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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Pumping Fees And Spillovers In The Groundwater Commons: An Evaluation Of A Conservation Tool And Irrigator Competitive Behavior, Godwin Kwabla Ekpe Jan 2021

Pumping Fees And Spillovers In The Groundwater Commons: An Evaluation Of A Conservation Tool And Irrigator Competitive Behavior, Godwin Kwabla Ekpe

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

My dissertation examines the effectiveness of pumping fees in groundwater commons agricultural irrigation as a conservation tool in the presence of varying water scarcity levels and spatial interdependence among irrigators. The first chapter provides a brief overview of three important areas of groundwater commons irrigation addressed in this dissertation. The second chapter’s objectives are two-fold. First, I review the common-pool resources literature relative to concerns of sustainable extraction and implementation of conservation policies focusing on pricing incentives in the management of groundwater commons where irrigators share the same underlying aquifer. Second, I introduce a theoretical model involving incorporating a non-constant …


Midwestern U.S. Diurnal Temperature Range: Spatial And Temporal Trends From 1900-2018, Kelly Ann Swaney Jan 2021

Midwestern U.S. Diurnal Temperature Range: Spatial And Temporal Trends From 1900-2018, Kelly Ann Swaney

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In the Corn Belt region of the United States, the twentieth century saw many land use changes as the land had been converted from the natural landscape to cropland. As the twentieth century progressed, numerous advancements occurred to increase the crop acreage, crop density, and amount of irrigated land. All of these changes contributed to higher rates of evapotranspiration, which put more moisture into the low levels of the atmosphere. This additional moisture played a role in changing the radiative fluxes and, as a result, the surface temperature. The Diurnal Temperature Range (DTR) is examined across the 1900 to 2018 …


Conservation Agriculture In The Heartland: Farmer Perceptions Of Soil Health And The Adoption Of Cover Crops, Lillian Clarissa Cobo Jan 2019

Conservation Agriculture In The Heartland: Farmer Perceptions Of Soil Health And The Adoption Of Cover Crops, Lillian Clarissa Cobo

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The benefits of cover crops are widely recognized by those interested in conservation agriculture and soil health. These benefits include soil erosion control, nutrient loss reduction, and overall improvement of soil health. However, while these benefits are well-documented, the adoption rate of cover crops in the American Heartland remains astoundingly low. While some studies have attempted to determine the reasons for this low adoption rate, the information relating to how farmer perceptions of soil health impact cover crop adoption is almost nonexistent. Furthermore, there is a clear absence of mixed method studies in the literature relating to this subject. This …