Computational Research in Jimmy Fox’s Group

Research Activities

Sediment Transport and Organic Carbon Transformation in Karst Dominated Watersheds

Mature karst topography is well recognized within the hydrology and geology communities to include subterranean fluid pathways that act as turbulent conduits conveying fluid from surface stream sinks called swallets to sources called springs. However, we find that little knowledge has been reported with regards to the transport and fate of terrestrially-derived sediment organic carbon within karst subterranean pathways. We hypothesized that karst pathways could act as biologically active conveyors of sediment organic carbon that temporarily store sediment, turnover carbon at higher rates than would be considered otherwise, and recharge relatively depleted sediment organic carbon back to the surface stream within the fluvial system. Mixed research methods are applied within a mature karst network, and methods included high resolution measurements of water and sediment characteristics for surface streams, carbon and stable carbon isotope measurements of transported sediment, and numerical modeling of water and sediment pathways. The Supercomputer Facility will be used to assist with intense numerical hydraulic and hydrologic modeling, uncertainty, and sensitivity analysis.

Computational Methods

Temporal and spatial integration of flow and sediment data in surface and subsurface flowpaths for use in 1D transport modeling. Isotopic end-member unmixing, source discretization, and Monte Carlo Simulation. Hydraulic pipe network modeling coupled with momentum driven surface routing.

Students:

Admin Husic

Ethan L Adams

Morgan Gerlitz

Software:

Hydrology model: SWAT, SWATCUP
Sediment model: MatLab, Excel
Carbon model: MatLab, Excel
Statistics: RStudio

Collaborators:

James Fox (UK CE – advisor), Carmen Agouridis (UK BAE), James Currens (KGS), William Ford (USDA ARS), Steve Workman (UK AG), Charles Taylor (KG)

Grants:

United States Geological Survey KWRRI Funding Support
Kentucky National Science Foundation EPSCoR Funding Support

Climate change impact on the water and sediment transport in central Kentucky

Climate change has been predicted to impact the occurrence and magnitude of rainfall events when projecting into the next century. However, the ramifications of the climate changes with respect to water and sediment transport is an open topic with many research questions. In this research, we couple regional climate model results of downscaled global circulation modeling and hydrology and sediment transport modeling to predict water discharge, sediment transport loads, and streambed elevation. Focus is placed upon the Inner Bluegrass Region and specifically the South Elkhorn Creek due to the available of historical data, previous research in the basin, and proximity to the UK campus. The Supercomputer Facility will be used to assist with the data intensive numerical modeling performed at relatively large geographic domains.

Students:

Nabil Al-Aamery

Software:

Numerical Program:
Hydrology model: SWAT, SWATCUP
Climate model: TBD
Sediment model: FORTRAN, MatLab

Collaborators:

William Ford (USDA ARS), Carmen Agouridis (UK BAE)

Grants:

Kentucky Science & Engineering Foundation