Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

A Gis Analysis Of Land Cover Effects On Water Systems: Nutrients And Algae In Stormwater Ponds, Nicole Lee Kappel Sep 2016

A Gis Analysis Of Land Cover Effects On Water Systems: Nutrients And Algae In Stormwater Ponds, Nicole Lee Kappel

Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic land conversion is occurring rapidly and has the potential to impact our water quality. This study aims to explore the effect of watershed land characteristics on water quality within stormwater ponds (SWPs). Rapid land conversion is known to affect water quality of receiving water bodies, however not much is known about the effect of urbanization on SWPs. Geographic informational systems (GIS) was used to determine areas of land that drain into ponds. Water samples were collected and analyzed for total phosphorous, dissolved reactive phosphorous, nitrate, and ammonia. Algal pigment and percent cover measurements were taken in the field and …


Seasonal And Spatial Variations In Chemical Composition And Fluxes Of Dissolved Organic Matter And Nutrients In The Lower Milwaukee River, Tarek A. Teber Aug 2016

Seasonal And Spatial Variations In Chemical Composition And Fluxes Of Dissolved Organic Matter And Nutrients In The Lower Milwaukee River, Tarek A. Teber

Theses and Dissertations

Physical, chemical and biological processes directly influence the transport, composition, and fluxes of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in river watersheds. Changes in the abundance and composition of DOM and nutrients (P&N) in the watershed should reflect changes in hydrological cycle, effluent discharge, land-use and land-cover, and anthropogenic activities in the river basin, especially in rivers that run through metropolitan areas such as the Milwaukee River. Despite the importance of DOM to ecosystem health and function, a literature search to date finds no comprehensive accounting of DOM in the Milwaukee River. To examine DOM dynamics, monthly water samples were collected between …


The Role Of Organic Matter In The Fate And Transport Of Antibiotic Resistance, Metals, And Nutrients In The Karst Of Northwest Arkansas, Victor Lee Roland Ii Aug 2016

The Role Of Organic Matter In The Fate And Transport Of Antibiotic Resistance, Metals, And Nutrients In The Karst Of Northwest Arkansas, Victor Lee Roland Ii

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organic matter (OM) in the environment acts as a nutrient, but may also act as a transport vector for harmful chemical compounds and bacteria. Acetate is a labile form of OM produced during fermentation in anaerobic lagoons used to store animal fecal-waste from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Dry and liquid fertilizers from CAFOs pose a threat to groundwater by introducing excessive amounts of nutrients (e.g. OM, nitrate and ammonia), metals, and antibiotic compounds. In the epikarst of Northern Arkansas in the Buffalo River watershed additional input of labile dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from liquid CAFO waste-fertilizers was hypothesized to …


Simulation Of Conservation Practice Effects On Water Quality Under Current And Future Climate Scenarios, Carlington W. Wallace May 2016

Simulation Of Conservation Practice Effects On Water Quality Under Current And Future Climate Scenarios, Carlington W. Wallace

Open Access Dissertations

Analysis of the effects of implementing different conservation practices, as well as increased levels of conservation practices under existing and projected future climate, will determine if current conservation practice recommendations will be sufficient to maintain soil and water resources. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to study four watersheds of different sizes (CCW = 680 km2, F34 = 183 km2, AXL = 42 km 2 and ALG = 20 km2) located in Northeastern Indiana. The overarching goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of various agricultural practices on runoff and agricultural chemical losses under current …


Algal Growth Response To Nutrient Loading On The Lower Boise River, Idaho, Ian Penn May 2016

Algal Growth Response To Nutrient Loading On The Lower Boise River, Idaho, Ian Penn

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate and phosphate concentrations in the Lower Boise River become increasingly elevated with distance downstream. While there is correlative evidence that there is algal growth from elevated nutrients, no one has formally evaluated the algal growth response from nutrient loading. We quantified algal biomass in response to increased nutrient concentrations by sampling benthic algal biomass from natural substrata (rocks) and artificial substrata that also assessed nutrient limitation along a 64 mile reach from near Diversion Dam to the city of Parma that exhibited an increase of nitrate (0.01 mg/L to 3.40 mg/L) and phosphate (below detection to 0.56 mg/L). Samples …


Lagoon Wastewater Effluent Impacts Stream Metabolism In Red River Tributaries, Chris T. Chesworth Jan 2016

Lagoon Wastewater Effluent Impacts Stream Metabolism In Red River Tributaries, Chris T. Chesworth

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Lagoons are the most common form of sewage treatment for rural Canadian communities and may therefore be a major source of pollution to local waterways. However, the environmental effects of pulse releases of lagoon effluent are largely unknown. This study reports on changes in physicochemical conditions and stream metabolism occurring as result of summer lagoon effluent releases into Red River tributaries, Manitoba, Canada. We calculated metrics of stream metabolism using the single-station, open water method. We found that an effluent release results in a significant short-term increase in physicochemical (i.e., water nutrients, stream discharge) conditions which had a subsidy effect …


Evaluating Stormwater Pollutant Removal Mechanisms By Bioretention In The Context Of Climate Change, Amanda Cording Jan 2016

Evaluating Stormwater Pollutant Removal Mechanisms By Bioretention In The Context Of Climate Change, Amanda Cording

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Stormwater runoff is one of the leading causes of water quality impairment in the U.S. Bioretention systems are ecologically engineered to treat stormwater pollution and offer exciting opportunities to provide local climate change resiliency by reducing peak runoff rates, and retaining/detaining storm volumes, yet implementation is outpacing our understanding of the underlying physical, biological, and chemical mechanisms involved in pollutant removal. Further, we do not know how performance will be affected by increases in precipitation, which are projected to occur in the northeastern U.S. as a result of climate change, or if these systems could act as a source or …


A Framework For Estimating Nutrient And Sediment Loads That Leverages The Temporal Variability Embedded In Water Monitoring Data, Baxter G. Miatke Jan 2016

A Framework For Estimating Nutrient And Sediment Loads That Leverages The Temporal Variability Embedded In Water Monitoring Data, Baxter G. Miatke

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Rivers deliver significant macronutrients and sediments to lakes that can vary substantially throughout the year. These nutrient and sediment loadings, exacerbated by winter and spring runoff, impact aquatic ecosystem productivity and drive the formation of harmful algae blooms. The source, extent and magnitude of nutrient and sediment loading can vary drastically due to extreme weather events and hydrologic processes, such as snowmelt or high flow storm events, that dominate during a particular time period, making the temporal component (i.e., time over which the loading is estimated) critical for accurate forecasts. In this work, we developed a data-driven framework that leverages …