In this paper we extend the results of the research started by the first author in which Karlin-McGregor diagonalization of certain reversible Markov chains over countably infinite general state spaces by orthogonal polynomials was used to estimate the rate of convergence to a stationary distribution. We use a method of...
Global warming is expected to cause significant changes in the pattern of precipitation minus evaporation (𝑃 − 𝐸), which represents the net flux of water from the atmosphere to the surface or, equivalently, the convergence of moisture transport within the atmosphere. In most global climate model simulations, the pattern of...
The 2013 Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy signed by the Governors of California, Oregon and Washington and the Premier of British Columbia, launched a broadly announced public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through multiple strategies. Those strategies include the development and increased use of renewable energy...
We design a commitment device for college students, “Study More Tomorrow,” conduct a randomized controlled trial testing a model of its takeup, and measure its effect on tutoring attendance and grades. The device commits students to attend tutoring if their midterm grade falls below a pre-specified threshold. Unlike other commitment...
Brazil's economic strategy has shifted hesitatingly during the last several decades from one of producer protection to trade competitiveness. Exploiting the variations these shifts have afforded, we use a sequence of decennial agricultural censuses to examine Brazilian policy implications for agricultural competitiveness and efficiency. Total factor productivity is decomposed into...
A primary focus of the US Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics
(GLOBEC) program was to identify the mechanisms of ecosystem response to large-scale
climate forcing under the assumption that bottom-up forcing controls a large
fraction of marine ecosystem variability. At the beginning of GLOBEC, the prevailing
bottom-up forcing hypothesis was that...
As a demonstrator for technologies for the next generation of ocean color sensors,
the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) provides enhanced spatial and
spectral resolution that is required to understand optically complex aquatic environments. In
this study we apply HICO, along with satellite remote sensing and in situ...
Many of the processes that have important effects on both the climatological distribution and interannual variability of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical oceans are greatly affected by the surface wind field. For this reason accurate simulation of the surface wind is a key factor governing the success of...
Vegetation carbon uptake and respiration constitute the largest carbon cycle of the planet with an annual turnover
in the order of 120 GT. Currently, neither ecosystem carbon uptake (through photosynthesis) nor ecosystem
carbon release (through respiration) can be measured directly during the daytime. Instead, flux-tower measurements
rely on nighttime respiration...
Dams have contributed to the decline of migratory fishes by blocking access to historical habitat. The active transport (trap and haul) of migratory fish species above existing dams can sometimes support population recovery when the use of fish ladders or dam removal is infeasible. However, little is known about the...