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The use of treated wastewater is becoming more popular especially in countries suffering from water shortages despite the fact that wastewater plants have some environmental implications. For this reason there are various software designed to do the assessment. Among these is SimaPro software package designed to make a valuable contribution. It is a powerful tool for analyzing the environmental impact to products during their whole life cycle. A huge amount of knowledge about the environment is built into the program and database, enabling to analyze a product with a minimum of specialized knowledge. In this study, Simapro was used to analyze and evaluate the impacts that result from Karbala Wastewater treatment plant. The results of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) show that Karbala WWTP has an impact and damage on the environment of the order of 171 point for each 1 cubic meter of wastewater. The most environmental impacts potential were global warming, respiratory inorganics and non-renewable energy. The study also showed that most of the effects were as a result of the phase of construction more than of the operational phase. Validerad; 2014; 20140125 (nadhir)

Industrial, agricultural and rural activities may result in pollution of watercourses with elevated trace metal concentrations and implications for water supply and ecosystem functioning. The concentration of the trace metals Fe, Mn, Zn, Co, Pb, Cu, and Cd in the water and clay fractions ( Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu suggesting absorption of the metals on sediment substrate. Validerad; 2015; Nivå 1; 20141218 (nadhir)

The Euphrates Formation (Early Miocene) is wide spread formations in central western part of Iraq. It consists of basal conglomerate, well bedded, grey, fossiliferous and hard limestones (Lower Member), chalky like dolomitic limestone, white and massive, green marl, and deformed, brecciated dolomitic limestone and well bedded undulated limestone (Upper Member). The thickness of the formation Iraq is 35-110 m.The uppermost part of the Euphrates Formation includes Brecciated Unit. The fragments (size 1 – 3 cm) are semi angular to semi rounded, consist of very finely crystalline, silicified limestone, arranged in systematic form, which is parallel to the deformations and undulations that are present in both the brecciated mass and the overlying Undulated Limestone Unit. These characteristics of the fragments indicate that the breccia is not formed due to break in sedimentation, but it is syn-sedimentary breccia.The genesis and deformation style of the breccia is discussed in this study. The results indicate the seismic effect on the development of the breccia, during the deposition, which means syn-sedimentary origin of the breccia, most probably due to tectonic unrest, which has caused seismic shocks in the depositional area; such sediments are called "seismites". Validerad; 2014; 20141010 (nadhir)

The Middle East area and in particular Jordan suffer from water shortages. It is believed that water harvesting techniques can solve part of the problem. Jawa and Umm El-Jimal water harvesting schemes were established 6000 and 2000 years ago respectively. They are considered as the most ancient water harvesting scheme. The engineering design and techniques used in those schemes are very unique.The adaptation of the engineering techniques used in the ancient schemes in the newly established schemes will help to save energy and minimize the evaporation losses. In addition, harvested water can be used for ground water recharge. Validerad; 2013; 20130325 (nadhir)

A great amount of industrial wastes are produced in Sweden every year. In 2008 there were 97.9 million tons of wasted generated, among which 93 million tons industrial waste were produced. 64.1% of industrial wastes were deposited in the landfill sites. Dust generation is one of the most important problems associated with industrial waste and landfills. The particulate dust emissions come from the industrial waste may contain heavy metal and produce environmental problems and potential health risks. Active and passive samplers, deposition pans are common equipment to collect dust samples. Real-time monitors use laser diffraction to recording continuous dust concentration. Dust emission from Malmberget mine in Sweden was analyzed as a case study. Dust was collected by NILU deposit gauge from 26 stations. Generally speaking the amount of dust fallout was decreasing with time because of implemented dust control methods. During the period August 2009 to August 2010, among all the measuring stations through the year, the maximum and the minimum value were 1284 g/100m2/30d and 9 g/100m2/30d. Two sources of dust generation were identified. The first was located close to the open pit, and the second near the current mining industrial center. The dust generation due to road construction was calculated. Validerad; 2013; 20130717 (nadhir)

Treated waste water is normally used for irrigation purposes in countries suffering from water shortages to narrow the gap between supply and demand. The concept behind this is to save water consumed for agricultural activities, which consumes most of the water, for municipal and industrial uses. The Alsukhna area in Jordan is used to grow vegetables which are irrigated by treated wastewater. Surface and groundwater samples from the Zarqa region were analyzed for their major cations, anions and heavy metals. The impact of the treated waste water on the chemical components of vegetables was studied using Zn, Mn, Fe, Pb and Ni in sweet and hot pepper, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, squash, cucumber and eggplant which were compared with similar vegetables irrigated by natural unpolluted water from the Mafraq region. The four metals, namely Zn, Fe, Pb, and Ni, had concentrations higher than in the reference vegetables by 3423%, 155%, 397%, 2949% and 289%, 187%, 211%, 214% fortomato and cauliflower, respectively. Sweet pepper was mainly influenced by an increased content of Fe, which was almost 180% higher than that in sweet pepper from the Mafraq region. Hot pepper had highly elevated concentrations of Ni (6980%) and Zn (419%), while squash demonstrated high Zn (207%) and Pb (666%). When all the heavy metals are considered, the most affected vegetable is the hot pepper with an average percent of heavy metals accumulation of 1559% while the least effected is cabbage at 116%. Validerad; 2013; 20130414 (nadhir)

Macro Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) has been tested at Koysinjaq (Koya) District, Kurdistan region of Iraq, due to its limited source of water.The studied area consists of four basins with total area of 228.96 km2. The estimating volumes of harvested runoff for the four selected basins together for the study period (2002-2011) were calculated using the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) which is based on Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method.In this research, a comparison between maximum and minimum rainfall seasons was conducted to give better understanding for the events that is governing the harvested runoff collection.The results show that, the total harvested runoff ranged from14.83 to 80.77(*106 m3) from the four selected basins together. This indicates that the technique of Macro RWH can be considered to provide a new source of water to contribute to reduce the problem of water scarcity. Validerad; 2013; 20131202 (nadhir)

Mosul dam is one of the biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq that was built on the Tigris River 60 km north-west Mosul city north of Iraq. The water surface area of its reservoir is 380 km2 with a storage capacity of 11.11×109 m3 at a maximum operation level (330 m.a.s.l). The dam became operational in 1986. No study has been conducted to determine the sedimentation rate, storage capacity and new operational curve since that date. To develop an up to date operational curve, a new bathymetric survey was conducted in 2011. The results indicated that the reduction in the storage capacity of the reservoir was 10.29 %. This implies that the annual sedimentation rate within the reservoir was 45.72×106 m3.yr-1 (0.41%) that is less than the average worldwide rate. Consequently, a new operational curve was constructed. Godkänd; 2013; 20130821 (ysko)

Macro Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) under recorded and forecasting rainfall scenarios helps to overcome the water shortage problem. Eastern Sinjar District-Iraq had been investigated for the potential of RWH with a catchment area of four basins. Three recorded rainfall scenarios (S1, S2, and S3) were diagnosed representing seasons of the maximum, minimum and average weekly rainfall events for the period 1990-2011. Forecasting the rainfall depths for the same catchment area were estimated depending on Box-Jenkins methodology to build Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models for weekly rainfall data for the period 2012-2016. Three forecasting rainfall scenarios (S4, S5, and S6) were diagnosed to represent the seasons of the maximum, minimum and average weekly forecasting rainfall events. The results of these scenarios were compared with an average area to be irrigated obtained from the results of 19 years record. The results indicated that in wet years RWH technique with supplemental irrigation help to give total irrigated area larger than a total specified average irrigated area. In average and dry years, the amounts of the additional needed water were estimated to irrigate the total areas that should be increase in order to satisfy the specified average irrigated area. Validerad; 2013; 20130413 (nadhir)

In 1991, new weapons were used for the first time by the American and British troops in Iraq. These weapons proved to have high destructive capability against armored machinery and tanks. Later, there were many signs of being a weapon to destroy the human beings, animals and plants, which raised huge controversy and sharp criticism among scientists, doctors and environmentalists.Despite the opacity and deception, many of the secrets of depleted uranium ammunition were exposed, and confirmed the seriousness of use and serious repercussions on the environment and public health, which stepped up the international campaign against its manufacturing and use.However, the brilliant military success and profits of the military industry tempted the Pentagon and NATO to continue production and use of these weapons. Despite the high human and environment risks DU was used in various conflicts like Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia, Afghanistan, Gaza, Lebanon and recently in Libya.It is noteworthy to mention that the public and even some scientists, researchers and news media are ignorant of the effects and risks of the use of DU in military operations. This raises the point that there should be a large campaign to raise public awareness to prevent the risk of DU weapons.Based on scientific research and updates, we would like to high light the waste of wars in Iraq: Our paper shed the light on the size of depleted uranium(DU) weapons used in the wars on Iraq and the legacy of waste (their nature, size, and the contaminated regions), as high risks on humans and the environment. This is one of the leading environmental, health and social tragic problems in Iraq. This problem should be addressed immediately, seriously and effectively. Validerad; 2013; 20130717 (nadhir)

This paper describes the findings of a long term study of the nitrification performance of apurpose built, large-scale, pilot plant consisting of two mirrored, aerated, continuouslyoperated upflow filters (ACoUFs) operating under realistic conditions. The effect oftemperature, liquid flow rate, aeration rate and media types on the performance of each ofthese filters is reported. After a start-up period of 2-3 weeks each plant performed consistentlyand the performance, expressed as a concentration change between influent and effluent, wasfound to depend directly on temperature and aeration but inversely on flow rate, with littleinteraction between the variables. The introduction of these aerated CoUF variants can havea considerable role to play in increasing effluent quality. Validerad; 2013; Bibliografisk uppgift: Paper number 11; 20130822 (nadhir)

Mosul dam is one of the biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq. It was constructed on the Tigris River in the north of Iraq for multiple purposes: irrigation, flood control and power generation. The initial storage capacity and water surface area of its reservoir reach 11.11 km3 and 380 km2 respectively at the maximum operation level 330 m.a.s.l. The dam was operated in 1986. Since that time no survey has been conducted to determining the characteristics of sedimentation in the reservoir. Blockage of the intakes of the pump station for North Al-Jazira Irrigation Project in Mosul dam reservoir has highlighted the importance of sedimentation problems within the reservoir.Sediment distribution was studied within the reservoir. A comparison was made between the conditions at the start of the dam operation and a recent bathymetric survey conducted in 2011.The former was achieved using a topographic map scale 1: 50000 dated 1983 which was converted to a triangular irregular network (TIN) format using the Arc/GIS program. The results of the bathymetric survey were also converted to the TIN map format using the above program. Comparison of the two maps shows that the sedimentation magnitude in the upper zone of the reservoir, where the River Tigris enters, was highest and gradually reduced toward Mosul dam site. Maximum deposition thickness within the reservoir was 17.6 m. The thalweg bed slope of the River Tigris within reservoir area changed from 0.65 m.km-1 before dam construction to 0.71 m.km-1 on the 2011 survey. Zones within the Validerad; 2013; 20130604 (nadhir)

Great Development in the military industry had been witnessed in the past two decades, especially in depleted uranium weapons. These weapons were first used by USA and its allies in 1991 in Iraq. Later they were used in Bosnia (1995), Kosovo and Serbia (1999) Afghanistan (2001) and finally Iraq (2003).The manufacturers and users of these weapons continued to blackout the nature of these weapons and deny the harm caused on the public health, animals and the environment.After a short period of time, facts were revealed by the investigations and research executed by large number of scientists and investigators.This paper highlights the important effects caused by the use of depleted uranium weapons on human health and environment. Validerad; 2013; 20130717 (nadhir)

The dust emission from unpaved roads, if not controlled, can cause enormous problems. Though a few real-world measurements of road dust have been done by automated samplers in Sweden, measurement by BSNE (Big Spring Number Eight) and the estimation of total dust generation from vehicle driving is rare. This study measured and analyzed dust emission by BSNE at two unpaved roads in Luleå, Sweden, at the driving speed of 20, 30, 40, and 50 km/h different heights. Even though US EPA excluded vehicle speed as a parameter in estimating dust emission factors for unpaved roads, this study confirmed a strong dependence of dust emission on vehicle speed. This is in agreement with several recent studies which concluded dust emission increases with driving speed exponentially or linearly, however the power law is the best description for the data from this study. The comparison with estimated dust emission by US EPA’s equation showed the equation underestimates the dust emission more than 50 percent when vehicle speed and silt content is higher than 25.40km/h and 2.17 percent respectively. There might be some interrelationship between driving speed and silt content in road surface.Earlier researchers have reported increased dust emission with increasing silt content and this is confirmed by this study. Validerad; 2013; 20130212 (nadhir)

Road construction is one example of heavy constructions that may have a substantial temporary impact on local air quality. Construction of Luleå Road during the summer 2013 generated a great deal of dust emission. US EPA recommended exposure-profiling method was used to measure dust emission. Inexpensive BSNE dust samplers were used instead of high volume samplers. The objective was to give a general idea of the amount of dust generated due to the construction work. Dust generation related to weather was discussed conditions. Estimated threshold wind velocity for road surface materials at the height of 2m were 12.88m/s, 12.88m/s and 24.76m/s which were lower measured wind velocity, indicated no dust generated from wind erosion. Dust masses for 7 sampling periods show dust generation had a close relation with moisture content of surface material. Wind speed, humidity had minor or no effect. The estimated dust emission rate in the construction work during the measuring period was 22.86kg TSP/d, 6kg/d was from construction work and 16.86kg/d was generated due to traffic on temporary roads. Godkänd; 2013; 20131128 (nadhir)

Mosul dam is the biggest dam in Iraq on Tigris River. It is a multipurpose dam with a designed storage capacity of 11.11*109 m3. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) working with Geographical Information System (GIS) was applied to simulate the daily runoff and sediment yield from the seven valleys entering the reservoir from the left side. The model was applied for the period 1988-2008 based on daily climatic data of Mosul city and Mosul Dam Stations. The results indicated that the average yearly water flow was 13.8 *106 m3. It varies with time and among the valleys depending on the soil type, land watershed topography, watershed area in addition the other effective factors, and rainfall depth of that year. The resultant average annual sediment yield was 702*106 ton from these valleys. The sediment yield from each valley depends on runoff coefficient of the valley, soil type and plant cover. These factors affect soil detachment and rainfall properties (depth and intensity) that in turn affect rainfall detachment force. The total sediment yield for the considered period was 14753*103 ton. This represent about 0.42% of the dead storage of the reservoir (2.9*109m3) which is about 0.11% of the total reservoir storage capacity. Validerad; 2013; 20130311 (nadhir)

The rheological properties of cementitious materials containing fine particles, such as mineral admixture were investigated using a Viso Star-L rheometer with cylindrical spindles. Selected features of the behavior of these materials are evaluated from a rheological perspective through literatures results for the past 30 years. One of the important factors that governs the ability of grout to penetrate fractures, channels and porous material is the rheology. The mineral admixture was clay palygorskite which can be used for early gelation because of its thixotropic properties as well as the powder quartz used as aggregate. The cementitious materials were designed and three recipes (MPG1, MPG2 and MPG3) were examined in this research by changing the mix proportions of the mineral admixture palygorskite and water content. For ensuring the accuracy of rheological measurement for the candidate’s grouts, necessary verification was been evaluated such as, influence of mixing time, stability and “time effect” to the accuracy of viscosity measurement, and yield stress as well as the physical properties at 3, 7 and 28 days. The results showed that grouts recipes with quartzite aggregate of different granulometry, are chemically compatible and fulfill the requirement of containing no organic matter. Candidate’s grouts found to satisfy the stable sedimentation criteria with sedimentation rates less than 5% after 2 hours. Furthermore, it was found that the grout recipe 3 followed by 1 showed lower yield stress and plastic viscosity which are (0.1 Pa and 0.269 Pas) and (0.288 Pa and 0.531 Pas) respectively. Validerad; 2013; 20130921 (nadhir)

Iraq has been subject to a series of wars for more than fifty years, the latest one leaving large amounts of wrecked tanks, vehicles, weapons and ammunition. A considerable part of the waste has the form of, or contains, depleted uranium (DU), that is concluded to have cancerogenic effects through its radioactivity and toxicity. The DU exists in significant concentrations in areas where combat took place, mostly in and around the cities of Bagdad and Basra, the total number of particularly encountered areas being about 15. The way of long-term isolation of DU that is proposed in this paper is to construct relatively simple landfills of sandwiched contaminated soil and clay or clayey soil, covered by sand/gravel and erosion-resistant coarser material on top. The very low annual precipitation and long draught in the deserts, implying significant evaporation, means that the system of tight soil interlayered with contaminated soil, embedding wrecked military objects, minimizes percolation and release of DU, keeping it adsorbed on the finest soil particles. The clay-based material must be composed in a way that, i/ desiccation fractures are not formed in periods of long draught and ii/ not swell uncontrolled and loose strength in wet periods. The DU-contaminated soil is proposed to be scraped off and transported in closed trucks to four desert sites where landfills of the sandwich-type are proposed to be constructed. Validerad; 2013; 20130717 (nadhir)

Iraq is facing water shortage problem, which is becoming more severe with time. Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) can help to minimize the water shortage problem. Seven years of rainfall records was used to find out the quantity of water that can be harvested using a Watershed modeling system (WMS).Koya city is located in the northern part of Iraq. The population of the city is about 39484.The application of the WMS model for rainfall records of seven years (2002-3 to 2010-11) showed that 275.51 million cubic meters of water can be harvested. This implies that annual average of rain harvested water is 39.4 million cubic meters and the allocation per capita to be 997 cubic meters per year. This amount of water can greatly help to the development of industry and agriculture in the city. Godkänd; 2013; 20131010 (nadhir)

Protection of the environment from solid waste hazards is becoming a serious problem. Different laws and legislations had been put into practice for this purpose. The effect of solid waste in developing countries with limited financial and natural resources and high population growth rate is more severe. To overcome these difficulties, prudent management system for solid waste is required. Furthermore, solid waste disposal site should be selected using scientific criteria to prevent any harmful effect on local communities and the environment.Criteria for solid waste disposal dump site for arid and semi-arid regions should be selected in accordance with well-known international requirements that suit the local conditions. These criteria can be used to select the best suitable solid waste dump site using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques. The selected sites are harmless to human life, natural resources and the environment. The same can be achieved when dumping hazardous solid waste. In all cases however, priorities of the site selection criteria should meet the existing geological, meteorological and environmental conditions. Validerad; 2013; 20130717 (nadhir)

Landfills of material contaminated by depleted uranium and other low-level radioactive waste must be isolated from the biosphere for a sufficiently long time. This can be effectively made in desert climate by collecting contaminated waste in suitable areas confined by tight embankments and covering them with very tight clay liners protected from desiccation and erosion by suitably composed filters and coarse rock fill. Examples of design principles and construction are described in the paper. The clay liners are made of air-dry expanding clay that can be found in sufficient quantities in Iraq and that provide very good tightness at low cost. The construction technique is well known from various projects. Validerad; 2013; 20130717 (nadhir)

Mosul dam is the biggest hydraulic structure in Iraq located on the River Tigris 50 Km north of Mosul city. Its storage capacity is 11.1 x 109 m3 and it had been in operation since 1986.A physical model representing the most northern part of Mosul dam reservoir was used to conduct the experiments. The construction of the model was based on field survey conducted in 2010. Twenty-four experiments were executed using four different discharges (500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 m3/s respectively). At each individual discharge six operations were assumed where the reservoirs water level was 305,307,309,310, 312, 315 MSL respectively. In all the experiments conducted, bedload transport rate was decreasing when the water level within the reservoir was increasing. It was also evident the bedload transport rate dramatically decreased at level 310 onward. This is due to the fact that at this level the effect of backwater was noticeable on the river cross section. Godkänd; 2012; 20120412 (nadhir)

The period of ottoman occupation of Iraq was characterized by the same style of buildings and they used local materials as did their predecessors. At the beginning of ottoman occupation, governors were focusing on build mosques and religion schools (Tkaya). Houses were built in random styles depending on the experiences of the builders. For this reason, the houses became irregular and expanded randomly. This lead to the shrinkage of the areas of the roads where they became very narrow and used to referred to as “Drbuna”. At the end of the ottoman period the style of buildings changed and it was reflecting European renaissance influences such as the government campus known as “Qishla”. In 1917 the British army occupied Iraq. During this period the buildings were more inclined to the European style. New materials were used for the first time like cement and iron (Schliemann). The new materials and design destroyed the Iraqi heritage and cultural identity. It is believed that the new housing style did not take into consideration the Iraqi environment. Validerad; 2012; 20120924 (nadhir)

The behavior of concrete is affected by the size, distribution of the voids, the porosity and of the granulometry of the aggregate mixture. As a consequence it necessary for engineers to consider in detail particle packing concepts and their influence on the physical performance of concrete. The present study included determination of the fineness modulus, cement paste volume based on slump test and the properties of fresh and hardened concrete. It also comprised a study of the applicability of two theoretical models Toufar’s and 4C-packing program for selecting suitable relative amounts of the concrete constituents, for obtaining a minimum void ratio. Comparison of the results was made from using these theoretical models literature-derived experimental data. The models gave similar results and suggest similar combinations of materials to give minimum void ratio. Optimization of the composition of the aggregate material in concrete is beneficial with respect to economy (low cement content), strength and durability. It was noted that minimizing the void ratio (V) tends to raise the stiffness and that the compressive strength (푓푐′) is closely related also to their molding (R) and fineness modules (FM). It was found that the compressive strength can be predicted by applying the formula;푓푐′=−2.1−63.8 푉+0.150 푅+10.4 퐹푀; R2=0.94, and two other relationships related to slump data and cement content. Validerad; 2012; 20120830 (nadhir)

The current research caters for the possibility of arriving at a system for designing concrete mixeseasily using available materials locally by specified wide ranges of pre-requisites of three mainprescribed properties to cover a good variety of practical mixes, which are water, water-cement ratioand total aggregate-cement ratio. Using these three properties, a tri-linear form was constructed bygraphical technique manner based on absolute volume approach. This approach defines as asummation of absolute volume for each of these three materials individually water, cement andaggregate should be equal to the absolute volume of whole concrete mixture based on thesealtogether. A quad-form area which includes a wide range of mixes can be formed from thisrepresentation. This area should achieve all the prescribed properties aforementioned. Artificial neuralnetwork concept used in this study also to build easily and quickly system which can be translatedinto Excel sheet. This system predict proportions of concrete mixture and the compressive strengthusing the results designed by the quad-form area method in addition to the data from literature around500 mixes based on local materials used in Iraq. Six input parameters (water to cement ratio, theslump, % of fine to total aggregate content, maximum aggregate size, fineness modulus of fineaggregate and the compressive strength) were used in this system to get the outputs. In addition, nineinput parameters ((water, cement, sand and gravel contents) and the properties of the mix (Finenessmodulus, W/C ratio, the slump, % of fine to total aggregate and the M.A.S)) were used as basis ofcompressive strength model. The algorithm of this system aimed to reduce the high number of trailmixes error as well as saving the labors, cost and time. Results indicated that the concrete mix designand the compressive strength model can be predicted accurately by using graphical perspective andthe ANN approach. Validerad; 2012; 20121208 (mohhat)

Iraq is facing water shortages and the problem is becoming more serious with time. Despite this fact, none of the farmers had used Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) technique yet. The main aim of this research is to contribute to solving the problem of water shortage of Iraq by finding effective results in terms of saving significant runoff water for irrigation purposes. Macro RWH was applied at Northern Sinjar Mountain in Iraq, where macro is indicator for large catchment area. Runoff volume was determined by applying the watershed modeling system (WMS) for six selected basins with total area of 614.19km2 for the study period of (1990-2009). The volume of harvested water ranged (0.6-42.4) × 106 m3 for all six basins together for the study period. A linear programming technique was adopted to optimize the irrigated area for three scenarios of irrigation, 1/ supplemental irrigation (SI) 100%, 2/ deficit irrigation (DI) 50%, 3/ deficit irrigation (DI) 25% of full irrigation requirements. The results of calculation of irrigated area ranged between 14.5-3663.7 for SI 100%, 33.0-39827.1 for DI 50%, and 20.1-7314.0 for DI 25% hectares respectively. These results reflect useful value of RWH and its influence to increase the irrigated area in the studied region. Godkänd; 2012; 20120503 (nadhir)

Protection of the environment from solid waste hazards is becoming a serious problem. Different laws and legislations had been put into practice for this purpose. The effect of solid waste in countries like Jordan with limited financial and natural resources and high population growth rate is more severe. To overcome these difficulties, prudent management system for solid waste is required. Furthermore, solid waste disposal site should be selected using scientific criteria to prevent any harmful effect on local communities and the environment. Criteria for solid waste disposal dump site for Mafraq city were selected in accordance with well known international requirements that suit the local conditions. These criteria were used to select the best suitable solid waste dump site using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques. The selected sites are harmless to human life, natural resources and the environment. Validerad; 2012; 20120113 (nadhir)

Mosul dam is the biggest hydraulic structure in Iraq located on the River Tigris 60 km northwest of Mosul city. Its storage capacity is 11.11 × 109 m3 and it had been in operation since 1986. A physical distorted model with movable bed having a vertical scale 1:100 and a horizontal scale 1:1000 was used to conduct the experiments relating the water level at the reservoir and water discharge upstream the reservoir with the bed load transport rate. The model represents the first 15 km of most northern part of Mosul dam reservoir. The construction of the model was based on bathymetric survey conducted in 2009. Twenty-four experiments were executed using four different discharges (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 L/s) which represent the average discharges in the flood period of River Tigris. At each individual discharge six operations were assumed where the reservoir’s water level was 305, 307, 309, 310, 312, 315 meters above sea level respectively. In all the experiments conducted, bedload transport was measured in the physical model at section representing the River Tigris 1 km upstream the reservoir. The results showed that the bedload rate was decreasing when the water level within the reservoir was increasing. It was also evident that bedload transport rate dramatically decreased at level 310 meter above sea level onward. This is due to the fact that at this level represent the effect of backwater which was noticeable on the river cross section. Validerad; 2013; 20121026 (nadhir)

Growing islands became noticeable phenomena in the channel of River Tigris within Baghdad City during recent years.Despite the fact that large amount of sediments are trapped in reservoirs on the River Tigris and its tributaries thenumber of islands are increasing with time. This is due to the debris of destroyed bridges in the wars of 1991 and 2003.As a consequence the ability of the river had been reduced to pass ood waves. This fact caused ooding parts of majorcities like Baghdad. Cross sections of the River Tigris were surveyed in dierent occasions (1976, 1991 and 2008). In1977 the survey was conducted by Geohydraulique and in 1991 by University of Technology - Baghdad (extended forthe previous study). The last survey was conducted in 2008 by Ministry of Water Resources extending 48 kilometersfrom Al-Muthana Bridge till the conuence with Diyala River at intervals having horizontal spacing of 250m. The datawas used to predict the maximum ood capacity for the river using HEC-RAS through performed a one- dimensionalhydraulic model for the ow. The average discharge of the river in Baghdad had been calculated for the past ten years.This value was introduced in the model. Then dierent scenarios were applied by increasing the discharge in orderto nd out the critical discharge that can cause inundation. The procedure continued to detect the areas that had beeninundated and the water level was recorded. The primary runs for the model showed a signicant reduction in thecurrent river capacity in comparison with what the river had used to hold during oods of 1971 and 1988. The threesurveys that had been conducted on the same reach of the River Tigris indicated that the capacity of the river to passwater had been decreased. In addition the changes in the morphology of the river cross sections were very clear. Godkänd; 2012; 20120412 (nadhir)

Scarcity of water resources in the Middle East represents a prime factor in the stability of the region and its economic development and prosperity. Accordingly, augmenting water is considered very important. Therefore, building of dams is an important mean to achieve such a goal. Despite the fact that number of dams had been built but maintenance operations and reduction of siltation rates are still not up the standards. Two small reservoirs north west Jordan were investigated. Sad Wadi Alarab reservoir constructed in 1986 (storage capacity of 20x106 m3). The second, Alghadeer Alabyadh, was constructed 1966(storage capacity 7 x105 m3). The actual storage capacities of these reservoirs were calculated using echo-sounding traverses. Data obtained were used in special computer software to construct the bathymetric maps and calculate the existing storage volume. The results showed that the reservoir storage capacities were reduced at an average annual rate of 0.3 x106 and 1.7 x104 m3 respectively. This implies that Sad Wadi Alarab reservoir will be filled with sediment within 38 years, while Alghadeer Alabyadh reservoir is already filled with sediment now. Bottom sediments of the reservoirs were collected and analyzed. In all the cases, sand, silt and clay were the dominant sediment components. Validerad; 2012; 20120308 (nadhir)

Iraq is facing water shortages and the problem is becoming more serious with time. The main water resources of Iraq (Tigris and Euphrates Rivers) suffer from severe reduction in their discharges due to construction dams on the both banks of Rivers inside Turkey and Syria. Agricultural land had been reduced drastically due to water scarcity. Despite this fact, none of the Iraqi farmers had yet used non-conventional techniques to augment water resources to overcome water shortage problems such as Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) technique.The main aim of this research is to contribute to solving the problem of water shortage of Iraq by finding effective results in terms of saving significant runoff water for irrigation purposes, and therefore provide an academic effort as a tool for encourage and decision support for RWH in Iraq.Macro RWH (large catchment area), was applied at East Sinjar Mountain in Iraq. The estimating volume of harvested runoff ranged (0.11-28.11) ×106 m3 calculated using the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) for the four selected basins together with total area of 435.14 km2 for the study period of (1990-2009).The results of estimating runoff volume showed that the runoff volume can be considered for irrigation practices especially in supplementary irrigation.A linear programming technique was adopted to maximize the irrigated area. Three scenarios of irrigation level were chosen: supplemental irrigation (SI) 100% Satisfy full irrigation requirements (S1), deficit irrigation (DI) 50% of full irrigation requirements (S2), and deficit irrigation (DI) 25% of full irrigation requirements (S3). The resultant irrigated area ranged between 18-2646 for SI 100%, 58-41303 for DI 50%, and 27-9543for DI 25% hectares respectively for all four selected basins together. These results reflect useful value of RWH and its influence to increase the irrigated area in the studied region. Godkänd; 2012; 20120720 (nadhir)

The Islamic period in Iraq lasted 1002 years (637-1639 AD). During this period big cities were constructed and old cities were reconstructed. There was development of the materials used and the design. Bricks, grill wage, plaster, gypsum and marble and stones were used. The environmental conditions were taken in the design of the buildings. The walls were thick and basements and badgur were established. This makes it easier to cool or heat the house. Tar was used to protect the buildings from moisture. New style of buildings was established using new engineering innovations. Well-designed arches and domes were noticed during this period. Islamic buildings had special features such as minarets, arches, domes, vaults, gilding, patterns and decorations. Validerad; 2012; 20121009 (nadhir)

Jordan is among the least countries in its water resources and about 85% of its area is desertic which is referred to as the Badia region. Only 5% of the population of Jordan occupies this area. The growing power of urban communities during the twentieth century has affected the local inhabitants (Bedouin) social life and the physical environment of arid lands in which they live in Jordan. The 15% of the total area of the country (urban areas) are not able anymore to absorb the expanding population. Therefore, people have started to move to the Badia. This area is very poor in its surface water resources. Due to this reason the Jordanian government started a development program for the region. Part of the program is providing water resources by establishing water harvesting schemes. It is of prime importance to maintain these schemes to support the growing development in the area.In this research, two of these schemes had been investigated for their sediment characteristics and rate of deposition. They are Beqawiya (constructed 1994) and Suweied (constructed 1995). The sediments in both schemes were generally fine sand which is poorly sorted and negatively skewed. The rate of sedimentation was found to be 1679 and 1583 m3/ year in Beqawiya and Suweied respectively. Validerad; 2012; 20120728 (nadhir)

Computational model had been established to predict the coarse dust transport rate within the Malmberget mining area in northern Sweden. Matlab GUI designing had been introduced to enhance the computation process. Certain modification methods were developed in order to improve the accuracy of the model. Dust retention time was calculated to estimate the dust transport in the suspension form. Field calibration proves the code works fairly well for the coarse dust in the research area. Validerad; 2012; 20120601 (nadhir)

The Iraqi marsh lands, which are known as the Garden of Eden, cover an area about 15-20 103. km2 in the lower part of the Mesopotamian basin where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow. The area had played a prominent part in the history of man kind and was inhabited since the dawn of civilization. The area was considered among the largest wetlands in the world and the greatest in west Asia. Saddam regime began to drain the marsh lands for military and political reasons. Accordingly, at 2000 less than 10% of the marshes remained. The consequences were that most of the marsh dwellers left their places and some animals and plants are eradicated now. After the fall of Saddam regime in 2003, the process of restoration and rehabilitation of Iraqi marshes started. There are number of difficulties encountered in the process. Some of them are land use changes, climatic variations and changes, soil and water salinity as well as ecological fragmentation where many species were affected as well as the marsh dwellers.In this research we would like to explore the possibilities of restoring the Iraqi marshes. It is believed that 70- 75% of the original areas of the marshes can be restored. This implies that 13 km3 water should be available to achieve this goal keeping the water quality as it is. To evaluate the water quality in the marshes, 154 samples were collected at 48 stations during summer, spring and winter. All the results indicate that the water quality was bad. To improve the water quality, then 18.86 km3 of water is required. This requires plenty of efforts and international cooperation to overcome the existing obstacles. Validerad; 2012; 20120607 (nadhir)

Growing islands became noticeable phenomena in the channel of River Tigris within Baghdad City during recent years.Despite the fact that large amount of sediments are trapped in reservoirs on the River Tigris and its tributaries thenumber of islands are increasing with time. This is due to the debris of destroyed bridges in the wars of 1991 and 2003.As a consequence the ability of the river had been reduced to pass ood waves. This fact caused ooding parts of majorcities like Baghdad. Cross sections of the River Tigris were surveyed in dierent occasions (1976, 1991 and 2008). In1977 the survey was conducted by Geohydraulique and in 1991 by University of Technology - Baghdad (extended forthe previous study). The last survey was conducted in 2008 by Ministry of Water Resources extending 48 kilometersfrom Al-Muthana Bridge till the conuence with Diyala River at intervals having horizontal spacing of 250m. The datawas used to predict the maximum ood capacity for the river using HEC-RAS through performed a one- dimensionalhydraulic model for the ow. The average discharge of the river in Baghdad had been calculated for the past ten years.This value was introduced in the model. Then dierent scenarios were applied by increasing the discharge in orderto nd out the critical discharge that can cause inundation. The procedure continued to detect the areas that had beeninundated and the water level was recorded. The primary runs for the model showed a signicant reduction in thecurrent river capacity in comparison with what the river had used to hold during oods of 1971 and 1988. The threesurveys that had been conducted on the same reach of the River Tigris indicated that the capacity of the river to passwater had been decreased. In addition the changes in the morphology of the river cross sections were very clear. Godkänd; 2012; 20120412 (nadhir)

Time series analysis and forecasting is an important tool which can be used to improve water resources management. Iraq is facing a severe water shortage problem. The use of rainwater harvesting is one of the techniques to overcome this problem. To put this into practice, it is of prime importance to forecast future rainfall events on a weekly basis.Box-Jenkins methodology has been used in this research to build Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models for weekly rainfall data from four rainfall stations in the North West of Iraq: Sinjar, Mosul, Rabeaa and Talafar for the period 1990-2011. Four ARIMA models were developed for the above stations as follow: (3,0,2)x(2,1,1)30, (1,0,1)x(1,1,3)30, (1,1,2)x(3,0,1)30 and (1,1,1)x(0,0,1)30 respectively. The performance of the resulting successful ARIMA models were evaluated using the data year (2011).These models were used to forecast the weekly rainfall data for the up-coming years (2012 to 2016). The results supported previous work that had been carried out on the same area recommending the use of water harvesting in agricultural practices. Validerad; 2012; 20130104 (nadhir)

Jordan is among the least countries in its water resources and about 85% of its area is desertic. Due to this reason the inhabitants of the Badia region used centuries ago water harvesting techniques to augment water for human and animal use. Two ancient water harvesting schemes (Burqu and Dier Al-Kahf) were investigated. Bathymetric survey was conducted and both bottom and water samples were collected to study the nature of sediments in these schemes. The calculated volume of Burqu and Deir Al-Kahf reservoirs were 629505 and 12071m³ respectively. Sediments entering these reservoirs are mainly fine sand derived from the main and side valleys entering the reservoirs during rain events. The sediments at Burqu reservoir have a mean grain size of 0.1 mm, very poorly sorted and negatively skewed. The sand: silt: clay ratios were 70:17:13 respectively. At Deir Al-Kahf reservoir, the sediment mean grain size was 0.11mm and they were very poorly sorted and they were finely skewed. The sand: silt: clay ratios were 69: 23: 8 respectively. Annual rates of sediments deposited in these reservoirs were 29016 m3 for Burqu and 29016 m3 for Deir Al-Kahaf. Validerad; 2012; 20120913 (nadhir)

Mosul dam reservoir is the biggest reservoir on the River Tigris with 11.11 billion m3 storage capacity located at the northern part of Iraq. The dam is used for irrigation, hydropower generationand flood control. Siltation of the reservoir and sediment delivery from the valleys to the reservoir was not measured since the operation of the dam in 1988. Sediment accumulation in its reservoir can effect the dam operation (pumping station, hydropower plantsand bottom outlets) and it will definitely shorten the life span of the dam. In this study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) under Geographical Information System (GIS) was applied to simulate the yearly surface runoff and sediment load for the main three valleys on the right bank of Mosul am Reservoir for the period 1988-2008. The resultant values of the average annual sediment load are 42.7*103, ton. This implies that significant sediment load enters the reservoir from these valleys. Sediment accumulation can effect the dam operation (pumping station, hydropower plants and bottom outlets) and it will definitely shorten the life span of the dam. To minimize sediment effect, check dams are to be constructed specially on the first valley. Godkänd; 2012; 20120319 (nadhir)

A simple sediment transport model has been utilized to simulate the dust grain movement in the area flow. The transport model can be used as a tool to estimate the dust grain transport situation in a mining area with consideration of the local topographical profile. The case study of the local dust characteristics survey proves the model works fairly well compared to the field calibration. Validerad; 2012; 20120913 (nadhir)

Protection of the environment from solid waste hazards is becoming a serious problem. Different laws and legislations had been put into practice for this purpose. The effect of solid waste in developing countries with limited financial and natural resources and high population growth rate is more severe. To overcome these difficulties, prudent management system for solid waste is required. Furthermore, solid waste disposal site should be selected using scientific criteria to prevent any harmful effect on local communities and the environment. Criteria for solid waste disposal dump site for arid and semi arid regions should be selected in accordance with well known international requirements that suit the local conditions. These criteria can be used to select the best suitable solid waste dump site using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques. The selected sites are harmless to human life, natural resources and the environment. The same can be achieved when dumping hazardous solid waste. In all cases however, priorities of the site selection criteria should meet the existing geological, meteorological and environmental conditions. Godkänd; 2011; 20111129 (nadhir)

Godkänd; 2011; 20111216 (andbra)

A great amount of industrial wastes are produced in Sweden every year. In 2008 there were 97.9 million tons of wasted generated, among which 93 million tons industrial waste were produced. 64.1% of industrial wastes were deposited in the landfill sites. Dust generation is one of the most important problems associated with industrial waste and landfills. The particulate dust emissions come from the industrial waste may contain heavy metal and produce environmental problems and potential health risks. Active and passive samplers, deposition pans are common equipment to collect dust samples. Real-time monitors use laser diffraction to recording continuous dust concentration. Dust emission from Malmberget mine in Sweden was analyzed as a case study. Dust was collected by NILU deposit gauge from 26 stations. Generally speaking the amount of dust fallout was decreasing with time because of implemented dust control methods. During the period August 2009 to August 2010, among all the measuring stations through the year, the maximum and the minimum value were 1284 g/100m2/30d and 9 g/100m2/30d. Two sources of dust generation were identified. The first was located close to the open pit, and the second near the current mining industrial center. The dust generation due to road construction was calculated. On the other hand dust generation was also closely related to weather conditions. Godkänd; 2011; 20111129 (nadhir)

In 1977 the Turkish Government started to utilize the water of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers through South-eastern Anatolia Project (GAP). The project includes 22 dams and 19 hydraulic power plants which are to irrigate 17 103 km2 of land with a total storage capacity of 100 km3 which is three times more than the overall capacity of Iraq and Syrian reservoirs Prior to 1990, Syria used to receive 21 km3/year of the Euphrates water which dropped to 12km3 in 2000 onward and for Iraq it dropped from 29 km3 before 1990 to 4,4km3 (90% reduction) now. This reduced agricultural land in both countries from 650 103 to 240 103 hectares. Iraq used to receive 20.9 km3/year of water from the Tigris River and once Ilisu dam is constructed, this is likely to drop to 9.7 km3 which means that 47% of the river flow will be depleted. This means that 696 103 hectares of agricultural land will be abandoned due to water scarcity. The reduction of flow in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq is considered to be national crises and will have severe negative consequences on health and on environmental, industrial and economic development. It is believed that the Iraqi Government should take solid and fast measures to ensure prudent management of its water resources and to secure the life of huge sector of its society and protect the environment. Validerad; 2011; 20110919 (svek)

In 1991, new weapons were used for the first time by the American and British troops in Iraq. These weapons proved to have high destructive capability against armored machinery and tanks. Later, there were many signs of being a weapon to destroy the human beings, animals and plants, which raised huge controversy and sharp criticism among scientists, doctors and environmentalists. Despite the opacity and deception, many of the secrets of depleted uranium ammunition were exposed, and confirmed the seriousness of use and serious repercussions on the environment and public health, which stepped up the international campaign against its manufacturing and use. However, the brilliant military success and profits of the military industry tempted the Pentagon and NATO to continue production and use of these weapons. Despite the high human and environment risks DU was used in various conflicts like Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia, Afghanistan, Gaza, Lebanon and recently in Libya. It is noteworthy to mention that the public and even some scientists, researchers and news media are ignorant of the effects and risks of the use of DU in military operations. This raises the point that there should be a large campaign to raise public awareness to prevent the risk of DU weapons. Based on scientific research and updates, we would like to high light the waste of wars in Iraq: Our paper shed the light on the size of depleted uranium(DU) weapons used in the wars on Iraq and the legacy of waste (their nature, size, and the contaminated regions), as high risks on humans and the environment. This is one of the leading environmental, health and social tragic problems in Iraq. This problem should be addressed immediately, seriously and effectively. Godkänd; 2011; 20111129 (nadhir)