In a rapidly evolving world of knowledge and technology, do you ever wonder how hydrology is catching up? This book takes the angle of computational hydrology and envisions one of the future directions, namely, quantitative integration of high-quality hydrologic field data with geologic, hydrologic, chemical, atmospheric, and biological information to characterize and predict natural systems in hydrological sciences.

Intelligent computation and information fusion are the key words. The aim is to provide both established scientists and graduate students with a summary of recent developments in this topic. The chapters of this edited volume cover some of the most important ingredients for quantitative hydrological information fusion, including data fusion techniques, interactive computational environments, and supporting mathematical and numerical methods. Real-life applications of hydrological information fusion are also addressed.

One of the major questions in the evolution of animals is the transition from unicellular to multicellular organization, which resulted in the emergence of Metazoa through a hypothetical Urmetazoa. The Comparative Embryology of Sponges contains abundant original and literary data on comparative embryology and morphology of the Porifera (Sponges), a group of 'lower Metazoa'. On the basis of this material, original typization of the development of Sponges is given and the problems concerning origin and evolution of Porifera and their ontogenesis are discussed. A morphogenetic interpretation of the body plan development during embryogenesis, metamorphosis and asexual reproduction in Sponges is proposed. Special attention is given to the analysis of characteristic features of the ontogenesis in Porifera. The book pursues three primary goals: 1) generalization of all existing information on individual development of sponges, its classification and a statement according to taxonomical structure of Porifera; 2) revealing of heterogeneity of morphogenesis and peculiarities of ontogeneses in various clades of Porifera, and also their correlations with the organization, both adult sponges, and their larvae; 3) revealing homology of morphogeneses in both Porifera and Eumetazoa, testifying to the general evolutionary roots of multicellular animals, and peculiar features of sponges' morphogeneses and ontogenesis. This book will be of interest to embryologists, zoologists, morphologists and researchers in evolutionary biology.

This book explores the national security implications of the Arab Gulf states' reliance on desalination plants, and their related infrastructure. It provides the first systematic and comprehensive discussion of current and future threats to the supply of freshwater from a desalination plant, including actual and virtual attacks by terrorists, mechanical failure, contamination, sabotage by aggrieved workers, and attacks relating to regional conflicts, as well as their vulnerability to natural disasters. It also provides a detailed analysis of the effects of a potential disruption to the water supply, and proposes possible measures, both political and technological, that can be used to increase resilience to these threats. Arab Water Security is a valuable reference for researchers and graduate students, as well as for policy makers and professionals, interested in water security, natural resources, and environmental terrorism.

Most of the world s mountains are rich in water and, as such, play a pivotal role in the global water cycle. They provide water for diverse human uses and ecosystems. Growing water demands as well as climate change will lead to ever-increasing pressure on mountain waters. Overcoming water-use conflicts and maintaining the ecological functioning of mountain waters presents a highly challenging task and is indispensable for sustainable development.
This book extensively portrays the highly diverse attributes of mountain waters and demonstrates their paramount importance for ecological and societal development. The extensive summaries on the scientific basics of mountain waters are supplemented with considerations on the diverse water uses, needs for management actions, and challenges regarding sustainable water management. This overview concerns not only the mountain areas themselves but also downriver reaches and their surrounding lowlands, and, therefore, the relationship between mountain and lowland water issues."

Delphus E. Carpenter (1877-1951) was Colorado's commissioner of interstate streams during a time when water rights were a legal battleground for western states. A complex, unassuming man as rare and cunning in politics and law as the elusive silver fox of the Rocky Mountain West, Carpenter boldly relied on negotiation instead of endless litigation to forge agreements among states first, before federal intervention. In Silver Fox of the Rockies, Daniel Tyler tells Carpenter's story and that of the great interstate water compacts he helped create. Those compacts, produced in the early twentieth century, have guided not only agricultural use but urban growth and development throughout much of the American West to this day. In Carpenter's time, most western states relied on the doctrine of prior appropriation--first in time, first in right--which granted exclusive use of resources to those who claimed them first, regardless of common needs. Carpenter feared that population growth and rapid agricultural development in states sharing the same river basins would rob Colorado of its right to a fair share of water. To avoid that eventuality, Carpenter invoked the compact clause of the U.S. Constitution, a clause previously used to settle boundary disputes, and applied it to interstate water rights. The result was a mechanism by which complex issues involving interstate water rights could be settled through negotiation without litigating them before the U.S. Supreme Court. Carpenter believed in the preservation of states' rights in order to preserve the constitutionally mandated balance between state and federal authority. Today, water remains critically important to the American West, and thegreat interstate water compacts Carpenter helped engineer constitute his most enduring legacy. Of particular significance is the Colorado River Compact of 1922, without which Hoover Dam could never have been built.

This book offers comprehensive information on the theory, models and algorithms involved in state-of-the-art multivariate time series analysis and highlights several of the latest research advances in climate and environmental science. The main topics addressed include Multivariate Time-Frequency Analysis, Artificial Neural Networks, Stochastic Modeling and Optimization, Spectral Analysis, Global Climate Change, Regional Climate Change, Ecosystem and Carbon Cycle, Paleoclimate, and Strategies for Climate Change Mitigation. The self-contained guide will be of great value to researchers and advanced students from a wide range of disciplines: those from Meteorology, Climatology, Oceanography, the Earth Sciences and Environmental Science will be introduced to various advanced tools for analyzing multivariate data, greatly facilitating their research, while those from Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, and the Computer Sciences will learn how to use these multivariate time series analysis tools to approach climate and environmental topics.

Geochemical barrier zones play an important role in determining various physical systems and characteristics of the oceans, e.g. hydrodynamics, salinity, temperature and light. In this book, each of the 40 barrier zones covered are illustrated and defined by physical-chemical parameters. Among the topics discussed are the processes of inflow, transformation and precipitation of the sedimentary layer of the open oceans and more restricted areas such as the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean Seas. This well-illustrated book may serve as the basis for courses such as "Marine Geochemistry" or "Ocean Usage" and can be useful to researchers in the fields of geology, geography, marine chemistry, geoecology and hydrochemistry.

This volume provides in-depth coverage of the latest in remote sensing of hydrological extremes: both floods and droughts. The book is divided into two distinct sections - floods and droughts - and offers a variety of techniques for monitoring each. With rapid advances in computer modelling and observing systems, floods and droughts are studied with greater precision today than ever before. Land surface models, especially over the entire Continental United States, can map the hydrological cycle at kilometre and sub-kilometre scales. In the case of smaller areas there is even higher spatial resolution and the only limiting factor is the resolution of input data. In-situ sensors are automated and the data is directly relayed to the world wide web for many hydrological variables such as precipitation, soil moisture, surface temperature and heat fluxes. In addition, satellite remote sensing has advanced to providing twice a day repeat observations at kilometre to ten-kilometre spatial scales. We are at a critical juncture in the study of hydrological extremes, and the GPM and SMAP missions as well as the MODIS and GRACE sensors give us more tools and data than were ever available before. A global variety of chapter authors provides wide-ranging perspectives and case studies that will make this book an indispensable resource for researchers, engineers, and even emergency management and insurance professionals who study and/or manage hydrological extremes.

Most of the time series analysis methods applied today rely heavily on the key assumptions of linearity, Gaussianity and stationarity. Natural time series, including hydrologic, climatic and environmental time series, which satisfy these assumptions seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless, most time series analysis is performed using standard methods after relaxing the required conditions one way or another, in the hope that the departure from these assumptions is not large enough to affect the result of the analysis. A large amount of data is available today after almost a century of intensive data collection of various natural time series. In addition to a few older data series such as sunspot numbers, sea surface temperatures, etc., data obtained through dating techniques (tree-ring data, ice core data, geological and marine deposits, etc.), are available. With the advent of powerful computers, the use of simplified methods can no longer be justified, especially with the success of these methods in explaining the inherent variability in natural time series. This book presents a number of new techniques that have been discussed in the literature during the last two decades concerning the investigation of stationarity, linearity and Gaussianity of hydrologic and environmental times series. These techniques cover different approaches for assessing nonstationarity, ranging from time domain analysis, to frequency domain analysis, to the combined time-frequency and time-scale analyses, to segmentation analysis, in addition to formal statistical tests of linearity and Gaussianity. It is hoped that this endeavor would facilitate further research into this important area.

This book presents recent results of collaborative studies in geophysics and ecology, focusing on the relationship between the physical environment and the distribution of the marine coastal ecosystems. The study area, the Sakiyamawan-Amitoriwan nature conservation area in Iriomote Island of Japan, is the only oceanic nature conservation area in the country. The area has no access roads, and the bay perimeter is uninhabited; therefore, it preserves the natural environment with very little human impact. In addition, it has various environmental gradients such as topography and inflows from rivers with mangrove forests which affect the distribution of marine coastal ecosystems such as those containing reef-building corals, sea grasses, and hermit crabs. For these reasons, the area is one of the best places for the study of the relationship between the physical environment and the distribution of the marine coastal ecosystems, a relationship that is important for their conservation but has not been investigated fully. This book is aimed at students and researchers in the fields of oceanography and marine coastal ecology as well as general readers who are interested in coral reefs, diving, and nature conservation.

Physical Oceanography of the Dying Aral Sea describes the background, present crisis state, and possible future of this peculiar inland water body from the physical oceanographic standpoint. Based on a wide range of material, a large part of which was published in Russian and has not been previously available to the international reader, the book first provides an historical overview of this unique system, which possesses both lake and sea properties.

Next, the current physical state of the lake is described, partly based on original field research and model experiments, along with the remote sensing data, model results and analyses extracted from recent literature. Next, book attempts to forecast the forthcoming state of the Aral Sea and identify plausible future scenarios. Finally, the book discusses the Aral Sea dessication viewd as a part of the global perspective.

Lake Issyk-Kul is a closed lake located in the Tien Shan mountain belt of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. It is the world's fifth deepest lake (668 m) and the second largest high altitude lake in the world (1607 m above sea level). The lake is affected by several environmental threats of both anthropogenic and natural origin: decline of the lake level resulting in progressively increasing salinity, incomplete vertical water exchange, and risk of contamination by past and present industrial activity.
Although the lake has been intensively studied, the information is only available in unpublished reports or local scientific journals. This book presents for the first time to an international audience the main physical, chemical, biological and geological characteristics of the lake, the fruits of many years of observations, complemented by recent results of international projects. Case studies of similar problems in other parts of the world are presented, together with ethical aspects of the environmental protection of the lake.

This book comprises selected proceedings of the Fourth International Conference in Ocean Engineering (ICOE2018), focusing on emerging opportunities and challenges in the field of ocean engineering and offshore structures. It includes state-of-the-art content from leading international experts, making it a valuable resource for researchers and practicing engineers alike.

This book provides a comprehensive summary of research to date in the field of stable iron isotope geochemistry. Since research began in this field 20 years ago, the field has grown to become one of the major research fields in "non-traditional" stable isotope geochemistry. This book reviews all aspects of the field, from low-temperature to high-temperature processes, biological processes, and cosmochemical processes. It provides a detailed history and state-of-the art summary about analytical methods to determine Fe-isotope ratios and discusses analytical and sample prospects.

Water scarcity affects hydrologic resources, systems connectivity, biodiversity, water quality, and river ecosystem functioning. It has direct impacts on economic sectors that use and depend on water, such as agriculture, tourism, industry, energy and transport. The Mediterranean Basin is one of the regions in the world most vulnerable to climate changes, as well as one of the most impacted by human water demand. This volume provides an in-depth view of the water quality and quantity implications of water scarcity. It highlights its possible causes and describes the effects in regions under Mediterranean climate. The topics covered include climate effects, water resources (use, storage and new sources), water quality (chemical and microbiological), and the effects on ecosystems suffering from water scarcity. This book is addressed to scientists and students, but also to managers involved in the necessary decision making process to face future periods of drought.

A major task for physical oceanographers is to determine the movement of oceanic water from observations. This book introduces the P-vector inverse method, with a two-step determination of the velocity from hydrographic data.The book provide insights into the basics of the P-vector inverse method and the features of the inverted global and regional ocean circulations. Upper undergraduate and graduate students as well as oceanographers, marine biologists and other environmental scientists will find this book a valuable tool for their studies."

Large lakes are important because of their size and ecological distinctiveness as well as their economic and cultural value. Optimal management of them requires a proper understanding of anthropogenic impacts both on the lake ecosystems as such and on the services they provide for society. The specific structural and functional properties of large lakes, e.g. morphology, hydrography, biogeochemical cycles and food-web structure, are all directly related to their size. Although large lakes are among the best-studied ecosystems in the world, the application to them of environmental regulations such as the European Water Framework Directive is a challenging task and requires that several natural and management aspects specific to these water bodies are adequately considered. These vulnerable ecosystems often suffer from accelerated eutrophication, over-fishing, toxic contamination and invasive species. Large lakes offer socio-economic benefits and can be used in many ways, and are often areas in which economic, cultural and political interests overlap. In this book the problems regarding the present status of European large lakes and the directions of change are discussed. Threats caused by direct human impact and by climate change, protection needs and restoration measures are considered.

This volume presents recent advances in the research on meromictic lakes and a state-of-the art overview of this area. After an introduction to the terminology and geographic distribution of meromictic lakes, three concise chapters describe their physical, chemical and biological features. The following eight chapters present case studies of more than a dozen meromictic lakes, showing the variety of physical and biochemical processes that promote meromixis. The result is a broad picture of the ecology and biochemistry of meromictic lakes in tropical and cold regions, in man-made pit lakes and euxinic marine lakes, and in freshwater as well as hypersaline lakes. In the final chapter the editors provide a synthesis of the topic and conclude that the study of meromictic lakes also offers new insights into the limnology of inland lakes. The book appeals to researchers in the fields of ecology, limnology, environmental physics and biophysics.

Interweaving the human aspects of river control with analysis of hydro-physical data, including historical data over the last few centuries, this monograph is a comprehensive evaluation of the Damodar s lower reaches. While the Damodar River isn t an exceptional tropical river, nor does it feature classic examples of river control structures, it is unusual and worthy of study due to the fact that nowhere else in the tropical world have riverine sandbars been used as a resource base as well as for permanent settlements. Based on their knowledge of river stages, the inhabitants have fine-tuned their land use to flood events, applying a concept of flood zoning to the riverbed. Every available space has been utilized rationally and judiciously.

This rare human-environmental study analyzes the remarkable way in which immigrants unfamiliar with the riverine environment have adapted to the altered hydrologic regime of the river. In doing so they have demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the flood regime and the vagaries of an unpromising environment in their land use, cropping and settlement patterns. Spurred on by restricted social and economic mobility and sometimes political constraints, these self-settled refugees have learned to adapt to their environment and live with the floods.

Bhattacharyya s text is particularly timely, as anthropogenic processes of this kind have not been adequately studied by geographers."

The Workshop Proceedings reflect problems of advanced geo-information science as far as they are specifically concerned with the maritime environment at large. The Proceedings incorporate papers presented by leading scientists researching in the considered professional area and by practitioners engaged in GIS and GIS applications development. They pay close attention to the problems of scientific and technological innovations and the ensuing opportunities to make seas safer and cleaner. Furthermore, they periodically measure the ground covered and new challenges with respect to economic and shipping trends as related to Artificial Intelligence; GIS ontologies; GIS data integration and modelling; Underwater acoustics; GIS data fusion; GIS and corporate information systems; GIS and real-time monitoring systems; GIS algorithms and computational issues; Novel and emerging marine GIS research areas; Monitoring of maritime terrorist threat; Maritime and environmental GIS; Navigation-based and maritime transportation GIS; Human factors in maritime GIS; Coastal and environmental GIS.

This book is the first to explore in detail the systematics and taxonomy of the digenean fauna of fish in Indian marine waters. It includes morphological descriptions of 648 species in 190 genera and 30 families. The figures from the original publications are enhanced and made more attractive. Each description is accompanied by information on hosts and distribution. Digenetic trematodes, usually known as Digeneans, are the most diverse group of metazoan parasites of marine fishes. They are parasitic flatworms (Phylum Platyhelminthes) with a complex life-cycle and as adults inhabit mainly the alimentary system and associated organs, but also occur in the blood, under the scales, in the body cavity and in the gall and urinary bladders. Keys to families, genera and species are provided, except for a few large and controversial genera, where morphological characters are insufficient for identification. Although there is extensive literature on Digeneans, it is scattered and largely in obscure local journals. Bringing together most of the primary literature on the subject, this book provides a primer for further study and a starting point for the use of modern molecular methods for the fauna of this region. Unique in its scope, it is a valuable resource for students, professional parasitologists and ecologists as well as fishery and wildlife biologists.

This textbook provides a mathematical introduction to the theory of large-scale ocean circulation. It is accessible for readers with an elementary knowledge of mathematics and physics, including continuum mechanics and solution methods for ordinary differential equations.

At the end of each chapter several exercises are formulated. Many of these are aimed to further develop methodological skills and to get familiar with the physical concepts. New material is introduced in only a few of these exercises. Fully worked out answers to all exercises can be downloaded from the book 's web site.

The book describes different approaches to the analysis of heat and dynamic processes in the ocean-atmospheric interface with satellite passive radiometric observations at microwaves. It examines the feasibility of determining synoptic, seasonal and year-to-year variations of sensible, latent and momentum fluxes to a useful accuracy using the DMSP SSM/I and EOS Aqua AMSR-E data directly from the measured brightness temperatures. An important object in the studies is the North Atlantic with emphasize on the areas with high midlatitude cyclon activity: here the main results have been obtained by combining data from the vessel experiments NEWFOUEX-88, ATLANTEX-90 and the data of microwave radiometers from the DMSP and EOS Aqua satellites. The role of vertical turbulent and horizontal advective heat transfer in forming interrelations between the brightness temperature of the system ocean-atmosphere and surface heat fluxes in the range of synoptic time scales is analyzed. Special sections of the book describe some results of analysis of reaction of the system ocean-atmosphere on passing of the tropical cyclone Katrina (August 2005) in the Florida Strait as well as a behavior of the system in the period of a time preceding to origination the cyclone Humberto (September 2007) in the Mexico Gulf. The long-term goal of this research is the search for effects and regularities, which can explain the reasons for the tropical cyclones appearance. Some characteristics of the tropical cyclones (brightness temperature and heat contrasts, etc.) are compared with those for midlatitude cyclones. At the same time as covering a key topic area with implications for global warming research, this text is also usefull to students who want to gain insight into application of satellite microwave radiometric methods for studying the air-sea interaction. Key themes: microwave radiometry, air-sea interaction, midlatitude and tropical cyclones, atmosphere boundary layer, heat and momentum surface fluxes.