Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Opening Session, Annette Clark, Steven Bender, Peter Smirniotopoulos

SITIE Symposiums

The SITIE2020 Symposium: Innovating the Built Environment was offered entirely online, through the Zoom platform. Each of six (6) symposium sessions, outlined below, were offered in a continuous Zoom session with breaks throughout the day, allowing our audience to select those sessions of greatest interest to them. Students enrolled in Professor Smirniotopoulos’s Summer Institute course—Innovating the Built Environment: How the Law Responds to Disruptive Change—participated all day.

Proceedings Of The Sitie2020 Symposium, Seattle Journal Of Technology, Environmental, And Innovation Law

SITIE Symposiums

Complete Summary of Proceedings.

Great Basin Paleoclimate And Aridity Linked To Artic Warming And Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, Matthew S. Lachniet, Yemane Asmerom, Victor Polyak, Rhawn Denniston

Geoscience Faculty Research

The arid southwestern United States is susceptible to sustained droughts that impact water resources and economic activity for millions of residents. Previous work has not systematically investigated the structure, timing, and possible forcings of Holocene Great Basin sub‐orbital hydroclimate changes, impeding our ability to understand the potential future controls on Southwestern aridity. The objective of this paper is to constrain the potential forcings on Holocene aridity and temperature, via comparison of new high‐resolution speleothem data, an Aridity Index synthesizing hydroclimate records, and linkages of Southwestern paleoclimate to other regions. The high‐resolution data from Leviathan Cave provide a paleoclimate record since …

Combined Use Of Sentinel‐1 Sar And Landsat Sensors Products For Residual Soil Moisture Retrieval Over Agricultural Fields In The Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia, Getachew Ayehu, Tsegaye Tadesse, Berhan Gessesse, Yibeltal Yigrem, Assefa M. Melesse

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The objective of this paper is to investigate the potential of sentinel‐1 SAR sensor products and the contribution of soil roughness parameters to estimate volumetric residual soil moisture (RSM) in the Upper Blue Nile (UBN) basin, Ethiopia. The backscatter contribution of crop residue water content was estimated using Landsat sensor product and the water cloud model (WCM). The surface roughness parameters were estimated from the Oh and Baghdadi models. A feed‐forward artificial neural network (ANN) method was tested for its potential to translate SAR backscattering and surface roughness input variables to RSM values. The model was trained for three inversion …

A Hydrometeorological Assessment Of The Historic 2019 Flood Of Nebraska, Iowa, And South Dakota, Paul Xavier Flanagan, Rezaul Mahmood, Natalie Umphlett, Erin M.K. Haacker, Chittaranjan Ray, Bill Sorensen, Martha Shulski, Crystal J. Stiles, David Pearson, Paul Fajman

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

During early 2019, a series of events set the stage for devastating floods in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota. When the floodwaters hit, dams and levees failed, cutting off towns, while destroying roads, bridges, and rail lines, further exacerbating the crisis. Lives were lost and thousands of cattle were stranded. Estimates indicate that the cost of the flooding has topped $3 billion as of August 2019, with this number expected to rise.

After a warm and wet start to winter, eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota endured anomalously low temperatures and record-breaking snowfall. By March …

Storm Surges In The Bohai Sea: The Role Of Waves And Tides, Yuanyi Li, Huan Feng, Guillaume Vigouroux, Dekui Yuan, Guangyu Zhang, Xiaodi Ma, Kun Lei

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A storm surge is a complex phenomenon in which waves, tide and current interact. Even though wind is the predominant force driving the surge, waves and tidal phase are also important factors that influence the mass and momentum transport during the surge. Devastating storm surges often occur in the Bohai Sea, a semi-enclosed shallow sea in North China, due to extreme storms. However, the effects of waves on storm surges in the Bohai Sea have not been quantified and the mechanisms responsible for the higher surges that affect part of the Bohai Sea have not been thoroughly studied. In this …

Sandy Buck '78: Seeing Light Amidst The Gloom, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

"If you look at the macro you could come to a grinding halt and throw your hand up. But when you look at the local, and even state and regional levels, there are reasons for hope." -Sandy Buck '78

Space And Depth-Resolved Naturally Occurring Toxic Groundwater Species In Bangladesh And Rwanda: Origination And Risk Analysis, Kenneth Hamilton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Access to safe potable water is a necessity for all. Groundwater is a commonly relied upon drinking water source for many areas around the world. This is especially true for communities in high density, rural settings. Such is the case for populations near Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, and in the Bugesera region of Rwanda. Sediment and groundwater contamination, through toxic dissolved species, represents a significant public health risk to exposed populations. Tropical soils, such as the soil profiles in Bangladesh and Rwanda, often contain higher concentrations of heavy metals (Rieuwerts, 2007). Additionally, nitrate from fertilizers, are widely used on the soils …

Synergistic Use Of Remote Sensing And Modeling For Estimating Net Primary Productivity In The Red Sea With Vgpm, Eppley-Vgpm, And Cbpm Models Intercomparison, Wenzhao Li, Surya Prakash Tiwari, Hesham El-Askary, Mohamed Ali Qurban, Vassilis Amiridis, K. P. Manikandan, Michael J. Garay, Olga V. Kalashnikova, Thomas C. Piechota, Daniele C. Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Primary productivity (PP) has been recently investigated using remote sensing-based models over quite limited geographical areas of the Red Sea. This work sheds light on how phytoplankton and primary production would react to the effects of global warming in the extreme environment of the Red Sea and, hence, illuminates how similar regions may behave in the context of climate variability. study focuses on using satellite observations to conduct an intercomparison of three net primary production (NPP) models--the vertically generalized production model (VGPM), the Eppley-VGPM, and the carbon-based production model (CbPM)--produced over the Red Sea domain for the 1998-2018 time period. …

Shifting Public Perception: Climate Change Means Living With Fire And Smoke, Robert Froembling

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The urgency to prepare for the climate crisis has never been greater. We are currently living in the sixth mass extinction and the effects are only going to accelerate. We will inherit more wildfires, larger wildfires, and more frequent wildfires.

This piece is not meant to stoke fear in its readers or be depressing, but to shift public perception on what our future holds by evaluating the laws and science presented to us. This piece will look at regional and federal regulations and assess the increased rate of forest fires and the grave public health concerns from stagnant smoke specifically …

Habitat Modification On An Urban High School Campus, Nickolas John Davros Ii

Graduate Theses

Biodiversity is in a crisis worldwide, driven by the negative effects from urbanization. Ecosystems are being destroyed in favor of urban areas and natural resources are diminishing. Stormwater management has gained an elevated importance and its associated infrastructure could help counter the loss of biodiversity. Freshwater within urban areas is critical for organisms. Anthropogenic ponds can act as refuge habitats within a blue network and have become a hotspot for ecological research. Using principles of reconciliation ecology, the effects on biodiversity were assessed following the conversion of a stormwater basin on an urban high school in Charlotte, NC. A before-and-after …

Building Adaptive Capacity In Tribal Communities Of The Missouri River Basin To Manage Drought And Climate Extremes: A Case Study From The Wind River Indian Reservation, Crystal J. Stiles, Natalie Umphlett, Mitch Cottenoir

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Native American peoples of the Northern and Central Plains have long endured harsh climate conditions, such as floods and droughts, and they possess valuable traditional knowledges that have enhanced their resilience to these extreme events. However, in recent times, limited capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing climate combined with a lack of resources have increased tribes’ vulnerability to climate extremes and their associated impacts. In response, a number of projects have been developed to assist tribes with their self-identified climate- and drought-related needs, particularly in the context of on-reservation decision-making. In this case study, we present an engagement strategy …

A Social–Ecological Odyssey In Fisheries And Wildlife Management, Andrew K. Carlson, William W. Taylor, Melissa R. Cronin, Mitchell J. Eaton, Mark A. Kaemingk, Andrea J. Reid, Ashley Trudeau

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aldo Leopold, famous ecologist and “father” of North American wildlife management, once said, “These are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other, and the relation of people to land” (Leopold 1947). Ever prescient, Leopold recognized that natural resource management is fundamentally about humans and their relationship with nature well before conservation became an established way of thinking, much less the bedrock of entire professions. Similarly, amid the Green Revolution to increase agricultural production, in part, through widespread use of pesticides, renowned environmentalist and journalist Rachel Carson noted that we are all “a part of nature, …

Record Fledging Count From A Seven-Egg Clutch In The Cooper’S Hawk (Accipiter Cooperii), Robert N. Rosenfield, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Ann Riddle-Berntsen, Evan Kuhel

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Cooper’s Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) typically lay 3–5 eggs per clutch, rarely 6 eggs, and there are 2 accounts of 7-egg clutches and 1 record of a maximum 8-egg clutch for the species. Brood sizes of 3–5 young are common and the previous maximum brood count is 6 young. However, in 2019, we found an urban nest in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with 7 eggs that resulted in a record high of 7 fledglings. We genetically confirmed that the attending male sired all the offspring and the attending female laid all 7 eggs. Larger body size of the tending adults …

Effects Of Light, Nutrients, And Salts On Microbial Biofilm Productivity And Detrital Processing In Aquatic Mesocosms, Bethanie Brooke Howard-Parker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic activities associated with urbanization, agriculture, and resource extraction continue to increase to support increasing needs of the growing population. These activities increase the amounts of pollutants entering freshwater streams and put aquatic ecosystems at structural and functional risk. Aquatic microbes play an important role in detrital processing in streams as a key linkage in moving carbon from detrital stocks into aquatic food webs. My research investigates the effects of light, nutrients, and salts on detrital microbes and decomposition in freshwaters using a mesocosm approach. In chapter one, I modified a current priming effect (PE) hypothesis model to include light …

Analyzing The Effects Of Of Seasonal Land Cover And Precipitation On The Sediment Delivery Ratio Of An Agriculture Dominated Watershed., Jonah Liebman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soil erosion is of escalating importance as increasing population and climate change have put increasing pressures on agricultural food production. Vegetation and precipitation are two factors that control the amount of soil erosion extant within a region. Sediment delivery ratios (SDRs) assess the ratio of soil eroded from a watershed system that is permanently removed from the system through stream sediment discharge. Using 1) river discharge and sediment concentration data and 2) the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), this thesis analyzes fluctuations in monthly SDRs for an average hydroclimatological crop-harvest season for the Senachwine Creek watershed, IL. Through calculating …

Storm Sampling To Assess Inclement Weather Impacts On Water Quality In A Karst Watershed: Sinking Creek, Watauga Watershed, East Tennessee, Porcha Mccurdy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Escherichia coli changes in Sinking Creek, an impaired water body in the Watauga watershed of northeast Tennessee, were assessed during storm events using water samples collected with ISCO automated samplers during eight storms at two locations. Turbidity and electrical conductivity (EC) data loggers were deployed in the creek, and dissolved oxygen (DO) was measured in situ to test the stream’s water quality and reaction to inclement weather. Cotton fabric was deployed at both locations and sent to an external lab to test for the presence of Optical Brighteners (OB), which are indicators of residential wastewater. E. coli and turbidity at …

Earth Observation And Cloud Computing In Support Of Two Sustainable Development Goals For The River Nile Watershed Countries, Wenzhao Li, Hesham El-Askary, Venkat Lakshmi, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In September 2015, the members of United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with universal applicability of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. The SDGs are consequential for the development of the countries in the Nile watershed, which are affected by water scarcity and experiencing rapid urbanization associated with population growth. Earth Observation (EO) has become an important tool to monitor the progress and implementation of specific SDG targets through its wide accessibility and global coverage. In addition, the advancement of algorithms and tools deployed in cloud computing platforms provide an equal opportunity to use EO …

Comprehensive And Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories For Nebraska And The Midwest As Baselines For Climate Change Mitigation, Eric R. Holley

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

Climate change is the paramount challenge of today for a sustainable future. Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is necessary to reduce the associated risks and impacts on society. Using the EPA’s SIT and literature review, comprehensive GHG-emissions inventories were developed for the state of Nebraska over 25 years (1990-2015) and agricultural GHG emissions inventories were developed for the Midwest U.S for one year (2016). Nebraska’s net emissions increased from 56.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMtCO₂e) in 1990 to 87.4 MMtCO₂e in 2016. Agriculture was found to be the sector with the most …

Effects Of Bridge Sites On Freshwater Mussel Community Structure And Density, Holly Rundle

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Freshwater Mussels (family Unionidae) are one of the most imperiled group of species found in the United States. Construction activities, such as bridges, can affect sedimentation rates and local deposition, as well as the hydrologic flow of the stream. Since mussels are protected in Ohio, surveys must be done prior to bridge construction to determine the impact of the project on mussel resources. Our study used data from survey reports conducted in Ohio from 2013-2019 at bridge sites. We organized the data to determine mussel community structure and density directly underneath bridges compared to away from bridges. We found the …

Spatial And Temporal Behavioral Differences Between Angler-Access Types, Derek Kane, Mark A. Kaemingk, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Recreational angler surveys typically collect information on how anglers access a fishery. Yet, it is unclear how this information is useful for fisheries management and conservation. The objective of this study was to compare behavior (e.g., party size, time fished, and numbers of fish released and harvested) of bank and boat anglers, representing two angler-access types. Bank and boat anglers were surveyed across 29 Nebraska waterbodies from April through October, 2007–2017. We documented behavioral differences between bank and boat anglers that varied as a function of waterbody size and season. Patterns of party size, time fished, and numbers of fish …

Droughtscape, Spring 2020, National Drought Mitigation Center

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

DroughtScape, Spring 2020

Impacts Of Human Recreation On Nutrient Availability And Periphyton Abundance On The Niobrara River, Matthew Chen, Jessica Corman, Sydney Kimnach, Kayla Vondracek

UCARE: Research Products

In freshwater ecosystems, eutrophication can create many problems. Excess nutrients, like nitrogen or phosphorus, promote algal or cyanobacterial growth. This growth also leads to increased organic matter production and decomposition, a process that can reduce oxygen concentration in the water. When this happens, species diversity declines, transparency of the water declines, and anoxia may lead to fish kills . Of particular concern is the possibility of cyanobacteria blooms that create compounds toxic for humans. Many of the waters across Nebraska receive excessive nutrients from human activities, largely related to agriculture (Dickey 1982). However, there is one river, the Niobrara River, …

The Coastal Monitor Winter/Spring 2020, John Tanacredi Ph.D.

The Coastal Monitor

Throughout Long Island’s educational structure, STEM educational institutions have responded to the latest information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics who into our new year, have emphasized the fastest growing occupational categories over the next 10 years. These careers will be in the energy, health and education sectors, with the medical and technical sectors containing the highest paying occupations. Yet, hidden in the projected demand which will continue to spur on millions of new jobs, is corporate leaderships continuous claim that they cannot find qualified workers. This “skills gap” is due to a lack of strong cognitive and socio-economic skills. …

Understanding Sportsperson Retention And Reactivation Through License Purchasing Behavior, Matthew P. Hinrichs, Nathaniel B. Price, Matthew P. Gruntorad, Kevin L. Pope, Joseph J. Fontaine, Christopher J. Chizinski

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Most state and provincial fish and wildlife agencies have access to important information about patterns in sportsperson participation through their license databases. Using transaction data from Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s electronic hunting and fishing license system, we tracked license purchases of Nebraska, USA, resident license holders in 2010 through 2017. We categorized sportspersons by gender and yearly purchases as hunting only (Hunter), fishing only (Angler), a combination of hunting and fishing (Hunter–Angler), or no purchases (Inactive). The probability of movement among active sportsperson groups was limited and varied little based on initial group participation. The Angler group had the …

Presence Of Glyphosate In First Order Streams Associated With Rainfall Events, Julie Platz

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Glyphosate is widely used in the United States and has recently been described as both mobile and persistent in soils and bodies of water. There is little research however, on the variability of glyphosate concentration in runoff based on different land use types. For this study an evaluation of samples from different land uses are used to assess glyphosate concentrations in first order streams during a runoff event. The intent was to compare three sites with a. known commercial applications, b. known lack of applications (organic), and c. assumed limited application of glyphosate. There was no significant difference in glyphosate …

If Watersheds Spoke: A Condition Analysis Of The Rio Tomebamba Watershed In Southern Ecuador Using Gis Analysis, Lenka G. Doskocil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Understanding processes and ecological threats occurring at the watershed level scale composes a critical piece of water resource conservation and management. This proves doubly true in areas such as the Ecuadorian highlands where water resources depend heavily on the hydrologic regulation capacities of páramo soils. This study examined watershed condition of the Rio Tomebamba watershed and existing habitat for Metallura baroni and Chibchanomys orcesi, two highly endemic species, within its boundaries. Watershed condition was determined based on a simple index that considered nine indicators of watershed health—converted land, impacted riparian zones, impermeable surfaces, water quality, fluvial habitat condition, riparian vegetation …

Weather And Exposure Period Affect Coyote Detection At Camera Traps, Anastasia E. Madsen, Lucia Corral Hurtado, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Abstract Camera traps are an increasingly popular means to monitor wildlife populations. However, like other techniques for measuring populations, camera traps are subject to sources of error that may bias population estimates. Past studies accounting for detection error have failed to account for a simple but potentially widely pervasive source of environmental error: weather conditions. Using 5,108,416 photographs from 804 scent‐lured camera traps deployed in western Nebraska, USA, during spring and autumn of 2014 and 2015, we analyzed the relationship between weather conditions (barometric pressure, wind speed, precipitation, and temperature) and coyote (Canis latrans) detection probability. Using binomial …

Changes In Atmospheric, Meteorological, And Ocean Parameters Associated With The 12 January 2020 Taal Volcanic Eruption, Feng Jing, Akshansa Chauhan, Ramesh P. Singh, Prasanjit Dash

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The Taal volcano erupted on 12 January 2020, the first time since 1977. About 35 mild earthquakes (magnitude greater than 4.0) were observed on 12 January 2020 induced from the eruption. In the present paper, we analyzed optical properties of volcanic aerosols, volcanic gas emission, ocean parameters using multi-satellite sensors, namely, MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder), OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument), TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) and ground observations, namely, Argo, and AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) data. Our detailed analysis shows pronounced changes in all the parameters, which mainly occurred in the western and south-western regions because the …

Element Transport In A River-Lake Continuum Across Forest-Dominated Landscapes: A Case Study In Central Louisiana, Zhen Xu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Studying the biogeochemical connectivity between rivers and lakes can help us understand their ecological and environmental impacts within a drainage basin, which is especially true for forest watersheds that play a vital role in provisioning freshwater services to ecosystems and downstream communities. This dissertation research consists of three interconnected studies with the overarching goal of discerning the connectivity of elements in a river-lake continuum across forest-dominated landscapes. These studies utilized water samples and in situ measurements collected from the Little River-Catahoula Lake continuum in the subtropical Louisiana, USA at monthly intervals during 2015-2016 and 1978-2008 historical water quality, hydrological and …