Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring In Kings River And Leatherwood Creek, Eric Cummings, Erin E. Scott, Marty Matlock, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure used to regulate water quality. Under the CWA, States are required to assess water bodies relative to water‐quality standards and designated beneficial uses and then to submit lists of impaired bodies every other year to the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). In 2015, at least 4,800 water bodies were listed as impaired by dissolved oxygen across the US (USEPA, 2015). Aquatic species like fish and macroinvertebrates depend on adequate dissolved oxygen for survival. Low dissolved oxygen can lead to fish kills, reduced aquatic diversity, and nuisance smells from anaerobic conditions – …

Constituent Loads And Trends In The Upper Illinois River Watershed And Upper White River Basin, Erin E. Scott, Zach P. Simpson, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Water chemistry can greatly influence the quality of surface waters and affect the ability for streams and rivers to meet their designated use(s). In Arkansas, many streams and rivers were placed on the 2008 303(d) list of impaired water bodies due to excess levels of nutrients, chlorides, sulfates, and sediments (ADEQ, 2008). These constituents continue to be listed as the potential cause for water‐quality impairments through the most recent draft 303(d) list (ADEQ, 2014). The Arkansas Non‐Point Source (NPS) Management Program wants to reduce poll‐ utant loading from the landscape and improve water quality, where funding for projects is targeted …

Impact Of Climate Variations On Soybean Yield In Eastern Arkansas: 1960-2014, J. W. Magugu, S. Feng, Q. Huang, K. Luthra

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Climate is the major factor affecting crop production; therefore, various agro-meteorological indicators have been frequently used to evaluate the impact of climate on crop production. In this study, we examined the temporal variations of agrometeorological indicators (growing degree days, total precipitation, dry spells and drought indices) during 1960-2014 and their impact on soybean yields in East Arkansas. Results show an increasing trend in growing degree days (GDDs) and dry spells, though the total precipitation during the soybean growing season remained nearly unchanged during the study period. Generally, GDDs and dry spells show a strong correlation with yields. We also evaluated …

A Step In The Right Direction: Streambank Restoration Efforts At The Botanical Garden Of The Ozarks, Dylan S. Milholen, Madison Brown, Steven Thao, Lisa S. Wood

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

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks (BGO) is a unique destination in Northwest Arkansas that draws more than 80,000 visitors a year. While the BGO manages low-input practices, run-off from pesticide application and synthetic fertilizers containing phosphorus and nitrogen are of concern to water quality, habitat, and overall ecological interactions of the BGO streambanks and adjacent Hilton Creek, which flows directly into Lake Fayetteville. One way to reduce pollution to waterbodies is through the use of riparian buffers. This project sought to establish a riparian buffer immediately adjacent to a portion of Hilton Creek in an effort to improve ecological …

Swat Model Simulation Of Bioenergy Crop Impacts On Water Quality In Cache River Watershed, Eeshan Kumar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Energy security through increased biofuel production is one of the components of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) 2007. As per EISA 2007 mandate, appropriate independent research institutes are required to assess concerns to natural biodiversity due to biofuel production and report it to the Congress through the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). Planners, researchers, and agencies concerned with environmental regulations, ideally, would like to have location-specific information about the impacts for developing appropriate management interventions. This study examines long-term impacts on water quality in response to targeted (i.e. marginal lands) production of biofuel crops by setting up two SWAT …

Economic Feasibility Of Aquaponics In Arkansas, Leah Ashley English

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concerns regarding population growth and resource scarcity have led to a recent renaissance of food production research. Over the past few decades, scientists have discovered new and innovative methods for growing food that, cumulatively, may hold the key to efficiently and sustainably feeding an ever-increasing world population. One method, known as aquaponics, has shown promise as being a sustainable solution for producing food locally in all parts of the world. Although many studies have shown aquaponic food production to be technically feasible, there are relatively few studies concerning the economic feasibility of aquaponics in various regions. To determine whether aquaponics …

Modifying A Cow-Calf Biophysical Simulation Model For Analyses Of Alternative Enterprises, Jennifer L. Lutes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cow-calf producers in the United States, tasked with providing beef calves for the beef industry, have had a multitude of difficulties to overcome in recent years. Producers in northwest Arkansas were negatively impacted by high hay prices coupled with low beef cattle market prices due to severe drought experienced in portions of 2010, 2011, and 2012. During this time they also faced high grain prices, due to a record low harvest, combined with portions of the corn harvest diverted from human and animal feed to ethanol production. Tight lending policies of this time, reminiscent of the housing market crash in …

Paddling A Trail, Erin Jennings Gilleece

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Paddling A Trail documents construction of the first water trail in Arkansas. The 15 minute film is narrated by Arkansas Canoe Club Conservation Chair Debbie Doss. It follows Doss, and other volunteers as they mark the Wattensaw Bayou Trail in Hazen, Arkansas. The film is co-narrated by Kristen Bartlow of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The footage was shot over three days, in two different locations. These were the White River in Northwest Arkansas and Wattensaw Bayou in Hazen, AR. The film illustrates the positive role trails can have on the environment and local economies. More importantly, the film …

Disaggregating The Effect Of Drought And Heat Stress During Flowering On Spikelet Fertility In Rice, Lisa Straussberger

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to rice’s wide geographic distribution, extending from 50°N to 35°S, rice is

forecasted to be the most vulnerable crop to warming global climates. Previous studies have

predicted lower rice yields and increasing rice yield variability due to higher frequencies of heat

stress events, and a higher variability in precipitation patterns due to global warming. As such,

understanding the effects of drought and heat stress intensity and frequency on rice yields is of

upmost importance to feeding the growing global population.

Given that drought and high-temperature stress often occur together, it is essential to

disaggregate the two individual stressors and …

Hydrology-Biology Response Relationships In The Ozark Highlands, Dustin Thomas Lynch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined flow-ecology relationships among stream communities in the Ozark Highlands, USA. I sampled fish, crayfish, and benthic macroinvertebrates during two consecutive summers, including a drought year (2012) and a flood year (2013). Biological response variables related to community structure were assessed via two different statistical methods: an Information Theoretic approach relating response variables to a priori selected predictor variables incorporating hydrology, habitat, geomorphology, and water quality, and canonical ordination using forward selection to relate these same response variables to a large assortment of hydrologic metrics. In addition to assessing metrics related to predicted natural flow, flow alteration at gaged …

Modeling Micro-Topographic Controls On Boreal Peatland Hydrology And Methane Fluxes, F. Cresto Aleina, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, T. Kleinen, Lars Kutzbach, J. Schneider, V. Brovkin

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Small-scale surface heterogeneities can influence land-atmosphere fluxes and therefore carbon, water and energy budgets on a larger scale. This effect is of particular relevance for high-latitude ecosystems, because of the great amount of carbon stored in their soils. We introduce a novel micro-topographic model, the Hummock-Hollow (HH) model, which explicitly represents small-scale surface elevation changes. By computing the water table at the small scale, and by coupling the model with a process-based model for soil methane processes, we are able to model the effects of micro-topography on hydrology and methane emissions in a typical boreal peatland. In order to assess …

Simulated Use Of 'First-Order' Ponds To Reduce Peakflow In An Eroding River System, J. Thad Scott, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Bacteria Monitoring In The Upper Illinois River Watershed, Erin E. Scott, Brina A. Smith, Mansoor Leh, Blake Arnold, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

This project focuses on the Upper Illinois River Watershed (UIRW; HUC 11110103), which is within the Boston Mountains and Ozark Highlands ecoregions in northwest Arkansas. Headwaters of the Illinois River originate near Hogeye, Arkansas and flow north through Savoy, then west into Oklahoma near Watts. The UIRW drains an area of 1952 km2 , of which 50.3% is pasture and grassland, 35.9% is forest, 8.8% is urban and suburban, 4.3% is transitional and 0.3% is water (Arkansaswater.org, 2015). Land use throughout the watershed is also changing, with increases in residential, commercial and industrial development. The IRW has been designated a …

Monitoring Water Resources Of The Gulf Mountain Wildlife Management Area To Evaluate Possible Effects Of Natural Gas Development, Bradley J. Austin, Erin E. Scott, Sally Entrekin, Michelle A. Evans-White, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Reducing Nutrient Runoff From Poultry Production Facilities Using Locally-Sourced Iron And Aluminum Byproducts, Sheri Lynn Herron

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phosphorus (P) inputs to fresh waters can accelerate the eutrophication process. Agricultural nutrient runoff has been shown to be a contributor of P and nitrogen (N). Broiler production areas were evaluated for their potential to contribute P and N to runoff. Broiler house dust (BHD) samples were analyzed and compared to broiler litter (BL), rainfall simulations were conducted on plots adjacent to broiler house fans to evaluate nutrient enrichment in runoff from deposited dust, and runoff was automatically sampled at two culverts draining the land around broiler houses. Following this, an on-farm byproduct containment and nutrient removal structure was designed …

Constituent Load Estimation In The Lower Ouachita-Smackover Watershed, Zach P. Simpson, Erin E. Scott, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

Water quality was monitored at 21 sites in the Lower Ouachita‐Smackover Watershed from 2013 November through 2014 September. The U.S. Geological Survey maintains discharge monitoring stations at two of these sites, Moro Creek (USGS 07362500) and Smackover Creek (USGS 07362100), which were sampled during base flow and storm event conditions, whereas the other sites were only sampled during baseflow. The Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC) estimated constituent loads for nitrate‐N (NO₃‐–N), total nitrogen (TN), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) using the U.S. Geological Survey LOADEST software. LOADEST creates regression models between constituent concentrations …

Stable Isotopes As A Tool To Characterize Carbon Cycling And Develop Hydrologic Budgets In Mantled Karst Settings, Katherine Knierim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Isotopes of water (δ2H/δ18O), carbon dioxide (δ13C-CO2), and dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13C-DIC) were used to explore water quality, trace carbon cycling, and quantify recharge sources through mantled karst and into Blowing Spring Cave (BSC). Of the possible sources of contamination in the BSC recharge area, septic-tank effluent was hypothesized to degrade water quality at the spring outlet of BSC because of the dominance of septic tanks for waste treatment, unsuitable topography and soil for septic-tank absorption fields, increased nitrate and chloride concentrations concomitant with increased urbanization, and increased Escherichia coli with discharge. Carbon cycling between the soil and BSC was …

Effects Of Landscape Disturbances On Autotrophic Processes Within Arkansas Ozark Streams, Bradley J. Austin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Land-use change is one of the most widespread human impacts and can influence abiotic and biotic processes within surrounding streams. For example, streams in agricultural and urban watersheds receive greater light and nutrient inputs that can promote increased algal growth and primary production. Natural gas (NG) infrastructure development, a recent land use change in many regions, may also stimulate forested stream primary production, by reducing forest cover and increasing sediments and nutrient transport. I sampled streams across a NG activity gradient for algal biomass and gross primary production (GPP) to assess potential effects of this emerging land-use type. Algal biomass …

Evaluating The Assessment Methodology For The Chlorophyll-A And Secchi Transparency Criteria At Beaver Lake, Arkansas, J. Thad Scott, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Habitat Assessment And Ecological Restoration Design For An Unnamed Tributary Of Stone Dam Creek, Conway, Arkansas, Paige E. Boyle, Mary C. Savin, James A. Mccarty, Marty D. Matlock

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

Urbanization can lead to increased sedimentation, erosion, pollution, and runoff into streams. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Rapid Bioassessment Protocols (RBPs) are sets of guidelines that can be used to assess a habitat’s sedimentology, hydrology, vegetation, and geomorphology to determine impairment. An unnamed tributary of Stone Dam Creek on the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) campus in Conway, Arkansas runs partially underground and through the urbanized UCA campus watershed. The stream was assessed using the USEPA’s RBPs to determine impairment of the stream, and received a RBP score of 71.2 out of 200 compared to 153.5 in a …

Pecci Code (Python Estimation For Carbon Concentration And Isotopes) For Calculating The Concentration And Stable Carbon Isotopic Composition Of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (Dic) In Precipitation For Northwestern Arkansas, Katherine J. Knierim, Phillip D. Hays

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

In karst settings, hydrograph separations using isotopic tracers are commonly and effectively used to quantify the proportions of rain rapidly delivered to springs along fractures and conduits during storm events. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is an effective, non‐conservative tracer for use in hydrograph separations of karst waters because of the ubiquitous nature of carbon in the sources of waters to caves and springs and unique concentrations and isotopic compositions of carbon inputs. DIC concentration and isotopic composition (δ¹³C‐DIC) in rain are typically calculated based on atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) using equilibrium carbonate reactions and stable carbon isotope fractionation values. As …

Relation Of Chlorine Demand To The Water Quality Of Beaver Lake, Erin E. Scott, Jaime M. Gile, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Modeling Scenarios Of Sea-Level Rise And Human Migration: Rita Village, The Republic Of The Marshall Islands, Donna Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between sea-level rise and human migration from Rita Village in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). As one of only four low-lying atoll countries at the forefront of risks associated with climate change, examining the extent to which sea level will rise and displace residents in the Marshall Islands is of timely importance. The approach to this research is a scenario-based, case study and it examines loss of home, human displacement and subsequent migration in Rita Village as a result of varying levels of sea level rise. The scenario-based approach is based on the …

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 …

Water System For Developing Countries / Disaster Relief Made With Local Materials, Shumon Hasan

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

The objective of this project was to design a water purification system that can be constructed from easily available materials, common to the particular country, and is capable of the complete water purification process.

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 …

A Hazard Assessment And Proposed Risk Index For Art, Architecture, Archive And Artifact Protection: Case Studies For Assorted International Museums, Clara Jeanene Kirk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study proposes a hazard/risk index for environmental, technological, and social hazards that may threaten a museum or other place of cultural storage and accession. This index can be utilized and implemented to measure the risk at the locations of these storage facilities in relationship to their geologic, geographic, environmental, and social settings. A model case study of the 1966 flood of the Arno River and its impact on the city of Florence and the Uffizi Gallery was used as the index focus. From this focus an additional eleven museums and their related risk were assessed. Each index addressed a …

The Economic Viability Of Cocoa Crop Insurance In Ghana, Justin D. Mckinley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was motivated by the fact that Ghanaian cocoa producers face lower yields than other main cocoa producing counties which in turn increases food insecurity for smallholder producers. In addition, low yields experienced by Ghanaian producers is a driving factor for forest degradation and deforestation as cocoa producers encroach further into previously undisturbed forests in efforts to increase their incomes. There are currently production methods to achieve higher yields readily available in Ghana; however, many producers choose not to adopt these methods because they are seen as too risky, or simply cannot adopt them due to financial/credit constraints. A …

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 …

Seasonal Variability As A Source Of Uncertainty In The West Siberian Regional Ch4 Flux Upscaling, A. F. Sabrekov, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, M. V. Glagolev, I E. Kleptsova, S. S. Maksyutov

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study compares seasonal and spatial variations in methane fluxes as sources of uncertainty in regional CH4 flux upscaling from the wetlands of West Siberia. The study examined variability in summertime CH4 emissions from boreal peatlands, with a focus on two subtaiga fen sites in the southern part of West Siberia (Novosibirskaya oblast). We measured CH4 flux, water table depth, air and peat temperature, pH and electric conductivity of peat water during three field campaigns in summer 2011 (9–12 July, 26–28 July and 20–21 August). Fluxes were measured with static chambers at sites chosen to represent two of the most …