Engineering Commons^™

Factors Affecting United States Geological Survey Irrigation Freshwater Withdrawal Estimates In Utah, J. Levi Manley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah is, on average, one of the driest states in the United States, second only to Nevada, and drier conditions are projected. Irrigation is the largest water user in the state, representing about 80% of the total freshwater withdrawn each year. Withdrawals are obtained from sources like reservoirs or streams, or underground water from wells and springs, and supplied for use. The United States Geological Survey, a reputable federal science agency, has provided irrigation freshwater withdrawal estimates every five years since 1950. Understanding what factors affect irrigation withdrawals can better inform water resource planning to reduce withdrawals and conserve surface …

Water Lab Draws Wide Media Coverage | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Reporters, photographers and video journalists converged at the Utah Water Research Lab on June 16 for an up-close view of the lab's latest project.

Assessment Of Surface Soil Moisture Using High-Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery And Artificial Neural Networks, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Austin Jensen, Mac Mckee

Leila Hassan-Esfahani

Many crop production management decisions can be informed using data from high-resolution aerial images that provide information about crop health as influenced by soil fertility and moisture. Surface soil moisture is a key component of soil water balance, which addresses water and energy exchanges at the surface/atmosphere interface; however, high-resolution remotely sensed data is rarely used to acquire soil moisture values. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed to quantify the effectiveness of using spectral images to estimate surface soil moisture. The model produces acceptable estimations of surface soil moisture (root mean square error (RMSE) = …

Assessment Of Surface Soil Moisture Using High-Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery And Artificial Neural Networks, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Austin Jensen, Mac Mckee

Leila Hassan-Esfahani

Many crop production management decisions can be informed using data from high-resolution aerial images that provide information about crop health as influenced by soil fertility and moisture. Surface soil moisture is a key component of soil water balance, which addresses water and energy exchanges at the surface/atmosphere interface; however, high-resolution remotely sensed data is rarely used to acquire soil moisture values. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed to quantify the effectiveness of using spectral images to estimate surface soil moisture. The model produces acceptable estimations of surface soil moisture (root mean square error (RMSE) = …

The Impact Of Slit And Detention Dams On Debris Flow Control Using Gstars 3.0, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Mohammad Ebrahim Banihabib

Leila Hassan-Esfahani

Sedimentation, Modeling, GSTARS3.0, Debris flow, Slit dam, Detention dam

Assessment Of Surface Soil Moisture Using High-Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery And Artificial Neural Networks, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Austin Jensen, Mac Mckee

Leila Hassan-Esfahani

Many crop production management decisions can be informed using data from high-resolution aerial images that provide information about crop health as influenced by soil fertility and moisture. Surface soil moisture is a key component of soil water balance, which addresses water and energy exchanges at the surface/atmosphere interface; however, high-resolution remotely sensed data is rarely used to acquire soil moisture values. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed to quantify the effectiveness of using spectral images to estimate surface soil moisture. The model produces acceptable estimations of surface soil moisture (root mean square error (RMSE) = …

Energy Losses In Cross Junctions, Zac B. Sharp, Michael C. Johnson, S. L. Barfuss, W. J. Rahmeyer

Zachary Sharp

Energy losses occurring in pipe junctions have been studied for many years. Head loss coefficients (KK) are commonly used to characterize losses across elbows, tees, crosses, valves, and other pipe fittings. When accurate values of KK are used, the flow rate and corresponding total head at any location in a pipe network can be calculated. While KK is well defined for most pipe junctions and fittings, the literature has limited documentations of KK for crosses. This study was commissioned to determine KK for a wide range of flow combinations in a pipe cross with equal diameter pipes and varied flow …

Effects Of Pipe Wall Offsets On Differential Pressure Meter Accuracy, Zac B. Sharp, Jesse M. Pope, S. L. Barfuss, Michael C. Johnson

Zachary Sharp

Accurate flow measurement is essential for the management of any type of fluid system. This research investigated the effect on accuracy that five types of 12-in. differential-pressure flow meters have as a result of being installed in pipelines of differing inside diameter. The types of meters chosen for this research were the classical Venturi meter, Halmi Venturi Tube, wedge meter, V-cone meter, and the X-meter. Each meter was tested for accuracy with 10 pipe wall offsets varying from a 0.125-in. sudden contraction to a 0.937-in. sudden expansion of the pipe radius. The meters' reading during each test series was compared …

Uwrl Director Mac Mckee Named Friend Of Ucowr | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

July 20, 2016 — Mac McKee, Utah Water Research Lab Director, was recently named a Friend of UCOWR at the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) Annual Conference awards ceremony held this year in PensacolaBeach, Florida. UCOWR recognizes no more than three individuals each year who have “made substantial contributions in time and effort toward the goals of UCOWR.” Mac held the office of UCOWR President twice and served on the board of directors for nearly a decade.

Differences In Nutrient And Metal Uptake Among Plant Species In Stormwater Bioretention Systems., M. R. Borecki, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Bioenergy From Wastewater-Based Biomass, Ronald C. Sims, Sean K. Bedingfield, Reese Thompson, Judith L. Sims

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has stated that biomass is the only renewable resource that can supplant petroleum-based liquid transportation fuels in the near term. Wastewater is beginning to be viewed as a potential resource that can be exploited for biomass production and conversion to bioenergy. We suggest that using wastewater from municipalities and industries as a resource for cultivating biomass and combining wastewater treatment with the production of biomass for bioenergy would provide benefits to both industries. Two waste-based biomass production systems that currently have large nationwide infrastructures include: (1) wastewater treatment systems that can be used to …

Road Scholars For The Western States: Protecting Natural Areas By Improving Road Management Research, Brian Cooke, Charlie Luce, Tom Black, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A poorly placed or unsuitably designed road can result in landslides, flooding, gullies, stream damage, and wildlife habitat destruction. Particularly in natural areas, benefits of roads, such as accessibility and convenience, must be weighed against potential water quality degradation, scenic and wildlife habitat destruction, and hazardous driving conditions.

Scientists at the Rocky Mountain Research Station helped create two free tools—GRAIP (Geomorphic Road Analysis and Inventory Package) and GRAIP-Lite—to help land managers make better decisions about road management in environmentally sensitive areas. GRAIP helps land managers analyze and predict surface erosion, gully risk, landslide risk, stream crossing failure risks, and other …

Comparison Of Selected Differential Producing, Ultrasonic And Magnetic Flow Meters, Johnny B. Prettyman, Michael C. Johnson, Steven L. Barfuss

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Selecting the best flow meter for a specific application can be challenging because of the many types and designs of flow meters, with each having its own merits and drawbacks. Illustrating these specific benefits and drawbacks can help the buyer select the meter best suited for the desired application. The flow meters investigated in this research include five designs of differential-pressure meters (i.e., differential-producing), a magnetic flow meter, and an ultrasonic flow meter. The differential meters included the Venturi designs, the wedge flow meter, and the V-cone meter. Testing was completed at the Utah Water Research Laboratory to quantify the …

Long-Term Winter Inversion Properties In A Mountain Valley Of The Western United States And Implications On Air Quality, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Lawrence E. Hipps, Oi-Yu Chung, Robert R. Gillies, Randy S. Martin

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Because of the geography of a narrow valley and surrounding tall mountains, Cache Valley (located in northern Utah and southern Idaho) experiences frequent shallow temperature inversions that are both intense and persistent. Such temperature inversions have resulted in the worst air quality in the nation. In this paper, the historical properties of Cache Valley’s winter inversions are examined by using two meteorological stations with a difference in elevation of approximately 100 m and a horizontal distance apart of ~4.5 km. Differences in daily maximum air temperature between two stations were used to define the frequency and intensity of inversions. Despite …

Dehalococcoides Abundance And Alternate Electron Acceptor Effects On Large, Flow-Through Trichloroethene Dechlorinating Columns, Babur S. Mirza, Darwin L. Sorensen, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Trichloroethene (TCE) in groundwater is a major health concern and biostimulation/bioaugmentation-based strategies have been evaluated to achieve complete reductive dechlorination with varying success. Different carbon sources were hypothesized to stimulate different extents of TCE reductive dechlorination. Ecological conditions that developed different dechlorination stages were investigated by quantitating Dehalococcoides 16S rRNA (Dhc) and reductive dehalogenase gene abundance, and by describing biogeochemical properties of laboratory columns in response to this biostimulation. Eight large columns (183 cm × 15.2 cm), packed with aquifer material from Hill AFB, Utah, that were continuously fed TCE for 7.5 years. Duplicate columns were biostimulated with whey or …

Hydroshare: Sharing Diverse Environmental Data Types And Models As Social Objects With Application To The Hydrology Domain, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Mohamed M. Morsy, Anthony M. Castronova, Jonathan L. Goodall, Tian Gan, Hong Yi, Michael J. Stealey, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The types of data and models used within the hydrologic science community are diverse. New repositories have succeeded in making data and models more accessible, but are, in most cases, limited to particular types or classes of data or models and also lack the type of collaborative and iterative functionality needed to enable shared data collection and modeling workflows. File sharing systems currently used within many scientific communities for private sharing of preliminary and intermediate data and modeling products do not support collaborative data capture, description, visualization, and annotation. In this article, we cast hydrologic datasets and models as “social …

Development Of A Decision-Making Methodology To Design A Water Quality Monitoring Network, J. Keum, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The number of water quality monitoring stations in the USA has decreased over the past few decades. Scarcity of observations can easily produce prediction uncertainty due to unreliable model calibration. An effective water quality monitoring network is important not only for model calibration and water quality prediction but also for resources management. Redundant or improperly located monitoring stations may cause increased monitoring costs without improvement to the understanding of water quality in watersheds. In this work, a decision-making methodology is proposed to design a water quality monitoring network by providing an adequate number of monitoring stations and their approximate locations …

Effects Of Pipe Wall Offsets On Differential Pressure Meter Accuracy, Jesse M. Pope, Steven L. Barfuss, Michael C. Johnson, Zachary B. Sharp

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Accurate flow measurement is essential for the management of any type of fluid system. This research investigated the effect on accuracy that five types of 12-in. differential-pressure flow meters have as a result of being installed in pipelines of differing inside diameter. The types of meters chosen for this research were the classical Venturi meter, Halmi Venturi Tube, wedge meter, V-cone meter, and the X-meter. Each meter was tested for accuracy with 10 pipe wall offsets varying from a 0.125-in. sudden contraction to a 0.937-in. sudden expansion of the pipe radius. The meters' reading during each test series was compared …

Biostimulation And Bioaugmentation To Enhance Reductive Dechlorination Of Tce In A Long-Term Flow Through Column Study, Joan E. Mclean, Jared Ervin, Jing Zhou, Darwin L. Sorensen, Ryan Dupont

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Large laboratory columns (15.2 cm diameter, 183 cm long) were fed with groundwater containing trichloroethylene (TCE), were biostimulated and bioaugmented, and were monitored for over 7.5 years. The objective of the study was to observe how the selection of the carbon and energy source, i.e., whey, Newman Zone® standard surfactant emulsified oil and Newman Zone nonionic surfactant emulsified oil, affected the rate and extent of dechlorination. Column effluent was monitored for TCE and its degradation products, redox indicators (nitrate-N, Fe(II), sulfate), and changes in iron mineralogy. Total bacteria and Dehalococcoides mccartyi strains were quantified using q-PCR. Complete dechlorination was only …

Particulate-Matter Emission Estimates From Agricultural Spring-Tillage Operations Using Lidar And Inverse Modeling, Kori D. Moore, Michael D. Wojcik, Randy S. Martin, Christian C. Marchant, D. S. Jones, W. J. Bradford, G. E. Bingham, R L. Pfeiffer, J. H. Prueger, J. L. Hatfield

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Particulate-matter (PM) emissions from a typical spring agricultural tillage sequence and a strip–till conservation tillage sequence in California’s San Joaquin Valley were estimated to calculate the emissions control efficiency (ηη) of the strip–till conservation management practice (CMP). Filter-based PM samplers, PM-calibrated optical particle counters (OPCs), and a PM-calibrated light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system were used to monitored upwind and downwind PM concentrations during May and June 2008. Emission rates were estimated through inverse modeling coupled with the filter and OPC measurements and through applying a mass balance to the PM concentrations derived from LIDAR data. Sampling irregularities and errors …

Assessment Of Surface Soil Moisture Using High-Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery And Artificial Neural Networks, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Austin M. Jensen, Mac Mckee

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Many crop production management decisions can be informed using data from high-resolution aerial images that provide information about crop health as influenced by soil fertility and moisture. Surface soil moisture is a key component of soil water balance, which addresses water and energy exchanges at the surface/atmosphere interface; however, high-resolution remotely sensed data is rarely used to acquire soil moisture values. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed to quantify the effectiveness of using spectral images to estimate surface soil moisture. The model produces acceptable estimations of surface soil moisture (root mean square error (RMSE) = …

Remediation Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Soil Using Hemoglobin-Catalytic Mechanism, Guyoung Kang, Kapsung Park, Jaechang Cho, David King Stevens, Namhyun Chung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

It is suggested in this paper that recalcitrant organopollutants can be degraded efficiently by a hemoglobin-catalytic reaction in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (i.e., H2O2). The catalytic mechanism was studied with 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) as a compound for oxidation. Various evidence suggests that the catalytic mechanism is very similar to those of horseradish peroxidase and lignin peroxidase. The catalytic intermediates are known to oxidize various chemicals, indicating that the intermediates of hemoglobin can nonspecifically degrade many different types of organopollutants. To prove the hypothesis, an attempt was made to remediate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated field soil. The results showed that …

Can Suspended Fine Sediment Transport In Shallow Lakes Be Predicted Using Mvrvm With Limited Observations?, H. A. Batt Ph.D., David King Stevens

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The study of sediment transport in water natural bodies is a challenging task. There have been several attempts to describe sediment mathematically using hydraulic characteristics of water bodies. Most researchers who developed empirical formulas to describe sediment transport performed laboratory experiments with assumptions that did not take into account variations of hydraulic parameters and the fine sediment sizes that are part of this phenomenon. Recently, new approaches for studying sediment transport have been developed involving the use of machine-learning algorithms that have proven accuracy and efficiency in predicting sediment transport. A novel machinelearning method, the Multivariate Relevance Vector Machine (MVRVM), …

Modeling The Snow Surface Temperature With A One-Layer Energy Balance Snowmelt Model, J. You, David G. Tarboton, C. H. Luce

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Snow surface temperature is a key control on and result of dynamically coupled energy exchanges at the snow surface. The snow surface temperature is the result of the balance between external forcing (incoming radiation) and energy exchanges above the surface that depend on surface temperature (outgoing longwave radiation and turbulent fluxes) and the transport of energy into the snow by conduction and meltwater influx. Because of the strong insulating properties of snow, thermal gradients in snow packs are large and nonlinear, a fact that has led many to advocate multiple layer snowmelt models over single layer models. In an effort …

Hydroshare: Advancing Collaboration Through Hydrologic Data And Model Sharing, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

HydroShare is an online, collaborative system being developed for open sharing of hydrologic data and models. The goal of HydroShare is to enable hydrology researchers to easily discover and access hydrologic data and models, retrieve them to their desktop for local analysis and perform analyses in a distributed computing environment that may include grid, cloud or high performance computing. Users may also share and publish outcomes (data, results or models) into HydroShare, using the system as a collaboration platform. HydroShare is expanding the data sharing capability of the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System by broadening the classes of data accommodated. HydroShare …

Approaches For Studying Fish Production: Do River And Lake Researchers Have Different Perspectives?, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Nicholas A. Heredia, Brian G. Laub, Christy S. Meredith, Harrison E. Mohn, Sarah E. Null, David A. Pluth, Brett B. Roper, W. Carl Saunders, David King Stevens, Richard H. Walker, Kit Wheeler

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Biased perspectives of fisheries researchers may hinder scientific progress and effective management if limiting factors controlling productivity go unrecognized. We investigated whether river and lake researchers used different approaches when studying salmonid production and whether any differences were ecologically supported. We assessed 564 peer-reviewed papers published between 1966 and 2012 that studied salmonid production or surrogate variables (e.g., abundance, growth, biomass, population) and classified them into five major predictor variable categories: physical habitat, fertility (i.e., nutrients, bottom-up), biotic, temperature, and pollution. The review demonstrated that river researchers primarily analyzed physical habitat (65% of studies) and lake researchers primarily analyzed fertility …

How To Utilize Relevance Vectors To Collect Required Data For Modeling Water Quality Constitu-Ents, And Fine Sediment In Natural Systems? Case Study: Mud Lake, Idaho, Hussein Aly Batt, David King Stevens

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The development of monitoring programs for water quality and habitat assessment in surface waters is an ongoing challenge because of inherent difficulties in determining the effective spatial and temporal distribution of sites and trips. Recent advances in statistical learning theory, in which system characteristics are learned from data, point to the possibility of using the information content of data to shed light on monitoring results that provide sensitive and independent results. One of those techniques, multivariate relevance vector machines (MVRVM), creates as part of its algorithm subsets of a data set, called relevant vectors (RVs), that are most relevant for …

Modeling The Hydrology Of The Great Salt Lake: What Makes The Great Salt Lake Go Up And Down, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Slit And Detention Dams On Debris Flow Control Using Gstars 3.0, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Mohammad Ebrahim Banihabib

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Sedimentation, Modeling, GSTARS3.0, Debris flow, Slit dam, Detention dam

Hydroshare: Advancing Collaboration Through Hydrologic Data And Model Sharing, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.