Surface water monitoring in small water bodies: potential and limits of multi-sensor Landsat time series

Hydrometric monitoring of small water bodies (1–10&thinsp;ha) remains rare, due to their limited size and large numbers, preventing accurate assessments of their agricultural potential or their cumulative influence in watershed hydrology. Landsat imagery has shown its potential to support mapping of small water bodies, but the influence of their limited surface areas, vegetation growth, and rapid flood dynamics on long-term surface water monitoring remains unquantified. A semi-automated method is developed here to assess and optimize the potential of multi-sensor Landsat time series to monitor surface water extent and mean water availability in these small water bodies. Extensive hydrometric field data (1999–2014) for seven small reservoirs within the Merguellil catchment in central Tunisia and SPOT imagery are used to calibrate the method and explore its limits. The Modified Normalised Difference Water Index (MNDWI) is shown out of six commonly used water detection indices to provide high overall accuracy and threshold stability during high and low floods, leading to a mean surface area error below 15&thinsp;%. Applied to 546 Landsat 5, 7, and 8 images over 1999–2014, the method reproduces surface water extent variations across small lakes with high skill (R2 = 0.9) and a mean root mean square error (RMSE) of 9300&thinsp;m2. Comparison with published global water datasets reveals a mean RMSE of 21&thinsp;800&thinsp;m2 (+134&thinsp;%) on the same lakes and highlights the value of a tailored MNDWI approach to improve hydrological monitoring in small lakes and reduce omission errors of flooded vegetation. The rise in relative errors due to the larger proportion and influence of mixed pixels restricts surface water monitoring below 3&thinsp;ha with Landsat (Normalised RMSE&thinsp; = &thinsp;27&thinsp;%). Interferences from clouds and scan line corrector failure on ETM+ after 2003 also decrease the number of operational images by 51&thinsp;%, reducing performance on lakes with rapid flood declines. Combining Landsat observations with 10&thinsp;m pansharpened Sentinel-2 imagery further reduces RMSE to 5200&thinsp;m2, displaying the increased opportunities for surface water monitoring in small water bodies after 2015.</p

Report from the fourth international consensus meeting to harmonize core outcome measures for atopic eczema/dermatitis clinical trials (HOME initiative)

This article is a report of the fourth meeting of the Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative held in Malmö, Sweden on 23–24 April 2015 (HOME IV). The aim of the meeting was to achieve consensus over the preferred outcome instruments for measuring patient-reported symptoms and quality of life for the HOME core outcome set for atopic eczema (AE). Following presentations, which included data from systematic reviews, consensus discussions were held in a mixture of whole group and small group discussions. Small groups were allocated a priori to ensure representation of different stakeholders and countries. Decisions were voted on using electronic keypads. For the patient-reported symptoms, the group agreed by vote that itch, sleep loss, dryness, redness/inflamed skin and irritated skin were all considered essential aspects of AE symptoms. Many instruments for capturing patient-reported symptoms were discussed [including the Patient-Oriented SCOring Atopic Dermatitis index, Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM), Self-Administered Eczema Area and Severity Index, Itch Severity Scale, Atopic Dermatitis Quickscore and the Nottingham Eczema Severity Score] and, by consensus, POEM was selected as the preferred instrument to measure patient-reported symptoms. Further work is needed to determine the reliability and measurement error of POEM. Further work is also required to establish the importance of pain/soreness and the importance of collecting information regarding the intensity of symptoms in addition to their frequency. Much of the discussion on quality of life concerned the Dermatology Life Quality Index and Quality of Life Index for Atopic Dermatitis; however, consensus on a preferred instrument for measuring this domain could not be reached. In summary, POEM is recommended as the HOME core outcome instrument for measuring AE symptoms

Observed controls on resilience of groundwater to climate variability in sub-Saharan Africa

Groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa supports livelihoods and poverty alleviation1,2, maintains vital ecosystems, and strongly influences terrestrial water and energy budgets. Yet the hydrological processes that govern groundwater recharge and sustainability—and their sensitivity to climatic variability—are poorly constrained4. Given the absence of firm observational constraints, it remains to be seen whether model-based projections of decreased water resources in dry parts of the region4 are justified. Here we show, through analysis of multidecadal groundwater hydrographs across sub-Saharan Africa, that levels of aridity dictate the predominant recharge processes, whereas local hydrogeology influences the type and sensitivity of precipitation–recharge relationships. Recharge in some humid locations varies by as little as five per cent (by coefficient of variation) across a wide range of annual precipitation values. Other regions, by contrast, show roughly linear precipitation–recharge relationships, with precipitation thresholds (of roughly ten millimetres or less per day) governing the initiation of recharge. These thresholds tend to rise as aridity increases, and recharge in drylands is more episodic and increasingly dominated by focused recharge through losses from ephemeral overland flows. Extreme annual recharge is commonly associated with intense rainfall and flooding events, themselves often driven by large-scale climate controls. Intense precipitation, even during years of lower overall precipitation, produces some of the largest years of recharge in some dry subtropical locations. Our results therefore challenge the ‘high certainty’ consensus regarding decreasing water resources in such regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The potential resilience of groundwater to climate variability in many areas that is revealed by these precipitation–recharge relationships is essential for informing reliable predictions of climate-change impacts and adaptation strategies

Improving assessment of groundwater-resource sustainability with deterministic modelling: a case study of the semi-arid Musi sub-basin, South India

Since the 1990s, Indian farmers, supported by the government, have partially shifted from surface-water to groundwater irrigation in response to the uncertainty in surface-water availability. Water-management authorities only slowly began to consider sustainable use of groundwater resources as a prime concern. Now, a reliable integration of groundwater resources for water-allocation planning is needed to prevent aquifer overexploitation. Within the 11,000-km2 Musi River sub-basin (South India), human interventions have dramatically impacted the hard-rock aquifers, with a water-table drop of 0.18 m/a over the period 1989–2004. A fully distributed numerical groundwater model was successfully implemented at catchment scale. The model allowed two distinct conceptualizations of groundwater availability to be quantified: one that was linked to easily quantified fluxes, and one that was more expressive of long-term sustainability by taking account of all sources and sinks. Simulations showed that the latter implied 13 % less available groundwater for exploitation than did the former. In turn, this has major implications for the existing water-allocation modelling framework used to guide decision makers and water-resources managers worldwide

Groundwater externalities of large, surface irrigation transfers: insights from the Godavari-Krishna river link, India

In Bloschl, G.; van de Giesen, N.; Muralidharan, D.; Ren, L.; Seyler, F.; Sharma, U.; Vrba, J. (Eds.). Improving integrated surface and groundwater resources management in a vulnerable and changing world: proceedings of Symposium JS.3 at the Joint Convention of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), Hyderabad, India, 6-12 September 2009. Wallingford, UK: International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS).IAHS Publication 330The Krishna basin in South India is a fast closing basin. Consumptive water use, mainly for agriculture, accounted for 90.5% of the basin net inflow. The adjoining Godavari basin is comparatively water rich and it is planned to transfer 5325 million m3 of Godavari waters to Krishna through P-V Link. Such a transfer shall make the groundwater-irrigated area more sustainable, a part of the remaining rainfed area will come under irrigation and current benefits shall increase by 65%. MODFLOW results showed groundwater recharge increased by 28% due to supplement irrigation return flow. Annual estimated seepage from the main system was estimated at 183 million m3 per year leading to an average water table rise of 1.83 m. This is also likely to affect 16% of the command with water logging. Integrated planning of surface and groundwater resources and a scientific demand management through optimization of cropping systems have the potential to effectively harness the benefits of the river linking initiative

Managed aquifer recharge in South India : what to expect from small percolation tanks in hard rock ?

Many states in India are currently facing general overuse of their groundwater resources mainly due to growing demand for irrigated agriculture. Groundwater levels are declining despite water harvesting measures to enhance aquifer recharge which are supported on a massive scale by watershed development programmes. New programmes are being implemented to improve artificial percolation (i.e., managed aquifer recharge, MAR) although the impact of former measures on aquifer recharge has not yet been assessed. It is therefore crucial to increase our understanding of MAR to successfully overcome the threat of groundwater scarcity in the near future. This paper scrutinizes the ability of a typical percolation tank to recharge the aquifer using a comprehensive approach combining water accounting, geochemistry and hydrodynamic modelling. Over 2 years of observation, the percolation efficiency (percolated fraction of stored water) of the tank ranged from 57% to 63%, the rest being evaporated. Modelling showed that the percolated water was mostly (80%) pumped straight back by the neighbouring boreholes, limiting the area of MAR influence but increasing percolation efficiency

Assessing water availability in a semi-arid watershed of southern India using a semi-distributed model

Appropriate groundwater resource management becomes a priority for the States of the semi-arid southern India. Because of the highly increasing groundwater demand, the number of drought-prone regions where the groundwater resource is classified as over-exploited by the Government is critically increasing. Thus there is a need to develop quantitative methodologies adapted to the regional context that are capable to assess water resources at watershed scale and the impact of management measures. This study demonstrates the calibration and use of an integrated water resource assessment model (SWAT) in an 84 km(2) representative semi-arid crystalline watershed of southern India with no perennial surface water source. The model can reproduce (i) the recharge rate estimates derived independently by a groundwater balance computation, (ii) runoff and surface water storage occurring in tanks that spread along the drainage system, (iii) groundwater table fluctuations monitored at a monthly time step. Results show that even if the calibration period (2006-2010) was more humid than long-term average, the watershed is sensitive to the monsoon inter-annual variability with water-stress during the dry years and an associated loss in agricultural production. The impact of these dry years is spatially variable with higher vulnerability for sub-basins having proportionally larger irrigated paddy areas, lower groundwater resource, and/or lower recharge potential (i.e., due to land use and repartition of percolation tanks). The scope for additional recharge by means of managed aquifer recharge structures is limited and demand-side management measures are needed to mitigate pumping. A wishful management objective may be to see groundwater reserves as a supplementary resource in case of monsoon failure and not as the main water resource to be used indiscriminately. SWAT proved to be an adequate modeling framework for the simulation of water resource in semi-arid hard-rock context where groundwater vertical fluxes largely prevail over regional lateral flows at km-scale. It provides interesting capabilities for water availability mapping and the simulation of different types of scenarios (e.g., land use changes, climate change)