Comparing the impacts of climate modes of variability on coastal aquifers of Portugal and California

Author(s):  
Katherine Malmgren ◽  
Maria da Conceição Neves ◽  
Tina Gorge

<p>Understanding the impact of climate variability on aquifer systems is important to improve future projections of groundwater availability, particularly in the context of increasing water scarcity. Coastal aquifers in Mediterranean regions are particularly sensitive to inter-annual and seasonal water storage fluctuations linked to climate forcing and climate-induced pumping. This comparative study examines the implications of climate variability modes on groundwater levels in coastal aquifers of California and Portugal. Piezometric levels in selected aquifers in Portugal (Leirosa-Monte Real and Campina de Faro) and California (Coastal Basins aquifers), spanning a period from 1988 to 2018, are analyzed using wavelet transform methods and principal component analysis. The methods expose not only the impact of the individual climate modes (AMO, PDO, ENSO, PNA in California and NAO, EA and SCAND in Portugal) but also the existence of complex transitive couplings among modes. Together, the climate modes are responsible for most (80%) of the inter-annual variability in groundwater storage in both Portugal and California coastal aquifers. However, our most important result is the recognition that transitive couplings greatly affect the hydrological responses both in Portugal and California. Coupled phases are linked to extreme piezometric levels and are associated with shifts in mode-interaction patterns. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 – IDL.</p>

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gbenga J. Abiodun ◽  
Peter J. Witbooi ◽  
Kazeem O. Okosun ◽  
Rajendra Maharaj

Introduction: The reasons for malaria resurgence mostly in Africa are yet to be well understood. Although the causes are often linked to regional climate change, it is important to understand the impact of climate variability on the dynamics of the disease. However, this is almost impossible without adequate long-term malaria data over the study areas. Methods: In this study, we develop a climate-based mosquito-human malaria model to study malaria dynamics in the human population over KwaZulu-Natal, one of the epidemic provinces in South Africa, from 1970-2005. We compare the model output with available observed monthly malaria cases over the province from September 1999 to December 2003. We further use the model outputs to explore the relationship between the climate variables (rainfall and temperature) and malaria incidence over the province using principal component analysis, wavelet power spectrum and wavelet coherence analysis. The model produces a reasonable fit with the observed data and in particular, it captures all the spikes in malaria prevalence. Results: Our results highlight the importance of climate factors on malaria transmission and show the seasonality of malaria epidemics over the province. Results from the principal component analyses further suggest that, there are two principal factors associated with climates variables and the model outputs. One of the factors indicate high loadings on Susceptible, Exposed and Infected human, while the other is more correlated with Susceptible and Recovered humans. However, both factors reveal the inverse correlation between Susceptible-Infected and Susceptible-Recovered humans respectively. Through the spectrum analysis, we notice a strong annual cycle of malaria incidence over the province and ascertain a dominant of one year periodicity. Consequently, our findings indicate that an average of 0 to 120-day lag is generally noted over the study period, but the 120-day lag is more associated with temperature than rainfall. This is consistence with other results obtained from our analyses that malaria transmission is more tightly coupled with temperature than with rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal province.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian H. Gallardo

The Gnangara system is the main source of freshwater for Perth, Western Australia. However, aquifers in the region are under severe stress due to a drying climate, intensive pumping and changes in land use. The aim of this study is to apply the mean rainfall cumulative deviation and Mann-Kendall analyses at 77 monitoring bores to investigate the response of the water table to key recharge components. This information is critical for setting new allocation limits and reviewing current policies in the region. Results show that overall there is a good correspondence between water levels and rainfall fluctuations. Areas of groundwater recharge are highly sensitive to climate change and have been severely affected by reduction in rainfall rates in recent years. Further, removal of pine plantations correlated well with a rise in groundwater levels although the effect seems to be temporary. The impact of pumping is mainly observed in vicinities of public-supply borefields. Elsewhere, water table trends show a relative stabilisation indicating that storage still exceeds the influence of rainfall reduction in areas dominated by through flow or groundwater discharge. The study contributes to update the status of the Gnangara groundwater resource, and provides new insights for the sustainable management of one of the main aquifer systems in Australia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
pp. 327-337
Author(s):  
Harmel Obami-Ondon ◽  
◽  
Medard Ngouala Mabonzo ◽  
Ngoma Mvoundou Christian ◽  
Bernard Mabiala ◽  
...  

Climate variability, in Africa in general and in the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville in particular, has been widely documented over the past 20 years. However, variables related to rainfall, such as the nine-month rainy seasons, have been very little studied in the Bateke Plateaux zone, which play a major role in regional hydrology. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of climatic events on seasonal rainfall patterns on the Plateaux Bateke. On the one hand, it involves monitoring the evolution of climatic parameters through the analysis of temperature, relative humidity and rainfall variation. On the other hand, it was a question of comparing the monthly rainfall normals over the period 1987-2016 in order to determine the behaviour of seasonal rainfall patterns in the context of climate variability. The principal component analysis, based on nine (09) variables, highlighted the impact of climate variability on seasonal rainfall patterns. The first principal component (F1) is associated with the factors defining the climatic conditions of the Plateau Bateke. The second main component (F2) does not express clear correlations. Generally speaking, the temperature and relative humidity of the air are factors in the temporal variability of seasonal rainfall regimes on the Plateaux Bateke.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Sabri Embi ◽  
Zurina Shafii

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Shariah governance and corporate governance (CG) on the risk management practices (RMPs) of local Islamic banks and foreign Islamic banks operating in Malaysia. The Shariah governance comprises the Shariah review (SR) and Shariah audit (SA) variables. The study also evaluates the level of RMPs, CG, SR, and SA between these two type of banks. With the aid of SPSS version 20, the items for RMPs, CG, SR, and SA were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA). From the PCA, one component or factor was extracted each for the CG, SR, and RMPs while another two factors were extracted for the SA. Primary data was collected using a self-administered survey questionnaire. The questionnaire covers four aspects ; CG, SR, SA, and RMPs. The data received from the 300 usable questionnaires were subjected to correlation and regression analyses as well as an independent t-test. The result of correlation analysis shows that all the four variables have large positive correlations with each other indicating a strong and significant relationship between them. From the regression analysis undertaken, CG, SR, and SA together explained 52.3 percent of the RMPs and CG emerged as the most influential variable that impacts the RMPs. The independent t-test carried out shows that there were significant differences in the CG and SA between the local and foreign Islamic banks. However, there were no significant differences between the two types of the bank in relation to SR and RMPs. The study has contributed to the body of knowledge and is beneficial to academicians, industry players, regulators, and other stakeholders.


2017 ◽  
Vol 727 ◽  
pp. 447-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Dai ◽  
Hua Yan ◽  
Jian Jian Yang ◽  
Jun Jun Guo

To evaluate the aging behavior of high density polyethylene (HDPE) under an artificial accelerated environment, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to establish a non-dimensional expression Z from a data set of multiple degradation parameters of HDPE. In this study, HDPE samples were exposed to the accelerated thermal oxidative environment for different time intervals up to 64 days. The results showed that the combined evaluating parameter Z was characterized by three-stage changes. The combined evaluating parameter Z increased quickly in the first 16 days of exposure and then leveled off. After 40 days, it began to increase again. Among the 10 degradation parameters, branching degree, carbonyl index and hydroxyl index are strongly associated. The tensile modulus is highly correlated with the impact strength. The tensile strength, tensile modulus and impact strength are negatively correlated with the crystallinity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luís Crisóstomo ◽  
Ivana Jarak ◽  
Luís P. Rato ◽  
João F. Raposo ◽  
Rachel L. Batterham ◽  
...  

AbstractThe consumption of energy-dense diets has contributed to an increase in the prevalence of obesity and its comorbidities worldwide. The adoption of unhealthy feeding habits often occurs at early age, prompting the early onset of metabolic disease with unknown consequences for reproductive function later in life. Recently, evidence has emerged regarding the intergenerational and transgenerational effects of high-fat diets (HFD) on sperm parameters and testicular metabolism. Hereby, we study the impact of high-fat feeding male mice (F0) on the testicular metabolome and function of their sons (F1) and grandsons (F2). Testicular content of metabolites related to insulin resistance, cell membrane remodeling, nutritional support and antioxidative stress (leucine, acetate, glycine, glutamine, inosine) were altered in sons and grandsons of mice fed with HFD, comparing to descendants of chow-fed mice. Sperm counts were lower in the grandsons of mice fed with HFD, even if transient. Sperm quality was correlated to testicular metabolite content in all generations. Principal Component Analysis of sperm parameters and testicular metabolites revealed an HFD-related phenotype, especially in the diet-challenged generation and their grandsons. Ancestral HFD, even if transient, causes transgenerational “inherited metabolic memory” in the testicular tissue, characterized by changes in testicular metabolome and function.


Shock Waves ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Garbacz ◽  
W. T. Maier ◽  
J. B. Scoggins ◽  
T. D. Economon ◽  
T. Magin ◽  
...  

AbstractThe present study aims at providing insights into shock wave interference patterns in gas flows when a mixture different than air is considered. High-energy non-equilibrium flows of air and $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ CO 2 –$$\hbox {N}_2$$ N 2 over a double-wedge geometry are studied numerically. The impact of freestream temperature on the non-equilibrium shock interaction patterns is investigated by simulating two different sets of freestream conditions. To this purpose, the SU2 solver has been extended to account for the conservation of chemical species as well as multiple energies and coupled to the Mutation++ library (Multicomponent Thermodynamic And Transport properties for IONized gases in C++) that provides all the necessary thermochemical properties of the mixture and chemical species. An analysis of the shock interference patterns is presented with respect to the existing taxonomy of interactions. A comparison between calorically perfect ideal gas and non-equilibrium simulations confirms that non-equilibrium effects greatly influence the shock interaction patterns. When thermochemical relaxation is considered, a type VI interaction is obtained for the $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ CO 2 -dominated flow, for both freestream temperatures of 300 K and 1000 K; for air, a type V six-shock interaction and a type VI interaction are obtained, respectively. We conclude that the increase in freestream temperature has a large impact on the shock interaction pattern of the air flow, whereas for the $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ CO 2 –$$\hbox {N}_2$$ N 2 flow the pattern does not change.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (15) ◽  
pp. 4565
Author(s):  
Sergiu Pădureţ

The textural properties of butter are influenced by its fat content and implicitly by the fatty acids composition. The impact of butter’s chemical composition variation was studied in accordance with texture and color properties. From 37 fatty acids examined, only 18 were quantified in the analyzed butter fat samples, and approximately 69.120% were saturated, 25.482% were monounsaturated, and 5.301% were polyunsaturated. The butter samples’ viscosity ranged between 0.24 and 2.12 N, while the adhesiveness ranged between 0.286 to 18.19 N·mm. The principal component analysis (PCA) separated the butter samples based on texture parameters, fatty acids concentration, and fat content, which were in contrast with water content. Of the measured color parameters, the yellowness b* color parameter is a relevant indicator that differentiated the analyzed sample into seven statistical groups; the ANOVA statistics highlighted this difference at a level of p < 0.001.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1952
Author(s):  
Subrata Halder ◽  
Lingaraj Dhal ◽  
Madan K. Jha

Providing sustainable water supply for domestic needs and irrigated agriculture is one of the most significant challenges for the current century. This challenge is more daunting in coastal regions. Groundwater plays a pivotal role in addressing this challenge and hence, it is under growing stress in several parts of the world. To address this challenge, a proper understanding of groundwater characteristics in an area is essential. In this study, spatio-temporal analyses of pre-monsoon and post-monsoon groundwater-levels of two coastal aquifer systems (upper leaky confined and underlying confined) were carried out in Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India. Trend analysis of seasonal groundwater-levels of the two aquifers systems was also performed using Mann-Kendall test, Linear Regression test, and Innovative Trend test. Finally, the status of seawater intrusion in the two aquifers was evaluated using available groundwater-quality data of Chloride (Cl−) and Total Dissolve Solids (TDS). Considerable spatial and temporal variability was found in the seasonal groundwater-levels of the two aquifers. Further, decreasing trends were spotted in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon groundwater-level time series of the leaky confined and confined aquifers, except pre-monsoon groundwater-levels in Contai-I and Deshpran blocks, and the post-monsoon groundwater-level in Ramnagar-I block for the leaky confined aquifer. The leaky confined aquifer in Contai-I, Contai-III, and Deshpran blocks and the confined aquifer in Nandigram-I and Nandigram-II blocks are vulnerable to seawater intrusion. There is an urgent need for the real-time monitoring of groundwater-levels and groundwater quality in both the aquifer systems, which can ensure efficient management of coastal groundwater reserves.


Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Iulia C. Muresan ◽  
Rezhen Harun ◽  
Felix H. Arion ◽  
Ava Omar Fatah ◽  
Diana E. Dumitras

Development of tourism affected the socio-cultural environment of many destinations. Previous studies have focused more on analyzing the impact of tourism on all three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, environment and socio-cultural); therefore, the present paper examines tourism development’s impact with regard to the socio-cultural benefits that enhance sustainable tourism development. A survey based on a questionnaire was employed in June 2018 in a mountain village in Cluj County, Romania. The collected data were analyzed using principal component analysis, and several statistical tests were conducted. The results indicated that the respondents have a positive attitude towards tourism development and socio-cultural perceived benefits. Older people and those running a business tend to perceive more positively the benefits of tourism development. The findings of the research could contribute to future development strategies, as it is well known that supporting local communities influences the success of tourism destination.


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