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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
High-Performance Domain-Specific Library For Hydrologic Data Processing, Kalyan Bhetwal
High-Performance Domain-Specific Library For Hydrologic Data Processing, Kalyan Bhetwal
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Hydrologists must process many gigabytes of data for hydrologic simulations, which takes time and resources degrading performance. The performance issues are caused mainly by domain scientists’ preference for using Python, which trades performance for productivity. In my thesis, I demonstrate that using the static compilation technique to compile Python to generate C code along with several optimizations reduces time and resources for hydrologic data processing. I developed a Domain Specific Library (DSL) which is a subset of Python and compiles to Sparse Polyhedral Framework - Intermediate Representation (SPF-IR), which allows opportunities for optimizations like read reduction fusion which are not …
Water Quality Responses To A Semi-Arid Beaver Meadow In Boise, Idaho, Luise Bayer Winslow
Water Quality Responses To A Semi-Arid Beaver Meadow In Boise, Idaho, Luise Bayer Winslow
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Beavers have been instrumental in shaping the North American riverine landscape. However, land use change and beaver trapping have caused large decreases in beaver populations, resulting in fundamental changes to river morphology, hydrology, and biogeochemical function. Effective river restoration and remediation of arid western rivers relies on a comprehensive interpretation of how beaver activity influences water quantity and quality. In this study, I compared two stream reaches with and without beaver dams in a semi-arid watershed, to quantify the effects of beaver activity on hydrology and biogeochemistry. Within each reach, I combined dilution gauging and stream tracer experiments to determine …
Laboratory Measurement Of Electrical And Hydraulic Properties Of Regolith Over Granitic Bedrock, Taylor James Bienvenue
Laboratory Measurement Of Electrical And Hydraulic Properties Of Regolith Over Granitic Bedrock, Taylor James Bienvenue
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Characterizing water flux within the critical zone (CZ) is essential for a multitude of studies and applications related to irrigation, drainage, water management, and contaminant transport. Trying to measure water flux in the critical zone, specifically in the subsurface, is difficult due to the associated structural heterogeneity and complex interactions taking place between biological, chemical, and physical processes. Current methods (i.e., inferred from soil suction and soil moisture measurements) to characterize water flux within the critical zone can be time consuming and are not directly related to water flux. Recent literature has provided evidence that self-potential (SP) is a promising …
Using Remote Sensing Data Fusion Modeling To Track Seasonal Snow Cover In A Mountain Watershed, Allison N. Vincent
Using Remote Sensing Data Fusion Modeling To Track Seasonal Snow Cover In A Mountain Watershed, Allison N. Vincent
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Seasonal snowfall is the largest component of the water budget in many mountain headwater regions around the world. In addition to sustaining biological water needs in drier, lower elevation areas throughout the year, mountain snowpack also provides essential water inputs to the Critical Zone (CZ) - the outer layer of the Earth’s surface, which hosts a variety of biogeochemical processes responsible for transforming inorganic matter into forms usable for life. Water is a known driver of CZ activity, but uncertainty exists in its spatial and temporal interactions with CZ processes, particularly in the complex terrain of heterogeneous mountain areas. Increasing …
Assessment Of Snow Atmosphere Forcing During Central Idaho Atmospheric Rivers, William Rudisill
Assessment Of Snow Atmosphere Forcing During Central Idaho Atmospheric Rivers, William Rudisill
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Atmospheric Rivers (AR) are globally occuring weather features and the primary mechanism through which water vapor moves from the tropics and subtropics towards the mid-latitudes, doing so at rates comparable to the world’s largest terrestrial rivers. AR that encounter mountains often cause extreme precipitation in the form of rain and snow, high winds, and flooding in many watersheds. They account for as much as 20-30% of cool season precipitation in the central Idaho Mountains. In the Northern Hemisphere, seasonal snow cover during Winter and Spring months is the most variable land surface component in space and time, and acts on …
Geochemical Dynamics And Nitrous Oxide Release From The Hyporheic Zone Of Streams, Annika Marie Quick
Geochemical Dynamics And Nitrous Oxide Release From The Hyporheic Zone Of Streams, Annika Marie Quick
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
The hyporheic zones of streams and rivers, consisting of the sediments beneath and immediately adjacent to the stream channel, are an important site of geochemical processing. Due to the difficulty of measuring these geochemical processes in the hyporheic zone in situ with meaningful spatial and temporal resolution, we conducted multiple column and large-scale flume experiments to model 1D and 2D hyporheic flow paths and observed important geochemical reactions, including the production and consumption of nitrous oxide (N2O). N2O is a significant greenhouse gas, but the controls on its emissions from streams are poorly constrained. We describe …
Application Of Hydrogeophysical Imaging In The Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory, Travis Nielson
Application Of Hydrogeophysical Imaging In The Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory, Travis Nielson
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
The critical zone is defined as the upper most portion of the crust extending from the top of unweathered bedrock to the top of the vegetation canopy. It is the zone in which inorganic rock is transformed into biologically useful soils and saprolites in a process termed weathering. Because the critical zone is the connection between the subsurface and surface it plays a role in a wide variety of biological, hydrologic, and climatic processes. Understanding the critical zone though is inherently difficult because its scale and heterogeneity often means direct sampling methods, e.g. soil pits and cores, under represent the …
Feedbacks Among Climate, Soils, Vegetation, And Erosion Drive Valley Asymmetry Development In The Mountains Of Central Idaho, Michael John Poulos
Feedbacks Among Climate, Soils, Vegetation, And Erosion Drive Valley Asymmetry Development In The Mountains Of Central Idaho, Michael John Poulos
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Aspect has long been recognized as a significant source of landscape variability, which is induced by the orientation of land surfaces relative to solar incidence. Insolation differences on opposing aspects (e.g., north and south-facing slopes) act as localized climatic perturbations, altering surface energy balances and temperatures. Over shorter timescales, aspect-induced changes to the energy balance alter snow pack dynamics, soil water input rates and seasonality, and plant available water and water stress. Over longer timescales, aspect-induced insolation variability affects bedrock weathering rates and depths, soil and regolith development, vegetation type and density, erosion rates and processes, and ultimately hillslope and …
Stable Isotopes Reveal A Disconnect Between Biotic And Abiotic Hydrological Processes In A Seasonally-Dry, Semi-Arid Watershed, Ryan James Mccutcheon
Stable Isotopes Reveal A Disconnect Between Biotic And Abiotic Hydrological Processes In A Seasonally-Dry, Semi-Arid Watershed, Ryan James Mccutcheon
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Until recently, it had been thought that humid catchment woody plants transpired primarily mobile soil water that would otherwise flow to streams or recharge groundwater. However, several recent studies have suggested that trees in seasonally-dry humid catchments use primarily tightly-bound, immobile soil water that does not fully mix with new precipitation or participate in translatory flow. McDonnell (2014) called this existence of two, hydrologically-distinct, water pools “the two water worlds hypothesis.” This ecohydrological behavior has important implications for understanding a wide range of catchment processes, including the spatial and temporal variability of evapotranspiration and nutrient cycling, and our abilities to …
Transfer Of Snow Information Across The Macro-To-Hillslope-Scale Gap Using A Physiographic Downscaling Approach: Implications For Hydrologic Modeling In Semiarid, Seasonally Snow-Dominated Watersheds, Reggie D. Walters
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Snow and ice are substantial components of the global energy balance and hydrologic cycle. Seasonal snow covers an area of 47 million km2 at its average maximum extent, 98% of which occurs across the Northern Hemisphere. The earth’s radiation budget is largely controlled by the fraction of absorbed solar energy, a parameter that is dependent upon snow surface albedo. Mountain snowpacks act as natural reservoirs, storing large quantities of water throughout the winter until eventual release during the melting phase. Accurate characterization of snow-covered area (SCA) and snow water equivalent (SWE) in such terrain could substantially improve the estimation …
The Hydrologic Significance Of Lateral Water Flow Through Snow, David Parker Eiriksson
The Hydrologic Significance Of Lateral Water Flow Through Snow, David Parker Eiriksson
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Understanding the mechanisms by which catchments route vertical water inputs laterally to stream channels is central to the development of accurate predictive models of watershed processes. It is commonly assumed that lateral redistribution occurs as overland or subsurface flow. Lateral flow can also occur within the snowpack during rain-on-snow (ROS) events or spring melt, sometimes resulting in surface expressions commonly called "runnels." This thesis examines lateral flow through snow and the role of the snowpack as a rapid down-slope water delivery mechanism, with the goal of determining if lateral flow through snow is an important control on streamflow generation and …
Spatial Distribution And Evolution Of A Seasonal Snowpack In Complex Terrain: An Evaluation Of The Snodas Modeling Product, Brian Trail Anderson
Spatial Distribution And Evolution Of A Seasonal Snowpack In Complex Terrain: An Evaluation Of The Snodas Modeling Product, Brian Trail Anderson
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
Hydrologists and water managers have been attempting to accurately estimate watershed scale snow water equivalent (SWE) for over a century. Extensive monitoring networks, remote sensing technology, and sophisticated modeling approaches have greatly improved these estimates; however, water inputs from snow in mountainous areas are still subject to considerable uncertainty due to SWE spatial variability. In an attempt to improve the understanding of physical processes and controls influencing SWE spatial variability, a field campaign to measure the spatial and temporal distribution of SWE within the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed (DCEW) was conducted during 2009 and 2010. These measurements are compared to …