Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Field Measurements Of Bed-Load Transport Distances Using Painted Sediment Tracers In An Urban Stream In The Missouri Ozarks, Kristen E. Breckenridge

MSU Graduate Theses

Predictions of bed-load mobility and transport in stream channels are useful for restoration and management purposes. This study uses native gravel tracers to determine transport distances for bed-load in an urban stream in the Ozark Highlands. The objectives of this project are to: (i) determine downstream transport distances of painted tracers of different sizes over a range of flow conditions; (ii) evaluate the influence of channel morphology and thalweg location on transport; and (iii) compare field results to those predicted by mobility equations. The study site is located on South Creek, which drains Springfield, Missouri. The study reach is 132 …

Differences In Soil Water Changes And Canopy Temperature Under Varying Water × Nitrogen Sufficiency For Maize, Tsz Him Lo, Daran Rudnick, Kendall C. Dejonge, Geng Bai, Hope Njuki Nakabuye, Abia Katimbo, Yufeng Ge, Trenton E. Franz, Xin Qiao, Derek M. Heeren

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Crop nitrogen (N) status is known to affect crop water status and crop water use. To investigate further the N effects on soil water changes and on canopy temperature, three water levels × four N levels were imposed on two growing seasons of maize in west central Nebraska, USA. Soil water changes were measured using a neutron probe, whereas canopy temperature was measured using infrared thermometers on a ground-based mobile platform. At all water levels, soil water losses over monthlong intervals were generally greater as N levels increased. Given equal water levels, early afternoon canopy temperatures were usually lower with …

Nitrate Dynamics And Source Within Nested Watersheds Of An Agricultural Stream, Nebraska, Usa, Galen Richards

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

Nitrate concentrations have been increasing throughout the globe, primarily due to heightened agricultural activity. Nitrate concentrations in Bazile Creek, located in Northeastern Nebraska, have been steadily rising since the early 2000s. Groundwater nitrate concentrations within the Bazile Creek watershed are high (> 10 mg/L nitrate-N), and there is strong connectivity between groundwater and surface water systems. This study aimed to better understand temporal nitrate concentration variability within the watershed through sampling tributaries and the main channel during baseflow conditions. Nitrate source was also investigated though the use of dual δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O nitrate isotopes, with samples …

Evaluation Of Best Practices For Urban Water Conservation And Water-Smart Growth Implementation In Utah, J. Ivy Harvey Thomson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Policies and programs have been utilized throughout the United States (U.S.) to reduce water use as a strategy to ensure sufficient water supplies for future demand. As governmental leaders and policy makers face increasing freshwater scarcity and supply unpredictability, along with rising costs and decreased federal funding, Best Practices (BPs) in water conservation are increasingly important to facilitate decision-making in choosing which strategies to employ. This project uses policy analysis to review and summarize various BPs, referencing both academic and professional literature. National fixture efficiency standards enacted in 1992 are credited as among the leading factors reducing indoor water use …

Greening-Induced Runoff Loss In The Western United States, Xueyan Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study assessed how vegetation will influence long-term runoff trends across the western United States (western US) in the future. I used a land surface model with improved dynamic vegetation root processes to better quantify regional runoff trends across five regions (Upper and Lower Colorado, Great Basin, Pacific Northwest, and California). The model was driven by statistically downscaled and bias-corrected outputs from three global climate models under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. Vegetation greening dominated significant transpiration increases that contributed most to increasing evapotranspiration across the western US, especially during spring and summer. Consistent with these trends, …

The Legacy Of Mining In Southwest Missouri: Past And Present Conditions Of The Tri-State Mining District, Anastasia M C Mcclanahan

MSU Graduate Theses

The historic Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma has a history of lead and zinc mining that extended over a hundred years. During the district’s peak production period, the TSMD was one of the world’s largest producers of lead and zinc. The mining activities in the TSMD produced economic growth that supported the local communities and were essential to the victory of the Allied Forces during World War I and World War II. Beginning in the 1920s, the mining activities in the district slowly began to cease due to depletion of metal ores and …

Snow Depth Distribution Patterns And Consistency From Airborne Lidar Time Series, Megan A. Mason

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Snow provides fresh meltwater to over a billion people worldwide. Snow dominated watersheds drive western US water supply and are increasingly important as demand depletes reservoir and groundwater recharge capabilities. This motivates our inter- and intra-annual investigation of snow distribution patterns, leveraging the most comprehensive airborne lidar survey (ALS) dataset for snow. Validation results for ALS from both the NASA SnowEx 2017 campaign in Grand Mesa, Colorado and the time series dataset from the Tuolumne River Basin in the Sierra Nevada, in California, are presented. We then assess the consistency in the snow depth patterns for the entire basin (at …

Applications Of Continuous Snowpack Temperature Monitoring, Peter J. Youngblood

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Predicting metamorphism within seasonal snowpacks is critical for avalanche forecasting and runoff timing as it relates to water supply management. Snowpack temperature gradients play a key role in snow metamorphism, and their magnitude controls how snow strength changes; therefore, they are of interest to avalanche forecasters. Before major melt, the snowpack must warm to isothermal conditions at 0°C. Measuring this transition from warming to the ripening phase could help improve our current models for runoff timing. Measuring snowpack temperature gradients is currently a non-automated process that requires disturbance of the snow profile, and only gives a snapshot in time of …

Using Return Intervals And Nutrient Spiraling To Examine The 2019 Nebraska Flood, Alexa Davis

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

In March of 2019, flooding levels in many parts of Nebraska was the worst that streams and rivers had in decades, and in some locations, on record. Theses historic floods present an optimal case study to examine how current technological resources can be used to enhance our understanding of floods and how these floods impact in situ stream ecosystem processes like nitrogen and phosphorus cycling. Currently, there are only a few resources available to quantify the extent of floods; for my thesis, I will focus on satellite imagery and in situ water level gages. Unfortunately, due to technical issues with …

Collaborative Research: Network Cluster: Dust In The Critical Zone From The Great Basin To The Rocky Mountains, Janice Brahney

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Beneficial Effect Of Injected Air Into Subsurface Drip Irrigation (Sdi) On Plant Growth Using Runoff From A Feedlot, D Dissanayake

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

Due to water scarcity and increasing food demand, nonconventional water sources (e.g., human and animal wastewater) represent a valuable alternative to traditional water resources for agricultural use. Among these alternatives, treated animal wastewater, particularly feedlot runoff may represent a valuable solution in states like Nebraska due to its abundance. Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) is a low-pressure micro-irrigation system that delivers water to the crop root zone through buried drip tapes with embedded emitters at fixed intervals. Despite multiple advantages (great water application uniformity, high water use efficiency, and improve fertilizer application), SDI can lead to poor aeration in the rhizosphere …

Understanding Institutional, Social, And Ecological Systems Influencing Climate Change Adaptation And Water Governance In Wine Regions: A Comparative Case Study Of Oregon's Willamette Valley, Usa And Tasmania, Australia, Erin Upton

Dissertations and Theses

My research examines how water management decisions create opportunities or barriers to climate change adaptation in wine regions. Water is a critical resource for economic and environmental sustainability in wine grape growing regions. Climate uncertainty presents considerable risk and vulnerability to freshwater resources in wine producing regions where needs for access to water will increase with more frequent climate extremes. Climate adaptation in the wine industry is a complex problem that requires multi-disciplinary approaches. This research aims to strengthen the interface between water governance and technological and viticulture adaptation approaches. Water resources are shared across regions by stakeholders with varied …

Phosphorus Variability In The Area Of Influence Of The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, Peter Mates

LSU Master's Theses

Man-made levees along the lower Mississippi River prevent delivery of sediment from building and maintaining Louisiana’s coastal wetlands. The Mid-Barataria sediment diversions is designed to reintroduce Mississippi River water, sediment, and nutrients into the sediment-starved Barataria Basin. Phosphorus (P) is an important macronutrient for regulating primary production in coastal marine ecosystems. Wetlands can serve as a sink or source for phosphorus to the overlying water column through various retention and release processes, dependent on concentration. Louisiana coastal systems can be phosphorus limited due to much higher concentrations of bioavailable Nitrogen in river water. The high soluble molar N:P ( >50:1) …

Legacy And Current Pesticide Residues In Syr Darya, Kazakhstan: Contamination Status, Seasonal Variation And Preliminary Ecological Risk Assessment, Daniel D. Snow, P. Chakraborty, B. Uralbekov, B. Satybaldiev, J. Brett Sallach, L. M. Thornton Hampton, M. Jeffries, A. S. Kolok, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The Syr Darya is one of two major rivers in Central Asia supplying critical fresh water to the Aral Sea. In spite of the river’s importance and agriculturally-intensive history, few studies have provided a modern evaluation of and the occurrence of pesticide residues potential effects to aquatic life. The primary goal of this investigation was to determine seasonal variations in ambient concentrations of modern and legacy pesticides in bottom sediment and water of the Syr Darya in Kazakhstan (KZ) downstream from an agriculturally-intensive watershed in Uzbekistan. Grab samples and passive samplers were used at five remote sampling stations during June …

Characterization Of Shallow Subsurface Hydrology In Large Fine-Grained Floodplains, Mary Grace Lemon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Floodplains are hydrologically dynamic, receiving water from overbank events, hyporheic flows, local precipitation, and regional groundwater sources. These sources are variously important contributors to the heterogeneous floodplain water pool that includes matrix water in soil micropores, mobile water in soil macropores, groundwater below the rooting zone, ephemeral to seasonal surface storage, and permanent surface water features such as oxbow lakes, sloughs, and other secondary channels. All sources may be ecologically relevant for floodplain vegetation, but the exact roles of each source in both controlling soil water and shallow groundwater recharge and in controlling floodplain water drainage are not well understood, …

Airborne Molecular Contamination: Recent Developments In The Understanding And Minimization For Advanced Semiconductor Device Manufacturing, Walter Den, Shih-Cheng Hu, Cesar M. Garza, Omid Ali Zargar

Water Resources Science and Technology Faculty Publications

This review paper focuses on the recent knowledge about airborne molecular contamination (AMC) and its impacts on 300-mm wafer fabrication processes. The adverse impacts on process materials by both organic and inorganic micro-contaminants, and evidence of cross-contamination between processed wafers and the mainstream wafer handling tools, are two areas of discussion for the study. The review also aims to re-frame the industrial guideline for AMC from chemical-based to risk-based approach, which substantiates the potential impacts of individual families of AMCs that have been well-documented. This approach resonates well with the new AMC classification method recently proposed by the International Roadmap …

Spatial Statistical Approaches To Water Quality Modelling, Janardan Mainali

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation aims to advance the existing knowledge related to spatial modeling of water quality by exploring and introducing innovative approaches to different spatial conceptualizations for water quality modeling and incorporating upstream-downstream relations in geographically weighted regression. By carrying out a systematic literature review of four different classes of spatial models in Chapter One, this dissertation identifies the following major research gaps: lack of incorporation of multiscale processes, not enough emphasis on spatial weights matrices, and unavailability of upstream-downstream relationships in geographically weighted regressions. Chapters Two and Three were designed to address these gaps in the literature. In Chapter Two, …

Monitoring Residual Soil Moisture And Its Association To The Long-Term Variability Of Rainfall Over The Upper Blue Nile Basin In Ethiopia, Getachew Ayehu, Tsegaye Tadesse, Berhan Gessesse

Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Monitoring soil moisture and its association with rainfall variability is important to comprehend the hydrological processes and to set proper agricultural water use management to maximize crop growth and productivity. In this study, the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative (ESA CCI) soil moisture product was applied to assess the dynamics of residual soil moisture in autumn (September to November) and its response to the long-term variability of rainfall in the Upper Blue Nile Basin (UBNB) of Ethiopia from 1992 to 2017. The basin was found to have autumn soil moisture (ASM) ranging from 0.09–0.38 m³/m³, …

Water Current, Volume 52, No. 2, Summer 2020

Water Current Newsletter

Thirty Years on the Cutting Edge of University of Nebraska Research

Where Are They Now?

Building the Future of Nebraska’s Water Management

Examining Transmission Loss Availability For Basin Aquifer Recharge From Perennial Streams In The Chuska Mountains On The Navajo Nation, Griffin Nuzzo

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Stream transmission losses due to infiltration from semiarid, perennial streams are important processes that can help water managers and users quantify aquifer recharge. Transmission losses are streamflow reductions that are due to infiltration through the streambed, evapotranspiration, and losses to the floodplain or streambanks (Shanafield, et.al, 2014). Transmission losses from infiltration will always be greater than the amount recharged bacause streamflow hat infiltrates into the streambed can take a variety of pathways other that recharge. This study considers transmission losses in Whiskey Creek, a perennial stream on the Navajo Nation in the Chuska Mountains. The objectives of this study are …

Horton Complex Stormwater Analysis And Management Plan, Bradley D. Meyer

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Flooding, water quality degradation and erosion are some of the negative impacts created by poorly managed urban stormwater runoff. Managing runoff is an ongoing challenge for watershed managers because of the constantly changing landscape due to development and redevelopment. The Village of Ruidoso in South Central New Mexico is an example of an urban area that is taking an innovative and progressive approach to stormwater management. The focus of this professional project was to perform a stormwater analysis for the Village of Ruidoso, apply it to the Horton Complex – an old school complex that the Village acquired and wants …

The Role Of Regulatory Agencies In The Frequency And Occurrence Of Health-Based Violations At Public Water Systems In The United States, Rose Afandi

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was implemented in the United States (U.S.) in 1974 for the purpose of protecting consumers from water contaminants. The Federal government gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to delegate the responsibility of ensuring that States, Sovereign Nations and U.S. territories meet specific requirements upon being granted primacy to regulate all public water systems (PWSs) in their jurisdiction. An examination of seven years (2013-2019) of SDWA compliance data from all PWSs in the U.S. revealed trends within various categories of regulating agencies that could create disparities in how water systems are regulated. Analyses …

An Assessment Of Disinfection-Related Water Chemistry At Public Pools And Spas In Louisville, Kentucky, Thomas Gerding, Tim Wilder, Jason W. Marion

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The growth in the number of pools to more than 7.4 million in the U.S. has been accompanied by a rise in recreational water illnesses (RWIs). Effective pool management, though, can mitigate RWI risks. Inadequate management presumably occurs more frequently where training is less formalized and/or pool operation is a minor aspect of the job of the responsible pool manager(s). During summer 2018, weekly evaluations were performed at public venues in Louisville, Kentucky. Disinfectant levels and other items were monitored and compared with venue-specific (pool or spa) criteria. Among 1,312 venue surveys, 1,173 (89.4%) met criteria and 139 (10.6%) did …

Socio-Technical Transitions In The Water Sector: Emerging Boundaries For Utility Resilience In Barbados, Wainella N. Isaacs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resilience is gaining popularity in the water sector where it described as contributing to reduced vulnerability to water-related risks and hazards including climate change. Unfortunately, literature in this area, contributed mainly from North America and Europe, is fragmented with a concentration on engineering resilience in water supply infrastructure. The absence of any scholarship on resilience for a small island nation, coupled with the absence of sociological contributors to building resilience in this sector motivated this research.

The goal of this research was to understand and evaluate how resilience is characterized and operationalized in the Barbados water and wastewater infrastructure system, …

Correlation Analyses Among Soil, Plant, And Environmental Variables And Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Furrow-Irrigated Rice On A Silt-Loam Soil, Diego Della Lunga

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alternative water management practices for rice (Oryza sativa) production have been developed for water conservation purposes, such as the relatively new furrow-irrigated rice production system, which results in spatially variable volumetric water content (VWC), temperature, and oxidation-reduction (redox) potential. No research has been conducted to relate greenhouse gas (GHG) production to soil and plant properties or environmental factors under furrow-irrigated rice. The objective of this field study was to evaluate correlations between methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes and emissions and global warming potential (GWP) and near-surface soil properties and environmental factors over two growing seasons …

Relationship Between University Student Characteristics And Water Conservation Behaviors, Matthew A. Wise

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water over-consumption is a critical issue due to it being a mismanaged, and virtually finite, natural resource. In order to convey this information to the public and promote change, it is important to understand the public’s current attitude towards the topic in order to develop more targeted teaching approaches. The purpose of this study was to determine college-age students’ perceptions about water resource usage, their personal levels of active engagement in water conservation, and if any differences existed between agriculture students and non-agriculture students. This study utilized an online quantitative survey, guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, which was …

Rice Fortification By Parboiling In Limited-Water Soaking To Alleviate Mineral And Vitamin Deficiency, Annegret Jannasch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fortification of rice by parboiling is considered a potential alternative to currently available fortification technologies to produce rice with higher mineral and vitamin content significantly contributing to nutrient intake in populations with high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies. Higher nutrient retention rates and improved sensory characteristics are advantages of fortified parboiled rice compared to fortified rice obtained by currently used fortification technologies including dusting, coating, and extrusion. However, conventional parboiling processes employ excess water that presents an environmental hazard if discarded without treatment. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate a limited-water soaking method for the fortification of rice …

A Low-Cost, Open Source Monitoring System For Collecting High Temporal Resolution Water Use Data On Magnetically Driven Residential Water Meters, Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Robb J. Tracy

Publications

We present a low-cost (≈$150) monitoring system for collecting high temporal resolution residential water use data without disrupting the operation of commonly available water meters. This system was designed for installation on top of analog, magnetically driven, positive displacement, residential water meters and can collect data at a variable time resolution interval. The system couples an Arduino Pro microcontroller board, a datalogging shield customized for this specific application, and a magnetometer sensor. The system was developed and calibrated at the Utah Water Research Laboratory and was deployed for testing on five single family residences in Logan and Providence, Utah, for …

Projected Surface Water For Fruit And Vegetable Irrigation Under A Changing Climate In The Us, Marty Matlock, Greg Thoma, Kieu Ngoc Le, Eric Cummings, Zach Morgan, Andrew Shaw

Water Systems

Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, resulting in climate impacts, are raising concerns over the hydrologic cycle and its effects upon agricultural productivity. If rainfall patterns change, meeting an increased demand for fruits and vegetables will pose a challenge for domestic production regions in the United States (U.S.). Information on potential water supply scarcity in the current production regions provides decision makers with critical information for risk mitigation for future production. We used a hydrologic balance-based model of historic and future water availability to evaluate risk of available irrigation water to support major fruit and vegetable production the US. …

Structural And Agricultural Value At Risk In Florida From Flooding During Hurricane Irma, Alexander J. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Flooding is the most costly type of natural disaster, as well as the most frequent. To provide risk-based flood insurance, providers such as FEMA must be able to accurately determine an asset’s risk of flooding. Additionally, after a flooding event, providers need to quickly determine the direct damages that occurred to verify insurance claims and provide assistance to the affected communities. Many current approaches to flood risk and flood damage estimation involve the use of data or statistical extrapolation that can add various sources of uncertainty into the final damage estimate. In order to reduce uncertainties in flood risk analyses, …