Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Civil and Environmental Engineering
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 [...]
Challenges and Opportunities of Data Driven Advance Classification of Hard Rock TBMs
Published: 2024-09-21
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Earth Sciences, Geology, Geotechnical Engineering
Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) have revolutionized tunneling industry and are currently the dominant method of tunneling in all ground types including soil and rock. Traditional approaches to TBM advance classification, however, rely heavily on subjective assessments by onsite personnel, which are often hampered by limited access to the excavation face and discontinuous observation intervals. [...]
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 [...]
How much is enough? Uncertainty aware sample mass determination of coarse-grained soils for particle size analyses
Published: 2024-08-23
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Geology, Geomorphology, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering, Other Earth Sciences, Probability, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Statistical Models, Statistics and Probability, Stratigraphy
Determining particle size distributions (PSD) of soils is a basic first step in many geotechnical analyses and guidance is given in different national standards. For ambiguous reasons, the recommended required minimum sample mass (m_min) for the PSD-analyses of soils with a main component of gravel or greater is always based on equations including the soil's maximum grain diameter (D_max). We [...]
Systematic review of occurrence and distribution of manganese in drinking water in India and implications for population health
Published: 2024-08-23
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Objectives: This study seeks to understand manganese occurrence in drinking water in India. Methods We searched PubMed, EBSCO Global Health, and Web of Science in December, 2021 and included peer-reviewed studies published after 1969 in English that reported manganese concentrations in drinking water in India (protocol registered with PROSPERO: CRD42024566116). Bias within studies was assessed [...]
Sanitary inspection characteristics, precipitation, and microbial water quality - A three-country study of rural boreholes in Sub-Saharan Africa
Published: 2024-08-23
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Microbial contamination of drinking water contributes to a substantive and preventable burden of enteric disease that disproportionately impacts infants and children. The World Health Organization (WHO) has published guidance on water safety and water quality monitoring, including sanitary inspection (SI) of water systems to detect and manage hazards such as fecal contamination. Sanitary [...]
An Integrated Framework for Actionable Flood Warnings on Road Structures Using High Resolution Satellite Imagery
Published: 2024-08-17
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Hydrology
Floods rank among the most devastating natural hazards globally. Unlike many other natural calamities, floods typically occur in densely populated regions, resulting in immediate and long-term adverse impacts on communities, including fatalities, injuries, health risks, and significant economic and environmental losses annually. Traditional flood models, while useful, are constrained by [...]
Comprehensive Assessment of Flood Risk and Vulnerability for Essential Facilities: Iowa Case Study
Published: 2024-08-02
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science
Of all natural disasters that occur on this planet, flood events are universally one of the most common and most destructive. As climate change and human actions continue to cause the occurrence of flood events to rise, it becomes increasingly important that the effects of flooding are analyzed and understood. In this study, nine different types of critical amenities in the state of Iowa (such as [...]
HydroSignal: Open-Source Internet of Things Information Communication Platform for Hydrological Education and Outreach
Published: 2024-07-16
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering Education, Environmental Engineering
This study introduces HydroSignal, a low-cost, open-source platform designed to democratize hydrological monitoring by leveraging the power of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. With its web-based interface, HydroSignal aims to make vital hydrological data easily accessible to a wide range of users, including professionals, educators, and students, thereby promoting improved environmental [...]
Evaluating the Flood Vulnerability of Urban Areas in Polk County, Iowa using Social-Ecological-Technological Framework
Published: 2024-07-08
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Risk Analysis
The escalating prominence of floods globally, with their catastrophic potential to inflict substantial losses in terms of both human lives and economic resources, underscores their significance. Particularly susceptible to flooding between May and July, the US Midwest faces heightened risks during this critical period, characterized by the highest average precipitation rates of the year. Flood [...]
Wind and rain compound with tides to cause frequent and unexpected coastal floods
Published: 2024-06-12
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering
With sea-level rise, flooding in coastal communities is now common during the highest high tides. Floods also occur at normal tidal levels when rainfall overcomes stormwater infrastructure that is partially submerged by tides. Data describing this type of compound flooding is scarce and, therefore, it is unclear how often these floods occur and the extent to which non-tidal factors contribute to [...]
HarvestGRID: High-resolution harvested crop areas of the United States from 1981 to 2019
Published: 2024-05-29
Subjects: Agriculture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Life Sciences, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
The United States is a major producer and exporter of agricultural goods, fulfilling global demands for food, fiber, and fuel while generating substantial economic benefits. Agriculture in the U.S. not only dominates land use but also ranks as the largest water-consuming sector. High-resolution cropland mapping and insights into cultivation trends are essential to enhance sustainable management [...]
River Morphology Information System: A Web Cyberinfrastructure for Advancing River Morphology Research
Published: 2024-05-23
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Databases and Information Systems, Geographic Information Sciences, Software Engineering
The study and management of river systems are increasingly challenged by the complexity and volume of data required to understand and predict river morphology changes. The River Morphology Information System (RIMORPHIS) is introduced as a transformative solution to these challenges, serving as an open-access web-based cyberinfrastructure designed to enable advanced research in river morphology [...]
Projection of spatially explicit land use scenarios for the São Francisco River Basin, Brazil
Published: 2024-05-15
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Future land use change in the São Francisco River Basin (SFRB) is critical to the future of regional climate and biodiversity, given the large heterogeneity among the four climate types within the basin. These changes in SFRB depend on the link between global and national factors due to its role as one of the world's major exporters of raw materials and national to local institutional, [...]
Modeling heat flux in the Beaufort Gyre between 2016 and 2019.
Published: 2024-05-03
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Leads are a primary component of heat flux during polar night-time in the Arctic Ocean. During the winter, there is negligible shortwave radiation incident on the ice surface. Instead, open water and thin ice lead formations on the ice are the primary contributors of longwave radiation. In fact, open water leads produce turbulent heat flux up to 600 W.m-2 while multi-year ice is typically less [...]