Journal of Water and Soil Science

Investigating the Effect of Dam Construction on Land Use Change and Land Cover in the Period 1991 to 2020 (Case Study: Gotvand-Khuzestan Dam)

Me. Pajouhesh

Humans are always trying to change land to use natural resources to meet their needs. One of the land use changes that take place in order to benefit from sustainable water resources is dam construction. Dam construction has many positive and negative consequences for the environment from the beginning to use. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Gotvand Dam on the problem of collision of water flow path with salt domes and large volume accumulation of salt behind the dam lake. Images of the Landsat 5 satellite TM sensor for 1991, Landsat 7 satellite ETM⁺ sensor for 2008, and Landsat 8 satellite OLI sensor for 2020 were used to classify images, and prepare land use maps of the studied basin. Reviewing and evaluating the land use maps of the study area showed that agricultural lands are being developed after the operation of the dam. Also, barren lands were decreasing as well as the area's water content was increasing during the study period. In the second period of study (2008-2020), the population of the regions with an increasing area has been increasing. Also, the rangeland and meadows had a decreasing trend during the first and second periods. The results of classification accuracy using the object-oriented method for three periods of 1991, 2008, and 2020 were obtained as 0.92, 0.97, and 0.93, respectively. In general, it can be stated that the construction of the dam has increased the area under cultivation of land and by increasing population and urbanization in the construction area of the dam, destruction and reduction of rangelands occurred.

Evaluation of the Simultaneous Effect of Changes of Climatic Variables and Land Use on the Actual Evapotranspiration Trend Using the SWAT Model in the Ajichi Basin

H. Ahmadzadeh

Determining the actual evapotranspiration value and analyzing its temporal trend is essential for optimal water resources management in a basin. In the present paper, the actual evapotranspiration time series is simulated and its trend is analyzed according to the trend of climatic variables and land use in the Ajichi basin during the period of 2015-1987. The comprehensive SWAT model was set up, calibrated, and validated for the Ajichi basin. Also, the average of simulated actual evapotranspiration of crops (in wet years) was compared with similar values in the National Water Document. The results of the Mann-Kendall trend test showed that the annual rainfall in most meteorological stations had a decreasing trend and the rainfall trend in the ten stations decreased significantly. While the annual maximum temperature at all stations and the annual minimum temperature in most of them have significantly increased. Investigation of land use maps illustrated that the irrigated land area of the basin has increased by a 39% during the study period. According the study's results, the potential evapotranspiration of the basin has had a significant increasing trend with a rate of 2.54 mm per year. The results indicated that despite the increasing trend of potential evapotranspiration and irrigated land area, the actual evapotranspiration of the basin had a significant decreasing trend with a rate of 2.2 mm per year due to the decrease in rainfall.

Prioritization of Erosion Prone Sub-Watersheds using MCDM Methods in Roudzard Watershed, Khuzestan Province

M.R. Ansari

Soil erosion has been one of the most important problems of watersheds in the world and is considered one of the main obstacles to achieving sustainable development in agriculture and natural resources. Identifying and prioritizing regions sensitive to soil erosion is essential for water and soil conservation and natural resource management in watersheds. The present research was performed in 2021 year to prioritize the soil erosion susceptibility in 12 sub-watersheds of the Roudzard watershed in Khouzestan province using morphometric analysis and multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. In this regard, 11 morphometric parameters including shape parameters such as compactness constant (Cc), circularity ratio (Rc), form factor (Rf), elongation ratio (Re), linear parameters such as drainage density (Dd), stream frequency (Fs), drainage texture (Dt), bifurcation ratio (Rb), Basin length (L), Length of overland flow (Lg), and topographic parameter including Ruggedness number (Rn) were extracted and their relative weights were calculated using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The prioritization sub-watershed to soil erosion was performed using TOPSIS, VIKOR, and SAW methods, and the results were combined using rank mean, Copeland, and Borda methods. The final prioritization was compared with the amount of specific erosion in the MPSIAC model by determining Spearman's correlation coefficient. The result of the evaluation of morphometric parameters by using the AHP model showed that drainage density (0.161), drainage texture (0.158), and stream frequency (0.146) had the greatest effect on the erodability of the sub-watersheds. In contrast, the form factor (0.049), Elongation Ratio (0.036), and shape factor (0.026) had the least effects on erodability of the study area. In this research, the Spearman correlation coefficient between the final result of prioritizing the sub-watershed and the MPSIAC model was obtained as 0.8 in p-value<0.01. The results of prioritization of the sub-watersheds in terms of their sensitivity to soil erosion showed that sub-watersheds 11, 12, and 10 with an area of 191.83 km² are categorized as very sensitive to soil erosion due to high value of linear parameters, low value of shape parameters, sensitive geology formation, and poor vegetation cover and located in rank 1 to 3, respectively. According to the results sub-watersheds 11, 12, and 10 have the highest amount of specific erosion equal to 16.03, 12.48, and 11.6 tons per hectare per year, respectively. Therefore, these sub-watersheds are a priority for watershed management operations. The results of the present study showed that MCDM methods and morphometric analysis are suitable tools for identifying areas sensitive to soil erosion and using the combined methods of the results and it is possible to take advantage of each of the different multi-criteria decision-making methods.

Simulation of Design Flood Hydrographs in Aydooghmush Basin with HEC-HMS Model

F. Ahmadzadeh Kaleybar

Hydrological models for evaluating and predicting the amount of available water in basins, flood frequency analysis, and developing strategies to deal with destructive floods are expanding daily. In this study, HEC-GeoHMS and Arc Hydro extensions in ArcGIS software and the HEC-HMS model were used to simulate design flood hydrographs in the Aydooghmush basin in the northwest of Iran. SCS-CN, SCS-UH, Maskingham, and monthly fixed methods were used to calculate rainfall losses, rainfall-runoff transformation, flood routing, and base flow, respectively. In model calibration with two real flood events, the average of absolute values of the residuals, the sum of the remaining squares, and the weight of the peak mean the error squares for the flood volume were 2.75, 5.91, and 5.32, respectively and for peak discharge were 8.9, 8.0, and 8.0, respectively. Model validation was evaluated as acceptable with a one percent error rate in the peak of discharge and a 19 percent in the flood volume. For maximum 24-hour precipitation, the log-Pearson type 3 was determined as the most suitable distribution in the SMADA model and design precipitation was extracted in different return periods. Thus, for the return period of 2 to 1000 years, the peak discharge and volume of the design flood were simulated equally to 18.8 to 415.6 m³ s^-1 and 5.7 to 87.9 MCM, respectively.

Determining the Concentration and Contamination Levels of Surface Soil in Baghan Watershed using Pollution Indicators and Geostatistics

S. Dehghani

Knowledge of the distribution of heavy metal concentrations in different components of soil particles is significant to assess the risk of heavy metals. The objective of this study was to evaluate some pollution indices and spatial variations in their estimation in different components of soil particle size fractions (<2000 and> 63 μm) in the Baghan watershed in the southeast of Bushehr province with an area of about 929 square kilometers. The location of 120 surficial composite soil samples (0-20 cm) was determined by using the Latin hypercube method. Soil pollution was assessed using geochemical indices of contamination factor (CF) and pollution load index (PLI). The kriging method was used in the Arc GIS software to interpolate the spatial variations of CF and PLI. Based on the results, the CF displayed the particles in the size < 2000 microns compared to all metals in moderate pollution conditions (1≤CF <3) and with the fineness of soil particles (particles with a diameter <63 microns) concerning to Cd metal shows significant contamination status and moderate pollution with other metals, respectively. CF_Zn, CF_Cu, and CF_Fe in particle size <2000 microns and CF_Pb in finer class were fitted with a spherical model and other metal contamination coefficients with an exponential model. CF_Cdand CF_Fe have the highest impact ranges at <2000 and < 63 microns, respectively. The results of this research confirm that corrective operation is needed to monitor cadmium status in the studied area.

Modeling and Estimating the Dimensions of Stable Alluvial Channels using Soft Calculations

B. Shahinejad

In this research, soft computational models including multiple adaptive spline regression model (MARS) and data group classification model (GMDH) were used to estimate the geometric dimensions of stable alluvial channels including channel surface width (w), flow depth (h), and longitudinal slope (S) and the results of the developed models were compared with the multilayer neural network (MLP) model. To develop the models, the flow rate parameters (Q), the average particle size in the floor and body (d₅₀) as well as the shear stress (t) as input and the parameters of water surface width (w), flow depth (h), and longitudinal slope (S) were used as output parameters. Soft computing models were developed in two scenarios based on raw parameters and dimensionless form independent and dependent parameters. The results showed that the statistical characteristics in estimating w, the best performance is related to the MARS model, whose statistical indicators of accuracy in the training stage are R² = 0.902, RMSE=1.666 and in the test phase is R²= 0.844, RMSE=2.317. In estimating the channel depth, the performance of both GMDH and MARS models is approximately equal, both of which were developed based on the dimensionless form of flow rate as the input variable. The statistical indicators of both models in the training stage are R² » 0.90, RMSE » 8.15 and in the test phase is R² » 0.90, RMSE = 7.40. The best performance of the developed models in estimating the longitudinal slope of the channel was related to both MARS and GMDH models, although, in part, the accuracy of the GMDH model with statistical indicators R² = 0.942, RMSE = 0.0011 in the training phase and R² = 0.925, RMSE = 0.0014 in the experimental stage is more than the MARS model.

Increase of Resistance Parameters of Clay Soils in East Isfahan by Geopolymer Process and Reinforced with Polypropylene Fibers and Comparison with Soil Stabilization with Cement

R. Ajalloeian

Since clay is widely used in most construction projects, the issue of improving clay soils has considerable importance. This study aimed to optimize the variables affecting the properties of geopolymer and improve their mechanical properties using Isfahan blast furnace slag. Taguchi's statistical design method was used to model three process variables (blast furnace slag, water, and alkali sodium hydroxide agent) with four different values in the mixing design. Geopolymer was used to optimize the uniaxial compressive strength. Sixteen geopolymer compositions determined by mini-tab software were prepared and their uniaxial compressive strength was measured. The obtained results were modeled by analysis of variance, and then the interactions of the three variables on the uniaxial compressive strength of geopolymer were investigated using two and 3D diagrams. Then, the variables were optimized and the proposed values for the optimal sample were examined at temperatures of 25, 50, and 70°C and at times of 3, 7, 14, and 28 days of operation. A comparison of the results predicted by the models and the results of the experiments confirmed the validity of the models. Also, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the porosity will reduce from 7 to 28 days. It indicated that the use of the geopolymerization method has a significant role in stabilizing weak clay soils with low plasticity. The effect of fibers and geopolymer to reinforce was also investigated and for better evaluation, it was compared with soil stabilization with Portland cement. The results showed that in the most optimal geopolymer composition, the bearing resistance of clay has increased by more than 3400%. Meanwhile, fibers along with geopolymer with optimal percentage and length (0.1% by weight of geopolymer composition and length of 12 mm) were able to increase the uniaxial compressive strength of clay by nearly 4000%, which shows the excellent effect of using cellular fibers parameter whit the geopolymer in this research.

Investigation of Sedimentation of Small Catchments under Precipitation Pattern and Basin Characteristics in Arid and Semi-Arid Climate

Kh. Hosseini

Splash (raindrop) erosion plays an significant role in soil loss, especially in arid and semi-arid regions with poor vegetation. In this paper, by analyzing the pattern of rainfalls that occurred during 26 years in four basins located in Semnan County, their effect on the pattern of eroded sediments from the basin was investigated. Sedimentary layers from the sampling of retarding reservoir sediments in 2017 were related to the corresponding precipitations. Due to the occurrence of the highest amount of rainfall in each quarter of rainfall, rainfall hyetographs were divided into four categories. Cumulative precipitation curves with similar quartiles were drawn in one shape and compared with sediment curves and vice versa taking into account the physical characteristics of the basin. The results showed that the Aliabad basin (with less slope and more elongation) with an effective quarter of type 3 had the highest similarity in precipitation and sediment patterns. Also, the Western Soldereh basin (with the highest slope and the least elongation) with an effective quarter of type 2 had the least similarity in precipitation and sediment patterns. The results indicate the vital role of rainfall patterns on the resulting sediment patterns, which show up to 85% similarity.

Effect of Curing Time and Percentage of Concrete Additives on Increasing the Compressive Strength and Shear Strength of Silty Sand Soils

H. Mousavi Jahromi

The existence of silty sand in the infrastructure under concrete constructions, hydraulic structures, and irrigation systems has always caused challenges. Improving this kind of soil is always a challenging approach to increase compressive strength and shear stress. There is a conception that adding some extra material such as concrete can increase the stability of this soil against contributed forces. The present study investigated the effects of curing time (3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days) and different percentages of various additives (3%, 5%, and 7%) on the strength of the silty sand soils. A series of laboratory tests were carried out to measure the Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) by evaluating the effect of additives on the strength parameters of silty sand soil. In total, 299 experimental tests have been conducted in the soil mechanics laboratory of SRBIAU. Results indicated that adding additives such as concrete to silty sand soil improved significantly the compressive strength and shear strength. The comparisons among the experimental test illustrate that due to increasing the curing time, the aforementioned parameters were increased significantly; however, Confix and Bentonite aggregates did not have a marginal effect on the compressive strength and shear strength. Also, after the 21^st day of the curing time, the rate of increment of the UCS and CBR reached slightly and then attained a constant value. Also, after this duration, the curing time is an independent factor in the variation of the UCS and CBR tests. Furthermore, the addition of 5% Pozzolana cement and 7% Portland cement with 28 days of curing had the highest CBR number and UCS resistance of 176.26 and 17.58 kg/cm², respectively. Also, the sketch of the different failure patterns was shown during the curing time. Finally, by increasing the curing time, the behavior of specimens from semi-brittle to brittle made them harder.

Regional Frequency Analysis of Drought Severity of SEI-SRI and SEI-SSI Indices in Common Duration Using Multivariate L-Moments and Copula Functions (Case Study: Karkheh River Basin)

S. Parvizi

Investigation of homogeneity regions using univariate characteristics is an important step in the regional frequency analysis method. However, some hydrological phenomena have multivariate characteristics that cannot be studied by univariate methods. Droughts are one of these phenomena their definition as univariate will not be effective for risk assessment, decision-making, and management. Therefore, in this study, the regional frequency analysis of drought was studied in multivariate methods using SEI (Standardized Evapotranspiration Index), SSI (Standardized Soil Moisture Index), and SRI (Standardized Runoff Index) indices in the Karkheh River basin from 1996 to 2019. The indices calculated probabilistic distribution between the variables of evapotranspiration, runoff, and soil moisture using multivariate L-moments method and Copula functions and considered meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological droughts simultaneously. The results of multivariate regional frequency analysis considering the Copula Gumbel as the regional Copula showed that the basin is homogeneous in terms of severity of SEI-SSI combined drought indices and is heterogeneous in terms of severity of SEI-SSI combined drought indices. However, after clustering the basin into four homogeneous areas in terms of characteristics of SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index), the basin is homogeneous in all areas in terms of univariate SEI, SSI, and SRI indices and is heterogeneous in the third and fourth clusters of SRI and SSI drought indices. Pearson Type (III), Pareto, normal, and general logistics distribution functions were found suitable to investigate the characteristics of SEI, SSI, and SRI drought indices in this case. Finally, large estimates of the types of combined droughts and their probability of occurrence showed that the northern and southern parts of the Karkheh River basin will experience short and consecutive droughts in the next years. Droughts in areas without meteorological data can be predicted in terms of joint probability using the multivariate regional frequency analysis method proposed in this study.

Numerical Study of the Rough Bed Impact on Energy Dissipation and Cavitation on Chute Spillways

M.R. Kavianpour

Using a rough bed for spillway compare to common dissipation methods such as stilling basins, stepped spillways, ski jumps, and bed elements may be more efficient to boost energy dissipation. In this research, the impact of spillway continuous bed roughness on energy dissipation was investigated. For this purpose, a non-dimensional relationship was developed, and by calibrating the numerical model based on the present experimental study, energy dissipation over the spillway for three slopes of 15, 22.5, and 30 (degree) with six roughness sizes of 0.0, 0.005, 0.0072, 0.0111, 0.016, and 0.022 (m) and three discharges of 170, 110, and 90 (lit/s) was investigated. Based on the present results, using a rough bed spillway will increase energy dissipation. Also, the ratio of energy lost per meter length of rough bed spillway to that of smooth spillway increases by chute slope. The results showed that the highest amount of relative energy consumption in the presence of roughness was related to the slope of 22.5 degrees and 22.2 mm for roughness (85%), and the lowest relative energy consumption was observed in the control state (25%). As a result of the present study, a natural rough bed without concrete coating has befitted in terms of environmental aspects, construction cost, and energy loss.

Modeling of Malayer Aquifer by MODFLOW Groundwater Model and SWAT Surface Water Simulation Model

G.M. Samadi

The impact of different management options on the region and the existing conditions can be evaluated with minimal cost and time to select the most practical case using various tools including mathematical models. In this study, the SWAT hydrological model was performed from 2009 to 2019 using climatic, hydrological, and hydrometric data in the Malayer catchment, and the final model was validated by SWAT-CUP. To reduce the amount of uncertainty in the input parameters to the MODFLOW model, using the values of surface recharge from the implementation of the SWAT hydrological model, quantitative modeling of Malayer aquifer was performed more reliably in GMS software by using MODFLOW model. After modeling the study area in the 2009-2018 period and calibrating the model in the years from 2018 to 2019, the mean values of absolute error (MAE) were 0.35-0.65 m, and root means square error (RMSE) was 0.62-0.94 m, which seems acceptable considering computational and observational heads equal to 1650 m. Results of water level changes in observation wells located in the Malayer region indicate that the groundwater level in the aquifer has decreased by an average value of 9.7 m in the 10-year study period.

Numerical Investigation of Guide Walls Geometry at the Entrance of Dam Spillway (Case Study: Karun-3 Dam)

M. Galoie

One of the most important hydraulic structures in a dam is the spillway. The design of the ogee spillway crest is based on the lower profile of the free-flow jet passing through the sharp-crested weir. When the downstream ogee spillway profile for the design discharge conforms to the lower profile of the free-jet passing through the sharp-crested weir, the pressure on that surface of the spillway becomes zero. In this study, the design of the ogee spillway was performed initially based on both two- and three-dimensional numerical modeling and then compared to the USBR standard method. The comparison of the final numerical and analytical results showed that although the vertical two-dimensional outputs were completely in agreement with the USBR standard profile, the three-dimensional profiles were different because in this model, guide walls were not considered. According to the analysis, if the flow entering the spillway is parallel to its axis, the lower profile of the sharp-edge spillway will be in complete agreement with the standard profile. Since, the design of guide wall geometry for ogee spillways is carried out using physical modeling which iteratively revises during a high-cost trial and error procedure, this research based on the case study of the spillway of Karun-3 dam has been tried using numerical modeling. The closest geometry to the geometry of the overflow guide wall was obtained which creates the least difference in transverse velocities. In this way, the design of guide walls can be done with more accuracy and low cost in comparison to physical modeling.

Systematic Evaluation and Meta-Analysis of Risk, Toxicity Potential, and Carcinogenic and Non-Carcinogenic Risks of Potentially Toxic Elements in Arak City

E. Solgi

The industrial areas are located near residential centers in the city of Arak and potentially toxic elements (PTEs) pollution is a serious threat to human health and living organisms in this area. Meanwhile, soil contamination by PTEs is one of the challenges in this region and various studies have been conducted in this area. Meta-analysis studies provide a comprehensive evaluation of the results of a subject. In the present study, soil contamination data for PTEs in the 11 years (2009 to 2020) were studied through the studies conducted in Arak. In this study, the risk, potential toxicity, and carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of PETs were assessed using indices and mathematical relationships. Based on the results of pollution indices, the soil of Arak city in terms of PETs including Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni, As, Pb, Cu, and Hg were categorized into the polluted and highly polluted classes. The soil of the region in terms of PETs has significant ecological risk and acute toxicity. Cadmium, arsenic, and mercury showed the ecological risk of 49.3%, 23.2%, and 18.3% respectively, and nickel, chromium, and arsenic were responsible for 34.7%, 23.03%, and 22.07% of the toxicity potential of PETs in the soil. Arsenic, nickel, and chromium have the highest carcinogenic risk for children in both the ingestion and inhalation pathways, and chromium, arsenic, and nickel have the highest carcinogenic risk from the inhalation pathway for adults. According to the results, the most considerable PETs in the study area including As, Cd, and Pb, and the most important source of their emission in Arak are anthropogenic resources and industries.

Flood Risk Assessment using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Models (MCDM) and Data Mining Methods (Case Study: Shiraz District 4)

M. Vafakhah

Population growth, urbanization, and land use change have increased disastrous floods. Iran is also among the countries at high risk of floods. The latest examples of flood damage are the devastating floods of the spring of 2019 with significant mortality and financial losses in more than ten provinces of the country. The purpose of this study is to prepare an urban flood risk map of District 4 City Shiraz. The vulnerability of the region was made using PROMETHEE Ⅱ and COPRAS multi-criteria decision-making models and urban flood hazard zones were prepared by partial least squares regression (PLSR) and ridge regression (RR) models and a risk map was obtained by multiplying the vulnerability and hazard in ArcGIS software. The highest percentage of the study area in the PROMETHEE Ⅱ and COPRAS models belongs to the moderate class of vulnerability. The evaluation of the vulnerability models using Boolean logic and RMSE and MAPE statistics, showed that the COPRAS model provided better results than the PROMETHEE model. The results of partial least square regression (PLSR) and ridge regression (RR) models in flood risk modeling were analyzed by the Taylor diagram, which showed the superiority of the ridge regression (RR) model and the accuracy of this model in preparing urban flood hazard maps. The risk map of the study area indicated that 34% of the area (973 ha) is in the range of high and very high flood risk.

Ardabil Plain Flood Vulnerability Rating Using the Combined BWM and TOPSIS Methods

A. Esmali Ouri1

Planning and providing appropriate tools to reduce the adverse effects of natural hazards including floods is inevitable. Achieving the above goal depends on having sufficient and accurate knowledge and information about the vulnerability of different ecosystems (watersheds) to various destructive factors. Vulnerability assessment by identifying potential stresses and disturbances (natural and man-made) as well as estimating the sensitivity of watersheds allows for predicting the effects and selecting appropriate solutions for the sustainable management of these ecosystems. Therefore, this study has been designed to identify and rank vulnerable sub-watersheds to floods in the Ardabil plain, taking into account social, economic, infrastructural, and ecological dimensions. First, the indicators and criteria of each dimension were identified taking into account the conditions prevailing in Ardabil plain. Then, information and data on climatic, hydrological, demographic, economic, infrastructure, and land use were obtained from relevant authorities. Then, the mentioned criteria were standardized and the weight according to their importance was calculated based on the BWM method the data obtained from this stage were performed using the TOPSIS technique to rank flood vulnerability for different sub-watersheds in Ardabil plain for the period 2007-2017. Finally, a map of Ardabil's plain vulnerability to floods was prepared and presented. According to the results, the criteria of building density, rainfall, population density, and the unemployment rate were the most important criteria of vulnerability and among the studied dimensions, the infrastructure dimension is too significant in flood vulnerability in Ardabil plain. Based on the comprehensive vulnerability map, sub-watershed 7 in Ardabil plain was identified as the most vulnerable sub-watershed in the study area.

Assessment Monitoring Spatio-Temporal of Drought Lake Urmia Basin using ETDI Remote Sensing Index and SPI Ground Index

H. Babajafari

Drought is one of the most complex natural disasters due to its slow onset and long-term impact. Today, the use of remote sensing techniques and satellite imagery has been considered a useful tool for monitoring agricultural drought. The objective of the present study was to evaluate spatial and temporal monitoring of agricultural drought in the lake Urmia catchment area with the ETDI drought index which is calculated from Nova satellite images based on actual evapotranspiration from the SEBS algorithm and compared with the ground index SPI. For this purpose, 248 AVHRR sensor images and NOAA satellites during the statistical period of 1998-2000 and 17 meteorological stations with a statistical period of 30 years were used to calculate the indicators. To determine agricultural lands, six thousand points were marked for different uses and their actual evapotranspiration was calculated using the SEBS algorithm. The results showed that with the onset of the drought period in 1998, the ETDI index indicated 9.4% in weak drought conditions in May and 90.6% in normal conditions. Over time, in June of 1998, the situation was different with 95% in a weak drought situation and 5% in a normal situation for the city of Tabriz. In July, the entire catchment area experiences a slight drought. Then, in August, 84% of the basin is in normal condition and 16% in Tabriz and Urmia are declared weak drought. It was also founded that the ETDI drought index due to the combination of visible and infrared bands and its combination with terrestrial data has a physical meaning and has high certainty and predicts drought faster and more accurately.

Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Household Dusts of the City of Khorramabad, Iran

S. Sobhan Ardakani

Individuals spend a lot of time indoors, thus they can generally be exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a teratogen, mutagen, and carcinogen pollutants with the potential for environmental and also human health risks. Therefore, the current study was performed to analyze PAHs in household dust samples of the city of Khorramabad, Iran in 2019. A total of 50 indoor dust samples were collected from 10 sampling sites. After the extraction of analytes, the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method was used to determine PAHs in the studied samples. All statistical analyses were performed by SPSS software. The results showed that 16 priority PAHs were detected in the samples with the minimum, maximum, and mean values of 14.0, 23.3, and 19.2 µg/kg. Also, based on the results the mean contents of detected PAHs were lower than the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) established by MHWS and Iran DOE. In conclusion, due to exposure risks of PAHs, regular and periodic analysis of these pollutants in different environmental samples including soil, sediment, dust, particulate matter, air, water, and tissues of living organisms for environmental and human health maintenance is recommended.

Effect of Water Stress at Different Growth Stages on Growth and Yield of Quinoa under Field Conditions

F. Razzaghi

Inefficient use of limited water resources, along with increasing population and increasing water demand for food production has severely threatened agricultural water resources. One way to overcome this problem is to improve water productivity by introducing new crops that tolerate water stresses such as quinoa. In this study, the effect of water stress at different stages of plant growth (vegetative, flowering, and grain filling) was studied on plant parameters, yield, and water productivity of quinoa (cv. Titicaca). This study was conducted under field conditions and the treatments were performed as a block experiment in a completely randomized design with four replications. Experimental factors were: treatment without water stress or full irrigation (F) and water stress treatment (D) at 50% of the need for full irrigation at different stages of quinoa growth. The application of deficit irrigation during different stages of plant growth decreased stomatal conductance, leaf area index, leaf water potential, seed yield, and water productivity, while deficit irrigation increased the green canopy temperature. According to the results of the present study, the flowering stage of quinoa was very sensitive to water stress leading to produce lower yield compared with the amount of yield obtained when vegetative and or grain filling stages are under water stress conditions.

Investigation of Bioremediation of Quinoa plant for Desalination of unconventional waters

J. Abedi Koupaei

One of the most significant techniques for saline wastewater treatment is bioremediation. Halophytes are known as the plants that can tolerate the high concentration of salts, in such salinity common plants cannot be often able to survive. In this research, the feasibility of desalination by using halophyte (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) was studied. Quinoa plants were grown in the hydroponic system in 12 containers including 9 containers with plants and 3 containers without plants as control. Fifteen plants were planted in each container and three salinity levels including 2, 8, and 14 ds/m for two different periods (15 and 30 days) were studied in a multi-factors completely randomized design. Three replications of each salinity level were conducted and the Electrical Conductivity (EC) parameters, including Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, and Chloride ions were determined before and after treatment by Quinoa plants. The results showed that the Quinoa plants reduced 5.33%, 8.12%, and 9.35% of the EC at EC~2 dS/m (Marginal Water), EC~8 dS/m (Brackish Water), and EC~14 dS/m (Saline Water), respectively. Moreover, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, and Chloride ions decreased up to 10%, 7.62%, 5.60%, and 7.01%, respectively depending on the salinity levels. Therefore, the Quinoa plant has a relatively low potential in unconventional water treatment especially saline wastewater.