Geology topics

Daniel B. Fagre

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel B. Fagre.

76 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

USGS2000

Application of snow models to snow removal operations on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Snow removal, and the attendant avalanche risk for road crews, is a major issue on mountain highways worldwide. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road that crosses Glacier National Park, Montana. This 80-km highway ascends over 1200m along the wall of a glaciated basin and crosses the continental divide. The annual opening of the road is critical to the regional economy and there is public pressure to open the road as early as possible. Despite the 67-year history of snow removal activities, few stat on snow conditions at upper elevations were available to guide annual planning for the raod opening. We examined statistical relationships between the opening date and nearby SNOTEL data on snow water equivalence (WE) for 30 years. Early spring SWE (first Monday in April) accounted for only 33% of the variance in road opening dates. Because avalanche spotters, used to warn heavy equipment operators of danger, are ineffective during spring storms or low-visibility conditions, we incorporated the percentage of days with precipitation during plowing as a proxy for visibility. This improved the model's predictive power to 69%/ A mountain snow simulator (MTSNOW) was used to calculate the depth and density of snow at various points along the road and field data were collected for comparison. MTSNOW underestimated the observed snow conditions, in part because it does not yet account for wind redistribution of snow. The severe topography of the upper reaches of the road are subjected to extensive wind redistribution of snow as evidence by the formation of "The Big Drift" on the lee side of Logan Pass.

Montana↗

USGS2000

The Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium Environmental Information Network: Building ‘Learning Communities’ in the Northern Great Plains

In the last two decades alone, the U.S. and large portions of the world have witnessed what can be aptly be described as an explosion of scientific information and technological innovations that has permeated almost every aspect of our lives. Given these trends, it is clear that science and the understanding of science are becoming increasingly more relevant and essential to decision-makers and the decision-making process. Every environmental issue confronting society has an undisputed scientific underpinning. Understanding the implications of the science underpinning issues of particular importance to the health and well being of society constitutes the basis for making more informed and enlightened decisions. However obvious this linkage may be, many factors continue to serve as impediments to the broader understanding and incorporation of science into policy- and decision-making processes, as perhaps is best exemplified by the case of climate science.

Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyomin↗

USGS1998

Assessing simulated ecosystem processes for climate variability research at Glacier National Park, USA

Glacier National Park served as a test site for ecosystem analyses that involved a suite of integrated models embedded within a geographic information system. The goal of the exercise was to provide managers with maps that could illustrate probable shifts in vegetation, net primary production (NPP), and hydrologic responses associated with two selected climatic scenarios. The climatic scenarios were (a) a recent 12-yr record of weather data, and (b) a reconstituted set that sequentially introduced in repeated 3-yr intervals wetter–cooler, drier–warmer, and typical conditions. To extrapolate the implications of changes in ecosystem processes and resulting growth and distribution of vegetation and snowpack, the model incorporated geographic data. With underlying digital elevation maps, soil depth and texture, extrapolated climate, and current information on vegetation types and satellite-derived estimates of leaf area indices, simulations were extended to envision how the park might look after 120 yr. The predictions of change included underlying processes affecting the availability of water and nitrogen. Considerable field data were acquired to compare with model predictions under current climatic conditions. In general, the integrated landscape models of ecosystem processes had good agreement with measured NPP, snowpack, and streamflow, but the exercise revealed the difficulty and necessity of averaging point measurements across landscapes to achieve comparable results with modeled values. Under the extremely variable climate scenario significant changes in vegetation composition and growth as well as hydrologic responses were predicted across the park. In particular, a general rise in both the upper and lower limits of treeline was predicted. These shifts would probably occur along with a variety of disturbances (fire, insect, and disease outbreaks) as predictions of physiological stress (water, nutrients, light) altered competitive relations and hydrologic responses. The use of integrated landscape models applied in this exercise should provide managers with insights into the underlying processes important in maintaining community structure, and at the same time, locate where changes on the landscape are most likely to occur.

Montana↗

USGS1994

Predators of the Whitetail

white-tailed deer have long been important prey for large predators. Before Europeans colonized North America, deer roaming the forested region east of the Great Plains and areas along the Gulf of Mexico were hunted by wolves and mountain lions, and by Native Americans for food and clothing materials. Today, wolves and mountain lions are largely gone from the white-tailed deer range of the eastern United States. Deer still face the threat of wolves in northern Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and of mountain lions, to a limited extent, in Texas and south Florida. Relatively small populations of whitetails have expanded westward, showing up in the Great Plains and several areas west of the Continental Divide such as northwestern Montana, northern Idaho, and eastern Washington. More than half the prey killed by recolonizing wolves in northwestern Montana are white-tailed deer. Although it has not been well documented, these western whitetails undoubtedly also are preyed on by mountain lions. Wolves and mountain lions have evolved as effective killers of deer but with very different physical characteristics and hunting behaviors. Of course, for their part, whitetails have found ways to protect themselves.

Book chapter↗