Creating a Glacio-Hydrologic Disturbance Index for High Mountain Asia

• Malisse Lummus (University of Kansas- Department of Geology)

Room: 1154 High Mountain Asia’s (HMA) water resources are subject to changes and imbalances as climate change progresses. Research studies focused on High Mountain Asia are often either coarse large-scale studies or small-scale case studies that do not allow regional officials to make informed, actionable decisions within their spheres of influence. Previous work by Immerzeel and others in 2020 characterized changes observed in major hydrologic basins in HMA and calculated their vulnerability and importance for environmental and anthropogenic water demands. Since 2016, NASA’s High Mountain Asia Team (HiMAT) has been tasked with furthering our understanding of the sensitive relationship between HMA’s cryosphere and hydrosphere. HiMAT’s recent advances in modeling glacier behavior provide the opportunity to update Immerzeel’s assessment of the relative importance of glacier water storage and supply in HMA. In this study, we use data developed by HiMAT to calculate a monthly glacio-hydrologic index composed of the glacier storage and the glacier water yield for all HydroSHEDS level 7 basins in High Mountain Asia. This index is taken one step further and projected to the end of the century. In doing so, we can analyze the long-term effects of climate change on the water yielded by glaciers on a higher temporal and spatial resolution than previously done. This glacio-hydrologic disturbance index lays the groundwork for future indices that include snow, hazards, extreme events, and other environmental disturbances.

New Methods for Precision Luminosity at Higgs Factories

• Brendon Madison (KU HEP , ILC)

Room: 1154 We present work towards new methods for precision $e^+$ & $e^-$ luminosity at future Higgs factories. The standard method of using Bhabha scattering ($ee\to ee$) is reviewed. An alternative channel of DiGammas ($ee\to\gamma\gamma$) is presented. A new method, dubbed ''3Beam'', is presented for the first time. 3Beam uses a third beam, comprised of photons, to precisely measure the $e$ & $\gamma$ luminosity. We explore how the $e$ & $\gamma$ luminosity could reduce the $e^+$ & $e^-$ luminosity uncertainty to levels that are acceptable for the goals of future Higgs factories.

Detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays through in ice antennas

• Shoukat Ali

Room: 1146 Cosmic rays with energies above then the 1Eev is known as the UHECR(Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays). When a primary UHECR undergoes through an inelastic collision with the a nucleus in the atmosphere, it transfers the energy to the secondary particle and form the air showers. These air showers can cause the radio emissions through geomagnetic emissions and Askaryan radio emission. The in-ice antennas are then used to detect these radio signals. We will discuss the possible detection of the UHECR in ARA(Askaryan Radio Array) detector.

Can a glacier protect itself? Viewing sikkusak (ice mélange) as a heat sink

• Michael Shahin (University of Kansas)

Room: 1146 Submarine melting of icebergs are a large source of freshwater within Greenland fjord systems. This input of freshwater can alter the ocean heat flux near marine terminating glaciers, impacting ice-ocean exchanges at the glacier front. A sikkusak might promote heat transfer by enhancing fjord circulation, yet act as a heat sink from an increase in iceberg melt production. Traditional modeling methods often rely on approximate iceberg concentrations and distributions within fjords limiting the connection to individual glacier characteristics such as calving style and sikkusak configuration. With recent advances in iceberg detection from satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery using machine learning algorithms, we are able to detect bi-weekly ice sheet wide iceberg distributions including icebergs within the sikkusak. Here we integrate an iceberg melt model with iceberg locations, distributions, and sikkusak extent derived from Sentinel-1. We aim to determine if sikkusak alters fjord waters enough to inhibit heat transfer to specific glaciers. This approach considers an alternative role of sikkusak around Greenland – not for mechanical buttressing, but its role in heat transfer near the terminus.

Chemical Composition of a Protocluster Source in the Galactic Center

• Parker Wise (University of Kansas)

Room: 1154 We present a millimeter spectral analysis of a star forming region in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, the Galactic center. Cloud C (G0.380+0.050), located in the dust ridge, is one of the only hot cores in the Galactic center other than Sgr B2, a cloud that is known to be one of the most chemically rich sites for massive star formation in the Galaxy. We observed the J=1-0 transitions of the CO isotopologues, $^{12}$C$^{16}$O, $^{12}$C$^{18}$O, $^{12}$C$^{17}$O, $^{13}$C$^{16}$O, as a part of a larger survey of 30 positions in the Galactic center, using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array with an angular resolution of 2" (0.08 pc). Our goal is to characterize the chemical composition of the dense star forming regions within Cloud C. Through fitting models for emission and absorption to our data we have been able to identify the molecules present within the spectra of these star forming regions. The chemical composition of this cloud is valuable information that allows us to have a better grasp on the initial conditions of massive star formation.

Bridging Generational Knowledge: Digital Storytelling in the Rarámuri Community

• Rafael Gonzalez (University of Kansas)

Room: 1146 This study investigates how the urban Rarámuri community in Chihuahua, Mexico, leverages digital storytelling to recontextualize elder knowledge for the younger generation. Through workshops, it enables youth to express ancestral wisdom in contemporary urban settings, fostering a dynamic cultural identity. This approach highlights the adaptability of traditional narratives via digital media, underscoring the importance of intergenerational dialogue. The findings aim to contribute to the broader discourse on sustaining indigenous cultures in the present.

Searching for Unassociated Fermi Objects (UFOs) with the highest energy gamma rays in the Galaxy

• Maleah Rhem (University of Kansas)

Room: 1146 There are thousands of identified gamma-ray sources in our Milky Way. Many of these sources have been studied using the Fermi-LAT satellite, which is sensitive to photons in the energy range between 20 MeV and 300 GeV. Among the gamma-ray excesses detected with the Fermi-LAT, there are candidates that no one has observed before, which are designated unassociated. This study uses data from the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory to identify some of these Unassociated Fermi Objects (UFOs). The HAWC Observatory is sensitive to gamma rays in the range between 500 GeV and 100 TeV, the highest energy gamma rays ever detected. By correlating these two unique datasets, we will be not only identifying previously unassociated objects but will also be uncovering the most powerful accelerators in our Galaxy. Our results found at least one significant association from the gamma-ray source 3HWC J1837-066 from ~15 keV up to ~100 TeV. To pursue this study even further, we will study the energy spectrum measured by the three experiments to pinpoint the actual astrophysical object behind the gamma-ray emission. We will use these studies to prepare a Target-Of-Opportunity proposal to request observation time with the Swift-XRT instrument, which operates at even lower energy (from 0.2 to 10 keV).