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Description
Ponderosa pine forests are a dominant land cover type in semiarid montane areas. Water supplies in major rivers of the southwestern United States depend on ponderosa pine forests since these ecosystems: (1) receive a significant amount of rainfall and snowfall, (2) intercept precipitation and transpire water, and (3) indirectly influence runoff by impacting the infiltration rate. However, the hydrologic patterns in these ecosystems with strong seasonality are poorly understood. In this study, we used a distributed hydrologic model evaluated against field observations to improve our understandings on spatial controls of hydrologic patterns, appropriate model resolution to simulate ponderosa pine ecosystems and hydrologic responses in the context of contrasting winter to summer transitions. Our modeling effort is focused on the hydrologic responses during the North American Monsoon (NAM), winter and spring periods. In Chapter 2, we utilized a distributed model explore the spatial controls on simulated soil moisture and temporal evolution of these spatial controls as a function of seasonal wetness. Our findings indicate that vegetation and topographic curvature are spatial controls. Vegetation controlled patterns during dry summer period switch to fine-scale terrain curvature controlled patterns during persistently wet NAM period. Thus, a climatic threshold involving rainfall and weather conditions during the NAM is identified when high rainfall amount (such as 146 mm rain in August, 1997) activates lateral flux of soil moisture and frequent cloudy cover (such as 42% cloud cover during daytime of August, 1997) lowers evapotranspiration. In Chapter 3, we investigate the impacts of model coarsening on simulated soil moisture patterns during the NAM. Results indicate that model aggregation quickly eradicates curvature features and its spatial control on hydrologic patterns. A threshold resolution of ~10% of the original terrain is identified through analyses of homogeneity indices, correlation coefficients and spatial errors beyond which the fidelity of simulated soil moisture is no longer reliable. Based on spatial error analyses, we detected that the concave areas (~28% of hillslope) are very sensitive to model coarsening and root mean square error (RMSE) is higher than residual soil moisture content (~0.07 m3/m3 soil moisture) for concave areas. Thus, concave areas need to be sampled for capturing appropriate hillslope response for this hillslope. In Chapter 4, we investigate the impacts of contrasting winter to summer transitions on hillslope hydrologic responses. We use a distributed hydrologic model to generate a consistent set of high-resolution hydrologic estimates. Our model is evaluated against the snow depth, soil moisture and runoff observations over two water years yielding reliable spatial distributions during the winter to summer transitions. We find that a wet winter followed by a dry summer promotes evapotranspiration losses (spatial averaged ~193 mm spring ET and ~ 600 mm summer ET) that dry the soil and disconnect lateral fluxes in the forested hillslope, leading to soil moisture patterns resembling vegetation patches. Conversely, a dry winter prior to a wet summer results in soil moisture increases due to high rainfall and low ET during the spring (spatially averaged 78 mm ET and 232 mm rainfall) and summer period (spatially averaged 147 mm ET and 247 mm rainfall) which promote lateral connectivity and soil moisture patterns with the signature of terrain curvature. An opposing temporal switch between infiltration and saturation excess runoff is also identified. These contrasting responses indicate that the inverse relation has significant consequences on hillslope water availability and its spatial distribution with implications on other ecohydrological processes including vegetation phenology, groundwater recharge and geomorphic development. Results from this work have implications on the design of hillslope experiments, the resolution of hillslope scale models, and the prediction of hydrologic conditions in ponderosa pine ecosystems. In addition, our findings can be used to select future hillslope sites for detailed ecohydrological investigations. Further, the proposed methodology can be useful for predicting responses to climate and land cover changes that are anticipated for the southwestern United States.
ContributorsMahmood, Taufique Hasan (Author) / Vivoni, Enrique R. (Thesis advisor) / Whipple, Kelin X. (Committee member) / Shock, Everett (Committee member) / Heimsath, Arjun M. (Committee member) / Ruddell, Benjamin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The prevalence and unique properties of airborne nanoparticles have raised concerns regarding their potential adverse health effects. Despite their significance, the understanding of nanoparticle generation, transport, and exposure remains incomplete. This study first aimed to assess nanoparticle exposure in indoor workplace environments, in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. On-site observations during tool preventive maintenance revealed a significant release of particles smaller than 30 nm, which subsequent instrumental analysis confirmed as predominantly composed of transition metals. Although the measured mass concentration levels did not exceed current federal limits, it prompted concerns regarding how well filter-based air sampling methods would capture the particles for exposure assessment and how well common personal protective equipment would protect from exposure. To address these concerns, this study evaluated the capture efficiency of filters and masks. When challenged by aerosolized engineered nanomaterials, common filters used in industrial hygiene sampling exhibited capture efficiencies of over 60%. Filtering Facepiece Respirators, such as the N95 mask, exhibited a capture efficiency of over 98%. In contrast, simple surgical masks showed a capture efficiency of approximately 70%. The experiments showed that face velocity and ambient humidity influence capture performance and mostly identified the critical role of mask and particle surface charge in capturing nanoparticles. Masks with higher surface potential exhibited higher capture efficiency towards nanoparticles. Eliminating their surface charge resulted in a significantly diminished capture efficiency, up to 43%. Finally, this study characterized outdoor nanoparticle concentrations in the Phoenix metropolitan area, revealing typical concentrations on the order of 10^4 #/cm3 consistent with other urban environments. During the North American monsoon season, in dust storms, with elevated number concentrations of large particles, particularly in the size range of 1-10 μm, the number concentration of nanoparticles in the size range of 30-100 nm was substantially lower by approximately 55%. These findings provide valuable insights for future assessments of nanoparticle exposure risks and filter capture mechanisms associated with airborne nanoparticles.
ContributorsZhang, Zhaobo (Author) / Herckes, Pierre (Thesis advisor) / Westerhoff, Paul (Committee member) / Shock, Everett (Committee member) / Fraser, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Microplastics, plastics smaller than 5 mm, are an emerging concern worldwide due to their potential adverse effects on the environment and human health. Microplastics have the potential to biomagnify through the food chain, and are prone to adsorbing organic pollutants and heavy metals. Therefore, there is an urgent need to assess the extent of microplastic contamination in different environments. The occurrence of microplastics in the atmosphere of Tempe, AZ was investigated and results show concentrations as high as 1.1 microplastics/m3. The most abundant identified polymer was polyvinyl chloride. However, chemical characterization is fraught with challenges, with a majority of microplastics remaining chemically unidentified. Laboratory experiments simulating weathering of microplastics revealed that Raman spectra of microplastics change over time due to weathering processes. This work also studied the spatial variation of microplastics in soil in Phoenix and the surrounding areas of the Sonoran Desert, and microplastic abundances ranged from 122 to 1299 microplastics/kg with no clear trends between different locations, and substantial total deposition of microplastics occurring in the same location with resuspension and redistribution of deposited microplastics likely contributing to unclear spatial trends. Temporal variation of soil microplastics from 2005 to 2015 show a systematic increase in the abundance of microplastics. Polyethylene was prominent in all soil samples.
Further, recreational surface waters were investigated as a potential source of microplastics in aquatic environments. The temporal variation of microplastics in the Salt River, AZ over the course of one day depicted an increase of 8 times in microplastic concentration at peak activity time of 16:00 hr compared to 8:00 hr. Concurrently, microplastic concentrations in surface water samples from apartment community swimming pools in Tempe, AZ depicted substantial variability with concentrations as high as 254,574 MPs/m3. Polyester and Polyamide fibers were prevalent in surface water samples, indicating a release from synthetic fabrics. Finally, a method for distinguishing tire wear microplastics from soot in ambient aerosol samples was developed using Programmed Thermal Analysis, that allows for the quantification of Elemental Carbon. The method was successfully applied on urban aerosol samples with results depicting substantial fractions of tire wear in urban atmospheric environments.
ContributorsChandrakanthan, Kanchana (Author) / Herckes, Pierre (Thesis advisor) / Fraser, Matthew (Committee member) / Shock, Everett (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Evaluations of chemical energy supplies for redox reactions used by chemotrophs in water-rock hosted ecosystems are often done separately from evaluations of chemotroph diversity. However, given that energy is a fundamental and unifying parameter for life, much can be gained by evaluating chemical energy as an ecological parameter of water-rock hosted ecosystems. Therefore, I developed an approach that combines evaluation of chemical energy supplies with 16S and 18S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. I used this approach to assess drivers of microbial distribution, diversity and activity in serpentinized fluids of the Samail Ophiolite of Oman and in hot springs in Yellowstone National Park.
Through the application of the approach, microbiological interactions in serpentinized fluids were found to be more complex than anticipated. Serpentinized fluids are hyperalkaline and pH is often considered the driving parameter of microbial diversity, however hydrogenotrophic community composition varies in hyperalkaline fluids with similar pH. The composition of hydrogenotrophic communities in serpentinized fluids were found to correspond to the availability of the electron acceptor for hydrogenotrophic redox reactions. Specifically, hydrogenotrophic community composition transitions from being dominated by the hydrogenotrophic methanogen genus, Methanobacterium, when the concentration of sulfate is less than ~10 μm. Above ~10 μm, sulfate reducers are most abundant. Additionally, Methanobacterium was found to co-occur with the protist genus, Cyclidium, in serpentinized fluids. Species of Cyclidium are anaerobic and known to have methanogen endosymbionts. Therefore, Cyclidium may supply inorganic carbon evolved from fermentation to Methanobacterium, thereby mitigating pH dependent inorganic carbon limitation.
This approach also revealed possible biological mechanisms for methane oxidation in Yellowstone hot springs. Measurable rates of biological methane oxidation in hot spring sediments are likely associated with methanotrophs of the phylum, Verrucomicrobia, and the class, Alphaproteobacteria. Additionally, rates were measurable where known methanotrophs were not detected. At some of these sites, archaeal ammonia oxidizer taxa were detected. Ammonia oxidizers have been shown to be capable of methane oxidation in other systems and may be an alternative mechanism for methanotrophy in Yellowstone hot springs. At the remaining sites, uncharacterized microbial lineages may be capable of carrying out methane oxidation in Yellowstone hot springs.
Through the application of the approach, microbiological interactions in serpentinized fluids were found to be more complex than anticipated. Serpentinized fluids are hyperalkaline and pH is often considered the driving parameter of microbial diversity, however hydrogenotrophic community composition varies in hyperalkaline fluids with similar pH. The composition of hydrogenotrophic communities in serpentinized fluids were found to correspond to the availability of the electron acceptor for hydrogenotrophic redox reactions. Specifically, hydrogenotrophic community composition transitions from being dominated by the hydrogenotrophic methanogen genus, Methanobacterium, when the concentration of sulfate is less than ~10 μm. Above ~10 μm, sulfate reducers are most abundant. Additionally, Methanobacterium was found to co-occur with the protist genus, Cyclidium, in serpentinized fluids. Species of Cyclidium are anaerobic and known to have methanogen endosymbionts. Therefore, Cyclidium may supply inorganic carbon evolved from fermentation to Methanobacterium, thereby mitigating pH dependent inorganic carbon limitation.
This approach also revealed possible biological mechanisms for methane oxidation in Yellowstone hot springs. Measurable rates of biological methane oxidation in hot spring sediments are likely associated with methanotrophs of the phylum, Verrucomicrobia, and the class, Alphaproteobacteria. Additionally, rates were measurable where known methanotrophs were not detected. At some of these sites, archaeal ammonia oxidizer taxa were detected. Ammonia oxidizers have been shown to be capable of methane oxidation in other systems and may be an alternative mechanism for methanotrophy in Yellowstone hot springs. At the remaining sites, uncharacterized microbial lineages may be capable of carrying out methane oxidation in Yellowstone hot springs.
ContributorsHowells, Alta Emily Gessner (Author) / Shock, Everett (Thesis advisor) / Collins, James (Committee member) / Anbar, Ariel (Committee member) / Cadillo-Quiroz, Hinsby (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020