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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > The hydrosphere > General
This book presents an overview of techniques that are available to characterize sedimentary aquifers. Groundwater flow and solute transport are strongly affected by aquifer heterogeneity. Improved aquifer characterization can allow for a better conceptual understanding of aquifer systems, which can lead to more accurate groundwater models and successful water management solutions, such as contaminant remediation and managed aquifer recharge systems. This book has an applied perspective in that it considers the practicality of techniques for actual groundwater management and development projects in terms of costs, technical resources and expertise required, and investigation time. A discussion of the geological causes, types, and scales of aquifer heterogeneity is first provided. Aquifer characterization methods are then discussed, followed by chapters on data upscaling, groundwater modelling, and geostatistics. This book is a must for every practitioner, graduate student, or researcher dealing with aquifer characterization .
This detailed exposition gives background and context to how modern biogeography has got to where it is now. For biogeographers and other researchers interested in biodiversity and the evolution of life on islands, Biogeology: Evolution in a Changing Landscape provides an overview of a large swathe of the globe encompassing Wallacea and the western Pacific. The book contains the full text of the original article explored in each chapter, presented as it appeared on publication. Key features: Holistic treatment, collecting together a series of important biogeographical papers into a single volume Authored by an expert who has spent nearly three decades actively involved in biogeography Describes and interprets a region of exceptional biodiversity and extreme endemism The only book to provide an integrated treatment of Wallacea, Melanesia, New Zealand, the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands and Antarctica Offers a critique of fashionable neo-dispersalist arguments, showing how these still suffer from the same weaknesses of the original Darwinian formulation. The chapters also include analysis of many major theoretical and philosophical issues of modern biogeographic theory, so that those interested in a more philosophical approach will find the book stimulating and thought-provoking.
In recognition of the trend toward using numerical methdos for analyzing aquifer test data, Aquifer Test Modeling delineates the application of numerical Laplace inversion analytical equations and numerical models and demonstrates the use of public domain software. Written by a leading expert with over fifty years of experience, this highly practical text provides a thorough grounding in the terms and methods employed in aquifer test modeling, while also establishing a protocol for organizing and simplifying conceptual model definition and data analysis. Using graphs, tables, and sample datasets to enhance understanding, the author delineates the five major steps involved in the aquifer test modeling process. He discusses the importance of the conceptual model definition as a framework for organizing, simplifying, and idealizing information. The chapters cover the selection of appropriate aquifer test mathematical model equations compatible with previously defined conceptual models and highlight the importance of reviewing the mathematical assumption and the adjustment of data for any departures. They also explain format selection, technique selection, well function or drawdown calculation, and calibration. The book provides five sample data sets to assist the reader in becoming familiar with WTAQ and MODFLOW aquifer test modeling input and output data file contents with confined nonleaky and unconfined aquifer conditions. It includes conceptual models consisting of abbreviated descriptions of aquifer test facilities, aquifer test data, and aquifer parameter values together with selected sample file sets. These are just a few of the features that make the book a valuable tool for estimating the supply and contamination characteristics of aquifers.
Offers a systematic and unified approach to the classical theories and recent techniques of multilayered aquifer systems. Clarifies governing principles and facilitates industrial problem solving. Uses the automated numerical Laplace inversion procedure to simplify mathematical materials.
Until now, techniques for studying biofilms- the cellular colonies that live in drinking water systems, wastewater operations, even ground and surface water- have been limited. Yet during the last decade, biofilms have become a critical element in water quality preservation systems, a key component of wastewater treatment biological reactions and the subject of extensive microbiological inquiry. An understanding of biofilm development, structure and dynamics is one condition for improving water supplies and for addressing technical problems such as biofouling, corrosion and bioweathering. Biofilms: Investigative Methods and Applications provides the first in-depth assessment of current and experimental ways to study biofilms, both in sample form and in situ. It shows how sensors, microscopy, lasers, and calorimetry, among other tools, can be used to obtain data on the morphology and metabolism of biofilms. This text is the first to organize and examine the best methods for investigating biofilms. It covers culture-based methods and emerging nondestructive techniques. It also shows how they can be used to characterize biofilms in a variety of manmade settings, such as sewers, wastewater plants, and drinking water distribution systems, as well as in karsts and groundwater sources. In clarifying the way biofilms are studied, the book offers new insights into these living films. It also applies inquiry techniques to the many problems confronting the environmental specialist-corrosion control, biofouling, and the improvement of fixed reactors in wastewater treatment. At the same time it explains technologies for the controlled growth of biofilms and shows how biofilms can be effectively monitored and subjected to quantitative analysis. The technical information in Biofilms: Investigative Methods and Applications is designed to be of use to engineers and researchers and to be helpful in the generation of electronic data.
This book shows the effectiveness of DRASTIC model in a geographical setting for validation of vulnerable zones and presents the optimization of parameters for the development of precise maps highlighting several zones with varied contamination. Impact of vadose zone has also been assessed by considering every sub-surface layer. Exclusive title covering effectiveness of DRASTIC model for groundwater vulnerability assessment Reviews of the strengths and limitations of assessment methods Presents multi-criteria evaluation of hydro-geological and anthropogenic factors Discusses integration with geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) Includes application of groundwater governance framework with a case study study of a geographical setting
The author simplifies the necessary theoretical background as much as possible and provides all derivational details of the theoretical background as worked examples. He uses this method to explore how the derivations were generated for those who need to know while allowing others to easily skip them and still benefit and learn from the practical applications of the mathematical approaches. Containing 51 tables and 323 figures, the book covers both the breadth and the depth of currently applied aquifer flow and contaminant transport modeling solutions.
Climate hazards are the world's most widespread, deadliest and costliest natural disasters. Knowledge of climate hazard dynamics is critical since the impacts of climate change, population growth, development projects and migration affect both the impact and severity of disasters. Current global events highlight how hazards can lead to significant financial losses, increased mortality rates and political instability. This book examines climate hazard crises in contemporary Asia, identifying how hazards from the Middle East through South and Central Asia and China have the power to reshape our globalised world. In an era of changing climates, knowledge of hazard dynamics is essential to mitigating disasters and strengthening livelihoods and societies across Asia. By integrating human exposure to climate factors and disaster episodes, the book explores the environmental forces that drive disasters and their social implications. Focusing on a range of Asian countries, landscapes and themes, the chapters address several scales (province, national, regional), different hazards (drought, flood, temperature, storms, dust), environments (desert, temperate, mountain, coastal) and issues (vulnerability, development, management, politics) to present a diverse, comprehensive evaluation of climate hazards in Asia. This book offers an understanding of the challenges climate hazards present, their critical nature and the effort needed to mitigate climate hazards in 21st-century Asia. Climate Hazard Crises in Asian Societies and Environments is vital reading for those interested and engaged in Asia's development and well-being today and will be of interest to those working in Geography, Development Studies, Environmental Sciences, Sociology and Political Science.
Bringing together a multidisciplinary set of scholars and diverse case studies from across the globe, this book explores the management, governance, and understandings around water, a key element in the assemblage of hydrosocial territories. Hydrosocial territories are spatial configurations of people, institutions, water flows, hydraulic technology and the biophysical environment that revolve around the control of water. Territorial politics finds expression in encounters of diverse actors with divergent spatial and political-geographical interests; as a result, water (in)justice and (in)equity are embedded in these socio-ecological contexts. The territory-building projections and strategies compete, superimpose and align to strengthen specific water-control claims of various interests. As a result, actors continuously recompose the territory's hydraulic grid, cultural reference frames, and political-economic relationships. Using a political ecology focus, the different contributions to this book explore territorial struggles, demonstrating that these contestations are not merely skirmishes over natural resources, but battles over meaning, norms, knowledge, identity, authority and discourses. The articles in this book were originally published in the journal Water International.
Pursuing a multidisciplinary approach, this book highlights current challenges in, and potential solutions to, environmental water management in Mexico. It includes an essential review of current literature and state of the art research, providing a one-stop resource for researchers, graduate students and environmental water managers alike. The result of a cooperation between 35 researchers from seven Mexican academic institutions, two Federal Commissions and one international organization, the book links science to practice for living organisms and their environment, while also addressing anthropogenic effects on our water ecosystems. Particularly the book addresses the following subjects: Biodiversity in inland waters, physical and chemical characterization of inland waters, physico-chemical characterization of Mexican coastal lagoons, microbiota in brackish ecosystems, diversity associated with southern Mexico's pacific coral reefs, fry fish stockings in aquatic epicontinental systems, a review of tuna fisheries in Mexico, fishery resource management challenges stemming from climate change, aquatic invasive alien species, harmful algal blooms, and aquatic protected areas, related ecological and social problems and the importance for fisheries' yield.
Originally published in this form in 1971, the content of this book was originally part of a larger composite volume 'Water, Earth and Man' (1969) which provided a synthesis of hydrology, geomorphology and socio-economic geography. This volume brings together the systematic theme of physical hydrology while maintaining a link with the original book which emphasised the benefit of the study of water being considered in the widest sense within the physical and social environments.
Originally published in 1973. This collection of essays looks at the 'quantitative revolution' and the 'new geography' by some of the geographers who had a significant part in those innovations and looks ahead to further developments. The views in the chapters are diverse and offer a fascinating glimpse of the discipline of geography as the subject was undergoing such change and becoming more socially committed. They cover theory, spatial-systems theory, forecasting, human ecology and climatology alongside the teaching of the subject. The concerns of the contemporary geographer come across and are of interest today as these areas have developed still more.
Originally published in this form in 1971, the content of this book was originally part of a larger composite volume 'Water, Earth and Man' (1969) which provided a synthesis of hydrology, geomorphology and socio-economic geography. This volume brings together the systematic theme of geomorphology while maintaining a link with the original book which emphasised the benefit of the study of water being considered in the widest sense within the physical and social environments.
Filling a long-standing need for a desk reference that synthesizes current research, Land Use Effects on Streamflow and Water Quality in the Northeastern United States reviews and discusses the impact of forest management, agriculture, and urbanization. The book provides a gateway to the diverse scientific literature that is urgently needed to understand and solve ubiquitous watershed management problems. The authors use an in-depth approach that focuses on the science behind sound management principles and practices. The book begins with a summary of the scientific principles and processes that define and govern the interactions between activities on land and conditions in streams, lakes, and estuaries. Building on these principles, later chapters progress from basic science to small-scale, controlled field experiments to landscape-scale studies and their watershed management implications. This nested format parallels the development of watershed management projects and solutions. The deliberate integration of land use history, ecology, hydrology, chemistry, and resource management avoids the artificial separation of inter-related watershed characteristics and tracks causes and effects over realistic time scales. The authors present the hydrologic and water quality principles on which to construct management plans for water supply watersheds across a wide range of sizes, configurations, and time scales. Rigorously reviewed by a distinguished panel of scientists and watershed managers, the book benefits from their collective experience across the full range of watershed science and management. It provides a diverse audience with the opportunity to update and expand their knowledge in critical areas of watershed science and management.
Fully revised and updated, this second edition of Water Ethics continues to consolidate water ethics as a key dimension of water-related decisions. The book introduces the idea that ethics are an intrinsic dimension of any water policy, program, or practice, and that understanding what ethics are being acted out in water policies is fundamental to an understanding of water resource management. Alongside updated references and the introduction of discussion questions and recommended further reading, this new edition discusses in depth three significant developments since the publication of the first edition in 2013. The first is the growing awareness of the climate crisis as an existential threat, and associated concern about adaptive strategies for sustainable water management and ways of using water management for climate mitigation (e.g., practically through agricultural soil management and conceptually through ethics awareness). Second, there has been increased clarity among the religious community, Indigenous leaders, and progressive academics that ethics needs to become an arena for application and action (e.g., the Vatican encyclical Laudato Si, protests at Standing Rock and Flint, Michigan, in the US, and climate demonstrations worldwide). Thirdly, there have been new normative water standards ranging from "water stewardship" (industry initiative), water charters (Berlin) and the on-going initiative to develop a global water ethics charter. Drawing on case studies from countries including Australia, India, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United States, this textbook is essential reading for students of environmental ethics and water governance and management.
Written by leading soil and ground-water remediation scientists, Handbook of Bioremediation presents information regarding the processes, application, and limitations of using remediation technologies to restore contaminated soil and ground water. It covers field-tested technologies, site characterization requirements for each remediation technology, and the costs associated with their implementation. In addition to discussions and examples of developed technologies, the book provides insights into technologies ranging from theoretical concepts to limited field-scale investigations. In situ remediation systems, air sparging and bioventing, the use of electron acceptors other than oxygen, natural bioremediation, and the introduction of organisms into the subsurface are among the specific topics covered in this invaluable handbook.
Several general books are available on ultraviolet light and its applications. However, this is the first comprehensive monograph that deals with its application to water and wastewater treatment. There is a rapidly growing interest in using UV light in water sanitation due to the increased knowledge of the potential health and environmental impacts of disinfection byproducts. Ultraviolet Light in Water and Wastewater Sanitation integrates the fundamental physics applicable to water and wastewater sanitation, the engineering aspects, and the practical experience in the field. The text analyzes the concerns associated with this application of UV light and brings together comprehensive information on the presently available UV technologies applicable to water and wastewater treatment including: lamp technologies, criteria of evaluation and choice of technology; fundamental principles; performance criteria for disinfection; design criteria and methods; synergistic use of UV and oxidants (advanced oxidation); and functional requirements and potential advantages and drawbacks of the technique. Ultraviolet Light in Water and Wastewater Sanitation is the only treatise currently available combining fundamental knowledge, recommendations for design, evaluations of performance, and future prospects for this application. Water and wastewater treatment professionals, water utility employees, governmental regulators, and chemists will find this book an essential and unique reference for a technology which has received growing regulatory acceptance.
This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the existing nature of India's groundwater laws. In the backdrop of the gravity of groundwater crisis that threatens to engulf the country, the book examines the correlation between the imperfections in the law and water crisis and advocates a reform agenda to overhaul the legal framework. It accomplishes this objective by examining how some of the States and Union Territories regulate and manage groundwater through the legal instrumentality against the backdrop of the two conflicting paradigms: the "elitist" and the "egalitarian." The book's fundamental premise is that despite being an extraordinarily critical resource that supports India's burgeoning population's ever-increasing water demands, groundwater is abused and mismanaged. The key argument that it posits is that the elitist paradigm must give way to an egalitarian one where groundwater is treated as a common property resource. To place this message in perspective, the book's introduction explains the dichotomy between the two paradigms in the context of groundwater. This sets the stage, after which the book is divided thematically into three parts. The first part deals with some of the general groundwater management concerns brought to the fore by the operation of the elitist paradigm. Since water is constitutionally a State subject, the second part analyses the groundwater legislations of different States and Union Territories set against their unique circumstances. As these laws do not dismantle the elitist paradigm that interlocks groundwater rights to land rights, the next part articulates the legal reform agenda where a case is made to re-engineer groundwater laws to reflect a more sustainable basis. The findings and arguments resonate with the situation in many developing countries around the world due to which the book is a valuable resource for researchers across disciplines studying this area, and also for policy makers, think tanks, and NGOs. Groundwater Management-Inter-state Water Conflicts-Aquifers-Water Markets-Water Security-Water Law Reform-Groundwater Law-Water Law-Sustainable Development-Hydrology
The Mekong Basin in Southeast Asia is one of the largest international river basins in the world. Its abundant natural resources are shared by six riparian countries and provide the basis for the livelihoods of more than 75 million people. However, ongoing socio-economic growth and related anthropogenic interventions impact the region's ecosystems, and there is an urgent need for the monitoring of the basin's land surface dynamics. Remote sensing has evolved as a key tool for this task, allowing for up-to-date analyses and regular monitoring of environmental dynamics beyond physical or political boundaries and at various temporal and spatial scales. This book serves as a forum for remote-sensing scientists with an interest in the Mekong River Basin to present their recent basin-related works as well as applied case studies of the region. A broad range of sensors from high to medium resolution, and from multispectral to SAR systems, are applied, covering topics such as land cover/land use classification and comparison, time series analyses of climate variables, vegetation structure and vegetation productivity, as well as studies on flood mapping or water turbidity monitoring. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Remote Sensing.
In the Eastern corridor of Northern region of Ghana, presence of high fluoride concentration in the groundwater has made many drilled boreholes unusable for drinking. Little is, however, known about the factors contributing to the occurrence of high fluoride in this part of Ghana and it's spatial distribution. Treatment of the fluoride-contaminated groundwater by adsorption is also hampered by the lack of suitable adsorbents that are locally available. Based on principal component analysis, and saturation indices calculations, this thesis highlights that, the predominant mechanisms controlling the fluoride enrichment probably include calcite precipitation and Na/Ca exchange processes, both of which deplete Ca from the groundwater, and promote the dissolution of fluorite. The mechanisms also include F-/OH- anion exchange processes, as well as evapotranspiration processes which concentrate the fluoride ions, hence increasing its concentration in the groundwater. Spatial mapping showed that the high fluoride groundwaters occur predominantly in the Saboba, Cheriponi and Yendi districts. The thesis further highlights that, modifying the surface of indigenous materials by an aluminium coating process, is a very promising approach to develop a suitable fluoride adsorbent. Aluminum oxide coated media reduced fluoride in water from 5. 0 +/- 0.2 mg/L to 1.5 mg/L (which is the WHO health based guideline for fluoride), in both batch and continuous flow column experiments in the laboratory. Kinetic and isotherm studies, thermodynamic calculations, as well as analytical results from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, suggest the mechanism of fluoride adsorption onto aluminium oxide coated media involved both physisorption and chemisorption processes. Field testing in a fluoritic community in Northern Ghana showed that the adsorbent is also capable of treating fluoride-contaminated groundwater in field conditions, suggesting it is a promising defluoridation adsorbent. The adsorbent also showed good regenerability potential that would allow re-use, which could make it practically and economically viable. Additional research is, however, required to further increase the fluoride adsorption capacity of developed adsorbent.
Due to the complexity of hydrological systems a single model may be unable to capture the full range of a catchment response and accurately predict the streamflows. A solution could be the in use of several specialized models organized in the so-called committees. Refining the committee approach is one of the important topics of this study, and it is demonstrated that it allows for increased predictive capability of models. Another topic addressed is the prediction of hydrologic models' uncertainty. The traditionally used Monte Carlo method is based on the past data and cannot be directly used for estimation of model uncertainty for the future model runs during its operation. In this thesis the so-called MLUE (Machine Learning for Uncertainty Estimation) approach is further explored and extended; in it the machine learning techniques (e.g. neural networks) are used to encapsulate the results of Monte Carlo experiments in a predictive model that is able to estimate uncertainty for the future states of the modelled system. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a committee of several predictive uncertainty models allows for an increase in prediction accuracy. Catchments in Nepal, UK and USA are used as case studies. In flood modelling hydrological models are typically used in combination with hydraulic models forming a cascade, often supported by geospatial processing. For uncertainty analysis of flood inundation modelling of the Nzoia catchment (Kenya) SWAT hydrological and SOBEK hydrodynamic models are integrated, and the parametric uncertainty of the hydrological model is allowed to propagate through the model cascade using Monte Carlo simulations, leading to the generation of the probabilistic flood maps. Due to the high computational complexity of these experiments, the high performance (cluster) computing framework is designed and used. This study refined a number of hydroinformatics techniques, thus enhancing uncertainty-based hydrological and integrated modelling.
The aim of this book is to contribute to understanding risk knowledge and to forecasting components of early flood warning, particularly in the environment of tropical high mountains in developing cities. This research covers a challenge, taking into account the persistent lack of data, limited resources and often complex climatic, hydrologic and hydraulic conditions. In this research, a regional method is proposed for assessing flash flood susceptibility and for identifying debris flow predisposition at the watershed scale. An indication of hazard is obtained from the flash flood susceptibility analysis and continually, the vulnerability and an indication of flood risk at watershed scale was obtained. Based on risk analyses, the research follows the modelling steps for flood forecasting development. Input precipitation is addressed in the environment of complex topography commonly found in mountainous tropical areas. A distributed model, a semi-distributed model and a lumped model were all used to simulate the discharges of a tropical high mountain basin with a paramo upper basin. Performance analysis and diagnostics were carried out in order to identify the most appropriate model for the study area for flood early warning. Finally, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to explore the added value of numerical weather models for flood early warning in a paramo area.
For integrated water resources management both blue and green water resources in a river basin and their spatial and temporal distribution have to be considered. This is because green and blue water uses are interdependent. In sub-Saharan Africa, the upper landscapes are often dominated by rainfed and supplementary irrigated agriculture that rely on green water resources. Downstream, most blue water uses are confined to the river channels, mainly for hydropower and the environment. Over time and due to population growth and increased demands for food and energy, water use of both green and blue water has increased. This book provides a quantitative assessment of green-blue water use and their interactions. The book makes a novel contribution by developing a hydrological model that can quantify not only green but also blue water use by many smallholder farmers scattered throughout the landscape. The book provides an innovative framework for mapping ecological productivity where gross returns from water consumed in agricultural and natural vegetation are quantified. The book provides a multi-objective optimization analysis involving green and blue water users, including the environment. The book also assesses the uncertainty levels of using remote sensing data in water resource management at river basin scale.
The book presents documentary evidence of the insufficiency of rehabilitation works to close the gap between the irrigation service and actual area irrigated of publicly funded national irrigation systems in the Philippines. It outlines a methodology for formulating a modernisation plan for national irrigation systems with focus on the mostly ungauged, medium to small canal irrigation systems. The proposed methodology adaptively modified some known modernisation concepts and techniques and integrated them in a more holistic framework in the context of changing weather patterns and river flow regimes. It includes in-depth review of rehabilitation works; system diagnosis; revalidation of design assumptions on percolation and water supply; characterisation of system management, irrigation service and demand; and drawing up of options and a vision for the modernised irrigation systems. Central to the proposed modernisation strategy is the logical coherence among the design of physical structures, system operation and water supply so that improvements of irrigation service are possible. The book discusses the development of the proposed methodology and demonstrates its utility in two case study irrigation systems.
Modelling urban flood dynamics requires proper handling of a number of complex urban features. Although high-resolution topographic data can nowadays be obtained from aerial LiDAR surveys, such top-view LiDAR data still have difficulties to represent some key components of urban features. Incorrectly representing features like underpasses through buildings or apparent blockage of flow by sky trains may lead to misrepresentation of actual flood propagation, which could easily result in inadequate flood-protection measures. Hence proper handling of urban features plays an important role in enhancing urban flood modelling. This research explores present-day capabilities of using computer-based environments to merge side-view Structure-from-Motion data acquisition with top-view LiDAR data to create a novel multi-source views (MSV) topographic representation for enhancing 2D model schematizations. A new MSV topographic data environment was explored for the city of Delft and compared with the conventional top-view LiDAR approach. Based on the experience gained, the effects of different topographic descriptions were explored for 2D urban flood models of (i) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the 2003 flood event; and (ii) Ayutthaya, Thailand for the 2011 flood event. It was observed that adopting the new MSV data as the basis for describing the urban topography, the numerical simulations provide a more realistic representation of complex urban flood dynamics, thus enhancing conventional approaches and revealing specific features like flood watermarks identification and helping to develop improved flood-protection measures. |
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