Cooperative Agreement for Affiliated Partner with Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program

The US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research on improving discharge and water velocity monitoring of stratified flows through an engineered channel in a railroad causeway at Great Salt Lake (GSL) and to improve understanding of water column mixing. Essential components of the funding opportunity are student, faculty, and computational support to 1) conduct computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model simulations of conditions specific to the day and time USGS conducts field discharge measurements at the railroad causeway channel using a mechanical current meter and an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP); 2) assist USGS in analyzing velocity and discharge data measured via multiple instruments and model simulations to help reduce uncertainty associated with field discharge measurements and a potential index-velocity rating for reporting discharge on a near continuous basis; and 3) conduct CFD model simulations to evaluate water column mixing south of the causeway and work with USGS in determining deployment locations of one or more up-looking ADCPs to validate model simulations of mixing.