9553363 Knox The goal of this initiative is to improve the understanding of interrelated environmental processes within surface and subsurface aqueous ecosystems. To work toward that goal, the Oklahoma EPSCoR Committee will to complete an automated environmental monitoring system and develop a detailed site characterization database for a landfill ecosystem. These efforts will involve equipment acquisitions and focused research applications. Development of the landfill site into an automated, characterized research facility will be coordinated with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which recently selected the landfill as the next field research site for its Toxic Substances Hydrology Program. The Automation Component of this initiative centers around the Oklahoma Mesonetwork, an outstanding example of the application of technology for the benefit of people and programs. The MESONET is a statewide network of automated environmental monitoring stations. Each station measures a variety of environmental parameters (temperature, wind speed, soil moisture, etc.) every 15 minutes and transmits the data to a receiving location via the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications Network. The data is quality assured, archived, and made available within 15 minutes to multiple agencies around the state. Two MESONET towers are planned for deployment at the Norman landfill research facility. The objective of the Automation Component of this initiative is to install networks of selected environmental sensors and exploit the capabilities of MESONET for remote, continuous, real-time, environmental monitoring. By using the MESONET system, the landfill research site and its associated characterization datbase will be made available to researchers throughout the state. The Research Component of this initiative is focused on developing an accurate and detailed description of the surface and subsurface flow and contaminant transport regimes at the lan dfill. The research work proposed herein was developed in direct consultation with the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS); hence, each project is designed to complement research activities of the USGS. The research activities will focus on quantifying/qualifying certain hydrologic interactions and subsurface biotic processes. In addition, tracer studies would be conducted and geophysical surveys will be conducted at the research facility. Selected sensors associated with these research efforts will utilize the MESONET system to transmit data. The objective of the Research Component of the initiative is to characterize the surface and subsurface flow regimes of the landfill ecosystem using innovative monitoring, measurement, and modeling techniques.
