Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Engineering
Cyclone Evacuation Route Identification Using ArcGIS, and recommended new cyclone shelter in Koyra Upazila, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Published: 2024-11-03
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering
Evacuation is a critical preparedness measure to safeguard people from the severe impacts of cyclones. Selecting the right evacuation route is vital for an effective evacuation during cyclones. In our study, we utilized Geographic Information System to plan evacuation routes for Koyra upazila in Khulna, Bangladesh, and to establish an evacuation route using shortest distance analysis. The aim is [...]
Global database of hot sedimentary aquifer geothermal projects: De-risking future projects by determining key success and failure criteria in the development of a valuable low-carbon energy resource
Published: 2024-11-01
Subjects: Engineering
Hot sedimentary aquifers (HSAs) have huge potential for low-carbon energy supply but remain a relatively untapped resource. For example, HSAs could meet 100 years of UK national heat demand. The main technical barriers to HSA deployment are subsurface risks and associated well completion requirement. Numerous studies and policies have attempted to tackle these hurdles, but the sluggish [...]
Predicting Harmful Algal Blooms Using Ensemble Machine Learning Models and Explainable AI Technique: A Comparative Study
Published: 2024-11-01
Subjects: Engineering, Environmental Engineering
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), driven by environmental pollution, pose significant threats to water quality, public health, and aquatic ecosystems. This study aims to enhance the prediction of HABs in Lake Erie, part of the Great Lakes system, by utilizing ensemble machine learning (ML) models coupled with explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) for interpretability. Using water quality data from [...]
Benchmarking Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Wastewater Treatment for Targeted Reduction
Published: 2024-10-31
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Engineering
To assess the national climate impact of wastewater treatment and inform decarbonization, we assembled a comprehensive greenhouse gas inventory of 15,867 facilities in the contiguous United States. Considering facility location and treatment configurations, we model on-site CH4, N2O, and CO2 production, and emissions associated with energy, chemical inputs, and solids disposal. Our estimate of 42 [...]
Bioremediation of multiple heavy metals through biostimulation of Microbial-Induced Calcite Precipitation at varying calcium-to-urea concentrations
Published: 2024-10-23
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering
Studies on heavy metal bioremediation through Microbial-Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) typically involve bioaugmentation approaches that use low calcium-to-urea ratios and target single contaminants. We present an investigation on the efficiency of soils’ autochthonous ureolytic bacteria to simultaneously remediate multiple heavy metals and sequester carbon through urea hydrolysis and MICP [...]
Building Resilient Sanitation Systems in Malawi: Pit-latrine Costs, Collapse, and Management
Published: 2024-10-19
Subjects: Engineering
Despite widespread access to basic sanitation in Malawi, over 75% of the population lacks improved sanitation facilities. This national study investigates the resilience of pit-latrines across Malawi, focusing on the relationship between construction quality, facility lifespan, and collapse frequency. A survey of 268,000 pit-latrines revealed that high-quality latrines (lined and with a slab) [...]
Multiobjective Optimization for Optimal Water Resource Allocation
Published: 2024-10-14
Subjects: Engineering, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering
This work investigates the use of multiobjective optimization (MOO) in the distribution of water resources, a crucial problem made worse by rising demand brought on by population expansion, industrialization, and climate change. Conventional unidimensional methods frequently fall short in considering the intricacies of conflicting water requirements in several domains, including domestic [...]
Viability of video imaging spectro-radiometry (VISR) for quantifying flare combustion efficiency
Published: 2024-10-12
Subjects: Engineering
Video imaging spectro-radiometry (VISR) has been proposed as a means to quantify the combustion efficiency (CE) of flares. This work presents a numerical assessment of VISR using computational fluid dynamics simulations of a steam-assisted industrial flare, with a focus on three aspects: how approximations in the radiometric model impact the local “pixel-wise” CE, the validity of the approach [...]
Clay Stabilisation using Modified Anionic Bitumen Emulsion and Waste Glass
Published: 2024-10-11
Subjects: Engineering
Clay (black cotton soil) is among the most difficult soils to stabilise against land movement. This study explores the possibility of mixing binders with the soil to increase its internal properties and stabilise clay from landslide prone areas. A modified anionic bitumen emulsion was mixed with the soil at different percentages and tested for angle of friction and cohesion. It was found that an [...]
SWMManywhere: A Global-scale Workflow for Generation and Sensitivity Analysis of Synthetic Urban Drainage Models
Published: 2024-10-11
Subjects: Engineering
Continual improvements in publicly available global geospatial datasets provide an opportunity for deriving urban drainage networks and simulation models of these networks (UDMs) worldwide. We present SWMManywhere, which leverages such datasets for generating synthetic UDMs and creating a Storm Water Management Model for any urban area globally. SWMManywhere’s highly modular and parameterised [...]
ml4xcube: Machine Learning Toolkits for Earth System Data Cubes
Published: 2024-10-09
Subjects: Computer and Systems Architecture, Computer Engineering, Engineering, Geography, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Rapidly changing climate conditions and the increase in extreme events are posing severe challenges to human life and infrastructure, requiring sophisticated analytical capabilities for hazard prediction and disaster risk management. Earth System Data Cubes (ESDCs) have become an essential tool in Earth System Sciences (ESS) by organizing large-scale, multivariate environmental datasets into a [...]
Expansion of cropland area during an abrupt sunlight reduction scenario
Published: 2024-10-01
Subjects: Engineering
In the eventuality of a major volcanic eruption or nuclear war, particles would accumulate in the stratosphere and reduce sunlight, potentially altering climate conditions severely and decreasing crop yields. Mass starvation could be prevented with the help of resilient foods, such as transforming natural gas into protein, wood into sugar, and relocating crops. One intervention not yet analysed [...]
Comprehensive Assessment of Drought Impact on Crop Yields Across Iowa Over Two Decades (2000-2022)
Published: 2024-09-30
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering
Corn and soybeans are pivotal crops in the U.S. agricultural landscape, providing essential vitamins and oils. These two crops dominate approximately 90% of crop production in Iowa. However, their yields are significantly impacted by recurrent drought conditions. A prolonged deficiency in soil moisture characterizes agricultural drought due to sustained precipitation shortfalls. This study aims [...]
FirnLearn: A Neural Network based approach to Firn Densification Modeling for Antarctica
Published: 2024-09-13
Subjects: Engineering
Understanding firn densification is essential for interpreting ice core records, predicting ice sheet mass balance, elevation changes, and future sea-level rise. Current models of firn densification on the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) are semi-empirical, complex, and rely on sparse climatic data and surface density observations. In this work, we introduce a deep learning technique to study firn [...]
ML-CASCADE: A Machine Learning and Cloud Computing-based Tool for Rapid and Automated Mapping of Landslides using Earth Observation Data
Published: 2024-09-12
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering
Landslides pose a significant threat to humans as well as the environment. Rapid and precise mapping of landslide extent is necessary for understanding their spatial distribution, assessing susceptibility, and developing early warning systems. Traditional landslide mapping methods rely on labor-intensive field studies and manual mapping using high-resolution imagery, which are both costly and [...]