Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Quantifying The Source And Pathway Of Dissolved Reactive Phosphate In Karst Drainage Of The Inner-Bluegrass, Cory Radcliff

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

In the Midwestern U.S. seasonal hypoxia experienced in the Gulf of Mexico and harmful algal blooms in inland freshwater ponds, lakes, and rivers are partly fueled by dissolved orthophosphate loadings from disturbed landscapes. Efforts to reduce dissolved reactive phosphate (DRP) loadings have had varying levels of success and have led to insufficient water quality improvements. Inefficiencies in conservation strategies can stem from poor understanding of phosphate source and flow pathway dynamics. This study focused on monitoring sources and flow pathways of dissolved reactive P in a karst agroecosystem with phosphatic limestone. We collected event water samples at the Camden Creek …

Evaluating The Biotic Condition Of Restored Streams In Kentucky’S Inner Bluegrass Region, Charles Cole Crankshaw

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Numerous stream restoration projects have been implemented in Kentucky’s Inner Bluegrass region to offset anthropogenic impacts. These projects range from full channel realignments to volunteer-led riparian installations. To assess the ability of said projects to restore stream habitat and biota, full restoration (n=12) and riparian (n=6) sites were compared to reference (n=6) and disturbed (n=12) sites using RBP and SVAP protocols, macroinvertebrate samples, and geomorphology. General trends for SVAP, RBP, and BI scores, starting with highest habitat or biotic quality, were reference sites, full and riparian restoration sites, then disturbed sites. The number of EPT taxa, another indicator of biological …

Predicting The Impacts Of Climate Change On The Great Lakes Water Levels Using A Fully Coupled 3d Regional Modeling System, Miraj Kayastha

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Great Lakes of North America are the largest surface freshwater system in the world and many ecosystems, industries, and coastal processes are sensitive to the changes in their water levels. The recent changes in the Great Lakes climate and water levels have particularly highlighted the importance of water level prediction. The water levels of the Great Lakes are primarily governed by the net basin supplies (NBS) of each lake which are the sum of over-lake precipitation and basin runoff minus lake evaporation. Recent studies have utilized Regional Climate Models (RCMs) with a fully coupled one-dimensional (1D) lake model to …

Peer-To-Peer Energy Trading For Networked Microgrids, Jonathan David Warner

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Considering the limitations of the existing centralized power infrastructure, research interests have been directed to decentralized smart power systems constructed as networks of interconnected microgrids. Therefore, it has become critical to develop secure and efficient energy trading mechanisms among networked microgrids for reliability and economic mutual benefits. Furthermore, integrating blockchain technologies into the energy sector has gained significant interest among researchers and industry professionals. Considering these trends, the work in this thesis focuses on developing Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading models to facilitate transactions among microgrids in a multiagent network. Price negotiation mechanisms are proposed for both islanded and grid-connected microgrid …

Determination Of Pollutant Load Reductions To Three Mile Creek As A Result Of The Implementation Of Storm Water Bio-Infiltration Basins On The Usa Campus, Jordan E. Blackmon

Honors Theses

Three Mile Creek has been identified as an impaired urban stream and is now a priority for cleanup for both the City of Mobile and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Methods to better manage storm water runoff on the USA campus have begun, with a goal to reduce sediment and nutrient inputs to Three Mile Creek. Both sediment and nutrient inputs to Three Mile Creek disrupt habitat and lower dissolved oxygen concentrations, which are detrimental to overall stream health. Low Impact Development strategies are an innovative way to use nature-like, green-infrastructures to minimize storm water runoff quantity and improve …

Assessment Of Cu(In, Ga)Se₂ Solar Cells Degradation Due To Water Ingress Effect On The Cds Buffer Layer, Deewakar Poudel, Benjamin Belfore, Shankar Karki, Grace Rajan, Sina Soltanmohammad, Angus Rockett, Sylvain Marsillac

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The effect of water ingress on the surface of the buffer layer of a Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cell was studied. Such degradation can occur either during the fabrication process, if it involves a chemical bath as is often the case for CdS, or while the modules are in the field and encapsulants degrade. To simulate the impact of this moisture ingress, devices with a structure sodalime glass/Mo/CIGS/CdS were immersed in deionized water. The thin films were then analyzed both pre and post water soaking. Dynamic secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was performed on completed devices to analyze impurity diffusion …

Impact Of Blended Salt Anti-Icers/Deicers On Properties Of Asphalt Binders, Nurudeen A. Abidoye

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Anyone who has ever attempted to remove a layer of ice from a roadway or sidewalk by plowing or shoveling knows it is no easy task when the ice is firmly bonded to the asphalt/concrete surface. Winter anti-icing/deicing operations are moral choices that mankind has made to combat winter storms. This research is aimed at evaluating the macro and nano structural impacts of (anti-icing/de-icing) salt on aged and unaged asphalt binders. The macro structural impacts focused on the rheological and creep properties, and the nano structural impacts focused on the surface topography, adhesion force, and modulus of asphalt binders. Rheological …

Quantification Of Nitric Oxide Concentration Using Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Sensors, Jakob Meier, Joseph Stapleton, Eric M. Hofferber, Abigail Haworth, Stephen D. Kachman, Nicole M. Iverson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nitric oxide (NO), a free radical present in biological systems, can have many detrimental effects on the body, from inflammation to cancer. Due to NO’s short half-life, detection and quan- tification is difficult. The inability to quantify NO has hindered researchers’ understanding of its impact in healthy and diseased conditions. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), when wrapped in a specific single-stranded DNA chain, becomes selective to NO, creating a fluorescence sensor. Unfortunately, the correlation between NO concentration and the SWNT’s fluorescence intensity has been difficult to determine due to an inability to immobilize the sensor without altering its properties. Through the …

Index-Based Approach With Remote Sensing For The Assessment Of Extreme Weather Impact On Watershed Vegetation Dynamics, Kushan Bellanthudawage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Spatial technologies such as satellite remote sensing can be used to identify vegetation dynamics over space and time, which play a critical role in earth observations. Biophysical and biochemical features associated with vegetation cover can then be used to elucidate climate change impact such as floods and droughts on ecosystem that may in turn affect watershed-scale water resources management. Unlike single flood or drought event, intermittent extreme weather events may exert more physiological and biological pressures on the canopy vegetation. This study aims to investigate the climate change impacts on canopy vegetation, which occurred from March 2017 to October 2017 …

Early Wildfire Detection By Air Quality Sensors On Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Optimization And Feasibility, Doaa Rjoub

Masters Theses

“Millions of acres of forests are destroyed by wildfires every year, causing ecological, environmental, and economical losses. The recent wildfires in Australia and the Western U.S. smothered multiple states with more than fifty million acres charred by the blazes. The warmer and drier climate makes scientists expect increases in the severity and frequency of wildfires and the associated risks in the future. These inescapable crises highlight the urgent need for early detection and prevention of wildfires. This work proposed an energy management framework that integrated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with air quality sensors for early wildfire detection and forest monitoring. …

Reduction Of Energy Consumption Through Pump Efficiency Analysis, Riley Dodds

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Water scarcity, global warming, lack of fossil fuels, and future Green Act goals and legislature are at the forefront of policy change and election discussion within the United States. As civil engineers these topics are heavily discussed and challenged within the field and new solutions along with innovations are in constant demand. Within the community of Akron, the Akron Water Supply Water Plant continues to actively innovate and solve numerous concerns ranging from the quality of water to the overall operating costs. Energy consumption cost Akron Water Supply over $952,914.32 and 14,411,960 of kilowatts per hour of electrical energy to …

Modeling And Prioritizing Interventions Using Pollution Hotspots For Reducing Nutrients, Atrazine And E. Coli Concentrations In A Watershed, Olufemi P. Abimbola, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Tiffany Messer, Elaine Berry, Anna Van Griensven

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Excess nutrients and herbicides remain two major causes of waterbody impairment globally. In an attempt to better understand pollutant sources in the Big Sandy Creek Watershed (BSCW) and the prospects for successful remediation, a program was initiated to assist agricultural producers with the implementation of best management practices (BMPs). The objectives were to (1) simulate BMPs within hotspots to determine reductions in pollutant loads and (2) to determine if water-quality standards are met at the watershed outlet. Regression-based load estimator (LOADEST) was used for determining sediment, nutrient and atrazine loads, while artificial neural networks (ANN) were used for determining E. …

Assessing Different Plant-Centric Water Stress Metrics For Irrigation Efficacy Using Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Continuum Simulation, Jingwen Zhang, Kaiyu Guan, Bin Peng, Ming Pan, Wang Zhou, Robert F. Grant, Trenton E. Franz, Daran Rudnick, Derek M. Heeren, Andrew Suyker, Yi Yang, Genghong Wu

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Understanding plant water stress (PWS) in the soil-plant-atmosphere-continuum (SPAC) that connects water supply from soil, water demand from atmosphere, and plant self-regulation is a prerequisite for efficient irrigation in response to water scarcity. Currently, PWS can be defined in various ways, for example, based on environmental factors and/or plant-centric metrics. The environment-based metrics usually do not take plants into consideration. Regarding the existing plant-centric metrics, their interconnections and abilities to capture the physical water constraints from both soil water supply and atmospheric water demand are still unclear. This research investigates the theoretical foundations behind different PWS metrics, and assesses their …

Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Swine Manure Slurry As Affected By Pit Additives And Facility Disinfectants, Maria C. Hall, Jon Duerschner, John E. Gilley, Amy Schmidt, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Daniel D. Snow, Kent M. Eskridge, Xu Li

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Manure storage facilities are critical control points to reduce antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in swine manure slurry before the slurry is land applied. However, little is known about how exogenous chemicals entering the manure storage facilities may affect the fate of ARGs. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of six commonly used pit additives and four facility disinfectants on the concentration of ARGs in swine manure slurry. Bench scale reactors, each containing approximately 50 L of liquid swine manure, were dosed with additives or disinfectants and were sampled for 40 days. Seven antibiotic resistance genes along …

Differential Survival Of Non-O157 Shiga Toxigenic Escherichia Coli In Simulated Cattle Feedlot Runoff, Lisa M. Durso, John E. Gilley, Daniel N. Miller

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Environmental survival time is important when evaluating adverse health outcomes from foodborne pathogens. Although outbreaks associated with manure-impacted irrigation or runoff water are relatively infrequent, their broad scope, regulatory importance, and severe health outcomes highlight the need to better understand the environmental survival of manure-borne pathogens. Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) are excreted in feces and persist in the environment until they die or recolonize a new host. Surface waters contaminated with manure-borne STEC can infect humans through drinking and recreational water use or irrigated crops that are minimally cooked. In this study, manure-impacted water microcosms mimicking beef cattle feedlot …

Editorial: Predictive Modeling Of Human Microbiota And Their Role In Health And Disease, Hyun-Seob Song, Stephen R. Lindemann, Dong-Yup Lee

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Nanotheranostic Researcher’S Guide For Use Of Animal Models Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Brandon Z. Mcdonald, Connor C. Gee, Forrest M. Kievit

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is currently the leading cause of injury-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, with an estimated global cost of USD 400 billion annually. Both clinical and preclinical behavioral outcomes associated with TBI are heterogeneous in nature and influenced by the mechanism and frequency of injury. Previous literature has investigated this relationship through the development of animal models and behavioral tasks. However, recent advancements in these methods may provide insight into the translation of therapeutics into a clinical setting. In this review, we characterize various animal models and behavioral tasks to provide guidelines for evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of …

Frontier: Discipline-Based Education Research To Advance Authentic Learning In Agricultural And Biological Engineering, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Discipline-based education research (DBER) is research activity aimed at investigating “learning and teaching in a discipline from a perspective that reflects the discipline’s priorities, worldview, knowledge, and practices” for the purpose of producing research-based evidence to improve education in that discipline. DBER arose out of concerns about the quality of post-secondary science education. Physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, geosciences, and astronomy education each have unique DBER histories in the U.S. that date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s when colleges and university systems were expanding and formalizing. The DBER fields accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s as a result …

Combining Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction And Anammox For Treatment Of Nitrate-Rich Wastewater: A Short Review, Xinyi Zou, Chongjun Chen, Changhong Wang, Qun Zhang, Zhuowei Yu, Haiping Wu, Chao Zhuo, Tian C. Zhang

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Treatment of nitrate-rich wastewater is important but challenging for the conventional biological denitrification process. Here, we propose combining the electrochemical reduction and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) processes together for treatment of nitrate-rich wastewater. This article reviews the mechanism and current research status of electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonium as well as the mechanism and applicability of the anammox process. This article discusses the principles, superiorities, and challenges of this combined process. The feasibility of the combined process depends on the efficiency of electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonium and the conditions in the anammox process to use the reduced ammonium …

Chlorination As Drinking Water Disinfection Technique And Disinfection By Products: A Scientometric Analysis, Sapna Ramchandra Shinde, Sayali D. Apte Dr, Kanchan C. Khare Dr, Philipp Otter Mr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2015, defined to achieve a better and more sustainable future, contains goal number 6 related to safe and affordable drinking water facility for all till 2030. The rural and remote areas in the developing countries predominantly face the scarcity of pathogen free drinking water leading to water borne diseases and deaths due to consumption of contaminated water indicating a need of advancement in the drinking water disinfection techniques. The paper discusses scientometric analysis of publication trends in chlorination as a popular disinfection techniques and research related to the Disinfection By Products (DBPs) that are produced …

Low-Level Groundwater Atrazine In High Atrazine Usage Nebraska Counties: Likely Effects Of Excessive Groundwater Abstraction, Moses New-Aaron, Olufemi Abimbola, Raheleh Mohammadi, Oluwaseun Famojuro, Zaeema Naveed, Azar Abadi, Jesse E. Bell, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Eleanor G. Rogan

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Recent studies observed a correlation between estrogen-related cancers and groundwater atrazine in eastern Nebraska counties. However, the mechanisms of human exposure to atrazine are unclear because low groundwater atrazine concentration was observed in counties with high cancer incidence despite having the highest atrazine usage. We studied groundwater atrazine fate in high atrazine usage Nebraska counties. Data were collected from Quality Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Nebraska Groundwater, Parameter–Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and water use databases. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were performed. Domestic wells (59%) were the predominant well type. Groundwater atrazine was affected by well depth. Clusters consisting …

Improvements In Sub-Catchment Fractional Snowpack And Snowmelt Parameterizations And Hydrologic Modeling For Climate Change Assessments In The Western Himalayas, Vishal Singh, Francisco Muñoz-Arriola

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present work proposes to improve estimates of snowpack and snowmelt and their assessment in the steep Himalayan ranges at the sub-catchment scale. Temporal variability of streamflow and the associated distribution of accumulated snow in catchments with glacier presence in the Himalayas illustrates how changes in snowpack and snowmelt can affect the water supply for local water management. The primary objective of this study is to assess the role of elevation, temperature lapse rate (TLR), and precipitation lapse rate (PLR) in the computation of snowpack (or snowfall) and snowmelt in sub-catchments of the Satluj River basin. Modeling of snowpack and …

Dynamics Of Simultaneous Nitrite Ion And Ammonia Chlorination In Complex Water Quality Matrices And Their Impact On Chlorine Residual Speciation During Disinfection, Shirin Estahbanati

Dissertations and Theses

Although chlorination of ammonia and nitrite ions have been studied comprehensively, the kinetics of chlorination in water matrices containing ammonia in the presence of nitrite ion have not been fully understood. The coexistence of the two nitrogen compounds is a phenomenon most often encountered during biological nitrification of municipal wastewaters. The spatial variation of the nitrogen species generates unpredictable complications in the effectiveness of chlorination as the disinfection process. The focus of the research study was the examination of chlorine residual speciation and the fate of ionic nitrogen species, i.e. nitrite and nitrate ions, under various experimental conditions. The experimental …

The Influence Of Channel Deepening On Tides, River Discharge Effects, And Storm Surge, S. A. Talke, Ramin Familkhalili, D. A. Jay

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We combine archival research, semi-analytical models, and numerical simulations to address the following question: how do changes to channel geometry alter tidal properties and flood dynamics in a hyposynchronous, strongly frictional estuary with a landward decay in tidal amplitudes? Records in the Saint Johns River Estuary since the 1890s show that tidal range has doubled in Jacksonville, Florida. Near the estuary inlet, tidal discharge approximately doubled but tidal amplitudes increased only ∼6%. Modeling shows that increased shipping channel depths from ∼5 to ∼13m drove the observed changes, with other factors like channel shortening and width reduction producing comparatively minor effects. …

Laboratory Study Of The Effects Of Flexible Vegetation On Solute Diffusion In Unidirectional Flow, Sha Lou, Hao Wang, Hongzhe Liu, Guihui Zhong, Larisa Dorzhievna Radnaeva, Elena Nikitina, Gangfeng Ma, Shuguang Liu

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Background

Flexible vegetation is an important part of the riverine ecosystem, which can reduce flow velocity, change turbulence structure, and affect the processes of solute transport. Compared with the flow with rigid vegetation, which has been reported in many previous studies, bending of flexible vegetation increases the complexity of the flow-vegetation-solute interactions. In this study, laboratory experiments are carried out to investigate the influence of flexible vegetation on solute transport, and methods for estimating the lateral and longitudinal diffusion coefficients in the rigid vegetated flow are examined for their applications to the flow with flexible vegetation.

Results

The experimental observations …

Characterizing Seagrass Effects On Hydrodynamics Of Waves And Currents Through Field Measurements And Computational Modelling, Ramin Familkhalili, Navid Tahvildari

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Low-lying coastal and estuarine areas are among the most populated regions globally, have high economic significance, and are increasingly threatened by climate change, sea level rise, nuisance flooding, and extreme storms. Nature-based coastal protections are sustainable and sea-level resilient alternatives compared to traditional solutions such as dikes and seawalls. Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) or seagrasses can provide coastal flood and erosion protection by attenuating storm wave and current energy and stabilizing seabed sediments. However, more research is needed to understand the interactions between flow, SAVs, and sediments. These dynamic interactions affect flow at different scales and seagrass productivity. In this …

Linear Generators In Wave Energy Conversion: Performance, Feasibility, And Location Study, Luis Fernandez De Valderrama

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the energy demand increases and climate change becomes a major problem, the solution to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change involves increasing the use of sustainable and renewable sources to generate electricity. However, developed renewable sources have inconveniences that make them incapable of generating the totality of the electricity that a country demands. Wave energy is an alternative renewable energy source that can help mitigate the inconveniences of other renewable sources and decrease the emission of greenhouse gases.

This study aims to find the potential of linear generators in wave energy by analyzing the …

Case Study Of Gravity-Fed Mountain Spring Tap System In Ha Leronti, Lesotho, Africa, Sarah Peterson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Water security has been declining rapidly in Lesotho, Africa in recent years. Lack of water has led to food insecurity, livestock deaths, and the spread of disease. Rural Basotho depend on rainfall to sustain their livelihoods; however, precipitation variability has recently increased due to climate change. For those who reside in the highlands of Lesotho, mountain springs can be a clean source of water. The tap system in the village of Ha Leronti relies on gravity to distribute water from two mountain springs to the ten village taps and nearby school campus. However, it is incapable of transporting the basic …

Development Of Novel Polymeric Materials For Their Application In Monitoring And Remediation Of Environmental Pollutants, Rishabh Shah

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Remediation of environmental pollutants from water is one of the major challenges in the 21st century. Utilizing novel polymeric materials to accomplish this challenge has garnered a lot of interest in recent times. Flexibility in synthesizing as well as functionalizing makes them attractive for their application in pollutant remediation. This work is based on development and characterization of novel crosslinked polymeric as well as linear polymeric materials from biphenyl-based monomers, biphenyl based crosslinker and a temperature responsive monomer (Nisopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm)) for their application in remediation of toxic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and iron oxide nanoparticle …

Evaluating And Predicting The Risk Of Algal Blooms In A Freshwater Lake Through A 4-Dimensional Approach: A Case Study On Lake Mitchell, Sumit Kumar Ghosh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Excessive algal growth in freshwater lakes can negatively impact ecosystems, recreation, and human health. Though algae are a natural part of freshwater ecosystems, elevated nutrient loading from anthropogenic and natural sources can lead to algal blooms. Both algae and blue-green algae (BGA) are responsible for algal blooms; however, BGA (cyanobacteria) is more dangerous. The first objective of this research was to prepare a conceptual model to understand how various environmental variables affect algae. This conceptual model was used to choose the environmental variables that help increase or decrease algae in the water environment. The second objective was to develop empirical …