Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Short-term Outcomes: W-2188 participants mentored >30 MS students, PhD students, and Post-doctoral researchers this year. Participants in AZ developed a new automated algorithm for multiphase segmentation of X-Ray CT data of porous media and with potential for real time segmentation and applicability in biomedical research. Participants in CA are studying ways of better management of soil salinity. Participants in ID continued work on characterizing preferential flow pathways in forested hill slopes. Participants in IA demonstrated that heat pulse probes can be used to measure sub-surface (3-mm depth and below) soil water evaporation from a bare field plot. Participants in KY applied a fourier-based experimental design allows to quantify solute leaching at the field scale despite existing spatial heterogeneity of the field soil. Participants in MN showed that vegetation colonization on point bars is a major cause for the deposition of suspended sediment and bedload in rivers and the stabilization of point bar features. Participants in NV showed that the solutions to the fractal Richards equation (FRE) exhibit anomalous non-Boltzmann scaling, attributed to the fractal nature of heterogeneous media. In NM, data were analyzed and results on soil physical and chemical properties were shared with the wastewater authorities for designing better wastewater irrigation schedule. Laboratory studies in ND indicate that estradiol associates with colloids derived from manures, which implies that they can be transport on and through soils. In OK key outcomes of this project were advances in scientific knowledge on methods to monitor soil water content and plant available water. This new knowledge was generated by the project team and shared with an audience of OK stakeholders and researchers through a presentation at Oklahoma Water Resources Research Symposium in Tulsa, OK. Participants in OR applied numerical modeling methods to demonstrate that textural contrasts between coarse and fine sands can extend the duration of first stage evaporation, thus quantifying the effect of soil heterogeneity on soil evaporation. Participants in TX developed a number of spatio-temporal scaling algorithms for various soil physical parameters and soil moisture state that may be applied for various agricultural, hydrologic, soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer, and contaminant fate and transport modeling and remediation strategies. In UT a key outcome has been working on a new BARD project to measure soil water fluxes using the streaming potential. Key issues there are the need to eliminate sources of noise in the signal. Experimental and theoretical investigations in WA have demonstrated that capillary forces due to the air-water interface present in soils and sediments play an important role in colloid mobilization and transport. We further found that particles containing edges experience stronger capillary forces than smooth particles and are therefore more like to be transported through soils. In WY automated monitoring of climate, snow, and soil variables continued in agricultural fields, rangeland, and forest in WY as part of several multi-investigator research projects. The data are used to inform numerical models of the soil-plant-atmosphere system to calculate water, heat, and carbon fluxes and to determine annual water and carbon balances as part of hydrological and climate studies.

Outputs: W-2188 participants reported authoring 173 peer-reviewed papers, 7 book chapters, 95 abstracts and proceedings papers, 18 technical reports, and 2 patent applications in 2012. AZ: 7 refereed journal articles, 2 conference article, 15 abstracts; CA: 64 refereed journal articles, 16 refereed reports, 4 book chapters, 13 abstracts, 1 patent application, 5 new computer model modules (HYDRUS related); ID: 2 refereed journal articles, 8 abstracts; IA: 14 refereed journal articles; KY: 1 refereed journal article; MN: 3 refereed journal articles, 5 abstracts; NM: 8 refereed journal articles, 3 abstracts; NV: 15 refereed journal articles, 4 book chapters, 13 abstracts; ND: 4 refereed journal articles, 2 conference papers; OK: 3 refereed journal articles; OR: 6 refereed journal articles; TX: 35 refereed journal articles, 8 conference papers, 8 abstracts, 3 book chapters, 3 patent applications; UT: 9 refereed journal articles, 1 conference papers, 21 abstracts; WA: 8 refereed journal articles; WY: 3 refereed journal articles, 3 abstracts.

Activities: AZ: Invested significant efforts to further improve 3D multiphase segmentation capabilities for X-Ray CT data of porous materials. To reduce potential operator bias in selection of segmentation thresholds we developed a 2-stage algorithm that applies multiphase k-means clustering to statistically seed a Markov Random Fields (MRF) image model. Besides computational efficiency and stability, the most distinct advantage of the new code is that it can handle any number of voxel classes, eliminating the need for wet dry or dual energy scans, image alignment and subtraction commonly applied in x-ray micro-CT analysis. CA: A computing system is being developed which will, for a specified geolocation, provide parameter probability distributions for soil parameters that are used in hydrologic model calculations. The system works by retrieving for the specified location USDA-NRCS soil survey data (SSURGO) and processing the data to obtain the required parameter distributions. In 2012 we have offered short (2 to 5 day) courses on how to use HYDRUS models at various locations. Over 200 students participated in these short courses. KY: Conducted a field-scale solute transport tracer experiment. Conducted a remote sensing experiment in a farmers field in Western-Kentucky with the goal to improve site-specific nitrogen fertilizer recommendations. A graduate level course in Spatial and Temporal Statistics was taught in the fall semester. Taught a lecture on The role of soils in our life to local high school (Lafayette High School) students (freshman and sophomore level), reached out to 180 students in six sessions. ID: Correlations between small-scale slope terracing and soil moisture were assessed using ground-based LiDAR and Electromagnetic Induction (EMI). The site is a north facing slope with Palouse silt loam soils continuously grazed throughout a growing season. A 1cm by 1cm resolution scan was obtained with a green laser Leica Scan Station 2. Through the use of Cyclone and Point-to Grid software the LiDAR point cloud was rendered into a high resolution digital surface model. Electromagnetic Induction scanning was used to map the electric conductivity within the site to a depth of 1m both parallel to and perpendicular to the site slope. A map of water content was then generated from these data using site-specific calibration. Correlations between LiDAR and EMI data were tested across the slope with respect to terrace morphology. Correlations between vegetation, terrace presence/absence and soil moisture were also tested. Correlations identified between surface topography and soil moisture at smaller scales (1m and 1cm) than flight-based LiDAR, can be used to improve our understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture on micro-topographic hillslope features. Correlations of soil moisture content and length/height of hillslope terraces are also anticipated to further our understanding of watershed hydrologic yield and retention capacity, thereby increasing the accuracy of commonly used watershed-scale models. Soil moisture content and storage varies spatially across a landscape, affecting yields of dry-land crops. Common methods for measuring soil moisture disturb the soil and do not adequately represent large areas with varying topography. We estimated soil-water content using electromagnetic induction (EMI) comparing a commonly used form of conservation tillage (chisel plow) and no-till as well as three phases of a crop rotation (winter wheat, spring cereal, legume) on a split-plot design. Weekly measurements of electrical conductivity obtained using EMI were converted to water contents using a calibrated relationship including variables such as soil texture, solute concentration, and temperature. Solute concentration and temperature were routinely measured within each crop to account for variance through the growing season. Current tables for determining water retention of crops for the following season do not specify the type of tillage the crop was grown under. Since winter wheat has higher water retention for the following year and a no-till system has increased water in the vadose zone, winter wheat grown under no-till is expected to have the highest water retention for the following year's crop. Spring wheat grown under conventional tillage is expected to show the least water retained for the following year's crop. IA: A bare surface field study was performed. Three-needle heat-pulse sensors successfully characterized soil water evaporation, but some limitations were apparent for evaluation of thermal gradients nearest the soil surface. This hinders measurement of evaporation beginning from wet soil surfaces. A new 11-needle heat-pulse sensor was designed to permit improved evaluation of thermal gradients within the upper 3 mm of the soil profile. Construction of the sensor was aided by collaboration with Tusheng Ren, China Agricultural University and Joshua Heitman, NCSU. This newly-designed and constructed sensor was evaluated and it out-performed 3-needle heat pulse sensors in laboratory and field experiments. One-dimensional soil microcosms were constructed for the laboratory experiments on soil water evaporation. The heat pulse method was shown to accurately measure soil water evaporation in the soil microcosms. We performed experiments in cropped fields (corn and soybean). Heat pulse probes were placed in the soil to measure soil water evaporation, sap flow stem gages were used to measure transpiration, and eddy covariance was used to measure evapotranspiration above the crop canopy. We performed numerical modeling to evaluate the robustness of the heat pulse method for estimating subsurface soil water evaporation. KY: A field-scale solute leaching experiment was conducted to improve understanding of the impact of land use, rainfall amount, intensity and application time delay on the leaching of bromide. A remote-sensing based experiment was conducted in a farmers field in Western-KY to test the improvement of N-fertilization through the use of the GreenSeeker and derived NDVI of winter wheat. An additive state-space statistical model was adapted for the analysis of agricultural experiments. Treatments can efficiently apply non-randomly but varying periodically at different scales so that underlying soil heterogeneity effects can be compensated in the analysis. MN: One project maps rates of sediment production from near-channel areas in three watersheds in MN. The watersheds include the Buffalo River, Elm Creek, and the Whitewater River. For all 3 watersheds, field investigations have been conducted collaboratively by the University of Minnesota (UofM) research team and by teams from the MN Dept of Natural Resources. Investigations have involved geomorphic assessments of stream channels. Channel cross-sections, channel materials, and vegetative cover conditions have been acquired from numerous locations along all major channels. Sites for monitoring channel erosion with erosion pins have also been set in place. The role that vegetation plays in the development and stabilization of sediment point bars in channels is being investigated by the UofM team. The aging of the woody vegetation provides a way to determine the sediment deposition rates on the point bars. The history of sediment deposition in flood plain areas is also being quantified. A method using GIS data layers along with aerial photographs to derive data for channel erosion prediction models is currently being tested with the acquired field data. The second project involves the characterization of the interactions between Minnehaha Creek, an urban stream in the Twin Cities Metro Area, and the underlying groundwater system and the surface water sources including wetlands and lakes within the Minnehaha Creek watershed. Flows in the Creek have been analyzed to evaluate baseflow and stormflow conditions. The flows are found to be quite flashy, largely due to the fact that much of the watershed is developed and stormwater from throughout the watershed is conveyed directly into the Creek. The flashy flows and high discharges during stormflow conditions have led to an over-widening of the channel, resulting in poor conditions for aquatic habitat, thereby leading to the current impaired biota designation for the Creek. Application of a conceptual hydrologic model analysis to flow data indicates that only a small fraction (less than 1%) of the watershed groundwater system is contributing flows to the Creek. Various field assessment techniques are being applied including temperature profiles in the hyporheic zone of the creek, seepage meter measurements at various locations along the creek, piezometric head measurements along transects perpendicular to the creek, and water sampling for stable isotopes to conduct end-member mixing analysis. The field data acquired to date indicates that groundwater contributes to streamflow in the upper part of the watershed, but in the lower portion the Creek appears to be losing water to the groundwater system. It is not clear at present what might be most affecting the rates of water loss from the Creek. Candidate causes are the natural setting, the pumping of water from municipal wells in the area, and the subsurface stormwater and municipal sewer piping infrastructure in the watershed. These candidate causes will be aspects that will be investigated further. NM: Comparative effects of the compensated (under water stress conditions using drip-irrigated partial root zone drying (PRD) techniques) and non-compensated (no water stress) root water uptake pattern were evaluated for chili plants (NuMex Joe Parker; Capsicum annuum). Results suggest that chili plants under these two drip-irrigated PRD treatments could compensate for water stress in one part of the vertical or lateral root zone profile by taking up water from less water stressed parts of the vertical or lateral root zone regions, without affecting transpiration or photosynthetic rates to meet peak water demand. No significant differences were noted in the root length distributions and plant heights between PRD treatments and control. Either of the two drip-irrigated PRD techniques have a great potential to be adopted as water saving practices in chili production especially for environments with limited water. The timing and amount of irrigation water is critical to the optimum production of pecans in semiarid, irrigated agriculture systems. However, there are few tools available to managers to measure or estimate water use compared to deep percolation (DP) below the root zone. The RZWQM2 model was compared to the daily water balance method at two floodirrigated mature pecan orchards, with different soil textures and depths to water table, in the lower Rio Grande Valley near Las Cruces, New Mexico. At sandy loam Site 1, 25% to 29% of the applied water percolated below the root zone. In contrast, at silty clay loam Site 2, total estimated DP was 37% and 35% of the total water applied. Different soil textures and water table depths afford managers to use the model to address water management issue to minimize DP while optimizing pecan production. Information on soil hydraulic properties, spatial variability, and relation to soil chemical properties is crucial for making management decisions for lands affected by anthropogenic activities. In situ infiltration tests were conducted at the West Mesa Land Application Facility near Las Cruces, NM, to determine the spatial variability of hydraulic properties and quantify the macroporosity using tension infiltrometry. Kriged maps of Ks showed that classes I, II, and III were concentrated at the northeast and southwest sides of the study site, where higher Na+ was detected, and classes IV and V were at the center of the study site, corresponding to lower Na+ levels. Significantly lower macroporosity was observed in the area were Ks was lower and Na+ content higher. Therefore, additional increases in Na+ could further decrease the Ks and macroporosity and may affect water uptake by the native vegetation. Change in the wastewater application pattern by applying higher amounts of wastewater in the areas where soil Na+ concentrations are lower would be beneficial for sustaining soil quality and plant community. ND: In 2012, experiments were conducted to determine how dissolve organic carbon (DOC) and colloidal organic carbon (COC) derived from soil and manure affects the fate and transport of the natural estrogen, 17ß-estradiol (E2). This compound, E2, can disrupt the endocrine systems of aquatic organisms at very low concentrations. Radiolabelled (14C)-E2 was filtered with pure water and different combinations of soil and manure derived COC/DOC solutions. These experiments were designed to see whether the 14C-E2 preferentially associated with the different organic carbon fractions (i.e. COC or DOC), and whether these organic carbon fractions affected E2 persistence and binding to soil. Additionally, models were developed to help identify and potentially predict the fate and transport of the sulfate and glucuronide conjugates of E2. Estradiol is very insoluble and in order for an animal to excrete it from their body, it must first be made soluble by attaching a sulfate or glucuronide to the E2 molecule. The attachment of the sulfate (E2-S) or glucuronide (E2-G) to the E2 molecule is called conjugation. Between 60% and 90% of all estrogens excreted from farm animals are in the forms of conjugates. Experimental observations from soil batch experiments were used to develop fate and transport models of E2-S and E2-G and their metabolites. The model was solved numerically and applied inversely to the experimental observations using a global optimization method to quantify the sorption and transformation parameters of E2-S and E2-G and their metabolites. A new laboratory analytical procedure was developed that only requires liquid chromatography and liquid scintillation to accurately quantify and qualify 14C-E2 and its metabolites in laboratory experiments. Field observations from shallow wells installed in a grid pattern were correlated to surface measurements from a quarter-section, irrigated field. Surface topography, electrical conductivity and a suite of soil nutrient and micronutrients were correlated with ground water quality measurements. Multivariate statistical and geochemical analyses were used to determine how ground water influenced surface soil properties. NV: We examined Feedback between fast cyclic biotic and slow cumulative pedogenic processes on arid alluvial fan systems results in a heterogeneous landscape of interspace and canopy microsites. We used a soil chronosequence in the Mojave Desert and high spatial resolution measurements along transects radiating from canopies of shrubs to assess the extent of biotic and abiotic processes and the heterogeneity of soil properties. Results showed higher conductivity under vegetation regardless of surface age, but it was more conspicuous on older, developed soils. Soil properties at distal locations 25 times the canopy radius had no significant spatial correlation. The extent of the biotic influence of the shrub was 1.34 times the canopy radius. Hydraulic properties were weakly correlated in space, but 75% of the variance could be attributed to sand content, soil structure grade, mean-particle diameter, and soil organic material. Non-Boltzmann Scaling of Water Flows in Unsaturated Soils: The traditional Richards equation implies that the wetting front in unsaturated soil follows Boltzmann scaling, with travel distance growing as the square root of time. This study proposes a fractal Richards equation (FRE), replacing the integer-order time derivative of water content by a fractal derivative, using a power law ruler in time. Nutrient Hot spots in Forest Soils along the Sierran Front to the Cascades: Biogeochemical hot spots are of interest due to the potential influence on nutrient transport from terrestrial to aquatic systems. Previous research has identified the presence of hot spots, however the spatial scale and frequency of occurrence remain uncertain. Direct (soil cores) and passive sampling (resin capsules and lysimeters) was used to investigate the seasonal and annual spatio-temporal distribution of nutrient hot spots along the Sierran front northward to the base of the Cascades. Our objectives were to assess their presence, chemical composition and geographic distribution in alpine forest ecosystems. Elevated nutrient concentrations (hot spots) of ortho-P, Ca2+, Mg2+, NO3-N and NH4-N were identified at least once per sampling grid per year. However, they rarely occurred at the same sampling point over two consecutive years; only four of the 256 resin capsule grid points (1.5%), one of 96 first fall precipitation capsule grid points (0.01%), and one of the 128 resin lysimeter grid points (0.78%) exhibited similar trends over both years of study. Moderate and extreme nutrient outliers in the overlying O horizon and directly underlying soil matrix were only detected in four samples of the 126 cores collected. The possibility remains that a number of these nutrient hot spots have the potential to infiltrate directly from the terrestrial to aquatic matrices impacting hydrologic systems, whereas others may remain in place and available for opportunistic biological species. Root-Induced Changes of Soil Physical Properties Using Synchrotron X-ray Microtomography (CMT) and Micromechanical Simulations: In this study, we sought to quantify rhizosphere physical properties by (1) employing CMT to visualize physical root-soil structure interactions, (2) simulating root-induced structural alterations using micro-mechanical approaches (analytical, finite element modeling), and (3) estimating changes in rhizosphere hydraulic properties based on CMT imaging and modeling. Watershed Characterization Using Geomorphic Mapping and Field-Measured Hydraulic Properties: We characterized watersheds by a physically-based approach that can be used in a rainfall-runoff model to improve surface runoff predictions using geomorphic mapping and a combination of field methods and correlation approaches. In addition, characterization of hydraulic properties at the microsite was also carried out. Effects of Fire on Soil Properties: In the western U.S., the frequency, severity, burned acreage, and duration of wildfires have increased in the past 35 years, leading to damaging floods, extensive erosion, and higher sediment yield and debris flow. Negative watershed effects are attributed to fire-induced changes in soil adsorption capacity and hydraulic properties, particularly decreased infiltration capacity. The aim of this research was to characterize fire-induced soil structural alteration processes and relate them to soil hydraulic properties. Large Weighing Lysimeters to Investigate Near-surface Interactions of Soil, Water, Biota, and Atmospheric Sciences: This meso-scale facility is devoted to investigating the near-surface interactions of soil, water, biota, and atmospheric processes that affect desert environments similar to those found in the southwestern United States such as the Mojave Desert and will bridge existing eco-scale, laboratory, and micro-scale research efforts. Three lysimeters are cylindrical (2.258 m diameter x 3 m deep), and one is square (2 m x 2 m x 3 m deep). The lysimeters were designed to investigate: 1) landscape dynamics, restoration, and water balance; 2) carbon sequestration; and 3) characteristics of soil properties at different scales. Effects of Vehicle Traffic on Soil Physical and Mechanical Properties: Although the effects of heavy vehicle traffic on soil physical and mechanical properties are well documented, surprisingly little is known about the actual processes involved. Subsequently, there is still a good amount of speculation about how to protect soil best from being irreversibly compacted. Goal of this research is to shed light on the fundamental processes that change physical and mechanical properties of agricultural as well as forest soils due to heavy vehicle traffic. Participants co-convened two meeting sessions. OK: Tested and released to the public a new plant available water-based drought monitoring system for OK. Managed and expanded the Marena OK In Situ Sensor Testbed (MOISST) in support of NASAs upcoming Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) satellite mission. Began research collaboration with NASAs AirMOSS remote sensing mission for measuring root zone soil moisture. OR: Quantifying earthatmosphere gas exchange is a challenging, yet important problem that is made more complicated by the large number of mechanisms that contribute to this process. This work investigates one mechanism controlling non-diffusive gas transport from high-permeability media that is driven by natural diurnal thermal gradients in the upper vadose zone. We quantified CO2 migration through 1-m long columns packed with two different grain sizes: sand and large soil aggregates  both dry to eliminate chemical reactions. The bottom ends of the columns were exposed to 2000 ppm CO2-enriched air and the CO2 concentration profiles along the columns was continually monitored. The columns were exposed to two different thermal gradient regimes: isothermal conditions and a range of typical nighttime thermal gradients that are known to lead to unstable density profiles. Under isothermal conditions, and regardless of grain size, diffusion was the major mechanism for surfaceatmosphere gas exchange. Under nighttime conditions, the prevailing mechanism depended upon matrix air permeability: Diffusion controlled CO2 transport in the low permeability matrix, whereas thermal convection governed transport in the high permeability matrix. Venting by thermal convection caused a CO2 flux of up to two orders of magnitude higher than the diffusive flux. Such a mechanism may be implicated in a number of environmental settings. In soil, thermally driven convection can contribute to tilled soil aeration and is likely one of the mechanisms associated with rapid CO2 exchange that is commonly noted to follow tillage. With respect to the global CO2 output, thermal convective venting is shown to be a permeability-limited mechanism with high gas exchange potential and a continuous diurnal presence. Its characteristic spatial scale could include, geologic sources via fractured rock surfaces, soil cracks, mine leach heaps, and rock-fill embankments. Hydrophobicity is a common condition to many if not most soils. Over 2400 manuscripts have been published on the causes of hydrophobicity, possible amelioration techniques for land used in agricultural production, and the environmental consequences of hydrophobicity, including preferential flow and high erosion rates following forest fires. Most of this prior work investigated soils exhibiting strong hydrophobicity. Mild hydrophobicity, however, can also cause significant problems in certain agricultural settings. It is this area of mild hydrophobicity that this project aims to understand. The project field site is based in the Columbia Basin of OR, where growers are reporting increasing problems with soil wettability with fields showing typical hydrophobic behavior such as water ponding and high soil erosion rates. Traditional ameliorations techniques have not solved the problem. Current management techniques used for crop success is near-continuous irrigation to sustain soil wetness. This practice uses extreme amounts of water and leads to deep infiltration of agrochemicals. The project goals are to determine the source of hydrophobicity, investigate possible methods for ameliorating this site, and prevent degradation of new land being put into production. We have investigated the physical mechanisms that control hydrophobic field-scale behavior and identified two elements: (1) An apparent scale dichotomy is still under investigation - Soil at the laboratory scale is only mildly hydrophobic, but at the field-scale exhibits high wetting problems; (2) Erosion of hills is generated by the mechanical accumulation of soil particles into irrigation droplets that roll downhill once coated with soil particles. Theoretical models to explain this mechanism are being developed. Two hypotheses are being tested. (1) We are investigating the potential development of capillary barriers~ 1 cm below the surface caused by capillary aggregation of the hydrophilic sand portion. These capillary barriers may be what are holding up the ponded water. (2) We are investigating the role of organic matter structure to control reversible hydrophobicity. This is based on a relatively new understanding of organic matter structure at the OM-mineral interface in the presence of water. TX: Organized sessions in American Geophysical Union 2012 Fall Meeting, Understanding Process Dynamics in the Critical Zone at Different Scales. The Agronomy Society of America Sensor-based Water Management Community, led by Evett, co-sponsored the Second International Soil Sensing Technology Conference, 3-7 January, 2012 in Manoa, HI. We continued collaboration with the Soil Moisture Assessment Project (SMAP) team in the inter-sensor comparison at the Marena OK In Situ Sensor Testbed (MOISST), which began in May 2010; and we have cooperated with Mike Cosh in the Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory (HSRL), Beltsville to plan that and other work, and with Tyson Ochsner of OK State Univ to maintain the systems. This work is tied to NASAs planned Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission that will make global estimates of the soil water present at the Earths land surface. We have an ongoing soil water sensor comparison study going on at Bushland in a parallel effort. We became part of the COSMOS network of soil water sensors that use neutron flux arising from cosmic radiation. Equipment sent to us was installed in April 2012 and verified as functioning by the COSMOS team. Evett presented Soil Water Sensors: Problems, Advances and Potential for Irrigation Scheduling on 14 March 2012 to the Ogallala Aquifer Program Workshop in Garden City, Kansas. The Sensor-based Water Management Community also organized a Symposium titled Sensor-based Water Management: Sensors and Algorithms at the 2012 Agronomy Society meetings in Cincinnati, OH. Evett facilitated a USDA-NRCS AquaSpy training workshop on 16 May 2012, and later worked with AquaSpy personnel to install their soil water sensor in an irrigated field so that data could be put online for the NRCS personnel to view and compare with neutron probe data. Evett coordinated and led a workshop of the Middle East Regional Irrigation Management Information Systems (MERIMIS, www.merimis.org) project partners in Jerusalem on 5 September 2012 and worked with MERIMIS partners with the National Centre for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE) in Jordan, with the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) in Israel and with Palestinians from the West Bank to analyze crop water use (soil water and energy balances) and irrigation research data and improve the weather station network (21 stations) with soil water sensors and 2-D sonic anemometers. Evett organized and directed a week-long training program for professionals from the Ministries of Water in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority on Water Resource and Economic Modeling in Jerusalem, September 9-13, 2012. The U.S. State Department funded the training through the USDA-ARS Office of International Research Programs. The SWAT model and the MYWAS model were introduced, as well as upcoming extensions of SWAT involving evapotranspiration modeling and linkage with MODFLOW. Evett and Schwartz participated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science  Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences joint workshop. The workshop was organized to identify science priorities and possible joint research programs to be funded in the future. Schwartz presented Optimizing the use of limited water in agricultural systems, and Evett presented Irrigation Science and Water Quality Challenges in Uzbekistan. Evett presented Irrigation Scheduling by ET and Soil Water Sensing to 50 trainees in an hour-long Irrigation Seminar at the 2012 Irrigation Show and Education Conference on 5 November 2012 in Orlando, FL. Evett presented A Waveguide-On-Access-Tube (WOAT) TDR Sensor for Deep Soil Water Content, Bulk EC & Temperature in the ASA Symposium Sensor-Based Water Management: Sensors and Algorithms on 22 October 2012 at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International meetings in Cincinnati, Ohio. Evett co-organized the ASA Symposium Sensor-Based Water Management: Sensors and Algorithms held on 22 October 2012 at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International meetings in Cincinnati, Ohio. UT: iUTAH, innovative Urban Transitions and Aridregion Hydro-sustainability, is a statewide effort dedicated to maintaining and improving water sustainability in Utah. Funded by the National Science Foundation's EPSCoR program (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) this five-year, $20 million competitive award will assist in building the human and research infrastructure needed to sustainably manage Utah's water resources. The award went into effect August 1, 2012. iUTAH will build critical observatory and modeling facilities across watersheds; create trans disciplinary research teams from many Utah institutions, government agencies, and the private sector; and enhance expertise and diversity through strategic recruitment of faculty and students. The novel and transformational activities of iUTAH include: the development of fully integrated hydrologic and social sciences observatories that encompass whole watersheds along an urbanization gradient; collaborative activities to create a community of scholars across the state to address sustainability of coupled human-natural systems; and integrated education and outreach activities such as participatory and collaborative modeling efforts to communicate and collaborate with stakeholders and policy makers. The Logan River Watershed infrastructure will contribute to monitoring the ecologic/climate/hydrologic system in the Wasatch Range Metropolitan Area (WRMA) to better understand biophysical and hydrologic processes, test models of ecosystem processes, assess dynamics and availability of future water resources, and provide baseline data as a foundation for future interdisciplinary projects. A second major project in collaboration with Markus Tuller (U of Arizona) is aimed at the development of economically feasible surface chamber techniques for measurement of greenhouse and regulated gas emissions from animal feeding operations. USU has developed a control system for the 12 chambers, which will integrate measured data from a variety of sensors into a handheld computer where the gas analyzer data is processed. This fully integrated system can be split to two 6-chamber systems where multiple gas analyzers are available. A dual chamber system has been tested, showing excellent correlation with both chambers measuring a common sample. The expanded system will be constructed and testing in early 2013. Washington: In the Hanford 300 Area, near Richland Washington, 58,000 kg uranium (U) has been released to the subsurface through waste processing ponds between 1943 and the 1980s. Today, the total U concentrations in the groundwater continue to be higher than the EPA standard of 0.13 microM. Our work focused on studying why the U concentrations in the pore waters remained that high, despite continuous flushing of the sediment by river water. We quantified U release and release rates when sediments equilibrated with river water introduced into the capillary fringe. We hypothesized that U release and release rates increase proportionally with the amount of water diluting the resident pore waters. We showed that there was an initial rapid release of 6 to 9% of the total U from the sediment when river water imbibed the sediments. Our results indicate that the release of the majority of the U (>90%) from the contaminated sediments was kinetically controlled. The diffusion-limited release of U, as well as the removal of U from the solution phase when limited water inundates contaminated sediments, may explain the sustained release of U from contaminated Hanford 300 Area sediments. We have developed a new version of Online WEPP GIS interface, in collaboration with the water erosion research team at the USDA NSERL, and carried out a case application study to evaluate the performance of the Online WEPP model. The interface allows watershed structure and topographical inputs to be automatically generated from the USGS 30-m National Elevation Data, soil inputs retrieved from the USDA NRCS SSURGO database, and land use and management inputs selected from the WEPP database based on the USGS land cover. Additionally, surface cover and soil properties of the WEPP management file and soil file may be customized to represent site-specific conditions. Daily climate inputs are generated from the long-term climate parameters using CLIGEN, an auxiliary stochastic climate generator. WY: Work continued on the monitoring of rainfall, soil moisture, and biomass production at 15 rangeland sites across WY. PhD student Tegenu Engda is using the data to study the annual variability in forage production in response to water availability (drought). Work also continued on the impact of saline-sodic coal bed methane product water on soil infiltration in WYs Powder River Basin.

Milestones: KY: The group developed a sound experimental approach for studying water and solute transport phenomena based on soil mass concentration. The next step is learning to understand the behavior of solute concentration obtained from solution samplers. Spatial and temporal behavior of CO2 flux at the land surface and its variability structure in both space and time domain have been quantified. Temporal behavior of CO2 flux is strongly temperature and soil water content driven. The next step is to identify the processes determining the spatial heterogeneity of these fluxes in arable and pasture soils. Crop-sensor-based nitrogen fertilizer application in winter wheat increases farmers profits. The next step is to incorporate a flexible zone-specific calibration of the application algorithm that considers the inherent spatial heterogeneity of field soils. MN: Acquired in-field and aerial photographic data on erosion of streambanks on three river systems in MN. These data are being used to quantify erosion rates for these rivers and to prioritize locations for channel restoration. Mapped the surface water sources and subsurface sources of streamflow for the Minnehaha Creek watershed and acquired stable isotope for analysis of proportions of streamflow contributed by the various sources of surface water and subsurface water. These data are being used to determine the flux of water through the streambed of the Creek. New Mexico: The second phase of wastewater project was completed. For the SCRI project, most of data collection for year 3 and analysis were completed. OK: Quantified the improvement in the accuracy of the Mesonet soil water content estimates resulting from improved characterization of the soil physical properties at each site and depth. Created and released a new daily plant available water map for drought monitoring in OK. TX: Developed fundamental understanding of dominant physical controls for soil moisture dynamics ranging from pore, field, catchment, watershed, to region. A hydraulically driven system for pushing an access tube into the ground while auguring from within the tube was designed built and tested. The system was designed to be easily added to an existing Giddings Company hydraulic coring machine. It will be useful for installation of the down-hole cylindrical TDR system described previously. Limited field tests of the installation and operation of the TDR waveguide on access tube (WOAT) down-hole soil water and bulk electrical conductivity sensing system were conducted. Installation in moist soil with low soil strength proceeded without problem when a trip arrangement was used to prevent lateral forces from causing the multi-segment WOAT cylinder to move laterally, causing a void to development between the cylinder and soil. Waveform and bulk EC data were collected from all segments over periods of several weeks and compared with neutron probe readings. Installation into dry soil with great soil strength caused longitudinal compression of the plastic WOAT segment bodies, resulting in installation and circuit failure. A redesign is in progress to render the WOAT segments sufficiently strong under compressive force during installation to make compression negligible. Field tests of several local soil water, temperature and bulk electrical conductivity sensors were concluded. Sensors in the test bed at Bushland included the Decagon 5TE, Stevens HydraProbe, Acclima ACC-TDT, Campbell Scientific CS616 and CS655, Delta-T SM200 and conventional TDR. WY: The University of Wyoming received a $20M EPSCoR grant for The Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics. My contribution includes snow-soil monitoring in the Medicine Bow Mountains and the modeling of soil-plant-atmosphere interactions.