Four Moisture Patterns Surrounding Atlantic Hurricanes Revealed by Deep Learning: Their Characteristics and Relationship with Hurricane Intensity and Precipitation
June 2025
Moisture plays a key role in the energetics of hurricanes. Using a convolutional autoencoder, a state-of-the-art deep learning approach to spatial pattern classification, with k-means we identified four representative clusters of total column water vapor (TCWV) patterns around North Atlantic hurricanes.
Water Institute Faculty Fellow and Affiliate Faculty: Corene Matyas

Glacial Retreat Converts Exposed Landscapes from Net Carbon Sinks to Sources
June 2025
Retreat of continental ice sheets exposes comminuted sediment in disequilibrium with non-glacial conditions. Weathering of this sediment may create climate feedbacks by altering exchange of greenhouse gases between atmosphere and landscapes.
Water Institute Faculty Fellow and Affiliate Faculty: Jonathan Martin, Ellen Martin

Biosolids-Derived Phosphorus Persists in Florida Sandy Soils
June 2025
Biosolids, the solid byproduct from sewage treatment plants, are utilized as soil conditioners and fertilizers due to their rich organic matter and nutrient content. However, there are concerns about heavy metals and high levels of phosphorus in biosolids which can lead to environmental issues such as increased biotoxicity and eutrophication of water bodies.
Water Institute Faculty Fellow and Affiliate Faculty: Todd Osborne, Yang Lin

Dormant Season Submergence as a Predictor of Forest Seedling Survival in a Connected Floodplain
June 2025
Hydroperiod predicts forest species composition within floodplains, which influences productivity of connected ecosystems and supports people through critical ecosystem services. Therefore, understanding tree species responses to changes in hydroperiod is critical for maintaining these systems.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Stephanie Bohlman

Drought to Flood to Drought: A Review of Definitions of Precipitation Whiplash Events, What Causes Them and Their Impacts Over the Continental United States
May 2025
Precipitation whiplash, the rapid shift from drought to flooding, or vice versa, exacerbates the impact of both extremes compared to if they were to occur separately. The recognition of these types of events is relatively recent, and event precursors, driving meteorology and impacts are poorly understood.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Esther Mullens, Johanna Engström

Modeling Changes in Flow Dynamics From the Restoration of a Distributary Slough Along a Large Floodplain River
May 2025
Sloughs are slow-moving or still water systems that serve as an important ecosystem component connecting rivers and floodplains such as the Apalachicola River in northwest Florida. However, sloughs of the Apalachicola River have become hydrologically disconnected from the mainstem due to…
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Joann Mossa

Mitigating Seawater Flooding Induced Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Nutrient Leaching Using Soil Amendments
May 2025
Saltwater intrusion and flooding into coastal agricultural lands are growing concerns due to their detrimental impact on surface and groundwater, soil health, agricultural productivity, and ecosystem services. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of soil amendments (biochar, compost, gypsum, and hydrogel) in mitigating the impacts of seawater flooding on nutrient release and greenhouse gas emissions.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty and Faculty Fellow: Ashley Smyth, Yuncong Li, Haimanote Bayabil

Assessment of Water Scarcity as a Risk Factor for Cholera Outbreaks
April 2025
Increasing aridity and incidence of droughts pose a significant threat to human health, primarily in exacerbating water scarcity, and is projected to become more frequent and severe as a result of related environmental changes in many regions globally.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Antarpreet Jutla

Assessing and projecting land use land cover changes using machine learning models in the Guder watershed, Ethiopia
April 2025
This study investigates the trends and frequencies of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes in the Guder watershed, located in the Upper Blue Nile Basin (Ethiopia), for the periods 1985 and 2021, with projections for 2039 and 2057.
Water Institute Faculty Fellow: Haimanote Bayabil

Transdisciplinary Collaborations for Advancing Sustainable and Resilient Agricultural Systems
April 2025
Feeding the growing human population sustainably amidst climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century. Current practices often lead to the overuse of agronomic inputs, such as synthetic fertilizers and water, resulting in environmental contamination and diminishing returns on crop productivity.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Juan Claudio Nino

Valuing Coastal Fisheries and Seagrasses: A Case Study of Estuarine Resources on Florida’s Nature Coast
April 2025
This study uses a choice experiment survey of 1002 Florida residents and visitors to estimate willingness to pay for environmental programs leading to changes in populations of recreationally and economically important fish (red drum, seatrout, snook) and abundance of seagrass on Florida’s Nature Coast.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty and Faculty Fellow: Olesya Savchenko and Christa Court

Environmental Impacts and Food Loss and Waste in the U.S. Aquatic Food System
March 2025
Aquatic food systems support global food and nutrition security, livelihoods, and economies, but put significant environmental pressure on the planet. The United States (U.S.) is the world’s fourth largest consumer and the largest importer of aquatic food, which makes it a good case for studying aquatic food systems.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Mark Brown, Frank Asche, James Anderson

Drivers of Planned Compliance with Irrigation Restrictions Among Residents in a Rapidly Urbanizing Region
March 2025
Irrigation restrictions have emerged as a promising approach to curbing residential water use, but insufficient compliance limits the impact of these policies. Using an extended Theory of Planned Behavior framework, this research gathered data from 2,651 Florida residents to illuminate intended compliance.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Laura Warner, Sadie Hundemer

Revisiting the Deficit Model: The Effect of Water Science Knowledge on Policy Perceptions
February 2025
Knowledge deficit research indicates that scientific knowledge typically has limited impact on policy preferences and may unknowingly impact unmeasured factors on policy success. This research examined whether water science knowledge may have unforeseen impacts that should be considered before reducing reliance on knowledge interventions.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Sadie Hundemer

Topographic Change Associated with Floodplain Mining Activities in the Amite River, Louisiana
February 2025
Human activities, including mining, have altered landscapes for millenia. A location showing appreciable anthropogenic change is the middle Amite River and floodplain in southeastern Louisiana.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Joann Mossa

Implications of Water Management on Methane Emissions and Grain Yield in Paddy Rice: A Case Study Under Subtropical Conditions in Brazil Using the CSM-CERES-Rice Model
February 2025
The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Cropping System Model (CSM)-CERES-Rice model and DSSAT-GHG module to predict daily methane emissions and rice grain yield for different irrigation practices in a subtropical environment.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Gerrit Hoogenboom

Designing a Deep Learning-Based Framework for the Prediction of Lake Surface Closed Curves
February 2025
Predicting the surface area and shape of lakes is critical for ecological, hydrological, and climatic studies. Accurate predictions enhance the understanding of lake dynamics, facilitate water resource management, and support environmental change assessments.
Water Institute Affiliate Faculty: Golmar Golmohammadi

Water Quality Trends and Eutrophication Indicators in a Large Subtropical Estuary: A Case Study of the Greater Charlotte Harbor System in Southwest Florida
January 2025
Tracking symptoms of eutrophication over time with multiple lines of evidence provides critical information to support environmental management and restoration efforts. For this case study of the Greater Charlotte Harbor estuary system in southwest Florida (USA), we assembled and curated 22 years of monthly water quality data from a spatially stratified random sampling design…
Water Institute Faculty Fellows: David Kaplan, Christine Angelini