Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Engineering
Defining renewable groundwater use and its relevance to sustainable groundwater management
Published: 2022-05-19
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Groundwater systems are commonly, but variously, defined as renewable or non-renewable based on natural fluxes of recharge or on estimates of aquifer storage and groundwater residence time. However, we show here that the principle of capture challenges simple definitions so that a groundwater system cannot be renewable or non-renewable in and of itself, but only with reference to how the [...]
Hydraulic fracturing: Laboratory evidence of the brittle-to-ductile transition with depth
Published: 2022-05-13
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geology, Petroleum Engineering
Understanding the propagation of hydraulic fracture (HF) is essential for effectively stimulating the hydrocarbon production of unconventional reservoirs. Hydraulic fracturing may induce distinct failure modes within the formation, depending on the rheology of the solid and the in-situ stresses. A brittle-to-ductile transition of HF is thus anticipated with increasing depth, although only scarce [...]
Experimental investigation of fire spread across a vegetative fuel bed incorporating the effect of wind velocity
Published: 2022-05-10
Subjects: Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Wind, moisture content, and density of fuel are three environmental factors that affect the rate of fire spread in wildland fires by changing the rate of convection, radiation, and conduction heat transfer from the flames and burned fuels to the unburned fuel. These effects have been experimentally investigated in the current study to further understand the complex phenomena of wildland fire [...]
Democratizing Deep Learning Applications in Earth and Climate Sciences on the Web: EarthAIHub
Published: 2022-04-20
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Sciences
Most deep learning application studies have limited accessibility and reproducibility for researchers and students in many domains, especially in earth and climate sciences. In order to provide a step towards improving accessibility to deep learning models in such disciplines, this study presents a community-driven framework and repository, EarthAIHub, that is powered by TensorFlow.js, where deep [...]
Interactive Hydrological Modelling and Simulation on Client-Side Web Systems: An Educational Case Study
Published: 2022-04-13
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, Engineering Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Science and Mathematics Education, Water Resource Management
Computational hydrological models and simulations are fundamental pieces of the workflow of contemporary hydroscience research, education, and professional engineering activities. In support of hydrological modelling efforts, web-enabled tools for data processing, storage, computation, and visualization have proliferated. Most of these efforts rely on server resources for computation and data [...]
DEM-assisted in-season soil moisture estimation based on normalized Sentinel-1 SAR imagery
Published: 2022-04-13
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Soil moisture is a crucial in-field variable used in many applications. Soil moisture might be measured in the field using soil sensors and can be estimated via satellite imagery. The present study proposes an innovative SAR-based method that significantly improves the accuracy of soil moisture estimation and does not require field-measured data. The method is based on the previously developed [...]
Comparative Analysis of Performance and Mechanisms of Flood Inundation Map Generation using Height Above Nearest Drainage
Published: 2022-04-08
Subjects: Engineering
For flood inundation extent prediction, it is important to have a faster, more accurate, and input-parsimonious model during response and recovery efforts. Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) is a simplified conceptual model whose efficacy and utility have been demonstrated in previous studies. This study aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of prediction performance of the [...]
A machine learning approach to water quality forecasts and sensor network expansion: Case study in the Wabash River Basin, USA
Published: 2022-04-06
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management
Midwestern cities require forecasts of surface nitrate loads to bring additional treatment processes online or activate alternative water supplies. Concurrently, networks of nitrate monitoring stations are being deployed in river basins, co-locating water quality observations with established stream gauges. However, tools to evaluate the future value of expanded networks to improve water quality [...]
Straining to Learn Permeability
Published: 2022-04-02
Subjects: Engineering
Characterizing fluid flow in a porous material with permeability is fundamental to energy and hydrological applications, yet direct measurements of permeability are very difficult to conduct in situ. However, attending fluid flow through a material are various mechanical responses, e.g., strain fields, acoustic emission. These mechanical responses may hold important clues to the fluid flow in the [...]
Advancing Hydroinformatics and Water Data Science Instruction: Community Perspectives and Online Learning Resources
Published: 2022-03-26
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Education, Engineering, Hydrology, Science and Mathematics Education, Water Resource Management
Hydroinformatics and water data science topics are increasingly common in university graduate settings through dedicated courses and programs as well as incorporation into traditional water science courses. The technical tools and techniques emphasized by hydroinformatics and water data science involve distinctive instructional styles, which may be facilitated by online formats and materials. In [...]
Nanogenerators: A new paradigm in blue energy-harvesting
Published: 2022-03-26
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The depletion of natural energy sources demands non-conventional efficient alternatives with sustainable utility. The outstanding performance of nanomaterials resolves the energy scarcity issue through the introduction of small-scale, energy-harvesting devices, called nanogenerators. A nanogenerator is an ambient energy-harvester with exotic features of being a lightweight, sustainable and [...]
Reducing the Uncertainty of Multi-Well Petrophysical Interpretation from Well Logs via Machine-Learning and Statistical Models
Published: 2022-03-22
Subjects: Analysis, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Geophysics and Seismology, Mining Engineering, Multivariate Analysis, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models
Well-log interpretation provides in situ estimates of formation properties such as porosity, hydrocarbon pore volume, and permeability. Reservoir models based on well-log-derived formation properties deliver reserve-volume estimates, production forecasts, and help with decision making in reservoir development. However, due to measurement errors, variability of well logs due to multiple [...]
Cloud-based interactive susceptibility modeling of natural hazards in Google Earth Engine
Published: 2022-03-17
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
We present an interactive tool for susceptibility modeling in Google Earth Engine (GEE). Our tool requires few input data and makes use of the breadth of predictors' information available in GEE. In this cloud computing environment, binary classifiers typical of susceptibility models can be called and fed with information related to mapping units and any natural hazards' distribution over the [...]
Mesoscale eddy variability in the CaribbeanSea
Published: 2022-03-03
Subjects: Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The spatial distribution, the monthly and seasonal variability of mesoscale eddy-observations derived from the AVISO eddy atlas are assessed in the Caribbean Sea for the period between 1993 and 2019 (both included). The average lifetime for the whole set of eddies is 61.8±37.1days, mean amplitude of 7.4±4.2cm for ciclonic and 6.7±3.7cm for anticyclonic and mean radius [...]
Camera-Based Intelligent Stream Stage Sensing for Decentralized Environmental Monitoring
Published: 2022-03-02
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Water Resource Management
On average, flood damages cost $4.4 billion in the US annually. Accurate, vast, and real-time coverage of water level monitoring is crucial for the advancement of environmental research, specifically in the areas of climate change, water distribution, and natural disaster preparedness and management. According to a 2018 EPA report, there are 2.7 million streams and associated watersheds in the US [...]