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This article presents an assessment of the impact of mining activities in the Emalahleni municipality, using GIS and RS technologies. The random forest algorithm was used to classify the land use and land cover in the Emalahleni municipality over a three-decade period (1990–2020). The classifications are settlement, water, mining area, vegetation, and bare land. The majority of the study area was found to be rocky ground, accounting for approximately 60% of the total study area. Change detection maps were created for vegetation and mining to assess the extent of land degradation in the study area over the three-decade period. The findings in this study highlight the importance of understanding the changes in land use and vegetation cover in the study area and its impact on the environment, as well as the local community. It is crucial to develop sustainable land management strategies that ensure that a reasonable balance concerning the economic development activities is achieved, such as mining with environmental management for its long-term viability for future generations. The data presented in this study provides a useful baseline for further research and can inform land-use planning and decision-making processes in Emalahleni. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Volta Basin in West Africa plays a crucial role in supporting the livelihoods of millions of people, and effective management of its water resources is essential for climate change adaptation. This study utilized remote sensing technology, specifically the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), to assess terrestrial water storage (TWS) and its response to climate variability within the Volta Basin. The methodology involved integrating GRACE data with ground-based measurements, climate models, and other satellite observations to enhance the accuracy of TWS assessment. Despite numerous studies conducted within the basin, this research employed additional statistical techniques such as Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It also utilized Climate Hazard Group Infrared Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) to determine variations in TWS and climate variability observed within the Volta Basin. The results provide valuable insights into TWS dynamics, highlighting the complex interplay between precipitation patterns, groundwater storage, and surface water availability. Also, it was revealed that rainfall signals were strongest in the northernmost part of the basin, reaching a maximum value of 10 mm, while the lowest value of 5.5 mm was recorded in the southern part of the basin. Similarly, TWS signals were highest in the northern and lowest in the southern part of the basin, exhibiting values related to that of rainfall. Additionally, the highest TWS value of 250 mm was identified between 2010 and 2012. The increase in TWS during this period correlates with the occurrence of La Niña that happened between 2010 and 2012. This study offers essential information for water resource management, drought monitoring, flood forecasting, and climate change adaptation strategies not only within the Volta Basin but also in other basins across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise pollution is one of Ghana's environmental risks and it has become the norm in metropolitan areas to the point where residents in these locations experience noise nuisance and may be at risk of hearing loss. Most developed and developing countries have established traffic noise standards as a control mechanism to reduce traffic noise exposure emissions. This study aims to investigate current practices of traffic noise regulations and policy. Various agencies responsible for the control of noise pollution and the urban road sector were interviewed about traffic noise standards and practices, and it was observed that these agencies' noise practices were based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established guidelines, which did not include transportation noise regulation. Except for a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), regulation that allows a certain vehicle horning system for specific vehicle users, this study discovered that this policy is not fully implemented. A preliminary survey was conducted to collect traffic field data and inhabitants' perceptions of traffic noise. Of the 30 respondents, 26 respondents (86.7%) affirmed that they experience traffic noise pollution at various locations, while 23 respondents (76.7%) reported various health effects due to exposure to traffic noise. This can be related to the observed noise levels which exceeded the dissatisfaction score of 5 (89 dB(A)), and also Leq value (109.1 dB(A)) was greater than the environmental permissible limit of the EPA standard of 70 dB(A). This indicates that roadside residents suffer from noise annoyance. It is recommended that transport, and environmental-related agencies work unanimously to ensure that effective control of traffic noise pollution is developed, enforced, and implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic noise is a major cause of noise pollution, and impacts of noise pollution on humans have been studied extensively. Previous studies have helped in the development of traffic noise prediction analysis using robust analytical and computational models, parameters connected with traffic, road characteristics, and environment. This study reviewed 11 traffic noise modeling strategies and parameters used by various agencies in different parts of the world. Seven out of the 11 models reviewed in this paper were based on outdoor measurements while the remaining four were based on outdoor and indoor measurements. Considering the cost and time involved in developing these models, there is need to understand existing traffic noise models, differences, and assumptions before adopting or recalibrating them for local demands. This study contributes to the larger body of knowledge and intends to serve as a reference material for future researchers in the area of traffic noise modeling and techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has recently experienced one of its worst droughts in the last 80 years, with wide-ranging consequences for water supply restrictions, energy rationing, and agricultural losses. Northeast and Southeast Brazil, which share the São Francisco River basin (SFRB), have experienced serious precipitation reduction since 2011. We used terrestrial water-storage (TWS) fields, inverted from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission measurements, to assess and quantify the ongoing drought over the SFRB.We found a water loss rate of 3.30 km³/year over the time-span of April 2002 to March 2015. In addition, the TWS drought index (TWSDI) showed the extension of the recent drought that has jeopardized the SFRB since January 2012, and which reached its maximum in July 2015 (the end of TWS time series). In this sense there seems to be a linkage between the TWSDI (wetness/dryness) and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), in terms of the wavelet coherence, at the semi-annual and biennial bands, suggesting a relationship between the two. While acknowledging that further investigation is needed, we believe that our findings should contribute to the water management policies by quantifying the impact of this drought event over the SFRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon within the Huangfuchuan watershed, one of the major first-order sub-basins in the middle region of the Yellow River, has not clearly been established. Consequently, the co-varying relationships between rainfall and El Niño/La Niña spanning the period 1954 to 2010 are investigated. Trends and step changes in annual rainfall are investigated with the Mann-Kendall and the distribution free cumulative sum (CUSUM) tests. Wavelet transforms are employed to perform spectral analysis of temporal variations in rainfall rates within the watershed. Cross wavelet and wavelet coherence transforms are used to study localized co-varying relationships between rainfall and ENSO index. Results from statistical tests indicate that rainfall in the Huangfuchuan watershed is declining, although not significantly. In addition, wavelet coherency and cross wavelet analysis, and comparison of the extracted dominant annual rainfall and 2-7 year ENSO signals demonstrate that ENSO events impact Huangfuchuan rainfall with El Niño corresponding to rainfall decline and La Niña to rainfall increment with a semiannual to annual lag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of total basin discharge along coastal regions is necessary for understanding the hydrological and oceanographic issues related to the water and energy cycles. However, only the observed streamflow (gauge-based observation) is used to estimate the total fluxes from the river basin to the ocean, neglecting the portion of discharge that infiltrates to underground and directly discharges into the ocean. Hence, the aim of this study is to assess the total discharge of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) basin. In this study, we explore the potential response of total discharge to changes in precipitation (from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission-TRMM), evaporation (from four versions of the Global Land Data Assimilation-GLDAS, namely, CLM, Mosaic, Noah and VIC), and water-storage changes (from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-GRACE) by using the terrestrial water budget method. This method has been validated by comparison with the observed streamflow, and shows an agreement with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 14.30 mm/month for GRACE-based discharge and 20.98 mm/month for that derived from precipitation minus evaporation (P - E). This improvement of approximately 32% indicates that monthly terrestrial water-storage changes, as estimated by GRACE, cannot be considered negligible over Yangtze basin. The results for the proposed method are more accurate than the results previously reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), a parasitic nematode infection, poses a huge economic burden to affected countries. LF endemicity is localized and its prevalence is spatially heterogeneous. In Ghana, there exists differences in LF prevalence and multiplicity of symptoms in the country's northern and southern parts. Species distribution models (SDMs) have been utilized to explore the suite of risk factors that influence the transmission of LF in these geographically distinct regions.Methods: Presence-absence records of microfilaria (mf) cases were stratified into northern and southern zones and used to run SDMs, while climate, socioeconomic, and land cover variables provided explanatory information. Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Generalized Boosted Model (GBM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Surface Range Envelope (SRE), Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), and Random Forests (RF) algorithms were run for both study zones and also for the entire country for comparison.Results: Best model quality was obtained with RF and GBM algorithms with the highest Area under the Curve (AUC) of 0.98 and 0.95, respectively. The models predicted high suitable environments for LF transmission in the short grass savanna (northern) and coastal (southern) areas of Ghana. Mainly, land cover and socioeconomic variables such as proximity to inland water bodies and population density uniquely influenced LF transmission in the south. At the same time, poor housing was a distinctive risk factor in the north. Precipitation, temperature, slope, and poverty were common risk factors but with subtle variations in response values, which were confirmed by the countrywide model.Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that different variable combinations influence the occurrence of lymphatic filariasis in northern and southern Ghana. Thus, an understanding of the geographic distinctness in risk factors is required to inform on the development of area-specific transmission control systems towards LF elimination in Ghana and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using δ18O and δ2H in mean transit time (MTT) modeling can ensure the verifiability of results across catchments. The main objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the δ18O- and δ2H-based behavioral transit time distributions and (ii) assess if δ18O and δ2H-based MTTs can lead to similar conclusions about catchment hydrologic functioning. A volume weighted δ18O (or δ2H) time series of sampled precipitation was used as an input variable in a 50,000 Monte Carlo (MC) time-based convolution modeling process. An observed streamflow δ18O (or δ2H) time series was used to calibrate the model to obtain the simulated time series of δ18O (or δ2H) of the streamflow within a nested system of eight Prairie catchments in Canada. The model efficiency was assessed via a generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation by setting a minimum Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency threshold of 0.3 for behavioral parameter sets. Results show that the percentage of behavioral parameter sets across both tracers were lower than 50 at the majority of the studied outlets; a phenomenon hypothesized to have resulted from the number of MC runs. Tracer-based verifiability of results could be achieved within five of the eight studied outlets during the model process. The flow process in those five outlets were mainly of a shallow subsurface flow as opposed to the other three outlets, which experienced other additional flow dynamics. The potential impacts of this study on the integrated use of δ18O and δ2H in catchment water storage and release dynamics must be further investigated in multiple catchments within various hydro-physiographic settings across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remotely sensed terrestrial water storage changes (TWSC) from the past Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission cover a relatively short period (≈15 years). This short span presents challenges for long-term studies (e.g., drought assessment) in data-poor regions like West Africa (WA). Thus, we developed a Nonlinear Autoregressive model with eXogenous input (NARX) neural network to backcast GRACE-derived TWSC series to 1979 over WA. We trained the network to simulate TWSC based on its relationship with rainfall, evaporation, surface temperature, net-precipitation, soil moisture, and climate indices. The reconstructed TWSC series, upon validation, indicate high skill performance with a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 11.83 mm/month and coefficient correlation of 0.89. The validation was performed considering only 15% of the available TWSC data not used to train the network. More so, we used the total water content changes (TWCC) synthesized from Noah driven global land data assimilation system in a simulation under the same condition as the GRACE data. The results based on this simulation show the feasibility of the NARX networks in hindcasting TWCC with RMSE of 8.06 mm/month and correlation coefficient of 0.88. The NARX network proved robust to adequately reconstruct GRACE-derived TWSC estimates back to 1979. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of terrestrial water storage (TWS) inverted from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) measurements to investigate water variations and their response to droughts over the Volta, Niger, and Senegal Basins of West Africa was investigated. An altimetry-imagery approach was proposed to deduce the contribution of Lake Volta to TWS as “sensed” by GRACE. The results showed that from April 2002 to July 2016, Lake Volta contributed to approximately 8.8% of the water gain within the Volta Basin. As the signal spreads out far from the lake, it impacts both the Niger and Senegal Basins with 1.7% (at a significance level of 95%). This figure of 8.8% for the Volta Basin is approximately 20% of the values reported in previous works. Drought analysis based on GRACE-TWS (after removing the lake’s contribution) depicted below-normal conditions prevailing from 2002 to 2008. Wavelet analysis revealed that TWS changes (fluxes) and rainfall as well as vegetation index depicted a highly coupled relationship at the semi-annual to biennial periods, with common power covariance prevailing in the annual frequencies. While acknowledging that validation of the drought occurrence and severity based on GRACE-TWS is needed, we believe that our findings shall contribute to the water management over West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]