Hydrology Commons^™

How Is Flash Drought Understood?—Experts’ Definitions And Decision-Makers’ Perceptions, Caily Schwartz, Tonya Haigh, Mark D. Svoboda, Madeline Goebel

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Because flash drought is a relatively new phenomenon in drought research, defining the concept is critical for scientists and decision-makers. Having detrimental impacts on many sectors, it is important to have a consistent definition and understanding of flash drought, between experts and stakeholders, to provide early warning to the community. This study focuses on onset and progression of conditions and demonstrates the difference in flash drought identification for 15 events across six quantitative definitions of flash drought that use the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM). Five flash drought events have been studied in the literature while 10 additional events have been …

The Irrigation Efficiency Trap: Rational Farm-Scale Decisions Can Lead To Poor Hydrologic Outcomes At The Basin Scale, Christina N. Morrisett, Robert W. Van Kirk, London O. Bernier, Andrea L. Holt, Chloe B. Perel, Sarah E. Null

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Agricultural irrigation practices have changed through time as technology has enabled more efficient conveyance and application. In some agricultural regions, irrigation can contribute to incidental aquifer recharge important for groundwater return flows to streams. The Henrys Fork Snake River, Idaho (United States) overlies a portion of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, where irrigated agriculture has occurred for over a century. Using irrigator interviews, aerial and satellite imagery, and statistical streamflow analysis, we document the impact of farm-scale decisions on basin-scale hydrology. Motivated to improve economic efficiency, irrigators began converting from surface to center-pivot sprinkler irrigation in the 1950s, with rapid …

The Patchwork Governance Of Ecologically Available Water: A Case Study In The Upper Missouri Headwaters, Montana, United States, Amanda E. Cravens, Julia B. Goolsby, Theresa Jedd, Deborah J. Bathke, Shelley Crausbay, Ashley E. Cooper, Jason Dunham, Tonya Haigh, Kimberly R. Hall, Michael J. Hayes, Jamie Mcevoy, Rebecca L. Nelson, Markéta Poděbradská, Aaron Ramirez, Elliot Wickham, Dionne Zoanni

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Institutional authority and responsibility for allocating water to ecosystems (“ecologically available water” [EAW]) is spread across local, state, and federal agencies, which operate under a range of statutes, mandates, and planning processes. We use a case study of the Upper Missouri Headwaters Basin in southwestern Montana, United States, to illustrate this fragmented institutional landscape. Our goals are to (a) describe the patchwork of agencies and institutional actors whose intersecting authorities and actions influence the EAW in the study basin; (b) describe the range of governance mechanisms these agencies use, including laws, policies, administrative programs, and planning processes; and (c) assess …

Insar Time Series Analysis To Evaluate Subsidence Risk Of Monumental Chandigarh City (India) And Surroundings, Jungrack Kim, Shih-Yuan Lin, Tejpal Singh, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Groundwater depletion is one of the serious geo-environmental issues causing ground subsidence, which damage buildings, infrastructures and causes loss of life. The quantitative and qualitative evaluation of groundwater variability requires multiple approaches to measure hydraulic head level and geodetic deformation. In this study, we have made efforts to integrate multiple hierarchical space-borne data, including Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), geological and hydrological data, to quantify subsidence in Chandigarh city and its surroundings. First, we conducted New-Small BAseline Subsets (NSBAS) and pointwise persistent scatterer (PS) InSAR techniques in parallel, using three-years Sentinel-1 data showing …

Hydrological Dynamics Of Surface-Groundwater Interactions Between Major Springs Of Mammoth Cave And The Green River, Kentucky, Usa, Matthew Cecil

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Mammoth Cave is an iconic example of the cave and karst systems that underlie over 50% of the United States and provide around 13% of the world’s population with water resources. These environmental features are vulnerable to drought, pollution, and human impacts. The complex hydrological regime of the Mammoth Cave system has been studied in the past, but there are improvements and updates that can be made to the past research. The dynamics of the surface-groundwater system, particularly reversals of the Green River and how it backfloods into the cave, are some examples. Echo River and River Styx Springs provide …

Adsorptive–Photocatalytic Performance For Antibiotic And Personal Care Product Using Cu0.5Mn0.5Fe2O4, Chanat Chokejaroenrat, Chainarong Sakulthaew, Athaphon Angkaew, Apiladda Pattanateeradetch, Wuttinun Raksajit, Kanokwan Teingtham, Piyaporn Phansak, Pawee Klongvessa, Daniel D. Snow, Clifford E. Harris, Steven Comfort

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The amount of antibiotics and personal care products entering local sewage systems and ultimately natural waters is increasing and raising concerns about long-term human health effects. We developed an adsorptive photocatalyst, Cu_0.5Mn_0.5Fe₂O₄ nanoparticles, utilizing co-precipitation and calcination with melamine, and quantified its efficacy in removing paraben and oxytetracycline (OTC). During melamine calcination, Cu_0.5Mn_0.5Fe₂O₄ recrystallized, improving material crystallinity and purity for the adsorptive–photocatalytic reaction. Kinetic experiments showed that all four parabens and OTC were removed within 120 and 45 min. We found that contaminant adsorption and reaction …

Droughtscape, Summer 2023, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

DroughtScape, Summer 2023

Incorporation Of Carbon Dioxide Production And Transport Module Into A Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum Model, Sahila Beegum, Wenguang Sun, Dennis Timlin, Zhuangji Wang, David Fleisher, Vangimalla R. Reddy, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Carbon dioxide release from agricultural soils is influenced by multiple factors, including soil (soil properties, soil-microbial respiration, water content, temperature, soil diffusivity), plant (carbon assimilation, rhizosphere respiration), atmosphere (climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide), etc. Accurate estimation of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes in the soil and soil respiration (CO₂ flux between soil and atmosphere) requires a process-based modeling approach that accounts for the influence of all these factors. In this study, a module for CO₂ production via root and microbial respiration and diffusion-based carbon dioxide transport is developed and integrated with MAIZSIM (a process-based maize crop growth …

Impact Of Land Use/Cover Change And Slope Gradient On Soil Organic Carbon Stock In Anjeni Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia, Bethel Geremew, Tsegaye Tadesse, Bobe Bedadi, Hero T. Gollany, Kindie Tesfaye, Abebe Aschalew

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Today’s agri-food systems face the triple challenge of addressing food security, adapting to climate change, and reducing the climate footprint by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). In agri-food systems, changes in land use and land cover (LULC) could affect soil physicochemical properties, particularly soil organic carbon (SOC) stock. However, the impact varies depending on the physical, social, and economic conditions of a given region or watershed. Given this, a study was conducted to quantify the impact of LULC and slope gradient on SOC stock and C sequestration rate in the Anjeni watershed, which is a highly populated and …

Improving The Cotton Simulation Model, Gossym, For Soil, Photosynthesis, And Transpiration Processes, Sahila Beegum, Dennis Timlin, Kambham Raja Reddy, Vangimalla Reddy, Wenguang Sun, Zhuangji Wang, David Fleisher, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

GOSSYM, a mechanistic, process-level cotton crop simulation model, has a two-dimensional (2D) gridded soil model called Rhizos that simulates the below-ground processes daily. Water movement is based on gradients of water content and not hydraulic heads. In GOSSYM, photosynthesis is calculated using a daily empirical light response function that requires calibration for response to elevated carbon dioxide ( CO₂). This report discusses improvements made to the GOSSYM model for soil, photosynthesis, and transpiration processes. GOSSYM’s predictions of below-ground processes using Rhizos are improved by replacing it with 2DSOIL, a mechanistic 2D finite element soil process model. The photosynthesis …

Occurrence Of Radionuclides And Hazardous Elements In The Transboundary River Basin Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan, Mariya A. Severinenko, Vladimir P. Solodukhin, Bekmamat M. Djenbaev, The National Academy Of Science Of The Kyrgyz Republic G. Lennik, Baktiyar T. Zholboldiev, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Important for irrigation, the transboundary river basin between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is vulnerable to geochemical and anthropogenic sources of pollution. The use of water use indices, together with measurements of the elemental and radionuclide composition of the water and bottom sediments, provides a means for evaluating the continued use of the water from this region. Recent monitoring shows the highest concentrations of hazardous contaminants include lead and thorium contained in the bottom and banks of the Kichi-Kemin River. These contaminants are likely remnants of an accidental spill at the Aktyuz tailing dump in 1964. The specific activity of the Th-232 …

Evaluation Of Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Of San Joaquin, Tulare, And Mojave Aquifers, Southern California, Maedeh Hassanvand

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Before making attempts to enhance and manage the quality of water, a thorough understanding of these processes is necessary since the chemical quality of groundwater is impacted by a number of linked processes. This would be more important in arid and semiarid regions like the southern part of California where more rely on groundwater for agriculture and drinking water uses than the other states. As a result, fundamental knowledge of the governing processes of groundwater chemistry is required for effective water resource management. Thus, this study is primarily concerned with three aspects in Mojave, Tulare, and San Joaquin aquifers: The …

The Last Drought Frontier: Building A Drought Index For The State Of Alaska, Olivia Campbell

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

Drought is characterized by periods of below average precipitation. There are five major types of drought recognized in the literature: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, socioeconomic, and ecological. A relatively new concept in the drought literature is “snow drought.” A key part of the definition of drought is that it is not always accompanied by extreme heat. This means drought can occur even in cold climates, cold seasons, and higher latitudes and altitudes, like Alaska. Drought is a natural part of climate variability, but Alaska’s climate is changing faster than any other state in the United States. Alaska is no stranger to …

A Stable Isotopic Profile Of Atmospheric River Precipitation Impacting Northern California, Erika Clarise Ornouski

LSU Master's Theses

Atmospheric river (AR) storms are an integral part of California’s hydrologic cycle, providing 30–50% of the state’s annual precipitation. However, “too much of a good thing” can swell

rivers beyond capacity leading to widespread flooding, erosion, and environmental damage. Northern California’s steep topography coupled with its seasonal Sierra Nevada snowpack puts this region at risk for floods and extreme weather hazards that can be triggered by strong ARs. Identifying AR contributions in the water cycle is crucial for informing water resource and emergency management decisions Stable isotope analysis provides a means to understand the movement of precipitation based on fractionation …

Dynamic And Thermodynamic Influences On Precipitation In Northeast Mexico On Orbital To Millennial Timescales, Kevin T. Wright, Kathleen R. Johnson, Gabriela Serrato Marks, David Mcgee, Tripti Bhattacharya, Gregory R. Goldsmith, Clay R. Tabor, Jean-Louis Lacaille-Muzquiz, Gianna Lum, Laura Beramendi-Orosco

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The timing and mechanisms of past hydroclimate change in northeast Mexico are poorly constrained, limiting our ability to evaluate climate model performance. To address this, we present a multiproxy speleothem record of past hydroclimate variability spanning 62.5 to 5.1 ka from Tamaulipas, Mexico. Here we show a strong influence of Atlantic and Pacific sea surface temperatures on orbital and millennial scale precipitation changes in the region. Multiple proxies show no clear response to insolation forcing, but strong evidence for dry conditions during Heinrich Stadials. While these trends are consistent with other records from across Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, the relative …

Droughtscape, Spring 2023, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

DroughtScape, Spring 2023

Projected Long-Term Climate Trends Reveal The Critical Role Of Vapor Pressure Deficit For Soybean Yields In The Us Midwest, Wenguang Sun, David Fleisher, Dennis Timlin, Chittaranjan Ray, Zhuangji Wang, Sahila Beegum, Vangimalla Reddy

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Extreme climate events including heat waves and droughts are projected to become more frequent under future climate change conditions. However, the mechanisms between soybean yields and climate factors, specifically involving variable rainfall and high heat episodes, are still unclear, particularly with respect to spatial trends in the United States (US) Midwest. A recently modified version of the model GLYCIM was used to evaluate rainfed soybean production across 12 states at a 10 km spatial resolution for three time periods (2011–2020, 2051–2060, 2091–2099) under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios 4.5 and 8.5. Results showed that except for the northernmost Midwest counties, …

Simulation Of Monthly Mean And Monthly Base Flow Of Streamflow Using Random Forests For The Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, 1901 To 2018, Benjamin J. Dietsch, William H. Asquith, Brian K. Breaker, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Wade H. Kress

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Improved simulations of streamflow and base flow for selected sites within and adjacent to the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain area are important for modeling groundwater flow because surface-water flows have a substantial effect on groundwater levels. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was used to make monthly mean streamflow and base-flow predictions at 162 ungaged sites in the study area. Daily streamflow observations and computed base flow from 247 streamgages were used as the basis for the development of these RF models. RF …

Importance Of Snowmelt On Soil Nitrate Leaching To Groundwater – A Model Study, Sahila Beegum, Arindam Malakar, Chittaranjan Ray, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The movement of nitrate to surface water bodies during snow accumulation and melting has been extensively studied, but there are only limited studies on the influence of snow processes on nitrate leaching to groundwater. The present study investigated the impact of snow processes on nitrate leaching to groundwater based on a simulation modeling approach using HYDRUS-1D. HYDRUS-1D model has a temperature threshold-based snow model in addition to water, solute, and heat simulation components. The snow component in HYDRUS-1D was previously not applied to snow simulation studies since the method does not consider a detailed physical and process-based representation of snow …

Time Domain Reflectometry Waveform Interpretation With Convolutional Neural Networks, Zhuangji Wang, Shan Hua, Dennis Timlin, Yuki Kojima, Songtao Lu, Wenguang Sun, David Fleisher, Robert Horton, Vangimalla R. Reddy, Katherine Tully

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Interpreting time domain reflectometry (TDR) waveforms obtained in soils with non-uniform water content is an open question. We design a new TDR waveform interpretation model based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) that can reveal the spatial variations of soil relative permittivity and water content along a TDR sensor. The proposed model, namely TDR-CNN, is constructed with three modules. First, the geometrical features of the TDR waveforms are extracted with a simplified version of VGG16 network. Second, the reflection positions in a TDR waveform are traced using a 1D version of the region proposal network. Finally, the soil relative permittivity values …

Hydrodynamics And Sediment Transport In The Tidally Influenced James River, Ollie Gilchrest, Rip Hale

The Graduate School Posters

The tidally influenced James River is an important economic, ecologic, and cultural resource for VA residents. Tidal rivers have been historically understudied, however they are critical transition zones, the dynamics of which have implications for freshwater supply and sediment trapping. Globally, estimates suggest that >30% of fluvial sediment is trapped in the tidal zone, the location and dynamics of which are actively changing due to sea level rise and saltwater encroachment. In addition, analysis of historical water levels on the James River has shown a decrease in the tidal range since 1940. The present study combines >1-year’s worth of hydrographic …

A Workshop On Using Nasa Airs Data To Monitor Drought For The U.S. Drought Monitor, Alireza Farahmand,, Sharon Ray, Heidar Thrastarson, Stephen Licata, Stephanie Granger, Brian Fuchs

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Recent studies indicate that drought indicators based on near-surface air relative humidity (RH), air temperature (T), and air vapor pressure deficit (VPD), derived from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite can detect the onset of drought earlier than other drought indicators, specifically standardized precipitation index (SPI), which is widely used for drought onset detection. A recent study showed that standardized relative humidity index (SRHI) can detect drought signals earlier than SPI (Farahmand et al. 2015). Relative humidity is a climate variable defined as the ratio of air vapor pressure to saturated vapor pressure. Precipitation and relative …

Trust And Subjective Knowledge Influence Perceived Risk Of Lead Exposure, Madeline Goebel, Chloe B. Wardropper

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Lead exposure is a persistent environmental hazard that poses risks to human health. But motivating protective action is challenging with this low visibility hazard whose health effects are often subtle and chronic. Higher risk perception is generally associated with taking protective measures, so public health efforts prioritize risk messaging. Yet, little is known about perceptions of lead exposure risk among the U.S. public. Using cross-sectional data from a national survey of 1035 U.S. residents, we measured the role of trust in government management of lead and subjective knowledge about lead as predictors of perceived risk of lead exposure, controlling for …

Historical And Future Projections Of Supercell Precipitation Contributions To The Hydroclimate Of The United States, Aaron Zeeb

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Rotating storms, or supercells, are frequent producers of significant tornadoes, hail, and nontornadic winds and an underappreciated genitor of extreme precipitation rates and flash floods. Little research has examined the precipitation contributions from supercells to the overall hydroclimate of the CONUS and, provided that these storms and their precipitation rates may shift in the future due to climate change, it is important to understand their characteristics from both historical and future perspectives. This research seeks to understand supercell precipitation characteristics across the CONUS using high-resolution, convection-permitting, dynamical-downscaled simulations for three, 15-year epochs. Epochs include a historical end-of-20th-century period (1990–2005) and …

Flood-Inundation Maps For An 8-Mile Reach Of Papillion Creek Near Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, 2022, Kellan R. Strauch, Christopher M. Hobza

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Digital flood-inundation maps for an 8-mile reach of Papillion Creek near Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, Offutt Air Force Base. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Program website at https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/flood-inundation-mapping-fim-program, depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at the USGS streamgages Papillion Creek at Fort Crook, Nebr. (station 06610795), and Papillion Creek at Harlan Lewis Road near La Platte, Nebr. (station 06610798). Near-real-time stages at these streamgages may …

Selected Anthropogenic Contaminants In Groundwater, Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, Eastern Nebraska, 1992–2020, Brent M. Hall, Cory L. Kavan, Amanda Flynn, Mikaela L. Cherry

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

A study in cooperation with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District was completed in 2019 to determine the concentration of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in groundwater in the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, eastern Nebraska. Each well was sampled twice (in June and October or November) in 2019, totaling 34 samples. Samples were analyzed for 132 CECs, which include pharmaceutical, steroid hormone, and other organic chemicals. Seven of the 132 CEC analytes were detected in samples collected during this study. The most commonly detected CEC in this study was the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole. Other CECs detected in this study were …

An Integrated Hydrologic Model To Support The Central Platte Natural Resources District Groundwater Management Plan, Central Nebraska, Jonathan (Jp) Traylor, Moussa Guira, Steven M. Petersen

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

The groundwater and surface-water supply of the Central Platte Natural Resources District supports a large agricultural economy from the High Plains aquifer and Platte River, respectively. This study provided the Central Platte Natural Resources District with an advanced numerical modeling tool to assist with the update of their Groundwater Management Plan.

An integrated hydrologic model, called the Central Platte Integrated Hydrologic Model, was constructed using the MODFLOW-One-Water Hydrologic Model code with the Newton solver. This code integrates climate, landscape, surface water, and groundwater-flow processes in a fully coupled approach. Model framework included 163 rows; 327 columns; 2,640 feet cell sides; …

Droughtscape, Winter 2023, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

DroughtScape, Winter 2023

Sensitivity Of The Relationship Between Antarctic Ice Shelves And Iron Supply To Projected Changes In The Atmospheric Forcing, Michael S. Dinniman, Pierre St-Laurent, Kevin R. Arrigo, Eileen E. Hofmann, Gert L. Van Dijken

CCPO Publications

Upward advection or mixing of iron-rich deep waters due to circulation changes driven by the rate of basal ice shelf melt was shown to be a primary control on chlorophyll a production in coastal polynyas over the Antarctic continental shelf. Here, the effects of atmospheric changes projected in 2100 on this relationship were examined with a 5-km resolution ocean/sea ice/ice shelf model of the Southern Ocean with different simulated dissolved iron sources and idealized biological uptake. The atmospheric changes are added as idealized increments to the forcing. Inclusion of a poleward shift and strengthening of the winds, increased precipitation, and …

The Response Of Sea Ice And High-Salinity Shelf Water In The Ross Ice Shelf Polynya To Cyclonic Atmosphere Circulations, Xiaoqiao Wang, Zhaoru Zhang, Michael S. Dinniman, Petteri Uotila, Xichen Li, Meng Zhou

CCPO Publications

Coastal polynyas in the Ross Sea are important source regions of high-salinity shelf water (HSSW) – the precursor of Antarctic Bottom Water that supplies the lower limb of the thermohaline circulation. Here, the response of sea ice production and HSSW formation to synoptic-scale and mesoscale cyclones was investigated for the Ross Ice Shelf Polynya (RISP) using a coupled ocean–sea ice–ice shelf model targeted on the Ross Sea. When synoptic-scale cyclones prevailed over RISP, sea ice production (SIP) increased rapidly by 20 %–30 % over the entire RISP. During the passage of mesoscale cyclones, SIP increased by about 2 times over …