Dale M Robertson
Dale Robertson is a Research Hydrologist with the Upper Midwest Water Science Center.
Dale is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Michigan Technological University, and University of Toledo, and a Honorary Fellow with the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His current research with the USGS deals with modeling eutrophication and mixing in lakes, estimating loads and concentrations of nutrients and sediment in streams over large geographic areas, such as the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins, developing nutrient criteria for streams and rivers, and examining the effects of climate change on the physical dynamics, ice cover, and productivity of lakes.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
- Biogeochemistry - Hydrology/Limnology
- Eutrophication - Nutrient Transport and Fate
- Limnology
- Water-quality modeling in Lakes
- Watershed modeling (SPARROW)
- Influence of environmental factors, watershed management strategies, and in-lake management alternatives on the water quality of rivers and lakes
- Climate Change - Ice as climatic indicators
- Regional loading estimates
Education and Certifications
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, in Reservoir Modeling - Centre for Water Research, University of Western Australia, Perth. 1989-1991.
Ph.D Oceanography and Limnology - University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dissertation: "The Use of Lake Water Temperature and Ice Cover as Climatic Indicators", 1984-1989.
M.S. Oceanography and Limnology-University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Thesis:"Interbasin Separation and Its Impact on the Annual Heat Budgets of the Individual Basins in Trout Lake, Wisconsin," 1981-1984.
B.S. Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics - St. Norbert College, DePere, Wisconsin, 1976-1981.
Science and Products
Nutrient delivery to Lake Winnipeg from the Red-Assiniboine River Basin – A binational application of the SPARROW model
Regional effects of agricultural conservation practices on nutrient transport in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Simulated impacts of climate change on phosphorus loading to Lake Michigan
Long-term trends in a Dimictic Lake
Informing Lake Erie agriculture nutrient management via scenario evaluation
Interannual and long-term changes in the trophic state of a multibasin lake: Effects of morphology, climate, winter aeration, and beaver activity
The importance of considering shifts in seasonal changes in discharges when predicting future phosphorus loads in streams
Estimation of river and stream temperature trends under haphazard sampling
Reducing fertilizer-nitrogen losses from rowcrop landscapes: Insights and implications from a spatially explicit watershed model
Control of nitrogen and phosphorus transport by reservoirs in agricultural landscapes
Reducing nitrogen export from the corn belt to the Gulf of Mexico: agricultural strategies for remediating hypoxia
Effects of lakes and reservoirs on annual river nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment export in agricultural and forested landscapes
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Nutrient delivery to Lake Winnipeg from the Red-Assiniboine River Basin – A binational application of the SPARROW model
Excessive phosphorus (TP) and nitrogen (TN) inputs from the Red–Assiniboine River Basin (RARB) have been linked to eutrophication of Lake Winnipeg; therefore, it is important for the management of water resources to understand where and from what sources these nutrients originate. The RARB straddles the Canada–United States border and includes portions of two provinces and three states. This studyAuthorsGlenn A. Benoy, R. Wayne Jenkinson, Dale M. Robertson, David A. SaadRegional effects of agricultural conservation practices on nutrient transport in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Despite progress in the implementation of conservation practices, related improvements in water quality have been challenging to measure in larger river systems. In this paper we quantify these downstream effects by applying the empirical U.S. Geological Survey water-quality model SPARROW to investigate whether spatial differences in conservation intensity were statistically correlated with variatAuthorsAna María García, Richard B. Alexander, Jeffrey G. Arnold, Lee Norfleet, Michael J. White, Dale M. Robertson, Gregory E. SchwarzSimulated impacts of climate change on phosphorus loading to Lake Michigan
Phosphorus (P) loading to the Great Lakes has caused various types of eutrophication problems. Future climatic changes may modify this loading because climatic models project changes in future meteorological conditions, especially for the key hydrologic driver — precipitation. Therefore, the goal of this study is to project how P loading may change from the range of projected climatic changes. ToAuthorsDale M. Robertson, David A. Saad, Daniel E. Christiansen, David J LorenzLong-term trends in a Dimictic Lake
The one-dimensional hydrodynamic ice model, DYRESM-WQ-I, was modified to simulate ice cover and thermal structure of dimictic Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, USA, over a continuous 104-year period (1911–2014). The model results were then used to examine the drivers of changes in ice cover and water temperature, focusing on the responses to shifts in air temperature, wind speed, and water clarity at multAuthorsDale M. Robertson, Yi-Fang Hsieh, Richard C Lathrop, Chin H Wu, Madeline Magee, David P. HamiltonInforming Lake Erie agriculture nutrient management via scenario evaluation
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been increasing in extent and intensity in the western basin of Lake Erie. The cyanobacteria Microcystis produces toxins that pose serious threats to animal and human health, resulting in beach closures and impaired water supplies, and have even forced a “do not drink” advisory for the City of Toledo water system for several days in the summer of 2014. The main driAuthorsDonald Scavia, Margaret Kalcic, Rebecca Logsdon Muenich, Noel Aloysius, Jeffrey Arnold, Chelsie Boles, Remegio Confesor, Joseph DePinto, Marie Gildow, Jay Martin, Jennifer Read, Todd Redder, Dale M. Robertson, Scott P. Sowa, Yu-Chen Wang, Michael White, Haw YenInterannual and long-term changes in the trophic state of a multibasin lake: Effects of morphology, climate, winter aeration, and beaver activity
Little St. Germain Lake (LSG), a relatively pristine multibasin lake in Wisconsin, USA, was examined to determine how morphologic (internal), climatic (external), anthropogenic (winter aeration), and natural (beaver activity) factors affect the trophic state (phosphorus, P; chlorophyll, CHL; and Secchi depth, SD) of each of its basins. Basins intercepting the main flow and external P sources had hAuthorsDale M. Robertson, William Rose, Paul C. ReneauThe importance of considering shifts in seasonal changes in discharges when predicting future phosphorus loads in streams
In this work, we hypothesize that phosphorus (P) concentrations in streams vary seasonally and with streamflow and that it is important to incorporate this variation when predicting changes in P loading associated with climate change. Our study area includes 14 watersheds with a range of land uses throughout the U.S. Great Lakes Basin. We develop annual seasonal load-discharge regression models foAuthorsMeredith B. LaBeau, Alex S. Mayer, Veronica Griffis, David Jr. Watkins, Dale M. Robertson, Rabi GyawaliEstimation of river and stream temperature trends under haphazard sampling
Long-term temporal trends in water temperature in rivers and streams are typically estimated under the assumption of evenly-spaced space-time measurements. However, sampling times and dates associated with historical water temperature datasets and some sampling designs may be haphazard. As a result, trends in temperature may be confounded with trends in time or space of sampling which, in turn, maAuthorsBrian R. Gray, Vyacheslav Lyubchich, Yulia R. Gel, James T. Rogala, Dale M. Robertson, Xiaoqiao WeiReducing fertilizer-nitrogen losses from rowcrop landscapes: Insights and implications from a spatially explicit watershed model
We present conceptual and quantitative models that predict changes in fertilizer-derived nitrogen delivery from rowcrop landscapes caused by agricultural conservation efforts implemented to reduce nutrient inputs and transport and increase nutrient retention in the landscape. To evaluate the relative importance of changes in the sources, transport, and sinks of fertilizer-derived nitrogen across aAuthorsEileen McLellan, Keith Schilling, Dale M. RobertsonControl of nitrogen and phosphorus transport by reservoirs in agricultural landscapes
Reservoirs often receive excess nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) lost from agricultural land, and may subsequently influence N and P delivery to inland and coastal waters through internal processes such as nutrient burial, denitrification, and nutrient turnover. Currently there is a need to better understand how reservoirs affect nutrient transport in agricultural landscapes, where few prior studieAuthorsStephen M. Powers, Jennifer L. Tank, Dale M. RobertsonReducing nitrogen export from the corn belt to the Gulf of Mexico: agricultural strategies for remediating hypoxia
SPAtially Referenced Regression on Watershed models developed for the Upper Midwest were used to help evaluate the nitrogen-load reductions likely to be achieved by a variety of agricultural conservation practices in the Upper Mississippi-Ohio River Basin (UMORB) and to compare these reductions to the 45% nitrogen-load reduction proposed to remediate hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Our resultAuthorsEileen McLellan, Dale M. Robertson, Keith Schilling, Mark Tomer, Jill Kostel, Douglas G. Smith, Kevin KingEffects of lakes and reservoirs on annual river nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment export in agricultural and forested landscapes
Recently, effects of lakes and reservoirs on river nutrient export have been incorporated into landscape biogeochemical models. Because annual export varies with precipitation, there is a need to examine the biogeochemical role of lakes and reservoirs over time frames that incorporate interannual variability in precipitation. We examined long-term (~20 years) time series of river export (annual maAuthorsStephen M. Powers, Dale M. Robertson, Emily H. Stanley - Web Tools
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