Civil Engineering / İnşaat Mühendisliği
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/13
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Article Citation - WoS: 7Citation - Scopus: 5Meteorological Drought and Trend Effects on Transboundary River Basins in Afghanistan(Springer, 2023) Hayat, Ehsanullah; Tayfur, GökmenAfghanistan, as a landlocked country located within central and southwestern Asia, has an arid to semi-arid climate. Most of the people are involved in agricultural activities, and a major part of the country's gross domestic product depends on agriculture, but the country has the lowest water storage capacity. Consecutive periods of drought and rapid snowmelt due to climate change have made it more challenging for suitable water resource management practices. This study investigates the historical meteorological drought characteristics across the whole country by employing the Reconnaissance Drought Index for the period 1979-2019 using data from 55 meteorological stations. Trends in precipitation and temperature are also investigated using the Mann-Kendall's and the Sen's slope statistical tests. A four-decadal countrywide drought map is generated. Extreme and severe droughts were observed in 1999 and 2000 across the whole country. Moderate drought events have started to occur with a frequency of 3 to 5 years since 1999. The decadal annual rainfall values in each river basin indicate that rainfall has decreased in the last two decades with a significant decline in 1999-2008. The trends of increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation are indications of rapid climate change in the country, especially in the south, west, and southwest regions. Due to the intensity and frequency of the droughts, river flow rates have decreased; and therefore, there is a need for the upstream and downstream neighboring countries to come to terms with the phenomenon of a new normal in the hydrological cycle and accordingly revise new water sharing treaties.Article Citation - WoS: 4Citation - Scopus: 12Carbon Dioxide Emissions Mitigation Strategy Through Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Western Anatolia, Turkey(Springer, 2022) Chandrasekharam, Dornadula; Baba, AlperAlthough Turkey is not the biggest GHG polluter, its emissions have increased by 110.4% since 1990. Currently, its CO2 emissions alone have crossed 400 Mt. Within the scope of 2 °C targets (2D scenario), the country can easily surpass this target test by increasing its renewable energy sources as a primary energy source mix, by developing its Enhanced Geothermal Sources (EGS) locked up in the radiogenic granites of western Anatolia. The radiogenic heat generated by these granites, spread over an area of 4221 sq. km, varies from 5.3 to 16.34 µW/m3. Based on the electricity generation capacity of granites from Soultz-sous-Forets and Cooper Basin EGS sites, the combined electricity generation capacity of Kestanbol and Kozak granite plutons is about 830 billion kWh. For the period extending from 2019 to 2023, Turkey is aiming at reducing the usage of gas for electricity generation from 29.9 to 20.7%, increasing the share of renewable energy sources from 32.5 to 38.8%, increasing the electricity production from local energy sources from 150 to 219 TWh and increasing the electricity usage per-capita from 3.7 to 4.3 MWh. These energy targets can be achieved by major contributions from hydrothermal and EGS energy sources. This review demonstrates that besides electricity and heat, EGS energy can be utilized, together with other renewable energy sources, such as hydrothermal, wind, and concentrated solar for providing fresh water through the desalination process. These energy sources would provide food, energy, and water security to the country for several decades.