Peculiarities of performance of experimental filtering works in sites subsoil operated by single water intakes

The article discusses the methods used in the field experimental filtration work, which allow you to gain knowledge about the filtration properties and water abundance of rocks. The features of the experimental filtration work in the subsoil areas operated by single water intakes are shown. It is noted that these are small water bodies, both in terms of the number of water wells and the amount of actual water withdrawal. The article proposes to use short-term single pumpings as a field research method in the above-mentioned areas, according to the results of which it is possible to substantiate the amount of required water withdrawal and determine the calculated values of the water conductivity coefficient. As an example, the results of pumping are considered, obtained during the implementation of experimental filtration work at three single water intakes located within the Latitude Ob region. The results of the experimental filtration work served as the source material for calculating the reserves of fresh groundwater. Fresh groundwater reserves were calculated and approved for each site in the amount of 499 m3/day for category B.

Environment-Sensitive Fluorescent Labelling of Peptides by Luciferin Analogues

Environment-sensitive fluorophores are very valuable tools in the study of molecular and cellular processes. When used to label proteins and peptides, they allow for the monitoring of even small variations in the local microenvironment, thus acting as reporters of conformational variations and binding events. Luciferin and aminoluciferin, well known substrates of firefly luciferase, are environment-sensitive fluorophores with unusual and still-unexploited properties. Both fluorophores show strong solvatochromism. Moreover, luciferin fluorescence is influenced by pH and water abundance. These features allow to detect local variations of pH, solvent polarity and local water concentration, even when they occur simultaneously, by analyzing excitation and emission spectra. Here, we describe the characterization of (amino)luciferin-labeled derivatives of four bioactive peptides: the antimicrobial peptides GKY20 and ApoBL, the antitumor peptide p53pAnt and the integrin-binding peptide RGD. The two probes allowed for the study of the interaction of the peptides with model membranes, SDS micelles, lipopolysaccharide micelles and Escherichia coli cells. Kd values and binding stoichiometries for lipopolysaccharide were also determined. Aminoluciferin also proved to be very well-suited to confocal laser scanning microscopy. Overall, the characterization of the labeled peptides demonstrates that luciferin and aminoluciferin are previously neglected environment-sensitive labels with widespread potential applications in the study of proteins and peptides.

Turning Water Abundance Into Sustainability in Brazil

Brazil is a powerhouse in terms of water resources, which are instrumental to the country’s transition to sustainability. However, to realize this potential, substantial management and conservation hurdles must first be overcome. We propose a novel strategy for the use, management, and conservation of Brazilian water resources. Our approach recognizes the spatial heterogeneity of water abundance and is based on a multisectoral perspective, including energy, food, sanitation, and environmental conservation. The main recommendations are to adopt low-cost local and subnational solutions and to design policy mixes, both based on the logic of the nexus water-food-energy-ecosystem. We offer as examples programs that 1) increase cistern infrastructure in drylands, 2) use constructed wetlands to improve sewage treatment in small cities and vulnerable areas, 3) turn the focus of conservation to aquatic ecosystems, 4) stimulate the adoption of small hydrokinetic turbines for energy generation in sparsely populated river-abundant regions, such as the Amazon Region, 5) diversify the matrix of renewable energy sources by combining hydropower with biomass and wind energy generation, and 6) mixes policies by integrating multiple sectors to improve regulation, use and management of water resources, such as the Brazilian “Water for All” Program. By following these recommendations, Brazil would align itself with the goals established in international agreements and would turn its abundance of water resources into development opportunities.

Trade of economically and physically scarce virtual water in the global food network

The virtual water (VW) trade associated to food is composed by the quantity of water utilized for the production of the crops exchanged on the global market. In assessing a country’s water abundance or scarcity when entering the international VW trade, scholars consider only physical water availability, neglecting economic water scarcity, which indicates situations in which socio-economic obstacles impede the productive use of water. We weight the global VW trade associated to primary crops with a newly proposed composite water scarcity index (CWSI) that combines physical and economic water scarcity. 39% of VW volumes is exported from countries with a higher CWSI than the one of the destination country. Such unfair routes occur both from low- to high-income countries and among low- and middle-income countries themselves. High-income countries have a predominant role in import of CWSI-weighted VW, while low- and middle-income countries dominate among the largest CWSI-weighted VW exporters. For many of them economic water scarcity dominates over physical scarcity. The application of the CWSI elicits also a status change from net exporter to net importer for some wealthy countries and viceversa for some low- and middle-income countries. The application of CWSI allows one to quantify to what extent VW exchanges flow along environmentally and economically unfair routes, and it can inform the design of compensation policies.

Stochastic system dynamics modelling for climate change water scarcity assessment of a reservoir in the Italian Alps

Water management in mountain regions is facing multiple pressures due to climate change and anthropogenic activities. This is particularly relevant for mountain areas where water abundance in the past allowed for many anthropogenic activities, exposing them to future water scarcity. Here stochastic system dynamics modelling (SDM) was implemented to explore water scarcity conditions affecting the stored water and turbined outflows in the Santa Giustina (S. Giustina) reservoir (Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy). The analysis relies on a model chain integrating outputs from climate change simulations into a hydrological model, the output of which was used to test and select statistical models in an SDM for replicating turbined water and stored volume within the S. Giustina dam reservoir. The study aims at simulating future conditions of the S. Giustina reservoir in terms of outflow and volume as well as implementing a set of metrics to analyse volume extreme conditions. Average results on 30-year slices of simulations show that even under the short-term RCP4.5 scenario (2021–2050) future reductions for stored volume and turbined outflow are expected to be severe compared to the 14-year baseline (1999–2004 and 2009–2016; −24.9 % of turbined outflow and −19.9 % of stored volume). Similar reductions are expected also for the long-term RCP8.5 scenario (2041–2070; −26.2 % of turbined outflow and −20.8 % of stored volume), mainly driven by the projected precipitations having a similar but lower trend especially in the last part of the 2041–2070 period. At a monthly level, stored volume and turbined outflow are expected to increase for December to March (outflow only), January to April (volume only) depending on scenarios and up to +32.5 % of stored volume in March for RCP8.5 for 2021–2050. Reductions are persistently occurring for the rest of the year from April to November for turbined outflows (down to −56.3 % in August) and from May to December for stored volume (down to −44.1 % in June). Metrics of frequency, duration and severity of future stored volume values suggest a general increase in terms of low volume below the 10th and 20th percentiles and a decrease of high-volume conditions above the 80th and 90th percentiles. These results point at higher percentage increases in frequency and severity for values below the 10th percentile, while volume values below the 20th percentile are expected to last longer. Above the 90th percentile, values are expected to be less frequent than baseline conditions, while showing smaller severity reductions compared to values above the 80th percentile. These results call for the adoption of adaptation strategies focusing on water demand reductions. Months of expected increases in water availability should be considered periods for water accumulation while preparing for potential persistent reductions of stored water and turbined outflows. This study provides results and methodological insights that can be used for future SDM upscaling to integrate different strategic mountain socio-economic sectors (e.g. hydropower, agriculture and tourism) and prepare for potential multi-risk conditions.

A dry lunar mantle reservoir for young mare basalts of Chang’E-5

The distribution of water in the Moon’s interior carries key implications for the origin of the Moon1, the crystallisation of the lunar magma ocean2, and the duration of lunar volcanism2. The Chang’E-5 (CE5) mission returned the youngest mare basalt samples, dated at ca. 2.0 billion years ago3, from the northwestern Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT), providing a probe into the spatio-temporal evolution of lunar water. Here we report the water abundance and hydrogen isotope composition of apatite and ilmenite-hosted melt inclusions from CE5 basalts, from which we derived a maximum water abundance of 370 ± 30 μg.g-1 and a δD value (-330 ± 160‰) for their parent magma. During eruption, hydrogen degassing led to an increase in the D/H ratio of the residual melts up to δD values of 300-900‰. Accounting for low degrees of mantle partial melting followed by extensive magma fractional crystallisation4, we estimate a maximum mantle water abundance of 2-6 μg.g-1, which are too low for water contents alone to account for generating the Moon’s youngest basalts. Such modest water abundances for the lunar mantle are at the lower end of those estimated from mare basalts that erupted from ca. 4.0-2.8 Ga5, 6, suggesting the mantle source of CE5 basalts dried up by ca. 2.0 Ga through previous melt extraction from the PKT mantle during prolonged volcanic activity.

Escape of water from Mars: study with a ground-to-exosphere global model

<p>The thermal escape of hydrogen from Mars is recognized as one of the major drivers of the long-term climatic evolution of the planet. Recent works have shown that, contrary to what was previously believed, water is not trapped in the lower atmosphere of Mars. Instead, it can be transported to the middle/upper atmosphere, producing layers of supersaturated water (Fedorova et al., 2018, 2021). Upper atmospheric water can then be converted to hydrogen by photolysis or chemical reactions with ions, boosting the rate of hydrogen escape (Chaffin et al., 2017; Stone et al., 2020). Strong seasonal variations in the escape rate, and significant increases of both the water abundance in the mesosphere and the hydrogen escape rate during dust storms, evidence the strong coupling between the hydrogen escape and the water cycle (Chaffin et al., 2014; Fedorova et al., 2018, 2020). A global model able to simulate all the processes related to water, from the ice sublimation to the transport to the upper atmosphere and its atmospheric escape, is needed in order to help interpreting the observations. This model can also be used to explore also the water cycle and hydrogen escape on past Mars conditions characterized by different orbital parameters, allowing for a better estimation of the accumulated escape rate.</p> <p>Previous simulations with the LMD-Mars Global Climate Model (LMD-MGCM), and their comparison with observational results by SPICAM/Mars Express showed that the simulated escape rate was underestimated, in particular during the second half of the Martian year (Chaufray et al., 2021). However, those simulations did not take into account the microphysical processes producing water supersaturation, and thus underestimated the role of water transport in the escape rate. In addition, the model did not include the photochemistry of water-derived ions, which can play an important role in converting water into hydrogen (Stone et al., 2020).</p> <p>New simulations with an improved version of the LMD-MGCM have been produced that overcome those previous limitations. The water cloud microphysics has now been fully considered in the simulations, using the model by Navarro et al. (2014). The photochemical model has been updated to include water-derived ions (H2O+, H3O+, OH+). Also, the deuterium fractionation model has been improved (Rossi et al., 2021), and deuterated species have been included in the photochemical model. While this last modification is not expected to modify the hydrogen escape rate, the inclusion of deuterated species can provide important diagnostics on the hydrogen escape and its accumulation over Mars history.</p> <p>In this presentation we will show the results of the improved version of the LMD-MGCM, comparing with available observations. The focus will be on the predicted hydrogen escape rate, and how it is affected by the inclusion of different physical processes. We find that including the possibility of water supersaturation increases the Hydrogen escape rate in more than one order of magnitude at most seasons, taking the simulated rate to better agreement with SPICAM observations during the second half of the year. This confirms previous observational results indicating the importance of water supersaturation (Fedorova et al. 2020). We also find that the inclusion of water-derived ions in the photochemistry also increases the escape rate, in particular during the first part of the year. We will also compare the predicted water abundance in the mesosphere with Mars Express and ExoMars TGO observations, and the abundances of water-derived ions with NGIMS/MAVEN measurements.</p> <p>References:</p> <p>Chaffin, M. et al., Unexpected variability of Martian hydrogen escape, Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 41, pp. 314-320 (2014)</p> <p>Chaffin, M. et al., Elevated atmospheric escape of atomic hydrogen from Mars induced by high-altitude water, Nature Geoscience, 10, pp. 174-178 (2017)</p> <p>Fedorova, A. et al., Water vapor in the middle atmosphere of Mars during the 2007 global dust storm, Icarus, 300, pp. 440-457 (2018)</p> <p>Fedorova, A. et al., Stormy water on Mars: The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season, Science, 367, pp. 297-300 (2020)</p> <p>Fedorova, A. et al., Multi-Annual Monitoring of the Water Vapor Vertical Distribution on Mars by SPICAM on Mars Express, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 126, e06616 (2021)</p> <p>Navarro, T. et al., Global climate modeling of the Martian water cycle with improved microphysics and radiatively active water ice clouds, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 119, pp. 1479-1495 (2014)</p> <p>Rossi, L. et al., The Effect of the Martian 2018 Global Dust Storm on HDO as Predicted by a Mars Global Climate Model, Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e90962 (2021)</p> <p>Stone, S. et al., Hydrogen escape from Mars is driven by seasonal and dust storm transport of water,Science, 370, pp. 824-831 (2020)</p>