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Glaciers are the essential source of fresh water not only to human sustenance, but it is also vital for all lifeforms on earth. Glaciers are also key components in understanding rapid changes in climate. This makes understanding of glacier mass, extent, and overall state essential. In this dissertation, the objective was to analyze the state of snow and ice masses in the mid (California) and low latitude (Chile/Argentina) western American regions using geospatial technology. This study also analyzed the effects of anomalies in snow mass on the regional agricultural practices in California’s Central Valley. In the Southern Andes, the digital elevation models from Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) (the year 2000) were compared with the elevation footprints from the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) campaign for the years 2004 through 2008. Generally, in all sub-regions, the elevation values were lower than the elevation for the year 2000, which demarcates continuous recession of ice mass in the Andean region. Also, this study quantified snow cover extent and mass balance variation in the Sierra Nevada and Mt. Shasta regions in California. To unearth anomalies in snow mass, study used digital elevation models generated from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) between the year 2000 and 2015. A remarkable reduction in snow cover extent of about 80% was observed in the studied watersheds of California. Lastly, the impacts of snow mass anomalies on the total water storage (TWS) and agriculture land cover in the California’s Central Valley were quantified and geo-visualized. The study noticed the change in the land cover area of about 20% (6993 sq.km) due to the alteration of Agriculture land to impervious land covers. Most of the change in the agriculture land cover of about 4402 sq.km occurred in the San Joaquin and Tulare Basins of southern Central Valley region. This dissertation concludes that the increased temperature in the Andes and California has adversely impacted Cryosphere components in the region in the past decade. Besides, it provides valuable insights into the changing state of cryosphere components and highlights impacts of anomalies in TWS on a billion-dollar agricultural industry.

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This thesis is an attempt to understand the concept of ma 間 as it appears traditionally in Japan and how it may be applied to literature as an analytical framework. Ma is most simply defined as an empty space, but has a long history of artistic connotations in various fields, such as architecture, music, and poetry, that may theoretically be applied to literature as well. First, I look at the historical and theoretical background of the concept of ma as it exists in the visual, musical, and literary arts. I consider how ma was first used when it was developed in the eighth century, how it was used prior to World War II, and how it has been used since World War II. I also look at Western theories that I believe could be used to further analyze the concept of ma – namely, the Iceberg Theory and the study of hermeneutics. I use the information in this portion to develop my thesis statement: that ma as an aesthetic term is primarily concerned with encouraging audience participation with the piece of art and that such participation with literature can be facilitated by certain writing techniques, including use of symbolism, juxtaposition, and understatement. Then, I look more closely at three works that I consider prime examples of ma in literature: Takekurabe by Higuchi Ichiyō, Yukiguni by Kawabata Yasunari, and Riaru wārudo by Kirino Natsuo. These works span a wide time range – from the late 1800s to the early 2000s – but all contain themes of disconnect, transition, and confusion, as well as specific writing techniques, that encourage reader participation through introspection. Additionally, I have included a glossary at the end for any Japanese words, with their hiragana and kanji counterparts, that a reader might be unfamiliar with.

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Spaceborne microwave sensors are powerful tools for monitoring the impacts of global climate change on the Greenland ice sheet. This dissertation focuses on refining methods for applying microwave data in Greenland studies by using new simple theoretical and empirical models to investigate (1) azimuth anisotropies in the data, (2) the microwave signature of the snow surface, (3) detection of snow melt, and (4) classification of snow melt. The results are applicable for identifying geophysical properties of the snow surface and monitoring changes on the ice sheet in relation to melt duration/extent, accumulation, and wind patterns. Azimuth dependence of the normalized radar cross-section (sigma-0) over the Greenland ice sheet is modeled with a simple surface scattering model. The model assumes that azimuth anisotropy in 1-100 meter scale surface roughness is the primary mechanism driving the azimuth modulation. This model is inverted to estimate snow surface properties using sigma-0 measurements from the C-band European Remote Sensing Advanced Microwave Instrument (ERS) in scatterometer mode. The largest roughness estimates occur in the lower portions of the dry snow zone. Estimates of the preferential direction in surface roughness are highly correlated with katabatic wind fields over Greenland. A new observation model is introduced that uses a limited number of parameters to characterize the snow surface based on the dependence of radar backscatter on incidence angle, azimuth angle, spatial gradient, and temporal rate of change. The individual model parameters are discussed in depth with examples using data from the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) and from the ERS. The model may be applied for increased accuracy in scatterometer, SAR, and wide-angle SAR studies. Examples illustrating the use of the model are included with one application focusing on analysis of inter-annual change and another focusing on increased sensitivity in studies of intra-annual change. Six different melt detection method/sensor combinations are compared using data for the summer of 2000. The sensors include the Special Spectral Microwave Imager (SSM/I), SeaWinds on QuikSCAT (QSCAT), and ERS. A new method of melt detection is introduced that is based on a simple physical model relating the moisture content and depth of a layer of wet surface snow to a single channel melt detection threshold. The model can be applied to both active and passive sensors. Model-based melt estimates from different sensors are highly correlated and do not exhibit the unnatural phenomenon observed with previous methods. Trends in SSM/I channel ratios are used to differentiate subsurface and surface melt. For ablation estimation, this separation is important due to expected differences in the ablation rate for the two melt types. Evidences of the daily melt refreeze cycle are observed in the diurnal variation of the different brightness temperature channel ratios. The polarization ratio increases during periods of surface melt while the frequency ratio remains relatively constant. The frequency ratio increases during periods of expected subsurface melt. Similar trends are observed in brightness temperature measurements from in situ data collected by other investigators.

Eliza R. Snow's contributions as an educator have gone largely unexamined yet are an important element of her lifework. An analysis of her writing, both poetic and instructional, as well as minutes and notes from her instructional meetings, supports the view that as an educator Eliza R. Snow had a definite philosophy that informed her educational practice and shaped teaching and learning in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two articles, one on the educational philosophy of Eliza R. Snow and the other on her pedagogical practices, illuminate her contributions as an educational leader. Snow believed that God's children were eternal and divinely endowed with the capacity to learn; that they were agents, free to choose; that to achieve eternal life their minds must be expanded and refined, transformed and perfected; and that capacity, greatness and usefulness were developed through improving oneself and through serving others. Snow's pedagogical practices derived from her philosophy and bridged nineteenth-century didacticism with an advocacy for learners as agents. In a time when most learning consisted of rote memorization and drill, Snow granted her students ownership in their own learning processes and used techniques that inspired children with eternal perspective. Snow's pedagogical patterns included moralizing to underscore important points, encouraging application or present-day connection, describing events or concepts unfamiliar to her audience, and editorializing with personal insights or experiences.