Equipment: MRI: Track 2 Acquisition of a Hydraulic and Sediment Recirculation Flume to Advance Fundamental Research in Urban Stormwater and Fluvial Processes

随着美国和世界各地暴雨和洪水等极端天气事件的频率和强度增加，迫切需要新的实验和计算工具来推进表征，理解和减轻暴雨和洪水对水质和可用性的不利影响所需的基础科学和工程知识。这个NSF MRI轨道2奖将使维拉诺瓦大学（VU）获得一个单向沉积物饲料倾斜水槽（USTF）。这种新的工具将使似曾相识及其学术，市政和工业合作伙伴进行城市绿色雨水基础设施，河流过程，城市防洪急需的研究，并对建成的城市环境的影响。USTF将促进与合作机构在两个主题方面的合作研究和教育：1）绿色城市雨水基础设施，2）河流过程和对城市环境的影响。收购USTF还将支持水资源工程，地质环境工程，地球化学和地貌学的本科，研究生和专业水平的教育和培训，以及促进研究合作并增加与学术，市政和行业合作伙伴的参与。随着暴雨和洪水等极端天气事件的频率和强度增加，管理城市雨水已成为美国许多城市面临的一项重大挑战。雨水对环境的影响与洪水、沉积物、营养物和污染物的输送有关，对城市环境和公众健康产生不利影响。绿色雨水基础设施（GSI）为城市和城市地区的雨水管理提供了有前途和具有成本效益的解决方案。GSI由综合土壤、水和植物系统组成，这些系统拦截雨水，将一部分雨水渗透到地下，并将一部分雨水缓慢释放回下水道系统。这项NSF MRI Track 2奖项将使维拉诺瓦大学能够获得带有定制插入件的单向沉积物进料倾斜水槽（USTF）系统，以模拟GSI。USTF将用于研究城市雨水基础设施，河流过程，城市洪水缓解以及对城市建筑环境的影响，这些影响是无法通过实地研究或计算模型单独实现的。该项目的合作性质将使来自维拉诺瓦大学、坦普尔大学、俄亥俄州州立大学、马里兰州大学、德雷克塞尔大学、新泽西学院、宾夕法尼亚州立大学哈里斯堡分校和丹尼森大学的学生能够在项目上共同工作，促进他们的教育和研究经验。该项目还将涉及与公用事业（费城水务局）和工程公司的合作/伙伴关系，包括Aterra Solutions，赫伯特，罗兰&Grubic，NTM工程，普林斯顿水电，施纳贝尔工程，和WSP全球。该奖项由NSF MRI和CBET环境工程项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

As the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heavy rains and floods increase in the United States and worldwide, there is an urgent and critical need for new experimental and computational tools to advance the fundamental science and engineering knowledge needed to characterize, understand, and mitigate the adverse impact of heavy rains and floods on water quality and availability. This NSF MRI Track 2 award will enable Villanova University (VU) to acquire a Unidirectional Sediment-feed Tilting Flume (USTF). This new instrument will enable VU and its academic, municipal, and industrial partners to carry out critically needed research on urban green stormwater infrastructure, fluvial processes, urban flood mitigation, and impacts on built urban environments. The USTF will facilitate collaborative research and education with the partner institutions in two major themes: 1) green urban stormwater infrastructure, and 2) river processes and impacts on urban environments. The acquisition of the USTF will also support education and training at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels in water resources engineering, geo-environmental engineering, geochemistry, and geomorphology, as well as facilitate research collaborations and increase engagement with academic, municipal, and industry partners. Managing urban stormwater has emerged as a critical challenge for many cities in the United States as the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heavy rains and floods increase. Stormwater worsens environmental impacts related to flooding, sediment, nutrient, and pollutant transport that adversely impact the urban environment and public health. Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) provides promising and cost-effective solutions for managing stormwater in cities and urban areas. GSI consists of integrated soil, water, and plant systems that intercept stormwater, infiltrate a portion of it into the ground, and release a portion of it slowly back into sewer systems. This NSF MRI Track 2 award will enable Villanova University to acquire a Unidirectional Sediment-Feed Tilting Flume (USTF) system with custom inserts to simulate GSI. The USTF will be used to study urban stormwater infrastructure, fluvial processes, urban flood mitigation, and impacts on built urban environments that are otherwise unattainable through field studies or computational models alone. The collaborative nature of this project will enable students from Villanova, Temple University, Ohio State University, University of Maryland, Drexel University, The College of New Jersey, Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg, and Denison University to work together on projects, furthering their educational and research experiences. The project will also involve collaborations/partnerships with a public utility (Philadelphia Water Department) and engineering firms including Aterra Solutions, Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, NTM Engineering, Princeton Hydro, Schnabel Engineering, and WSP Global.This award was jointly funded by the NSF MRI and the CBET Environmental Engineering programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.