Search results for "Environmental Biotechnology"
showing 10 items of 568 documents
Hydrological post-processing based on approximate Bayesian computation (ABC)
2019
[EN] This study introduces a method to quantify the conditional predictive uncertainty in hydrological post-processing contexts when it is cumbersome to calculate the likelihood (intractable likelihood). Sometimes, it can be difficult to calculate the likelihood itself in hydrological modelling, specially working with complex models or with ungauged catchments. Therefore, we propose the ABC post-processor that exchanges the requirement of calculating the likelihood function by the use of some sufficient summary statistics and synthetic datasets. The aim is to show that the conditional predictive distribution is qualitatively similar produced by the exact predictive (MCMC post-processor) or …
Hydropower Optimization Using Deep Learning
2019
This paper demonstrates how deep learning can be used to find optimal reservoir operating policies in hydropower river systems. The method that we propose is based on the implicit stochastic optimization (ISO) framework, using direct policy search methods combined with deep neural networks (DNN). The findings from a real-world two-reservoir hydropower system in southern Norway suggest that DNNs can learn how to map input (price, inflow, starting reservoir levels) to the optimal production pattern directly. Due to the speed of evaluating the DNN, this approach is from an operational standpoint computationally inexpensive and may potentially address the long-standing problem of high dimension…
Predicting sediment deposition rate in check-dams using machine learning techniques and high-resolution DEMs
2021
Sediments accumulated in check dams are a valuable measure to estimate soil erosion rates. Here, geographic information systems (GIS) and three machine learning techniques (MARS-multivariate adaptive regression splines, RF-random forest and SVM-support vector machine) were used, for the first time, to predict sediment deposition rate (SR) in check-dams located in six watersheds in SW Spain. There, 160 dry-stone check dams (~ 77.8 check-dams km−2), accumulated sediments during a period that varied from 11 to 23 years. The SR was estimated in former research using a topographical method and a high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (average of 0.14 m3 ha−1 year−1). Nine environmental-to…
Reliability of rainfall kinetic power-intensity relationships
2017
The rainfall erosivity plays a fundamental role in water soil erosion processes and it can be expressed by its kinetic power. At first in this paper the raindrop size distributions measured, in the period June 2006- March 2014, by an optical disdrometer installed at the Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences of University of Palermo are aggregated into rainfall intensity classes, having different ranges, and the measured kinetic power values are determined. Measured kinetic power values are initially used for testing the applicability of the kinetic power-rainfall intensity relationships proposed by Wischmeier and Smith (1978), used in Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), Brown an…
Multiple imputation of rainfall missing data in the Iberian Mediterranean context
2017
Abstract Given the increasing need for complete rainfall data networks, in recent years have been proposed diverse methods for filling gaps in observed precipitation series, progressively more advanced that traditional approaches to overcome the problem. The present study has consisted in validate 10 methods (6 linear, 2 non-linear and 2 hybrid) that allow multiple imputation, i.e., fill at the same time missing data of multiple incomplete series in a dense network of neighboring stations. These were applied for daily and monthly rainfall in two sectors in the Jucar River Basin Authority (east Iberian Peninsula), which is characterized by a high spatial irregularity and difficulty of rainfa…
Future Projection of precipitation changes in the Júcar and Segura River Basins (Iberian Peninsula) by CMIP5 GCMs Local Downscaling
2021
The basins of the Júcar and Segura rivers, on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, present a special water problem and are of particular interest regarding climate change. These basins are very vulnerable to a possible scenario of decreasing water resources. Recent studies on historic rainfall since 1955 have indicated an ongoing loss of precipitation in their headwaters, especially in the case of the Júcar river. The aim of the present study is to perform climate projections for the precipitation variable for several future periods (2021–2040, 2051–2070, 2081–2100) and emission scenarios (RCPs 4.5, 8.5) within the Júcar and Segura River Basin authorities. For this purpose, a s…
Co-evolution of hydrological components under climate change scenarios in the Mediterranean area
2015
ABSTRACT The Mediterranean area is historically characterized by high human pressure on water resources. Today, while climate is projected to be modified in the future, through precipitation decrease and temperature increase, that jointly and non-linearly may affect runoff, concerns about water availability are increasing. For these reasons, quantitative assessment of future modifications in the mean annual water availability are important; likewise, the description of the future interannual variability of some hydrological components such as runoff and evapotranspiration are highly wished for water management and ecosystems dynamics analyses. This study investigates at basin spatial scale …
Multiple stressors in Mediterranean coastal wetland ecosystems : Influence of salinity and an insecticide on zooplankton communities under different …
2021
Temperature increase, salinity intrusion and pesticide pollution have been suggested to be among the main stressors affecting the biodiversity of coastal wetland ecosystems. Here we assessed the single and combined effects of these stressors on zooplankton communities collected from a Mediterranean coastal lagoon. An indoor microcosm experiment was designed with temperature variation (20 °C and 30 °C), salinity (no addition, 2.5 g/L NaCl) and the insecticide chlorpyrifos (no addition, 1 μg/L) as treatments. The impact of these stressors was evaluated on water quality variables and on the zooplankton comunity (structure, diversity, abundance and taxa responses) for 28 days. This study shows …
Scale effects on plot runoff and soil erosion in a mediterranean environment
2017
Explaining scale effects for runoff and erosion improves our understanding of hydrological and erosion processes. In this investigation, plot-scale effects on event runoff per unit area, Qe, sediment concentration, Ce, and soil loss per unit area, SLe, were checked at the Sparacia (Italy) site. Similar information on the scale effects was obtained with different dependent variables, i.e., individual values of Qe, Ce, and SLe for each plot or the mean of their replicated values, and scale indicators, i.e., plot length, l, or plot area, A. The most common result, occurring for 57 to 62% of the events depending on the considered variable, was the lack of any scale effect. When scale effects we…
Multiple recharge processes to heterogeneous Mediterranean coastal aquifers and implications on recharge rates evolution in time
2018
Abstract Climate change is nowadays widely considered to have major effects on groundwater resources. Climatic projections suggest a global increase in evaporation and higher frequency of strong rainfall events especially in Mediterranean context. Since evaporation is synonym of low recharge conditions whereas strong rainfall events are more favourable to recharge in heterogeneous subsurface contexts, a lack of knowledge remains then on the real ongoing and future drinking groundwater supply availability at aquifers scale. Due to low recharge potential and high inter-annual climate variability, this issue is strategic for the Mediterranean hydrosystems. This is especially the case for coast…