March 6th, 2012
April 2012 article (Early View): “Validation of Satellite Precipitation Adjustment Methodology From Seven Basins in the Continental United States,” by Kenneth J. Tobin and Marvin E. Bennett.
This article outlines a methodology that adjusts satellite products utilizing ground-based precipitation data. The approach is not a simple bias adjustment, but is a three-step process that transforms a satellite product based on a ground-based precipitation product (NEXRAD-derived Multisensor Precipitation Estimator [MPE] product or rain-gauge data). The developed methodology was successfully applied to seven moderate-to-large sized watersheds from continental United States and northern Mexico over a spectrum of climatic regimes ranging from dry to humid settings.
[Please note: I have quoted and paraphrased freely from the article, but the interpretation is my own.]
Tags: precipitation, satellites
Posted in Article Highlights | No Comments »
March 6th, 2012
April 2012 article (Early View): “Effects of Eastern Hemlock Decline on Large Wood Loads in Streams of the Appalachian Mountains,” by Daniel M. Evans, C. Andrew Dolloff, W. Michael Aust, Amy M. Villamagna.
Large wood plot locations.
As a one of my favorite hiking trails winds through Upper Whiteoak Canyon in Shenandoah National Park, there’s a place called “Limberlost.” Over the years, I’ve seen this magical area change from a deep, dark, almost monoculture Eastern hemlock forest into a light place, filled with growing understory. The culprit is a hemlock woolly adelgid infestation. I knew this outbreak, occurring all over the Appalachian Mountains, had to effect streams. Here’s the answer.
The authors paired information on Eastern Hermlock decline with large wood (LW) measurements to examine the relationships between forest disturbance, basal area, and LW stream loads and to understand how this episodic disturbance affects stream ecosystems throughout the Appalachian Mountains. This study suggests that hemlock loss increase LW loads in streams in the short term, particularly in higher elevation, high-gradient streams. However, this initial pulse of LW may lead to decline of total LW in these high-gradient streams once the hemlock LW is flushed downstream or lost through fragmentation. This flush of new LW may flow downstream over time and add to LW loads in lower stream reaches. New stands of replacement trees will need time to develop after the hemlock are removed, before they contribute to production and recruitment of LW in streams.
[Please note: I have quoted and paraphrased freely from the article, but the interpretation is my own.]
Tags: aquatic ecology
Posted in Article Highlights | No Comments »
March 3rd, 2012
As the Washington Post reports this morning, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Ken Cuccinelli’s suit to obtain documents on climate change research has failed. Our court system saw Mr. Cuccinelli’s charge for the blatant political statement it was, and tossed out the whole mess at every level. Nevertheless the University of Virginia had to spend over half a million dollars of private funding defending against the suit.
I am glad this threat to science is over, at least for now. I am not a native Virginian; any of my ancestors who were in the US in the 1860′s wore blue uniforms. But this lovely Commonwealth has been my home for over 40 years. It is no fun to see Virginia becoming an embarrassment to the scientific community.
Tags: climate change
Posted in My Two Cents | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2012
April 2012 article (Early View): “The U.S. Flood Control Program at 75: Environmental Issues,” by Peter E. Black.
Peter Black, a Past President of AWRA, is one of our organization’s treasures. Peter doesn’t have to read about historic water events, he was there! In this article, he examines the U.S. riverine Flood Control Program, starting by pointing out a notable misquote of Gilbert White. He shows how misconceptions and lack of understanding concerning fundamental ecology and hydrology of floodplains and watersheds have led to unwise or unintended consequences.
Including topics such as “How Realistic is Flood Control,” this summary makes for very interesting, sometimes opinionated reading. Black is senior enough to not hold back: “The time has come to recognize that there is pressing need to reconsider the value of ‘flood control’ as a misnomer, oxymoron, or fantasy: actually, all three.”
Only in JAWRA. Recommended reading.
[Please note: I have quoted and paraphrased freely from the article, but the interpretation is my own.]
Tags: flooding
Posted in Article Highlights | 1 Comment »
March 1st, 2012
I regularly read The Scholarly Kitchen blog concerning, “What’s hot and cooking in scholarly publishing.” Today, it has a nice entry by Kent Anderson on “Digital Disorder – Losing the Signal of Priority and Selection.” He complains that, when you find an article via a search engine like Google Scholar, you go straight to the article itself. You don’t see what order the editor chose to place it in the issue, and you don’t see related articles which may have proceeded or followed it. This is a good thought piece on how things change in the digital world, though I don’t necessarily share the author’s concern.
For the record, most JAWRA articles are published in the order in which they complete production. I don’t even attempt to guess which will be the most popular. The exception is Featured Collections, where the organizers choose the order. Like most journals, each online issue of JAWRA includes a table of contents. Want the order of papers (for what it’s worth)? It’s there. Also, the abstract page includes, at the bottom, links to “more content like this.” This latter feature actually is better than the paper version, as it will quickly bring you to Discussions, Replies, and Errata — things that, in print, would appear several issues later.
The digital world is different. Sometimes better, sometimes worse, but different. We all have to learn to adapt and use new tools.
Posted in Journal Publishing | No Comments »
March 1st, 2012
April 2012 article (Early View): “The 2007-2009 Drought in Athens, Georgia, United States: A Climatological Analysis and an Assessment of Future Water Availability,” by Pete Campana, John Knox, Andrew Grundstein, and John Dowd.
This case study reports how population increases, combined with a lack of water conservation, led to severe water shortages in the Athens, Georgia region during late 2007. Drought indices and precipitation records indicates that conditions were severe, but not worse than several other drought events. A drought of similar length would be expected to occur approximately every 25 years. Only after per capita usage decreased did water resources last despite continuing drought conditions through 2009.
In all likelihood, the future of water supplies will depend on mitigative and adaptive strategies implemented by the counties that rely on them. Mitigation strategies, such as the water restrictions put in place during 2007, have already proven to be successful at reducing withdrawal levels to a sustainable daily amount. The Athens area was able to avert a crisis partly by taking actions that were in advance of state restrictions on water use. However, Georgia HB 1281 (signed by Gov. Perdue in May 2008) now prevents local governments from getting “ahead of the curve” v. state-level water-use restrictions without application to and approval by the Director of the Georgia EPD on a case-by-case basis, demonstrating “good cause,” and following an EPD-approved process. This is a potentially disastrous top-down directive that reduces the responsiveness of society to drought.
[Please note: I have quoted and paraphrased freely from the article, but the interpretation is my own.]
Tags: drought, water use
Posted in Article Highlights | No Comments »
February 28th, 2012
An important topic came up at today’s staff meeting. It seems a higher than usual number of our members have neglected to renew their membership, and risk tumbling into darkness and ignorance. If you do not renew by March 16th, your online access to JAWRA will be interrupted, and you will not be sent the April 2012 issue.
How can you check your renewal status? Go to the AWRA home page and log in. The login will take you to the members-only page. Look at the top left, under “PROFILE.” If you have NOT renewed, there will be a link there for you to renew your membership. (If there’s no link, you’re cool; thanks for checking. The message at the top, “It’s that time…,” is just static text.)
Personal access to JAWRA, including our entire back catalog, is one of the prime benefits of membership. If you are one of the procrastinators, please get out your credit card and renew now.
We also welcome new members! Apply today!
Posted in Administrative | No Comments »
February 23rd, 2012
Like every editor on the planet, I have been bombarded the past week with emails from the Heartland Institute decrying the activities of Peter Gleick in exposing some of their internal materials. I might have been tempted to tighten the spam settings for a conservative, anti-climate change outfit like this, but, as they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Peter is in hot water because he apparently mixed the roles of scientist and journalist. Heartland also is feeling heat because some of the things he exposed seem shady. A Congressional investigation has been called for. (Ooh, that will get to the truth! 
) Strange business. I hope the outcome does not deprive us of an outspoken voice for science.
Posted in My Two Cents | No Comments »
February 17th, 2012
I just bought an eBook from Barnes and Nobel for my Nook App. Feeling cooperative, I answered the customer survey at the end. One of the questions concerned what type of product I bought: a long list. Conspicuous by its absence was the category, “Book.” Go figure!
Posted in Journal Publishing | No Comments »
February 16th, 2012
It’s always nice to get a compliment from an author after a complex review process. With a multidisciplinary journal, you sometimes need to select additional reviewers to cover all the aspects of a submission. In this case, the three original reviews indicated the need for another reviewer to look at the paper from a different perspective. Of course it took a little longer, but it seems we got it right. So, I’ll brag.
“I’d like to compliment your associate editors on the selection of reviewers. … It’s terrific that JAWRA is able to assemble a group that is able to collectively address all major parts of the paper — surely, this will help us make the paper stronger. I find the reviews to be fair and helpful, also, which is so satisfying.”
Posted in Journal Publishing | No Comments »
