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Surficial Processes and the Environment
This group studies linkages among physical, chemical, and biological (including human) processes both in time and space.Issues we address include water quality and quantity changes due to local and global influences (e.g., pollution, land-use, and climate change), environmental, human and ecosystem health problems, and ways to study environmental change. The group maintains hydrogeochemistry, hydrogeology, environmental geophysics, and computer labs.
Faculty
Adjunct and Joint Faculty
Stephen Hamilton - Adjunct - Aquatic Biogeochemistry, Ecology
M.S. Phanikumar - Joint with Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Surface Water
Randall J. Schaetzl - Joint with Dept. of Geography - Soils and Geomorgphology
Roger B. Wallace - Adjunct - Hydrogeology
Warren W. Wood - John A. Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies - Geochemistry and Hydrogeology
Catherine Yansa - Adjunct -Quaternary paleoenvironments
Selected Research Topics
Modeling and Monitoring Hydrologic Processes in Large Watersheds
We have developed a novel hydrologic process model called the Integrated Landscape Hydrology Model (ILHM), which is a framework of existing and novel codes to simulate the entire hydrologic cycle at large watershed scales. ILHM is capable of modeling all the major surface and near-surface hydrologic processes including evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, and stream discharge. In the first application of the model, the ILHM-modeled stream flows compared favorably with measured data with a minimum of parameter calibration. It was tested for a small watershed (~130 square kilometers) in Michigan, and is currently being applied to much larger domains. The primary ILHM code is written in the MATLAB computing environment with some routines coded in C and FORTRAN.
Understanding dynamic watershed processes requires high spatial and temporal resolution simulations coupled to extensive databases fo groundwater levels and stream flows. Our groundwater flow simulations are being integrated into a suite of tools to better understand the influecne of land use and climage changes on water flows, nutrient fluxes to streams, and the health of aquatic ecosystems.
Related Publications:
Hyndman, D.W., A. D. Kendall, and N. R.H. Welty, (2007)) Evaluating Temporal and Spatial Variations in Recharge and Streamflow Using the Integrated Landscape Hydrology Model (ILHM), AGU Monograph, Data Integration in Subsurface Hydrology.
Kendall, A. D., and D. W. Hyndman, (2007), Examining Watershed Processes Using Spectral Analysis of Hydrologic Time Series, AGU Monograph, Data Integration in Subsurface Hydrology.
Jayawickreme, D. H., and D. W. Hyndman (2007), Evaluating the Influence of Land Cover on Seasonal Water Budgets Using Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) Rainfall and Streamflow Data, Water Resources Research, 43, W02408, doi:10.1029/2005WR004460.y
Glacial Hydrology
Research in glacial hydrology involves the origin and pathway of subglacial discharge associated with primarily temperate glaciers in Southern Alaska. This generally involves quantifying discharge from the terminus of a glacier and separating flow components using isotopic characteristics of the discharge. Of particular concern is the origin of basal ice and debris bands that occur near the glacier terminus. Also of interest is defining flow components of meltwater discharge from the glacier and investigating the micromorphologic characteristics of glaciogenic sediments near the glacier margin.
Related Publications:
Larson G.J., Lawson D.E., Evenson E.B., Alley R.B., Knudsen O., Lachniet M.S., and Goetz S.L. 2006. Glaciohydraulic supercooling in former ice sheets? Geomorphology, 75 (1-2), 20-32.
Alley R.B., Lawson D.E., Larson G.J., Evenson E.B., and Baker G.S. 2003. Stabilizing feedbacks in glacier-bed erosion. Nature, 424(6950), 758-760.
Contaminant chronologies from inland lake sediments
Electrical resistivity imaging of soil moisture variability
We are exploring electrical resistivity as a method to monitor and quantify the effects of land use and seasonal variability on vadose zone soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge. Research focuses on development of inversion and data analysis procedures. Datasets are collected at several ecotones in mid and west Michigan.
Related Publications:
Jayawickreme, D.H., R.L. Van Dam, and D.W. Hyndman, In preparation, Time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography: a novel tool to image the influence of land use on soil moisture.
Environmental Magnetism and Petrophysics
Petrophysical research is and important tool for understanding geophyisical data. Our research focuses on characterizing spatial variability in physical properties of the shallow subsurface (soils, sedimentary sequences). We use this information to model electromagnetic wave propogation and related ground-penetrating radar response. Our second area of research deals with magnetic minerals in soils and their impact on geophysical sensors for the detection of buried objects, including land mines and unexploded ordnance.
Related Publications:
Van Dam, R.L., Harrison, J.B.J., Hirschfeld, D., Meglich, T. Li, Y., and North, R. In Press. Mineralogy and magnetic properties of basaltic substrate soils: Kaho’olawe and Big Island, Hawaii. Soil Science Society of America Journal.
Young, R.A., Staggs, J.G., Slatt, R.M. and Van Dam, R.L. 2007. Application of 1-D Convolutional Modeling to Interpretation of GPR Profiles - Turbidite Sandstone Channel 1, Lewis Shale, Wyoming. Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, 12(3), 241-254.
Van Dam, R.L., Van Den Berg, E.H., Schaap, M.G., Broekema, L.H., and Schlager, W. 2003. Radar reflections from sedimentary structures in the vadose zone. In: Ground penetrating radar in sediments (C.S. Bristow and H.M. Jol, eds.), Geological Society Special Publication 211, 257-273.
Van Dam, R.L., Schlager, W., Dekkers, M.J., and Huisman, J.A. 2002. Iron oxides as a cause of GPR reflections. Geophysics, 67(2), 536-545.
Estimating Aquifer Properties from Geophysical and Tracer Data
New methods of estimating aquifer properties are needed to improve our understanding of the factors that influence the transport and fate of groundwater contaminants, and to better design remediation systems. Geophysical methods have long been applied to characterize oil reservoirs, while their application to characterize aquifers is much more recent. Our research group is developing a novel set of approaches that combine diverse hydrologic and geophysical data sources to estimate flow and transport properties with the highest resolution possible.
Related Publications
Hyndman, D. W., and J. Tronicke, 2005, Hydrogeophysical Case Studies at the Local Scale: the Saturated Zone: Chapter 13, Hydrogeophysics, Kluwer Press.
Hyndman, D. W., S. M. Gorelick, and J. M. Harris, 2000, Inferring the relationship between seismic slowness and hydraulic conductivity in heterogeneous aquifers , Water Resources Research, 36(8), 2121-2132.
Hyndman, D. W., 1998, Geophysical and Tracer Characterization Methods: Chapter 11, Groundwater Engineering Handbook, CRC Press, 11-1 - 11-29.
Hyndman, D. W., and S. M. Gorelick, 1996, Estimating lithologic and transport properties in three dimensions using seismic and tracer data, Water Resources Research, 32(9), 2659-2670.
Hyndman, D. W., and J. M. Harris, 1996, Traveltime inversion for the geometry of aquifer lithologies, Geophysics, 61(6). Larger Image
Hyndman, D. W., J. M. Harris, and S. M. Gorelick, 1994, Coupled seismic and tracer test inversion for aquifer property characterization, Water Resources Research, 30(7), pp. 1965-1977.
