Engineering Commons^™

Remediating Soil For Successful Vegetation Establishment Along Nebraska Highways, Shad Mills, Martha Mamo, Walt Schacht, Humberto Blanco-Canqui

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Vegetation along roadsides is important to prevent soil erosion, provide habitat, and filter water running off the road. Vegetation close to the pavement along highways in Nebraska does not readily establish and persist. It is thought that the sodium and bulk density are the driving factors behind the lack of vegetation. After a construction project the shoulder is seeded into the compacted soil, and during winter salts can accumulate in the soil because of deicing agents being used. The purpose of our study was to determine if the sodium and bulk density are the driving factors of the vegetation cover. …

Establishment Of Wildflower Islands To Enhance Roadside Health And Aesthetics, Walter Schacht, Judy Wu-Smart

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Wildflowers are crucial in the ecological function of the low-input roadside plant communities in terms of water andnutrient cycling, nutrient inputs such as nitrogen, total plant canopy cover, stand longevity, and provision of habitat for numerous small animals. Further, wildflowers provide critical foraging and nesting resources for birds, insects, and other wildlife. Unfortunately, habitat loss from agricultural and urban development has led to rapid population declines in wild bees and other pollinators across the US, thereby jeopardizing not only food production but also the sustainability of our natural landscapes (Kearns & Inouye, 1997). One way to mitigate wild bee decline …

Wetland Arid Vegetation – Studies Of Vegetated Stormwater Management System Performance In Northern Utah – Field & Lab Experiences, Ryan Dupont, Margie Rycewicz-Borecki, Trixie Rife

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Motivation for the Work We’ve Done – The Why

Summary of the Work We’ve Done - The What & The How

Findings - The How Well

Conclusions & Recommendations – The So What

Edge Drain Performance, Kean H. Ashurst Jr., Brad W. Rister

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Edge drain systems are used on new highway construction projects and rehabilitation projects to reduce the moisture content of the pavement block and subgrade. Maintaining dry conditions in and around these components increases the subgrade strength and extends a pavement’s surface life. Edge drain systems can only operate effectively, however, if the entire subsurface drainage system functions properly. While many studies have demonstrated the benefits of edge drain systems, no comprehensive investigation of their performance has been undertaken in the state of Kentucky in over 20 years. After the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) identified problems with an edge drainage system …

Estimation Of Surface Thermal Emissivity In A Vineyard For Uav Microbolometer Thermal Cameras Using Nasa Hytes Hyperspectral Thermal, And Landsat And Aggieair Optical Data, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Mahyar Aboutalebi, Timothy Wright, Ayman Nassar, Pierre Guillevic, Lawrence Hipps, Feng Gao, Kevin Jim, Maria Mar Alsina, Calvin Coopmans, Mac Mckee, William Kustas

AggieAir Publications

Microbolometer thermal cameras in UAVs and manned aircraft allow for the acquisition of highresolution temperature data, which, along with optical reflectance, contributes to monitoring and modeling of agricultural and natural environments. Furthermore, these temperature measurements have facilitated the development of advanced models of crop water stress and evapotranspiration in precision agriculture and heat fluxes exchanges in small river streams and corridors. Microbolometer cameras capture thermal information at blackbody or radiometric settings (narrowband emissivity equates to unity). While it is customary that the modeler uses assumed emissivity values (e.g. 0.99– 0.96 for agricultural and environmental settings); some applications (e.g. Vegetation Health …

Modelling Of The Radiant Heat Flux And Rate Of Spread Of Wildfire Within The Urban Environment, Greg Penney, Steven Richardson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

One approach to increase community resilience to wildfire impacts is the enhancement of residential construction standards in an effort to provide protective shelters for families within their own homes. Current wildfire models reviewed in this study assume fire growth is unrestricted by vegetation fuel bed geometry; the head fire has attained a quasi-steady rate of spread; and the shielding effects of urban development are ignored. As a result, radiant heat flux may be significantly overestimated for small vegetation fires in road reserves, urban parklands, and similar scenarios. This paper proposes two new models to address this issue, and utilises two …