THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

The Design and Analysis of Experiments

応用水文 = Applied hydrology

Floods, wildfires, heatwaves and droughts often result from a combination of interacting physical processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales. The combination of processes (climate drivers and hazards) leading to a significant impact is referred to as a ‘compound event’. Traditional risk assessment methods typically only consider one driver and/or hazard at a time, potentially leading to underestimation of risk, as the processes that cause extreme events often interact and are spatially and/or temporally dependent. Here we show how a better understanding of compound events may improve projections of potential high-impact events, and can provide a bridge between climate scientists, engineers, social scientists, impact modellers and decision-makers, who need to work closely together to understand these complex events.

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Future climate risk from compound events

1. Health care is a human right. 2. The care of the individual is at the center of health care, but the whole system needs to work to improve the health of populations. 3. The health care system must treat illness, alleviate suffering and disability, and promote health. 4. Cooperation with each other, those served, and those in other sectors is essential for all who work in health care. 5. All who provide health care must work to improve it. 6. Do no harm.

https://www.journalacs.org/article/S1072-7515(00)00768-7/pdf

Is this a practical approach

Recent accelerated climate change has exacerbated existing environmental problems in the Mediterranean Basin that are caused by the combination of changes in land use, increasing pollution and declining biodiversity. For five broad and interconnected impact domains (water, ecosystems, food, health and security), current change and future scenarios consistently point to significant and increasing risks during the coming decades. Policies for the sustainable development of Mediterranean countries need to mitigate these risks and consider adaptation options, but currently lack adequate information — particularly for the most vulnerable southern Mediterranean societies, where fewer systematic observations schemes and impact models are based. A dedicated effort to synthesize existing scientific knowledge across disciplines is underway and aims to provide a better understanding of the combined risks posed.

/pdf/climate-change-and-interconnected-risks-to-sustainable-18gsp1lank.pdf

Climate change and interconnected risks to sustainable development in the Mediterranean

Identifying and interpreting extreme rainfall events using image classification

An easy-to-use equation is presented for calculating the variance of a design flood estimated using a generalised logistic distribution with model parameters estimated using single-site analysis, a...

Estimating single-site design flood variance using a generalised logistic distribution

It is widely accepted that urban development results in larger flood peak discharges with faster catchment response times, larger total runoff volumes and lower base flow volumes. However, these effects have not previously been studied in the context of the specific characteristics of fast-growing urban areas in developing countries, which are generally unregulated. This study quantifies the effects of urban development on runoff, including: a) runoff volumes, b) base flow volumes and c) flood peaks from eight South African catchments using the Mann–Kendall test and Kendall’s τ. Both total runoff and base flow volumes are found to increase with increased development levels and possible reasons for this are discussed. The flood peak analysis finds statistically insignificant trends in most catchments. However, there is an increasing trend in the catchment with the highest proportion of informal development. Recommendations are made for further investigation into reasons for the findings. 

Quantifying the influence of urban development on runoff in South Africa

With the public perception that climate has been changing in the last decades, more and more doubts are raised regarding the validity of the assumption of stationarity for hydrological processes. In this work we explore, in a descriptive and preliminary way, trends for annual and seasonal maxima in daily rainfall and peak river flow, applying a linear regression model allowing the mean of the distribution to vary with time. Over a longer period (50 years), trends do not seem to be significant, while there is indication of some slight, although not spatially coherent, trends in shorter series (20 years). Particularly in summer, there seem to be little concordance in the direction of trends for rainfall and flow, suggesting that other factors, such as evaporation, land use change, water management practices, etc, affect the river flows. Another concern is whether or not the standard linear regression can cope with extreme records. We discuss these issues and look into possible alternative approaches.

Trends in annual and seasonal maxima of daily rainfall and peak river flow


 In 2017, 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) were still using unimproved drinking water sources, 80 million of whom relied on untreated surface water. Urban areas are vastly expanding all over the continent and many larger cities in SSA struggle to provide safely managed drinking water. Phytoremediation implemented in constructed wetlands (CWs) is a low-cost and sustainable alternative to highly costly and energy consuming wastewater treatment plants. In addition, CWs offer the potential to be integrated into farming and aqua-culture systems and can therefore improve food quality and production. The most prominent pollutants in urban SSA surface waters and the pollutant removal efficiencies for microbial and chemical contaminations of different plant species were identified from the literature and the accumulation rates for Pb, Cr, and Cd were compared to each other. A strong focus was given to studies conducted in SSA or other (sub)tropical regions. This review identified a range of potential phytoremediators to treat contaminated surface water and highlights the need for further in-situ studies in SSA. Plant species such as Lemna minor, Ipomoea aquatica, Spirodela polyrhiza and Brachiaria mutica show a high potential to phytoremediate the heavy metals Pb, Cr and Cd from surface water.

/pdf/urban-surface-water-quality-and-the-potential-of-39oop394.pdf

Urban surface water quality and the potential of phytoremediation to improve water quality in peri-urban and urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa – a review

Thomas Kjeldsen

Papers

Identifying and interpreting extreme rainfall events using image classification

Estimating single-site design flood variance using a generalised logistic distribution

Quantifying the influence of urban development on runoff in South Africa

Trends in annual and seasonal maxima of daily rainfall and peak river flow

Urban surface water quality and the potential of phytoremediation to improve water quality in peri-urban and urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa – a review