Climate and Precipitation
Collage of images of glacier coming down mountain, stand alone ice, and a satellite

Conducting research on climate and precipitation-related topics is imperative for helping society adapt and manage our resources sustainably for the future. SAFL has researchers who look to understand past climates and landscape evolution (including during the last glacial maximum), recent and ongoing shifts in precipitation patterns and landscape evolution, and developing new techniques for mapping and quantifying changes in precipitation patterns at both local and global scales.

Affiliated Faculty
Ardeshir Ebtehaj
Efi Foufoula-Georgiou
Xue Feng
John Gulliver

SAFL Researchers
Bill Herb

Filter "Climate and Precipitation Projects" below to learn more about specific projects. 

Water and Life

MINUHET software tool available for practitioners to better assess temperature impacts of stormwater runoff in trout streams

Posted

MINUHET is a stand-alone software tool use to simulate the flow of stormwater surface runoff and its associated heat content through a small watershed. Interested practitioners can download the software on this page.

Photo of a turbine array, and an image of a topographical scan of the same turbine array
Hydropower, Lakes, Rivers, and Groundwater

Harnessing clean energy from rivers through hydrokinetic turbine arrays

Posted

Hydrokinetic turbines are an emerging hydropower technology that take advantage of moving water currents to generate power.

Image of the wind turbulence over breaking waves simulation
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Deltas and Oceans, Multiphase Interactions, Turbulence

A numerical simulation of wind turbulence over breaking waves

Posted

Researchers studied the effect of waves breaking on the airflow above the waves. Research like this regarding wind and wave interactions can be used to improve ocean-atmosphere interaction models.

Photo of the experiment in the SAFL delta basins, showing a model delta with barrier islands forming along the delta coast
Climate and Precipitation, Deltas and Oceans

Mapping the evolution of barrier islands: Nature’s original coastline defense

Posted

Barrier islands act as natural barriers between the ocean and the mainland by blocking waves and resisting storm winds, giving protection to inland areas which are ecologically rich as well as economic hubs. As sea levels continue to rise with climate change, there is much concern about how rising seas will impact the ongoing evolution of barrier islands and the level of protection they afford inland coastlines.

Andy Erickson giving a thumbs up while working at a field site
Water Resources Management

Evaluating the effectiveness of pretreatment practices for rain gardens

Posted

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of different pretreatment devices in Minnesota. The objective was to gather quantitative data using a common method that will allow for comparisons across devices.

Katie Kemmitt collecting friction data on permeable pavement using a portable friction tester
Water Resources Management

Evaluating permeable pavement as an alternative to road salt application

Posted

The Minnesota Department of Transportation tasked SAFL researchers with evaluating the use of unsalted permeable pavement in comparison to traditional impermeable salted pavement. Permeable pavement refers to a surface where water can infiltrate into pavement and ultimately become groundwater, rather than running off pavement into the stormwater system. 

Photo of the SAFL ecoflume from above, during USGS fish experiments
Lakes, Rivers, and Groundwater, Water and Life

SAFL team designs flume to support juvenile fish studies

Posted

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) tasked SAFL researchers with the design of a race-track style flume, with the geometry and hydraulic conditions for early life stages of pallid sturgeon, an ancient but endangered fish species which historically inhabited the Missouri and lower Mississippi rivers

Photo of Ajay Limaye standing outside the main channel during an experiment
Lakes, Rivers, and Groundwater

Channel belt evolution in braided rivers

Posted

Channel belts are wide corridors created by the movement of a river over time, as shown by geologic indicators such as abandoned channels and eroded valley margins. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how channel migration causes individual braided channel belts to grow using SAFL's main channel.

Photo of Rob Gabrielson adding a red dye tracer to the water near a pump inlet
Measuring Flows, Water Resources Management

Broadway Pump Station Physical Model

Posted

After a 2011 flood caused extensive damage in Minot, North Dakota, MWH Americas, Inc. was hired to design a pumping station as part of the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Plan, to pump stormwater over the river levee during flood events. The applied engineering team at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory was then tasked to build a physical model of the proposed pumping station to identify and mitigate unanticipated/unacceptable flow patterns prior to construction.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Measuring Flows, Turbulence, Water Resources Management

Long-throated U-flume study

Posted

SAFL researchers built a scale model of a round-bottomed long-throated flume, in order to validate Winflume software for this specific flume geometry.