Acid drainage (AD) has been recognized as one of the major problems facing the Australian mining industry. Much of Australia has a semi-arid to arid climate and is sparsely populated. The impact of AD is therefore less here than in many other countries. Nevertheless, community and shareholder expectations, and the globalization of Australian mining company activities, have ensured the industry ...

This paper analyzes utilization of renewable energy systems and efficient building envelopes in the semi-arid climate. The proposed model evaluates renewable energy systems solutions as well as economic- and energy-efficient construction materials for the net zero-energy buildings (NZEB) in semi-arid climates. The objective of this paper is to optimize total energy cost and environmental impact...

Abstract Desertification is one of the fundamental problems that threaten many arid and semi-arid areas. The formulation of the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), adopted in Paris, 1994 and ratified in 1996, with the active participation of Egypt, gave emphasis on combating the major threats to sustainability of dry lands. Recently, different models were developed to fo...

Early warning systems (EWS) tend to focus on the identification of slow onset disasters such famine and epidemic disease. Since hazardous environmental conditions often precede disastrous outcomes by many months, effective monitoring via satellite and in situ observations can successfully guide mitigation activities. Accurate short term forecasts of NDVI could increase lead times, making early ...

12.2 Biological Crusts of Arid Regions ............................. 346 12.2.1 Characteristic Species ................................................... 346 12.2.2 Taxonomic Problems in Describing Crust Cyanobacteria ...................................................... 347 12.2.3 Environmental Factors .................................................. 348 12.2.3.1 Light .......................

forest canopy rainfall interception loss (i), canopy water storage (s), and the ratio of mean evaporation to mean rainfall intensity () are important components of the water balance in arid and semi-arid climate zones. the goal of this project was to quantify i and s and to evaluate the gash interception model for rainfall interception in a mature semi-arid pinus eldarica medw afforestation pla...