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Spectral polarimetry has the potential to be used to study microphysical properties in relation to the dynamics within a radar resolution volume by combining Doppler and polarimetric measurements. The past studies of spectral polarimetry have focused on using radar measurements from higher elevation angles, where both the size sorting from the hydrometeors’ terminal velocities and polarimetric characteristics are maintained. In this work, spectral polarimetry is applied to data from the 0° elevation angle, where polarimetric properties are maximized. Radar data collected by the C-band University of Oklahoma Polarimetric Radar for Innovations in Meteorology and Engineering (OU-PRIME) during a hailstorm event on 24 April 2011 are used in the analysis. The slope of the spectral differential reflectivity exhibits interesting variations across the hail core, which suggests the presence of size sorting of hydrometeors caused by vertical shear in a turbulent environment. A nearby S-band polarimetric Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (KOUN) is also used to provide insights into this hailstorm. Moreover, a flexible numerical simulation is developed for this study, in which different types of hydrometeors such as rain and melting hail can be considered individually or as a combination under different sheared and turbulent conditions. The impacts of particle size distribution, shear, turbulence, attenuation, and mixture of rain and melting hail on polarimetric spectral signatures are investigated with the simulated Doppler spectra and spectral differential reflectivity.
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Abstract Tidal marshes in the Chesapeake Bay are vulnerable to the accelerating rate of sea-level rise (SLR) and subsidence. Restored and created marshes face the same risks as natural marshes, and their resilience to SLR may depend upon appropriate design and implementation. Here, the Coastal Wetland Equilibrium Model (CWEM) was used to assess the resilience of tidal marshes at the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island (PI) in mid-Chesapeake Bay, MD, where dredged material from navigation channels is being used to create new tidal marshes planted with
Spartina alterniflora in the low marsh andS. patens in the high marsh. The site is microtidal with low inorganic sediment inputs, where the rate of marsh elevation change is dominated by the production of organic matter and, therefore, is proportional to net ecosystem production (NEP). The model demonstrated the importance of marsh development for surface elevation gain. In created marshes, the buildout of belowground biomass adds volume and results in faster growth of marsh elevation, but the gains slow as the marsh matures. Elevation gain is the lessor of the recalcitrant fraction of NEP sequestered in sediment or the rate of increase in accommodation space. Marshes can keep up with and fill accommodation space with sequestered NEP up to a tipping point determined by the rate of SLR. The PI low marsh platform was forecasted to drown in about 43 years after construction at the current rate of SLR. Marsh loss can be mitigated by periodic thin layer placement (TLP) of sediment. CWEM was used to simulate PI marsh responses to different TLP strategies and showed that there is an optimal design that will maximize carbon sequestration and resilience depending on the trajectory of mean sea level. -
The movement of salt marshes into uplands and marsh submergence as sea level rises is well documented; however, predicting how coastal marshes will respond to rising sea levels is constrained by a lack of process-based understanding of how various marsh zones adjust to changes in sea level. To assess the way in which salt-marsh zones differ in their elevation response to sea-level change, and to evaluate how potential hydrologic drivers influence the response, surface elevation tables, marker horizons, and shallow rod surface elevation tables were installed in a Virginia salt marsh in three zones that differed in elevation and vegetation type. Decadal rates of elevation change, surface accretion, and shallow subsidence or expansion were examined in the context of hydrologic drivers that included local sea-level rise, flooding frequency, hurricane storm-surge, and precipitation. Surface elevation increases were fastest in the low-elevation zone, intermediate in the middle-elevation zone, and slowest in the high-elevation zone. These rates are similar to (low- and middle-marsh) or less than (high-marsh) local rates of sea-level rise. Root-zone expansion, presumably due to root growth and organic matter accumulation, varied among the three salt marsh zones and accounted for 37%, but probably more, of the increase in marsh surface elevation. We infer that, during marsh transgression, soil-forming processes shift from biogenic (high marsh) to minerogenic (low marsh) in response, either directly or indirectly, to changing hydrologic drivers.more » « less
