Water Quality, Biological Simulation, and Watershed Modeling Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the lecture on water outbreaks, pollution types, Best Management Practices (BMPs), computational tools (MATLAB/Python), and watershed modeling principles.

Water Outbreak

The occurrence of disease greater than that would be expected at a particular time and place.

Primary Transmission

A route of disease transmission where an individual directly touches the pathogen source.

Secondary Transmission

A route of disease transmission where direct physical contact with the primary source is not required.

Biological Process

The processes of living organisms describing how waste breaks down, absorbs nutrients, regrow, and die off.

Clean Water Act (1972)

Federal legislation with the objective that all water would be drinkable, swimmable, and fishable.

Water Quality Pollution

Man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of water.

Non-point Source (NPS) Pollution

Pollution generated from diffused sources (such as sediment, fertilizers, and pesticides) delivered from land to surface water through precipitation, runoff, and leaching.

Point Source Pollution

Pollution originating from a discrete point, continuous in nature, and controlled through treatment.

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)

The receiving capacity of a water body.

Dissolved Oxygen

The primary parameter on which the suitability of water for aquatic life is determined, required for the assimilation of organic wastes.

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)

Rapid growth of aquatic algae caused by excess nutrient loading and climate change, creating optimal conditions for cyanobacterial development.

Best Management Practices (BMPs)

Methods for preventing or reducing pollution to levels compatible with water quality goals.

Structural BMPs

Engineered, physical pollution-control structures including terraces, diversions, grade stabilization structures, sediment basins, animal waste systems, and constructed wetlands.

Vegetative BMPs

Plant-based practices for pollution control including cover crops, crop rotation/tillage, critical area plantings, filter strips, strip cropping, riparian buffer zones, wetlands, and land use conversion.

Management BMPs

Operational practices for pollution prevention including contour farming, riparian area protection, nutrient management, IPM, controlled grazing, and irrigation water management.

MATLAB

A computational package used for performing and displaying results of calculations as well as a programming language.

LabVIEW

A system environment used for data acquisition, instrument control, and industrial automation.

Python

A lightweight, flexible programming language that utilizes external open-source packages (libraries) for data analysis, visualization, machine learning, and AI applications.

GIS-Based Models

Spatial software tools used to investigate environmental and biological engineering problems and their interactions.

Variable

A named data structure that can hold one number at a time.

Array

A named data structure that can hold multiple numbers using a numerical index to denote different positions (1-D matrices).

Matrix

An array data structure that has multiple rows and columns.

Conditional Statements

Programming instructions used to check whether numbers have changed, passed a threshold, or if a goal has been reached.

For Loop

A programming control structure that executes operations a prescribed number of times, stepping line by line through contained instructions.

NumPy

A fundamental external library for scientific computing in Python providing a powerful multidimensional array object.

Watershed

The area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.

Deterministic Model

A model based on the concept that a given set of known inputs yields a given output.

Stochastic Model

A model that uses a time series of random perturbations as an input series to generate output expressed in terms of mean or probability ranges.

Lumped Parameter Model

A model that treats the whole watershed or large portions of the watershed as one single unit and lumps characteristics together.

Distributed Parameter Model

A model that divides the watershed into smaller homogeneous units with uniform characteristics.

Field Scale Models

Models applied to smaller area scales that require extensive information about the surface and sub-surface (e.g., RUSLE, CREAMS, GLEAMS, EPIC).

Watershed Scale Models

Models designed for relatively large watershed basins using less specific information, often used for un-gaged watersheds (e.g., SWAT, HSPF, BASINS).

Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs)

Sub-divisions of sub-watershed areas created in watershed scale models to simulate management scenarios.