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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Breaking The Technology Barriers Imposed By Cast-In Place Concrete Pipe In Irrigation Districts: Case Study Of South San Joaquin Irrigation District, Charles M. Burt, Michael B. Gilton, Kevin Johnson, Keith Crowe May 2009

Breaking The Technology Barriers Imposed By Cast-In Place Concrete Pipe In Irrigation Districts: Case Study Of South San Joaquin Irrigation District, Charles M. Burt, Michael B. Gilton, Kevin Johnson, Keith Crowe

Charles M. Burt

South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) in Manteca, California, is beginning an ambitious modernization program to increase its water delivery flexibility. The district has over 200 miles of 30-60 inch cast-in-place (CIP) concrete pipeline that currently allow for little flexibility. SSJID will install four reinforced concrete interceptor pipelines and regulating reservoirs to redistribute water among the CIP pipelines and provide improved flexibility. The district's goal is to improve efficiency and encourage farmers with pressurized irrigation systems to shift from well water to surface water.


Gis Mapping For Irrigation District Rapid Appraisals, Daniel Howes, Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles Apr 2009

Gis Mapping For Irrigation District Rapid Appraisals, Daniel Howes, Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles

Charles M. Burt

Geographic information system (GIS) mapping is slowly becoming commonplace in irrigation districts as the need for more accurate and organized data becomes increasingly important. The Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo commonly uses GIS as a tool in technical assistance packages for irrigation districts. One of the challenges in developing a strategic irrigation district modernization plan is to organize spatial data in such a way that various options can be easily understood. ITRC uses a combination of commercially available software with web-downloadable maps and photographs to organize and present the spatial information. …


Gis Mapping For Irrigation District Rapid Appraisals, Daniel Howes, Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles Apr 2009

Gis Mapping For Irrigation District Rapid Appraisals, Daniel Howes, Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles

Stuart W. Styles

Geographic information system (GIS) mapping is slowly becoming commonplace in irrigation districts as the need for more accurate and organized data becomes increasingly important. The Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo commonly uses GIS as a tool in technical assistance packages for irrigation districts. One of the challenges in developing a strategic irrigation district modernization plan is to organize spatial data in such a way that various options can be easily understood. ITRC uses a combination of commercially available software with web-downloadable maps and photographs to organize and present the spatial information. …


Subsurface Flows Water Balance Components For Irrigation Districts In The San Joaquin Valley, Stuart W. Styles, Charles M. Burt Apr 2009

Subsurface Flows Water Balance Components For Irrigation Districts In The San Joaquin Valley, Stuart W. Styles, Charles M. Burt

Stuart W. Styles

Cal Poly ITRC has conducted several water balances for regions or districts within the San Joaquin Valley. In each case, the greatest unknown component for the water balance is subsurface flows (ITRC, 1994). Water balance calculations can be confusing, especially in districts where there is groundwater pumping. This paper will discuss ITRC efforts to determine both lateral and vertical components of subsurface flow, the accuracy of the estimates, and the impact upon the accuracy of the final estimates of irrigation district or regional irrigation efficiencies.


Doppler Flow Meters For Turnouts, Stuart W. Styles Apr 2009

Doppler Flow Meters For Turnouts, Stuart W. Styles

Stuart W. Styles

Irrigation districts, farmers and other agricultural and environmental water users need reliable and low-cost flow meters with integrated dataloggers to measure water velocity and depth with a high level of precision. The Irrigation Training and Research Center has undertaken a performance review of advanced electronic flow measurement technologies in irrigation applications. Examples are the Unidata STARFLOW and the MACE AgriFlo Ultrasonic Doppler Meters.


Balancing The R With The E In Reu Programs, Sarah Spence Adams, Rick Gillman, Darren Narayan Dec 2008

Balancing The R With The E In Reu Programs, Sarah Spence Adams, Rick Gillman, Darren Narayan

Sarah Spence Adams

Externally or internally funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs offer students the opportunity to work with faculty on unsolved problems and can serve as a highlight of their undergraduate career. The overall goal of these formative programs is that students and faculty have an enjoyable experience as they investigate the horizon of knowledge. However, there is a question on how much a program should focus on research and how much emphasis should be placed on the experience. In the end, both aspects should be given considerable weight.


Structure Studies On Nanocrystalline Powder Of Mgo Xerogel Prepared By Sol-Gel Method, Grzegorz Dercz, Krystian Prusik, L. Pajak, Roman Pielaszek, Janusz J. Malinowski, Wojciech Pudło Dec 2008

Structure Studies On Nanocrystalline Powder Of Mgo Xerogel Prepared By Sol-Gel Method, Grzegorz Dercz, Krystian Prusik, L. Pajak, Roman Pielaszek, Janusz J. Malinowski, Wojciech Pudło

Janusz J. Malinowski

Structure studies were performed on nanocrystalline powder of MgO xerogel prepared by the sol-gel technique, producing high purity, chemically homogeneous materials of relatively high specific surface area. Magnesium methoxide was used as an MgO precursor. The wet gel was dried under conventional conditions, yielding xerogel with periclase phase; the only crystalline form of magnesium oxide. The X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microcopies were used as the tools of structure analysis. The Toraya PRO-FIT procedure and the Rietveld refinement method were applied for X-ray data analysis. Both techniques apply the Pearson VII function for the description of line profiles. The …


Nanocrystalline Mgo Powder Materials Prepared By Sol-Gel Studied By X-Ray Diffraction And Electron Microscopy, G. Dercz, L Pajak, K. Prusik, R Pielaszek, Janusz J. Malinowski Dec 2008

Nanocrystalline Mgo Powder Materials Prepared By Sol-Gel Studied By X-Ray Diffraction And Electron Microscopy, G. Dercz, L Pajak, K. Prusik, R Pielaszek, Janusz J. Malinowski

Janusz J. Malinowski

Materials with MgO nanocrystallites were prepared by sol-gel synthesis. Alcogels were dried either supercritically at 538 K or in supercritical CO2. Conventional drying was also applied. Structure studies were performed by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microcopies. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements were also performed. Calcination of dry gels at 723 K under vacuum yielded MgO nanocrystallites. In the studied materials the presence of the amorphous phase was observed. It is also stated that MgO nanocrystallites are immersed in an amorphous matrix. Morphology of supercritically dried samples is similar; rough surface of powder particles is observed. Powder particles of conventionally dried …