scholarly journals Linking Urban Residential Landscape Types in a Desert Environment to Landscape Water Budgets

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malik G. Al-Ajlouni ◽  
Dawn M. VanLeeuwen ◽  
Rolston St. Hilaire
Keyword(s):  
Water Budget ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Desert Environment ◽  
Water Budgets ◽  
Hard Surface ◽  
Landscape Type ◽  
Residential Landscapes ◽  
Landscape Water ◽  
Landscape Types

Linking an urban residential landscapes type to a specific landscape water budget is important to water resource management in a desert environment. Yet, no research that we are aware of has effectively associated a specific water budget with a quantitatively determined urban landscape type. The objective of this research was to determine whether a landscape water budget and residential urban landscape type could be related. We previously quantitatively classified urban residential landscapes in the desert environment of Las Cruces, NM, into hard-surface shade-structure, mulch, hard-surface, hard-surface-mulch, mulch tree, turf mulch, turf, tree mulch turf, and turf tree landscape types. In this study, we determined water budget, landscape coefficient, and the portion of the coverage of irrigated and nonirrigated elements for each landscape type. Landscape types in Las Cruces grouped into four distinct water budget groups: no-water, low-, moderate-, and high-water budget. Because of the heterogeneity of the coefficients for grass, plants, and water surfaces that constituted it, the landscape coefficient correlated weakly (r2 = 0.3) with the water budget. Coverage of the irrigated elements correlated highly (r2 = 0.95) with the water budget. Our results suggest that the coverage of irrigated elements in a desert urban landscape is a major driver of landscape water budgets.

scholarly journals A Method to Quantitatively Classify Residential Urban Landscapes in a Desert Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-481
Author(s):  
Malik G. Al-Ajlouni ◽  
Dawn M. VanLeeuwen ◽  
Michael N. DeMers ◽  
Rolston St. Hilaire
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Desert Environment ◽  
Landscape Type ◽  
Quantitative Classification ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Residential Landscapes ◽  
The Common ◽  
Landscape Types

The apparent heterogeneity of human-generated materials in residential urban landscapes sustains concerns that the quantitative classification of urban residential landscapes is impossible. The objective of this research was to develop a method to quantitatively classify urban residential landscapes in a desert environment. Using a purposive sampling procedure, we studied the landscapable area around each of 54 residential homes in Las Cruces, NM. All materials in the landscape were identified, measured, and categorized. Using 30% as the cutoff to indicate that a material was dominant in the landscape, we classified 93% of all landscapes into nine common landscape types. Mulch-dominant landscapes were the most common, and landscape types differed between front- and backyards. Shrubs did not feature prominently in any of the common landscape types. Our classification method clearly identifies multiple landscape types, and for the first time, provides quantitative evidence that landscape types are distributed differently in front- and backyard landscapes in the desert environment of Las Cruces. Information on common landscape types will be valuable to landscape horticulturists wanting to craft water conservation plans that are landscape specific if the common landscape type can be linked to a landscape water budget.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of water budget dynamic in the Yarlung Tsangpo River basin of Tibetan Plateau based on multi-source datasets

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Jiang ◽  
Zongxue Xu
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Budget ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Water Budgets ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Yarlung Tsangpo ◽  
Yarlung Tsangpo River

<p>Understanding the dynamics of basin-scale water budgets over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is significant for hydrology and water resource management in the southern and eastern Asia. However, a detailed water balance analysis is limited by the lack of adequate hydro-climatic observations in this region. In this study, we investigate the spatiotemporal variation of water budget components (e.g. precipitation P, evapotranspiration ET and runoff Q etc.) in the Yarlung Tsangpo River basin (YTB) of southeast TP during the period of 1975-2015 through using multi-source datasets (e.g. insitu observation, remote sensing data products, reanalysis outputs and model simulations etc.). The change trend of water budget components and vegetation parameters was analyzed in the YTB on interannual scale. The results indicated that the detailed water budgets are different from upstream to downstream YTB due to different temperature, vegetation cover and evapotranspiration, which are mainly affected by different climate conditions. In the whole basin, precipitation that are mainly during June to October was the major contributor to the runoff. The P and Q were found to show a slight but insignificant decrease in most regions of YTB since the late 1990s, which showed positive relationships with the weakening Indian summer monsoon. While the ET showed an insignificant increase across most of the YTB, especially in the middle basin. The runoff coefficient (Q/P) exhibited an indistinctively decreasing trend which may be, to some extent, due to the overlap effects of ET increase and snow and glacier changes. The obtained results offer insights into understanding the evolution mechanism of hydrological processes in such a data-sparse region under changing environment.</p>

scholarly journals Balancing Landscape Preferences and Water Conservation in a Desert Community

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane E. Spinti ◽  
Rolston St. Hilaire ◽  
Dawn VanLeeuwen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Desert Plants ◽  
Property Value ◽  
Desert Environment ◽  
Water Shortages ◽  
Residential Landscapes ◽  
Landscape Water ◽  
Willingness To Use

We surveyed homeowners with residential landscapes in Las Cruces, N.M., to determine design features participants valued in their landscapes, their attitudes toward the landscape use of desert plants and opinions on factors that would encourage respondents to reduce landscape water use. We also determined whether the willingness to use desert plants in their landscapes related to the length of residency in the southwestern United States. At least 98% of respondents landscaped to enhance the appearance of their home and increase their property value. About half (50.6%) of the participants strongly agreed or agreed that the main reason to landscape was to display their landscape preferences. Many participants indicated they would use desert plants to landscape their front yard (80.3%) and back yard (56.3%), but relatively lower percentages of participants actually had desert landscapes in their front yard and back yard. Regardless of their property value, respondents were more likely to use desert plants in their backyard the shorter their stay in the desert. Data revealed that participants rank water shortages as the factor that would most likely cause them to reduce the amount of water they applied to their landscapes. We conclude that homeowners report willingness to use desert plants but desert-type landscapes are not a widespread feature of managed residential landscapes. Furthermore, water shortages and the length of time respondents spent in a desert environment would most likely influence water use in their landscapes.

scholarly journals Landscape change patterns at three stages of the construction and operation of the TGP

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruikang Li ◽  
Yangbing Li ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Dianji Fu
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Pattern ◽  
Landscape Change ◽  
Ecological Security ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
Temporal Characteristics ◽  
Landscape Type ◽  
The Three Gorges ◽  
Landscape Types ◽  
Landscape Ecological ◽  
Landscape Ecological Security

AbstractAnalyses of landscape change patterns that are based on elevation and slope can not only provide reasonable interpretations of landscape patterns but can also help to reveal evolutionary laws. However, landscape change patterns and their model in different landforms of the typical watershed in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) has not been quantified and assessed effectively. As a complex geographical unit, the ecological environment in the middle reach of the Yangtze River has experienced great changes due to the construction of the Three Gorges Project (TGP) and its associated human activities. Here, based mainly on a digital elevation model (DEM) and remotely sensed images from 1986, 2000, 2010, and 2017 and by using GIS technology, speeds/ trends of landscape change, the index of landscape type change intensity, landscape pattern indices, and landscape ecological security index, the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of different elevations, slopes, and buffer landscape types were analyzed in typical watersheds, as well as an evolutionary model of the landscape pattern. The results indicated that (1) the landscape types along with the land classification and buffer zone that were influenced by the TGR construction have undergone a phased change, with the period 2000–2010 being the most dramatic period of landscape evolution during the impoundment period; (2) landscape type shifts from human-dominated farmland to nature-driven forestland and shrub-land as elevations, slopes and buffer distances increased. The landscape has shifted from diversity to relative homogeneity; (3) land types and buffer zones played essential roles in the landscape pattern index, which is reflected in the differences in landscape type indices for spatial extension and temporal characteristics. The results of this paper illustrate the spatial–temporal characteristics of various landscape types at three distinct stages in the construction of the TGR. These findings indicate that the landscape ecological security of the watershed is improving year by year. The follow-up development of the TGRA needs to consider the landscape change patterns of different landforms.

Analyzing the Water Budgets of Reservoirs by Using Autonomous Mini Boats

2014 ◽  
Vol 605 ◽  
pp. 51-54
Author(s):  
Gurkan Tuna ◽  
Orhan Arkoc ◽  
Stelios M. Potirakis ◽  
Bilel Nefzi
Keyword(s):  
Water Budget ◽  
Water Reservoir ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Depth Map ◽  
Water Reservoirs ◽  
Water Budgets ◽  
Repetitive Process ◽  
Current Water ◽  
Human Effort ◽  
Bathymetric Map

The calculation and estimation of water deposits in both man-made reservoirs and natural reservoirs is very important in several aspects. For surface water reservoirs in hot and dry environments, evaporation is an important factor in their operations since it can cause significant water loss. Typically, hydrologists use different computer models which take into account the effects of evaporation to estimate the water budgets of reservoirs. An important step required for this repetitive process is to calculate the current water budget of a reservoir. In this paper, an autonomous system is proposed aiming to support this step. Unlike the common approaches, the proposed system is fast and accurate, and requires no human effort. In this system, first, an autonomous mini boat follows predefined trajectories at a reservoir and builds a depth map (bathymetric map) of it. Then, an onboard computer calculates the water budget of the reservoir. The proposed system is portable and a single system can periodically serve at several water reservoirs. Field tests in the water reservoir of Kirklareli (Kirklareli dam), Turkey, are in progress.

Analysis of Spatial Distribution Characteristic of Urban Landscape Water in Shandong Province

2014 ◽  
Vol 641-642 ◽  
pp. 33-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiao Yi Xu ◽  
Wei Ping Wang ◽  
Hai Yan Deng
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Shape Index ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Shandong Province ◽  
Ecological Effect ◽  
Water Surface Area ◽  
Landscape Water ◽  
Typical Distribution ◽  
Spatial Distribution Characteristic

With the requirement of the construction of water eco-civilization, the urban development in Northern China have paid more attention to the construction of landscape water. The spatial pattern of landscape water directly affects urban ecological function, but now, the study of this field is too little. Four typical distribution of landscape water area in Jinan, Weifang, Linyi and Jining of Shandong province, China were selected as study areas, four appropriate spacial indexes, such as suitable ratio of water surface area, shape index, evenness index and dispersity index were adopted and the corresponding standard for each index were determined to compare four cities’ landscape pattern with comprehensive analysis. So it is essential to reasonably plan landscape water area of land use in the future in order to give full play to its ecological effect in cities.

Investigation and Assessment on Landscape Water of Kaifeng

2013 ◽  
Vol 726-731 ◽  
pp. 1337-1340
Author(s):  
Hong Xia Cao ◽  
Qing Zhen Feng ◽  
Xiang Li Li ◽  
Yang Cao ◽  
Yao Bin Shi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Landscape Water

Through the monitoring and evaluation on landscape water of Kaifeng , knowing about the compliance with the environment of landscape water limits , so as to provide valuable suggestions for the management and protection of landscape water of Kaifeng and provide a basis for sustainable development of urban landscape waters.

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