Our project focused on research and education under the topic of Sustainable Food, Energy, and Water Systems with specific emphasis on nutrient loads from agricultural food systems influencing harmful algal blooms, CyanoHABs, in streams, rivers, and lakes in the Ohio River Basin. CyanoHABs have become a world-wide threat to water quality, particularly in heavily agricultural areas where excess fertilizers are applied on the landscape or from poor livestock practices.  We focused on acquisition and deployment of the newest sensor technology together with instruments to measure real-time or near real-time water quality parameters including phosphorus, nitrogen, and algal metrics in an attempt to predict where and when harmful bluegreen algal blooms (CyanoHABs) might occur. The project was led by Murray State University in partnership with the University of Kentucky and Marshall University. The collaboration included aquatic ecologists, bioengineers, and agriculture engineers. The partnership also developed a number of collaborations with Federal agencies including the US Geological Survey and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Intellectual merit:

The SENSE program focused on monitoring and modeling nitrogen dynamics in small karst streams to a large hydropower reservoir to the Ohio River, the primary stream and river systems in Kentucky and West Virginia. We built off cyberinfrastructure improvements from previous awards and added new types of sensors where needed for near real-time measurements of agricultural runoff and the potential production of harmful algal blooms. Complementary monitoring platforms with continuous data streams were employed in watersheds and receiving water bodies for Kentucky and West Virginia. The datastreams facilitated measurements of biological, physical, and chemical data that have been integrated with watershed and internal process models. Instrumentation and sensing of the lower Ohio River and the Kentucky Lake reservoir demonstrated that toxic algal blooms would be rare in that part of the watershed. Sensors permitted us to predict when and where the primary fluxes may occur in smaller karst watersheds in Kentucky and West Virginia. Karst refers to soluble limestone geology that often results subterrain caves and streams. These watersheds included the mixed-use landcover Elkhorn Creek karst agroecosystem, the nearly completely agricultural Camden Creek karst agroecosystem, and the mostly forested Fourpole Creek watershed. The contrasting watershed characteristics allowed study of the influence of agricultural on karst agroecosystems and nitrogen dynamics in the broader region. Model results demonstrate that mature karst tends to retain agricultural nitrogen runoff while nitrogen quickly passes through the more porous immature karst. The differences relate to the amount and types of sediments released. Several additional sampling sites and tasks were established based on results from the initial research. We also provide a prediction of how climate change might influence nitrogen dynamics in these aquatic systems and thus the potential for harmful algal blooms. Monitoring and modeling involved undergraduate and graduate students in every phase of the research.

We produced 26 peer-reviewed journal publications, 147 professional presentations, submitted 36 research and education proposals for a total of $63,367,976.  Eight were funded for a total of $5,791,386. Five are pending at this time for a total of $13,621,996. Of these, 15 were submitted to NSF for $53,116,618, and 2 were funded for a total of $$5,571,811.

Broader impact:

 We demonstrated that newly developed aquatic sensor technologies can be used across a variety of aquatic systems to formulate and answer questions on serious environmental problems.  This will lead to new questions being asked and solved on other complicate issues that require collaborative teams with widely different expertise. Models of nitrogen flux have been developed that will be of use to resource managers who collaborate with federal and local agencies in regulating aquacultural nutrient runoff.

We engaged and trained diverse group of scientists and students in how to formulate collaborative science questions and how to utilize new technologies to benefit their research.  We mentored and provided support for 46 undergraduates (32 completed degrees as of spring 2021), 21 graduate students (9 completed degrees as of spring 2021), 4 PhDs., 1 postdoctoral trainee, 4 Early Career Faculty and 9 scientific staff. 13 of the trainees were from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM.  

Last Modified: 11/22/2021
Modified by: David S White