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- Senior thesis -- Santa Clara University -- Department of Civil Engineering (7)
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Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Engineering
A Long-Term Hydrologically Based Dataset Of Land Surface Fluxes And States For The Conterminous United States: Update And Extensions, Ben Livneh, Eric A. Rosenberg, Chiyu Lin, Bart Nijssen, Vimal Mishra, Kostas M. Andreadis, Edwin P. Maurer, Dennis P. Lettenmaier
A Long-Term Hydrologically Based Dataset Of Land Surface Fluxes And States For The Conterminous United States: Update And Extensions, Ben Livneh, Eric A. Rosenberg, Chiyu Lin, Bart Nijssen, Vimal Mishra, Kostas M. Andreadis, Edwin P. Maurer, Dennis P. Lettenmaier
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
This paper describes a publicly available, long-term (1915–2011), hydrologically consistent dataset for the conterminous United States, intended to aid in studies of water and energy exchanges at the land surface. These data are gridded at a spatial resolution of latitude/longitude and are derived from daily temperature and precipitation observations from approximately 20 000 NOAA Cooperative Observer (COOP) stations. The available meteorological data include temperature, precipitation, and wind, as well as derived humidity and downwelling solar and infrared radiation estimated via algorithms that index these quantities to the daily mean temperature, temperature range, and precipitation, and disaggregate them to 3-hourly time …
Climate Change Impacts On Streamflow And Subbasin- Scale Hydrology In The Upper Colorado River Basin, Darren L. Ficklin, Edwin P. Maurer, Iris T. Stewert
Climate Change Impacts On Streamflow And Subbasin- Scale Hydrology In The Upper Colorado River Basin, Darren L. Ficklin, Edwin P. Maurer, Iris T. Stewert
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
In the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), the principal source of water in the southwestern U.S., demand exceeds supply in most years, and will likely continue to rise. While General Circulation Models (GCMs) project surface temperature warming by 3.5 to 5.6uC for the area, precipitation projections are variable, with no wetter or drier consensus. We assess the impacts of projected 21st century climatic changes on subbasins in the UCRB using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, for all hydrologic components (snowmelt, evapotranspiration, surface runoff, subsurface runoff, and streamflow), and for 16 GCMs under the A2 emission scenario. Over the GCM …
The Key Role Of Heavy Precipitation Events In Climate Model Disagreements Of Future Annual Precipitation Changes In California, David W. Pierce, Daniel R. Cayan, Tapash Das, Edwin P. Maurer, Norman L. Miller, Yan Bao, M. Kanamitsu, Kei Yoshimura, Mark A. Snyder, Lisa C. Sloan, Guido Franco, Mary Tyree
The Key Role Of Heavy Precipitation Events In Climate Model Disagreements Of Future Annual Precipitation Changes In California, David W. Pierce, Daniel R. Cayan, Tapash Das, Edwin P. Maurer, Norman L. Miller, Yan Bao, M. Kanamitsu, Kei Yoshimura, Mark A. Snyder, Lisa C. Sloan, Guido Franco, Mary Tyree
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
Climate model simulations disagree on whether future precipitation will increase or decrease over California, which has impeded efforts to anticipate and adapt to human-induced climate change. This disagreement is explored in terms of daily precipitation frequency and intensity. It is found that divergent model projections of changes in the incidence of rare heavy (>60 mm day−1) daily precipitation events explain much of the model disagreement on annual time scales, yet represent only 0.3% of precipitating days and 9% of annual precipitation volume. Of the 25 downscaled model projections examined here, 21 agree that precipitation frequency will decrease by the …
Ghana Footbridge Project, Kevin Leatham, Justin Mogannam
Ghana Footbridge Project, Kevin Leatham, Justin Mogannam
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
Over the past 4 years, SCU civil engineering senior design teams have traveled to Ghana to help build the community and improve their quality of life. When the 2011-2012 team arrived back at SCU after their Ghana visit, they made the current project team aware of a very visible problem. Every winter a makeshift bridge that connects the village of Gambibgo and the town of Bolgatanga is washed away due to heavy downpours of rain. As a result, the people of Gambibgo do not have access to the market, healthcare, and sometimes even school. On the site visit, a site …
Developing Seismic Performance Factors For Prefabricated Bamboo Walls In Comparison To Conventional Timber Shear Walls, David Steenson, Davin Chan
Developing Seismic Performance Factors For Prefabricated Bamboo Walls In Comparison To Conventional Timber Shear Walls, David Steenson, Davin Chan
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
In order to address the issue of rising demand in resources from providing a growing population with housing, a team of professors and undergraduate students worked to study bamboo's possible utility as a structural element. This team proposed the use of bamboo as a substitute for timber in conventional light frame construction, specifically in the form of bamboo shear walls, which resist lateral loads such as those applied by earthquakes and winds. In order to demonstrate the adequacy of these proposed bamboo walls as a substitute to the control softwood walls, the team used the document FEMA P-795 to develop …
Structural Design Of The 2013 Santa Clara University Solar Decathlon 'Radiant House', Katherine Mckenzie, Mey-Ling Leon
Structural Design Of The 2013 Santa Clara University Solar Decathlon 'Radiant House', Katherine Mckenzie, Mey-Ling Leon
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
The Structural Team for the Santa Clara University Solar Decathlon 2013 Radiant House achieved the task of designing a structurally operative, yet efficient, innovative, and sustainable house that satisfies the needs of everyone from Team Radiant House. The loadings to be considered in the structural design were: dead load, live load, wind load, seismic load, and roof load. The house design implements a classic system of joists, beams, studs, and shear walls to transfer loads to the piers, and finally to the foundations, in combination with a steel framing system to direct loads, increase stiffness and simplify connections for ease …
Errors In Climate Model Daily Precipitation And Temperature Output: Time Invariance And Implications For Bias Correction, Edwin P. Maurer, Tapash Das, Daniel R. Cayan
Errors In Climate Model Daily Precipitation And Temperature Output: Time Invariance And Implications For Bias Correction, Edwin P. Maurer, Tapash Das, Daniel R. Cayan
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
When correcting for biases in general circulation model (GCM) output, for example when statistically downscaling for regional and local impacts studies, a common assumption is that the GCM biases can be characterized by comparing model simulations and observations for a historical period. We demonstrate some complications in this assumption, with GCM biases varying between mean and extreme values and for different sets of historical years. Daily precipitation and maximum and minimum temperature from late 20th century simulations by four GCMs over the United States were compared to gridded observations. Using random years from the historical record we select a "base" …
Tools For Assessing Climate Impacts On Fish And Wildlife, Chad B. Wilsey, Joshua J. Lawler, Edwin P. Maurer, Donald Mckenzie, Patricia A. Townsend, Richard Gwozdz, James A. Freund, Keala Hagmann, Karen M. Hutten
Tools For Assessing Climate Impacts On Fish And Wildlife, Chad B. Wilsey, Joshua J. Lawler, Edwin P. Maurer, Donald Mckenzie, Patricia A. Townsend, Richard Gwozdz, James A. Freund, Keala Hagmann, Karen M. Hutten
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
Climate change is already affecting many fish and wildlife populations. Managing these populations requires an understanding of the nature, magnitude, and distribution of current and future climate impacts. Scientists and managers have at their disposal a wide array of models for projecting climate impacts that can be used to build such an understanding. Here, we provide a broad overview of the types of models available for forecasting the effects of climate change on key processes that affect fish and wildlife habitat (hydrology, fire, and vegetation), as well as on individual species distributions and populations. We present a framework for how …
Design For The Asce Steel Bridge Competition, James Behel, Silvia Garcia, Reyn Kimura, Scott Nowak
Design For The Asce Steel Bridge Competition, James Behel, Silvia Garcia, Reyn Kimura, Scott Nowak
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
On April 20, 2013, the Santa Clara University Steel Bridge Team entered in the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) National Student Steel Bridge Competition. As part of their senior design, the four member team designed and constructed a steel bridge to compete in the annual competition. Engineering senior design projects require thoughtful planning, execution, and documentation throughout the process. The 2013 team approach was to be proactive and aggressive in all aspects of the project. The 2013 Steel Bridge spanned 16.5 ft and had a 3.5 ft cantilever end. The overall dimensions of the bridge for its height and …
Caltrain Bridging Structure And Commercial Buildings, Anthony Navarrete, Guadalupe Gonzalez
Caltrain Bridging Structure And Commercial Buildings, Anthony Navarrete, Guadalupe Gonzalez
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
The proposed project involves the design of three tower structures connecting a pedestrian bridge to help provide commuters, bicyclists, and pedestrians access to the east and west sides of the Santa Clara Caltrain rail system. Since the new San Jose Earthquakes stadium is currently being constructed on the east side of the tracks adjacent to Coleman Avenue, high business potential for a possible multi-use retail development exists. In addition to the three towers, three commercial structures will be designed in order to satisfy the need for a retail development. This project will serve as an attraction that will help attract …
Mixed-Use Low-Rise And Parking Structure Design In Downtown San Jose, Satej Desai, Marina Howard, Michaela Nava
Mixed-Use Low-Rise And Parking Structure Design In Downtown San Jose, Satej Desai, Marina Howard, Michaela Nava
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
This project focuses on the restoration of an old property in the downtown San Jose area. The specific location was recommended to the project team by their advisors based upon current site development by the general contractor Barry Swenson. After consultations with advisors and this contractor, it was determined that the project team designs two new structures to be placed on site that would help with the rehabilitation: a mixed-use low rise construction with commercial and residential space as well as a precast concrete parking structure. The low-rise building was designed as a hot-rolled steel podium with light framing (cold-formed …
An Approach To Light-Frame Disaster Relief Housing, Hayley Dickson, Megan Cronan, Anne Walkingshaw, Katherine Busch
An Approach To Light-Frame Disaster Relief Housing, Hayley Dickson, Megan Cronan, Anne Walkingshaw, Katherine Busch
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses
An Approach to Light-Frame Disaster Relief Housing investigated the use of bamboo structures to provide safe, affordable and easily constructible housing in developing countries that are prone to natural disasters. The team chose to use the Cagayan Valley Region in Northern Philippines that has a demonstrated need for relief housing due to its susceptibility to high seismic activity, monsoons, and floods. The proposed solution includes a complete structural and geotechnical foundation design of a house that can resist the demand loads determined for the region. The structural system is designed using bamboo and includes a lateral force resisting system, and …
Making Climate Data Relevant To Decision Making: The Important Details Of Spatial And Temporal Downscaling, Evan H. Girvetz, Edwin P. Maurer, Philip B. Duffy, Aaron Ruesch, Bridget Thrasher, Chris Zganjar
Making Climate Data Relevant To Decision Making: The Important Details Of Spatial And Temporal Downscaling, Evan H. Girvetz, Edwin P. Maurer, Philip B. Duffy, Aaron Ruesch, Bridget Thrasher, Chris Zganjar
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
This paper examines potential regional-scale impacts of climate change on sustainability of irrigated agriculture, focusing on the western San Joaquin Valley in California. We consider potential changes in irrigation water demand and supply, and quantify impacts on the hydrologic system, soil and groundwater salinity with associated crop yield reductions. Our analysis is based on archived output from General Circulation Model (GCM) climate projections through 2100, which were downscaled to the 1,400 km2 study area. We account for uncertainty in GCM climate projections by considering two different GCM's, each using three greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Significant uncertainty in projected precipitation creates …
Using A Gridded Global Dataset To Characterize Regional Hydroclimate In Central Chile, E.M.C. Demaria, Edwin P. Maurer, J. Sheffield, E. Bustos, D. Poblete, S. Vicuña, F. Meza
Using A Gridded Global Dataset To Characterize Regional Hydroclimate In Central Chile, E.M.C. Demaria, Edwin P. Maurer, J. Sheffield, E. Bustos, D. Poblete, S. Vicuña, F. Meza
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
Central Chile is facing dramatic projections of climate change, with a consensus for declining precipitation, negatively affecting hydropower generation and irrigated agriculture. Rising from sea level to 6000 m within a distance of 200 km, precipitation characterization is difficult because of a lack of long-term observations, especially at higher elevations. For understanding current mean and extreme conditions and recent hydroclimatological change, as well as to provide a baseline for downscaling climate model projections, a temporally and spatially complete dataset of daily meteorology is essential. The authors use a gridded global daily meteorological dataset at 0.25° resolution for the period 1948–2008, …
Probabilistic Estimates Of Future Changes In California Temperature And Precipitation Usingstatistical And Dynamical Downscaling, David W. Pierce, Tapash Das, Daniel R. Cayan, Edwin P. Maurer, Norman L. Miller, Yan Bao, M. Kanamitsu, Kei Yoshimura, Mark A. Snyder, Lisa C. Sloan, Guido Franco, Mary Tyree
Probabilistic Estimates Of Future Changes In California Temperature And Precipitation Usingstatistical And Dynamical Downscaling, David W. Pierce, Tapash Das, Daniel R. Cayan, Edwin P. Maurer, Norman L. Miller, Yan Bao, M. Kanamitsu, Kei Yoshimura, Mark A. Snyder, Lisa C. Sloan, Guido Franco, Mary Tyree
Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
Sixteen global general circulation models were used to develop probabilistic projections of temperature (T) and precipitation (P) changes over California by the 2060s. The global models were downscaled with two statistical techniques and three nested dynamical regional climate models, although not all global models were downscaled with all techniques. Both monthly and daily timescale changes in T and P are addressed, the latter being important for a range of applications in energy use, water management, and agriculture. The T changes tend to agree more across downscaling techniques than the P changes. Year-to-year natural internal climate variability is roughly of similar …