Edward McBean

University of Guelph | UOGuelph · School of Engineering

A data-driven model is commonly employed for partitioning eddy covariance (EC) CO2 fluxes (NEE) into ecosystem respiration (ER) and gross primary productivity (GPP) fluxes. However, current data-driven solely utilizing one sub-neural network to estimate above-ground respiration (ERa) and below-ground respiration (ERb), leading to substantial uncert...

Estimating global land surface evapotranspiration (ET) is of great significance for assessing the impact of climate change on the global hydrological cycle and energy balance. In this study, we propose a surface energy balance constrained deep learning (DL-SEB) model for simulating global land surface evapotranspiration (ET). The accuracy of the DL...

Human fecal biomarkers (HFBs) have a longstanding history in the field of microbial source tracking (MST) serving as indicators of human fecal contamination in drinking and recreational water. Further, HFBs have aided in recent efforts to monitor human pathogen transmission within communities. The dilution of wastewater from various sources through...

The rapid spread of COVID-19 and its variants have devastated communities worldwide, and as the highly transmissible Omicron variant becomes the dominant strain of the virus in late 2021, the need to characterize and understand the difference between the new variant and its predecessors has been an increasing priority for public health authorities....

With widespread ongoing urbanization and as climate change continues, the importance of protecting the water quality of streams and lakes is intensifying. However, while many water quality constituents in lakes and rivers are of overall interest, water temperature is a ‘key’ variable as temperature influences mixing within a waterbody, influences t...

North America is facing an aging watermain infrastructure crisis. Pipes are surpassing their expected service life, and surveys continue to suggest that the rate of pipe breaks is increasing dramatically. This paper investigates two utilities in Ontario, Canada, that have managed to halt, and even decrease, break rates substantially over the last t...

The increase in frequency and severity of urban flooding events affecting many regions across North America has resulted in increases in occurrence of basement flooding, property damage and insured losses. Numerous lot-scale, watershed and municipal factors affect the risk of flooding for a region, including urbanization and land-use, watershed cha...

The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has resulted in major costs around the world, costs with dimensions in every aspect, from peoples’ daily living to the global economy. As the pandemic progresses, the virus evolves, and more vaccines become available, and the ‘battle against the virus’ continues. As part of the battle, Wastewater-Based Epidemi...

The stable water isotope method is widely applied to distinguish the evapotranspiration (ET) components across various vegetation covered surfaces. ET partitioning in the urban woodland area is useful for guiding precision irrigation; thereby promoting in urban water conservation. For the first time, this study partitions ET in urban locust forest...

Urbanization substantially changes many aspects including the regional hydrological cycle, energy balance, and microclimate. However, the degree to which urbanization alters urban evapotranspiration (ET) and its components (soil evaporation (E), vegetation transpiration (T), impervious surface evaporation (I) and water body evaporation (W)) remains...

Septic systems are a common contributor of contaminants to groundwater that have implications for source water protection, particularly in fractured sedimentary bedrock environments. Two 24-h tracer experiments were performed that applied (1) the dye Lissamine Flavine FF and (2) three artificial sweeteners (acesulfame, sucralose, and cyclamate) in...

The Shuttleworth-Wallace two-source (S-W) model has been widely applied to estimate evapotranspiration (ET) and its components in a variety of vegetation-covered surface conditions. However, significant uncertainties occur in calculation of vegetation canopy resistance (rsc) and soil surface resistance (rss). In this study, an enhanced version of t...

The 28.5 km Lake Ontario shoreline along Credit Valley Conservation’s jurisdiction is habitat for native flora and fauna, the source of drinking water for over two million residents, and the location of outfalls for Region of Peel’s two wastewater treatment plants. Some of the significant sources of pollutants to this region are urban tributaries a...

Estimation of urban evapotranspiration (ET) is meaningful for evaluating the urban heat island effect and promoting urban water conservation. While multi-source satellite-based ET models for farmland and natural ecosystems have been developed, these models lack the object-oriented solutions for the urban areas. In view of this, the present study pr...

While climate change impacts vary globally, for the Kabul River Basin (KRB), concerns are primarily associated with frequent flooding. This research describes the influence of headwater reservoirs on projections of climate change impacts and flood frequency, and how the riparian countries can benefit from storing of floodwaters for use during dry s...

Land surface temperature-fractional vegetation coverage (LST-f c) trapezoid framework based models have been widely developed, applied, and verified to estimate regional latent heat flux (LE) and its partitioning process. The basis of operating these models lies in the determination of end-members within the LST-f c trapezoid. However, the knowledg...

Treated municipal wastewater is reused for agriculture, industry and urban needs. Municipal wastewater production rates can change based on climate variables. Since greenhouse gas emissions intensify climate change, changes in wastewater production under climate change may disrupt wastewater reuse plans. Despite these issues, no approach has been p...

Hydrologic drought is a frequent phenomenon in the transboundary Kabul River Basin (KRB), the vital resource shared between the two nations of Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the KRB has vast water resources, these resources are subject to extreme hydrologic events and, as a result, are not adequately managed to deal with the stress during drought...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/frai.2021.684609.].

In search of practical and affordable tools for wastewater-based surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), three independent field experiments were conducted using three passive sampler sorbents (electronegative membrane, cotton bud, and gauze) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Total daily cases during this study range...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.675766.].

Low impact development (LID) systems have potential to make urban cities more sustainable and resilient, particularly under challenging climate conditions. To quantify performance capabilities, modeling results for an array of combinations of LIDs are described using PCSWMM at lot-level to examine performance of individual LIDs on volume and peak f...

In search of practical and affordable tools for wastewater-based surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), three independent field experiments were conducted using three passive sampler sorbents (electronegative membrane, cotton bud, and gauze) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Total active cases during this study rang...

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 pandemic has challenged medical systems to the brink of collapse around the globe. In this paper, logistic regression and three other artificial intelligence models (XGBoost, Artificial Neural Network and Random Forest) are described and used to predict mortality risk of individual patients. The d...

The COVID-19 global health crisis has had a significant impact on societies worldwide. To evaluate the effectiveness of transmission prevention strategies, infectivity modeling can be used to interpret and analyze various virus responses. In this study, compartmental modeling approaches are used to model and quantify the success of various control...

The worldwide rapid spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has affected millions of individuals and caused unprecedented medical challenges by putting healthcare services under high pressure. Given the global increase in number of cases and mortalities due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical to identify predictiv...

The Kabul River, while having its origin in Afghanistan, has a primary tributary, the Konar River, which originates in Pakistan and enters Afghanistan near Barikot-Arandu. The Kabul River then re-enters Pakistan near Laalpur, Afghanistan making it a true transboundary river. The catastrophic flood events due to major snowmelt events in the Hindu Ku...

Distribution systems throughout North America are deteriorating and pipe breaks are increasing. To deal with these infrastructure crises, utilities have begun to adopt proactive pipe replacement models to determine which pipes to replace and when. This paper develops the first random survival forest watermain pipe replacement model that incorporate...

Concerns regarding the impact of opening daycares and day camps are examined to explore the sensitivity on outbreaks of COVID-19. Overall, while controlling the spread of COVID-19 must be a major concern for all people, society needs to consider various options, including those of alternative reopening strategies to reflect both the impact on child...

The numbers of novel coronavirus cases continue to grow at an unprecedented rate across the world. Attempts to control the growth of the virus using masks and social-distancing, and, recently, double-masking as well, continue to be difficult to maintain, in part due to the extent of asymptomatic cases. Analyses of large datasets consisting of 219,0...

While numerous studies have investigated physically-based analytical approaches for estimating stream flow probability distributions and occurrences of overbank flow, these types of models are limited by their associated complexity to incorporate a wide range of data from all components of the hydrologic system to model their influence on river flo...

Urban flood-related issues are substantial in China, arising from rapid construction of megacities over decades with insufficient flood control, all being made worse by climate change. Since Sponge City (SC) options are primarily effective at maintaining the water balance at the surface, flooding continues. In response, the One Water concept is use...

Remote sensing (RS)-based two-source models have been widely used to separate soil evaporation (E) and vegetation transpiration (T) in ecosystems. Alternative model assumptions and physical mechanisms employed in different two-source models cause the difference in model performance. Understanding of the characteristics and limitations of alternativ...

A simplified empirical equation is developed for widespread prediction of dynamic catchment response time. This model allows for time‐to‐peak prediction to evolve from static, lumped models, thereby providing a single value for any storm within a given catchment, using a single set of input parameters, that can be applied to a dynamic model, thus a...

Climate change impacts are among the many challenges facing management of large cities. This study assesses the important climate variables under climate change impacts in Tehran, Iran, for 2021–2040. Eight Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 5 (CMIP5) models under the scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP2.6), RCP4.5,...

It is well known that watershed-based source water protection programs are integral to the provision of clean drinking water. However, the involvement of Indigenous communities in these programs is very limited in Canada, which has contributed to the vulnerability of Indigenous source waters to contamination. Through a partnership with an Anishinaa...

While evapotranspiration (ET) is normally measured as one hydrologic component, evaporation (E), and transpiration (T) result from different physical‐biological processes. Using a two‐source model, a trapezoid framework has been widely applied in recent years. The key to applying the trapezoid framework model is the determination of the dry/wet bou...

Over the last two decades, a variety of reports have suggested that watermains in Canada are deteriorating, and break rates are increasing. However, these reports are often limited as the years of break records being utilized are brief; this paper revisits those assessments using over forty-five years of break records and shows that three of the fi...

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) has had enormous impacts, indicating need for non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) using Artificial Intelligence (AI) modeling. Investigation of AI models and statistical models provides important insights within the province of Ontario as a case study application using patients'...

While evapotranspiration (ET) is normally measured as one hydrologic component, evaporation (E) and transpiration (T) result from different physical-biological processes. Using a two-source model, a trapezoid framework has been widely applied in recent years. The key to applying the trapezoid framework model is the determination of the dry/wet boun...

Water management activities are currently predicated on the assumption of a stationary climate, despite the reality of climate change. Hydrologic impacts of climate change for three sub-watersheds north of Toronto for 2041-70 were investigated using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System to model six GCM projections from each of RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5,...

Forum papers are thought-provoking opinion pieces or essays founded in fact, sometimes containing speculation, on a civil engineering topic of general interest and relevance to the readership of the journal. The views expressed in this Forum article do not necessarily reflect the views of ASCE or the Editorial Board of the journal.

Backwater valves in sanitary sewer laterals have become a primary mechanism for reducing the risk of basement flooding in residential homes. Despite widespread reliance on these devices to prevent sewer back-up, the performance of backwater valves during significant rainfall events is mostly unknown. Using a questionnaire-based approach followed by...

Flood-related water damages have become the largest home insurance claims in North America in recent years. In response, considerable effort is being focused on options to reduce flood damages, including reducing sanitary sewer backups contributing to basement flooding. The expenditure to carry out field surveys to establish the effectiveness of al...

Many water utilities are facing a crisis of aging infrastructure. Aging pipes are deteriorating, and pipe breaks are increasing. A variety of pipe break prediction models have been developed to identifying which pipes are most likely to break next, in order to assist utilities in prioritizing pipe replacement. This paper investigates the role of da...

In flood forecasting and design for peak flows, understanding and characterizing the hydrologic response to rainfall events is vitally important. One of the key parameters utilized to characterize the catchment response time is the Time-to-Peak (Tp), which represents the net rise time of a storm hydrograph, or the time from when a precipitation eve...

A trapezoidal boundary location algorithm (TBLA) for the dry/wet boundaries of the land surface temperature (Tm)-fractional vegetation coverage (fc) trapezoidal framework is derived. The new model, PCALEP, for Pixel Component Arranging Comparing and Layered Energy Partition, uses newly-developed TBLA and combines field-measured values of the extrem...

While low cost eddy covariance (EC) techniques based on the open-path laser analyzers have been widely used, they are not very accurate and are restricted to use in non-rainy days. As an alternative, and relevant to promoting precision agriculture where water availability is proving key, the application of the EC technique based on closed-path QCLA...

North America's water distribution systems are aging and incurring increased pipe breaks. These breaks pose a serious threat to urban drinking water security, leading to service interruptions, loss of revenue, and increasing risk of water contamination. Prediction models have been developed to help identify when individual underground water pipes a...

Abstract: Maintaining acceptable drinking water quality in First Nations communities has been an ongoing issue in Canada, resulting in frequent drinking water advisories (DWAs). Information about drinking water systems on reserves was combined with historical advisory data to investigate the relationships between system attributes and DWAs using da...

Prediction of vegetation transpiration (T) is of increasing importance in water resources management and agricultural practices, in particular to facilitate precision irrigation. Traditional evapotranspiration (ET) partitioning dual source modeling requires an extensive array of ground-level parameters and needs model correction and calibration to...

The impacts of wastewater on Indigenous drinking water sources is an issue of concern across Canada. This study investigated the wastewater impacts on groundwater resources at a First Nations reserve located on a vulnerable fractured sedimentary bedrock aquifer in southern Ontario. The objectives were to examine the spatiotemporal variability of a...

Rainfall-derived infiltration and inflow (RDII) is a major issue causing surcharge flows in many municipal sanitary sewer systems. This paper demonstrates a statistical method for characterizing the rainfall-derived inflow (RDI) originating from residential foundation drains (also referred to as weeping tiles), as well as the importance of having s...

Estimates of the impact of climate change on Sardabrud River located downstream of Alam-Kuh glacier in northern Iran, ultimately draining into the Caspian Sea, are described. In this research, the GCMs’ projection data with CMIP5 scenarios have been used to predict the situation of this River over the two next decades. Projected data using GCMs (EC...

A linear fractional programming based solid waste management planning model was proposed and applied to support the planning of urban-rural solid waste management in Xiamen, China. The model could obtain the best system efficiency while solving the tradeoff between economic and environmental objectives. It aimed to effectively address the urban and...

Urban stormwater management is essential to improve the management of floodwaters in municipalities in urban areas. However, relying on sponge city options for site planning in an attempt to decrease the impacts of flooding is challenging due to the magnitude of flooding in urban China. The merits of exfiltration technology being used in Canada are...

When considering a region as a superorganism, there are various processes of metabolism that reflect the growth and maintenances of the system, as well as the interactions with the surroundings. Ecological Network Analysis combined with the input-output model is utilized to analyze the water consumption structure and the interaction control relatio...

This paper proposed a newly explored composite photocatalyst, Chitin/ZnO, prepared via the sol-gel method for exploring its photocatalytic activity in the simulated aquaculture wastewater under UV irradiation. The study mainly involves the application of Chitin/ZnO from three aspects: the structure, the principle and the degradation efficiency. The...

A novel failure rate prediction model is developed by the extreme learning machine (ELM) to provide key information needed for optimum ongoing maintenance/rehabilitation of a water network, meaning the estimated times for the next failures of individual pipes within the network. The developed ELM model is trained using more than 9500 instances of p...

Diarrheal illnesses and fatalities continue to be major issues in many regions throughout the world. Household water treatment (HWT) technologies (including both point-of-use (POU) and point-of-entry (POE) treatment solutions) have been shown as able to deliver safe water in many low-income communities. However, as shown herein, there are important...

This study assesses the advantages and limitations of developing design storms using the partial duration series exceedance-based (PDS-E) rainfall frequency model in comparison with the annual maximum series (AMS) model. Rainfall records were obtained from 21 rainfall gauges in Ontario. A procedure to develop the PDS-E was derived, addressing sensi...

Drinking water advisories (DWAs) are a major issue facing many First Nations communities across Canada. This paper analyzes drinking water system data matched to DWA data using a probabilistic neural network (PNN) model to find key factors that influence the occurrence, frequency, duration, and cause of DWAs. First, for all data across Canada and s...

This paper advances the research on pipe failure modeling by applying a state-of-the-art gradient boosting machine learning algorithm (xgboost) to a large ductile iron pipe failure dataset. The model was designed to predict the time to next failure for individual ductile iron pipes. The overall root-mean-square error for the xgboost model was 5.81,...

Many people potentially affected by flooding will undertake measures to either control flood levels or mitigate the damaging effects of the flood (e.g. use of berms, flood gates, sand bags). However, not everyone is in a position to prevent or mitigate damages incurred by a flood event. Thus, while flood-related costs are determined through economi...

While provision of safe drinking water is considered a basic human right, there are major challenges in the developing world for its provision. The ability to deliver safe water using a cost-appropriate technology is a major aspect of the problem. One of the technologies that has the potential to contribute significantly is the ceramic water filter...

Geo-hazards, a collective term for earthquakes, floods, windstorms, famine and drought, are intensifying with time and are obstacles to attainment of sustainable development. In particular, issues of availability of safe water are major disruptive elements causing the spread of diarrheal diseases during, and post, these geo-hazard events. Given tha...

The modeling of depletion timeframe for a non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) layer is partially dependent on transverse vertical dispersivity. This paper provides guidance for estimating this parameter over the wide range of soil textures in which NAPL resides at contaminated sites. Transverse dispersivity is re-calculated for several previous NAPL di...

This study proposes a multi-objective model (i.e. MOHRA) for groundwater remediation in a petroleum-contaminated site under health risk assessment. The optimization system is designed based on the pump and treat technology considering both cost and human health risk, which can provide reliable groundwater remediation strategies.