Assessment of soil erosion risk using SWAT model

Soil erosion is one of the most serious land degradation problems and the primary environmental issue in Mediterranean regions. Estimation of soil erosion loss in these regions is often difficult due to the complex interplay of many factors such as climate, land uses, topography, and human activities. The purpose of this study is to apply the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to predict surface runoff generation patterns and soil erosion hazard and to prioritize most degraded sub-catchment in order to adopt the appropriate management intervention. The study area is the Sarrath river catchment (1,491 km²), north of Tunisia. Based on the estimated soil loss rates, the catchment was divided into four priority categories for conservation intervention. Results showed that a larger part of the watershed (90 %) fell under low and moderate soil erosion risk and only 10 % of the watershed was vulnerable to soil erosion with an estimated sediment loss exceeding 10 t?ha^?1?year^?1. Results indicated that spatial differences in erosion rates within the Sarrath catchment are mainly caused by differences in land cover type and gradient slope. Application of the SWAT model demonstrated that the model provides a useful tool to predict surface runoff and soil erosion hazard and can successfully be used for prioritization of vulnerable areas over semi-arid catchments.     

Seepage Through Earth Dams with Internal Cut Off

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Failure in earth dams mainly occurs due to seepage to the unprotected downstream face of the dam. Therefore, many precautions are taken into consideration...     

Assessing groundwater storage changes in the Nubian aquifer using GRACE data

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) level two (L2) data is used in estimating the groundwater storage changes (GWSC) in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS). This set of data consists of spherical harmonics coefficients with specific degree and order. The GRACE data is de-correlated using a sixth degree polynomial in order to reduce the effect of the noise error resulting from the correlation between the spherical harmonics coefficients with the same degree parity. The GRACE estimates of GWSC are smoothed using Gaussian filter with half width of 1000 km. This half width is chosen in order to maximize the correlation between the GRACE estimates of GWSC and previous modeling results of the NSAS. The loss in groundwater storage occurring in each of the four countries sharing the NSAS is calculated to assess the sustainability of using the NSAS as a water resource in each country. The overarching finding in this study is that NSAS is losing its groundwater storage at a very high rate. Also, it is found that Egypt is the fastest in losing its groundwater storage from the NSAS. This loss of groundwater storage in Egypt may not necessarily be resulting from in-country extractions because of the trans-boundary nature of this aquifer. The GRACE-based estimates are found to be close to available data and previous modeling results of the NSAS.     

Complex impact assessment of coastal development in the United Arab Emirates using GIS: a case study of Wurayah Biosphere Reserve

Wadi Wurayah area is one of the major wadis originating and running on the Oman Mountains and drains into the Oman Gulf. These wadis in general and Wadi Wurayah in particular are characterized with a rich diversity of rare and mountainous and freshwater habitats and species. These wadis contain unequal, representative, and sensitive areas of the dry lands ecosystem with natural, outstanding landscapes and cultural heritage, while the socioeconomic situation indicates that it has enough socioeconomic infrastructures to develop new alternatives ecologically and economically sustainable. As most of the United Arab Emirates and the region, the study area is undergoing dramatic changes linked to economic diversification and promotion of tourism. Established under the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Program, Wurayah Biosphere Reserve represents protected areas intended to demonstrate well-balanced relationship between conservation of biodiversity and an appropriate local development. The main objectives of this study are to develop an environmental information system to understand the dynamics of human activities associated to land use in the study area, highlight the threats to the environment, educate people about the basic environmental issues and positive traditional practices, and promote tourism. Based on the gained results, the concept of biosphere reserve as a model is to implement ideas of sustainable land use in practice.     

Groundwater resources assessment using integrated geophysical techniques in the southwestern region of Peninsular Malaysia

Combined geophysical techniques such as multi-electrode resistivity, induced polarization, and borehole geophysical techniques were carried out on volcano-sedimentary rocks in the north of Gemas as part of the groundwater resource’s investigations. The result identifies four resistivity units: the tuffaceous mudstone, tuffaceous sandstone, the tuff bed, and the shale layer. Two types of aquifer systems in terms of storage were identified within the area: one within a fracture system (tuff), which is the leaky area through which vertical flow of groundwater occurs, and an intergranular property of the sandy material of the aquifer which includes sandstone and tuffaceous sandstone. The result also reveals that the aquifer occupies a surface area of about 3,250,555 m² with a mean depth of 43.71 m and a net volume of 9.798?×?10⁷?m³. From the approximate volume of the porous zone (28 %) and the total aquifer volume, a usable capacity of (274.339?±?30.177)?×?10⁷?m³ of water in the study area can be deduced. This study provides useful information that can be used to develop a much broader understanding of the nature of groundwater potential in the area and their relationship with the local geology.     

Growth of the marsh elder<Emphasis Type="Italic">Iva frutescens</Emphasis> in relation to duration of tidal flooding

Iva frutescens is a common shrub at the upland fringe of salt marshes throughout the East and Gulf Coasts of North America. Within a marsh, its location and relative size are governed largely by the degree of flooding by seawater.Iva’s wide distribution and restricted location within salt marshes may make it a useful indicator of overall conditions of the marshes. This work was designed to provide basic information on the age and growth ofI. frutescens, especially as they relate to the degree of flooding that is needed in order to investigateIva’s potential as an indicator. Cross-sections of older stems (living and standing dead) from salt marshes in Rhode Island, United States, were examined in order to age stems and estimate their growth rate from cumulative increase in woody tissue. Most stems were six yr old or less, suggesting that aboveground structures live for only a few years. Stem diameter correlated with growth rate and aboveground biomass. Elevation at the root zone was used to estimate the duration that plants were flooded, which was negatively correlated with stem diameter. The most robust plants came from sites that were flooded only up to 6–7% of the total time during the growing season. No plants were found in areas flooded more than 30% of the time.     

Heavy metal exposure from co-processing of hazardous wastes for cement production and associated human risk assessment

This study was carried out to determine the concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Ni, Pb, Cr, Ni and Zn) in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) produced from the co-processing with hazardous waste in comparison with OPC produced using natural raw materials. The results showed that the concentration of heavy metals in cement produced from natural raw material was in the order of Zn > Pb > Cr > Ni > Cu > Cd. Zn and Cd were the highest and the lowest concentrations, respectively, in cements produced from the co-processing activity. The difference between heavy metals concentrations in OPC produced with and without co-processing was found to be statistically significant. The concentration of heavy metals in the cement produced is generally factory dependent. The human risk assessment associated with the heavy metals for non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks has been evaluated. The calculated hazard index (HI) and total lifetime cancer risks (LCR) were lower than the acceptable threshold reference values, HI < 1 and LCR < 1 × 10^?4, respectively. Thus, it is anticipated that there is no potential of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks for both adult and children. However, the findings indicated that there is a need for regulatory monitoring. The exposure pathway for both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks are both in the order of ingestion > dermal > inhalation.     

Developing models and envelope curves for extreme floods in the Saudi Arabia arid environment

Forecasting and monitoring extreme floods in arid regions like Saudi Arabia (SA) are a big challenge for engineers and hydrologists. It is difficult to derive reliable flood estimates at any site without adequate flood measurements. Therefore, envelope curves were developed for reliable estimates of flood peaks. Relaying on recorded flood events in SA, Francou–Rodier approach is used to develop the Regional Maximum Flood (RMF) for some wadis and for SA as a whole. A total of 3121 flood events in 32 arid basins of sizes varying from 99 to more than 4500 km² are collected and analyzed. Results show that established regional coefficients (K) range between 2.76 and 5.5. The RMF formula for the Saudi regions is Q?=?251 A^0.45. The flood-frequency analysis showed that the Log-Pearson Type III is best. The extreme observed floods for the envelope curve for K?=?5.5 accommodate floods of recurrence interval ranging between 1000 and 100,000 years. The study results provide more realistic runoff peaks for a design of flood protection works for SA watersheds and for the similar environment. Consequently, it is recommended to use the developed envelope curves and models for efficient, safe and precise hydraulic structures design in SA.