Digital Commons Network^™

Complementing Topographic Wetness With Sentinel-2 Phenological Indices To Map Soil Moisture Gradients In A Snowmelt-Driven Mountain Floodplain, Edward Turk

Master's Projects and Capstones

Soil moisture in mountain floodplains varies over a few meters, far finer than ground-based sensors or coarse satellite images resolve; conventional optical and microwave methods sense only the top few centimeters, missing the root zone that governs plant function and biogeochemistry. Similarly, topography-derived moisture variations miss micro-heterogeneities in moisture related to intrinsic soil heterogeneity and/or the root zone. This has important implications for our ability to characterize local hotspots of biogeochemical reactions, like those related to the generation of methane. In this work, we read vegetation as a proxy for the subsurface, using Sentinel-2 land-surface phenology to infer root-zone moisture, …

Re: Comment Letter For Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Draft Diggings East Dewatering Treatability Study Pre-Design Investigation Work Plan (Pdiwp) (Dated August 24, 2026) And The 2026 Draft Diggings East Dewatering Treatability Study Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp) (Dated August 24, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Enterococcus Abundance, Distribution, And Environmental Controls At A Sandy Shoreline, South Carolina, Usa, Helen Kehoe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water quality monitoring crucially protects the health of beachgoers around the world. However, water-adjacent sediments, such as sandy beaches, are known to harbor harmful bacteria, yet are not monitored despite their intensive recreational use. This project monitored the abundance of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), specifically Enterococci, in sandy beach sediments at beaches routinely monitored for water quality in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Surface sediment core sampling (0-5 cm) in the swash zone was conducted once per month for 4 months at 24 beaches in tandem with state-accredited surf-water FIB monitoring using IDEXX’s Enterolert test (Standard Method …

Long-Term Trends And Drivers Of Commercial Shrimp Fisheries Across The Southeastern U.S. Atlantic Coast, Trinity Assels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Long-term dynamics of southeastern U.S. Atlantic commercial shrimp fisheries reflect interacting environmental and socioeconomic processes rather than uniform regional decline. However, integrated, multi-state assessments linking these drivers to fishery-dependent indicators remain limited for the region. This study analyzed over four decades (1980–2023) of confidential fishery-dependent data from coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida, focusing on the region where white and brown shrimp dominate commercial landings. Segmented regression analysis was used to identify structural shifts in long-term trends of landings, participation, and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), while multiple linear regression models identified seasonal temperature variables associated with interannual variation in shrimp CPUE. …

Citizen Science As A Long-Term Environmental Baseline: Assessing Impacts Of A Small Dam Removal In Montana, Usa, Bethany Blakey, Natalie Bursztyn

Watershed Sciences Student Research

As dam removals increase in frequency across Europe and North America, most research has focused on the impact of larger dam removals, despite the removal of small dams being much more common. There are hundreds of small dams in Montana, USA, and this research investigates impacts on stream ecology and morphology using citizen science data collected over eight years spanning before and after a 2020 small dam removal in Rattlesnake Creek. We analyzed pebble count grain size distributions and aquatic macroinvertebrate biotic indices from 2017 to 2024 to assess changes in sediment transport and macroinvertebrate population as well as evaluate …

2026 Final Bpsou Backfill And Cover Material Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

This Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) Backfill and Cover Material Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) provides the procedures and protocols necessary to conduct sampling and geotechnical characterization activities on import borrow and other externally sourced materials that will be used in backfill, cover soil, or engineered caps for upcoming BPSOU remediation activities described in the BPSOU Consent Decree (CD) (referred to as BPSOU CD; EPA, 2020a) Further Remedial Elements Scope of Work (FRESOW) (Attachment C of Appendix D to the BPSOU CD), the 2020 Residential Metals Abatement Program (RMAP) Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) Amendment (EPA, 2020a), and ongoing maintenance …

Deep Learning-Based Burned Area Mapping Of California Wildfires Using Sentinel-2 And Landsat-8 Imagery Enhanced With Super-Resolution Techniques, Youngmin Seo, Seung Hee Kim, Menas Kafatos, Jinsoo Kim, Yangwon Lee

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

The increasing frequency of wildfires under a changing climate has led to extensive ecosystem destruction, highlighting the need for reliable burned area assessment using satellite imagery. Single-satellite data are constrained by observation gaps and interference from smoke and clouds, whereas multi-satellite data fusion can mitigate these limitations. Nonetheless, the fusion techniques still encounter challenges such as spatial information loss from resolution differences and cross-satellite domain mismatch. This study presents a burned area mapping framework that integrates super-resolution (SR) with transfer learning to address spatial and domain gaps in multi-satellite data. Specifically, Landsat-8 imagery is super-resolved to 7.5 m resolution, and …

2026 Final Unreclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

Unreclaimed sites exist within the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) that could pose a threat to human health or surface water quality due to the presence of historical mine waste. Although many source areas have been previously reclaimed, areas still exist in which soil has not yet been evaluated; such sites may provide a pathway for human exposure or impact surface water quality via stormwater runoff. These Unreclaimed sites will be evaluated in accordance with Appendix D, Attachment C, Section 8.0 of the BPSOU Consent Decree (referred to herein as CD) (EPA, 2020a).

This Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) …

2026 Final Unreclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

Unreclaimed sites exist within the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) that could pose a threat to human health or surface water quality due to the presence of historical mine waste. Although many source areas have been previously reclaimed, areas still exist in which soil has not yet been evaluated; such sites may provide a pathway for human exposure or impact surface water quality via stormwater runoff. These Unreclaimed sites will be evaluated in accordance with Appendix D, Attachment C, Section 8.0 of the BPSOU Consent Decree (referred to herein as CD) (EPA, 2020a).

This Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) …

2026 Final Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

Insufficiently Reclaimed sites exist within the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) that could pose a threat to human health or surface water quality due to the exposure of historical mine waste. Although many source areas have been previously reclaimed, areas exist where reclamation was completed prior to the establishment of the Butte Hill Revegetation Specifications (BHRS) or reclaimed areas that have failed consecutive Butte Reclamation Evaluation System (BRES) inspections and now fall into either the Insufficiently Reclaimed or Reclamation Improvement category. In all these cases, additional work is required to comply with the BHRS to ensure the cap remains …

Aeroradio-Spectrometric Geothermal Analysis Of Abeokuta, Southwestern Nigeria, Fidelis O. Ogunsanwo

Tanzania Journal of Science

Weathered basement terrains of Precambrian origin are increasingly recognized as important targets for geothermal assessment and renewable energy exploration; yet systematic assessments integrating airborne radiometric data remain limited in south-western Nigeria. This study applies an aeroradio-spectrometric approach to evaluate and quantify the radiogenic heat production, geothermal gradient, and lithospheric heat flow associated with the diverse lithological assemblages of the Abeokuta area, southwestern Nigeria. The study area comprises of six lithological units, namely; biotite–garnet gneiss and schist, porphyroblastic gneiss, migmatite, pegmatite intrusions, and sedimentary successions of sand-clay-shale and sandstone–limestone. The concentrations of uranium (238U), thorium (232Th), and potassium (40K) were extracted …

Explaining Safety Challenges And Their Relationships Using A Qualitative-Fuzzy Dematel Approach: A Surface Mine Case Study, Neda Molamehdizadeh, Gholam Hossein Halvani, Hossein Ebrahimi, Ali Asghar Farshad, Seyedeh Melika Kharghani Moghadam, Saber Moradi Hanifi

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Safety in surface mining operations is a major organizational management challenge due to the inherently hazardous nature of mining activities. This study aimed to explain safety challenges and identify their interrelationships through a combined qualitative-fuzzy DEMATEL approach in a surface mine in Yazd Province, Iran. The research was carried out in two sequential phases: first, key safety challenges were identified through qualitative interviews with employees, supervisors, and safety experts; then, the relationships among these challenges were analyzed and prioritized using the fuzzy DEMATEL technique. The main challenges identified included insufficient specialized training, inadequate safety equipment, weak organizational safety culture, and …

Re: Approval Letter For The Diggings East 100% Remedial Design Package Submittal (Dated July 23, 2026), The 100% Sbcca Programmatic Technical Specifications Submittal (Technical Specifications) (Dated May 29, 2026), The Final Revised Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area (Sbcca) Construction Quality Assurance Plan (Cqap) (Dated July 29, 2026), The Final Sbcca Construction Monitoring Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp) (Dated July 29, 2026), And The Final Sbcca Materials Management Plan (Mmp) (Dated July 29, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Clark Tailings Consolidated Waste Management Area Site Investigation Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Woodard & Curran

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Land-Use Transitions And Carbon Emissions Of Aquaculture Expansion In The Brazilian Amazon, Felipe S. Pacheco, Sebastian A. Heilpern, Rafael M. Almeida, Suresh A. Sethi, Marcela Miranda, Nicholas Ray, Laura Greenstreet, Joshua Fan, Brendan H. Rappazzo, Marcelo Gomes Da Silva

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Accounting for land-use change underlying food sector expansion is critical for conserving ecosystem integrity. This challenge is particularly acute in the Amazon, where the conversion of forests for food production is pronounced and has broad implications for global biodiversity and the cycling of water and carbon. Here, we analyze land-use transitions associated with aquaculture development in the Brazilian Amazon. We found that a 450-fold increase in aquaculture pond area from 1985 to 2022 occurred primarily on pasturelands (87%) but also included wetland conversion (4%) and deforestation (5%). Notably, continued growth can be sustained within already altered landscapes: In Rondônia, the …

Quantitative Mapping And Mitigation Of Light Pollution At Erau, Desireé Robinson, Marcus Flesher, Axon Deadrick, Conner Callahan, Jarrett Usui, Josef Kaelin, Douglas Griswold, Raiden Keefer, Harrison A. Zimmermann, Cole Gresham, Maya Curtis, Ahnika Gee

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Light pollution is an increasingly urgent environmental and public safety concern that affects energy costs, astronomical research, ecological systems, human health, and aviation. At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), artificial lighting from campus infrastructure and adjacent airport operations contributes to elevated skyglow, limiting the performance of the university’s 1-meter telescope and degrading the nighttime environment. This project seeks to quantitatively map and analyze light pollution across the ERAU Daytona Beach campus using custom-built Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) integrated with environmental sensors and mounted on an unmanned aerial system (UAS). By collecting calibrated sky brightness measurements at multiple altitudes and geospatial coordinates, …

Age Reassignment Using Luminescence Dating For The Mammoth Site, Black Hills, South Dakota, Usa, Shannon A. Mahan, Jim I. Mead, P.R. Hanson, Emma T. Krolczyk, Christopher N. Jass

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Mammoth Site (MS) at Hot Springs, South Dakota, provides a unique opportunity to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions on the Northern Great Plains of the United States. Previous radiocarbon analyses of mammoth bone apatite suggested the MS sinkhole was deposited ∼42–23 cal ka BP. However, two U-series ages and one thermoluminescence (TL) age ranged between 150 and 101 ka, suggesting the bones were considerably older. We analyzed six samples from the bone bed using infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) on feldspars, because the quartz luminescence was saturated; the ages ranged from approximately 232 to 160 ka, showing better agreement with previous U-series and …

Re: Comment Letter For The Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Butte Treatment Lagoons (Btl) Groundwater Treatment System Quarterly Operation And Maintenance Report – Quarter 1 2026 (Dated June 26, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Extreme Heat And Its Impact On Public Transit Ridership In Nyc, Craig Denton

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the connection between extreme heat events and public transit ridership patterns in New York City, with a particular emphasis on low-income communities. It investigates the intersection of socioeconomic factors and heat-related challenges, analyzing how extreme temperature periods influence overall transit use and why certain routes or neighborhoods experience greater declines in ridership during these events.

Utilizing existing literature, NYC-specific transit and climate datasets, and the broader context of transit equity, this research aims to inform strategies that strengthen climate resilience within urban transportation systems. The study’s findings are intended to support policy development and planning initiatives that …

Influence Of Transboundary Wildfire Smoke On Fine Particulate Matter Concentrations At South Texas Border Schools, Sai Deepak Pinakana, Kabir Bahadur Shah, Owen Temby, Dawid K. Wladyka, Juan L. Gonzalez, Md Saydur Rahman, Katarzyna Sepielak, Amit U. Raysoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Exposure to air pollutants in indoor and outdoor school environments poses significant health risks to children due to their heightened vulnerability. Increasing wildfire frequency has intensified transboundary smoke transport, with border communities among the first to experience associated air quality impacts. While the impacts of wildfires on air quality are increasingly recognized through satellite observations and modeling, ground-based observations remain scarce in under-monitored regions. Low-cost air sensors were deployed across schools in the Roma and Rio Grande City areas of Starr County, along the U.S.–Mexico border, for 146-days from November 2023 to April 2024. The raw sensor measurements were corrected …

Habitat Associations Of Small Mammals And Their Role As Sentinels For Biodiversity In The Southern Blue Ridge, Katelyn Steen

All Theses

Small mammals play important roles in healthy forests, but we still know very little about many of the rare and state-listed species living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina. Traditional surveys are expensive and time-consuming, so we tested a newer, camera-based method called AHDriFT. From 2024 to 2026, we set up 60 camera systems across high-elevation forests to track six state-listed species: the Carolina red-backed vole, woodland jumping mouse, eastern woodrat, masked shrew, pygmy shrew, and eastern spotted skunk. We detected all six target species and conducted occupancy modeling for four. We found spotted skunk occupancy increased near …

Prediction Of Pasture Condition In The Kimberley Rangelands Of Western Australia Using Simple Classification Tree Models, Ben Nestor, Kath Ryan, Charles Martin, Philip Thomas, Chris Hetherington, Matthew Fletcher, Robert Sudmeyer, Karyn Reeves

Natural Resources Research Articles

Pasture condition assessments assist pastoralists, regulators, and policy makers in making informed decisions around livestock production and the preservation of natural resources in the Kimberley rangelands of Western Australia (WA). Reliable qualitative assessments of pasture condition require assessors with extensive expertise, which means frequent and reproducible assessments can be difficult to achieve. To develop a quantitative approach that can complement existing qualitative assessment approaches in the Kimberley, we investigated the use of simple classification tree models to predict pasture condition using assessment data from the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS). Quantitative traits were derived from WARMS observation data for …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbon Quantum Dots And Gold Nanoparticles For Norovirus Biosensing Applications In Water Systems, Breanne Evans

Master's Theses

Rapid, reliable detection of viral pathogens remains a significant challenge across water-treatment and environmental monitoring systems, including drinking-water, wastewater, water reuse, and environmental surveillance applications. Waterborne viral contamination can pose substantial public-health risks, making early detection essential for protecting water quality and responding quickly to treatment failures or contamination events. Direct potable reuse (DPR) is one particularly demanding example because it requires continuous verification of treatment performance and the broader need for rapid virus monitoring extends across many water-treatment and environmental surveillance applications. Norovirus is a priority target because of its widespread occurrence in wastewater, environmental persistence, and exceptionally low …

Assessing Ecological Integrity Of Streams Across The Western U.S., Jennifer L. Courtwright

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Large-scale assessments of stream health (ecological integrity) are required by policies such as the U.S. Clean Water Act and provide critical information needed to properly manage public lands. Our ability to quantify the ecological condition of streams in the western U.S. and identify the causes of degraded conditions has previously been impeded by a lack of standardized large-scale datasets, high natural temporal and spatial variability of ecological attributes, and poor-quality land use data. I compiled large-scale monitoring datasets and built models to predict the values of ecological attributes (metrics) at a given site in the absence of human impacts. In …

Understanding And Predicting Precipitation Characteristics In The United States Through Machine Learning, Numerical Modeling And Measurements, Cody Luther Ratterman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Precipitation is one of the most important yet uncertain variables in the climate system. It varies dramatically in terms of timing, accumulation, rate, and phase, depending on location, season, circulation patterns, and atmospheric conditions. Precipitation forecasts, especially snowfall, are essential to supporting drought mitigation and water management in the Intermountain West. Because rainfall and snowfall lead to opposite effects on snowpack, accurately partitioning rain and snow is important to estimate snowpack levels, winter recreation, mountain ecosystems and runoff. The research findings in this dissertation have advanced the understanding and prediction of precipitation and snowpack in the U.S. by addressing the …

From Screening To Risk: Assessment Of Potentially Toxic Elements In Children's Toys Along The El Paso, Tx, U.S.A.-Ciudad Juarez, Chih, Mex Border Region, Jesus Rodriguez-Loya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Children are uniquely vulnerable to potentially toxic elements (PTEs), absorbing them more readily than adults and encountering them through the hand-to-mouth behaviors of early childhood. Exposure carries element-specific consequences: lead (Pb) impairs cognitive development with no established safe threshold; cadmium (Cd) damages the kidneys and reduces bone mineralization; arsenic (As) is a recognized carcinogen and developmental neurotoxicant; hexavalent chromium (Cr) is carcinogenic and induces allergic dermatitis; nickel (Ni) is the leading cause of allergic contact dermatitis in children; and excess zinc (Zn) disrupts copper absorption and causes gastrointestinal distress. Toys are a distinctive source of such exposure, yet none had …

An Analysis Of Mating Strategies In Rotifers Inhabiting Temporary Habitats, Ariel Bollinger

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Reproduction is critical for organisms inhabiting ephemeral aquatic habitats where desiccation risk favors rapid and successful mating. Monogonont rotifers rely on sexual reproduction to produce diapausing eggs that withstand harsh conditions. I investigated how mating behaviors vary among populations of five rotifer species based on the hydroperiod of their habitat: Epiphanes brachionus and E. chihuahuaensis were sampled from habitats with short (SH) and long (LH) hydroperiods; Euchlanis dilatata was collected from a short (SH) and a permanent habitat; and Plationus patulus and Sinantherina socialis were collected from a long (LH) and a permanent (Perm) habitat. I hypothesized that SH populations …

Clark Tailings Consolidated Waste Management Area Site Investigation Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Woodard & Curran

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Sludge-To-Sod: Sustainability In Action At Bull Creek Water Treatment Plant, Ava Baker

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

No abstract provided.

Insect Abundance And Bat Use Of Fields For Foraging In The Cumberland Plateau, Caroline M. Abramowitz

All Theses

Bat populations and their insect prey are declining, making it urgent to understand how habitat features and management support both groups. Early successional habitat (ESH), grasslands and shrublands with reduced vegetative clutter and abundant flowering resources, may benefit foraging bats and nocturnal insects. This study examined how landscape context, patch characteristics, microhabitat features, and management (mechanical mastication and prescribed burns) affected insects and bats across 29 managed fields in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (TN/KY) from 2024–2025. Flight-intercept traps collected 25,297 insects across five orders. Though results were order-specific, vegetative composition and height were the strongest predictors …