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2012

UWRL

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Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Combining Data From Multiple Sources Using The Cuahsi Hydrologic Information System (Invited), David G. Tarboton, Daniel Ames, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, J. L. Goodall Dec 2012

Combining Data From Multiple Sources Using The Cuahsi Hydrologic Information System (Invited), David G. Tarboton, Daniel Ames, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, J. L. Goodall

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) has developed a Hydrologic Information System (HIS) to provide better access to data by enabling the publication, cataloging, discovery, retrieval, and analysis of hydrologic data using web services. The CUAHSI HIS is an Internet based system comprised of hydrologic databases and servers connected through web services as well as software for data publication, discovery and access. The HIS metadata catalog lists close to 100 web services registered to provide data through this system, ranging from large federal agency data sets to experimental watersheds managed by University investigators. The …


Advancing Cyberinfrastructure To Support High Resolution Water Resources Modeling (Invited), David G. Tarboton, F. L. Ogden, N. Jones, Jeffery S. Horsburgh Dec 2012

Advancing Cyberinfrastructure To Support High Resolution Water Resources Modeling (Invited), David G. Tarboton, F. L. Ogden, N. Jones, Jeffery S. Horsburgh

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Addressing the problem of how the availability and quality of water resources at large scales are sensitive to climate variability, watershed alterations and management activities requires computational resources that combine data from multiple sources and support integrated modeling. Related cyberinfrastructure challenges include: 1) how can we best structure data and computer models to address this scientific problem through the use of high-performance and data-intensive computing, and 2) how can we do this in a way that discipline scientists without extensive computational and algorithmic knowledge and experience can take advantage of advances in cyberinfrastructure? This presentation will describe a new system …


Impact Of Sampling Frequency On Annual Load Estimation Of Total Phosphorus And Total Suspended Solids, Amber Spackman Jones, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, David King Stevens, Nancy O. Mesner, Ronald J. Ryel Dec 2012

Impact Of Sampling Frequency On Annual Load Estimation Of Total Phosphorus And Total Suspended Solids, Amber Spackman Jones, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, David King Stevens, Nancy O. Mesner, Ronald J. Ryel

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The determination of sediment and nutrient loads is typically based on the collection and analysis of grab samples. The frequency and regularity of traditional sampling may not provide representation of constituent loading, particularly in systems with flashy hydrology. At two sites in the Little Bear River, Utah, continuous, high-frequency turbidity was used with surrogate relationships to generate estimates of total phosphorus and total suspended solids concentrations, which were paired with discharge to estimate annual loads. The high frequency records were randomly subsampled to represent hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly sampling frequencies and to examine the effects of timing, and resulting …


Flow Measurement Accuracies Of In-Service Residential Water Meters, Devin M. Stoker, Steven L. Barfuss, Michael C. Johnson Dec 2012

Flow Measurement Accuracies Of In-Service Residential Water Meters, Devin M. Stoker, Steven L. Barfuss, Michael C. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Water utility managers generally agree that water meters, especially mechanical water meters, experience a degradation of accuracy over time. This degradation is a function of several factors, such as wear, water quality, water velocities, throughput volumes, and installation and handling. Both a thorough understanding of the factors that affect meter accuracy and the ability to pinpoint, if possible, the optimal lifespan of any particular type of water meter in a residential distribution system are desirable for improved system management. The purpose of this article was to investigate the relationship between meter accuracy degradation and factors such as age, wear, and …


Ammonia Measurements And Emissions From A California Dairy Using Point And Remote Sensors, Kori D. Moore, E. Young, C. Gurell, Michael D. Wojcik, Randy S. Martin, G. E. Bingham, R. L. Pfeiffer, J. H. Prueger, J. L. Hatfield Dec 2012

Ammonia Measurements And Emissions From A California Dairy Using Point And Remote Sensors, Kori D. Moore, E. Young, C. Gurell, Michael D. Wojcik, Randy S. Martin, G. E. Bingham, R. L. Pfeiffer, J. H. Prueger, J. L. Hatfield

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Ammonia (NH3) is an important trace gas species in the atmosphere that can have negative impacts on human, animal, and ecosystem health. Agriculture has been identified as the largest source of NH3, specifically livestock operations. NH3 emissions from a commercial dairy in California were investigated during June 2008. Cattle were held in open-lot pens, except for young calves in hutches with shelters. Solid manure was stored in the open-lot pens. Liquid manure from feed lanes was passed through a solids settling basin and stored in a holding pond. Passive sensors and open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometers (OP-FTIR) were deployed around …


Hydroshare: An Online, Collaborative Environment For The Sharing Of Hydrologic Data And Models, David G. Tarboton, R. Idaszak, Daniel Ames, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, J. Goodall, L. Band, V. Merwade, A. Couch, J. Arrigo, R. Hooper, D. Valentine Sep 2012

Hydroshare: An Online, Collaborative Environment For The Sharing Of Hydrologic Data And Models, David G. Tarboton, R. Idaszak, Daniel Ames, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, J. Goodall, L. Band, V. Merwade, A. Couch, J. Arrigo, R. Hooper, D. Valentine

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


A Comparison Of Traditional And Bayesian Statistical Models In Fluvial Sediment Transport, Mark L. Schmelter, David King Stevens Aug 2012

A Comparison Of Traditional And Bayesian Statistical Models In Fluvial Sediment Transport, Mark L. Schmelter, David King Stevens

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The characterization of sediment transport is an important problem that has been actively studied for some time. Numerous approaches have been demonstrated in the literature, including mechanistic models, probabilistic arguments, machine learning algorithms, and empirical formulations. Most implementations of sediment transport relations are deterministic in nature and require the specification of model parameters. These parameters are traditionally assumed fixed (i.e., a single value), and subsequent predictions are not necessarily representative because of uncertainty because they are fixed (i.e., a line). In this paper, a Bayesian statistical sediment transport model is presented, and its ability to infer critical shear values from …


Hydroshare: An Online, Collaborative Environment For The Sharing Of Hydrologic Data And Models, David G. Tarboton, R. Idaszak, Daniel Ames, J. Goodall, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, L. Band, V. Merwade, C. Song, A. Couch, D. Valentine, R. Hooper, J. Arrigo, D. Maidment, T. Whiteaker Jul 2012

Hydroshare: An Online, Collaborative Environment For The Sharing Of Hydrologic Data And Models, David G. Tarboton, R. Idaszak, Daniel Ames, J. Goodall, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, L. Band, V. Merwade, C. Song, A. Couch, D. Valentine, R. Hooper, J. Arrigo, D. Maidment, T. Whiteaker

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Montana Flume Flow Corrections Under Submerged Flow, Ryan P. Willeitner, Steven L. Barfuss, Michael C. Johnson Jul 2012

Montana Flume Flow Corrections Under Submerged Flow, Ryan P. Willeitner, Steven L. Barfuss, Michael C. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A Montana flume is a Parshall flume without a diverging downstream section and is used to measure open channel flow. Under free-flow conditions, the Parshall flume and the Montana flume have the same calibration characteristics, but under submerge flows, their calibrations significantly differ. Tests were conducted at the Utah Water Research Laboratory on an acrylic 15.2-cm (6-in.) Montana flume to determine the effects of submergence on the flow readings. This type of investigation has not been previously analyzed. It was found that a standard Parshall flume rating curve overpredicted flow rates in the submerged Montana flume, up to 48%. Parshall …


A Modeling Approach To Assessing The Effect Of Multiple Lakes In Sequence On Nutrient Transport, Dave M. Epstein, Bethany T. Neilson, Keli J. Goodman, David King Stevens, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh Jun 2012

A Modeling Approach To Assessing The Effect Of Multiple Lakes In Sequence On Nutrient Transport, Dave M. Epstein, Bethany T. Neilson, Keli J. Goodman, David King Stevens, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The effects of a single lake on downstream water chemistry may be compounded by the presence of additional lakes within the watershed, augmenting or negating the effects of the first lake. Multiple, linked lakes are a common feature of many watersheds and these resemble reactors in series often studied in engineering. The effects of multiple lakes in series on nutrient transport are largely unexplored. We populated and calibrated a simple lake model to investigate the role of a sub-alpine lake (Bull Trout Lake (BTL), Rocky Mountains, USA) on the transport of the macronutrients during the summer of 2008. Further, we …


The Cuahsi Community Hydrologic Information System, David G. Tarboton, D. R. Maidment, I. Zaslavsky, Daniel Ames, J. L. Goodall, R. P. Hooper, Jeffery S. Horsburgh Mar 2012

The Cuahsi Community Hydrologic Information System, David G. Tarboton, D. R. Maidment, I. Zaslavsky, Daniel Ames, J. L. Goodall, R. P. Hooper, Jeffery S. Horsburgh

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Optimizing Reservoir-Stream-Aquifer Interactions For Conjunctive Use And Hydropower Production, Hala Fayad, Richard C. Peralta, Ali Forghani Jan 2012

Optimizing Reservoir-Stream-Aquifer Interactions For Conjunctive Use And Hydropower Production, Hala Fayad, Richard C. Peralta, Ali Forghani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Conjunctive management of water resources involves coordinating use of surface water and groundwater resources. Very few simulation/optimization (S-O) models for stream-aquifer system management have included detailed interactions between groundwater, streams, and reservoir storage. This paper presents an S-O model doing that via artificial neural network simulators and genetic algorithm optimizer for multiobjective conjunctive water use problems. The model simultaneously addresses all significant flows including reservoir-stream-diversion-aquifer interactions in a more detailed manner than previous models. The model simultaneously maximizes total water provided and hydropower production. A penalty function implicitly poses constraints on state variables. The model effectively finds feasible optimal solutions …


Urban Particulate Matter Activates Akt In Human Lung Cells, T. L. Watterson, B. Hamilton, Randy S. Martin, R. A. Coloumb Jr. Jan 2012

Urban Particulate Matter Activates Akt In Human Lung Cells, T. L. Watterson, B. Hamilton, Randy S. Martin, R. A. Coloumb Jr.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The normally picturesque Cache Valley in northern Utah is frequently reported to have the worst particulate (PM) air pollution in the United States. Numerous epidemiological studies conducted elsewhere have associated PM exposure to a variety of cardiovascular diseases and early mortality. We have previously shown that Cache Valley PM (CVPM) is pro-inflammatory, through a variety of mechanisms involving the release of inflammatory cytokines, unfolded protein response, ER stress, and C-reactive protein (CRP). This study was undertaken to determine whether Cache Valley PM (CVPM) would activate Akt, an upstream mechanism common to these events. Human lung (BEAS-2B) cells were treated with …