Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Effects Of Ambient Velocity Shear On Nonlinear Internal Wave Associated Mixing At The Columbia River Plume Front, Jiayi Pan, David A. Jay

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Large-amplitude nonlinear internal waves (NLIWs) are frequently observed propagating away from Columbia River tidal plume fronts. They are generated because of the deceleration of the frontal bulge. During the River Influences on Shelf Ecosystems project cruises, the velocity, density structure and acoustic backscatter of the plume fronts and frontal NLIWs were observed using a towed vehicle, vessel-mounted instrumentation, and a vessel X band radar. These observations indicate that in the presence of strong ambient velocity shear, the NLIWs with maximum amplitudes occur well below the density interface and at a depth deeper than in the absence of shear. This deepening …

2007 Portland Metropolitan Region Transportation System Performance Report, Robert Bertini

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Our transportation system is a key ingredient in the economy, quality of life and urban fabric of the Portland metropolitan area. It has been stated in the past that it is not possible to manage our transportation system tomorrow unless we understand how it is performing today. In this spirit, the Portland State University Center for Transportation Studies has been working with regional and statewide partners to develop new capabilities to measure, monitor and track the performance of the transportation system in real time and using archived data sources. We believe that it is possible to leverage these disparate data …

Hydrologic Remote Sensing And Land Surface Data Assimilation, Hamid Moradkhani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate, reliable and skillful forecasting of key environmental variables such as soil moisture and snow are of paramount importance due to their strong influence on many water resources applications including flood control, agricultural production and effective water resources management which collectively control the behavior of the climate system. Soil moisture is a key state variable in land surface?atmosphere interactions affecting surface energy fluxes, runoff and the radiation balance. Snow processes also have a large influence on land-atmosphere energy exchanges due to snow high albedo, low thermal conductivity and considerable spatial and temporal variability resulting in the dramatic change on surface …

An Iterative Route Construction And Improvement Algorithm For The Vehicle Routing Problem With Soft And Hard Time Windows, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The joint solution of routing problems with soft and hard time windows has valuable practical applications. Simultaneous solution approaches to both types of problems are needed when: (a) the number of routes needed for hard time windows exceeds the number of available vehicles, (b) a study of cost-service tradeoffs is required or the dispatcher has qualitative information regarding the relative importance of hard time window constraints across customers. A new Iterative Route Construction and Improvement (IRCI) algorithm of average run time performance O(n2 ) is proposed to sequentially solve Vehicle Routing Problems with Soft Time Windows (VRPSTW) and Hard Time …

A Strategy For Reducing The Impact Of Driving Under Influence Of Intoxicants In Portland, Oregon, Christopher Monsere, Delia Chi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) applies to operating a vehicle under the influence of any substance that can impair driving performance. Nationally and locally there is a strong desire to reduce the societal impacts of this significant social problem. The trend in U.S. alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes was generally decreasing in the mid to late 1980’s but has remained fairly flat since the early 1990s. In 1982, approximately 60% of all US traffic fatalities were alcohol-related. By 1994, this had decreased to 43% but in the decade that followed it has changed little. In 2005, nearly 39% of …

New Insights Into The Controls And Mechanisms Of Plankton Productivity Along The Us West Coast, Raphael M. Kudela, Neil S. Banas, John A. Barth, Elizabeth R. Frame, David A. Jay, John L. Largier, Evelyn J. Lessard, Tawnya D. Peterson, Andrea J. Vander Woude

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the lifetime of the National Science Foundation's Coastal Ocean Processes program, four experiments were conducted on the US West Coast in the northern California Current System. Although each project had a unique scientific focus, all four addressed the mechanisms causing eastern boundary current systems in general, and the California Current System in particular, to be biologically rich, from phytoplankton to apex predators. Taken together, findings from these projects provide new insights into the canonical view that upwelling systems are simple wind-driven "conveyor belts," bringing cold, nutrient-rich waters to the well-lit surface ocean where biological organisms flourish. We highlight new …

Daily Forecasts Of Columbia River Plume Circulation: A Tale Of Spring/Summer Cruises, Yinglong J. Zhang, Antonio M. Baptista, Barbara M. Hickey, Byron C. Crump, David A. Jay, Michael Wilkin, Charles Seaton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Semi-operational daily forecasts of circulation from an observatory for the Columbia River estuary-plume-shelf system routinely support oceanographic cruises, by providing 24h-ahead estimates of plume location and structure for planning purposes and for near real-time interpretation of observations. This paper analyzes forecast skill during spring/summer cruises in 2004-2007. Assessment addresses both qualitative descriptions of major plume trends and features and quantitative representation of data from (primarily) vessel-based flow-through, cast and towed systems. Forecasts emerge as robust predictors of plume location and variability, with skill that has grown over time, at least in part due to improvements in model algorithms. When the …

Seasonal Variability And Estuary-Shelf Interactions In Circulation Dynamics Of A River-Dominated Estuary, Arun Chawla, David A. Jay, Antonio M. Baptista, Michael Wilkin, Charles Seaton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The long-term response of circulation processes to external forcing has been quantified for the Columbia River estuary using in situ data from an existing coastal observatory. Circulation patterns were determined from four Acoustic Doppler Profilers (ADP) and several conductivity-temperature sensors placed in the two main channels. Because of the very strong river discharge, baroclinic processes play a crucial role in the circulation dynamics, and the interaction of the tidal and subtidal baroclinic pressure gradients plays a major role in structuring the velocity field. The input of river flow and the resulting low-frequency flow dynamics in the two channels are quite …

Combining Climate, Crash, And Highway Data For Improved Ranking Of Speed And Winter-Weather Related Crash Locations In Oregon, Christopher M. Monsere, Peter G. Bosa, Robert L. Bertini

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, the techniques for screening transportation networks to identify high crash locations have become more sophisticated. Many transportation agencies, however, lack sufficient data, either in timeliness, completeness, or accuracy to implement many of the recent advances. This paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of screening and ranking for specific crash type (speed and ice related crashes) on rural 1.6 km (1 mi) highway sections of Oregon highways. The analysis includes data generated with the extensive use of spatial techniques and incorporates climate data to enhance environmental considerations. The paper compares the results of five ranking methods—critical …

Suspended Sediment Fluxes At An Intertidal Flat: The Shifting Influence Of Wave, Wind, Tidal, And Freshwater Forcing, Stefan A. Talke, Mark T. Stacey

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using in situ, continuous, high frequency (8–16 Hz) measurements of velocity, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and salinity, we investigate the factors affecting near-bed sediment flux during and after a meteorological event (cold front) on an intertidal flat in central San Francisco Bay. Hydrodynamic forcing occurs over many frequency bands including wind wave, ocean swell, seiching (500–1000 s), tidal, and infra-tidal frequencies, and varies greatly over the time scale of hours and days. Sediment fluxes occur primarily due to variations in flow and SSC at three different scales: residual (tidally averaged), tidal, and seiching. During the meteorological event, sediment fluxes are …

New Particle Formation In The Front Range Of The Colorado Rocky Mountains, Micahel Boy, Thomas Karl, Andrew Turnipseed, Roy Lee Mauldin, Edward Kosciuch, James Greenberg, Jeff Rathbone, James Smith, Andreas Held, Kelley Barsanti, Alex Guenther

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

New particle formation is of interest because of its influence on the properties of aerosol population, and due to the possible contribution of newly formed particles to cloud condensation nuclei. Currently no conclusive evidence exists as to the mechanism or mechanisms of nucleation and subsequent particle growth. However, nucleation rates exhibit a clear dependence on ambient sulphuric acid concentrations and particle growth is often attributed to the condensation of organic vapours. A detailed study of new particle formation in the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains is presented here. Gas and particle measurement data for 32 days was analyzed …

Optimal Bus Stop Spacing For Minimizing Transit Operation Cost, Huan Li, Robert L. Bertini

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the increasing attention to finance issues relative to transit operation, a bus stop spacing model is generated with the aim at minimizing the operation cost without impact on transit accessibility. Two cost functions are considered in the model including passenger access cost and in-vehicle passenger stopping cost aiming at minimizing total cost. A bus route in Portland, Oregon, USA is examined as an example using Archived Bus Dispatch System (BDS) data provided by TriMet, the regional transit provider for the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Based on the optimization model, the theoretical optimized bus stop spacing is 930 feet comparing …

Coupling The Hydrodynamic And Water Quality Model Ce-Qual-W2 With A Multi-Trophic Fish Bio-Energetics Model For Lake Roosevelt, Washington, Michael Lee Mckillip

Dissertations and Theses

Grand Coulee Dam created Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake as part of the Columbia Basin Project. Located in northeastern Washington State, the Project provides economically important hydropower (19 billion kilowatt hours per year), irrigation (225,000 ha), flood control, and sport fishing ($5 to 20 million annually). A good system understanding aids in balancing these beneficial uses for the 230 km long reservoir. The reservoir's atypical 45-day mean residence time is much shorter than a typical lake, and much longer than for a riverine dam. The spring freshet requires drawdowns of 15 to 20 m for flood control—the driving characteristic of reservoir …

The Impacts Of Congestion On Commercial Vehicle Tours Characteristics And Costs, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Congestion is a common phenomenon in all major cities of the world. Increased travel time and uncertainty brought about by congestion impacts the efficiency of logistics operations. Recent studies indicate that a significant proportion of commercial vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) and vehicle hours traveled (VHT) are generated by trip-chains or multi-stop tours. This paper presents research demonstrating the impact of congestion on multi-stop tours in urban areas. An analytical model, numerical experiments, and real-world tour data are used to understand the impact of congestion on tour characteristics, carriers? costs, VKT, and VHT. This research shows that travel time/distance between customer …

Analysis Of Freight Tours In A Congested Urban Area Using Disaggregated Data: Characteristics And Data Collection Challenges, Miguel Andres Figliozzi, Lynsey Kingdon, Andrea Wilkitzki

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Confidentiality issues are usually an insurmountable barrier that precludes the collection of detailed and complete freight data. However, when detailed disaggregated truck activity data is available, the analysis of commercial vehicle routes and trip chain structures can provide insightful information about urban commercial vehicle tours, travel patterns, and congestion levels. Where truck data is usually aggregated and cross-sectional, this research analyzes several months of detailed truck activity records in a congested urban area and thus contributes a level of investigation unavailable with aggregated data. To the best of the author's knowledge, there is no published research regarding the analysis of …

Modeling Streambed Heating In Shallow Streams, Robert Leslie Annear Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is developing Total Maximum Daily Loads to address water quality concerns and threatened and endangered species habitat requirements. Approximately 940 water body segments are listed as water quality limited for temperature in Oregon. CE-QUAL-W2 Version 3 is a two-dimensional water quality and hydrodynamic model capable of modeling rivers, reservoirs and estuaries. An important aspect of modeling stream temperature is handling the short-wave solar radiation that penetrates the water surface and impacts the streambed, which can affect water temperatures under low-flow conditions. The Bull Run River-Reservoir system is a 264 km2 watershed 42 km east …

A Comparison Of Five Models For Estimating Clear-Sky Solar Radiation, Robert Leslie Annear, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many agencies in the USA are developing management approaches to address water quality concerns and threatened and endangered species habitat requirements in water bodies. Many of these water bodies are water quality limited for temperature. Factors influencing stream temperature include: streamside vegetation, topographic shading, inflows and outflows, stream width, stream depth, light extinction and solar radiation. One of the key driving factors in estimating a water body heat budget is calculating the amount of solar radiation incident on the water surface. Even though it is preferable to measure clear-sky solar radiation, many temperature models rely on theoretical estimates of clear-sky …

Pricing In Dynamic Vehicle Routing Problems, Miguel Andres Figliozzi, Hani S. Mahmassani, Patrick Jaillet

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The principal focus of this paper is to study carrier pricing decisions for a type of vehicle routing problems defined in a competitive and dynamic environment. This paper introduces the vehicle routing problem in a competitive environment (VRPCE) as an extension of the traveling-salesman problem with profits (TSPP) to a dynamic competitive auction environment. In the VRPCE, the carrier must estimate the incremental cost of servicing new service requests as they arrive dynamically. The paper presents a rigorous and precise treatment of the sequential pricing and costing problem that a carrier faces in such an environment. The sequential pricing problem …

Understanding The Safety Effects Of Roadway Illumination Reductions, Christopher M. Monsere, Thareth Yin, Michael Wolfe

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 2001, Oregon’s governor responded to a perceived future energy shortage in the Pacific Northwest by directing all state agencies to reduce power consumption by 10 percent. After review of power saving opportunities, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) elected to include selective illumination reductions on Oregon interstate highways as part of their energy saving strategy. The illumination reductions occurred at interchanges and along lineal highway sections between October 2001 and April 2002. A total of 47 interchanges and 6.03 miles of interstate highways were modified. Changes in illumination were broadly classified as either full (including high-mast) to partial designs, …

Improving Arterial Performance Measurement Using Traffic Signal System Data, Michael Wolfe, Christopher Monsere, Peter Koonce, Robert L. Bertini

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The characterization of the performance of freeways in real time and on a historical basis has been successfully achieved for many years. The ability to characterize arterial performance has been more elusive. Currently numerous applications of traffic management and traveler information systems include freeways but lack the ability to extend their operation to major arterials. This paper describes methods for quantifying arterial performance using data from signal system loop detectors. Included in the array of metrics are traffic density, total delay, predicted travel time, and signal coordination effectiveness. Methods for determining performance in these areas are adapted for use in …

Analyses Of Internal Solitary Waves Generated At The Columbia River Plume Front Using Sar Imagery, Jiayi Pan, David A. Jay

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Internal solitons generated at the Columbia River plume front during ebb tide are displayed on a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image taken on 26 July 2004 at 14:24:22 UTC. Scale analyses suggest that these internal solitons belong to the finite-depth category. A theoretical model, relating the radar backscatter cross section to dynamic parameters of internal solitons in the continuous stratification, is developed. Using the model and background stratification data collected by the River Influences on Shelf Ecosystem (RISE) project in July 2004, we extract the soliton dynamic parameters of the half-width, amplitude, phase speed, and average energy flux per crest …

Pend Oreille River, Box Canyon Model: Model Scenario Simulations, Chris Berger, Robert Leslie Annear, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Washington Department of Ecology is interested in developing a temperature Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocation for the Pend Oreille River between the Albeni Falls Dam (U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s reservoir) and Box Canyon Dam as shown in Figure 1. The Pend Oreille drainage basin is shown in Figure 2. An existing model of the Box Canyon reach was updated from CE-QUALW2 Version 3.0 to Version 3.5. This current research involves improving the calibration of the original model (1997 and 1998) and expanding the model using 2004 as an additional data set for calibration.

The use of field …

Modeling Effects Of Channel Complexity And Hyporheic Flow On Stream Temperatures, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stream temperatures are affected by multiple forcing functions, including surface heat exchange (including solar radiation, evaporation, conduction, and net long wave radiation) and hyporheic flows. Each of these forcing functions is directly influenced by the level of channel complexity in the stream channel and riparian shading. The interrelationship between channel complexity, hyporheic flow and stream temperature is highly complex, and efforts to manage for habitat diversity by managing channel complexity could result in unintended consequences on stream temperature. When planning modifications to stream channel complexity, consideration should be given to the effects such moderations could have on stream temperatures.

Urbanization …

Evaluating And Adaptive Signal Control System In Gresham, James M. Peters, Jay Mccoy, Robert L. Bertini

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cities and Counties are faced with increasing traffic congestion due to rapidly increasing population. Like many agencies, the City of Gresham has struggled with how to manage the increasing congestion with limited funds for major roadway widening projects. Gresham has recognized the need to optimize existing system capacity to get the most out of their current transportation system infrastructure investment.

In 2005, the City of Gresham, in cooperation with numerous agencies in the Portland metropolitan area, evaluated a variety of signal control systems including traditional time-of-day coordination, traffic responsive, and adaptive signal control systems. Based on that evaluation, the steering …

Lake Roosevelt Water Quality And Hydrodynamic Model Calibration With Fish Bioenergetics, Michael Lee Mckillip

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

An understanding of the effects of hydrodynamics and reservoir operations on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake (Lake Roosevelt) aquatic food web allows for better management of the reservoir. A CE-QUAL-W2, v.3.5, hydrodynamic and water quality model (Cole and Wells, 20061) is being applied to the reservoir. The models zooplankton algorithms are expanded and a fish bioenergetics model is incorporated. The Lake Roosevelt model extent is shown in Figure 1. The model includes the lacustrine arms up to full pool on the Sanpoil, Kettle, and Colville Rivers; the Spokane River arm up to Little Falls Dam; and the Columbia River from …

Lake Whatcom Model Calibration With Variable Stoichiometry In Sediments - Revised, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This memorandum discusses model calibration and enhancements made to the Lake Whatcom water quality model. Model development and initial calibration were documented in the report “Lake Whatcom Water Quality Model” (Berger and Wells, 2005). The Lake Whatcom water quality model has been converted from CE-QUAL-W2 version 3.2 to version 3.5 (Cole and Wells, 2006).

Developing An Online Tool For Delivering Research Results: An Update To The Oregon Department Of Transportation’S Crash Reduction Factor Database, Christopher Monsere, Aaron Breakstone, Robert Bertini, Douglas Bish

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Often, the challenge for the practitioner in disseminating research results is to package and present them in a manner that is accessible and easy to use while still providing depth, guidance, and necessary information. In most cases, final research reports are made available in printed form and online; however, for some applications, converting a report to a more interactive online report (tool) can produce results that are easier for the user to access. This is particularly true in this age of information overload and as practitioners find themselves needing to "do more with less." This paper describes how research results …

Idaho Pend Oreille River Model: Model Development And Calibration, Robert Leslie Annear, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The objectives of this project were to:

• Develop a hydrodynamic and temperature model of Pend Oreille River using CE-QUAL-W2 Version 3.2

• Calibrate the CE-QUAL-W2 model to field data collected during 2004 and 2005 using the following water quality variables:

• flow, water surface elevation, and velocity
• temperature o dissolved oxygen
• nutrients (NO3-N+NO2-N, NH4-N, PO4-P)
• algae – chlorophyll a
• BOD5 and dissolved organic matter and particulate organic matter compartments (both labile and refractory) for the organic matter cycling with algae
• periphyton

The model chosen for development was CE-QUAL-W2 Version 3.2 (Cole and Wells, 2004). This is a two-dimensional unsteady hydrodynamic …

Pend Oreille River, Box Canyon Model: Model Development And Calibration, Robert Leslie Annear, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to improve the existing Version 3.0 application of CE-QUAL-W2 of the Pend Oreille River between Box Canyon Dam and Albeni Falls Dam by performing the tasks outlined above. In addition, the use of field data from 2004 as an additional calibration year would improve the confidence in the model’s predictive ability for temperature. The model simulations were run from January 1st to December 31st in each of the 3 years of model simulation: 1997, 1998 and 2004.

The model chosen for development is CE-QUAL-W2 Version 3.5 (Cole and Wells, 2006). This is a twodimensional …

Uncertainty Quantification Of Satellite Precipitation Estimation And Monte Carlo Assessment Of The Error Propagation Into Hydrologic Response, Hamid Moradkhani, Yang Hong, Soroosh Sorooshian

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The aim of this paper is to foster the development of an end-to-end uncertainty analysis framework that can quantify satellite-based precipitation estimation error characteristics and to assess the influence of the error propagation into hydrological simulation. First, the error associated with the satellite-based precipitation estimates is assumed as a nonlinear function of rainfall space-time integration scale, rain intensity, and sampling frequency. Parameters of this function are determined by using high-resolution satellite-based precipitation estimates and gauge-corrected radar rainfall data over the southwestern United States. Parameter sensitivity analysis at 16 selected 5ø ? 5ø latitude-longitude grids shows about 12?16% of variance of …