Hydrology Commons^™

How Quickly Do Eastern Floodplains Store Carbon? Quantifying Reference Carbon Flux On The Dead Diamond River, Jacob Schnell

Earth Sciences Undergraduate Senior Theses

Terrestrial Earth systems sequester an estimated 30% of annual anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The largest share is stored in global soils which collectively store more than 3 times the amount of carbon as the atmosphere. Floodplains and river systems, while covering only 5–8% of land area, store 20–30% of the global soil organic carbon (SOC), yet, the rate at which floodplains sequester carbon remains highly uncertain. Here I constrain floodplain carbon sequestration rates for a model northeastern river that has not been impacted by development or significant human activity. I calculate carbon stock using total organic carbon and derive carbon flux …

Flood Risk Assessment And Water Diversion Scenarios For Terre Haute, Indiana Based On Time-Series Remote Sensing And In-Situ Measurements, Hung Q. Ha

2026 Spring Reports (Terre Haute)

The City of Terre Haute has faced growing concerns over the increasing frequency and intensity of riverine flooding along the Wabash River, alongside risks associated with urban inundation. To create more safely floodable areas – specifically by locating wetland areas using GIS and researching government ordinances on development in those areas – the City of Terre Haute sought to better understand flood patterns and identify viable floodwater diversion strategies. The project was formally titled as “Pattern of Flooding along the Wabash River in Vigo County and Scenarios for Floodwater Diversion”. Faculty and students from Geospatial Intelligence Lab, Department of Earth …

Update: Colorado River Basin Storage Continues Slide Toward System Crash, Anne Castle, Jack Schmidt, Eric Kuhn, Kathryn Sorensen, Katherine Tara

The Traveling Wilburys of the Colorado River

If the Colorado River Basin (Basin) experiences another dry year, similar to Water Year 2025, it is likely that reasonably accessible storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead would be mostly depleted, even if consumptive uses and losses are at or near historic lows. Run-of-the-river operations would shortly ensue. This would be an outcome with devastating consequences. In contrast, if next year is very wet, similar to Water Year 2023, the Basin’s largest federal reservoirs would recover somewhat, but would provide only about two years of cushion before we find ourselves again in the same position we are in today, …

Transboundary Groundwater Flow Between Niger And Nigeria In The Iullemeden Aquifer System, Gare Ambrose-Igho

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Groundwater is important in regions where water resources are not abundantly distributed such as arid and semi-arid regions. In many countries in Africa, groundwater serves as the most reliable source of water supply and supports over 50% of the African population. Groundwater is stored in underground water-bearing permeable rocks, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials known as aquifers. Groundwater can be transboundary, meaning it crosses international political boundaries between two or more sovereign states. Transboundary aquifers are prone to overexploitation that depletes the groundwater resource and can cause a lowering of the water table and possible ground subsidence. Overexploitation in transboundary …

Harnessing Backcasting To Identify Drivers Of Critical Warming At Hoover Dam Using Hydrodynamic And Machine Learning Models, Eunice Ledres

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Elevated water temperatures can pose a significant threat to dam infrastructure, potentially damaging turbines, overheating internal components, and forcing generator shutdowns. This study uses a backcasting framework to evaluate how future scenarios may result in elevated water temperatures. Backcasting defines undesirable outcomes and works backward to identify the conditions that lead to them. The developed backcasting framework integrates 3D physics-based simulations with a Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM)surrogate model and SHapely Additive exPlanations (SHAP) interpretation. The combination captures temporal water temperature dynamics and quantifies the contributions of different drivers to elevated water temperature releases. As proof of concept, these methods are …

Analyzing Surface Water And Groundwater Interactions From Pfas Contamination In The West Plains Region Of Spokane County, Jerusha R. Hampson

2026 Symposium

The West Plains region of Spokane County has been significantly impacted by PFAS contamination due to the decades-long use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for firefighting training at both Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB) and the Spokane International Airport (SIA). Groundwater contamination is significant, but surface waters are impacted by the contamination as well. Groundwater flows to the north and east, meaning surface water bodies that make up the northern and eastern boundaries (Deep Creek, Hangman Creek, and the Spokane River) can be impacted by PFAS contamination. The West Plains aquifer system is complex but combining data about aquifer flow …

Preliminary Geologic Assessment And Pfas Occurrence In Western Cheney, Washington, Sydney Frandsen

2026 Symposium

In 2021 Cheney Water Well #5 was closed due to toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels above the current State Action Limits and the National Drinking Water Protection Act (https://www.cityofcheney.org/207/Water), which is a concern since PFAS has been associated to types of cancer, birth defects, and other negative human and environmental health concerns (https://doh.wa.gov/communityand-environment/contaminants/pfas). The City of Cheney also tested two downgradient deep-groundwater-wells (Cheney wells #6 and 7) and halted investigation due to the wells being below state and federal drinking water standards. However, a local resident’s shallow groundwater well tested to be above federal and state levels of …

Evapotranspiration Everywhere, All The Time: Towards A Unified View From Earth Observation, Joshua B. Fisher, Martha C. Anderson, Diego G. Miralles, Kanishka Mallick, Paul C. Stoy, Youngryel Ryu, Wim G. M. Bastiaanssen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Scientists want to know everything, everywhere, and all the time. This is particularly true in Earth science, where we seek to understand processes that span from the molecular to the planetary scale in how the world works, how it affects us, and how we impact it—especially the water cycle. Evapotranspiration (ET) was the last component to be measured in closing the water cycle: for decades, closing the water budget meant adding up all the measurable components, then inferring ET as the residual. Early measurements relied on water loss from pans and weighing lysimeters, followed by sensors inserted into plants to …

Riki&Dolphin: Real Time Data Transmission From The Bottom Of A Cave To A Website, Luca Tringali, Giacomo Canciani Dr., Tecla Tripari, Alexander Debenjak, Caterina Bearzotti

International Journal of Speleology

Coming from over 10 years of experience in cave monitoring in northeast Italy, Gruppo Speleologico Talpe del Carso, has designed Riki and Dolphin: customizable, low cost, and easy to assemble tools for getting real time data transmission from the bottom of a cave, even underwater, to a webserver. Their use has been tested to monitor air temperature inside the Abisso Bonetti Cave (Classical Karst, Italy), proving for the first time that a cave in Gorizian Karst can systematically be colder than the outdoor temperature even in winter, recording an internal temperature even lower than 0°C. The Dolphin device can be …

Evaluating Improvements In Landslide Susceptibility Mapping Using Newly Derived Slope Units, Xinyi Zhang

Honors Capstones

Landslides frequently occur in mountainous regions and remain one of the major natural hazards threatening human safety, infrastructure, and regional development. In areas with steep terrain and intense rainfall, landslide disasters often cause serious economic losses and environmental damage. Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) has been widely used to identify potential landslide prone areas and to support disaster prevention, land management, and hazard mitigation. The accuracy of LSM is strongly influenced by the selection of mapping units.

This study focuses on I-lan County, Taiwan, and applies a newly derived slope unit dataset to evaluate its influence on landslide susceptibility mapping. Using …

Examining Extremes: A Comparison Between Machine Learning Based Southwestern Conus Seasonal Drought And High Fire Risk Event Synoptic Climatologies, Ethan M. Greenberg

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

The Southwestern United States (SW CONUS), comprised of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, is a vast region that tens of millions of people call home. Hosting ecosystems ranging from grasslands and shrublands to temperate forests and climate zones ranging from Mediterranean climates to arid deserts, the region is nearly unanimously prone to intense droughts and devastating wildfires. While fire weather conditions and drought are often studied separately or mentioned as background conditions for the other, there are relatively few studies that compare the typical meteorological conditions between the two. This study aims to more closely understand the meteorological relationship between …

Gaining Mussel: Evaluating Reintroduction Success Of Native Freshwater Mussels In Nebraska And Eastern Wyoming, Travis A. Moore

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

Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of organisms in North America, with over two-thirds of species considered threatened, endangered, or of special concern. These long-lived bivalves are essential to stream ecosystems, acting as filter feeders that improve water quality and as indicators of aquatic health. In Nebraska and Wyoming, native mussel populations have declined sharply due to habitat modification, pollution, and reduced connectivity. Two species of particular concern are the Plain Pocketbook Lampsilis cardium, listed as Tier I at-risk in Nebraska, and the Fatmucket Lampsilis siliquoidea, a Tier II at-risk species. In response, state agencies …

Passive Microwave Remote Sensing Of Flash Drought Impacts On Vegetation, Quinton R. Deppert

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

In 2002, Dr. Mark Svoboda characterized a new form of drought known as flash drought. Flash drought was defined as a rapid decline in vegetation health caused by severe heat and drought. In recent years, attempts to quantify the impacts of flash drought via precipitation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and temperature indicators have proliferated. What has rarely been quantified is what the rapid decline in vegetation health amid flash drought looks like through remote sensing. This is because vegetation health indices like the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are derived from the visible and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and …

Exploring Alternate Methods Of Flood Output Estimation During Natural Disasters, Finley Gardner

Honors College Theses

In April of 2025, extreme flooding damaged many homes and buildings of people across Kentucky. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) produces maps that show the potential for flooding in areas around water bodies, but many of the April flooding damaged areas were well outside of the FEMA classification zones. The main purpose of this thesis research was to create an accurate model of potential flood extent in Kentucky and compare it to FEMA maps. This model did not require extensive computing power and produced a map that accurately depicted flood extent through the use of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) …

Recent Wetland Elevation Dynamics In Coastal Louisiana, Usa, Elizabeth Harris

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal marshes globally are increasingly vulnerable to accelerating relative sea-level rise (RSLR), which threatens their capacity to maintain elevation through feedbacks among sediment supply, vegetation productivity, hydrology, and soil processes. Although many marshes can persist under moderate rates of sea-level rise through vertical accretion and belowground biomass production, this resilience is strongly constrained by sediment availability and subsurface processes such as autocompaction and organic matter decomposition. High accretion is often assumed to confer marsh resilience; however, subsurface processes, particularly autocompaction driven by surface loading, can substantially offset elevation gains. Coastal Louisiana experiences among the highest rates of RSLR worldwide due …

Flood Frequency Analysis Of Big Creek, Ryan S. Funai, Jason T. Santoli, Gunnar F. Wainscott, Callen Zurn

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The primary purpose of flood frequency analysis is to determine a timeframe of potential flood events. Analyzing flood frequency is a process that involves collecting years of quantitative data on discharge rates, calculating the probability of exceeding a certain rate of discharge, and calculating the average interval between events equaling or exceeding a certain rate of discharge. The Big Creek Watershed drainage area covers an area of 549 square miles in Western Kansas, including Ellis, Trego, Gove, and Sheridan Counties. This research analyzes 79 years of data collected by the USGS at the intersection of Big Creek and US-183. Water …

Fhsu Western Kansas Regional Water Quality Study, Gunnar F. Wainscott

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This study, conducted by Fort Hays State University faculty and graduate students, aims to analyze water quality through systematic sampling and analysis of wells, ponds, and streams across the region. Each sample is analyzed for a suite of eighteen parameters, such as arsenic, lead, nitrate, etc. By combining laboratory results with spatial data, this project seeks to identify regional patterns, establish a foundation for future monitoring efforts, and provide participating landowners with clear, accessible information about their own water quality.

Using Geoscience To Empower A Community And Provide Access To Potable Groundwater, Hendratta Ali Dr

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Access to potable water remains challenging around the world and remains one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Barriers to clean water access are exacerbated by the lack of technical expertise, limited funding for education and training, and the absence of reliable infrastructure that provides access to clean water. The Geoscientists Without Borders program, supported FHSU with funding to test, explore and provide access to clean potable groundwater to a rural community in Cameroon. We conducted water quality analyses, identified, mapped and located deep aquifers in fractured metamorphic rocks. Water quality analyses showed acidic pH and elevated amounts …

Regional Drought Modulation By Enso And Iod As Indicated By The Standardized Precipitation Index, Arpit Tiwari, Preethi Nanjundan, Tanu Sharma, Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Satyaban Bishoyi Ratna

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Understanding the modulation of drought by large-scale ocean–atmosphere teleconnections is crucial for strengthening drought prediction and resilience in India. This study investigates the influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on meteorological drought characteristics across India from 1950 to 2024 using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at a 12-month timescale. Drought events were quantified in terms of frequency, duration, severity, and intensity and linked to ENSO–IOD variability through composite, correlation, and mediation analyses. Results reveal that El Niño events consistently correspond to widespread and severe droughts, particularly over central and southern India, with drought …

Monitoring Koyna Dam Displacements Using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry, Sara Zouriq, Gehan Hamdy, Amr Fawzy, Rejoice Thomas, Hesham El-Askary, Eehab Khalil, Mohamed Elsayad, Tarik El-Salawaky

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Monitoring dam stability is critical to ensure structural safety and operational reliability. This study integrates Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) based on Sentinel-1 SAR imagery (2020–2023) with Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations to assess the behavior of the Koyna Dam in India. PSI detected crest displacements between −1.0 and −1.8 mm yr−1, while FEM simulations predicted a maximum vertical displacement of approximately −3.2 mm at the crest. Although these results represent different quantities (time-averaged displacement rates versus peak static displacement), both approaches indicate millimeter-scale deformation and a consistent pattern of settlement at the dam crest, supporting the interpretation of hydrologically driven …