Scholarly Works, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Keeping Our Heads above Water: An Exploratory Study on the Equity Opportunities of Coastal Virginia Wireless Emergency Alerts

Grinton, Wendell; Paige, Frederick (MDPI, 2022-05-08)

Economically disadvantaged coastal communities face severe damage and casualties, which can be attributed to storm surges. Excessive amounts of inundation should be considered to a similar level to wind speeds and heavy ...

The environmental footprint of data centers in the United States

Siddik, Md Abu Bakar; Shehabi, Arman; Marston, Landon T. (2021-06)

Much of the world's data are stored, managed, and distributed by data centers. Data centers require a tremendous amount of energy to operate, accounting for around 1.8% of electricity use in the United States. Large amounts ...

A Coupled Hydrologic-Economic Modeling Framework for Scenario Analysis

Amaya, Maria; Baran, Ayden; Lopez-Morales, Carlos; Little, John C. (2021-06-03)

To capture the interactions between hydrologic and economic systems necessary for modeling water quality at a sufficient level of spatial detail, we have designed a modular framework that couples an economic model with a ...

Toward a complete interdisciplinary treatment of scale: Reflexive lessons from socioenvironmental systems modeling

Iwanaga, Takuya; Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Koralewski, Tomasz E.; Grant, William E.; Jakeman, Anthony J.; Little, John C. (2021-06-11)

The pathways taken throughout any model-based process are undoubtedly influenced by the modeling team involved and the decision choices they make. For interconnected socioenvironmental systems (SES), such teams are ...

Mechanistic theory predicts the effects of temperature and humidity on inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses

Morris, Dylan H.; Yinda, Kwe Claude; Gamble, Amandine; Rossine, Fernando W.; Huang, Qishen; Bushmaker, Trenton; Fischer, Robert J.; Matson, M. Jeremiah; Van Doremalen, Neeltje; Vikesland, Peter J.; Marr, Linsey C.; Munster, Vincent J.; Lloyd-Smith, James O. (2021-07-13)

Ambient temperature and humidity strongly affect inactivation rates of enveloped viruses, but a mechanistic, quantitative theory of these effects has been elusive. We measure the stability of SARS-CoV-2 on an inert surface ...

Growing farms and groundwater depletion in the Kansas High Plains

Ao, Yufei Z.; Hendricks, Nathan P.; Marston, Landon T. (2021-08)

The average farm size has more than doubled within the United States over the last three decades, transforming the agricultural industry and rural farming communities. It is unclear, however, how this ubiquitous trend has ...

Five state factors control progressive stages of freshwater salinization syndrome

Kaushal, Sujay S.; Mayer, Paul M.; Likens, Gene E.; Reimer, Jenna E.; Maas, Carly M.; Rippy, Megan A.; Grant, Stanley B.; Hart, Ian; Utz, Ryan M.; Shatkay, Ruth R.; Wessel, Barret M.; Maietta, Christine E.; Pace, Michael L.; Duan, Shuiwang; Boger, Walter L.; Yaculak, Alexis M.; Galella, Joseph G.; Wood, Kelsey L.; Morel, Carol J.; Nguyen, William; Querubin, Shane Elizabeth C.; Sukert, Rebecca A.; Lowien, Anna; Houde, Alyssa Wellman; Roussel, Anais; Houston, Andrew J.; Cacopardo, Ari; Ho, Cristy; Talbot-Wendlandt, Haley; Widmer, Jacob M.; Slagle, Jairus; Bader, James A.; Chong, Jeng Hann; Wollney, Jenna; Kim, Jordan; Shepherd, Lauren; Wilfong, Matthew T.; Houlihan, Megan; Sedghi, Nathan; Butcher, Rebecca; Chaudhary, Sona; Becker, William D. (Wiley, 2022-03-16)

Factors driving freshwater salinization syndrome (FSS) influence the severity of impacts and chances for recovery. We hypothesize that spread of FSS across ecosystems is a function of interactions among five state factors: ...

The Effect of Cross-Linking Type on EPDM Elastomer Dynamics and Mechanical Properties: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Wang, Yajian; Liu, Huifang; Li, Pengpeng; Wang, Linbing (MDPI, 2022-03-24)

The cross-linking structure of the Ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) is made up of a number of cross-linking types, including carbon atoms from the main chain or monomer and ether crosslinks formed during degradation. ...

Investigation of the Temperature Compensation of Piezoelectric Weigh-In-Motion Sensors Using a Machine Learning Approach

Yang, Hailu; Yang, Yue; Hou, Yue; Liu, Yue; Liu, Pengfei; Wang, Linbing; Ma, Yuedong (MDPI, 2022-03-20)

Piezoelectric ceramics have good electromechanical coupling characteristics and a high sensitivity to load. One typical engineering application of piezoelectric ceramic is its use as a signal source for Weigh-In-Motion ...

Optimization of Embedded Sensor Packaging Used in Rollpave Pavement Based on Test and Simulation

Ye, Zhoujing; Cai, Yanxia; Liu, Chang; Lu, Kaiji; Ildefonzo, Dylan G.; Wang, Linbing (MDPI, 2022-03-19)

Rollpave pavement, as a rollable prefabricated asphalt pavement technology, can effectively reduce the overall road closure time required for pavement construction and maintenance. Sensors can be integrated into Rollpave ...

Correcting bias in log-linear instrument calibrations in the context of chemical ionization mass spectrometry

Bi, Chenyang; Krechmer, Jordan E.; Canagaratna, Manjula R.; Isaacman-VanWertz, Gabriel (2021-10-11)

Quantitative calibration of analytes using chemical ionization mass spectrometers (CIMSs) has been hindered by the lack of commercially available standards of atmospheric oxidation products. To accurately calibrate analytes ...

Measurement report: Variability in the composition of biogenic volatile organic compounds in a Southeastern US forest and their role in atmospheric reactivity

McGlynn, Deborah F.; Barry, Laura E. R.; Lerdau, Manuel T.; Pusede, Sally E.; Isaacman-VanWertz, Gabriel (2021-10-22)

Despite the significant contribution of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) to organic aerosol formation and ozone production and loss, there are few longterm, year-round, ongoing measurements of their volume mixing ...

An integrated exposure and pharmacokinetic modeling framework for assessing population-scale risks of phthalates and their substitutes

Wu, Yaoxing; Song, Zidong; Little, John C.; Zhong, Min; Li, Hongwan; Xu, Ying (2021-11)

To effectively incorporate in vitro-in silico-based methods into the regulation of consumer product safety, a quantitative connection between product phthalate concentrations and in vitro bioactivity data must be established ...

Quantification of isomer-resolved iodide chemical ionization mass spectrometry sensitivity and uncertainty using a voltage-scanning approach

Bi, Chenyang; Krechmer, Jordan E.; Frazier, Graham O.; Xu, Wen; Lambe, Andrew T.; Claflin, Megan S.; Lerner, Brian M.; Jayne, John T.; Worsnop, Douglas R.; Canagaratna, Manjula R.; Isaacman-VanWertz, Gabriel (2021-10-25)

Chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) using iodide as a reagent ion has been widely used to classify organic compounds in the atmosphere by their elemental formula. Unfortunately, calibration of these instruments ...

Pictures Matter: How Images of Projected Sea-Level Rise Shape Long-Term Sustainable Design Decisions for Infrastructure Systems

Milovanovic, Julie; Shealy, Tripp; Klotz, Leidy; Johnson, Eric J.; Weber, Elke U. (MDPI, 2022-03-04)

Community input matters in long-term decisions related to climate change, including the development of public infrastructure. In order to assess the effect of different ways of informing the public about infrastructure ...