NASA Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports

effects of climate change and urbanization on vegetation could adversely affect some critical systems. Timber production may
initially increase and then decrease, but producers and consumers may be more affected by changes in global timber prices.
Higher temperatures will cause the snowpack to melt earlier in the year, increasing flood risks. Changes in the water supply
are very sensitive to changes in precipitation. Agriculture will most likely demand more water, although population and
economic growth will decrease the sector’s allocation of water. Climate change could affect agriculture more favorably in
northern California than in the south, but changes in technology may have a far greater impact statewide.
NTIS
Climate Change; Public Health
20040071059 Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, CA
Final Report for LDRD Project ‘A New Era of Research in Aerosol/Cloud/Climate Interactions at LLNL’
Chuang, C.; Bergman, D.; Dignon, J.; Connell, P.; Jan. 31, 2002; In English
Report No.(s): DE2004-15002147; UCRL-ID-146980; No Copyright; Avail: National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
One of the largest uncertainties in simulations of climate change over the industrial period is the impact of anthropogenic
aerosols on the Earth’s radiation budget. Much of this uncertainty arises from the limited capability for either precisely linking
precursor gases to the formation and size distribution of the aerosols or quantitatively describing the existing levels of global
aerosol loading. This project builds on our aerosol and chemistry expertise to address each of these uncertainties in a more
quantitative fashion than is currently possible. With the current LDRD support, we are in the process to implement an aerosol
microphysics module into our global chemistry model to more fundamentally and completely describe the processes that
determine the distribution of atmospheric aerosols. Using this new modeling capability, in conjunction with the most current
version of NCAR climate model, we will examine the influence of these processes on aerosol direct and indirect climate
forcing.
NTIS
Atmospheric Chemistry; Air Pollution; Climate Change; Research and Development; Aerosols
20040073468 Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA, USA
Evolution of Topography in Glaciated Mountain Ranges
Brocklehurst, Simon H.; August 26, 2002; 1 pp.; In English
Contract(s)/Grant(s): NAG5-10389; No Copyright; Avail: Other Sources; Abstract Only
This thesis examines the response of alpine landscapes to the onset of glaciation. The basic approach is to compare fluvial
and glacial laudscapes, since it is the change from the former to the latter that accompanies climatic cooling. This allows a
detailed evaluation of hypotheses relating climate change to tectonic processes in glaciated mountain belts. Fieldwork was
carried out in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, and the Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado, alongside digital elevation
model analyses in the western US, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Himalaya of northwestern Pakistan. hypothesis
is overstated in its appeal to glacial erosion as a major source of relief production and subsequent peak uplift. Glaciers in the
eastern Sierra Nevada and the western Sangre de Cristos have redistributed relief, but have produced only modest relief by
enlarging drainage basins at the expense of low-relief topography. Glaciers have lowered valley floors and ridgelines by
similar amounts, limiting the amount of "missing mass’ that can be generated, and causing a decrease in drainage basin
relief. The principal response of glaciated landscapes to rapid rock uplift is the development of towering cirque headwalls.
This represents considerable relief production, but is not caused by glacial erosion alone. Large valley glaciers can maintain
their low gradient regardless of uplift rate, which supports the "glacial buzzsaw" hypothesis. However, the
inability of glaciers to erode steep hillslopes as rapidly can cause mean elevations to rise. Cosmogenic isotope dating is used
to show that (i) where plucking is active, the last major glaciation removed sufficient material to reset the cosmogenic clock;
and (ii) former glacial valley floors now stranded near the crest of the Sierra Nevada are at varying stages of abandonment,
suggesting a cycle of drainage reorganiszation and relief inversion due to glacial erosion similar to that observed in river
networks. Glaciated landscapes are quite distinct from their fluvial counterparts in both landforms and processes. Given the
scarcity of purely fluvial, active mountain ranges, it is essential that glacial erosion be considered amongst the processes
sculpting active orogenic belts.
Author
Evolution (Development); Topography; Glaciers; Mountains; Digital Elevation Models
20040073540 Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA
Prediction of Tropical Cyclone Formation in the Western North Pacific Using the Navy Global Model
Bower, Caroline A.; Mar. 2004; 139 pp.; In English; Original contains color illustrations
Report No.(s): AD-A422293; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A07, Hardcopy
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