Hydrology Commons^™

Development Of A Hydrologic Model For An Urban Headwater Stream: The Influence Of Pervious Surface Properties On Runoff Dynamics, Dawn A. Farver

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A hydrologic model was developed for the Mullins Creek (MC) catchment located on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The MC catchment is a small, dynamic urban stream system with a range of land use/land cover (LULC), an extensive and well-developed stormwater drainage network, and extensive urbanization (over 90% developed, and almost 50% impervious surface area (ISA)). Selected datasets provided information on the stormwater drainage network, the physical attributes of the catchment and receiving waterway (i.e. drainage area, slope, etc.), infiltration potential of soil map units, LULC, and percent ISA. These datasets were analyzed to provide input parameters …

Applications Of A New Geodata Crawler For Landscape Ecology: From Mapping Natural Stream Hydrology To Monitoring Endangered Beetles, Douglas Ryan Leasure

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An investigation of endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) ecology led to development of a Geodata Crawler with applications in eco-hydrology. Geodata Crawler includes a national GIS (geospatial information systems) database with layers that quantify climate, land cover, soils, human development, and other attributes of the biosphere. For user-locations in the continental United States, Geodata Crawler can rapidly tabulate site-specific statistics within automatically delineated sample areas: points, site radii, watersheds, and riparian zones, among others. Geodata Crawler supported a multi-scale analysis of N. americanus habitat at a military installation in western Arkansas to produce a Landsat-based monitoring tool. Royle's N-mixture …

Are Concentration-Discharge Relations Influenced By Water Sample Collection Methods?, William M. Welch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two primary methods of stream water sampling, the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) equal-width increment (EWI) and point samples (PS) from vertical centroid of flow (VCF) were compared at three river sites, the White River near Fayetteville, Richland Creek at Goshen, and War Eagle Creek near Hindsville. A little over three years of concentration data, which was paired with corresponding instantaneous discharge values (http://ar.water.usgs.gov/), was gathered separately at each site by the Arkansas Water Resource Center (AWRC) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate how concentration is related to discharge when water samples …

Application Of High-Resolution Spectral Absorbance Measurements To Determine Dissolved Organic Carbon Concentration In Remote Areas, Armine Avagyan, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Lars Kutzbach

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate quantification of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in surface and soil pore waters is crucial for understanding changes in water resources under the influence of climate and land use changes. Sampling and laboratory analysis of DOC content at a sufficient temporal frequency are especially difficult to achieve for natural DOC sources like the extensive boreal and arctic mire landscapes due to their remoteness. Therefore, the goals of this paper are (1) to investigate the performance of a portable, high-resolution ultraviolet–visible light spectroscopic method for determining the DOC content of surface and soil pore water samples from a boreal mire complex …

Investigation Of The Flow And Fate Of Nitrate In Epikarst At The Savoy Experimental Watershed, Northwest Arkansas, Jozef Laincz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many karst aquifers are at high risk of nitrate contamination due to a combination of vulnerable geology characterized by thin soils and conduit flow, and excess inputs of nutrients from animal feeding operations. One zone that is present in many karst regions and could play an important role in nitrate attenuation due to properties such as increased residence time and matrix-water contact is the upper, weathered portion of karst, the epikarst. However, the understanding of this role is lacking, and the objective of this dissertation was to elucidate it. The fate of nitrate in the epikarst was traced along a …

Comparisons Of Hydrogeologic Modeling Methods To Define Capture Zones For Public Water Supply Wells In Northern Arkansas, Paula Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The usefulness, applicability, and practicality of more complex and resource consuming methods for groundwater modeling has been in question since computer based groundwater modeling was established (Anderson, 1992). In many situations, computer modeling of groundwater flow is a necessity and useful for extrapolating data where none exists or it is impossible or impractical to acquire. However, when delineating a recharge area around a public water well for protection purposes, it is unknown if more detailed computer modeling results are better than simpler hydrologic calculations and site study. In the case of public drinking water supply wells located in various aquifers …

The Surface Energy Balance And Its Drivers In A Boreal Peatland Fen Of Northwestern Russia, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Christian Wille, Michal Gazovic, M. Wilmking, L. Kutzbach

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Boreal peatland energy balances using the eddy covariance technique have previously been made in Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Western Siberia, but not in the European portion of the Russian Federation. European Russia contains approximately 200,000 km2 of peatlands and has a boreal (subarctic), continental climate influencing the region’s energy balance. To help fill this research gap, the surface energy balance was determined for a boreal peatland fen in the Komi Republic of Russia for an 11-month period in 2008–2009 using the eddy covariance method. The total measurement period’s cumulative energy balance closure rate was 86%, with higher closure during the …

Bermudagrass Growth In Soil Contaminated With Hydraulic Fracturing Drilling Fluid, Douglas Wolf, Kristofor R. Brye

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Hydraulic fracturing is the process of injecting aqueous solutions at high pressure to break apart rock formations and increase the extraction of natural gas. The solutions are recovered and have been land-applied as one disposal technique. Excessive fluid application can result in increased soil salinity that can inhibit plant growth. The objective of this greenhouse study was to evaluate the effects of inorganic fertilizer, broiler litter, and Milorganite® and soil depth interval (0-15 cm or 0-30 cm) on the growth of bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers] in soil that was collected from a site that had been contaminated with fracturing …

Hydrogeology And Chemical Characterization Of Hydrocarbon In Domestic Water Wells, Rancho Villa Subdivision, Rogers, Arkansas, Janelle Renee Sherman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project is centered on the Rancho Villa community in Rogers, Arkansas where several residents have had hydrocarbon contamination in their domestic water wells. The goal of this project was to understand the hydrogeology in the study area, characterize the contaminant chemically, and determine the source of the contaminant. The hydrogeology of the area was determined from previous theses. Seventeen samples were taken from the wells in the Rancho Villa community; each sample was analyzed for geochemical parameters and by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) for organic compounds analysis. Four of the 17 samples had a visible non-aqueous layer of hydrocarbon …

Assessment And Conceptualization Of Groundwater Flow In The Edwards Aquifer Through The Knippa Gap In Uvalde County, Texas, Jennifer Raye Adkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Edwards aquifer is one of the major regional karst aquifers in the United States, with an average withdrawal of 950 million liters per day (L/d). This investigation focuses on the connection between the Uvalde pool and the San Antonio pool of the Edwards aquifer, known as the Knippa Gap, west of the San Antonio metropolitan area in Uvalde County. This is a major zone of recharge to the Edwards aquifer and is approximately 6.4 km wide. The Knippa Gap is bounded by northeast trending faults of the Balcones Fault Zone (BFZ) on the north (specifically the Cooks and Trio …

A Watershed Scale Evaluation Of Selected Second Generation Biofeedstocks On Water Quality, Gurdeep Singh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study compares a novel simulation approach to the conventional Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) modeler's approach for targeting biofuel crop production on marginal lands. In conventional SWAT modeling approach, non-spatial definition of hydrological response units (HRUs) results in the simulation of biofuel crops on both marginal and non-marginal land. This study provides an alternative approach in which a marginal-land raster was integrated into the land use and land cover (LULC) raster in such a way that the land uses were divided into marginal and non-marginal components. This modified LULC was used for model setup which resulted in marginal …

Assessing The Impacts Of Surface Water Removal For Use In Natural Gas Extraction On A Watershed Level, Carrie Ann Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the Soil and Water Assessment Test (SWAT) was used as a tool to predict whether diffuse water removal from the Cadron Creek watershed for use with natural gas development would have an impact on downstream flow within the watershed. Cadron Creek watershed expands across four counties within Arkansas and is located in the Fayetteville Shale Gas region. This region is experiencing significant growth in natural gas development. Successful development of shale gas depends on the identification of what water supplies are available for production without interfering with community and environmental needs. The SWAT model used to evaluate …

Exploring The Surface Liquid And Lake Regions Of Titan With Laboratory Experimentation And Cassini Spacecraft Data, Felix Casimir Wasiak

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The surface liquids and lake regions of Titan are studied utilizing three unique techniques, the results of which are reported in this dissertation. The development of a facility to simulate the surface conditions of Titan, and to conduct experiments on samples within that facility, brings an understanding of Titan's surface not possible through observation and modeling alone. The properties of this facility are presented, including conceptual methodology, design, implementation, performance, and experimental results. The facility, the main component of which is a simulation chamber, allows for Titan temperatures of 90 - 94 K and a 1.5 bar N2 atmosphere. The …

Groundwater Quality Assessment From Domestic Water Wells In The Fayetteville Shale Gas Play Area In Central Arkansas, Anna Marie Nottmeier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study establishes a spatially distributed domestic water well groundwater quality data set, throughout the Fayetteville Shale Gas Play (FSGP) in central Arkansas. The data set facilitates characterization of the geology and groundwater quality across the study area, benefits residents who may have concerns about the potential impacts on their well water quality, and provides a groundwater quality basis to which complaints can be compared and resolved. The assessment included: research of the study area, site reconnaissance, water sampling and collection, interviews with owners of the property, analytical analysis, Quality Assurance and Quality Control, and groundwater data interpretation.

The study …

The Use Of Diatoms To Infer Environmental Change Of The Lower White River, Southeastern Arkansas, Ruchi Bhattacharya

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes the limnology of the lower White River oxbow lakes in southeast Arkansas, inundated by the major 2008 spring flood. The flood water and sediment deposited in oxbow lakes were analyzed for water chemistry, sediment geochemistry and diatom assemblages and used as an analogue for past floods. The 2008 spring flood inundated and homogenized the entire floodplain; also represented by the predominantly planktonic diatom assemblage suggesting riverine input. Indicator species for eutrophication were also recorded consistent with the high nutrient content in the lakes. However, the variance in the surface diatom assemblage was best explained by the lake …

Nutrient Dynamics In Stormwater Runoff From Green Roofs With Varying Substrate, John Michael Fohner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One major concern with urban development is the increasing amount of stormwater runoff from large expanses of impervious surfaces. These impervious surfaces reduce the ability of stormwater to infiltrate into the soil and eventually groundwater, which leads to greater amounts of surface runoff. Green technology serves as a viable solution to many of the environmental problems presented by modern development. Fifteen mock, extensive green roofs were built in the fall of 2008 at the Watershed Research and Education Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The goals of this project were to (1) measure the amount of stormwater runoff from varying treatments and …

Impervious Surface Area Change In Arkansas From 2001 To 2006, D. E. Long Ii, R. C. Weih Jr.

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Impervious Surface Area (ISA) is a measurement used to determine stream quality as well as urban sprawl. ISA was calculated as part of the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) using Landsat imagery by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) in both 2001 and 2006. ISA for each of the 75 counties in Arkansas was taken from the NLCD for both 2001 and 2006. Using the ISA data, percent imperviousness was determined for each county in each time period as well as the difference between the two periods. These data were also compared to census projections for the two time periods …

Geochemical Controls On Mercury Methylation In Backwaters Of A Gulf Coastal Plain River System, Implications For Water Column Processes, Liam N. Schenk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The abundance and distribution of mercury and methyl mercury were investigated at three sites in the lower Ouachita River in the summer of 2010 in an effort to provide the first characterization of the extent of mercury contamination in this river system, and to investigate the potential for mercury methylation in the water column of backwaters off of the main channel. Results showed that filtered methyl mercury was positively correlated to dissolved organic carbon (r2=0.76) for water samples taken from the bottom 1 ft of the water column at three sites, suggesting the importance of dissolved organic carbon in mercury …

White River Forum Ii: Second Annual Meeting Of The White River Forum, John Havel, Kenneth Steele

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

This second annual meeting of the White River Forum is proof of widespread interest in the water quality of the Upper White River watershed. The participation of numerous elected officials, state and federal agencies, universities, businesses, and local citizens indicates that interest in understanding policy issues crosses political boundaries and occupations.

Development Of A Distributed Artificial Neural Network For Hydrologic Modeling, Rebecca Logsdon

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Hydrological models are used to represent the rainfall-runoff and pollutant transport mechanisms within watersheds. Accurate representation of these dynamic and complex natural processes within a watershed is an important step in managing and protecting a watershed Artificial neural network (ANN) models are often used in hydrologic modeling. Typical ANN models are trained to use lumped data. However, watershed characteristics used as inputs in hydrological modeling are spatially and often temporally dynamic. Therefore, a lumped model does not have the ability to represent changes in spatial dynamics of a watershed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test …

Acoustic Mapping Of Aquatic Vegetation In Lakes: An Example From Northwest Arkansas, Angela M. Polly, Stephen K. Boss

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Land-Use Effects On Soil-Water Retention Characteristic, Naomi Colton, Kristofor Brye

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Tillage can negatively affect soil physical properties such as bulk density, organic matter content, and soil hydraulic properties, which in turn affect how plants grow. The objective of this study was to evaluate water retention characteristics of a Jay silt loam soil under cultivated agriculture and native tallgrass prairie in northwest Arkansas. Air-dry soil samples collected from 0-10 cm depth were re-wet with varying amounts of distilled water to create a range of water contents. After overnight equilibration, the water potential was measured on the re-wet soil samples using a dewpoint potentiameter. The relationship between water potential (Ψ) and water …

Application Of Neuro-Fuzzy Technique+2:9s To Predict Ground Water Vulnerability In Northwest Arkansas, B. Dixon, H. D. Scott, J. V. Brahana, A. Mauromoustakos

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Contamination of ground water has been a major concern in recent years of local, state and federal agencies involved with the management, quality, and quantity of water and their relationships with human health. The Springfield Plateau aquifer, which lies beneath the study area in northwest Arkansas, has been shown to have higher nitrate-N (NO3-N) concentrations than the national median. The dominant landuse (LULC) of this area is agriculture (primarily pasture/cattle and woodlands) and an encroaching urbanization. The major sources of nitrogen in the study area are poultry/cattle wastes, inorganic fertilizers (Peterson et. al., 1998) and septic filter fields. Many of …

Addressing Uncertainty In Tmdls: Short Course At Arkansas Water Resources Center 2001 Annual Conference, Marty Matlock, Matthew Murawski

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Management of a critical natural resource like water requires information on the status of that resource. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported in the 1998 National Water Quality Inventory that more than 291,000 miles of assessed rivers and streams and 5 million acres of lakes do not meet State water quality standards. This inventory represents a compilation of State assessments of 840,000 miles of rivers and 17.4 million acres of lakes; a 22 percent increase in river miles and 4 percent increase in lake acres over their 1996 reports. Siltation, bacteria, nutrients and metals were the leading pollutants of …

Determination Of The Pollutant Loads In The Kings River Near Berryville, Thomas S. Soerens, Marc A. Nelson

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

An automatic sampler and a U.S. Geological Swvey (USGS) gauging station were established in 1998 and water quality sampling was begun in 1999 on the Kings River near Benyville, Arkansas. Continuous stage and discharge measurements and frequent water quality sampling have been used to determine pollutant concentrations and loads in t11e river. In addition, ten samples were taken by Arkansas Water Resources Center (A WRC) concurrently with USGS samples in order to assess whether A WRC and USGS samples can be compared. This report presents the results from the sampling and analysis for January 1, I999 to December 31, 1999. …

Demonstration Of Best Management Practices For The Protection And Improvement Of The Soil And Water Resources In The Arkansas Delta, M. A. Henslee, W. H. Baker, S. D. Carroll, J. L. Farris, S. D. Davis, C. D. Milam, J. L. Pierce

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

This report is the compilation of a multi~year project that was directed at identifying the impact and possible mitigation solutions of non-point pollution from row crop agriculture in a watershed in the Arkansas Delta. The first part of the project involved an inventory of the condition of the major streams that make up the study watershed. The remainder of the project was focused at demonstrating and reporting best management nutrient and sediment runoff control practices (BMP) that could be implemented. The final assessment of the demonstration work is a GIS analysis that provides an overview of the effectiveness of these …

Improving Water Quality Through Bmps For Crop Production Systems Whole Farm Soil And Water Management, J. T. Gilmour, L. R. Frye, N. A. Slaton

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The major objective of this demonstration project was to assess the usefulness of Global Positioning Systems/Geographic Information Systems (GPS/GIS), water testing, soil testing and yield monitoring in a whole farm water and soil management plan. An important part of this objective was to make recommendations to increase crop productivity and decrease the potential for surface water degradation through erosion and runoff at the farm. The farm was located on 2400 acres in the Bayou de View watershed in Monroe County, Arkansas. The farm lies approximately five miles southwest of the town of Brinkley straddling Highway 17 just south of its …

Proceedings Of The Arkansas Water Resources Center Annual Conference: Environmental Hydrology, Kenneth F. Steele

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The papers and abstracts in these proceedings are the result of a joint conference of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (A WRC) with the SouthCentral Section of the Geological Society of America. The joint conference was a success with about 250 participants. A WRC sponsored two sessions on Environmental Hydrology and a short course titled "Hydrogeology and Geochemistry of Salt Water Contamination." The Environmental Hydrology presentations covered wide-ranging topics that reflect the diversity of the environmental settings across Arkansas. Topics ranged from salt water and critical ground water issues in the Delta to endangered species and interbasin ground-water recharge in …

Investigation Of Optimum Sample Number And Timing For Determining Pollution Loads, T. S. Soerens, Marc A. Nelson

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

In order to determine the impacts of non point source (NPS) pollution and to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (Tr\tfDLs), accurate measurements of pollution loads in streams are critical. The objectives of this study were to accurately detemline pollutant loads at two sites by intensive storm sampling, to develop sub-sampling and other data analysis techniques, to detemline the effect of sample interval on load calculation accuracy, and to find the minimum sample interval required to determine storm loads at a required accuracy. The two stream sites used were a 1st order and a 3rd order stream in the Illinois River …

Ground Water In Northwest Arkansas: Minimizing Nutrient Contamination From Non-Point Sources In Karst Terrane, R. K. Davis, J. V. Brahana, J. S. Johnston

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The purpose of the project is to evaluate the effectiveness of Best Management Practices (BPMs) in preventing non-point source contamination of the ground-water resources in the karst terrane of northwestern Arkansas. Limestone and dolomite aquifers in the region are highly vulnerable to contamination. Ground-water studies performed in the region during the last two decades indicate degradation of these carbonate aquifers by nutrients and bacteria. The expeditious growth of the poultry industry during this period, in combination with the inordinate population growth of the region constitute a threat to the ground-water resources from both point sources and non-point sources of contamination. …