IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Louisa Holmes, assistant professor of geography, left, with speaker Heather Randell, assistant professor of rural sociology and demography, at the Sept. 10 Coffee Hour. Recorded talks can be viewed on the Coffee Hour Kaltura channel. Image: Penn State
GOOD NEWS
- Friday, Oct. 1, 5 p.m. ET, deadline for undergraduate and graduate student fall academic enrichment award applications. Apply using this link.
- Wednesday, Oct. 6, The Institute for Computational and Data Sciences will hold a virtual symposium, “The Future of Digital Fairness.” Visit this link for more information and to register.
- In October, Penn State University Libraries will host virtual information sessions on geospatial data, digital maps, and software options. Open to all Penn State faculty, staff and students, these sessions are designed to introduce users to geospatial resources, software and expertise available from the University Libraries.
- Call for Participation: Careers & Professional Development Events at AAG 2022 Annual Meeting. If you are interested in organizing or participating in a session, activity or event related to careers and professional development, please see our Call for Participation. For best consideration, please submit your information by November 4, 2021.
COFFEE HOUR
Rajashree (Tri) Datta on Extreme Events on the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets
Sea level change is partly determined by the balance between precipitation and surface melt and subsequent meltwater runoff on the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. Both ice sheet precipitation and melt occur relatively infrequently, but extreme events can have a disproportionate impact on the ice sheet system. In this talk I will highlight three different extreme phenomena and their impact, which I have studied using a combination of climate modeling and remote sensing.
- 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 24, 2021
- 112 Walker Building
- Coffee Hour to Go on Zoom
NEWS
Speakers for fall Department of Geography Coffee Hour lecture series announced
The Department of Geography Coffee Hour lecture series has resumed on Friday afternoons for the fall 2021 semester on Penn State’s University Park campus.
2011 article, “SensePlace2 GeoTwitter analytics support for situational awareness,” wins Test of Time Award
The IEEE VIS Test of Time Award is an accolade given to recognize articles published at previous conferences whose contents are still vibrant and useful today and have had a major impact and influence within and beyond the visualization community.
125th Anniversary Fellows named by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Geography alums among the Fellows
Founded in 1896 as the School of Mines, this year, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences is celebrating its 125th anniversary. The college recognizes that the success and reputation of the college is defined substantially by the achievements of its graduates. To honor their accomplishments the college has selected a prominent group of 134 alumni whose contributions to the fields of science and engineering have set them apart from their peers and named them 125th Anniversary Fellows.
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
Interactions between landscape and local factors inform spatial action planning in post-fire forest environments
Peeler, J.L., Smithwick, E.A.H.
Landscape Ecology
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01325-4
Context: Landscape and local factors govern tree regeneration across heterogeneous post-fire forest environments. But their relative influence is unclear—limiting the degree that managers can consider landscape context when delegating resources to help stand-replacing patches restock successfully.
Objectives: We investigated how landscape and local factors shape tree regeneration across heterogeneous post-fire forest environments. Our research questions were: What is the relative influence of landscape and local factors on tree species presence (RQ1) and stocking density (RQ2) at stand-replacing patches? Do thresholds occur when landscape factors are influential (RQ3)?
Methods: We sampled landscape and local variables at 71 plots near Jackson, Wyoming, United States. We used Random Forests to investigate how local and landscape variables affect post-fire tree recovery. Relative influence was determined using mean decrease in accuracy. Partial dependence plots were used to visualize whether thresholds occurred for variables with mean decrease in accuracy > 15%.
Results: Landscape factors like seed source area were associated with subalpine fir presence and stocking density. But different thresholds occurred. Specifically, subalpine fir presence required 10% seed source area, while stocking density required 40%. Northeast aspects surrounded by > 10% seed source area were most likely to support subalpine fir presence. Conversely, local factors like soil nutrients were associated with lodgepole pine presence, highlighting effects of different regeneration strategies.
Conclusions: Landscape factors bolster spatial resilience and help stand-replacing patches restock naturally. But landscape factors do not support tree regeneration equally across heterogeneous post-fire forest environments. Consequently, considering stand-replacing patches in their landscape context will be critical for future spatial action planning.
Future Sea Level Change Under Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 and Phase 6 Scenarios From the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets
Antony J Payne, Sophie Nowicki, … Luke D. Trusel … et al.
Geophysical Research Letters
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091741
Projections of the sea level contribution from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets (GrIS and AIS) rely on atmospheric and oceanic drivers obtained from climate models. The Earth System Models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) generally project greater future warming compared with the previous Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) effort. Here we use four CMIP6 models and a selection of CMIP5 models to force multiple ice sheet models as part of the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6 (ISMIP6). We find that the projected sea level contribution at 2100 from the ice sheet model ensemble under the CMIP6 scenarios falls within the CMIP5 range for the Antarctic ice sheet but is significantly increased for Greenland. Warmer atmosphere in CMIP6 models results in higher Greenland mass loss due to surface melt. For Antarctica, CMIP6 forcing is similar to CMIP5 and mass gain from increased snowfall counteracts increased loss due to ocean warming.