Tag: Modeling

Ying Ouyang Receives Soil Science Society of America’s Highest Honor

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
Research hydrologist Ying Ouyang was recently named a 2019 Fellow by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), the highest recognition bestowed by the organization. The SSSA is an international scientific society whose members are dedicated to advancing the field of soil science to sustain global soils. Each year, members nominate colleagues based on their professional…  More 

Future Increases in Biomass Demand Could Affect Wood Economy

by Megan Bequette, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Wood is used for an abundance of everyday items — furniture, buildings, paper — so much so that it would be difficult to find a space completely without wood-based products. However, a competing use is emerging: many studies predict that more wood will be used for bioenergy in the future, which could affect that industry…  More 

Where Does the Rain Go?

by Naomi Cohen-Shields, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Millions of people depend on the forests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains for drinking water. As climate, land use, and land cover changes alter the forest structure in these mountains, they also alter water budgets. “The Southern Appalachian Mountains are a humid montane environment – they are essentially a cooler version of the tropics,” explains…  More 

Uncovering Urban Forests

by Naomi Cohen-Shields, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
The scope of forest-pest risk analysis research is often limited to natural forests. Neglected are those tree communities called urban forests: trees within the boundaries of a city or populated area. Urban trees see a significant proportion of the impacts from invasive pests. Their unnatural distribution and close proximity to transported goods and other means…  More 

Projecting Climate Change Effects on Outdoor Recreation

by Megan Bequette, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Cool temperatures enjoyed by hikers might rise enough that people decide to stay inside instead. The culprit – climate change – will cause higher temperatures and uneven intensification of both drought and rainfall. As a result, outdoor recreation trends could change markedly. A study by University of Georgia postdoctoral research associate Ashley Askew and USDA…  More 

Predicting Fire Behavior with New 3D Fuel Models

by Diane Banegas, USDA Forest Service, Knowledge Management and Communications  • 
Land managers have a new tool in their firefighting arsenals that models forest fuels in three dimensions. These 3D fuel models developed by the USDA Forest Service have the potential to make firefighting and the management of controlled burns safer and less costly while helping to protect valuable natural resources. The 3D fuels modeling technique…  More 

Weather Conditions Inform Timing of Prescribed Fire

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Prescribed fires generate smoke, which can harm human health – especially in areas where humans and forests are close together. “Weather conditions are critical for prescribed fire, especially the effects of wind and humidity on smoke plume formation,” says Yongqiang Liu, USDA Forest Service research meteorologist. Liu is the lead author of a modeling study…  More 

Using CAT in Local Watersheds

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
General circulation models use math to predict the future – future rainfall and temperature data, for example. But GCMs are meant for global or regional scales. “CAT is better for fine scales,” says USDA Forest Service research hydrologist Ying Ouyang. CAT, the Climate Assessment Tool, is a model developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.…  More 

The Future of Forests & Water in the NC Piedmont

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
We’re all downstream from something. A new modeling study by the USDA Forest Service shows that forests make very good upstream neighbors. The research focuses on the Yadkin Pee-Dee River Basin in central North Carolina. Senior research ecologist Jim Vose and colleagues have been studying this area because of its projected rapid population growth and…  More 

Projections of Future Climate and Annual Runoff

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Hydrologists have traditionally relied on historic precipitation data to estimate broad-scale runoff. “Rainfall was always number one,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Ge Sun. “But things are changing and getting more complicated.” Sun co-authored a recent modeling study that investigated how other climate factors might influence future changes in runoff. The researchers were intrigued by…  More