Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Real-Time Irrigation Scheduling Of Maize Using Degrees Above Non-Stressed (Dans) Index In Semi-Arid Environment, Hope Njuki Nakabuye, Daran Rudnick, Kendall C. Dejonge, Tsz Him Lo, Derek M. Heeren, Xin Qiao, Trenton E. Franz, Abia Katimbo, Jiaming Duan

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Irrigation scheduling methods have been used to determine the timing and amount of water applied to crops. Scheduling techniques can include measurement of soil water content, quantification of crop water use, and monitoring of crop physiological response to water stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a simplified crop canopy temperature measurement (CTM) method as Irrigation Principles. Soil and Water Conservation Engineera technique to schedule irrigation for maize. Specifically, the Degrees Above Non-Stressed (DANS) index, which suggests water stress when canopy temperature exceeds the non-stressed canopy temperature (T_cns), was determined by estimating T …

Modeling Actual Evapotranspiration With Msi-Sentinel Images And Machine Learning Algorithms, Robson Argolo Dos Santos, Everardo Chartuni Mantovani, Elpídio Inácio Fernandes-Filho, Roberto Filgueiras, Rodrigo Dal Sasso Lourenço, Vinícius Bof Bufon, Christopher M. U. Neale

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The modernization of computational resources and application of artificial intelligence algorithms have led to advancements in studies regarding the evapotranspiration of crops by remote sensing. Therefore, this research proposed the application of machine learning algorithms to estimate the ET_rF (Evapotranspiration Fraction) of sugar can crop using the METRIC (Mapping Evapotranspiration at High Resolution with Internalized Calibration) model with data from the Sentinel-2 satellites constellation. In order to achieve this goal, images from the MSI sensor (MultiSpectral Instrument) from the Sentinel-2 and the OLI (Operational Land Imager) and TIRS (Thermal Infrared Sensor) sensors from the Landsat-8 were acquired nearly …

Minimizing Surface Run-Off, Improving Underground Water Recharging, And On-Site Rain Harvesting In The Kathmandu Valley, Ambika P. Adhikari, Keshav Bhattarai

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal's political institutions and administrative units were thoroughly restructured in 2015 with the promulgation of the new Constitution. Several rural areas were combined to meet the definition of urban threshold criteria to classify rural areas into urban categories. Accordingly, over 3,900 local political and administrative units were amalgamated into 753 units, of which, 293 units are classified as urban. Within these newly defined urban areas, many natural environments have been converted into impervious surfaces such as paved roads, sidewalks, and building roofs. These impervious surfaces have drastically increased the amount of surface run-offs-often termed as "urban floods"--under increasing precipitation caused …

Ag-Iot For Crop And Environment Monitoring: Past, Present, And Future, Nipuna Chamara, Md Didarul Islam, Geng Bai, Yeyin Shi, Yufeng Ge

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

CONTEXT: Automated monitoring of the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum at a high spatiotemporal resolution is a key to transform the labor-intensive, experience-based decision making to an automatic, data-driven approach in agricultural production. Growers could make better management decisions by leveraging the real-time field data while researchers could utilize these data to answer key scientific questions. Traditionally, data collection in agricultural fields, which largely relies on human labor, can only generate limited numbers of data points with low resolution and accuracy. During the last two decades, crop monitoring has drastically evolved with the advancement of modern sensing technologies. Most importantly, the introduction …

Climate And Genetic Data Enhancement Using Deep Learning Analytics To Improve Maize Yield Predictability, Parisa Sarzaeim, Francisco Muñoz-Arriola, Diego Jarquin

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Despite efforts to collect genomics and phenomics (“omics”) and environmental data, spatiotemporal availability and access to digital resources still limit our ability to predict plants’ response to changes in climate. Our goal is to quantify the improvement in the predictability of maize yields by enhancing climate data. Large-scale experiments such as the Genomes to Fields (G2F) are an opportunity to provide access to “omics” and climate data. Here, the objectives are to: (i) improve the G2F “omics” and environmental database by reducing the gaps of climate data using deep neural networks; (ii) estimate the contribution of climate and genetic database …

Removing Soluble Phosphorus From Tertiary Municipal Wastewater Using Phosphorus- Deprived, Filamentous Microalgae, Aloysia Ahern

Master's Theses

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can be detrimental to ecosystems, human health, and economies. The low levels of phosphorus remaining in the effluent of municipal wastewater treatment plants can contribute to HAB formation. To achieve more complete phosphorus removal, an effluent treatment method has been proposed that uses phosphorus-deprived, filamentous microalgae to quickly assimilate soluble phosphorus to low concentrations. This study investigated two parameters that influence the feasibility of such a system: (1) the biomass growth productivity of algal cultures during the phosphorus deprivation period and (2) the correlation between the duration of this period and the phosphorus uptake rate by …

2022 Fall Engr333 Project Assignment, Matthew K. Heun

ENGR 333

The Fall 2022 ENGR333 project focused on sustainable heating for Calvin University.

I asked the students “What would it take to eliminate Calvin’s natural gas-related net CO2 emissions?”

Matt Kucinski (Calvin PR) wrote a story about the project. President Boer wrote a complementary post about the students’ work on LinkedIn.

Customer

The customer for this project was Dr. Wiebe Boer, President of Calvin University.

Formation Of Oil Particle Aggregates And The Impact On The Fate Of Oil, Wen Ji

Dissertations

Spilled oil slicks are likely to break into droplets offshore due to wave energy. The fate and transport of such droplets are affected by suspended particles in local marine environment, through forming oil particle aggregates (OPAs). OPA formation is affected by various factors, including the properties of the particles and oil, the mixing energy and duration, etc. To investigate the impact of these factors, lab scale experiments are conducted by using seawater (both artificial and natural) and kaolinite and silica to simulate the formation of OPAs in baffled flasks. In the first experiment, 9 gm and 3 gm spherical silica …

Neonicotinoid Pesticide And Nitrate Mixture Removal And Persistence In Floating Treatment Wetlands, Julia K. Lindgren, Tiffany L. Messer, Daniel N. Miller, Daniel D. Snow, Thomas G. Franti

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Mesocosm and microcosm experiments were conducted to explore the applicability of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs), an ecologically based management technology, to remove neonicotinoid insecticides and nitrate from surface water. The mesocosm experiment evaluated three treatments in triplicate over a 21-d period. Floating treatment wetland mesocosms completely removed nitrate-N over the course of the experiment even when neonicotinoid insecticides were present. At the completion of the experiment, 79.6% of imidacloprid and degradation byproducts and 68.3% of thiamethoxam and degradation byproducts were accounted for in the water column. Approximately 3% of imidacloprid and degradation byproducts and 5.0% of thiamethoxam and degradation byproducts …

Research On The Detection Technologies Of Ship Exhaust Gas In Emission Control Areas, Binting Tu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Roles Of Organic Matter Source And Transformation For Photochemical Characterization Of New York Lake Waters, Joseph Wasswa

Dissertations - ALL

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a critical component of aquatic systems that serves many purposes. Among them is the production of reactive intermediates (RIs) when irradiated with sunlight. Examples of RIs produced include the excited triplet states of dissolved organic matter (3DOM*), singlet oxygen (1O2), and hydroxyl radicals (•OH), all of which contribute to the degradation or inactivation of chemical or microbiological contaminants. It is therefore critical to understand how the sources and transformations of DOM may affect the production of RIs in sunlit aquatic systems.

The Adirondack Mountain region of New York, a historical hotspot for atmospheric sulfur and …

Optimising Existing Digital Workflow For Structural Engineering Organisations Through The Partnering Of Bim And Lean Processes, John Mclaughlin, Barry Mcauley

Conference Papers

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is now seen as one of the leading transformative processes within the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector and has the potential to assist in streamlining the structural design process. However, its practical implementation can often add another layer to the existing workflow and can result, to its detriment, in the primary objective of optimising structural workflows being hindered. This can lead to structural organisations producing 3D models in tandem with traditional drawings, a lack of human intervention regarding software interoperability, and a reluctance to move away from conventional work methods. This paper will explore how …

Using 2d Hec-Ras Modeling With Vertical Feature Extraction To Inform Ecological Design In The Lower Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, Colin Anderson

LSU Master's Theses

A 2D HEC-RAS model was created to demonstrate applications of hydraulic modeling for informing ecological design. This was done by comparing the hydrologic conditions of a baseline year (2010) to that of the environmental flow prescription from Kozak et al. (2016). The inundation results are relevant to hydraulic connectivity and cypress regeneration.

The hydraulic model was created by assimilating numerous data sources, refining the model with vertical feature (VF) extraction, and calibrating/validating the model. Several topo-bathymetric sources were combined to create the digital elevation model (DEM). Most importantly, this included bathymetry of the backswamp. Polylines of significant VFs in the …

Permafrost Landscape History Shapes Fluvial Chemistry, Ecosystem Carbon Balance, And Potential Trajectories Of Future Change, Scott Zolkos, Suzanne E. Tank, Steven V. Kokelj, Robert G. Striegl, Sarah Shakil, Carolina Voigt, Oliver Sonnentag, William L. Quinton, Edward A. G. Schuur, Donatella Zona, Peter M. Lafleur, Ryan C. Sullivan, Masahito Ueyama, David P. Billesbach, David Cook, Elyn R. Humphreys, Philip Marsh

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Intensifying permafrost thaw alters carbon cycling by mobilizing large amounts of terrestrial substrate into aquatic ecosystems. Yet, few studies have measured aquatic carbon fluxes and constrained drivers of ecosystem carbon balance across heterogeneous Arctic landscapes. Here, we characterized hydrochemical and landscape controls on fluvial carbon cycling, quantified fluvial carbon fluxes, and estimated fluvial contributions to ecosystem carbon balance across 33 watersheds in four ecoregions in the continuous permafrost zone of the western Canadian Arctic: unglaciated uplands, ice-rich moraine, and organic-rich lowlands and till plains. Major ions, stable isotopes, and carbon speciation and fluxes revealed patterns in carbon cycling across ecoregions …

Fate Of Metals In Presence Of Minerals And Mineral-Organic Assemblages, Neha Sharma

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Metals can enter aquatic systems from natural and anthropogenic processes associated with weathering, sediment re-suspension, industrial activities, and atmospheric deposition. Metals pose health and environmental risks at high concentrations due to their potential toxicity and bioaccumulation, but many trace metals also serve as essential micronutrients for biogeochemical processes in natural aquatic systems. Biogeochemical processes such as methanogenesis, denitrification, and mercury methylation require transition metals such as nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), and molybdenum (Mo) for completion. These biogeochemical processes can be substantial contributors of greenhouse gases, such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), into the atmosphere. The behavior, …

Advanced Nanomaterials And Module Designs For Efficient Photothermal Water Treatment, Deoukchen Ghim

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Water scarcity is one of the most serious challenges that human beings face, and the demand for clean water will continuously increase as populations grow. Creating potable water from saline water is an important way to meet global freshwater demands. However, current desalination techniques require high energy consumption and a large scale to be efficient, restricting their utilization in remote and underdeveloped areas. These constraints motivate the development of sustainable water treatment methods that can be used with less energy input, in small modular configurations, and in off-grid water treatment systems. As an abundant and renewable energy source, sunlight has …

The Generation And Transport Of Charged Aerosols: Fundamental Study And Applications In Medicine And Energy Conversion, Hao Zhou

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Charged aerosols have significant implications in the field of functional material synthesis, pharmaceutical coating, and drug delivery. Electrospray systems are an effective methodology for generating highly charged monodispersed droplets in the size range from nanometer to micrometer. The prediction of surface charge, size and morphology of nanoparticles resulting from charged droplets are highly required for the precise control of nanoparticle properties and their effective utilization. However, the evolution of charged droplet is not well understood due to the existence of coulombic fission and ion evaporation processes. Thus, the goal of this dissertation is to elucidate how the precursor properties and …

Nanoscale Interfacial Control Of Ion Behaviors And Caco3 Formation In Environmental Systems, Yaguang Zhu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Interfaces in environmental systems can change the distribution of pollutants and nutrients, determine the fate and transport of nanoparticles, and affect the efficiency of engineering projects. Complex interactions, including electrostatic interactions, Van der Waals interactions, chemical interactions, and ion-surface specific interactions, can all contribute to different ion, ion-pair, and nanoparticle formations near interfaces. Although environmental interfaces play critical roles, only a limited number of studies have considered the nanoscale picture of how they control ions and nanoparticles. Thus, this dissertation addresses three research questions: (1) How does sulfate chemically interact with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) during its heterogeneous formation on quartz …

Role Of Water Chemistry In Lead Release During Drinking Water Supply And Augmentation, Anushka Mishrra

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Lead is a toxic heavy metal and legacy contaminant in drinking water that can be released from lead service lines and lead-containing premise plumbing. Lead concentrations in water are sensitive to changes in water chemistry. The extent of lead release is often driven by the solubility of the corrosion products formed on the interior of the pipes. Therefore, it is critical to advance our understanding of the extent of lead released from different lead-based plumbing materials at equilibrium and the ability to control lead when it exceeds the regulatory levels. Lead measured in the 1st liter of water collected from …

Photochemical Formation Mechanisms And Applications Of Mn Oxide Nanomaterials, Zhenwei Gao

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Manganese (Mn) oxides are ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments, and the rich redox chemistry of manganese is of interest in engineered systems, such as batteries and water oxidation catalysts. Mn oxides have large surface areas and are highly active in adsorption and redox reactions. Our research group recently reported photochemically-assisted abiotic inorganic oxidation of Mn2+(aq) to δ-MnO2 nanosheets in the presence of nitrate and without a microorganism, demonstrating that abiotic Mn oxidation processes are not negligible. My doctoral work focuses on investigating the effects of various aquatic chemistry parameters, including reactive oxygen species (ROS), peroxyl radical (ROO•), reactive halogen …

Nano-Bio Interactions: Implications And Applications, Anushree Ghosh

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Rapid expansion of technology development at the nanoscale has underpinned a promising industry. Towards this, there remain significant information gaps which are critical with regard to decision making processes and ultimate industrial sustainability. From an implication point of view, understanding how common biological macromolecules, including glycolipids and/or biopolymers produced by bacteria and fungi, which are ubiquitous in the environment, is fundamental to predicting the behavior of released/produced nanoparticles. Conversely, other bio-based tailored macromolecules, including mussel foot protein (MFP), have significant potential as functional material coatings for advanced applications.This PhD thesis is focused on interfacial processes related to superparamagnetic iron oxide …

Calcium Bearing Mineral-Hydrogel Composites For Phosphate Removal And Recovery, Albern Xuan-Wei Tan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The millions of tons of phosphate rock ore mined every year for use as phosphorus fertilizer have created two challenges. First, phosphate rock is a mined, non-renewable resource that is also heavily geographically concentrated, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability and availability of phosphorus. Second, after it is applied as a fertilizer, phosphorus will also be released to the broader environment. There, it contributes to harmful algal blooms and eutrophication, which threaten surface water quality and can harm aquatic ecosystems and the communities and industries that rely on them. These considerations motivate the coupled development of techniques for removing and …

Evaluation Of Flood Damage On Cross Laminated Timber Wall Configurations, Mustafa Nezih Kaya

Theses and Dissertations

Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the critical factors that affect climate change, increasing flooding risk and threatening human life. The use of traditional construction materials is responsible for a higher percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the use of sustainable materials in the construction industry. The substitution of current building materials with sustainable materials is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and positively influence climate change when the current construction demand in the world is considered. Wood is one of the primary environmentally friendly construction materials in regard to high carbon storage and low carbon emissions. …

An Evaluation Of Energy Consumption Comparing Conventional Water Treatment Plants To Microfiltration And Ultrafiltration Water Treatment Plants, Danielle Larsen

All Theses

The use of low-pressure, hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes has become increasingly prominent in drinking water treatment plant configurations over the past 30 years. At the same time, the topics of energy efficiency and sustainability in industry are becoming progressively more important. Although MF and UF are highly successful in filtration, they are generally thought of as significant energy consumers; however, the data have not yet been available to compare multiple plants in various contexts to determine the factors that most affect energy use. This research compares the energy use of MF and UF treatment plants to …

Application Of A 14c-Assay To Assess Methanotrophic Biodegradation Of Tce In Low Ph Groundwater, Evan Groome

All Theses

Current biological strategies for remediating trichloroethylene (TCE) in low pH aquifers (i.e., pH14C-TCE assay was developed to determine pseudo first-order rate constants for the degradation of TCE in microcosms containing soil and groundwater from the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) superfund site, where the pH ranges from 4.1 to 4.9. The ¹⁴C-TCE assay was also adapted to calculate soil-normalized rate constants for data from this site, as well as data that Szwast²¹ collected from the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). In addition to natural attenuation, biostimulation through amendments of methane and nutrients were also assessed. This treatment …

Fabrication Of Lab-Scale Polymeric And Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticle-Enabled Thin Film Composite Reverse Osmosis Membranes For Potable Reuse Applications, Timothy J. Dinh

Master's Theses

Reverse osmosis (RO) is widely used for water reclamation and is one of the most feasible technologies for addressing water scarcity around the world. RO membrane fabrication procedures are continually being optimized and modified to enhance the treatment performance and efficacy of the RO process. A review of the existing literature published on membrane fabrication revealed that a detailed and reproducible methodology consistent among prior studies was not available. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to utilize techniques from prior research to develop a reliable lab-scale membrane fabrication process for studying the potable reuse applications of TFC RO …

Implementation Of Secondary And Tertiary Treated Wastewater In Concrete Manufacturing, Amany G. Micheal Prof., Haidy Abdel Salam, Gouda Ghanem

Civil Engineering

Water scarcity is a problem that faces many regions. In a developing and arid country like Egypt, the need for freshwater is exponentially increasing. This research is an evaluation of the recycled wastewater to be used in concrete manufacturing. The treated wastewater is blended with potable water with percentages of 25%, 50%, and 100%. The mixture of the two types of water is used in concrete mixing and curing. Control specimens with pure potable water are cast for comparison. The setting time for Ordinary Portland Cement is tested using the different water mixes. The hardened concrete is tested in compression …

Compound Flooding In Convergent Estuaries: Insights From An Analytical Model, Ramin Familkhalili, Stefan Talke, David A. Jay

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We investigate here the effects of geometric properties (channel depth and cross-sectional convergence length), storm surge characteristics, friction, and river flow on the spatial and temporal variability of compound flooding along an idealized, meso-tidal coastal-plain estuary. An analytical model is developed that includes exponentially convergent geometry, tidal forcing, constant river flow, and a representation of storm surge as a combination of two sinusoidal waves. Nonlinear bed friction is treated using Chebyshev polynomials and trigonometric functions, and a multi-segment approach is used to increase accuracy. Model results show that river discharge increases the damping of surge amplitudes in an estuary, while …

Use Of A Trial Function Method To Semi-Analytically Simulate Matrix Diffusion In Heterogeneous And Fractured Media, Kien Trung Pham

All Dissertations

A semi-analytic trial function model is applied to simulate matrix diffusion in systems of parallel fractures, 2-D/3-D discrete fracture networks, and in 3-D heterogeneous media. The trial function model gives low normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) when compared to the parallel fracture analytical solution over a range of fracture spacing, with considerations for retardation and decay. The semi-analytic trial function model is efficient in time and maintains less than 6% NRMSE when it simulates matrix diffusive transport in 2-D/3-D discrete fracture networks (DFN). The model can predict DFN plume within a few meters of accuracy compared to fine-grid DFN …

Integration Of Techno-Economic Analysis (Tea) And Life Cycle Assessment (Lca) For Sustainable Process Design, Roksana Mahmud

All Dissertations

For sustainable design, technology developers need to consider not only technical and economic aspects but also potential environmental impacts while developing new technologies. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) evaluates the technical performance and economic feasibility of a technology. Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the potential environmental impacts associated with a product system throughout its life cycle from raw material extraction to disposal. Generally, TEA and LCA are performed separately for technology assessment. Understanding of the trade-off between economic and environmental performances is crucial for sustainable process design, which is not fully available if TEA and LCA is performed separately. In contrast, integration …