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This book contains the peer-reviewed papers that were accepted and presented at the 2023 13th International Conference on Environmental Science and Engineering (ICESE 2023), held in Leuven, Belgium, September 8–10, 2023. The conference provides a forum for researchers and practitioners to address advances in the field of environmental science and engineering including problems, solutions, and research directions. The contents of the book cover emerging and diverse topics, including environmental systems approach, clean technologies, environmental restoration and ecological engineering, wastewater and sludge treatment, climate and climatic changes, atmospheric modeling and numerical prediction, waste minimization, recycling and reuse, solid waste management, carbon capture and storage, and sludge treatment and reuse.

This volume uses aerosol optical depth (AOD) analysis through mapping and remote sensing techniques to derive the relationship between aerosols and hazardous precipitation events, primarily in the form of flooding. Attention is also given to pollution caused by an abundance of particulate matter in the atmosphere and its impacts on human health, which is also assessed via the study of AOD. Background is given on how AOD is retrieved, and why it is a useful tool for estimating atmospheric particle concentration, but also the challenges associated with using this approach. Different aerosol types are introduced to perform a comparative analysis of the most common associations between pollution impacts on temperature and resulting precipitation events. These analyses will help to provide an overview of the best strategies to make informed and sustainable disaster risk management practices and policies. The target audience for the work is students, researchers, and scientists working witha vision towards sustainability, public health safety and air pollution mitigation measures. It will also be a useful text for climate change policy makers, environmental engineers and stakeholders in social development sectors.

This book explores the interaction between climate change phenomena and the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum (SPAC), which inspects the crucial role of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in modifying the net ecosystem response towards the modified environment. Increasing concentration of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) from massive deforestation, fossil fuel burning and rapid industrialization in the post-nineteenth century have led to adverse changes in our global climate system. The book evaluates the net impact of climate change on soil, plants and the atmosphere individually and in totality. Among the topics it covers are the impact of climate change on soil environment which encompasses soil processes, nutrient cycling, soil carbon sequestration, soil biota response and soil health management. Also included are the impact on plants with respect to the dry matter assimilation pattern, modification in resource use efficiency, rhizosphere interactions, management of biotic and abiotic stress factors, and regulatory mechanisms of biotic stress factors in modifying the net agroecosystem response towards climate change. Moreover, potential genetic engineering options for establishing C4 or Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in C3 plants, heat–drought stress on pollen biology, breeding ideotype, ecological indicators and crop simulation modelling are considered. Lastly, the impact on the atmosphere takes into account greenhouse gas measurements, mitigation options, eddy covariance measurement of greenhouse gasses, satellite-based monitoring, ecosystem services, abiotic stress management options, air pollution and atmospheric modelling. This book is a valuable resource for researchers, students and policymakers in understanding climate change impacts on interaction processes among the atmosphere, soil and plants from the local to regional scales.

This book delves into the characterization, impacts, drivers, and predictability of atmospheric rivers (AR). It begins with the historical background and mechanisms governing AR formation, giving insights into the global and regional perspectives of ARs, observing their varying manifestations across different geographical contexts. The book explores the key characteristics of ARs, from their frequency and duration to intensity, unraveling the intricate relationship between atmospheric rivers and precipitation. The book also focus on the intersection of ARs with large-scale climate oscillations, such as El Niño and La Niña events, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The chapters help understand how these climate phenomena influence AR behavior, offering a nuanced perspective on climate modeling and prediction. The book also covers artificial intelligence (AI) applications, from pattern recognition to prediction modeling and early warning systems. A case study on AR prediction using deep learning models exemplifies the practical applications of AI in this domain. The book culminates by underscoring the interdisciplinary nature of AR research and the synergy between atmospheric science, climatology, and artificial intelligence