The persistent water problems of Lima,Peru: Neoliberalism,institutional failures and social inequalities

The contingent relation between water governance and nature neoliberalization has defined most interventions in the water sector around the world in recent years. In the case of the Peruvian capital Lima, the provision of water and sanitation services in the last two decades has been the object of investments and institutional reforms strongly influenced by economic neoliberalism. This essay examines the evolution of these neoliberalizing tendencies, noting the internal disputes, necessary adjustments and underlying problems of water sufficiency in the metropolitan region. The empirical results suggest that, rather than a straightforward process, the neoliberalization of water in Lima has advanced according to political opportunities and technico‐operational constraints. The water reforms implemented in the 1990s – when the goal of privatization met political opposition – can be contrasted with the more recent phase in the 2000s, when more flexible mechanisms, such as public‐private partnerships, have facilitated public acceptance. Despite the renovation of the infrastructure, the modernization of the water sector has failed to address persistent water management problems, namely the discriminatory treatment of low income residents, the chaotic expansion of the metropolitan area and the risk of future water shortages.     

An observational study of coronal hole rotation over the sunspot cycle

An analysis of the rotation of coronal holes (CHs) spanning 18 years was done based on data from theCatalogue of Coronal Holes (Sanchez-Ibarra and Barraza-Paredes, 1992). A differential rotation of CHs is confirmed for the totality of CHs, but a different behavior was found when those were separated as equatorial or isolated, and polar hole extensions, such as in theCatalogue. Isolated CHs show a typical differential rotation, but polar hole extensions display two different types of behavior: a rotation rate below 40° ± 5° of heliographic latitude, increasing to the equator, and a rotation rate above the same heliographic latitude but increasing to the poles. Also discussed here is how this last result agrees with other studies that indicate the mostly rigid rotation of the corona at higher latitudes.     

Upper Ocean Temperatures Hit Record High in 2020

The long-term warming of the ocean is a critical indicator of both the past and present state of the climate system. It also provides insights about the changes to come, owing to the persistence of both decadal variations and secular trends,which the ocean records extremely well(Hansen et al., 2011;IPCC, 2013;Rhein et al., 2013;Trenberth et al., 2016;Abram et al., 2019).     

Benchmarking observational uncertainties for hydrology: rainfall,river discharge and water quality

This review and commentary sets out the need for authoritative and concise information on the expected error distributions and magnitudes in observational data. We discuss the necessary components of a benchmark of dominant data uncertainties and the recent developments in hydrology which increase the need for such guidance. We initiate the creation of a catalogue of accessible information on characteristics of data uncertainty for the key hydrological variables of rainfall, river discharge and water quality (suspended solids, phosphorus and nitrogen). This includes demonstration of how uncertainties can be quantified, summarizing current knowledge and the standard quantitative results available. In particular, synthesis of results from multiple studies allows conclusions to be drawn on factors which control the magnitude of data uncertainty and hence improves provision of prior guidance on those uncertainties. Rainfall uncertainties were found to be driven by spatial scale, whereas river discharge uncertainty was dominated by flow condition and gauging method. Water quality variables presented a more complex picture with many component errors. For all variables, it was easy to find examples where relative error magnitudes exceeded 40%. We consider how data uncertainties impact on the interpretation of catchment dynamics, model regionalization and model evaluation. In closing the review, we make recommendations for future research priorities in quantifying data uncertainty and highlight the need for an improved ‘culture of engagement’ with observational uncertainties. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The arsenic source term for an in-pit uranium mine tailings facility and its long-term impact on the regional groundwater

Detailed field sampling and analyses and laboratory-based diffusion-cell experiments were used in conjunction with 3-D reactive transport modeling (MODFLOW and MT3D99) to quantify the fate and long-term (10 ka) transport of As in the Rabbit Lake In-pit Tailings Management Facility (RLITMF), northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The RLITMF (300 m × 425 m × 90 m thick) was engineered to ensure solute transport within the RLITMF is dominated by diffusion. Concentrations of As in the tailings pore fluids ranged from 0.24 to 140 mg/L (n = 43). Arsenic speciation analyses indicate 90% of this arsenic exists as As⁵⁺. This observation is supported by pH–Eh measurements of pore fluids (n = 135). Geochemical analyses yielded a strong inverse correlation between the Fe/As molar ratio in the tailings solids and the corresponding concentration of dissolved As, which is attributed to the adsorption of As to secondary 2-line ferrihydrite present in the tailings. Diffusion-cell testing yielded values for the effective diffusion coefficient, sorption coefficient, and effective porosity of As in the tailings of 4.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s, 2–4 cm³/g and 0.36, respectively. Reactive transport simulations using the field and laboratory data show adsorption of As to the tailings and diffusive transport of dissolved As in the tailings should reduce the source term concentration of As to between 40% and 70% of the initial concentrations over the 10 ka simulation period. Based on these simulations, the As concentrations in the regional groundwater, 50 m down gradient of the tailings facility, should be maintained at background concentrations of 0.001 mg/L over the 10 ka period. These findings suggest the engineered in-pit disposal of U mine tailings can provide long-term protection for the local groundwater regime from As contamination.     

Annual Variation of Benthic Nutrient Fluxes in Shallow Coastal Waters (Gulf of Trieste, Northern Adriatic Sea)

Abstract. Benthic fluxes of dissolved N. Si and P nutrients, alkalinity, dissolved inorganic C (DIC), and O₂ from sediments in the Gulf of Trieste (northern Adriatic, Italy) were measured monthly for 16 months, using laboratory incubated flux chambers at in siru temperatures in the dark. The annual average fluxes were: 02 = -19.3 ± 8.2, DIC = 13.7 ± 9.6, NO3 = -0.04 ± 0.16, NH4 = 0.3 ± 0.4. PO₄= 4.001 ± 0.01, Si = 0.9 ± 0.1 mmol m-² d^-1, with strong temporal fluctuations. The highest effluxes of all nutrients and DIC were observed in the summer. Small effluxes of DIC and NH4 and influxes of Si and PO4 were observed in late winter. Only NH₄ (ca. 50%) and Si (ca. 70%) fluxes were significantly correlated with temperature. This correlation suggests that the rate of downward input and the quality of sedimented organic matter (autochthonous and allochthonous) were superimposed on the temperature fluctuations. High DIC, NH₄ and Si effluxes observed in May 1993 during low temperature were due to the degradation of sedimentary organic matter produced by an early spring bloom of benthic microalgae which occurred about 6 weeks earlies while the autumn phytoplankton bloom was simultaneously reflected in enhanced benthic fluxes due to higher temperature. The role of benthic biological advection in this transport across the sediment-water interface, evaluated by comparison between measured benthic and calculated diffusive fluxes from nutrient pore water concentrations, was of minor importance. This is probably due to low infaunal activity throughout the year it was localized mostly in the narrow surficial layer. The annual average diffusive fluxes of NH4 and PO4 were higher than those measured, probably due to the presence of nitrificationdenitrifi-cation processes and redox-dependent chemical reactions at the oxic sediment-water interface, respectively. Only during bottom-water hypoxia in September 1993 did strong PO₄ effluxes prevail. Calculations based on the Redfield stoichiometry of oxic decomposition of organic N to NH4 and NO3, and differences between diffusive and measured NH₄ fluxes showed that denitrifkation averaged 0.8 mmol m^-2 d^-1. Significant correlations between NH₄ and PO₄ DIC and Si, and NH4 and Si fluxes suggested their parallel regeneration and utilization at the sediment-water interface. The nutrient fluxes observed were not significantly linked to O₂ consumption, suggesting also that anaerobic oxidation processes were important at the sediment-water interface in the gulf. The N, P and Si nutriqnts released from sediment pore waters are probably utilized in benthic microalgal and bottorn-hater primary production. This indicates that pelagic and benthic communities in the central part of the Gulf of Trieste function relatively independently of each other.     

Using a regional numerical weather prediction model for GNSS positioning over Brazil

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can provide centimeter positioning accuracy at low costs. However, in order to obtain the desired high accuracy, it is necessary to use high-quality atmospheric models. We focus on the troposphere, which is an important topic of research in Brazil where the tropospheric characteristics are unique, both spatially and temporally. There are dry regions, which lie mainly in the central part of the country. However, the most interesting area for the investigation of tropospheric models is the wet region which is located in the Amazon forest. This region substantially affects the variability of humidity over other regions of Brazil. It provides a large quantity of water vapor through the humidity convergence zone, especially for the southeast region. The interconnection and large fluxes of water vapor can generate serious deficiencies in tropospheric modeling. The CPTEC/INPE (Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies/Brazilian Institute for Space Research) has been providing since July 2012 a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model for South America, known as Eta. It has yield excellent results in weather prediction but has not been used in GNSS positioning. This NWP model was evaluated in precise point positioning (PPP) and network-based positioning. Concerning PPP, the best positioning results were obtained for the station SAGA, located in Amazon region. Using the NWP model, the 3D RMS are less than 10 cm for all 24 h of data, whereas the values reach approximately 60 cm for the Hopfield model. For network-based positioning, the best results were obtained mainly when the tropospheric characteristics are critical, in which case an improvement of up to 7.2 % was obtained in 3D RMS using NWP models.     

Spatial modelling and uncertainty assessment of pyroclastic cover thickness in the Sorrento Peninsula

Assessing spatial variability of soil thickness is a critical issue for understanding and predicting slope processes. The present work was aimed at estimating the spatial scales at which the variation of pyroclastic cover thickness occurs in a sample area in the Sorrento Peninsula (Italy). Stochastic simulation was used to understand the spatial variability of pyroclastic cover thickness on Mount Pendolo and to assess its spatial uncertainty. In the study area, covering about 0.7 km², thickness measurements were collected using electrical resistivity tomography profiles, continuous core drillings and steel rod penetrometric tests. Variographic analysis revealed the occurrence of an anisotropic behaviour along the N50 and N140 directions. In the latter anisotropic direction, a nested variogram was fitted including (1) a long-range component which could be related to large-scale factors, like the curvature of the slope and contributing area and (2) a shorter scale variation which is probably associated with the occurrence of denudation processes or to the articulate cover/bedrock interface. To assess the spatial variability and uncertainty of pyroclastic cover thickness, a stochastic simulation algorithm was used and 500 equally probable images of cover thickness were yielded. The results showed that a better thickness distribution map can be drawn by simulating the data collected on the slope and at the footslope separately. The approach also allowed delineating the areas characterized by greater uncertainty, suggesting supplementary measurements to further improve the cover thickness distribution model, thus reducing the uncertainty.