Comparison of the Performance of SWAT, IHACRES and Artificial Neural Networks models in rainfall-runoff simulation (Case study: Kan watershed, Iran)
Publication date: Available online 9 May 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Mehdi Ahmadi, Abolfazl Moeini, Hassan Ahmadi, Baharak Motamedvaziri, Gholam Reza ZehtabiyanAbstractThe catchment area is essentially a heterogeneous dynamic, time and space hydrological system, and so the process of rainfall- runoff transmission in the catchment area is a very complex phenomenon. The temporal and spatial changes in the catchment characteristics, uncertainties in rainfall patterns, and a large number of parameters that alter the rainfall in to runoff, are the main sources of complexity in such rela...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - May 10, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Quantifying spatial pattern of urban greenspace from a gradient perspective of built-up age
Publication date: Available online 9 May 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Yuguo Qian, Zhiqiang Li, Weiqi Zhou, Yingyun ChenAbstractUrban greenspace provides myriad ecosystem services to urban dwellers. Accurately quantifying the spatiotemporal pattern of urban greenspace is important to fully understand its ecosystem services provision. While numerous studies have investigated the spatial pattern of urban greenspace and its change, few studies have explored how the spatial pattern of urban greenspace differ in urban areas developed in different years. Here, we chose Shenzhen as the stud...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - May 10, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

How climate variations are reflected in root zone storage capacities
Publication date: Available online 7 May 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Tanja de Boer-Euser, Jaime Palalane, Hubert Savenije, Dinis JuízoAbstractChanges in climatic conditions and vegetation cover are expected to affect the hydrological behaviour of catchments. An important variable in hydrological models trying to catch this behaviour is the catchment representative root zone storage capacity (Sr). Traditionally, Sr is derived from soil properties, which makes it difficult to incorporate changes in climatic and vegetation conditions. Using climate data rather than soil data to deriv...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - May 7, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Assessing the surface material quality of unpaved rural roads to understand susceptibility to surface deterioration. A case study of four rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
This study assesses the surface material quality of unpaved rural roads in four rural areas in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa in order to understand susceptibility to surface deterioration. The study further establishes other possible factors such as slope gradient and rainfall, that could determine the surface material quality. Soil samples were collected from R3, R4, and R5 road classes in four rural areas which are: Emazabekweni, Dukuza, Mkhunya and Mhlwazini Area. Laboratory analyses were conducted in order to determine the performance of the material as potential wearing course. Material performance was then...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - April 25, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Analysis and determination of optimum risk factors to prioritize illegal discharge potential in urban catchments.
The objective of this paper was to search for optimum risk factors based on existing data to determine the potential severity of illegal discharge within selected two catchments, and identify which areas merit priority investigation. The methods used in the investigation included risk factors metric ranking, spatial analysis, multi criteria evaluation, and composite risk map production. Results from the study indicated that many land use, hydraulic, and hydrologic factors affect the location of illegal discharges. Risk factors were ranked in terms of their performance to predict locations of illegal discharge potential. Th...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - April 25, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Fine particulate (PM2.5) dynamics before and after China's “Reform and Opening up” policy in Shenzhen
Publication date: Available online 11 April 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Lijian Han, Weiqi Zhou, Weifeng Li, Yuguo Qian, Weimin WangAbstractUnderstanding the trade-off between urbanization and air pollution could provide important insights on urban sustainable development. Such cases in China were very rare for PM2.5 due to the recent short-term availability of the PM2.5 monitoring records. We therefore estimated the long time series PM2.5 concentration in Shenzhen during 1973–2017 under the truth that PM2.5 is the major component of PM10, and PM2.5 have a significant relationship...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - April 16, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Fine particulate (PM2.5) dynamics before and after China’s “Reform and Opening up” policy in Shenzhen
Publication date: Available online 11 April 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Lijian Han, Weiqi Zhou, Weifeng Li, Yuguo Qian, Weimin WangAbstractUnderstand the trade-off between urbanization and air pollution could provide important insights on urban sustainable development. Such cases in China were very rare for PM2.5 due to the availability of the PM2.5 records’ availability. We therefore estimated the long time series PM2.5 concentration in Shenzhen during 1973-2017 under the truth that PM2.5 is the major component of PM10, and PM2.5 have a significant relationship (y = 100e-0.086x;...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - April 11, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Assessment of Water Quality in Coastal Estuaries Under Impact of Industrial Zone in Hai Phong, Vietnam
Publication date: Available online 3 April 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Doan Quang Tri, Nguyen Thi Mai Linh, Quach Thi Thanh Tuyet, Tran Anh Phuong, Nguyen Cao DonAbstractThe purpose of this study is to apply numerical modeling to assess the water quality in Cam and Lach Tray coastal estuaries. The wind re-analysis data from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model were used to simulate wave and the hydrodynamic regimes with a definition of 14 km within the longitude range from 1050E to 1200E and latitude range from 50 to 220 in the study area. The calibration and validation res...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - April 5, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Assessment of the patterns of urban land covers and impervious surface areas: a case study of Shenzhen, China
Publication date: Available online 3 April 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Qinghuai Zeng, Yingjia Xie, Kai LiuAbstractRemote sensing techniques have gradually become a popular tool for monitoring urban ecological environments because of their multi-temporal characteristics and rapid acquisition abilities. Based on five Landsat 8 scenes from 2013 to 2017, this study investigates the application of land cover classification and spectral mixture analysis in monitoring the urban environment of Shenzhen. By combining high-resolution data with field survey data, this study also assesses and ...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - April 5, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

LIDAR analyzing the transmission of PM2.5 in Shenzhen with LIDAR data and four- dimensional flux method
Publication date: Available online 3 April 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Chanfang Liu, Long He, Dongqin Pi, Jiangwei Zhao, Liheng Lin, Pengfei He, Jiahe Wang, Jianbin Wu, Huansheng Chen, Pingzhong Yan, Weimin Wang, Shuxian Lin, Yong YouAbstractWith the increase economic growth and high energy consumption in Shenzhen, pollutant emission increases gradually which leads to air pollution and affect public health. In order to undertake effective measures for preventing and controlling air pollution, it is essential to understand the transmission charactistics of PM2.5 and identify the cau...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - April 5, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Degradation Of Kilombero Valley Ramsar Wetlands In Tanzania
In this study, the land cover changes in the Kilombero Valley were analyzed over a span of 30 years. Fourteen Landsat (ETM and TM) images, covering the years 1975, 1990, 2002, 2009 and 2010, were used to generate land use maps for the study area and were analyzed for quantitative changes. Post-classification change detection analysis revealed that there has been an extensive exploitation of natural land cover across the valley through agricultural activities. In 1975, the valley floor was dominated by woodland (42%) and seasonal wetlands (37%). However, this has changed over the years and in 2008, 36% of the valley area wa...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - March 28, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

High resolution Mapping of Agricultural Water Productivity using SEBAL in a cultivated African Catchment, Tanzania
This study aims at high resolution (10m) mapping and evaluation of the spatial variability of biomass, yield, ET and WPET in the Makanya river catchment using the automated Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (pySEBAL) with SENTINEL-2 and LANDSAT-8 images, local land use map and locally calibrated leaf area index (LAI) inputs. A coupled phenological variability and supervised classification approach on high resolution images generated a high accuracy LULC layer which was used to map the WPET in the agricultural lands. The pySEBAL results were evaluated in view of local information on crop yields, water allocation and...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - March 27, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Geochemical and statistical studies of Mio-Pliocene aquifer's mineralization in Jerba Island, South-eastern Tunisia
Publication date: Available online 19 March 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Soumaya Farhat, Mahmoud Bali, Fethi KamelAbstractManagement of water resources is a major concern for arid and semi-arid regions mainly because of the high groundwater salinization which impacts water quality. Here, Hydrochemical data of major and minor ions such as (sodium (Na+), Calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl−), bicarbonate (HCO3−) and sulfate (SO42−) were used to study the Mio-Pliocene (MP) aquifer of Jerba Island, southeastern Tunisia, whose groundwater resources are ch...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - March 27, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Spatial-temporal pattern evolution of wastewater discharge in Yangtze River Economic Zone from 2002 to 2015
This study uses Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) method and Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model to analyze and discuss the Spatial-temporal pattern as well as the dominant driving factors of wastewater discharge in Yangtze River Economic Zone from 2002 to 2015. The paper indicates that: (1) In terms of the spatial-temporal pattern, the amount of wastewater discharge in Yangtze River Economic Zone shows an increase trend from 2002 to 2005, and then put up a decline trend between 2005 and 2015. Referring to the spatial characteristics, firstly, the amount of wastewater discharge increases from upstream to dow...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - March 21, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research

Tree Diversity Assessment and Above Ground Forests Biomass Estimation using SAR Remote Sensing: A case study of Higher Altitude Vegetation of North-East Himalayas, India
Publication date: Available online 19 March 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Amit Kumar, B.S.P.C. Kishore, P. Saikia, J. Deka, S. Bharali, L.B. Singha, O.P. Tripathi, M.L. KhanAbstractForest biomass is one of the significant components for assessing the productivity and sustainability of the forest’s ecosystem. In the present study, the mapping and estimation of above ground biomass (AGB) was performed using field observations employing allometric equations and C band Sentinel 1A and L band Advanced Land Observation System (ALOS) Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) r...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - March 21, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research