Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evaluation Of Temperature-Index And Energy-Balance Snow Models For Hydrological Applications In Operational Water Supply Forecasts, Tian Gan, David G. Tarboton, Tseganeh Z. Gichamo

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

In the western United States, snow accumulation, storage, and ablation affect seasonal runoff. Thus, the prediction of snowmelt is essential to improve the reliability of water supply forecasts to guide water allocation and operational decisions. The current method used at the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) couples the SNOW-17 temperature index snow model and the Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC-SMA) runoff model in a lumped approach. Limitations in parameter transferability and calibration requirements for changing conditions with the temperature-index model motivated this research, in which new avenues were investigated to assess and prototype the application of an energy-balance snow …

Utah's Food Processing Industry Can Manufacture Products From Cbd-Containing Lipids That Have Superior Texture And Consistency, Joseph Cooney, Isaac Hilton

Research on Capitol Hill

Sophomore Joseph is an Honors student and Undergraduate Research Fellow studying physics. Freshman Isaac, of Kaysville, studies civil and environmental engineering. Joseph and Isaac are exploring how cannabinoids impact the way that lipids function. A common way CBD is packaged is within foods, where it is frequently added to fats like cocoa butter or palm oil, and as the market for such products increase producers need to understand CBD will change the behavior of the fats they are using.In addition to this work, Joseph also volunteers for a physics lab. “Undergraduate research has let me explore fields outside my major …

Computational Modeling For Decision-Making Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Reservoir Simulation Game, Julianne Quinn

All ECSTATIC Materials

Almost every decision you make is under uncertainty. Will I need a rain jacket in the afternoon? Will they say yes if I ask them out? Is 1 hour enough time to finish this assignment? Oftentimes, we can use computational modeling to simulate different scenarios of what might happen in the future to inform what decisions are best on average, or what decisions minimize the worst case outcome. For example, you could decide what player to draft for your Fantasy Football team by simulating player performance. In this activity, we will simulate how much water to release from a dam …

A Low-Cost, Open Source Monitoring System For Collecting High Temporal Resolution Water Use Data On Magnetically Driven Residential Water Meters, Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Robb J. Tracy

Publications

We present a low-cost (≈$150) monitoring system for collecting high temporal resolution residential water use data without disrupting the operation of commonly available water meters. This system was designed for installation on top of analog, magnetically driven, positive displacement, residential water meters and can collect data at a variable time resolution interval. The system couples an Arduino Pro microcontroller board, a datalogging shield customized for this specific application, and a magnetometer sensor. The system was developed and calibrated at the Utah Water Research Laboratory and was deployed for testing on five single family residences in Logan and Providence, Utah, for …

Developing Open Source Software Using Version Control Systems: An Introduction To The Git Language For Documenting Your Computational Research, Jared D. Smith, Jonathan D. Herman

All ECSTATIC Materials

Version control systems track the history of code as it is committed (saved) by any number of developers. Have you made a coding error and cannot debug it? Version control systems allow for resetting code back to when it worked, and show what code has changed since previous commits.

The contents of this lecture provide an introduction to the git version control language, GitHub for cloud hosting open source code repositories, and tutorials that demonstrate common and useful git and GitHub practices. This lecture is intended to be coupled with a discussion on creating reproducible computational research.

The zipped folder …

Empirical Models For Predicting Water And Heat Flow Properties Of Permafrost Soils, Michael T. O'Connor, M. Bayani Cardenas, Stephen B. Ferencz, Yue Wu, Bethany T. Neilson, Jingyi Chen, George W. Kling

Publications

Warming and thawing in the Arctic are promoting biogeochemical processing and hydrologic transport in carbon‐rich permafrost and soils that transfer carbon to surface waters or the atmosphere. Hydrologic and biogeochemical impacts of thawing are challenging to predict with sparse information on arctic soil hydraulic and thermal properties. We developed empirical and statistical models of soil properties for three main strata in the shallow, seasonally thawed soils above permafrost in a study area of ~7,500 km² in Alaska. The models show that soil vertical stratification and hydraulic properties are predictable based on vegetation cover and slope. We also show that …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The goals of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …

Beyond Metrics? The Role Of Hydrologic Baseline Archetypes In Environmental Water Management, Belize A. Lane, Samuel Sandoval-Solis, Eric D. Stein, Sarah M. Yarnell, Gregory B. Pasternack, Helen E. Dahlke

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Balancing ecological and human water needs often requires characterizing key aspects of the natural flow regime and then predicting ecological response to flow alterations. Flow metrics are generally relied upon to characterize long-term average statistical properties of the natural flow regime (hydrologic baseline conditions). However, some key aspects of hydrologic baseline conditions may be better understood through more complete consideration of continuous patterns of daily, seasonal, and inter-annual variability than through summary metrics. Here we propose the additional use of high-resolution dimensionless archetypes of regional stream classes to improve understanding of baseline hydrologic conditions and inform regional environmental flows assessments. …

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The aims of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …

Wildfire In Utah: The Physical And Economic Consequences Of Wildfire, Paul Mark Jakus, Man-Keun Kim, Randy S. Martin, Ian Hammond, Edd Hammill, Nancy O. Mesner, Jacob Stout

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

PRELUDE

On June 26, 2012 a lightning strike ignited a wildfire in the Manti-La Sal National Forest of central Utah’s Carbon and Emery counties (Figure P.1). By the time the Seeley wildfire was contained three weeks later, some 48,000 acres of federal, state, and private land had been burned and $8.7 million in suppression costs expended (Styler 2012). According to the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS.gov) project, nearly one-third of the acreage was severely burned, damaging vegetation and soils for years to come. Severe burns vastly increase the erosion potential of burnt landscapes, and the steep lands of Huntington …

Case Study For Guided Project In Stochastic Hydrology, Meghna Babbar-Sebens

All ECSTATIC Materials

Attached are two guided project activities for hydrology and climate data of Eagle Creek Watershed, Indiana, USA. The zip files have flow and precipitation datasets at daily, monthly, and annual time scales.

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The aims of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and permittable option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services …

Interdisciplinary Modeling For Water-Related Issues Graduate Course, Laurel Saito, Alexander Fernald, Timothy Link

All ECSTATIC Materials

The science and management of aquatic ecosystems is inherently interdisciplinary, with issues associated with hydrology, atmospheric science, water quality, geochemistry, sociology, economics, environmental science, and ecology. Addressing water resources issues in any one discipline invariably involves effects that concern other disciplines, and attempts to address one issue often have consequences that exacerbate existing issues or concerns, or create new ones (Jørgensen et al. 1992; Lackey et al. 1975; Straskraba 1994) due to the strongly interactive nature of key processes (Christensen et al. 1996). Thus, research and management of aquatic ecosystems must be interdisciplinary to be most effective, but such truly …

Hydrologic Efficiency In Water Conservation, L. Douglas James

Reports

Introduction: The hydrologic cycle can be subdivided into three phases: 1)Humidity is transported within the atmosphere and becomes precipitation, and 2) Water moves downhill until eventually reaching the sea while all the time 3) Evapotranspiration returns exposed moisture to the atmosphere. During its movement, flowing water transports suspended sediments and dissolved minerals to reshape landforms and redistribute the mineral composition of the earth's surface throughout geologic time. It is during the second phase that flowing water can be diverted for uses that generally add to evaportranspiration (through consumptive use) and transport (through waste disposal). The water resources development that serves …

Solving Problems In Water Quality, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

No abstract provided.

Cee & Uwrl Research In Action, Utah Water Research Laboratory

Reports

Introduction: The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineer (CEE) and the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) have a symbiotic working relationship. The CEE Department provides the pricipal investigators with academic affiliation to the university while the UWRL provides faculty with a strong water research arena. Both the CEE department and the UWRL have been involved in research and problem solving for government agencies and private industry.

High Intensity Land Treatment (Hilt) Practices, John P. Martin, Ronald C. Sims

Reports

Land treatment is categorized in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) as one of the land disposal options for managing hazardous waste constituents within the defined treatment zone before such constituents can be transported to surface water, groundwater, or air. Under the authroity of Subtitle C of RCFA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has promulgated regulations governing the treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes in land treatment units (40 CFR, Part 264, Subpart M, July 26, 1982). The objectives of this report were to identify land treatment facilities meeting the defined high intensity land treatment (HILT) criteria, …

Information For Operation Of Water Supply Systems, L. Douglas James, Glen E. Stringham, J. Clair Batty

Reports

Introduction: Water requirements increase as more people use more water for domestic purposes. The increase is augmented as technological advances add to the water needs of agriculture and industry. Additional urban landscaping adds further to the demand. Simultaneously, the same forces increase demands for flood control, hydrelectric power, and navigation; and a more urbanized population want more flows preserved for productive natural environments, recreational use, and aesthetic enjoyment. The response over the years to these growing demands on water resources has been to supply increasing amounts of water and greater levels of development for other purposes by building more projects, …

Modeling Integrated Decisions For A Municipal Water System With Recourse And Uncertainties: Amman, Jordan, David E. Rosenberg, Jay Lund

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Stochastic mixed-integer optimization is used to identify a portfolio of long- and short-term supply and conservation actions for a municipal water system to cost-effectively accommodate a distribution of water shortages. Alternative robust, grey-number, and best/worst case formulations systematically explore implications of uncertainties in action costs, life spans, water volumes gained or saved, shortage levels, and shortage probabilities. A detailed example for Amman, Jordan considers 23 potential actions. Results show: (1) remarkable consistency occurs across the different modeling approaches. (2) Conserving water—reducing leakage and targeting select customers to install water efficient appliances—plays an important and growing role over time. (3) A …

Water Management: Partnerships For Future Directions (Research And Testing Education Support Outreach), Mac Mckee

Reports

The UWRL is uniquely positioned to form collaborations with USU departments, other academic institutions and water centers, government, and private sector organizations involved in addressing water issues. The strong and consistent support of the State of Utah illustrates the importance of water and the creation of knowledge to manage water in Utah and the surrounding western states. The scope of projects ranges from multimillion dollar partnerships related to soil and groundwater remediation with national impacts, to small scale projects related to outreach to a specific city or county public sector audience. The UWRL mission, the strategy used to accomplish the …

Development Of A Low-Cost, Self-Calibrating Stream Gaging Station, Gilberto Urroz, Robert C. Leines, Garryn L. Perret, Jared M. Holland, Brian E. Hunsaker

Reports

Executive Summary: The present report presents a review of the state-of-the-art technologies for the development of a low-cost, self-calibrating stream gaging station. The research was conducted by the Utah Water Research Laboratory with funding provided by the Utah Division of Water Resources through Project RP 110080, March 1998. The report presents a review of the current practices in stream gaging and how technologies such as remote data telemetry through the use of satellite, cellular phone communications, and radio telemetry can be used for the real-time transmission of data. The study also includes the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) for …

Utah Water Research Laboratory Publications Listing 1993-1996, David S. Bowles, Leaunda S. Hemphill

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Study Of The Resistance And Stability Of Vegetation Ecosystem Plant Groupings In Flood Control Channels: Vol. 1, William Rahmeyer, David Werth

Reports

Preface: The following report was prepared by the utah Water Research Laboratory of Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Volume 1 of the UWRL report USU--400A contains the data summary and conclusions of flow tests conducted with different plant types and ecosystem groupings of shrubs and woody vegetation in the hydraulics flumes of Utah State University. The methodology and equations that were developed to predict flow resistance for fultiple plant types include the effects of plant fexibility, varying plant density, plant characteristics, and multiple plant stems. The study included over 214 flow tests, testing of 20 different plant types, 5 …

Cache County Water Demand/Supply Model, Trevor C. Hughes, Gregory J. Norby, Laxman Thyagarajan

Reports

This report descibes a municipal water demand forecasting model for use in areas of mixed rural and urban housing types. A series of residential demand functions were derived which forecast water demand based on the ype and density of housing and season. Micro sampling techniques were used to correlate water use data and explanatory variable data for low, medium, and high density housing. The demand functions were incorporated into a geographic information system (GIS) platform cosisting of a desk-top mapping program, MapInfo, coupled with a user interface program written in Visual Basic. The GIS-based model analyzes water demand at the …

Proceedings Of The 1995 Annual Symposium On Engineering Geology And Geotechnical Engineering (No. 31), Joseph A. Caliendo

Reports

No abstract provided.

Locally Weighted Polynomial Regression: Parameter Choice And Application To Forecasts Of The Great Salt Lake, Upmanu Lall, Young-Ii Moon, Ken Bosworth

Reports

Relationships between hydrologic variables are often nonlinear. Usually the functional form of such a relationship is not known a priori. A multivariate, nonparametric regression methodology is provided here for approximating the underlying regression function using locally veighted polynomials. Locally weighted polynomials consider the approximation of the target function through a Taylor series expansion of the function in the neighborhood of the point of estimate. Cross validatory procedures for the selection of the size of the neighborhood over which this approximation should take place, and for the order of the local polynomial to use are provided and shown for some simple …

In Situ Bioremediation Of Contaminated Unsaturated Subsurface Soils, Joseph L. Sims, R. C. Sims, R. R. Dupont, J. E. Mathews, M. M. Russell

Reports

An emerging technology for the remediation of unsaturated subsurface soils involves the use of microorganisms to degrade contaminants which are present in such soils. Understanding the processes which drive in situ bioremediation, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the utilization of these systems, are issues which have been identified by the Regional Superfund Engineering Forum as concerns of Superfund decision makers.

The Great Salt Lake: A Barometer Of Low Frequency Climate Variability, Upmanu Lall, Michael Mann

Reports

Low frequency (interannual or longer period) climatic variability is of interest bacause of its sugnificance for the understanding and prediction of protracted climatic anomalies. Closed basin lakes are sensitive to long term climatic fluctuations and integrate out high frequency variability. It is thus natural to examine the records of such lakes to better understand long term climate dynamics. Here we use Singular Spectral Analysis (SSA) and Multi-Taper Spectral Analysis (MTM) to analyze the time series of Great Slat Lake (GSL) monthly volume changes from 1848-1992, and monthly precipitation, temperature and streamflow for nearby stations with 74 or more years of …

Antecedent Moisture Conditions For Utah Local Storm Probable Maximum Floods, Travis S. Taylor, David S. Bowles

Reports

Introduction: The critical inflow design flood for most dams in Utah is the probable maximum flood (PMF) resulting from the local storm probable maximum precipitation (PMP) event. Commonly, the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) curve number method is used to determine the PMF from the local storm PMP. An important factor in this determination is the assumption of antecedent moisture conditions (AMC) existing immediately prior to the onset of the PMP event. At one northern Utah dam site the use of AMC III increased the PMF peak flowrate by 50 percent over the peak obtained when AMC II was used (Win …

A Spatially Distributed Energy Balance Snowmelt Model, David G. Tarboton, Tanveer G. Chowdhury, Thomas H. Jackson

Reports

This paper describes an energy balance snowmelt model developed for the prediction of rapid snowmelt rates responsible for soil erosion and water input to a distributed water balance model. The model uses a lumped representation of the snowpack with two state variables, namely, water equivalent and energy content relative to a reference state of water in the ice phase at 0 degrees Celcius. This energy content is used to determine snowpack average temperature of liquid fraction. This representation of the snowpack is used to determine snowpack average temperature of liquid fraction. This representation of the snowpack is used in a …