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The simulation of granular soils partially saturated by two immiscible fluids – say, water and air – has long been restricted to the so-called ‘pendular regime’, in which the wetting phase (i.e. water in air/water systems) is discontinuous and its presence is restricted to bridges connecting grain pairs. In this work the pendular model is combined with the recently developed two-phase pore-scale finite volumes (2PFV) method for the first time in order to simulate complete drainage from a saturated state to a residual pendular state. The contribution of pendular bridges in terms of water retention and induced internal stress is examined. It is shown that although the presence of a bridge does not significantly affect the soil water retention curve, its induced stress indeed plays a major role in the capillary effects for low saturation (lower than 0·10).

Exchange processes between a turbulent free flow and a porous media flow are sensitive to the flow dynamics in both flow regimes, as well as to the interface that separates them. Resolving these complex exchange processes across irregular interfaces is key in understanding many natural and engineered systems. With soil-water evaporation as the natural application of interest, the coupled behavior and exchange between flow regimes are investigated numerically, considering a turbulent free flow as well as interfacial forms and obstacles. Interfacial forms and obstacles will alter the flow conditions at the interface, creating flow structures that either enhance or reduce exchange rates based on their velocity conditions and their mixing with the main flow. To evaluate how these interfacial forms change the exchange rates, interfacial conditions are isolated and investigated numerically. First, different flow speeds are compared for a flat surface. Second, a porous obstacle of varied height is introduced at the interface, and the effects the flow structures that develop have on the interface are analyzed. The flow parameters of this obstacle are then varied and the interfacial exchange rates investigated. Next, to evaluate the interaction of flow structures between obstacles, a second obstacle is introduced, separated by a varied distance. Finally, the shape of these obstacles is modified to create different wave forms. Each of these interfacial forms and obstacles is shown to create different flow structures adjacent to the surface which alter the mass, momentum, and energy conditions at the interface. These changes will enhance the exchange rate in locations where higher velocity gradients and more mixing with the main flow develop, but will reduce the exchange rate in locations where low velocity gradients and limited mixing with the main flow occur., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Projekt DEAL

A three-dimensional nonhydrostatic coastal model SUNTANS is used to study hyperpycnal plumes on sloping continental shelves with idealized domain setup. The study aims to examine the nonhydrostatic effect of the plunging hyperpycnal plume and the associated flow structures on different shelf slopes. The unstructured triangular grid in SUNTANS allows for local refinement of the grid size for regions in which the flow varies abruptly, while retaining low-cost computation using the coarse grid resolution for regions in which the flow is more uniform. These nonhydrostatic simulations reveal detailed three-dimensional flow structures in both transient and steady states. Via comparison with the hydrostatic simulation, we show that the nonhydrostatic effect is particularly important before plunging, when the plume is subject to significant changes in both the along-shore and vertical directions. After plunging, where the plume becomes an undercurrent that is more spatially uniform, little difference is found between the hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic simulations in the present gentle- and mild-slope cases. A grid-dependence study shows that the nonhydrostatic effect can be seen only when the grid resolution is sufficiently fine that the calculation is not overly diffusive. A depth-integrated momentum budget analysis is then conducted to show that the flow convergence due to plunging is an important factor in the three-dimensional flow structures. Moreover, it shows that the nonhydrostatic effect becomes more important as the slope increases, and in the steep-slope case, neglect of transport of the vertical momentum during plunging in the hydrostatic case further leads to an erroneous prediction for the undercurrent.

The Nile River Basin, with ten riparian countries, lacks any agreed-upon basin-wide legal framework. Attempts at effective management and utilization of water resources inclusive of all countries along the basin have not been possible due to lack of consensus on the legal basis of already exiting colonial-era agreements that allocate an absolute share of the Nile water to Egypt and Sudan by excluding most of the upper riparians. The review has specifically focused on the trilateral negotiation processes between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt since November 2019 on the filling and annual operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia has been constructing since 2011. It has made a thorough review of a series of events and processes through which the negotiation has passed to conduct a critical analysis of facts, and has suggested reflections on the way forward. It considers the need for political will and flexibility of the negotiating parties to reconcile existing contradictory positions. To this end, pursuing a revisionist approach to take the dynamic socio-economic realities and development needs of co-basin countries is commendable. This further requires renegotiating long existed colonial-era agreements and formulating a basin-wide legal framework in line with existing international standards. Focusing on technical and expertise level of discussions and outcomes would minimize over politicization and specifically would help to address the negative impacts of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and optimize positive externalities. Peace is a necessity than any other option among the co-basin countries and the only avenue towards sustainable resolution of disputes. Negotiating in good faith and in a ‘give and take’ modality needs to be a second to none alternative to the parties. The international community may also need to play a neutral and genuine role to assist the parties to settle their differences amicably and reach a final negotiated settlement.&nbsp

The intrinsic permeability is a crucial parameter to characterise and quantify fluid flow through porous media. However, this parameter is typically uncertain, even if the geometry of the pore structure is available. In this paper, we perform a comparative study of experimental, semi-analytical and numerical methods to calculate the permeability of a regular porous structure. In particular, we use the Kozeny-Carman relation, different homogenisation approaches (3D, 2D, very thin porous media and pseudo 2D/3D), pore-scale simulations (lattice Boltzmann method, Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics and finite-element method) and pore-scale experiments (microfluidics). A conceptual design of a periodic porous structure with regularly positioned solid cylinders is set up as a benchmark problem and treated with all considered methods. The results are discussed with regard to the individual strengths and limitations of the used methods. The applicable homogenisation approaches as well as all considered pore-scale models prove their ability to predict the permeability of the benchmark problem. The underestimation obtained by the microfluidic experiments is analysed in detail using the lattice Boltzmann method, which makes it possible to quantify the influence of experimental setup restrictions., Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Projekt DEAL

This study focuses on the Koru and Tesbihdere Pb-Zn mining districts, located at the upstream areas of the Umurbey dam basin. Mining activities in Koru, one of the longest operated mines in NW Turkey, date back to the beginning of the 1900s. The purpose of the study is to (1) determine the hydrochemical properties of the water resources and to assess the potential environmental consequences of mining activities in the Koru and Tesbihdere mining districts, and (2) investigate the effects caused by mining activities on the water resources and sediment quality in the Umurbey dam basin. Concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in river sediments downstream of the Tesbihdere and Koru mining district, and in the Umurbey dam sediments were higher than the world average for river sediments. The geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor revealed that sediments were strongly polluted with Pb and Zn, moderately to strongly polluted with Cd and moderately polluted with Cu. The chemical analyses of water resources revealed that the maximum Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn, and Cu concentrations reached 2890 μg/l, 1785 μg/l, 1180 μg/l, 984 μg/l, and 419 μg/l, respectively. The Koru River is classified as polluted water according to Turkish inland water quality regulations. The environmental contamination problems in the local drainage system are caused by leakage from past and current tailing ponds into the Koru River.

The paper presents the results of a study of parameters used for determining the amount of organic pollutants in wastewater flowing into a collective wastewater treatment plant with a population equivalent of about 120 000 PE. The plant constituted part of a sewage system. Assays were performed for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (CODCr), permanganete index (CODMn) and total organic carbon (TOC). In addition, the pH of wastewater and its alkalinity were determined. Sampling of incoming wastewater and measurement of physicochemical parameters were performed once a week, in the spring. A total of 44 samples of wastewater were collected. The correlations between the individual parameters and the correlations between the ratios of these parameters were determined. It was found that it was possible to estimate, with suffi cient accuracy, the values of selected parameters for determining the concentrations of organic compounds in municipal wastewater, knowing the values of other parameters in this group. Moreover, it was shown that, knowing the relationship between the analyzed parameters, one can find multiple regression equations for a given type of wastewater, which allow one to calculate the remaining relationships with a good fit, i.e. a determination factor R2greater than 0.6

Spatially distributed hydrological models are commonly employed to optimize the locations of engineering control measures across a watershed. Yet, parameter screening exercises that aim to reduce the dimensionality of the calibration search space are typically completed only for gauged locations, like the watershed outlet, and use screening metrics that are relevant to calibration instead of explicitly describing the engineering decision objectives. Identifying parameters that describe physical processes in ungauged locations that affect decision objectives should lead to a better understanding of control measure effectiveness. This paper provides guidance on evaluating model parameter uncertainty at the spatial scales and flow magnitudes of interest for such decision-making problems. We use global sensitivity analysis to screen parameters for model calibration, and to subsequently evaluate the appropriateness of using multipliers to adjust the values of spatially distributed parameters to further reduce dimensionality. We evaluate six sensitivity metrics, four of which align with decision objectives and two of which consider model residual error that would be considered in spatial optimizations of engineering designs. We compare the resulting parameter selection for the basin outlet and each hillslope. We also compare basin outlet results for four calibration-relevant metrics. These methods were applied to a RHESSys ecohydrological model of an exurban forested watershed near Baltimore, MD, USA. Results show that (1) the set of parameters selected by calibration-relevant metrics does not include parameters that control decision-relevant high and low streamflows, (2) evaluating sensitivity metrics at the basin outlet misses many parameters that control streamflows in hillslopes, and (3) for some multipliers, calibrating all parameters in the set being adjusted may be preferable to using the multiplier if parameter sensitivities are significantly different, while for others, calibrating a subset of the parameters may be preferable if they are not all influential. Thus, we recommend that parameter screening exercises use decision-relevant metrics that are evaluated at the spatial scales appropriate to decision making. While including more parameters in calibration will exacerbate equifinality, the resulting parametric uncertainty should be important to consider in discovering control measures that are robust to it.

Unlike water, land is usually conceived of as motionless and fixed in place. Because of these characteristics, land lends itself to the delineation of boundaries and spatial determinations of property relations. But what happens to those boundaries and relations when land is mobile, pliable, unfixed, and when its contours are transformed by the fluctuations of other elements such as water? How does an analysis of property relations under those changing material conditions shape our understanding of land as an object of ownership? This paper addresses these questions by analyzing how the socio-ecological dynamics of flooding environments destabilize static notions of property and land. Specifically, this paper criticizes widely accepted ideas that assume that land, as a material element, is temporarily and spatially static, and that property is a social relation between people with regard to an object, not to the object itself. This paper develops this discussion through the analysis of a conflict among peasants, landowners, and the state for the appropriation of newly emerged fluvial land and the definition of its boundaries in the floodplains of northern Colombia. This paper shows how the intricate and shifting connections between water and land make property a highly dynamic relationship. Furthermore, it emphasizes the property and land embed multiple temporalities associated with the socio-ecologies of flooding environments. This paper concludes with a reflection on the implications of this case study for broader discussions on the water-land nexus and for the conceptualization of floodplains.

Accelerated soil erosion is a major threat to soil, and there are great variations in the rate of soil erosion over time due to natural and human-induced factors. The temperate forest zone of Russia is characterized by complex stages of land-use history (i.e. active urbanization, agricultural development, land abandonment, etc.). We have for the first time estimated the rates of soil erosion by the WaTEM/SEDEM model (rainfall erosion) and by a regional model (snowmelt erosion) over the past 250 years (from 1780 to 2019) for a 100-km2 study site in the Moscow region of Russia. The calculations were made on the basis of a detailed historical reconstruction of the following factors: the location of the arable land, crop rotation, the rain erosivity factor, and the maximum snow water equivalent. The area of arable land has decreased more than 3.5-fold over the past 250 years. At the end of the 20th century, the rates of gross erosion had declined more than 5.5-fold (from 28 × 103 to 5 × 103 tˑha−1ˑyr−1) in comparison with the end of the 18th century. Changes in the boundaries of arable land and also the relief features had led to a significant intra-slope accumulation of sediments. As a result of sediment redeposition within the arable land, the variation in net soil erosion was significantly lower than the variation in gross soil erosion. The changes in arable land area and in crop composition are the factors that have to the greatest extent determined the changes in soil erosion in this territory.

Maps of erosivity, which are also commonly referred to as isoerodent maps, have played a critical role in soil conservation efforts in the United States and around the world. Currently available erosivity maps for the United States are either outdated, conflict with erosivity benchmarking studies, or utilized less advanced spatial mapping methods. Furthermore, it is possible that the same underlying issues with US maps are impacting global maps as well. In this study, we used more than 3400 15-min, fixed-interval precipitation gauges to update the isoerodent map of the conterminous United States. Erosivity values were interpolated using universal kriging under several spatial model configurations and resolutions. The optimal spatial model was selected based on which result had the lowest sample variogram error. Rainfall, erosivity, and erosivity density maps were compared to existing products. Some average annual and annual erosivity results were compared to high-quality erosivity benchmarking publications. Erosivity values from both RUSLE2 and Panagos et al. (2017) were generally lower in the eastern United States and mixed in the western United States compared to our results. Topographic effects resulted in much greater erosivity differences in this study as compared to prior maps. Benchmark comparisons revealed that erosivity maps from this study and others were lower than the benchmark by 14% or more (up to 38%). These findings suggest current practices of storm omission and intensity dampening correction need to be revisited, especially in locations with relatively low-to-moderate rainfall erosivity such as the Midwest or Northeast United States, for example.

Environmental monitoring of small, rural watersheds was one of the components of the Natural Resources Management and Rural Poverty Alleviation Program (RS-Rural) in southern Brazil. The purpose of the monitoring was to assess the impact of promoting soil conservation and environment management practices adopted by farmers and funded by the Program. In four small monitored watersheds, in a total of 95 plots representing distinct land use and soil management, surface soil was collected to characterize ground-zero of the Program by determining several soil physical, chemical and microbiological properties. Principal component analysis (PCA) shows soil physical, chemical and biological properties were decisive in defining the agricultural soils in the rural watersheds with family farming. The sensitivity to chemical properties provides an opportunity to improve soil quality if soil management focuses on altering those properties. Soil management practiced by tobacco farmers leads to rapid, intense degradation of some natural soil properties, especially those related to the dynamics of soil organic matter, compared with more conservationist uses (forest, regrowth, and grassland). Thus, soil management must be reoriented to avoid the progress of degradation and recover soil physical and biological quality. Cover crops and by land-abandonment to allow natural vegetation are important management strategies for the degraded soils used for tobacco production, increasing soil organic matter, nutrients and microbial activity and thus allowing further crop production. In conclusion, watersheds with tobacco cropping have soils with lower quality than when under no-tillage grain production, requiring changes in land use and soil management.

The hydrological conditions near the soil surface influence the soil erosion process, as determined by the soil erodibility and critical shear stress. The soil erodibility and critical shear stress of saturated purple soil slopes were computed and compared with those of unsaturated purple soil slopes. The detachment capacities computed through the numerical method (NM), modified numerical method (MNM) and analytical method (AM), from rill erosion experiments on saturated purple soil slopes at different flow rates (2, 4, and 8 L min−1) and slope gradients (5, 10, 15, and 20°), were used to comparatively compute the soil erodibility and critical shear stress. The computed soil erodibilities and critical shear stresses were also compared with those of unsaturated purple soil slopes. At the different slope gradients ranging from 5° to 20°, there were no significant differences in the soil erodibilities of the saturated purple soil and also in those of the unsaturated purple soil. The critical shear stresses slightly varied with the slope gradients. The saturated purple soil was relatively significantly more susceptible to erosion. The NM overestimated the soil erodibility of both saturated and unsaturated soils by 31% and underestimated the critical shear stress. The MNM yielded the same soil erodibility and critical shear stress values as the AM. The results of this study supply parameters for modeling rill erosion of saturated purple soil slope.

Water erosion process induces differences to the nitrogen (N) functional microbial community structure, which is the driving force to key N processes at soil-water interface. However, how the soil N transformations associated with water erosion is affected by microorganisms, and how the microbial respond, are still unclear. The objective of this study is to investigate the changes of microbial diversity and community structure of the N-cycle function microorganisms as affected by water erosion under application of organic manure and straw cover. On the basis of iso-nitrogen substitution, four treatments were set up: 1) only chemical fertilizer with N 150 kg ha−1, P2O5 60 kg ha−1 and K2O 90 kg ha−1 (CK); the N was substituted 20% by 2) organic manure (OM); 3) straw (SW); and 4) organic manure + straw (1:1) (OMSW). The results showed that applying organic manure and straw to sloping farmland can increase soil N contents, but reduce runoff depth, Kw, sediment yield and N loss, especially in the OMSW. Straw cover and straw + organic manure increased the diversity (Chao1) of nitrifier (AOB), and both diversity and uniformity (Shannon) of denitrifier (nirK/S) were increased in the OMSW. All erosion control measures reduced N-fixing bacteria diversity and increased their uniformity, and the combined application of organic manure and straw cover was a better erosion control measure than the single application of them. Improved soil chemistry and erodibility were the main drives for the changes of N-functional microbial community structure and the appearance of dominant bacteria with different organic materials.

Soil erosion is a serious environmental problem arising from agricultural intensification and landscape changes. Improper land management coupled with intense rainfall has intricated the problem in most parts of the Ethiopian highlands. Soil loss costs a profound amount of the national GDP. Thus, quantifying soil loss and prioritizing areas for conservation is imperative for proper planning and resource conservation. Therefore, this study has modeled the mean soil loss and annual sediment yield of the Gumara watershed. Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7ETM+, and Landsat 8 OLI were used for land use land cover (LULC) change analysis. Besides these, other datasets related to rainfall, digital soil map, Digital Elevation Model, reference land use, and cover (LULC) ground truth points were used to generate parameters for modeling soil loss. The watershed was classified into five major land-use classes (water body, cultivated land, grazing land, built-up and forest and plantation) using a maximum likelihood algorithm covering a period of the last 30 years (1988–2019). The mean annual soil loss and sediment yield were quantified using RUSLE, Sediment delivery ratio (SDR), and Sediment Yields models (SY). The analysis result unveils that within the past 30 years, the watershed has undergone significant LULC changes from forest & plantation (46.33%) and grazing land to cultivated land (31.59%) with the rate of −1.42km2yr-1 and -2.80km2yr-1 respectively. In the same vein, the built-up area has expanded to cultivated and grazing land. Subsequently, nearly 15% (207 km2) of the watershed suffered from moderate to very severe soil loss. On average, the watershed losses 24.2 t ha−1 yr−1 of soil and yields 2807.02 t ha−1 yr−1 sediment. Annually, the watershed losses 385,157 t ha−1 yr−1 soil from the whole study area. Among the admirative districts, Farta (Askuma, Giribi, Mahidere Mariam and Arigo kebeles), Fogera (Gazen Aridafofota and Gura Amba kebeles), East Este (Witimera kebele), and Dera (Gedame Eyesus and Deriana Wechit kebeles) districts which cover 50% of the watershed were found severely affected by soil erosion. Thus, to curve back this scenario, soil and water conservation practices should prioritize in the aforementioned districts of the watersheds.

Lack of appropriate agronomic practices is one of the major causes for soil erosion and low yields in teff (Eragrostis tef [Zucc.]) production in Ethiopia. A 3-yr study was conducted at the Aba Gerima watershed in northwestern Ethiopia, to investigate the effects of two tillage practices (reduced tillage [RT] and conventional tillage [CT]), two planting methods (row planting [RP] and broadcast planting [BP]), and two compaction options (with [+T] and without [–T] trampling) on soil loss and teff yields in a split-split plot arrangement. Sediment concentration ranged from 0.01 to 5.37 g L⁻¹ (mean, 0.25 g L⁻¹) in our study. Accordingly, the estimated total (August–October) soil loss ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 t ha–¹ (mean, 0.3 t ha–¹). The sediment concentration and total soil loss were significantly influenced (P

More frequent extreme rainfall events associated with global climate change cause greater challenges for soil conservation. Severe erosion occurs on many unpaved roads since these structures create important water flow paths during heavy storms. The present research aimed to investigate the intensity and influencing factors of unpaved road erosion under varied land use and management conditions (sloping cropland, terraced cropland, forest & grass). The erosion occurred in the watersheds contributing runoff water to roads after the greatest rainfall event recorded in the mountain area of northern China caused by Typhon Lekima. The research was conducted in an agricultural-forest-dominated watershed based on field investigation and UAV-based image analysis. A road erosion level classification standard was given according to the occurrence of rills, ephemeral gullies, and gullies. Significant erosion happened on 67% of the unpaved roads; 42% of them suffered moderate to severe erosion in which ephemeral gullies or gullies developed. The average erosion amount from these roads was 2280.75 t ha-1 and was significantly influenced by the watershed land use type and management. The dominant factor governing unpaved road erosion associated with terraced cropland was vegetation coverage on roads. Drainage area was the most important factor for road erosion in sloping cropland and forest & grass land, and road gradient was also a critical factor. Terraces, and forest & grass in drainage areas significantly reduced unpaved road erosion by 85% and, 47%, respectively, compared to sloping cropland. More integrated measures should be used to prevent unpaved road erosion. The results of this research can be applied to road protection against erosion in heavy storms.

Runoff components are the most important factors in explaining the hydrological behaviour of a system. So that the proper understanding of the runoff processes may effectively help managers and decision-makers adopt appropriate measures. In this regard, there are variety of approaches to handle runoff generation, but the application of environmentally friendly, biologic-based and cost-effective approaches such as soil microorganisms has been seldom reported. The study has therefore tried to investigate the role of inoculation of cyanobacteria on runoff components under rain simulation conditions at the mid-sized (i.e., 6×1m) plots installed at ≈ 30 % slope steepness. The treated plots were subjected to a simulated rainfall with an intensity of 50 mm h⁻¹ and an initial duration of 30 min with three replications. A simulated runoff of 2.18 ± 0.32 Lmin⁻¹ was also performed simultaneously on the onset of starting surface runoff. The results showed significant differences (P

Aeolian sandy lands are widespread and desertification is recognized as one of the main environmental issues in the Yarlung Zangbo River valley, southern Tibetan plateau. The surface microtopographic variations induced by the near soil surface characteristics of plant communities are important compositions of land surface roughness, which likely influence wind erosion. This study was conducted to quantify the effects of typical vegetation restoration on land surface roughness on the aeolian sandy lands, and to identify the main influencing factors of land surface roughness in the Yarlung Zangbo River valley. Two bare sandy lands (as controls) and eight vegetated sandy lands with different restoration communities and ages were selected, and land surface roughness (LSR), as represented by surface microtopographic variations in this study, was measured by photogrammetric surveys. The results showed that LSR significantly increased by 7.9–16.8 times after vegetation restoration on the aeolian sandy lands, and varied among different restoration communities and ages. The mostly restored communities of Sophora moorcroftiana and Populus L. had greater LSR as compared to Artemisia wellbyi and Hedysarum scoparium. With succession from 6 to over 30 years, LSR gradually increased in the Sophora moorcroftiana restored sandy lands, but decreased in the Populus L. restored sandy lands. The variations of LSR were mainly attributed to the differences in near soil surface characteristics of vegetation (plant stem diameter and coverage, and plant residue density) and biological soil crusts (coverage and thickness). Mixed plantation of Populus L. and Sophora moorcroftiana was considered as the best restoration communities because of their effectiveness in increasing land surface roughness on the aeolian sandy lands in the Yarlung Zangbo River valley. The results would facilitate the understanding of the benefits of vegetation restoration in controlling wind erosion on the aeolian sandy lands.

As an important soil and water conservation engineering measure, more than 100,000 check dams are constructed across the Loess Plateau; these dams play a vital role in reducing floods and sediment in the region. However, the effects of check dams on hydrologic process are still unclear, particularly when they are deployed as a system for watershed soil and water management. This study examined the watershed hydrologic process modulated by the check dam system in a typical Loess Plateau catchment. By simulating scenarios with various numbers of check dams using a distributed physically-based hydrological model, the effects of the number of check dams on runoff generation and concentration were analyzed for the study catchment. The results showed that the presence of check dams reduced the peak discharge and the flood volume and extended the flood duration; the reduction effect on peak discharge was most significant among the three factors. The system of check dams substantially decreased the runoff coefficient, and the runoff coefficient reduction rate was greater for rainstorms with shorter return periods than for rainstorms with longer return periods. The check dams increased the capacity of the catchment regulating and storing floods and extended the average runoff concentration time in the catchment that flattened the instantaneous unit hydrograph. This study reveals the influencing mechanism of check dam system on the watershed hydrological process under heavy rainstorm conditions and provides a theoretical basis for evaluating the effects of numerous check dams on regional hydrology and water resources on the Loess Plateau.

Purpose The government-led public healthcare services in Sri Lanka became a major strength in managing the COVID-19 comparatively well. However, natural hazards are a major threat to this healthcare system, as they cause severe damages, especially to curative healthcare infrastructures such as hospitals. Floods have been the major contributor to the economic loss of the Sri Lankan healthcare system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a proper flood risk assessment framework for Sri Lankan hospitals. Design/methodology/approach This research study has attempted to develop a flood vulnerability assessment tool for hospitals using the concept of Depth Damage Functions (DDFs). Flood vulnerability curves have been developed for identified critical units of hospitals considering the damage caused to building contents which are predominantly expensive medical equipment. The damage caused only by wetting was considered in generating vulnerability curves. Structured interviews were conducted with government officials in the healthcare sector to gather details on the cost and damages of medical equipment. Pilot studies were carried out in two hospitals identified as located in flood-prone areas and have previous experiences of flooding, to acquire data regarding building contents of the critical units. Findings The developed vulnerability curves indicate that no major damage would occur to building contents in critical units (other than the labor room) until the inundation depth reaches a value of 0.6–0.9 m (varies for each type of unit). It is also noteworthy that after a certain range in the inundation depth, the damage increases drastically, and building contents would incur total damage if the inundation depth passes a value of 1.2–1.5 m. Originality/value This study explains the initial phase of developing a flood vulnerability assessment framework for Sri Lankan hospitals. Not many studies had been carried out to assess the vulnerability of hospitals specifically for floods using vulnerability curves. The study recommends a zoning system with pre-defined vulnerability levels for critical units during a flood, which can be associated with evacuation planning as well. Further studies must be carried out to verify this system for hospitals in Sri Lanka.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a persistent organic pollutant (POP) and emergent contaminant that are widespread in the environment. Understanding the mechanisms controlling the distribution of PFOS and its isomers between hydrargillite and the water phase is important in order to study their redistribution and mobility in the environment. This study investigated the effects of pH, humic acid, fulvic acid and Na2SO4 on sorption of PFOS isomers to hydrargillite. A mixture of PFOS isomers was spiked into water and hydrargillite was added to the system and shaken for one day; the system was tested with different aqueous composition. Concentrations of PFOS isomers in the aqueous phase were quantified using an ultra-performance liquid chromatograph coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Our results showed that the distribution coefficients of PFOS isomers were found to be 0.76, 0.71, 0.93 and 0.90 at pH 6.5, for 3-/4-/5- PFOS, 6-/2-PFOS, L-PFOS and total PFOS respectively. The distribution coefficients increased at lower pH and decreased at alkaline conditions. The presence of humic substances (HS) increased the sorption slightly at the environmental pH of 6.5, although a competition effect was observed during acidic conditions. A tendency of PFOS distribution to hydrargillite in the presence of Na2SO4 was like its behavior in the presence of HS although the mechanisms behind the sorption were interpreted differently. This study revealed that L-PFOS was readily sorbed when no other chemicals were added or in 20 mg/L FA or 100 mg/L Na2SO4. We suggest that an increase in PFOS sorption in the presence of HS may be due to hydrophobic mechanisms while Na2SO4 contributed to increased sorption through ionic strength effects.

Sanergy has offered reliable, non-sewered sanitation services in Nairobi, Kenya through the implementation of container-based, urine-diverting dry toilets. However, there remains a large volume of untreated faecal waste in urban informal settlements due to poorly managed pit latrines. With limited space in the settlements to bury old pits and dig new ones, management of faecal sludge requires manual pit emptying and safe discharge. Sanergy piloted the Mtaa Fresh project in the settlement of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, establishing a waste transfer station where manual pit emptiers could safely and reliably dispose of pit latrine contents. The most important factors in the successful implementation of this station were, first, the relationship established between Sanergy and the pit emptiers and, second, Sanergy’s commitment to iterating as new insights emerged. The relationship with the emptiers impacted the location, design, and adoption of the site, and aided in the formalization of a pit emptiers’ community-based organization. The commitment to iterating enabled Sanergy to respond to learnings gained from the emptiers. Additional factors that ensured the success of Mtaa Fresh included the implementation of full-time staff, security when the site is closed, support from local authorities, and an expansion to improve management of faecal sludge and trash. Improvements trialled during the expansion aim to minimize operation and maintenance costs, but sustainability will still rely on government support and external funding.

A pilot-scale multistage constructed wetland-pond (MCWP) system with a "pre-ecological oxidation pond, two-stage horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSCW) and surface flow constructed wetland (SFCW) as the core and postsubmerged plant pond" as the process was used to treat actual polluted river water in the field, and the variation in nitrogen removal from summer to winter was investigated. The results showed that the average total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency in the MCWP was approximately 40.74%. The significant positive correlation between the daily highest temperature and the TN removal efficiency of the whole system was fitted with a nonlinear curve (R2 = 0.7192). The TN removal load rate in the HSCWs was 2.7–3.7 times that in the SFCW. The SFCW, which had high-density plants (35 plants/m2), increased the proportion of nitrogen removed by plant harvesting and microbial function. The TN transformed by Iris pseudacorus L. accounted for 54.53% in the SFCW. Furthermore, bacteria completed the nitrogen cycle in the SFCW through a variety of nitrogen removal pathways. This research not only investigated the TN removal performance in an MCWP system but also made it possible to predict the TN removal efficiency according to the daily highest temperature from summer to winter in the field.

Environmental tracers have been used to separate streamflow components for many years. They allow to quantify the contribution of water originating from different sources such as direct runoff from precipitation, subsurface stormflow or groundwater to total streamflow at variable flow conditions. Although previous studies have explored the value of incorporating experimentally derived fractions of event and pre-event water into hydrological models, a thorough analysis of the value of incorporating hydrograph separation derived information on multiple streamflow components at varying flow conditions into model parameter estimation has not yet been performed. This study explores the value of such information to achieve more realistic simulations of catchment discharge. We use a modified version of the process-oriented HBV model that simulates catchment discharge through the interplay of hillslope, riparian zone discharge and groundwater discharge at a small forested catchment which is located in the mountainous north of South Korea subject to a monsoon season between June and August. Applying a Monte Carlo based parameter estimation scheme and the Kling Gupta efficiency (KGE) to compare discharge observations and simulations across two seasons (2013 & 2014), we show that the model is able to provide accurate simulations of catchment discharge (KGE ≥ 0.8) but fails to provide robust predictions and realistic estimates of the contribution of the different streamflow components. Using a simple framework to incorporate experimental information on the contributions of hillslope, riparian zone and groundwater to total discharge during four sub-periods, we show that the precision of simulated streamflow components can be increased while remaining with accurate discharge simulations. We further show that the additional information increases the identifiability of all model parameters and results in more robust predictions. Our study shows how tracer derived information on streamflow contributions can be used to improve the simulation and predictions of streamflow at the catchment scale without adding additional complexity to the model. The complementary use of temporally resolved observations of streamflow components and modelling provides a promising direction to improve discharge prediction by representing model internal dynamics more realistically.

Operational global-scale hydrological forecasting systems are widely used to help manage hydrological extremes such as floods and droughts. The vast amounts of raw data that underpin forecast systems and the ability to generate information on forecast skill have, until now, not been publicly available. As part of the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS; https://www.globalfloods.eu/) service evolution, in this paper daily ensemble river discharge reforecasts and real-time forecast datasets are made free and openly available through the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS). They include real-time forecast data starting on 1 January 2020 updated operationally every day and a 20-year set of reforecasts and associated metadata, available through the dedicated GloFAS FTP service. This paper describes the model components and configuration used to generate the real-time river discharge forecasts and the reforecasts. An evaluation of ensemble forecast skill using the Continuous Ranked Probability Skill Score (CRPSS) was also undertaken for river points around the globe. Results show that GloFAS is skilful in over 93thinsp;% of catchments in the short- (1- to 3-days) and medium-range (5- to 15-days) against a persistence benchmark forecast, and skilful in over 80 % of catchments out to the extended-range (16- to 30-days) against a climatological benchmark forecast. However, the strength of skill varies considerably by location with GloFAS found to have no or negative skill at longer lead times in broad hydroclimatic regions in tropical Africa, western coast of South America, and catchments dominated by snow and ice in high northern latitudes. Forecast skill is summarised as a new headline skill score to be added as a layer on the GloFAS forecast Web Map Viewer at the next GloFAS cycle release, expected Autumn 2020, to aid user’s interpretation and understanding of forecast quality.

Soil erosion is a natural process, and the erosion potential of a site is the result of complex interactions among soil, vegetation, topographic position, land use and management, and climate. Soil erosion occurs when aeolian and hydrologic processes exceed a soil’s inherent resistance to these forces (figures 1 and 2). Soil erosion was recognized as a significant problem at both local and national scales in the United States in the 1920s; by 1935 soil erosion was considered a national disaster, covering over one-half of the country (Sampson and Weyl 1918; Weaver 1935), and is still a concern with 21% of the western United States degraded and vulnerable to accelerated soil erosion (Herrick et al. 2010; Weltz et al. 2014a; Duniway et al. 2019). In 1995, it was estimated that 4 × 109 t (4.4 × 109 tn) of soil was lost from US cropland (Pimentel et al. 1995). The most vulnerable areas for soil movement and thus erosion occur where annual precipitation is 100 to 400 mm y–1 (4 to 16 in yr–1), which limits soil moisture available to sustain plant growth. Anthropogenic-driven dust emissions have dramatically increased across …

In this final chapter, we present how the different forms of data assimilation presented in this book are used in the geosciences. We shall attempt to represent as many of the geoscience disciplines as possible, but acknowledge we cannot cover all of them.

Identifying land management practices (LMPs) that enhance on-site sediment management and crop productivity is crucial for the prevention, reduction, and restoration of land degradation and contributing to achieving land degradation neutrality (LDN). We reviewed studies in Ethiopia to assess the effects of LMPs on soil loss (84 studies) and crop productivity (34 studies) relative to control practice. Yield variability on conserved lands was assessed using 12,796 fixed plot data. Effects of LMP on soil loss were 0.5e55 t ha-11y-11 compared to control practices yielding 50 to 140 t ha-11y-1. More than 55% of soil loss records revealed soil loss less than the tolerable rate (10 t ha-1). Area closure, perennial vegetation cover, agronomic practices, mechanical erosion control practices, annual cropland cover, and drainage groups of practices led to 74.0 ± 18.3%, 69.0 ± 24.6%, 66.2 ± 30.5%, 66.1 ± 18.0%, 63.5 ± 20.0%, and 40 ± 11,1% soil loss reduction, respectively. A yield increase of 25.2 ± 15.0%, 37.5 ± 28.0%, and 75.4 ± 85.0% was found from drainage, agronomy, and mechanical erosion control practices, respectively. The average yield loss by erosion on fields without appropriate land management practice and on conserved fields was 26.5 ± 26.0% and 25 ± 3.7%, respectively. The findings suggest that practices that entail a continuous presence of soil cover during the rainy season, perennial vegetation, retention of moisture, and barriers for sediment transport were most effective at decreasing soil loss and increasing productivity. This review provides evidence to identify the best LMP practices for wider adoption and inform decisionmaking on LMP investments towards achieving sustainable solutions to reverse land degradation.

Soil and water conservation practices have been extensively used in effective watershed management. The impact of each conservation practice is site specific and dependent on the implementation site in the watershed. In order to select cost effective placement of conservation practices with high impact, a large number of spatial combinations is needed to be compared. In this study, an optimization model framework is presented to find cost effective solutions for sediment yield and runoff control in the Fariman dam watershed in the Northeast of Iran. This was accomplished by integrating soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) for simulation of watershed hydrology and multi objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) for spatial optimization of soil and water conservation practices. The optimized solutions provided a trade-off between the two objective functions. The final Pareto-optimal shows that the impact of soil and water conservation practices on sediment yield is more than stream flow. The trade-offs between the objective functions show that the implementation of the median cost can lead to a significant decrease of 22.1% in the amount of sediment yield, and 10% in stream flow. Also, percent change achieved through median cost is very close to percent reduction with the highest cost. Results of low cost solution show that the vegetative practices are a suitable economic scenario for soil and water conservation. The introduced framework can be adapted as a suitable tool for selecting cost effective conservation practices in different regions.

The fertile forages in the Tibetan Plateau provide natural conditions for animal husbandry, whereas it is still unclear that whether animal excretion can result in the alteration of soil microbial community. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the impact of animal excretion contamination and land altitude on the soil microbial community in different grazing areas of Tibetan Plateau. A total of 1160,190 high-quality valid sequences and 25,478 operational taxonomic units were achieved from 18 samples at three different altitude sites (Linzhi, Rikaze and Shannan). Here, we found excremental contamination did not alter the richness and diversity of soil microbial community, but it resulted in a significant alteration in the proportion of some bacteria. Specifically, the proportion of Proteobacteria in the LZa was obviously increased, whereas Gemmatimonadetes was significantly decreased as compared to LZe. Moreover, significant difference can also be observed in Verrucomicrobia between RKZe and RKZa. Remarkably, we also found that excremental contamination significantly decreased the abundance of some bacterial genera, such as Sphingopyxis, Polycyclovorans, Singulisphaera Cohnella, Polycyclovorans, Defluviicoccus, and Arthrobacter, which were closely related to soil health, pollutant degradation, and nutrient metabolism. Importantly, excremental contamination increased the proportion of harmful and beneficial bacteria in soil, such as the percentage of Acidibacter, Gemmatimonadaceae and Pajaroellobacter increased, while the ratio of Pontibacter, Flavisolibacter, Parasegetibacter, and Niastella decreased. Remarkably, soil samples collected from different altitude sites also displayed different soil microbial community structures. Our results demonstrated that excremental contamination could alter the soil microbial community structure and affect the normal function of the soil by affecting the proportion of harmful bacteria to beneficial bacteria. Moreover, this study can also provide a theoretical basis for the establishment of a supervision system for soil quality in Tibet.

Near-surface features have a great influence on runoff and detachment processes by overland flow, but the contributions are still unclear on steep slopes with yellow soil in subtropical humid regions. Field scouring experiments were conducted to investigate how near-surface features affect hydraulic parameters and detachment rate by overland flow. Five treatments and a baseline (disturbed rootless bare cropland) were designed to identify the contributions from stem-leaves, litter, biological soil crusts (BSCs), root systems and non-disturbance, respectively. The results showed that (1) the values of velocity, Reynolds number and Froude number for vegetated slopes were significantly lower than that of baseline, and stem-leaves made a greater contribution (average of 47.30%) to reducing kinetic energy than the other features; (2) the total contribution rate of grassland was 99.38%, and of this total, 1.19, 1.44, 2.49, 49.79 and 44.47% reductions were attributed to the stem-leaves, litter, BSCs, root systems and non-disturbance, respectively. Root system and non-disturbance dominated the detachment rate reduction; (3) with increasing flow rate or slope gradient, the total contribution rate remained between 98% and 100%; and (4) for each treatment, the relationship between detachment rate and hydraulic parameters remained constant, and the stream power was the best predictor to detachment rate. The study results are helpful in evaluating the effects of near-surface features on erosion control and providing reference for government decision-makers to choose appropriate soil conservation and management practices.

As natural organic matter (NOM) can cause serious ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling, most previous studies on UF fouling caused by NOM focused on the contribution of NOM characteristics. In this study, the correlation of molecular weight and fluorescence characteristics was examined and the fouling behavior of NOM was examined in a comprehensive manner through a lot of analysis including redundancy analysis (RDA), parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that NOM from Tong Xin river was composed of humic acid (500 Da–8,000 Da), tryptophan-like substance, soluble microbial product (SMP) and aromatic protein (600,000 Da–2,000,000 Da). Notably, UF performance was significantly affected by the humic acid-like substance. Concurrently, the combined mechanism (CM) model was adopted to evaluate the fouling mechanism of NOM. The results indicated that the cake-intermediate model played an important part during membrane fouling and the cake layer fouling had a larger predominance over the intermediate blocking, which can be further proved in the membrane morphology detection. HIGHLIGHTS The correlation of fractions with different molecular weight and fluorescent components was examined.; Fouling potential of NOM fractions was ranked by RDA analysis.; Humic acid like substance was the most detrimental foulant in the experiments.; The cake-intermediate fouling played the domain part in UF fouling.

River channel shifting in the deltaic regime is an unabated occurrence. Channel shifting has become one of the concerns as it influences land use/land cover along the riverbank in various ways. For the management of the river, it is indispensable to study the pattern of river course change both in qualitative and quantitative methods. This study is an attempt to understand the pattern of shifting and to quantify erosion and deposition of the river Ganga at upstream and downstream of Farakka Barrage during 1794–2017. The study has been carried out by using various historical maps, aerial photographs, satellite imagery, and remote sensing and GIS technique to understand the dynamic of the river. Over 223 years period shifting of the river accentuates the remarkable oscillation of the river. Perimeter of the river is determined to understand the area covered by the river course in the study area. To evaluate the meandering of the river sinuosity of the river has been computed in this study. The amount of erosion and deposition was calculated in this study by using ArcGIS 10.6. The study found a higher amount of erosion at the east bank where Manikchak, Kaliachak II and Kaliachak III blocks are situated between 1965 and 2017. At the west bank of the river, especially the Rajmahal block, the occurrence of deposition was remarkable during the same period.

In this paper, the effect of collar width ratio on the flow pattern around an oblong pier in a 180-degree channel bend was experimentally studied. This channel has a rectangular cross section. It is 1 m in width and 0.7 m in height. The upstream and downstream paths are respectively 6.5 and 5 m long. The ratio of the bend's central curvature radius to the channel width is 2; hence, it qualifies as a sharp bend. Experiments were carried out under clear water approach flow conditions. The results showed that the presence of collars around an oblong pier creates vortices in the opposite direction of the longitudinal flow, causes the distortion and disturbance of the streamlines toward the pier downstream, and decreases downflow strength in front of the pier nose. Furthermore, doubling the collar width results in 0.93 and 0.68 times the vorticity and the power of the secondary flow on the pier upstream, respectively. It also reduced the maximum values of the Reynolds stresses perpendicular to the y-plane in x direction and perpendicular to the z-plane in y direction by respectively 45 and 60%, and increased the Reynolds stress perpendicular to the z-plane in x direction by 25%. HIGHLIGHTS Experiments were carried under clear water conditions.; Doubling the collar width resulted in 0.93 times the vorticity.; Doubling the collar width has increased the Reynolds stress on zx by 25%.; The maximum vertical velocity has decreased by about 15% by doubling the collar width.; Increasing the collar width around the pier increases the maximum turbulence kinetic energy values by 50%.

Woody species within pastures and savannas are often associated with ‘resource islands’ characterized by higher fertility under canopies trees. The aims of this study were to evaluate (1) the effects of Prosopis juliflora on some soil physicochemical properties and (2) the impacts of Prosopis invasion on soil salinity. For soil physicochemical analysis, a total of 104 soil samples from Teru and Yalo Districts were collected. The soil samples were collected from soil depths of 0–15 cm and 15–30 cm in Prosopis invaded and non-invaded open grazing lands. Invasion of Prosopis had significantly affected soil pH, exchangeable Na+, water soluble Ca2+ + Mg2+, water soluble Na+, and exchangeable sodium percentage in Teru and Yalo Districts (p

The collection and reuse of graywater has become an important strategy for achieving the goal of sustainable development. In this work, an integrated preliminary settlement and filtration process was developed for treating shower water which was obtained from a college bathroom toilet. The system's pollutant removal efficiency was examined for three different filter media: manganese sand, quartz sand and ceramsite. The results showed that for ceramsite, the average removal of turbidity, CODcr, NH3-N, and anionic surfactant was 93.3%, 68.6%, 78.9, and 83.5% respectively. For manganese sand, the values were 84.6%, 61.5%, 57.8 and 59%, while for quartz, they were 88.9%, 47.9%, 39.5% and 51.9%. A cost–benefit analysis revealed that the payback period of graywater recycling systems ranges from 3.16–5.30 years and benefit–cost ratios are in the range of 1.23–1.67, depending on tank size. The proposed system provides a new strategy for enhancing water-use efficiency in buildings in a more decentralized way. HIGHLIGHTS An integrated preliminary settlement and filtration process was developed for shower water treatment.; Ceramsite filtering medium was found to be effective to filter graywater to meet the non-potable standard.; The graywater recycling system is economically viable when the potable water price is higher than 2.52 CNY/m3.

A water distribution network in an urban area in Muscat region (the capital city of Oman) is assessed for operational performance using the widely accepted methodology proposed by the International Water Association (IWA). The technical performance of this network was assessed using global performance index methods after modifying the performance levels as per local guidelines. A total of 37 operational performance indicators for the network were selected to carry out assessment. Overall operational performance showed high scores whereas some indicators showed unacceptable performance values. The network showed very high technical performance considering nodal pressures. The lower performance for pipe velocity may be attributed to the fact that the network is currently being utilized by 70% of the population for which it was designed. The residual chlorine levels were within the acceptable range of the Public Authority for Water (PAW), showing a very good performance by virtue of water quality. This study will be useful for decision makers to assess the operational, technical and water quality performance of urban networks and take actions for improvements. HIGHLIGHTS A detailed assessment of an urban water supply network in Arabian Peninsula.; Application of IWA performance indicators in an arid region.; Synthesis of operational and technical performances of an urban water distribution system.; Developing new penalty functions using local water distribution guidelines.

Water dispensers are commonly used in educational institutions in developing countries. Assessment of factors influencing drinking water quality from this source is important due to its potential to cause waterborne diseases and other health risks. This study aimed to assess microbial contamination and the factors affecting drinking water quality from water dispensers at Walailak University, Southern Thailand. Drinking water samples from 60 water dispensers of different type-brands were collected and tested for physicochemical and microbiological parameters by following WHO Drinking Water Quality guidelines. Also evaluated by questionnaires were hygienic standards and maintenance of water dispensers. The physicochemical analysis of all water samples did not exceed the reference values of the drinking water standard; the hardness value in only 13.3% of samples was slightly higher than the reference limit. The microbiological results indicated that total coliform and fecal coliform bacteria were found in 16.67% and 8.33% of total samples, respectively. Escherichia coli was not detected in any of the water samples. The assessment of factors influencing drinking water quality, location and pathogen source around water dispensers, hygienic environment, and maintenance of water dispensers had a significant effect on drinking water quality. HIGHLIGHTS 60 water dispensers of three different type-brands were evaluated at Walailak University, Southern Thailand.; Physicochemical and microbiological parameters of water samples were analyzed.; Maintenance and hygienic standards were surveyed by a questionnaire.; A small portion of samples contained coliforms and fecal bacteria; however, Escherichia coli could not be detected.

Experiments were performed to examine the variations in flow turbulence with respect to sand and gravel bed channel. The 3D instantaneous velocity of water is measured by acoustic doppler velocimeter (ADV) at the test section, which will provide an important data related to the flow turbulence. The parameters of turbulence measured that the vertical profiles of longitudinal velocity in flows with a sand bed channel at the vicinity of the bed surface are higher by 2–6% than flow subjected to gravel bed channel, while away from the boundary surface, it decreases by 5–10%. The variations of Reynolds shear stress increase by 35–50% with gravel bed channel, indicating higher exchange of flow energy towards the boundary and vice versa. The higher value is obtained for shear velocities by 58.5% and the von Karman's constant with gravel bed channel. The gravel bed channel influenced the turbulence intensities with higher magnitude in the streamwise and vertical direction. The present study also analysed the flow anisotropy, correlations coefficient and turbulence diffusivity and compared the results. The outcomes of the current work are beneficial for civil and hydraulic engineers, since the data of turbulence will advance the management of bed materials present in the river. HIGHLIGHTS Water velocity is higher at the near bed in a sand bed channel.; A gravel bed channel increases the velocity fluctuations.; Flow momentum exchange is higher in a gravel bed channel.; Riverbeds are usually composed of sand and gravel, therefore analyzing the turbulent characteristics of flow is important.; There are benefits for the river engineer since the turbulence governs the morphological changes in the riverbeds.

The evaluation of groundwater quality and geochemistry have an important role in the management of water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. In the present study, the spatio-temporal assessment of groundwater quality and hydrogeochemical processes, as well as, statistical analyses in the Azarshahr and Ajabshir plains located in the Urmia Lake basin were investigated. The results revealed that within six years (from 2014 to 2019), the value of total hardness was higher than the permissible level and the quality of groundwater for drinking was very hard and fresh in both plains. In 2019, 84 and 67% of the samples fell within the range of good to poor groundwater quality in the Azarshahr and Ajabshir plains, respectively. The temporal assessment with the help of water quality index values for both plains revealed a good groundwater quality for the Azarshahr plain and a good to poor groundwater quality for the Ajabshir plain. However, deterioration of water quality was observed in both plains from 2014 to 2019. The level of water quality for irrigation was better in the Azarshahr plain than in the Ajabshir plain, due to the presence of fewer salty sites. In addition, Ca–Mg–HCO3 and rock dominance were identified as hydrochemical facies and the controlling factor in the groundwater of both plains, respectively. Multivariate statistical analyses indicated both natural and anthropogenic sources (such as weathering, fertilizers, and wastewater) for hydrochemical parameters. It was suggested to develop a comprehensive regulation to control the entry of pollutants into the groundwater of the study area. HIGHLIGHTS The level of water quality for drinking and irrigation was better in the Azarshahr plain than in the Ajabshir plain.; Ca–Mg–HCO3 and rock dominance were identified as hydrochemical facies and the controlling factors in the groundwater of the study area.; The groundwater resources in the Urmia Lake Basin were found to be threatened by different sources of pollution.

This paper presents a procedure for the estimation of propeller effective wakes in oblique flows. It shows how a recently developed method for controlling coupling errors can be applied to analyze propellers operating in off-design conditions. The approach allows the use of fast potential flow methods for the representation of the propeller in the context of viscous flow solvers and works accurately for a wide range of advance numbers and incidence angles with a minimum computational cost. The new method makes it possible to disclose flow phenomena on the effective wake that were hidden in conventional approaches of effective wake simulation. Different application cases are analyzed, such as a propeller-shaft configuration in inclined flow, a pod propulsor in an oblique inflow, and a ship hull advancing at a yaw angle. A dipole-like distortion on the effective wake is unmasked for a uniform flow incident to a propeller mounted on an inclined shaft. The flow component perpendicular to the axis is found to be responsible for the distortion. The effect of the direction of propeller rotation on the effective wake is illustrated for a single-shaft ship moving at a yaw angle. In particular, keel vortices are either attracted to or repelled from the propeller disk depending on the sign of the yaw angle or alternatively on that of the propeller rotation.

The degradation of atrazine (ATZ), sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and metoprolol (MET) in flow-through VUV/UV/H2O2 reactors was investigated with a focus on the effects of H2O2 dosage and reactor internal diameter (ID). Results showed that the micropollutants were degraded efficiently in the flow-through VUV/UV/H2O2 reactors following the pseudo first-order kinetics (R2 > 0.92). However, the steady-state assumption (SSA) kinetic model being vital in batch reactors was found invalid in flow-through reactors where fluid mixing was less sufficient. With the increase of H2O2 dosage, the ATZ removal efficiency remained almost constant while the SMX and MET removal was enhanced to different extents, which could be explained by the different reactivities of the pollutants towards HO•. A larger reactor ID resulted in lower degradation rate constants for all the three pollutants on account of the lower average fluence rate, but the change in energy efficiency was much more complicated. In reality, the electrical energy per order (EEO) of the investigated VUV/UV/H2O2 treatments ranged between 0.14–0.20, 0.07–0.14 and 0.09–0.26 kWh/m3/order for ATZ, SMX and MET, respectively, with the lowest EEO for each pollutant obtained under varied H2O2 dosages and reactor IDs. This study has demonstrated the efficiency of VUV/UV/H2O2 process for micropollutant removal and the inadequacy of the SSA model in flow-through reactors, and elaborated the influential mechanisms of H2O2 dosage and reactor ID on the reactor performances.

Maintaining a residual disinfectant/oxidant (e.g., chlorine and chlorine dioxide), is a generally used strategy to control microbial contaminants and bacterial regrowth in distribution systems. Secondarily oxidant, such as hypobromous acid (HOBr), can be formed during chlorination of bromide-containing waters. The decay of oxidants and formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) due to the interaction between oxidants and selected metal oxides were studied. Selected metal oxides generally enhanced the decay of these halogen-containing oxidants via three pathways: (1) catalytic disproportionation to yield an oxidized form of halogen (i.e., halate) and reduced form (halide for chlorine and bromine or chlorite for chlorine dioxide), (2) oxygen formation, and (3) oxidation of a metal in a reduced form (e.g., cuprous oxide) to a higher oxidation state. Cupric oxide (CuO) and nickel oxide (NiO) showed significantly strong abilities for the first pathway, and oxygen formation was a side reaction. Cuprous oxide can react with oxidants via the third pathway, while goethite was not involved in these reactions. The ability of CuO on catalytic disproportionation of HOBr remained stable up to four cycles. In chlorination process, bromate formation tends to be important (exceeding 10 µg/L) when initial bromide concentration is above 400 µg/L in the presence of dissolved organic matter. Increasing initial bromide concentrations increased the formation of DBPs and calculated cytotoxicity, and the maximum was observed at pH 8.6 during chlorination process. Therefore, the possible disinfectant loss and DBP formation should be carefully considered in drinking water distribution systems.

Hydraulic jump typically occurs downstream of hydraulic structures by converting the supercritical to subcritical flow regimes. If the tail-water depth is greater than the secondary depth of the hydraulic jump, the jump will be submerged (SHJ). In these conditions, the momentum equations will not have an analytical solution and a new solution is required. In this study, after dimensional analysis, an experimental study was conducted in a rectangular flume with a length of 9 m, a width of 0.5 m and a depth of 0.45 m in a wide range of Froude numbers (Fr = 3.5 to 11.5) and submergence ratios (Sr = 0.1 to 4). The data were then normalized and divided into two parts of training and testing. A new technique, DGMDH, was used to predict the submerged hydraulic jump characteristics. The results were then compared with the GMDH model. The results showed that the DGMDH model estimated the relative submergence depth, jump length, and relative energy loss with accuracy of R2 = 0.9944 and MAPE = 0.038, R2 = 0.9779 and MAPE = 0.0387, and R2 = 0.9932 and MAPE = 0.0192, respectively. While the accuracy of the GMDH model for relative submergence depth, jump length, and relative energy loss was respectively R2 = 0.9923 and MAPE = 0.043, R2 = 0.9671 and MAPE = 0.0527, and R2 = 0.9932 and MAPE = 0.0192. Due to superiority of the DGMDH model over the GMDH model, it is recommended to use this model to estimate the submerged hydraulic jump characteristics. Highlight The results showed that the DGMDH model has more accurate results than the GMDH model in predicting the relative submergence depth, jump length, and relative energy loss.

Among the models used to assess water erosion, the RUSLE model is commonly used. Policy makers can act on cover (C-factor) and conservation practice (P-factor) to reduce erosion, with less costly action on soil surface characteristics. However, the widespread use of vegetation indices such as NDVI does not allow for a proper assessment of the C-factor in drylands where stones, crusted surfaces and litter strongly influence soil protection. Two sub-factors of C, canopy cover (CC) and soil cover (SC), can be assessed from phytoecological measurements that include gravel-pebbles cover, physical mulch, annual and perennial vegetation. This paper introduces a method to calculate the C-factor from phytoecological data and, in combination with remote sensing and a geographic information system (GIS), to map it over large areas. A supervised classification, based on field phytoecological data, is applied to radiometric data from Landsat-8/OLI satellite images. Then, a C-factor value, whose SC and CC subfactors are directly derived from the phytoecological measurements, is assigned to each land cover unit. This method and RUSLE are implemented on a pilot region of 3828 km2 of the Saharan Atlas, composed of rangelands and steppe formations, and intended to become an observatory. The protective effect against erosion by gravel-pebbles (50%) is more than twice that of vegetation (23%). The C-factor derived from NDVI (0.67) is higher and more evenly distributed than that combining these two contributions (0.37 on average). Finally, priorities are proposed to decision-makers by crossing the synthetic map of erosion sensitivity and a decision matrix of management priorities.

Climate and human activities change spatial and temporal distribution of water and land use. The Tarim River, the largest inland river in China, faced a long-term exploitation of land and water over a rapid economic development. We analyzed land and water use from 1997 to 2019 in Tarim River Basin by Landsat images, and data on hydrology, climate, population, economy and PM2.5 (air particulate matter ≤2.5 μm). Agricultural land expanded the fastest (4–11%), followed by natural vegetation (15–16%) and water area (4–5%) with population and economic increase. Air quality (PM2.5 μg m−3) improved in upper (62–27) and middle (48–17) reaches. The water area in lower increase 5% because of ecological water delivery since 2000. Land use in the lower reach was dominated by agriculture, where the downstream runoff consumption increased by 6.8 times. The average annual air temperature and precipitation gradually increased by 0.5 °C and 51 mm in source and 0.9 °C and 30 mm in main reaches. The average annual water consumption in upper and middle reaches was 4 × 109 m3, accounting for 87% of input runoff in the main reach. Water consumption in middle reach increased by 33 times in 2009–2017. The industry structure was changing from primary to secondary and tertiary industry. To sum up, implementation of water saving strategies and ecological water delivery restored local ecology. Sustainable strategies should be applied facing industrialization. Furthermore, changing the industry structure and restoring the degraded farmlands to grasslands or forests would keep sustainability of Tarim River Basin.

Wudalianchi is a typical continental Cenozoic volcanic group rich in potassic volcanic rocks (Northeast China). Five hydrologically connected barrier lakes (Lakes 5 to 1) and upwelling cold mineral springs occur, forming a complex lake-groundwater system. Clarifying the water-source contributions and the role of water-rock interactions in the hydrological cycling for barrier lakes remains a challenge from scientific and engineering perspectives. In this study, seasonal variations of multiple isotopes were analyzed. δ18O and δD data indicate that the Wudalianchi lakes were mainly fed by mineral springs. The values, however, were greatly influenced by precipitation (rain and snow) and varying evaporation intensities. In contrast, 87Sr/86Sr ratios varied little between seasons (0.70701–0.7079), suggesting similar water-rock interactions through time. Nonetheless, Sr isotopic mixing models suggested that shallow mineral springs generally contributed >50% of the water to lower reaches. In contrast, the upstream wetland contributed >50% to Lake 5 and decreased down-valley (10.3–53.6%). Calculations based on the δ18O and δD Rayleigh fractionation equation suggest that evaporation in upper reaches was higher than the lower reaches. The evaporation in July was generally higher than in October. This study demonstrates the homogenous water-rock interactions and the associated water mixing effects on the terrestrial volcanic area. HIGHLIGHTS 87Sr/86Sr ratios varied little across seasons; δD and δ18O varied significantly.; δD and δ18O values of lakes were impacted by evaporation and precipitation.; Four endmember sources were identified by geochemical and isotopic data.; Shallow mineral springs and wetland water contributed most to lake waters.; Water-rock interaction and water mixing effect were highlighted in terrestrial volcanic area in eastern China.

Water erosion threatens large areas around the world. “Donga” is one of the witnesses of gully erosion in northern Benin, which induces serious threats to the natural habitats. This study was conducted to evaluate soil moisture content in different donga types (“microdongas”, “mesodongas”, and “megadongas”) and its variation at different topographic levels. The thermogravimetric soil moisture measurement technique was used for moisture estimation on saturated and unsaturated soil. Data were analyzed through analysis of variance test and t test with SAS software. The results showed that soil moisture content varied according to donga types. On unsaturated soil, higher difference (2.75%, p = 0.0328) was obtained in mesodongas at the middle followed by megadongas at the middle (2.6%, p = 0.034). On saturated soil, higher difference was obtained in mesodongas at the upstream (6.51%, p

Aeration experiments were conducted in a masonry tank to study the effects of operating parameters on the standard aeration efficiency (SAE) of a propeller diffused aeration (PDA) system. The operating parameters included the rotational speed of shaft (N), submergence depth (h), and propeller angle (α). The response surface methodology (RSM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) were used for modelling and optimizing the standard aeration efficiency (SAE) of a PDA system. The results of both approaches were compared for their modelling abilities in terms of coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE), computed from experimental and predicted data. ANN models were proved to be superior to RSM. The results indicate that for achieving the maximum standard aeration efficiency (SAE), N, h and α should be 1,000 rpm, 0.50 m, and 12°, respectively. The maximum SAE was found to be 1.711 kg O2/ kWh. Cross-validation results show that best approximation of the optimal values of input parameters for maximizing SAE is possible with a maximum deviation (absolute error) of ±15.2% between the model predicted and experimental values. HIGHLIGHTS Aeration characteristics of a propeller diffused aerator (PDA) were evaluated.; The response surface methodology (RSM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) were used for modelling and optimizing the standard aeration efficiency (SAE) of a PDA system.; The results of RSM and ANN were compared for their modelling abilities in terms of coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE), computed from experimental and predicted data.