Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Challenges Of Using More Precise Temporal And Spatial Resolution Of Remote Sensing Data For Surface Water Quality Monitoring, Ivan Rykin

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Monitoring river suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is critical for environmental challenges such as understanding the fate of thawed permafrost sediment and its impact on global carbon cycling. However, traditional SSC monitoring using Landsat imagery is limited by spatial and temporal constraints, particularly for narrow rivers in cloudy and/or snowy regions.

This study investigates the use of higher spatial (3 m) and temporal (daily) resolution satellite imagery from the PlanetScope constellation to estimate SSC in remote rivers such as those in the Arctic. I compare the performance of PlanetScope’s spectral resolution (4 and 8 bands) with Landsat 7. Merging data from …

An Automated Machine Learning Approach To The Retrieval Of Daily Soil Moisture In South Korea Using Satellite Images, Meteorological Data, And Digital Elevation Model, Nari Kim, Soo-Jin Lee, Eunha Sohn, Mija Kim, Seonkyeong Seong, Seung Hee Kim, Yangwon Lee

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

Soil moisture is a critical parameter that significantly impacts the global energy balance, including the hydrologic cycle, land–atmosphere interactions, soil evaporation, and plant growth. Currently, soil moisture is typically measured by installing sensors in the ground or through satellite remote sensing, with data retrieval facilitated by reanalysis models such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis 5 (ERA5) and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). However, the suitability of these methods for capturing local-scale variabilities is insufficiently validated, particularly in regions like South Korea, where land surfaces are highly complex and heterogeneous. In contrast, artificial intelligence …

Rotary Spading To Ameliorate Soil Water Repellence, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

One-off deep cultivation can reduce the severity of soil water repellence by mixing some of the repellent topsoil into the wettable subsoil and bringing wettable subsoil to the surface.

Rotary spading or deep cultivation increases water infiltration by providing pathways for water entry; diluting the water repellent soil with non-repellent soil; increasing the breakdown of soil organic matter causing water repellence; in some soil types, spading and other deep cultivation can lift subsoil with higher clay content to the surface.

Deep cultivation increases the risk of wind and water erosion. To minimise the risk of erosion, follow the guidelines on …

Landuse And Microplastic Transport In Karst Groundwater Of South-Central Kentucky, Katie Norman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Groundwater in karst areas is susceptible to contamination from various sources of pollution. Microplastics are a prevalent source of pollution entering groundwater. This study examines karst groundwater in three areas of investigation. One point of interest is an area that is impacted by urban activities, the Lost River Groundwater Basin, which includes water drainage from the City of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Another study location is Great Onyx (GO) Spring, which is a part of the Great Onyx Groundwater Basin located in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, and that is relatively unimpacted by urban activities. The third point of interest is …

Developing A Controlled Traffic (Tramline) Farming System, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is a farming system built on permanent wheel tracks where the crop zone and traffic lanes are permanently separated. It can improve profitability and sustainability.

Implements for seeding, spraying, spreading and harvesting have a particular span, or multiple of it, and all wheel tracks are confined to specific traffic lanes.

CTF increases profit by more yield, better grain quality, improved operation timeliness, and reduced costs. The environment can improve, with less nutrient leaching, less water erosion, better water infiltration, and less greenhouse gas emission. Implementation needs a clear, long-term plan, and prioritisation of soil health.

Another …

Western Kentucky University Stormwater Utility Survey 2024, Warren Campbell

SEAS Faculty Publications

The main goal of this survey is to identify as many U.S. Stormwater Utilities (SWUs) as possible. Because many stormwater professionals do not have the time to respond to questionnaires, our primary method of identification was Internet searches. We searched key terms such as “stormwater utility,” “stormwater fee,” and “drainage fee.” We scoured online municipal codes such as Municode, AmLegal, Sterling, LexisNexis, General Code, and others. We searched through many city web websites to find utilities. We have also had many people contact me to update fees and identify new utilities. However, the data primarily comes from Internet sources and …

Environmental Fate And Transport Of Pfas In Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent Discharged To Rapid Infiltration Basins, Kai M. Trobisch

Masters Theses

Fate and transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent discharged to rapid infiltration basins (RIBs) is investigated using data from 26 WWTPs in Michigan and numerical modeling to assess the role of air-water interface (AWI) sorption in modulating mass fluxes to the saturated zone. Analysis of RIB physical properties yields a median separation distance of 6.5 meters between land surface and the water table, and a continuum of area-normalized effluent fluxes ranging from 0.01 to 0.62 meters per day. A subset of WWTPs with RIBs indicate higher PFAS concentrations in groundwater than effluent with …

Investigating The Effects Of Suspended Algal Content, Dissolved Oxygen, And Temperature On A High-Frequency Acoustic Attenuation System In A Controlled Laboratory Environment, Noah Watson

Honors Theses

The Single Frequency Acoustic Attenuation System (SFAAS) has been developed at the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA). This system uses acoustic methods to monitor fine suspended sediment concentration in streams. Site-specific calibrations are necessary for this system, and previous research has indicated that algal concentration or dissolved oxygen concentration of water may affect collected data. Temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, and fluorescence, used as a proxy for algal concentration, were monitored during this system’s use, and calibrations were derived to account for the effect of each of these variables on acoustic measurements. It has been shown that temperature has a …

Surface Water Quality Assessment Of Mingo Creek County Park: The Impacts Of Extractive Industries, Mikayla J. Bayto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historical and current extraction operations and infrastructure, including natural gas pipelines, conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas drilling, longwall coal mining, and strip coal mining, occur throughout the Mingo Creek watershed of Washington County, Pennsylvania, including Mingo Creek County Park. Mingo Creek and several associated tributaries flow through Mingo Creek County Park, eventually discharging into the Monongahela River. An independent water quality study was conducted from June 2020 through July 2023 in Mingo Creek County Park to determine if historical and current extraction activities impact Mingo Creek and its associated tributaries. Weekly sampling of Mingo Creek and associated tributaries …

Understanding The Zonal Variability In Cmip6 Projections Of Sahelian Precipitation, Emmanuel Ogwuche Audu

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The uncertainty in model projections of future precipitation across the Sahel has persisted across many generations of Earth System Models (ESMs), with some models predicting drying and others moistening across this region. These discrepancies in future projections pose a challenge for stakeholders and decision makers. Many projections of Sahel precipitation found in the ESMs participating in the sixth phase of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) show a zonal dipole in precipitation trend, with moistening across the Central and Eastern Sahel and drying projected for the Western Sahel. Previous studies have connected precipitation variability across the Sahel to changes in various …

Dispersion Of Artificial Tracers In Ventilated Caves, Claudio Pastore, Eric Weber, Frédéric Doumenc, Pierre-Yves Jeannin, Marc Lütscher

International Journal of Speleology

Artificial CO₂ was used as a tracer along ventilated karst conduits to infer airflow and investigate tracer dispersion. In the karst vadose zone, cave ventilation is an efficient mode of transport for heat, gases and aerosols and thus drives the spatial distribution of airborne particles. Modelling this airborne transport requires geometrical and physical parameters of the conduit system, including the cross-sectional areas, the airflow and average air speed, as well as the longitudinal dispersion coefficient which describes the spreading of a solute. Four gauging tests were carried out in one mine (artificial conduit) and two ventilated caves (natural conduits). …

Demographic Consequences Of Off-River Nesting For Piping Plover (Charadrius Melodus) And Interior Least Tern (Sternula Antillarum Athalassos) In The Lower Platte River System, Nebraska, Elsa M. Forsberg

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

Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; hereafter, plovers) and interior least terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos; hereafter, terns) are two avian species that nest along the Lower Platte River system (LPRS) in Nebraska. In the LPRS, river sandbars provide natural nesting habitat, but off-river sites provide substantial nesting habitat especially when sandbar habitat is scarce. Although presumed to be important for the persistence of plovers and terns, off-river habitat is not self-sustaining and predicted to decline. Understanding the vital rates of plovers and terns in the LPRS will inform the role of off- river sites in the future conservation …

Beneath The Surface: Exploring The Power Of Aquatic Rewilding In Europe, Jose Cornejo

Posters - 2024

This relatively new concept has been used mainly in various European projects that in words of the European Rewilding project, the leading organization in rewilding, is helping preserve Europe biodiversity richness and enhance benefits that nature provides to humans (Rewilding Europe, n.d.). This rewilding method is also applied in the aquatic ecosystem, which is often called marine rewilding or freshwater rewilding, and it can be applied to any freshwater, brackish, or saltwater. Therefore, for the purpose of uniting them we will call it aquatic rewilding.

There are many aquatic restoration projects and research compared to aquatic rewilding projects and organizations …

Evaluating Future Water Availability In Texas Through The Lens Of A Data-Driven Approach Leveraged With Cmip6 General Circulation Models, Wenzhao Li, Dongfeng Li, Hesham El-Askary, Joshua B. Fisher, Zheng N. Fang

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Climate change is escalating the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events, significantly influencing the spatial and temporal distributions of water resources. This is particularly evident in Texas, a rapidly growing state with a pronounced west-east gradient in water supply. This study utilizes Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) data and data-driven methodology to improve projections of Texas's future water resources, focusing on actual evapotranspiration (AET) and water availability through enhanced Multi-Model Ensembles. The results reveal that the data-driven model significantly outperforms the CMIP5 and CMIP6 models across all skill metrics, underscoring the potential of data-driven methodologies in advancing …

Estimation Of Sugarcane Yield Using Multi-Temporal Sentinel 2 Satellite Imagery And Random Forest Regression, Alireza Taravat, Gebeyehu Abebe, Berhan Gessesse, Tsegaye Tadesse

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Advancements in remote sensing techniques have greatly enhanced crop monitoring and yield estimation, with spectral vegetation indices (VIs) serving as a key component. Our study investigates the use of Sentinel-2 data, notable for its red-edge bands, in estimating sugarcane yield in Ethiopia's Awash Basin. Utilizing 22 VIs from S2 imagery, our approach combines Random Forest (RF) regression with the Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE) algorithm to improve the accuracy of sugarcane yield predictions. The results demonstrate the superior performance of the RF-RFE method over traditional RF with full datasets and Stepwise Multiple Regression (SMR). Particularly, VIs focusing on the red-edge spectral …

Borneo Stalagmite Evidence Of Significantly Reduced El Niño-Southern Oscillation Variability At 4.1 Kybp, C.M. Theaker, S.A. Carolin, C.C. Day, K.M. Cobb, S. Chen, Pamela R. Grothe, H.O. Couper

Earth and Environmental Sciences

The timing and geographic extent of a potential “4.2 ky event” remain highly contested. Here we present records of ENSO variability at 3.8 kyBP and 4.1 kyBP derived from a Borneo stalagmite, which suggest a significant change in ENSO properties between these time intervals. The Borneo records show evidence of significantly reduced ENSO activity at 4.1 kyBP, relative to other measured windows within the Holocene. This reduced ENSO activity coincides with a period of drier conditions and enhanced dust events in the Middle East that took place ∼4.0–4.3 kyBP. The Borneo records show evidence of enhanced ENSO activity at 3.8 …

Improving Accessibility And Understanding: Studying The Impact Of Human Activities And Dam Removals On Anadromous Fish Species In The Pacific Northwest, Adia F. Bennett

Scripps Senior Theses

Human activities in North American watersheds have significantly impacted anadromous fish, causing some species of salmon and steelhead to become threatened and endangered. These fish hold ecological, cultural, and economic importance, yet factors such as habitat destruction, overfishing, pollution, climate change, and hydroelectric dams continue to degrade populations. Dams are particularly harmful to anadromous fish, sparking a recent movement advocating for dam removals. This study uses NOAA’s 2022 Biological Viability Assessment to examine the response of anadromous fish to recent dam removals in the Pacific Northwest. Four populations were selected to analyze due to their interaction with sites that had …

Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment And Dye Trace Of War Fork River In Daniel Boone National Forest, Will Hemenover

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Daniel Boone National Forest plays a key role in preserving much of Kentucky’s karst regions, natural resources including timber, mineral deposits, and biodiversity, including over 300 species of concern. The health of these environments is determined by surface and groundwater streams in the forest, and karst systems are an integral environment where these systems are active. War Fork, a tributary to the Kentucky River in Jackson County, Kentucky, is a remote and understudied hydrologic system in the Daniel Boone National Forest that contains recreational and logging land uses. Due to karst areas being susceptible to contamination because of rapid water …

Assessing Microplastic Contamination Within Karst Groundwater Basins In Kentucky, Maaz Fareedi

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The input and abrasion of plastic waste in the environment has long been known to form microplastics (MPs). These ubiquitous contaminants are easily mobilized into hydrologic systems. MPs are now being found in karst aquifers around the world, including several across Kentucky, USA. Due to their size (< 5 mm in diameter), chemical properties, abundance, and wide distribution, MPs pose numerous ecological hazards, including uptake by organisms and as substrates for contaminant sorption. Karst groundwater is especially vulnerable to surface contaminants; however, knowledge of the extent of karst MP contamination is limited, with most studies focused on individual sites or small areas. In this study, we created a MP contamination dataset for 30 karst springs and 10 locations where cave sediments were characterized across Kentucky. MP concentrations in groundwater samples ranged from 0 to 41.1 items/L and yielded an average of 4.9 ± 8.7 items/L. Sediment MP concentrations ranged from 0 to 306 items/kg. We performed statistical analyses and linear regressions to examine whether groundwater MP concentrations could be explained by factors including land use, population density, basin area, numbers of sinkholes, and sinking streams. Our models revealed that population density, agrarian land use, sinking stream density, and basin area were related to MP concentrations. All factors except basin area trended positively with MP concentration, while basin area trended negatively. These relations are generally corroborated by existing literature, however they indicate that further studies with considerably larger sample sizes are needed to determine mechanistic relationships.

Measuring And Modeling Riparian Wetland Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity, Nutrient Concentrations And Shallow Groundwater Dynamics In An Appalachian Mixed Land Use Catchment, Bidisha Faruque Abesh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The paucity of research on accurate predictions of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), spatiotemporal analysis of nutrient concentrations relative to water source types (stream and shallow groundwater (SGW)), water flow directions, and land use in riparian wetlands of Appalachian mixed land use catchments underscored the need for this study. Additionally, the lack of SGW flow simulations and stream-SGW interactions using three-dimensional (3D) numerical models (i.e., MODFLOW) in these riparian wetlands further highlighted the research gap. Observed data including soil properties, Ksat, surface water (SW) and SGW levels, and nutrient concentrations, including nitrate (NO3-N), nitrite (NO2-N), ammonium (NH4-N), orthophosphate (PO43-P), total nitrogen …

A Comparison Of Sediment Accumulation Effectiveness Behind Beaver Dam Analogues, One Rock Dams, And Post-Assisted Log Structures On East Foster Creek, Douglas County, Wa, Griffin Hansen

All Master's Theses

Waterways are valuable resources for communities and habitats, but are subject to degradation in the form of incision. This is a type of streambed erosion where streams narrow and deepen. Sediment control dams were placed on East Foster Creek in Douglas County, WA to control incision following the 2020 Pearl Hill fire. This study examined sediment capture in the ponds behind these dams, which included beaver dam analogues (BDAs), one rock dams (ORDs), and post-assisted log structures (PALS). Sediment capture may be influenced by several factors, including dam type, height, width, distance between dams, vegetation, land use, topography, soil type, …

Geoelectrical And Hydrochemical Characterization Of Submarine Groundwater Discharge In Florida Bay, Ifeanyi Emmanuel Eze

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Florida Bay, situated at the southern tip of Everglades National Park and underlain by the Miami Limestone formation, is an ecosystem of global significance. Over the past century, the bay has faced threats such as droughts, seagrass mortality, and hypersalinity. Despite various studies and management efforts, the dynamics of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the region remain underexplored. Given that SGD plays a significant role in the chemical dynamics of coastal ecosystems, it warrants thorough investigation. This study aims to characterize the spatial and temporal patterns of SGD in Florida Bay by surveying three basins – Rankin, Whipray, and Rabbit …

From Creek To Ditch And Back Again: The History And Future Of Pattee Creek, Missoula, Montana, Carver Edward Butterfield

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pattee Creek was once a free-flowing stream that meandered across the Missoula Valley, but has been channelized, piped, and degraded by logging, mining, agriculture, and urbanization. This thesis used a mixed-method approach to examine the impact of human activities on the Pattee Creek watershed. Beginning with a historical overview, the story of how the creek has been utilized and why it was buried was told. An analysis of historical photos from 1937 to 2019 revealed drastic changes in the land cover of the watershed and the channel of lower Pattee Creek. Developed land increased dramatically, while open land decreased and …

Assessing Stormwater Management Pond Water Quality, Function, And The Potential Biotic Effects To Receiving Waters, Mitchell Elstone

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The use of stormwater management ponds (SWMPs) has been increasing over the past five decades. However, an in-depth understanding of the daily performance of SWMPs and functionality during cold periods is limited. This is in part because mandated monitoring is relatively infrequent, and the assumption that SWMPs are inactive between storm events and during the winter. The goals of this research were to better understand daily stormwater (SW) characteristics, the performance of SWMPs based on current forms of evaluation and assess the potential for SWMP effluent to impact downstream biota. Influent and effluent samples from two SWMPs were collected daily …

Climate Monitoring In The Caumont Cave And Quarry System (Northern France) Reveal Near Oxygen Isotopic Equilibrium Conditions For Carbonate Deposition, Ingrid Bejarano-Arias, Carole Nehme, Sebastian Breitenbach, Hanno Meyer, Sevasti Modestou, Damase Mouralis

International Journal of Speleology

The study of modern cave deposits forming under near isotopic equilibrium conditions can potentially help disentangle the processes influencing the oxygen isotope system and suitability of stalagmites as archives of past hydrological or thermal changes. We used cave monitoring to evaluate the impact of kinetic isotope fractionation and assess the conditions under which modern cave carbonates form in the Caumont cave and quarry system, located in Normandy, northwest France. Over 20 months, we collected climatological data, dripwater, and modern carbonate samples at 2–4-week intervals at three different stations inside the Caumont cave and quarry system. We find highly stable (10.4 …

Using Remote Sensing To Determine Riparian Resilience In Beaver Dammed Versus Un-Dammed Corridors Following Whiplash Weather, Sophie Charlotte Valérie Aubry

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Beaver complexes slow and store water allowing for riparian growth which in turn fosters biodiversity, retains carbon, and enhances resistance to fires and drought. Given the benefits associated with beaver complexes and the potential they have for climate mitigation, California hopes to reintroduce beavers and restore their habitat throughout the state. However, the impact of high peak flow events on beaver complexes and their adjacent riparian corridors is less understood and requires more documentation at various spatial scales. To better understand the potential beavers may have as climate change mitigators it is important to understand beaver complex resiliency following a …

The Tidal Prism, Viable Eelgrass Habitat, And The Effects Of Sea Level Rise In Morro Bay, Kaden A. Caliendo

Master's Theses

The tidal prism, or the volume of water exchanged from the sea to an estuary from mean low to mean high tide, influences system hydrodynamics and ecological functioning. Since 1884, the tidal prism in Morro Bay, California has been estimated to be decreasing over time due to sedimentation from upstream practices. What is the current tidal prism in Morro Bay and how will that change with sea level rise? How will eelgrass respond to rising sea levels?

For this study, inexpensive tidal gauges were deployed at four locations in Morro Bay from March to August 2023 to measure spatially varying …

Post-Wildfire Effects On A Headwater Stream In The San Bernardino National Forest, Kelley Giron

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Southern California has experienced prolonged drought conditions that have supported frequent wildfires that adversely impact ecosystems, natural resources, and human development. A primary consequence of these events is the impact on water quality and quantity. Of equal concern is evaluating how diverse land use configurations within a watershed can alter the physio-chemical properties of headwater reaches where drought and wildfire conditions are prevalent. To better understand the extent to which wildfires impact water quality and quantity across a headwater watershed, this study investigates wildfire impacts from the 2021 South Fire to Lytle Creek, a headwater stream of the Santa Ana …

Does Drought Stress Eliminate The Benefit Of Elevated Co2,/Sub> On Soybean Yield? Using An Improved Model To Link Crop And Soil Water Relations, Wenguang Sun, David Fleisher, Dennis Timlin, Chittaranjan Ray, Zhuangji Wang, Sahila Beegum, Vangimalla Reddy

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Crop simulation models are indispensable tools that facilitate studies to assess climate impacts and adaptation responses, but have not been adequately tested in terms of accurately predicting crop growth and water stress responses to high carbon dioxide concentrations [CO₂]. The soybean model, GLYCIM, previously modified with a coupled leaf-level gas exchange – energy balance model, was integrated with a two-dimensional convectivediffusive root growth module which linked soil and leaf water potentials with the regulation of stomatal conductance. We evaluated the accuracy of this modified GLYCIM using experimental data from a Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) site, SoyFACE, and …

Causes And Effects Of Shisper Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Event In Karakoram In 2022, Sandeep Kumar Mondal, Vatsal D. Patel, Rishikesh Bharti, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Karakoram Himalayas are vulnerable to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which cause catastrophic floods in the surrounding areas. The increasing natural and anthropogenic activities, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Plains at the southern flank of the towering Himalayas, could be the cause of climate change affecting the frequency of the natural hazards in the Himalayas. In the present study, a detailed analysis of the Shisper Lake breach of 7 May 2022 is carried out using satellite remote sensing. A decreasing trend in the glacial mass balance is observed between 2017 and 2021; in this period, frequent GLOF episodes occurred. A pronounced …