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University of Montana

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Articles 31 - 39 of 39

Full-Text Articles in Hydrology

Understanding The Food Water Nexus: Characterizing The Impact Of Climatological Anomalies On Agrosystems, Patrick M. Wurster Jr. Jan 2018

Understanding The Food Water Nexus: Characterizing The Impact Of Climatological Anomalies On Agrosystems, Patrick M. Wurster Jr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate variability at global and regional scales is escalating with increased atmospheric carbon and is expected to magnify the intensity and duration of meteorological extremes, especially droughts. From the many environmental stresses that diminish crop production (e.g., soil salinity, frost, soil erosion) drought is one of the most prevalent. This study focuses on the sensitivity of three key crops produced in the northwestern United States to climatological anomalies, while controlling for attribution using anomalies in price. The study differs from similar studies in that we focus on variability in production which captures both yield (tonnes/ha) and cropping area (ha), as …


Estimating Groundwater Inflow And Age Characteristics In An Alluvial Aquifer Along The Little Wind River, Wyoming, Derek Goble Jan 2018

Estimating Groundwater Inflow And Age Characteristics In An Alluvial Aquifer Along The Little Wind River, Wyoming, Derek Goble

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

We synoptically sampled a 2 km gaining reach of the Little Wind River in central Wyoming for 222Rn, CFCs and SF6 to determine the distributed volumes and locations of discharge and estimate alluvial groundwater age characteristics. 222Rn was sampled in the stream, shallow in-stream piezometers and nearby alluvial groundwater wells to determine the volume and spatial distribution of groundwater discharge to the river. Age tracers, CFC and SF6, sampled in the stream, shallow in-stream piezometers and in alluvial groundwater wells were then used to determine whether in-stream samples are capable of constraining the residence time distribution …


Detecting Regional Groundwater Discharge To The Clark Fork River, Melinda Horne Jan 2017

Detecting Regional Groundwater Discharge To The Clark Fork River, Melinda Horne

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

In this study, Radon-222 (222Rn) measured in stream water and groundwater was used to constrain the quantity of groundwater discharge along a 22 km reach of the Clark Fork River as it runs through Missoula, MT. Dissolved 222Rn samples were taken at 2 km intervals along a reach extending from the confluence of the Clark Fork and the Blackfoot River near Bonner, MT to the confluence with the Bitterroot River on the northwestern edge of the Missoula Valley. Groundwater samples were taken from wells in an alluvial aquifer near Rattlesnake Creek, and combined with previous data from …


Using Thermal Infrared Imagery To Estimate Soil Hydraulic Parameters: A Novel Approach, Matthew B. Thomas Jan 2017

Using Thermal Infrared Imagery To Estimate Soil Hydraulic Parameters: A Novel Approach, Matthew B. Thomas

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

In this study, skin temperature measured with a thermal infrared (TIR) camera was used to estimate soil hydraulic parameters. These physical properties that control how soils transport and retain water are notoriously difficult to measure in the field due to spatial variability. Laboratory experiments were set up to record surface skin temperature response in a clean soil column using a TIR camera after an artificial wetting event. An array of thermocouples, a net radiometer, heat flux sensor and weather station were used to constrain the TIR data and the energy budget during the experiment. The soil column surface was then …


Synthesis Of Satellite Microwave Observations For Monitoring Global Land-Atmosphere Co2 Exchange, Lucas Alan Jones Jan 2016

Synthesis Of Satellite Microwave Observations For Monitoring Global Land-Atmosphere Co2 Exchange, Lucas Alan Jones

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation describes the estimation, error quantification, and incorporation of land surface information from microwave satellite remote sensing for modeling global ecosystem land-atmosphere net CO2 exchange. Retrieval algorithms were developed for estimating soil moisture, surface water, surface temperature, and vegetation phenology from microwave imagery timeseries. Soil moisture retrievals were merged with model-based soil moisture estimates and incorporated into a light-use efficiency model for vegetation productivity coupled to a soil decomposition model. Results, including state and uncertainty estimates, were evaluated with a global eddy covariance flux tower network and other independent global model- and remote-sensing based products.


The Effect Of Spatial Patterns Of Soil Hydraulic Conductivity And Depth On Local And Hillslope Scale Shallow Water Table Dynamics, Casey E. Ryan Jan 2015

The Effect Of Spatial Patterns Of Soil Hydraulic Conductivity And Depth On Local And Hillslope Scale Shallow Water Table Dynamics, Casey E. Ryan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Much research in forested headwater catchments has focused on the role of topography for organizing subsurface flow and the hydrologic connectivity of upland flow paths to stream networks. However, little work has been conducted to evaluate how localized and hillslope scale patterns of hydraulic conductivity and soil depth contribute to spatial patterns of water table duration, magnitude, and connectivity. I monitored shallow groundwater dynamics in wells distributed across a 1st order hillslope in the Lubrecht Experimental Forest, Montana. Additionally, I collected in-situ measurements of soil saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil depth at 10m intervals across the study hillslope and compared …


Sediment Routing Through Channel Confluences: Particle Tracing In A Gravel-Bed River Headwaters, Kurt Imhoff Jan 2015

Sediment Routing Through Channel Confluences: Particle Tracing In A Gravel-Bed River Headwaters, Kurt Imhoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sediment routing in gravel-bed rivers refers to the intermittent transport and storage of bedload particles, where short-duration steps are separated by periods of inactivity. Channel morphology governs sediment routing, but morphologic effects on routing in headwater systems are not well understood compared to lowland systems. RFID tracers are a valuable tool that can be employed to characterize routing processes in headwater channels through individual particle tracking. I present research on coarse sediment transport and dispersion through confluences using sediment tracers in the East Fork Bitterroot River basin, MT. I investigate the following questions: (1) How do sediment routing patterns through …


Understanding Greenland Ice Sheet Hydrology Using An Integrated Multi-Scale Approach, A. K. Rennermalm, S. E. Moustafa, J. Mioduszewski, V. W. Chu, R. R. Forster, B. Hagedorn, Joel T. Harper, T. L. Mote, D. A. Robinson, C. A. Shuman, L. C. Smith, M. Tedesco Feb 2013

Understanding Greenland Ice Sheet Hydrology Using An Integrated Multi-Scale Approach, A. K. Rennermalm, S. E. Moustafa, J. Mioduszewski, V. W. Chu, R. R. Forster, B. Hagedorn, Joel T. Harper, T. L. Mote, D. A. Robinson, C. A. Shuman, L. C. Smith, M. Tedesco

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Improved understanding of Greenland ice sheet hydrology is critically important for assessing its impact on current and future ice sheet dynamics and global sea level rise. This has motivated the collection and integration of in situ observations, model development, and remote sensing efforts to quantify meltwater production, as well as its phase changes, transport, and export. Particularly urgent is a better understanding of albedo feedbacks leading to enhanced surface melt, potential positive feedbacks between ice sheet hydrology and dynamics, and meltwater retention in firn. These processes are not isolated, but must be understood as part of a continuum of processes …


High Altitude Himalayan Climate Inferred From Glacial Ice Flux, Joel T. Harper, Neil Humphrey Jul 2003

High Altitude Himalayan Climate Inferred From Glacial Ice Flux, Joel T. Harper, Neil Humphrey

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Glaciological processes are modeled to investigate precipitation patterns and the resulting mass flux of snow and ice across Himalayan topography. Our model tracks the accumulation and ablation of snow and ice and the transport of snow and ice across the topography by glacier motion. We investigate high elevation precipitation on the Annapurna Massif by comparing the existing ice cover with model-simulated glaciers produced by a suite of different precipitation scenarios. Our results suggest that precipitation reaches a maximum level well below the elevation of the highest peaks. Further, essentially no snow accumulates on the topography above an elevation of 6200–6300 …