146 research outputs found
State of the Raritan Report, Volume 1, December 2016
No full textThis report updates key indicators of water quality and watershed health for the Raritan Basin that were originally assessed in the 2002 Raritan Basin: Portrait of a Watershed as developed by the New Jersey Water Supply Authority. The objective of that original report, as well as this update, is to inform watershed management and water supply protection needs in the Raritan Basin. This new assessment uses the same eleven key indicators and updates the original data – most from 1986 and 1995 – with data from 2002, 2007 and 2012 in order to determine trends over the past 26 years and to identify data gaps for development of future more comprehensive assessments.Eleven key indicators were assessed for this report including: population; housing units; urban land use; impervious surface cover; forested, coastal and emergent wetlands; upland forest cover; prime agricultural land; groundwater recharge; fish and macroinvertebrate bioassessments; riparian area integrity; and known contaminant sites and groundwater contamination. Overall comparison of this updated analysis with the prior 2002 report (Table 1) shows that trends evident between 1986 and 1995 are continuing in the same general direction though the rate has varied over the longer time period. Trends increased for population, housing units, urban land use and impervious surface cover. An increasing trend for these indicators adds stress on water quality and supplies with potential negative impacts for the watershed. Trends declined for all of the wetland land covers assessed as well as for upland forest, prime agricultural land and groundwater recharge. Downward trends for these indicators suggests that the watershed is losing its natural filtering capacity with attendant negative impacts to water quality. The bioassessment and riparian areas trends were mixed and there was not sufficient data to determine trends for the known contaminated sites and groundwater contamination indicators.more information about report and effort at: http://raritan.rutgers.edu/2016-state-of-the-raritan-report/Authored by the Sustainable Raritan River Initiative. More information about the report and Initiative may be found at: http://raritan.rutgers.edu/2016-state-of-the-raritan-report
Is Africa Left behind in the Global Climate Finance Architecture: Redefining Climate Vulnerability and Revamping the Climate Finance Landscape—A Comprehensive Review
No full textAfrican countries contribute less than 4% of global carbon emissions and are susceptible to the repercussions of climate change due to pre-existing challenges such as poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. The Paris Agreement underscores the need for climate finance to support resilience and low-carbon investments. However, African nations struggle to access adequate funds, hindering effective adaptation and mitigation. Against this background, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on climate finance literature for the period 2007–2023 in order to explore the publication trends, emerging themes, and future research directions. Merging 91 documents from Web of Science and 94 from Scopus yielded a dataset of 139 records. Web of Science experienced a 10.58% publication growth rate, while Scopus had a higher publication growth rate of 13.18%. The merged dataset’s publication growth rate was 13.88%, reflecting consistent contributions. The surge in publications from 2019 to 2023 points to intensified discussions on climate change and associated policies. International collaboration between authors is evident, with Web of Science at 37.76%, Scopus at 28.7%, and the merged dataset at 26.62%. Temporally, 2007–2023 saw escalating interest, especially post-2012, reflecting the evolution of climate change and renewable energy policies. Authors were ranked based on article count and fractionalized ranks, with Chirambo D being the lead author in the field of climate finance in Africa. Key articles advocated for supplementary fund integration into government budgets. The UK, USA, and Germany topped in citations, reflecting the availability of research funding, expertise, and collaborations. Leading sources included Climate Policy and Climate and Development. Keyword co-occurrence identified five emerging thematic trends, contributing to an in-depth understanding of climate finance literature’s dynamics and future directions
AMERICAN GOTHIC MAINSTREAM FICTION
No full textThis is my (Subhasis Chattopadhyay's) draft of PhD pre-submission. Dr. Scriver has (had) put it up online in her blog and I found it today, that is 1:06 pm, 28th May, 2017. I am grateful to her since intellectual ideas can otherwise be hijacked. She has done a wonderful editorial job. I want to make it clear that the author of the blog post is Dr. Scriver and not I. But in the Add Contributor here I cannot insert her name as the author so I have out her as an editor which is incorrect. Her blog-post though is in the public domain. Please see http://prairiemary.blogspot.in/2013/03/it-was-all-very-unexpected-and.htm
Assessing best management practices and implementation strategies to improve water quality
No full textBest management practices (BMPs) are widely accepted to control both point and nonpoint source pollution. However, the placement and selection of BMPs plays a vital role in pollution reduction. Therefore, the objectives of this study were (1) to identify pollution generating areas priority areas (high, medium, and low) using four different targeting methods: concentration impact index (CII), load impact index (LII), load per subbasin area index (LPSAI), and load per unit area index (LPUAI), (2) to apply BMPs in the identified priority area to evaluate effectiveness, (3) to assess the spatiotemporal variability of critical source areas (CSAs), and (4) to identify the best BMP and implementation site considering social, economic, and environmental issues using different spatial targeting methods. Ten BMPs were implemented in the identified priority areas in the Saginaw River Watershed by the four targeting methods using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used to compare influential criteria with different weights during the BMP selection process. Results suggest that the LPSAI is the best method for sediment targeting whereas the CII is the best method for total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) targeting. Terraces and native grass were the most effective BMPs whereas conservation tillage and no-till were the least effective BMPs both at subbasin and watershed level analysis. In regard to the spatiotemporal variability in the CSAs, a distinct change in high priority areas ranking was observed due to native grass implementation by the end of second year whereas a minimal change in high priority areas was found in case of contour farming due to the greater pollution reduction capacity of native grass compared to contour farming. Based on environmental, economic, and social issues, strip cropping was preferred in all CSAs based on the subbasin level analysis while strip cropping and residue management were preferred in the CSAs for the watershed outlet analysis.Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Biosystems Engineering, 2013Includes bibliographical references (pages 284-307
Vegetative covers for sediment control and phosphorus sequestration from dairy waste application fields
No full textExcessive phosphorus (P) in runoff contributes to eutrophication of fresh water
bodies. Studies have shown that manure and effluent applied from animal feeding
operations to waste application fields (WAFs) have contributed to excess P in segments
of the North Bosque River in east central Texas. There is a growing need for
environmentally sound, economically viable, and easy to establish best management
practices to control such pollution. Vegetative buffer strips offer a potential solution for
reducing runoff P from WAFs by extracting it from soil and by reducing sediment P
delivery (due to reduced runoff and soil erosion) to streams. In a field study, ten plots
(5m x 5m) were assigned to five replicated treatments, namely control (bare, without
having any plant cover), cool season grass, warm season forb, warm season grass, and
warm season legume to assess their efficacy of runoff sediment control and P
sequestration potential from soil. These plots were established on a coastal Bermuda
grass WAF that received dairy lagoon effluent.
A runoff collection system, a 1m x 1m sub-plot with a runoff conveyance and
collection apparatus, was installed on the upstream and downstream margins of each plot. Natural rainfall runoff samples were collected and analyzed subsequently for total
P, soluble P, and total suspended solids in the laboratory. Additionally, the total mass of
runoff collected from each sub-plot was calculated. Results suggested that the warm
season forb and warm season grass were the most effective vegetative covers for the
reduction of runoff P, followed by coastal Bermuda and cool season grass, respectively.
The lesser amount of runoff total P in these two treatments was due to lesser runoff mass
and lesser sediments in the runoff due to initial interception of rain and less raindrop
impact on soil because of denser vegetative cover in both treatments compared to all
other treatments
The Specious Present: background for my students (special author Virginia Woolf)
No full textThis 4 slides' presentation is supplementary material for my students who have opted for Virginia Woolf as their Masters' 'special author'. The presentation shows how James' the specious moment and Husserl's the rough now constitute the matrix of modernist literature, especially the fiction of Virginia Woolf. From St. Augustine to Husserl there is a continuum which has to be understood for engaging with the novels of Virginia Woolf
Understanding the relationship of land uses and water quality in Twenty First Century: A review
No full textRising food, housing and energy demand of increasing population creates an immense pressure on water resources, especially on water quality. The water quality around the globe is degrading primarily due to intense agricultural activities associated with rapid urbanization. This study attributes to cause of water quality problem, indices to measure water quality, methods to identify proper explanatory variables to water quality and it\u27s processing to capture the special effect, and finally modeling of water quality using identified explanatory variables to provide insights. This would help policymakers and watershed managers to take necessary steps to protect water quality for the future as well as current generation. Finally, some knowledge gaps are also discussed which need to be addressed in the future studies
The Specious Present: background for my students (special author V Woolf)
No full textThis 4 slides' presentation is supplementary material for my students who have opted for Virginia Woolf as their Masters' 'special author'.
The presentation shows how James' the specious moment and Husserl's the rough now constitute the matrix of modernist literature, especially the fiction of Virginia Woolf. From St. Augustine to Husserl there is a continuum which has to be understood for engaging with the novels of Virginia Woolf
Assessing the potential impact of climate change and management practices on plant productivity, hydrological resources, and carbon fluxes using process-based models in the Mid-Atlantic, U.S.A.
No full textNew remote sensing and modeling developments are advancing our ability to characterize complex relationships between terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric processes. This dissertation employs a data fusion approach that combines field measurement and remote sensing data along with future climate projections and the capability of the coupled soil water assessment tool (SWAT) and the Century (DayCent) process-based models- SWAT-C to simulate the interaction between the atmospheric, aquatic, and terrestrial ecosystems. SWAT-C includes the hydrologic components (e.g., surface runoff, baseflow, evapotranspiration, soil water, and water yield) and the biogeochemical components (e.g., net primary productivity (NPP), soil organic carbon (SOC), biomass, grain yield, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and soil respiration), which are used to examine the relationship between climate and land use change on crop yield, hydrological resources, N, P, and carbon dynamics at selected locations in the Mid-Atlantic Region, USA.
Specifically, this study examines the impact of climate change and regional management practices on corn and soybean yields, greenwater scarcity, irrigation demand, carbon, and nutrient (N and P) dynamics in Upper Maurice River Watershed (UMRW), southern New Jersey, using SWAT. The model result suggests that corn and soybean yield will decrease, resulting from heat stress and nutrient deficiency’s role in countering the effect of CO2 fertilization. This study examined the efficacy of two management scenarios to mitigate the projected loss in crop yield for the medium and high emission scenarios under the two Representative Concentration Pathways (i.e., RCP-4.5 and RCP-8.5). Scenario 1 involves future increases in the fertilizer amount, early planting, and the use of an improved cultivar. The result indicates that irrigation demand for corn is projected to decrease between -17% to -1%, while soybean irrigation demand is projected to decrease between -1% to +13%, resulting from the projected increase in precipitation and partial stomatal closure resulting from heat stress. Corn yield is expected to vary between -4% and +9%, while soybean yield is predicted to increase between +2% and +13% under the RCP-4.5. Similar changes are projected under RCP-8.5 but at a higher magnitude. Scenario 2 involves early planting and using improved cultivars to avoid heat stress and changing the timing of future fertilizer applications to coincide with the timing of corn nutrient demands (i.e., when the first and fifth leaves emerge) without increasing the amount of fertilizer. The result indicates a projected increase in corn of 39% (+21%) and soybean of +2% (+17%), respectively, under the 1.5°C (2.0°C) global warming scenario for the RCP-4.5. Additionally, scenario 2 indicates a decrease in the ensemble mean of annual loads to the stream of dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus for RCP-4.5 and RCP-8.5. A novel outcome of this research is a modeling approach that allows for evaluating the timing of management actions that can satisfy crop nutrient demand while minimizing fertilizer runoff to waterbodies.
To assess the carbon dynamics of Duke Farms watershed in central New Jersey, this study analyzed three scenarios: (1) the impact of current management practices on the carbon budget of the Duke Farm watershed, (2) the impact of land conversions on the carbon budget of the Duke Farm watershed, (3) the impact of projected climate change for the medium and high emission scenarios under the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5) on soil organic carbon stock of the Duke Farms watershed. To achieve these objectives, this study employed a novel carbon budget calibration approach called distributed-calibration and independent verification (DCIV), coupled with the SWAT-C model. The DCIV framework provided robust validation of model behavior, promoting greater confidence in model predictions on carbon dynamics. The DCIV approach, as developed here, provides a model for implementation in other watersheds.
The result of scenario 1 indicates that the Duke Farms’ property is an annual net CO2 sink rather than a source (i.e., negative net ecosystem exchange (-NEE)). Particularly, a large soil organic carbon (SOC) stock of at least 100 tons ha-1 is stored under mixed forest, deciduous forest, shrubland, and floodplain (grassland). The result of scenario 2 suggested that converting floodplain grassland to riparian forest has the potential to increase CO2 uptake from -0.6 kgC ha-1 to -11.2 kgC ha-1 (an increase of 1846%) and aboveground biomass by 10 tons ha-1 (77%), leading to an increased SOC stock of 33.4 tons ha-1 (23%). On the other hand, converting ungrazed grassland to grazed pasture leads to a non-statistically decreasing trend of SOC, especially in the 0–30 cm soil layer.
The result of scenario 3 indicates a projected decrease in SOC for the medium and high emission scenarios: SSP2-4.5 and SS5-8.5. Specifically, the largest losses were estimated as 6 tons ha-1 (-6±6%) and 12 tons ha-1 (-12±3%) by 2100 under the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5, indicating that eCO2 fertilization is nutrient-limited. However, converting floodplain (grassland) to deciduous forest leads to higher SOC storage averaged between 33±4 and 34±4 tons ha-1 (33–34%) under SSP2-4.5. A similar increase was also observed under SSP5-8.5 but at a lower magnitude. Additionally, applying NPK fertilizer to all the land use/cover is predicted to increase SOC across all the LULC types, ranging between 7±2 and 31±22 tons ha-1 (8–36%). These SWAT-C model simulation results have potential implications for policymakers interested in management practices that promote carbon sequestration in the face of changing climate.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
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