Water, Land and Ecosystems - United States

Revisiting the levels of aerosol optical depth in South-Southeast Asia, Europe and USA amid the COVID-19 pandemic using satellite observations

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 12:41:38 +0000

TypeJournal Article

Languageen

Authors

Acharya, P.
Barik, G.
Gayen, B. K.
Bar, S.
Maiti, A.
Sarkar, A.
Ghosh, Surajit
De, S. K.
Sreekesh, S.

The countries around the world are dealing with air quality issues for decades due to their mode of production and energy usages. The outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic and consequent global economic shutdown, for the first time, provided a base for the real-time experiment of the effect of reduced emissions across the globe in abetting the air pollution issue. The present study dealt with the changes in Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), a marker of air pollution, because of global economic shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The study considered the countries in south and south-east Asia (SSEA), Europe and the USA for their extended period of lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic. Daily Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from Moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and tropospheric column density of NO2 and SO2 from Ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) sensors, including meteorological data such as wind speed (WS) and relative humidity (RH) were analyzed during the pre-lockdown (2017–2019) and lockdown periods (2020). The average AOD, NO2 and SO2 during the lockdown period were statistically compared with their pre-lockdown average using Wilcoxon-signed-paired-rank test. The accuracy of the MODIS-derived AOD, including the changing pattern of AOD due to lockdown was estimated using AERONET data. The weekly anomaly of AOD, NO2 and SO2 was used for analyzing the space-time variation of aerosol load as restrictions were imposed by the concerned countries at the different points of time. Additionally, a random forest-based regression (RF) model was used to examine the effects of meteorological and emission parameters on the spatial variation of AOD. A significant reduction of AOD (- 20%) was obtained for majority of the areas in SSEA, Europe and USA during the lockdown period. Yet, the clusters of increased AOD (30–60%) was obtained in the south-east part of SSEA, the western part of Europe and US regions. NO2 reductions were measured up to 20–40%, while SO2 emission increased up to 30% for a majority of areas in these regions. A notable space-time variation was observed in weekly anomaly. We found the evidence of the formation of new particles for causing high AOD under high RH and low WS, aided by the downward vertical wind flow. The RF model showed a distinguishable relative importance of emission and meteorological factors among these regions to account for the spatial variability of AOD. Our findings suggest that the continued lockdown might provide a temporary solution to air pollution; however, to combat persistent air quality issues, it needs switching over to the cleaner mode of production and energy. The findings of this study, thus, advocated for alternative energy policy at the global scale.

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Acharya, P.; Barik, G.; Gayen, B. K.; Bar, S.; Maiti, A.; Sarkar, A.; Ghosh, Surajit; De, S. K.; Sreekesh, S. 2021. Revisiting the levels of aerosol optical depth in South-Southeast Asia, Europe and USA amid the COVID-19 pandemic using satellite observations. Environmental Research, 193:110514. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110514]

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/116408

Global groundwater: source, scarcity, sustainability, security, and solutions

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 12:41:38 +0000

TypeBook

Languageen

Authors

Mukherjee, A.
Scanlon, Bridget R.
Aureli, A.
Langan, Simon J.
Guo, H.
McKenzie, A. A.

Citation

Mukherjee, A.; Scanlon, B. R.; Aureli, A.; Langan, Simon; Guo, H.; McKenzie, A. A. (Eds.) 2021. Global groundwater: source, scarcity, sustainability, security, and solutions. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. 676p.

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Limited Access

Research Themes

Variability, Risks and Competing Uses

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111566

The devil’s in the details: data exchange in transboundary waters

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 11:34:59 +0000

TypeJournal Article

Languageen

Authors

Mukuyu, Patience
Lautze, Jonathan F.
Rieu-Clarke, A.
Saruchera, D.
McCartney, Matthew

Data exchange in transboundary waters is fundamental to advance cooperative water management. Nonetheless, the degree to which data are shared is not well understood. To gauge this degree, an assessment framework was developed and applied in 25 international river basins. The framework captures the degree to which a set of data parameters is exchanged among countries. A reasonable proportion of surveyed basins exchange some data, but the breadth of such exchange is often limited, and not regular. This paper highlights where data exchange can be improved and provides guidance on how indicators used in global assessment frameworks can motivate this improvement.

Citation

Mukuyu, Patience; Lautze, Jonathan; Rieu-Clarke, A.; Saruchera, D.; McCartney, Matthew. 2020. The devil’s in the details: data exchange in transboundary waters. Water International, 45(7-8):884-900. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2020.1850026]

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Limited Access

Research Themes

Variability, Risks and Competing Uses

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110417

Groundwater governance and irrigated agriculture

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:02:41 +0000

Regions

Latin America

TypeBook

Languageen

Authors

Shah, Tushaar

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Citation

Shah, Tushaar. 2014. Groundwater governance and irrigated agriculture. Stockholm, Sweden: Global Water Partnership, Technical Committee (TEC).. 71p. (TEC Background Papers 19)

Accessibility

Open Access

Research Themes

Land and Water Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/65257

Assessing the value of resource recovery and reuse: social, environmental and economic costs and benefits for value creation and human well-being

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:02:41 +0000

TypeReport

Languageen

Authors

Lazurko, Anita

To understand the full value of Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR), a systematic assessment approach that balances complexity with practicality is required. This report highlights the methods available for quantifying and valuing social, environmental and economic costs and benefits of RRR, focusing on Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) as the primary framework. Rather than prescribing a standardized technique for conducting CBA for RRR, this report presents broad frameworks and several examples that can be catered to individual contexts. This results in a suggested eight-step process accompanied with suggested assessment techniques which have to be tailored to the type of question the assessment is meant to answer and related system boundaries.

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Citation

Lazurko, Anita. 2018. Assessing the value of resource recovery and reuse: social, environmental and economic costs and benefits for value creation and human well-being. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).. 41p. (Resource Recovery and Reuse Series 13) doi: 10.5337/2018.229

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Open Access

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99293

Guidelines and regulations for fecal sludge management from on-site sanitation facilities

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:02:41 +0000

TypeReport

Languageen

Authors

Jayathilake, Nilanthi
Drechsel, Pay
Keraita, B.
Fernando, Sudarshana
Hanjra, Munir A.

In low- and middle-income countries, the management of fecal sludge from on-site sanitation systems has received little attention over many decades, resulting in insufficient or missing regulations to guide investments and management options. To address this gap, this report examines existing and emerging guidelines and regulations for fecal sludge management (FSM) along the sanitation service chain (user interface, containment, emptying, transport, treatment, valorization, reuse or disposal). It also draws empirical examples from guidelines across the globe to support policy-makers, planners, and sanitation and health officers, as well as consultants in low- and middle-income countries in the development and design of local and national FSM guidelines and regulations.

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Citation

Jayathilake, Nilanthi; Drechsel, Pay; Keraita, B.; Fernando, Sudarshana; Hanjra, M. A. 2019. Guidelines and regulations for fecal sludge management from on-site sanitation facilities. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).. 57p. (Resource Recovery and Reuse Series 14) doi: 10.5337/2019.211

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Open Access

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103534

Chronicle of a demise foretold: state vs. local groundwater management in Texas and the high plains aquifer system

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:02:41 +0000

TypeJournal Article

Languageen

Authors

Closas, Alvar
Molle, Francois

This paper assesses a case of co-management of groundwater between the state of Texas, pushing for the rationalisation of groundwater management, and local (mainly farming) communities organised in Groundwater Conservation Districts (GCDs), which are protective of their private groundwater rights. We first describe the main legal and policy steps that have shaped this relationship. The article focuses on the Texan portion of the Ogallala Aquifer in the High Plains aquifer system – an almost non-renewable system covering 90,000 km2 and providing 95% of the irrigation needs in northern Texas. With this example, we further highlight the strategies of both parties, the different political, administrative, legal and regulatory complexities of the struggle around the definition of GCD-level aquifer management rules (the so-called 'Desired Future Conditions'). We end by reflecting on the power balance that has resulted from successive adjustments to a co-management form of governance, the advantages and disadvantages of a multi-layered state water governance system, and whether the de facto 'managed depletion' of the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas should be seen as an achievement or a failure.

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Closas, Alvar; Molle, Francois. 2018. Chronicle of a demise foretold: state vs. local groundwater management in Texas and the high plains aquifer system. Water Alternatives, 11(3):511-532.

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Open Access

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/98272

The Washington Accord and U.S. licensing boards

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:02:41 +0000

TypeJournal Article

Languageen

Authors

Anwar, Arif A.
Richards, D.J.

The Washington Accord known as a mutual recognition agreement between national engineering regulatory bodies was signed in 1989 by six founding signatories. Through this mutual recognition agreement the signatories recognize that the formal educational programs accredited by the respective signatories are substantially equivalent. The stated objective of the Washington Accord is to ease the path of engineering graduates to professional registration or licensing in different jurisdictions. Since 1989, the signatories to theWashington Accord has increased threefold with an additional five countries as currently provisional signatories. This rapid expansion is a reflection of the need for international recognition of educational qualifications and competency across borders in an increasingly globalized world. Engineering accreditation bodies, particularly in developing countries, are proactively seeking recognition and mobility of their graduates. Within this context, theWashington Accord celebrates 25 years and charts a course for the next 25 years. This paper examines in detail the position of the U.S. licensing boards on the Washington Accord. It is concluded that with respect to the U.S. licensing boards, the Washington Accord has made only modest inroads in its first 25 years and needs to set a much more ambitious path for the next 25 to achieve truly reciprocal mobility.

Citation

Anwar, Arif; Richards, D. J. 2015. The Washington Accord and U.S. licensing boards. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 6p. (Online first). doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000246

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Limited Access

Research Themes

Land and Water Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/77520

Nutrients, chlorophyll and biotic metrics in the Rappahannock River-Estuary: implications of urbanization in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USA

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:02:41 +0000

TypeJournal Article

Languageen

Authors

Prasad, M.B.K.
Maddox, M.C.
Sood, Aditya
Kaushal, S.

In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, various endeavors such as the inter-state agreements and Chesapeake 2000 agreement have been implemented to improve water quality and ecological conditions which have produced mixed results at best in various tributaries. In order to evaluate the management efforts on ecological conditions in the Rappahannock River watershed, we analyzed the long-term variability in land-use, nutrient content, and ecological biotic metrics. It appears that the interannual variability in nutrient loadings and concentrations are largely influenced by changes in urbanization and climate. Significant increases in urban development (35%) and population growth have exacerbated both point and non-point nutrient pollution in the Rappahannock River. Comparatively low N:P ratio in the tidal zone than the non-tidal zone may be due to salinity induced phosphorus leaching from sediments regulating the water quality along the river-estuary continuum. In addition, interannual variability in ecological biotic metrics demonstrates degrading ecological conditions in the Rappahannock River watershed, which are primarily due to increasing watershed urbanization driving high nutrient loadings and altered nutrient stoichiometry.

Citation

Prasad, M. B. K.; Maddox, M. C.; Sood, Aditya; Kaushal, S. 2014. Nutrients, chlorophyll and biotic metrics in the Rappahannock River-Estuary: implications of urbanization in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USA. Marine and Freshwater Research, 65:475-485. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF12351

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Limited Access

Research Themes

Rural-Urban Linkages

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/58376

Evaluation of hydrologic impact of an irrigation curtailment program using Landsat satellite data

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 22:02:41 +0000

TypeJournal Article

Languageen

Authors

Velpuri, Naga Manohar
Senay, Gabriel B.
Schauer, M.
Garcia, C. A.
Singh, R.K.
Friedrichs, M.
Kagone, S.
Haynes, J.
Conlon, T.

Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) is the source of the Klamath River that flows through southern Oregon and northern California. The UKL Basin provides water for 81,000+ ha (200,000+ acres) of irrigation on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project located downstream of the UKL Basin. Irrigated agriculture also occurs along the tributaries to UKL. During 2013–2016, water rights calls resulted in various levels of curtailment of irrigation diversions from the tributaries to UKL. However, information on the extent of curtailment, how much irrigation water was saved, and its impact on the UKL is unknown. In this study, we combined Landsat-based actual evapotranspiration (ETa) data obtained from the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance model with gridded precipitation and U.S. Geological Survey station discharge data to evaluate the hydrologic impact of the curtailment program. Analysis was performed for 2004, 2006, 2008–2010 (base years), and 2013–2016 (target years) over irrigated areas above UKL. Our results indicate that the savings from the curtailment program over the June to September time period were highest during 2013 and declined in each of the following years. The total on-field water savings was approximately 60 hm3 in 2013 and 2014, 44 hm3 in 2015, and 32 hm3 in 2016 (1 hm3 = 10,000 m3 or 810.7 ac-ft). The instream water flow changes or extra water available were 92, 68, 45, and 26 hm3, respectively, for 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Highest water savings came from pasture and wetlands. Alfalfa showed the most decline in water use among grain crops. The resulting extra water available from the curtailment contributed to a maximum of 19% of the lake inflows and 50% of the lake volume. The Landsat-based ETa and other remote sensing datasets used in this study can be used to monitor crop water use at the irrigation district scale and to quantify water savings as a result of land-water management changes.

Citation

Velpuri, Naga Manohar; Senay, G. B.; Schauer, M.; Garcia, C. A.; Singh, R. K.; Friedrichs, M.; Kagone, S.; Haynes, J.; Conlon, T. 2020. Evaluation of hydrologic impact of an irrigation curtailment program using Landsat satellite data. Hydrological Processes, 34(8):1697-1713.

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Open Access

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/10568/108075