delaware from 1984-2015. The average climate anomalies in June range from -0.108 to 0.3705 degrees Celsius while the average climate anomalies in January range from 0.1395 to 0.5014 degrees Celsius. The Eastern Towhee are moving northward towards their northern wintering range during the winter and we explore the hypothesis of northward range shift in association with climate change. Our research displays how the behavior patterns of species are varying due to this stressor and how to better conserve species like the Eastern Towhee.

Mahlet Mesfin↗
NASA NTRS2021

Forest Cover Correlation with Population Trends of the Eastern Towhee in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

The Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) is a large, ground-nesting sparrow-like bird in the Eastern United States that has shown dramatic population declines over the last 50 years. This species lives year-round in the southeastern U.S., but individuals from the northeastern U.S. migrate south in the winter and overlap with southeastern residents. The Eastern Towhee is one of the fastest-declining bird species in the eastern U.S. In this study, we compare Eastern Towhee population trends during the breeding season with winter population trends over the last three decades. Paradoxically, this species is significantly increasing in Maryland, West Virginia, New Jersey, Virginia, and Delaware during the winter, but decreasing during the summer. Using the national Breeding Bird Survey dataset, we show that the Eastern Towhee populations have been declining roughly at a rate of -11.58% in Maryland, -9.51% in West Virginia, -37.95% in New Jersey, -11.22% in Virginia, and -16.96% in Delaware per year from 1984-2015. But the populations have been increasing during winter roughly at a rate of 0.62% in Maryland, 0.05% in West Virginia, 0.33% in New Jersey, 0.08% in Virginia, and 0.51% in Delaware per year from 1984-2019, using the Christmas Bird Count. We explore a variety of hypotheses to explain this paradox, including a northward range shift in association with climate change, as well as changes in habitat availability. Our study documents how the natural world is changing in complex ways due to many stressors and will help understand how to conserve the Eastern Towhee.

Meklit Mesfin↗
NASA NTRS2020

Eastern Washington Disasters: Integrating NASA Earth Observations to Analyze Spatiotemporal Distributions of Lightning-Caused Wildfires in Eastern Washington

According to the Washington Department of Natural Resources, roughly 36% of large fires in the state since 2010 were caused by lightning. General trends also show a greater increase in the number of lightning-ignited fires over the last three decades. The NASA DEVELOP Eastern Washington Disasters team partnered with The Nature Conservancy’s Washington Chapter to analyze the relationship between lightning strikes and wildfire events in Eastern Washington, with an emphasis on Kittitas and Yakima Counties. Using the International Space Station Lightning Imaging Sensor, the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager vegetation moisture index, and Washington Department of Natural Resources historical fire data, the team generated a lightning-caused fire vulnerability index for 2001-2019. Climatology maps of lightning, wildfire, and vegetation moisture of the study area, along with an Esri ArcGIS StoryMap, further communicated project findings. The project results demonstrated that spatiotemporal patterns of lightning-ignited wildfires in Eastern Washington can be useful to inform land management practices and better predict areas that may be more vulnerable to these events.

Disasters↗
NASA NTRS2020

Eastern Washington Disasters: Integrating NASA Earth Observations to Analyze Spatiotemporal Distributions of Lightning-Caused Wildfires in Eastern Washington

According to the Washington Department of Natural Resources, roughly 36% of large fires in the statesince 2010 were caused by lightning. General trends also show a greater increase in the number of lightning-ignited fires over the last three decades. The NASA DEVELOP Eastern Washington Disasters team partnered with The Nature Conservancy’s Washington Chapter to analyze the relationship between lightning strikes and wildfire events in Eastern Washington, with an emphasis on Kittitas and Yakima Counties. Using the International Space Station Lightning Imaging Sensor, the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager vegetation moisture index, and Washington Department of Natural Resources historical fire data, the team generated a lightning-caused fire vulnerability index for 2001-2019. Climatology maps of lightning, wildfire, and vegetation moisture of the study area, along with an Esri ArcGIS StoryMap, further communicated project findings. The project results demonstrated that spatiotemporal patterns of lightning-ignited wildfires in Eastern Washington can be useful to inform land management practices and better predict areas that may be more vulnerable to these events.

Disasters↗
NASA NTRS2022

Colorado Eastern Plains Agriculture: Rangeland Monitoring to Inform Grazing Management in Eastern Colorado

Adaptive management on cattle ranches requires rangeland managers to decide the location and duration of the cattle grazing activity across different pastures. Biodiversity, forage availability, and cattle health are all affected by rangeland management. Virtual fencing is a tool that rangeland managers can use to potentially increase biodiversity and improve ranching operations. NASA DEVELOP and Colorado State University (CSU) collaborated with the Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Red Top Ranch to demonstrate the efficacy of virtual fencing. We sought to identify annual and monthly biomass patterns on the ranch through the creation of monthly max biomass productivity maps. We utilized a dataset from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to calculate biomass on the ranch. To validate our remotely-sensed results, we compared model-predicted biomass values to field-collected biomass clipping data and an additional biomass dataset from the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP). We used satellite imagery from Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Landsat 9 –OLI-2, and Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) for 2021 and 2022. We found that there was heterogeneity in biomass across the ranch, with higher biomass on the western side. The highest peak of biomass was in the summer months, with a smaller peak in mid-September. The ARS biomass dataset had a significant relationship with RAP for 2021. ARS biomass did not have a significant relationship with the biomass field data collected in 2022. The results of our study are aimed to support rotation management, ranch production, biodiversity, and conservation management.

cattle↗
NASA NTRS1990

Tectonic evolution of Eastern Ishtar Terra, Venus

Tectonic deformation is cited as the cause for the complex morphology and topography of Eastern Ishtar Terra. A number of models proposed to account for this deformation are reviewed, and their predictions for the geology of Fortuna Tessera are examined. The detailed geology, topography, and structural fabric of Eastern Ishtar are reviewed, and these observations are compared to the predictions of the existing models for the formation and evolution of Fortuna Tessera. On the basis of the analysis, a number of conclusions are drawn regarding the evolution of Eastern Ishtar Terra. These include the recognition of primary morphological and topographical patterns which allow Eastern Ishtar Terra to be divided into four major physiographic regions named Maxwell Montes, Eastern Fortuna Tessera, Central Fortuna Tessera, and Northern Fortuna Tessera. A model is suggested that accounts for the morphology and high topography of Eastern Ishtar Terra.

Vorder Bruegge, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Investigations of the Mars Cratered Terrain: Smooth Plains Boundary in the Eastern Equatorial Region

As part of an ongoing study to place geologic constraints on, and to interpret the origin of the ancient cratered terrain - smooth plains boundary on Mars, structural features in the eastern hemisphere were mapped, looking at wide-scale variations in aereal percentage of crater vocer and distinctive landforms. Maps and a digitized data set for graben, scarps, ridges and elongate plateaus in the eastern hemisphere were completed for 30 deg N to 30 deg. In the equatorial region, results indicate a marked change from the N oriented ridges north of the boundary to the NW orientations of those in the inter and intracrater plains south of the boundary. The WNW orientation of the boundary itself is matched by similar orientations of graben and scraps in the southern terrain. In order to determine whether outlying plateaus and isolated knobby hills found north of the boundary are formed from material of the ancient cratered terrain, the Viking 2 approach color data were used to discriminate surface materials in the eastern hemisphere. In the southern half of the Amenthes quadrange (MC-14), several correlations exist among surficial spectral reflectance and observed geologic units. Old terrain on the eastern rim of the Isidis basin is much redder than the smooth volcanic plains on either side of the rim, even though the plains unit east of the rim is located several kilometers higher than the plains on the floor of Isidis. Based on statistics derived from the color data, the plains within Isidis were found to differ from those north of the boundary zone.

Maxwell, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Electrophoretic enzyme analysis of North American and eastern Asian populations of Agastache sect. Agastache (Labiatae)

Genetic relationships among the seven species of Agastache sect. Agastache common in North America and the one found in eastern Asia were assessed using starch-gel electrophoresis of twelve enzymatic proteins. Nei's (1976) genetic distance and identity values, calculated among the 32 populations used in this study, partitioned the Agastache section into four discrete groups: (1) A. nepetoides (eastern North America), (2) A. scrophulariifolia and A. foeniculum (eastern and central North America), (3) the four species of the western U.S. (A. urticifolia, A. occidentalis, A. parvifolia, and A. cusickii), and (4) A. rugosa (eastern Asia). The Asian Agastache, separated from its American congeners for over 12 million years, differed from American populations at only two (the IDH-1 and LAP-1 alleles) of the fifteen loci surveyed; these alleles were not found in any of the North American plants. Nei's genetic distances between the Asian and North American populations ranged from 0.2877 to 0.6734.

Vogelmann, James E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Geology and geochemistry of the Middle Proterozoic Eastern Ghat mobile belt and its comparison with the lower crust of the Southern Peninsular shield

Two prominent rock suites constitute the lithology of the Eastern Ghat mobile belt: (1) the khondalite suite - the metapelites, and (2) the charnockite suite. Later intrusives include ultramafic sequences, anorthosites and granitic gneisses. The chief structural element in the rocks of the Eastern Ghats is a planar fabric (gneissosity), defined by the alignment of platy minerals like flattened quartz, garnet, sillimanite, graphite, etc. The parallelism between the foliation and the lithological layering is related to isoclinal folding. The major structural trend (axial plane foliation trend) observed in the belt is NE-SW. Five major tectonic events have been delineated in the belt. A boundary fault along the western margin of the Eastern Ghats, bordering the low grade terrain has been substantiated by recent gravity and the deep seismic sounding studies. Field evidence shows that the pyroxene granulites (basic granulites) post-date the khondalite suite, but are older than the charnockites as well as the granitic gneisses. Polyphase metamorphism, probably correlatable with different periods of deformation is recorded. The field relations in the Eastern Ghats point to the intense deformation of the terrain, apparently both before, during and after metamorphism.

Rao, M. V. Subba↗
NASA NTRS1991

Prompt arrival of solar energetic particles from far eastern events - The role of large-scale interplanetary magnetic field structure

Intensity-time profiles of solar energetic particle enhancements generally show an asymmetry with respect to the heliolongitude of the associated solar event. Particles arrive promptly from events to the west of an observer because of good magnetic connection, whereas particle enhancements from poorly connected eastern source regions usually show much slower onsets. However, some 15 percent of eastern events do show prompt onsets. Two prompt particle enhancements associated with eastern solar events are studied using data from the Goddard Space Flight Center instruments on the ISEE 3 and IMP 8 spacecraft. In both events the prompt particle onset was observed when the spacecraft were in a postshock plasma region, apparently within a magnetic bottle. It is suggested that the magnetic bottle extended back to the sun and served as a channel for fast particle propagation to the spacecraft. Particles accelerated at an expanding coronal shock initiated by the eastern event could be injected onto field lines in the foot of the bottle.

Richardson, I. G.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Volcanism in Eastern Africa

In 1891, the Virunga Mountains of Eastern Zaire were first acknowledged as volcanoes, and since then, the Virunga Mountain chain has demonstrated its potentially violent volcanic nature. The Virunga Mountains lie across the Eastern African Rift in an E-W direction located north of Lake Kivu. Mt. Nyamuragira and Mt. Nyiragongo present the most hazard of the eight mountains making up Virunga volcanic field, with the most recent activity during the 1970-90's. In 1977, after almost eighty years of moderate activity and periods of quiescence, Mt. Nyamuragira became highly active with lava flows that extruded from fissures on flanks circumscribing the volcano. The flows destroyed vast areas of vegetation and Zairian National Park areas, but no casualties were reported. Mt. Nyiragongo exhibited the same type volcanic activity, in association with regional tectonics that effected Mt. Nyamuragira, with variations of lava lake levels, lava fountains, and lava flows that resided in Lake Kivu. Mt. Nyiragongo, recently named a Decade volcano, presents both a direct and an indirect hazard to the inhabitants and properties located near the volcano. The Virunga volcanoes pose four major threats: volcanic eruptions, lava flows, toxic gas emission (CH4 and CO2), and earthquakes. Thus, the volcanoes of the Eastern African volcanic field emanate harm to the surrounding area by the forecast of volcanic eruptions. During the JSC Summer Fellowship program, we will acquire and collate remote sensing, photographic (Space Shuttle images), topographic and field data. In addition, maps of the extent and morphology(ies) of the features will be constructed using digital image information. The database generated will serve to create a Geographic Information System for easy access of information of the Eastem African volcanic field. The analysis of volcanism in Eastern Africa will permit a comparison for those areas from which we have field data. Results from this summer's work will permit further study and monitoring of the volcanic activity in the area. This is of concern due to the large numbers of refugees fleeing into Zaire where they are being positioned at the base of Mt. Nyiragongo. The refugees located at the base of the volcano are in direct hazard of suffocation by gas emission and destruction by lava flow. The results from this summer study will be used to secure future funding to enable continuation of this project.

Cauthen, Clay↗
NASA NTRS1972

Wind velocity profiles measured by the smoke-trail method at the Eastern Test Range, 1964

Twenty-six detailed wind profiles measured by the smoke trail technique at the Eastern Test Range during the first seven months of 1964 are presented as plots of west-to-east and south-to-north velocity components at height intervals of 25 meters. The overall altitude ranges of the profiles vary from about 2.6 to 19.1 km. The wind measurements, which were made under a variety of conditions, include velocities in excess of the 90- and 95-percent highest values for the Eastern Test Range. The report also includes a listing of the wind profiles, their maximum velocities and direction of the maximum velocities, measured by the smoke trail method at the Eastern Test Range from 1962 to 1964.

Manning, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Rocks, resolution, and the record at the terrestrial K/T boundary, eastern Montana and western North Dakota

Reconstructions of mass extinction events are based upon faunal patterns, reconstructed from numerical and diversity data ultimately derived from rocks. It follows that geological complexity must not be subsumed in the desire to establish patterns. This is exemplified at the Terrestrial Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundary in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, where there are represented all of the major indicators of the terrestrial K/T transition: dinosaurian and non-dinosaurian vertebrate faunas, pollen, a megaflora, iridium, and shocked quartz. It is the patterns of these indicators that shape ideas about the terrestrial K/T transition. In eastern Montana and western North Dakota, the K/T transition is represented lithostratigraphically by the Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, and the Tertiary Tullock Formation. Both of these are the result of aggrading, meandering, fluvial systems, a fact that has important consequences for interpretations of fossils they contain. Direct consequences of the fluvial depositional environments are: facies are lenticular, interfingering, and laterally discontinuous; the occurrence of fossils in the Hell Creek and Tullock formations is facies-dependent; and the K/T sequence in eastern Montana and western North Dakota is incomplete, as indicated by repetitive erosional contacts and soil successions. The significance for faunal patterns of lenticular facies, facies-dependent preservation, and incompleteness is discussed. A project attempting to reconstruct vertebrate evolution in a reproducible manner in Hell Creek-type sediments must be based upon a reliable scale of correlations, given the lenticular nature of the deposits, and a recognition of the fact that disparate facies are not comparable in terms of either numbers of preserved vertebrates or depositional rates.

Fastovsky, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Right-lateral shear and rotation as the explanation for strike-slip faulting in eastern Tibet

Bounds are placed here on the rate of rotation proposed by Cobbold and Davy (1988) for the major strike-slip faults in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. It is also concluded here that the image of lateral transport on such faults, known also as continental escape, extrusion, or expulsion, is an illusion, and that instead the left-lateral slip on east-striking plates in eastern Tibet is a manifestation of north-striking right-lateral simple shear. If this conclusion is correct, the east-striking left-lateral faults and the crustal blocks between them are rotating clockwise at 1-2 deg/Myr, the east-west dimension of eastern Tibet is shortening at 10-20 mm/yr, and little material is moving eastward out of India's path into Eursasia by left-lateral simple shear.

England, Philip↗
NASA NTRS1994

Summertime distribution of PAN and other reactive nitrogen species in the northern high-latitude atmosphere of eastern Canada

Aircraft measurements of key reactive nitrogen species (NO, NO2, HNO3, PAN, PPN, NO3(-), NO(y)), C1 to C6 hydrocarbons, acetone, O3, chemical tracers (C2Cl4, CO), and important meteorological parameters were performed over eastern Canada during July to August 1990 at altitudes between 0 and 6 km as part of an Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE3B). In the free troposphere, PAN was found to be the single most abundant reactive nitrogen species constituting a major fraction of NO(y) and was significantly more abundant than NO(x) and HNO3. PAN and O3 were well correlated both in their fine and gross structures. Compared to data previously collected in the Arctic/subarctic atmosphere over Alaska (ABLE3A), the lower troposphere (0-4 km) over eastern Canada was found to contain larger reactive nitrogen and anthropogenic tracer concentrations. At higher altitudes (4-6 km) the atmospheric composition was in many ways similar to what was seen over Alaska and supports the view that a large-scale reservoir of PAN (and NO(y)) is present in the upper troposphere over the entire Arctic/subarctic region. The reactive nitrogen budget based on missions conducted from the North Bay site (missions 2-10) showed a small shortfall, whereas the budget for data collected from the Goose Bay operation (missions 11-19) showed essential balance. It is calculated that 15-20 ppt of the observed NO(x) may find its source from the available PAN reservoir. Meteorological considerations as well as relationships between reactive nitrogen and tracer species suggest that the atmosphere over eastern Canada during summer is greatly influenced by forest fires and transported industrial pollution.

Singh, H. B.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Convection and Easterly Waves Observed in the Eastern Pacific ITCZ During EPIC2001

During the last three weeks of September 2001, the East Pacific Investigation of Climate Processes in the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere System (EPIC2001) intensive field campaign focused on studies of deep convection in the ITCZ-cold tongue complex over the Mexican warm-pool region (10 deg. N 95 deg. W) of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Major observational platforms deployed during this phase of EPIC2001 included two ships, the NOAA R/V Ronald H. Brown and the NSF R/V Horizon, and two research aircraft including a NOAA P-3 and the NCAR C-130. This study utilizes new C-band Doppler radar and sounding observations collected aboard the R/V Ronald Brown to describe the 4-D structure of ITCZ convection as a function of the environmental forcing and phase of 3-5 day easterly wave passages. Three distinct easterly wave passages occurred during EPIC2001. Each wave originated in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and after moving over Central America and into the eastern Pacific, were easily identified in time-height profiles of wind and thermodynamic data collected at the position of the R/V Brown. In all cases, the wave trough axes (as defined by changes in the meridional and zonal wind direction and changes in pressure altitude) exhibited relatively weak shear at low to mid-levels and tilted westward with height. The humidity profile in each wave did not exhibit as great a tilt in the vertical as the trough axes. Consistent with previous studies of westward tilting waves over the western Pacific Ocean, peaks in radar diagnosed rainfall tended to lead the passage of the surface wave trough by 0-2 days.

Petersen, Walter A.↗