Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Stream Restoration Effectiveness In Mullins Creek In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Amadeo Scott

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Lotic waterways are vital for habitat, food, water, and flood protection, but urbanization poses a major threat to their integrity. Runoff from urban surfaces leads to pollution, flashiness, loss of biodiversity, and other symptoms, also known as Urban Stream Syndrome (USS). To combat USS, streams can be restored, but most restorations are not monitored so their long-term effectiveness is unknown. This study quantitatively evaluated a decade-old stream restoration in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to assess its effectiveness in combating USS and achieving set restoration goals, and to gain insights for future restoration projects. Restoration goals included decreasing erosion and sedimentation, increasing pool …

Causes And Effects Of Shisper Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Event In Karakoram In 2022, Sandeep Kumar Mondal, Vatsal D. Patel, Rishikesh Bharti, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Karakoram Himalayas are vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which cause catastrophic floods in the surrounding areas. The increasing natural and anthropogenic activities, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Plains at the southern flank of the towering Himalayas, could be the cause of climate change affecting the frequency of the natural hazards in the Himalayas. In the present study, a detailed analysis of the Shisper Lake breach of 7 May 2022 is carried out using satellite remote sensing. A decreasing trend in the glacial mass balance is observed between 2017 and 2021; in this period, frequent GLOF episodes occurred. A pronounced …

Hydropower To The People: Implications Of A Comparative Macroinvertebrate Study On Either Side Of The Central Hidroeléctrica Topo In Tungurahua, Ecuador, Grace Mazur

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study uses macroinvertebrates as bioindicators to assess the water quality upstream and downstream of a hydroelectric project in Ecuador’s eastern cloud forest. Ecuador has increasingly turned to hydropower to supply its energy needs as pressure mounts to turn away from fossil fuels. This transition has been realized on the Río Topo, located in the province of Tungurahua. This study aims to determine how the Central Hidroeléctrica Topo (CHT), a diversion hydroelectric project (HEP) constructed on the Río Topo in the 2010s, has affected the water quality of the river. Samples were taken of benthic (bottom-dwelling) macroinvertebrates in the Río …

Constituent Loads And Trends In The Upper Illinois River Watershed: A Nonpoint Source Management Program Priority Watershed, Erin M. Grantz, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Arkansas Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Division (ANRD) has identified the Upper Illinois River Watershed (UIRW; 11110103), a hydrologic unit code (HUC) 8 watershed, located in Northwest Arkansas for prioritization by the Nonpoint Source (NPS) Management Program. URIW encompasses the Illinois River from its headwaters to the state line with Oklahoma and has been the subject of interstate disputes over water quality for decades. Nonpoint source pollution concerns in UIRW are excess nutrients from agriculture and sediment from changes in land use/land cover (LULC).

Local, state, and national groups, including the NPS Source Management Program, have invested in …

Constituent Loads And Trends In The Upper White River Basin: A Nonpoint Source Management Program Priority Watersheds, Erin M. Grantz, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Arkansas Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Division (ANRD) has identified the Upper White River Basin (UWRB; HUC 11010001) a hydrologic unit code (HUC) 8 watersheds, located in Northwest Arkansas, for prioritization by the Nonpoint Source (NPS) Management Program. UWRB includes Beaver Lake in its borders, the drinking water source for 1 in 6 Arkansans. Nonpoint source pollution concerns in these watersheds are excess nutrients from agriculture and sediment from changes in land use/land cover (LULC).

Local, state, and national groups, including the NPS Source Management Program, have invested in education, best management practices, and streambank restoration in the …

Great South Bay, Long Island, New York Summer Water Quality Monitoring Program, Cercom, Molloy University, John Tanacredi Ph.D., Kyle F. Maurelli

CERCOM reports

The Center for Environmental Research and Coastal Oceans Monitoring (CERCOM) visits 11 locations in the Great South Bay from Memorial Day – Labor Day to monitor dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, salinity, clarity and temperature. Students are trained to assist in CERCOM’s water quality data collection by research assistant Mr. Kyle Maurelli. This monitoring program has been conducted for the past 17 years. These parameters are critical in determining long term water quality conditions in Long Island estuaries

Assessment Of Water Quality Index, Light Attenuation, And Nutrient Sequestering By Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In The Detroit River, John Scannell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis assessed water quality – submerged aquatic vegetation interactions in the Detroit River. Submerged aquatic vegetation provides essential ecosystem services that support aquatic biodiversity and regulating ecosystem services such as carbon sinks, purifying water and nutrient cycling. Chapter 2 explored how degraded water quality in the Detroit River limits submerged aquatic vegetation via light limitation. A water quality index and light extinction coefficients were measured at 21 sites along with installation of in-situ water quality sondes at 4 sites to measure water quality at high temporal resolution. The river wide median euphotic depth was estimated to be 1.30 m, …

Five Years Measuring The Muck: Evaluating Interannual Variability Of Nutrient Loads From Tidal Flooding, Alfonso Macías-Tapia, Margaret R. Mulholland, Corday R. Selden, J. Derek Loftis, Peter W. Bernhardt

OES Faculty Publications

Due to sea level rise, tidal flooding is now common in low-lying coastal systems around the world. Yet, the contribution of tidal flooding to non-point source nutrient loads and their impact on the quality of adjacent waters remains poorly constrained. Here, we quantified dissolved nutrient loading and Enterococcus abundance during annual autumnal king tides (i.e., perigean spring tides), between 2017 and 2021, in a sub-watershed of the lower Chesapeake Bay. To calculate nutrient loading from tidal flooding, we used geospatial inundation depths from a street-level hydrodynamic model to estimate floodwater volumes during each of the five sampling events and the …

The Importance Of Winter Dinoflagellate Blooms In Chesapeake Bay— A Missing Link In Bay Productivity, Nicole C. Millette, Sophie Clayton, Margaret R. Mulholland, Leah Gibala-Smith, Michael Lane

OES Faculty Publications

It is widely assumed that phytoplankton abundance and productivity decline during temperate winters because of low irradiance and temperatures. However, winter phytoplankton blooms commonly occur in temperate estuaries, but they are often undocumented because of reduced water quality monitoring in winter. The small body of in situ work that has been done on winter blooms suggests they can be of enormous consequence to ecosystems. However, because monitoring is often reduced or stopped altogether during winter, it is unclear how widespread these blooms are or how long they can last. We analyzed an over 30-year record of monthly phytoplankton monitoring samples …

Defining Critical Or Hydrologic Conditions As Sampled During The Joint Study, Brian E. Haggard, Erin Grantz, J. T. Scott

Technical Reports

The “Joint Study” was conducted to fulfill the obligations of the second “Statement of Joint Principles and Actions” agreed to by the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. The “Joint Study” affirmed the magnitude of Oklahoma’s Scenic River total phosphorus (TP) criteria (i.e., 0.037 mg/L), but it added the new caveat of applying the criteria to “critical conditions.” The primary purpose of this paper was to define “critical conditions” based on the range in base flow proportions (BFP) of total streamflow on days that were sampled in the “Joint Study,” where BFP is base flow discharge divided by total stream flow …

Influences Of Seasonality And Habitat Quality On Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Fish Community Composition And Diets, Sara N. Diller, Anna M. Harrison, Kurt P. Kowalski, Valerie J. Brady, Jan J. H. Ciborowski, Matthew J. Cooper, Joshua D. Dumke, Joseph P. Gathman, Carl R. Ruetz Iii, Donald G. Uzarski, Douglas A. Wilcox, Jeffrey S. Schaeffer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Great Lakes coastal wetlands (GLCW) have been severely degraded by anthropogenic activity over the last several decades despite their critical role in fish production. Many Great Lakes fish species use coastal wetland habitats for spawning, feeding, shelter, and nurseries throughout the year. The goal of our study was to compare GLCW fish community composition in the spring, summer, and fall months and investigate how water quality relates to fish diversity, the presence of functional groups, and juvenile fish diets. We summarized fish data collected from GLCW across the basin and used the coastal wetland monitoring program’s water quality-land use indicator …

Arkansas Bulletin Of Water Research - Issue 2021-2022, Erin Grantz, Lillie Haddock, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research

The Arkansas Bulletin of Water Research (Bulletin) is a publication of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC). We publish the Bulletin to communicate the major findings of research funded by the Water Resources Research Act Section 104(b) in Arkansas. This research is relevant to Arkansas water stakeholders, and the Bulletin provides an easily searchable and aesthetically engaging access option.

This is the fourth publication of the Bulletin. This issue contains final reports from research projects that were funded by the 104(b) program in fiscal years 2019 and 2020. The articles in this issue can be cited as an AWRC publication. …

Great South Bay, Long Island, New York Summer Water Quality Monitoring Program, Cercom, Molloy University, John Tanacredi Ph.D., Kyle F. Maurelli

CERCOM reports

The Center for Environmental Research and Coastal Oceans Monitoring (CERCOM) visits 11 locations in the Great South Bay from Memorial Day – Labor Day to monitor dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, salinity, clarity and temperature. Students are trained to assist in CERCOM’s water quality data collection by research assistant Mr. Kyle Maurelli. This monitoring program has been conducted for the past 17 years. These parameters are critical in determining long term water quality conditions in Long Island estuaries

A Data Repository For Clarifying Water Clarity: A Call To Use Metrics Best Suited To Corresponding Research And Management Goals In Aquatic Ecosystems (York River Estuary Case Study Dataset), Jessica S. Turner, Kelsey A. Fall, Carl T. Friedrichs

Data

This data repository is a permanent archive of the results presented in the associated publication (Turner et al. 2022, Limnology & Oceanography Letters, doi.xxxx). The objective of this study was to illustrate a water clarity phenomenon in the lower York River Estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. The data include light attenuation, Secchi depth, turbidity, and salinity from the lower York River Estuary in western Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, USA from the years 2014-2016.

Nutrient Improvements In Chesapeake Bay: Direct Effect Of Load Reductions And Implications For Coastal Management, Rebecca R. Murphy, Jennifer Keisman, Jon Harcum, Renee R. Karrh, Mike Lane, Elgin S. Perry, Qian Zhang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In Chesapeake Bay in the United States, decades of management efforts have resulted in modest reductions of nutrient loads from the watershed, but the corresponding improvements in estuarine water quality have not consistently followed. Generalized additive models were used to directly link river flows and nutrient loads from the watershed to nutrient trends in the estuary on a station-by-station basis, which allowed for identification of exactly when and where responses are happening. Results show that Chesapeake Bay’s total nitrogen and total phosphorus conditions are mostly improving after accounting for variation in freshwater flow. Almost all of these improving nutrient concentrations …

Simulated Response Of St. Joseph Bay, Florida, Seagrass Meadows And Their Belowground Carbon To Anthropogenic And Climate Impacts, Marie Cindy Lebrasse, Blake A. Schaeffer, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill, Megan M. Coffer, Peter J. Whitman, Wilson B. Salls, David D. Graybill, Christopher L. Osburn

OES Faculty Publications

Seagrass meadows are degraded globally and continue to decline in areal extent due to human pressures and climate change. This study used the bio-optical model GrassLight to explore the impact of climate change and anthropogenic stressors on seagrass extent, leaf area index (LAI) and belowground organic carbon (BGC) in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, using water quality data and remotely-sensed sea surface temperature (SST) from 2002 to 2020. Model predictions were compared with satellite-derived measurements of seagrass extent and shoot density from the Landsat images for the same period. The GrassLight-derived area of potential seagrass habitat ranged from 36.2 km2 …

High Resolution Remote Sensing As A Tool To Improve Coastal Habitat Mapping In The Gulf Of Maine, Gabriel Hesketh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The derivation of oceanographic and biological parameters from remote sensing is well documented across decades of research. Careful evaluation of satellite products provides insight into the optimal algorithms for image processing, research, and various biogeographical applications. Archived multi-satellite data from the United States Geological Survey offers users decades of continuously updated global data, and the agency has recently updated the Landsat portion of its catalog with Collection 2 files, which offers both Level 1 and Level 2 processed data products. Here, we evaluate the Collection 2 improvements using several published algorithms currently used to derive sea surface temperature, chlorophyll, and …

A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources, Danielle Kleinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although fresh water is one of Ecuador’s most abundant resources, high quality drinking water for its inhabitants is scarce (Wingfield et al., 2021). The most prevalent sources of water pollution in Ecuador are domestic waste, silver and gold mining, oil production, and agricultural chemicals (Buckalew et al., 1997). El Placer, a village located in Tungurahua, Ecuador, is highly dependent on agriculture as a source of income. The first objective of this study was to determine the effect of agriculture on the El Placer’s Tía Anita Stream through comparing the water quality at three sites with varying agricultural influence. The second …

Biochar Applications To The Remediation Of Lead And Polychlorinated Biphenyl Contaminated Water, Victory Itua Igberase

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the performance of biochar materials as adsorbents to remove Pb and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption and column experiment packed with biochar and geomaterials (pumice) in 1:1 volume ratio was evaluated to address the efficacy of biochar in removing Pb while only batch adsorption was employed for PCB removal with biochar materials. Overall, PT biochars performed the best (42–53 mg g−1) followed by BE biochars (10–32 mg g−1) and AB biochars (17–27 mg g−1) while high temperature biochars were favored in terms of maximum Pb adsorption capacity. Column Pb breakthrough showed similar results, with …

Impacts Of Multiple Environmental Changes On Long‐Term Nitrogen Loading From The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Shufen Pan, Zihao Bian, Hanqin Tian, Yuanzhi Yao, Raymond G. Najjar, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Eileen E. Hofmann, Rongting Xu, Bowen Zhang

CCPO Publications

Excessive nutrient inputs from land, particularly nitrogen (N), have been found to increase the occurrence of hypoxia and harmful algal blooms in coastal ecosystems. To identify the main contributors of increased N loading and evaluate the efficacy of water pollution control policies, it is essential to quantify and attribute the long‐term changes in riverine N export. Here, we use a state‐of‐the‐art terrestrial–aquatic interface model to examine how multiple environmental factors may have affected N export from the Chesapeake Bay watershed since 1900. These factors include changes in climate, carbon dioxide, land use, and N inputs (i.e., atmospheric N deposition, animal …

Water Quality Monitoring In The Upper Poteau River Watershed, Abbie Lasater, Brian E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Upper Poteau River Watershed (UPRW) has been listed as a priority watershed in Arkansas since 1998 due to nutrient and sediment enrichment from point and nonpoint sources (NPS). According to the Arkansas NPS pollution management plan, the goals for the UPRW are to reduce pollutant levels that will restore all designates uses and target subwatersheds where implementation of management practices can have the greatest impact. Over the last several years, many 319(h) projects have been implemented and point sources have been reduced in order to improve water quality in the UPRW. The purpose of this study was to monitor …

Effects Of Tidal Flooding On Estuarine Biogeochemistry: Quantifying Flood-Driven Nitrogen Inputs In An Urban, Lower Chesapeake Bay Sub-Tributary, Alfonso Macías-Tapia, Margaret R. Mulholland, Corday R. Selden, J. Derek Loftis, Peter W. Bernhardt

OES Faculty Publications

Sea level rise has increased the frequency of tidal flooding even without accompanying precipitation in many coastal areas worldwide. As the tide rises, inundates the landscape, and then recedes, it can transport organic and inorganic matter between terrestrial systems and adjacent aquatic environments. However, the chemical and biological effects of tidal flooding on urban estuarine systems remain poorly constrained. Here, we provide the first extensive quantification of floodwater nutrient concentrations during a tidal flooding event and estimate the nitrogen (N) loading to the Lafayette River, an urban tidal sub-tributary of the lower Chesapeake Bay (USA). To enable the scale of …

The Quantitative Assessment Of Pond Scum: An Examination Of The Biogeochemistry Of Phosphorus Cycling In The Belgrade Lakes, Abbey M. Sykes

Honors Theses

The internal recycling phosphorus in freshwater lake bottom sediments represents a significant source of hypolimnetic phosphorus (P) release for many of Maine’s lakes. In summer months, Maine lakes often thermally stratify and the lake hypolimnion develops anoxia, leading to a reduction in redox potential at the sediment-water interface. These reducing conditions facilitate the reductive dissolution of ferric iron, and, since phosphorus is often present in freshwater lake sediments as solid FeOOH-PO₄ complexes, results in release of soluble phosphorus into the water column. Our current study presents field and laboratory data from sediment fractionation extractions designed to quantify concentrations of …

A Data Repository For Extent And Causes Of Chesapeake Bay Warming, Kyle E. Hinson, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Pierre St-Laurent

Data

This data repository is a permanent archive of the results presented in the associated publication (Hinson et al. 2021, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12916

A Data Repository For Effects Of Reduced Shoreline Erosion On Chesapeake Bay Water Clarity, Jessica Turner, Pierre St-Laurent, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Carl T. Friedrichs

Data

This data repository is a permanent archive of the results presented in the associated publication (Turner et al. 2020, Science of the Total Environment, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145157).

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of shoreline erosion on water clarity in the Chesapeake Bay. To this end, we used the Chesapeake Bay ROMS Estuarine Carbon and Biogeochemistry (ChesROMS-ECB), a biogeochemical model embedded in the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Using this model, we simulated a Chesapeake Bay estuary from 2001-2005 with varying magnitudes of sediment inputs from shoreline erosion and varying seabed erodibility conditions. Model results were compared …

Water Quality Assessment In The Occurrence Of Acanthaster Spp. (Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish, Cots) On Coral Reefs In Menjangan Island, Bali, Indonesia, Novia Arinda Pradisty, Eghbert Elvan Ampou, Rizki Hanintyo

Makara Journal of Science

Aquatic stressors are known to cause biological impairment that can result in biodiversity loss in several Marine Protected Areas (MPA), including in Menjangan Island, West Bali National Park. The objectives of this study were to correlate the changes in water quality parameters with the biological effect of Crown-of-Thorns starfish (CoTS) population dynamics and to assess the most applicable parameters for continuous environmental monitoring. Field observations and surveys were conducted three times in 2017, during the wet season, dry season and season transition, in order to assess the effect of seasonal variability. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) was performed to determine the relationship …

Swine Slurry Characteristics As Affected By Selected Additives And Disinfectants, Jon Duerschner, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Kent Eskridge, John E. Gilley, Xu Li, Amy M. Schmidt, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Current swine industry practice is to house animals in confinement facilities which capture and store feces and urine as slurry in pits below the production area. Additives and disinfectants may be introduced into the manure pits. This study was conducted to measure the effects of additives and disinfectants on temporal changes in swine slurry characteristics. Slurry from a commercial swine production facility in southeast Nebraska, USA was collected and transferred to 57 L reactors located within a greenhouse. Selected additives and disinfectants were added to the reactors and physical properties, chemical characteristics, and antibiotic concentrations were monitored for 40 days. …

Great South Bay, Long Island, New York Summer Water Quality Monitoring Program, Cercom, Molloy University, John Tanacredi Ph.D., Kyle F. Maurelli

CERCOM reports

The Center for Environmental Research and Coastal Oceans Monitoring (CERCOM) visits 11 locations in the Great South Bay from Memorial Day – Labor Day to monitor for dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, salinity, clarity and temperature. Students are trained and assist in CERCOM’s water quality data collection by research assistant Mr. Kyle Maurelli. This monitoring program has been conducted for the past 16 years. These parameters are critical in determining long term water quality conditions in Long Island estuaries.

Reconstructing Hydrologic Conditions And Metals Supplied By The Peace River To The Peace-Athabasca Delta, Jelle André Faber

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) in northern Alberta, Canada, is recognized internationally for its ecological, historical, and cultural significance. The delta is mostly within Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. The construction of the WAC Bennett Dam (1967) and the Site C Dam (ongoing, 2024) on the Peace River, and expansion of the Alberta Oil Sands industry along the Athabasca River have raised concerns over water quantity and quality in the delta. When industry operations began, effective monitoring had not been implemented. Consequently, pre-industrial reference conditions are unknown and can …

Participatory Modeling Of Tidal Circulation On Maine Mudflats To Improve Water Quality Management Of Shellfish Areas, Gabrielle V. Hillyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, researchers have become increasingly aware of the vital role stakeholder knowledge plays in understanding complex social and environmental problems. Incorporating stakeholder knowledge into understanding complex problems allows for greater awareness and identification of community needs and can help build partnerships to support the development of applied research. In this thesis, I demonstrate the value of stakeholder knowledge and research partnerships by focusing on the soft-shell clamming industry in Maine and how a complex collaboration between clammers, municipal officials, representatives from state agencies, researchers, and other partners relied on and build adaptive capacity to address complex water …