Bill Saunders


University of Texas at Austin
Center for Research in Water Resources
J.J. Pickle Research Campus Bldg. 119
Austin, TX 78712
Phone: (512) 239-4535
email:bsaunder@smtpgate.tnrcc.state.tx.us


Howdy and welcome to my research homepage!! I received my Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in May 1996. As a research assistant at UT's Center for Research in Water Resources, I studied the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a watershed-scale assessment of nonpoint source pollutants. This assessment was performed by associating average expected pollutant concentrations with land uses in the watershed and using the Arc/Info GIS GRID tool to simulate rainfall runoff throughout the basin. My Master's Report, titled A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Assessment of Nonpoint Source Pollution in the San Antonio-Nueces Coastal Basin, is available in electronic format (Adobe Acrobat PDF file) via this web-site.

The water resources curriculum in UT's Civil Engineering Department is part of the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE) program, which has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 3 graduate environmental engineering programs in the country. While enrolled in the EWRE program, my research advisor was Dr. David Maidment. The enthusiasm that Dr. Maidment demonstrates for his fields of study is quite contagious and, as a result, his weekly "GIS in Water Resources" research group meetings regularly evolve into stimulating discussions regarding implementation of methods, integration of ideas, or utilization of data sets. Strong professional and personal bonds exist between the members in this team of graduate students, researchers, and faculty, and I feel honored to have been a part of it .

Dr. Maidment teaches a GIS in Water Resources class each Spring. As part of this class, each of the assignments is made available to the students via Internet. The research discussed in my report has been synthesized into a Nonpoint Source Pollution exercise for the class. Those with access to Arc/Info 7.0 and ArcView 2.0 (or later versions) will be able to get a "hands on" feel for the process by performing the assignment. Go ahead!! It's fun, and really shows the power of Geographic Information Systems in performing environmental assessments.

Prior to entering the Master's program at UT, I worked for 10 years as an electronics engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, Rhode Island, where I made many yankee friends. I earned my Bachelor's Degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Maine at Orono in 1982, and I go to see the Black Bears play whenever I get the chance (which isn't much here in Texas). I am currently employed as a water quality modeler in the Water Planning and Assessment Division of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) here in Austin, TX. I plan to continue using GIS applications in the pollutant Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) assessments of watersheds throughout the state. This will require a GIS interface with the QUAL-TX instream water quality FORTRAN model.

I hope that this report provides you with valuable information regarding the pollution assessment capabilities of GIS. Please feel free to provide input, either to me at the above e-mail address or to Dr. Maidment at maidment@crwr.utexas.edu.


A GIS Assessment of Nonpoint Source Pollution in the San Antonio - Nueces Coastal Basin

Other Documents:


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