Note: Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Editors' Biography -- List of Contributors -- Chapter 1 Characterization and Mapping of Soils for Sustainable Management Using Geospatial Techniques -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Materials and Methods -- 1.2.1 Study Area -- 1.2.2 Geology -- 1.2.3 Preparation of Base Maps -- 1.2.4 Ground-Truth Verification -- 1.2.5 Soil Sampling and Analysis -- 1.2.6 Soil Classification -- 1.2.7 Development of Soil Mapping Legend -- 1.2.8 Land Evaluation -- 1.3 Results and Discussion -- 1.3.1 Landform Delineation -- 1.3.2 Land-Use/Land Cover -- 1.3.3 Landform and Landscape Ecological Units (LEUs) -- 1.3.4 Soil-Landform Relationship -- 1.3.5 Soil Mapping -- 1.3.6 Soil Survey Interpretation -- 1.3.7 Surface Texture -- 1.3.8 Drainage -- 1.3.9 Soil Reaction (pH) -- 1.3.10 Organic Carbon -- 1.3.11 Available Nitrogen -- 1.3.12 Available Phosphorous -- 1.4 Available Potassium -- 1.5 Land Capability Classification -- 1.6 Soil Suitability for Crops -- 1.7 Recommendation -- 1.8 Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 2 Sustainable Biodiversity Conservation in Tribal Area -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Tribes Role in Indigenous Botanical Knowledge (IBK) -- 2.3 Tribes Ethno Botany and Traditional Practices -- 2.4 Tribes Relationship with Flora Protection -- 2.5 Ethnic and Aboriginal Peoples' Role in Conservation -- 2.6 Tribal Relationship with Fauna -- 2.7 Tribes Role in Conservation of Insects -- 2.8 Tribes of Southern Indian -- 2.9 North Eastern Tribes -- 2.10 Tribes Association in Protecting Nature -- 2.11 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 3 Soil Bioengineering Practices for Sustainable Ecosystem Restoration in Landslide-Affected Areas -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Ecosystem Deterioration and Need to Replenish -- 3.2.1 Evaluating the Area. , 3.2.2 Identifying Project Goals -- 3.2.3 Identifying and Removing Sources of Disturbance -- 3.2.4 Restoring Technologies -- 3.2.5 Substrates Rehabilitation -- 3.2.6 Vegetation Restoration -- 3.2.7 Monitoring and Maintenance -- 3.3 Landslides and Ecology Deterioration -- 3.4 Landslide Restoration -- 3.5 Landslide Restoration: Losses Incurred Directly vs. Indirectly -- 3.6 Landslide-Associated Problems and Their Mitigation & -- Management Measures -- 3.7 Bioengineering Strategy in Landslide Risk Mitigation -- 3.8 Application -- 3.9 Participation of the Social Environment in the Application and Succession of Soil Bioengineering -- 3.9.1 Seedlings -- 3.9.2 Bare Root Planting -- 3.9.3 Live Stakes -- 3.9.4 Contour Wattling -- 3.9.5 Brush Layer -- 3.9.6 Trench Packing -- 3.9.7 Brush Matting -- 3.9.8 Live Cuttings -- 3.9.9 Coir Fascines -- 3.9.10 Pre-Vegetated Mats -- 3.10 Slope Stability and Ecosystem Restoration -- 3.11 Native Species in Ecosystem Regeneration -- 3.12 Barrier to Ecological Restoration of Landslides -- 3.13 Indigenous People and their Support -- 3.14 Indigenous Knowledge in Ecosystem Restoration -- 3.15 Selection of Potential Indigenous Plants Based on Their Soil Reinforcement and Anchoring Capabilities -- 3.16 Recommendations -- 3.17 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 4 Sustainable Ecosystem Development and Landscaping for Urban and Peri-Urban Areas -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Landscapes -- 4.2.1 Urban Landscape -- 4.2.2 Peri-Urban Landscape -- 4.3 Challenges -- 4.3.1 Role of Horticulture -- 4.3.2 Impact of Urbanization on Plant Life in Riparian Areas -- 4.3.3 Issues in Urban Ecology -- 4.3.4 Urban Ecology from a Landscape Perspective -- 4.3.5 Parks and Public Green Space -- 4.3.6 Multiple Benefits of Vegetated Land Cover to Health and Well-being -- 4.3.7 Plant Resources for Building the Urban Environments. , 4.3.8 Some of the Main Problems Confronting Urban Plants Include -- 4.3.9 Exotic Species in Urban/Peri-Urban Lanscaping -- 4.3.10 Role of Evergreen Plant in Urban/Peri-urban Landscaping -- 4.4 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 5 Climate Change Impact of Fluoride Contamination on Human Health in Dry Zone of Sri Lanka -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Study Area -- 5.3 Climate Change and Fluoride Contamination in Groundwater -- 5.4 Groundwater Resources and Climate Change in Sri Lanka -- 5.5 Fluoride Contamination & -- Health Issues in Dry Zone Sri Lanka -- 5.6 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 6 Application of Geospatial Technology in Catchment Modeling Using SCS-CN Method for Estimating the Direct Runoff on Barakar River Basin, Jharkhand -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Study Area -- 6.3 Materials and Methods -- 6.3.1 Data Sources -- 6.4 SCS-CN Method -- 6.4.1 Estimation of S -- 6.4.2 Determination of CN -- 6.4.3 Selection of CN -- 6.5 Methodology -- 6.6 Results and Discussion -- 6.6.1 Watershed Delineation -- 6.6.2 Landuse-Landcover Map -- 6.6.3 Soil Map -- 6.6.4 Soil Landuse Vegetation Complex (SLV) Map -- 6.6.5 Curve Number (CN) and Weighted Curve Number (WCN) Values -- 6.7 Antecedent Moisture Conditions, CN I and CN III Values -- 6.8 Potential Maximum Retention (S) and Runoff Depth (Q) -- 6.9 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 7 Hydro-Geospatial Investigation to Propose Water Conservation Sites for Water Management in Limestone Terrain -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Study Area -- 7.2.1 Location -- 7.2.2 Climate -- 7.2.3 Geology -- 7.2.4 Lineament -- 7.2.5 Geomorphology -- 7.2.6 Drainage -- 7.2.7 Land use/Land Cover -- 7.2.8 Soils -- 7.2.9 Slope -- 7.3 Materials and Methods -- 7.4 Results and Discussion -- 7.5 Lithology -- 7.6 Lineament Density -- 7.7 Geomorphology -- 7.8 Drainage Density -- 7.9 Rainfall -- 7.10 Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) -- 7.11 Slope. , 7.12 Soil -- 7.13 Terrain Wetness Index (TWI) -- 7.14 Validation -- 7.15 Conclusion -- 7.15.1 Proposed Artificial Recharge Structure -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 8 Rainfall Spatiotemporal Variability and Trends in the Semi-Arid Ecological Zone of Nigeria -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Study Area -- 8.3 Materials and Methods -- 8.3.1 Data Sources -- 8.3.2 Trend and Variability Detection -- 8.3.3 Spatial Interpolation -- 8.4 Results and Discussion -- 8.5 Rainfall Characteristics -- 8.5.1 Statistical Overview of Rainfall Climatology -- 8.5.2 Rainfall Variability and Anomaly Patterns -- 8.6 Annual, Interannual, and Monthly Trends -- 8.7 Trends Detection Based on the WMO Standardized Period -- 8.8 Implications for Agriculture and Water Ecosystem Services -- 8.9 Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 9 Climate Change Awareness, Perception, and Adaptation Strategies for Small and Marginal Farmers in Yobe State, Nigeria -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Materials and Methods -- 9.3 Study Area -- 9.4 Data Compilation Techniques -- 9.5 Sampling Procedures -- 9.6 Analysis of Data -- 9.7 Results and Discussion -- 9.7.1 The Socio-economic and Institutional Characteristics of Respondents -- 9.7.2 Farmers' Awareness of Changes in Climate Parameters -- 9.7.3 Climate Change Information for Farmers -- 9.8 Climate Change and Farmers' Perceptions -- 9.9 Factors that Influence Farmers' Perceptions of Climate Change -- 9.10 Farmers' Climate Change Adaptation -- 9.11 Constraints Facing Farmers as a Result of Climate Change -- 9.12 Conclusion and Recommendation -- Acknowledgment -- References -- Chapter 10 Delineation of Groundwater Prospect Zones based on Earth Observation Data and AHP Modeling - A Study from Basaltic Rock Formation -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Study Area Description -- 10.3 Materials and Methods -- 10.3.1 Used Datasets. , 10.3.2 Methodology -- 10.3.3 AHP Method and Weight Normalization -- 10.3.4 Weighted Overlay Analysis (WOA) -- 10.3.5 Groundwater Fluctuation -- 10.3.6 Accuracy Assessment -- 10.4 Results and Discussion -- 10.4.1 LULC -- 10.4.2 Landforms and Geomorphological Features -- 10.4.3 Lineament Density -- 10.4.4 Drainage Map -- 10.4.5 Groundwater Fluctuation -- 10.4.6 Geology -- 10.4.7 Slope -- 10.4.8 Soil -- 10.4.9 Rainfall -- 10.5 Groundwater Prospective Zone Mapping -- 10.6 Validation -- 10.7 Conclusion -- Conflict of Interest -- References -- Chapter 11 Hydro-geochemical Evaluation of Phreatic Groundwater for Assessing Drinking and Irrigation Appropriateness - A Case Study of Chandrapur Watershed -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Fluorite (CaF2 ) Mineralization in Geological Environment -- 11.2.1 Physical Characteristics of Fluorite (CAF2 ) -- 11.2.2 High Concentration of F in Groundwater -- 11.2.3 Genesis of Fluorite (CaF2 ) Mineralization in Study Area -- 11.3 Study Area Details -- 11.4 Materials and Methods -- 11.5 Physicochemical Characteristics of Groundwater -- 11.5.1 Physical Parameters -- 11.5.2 Cation-Anion Chemistry -- 11.5.3 Rock-Water Interaction -- 11.6 Discussion on Groundwater Appropriateness -- 11.6.1 Drinking and General Domestic Use -- 11.6.2 Irrigation Use -- 11.7 F-Contents from Study Area -- 11.8 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 12 Variability of Ground Water Quality in Quaternary Aquifers of the Cauvery and Vennar Sub-basins within the Cauvery Delta, Southern India -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Materials and Methods -- 12.2.1 Study Area -- 12.2.2 Geology and Hydrogeology -- 12.2.3 Groundwater Sampling and Laboratory Analysis -- 12.2.4 Drinking Water Quality -- 12.3 Results and Discussion -- 12.4 Drinking Water Quality -- 12.4.1 pH -- 12.4.2 Electrical Conductivity -- 12.4.3 Total Dissolved Solids -- 12.4.4 Total Hardness. , 12.4.5 Calcium.

Note: Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Editors -- Contributors -- Chapter 1 Understanding Drought: Definitions, Causes, Assessments, Forecasts, and Management -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Drought Definitions -- 1.2.1 Drought Types -- 1.2.1.1 Meteorological Drought -- 1.2.1.2 Agricultural Drought -- 1.2.1.3 Hydrological Drought -- 1.2.1.4 Groundwater Drought -- 1.2.1.5 Socioeconomic Drought -- 1.3 Drought Assessment -- 1.3.1 Drought Characteristics -- 1.3.2 Drought Indices -- 1.3.2.1 Univariate Drought Indices -- 1.3.2.2 Multivariate Drought Indices -- 1.3.3 Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing -- 1.3.3.1 Remote Sensing of Hydroclimate Variables and Its Application to Drought Assessments -- 1.3.3.2 Remote Sensing of Environmental Variables and Its Application to Drought Assessments -- 1.4 Drought Analysis -- 1.4.1 Frequency Analysis -- 1.4.1.1 Multivariate Drought Analysis -- 1.4.1.2 Copula Joint Probability Models -- 1.4.1.3 Entropy-Based Probability Models -- 1.4.2 Reliability, Resilience, and Vulnerability Analysis -- 1.4.2.1 Reliability -- 1.4.2.2 Resilience -- 1.4.2.3 Vulnerability -- 1.5 Causes of Drought -- 1.5.1 Ocean-Atmosphere Teleconnection -- 1.5.2 Land-Atmosphere Interaction -- 1.5.3 Internal Atmospheric Variability -- 1.6 Drought and Climate Change -- 1.6.1 Global Warming Impacts on Ocean-Atmosphere Teleconnection -- 1.6.2 Global Warming Impacts on Land-Atmosphere Teleconnection -- 1.6.3 Global Warming Impacts on Internal Atmospheric Teleconnection -- 1.7 Drought Forecasting -- 1.7.1 Statistical Forecasting Methods -- 1.7.1.1 Discrete Statistical Forecasting Methods -- 1.7.1.2 Continuous Statistical Forecasting Methods -- 1.7.2 Dynamical Forecasting Methods -- 1.7.3 Hybrid Statistical-Dynamical Methods -- 1.8 Drought Impacts: Major Historical Droughts and Losses Caused by Them. , 1.8.1 The US -- 1.8.1.1 The 1930s Dust Bowl Drought -- 1.8.1.2 The 1950s Southwest Drought -- 1.8.1.3 The 1988-1989 North American Drought -- 1.8.1.4 The 2011-2017 California Drought -- 1.8.2 South America: The 2014-2017 Brazilian Drought -- 1.8.3 Europe: The 1992-1995 Spanish Drought -- 1.8.4 Africa: The Sahel Droughts, 1970s-1980s -- 1.8.5 Asia: The 2015-2016 Drought in the Mekong Delta -- 1.8.6 Oceania: The Millennium Drought in Southeast Australia during 2001-2009 -- 1.9 Drought Management -- 1.9.1 Water Conservation/Management -- 1.9.2 Soil Management -- 1.9.3 Diversification of Crops and Industries -- 1.9.4 Public Education and Risk-Sharing Systems -- 1.10 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 2 Drought Concepts, Characterization, and Indicators -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Types of Droughts -- 2.2.1 Meteorological Drought -- 2.2.2 Agricultural Drought -- 2.2.3 Hydrological Drought -- 2.2.4 Socioeconomic Drought -- 2.3 Main Types of Drought Recognized in India -- 2.3.1 Meteorological Drought -- 2.3.2 Hydrological Drought -- 2.3.2.1 Surface Water Drought -- 2.3.2.2 Groundwater Drought -- 2.3.3 Agricultural Drought -- 2.3.4 Soil Moisture Drought -- 2.3.5 Socioeconomic Drought -- 2.3.6 Famine -- 2.3.7 Ecological Drought -- 2.4 Impacts of Drought -- 2.4.1 Economic Impacts -- 2.4.2 Environmental Impacts -- 2.4.3 Social Impacts -- 2.5 Worst Droughts in History -- 2.6 Characterization of Droughts -- 2.7 Drought Indicators -- 2.7.1 Drought Characterization Using Drought Indices -- 2.7.2 Considerations for Drought Indicators -- 2.7.2.1 Suitability for Drought Types of Concern -- 2.7.2.2 Data Availability and Consistency -- 2.7.2.3 Clarity and Validity -- 2.7.2.4 Temporal and Spatial Sensitivity -- 2.7.2.5 Temporally and Spatially Specific -- 2.7.2.6 Drought Progression and Recession -- 2.7.2.7 Linked with Drought Management and Impact Reduction Goals. , 2.7.2.8 Explicit Combination Methods -- 2.7.2.9 Quantitative and Quantitative Indicators -- 2.8 Drought Indices -- 2.8.1 Percent of Normal -- 2.8.2 Deciles -- 2.8.3 Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) -- 2.8.4 Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) -- 2.8.5 US Drought Monitor (USDM) -- 2.8.6 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) -- 2.8.7 Rainfall Departure -- 2.8.8 Statistical Z-Score (Z-Score) -- 2.8.9 Effective Drought Index (EDI) -- 2.8.10 China Z-Index (CZI) -- 2.8.11 Other Notable Drought Indices -- 2.9 Aggregation of Drought Indices -- 2.10 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 3 Spatial Assessment of Meteorological and Agricultural Drought in Northern India -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Materials and Methodology -- 3.2.1 Study Area -- 3.2.2 Methodology -- 3.2.2.1 SPEI Calculation -- 3.2.2.2 NDVI Calculation -- 3.2.2.3 NDVI Deviation Estimation -- 3.2.2.4 VCI Estimation -- 3.2.2.5 Spatial Mapping of Agriculture Drought-Affected Regions -- 3.3 Results and Discussion -- 3.3.1 Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI)-Based Meteorological Drought Detection -- 3.3.2 Remote Sensing-Based Vegetation Indicators of Agricultural Drought Detection -- 3.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 4 Assessment of Meteorological Drought Characteristics in Brazil -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Standard Precipitation Index and Drought Assessment -- 4.2.1 Details of Rainfall Data -- 4.3 Drought Assessment -- 4.3.1 Polygons 1 and 2 -- 4.3.2 Polygons 3 and 4 -- 4.3.3 Polygons 5 and 6 -- 4.3.4 Polygon 7 -- 4.3.5 Polygon 8 -- 4.4 Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 5 Drought in Rio de Janeiro State, Southeast Brazil -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Methodology -- 5.2.1 Study Area -- 5.2.1.1 Rainfall Data -- 5.2.2 Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) -- 5.2.3 Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). , 5.2.4 Statistical Tests -- 5.3 Results and Discussion -- 5.3.1 Rainfall Data -- 5.3.2 SPI-Based Drought Analysis -- 5.3.2.1 Temporal Drought Analysis -- 5.3.2.2 Spatial Drought Analysis -- 5.3.3 Two Case Studies of Drought Assessment over the State of Rio de Janeiro -- 5.3.3.1 North and Northwest Regions -- 5.3.3.2 Middle Paraíba Region -- 5.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 6 The Mexican Drought (2011): Insight into the 29-Month Drought in Aguascalientes -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Methodology -- 6.2.1 Study Area and Data -- 6.2.2 Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) -- 6.2.3 Climate Indices -- 6.3 Results and Discussion -- 6.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 7 Investigating the Relationship between the Temporal Distribution of Precipitation and Flow Shortness Volume over Lake Urmia Basin, Iran -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Methodology -- 7.2.1 Case Study -- 7.2.2 Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) -- 7.2.3 Dryness Volume Shortage Index (DVSI) -- 7.2.3.1 Extracting the Flow Shortness Volume from Daily River Flow Rate -- 7.2.4 Trend Analysis -- 7.2.5 Sen's Slope Estimator -- 7.3 Results and Discussion -- 7.3.1 Results of Evaluation of the PCI Data in LUB -- 7.3.2 Results of Investigating DVSI in LUB -- 7.3.3 Trend Analysis of Flow Shortness Volume and PCI Values Using Hydrological Sub-Basin -- 7.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 8 Long-Term Drought Study in Algeria Based on Meteorological Data -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Study Area Description -- 8.3 Materials and Methodology -- 8.4 Results and Discussion -- 8.5 Variation of Meteorological Parameters -- 8.5.1 Site-Dependent Annual Summaries of Meteorological Parameters -- 8.5.2 Site-Dependent Monthly Summaries of Meteorological Parameters -- 8.5.3 Annual Trends of Mean, Maximum, and Minimum Ambient Temperature -- 8.5.4 Annual Variability of Relative Humidity. , 8.5.5 Annual Total Precipitation Trends -- 8.5.6 Aridity Index -- 8.5.7 Annual Mean Wind Speed Trend Analysis -- 8.5.8 Atmospheric Pressure Variability -- 8.6 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 9 Severe Droughts in India -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Data and Methodology -- 9.3 Droughts in the Indian Summer Monsoon -- 9.3.1 Hydrometeorological Variability -- 9.3.2 Variability of Large-Scale Circulation -- 9.4 Discussion and Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 10 Comparison of Bhalme-Mooley Drought Index with Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index: The Case of Okavango Delta, Botswana -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Materials and Methods -- 10.2.1 Data Description -- 10.2.2 Methods -- 10.2.2.1 Method for Computation of Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) -- 10.2.2.2 Method for Bhalme-Mooley Drought Index (BMDI) -- 10.3 Results of Analyses -- 10.3.1 Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) -- 10.3.2 Bhalme-Mooley Drought Index (BMDI) Analysis -- 10.3.3 Drought Map -- 10.3.4 Association between SPEI and BMDI -- 10.4 Discussion of Results -- 10.5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 11 Analysis of Drought Using a Modified Version of the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Materials and Methods -- 11.2.1 Study Area -- 11.2.2 Trend Analysis -- 11.2.3 Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) -- 11.3 Results and Discussion -- 11.3.1 Results of Extraction of Di Values and Fitness with Statistical Distributions -- 11.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 12 Evaluation of an Evapotranspiration Deficit-Based Drought Index and Its Impacts on Carbon Productivity in the Levant and Iraq -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.1.1 Drought Definition and Characteristics -- 12.1.2 Drought Indices. , 12.1.3 Drought Impacts on Ecosystem Vegetation and Productivity.