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Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory

Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory. Mac McKee, Director Utah Water Research Laboratory Utah State University Logan, Utah. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory. Overview Who are we and what do we do? Emerging water problems--for Utah and everyone

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Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory

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  1. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water ResearchLaboratory Mac McKee, DirectorUtah Water Research LaboratoryUtah State UniversityLogan, Utah Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  2. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Overview • Who are we and what do we do? • Emerging water problems--for Utah and everyone • Some interesting research projects at the UWRL Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  3. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory The Utah Water Research Laboratory: • Oldest and largest of 54 university-based water research centers • Research expenditures: ~ $9 million/year • Research and training projects… Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  4. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Research and training projects in: • all 29 Utah counties, • several US states, and • historically, more than 70 countries Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  5. Bioprocess Engineering Hazardous/Toxic Waste & Air Quality Water Quality Engineering Water Resources Planning & Management Groundwater & Contaminant Hydrogeology Hydrology Fluid Mechanics & Hydraulics Water Education & Technology Transfer Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Focus: Applied Research on Water Problems… Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  6. UWRL History & Facilities Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory • Relative supplies are declining (amount/person) • Diversification of water uses • Demand for stakeholder participation • 11,000 ft2 state-of-the-art environmental quality labs • 50,000 ft2 world-class hydraulics bay Sunrise Session (4/25/08) Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  7. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Emerging Water Problems • Relative supplies are declining (amount/person) • Diversification of water uses • Demand for stakeholder participation Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  8. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Implications • Water must be managed more intensively/efficiently. • This will require: • Better water resources data and decision-relevant information • New analytic tools • Training of water managers Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  9. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory McKee’s 2nd Axiom of Water Resources Engineering: “If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  10. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Some UWRL projects that address these problems: 1. Phosphorus management 2. Salinity management 3. Irrigation management Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  11. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Problems: • Too much of it • Difficult to measure and control • An EPA-imposed treatment plant: ~$200 million! Solution: • Enhance data collection • Real-time data + state-of-the-art models = better information • Establish a pollution rights trading bank 1. Phosphorus Management: The Little Bear River Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  12. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 1. Phosphorus in the Little Bear River Data Collection Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  13. 1.3 x 108 Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 1. Phosphorus in the Little Bear River Modeling Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  14. Spring TP Field Loads Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 1. Phosphorus in the Little Bear River Modeling Topographic Index Land Cover TP EMCs Spring Runoff Spring TP Load Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  15. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 1. Phosphorus in the Little Bear River Results • The first phosphorus pollution trading contract is under negotiation. • If others follow, the cost to meet EPA standards will be much less than the estimated conventional treatment approach. Estimates of phosphorus concentrations and loadings are greatly improved with real-time data and modeling. Bayesian modeling approaches provide information about uncertainty in loading estimates. Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  16. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 2. Salinity Management: The problem: • Salt in US rivers causes hundreds of millions of dollars of damage yearly • Measurement of salt loading is uncertain Part of the solution: • Develop a salinity probe that is: • Multi-ion-specific • Low-cost Ion-specific salinity probes Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  17. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Ion-Specific Salinity Probes 2. Progress Micro-electrode array: developed, tested, patented Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  18. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 2. Ion-Specific Salinity Probes Progress Ion sensors under development: SO42-, Cl-, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, HCO3- (each will be patented) Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  19. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory Motivation • Irrigation: largest water user in Utah; inefficient • Remote sensing: high cost, poor spatial resolution, bad timing • Need to acquire more frequent and higher resolution imagery, and merge with data from satellites and on-ground sensors • Must provide tools so water managers can use the resulting information 3. Irrigation Management: Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  20. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin 3. Capabilities • UAV aircraft: 4 to 8 ft wingspans; equipped with computer, avionics, GPS, flight control and payload management software • Data acquired: visual spectrum and near-infrared; infrared to be added this summer • Used to estimate: evapotranspiration rates and soil moisture • Combined with on-ground soil moisture probe and satellite data, used to forecast: • Soil moisture 7 days ahead • Canal command area water demand forecast 7 days ahead • Used to provide 7-day-ahead recommendations for canal diversions and reservoir releases Telephoto image, Desert Lake test flight, July 2007 Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  21. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Cameras • “Ghost Finger” control • Off-the-shelf: • Typical Pentax E30 • Modified to take photos automatically • Also records GPS, altitude, inertial data Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  22. 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  23. 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  24. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Examples Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  25. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  26. Aircraft: UAV: Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Examples Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  27. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Examples • Coarse-scale satellite data at ~1-km scale resolution… • are combined with fine-scale (~half-meter) UAV data… • and on-ground soil moisture probe data… Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  28. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Examples …to produce estimates of evapotranspiration and soil moisture at 15-meter resolution… and forecasts of how soil moisture will change for the next 7 days. Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  29. Exciting Projects at the Utah Water Research Laboratory 3. The UWRL Air Force in the Sevier Basin Implementation • Multiple UAV capability (“covens”) • Automation of all data processing • Short-term forecasting of irrigation demand (~7 days in advance) • Data-driven models for canal and reservoir operations  greater efficiency! • “Google Delta” • Other uses: fish tracking, water and air quality, lake currents, flood recovery, river change detection, many more Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

  30. Questions? Visit us at: http://uwrl.usu.edu/ or contact: Mac McKee, 435-797-3188, Mac.McKee@usu.edu Sunrise Session (4/25/08)

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