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Raindrops roll
\"Sheds new light on the wonders of rain, from the beauty of a raindrop balanced on a leaf to the amazing, never-ending water cycle that keeps our planet in perfect ecological balance\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Improving Water Efficiencies in Rural Agriculture for Sustainability of Water Resources: A Review
Water scarcity is an escalating global concern that poses significant challenges to agriculture. The need to feed a growing population, coupled with changing climate patterns, demands a re-evaluation of water use efficiency in major field crops. Water efficiency in agriculture is a critical facet of sustainable water management in rural areas, where agriculture often serves as a primary economic activity. In rural regions, where water resources are often limited, efficient agricultural water management is vital to ensure food security, economic stability, and environmental sustainability. In this review, we have discussed various measures to improve water use efficiency or productivity in agricultural systems. Adopting the strategies for enhancing water productivity at plant and field level may include: rain water harvesting in rural area, soil moisture conservation practices like mulching, crop residue retention and conservation agriculture, better utilization of stored soil moisture by best crop management interventions, irrigation scheduling, integrated farming systems i.e. multiple usage of water in agriculture by combining various farm enterprises like crop production, dairy and fishery. Beside these, reviewed the water use efficiency for important field crops around the world. Review also discussed about how beneficial public policies particularly watershed management in rural area are needed to establish the right socioeconomic conditions for boosting WUE in the agriculture.
Journal Article
The rhythm of the rain
While playing in a pool on the side of the mountain, Isaac follows the water to a river, a waterfall, and the great ocean, in a book that celebrates the water cycle.
Book
Spatio-temporal variations of rainfall using innovative trend analysis during 1951–2021 in Punjab State, India
In the present study, long-term rainfall trend was analyzed using the traditional Mann–Kendall (MK) test and innovative trend analysis (ITA) method for annual and seasonal rainfall series for 20 districts of Punjab state for the period of 1951–2021. The autocorrelation test was performed to detect the presence or absence of serial correlation in the rainfall series. Based on the autocorrelation test, MK or modified Mann–Kendall (MMK) test and Sen’s slope test were applied to determine the direction and magnitude of the rainfall trend, respectively. The ITA which revealed the presence of a trend graphically was compared with the traditional MK/MMK test. The autocorrelation test showed that all the annual rainfall series are serially independent, except for the Hoshiarpur. The MK/MMK test revealed the presence of a decreasing trend in annual rainfall series of all districts, except for Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala, Patiala, and Tarn Taran of the central zone and Muktsar of the south west zone. The computed probable change point year was 1998. The innovative trend slope revealed the presence of a significant decreasing trend for the districts of Punjab missed by the traditional MK/MMK test. The highest decrease (− 4.5 mm/year) in annual rainfall was observed at Gurdaspur of the north zone and Faridkot of the south west zone. The ITA showed the statistically significant decreasing trend in annual rainfall for all the districts of the south west zone at 1% significance level. The analysis using ITA determined the presence of hidden trends missed by the traditional MK/MMK test. The decreasing pattern in rainfall over most of the districts and high irrigation requirement for largely growing paddy crop of Punjab indicated the urgent need of efficient planning of water resources. The study may guide planners and policy makers for effective implementation of the rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge strategies to improve the status of water resources in the entire Punjab.
Journal Article
Long-term monitoring of cloud water chemistry at Whiteface Mountain: the emergence of a new chemical regime
Atmospheric aqueous chemistry can have profound effects on our environment. The importance of chemistry within the atmospheric aqueous phase started gaining widespread attention in the 1970s as there was growing concern over the negative impacts on ecosystem health from acid deposition. Research at mountaintop observatories including Whiteface Mountain (WFM) showed that gas phase sulfur dioxide emissions react in cloud droplets to form sulfuric acid, which also impacted air quality by increasing aerosol mass loadings. The current study updates the long-term trends in cloud water composition at WFM for the period 1994–2021, with special consideration given to samples that have traditionally been excluded from analysis due to inorganic charge imbalance. We emphasize three major findings: (1) a growing abundance of total organic carbon (TOC), with annual median concentrations more than doubling since measurements began in 2009, (2) a growing imbalance between the measured inorganic cations and anions, consistent with independent rain water observations, implying that a substantial fraction of anions are no longer being measured with the historical suite of measurements, and (3) a growing number of samples exhibiting greater ammonium concentrations than sulfate plus nitrate concentrations, which now routinely describes over one-third of samples. Organic acids are identified as the most likely candidates for the missing anions, since the measured inorganic ion imbalance correlates strongly with measured TOC concentrations. An “inferred cloud droplet pH” is introduced to estimate the pH of the vast majority of cloud droplets as they reside in the atmosphere using a simple method to account for the expected mixing state of calcium and magnesium containing particles. While the inferred cloud droplet pH closely matches the measured bulk cloud water pH during the early years of the cloud water monitoring program, a growing discrepancy is found over the latter half of the record. We interpret these observations as indicating a growing fraction of cloud droplet acidity that is no longer accounted for by the measured sulfate, nitrate and ammonium concentrations. Altogether, these observations indicate that the chemical system at WFM has shifted away from a system dominated by sulfate to a system controlled by base cations, reactive nitrogen species and organic compounds. Further research is required to understand the effects on air quality, climate and ecosystem health.
Journal Article
Importance of aerosols and shape of the cloud droplet size distribution for convective clouds and precipitation
The predictability of deep moist convection is subject to large uncertainties resulting from inaccurate initial and boundary data, the incomplete description of physical processes, or microphysical uncertainties. In this study, we investigate the response of convective clouds and precipitation over central Europe to varying cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations and different shape parameters of the cloud droplet size distribution (CDSD), both of which are not well constrained by observations. We systematically evaluate the relative impact of these uncertainties in realistic convection-resolving simulations for multiple cases with different synoptic controls using the new icosahedral non-hydrostatic ICON model. The results show a large systematic increase in total cloud water content with increasing CCN concentrations and narrower CDSDs, together with a reduction in the total rain water content. This is related to a suppressed warm-rain formation due to a less efficient collision–coalescence process. It is shown that the evaporation at lower levels is responsible for diminishing these impacts on surface precipitation, which lies between +13 % and −16 % compared to a reference run with continental aerosol assumption. In general, the precipitation response was larger for weakly forced cases. We also find that the overall timing of convection is not sensitive to the microphysical uncertainties applied, indicating that different rain intensities are responsible for changing precipitation totals at the ground. Furthermore, weaker rain intensities in the developing phase of convective clouds can allow for a higher convective instability at later times, which can lead to a turning point with larger rain intensities later on. The existence of such a turning point and its location in time can have a major impact on precipitation totals. In general, we find that an increase in the shape parameter can produce almost as large a variation in precipitation as a CCN increase from maritime to polluted conditions. The narrowing of the CDSD not only decreases the absolute values of autoconversion and accretion but also decreases the relative role of the warm-rain formation in general, independent of the prevailing weather regime. We further find that increasing CCN concentrations reduce the effective radius of cloud droplets in a stronger manner than larger shape parameters. The cloud optical depth, however, reveals a similarly large increase with larger shape parameters when changing the aerosol load from maritime to polluted. By the frequency of updrafts as a function of height, we show a negative aerosol effect on updraft strength, leading to an enervation of deep convection. These findings demonstrate that both the CCN assumptions and the CDSD shape parameter are important for quantitative precipitation forecasting and should be carefully chosen if double-moment schemes are used for modeling aerosol–cloud interactions.
Journal Article
A paradigm of extreme rainfall pluvial floods in complex urban areas: the flood event of 15 July 2020 in Palermo (Italy)
In the last few years, some regions of the Mediterranean area have witnessed a progressive increase in extreme events, such as urban and flash floods, as a response to the increasingly frequent and severe extreme rainfall events, which are often exacerbated by the ever-growing urbanization. In such a context, the urban drainage systems may not be sufficient to convey the rainwater, thus increasing the risk deriving from the occurrence of such events. This study focuses on a particularly intense urban flood that occurred in Palermo (Italy) on 15 July 2020; it represents a typical pluvial flood due to extreme rainfall on a complex urban area that many cities have experienced in recent years, especially in the Mediterranean region. A conceptual hydrological model and a 2D hydraulic model, particularly suitable for simulations in a very complex urban context, have been used to simulate the event. Results have been qualitatively validated by means of crowdsourced information and satellite images. The experience of Palermo, which has highlighted the urgent need for a shift in the way stormwater in urban settlements is managed, can be assumed to be a paradigm for modeling pluvial floods in complex urban areas under extreme rainfall conditions. Although the approaches and the related policies cannot be identical for all cities, the modeling framework used here to assess the impacts of the event under study and some conclusive remarks could be easily transferred to other, different urban contexts.
Journal Article
The role of soil water retention functions of near-surface fissures with different vegetation types in a rocky desertification area
Aims
Soil water deficits have presented challenges to vegetation restoration in rocky desertification areas. In the field, small volumes of soil resources are present only in near-surface crevices, fissures, and other similar features. Water stored in the soil in near-surface fissures can help plants grow in such areas. The goals of this study are to discuss the soil water retention functions of near-surface fissures in terms of soil structure, water infiltration and water storage capacity and to define the role of fissure water in the growth of plants in rocky desertification areas.
Methods
Several near-surface fissures with four types of vegetation (i.e., crops, grass, shrubs and trees) within a rocky karst desertification area on the Karst Plateau in Guizhou Province, China, were examined. Soil physicochemical property analysis and stable isotope techniques were applied.
Results
Fissures with shrubs and trees present high levels of soil porosity, while fissures with crops and grasses present low levels of soil porosity. The water infiltration rates of the soil in all of the examined fissures are higher than the rainfall intensity of the maximum daily rainfall for this province. Consequently, most rainwater infiltrates through the fissure soils. Compared to the other fissures, fissures with crops present higher levels of usable soil storage capacity in the surface soils (0–20 cm), which are affected by tillage (ploughing), but exhibit lower capacities in the bottom soil layer. Additionally, tree and shrub fissures present higher usable soil storage capacities in bottom soil layer than other types of fissures.
Conclusions
The main source of water for
Ligustrum
and
Pyracantha
in the dry season is fissure water, which accounts for 44.7% and 58.2% of all the water utilized by these species, respectively. Fissure water may represent the most important source of water for plants growing in near-surface karst fissures.
Journal Article
Sustainable Smart Irrigation System (SIS) using solar PV with rainwater harvesting technique for indoor plants
The project aims to develop a sustainable smart irrigation system (SIS) for the indoor plant irrigation by integrating photovoltaic (PV), internet of things (IoT), and rainwater harvesting techniques. The addressed problem involves the inconsistency and tediousness of manual watering, emphasizing the need for a sustainable design for a SIS. The IoT system consists of soil moisture sensor with GSM module powered by PV and an algorithm was developed to adjust irrigation schedules based on soil moisture data. The objectives of this project are to design and optimize the PV-powered irrigation system and implement an Arduino-enabled automatic system with SMS-triggered functionality. The methodology involves system modelling for water requirements and sizing of PV, battery, pump, and MPPT based on the load demand. The rainwater harvesting structure designed ensures water sustainability for plants’ irrigation. The system is then implemented using moisture and ultrasonic sensors managed by Arduino Uno embedded system. The electrical performance of the PV was analyzed on both cloudy and moderately luminous days, with irradiance ranging from 250.4 to 667.8 and 285.5 to 928 W/m 2 , respectively. The average output voltage and current of the battery were observed to be 13.04 V and 0.37 A (cloudy), and 13.45 V and 0.47 A (moderate) days, respectively. The rainwater collection test revealed more than 36 L in the tank after one week, indicating it could sustain watering the three plants for 72 days. Based on the analysis, the project can save 14.97 kgCO 2 emissions per year compared to the current emissions released into the environment. The overall cost of the system is approximately RM670 (US$139.50). The SIS aligns with SDG 7, promoting affordable and integrates with 12 th Malaysia Plan for more efficient and environmentally friendly agricultural and water management practices.
Journal Article