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Global warming impacts the hydrological cycle, affecting the seasonality and timing of extreme precipitation. Understanding historical changes in extreme precipitation occurrence is crucial for assessing their impacts. This study uses relative entropy to analyze historical changes in seasonality and timing of extreme daily precipitation occurrences on the global domain for 63 years of fifth generation of the European Reanalysis reanalysis data. Our analysis reveals distinct regional patterns of change. During the second half of the 20th century, Africa and Asia experienced high clustering of precipitation extremes. Over the past 60 years, clustering increased in Africa while becoming more spread out in Asia. North America and Australia had initially lower clustering and showed slight increases over time. Extreme events in extra‐tropical land regions mainly occurred in summer, with modest shifts in timing. These findings have implications for risk assessments of natural hazard like flash floods and landslides, emphasizing the necessity for region‐specific adaptation strategies. Plain Language Summary: Global warming is changing how and when heavy rain and extreme weather events happen. It is important to understand these changes for planning and preparing for floods and other water‐related problems. In this study, we looked at long records of rainstorms to see how they have changed over time. We found that different regions have experienced different changes. During the second half of the 20th century, Africa and Asia were regions with the strongest seasonality. Over the 60 years we analyzed, seasonal clustering overall increased in Africa, while in Asia they became more spread out throughout the year. In Europe, North America and Australia, rainstorms were more spread out throughout the year but became slightly more concentrated. Most of the heavy rainstorms outside the tropics happened in summer, with a small shift in timing. These findings show how various regions have experienced different changes, which is important to take into account when planning and preparing for floods. Key Points: Global assessment of changes (1959–2021) in seasonality and timing of extreme daily precipitation occurrences using relative entropyPrecipitation extremes became more clustered in Africa and less clustered in AsiaShifts in timing of extreme precipitation by only a few days for most regions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Small reservoirs serve many people living in semi-arid environments. Water stored in these reservoirs is used to supplement rainfed agriculture, allow for dry season irrigated agriculture and ensure the availability of water for domestic purposes. In order to manage the water effectively for competing uses, the actual storage of these reservoirs needs to be known. Recent attempts to delineate these reservoirs using remote sensing with Landsat imagery have been successful, especially in the upper east region of Ghana, West Africa. This paper shows that radar images (ENVISAT ASAR) can be used to provide similar information all year-round. Radar images have as an important advantage that they are not impaired by cloud cover and thus can be used during the rainy season. Another advantage of radar images is that images taken during night time are usable. The paper compares satellite derived data with field measurements of 21 small reservoirs. Whereas ENVISAT images on the average tend to overestimate the surface areas of small reservoirs, in certain reservoirs these areas are systematically under-estimated due to the shallow tail-ends of reservoirs that tend to have reed vegetation. These cannot be readily distinguished from the surrounding vegetation outside the reservoirs. This paper therefore provides a proof of concept of the monitoring of small reservoir volumes by radar imagery. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Urbanization, land subsidence and sea level rise will increase vulnerability to droughts in the urbanized low-lying areas in the western part of the Netherlands. In this paper a possibility is explored to decrease vulnerability of urban areas by implementing an alternative water supply option. A four component vulnerability framework is presented that includes threshold capacity, coping capacity, recovery capacity and adaptive capacity. By using the vulnerability framework it is elaborated that current water supply strategies in the Netherlands mainly focus on increasing threshold capacity by constructing improved water storage and delivery infrastructure. A complete vulnerability decreasing strategy requires measures that include all four components. Adaptive capacity can be developed by starting experiments with new modes of water supply. A concept which is symbolically called 'the closed city' uses local urban rainfall as the only source of water supply. The 'closed city' can decrease the water dependence of urban areas on (1) the surrounding rural areas that are diminishing in size and that are increasingly under strain and (2) river water resources that will probably be less constant and reliable as a result of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Single-input-single-output (SISO) non-linear system identification techniques were employed to model monthly catchment runoff at selected gauging sites in the Volta Basin of West Africa. NARMAX (Non-linear Autoregressive Moving Average with eXogenous Input) polynomial models were fitted to basin monthly rainfall and gauging station runoff data for each of the selected sites and used to predict monthly runoff at the sites. An error reduction ratio (ERR) algorithm was used to order regressors for various combinations of input, output and noise lags (various model structures) and the significant regressors for each model selected by applying an Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) to independent rainfall-runoff validation series. Model parameters were estimated from the Matlab REGRESS function (an orthogonal least squares method). In each case, the sub-model without noise terms was fitted first followed by a fitting of the noise model. The coefficient of determination (R-squared), the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency criterion (NSE) and the F statistic for the estimation (training) series were used to evaluate the significance of fit of each model to this series while model selection from the range of models fitted for each gauging site was done by examining the NSEs and the AICs of the validation series. Monthly runoff predictions from the selected models were very good, and the polynomial models appeared to have captured a good part of the rainfall-runoff non-linearity. The results indicate that the NARMAX modelling framework is suitable for monthly river runoff prediction in the Volta Basin. The several good models made available by the NARMAX modelling framework could be useful in the selection of model structures that also provide insights into the physical behaviour of the catchment rainfall-runoff system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In semi-arid regions at the margins of the Sahel, large numbers of small reservoirs capture surface runoff during the rainy season, making water available during the dry season. For the local population, small reservoirs are important water sources which help them cope with droughts. The lack of knowledge of the number of existing reservoirs, their distribution, and their storage volumes hinders efficient water management and reservoir planning. The authors have developed a simple method that allows the estimation of reservoir storage volumes as a function of their surface areas. This function is based on an extensive bathymetrical survey that was conducted in the Upper East Region of Ghana. In combination with satellite imagery, this function can be used determine and monitor the storage volumes of large numbers of small reservoirs on a regional scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Soil hydrological properties are highly variable in space. Field measurements of these properties are costly and error prone. As spatially distributed approaches become increasingly important in current hydrological and ecological modeling, an appropriate field sampling scheme to effectively capture spatial variability of hydrological processes becomes essential. A terrain-based slope classification system was applied to delineate the hillslope into representative hydrological domains. This model assumes that there are hydrological landscape units (LUs) along the hillslope in which distinct sets of hydrological and pedological processes occur. Possible water and material flows over the hillslope were first interpreted using a continuity equation of mass flow over the surface, and subsequently included in a terrain analysis. The developed terrain index is able to characterize the hydrological processes, accommodating both continuous and discrete concepts. The model was tested against the intensive soil moisture data at the Tarrawarra catchment, Australia [Water Resour. Res. 34 (1998) 2765]. The delineated soil–LUs explain up to 73% of the average soil moisture variation when it is combined with other terrain parameters (surface curvature, upslope contributing area and slope aspect). Soil moisture at each LU shows significantly different variance characteristics when compared with other units, and the delineation procedure reduces the spatial variation of soil moisture within each LU. Random permutation and bootstrapping techniques indicate that stratified random sampling based on the delineated hillslope units significantly reduces the number of samples needed to estimate the average soil moisture and the overall error of estimation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Information regarding biosphere-atmosphere interactions is important in the study of a hydrological cycle. To this purpose, xylem sap flow (SF) using the Granier system and evapotranspiration (ET) using the eddy correlation method were measured during a "wet-to-dry" transition period in a young cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) plantation. Estimates of half-hourly tree transpiration made from stem sap flow measurements and above-canopy eddy correlation measurements of water vapor flux were compared for a period of 22 days of complete records. Cross-correlation analysis was used to estimate the time lags (τ) between the time courses of SF and ET, and between SF and ET with solar radiation (RS) and vapor pressure deficit (D). Applying a simple functional technique, values of τ = 43 min (November), τ = 46 min (December), and τ = 75 min (January) with an overall τ = 53 min (using all data) between the time courses of ET and SF were estimated. A positive lag indicates that SF lags behind ET. However, both ET and SF were more dependent on RS (r2 > 0.81) than on D, whereas SF was more related to D (r2 = 0.60) compared to ET (r2 = 0.38). An insignificant (p > 0.05) decrease in daily values of both ET and SF over the 22 days of concurrent measurements were observed. Daytime average ET ranged from 2.01 to 3.17 mm day-1 with a mean of 2.7 mm day-1, whereas values of SF ranged from 0.55 to 0.72 mm day-1 with a mean of 0.65 mm day-1. Tree transpiration accounted for about 25% of the evapotranspiration from the orchard. This result may be of help in correctly predicting the diurnal behavior of transpiration from sap flow measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of understanding on the soil moisture-precipitation feedback mechanisms remains a large source of uncertainty for land-atmosphere coupled models. Previous observation-based studies on the soil moisture-precipitation feedback in Illinois have shown contradictory results. This paper extends earlier research by providing a more holistic analysis considering different scales based on an 11-yr (2003-13) hourly soil moisture dataset, which makes it possible to revisit the disputed hypothesis on the correlation between warm-season soil moisture and subsequent precipitation. This study finds a strong positive correlation between late spring/early summer state-average soil moisture at the root-zone depths and subsequent state-average summer precipitation. On the daily to weekly time scale, however, no relation is found. Moreover, regional analysis suggests that precipitation variability over central Illinois can be best explained by the soil moisture variability in northwest Illinois. Using a back-trajectory method [Water Accounting Model-2 layers (WAM-2layers)] from May to July, the evaporative sources of precipitation in Illinois are identified. The pattern of the source regions shows little interannual variability, while the strength of the sources changes significantly and the Gulf of Mexico contributes more during wet years. However, strong influences (teleconnections) of sea surface temperatures on the subsequent precipitation variability in Illinois are not found on a seasonal scale. The long time scale of the soil moisture-precipitation correlation and the weak influences of SSTs and climate indices may suggest that precipitation variability in spring/summer in Illinois is mostly related to continental-scale soil moisture-precipitation feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a method to correct for the effect of solar radiation in atmospheric distributed temperature sensing (DTS) applications. By using two cables with different diameters, one can determine what temperature a zero diameter cable would have. Such a virtual cable would not be affected by solar heating and would take on the temperature of the surrounding air. With two unshielded cable pairs, one black pair and one white pair, good results were obtained given the general consensus that shielding is needed to avoid radiation errors (WMO, 2010). The correlations between standard air temperature measurements and air temperatures derived from both cables of colors had a high correlation coefficient (r2 = 0.99) and a RMSE of 0.38°C, compared to a RMSE of 2.40°C for a 3.0 mm uncorrected black cable. A thin white cable measured temperatures that were close to air temperature measured with a nearby shielded thermometer (RMSE of 0.61°C). The temperatures were measured along horizontal cables with an eye to temperature measurements in urban areas, but the same method can be applied to any atmospheric DTS measurements, and for profile measurements along towers or with balloons and quadcopters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term water system operation can be realized using Model Predictive Control (MPC). MPC is a method for operational management of complex dynamic systems. Applied to open water systems, MPC provides integrated, optimal, and proactive management, when forecasts are available. Notwithstanding these properties, if forecast uncertainty is not properly taken into account, the system performance can critically deteriorate. Ensemble forecast is a way to represent short-term forecast uncertainty. An ensemble forecast is a set of possible future trajectories of a meteorological or hydrological system. The growing ensemble forecasts' availability and accuracy raises the question on how to use them for operational management. The theoretical innovation presented here is the use of ensemble forecasts for optimal operation. Specifically, we introduce a tree based approach. We called the new method Tree-Based Model Predictive Control (TB-MPC). In TB-MPC, a tree is used to set up a Multistage Stochastic Programming, which finds a different optimal strategy for each branch and enhances the adaptivity to forecast uncertainty. Adaptivity reduces the sensitivity to wrong forecasts and improves the operational performance. TB-MPC is applied to the operational management of Salto Grande reservoir, located at the border between Argentina and Uruguay, and compared to other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A difference has been detected between the C-band wind scatterometer measurements from the morning (descending) and evening (ascending) passes of the European Remote Sensing (ERS) 1/2 satellite. In the West African savanna, for example, these differences correspond to the onset of vegetation water stress. A literature review of the current state of knowledge regarding the diurnal variation in vegetation dielectric properties and its influence on observed backscatter is presented. A numerical sensitivity study using the Michigan microwave canopy scattering model was performed to investigate whether this difference might be explained by diurnal variation in the dielectric properties of the canopy. For vertically copolarized backscatter, as in the case of the ERS wind scatterometer, the greatest sensitivity is to leaf moisture (and, hence, dielectric constant), but the trunk moisture is significant at low values of leaf moisture content. This suggests that the ERS wind scatterometer may well detect changes in vegetation water status. The impact of leaf, branch, trunk, and soil moisture contents on L-band HH, VV, and HV backscatter was also investigated to explore the implications for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's upcoming Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. Results suggest that combining the morning and evening passes of the SMAP radar observations might yield valuable insight into water stress in areas otherwise considered too densely vegetated for traditional soil moisture retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture estimates from the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS)-1, ERS-2, and Metop scatterometer instruments are available as time series starting in 1991. To better understand the satellite signal backscatter data and the corresponding soil moisture estimates, differences between different overpass times are analyzed. An analysis of more than 15 years of ERS scatterometer data has shown distinct patterns in backscatter between different overpass times. Differences between backscatter data from descending (morning overpass) and ascending (evening overpass) tracks show spatial and temporal patterns that cannot be attributed to soil moisture. Based on regional studies, we highlight the main processes causing the diurnal differences in backscatter data. Data used for this study are based on preprocessed normalized backscatter [σ0(40)] and slope [σ'(40)] data from a modified TUWien WARP 5.0 algorithm. Results show that the diurnal differences in σ0(40) between descending and ascending data are systematic and are not artifacts from previous processing steps. Statistically significant diurnal differences [Δσ0(40)] are detected over about 30% of the land area, underscoring the potential significance for hydrologic remote sensing on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In open water systems, keeping both water depths and water quality at specified values is critical for maintaining a 'healthy' water system. Many systems still require manual operation, at least for water quality management. When applying real-time control, both quantity and quality standards need to be met. In this paper, an artificial polder flushing case is studied. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is developed to control the system. In addition to MPC, a 'forward estimation' procedure is used to acquire water quality predictions for the simplified model used in MPC optimization. In order to illustrate the advantages of MPC, classical control [Proportional-Integral control (PI)] has been developed for comparison in the test case. The results show that both algorithms are able to control the polder flushing process, but MPC is more efficient in functionality and control flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Between 25% and 85% of water inputs to rice fields are lost by seepage and percolation. These losses can be reused downstream and do not necessarily lead to true water depletion at the irrigation system level. Because of this potential for reuse, the general efficiency of water use can increase with increasing spatial scale. To test this hypothesis, a multi-scale water accounting study was undertaken in District I of the rice-based Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS) in the Philippines. Daily measurements of all surface water inflows and outflows, rainfall, evapotranspiration, and amounts of water internally reused through check dams and shallow pumping were summed into seasonal totals for 10 spatial scale units ranging from 1500ha to 18,000ha. The amount of net surface water input (rainfall plus irrigation) per unit area decreased and the process fraction, depleted fraction, water productivity, and amount of water reuse increased with increasing spatial scale. In total, 57% of all available surface water was reused by check dams and 17% by pumping. The amount of water pumped from the groundwater was 30% of the amount of percolation from rice fields. Because of the reuse of water, the water performance indicators at the district level were quite high: the depleted fraction of available water was 71%, the process fraction of depleted water was 80% (close to the 75% area covered by rice), water productivity with respect to available water was 0.45kggrainm−3 water, and water productivity with respect to evapotranspiration was 0.8kggrainm−3 water. Water use in the district can be reduced by cutting down the 49×106 m3 uncommitted outflows. The depleted fraction of available water can be increased to 80% or more by a combination of adopting alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and increased pumping to capture percolating water. Water productivity with respect to available water can be increased to 0.83kggrainm−3 water by a combination of reduced land preparation time, adoption of AWD, and increased fertilizer N use to increase yields. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As agricultural water resources in Asia become increasingly scarce, the irrigation efficiency of rice must be improved. However, in this region there is very limited information available about water use efficiency across spatial levels in irrigation systems. This study quantifies the volume of water reuse and its related cost-benefits at five different spatial levels, ranging from 1500ha to 18,000ha, under gravity-fed irrigation system in Upper Pumpanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS), Philippines. The major sources of water reuse are considered, namely groundwater pumping, pumping from creeks, combined use and irrigation supplies from check dams. The volume of water available from all four sources of water reuse was quantified through extensive measurements. Production functions were developed to quantify water-yield relationships and to measure the economic value of water reuse. This study was conducted during the dry season of 2001, which existed from 19 November 2000 until 18 May 2001. The water reuse by pumping and check dams was 7% and 22% of the applied surface water at District 1 level. The reuse of surface water through check dams increased linearly with 4.6Mm3 per added 1000ha. Similarly, the total amount of reused water from pumping is equivalent to 30% of the water lost through rice evapotranspiration during the dry season 2001. The results showed that water reuse plays a dominant role in growing a rice crop during the dry season. The result showed no difference in pumping costs between the creek (US$0.011/m3) and shallow pumps (US$0.012/m3). The marginal value of productivity (MVP) of water reuse from creek (US$0.044/m3) was slightly higher than the water reuse through the pumping ground water (US$0.039/m3). Results also indicated that the total volume pumped per ha (m3/ha) was ranging from 0.39 to 6.93m3/ha during the dry season. The results clearly indicate that the quantification of amount of water reuse is very crucial for understanding and finding of water use efficiency at the irrigation system level. The results also revealed that rice production systems are still profitable despite high pumping costs and other associated expenses at all spatial levels in District 1. More than 1500 farmers, from a total of 10,000, use 1154 pumps to draw water from shallow tube wells (or from drains and creeks) for supplementary irrigation at a District level. Reuse of water plays a vital role in growing a profitable rice crop during the dry season. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sedimentation devices have been widely implemented to remove suspended solids and attached pollutants from stormwater before entering surface waters. The treatment performance of these best management practices (BMPs) on fine particles is rarely investigated in a standardized way. To overcome this information gap a reliable and standardized testing procedure is formulated. Four devices have been tested on their suspended sediments removal efficiency at different discharges and particle sizes, using the newly developed standardized full scale test method. The observed removal rates of the facilities with a storage volume in the order of 1.5 m3 and settling surface around 1 m2 drop to low removal efficiencies at flow rates of 10 l/s or more. For small sized sediments (up to 63 μm) the removal efficiency is below 50%. The results of the experiments can be used to improve both the design and the dimensions of stormwater treatment devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the seasonal cycle of the components of the surface energy balance in the Volta basin in West Africa as part of the GLOWA-Volta project. The regional climate is characterized by a strong north–south gradient of mean annual rainfall and the occurrence of pronounced dry and wet seasons within one annual cycle, causing a strong seasonal variation in the natural vegetation cover. The observations are conducted with a combined system, consisting of a Large Aperture Scintillometer (LAS) for areally averaged sensible heat flux, radiometers and sensors for soil heat flux. For comparisons the eddy-covariance (EC) method providing the fluxes of momentum, sensible and latent heat is utilized as well. The measurements of a seasonal cycle in 2002/2003 were gathered including the rapid wet-to-dry transition after the wet season at two locations in Ghana, one in the humid tropical southern region and one in the northern region. A direct comparison and the energy balance closure of the two methods are investigated for daytime and nighttime separately. An attempt is made to understand and explain the differences between the two methods and the closure of energy budget found for these. It is found that the two systems correspond well during daytime. During nighttime the LAS seems to perform more realistically than the EC system. Considering the fact that a LAS system is much easier to use in the climate conditions of the Volta basin, it is concluded that the LAS approach is very suitable in this type of climate conditions. Surface conductances are estimated by rearranging the Penman–Monteith equation and compared to a Jarvis-type model optimised for savannah conditions. It is found that temperature dependence should be included in the conductance formulation in contrast to earlier findings. Based on the findings the gathered dataset can be used for further model studies of the climate and environment of West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to produce a malaria distribution map that would constitute a useful tool for development and health planners in West Africa. The recently created continental database of malaria survey results (MARA/ARMA 1998) provides the opportunity for producing empirical models and maps of malaria distribution at a regional and eventually at a continental level. This paper reports on the mapping of malaria distribution for sub-Saharan West Africa based on these data. The strategy was to undertake a spatial statistical analysis of malaria parasite prevalence in relation to those potential bio-physical environmental factors involved in the distribution of malaria transmission intensity which are readily available at any map location. The resulting model was then used to predict parasite prevalence for the whole of West Africa. We also produced estimates of the proportion of population of each country in the region exposed to various categories of risk to show the impact that malaria is having on individual countries. The data represent a very large sample of children in West Africa. It constitutes a first attempt to produce a malaria risk map of the West African region, based entirely on malariometric data. We anticipate that it will provide useful additional guidance to control programme managers, and that it can be refined once sufficient additional data become available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]