Urban development significantly increases water temperatures within watersheds, primarily from the construction of impervious surfaces for buildings and pavement. While thermally enriched runoff can be harmful to aquatic life, available research and guidance on predicting these effects is limited. The goal of this assessment is to provide guidance on how to achieve necessary temperature regimes that meet aquatic health criteria for sensitive species such as trout. To address this need, the Minnesota Urban Heat Export Tool (MINUHET) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) models were utilized to simulate hourly streamflow, water temperature, and heat flux in an urban watershed in Blacksburg, VA for typical summer periods using continuous-based simulation. SWMM and MINUHET were combined in a unique, hybrid approach that emphasized each model's strengths, i.e., SWMM for runoff and streamflow, and MINUHET for water temperature. The watershed is 14.1 km², and is portion of Stroubles Creek located near downtown Blackburg, Virginia and the main campus of Virginia Tech. Streamflow, water temperature, and climate data were acquired from Virginia Tech StREAM Lab (Stream Research, Education, and Management) monitoring stations. SWMM and MINUHET were calibrated manually for the summers of 2016, and were validated for the summer of 2015. Model sensitivity analyses revealed that simulations were especially sensitive to imperviousness (SWMM predicted streamflow as outputs) and dew point temperature (MINUHET predicted water temperatures as outputs), both resulted in increased outputs of SWMM and MINUHET models, respectively. Model performance in simulating streamflow was evaluated using Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and correlation (R²). NSE and R² values were 0.65 and 0.7 for the SWMM Model and 0.57 and 0.55 for the MINUHET model during the validation period, indicating that SWMM performed better than MINUHET in streamflow simulation. Streamflow temperatures were simulated using MINUHET with a NSE and R² statistical values of 0.58, and 0.83, respectively, demonstrating a satisfactory simulation of water temperature. Heat loads were simulated using the MINUHET and Hybrid models, demonstrating less Percent BIAS of the Hybrid approach in simulation of watershed total heat load than MINUHET alone. Furthermore, a number of practices were implemented to reduce thermal loading within a watershed. These included infiltration practices, methods for decreasing absorption of thermal energy primarily by reducing albedo, and increased vegetation canopies. An index titled Percentage of Time Temperature Exceeded 21°C Threshold (PTTET) for trout habitat was used to represent the effectiveness of thermal mitigation practices. Installing concrete pavement (thermal diffusivity: 15×10-7 m²/s, pavement thickness: 0.20 m, and heat capacity: 4.0×106 J/m³⋅°C) and Acrylic Coated Galvalume (ACG) roofs for all pavement and roofs, respectively, in the watershed reduced heat load by 45%, and the PTTET index declined 4.5%. Installing bioretention with 61 cm of media thickness, and soil-media infiltration rate of 25 mm/hr. for 53 selected parking lots in the watershed, resulted in 11.1% reduction in watershed heat load and 1.4% reduction in PTTET. Planting forest canopies for the entire pervious area of the watershed, sufficient to shade 90% of all lands, resulted in reduction in heat load by 24% and PTTET by 4.6%. / Master of Science / Development within urbanized regions increase impervious surfaces, which further cause significant storm events in watersheds. The increased impervious surfaces result in hotter stormwater particularly during hot summers, which has diverse effects on aquatic health of downstream receiving streams. The main objective of the current study is to evaluate the thermal impact of urbanization on aquatic health habitats in Stroubles Creek Watershed, Blacksburg, Virginia. To aim this goal and achieve the thermal evaluation of the highly urbanized Stroubles Creek Watershed, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) and a Minnesota Urban Heat Export Tool (MINUHET) models from scratch of the Stroubles Creek watershed, using Town of Blacksburg and Virginia Tech Physical Facility information were developed. This necessitated combining information from a wide variety of sources, including geologic maps, geodatabases, hydraulic models, computer-aided design (CAD) files, and scanned as-built information. In addition to the models, a hybrid model was developed that combines SWMM and MINHET outputs. The temperatures and heat loads at the downstream of the watershed were predicted using SWMM, MINUHET, and Hybrid models for two summer periods of 2016 and 2015, and the predicted temperature were compared to the criteria for survival of aquatic health such as trout. Furthermore, a number of thermal mitigation strategies such as bioretentions systems, concrete pavements (which has lighter color compared to asphalt pavements), and increased vegetation canopies were simulated within the MINUHET and SWMM models configurations to reduce simulated temperatures and heat loads at the watershed scale. The simulated temperatures and heat loads represented that concrete pavements results in better performance of thermal mitigation within watersheds than bioretention systems, and increased vegetation canopies.

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Les émissions du trafic routier sont une des sources majeures de pollution dans les villes. La modélisation de la pollution de l'air et des eaux de ruissellement due aux émissions du trafic routier est essentielle pour comprendre les processus qui mènent à cette pollution et fournir les éléments d'information nécessaires au développement de politiques publiques efficaces pour la réduction des niveaux de pollution. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'évaluer la faisabilité et la pertinence de chaînes de modèles pour simuler l'impact du trafic routier sur la pollution de l'air et des eaux de ruissellement. La première partie a consisté à réaliser un état de l'art des outils de modélisation des différents phénomènes (trafic, émissions, pollution atmosphérique, qualité des eaux de ruissellement), mettant en exergue les enjeux liés à l'intégration des différents modèles pour constituer une chaîne cohérente en termes de polluants et d'échelles spatio-temporelles. Deux exemples de chaînes de modélisation ont été proposés, l'une statique avec des pas de temps horaires, la seconde envisageant une approche dynamique du trafic et des pollutions associées. Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, des outils automatisés d'interfaçage ont été développés pour construire des chaînes de modèles. Ces chaînes de modèles ont ensuite été testées avec différents cas d'étude : (1) Couplage trafic / émissions avec une simulation d'une voie urbaine utilisant un modèle dynamique de trafic en lien avec des modèles d'émissions instantané et moyenné, (2) couplage émissions / pollution atmosphérique en bordure d'une autoroute, (3) couplages trafic / émissions / pollution atmosphérique en bordure d'une autoroute urbaine, (4) couplage émissions / pollution atmosphérique pour un quartier suburbain, (5) couplage dépôts atmosphériques / qualité des eaux de ruissellement pour un bassin versant suburbain, et finalement (6) une chaîne de modélisation complète avec couplages trafic / émissions /qualité de l'air et des eaux de ruissellement pour un bassin versant suburbain. Ces travaux ont permis à travers ces différents cas d'étude d'identifier les enjeux associés à l'intégration de modèles pour le calcul de la pollution de l'air et des eaux de ruissellement due au trafic routier en zone urbaine. Par ailleurs, ils fournissent une base solide pour le développement futur de modèles numériques intégrés de la pollution urbaine / Road traffic emissions are a major source of pollution in cities. Modeling of air and stormwater pollution due to on-road vehicles is essential to understand the processes that lead to the pollution and to provide the necessary information for the development of effective public policies to reduce pollution. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the feasibility and relevance of modeling chains to simulate the impact of road traffic on air and stormwater pollution. The first part of the thesis consisted in assessing the state of the art of modeling tools available for the different relevant phenomena (traffic, emissions, atmospheric dispersion, and stormwater quality), highlighting challenges associated with the integration of the different models to create a consistent modeling chain in terms of pollutants and spatio-temporal scales. Two examples of modeling chains have been proposed, one static with hourly time-steps, the other based on a dynamic approach for traffic and its associated pollution. In the second part of the thesis, different interface tools have been developed to link models and construct modeling chains. These modeling chains were tested with different case studies: (1) coupling traffic and emissions for the simulation of an urban street using a dynamic model of traffic with instantaneous and time-averaged emission models, (2) coupling on-road emissions and atmospheric dispersion/deposition near a freeway, (3) coupling traffic, emissions and atmospheric dispersion/chemistry near a freeway, (4) coupling emissions and atmospheric dispersion/deposition in a suburban neighborhood (5) coupling atmospheric deposition and stormwater quality for an urban catchment, and finally (6) a complete modeling chain with traffic / emissions / air and stormwater quality models for urban catchment drainage. This work allows one to identify different possibilities of model integration to calculate air and stormwater pollution due to road traffic in urban areas. Moreover, it provides a solid basis for the future development of integrated numerical models of urban pollution

M. Tech. (Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / Over time, the quality standard of stormwater in the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) has deteriorated due to industrial, commercial, residential and farming activities. Stormwater quality directly impacts the treatment chain of potable water, and therefore, it should be kept in check at all stages. Innovations in the biofiltration process can provide useful, practical solutions to overcome crucial stormwater pollution problems. In 2013, the CoE developed stormwater design guidelines and standards to be implemented for the design of stormwater management, which include the principles of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) in particular. The CoE stormwater design guidelines and standards do not provide details on how the city plans to implement SuDS treatment trains to reduce stormwater pollution experienced by the city. This study aimed to verify the efficiency and effectiveness of vegetated biofilters on the stormwater treatment using CoE – Olifantsfontain's natural stormwater and to determine the most suitable vegetation to be used in the region. The CoE experimental case study was conducted to assess the efficiency of selected vegetated biofilters in lowering the concentration of orthophosphate (PO4-3), ammonium (NH4+), and nitrate (NO3-) from Tembisa/Olifantsfontain stormwater. In the experimental setup, six selected plant species were planted into 30 vegetated biofilter columns, namely: Agapanthus praecox (Dryland plant), Carpobrotus edulis (Dryland plant), Stenotaphrum secundatum (Dryland plant), Zantedeschia aethiopica (Wetland plant), Typha capensis (Wetland plant) and Phragmites australis (Wetland plant). The six species were grouped according to general habitats, i.e. three wetland and three dryland plants. Wetland plants were planted into fifteen vegetated biofilters, and dryland plants were also planted on another fifteen vegetated biofilters. The biofilters contained layers of sandy loam soil, coarse and and gravel sand. Each biofilter had a designated inlet and outlet section fitted with a gate valve to control retention time. The raw stormwater consisting of natural nutrient pollutants was applied to each vegetated biofilter through the inlet section. The samples were collected from the inlet and outlet of the six grouped vegetated biofilters during the month of June. All six plant species reduced outflow concentrations of PO4-3 and NH4+ by an average of 99% and 98%, respectively. The results also show that all plant species excluding Phragmites australis were able to reduce NO3- with outflow concentrations being reduced by an average of 58%. From the results obtained, it may be concluded that all the six plant species may be suitable variants to be applied as biofilter material for the purposes of treating urban stormwater in the CoE. The reason is that the determined removal efficiencies for bio-retention fall within 50% – 60% for PO4-3, and 40% - 50% for NH4+ and NO3- respectively. The results also show that if the plant species were applied for SuDs in the CoE, there could be a great improvement in the urban stormwater quality with the consequent improvement in both surface and groundwater quality of the receiving water bodies in the area. Regardless of the nutrient removal by selected plant species, the inclusion of vegetation in a field setting would slow flow rates and thus encourage infiltration into the soil, improve water quality, and support urban biodiversity. In the CoE, all the selected species could be used in the SuDS treatment trains targeting PO4-3, NH4+ and/or NO3-. The case study results provide a informed records for the CoE in the future/intended application SuDs in the upgrade/rehabilitation of its stormwater system.

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Thesis (M. En.)--Miami University, Institute of Environmental Sciences, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], v, 101 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).