Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Analysis Of Integrated Farming Systems In Eastern Nebraska, Lori A. Hoagland

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Agroecosystems in the U.S. are beset with social, ecological and environmental problems as large industrial farming methods are edging out small family-sized farms and replacing ecological services provided by biodiversity with synthetic inputs and practices. While many of the benefits of smaller diversified or integrated farming systems are well known, farm producers need a concrete model that shows how integration is possible and with what crops. The objective of this study was to investigate some of these supplemental farm activities, and identify and evaluate whether they were compatible given the time and resource constraints of a typical eastern Nebraska farm. …

Seafloor Characterization From Spatial Variation Of Multibeam Backscatter Vs."Best Estimated" Grazing Angle, Tianhang Hou, Larry A. Mayer, Christian De Moustier, Barbara J. Kraft

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Backscatter vs. grazing angle, which can be extracted from multibeam backscatter data, depends on characteristics of the multibeam system and the angular responses of backscatter that are characteristic of different seafloor properties, such as sediment hardness and roughness. Changes in backscatter vs. grazing angle that are contributed by the multibeam system normally remain fixed over both space and time. Therefore, they can readily be determined and removed from backscatter data. The component of backscatter vs. grazing angle due to the properties of sediments varies from location to location, as the sediment changes. The sediment component of variability can be inferred …

The Role Of Climate In Modern Water Planning And Related Decisions: Nebraska Case Study, Donna L. Woudenberg

Open Access Master's Theses (through 2010)

Climate and weather play an integral role in the planning and decision-making processes for those involved in agricultural and natural resource fields. This project was conducted to determine whether climate and weather data are being efficiently and effectively used in these processes.

A survey was mailed to those who work in water-related fields in Nebraska and post-survey interviews were conducted to obtain greater detail. Survey results were analyzed in the following three ways: as a whole; stratified by respondent’s agency; and stratified by the educational background of respondents. It was found that climate and weather data are more likely to …

Upper Spokane River Model: Boundary Conditions And Model Setup, 2001, Spencer Slominski, Robert Leslie Annear, Chris Berger, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Washington Department of Ecology is interested in a water quality model for the Upper Spokane River system for use in developing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). The goals of this modeling effort are to:

• Gather data to construct a computer simulation model of the Spokane River system including Long Lake Reservoir and the pools behind Nine Mile dam, Upper Falls dam and Upriver dam for 2001 based on the calibration conducted for 1991 and 2000 data sets, (Annear et al, 2001).

• Ensure that the model accurately represents the system hydrodynamics and water quality (flow, temperature, dissolved oxygen …

Tmdls: Statistical Correlations Or Mechanistic Modeling?, Scott A. Wells, Thomas M. Cole

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In developing TMDL waste-load allocations for the Snake River-Reservoir system in Western Idaho and Eastern Oregon, determinations of the assimilative capacity of the system and the impact of pollutant reduction strategies has been performed using both a statistical-correlation approach and a mechanistic modeling approach. The system included the Lower Snake River, Brownlee Reservoir, Oxbow Reservoir, and Hells Canyon Reservoir with the focus was on Brownlee Reservoir.

The statistical approach used on Brownlee Reservoir divided the system into riverine and lacustrine zones. Field data were then averaged over season and location to provide statistical correlations, such as between total phosphorus (TP) …

Ua66/8/3 Geogram, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Geography & Geology highlighting activities of faculty, students and alumni.

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Central Nebraska Geology, James W. Goeke, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Duane A. Eversoll

Conservation and Survey Division

Field trip guide, for the Nebraska Well Drillers Association, covering Central Nebraska Geology from September 2002.

Preliminary Geochemical Evaluation Of Groundwaters From Wells Of The Nye County Early Warning Drilling Program, Irene Farnham, Klaus J. Stetzenbach, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

As part of the Yucca Mountain Oversight program, the Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office (NWRPO) has established a groundwater monitoring program to protect groundwater resources for the residents of Nye County in Amargosa and Pahrump Valleys. This groundwater monitoring program, referred to as the Nye County Early Warning Drilling Program (NCEWDP), involves drilling a series of wells down-gradient from Yucca Mountain for long term groundwater monitoring and also to provide much needed geologic and hydrologic information in this area. A comprehensive database of aquifer parameters in the alluvial, volcanic, and carbonate aquifers down-gradient hydrogeologically of Yucca Mountain is …

Field Guide To The Geology Of The Harlan County Lake Area, Harlan County, Nebraska, With A History Of Events Leading To Construction Of Harlan County Dam, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Duane R. Mohlman, R. George Corner, F. Edwin Harvey, K. J. Warren, Scott Summerside, Roger K. Pabian, Duane A. Eversoll

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The year 2002 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of completion of the Harlan County Dam and Multi-Purpose Reservoir. This seems a good time to write about the history of and reasons for building the dam, the effects of the dam and reservoir on the Republican River valley, and the geologic features seen along the shores of the lake and areas nearby. As many junior authors helped produced this educational circular, they are listed in the table of contents. All other sections were written by the senior author.

Includes July 2016 update: Addendum of photographs showing fault traces on drought-exposed lake …

Karst Aquifers As Atmospheric Carbon Sinks: An Evolving Global Network Of Research Sites, Chris Groves, Joe Meiman, Joel Despain, Liu Zaihua, Daoxin Yuan

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Karst flow systems formed in carbonate rocks have been recognized as a sink for atmospheric carbon that originates as gaseous carbon dioxide and ends up as dissolved aqueous carbon, primarily as bicarbonate. While measurements of the magnitude of the sink associated with carbonate rock dissolution have assumed that half of the dissolved inorganic carbon leaving a given catchment comes from the mineral and half from the atmosphere, consideration of the kinetics of carbonate mineral dissolution in acid solutions suggests that the ratio is enriched in mineral-source carbon to an extent that depends on the geochemical environment of mineral/fluid contact. After …

A Regional Gis-Based Analysis Of Elk Habitat Suitability In Northeast Nebraska, J W. Fisher

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Effectiveness Of Frightening Devices For Reducing Deer Damage In Cornfields, Jason M. Gilsdorf

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Light And Nutrients On Atrazine Toxicity To Freshwater Algae, Crystal J. Hansen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Basis Of The Ce-Qual-W2 Version 3 River Basin Hydrodynamic And Water Quality Model, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

CE-QUAL-W2 Version 3, a 2-D (longitudinal-vertical) hydrodynamic and water quality model for river basins combining both river and stratified river-estuary and lake-reservoir flow, is a development product of the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, MS, USA. With the development and release of any revised or reformulated model codes, significant model validation is required. This includes comparison of model results to simple analytical solutions for hydrodynamics and water quality transport, as well as comparison to laboratory and field data. In this paper, the model is compared to numerous analytical solutions for mass transport (1- D advective mass transport) and hydrodynamics (impulsive …

The Bull Run River–Reservoir System Model, Robert Leslie Annear, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Bull Run watershed is located 41.8 kilometers east of Portland, Oregon in the Mt. Hood National Forest and consists of two reservoirs supplying drinking water to over 840,000 people in the Portland metropolitan area. In March 1998 Steelhead and Spring Chinook were listed as threatened in the Lower Columbia basin under the Endangered Species Act. Historical reservoir operations during the summer released no water downstream resulting in stream temperatures exceeding the state water quality standard for salmonids. CE-QUAL-W2 Version 3 is a two-dimensional water quality and hydrodynamic model capable of modeling watersheds with interconnected rivers, reservoirs and estuaries. CE-QUAL-W2 …

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Southwestern Nebraska Geology, Duane Eversoll, Jim Goeke

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Support For Infiltration And Seepage Studies In Exploratory Studies Facility Niches And Alcoves, Irene Farnham, Klaus J. Stetzenbach, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

This report details the analyses performed under Task 9 of the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) Cooperative Agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE). This task, titled "Analysis of Chemical Tracers in Conjunction with the Vadose Zone Infiltration and Seepage Studies", provided for the development of analytical procedures and the analysis of samples from a tracer test currently in progress at Alcove 8 /Niche 3 in the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF). The concentration of two tracers (bromide andpentafluorobenzoic acid) were quantified in the initial injectate solution and also the seepage samples collected from Niche 3. Samples …

Beginning A New Era Of Drought Monitoring Across North America, Jay Lawrimore, Richard R. Heim Jr., Mark D. Svoboda, Val Swail, Phil J. Englehart

Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought experts from the United States, Canada, and Mexico met at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, for a three-day workshop in late April 2002 to discuss the U.S. Drought Monitor program and to develop a plan for initiating a new program of drought monitoring for North America. Since its inception in 1999, the U.S. Drought Monitor (DM) has been extremely successful in assessing and communicating the state of drought in the United States on a weekly basis. This success, and the recognition that an ongoing comprehensive and integrated drought assessment was needed throughout all three countries, …

Willamette River And Columbia River Waste Load Allocation Model, Chris Berger, Robert Leslie Annear, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A hydrodynamic and water quality model of the Lower Willamette River was developed to evaluate management alternatives designed to improve water quality. The Lower Willamette River is located in Oregon and drains a watershed covering 11500 square miles consisting of forested, agricultural, and urban lands. Inflows include treated municipal wastes and industrial effluents along with non-point sources from agricultural, silvicultural and urbanized land. The model was designed to address temperature, dissolved oxygen, algae, pH and bacteria concerns. The Corps of Engineers two-dimensional, laterally averaged, hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2, Version 3 was applied. CE-QUAL-W2 consists of directly coupled hydrodynamic …

Rock Glacier Surface Motion In Beacon Valley, Antarctica, From Synthetic-Aperture Radar Interferometry, Andrew G. Fountain, Eric Rignot, Bernard Hallet

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present radar interferograms of rock glaciers in the Beacon Valley sector of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, in East Antarctica, as part of a comprehensive study of surface processes in the area. Due to the relative absence of net precipitation (snow) in this region and the stability of the surface, the rock glaciers maintain excellent coherence of the radar returns over several years. As a result, we obtain a spatially continuous surface velocity field with a precision of fractions of a millimeter per year. On distinct rock glaciers entering Beacon Valley, we find coherent velocity patterns, with peak velocities approaching …

Thermochronological Evolution Of Calcite Formation At The Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository Site, Nevada: Part 1, Secondary Mineral Paragenesis And Geochemistry, Jean S. Cline, Amy J. Smiecinski, Robert Bodnar

Publications (YM)

In the near future a decision will be made as to whether or not Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada is a suitable site for a permanent, underground, high level nuclear waste repository. A major factor in determining the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a repository is the potential for the site to be flooded by water during the regulatory lifetime. The current study was undertaken to examine the past fluid history at the site, to gain a better understanding of the possibility of flooding in the near geologic future. To estimate the past fluid flux into …

Physical And Chemical Heterogeneity In The Subsurface: Spatial Distribution Of Transport Parameters And Their Relation To Depositional Processes, Dana Divine

Conservation and Survey Division

This thesis consists of two parts. The goal of first section is to better understand the influence of heterogeneity on contaminant transport. This objective is approached by quantifying the heterogeneity that may have affected transport of the Stanford-Waterloo tetrachloroethene (PCE) plume. Specifically, I determine the statistical distribution of the PCE sorption distribution coefficient (K_d) at Canadian Forces Base Borden, identify the spatial distribution of K_d, and determine the cross-correlation structure between PCE Kd and permeability (k). The results show that K_d is not lognormally distributed, and that variance is insufficient to …

Transport Of The Herbicide Atrazine On Suspended Sediments During A Spring Storm Event In Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Michael Anderson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the transport of atrazine, an herbicide used in Kentucky to control grassy and broad-leaf weeds in corn fields, on suspended sediments. Atrazine is a known carcinogen and endocrine disruptor and has been shown to be toxic at low environmental concentrations. Atrazine has the capacity to adsorb to soil particles, which in karst areas such as those found in south central Kentucky can be transported directly into the groundwater. Suspended sediments and water were collected from a well at the Hawkins River in Mammoth Cave National Park during a spring storm and tested for atrazine. Atrazine was found …

The Drought Monitor, Mark D. Svoboda, Doug Lecomte, Mike Hayes, Richard Heim, Karin Gleason, Jim Angel, Brad Rippey, Rich Tinker, Mike Palecki, David Stooksbury, David Miskus, Scott Stephens

Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

There is a need for improved drought monitoring and assessment methods in the United States. Drought is the most costly natural disaster [Federal Emergency Management Agancy (FEMA 1995; Wilhite 2000)], but it is often neglected by developers of assessment and forecast products. Drought is more nebulous than other disasters and does not lend itself to traditional assessments or forecast methods. Its relatively slow onset and the complexity of its impacts are reasons for the new assessment methodology. Improvements in drought monitoring and forecasting techniques will allow for better preparation, lead to better management practices, and reduce the vulnerability of society …

Agenda: Coalbed Methane Development In The Intermountain West, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Coalbed Methane Development in the Intermountain West (April 4-5)

306 p. : ill., maps ; 28 cm

"July 2002"--Cover

Proceedings of a conference held April 4-5, 2002

Listed as no. 28 in the Research Report Series on the NRLC Recent Publications list

Includes bibliographical references

Contents:

Coalbed methane development in the Intermountain West : a primer / Gary Bryner -- Coalbed methane development in the Intermountain West : case studies. Coalbed methane in the San Juan Basin of Colorado and New Mexico / Catherine Cullicott, Carolyn Dunmire, Jerry Brown, Chris Calwell ; Coalbed methane development in Wyoming's Powder River Basin / Diana Hulme -- Keynote address / Rebecca Watson …

Overview Of Cbm Issues In The San Juan Basin, Catherine Cullicott

Coalbed Methane Development in the Intermountain West (April 4-5)

3 pages (includes some color illustrations and maps).

Coalbed Methane In The Rocky Mountain Region: Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow, Matthew R. Silverman

Coalbed Methane Development in the Intermountain West (April 4-5)

8 pages (includes color illustrations and maps).

Contains references.

An Overview Of Cbm Exploration And Production, Steve De Albuquerque

Coalbed Methane Development in the Intermountain West (April 4-5)

9 pages (includes color illustrations and maps).

The Hydrology Of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs And The Interplay Of Gas, Water, And Coal In Cbm Production, Leslie Nogaret

Coalbed Methane Development in the Intermountain West (April 4-5)

7 pages (includes color illustrations and map).

Powder River Basin Coalbed Methane Financial Model (Prb-Cbm-Fm), W. Thomas Goerold

Coalbed Methane Development in the Intermountain West (April 4-5)

12 pages (includes illustrations).

Contains references.