The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
ANNUAL REPORTING FORM
 
Robert Freeland, Professor
Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science
Annual Performance Period: January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007


A. SUMMARY AND IMPACTS.

1. Summary. Provide an overall summary (500 words or less) of your accomplishments during the reporting period.

Catastrophic earthquakes have repeatedly shook the Missouri Bootheel throughout history—the most recent being the 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes. During the great earthquakes, long fissure trenches would open and close, tearing the landscape. Sand blows erupted, pockmarking millions of acres about the Bootheel with sand craters.
Nearly a century of mechanized agriculture and erosion has all but erased the sand blows and fissure trenches from the surface. Thus, fields impacted by the earthquake will appear as normal. Fields having sand blows drain much more rapidly than expected during flooding, and require greater volumes of furrow-irrigated water.
Sand fissures now serve as hidden water-transport channels, much as sink holes and abandoned wells. The vents that feed the sand blows extend from just beneath the surface directly back into the water table.
We have developed a survey methodology for precisely mapping the sand blow locations across large acreages using ground-penetrating radar and archived early-era aerial photography. When located, we either earmark the features for remediation, or recommend excluding severely impacted areas from winter flooding and irrigation.
Remediation of the sand blows involves (1) locating the fissure, (2) excavating the overburden down to the water perching horizon, (3) spreading a thin layer of sodium bentonite clay across the exposed sand breach. The trench is then backfilled with its excavated soil.



2. Impacts. List up to three significant impacts of your program. Impact statements should be one to three sentences and should be written in a way that would be meaningful to the public.

Our 2007 research on the leakage of large-acreage waterfowl impoundment pools in Dyer County, Tenn., which are impacted by sand blows, revealed a drainage rate of 60 gallons per minute per acre. Remediation of 75% of the sand blows in a research section reduced the drainage rate by over 50%.
We are proposing two to three extension demonstration projects for Missouri rice farmers on their rice fields impacted by sand blows. We will also supply local Bootheel service provider training, demonstrating the best management practices for rice fields impacted by sand blows.
This project’s long-term goal is improving irrigation efficiencies for rice farmers within and about the Missouri Bootheel. We propose using extension outreach education for introduction of best management practices for effectively dealing with sand blows on irrigated lands.



B. PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS (EXTENSION, RESEARCH AND TEACHING). As applicable, list title, names of participants (PIs, Leaders, Co-PIs, Co-leaders, Collaborators etc.), project number, sponsor, your role ( leader/co-leader/collaborator) and your percent effort on the project as stated in the project description or document.

TEN 248 Rapid Sensing and Assessment of In-Field Soil Resource Variability for Site-Specific Field Management Co-PIs

C. INSTRUCTION, TEACHING AND EXTENSION EDUCATION. Detail credit and non-credit instruction and teaching activities.

1. College credit instruction. List courses in which you were an instructor or guest lecturer during the current calendar year. Include special topics, independent study and internship courses. Provide course number and title, your involvement, semester(s), credit hours and number of students. Please append a summary of teaching evaluations (student and/or peer) if this information is available.

Course number and title Involvement Semester Credit
hours
Number of
students
BsE402 Biosystems Engineering Design IITeamSpring66
FYS129 Freshman SeminarTotalFall115
BsET212 SurveyingTotalFall36

2. Formal continuing education (certification programs, seminar series, in-service training, field days, faculty and/or staff training, journal club, etc.). Provide descriptive title of activity, your involvement, number of participants or students involved, number and duration of each session.

Descrip. title, including dates Involvement Number of students
or participants
Number of
sessions
Duration of each
session (hours)
Ames Plantation Field Day, GPR Archaeological Survey, Saturday, October 13th, 2007Total25016
Archaeological Survey Field School, Rhodes College, Ames Plantation3034
Graduate Seminar Presentation Ground-penetrating Radar Mapping of agricultural Landforms within the New Madrid Seismic Zone of the Mississippi Embayment. American Society of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. 4011

3. Extension presentations and workshops. Indicate title, type, and scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
       

4. Public addresses to lay audiences (TV/radio presentations, service groups, etc.). Indicate title, type, scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
TAES Public Relations Media Advisory, TV Promotion, Cemetery Survey, Freshman Seminar, WBIR news, OctoberMulti-county1 
WHERE THE WATER GOES,Research reveals underground secrets, helps producers understand their water needs BETTY VALLE GEGG MidAmerica Farmer Grower Regional1 

5. Presentations at professional meetings, without published abstracts. List presenter, co-authors (if any), title, date and name of meeting (list scientific oral or poster presentations having published abstracts or proceedings at D5).

Freeland, R. S., Impact of sand blows and fissures on the agricultural landforms within the New Madrid Seismic Zone of the Mississippi Embayment. Dec. 11, 2007. USDA Integrated grant proposal meeting. Delta Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Missouri, Portageville, MO.

6. Student mentoring. Fill in the boxes to indicate number of students in each category.

Level of students No. of students advised No. of active graduate committees on which you served as:
Major professor Committee member
Undergraduate      
Masters    
Doctoral      

7. Student or commodity club activities (e.g. club advisor, team competitions, honor or professional societies, etc.). List the club or group; your role with the club or group; and the activities, honors or awards received by this group under your mentorship.

American Society of Biological and Agricultural Engineers, member

8. Other instructional and teaching activities.

Developed and direct licensed land surveying concentration for department's undergraduate program.



D. PUBLICATIONS. List only publications that were published during the annual reporting period (for #8, submitted during reporting period). Format citations as typical and appropriate for outlet. If a co-author(s) is a student or was working under your direct supervision, place an asterisk after that person's name.

1. Refereed articles or refereed reviews appearing in peer-reviewed professional journals.

Freeland, R. S., and L. O. Odhiambo.  2007.  Subsurface Characterization using Textural Features Extracted from GPR .  Transactions of the ASABE 50(1):287-293.

2. Book chapters or books.

3. Bulletins, reports, circulars, pamphlets, factsheets.

4. Popular press, trade, UTIA magazine or newsletter articles.

5. Abstracts from scientific or discipline meetings, papers from conference proceedings, etc.

Freeland, R. S., J. T. Ammons, and C.L. Wirwa.  2007.  Ground-penetrating Radar Mapping of agricultural Landforms within the New Madrid Seismic Zone of the Mississippi Embayment.  American Society of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. Paper number 073099.

6. Theses/Dissertations completed by students that you directed.

7. Other publications.

8. Articles submitted during the reporting period that are in review, in press or rejected. Please do not list articles in preparation.

Freeland, R. S., J. T. Ammons, and C.L. Wirwa.  2007.  The Subsurface Anatomy of the Northwest Tennessee’s Sand Blows.  Soil Survey Horizons . Soil Science Society of America.  (in review)

Freeland, R. S.  2007.  CRC Handbook of Agricultural Geophysics, Mapping Near-surface Preferential Flow.  The Handbook is scheduled to be published in June 2008.  (in press)

Freeland, R. S., J. C. Sorochan, J. S. McElroy, and M. J. Goddard.  2007.  USING GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR TO EVALUATE SOIL COMPACTION AND ORGANIC MATTER WITHIN ATHLETIC TURFGRASS FIELDS.  Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 26-Dec-2007 revise and resubmit.  (in press)

Freeland, R. S., J. T. Ammons, and C. L. Wirwa.  2007.  GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR MAPPING OF AGRICULTURAL LANDFORMS WITHIN THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT.  Manuscript IET-07069-2007.R1 accepted Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 25-Nov-2007. Proof accepted from editor on Jan. 10, 2008.  (in press)


E. FUNDING. Format each entry as a citation, include as applicable: investigators (with percent effort shown on grant or contract document), title, source/agency.

1. Grant and contract proposals submitted but not awarded during this reporting period. Indicate date of submission and status (still pending, rejected).

Freeland, R. S. (100%).  Best Mgt. Practices of Sand Blows in the Missouri Bootheel - Impact on Water Quality..  USDA CSREES UREEC.  4/4/07.  $600,000.  (rejected)

2. Grants and contracts awarded during this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

Freeland, R. S. (100%).  Freshman Seminar.  UT Provost.  9/1/07-12/12/07.  $1,500.

Freeland, R. S. (100%).  Teaching Equipment Award.  College.  5/14/07-6/14/07.  $6,500.

3. Grants and contracts awarded in past years that continued into this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

Freeland, R. S. (50%), J. T. Ammons (50%).  GPR Survey of TWRA Bogota Site.  Tenn. Wildlife Resources Agency.  5/1/06-12/31/08.  $20,350.

4. Gifts. List recipients, donor, items or amount donated and dollar equivalent received during the reporting period.

Robert Freeland, Ron Davenport-SubSurface Instruments Inc., Survey magnetic locator for class instruction, $800

5. Grant reports submitted. List authors, title, to whom submitted, date submitted.

Freeland, R. S., J. T. Ammons, and C.L. Wirwa. Ground-penetrating Radar Mapping of agricultural Landforms within the New Madrid Seismic Zone of the Mississippi Embayment. TWRA, Aug 2007

6. Other (e.g. sales, royalties).


F. OTHER CREATIVE ACTIVITIES.

1. Tech. advances (intell. prop., patent, copyright, products, processes, genetic lines/varieties).

2. Computer software (e.g. instructional or research software, CD ROMs).

Freeland, R. S.  2007.  Cool Tools, class CD-ROM.  Distribution CD containing coursework material for surveying class.

3. Educational tools.

Freeland, R. S.  2007.  Topcon Positioning Systems, RTK Equipment. 

4. Internet activities.

Freeland, R. S.  2007.  Blackboard Course Site for Surveying, Fall 2007. 

Freeland, R. S.  2007.  Research Website Groundscan.com.  http://www.groundscan.com.

5. Other creative products and activities.


G. SERVICE. List client outreach activities (both public and private sectors) and professional service.
    
1. Client service.
 a. Commodity or discipline group service activities. List committees, offices held or other roles.

State of Tennessee, Licensed Professional Engineer

b. Clinical and diagnostic services. List type of service provided and client(s).

Larry McKay, Program Manager and Senior Archaeologist, TRC Solutions, Nashville.

Dan Allen, Tennessee Research Group, Murfreesboro

Dr. Joe Henggeler, Missouri Extension Irrigation Specialist, Sand Blow Surveys, Rone's farm

Dr. Dennis Onks, Cattle scanning survey instruments

c. Service to individual producers, businesses, or corporations as a specialist, consultant or expert advisor (whether paid or unpaid). List your one-on-one service activities with this group of clients.

Landowner, Rick Leow, Dyersburg Tenn., location of sand blows and fissures within his field.

Homeowner, Rachel Klima, Oak Ridge resident, GPR information for foundation sensing.

Dr. Robert Washington-Allen, Univ. of Virginia, GPR research equipment quote and review.

d. Other (e.g. Ag Day activities, Varsity Visit, judging, presentations at clubs and K-12 schools).

Skills Day, Spring 2007
Torch Club Presentation, Luncheon invited presentation, Feb. 15

2. Professional service (for professional colleagues).
a. Within the university.
I. Committee work. Briefly describe your involvement during the reporting period.
i. University.

College of Engineering ABET Committee

ii. UTIA.

iii. Department.

ABET Committee, Chair. (Full Program Accreditation 2006)
Tenure and Promotion, Member
BsE Program Advisory Council, Member


II. Other (e.g. technical assistance to colleagues, peer reviews,
mentoring of junior faculty, hosting visiting scientists).


b. Outside the university (e.g. committee work/offices in professional or public organizations or societies, editorship, editorial boards, review of manuscripts (indicate outlet) and project proposals (indicate agency), meetings organized, member of grant review panel or study section, moderator, etc.).

ASABE, IET Division Executive Committee Secretary, President Elect
ASABE, IET Division 2008 Program Chair-Session Organizer Annual Meeting
ASABE IET Committee Chair
ASABE IET Associate Editor
ASABE Publication Council
ASABE IET-01 Steering Committee Member, Division Chair-elect 2009
ASABE manuscript reviews




H. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (meetings, workshops, classes, trips, etc.). List the event or activity, sponsor, duration of event and your role.

Fall College Teaching Seminar, Aug. 14
TAES Round table, July 23
ASABE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, June 16-21
TAES Workshop, April 9th



I. PERSONNEL SUPERVISION. List the postdoctoral fellows, research associates, research assistants, technicians, extension associates, extension assistants, graduate assistants, undergraduate students, clerical personnel or others that you supervised during the year.

ClassificationFTE's per semester
SpringSummerFall
Postdoctoral fellows      
Research associates, assistants, technicians      
Extension associates, assistants      
Graduate students, assistants      
Undergraduate students      
Clerical personnel      
Other      


J. HONORS AND AWARDS. List honors and awards received during reporting period, including the name of the organization presenting the award.