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Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Iran’s policy priorities intensify water crisis(Springer, 2026-03-13); ; ; ; Mahoozi, SanamThe chronic water crisis in Iran stems from decades of water-intensive development, fragmented governance and national priorities that sidelined environmental protection. Without major governance reform and reprioritization, technical solutions alone cannot stop worsening water and environmental degradation.Publicationtype: Journal Article71 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Sustainability Nexus AID: storms(Springer, 2025-01-06); ; 10 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Utilizing Satellite Data and Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict Water Level Fluctuations in the Bani River in Africa(2024-12); ; ; We carried out a research focusing on forecasting water levels in the Bani River in Africa, a significant tributary of the Niger River that is vital for agriculture in Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. Our region confronts issues due to political instability that hampers data collection. To address these challenges, we employed satellite data and machine learning methods. We evaluated two satellite rainfall products, CHIRPS and PERSIANN-CDR, to identify which delivers the most precise information for our area. Subsequently, we implemented machine learning models to predict water level variations, improving our management strategies and resilience against environmental changes. This method not only enhances the precision of water level forecasts but also aids in better resource management in politically unstable areas.Publicationtype: Conference Poster18 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , How does groundwater level influence the occurrence and frequency of heatwaves?Climate extremes (e.g., 2023 European heatwave) have severe consequences on built and natural environments, posing a threat to human wellbeing and economic resilience. A changing climate is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of climate hazards but also their impacts might intensify due to increasing exposure and vulnerability. Land atmosphere interactions have been identified as key drivers for heatwaves, relying significantly on groundwater interactions through its effect on soil moisture, evaporation and thus surface heat fluxes (1, 2). Variation of rainfall patterns and the increase in water demands are expected to influence groundwater dynamics, soil moisture-air temperature feedback processes and subsequently the occurrence of preconditioned compound events, where climate-driven preconditions (rainfall-variability and increase of air temperature), worsen the effects of a hazard (heatwave). The current understanding of groundwater as driver for heatwaves are often limited to regional studies or specific land covers, with few endeavors seeking to characterize global- scale trends and responses. We aim to globally investigate the relation between groundwater levels and heatwave events considering different land cover types and environmental variables by conducting a wide-ranging statistical analysis. We combine a variety of datasets, making use of an existing high resolution groundwater model, climate reanalysis data and remote sensing data. This allows us to distinguish potential drivers of heatwave occurrence which contribute to the development of effective action plans to mitigate climate change's adverse effects.Publicationtype: Conference Poster32 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Losing water through evaporation from water reservoirs in water-stressed regions: The case of Iran-Afghanistan(2024-04); ; The rising demand for water in the transboundary Helmand basin is causing heightened tensions between Afghanistan and Iran concerning the Helmand River with serious environmental, socio-economics and political implications. This intensifies the long-existing transboundary water conflicts between the two countries. To overcome water shortages during dry spells, water reservoirs and storage infrastructure have been constructed in a region experiencing extremely hot and dry climate conditions. Water evaporation from these reservoirs diminishes their storage efficiency. This makes quantification and prediction of water evaporation from these reservoirs a crucial step for water management, accountability and transboundary cooperation in the river basin. In this study, we used satellite remote sensing information of the large water reservoirs in the Helmand basin combined with physically-based modelling approaches (Aminzadeh et al., 2024) to obtain reliable estimates of evaporative losses from the main storage infrastructures. Our results suggest that a considerable amount of water loss in the region stems from the evaporation of water in major water storage infrastructure within the basin, particularly from the man-made reservoirs located on the Iranian side of the basin in a very water-deprived region. Our results indicate 491 million cubic meters of water was evaporated from the reservoirs in 2020 accounting for 11% of their total storage capacity and 8.2% of the water demands in the basin. Our findings improve water accounting and management in the Helmand basin. Additionally, they underscore the key role of effective water storage infrastructures in managing limited freshwater resources which could improve water security.Publicationtype: Conference Paper10 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Modes of interaction and varying feedback between groundwater and climate depending on soil characteristicsClimate, climate variability, and climate change could influence groundwater. Shifts in precipitation patterns, recharge, or snowmelt are among the several climate-related variables with important impacts on groundwater. However, the climate-groundwater relationship is not one-way. Groundwater can also impact the climate itself via its influence on different processes and variables such as evaporation, soil moisture, and vegetation. Understanding the interactions and the feedback relationship between groundwater and climate is crucial for sustainable water resource management and resilient adaptation to climate change. Current understanding of how climate influences groundwater and the resulting feedback from groundwater and its impacts on climate is limited. This is of particular importance in the face of projected climatic changes. Here, we aim to develop a simple analytical framework to extend the projection capabilities required to characterize the climate-groundwater interactions depending on the soil characteristics serving as an intermediate domain between the groundwater and climate systems. Our proposed analytical framework can be used to identify potential regions with significant two-way (bidirectional) interactions between climate and groundwater using soil characteristics and soil water retention curves following the theoretical lines discussed in Shokri and Salvucci (2011) and Or and Lehmann (2019). Using this framework, we identify regions of expected hydraulic connections between groundwater and soil surface, depending on the competition between capillary forces and the limiting gravity and viscous forces, and the groundwater depth (GWD) in the city of Hamburg. We argue that in regions with bidirectional interactions, groundwater is potentially more vulnerable to climate change and variability. Moreover, our initial results suggest that regions with finer textured soils are more sensitive to changes in evaporation and air temperature in terms of hydraulic connections between groundwater and the soil surface, which can influence the groundwater-climate interactions. Our analysis provides the basis for further investigation of the feedback impacts of groundwater on several variables, such as soil moisture, ground cooling capacity, and vegetation patterns under different climate change scenarios. ReferencesOr, D., & Lehmann, P. (2019). Surface evaporative capacitance: How soil typeand rainfall characteristics affect global-scale surface evaporation. Water Resources Research, 55, 519-539.https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024050.Shokri, N., Salvucci, G. (2011). Evaporation from porous media in the presence of a water table. Vadose Zone J., 10, 1309-1318.Publicationtype: Conference Paper20 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Insignificant but overlooked : evaporative losses from small reservoirs in southern Europe(Copernicus Publications, 2023-05-15); ; The application of agricultural ponds and small engineered impoundments (often < 0.1 km2 area) is growing globally to support livestock, irrigation, and local municipal and industrial demands during dry spells. However, evaporation diminishes the storage efficiency of these popular but often un-inventoried resources. This study provides a reliable framework for estimating global abundance of small reservoirs and associated evaporative hotspots under different climate change scenarios serving as a basis for future water management and planning. To show the applicability of the proposed method and the utility of the insights it provides, we use satellite data to identify spatio-temporal distribution of small reservoirs (~0.001 to 0.1 km2 area) in southern Europe (Italy, Spain, and Portugal) where irrigation heavily depends on water storage in agricultural ponds. While current estimates of evaporative water losses from small reservoirs often rely on pan measurements or Penman-type approaches with locally calibrated heat and mass transfer coefficients, we employ a physically-based model [Aminzadeh et al., 2018] that accounts for inherent reservoir characteristics (e.g., depth and light attenuation), and radiative energy storage within the water body to quantify energy balance and evaporation dynamics from small water reservoirs. Our preliminary results indicate that cumulative area of small reservoirs in the study area has increased from 518 km2 in 2000 to 614 km2 in 2020 (18.5% increase) with cumulative evaporative losses that may exceed 400 Mm3 during warm months (April to September). Although the estimated evaporative water loss looks negligible relative to the annual agricultural water use (< 2%), its significance could be gauged by societal impacts in these regions with chronic water stress problems or the cost of alternate water sources (e.g., desalinated water).Publicationtype: Conference Paper25 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Global scale estimation of evaporative losses from large lakes located in different climatic zones(European Geosciences Union, 2023-04); ; ; Reliable projection of evaporative fluxes from lakes is at the core of a wide range of hydrological, climatological, and environmental modeling processes. Evaporation results in losses of blue water from lakes in regions with limited freshwater resources and affects aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. While current estimates of evaporative losses from lakes remain largely empirical depending on locally calibrated heat and mass transfer coefficients or remotely sensed surface temperature data, we propose a physically-based framework that builds on inherent lake characteristics (e.g., bathymetry, light attenuation characteristics) and atmospheric forcing variables to quantify energy dynamics of the water body and surface evaporative fluxes from the largest lakes across different climatic zones on a global scale. To evaluate the performance of the model, the modelling results determining the seasonal variation of vertical temperature profiles and latent heat loss were compared with in situ measurements of water temperature and surface heat fluxes measured in Lake Mead, in the Southwestern USA. We found good agreements between the physically-based estimations and the measured data. We then quantified evaporative losses from 30 lakes in 30 different climate zone sub-types with an average depth ranging from 1.1 m to 577 m and a surface area of 45 km² to 82,000 km². Our preliminary findings for 2020 indicate that variation of first-order atmospheric parameters (i.e., wind, radiation, air temperature, and humidity) across climatic zones and the change in lake bathymetry altering local vertical temperature profiles within the water body significantly affect evaporative losses. The energy-constrained model enables quantifying the extent of evaporative water losses from lakes and provides a theoretical basis for delineating potential impacts on water management and ecological and climatological processes under different climate change scenarios.Publicationtype: Conference Poster23