Time-Of-Flight monitoring reveals higher sediment redistribution rates related to burrowing animals than previously assumed

Burrowing animals influence surface microtopography and hillslope sediment redistribution, but changes often remain undetected due to a lack of autonomous high resolution field monitoring techniques. In this study we present a new approach to quantify microtopographic variations and surface changes caused by burrowing animals and rainfall-driven erosional processes applied to remote field plots in arid and mediterranean Chile. We compared the mass balance of redistributed sediment within plot areas affected and not affected by burrowing animals, quantified the cumulative sediment redistribution caused by animals and rainfall, and upscaled the results to the hillslope scale. The new instrument showed a very good detection accuracy. The cumulative sediment redistribution within areas affected by burrowing animals was higher (−10.44 cm3 cm−2 year−1) in the mediterranean than the arid climate zone ( −1.41 cm3 cm−2 year−1). Daily sediment redistribution during rainfall within areas affected by burrowing animals were up to 350 % / 40 % higher in the mediterranean / arid zone compared to the unaffected areas, and much higher than previously reported in studies not based on continuous microtopographic monitoring. Furthermore, 38 % of the sediment eroding from the burrows accumulated within the burrow entrance while 62 % was incorporated into overall hillslope sediment flux. The cumulative sediment excavation by the animals was 14.62 cm3 cm−2 year−1 in the mediterranean and 16.41 cm3 cm−2 year−1 in the arid climate zone. Our findings can be implemented into long-term soil erosion models that rely on soil processes but do not yet include animal-induced surface processes on microtopographical scales in their algorithms.

Developing climate-responsive passive strategies for residential envelopes in the warm humid climate of South India

PurposeEnergy codes for residential buildings in India prescribe design guidelines for each climate zone. However, these guidelines are broad and similar for different cities under the same zone overlooking climatic variations due to altitude, location and other geographical factors.Design/methodology/approachTo develop strategies addressing the city-specific requirements, a stepwise simulation approach was used. Integrated Environmental Solutions–Virtual Environment (IES-VE) was used to create a prototype of a singly detached residence. The applicability of strategies is studied during the day and night times. Optimum orientation, the thickness of insulation, Window–Wall Ratio, the impact of cross-ventilation and shading depth are determined for two cities – Tiruchirappalli and Coimbatore under the warm-humid climate zone of India.FindingsResults indicate that optimum insulation thickness and WWR vary between both cities during daytime and night time. In Tiruchirappalli, roof and wall insulation using polyurethane board (100 mm) and foam concrete (25 mm) offers a maximum reduction of 2.2°C indoors. Foam concrete (25 mm) insulation for roof and expanded polystyrene (25 mm) for walls reduce a maximum of 2.6°C during daytime in Coimbatore. Further, night ventilation with 20% WWR allows an average decrease of 0.5–0.6°C in triply exposed spaces facing the South. The use of a 2'0" depth shading device shows a maximum reduction of 0.1–0.3°C.Originality/valueThe contribution of this work lies in developing city-specific inputs presenting the advantage of easy replicability for other cities in the Indian context.

Water Consumption and Environmental Impact of Multifamily Residential Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment Study

Water use in buildings accounts for a large share in global freshwater consumption where research on the impacts of life cycle water use receive little or no attention. Moreover, there is very limited knowledge regarding such impacts that focus on the life cycle emissions from water consumption in building environments in the world’s most water-stressed countries. Hence, this study attempted to quantify the environmental impacts of operational water use in a multi-family residential building through a life cycle assessment (LCA). A small part of a Middle Eastern country, Doha (Qatar), has been selected for the primary assessment, while water-use impact in Miami (Florida) was chosen as a second case study, as both locations fall into similar climate zone according to ASHRAE Climate Zone Map. The LCA score indicated much higher impacts in the Doha case study compared to Miami. The variation in the result is mainly attributed to the raw water treatment stage in Doha, which involves energy-intensive thermal desalination. Again, relative comparison of the annual water and electricity use impacts for the modeled building was performed at the final stage for both locations. Water use was attributable for 18% of the environmental impacts in Miami, while this value increased to 35% in Doha. This initial assembled LCA result will be beneficial to both water authorities and building research communities in establishing more sustainable water use policies for specific regions/countries that will ultimately benefit the overall building environment.

Analysis of the suitability of rice farming land as an opportunity for determining the agricultural planting calendar in Ajibarang District, Banyumas Regency, Central Java Province

Ajibarang District is one of the areas in Banyumas Regency with a high level of productivity, but the decrease in rainfall in 2017-2019 caused Ajibarang District to have difficulty in developing their agriculture so that farmers experienced crop failure. The impact that occurs from crop failure causes the land to not be cultivated and if it is cultivated, farmers plant secondary crops. It is also greatly influenced by climate change that occurs. In fact, Ajibarang Subdistrict is included in the B2 Climate Zone with an average rainfall of 1000 - 2000 mm/year which is a climate zone business. The purpose of this study was to determine the opportunities for the rice planting that is very suitable for rice farming. In addition, the Ajibarang Sub-district is also drained by a large river, namely the Serayu River and the Tajum River which are tributaries of the river. So, it is necessary to adjust the climate to be able to determine a suitable planting calendar for agricultural calendar in Ajibarang District. Method The research used is the Forward Sampling and Backward Sampling analysis methods. So, the results of this study resulted in a rice and secondary cropping calendar with three planting seasons in one year and two dry seasons in one year.

The importance of the calculation of angle factors to determine the mean radiant temperature in temperate climate zone: A university office building case

Thermal comfort depends on four environmental (air velocity, relative humidity, air temperature, mean radiant temperature) and two personal (clothing insulation and metabolic rate) parameters. Among all parameters, the mean radiant temperature (tr) is the most problematic variable in thermal comfort studies due to its complexity. Measurement methods, calculation methods and assumptions are mostly used to obtain the tr. Researchers mainly prefer to obtain the tr via measurement methods or assumptions due to their easiness compared to the calculation methods. Besides, some researchers use constant values of angle factors in calculation methods. However, using constant values is not proper for every indoor environment, and it causes wrong estimations in the tr and thus the thermal comfort. This paper gives the importance of calculation of angle factors, with an example of a university office building in temperate climate zone, according to the ISO 7726. The angle factors of the room were calculated for a seated occupant from the centre of gravity in three different locations and compared with the constant angle factors. The results indicate that a significant difference (MAPE of 1.02) was found in the tr values, which were obtained by calculation of constant values of angle factors.