| 1. |
- Blösch, Günter, et al.
(författare)
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Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) - a community perspective
- 2019
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Ingår i: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 64:10, s. 1141-1158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through online media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focused on the process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come.
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| 2. |
- Montanari, A., et al.
(författare)
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"Panta Rhei-Everything Flows" : Change in hydrology and society-The IAHS Scientific Decade 2013-2022
- 2013
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Ingår i: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 58:6, s. 1256-1275
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The new Scientific Decade 2013-2022 of IAHS, entitled Panta RheiEverything Flows, is dedicated to research activities on change in hydrology and society. The purpose of Panta Rhei is to reach an improved interpretation of the processes governing the water cycle by focusing on their changing dynamics in connection with rapidly changing human systems. The practical aim is to improve our capability to make predictions of water resources dynamics to support sustainable societal development in a changing environment. The concept implies a focus on hydrological systems as a changing interface between environment and society, whose dynamics are essential to determine water security, human safety and development, and to set priorities for environmental management. The Scientific Decade 2013-2022 will devise innovative theoretical blueprints for the representation of processes including change and will focus on advanced monitoring and data analysis techniques. Interdisciplinarity will be sought by increased efforts to connect with the socio-economic sciences and geosciences in general. This paper presents a summary of the Science Plan of Panta Rhei, its targets, research questions and expected outcomes.
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| 5. |
- Wang-Erlandsson, Lan, et al.
(författare)
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Global root zone storage capacity from satellite-based evaporation
- 2016
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Ingår i: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1027-5606 .- 1607-7938. ; 20:4, s. 1459-1481
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study presents an "Earth observation-based" method for estimating root zone storage capacity – a critical, yet uncertain parameter in hydrological and land surface modelling. By assuming that vegetation optimises its root zone storage capacity to bridge critical dry periods, we were able to use state-of-the-art satellite-based evaporation data computed with independent energy balance equations to derive gridded root zone storage capacity at global scale. This approach does not require soil or vegetation information, is model independent, and is in principle scale independent. In contrast to a traditional look-up table approach, our method captures the variability in root zone storage capacity within land cover types, including in rainforests where direct measurements of root depths otherwise are scarce. Implementing the estimated root zone storage capacity in the global hydrological model STEAM (Simple Terrestrial Evaporation to Atmosphere Model) improved evaporation simulation overall, and in particular during the least evaporating months in sub-humid to humid regions with moderate to high seasonality. Our results suggest that several forest types are able to create a large storage to buffer for severe droughts (with a very long return period), in contrast to, for example, savannahs and woody savannahs (medium length return period), as well as grasslands, shrublands, and croplands (very short return period). The presented method to estimate root zone storage capacity eliminates the need for poor resolution soil and rooting depth data that form a limitation for achieving progress in the global land surface modelling community.
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| 6. |
- Jonker, L., et al.
(författare)
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A regional and multi-faceted approach to postgraduate water education - the WaterNet experience in Southern Africa
- 2012
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Ingår i: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1027-5606 .- 1607-7938. ; 16:11, s. 4225-4232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports the experience of a regional network of academic departments involved in water education that started as a project and evolved, over a period of 12 yr, into an independent network organisation. The paper pursues three objectives. First, it argues that it makes good sense to organise postgraduate education and research on water resources on a regional scale and presents the WaterNet experience as an example that a regional approach can work. Second, it presents preliminary findings and conclusions that the regional approach presented by WaterNet did make a contribution to the capacity needs of the region both in terms of management and research capacity. Third, it draws two generalised lessons from the WaterNet experience. Lesson one pertains to the importance of legitimate ownership and an accountability structure for network effectiveness. Lesson two is related to the financial and intellectual resources required to jointly developing educational programmes through shared experience.
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| 7. |
- Keys, Patrick W., et al.
(författare)
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Analyzing precipitationsheds to understand the vulnerability of rainfall dependent regions
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4170 .- 1726-4189. ; 9:2, s. 733-746
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is well known that rivers connect upstream and downstream ecosystems within watersheds. Here we describe the concept of precipitationsheds to show how upwind terrestrial evaporation source areas contribute moisture for precipitation to downwind sink regions. We illustrate the importance of upwind land cover in precipitationsheds to sustain precipitation in critically water stressed downwind areas, specifically dryland agricultural areas. We first identify seven regions where rainfed agriculture is particularly vulnerable to reductions in precipitation, and then map their precipitationsheds. We then develop a framework for qualitatively assessing the vulnerability of precipitation for these seven agricultural regions. We illustrate that the sink regions have varying degrees of vulnerability to changes in upwind evaporation rates depending on the extent of the precipitationshed, source region land use intensity and expected land cover changes in the source region.
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| 8. |
- Rockström, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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The unfolding water drama in the Anthropocene : towards a resilience-based perspective on water for global sustainability
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecohydrology. - : Wiley. - 1936-0584 .- 1936-0592. ; 7:5, s. 1249-1261
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The human influence on the global hydrological cycle is now the dominant force behind changes in water resources across the world and in regulating the resilience of the Earth system. The rise in human pressures on global freshwater resources is in par with other anthropogenic changes in the Earth system (from climate to ecosystem change), which has prompted science to suggest that humanity has entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. This paper focuses on the critical role of water for resilience of social-ecological systems across scales, by avoiding major regime shifts away from stable environmental conditions, and in safeguarding life-support systems for human wellbeing. It highlights the dramatic increase of water crowding: near-future challenges for global water security and expansion of food production in competition with carbon sequestration and biofuel production. It addresses the human alterations of rainfall stability, due to both land-use changes and climate change, the ongoing overuse of blue water, reflected in river depletion, expanding river basin closure, groundwater overexploitation and water pollution risks. The rising water turbulence in the Anthropocene changes the water research and policy agenda, from a water-resource efficiency to a water resilience focus. This includes integrated land and water stewardship to sustain wetness-dependent ecological functions at the landscape scale and a stronger emphasis on green water management for ecosystem services. A new paradigm of water governance emerges, encouraging land-use practices that explicitly take account of the multifunctional roles of water, with adequate attention to planetary freshwater boundaries and cross-scale interactions.
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| 9. |
- Temesgen, Melesse, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of strip tillage systems for maize production in semi-arid Ethiopia : effects on grain yield, water balance and water productivity
- 2012
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Ingår i: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth. - : Elsevier BV. - 1474-7065 .- 1873-5193. ; 47-48, s. 156-165
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Maresha, the traditional Ethiopian plow, requires repeated cross-plowing which causes increased surface runoff, less infiltration and hence lower water availability to crops. The main reasons for increased surface runoff and reduced infiltration are plowing along the slope and the formation of a plow pan at shallow depths. Conservation tillage is seen as a way to alleviate these problems. The widely advocated zero-tillage, however, is not feasible for smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions of Ethiopia because of difficulties in maintaining adequate soil cover, the practice of communal grazing, and high costs of herbicides. Strip tillage systems, on the other hand, may offer a solution. This study was initiated to test strip tillage systems and to evaluate the impacts of new tillage systems on the water balance and grain yields of maize. Experiments have been conducted in a semi-arid area called Melkawoba in the central Rift Valley of Ethiopia during 2003–2005. Strip tillage systems involved cultivation along planting lines at a spacing of 0.75 m using the Maresha plow followed by subsoiling along the same lines (STS) or without subsoiling (ST). Results have been compared with traditional tillage involving 3–4 overpasses with the Maresha plow (CONV). Soil moisture has been monitored to a depth of 1.8 m using a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR) while surface runoff has been measured using a specially designed rectangular trough installed at the bottom of each plot. STS resulted in the least surface runoff (Qs = 18 mm season−1) and the highest grain yields (Y = 2130 kg ha−1) followed by ST (Qs = 26 mm season−1, Y = 1840 kg ha−1) and CONV (Qs = 43 mm season−1, Y = 1720 kg ha−1) provided sowing was carried out within a week after subsoiling. Thus, STS resulted in the highest water productivity, WP = 0.60 kg m−3, followed by ST (WP = 0.52 kg m−3) and CONV (WP = 0.48 kg m−3). The main conclusion of the paper is that even in dry areas reasonable yields can be obtained provided moisture conservation in the root zone is guaranteed. In this regard subsoiling is essential. Moreover, it is concluded that the time between subsoiling and planting is a key factor and should not exceed one week.
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