scholarly journals The changing water cycle: the need for an integrated assessment of the resilience to changes in water supply in High-Mountain Asia

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. e1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Quincey ◽  
Megan Klaar ◽  
Daniel Haines ◽  
Jon Lovett ◽  
Bishnu Pariyar ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie E. Miles ◽  
Bryn Hubbard ◽  
Evan S. Miles ◽  
Duncan J. Quincey ◽  
Ann V. Rowan ◽  
...  

AbstractSurface melting of High Mountain Asian debris-covered glaciers shapes the seasonal water supply to millions of people. This melt is strongly influenced by the spatially variable thickness of the supraglacial debris layer, which is itself partially controlled by englacial debris concentration and melt-out. Here, we present measurements of deep englacial debris concentrations from debris-covered Khumbu Glacier, Nepal, based on four borehole optical televiewer logs, each up to 150 m long. The mean borehole englacial debris content is ≤ 0.7% by volume in the glacier’s mid-to-upper ablation area, and increases to 6.4% by volume near the terminus. These concentrations are higher than those reported for other valley glaciers, although those measurements relate to discrete samples while our approach yields a continuous depth profile. The vertical distribution of englacial debris increases with depth, but is also highly variable, which will complicate predictions of future rates of surface melt and debris exhumation at such glaciers.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob F. Steiner ◽  
Tika R. Gurung ◽  
Sharad P. Joshi ◽  
Inka Koch ◽  
Tuomo Saloranta ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 2114 (1) ◽  
pp. 012019
Author(s):  
Adi Al A’assam ◽  
M.W. Ahamd

Abstract When studying the water reality and calculating the increase in the quantities of water per year, we find that there is another way to increase the percentage of water, and that is through optical reproduction. For a detailed explanation of the location of water on Earth, see the map and the data table shown below. Note that the world’s add up to water supply is almost 1.387 million cubic kilometers (332.6 cubic miles) of wate, of which more than 96% is salt water. As for fresh water, more than 96% are trapped by rivers and glaciers, and 30% are on the ground. As for the freshwater resources represented in rivers and lakes, they constitute about 93,100 cubic kilometers (22,300 cubic miles), which is about 1/150 of 1% of the total water. Rivers and lakes still make up most of the water sources that people use daily. The amount of water stored in the oceans for long periods is much more than that which moves through the water cycle. The total water supply worldwide is 1,386,000,000 cubic kilometers (321,000,000 cubic miles), of which 1,338,0, 000 cubic kilometers (332,500,000 cubic miles) are stored in the oceans at a rate of 95%, as the oceans give almost 90% of the water. Dissipated that goes to the water cycle. The photonic cloning resulting by the sun contributes to the consistency of water level. Indeed, the consistency of ocean water depends not only on the natural cycle of evaporation process of those waters to return to the oceans again, but also on the photonic cloning resulting by the sun, as experiment has vividly shown.


Author(s):  
Peregrine Horden

I am a historian, not a hydrologist, and it is well known that historians tell stories. So let me begin with one that opens up some of the themes I would like to consider. The date is around AD 400. The scene is the fringe of the small provincial town of Nola in Campania, Italy. Here was to be found the shrine of St Felix. It had recently been constructed in the middle of an elaborate complex by the bishop of Nola, Paulinus. Fountains gurgled in the courtyards of the basilica, offering natural refreshment. They also symbolized both the church’s and the saint’s therapeutic powers—the water of life, the rivers of paradise, baptismal regeneration. Rain-collecting cisterns initially met the requirements of the shrine, but these proved inadequate. The shrine became in effect parasitic on the water supply of Nola. This supply arrived both through the grand Aqua. Augusta, overall some 96 kilometres long, and from a small aqueduct that started in the hills of Abella. Now Abella was a very small nearby town that took its water into a reservoir through pipes from high mountain ridges and released the surplus down an aqueduct that both supplied Nola and irrigated the surrounding estates. The aqueduct was refurbished by the Abellans so that it fed St Felix’s shrine first and Nola second. The Nolans, however, felt deprived by the suburban complex to the point that they rioted. Yet another aqueduct, a disused one, had to be restored by the Abellans to appease the inhabitants of Nola, even though Bishop Paulinus had already been trying to persuade the Nolans that, by dividing their water with the saint, they reaped unexpected rewards, not just of a spiritual kind. The surrounding fields were better watered than they had been before; the area was better fed. Paulinus wrote in the poem (Carmen 21) that is our principal evidence for the local conflict: ‘Where rough stones lay arid in bare fields, there is now the pleasant transformation of greenery on the watered turf. . . Felix . . . has also brought here to your city the fountains that flow from heaven’ (Walsh 1975: 195-201, at p. 200; Trout 1999:192-4; Squatriti 1998:13-14).


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-241
Author(s):  
Jieyu Lu ◽  
Yubao Qiu ◽  
Xingxing Wang ◽  
Wenshan Liang ◽  
Pengfei Xie ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 438-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksander V. Pariy ◽  
Aleksander V. Lysov

Despite the vast resources of drinking water, Russia today is facing some serious problems in the water supply industry. The authors believe that creating a nation-wide benchmarking for Russia's water industry will play an important role in the development process for efficiently functioning water utilities. The main objective is to make improvements in quality of the services provided to the population and to rationalize the management methods by using the best practices and existing technologies as well as conducting a comprehensive integrated assessment of the general situation in the sector and at separate utilities. The article describes the steps taken by the management of Lipetsk Municipal Energy Company to organize benchmarking in the housing and communal utilities sector, mostly in water supply and wastewater services.


2017 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 460-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Scheurer ◽  
Karsten Nödler ◽  
Finnian Freeling ◽  
Joachim Janda ◽  
Oliver Happel ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen de Jong ◽  
Franz K. List ◽  
Peter J. Ergenzinger

The Dischma is a typical high mountain valley in the alpine source area of the River Rhine. A knowledge of the daily and seasonal water balance is important for understanding and predicting the effects of climatic fluctuations on river discharge. Traditional methods of analysing the water cycle usually involve deriving evaporation from precipitation and discharge. However, in mountain regions single station precipitation and discharge data cannot simply be extrapolated to represent regional evaporation characteristics. Measurements of precipitation in mountains are both limited in accuracy and spatial representativeness in contrast to well-defined discharge data. Field measurements of evaporation in the Dischma valley recorded over five summers give a fairly accurate picture of this component over space and time. New results on the characteristics of evaporation, transpiration and condensation are obtained from automated evaporation pans, lysimeters and climatological stations. The water cycle can be defined with greater precision by measuring discharge and evaporation and deriving precipitation than the more traditional technique of deriving evaporation.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Curio ◽  
Dieter Scherer

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is the origin of many large Asian rivers, which provide moisture for large regions in South and East Asia. Therefore, the water cycle on the TP and adjacent high mountain ranges and especially the precipitation distribution plays an important role for the water availability for billions of people in the regions downstream of the TP. Based on the High Asia Refined analysis (HAR) we analyse the influence of dynamic factors on precipitation, enhancing or suppressing precipitation development. We selected six precipitation controls, the horizontal and vertical wind speed at 300 hPa and in about two kilometres above ground, the atmospheric water transport, and the planetary boundary layer height. Focus of the study are the seasonality and the spatial variability of these precipitation controls and their dominant patterns. The results show that precipitation controls have different effects on precipitation in different regions and seasons. This depends mainly on the type of precipitation, convective or frontal/cyclonic precipitation. Additionally, the study reveals that the mid-latitude westerlies have a high impact on precipitation distribution on the TP and its surrounding year-round.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 767-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Curio ◽  
Dieter Scherer

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is the origin of many large Asian rivers, which provide water resources for large regions in south and east Asia. Therefore, the water cycle on the TP and adjacent high mountain ranges, in particular the precipitation distribution and variability play an important role for the water availability for billions of people in the downstream regions of the TP. The High Asia Refined analysis (HAR) is used to analyse the dynamical factors that influence precipitation variability in the TP region, including the factors resulting in the enhancement and suppression of precipitation. Four dynamical fields that can influence precipitation are considered: the 300 hPa wind speed and wind speed 2 km above ground, the 300 hPa vertical wind speed, and the atmospheric water transport. The study focusses on the seasonality and the spatial variability of the precipitation controls and their dominant patterns. Results show that different factors have different effects on precipitation in different regions and seasons. This depends mainly on the dominant type of precipitation, i.e. convective or frontal/cyclonic precipitation. Additionally, the study reveals that the midlatitude westerlies have a high impact on the precipitation distribution on the TP and its surroundings year-round and not only in winter.


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