Engineering Commons^™

Natural Gas Induced Vegetation Stress Identification And Discrimination From Hyperspectral Imaging For Pipeline Leakage Detection, Pengfei Ma, Ying Zhuo, Genda Chen, Joel G. Burken

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Remote Sensing Detection of Natural Gas Leaks Remains Challenging When using Ground Vegetation Stress to Detect Underground Pipeline Leaks. Other Natural Stressors May Co-Present and Complicate Gas Leak Detection. This Study Explores the Feasibility of Identifying and Distinguishing Gas-Induced Stress from Other Natural Stresses by Analyzing the Hyperspectral Reflectance of Vegetation. the Effectiveness of This Discrimination is Assessed Across Three Distinct Spectral Ranges (VNIR, SWIR, and Full Spectra). Greenhouse Experiments Subjected Three Plant Species to Controlled Environmental Stressors, Including Gas Leakage, Salinity Impact, Heavy-Metal Contamination, and Drought Exposure. Spectral Curves Obtained from the Experiments Underwent Preprocessing Techniques Such as Standard …

The Intertwined Renewable Energy–Water–Environment (Rewe) Nexus Challenges And Opportunities: A Case Study Of California, Shahryar Jafarinejad, Rebecca R. Hernandez, Sajjad Bigham, Bryan S. Beckingham

Michigan Tech Publications

In our built environment, societal production of energy and clean water is inextricably linked to the natural resources from which they are derived. Acknowledgement and consideration of the coupling of energy, water, and the environment (the energy–water–environment nexus) will be critical to a sustainable future. This is particularly true as we transition away from historical energy sources (e.g., coal, petroleum, natural gas) and into the widespread adaptation of renewable energy (RE) sources (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, bioenergy) as a strategy to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and consequently slow global climate change. This transition is fraught with both challenges and …

The Efficacy Of Conservation Practices In Reducing Floods And Improving Water Quality, Shivendra Srivastava, Andrea D. Basche, Elbert Traylor, Tirthankar Roy

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Conservation practices such as crop rotation, filter strips, and constructed wetlands are nature-based approaches intended to safeguard natural resources in agricultural landscapes. In this study, we reviewed the literature on how conservation practices, both at watershed and field scales, have been proven to subdue flood peaks, surface runoff, soil erosion, sediment transport, and nutrient loss. We classified different conservation practices based on the mode of their application (i.e., in-field, edge-of-field, and structural practices) and described what prior research efforts have concluded about the efficacy of different practices. At the field scale, practices such as reduced or no-till farming, grassed waterways, …

Pan-Arctic Soil Moisture Control On Tundra Carbon Sequestration And Plant Productivity, Donatella Zona, Peter M. Lafleur, Koen Hufkens, Beniamino Gioli, Barbara Bailey, George Burba, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Jennifer D. Watts, Kyle A. Arndt, Mary Farina, John S. Kimball, Martin Heimann, Mathias Göckede, Martijn Pallandt, Torben R. Christensen, Mikhail Mastepanov, Efrén López-Blanco, Albertus J. Dolman, Roisin Commane, Charles E. Miller, Josh Hashemi, Lars Kutzbach, David Holl, Julia Boike, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, Aram Kalhori, Elyn R. Humphreys, Oliver Sonnentag, Gesa Meyer, Gabriel H. Gosselin, Philip Marsh, Walter C. Oechel

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Long-term atmospheric CO₂ concentration records have suggested a reduction in the positive effect of warming on high-latitude carbon uptake since the 1990s. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the reduced net carbon sink of northern ecosystems with increased air temperature, including water stress on vegetation and increased respiration over recent decades. However, the lack of consistent long-term carbon flux and in situ soil moisture data has severely limited our ability to identify the mechanisms responsible for the recent reduced carbon sink strength. In this study, we used a record of nearly 100 site-years of eddy covariance …

Climate Change And The Law Of National Security Adaptation, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest employer in the world, owns and operates an enormous global real estate portfolio, and emits more Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) than many nations. Entrusted with the national security, the DoD is now threatened by a new enemy—climate change. Climate change imperils national security infrastructure while undermining the military’s capacity to respond to climate-driven disasters at home and abroad. However, legal scholarship has yet to address what I call “the law of national security adaptation” and related questions. For example, how do environmental and climate change laws apply to the U.S. military? What laws …

A Resilience-Oriented Multi-Stage Adaptive Distribution System Planning Considering Multiple Extreme Weather Events, Siyuan Wang, Rui Bo

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Climate Change May Increase the Risk of an Area Being Hit by Multiple Extreme Weather Events, Which Brings Significant Challenges for Distribution System Planners in an Increasing Renewable Penetration Era. There is an Urgent Need for Planning Approaches to Be More Flexible and Allow for Adaptive Adjustments in the Future to Hedge Against High Uncertainties in Extreme Weather Event Scenarios. in This Work, We Propose a Resilience-Oriented Distribution System Planning Approach that Considers Multiple Extreme Weather Events. a Multi-Stage Hybrid-Stochastic-And-Robust Formulation is Developed to Model Decisions Not Only for Initial Investments, But Also for Adaptive Investments and Emergent Operations in …

Uncertainties In Wave-Driven Longshore Sediment Transport Projections Presented By A Dynamic Cmip6-Based Ensemble, Amin Reza Zarifsanayei, José A.A. Antolínez, Nick Cartwright, Amir Etemad-Shahidi, Darrell Strauss, Gil Lemos, Alvaro Semedo, Rajesh Kumar, Mikhail Dobrynin, Adem Akpinar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In this study four experiments were conducted to investigate uncertainty in future longshore sediment transport (LST) projections due to: working with continuous time series of CSIRO CMIP6-driven waves (experiment #1) or sliced time series of waves from CSIRO-CMIP6-Ws and CSIRO-CMIP5-Ws (experiment #2); different wave-model-parametrization pairs to generate wave projections (experiment #3); and the inclusion/exclusion of sea level rise (SLR) for wave transformation (experiment #4). For each experiment, a weighted ensemble consisting of offshore wave forcing conditions, a surrogate model for nearshore wave transformation and eight LST models was used. The results of experiment # 1 indicated that the annual LST …

Modeling The Production Of Microalgal Biomass In Large Water Resource Recovery Facilities And Its Processing Into Various Commodity Bioproducts, James Pierson, Gopi Raju Makkena, Sandeep Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Vivekanand Vivekanand, Hasan Husain, Muhammad Ayser, Venkatesh Balan

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Algae are capable of sequestering nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates from wastewater in the presence of sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO₂) to build up their body mass and help combat climate change. In the current study, we carried out different case studies to estimate the volume of algal biomass that could be produced annually using the rotating algal biofilm (RAB) method in three large-scale water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) in Texas: Fort Worth, Dallas, and Houston. We calculated the total amount of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins that could be fractionated from the algal biomass while using the …

Predictions Of Household Water Affordability Under Conditions Of Climate Change, Demographic Growth, And Fresh Groundwater Depletion In A Southwest Us City Indicate Increasing Burdens On The Poor, Josiah M. Heyman, Alex S. Mayer, Jessica Alger

Michigan Tech Publications

Reduced river flows and groundwater depletion as a result of climate change and population growth have increased the effort and difficulty accessing and processing water. In turn, residential water costs from municipal utilities are predicted to rise to unaffordable rates for poor residential water customers. Building on a regional conjunctive use model with future climate scenarios and 50-year future water supply plans, our study communicates the effects of climate change on poor people in El Paso, Texas, as water becomes more difficult and expensive to obtain in future years. Four scenarios for future water supply and future water costs were …

Changing Climates And Extreme Weather For Minnesota, Patrick A. Tebbe

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Department Publications

Climate change is impacting the design, prediction, and operation of HVAC systems for the built environment, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This presentation reviews climate predictions for the upper Midwest and how they will affect the HVAC industry. Topics such as changing design conditions, extreme weather impact, and increased electrification will be addressed.

A Mathematical Model For The Energy Stored In Green Roofs, Maria Aguareles, Marc Calvo-Schwarzwalder, Francesc Font, Timothy G. Myers

All Works

A simple mathematical model to estimate the energy stored in a green roof is developed. Analytical solutions are derived corresponding to extensive (shallow) and intensive (deep) substrates. Results are presented for the surface temperature and energy stored in both green roofs and concrete during a typical day. Within the restrictions of the model assumptions the analytical solution demonstrates that both energy and surface temperature vary linearly with fractional leaf coverage, albedo and irradiance, while the effect of evaporation rate and convective heat transfer is non-linear. It is shown that a typical green roof is significantly cooler and stores less energy …

Flood Hazard Index Application In Arid Catchments: Case Of The Taguenit Wadi Watershed, Lakhssas, Morocco, Mustapha Ikirri, Farid Faik, Fatima Zahra Echogdali, Isabel Margarida Horta Ribeiro Antunes, Mohamed Abioui, Kamal Abdelrahman, Mohammed S. Fnais, Abderrahmane Wanaim, Mouna Id-Belqas, Said Boutaleb, Kochappi Sathyan Sajinkumar, Adolfo Quesada-Román

Michigan Tech Publications

During the last decade, climate change has generated extreme rainfall events triggering flash floods in short periods worldwide. The delimitation of flood zones by detailed mapping generally makes it possible to avoid human and economic losses, especially in regions at high risk of flooding. The Taguenit basin, located in southern Morocco, is a particular case. The mapping of the flood zones of this basin by the method of the Flood Hazard Index (FHI) in a GIS geographic information systems environment was based on the multi-criteria analysis, taking into consideration the seven parameters influencing these extreme phenomena, namely rainfall, slope, flow …

Using Remote Sensing Technologies In Relocating Lubrak Village And Visualizing Flood Damages, Ronan Wallace

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As weather patterns change across the world, there are communities impacted by climate change that are left unnoticed. In the Himalayan mountain range, communities have suffered, experiencing an increase in flash flooding and droughts. For Lubrak Village in Lower Mustang, the community faces the threats of flash flooding. Over the last ten years, the amount of flash flooding has increased, occurring more than once each monsoon season. After every flood, concrete-like sediment is left behind, hardening across the riverbed and increasing its elevation. As the riverbed elevation increases, this sediment encroaches on Lu-brak Village’s agricultural fields and ancient mud buildings, …

Multisector Dynamics: Advancing The Science Of Complex Adaptive Human-Earth Systems, Patrick M. Reed, Antonia Hadjimichael, Richard H. Moss, Christa Brelsford, Casey D. Burleyson, Stuart Cohen, Ana Dyreson, David F. Gold, Rohini S. Gupta, Klaus Keller, Megan Konar, Erwan Monier

Michigan Tech Publications

The field of MultiSector Dynamics (MSD) explores the dynamics and co-evolutionary pathways of human and Earth systems with a focus on critical goods, services, and amenities delivered to people through interdependent sectors. This commentary lays out core definitions and concepts, identifies MSD science questions in the context of the current state of knowledge, and describes ongoing activities to expand capacities for open science, leverage revolutions in data and computing, and grow and diversify the MSD workforce. Central to our vision is the ambition of advancing the next generation of complex adaptive human-Earth systems science to better address interconnected risks, increase …

Uncertainties In The Projected Patterns Of Wave-Driven Longshore Sediment Transport Along A Non-Straight Coastline, Amin Reza Zarifsanayei, José A. A. Antolínez, Amir Etemad-Shahidi, Nick Cartwright, Darrell Strauss, Gil Lemos

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study quantifies the uncertainties in the projected changes in potential longshore sediment transport (LST) rates along a non-straight coastline. Four main sources of uncertainty, including the choice of emission scenarios, Global Circulation Model-driven offshore wave datasets (GCM-Ws), LST models, and their non-linear interactions were addressed through two ensemble modelling frameworks. The first ensemble consisted of the offshore wave forcing conditions without any bias correction (i.e., wave parameters extracted from eight datasets of GCM-Ws for baseline period 1979–2005, and future period 2081–2100 under two emission scenarios), a hybrid wave transformation method, and eight LST models (i.e., four bulk formulae, four …

Increasing Heat-Stress Inequality In A Warming Climate, Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, John T. Abatzoglou, Jan F. Adamowski, Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Bhaskar Chittoori, Ata Akbari Asanjan, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Adaptation is key to minimizing heatwaves' societal burden; however, our understanding of adaptation capacity across the socioeconomic spectrum is incomplete. We demonstrate that observed heatwave trends in the past four decades were most pronounced in the lowest-quartile income region of the world resulting in >40% higher exposure from 2010 to 2019 compared to the highest-quartile income region. Lower-income regions have reduced adaptative capacity to warming, which compounds the impacts of higher heatwave exposure. We also show that individual contiguous heatwaves engulfed up to 2.5-fold larger areas in the recent decade (2010–2019) as compared to the 1980s. Widespread heatwaves can overwhelm …

Multisector Dynamics: Scientific Challenges And A Research Vision For 2030, A Community Of Practice Supported By The United States Department Of Energy's Office Of Science, Patrick M. Reed, Antonia Hadjimichael, Richard H. Moss, Erwan Monier, Sequoia Alba, Christa Brelsford, Ana Dyreson, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Biochar As A Carbon Regulator In Manure And Environmental Management Applications, Josephine Getz

Doctoral

Biochar is a product of pyrolysis, which is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures (300 - 900 °C) in an oxygen-limited atmosphere. Biochar has been recognized as a potentially vital tool to help reduce the climate change impact. It has been used in the agricultural sector as an addition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in several animal husbandry settings. The application in the animal sector is an important point to reduce the overall amount of greenhouse gases released as this sector produces many greenhouse gases. Though not in every case a reduction of emissions was the result of …

Application Of Climate-Smart Forestry – Forest Manager Response To The Relevance Of European Definition And Indicators, Euan Bowditch, Giovanni Santopuoli, Boyżdar Neroj, Jan Svetlik Jan Svetlik, Mark Tominlson, Vivien Pohl, Admir Avdagić, Miren Del Rio, Tzetvan Zlatanov Tzetvan Zlatanov, Höhn Maria, Gabriela Jamnická, Yusuf Serengil, Murat Sarginci, Sigríður Júlía Brynleifsdóttir, Jerzy Lesinki, João C. Azevedo

Articles

Climate change impacts are an increasing threat to forests and current approaches to management. In 2020, Climate-smart Forestry (CSF) definition and set of indicators was published. This study further developed this work by testing the definition and indicators through a forest manager survey across fifteen member European countries. The survey covered topic areas of demographics, climate change impacts, definition and indicators assessment, as well as knowledge and communication. Overall, forest managers considered the threat of climate change to their forests as high or critical and 62% found the CSF definition clear and concise; however, the minority suggested greater simplification or …

A Pilot Course As A Step Towards New Academic Programs In Renewable Energies, Otilia Popescu, Orlando Ayala, Isaac Flory, Jose Fernandez, Vukica Jovanović

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The challenges arising from climate change have never before in human history been more pressing for solutions. Addressing pollution and the transition to clean energies are essential problems to solve in the upcoming decades. The process of transitioning to renewable energies has started already, with some states leading the process. As the development of industries sees a fast growth, the supply of qualified engineers and technicians to support these industries needs to keep up. At the community college level, some efforts have already started to introduce courses on renewable energies as well as boot camps or certifications to prepare the …

Dynamic Modeling Of Inland Flooding And Storm Surge On Coastal Cities Under Climate Change Scenarios: Transportation Infrastructure Impacts In Norfolk, Virginia Usa As A Case Study, Yawen Shen, Navid Tahvildari, Mohamed M. Morsy, Chris Huxley, T. Donna Chen, Jonathan Lee Goodall

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Low-lying coastal cities across the world are vulnerable to the combined impact of rainfall and storm tide. However, existing approaches lack the ability to model the combined effect of these flood mechanisms, especially under climate change and sea level rise (SLR). Thus, to increase flood resilience of coastal cities, modeling techniques to improve the understanding and prediction of the combined effect of these flood hazards are critical. To address this need, this study presents a modeling system for assessing the combined flood impact on coastal cities under selected future climate scenarios that leverages ocean modeling with land surface modeling capable …

Editorial: Coastal Flooding: Modeling, Monitoring, And Protection Systems, Valentina Prigiobbe, Clint Dawson, Yao Hu, Hatim O. Sharif, Navid Tahvildari

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Coastal flooding has received significant attention in recent years due to future sea-level rise (SLR) projections and intensification of precipitation, which will exacerbate frequent flooding, coastal erosion, and eventually create permanently inundated low-elevation land. Coastal governments will be forced to implement measures to manage risk on the population and infrastructure and build protection systems to mitigate or adapt to the negative impacts of flooding. Research in this area is required to establish holistic frameworks for timely and accurate flooding forecast and design of protection systems.

Impacts Of Atmospheric Stilling And Climate Warming On Cyanobacterial Blooms: An Individual-Based Modelling Approach, Mohammad Hassan Ranjbar, David P. Hamilton, Amir Etemad-Shahidi, Fernanda Helfer

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Harmful algal blooms of the freshwater cyanobacteria genus Microcystis are a global problem and are expected to intensify with climate change. In studies of climate change impacts on Microcystis blooms, atmospheric stilling has not been considered. Stilling is expected to occur in some regions of the world with climate warming, and it will affect lake stratification regimes. We tested if stilling could affect water column Microcystis distributions using a novel individual-based model (IBM). Using the IBM coupled to a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, we assessed responses of colonial Microcystis biomass to wind speed decrease and air temperature increase projected under a …

Catchment Processes Can Amplify The Effect Of Increasing Rainfall Variability, Marc F. Müller, Kevin R. Roche, David N. Dralle

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

By filtering the incoming climate signal when producing streamflow, river basins can attenuate—or amplify—projected increases in rainfall variability. A common perception is that river systems dampen rainfall variability by averaging spatial and temporal variations in their watersheds. However, by analyzing 671 watersheds throughout the United States, we find that many catchments actually amplify the coefficient of variation of rainfall, and that these catchments also likely amplify changes in rainfall variability. Based on catchment-scale water balance principles, we relate that faculty to the interplay between two fundamental hydrological processes: water uptake by vegetation and the storage and subsequent release of water …

Quo Vadis Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo: A Future Outlook For Two Of The Caribbean Basin's Largest Lakes, Mahrokh Moknatian, Michael Piasecki

Publications and Research

Lakes Azuei (LA) and Enriquillo (LE) on Hispaniola Island started expanding in 2005 and continued to do so until 2016. After inundating large swaths of arable land, submerging a small community, and threatening to swallow a significant trade route between the Dominican Republic and Haiti; worries persisted at how far this seemingly unstoppable expansion would go. The paper outlines the approach to a look forward to answer this question vis-à-vis climate change scenarios developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It uses numerical representations of the two lakes, and it examines how the lakes might evolve, deploying three …

Warming Enabled Upslope Advance In Western Us Forest Fires, Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, John T. Abatzoglou, Charles H. Luce, Jan F. Adamowski, Arvin Farid, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increases in burned area and large fire occurrence are widely documented over the western United States over the past half century. Here, we focus on the elevational distribution of forest fires in mountainous ecoregions of the western United States and show the largest increase rates in burned area above 2,500 m during 1984 to 2017. Furthermore, we show that high-elevation fires advanced upslope with a median cumulative change of 252 m (−107 to 656 m; 95% CI) in 34 y across studied ecoregions. We also document a strong interannual relationship between high-elevation fires and warm season vapor pressure deficit (VPD). …

Western Fires Are Burning Higher In The Mountains At Unprecedented Rates: It’S A Clear Sign Of Climate Change, Mojtaba Sadegh, John Abatzoglou, Mohammad Reza Alizadeh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Western U.S. appears headed for another dangerous fire season, and a new study shows that even high mountain areas once considered too wet to burn are at increasing risk as the climate warms.

Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. West is in severe to exceptional drought right now, including large parts of the Rocky Mountains, Cascades and Sierra Nevada. The situation is so severe that the Colorado River basin is on the verge of its first official water shortage declaration, and forecasts suggest another hot, dry summer is on the way.

Warm and dry conditions like these are a recipe …

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 …

Aiming For The Sun- Averting The Fate Of Icarus: De-Risking Solar Energy Projects, Manu Srivastava

Asian Management Insights

Climate change is increasingly accepted as an existential threat to civilisation and ‘business as usual’ is considered a luxury we cannot afford any more.

Detecting Recent Crop Phenology Dynamics In Corn And Soybean Cropping Systems Of Kentucky, Yanjun Yang, Bo Tao, Liang Liang, Yawen Huang, Christopher J. Matocha, Chad D. Lee, Michael Sama, Bassil El Masri, Wei Ren

Geography Faculty Publications

Accurate phenological information is essential for monitoring crop development, predicting crop yield, and enhancing resilience to cope with climate change. This study employed a curve-change-based dynamic threshold approach on NDVI (Normalized Differential Vegetation Index) time series to detect the planting and harvesting dates for corn and soybean in Kentucky, a typical climatic transition zone, from 2000 to 2018. We compared satellite-based estimates with ground observations and performed trend analyses of crop phenological stages over the study period to analyze their relationships with climate change and crop yields. Our results showed that corn and soybean planting dates were delayed by 0.01 …