Digital Commons Network^™

Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Using A Multi-Objective Optimization Tool For Best Management Practices Selection And Spatial Placement In The Lower Bear River Watershed, Utah, Ali A. Salha

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation presents a set of approaches to help address water quality problems related to total phosphorus loads in water bodies. Water quality degradation is caused by many nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff, fertilizers applications, and bank erosion. Three studies present methodologies for water quality protection from degradation in watersheds. The first study demonstrates the application of a watershed simulation tool that can quantify flows in the watershed, the amount of released pollutants and identify the areas contributing to the pollutants’ release in the watershed. The second study presents a simple combination tool that can pair potential management practices …

Optimizing Sustainable Integrated Use Of Groundwater, Surface Water And Reclaimed Water For The Competing Demands Of Agricultural Net Return And Urban Population, Silvia Anastasia Landa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The world population is growing rapidly. In developing countries, the growing population is mostly in urban areas. A bigger population requires more food, and more food requires more water. The water needed for food and people comes from the same sources: surface water (rivers, lakes, etc.) and groundwater (aquifers). Thus, there is a competing water demand between people and agriculture in urban areas.

In this research, we use computer software to make a model of the hydrologic system that focuses on surface water and groundwater. To make the model, we use data from real aquifers and streams in order to …

Retrieval Of Aerosol Mass Concentration From Elastic Lidar Data, Christian C. Marchant

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agricultural aerosol sources can contribute significantly to air pollution in many regions of the country. Characterization of the aerosol emissions of agricultural operations is required to establish a scientific basis for crafting regulations concerning agricultural aerosols. A new lidar instrument for measuring aerosol emissions is described, as well as two new algorithms for converting lidar measurements into aerosol concentration data. The average daily aerosol emission rate is estimated from a dairy using lidar.

The Aglite Lidar is a portable scanning lidar for mapping the concentration of particulate matter from agricultural and other sources. The instrument is described and performance and …

Uncertainty Analysis For Land Surface Model Predictions: Application To The Simple Biosphere 3 And Noah Models At Tropical And Semiarid Locations, Joshua K. Roundy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Uncertainty in model predictions is associated with data, parameters, and model structure. The estimation of these contributions to uncertainty is a critical issue in hydrology. Using a variety of single and multiple criterion methods for sensitivity analysis and inverse modeling, the behaviors of two state-of-the-art land surface models, the Simple Biosphere Model 3 and Noah model, are analyzed. The different algorithms used for sensitivity and inverse modeling are analyzed and compared along with the performance of the land surface models. Generalized sensitivity and variance methods are used for the sensitivity analysis, including the Multi-Objective Generalized Sensitivity Analysis, the Extended Fourier …