Integrated methods to determine urban physical resilience characteristics and their interactions

Natural Hazards - Considering the recent and projected increases in the frequency and intensity of hazards, many cities around the world are increasingly taking efforts to build on their...     

Teaching GIS in the Gulf Co-operation Council Universities – With a case study of the geography department, University of the United Arab Emirates

Within universities there has developed a clear theoretical convergence between Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and geography (Antenuccl, 1991). Studies have revealed that one of the qualified departments to teach GIS within universities is the geography department. This study focuses on: the importance of establishing GIS as a major curriculum element within universities. In geography departments, economic geography students require a strong statistical/mathematical background to allow them to work with major databases. They should know how to design a specific database for economic activities, such as agriculture and manufacturing, and tertiary industry and how to relate this database to a map, so that changes can be monitored more accurately. In any aspect of geography spatial location is a key factor and GIS allows spatial patterns to be interpreted with great facility. Therefore it is important that students have a good knowledge not only of computers and related software on economic geography, but also on GIS systems (Burrough, 1993). The work of geography students from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) geography departments is examined to evaluate the importance of training in GIS technology. This paper evaluates the effects of implementing GIS as a tool in teaching economic geography. At present there are 15 geography departments in the GCC which offer economic geography. Of those 15 departments, only 3 provide GIS courses within their curriculum, and 4 have basic equipment, although 6 additional departments are to introduce GIS in the near future. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessing morphological changes in a human-impacted alluvial system using hydro-sediment modeling and remote sensing

Construction of managed aquifer recharge structures(MARS)to store floodwater is a common strategy for storing depleted groundwater resources in arid and semi-arid regions,as part of integrated water resources management(IWRM).MARS divert surface water to groundwater,but this can affect downstream fluvial processes.The impact of MARS on fluvial processes was investigated in this study by combining remote sensing techniques with hydro-sediment modeling for the case of the Kaboutar-Ali-Chay aquifer,northwestern Iran.The impact of MARS on groundwater dynamics was assessed,sedimentation across the MARS was modeled using a 2D hydrodynamic model,and morphological changes were quantified in the human-impacted alluvial fan using Landsat time series data and statistical methods.Changes were detected by comparing data for the periods before(1985e1996)and after(1997 e2018)MARS construction.The results showed that the rate of groundwater depletion decreased from 2.14 m/yr before to 0.86 m/yr after MARS construction.Hydro-sediment modeling revealed that MARS ponds slowed water outflow,resulting in a severe decrease in sediment load which lead to a change from sediment deposition to sediment erosion in the alluvial fan.Morphometric analyses revealed decreasing alluvial fan area and indicated significant differences(p<0.01)between pre-and post-impact periods for different morphometric parameters analyzed.The rate of change in area of the Kaboutar-Ali-Chay alluvial fan changed from
0.228 to
0.115 km2/year between pre-and post-impact periods.     

Assessment of heavy metal contamination in the surficial sediments from the lower Meghna River estuary,Noakhali coast,Bangladesh

Sediment samples were collected from ten selected sites of the lower Meghna River estuary,and six heavy metals were analyzed with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry(AAS)to assess the contamination level and the metals’association with sediment grain size.The current results revealed that the mean concentrations of the studied metals were ranked in descending order of iron(Fe)(1.29×103 mg/kg)>zinc(Zn)(42.41 mg/kg)>lead(Pb)(12.48 mg/kg)>chromium(Cr)(10.59 mg/kg)>copper(Cu)(6.22 mg/kg)>cadmium(Cd)(0.28 mg/kg).The geo-accumulation,contamination,and pollution load indexes suggested that the lower Meghna river estuary was not contaminated by Fe,Zn,Pb,Cr,and Cu.The mean size of the sediment ranged from 28.92 to 126.2 mm,and the Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant association between Fe and Pb(coefficient of determination,r2=0.836;p<0.05),and no significant correlation was found between individual metals and grain size,indicating no or low influence on the metals distribution.     

Nexus between natural and technical disaster shocks,resource depletion and growth-specific factors: evidence from quantile regression

Natural Hazards - Debris flows are a hazardous natural calamity in mountainous regions of Nepal. Torrential rainfall within a very short period of the year is the main triggering factor for...     

Hydro-geochemical evaluation of groundwater with studies on water quality index and suitability for drinking in Sagardari,Jashore

Sagardari union is facing groundwater crisis because of contaminations from agriculture and urban sewage, which bring a considerable change in water quality. In view of this, hydro-chemical analyses were undertaken on 35 groundwater samples and the following hydro-geochemical parameters, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), electrical conductivity (EC), cations and anions, were analyzed. From the analytical results, it is found that pH value was lower than WHO drinking water standard and the middle-downstream portions of the investigation region show higher EC. The piper plot indicates that the groundwater in Sagardari falls in the categories of NaClHCO₃ hydro-chemical facies. Higher TH in groundwater was detected, but still in an acceptable range. In addition, salinity and arsenic ratio are higher and moderately higher, respectively. The spatial distribution of Groundwater Quality Index (GWQI) was determined by geo-statistical modelling of Sagardari union. The study provides information and supports the administration which to make better groundwater utilization and quality control in the Sagardari union.     

Spatial analysis of groundwater quality for drinking purpose in Sirjan Plain,Iran by fuzzy logic in GIS

At present,due to shortage of water resources,especially in arid and semiarid areas of the world such as Iran,exploitation of groundwater resources with suitable quality for drinking is of high importance.In this regard,contamination of groundwater resources to heavy metals,especially arsenic,is one of the most important hazards that threaten human health.The present study aims to develop an approach for presenting the groundwater quality of Sirjan city in Kerman Province,based on modern tools of spatial zoning in the GIS environment and a fuzzy approach of evaluating drinking water in accordance with the standards of world health organization(WHO).For this purpose,qualitative data related to 22 exploitation wells recorded during 2002 to 2017 were used.In addition,fuzzy aggregate maps were prepared in two scenarios by neglecting and considering arsenic presence in groundwater resources.The results showed a decrease in groundwater quality over time.More specifically,neglecting the presence of arsenic,in 2002,all drinking wells in the area were located in an excellent zone,while in 2017 a number of operation wells were located in the good and medium zone.Also,the final map,considering the presence of arsenic as a limiting factor of drinking water,indicated that parts of the southern regions of the plain would be the best place to dig wells for drinking water.Therefore,the use of new methods can contribute significantly to the usage of groundwater aquifers and provide a good view of the aquifer water quality.     

Seawall case studies and failure analysis of sloped concrete walls under static and dynamic loads

Concrete seawalls are structures in coastal facilities for shore and slope protections. Owing to several advantages of sloped or inclined walls such as minimum soil disturbance and less required earthworks, they can be considered as an appropriate alternative to vertical cantilever retaining walls. The combination of slab and strip semideep foundation instead of heel–toe slab foundations increases their capability for stability, erosion control, and storm wave energy dissipation. In this paper, three case studies from seawalls in which failure has occurred are presented and discussed. Technical performance of sloped walls against different internal and external instability factors is investigated, and comparisons are made between vertical and sloped (inclined) walls with respect to geotechnical and structural aspects through parametric study. Analysis indicates that the sloped retaining walls perform better from technical, practical, and economical standpoints. It was found that for identical static and dynamic loads, including earthquake and wave loads, inclined walls provide relatively higher safety factors against different criteria and exhibit more stable and practical performance compared with commonly used walls in practice. The case studies in this paper illustrate causes of failure in each case and gives suggestions for improving instability prevention of walls against static and dynamic loads.