Engineering Commons^™

Solving Water Resources Problems - Water Saving In The Republic Of Uzbekistan, Rustam Muxammatdjanovich Raximov

Technical science and innovation

In this article we will talk about the problems of water resources in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The problem of drinking water supply, solutions to provide drinking water to the population of Uzbekistan. The largest consumers of fresh water in Uzbekistan are farmers. Due to outdated infrastructure, 40% of water is wasted. Rising food prices and the risk of spreading disease are the first signs of water shortages that we may experience in the coming еars. Uzbekcosmos told how to solve the problem. Water is an invaluable resource used not only in the home, but also in the production and …

Colloidal Behavior Of Nanobubbles And Their Application In Enhancing Plant Growth: Mechanisms Of Nanobubble Interactions With Microbial And Soil Species, Shan Xue

Dissertations

Climate change has resulted in increasing uncertainties of water resources and disturbance on agricultural activities. For example, the shortage of water resources, land erosion and pollution from runoff significantly affect agricultural sustainability. This dissertation research focuses on the fundamental studies of nanobubble (NB) water and explores the benefits for irrigation to enhance plant germination and growth. Unlike bulk bubbles, NBs exhibit prolonged stability in water and possess large surface areas that facilitate efficient mass transfer and potential tailored reactions (e.g., disinfection). However, the enhancement mechanisms for NBs on seed germination and plant growth remain elusive.

This research first evaluated the …

Towards A Cybersecurity Testbed For Agricultural Vehicles And Environments, Mark Freyhof, George Grispos, Santosh Pitla, Cody Stolle

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

In today’s modern farm, an increasing number of agricultural systems and vehicles are connected to the Internet. While the benefits of networked agricultural machinery are attractive, this technological shift is also creating an environment that is conducive to cyberattacks. While previous research has focused on general cybersecurity concerns in the farming and agricultural industries, minimal research has focused on techniques for identifying security vulnerabilities within actual agricultural systems that could be exploited by cybercriminals. Hence, this paper presents STAVE – a Security Testbed for Agricultural Vehicles and Environments – as a potential solution to assist with the identification of cybersecurity …

Ammonia Cycling And Emerging Particulate Matter Pollutants Under Arable Land-Use Management: A Modelling Approach, Vivien Pohl

Doctoral

Air quality monitoring in Ireland is under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency in compliance with the Gothenburg Protocol, EU/national legislation, and the National Clean Air Strategy. Particulate Matter (PM) has been acknowledged as a key atmospheric pollutant, with serious public health impacts and no safe threshold of exposure in place to-date. Ammonia (NH3) emissions are linked to the secondary production of PM through atmospheric reactions occurring with acidic atmospheric components such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid. These reactions result in the formation of ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and ammonium chloride, among others. More than 95% …

Towards Smallholder Food And Water Security: Climate Variability In The Context Of Multiple Livelihood Hazards In Nicaragua, Christopher M. Bacon, William A. Sundstrom, Iris Stewart-Frey, Edwin P. Maurer, Lisa C. Kelley

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Climate variability and change affect both food and water security, as do other hazards, such as shifting food prices, plant pathogens, and political economic changes. Although household food and water insecurity affect billions, most studies analyze them separately. This article develops a relational approach to explaining household access to food and water in a multi-hazard context. We identify pathways linking hazards to livelihood vulnerability and assess the relative importance of climate-related hazards. Analyzing longitudinal data collected from two surveys of the same 311 smallholder households in northern Nicaragua, conducted in 2014 and again in 2017, we find that peak seasons …

City Farm Slo - Walk-In Produce Coolbot Cooler, Connor Morinini

Construction Management

This paper describes the planning, financing, and construction of a commercial sized refrigerator for a non-profit urban farm in San Luis Obispo, CA, called City Farm SLO. Construction of the project occurred over a nine-month period from September of 2020 to May of 2021. The project involved building a Tuffshed, site grading, framing a room inside the Tuffshed, hanging a door, installing electricity inside the room, insulating the interior, painting the exterior, installing an air conditioner, and wiring the Coolbot to the air conditioner. The project was built to allow the non-profit organization to begin storing their agricultural crops in …

City Farm Slo - Walk-In Produce Coolbot Cooler, Connor Morinini

Construction Management

This paper describes the planning, financing, and construction of a commercial sized refrigerator for a non-profit urban farm in San Luis Obispo, CA, called City Farm SLO. Construction of the project occurred over a nine-month period from September of 2020 to May of 2021. The project involved building a Tuffshed, site grading, framing a room inside the Tuffshed, hanging a door, installing electricity inside the room, insulating the interior, painting the exterior, installing an air conditioner, and wiring the Coolbot to the air conditioner. The project was built to allow the non-profit organization to begin storing their agricultural crops in …

Another Dangerous Fire Season Is Looming In The Western U.S., And The Drought-Stricken Region Is Headed For A Water Crisis, Mojtaba Sadegh, Amir Aghakouchak, John Abatzoglou

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Just about every indicator of drought is flashing red across the western U.S. after a dry winter and warm early spring. The snowpack is at less than half of normal in much of the region. Reservoirs are being drawn down, river levels are dropping and soils are drying out.

It’s only May, and states are already considering water use restrictions to make the supply last longer. California’s governor declared a drought emergency in 41 of 58 counties. In Utah, irrigation water providers are increasing fines for overuse. Some Idaho ranchers are talking about selling off livestock because rivers and reservoirs …

Bibliometric Survey On Reuse Of Treated Wastewater For Agriculture, Sagar Kolekar Prof., Rahul Raghvendra Joshi Prof., Kalyani Dhananjay Kadam Prof., Kanchan Khare Dr., Pennan Chinnasamy Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The water is important for life after air but there is water shortage problem worldwide. The untreated wastewater pollutes fresh water resources. The reuse of treated wastewater for crop irrigation will reduce stress on freshwater and also provides nutrients. Wastewater had been reused for many generations, it was first discovered in 1973 and in continuation there onwards till today. The treated-wastewater reuse for irrigation of crops will reduce stress on freshwater and also provides nutrients. The main objective of this bibliometric study is analyze the research work done in the past in relation to wastewater treatment and its reuse. This …

Understanding The Weather- And Soil-Related Variability In Agricultural Water Footprints: Case Study Of Maize And Soybeans Grown In The St. Joseph Watershed, Karleigh M. Krieg

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Introduced in 2002, the water footprint is a valuable tool for understanding the consumption of freshwater resources. The traditional approach to quantifying the water footprint is to sum the green, blue, and gray water footprint components. The green water footprint is the volume of water that comes from precipitation, is stored in the soil, and used by vegetation. The blue water footprint is the volume of surface or ground water that is withdrawn and applied to cultivated lands via irrigation. These components are based on the evapotranspiration of green and blue water resources, respectively. The gray water footprint is the …

Photovoltaic Systems On Dairy Farms: Financial And Renewable Multi-Objective Optimization (Farmoo) Analysis, Michael Breen, J. Upton, Michael D. Murphy

Publications

No abstract provided.

Restoring Lake Urmia: Moving Beyond A Uniform Lake Level (2-Page Summary), Somayeh Sima, Dory Rosenberg, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Sarah E. Null, Karin M. Kettenring

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

More than 5 million people live near Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran, one of the world's largest hypersaline lakes. Over the past two decades, the lake has lost 95% of its volume, lake level has dropped more than 7 m, and lake restoration has gained widespread interest. The government seeks a uniform "ecological" target lake level of 1274.1 m above sea level to lower salinity below 240 gL^-1 and recover brine shrimp (Artemia spp.) and flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus).

We have synthesized over 40 years of available data, defined 8 ecosystem services for human health, water quality, ecology, recreation, and …

Construction Of Sustainable High-Tech Greenhouse, Ethan J. Emery

Construction Management

This project aims to create a business model and construction estimate in order to assess the viability of upgrading from conventional farming to a high-tech sustainable greenhouse. For the intended purposes this paper will make the assumption that a farmer that already owns their own land could use this as a guideline for what they could expect from a high-tech greenhouse in terms of both profits and expenses. Between my business plan, and my partners BIM model, we aim to make visualizing what a high –tech sustainable greenhouse could look like for a prospective farmer. The papers results are based …

Implications Of Soil And Canopy Temperature Uncertainty In The Estimation Of Surface Energy Fluxes Using Tseb2t And High-Resolution Imagery In Commercial Vineyards, Ayman Nassar, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, William Kustas, Héctor Nieto, Mac Mckee, Lawrence Hipps, Joseph Alfieri, John H. Prueger, Maria Mar Alsina, Lynn Mckee, Calvin Coopmans, Luis Sanchez, Nick Dokoozlian

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Estimation of surface energy fluxes using thermal remote sensing–based energy balance models (e.g., TSEB2T) involves the use of local micrometeorological input data of air temperature, wind speed, and incoming solar radiation, as well as vegetation cover and accurate land surface temperature (LST). The physically based Two-source Energy Balance with a Dual Temperature (TSEB2T) model separates soil and canopy temperature (Ts and Tc) to estimate surface energy fluxes including Rn, H, LE, and G. The estimation of Ts and Tc components for the TSEB2T model relies on the linear relationship between the composite land surface temperature and a vegetation index, namely …

To What Extent Does The Eddy Covariance Footprint Cutoff Influence The Estimation Of Surface Energy Fluxes Using Two Source Energy Balance Model And High-Resolution Imagery In Commercial Vineyards?, Ayman Nassar, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, William Kustas, Héctor Nieto, Mac Mckee, Lawrence Hipps, Joseph Alfieri, John H. Prueger, Maria Mar Alsina, Lynn Mckee, Calvin Coopmans, Louis Sanchez, Nick Dokoozlian

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Validation of surface energy fluxes from remote sensing sources is performed using instantaneous field measurements obtained from eddy covariance (EC) instrumentation. An eddy covariance measurement is characterized by a footprint function / weighted area function that describes the mathematical relationship between the spatial distribution of surface flux sources and their corresponding magnitude. The orientation and size of each flux footprint / source area depends on the micro-meteorological conditions at the site as measured by the EC towers, including turbulence fluxes, friction velocity (u_star), and wind speed, all of which influence the dimensions and orientation of the footprint. The …

Estimation Of Evapotranspiration And Energy Fluxes Using A Deep-Learning-Based High-Resolution Emissivity Model And The Two-Source Energy Balance Model With Suas Information, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Andres Ticlavilca, Mahyar Aboutalebi, Héctor Nieto, Maria Mar Alsina, Alex White, John H. Prueger, Joseph Alfieri, Lawrence Hipps, Lynn Mckee, William Kustas, Calvin Coopmans, Nick Dokoozlian

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Surface temperature is necessary for the estimation of energy fluxes and evapotranspiration from satellites and airborne data sources. For example, the Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) model uses thermal information to quantify canopy and soil temperatures as well as their respective energy balance components. While surface (also called kinematic) temperature is desirable for energy balance analysis, obtaining this temperature is not straightforward due to a lack of spatially estimated narrowband (sensor-specific) and broadband emissivities of vegetation and soil, further complicated by spectral characteristics of the UAV thermal camera. This study presents an effort to spatially model narrowband and broadband emissivities for …

Ranchers Adapting To Climate Variability In The Upper Colorado River Basin, Utah, Hadia Akbar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Changes in climate influence agricultural production. This study looks at the impacts of climate variability in the Utah regions of the Upper Colorado River Basin by combining regression techniques with interview data to explore how climate variability affects agricultural production and how the farmers are adapting their practices to these changes. The results show that climate does not have any significant impact on cattle and hay production in the study area on a decadal scale. However, on an annual basis temperature seems to have more impact than precipitation. Among non-climatic variables, commodity prices and their regulations by the government are …

Irrigation Design In Montana: Accommodating Varying Water Accessibility Across The Continental Divide., John Garrett Lampson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The design work performed in this project was conducted over two summers (2018, 2019) of internship experience with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) across the state of Montana. The first summer’s design work was based out of Glendive, MT, in Dawson County, approximately 50 kilometers from the North Dakota border. The second summer was in Missoula, MT, in Missoula County, near the Idaho border. The two areas differ significantly in topography, weather, and water availability with the main separating geographic influence being the Rocky Mountains.

This paper focuses on the design process and requirements for two farms located outside …

Risk And Cost Assessment Of Nitrate Contamination In Domestic Wells, Pongpun Juntakut, Erin M.K. Haacker, Daniel D. Snow, Chittaranjan Ray

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This study combines empirical predictive and economics models to estimate the cost of remediation for domestic wells exceeding suggested treatment thresholds for nitrates. A multiple logistic regression model predicted the probability of well contamination by nitrate, and a life cycle costing methodology was used to estimate costs of nitrate contamination in groundwater in two areas of Nebraska. In south-central Nebraska, 37% of wells were estimated to be at risk of exceeding a threshold of 7.5 mg/L as N, and 17% were at risk of exceeding 10 mg/L as N, the legal limit for human consumption in the United States. In …

Sustainability Of Industrialized Agriculture, Fall/Winter 2002, Issue 5

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Local Foods, Fall/Winter 2013, Issue 27

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Utilization Of Remote Sensing Data For Estimation Of The Groundwater Storage Variation, Gaurang Mistry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Groundwater is the most extracted raw material, with an average withdrawal rate of 982 km3 per year, where 70 percent of the total groundwater withdrawn is used for agriculture globally (Margat & van der Gun, 2013). With climate change and increased water demands in recent years, monitoring the changes in the groundwater storage is of the utmost importance. This thesis presents an analysis that determines the rates, trends, and directions where groundwater storage is going in Pakistan. It also correlates fluctuations in groundwater storage with variations in precipitation and agricultural productivity in the country. The overall objectives of this thesis …

Nitrate Dynamics In An Arid Irrgation Network: Can Nutrient Loops Be Closed With Management Techniques?, Kelsey B. Bicknell

Civil Engineering ETDs

Nutrients are the third leading cause of impairment in aquatic ecosystems, yet they remain necessary to support our growing agriculture system. Mining (as with phosphorus) and manufacturing (as with synthetic nitrogen) fertilizers deplete non-renewable resources and consume large amounts of energy. We have opportunities to optimize food-energy-water (FEW) resources, particularly in arid regions where wastewater, rather than agriculture, is the number one contributor of nutrients. This study evaluates the capacity of three unique channels (i.e., the Drain canal, the Delivery canal, and the Rio Grande River) within the agriculture system of the Middle Rio Grande Valley to process nutrients from …

The Effect Of Edge-Of-Field Nutrient Management Practices On Microbial Concentrations In Subsurface Drainage Water And The Associated Risk Of Antibiotic Resistance Dissemination, Sara Mardani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many in-field and edge-of-field management practices have been used to reduce nutrient loads from agricultural fields. The denitrification woodchip bioreactor (WB) is one edgeof- field management practice that has proven to be effective in removing nitrate from subsurface drainage water. The success in nitrate removal achieved with WBs has raised interest in expanding their capabilities for removing other agricultural pollutants, including phosphorus, by using other types of media like phosphorus-sorbing filters or combining these filters with woodchips to remove both nitrate and phosphorus as dual-nutrient removal systems. Despite the extensive research done on WBs and nutrient filter materials, little consideration …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The goals of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …

Wastewater Refining And Reuse And City-Level Water Decision Making, Ahmed Abuhussein

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Direct discharge of treated and untreated wastewater to natural surface water bodies, including rivers and lakes, is generally known to produce adverse environmental impacts that have been of concern for the past 10–15 years, particularly in the Great Lakes basin. Examples of these impacts include eutrophication and the emergence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Advancement in wastewater treatment plant operations alone may not be feasible to meet the 2016–2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS), especially on phosphorus reduction targets. Diverting treated wastewater to land could present a multibarrier approach for integrated PPCPs management, and could also shift current …

Modeling Effects Of Rainwater Harvesting Systems On Water Yield Increase And Non-Beneficial Evaporation Reduction To Sustain Agriculture In A Water-Scarce Region Of China, Tennille Wade

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The northwestern region of China, which has an arid/semiarid climate, relies heavily on agriculture to provide food for the growing population. Climate change is affecting water availability in the region, causing long periods of drought and water scarcity followed by shorter periods of heavy rainfall and excess water availability. The ridge and furrow rainwater harvesting systems (RFRWHS) are a means of solving the problem of water scarcity; the systems can replenish soil moisture, reduce non-beneficial evaporation from bare soils, and increase surface water yield. In such a region, the hydrologic cycle is dominated by soil evaporation, leading to minimal surface …

Impact Of Vegetative Treatment Systems On Multiple Measures Of Antibiotic Resistance In Agricultural Wastewater, Lisa M. Durso, Daniel N. Miller, Christopher G. Henry

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Wastewater is an important vector of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARB/G). While there is broad agreement that ARB/G from agricultural (ag) wastewaters can be transported through the environment and may contribute to untreatable infectious disease in humans and animals, there remain large knowledge gaps surrounding applied details on the types and amounts of ARB/G associated with different agricultural wastewater treatment options and different ag production systems. This study evaluates a vegetative treatment system (VTS) built to treat the wastewater from a beef cattle feedlot. Samples were collected for three years, and plated on multiple media types to …

Measurement Of Agriculture-Related Air Pollutant Emissions Using Point And Remote Sensors, Kori D. Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Measuring air pollution emissions from agricultural activities is usually difficult because of their large area and variability. Traditional air quality sensors, called point samplers, measure conditions in one location, which may not adequately measure a plume. Remote sensors, instruments that measure pollution along a line rather than at a single point, are better able to measure conditions around large areas. This dissertation reports on four agricultural air emissions studies that used both point and remote sensors for comparison. The methods used to calculate the emissions are based on previous work and are further developed in these studies. In particular, an …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The aims of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …