{"id":83990,"date":"2023-03-13T15:49:58","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T15:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=83990"},"modified":"2023-03-31T12:33:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T12:33:12","slug":"uri-water-experts-river-simulation-table-lets-students-and-planners-visualize-waters-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2023\/03\/uri-water-experts-river-simulation-table-lets-students-and-planners-visualize-waters-path\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 water expert\u2019s river simulation table lets students and planners visualize water\u2019s path"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 March 13, 2023 \u2013 With the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/uri-researcher-gets-up-close-lesson-in-hydrology\/\">floods on the West Coast<\/a> and the approach of the anniversary of the record-breaking March 2010 floods in Rhode Island, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor <a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/dr-soni-pradhanang-knows-the-importance-of-water-its-her-lifes-work\/\">Soni Pradhanang<\/a> shared insights into the challenges of managing water, demonstrating a 溏心vlog免费B站 resource that helps others better analyze and predict water patterns and impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From her home base at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston Campus, Pradhanang keeps an eye on all 20 rivers in Rhode Island, as well as water systems across the country. Her \u2018emulated river system,\u2019 located inside Woodward Hall, is a large structure about the size of a ping-pong table. Although using it is certainly fun, the table offers students and planners the chance to float ideas on water use back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"oembed oembed-youtu-be\" style=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/trJBAdPAU34\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"溏心vlog免费B站 River Table\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/trJBAdPAU34?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>An associate professor of water resources and quality at 溏心vlog免费B站, Pradhanang is part of the University\u2019s \u201cwater cluster\u201d on the school\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/geo\/\">Geosciences<\/a> faculty and directs the University\u2019s minor in <a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/watere2s2\/global-water-resources-minor\/\">Global Water Resources<\/a>. She is also a track chair for the<a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels-gradprograms\/specialization-wetland-watershed-and-ecosystem-science\/\"> Wetlands and Watershed Ecosystem Sciences, <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels-gradprograms\/specialization-wetland-watershed-and-ecosystem-science\/\">MESM Program<\/a>. She always has several water projects in the works on campus, working with students or planting floating displays in a nearby creekbed to get passersby thinking about the water flowing beneath their feet. Pradhanang\u2019s work also crisscrosses the state like the rivers she studies, as she consults on water management with a number of agencies, from Rhode Island\u2019s Department of Environmental Management and Department of Transportation to Providence Water and its Scituate Reservoir. She\u2019s a past recipient of the Outstanding Research of the Year Award in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (2021) and has welcomed international journalists to 溏心vlog免费B站 through its <a href=\"https:\/\/metcalfinstitute.org\/\">Metcalf Institute<\/a>. She also served on the Committee Report led by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalacademies.org\/our-work\/review-of-the-new-york-city-watershed-protection-program\">National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now Pradhanang hopes to collaborate with local K-12 schools and city planners, hoping to invite more visitors to her river demonstration table at work. This unique teaching tool can help visitors better understand and visualize the ways of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Rhode Islanders have seen water\u2019s impact in drastic events like the flooding of Pawtuxet and other rivers and streams a decade ago and the more recent flooding of Interstate 95 in Providence in September (which <a href=\"https:\/\/turnto10.com\/news\/local\/flooding-shuts-route-10-interstate-95-south-in-providence-rhode-island-high-water-september-5-2022\">made national news<\/a>), she hopes to use this teaching tool to demonstrate hydrology in a hands-on manner, so that students and planners can better visualize water\u2019s impact and pathways in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pradhanang says the demonstration table is open to the public to visit and see in use. The only table of its kind in the area, the table was built and brought here by the professor to better teach students about topics such as rainfall simulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-1024x776.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-84011\" width=\"499\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-1024x776.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-300x227.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-768x582.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-1536x1164.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-364x276.jpg 364w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-500x379.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-1000x758.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017-1280x970.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Pradhanang-McCarron-NL-017.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px\" \/><figcaption>Pradhanang and graduate student Brendan McCarron demonstrate use of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s river simulation table, open to the public by appointment. The table provides a wonderful simulation for students and the public to visualize water in their community, she says.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pradhanang and laboratory manager Brendan McCarron recently demonstrated use of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s emulated river simulation table, a 10&#215;3.5-foot-long table which is fed water via piping, simulating rainfall and natural conditions. The water makes its way through simulated communities, with artificial sand standing in for soil. Each river table simulation is modified by the user and desired scenario. Users can add elements to help create their desired landscape: farm, suburban, or urban. These scenarios mimic real-world watersheds and landscapes, dealing with water flowing from upland areas. Users can then manually control the flow rates for either normal low-flow or storm surges, as well as precipitation events. This lets observers see the impacts and changes a watershed experience in a small-scale replica. Houses and farms can be swept away, or might be left high and dry depending on the circumstances. Additionally, injecting a blue or green dye into the sand shows the fate and transport of pollutants commonly seen in those scenarios: farms have a high fertilizer runoff, urban areas often have chemical spills. A combination of all of these factors gives a hands-on approach to concepts that are difficult to observe in real-time, giving the user the flexibility to create and manipulate at will. Finally, the water used is then recycled for the next user scenario.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-703x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-84012\" width=\"295\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-703x1024.jpg 703w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-768x1119.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-1054x1536.jpg 1054w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-364x530.jpg 364w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-500x728.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-1000x1457.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061-1280x1865.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2023\/03\/Sand-NL-061.jpg 1373w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 295px) 100vw, 295px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rainfall-driven floods in California made the news at the start of this year and the anniversary of Rhode Island\u2019s historic floods of March 2010 is fast approaching \u2014 what\u2019s ahead in Rhode Island and other parts of the country, as far as flooding and similar water events?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Management of drought and wastewater is important, as we see these big whiplash effects of weather. Rain can have a cascading and domino effect. With flooding, the domino topples and the water cannot find anywhere to go, especially in cities with impervious surfaces. More green areas can help minimize the effects of climate change and the destructive impact of flooding water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the past, cities and states would just think about managing drought; now we need to think about how to manage droughts and floods together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stormwater management is also a concern, especially in urban areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You teach a course in Global Climate Change every spring, as one of the University\u2019s Grand Challenge courses. How do you discuss water\u2019s impact with your students?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our students at 溏心vlog免费B站 are dedicated and passionate about this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With our graduate students, we conduct watershed modeling to allow students to predict events like this and apply climate change scenarios to help make informed decisions and planning efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the undergraduate level, I also teach University\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/general-education\/grand-challenge\/\">Grand Challenge<\/a> courses such as Introduction to Water Resources and Global Climate Change, as students learn to tackle big problems, one piece at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students in all parts of our state and country live near rivers that have an impact on their community\u2019s wellness, safety, and health, so it\u2019s a relatable topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Water issues make the news. How important is it for students to learn how to communicate about science and events like this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I emphasize the importance of communication in my classes. If you can\u2019t communicate with planners and managers, the decision makers, to make the information accessible and understandable, your science will not be complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What do you want to tell people about the field of water management?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We want to bring more awareness to the issue. I\u2019d love to collaborate with high schools, letting students see and use our river demonstration table to see how floods interact with the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The table provides a wonderful simulation for students and the public to visualize water in their community. When you manage water, the negative impacts can be minimized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Water management is a collaborative undertaking. State entities can work together to get ahead of these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What efforts are in place to prevent these catastrophic floods?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we look at what happened in California earlier this winter, there are great scientists out there, but it\u2019s a big state with a lot of variability. Last year\u2019s drought in Rhode Island, though shorter term, had a direct effect on Rhode Island\u2019s agricultural products. Scientists anticipate more extreme weather in the future and all of these scenarios together have cascading effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All parts of the water cycle are going through some change. Based on climate change projections, we expect that New England will have more extreme weather in its future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Awareness and outreach will help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rhode Island\u2019s local economy has been affected by water issues in the past. Due to the summer\u2019s drought, fall apples were smaller and Christmas tree farms were closed in some areas. Many here remember the flooding of the Pawtuxet River in 2010, closing schools and disrupting businesses across the state. What should we be concerned about now in this part of the country?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some floods are predictable, some are not. There are always uncertainties. The floods in Providence this past Sept. 6 came as a surprise; the resulting flooding, stopping traffic on Providence\u2019s Thurbers Avenue curve, was an infrastructure issue. Events like this happen when there are not enough green spaces in the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even where I live in South County, there can be local hazards. It\u2019s important for people to report concerns they see in their own neighborhood. Watch what happens when it rains, be a weather and water watcher, and if you see rainwater flooding, let the DOT or your town know. Having local eyes on local infrastructure helps; report what you see. This can prevent larger problems when big storms come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal of our water simulation table here at 溏心vlog免费B站 is to make all of this more understandable for students and the public. We hope to share this with town administrators to help planners better visualize water in the environment. Anyone is welcome to visit and watch the table at work, to assess water issues in their own community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kids, in particular, enjoy the table \u2014 and have a real \u2018aha\u2019 moment to see it working \u2014 but anyone can use and learn from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Water has an impact on all of us personally; it\u2019s essential for life, important for recreation, or can be dangerous and need to be managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal of the water table is to help decision makers make better decisions. We want to help generate more problem-solving and creative thinking about water issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To speak to Dr. Pradhanang or schedule a visit to the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s water simulation table, please contact <\/em><a href=\"mailto:spradhanang@uri.edu\"><em>spradhanang@uri.edu<\/em><\/a><em> ).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 March 13, 2023 \u2013 With the recent floods on the West Coast and the approach of the anniversary of the record-breaking March 2010 floods in Rhode Island, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor Soni Pradhanang shared insights into the challenges of managing water, demonstrating a 溏心vlog免费B站 resource that helps others better analyze and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":83996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83990"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84956,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83990\/revisions\/84956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}