Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Emission Of Volatile Organic Compounds From Land-Applied Beef Cattle Manure As Affected By Application Method, Diet, And Soil Water Condition, Bryan L. Woodbury, John E. Gilley, David B. Parker, David B. Marx

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Land application of beef cattle manure may result in the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC). This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of diet, land application method, soil water condition, and time since manure application on VOC emissions. Manure was collected from feedlot pens where cattle were fed diets containing 0%, 10%, or 30% wet distillers grains with solubles (WDGS). The effects of manure application method (surface-applied or incorporated) and soil water condition (saturated or wet) on VOC emissions were measured over a 48 h period. Heptanoic, hexanoic, isobutyric, and isovaleric acids contributed 23.5%, 17.6%, 9.26%, and 3.39% …

Assessment Of Aged Woodchip Bioreactor Physical And Hydraulic Properties, Shelby Duncan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Denitrifying woodchip bioreactors are a critical tool for mitigating nitrate loading to downstream water bodies. The properties of the woodchip are a key factor in the design of the bioreactor which are usually designed to optimize that retention time of the water being treated. Retention time is affected by active flow volume, porosity, and flow rate. As a bioreactor ages, the carbon material will break down and, in some cases, sedimentation will occur within the bioreactor. Both processes will affect the porosity and hydraulic performance of the bioreactor. When flow through the bioreactor is significantly different than the original design, …

Managing Water Quantity And Quality With Subsurface Drainage In Eastern South Dakota, Morghan Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Moisture extremes (excess and deficit) impact crop loss and water quality. Due to excessively wet springs and dry summers, crop damage can occur within the same county or field within the same year. To determine the magnitude of this problem in eastern South Dakota, indemnified crop insurance data for drought and excessive moisture claims were assessed for the years 1991-2020 for the occurrence of both excess moisture and drought in four counties in eastern South Dakota. Results show that there is greater than a 70% chance of the moisture extremes happening in the same year, making subsurface drainage, controlled drainage, …

The Response Of Beef Cattle To Disturbances From Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uavs), Gabriel Abdulai

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly becoming common in animal agriculture. However, research regarding the impact of UAV disturbance on animal wellbeing is lacking or limited. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of UAV flights on beef cattle by measuring cattle heart and movement rate when introduced to single or multiple UAV flights. A total of 16 -18 crossbred beef heifers were introduced to different flights patterns at between 5 and 9 m above ground level (AGL) at approximately 1 to 2 m/s horizontal velocity for 4 weeks with flights repeated 3 days per week. Results …

Implications To Tap And Stream Water Chemistry Due To Variations In Sampling Locations And Watershed Land Use, Dayana Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

The Kentucky River Basin, which is in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field region, is a rural region with sparse population distribution and a history of water quality impairments. The long history of mining activity in the Commonwealth has not only left a mark on the area’s economy, but it has also shaped the environment. Changes in land use from forested areas to surface mining have been shown to significantly change water chemistry and hydrology. To date, there is limited information regarding the potential exposure and introduction of heavy metals and sulfate entering rural water treatment plants, resulting in a notable …

Classifying And Mapping Aquatic Vegetation In Heterogeneous Stream Ecosystems Using Visible And Multispectral Uav Imagery, Rozalia Agioutanti

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

The need for assessment and management of aquatic vegetation in stream ecosystems is recognized given the importance in impacting water quality, hydrodynamics, and aquatic biota. However, existing approaches to monitor are laborious and its currently not feasible to track spatial and temporal differences at broad scales. The objective of this study was therefore to map and classify aquatic vegetation of a shallow stream with heterogenous mixtures of emergent and submerged aquatic vegetation. Data was collected in the Camden Creek watershed within the Inner Bluegrass Region of central Kentucky. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was employed and both visible …

Lignin Valorization Via Reductive Depolymerization Using Promoted Nickel Catalysts And Sub- And Supercritical Methanol, Julia Parker

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

While lignin has been regarded as the most promising renewable feedstock for the sustainable manufacture of aromatic compounds, lignin valorization is necessary to improve the economic viability of biorefineries. Reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF), which combines delignification and lignin depolymerization into a single stage while maintaining the structure and integrity of the cellulose component, has evolved as an effective method for processing biomass. The ability of Cu and Fe to promote the performance of a 20% Ni/alumina catalyst when converting native lignin to alkylphenols by RCF in sub- and supercritical methanol was tested. The effectiveness of lignin extraction as measured by …

Nondestructive Multivariate Classification Of Codling Moth Infested Apples Using Machine Learning And Sensor Fusion, Nader Ekramirad

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Apple is the number one on the list of the most consumed fruits in the United States. The increasing market demand for high quality apples and the need for fast, and effective quality evaluation techniques have prompted research into the development of nondestructive evaluation methods. Codling moth (CM), Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is the most devastating pest of apples. Therefore, this dissertation is focused on the development of nondestructive methods for the detection and classification of CM-infested apples. The objective one in this study was aimed to identify and characterize the source of detectable vibro-acoustic signals coming from CM-infested …

Assessing Machine Learning Utility In Predicting Hydrologic And Nitrate Dynamics In Karst Agroecosystems, Timothy Mcgill

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Seasonal hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and harmful algal blooms experienced in many inland freshwater bodies is partially driven due to excessive nitrogen loading seen from agricultural watersheds. Within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, many areas are underlain with karst features, and efforts to reduce nitrogen contributions from these areas have had varying success, due to lacking a complete understanding of nutrient dynamics in karst agricultural systems. To improve the understanding of nitrogen cycling in these systems, 35 months of high resolution in situ water quality and atmospheric data were collected and fed into a two-hidden layer extreme learning machine …

Exploration Of Lignin-Based Superabsorbent Polymers (Hydrogels) For Soil Water Management And As A Carrier For Delivering Rhizobium Spp., Toby Adjuik

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Superabsorbent polymers (hydrogels) as soil amendments may improve soil hydraulic properties and act as carrier materials beneficial to soil microorganisms. Researchers have mostly explored synthetic hydrogels which may not be environmentally sustainable. This dissertation focused on the development and application of lignin-based hydrogels as sustainable soil amendments. This dissertation also explores the development of pedotransfer transfer functions (PTFs) for predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity using statistical and machine learning methods with a publicly available large data set. A lignin-based hydrogel was synthesized, and its impact on soil water retention was determined in silt loam and loamy fine sand soils. Hydrogel treatment …

A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory For Nebraska: Livestock And Coal Loom Large, Eric R. Holley, Adam Liska

Adam Liska Papers

Mitigation of climate change requires the systematic identification and cataloging of emissions sources at city, state, and national levels. In this study, an inventory of annual greenhouse gas emissions from the state of Nebraska was created based on industry data, and emissions inventories were completed each year from 1990 to 2016. Nebraska’s net emissions were found to increase from 56.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MMtCO₂e) in 1990 to 87.4 MMtCO₂e in 2016. Agriculture was found to be the sector with the most emissions (36 MMtCO₂e) followed by electricity generation (21 MMtCO …

Recovering And Upgrading Kraft Lignin For Application In Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Peng Quan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Lignin is the second abundant natural polymer and has been highlighted as a potential substitute for fossil-based raw materials. However, the inherent molecular heterogeneity and the complex recovery processes result in the challenge of controlling the molecular properties and value-added applications of lignin in large scale. To address those issues, a novel acid-liquefaction process was developed in this study to recover Kraft lignin with improved molecular homogeneity directly from black liquor.

In the first study, the liquefaction parameters were screened based on yield and molecular weight properties of the recovered lignin. Then, the recovered lignin samples were used to replace …

High Throughput Analysis Of Leaf Chlorophyll Content In Sorghum Using Rgb, Hyperspectral, And Fluorescence Imaging And Sensor Fusion, Huichun Zhang, Yufeng Ge, Xinyan Xie, Abbas Atefi, Nuwan Wijewardane,, Suresh Thapa

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Background: Leaf chlorophyll content plays an important role in indicating plant stresses and nutrient status. Traditional approaches for the quantification of chlorophyll content mainly include acetone ethanol extraction, spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography. Such destructive methods based on laboratory procedures are time consuming, expensive, and not suitable for high-throughput analysis. High throughput imaging techniques are now widely used for non-destructive analysis of plant phenotypic traits. In this study three imaging modules (RGB, hyperspectral, and fluorescence imaging) were, separately and in combination, used to estimate chlorophyll content of sorghum plants in a greenhouse environment. Color features, spectral indices, and chlorophyll fluorescence …

Unmanned Aerial System-Based Data Ferrying Over A Sensor Node Station Network In Maize, Jasreman Singh, Yufeng Ge, Derek M. Heeren, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, Christopher M. U. Neale, Suat Irmak, Mitchell S. Maguire

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

The Brazilian Soil Spectral Service (Braspecs): A User-Friendly System For Global Soil Spectra Communication, José A. M. Demattê, Ariane Francine Da Silveira Paiva, Raul Roberto Poppiel, Nícolas Augusto Rosin, Luis Fernando Chimelo Ruiz, Fellipe Alcantara De Oliveira Mello, Budiman Minasny, Sabine Grunwald, Yufeng Ge, Eyal Ben Dor, Asa Gholizadeh, Cecile Gomez, Sabine Chabrillat, Nicolas Francos, Shamsollah Ayoubi, Dian Fiantis, James Kobina Mensah Biney, Changkun Wang, Abdelaziz Belal, Salman Naimi, Najmeh Asgari Hafshejani, Henrique Bellinaso, Jean Michel Moura-Bueno, Nélida E. Q. Silvero

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Although many Soil Spectral Libraries (SSLs) have been created globally, these libraries still have not been operationalized for end-users. To address this limitation, this study created an online Brazilian Soil Spectral Service (BraSpecS). The system was based on the Brazilian Soil Spectral Library (BSSL) with samples collected in the Visible–Near–Short-wave infrared (vis–NIR–SWIR) and Midinfrared (MIR) ranges. The interactive platform allows users to find spectra, act as custodians of the data, and estimate several soil properties and classification. The system was tested by 500 Brazilian and 65 international users. Users accessed the platform (besbbr.com.br), uploaded their spectra, and received soil organic …

Geospatial Synthesis Of Biogeochemical Attributions Of Porphyrins To Oil Pollution In Marine Sediments Of The Gulf Of México, Francisco Muñoz-Arriola, José Vinicio Macías-Zamora

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Porphyrins are highly persistent in the environment and represent a helpful biogeochemical attribute to assess the spatial distribution of the effects of oil spills on ecosystems and their resilience. In areas prone to natural and human-originated oil spills, the measurement of VO– and nickel– porphyrins in marine–sediment samples can identify the effects of oil pollution across spatiotemporal scales. The goal is to explore whether or not these compounds can be useful indicators of the geospatial attributions of oil contamination in the surficial sediments. We hypothesize that the geospatial gradients of porphyrins in marine sediments from petroleum spills and seepage activities—related …

Maize Response To Irrigation And Nitrogen Under Center Pivot, Subsurface Drip And Furrow Irrigation: Water Productivity, Basal Evapotranspiration And Yield Response Factors, Ali T. Mohammed, Suat Irmak

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Information and data about quantification and comparison of crop water productivity indices for various irrigation levels and methods and nitrogen (N) application timings “simultaneously” under the same conditions do not exist. Unprecedented and extensive field experiments were conducted for maize (Zea mays L.) in 2016 and 2017 under center pivot (CP), subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) and furrow irrigation (FI) methods with full irrigation treatment (FIT), 80% FIT, 60% FIT and rainfed treatment (RFT) with three N application timings. N treatments were: (i) traditional (TN), (ii) non-traditional-1 (NT-1) and (iii) non-traditional-2 (NT-2). Irrigation yield production functions (IYPF); evapotranspiration-yield production functions …

Maize Response To Coupled Irrigation And Nitrogen Fertilization Under Center Pivot, Subsurface Drip And Surface (Furrow) Irrigation: Soil-Water Dynamics And Crop Evapotranspiration, Ali T. Mohammed, Suat Irmak

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Determination of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and root zone soil-water dynamics/distribution coupled with nitrogen (N) management strategies is important for effective management of agricultural fields for enhancing production efficiency. However, limited data and knowledge exist that sufficiently inform how soil-water dynamics and ETc response may vary with coupled irrigation levels and different N application timings under different irrigation methods. Extensive field experiments were conducted in 2016 and 2017 under center pivot (CP), subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), and furrow irrigation (FI) at full irrigation treatment (FIT), 80% FIT, 60% FIT, and rainfed treatment (RFT) with N application timing treatments of traditional N …

Resistome And Mobilome In Surface Runoff From Manured Soil As Affected By Setback Distance, Noelle Mware, Maria C. Hall, Selvakumar Rajendran, John E. Gilley, Amy Schmidt, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Yifan Zhang, Xu Li

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Land application of livestock manure introduces antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) into the soil environment. The objectives of this study were to examine the changes of resistome and mobilome in runoff and soil as a function of setback distance, i.e., the distance between manured soil and surface water, and to quantify the contributions of manure and background soil to the ARGs and MGEs in surface runoff. The resistome and mobilome in runoff and soil from a field-scale plot study were characterized using a high throughput quantitative polymerase chain reaction (HT-qPCR) array. It was estimated that a …

Comparison Of Stationary And Mobile Canopy Sensing Systems For Irrigation Management Of Maize And Soybean In Nebraska, Sandeep Bhatti, Derek M. Heeren, Susan A. O’Shaughnessy, Steven R. Evett, Mitchell S Maguire, Suresh Pradhyun Kashyap, Christopher M. U. Neale

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Accurate knowledge of plant and field characteristics is crucial for irrigation management. Irrigation can potentially be better managed by utilizing data collected from various sensors installed on different platforms. The accuracy and repeatability of each data source are important considerations when selecting a sensing system suitable for irrigation management. The objective of this study was to compare data from multispectral (red and near-infrared bands) and thermal (long wave thermal infrared band) sensors mounted on different platforms to investigate their comparative usability and accuracy. The different sensor platforms included stationary posts fixed on the ground, the lateral of a center pivot …