Download or read book Characterizing the Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Freshwater Inflows written by Teuku Ferijal and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freshwater inflows are a crucial component for maintaining estuarine health, function and productivity. Streamflows, the primary source of freshwater inflows, have been modified and altered from their natural flow by population growth and anthropogenic impacts on the contributing watersheds. The Guadalupe Estuary is a primary habitat for many endangered species. The Guadalupe River Watershed, which supplies 70% of freshwater inflows, experiences rapid urbanization and agricultural development. This study proposed to characterize the impact of land use/cover change in the Guadalupe River Watershed on freshwater inflows to the Guadalupe Estuary. Pre-whitening, Mann-Kendall and bootstrap techniques were used to test for significant trends on streamflow and precipitation. Analyses suggested more trends in annual and seasonal minimum and mean streamflow than would be expected to occur by chance in the periods of 1930-2005 and 1950-2005. No significant trends were found in the period of 1970-2005. Significant trends were more prominent in the upper watershed and decreased as analysis moved downstream in the period of 1950-2005. Trend tests on precipitation data in the period of 1950-2005 revealed more significant trends than would be expected by chance in mean annual and winter precipitation. Analyses of Landsat images of the watershed using an unsupervised classification method showed an increase in forest, urban and irrigated land by 13, 42 and 7%, respectively, from 1987 to 2002. Urbanized areas were mostly found in the middle part of watershed surrounding the I-35 corridor. More than 80% of irrigated lands are distributed over the San Marcos and Middle Guadalupe River Watersheds. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied for the Guadalupe River Watershed. Calibration and validation using data recorded at USGS 08176500 indicated the model performed well to simulate streamflow. The coefficient of Nash- Sutcliffe, determination and percent bias were 0.83, 0.96 and 3.81, respectively, for calibration and 0.68, 0.75 and 29.38 for validation period. SWAT predicted a 2% decrease in annual freshwater inflow rates from the effect of land use/cover change from 1987 to 2002. Reservoirs increased freshwater inflows during low flow months and decreased the inflows during high flow months. Precipitation variability changed characteristics of monthly freshwater inflows.

Download or read book Modeling the Effect of Land Cover land Use Change on Estuarine Environmental Flows written by Debabrata Sahoo and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental flows are important to maintain the ecological integrity of the estuary. In a watershed, it is influenced by land use land cover (LULC) change, climate variability, and water regulations. San Antonio, Texas, the 8th largest city in the US, is likely to affect environmental flows to the San Antonio Bay/Guadalupe Estuary, due to rapid urbanization. Time series analysis was conducted at several stream gauging stations to assess trends in hydrologic variables. A bootstrapping method was employed to estimate the critical value for global significance. Results suggested a greater number of trends are observed than are expected to occur by chance. Stream gauging stations present in lower half of the watershed experienced increasing trend, whereas upper half experienced decreasing trends. A similar spatial pattern was not observed for rainfall. Winter season observed maximum number of trends. Wavelet analysis on hydrologic variables, suggested presence of multi-scale temporal variability; dominant frequencies in 10 to 15 year scale was observed in some of the hydrologic variables, with a decadal cycle. Dominant frequencies were also observed in 17 to 23 year scale with repeatability in 20 to 30 years. It is therefore important to understand various ecological processes that are dominant in this scale and quantify possible linkages among them. Genetic algorithm (GA) was used for calibration of the Hydrologic Simulation Program in FORTRAN (HSPF) model. Although, GA is computationally demanding, it is better than manual calibration. Parameter values obtained for the calibrated model had physical representation and were well within the ranges suggested in the literature. Information from LANDSAT images for the years 1987, 1999, and 2003 were introduced to HSPF to quantify the impact of LULC change on environmental flows. Modeling studies indicated, with increase in impervious surface, peak flows increased over the years. Wavelet analysis pointed, that urbanization also impacted storage. Modeling studies quantified, on average about 50% of variability in freshwater inflows could be attributed to variation in precipitation, and approximately 10% of variation in freshwater inflows could be attributed to LULC change. This study will help ecologist, engineers, scientist, and politicians in policy making pertinent to water resources management.

Download or read book Assessing the Impact of Land Use and Climate Change on Streamflow and Nutrient Delivery to the New River Estuary NC written by Shanna Williamson and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freshwater inflow influences numerous physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of estuaries. The influx of freshwater to an estuary typically serves as an important source of allochthonous material from which primary producers derive their energy and transfer this energy to higher trophic levels. Any changes to freshwater flow subsequently impacts nutrient delivery and indirectly impacts organisms across multiple trophic levels. Anthropogenic changes to coastal land use and climate both act to threaten the integrity of estuarine systems by influencing freshwater inflow and dissolved nutrient input. Watershed loading models such as the Regional Nutrient Management (ReNuMa) model offer the ability to estimate freshwater inputs and dissolved nutrient loads to estuaries under current and future conditions. This tracking is important because it allows scientists to better understand how watershed delivery is currently impacted by anthropogenic activities and natural environmental variability, which allows for a better understanding of how watershed delivery is likely to be affected by anthropogenic changes in land use and climate. This research aims to assess how changes in climate and coastal land cover will impact streamflow and loads of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) to the New River Estuary (NRE), NC. We applied the ReNuMa model to the NRE watershed to estimate streamflow, TDN, and TDP loads. We used in situ data to calibrate (2009-2011) and validate (2012-2014) modeled streamflow and dissolved nutrient loads within 10 subwatersheds located on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (MCBCL), which surrounds the estuary, and one subwatershed in the off-base portion of the NRE watershed. Following model calibration and validation, model parameters were scaled up from these subwatersheds to estimate loads from the entire NRE watershed. Model results confirm the ability of ReNuMa to capture seasonal variability in streamflow, TDN, and TDP for >50% of the subwatersheds. Under current conditions, most (71-98%) streamflow and dissolved nutrient loads are sourced from the off-base portion of the NRE watershed, while a smaller percentage of loads (2-29%) are sourced from MCBCL. Projected changes in climate revealed that changes in precipitation, even when compounded with changes in temperature, will have the greatest impact on resulting streamflow, TDN, and TDP. Streamflow and dissolved nutrient loads generally increased under anticipated climate projections through the year 2100 and such increases were further amplified under hypothetical increases in land use, especially agricultural land. Watershed delivery patterns for the NRE may therefore be substantially altered under projected changes in climate and land use. The potential impacts of changes in these loads on estuarine physical, chemical, and biological processes highlights the necessity for research assessing the impacts of land use and climate changes on watershed delivery.

Download or read book Riverine Ecosystem Management written by Stefan Schmutz and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book surveys the frontier of scientific river research and provides examples to guide management towards a sustainable future of riverine ecosystems. Principal structures and functions of the biogeosphere of rivers are explained; key threats are identified, and effective solutions for restoration and mitigation are provided. Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems of the world. They increasingly suffer from pollution, water abstraction, river channelisation and damming. Fundamental knowledge of ecosystem structure and function is necessary to understand how human acitivities interfere with natural processes and which interventions are feasible to rectify this. Modern water legislation strives for sustainable water resource management and protection of important habitats and species. However, decision makers would benefit from more profound understanding of ecosystem degradation processes and of innovative methodologies and tools for efficient mitigation and restoration. The book provides best-practice examples of sustainable river management from on-site studies, European-wide analyses and case studies from other parts of the world. This book will be of interest to researchers in the field of aquatic ecology, river system functioning, conservation and restoration, to postgraduate students, to institutions involved in water management, and to water related industries.

Download or read book New Land Use Management Tools for Controlling Impacts of Land Use Changes Development on Water Quality written by Elise Frazer Bacon and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Extreme Hydrology and Climate Variability written by Assefa M. Melesse and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2019-07-03 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extreme Hydrology and Climate Variability: Monitoring, Modelling, Adaptation and Mitigation is a compilation of contributions by experts from around the world who discuss extreme hydrology topics, from monitoring, to modeling and management. With extreme climatic and hydrologic events becoming so frequent, this book is a critical source, adding knowledge to the science of extreme hydrology. Topics covered include hydrometeorology monitoring, climate variability and trends, hydrological variability and trends, landscape dynamics, droughts, flood processes, and extreme events management, adaptation and mitigation. Each of the book's chapters provide background and theoretical foundations followed by approaches used and results of the applied studies. This book will be highly used by water resource managers and extreme event researchers who are interested in understanding the processes and teleconnectivity of large-scale climate dynamics and extreme events, predictability, simulation and intervention measures. Presents datasets used and methods followed to support the findings included, allowing readers to follow these steps in their own research Provides variable methodological approaches, thus giving the reader multiple hydrological modeling information to use in their work Includes a variety of case studies, thus making the context of the book relatable to everyday working situations for those studying extreme hydrology Discusses extreme event management, including adaption and mitigation

Download or read book Proceedings of the National Symposium on Freshwater Inflow to Estuaries written by Ralph D. Cross and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Characterization of Uncertainty and Variability of Freshwater Consumption Impacts in Life Cycle Assessment written by Ezra Kahn and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life cycle assessment (LCA) provides a standardized protocol for estimating a wide range of life cycle technology impacts. LCA is used to make comparisons between alternative technology systems and to identify opportunities for reducing environmental impacts at the local, regional, and global scales. Until recently freshwater as a resource has been neglected from LCA studies. However following record droughts and massive agricultural losses in recent years, the use of LCA, or life-cycle type approaches, have been suggested as a way to identify situations of high water use and possible alternative technologies to reduce water scarcity impacts. Several methods have been proposed in the literature for estimating freshwater consumption impacts--although varying in their overall approach and goal, the distinction between, and quantification of, freshwater use and consumption is common to all methods. Freshwater use refers to any freshwater for which some productive use has been made, and may or may not be available at its origin for further use by other water users. Freshwater consumption refers to freshwater use that is no longer available to other users, such as through evaporative losses. The importance of this distinction is that consumed freshwater can contribute to resource scarcity, unconsumed water that has been used can be recycled and does not contribute to scarcity. Also common to all methods in the literature is the lack of analysis of uncertainty and variability in the estimation of freshwater consumption. This work demonstrates the importance of uncertainty and variability characterization in Life Cycle Assessment, using the study of freshwater consumption for a crop production unit process as an example. A sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis is performed on the estimation of two classes of freshwater consumption impacts at the farm level spatial scale: green and blue water (abbreviated as GW and BW respectively). Green water refers to the amount of water consumed that originated as local rainfall, blue water refers to the amount of water consumed that was abstracted from surface or groundwater sources. Thus, in the context of crop production green water is a function of land use and blue water is a function of the amount of irrigation water applied. It is found that green water is most sensitive to precipitation and rate of crop water uptake, with estimates range from +/− 20% and +/−18% of the estimate respectively. Neglecting sparse environmental data such as wind speed and relative humidity can introduce uncertainties of up to 30% of the estimate. Uncertainty in blue water consumption is driven by the amount of irrigation water applied. For cases of under irrigation, uncertainty in blue water consumption is equal to uncertainty in the water application data and averages 18% of the estimate. For cases of over irrigation, the uncertainty in blue water consumption is equal to the uncertainty in green water consumption. For cases of irrigation application matching the crop water demand, the uncertainty compounds, and is equal to 40% of the estimate on average. Through a process known as atmospheric recycling, evaporated water can return to the terrestrial ecosystem as precipitation within days or weeks of having entered the atmosphere, reducing the impact of freshwater consumption. Variability associated with temporal and spatial scales and with boundary selection has a substantial impact on the magnitude of the freshwater consumption impacts, but the consideration of these control volume issues has not been considered in the literature in the context of freshwater consumption impacts in LCA. A bounding analysis is performed to determine the effect of atmospheric recycling uncertainty has on freshwater consumption impacts. Atmospheric recycling can reduce the impact of freshwater consumption from 0 to 80% of the farm level estimate, depending on the region, spatial scale, and temporal scale considered within the control volume. In addition there exists unquantified uncertainty associated with how changes in land cover will effect precipitation, irrigation response, and associated freshwater consumption impacts in the context of LCA. Energy required for irrigation is estimated, specifically for water withdrawal from surface and groundwater sources, and water application by pressure and gravity irrigation systems. It is shown that the energetic cost of water withdrawal and application is higher in regions experiencing freshwater scarcity. It is suggested that further research into the interdependence of water and energy production, known as the water-energy nexus, be considered as an alternative approach to currently proposed freshwater impact characterization methods. It is argued that, although uncertainty associated with energy use for irrigation can as high as 40% of the estimate, particularly for groundwater extraction in areas under water stress, it can be bounded as opposed to the unbounded uncertainty associated with atmospheric recycling.

Download or read book Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources written by Manoj K. Jha and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-11-13 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Changes in land use and land cover can have many drivers, including population growth, urbanization, agriculture, demand for food, evolution of socio-economic structure, policy regulations, and climate variability. The impacts of these changes on water resources range from changes in water availability (due to changes in losses of water to evapotranspiration and recharge) to degradation of water quality (increased erosion, salinity, chemical loadings, and pathogens). The impacts are manifested through complex hydro-bio-geo-climate characteristics, which underscore the need for integrated scientific approaches to understand the impacts of landscape change on water resources. Several techniques, such as field studies, long-term monitoring, remote sensing technologies, and advanced modeling studies, have contributed to better understanding the modes and mechanisms by which landscape changes impact water resources. Such research studies can help unlock the complex interconnected influences of landscape on water resources in terms of quantity and quality at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this Special Issue, we published a set of eight peer-reviewed articles elaborating on some of the specific topics of landscape changes and associated impacts on water resources.

Download or read book Coping with Global Environmental Change Disasters and Security written by Hans Günter Brauch and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-02-03 with total page 1816 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coping with Global Environmental Change, Disasters and Security - Threats, Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Risks reviews conceptual debates and case studies focusing on disasters and security threats, challenges, vulnerabilities and risks in Europe, the Mediterranean and other regions. It discusses social science concepts of vulnerability and risks, global, regional and national security challenges, global warming, floods, desertification and drought as environmental security challenges, water and food security challenges and vulnerabilities, vulnerability mapping of environmental security challenges and risks, contributions of remote sensing to the recognition of security risks, mainstreaming early warning of conflicts and hazards and provides conceptual and policy conclusions.

Download or read book Earth Science and Applications from Space written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-10-01 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural and human-induced changes in Earth's interior, land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans affect all aspects of life. Understanding these changes requires a range of observations acquired from land-, sea-, air-, and space-based platforms. To assist NASA, NOAA, and USGS in developing these tools, the NRC was asked to carry out a "decadal strategy" survey of Earth science and applications from space that would develop the key scientific questions on which to focus Earth and environmental observations in the period 2005-2015 and beyond, and present a prioritized list of space programs, missions, and supporting activities to address these questions. This report presents a vision for the Earth science program; an analysis of the existing Earth Observing System and recommendations to help restore its capabilities; an assessment of and recommendations for new observations and missions for the next decade; an examination of and recommendations for effective application of those observations; and an analysis of how best to sustain that observation and applications system.

Download or read book Subsurface Hydrological Responses to Land Cover and Land Use Changes written by Makoto Taniguchi and published by Springer. This book was released on 1997-06-30 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since human beings first appeared on the earth, we have changed land cover and land use for our own purposes, such as conveniences and high productivity. As a result of the land cover and land use changes, many serious environmental problems occur on the earth. Studying meteorological and hydrological effects of vegetation and land cover/use changes helps us to understand the environmental changes and problems happening near the earth surface, because the vegetation distributes the solar energy and water on the earth surface into atmosphere and geosphere. Subsurface hydrological responses to land cover and land use changes have drawn only regional environmental concerns, although global change caused by biosphere change has been studied in various scientific fields. The changes in land cover and land use alter water, solute and heat cycles in basins and elements of those balances, including evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge rate, discharge rates into rivers or ocean and soil moisture content, which are directly or indirectly related to the global environmental issues. Therefore, the changes in biosphere may substantially alter the subsurface hydrological system. For instance, increased groundwater recharge rates following clearing forest into grasses might be one consequence resulting in rising water tables and salinization.

Download or read book Land Use Effects on Streamflow and Water Quality in the Northeastern United States written by Avril L. de la Cretaz and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2007-06-01 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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

Download or read book Handbook of Erosion Modelling written by R. P. C. Morgan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-04-13 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The movement of sediment and associated pollutants over thelandscape and into water bodies is of increasing concern withrespect to pollution control, prevention of muddy floods andenvironmental protection. In addition, the loss of soil on site hasimplications for declining agricultural productivity, loss ofbiodiversity and decreased amenity and landscape value. The fate ofsediment and the conservation of soil are important issues for landmanagers and decision-makers. In developing appropriate policiesand solutions, managers and researchers are making greater use oferosion models to characterise the processes of erosion and theirinteraction with the landscape. A study of erosion requires one to think in terms ofmicroseconds to understand the mechanics of impact of a singleraindrop on a soil surface, while landscapes form over periods ofthousands of years. These processes operate on scales ofmillimetres for single raindrops to mega-metres for continents.Erosion modelling thus covers quite a lot of ground. This bookintroduces the conceptual and mathematical frameworks used toformulate models of soil erosion and uses case studies to show howmodels are applied to a variety of purposes at a range of spatialand temporal scales. The aim is to provide land managers and otherswith the tools required to select a model appropriate to the typeand scale of erosion problem, to show what users can expect interms of accuracy of model predictions and to provide anappreciation of both the advantages and limitations of models.Problems covered include those arising from agriculture, theconstruction industry, pollution and climatic change and range inscale from farms to small and large catchments. The book will alsobe useful to students and research scientists as an up-to-datereview of the state-of-art of erosion modelling and, through aknowledge of how models are used in practice, in highlighting thegaps in knowledge that need to be filled in order to develop evenbetter models.

Download or read book Assessing the Impacts of Climate and Land Use and Land Cover Change on Freshwater Availability written by Md Shahriar Pervez and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Journal of Geographical Sciences written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Water Supply and Water Scarcity written by Vasileios A. Tzanakakis and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-11-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Book includes selected papers that has been published in the Water journal Special Issue (SI) on Water Supply and Water Scarcity. Moreover, an overview of the SI is included. The papers selected for publication in the SI include review and research papers on water history, on water management issues under water scarcity regimes, on rainwater harvesting, on water quality and degradation, and on climatic variability impacts on water resources. Overall, the issue identify and highlight the main challenges in water sector, and particularly in management and protection of water resources and in use of alternative (non-conventional) water resources, especially in areas with demographic change and climate vulnerability in order to achieve sustainable and secure water supply. Furthermore, general guidelines and possible solutions for an improved and sophisticated water management system are proposed and discussed, such as the adoption of advanced technological solutions and practices that improve water-use efficiency and the use of alternative water resources, to address the growing environmental and health issues and to reduce the emerging conflicts among water users.