Engineering Commons^™

Soil Moisture Dependent Runoff In A Dryland Region: An Investigation Of The Role Of Antecedent Conditions, Monitoring, And Modeling Strategies, Gerhard Schoener

Civil Engineering ETDs

Approximately 30% of the Earth’s land surface is characterized as arid or semiarid, including much of the western United States. Accurate runoff predictions are important for informed watershed management, particularly in rapidly urbanizing areas. Infiltration excess overland flow is the dominant mechanism for runoff generation in many dryland basins, and event-based infiltration or loss models are commonly used to estimate runoff. However, predictions are associated with considerable uncertainty due to the role antecedent soil moisture, an initial condition that must be set by the modeler. The objectives of my research were to (1) evaluate the impact of antecedent soil moisture …

Lunar Regolith Simulant Behaviours Affected By Shock Metamorphism And Mineralogy, Xiao Chen Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There are still many gaps in improving the fidelity of lunar regolith simulants to simulate more properties. This study compares some fundamental physical and mineralogical properties of three types of lunar highland regolith simulants: LHS-1, a commercial product with high mineralogical fidelity; UWO-1G, an original simulant that is the main component of LHS-1; and UWO-1S, another original product that is attempted to produce shocked grains in lunar simulants from pulverizing and mixing impact rocks sourced from the Mistastin Crater.

Preliminary results indicated that even though all simulants are composed of mostly plagioclase minerals and have similar particle size distribution patterns, …

A Connectivity Framework To Explore The Role Of Anthropogenic Activity And Climate On The Propagation Of Water And Sediment At The Catchment Scale, Christos Giannopoulos

Doctoral Dissertations

Anthropogenic disturbance in intensively managed landscapes (IMLs) has dramatically altered critical zone processes, resulting in fundamental changes in material fluxes. Mitigating the negative effects of anthropogenic disturbance and making informed decisions for optimal placement and assessment of best management practices (BMPs) requires fundamental understanding of how different practices affect the connectivity or lack thereof of governing transport processes and resulting material fluxes across different landscape compartments within the hillslope-channel continuum of IMLs. However, there are no models operating at the event timescale that can accurately predict material flux transport from the hillslope to the catchment scale capturing the spatial and …

Identification And Evaluation Of Critical Transportation Infrastructure Resilience After Hydro-Meteorological Event, Herman Serrato

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Modern civilization is dependent on essential infrastructure assets that allow society to function in today’s standards. Critical interdependent infrastructure such as transportation, communication, security, and public health are marvels of human innovation and an important aspect of civilization's evolution. Recent world events such as climate change have underlined the necessity to develop strategic plans to enhance the resilience of infrastructure. This study aimed to identify and evaluate the flooding potential of critical transportation infrastructure that will influence traffic flow and impact the economy. The technical workflow is based on observations, predictions, experiments, testing, and analysis to derive a resilience score …

Evapotranspiration In Mid-South Rice Production, Colby Wade Reavis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice provides much needed sustenance to a large portion of the global population, particularly in the developing world. With stress placed on food production systems under the reality of climate change and an increasing global population, rice production systems require solutions to a number of issues, including a limited water supply. As producers explore new strategies for conserving local water resources to continue to maintain yields, new irrigation strategies and technologies are being developed and validated for use at commercial production scales. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is an irrigation practice that provides water savings through the capture of rainfall …

Effects Of Nitrate On Arsenic Mobilization During Aquifer Storage And Recovery, Hania Hawasli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aquifer storage and recovery technology is used to sustain water resources and to prevent saltwater intrusion. The injected water can come from various resources, including treated wastewater. In pilot ASR studies in the Tampa Bay region, researchers found high As concentrations in the recovered water from the oxidation of the arsenopyrite that is embedded in the aquifers. The presence of dissolved O2 in the injected water is a major factor in the arsenopyrite oxidation during ASR, however the effects of NO3- on the arsenopyrite has not been studied yet. This is an important knowledge gap because injected water may contain …

Shale Softening Based On Pore Network And Laboratory Investigations, Di Zhang

Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two major parts: Firstly, experimental investigation of four major shale softening mechanisms and quantifications of structural parameters. Secondly, numerical simulations of nano-scale flow behaviors using the previous experiments determined parameters based on modified pore network modeling.

Hydraulic fracturing is widely applied to economical gas production from shale reservoirs. Still, the gradual swelling of the clay micro/nano-pores due to retained fluid from hydraulic fracturing causes a gradual reduction of gas production. Four different gas-bearing shale samples are investigated to quantify the expected shale swelling due to hydraulic fracturing. These shale samples are subject to heated deionized (DI) …

Develop A Multi-Functional Green Pervious Concrete (Mgpc) Pavement With Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) Removal Function., Hong Shang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff induced Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminant increasingly imperils the groundwater quality and the sustainable development of human society due to the potential carcinogenic risks. Pavement can be considered as the first line of defense for contaminant removal of the stormwater runoff. New construction materials with stormwater runoff quantity and quality control are in urgent demand for updating the existing pavement system. An innovative material called Multi-functional Green Pervious Concrete (MGPC) was developed in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Louisville. This material uses organoclay as the amendment to enhance the PAHs removal capacity of …

Comparison Of Land Use And Flowslide Incidence In Palu Valley Following The 2018 Mw 7.5 Palu-Donggala Earthquake, Peta C. Fifield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The September 28 Mw 7.5 Palu-Donggala earthquake in Indonesia was the deadliest natural disaster in 2018. Five flowslides on the eastern side of Palu Valley, which were attributed to the substantial majority of deaths and economic losses in the region, occurred due to liquefaction of naturally dry alluvial deposits in gently sloping ground (2 to 6%). The requisite conditions for soil liquefaction are the presence of loose granular sediments and full saturation. Instigation of these catastrophic ground failures were linked to artificial saturation by an unlined agricultural irrigation canal. From a civil engineering perspective, the Palu ground failures on the …

Ensemble Data Fitting For Bathymetric Models Informed By Nominal Data, Samantha Zambo

Dissertations

Due to the difficulty and expense of collecting bathymetric data, modeling is the primary tool to produce detailed maps of the ocean floor. Current modeling practices typically utilize only one interpolator; the industry standard is splines-in-tension.

In this dissertation we introduce a new nominal-informed ensemble interpolator designed to improve modeling accuracy in regions of sparse data. The method is guided by a priori domain knowledge provided by artificially intelligent classifiers. We recast such geomorphological classifications, such as ‘seamount’ or ‘ridge’, as nominal data which we utilize as foundational shapes in an expanded ordinary least squares regression-based algorithm. To our knowledge …

Using An Inventory Of Unstable Slopes To Prioritize Probabilistic Rockfall Modeling And Acid Base Accounting In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Thomas A. O'Shea

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An inventory of unstable slopes along transportation corridors and performance modeling are important components of geotechnical asset management in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM). Hazards and risk were assessed for 285 unstable slopes along 151 miles of roadway. A multi-criteria model was created to select fourteen sites for two-dimensional probabilistic rockfall simulations and Acid Base Accounting (ABA) tests. Simulations indicate that rock material would likely enter the roadway at all fourteen sites. ABA test results indicate that influence of significant acid-producing potential is generally confined to slaty rocks of the Anakeesta Formation and graphitic schist of the Wehutty Formation. …

Using Quantitative Stereology On High Resolution Sem Images To Estimate Diatom Percentages, Ariadna Covarrubias Ornelas

Dissertations and Theses

Diatoms are single-celled organisms of various shapes and sizes typically found in aquatic environments. When diatoms die, the organic material decomposes, and the outer skeletons (i.e., frustules) settle and accumulate as sedimentary deposits. These soils, called diatomaceous soils, exhibit nontraditional behavior since the diatom particles are typically hollow skeletons composed of amorphous silica with intricately patterned and abrasive surfaces. Recent studies have shown that diatomaceous soils are challenging geomaterials since even a small percentage of diatom particles will notably affect engineering behavior. Furthermore, laboratory studies on diatomaceous soil mixtures have demonstrated that many engineering soil properties depend on the percentage …

Effects Of Acid Deposition And Changing Climate On The Hydrochemistry And Critical Loads Of Watersheds In The Adirondack Region Of New York, Shuai Shao

Dissertations - ALL

Despite decreases in acidic deposition since the 1970s, the recovery of surface waters from acidification has been limited primarily due to the depletion of exchangeable base cations, net mineralization of organic sulfur and nitrogen and release of previously retained SO42- and NO3-, and increases in concentrations of naturally occurring organic acids from soil. The future recovery of stream chemistry from acidic deposition may be altered by projected increases in temperature and precipitation associated with a changing climate. The goals of this study were to conduct a modeling analysis of the response of soils and streams in the Adirondack Park, New …

Field Trials And Long-Term Monitoring Of Microbially-Induced Desaturation For The Treatment Of Liquefiable Silty Soils, Kayla Rae Sorenson

Dissertations and Theses

Earthquake liquefaction hazards in silty soils are a critical problem in Portland, Oregon, and other areas around the world. This is a particular problem for existing facilities founded on liquefiable soils, for which there exists no cost-effective liquefaction mitigation solution at the present time. It is essential from both a seismic safety and a seismic resilience perspective to be able to mitigate potentially liquefiable soils underneath existing structures, and to do so in a cost-effective manner. Recent studies suggest that liquefaction mitigation using microbially-induced desaturation (MID) may provide this capability.

The objective of MID is to reduce earthquake-induced excess pore …

Simulation Of Compound Flood Events In Low-Gradient Coastal Watershed, Felix Luis Santiago-Collazo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Low-gradient coastal watersheds are susceptible to flooding caused by various flows such as rainfall, tides, and storm surge. Compound flooding occurs when at least two of these mechanisms happen simultaneously or in close succession. Different inundation models, observed data, and/or a combination of these are coupled through varying techniques involving one-way, loosely, tightly, or fully coupled approaches to assess compound flooding. This study presents a one-dimensional (1-D), fully coupled compound inundation model based on the Shallow Water equations. This model approach simultaneously simulates the free water surface variations in the ocean domain (i.e., tide and storm surge modeling), rainfall-runoff in …

Soarnet, Deep Learning Thermal Detection For Free Flight, Jake T. Tallman

Master's Theses

Thermals are regions of rising hot air formed on the ground through the warming of the surface by the sun. Thermals are commonly used by birds and glider pilots to extend flight duration, increase cross-country distance, and conserve energy. This kind of powerless flight using natural sources of lift is called soaring. Once a thermal is encountered, the pilot flies in circles to keep within the thermal, so gaining altitude before flying off to the next thermal and towards the destination. A single thermal can net a pilot thousands of feet of elevation gain, however estimating thermal locations is not …

Characterization Of Landslide Processes From Radar Remote Sensing And Hydromechanical Modeling, Yuankun Xu

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Landsides are a natural geomorphic process yet a dangerous hazard which annually causes thousands of casualties and billions of property loss in a global scale. Understanding landslide motion kinematics from early initiation to final deposition is critical for monitoring, assessing, and forecasting landslide movement in order to mitigate their hazards. Landslides occur under diverse environmental settings and appear in variable types; however, all types of landslides can be mechanically attributed to shearing failure at the basal surface due to stress regime shift contributed by internal and/or external forcing. Typical internal factors include soil/rock weathering, whereas typical external triggering forces encompass …

Interaction Of Aqueous U(Vi) With Goethite, Montmorillonite, And Uo2(S), Anshuman Satpathy

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Uranium contamination in subsurface environments is a matter of great concern throughout the world. Fate and transport of uranium in the subsurface can be controlled by U(VI) adsorption and reduction onto common iron (oxy)hydroxides and clay minerals. Aqueous U(VI) can also exchange uranium atoms with solids comprised of uranium which can potentially lead to changes in the morphology of the uranium-containing solids and affect their stability. First, the performance of multiple surface complexation models (SCMs) on adsorption of U(VI) onto goethite was analyzed for a broad range of input conditions. Individual models could fit the data for which they were …

Modeling Hydraulic Fracturing Initiation And Propagation In Porous Rock Formationsl, Chang Huang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hydraulic fracturing has long been introduced to the oil and gas industry since the early nineteenth century for both reservoir characterization and reservoir stimulation. Despite the progress made in the last two decades, many challenges still have not been tackled regarding not only the propagation problem but also the initiation problem due to its complexity. The dissertation is divided into two stages, i.e., before and after fracture initiation. The first stage of the research aimed at improving the accuracy in solving the poro-mechanical response of wellbore during fluid injection before a tensile fracture occurs, which is crucial to determine the …

Shallow 3d Shear Wave Velocity Model And Revised Site Period Prediction Map For The Mexico City Basin, Rendon Martin Rieth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to revise the existing site period prediction map and to develop a shallow 3D shear wave velocity model of the Mexico City Basin. To accomplish this goal, an extensive literature review was performed to compile as much pertinent shear wave velocity and site period data for the region. In total, 75 sites were used to revise the site period prediction map and 40 sites were used to develop the shear wave velocity model. The 2004 Complementary Technical Standards of Mexico site period prediction map was adjusted with new site period measurements across the basin …

Application Of Machine Learning In Flood Depth Prediction, Armando Esquivel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Machine learning technologies have helped provide answers for problems with a high degree of complexity. Machine learning has been utilized by various disciplines within the Civil Engineering profession and has proven to be efficient in solving complex problems. Although machine learning is being used in the Civil Engineering profession, a formal framework on developing and integrating machine learning has not been developed for flood depth prediction. The proposed word uses machine learning to predict the depth of flood at Houston, TX, due to a 100-year 24-hour storm. The proposed work can be used to collect, store and analyze data to …

Low Impact Development: Low-Maintenance Design To Encourage Residential Adoption Of Sustainable Systems, Haley Ellis

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Residential adoption of low-impact development (LID) technology can positively impact downstream watershed hydrology by reducing total volumetric discharge from the residential site. This reduction can provide economic, environmental, and social benefits for the residents as well as the community at large. Additionally, homeowners are often affected by stormwater related issues, like flooding or washout, that could be easily mitigated with a sustainably engineered LID structure or network. Engineering for sustainability often includes the blending of several objectives to provide greater overall benefit. This thesis compares the outflow characteristics of three low-maintenance residential LID design scenarios differing in rain garden soil …

Estimating Irrigation In Rice Fields With A Water Balance Approach, Kristen Trinh

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Global food production must increase to meet the demand associated with increased population growth, so irrigation water use will continue to rise. Therefore, it is important to monitor water usage particularly when an irrigation flowmeter is unavailable. A field water balance was created for a selection of rice fields in East-central Arkansas under observation in 2018 and 2019. From those, irrigation inputs are deduced from the water balance alone. First, each field had sensors that collected water table level (WTL) data. Next, other water inputs and outputs such as precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET) were collected from two modeled sources. The …

Development Of A Cyberinfrastructure For Assessment Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley North And Central Watersheds Characteristics, Linda Isabel Navarro Navarro

Theses and Dissertations

Due to an increase in urbanization in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), there have been substantial modifications to hydrology causing a decline in water quality to the Laguna Madre watershed. The major concern is the inflow of freshwater from the North and Central waterways released to the Lower Laguna Madre which is designated as an impaired watershed for high concentrations of bacteria and low dissolved oxygen. The objective of this study is to perform a watershed characterization to determine potential pollution sources of each watershed by developing a cyberinfrastructure and collect a wide inventory of data. The objective will …

Characterization Of Uranium, Lead, And Rare Earth Element Pollution In Natural Soils And Sediments, Hope Rasmussen

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Heavy metals in the environment add to the global burden of pollution, negatively impacting public health and ecosystem resilience. This study included projects regarding uranium (U), lead (Pb), and rare earth elements (REE) in natural samples, due to their known toxicity, ubiquity, and relevance in context to recent pollution trends. The first project focused on testing the potential of using a hydroxyapatite product as a remediation solution for U-contaminated groundwater and soil at an EPA Superfund site. The results showed that the U was sequestered in a highly crystalline mineral form within the solids, guiding the EPA to specify the …

An Analysis Of Suspended Sediment Dynamics In A Partially Mixed Estuary, Riyadh Hamad Muttaleb

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this work is to investigate via data analysis and numerical modeling the SPM (suspended particulate matter) dynamics of a heavily contaminated partially urban estuary, the Lower Passaic River estuary (LPR), NJ. Accordingly, I investigate the quantity and mechanics of variation of fine and coarse SPM in the LPR via data analysis. Data analysis focuses on the parameters that affect SPM dynamics at six moored stations occupied during the Fall and Spring seasons, from near the estuary mouth to tidal freshwater. A 3D hydrodynamic model (Delft3D-FM) is used to analyze the effects of estuary topography on the dynamic …

Mit-S1 Constitutive Model Calibration For A Portland-Area Soil, Steven Ryan Young

Dissertations and Theses

Soils that are intermediate to sands and clays are a challenge for geotechnical engineers since most methods for interpreting soil properties or soil behaviors are based on sands or clays and do not address behaviors of intermediate soils. This is a particular challenge for engineers in the Portland-area where many of the major soil units are composed of intermediate soils. Analysis of intermediate soils is further challenged since many standard constitutive models are based on sandy or clay-like soils. However, the MIT-S1 constitutive model is capable of capturing intermediate soil behavior. A calibration of the MIT-S1 constitutive model for Portland-area …

Quantifying The Impacts Of Land Use, Management And Climate Change On Water Resources In Missouri River Basin, Arun Bawa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A location-specific evaluation of hydrological landscape responses concerning past and projected climate and land use land cover (LULC) changes can provide a powerful intellectual basis for developing efficient and profitable agroecosystems, and overcoming uncertain and detrimental consequences of LULC and climate shifts. This dissertation assessed the impacts of land use, management, and climate change on water resources in the Missouri River Basin (MRB) through four specific studies that included: (i) to study the responses of leached nutrient concentrations and soil health to winter rye cover crop (CC) under no-till corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation, (ii) to …

A Hydrologic Climate Study For An Arid Region, Ali Alsubeai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water is the most precious natural resource in arid regions due to the limitation of water resources, expanding population, and increasing volumes of industrial and domestic waste. The purpose of this research was to evaluate methods to estimate water quantity in an arid region. The research consisted of three separate studies. In the first study, hydrologic models used to estimate water quantity were evaluated for suitability of use in arid regions. Most hydrologic models that have been used in arid regions were originally developed for humid regions. Rainfall events in arid regions can be characterized as short-term, high intense rainstorms …

A Development Of Disaster Risk Profile In Public Healthcare System During Flood Situation : A Case Study Of Nakhon Sawan City Municipality, Nakhon Sawan Province, Thailand, Kodchakorn Krutphong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research begins with the idea of the disaster risk assessment included in the disaster management’s well recognized international framework, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Then, the idea settles from the risk assessment concept combined with the emergency management knowledge that has the critical infrastructure topic, including the public healthcare system. The flood disaster is the kind of disaster that frequently occurs in Thailand and the study area, Nakhon Sawan City Municipality. Thus, this research aims to study disaster risk profiles in the public healthcare system in a specific local area. The outcome from this research is the …