Recent studies predict that projected climate change will lead to significant reductions in summer streamflow in the mountainous regions of the Western US. Hydrologic modeling directed at quantifying these potential changes has focused on the magnitude and timing of spring snowmelt as the key control on the spatial-temporal pattern of summer streamflow. We illustrate how spatial differences in groundwater dynamics can also play a significant role in determining streamflow responses to warming. We examine two contrasting watersheds, one located in the Western Cascades and the other in the High Cascades mountains of Oregon. We use both empirical analysis of streamflow data and physically based, spatially distributed modeling to disentangle the relative importance of multiple and interacting controls. In particular, we explore the extent to which differences in snow accumulation and melt and drainage characteristics (deep ground water vs. shallow subsurface) mediate the effect of climate change. Results show that within the Cascade Range, local variations in bedrock geology and concomitant differences in volume and seasonal fluxes of subsurface water will likely result in significant spatial variability in responses to climate forcing. Specifically, watersheds dominated by High Cascade geology will show greater absolute reductions in summer streamflow with predicted temperature increases.

Abstract:Stream temperature is a complex function of energy inputs including solar radiation and latent and sensible heat transfer. In streams where groundwater inputs are significant, energy input through advection can also be an important control on stream temperature. For an individual stream reach, models of stream temperature can take advantage of direct measurement or estimation of these energy inputs for a given river channel environment. Understanding spatial patterns of stream temperature at a landscape scale requires predicting how this environment varies through space, and under different atmospheric conditions. At the landscape scale, air temperature is often used as a surrogate for the dominant controls on stream temperature. In this study we show that, in regions where groundwater inputs are key controls and the degree of groundwater input varies in space, air temperature alone is unlikely to explain within-landscape stream temperature patterns. We illustrate how a geologic template can offer insight into landscape-scale patterns of stream temperature and its predictability from air temperature relationships. We focus on variation in stream temperature within headwater streams within the McKenzie River basin in western Oregon. In this region, as in other areas of the Pacific Northwest, fish sensitivity to summer stream temperatures continues to be a pressing environmental issue. We show that, within the McKenzie, streams which are sourced from deeper groundwater reservoirs versus shallow subsurface flow systems have distinct summer temperature regimes. Groundwater streams are colder, less variable and less sensitive to air temperature variation. We use these results from the western Oregon Cascade hydroclimatic regime to illustrate a conceptual framework for developing regional-scale indicators of stream temperature variation that considers the underlying geologic controls on spatial variation, and the relative roles played by energy and water inputs.

We demonstrate electrically driven InGaN based laser diodes (LDs), with a simple AlGaN-cladding-free epitaxial structure, grown on semipolar (2021) GaN substrates. The devices employed In0.06Ga0.94N waveguiding layers to provide transverse optical mode confinement. A maximum lasing wavelength of 506.4 nm was observed under pulsed operation, which is the longest reported for AlGaN-cladding-free III-nitride LDs. The threshold current density (Jth) for index-guided LDs with uncoated etched facets was 23 kA/cm2, and 19 kA/cm2 after application of high-reflectivity (HR) coatings. A characteristic temperature (T0) value of ∼130 K and wavelength red-shift of ∼0.05 nm/K were confirmed.

The operating characteristics of glow-discharge-created electron beams are discussed. Ten different cathode materials are compared with regard to maximum electron beam current achieved and the beam generation efficiencyas measured calorimetrically. Specific electron gun designs are presented for a variety of applications that include: cw ion laser excitation; electron beam assisted chemical vapor deposition of microelectronic films; and wide area annealing of ionimplantation damage to silicon substrates. The use of sintered metal-ceramic (e.g., Mo-A1 2 0 3 ) cathodes to generate multikilowatt electron beams in a pure noble gas discharge is reported. Cathode materials with high secondary electron emission coefficients by ion bombardment allow for electron beam production in glow discharges at 50%-80% generation efficiency values.

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