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UC San Diego Detects Coronavirus in Wastewater Samples From Five Areas of Campus

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

UC San Diego says it detected traces of the novel coronavirus in five areas of campus over the weekend after it greatly expanded its search for the pathogen in wastewater samples drawn from dozens of buildings.

The positive tests could involve as many as 14 residential halls and two laundries. But school officials also said Tuesday the findings also could represent only a small number of sites and very few infections.

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UCSD Detects COVID-19-Causing Virus in Multiple Wastewater Samples on Campus

/in , , /by /KPBS-FM/TVby City News Service

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla on Tuesday alerted students, faculty and staff that the university’s wastewater monitoring system detected SARS CoV-2 — the virus which causes COVID-19 — in multiple sites on Sunday and Monday.

“Our early detection system identified active virus in the wastewater outflow in the five campus areas from 11 a.m. on Sunday, November 22 to 1 p.m. on Monday, November 23,” Khosla said.

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UCSD Gets $39 Million Grant for Renewable Energy Testbed

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby City News Service

UC San Diego will receive a $39 million grant to build a testbed to allow universities, utilities and industry leaders to gain a better understanding of how to integrate renewable energy resources into the power grid, it was announced Monday.

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Scripps Collaboration to Optimize Water Management & Supply

/in , , /by /The Coast News Group

The San Diego County Water Authority is partnering with the renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego to better predict atmospheric rivers and optimize water management before, during and after California’s ever-changing seasonal storms.

Atmospheric river storms produce 40%-60% of the West Coast’s annual precipitation and are responsible for the majority of flood damage in the region. Predicting and managing this is challenging due to unpredictable and changing snowmelt and rainfall.

To study this, Scripps’ Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) introduced the Water Affiliates Group, which brings together relevant science and water industry expertise to enhance reservoir operations along with California’s changing climate.

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A New Kind of College Exam: UCSD is Testing Sewage for COVID-19

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diego by Randy Dotinga

Turds tell tales, and UC San Diego is listening.

As the beginning of the school year nears, the university is preparing to ramp up its testing of sewage for the coronavirus. The goal: Monitor the progress of the pandemic on campus and catch outbreaks before it’s too late to control them. Along those lines, UCSD on Saturday sent out its first campus-wide email alert about the detection of the virus in sewage from one of its seven colleges.

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How Your Poop is Being Used in the Fight Against COVID-19

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Lyndsay Winkley

Scientist have found an unexpected ally in the fight against COVID-19 — a tool so powerful, it might help zero in on coronavirus outbreaks before they happen.

It’s your poop.

The science of sewer surveillance, also called wastewater epidemiology, is being harnessed by the largest university in the county to help stay on top of COVID-19 cases among students.

And while San Diego is not actively using feces to try and predict COVID-19 hot spots, the city is participating in several studies to better understand this potential monitoring technique.

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Forty Atmospheric Rivers Have Hit West Coast Since October

/in , , /by /The Weather Channelby Chris Dolce

More than three dozen atmospheric rivers made landfall on the West Coast from fall through early spring, but a lack of strong events in California led to the development of drought conditions in parts of the state.

An atmospheric river is a thin, but long plume of moisture in the atmosphere that stretches from the Pacific Ocean tropics or subtropics into higher latitudes. They provide a boost to the rain and snow totals produced by storm systems taking aim at the West Coast, mostly from late fall into early spring. Although these events can bring hazardous impacts, they are also beneficial since they help replenish the water supply in the West.

atmospheric rivers-SIO-graphic 2020

The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps Institution of Oceanography studies atmospheric rivers and other extreme weather. Graphic: CW3E Scripps/UC San Diego

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To Study a Problem That’s Everywhere, They’re Getting Creative

/in , /by /New York Timesby Sarah Elizabeth Richards

Dimitri Deheyn’s lab has become a hub of novel research on the microfibers found in our waterways and even the air we breathe.

Three years ago, Dimitri Deheyn noticed intensely blue stringy shapes as he examined jellyfish samples through a microscope in his marine biology lab at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

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Researchers Look to Improve Leak Detection for the World’s Aging Water Pipes

/in , , /by /Inside Scienceby Catherine Meyers

Across the United States, underground labyrinths of leaky pipes lose more than a trillion gallons of water a year — and the problem is mirrored around the world.

“It’s a huge problem, especially in the cities,” said Daniel Tartakovsky, a professor of energy resources engineering at Stanford University in California. Tartakovsky and his former student Abdulrahman Alawadhi from the University of California, San Diego have proposed a way to improve a traditional method of detecting these leaks.

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Local Scientists Launch Weather Balloons to Study ‘Atmospheric River’

/in , , /by /Fox 5 by Merrilee Moore

Local scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography are closely watching a storm system as it moves into Southern California.

Scientists are releasing weather balloons every three hours to study the storm system, classified as an atmospheric river.

“An atmospheric river is just a large amount of moisture that’s associated with the system,” said program analyst Brian Kawzenuk. “An atmospheric river is sort of what it sounds like: it’s a river in the atmosphere.”

The weather balloons will collect a plethora of data including temperature, wind speed, direction and more, allowing scientists to map out a vertical profile of the atmosphere as the system approaches.

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