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Utilizing meteorological data and machine learning to predict and reduce the spread of California wildfires

Bilwar et al. | Jan 15, 2024

Utilizing meteorological data and machine learning to predict and reduce the spread of California wildfires
Image credit: Pixabay

This study hypothesized that a machine learning model could accurately predict the severity of California wildfires and determine the most influential meteorological factors. It utilized a custom dataset with information from the World Weather Online API and a Kaggle dataset of wildfires in California from 2013-2020. The developed algorithms classified fires into seven categories with promising accuracy (around 55 percent). They found that higher temperatures, lower humidity, lower dew point, higher wind gusts, and higher wind speeds are the most significant contributors to the spread of a wildfire. This tool could vastly improve the efficiency and preparedness of firefighters as they deal with wildfires.

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Fire and dry grass: Effects of Pennisetum villosum on a California native, Nassella pulchra, in drought times

Chang et al. | Jan 23, 2022

Fire and dry grass: Effects of <i>Pennisetum villosum</i> on a California native, <i>Nassella pulchra</i>, in drought times

Invasive species pose a significant threat to many ecosystems, whether by outcompeting native species and disturbing food webs, or through increasing risks of natural disasters like flooding and wildfires. The ornamental grass species Pennisetum villosum R. Br. was previously identified by the California Invasive Plant Council as being potentially invasive; this experiment was conducted to determine if P. villosum displays characteristics of an invasive species when grown in a California chaparral environment. Reults found that in both conditions, the two species had similar germination rates, and that P. villosum grew significantly larger than N. pulchra for around 95 days.

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How has California’s Shelter-in-Place Order due to COVID-19 and the Resulting Reduction in Human Activity Affected Air and Water Quality?

Everitt et al. | Feb 15, 2021

How has California’s Shelter-in-Place Order due to COVID-19 and the Resulting Reduction in Human Activity Affected Air and Water Quality?

As the world struggled to grapple with the emerging COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many countries instated policies to help minimize the spread of the virus among residents. This inadvertently led to a decrease in travel, and in some cases, industrial output, two major sources of pollutants in today's world. Here, the authors investigate whether California's shelter-in-place policy was associated with a measurable decrease in water and air pollution in that state between June and July of 2020, compared to the preceeding five years. Their findings suggest that, by some metrics, air quality improved within certain areas while water quality was relatively unchanged. Overall, these findings suggest that changing human behavior can, indeed, help reduce the level of air pollutants that compromise air quality.

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Presence of Vegetation in Relation to Slope in Yosemite Valley, California

Saltzgaber et al. | Sep 11, 2021

Presence of Vegetation in Relation to Slope in Yosemite Valley, California

This study examined the relationship between the slope of a terrain and vegetation, measured by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). It was hypothesized that lower slope ranges would be more supportive of vegetation growth than higher slope ranges. Analysis showed that no slope (even as extreme as 85–90°) prohibits the growth of vegetation completely; even the steepest slopes examined contain plant life. Knowing that steep slopes can still support plant life, agriculturalists can begin to explore and start planting additional crops and plants at these extreme slopes.

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A Cloud-Enabled Communication Strategy for Wildfire Alerts

Vinaithirthan et al. | Jul 19, 2020

A Cloud-Enabled Communication Strategy for Wildfire Alerts

The traditional alert system in California consists of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), which lack location specificity, and sign-up-based technology which is limited by the number of sign ups. Those who do not have phones or have a silence option on their devices are most at risk from the current alert system. Here the authors developed cloud-enabled crisis connection for disaster alerts (CRISIS-CONNECT) to mitigate problems associated with the current alert system.

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The relationship between macroinvertebrates, water quality, and the health of Stevens Creek

Li et al. | Aug 18, 2021

The relationship between macroinvertebrates, water quality, and the health of Stevens Creek

Stevens Creek, which flows through Santa Clara County in California, provides a crucial habitat for federally designated threatened steelhead trout, with a portion of the trout’s diet being dependent on the presence and abundance of macroinvertebrates that inhabit the creek. In this article, the authors investigate how the water chemistry within the creek was associated with the abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates, and subsequently the creek’s health. They conduct qualitative analysis of macroinvertebrates and water quality to obtain a general understanding of the health of Stevens Creek.

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The impact of timing and magnitude of the El Niño- Southern Oscillation on local precipitation levels and temperatures in the Bay Area

Li et al. | May 09, 2021

The impact of timing and magnitude of the El Niño- Southern Oscillation on local precipitation levels and temperatures in the Bay Area

Understanding the relationships between temperature, MEI, SPI, and CO2 concentration is important as they measure the major influencers of California’s regional climate: temperature, ENSO, precipitation, and atmospheric CO2. In this article, the authors analyzed temperature, Multivariate El Niño-Southern Oscillation Index (MEI), and Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) data from the San Francisco Bay Area from 1971 to 2016. They also analyzed CO2 records from Mauna Loa, HI for the same time period, along with the annual temperature anomalies for the Bay Area.

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The Effect of Anubias barteri Plant Species on Limiting Freshwater Acidification

Ramanathan et al. | Jul 06, 2021

The Effect of <i>Anubias barteri</i> Plant Species on Limiting Freshwater Acidification

Research relating to freshwater acidification is minimal, so the impact of aquatic plants, Anubias barteri var. congensis and Anubias barteri var. nana, on minimizing changes in pH was explored in an ecosystem in Northern California. Creek water samples, with and without the aquatic plants, were exposed to dry ice to simulate carbon emissions and the pH was monitored over an eight-hour period. There was a 25% difference in the observed pH based on molar hydrogen ion concentration between the water samples with plants and those without plants, suggesting that aquatic plants have the potential to limit acidification to some extent. These findings can guide future research to explore the viable partial solution of aquatic plants in combating freshwater acidification.

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Osmotic characteristics of water retention structures of Bursera microphylla in relation to soil salinity

Groom et al. | Jul 12, 2023

Osmotic characteristics of water retention structures of <i>Bursera microphylla</i> in relation to soil salinity
Image credit: Lisa Fotios

This study hypothesized that sodium chloride was taken up through plant root structures to facilitate water transportation, and that sodium chloride accumulation was directly proportional to the soil salinity. Results showed that most cells within the “bulb” structures were isotonic at a concentration approximately twice as high as that of root tissue and ambient soil salinity, therefore supporting the presented hypothesis.

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