Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Carbon Dioxide Fluxes Reflect Plant Zonation And Belowground Biomass In A Coastal Marsh, Serena Moseman-Valtierra, Omar I. Abdul-Aziz, Jianwu Tang, Khandker S. Ishtiaq, Kate Morkeski, Jordan Mora, Ryan K. Quinn, Rose M. Martin, Katharine Egan, Elizabeth Q. Brannon, Joanna Carey, Kevin D. Kroeger

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Coastal wetlands are major global carbon sinks; however, they are heterogeneous and dynamic ecosystems. To characterize spatial and temporal variability in a New England salt marsh, greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes were compared among major plant-defined zones during growing seasons. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes were compared in two mensurative experiments during summer months (2012–2014) that included low marsh (Spartina alterniflora), high marsh (Distichlis spicata and Juncus gerardiidominated), invasive Phragmites australis zones, and unvegetated ponds. Day- and nighttime fluxes were also contrasted in the native marsh zones. N2O fluxes were measured in parallel with CO2 and CH4 fluxes, but …

The Spatial Sensitivity Analysis Of Evapotranspiration Using Penman-Monteith Method At Grid Scale, Sivarajah Mylevaganam, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The need to allocate the existing water in a sustainable manner, even with the projected population growth, has made to assess the consumptive use or evapotranspiration (ET), which determines the irrigation demand. As underscored in the literature, Penman-Monteith method which is a combination of aerodynamic and energy balance method is widely used and accepted as the method of estimation of ET. However, the application of Penman-Monteith relies on many climate parameters such as relative humidity, solar radiation, temperature, and wind speed. Therefore, there exists a need to determine the parameters that are most sensitive and correlated with dependent variable ( …

A Spatial Evapotranspiration Tool At Grid Scale, Sivarajah Mylevaganam, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The drastic decline in groundwater table and many other detrimental effects in meeting irrigation demand, and the projected population growth have force to evaluate consumptive use or evapotranspiration (ET), the rate of liquid water transformation to vapor from open water, bare soil, and vegetation, which determines the irrigation demand. As underscored in the literature, Penman- Monteith method which is based on aerodynamic and energy balance method is widely used and accepted as the method of estimation of ET. However, the estimation of ET is oftentimes carried out using meteorological data from climate stations. Therefore, such estimation of ET may vary …

2016 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

2016 Scholarly Productivity Report, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Scholarly Productivity Reports

No abstract provided.

First Outdoor Characterisation Of A Pv Powered Suspended Particle Device Switchable Glazing, Aritra Ghosh, Brian Norton, Aidan Duffy

Articles

Suspended particle device (SPD) switchable glazing is a candidate intervention to adaptively control solar heat gain. A high voltage low alternating current (AC) to operate a large area SPD applications, can be provided by a photovoltaic (PV) array. The first outdoor characterisation of side-by-side comparison of PV-powered SPD glazing has been conducted. Using an inverter to convert direct current (DC) power from PV to AC a 40 Wp PV device continuously powered a 0.07 W SPD glazing. High inverter power losses were found due to high PV inverter sizing ratio, inverter high self-consumption, and low solar radiation. Low sizing ratio …

Risk Attitudes And Global Infrastructure Technology Choices, Jessica Kaminsky, Jeffrey P. Walters

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Past research shows that Hofstede’s cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance explains variance in nations’ technology choice for sanitation and electricity infrastructure construction. The uncertainty avoidance dimension describes the way that nations deal with ambiguity and uncertainty. This paper is part of a larger project that links that previous national scale research to the project level that is most relevant to the construction practice. As such, this paper reviews methods from the literature that measure individual risk attitudes, including issues of measurement and risk determinants. For example, this paper discusses paid real-stakes lotteries, general risk questions, and context specific risk questions. …

State-Of-The-Art Review Of Cathodic Protection For Reinforced Concrete Structures, Aimee Byrne, Niall Holmes, Brian Norton

Articles

Cathodic protection (CP) limits the corrosion of a metal surface by making it the cathode of an electrochemical cell. This can be achieved either by using a more active sacrificial anode to create a driving current, or by using inert anodes and impressing a current onto the cathode surface using an external direct current (DC) source. Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) is preferred where widespread protection is required, particularly in reinforced concrete structures. ICCP needs a constant DC power supply that is usually provided through a grid connection or independent generators. This paper presents the currently available CP systems for …

Statistical Models To Infer Gas End-Use Efficiency In Individual Dwellings Using Smart Metered Data, Ronan Oliver, Aidan Duffy, Ian Kilgallon

Articles

Residential buildings can significantly contribute to the European Union's 2020 efficiency energy targets. For this reason, energy distributors and suppliers are required to provide assistance to householders to reduce energy end-use. This paper develops statistical modelling methods that can be used by suppliers to infer the gas fuel efficiency of buildings in their residential portfolio, in order to deliver improved energy management services to consumers. The study begins by estimating individual statistical building energy models for a sample of consumers and presents the resulting distribution of independent parameters. These parameter distributions are then characterised by regression models using descriptive household …

Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery Intake Improvements, Chelsea M. Mcneil

Projects

The Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery located in Warm Springs Oregon, is hampered with many issues that impact its effectiveness. In an effort to improve the effectiveness of the hatchery, United States Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) has expressed interest in modifying the existing intake to address a number of specific concerns. Five specific objectives have been identified to define the overall project scope. USFWS desires to provide a means to prevent frazil ice from forming on and around the hatchery intake screens, prevent sediment from collecting behind the weir and entering the hatchery intake, provide effective hatchery screening to …

Water Quality Evaluation Of Tire Derived Aggregate, Richela K. Maeda

Projects

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the rate that potential water quality contaminants leach from tire-derived aggregate (TDA) as a function of time. A laboratory and field experiment is conducted to provide insight into both controlled and field settings. The laboratory portion of this study also provides a basis for evaluating the effect that alternating periods of wet and dry weather have on the potential water quality impacts of the leachate as compared to the worst-case operating condition, when TDA is constantly submerged (i.e., when placed below the permanent groundwater table). The field experiment is used to …

Impedance-Based Water-Quality Monitoring Using The Parallel-Plate Method, Ali Nazari, Arvin Farid, Ken Cornell

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The application of electromagnetic (EM) waves to measure the electrical properties (dielectric constant and loss tangent) of materials is a well-known approach. The electrical properties can be used to indirectly measure several physical properties of solutions in water such as the concentration and chemical composition of contaminants in water, as a representative of the liquid phase in soil. A capacitive method of measuring dielectric properties of solutions is proposed to detect and determine low-concentration chemical and biological contaminations in water. The primary objective of this project is to design a low-cost sensor that would require small volumes of samples to …

Effect Of Fiber Reinforcement On Cbr Behavior Of Lime Blended Expansive Soils: Reliability Approach, Arif Ali Baig Moghal, B. Munwar Basha, Bhaskar Chittoori, Mosleh Ali Al-Shamrani

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Use of synthetic fibers as reinforcement to stabilize expansive soils is gaining momentum. As a contribution towards this growing field of research two different types of synthetic fibers, Fiber Mesh® and Fiber Cast®, were evaluated as a stabilization alternative for expansive soils in the presence of lime. California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is chosen as a performance indicator as it is a good pointer towards pavement effectiveness. Variables such as length and amount of the fibers as well as curing period were studied. Both deterministic and probabilistic (or reliability) analysis is presented in this paper. While the deterministic analysis helps in …

Performance Of Aggregate Subgrade Layers In Low Volume Roads Constructed With Unconventional Recycled Aggregates, Hasan Kazmee, Erol Tutumluer, Debakanta Mishra

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

With transportation sector accounting for approximately 27% of total greenhouse gas emissions, transportation agencies all over United States have made sincere efforts to reduce such carbon footprint by incorporating more recycled materials in design mixes. In Illinois, recycled materials commonly include large sized unconventional aggregates used to stabilize weak subgrade soils that are abundantly found in wet of optimum conditions and prone to frost effects. To facilitate increased use of such “aggregate subgrade” materials, IDOT has recently introduced new gradation bands. However, performance of such recycled aggregate subgrade materials within the bounds of current design framework is largely unknown. To …

Drivers Of Food Wastage And Their Implications For Sustainable Policy Development, Krista L. Thyberg, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

There has been growing interest in establishing food waste prevention and recovery programs throughout the world. The drive to target food waste stems from increasing concerns about resource conservation, food security, food waste’s environmental and economic costs, and a general trend in the waste management industry to transition to more sustainable practices. Here the drivers of residential, institutional, and commercial food waste generation in developed countries, particularly in the U.S., are explored. The impacts of food system modernization on food waste generation are examined, particularly impacts related to food system industrialization, urbanization, globalization, and economic growth. Socio-demographic, cultural, political, and …

Reviews And Syntheses: Ocean Acidification And Its Potential Impacts On Marine Ecosystems, Khan M.G. Mostofa, Cong-Qiang Liu, Weidong Zhai, Marco Minella, David Vione, Kunshan Gao, Daisuke Minakata, Et.Al

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Publications

Ocean acidification, a complex phenomenon that lowers seawater pH, is the net outcome of several contributions. They include the dissolution of increasing atmospheric CO2 that adds up with dissolved inorganic carbon (dissolved CO2, H2CO3, HCO3−, and CO32−) generated upon mineralization of primary producers (PP) and dissolved organic matter (DOM). The aquatic processes leading to inorganic carbon are substantially affected by increased DOM and nutrients via terrestrial runoff, acidic rainfall, increased PP and algal blooms, nitrification, denitrification, sulfate reduction, global warming (GW), and by atmospheric CO2 itself through enhanced photosynthesis. They are consecutively associated with enhanced ocean acidification, hypoxia in acidified …

Python Examples For Multiobjective Data Visualization, J. Herman

All ECSTATIC Materials

Example data file and code to plot N-dimensional scatter plot, parallel axis plot, and a matrix of 2-dimensional scatter plots.

An Alternative Stiffening Method For Rigid Chs L- Joints, Niall Holmes, Darran Kierans, Patrick Crean

Articles

No abstract provided.

Case Studies Of Cavity And External Wall Insulation Retrofitted Under The Irish Home Energy Saving Scheme: Technical Analysis And Occupant Perspectives, Aimee Byrne, Gerard Byrne, Garrett O'Donnell, Anthony Robinson

Articles

The residential sector represents 27% of primary energy consumption in Ireland. This paper examines the case study of the Irish government’s national grant scheme to encourage energy efficiency retrofit in private housing. That is the Home Energy Saving (HES) Scheme, later rebranded the Better Energy: Homes (BEH) Scheme. The methodology involved monitoring several homes immediately before and after retrofit alongside discussions with occupants. The examination focused on specific measures commonly introduced through the HES/BEH programme − cavity and external wall insulation. It has been found that a significant decrease in heat loss through the walls was measured in all cases. …

Cement Based Batteries And Their Potential For Use In Low Power Operations, Aimee Byrne, Niall Holmes, Brian Norton

Articles

This paper presents the development of an innovative cement-electrolyte battery for low power operations such as cathodic protection of reinforced concrete. A battery design was refined by altering different constituents and examining the open circuit voltage, resistor loaded current and lifespan. The final design consisted of a copper plate cathode, aluminium plate anode, and a cement electrolyte which included additives of carbon black, plasticiser, Alum salt and Epsom salt. A relationship between age, temperature and hydration of the cell and the current it produced was determined. It was found that sealing the battery using varnish increased the moisture retention and …

Structural Control Of Wind Turbines With Soil Structure Interaction Included, Breiffni Fitzgerald, Biswajit Basu

Articles

The importance of considering soil structure interaction in structural control of wind turbines is investigated in this paper. An Euler–Lagrangian wind turbine mathematical model based on an energy formulation was developed for this purpose which considers the structural dynamics of the system and the interaction between in-plane and out-of-plane blade vibrations. Also, the interaction between the blades and the tower including a tuned mass damper (TMD) is considered. The turbine is subject to turbulent aerodynamic loading simulated using a modification to the classic Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory with turbulence generated from rotationally sampled spectra. The turbine is also subject …

Biofilm Growth Kinetics And Nutrient (N/P) Adsorption In An Urban Lake Using Reclaimed Water: A Quantitative Baseline For Ecological Health Assessment, Tianzhi Wang, Zhenci Wu, Yunkai Li, Mingchao Liang, Zhenhua Wang, Paul Hynds

Articles

Reclaimed wastewater reuse represents an effective method for partial resolution of increasing urban water shortages; however, reclaimed water may be characterized by significant contaminant loading, potentially affecting receiving ecosystem (and potentially human) health. The current study examined biofilm growth and nutrient adsorption in Olympic Lake (Beijing), the largest artificial urban lake in the world supplied exclusively by reclaimed wastewater. Findings indicate that solid particulate, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and metal oxide (Al, Fe, Mn) constituent masses adhere to a bacterial growth curve during biofilm formation and growth. Peak values were observed after ≈30 days, arrived at dynamic stability after ≈50days …

Sustainability For Shrinking Cities, Justin L. Herrmann, William D. Shuster, Audrey L. Mayer, Ahjond S. Garmestani

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

Shrinking cities are widespread throughout the world despite the rapidly increasing global urban population. These cities are attempting to transition to sustainable trajectories to improve the health and well-being of urban residents, to build their capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to cope with major events. The dynamics of shrinking cities are different than the dynamics of growing cities, and therefore intentional research and planning around creating sustainable cities is needed for shrinking cities. We propose research that can be applied to shrinking cities by identifying parallel challenges in growing cities and translating urban research and planning that is …

A Framework To Utilize Shear Strength Properties For Evaluating Rutting Potentials Of Unbound Aggregate Materials, Issam Qamhia, Erol Tutumluer, Liang Chern Chow, Debakanta Mishra

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents shear strength and permanent deformation trends of four unbound aggregate materials, commonly used for base and subbase layers in the state of North Carolina, USA, studied through repeated load triaxial testing, using the University of Illinois FastCell equipment. A testing and modeling framework has been established to develop a proper permanent deformation prediction model, referred to herein as the UIUC rutting model, with number of load applications. According to the framework, the unbound aggregate shear strength properties are incorporated into the model using the ratio of the applied wheel load shear stress to the mobilized shear strength, …

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment For Utilising Laminated Veneer Bamboo As A Primary Structural Material In High-Rise Residential Buildings, Philip Kavanagh

Masters

In a time when construction is ranked as one of the world’s least sustainable industries consuming about half of the world’s non-renewable resources (Hinson, 2012), it is important to develop and advance the methods and means by which we select and use building materials and how we design, engineer and construct our architecture. This research aimed to evaluate a method for utilising laminated veneer bamboo (LVB) as a primary structural material in high-rise residential buildings and evaluate the environmental potential of LVB through a comparative life cycle analysis (LCA). The process of life cycle analysis was completed through the development …

Specification Recommendation For Use Of High Performance Repair Material, Jennifer Woods

ETD Archive

The State of Ohio and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) have sought out ways to extend the life of the repair materials used by their construction crews, specifically, using high performance repair materials for the purposes of patching worn down or cracked sections of highways and bridge decks. Ohio is known for its frequent changes in weather, with freeze-thaw cycles occurring multiple times throughout the year. These cycles affect the lifespan of the repair material and create more maintenance for the DOT. Products that combat this problem were chosen, installed and examined over a year period to determine which …

Prospects For Meeting The Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards In The U.S., Jessica Zielinski, Rebecca Andreucci, Can B. Aktas

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

In 2013, the transportation sector accounted for 34% of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions, with no significant change from prior years. Efforts to improve vehicle transportation efficiency and curb associated environmental emissions had led to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars and light trucks initially introduced in 1975. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has phased in new standards recently that require an average combined fleetwide fuel economy of 35.1 - 35.4 mpg by 2017, 40.3 - 41.0 mpg by 2021, and 48.7 - 49.7 mpg by 2025. The new legislation has the potential to …

Long-Term Patterns Of Air Temperatures, Daily Temperature Range, Precipitation, Grass-Reference Evapotranspiration And Aridity Index In The Usa Great Plains: Part Ii. Temporal Trends, Meetpal S. Kukal, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Detection of long-term changes in climate variables over large spatial scales is a very important prerequisite to the development of effective mitigation and adaption measures for the future potential climate change and for developing strategies for future hydrologic balance analyses under changing climate. Moreover, there is a need for effective approaches of providing information about these changes to decision makers, water managers and stakeholders to aid in efficient implementation of the developed strategies. This study involves computation, mapping and analyses of long-term (1968-2013) county-specific trends in annual, growing-season (1st May- 30th Sept.) and monthly air temperatures [(maximum (T_max), …

Evaluating A New Cem Iii/A Cement For Concretes Exposed To Harsh Acid Rich Environments, David Thompson, Niall Holmes, John Reddy

Conference papers

The Irish Annex to the European specification, performance, production and conformity of concrete, IS EN 206, recommends CEM III/B cement for acid rich environments containing between 66 to 80% GGBS. However, BS 8500, the UK annex to EN 206 and the British Research Establishment (BRE) Special Digest 1, recommends CEM III/A cement with a GGBS range of 36-65%. This project investigated the performance of a new CEM III/A cement produced by Ecocem Ireland in concretes exposed to such environments using an extensive suite of laboratory tests.

In Ireland, up to €5.8bn will be invested to provide fresh drinking water and …

Analysis Of The Cost Effectiveness Of Combined Particle And Activated Carbon Filters For Indoor Ozone Removal In Buildings, Josh R. Aldred, Erin Darling, Glenn Morrison, Jeffrey Siegel, Richard L. Corsi

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study involved the development of a model for evaluating the potential costs and benefits of ozone control with combined particle/activated carbon filtration (referred to here as activated carbon filtration) in buildings. The modeling effort included the prediction of indoor ozone and ozone reaction products with and without activated carbon filtration in the HVAC system. Benefitto- cost ratios were estimated for various types of buildings in 12 American cities in 5 different climate zones. Health benefits were evaluated using disability-adjusted life-years attributed to the difference in indoor ozone concentration with and without activated carbon filtration and included city-specific age demographics …