Requests for Stream Sensors

From the Iowa Flood Center Spotlight

By Breanna Shea

As floods continue to impact the safety and economic stability of our communities, infrastructure, and valuable farmland, the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) requests your feedback to determine where additional stream sensors are needed to enhance the flood monitoring and prediction capabilities in your area.

With this in mind, we are collecting a list of proposed stream sensor locations from partners with localized flood experiences, knowledge of information gaps, and who are actively engaged in their area flood response. Please discuss potential locations of priority stream sensor sites for your communities with your local emergency response team and submit proposed locations by filling out the information requested via this link: https://tinyurl.com/ybqwwoex.

Please submit proposed locations by October 19.

We will attempt to leverage the list of identified priority stream sensor locations for additional funding and resources. It is our goal to help you with the installation and deployment of more stream sensors. Please note, the IFC currently does not have resources available to help with a large sensor deployment; rather, we are collecting information to demonstrate the need and show support for expansion of the statewide stream sensor network. If funding does become available, our team will assess your proposed locations to determine site suitability.

Our IFC sensors provide near real-time river level information at about 250 locations statewide, displaying data every 15 minutes on the Iowa Flood Information System(IFIS). The self-contained sensors are mounted on bridges and operate using solar power. The sensors measure river levels using a sonar signal, and data are transmitted via cell modem to the IFIS public interface.

For more information, contact Breanna Shea (breanna-shea@uiowa.edu, 319-384-1729).

Iowa Water Center Graduate Student Research Competition Now Open

09.18.2018 – Ames, Iowa – The Iowa Water Center Graduate Student Research Competition is now open for graduate students located at accredited institutions in Iowa.

Funding of up to $5,000 for one year is available for a maximum of three graduate students nearing completion of their program of study. This program allows for students to complete additional research objectives or products beyond the scope of their current water related funded project. Iowa Water Center staff is available to assist students in their submissions.

Graduate students who study any topic related to water resources management are eligible to apply for this grant. Topics include but are not limited to water quality, water quantity, and the human dimensions of water resources management in Iowa. A repository of previously funded projects can be found here.

Research proposals must follow RFP guidelines and can be submitted to the Iowa Water Center via email (send to hbates@iastate.edu). Graduate students must submit their intention to submit a proposal by November 9, 2018 by 5PM Central Time.

Proposals are due November 26, 2018 by 5PM Central Time. Late proposals will not be accepted. More information regarding this opportunity can be found at the Iowa Water Center website.

The Iowa Water Center will not host a seed grant competition for faculty in 2019.

The Iowa Water Center: The Iowa Water Center is a federally funded organization, part of the National Institutes for Water Resources. Located on the Iowa State University campus, it is one of 54 institutes located throughout the United States and U.S territories. The purpose of the Iowa Water Center is to identify water-related research needs, provide outreach and education opportunities, and disseminate information about Iowa’s water resources to the public to form better policies and everyday practices.

Media Contact: Hanna Bates, Iowa Water Center (hbates@iastate.edu)

Long-term crop rotation and tillage effects on soil greenhouse gas emissions and crop production Illinois, USA (Research Summary)

Post submitted by Tianna Griffin, the Iowa Water Center’s Special Projects Assistant

A recent article by Behnke et al. (2018) evaluates the long-term effects of crop rotation and tillage practices on yield and greenhouse gas emission for corn (C), soybeans (S), and wheat (W). The rotations were CCC, CS, CSW, SSS, SC, WCS, with each rotation representing one year. Each rotation had a tilled (T) and no-till (NT) treatment. The study was conducted using a 15-year time span at the Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center.

Behnke, et al’s research evaluated tillage practices and crop rotation on yield, greenhouse gas emission, and soil available Nitrogen (N). Behnke et al. hypothesized that crop rotations where less N fertilizer is used would result in lower greenhouse gas emissions, specifically nitrous oxide (N2O). They predicted that chisel tillage would cause an increase in N2O and CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions caused by mineralization of decomposing residues (Behnke, et al 2018). From 2012-2015, greenhouse gas emissions were taken weekly during a period of four growing seasons. The data was grouped into three sets of sampling months: March-May, June-August, and September-November. Putting the data into groups allowed for analysis of seasonality on greenhouse gas emission. Soil samples were also taken from the 2013-2015 growing year to evaluate N concentrations.

A main finding of the study was that there wasn’t a significant difference on greenhouse gas emissions between continuous corn with tillage and continuous corn with no till. They found that there was a significant benefit of chisel tillage to corn and soybean yield in increasing organic matter and residue, but there was no increase of N2O and CO2 in the soil found in the study. Because corn typically benefits from high amounts of N, they observed that corn being part of a rotation was able to lower the amount of N2O in the soil. An important part of the research was that N2O emissions were higher at times of fertilizer application. During fertilizer application is when pollution (water and air) is more likely to occur. When fertilizer is applied in excess, plants don’t take up all of it; what is not taken up by the plant is volatilized (when a chemical converts to a liquid or gas) and/or runs off the field. Yields were higher with a diverse crop rotation, such as CS or CSW. Having a diverse cropping system also provides resiliency in yield during suboptimal weather conditions.

Agricultural practices are responsible for a lot of the pollution that occurs in the United States. According to Behnke et al. (2018), greenhouse gases emissions due to agricultural practices in the Unites States makes up 9% of the emitted greenhouse gases. Of that 9%, 81% is CO2, 11% is NH4 (methane), and 6% is N2O. Long-term research like this study can help evaluate ways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions as well as determine the effects of some agricultural practices on greenhouse gas emissions as well as on improving yields. This research may lead to more long-term research on agricultural practices.

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Tianna Griffin was the Iowa Water Center’s Special Projects Assistant. She recently graduated with an undergraduate degree in agronomy with emphasis in agroecology and and a minor in horticulture with an emphasis in fruit and vegetable production.