Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

How To Collect Your Water Sample And Interpret The Results For The Livestock Analytical Package, Bradley J. Austin, Dirk Philipp, Mike Daniels, Brian E. Haggard

Fact Sheets

A plentiful supply of clean water is crucial for livestock health and productivity. To determine the quality of your livestock’s water resources, periodic sampling and analysis is needed. The Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC) in cooperation with the UA Cooperative Extension Service offers several analytical packages to assess the quality of your water resources. This document is intended to provide guidance to livestock owners on collecting water samples for analysis and understanding the results on your report provided by the AWRC’s Water Quality Laboratory (Lab). The information contained within this fact sheet should be used as general guidance, and the …

How To Collect Your Water Sample And Interpret The Results For The Fish Pond Analytical Package, Bradley J. Austin, Amit Sinha, Nathan Stone, W. Reed Green, Mike Daniels, Brian E. Haggard

Fact Sheets

The Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC) in cooperation with the Cooperative Extension Service offers several analytical packages to assess the quality of your water resources. This document is intended to provide guidance to aquaculture producers and pond owners on the “Fish Pond Report” provided by the AWRC’s water quality laboratory. The information contained within this fact sheet should be used as general guidance, and the reader is encouraged to seek advice from Extension specialists regarding the interpretation of individual reports and water testing results that may be of concern. The Aquaculture Center for Excellence is at the University of Arkansas …

Water Quality Reporting Limits, Method Detection Limits, And Censored Values: What Does It All Mean?, Bradley J. Austin, J. Thad Scott, Mike Daniels, Brian E. Haggard

Fact Sheets

The Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC) maintains a fee-based water-quality lab that is certified by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The AWRC Water Quality Lab analyzes water samples for a variety of constituents, using standard methods for the analysis of water samples (APHA 2012). The lab generates a report on the analysis, which is provided to clientele, and reports the concentrations or values as measured. Often times the concentrations or values might be very small, even zero as reported by the lab – what does this mean? How should we use this information? This document is intended to …

Beaver Lake Numeric Chlorophyll-A And Secchi Transparency Standards, Phases Ii And Iii: Uncertainty And Trend Analysis, J. Thad Scott, Brian E. Haggard, Zachary Simpson, Matthew Rich

Technical Reports

The objective of Phases II and III of this study were to 1) assess the variation in chl‐a and ST across multiple spatial and temporal scales in Beaver Lake in order to validate the assessment method, and 2) quantify trends in chl‐a, ST, and nutrient (total phosphorus and total nitrogen) concentrations in Beaver Lake and the major inflowing rivers to verify any potential water quality impairment.

Database Analysis To Support Nutrient Criteria Development (Phase Ii), B. E. Haggard, M.A. Evans-White, L.B. Massey, E.M. Grantz

Technical Reports

The intent of this publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center is to provide a location whereby a final report on water research to a funding agency can be archived. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted with University of Arkansas researchers for a multiple year project titled “Database Analysis to Support Nutrient Criteria Development”. This publication covers the second of three phases of that project and has maintained the original format of the report as submitted to TCEQ. This report can be cited either as an AWRC publication (see below) or directly as the final report to TCEQ.

Database Analysis To Support Nutrient Criteria Development (Phase I), B. E. Haggard, J.T. Scott, M.A. Evans-White

Technical Reports

The intent of this publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center is to provide a location whereby a final report on water research to a funding agency can be archived. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted with University of Arkansas researchers for a multiple year project titled “Database Analysis to Support Nutrient Criteria Development”. This publication covers the first of three phases of that project and has maintained the original format of the report as submitted to TCEQ. This report can be cited either as an AWRC publication (see below) or directly as the final report to TCEQ.

Database Analysis To Support Nutrient Criteria Development (Phase Iii), J. T. Scott, E.M. Grantz

Technical Reports

The intent of this publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center is to provide a location whereby a final report on water research to a funding agency can be archived. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) contracted with University of Arkansas researchers for a multiple year project titled “Database Analysis to Support Nutrient Criteria Development”. This publication covers the third of three phases of that project and has maintained the original format of the report as submitted to TCEQ. This report can be cited either as an AWRC publication (see below) or directly as the final report to TCEQ.

The Impact Of Climate Change In Bangladesh On The Rice Market And Farm Households, Mst Ashrafun Nahar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bangladesh is trying to achieve self-sufficiency in domestic rice production but climate change effects on agricultural production makes it challenging to attain the goal. The country is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change since it is the major cause to rise in sea level, more warm summer, and happening food and cyclone in the country.

This study develops an Aggregate Farm Household Model to analyze the impact of potential land loss and yield reduction from climate change on production, consumption, prices, welfare, and the ability of government to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. The model is calibrated to …

Agro-Climatic Change, Crop Production And Mitigation Strategies-Case Studies In Arkansas, Usa And Kenya, John Westley Magugu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although climate change impacts vary geographically and temporally, studies at local levels are not readily available for stakeholders to better understand how their local communities would be affected and what remedial measures could be more effective in their local contexts. This dissertation has examined climate change and its impacts in two different local contexts: eastern Arkansas in the USA and Nyando in Kenya. The first part of this dissertation develops agro-meteorological indicators and examines the relationship between agro-meteorological indicators and crop yields in eastern Arkansas between 1960 and 2014. Results reveal that temperature based indicators were more strongly correlated to …

Optical Water Quality And Human Perceptions Of Rivers, Amie West

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding water quality dynamics in recreational rivers is integral in shaping management strategies that maintain ecosystem health, perceived value and appeal, and regional economic significance in a changing environment. Optical water quality describes the behavior of light in water as governed by its physical and chemical composition, and is among the strongest influences on human perceptions of water quality. Ethnohydrology is the study of culturally constructed knowledge and understanding of water. This work is the culmination of an interdisciplinary approach to water resources research—integrating optical water quality and ethnohydrology methods to recognize the intersection between measured water quality and visible …

Chlorine Demand Shows Thresholds And Hierarchy With Source Water Quality At Beaver Lake, Arkansas, Jaime M. Gile

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of source water quality in Beaver Lake on the amount of chlorine (Cl) needed to develop decision support system to help guide chlorination practices in pre-treatment of source water. Chlorine demand assays were performed on water samples from Beaver Lake collected from the intake structure at Beaver Water District from March 2014 through August 2015, and using data from these assays, the two points of interest in this study were the Cl dose at which Cl residuals began to accumulate and the mean Cl demand occurring after that dose. Three methods of analysis were used …

Stream Microbial Communities As Potential Indicators Of River And Landscape Disturbance In North-Central Arkansas, Wilson Howard Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, 29 shale basins have been actively developed across 20 states for extraction of natural gas (NG) via horizontal drilling/hydraulic fracturing (=fracking). This includes ~5000 wells within the Fayetteville shale of north-central Arkansas. Development often impacts both river- and landscapes, and management requires catchment-level evaluations over time, with organismal presence/absence as indicators. For this study next-generation sequencing was used to identify/characterize microbial communities within biofilm of eight Arkansas River tributaries, so as to gauge potential catchment influences. Streams spanned a gradient of landscape features and hydrological flows, with four serving as ‘potentially impacted catchment zones’ (PICZ) and …

Trend Analysis Of Water Quality In Northwest Arkansas Streams Reflects Changes In The Watershed, Zachary Paul Simpson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Watershed export of nutrients, sediments, and chemicals impacts receiving waters. Changes within the watershed (e.g., anthropogenic or climatic) can alter the transport of constituents in streams. Stream monitoring is crucial for understanding these effects. This study developed a potential improvement to flow-adjusting constituent concentrations in streams, an important step of analyzing monitoring data in lotic systems for trends. The method incorporates a K-fold cross-validation procedure to optimize a model explaining the relationship between the concentration and streamflow, thus providing a valuable tool to researchers in water quality. Additionally, two case studies were conducted on watersheds located in northwest Arkansas using …

Evaluating A Measure-Calculate Method For Determining Sediment Oxygen Demand In Lakes, Adrian Beirise

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A steady-state mass diffusion model used with simple measurable and calculable inputs for determining sediment oxygen demand (SOD) is compared to an intact core incubation (ICI) SOD method using samples from three lakes. The mass diffusion model coupled with inputs is known as the measure-calculate method (M-C) and is a potential alternative to existing methods for measuring SOD which are more complex, time-consuming, and costly. The M-C method requires inputs for volumetric sediment oxygen uptake (Ṅsed), sediment density and porosity, and water properties. Ṅsed was determined by suspending sediment in oxygen-saturated water with a DO probe and determining the steady …

Electrodeionization Versus Electrodialysis: A Clean-Up Of Produced Water In Hydraulic Fracturing, Brigitte Marie Rodgers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electrodeionization (EDI) is a widely studied process ranging from applications in wastewater clean-up in the food and beverage industry to purifying organic compounds. To date, there are no apparent studies on applying this technology to produced wastewater recovered from hydraulic fracking sites. Water consumption within hydraulic fracturing sites can reach in the upwards of millions of gallons per site, so a need for a water recycling process becomes necessary within areas where water requirements are scarce. Implementation of an EDI module that is capable of handling high salt solutions from produced wastewater in subsequent fracturing practices will decrease overall water …

Bella Vista Lakes Project: Fertility Management, J. Thad Scott

Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Extreme Summer Temperatures On Bridge Structures, Ryan Hagedorn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate change and its effect on weather in the United States is a well-documented phenomenon. In particular, extreme heat waves have become more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting, especially in the southern United States. As with much of America’s transportation infrastructure, prestressed concrete bridge girders experience the effects of these heat waves. Uneven heating of optimized bridge girder sections results in large non-linear temperature gradients. In this study, temperature was monitored in three different AASHTO I-girders to determine the vertical and transverse temperature gradients in a pre-deck placement condition. It was determined that the current design standard, which uses …

Quantifying, Assessing, And Mitigating Methane Emissions From Super-Emitters In The Oil And Gas Supply Chain, David Richard Lyon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Methane emissions from the oil and gas (O&G) supply chain reduce potential climate benefits of natural gas as a replacement for other fossil fuels that emit more carbon dioxide per energy produced. O&G facilities have skewed emission rate distributions with a small fraction of sites contributing the majority of emissions. Knowledge of the identity and cause of these high emission facilities, referred to as super-emitters or fat-tail sources, is critical for reducing supply chain emissions. This dissertation addresses the quantification of super-emitter emissions, assessment of their prevalence and relationship to site characteristics, and mitigation with continuous leak detection systems. Chapter …

A Method Comparison And Stressor-Response Experimental Study Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus Impacts To Periphyton In Ozark Streams, Ashley Renee Rodman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stream bioassessment is important for understanding algal-nutrient relationships and the development of scientifically defensible numeric nutrient criteria. However, multiple methods of periphyton data collection are currently used, and little is known about the comparability of resulting datasets. Literature also suggests other factors besides nutrients (i.e. variable grazing, light, and flow) can confound algal-nutrient relationships. A one-year method comparison study and 31-day algal biomass-nutrient manipulative experiment were conducted in the southern Ozarks of Arkansas. The method comparison study was implemented using two common bioassessment procedures (whole-surface and delimiter-reduced periphyton removal) to assess the potential for combining datasets. During the manipulative experiment, …

Geospatial Analysis Of Droughts, Rice And Wheat Production, And Agrarian Vulnerability: A District-Level Study Of The Self-Calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index In India, Aaron Michael Shew

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Droughts have affected more people than any other natural disaster in the last century, causing billions in economic damages and millions of deaths. As the Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) have heated in the Indian Ocean, drought patterns across South Asia have changed; the Indian monsoon has become more volatile and less predictable. In this study, monthly self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index (sc-PDSI) data for the time period between 1950 and 2009 were interpolated to India’s districts; then the data were analyzed for changes in frequency and severity. The data were further evaluated using Anselin’s Local Moran’s I Statistic to elicit …

Dietary Effects On The Stoichiometry Of Growth, Regulation, And Wastes Of Ozark Stream Insect Detritivores, Halvor Matthew Halvorson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A widespread stressor, anthropogenic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution can increase resource nutrient content and alter animal community composition in freshwater ecosystems. In this dissertation, I used ecological stoichiometry theory to examine effects of diet nutrient content and leaf litter type on growth, regulation, and wastes of aquatic invertebrate detritivores. I tested effects of leaf litter diet carbon:phosphorus (C:P) on growth and stoichiometric regulation of the detritivorous caddisfly Pycnopsyche lepida and used results to determine a threshold elemental ratio of oak litter C:P=1620 that confers peak growth of this species. This empirical, growth-based approach provided a more accurate estimate …

The Role Of Hydrologic Regimes In Driving Morphologic Divergence And The Trait Compositions Of Fish Assemblages, Lindsey A. Bruckerhoff

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The hydrologic regime is an important determinant of the ecological integrity of a stream. Hydrologic regimes are defined by the magnitude, timing, frequency, rate of change, and duration of high and low flow events and capture long term patterns of variability and predictability of water movement in a stream. Flow regimes influence many aspects of the biophysical environment in lotic systems; therefore organisms have adapted to natural flow patterns. We investigated how fish have adapted to flow regimes at both a population and community level. In the first study presented in this thesis, we hypothesized fish exhibit phenotypic divergence to …

Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring In Kings River And Leatherwood Creek, Eric Cummings, Erin E. Scott, Marty Matlock, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure used to regulate water quality. Under the CWA, States are required to assess water bodies relative to water‐quality standards and designated beneficial uses and then to submit lists of impaired bodies every other year to the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). In 2015, at least 4,800 water bodies were listed as impaired by dissolved oxygen across the US (USEPA, 2015). Aquatic species like fish and macroinvertebrates depend on adequate dissolved oxygen for survival. Low dissolved oxygen can lead to fish kills, reduced aquatic diversity, and nuisance smells from anaerobic conditions – …

Constituent Loads And Trends In The Upper Illinois River Watershed And Upper White River Basin, Erin E. Scott, Zach P. Simpson, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Water chemistry can greatly influence the quality of surface waters and affect the ability for streams and rivers to meet their designated use(s). In Arkansas, many streams and rivers were placed on the 2008 303(d) list of impaired water bodies due to excess levels of nutrients, chlorides, sulfates, and sediments (ADEQ, 2008). These constituents continue to be listed as the potential cause for water‐quality impairments through the most recent draft 303(d) list (ADEQ, 2014). The Arkansas Non‐Point Source (NPS) Management Program wants to reduce poll‐ utant loading from the landscape and improve water quality, where funding for projects is targeted …

A Step In The Right Direction: Streambank Restoration Efforts At The Botanical Garden Of The Ozarks, Dylan S. Milholen, Madison Brown, Steven Thao, Lisa S. Wood

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks (BGO) is a unique destination in Northwest Arkansas that draws more than 80,000 visitors a year. While the BGO manages low-input practices, run-off from pesticide application and synthetic fertilizers containing phosphorus and nitrogen are of concern to water quality, habitat, and overall ecological interactions of the BGO streambanks and adjacent Hilton Creek, which flows directly into Lake Fayetteville. One way to reduce pollution to waterbodies is through the use of riparian buffers. This project sought to establish a riparian buffer immediately adjacent to a portion of Hilton Creek in an effort to improve ecological …

Impact Of Climate Variations On Soybean Yield In Eastern Arkansas: 1960-2014, J. W. Magugu, S. Feng, Q. Huang, K. Luthra

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Climate is the major factor affecting crop production; therefore, various agro-meteorological indicators have been frequently used to evaluate the impact of climate on crop production. In this study, we examined the temporal variations of agrometeorological indicators (growing degree days, total precipitation, dry spells and drought indices) during 1960-2014 and their impact on soybean yields in East Arkansas. Results show an increasing trend in growing degree days (GDDs) and dry spells, though the total precipitation during the soybean growing season remained nearly unchanged during the study period. Generally, GDDs and dry spells show a strong correlation with yields. We also evaluated …