Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Reply To ‘Co2 Emissions From Crop Residue-Derived Biofuels’, Adam Liska, Haishun Yang, Matthew P. Pelton, Andrew E. Suyker

Adam Liska Papers

The soil organic carbon (SOC) model that we used was parameterized with data from arable land under normal farming conditions in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, but the equation is insensitive to changes in tillage, soil texture and moisture. The model has reasonable accuracy, however, in predicting changes in SOC, residue remaining and CO₂ emissions from initial SOC, carbon inputs from residue, and daily temperature; the shoot-to-root ratio used in the geospatial simulation was 0.29 (that is, root carbon is 29% of total aboveground carbon), which did not underestimate carbon input to soil (Supplementary Figure 2 in Ref. …

Soil Carbon Accumulation Under Switchgrass Barriers, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, John E. Gilley, Dean E. Eisenhauer, Paul J. Jasa, Alan L. Boldt

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The benefits of grass barriers or hedges for reducing offsite transport of non-point-source water pollutants from croplands are well recognized, but their ancillary benefits on soil properties have received less attention. We studied the 15-yr cumulative effects of narrow and perennial switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) barriers on soil organic C (SOC), total N, particulate organic matter (POM), and associated soil structural properties as compared with the cropped area on an Aksarben silty clay loam (fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Argiudoll) with 5.4% slope in eastern Nebraska. Five switchgrass barriers were established in 1998 at ~38-m intervals parallel to the crop rows …

Development Of An Interactive Water Management Role‐Playing Game As An Educational Tool Representing The Central Nebraska Platte River Valley Social‐Economic‐Ecological System, Victoria Chraibi, Nathan Rossman, Anil Giri, Noelle Hart, Zion Schell

Discipline-Based Education Research Group Speaker Series

As members of the National Science Foundation's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT), we have gained valuable experience abroad in Europe learning about and participating in research that utilizes serious role‐playing games representing a watershed with its land use and river system. The focus of this research is on the development of such a game representing the central Platte River valley and its dynamics according to the activities played by the players and uncertain streamflow inputs. The game is adapted specifically from two other games, one called Wat‐A‐Game, developed at the French public institutes IRSTEA and CIRAD (https://sites.google.com/site/waghistory/ …

Agricultural Industry Advanced Vehicle Technology: Benchmark Study For Reduction In Petroleum Use, Roger M. Hoy, Rodney Rohrer, Adam Liska, Joe D. Luck, Loren Isom, Deepak R. Keshwani

Adam Liska Papers

Diesel use on farms in the United States has remained relatively constant since 1985, decreasing slightly in 2009, which may be attributed to price increases and the economic recession. During this time, the United States’ harvested area also has remained relatively constant at roughly 300 million acres. In 2010, farm diesel use was 5.4% of the total United States diesel use. Crops accounting for an estimated 65% of United States farm diesel use include corn, soybean, wheat, hay, and alfalfa, respectively, based on harvested crop area and a recent analysis of estimated fuel use by crop. Diesel use in these …

Estimating Potential Water Pump Reductions Based On Soil Water Content, Geospatial Data Layers, And Variable Rate Irrigation (Vri) Pivot Control Resolution, Keith A. Miller

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increasing concern for sustainable water use has the agriculture industry working toward higher efficiency use of irrigation water. The average irrigation water use efficiency throughout the United States is 45%, which is extremely poor. Advancements in crop management have continued to allow producers to know more about the conditions in their field from nutrient management and pest control, to understanding yield spatially.

Recent mechanical advancements have improved the capabilities of center pivot irrigation systems to water various depths throughout the field. This technology is known as variable rate irrigation (VRI). With VRI comes a whole new strategy for irrigation. Advancements …

Infiltration And Runoff Parameters For Tilled And No-Till Row Crops, Andrew J. Volkmer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Infiltration and runoff are hydrologic processes that effect the amount of water available to plants, for groundwater recharge, and for stream flow. No-till planting (NT) is a management practice used to reduce soil erosion, increase water infiltration, and reduce soil water evaporation, and can have great impact on infiltration and runoff. An investigation was conducted to determine the impact of NT on infiltration and runoff when compared to tilled conditions.

Runoff and precipitation data was gathered from sites at Fillmore County, NE, Phelps County, NE, the USDA-ARS North Appalachian Experimental Watersheds (NAEW) near Coshocton, OH, and the Lennoxville Research Station …

Emission Of Volatile Organic Compounds After Land Application Of Cattle Manure, Bryan Woodbury, John E. Gilley, David B. Parker, David B. Marx, Daniel N. Miller, Roger A. Eigenberg

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Beef cattle manure can serve as a valuable source of nutrients for crop production. However, emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after land application may pose an odor nuisance to downwind populations. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of land application method, diet, soil moisture content, and time since manure application on VOC emissions. Manure was collected from feedlot pens where cattle were fed diets containing 0, 10, or 30% wet distillers grains with solubles (WDGS). Land application methods included surface-applying manure (i.e., no-tillage) or incorporating manure using disk tillage. The effects of soil moisture content on VOC …

Sustainable Development Of Biogas Resources In East Africa Using Transdisciplinary Design Models, Christopher M. Limiac

Open Access Theses

Installation of anaerobic digestion systems in urban developing communities has the potential to address multiple problems related to energy and sanitation in a combined systems approach. Anaerobic digesters are used to generate a relatively clean and rich source of energy in the form of biogas to address energy poverty issues. The design resources available for anaerobic digestion projects must be improved to provide greater technical support and project transparency. In order to develop holistic solutions to grand challenges like energy poverty, engineers must be prepared to operate with the complexities of diverse environments. Globalization and the improvement of transdisciplinary project …

Combining Site Specific Data With Geospatial Analysis To Identify Variable Rate Irrigation Opportunities In Irrigated Agricultural Fields., K. A. Miller, T. H. Lo, J. D. Luck, D. M. Heeren

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Increasing demand for improving irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) across irrigated croplands has producers looking for new opportunities to conserve water and maintain their crop production levels. Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) technology may provide opportunities to enhance IWUE, but as with site-specific crop management of other crop inputs, all fields may not benefit from an approach which utilizes VRI. To consider the potential benefits of VRI, it will be necessary to examine multiple site-specific spatial data layers (e.g., crop yield, soil type/texture, and terrain) as well as the current conditions within a field using geospatial analysis techniques.

The goal of …

The Applicability Of Vri For Managing Variability In Infiltration Capacity And Plant-Available Water: A Preliminary Discussion And Gis Study, Tsz Him Lo, Luciano Mateos, Derek M. Heeren, Joe D. Luck

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Although variable rate irrigation (VRI) has been researched and marketed for a number of years, research that quantifies the magnitude of VRI’s potential benefits and that are translatable to unmonitored fields is lacking. The potential reduction in seasonal irrigation is proposed as the criterion for beginning to evaluate the use of VRI to improve agricultural water management when infiltration capacity and plant-available water are spatially variable inside a field. An initial geographic information system study using publicly available geospatial data was conducted to examine soil and topographic properties associated with such variability within 1100 center pivots across 11 counties. The …

Finite Element Modeling Of Long-Term Phosphorus Leaching Through Macropores In The Ozark Ecoregion, Ryan P. Freiberger, Derek M. Heeren, Garey A. Fox, Chad J. Penn, Dean E. Eisenhauer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Phosphorus (P) is a critical nutrient for plant growth in agriculture, but is also responsible for surface water enrichment that leads to toxic algal growth. While P loading to surface waters has traditionally been thought to occur from surface runoff, contributions from subsurface transport can also be significant. While P transport through many soil types is well-documented, the presence of highly conductive gravel outcrops and macropore networks can have a significant, yet poorly-documented effect on P movement to the aquifer. Floodplain soils in the Ozark ecoregion generally contain coarse chert gravel layers that exhibit macropore behavior. Previous research has evaluated …

Investigating Antibiotic Resistance Levels Of Salmonella Internalized In Lettuce Leaves, Jason B. Thomas

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Contamination of food crops by the human pathogen Salmonella is a food safety threat worldwide. Though using treated wastewater for irrigation is a sustainable practice, it may introduce trace levels of Salmonella that may contaminate food crops. Salmonella could develop resistance to antibiotics present in wastewater. The overall goal of the project is to increase the understanding of the public health risk associated with the use of treated wastewater to irrigate food crops. The objective of this particular study is to determine the antibiotic resistance level of Salmonella internalized in lettuce leaves. In this experiment, thirty-six plants of the lettuce …

Damage Mapping Of Powdery Mildew In Winter Wheat With High-Resolution Satellite Image, Lin Yuan, Jingcheng Zhang, Yeyin Shi, Chenwei Nie, Liguang Wei, Jihua Wang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Powdery mildew, caused by the fungus Blumeria graminis, is a major winter wheat disease in China. Accurate delineation of powdery mildew infestations is necessary for site-specific disease management. In this study, high-resolution multispectral imagery of a 25 km2 typical outbreak site in Shaanxi, China, taken by a newly-launched satellite, SPOT-6, was analyzed for mapping powdery mildew disease. Two regions with high representation were selected for conducting a field survey of powdery mildew. Three supervised classification methods—artificial neural network, mahalanobis distance, and maximum likelihood classifier—were implemented and compared for their performance on disease detection. The accuracy assessment showed that the ANN …

Biofuels From Crop Residue Can Reduce Soil Carbon And Increase Co2 Emissions, Adam J. Liska, Haishun Yang, Maribeth Milner, Steve Goddard, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Matthew P. Pelton, Xiao X. Fang, Haitao Zhu, Andrew E. Suyker

Adam Liska Papers

Removal of corn residue for biofuels can decrease soil organic carbon(SOC) and increase CO₂ emissions because residue C in biofuels is oxidized to CO₂ at a faster rate than when added to soil. Net CO2 emissions from residue removal are not adequately characterized in biofuel life cycle assessment (LCA). Here we used a model to estimate CO₂ emissions from corn residue removal across the US Corn Belt at 580 million geospatial cells. To test the SOC model, we compared estimated daily CO₂ emissions from corn residue and soil with CO₂ emissions measured using eddy covariance, …

Identification Of Wheat Varieties With A Parallel-Plate Capacitance Sensor Using Fisher’S Linear Discriminant Analysis, C. V. K. Kandala, George Meyer, N. Puppala, V. Settaluri, R. S. Reddy

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Fisher’s linear discriminant (FLD) models for wheat variety classification were developed and validated. The inputs to the FLD models were the capacitance (𝐶), impedance (𝑍), and phase angle (𝜃), measured at two frequencies. Classification of wheat varieties was obtained as output of the FLDmodels.𝑍and 𝜃of a parallel-plate capacitance system,holding thewheat samples, weremeasured using an impedance meter, and the 𝐶 value was computed.The best model developed classified the wheat varieties, with accuracy of 95.4%, over the six wheat varieties tested.This method is simple, rapid, and nondestructive and would be useful for the breeders and the peanut industry.

Berm Method For Quantification Of Infiltration At The Plot Scale In High Conductivity Soils, Derek M. Heeren, Garey A. Fox, Daniel E. Storm

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Measuring infiltration at the plot scale is difficult, especially for high hydraulic conductivity soils. At the plot scale, the infiltration rate is usually calculated by comparing surface runoff to rainfall. Direct measurement of infiltration beyond the point scale is typically limited to locations where land forming (e.g., infiltration pond) has been performed or fields with basin irrigation systems. The standard method for field measurement of point-scale infiltration is the double ring infiltrometer, which is limited in size (typically 30 cm diameter). In this research, a new method is proposed that uses a temporary berm constructed of a water-filled 15-cm diameter …

Application Of Isothermal Calorimetry To Phosphorus Sorption Onto Soils In A Flow-Through System, Chad Penn, Derek M. Heeren, Garey A. Fox, Ajay Kumar

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The degree, mechanisms, and kinetics of phosphorus (P) sorption onto soils can have a significant influence on leaching losses of P from soil. The objectives of this study were to measure the impact of retention time (RT) on P sorption in a flow-through system intended to simulate downward movement of a P solution through two different riparian soils, and determine if isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) can provide useful information reflective of flow-through results. Topsoil from two riparian/alluvial sites (Barren Fork and Clear Creek) was sampled and characterized for P concentrations and parameters related to P sorption. Flow-through P sorption experiments …

Synthesis And Characterization Of High-Iron Alite-Calcium Sulfoaluminate-Ferrite Cements Produced From Industrial By-Products, Tristana Y. Duvallet, Youngmin Zhou, Thomas L. Robl, Rodney Andrews

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and calcium sulfoaluminate cement (CSAC) are well-known and commonly used construction materials. The clinker phases mainly responsible for their strength development are C3S (alite) in OPC, which hydrates to form a calcium silicate gel phase; and C4A3S ´ (calcium sulfoaluminate) in CSAC, which hydrates to rapidly form ettringite. The purpose of this work was to produce high-iron alite-calcium sulfoaluminate-ferrite cements, by combining C4AF (ferrite), from 5% to 50% by weight, to the C3S and C4A3S ´ clinker phases. Producing this alite-calcium sulfoaluminate-ferrite cement would decrease the requirement of bauxite in the raw materials, which would consequently …

Experimental Tools To Study Molecular Recognition Within The Nanoparticle Corona, Markita P. Landry, Sebastian Kruss, Justin T. Nelson, Gili Bisker, Nicole M. Iverson, Nigel F. Reuel, Michael S. Strano

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Advancements in optical nanosensor development have enabled the design of sensors using synthetic molecular recognition elements through a recently developed method called Corona Phase Molecular Recognition (CoPhMoRe). The synthetic sensors resulting from these design principles are highly selective for specific analytes, and demonstrate remarkable stability for use under a variety of conditions. An essential element of nanosensor development hinges on the ability to understand the interface between nanoparticles and the associated corona phase surrounding the nanosensor, an environment outside of the range of traditional characterization tools, such as NMR. This review discusses the need for new strategies and instrumentation to …

Controlled De-Cross-Linking And Disentanglement Of Feather Keratin For Fiber Preparation Via A Novel Process, Helan Xu, Yiqi Yang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Pure protein fibers were fabricated from chicken feathers via a potentially green process. In the last several decades, efforts have been made to produce keratin-based industrial products, especially fibers. However, the methods of producing keratin fibers directly from chicken feathers could not be repeated. In this research, protein fibers from chicken feathers were developed using chemicals that could be either derived from renewable resources or facilely recycled. Backbones of keratin were preserved after cleavage of disulfide bonds using cysteine. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was applied to dissolve keratin for spinning. Increasing SDS concentration intensified the ordered conformation of keratin, first …

Water-Stable Three-Dimensional Ultrafine Fibrous Scaffolds From Keratin For Cartilage Tissue Engineering, Helan Xu, Shaobo Cai, Lan Xu, Yiqi Yang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Intrinsically water-stable scaffolds composed of ultrafine keratin fibers oriented randomly and evenly in three dimensions were electrospun for cartilage tissue engineering. Keratin has been recognized as a biomaterial that could substantially support the growth and development of multiple cell lines. Besides, three-dimensional (3D) ultrafine fibrous structures were preferred in tissue engineering due to their structural similarity to native extracellular matrices in soft tissues. Recently, we have developed a nontraditional approach to developing 3D fibrous scaffolds from alcohol-soluble corn protein, zein, and verified their structural advantages in tissue engineering. However, keratin with highly cross-linked molecular structures could not be readily dissolved …

Intrinsically Water-Stable Keratin Nanoparticles And Their In Vivo Biodistribution For Targeted Delivery, Helan Xu, Zhen Shi, Narendra Reddy, Yiqi Yang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Highly water-stable nanoparticles of around 70 nm and capable of distributing with high uptake in certain organs of mice were developed from feather keratin. Nanoparticles could provide novel veterinary diagnostics and therapeutics to boost efficiency in identification and treatment of livestock diseases to improve protein supply and ensure safety and quality of food. Nanoparticles could penetrate easily into cells and small capillaries, surpass detection of the immune system, and reach targeted organs because of their nanoscale sizes. Proteins with positive and negative charges and hydrophobic domains enable loading of various types of drugs and, hence, are advantageous over synthetic polymers …

Development And Testing Of An In-Stream Phosphorus Cycling Model For The Soil And Water Assessment Tool, Michael J. White, Daniel E. Storm, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Philip R. Busteed, Brian E. Haggard, Colleen Rossi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool is widely used to predict the fate and transport of phosphorus (P) from the landscape through streams and rivers. The current in-stream P submodel may not be suitable for many stream systems, particularly those dominated by attached algae and those affected by point sources. In this research, we developed an alternative submodel based on the equilibrium P concentration concept coupled with a particulate scour and deposition model. This submodel was integrated with the SWAT model and applied to the Illinois River Watershed in Oklahoma, a basin influenced by waste water treatment plant discharges and …

The Hydraulic Conductivity Structure Of Gravel-Dominated Vadose Zones Within Alluvial Floodplains, Ronald B. Miller, Derek M. Heeren, Garey A. Fox, Todd Halihan, Daniel E. Storm, Aaron R. Mittelstet

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The floodplains of many gravel-bed streams have a general stratigraphy that consists of a layer of topsoil covering gravel-dominated subsoil. Previous research has demonstrated that this stratigraphy can facilitate preferential groundwater flow through focused linear features, such as paleochannels, or gravelly regions within the vadose zone. These areas within the floodplain vadose zone may provide a route for interactions between the floodplain surface and alluvial groundwater, effectively extending the hyporheic zone across the floodplain during high stream stage. The objective of this research was to assess the structure and scale of texture heterogeneity within the vadose zone within the gravel …

Simulation Supported Estimation Of End-To-End Transmission Parameters In Non-Viral Gene Delivery, Beata J. Wysocki, Tadeusz A. Wysocki, Timothy M. Martin, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Communications, in general, involve delivery of information from a source to a sink. At nano-scale, an example of a man-made communications involving interfacing with biological systems at intra-cellular level is non-viral gene delivery. From a telecommunications engineering perspective, important end-to-end parameters of such a system are: the endto- end delay, system capacity, and packet loss rate. There are neither known methods to estimate those parameters theoretically nor they are ready available from standard measurements. The paper provides estimates for those parameters based on the simulation of non-viral gene delivery system based on the queuing theory. The simulator used has been …

Alginate/Silica Hybrid Materials For Immobilization Of Green Microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris For Cellbased Sensor Arrays, Angela K. Pannier, Ulrich Soltmann, Bettina Soltmann, Rolf Altenburger, Mechthild Schmitt-Jansen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Thin layers and patterned dot arrays of sodium alginate containing living microalgal cells were deposited onto glass carriers which were subsequently gelled using amino-functionalized silica sol to obtain reinforced alginate hydrogels. The resulting alginate/silica hybrid materials showed improved stability in salt-containing solutions compared to alginate gels gelled by traditional methods using Ca²⁺-ions. Cell arrays were patterned by printing nanolitre-scale drops of sodium alginate/cell suspension using a noncontact micro-dosage system which allows the printing of solutions of high viscosity. Cultures of the green microalga Chlorella vulgaris were immobilized within the newly developed alginate/silica hydrogels in order to demonstrate the …

In Vitro Development Of Preimplantation Porcine Embryos Using Alginate Hydrogels As A Three-Dimensional Extracellular Matrix, Catherine Sargus-Patino, Elane C. Wright, Sarah A. Plautz, Jeremy R. Miles, Jeff L. Vallet, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Between Days 10 and 12 of gestation, porcine embryos undergo a dramatic morphological change, known as elongation, with a corresponding increase in oestrogen production that triggers maternal recognition of pregnancy. Elongation deficiencies contribute to embryonic loss, but exact mechanisms of elongation are poorly understood due to the lack of an effective in vitro culture system. Our objective was to use alginate hydrogels as three-dimensional scaffolds that can mechanically support the in vitro development of preimplantation porcine embryos. White cross-bred gilts were bred at oestrus (Day 0) to Duroc boars and embryos were recovered on Days 9, 10 or 11 of …

Long-Term Activity Of Biohybrid Coatings Of Atrazine-Degrading Bacteria Pseudomonas Sp. Adp, Angela K. Pannier, T. Lehrer, M. Vogel, U. Soltmann, H. Bottcher, S. Tarre, M. Green, J. Raff, K. Pollmann

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The atrazine-degrading bacterial strain Pseudomonas sp. ADP was immobilized by the sol–gel process within thin silica layers coated onto water-retaining carrier materials (expanded clay pellets and scoria). The performance of the obtained biohybrid material has been investigated concerning long-term activity under non-growth conditions. Experiments were run in phosphate buffer containing atrazine (20 mg l^-1) as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen. Even after one year of consecutive batch tests, P. ADP immobilized onto expanded clay pellets showed a high atrazine degradation activity. In the course of long-term batch experiments, the average amount of removed atrazine was about …

Nutrient Concentrations Of Runoff As Affected By The Diameter Of Unconsolidated Material From Feedlot Surfaces, John E. Gilley, Gregory Boone, David B. Marx

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Beef cattle feedlots contain unconsolidated material that accumulates on the feedlot surface during a feeding cycle. This study was conducted to measure the effects of varying diameters of unconsolidated surface material and varying flow rates on nutrient concentrations in runoff. Unconsolidated surface material with an average diameter of 4.76, 9.53, 19.1, or 47.5 mm and a composite sample with a 15.2 mm mean diameter were placed within 0.75 m wide × 4.0 m long plot areas. Flow was then introduced at the top of the plots in successive increments, and runoff samples for water quality analyses were obtained. Particle diameter …

Dynamic Analysis Of Dna Nanoparticle Immobilization To Model Biomaterial Substrates Using Combinatorial Spectroscopic Ellipsometry And Quartz Crystal Microbalance With Dissipation, Tadas Kasputis, Alex Pieper, Mathias Schubert, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Gene expression within cells can be altered through gene delivery approaches, which have tremendous potential for gene therapy, tissue engineering, and diagnostics. Substrate-mediated gene delivery describes the delivery of plasmid DNA or DNA complexed with nonviral vectors to cells from a surface, with the DNA immobilized to a substrate through specific or nonspecific interactions. In this work, DNA-nanoparticle (DNA–NP) adsorption to substrates is evaluated using combinatorial, in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (SE/QCM-D), to evaluate the basic dynamic processes involved in the adsorption and immobilization of DNA–NP complexes to substrates. The concentration of DNA–NP solutions influences …