Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Characterization Of Water Movement Into And Through Soils During And Immediately After Rainstorms, C. T. Haan

KWRRI Research Reports

The movement of water into and through soils in the unsaturated state is basic to many water resources problems including rainfall-runoff models, ground water recharge, irrigation, drainage, evapotranspiration and the movement of pollutants in soils. This study was conducted in an effort to determine if the flow equation based on Darcy's Law and the continuity equation could be used to describe watershed infiltration and thus be incorporated into hydrologic models.

The results of the study indicate that even on apparently uniform soils there is a great deal of variability in soil water properties. Handling this variability plus the difficulty of …

Development And Testing Of A Double-Beam Absorption Spectrograph For The Simultaneous Determination Of Different Cations In Water, William H. Dennen

KWRRI Research Reports

Construction and testing of a double-beam absorption spectrographic analysis system using a d. c. arc multielement source has been conducted. An optical system design which brings analytical and reference beams together to illuminate the upper and lower portions of the spectrograph slit has been shown to be functional. However, ad. c. arc will not serve as a multielement source for the intended purposes because of excessive thermal broadening of emission lines.

A direct excitation d. c. arc method was reviewed which can be used for the rapid determination of some cations in water.

The Relation Between Soil Characteristics, Water Movement And Nitrate Contamination Of Ground Water, Grant W. Thomas, Matthew Mcmahon

KWRRI Research Reports

Soils from several areas in Kentucky were placed in columns and leached with Ca(NO₃)₂. Subsoils high in iron oxide were found to retard the leaching of nitrate very significantly. In other soils, the nitrate moved through as fast as or slightly faster than the water.

Field application of nitrogen to corn was most efficient when done in the spring or summer near the time that the corn takes it up. The one exception to this was a red soil, where fall application of nitrogen resulted in little loss due to the retarding effect mentioned in the …

Location Of Solution Channels And Sinkholes At Dam Sites And Backwater Areas By Seismic Methods: Part Ii, Vincent P. Drnevich, D. Raghu

KWRRI Research Reports

Four seismic field methods and a laboratory method are used to determine shear wave propagation velocities and shear moduli for two sites. The four seismic methods are: standard seismic refraction survey, down hole shooting refraction survey, transient Rayleigh wave survey, and crosshole shooting survey. A torsional resonant column apparatus was used for the laboratory tests. The cross hole shooting method gave the best results because direct measurements were made. Criteria for using this method are given. Methods which measure compression wave velocity give inconsistent results because the conversion to shear wave velocity is very sensitive to Poisson's ratio. Laboratory tests …

Location Of Solution Channels And Sinkholes At Dam Sites And Backwater Areas By Seismic Methods: Part I, Vincent P. Drnevich, S. R. Smith, E. P. Cleveland

KWRRI Research Reports

The basic concepts associated with the sledge hammer seismic refraction survey are reviewed and a modified version called down hole shooting is discussed. The latter method has distinct advantages for rock surface profiling. These include: calibration at the end points of the survey, measurement of vertical wave propagation velocities directly, and having a refracted wave ray path for almost the entire survey length.

The down hole shooting seismic refraction survey has been simulated with the digital computer. The method can handle any shaped rock surface profile and generates corresponding travel time curves for the forward and reverse profile surveys. This …

Hydraulic And Sediment Transport Studies In Relation To River Sediment Control And Solid Waste Pollution And Economic Use Of The By-Products, Bruce R. Moore, Michael R. Short

KWRRI Research Reports

The distribution of sediments and conditions of transport were studied in the Kentucky, Big Sandy and Ohio Rivers. The sand and coal were in transport at different flow velocities for the rivers and the deposition of these sediments was a direct function of the flow conditions at a particular locality.

The flow conditions of transport of the sediments were studied in flumes as were the hydraulic conditions in model dredge holes to determine the feasibility of trapping sediment. The conditions of scour and fill were also established and compared with known conditions in a dredge hole in the Ohio River. …

Impact Of A Proposed Reservoir On Local Land Values, Philip Drucker, Charles R. Smith, Allen C. Turner

KWRRI Research Reports

This project was designed to study the impact of private preconstruction land acquisition in a Central Kentucky area in which a flood-control dam and reservoir impoundment is planned. The research design was built around use of anthropological concepts and research techniques. By these means it was possible to analyze the perceived values of land to traditionalist residents, among which social and economic security concepts are paramount. Recent land purchases, locally believed to have been made chiefly by "outsiders," (urbanites from nearby Louisville), at prices out of line in terms of local agricultural worth, has been extremely unsettling contributing to the …

Digital Computer Modeling Of Limestone Groundwater Systems, John Thrailkill, David P. Beiter

KWRRI Research Reports

Because limestone groundwater flows mainly In discrete openings, limestone aquifers are fundamentally different from aquifers In granular rocks. A digital computer program which simulates flow in a limestone aquifer as a pipe network was written and compared with the Sinkhole Plain aquifer of west-central Kentucky.

A reasonably good fit between observed parameters of the aquifer and those calculated were obtained under assumed conditions of both laminar and turbulent now In the aquifer. The Indicated gross permeablllty of the aquifer is 5600 melnzers with an assumed aquifer thickness of 100 feet. The location and discharge of springs along the streams bounding …

Carbon And Nitrogen As Regulators Of Algal Growth In Treated Sewage, Edward G. Foree, Charles Reece Scroggin

KWRRI Research Reports

Continuous flow algal cultures were grown under three different growth conditions using secondary sewage treatment plant effluent as the growth medium. The only variable within each run was the hydraulic residence time. The concentrations of growth regulating nutrients were varied between the runs so comparisons of the algal mass, composition, nutrient uptake, and genera could be made. The importance of CO₂ availability for algal growth was also studied. A kinetic theory which based algal growth on cellular nutrient concentration was verified. The second phase of the study was a batch culture study in which the same growth medium was …

A Perspective On Economic Impact, L. Douglas James, Donald M. Soule, William O. Thompson, John L. Fulmer, John C. Redman, Robert C. Tussey, John M. Higgins, Claude M. Vaughan, David H. Rosenbaum, Billy R. Prebble, Charles O. Dowell, John E. Sirles, Michael B. Hargrove, Clyde T. Bates, Kenneth G. Holbrook, Dennis H. Bianchi, John P. Breaden, Kenneth R. Harman

KWRRI Research Reports

The institutions responsible for water resources management in the United States have originated as political responses to major social issues. Each agency institutionalized a procedure for structuring and comparing alternatives in the formulation of its total program. Each agency originally sought to promote effective resolution of its social issue (flood control, development of arid lands, soil erosion, etc.), but more recent efforts have sought better coordination among agency practices through a common procedure largely derived from economic theory. Any procedure, however, varies in application with the interpretation and judgment of individual planners. Today, public pressures have brought political directives requiring …

Determination Of Trace Elements In Water Utilizaing Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Measurement, Gary D. Christian, J. Preston Miles Iii, Ronald Sensmeier, Melvin Sensmeier, Loraine Craig, Lynn Phibrick, Sudarshan Lal

KWRRI Research Reports

A variety of flameless atomic absorption methods have been investigated for the possible determination of trace elements in water. The general applicability of each technique was determined and where applicable, procedures have been developed for the determination of trace elements in natural waters.

Metals were preconcentrated by electrodeposition on a wire. The metals were then atomized for atomic absorption measurement by resistive heating of the wire. As little as 0.01 part per million (ppm) of mercury could be determined in this way.

A mercury cold vapor cell was constructed in which the sample is treated with a reducing agent to …

Degradation Of Riparian Leaves And The Recycling Of Nutrients In A Stream Ecosystem, Louis A. Krumholz, Roger G. Lambert, Charles R. Liston, Harry H. Woodward

KWRRI Research Reports

Leaves collected at 4 stations in the upper 5 km of Doe Run, Meade County, Kentucky, indicated an annual accumulation within the stream of 354 g/m²/year (17,700 kg). Leaves of sycamore (23.6%), red oak (21.7%), sugar maple (9.7%), beech (9.6%), white oak (7.1%), and hickory (6.0%) trees were most abundant, and leaves from 14 other kinds made up the remaining 22.3%. About a third of the annual leaf fall occurred during the last half of October and about two-thirds in the last 3 months of the year.

Calorific equivalents for different kinds of leaves ranged from 3,789 cal/g …

Factors Regulating The Growth Of Algae In Continuous Culture In Diluted Secondary Sewage Treatment Plant Effluent And Subsequent Biodegradability, Edward G. Foree, Caroline P. Wade

KWRRI Research Reports

Heterogeneous algal cultures were grown in laboratory continuous culture in continuous flow, completely mixed chemostats in secondary sewage treatment plant effluent diluted to give an ammonia nitrogen concentration of 10 mg/1. Variables were lighting, pH, carbon dioxide availability, and hydraulic residence time.

Optimum growth occurred under pH 7.0, excess CO₂, and continuous lighting conditions. The availability of artificially supplied excess CO₂ greatly increased the mass (standing crop) at steady-state over that produced under otherwise identical conditions for all residence times studied. For the case of excess CO₂ availability, the nitrogen concentration in the algal cells regulated …