Validation of the land water storage from gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) with gauge data in the amazon basin

The Amazon basin is a region of constant scientific interest due to its environmental importance and its biodiversity and climate on a global scale. The seasonal variations in water volume are one of the examples of topics studied nowadays. In general, the variations in river levels depend primarily on the climate and physics characteristics of the corresponding basins. The main factor which influences the water level in the Amazon Basin is the intensive rainfall over this region as a consequence of the humidity of the tropical climate. Unfortunately, the Amazon basin is an area with lack of water level information due to difficulties in access for local operations. The purpose of this study is to compare and evaluate the Equivalent Water Height (Ewh) from GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) mission, to study the connection between water loading and vertical variations of the crust due to the hydrologic. In order to achieve this goal, the Ewh is compared with in-situ information from limnimeter. For the analysis it was computed the correlation coefficients, phase and amplitude of GRACE Ewh solutions and in-situ data, as well as the timing of periods of drought in different parts of the basin. The results indicated that vertical variations of the lithosphere due to water mass loading could reach 7 to 5 cm per year, in the sedimentary and flooded areas of the region, where water level variations can reach 10 to 8 m.

The effect of demand, tank parameters, and pumping stations on energy use in municipal drinking water distribution systems

Two of the indicators of the UN Millennium Development Goals ensuring environmental sustainability are energy use and per capita carbon dioxide emissions. The increasing urbanization and increasing world population may require increased energy use in order to transport enough safe drinking water to communities. In addition, the increase in water use would result in increased energy consumption, thereby resulting in increased green-house gas emissions that promote global climate change. The study of multiple Municipal Drinking Water Distribution Systems (MDWDSs) that relates various MDWDS aspects--system components and properties--to energy use is strongly desirable. The understanding of the relationship between system aspects and energy use aids in energy-efficient design. In this study, components of a MDWDS, and/or the characteristics associated with the component are termed as MDWDS aspects (hereafter--system aspects). There are many aspects of MDWDSs that affect the energy usage. Three system aspects (1) system-wide water demand, (2) storage tank parameters, and (3) pumping stations were analyzed in this study. The study involved seven MDWDSs to understand the relationship between the above-mentioned system aspects in relation with energy use. A MDWDSs model, EPANET 2.0, was utilized to analyze the seven systems. Six of the systems were real and one was a hypothetical system. The study presented here is unique in its statistical approach using seven municipal water distribution systems. The first system aspect studied was system-wide water demand. The analysis involved analyzing seven systems for the variation of water demand and its impact on energy use. To quantify the effects of water use reduction on energy use in a municipal water distribution system, the seven systems were modeled and the energy usage quantified for various amounts of water conservation. It was found that the effect of water conservation on energy use was linear for all seven systems and that all the average values of all the systems' energy use plotted on the same line with a high R 2 value. From this relationship, it can be ascertained that a 20% reduction in water demand results in approximately a 13% savings in energy use for all seven systems analyzed. This figure might hold true for many similar systems that are dominated by pumping and not gravity driven. The second system aspect analyzed was storage tank(s) parameters. Various tank parameters: (1) tank maximum water levels, (2) tank elevation, and (3) tank diameter were considered in this part of the study. MDWDSs use a significant amount of electrical energy for the pumping of water from low elevations (usually a source) to higher ones (usually storage tanks). The use of electrical energy has an effect on pollution emissions and, therefore, potential global climate change as well. Various values of these tank parameters were modeled on seven MDWDSs of various sizes using a network solver and the energy usage recorded. It was found that when averaged over all seven analyzed systems (1) the reduction of maximum tank water level by 50% results in a 2% energy reduction, (2) energy use for a change in tank elevation is system specific, and (2) a reduction of tank diameter of 50% results in approximately a 7% energy savings. The third system aspect analyzed in this study was pumping station parameters. A pumping station consists of one or more pumps. The seven systems were analyzed to understand the effect of the variation of pump horsepower and the number of booster stations on energy use. It was found that adding booster stations could save energy depending upon the system characteristics. For systems with flat topography, a single main pumping station was found to use less energy. In systems with a higher-elevation neighborhood, however, one or more booster pumps with a reduced main pumping station capacity used less energy. The energy savings for the seven systems was dependent on the number of boosters and ranged from 5% to 66% for the analyzed five systems with higher elevation neighborhoods (S3, S4, S5, S6, and S7). No energy savings was realized for the remaining two flat topography systems, S1, and S2. The present study analyzed and established the relationship between various system aspects and energy use in seven MDWDSs. This aids in estimating the amount of energy savings in MDWDSs. This energy savings would ultimately help reduce Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions including per capita CO 2 emissions thereby potentially lowering the global climate change effect. This will in turn contribute to meeting the MDG of ensuring environmental sustainability.

Establishment and expansion of Lake Malawi rock fish populations after a dramatic Late Pleistocene lake level rise

Major environmental events that fragment populations among multiple island habitats have potential to drive large-scale episodes of speciation and adaptive radiation. A recent palaeolimnological study of sediment cores indicated that Lake Malawi underwent major climate-driven desiccation events 75 000-135 000 years ago that lowered the water level to at least 580 m below the present state and severely reduced surface area. After this period, lake levels rose and stabilized, creating multiple discontinuous littoral rocky habitats. Here, we present evidence supporting the hypothesis that establishment and expansion of isolated philopatric rock cichlid populations occurred after this rise and stabilization of lake level. We studied the Pseudotropheus (Maylandia) species complex, a group with both allopatric and sympatric populations that differ in male nuptial colour traits and tend to mate assortatively. Using coalescent analyses based on mitochondrial DNA, we found evidence that populations throughout the lake started to expand and accumulate genetic diversity after the lake level rise. Moreover, most haplotypes were geographically restricted, and the greatest genetic similarities were typically among sympatric or neighbouring populations. This is indicative of limited dispersal and establishment of assortative mating among populations following the lake level rise. Together, this evidence is compatible with a single large-scale environmental event being central to evolution of spatial patterns of genetic and species diversity in P. (Maylandia) and perhaps other Lake Malawi rock cichlids. Equivalent climate-driven pulses of habitat formation and fragmentation may similarly have contributed to observed rapid and punctuated cladogenesis in other adaptive radiations.

Stratigraphic analysis of lake level fluctuations in Lake Ohrid: an integration of high resolution hydro-acoustic data and sediment cores

Abstract. Ancient Lake Ohrid is a steep-sided, oligotrophic, karst lake that was tectonically formed most likely within the Pliocene and often referred to as a hotspot of endemic biodiversity. This study aims on tracing significant lake level fluctuations at Lake Ohrid using high-resolution acoustic data in combination with lithological, geochemical, and chronological information from two sediment cores recovered from sub-aquatic terrace levels at ca. 32 and 60m water depth. According to our data, significant lake level fluctuations with prominent lowstands of ca. 60 and 35m below the present water level occurred during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and MIS 5, respectively. The effect of these lowstands on biodiversity in most coastal parts of the lake is negligible, due to only small changes in lake surface area, coastline, and habitat. In contrast, biodiversity in shallower areas was more severely affected due to disconnection of today sublacustrine springs from the main water body. Multichannel seismic data from deeper parts of the lake clearly image several clinoform structures stacked on top of each other. These stacked clinoforms indicate significantly lower lake levels prior to MIS 6 and a stepwise rise of water level with intermittent stillstands since its existence as water-filled body, which might have caused enhanced expansion of endemic species within Lake Ohrid.

The energy expenditure of 2 Holstein cow strains in an organic grazing system

Until recently, measurements of energy expenditure (EE; herein defined as heat production) in respiration chambers did not account for the extra energy requirements of grazing dairy cows on pasture. As energy is first limiting in most pasture-based milk production systems, its efficient use is important. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare EE, which can be affected by differences in body weight (BW), body composition, grazing behavior, physical activity, and milk production level, in 2 Holstein cow strains. Twelve Swiss Holstein-Friesian (HCH; 616 kg of BW) and 12 New Zealand Holstein-Friesian (HNZ; 570 kg of BW) cows in the third stage of lactation were paired according to their stage of lactation and kept in a rotational, full-time grazing system without concentrate supplementation. After adaption, the daily milk yield, grass intake using the alkane double-indicator technique, nutrient digestibility, physical activity, and grazing behavior recorded by an automatic jaw movement recorder were investigated over 7d. Using the (13)C bicarbonate dilution technique in combination with an automatic blood sampling system, EE based on measured carbon dioxide production was determined in 1 cow pair per day between 0800 to 1400 h. The HCH were heavier and had a lower body condition score compared with HNZ, but the difference in BW was smaller compared with former studies. Milk production, grass intake, and nutrient digestibility did not differ between the 2 cow strains, but HCH grazed for a longer time during the 6-h measurement period and performed more grazing mastication compared with the HNZ. No difference was found between the 2 cow strains with regard to EE (291 ± 15.6 kJ) per kilogram of metabolic BW, mainly due to a high between-animal variation in EE. As efficiency and energy use are important in sustainable, pasture-based, organic milk production systems, the determining factors for EE, such as methodology, genetics, physical activity, grazing behavior, and pasture quality, should be investigated and quantified in more detail in future studies.

Validation of a Spatially Continuous EDEN Water-Surface Model for the Everglades, Florida

The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) is an integrated network of realtime water-level monitoring, ground-elevation modeling, and water-surface modeling that provides scientists and managers with current (2000-present), online water-stage and water-depth information for the entire freshwater portion of the Greater Everglades. Continuous daily spatial interpolations of the EDEN network stage data are presented on grid with 400-square-meter spacing. EDEN offers a consistent and documented dataset that can be used by scientists and managers to: (1) guide large-scale field operations, (2) integrate hydrologic and ecological responses, and (3) support biological and ecological assessments that measure ecosystem responses to the implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1999). The target users are biologists and ecologists examining trophic level responses to hydrodynamic changes in the Everglades. The first objective of this report is to validate the spatially continuous EDEN water-surface model for the Everglades, Florida developed by Pearlstine et al. (2007) by using an independent field-measured data-set. The second objective is to demonstrate two applications of the EDEN water-surface model: to estimate site-specific ground elevation by using the validated EDEN water-surface model and observed water depth data; and to create water-depth hydrographs for tree islands. We found that there are no statistically significant differences between model-predicted and field-observed water-stage data in both southern Water Conservation Area (WCA) 3A and WCA 3B. Tree island elevations were derived by subtracting field water-depth measurements from the predicted EDEN water-surface. Water-depth hydrographs were then computed by subtracting tree island elevations from the EDEN water stage. Overall, the model is reliable by a root mean square error (RMSE) of 3.31 cm. By region, the RMSE is 2.49 cm and 7.77 cm in WCA 3A and 3B, respectively. This new landscape-scale hydrological model has wide applications for ongoing research and management efforts that are vital to restoration of the Florida Everglades. The accurate, high-resolution hydrological data, generated over broad spatial and temporal scales by the EDEN model, provides a previously missing key to understanding the habitat requirements and linkages among native and invasive populations, including fish, wildlife, wading birds, and plants. The EDEN model is a powerful tool that could be adapted for other ecosystem-scale restoration and management programs worldwide.

Water chemistry of lakes from the Antarctic

This paper reviews Japanese limnological studies mainly in the McMurdo and Syowa oases, with special emphasis on the nutrient distribution. Generally, the chemical composition of the major ionic components in the coastal lakes and ponds is similar to that in seawater, while that in inland Dry Valley lakes and ponds of the McMurdo Oasis is abundant in calcium, magnesium and sulfate ions. The former can be explained by the direct influences of sea salts, while the latter is mainly attributable to the accumulation of atmospheric salts. Most saline lakes are meromictic. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in the upper layers are saturated or supersaturated, but the bottom layers are anoxic and often hydrogen sulfide occurs. The concentrations of nutrients vary largely not only among the lakes but also with depth. Silicate-Si, which is generally abundant in all freshwater and saline lakes, may be due to erosions of soils and rocks. Nitrite-N concentrations in both freshwater and saline lakes are generally low. Nitrate-N concentrations in the oxic layers of the inland saline lakes in the McMurdo Oasis arc often high, but not high in the coastal saline lakes of the Syowa and Vestfold oases. The abundance of phosphate-P and ammonium-N in the bottom stagnant layers of saline lakes can be explained by the accumulation of microbially released nutrients due to the decomposition of organic substances. Nutrients are supplied mainly from meltstreams in the catchment areas, and are proved to play an important role in primary production.