Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Using Groundwater Modeling To Assess Groundwater And Stream Connectivity In A River Restoration Application, John Joseph Lunzer

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Historic placer mining operations along the Middle Fork John Day River (MFJD) north of Galena, Oregon have left the MFJD channel straightened, incised and lacking in riverbed structure. This lack of riverbed structure makes this stretch of the MFJD poor habitat for trout and migrating salmon. In order to restore this stretch of the MFJD to better serve aquatic species, Inter-Fluve Inc. (IF), United States Forest Service (USFS) and The Freshwater Trust (TFT) will be performing restoration to both the MFJD channel as well as Bear Creek, a tributary of the MFJD. The proposed restoration work will consist of re-routing …

Assessment And Correction Of Lidar-Derived Dems In The Coastal Marshes Of Louisiana, William M. Lauve

LSU Master's Theses

The onset of airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) has resulted in expansive, precise digital elevation models (DEMs). DEMs are essential for modeling complex systems, such as the coastal land margin of Louisiana. They are used for many applications (e.g. tide, storm surge, and ecological modeling) and by diverse groups (e.g. state and federal agencies, NGOs, and academia). However, in a marsh environment, it is difficult for airborne lidar to produce accurate bare-earth measurements and even accurate elevations are rarely verified by ground truth data. The accuracy of lidar in marshes is limited by the sensor’s resolution …

A Theoretical Model Of Underground Dipole Antennas For Communications In Internet Of Underground Things, Abdul Salam, Mehmet C. Vuran, Xin Dong, Christos Argyropoulos, Suat Irmak

Faculty Publications

The realization of Internet of Underground Things (IOUT) relies on the establishment of reliable communication links, where the antenna becomes a major design component due to the significant impacts of soil. In this paper, a theoretical model is developed to capture the impacts of change of soil moisture on the return loss, resonant frequency, and bandwidth of a buried dipole antenna. Experiments are conducted in silty clay loam, sandy, and silt loam soil, to characterize the effects of soil, in an indoor testbed and field testbeds. It is shown that at subsurface burial depths (0.1-0.4m), change in soil moisture impacts …

Limits To The World’S Green Water Resources For Food, Feed, Fiber, Timber, And Bioenergy, Joep F. Schyns, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Martijn J. Booij, Rick J. Hogeboom, Mesfin Mekonnen

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Green water––rainfall over land that eventually flows back to the atmosphere as evapotranspiration––is the main source of water to produce food, feed, fiber, timber, and bioenergy. To understand how freshwater scarcity constrains production of these goods, we need to consider limits to the green water footprint (WFg), the green water flow allocated to human society. However, research traditionally focuses on scarcity of blue water––groundwater and surface water. Here we expand the debate on water scarcity by considering green water scarcity (WSg). At 5 × 5 arc-minute spatial resolution, we quantify WFg and the maximum sustainable level to this footprint (WFg,m), …

Observational Time Series For Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo: Surface Area, Volume, And Elevation, Mahrokh Moknatian, Michael Piasecki

Publications and Research

In this report, we present historical time series of surface area, volume, and elevation for lakes Azuei (Haiti) and Enriquillo (Dominican Republic). The intention is to present a history of the lakes’ levels for both bodies of water as derived from Landsat imagery that is augmented by reports and narratives that reach further back in time. We also summarize lake level time series data collected and developed through various other efforts and compare these data sets to our time series. The time series contains 45 years’ worth of data ranging from 1972 to 2017 which we developed from Landsat imagery …

Assessing Landscape Scale Heterogeneity In Irrigation Water Use With Remote Sensing And In Situ Monitoring, T. Foster, I. Z. Goncalves, I. Campos, C. M.U. Neale, N. Brozovic

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Understanding how irrigation is used across agricultural landscapes is essential to support efforts to grow more food while reducing pressures on limited freshwater resources. However, to date, few studies have analyzed the underlying spatial and temporal variability in farmers’ individual water use decisions at a landscape scale.Wecompare estimates of irrigation water requirements derived using state-of-the-art remote sensing models with metered abstraction records for 1400 fields over a 13 year period in the US state of Nebraska, one of the world’s most intensively irrigated agricultural regions. Weshow that farmers’ observed water use decisions often diverge significantly from biophysical estimates of crop …

Twenty-Three Unsolved Problems In Hydrology (Uph) – A Community Perspective, Günter Blöschl, Christopher M. U. Neale, A Cast Of Thousands

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through online media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focused …

Impact Of The Application Of Domestic Wastewater By Subsurface Drip Irrigation On The Soil Solution In Sugarcane Cultivation, Aline Azevedo Nazário, Ivo Zution Gonçalves, Eduardo Augusto Agnellos Barbosa, Leonardo Nazário Silva Dos Santos, Daniel Rodrigues Cavalcante Feitosa, Edson Eiji Matsura

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The agricultural use of domestic sewage is a viable alternative for recycling nutrients; however, there is concern regarding the impact of its use due to the concentration of chemical elements present in this type of effluent. The use of principal component analysis determines the existence or lack of anomalous samples and the relations between measured variables and their relative contribution among samples that help in monitoring the impact of the use of effluents on soil chemical components. Thus, the objective of this work was to identify nutrient ions present in the soil solution during the first ratoon sugarcane irrigated with …

Public Attitudes About Private Forest Management And Government Involvement In The Southeastern United States, Melissa M. Kreye, Renata Rimsaite, Damian C. Adams

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

In the southern United States the country’s top wood-producing region, factors such as intergenerational land transfer and population spillover from urban areas have resulted in forestland conversion and reduced production of critical ecosystem services associated with forest systems (e.g., timber, clean water supply, wildlife habitat). Public attitudes, which drive forestland policy prescriptions, may also be evolving due to the way people experience and perceive forests (e.g., recreation), and think about the role of government in private forest decisions. These changes have significant implications for forestland management and the forest-based economy, both locally and globally. We present the results of a …

Mapping Regional Turbulent Heat Fluxes Via Assimilation Of Modis Land Surface Temperature Data Into An Ensemble Kalman Smoother Framework, Xinlei He, Tongren Xu, Sayed M. Bateni, Christopher M. U. Neale, Shaomin Liu, Thomas Auligne, Kaicun Wang, Shoudong Zhu

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Estimation of turbulent heat fluxes via variational data assimilation (VDA) approaches has been the subject of several studies. The VDA approaches need an adjoint model that is difficult to derive. In this study, remotely sensed land surface temperature (LST) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are assimilated into the heat diffusion equation within an ensemble Kalman smoother (EnKS) approach to estimate turbulent heat fluxes. The EnKS approach is tested in the Heihe River Basin (HRB) in northwest China. The results show that the EnKS approach can estimate turbulent heat fluxes by assimilating low temporal resolution LST data from …

Agricultural Water Transfers In The Western United States, Richael Young, Nicholas Brozovic

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Irrigation for agricultural production represents the largest consumptive use of water in the western United States. Understanding the ways in which agricultural producers respond to physical and institutional water scarcity is therefore key to managing water risk. One of the important risk management tools available to agricultural producers is the ability to transfer water across space and time. Water transfers range from very informal handshake agreements between neighbors to very formal transfers of real property across large distances with mandatory state and federal reporting. Given the range of potential water transfer mechanisms, there are significant knowledge gaps on the variety, …

2019 Nebraska Water Productivity Report, Mesfin Mekonnen, Christopher Michael Usher Neale, Chittaranjan Ray, Galen E. Erickson, Adam Liska, Haishun Yang, Thiago L. Romanelli, Arjen Y. Hoekstra

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Nebraska’s agricultural production is diverse and vast, ranking the state fourth in total value of agricultural products in the U.S. The state is a national leader in terms of agricultural production: it is the third largest producer of corn and second largest in cattle production. Nebraska is also the second largest producer of ethanol and distillers’ grains. The production and use of these three commodities are highly interlinked. Corn is a major input in livestock feed and the ethanol industry. Ethanol plants then produce distillers’ grains as a co-product that is also used as livestock feed, thus forming what the …

Nebraska Water Center Annual Report 2017-2018, The Nebraska Water Center

Nebraska Water Center: Administrative Materials

Contents

Introduction: Foreword • Director’s Letter by Chittaranjan Ray • Nebraska Water Center Overview and Timeline • Nebraska’s Top 10 Water Challenges

Research: Water Sciences Laboratory Overview • Nebraska Vadose Zone Program • Novel Nitrate Leaching Reduction • Ogallala Water Coordinated Agriculture Project (OWCAP) • Nebraska Water Productivity Report • USDA-NIFA Water End-User Grant • U.S. Geological Survey 104b Projects

Extension & Outreach: Bazile Groundwater Management Area • Platte River Basin Ecosystem Symposium • Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) • 2018 National Institutes for Water Resources Regional Symposium • Water Quality + Citizen Science • Nebraska Water and Natural Resources …

Decomposing A Watershed’S Nitrate Signal Using Spatial Sampling And Continuous Sensor Data, Evan Clare

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Watershed features, physiographic setting, geology, climate, and hydrologic processes combine to produce a time-variant nutrient concentration signal at the watershed outlet. Anthropogenic influences, such as increased agricultural pressures and urbanization, have increased overall nutrient loadings delivered to the fluvial network. The impact of such increased nutrient loadings on Kentucky’s drinking water remains a potential threat to the region.

By coupling spatial sampling of nitrate concentrations in surface water with contemporary nutrient and water quality sensor technology, a decomposition of the Upper South Elkhorn watershed’s nitrate signal and an estimation of source timing and loading in the watershed was completed. The …

Environmental Policy Assessment In The Ghanaian Gold Mining Industry: Insights From Stakeholders, Francis Tuokuu

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Environmental policy assessment has been recognized by critical stakeholders (e.g., governments, local communities, academics, environmental advocacy groups, and mining companies) as an effective way of identifying and dealing with the myriad of environmental problems confronting humanity, particularly those caused by mining activities. While the gold mining sector has contributed to the economies of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa since the introduction of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) in the 1980s by the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; IMF), the sector has also contributed to environmental degradation including water pollution, land contaminations, and generally, human health concerns …

Magnetic Field Sensor Based On A Tri-Microfiber Coupler Ring In Magnetic Fluid And A Fiber Bragg Grating, Fangfang Wei, Dejun Liu, Arun Kumar Mallik, Gerald Farrell, Qiang Wu, Gang-Ding Peng, Yuliya Semenova

Articles

In this paper we propose and investigate a novel magnetic field sensor based on a Tri-microfiber coupler combined with magnetic fluid and a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in a ring. A sensitivity of 1306 pm/mT was experimentally demonstrated in the range of magnetic fields from 0 to 15 mT. The reflection peak in the output spectrum associated with the FBG serves as a reference point allowing to avoid ambiguity in determining the spectral shift induced by the magnetic field. Due to its high sensitivity at low magnetic fields, the proposed structure could be of high interest in low field biosensing …

Preface: Earth Observation For Integrated Water And Basin Management: Challenges For Adaptation To A Changing Environment, María J. Polo, Maria P. González-Dugo, Christopher M.U. Neale

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Integrated river basin management involves a sound knowledge of water and land interactions, and impacts from and feedbacks to human activity. Remote sensing has been an efficient and increasingly promising means of gathering direct information of the Earth surface, as well as information on water and energy fluxes. The recent generation of high-resolution sensors offers a huge potential for monitoring, assessing, and modelling our changing environment in a context of uncertainty about how future climate conditions will affect the current water resource and basin management framework. Moreover, large amounts of data are now available posing a challenging opportunity to the …

Riverbank Filtration Impacts On Post Disinfection Water Quality In Small Systems—A Case Study From Auburn And Nebraska City, Nebraska, Matteo D'Alessio, Bruce Dvorak, Chittaranjan Ray

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Small water systems can experience a fluctuating quality of water in the distribution system after disinfection. As chlorine is the most common disinfectant for small systems, the occurrence of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) represents a common problem for these systems. Riverbank filtration (RBF) can be a valuable solution for small communities located on riverbanks. The objectives of this study were to evaluate (i) the improvements in water quality at two selected RBF systems, and (ii) the potential lower concentrations of DBPs, in particular, trihalomethanes (THMs), in small systems that use RBF. Two small communities in Nebraska, Auburn and Nebraska City, using …

Flow Analysis Through Collectorwell Laterals: A Case Study From Sonoma County Water Agency, California, Matteo D'Alessio, John Lucio, Ernest Williams, Donald Seymour, Jay Jasperse, Chittaranjan Ray

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The Sonoma County Water Agency (SWCA) uses six radial collector wells along the Russian River west of Santa Rosa, to provide water for several municipalities and water districts in north-western California. Three collector wells (1, 2, and 6) are located in the Wohler area, and three collector wells (3, 4, and 5) are located in the Mirabel area. The objective of this paper is to highlight the performance of the three collector wells located in the Mirabel area since their construction. The 2015 investigation showed a lower performance of Collectors 3 and 4 compared to their original performances after construction …

Assessing The Feasibility Of Soil Infiltration Trenches For Highway Runoff Control On The Island Of Oahu, Hawaii, Martina Sobotkova, Jaromir Dusek, Ghasem Alavi, Laxman Sharma, Chittaranjan Ray

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The coastal waters of Hawaii are extremely important for recreation as well as for the health of the marine environment. Non-point source pollution from storm runoff poses a great threat to surface water quality in Hawaii. The State of Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) includes infiltration trenches as a best management practice (BMP) option to reduce pollution caused by stormwater runoff. HDOT guidelines state that the implementation of BMPs is needed to reduce sediment and pollutant loads to streams and the ocean. In this study, the suitability of soils adjacent to highways on Oahu for the siting of infiltration trenches …

Energy Demand And Water Footprint Study Of An Agricultural Machinery Industry, Mantoam E,J., Mesfin Mekonnen, T.L. Romanelli

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The intensification of agricultural production systems demands power, supplied by agricultural machinery, besides more agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. Agricultural mechanization provides increase in the global production of food, fiber and bioenergy; and it brought economic benefits to producers, but causing larger energy consumption. Energy embodiment in agricultural machinery has been done in earlier studies, but data usually are from car industry. This study aimed to determine the energy demand and water footprint in a plant that assembles five types of agricultural machinery from a multinational manufacturer located in Piracicaba municipality in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. That …

Assessing Biofiltration Without Ozonation For Removal Of Trihalomethane Precursors In Drinking Water At The Beaver Water District Drinking Water Treatment Plant, Sana Ajaz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biofiltration without pre-ozonation has the capability to remove natural organic matter (NOM) fractions that serve as precursors of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), which include the four regulated trihalomethanes (THMs) and dichloroacetonitrile (DCAN). Rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCTs) and Pilot Plant filters operated at empty-bed contact times (EBCTs) of 4, 8, and 16 minutes were used to evaluate the performance of nutrient-amended (free ammonia and phosphorus) biofiltration for THM and DCAN precursor removal, as measured using formation potential (FP) tests. NOM surrogates – which include dissolved organic carbon (DOC), specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA254) and fluorescence-PARAFAC components – were measured weekly throughout the …

Cost Benefit Analysis Of Led Vs Florescent Lighting, Kurtis Clark, Phillip Humphrey

Student Research

Over the last few years, the state of Oklahoma has been looking at ways to reduce expenses to address concerns about a budget deficit. There have been efforts made to reduce expenses due to the use of energy. It has been said, when the lights are on, work is getting done. Running lights is therefore the cost of doing business. Our research examines the question, “is there a way to provide better lighting while operating at a lower cost.” This research examines the current lighting at Southwestern State University, primarily fluorescent lighting (FL), and a cost benefit analysis of switching …

Evaluation Of The Weak Constraint Data Assimilation Approach For Estimating Turbulent Heat Fluxes At Six Sites, Xinlei He, Tongren Xu, Sayed M. Bateni, C.M.U. Neale, Thomas Auligne, Shaomin Liu, Kaicun Wang, Kebiao Mao, Yunjun Yao

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

A number of studies have estimated turbulent heat fluxes by assimilating sequences of land surface temperature (LST) observations into the strong constraint-variational data assimilation (SC-VDA) approaches. The SC-VDA approaches do not account for the structural model errors and uncertainties in the micrometeorological variables. In contrast to the SC-VDA approaches, the WC-VDA approach (the so-called weak constraint-VDA) accounts for the effects of structural and model errors by adding a model error term. In this study, the WC-VDA approach is tested at six study sites with different climatic and vegetative conditions. Its performance is also compared with that of SC-VDA at the …

The Challenges Of Geotechnical Exploration In Bangladesh For Sustainable Urban Development And Risk Reductions In Engineering Geology, Mir Fazul Karim, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Muhammad Qumrul Hasson, A.T.M. Shakhawat Hossain

Publications and Research

Bangladesh is a unique example of rapid urbanization where the urban population increased from 5 to 58 million in last four decades. Due to complex geology and active tectonic setting, the urban ground is impacted by fluvio-deltaic processes and regional seismicity. The densely populated cities of the country are facing risks from many natural hazards like floods, tidal surge, riverbank and coastal erosion, scour, landslides, soil collapse and foundation failures. Geologists anticipate severe seismic threats from yet-undefined tectonic structures and seek to determine their consequential geo-structural responses and conformance to the national building code. With rapid growth, demands on infrastructure …

Detection, Occurrence And Fate Of Emerging Contaminants In Agricultural Environments, Daniel D. Snow, David A. Cassada, Saptashati Biswas, Mohammedreza Shafieifini, Xu Li, Matteo D'Alessio, Laura Carter, J. Brett Sallach

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

A total of 75 papers published in 2017 were reviewed ranging from detailed descriptions of analytical methods, to fate and occurrence studies, to ecological effects and sampling techniques for a wide variety of emerging contaminants likely to occur in agricultural environments. New methods and studies on veterinary pharmaceuticals, steroids, antibiotic resistance genes, and engineered nanoparticles agricultural environments continue to expand our knowledge base on the occurrence and potential impacts of these compounds. This review is divided into the following sections: Introduction, Analytical Methods, Fate and Occurrence, Pharmaceutical Metabolites, Anthelmintics, Antibiotic Resistance Genes, and Engineered Nanomaterials.

Monitoring And Evaluating The Influences Of Class V Injection Wells On Urban Karst Hydrology, James Adam Shelley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The response of a karst aquifer to storm events is often faster and more severe than that of a non-karst aquifer. This distinction is often problematic for planners and municipalities, because karst flooding does not typically occur along perennial water courses; thus, traditional flood management strategies are usually ineffective. The City of Bowling Green (CoBG), Kentucky is a representative example of an area plagued by karst flooding. The CoBG, is an urban karst area (UKA), that uses Class V Injection Wells to lessen the severity of flooding. The overall effectiveness, siting, and flooding impact of Injection Wells in UKA’s is …

Report Of Community Conversations About Gender Roles In Livestock, Mamusha Lemma, Wole Kinati, Annet Mulema, Zekarias Bassa, Abiro Tigabe, Hiwot Desta, Mesfin Mekonnen, Tadious Asfaw

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) gender and animal health teams facilitated community conversations (CCs) about gender roles in livestock husbandry in three districts in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) and Amhara region from 30 May–07 June 2018. These dictricts were: Doyogena (Hawora Arara and Ancha Sadicha kebeles) of SNNPR from 30 and 31 May; and Menz Gera district (Sine Amba kebele) and Menz Mama district (Key Afer kebele) of Amhara from June 6–7. In Doyogena, the team held the conversations in farmer training centres (FTCs) …

Assessing The Relationship Between Groundwater Nitrate Concentrations And Environmental Variables Through Repeat Sampling And Statistical Machine Learning: Dutch Flats, Nebraska, Martin Wells

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

Nitrate-contaminated aquifers are common in landscapes dominated by agricultural land use. Health concerns related to consuming nitrate-contaminated groundwater are well documented and continued research aimed at decreasing concentrations is critical. A 1990s U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study focused on groundwater characteristics in the Dutch Flats area of western Nebraska. Agricultural-related practices were determined to largely influence groundwater recharge and nitrate concentrations ([NO₃^-]). Since the conclusion of the USGS study, a transition to more efficient irrigation technology has been observed in this region. The emphasis of this 2016 study was to resample several well nests examined in 1998 …

Including Farmer Irrigation Behavior In A Sociohydrological Modeling Framework With Application In North India, Jimmy O’Keeffe, Simon Moulds, Emma Bergin, Nick Brozovic, Ana Mijic, Wouter Buytaert

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Understanding water user behavior and its potential outcomes is important for the development of suitable water resource management options. Computational models are commonly used to assist water resource management decision making; however, while natural processes are increasingly well modeled, the inclusion of human behavior has lagged behind. Improved representation of irrigation water user behavior within models can provide more accurate and relevant information for irrigation management in the agricultural sector. This paper outlines a model that conceptualizes and proceduralizes observed farmer irrigation practices, highlighting impacts and interactions between the environment and behavior. It is developed using a bottom-up approach, informed …