Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Comparative Assessment Of Uav-Based Tseb And Field-Calibrated Aquacrop For Evapotranspiration On The Arid Coast Of Peru, Roxana Peña-Amaro, José Huanuqueño-Murillo, Lia Ramos-Fernández, Abel Ramos-Ayala, David Quispe-Tito, Lena Cruz-Villacorta, Elizabeth Heros-Aguilar, Edwin Pino-Vargas, Alfonso Torres-Rua

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Precise estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) is essential for sustainable water management in arid agroecosystems, particularly for high-water-demand crops such as rice. This study integrated very-high-resolution UAV thermal–multispectral imagery with a Two-Source Energy Balance model (UAV–TSEB) and a field-calibrated AquaCrop model to quantify daily ET and its components under continuous flooding on the arid Peruvian coast during the 2024–2025 season. A network of 24 drainage lysimeters provided an independent observational benchmark (ET_lys); to represent the treatment-level response, lysimeter observations were aggregated as the mean across the 24 units for each UAV campaign. Thirteen UAV surveys supplied radiometric surface temperature …

Predicting Tart Cherry Stem Water Potential Using Uav Multispectral Imagery And Environmental Data Via Symbolic Regression, Anderson L. S. Safre, Alfonso Torres-Rua, Kurt Wedegaertner, Brent Black, Brennan Bean, Burdette Barker, Matt Yost

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Tart cherry is an important fruit crop in Utah, where irrigation is essential due to arid conditions. Precision irrigation requires reliable indicators of plant water status, and stem water potential (Ψ_stem), is among the most sensitive though labor-intensive and spatially limited. This study develops Ψ_stem estimation models using high-resolution multispectral Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery combined with meteorological and soil moisture data, applying Symbolic Regression (SR). Results show a stronger correlation between optical bands and Ψ_stem during the pre-harvest period. Among 85 vegetation indices, the Red Chromatic Coordinate (RCC) index performed best (R² = 0.67). …

Evaluating The Response Of Ageing Rc Bridge Piers To The 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Using Bouc-Wen Hysteretic Models, Negin Fayaz, S. Kocakaplan Sezgin, E. Ahmadi, M. M. Kashani, M. Zaker Esteghamati

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

This study examines the seismic response of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers subjected to ground motion (GM) records from the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake by comparing the impact of pulse-like versus no-pulse records. A suite of 300 nonlinear Bouc-Wen hysteretic models was developed to represent piers with varying nonlinear behavior. Each Bouc-Wen model was assessed under 24 pulse-like and 28 no-pulse GMs, resulting in 15,600 nonlinear time-history simulations. Subsequently, the relationship between Bouc-Wen parameters (i.e., period and yield displacement) and seismic responses (i.e., maximum displacement, residual displacement, and maximum acceleration) was analyzed. The results show that pulse-like records produce 5 times …

When The Student Surpasses The Teacher: Better Generalization In Ai-Based Seismic Waveform Quality Assessment Using Knowledge Distillation, Ali Namin, F. Jalaeifar, A. Kottke, M. Zaker Esteghamati

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

This paper presents a knowledge distillation (KD)-based approach to reduce computational expenses and improve the generalizability of deep learning-based models for quality assessment of seismic waveforms. Using two different waveform datasets, teacher models are distilled into lightweight student models from two families of time-series-based and image-based models. Models from both student families are trained on a development dataset and evaluated on the testing portion of the development dataset, as well as on an entirely different external testing dataset. Results indicate that KD can provide student models with substantially reduced size (5%-10% of the teacher model's size) and latency while preserving, …

Comment On The Draft Environmental Impact Statement For New Operations For Lake Powell And Lake Mead Post-2026, Bryan Williams, Caitlyn Andrus, Brittany Fager, Matthew Fugal, Parker Hansen, Ashley Jones, Shaun Joseph, Ashley Mcallister, Braden Wilding, David Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

We appreciate the Bureau of Reclamation’s extensive effort in preparing the Post-2026 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for operational guidelines for Lake Powell, Lake Mead, and the Colorado River Basin. This commentary will address positives, questions, and concerns from the Draft EIS. We also share recommendations for consideration in the Final EIS.

Utah’S Waste Glass Makes Concrete Stronger And Improves Durability, Rosemary Yahne

Research on Capitol Hill

Utah landfills receive thousands of tons of waste glass annually while our concrete industry relies on cement, one of the world's largest sources of CO₂ emissions.

We discovered that finely ground recycled glass can replace up to 30% of cement in concrete and improve performance.

This research tests whether Utah's waste-recycled glass can create stronger, more durable concrete for our roads, bridges, and buildings.

Automated, High-Resolution, Three-Dimensional Pest Scouting In Orchards Using Aerial And Ground Vehicles, Sierra N. Young

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Evaluation Of Remote Sensing Evapotranspiration Models For Field-Scale Agricultural Water Management In Arid Central Iran, Somayeh Sima, Iman Raissi Dehkordi, Mohammadhosein Taghikhani, Neamat Karimi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Accurate estimation of actual evapotranspiration (ET_a) is crucial for effective water resource management and optimizing agricultural yields. While satellite-based surface energy balance ET_a models are widely adopted, their field-scale accuracy in under-researched regions, such as Iran, remains a critical knowledge gap. This study assesses five prominent models—PySEBAL, PyMETRIC, SSEBop, PyTSEB, and ETLook (from FAO’s WaPOR v.2, L1 product)—for daily ET_a estimation over an alfalfa field in the arid central part of Iran. Models were adjusted for the field using in situ weather data and Landsat-8 images, and validated against the scintillometer data. Results showed SSEBop provided …

Collaborative Research: Fair + R: Building The Future Of More Reproducible Water Research Through Community Best Practices, Software Tools, Cohort Building, And Policy Change., James H. Stagge, David E. Rosenberg, Sierra Young

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This project aims to create a pathway towards a future, ten years from now, when a majority of published research across geosciences is not only FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), but reproducible by a third party. Building on the Center for Open Science framework for cultural change, this project is organized around four scaffolded goals: improving infrastructure and tools, building community support, aligning incentives, and minimizing barriers to policy change. We will systematically analyze 300-500 publications from leading hydrology and water resources journal to quantify changes in reproducibility rates since 2017 and identify the tools and practices that best …

Jer-2021 Assistance To The State Water Resources Research Institute Program (Year 1 Of 5) For The 104(B) Program, David Tarboton

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Wg-2413 Remote Sensing Of Wine-Grapevine Transpiration For Improving Vine Water Status, Alfonso Faustino Torres

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Improving Profitability Of Small And Medium Sized Farms Though Economic Optimization Of Wheel-Line Irrigation, John B. Barker, Ryan A. Larsen, Matt A. Yost

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Water Rights Accounting And Distribution In Utah, Sarah Null, Bethany Neilson, Eileen Lukens, Eryn Turney, Utah Division Of Water Rights

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

This white paper summarizes how the Utah Division of Water Rights (WRi) administers water rights through the coordinated processes of water distribution and accounting. Water distribution involves apportioning divertible flow in river systems by adjusting diversions and reservoir storage. To account for and distribute water effectively, WRi must first determine the amount of water available for diversion each day, then prioritize water rights when water supply is insufficient to satisfy all demands. WRi has developed specialized tools and models to support this process.

This paper was developed through a collaboration between WRi and Utah State University to produce a report …

Developing Standardized Testing Datasets For Benchmarking Automated Quality Control Algorithm Performance With Aquatic Sensor Data, Ehsan Kahrizi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Advances in water monitoring technologies have led to a large increase in the amount of data collected from rivers, lakes, and other water systems. However, ensuring that these data are accurate and reliable remains a major challenge. Traditional data quality checks are done manually by a technician, which can be slow, inconsistent, and not practical for real-time monitoring. This research addresses these challenges by developing standardized datasets for testing computer-based methods that automatically detect and correct errors in water data. Using information from the Logan River Observatory in northern Utah, we created a step-by-step process to identify, categorize, and label …

Enabling Scalable Camera-Based Streamflow Monitoring With Serverless Cloud Computing, Sajan Neupane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis introduces a modern and automated method for monitoring rivers and streams using cameras and cloud-based software tools. Traditional monitoring methods often rely on sensors placed directly in the water, which can be expensive, hard to install, and difficult to maintain, especially in remote or rough terrain. In contrast, this approach uses cameras to observe water flow from a distance, offering a safer and more cost-effective alternative. However, camera systems come with their own challenges, such as collecting large amounts of image data, transferring it reliably from the field, and analyzing it quickly enough to be useful. This research …

Evaluating Use Of Multiple Hydrologic Storage Indicators To Enhance Streamflow Forecasting, Reza Morovati

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Accurate seasonal streamflow forecasts are essential for managing water resources in the western United States, where much of the water supply depends on snow accumulation and melt. Water managers, farmers, and communities rely on these forecasts to plan for water use, prepare for droughts, and protect the environment. However, traditional forecasting methods often do not fully use all the available information about how water is stored in the landscape, such as in snowpacks, soil moisture, and groundwater. This can limit the accuracy of predictions and make water management more difficult.

This study aimed to improve streamflow forecasts by explicitly including …

Unveiling The Interactions Between The Antibiotic Resistome And Microplastics Influenced By Trace Elements And Ppcps In Wastewater Treatment Plants, Tahira Tasneem Rahman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global concern, and wastewater treatment plants play a critical role in controlling its spread. These facilities process water containing microplastics (small plastic particles), trace elements like copper and zinc, and chemicals from everyday products like pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Together, these pollutants may contribute to the survival and spread of bacteria containing antibiotic resistance genes, but their combined effects are not fully understood. This study investigated how these pollutants behave and interact in wastewater treatment plants using two approaches: direct monitoring of real treatment plants and controlled lab experiments using synthetic wastewater. Results showed …

Feasibility And Potential Of Electric Air Taxis For Long Distance Airport Access/Egress Trips, Atul Subedi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Getting to the airport is often one of the most stressful parts of a trip, especially for people who live far from the airport. In the United States, many travelers live more than an hour’s drive from a major airport, and their choices such as driving, using public transit, or paying for ride-hailing can be time-consuming, expensive, and inconvenient. A new technology, Electric Air Taxis (EATs), is being developed as a potential solution. These small, battery-powered aircraft could offer faster, cleaner, and more direct connections to airports. However, the success of EATs depends not only on the technology itself but …

Utilizing Diatoms In Wastewater Treatment For Pollutant Removal, Ceaira D. Howard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wastewater treatment systems are increasingly challenged by a complex mix of pollutants including excess nutrients, organic dyes, and persistent chemicals like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Conventional treatment technologies often struggle to effectively and affordably remove these contaminants. This study explores the use of two diatom species, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Navicula cryptocephala var. veneta, both single-celled microalgae with silica-based cell walls, as an environmentally sustainable approach to tertiary wastewater treatment. Diatoms offer dual functionality through surface adsorption properties and metabolic flexibilities, making them promising candidates for integrated treatment strategies.

To test the trophic flexibilities of diatoms, P. tricornutum was …

Quicklime-Based Self-Healing Concrete For Bridge Deck Applications, Mehrnoosh Nazari

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world. However, over time, it can crack and deteriorate, especially on roads and bridges exposed to harsh weather and deicing salts. Inspired by the long-lasting durability of ancient Roman concrete, this study explores the self-healing capabilities of concrete incorporating quicklime (calcium oxide) aggregates to extend the service life of bridge decks. For this purpose, three concrete mixtures were developed using local materials: one without quicklime (C-Q 0%) and two with 2% (C-Q 2%) and 4% quicklime (C-Q 4%). These mixtures were tested for fresh properties, strength, durability, and …

New Collaborative Water Accounting Proposals To Protect Lake Powell And Lake Mead During Extreme Low Reservoir Storage And River Flow (Protect And Flexible During Crisis), David Rosenberg, Anabelle Myers, Brittany Fager, Erik Porse

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Low Colorado River flows threaten to draw down Lake Powell and Lake Mead below their minimum power pool elevations. Additionally, the U.S. Federal Government through its Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has set a new deadline for November 11, 2025 for new proposals to operate Lake Powell and Lake Mead after existing operations expire at the end of 2026. In a prior April 2025 post, we shared 13 reasons why we have hope for consensus on new operations (Rosenberg et al., 2026). One reason was that during crisis, rapid changes in policies and operations are possible. More recently, we asked the …

Site Specific Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads And Winter Wind Parameters Across The World, Brennan Bean, Nicholas Brimhall, Bikram Bhusal, Marc Maguire, Maha Moussa

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

This report presents a framework for estimating Reliability Targeted Snow Loads (RTSLs) and Winter Wind Parameters (WWPs) at locations outside the Conterminous United States (OCONUS). The methodology integrates ground-based in-situmeasurements with gridded global climate products to generate spatially continuous RTSL estimates for nearly any location in OCONUS. RTSLs are computed at qualifying in-situ stations, and predictive models relating gridded climate products to in-situRTSLs enable estimation at locations lacking direct measurements. This report describes the development of the in-situ annual maximum snow load database, the construction of global gridded climate summaries, the estimation of site-specific RTSLs and Service Targeted …

Visible Image-Based Machine Learning For Identifying Abiotic Stress In Sugar Beet Crops, Seyed Reza Haddadi, Masoumeh Hashemi, Richard C. Peralta, Masoud Soltani

Plants, Soils and Climate Student Research

Previous researches have proved that the synchronized use of inexpensive RGB images, image processing, and machine learning (ML) can accurately identify crop stress. Four Machine Learning Image Modules (MLIMs) were developed to enable the rapid and cost-effective identification of sugar beet stresses caused by water and/or nitrogen deficiencies. RGB images representing stressed and non-stressed crops were used in the analysis. To improve robustness, data augmentation was applied, generating six variations on each image and expanding the dataset from 150 to 900 images for training and testing. Each MLIM was trained and tested using 54 combinations derived from nine canopy and …

Reliability Targeted Snow Loads And Winter Wind Parameters For Locations Outside Of The Conterminous United States, Brennan L. Bean, Nicholas Brimhall, Bikram Bhusal, Marc Maguire, Maha Moussa

Browse all Datasets

The national building standard ASCE 7 moved to reliability-targeted snow loads (RTSLs) in the 2022 version. This necessitates the development of RTSLs for international locations. This repository contains the data and code needed to produce RTSLs and Winter Wind Parameters for locations outside of the Conterminous United States (OCONUS). It relies on annual maximum snow loads provided in a separate data release (see Brimhall et al. 2025).

Assessing Riparian Evapotranspiration Dynamics In A Water Conflict Region In Nebraska, Usa, Ivo Z. Gonçalves, Burdette Barker, Christopher M. U. Neale, Derrel L. Martin, Sammy Z. Akasheh

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The escalating pressure on water resources in agricultural regions has become a catalyst for water conflicts. The adoption of innovative approaches to estimate actual evapotranspiration (ETa) offers potential solutions to mitigate conflicts related to water usage. This research presents the application of a remote sensing-based methodology for estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) based on a two-source energy balance model (TSEB) for riparian vegetation in Nebraska, US using the Spatial EvapoTranspiration Modeling Interface (SETMI). Estimated results through SETMI and field data using the eddy covariance system (EC) considering the period 2008–2013 were used to validate the energy balance components and ETa. Modeled …

Improved Streamflow Forecasting Through Swe-Augmented Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Networks, Akhila Akkala, Soukaina Filali Boubrahimi, Shah Muhammad Hamdi, Pouya Hosseinzadeh, Ayman Nassar

Computer Science Student Research

Streamflow forecasting in snowmelt-dominated basins is essential for water resource planning, flood mitigation, and ecological sustainability. This study presents a comparative evaluation of statistical, machine learning (Random Forest), and deep learning models (Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Network (STGNN)) using 30 years of data from 20 monitoring stations across the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). We assess the impact of integrating meteorological variables—particularly, the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE)—and spatial dependencies on predictive performance. Among all models, the Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Network (STGNN) achieved the highest accuracy, with a Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.84 …

Stainless-Steel Piano Key Weir, Y. Fournié, H. Tralli, J. Alendé, S. Erpicum

4th International Workshop on Labyrinth and Piano Key Weirs

The spillway of the Oule dam (Pyrénées, France) was successfully modified and uprated in 2018. Its discharge capacity has been increased in accordance with the updated hydrological analysis and French regulations. In order to achieve a significant increase of the total discharge capacity, the dam operator (Société Hydroélectrique du Midi - ENGIE) has re-designed the whole spillway. A 1 m high type-A piano key weir solution was selected and implemented to replace the existing ogee crest. This solution is unique since it is made of stainless steel, precast, transported by helicopter on site and assembled by bolting. This paper focuses …

High Altitude Labyrinth Design And Construction, Nick Miller, Margaret Provencher, Eric Holmstead

4th International Workshop on Labyrinth and Piano Key Weirs

GEI worked with a Colorado district to design and construct a labyrinth spillway at a high-altitude reservoir west of Denver. The labyrinth spillway increased the reservoir normal water surface elevation 10 feet, increasing reservoir storage capacity by 120 acre-feet. This additional storage was achieved with the labyrinth with minimal modification to the existing embankment dam. The site presented challenges including significant ice loading on the weir structure, complex rock conditions requiring seepage control measures, and unique construction techniques.

A labyrinth weir configuration was chosen to increase discharge capacity with minimal adjustment to the existing spillway footprint and to pass the …

Nachtigal Dam: A 4917 M Long Labyrinth Spillway, F. Laugier, Denis Magnan, B. Blancher, Arnaud Chapius, Thibaut Guillemot, Sebastien Erpicum

4th International Workshop on Labyrinth and Piano Key Weirs

The Nachtigal Dam, part of the Nachtigal Amont Hydropower Project in Cameroon, features a 4917-meter-long labyrinth spillway, designed to safely manage floodwaters. This spillway was optimized for hydraulic safety, cost efficiency, and environmental considerations. Physical scale modeling (at a relatively rare 1:12.5 scale) and detailed design adjustments ensured robust performance under various flow conditions. Despite construction challenges for such a large-scale nonlinear structure, the project achieved reliable spillway operations, demonstrating the suitability of labyrinth weirs for large-scale hydraulic infrastructure.

World Register Of Piano Key Weirs, Sebastien Erpicum, Tohid Jamali Rovesht, Brian M. Crookston, Pierre Archambeau

4th International Workshop on Labyrinth and Piano Key Weirs

Piano Key Weirs have been proposed in 2003. Since then, more than 40 projects have been commissioned over the world. This presentation details a world register of piano key weir prototypes, freely available online. It also analyses the main characteristics of these structures in operation to highlight trends in design.