Digital Commons Network^™

A Gis Analysis Of Waulsortian-Like Mounds In The Mississippian Of Kentucky And Tennessee, Philip Roberson

Scholars Week

Following a mass extinction nearly 365 million years ago, bryozoans and crinoids replaced corals and stromatoporoids as the dominant framework organisms in reefs and, during the very earliest part of the Carboniferous period, they built reef-like structures that are known from Europe, North America and Africa. They are characterized by large size, a matrix of carbonate mud, and their major framework organisms.

Waulsortian-like mounds occur in geographically isolated patches in outcrop and in the subsurface of central Tennessee and Kentucky where they are associated with hydrocarbon production. These mounds have the same characteristic organisms as the European mounds and do …

Tracking Earthquake Frequency And Intensity In Oklahoma, Kristin Lorenzini

Scholars Week

The purpose of this project is to show the dramatic increase of earthquakes that have occurred in Oklahoma over the past eight years that have been correlated to fracking in the area. Starting in 2009, before fracking took place in Oklahoma, there were a total of 33 earthquakes throughout the whole year. In 2010, when fracking began in Oklahoma, the number of earthquakes spiked to over 100 in one year. The number of earthquakes grew over the years and in 2015 there were over 2,000. Data from 2016 were also used but only through the month of September, the year …

Landform Mapping Of The Clarks River Alluvial System Using Lidar Dems, Benedict W. Ferguson

Scholars Week

The Clarks River is located in western Kentucky near the city of Benton. It travels through and weathers lacustrine or lake deposits as well as fluvial or river deposits. These deposits are also overlain by loess deposited from the last glacial maximum. Historically, people have taken advantage of these rich deposits for agriculture which has led to increased settlement. With increased settlement, the river has experienced alteration. The west fork of the Clarks River has been channelized while the east fork of the Clarks River has managed to remain un-channelized and has since been allowed to run relatively freely.

Detailed …

Mapping The Variability Of Soil Quality Indicators In Natural Versus Agricultural Ecosystems, Mary G. Derting Miss

Scholars Week

Traditionally, Kentucky agriculture has focused on crop production and soil fertility while overlooking soil quality and its dependence on land management type. This research attempted to reveal the importance of land management types and their individual effects on physical soil quality indicators. The second objective of this study was to show the variance of physical soil quality indicators across different land managements by using layered maps. Such visual representation of the data along with statistical analysis also showed which soil quality parameters are more sensitive to change in land management type. Land management types included three undisturbed grassland and undisturbed …

Change Detection Of Mount Nyiragongo Post Eruption, Molly E. Karnes

Scholars Week

Because of the dangerous nature of volcanic eruptions, it makes them very difficult to study, however this makes them even more important for us to study because of how much destruction they can cause in such a short amount of time. We need to study all parts of an eruption to gain more insight into the specifics of how a volcano works. Having a better understanding of how large of an area is effected by an eruption will allow governments to decide on evacuation procedures. The goal of my project is to answer a very simple question, “How can we …

Vegetation Mapping Of Mammoth Cave National Park Using Multi-Date Landsat-8 Imagery And Lidar Data, Hongli Yang, Robin Q. Zhang

Scholars Week

Up-to-date and detailed vegetation map provides critical information for habitat management. In addition, a vegetation map is necessary for the Park’s Fire Management, for classification of fuel types, and for delineation of fire management units. There have been several attempts of vegetation mapping in 1934, 1975 and 1997. Recent advancements in mapping technology and the availability of high resolution Lidar data call for a new vegetation map for the Park’s management team.

In this study, Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) imagery, Lidar and geology dataset were applied to vegetation mapping. Habitat types are determined by a combination of geology, aspect …

Integration Of Lidar And Imagery To Delineated Water Bodies For Change Detection, Ashley E. Casselberry, Cetin Haluk

Scholars Week

Through integration of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and high spatial imagery, it is plausible to delineate the bodies of water in order to monitor their changes in size. The purpose of this study is to integrate two different sets of LiDAR data, several multi-date high spatial resolution National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) images, and multi-dateLandsat-8 satellite images of Ballard County, Kentucky for the delineation of the water bodies in the County. Accuracy and precision of the datasets in terms of spatial and spectral resolutions will be examined. The hypothesis is that an integration of such datasets would provide …

Graphene Quantum Dots Electrochemistry And Development Of Sensitive Electrochemical Biosensor [Hybrid Poster 1-B], Tyler Smith, Alexander Banaszak

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are zero-dimensional material derived from graphene derivatives with characteristics from the structure of graphene with quantum confinement and edge effects possessing unique properties. Intense research activity in GQDs is attributed to their novel physical-chemical phenomena arising from the sp²-bonded carbon core surrounded with edge functional moieties. In this work, GQDs of optimal 5-7 nm size are investigated for their fundamental electrochemical properties and use in electrochemical sensing including enzyme-based glucose biosensor. Glucose oxidase (GO_x) was immobilized on GQDs modified glassy carbon (GC) and the UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, electron microscopy, cyclic …

Molecular Sensitivity And Selectivity Of Metal Nanoparticles Decorated Graphene As ‘Smart’ Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (Sers) Platforms [Hybrid Poster 1-A], Alexander Banaszak, Tyler Smith

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Raman scattering signal enhancement that uses graphene as support, graphene-enhanced Raman scattering (GERS), is a recent phenomenon. It can produce clean and reproducible Raman signals of chemical molecules with significantly enhanced signal intensity in contrast to traditional surface- (SERS) and tip- enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) techniques. While enhancement in SERS and TERS arise due to the electromagnetic mechanism, GERS also relies on a chemical mechanism and therefore shows unique molecular sensitivity and selectivity. In this work, we developed graphene materials decorated with noble metal (silver and gold) nanoparticles for detection of different chemical molecules e.g. methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine …

Near-Space Conditions And Their Effects On Physiology, Jennifer Jo Burden, Sarah E. Bell

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Abstract 1:

Jennifer Jo Burden

UVA and UVB

The NASA Balloon Satellite, which is a balloon that is sent 100,000 feet into the upper atmosphere to collect data, and stream that data live to NASA webpage, will carry experiments that are part of a payload. My experiment will be a Neulog Sensor Logger that will collect data on the UVA and UVB exposure rate of light from the upper stratosphere and on the ground. Data measuring the exposure rate of the light will also be collected from robot welding cells or sections in which one robot will be measured in …

An Analysis Of Archival Observations Made Of Galactic Supernova Remnants By The Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Daniel M. Rush, Haley E. West

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Since its launch in 1999, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has spurred explosive growth in the study of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) due to its unsurpassed angular resolution (1 arcsecond at 1 keV) and its moderate sensitivity. We are currently analyzing archival observations made by Chandra of two particular classes of SNRs: mixed-morphology SNRs (which feature contrasting center-filled thermal X-ray morphologies with shell-like radio morphologies) and synchrotron X-ray SNRs (which feature X-ray spectra dominated by synchrotron emission). To illustrate some of our initial results, we present spatially resolved spectroscopic analyses of the mixed-morphology SNR 3C 397 and the synchrotron X-ray dominated …

Using Fundamental Chemistry To Make Functional Materials For Solar Energy Conversion Applications, Kylie N. Heupel, Haley M. Sizemore, Judith L. Jenkins

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Population growth and rapidly increasing energy consumption necessitate innovative materials for energy conversion and storage. Gains in solar electricity and battery technologies are evidenced by the availability of commercial products. However viable solar fuel platforms—where the energy in sunlight is used to form storable fuels such as hydrogen gas—have not yet been realized, motivating the work presented here. In order to produce hydrogen gas from sunlight and water, a photocatalyst is required. The ideal photocatalyst for hydrogen gas generation absorbs solar photons (sunlight), producing high-energy electrons necessary for the reduction of hydrogen ions in water. The host nanocrystal studied here, …

Evaluating Pedestrial Compaction Variation & Soil Organic C Content, Gunner B. Decker

Scholars Week

Over time, playing fields are monitored by overall appearance. However, pedestrian compaction is not evenly distributed throughout the entire surface.

Size Structure, Age, Growth And Spawning Periodicity Of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix In Kentucky Lake, Kentucky, Allison Derose

Scholars Week

Invasive species are a growing threat to aquatic ecosystems in the United States. Invasive species can compete with native species, alter habitats and reduce ecosystem function. A recent invader, Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, has successfully infiltrated much of the Mississippi River Basin and has established reproducing populations within the Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee Rivers. In 2004 Silver Carp were reported within Kentucky Lake, a large reservoir located on the Tennessee River in Western Kentucky. Although Silver Carp have been present in Kentucky Lake for over a decade, very little is known about the population, which makes it difficult …