Environmental Monitoring 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 …

Multivariate Statistical Analyses Of Air Pollutants And Meteorology In Chicago During Summers 2010–2012, Katrina Binaku, Martina Schmeling

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Aerosol, trace gas, and meteorological data were collected in Chicago, Illinois during 2010–2012 summer air studies. Ozone, nitrogen oxides, acetate, formate, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and oxalate concentrations as well as temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and humidity data were explored by both principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Multivariate statistical techniques were applied to uncover existing relationships between meteorology and air pollutant concentrations and also reduce data dimensions.

In PCA, principal components (PC) revealed a relationship of ozone and nitrate concentrations with respect to temperature and humidity, coupled with transport of species from the south in relation …

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 …

Juxtaposing Nasa’S Aeronet Aod With Carb Pm Data Over The San Joaquin Valley To Facilitate Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (Misr) Pm Pollution Research, John Kanemoto

STAR Program Research Presentations

Airborne particulate matter (PM) has been shown to increase the risk for asthma, chronic bronchitis, cardiopulmonary complications, and respiratory cell membrane damage/infection/leakage. PM levels are currently analyzed from two perspectives: stationary land-based monitoring (LBM) sites and total Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) atmospheric column measurements. Both perspectives often leave miles of space between measuring locations and will have a continually increasing cost from introducing/maintaining sites. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) satellite team hopes to begin investigating/archiving PM levels comprehensively via inputting MISR AOD measurements into a function/model which predicts the amount of ground level PM.

In the future, multivariable spatial correlations …

Stochastic Dea With A Perfect Object And Its Application To Analysis Of Environmental Efficiency, Alexander Vaninsky

Publications and Research

The paper introduces stochastic DEA with a Perfect Object (SDEA PO). The Perfect Object (PO) is a virtual Decision Making Unit (DMU) that has the smallest inputs and greatest outputs. Including the PO in a collection of actual objects yields an explicit formula of the efficiency index. Given the distributions of DEA inputs and outputs, this formula allows us to derive the probability distribution of the efficiency score, to find its mathematical expectation, and to deliver common (group–related) and partial (object-related) efficiency components. We apply this approach to a prospective analysis of environmental efficiency of the major national and regional …

A Mathmatical Model Of Primary Productivity And Limnological Patterns In Lake Mead, Lorne G. Everett

Publications (WR)

The temporal and spatial changes in chemical and biological properties of Lake Mead have been investigated, thereby indicating the sources of water pollution and the time of highest pollution potential. Planktonic organisms have been shown to indicate the presence of water problems. Macro- and micro-nutrient analyses have shown that primary productivity is not inhibited by limiting concentrations. A mathematical model has been developed, tested with one set of independent data, and shown worthy of management utility. Although the model works very well for the Lake Mead area, the physical reality of the Multiple Linear Regression equation should be tested on …