Digital Vertical Aerial Camera System for High-resolution Site Inspections in Conservation Easment Monitoring

A three-level satellite to ground monitoring scheme for conservation easement monitoring has been implemented in which high-resolution imagery serves as an intermediate step for inspecting high priority sites. A digital vertical aerial camera system was developed to fulfill the need for an economical source of imagery for this intermediate step. A method for attaching the camera system to small aircraft was designed, and the camera system was calibrated and tested. To ensure that the images obtained were of suitable quality for use in Level 2 inspections, rectified imagery was required to provide positional accuracy of 5 meters or less to be comparable to current commercially available high-resolution satellite imagery. Focal length calibration was performed to discover the infinity focal length at two lens settings (24mm and 35mm) with a precision of O.1mm. Known focal length is required for creation of navigation points representing locations to be photographed (waypoints). Photographing an object of known size at distances on a test range allowed estimates of focal lengths of 25.lmm and 35.4mm for the 24mm and 35mm lens settings, respectively. Constants required for distortion removal procedures were obtained using analytical plumb-line calibration procedures for both lens settings, with mild distortion at the 24mm setting and virtually no distortion found at the 35mm setting. The system was designed to operate in a series of stages: mission planning, mission execution, and post-mission processing. During mission planning, waypoints were created using custom tools in geographic information system (GIs) software. During mission execution, the camera is connected to a laptop computer with a global positioning system (GPS) receiver attached. Customized mobile GIs software accepts position information from the GPS receiver, provides information for navigation, and automatically triggers the camera upon reaching the desired location. Post-mission processing (rectification) of imagery for removal of lens distortion effects, correction of imagery for horizontal displacement due to terrain variations (relief displacement), and relating the images to ground coordinates were performed with no more than a second-order polynomial warping function. Accuracy testing was performed to verify the positional accuracy capabilities of the system in an ideal-case scenario as well as a real-world case. Using many welldistributed and highly accurate control points on flat terrain, the rectified images yielded median positional accuracy of 0.3 meters. Imagery captured over commercial forestland with varying terrain in eastern Maine, rectified to digital orthophoto quadrangles, yielded median positional accuracies of 2.3 meters with accuracies of 3.1 meters or better in 75 percent of measurements made. These accuracies were well within performance requirements. The images from the digital camera system are of high quality, displaying significant detail at common flying heights. At common flying heights the ground resolution of the camera system ranges between 0.07 meters and 0.67 meters per pixel, satisfying the requirement that imagery be of comparable resolution to current highresolution satellite imagery. Due to the high resolution of the imagery, the positional accuracy attainable, and the convenience with which it is operated, the digital aerial camera system developed is a potentially cost-effective solution for use in the intermediate step of a satellite to ground conservation easement monitoring scheme.

Rainwater Catchment from a High Tunnel for Irrigation Use

High tunnels are simple, plastic-covered, passive solar-heated structures in which crops are grown in the ground. They are used by fruit and vegetable growers to extend the growing season and intensify production in cold climates. The covered growing area creates a desert-like environment requiring carefully monitored irrigation practices. In contrast, the exterior expanse of a high tunnel generates a large volume of water with every measurable rainfall. Each 1,000 ft of high tunnel roof will generate approximately 300 gallons from a half inch of rain. Unless the high tunnel site is elevated from the surrounding area or drainage tiles installed, or other drainage accommodations are made around the perimeter, the soil along the inside edge of the high tunnel is nearly continuously saturated. High volumes of water can also create an erosion problem. The objective of this project was to design and construct a system that enables growers using high tunnels in their production operation to reduce drainage problems, erosion, and crop loss due to excess moisture in and around their high tunnel(s) without permanent environmental and soil mediations.

Ground beetle (Carabidae) abundance data from north-eastern Australian rainforest, between June 2008 - January 2010, using pitfall traps

Understanding how the environment influences patterns of diversity is vital for effective conservation management, especially in a changing global climate. While assemblage structure and species richness patterns are often correlated with current environmental factors, historical influences may also be considerable, especially for taxa with poor dispersal abilities. Mountain-top regions throughout tropical rainforests can act as important refugia for taxa characterised by low dispersal capacities such as flightless ground beetles (Carabidae), an ecologically significant predatory group. We surveyed flightless ground beetles along elevational gradients in five different subregions within the Australian Wet Tropics World Heritage Area to investigate (1) whether the diversity and composition of flightless ground beetles are elevationally stratified, and, if so, (2) what environmental factors (other than elevation per se) are associated with these patterns. Generalised linear models and model averaging techniques were used to relate patterns of diversity to environmental factors. Unlike most taxonomic groups, flightless ground beetles increased in species richness and abundance with elevation. Additionally, each subregion consisted of distinct assemblages containing a high level of regional endemic species. Species richness was most strongly positively associated with the historical climatic conditions and negatively associated with severity of recent disturbance (treefalls) and current climatic conditions. Assemblage composition was associated with latitude and current and historical climatic conditions. Our results suggest that distributional patterns of flightless ground beetles are not only likely to be associated with factors that change with elevation (current climatic conditions), but also factors that are independent of elevation (recent disturbance and historical climatic conditions). Variation in historical vegetation stability explained both species richness and assemblage composition patterns, probably reflecting the significance of upland refugia at a geographic time scale. These findings are important for conservation management as upland habitats are under threat from climate change.

High-resolution ice thickness and bed topography of a land-terminating section of the Greenland Ice Sheet, with links to GeoTIFFs and text files

We present ice thickness and bed topography maps with a high spatial resolution (250-500 m) of a land-terminating section of the Greenland Ice Sheet derived from ground-based and airborne radar surveys. The data have a total area of ~12 000 km^2 and cover the whole ablation area of the outlet glaciers of Isunnguata Sermia, Russell, Leverett, Ørkendalen and Isorlersuup up to the long-term mass balance equilibrium line altitude at ~1600 m above sea level. The bed topography shows highly variable subglacial trough systems, and the trough of Isunnguata Sermia Glacier is overdeepened and reaches an elevation of ~500 m below sea level. The ice surface is smooth and only reflects the bedrock topography in a subtle way, resulting in a highly variable ice thickness. The southern part of our study area consists of higher bed elevations compared to the northern part. The compiled data sets of ground-based and airborne radar surveys cover one of the most studied regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet and can be valuable for detailed studies of ice sheet dynamics and hydrology.

A database of multi-year (2004-2010) quality-assured surface solar hourly irradiation measurements for the Egyptian territory

A database containing the global and diffuse components of the surface solar hourly irradiation measured from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2010 at eight stations of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority is presented. For three of these sites (Cairo, Aswan, and El-Farafra), the direct component is also available. In addition, a series of meteorological variables including surface pressure, relative humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction is provided at the same hourly resolution at all stations. The details of the experimental sites and instruments used for the acquisition are given. Special attention is paid to the quality of the data and the procedure applied to flag suspicious or erroneous measurements is described in details. Between 88 and 99% of the daytime measurements are validated by this quality control. Except at Barrani where the number is lower (13500), between 20000 and 29000 measurements of global and diffuse hourly irradiation are available at all sites for the 7-year period. Similarly, from 9000 to 13000 measurements of direct hourly irradiation values are provided for the three sites where this component is measured. With its high temporal resolution this consistent irradiation and meteorological database constitutes a reliable source to estimate the potential of solar energy in Egypt. It is also adapted to the study of high-frequency atmospheric processes such as the impact of aerosols on atmospheric radiative transfer. In the next future, it is planned to complete regularly the present 2004-2010 database.

Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) sightings and population estimates for the Canadian High Arctic 2002-2004

Aerial surveys of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) were conducted in the Canadian High Arctic during the month of August from 2002 to 2004. The surveys covered the waters of Barrow Strait, Prince Regent Inlet, the Gulf of Boothia, Admiralty Inlet, Eclipse Sound, and the eastern coast of Baffin Island, using systematic sampling methods. Fiords were flown along a single transect down the middle. Near-surface population estimates increased by 1.9%-8.7% when corrected for perception bias. The estimates were further increased by a factor of approximately 3, to account for individuals not seen because they were diving when the survey plane flew over (availability bias). These corrections resulted in estimates of 27 656 (SE = 14 939) for the Prince Regent and Gulf of Boothia area, 20 225 (SE = 7285) for the Eclipse Sound area, and 10 073 (SE = 3123) for the East Baffin Island fiord area. The estimate for the Admiralty Inlet area was 5362 (SE = 2681) but is thought to be biased. Surveys could not be done in other known areas of occupation, such as the waters of the Cumberland Peninsula of East Baffin, and channels farther west of the areas surveyed (Peel Sound, Viscount Melville Sound, Smith Sound and Jones Sound, and other channels of the Canadian Arctic archipelago). Despite these probable biases and the incomplete coverage, results of these surveys show that the summering range of narwhals in the Canadian High Arctic is vast. If narwhals are philopatric to their summering areas, as they appear to be, the total population of that range could number more than 60 000 animals. The largest numbers are in the western portion of their summer range, around Somerset Island, and also in the Eclipse Sound area. However, these survey estimates have large variances due to narwhal aggregation in some parts of the surveyed areas.

(Table 1) Sound velocity, wet-bulk density, and acoustic impedance of some indurated sediment from DSDP Leg 64 Holes

The Pliocene-Quaternary sediments that we drilled at eight sites in the Gulf of California consist of silty clays to clayey silts, diatomaceous oozes, and mixtures of both types. In this chapter I have summarized various measurements of their physical properties, relating this information to burial depth and effective overburden pressure. Rapid deposition and frequent intercalations of mud turbidites may cause underconsolidation in some cases; overconsolidation probably can be excluded. General lithification begins at depths between 200 and 300 meters sub-bottom, at porosities between 55 and 60% (for silty clays) and as high as 70% (for diatomaceous ooze). Diatom-rich sediments have low strength and very high porosities (70-90%) and can maintain this state to a depth of nearly 400 meters (where the overburden pressure = 1.4 MPa). The field compressibility curves of all sites are compared to data published earlier. Where sediments are affected by basaltic sills, these curves clearly show the effects of additional loading and thermal stress (diagenesis near the contacts). Strength measurements on well-preserved hydraulic piston cores yielded results similar to those obtained on selected samples from standard drilling. Volumetric shrinkage dropped to low values at 100 to 400 meters burial depth (0.3 to 2.0 MPa overburden pressure). Porosity after shrinkage depends on the composition of sediments.

Temperature time series and physical properties of snow samples of a high-arctic permafrost site on Svalbard, Norway

Independent measurements of radiation, sensible and latent heat fluxes and the ground heat flux are used to describe the annual cycle of the surface energy budget at a high-arctic permafrost site on Svalbard. During summer, the net short-wave radiation is the dominant energy source, while well developed turbulent processes and the heat flux in the ground lead to a cooling of the surface. About 15% of the net radiation is consumed by the seasonal thawing of the active layer in July and August. The Bowen ratio is found to vary between 0.25 and 2, depending on water content of the uppermost soil layer. During the polar night in winter, the net long-wave radiation is the dominant energy loss channel for the surface, which is mainly compensated by the sensible heat flux and, to a lesser extent, by the ground heat flux, which originates from the refreezing of the active layer. The average annual sensible heat flux of -6.9 W/m**2 is composed of strong positive fluxes in July and August, while negative fluxes dominate during the rest of the year. With 6.8 W/m**2, the latent heat flux more or less compensates the sensible heat flux in the annual average. Strong evaporation occurs during the snow melt period and particularly during the snow-free period in summer and fall. When the ground is covered by snow, latent heat fluxes through sublimation of snow are recorded, but are insignificant for the average surface energy budget. The near-surface atmospheric stratification is found to be predominantly unstable to neutral, when the ground is snow-free, and stable to neutral for snow-covered ground. Due to long-lasting near-surface inversions in winter, an average temperature difference of approximately 3 K exists between the air temperature at 10 m height and the surface temperature of the snow.

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) point measurements of ice thickness in Austria

Glacier thickness is an important factor in the course of glacier retreat in a warming climate. Thiese study data presents the results (point data) of GPR surveys on 66 Austrian mountain glaciers carried out between 1995 and 2014. The glacier areas range from 0.001 to 18.4 km**2, and their ice thickness has been surveyed with an average density of 36 points/km**2 . The glacier areas and surface elevations refer to the second Austrian glacier inventory (mapped between 1996 and 2002). According to the glacier state recorded in the second glacier inventory, the 64 glaciers cover an area of 223.3±3.6 km**3. Maps of glacier thickness have been calculated by Fischer and Kuhn (2013) with a mean thickness of 50±3 m and contain an glacier volume of 11.9±1.1 km**3. The mean maximum ice thickness is 119±5 m. The ice thickness measurements have been carried out with the transmitter of Narod and Clarke (1994) combined with restively loaded dipole antennas (Wu and King, 1965; Rose and Vickers, 1974) at central wavelengths of 6.5 (30 m antenna length) and 4.0 MHz (50 m antenna length). The signal was recorded trace by trace with an oscilloscope. 168 m/µs as used by Haeberli et al. (1982), Bauder (2001), and Narod and Clarke (1994), the signal velocity in air is assumed to be 300 m/µs. Details on the method can be are found in Fischer and Kuhn (2013), as well as Span et al. (2005) and Fischer et al. (2007).

High resolved snow height measurements at Neumayer Station, Antarctica, 2013

Antarctica is a continent with a strong character. High wind speeds, very low temperatures and heavy snow storms. All these parameters are well known due to observations and measurements, but precipitation measurements are still rare because the number of manned stations is very limited in Antarctica. In such a polar snow region many wind driven phenomena associated with snow fall exist like snow drift, blowing snow or sastrugi. Snow drift is defined as a layer of snow formed by the wind during a snowstorm. The horizontal visibility is below eye level. Blowing snow is specified as an ensemble of snow particles raised by the wind to moderate or great heights above the ground; the horizontal visibility at eye level is generally very poor (National Snow And Ice Data Center (NSIDC), 2013). Sastrugi are complex, fragile and sharp ridges or grooves formed on land or over sea ice. They arise from wind erosion, saltation of snow particles and deposition. To get more details about these procedures better instruments than the conventional stake array are required. This small report introduces a new measuring technique and therefore offers a never used dataset of snow heights. It is very common to measure the snow height with a stake array in Antarctica (f.e. Neumayer Station, Kohnen Station) but not with a laser beam. Thus the idea was born to install a new instrument in December 2012 at Neumayer Station.

Seagrass ecosystem response to long-term high CO2 in a Mediterranean volcanic vent

We examined the long-term effect of naturally acidified water on a Cymodocea nodosa meadow growing at a shallow volcanic CO2 vent in Vulcano Island (Italy). Seagrass and adjacent unvegetated habitats growing at a low pH station (pH = 7.65 ± 0.02) were compared with corresponding habitats at a control station (pH = 8.01 ± 0.01). Density and biomass showed a clear decreasing trend at the low pH station and the below- to above-ground biomass ratio was more than 10 times lower compared to the control. C content and delta 13C of leaves and epiphytes were significantly lower at the low pH station. Photosynthetic activity of C. nodosa was stimulated by low pH as seen by the significant increase in Chla content of leaves, maximum electron transport rate and compensation irradiance. Seagrass community metabolism was intense at the low pH station, with significantly higher net community production, respiration and gross primary production than the control community, whereas metabolism of the unvegetated community did not differ between stations. Productivity was promoted by the low pH, but this was not translated into biomass, probably due to nutrient limitation, grazing or poor environmental conditions. The results indicate that seagrass response in naturally acidified conditions is dependable upon species and geochemical characteristics of the site and highlight the need for a better understanding of complex interactions in these environments.

The evolution of high-temperature mylonitic microfabrics: evidence from simple shearing of a quartz analogue (norcamphor)

Plane strain simple shearing of norcamphor (C7H10O) in a see-through deformation rig to a shear strain of γ = 10.5 at a homologous temperature of Th = 0.81 yields a microfabric similar to that of quartz in amphibolite facies mylonite. Synkinematic analysis of the norcamphor microfabric reveals that the development of a steady-state texture is linked to changes in the relative activities of several grain-scale mechanisms. Three stages of textural and microstructural evolution are distinguished: (1) rotation and shearing of the intracrystalline glide planes are accommodated by localized deformation along three sets of anastomozing microshears. A symmetrical c-axis girdle reflects localized pure shear extension along the main microshear set (Sa) oblique to the bulk shear zone boundary (abbreviated as SZB); (2) progressive rotation of the microshears into parallelism with the SZB increases the component of simple shear on the Sa microshears. Grain-boundary migration recrystallization favours the survival of grains with slip systems oriented for easy glide. This is associated with a textural transition towards two stable c-axis point maxima whose skeletal outline is oblique with respect to the Sa microshears and the SZB; and (3) at high shear strains (γ > 8), the microstructure, texture and mechanism assemblage are strain invariant, but strain continues to partition into rotating sets of microshears. Steady state is therefore a dynamic, heterogeneous condition involving the cyclic nucleation, growth and consumption of grains.