Thomas Missimer - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Thomas Missimer

Research paper thumbnail of Enhancing spatial prediction of sinkhole susceptibility by mixed waters geochemistry evaluation: application of ROC and GIS

Environmental Earth Sciences, 2021

Many buried karst areas in Iran, and in other parts of the world have not yet been mapped using d... more Many buried karst areas in Iran, and in other parts of the world have not yet been mapped using detailed geological or geophysical studies to delineate susceptibility to sinkhole development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of using the results of hydrogeochemical analysis with routine measurements of physicochemical parameters to evaluate and detect areas prone to sinkhole develop. Sixteen spatial maps were prepared using analyzed data from 77 water samples from monitoring water wells in the Kabudar Ahang, Razan, and Qahavand (KRQ) sub-catchments of the Hamadan province, western Iran. By use of geographic information system tools 16 thematic maps for physicochemical parameters (EC, pH., TDS, and groundwater temperature), major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+), anions (HCO−3, SO42−, NO3−, and Cl−), and calcite, dolomite, gypsum, and partial pressure of CO2 saturation indices (SIC, SID, SIG, and SIpCO2) were prepared. It was hypothesized that the anomalies of each parameter concentration could be consistent with sinkhole prone areas. To evaluate this assumption, the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was calculated by 100 points as a true sinkhole pixel (50 positive true) and non-sinkhole point (50 true negative). The areas under curve of ROC for these thematic maps were calculated for the 16 variables. Results show that the dolomite and calcite saturation indices (0.49 and 0.43, respectively) are poor indicators, whereas HCO−3 and pCO2 saturation indexes (0.83 and 0.78, respectively) are good indicators of sinkhole susceptibility in the study area. The result confirmed application of hydrogeochemical anomaly analyses and the ROC validation method in covered karst can be a useful tool for prediction of sinkhole prone zones forming in region, where sparse data are available.

Research paper thumbnail of Index-based Groundwater Sustainability Assessment in the Socio-Economic Context: a Case Study in the Western Iran

Environmental Management, 2021

The groundwater sustainability of an alluvial aquifer in the western Iran was examined by using e... more The groundwater sustainability of an alluvial aquifer in the western Iran was examined by using eight different social, economic, and environmental indicators. Differing types of indicators were used including groundwater extraction, groundwater quality, and groundwater vulnerability from the environmental indicators proposed by UNESCO 2007 and the legal framework, institutional capacity, public participation, knowledge generation, and promotion and water productivity from five researcher-developed indicators. A questionnaire and an AHP analysis were used to assess groundwater sustainability in the Mahidasht aquifer. Using AHP method, the indicators were formulated as spatial thematic maps resulting in calculation of the groundwater sustainability index (GSI). Then, the final GSI was divided into four categories, including sustainable, near sustainable, unsustainable, and highly or critically unsustainable. The AHP results showed that most parts of the study area are contained within the unsustainable category. The questionnaire method also showed that the study area with the score of 1.47 belongs within the unsustainable category. The validation of AHP results indicated 97% of the area had more than 1-m of drawdown in the groundwater level and 62% of it had more than 10-m of decline in the water level. The results showed that different socio-economic and environmental indicators can provide a helpful overview of groundwater sustainability conditions for future planning and decision-making in water management. Few studies of water management using socio-economic indicators have been conducted in Iran, Therefore this study provides a novel method of groundwater sustainability assessment by using the concepts of sustainable development, and integrated spatial indicators. Assess groundwater sustainability by use of reliable indicators to help water managers make better decisions. Use of three indicators from UNESCO and five researcher-developed indicators. Use of a proposed index-based approach in the socio-economic conditions. Obtain more realistic results from groundwater sustainability assessment by using questionnaires and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methods. Assess groundwater sustainability by use of reliable indicators to help water managers make better decisions. Use of three indicators from UNESCO and five researcher-developed indicators. Use of a proposed index-based approach in the socio-economic conditions. Obtain more realistic results from groundwater sustainability assessment by using questionnaires and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methods.

Research paper thumbnail of Organic carbon movement through two SWRO facilities from source water to pretreatment to product with relevance to membrane biofouling

Research paper thumbnail of Subsurface intake systems: Green choice for improving feed water quality at SWRO desalination plants, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Water research, 2016

An investigation of three seawater reverse osmosis facilities located along the shoreline of the ... more An investigation of three seawater reverse osmosis facilities located along the shoreline of the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia that use well intake systems showed that the pumping-induced flow of raw seawater through a coastal aquifer significantly improves feed water quality. A comparison between the surface seawater and the discharge from the wells shows that turbidity, algae, bacteria, total organic carbon, most fractions of natural organic matter (NOM), and particulate and colloidal transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) have significant reductions in concentration. Nearly all of the algae, up to 99% of the bacteria, between 84 and 100% of the biopolymer fraction of NOM, and a high percentage of the TEP were removed during transport. The data suggest that the flowpath length and hydraulic retention time in the aquifer play the most important roles in removal of the organic matter. Since the collective concentrations of bacteria, biopolymers, and TEP in the intake seawater play importa...

Research paper thumbnail of Impacts of Feedwater Quality Change on the Oldest Continuously Operated Brackish-Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant in the United States

Research paper thumbnail of How feedwater characterization changes effect brackish-water reverse osmosis plant operation: the town of Jupiter, Florida

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Stormwater Pond Evolution and Challenges in Measuring the Hydraulic Conductivity of Pond Sediments

Water

Stormwater ponds are intended to be used for mitigating floods, improving water quality, and rech... more Stormwater ponds are intended to be used for mitigating floods, improving water quality, and recharging groundwater. The sediment-water interface (SWI) of stormwater ponds exhibits properties that influence surface water–groundwater exchanges similar to naturally occurring surface water bodies. However, these ponds are rarely monitored over time to account for their functionality. As organic and inorganic sediments accumulate on the pond bed, the ability of the SWI to conduct water is influenced by sediment deposition, accumulation, and compaction, as well as organic matter content and other biological processes. Two augmented methods, a sediment core permeability cell and an in situ aluminum tube and manometer, were evaluated for measuring the hydraulic conductivity of the SWI. The grain size, hydraulic conductivity, and percentage of organic matter were compared between two ponds constructed 22 years apart. Both methods were effective at measuring the hydraulic conductivities, esp...

Research paper thumbnail of Impacts of Source Water and Marine Microbiology on Biofouling of Seawater Reverse Osmosis Membranes During Seawater Desalination

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs

Research paper thumbnail of Long-term pumping-induced groundwater quality changes at a brackish-water desalination facility, Sanibel Island, Florida

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Changes in Pumping-Induced Groundwater Quality Used to Supply a Large-Capacity Brackish-Water Desalination Facility, Collier County, Florida: A New Aquifer Conceptual Model

Water, 2021

Brackish-water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination facilities are designed to treat feedwater wit... more Brackish-water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination facilities are designed to treat feedwater within a fixed range in salinity. If the salinity and ion concentrations of the feedwater rises above the maximum design concentrations, then the plant may ultimately fail. BWRO plants typically use groundwater as a feedwater source. Prior to the process design, a detailed groundwater assessment is made to characterize the source aquifer system and to develop a solute-transport model that is used to project the changes in water quality over the expected useful life of the facility. Solute transport-modeling performed for the Collier County (Florida) South BWRO facility, which was designed to produce 30,303 m3/d with an expansion to 75,758 m3/d, used an aquifer system conceptual model that assumed upwards migration over time of brackish waters with higher salinities into the production zones. This conceptual model is typical of how most BWRO systems developed in the United States operate. Th...

Research paper thumbnail of Groundwater quality change impacts on a brackish-water reverse osmosis water treatment plant design: the City of Clearwater, Florida

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding transparent exopolymer particle occurrence and interaction with algae, bacteria, and the fractions of natural organic matter in the Red Sea: implications for seawater desalination

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Authors response to Reviewer #2 Comments

Research paper thumbnail of A Clustered, Decentralized Approach to Urban Water Management

Research paper thumbnail of Immature beach/dune sands along a passive continental margin: Composition, grain size and hydraulic properties of coastal sands, Parque del Plata and Las Vegas, Uruguay

The Depositional Record, 2019

The modal composition of sandstones has long been used as a tool for palaeotectonic and palaeoenv... more The modal composition of sandstones has long been used as a tool for palaeotectonic and palaeoenvironmental analyses. Herein it is demonstrated that caution must be used when beach sand composition is utilized to assess tectonic provenances at both the local and continental scales. The occurrence of quartz arenites and compositionally mature sands along the coast of Brazil corresponds well to their passive margin location. However, modern sands from some beach locations in coastal Uruguay are less compositionally mature compared to the quartz arenites found in coastal Brazil. Along the beaches of Las Vegas and Parque del Plata, the composition of the beach and dune sands is impacted by the transport of continental outwash sediments derived from the Palaeozoic and Precambrian rocks in the interior to the beach by a low‐gradient stream, Arroyo Solis Chico, and the erosion of Pleistocene‐age formations that crop out on the beach and along an erosional scrap. The mean beach composition ...

Research paper thumbnail of Transparent exopolymer particle binding of organic and inorganic particles in the Red Sea: Implications for downward transport of biogenic materials

Biogeosciences Discussions, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Water Resources Assessment and Management in Drylands

Research paper thumbnail of Managed Aquifer Recharge and Natural Water Treatment Processes in Wastewater Reuse

Environmental Science and Engineering, 2012

ABSTRACT Both the vadose and phreatic zones are active chemical, physical, and biological environ... more ABSTRACT Both the vadose and phreatic zones are active chemical, physical, and biological environments. The concentrations of pathogens and chemical contaminants tend to be reduced as water infiltrates into the soil, percolates to the water table, and flows through aquifers. The contaminant attenuation processes include filtration, sorption, precipitation, sedimentation, and various biological and chemical degradation processes. Water flowing through the soil (vadose zone) and within aquifers in some instances may experience deterioration in water quality. Trace metals and arsenic have leached into water stored in some managed aquifer recharge systems.

Research paper thumbnail of Coastal Water Management Issues

Environmental Science and Engineering, 2012

ABSTRACT Coastal areas in arid and semiarid lands face additional groundwater management challeng... more ABSTRACT Coastal areas in arid and semiarid lands face additional groundwater management challenges from salinization compared to more inland areas. Saline–water intrusion, in particular, is a major threat to coastal aquifers. Saline–water intrusion occurs in areas where the rate of groundwater extraction significantly exceeds the rate recharge. Over extraction disturbs that natural water balance and induces migration of saline-water into parts of aquifers that naturally contain fresh groundwater

Research paper thumbnail of Religious and Cultural Influences on Water Management

Environmental Science and Engineering, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Enhancing spatial prediction of sinkhole susceptibility by mixed waters geochemistry evaluation: application of ROC and GIS

Environmental Earth Sciences, 2021

Many buried karst areas in Iran, and in other parts of the world have not yet been mapped using d... more Many buried karst areas in Iran, and in other parts of the world have not yet been mapped using detailed geological or geophysical studies to delineate susceptibility to sinkhole development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of using the results of hydrogeochemical analysis with routine measurements of physicochemical parameters to evaluate and detect areas prone to sinkhole develop. Sixteen spatial maps were prepared using analyzed data from 77 water samples from monitoring water wells in the Kabudar Ahang, Razan, and Qahavand (KRQ) sub-catchments of the Hamadan province, western Iran. By use of geographic information system tools 16 thematic maps for physicochemical parameters (EC, pH., TDS, and groundwater temperature), major cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+), anions (HCO−3, SO42−, NO3−, and Cl−), and calcite, dolomite, gypsum, and partial pressure of CO2 saturation indices (SIC, SID, SIG, and SIpCO2) were prepared. It was hypothesized that the anomalies of each parameter concentration could be consistent with sinkhole prone areas. To evaluate this assumption, the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was calculated by 100 points as a true sinkhole pixel (50 positive true) and non-sinkhole point (50 true negative). The areas under curve of ROC for these thematic maps were calculated for the 16 variables. Results show that the dolomite and calcite saturation indices (0.49 and 0.43, respectively) are poor indicators, whereas HCO−3 and pCO2 saturation indexes (0.83 and 0.78, respectively) are good indicators of sinkhole susceptibility in the study area. The result confirmed application of hydrogeochemical anomaly analyses and the ROC validation method in covered karst can be a useful tool for prediction of sinkhole prone zones forming in region, where sparse data are available.

Research paper thumbnail of Index-based Groundwater Sustainability Assessment in the Socio-Economic Context: a Case Study in the Western Iran

Environmental Management, 2021

The groundwater sustainability of an alluvial aquifer in the western Iran was examined by using e... more The groundwater sustainability of an alluvial aquifer in the western Iran was examined by using eight different social, economic, and environmental indicators. Differing types of indicators were used including groundwater extraction, groundwater quality, and groundwater vulnerability from the environmental indicators proposed by UNESCO 2007 and the legal framework, institutional capacity, public participation, knowledge generation, and promotion and water productivity from five researcher-developed indicators. A questionnaire and an AHP analysis were used to assess groundwater sustainability in the Mahidasht aquifer. Using AHP method, the indicators were formulated as spatial thematic maps resulting in calculation of the groundwater sustainability index (GSI). Then, the final GSI was divided into four categories, including sustainable, near sustainable, unsustainable, and highly or critically unsustainable. The AHP results showed that most parts of the study area are contained within the unsustainable category. The questionnaire method also showed that the study area with the score of 1.47 belongs within the unsustainable category. The validation of AHP results indicated 97% of the area had more than 1-m of drawdown in the groundwater level and 62% of it had more than 10-m of decline in the water level. The results showed that different socio-economic and environmental indicators can provide a helpful overview of groundwater sustainability conditions for future planning and decision-making in water management. Few studies of water management using socio-economic indicators have been conducted in Iran, Therefore this study provides a novel method of groundwater sustainability assessment by using the concepts of sustainable development, and integrated spatial indicators. Assess groundwater sustainability by use of reliable indicators to help water managers make better decisions. Use of three indicators from UNESCO and five researcher-developed indicators. Use of a proposed index-based approach in the socio-economic conditions. Obtain more realistic results from groundwater sustainability assessment by using questionnaires and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methods. Assess groundwater sustainability by use of reliable indicators to help water managers make better decisions. Use of three indicators from UNESCO and five researcher-developed indicators. Use of a proposed index-based approach in the socio-economic conditions. Obtain more realistic results from groundwater sustainability assessment by using questionnaires and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methods.

Research paper thumbnail of Organic carbon movement through two SWRO facilities from source water to pretreatment to product with relevance to membrane biofouling

Research paper thumbnail of Subsurface intake systems: Green choice for improving feed water quality at SWRO desalination plants, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Water research, 2016

An investigation of three seawater reverse osmosis facilities located along the shoreline of the ... more An investigation of three seawater reverse osmosis facilities located along the shoreline of the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia that use well intake systems showed that the pumping-induced flow of raw seawater through a coastal aquifer significantly improves feed water quality. A comparison between the surface seawater and the discharge from the wells shows that turbidity, algae, bacteria, total organic carbon, most fractions of natural organic matter (NOM), and particulate and colloidal transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) have significant reductions in concentration. Nearly all of the algae, up to 99% of the bacteria, between 84 and 100% of the biopolymer fraction of NOM, and a high percentage of the TEP were removed during transport. The data suggest that the flowpath length and hydraulic retention time in the aquifer play the most important roles in removal of the organic matter. Since the collective concentrations of bacteria, biopolymers, and TEP in the intake seawater play importa...

Research paper thumbnail of Impacts of Feedwater Quality Change on the Oldest Continuously Operated Brackish-Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant in the United States

Research paper thumbnail of How feedwater characterization changes effect brackish-water reverse osmosis plant operation: the town of Jupiter, Florida

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Stormwater Pond Evolution and Challenges in Measuring the Hydraulic Conductivity of Pond Sediments

Water

Stormwater ponds are intended to be used for mitigating floods, improving water quality, and rech... more Stormwater ponds are intended to be used for mitigating floods, improving water quality, and recharging groundwater. The sediment-water interface (SWI) of stormwater ponds exhibits properties that influence surface water–groundwater exchanges similar to naturally occurring surface water bodies. However, these ponds are rarely monitored over time to account for their functionality. As organic and inorganic sediments accumulate on the pond bed, the ability of the SWI to conduct water is influenced by sediment deposition, accumulation, and compaction, as well as organic matter content and other biological processes. Two augmented methods, a sediment core permeability cell and an in situ aluminum tube and manometer, were evaluated for measuring the hydraulic conductivity of the SWI. The grain size, hydraulic conductivity, and percentage of organic matter were compared between two ponds constructed 22 years apart. Both methods were effective at measuring the hydraulic conductivities, esp...

Research paper thumbnail of Impacts of Source Water and Marine Microbiology on Biofouling of Seawater Reverse Osmosis Membranes During Seawater Desalination

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs

Research paper thumbnail of Long-term pumping-induced groundwater quality changes at a brackish-water desalination facility, Sanibel Island, Florida

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Changes in Pumping-Induced Groundwater Quality Used to Supply a Large-Capacity Brackish-Water Desalination Facility, Collier County, Florida: A New Aquifer Conceptual Model

Water, 2021

Brackish-water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination facilities are designed to treat feedwater wit... more Brackish-water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination facilities are designed to treat feedwater within a fixed range in salinity. If the salinity and ion concentrations of the feedwater rises above the maximum design concentrations, then the plant may ultimately fail. BWRO plants typically use groundwater as a feedwater source. Prior to the process design, a detailed groundwater assessment is made to characterize the source aquifer system and to develop a solute-transport model that is used to project the changes in water quality over the expected useful life of the facility. Solute transport-modeling performed for the Collier County (Florida) South BWRO facility, which was designed to produce 30,303 m3/d with an expansion to 75,758 m3/d, used an aquifer system conceptual model that assumed upwards migration over time of brackish waters with higher salinities into the production zones. This conceptual model is typical of how most BWRO systems developed in the United States operate. Th...

Research paper thumbnail of Groundwater quality change impacts on a brackish-water reverse osmosis water treatment plant design: the City of Clearwater, Florida

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding transparent exopolymer particle occurrence and interaction with algae, bacteria, and the fractions of natural organic matter in the Red Sea: implications for seawater desalination

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Authors response to Reviewer #2 Comments

Research paper thumbnail of A Clustered, Decentralized Approach to Urban Water Management

Research paper thumbnail of Immature beach/dune sands along a passive continental margin: Composition, grain size and hydraulic properties of coastal sands, Parque del Plata and Las Vegas, Uruguay

The Depositional Record, 2019

The modal composition of sandstones has long been used as a tool for palaeotectonic and palaeoenv... more The modal composition of sandstones has long been used as a tool for palaeotectonic and palaeoenvironmental analyses. Herein it is demonstrated that caution must be used when beach sand composition is utilized to assess tectonic provenances at both the local and continental scales. The occurrence of quartz arenites and compositionally mature sands along the coast of Brazil corresponds well to their passive margin location. However, modern sands from some beach locations in coastal Uruguay are less compositionally mature compared to the quartz arenites found in coastal Brazil. Along the beaches of Las Vegas and Parque del Plata, the composition of the beach and dune sands is impacted by the transport of continental outwash sediments derived from the Palaeozoic and Precambrian rocks in the interior to the beach by a low‐gradient stream, Arroyo Solis Chico, and the erosion of Pleistocene‐age formations that crop out on the beach and along an erosional scrap. The mean beach composition ...

Research paper thumbnail of Transparent exopolymer particle binding of organic and inorganic particles in the Red Sea: Implications for downward transport of biogenic materials

Biogeosciences Discussions, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Water Resources Assessment and Management in Drylands

Research paper thumbnail of Managed Aquifer Recharge and Natural Water Treatment Processes in Wastewater Reuse

Environmental Science and Engineering, 2012

ABSTRACT Both the vadose and phreatic zones are active chemical, physical, and biological environ... more ABSTRACT Both the vadose and phreatic zones are active chemical, physical, and biological environments. The concentrations of pathogens and chemical contaminants tend to be reduced as water infiltrates into the soil, percolates to the water table, and flows through aquifers. The contaminant attenuation processes include filtration, sorption, precipitation, sedimentation, and various biological and chemical degradation processes. Water flowing through the soil (vadose zone) and within aquifers in some instances may experience deterioration in water quality. Trace metals and arsenic have leached into water stored in some managed aquifer recharge systems.

Research paper thumbnail of Coastal Water Management Issues

Environmental Science and Engineering, 2012

ABSTRACT Coastal areas in arid and semiarid lands face additional groundwater management challeng... more ABSTRACT Coastal areas in arid and semiarid lands face additional groundwater management challenges from salinization compared to more inland areas. Saline–water intrusion, in particular, is a major threat to coastal aquifers. Saline–water intrusion occurs in areas where the rate of groundwater extraction significantly exceeds the rate recharge. Over extraction disturbs that natural water balance and induces migration of saline-water into parts of aquifers that naturally contain fresh groundwater

Research paper thumbnail of Religious and Cultural Influences on Water Management

Environmental Science and Engineering, 2012