Interest in infiltration structures to control peak runoff in urban areas has increased in recent years. The work reported here is a study of infiltration trenches in unsaturated soil. The infiltration rates and the water content distributions in soil calculated by Fok's model and a finite-difference model are compared for both the Ida silt loam soil and the Webster clay loam soil considering the capillary zone effect due to groundwater table. A computer program for hydrologic routing in infiltration trenches has been developed with the infiltration rate calculated based on a 3-dimensional cumulative infiltration equation. The 3-D cumulative infiltration equation developed in this study is recommended for the analysis and practical design of infiltration trenches, since it is easy to use and inexpensive in computation. An infiltration trench with overflow has been examined allowing the overflow not to exceed an allowable discharge to downstream. It has been found that the surface infiltration due to overland flow does not significantly alter the infiltration rate from a trench. It has also been found that a long narrow trench is more effective for water to infiltrate into soil than a short wide trench for the same trench area( length x width ). The hydraulic conductivity of a soil is an important factor in the design of an infiltration trench, whereas the porosity and the effective capillary potential have minor effects. / M.S.

This study analyzed data that had been previously collected by the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory under the National Urban Runoff Program, to obtain an understanding of the degree of treatment of stormwater runoff obtainable in retention (maintains a water pool) and detention (drains completely) basins. Three basins were studied, two retention and one detention, and a total of 191 storm events were monitored using automatic sampling equipment. The samples were analyzed by the laboratory for COD, all nitrogen forms, all phosphorus forms, total suspended solids, and heavy metals (iron, manganese, etc.). It was concluded that detention and retention ponds achieve substantial reduction in the pollutant loads carried by stormwater runoff from residential areas. Non-soluble settleable materials were removed to a comparable degree by both basin types. However, the pool of water characteristic of a retention basin offered a superior environment for the removal of soluble pollutant forms, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. The treatment obtainable in detention and retention basins make them effective devices for the abatement of urban runoff pollution. Through the mechanisms of solids settling and microbial degradation, a basin can treat polluted runoff to a considerable extent and reduce damage to receiving bodies of water. / M.S.

A software package has been developed for the IBM personal computer that aids engineers in storm sewer design and drafting. The most unique feature of this software package is its extensive use of the AutoCAD graphics system. The software package uses AutoCAD to enter storm sewer data. Drainage areas, sewer line locations, type of structures, and all other hydrologic parameters can be entered. The software also creates plan and profile drawings of the storm sewer system through AutoCAD. There are other unique features. The software can calculate the hydraulic grade line for the system. If the user enters street centerlines and widths, the program can automatically calculate the exact coordinates for drainage inlet structures located on streets. If contour lines are entered, the program will determine the surface profile above the sewer lines, calculate the approximate elevations of the structures, and check for minimum ground cover when designing the storm sewer system. Data can be entered two ways in AutoCAD. The first way is to simply enter the numeric values for the parameters. The second way is to enter the raw data and let the program calculate the parameters. An example of this would be, entering a drainage area polygon and letting the program calculate the drainage area, weighted runoff coefficient and the time of concentration. This software allows the engineer to design and later make changes in the configuration of a storm sewer system quickly and easily. / Master of Science

Presented in this thesis is a case study of two study watersheds located in south central Virginia. For each, a HEC-HMS event-based hydrologic model was constructed to simulate the rainfall-runoff response from the Probable Maximum Storm (PMS), the theoretical worst-case meteorological event that is capable of occurring over a particular region. The primary goal of these simulations was to obtain discharge hydrographs associated with the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) at key locations in each of the watersheds. These hydrographs were subsequently used to develop flood inundation maps of the study areas and to characterize sediment transport phenomena in the study reaches under severe flooding conditions. To build the hydrologic basin models, ArcHydro, HEC-GeoHMS and ArcGIS were employed to assimilate the substantial amount of input data and to extract the pertinent modeling parameters required for the selected simulation methods. In this, the SCS Loss and Transform Methods, along with the Muskingum Routing Method, were adopted for the HEC-HMS simulations. Once completed, the basin models were calibrated through a comparison of simulated design storm flows to frequency discharge estimates obtained with regional regression techniques and a flood frequency analysis. The models were then used to simulate their respective PMS events, which were developed following recommendations from the Hydrometeorological Branch of the National Weather Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Descriptions of each of the study sites, explanations of the modeling theory and development methodologies, and discussions of the modeling results are all detailed within. / Master of Science

Many aspects of managing stormwater runoff were investigated for the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia, that would minimize the costly installation and environmentally damaging impacts of storm sewers as the town urbanizes. These aspects included the technical, political, financial, legal, and administrative approaches for controlling runoff at present levels, and for promoting the restoration of streams and preservation of natural drainage ways. The study used a computer model of the town's drainage system to assess the potential of technical approaches for runoff control and stream restoration. The financial and legal ramifications of a storm drainage user fee were explored in depth as a means to finance drainage improvements that rely on natural means for controlling runoff. Recommendations were presented on how to implement these technical, legal, and financial approaches through the town administration and citizen groups. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Diversion of the first flush of storm runoff to a detention basin for pollutant removal is an efficient way to control nonpoint source pollutant in urban areas. This can be achieved by a diversion box and detention basin system. To numerically simulate the response of the system to a design rainfall event and the associated pollutant loadings for a given drainage area, a desk top model has been developed for"user-friendly"' application in personal computers. Hydrographs and pollutographs are generated at the inlet and outlet of the diversion box and the detention basin.These hydrographs and pollutographs are examined and the peak outflow and peak pollutant concentrations are compared with allowable outflow and pollutant concentration for urban stormwater quality and quantity management. This model is designed for both the analysis and design of the system. / M.S.

Laboratory-scale settling columns were used to determine the settling velocity distributions of suspended solids to refine a methodology selected by the FHWA in designing wet detention basins for the treatment of highway stormwater runoff. Thirteen runoff samples were collected, over two years, from high volume (greater than 100,000 vehicles per day) highways in the Northern Virginia area. The sampling sites drained only highways and associated rights-of-way. Approximately 5.5 gallons of stormwater were placed in Plexiglass columns, and samples were withdrawn from column sampling ports immediately following sample addition, and after two, six, twelve, twenty-four, and forty-eight hours. Sampling depths along the column, were at one, two, and three feet from the base of the column. Each sample was analyzed for total suspended solids, five total and dissolved heavy metals, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrate-nitrite nitrogen, total and dissolved phosphorus, and pH. Orthophosphorus, temperature, and total dissolved solids were analyzed only during the first year. The resulting analysis determined that highway runoff is similar to urban runoff in distribution and settling characteristics. Correlations between suspended solids removal and the removal of other pollutants were developed. The settling velocity distribution found in this study resulted in the revision of the FHWA design methodology for wet detention basins. / Master of Science

Tsunamis and storms are the most devastating coastal hazards that can cause great loss of life and infrastructure damage. To assess tsunami and storm hazard, the magnitude and frequency of each type of event are needed. However, major tsunamis and storms are very infrequent, especially tsunamis, and the only reliable record is the deposits they leave behind. Tsunami and storm deposits can be used to calculate the magnitudes of the respective event, and to contribute to the hazard frequency where there is no historical records. Therefore, for locations where both events could occur, it is crucial to differentiate between the two types of events. Existing studies on the similarities and differences between the two types of deposits all suffer from paucity of the number of events and field data, and a wide range of initial conditions, and thus an unequivocal set of distinguishing deposit characteristics has not been identified yet. In this study, we aim to tackle the problem with the MEso-SCAle Particle Transport model (MESCAPT) that combines the advantages of concentration-based Eulerian methods and particle-based method. The advantage of the former is efficiency and the latter is detailed sediment transport and deposit information. Instead of modeling individual particles, we assume that a group of sediment grains travel and deposit together, which is called a meso-scale particle. This allows simulation domains that are large enough for tsunami and storm wave propagation and inundation. The sediment transport model is coupled with a hydrodynamic model based on the shallow water equations. Simulation results of a case study show good agreements with field measurements of deposits left behind by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Idealized tsunami and storm case studies demonstrate the model's capabilities of reproducing morphological changes, as well as microscopic grain-size trends. / Ph. D.

Accurate knowledge of the electron density structure of the Earth's upper atmosphere is crucial to forecasting the performance of transionospheric radio signals. For this research, we focus on storm-time structuring in the mid- to high latitude ionosphere where large gradients in electron density can cause severe degradation of communication and navigation signals. We begin in Chapter 2 with a review of the primary data sets and methods used to accomplish the collaborative, multi-instrument studies described in this dissertation. In Chapter 3, we compare observational techniques for tracking polar cap patches during a moderate geomagnetic storm interval. For the first time, we monitor the transportation of patches with high spatial and temporal resolution across the polar cap for 1--2~h using a combination of GPS TEC, all-sky airglow imagers (ASIs), and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) HF radar backscatter. Simultaneous measurements from these data sets allow for continuous tracking of patch location, horizontal extent, and velocity even under adverse observational conditions for one or more of the techniques. A focus is placed on the structuring of patches, particularly on the nightside ionosphere as they become wider in the dawn-dusk direction and develop narrow finger-like structures. In Chapter 4, we perform a superposed epoch analysis to characterize the average response of GPS TEC in the North American sector during more than 100 geomagnetic storms over a 13-year interval. For the first time a rigorous approach is used to fully separate storm-time, local time, longitudinal, and seasonal effects at midlatitudes where dense ground receiver coverage is available. The rapid onset of a positive phase is observed across much of the dayside and evening ionosphere followed by a longer-lasting negative phase across all latitudes and local times. Our results show clear seasonal variations in the storm-time TEC, such that summer events tend to be dominated by the negative storm response while winter events exhibit a stronger initial positive phase with minimal negative storm effects. A prominent magnetic declination effect is identified and examined in terms of thermospheric zonal winds pushing plasma upward/downward along magnetic field lines of opposite declination. Finally in Chapter 5 we summarize several co-authored studies which examined various storm-time phenomena utilizing GPS TEC mapping tools developed for this dissertation research, with topics including subauroral polarization stream (SAPS), storm enhanced density (SED), tongue of ionization (TOI), and polar cap patches. / Ph. D.

Reliable and robust methods of extreme value based hurricane surge prediction, such as the Joint Probability Method (JPM), are critical in the coastal engineering profession. The JPM has become the preferred surge hazard assessment method in the United States; however, it has a high computational cost: one location can require hundreds of simulated storms, and more than ten thousand computational hours to complete. Optimal sampling methods that use physics based surge response functions (SRFs), can reduce the required number of simulations. This study extends the development of SRFs to bay interior locations at Panama City, Florida. Mean SRF root-mean-square (RMS) errors for open coast and bay interior locations were 0.34 m and 0.37 m, respectively; comparable to expected ADCIRC model errors (~0.3 m—0.5 m). Average uncertainty increases from open coast and bay SRFs were 10% and 12%, respectively. Long-term climate trends, such as rising sea levels, introduce nonstationarity into the simulated and historical surge datasets. A common approach to estimating total flood elevations is to take the sum of projected sea-level rise (SLR) and present day surge (static approach); however, this does not account for dynamic SLR effects on surge generation. This study demonstrates that SLR has a significant dynamic effect on surge in the Panama City area, and that total flood elevations, with respect to changes in SLR, are poorly characterized as static increases. A simple adjustment relating total flood elevation to present day conditions is proposed. Uncertainty contributions from these SLR adjustments are shown to be reasonable for surge hazard assessments. / Master of Science