Treesearch

Thermal regimes in rivers and streams are fundamental determinants of biological processes and are often monitored for regulatory compliance. Here, we describe a simple technique for establishing annual monitoring sites that uses underwater epoxy to attach miniature sensors to large rocks and cement bridge supports, which then serve as protective anchors. More than 500 new monitoring sites were established using the technique from 2010 to 2012 in rivers and streams across the Rocky Mountains. Revisits to 179 sites indicate good sensor retention rates, with 88 - 100% of sensors retained...

When hydrogen peroxide is mixed with caustic soda, an auto-accelerating reaction can lead to generation of significant amounts of heat and oxygen. On the basis of experiments using typical pulp mill process concentration and temperatures, a relatively simple kinetic model has been developed. Evaluation of these model results reveals that hydrogen peroxide-caustic soda systems are extremely sensitive to hydrogen peroxide:caustic soda ratio, transition metal contamination, and temperature. Small changes in initial conditions can result in a close system becoming explosive. Analysis of model...

The effectiveness of treatments for the surface layer of novel foam core particleboards was evaluated by means of Cone calorimeter tests, Foam cote particleboards with variations of surface layer treatment, adhesives, and surface layer thicknesses under similar processing conditions were used to produce the test specimen for the Cone calorimeter tests. Ignitability, heat release rate profile, peak of heat release rate, total heat released, effective heat of combustion, mass loss rate, gaseous emissions, and specific extinction area were measured using the cone irradiance of 50 kW m-2....

Both cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) are nanoscale cellulose fibers that have shown reinforcing effects in polymer nanocomposites. CNCs and CNFs are different in shape, size and composition. This study systematically compared their morphologies, crystalline structure, dispersion properties in polyethylene oxide (PEO) matrix, interactions with matrix, and the resulting reinforcing effects on the matrix polymer. Transparent PEO/CNC and PEO/CNF nanocomposites comprising up to 10 wt % nanofibers were obtained via solution casting. Scanning electron microscopy...

This study conducted an investigation of the effect of lignosulfonate (LS) on enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses. Two commercial LSs and one laboratory sulfonated kraft lignin were applied to Whatman paper, dilute acid and SPORL (sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses) pretreated aspen, and kraft alkaline and SPORL pretreated lodgepole pine. All three lignin samples inhibited cellulose saccharification of Whatman paper, but enhanced the saccharification of the four lignocellulosic substrates. The level of enhancement was related to the molecular weight...

On April 11-12, 2012, the Chesapeake Bay Program's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) convened an expert workshop to investigate the environmental effects of shale gas development in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The purpose of this workshop was to engage scientists from across the nation in a review of the state-of-the-science regarding shale gas development effects on the Chesapeake Bay. To date, many researchers have completed studies of various environmental effects, but a collective state-of-the-science review of these studies has not been conducted. Without fully...

Wildfires are a serious threat for land managers and property owners, and over the last few decades this threat has expanded as a result of increased rural development. Most wildfires in the north-eastern US occur in the wildland—urban interface, those regions of intermingling urban and non-developed vegetated lands, where access to firefighting resources can be limited. We created monthly wildfire ignition probability maps from environmental predictors and wildfires occurring between 2000 and 2009 for the states of New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Predictor variables included a...

Main publication is written in Chinese. Aims: Optimal spatial scale of hydrological response unit (HRU) is a precondition for eco-hydrological modeling as it is essential to improve accuracy. Our objective was to evaluate the spatial scale of HRU for application of the WASSSI-C model. Methods: We determined the best HRU scale for the eco-hydrological model (WASSI-C) through examining the modeling accuracies at different HRU thresholds. This study focused on a large watershed, the upper Zagunao River watershed, situated in the upper reach of the Minjiang River, Yangtze River Basin, China....

For a higher resolution version of this file, please use the following link: www.geobabble.org Satellite-based remote sensing can assist forest managers with their need to recognize disturbances and track recovery. Despite the long standing availability of raw imagery, the systematic delivery of spatially continuous, ready-to-use, processed products has evaded us until recently. The web-based ForWarn system moves us a step forward by generating forest change maps at high frequency in a format that is usable to forest managers, planners, and the public. The ForWarn system shows change in...

In this paper, we investigate homeowner preferences and willingness to pay for wildfire protection programs using a choice experiment with three attributes: risk, loss, and cost. A phone-mail-phone survey was used to collect data from homeowners predominantly living in medium and high wildfire risk communities in Florida. We tested three hypotheses: (1) homeowner preferences for wildfire protection programs are risk averse, (2) past personal experience with wildfires increases homeowners’ willingness to pay for protection programs, and (3) subjective perception of risk influences willingnes...