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(1 - 9 of 9)
- Title
- Advanced methods in sea level rise vulnerability assessment.
- Creator
- Romah, Thomas., College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
-
Increasing sea levels have the potential to place important portions of the infrastructure we rely on every day at risk. The transportation infrastructure relies on roads, airports, and seaports to move people, services, and goods around in an ever connected global economy. Any disturbances of the transportation modes have reverberating effects throughout the entire economic spectrum. The effects include delays, alterations of routes, and possible changes in the origin and destinations of...
Show moreIncreasing sea levels have the potential to place important portions of the infrastructure we rely on every day at risk. The transportation infrastructure relies on roads, airports, and seaports to move people, services, and goods around in an ever connected global economy. Any disturbances of the transportation modes have reverberating effects throughout the entire economic spectrum. The effects include delays, alterations of routes, and possible changes in the origin and destinations of services and goods. The purpose of this project is to develop an improved methodology for a sea level rise scenario vulnerability assessment model. This new model uses the groundwater elevation as a limiting factor for soil storage capacity in determining previously underestimated areas of vulnerability. The hope is that early identification of vulnerability will allow planners and government officials an opportunity to identify and either remediate or create alternative solutions for vulnerable land areas before high consequence impacts are felt.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3358965
- Subject Headings
- Sea level, Environmental aspects, Coastal zone management, Sea level, Climactic factors, Climate change mitigation, Climatic changes, Risk management
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Assessment of clilmate change impacts on streamflow trends using a water balance model.
- Creator
- Matthews, Kevin., College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
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Significant changes in climate and their impacts are now visible in various places around the globe and are expected to become more evident in the coming decades. For each increase in temperature, there are environmental and societal consequences. It has important implications for existing water resources systems as well as for future water resources planning and management. Water accounting (identifying, quantifying and reporting information of water flow in a system) is the first step...
Show moreSignificant changes in climate and their impacts are now visible in various places around the globe and are expected to become more evident in the coming decades. For each increase in temperature, there are environmental and societal consequences. It has important implications for existing water resources systems as well as for future water resources planning and management. Water accounting (identifying, quantifying and reporting information of water flow in a system) is the first step towards formulating productive and sustainable water management strategies in a region. Thus, water balance models could be an empowering tool for water resource managers to prepare for and mitigate the effects of climate change on their local hydrologic resources. This thesis offers an insight into how such a tool can be used to assess and predict future stream flow trends in an effort to mitigate or manage any potential effects.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3358599
- Subject Headings
- Climatic changes, Environmental aspects, Hydrology, Water resources development, Natural resources, Accounting
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Durability prediction of recycled aggregate concrete under accelerated aging and environmental exposure.
- Creator
- Gonzalez, Lillian, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
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This study is to compare the performance of recycled aggregate concrete and the impact of up to 50% cement replacement with fly ash on durability. Water content, sieve analysis, standard and modified compaction tests were performed to assess the physical properties of the recycled aggregate concrete. Accelerated aging tests were performed to predict the long term durability of the recycled aggregate concrete. Following Arrhenius modeling and TTS and SIM accelerated aging protocols, a time...
Show moreThis study is to compare the performance of recycled aggregate concrete and the impact of up to 50% cement replacement with fly ash on durability. Water content, sieve analysis, standard and modified compaction tests were performed to assess the physical properties of the recycled aggregate concrete. Accelerated aging tests were performed to predict the long term durability of the recycled aggregate concrete. Following Arrhenius modeling and TTS and SIM accelerated aging protocols, a time versus stiffness master curve was created. This allowed the prediction of equivalent age using experimental data and theoretical analysis. To account for environmental exposure, the specimens underwent 24 and 48 hours of wet-dry cycling and subjected. Overall there was an increase in stiffness and strength from the specimens containing fly ash. All tests performed predicted equivalent age beyond the testing period of 144 hrs. and up to 7 years. Specimens containing fly maintained a constant and higher density to environmental exposure.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3353087
- Subject Headings
- Concrete, Mechanical properties, Testing, Concrete, Environmental aspects, Sustainable construction, High strength concrete, Testing, Cement composites, Testing
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Farfield modeling of the Boynton Inlet plume using sulfur hexafluoride as tracer.
- Creator
- Pire-Schmidt, Joaquin., College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
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The analysis and modeling of the coastal farfield behavior of inlet discharge plumes is the key to understanding the fate of pollutants discharged into the ocean. These plumes disperse in chaotic and unpredictable patterns. Theoretical models are based on the average conditions and calibrated to the results of tracer studies. Data and models for freshwater discharges in coastal ocean systems are limited because of the lack of adequate tracers. On February, 2007, a tracer study was conducted...
Show moreThe analysis and modeling of the coastal farfield behavior of inlet discharge plumes is the key to understanding the fate of pollutants discharged into the ocean. These plumes disperse in chaotic and unpredictable patterns. Theoretical models are based on the average conditions and calibrated to the results of tracer studies. Data and models for freshwater discharges in coastal ocean systems are limited because of the lack of adequate tracers. On February, 2007, a tracer study was conducted on the Boynton Inlet, Florida, using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer. The objective of this study is to provide methods of analysis for the sample data collected during the experiment. The detected tracer concentrated in a bolus that migrated north of the inlet at velocities lower than predicted by the current data. The plume was successfully modeled with a Gaussian plume model, with 90% of the SF6 predictions having less than 4.6 pptr error.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186771
- Subject Headings
- Plumes (Fluid dynamics), Water, Pollution, Sedimentation and deposition, Environmental aspects, Pollution, Mathematical models
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Influences of climate variability and change on precipitation characteristics and extremes.
- Creator
- Goly, Aneesh, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
-
This study focuses on two main broad areas of active research on climate: climate variability and climate change and their implications on regional precipitation characteristics. All the analysis is carried out for a climate change-sensitive region, the state of Florida, USA. The focus of the climate variability analysis is to evaluate the influence of individual and coupled phases (cool and warm) of Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) and El Niäno southern oscillation (ENSO) on regional...
Show moreThis study focuses on two main broad areas of active research on climate: climate variability and climate change and their implications on regional precipitation characteristics. All the analysis is carried out for a climate change-sensitive region, the state of Florida, USA. The focus of the climate variability analysis is to evaluate the influence of individual and coupled phases (cool and warm) of Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) and El Niäno southern oscillation (ENSO) on regional precipitation characteristics. The two oscillations in cool and warm phases modulate each other which have implications on flood control and water supply in the region. Extreme precipitation indices, temporal distribution of rainfall within extreme storm events, dry and wet spell transitions and antecedent conditions preceding extremes are evaluated. Kernel density estimates using Gaussian kernel for distribution-free comparative analysis and bootstrap sampling-based confidence intervals are used to compare warm and cool phases of different lengths. Depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves are also developed using generalized extreme value (GEV) distributions characterizing the extremes. ... This study also introduces new approaches to optimally select the predictor variables which help in modeling regional precipitation and further provides a mechanism to select an optimum spatial resolution to downscale the precipitation projections. New methods for correcting the biases in monthly downscaled precipitation projections are proposed, developed and evaluated in this study. The methods include bias corrections in an optimization framework using various objective functions, hybrid methods based on universal function approximation and new variants.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362383
- Subject Headings
- Climatic changes, Environmental aspects, Global temperature changes, Environmental aspects, Precipitation (Meteorology), Measurement, Bootstrap (Statistics)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Joint probability analysis of precipitation and streamflow extremes.
- Creator
- Lin, Chia-hung., College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
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This thesis focuses on evaluation of joint occurrence of extreme precipitation and streamflow events at several hydrologic structures in South Florida. An analysis of twelve years storm events and their corresponding peak streamflow events during wet and dry season including annual peaks considering two seasons was performed first. Dependence analysis using time series data of precipitation and streamflow was carried out next. The analysis included use of storm events with different temporal...
Show moreThis thesis focuses on evaluation of joint occurrence of extreme precipitation and streamflow events at several hydrologic structures in South Florida. An analysis of twelve years storm events and their corresponding peak streamflow events during wet and dry season including annual peaks considering two seasons was performed first. Dependence analysis using time series data of precipitation and streamflow was carried out next. The analysis included use of storm events with different temporal lags from the time of occurrence of peak streamflow events. Bi-variate joint probability was found to be appropriate to analyze the joint occurrence of events. Evaluation of joint exceedence probabilities under two phases of Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) influencing south Florida was also evaluated. All methodologies are evaluated for application using observations at several structures in the case study region to provide advances and valuable insights on joint extremes of precipitation and streamflows.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3360954
- Subject Headings
- Climatic changes, Precipitation (Meterology), Streamflow, Environmental aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Optimal operation of hydro power systems under a fuzzy multi-objective decision making environment.
- Creator
- Ferreira, Andrâe Rodrigues., College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
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Management of water resources has become more complex in recent years as a result of changing attitudes towards sustainability and the attribution of greater attention to environmental issues, especially under a scenario of water scarcity risk introduced by climate changes and anthropogenic pressures. This thesis addresses the conflicts in optimizing multi-purpose hydropower operations under an environment where objectives are often conflicting and uncertain. Mathematical programming...
Show moreManagement of water resources has become more complex in recent years as a result of changing attitudes towards sustainability and the attribution of greater attention to environmental issues, especially under a scenario of water scarcity risk introduced by climate changes and anthropogenic pressures. This thesis addresses the conflicts in optimizing multi-purpose hydropower operations under an environment where objectives are often conflicting and uncertain. Mathematical programming formulations can be used to achieve flexible, feasible and optimal operation and planning solutions to satisfy expectations of multiple stake-holders, including regulatory environmental compliance and sustainability. Innovative optimization models using MINLP with binary variables, fuzzy set theory, partial constraint satisfaction and multi-objective formulations incorporating unit commitment problem and adaptive real-time operations are developed and applied to a real life case study. These methodologies provide advances and valuable insights on optimal operations of hydropower systems under uncertain decision making environments.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/368616
- Subject Headings
- Water resources development, Environmental aspects, Water conservation, Management, Integrated water development, Decision making, Mathematical models
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Optimization of TiO2 photocatalyst in an advanced oxidation process for the treatment of landfill leachate.
- Creator
- Youngman, Frank., College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
-
Since the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began requiring landfills to implement a leachate collection system in 1991, the proper disposal of leachate has become a growing concern. The potential toxicity of landfill leachate will contaminate groundwater and soil if not managed properly. Research has been made in efforts to manage leachate in a cost-effective, single treatment process. Photocatalytic oxidation is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) which has shown ability...
Show moreSince the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began requiring landfills to implement a leachate collection system in 1991, the proper disposal of leachate has become a growing concern. The potential toxicity of landfill leachate will contaminate groundwater and soil if not managed properly. Research has been made in efforts to manage leachate in a cost-effective, single treatment process. Photocatalytic oxidation is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) which has shown ability to reduce toxicity of an array of leachate constituents including organics, inorganics and heavy metals. The purpose of this manuscript is to scale up the batch scale study of TiO2 photocatalytic degradation of leachate utilizing a pilot scale falling film reactor. In this research project, the use of UV/TiO2 for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, alkalinity and color will be studied in order to optimize catalyst dosage, determine pH effects and reaction kinetics and develop preliminary cost estimates.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3361260
- Subject Headings
- Sanitary landfills, Leaching, Environmental aspects, Refuse and refuse disposal, Environmental aspects, Integrated solid waste management, Leachate, Purification, Hazardous wastes, Biodegradation
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Treatment of landfill leachate via advanced oxidation.
- Creator
- McBarnette, Andrâe., College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
- Abstract/Description
-
A landfill is in a reserved space on land used for the disposal of refuse by utilizing the principles of engineering to confine the refuse to the smallest practical area to prevent the creation of nuisances to public health or safety (Andersen et al. 1967). However, because landfills are open to the atmosphere, rainfall can saturate them, resulting in a liquid called leachate. Leachate generated within the landfill contains suspended solids, soluble components of the waste and by-products...
Show moreA landfill is in a reserved space on land used for the disposal of refuse by utilizing the principles of engineering to confine the refuse to the smallest practical area to prevent the creation of nuisances to public health or safety (Andersen et al. 1967). However, because landfills are open to the atmosphere, rainfall can saturate them, resulting in a liquid called leachate. Leachate generated within the landfill contains suspended solids, soluble components of the waste and by-products from the degradation of the waste by various micro-organisms. Treatment of leachate is an emerging area of need. In this manuscript the main purpose is to investigate a laboratory scale batch reactor that is able to detoxify and treat leachate by using an advanced oxidation process (i.e. TiO2). Based on the results obtained from this ground breaking research, it appears that the process investigate has the potential to radically change the way landfill leachate is treated. Scale up may provide direction that can be used to improve the efficiency of the different stages of toxicity of leachate during the entire life of a landfill.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3318665
- Subject Headings
- Sanitary landfills, Leaching, Environmental aspects, Refuse and refuse disposal, Environmental aspects, Integrated solid waste management, Water, Purification, Oxidation
- Format
- Document (PDF)
