RESEARCH HYDRAULIC ENGINEER: ROBERT R. WELLS
RESEARCH INTRESTS
Evaluating infiltration and surface geometry characteristics of cracking (shrink/swell) soils.
River classification and channel evolution modeling.
Concentrated flow erosion.
Critically assessing the controlling variables of soil erodibility.
Determining the interactions between concentrated flow, soil properties, and sediment.
Quantify the effectiveness of conservation practices at controlling rill and gully erosion.
FIVE PRODUCTS MOST RELEVANT TO THE PROPOSED RESEARCH
Gesch, K.R., Wells, R.R., Cruse, R., Momm, H.G., and Dabney, S.M., 2015, Quantifying uncertainty of
close-range digital photogrammetry for measuring gully morphological evolution. Soil Science
Society of America Journal. doi:10.2136/sssaj2014.10.0396.
Wells, R.R., H.G. Momm, J.R. Rigby, S.J. Bennett, R.L. Bingner, and S.M. Dabney, 2013, An empirical
investigation of gully widening rates in upland concentrated flows, Catena, 101, 114-121.
Gordon, L.M., S.J. Bennett, and R.R. Wells, 2012, Response of a soil-mantled experimental landscape to
exogenic forcing, Water Resources Research, 48, W10514, doi:10.1029/2012WR012283.
Wells, R.R., S.J. Bennett, and C.V. Alonso, 2010, Modulation of headcut soil erosion in rills due to
upstream sediment loads, Water Resources Research, 46, W12531, doi:10.1029/2010WR009433.
Wells, R.R., S.J. Bennett, and C.V. Alonso, 2009, Effect of soil texture, tailwater height, and pore-water
pressure on the morphodynamics of migrating headcuts in upland concentrated flows, Earth Surface
Processes and Landforms, 34, 1867-1877.
Wells, R.R., C.V. Alonso, and S.J. Bennett, 2009, Morphodynamics of headcut development and soil
erosion in upland concentrated flows. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 73(2), 521-530.
FIVE OTHER RECENT PRODUCTS
(out of 21 journal papers, 2 book chapters, 27 conference proceedings papers)
Momm, H.G., R.L. Bingner, R.R. Wells, J.R. Rigby, and S.M. Dabney, 2013, Effect of topographic
characteristics on compound topographic index for identification of gully channel initiation locations,
Transactions of the ASABE, 56, 523-537.
Momm, H.G., R.L. Bingner, R.R. Wells, and D. Wilcox, 2012, AGNPS GIS-based tool for watershedscale identification and mapping of cropland potential ephemeral gullies, Applied Engineering in
Agriculture, 28, 17-29.
Momm, H.G., R.L. Bingner, R.R. Wells, and S.M. Dabney, 2011, Methods for Gully Characterization in
Agricultural Croplands using Ground-Based Light Detection and Ranging. Sediment Transport Flow and Morphological Processes. ABM Faruk Bhuiyan (Ed.), ISBN 978-953-307-374-3, InTech.
Uyusur, B., C.J.G. Darnault, P.T. Snee, E. Koken. A.R. Jacobson, and R.R. Wells, 2010, Coupled effects
of solution chemistry and hydrodynamics on the mobility and transport of quantum dot nanomaterials
in the vadose zone, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 118, 184-198.
Langendoen, E.J., R.R. Wells, R.E. Thomas, A. Simon, and R.L. Bingner, 2009, Modeling the evolution
of incised streams. III: Model application, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 135(6), 476-486.
SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES
Serving as Co-organizer of upcoming symposia: 7th International Symposium on Gully Erosion,
Integrating Processes, Management, and Prediction, National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory and
Purdue University, 275 South Russell St., West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA, May 2016, with S.J. Bennett,
C.-H. Huang, and J. Wainwright.
CURRENT PROJECTS
NIFA Project: “An integrated approach to precision conservation planning in the South Fork Watershed,
Iowa”, National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant with Iowa State University.
NSF Project: “Pattern emergence and resilience of rill networks and their relation to soil loss, landscape
degradation, and erosion prediction technology”, National Science Foundation (NSF) – Division of
Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, Geography and Spatial Sciences. Collaborative research with
University at Buffalo and Middle Tennessee State University.
USCOE Project: United States Army Corps of Engineers (USCOE) Kansas City District project to
quantify erodibility of reservoir depositional material in Tuttle Creek Lake, Manhattan, Kansas.
Minnesota Project: United States Army Corps of Engineers (USCOE) project with University of
Minnesota, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, entitled, “Minnesota River
Basin Integrated Watershed, Water Quality, and Ecosystem Restoration Study”.