Pacific Air over the Rocky Mountains

Lee-side Frontogenesis in the Rocky Mountains

The development and motion of fronts associated with lee-side troughs on large mountain barriers has been investigated. These fronts differ from ordinary cold fronts in their horizontal temperature field, which is characterized by a sinusoidal thermal ridge. The thermal ridge intensifies, while remaining stationary with respect to the mountains, and moves eastward upon the approach of a Pacific...

Persistent organic pollutants in air and vegetation from the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

The exchange of chlorinated organic pollutants between air and vegetation in cold, mountain environments was investigated through the extraction of coniferous vegetation and high-volume air samples collected from the Canadian Rocky Mountains during the summers of 1999 and 2000. Concentrations of several compounds in vegetation increased as temperatures decreased, whereas atmospheric concentrati...

Secular temperature trends for the southern Rocky Mountains over the last five centuries

[1] Pre-instrumental surface temperature variability in the Southwestern United States has traditionally been reconstructed using variations in the annual ring widths of high altitude trees that live near a growth-limiting isotherm. A number of studies have suggested that the response of some trees to temperature variations is non-stationary, warranting the development of alternative approaches...

Wood dynamics in headwater streams of the Colorado Rocky Mountains

[1] An 11-year monitoring study begun in 1996 evaluates wood mobility in five Colorado Rocky Mountain streams. Each channel reach is 40–70 m in length. Initial surveys included channel dimensions and arrangement of each piece of wood. Annual resurveys focused on wood arrangement and persistence. Average diameter of 15 cm and length of 3.2 m varied little among sites. Average yearly mobility ran...

Changing Climate Suitability for Forests in Yellowstone & the Rocky Mountains