Water stress detection using radar

Vegetation is a crucial part of the water and carbon cycle. Through photosynthesis carbon is assimilated for biomass production, and oxygen is released into the atmosphere. During this process, water is transpired through the stomata, and is redistributed in the plant. Transpired water is refilled by uptake of water from the root zone in the...

Water stress detection in the Amazon using radar

The Amazon rainforest plays an important role in the global water and carbon cycle, and though it is predicted to continue drying in the future, the effect of drought remains uncertain. Developments in remote sensing missions now facilitate large-scale observations. The RapidScat scatterometer (K_u band) mounted on the International...

Measuring Tree Properties and Responses Using Low-Cost Accelerometers

Trees play a crucial role in the water, carbon and nitrogen cycle on local, regional and global scales. Understanding the exchange of momentum, heat, water, and CO 2 between trees and the atmosphere is important to assess the impact of drought, deforestation and climate change. Unfortunately, ground measurements of tree properties such as mass...

Water and chemical budgets of gravel pit lakes: Case studies of fluvial gravel pit lakes along the Meuse River (The Netherlands) and coastal gravel pit lakes along the Adriatic Sea (Ravenna, Italy)

Gravel pit lakes form when gravel is excavated from below the water table of a phreatic or shallow confined aquifer. Typically many of these lakes are concentrated along naturally occurring sedimentary gravel deposits in areas where gravel is needed for construction. Most gravel pit lakes are relatively young features: most are less than 50...

Sediment transport modelling: Determination of the main areas contributing to the suspended sediment load in the Mara River, Kenya

The Mara River originates in Kenya in the Mau Escarpment and flows through the Serengeti ecosystem into Lake Victoria in Tanzania; in total it is about 395 km long. In this river, human interventions have led to increased of agricultural areas. As a result, increased fast runoff and top soil erosion is expected. Consequently, more sediments is...

Impact of diurnal variation in vegetation water content on radar backscatter from maize during water stress

Microwave backscatter from vegetated surfaces is influenced by vegetation structure and vegetation water content (VWC), which varies with meteorological conditions and moisture in the root zone. Radar backscatter observations are used for many vegetation and soil moisture monitoring applications under the assumption that VWC is constant on short...

Next Generation Hydro Software

An overview paper, describes motivation and main deliverables of the Next Generation Hydro Software (NGHS) project. Important technological innovations include development of the new computational core Delft3D Flexible Mesh, as well as the open modelling environment Delta Shell.

Groundwater modelling of the khettara area of Fezna-Jorf-Hannabou, Morocco

This master thesis comprehends a study on khettaras, historical subsurface drainage tunnels, in East Morocco. A numerical groundwater model was set up to simulate these systems and to get a better understanding of their behaviour. Subsequently, the model was used to simulate the effect of several scenarios: increased use of pumped wells in the...

New Observational Tools and Datasources for Hydrology: Hydrological data Unlocked by Tinkering

Advances in scientific understanding follow a cyclic pattern where new observational techniques lead to novel theoretical insight. From novel theories, in turn, hypotheses are derived that cannot be tested using current observations and thus create a demand for even newer observational techniques. Hydrology has recently experienced a period of...

Understanding hydrological variability for improved water management in the Semi-Arid Karkheh basin, Iran

This study provides a hydrology based assessment of (surface) water resources and its continuum of variability and change at different spatio-temporal scales in the semi-arid Karkheh Basin, Iran, where water is scarce, competition among users is high and massive water resources development is under way. The study reveals that the ongoing...

Information Theory for Risk-based Water System Operation

Operational management of water resources needs predictions of future behavior of water systems, to anticipate shortage or excess of water in a timely manner. Because the natural systems that are part of the hydrological cycle are complex, the predictions inevitably are subject to considerable uncertainty. Still, definitive decisions about e.g....

Regional vegetation water effects on satellite soil moisture estimations for West Africa

Soil moisture information is a vital parameter for water resources planning and food production. In particular for West Africa, where income largely depends on rainfed agriculture, reliable information on available soil water is required for modeling and prediction. Over large areas and, specifically, for data scarce regions, satellite soil...

Design of a water quality monitoring program for Stentsovsko-Zebrijanske Plavny, Dunabe Delta Ukraine

Integrated water resources management Azov Sea: Main report

Danube Environmental Programme - Hron river basin pre-investment study: Water quality and Decision Support System (DSS) sub-project

Introduction to special section on Uncertainty Assessment in Surface and Subsurface Hydrology: An overview of issues and challenges

This paper introduces the Water Resources Research special section on Uncertainty Assessment in Surface and Subsurface Hydrology. Over the past years, hydrological literature has seen a large increase in the number of papers dealing with uncertainty. In this article, we present an overview of the different sources of uncertainty and the...