Applied Mathematics Commons^™

Modeling Drought, Drought Teleconnection, And Its Effect On Groundwater Level Dynamics In The Biscayne Aquifer, Anteneh Z. Abiy

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing a self-sufficient water supply system in Southeast Florida is one input to the success of the ongoing restoration effort in the Everglades. Maintaining a high groundwater level in the urban side of the Biscayne Aquifer (BA) is important to sustain the urban water supply. However, the long-term groundwater table condition in the Biscayne Aquifer (BA) is threatened by a combination of drought, groundwater pumping, and sea-level rise. Further, the long-term drought pattern, drought drivers, and the aquifer’s response to drought and other stress conditions are not well known. As a result, options that would help to maintain a high …

A Mathematical Framework On Machine Learning: Theory And Application, Bin Shi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation addresses the research topics of machine learning outlined below. We developed the theory about traditional first-order algorithms from convex opti- mization and provide new insights in nonconvex objective functions from machine learning. Based on the theory analysis, we designed and developed new algorithms to overcome the difficulty of nonconvex objective and to accelerate the speed to obtain the desired result. In this thesis, we answer the two questions: (1) How to design a step size for gradient descent with random initialization? (2) Can we accelerate the current convex optimization algorithms and improve them into nonconvex objective? For application, …

Sabermetrics - Statistical Modeling Of Run Creation And Prevention In Baseball, Parker Chernoff

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis was to investigate which baseball metrics are most conducive to run creation and prevention. Stepwise regression and Liu estimation were used to formulate two models for the dependent variables and also used for cross validation. Finally, the predicted values were fed into the Pythagorean Expectation formula to predict a team’s most important goal: winning.

Each model fit strongly and collinearity amongst offensive predictors was considered using variance inflation factors. Hits, walks, and home runs allowed, infield putouts, errors, defense-independent earned run average ratio, defensive efficiency ratio, saves, runners left on base, shutouts, and walks per …

Development Of A Two-Fluid Drag Law For Clustered Particles Using Direct Numerical Simulation And Validation Through Experiments, Ahmadreza Abbasi Baharanchi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on development and utilization of numerical and experimental approaches to improve the CFD modeling of fluidization flow of cohesive micron size particles. The specific objectives of this research were: (1) Developing a cluster prediction mechanism applicable to Two-Fluid Modeling (TFM) of gas-solid systems (2) Developing more accurate drag models for Two-Fluid Modeling (TFM) of gas-solid fluidization flow with the presence of cohesive interparticle forces (3) using the developed model to explore the improvement of accuracy of TFM in simulation of fluidization flow of cohesive powders (4) Understanding the causes and influential factor which led to improvements and …

An Assessment Of The Performances Of Several Univariate Tests Of Normality, James Olusegun Adefisoye

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of checking the normality assumption in most statistical procedures especially parametric tests cannot be over emphasized as the validity of the inferences drawn from such procedures usually depend on the validity of this assumption. Numerous methods have been proposed by different authors over the years, some popular and frequently used, others, not so much. This study addresses the performance of eighteen of the available tests for different sample sizes, significance levels, and for a number of symmetric and asymmetric distributions by conducting a Monte-Carlo simulation. The results showed that considerable power is not achieved for symmetric distributions when …

Numerical Modeling Of The Effects Of Hydrologic Conditions And Sediment Transport On Geomorphic Patterns In Wetlands, Mehrnoosh Mahmoudi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on developing a numerical model of spatial and temporal changes in bed morphology of ridge and slough features in wetlands with respect to hydrology and sediment transport when a sudden change in hydrologic condition occurs. The specific objectives of this research were: (1) developing a two-dimensional hydrology model to simulate the spatial distribution of flow depth and velocity over time when a pulsed flow condition is applied, (2) developing a process-based numerical model of sediment transport coupled with flow depth and velocity in wetland ecosystems, and (3) use the developed model to explore how sediment transport may …

Development Of A Methodology That Couples Satellite Remote Sensing Measurements To Spatial-Temporal Distribution Of Soil Moisture In The Vadose Zone Of The Everglades National Park, Luis G. Perez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spatial-temporal distribution of soil moisture in the vadose zone is an important aspect of the hydrological cycle that plays a fundamental role in water resources management, including modeling of water flow and mass transport. The vadose zone is a critical transfer and storage compartment, which controls the partitioning of energy and mass linked to surface runoff, evapotranspiration and infiltration. This dissertation focuses on integrating hydraulic characterization methods with remote sensing technologies to estimate the soil moisture distribution by modeling the spatial coverage of soil moisture in the horizontal and vertical dimensions with high temporal resolution.

The methodology consists of using …