Browsing by Author "Finlay, Jacques, C."

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    Characterization of streams and rivers in the Minnesota River Basin Critical Observatory: water chemistry and biological field collections, 2013-2016
    (2017-09-06) Dolph, Christine, L.; Hansen, Amy, T.; Kemmitt, Katie, L.; Janke, Ben; Rorer, Michelle; Winikoff, Sarah; Baker, Anna; Boardman, Evelyn; Finlay, Jacques, C.; dolph008@umn.edu; Dolph, Christine, L.
    This dataset was collected to inform the Water, Sustainability and Climate Minnesota River Basin Observatory, and was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1209402 Water, Sustainability and Climate (WSC) – Category 2, Collaborative: Climate and human dynamics as amplifiers of natural change: a framework for vulnerability assessment and mitigation planning. The dataset contains point locations, watershed areas and water quality information for 231 ditch, stream, river and wetland sites located in the Le Sueur River, Chippewa River, Cottonwood River, Cannon River, Wantonwan River and Blue Earth River basins of Minnesota. Study sites ranged in size from 1st order ditches and streams to an 8th order river. Each of these sites was sampled at least once between 2013-2016 (most sites were sampled multiple times) for one or more of the following parameters: 1) water chemistry (total dissolved nitrogen, nitrate-N, nitrite-N, ammonium-N, particulate nitrogen, soluble reactive phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus, particulate phosphorus, total phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon, particulate carbon, chlorophyll a, total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, delta-H-2 and delta-O-18 stable isotopes of site water, specific UV absorbance (SUVA) of site water, fluorescence index (FI) of site water); 2) stable isotopes (delta-C-13, delta-N-15, delta-H-2) of invertebrate consumers, particulate carbon and potential food sources; 3) denitrification rates and characteristics of benthic sediment in agricultural drainage ditches; and 4) stream discharge. This dataset also includes spatial data files containing study site locations and watershed areas delineated for each site.
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    Investigation of Coarse Organic Matter and Gross Solids Loading in Minnesota Urban Stormwater
    (2024-02) Chapman, John, A; Baker, Lawrence, M.; Finlay, Jacques, C.; Wilson, Grace, L.; Pietsch, Aaron, J.; Hoffman, Kathryn
    This study collected the gross solids, or largest particles in stormwater, using several different methods then characterized the nutrient content, settling velocity, and particle sizes of the material collected. This work can be summarized in four main components: Full Storm Capture; Settling Velocity; Annual Loadings; and P8 Modeling. The Full Storm Capture investigated different methods of storm runoff collection to better understand how collection methods may bias the amounts of the gross solids collected. The most reliable method was found to be with the use of 55-gallon barrels with modified lids that can be plumbed together and attached to a watershed outflow location. The first barrel in the series was fitted with an internal filter bag to capture most solids with additional barrels to collect flow. The last barrel lid includes a discharge weir that is monitored in cases where the storm event exceeds the barrel capacity. Use of other methods, such as automated samplers, sumps, regional collection facilities, all created some bias in the solids collected. The full storm capture method results in as much as 11 times more solids mass than other techniques. Settling Velocity investigated how large organic matter with internal air voids will saturate and settle in flow. Saturation of the voids occurred in 3 to 5 days resulting in specific gravity values just over 1.0 allowing particles to settle. The settling rates were measured and new coefficients were determined to model settling using the Ferguson and Church settling equation. The Annual Loading investigated how the gross solids are generated in urban watersheds and relates the accumulation to the watershed parameter of canopy area over pavement. The amount of phosphorous in the material was also related to the organic content. The organic content of the gross solids varied seasonally but did show strong relationship with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or “greenness” of the satellite imagery. The P8 Modeling effort created new particle files for the P8 software using the accumulation rates and settling velocities determined in the prior sections. This allows a P8 model to estimate the gross solids generated in an urban watershed and model removal with control measures such as ponds, sumps, or biofiltration systems. The P8 Model does not have a mechanism to calculate biomass generation, which limits the accuracy of the prediction of gross solids from vegetation.
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    Leveraging Minnesota's Stormwater Data for Improved Modeling and Management of Water Quality in Cities
    (2024) Finlay, Jacques, C.; Janke, Ben D.; Trojan, Michael; Wilson, Bruce; Marek-Spartz, Mary
    This Minnesota Stormwater Research Council project distilled recent urban stormwater data into a curated database representing more than 14,000 storm events across 91 sites in Minnesota. The database represents the outcome of hard work and large investments in collection of stormwater data by many individuals and organizations over the past 15 years. We applied the database to generate characterization of runoff quantity and quality specific to Minnesota, and used it to reveal prominent features of stormwater quality and identify relationships between land cover, climate, and major stormwater pollutants. In this report, we present the database, major findings from our analyses, and discuss further opportunities to leverage stormwater data collection to research and management.