(Press-News.org) While Hurricane Irene had officials along the East Coast preparing for mass evacuations, scientists at the Stroud Water Research Center and the University of Delaware were grabbing their best data collection tools and heading straight for the storm's path.
It was a rare opportunity for the scientists to learn more about climate change and water quality, as Irene threatened to be the biggest hurricane to hit the Northeastern United States since 1985.
Center scientist Anthony Aufdenkampe explains, "It rains on average once per week, or 15 percent of the year, but streams and rivers move most of their annual loads on those days.
"The bigger the storm, the greater the disproportionate load, so you might have a single 100-year storm event move 25 percent of the material for an entire decade," says Aufdenkampe.
"This is important because fresh waters and the carbon they transport play a major role in the global cycling of greenhouse gases."
Irene could reveal much about how soil erosion into rivers might eventually bury carbon and sequester it from acting as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
That's a primary goal of the Christina River Basin Critical Zone Observatory (CRB-CZO), funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Stroud Water Research Center and University of Delaware scientists are affiliated with the CRB-CZO.
The CRB-CZO is at the forefront of scientific research on integrating how human effects on the hydrologic, mineral and carbon cycles might have feedbacks to climate change.
"One of the motivations for NSF Critical Zone Observatories such as the CRB-CZO is to obtain time-continuous observations that would document and help us understand infrequent events," says Jun Abrajano of NSF's Earth Sciences Division.
"Some of these events are extreme enough to have major cumulative effects on the overall processes and fluxes in watershed systems. The track and magnitude of Hurricane Irene may prove it to be such an event."
We're hypothesizing, says Aufdenkampe, "that big storms are a major player in determining what happens to the carbon in a leaf, for example.
"Does it go back into the atmosphere or does it get buried for decades, centuries, or millennia? That's the key to global warming and climate change."
Aufdenkampe and colleagues visited sites along White Clay Creek and Brandywine Creek to set up equipment to collect floodwaters throughout the storm.
And with innovative tools developed with relatively inexpensive open-source electronic hardware, the researchers didn't have to wait around.
Engineer Steve Hicks of the Stroud Water Research Center put together automatic water samplers that may be triggered remotely via cell phone. "By watching real-time sensor data streaming to the Internet, at precisely the right moment we fill the barrels of water we need for our analyses."
"Had a storm like this hit five or ten years ago, we wouldn't have been able to gather this type of data," says Aufdenkampe.
"But now with open-source hardware and software, anything's possible. We're only limited by our imagination."
INFORMATION:
Visit the CRB-CZO website for more information.
Hurricane Irene: Scientists collect water quality and climate change data from huge storm
Researchers pursue new information from East Coast hurricane
2011-08-31
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
'French Escapades' Exhibition at the Red Rag Modern Art Gallery, Bath (from Sunday, 18 September 2011)
2011-08-31
There is something unusual, beguiling and quietly engaging about the latest show, French Escapades, at the Red Rag Modern Art Gallery in Bath (which opens on 18 September). It is not that Bath is twinned with a French town (Aix-en-Provence) though that is interesting. Nor is it that it is an exhibition of exceptionally high quality paintings of France by highly skilled contemporary artists, though that might be captivating in itself. It is more its celebration of a timeless journey into memory and reverie that strikes an inner chord - it is a show where it is easy to lose ...
Unfounded pesticide concerns adversely affect the health of low-income populations
2011-08-31
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6042 (Before Aug. 25)
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6293 (Before Aug. 25)
American Chemical Society
Unfounded pesticide concerns adversely affect the health of low-income populations
DENVER, Aug. 30, 2011 — The increasingly prevalent notion that expensive organic fruits and vegetables are safer because pesticides — used to protect traditional crops from insects, thus ensuring high crop yields and making them less expensive — are ...
Epic search for evidence of life on Mars heats up with focus on high-tech instruments
2011-08-31
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6042 (Before Aug. 25)
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6293 (Before Aug. 25)
American Chemical Society
Epic search for evidence of life on Mars heats up with focus on high-tech instruments
DENVER, Aug. 30, 2011 — Scientists are expressing confidence that questions about life on Mars, which have captured human imagination for centuries, finally may be answered, thanks in part to new life-detection tools up to 1,000 times more sensitive ...
SDJB Warns About Illegal San Diego Gold Buyers
2011-08-31
San Diego's leading gold buyer and gold refinery, San Diego Jewelry Buyers, has issued a warning about illegal gold buyers operating in San Diego County and Southern California. "There have been a number of reports lately that illegal gold buyers are deceiving the public and fueling local crime," says Carl Blackburn, owner of San Diego Jewelry Buyers (SDJB).
According to Blackburn, these rogue gold buyers operate without the required second-hand dealers license and fail to follow mandatory procedures when buying gold from the public--such as requiring photo ...
New tests for 'legal marijuana,' 'bath salts' and other emerging designer drugs
2011-08-31
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6042 (Before Aug. 25)
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6293 (Before Aug. 25)
American Chemical Society
New tests for 'legal marijuana,' 'bath salts' and other emerging designer drugs
DENVER, Aug. 30, 2011 — Scientists today reported development of much needed new tests to help cope with a wave of deaths, emergency room visits and other problems from a new genre of designer drugs sold legally in stores and online that mimic the effects ...
Awareness of ethnicity-based stigma found to start early
2011-08-31
Students are stigmatized for a variety of reasons, with youths from ethnic-minority backgrounds often feeling devalued in school. New research on young children from a range of backgrounds has found that even elementary school children are aware of such stigmatization and, like older youths, feel more anxious about school as a result. Children who are stigmatized are more likely to have less interest in school, yet ethnic-minority children in this study reported high interest in school in the face of stigma. For some students, feeling close to people at school helps them ...
Anxiety interferes with some children's capacity to form friendships
2011-08-31
As children move toward adolescence, they rely increasingly on close relationships with peers. Socially withdrawn children, who have less contact with peers, may miss out on the support that friendships provide. In a new study about the peer relationships of almost 2,500 fifth graders who are socially withdrawn in different ways and those who aren't withdrawn, researchers have found that withdrawn children who can be described as "anxious-solitary" differ considerably in their relationships with peers, compared to other withdrawn children and children who aren't withdrawn.
The ...
Study of childhood bullying shifts focus to victims
2011-08-31
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Many wonder why bullies bully, but a new study looks at the other side of the equation: How do children respond to bullying and why? The answer, researchers say, may lead to more effective interventions to reduce the negative consequences – and perhaps even the frequency – of bullying.
The study appears in the journal Child Development.
"The main question we were interested in is how do children go about selecting strategies for dealing with harassment from their peers?" said University of Illinois psychology professor Karen Rudolph, who led the study. ...
New Section Makes Browsing for Cheap Cruises Easy at Cruise1st
2011-08-31
Cruise1st has added a new Cruise Destinations section to its site, dedicated to providing customers with essential information on the cheap cruises which are available. With the motto Second to None, Cruise1st offers its customer's luxury cruises at affordable prices.
Offering cheap cruises deals to some of the most sought after destinations on the globe, Cruise1st specialises in luxurious packages. Cruise1st claims there is no better way to see the world than on a cruise with the chance to wake up in a new location every day.
With the wide array of cruise liners ...
Aurora Gallery to Host New Hector "Nicer" Nazario Series: "Like a Child at Play"
2011-08-31
Opening September 15th, The Aurora Gallery is proud to host an all-new series from renowned New York City graffiti artist and muralist Hector "Nicer" Nazario. The series, entitled Like a Child at Play, began taking shape after the tragic death of Nicer's only child by a stray bullet in the Bronx in July 2010. Each piece in Like a Child at Play features painted works interpreting Nicer's childhood memories of growing up in New York. This event is free to enter. All works are available for purchase.
"In many ways putting together this series of paintings ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate
How to keep kids with eating disorders home after hospital stay? Therapy
Sex differences affect efficacy of opioid overdose treatment
Aligning AI with Human Values and Well-Being
Engineering the next generation of experimental physics
The scuba diving industry is funding marine ecosystem conservation and employing locals
BATMAN brings TCR therapy out of the shadows
Surrogates more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness, study finds
Columbia Engineering researchers turn dairy byproduct into tissue repair gel
Global estimates of lives and life-years saved by COVID-19 vaccination during 2020-2024
Potential trade-offs of proposed cuts to the NIH
New research simulates cancer cell behavior
COVID, over 2.5 million deaths prevented worldwide thanks to vaccines. One life saved for every 5,400 doses administered
Scuba diving generates up to $20 billion annually
Scientists advance efforts to create ‘virtual cell lab’ as testing ground for future research with live cells
How DNA packaging controls the “genome’s guardian”
Simplified models, deeper insights: Coarse-grained models unlock new potential for ionic liquid simulations
Gorillas’ personal circumstances shape their aggression towards groupmates
Which signalling pathways in the cell lead to possible therapies for Parkinson's disease
Identifying landslide threats using hydrological predictors
First graders who use more educational media spend more time reading
Exploring the meaning in life through phenomenology and philosophy
Linking alterations in precursor cells of brain formation with the origin of neuropsychiatric diseases
New insight in how cells regulate gene activity
Gut microbiome may predict “invisible” chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID
New AI tool accelerates mRNA-based treatments for viruses, cancers, genetic disorders
Automated speed enforcement significantly reduces speeding in Toronto school zones
Persistently, intensely grieving relations are nearly twice as likely to die within 10 years after losing a loved one
Media–public disconnect on wild meat narratives in central Africa during COVID-19
"High notes from one side, deep tones from the other" – Janus-like wave transmission
[Press-News.org] Hurricane Irene: Scientists collect water quality and climate change data from huge stormResearchers pursue new information from East Coast hurricane