scholarly journals Evaluation of Integrating SWAT Model into a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis towards Reliable Rainwater Harvesting Systems

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1935
Author(s):  
Shahab Doulabian ◽  
Erfan Ghasemi Tousi ◽  
Reza Aghlmand ◽  
Babak Alizadeh ◽  
Alireza Ghaderi Bafti ◽  
...  

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has been recognized as one of the most reliable and efficient methods for water supply, especially in arid and semi-arid regions (ASARs) facing freshwater scarcity. Nevertheless, due to the inherent uncertainty of input data and subjectivity involved in the selection of influential parameters, the identification of RWH potential areas is a challenging procedure. In this study, two approaches for locating potential RWH sites were implemented. In the first approach, a frequently-used method of the multi-criteria decision analysis and geographic information system (MCDA-GIS) was utilized, while, in the second approach, a novel strategy of integrating the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model as a hydrology model into an MCDA-GIS method was proposed to evaluate its performance in locating potential RWH sites. The Mashhad Plain Basin (MPB) was selected as a case study area. The developed potential RWH maps of the two approaches indicated similar patterns for potential RWH areas; in addition, the correlation coefficient (CC) between the two obtained maps were relatively high (i.e., CC = 0.914) revealing that integration of SWAT as a comprehensive hydrologic model does not necessarily result in very different outputs from the conventional method of MCDA-GIS for RWH evaluation. The overlap of developed maps of the two approaches indicated that 3394 km2 of the study area, mainly located in the northern parts, was identified as high-potential RWH areas. The performed sensitivity analysis indicated that rainfall and slope criteria, with weights of 0.329 and 0.243, respectively, had the greatest sensitivity on the model in the first approach while in the second approach, the criterion of runoff coefficient (with weights of 0.358) had the highest impact. Based on results from the identification of the potential locations for conventional RWH techniques, pond and pan techniques are the most proper options, covering high-potential areas of RWH more effectively than other techniques over MPB.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abd-el-Kader ◽  
Ahmed Elfeky ◽  
Mohamed Saber ◽  
Maged AlHarbi ◽  
abed Alataway

Abstract Flash floods are highly devastating, however there is no effective management for their water in Saudi Arabia, therefore, it is crucial to adopt Rainfall Water Harvesting (RWH) techniques to mitigate the flash floods and manage the available water resources from the infrequent and rare rainfall storms. The goal of this study is to create a potential flood hazard map and a map of suitable locations for RWH in Wadi Nisah, Saudi Arabia for future water management and flood prevention plans and to identify potential areas for rainwater harvesting and dam construction for both a flood mitigation and water harvesting. This research was carried out using a spatiotemporal distributed model based on multi-criteria decision analysis by combining Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making tools (MCDM). The flood hazard mapping criteria were elevation, drainage density, slope, direct runoff depth at 50 years return period, Topographic witness index, and Curve Number, according to the Multi-criteria decision analysis, while the criteria for RWH were Slope, Land cover, Stream order, Lineaments density, and Average of annual max-24hr Rainfall. The weight of each criteria was estimated based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). In multi-criteria decision analysis, 21.55 % of the total area for Wadi Nisah was classified as extremely dangerous and dangerous; 65.29 % of the total area was classified as moderate; and 13.15 % of the total area was classified as safe and very safe in flash flood hazard classes. Only 15% of Wadi Nisah has a very high potentiality for RWH and 27.7%, 57.31% of the basin has a moderate and a low or extremely low potentiality of RWH, respectively. According to the developed RWH potentiality map, two possible dam sites were proposed. The maximum height of the proposed dams, which corresponded to the cross section of dam locations, ranged from 6.2 to 9 meters; the maximum width of dams ranged from 573.48 to 725 meters; the maximum storage capacity of reservoirs, which corresponded to the distribution of topographic conditions in the surrounding area, ranged from 3976104.499 m3 to 4328509.123 m3; and the maximum surface area of reservoirs ranged from 1268372.625 m2 to 1505825.676.14 m2. These results are highly important for the decision makers for not only flash flood mitigation but also water management in the study area.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 1647-1655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea L. Hicks

Nanosilver enabled textiles represent an advancement in clothing technology, due to their antimicrobial nature.


2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-16
Author(s):  
Jutta Geldermann ◽  
Valentin Bertsch ◽  
Florian Gering

Komplexe Entscheidungssituationen, wie sie beispielsweise im Notfall- und Sanierungsmanagement nach einem kerntechnischen Störfall auftreten, erfordern eine Berücksichtigung technischer, ökonomischer, ökologischer, sozio-psychologischer und politischer Aspekte. Ansätze der Mehrzielentscheidungsunterstützung ermöglichen eine aggregierte Betrachtung verschiedener Aspekte, das Miteinbeziehen der subjektiven Präferenzen der Entscheidungsträger und tragen zu mehr Transparenz und Nachvollziehbarkeit von Entscheidungsprozessen bei. Dieser Beitrag befasst sich schwerpunktmäßig mit der Betrachtung von Unsicherheiten in solchen Entscheidungsprozessen. Zur Modellierung, Fortpflanzung und Visualisierung von Unsicherheiten wird ein Monte-Carlo-Ansatz vorgestellt und beispielhaft auf Daten eines fiktiven nuklearen Unfallszenarios angewendet. Generell ist der Ansatz jedoch auf allgemeine komplexe Entscheidungssituationen erweiterbar, insbesondere auf den Bereich sonstiger industrieller Notfälle. Eine interessante Fragestellung besteht weiterhin in der Untersuchung der Auswirkungen industrieller Notfälle auf die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette. Der erste Teil des Aufsatzes wurde bereits in Der Betriebswirt 1/2011 veröffentlicht, der letzte Teil folgt in Ausgabe 3/2011. Complex decision situations, such as in nuclear emergency and remediation management, require the consideration of technical, economic, ecological, socio-psychological and political aspects. Approaches for Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) help to take into account various incommensurable aspects and subjective preferences of the decision makers and thus contribute to transparency and traceability of decision processes. This paper focuses on the handling of uncertainties in such decision processes. Monte Carlo approaches can be used to model, propagate and finally visualise the uncertainties, as a case study on a hypothetical radiological accident scenario illustrates. In general, the presented approach can be adopted for any complex decision situation, especially for industrial emergencies. Further research would be necessary for the analysis of their consequences for entire supply chains. Keywords: risiko und notfallmanagement unter unsicherheit


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 980-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidi Huo ◽  
Xiaofan Wang ◽  
Yan Liang ◽  
Cheng Jiang ◽  
Xiaolu Zheng

Abstract The likelihood of future global water shortages is increasing and further development of existing operational hydrologic models is needed to maintain sustainable development of the ecological environment and human health. In order to quantitatively describe the water balance factors and transformation relations, the objective of this article is to develop a distributed hydrologic model that is capable of simulating the surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) in irrigation areas. The model can be used as a tool for evaluating the long-term effects of water resource management. By coupling the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and MODFLOW models, a comprehensive hydrological model integrating SW and GW is constructed. The hydrologic response units for the SWAT model are exchanged with cells in the MODFLOW model. Taking the Heihe River Basin as the study area, 10 years of historical data are used to conduct an extensive sensitivity analysis on model parameters. The developed model is run for a 40-year prediction period. The application of the developed coupling model shows that since the construction of the Heihe reservoir, the average GW level in the study area has declined by 6.05 m. The model can accurately simulate and predict the dynamic changes in SW and GW in the downstream irrigation area of Heihe River Basin and provide a scientific basis for water management in an irrigation district.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2885
Author(s):  
Hanxiang Xiong ◽  
Yafei Sun ◽  
Xingwei Ren

Water sensitive urban design (WSUD), as a typical green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), contains various facilities to decrease the urbanization impacts and enhance the values of amenity, ecosystem, and livability in Australia. Although WSUD has developed over 30 years, existing studies for WSUD performances have sometimes ignored its economic and social benefits, and there is still a lack of an integrated framework to optimize the GSI combinations based on various criteria in a site. This paper aims to utilize “score-rank-select” strategy to comprehensively assess WSUD combination scenarios from functional, economic, social, and environmental aspects, by taking the University of Melbourne (Parkville campus) as a case study. In detail, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) was used for weight determination and scenario comparison. The results showed that scenario 4 with 52% green WSUD facilities had the highest assessment score (0.771) among the five scenarios, while the final score (0.758) of scenario 5 was lower than scenario 4 although its green facility proportion reached 69%. The trade-off relation between the proportion of grey and green WSUD facilities was further demonstrated. Additionally, this paper strongly recommends that the MCDA-based comprehensive assessment framework described here can be generally promoted for the water sector to solve the decision-making problems. The use of such a framework can further promote sustainable development by helping water managers to make informed and inclusive decisions involving a variety of factors.


Author(s):  
Jillian Zankowski ◽  
Yixin Sun ◽  
Abdalla Nassar ◽  
Khanjan Mehta

Rainwater harvesting is a simple and effective tool to collect and store water for domestic and institutional use. In developing countries, captured rainwater can be used to replace or supplement government-supplied or manually-transported water. A rainwater harvesting system consists of a catchment area, gutter, and storage tank. Gutters typically have a V-shaped, trapezoidal or rectangular cross-section. This work presents a case study on the design and performance analysis of three conventional and one novel, “wrapped” gutter cross-section along with the implementation of a novel gutter design in the developing world. A Team of undergraduate students performed the design and analysis and, though a service-learning experience in May 2013, investigated barriers to implementing rainwater harvesting in central Kenya. It was found that while gutters can be easily fabrication and installed using locally-available materials and skill-sets, for consumer, the potential return on investment was low and the cost of implementation was high. For producers and installers, non-uniform roof designs and conditions was a major obstacle.


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