Franz presents Wednesday for water seminar series

Trenton Franz | Courtesy image
Trenton Franz | Courtesy image

The spring semester water and natural resources seminar series continues from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hardin Hall auditorium with a lecture by Trenton Franz.

Franz, a hydrogeophysicist with the School of Natural Resources, will present “Spatiotemporal Prediction of Soil Properties and States in Variably Saturated Landscapes.”

Abstract
Understanding greenhouse gas emissions from landscapes with variably saturated soil conditions is challenging given the highly dynamic nature of GHGs, dubbed hot spots and hot moments, in both space and time. On one hand, our ability to directly monitor these processes is limited by sparse in situ and surface observational networks. On the other hand, proximal and remote sensing approaches provide spatial data sets but are limited by indirect observations and infrequent mapping. In this work, I will present a statistical framework to merge sparse sensor network observations with reconnaissance style mapping using hydrogeophysical tools. The framework addresses a critical gap that exists in many long-term monitoring networks, specifically how to combine sparse in situ monitoring networks with proximal sensing. By combining time-lapse hydrogeophyscial observations with landscape features I was able to generate statistical models of key soil states and soil properties that potentially control GHGs. The developed framework allows for temporal gap filling of individual sensors as well provides flexible geometric interpolation making it well suited for the use in the next generation of hydrologic and biogeochemical models. Specific examples from various agricultural sites across the Midwestern United States will be highlighted.

The series
The Water Seminar series is organized and sponsored by the School of Natural Resources and the Nebraska Water Center, part of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, with support from Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The videotapes and PowerPoint presentations for most lectures are available within a week following the lectures.

For Natural Resources

More details at: https://go.unl.edu/hexd