Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Multi-Criteria Evaluation Model For Classifying Marginal Cropland In Nebraska Using Historical Crop Yield And Biophysical Characteristics, Andrew Laws

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

Marginal cropland is suboptimal due to historically low and variable productivity and limiting biophysical characteristics. To support future agricultural management and policy decisions in Nebraska, U.S.A, it is important to understand where cropland is marginal for its two most economically important crops: corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max). As corn and soybean are frequently planted in a crop rotation, it is important to consider if there is a relationship with cropland marginality. Based on the current literature, there exists a need for a flexible yet robust methodology for identifying marginal land at different scales, which …

Technological Modernization And Its Impact On Agriculture, Fisheries And Fossil Fuel Utilization In The Asia Pacific Countries With Emphasis On Sustainability Perspective, Rajee Olaganathan, Kathleen Quigley

Publications

Modernization is a process that moves towards efficiency. This affects most of the fields such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, urban planning, policy, fossil fuel usage, manufacturing, technology, economic growth etc. This process plays a major role in moving forward making things faster, better and basically more efficient. The effects of modernization on all these fields bring about the major changes to aspects such as social, economic and the environment. The level of operation has increased from a domestic level; small family scale business to large commercial levels. As the level of operation increased, the utilization of natural resources increased gradually …

Testing Predictions Used To Build An Agrivoltaics Installation On A Small-Scale Educational Model, Katie Kinney, Rebecca Minor, Greg Barron-Gafford

STAR Program Research Presentations

Models are valuable tools for explaining and testing systems. Small-scale models can be especially useful for educational purposes. For models to be useful, they have to accurately depict the larger system that they are describing. A novel man-made system, known as an agrivoltaic structure, is being constructed at Biosphere 2 near Oracle, Arizona. The word agrivoltaic is a combination of agriculture and photovoltaics, or solar farming. My research involved creating a small-scale version of this system for educational purposes. The model of this system tested two predictions: that plants will grow better in the shade of a panel and that …

Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics In Agriculture: Model Development And Application From Daily To Decadal Timescales, Matthew P. Pelton

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soil carbon (C) is the largest terrestrial C pool globally, containing more C than the atmosphere and biosphere. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a source and sink of CO₂ emissions to and from the atmosphere, thus influencing future climate change. Understanding SOC dynamics is also important for maintaining C stocks to sustain and improve crop yields. An existing model to estimate changes in SOC due to respiration was modified to operate in three computational platforms: MS Excel, MS Excel with Visual Basic for Applications, and supercomputing. This model was validated against CO₂ flux data from a 9-year field …

Slides: Colorado Law: Protecting Water Quantity And Quality, Alan E. Curtis

Monitoring and Protecting Groundwater During Oil and Gas Development (November 26)

Presenter: Alan E. Curtis, White & Jankowski, LLP

23 slides

Ethanol From The Field To The Pump, Cameron Heiser

Natural Sciences Student Research Presentations

This poster describes the use of dry mill and wet mill processes to produce ethanol.

Do Wind Turbines Affect Weather Conditions?: A Case Study In Indiana, Meghan F. Henschen, Brittany Herrholtz, Lacey Rhudy, Kathryn Demchak, Brian Doogs, Joshua Holland, Erik Larson, Johnny Martin, Matthew Rudkin

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Wind turbines are becoming increasingly widespread in the United States as the world looks for cleaner sources of energy. Scientists, policymakers, and citizens have strong opinions regarding the positive and negative effects of wind energy projects, and there is a great deal of misinformation about wind energy circulating on the Web and other media sources. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how the rotation of hundreds of turbines can influence local weather conditions within a wind farm and in the surrounding areas. This experiment measures temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, …

Cellulosic Ethanol: The Benifits, Obstacles, And Implications For Nebraska, Cassidee Lin Thompson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract Ethanol is a biofuel that has unique capabilities to mitigate global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously supporting rural economies and decreasing the United States’ dependence on foreign oil. Currently, the state of Nebraska depends on corn ethanol, which may be unsustainable. Cellulosic ethanol is a promising alternative but it is not without its problems, including high production costs and potential environmental damage. This thesis is an attempt to understand the benefits, downfalls, and processes of corn-based and cellulosic ethanol and the potential implications to Nebraska. This research should shed some light on the current obstacles …

Slides: Water For Oil (Shale)?, Bart Miller

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Bart Miller, Water Program Director, Western Resource Advocates

10 slides

Crop Yield Gaps: Their Importance, Magnitudes, And Causes, David B. Lobell, Kenneth G. Cassman, Christopher B. Field

Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research: Publications

Future trajectories of food prices, food security, and cropland expansion are closely linked to future average crop yields in the major agricultural regions of the world. Because the maximum possible yields achieved in farmers’ fields might level off or even decline in many regions over the next few decades, reducing the gap between average and potential yields is critical. In most major irrigated wheat, rice, and maize systems, yields appear to be at or near 80% of yield potential, with no evidence for yields having exceeded this threshold to date. A fundamental constraint in these systems appears to be uncertainty …

Applications And Potentials For Biogenic Methane Recovery Operations In Nebraska Agriculture, Industry, And Economic Development, David Micheal Dingman

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

ABSTRACT: This thesis report illustrates the applications and potentials of biogenic methane recovery in Nebraska’s agricultural and industrial sectors and as a means for increasing sustainable economic development in the state’s rural communities. As the nation moves toward a new green economy, biogenic methane recovery as a waste management strategy and renewable energy resource presents significant opportunities for Nebraska to be a national and world leader in agricultural and industrial innovation, advanced research and development of renewable energy technology, and generation of new product markets. Nebraska’s agricultural economy provides a distinct advantage to the state for supporting methane recovery operations …

Agenda: Climate Change And The Future Of The American West: Exploring The Legal And Policy Dimensions, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Sponsors: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; BP America; Holland & Hart; Patrick, Miller & Krope, P.C.; The Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Rocky Mountain Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation, Western Water Assessment.

Exploring the legal and political dimensions that climate change will bring to the American West will be the focus of the CU-Boulder Natural Resources Law Center's 27th Annual Summer Conference.

Titled "Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions," the conference will be held June 7-9 at the Fleming Law Building on the University of Colorado at …

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 …

Financing Water Projects: Where Do We Go From Here?, Henry P. Caulfield, Jr.

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

16 pages.

Interstate Transfers Of Water: Opportunities And Obstables [Sic], A. Dan Tarlock

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

34 pages.

Administering Water Rights: The Colorado System, Raymond L. Petros

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

140 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains bibliography.

Groundwater And Intergovernmental Relations In The Southern San Joaquin Valley, California, Sally K. Fairfax, Barbara T. Andrews

Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution (Summer Conference, June 6-9)

25 pages (includes maps).

Water Rights For Western Mineral Development On Public Lands, A. Dan Tarlock

Federal Lands, Laws and Policies and the Development of Natural Resources: A Short Course (Summer Conference, July 28-August 1)

13 pages.