Some of the key research and development areas of EMRG include:

EPA BASINS Training Seminars
BASINS is a surface water quality assessment tool that incorporates Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with mathematical models, and unites spatial and temporal watershed data for the purpose of identifying pollutant sources and quantifying their impacts on streams. Workshops presented quarterly by EMRG personnel integrate BASINS into the process of establishing total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for meeting stream water quality provisions for the Clean Water Act.

Advanced GIS Tools for Programmers
GIS tools for programmers under development by EMRG include software components for the analysis of spatial data. These components enable the creation of site-specific or project-specific GIS applications that can be distributed to users as stand-alone applications that do not require any third-party software. MapWindow, created by EMRG, is a GIS ActiveX component that allows the display and manipulation of common forms of spatial data and is fully customizable using Microsoft Visual Basic.

MapWindow.  MapWindow provides the capability to display and manipulate most common GIS data types and formats.

Watershed Decision Support Systems
EMRG is working with the INEEL to produce a Watershed Management Toolkit (WMT) that will integrate and leverage water and environmental management information leading to the improvement of watershed management and decision making. The approach integrates data and models into a Bayesian Decision Network (BDN) description of the physical, chemical, biological, and socioeconomic issues in complex watersheds. It will also identify and account for uncertainties associated with the physical systems, water quantity and quality, alternative long-term management options, and socioeconomic impacts of watershed management decisions.

BDNs.  Bayesian Decision Networks (BDNs) are being used to describe the physical, chemical, biological, and sociaoeconomic issues in complex watersheds.

Terrain and DEM Modeling
EMRG researchers and programmers have been instrumental in the development of TauDEM (Terrain Analysis Using Digital Elevation Models), a graphical user interface software package for the analysis of digital elevation data and mapping of channel networks and watersheds. This software package, developed in collaboration with Dr. David Tarboton at USU, enables users to delineate watersheds and stream networks from digital elevation data.

TauDEM allows users to delineate watersheds and stream networks from digital elevation data.

Water Quality/Quantity Data Management
EMRG is working with Dr. David Stevens to develop advanced data viewers for water quality and quantity. These tools are meant to provide decision makers with the latest and most correct data available in a format that is easy to use. Water quality and flow databases have been linked to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data coverages, enabling both analysis of the data as well as spatial relationships that may exist in the data.

Water quality/quantity data viewers developed by Dr. David Stevens and EMRG link databases with Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Sourcewater Protection Software
Diffuse sources of contamination present a major challenge to drinking water source protection and management. Nonpoint source pollution is seen as the nation's largest water quality problem, and it is a major focus of water quality management in the State of Utah. EMRG researchers and programmers are collaborating with Dr. Darwin Sorensen and other university researchers from several departments at USU on the development of a source water assessment tool that will provide a systematic approach to applying available, state-of-the-art scientific information, including expert understanding of contaminant transport in natural systems, to the assessment and management of potential drinking water source contamination.

Probabilistic Collaborative Decision Modeling
Probabilistic decision models have been used extensively in medicine and computer science and have, in recent years, begun to be applied in engineering and natural resource management problems. EMRG researchers are applying Bayesian networks, which are formal statistical modeling frameworks that support analysis of probabilistic relationships between variables in a complex system, to solve complicated watershed management problems. Bayesian networks are formed by building a graphical diagram of nodes representing all significant variables associated with a particular problem and directed links representing the cause and effect relationships between variables.

TMDL Case Studies
EMRG researchers are exploring various probabilistic and deterministic water quality modeling techniques, including Bayesian Decision Networks, to support TMDL development activities in the state of Utah and Idaho. EMRG efforts are aimed at addressing uncertainty associated with data and modeling in TMDL development and communication of this uncertainty to stakeholders.