Research

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions − World Day for Glaciers carries a reminder (The Conversation US)

Gabe Allen — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 17:01:45 +0000

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions − World Day for Glaciers carries a reminder (The Conversation US) Gabe Allen Wed, 03/19/2025 - 11:01

INSTAAR researcher Alton Byers and Wesleyan University professor Suzanne OConnell highlight research on a global increase in flooding due to melting glaciers. Nearly 2 billion people rely on water from alpine glaciers. But, as the climate warms, they are becoming more volatile.

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Small bird, big trick: How a hummingbird chick acts like a caterpillar to survive (CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� Today)

David J Lubinski — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 18:13:59 +0000

Small bird, big trick: How a hummingbird chick acts like a caterpillar to survive (CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� Today) David J Lubinski Tue, 03/18/2025 - 12:13

When Jay Falk and Scott Taylor first saw the white-necked Jacobin hummingbird chick in Panama’s dense rainforest, the bird biologists didn’t know what they were looking at. They later realized that it was potentially mimicking a poisonous caterpillar to avoid getting eaten.

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Agriculture is main cause of seasonal carbon ups and downs, study finds (CSU)

Gabe Allen — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Agriculture is main cause of seasonal carbon ups and downs, study finds (CSU) Gabe Allen Fri, 03/14/2025 - 06:00

A new study in Nature Communications finds that agriculture is the main driver of short-term fluctuations in atmospheric carbon. Led by Danica Lombardozzi (CSU), the research team includes Will Wieder (INSTAAR, NCAR).

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Inside an ice stream (Science)

David J Lubinski — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 03:58:01 +0000

Inside an ice stream (Science) David J Lubinski Thu, 02/13/2025 - 20:58

A hole drilled into Greenland's heart reveals ice ready to slide into the sea. An international group of researchers - including TYLER JONES - discuss their research and its often ominous implications. Don't miss the fantastic photos too!

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International research collaboration uncovers key driver of Himalayan glacier melt

David J Lubinski — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 03:01:58 +0000

International research collaboration uncovers key driver of Himalayan glacier melt David J Lubinski Tue, 02/11/2025 - 20:01

Gabe Allen

Pollution-laden dust storms are depositing black carbon on the Himalayas. New research from INSTAAR’s Karl Rittger and collaborators reveals the process.

Regional pollution is speeding up snow melt in the Indian Himalayas. That’s according to a new study from an international group of scientists including Indian Institute of Technology Madras civil engineering PhD student Amit Singh Chandel and INSTAAR research associate Karl Rittger.

Three of the four largest river basins in the world lie in this region. Understanding this snowmelt is a key question.
- Chandan Sarangi

The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, reveals how dust storms pick up black carbon from heavily-polluted areas and deposit it in the mountains. Black carbon darkens the ice and snow, causing it to melt faster.

It’s a key insight into a persistent problem. Dwindling ice in the Himalayas has long troubled researchers and decision makers in southern Asia. Nearly two billion people rely on the water produced by Himalayan snowmelt, and glacier loss could lead to water shortages and an increase in extreme floods.

“Three of the four largest river basins in the world lie in this region,” coauthor Chandan Sarangi said. “Understanding this snowmelt is a key question.”

The new study is the result of collaboration across scientific disciplines and international borders. The seeds were planted a few years ago. Sarangi’s lab had already published numerous mathematical models mapping perennial dust storms in Northern India. And they knew that black carbon was getting into the dust somewhere along the way.

In order to paint a clearer picture, Sarangi looked to pair his modeling work with long-term measurements from the field. That’s how he found co-author Rakesh Hooda, a senior research scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Hooda previously collected nine years of atmospheric measurements at a site in the Himalayan foothills.

Hooda’s data, paired with Sarangi’s models, revealed two distinct types of storms. The first type brews in the deserts of western India and Pakistan and travels east at low elevations. These storms mix with pollution from the heavily-populated Indo-Gangetic Plains before reaching the Himalayas.

You get a darkening of 26% versus 58%. The polluted dust events have double the impact. It’s still a human-induced impact, it’s just not a climate change impact.
- Karl Rittger

The second type of storm starts in the Saharan Desert and travels at higher altitudes. These storms pick up very little pollution.

The new model told the researchers where the dust storms were coming from and what was in them. Now the question was how the storms impact snow and glaciers.

That’s where Rittger came in. In previous research, he had developed a model that could tease apart contributing factors to snow-darkening using satellite imagery. The team applied Rittger’s methodology to the dust storm models and once again validated the findings with on-the ground data.

The results were clear. The storms with high concentrations of pollutants melted more snow.

“You get a darkening of 26% versus 58%.” Rittger said. “The polluted dust events have double the impact.”

Previous research on diminishing glaciers in the Himalayas has often focused on global warming, but the new findings reveal a second, more local cause. To Rittger, it’s a good reminder to look for regional environmental problems that might mimic or coexist with global ones.

“It’s still a human-induced impact, it’s just not a climate change impact,” he said.

The success of this study has all of the co-authors thinking about next steps. Rittger hopes to one day expand his Snow Today website, which provides automated readouts of snow characteristics in the Western US, to Asia. Sarangi hopes to establish more field sites.

“We need more measurements to characterize the aerosols reaching the Himalayas.” He said. “It’s increasing every day.”

Site for measuring aerosol microphysical and optical properties during dust storms, Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand, India. This central Himalayan foothills location is representative and remote, with minimal local emissions. Photo from Chandan Sarangi (IIT Madras).

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

Pollution-laden dust storms are depositing black carbon on the Himalayas. New research from INSTAAR’s Karl Rittger and collaborators reveals the process.

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Chancellor Justin Schwartz’s visit to INSTAAR sparks connections and ideas

David J Lubinski — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 04:31:32 +0000

Chancellor Justin Schwartz’s visit to INSTAAR sparks connections and ideas David J Lubinski Wed, 02/05/2025 - 21:31

Gabe Allen

CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� Chancellor Justin Schwartz recently dropped in on INSTAAR, where he discussed the institute’s research strengths and potential collaborations at the university level.

Left to right: CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� Chancellor Justin Schwartz, INSTAAR Director Nicole Lovenduski and Senior Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation Massimo Ruzzene.

CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� Chancellor Justin Schwartz recently dropped in on INSTAAR for a tour and meet-and-greet. It’s the first time the chancellor has visited the Institute since he was appointed last summer.

After coming in from the cold, Schwartz joined INSTAAR leadership for coffee and conversation in INSTAAR Director Nicole Lovenduski’s office. The group discussed INSTAAR’s research strengths and potential collaborations at the university level.

Schwartz was affable and curious. His background as a nuclear engineer showed through his nuanced inquiries into INSTAAR’s work.

“He asked many insightful questions,” Lovenduski said. “He was a very engaged visitor.”

After coffee, the group continued on to INSTAAR’s Laboratory for AMS Radiocarbon Preparation and Research, where lab director Scott Lehman gave a presentation. Lehman focused on the lab’s innovative research carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon found in the atmosphere.

Next, the group continued to the Stable Isotope Lab. There, lab manager Sylvia Michel gave a presentation on the lab’s efforts to trace carbon dioxide and methane emissions by measuring isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere.

Scott Lehman shows Schwartz a sample in the Laboratory for AMS Radiocarbon Preparation and Research.

Left to right: Sylvia Michel, Bruce Vaughn and Schwartz in the Stable Isotope Lab.

Schwartz was joined by Senior vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Massimo Ruzzene, who oversees INSTAAR as the dean of institutes. Ruzzene was glad to have the opportunity to introduce Schwartz to INSTAAR and to see some of the institute’s laboratories in-person.

“It was very informative and inspiring to see the real impact and excellence of the work at INSTAAR,” he wrote in an email following up on the visit.

Before departing, Schwartz and Ruzzene donned parkas and joined INSTAAR Faculty Fellows Bruce Vaughn and Bradley Markle in the Stable Isotope Lab’s walk-in freezer, where the researchers store ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica.

Markle, Ruzzene and Schwartz inspect an ice core in the Stable Isotope Lab.

At the end of his visit, Chancellor Schwartz brainstormed with INSTAAR leadership about potential campus-wide collaborations. In particular, he showed a keen interest in tapping the institute’s expertise in climate and earth systems research.

“His visit unearthed new ideas about how INSTAAR might connect with campus-wide sustainability initiatives,” Lovenduski said. “INSTAAR is well-positioned to plug into these efforts — from monitoring and verifying emissions reductions through trace gas measurements, to our work understanding soil carbon storage and ecological conservation.”

Lovenduski and Schwartz chat on the way to the INSTAAR front office.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� Chancellor Justin Schwartz recently dropped in on INSTAAR, where he discussed the institute’s research strengths and potential collaborations at the university level.

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Rare earth elements found in Lincoln Creek raise new questions (Aspen Journalism)

David J Lubinski — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 19:39:47 +0000

Rare earth elements found in Lincoln Creek raise new questions (Aspen Journalism) David J Lubinski Mon, 01/27/2025 - 12:39

CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� scientists, including Diane McKnight, recently presented results from water-quality sampling of a tributary to the Roaring Fork River. In addition to having high concentrations of certain metals, the samples contain rare earth elements. But what the latter means for health is unclear.

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New research demystifies carbon cycling in freshwater lakes around the world

David J Lubinski — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 17:18:03 +0000

New research demystifies carbon cycling in freshwater lakes around the world David J Lubinski Wed, 01/08/2025 - 10:18

Gabe Allen

A refined mathematical model is now capable of predicting carbon inputs and outputs for freshwater lakes around the world, according to new research from INSTAAR’s Isabella Oleksy and collaborators. Their work could help scientists understand the role of freshwater lakes in the global carbon cycle.

Oleksy's most recent paper, which was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, tests and revises an equation that allows scientists to estimate the overall biological activity in a lake from limited data.

The equation was created by a group of scientists, including Oleksy's co-author Christopher Solomon, in 2018. It’s a mathematical formulation of the Nutrient Color Paradigm — a longstanding theory in the field. Basically, the theory posits that you can estimate the total growth of phytoplankton in a lake from the color of the water and measurements of a few key nutrients. Phytoplankton is the basis of the marine food web, which makes it a good stand-in for lake productivity on the whole.

Further refinements of a model like this might be used to generate estimates of how much carbon is being fixed by lakes annually
-- Isabella Oleksy

Isabella Oleksy prepares to take measurements from The Loch, a high altitude lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

“This is a way to potentially be able to understand what algal biomass and water quality might look like in a bunch of different lakes, even when you can’t necessarily get out there and measure it,” Solomon said.

Oleksy's study is the first to test the model against real world data — quite a bit of it. Back in 2019, when Oleksy was a postdoctoral researcher at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, she put out a call for data at a meeting of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network.

“I asked people, ‘Hey. I want to test this model, but we need observations from lakes around the world,’” she said.

Collaborators were eager to help out. With the help of 30 scientists at many different institutions, Oleksy gathered detailed measurements from 58 different freshwater lakes around the world. Then, she tested the model’s predictions against the data. The initial test was encouraging.

“The results were pretty realistic,” she said.

The next step was to make the predictions even better. Through a process called Monte Carlo analysis, Oleksy pitted the model’s predictions against the on-the-ground data. Where the model faltered, she added new parameters to improve it.

In the end, Oleksy and her collaborators created a model capable of estimating the conditions of freshwater lakes in a diverse range of locations and ecosystems.

According to Oleksy, the new model could have implications far beyond freshwater lakes. It elucidates one small element of the global carbon cycle — a cycle that has become a priority for scientists in the era of global warming.

Policy makers and researchers rely on global-scale models of the carbon sources and sinks to predict the Earth’s future climate and inform large-scale solutions for climate change. These models are vast and complex — they must take into account the inputs and outputs of diverse human activities, ecosystems and geologic phenomena. Oleksy and her collaborators hope that their new study can be used to eliminate some uncertainty from these estimates.

“There is a lot of uncertainty about the role of inland waters,” Oleksy said. “Further refinements of a model like this might be used to generate estimates of how much carbon is being fixed by lakes annually.”

Global distribution of the 58 lakes included in Oleksy et al. 2024 (Figure 2, JGR Biogeosciences). The “calibration” lakes are shaded in yellow and all others (“validation”) are in blue.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

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Increased wildfire activity may be a feature of past periods of abrupt climate change, study finds (OSU)

David J Lubinski — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 00:03:46 +0000

Increased wildfire activity may be a feature of past periods of abrupt climate change, study finds (OSU) David J Lubinski Tue, 01/07/2025 - 17:03

An investigation of ancient methane trapped in Antarctic ice suggests that global increases in wildfire activity likely occurred during periods of abrupt climate change throughout the last Ice Age. Led by Ben Riddell-Young (OSU/CIRES/NOAA), the team includes Reid Clark from our Stable Isotope Lab.

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First-of-its-kind study provides a detailed look at water quality along the Colorado River’s upper basin

David J Lubinski — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:47:26 +0000

First-of-its-kind study provides a detailed look at water quality along the Colorado River’s upper basin David J Lubinski Mon, 12/16/2024 - 16:47

Gabe Allen

Michael Gooseff and collaborators are gathering the first-ever continuous, long-term water quality sample of the Colorado River's upper basin. INSTAAR senior communication specialist Gabe Allen joined them for three days on the river.

One vessel in particular stood out from the rafts of vacationers and fisherman that floated lazily through Ruby Canyon on a sunny fall day last month. The occupants had swapped the usual fish and tackle for binders, laptops and an assortment of pumps and devices all buckled together with ratchet straps.

Aboard the raft, U.S. Geological Survey groundwater hydrologist Connor Newman bottled river water samples and jotted down notes in a waterproof notebook. Behind him, INSTAAR faculty fellow Michael Gooseff manned the oars and kept a watchful eye on a collection of sensors strung on a pole that extended into the water from the back of the boat.

This is the tenth time Gooseff and his collaborators have rafted this stretch of river since 2018. The goal is to gather the first-ever continuous, long-term water quality sample of the Colorado River's upper basin. In 2023, the USGS awarded Gooseff’s team with funding for biannual surveys through 2026.

Newman pumps river water into sample containers while Gooseff mans the oars.

A new approach

While water quality data is usually limited to discrete monitoring stations posted every few miles along the river bank, Gooseff’s boat-mounted sensors capture data every 40-60 feet. He calls this sampling method “Lagrangian sampling” after the 18th-century mathematician Joseph-Louis Legrange.

“His idea was that you could take the perspective of a moving particle in the world and try to understand how it changed based on its surroundings — as opposed to sitting somewhere and watching the world change around you.” Gooseff explained.

Gooseff’s raft, or “floating sampling platform” as he likes to call it, is equipped to measure pH, temperature, conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and nitrate. Collectively, these measurements offer a detailed map of the character and contents of Colorado River water as it travels from Rocky Mountain National Park to the canyonlands.

“What we’re trying to do is to figure out, ‘where do we see systematic changes along the river,’” Gooseff explained. “And now we have a higher spatial resolution.”

A map of the Colorado River and a waterproof notebook for logging data lay on a cooler atop the "floating sampling platform." The team collected physical samples of river water every three miles for later analysis.

Pinpointing water quality

The project has already reaped insights. In 2019, Gooseff and his colleagues published a paper detailing early findings. The researchers were able to pinpoint sources of salts, nitrogen, turbidity and temperature fluctuation over time and space.

One particular finding offered important insight to river users. Somewhere around Grand Junction, Colorado, nitrate concentrations in the Colorado River increase. A signal like this is usually the result of agricultural runoff, but water managers weren’t sure exactly where the nitrate was coming from. Was it from the confluence with the Gunnison River, which hosts large farms upstream? Was it from local farms in the Grand Valley?

Gooseff’s data showed that nitrate levels spiked when the Gunnison entered the Colorado and then continued to climb as the river moved through the Grand Valley. The study elucidated, for the first time, how much nitrate was contributed by each source.

Gooseff hopes that findings like these can help water and land managers better solve issues as they arise. The upper basin is especially important because changes in water quality here can compound as the water travels to lower-basin states like California. Nitrate, which can lead to harmful algal blooms in high enough concentrations, is just one example.

“There’s a lot of the Colorado River watershed that has the opportunity to modify water quality before it gets to the end of the basin,” he said.

Newman sits next to the Gasometrix miniREUDI and speculates on potential uses for the device. On this trip, he used the miniREUDI to sense fluctuations in helium. He hopes the data will give the scientists a more precise idea of where groundwater enters the Colorado River.

Understanding groundwater

This year, the floating sampling platform featured a new gadget. Newman brought along a portable mass spectrometer called a miniREUDI that is capable of detecting precise concentrations of noble gases, like helium or argon, in the water.

The miniREUDI was more expensive than everything else in the boat combined, and is one of only two in the U.S., but it was worth it. By tracking helium along the Colorado, Newman can infer where salty groundwater is entering the river.

“The noble gases are an indicator of where there’s old groundwater discharge,” Newman explained. “We essentially look for the helium to show us where there might be influence of salts because the salinity of the Colorado River is one of the primary management concerns for downstream users.”

If the Colorado becomes too salty, it could prevent lower-basin users in California and Mexico from using the water for agriculture, industry or drinking water. Newman’s data will give water managers more information that they can use to map and prevent excess salinity.

Newman, Gooseff and other collaborators outlined their methodology and rationale for using miniREUDI in the boat in a paper in the Journal of Hydrology this summer. They hope to publish more results soon.

Click to zoom

Packing up

As Gooseff’s raft passed through the Black Rocks, a popular swimming, fishing and cliff-jumping spot in Horsethief Canyon, a fisherman waved from a nearby boat.

“You all are with the USGS?” he asked. “I use your data all the time.”

Because Gooseff’s research is funded by the USGS, any papers or datasets that come from it will be freely available to the public. The insights will be invaluable for land and river managers like the Bureau of Land Management. With any luck, they could help especially science-literate fishermen find a new honey hole as well.

By now, the floating sampling platform, oars and camping gear are packed away for the winter. But, it won’t be long before Gooseff heads back up to the Pumphouse Boat Launch to run the river during the high-flow spring season. As much as he relishes long days in the field and nights spent under the moonlight, the quiet months are just as interesting.

“The real reward is stepping back after our samples are analyzed and our data comes together and asking ‘what have we learned,’” he said.

Newman and Gooseff drift into camp at the end of a long day of data collection.

If you have questions about this story, or would like to reach out to INSTAAR for further comment, you can contact Senior Communications Specialist Gabe Allen at gabriel.allen@colorado.edu.

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INSTAAR faculty fellow Mike Gooseff rows while USGS hydrologist Connor Newman logs a sample of Colorado River water outside Grand Junction, Colo. in October, 2024. All photos by Gabe Allen.

Research

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions − World Day for Glaciers carries a reminder (The Conversation US)

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Small bird, big trick: How a hummingbird chick acts like a caterpillar to survive (CU ����Vlog�ƽ�� Today)

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Agriculture is main cause of seasonal carbon ups and downs, study finds (CSU)

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Inside an ice stream (Science)

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International research collaboration uncovers key driver of Himalayan glacier melt

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Chancellor Justin Schwartz’s visit to INSTAAR sparks connections and ideas

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Rare earth elements found in Lincoln Creek raise new questions (Aspen Journalism)

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New research demystifies carbon cycling in freshwater lakes around the world

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Increased wildfire activity may be a feature of past periods of abrupt climate change, study finds (OSU)

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First-of-its-kind study provides a detailed look at water quality along the Colorado River’s upper basin

A new approach

Pinpointing water quality

Understanding groundwater

Packing up

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Small bird, big trick: How a hummingbird chick acts like a caterpillar to survive (CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� Today)