This research project evaluated the overall hydroperiod and effects of monitoring well design parameters on observed levels of saturation in created wetlands with high-clay subsoils at the Cedar Run 3 mitigation bank site in Prince William County, Virginia. Three complete replications of an electronic central array and an associated surrounding array of manually monitored wells and piezometers were installed. The electronic arrays contained a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) standard monitoring well, as well as piezometers and tensiometers at three depths. The manually monitored well + piezometer arrays (3 per location; 9 total) consisted of 12 variants of screen types and filter pack materials, well diameter, and unlined bore holes. The site exhibited a complex seasonal hydroperiod ranging from ponded winter conditions to deep (< -50 cm) summer dry down. The site also exhibited epiaquic (perched) conditions following summer and fall precipitation events. Apparent water levels in deep (> 1 m) piezometers exhibited an unusual hydroperiod with highest levels in summer. Differences in well/piezometer diameter, design, and packing texture/fit produced surprisingly different apparent water levels that varied from ~ 4 to over 28 cm during both the winter ponded periods and summer subsoil water table flux periods. Thus, one important finding is that relatively simple differences in well designs can have dramatic effects on observed water levels. Overall, the standard USACOE appeared to be relatively accurate for predicting saturation levels during ponded periods, but nested piezometers are preferred and more accurate for the drier summer and fall. / Master of Science

Submitted by BRUNO TAMBELLINI SCALVI null (btscalvi@gmail.com) on 2016-05-04T17:17:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Bruno Scalvicompleta.pdf: 4491142 bytes, checksum: 1ea0adf519153a342f43e57534c00817 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-05-06T18:56:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 scalvi_b_me_rcla.pdf: 4491142 bytes, checksum: 1ea0adf519153a342f43e57534c00817 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-06T18:56:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 scalvi_b_me_rcla.pdf: 4491142 bytes, checksum: 1ea0adf519153a342f43e57534c00817 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-15 / Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa (PROPe UNESP) / O Sistema Aquífero Guarani (SAG) constitui uma das maiores unidades hidroestratigráficas do continente sul-americano e está entre os aquíferos mais explorados no estado de São Paulo. No município de Araraquara cumpre um importante papel no abastecimento de água, sendo responsável por mais de 65% de toda água distribuída à população. Nesse contexto o presente trabalho teve como objetivo a caracterização do arcabouço hidroestratigráfico do SAG na cidade de Araraquara, bem como a avaliação do rebaixamento dos níveis d’água no aquífero, decorrente da extração atual, por meio do monitoramento automatizado e contínuo dos níveis d’água em poço tubular abandonado situado na região central da cidade. Na área de estudo foram reconhecidas três formações geológicas: Formação Pirambóia; Formação Botucatu e a Formação Serra Geral. Foram caracterizadas quatro hidrofácies: A, B e C, que representam a Formação Piramboia e D constituída pela Formação Botucatu. As unidades estão separadas por descontinuidades geológicas, reconhecidas nos perfis, e foram diferenciadas em função do conteúdo argiloso presente nos arenitos, que condicionam as propriedades hidráulicas do reservatório. Ao longo de 435 dias de monitoramento contínuo, foi observado um rebaixamento total de 4,5 m no poço monitorado, decorrentes do bombeamento realizado na cidade. A contribuição de cada um dos poços, para o rebaixamento total, foi estimada utilizando-se a equação de Cooper-Jacob. Utilizando as vazões médias históricas para cada poço de bombeamento o rebaixamento calculado foi de 4,2 metros. Observou-se que poços mais próximos ao poço de observação, em um raio de 3000 metros, apresentaram contribuições significativas no rebaixamento observado. Com esses dados é possível avaliar e, com base em projeções de demanda futura do recurso hídrico e de crescimento populacional projetado, indicar locais para a perfuração de novos poços e seu impacto nos níveis d’água. / The Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) is one of the biggest hydrostatigraphic units of the sul-american continent and it is highly explored in the São Paulo State - Brazil. In the city of Araraquara the unit plays a very important role in water supply and it is responsible for over than 65% of all water distributed to the population. This current study aimed to characterize the hydrostatigraphic framework of GAS in the city of Araraquara, also to evaluate the lowering of water levels in the aquifer through the automated and continuous monitoring in an abandoned well located in the central region of the city. In the study area were recognized three geological formations : Pirambóia Formation, Botucatu Formation and Serra Geral Formation. Four Hydrofacies were characterized : A, B and C , representing the Piramboia Formation and D the Botucatu Formation. The units have been separated by the clay content in the sandstone and by the presence of discontinuities in the rock package, which determine hydraulic properties of the reservoir using geophysical wireline curves and tray sampling reports. Over 435 days, was observed a total drawdown of 4.5 m on the monitored well, resulting from the pumping to supply the city. The contribution of each well in the total observed drawdown was estimated using the Cooper-Jacob equation. When used the historical average flow rates for each pumping well, the calculated drawdown was 4.2 meters. It was observed that the wells at a distance of maximum 3000 meters had significant contributions in the observed drawdown. With this data is possible to evaluate future projections of water demand, based on the projected population growth, and to indicate potencial locals for drilling new wells and their impact on water levels. / PROPe: 006/2013

This thesis aims to increase photovoltaic (PV) panel power efficiency by employing a cooling system based on water circulation, which represents an improved version of water flow based active cooling systems. Theoretical calculations involved finding the heat produced by the PV panel and the circulation water flow required to remove this heat. A data logger and a cooling system for a test panel of 20W was designed and employed to study the relationship between the PV panel surface temperature and its output power. This logging and cooling system includes an Arduino microcontroller extended with a data logging shield, temperature sensing probes, current sensors, and a DC water pump. Real-time measurements were logged every minute for one or two day periods under various irradiance and air temperature conditions. For these experiments, a load resistance was chosen to operate the test panel at its maximum power point. Results indicate that the cooling system can yield an improvement of 10% in power production. Based on the observations from the test panel experiments, a cooling system was devised for a PV panel array of 640 W equipped with a commercial charge controller. The test data logger was repurposed for this larger system. An identical PV array was left uncooled and monitored simultaneously to compare the effect of cooling, demonstrating that the cooled array provided up to an extra 132W or 20% of maximum power for sunny weather conditions. Future expansion possibilities of the project include automated water level monitoring system and water filtration systems.