Hydropower potential assessment made easy via the unit geo-hydro-energy index

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantina Risva ◽  
Georgia Konstantina Sakki ◽  
Andreas Efstratiadis ◽  
Nikos Mamassis
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Energy Index ◽  
Stream Network ◽  
Hydropower Potential ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
High Level ◽  
Upstream Catchment ◽  
Run Of River

<p>The design of hydropower works typically follows a top-down approach, starting from a macroscopic screening of the broader region of interest, to select promising clusters for hydroelectric exploitation, based on easily retrievable information. Manual approaches are very laborious and may fail to detect sites of significant hydropower potential. In order to facilitate this kind of studies, we provide a novel geomorphological approach to assess the hydropower potential across river networks. The method is based on the discretization of the stream network into segments of equal length, thus providing a background layer of head differences between potential abstraction and power production sites. Next, at each abstraction point, we estimate the so-called unit geo-hydro-energy index (UGHE), which is a key concept of our approach. UGHE is defined as the ratio of annual potential energy divided by the upstream catchment area, the head difference, and the unit annual runoff of the catchment, which is set equal to 1000 mm. The method is further expanded, to estimate the actual hydropotential, if spatially distributed runoff data are available. All analyses are automatized by taking advantage of the high-level interpreted programming language Python and the open-source QGIS tool. The proposed framework is demonstrated at the regional scale, involving the siting of run-of-river hydroelectric works in the Peneios river basin.</p>

Climate and land use change impacts on water resources in Sardinia (Italy)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Ruggiu ◽  
Salvatore Urru ◽  
Roberto Deidda ◽  
Francesco Viola
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Land Use Scenarios ◽  
Near Future

<p>The assessment of climate change and land use modifications effects on hydrological cycle is challenging. We propose an approach based on Budyko theory to investigate the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic drivers on water resources availability. As an example of application, the proposed approach is implemented in the island of Sardinia (Italy), which is affected by important processes of both climate and land use modifications. In details, the proposed methodology assumes the Fu’s equation to describe the mechanisms of water partitioning at regional scale and uses the probability distributions of annual runoff (Q) in a closed form. The latter is parametrized by considering simple long-term climatic info (namely first orders statistics of annual rainfall and potential evapotranspiration) and land use properties of basins.</p><p>In order to investigate the possible near future water availability of Sardinia, several climate and land use scenarios have been considered, referring to 2006-2050 and 2051-2100 periods. Climate scenarios have been generated considering fourteen bias corrected outputs of climatic models from EUROCORDEX’s project (RCP 8.5), while three land use scenarios have been created following the last century tendencies.</p><p>Results show that the distribution of annual runoff in Sardinia could be significantly affected by both climate and land use change. The near future distribution of Q generally displayed a decrease in mean and variance compared to the baseline.   </p><p>The reduction of  Q is more critical moving from 2006-2050 to 2051-2100 period, according with climatic trends, namely due to the reduction of annual rainfall and the increase of potential evapotranspiration. The effect of LU change on Q distribution is weaker than the climatic one, but not negligible.</p>

Seismic Hazard and Loss Analysis for Spatially Distributed Infrastructure in Christchurch, New Zealand

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 697-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasan Manzour ◽  
Rachel A. Davidson ◽  
Nick Horspool ◽  
Linda K. Nozick
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Ground Motion ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Average Error ◽  
Loss Analysis ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Computationally Intensive ◽  
Distributed Infrastructure

The new Extended Optimization-Based Probabilistic Scenario method produces a small set of probabilistic ground motion maps to represent the seismic hazard for analysis of spatially distributed infrastructure. We applied the method to Christchurch, New Zealand, including a sensitivity analysis of key user-specified parameters. A set of just 124 ground motion maps were able to match the hazard curves based on a million-year Monte Carlo simulation with no error at the four selected return periods, mean spatial correlation errors of 0.03, and average error in the residential loss exceedance curves of 2.1%. This enormous computational savings in the hazard has substantial implications for regional-scale, policy decisions affecting lifelines or building inventories since it can allow many more downstream analyses and/or doing them using more sophisticated, computationally intensive methods. The method is robust, offering many equally good solutions and it can be solved using free open source optimization solvers.

Regional Modeling of Liquefaction-Induced Ground Deformation

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Bardet ◽  
Tetsuo Tobita ◽  
Nicholas Mace ◽  
Jianping Hu
Keyword(s):  
Ground Deformation ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Model ◽  
Regional Model ◽  
Bridge Piers ◽  
Ground Displacement ◽  
Ground Deformations ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Threshold Amplitude ◽  
Ground Slope

Liquefaction-induced ground deformations are permanent ground displacements resulting from earthquakes, which can extend over areas as large as a few square kilometers and have amplitudes ranging from a few centimeters to few tens of meters. This type of ground deformation caused substantial damage to lifelines and pile-foundations of buildings and bridge piers along the Kobe shoreline during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu, Japan, earthquake. This paper presents a four-parameter multiple-linear-regression model for estimating the amplitude of liquefaction-induced ground displacement for both ground-slope and free-face conditions at a regional scale. The applicability of the model for mapping the amplitude of liquefaction-induced ground deformation is investigated over selected regions. The paper also presents a regional model for estimating the probability for the displacements to exceed some threshold amplitude, and to fall within confidence intervals. Both models are useful for risk assessment to spatially distributed lifeline networks resulting from future earthquakes.

scholarly journals Regional-scale lateral carbon transport and CO<sub>2</sub> evasion in temperate stream catchments

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 5003-5014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Magin ◽  
Celia Somlai-Haase ◽  
Ralf B. Schäfer ◽  
Andreas Lorke
Keyword(s):  
Catchment Area ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Stream Network ◽  
Carbon Export ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
Temperate Stream

Abstract. Inland waters play an important role in regional to global-scale carbon cycling by transporting, processing and emitting substantial amounts of carbon, which originate mainly from their catchments. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between terrestrial net primary production (NPP) and the rate at which carbon is exported from the catchments in a temperate stream network. The analysis included more than 200 catchment areas in southwest Germany, ranging in size from 0.8 to 889 km2 for which CO2 evasion from stream surfaces and downstream transport with stream discharge were estimated from water quality monitoring data, while NPP in the catchments was obtained from a global data set based on remote sensing. We found that on average 13.9 g C m−2 yr−1 (corresponding to 2.7 % of terrestrial NPP) are exported from the catchments by streams and rivers, in which both CO2 evasion and downstream transport contributed about equally to this flux. The average carbon fluxes in the catchments of the study area resembled global and large-scale zonal mean values in many respects, including NPP, stream evasion and the carbon export per catchment area in the fluvial network. A review of existing studies on aquatic–terrestrial coupling in the carbon cycle suggests that the carbon export per catchment area varies in a relatively narrow range, despite a broad range of different spatial scales and hydrological characteristics of the study regions.

A regional analysis of the impact of dams on water temperature in medium-size rivers in eastern Canada

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 1885-1897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Maheu ◽  
André St-Hilaire ◽  
Daniel Caissie ◽  
Nassir El-Jabi ◽  
Guillaume Bourque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Temperature ◽  
Thermal Regime ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Regulated Rivers ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
The Impact

Various studies have helped gain a better understanding of the thermal impacts of dams on a site-specific basis, but very few studies have compared the thermal impacts of varying types of dams within the same region. In this study, we conducted a regional-scale assessment of the impacts of dams on the thermal regime of 13 medium-size rivers in eastern Canada. The objectives of this study were to identify features of the thermal regime of rivers that are predominantly impacted by dams and to compare the impacts associated with different types of regulation (run-of-river, storage, peaking). The thermal regime of regulated and unregulated rivers was characterized using 15 metrics that described the magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, and rate of change of water temperature. Results indicate that storage and peaking dams impounding at least 10% of the median annual runoff generally (i) reduced the magnitude of water temperature variation at seasonal, daily, and subdaily timescales and (ii) increased the monthly mean water temperature in September. This regional assessment offers important insight regarding a generalized pattern of thermal alteration by dams, and this information could be used to guide biological monitoring efforts in regulated rivers.

scholarly journals Nepal’s Water Resources: Blessing or Curse ?

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Rabindra Bahadur Shrestha
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Flood Hazards ◽  
Hydroelectric Project ◽  
Hydropower Potential ◽  
Democratic Nation ◽  
Economic Growth Rates ◽  
Run Of River

For half a century, Nepal has been chanting the ‘Mantra’ of 83,000 MW hydropower potential. When Nepal was in its childhood as a young democratic nation in the 1950s, India, with its vast ‘experience’ under the British colonial rule (colonial mindset), extracted lop-sided agreements on the Koshi, Gandaki and Mahakali rivers.Whereas India irrigates 12,200,000 acres of land, flood mitigates flood hazards and benefits from other intangible benefits. Nepal gets a meager 160,000 acres irrigation facility (1.3 percent of total irrigation benefits) from these unequivocal biased agreements. The adverse social and ecological impacts in Nepal are unaccounted for.Such water resource agreements have resulted in the sad present-day plight of Nepal: social life and industries are in total disarray with dismally low economic growth rates (GDP) forcing millions of Nepalese to seek employment abroad.Before it gets out of hand, India’s direct/indirect domination over Nepal’s water resources and politics should end, so that Nepal can develop its economy and hydropower in peace.Nepal should first develop run-of-river projects as per the modality of 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Project (cost 1000 US$/kWh) and medium size storage hydropower projects (140 MW Tanahu). Muddling with large storage projects like 1200 MW Budhi Gandaki HEP will only further delay the execution of RoR projects. NEA’s technical capability should be improved to build and oversee hydropower projects and INPS.HYDRO Nepal JournalJournal of Water, Energy and EnvironmentIssue: 19Page: 11- 15

scholarly journals Modeling spatially distributed snow instability at a regional scale using Alpine3D

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Bettina Richter ◽  
Jürg Schweizer ◽  
Mathias W. Rotach ◽  
Alec van Herwijnen
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Distributed Modeling ◽  
Avalanche Forecasting ◽  
Weak Layer ◽  
Snow Stratigraphy ◽  
Spatially Distributed

Abstract Assessing the avalanche danger level requires snow stratigraphy and instability data. As such data are usually sparse, we investigated whether distributed snow cover modeling can be used to provide information on spatial instability patterns relevant for regional avalanche forecasting. Using Alpine3D, we performed spatially distributed simulations to evaluate snow instability for the winter season 2016–17 in the region of Davos, Switzerland. Meteorological data from automatic weather stations were interpolated to 100 m horizontal resolution and precipitation was scaled with snow depth measurements from airborne laser scanning. Modeled snow instability metrics assessed for two different weak layers suggested that the weak layer closer to the snow surface was more variable. Initially, it was less stable than the weak layer closer to the ground, yet it stabilized faster as the winter progressed. In spring, the simulated snowpack on south-facing slopes stabilized faster than on north-facing slopes, in line with the regional avalanche forecast. In the winter months January to March 2017, simulated instability metrics did not suggest that the snowpack on south-facing slopes was more stable, as reported in the regional avalanche forecast. Although a validation with field data is lacking, these model results still show the potential and challenges of distributed modeling for supporting operational avalanche forecasting.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Anthropogenic Factors’ Impact Upon the Azerbaijan Rivers’ Annual Runoff

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Annual Runoff ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
Drying Up ◽  
Runoff Decrease ◽  
Annual Water ◽  
High Level

The article applies a water resources use coefficient and a map of its distribution to assess comprehensively the anthropogenic factors’ impact upon annual runoff of the rivers of Azerbaijan. We used the observation data for 27 rivers. By comparison we have assessed changes of many-year average annual water flows up to 1972 and for the 1973 - 2011/2016 period. We found that anthropogenic decrease of transboundary and national Azerbaijan rivers annual runoff resulted in different degree water stress. At that the number of rivers with high level of water stress (Кисп = 20–40 %) is significantly greater. The annual runoff decrease of many local rivers caused by water withdrawal for irrigation purposes is accompanied with the water content decrease during the summer/fall low water periods up to the rivers’ drying up. We noted that the volume of the permissible water abstraction should be normalized to secure permissible values of ecological river runoff in order to provide rational use of national river water.

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