Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Spatial And Temporal Variability Of Antecedent Moisture Content On Model-Generated Runoff From An Arid Watershed, William J. Meyer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Streams in the arid southwest are typically ephemeral, and stream gages are not commonly available. Consequently, runoff data from storm events is not available, and flood control facility design or other water resource related decisions are based on synthetic hydrographs. In the Mojave Desert region of Southern Nevada, the duration of storm used to develop these synthetic hydrographs is the 6 hour storm. The 6 hour storm is used to simulate high intensity summer storms. Additionally, soils information used in the calculations for these synthetic hydrographs is taken from maps that are generally developed for a broad range of issues …

Bending Of Woody Riparian Vegetation As A Function Of Hydraulic Flow Conditions, John O. Goreham

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Vegetation encroachment reduces channel conveyance capacity below design objectives and greatly increases the risk for loss of life and property damage in the case of large flood events. Given minimal knowledge of hydraulic roughness for shrubs and woody vegetation, accurate estimation of channel capacity and water surface elevation is difficult. The ability to predict a tree's bent, reduced height in the presence of flow permits more accurate prediction of hydraulic roughness and water surface elevation.

In this study, field tests were performed to elucidate tree bending properties, which in turn served as input parameters for a numerical algorithm designed to …

Soil Moisture And Water Stage Estimation Using Precipitation Radar, Sumit Puri

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In south-western United States, soil moisture data is important for drought studies in the region which is experiencing a drought for many years, whereas in South Florida, water stage data is required by hydrologists to monitor the hydrological flow in wetlands. Soil moisture data and water stage data are not sufficiently available due to sparse monitoring stations. Installation of dense measuring stations over an extended area is costly and labor intensive. Therefore, there is a need to develop an alternative method of measuring soil moisture and water stage. Microwave remote sensing has proven to be a useful tool in the …

Travel Time Study At The Wetlands Park National Preserve, Brandon Bair

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis reports on a study of the residence time of water in the Wetlands Park Nature Preserve in Henderson, Nevada. Rhodamine WT was used in order to test for the travel time of the water from the Monson Channel inflow to the Nature Preserve outflow to the Las Vegas Wash. The initial hypothesis was that the water would stay in the system for approximately 8 days. Residence time was tested using an ISCO sampling machine along with a Sequoia-Turner model 450 fluorimeter to test for the fluoresce of the dye in the water. All samples collected were taken immediately …