Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Stochastic Simulation Of Daily Rainfall, David M. Allen, C. T. Haan, Don Linton, Jim Street, David Jordan

KWRRI Research Reports

The design of many water resources projects requires knowledge of possible long-term rainfall patterns. In this project a stochastic model based on a first order Markov chain was developed to simulate daily rainfall at a point. The model is applicable to any point in Kentucky (and other areas with similar rainfall patterns).

The model in its present form is useful in providing rainfall inputs into hydrologic models for designing water supply facilities and other water resources systems. The model uses historical rainfall data to estimate the Markov transitional probabilities. A separate matrix is estimated for each month of the year. …

Sensitivity Of Vertebrate Embryos To Heavy Metals As A Criterion Of Water Quality, Phase Ii: Bioassay Procedures Using Developmental Stages As Test Organisms, Wesley J. Birge, Albert G. Westerman, Jeffrey A. Black, Oliver W. Roberts

KWRRI Research Reports

Chick, amphibian, and fish embryos were evaluated as bioassay and bioindicator organisms. Test procedures were developed by which embryonic stages may be used 1) in bioassay systems to evaluate the toxicity of particular metallic or metal-containing trace contaminants, and 20 as bioindicators to monitor the quality of natural water resources.

A bioassay technique was devised in which metallic toxicants were administered to chick embryos by "needle tract" injection into the yolk sac. This provided more uniform distribution of test metals throughout the yolk mass than can be obtained by conventional yolk sac injection methods, and gave more sensitivity and uniformity …

Hydraulic And Flow Studies Related To Sediment Transport, Kentucky River, Kentucky, Bruce R. Moore, Michael R. Short, Thomas Wachs

KWRRI Research Reports

This study related the conditions of flow and channel shape to distribution of sediment types in the Kentucky River. Seven distinct types of sediment association were delineated and these have a regular pattern of distribution influenced by the presence of navigation locks and dams. The most suitable locations for commercial extraction of bed material were clearly indicated and the variations of sand size delineated by the study. The irregular discharge pattern of the stream indicates potential problems in the disposal of solid waste pollutants.

A remeasurement of the dredge hole in the Ohio River indicated a continuation of the same …

A Study Of Naturally Occurring Algicides Produced By Freshwater Algae, Denny O. Harris, Harry D. Caldwell

KWRRI Research Reports

The mode of action of the algicide produced by Pandorina morum was examined by exposing Volvox globator and isolates spinach chloroplasts to a partially purified algicide preparation. Oxygen evolution of Volvox, whole chloroplasts and broken chloroplasts (minus the Calvin cycle),was reduced indicating that the algicide inhibits the light reactions of photosynthesis. Oxygen evolution studies of other Volvocaceae confirmed the observation that Pandorina morum is not significantly influenced by its own inhibitor. Molecular weight approximation by gel filtration established that the inhibitor has a low molecular weight (probably below 100 mw). Field studies indicate that this algicide has tremendous potential as …

Metabolic Capabilities Of Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria And Their Role In Water Pollution, M. I. H. Aleem

KWRRI Research Reports

This report describes investigations into the physiology of microorganisms that are commonly involved in the oxidation of inorganic sulfur compounds. The metabolic activities of these bacteria play a potent role in several fields of economic importance such as strip mining operations, water pollution, corrosion, metallurgy, petroleum technology and soil fertility processes.

The oxidation of inorganic sulfur compounds was studied in the chemolithotrophs Thiobacillus denitrificans, Thiobacillus A₂, Thiobacillus neapolitanus, and a photolithotroph Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Cell suspensions from all of the thiobacilli catalyzed completely the oxidation of sulfide, thiosulfate, and sulfite to sulfate. The oxidation of thiosulfate in R. palustris …

Powers Of The State Of Kentucky In Implementing An Effluent Tax As A Part Of An Interstate Ohio River Basin Water Pollution Control Program, Anita L. Morse, Edward Zeigler

KWRRI Research Reports

This report is intended to set forth some of the problems and solutions involved in financing and regulating water quality control. The purpose is to record some of the major problems confronting those who legislate water quality, those who espouse technological answers, and those who see the problem in terms of economic solutions. The limits placed by political and institutional constraints on solutions to these problems are frequently not understandable.

Within this report are contained separate investigations: a study of federal-interstate relations and the interstate compact; a study of Kentucky's common law approach to water rights; a study of financing …

Spatially Varied Subcritical And Supercritical Flow In Gullies, T. Y. Kao

KWRRI Research Reports

The objective of this study was to investigate the phenomena of subcritical and supercritical spatially varied flow in rectangular expansions such as that in an erosion gully. Based on momentum and continuity principles, equations were developed to predict such flow phenomena. Computations of the water surface profiles for subcritical spatially varied flow were carried out by applying direct step numerical calculations. Because of the presence of standing waves, the method of characteristics was employed in the analytical analysis of the supercritical flow phenomena. Of primary importance in this study is the effect of varying amounts of lateral inflow rates. Other …

Analysis Of Unsteady Flow Toward Artesian Wells By Three-Dimensional Finite Elements, Yang H. Huang, Shen-Jyh Wu

KWRRI Research Reports

A three-dimensional finite element computer program was developed for analyzing unsteady flow toward artesian wells. The program is designed especially for determining the drawdown around an artesian well penetrating fully or partially a nonhomogeneous and anisotropic aquifer of irregular shape and cross section. It can also be used as a general program for aquifer simulation and evaluation. A major advantage of the program lies in the minimum amount of input data required. By assuming the top and bottom boundaries of the aquifer as two arbitrary planes, the aquifer will be divided into six- or eight-node elements, and their nodal coordinates …

Laboratory Simulation Of Rainfall Erosivity For Gully Formation Study, T. Y. Kao

KWRRI Research Reports

The objective of this study was to develop a rainfall simulator, which imparts to the laboratory rainfall the more important characteristics of natural rainfall such as intensity, drop spectrum, kinetic energy, and momentum at impact, for using in soil erosion research with better results. In developing this simulator the better features of the basic types of earlier simulators, drip and nozzle, have been incorporated into this single design. The simulator developed in this study consists of a number of individual box modules placed in a rectangular pattern to form a single unit. Each module has a grid of capillary holes …

Hand Held Probe For Use In Electrical Sensing Of Plane Coordinates, George S. Hurst

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Patents

A probe with a puncturing, electrically conducting needle is constructed to enable the user, whether right or left handed, to position the needle rapidly and accurately at a selected coordinate of a sensor package.

Seasonal Changes In Water Quality And Primary Productivity In Doe Valley Lake, Edmond J. Bacon, Stuart E. Neff

KWRRI Research Reports

Primary productivity and water quality were studied in Doe Valley Lake, a 147-hectare impoundment on Doe Run, a spring-fed stream in Meade County, Kentucky, from 13 June 1969 to 31 July 1972. Doe Valley Lake is monomictic during most winter seasons, but it is dimictic during more severe winters because of its morphometry and location on the borderline climatic region for dimictic lakes (37° N latitude). Oxygen depletion in the hypolimnion is severe, and anaerobic conditions usually prevail by late June. A hypolimnetic areal deficit of 0.038 mg/cm²/day was calculated. Supersaturation of oxygen in the epilimnion was common, …

Development Of Prediction Relationships For Water Requirements With Irrigation Cooling, Billy J. Barfield, John N. Walker, F. A. Payne

KWRRI Research Reports

A model for predicting leaf temperatures during an off-on mist cycle is presented. The model uses a combination of energy budget and aerodynamic techniques. The model was tested for dry leaf temperature and evapotranspiration predictions using average hourly data from Arizona. The accuracy was good. It was also tested for dry leaf temperature predictions using two to three minute data with a widely varying net radiation. When reasonable values of stomatal resistance were used, the agreement was again good.

The model was tested for prediction of wet leaf temperature prediction with a ten minute on, fifty minute off mist irrigation …

Changes In The Economy And Ecology At Proposed Lake Sites In The Salt River Basin, Kentucky, During Early Construction Of The Dam For Taylorsville Lake, Louis A. Krumholz, Stuart E. Neff, Edmond J. Bacon Jr., John R. Baker, Daryl E. Jennings, Andrew C. Miller, Vincent H. Resh, David S. White

KWRRI Research Reports

This is an extension of the work reported in Project numbers B-005-KY, B-016-KY, and B-022-KY that extended from 1 July 1968 through 30 June 1972. Permanent collecting stations have been established at 67 sites throughout the Salt River, Beech Fork, and Chaplin River drainages. Turbidities increases quickly as flow and runoff increase, and subside quickly when the rain stops. Suspended solids range up to 1,700 mg/l in high turbidities and vary considerably as a result of local spates. Water chemistry generally reflects the limestone nature of the substrate and physico-chemical characteristics of a typically healthy limestone stream. Bottom organisms are …

Sensitivity Of Vertebrate Embryos To Heavy Metals As A Criterion Of Water Quality, Phase I, Wesley J. Birge, John J. Just, Albert G. Westerman, A. Duane Rose

KWRRI Research Reports

Avian, amphibian and fish embryos were given continuous treatment with inorganic mercury, methyl mercury, cadmium and lead, to determine the sensitivity of embryogenesis to metallic poisoning. All metals produced substantial degrees of lethality and/or gross anatomical anomalies at 10 ppb or less. Treatment with inorganic mercury at 10 ppb produced 100% kill of frog embryos. Chick and rainbow trout embryos suffered 10-20% lethality when exposed to 1 ppb of either inorganic or methyl mercury. Lead and cadmium at 1 ppb produced 24-32% lethality in chick embryos. No significant differences were observed in the embryopathic effects of inorganic or methyl mercury. …

Measuring The Intangible Values Of Natural Streams, Part Ii, John A. Dearinger, George M. Woolwine, Charles R. Scroggin, Daniel R. Dolan, James S. Calvin

KWRRI Research Reports

This report describes the work done during Part II of a project which had as its aim the development of a way to quantify those intangible values peculiar to a small stream and its watershed. Part I was concerned with an application of the "uniqueness concept" in the evaluation of fifty-eight Kentucky streams. The results of this effort are in Report #40, U. K. Water Resources Institute (1971).

During the second part of the project:

1. A method was developed whereby peoples' preferences for natural landscapes could be measured. The method utilized projected color slides and a rating system based on …

Social Costs And Benefits Of Water Resources Construction, Rabel J. Burdge, K. Sue Johnson

KWRRI Research Reports

This report analyzes and describes the process of relocating individuals and families who must move due to reservoir construction in Kentucky utilizing data collected in previous research. These data come from four separate studies: a study of community attitudes toward reservoir construction (Johnson county where the Paintsville reservoir is to be constructed), interviews with people who are slated for relocation when the Taylorsville reservoir is constructed, and two sets of interviews with people who have already been relocated due to reservoir construction (Cave Run and Carr Fork).

Psychological, social, economic and material costs and benefits associated with forced relocation are …

A Study Of Water-Soluble Inhibitory Compounds (Algicides) Produced By Fresh-Water Algae, Denny O. Harris, Manhar C. Parekh

KWRRI Research Reports

A complex system of growth inhibitors was observed in the green algae (Volvocaceae). Inhibitors were found in the culture filtrates of some genera which limit their own growth (autoinhibitors) while others in the family produce substances which check the growth of other genera (heteroinhibitors). These inhibitors were destroyed by autoclaving. It was decided that Pandorina morum, which produced the strongest inhibitor and Volvox tertius, the most sensitive to the inhibitor would make an excellent model system for a study of the chemical and physical properties of these naturally occurring algicides. The algicide could be removed from actively growing cultures about …

A Detailed Investigation Of The Sociological, Economic, And Ecological Aspects Of Proposed Reservoir Sites In The Salt River Basin Of Kentucky, Stuart E. Neff, Louis A. Krumholz, John R. Baker, Daryl E. Jennings, Andrew C. Miller, Jerry S. Parsons, Vincent H. Resh, David S. White

KWRRI Research Reports

Samples of water, bottom fauna, and fishes were collected from 66 stations in the Salt River and one of its principal tributaries, the Beech Fork and its tributary, the Chaplin River, Kentucky. Precipitation ranged from 38.86 inches (1969) to 58.04 inches (1970), an increase of nearly 50 percent with marked fluctuations in discharge. Intensive comparisons of phosphates, sulfates, specific conductance, total alkalinity, total hardness, and turbidity showed the streams to be relatively clean and healthy. Nearly 300 different kinds of benthic organisms and other macroinvertebrates have been collected and identified from the basin. Detailed studies of caddisflies and stream drift …

Sociocultural Impact Of Reservoirs On Local Government Institutions, Philip Drucker, Jerry Eugene Clark, Lesker Dianne Smith

KWRRI Research Reports

This study of the probable sociocultural impact of a proposed reservoir in central Kentucky on the institutions of local governments of a community adjacent to the reservoir utilizes anthropological concepts of social values and cultural and social change as well as anthropological research techniques. Data on observed impact on the same institutions in communities adjacent to two recently completed Kentucky reservoirs permit inferences as to probable directions and extent of reservoir-related change. Specific aspects of impact considered include: effects of reduction of the county tax base due to Federal acquisition of lands, including necessity for increased severity of taxes and …

Minimum Cost Design Of Water Distribution Systems, Don J. Wood, C. O. Charles

KWRRI Research Reports

The objective of this study was to develop the analytical tools and procedures for minimum cost design of water distribution systems. Both analog and digital means of carrying out pressure and flow calculations were developed. As a result of this effort, digital programs for pressure and flow calculations in water distribution systems were written and have been widely distributed to practicing engineers. One procedure is based on a direct solution of the basic system equations using a linearization scheme and has several advantages over conventional techniques such as the Hardy Cross method. These include avoiding the need to initially balance …

Enzyme And Tissue Alterations In Fishes: A Measure Of Water Quality, David E. Hinton, M. W. Kendall, J. C. Koenig

KWRRI Research Reports

A variety of freshwater fishes were studied by light and electron microscopy, enzyme histochemical and biochemical methods, The objective was to determine normal structure and function in specific target organs and to compare these to altered states in aquatic pollution. The basic question, "can fish tissues and enzymes serve as indicators of water quality?," was asked. Microscopic alteration in gill was indicative of copper toxicity at an exposure of 20 parts per billion, Gross and light microscopic alterations were indicative of a single exposure of channel catfish to 15 parts per million of methyl mercuric chloride (CH₃HgCl). Microscopic …

Process Control Of Activated Sludge Treatment, Richard I. Kermode, Robert W. J. Brett, Kenneth A. Debelak, John J. Davis

KWRRI Research Reports

General feed forward controllers, conforming to standard control modes, have been derived for an activated sludge process. The analysis indicated that the appropriate controllers are proportional control with measurement of substrate flow rate, and derivative control with measurement of inlet substrate concentration, and manipulation of the rate of return sludge by both controllers.

The performance of these controllers was tested by computer simulation of five dynamic aerator models with and without sludge storage, and with two settling basin models. In all cases significant reduction of the maximum exit substrate concentration was achieved. Additional improvement resulted from the use of sludge …

Sensor Package For Electrical Sensing Of Plane Coordinates And Method Of Preparing The Same, George S. Hurst, William C. Colwell Jr.

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Patents

A sensor package for ready insertion in properly registered position upon, or for removal from, a cabinet employed in electrical sensing of plane coordinates, is constructed to provide accurate readings when pierced by a small manually operated cursor.

A method for manufacturing the package including the affixing of accurately spaced electrodes on the package, is disclosed.

Sensitivity Of Vertebrate Embryos To Heavy Metals As A Criterion Of Water Quality, Wesley J. Birge, John J. Just

KWRRI Research Reports

Embryonic and/or larval stages of the leopard frog (Rana pipiens), domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) and the goldfish (Carassiua auratus) were treated with cadmium chloride, mercuric chloride, lead chloride, zinc chloride and sodium arsenite. The principal objectives were (1) to determine the sensitivity of vertebrate embryos to certain metals which are of consequence in water pollution, and (2) to ascertain the suitalility of vertebrate embryos as bioassay organisms for monitoring metallic pollutants within water resources. Vertebrate embryos are found to be highly sensitive to the toxic effects of all the metals studied. Concentrations of mercury as low as 10 ppb, with …

Preliminary Report Of The Oil And Gas Possibilities Between Pine And Cumberland Mountains, Southeastern Kentucky, A J. Froelich

Report of Investigations--KGS

Elongate, low-amplitude flexures in strata of Pennsylvanian age have been delineated in recent mapping by the U. S. Geological Survey in co­operation with the Kentucky Geological Survey in a 600-square-mile (l ,536- square-kilometer) area between Pine and Cumberland Mountains in south­eastern Kentucky. Cresta! culminations on gentle anticlinal folds may indicate loci of subsurface closures for entrapment of oil and gas. The area studied is underlain by more than 15,000 feet (4,500 meters) of Paleozoic strata containing potential source-beds, reservoirs, and cap rocks. Faults, unconformities, abrupt facies changes, and regional thickness variations en­hance the geologic setting for possible oil and gas …

Social And Cultural Impact Of A Proposed Reservoir On A Rural Kentucky School District, Charles R. Smith, Philip Drucker

KWRRI Research Reports

This study utilizes anthropological concepts and research methods to study the educational system of a Central Kentucky school district with the goal of predicting the impact on it of a proposed multi-purpose (flood control, recreation, etc.) reservoir, and proposing options for forestalling dysfunctional aspects of that impact. The impact will result from the fact that although the county is now rurally oriented, the proposed reservoir will attract (has already begun to attract) urbanite residents from nearby Louisville, Kentucky's largest urban center, who can be expected to bring urban values concerning education, as well as other areas. To assess probable directions …

Characterization Of Water Movement Into And Through Soils During And Immediately After Rainstorms, C. T. Haan

KWRRI Research Reports

The movement of water into and through soils in the unsaturated state is basic to many water resources problems including rainfall-runoff models, ground water recharge, irrigation, drainage, evapotranspiration and the movement of pollutants in soils. This study was conducted in an effort to determine if the flow equation based on Darcy's Law and the continuity equation could be used to describe watershed infiltration and thus be incorporated into hydrologic models.

The results of the study indicate that even on apparently uniform soils there is a great deal of variability in soil water properties. Handling this variability plus the difficulty of …

Development And Testing Of A Double-Beam Absorption Spectrograph For The Simultaneous Determination Of Different Cations In Water, William H. Dennen

KWRRI Research Reports

Construction and testing of a double-beam absorption spectrographic analysis system using a d. c. arc multielement source has been conducted. An optical system design which brings analytical and reference beams together to illuminate the upper and lower portions of the spectrograph slit has been shown to be functional. However, ad. c. arc will not serve as a multielement source for the intended purposes because of excessive thermal broadening of emission lines.

A direct excitation d. c. arc method was reviewed which can be used for the rapid determination of some cations in water.

The Relation Between Soil Characteristics, Water Movement And Nitrate Contamination Of Ground Water, Grant W. Thomas, Matthew Mcmahon

KWRRI Research Reports

Soils from several areas in Kentucky were placed in columns and leached with Ca(NO₃)₂. Subsoils high in iron oxide were found to retard the leaching of nitrate very significantly. In other soils, the nitrate moved through as fast as or slightly faster than the water.

Field application of nitrogen to corn was most efficient when done in the spring or summer near the time that the corn takes it up. The one exception to this was a red soil, where fall application of nitrogen resulted in little loss due to the retarding effect mentioned in the …

Location Of Solution Channels And Sinkholes At Dam Sites And Backwater Areas By Seismic Methods: Part Ii, Vincent P. Drnevich, D. Raghu

KWRRI Research Reports

Four seismic field methods and a laboratory method are used to determine shear wave propagation velocities and shear moduli for two sites. The four seismic methods are: standard seismic refraction survey, down hole shooting refraction survey, transient Rayleigh wave survey, and crosshole shooting survey. A torsional resonant column apparatus was used for the laboratory tests. The cross hole shooting method gave the best results because direct measurements were made. Criteria for using this method are given. Methods which measure compression wave velocity give inconsistent results because the conversion to shear wave velocity is very sensitive to Poisson's ratio. Laboratory tests …