Digital Commons Network^™

Combining Multi-View Uav Photogrammetry, Thermal Imaging, And Computer Vision Can Derive Cost-Effective Ecological Indicators For Habitat Assessment, Qiao Hu, Ligang Zhang, Jeff Drahota, Wayne Woldt, Dana Varner, Andy Bishop, Ted Lagrange, Christopher M. U. Neale, Zhenghong Tang

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Recent developments in Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs), thermal imaging, and Automachine learning (AutoML) have shown high potential for precise wildlife surveys but have rarely been studied for habitat assessment. Here, we propose a framework that leverages these advanced techniques to achieve cost-effective habitat quality assessment from the perspective of actual wildlife community usage. The framework exploits vision intelligence hidden in the UAV thermal images and AutoML methods to achieve cost-effective wildlife distribution mapping, and then derives wildlife use indicators to imply habitat quality variance. We conducted UAV-based thermal wildlife surveys at three wetlands in the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska. Experiments were …

Re: Comments For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Butte Reclamation Evaluation System (Bres) Draft 2023 Bres Field Evaluation Summary Report And Technical Recommendations Proposal (Dated November 15, 2023) And 2023 Corrective Action Plans For Reclaimed Sites (Dated January 31, 2024), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final 2024 Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Type B Borrow Material Submittal #2, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Interrelationships Among Local Values Of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, Heat Index, And Adjusted Temperature, Andrea Giraldo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Occupational heat stress significantly affects outdoor workers who face challenges due to increased heat exposure. Because of the prevalence of heat illness, it is important to measure heat stress for outdoor workers. Monitoring occupational heat stress most often relies on the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) measure. Heat Index (HI) is a widely used measure to account for air temperature and humidity. Adjusted Temperature (Tadj) considers air temperature, humidity and estimates radiant heat. There is interest in predicting WBGT from HI and HI from WBGT. This study builds on previous USF research by Bernard and Iheanacho and Irvin to evaluate …

Field-Based Measurement Tools To Distinguish Clonal Typha Taxa And Estimate Biomass: A Resource For Conservation And Restoration, Brian M. Ohsowski, Cassidy Redding, Pamela Geddes, Shane Lishawa

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Two species of clonal Typha [T. latifolia (native) and T. angustifolia (exotic)] hybridize to form the highly invasive, heterotic (high vigor) T. × glauca in North American wetlands leading to increased primary production, litter accumulation, and biodiversity loss. Conservation of T. latifolia has become critical as invasive Typha has overwhelmed wetlands. In the field, Typha taxa identification is difficult due to subtle differences in morphology, and molecular identification is often unfeasible for managers. Furthermore, improved methods to non-destructively estimate Typha biomass is imperative to enhance ecological impact assessments. To address field-based Typha ID limitations, our study developed a predictive …

Draft Final 2024 Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Helehan Borrow Submittal #2, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

2024 Draft Final Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Composite Drought Indicator For Operational Drought Monitoring In The Mena Region, Karim Bergaoui, Makram Belhaj Fraj, Stephen Fragaszy, Ali Ghanim, Omar Hamadin, Emad Al‑Karablieh, Jawad Al‑Bakri, Mona Fakih, Abbas Fayad, Fadi Comair, Mohamed Yessef, Hayat Ben Mansour, Haythem Belgrissi, Kristi Arsenault, Christa Peters‑Lidard, Sujay Kumar, Abheera Hazra, Wanshu Nie, Michael Hayes, Mark D. Svoboda, Rachael Mcdonnell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This paper presents the composite drought indicator (CDI) that Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan, and Tunisian government agencies now produce monthly to support operational drought management decision making, and it describes their iterative co-development processes. The CDI is primarily intended to monitor agricultural and ecological drought on a seasonal time scale. It uses remote sensing and modelled data inputs, and it reflects anomalies in precipitation, vegetation, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration. Following quantitative and qualitative validation assessments, engagements with policymakers, and consideration of agencies’ technical and institutional capabilities and constraints, we made changes to CDI input data, modelling procedures, and integration to tailor …

Sustainable Shift: Analyzing Drivers For Low-Carbon Transportation Adoption In California’S Heavy-Duty And Off-Road Sectors, Vuban Chowdhury, Farzana Mehzabin Tuli, Suman Kumar Mitra

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The transportation sector stands out as a major challenge for California’s transition to a more sustainable transportation system, as it accounts for most of the greenhouse gas emissions. This underscores the urgency for government agencies to take decisive action in promoting the adoption of low-carbon transportation (LCT) within the heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) and off-road equipment (ORE) sectors. This study employs content analysis to investigate the impact of behavioral factors, specifically awareness and impression, on LCT adoption within these sectors. The analysis results are refined using a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool. The results indicate that awareness about LCT, in conjunction …

Navigating Sustainable Futures, Franziska Zimmermann

Asian Management Insights

A leadership imperative.

Automated Tree Mortality Detection Using Ubiquitously Available Public Data, Michael T. Huggins

Master's Theses

Understanding the dynamic interplay between fire severity, topography, and tree mortality, is crucial for predicting future forest dynamics and enhancing resilience against climate change-induced wildfire regimes. This thesis develops a multi-sensor approach for automated estimation of tree mortality, then applies it to examine trends in tree mortality over a six-year period across a fire affected study site in the Trinity River basin in Northern California. The Random Forest model uses publicly available USGS 3D Elevation Program Lidar (3DEP) and NAIP imagery as inputs and is likely to be easily adaptable to other landscapes. The model had a Receiver Operating Characteristic …

Temperature Forecasts For The Continental United States: A Deep Learning Approach Using Multidimensional Features, Jahangir Ali, Linyin Cheng

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate weather forecasts are critical for saving lives, emergency services, and future developments. Climate models such as numerical weather prediction models have made significant advancements in weather forecasts, but these models are computationally expensive and can be subject to inaccurate representations of complex natural interconnections. Alternatively, data-driven machine learning methods have provided new dimensions in assisting weather forecasts. In this study, we used convolutional neural networks (CNN) to assess how geopotential height at different levels of the troposphere may affect the predictability of extreme surface temperature (t2m) via two cases. Specifically, we analyzed temperature forecasts over the continental United States …

Pcor Partnership Atlas, Wesley D. Peck, Kari Suedel, Kyle A. Glazewski, Kevin C. Connors, James A. Sorensen, Charles D. Gorecki, Brian P. Kalk, John A. Harju

EERC Maps and Infographics

The Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership Atlas provides a profile of CO₂ sources and potential storage locations across the PCOR Partnership region. The revised sixth edition of the Atlas provides an up-to-date look at PCOR Partnership initiative activities, including additional regional characterization and updates on commercial projects. Additional background information on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is included to give a better understanding of how CCUS addresses concerns about climate change while allowing future energy needs to be met.

Where The Rubber Meets The Road: Emerging Environmental Impacts Of Tire Wear Particles And Their Chemical Cocktails, Paul M. Mayer, Kelly D. Moran, Susanne Brander, Stacey L. Harper, Manuel Garcia-Jaramillo, Elise F. Granek, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

About 3 billion new tires are produced each year and about 800 million tires become waste annually. Global dependence upon tires produced from natural rubber and petroleum-based compounds represents a persistent and complex environmental problem with only partial and often-times, ineffective solutions. Tire emissions may be in the form of whole tires, tire particles, and chemical compounds, each of which is transported through various atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic routes in the natural and built environments. Production and use of tires generates multiple heavy metals, plastics, PAH's, and other compounds that can be toxic alone or as chemical cocktails. Used tires …

Procedures For Rangeland Condition Assessment In The Kimberley 2022, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development

Natural resources published reports

This report defines the procedures used in 2022 by DPIRD to complete rangeland condition assessment (RCA) in the Kimberley region which has grass-based pastures. For the rest of the pastoral estate, DPIRD uses the Procedures for RCA in the Pilbara and southern rangelands which have predominantly shrub pastures.

RCA is the process DPIRD uses to make systematic, lease-level assessment of rangeland. Rangeland condition considers both the condition of pastures (as defined in the 'Pasture condition guide for the Kimberley') and soils as determined by erosion, using the erosion assessment method on pastoral lands in Western Australia (WA). The methods have …

Technical Memorandum Grove Gulch Earth Volumetric Studio Model Inputs, Josh Bryson

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

2024 Draft Final Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area Repository Data Gap Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

A 2,000-Year Record Of Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains In Blue Carbon Storage And Nutrient Retention, Martin Dahl, Martin Gullström, Irene Bernabeu, Oscar Serrano, Carmen Leiva-Dueñas, Hans W. Linderholm, Maria E. Asplund, Mats Björk, Tinghai Ou, J. Robin Svensson, Elinor Andrén, Thomas Andrén, Sanne Bergman, Sara Braun, Anneli Eklöf, Zilvinas Ežerinskis, Andrius Garbaras, Petter Hällberg, Elin Löfgren, Malin E. Kylander, Pere Masqué, Justina Šapolaitė, Rienk Smittenberg, Miguel A. Mateo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Assessing historical environmental conditions linked to habitat colonization is important for understanding long-term resilience and improving conservation and restoration efforts. Such information is lacking for the seagrass Zostera marina, an important foundation species across cold-temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we reconstructed environmental conditions during the last 14,000 years from sediment cores in two eelgrass (Z. marina) meadows along the Swedish west coast, with the main aims to identify the time frame of seagrass colonization and describe subsequent biogeochemical changes following establishment. Based on vegetation proxies (lipid biomarkers), eelgrass colonization occurred about 2,000 years ago after geomorphological changes …

Health And Safety Plan (Hasp) Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, Woodard & Curran

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Pilot Project Quality Assurance Project Plan 2024 Update, Alloy Group

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

A Global Database Of Dissolved Organic Matter (Dom) Concentration Measurements In Coastal Waters (Coastdom V1), Christian Lønborg, Cátia Carreira, Gwenaël Abril, Susana Agustí, Valentina Amaral, Agneta Andersson, Javier Arístegui, Punyasloke Bhadury, Mariana B. Bif, Alberto V. Borges, Steven Bouillon, Maria L. I. Calleja, Luiz C. Cotovicz, Stefano Cozzi, Maryló Doval, Carlos M. Duarte, Bradley Eyre, Cédric G. Fichot, E. Elena García-Martín, Alexandra Garzon-Garcia, Michele Giani, Rafael Gonçalves-Araujo, Renee Gruber, Dennis A. Hansell, Fuminori Hashihama, Ding He, Johnna M. Holding, William R. Hunter, J. Severino P. Ibánhez, Valeria Ibello, Shan Jiang, Guebuem Kim, Katja Klun, Piotr Kowalczuk, Atsushi Kubo, Choon-Weng Lee, Cláudia B. Lopes, Federica Maggioni, Paolo Magni, Celia Marrase, Patrick Martin, S. Leigh Mccallister, Roisin Mccallum, Patricia M. Medeiros, Xosé A. G. Morán, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Allison Myers-Pigg, Marit Norli, Joanne M. Oakes, Helena Osterholz, Hyekyung Park, Maria L. Paulsen, Judith A. Rosentreter, Jeff D. Ross, Digna Rueda-Roa, Chiara Santinelli, Yuan Shen, Eva Teira, Tinkara Tinta, Guenther Uher, Masahide Wakita, Nicholas Ward, Kenta Watanabe, Yu Xin, Youhei Yamashita, Liyang Yang, Jacob Yeo, Huamao Yuan, Qiang Zheng, Xosé A. Álvarez-Salgado

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen (DON), and phosphorus (DOP) concentrations are used to characterize the dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool and are important components of biogeochemical cycling in the coastal ocean. Here, we present the first edition of a global database (CoastDOM v1; available at 10.1594/PANGAEA.964012, Lonborg et al., 2023) compiling previously published and unpublished measurements of DOC, DON, and DOP in coastal waters. These data are complemented by hydrographic data such as temperature and salinity and, to the extent possible, other biogeochemical variables (e.g. chlorophyll a, inorganic nutrients) and the inorganic carbon system (e.g. dissolved inorganic carbon …

2024 Draft Final Unreclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final 2024 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Whitehall Borrow Submittal #2, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Of Quality Assurance Project Plan, 2024 [Qapp] – Butte Mine Flooding Operable Unit, Long-Term Monitoring Program; Dated November 30, 2023, Nikia Greene

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Occurrence Mechanism, Environment And Dynamic Evolution Of Gas And Water In Deep Coal Seams, Li Yong, Xu Lifu, Liu Yu, Wang Ziwei, Gao Shuang, Ren Ci

Coal Geology & Exploration

Accurately understanding of the occurrence states, relative content, and distribution characteristics of gas - water under deep conditions has important guiding significance for efficient exploration and development of coalbed methane (CBM). Based on the theoretical model, molecular simulation and systematic analysis of gas-water, the occurrence states of gas-water in coal seam is clarified, and the boundary and dynamic evolution process of gas-water dynamic migration and accumulation are revealed. Considering the coal - water interface interaction, the mobility and occurrence states of water, the coalbed water can be divided into movable water (gravity water and capillary water), bound water (adsorbed water, …

Evaluating Future Water Availability In Texas Through The Lens Of A Data-Driven Approach Leveraged With Cmip6 General Circulation Models, Wenzhao Li, Dongfeng Li, Hesham El-Askary, Joshua B. Fisher, Zheng N. Fang

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Climate change is escalating the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events, significantly influencing the spatial and temporal distributions of water resources. This is particularly evident in Texas, a rapidly growing state with a pronounced west-east gradient in water supply. This study utilizes Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) data and data-driven methodology to improve projections of Texas's future water resources, focusing on actual evapotranspiration (AET) and water availability through enhanced Multi-Model Ensembles. The results reveal that the data-driven model significantly outperforms the CMIP5 and CMIP6 models across all skill metrics, underscoring the potential of data-driven methodologies in advancing …

Development Of An Empirical Ground-Motion Model For Post-Mining Induced Seismicity Near Gardanne, France, Pierre Gehl, Pascal Dominique, Hideo Aochi, Mickael Delatre, Jannes Kinscher, Isabelle Contrucci

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Since the closure of mining activities in 2003, the coal basin of Gardanne in South-East France has experienced thousands of small-magnitude earthquake events, mostly triggered by the flooding of mine workings. Some of these events have been powerful enough to be strongly felt by the population, generating nuisance and concern about potential damage to buildings. The aim of this study is to improve the characterisation of the level of ground motion at the surface, by developing a ground-motion model for post-mining induced seismicity, based on several years of recorded data. A Bayesian-based method is applied to the data in order …

Draft Final 2024 Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Type B Borrow Material Submittal #2, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

A Quick And Cost-Effective Method For Monitoring Deforestation Of Oil Sands Mining Activities Using Synthetic Aperture Radar And Multispectral Real-Time Satellite Data From Sentinel-1 And Sentinel-2., J Garcia Del Real, M. Alcaraz

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Alberta’s oil sands mining operations rank among the largest human-made structures globally. Monitoring through the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Multispectral satellite imaging is an indispensable strategy in attaining sustainable development and mitigating deforestation in the third-largest verified oil reserves worldwide. This paper introduces a novel approach for cost-effective and reliable monitoring of deforestation caused by oil sands mining, avoiding cumbersome methods. It focuses on observing forest/non-forest areas affected by Suncor Energy Company’s mining assets in Alberta, using a combination of SAR and Multispectral satellite remote sensing. Radar images from Sentinel-1B and Multispectral images from Sentinel-2A were analyzed …

Final 2024 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Whitehall Borrow Submittal #2, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.