Water and Life
Biological considerations are important when considering the overall health of watersheds, lakes, and streams. Using unique facilities like SAFL's Outdoor StreamLab and the EcoFlume, SAFL researchers are able to conduct a wide range of experiments and field campaigns that look to better understand the interactions between physical, chemical, and biological stream processes. Projects that include observing young life stages of endangered fish in a laboratory environment, bringing in native mussels to study how they respond to differences in flow and sediment concentrations, working to understand the best environmental conditions under which wild rice can grown, and even mapping the swimming signatures of microalgae to determine how to promote the best biofuel production are but a small subset of examples of how SAFL research looks to promote healthier lakes, rivers, and streams.
SAFL Affiliated Faculty
Xue Feng
Jacques Finlay
Miki Hondzo
Crystal Ng
SAFL Researchers
Matt Hernick
Jessica Kozarek
Read more about SAFL water and life related projects/research:
(filter "Water and Life" if needed)
Wind Turbine Generated Sound
Posted
As the wind energy sector grows, environmental impacts and public perception become increasingly important. One common public concern about wind energy farms is wind turbine-generated noise.A major component of this project project was to provide technically defensible data characterizing wind turbine-generated noise and the human response to wind turbine-generated noise.
Development of tower and foundation assessment tools for utility-scale wind turbines
Posted
Wind turbine operators must asses turbine foundation structural health after extreme weather events, or before repower projects. SAFL engineers worked with Barr Engineering to design an inexpensive, noninvasive, and portable system for assessing wind turbine foundation health.
Detection and Perception of Sound by Eagles and Surrogate Raptors
Posted
Could acoustic deterrents be used to prevent eagle and raptor collisions with wind turbines? Researchers from a wide range of backgrounds and institutions worked together on this project to begin acoustic deterrent research for the Department of Energy. This project mapped the hearing range of raptors, collected and categorized eagle calls and vocalizations, and evaluated bald eagle response to various synthetic and natural sounds.