Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Center Pivot Irrigation In Nebraska: An Institutional Analysis Case Study, Thomas Nutt-Powell, Stewart Landers

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

This paper is one of a series resulting from institutional analysis of photovoltaic (PV) acceptance. It reports the results of a study of institutional factors influencing acceptance of center-pivot irrigation in the Nebraska agricultural community. Center-point irrigation (CP) was an interesting topic for study because (1) it was a major recently introduced technological innovation in agriculture which (2) had potentially detrimental attributes – water and energy intensity. A brief historical review of the introduction and acceptance of center-pivot irrigation in the Nebraska agricultural community is presented. Institutions which were a likely part of this institutional arena relative to CP introduction …

A Pressure Injection Device For Inoculation Of Maize With Bacterial Phytopathogens, Randall R. Carlson, A. K. Vidaver, D. S. Wysong, J. H. Riesselman

Biological Process Development Facility: Staff Publications

A pressure injection device (PID) was used to inoculate maize (Zea mays) with bacterial phytopathogens. The PID was evaluated for its speed, effectiveness, and precision relative to the needle-eye method of inoculation. Corynebacterium nebraskense, Erwinia stewartii, and Pseudomonas andropogonis were each used successfully as inocula to infect maize and produce symptoms typical of Goss's wilt, Stewart's wilt and bacterial stripe, respectively. Quantitative inoculation with the PID was faster and as statistically precise as using a calibrated needle-eye.

Maintaining A Septic Tank System, Elbert C. Dickey, Gary Hosek, Phillip W. Harlan

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Once a septic tank and absorption field are installed, you can do several things to prolong their life, thus protecting an investment which may cost $2500 or more. Here are several tips you can follow.

Often overlooked or neglected is the fact that septic tanks should be inspected at least once annually. In every properly functioning septic tank, sludge accumulates in the bottom. This sludge is composed of solid materials and must be removed periodically. If the sludge is not removed, the accumulated solids will build up in the septic tank and will begin to wash out into the absorption …

A Septic Tank System For Sewage Treatment, Elbert C. Dickey, Phillip W. Harlan, Gary Hosek

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

A properly designed, installed ao1d maintained septic tank system is an approved method of sewage treatment for private residences in rural or urban areas where public sewage treatment systems are not available. The components of a septic system are the house sewer, the septic tank and the absorption field, as illustrated in Figure 1. Sewage flows to the septic tank through the house sewer. In the septic tank, the solids are separated from the liquids, undergo anaerobic digestion and are stored as sludge at the bottom of the tank. The liquid (septic tank effluent) flows to the absorption field …

Micro-Relief Surface Depression Storage: Changes During Rainfall Events And Their Application To Rainfall-Runoff Models, J. Kent Mitchell, Benjamin A. Jones Jr.

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Micro-relief surface depression storage is one of the dynamic components of the rainfall-runoff process. The quantification of the effect of rainfall intensity and duration on the micro-relief was the subject of this study. Micro-relief measurements were made on 88 soil bin samples before and after the application of simulated rainfall events. The surface depression changes are described with empirical equations, using basic rainfall, surface hydrology, and soil parameters and their cross products as independent variables. A rainfall-runoff model demonstrates the value of a dynamic description of the surface depression storage function.

Wells And Ponds: Water Quality And Supply, Elbert C. Dickey, W.D. Lembke

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

FARM WELLS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY ...................... 1

Study Area Description ................................. 4

Field and laboratory Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Soil and Groundwater Measurements ...................... 10

Well Water Measurements ............................... 15

Summary ............................................ 17

PONDS IN WASHINGTON AND POPE COUNTIES ................. 17

Ponds in Washington County ............................ 17

Ponds and a Lake in Pope County ......................... 25

Summary ............................................ 30

Bibliography ............................................. 31

Appendix ............................................... 34

This bulletin is one of six publications growing out of a four-and …

Sizing Of Liquid Manure Tank Wagons And The Economic Evaluation Of Liquid Manure Injection, J.N. Scarborough, Elbert C. Dickey, D. H. Vanderholm

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Liquid manure tank wagons were evaluated on a cost basis to determine the optimum size for a given livestock operation. Also the economics of adding a liquid injector to the tank wagon was studied for profitability.

INTRODUCTION

The proper selection of a liquid manure tank wagon is a problem faced by many progressive livestock producers with liquid manure systems. Selection of a manure tank wagon is usually based on the farmer's or dealer's opinion of what size is right rather than on a logical analysis including an economic analysis of the costs involved. This paper provides guidelines for selecting the …

Leaf Spot Of Field Corn Caused By Pseudomonas Andropogonis, Anne K. Vidaver, Randall R. Carlson

Biological Process Development Facility: Staff Publications

A leaf spot of field corn was shown to be caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas andropogonis. Leaf spot symptoms were observed over 3 years in several States. Inoculation of corn by vacuum infiltration of the bacteria was necessary to reproduce field symptoms.

A bacterial leaf spot disease of different cultivars of field corn was observed in early summer of 1973, 1974, and 1975. Leaves with essentially the same symptoms were obtained from South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Michigan. The same symptoms were also seen in Wisconsin. Symptoms consisted of circular to ellipsoidal, tan to brown spots, with irregular …

Runoff And Erosion Characteristics Of Surface-Mined Sites In Western North Dakota, John E. Gilley, G. W. Gee, A. Bauer, W. O. Willis, R. A. Young

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

A rainfall simulator was used to measure runoff and erosion from rangeland, spoil and topsoil sites. Measured soil losses were greatest on bare topsoil plots and least on the non-cultivated rangeland site. Application of a straw mulch reduced erosion on topsoil by over 90 percent. However, the meausred erosion and runoff values from the mulched topsoil sites were still over 50 percent higher than from the rangeland site.

Feedlot Runoff Holding Ponds-Nutrient Levels And Related Management Aspects, Elbert C. Dickey, D. H. Vanderholm

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Collection, storage, and ultimate land disposal of livestock feedlot runoff is becoming a more common practice as a result of increasing state and federal regulations prohibiting uncontrolled discharge of runoff. As a result of chemical, physical, and biological actions during the storage phase, the runoff applied to land from storage is often greatly different from that entering storage directly from the feedlot. This study was designed to observe those changes in the runoff during storage, and to evaluate their effect on land disposal practices. Six concrete paved feedlots with runoff control systems were studied, with emphasis on variations in nitrogen, …

Duration And Intermittancy Of Noise Exposure For The Operator Of A Self Propelled Baler, Lyle Koester, Kenneth Von Bargen

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Evaluation of the noise exposure of agricultural machine operators requires that machine operation time and intermittancy of work patterns be determined. One method of obtaining such data is by using event activity recorders. These data are available for haying machines operated at the University of Nebraska Field Laboratory, Mead during the 1963 through 1966 seasons. Approximately 60 machine operator days per season were recorded on service recorder charts for the following machines:
1. self-propelled windrowers
2. self-propelled and pull-type balers
3. self-propelled and pull-type bale wagons
In addition some motion-time study data are available for the newer loose hay stackers …

Pond Water Quality In A Claypan Soil, Elbert C. Dickey, J. K. Mitchell

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

In many areas of the Midwestern United States, a safe and plentiful supply of groundwater is a primary concern. Groundwater is sporadic, unreliable, shallow, and often polluted, even though these same areas often have an annual rainfall in excess of 1 m.

The pollution problems associated with these groundwater supplies are both chemical and bacterial. Older wells are often the most dangerous. Linings made of open brick near the surface, cracked casings and covers, and nearby privy, septic tank, and barnyard sites accentuate the problems in shallow groundwater aquifers. High levels of nitrates frequently present in the shallow domestic well …

Effects Of Fertilizers On Cultured Salt Marsh Plants, Ruppia And Chara, Scott Marshall Stenquist

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima), muskgrass (Chara Sp.), and midge larvae (family Chironomidae) were grown under controlled greenhouse conditions using a solution of Logan tap water, 3000 ppm. sodium chloride, and an algicide-fungicide inhibiter. Soil, vegetation, and invertebrates came from a spring-fed marsh in western Utah. Ammonium sulfate, treble superphosphate, and sewage sludge fertilizers were applied to the plants at 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 300 pounds per acre equivalents of ammonium sulfate; 5, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 300 pounds per acre equivalents of treble superphsophate; and 5, 25, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500,700, and …

Sampling Pond Water Without A Boat, Elbert C. Dickey, J. Kent Mitchell

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Nitrate levels in farm ponds are determined with the aid of a water sampler that can be operated from the shore

The quality of pond water in southern and western Illinois is being determined with the aid of a new type of water sampler developed in the Department of Agricultural Engineering.

Work on the sampler began as part of a study of water supplies in Washington County. This study, which is being conducted through the College of Agriculture Council on Environmental Quality, was initiated in the winter of 1970, after high nitrate levels were found in the county's water supplies. …

Device For Obtaining From Small Ponds Water Samples Or Lagoons, J. Kent Mitchell, Elbert C. Dickey

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

A research project was recently initiated which requires that water quality samples be taken from small ponds and lagoons in west-central Illinois. A method for obtaining these pond water samples was desired that could be handled conveniently by one person and would not require a small boat. The pond water sampler described here was developed to satisfy this need.

The sampler developed allows one person to obtain a water sample at any desired depth while remaining on the shore. After assembling the device it may be floated to any position on the pond surface, lowered to the desired depth, and …

A Study Of Flooded And Rain Infiltration Relations With Surface Ponding, Yehia Z. El-Shafei

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The non-linear partial differential equation (combination of Darcy's law and continuity equation) has been used in this investigation to predict the flooded infiltration through soils possessing appreciable amount of clay and initially drier than its field capacity. One of the most important assumptions made in solving the differential equation is that the capillary conductivity-moisture content relationship is unique for each initial moisture content computation due to the different reaction of clay minerals with different initial moisture contents.

Mathematical equations were also derived to predict:

1. The rate of the wetting front advance, prior to the occurrence of surface ponding, taking into …

A Study Of Evaporation And Evapotranspiration In Peru, Fernando Chanduvi-Acuña

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Twenty-four equations for estimating evaporation and/or evapotranspiration were compared with measured Piche evaporation. At least 1728 months of records from 12 Peruvian stations were analyzed in this study.

Computer programs were developed to work this study and the results were compared by plotting.

It has been found that the equation that best fits the Piche evaporation in the low elevation stations in Peru is Christiansen's formula (ET2) which was used as a base for his formula for Class A pan evaporation (EVC).

Study Of Sheltered Evaporation In Colombia, Guillermo Pardo-Bonilla

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Equations, tables, and graphs for estimating evaporation from sheltered evaporimeters were developed, based on data from 20 stations in Colombia.

Computer programs and plottings were the basic tools to work out the equations. The form of the simplified final equation is

Ev = kC_VPDC_T

in which

• Ev is the evaporation in millimeters per day
• K is a constant
• C_VPD is the vapor pressure deficit coefficient
• C_T is the temperature coefficient

Statistical parameters were determined to compare the measured evaporation with the Christiansen-Guillen formula and the newly developed formulas.

Development Of A Drainage Function For The Transient Case, And A Two-Dimensional Ground-Water Mound Study To Evaluate Aquifer Parameters, Seid Abdollah Jenab

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A drainage function, D (u_n), is developed to describe the rate of fall and the shape of the water table between drains for an infinite series of parallel drains. The drainage function is evaluated and presented graphically for design purposes. The solution of the drainage function is compared with the solution of Glover's transient state drainage equation. The two equations agreed very well, but the agreement was not as good for very high values of √(4αt)/ L.

The drainage function, D (u_n ), was solved for the point midway between drains and the solution was presented graphically …

Evaporation And Evapotransipration In Venezuela, Hidalgo Guillén Echeverría

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Equations and tables for estimating Fuess evaporation from climatological data were developed. Ten years of average records from 22 stations in Venezuela were analyzed in order to develop the equations.

Mathematical regression analysis, and plotting and computer programs were used to work out the equations. The form of the final expression for estimating Fuess evaporation is as follows:
Ev = K C_RC_TC_WC_HC_DTC_SC_M
Pan evaporation was computed using the Christiansen, Mathison, Blaney-Criddle, Hargreaves, Penman, and Kohler formulas. The computed pan evaporation from these formulas, measured Fuess evaporation, and …

Estimation Of Pan Evaporation And Potential Evapotranspiration Of Rice In The Central Plain Of Thailand By Using Various Formulas Based On Climatological Data, Paitoon Palayasoot

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water has become one of major national concerns, and it is the limiting factor in the expansion of an irrigated agriculture. Irrigation development is rapidly growing all over the world. New lands are being brought under irrigation and older irrigation lands are being improved. In the planning and operation of an irrigation project, the estimation of water requirements and evapotranspiration, or consumptive use, requires careful consideration. A knowledge of evapotranspiration is playing an increasingly important part in irrigation science. It is the best index of water requirements which represent the amount of water that should be applied by irrigation for …

A Study Of Sprinkler Uniformity Evaluation Methods, Baha Dabbous

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of water in homes, on farms, by factories, and for recreational purposes has been increasing rapidly. Water use has doubled in the last three decades. By 1980, water use is expected to be double the current use. In arid and semi-arid regions, the practice of successful profit-yielding agriculture often depends on irrigation. Irrigation is, in turn, dependent upon a water supply which is limited. The highest possible efficiency should be maintained if maximum utilization of the available water resources for irrigation is desired. Sprinkler irrigation allows, among other things, high water application efficiencies with good distribution uniformities.

Termites Or White Ants, Clee Francis Howard Jenkins

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

TERMITES are commonly but erroneously called "white ants."

Actually they are more nearly related to cockroaches than to ants, but their general appearance and subterranean habits have given strong support to the popular designation.

They may be divided into two major groups from an economic point of view, viz., wood-dwelling and earth-dwelling termites.

Drainage Of Land Overlying An Artesian Aquifer: Logan-Cache Airport, John Paul Riley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Drainage problem Logan-Cache Airport is situated approximately 4 miles northwest of Logan, Utah, in sections 8, 9, 16, and 17, Township 12 north, Range 1 east, of Salt Lake Base and Meridian. The area of approximately 200 acres is a part of what is known as cache County Drainage District No.2. This district in itself contains more than 8,400 acres of waterlogged lands. Drainage of the se lands has, for many years, been a baffling and unsolved problem, complicated by 3 factors: (a) The whole of the valley in this area is underlain by an artesian ground-water reservoir. (b) The …

Canal Seepage Loss Investigations In The Lewiston Area, Utah, Robert V. Thurmond

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With population, industry, and irrigation ever increasing in the arid west, there arises new and greater demands for water. Much of the water now urgently needed is lost as seepage from the many miles of canals in the western states.

Rohwer and Stout (18) have estimated that in the western states from one-third to one-half of the water diverted for irrigation is lost before it reaches the farmers' fields. Of these losses, seepage probably accounts for the greatest loss. It is reported by the Bureau of Reclamation (14) that, of the 14,600,000 acre feet of water diverted on 36 projects …

Irrigation Expansion On The Sevier River, Utah, With Special Reference To The Piute Project, O. W. Monson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

On January 16, 1908, the State Board of Land Commissioners, on behalf of the State of Utah, undertook to build a reclamation project in the Sevier River Valley, intended to reclaim between 25,000 to 35,000 acres of the virgin lands lying on the west side of Sevier River in Sevier and San Pete Counties. From January, 1908 to January, 1914, the State expended nearly $1,000,000 for the construction of the reservior dm and the canal leading from it. Since that time nearly $200,000 has been spent for supplementary construction. This money was supplied by the State Reservior Land Grant Fund, …