ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE Following the economical and social development of the local communities, mountain regions of temperate climates are increasingly becoming the site of valuable infrastructures and important urban and industrial settlements. As the catastrophic events of last years in the European Alps have clearly shown, the vulnerability of these territories has correspondingly increased, in terms of both property damage and losses of human life. Until recently, the hydraulic scientific community has paid little attention to mountain watersheds, except perhaps during the period if the hydropower development. Nevertheless attention was then focused on problems and methodologies somewhat different from the issues of actual environmental concern. More recently, however, hydraulic engineers have joined their colleagues from forest and rural engineering, who have traditionally dealt with erosion control in mountain areas, to bring in their own methodology, already experienced in lowland rivers. At the same time, academic people focused an interest in some phenomena, like massive transport, which is typical of mountain environment. To bring together all these contributions and to make the state of the art of the mountain river science (oropotamology) and technology, an International Workshop was called at the University of Trent (Italy), on October 1989, under the sponsorship of Fluvial Hydraulic Section of the IAHR. Three main topics have been recognized as particularly relevant from the point of view of both research and professivnal people: a) Hydrodynamics of steep channels and local scale process; b) Sediment movement and sediment training, with special emphasis on massive transport; c) Particular features of sediment transport related to non-uniform grain-size. However, as it is the case in these circumstances, the contest of several contributions often spread over more than one topic. In the following Introduction to papers, the three topics were split into 11 Sections, each one devoted to a more particular aspect recurrently addressed during the discussion. The same paper, thus, may be mentioned in different Sections of the Introduction.

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction / Pages 1-32 --- Interpretation using nomograms / Pages 33-47 --- Linear parameters / Pages 49-114 --- Non-linear parameters / Pages 115-173 --- Maximum likelihood and maximum entropy / Pages 175-193 --- Analytic inversion / Pages 195-211 --- Advanced inversion methods / Pages 213-227 --- Error analysis / Pages 229-243 --- Parallel computation in modelling and inversion / Pages 245-255

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE This book represents the first attempt in three decades to marshall out available information on the regional geology of Africa for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. Geologic education in African universities is severely hampered by the lack of a textbook on African regional geology. This situation is greatly exacerbated by the inability of most African universities to purchase reference books and maintain journal subscriptions. Besides, geologic information about Africa is so widely dispersed that a balanced and comprehensive course content on Africa is beyond the routine preparation of lecture notes by university teachers. Since geology is a universal subject and Africa is one of the largest landmasses on Earth with one of the longest continuous records of Earth history, there is no doubt that geologic education in other parts of the world will benefit from a comprehensive presentation of African geologic case histories. The scope of this text also addresses the need of the professional geologist, who may require some general or background information about an unfamiliar African geologic region or age interval. Africa occupies a central position in the world's mineral raw materials trade. Because of its enormous extent and great geologic age, the diversity and size of Africa's mineral endowment is unparalleled. Africa is the leading source of gold, diamond, uranium, and dominates the world's supply of strategic minerals such as chromium, manganese, cobalt, and platinum. Consequently, African nations from Algeria to Zimbabwe depend solely on mineral exports for economic survival. The geologic factors which govern economic mineral deposits are stressed in this text. The geological history of Africa spans 3.8 billion years, a record that is unique both in duration and continuity. Few other parts of our planet match the plethora of geologic phenomena and processes that are displayed in the African continent. From the various stages of crustal evolution decipherable from the Archean of southern Africa, through the plate tectonics scenarios in the ubiquitous Late Proterozoic-Early Paleozoic Pan-African mobile belts and in the Hercynian and Alpine orogenies of northwest Africa, to the East African Rift Valley, Africa is replete with excellent examples and problems for a course on regional tectonics. Teachers of igneous and metamorphic petrology can hardly ignore Africa's anorogenic magmatism (e.g.. layered ultramafic intrusives such as the Great Dyke and the Bushveld Complex; the Tete gabbro-anorthosite pluton; alkaline complexes; basaltic volcanism), or tantalizing highgrade metamorphic terranes such as the Limpopo belt, the Namaqua mobile belt, and the Mozambique belt. From the extensive Precambrian supracrustal sequences throughout the continent with enormous thicknesses of sedimentary rocks that have hardly been deformed or metamorphosed, to the stratigraphic evolution of Africa's present-day passive continental margin, there is a complete spectrum of facies models upon which to base a course on basin analysis and stratigraphy. To maintain its integrity a course on historical geology anywhere in the world must address the theory of Continental Drift beyond invoking past continuities between West Africa and South America. Past connections between West Africa and eastern North America must equally be explored, so also connections between northeast Africa and Arabia, and the paleogeography of southern Gondwana where Africa occupied centre stage. The Precambrian fossil record, the transitions from reptiles to the earliest mammals and dinosaurs, and the evolution of Man are among Africa's unique contributions to the history of life and the story of organic evolution. Although it lies today in the tropics Africa was the theatre of the Earth's most-spectacular glaciations. Even after the scene of continental glaciation had shifted to the northern continents only lately during the Pleistocene, Africa still witnessed spectacular climatic fluctuations during the Quaternary. Certainly students of archeology and paleoanthropology cannot overlook the Quaternary paleoenvironmental record of the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, the Lake Turkana basin in Kenya, the Nile valley, the Sahara, and southern Africa. But since African examples have already been cited in standard geologic textbook, I have often been asked why it has become necessary to revive the idea of a full-length textbook on African geology, 30 years after this idea was abandoned by the geologic community. My simple answer, as already stated, is that the wealth of available geologic information about Africa is so enormous and fascinating, but so diffuse, that an attempt must be made to assemble and pass on this knowledge.

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE Sedimentation as a Three-Component System describes the most common styles of deposition in marine environments as they relate to sediment composition. Three components, organic matter, carbonate, and siliciclastic sediment, may settle concurrently, but at different rates, intermixing on the sea floor to form a particular sediment composition. A change in the flux of one component is capable of relatively diluting or concentrating the other two components, which can be expressed in the characteristic ratio of organic carbon to carbonate in the resulting sediment. The basic concept of this book is to address organic carbon-carbonate associations in terms of depositional inputs and time spans. In addition, the three-component system describes organic carbon changes related to major facies transitions. Examples include models of the genesis of carbonaceous sediments, with their various laminated to bioturbated lithotypes, and numerical organic carbon prediction. I hope that this book will encourage stimulating discussions and promote a new approach to quantitative stratigraphy...

Description / Table of Contents: Air pollution has been a major transboundary problem and a matter of global concern for decades. High concentrations of different air pollutants are particularly harmful to large cities residents, where numerous anthropogenic activities strongly influence the quality of air. Although there are many books on the subject, the one in front of you will hopefully fulfill some of the gaps in the area of air quality monitoring and modeling, and be of help to graduate students, professionals and researchers. The book is divided in five sections, dealing with mathematical models and computing techniques used in air pollution monitoring and forecasting; air pollution models and application; measuring methodologies in air pollution monitoring and control; experimental data on urban air pollution in China, Egypt, Northeastern U.S, Brazil and Romania; and finally, the health effects due to exposure to benzene, and on the influence of air pollutants on the acute respiratory diseases in children in Mexico.

Description / Table of Contents: Biomass has been an intimate companion of humans from the dawn of civilization to the present. Its use as food, energy source, body cover and as construction material established the key areas of biomass usage that extend to this day. Given the complexities of biomass as a source of multiple end products, this volume sheds new light to the whole spectrum of biomass related topics by highlighting the new and reviewing the existing methods of its detection, production and usage. We hope that the readers will find valuable information and exciting new material in its chapters.

Description / Table of Contents: This book presents some aspects of the cosmological scientific odyssey that started last century. The chapters vary with different particular works, giving a versatile picture. It is the result of the work of many scientists in the field of cosmology, in accordance with their expertise and particular interests. Is a collection of different research papers produced by important scientists in the field of cosmology. A sample of the great deal of efforts made by the scientific community, trying to understand our universe. And it has many challenging subjects, like the possible doomsday to be confirmed by the next decade of experimentation. May be we are now half way in the life of the universe. Many more challenging subjects are not present here: they will be the result of further future work. Among them, we have the possibility of cyclic universes, and the evidence for the existence of a previous universe.

Description / Table of Contents: Sediment Transport in Aquatic Environments is a book which covers a wide range of topics. The effective management of many aquatic environments, requires a detailed understanding of sediment dynamics. This has both environmental and economic implications, especially where there is any anthropogenic involvement. Numerical models are often the tool used for predicting the transport and fate of sediment movement in these situations, as they can estimate the various spatial and temporal fluxes. However, the physical sedimentary processes can vary quite considerably depending upon whether the local sediments are fully cohesive, non-cohesive, or a mixture of both types. For this reason for more than half a century, scientists, engineers, hydrologists and mathematicians have all been continuing to conduct research into the many aspects which influence sediment transport. These issues range from processes such as erosion and deposition to how sediment process observations can be applied in sediment transport modeling frameworks. This book reports the findings from recent research in applied sediment transport which has been conducted in a wide range of aquatic environments. The research was carried out by researchers who specialize in the transport of sediments and related issues. I highly recommend this textbook to both scientists and engineers who deal with sediment transport issues.

Description / Table of Contents: This book entitled "Biodiesel: Quality, Emissions and By-products" covers topics related to biodiesel quality, performance of combustion engines that use biodiesel and the emissions they generate. New routes to determinate biodiesel properties are proposed and the process how the raw material source, impurities and production practices can affect the quality of the biodiesel is analyzed. In relation to the utilization of biofuel, the performance of combustion engines fuelled by biodiesel and biodiesels blends are evaluated. The applications of glycerol, a byproduct of the biodiesel production process as a feedstock for biotechnological processes, and a key compound of the biorefinery of the future is also emphasized.

Description / Table of Contents: The fourth book of the four-volume edition of 'Solar cells' consists chapters that are general in nature and not related specifically to the so-called photovoltaic generations, novel scientific ideas and technical solutions, which has not properly approved. General issues of the efficiency of solar cell and through hydrogen production in photoelectrochemical solar cell are discussed. Considerable attention is paid to the quantum-size effects in solar cells both in general and on specific examples of super-lattices, quantum dots, etc. New materials, such as cuprous oxide as an active material for solar cells, AlSb for use as an absorber layer in p-i-n junction solar cells, InGaAsN as a promising material for multi-junction tandem solar cells, InP in solar cells with MIS structures are discussed. Several chapters are devoted to the analysis of both status and perspective of organic photovoltaics such as polymer/fullerene solar cells, poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) derivatives, photovoltaic textiles, photovoltaic fibers, etc.

Description / Table of Contents: The third book of four-volume edition of 'Solar Cells' is devoted to solar cells based on silicon wafers, i.e., the main material used in today's photovoltaics. The volume includes the chapters that present new results of research aimed to improve efficiency, to reduce consumption of materials and to lower cost of wafer-based silicon solar cells as well as new methods of research and testing of the devices. Light trapping design in c-Si and mc-Si solar cells, solar-energy conversion as a function of the geometric-concentration factor, design criteria for spacecraft solar arrays are considered in several chapters. A system for the micrometric characterization of solar cells, for identifying the electrical parameters of PV solar generators, a new model for extracting the physical parameters of solar cells, LBIC method for characterization of solar cells, non-idealities in the I-V characteristic of the PV generators are discussed in other chapters of the volume.

Description / Table of Contents: The civilization of present age is predominantly dependent on energy resources and their utilization. Almost every human activity in today's life needs one or other form of energy. As world's energy resources are not unlimited, it is extremely important to use energy efficiently. Both energy related technological issues and policy and planning paradigms are highly needed to effectively exploit and utilize energy resources. This book covers topics, ranging from technology to policy, relevant to efficient energy utilization. Those academic and practitioners who have background knowledge of energy issues can take benefit from this book.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is devoted to different sides of Electromotive Force theory and its applications in Engineering science and Industry. The covered topics include the Quantum Theory of Thermoelectric Power (Seebeck Coefficient), Electromotive forces in solar energy and photocatalysis (photo electromotive forces), Electromotive Force in Electrochemical Modification of Mudstone, The EMF method with solid-state electrolyte in the thermodynamic investigation of ternary copper and silver chalcogenides, Electromotive Force Measurements and Thermodynamic Modelling of Electrolyte in Mixed Solvents, Application of Electromotive Force Measurement in Nuclear Systems Using Lead Alloys, Electromotive Force Measurements in High-Temperature Systems and finally, Resonance Analysis of Induced EMF on Coils.

Description / Table of Contents: This book represents an overview of the direct measurement techniques of evapotranspiration with related applications to the water use optimization in the agricultural practice and to the ecosystems study. Different measuring techniques at leaf level (porometry), plant-level (sap-flow, lysimetry) and agro-ecosystem level (Surface Renewal, Eddy Covariance, Multi layer BREB), are presented with detailed explanations and examples. For the optimization of the water use in agriculture, detailed measurements on transpiration demands of crops and different cultivars, as well as results of different irrigation schemes and techniques (i.e. subsurface drip) in semi-arid areas for open-field, greenhouse and potted grown plants are presented. Aspects on ET of crops in saline environments, effects of ET on groundwater quality in xeric environments as well as the application of ET to climatic classification are also depicted. The book provides an excellent overview for both, researchers and student,s who intend to address these issues.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is devoted to different aspects of tectonic research. Syntheses of recent and earlier works, combined with new results and interpretations, are presented in this book for diverse tectonic settings. Most of the chapters include up-to-date material of detailed geological investigations, often combined with geophysical data, which can help understand more clearly the essence of mechanisms of different tectonic processes. Some chapters are dedicated to general problems of tectonics. Another block of chapters is devoted to sedimentary basins and special attention in this book is given to tectonic processes on active plate margins.

Description / Table of Contents: This book shows some of the socio-economic impacts of climate change according to different estimates of the current or estimated global warming. A series of scientific and experimental research projects explore the impacts of climate change and browse the techniques to evaluate the related impacts. These 23 chapters provide a good overview of the different changes impacts that already have been detected in several regions of the world. They are part of an introduction to the researches being done around the globe in connection with this topic. However, climate change is not just an academic issue important only to scientists and environmentalists; it also has direct implications on various ecosystems and technologies.

Description / Table of Contents: Today science is moving in the direction of synthesis of the achievements of various academic disciplines. The idea to prepare and present to the international academic milieu, a multidimensional approach to globalization phenomenon is an ambitious undertaking. The book The Systemic Dimension of Globalization consists of 14 chapters divided into three sections: Globalization and Complex Systems; Globalization and Social Systems; Globalization and Natural Systems. The Authors of respective chapters represent a great diversity of disciplines and methodological approaches as well as a variety of academic culture. This is the value of this book and this merit will be appreciated by a global community of scholars.

Description / Table of Contents: To better understand the contemporary world, the world of innovation and technology, science should try to synthesize and assimilate social science in the development of our civilization. Does the new era require new knowledge? Does the age of globalization demand new education, new human attitudes? This books tries to clarify these questions. The book New Knowledge in a New Era of Globalization consists of 16 chapters divided into three sections: Globalization and Education; Globalization and Human Being; Globalization and Space. The Authors of respective chapters represent a great diversity of disciplines and methodological approaches as well as a variety of academic culture. This book is a valuable contribution and it will certainly be appreciated by a global community of scholars.

Description / Table of Contents: Crop production depends on the successful implementation of the soil, water, and nutrient management technologies. Food production by the year 2020 needs to be increased by 50 percent more than the present levels to satisfy the needs of around 8 billion people. Much of the increase would have to come from intensification of agricultural production. Importance of wise usage of water, nutrient management, and tillage in the agricultural sector for sustaining agricultural growth and slowing down environmental degradation calls for urgent attention of researchers, planners, and policy makers. Crop models enable researchers to promptly speculate on the long-term consequences of changes in agricultural practices. In addition, cropping systems, under different conditions, are making it possible to identify the adaptations required to respond to changes. This book adopts an interdisciplinary approach and contributes to this new vision. Leading authors analyze topics related to crop production technologies. The efforts have been made to keep the language as simple as possible, keeping in mind the readers of different language origins. The emphasis has been on general descriptions and principles of each topic, technical details, original research work, and modeling aspects. However, the comprehensive journal references in each area should enable the reader to pursue further studies of special interest. The subject has been presented through fifteen chapters to clearly specify different topics for convenience of the readers.

Description / Table of Contents: Aquaculture is the art, science and business of cultivating aquatic animals and plants in fresh or marine waters. It is the extension of fishing, resulted from the fact that harvests of wild sources of fish and other aquatic species cannot keep up with the increased demand of a growing human population. Expansion of aquaculture can result with less care for the environment. The first pre-requisite to sustainable aquaculture is clean wate, but bad management of aquatic species production can alter or even destroy existing wild habitat, increase local pollution levels or negatively impact local species. Aquatic managers are aware of this and together with scientists are looking for modern and more effective solutions to many issues regarding fish farming. This book presents recent research results on the interaction between aquaculture and environment, and includes several case studies all over the world with the aim of improving and performing sustainable aquaculture.

Description / Table of Contents: The phenomena related to the flow of fluids are generally complex, and difficult to quantify. New approaches, considering points of view still not explored, may introduce useful tools in the study of Hydrodynamics and the related transport phenomena. The details of the flows and the properties of the fluids must be considered on a very small scale perspective. Consequently, new concepts and tools are generated to better describe the fluids and their properties. This volume presents conclusions about advanced topics of calculated and observed flows. It contains twenty chapters, organized in five sections: 1) Mathematical Models in Fluid Mechanics 2) Biological Applications and Biohydrodynamics 3) Detailed Experimental Analyses of Fluids and Flows 4) Radiation-, Electro-, Magnetohydrodynamics, and Magnetorheology 5) Special Topics on Simulations and Experimental Data. These chapters present new points of view about methods and tools used in Hydrodynamics.

Description / Table of Contents: The utilization of renewable energy sources such as wind energy, or solar energy, among others, is currently of greater interest. Nevertheless, since their availability is arbitrary and unstable this can lead to frequency variation, to grid instability and to a total or partial loss of load power supply, being not appropriate sources to be directly connected to the main utility grid. Additionally, the presence of a static converter as output interface of the generating plants introduces voltage and current harmonics into the electrical system that negatively affect system power quality. By integrating distributed power generation systems closed to the loads in the electric grid, we can eliminate the need to transfer energy over long distances through the electric grid. In this book the reader will be introduced to different power generation and distribution systems with an analysis of some types of existing disturbances and a study of different industrial applications such as battery charges.

Description / Table of Contents: The x-ray is the only invention that became a regular diagnostic tool in hospitals within a week of its first observation by Roentgen in 1895. Even today, x-rays are a great characterization tool at the hands of scientists working in almost every field, such as medicine, physics, material science, space science, chemistry, archeology, and metallurgy. With vast existing applications of x-rays, it is even more surprising that every day people are finding new applications of x-rays or refining the existing techniques. This book consists of selected chapters on the recent applications of x-ray spectroscopy that are of great interest to the scientists and engineers working in the fields of material science, physics, chemistry, astrophysics, astrochemistry, instrumentation, and techniques of x-ray based characterization. The chapters have been grouped into two major sections based upon the techniques and applications. The book covers some basic principles of satellite x-rays as characterization tools for chemical properties and the physics of detectors and x-ray spectrometer. The techniques like EDXRF, WDXRF, EPMA, satellites, micro-beam analysis, particle induced XRF, and matrix effects are discussed. The characterization of thin films and ceramic materials using x-rays is also covered.

Description / Table of Contents: This book reports research on the utilization of organic waste through composting and vermicomposting, biogas production, recovery of waste materials, and the chemistry involved in the processing of organic waste under various processing aspects. A few chapters on collection systems and disposal of wastes have also been included.

Description / Table of Contents: Bathymetry is the only way to explore, measure and manage the large portion of the Earth covered with water. This book ,presents some of the latest developments in bathymetry, using acoustic, electromagnetic and radar sensors, and in its applications, from gas seeps, pockmarks and cold-water coral reefs on the seabed to large water reservoirs and palynology. The book consists of contributions from internationally-known scientists from India, Australia, Malaysia, Norway, Mexico, USA, Germany, and Brazil, and shows applications around the world and in a wide variety of settings.

Description / Table of Contents: The first book of this four-volume edition is dedicated to one of the most promising areas of photovoltaics, which has already reached a large-scale production of the second-generation thin-film solar modules and has resulted in building the powerful solar plants in several countries around the world. Thin-film technologies using direct-gap semiconductors such as CIGS and CdTe offer the lowest manufacturing costs and are becoming more prevalent in the industry allowing to improve manufacturability of the production at significantly larger scales than for wafer or ribbon Si modules. It is only a matter of time before thin films like CIGS and CdTe will replace wafer-based silicon solar cells as the dominant photovoltaic technology. Photoelectric efficiency of thin-film solar modules is still far from the theoretical limit. The scientific and technological problems of increasing this key parameter of the solar cell are discussed in several chapters of this volume.

Description / Table of Contents: Thermal power plants are one of the most important process industries for engineering professionals. Over the past few decades, the power sector has been facing a number of critical issues. However, the most fundamental challenge is meeting the growing power demand in sustainable and efficient ways. Practicing power plant engineers not only look after operation and maintenance of the plant, but also look after a range of activities, including research and development, starting from power generation, to environmental assessment of power plants. The book Thermal Power Plants covers features, operational issues, advantages, and limitations of power plants, as well as benefits of renewable power generation. It also introduces thermal performance analysis, fuel combustion issues, performance monitoring and modelling, plants health monitoring, including component fault diagnosis and prognosis, functional analysis, economics of plant operation and maintenance, and environmental aspects. This book addresses several issues related to both coal fired and gas turbine power plants. The book is suitable for both undergraduate and research for higher degree students, and of course, for practicing power plant engineers.

Description / Table of Contents: This book offers an interdisciplinary view of the biophysical issues related to climate change. Climate change is a phenomenon by which the long-term averages of weather events (i.e. temperature, precipitation, wind speed, etc.) that define the climate of a region are not constant but change over time. There have been a series of past periods of climatic change, registered in historical or paleoecological records. In the first section of this book, a series of state-of-the-art research projects explore the biophysical causes for climate change and the techniques currently being used and developed for its detection in several regions of the world. The second section of the book explores the effects that have been reported already on the flora and fauna in different ecosystems around the globe. Among them, the ecosystems and landscapes in arctic and alpine regions are expected to be among the most affected by the change in climate, as they will suffer the more intense changes. The final section of this book explores in detail those issues.

Description / Table of Contents: Soil contamination has severely increased over the last decades, mainly due to petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals from industrial wastes and human activities. The critical point regarding contaminated soil monitoring is the intrinsic difficulty in defining fixed monitoring variables and indicators as the establishment of any a priori criterion and threshold for soil quality can be still considered subjective. This book is organized into eight chapters and presents the state-of-the art and new research highlights in the context of contaminated soil monitoring and remediation strategies, including examples from South America, Europe and Asia. The chapters deal with the following topics: - monitoring of dioxin, furan, hydrocarbons and heavy metals level in soils - bioindicators and biomarkers for the assessment of soil toxicity - use of reflectance spectroscopy for soil contaminants and waste material detection - remediation technologies and strategies.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides an interdisciplinary view of how to prepare the ecological and socio-economic systems to the reality of climate change. Scientifically sound tools are needed to predict its effects on regional, rather than global, scales, as it is the level at which socio-economic plans are designed and natural ecosystem reacts. The first section of this book describes a series of methods and models to downscale the global predictions of climate change, estimate its effects on biophysical systems and monitor the changes as they occur. To reduce the magnitude of these changes, new ways of economic activity must be implemented. The second section of this book explores different options to reduce greenhouse emissions from activities such as forestry, industry and urban development. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that climate change can be minimized, but not avoided, and therefore the socio-economic systems around the world will have to adapt to the new conditions to reduce the adverse impacts to the minimum. The last section of this book explores some options for adaptation.

Description / Table of Contents: "Environmental Monitoring" is a book designed by InTech - Open Access Publisher in collaboration with scientists and researchers from all over the world. The book is designed to present recent research advances and developments in the field of environmental monitoring to a global audience of scientists, researchers, environmental educators, administrators, managers, technicians, students, environmental enthusiasts and the general public. The book consists of a series of sections and chapters addressing topics like the monitoring of heavy metal contaminants in varied environments, biolgical monitoring/ecotoxicological studies; and the use of wireless sensor networks/Geosensor webs in environmental monitoring.

Description / Table of Contents: The book deals with several aspects of soil erosion, focusing on its connection with the agricultural world. Chapters’ topics are various, ranging from irrigation practices to soil nutrient, land use changes or tillage methodologies. The book is subdivided into fourteen chapters, sorted in four sections, grouping different facets of the topic: introductive case studies, erosion management in vineyards, soil erosion issue in dry environments, and erosion control practices. Certainly, due to the extent of the subject, the book is not a comprehensive collection of soil erosion studies, but it aims to supply a sound set of scientific works, concerning the topic. It analyzes different facets of the issue, with various methodologies, and offers a wide series of case studies, solutions, practices, or suggestions to properly face soil erosion and, moreover, may provide new ideas and starting points for future researches.

Description / Table of Contents: The book offers a professional look on the recent achievements and emerging trends in pesticides analysis, including pesticides identification and characterization. The 20 chapters are organized in three sections. The first book section addresses issues associated with pesticides classification, pesticides properties and environmental risks, and pesticides safe management, and provides a general overview on the advanced chromatographic and sensors- and biosensors-based methods for pesticides determination. The second book section is specially devoted to the chromatographic pesticides quantification, including sample preparation. The basic principles of the modern extraction techniques, such as: accelerated solvent extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, microwave assisted extraction, solid phase extraction, solid phase microextraction, matrix solid phase dispersion extraction, cloud point extraction, and QuEChERS are comprehensively described and critically evaluated. The third book section describes some alternative analytical approaches to the conventional methods of pesticides determination. These include voltammetric techniques making use of electrochemical sensors and biosensors, and solid-phase spectrometry combined with flow-injection analysis applying flow-based optosensors.

Description / Table of Contents: Spectroscopy is the study of absorption and emission of electromagnetic radiation due to the interaction between matter and energy that energy depends on the specific wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. This field has proven invaluable research tool in a number of areas including chemistry, physics, biology, medicine and ecology. The spectroscopic field of research is growing day-by-day and scientists are exploring new areas in this field by introducing new techniques. The main purpose of this book is to highlight these new spectroscopic techniques like Magnetic Induction Spectroscopy, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Low Energy Electron Loss Spectroscopy, Micro- to Macro-Raman Spectroscopy, Liquid-Immersion Raman Spectroscopy, High-Resolution Magic Angle Spinning (HR-MAS) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy, Injection and Optical Spectroscopy, and Nano Spectroscopy. This book is divided into five sections including General Spectroscopy, Advanced Spectroscopy, Nano Spectroscopy, Organic Spectroscopy, and Physical Spectroscopy which cover topics from basic to advanced levels which will provide a good source of learning for teaching and research purposes.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is a collection of 19 excellent works presenting different applications of several MATLAB tools that can be used for educational, scientific and engineering purposes. Chapters include tips and tricks for programming and developing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), power system analysis, control systems design, system modelling and simulations, parallel processing, optimization, signal and image processing, finite different solutions, geosciences and portfolio insurance. Thus, readers from a range of professional fields will benefit from its content.

Description / Table of Contents: The use of the wavelet transform to analyze the behaviour of the complex systems from various fields started to be widely recognized and applied successfully during the last few decades. In this book some advances in wavelet theory and their applications in engineering, physics and technology are presented. The applications were carefully selected and grouped in five main sections - Signal Processing, Electrical Systems, Fault Diagnosis and Monitoring, Image Processing and Applications in Engineering. One of the key features of this book is that the wavelet concepts have been described from a point of view that is familiar to researchers from various branches of science and engineering. The content of the book is accessible to a large number of readers.

Description / Table of Contents: This book presents several recent advances that are related or fall under the umbrella of 'digital image processing', with the purpose of providing an insight into the possibilities offered by digital image processing algorithms in various fields. The presented mathematical algorithms are accompanied by graphical representations and illustrative examples for an enhanced readability. The chapters are written in a manner that allows even a reader with basic experience and knowledge in the digital image processing field to properly understand the presented algorithms. Concurrently, the structure of the information in this book is such that fellow scientists will be able to use it to push the development of the presented subjects even further.

Description / Table of Contents: Evapotranspiration - An Overview contains recent advances in the physics of evaporation and transpiration from a typical experimental site to large scale areas. It incorporates many years of authors experience with the latest research on the methods and the models used worldwide, engaging advanced technology and modern instrumentation. The reader benefits from the in-depth analysis and the diverse sites and settings, where the models, applications and methods are tested. Weather conditions, soil moisture, geology, climatic systems are examined for their role and influence on the theoretical and actual water demand by the atmosphere in the earth's ecosystem. This book not only provides students and scientists with the information to improve the procedures for estimating evapotranspiration, but will also help them to manage and evaluate the observed data.

Description / Table of Contents: Our knowledge of mass transfer processes has been extended and applied to various fields of science and engineering including industrial processes in recent years. Since mass transfer is primordial phenomenon, it plays a key role in the scientific researches and fields of mechanical, energy, environmental, materials, bio, and chemical engineering. In this book, energetic authors especially provide advances in scientific findings and technologies, and develop new theoretical models concerning mass transfer for sustainable energy and environment. This book brings valuable references for research engineers working in the variety of mass transfer sciences and related fields. Since the constitutive topics cover the advances in broad research areas, the topics will be mutually stimulus and informative not only to research engineers, but also to university professors and students.

Description / Table of Contents: Being an automotive enthusiast and hobbyist, there is a saying around the race track that speed isnt everything, its just most everything. Similar sentiments can be said about MATLAB. MATLAB isnt everything to a practicing engineer, its just most everything. MATLAB is an indispensable asset for scientists, researchers, and engineers. The richness of the MATLAB computational environment combined with an integrated development environment (IDE) and straightforward interface, toolkits, and simulation and modeling capabilities, creates a research and development tool that has no equal. From quick code prototyping to full blown deployable applications, MATLAB stands as a de facto development language and environment serving the technical needs of a wide range of users. As a collection of diverse applications, each book chapter presents a novel application and use of MATLAB for a specific result.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is devoted to the mechanisms of sedimentary basin formation on active plate margins, which show enormous diversity reflecting complex tectonic processes. Multidisciplinary approach pursuing basin-forming mechanism is based on geology, sedimentology, geochronology and geophysics. Some chapters are dedicated to the genetic analysis of sedimentary basins in wrench deformation zones in forearc and intra-arc regions. Another block of chapters deals with basin formation in peripheral regions of Eurasia and intra-arc / foreland basins under the influence of the fluctuation of stress regimes. Finally geophysical approaches to basin analyses are shown in some chapters from microscopic to regional scales. Diverse contents of the chapters provide the audience with the present accomplishments of basin researches on active margins by Earth scientists.

Description / Table of Contents: Oceanography is the par excellence interdisciplinary science thanks to its peculiar setting within a fluid environment that makes connections extremely efficient. The oceans connections are well mirrored in the chapters of this book that share a quite explicit multidisciplinary and multi-environmental character. The book provides chapters on very different topics under very different settings, some with a focused angle, others with a broader approach, yet all sharing the idea that we need to understand the small pieces in order to put together the big picture for a much larger mechanism, the functioning of the ocean as a whole.

Description / Table of Contents: “Sustainable Energy - Recent Studies” is a collection of six different chapters. The papers that are included in this book cover some specific areas within district heating, photovoltaic, bioenergy, wind energy, industrial energy auditing and indoor air quality. The overall theme is improving sustainability where efficient energy utilisation, integration of renewable energy sources and technological improvements are highlighted.

Description / Table of Contents: In many human activities risk is unavoidable. It pervades our life and can have a negative impact on individual, business and social levels. Luckily, risk can be assessed and we can cope with it through appropriate management methodologies. The book Risk Management Trends offers to both, researchers and practitioners, new ideas, experiences and research that can be used either to better understand risks in a rapidly changing world or to implement a risk management program in many fields. With contributions from researchers and practitioners, Risk Management Trends will empower the reader with the state of the art knowledge necessary to understand and manage risks in the fields of enterprise management, medicine, insurance and safety.

Description / Table of Contents: Alternative energy sources have become a hot topic in recent years. The supply of fossil fuel, which provides about 95 percent of total energy demand today, will eventually run out in a few decades. By contrast, biomass and biofuel have the potential to become one of the major global primary energy source along with other alternate energy sources in the years to come. A wide variety of biomass conversion options with different performance characteristics exists. The goal of this book is to provide the readers with current state of art about biomass and bioenergy production and some other environmental technologies such as Wastewater treatment, Biosorption and Bio-economics. Organized around providing recent methodology, current state of modelling and techniques of parameter estimation in gasification process are presented at length. As such, this volume can be used by undergraduate and graduate students as a reference book and by the researchers and environmental engineers for reviewing the current state of knowledge on biomass and bioenergy production, biosorption and wastewater treatment.

Description / Table of Contents: The book addresses the subjects related to the selected aspects of pollutants emission, monitoring and their effects. The most of recent publications concentrated on the review of the pollutants emissions from industry, especially power sector. In this one emissions from opencast mining and transport are addressed as well. Beside of SOx and NOx emissions, small particles and other pollutants (e.g. VOC, ammonia) have adverse effect on environment and human being. The natural emissions (e.g. from volcanoes) has contribution to the pollutants concentration and atmospheric chemistry governs speciation of pollutants, as in the case of secondary acidification. The methods of ambient air pollution monitoring based on modern instrumentation allow the verification of dispersion models and balancing of mass emissions. The comfort of everyday human's activity is influenced by indoor and public transport vehicles interior air contamination, which is effected even by the professional appliances operation. The outdoor pollution leads to cultural heritage objects deterioration, the mechanism are studied and the methods of rehabilitation developed. However to prevent emissions the new technologies are being developed, the new class of these technologies are plasma processes, which are briefly reviewed at the final part of the book.

Description / Table of Contents: This book covers recent advances in modern vibrations analysis, from analytical methods to applications of vibrations analysis to condition monitoring. Covered topics include stochastic finite element approaches, wave theories for distributed parameter systems, second other shear deformation theory and applications of phase space to the identifications of nonlinearities and transients. Chapters on novel condition monitoring approaches for reducers, transformers and low earth orbit satellites are included. Additionally, the book includes chapters on modelling and analysis of various complex mechanical systems such as eccentric building systems and the structural modelling of large container ships.

Description / Table of Contents: The term "risk" is very often associated with negative meanings. However, in most cases, many opportunities can present themselves to deal with the events and to develop new solutions which can convert a possible danger to an unforeseen, positive event. This book is a structured collection of papers dealing with the subject and stressing the importance of a relevant issue such as risk management. The aim is to present the problem in various fields of application of risk management theories, highlighting the approaches which can be found in literature.

Description / Table of Contents: This book focuses on the important and diverse field of vibration analysis and control. It is written by experts from the international scientific community and covers a wide range of research topics related to design methodologies of passive, semi-active and active vibration control schemes, vehicle suspension systems, vibration control devices, fault detection, finite element analysis and other recent applications and studies of this fascinating field of vibration analysis and control. The book is addressed to researchers and practitioners of this field, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students and other experts and newcomers seeking more information about the state of the art, challenging open problems, innovative solution proposals and new trends and developments in this area.

Description / Table of Contents: This book covers a number of topics in heat and mass transfer processes for a variety of industrial applications. The research papers provide advances in knowledge and design guidelines in terms of theory, mathematical modeling and experimental findings in multiple research areas relevant to many industrial processes and related equipment design. The design of equipment includes air heaters, cooling towers, chemical system vaporization, high temperature polymerization and hydrogen production by steam reforming. Nine chapters of the book will serve as an important reference for scientists and academics working in the research areas mentioned above, especially in the aspects of heat and mass transfer, analytical/numerical solutions and optimization of the processes.

Description / Table of Contents: The theoretical analysis and modeling of heat and mass transfer rates produced in evaporation and condensation processes are significant issues in a design of wide range of industrial processes and devices. This book includes 25 advanced and revised contributions, and it covers mainly (1) evaporation and boiling, (2) condensation and cooling, (3) heat transfer and exchanger, and (4) fluid and flow. The readers of this book will appreciate the current issues of modeling on evaporation, water vapor condensation, heat transfer and exchanger, and on fluid flow in different aspects. The approaches would be applicable in various industrial purposes as well. The advanced idea and information described here will be fruitful for the readers to find a sustainable solution in an industrialized society.

Description / Table of Contents: This book comprises heat transfer fundamental concepts and modes (specifically conduction, convection and radiation), bioheat, entransy theory development, micro heat transfer, high temperature applications, turbulent shear flows, mass transfer, heat pipes, design optimization, medical therapies, fiber-optics, heat transfer in surfactant solutions, landmine detection, heat exchangers, radiant floor, packed bed thermal storage systems, inverse space marching method, heat transfer in short slot ducts, freezing an drying mechanisms, variable property effects in heat transfer, heat transfer in electronics and process industries, fission-track thermochronology, combustion, heat transfer in liquid metal flows, human comfort in underground mining, heat transfer on electrical discharge machining and mixing convection. The experimental and theoretical investigations, assessment and enhancement techniques illustrated here aspire to be useful for many researchers, scientists, engineers and graduate students.

Description / Table of Contents: The heat transfer and analysis on heat pipe and exchanger, and thermal stress are significant issues in a design of wide range of industrial processes and devices. This book includes 17 advanced and revised contributions, and it covers mainly (1) thermodynamic effects and thermal stress, (2) heat pipe and exchanger, (3) gas flow and oxidation, and (4) heat analysis. The first section introduces spontaneous heat flow, thermodynamic effect of groundwater, stress on vertical cylindrical vessel, transient temperature fields, principles of thermoelectric conversion, and transformer performances. The second section covers thermosyphon heat pipe, shell and tube heat exchangers, heat transfer in bundles of transversely-finned tubes, fired heaters for petroleum refineries, and heat exchangers of irreversible power cycles. The third section includes gas flow over a cylinder, gas-solid flow applications, oxidation exposure, effects of buoyancy, and application of energy and thermal performance index on energy efficiency. The forth section presents integral transform and green function methods, micro capillary pumped loop, influence of polyisobutylene additions, synthesis of novel materials, and materials for electromagnetic launchers. The advanced ideas and information described here will be fruitful for the readers to find a sustainable solution in an industrialized society.

Description / Table of Contents: Acoustics is an discipline that deals with many types of fields wave phenomena. Originally the field of Acoustics was consecrated to the sound, that is, the study of small pressure waves in air detected by the human ear. The scope of this field of physics has been extended to higher and lower frequencies and to higher intensity levels. Moreover, structural vibrations are also included in acoustics as a wave phenomena produced by elastic waves. This book is focused on acoustic waves in fluid media and elastic perturbations in heterogeneous media. Many different systems are analyzed in this book like layered media, solitons, piezoelectric substrates, crystalline systems, granular materials, interface waves, phononic crystals, acoustic levitation and soft media. Numerical methods are also presented as a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and an inverse scattering method.

Description / Table of Contents: This book deals with earthquake-resistant structures, such as, buildings, bridges and liquid storage tanks. It contains twenty chapters covering several interesting research topics written by researchers and experts in the field of earthquake engineering. The book covers seismic-resistance design of masonry and reinforced concrete structures to be constructed as well as safety assessment, strengthening and rehabilitation of existing structures against earthquake loads. It also includes three chapters on electromagnetic sensing techniques for health assessment of structures, post earthquake assessment of steel buildings in fire environment and response of underground pipes to blast loads. The book provides the state-of-the-art on recent progress in earthquake-resistant structures. It should be useful to graduate students, researchers and practicing structural engineers.

Description / Table of Contents: This book sheds lights on recent advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering with special emphasis on soil liquefaction, soil-structure interaction, seismic safety of dams and underground monuments, mitigation strategies against landslide and fire whirlwind resulting from earthquakes and vibration of a layered rotating plant and Bryan's effect. The book contains sixteen chapters covering several interesting research topics written by researchers and experts from several countries. The research reported in this book is useful to graduate students and researchers working in the fields of structural and earthquake engineering. The book will also be of considerable help to civil engineers working on construction and repair of engineering structures, such as buildings, roads, dams and monuments.

Description / Table of Contents: The technological advancement of our civilization has created a consumer society expanding faster than the planet's resources allow, with our resource and energy needs rising exponentially in the past century. Securing the future of the human race will require an improved understanding of the environment as well as of technological solutions, mindsets and behaviors in line with modes of development that the ecosphere of our planet can support. Some experts see the only solution in a global deflation of the currently unsustainable exploitation of resources. However, sustainable development offers an approach that would be practical to fuse with the managerial strategies and assessment tools for policy and decision makers at the regional planning level. Environmentalists, architects, engineers, policy makers and economists will have to work together in order to ensure that planning and development can meet our society's present needs without compromising the security of future generations.

Description / Table of Contents: Water pollution is a major global problem that requires ongoing evaluation and revision of water resource policy at all levels (from international down to individual aquifers and wells). It has been suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases, and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily. In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in developing countries, industrialized countries continue to struggle with pollution problems as well. Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is impaired by anthropogenic contaminants and either does not support a human use, such as drinking water, and/or undergoes a marked shift in its ability to support its constituent biotic communities, such as fish. Natural phenomena such as volcanoes, algae blooms, storms, and earthquakes also cause major changes in water quality and the ecological status of water. Most water pollutants are eventually carried by rivers into the oceans.

Description / Table of Contents: Taiwan a typical small Asian country with few energy resources is well known for its high-tech industry in the last 20 years. However as a member of the global village Taiwan feels the responsibility to reduce carbon emissions. The book tells you how Taiwan transforms itself from a high-tech island to become a low carbon island. The book address Taiwan's low-carbon developmental policies of the past 10 years, applies an econometric approach to estimate Taiwan's sector department CO2 emissions, shows how environmental change affects the economic growth of Taiwan, and provides two successful examples of low-carbon pilot regions in Taiwan. Stephen Shen, the Minister of the Environment Protection Agency of Taiwan, believes that the book arrives at the right time, because this is the time to educate the people of Taiwan, about the necessary action for achieving a low carbon society.

Description / Table of Contents: Hydroelectric energy is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16 percent of global electricity consumption. This book is primarily based on theoretical and applied results obtained by the authors during a long time of practice devoted to problems in the design and operation of a significant number of hydroelectric power plants in different countries. It was preferred to edit this book with the intention that it may partly serve as a supplementary textbook for students on hydropower plants. The subjects being mentioned comprise all the main components of a hydro power plant, from the upstream end, with the basin for water intake, to the downstream end of the water flow outlet.

Description / Table of Contents: Noise has various effects on comfort, performance, and human health. For this reason, noise control plays an increasingly central role in the development of modern industrial and engineering applications. Nowadays, the noise control problem excites and attracts the attention of a great number of scientists in different disciplines. Indeed, noise control has a wide variety of applications in manufacturing, industrial operations, and consumer products. The main purpose of this book, organized in 13 chapters, is to present a comprehensive overview of recent advances in noise control and its applications in different research fields. The authors provide a range of practical applications of current and past noise control strategies in different real engineering problems. It is well addressed to researchers and engineers who have specific knowledge in acoustic problems. I would like to thank all the authors who accepted my invitation and agreed to share their work and experiences.

Description / Table of Contents: The content of this book covers several up-to-date topics in fluid dynamics, computational modeling and its applications, and it is intended to serve as a general reference for scientists, engineers, and graduate students. The book is comprised of 30 chapters divided into 5 parts, which include: winds, building and risk prevention; multiphase flow, structures and gases; heat transfer, combustion and energy; medical and biomechanical applications; and other important themes. This book also provides a comprehensive overview of computational fluid dynamics and applications, without excluding experimental and theoretical aspects.

Description / Table of Contents: This book contains a wealth of useful information on current rheology research. By covering a broad variety of rheology-related topics, this e-book is addressed to a wide spectrum of academic and applied researchers and scientists but it could also prove useful to industry specialists. The subject areas include, polymer gels, food rheology, drilling fluids and liquid crystals among others.

Description / Table of Contents: The chapters covered in this book include emerging new techniques on sintering. Major experts in this field contributed to this book and presented their research. Topics covered in this publication include Spark plasma sintering, Magnetic Pulsed compaction, Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic technology for the preparation of 3-dimesinal circuits, Microwave sintering of thermistor ceramics, Synthesis of Bio-compatible ceramics, Sintering of Rare Earth Doped Bismuth Titanate Ceramics prepared by Soft Combustion, nanostructured ceramics, alternative solid-state reaction routes yielding densified bulk ceramics and nanopowders, Sintering of intermetallic superconductors such as MgB2, impurity doping in luminescence phosphors synthesized using soft techniques, etc. Other advanced sintering techniques such as radiation thermal sintering for the manufacture of thin film solid oxide fuel cells are also described.

Description / Table of Contents: Recrystallization shows selected results obtained during the last few years by scientists who work on recrystallization-related issues. These scientists offer their knowledge from the perspective of a range of scientific disciplines, such as geology and metallurgy. The authors emphasize that the progress in this particular field of science is possible today thanks to the coordinated action of many research groups that work in materials science, chemistry, physics, geology, and other sciences. Thus, it is possible to perform a comprehensive analysis of the scientific problem. The analysis starts from the selection of appropriate techniques and methods of characterization. It is then combined with the development of new tools in diagnostics, and it ends with modeling of phenomena.

Description / Table of Contents: Measurement is a multidisciplinary experimental science. Measurement systems synergistically blend science, engineering and statistical methods to provide fundamental data for research, design and development, control of processes and operations, and facilitate safe and economic performance of systems. In recent years, measuring techniques have expanded rapidly and gained maturity, through extensive research activities and hardware advancements. With individual chapters authored by eminent professionals in their respective topics, Advanced Topics in Measurements attempts to provide a comprehensive presentation and in-depth guidance on some of the key applied and advanced topics in measurements for scientists, engineers and educators.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a broad range of topics on fluid dynamics for advanced scientists and professional researchers. The text helps readers develop their own skills to analyze fluid dynamics phenomena encountered in professional engineering by reviewing diverse informative chapters herein.

Description / Table of Contents: Understanding greenhouse gas capture, utilization, reduction, and storage is essential for solving issues such as global warming and climate change that result from greenhouse gas. Taking advantage of the authors' experience in greenhouse gases, this book discusses an overview of recently developed techniques, methods, and strategies: - Novel techniques and methods on greenhouse gas capture by physical adsorption and separation, chemical structural reconstruction, and biological utilization. - Systemic discussions on greenhouse gas reduction by policy conduction, mitigation strategies, and alternative energy sources. - A comprehensive review of geological storage monitoring technologies.

Description / Table of Contents: Understanding greenhouse gas sources, emissions, measurements, and management is essential for capture, utilization, reduction, and storage of greenhouse gas, which plays a crucial role in issues such as global warming and climate change. Taking advantage of the authors' experience in greenhouse gases, this book discusses an overview of recently developed techniques, methods, and strategies: - A comprehensive source investigation of greenhouse gases that are emitted from hydrocarbon reservoirs, vehicle transportation, agricultural landscapes, farms, non-cattle confined buildings, and so on. - Recently developed detection and measurement techniques and methods such as photoacoustic spectroscopy, landfill-based carbon dioxide and methane measurement, and miniaturized mass spectrometer.

Description / Table of Contents: Hydrology is the science that deals with the processes governing the depletion and replenishment of water resources of the earth's land areas. The purpose of this book is to put together recent developments on hydrology and water resources engineering. First section covers surface water modeling and second section deals with groundwater modeling. The aim of this book is to focus attention on the management of surface water and groundwater resources. Meeting the challenges and the impact of climate change on water resources is also discussed in the book. Most chapters give insights into the interpretation of field information, development of models, the use of computational models based on analytical and numerical techniques, assessment of model performance and the use of these models for predictive purposes. It is written for the practicing professionals and students, mathematical modelers, hydrogeologists and water resources specialists.

Description / Table of Contents: The petrochemical industry is an important constituent in our pursuit of economic growth, employment generation and basic needs. It is a huge field that encompasses many commercial chemicals and polymers. This book is designed to help the reader, particularly students and researchers of petroleum science and engineering, understand the mechanics and techniques. The selection of topics addressed and the examples, tables and graphs used to illustrate them are governed, to a large extent, by the fact that this book is aimed primarily at the petroleum science and engineering technologist. This book is must-read material for students, engineers, and researchers working in the petrochemical and petroleum area. It gives a valuable and cost-effective insight into the relevant mechanisms and chemical reactions. The book aims to be concise, self-explanatory and informative.

Description / Table of Contents: Irrigated agriculture is the most significant user of fresh water in the world and, due to the large area occupied, is one of the major pollution sources for the water resources. This book comprises 12 chapters that cover different issues and problematics of irrigated agriculture: from water use in different irrigated systems to pollution generated by irrigated agriculture. Moreover, the book also includes chapters that deal with new possibilities of improving irrigation techniques through the reuse of drainage water and wastewater, helping to reduce freshwater extractions. A wide range of issues is herein presented, related to the evaluation of irrigated agriculture impacts and management practices to reduce these impacts on the environment.

Description / Table of Contents: Natural gas is a vital component of the world's supply of energy and an important source of many bulk chemicals and speciality chemicals. It is one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources, and helps to meet the world's rising demand for cleaner energy into the future. However, exploring, producing and bringing gas to the user or converting gas into desired chemicals is a systematical engineering project, and every step requires thorough understanding of gas and the surrounding environment. Any advances in the process link could make a step change in gas industry. There have been increasing efforts in gas industry in recent years. With state-of-the-art contributions by leading experts in the field, this book addressed the technology advances in natural gas industry.

Description / Table of Contents: A large part of academic literature, business literature as well as practices in real life are resting on the assumption that uncertainty and risk does not exist. We all know that this is not true, yet, a whole variety of methods, tools and practices are not attuned to the fact that the future is uncertain and that risks are all around us. However, despite risk management entering the agenda some decades ago, it has introduced risks on its own as illustrated by the financial crisis. Here is a book that goes beyond risk management as it is today and tries to discuss what needs to be improved further. The book also offers some cases.

Description / Table of Contents: This book includes solar energy, wind energy, hybrid systems, biofuels, energy management and efficiency, optimization of renewable energy systems and much more. Subsequently, the book presents the physical and technical principles of promising ways of utilizing renewable energies. The authors provide the important data and parameter sets for the major possibilities of renewable energies utilization which allow an economic and environmental assessment. Such an assessment enables us to judge the chances and limits of the multiple options utilizing renewable energy sources. It will provide useful insights in the modeling and optimization of different renewable systems. The primary target audience for the book includes students, researchers, and people working on renewable energy systems.

Description / Table of Contents: This book explores a diversity of topics related to radiometric dating, with particular emphasis on the method of radiocarbon dating and a cross-check of its results with luminescence measurements. Starting from the chapter on Methodology the book includes, among other topics, the description of the problem of preparation of samples for 14C measurement, a wide application of the radiocarbon method and a comparison of results obtained by various methods, including the radiocarbon method, the method of OSL, TL and palynology. The issue of radiocarbon dating of mortars and plasters is thoroughly discussed in the book. Chapter Two, Applications, and Three, Luminescence and Radiocarbon Measurements, provide examples of the application of the radiocarbon method in the study of archaeological, geological sites, from the analysis of soils, loesses, to the study of organic deposits filling the depressions in the Morasko Meteorite Nature Reserve. A wide range of studies reveals the great potential of the radiocarbon method, and the presented papers reflect interdisciplinary research.

Description / Table of Contents: This book attempts to cover various issues of water quality in the fields of Hydroecology and Hydrobiology and present various Water Treatment Technologies. Sustainable choices of water use that prevent water quality problems aiming at the protection of available water resources and the enhancement of the aquatic ecosystems should be our main target.

Description / Table of Contents: This book offers practical concepts of EOR processes and summarizes the fundamentals of bioremediation of oil-contaminated sites. The first section presents a simplified description of EOR processes to boost the recovery of oil or to displace and produce the significant amounts of oil left behind in the reservoir during or after the course of any primary and secondary recovery process; it highlights the emerging EOR technological trends and the areas that need research and development; while the second section focuses on the use of biotechnology to remediate the inevitable environmental footprint of crude oil production; such is the case of accidental oil spills in marine, river, and land environments. The readers will gain useful and practical insights in these fields.

Description / Table of Contents: The advent of X-ray diffraction in the early twentieth century transformed crystallography from an area of scientific inquiry largely limited to physics, mineralogy, and mathematics, to a highly interdisciplinary field which now includes nearly all life and physical sciences as well as materials science and engineering. This book is a collection of works showcasing some of the most recent developments in the field of crystallography.

Description / Table of Contents: Vibration is a phenomenon that we can perceive in many systems. Their effects are as diverse as the personal discomfort that can produce the unevenness of a road or the collapse of a building or a bridge during an earthquake. This book is a compendium of research works on vibration analysis and control. It goes through new methodologies that help us understand and mitigate this phenomenon. This book is divided into two sections. The first one is devoted to new advances on vibration analysis while the second part is a series of case studies that illustrate novel techniques on vibration control. The applications are varied and include areas such as vehicle suspension systems, wind turbines and civil engineering structures.

Description / Table of Contents: Provision of air navigation services entered a new era of performance scheme. The performance scheme provides binding targets on four key performance areas of safety, capacity, environment and cost-efficiency. It is imposed that targets are fully achieved, but it is not prescribed how, this being typical for the performance based and goal oriented regulation. Those key performance areas are interlaced by proportional and inversely proportional interdependencies. Namely, for example and simplified into one sentence; if one aims to increase sector capacity with existing human resources (constant staff costs) and not investing into the technology (constant support cost) to achieve improved cost-efficiency of service provision, the resulting overloaded system might unlock the Pandora box of latent safety issues. Since failure is not an option, we - the general, migrating and traveling public, airspace users, airport operators, air navigation services providers and the economy - will gain attaining the goals of performance scheme in the process. However, un-answered cardinal question is what is the winning strategy? This book provides do-not-forget-peculiarities insight into the elements of new business model of air navigation services provision as evolution of the latter became essential.

Description / Table of Contents: Crystallization is one of the most ancient and interdisciplinary topics of research known to mankind. Crystals can be organic or inorganic and may be produced from melts, liquid solutions, vapors or even in solid state. Notwithstanding its inherently high complexity, the crystallization process is part of our everyday lives, from ice making in our homes to the most state-of-the-art chemical and electronic industry. In this book, our purpose was to present new insights to the reader, as well as crucial and very useful information for researchers working in this field, while simultaneously creating a comprehensive text about crystallization processes which may serve as a starting point for people with different backgrounds.

Description / Table of Contents: Clay is an abundant raw material which has a variety of uses and properties depending on their structure and composition. Clay minerals are inexpensive and environmentally friendly naturally occurring nanomaterials, thanks to their 1 nm thick silicate layers, in all types of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The book chapters have been classified according to their characteristics in topics and applications. Therefore, in the first section five chapters is dedicated to the characterization and utilization of clay minerals in deposits. The second section includes four chapters about the significance of clay minerals in soils. Third section is devoted to different aspects of clay minerals research, especially to the characterization of structure and modifications for their application.

Description / Table of Contents: The aim of this book is to present recent and innovative advances on research studies and engineering applications in important areas of vibration engineering and structural dynamics. The fourteen chapters of the book cover a wide range of interesting issues related to modelling, rotordynamics, vibration control, estimation and identification, modal analysis, dynamic structures, finite element analysis, numerical methods and other practical engineering applications and theoretical developments on this very broad matter. The audience of the book includes researchers, professors, engineers, practitioners, engineering students and new comers in a variety of disciplines seeking to know more about the state of the art, challenging open problems and innovative solution proposals in vibration engineering and structural dynamics.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is the second volume of the Updates in Volcanology and presents review style chapters as well as stand alone research works on volcanological problems that could be used as valuable resource for both researchers and graduate research students. The book presents chapters arching over a broad field of volcanology among many are considered to be dynamically developing subject areas such as volcano morphology, volcanic terrain evolution or volcaniclastic-hosted mineral resource analysis. The book also takes the reader to areas such as the Russian Far East or sedimentary basins in China which are very remote and generally less known for the global community. This book demonstrates the dynamic evolution of volcanology in the past decades.

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE The emergence of new information from drilling in deep-sea and coastal areas and the surfacing of the plate tectonics theory probably had the greatest impacts in recent decades on the highly accelerated growth of knowledge regarding the evolution of sediments and sedimentary rocks. Studies in recent years have also provided new insights on global sedimentary processes, and isotopic tools in many ways have enhanced our knowledge and have provided even an unexpected added dimension to the mechanisms of some specific processes. Many different uses of isotopic tools in studies of sedimentary processes can be found in the literature, but the information is highly scattered in the vast field of sedimentology. The disseminated state of existing isotopic knowledge on sedimentary systems has undoubtedly deprived many practitioners in the field to fully appreciate the benefits and limitations, and even the apparent confusion, concerning the use of isotopic tools. We have endeavored here to bring together discussions on some major sedimentary systems in the sedimentary cycle and to analyze them according to isotopic evidence. To accomplish such a task required contributions from many individuals. We were fortunate to have friends who accepted to share our goals. We most sincerely thank all the contributors to this book and deeply appreciate their patience and fortitude despite our undue demands on them to reach our objectives...

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE The papers contained in the present volume were prepared from the contributions presented during an international Advanced Workshop held in Santander, Cantabria, Spain between 1-5 November 1989. The workshop was a joint activity of the Working Group on Geology and Land-Use Planning (program "Geology and Environment", UNESCO), the Commission on Applied Quaternary Research (INQUA), the Sub-Commission on Maps of Environmental Geology (Commission of the Geological Map of the World) and the Grupo Españiol de Geología Ambiental y Ordenación del Territorio (Spanish Association for Environmental Geology and Land-Use Planning). The aims of the meeting were to discuss a series of topics in which the four participating scientific bodies share an interest, to analyze the existing problems and trends and to identify certain lines along which work and/or actions will be particularly necessary in the near future. It was expected that the discussions and the conclusions of the meeting would provide useful guidelines for earth scientists working on environmental problems and for other professionals and officials who deal with environmental analysis, planning and management, either on a scientific basis or in a decision-making capacity...

Description / Table of Contents: Starting from a more general discussion of mechanisms controlling organic carbon deposition in marine environments and indicators useful for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, this study concentrates on detailed organic-geochemical and sedimentological investigations of late Cenozoic deep-sea sediments from (1) the Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea (ODP-Leg 105), (2) the upwelling area off Northwest Africa (ODP-Leg 108), and (3) the Sea of Japan (ODP-Leg 128). Of major interest are shortas well as long-term changes in organic carbon accumulation during the past 20 m.y. As shown in the data from ODP-Legs 105, 108, and 128, sediments characterized by similar high organic carbon contents can be deposited in very different environments. Thus, simple total organic carbon data do not allow (i) to distinguish between different factors controlling organic carbon enrichment and (ii) to reconstruct the depositional history of these sediments. Data on both quantity and composition of the organic matter, however, provide important informations about the depositional environment and allow detailed reconstructions of the evolution of paleoclimate, paleoceanic circulation, and paleoproductivity in these areas. The results have significant implications for quantitative models of the mechanisms of climatic change. Furthermore, the data may also help to explain the formation of fossil black shales, i.e., hydrocarbon source rocks. (1) BAFFIN BAY AND LABRADOR SEA The Miocene to Quaternary sediments at Baffin Bay Site 645 are characterized by relatively high organic carbon contents, most of which range from 0.5% to almost 3%. This organic carbon enrichment was mainly controlled by increased supply .of terrigenous organic matter throughout the entire time interval. Two distinct maxima were identified: (i) a middle Miocene maximum, possibly reflecting a dense vegetation cover and fluvial sediment supply from adjacent islands, that decreased during late Miocene and early Pliocene time because of expansion of tundra vegetation due to global climatic deterioration; (ii) a late Pliocene-Pleistocene maximum possibly caused by glacial erosion and meltwater outwash. Significant amounts of marine organic carbon were accumulated in western Baffin Bay during middle Miocene time, indicating higher surface-water productivity (up to about 150 gC m -2 y-l) resulted from the inflow of cold and nutrient-rich Arctic water masses. The decrease in average surface-water productivity to values similar to those of the modern Baffin Bay was recorded during the late Miocene and was probably caused by the development of a seasonal sea-ice cover. At Labrador Sea Sites 646 and 647, organic carbon contents are low varying between 0.10% and 0.75%; the origin of most of the organic matter probably is marine. A major increase in organic carbon accumulation at Site 646 at about 7.2 Ma may indicate increased surface-water productivity triggered by the onset of the cold East-Greeniand Current system. Near 2.4 Ma, i.e., parallel to the development of major Northern Hemisphere Glaciation, accumulation rates of both organic carbon and biogenic opal decreased, suggesting a reduced surface-water productivity because of the development of dosed seasonal sea-ice cover in the northern Labrador Sea. The influence of varying sea-ice cover on surface-water productivity is also documented in the short-term glacial/interglacial fluctuations in organic carbon deposition at Sites 646 and 647. (2) UPWELLING AREAS OFF NORTHWEST AFRICA The upper Pliocene-Quaternary sediments at coastal-upwelling Site 658 are characterized by high organic carbon contents of 4%; the organic matter is a mixture of marine and terrigenous material with a dominance of the marine proportion. The upper Miocene to Quaternary pelagic sediments from close-by non-upwelling Sites 657 and 659, on the other hand, display low organic carbon values of less than 0.5%. Only in turbidites and slumps occasionally intercalated at the latter two sites, high organic carbon values of up to 3% occur. The high accumulation rates of marine organic carbon recorded at Site 658 reflect the high-productivity upwelling environment. Paleoproductivity varies between 100 and 400 gC m "2 y-1 during the past 3.6 m.y. and is clearly triggered by changes in global climate. However, there is no simple relationship between climate and organic carbon supply, i.e., it is not possble to postulate that productivity was generally higher at Site 658 during glacials than during interglacials or vice versa. Changes in the relative importance between upwelling activity (which was increased during glacial intervals) and fluvial nutrient supply (which was increased during interglacial intervals) may have caused the complex productivity record at Site 658. Most of the maximum productivity values, for example, were recorded at peak interglacials and at terminations indicating the importance of local fluvial nutrient supply at Site 658. Near 0.5 Ma, a long-term decrease in paleoproductivity occurs, probably indicating a decrease in fluvial nutrient supply and/or a change in nutrient "content of the upwelled waters. The former explanation is supported by the contemporaneous decrease in terrigenous organic carbon and (river-borne) clay supply suggesting an increase in long-term aridity in the Central Sahara. At Site 660, underneath the Northern Equatorial Divergence Zone, (marine) organic carbon values of up to 1.5% were recorded in upper Pliocene-Quaternary sediments. During the last 2.5 Ma, the glacial sediments are carbonate-lean and enriched in organic carbon probably caused by the influence of a carbonate-dissolving and oxygen-poor deep-water mass. (3) SEA OF JAPAN Based on preliminary results of organic-geochemical investigations, the Miocene to Quaternary sediments from ODP-Sites 798 (Oki Ridge) and 799 (Kita-Yamato-Trough) are characterized by high organic carbon contents of up to 6%; the organic matter is a mixture between marine and terrigenous material. Dominant mechanisms controlling (marine) organic carbon enrichments are probably high-surface water productivity and increased preservations rates under anoxic deep-water conditions. In the lower Pliocene sediments at Site 798 and the Miocene to Quaternary sediments at Site 799, rapid burial of organic carbon in turbidites may have occurred episodically. Distinct cycles of dark laminated sediments with organic carbon values of more than 5% and light bioturbated to homogenous sediments with lower organic carbon contents indicate dramatic shortterm paleoceanographic variations. More detailed records of accumulation rates of marine and terrigenous organic carbon and biogenic opal as well as a detailed oxygen isotope stratigraphy are required for a more precise reconstruction of the environmental history of the Sea of Japan through late Cenozoic time.

Description / Table of Contents: Digital signal processing has become more and more an integral part of observational seismology. While it offers unprecedented power in extracting information from seismic signals, it comes at the price of having to learn a variety of new skills. Dealing with digital seismic data requires at least a basic understanding of digital signal processing. Taking the calculation of true ground motion as the guiding problem, this course covers the basic theory of linear systems, the design and analysis of simple digital filters, the effect of sampling and A/D conversion and an introduction to spectral analysis of digital signals. It contains a number of examples and exercises that can be reproduced using the PITSA software package (Scherbaum and Johnson 1993) or similar programs.

Description / Table of Contents: PREFACE There are problems, when applying statistical inference to the analysis of data, which are not readily solved by the inferential methods of the standard statistical techniques. One example is the computation of confidence intervals for variance components or for functions of variance components. Another example is the statistical inference on the random parameters of the mixed model of the standard statistical techniques or the inference on parameters of nonlinear models. Bayesian analysis gives answers to these problems. The advantage of the Bayesian approach is its conceptual simplicity. It is based on Bayes' theorem only. In general, the posterior distribution for the unknown parameters following from Bayes' theorem can be readily written down. The statistical inference is then solved by this distribution. Often the posterior distribution cannot be integrated analytically. However, this is not a serious drawback, since efficient methods exist for the numerical integration. The results of the standard statistical techniques concerning the linear models can also be derived by the Bayesian inference. These techniques may therefore be considered as special cases of the Bayesian analysis. Thus, the Bayesian inference is more general. Linear models and models closely related to linear models will be assumed for the analysis of the observations which contain the information on the unknown parameters of the models. The models, which are presented, are well suited for a variety of tasks connected with the evaluation of data. When applications are considered, data will be analyzed which have been taken to solve problems of surveying engineering. This does not mean, of course, that the applications are restricted to geodesy. Bayesian statistics may be applied wherever data need to be evaluated, for instance in geophysics. After an introduction the basic concepts of Bayesian inference are presented in Chapter 2. Bayes' theorem is derived and the introduction of prior information for the unknown parameters is discussed. Estimates of the unknown parameters, of confidence regions and the testing of hypotheses are derived and the predictive analysis is treated. Finally techniques for the numerical integration of the integrals are presented which have to be solved for the statistical inference. Chapter 3 introduces models to analyze data for the statistical inference on the unknown parameters and deals with special applications. First the linear model is presented with noninformative and informative priors for the unknown parameters. The agreement with the results of the standard statistical techniques is pointed out. Furthermore, the prediction of data and the linear model not of full rank are discussed. A method for identifying a model is presented and a less sensitive hypothesis test for the standard statistical techniques is derived. The Kalman-Bucy filter for estimating unknown parameters of linear dynamic systems is also given. Nonlinear models are introduced and as an example the fit of a straight line is treated. The resulting posterior distribution for the unknown parameters is analytically not tractable, so that numerical methods have to be applied for the statistical inference. In contrast to the standard statistical techniques, the Bayesian analysis for mixed models does not discriminate between fixed and random parameters, it distinguishes the parameters according to their prior information. The Bayesian inference on the parameters, which correspond to the random parameters of the mixed model of the standard statistical techniques, is therefore readily accomplished. Noninformafive priors of the variance and covariance components are derived for the linear model with unknown variance and covariance components. In addition, informative priors are given. Again, the resulting posterior distributions are analytically not tractable, so that numerical methods have to be applied for the Bayesian inference. The problem of classification is solved by applying the Bayes rule, i.e. the posterior expected loss computed by the predictive density function of the observations is minimized. Robust estimates of the standard statistical techniques, which are maximum likelihood type estimates, the so-called M-estimates, may also be derived by Bayesian inference. But this approach not only leads to the M-estimates, but also any inferential problem for the parameters may be solved. Finally, the reconstruction of digital images is discussed. Numerous methods exist for the analysis of digital images. The Bayesian approach unites some of them and gives them a common theoretical foundation. This is due to the flexibility by which prior information for the unknown parameters can be introduced. It is assumed that the reader has a basic knowledge of the standard statistical techniques. Whenever these results are needed, for easy reference the appropriate page of the book "Parameter Estimation and Hypothesis Testing in Linear Models" by the author (Koch 1988a) is cited. Of course, any other textbook on statistical techniques can serve this purpose. To easily recognize the end of an example or a proof, it is marked by a A or a t~, respectively. I want to thank all colleagues and students who contributed to this book. In particular, I thank Mr. Andreas Busch, Dipl.-Ing., for his suggestions. I also convey my thanks to Mrs. Karin Bauer, who prepared the copy of the book. The assistance of the Springer- Verlag in checking the English text is gratefully acknowledged. The responsibility of errors, of course, remains with the author.