Publications¶

Primary EEMT Publications¶

Foundational Papers¶

Core Methodology

Rasmussen, C., Southard, R.J., and Horwath, W.R. (2005). Modeling energy inputs to predict pedogenic environments using regional environmental databases. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 69(4), 1266-1274. doi:10.2136/sssaj2003.0283

Thermodynamic Framework

Rasmussen, C., Troch, P.A., Chorover, J., Brooks, P., Pelletier, J., and Huxman, T.E. (2011). An open system framework for integrating critical zone structure and function. Biogeochemistry, 102(1-3), 15-29. doi:10.1007/s10533-010-9476-8

Topographic and Vegetation Effects

Rasmussen, C., Pelletier, J.D., Troch, P.A., Swetnam, T.L., and Chorover, J. (2015). Quantifying topographic and vegetation effects on the transfer of energy and mass to the critical zone. Vadose Zone Journal, 14(1). doi:10.2136/vzj2014.07.0102

High-Performance Computing

Swetnam, T.L., Pelletier, J.D., Rasmussen, C., Callahan, N.R., Merchant, N., and Lyons, E. (2016). Scaling GIS analysis tasks from the desktop to the cloud utilizing contemporary distributed computing and data management approaches. Proceedings of XSEDE16. doi:10.1145/2949550.2949573

Comparative Studies¶

Rasmussen, C. and Gallo, E.L. (2013). Technical Note: A comparison of model and empirical measures of catchment-scale effective energy and mass transfer. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 17(9), 3389-3395. doi:10.5194/hess-17-3389-2013

Rasmussen, C. and Tabor, N.J. (2007). Applying a quantitative pedogenic energy model across a range of environmental gradients. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 71(6), 1719-1729. doi:10.2136/sssaj2007.0051

Applications and Case Studies¶

Landscape Evolution¶

Pelletier, J.D., Barron-Gafford, G.A., Breshears, D.D., Brooks, P.D., Chorover, J., Durcik, M., et al. (2013). Coevolution of nonlinear trends in vegetation, soils, and topography with elevation and slope aspect: A case study in the sky islands of southern Arizona. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 118(2), 741-758. doi:10.1002/jgrf.20046

Zapata-Ríos, X., Brooks, P.D., Troch, P.A., McIntosh, J., and Guo, Q. (2016). Influence of terrain aspect on water partitioning, vegetation structure and vegetation greening in high-elevation catchments in northern New Mexico. Ecohydrology, 9(6), 1073-1083. doi:10.1002/eco.1711

Critical Zone Science¶

Chorover, J., Troch, P.A., Rasmussen, C., Brooks, P.D., Pelletier, J.D., Breshears, D.D., et al. (2011). How water, carbon, and energy drive critical zone evolution: The Jemez–Santa Catalina Critical Zone Observatory. Vadose Zone Journal, 10(3), 884-899. doi:10.2136/vzj2010.0132

Lybrand, R.A. and Rasmussen, C. (2014). Linking soil element-mass-transfer to microscale mineral weathering across a semiarid environmental gradient. Chemical Geology, 381, 26-39. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2014.04.022

Computational Advances¶

Swetnam, T.L. (2013). Cordilleran forest scaling dynamics and disturbance regimes quantified by aerial LiDAR. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson. Link

Callahan, N.R., Merchant, N., Young, K., Rynge, M., Swetnam, T.L., and Lyons, E. (2015). Application of distributed computing and data cyberinfrastructure for enabling large-scale collaborative research. Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, 27(2), 328-343. doi:10.1002/cpe.3228

Theses and Dissertations¶

Doctoral Dissertations¶

Swetnam, T.L. (2013). Cordilleran forest scaling dynamics and disturbance regimes quantified by aerial LiDAR. University of Arizona.

Holleran, M.E. (2013). Quantifying catchment scale soil variability in Marshall Gulch, Santa Catalina Mountains Critical Zone Observatory. University of Arizona.

Master's Theses¶

Lybrand, R.A. (2011). Climate and landscape controls on soil development across semiarid-subhumid environmental gradients. University of Arizona.

Durcik, M. (2010). The role of climate and vegetation in regulating soil formation in the Santa Catalina Mountains. University of Arizona.

Conference Presentations¶

Recent Presentations (2020-2025)¶

American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (2024): "Modernizing EEMT calculations for cloud-native earth system analysis"
Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting (2023): "Continental-scale EEMT patterns and climate sensitivity"
International Association of Geomorphologists (2022): "Energy-based landscape evolution modeling"

Historical Presentations (2010-2020)¶

XSEDE16 Conference (2016): Scaling GIS analysis from desktop to cloud
Critical Zone Observatory All Hands Meeting (2015): EEMT applications across CZO network
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (2014): Topographic controls on Critical Zone energy flux
Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting (2013): Comparative EEMT methodology validation

Critical Zone Observatory Network¶

The EEMT framework has been applied across multiple Critical Zone Observatory sites:

Santa Catalina Mountains-Jemez River Basin CZO (Arizona/New Mexico)
Boulder Creek CZO (Colorado)
Luquillo CZO (Puerto Rico)
Southern Sierra CZO (California)
Christina River Basin CZO (Delaware/Pennsylvania)

International Collaborations¶

European Critical Zone Network: EEMT methodology adaptation for European ecosystems

Australian Critical Zone Network: Application to unique Australian landscapes and climate gradients

Chinese Academy of Sciences: EEMT applications in Tibetan Plateau research

Software Citations¶

Primary Software¶

When using the EEMT software framework, please cite:

@software{eemt_framework_2026,
  title = {EEMT: Effective Energy and Mass Transfer Calculation Framework},
  author = {Swetnam, Tyson L. and Rasmussen, Craig and Pelletier, Jon D.},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/tyson-swetnam/eemt},
  version = {2026.1},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.XXXXXX}
}

Dependent Software¶

EEMT builds upon these key software packages:

GRASS GIS: Neteler, M. and Mitasova, H. (2008). Open Source GIS: A GRASS GIS Approach. Springer, New York.
GDAL: GDAL/OGR contributors (2025). GDAL/OGR Geospatial Data Abstraction software Library. Open Source Geospatial Foundation.
CCTools: Bui, P., et al. (2011). Work Queue + Python: A Framework For Scalable Scientific Ensemble Applications.

Data Citations¶

Climate Data¶

DAYMET: Thornton, M.M., et al. (2022). Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. doi:10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2129

PRISM: PRISM Climate Group (2023). PRISM Climate Data. Oregon State University. http://prism.oregonstate.edu

Elevation Data¶

USGS 3DEP: U.S. Geological Survey (2023). 3D Elevation Program. https://www.usgs.gov/3d-elevation-program

OpenTopography: OpenTopography Facility (2023). High-Resolution Topography Data and Tools. doi:10.5069/G9Z8944F

Acknowledgments¶

Funding Agencies¶

National Science Foundation: Critical Zone Observatory Program (EAR-0724958, EAR-1331408)
National Science Foundation: XSEDE Extended Collaborative Support Service (ACI-1053575)
Department of Energy: Environmental System Science Program
USDA Forest Service: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Institutional Support¶

University of Arizona: Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science
University of Arizona: Department of Geosciences
University of Arizona: Department of Hydrology and Water Resources
CyVerse: Cyberinfrastructure for biological research
XSEDE: Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment

Computational Resources¶

Open Science Grid: Distributed high-throughput computing
SDSC Comet: High-performance computing resources
University of Arizona HPC: Local computational support
NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center: Climate modeling resources

For complete acknowledgments and detailed attribution, see individual publication acknowledgment sections.