Minutes
W-188 Technical Committee Annual Meeting
January 3-4 2001 – Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV
The annual meeting of the Western Regional Research project W-188 was called to order by Todd Skaggs (Chair) at approximately 8:30 am on Thursday, January 3, 2001. All project members and visitors participating are listed as follows:
Members
Butters, G.Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Bradford, S.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Casey, F.North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND
Ferré, T.University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Flury, M.Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Gee, G.PNNL-Battelle, Richland, WA
Green, T.USDA-ARS,Fort Collins, CO
Hendrickx, J.New Mexico Tech., Socorro, NM
Horton, R.Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Jaynes, D.National Soil Tilth Lab., Ames, IA
Kluitenberg, G.Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
Knighton, R.CSREES, USDA, Washington, DC
Meyer, P.PNNL-Battelle, Portland, OR
Mitchell, A.Palmer Res. Center, Palmer, AK
Nieber, J. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Nielsen, D.University of California, Davis, CA
Or, D.Utah State University, Logan, UT
Schaap, M.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Shouse, P.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Simunek, J.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Skaggs, T.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
van Genuchten, R.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Warrick, A.University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Wierenga, P.University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Wu, J.Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Wu, L.University of California, Riverside, CA
Young, M.Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas, NV
Visitors
Albright, W. Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV
Castiglione, P. USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Jones, S.Utah State University, Logan, UT
Kelleners, T.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Pan, L.Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, Berkeley, CA
Robinson, D.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA
Schwartz, R.USDA-ARS, Bushland, TX
Sheshukov, A.University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Sukop, M.Utah State University, Logan, UT
Toride, N.USDA-ARS, Riverside, CA (Saga University, Japan)
Tuller, MUniversity of Idaho, Moscow, ID
Administrative Advisor Allen Mitchell (University of Alaska) reported that the narrative section for this year’s annual report would be limited to 12,000 words, which would limit the information that could be contained in the report, especially the impacts section. Don Nielsen mentioned that the annual report should contain at least the references from the members, so that interested parties could research the activities. Ray Knighton thought that W-188 section should produce an executive summary with the impact statement and references, and then place the complete report on the W-188 web site ( This option appeared to garner the most support from the members, many of who have already completed their institutions’s report. Allen will generate the executive summary and place it at Appendix D in the National report. As before, the guidelines for the report are found at Report sections should be sent to Michael Young, W-188 secretary, for assembly and distribution. The full report will be sent to Allen Mitchell by February 15, 2002.
Ray Knighton (CSREES) gave the CSREES representative's report and provided a two-page summary of the budget status for fiscal year 2002 (FY02). He stated that FY02 funding for CSREES was $1,024,388,000, an increase of just under $43 million over FY01 budget. The NRI budget was increased by about $15 million, while special grants was decreased by just over $2 million. Almost $43 million was provided for the new Integrated Activities account, representing an increase from FY01 of approximately $1 million. Unfortunately, the IFAFS program was not funded in this funding cycle, though Ray thought that it could be revived in a future farm bill amendment, or it could receive strong consideration in the FY03 budget. Ray described several new research initiatives being developed that would provide additional research funds. The first is the Section 406 Water Quality, which will form a new collaboration with EPA, possibly focusing on nutrient management. The National Climate Change Technologies Initiative was proposed by the Bush administration as a response to the non-participation in the Kyoto protocol. This initiative would focus on greenhouse gas emissions. Technical support papers were being written in Washington to support this area, and many discussions are being held between agriculture and industry. Ray also mentioned that the S1004 group had formed to deal with total maximum daily load (TMDL) issues. Because this group is dealing with the scaling issues and modeling, Ray feels that the W-188 group could contribute some expertise. He indicated that he would provide that group with the W-188 member name, and objectives for model validation.
The business meeting followed the CSREES representative's report. The annual report and minutes of the previous meeting (Jan. 3-5, 2001) were approved unanimously. Nominations were taken for new committee members. The nominees were: Scott Jones (Utah State University) and Markus Tuller (University of Idaho). Nominees were voted on and approved unanimously. Michael Young nominated Frank Casey to be next year’s secretary; he was elected unopposed. The location of next year's meeting was discussed briefly. Most of the attendees found the accommodations at Circus Circus favorable, though others felt it was time for a change. Michael Young indicated that he would search for other possible accommodations, but that timing, and thus cost, was important given large conventions that are in Las Vegas at the same time as W-188. He will communicate to the group through email. The cost for this year's meeting was $80 per person.
With respect to new business, Gerard Kluitenberg announced that S-1 had voted to approve an S-1 Early Career Award for those scientists who are within six years of obtaining their Ph.D. Kurt Pennell has the information on this award on the S-1 soil physics web site ( Michael Young mentioned that AGU was combining their Spring 2003 meeting with the European Geophysics Society, to be held in Nice, France in May, 2003. AGU was soliciting central themes for this meeting. Suggestions should be forwarded to the Unsaturated Zone Committee of the AGU in the near future.
The technical presentations commenced with presentations from the University of Arizona. Ty Ferré discussed the borehole GPR method of identifying wetting fronts. Art Warrick presented results on the use of analytic elements for simulating the presence of multiple impermeable objects. Laosheng Wu (University of California, Riverside) described the effects of applying polymers (e.g., polyacrylamide) on the sorption of pesticides. Dani Or (Utah State University) presented a list of his on-going projects and introduced Scott Jones (Utah State University), who is studying the use TDR to measure water content in cereal grains. Mike Sukop (Utah State University) presented research on the use of Lattice Boltzmann models for simulated fluid movement in porous media. Gerard Kluitenburg described new solutions for the dual-probe heat pulse meter, including comparisons of errors associated with probe orientation.
After lunch, the technical presentations continued with Bob Horton (Iowa State University) who described the use of the heat pulse sensor to measure subsurface flux. Dan Jaynes (USDA, National Tilth Lab, Ames, IA) described the use of cluster analysis to describe spatial distribution of corn yield. Jan Hendrickx discussed geophysical methodologies for detecting land mines. Glendon Gee (Batelle Pacific Northwest National Labs, Richland, WA) presented the water flux meter for directly measuring subsurface flux. Michael Young (DRI, Las Vegas, NV) discussed modeling efforts to simulate flux at the Savannah River Site, SC. Bill Albright (DRI, Reno, NV) presented the Alternative Cover Assessment Project, which compares flux rates through prescriptive and monolithic covers in different geographic areas of the US. Lehua Pan (Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, Berkeley, CA) described modeling activities using TOUGH2 code to simulate fracture flow at Yucca Mountain, NV. All participants were invited to a social hour in Don and Joanne Nielsen's room.
The technical presentations continued the following morning (Jan. 4) at 8:30. This was the final day of the meeting. Joan Wu (Washington State University, Pullman) began the day’s presentations by discussing modifications to the WEPP model and to the CLIGEN climate generation. Markus Flury (Washington State University, Pullman) described a new technique for measuring soil water retention curves by freezing and thawing the soil sample. Greg Butters (Colorado State University, Fort Collins) presented the results of an automated experimental method and inverse modeling, for obtaining water retention curves in soils. Time Green (USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, CO) described the use of artificial neural networks and geostatistics to study the yield of winter wheat.
A number of presentations by scientists at the USDA-ARS-USSL, Riverside, CA commenced with Scott Bradford, who presented experimental results of cryptosporidium parvum and giardia movement and release from waste material as a function of solution salinity. Marcel Schaap described a method of simulating fluid flow in porous media using the Lattice Boltzmann model. Paolo Castiglione presented laboratory and numerical results using the dual permeability model to simulate preferential flow in large soil columns.
After lunch, the presentations continued with Frank Casey (North Dakota State University), who described a method for field-scale solute transport prediction using a mechanistic-stochastic model. John Nieber described the modeling of unstable water flow using higher-order corrections to Richard's equation. Phil Meyer (Batelle Pacific Northwest National Labs, Portland, WA) demonstrated new software developed at PNL for estimating vadose zone water fluxes for identifying potential disposal sites. Markus Tuller presented new methods for modeling unsaturated soil hydraulic properties. Frank Schwartz (USDA-ARS, Bushland, TX) presented new sensor technologies for measuring soil water content. The meeting was adjourned around 16:30. Afterward, all were invited to a social hour in Don and Joanne Nielsen's room.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael H. Young
Secretary, W-188
ATTACHMENT - A
W-188 Address List - Updating
L.R. Ahuja
USDA-ARS
301 S. Howes, P.O. Box E
Fort Collins, CO 80522
Tel:(970) 221-0578
Fax:(970) 490-8310
Email:
Mark Ankeny
Daniel B. Stephens & Assoc.
6020 Academy NE, Suite 100
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Tel:(505) 822 9400
Email:
Jelle Beekma
Dept. of Earth & Environ. Sciences
New Mexico Tech.
Socorro, NM 87801
Tel:(505) 835-5684
Fax:(505) 835-6436
Email:
Jim Bilskie
Campbell Scientific, Inc.
815 West 1800 North
Logan, UT 84321-1784
Tel:(435) 750-9580
Email:
Scott Bradford
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Rd.
Riverside, CA 92507-4617
Tel:(909)369-4857
Email:
Greg Butters
Colorado State University
Ft Collins, CO 80523
Tel:(970) 491-6314 or 6501
Fax:(970) 491-0564
Email:
G.S. Campbell
Decagon Devices, Inc
950 NE Nelson Court
Pullman, WA 99163
Tel:(509) 332-2756
Email:
Frank Casey
Soil Science Department
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND 58105
Tel:(701) 231-8577
Email:
J. H. Cushman
Mathematics Dept.
Purdue University
W. Lafayette, IN 47905
Tel:(317) 494-8040
Email:
B.S. Das
Dept. of Agronomy
Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
Tim Ellsworth
University of Illinois
S-210 Turner Hall
1102 S. Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
Email:
Steve Evett
USDA-ARS
P.O. Drawer 10
Bushland, TX 79012
Tel:(806) 356-5775
Fax:(806) 356-5750
Email:
Toby Ewing
Dept. of Agronomy
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
Tel:(515) 294-7856
Email:
Ty Ferré
Dept. of Hydrology and Water Resources
University of Arizona
1133 E. North Campus Dr.
P.O. Box 2110011
Tucson, AZ 85721-0011
Tel:(250) 621-2952
Email:
Alan L. Flint
U.S. Geological Survey
Placer Hall, 6000 J St.
Sacramento, CA 95819-6129
Tel: (916) 278-6129
Fax:(916) 278-3070
Email:
Lorraine Flint
U.S. Geological Survey
Placer Hall, 6000 J St.
Sacramento, CA 95819-6129
Tel: (916) 278-6129
Fax:(916) 278-3070
Email:
Markus Flury
Dept. of Crop & Soil Sciences
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164
Tel: (509) 335-1719
Email:
Glendon Gee
Hydrology/Battelle
P.O. Box 999 (MS K9-33)
Richland, WA 99352
Tel:(509) 372-6096
Fax:(509) 372-6089
Email:
Masoud Ghodrati
Dept. of Environmental Science
Pol. & Mang.
151 Hilgard Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3110
Tel:(510) 643-0955
Email:
T. Green
USDA-ARS
301 S. Howes, P.O. Box E
Fort Collins, CO 80522
Tel:(970) 221-0578
Fax:(970) 490-8310
Email:
Jan Hendrickx
New Mexico Tech
Dept. of Geoscience
Soccoro, NM 87801
Tel:(505) 835-5892
Fax:(505) 835-6436
Email:
Jan W. Hopmans
Dept. of LAWR, Hydrology
123 Veihmeyer Hall
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Tel:(530) 752-3060
Fax:(530) 752-5262
Email:
Scott B. Jones
Dept. of Plants, Soils & Biomet.
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-4820
Tel:(435) 797-2175
Fax:(435) 797-2117
Email:
Robert Horton
Dept. of Agronomy
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
Tel:(515) 294-7843
Fax:(515) 294-3163
Email:
Joel Hubbel
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory
P.O. Box 1625, MS 2107
Idaho Falls, ID 83415
Tel:(208) 526-1747
Fax:(208) 526-0875
Email:
David Hudson
U.S. Geological Survey/HRF
Box 327, MS271
Mercury, NV 89131
Email:
Dan Jaynes
National Soil Tilth Lab
2150 Pammel Drive
Ames, IA 50011
Tel: (515) 294-8243
Fax:(515) 294-8125
Email:
Yan Jin
Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 10717-1303
Tel:(302) 831-6962
Fax:(302) 831-0605
Email:
W.A. Jury
Dept. of Envir. Sciences
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
Tel:(909) 787-5134
Fax:(909) 787-2954
Email:
Thijs Kelleners
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Rd.
Riverside, CA 92507-4617
Tel:(909) 369-4855
Fax: (909) 342-4964
Email:
G.J. Kluitenberg
Dept. of Agronomy
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
Tel:(913) 532-7215
Fax:(913) 532-6094
Email:
R.E. Knighton
National Program Leader-Soil Science
USDA-CSREES
1400 Independence Ave.
Washington DC, 20250-2210
Tel:(202) 401-6417
Fax:(202) 401-1706
Email:
Feike Leij
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Road
Riverside, CA 92507-4617
Tel:(909) 369-4851
Fax:(909) 342-4964
Email:
Dan Levitt
Science and Eng. Assoc., Inc.
3205 Richards Lane, Suite A
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Tel:(505) 424-6955 x13
Fax: (505)424-6956
Email:
Phil Meyer
PNNL-Battelle
620 SW 5th Ave., Ste 810
Portland, OR 97204
Email:
Allen Mitchell
533 E. Fireweed Ave.
Palmer Research Center
Palmer, AK 99645-6629
Email:
Tel:(907) 746-9450
Binayak Mohanty
Department of Ag. Engineering
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
Tel: (979) 845-4421
Fax:(909) 845-3932
Email:
David J. Mulla
Dept. of Soil, Water, and Climate
1991 Upper Buford Circle
564 Borlaug Hall
University of Minnesota
St. Paul MN 55108
Tel:(612) 625-6721
Fax:(612) 624-4223
Email:
John Nieber
Dept. Biosystems and Agricultural Eng.
University of Minnesota
1390 Eckles Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55108
Tel:(612) 625-6724
Fax:(612) 624-3005
Email:
Don R. Nielsen
1004 Pine Lane
Davis, CA 95616
Tel:(530) 753-5760 (home and messages)
Fax:(530) 753-9592
Email:
Tom Meixner
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
Tel: (909) 787-2356
Email:
Dani Or
Dept. of Plants, Soils & Biomet.
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322
Tel:(435) 797-2637
Fax:(435) 797-2117
Email:
Pan, Lehua
Earth Sciences Division
Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Labs
One Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel: (510) 495-2360
Fax: (510) 486-6115
E-mail:
Marc B. Parlange
Dept. Geography and Env. Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Email:
Ed Perfect
Department of Geological Sciences
Univ. of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1410
Tel: (865) 974-6017
Fax: (865) 974-2368
E-mail:
Indrek Porro
Idaho National Eng./Environ. Lab.
P.O. Box 1625, MS 2107
Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2107
Tel:(208) 526-0906
Email:
P.S.C. Rao
School of Civil Engineering
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Tel: (765) 496-6554
Email:
A.S. Rogowski
USDA-ARS
113 Research Office Bldg.
Hastings Road
University Park, PA 16082-4709
Tel:(814) 865-2048
D.E. Rolston
Dept. of LAWR
139a Hoagland Hall
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Tel:(916) 752-2113
Fax:(916) 752-1552
Email:
Marcel Schaap
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Rd.
Riverside, CA 92507
Tel:(909) 369-4844
Fax:(909) 342-4964
Email:
Robert Schwartz
Conservation & Production Research Lab
USDA, ARS, P.O. Drawer 10
Bushland, TX 79012
Tel:(806)-356-5762
Email:
Peter Shouse
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Road
Riverside, CA 92507-4617
Tel:(909) 369-4849
Fax:(909) 342-4964
Email:
Jirka Simunek
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Rd.
Riverside, CA 92507
Tel:(909) 369-4865
Fax:(909) 342-4964
Email:
J. B. Sisson
P.O. Box 1628, MS-2107
Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2107
Tel:(208) 526-1118
Fax:(208) 526-0875
Email:
Todd Skaggs
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Rd.
Riverside, CA 92507
Tel:(909) 369-4853
Fax:(909) 342-4964
Email:
Warren Strong
Sandia National Labs
P.O. Box 5800, M/S 1150
Albuquerque, NM 87185-1150
Tel:(505) 284-3313
Email:
Mike Sully
Bechtel Nevada Corp. M/S 969
P.O. Box 98521
Las Vegas, NV 89193
Tel:(702) 295-4284
Markus Tuller
Dept. of Plant, Soils & Ent. Sciences
University of Idaho
P.O. Box 442339
Moscow, ID 83844-2339
Tel:(208) 885-7219
Fax:(208) 885-7760
Email:
Scott Tyler
Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Program
MS 175
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89532
Tel (775) 784-6250
Email:
M.Th. van Genuchten
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA-ARS
450 W. Big Springs Road
Riverside, CA 92507-4617
Tel:(909) 369-4847
Fax:(909) 342-4964
Email:
W.W. Wallender
Dept. of LAWR
211 Veihmeyer Hall
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Tel:(530) 752-0688
Fax:(530) 752-5262
Email:
Dong Wang
Dept. Soil, Water, and Climate
University of Minnesota
60 Borlaug Hall
1991 Upper Buford Circle
St. Paul, MN 55108
Tel: (612) 625-5779
Fax: (612) 625-2208
Email:
Zhi Wang
Dept of Environmental Sciences
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
Tel:(909) 787-6395
Fax:(909) 787-2954
Email:
A.W. Warrick
429 Shantz #38
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Tel:(520) 621-1516
Fax:(520) 621-1647
Email:
P.J. Wierenga
Dept. of Soil, Water and Env. Sciences
429 Shantz Bldg. #38
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Tel:(602) 621-7228
Fax:(602) 621-1647
Email:
J.M. Wraith
Land Resources and Environ. Sciences
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-3120
Tel:(406) 994 1997
Fax:(406) 994-3933
Email:
Joan Wu
Dept. of Biological System Engineering
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164
Tel: (509) 335-5996
Email:
Laosheng Wu
Dept of Environmental Sciences
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
Tel:(909) 787-4664
Fax:(909) 787-2954
Email:
Scott Yates
George E. Brown, Jr. Salinity Lab
USDA, ARS
450 W. Big Springs Rd.
Riverside, CA 92507
Email:
Michael H. Young
Div. of Hydrologic Sciences
Desert Research Institute
755 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Tel:(702)-895-0489
Fax:(702)-895-0427
Email:
Renduo Zhang
Dept. of Renewable Resources
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY 82071
Tel:(307) 766-5082
Fax:(307) 766-6403
Email: