How will future climates be different from today's world-and what consequences will changes in climate have for societies and their development strategies? This book is a primer on the essential science for grasping the workings of climate change and climate prediction. It is accessible for readers with little to no background in science, with an emphasis on the needs of those studying sustainable development. John C. Mutter gives a just-the-facts overview of how the climate system functions and what we know about why changes occur. He recounts the evolution of climatology from the earliest discoveries about Earth's climate to present-day predictive capabilities, and clearly presents the scientific basis of fundamental topics such as climate zones, ocean-atmosphere dynamics, and the long-term cycles from glacial to interglacial periods. Mutter also details the mechanisms of climate change and the ways in which human activity affects global climate. He explains the science behind some known consequences of rising temperatures, such as sea level rise, hurricane behavior, and climate variability. The primer discusses how climate predictions are made and examines the sources of uncertainty in forecasting. Climate Change Science is a straightforward and easy-to-read treatment of the fundamental science needed to comprehend one of today's most important issues.

This thesis presents a study of strong stratification and turbulence collapse in the planetary boundary layer, opening a new avenue in this field. It is the first work to study all regimes of stratified turbulence in a unified simulation framework without a break in the paradigms for representation of turbulence. To date, advances in our understanding and the parameterization of turbulence in the stable boundary layer have been hampered by difficulties simulating the strongly stratified regime, and the analysis has primarily been based on field measurements. The content presented here changes that paradigm by demonstrating the ability of direct numerical simulation to address this problem, and by doing so to remove the uncertainty of turbulence models from the analysis. Employing a stably stratified Ekman layer as a simplified physical model of the stable boundary layer, the three stratification regimes observed in nature- weakly, intermediately and strongly stratified-are reproduced, and the data is subsequently used to answer key, long-standing questions. The main part of the book is organized in three sections, namely a comprehensive introduction, numerics, and physics. The thesis ends with a clear and concise conclusion that distills specific implications for the study of the stable boundary layer. This structure emphasizes the physical results, but at the same time gives relevance to the technical aspects of numerical schemes and post-processing tools. The selection of the relevant literature during the introduction, and its use along the work appropriately combines literature from two research communities: fluid dynamics, and boundary-layer meteorology.

Integrating information from several areas of engineering geology, hydrogeology, geotechnical engineering, this book addresses the general field of groundwater from an engineering perspective. It covers geological engineering as well as hydrogeological and environmental geological problems caused by groundwater engineering. It includes 10 chapters, i.e., basic groundwater theory, parameter calculation in hydrogeology, prevention of geological problem caused by groundwater, construction dewatering, wellpoint dewatering methods, dewatering wells and drilling, groundwater dewatering in foundation-pit engineering, groundwater engineering in bedrock areas, numerical simulation in groundwater engineering, groundwater corrosion on concrete and steel. Based on up-to-date literature, it describes recent developments and presents several case studies with examples and problems. It is an essential reference source for industrial and academic researchers working in the groundwater field and can also serve as lecture-based course material providing fundamental information and practical tools for both senior undergraduate and postgraduate students in fields of geology engineering, hydrogeology, geotechnical engineering or to conduct related research.

This contributed volume presents a multi-perspective collection of the latest research findings on oil and gas exploration and imparts insight that can greatly assist in understanding field behavior, design of test programs, and design of field operations. With this book, engineers also gain a powerful guide to the most commonly used numerical simulation methods that aid in reservoir modelling. In addition, the contributors explore development of technologies that allow for cost effective oil and gas exploration while minimizing the impact on our water resources, surface and groundwater aquifers, geological stability of impacted areas, air quality, and infrastructure assets such as roads, pipelines, water, and wastewater networks. Easy to understand, the book identifies equipment and procedural problems inherent to oil and gas operations and provides systematic approaches for solving them.

This book is a collection of papers presented at the International Workshop on Geotechnical Natural Hazards held July 12-15, 2014, in Kitakyushu, Japan. The workshop was the sixth in the series of Japan-Taiwan Joint Workshops on Geotechnical Hazards from Large Earthquakes and Heavy Rainfalls, held under the auspices of the Asian Technical Committee No. 3 on Geotechnology for Natural Hazards of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. It was co-organized by the Japanese Geotechnical Society and the Taiwanese Geotechnical Society. The contents of this book focus on geotechnical and natural hazard-related issues in Asia such as earthquakes, tsunami, rainfall-induced debris flows, slope failures, and landslides. The book contains the latest information and mitigation technology on earthquake- and rainfall-induced geotechnical natural hazards. By dissemination of the latest state-of-the-art research in the area, the information contained in this book will help researchers, designers, consultants, government officials, and academicians involved in the mitigation of natural hazards. The findings and other information provided here is expected to contribute toward the development of a new chapter in disaster prevention and mitigation of geotechnical structures.

This book addresses applications of earthquake engineering for both offshore and land-based structures. It is self-contained as a reference work and covers a wide range of topics, including topics related to engineering seismology, geotechnical earthquake engineering, structural engineering, as well as special contents dedicated to design philosophy, determination of ground motions, shock waves, tsunamis, earthquake damage, seismic response of offshore and arctic structures, spatial varied ground motions, simplified and advanced seismic analysis methods, sudden subsidence of offshore platforms, tank liquid impacts during earthquakes, seismic resistance of non-structural elements, and various types of mitigation measures, etc. The target readership includes professionals in offshore and civil engineering, officials and regulators, as well as researchers and students in this field.

This book offers valuable climate policy and climate assessment lessons, depicting what it takes to build a sustained climate assessment process. It explores the third U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA3) report as compared with previous US national climate assessments, from both a process and content perspective. The U.S. Global Change Research Program is required by law to produce a National Climate Assessment report every four years, and these reports provide a comprehensive evaluation of climate science as well as observed and projected climate impacts on a variety of sectors. As the book describes, a key contribution of the NCA3 approach is a far more deliberate interdisciplinary process, as well as an engagement strategy that brought hundreds of public and private sector stakeholders into the assessment community. Among its most important conceptual contributions was an explicit focus on building the infrastructure to conduct better assessments over time and an experimental approach to analysis of the impacts of climate on cross-sectoral systems and inter-locking and cascading effects across sectors. Readers may explore innovations such as the development of regional climatologies and projections for every region of the US, as well as the development of the Global Change Information System. The book also highlights the need for decision-makers to be part of the assessment process, in order for assessment findings to be truly useful from a decision-maker's perspective. Many lessons have been learned by the NCA3 authors that can be useful in future assessments and adaptation processes, both within the US and internationally. This book passes on such lessons and includes an evaluation of the role of state climate assessments in ongoing national assessment processes.

This book provides an overview of paste tailings disposal at mine sites. It deals comprehensively with the characterization of sulphide-rich tailings, geotechnical and microstructural behaviour, surface tailings disposal applications, underground paste backfilling, and case studies. The authors place emphasis on the characterization, monitoring, disposal and treatment, as well as environmental considerations of problematic sulphidic tailings. The framework is supported by worldwide case studies.

This book aims to stimulate new thinking on the roles of river contracts in the protection and management of hydrographic resources and ecosystems and in the sustainable development of dependent territories and communities. Up-to-date information is provided on a range of topics relating to river contracts, including their relevance to implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive on integrated river basin management. The importance of river contracts for innovation in territorial planning and governance is explored with the aid of comparative analysis between France and Italy that encompasses water management policies, legislative frameworks, contents and procedures, and stakeholder rules and participation. This analysis is supported by enlightening case studies in urbanized and rural contexts within the two countries. The book will be of high interest for all who wish to understand the potential of river contracts to create innovative forums for dialogue and knowledge sharing between public/private stakeholders and local communities and to prompt a new form of governance of river ecosystems and territories that is compliant with the subsidiarity principle.

This is the first book to revisit geotechnical site characterization from a probabilistic point of view and provide rational tools to probabilistically characterize geotechnical properties and underground stratigraphy using limited information obtained from a specific site. This book not only provides new probabilistic approaches for geotechnical site characterization and slope stability analysis, but also tackles the difficulties in practical implementation of these approaches. In addition, this book also develops efficient Monte Carlo simulation approaches for slope stability analysis and implements these approaches in a commonly available spreadsheet environment. These approaches and the software package are readily available to geotechnical practitioners and alleviate them from reliability computational algorithms. The readers will find useful information for a non-specialist to determine project-specific statistics of geotechnical properties and to perform probabilistic analysis of slope stability.

This book analyzes the issues associated with climate change in the Himalayas. The purpose of choosing the Himalayas as a focus is because it is a particularly fragile mountain system, highly sensitive to climate change impacts, and it contains one of the largest human populations affected by climate change. The book provides extensive data and information regarding the climate history of the Himalayas, and the current effects of climate change on Himalayan weather systems, and on human and animal populations in the region. The book begins with an overview of global climate change with discussions of data trends and international initiatives, then segues into a history of climate changes and weather trends in the Himalayas. Weather systems of the Himalayas, both past and current, are analyzed and detailed through climate models, seasonal observations of weather fronts, and overviews of various climate scenarios. The book then discusses climate change impacts and signat ures specific to the Central Himalayan region, where the largest effects of impacts are observed. Readers will discover analysis presented on water resources, meteorological changes, biodiversity, agriculture and human health along with perspectives of management and policy. This book will appeal to researchers studying climate science, climatology, environmental scientists and policymakers.

This book investigates elementary processes in the Earth's atmosphere involving photons, electrons, ions, radicals, and aerosols. It is based on global atmospheric models such as the standard atmospheric model with averaged atmospheric parameters across the globe and over time, the Earth's energetic balance, and the global electric circuit that allows to analyze fundamental atmospheric properties to be analyzed. Rate constants of elementary processes in the Earth's atmosphere, together with measured atmospheric parameters and existing concepts of atmospheric phenomena, are used in the analysis of global and local atmospheric processes. Atmospheric photoprocesses result from the interaction of solar radiation with the atmosphere and processes involving ions, oxygen atoms, excited atomic particles and ozone molecules. Atmospheric electricity as a secondary phenomenon to atmospheric water circulation results in a chain of processes that begins with collisions of water aerosols in different aggregate states. Cosmic rays are of importance for atmospheric electricity, as they create positive and negative ions in the air. Air breakdown in an electric field of clouds in the form of lightning may develop under the influence of cosmic ray-created seed electrons, which are necessary for electron multiplication in ionization wave-streamers. The upper atmosphere (ionosphere) is formed under solar radiation in a vacuum ultraviolet spectrum, and absorption of this radiation leads to air photoionization. The greenhouse effect is determined by atmospheric water, whereas transitions between a water vapor and aerosols may lead to a change in atmospheric optical depth. Carbon dioxide contributes in small portions to the atmospheric greenhouse effect. Cosmic rays are of importance for atmospheric discharge, the origin of lightning and cloud formation in the first stage of aerosol growth. This book provides a qualitative description of atmospheric properties and phenomena based on elementary processes and simple models.

This book presents a selection of the best papers from the HEaRT 2015 conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal, which provided a valuable forum for engineers and architects, researchers and educators to exchange views and findings concerning the technological history, construction features and seismic behavior of historical timber-framed walls in the Mediterranean countries. The topics covered are wide ranging and include historical aspects and examples of the use of timber-framed construction systems in response to earthquakes, such as the gaiola system in Portugal and the Bourbon system in southern Italy; interpretation of the response of timber-framed walls to seismic actions based on calculations and experimental tests; assessment of the effectiveness of repair and strengthening techniques, e.g., using aramid fiber wires or sheets; and modelling analyses. In addition, on the basis of case studies, a methodology is presented that is applicable to diagnosis, strengthening and improvement of seismic performance and is compatible with modern theoretical principles and conservation criteria. It is hoped that, by contributing to the knowledge of this construction technique, the book will help to promote conservation of this important component of Europe's architectural heritage.

This study analyzes the spatial-temporal pattern and processes of China's energy-related carbon emissions. Based on extensive quantitative analysis, it outlines the character and trajectory of China's energy-related carbon emissions during the period 1995-2010, examining the distribution pattern of China's carbon emissions from regional and sectoral perspectives and revealing the driving factors of China's soaring emission increase. Further, the book investigates the supply chain carbon emissions (the carbon footprints) of China's industrial sectors. Anthropogenic climate change is one of the most serious challenges currently facing humankind. China is the world's largest developing country, top primary energy consumer and carbon emitter. Achieving both economic growth and environmental conservation is the country's twofold challenge. Understanding the status, features and driving forces of China's energy-related carbon emissions is a critical aspect of attaining global sustainability. This work, for the first time, presents both key findings on and a systematic evaluation of China's carbon emissions from energy consumption. The results have important implications for global carbon budgets and burden-sharing with regard to climate change mitigation. The book will be of great interest to readers around the world, as it addresses a topic of truly global significance.

These proceedings of the EPS 2018: 5th International Conference on Geofoam Blocks in Construction Applications, held in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus on May 9 to 11, 2018, present a collection of contributions on the state-of-the-art of research and applications relating to geofoam. Geofoam researchers, consultants, molders, contractors and practitioners from all around the globe discuss the recent developments and future trends of expanded polystyrene (EPS)-block geofoam technology and its construction applications. EPS'18 contributes to the development of geofoam applications, following on from successful conferences in Oslo (1985), Tokyo (1996), Salt Lake City (2001) and Oslo (2011). The book discusses topics including, but not limited to, current use of geofoam, design specifications, applications, new concepts, material properties, modeling and specific topics in geofoam blocks in construction applications.

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 book describes the huge efforts by the Chinese Government concerning the restoration and future sustainable management of Chinese water systems. It presents the results of a Sino-European joint project concerning the Songhuajiang-Liaohe River Basin (SLRB) in Northeast China conducted by the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Germany, and the Natural Environment Research Council as represented by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), UK. The book explains in great detail the development of risk assessment and corresponding management methods for (i) controlling water pollution, (ii) assessing river health and ecological restoration options, (iii) characterizing persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and (iv) protecting fragile groundwater resources. It also describes the implemented demonstration sites of SLRB during the project course as well as lessons learnt on efficient project management and the dissemination of knowledge and technologies.

Anyone who has experienced turbulence in flight knows that it is usually not pleasant, and may wonder why this is so difficult to avoid. The book includes papers by various aviation turbulence researchers and provides background into the nature and causes of atmospheric turbulence that affect aircraft motion, and contains surveys of the latest techniques for remote and in situ sensing and forecasting of the turbulence phenomenon. It provides updates on the state-of-the-art research since earlier studies in the 1960s on clear-air turbulence, explains recent new understanding into turbulence generation by thunderstorms, and summarizes future challenges in turbulence prediction and avoidance.

This book concerns the theoretical foundations of hydro mechanics of Pelton turbines from a viewpoint of engineering. For reference purposes all relevant flow processes and hydraulic aspects in a Pelton turbine have been analyzed completely and systematically. The analyses especially include the quantification of all possible losses existing in the Pelton turbine and the indication of most available potential for further enhancing the system efficiency. As a guideline the book therefore supports further developments of Pelton turbines with regard to their hydraulic designs and optimizations. It is thus suitable for the development and design engineers as well as those working in the field of turbo machinery. Many laws described in the book can also be directly used to simplify aspects of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) or to develop new computational methods. The well-executed examples help better understanding the related flow mechanics.

This book presents flight mechanics of aircraft, spacecraft, and rockets to technical and non-technical readers in simple terms and based purely on physical principles. Adapting an accessible and lucid writing style, the book retains the scientific authority and conceptual substance of an engineering textbook without requiring a background in physics or engineering mathematics. Professor Tewari explains relevant physical principles of flight by straightforward examples and meticulous diagrams and figures. Important aspects of both atmospheric and space flight mechanics are covered, including performance, stability and control, aeroelasticity, orbital mechanics, and altitude control. The book describes airplanes, gliders, rotary wing and flapping wing flight vehicles, rockets, and spacecraft and visualizes the essential principles using detailed illustration. It is an ideal resource for managers and technicians in the aerospace industry without engineering degrees, pilots, and anyone interested in the mechanics of flight.

This book presents a new suite of benchmarks for and examples of porous media mechanics collected over the last two years. It continues the assembly of benchmarks and examples for porous media mechanics published in 2014. The book covers various applications in the geosciences, geotechnics, geothermal energy, and geological waste deposition. The analysis of thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes is essential to many applications in environmental engineering, such as geological waste deposition, geothermal energy utilisation, carbon capture and storage, water resources management, hydrology, and even climate change. In order to assess the feasibility and safety of geotechnical applications, process-based modelling is the only tool that can effectively quantify future scenarios, a fact which also creates a huge burden of responsibility concerning the reliability of computational tools. The book shows that benchmarking offers a suitable methodology for verifying the quality of modelling tools based on best practices, and together with code comparison fosters community efforts. It also provides a brief introduction to the DECOVALEX, SeSBench and MOMAS initiatives. This benchmark book is part of the OpenGeoSys initiative - an open source project designed to share knowledge and experience in environmental analysis and scientific computation.

This book details how the GALO system of basin modelling may be used in the analysis of actual, non-standard problems of geology. It begins by addressing the tectonic subsidence of sedimentary basins, and goes on to consider the problems of maturation of organic matter and hydrocarbon generation in the vicinity of intrusions and subtrappean sedimentary complexes. Lastly, the book discusses the formation of temperature and heat flow distributions with depth due to the sharp climate variations in the Quaternary, which was marked by repeated formation and degradation of permafrost. The book studies the application of the GALO basin modelling system to the three problems mentioned above. Employing the GALO system provides a unique opportunity to assess the amplitude and duration of the stretching and thermal activation of the basin lithosphere, and to study in detail the formation of a maturity aureole of organic matter in the basin's subtrappean sedimentary cover. This book offers a valuable resource for all graduate students and professionals interested in numerical modelling of the thermal evolution of sedimentary basins. It will also be of great interest to petroleum geologists engaged in oil and gas exploration in the trap provinces of the world. Lastly, it will benefit those students and geologists dealing with the thermal field of sedimentary blankets in actual and degraded permafrost areas.

This is the eleventh volume in the series Light Scattering Reviews, devoted to current knowledge of light scattering problems and both experimental and theoretical research techniques related to their solution. The focus of this volume is to describe modern advances in radiative transfer and light scattering optics. This book brings together the most recent studies on light radiative transfer in the terrestrial atmosphere, while also reviewing environmental polarimetry. The book is divided into nine chapters: * the first four chapters review recent advances in modern radiative transfer theory and provide detailed descriptions of radiative transfer codes (e.g., DISORT and CRTM). Approximate solutions of integro-differential radiative transfer equations for turbid media with different shapes (spheres, cylinders, planeparallel layers) are detailed; * chapters 5 to 8 focus on studies of light scattering by single particles and radially inhomogeneous media; * the final chapter discusses the environmental polarimetry of man-made objects.

This book presents a thorough review of the state-of-knowledge and recent innovations in the synthesis of pure and improved grades of fly ash zeolites (FAZ). Addressing improvements to conventional methods, it also showcases a novel technique for the synthesis of high cation exchangers from fly ash and detailed characterization techniques for the products obtained. In addition, it examines in detail various areas of specific applications of fly ash zeolites. Over the years, several methods such as hydrothermal, fusion prior to hydrothermal, microwave assisted hydrothermal and molten salt techniques for producing FAZ have been developed. However, one-step and two-step reactions between the fly ash and alkali usually generate alkaline wastes that may cause environmental contamination. In addition, the separation of FAZ from the partially activated fly ash (the impurities) remains a major concern for researchers and industrialists alike. In view of these challenges, this book presents a novel technique for three-step activation (TSA), which focuses on recycling the fly ash-NaOH-water reaction by-products until zeolitic residue is formed. The FAZ (the final residue after third step reactions) synthesized in this manner exhibits exceptionally high cation exchange capacity, specific surface area and pore area. This book offers a comprehensive compendium of reading material on fly ash and its recycled product, the zeolites. Students at both undergraduate and graduate levels, researchers, and practicing engineers will all find this book to be a valuable guide in their respective fields.

The book provides an elaborate treatment of groundwater prospecting and management covering remote sensing, geological-geophysical cum hydrogeological studies, exploration (geological and geophysical), development (well logging techniques, pump test, its analysis and applications in well design), contamination (pollution of groundwater) and regulatory legislations regarding groundwater utilization under one cover. The book presents an elucidation of fundamental and theoretical background of each technique supported by necessary illustrative examples and exclusive case studies. It is a text-cum-reference book not only for students, research scholars and practicing earth scientists but also for practicing civil and agricultural engineers working in the application of groundwater resources, engaged in its exploration, development, contamination, legislation and management. The general readers can also refer the book for understanding the groundwater domain for adequate knowledge, as groundwater resources are essential life support commodity which is replenishable but not inexhaustible.