Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

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 …

Quercus Robur (English Oak), Sydney Ranalletti

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: Lawn of the Young Building on Bellevue Avenue

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Analysis Of Mangrove Ecosystems Using Gis, Kayla Caldwell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is accelerating beyond what is natural due to excessive emissions from human activities. The sea level has been rising for many years and is currently at a rate of 3.6 mm/yr. Mangroves are known to only keep pace with a sea level rate of less than 1.2 mm/yr. Mangroves are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels if they are not able to keep pace through vertical sediment accretion or inland migration. To test the vulnerability of the south Florida mangrove ecosystems to sea level rise, this study analyzed changes in the mangrove forest coverage of the Oleta River …

Fagus Sylvatica (European Beech) Id #1053, Rachael Tyner

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: Between and behind McKillop Library and Gerety Hall

Diameter at breast height: 75 in.

Age Class: Mature

Chamaecyparis Pisifera (Sawara Falsecypress) Id #992, Garrett Moen

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Diameter at breast height: .4318 m

Height: 30 m

Age Class: Mature

Condition: Good

Fagus Sylvatica (European Greenleaf Beech) Id #1051, Sophie Beauchesne

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: Behind the garden outside of Gerety Hall

Height: 8 m

Diameter at breast height: 76.3 cm

Acer Pseudoplatanus (Maple-Sycamore) Id #570, Caitlyn Rubino

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: the lawn on Watts-Sherman along Victoria Avenue

Radius of crown: 10 m

Height: 20 m

Diameter at breast height: 40 cm

Age: Mature

Condition: Poor

Chamaecyparis Obtusa (False Cypress-Hinoki) Id #982, Samuel Johnson

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: By the Misto Gatehouse in front of McAuley Hall

Height: 33.4 ft

Fagus Sylvatica Var. Laciniata (Fernleaf Beech) Id #1048, Andrea Connors

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: Lawrence Avenue behind McKillop Library

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 …

Larix Decidua (Weeping Larch), Carrie A. Thombs

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: on pathway to McKillop Library from the front parking lot

Height: 1.5 m

Diameter at breast height: 7.6 cm

Radius of crown: 0.4 m

Age: young

Cercidiphyllum Japonicum (Katsura) Id #1139, Cassidy Curry

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: Across the street from the Misto Gatehouse, on the path to McKillop Library

Surveillance Of Microplastic Pollution In Central Virginia Freshwater Ecosystems, Alexandra Reddy

Senior Honors Theses

Aquatic organisms often mistake microplastic particulates (MP) as food and inadvertently ingest the particulates, which can biomagnify through the food chain. While MP ingestion is well-researched in the marine environment, little is known about microplastics in freshwater  ecosystems. This project explores MP occurrence in an ecologically significant freshwater invertebrate: crayfish. Crayfish from two Central Virginia streams are collected to identify MP in the digestive tracts and gill filaments, and characterize the MP using analytical chemistry techniques. It was determined that MP were present in the digestive tracts and gill filaments of crayfish collected from both streams, and that MP frequency …

Chamaecyparis Obtusa (False Cypress-Hinoki) Id #982, Tyler Deppert

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: next to McKillop Library front parking lot

Nonlinear Least Squares 3-D Geolocation Solutions Using Time Differences Of Arrival, Michael V. Bredemann

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This thesis uses a geometric approach to derive and solve nonlinear least squares minimization problems to geolocate a signal source in three dimensions using time differences of arrival at multiple sensor locations. There is no restriction on the maximum number of sensors used. Residual errors reach the numerical limits of machine precision. Symmetric sensor orientations are found that prevent closed form solutions of source locations lying within the null space. Maximum uncertainties in relative sensor positions and time difference of arrivals, required to locate a source within a maximum specified error, are found from these results. Examples illustrate potential requirements …

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 …

Water Scarcity And Fish Imperilment Driven By Beef Production, Brian D. Richter, Dominique Bartak, Peter Caldwell, Kyle Fankel Davis, Peter Debaere, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Tianshu Li, Landon Marston, Ryan Mcmanamay, Mesfin Mekonnen, Benjamin L. Ruddell, Richard R. Rushforth, Tara J. Troy

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Human consumption of freshwater is now approaching or surpassing the rate at which water sources are being naturally replenished in many regions, creating water shortage risks for people and ecosystems. Here we assess the impact of human water uses and their connection to water scarcity and ecological damage across the United States, identify primary causes of river dewatering and explore ways to ameliorate them. We find irrigation of cattle-feed crops to be the greatest consumer of river water in the western United States, implicating beef and dairy consumption as the leading driver of water shortages and fish imperilment in 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, …