For spatial data visualization, we approach two problems and provide solutions: heat map resolution selection, and heat map confidence interval presentation. Analysts often present spatial data in gridded heat maps, at some chosen resolution. However, many data types vary in density across the domain. We develop variable-resolution heat maps to...
This thesis presents the results of a formal evaluation of a new AOGCM, GENMOM, demonstrating its ability to simulate present-day climate and ENSO dynamics. The model is applied to simulate climate for the Last Glacial Maximum, deglacial, and Holocene time periods. The model output is evaluated against the best available...
This thesis presents the results of an investigation into the interactions between the present-day South Cascade Glacier and the former Mauna Kea ice cap at short (annual to centennial) and long (millennial and multimillennial) time scales. To quantify the response of South Cascade Glacier to atmospheric conditions, a surface energy...
As climate change and its associated environmental and socioeconomic impacts become increasingly severe and imminent across the United States, it has become imperative for the public to be aware of and actively engaged with this issue. Although scientists generally perceive outreach in a positive light, a critical barrier that tends...
Paleoclimate archives have revealed abrupt climate events that are superimposed on more gradual climate changes throughout the last glacial and deglacial periods. The underlying causes of such rapid climate changes are still poorly understood, but the strong expression of these events in northern hemisphere records likely points to climatic mechanisms...
Understanding how the latitudinal distribution of methane sources changed between stadial and interstadial climate states during the last glacial period can provide important clues about how terrestrial hydroclimate and ecosystems evolved between these different states. The punctuation of the millennial-scale structure by Heinrich events is also of interest in this...
Reservoir systems in the western US are managed to serve two main competing purposes: to reduce flooding during the winter and spring, and to provide water supply for multiple uses during the summer. Because the storage capacity of a reservoir cannot be used for both flood damage reduction and water...