New Trends in Water and Environmental Engineering for Safety and Life


Book Description

This volume looks at recent scientific knowledge and innovative techniques concerning environmental matters. The proceedings focus on topics such as hydraulic protection of territory and defence, utilization of water resources, architecture and planning of fluival/coastal landscape and much more.




Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century


Book Description

Environmental engineers support the well-being of people and the planet in areas where the two intersect. Over the decades the field has improved countless lives through innovative systems for delivering water, treating waste, and preventing and remediating pollution in air, water, and soil. These achievements are a testament to the multidisciplinary, pragmatic, systems-oriented approach that characterizes environmental engineering. Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges outlines the crucial role for environmental engineers in this period of dramatic growth and change. The report identifies five pressing challenges of the 21st century that environmental engineers are uniquely poised to help advance: sustainably supply food, water, and energy; curb climate change and adapt to its impacts; design a future without pollution and waste; create efficient, healthy, resilient cities; and foster informed decisions and actions.




Enhancing Urban Environment by Environmental Upgrading and Restoration


Book Description

The fusion of algebra, analysis and geometry, and their application to real world problems, have been dominant themes underlying mathematics for over a century. Geometric algebras, introduced and classified by Clifford in the late 19th century, have played a prominent role in this effort, as seen in the mathematical work of Cartan, Brauer, Weyl, Chevelley, Atiyah, and Bott, and in applications to physics in the work of Pauli, Dirac and others. One of the most important applications of geometric algebras to geometry is to the representation of groups of Euclidean and Minkowski rotations. This aspect and its direct relation to robotics and vision will be discussed in several chapters of this multi-authored textbook, which resulted from the ASI meeting. Moreover, group theory, beginning with the work of Burnside, Frobenius and Schur, has been influenced by even more general problems. As a result, general group actions have provided the setting for powerful methods within group theory and for the use of groups in applications to physics, chemistry, molecular biology, and signal processing. These aspects, too, will be covered in detail. With the rapidly growing importance of, and ever expanding conceptual and computational demands on signal and image processing in remote sensing, computer vision, medical image processing, and biological signal processing, and on neural and quantum computing, geometric algebras, and computational group harmonic analysis, the topics of the book have emerged as key tools. The list of authors includes many of the world's leading experts in the development of new algebraic modeling and signal representation methodologies, novel Fourier-based and geometric transforms, and computational algorithms required for realizing the potential of these new application fields.




Enhancing Urban Environment by Environmental Upgrading and Restoration


Book Description

As urban areas keep growing, water infrastructure ages, and the requirements on environmental protection become more rigorous, there is a continual need for upgrading water pollution control facilities and restoring degraded urban waters. Such issues are addressed in this book by focusing on five major topics: (a) Upgrading stormwater management facilities, (b) Retrofitting / upgrading combined sewer overflow (CSO) facilities, (c) Optimising/upgrading sewage treatment plant performance, (d) Urban stream restoration, and (e) Challenges in restoring urban environment. Each chapter contains some overview papers followed by research or case study papers. Besides presentations of new approaches and accomplishments in the field of upgrading and restoration, several papers provide analysis of vast needs in this field in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which either recently joined the European Union (EU) or are preparing for accession, and need to comply with the existing EU directives dealing with environmental protection. As such, this book will be of primary interest to researchers and university lecturers dealing with environmental upgrading and restoration, environmental planners from all levels of government, municipal engineers and politicians, and finally the private industry representatives (consultants, private utilities and environmental technology suppliers) searching for new business opportunities among the new or aspiring members of EU.




Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban Water Management


Book Description

Aquatic habitats supply a wide range of vital ecosystem benefits to cities and their inhabitants. The unsustainable use of aquatic habitats, including inadequate urban water management itself, however, tends to alter and reduce their biodiversity and therewith diminish their ability to provide clean water, protect us from waterborne diseases and pollutants, keep urban areas safe from flooding, and support recreational ecosystem services and even the aesthetic enjoyment of our world. Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban Water Management – the result of collaboration between UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme and its Man and the Biosphere Programme – aims at improving our understanding of aquatic habitats, related ecosystem goods and services, and conservation and sustainable use – with a special focus on their integration into urban water management. The first part of this volume reviews basic concepts and challenges in urban aquatic habitats, as well as strategies for their management integration. The second part examines technical measures related to habitats management and rehabilitation, along with their incorporation into urban planning and their role in human health. The final part looks at current urban aquatic habitat issues and practical approaches to solving them through the lens of case studies from around the globe. Urban Water Series - UNESCO-IHP Following from the Sixth Phase of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (2002–2007), the Urban Water Series – UNESCO-IHP addresses fundamental issues related to the role of water in cities and the effects of urbanization on the hydrological cycle and water resources. Focusing on the development of integrated approaches to sustainable urban water management, the Series should inform the work of urban water management practitioners, policy-makers and educators throughout the world.




Sewer Networks and Processes within Urban Water Systems


Book Description

The papers in this volume were originally presented at the 18th European Junior Scientists Workshop (EJSW), Portugal, on 8-11 November 2003 and at the 1st Asian Junior Scientists Workshop (AJSW), Malaysia, on 7-10 February 2004. The workshops were organised by the SS&PWG (Sewer Systems and Processes Working Group) of the IWA/IAHR Joint Committee on Urban Drainage. The two separate workshops were convened under the general themes of "Sewer Processes, Networks and Urban Drainage" and specific topics covered included integrated modelling of urban water systems; modelling of pollutant loads; calibration of models; bed-load transport; sewer pipe roughness; advection in sewers; anoxic processes; infiltration and exfiltration; runoff source control; pollutant loads; ventilation and oxygen uptake. From the 37 full papers presented at the two workshops, 16 papers have been selected by independent reviewers from the SS&PWG for publication in Sewer Networks and Processes within Urban Water Systems. They reflect rather well the variety of topics presented during both workshops, and bring the high-quality work of these junior authors to the wider audience it merits.




Ecological Modeling For Mitigating Environmental And Climate Shocks: Achieving The Unsdgs


Book Description

Lakes, wetlands and coastal regions provide essential services critical to the survival of human, wildlife and, by and large, the ecosystems, which are constantly threatened by anthropogenic activities, environmental degradation and climate change. Marine resources, particularly mangroves and corals, are vulnerable to coastal developments, including coastal reclamation, and human settlements that discharge large quantities of wastes into the seas. Climate change impacts, such as increased salt intrusion and sea level rise, may additionally induce regime shifts detrimental to these delicate ecosystems. And the warmer climate has increased the frequency, duration and intensity of catastrophic coastal disturbances, implicating profound uncertainty to the sustainability of coastal infrastructures and resources essential for human populations.This book is written for students, researchers and practitioners pursuing teaching and research related to sustainable development, and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). It provides a unique approach on sustainable development, viewed from the perspectives of providing solutions via model simulation, to solve sustainable development issues related to human population growth, and impacts due to climate change. It provides the scientific knowledge and technical skills necessary to achieve valuable insights for mitigating the predicted adverse impacts and for developing sustainable development strategies, incorporating climate and environmental adaptations.




Environmental Performance and Social Inclusion in Informal Settlements


Book Description

This book discusses the potential of a systemic and multidisciplinary design approach to improve urban quality, health, livability, and inclusiveness for people living in informal settlements. In most instances, attempts to address informal settlements lack an adequate assessment of their impact on the wider built environment and implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Integrated Modification Methodology (IMM), introduced here, offers a systematic, multidisciplinary design tool encompassing several of the aspects that define the environmental performance of urban systems. The book also demonstrates the application of the methodology to an informal settlement, proving its potential to guide systemicurban transformations, also in urban areas lacking formal planning. The case study investigated is in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, which ischaracterized by poor water quality, lack of drainage and sanitation systems, and very few green spaces. Based on a rigorous methodology, the process described here can also be applied in similar contexts around the world.




River Basin Management IV


Book Description

In recent years, significant advances have been made in the overall management of riverine systems, including advances in hydraulic and hydrologic modelling, environmental protection and flood forecasting. Containing papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on River Basin Management this book addresses the latest developments in these fields. Featured topics include: Hydraulics and Hydrology; Integrated Watershed Planning; River and Watershed Management; Water Quality Modelling; Flood Risk; Ecological Perspective; MIS, GIS and Remote Sensing; Sediment Transport; Environmental Impact; Hydrological Impact and Case Studies.




Geomorphological Processes and Human Impacts in River Basins


Book Description

Progress towards a present-day diagnosis of, and future strategies for, environmental management of rivers and catchments, with particular reference to Mediterranean (semiarid) environments. Geomorphological processes at both the basin and the river levels, and their interactions and relations with human activities that interfere with them, are explored.