Large Rivers Hydrology And Sediment Transport Tsyplenkov, Anatoly; Chalov, Sergey; Eder, Markus ...
Geography, environment, sustainability,
01/2023, Letnik:
15, Številka:
4
Journal Article
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This paper provides a short overview of the large river research topics discussed during the 4th World’s Large Rivers Conference and submitted to the Geography Environment Sustainability special ...issue. The various aspects of hydrology, sediment transport and river morphology issues are presented based on case studies from Eurasia and Africa.
This contribution presents an integrated method to inform future‐oriented flood risk management across policy domains at the scale of river sections and (sub)catchments. The RegioFEM (Regional ...Floodplain Evaluation Matrix) combines approaches from hydrology, hydraulic engineering, spatial planning and stakeholder engagement to assess the dynamic changes in floodplains in consideration of projected investments in flood protection, expected settlement and infrastructure development and the likely climate‐induced changes in flood runoff. In this paper, we present the step‐by‐step approach of the RegioFEM, outlining how the method can be applied and replicated in practice in support of catchment‐oriented and forward‐looking flood management policies. The RegioFEM builds on the understanding of floodplains as coupled human and natural systems. It supports the simple comparative evaluation of the expected impacts of future developments in riparian areas on flood risk change and thus provides a basis to anticipate reciprocal effects between flood defence and land development to improve the sectoral interplay of integrated flood policies.
Floodplains are a fundamental source of multiple functions and services. Despite their various benefits, a dramatic reduction in floodplain areas has occurred in most large river systems over the ...last few centuries, and is still ongoing. Human modifications (such as river regulation, dam construction, and land use changes) due to economic growth, increasing population size, etc., were and still are drivers of major floodplain losses. Therefore, studies offering solutions for floodplain preservation and restoration are of great importance for sustainable floodplain management. This paper presents methods to identify active, former, and potential floodplains, and their application to the Danube River. We used hydraulic data, historical sources, and recent geospatial data to delineate the three floodplain types. Fifty hydraulically active floodplains larger than 500 ha were identified. According to our results, the extent of Danube floodplains has been reduced by around 79%. With the support of different representatives from the Danube countries, we identified 24 potential floodplains. However, the share of active and potential floodplains in relation to former floodplains ranges between 5% and 49%, demonstrating the huge potential for additional restoration sites. This analysis contributes to an understanding of the current and the past floodplain situation, increases awareness of the dramatic floodplain loss along the Danube, and serves as a basis for future floodplain management.
Flood risk managers face increasing challenges in anticipating future developments and coordinating flood risk management on a regional level. The regional floodplain evaluation matrix (RegioFEM), a ...method to support a future‐oriented flood risk management at a regional scale, was applied in a section of the Raab River in Austria. The developed method uses several parameters assessing the consequences of changes in the study area, which lead to changes in flood risk. Settlement development, planned flood protection measures and the likely increase of flood runoff due to climatic changes are considered. Parameters include hydrological (e.g., peak reduction), hydraulic (inundation area), spatial (affected buildings) and monetary (damage potential) ones. The results of the application of the RegioFEM were presented at a regional expert workshop, conducted to gain feedback about the possibilities and limitations of implementing the method into practice. Considering future changes and evaluating their impacts on flood risk can provide stakeholders and decision makers valuable information for sustainable flood risk management.
The research and development of combustion engines will face multiple challenges during the next years. Increasing reliability while further reducing emissions and life cycle costs are just a few of ...them. The reduction of the lubrication oil consumption (LOC) addresses all the aforementioned challenges. Reducing the oil consumption of an engine, reduces emissions like particle emissions, hydrocarbon emissions and combustion anomalies. However, the biggest incitement for optimizing the oil consumption would be to lower the life cycle cost through extending the durability of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system, as contaminants coming from the oil are considered to lead to poisoning of catalytic materials. In addition, it is also important to take the cost of the lubrication oil itself into account as well. Thus, especially for manufacturers of large stationary gas engines, reducing – or rather, optimizing – the lube oil consumption is becoming more and more of a focus. However, a further reduction of the LOC causes state-of-the-art measurement methods to reach their limitations regarding resolution and lower detection limit (LDL). Hence, new methods need to be developed. Most currently available systems are based on the tracer technology, where a naturally abundant or synthetically added substance of the oil is traced down in the exhaust gas. By quantifying the amount of tracer in the exhaust gas, the LOC can be calculated. The newly developed and patented (Rossegger and Engelmayer, 2018) 1 method presented in this article is based on the use of the stable hydrogen isotope deuterium (2H) as a tracer. It is added to the oil by conducting a hydrogen/deuterium (1H/2H) exchange process with synthetic oil, which is then blended into the oil. When operating the engine, the deuterium can be detected in the exhaust gas water vapor using an isotopic water analyzer based on the cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS). The present article will first focus on the synthesis of the tracer, then on the design of a prototype and finally present measurement results collected on a passenger car engine.
•Reduction of oil consumption is a key for developing cleaner combustion engines.•A novel tracer method for oil consumption measurement is presented in this paper.•Hydrogen atoms in the hydrocarbons of oil are substituted by the tracer: deuterium.•Deuterium is detected in the exhaust gas water vapor by a water isotope analyzer.•The newly developed and patented method offers high reproducibility and robustness.
Bioprinting of engineered bacteria is of great interest for applications of synthetic biology in the context of living biomaterials, but so far, only a few viable approaches are available for the ...printing of gels hosting live
bacteria. Here, we develop a gentle extrusion-based bioprinting method based on an inexpensive alginate/agarose ink mixture that enables printing of
into three-dimensional hydrogel structures up to 10 mm in height. We first characterize the rheological properties of the gel ink and then study the growth of the bacteria inside printed structures. We show that the maturation of fluorescent proteins deep within the printed structures can be facilitated by the addition of a calcium peroxide-based oxygen generation system. We then utilize the bioprinter to control different types of interactions between bacteria that depend on their spatial position. We next show quorum-sensing-based chemical communication between the engineered sender and receiver bacteria placed at different positions inside the bioprinted structure and finally demonstrate the fabrication of barrier structures defined by nonmotile bacteria that can guide the movement of chemotactic bacteria inside a gel. We anticipate that a combination of 3D bioprinting and synthetic biological approaches will lead to the development of living biomaterials containing engineered bacteria as dynamic functional units.
River systems have undergone a massive transformation since the Anthropocene. The natural properties of river systems have been drastically altered and reshaped, limiting the use of management ...frameworks, their scientific knowledge base and their ability to provide adequate solutions for current problems and those of the future, such as climate change, biodiversity crisis and increased demands for water resources. To address these challenges, a socioecologically driven research agenda for river systems that complements current approaches is needed and proposed. The implementation of the concepts of social metabolism and the colonisation of natural systems into existing concepts can provide a new basis to analyse the coevolutionary coupling of social systems with ecological and hydrological (i.e., ‘socio-ecohydrological’) systems within rivers. To operationalize this research agenda, we highlight four initial core topics defined as research clusters (RCs) to address specific system properties in an integrative manner. The colonisation of natural systems by social systems is seen as a significant driver of the transformation processes in river systems. These transformation processes are influenced by connectivity (RC 1), which primarily addresses biophysical aspects and governance (RC 2), which focuses on the changes in social systems. The metabolism (RC 3) and vulnerability (RC 4) of the social and natural systems are significant aspects of the coupling of social systems and ecohydrological systems with investments, energy, resources, services and associated risks and impacts. This socio-ecohydrological research agenda complements other recent approaches, such as ‘socio-ecological’, ‘socio-hydrological’ or ‘socio-geomorphological’ systems, by focusing on the coupling of social systems with natural systems in rivers and thus, by viewing the socioeconomic features of river systems as being just as important as their natural characteristics. The proposed research agenda builds on interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity and requires the implementation of such programmes into the education of a new generation of river system scientists, managers and engineers who are aware of the transformation processes and the coupling between systems.
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•River systems have been massively transformed and are socio-ecohydrological systems.•A socio-ecohydrologically driven approach provides insights into coevolutionary processes.•Social metabolism and the colonisation of natural systems are underlying concepts.•Four research clusters analyse the transformation and coupling of society and nature.•Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches support the operationalization of the research agenda.
A new guideline for geological maps with QGIS Erharter, Georg H.; Steinbichler, Mathias; Eder, Markus ...
Austrian journal of earth sciences,
01/2023, Letnik:
116, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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Being able to create digital geological maps has become a basic requirement for the skillset of today’s geologists. QGIS is a geographical information system that receives increasing popularity due ...to its user-friendliness and the fact that it is an open access software. This contribution provides an update and extension to a previously published software guideline that gives a stepwise explanation on how to create a geological map with QGIS. The article serves as a brief overview of the guideline through an illustrated example. The guideline itself is published as a supplement to this paper. Within six sections, the guideline explains how to create a geological map with QGIS: 1. Introduction, 2. Download and installation, 3. Basemaps, 4. Map drawing, 5. Plugins, 6. Layouts. The aim is to instruct geologists who are completely inexperienced with digital map creation as well as provide specific information for more advanced users. In general, providing software guidelines for the geological community is an important step towards increasing geologists’ digital proficiency and to keep up with today’s fast paced developments in digitalization.
S-layers are crystalline arrays found on bacterial and archaeal cells. Lactobacillus is a diverse family of bacteria known especially for potential gut health benefits. This study focuses on the ...S-layer proteins from Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus amylovorus common in the mammalian gut. Atomic resolution structures of Lactobacillus S-layer proteins SlpA and SlpX exhibit domain swapping, and the obtained assembly model of the main S-layer protein SlpA aligns well with prior electron microscopy and mutagenesis data. The S-layer’s pore size suggests a protective role, with charged areas aiding adhesion. A highly similar domain organization and interaction network are observed across the Lactobacillus genus. Interaction studies revealed conserved binding areas specific for attachment to teichoic acids. The structure of the SlpA S-layer and the suggested incorporation of SlpX as well as its interaction with teichoic acids lay the foundation for deciphering its role in immune responses and for developing effective treatments for a variety of infectious and bacteria-mediated inflammation processes, opening opportunities for targeted engineering of the S-layer or lactobacilli bacteria in general.
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