Sudden changes occur where the mean values associated with two adjacent non-overlapping
windows of data are anomalously different, and the transition between the
window means occurs over a scale that is small relative to the scale of the windows.
Positions of sudden changes can be economically retrieved. The sudden change...
In summer 1988, we made repeated mesoscale surveys of a grid extending 200 km offshore between
37°N and 39°N in the coastal transition zone off northern California, obtaining continuous acoustic
Doppler current profiler data and conductivity-temperature-depth data at standard stations 25 km apart
on alongshore sections 40 km apart. All...
Air–sea coupling during coastal upwelling was examined through idealized three-dimensional numerical simulations with a coupled atmosphere–ocean mesoscale model. Geometry, topography, and initial and
boundary conditions were chosen to be representative of summertime coastal conditions off the Oregon coast. Over the 72-h simulations, sea surface temperatures were reduced several degrees near...
Zonal and meridional Seasoar sections centered at 1°50’S, 156°06’E were repeated >30 times in three 20-day periods between November 13, 1992, and February 15, 1993. Both sections were 130 km long, and sampling depth was 0–280 m, with a vertical resolution of ~2 dbar (2 x 104 Pa) and a...
The Columbia River Basalt consists of dozens of seemingly identical flows of basalt covering thousands of square miles of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. For years, detailed mapping of the units relied almost entirely on subtle petrographic distinctions, the presence or absence of interbeds, and actual walking along contacts in the...
Our studies and those of our colleagues in Idaho indicate that the western Snake River Basin is a major geothermal province, similar in some ways to the Imperial Valley Geothermal Province. Deep drilling should encounter high temperature fluids in permeable rocks below 2 km and at shallower depths where permeability...
In late May of 2008, the NASA/JPL Phoenix spacecraft will touch down near its targeted landing site on Mars (68.2°N, 126.6°W). Entry, descent, and landing (EDL) occurs in the late afternoon (~1630 hours local solar time (LST)) during late northern spring (Ls ~ 78°). Using a mesoscale and a large-eddy...
The U.S. Forest Service has published the final version of regulations on the surface use of National Forest lands under the amended mining laws of 1872. These regulations became effective September 1, 1974. Although the Mining Law of 1872 is still largely intact, the new regulations place some requirements in...
Periodic violent eruptions from many different centers during Cenozoic time deposited vast quantities of pyroclastic material as ash-flow tuffs over most of Oregon, although the Coast Ranges and isolated patches elsewhere in the state appear to have been spared these recurring inundations. Eruptions occurred at different times throughout the Cenozoic,...
Measurements of currents and turbulence beneath a geostationary ship in the equatorial Indian Ocean during a period of weak surface forcing revealed unexpectedly strong turbulence beneath the surface mixed layer. Coincident with the turbulence was a marked reduction of the current speeds registered by shipboard Doppler current profilers, and an...
The United States has enormous deposits of oil shale which, if developed, could provide energy resources for centuries. Because of the vast size of these deposits, they are currently receiving a great deal of attention. This issue of The ORE BIN is devoted to a discussion of oil shale --...
The purpose of this study of the Lyons flora is to determine the age and paleoecology of the flora through the examination and identification of the fossil plant species of the flora. The plant fossils comprising the Lyons flora were collected from a locality in the upper Thomas Creek area,...
Spectral analysis was used to investigate semidaily mean sea
levels and atmospheric pressures at San Francisco, California,
Coos Bay, Oregon, and Tofino, British Columbia, in the frequency
band 0 to 0.5 cpd. Cross spectral analysis of semidaily mean sea
levels and atmospheric pressures at the three stations show that the...
This study evaluates the prediction of heat and moisture fluxes from a new land surface scheme with eddy correlation data collected at the old aspen site during the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) in 1994. The model used in this study couples a multilayer vegetation model with a soil model. Inclusion...
The Oregon coast between Yaquina Head and Government Point owes its scenic grandeur to a unique wedding of ancient and recent marine environments. Visitors to Beverly Beach State Park, located in the southern part of this coastal strip, have a rare opportunity to wander along a shoreline that some 15...
The Penn-State/NCAR MM5 mesoscale model was adapted for mesoscale simulations of the Martian atmosphere (the OSU MMM5). The NASA Ames Mars GCM provides initial and boundary conditions. High-resolution maps for albedo, thermal inertia and topography were developed from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data; these baseline maps are processed to appropriate...
The results of measurements of the fluxes of momentum, moisture and sensible heat in the marine boundary layer are described.
Two techniques for obtaining the fluxes are discussed. The fluxes
of these quantities are most directly obtained by the eddy correlation
method, that is, by measuring the fluctuating vertical and...
Spreadsheet created to provide Economics Department faculty at Oregon State University with cost comparison information for the journals in which they most often published in 2003-2006. Includes journal titles, cost, impact factor (2004), publisher, and information about whether the journal is published by a non-profit or commercial publisher.
Stein's Pillar area, central Oregon / Aaron C. Waters -- Seismic reflection studies of buried channels off the Columbia River / Joseph W. Berg, Jr., John M. King, and Paul R. Carlson.
In 2013, a large upper-ocean thermal anomaly formed in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) with sea surface temperatures (SSTs) warmer than 4 degrees Celsius above the climatological norm. This warm anomaly persisted for the next three years and has been linked to downstream effects on North American climate and negative...
Everyone involved with the mining and petroleum industries, either directly or indirectly, is aware of the mounting concern by the general public with the possibly deleterious effects of mineral exploration and development on the environment. Oftentimes the outcry about "desecration of the land" is not based on actual knowledge of...
The stacks off the southern Oregon coast have been studied very little because of difficulties of access (see, for example, Weissenborn and Snavely, 1968). Work described herein was helicopter-supported; skillful piloting by Earl Lady permitted landings on or close approaches to many stacks. To help delineate the structure, field work...
Simulations with a Mars general circulation model (GCM) are used to perform idealized tracer transport experiments, which are analyzed to yield estimates of eddy mixing coefficients as well as “stratospheric” ventilation timescales for the zonal-mean circulation. The results indicate that relatively moderate values of the vertical eddy mixing coefficient, KZ...
A marine geophysical study using shallow seismic reflection, gravity and magnetic methods of investigation was done for an offshore area near Newport, Oregon. The area is bounded by the latitudes 44°1O' to 44°50' N. and longitudes 124°07' to 124°30' W. The interpretation of observational data showed that the geology of...
Satellite observations have revealed a remarkably strong positive correlation between sea surface temperature (SST) and surface winds on oceanic mesoscales of 10–1000 km. Although SST influence on the atmosphere had previously been identified from several in situ observational studies, its widespread existence in regions of strong SST gradients throughout the...
The longshore variability of the coastal response to hurricanes may be examined within the framework of a storm-impact scaling model that compares spatially-variable beach morphology and fluid forcing. The relative elevations of dune height and storm-induced water levels are used to define three impact regimes (swash, collision, and overwash), within...
Our oceans surround us, and we depend upon them for food, transportation, and recreation. They affect us daily as they shape our climate and rattle our world with unexpected events. Current headlines indicate that they are in flux and perhaps in trouble. Coral reefs are dying due to rising ocean...
A series of observing system simulation experiments (OSSE) is performed on a simulated data
set which was designed to mimic the wind-forced response of the tropical Pacific ocean. This
data set was constructed by adding random perturbations to the FSU monthly mean pseudostress
anomaly data. These perturbed pseudostress anomaly fields...
The importance of multiple processes and instream factors to aquatic biota has been explored extensively, but questions remain about how local spatiotemporal variability of aquatic biota is tied to environmental regimes and the geophysical template of streams. We used an individual-based trout model to explore the relative role of the...
This issue of the bulletin covers salmon landings, spawning of dover sole, movements of petrale sole, the pink shrimp fishery, and availability of small salmon off the Columbia River.
Statistical mechanics studies the probability that a system is in a certain state given one or more constraints which are usually fixed conserved quantities. It is a particularly useful and powerful approach for problems with a large number of degrees of freedom where a complete knowledge of the system is...
A high volume sampling system, employing Nuclepore filters and
designed for sampling particulate in the plumes from industrial
sources using a light aircraft, is described. The effluent of kraft
paper mills was sampled using this system and then analyzed by
electron microscopy.
Size distributions of particles were obtained at several...
Measurements of the fluctuations of humidity, temperature
and velocity were made in the marine boundary layer. The humidity
fluctuations were measured with a Lyman-alpha humidiometer.
Temperature fluctuations were measured with a dry thermocouple
and a platinum resistance thermometer. Velocity fluctuations were
measured with a three component sonic anemometer. These measurements...
An instrument on the Pathfinder lander has been designed to measure the structure of Mars’ atmosphere during spacecraft entry and descent from ~150 km altitude to the surface, and to measure meteorological parameters after landing for the landed duration of the mission. This is specified to be nominally 30 Mars...
The role of evapotranspiration (ET) in the global, continental, regional, and local water cycles is reviewed. Elevated atmospheric CO₂, air temperature, vapor pressure deficit (D), turbulent transport, radiative transfer, and reduced soil moisture all impact biotic and abiotic processes controlling ET that must be extrapolated to large scales. Suggesting a...
An analytical two-layer model consisting of a time-dependent stratified
boundary layer topped by stratified free flow is developed in order
to study atmospheric boundary layer production of vertical motion. To
avoid use of a constant eddy viscosity, the boundary layer equations are
layer-integrated over a fixed depth, and surface stress...
This repository item contains the files needed to reproduce the results reported in the published work entitled "Runups of unusual size: rogueness and variability of swash" in the Journal of Geophysical Research. As described in the publication, the results described within it pertain to simulations of wave runup for various...
Observations of wind speed and direction, air and sea temperature,
and solar radiation were obtained from an array of buoys in
JASIN. The observations were analyzed to show spatial and temporal
variability. Spectra of wind speed and air and sea temperature were
computed to illustrate the distribution of variance over...
American meteorology was synonymous with subjective weather forecasting in the early twentieth century. Controlled by the Weather Bureau and with no academic programs of its own, the few hundred extant meteorologists had no standing in the scientific community. Until the American Meteorological Society was founded in 1919, meteorologists had no...
Observations of wind speed and direction, air and sea temperature, and solar radiation were obtained from an array of buoys in JASIN. The observations were analyzed to show spatial and temporal variability. Spectra of wind speed and air and sea temperature were computed to illustrate the distribution of variance over...
Many geophysical phenomena exhibit complicated dynamics that, due to a variety of factors, diverge quickly from physical models. The arrival of new observations allows researchers to combine the model estimate with measurements in a statistical process called data assimilation to produce a revised estimate of the phenomenon. This assimilation of...
The education (particularly graduate education) of Americans
who were active in astronomical research between 1876 and 1941
is assessed for its effectiveness in preparing the astronomers for
careers in research. This period contains three dynamic changes:
the growth of American astronomy in becoming the world's leading
community of astronomers, the...
It has been hypothesized that continuous ground-based remote sensing measurements
from collocated active and passive remote sensors combined with regular soundings of the
atmospheric thermodynamic structure can be combined to describe the effects of clouds on
the clear sky radiation fluxes. We critically test that hypothesis in this paper and...
We propose the Breathing Earth System Simulator (BESS), an upscaling approach to quantify global gross primary productivity and evapotranspiration using MODIS with a spatial resolution of 1-5 km and a temporal resolution of 8 days. This effort is novel because it is the first system that harmonizes and utilizes MODIS...
Under light wind conditions, the alternation of daytime
heating and nighttime cooling creates a characteristic
response in the oceanic boundary layer known as the diurnal
cycle. The Mellor/Yamada Level II turbulence closure model is
used to analyze this response pattern.
The diurnal cycle has three phases. During morning and
early...
Mariner 9 and Viking spacecraft observations during the 1970's have provided
evidence for planetary-scale wave-like disturbances in the Mars atmosphere. It has
been suggested that possible sources of the wave activity are dynamical instabilities
(e.g., barotropic and/or baroclinic instabilities). An other candidate source is forced,
quasi-stationary planetary waves. In connection...
An increase in anthropogenic activities since the industrial revolution, primarily due to burning of fossil fuels and changes in land cover, has resulted in a steady increase in the global mean atmospheric CO2 concentrations. While there is unequivocal scientific evidence on global warming and its multidimensional impacts on natural and...
All nuclear reactors rely heavily on the use of level sensing instrumentation to detect the behaviour of liquid in vessels. The majority of level sensing instruments are differential pressure sensing meters, which are invasive and could be the failure source in the pressure boundary of the primary coolant system. In...
As the Galápagos hot spot is approached from the west along the Galápagos Spreading Center there are systematic increases in crustal thickness and in the K/Ti, Nb/Zr, ³He/⁴He, H₂O, and Na₂O content of lavas recovered from the spreading axis. These increases correlate with progressive transitions from rift valley to axial...
Using gravity, magnetic, bathymetric and seismic
refraction data, I have constructed a geophysical cross-section
of the central part of the northern Gulf of California. The
section exhibits a crustal thickness of 18 km and features an
anomalous block of high density lower basement (3.15 g/cm³)
which probably resulted from rifting...
We present the geomorphology of the Eastern Samoa Volcanic Province, covering 28,446 km², and depths ranging from ~50-4000 m. A new compilation of available multibeam data reveals 51 previously undocumented seamounts, and delineates major submarine rift zones, eruptive centers, and volcanic plateaus. Moving from a regional to local scale, and...
