Recent publications
The primary goal of this study is to predict the current and future water quality index for irrigation (WQII) of the western Mitidja alluvial aquifer in northern Algeria. The modified WQII was used to evaluate groundwater suitability for irrigation through geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Additionally, a long short-term memory (LSTM) model was employed to calculate the WQII and map future groundwater quality, considering factors like overexploitation, anthropogenic pollution, and climate change. Two scenarios were analyzed for the year 2030. Results from applying the modified WQII model to 2020 data showed that about 83% of the study area has medium to high groundwater suitability for irrigation. The LSTM model exhibited strong predictive accuracy with determination coefficients (R²) of 0.992 and 0.987, and root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.061 and 0.084 for the training and testing phases, respectively. For the first 2030 scenario, the area with low and medium groundwater suitability is expected to increase by 4% and 7% compared to the 2020 map. Conversely, under the second scenario, groundwater quality is predicted to improve, with a decrease of 14% and 11% in the low and medium suitability areas. The combination of the modified WQII and LSTM model proves to be an effective tool for estimating and predicting water quality indices in similar regions globally, offering valuable insights for water resource management and decision-making processes.
This study explores the impact of non-plastic fines content, initial confining pressure, and grading characteristics on the undrained shear strength and excess pore pressure of sand-silt mixtures; a series of undrained compression triaxial tests were carried out on reconstituted Chlef sand (Algeria) samples with different percentages of silt content (Fc = 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%), at an initial relative density (RD = 50%) subjected under three different confining pressures (p′c = 20, 50, and 100 kPa). Observations from these tests unveiled intriguing insights. Notably, it was discovered that soil specimens with lower fines content and higher initial confining pressures showed increased resistance to liquefaction. Conversely, liquefaction resistance diminished under conditions of higher fines content and lower initial confining pressures. Moreover, the analysis of test results underscored the substantial influence of gradation on the peak shear strength and maximum excess pore pressure of sand-silt mixtures. This suggests that the distribution of particle sizes within the mixture plays a pivotal role in its mechanical behavior and susceptibility to liquefaction. Furthermore, the study’s findings revealed the presence of straightforward correlations between various parameters. These correlations include those between peak shear strength (qpeak), maximum excess pore pressure (Δumax), fines content (Fc), initial confining pressure (p′c), and specific grading characteristics such as D10, D30, D50, D60, Cu, D10R, D50R, and CuR. These correlations offer valuable insights into the interplay of factors affecting the mechanical properties of sand-silt mixtures, aiding in the development of predictive models and engineering solutions for infrastructure projects.
In the following paper, we have shown the existence and localization of solutions for a system of n third order differential equations under Sturm-Liouville type boundary conditions. Such systems appear in many physical problems, one of which is the jerk equations to locate the trajectory of a material point in space.
This work aimed at evaluating the impact of human activity and geology on the surface water quality of the Ouled Mellouk dam (northwestern Algeria). Specifically, methodology aims to assess seasonal variations of several parameters (EC, TDS, pH, SO42−, Cl−, Ca2+, Na+, HCO3−, NO3−, PO43− and Mg2+, organic matter, suspended solids, BOD5, COD) from 2007 to 2013 to define the processes controlling the mineralization and pollution of the surface water. The results show high salinization recorded during the periods of heavy precipitation or flooding, due to leaching of dolomitic limestones and evaporitic deposits from the saliferous formations of the surrounding mountains. High concentrations of NO3−, NO2−, NH4+, and organic matter can instead be attributed to the use of fertilizers in agriculture. Moreover, the PCA application shows that salinization (49.92%), anthropogenic pollution (19.38%) and agricultural pollution (12%) are the most significant degradation factors, respectively. The saturation index of carbonates and gypsiferous minerals shows the carbonates precipitate before the gypsiferous minerals, which allowed the chemical elements coming from the dissolution of gypsum and halite to acquire significant contents. In addition, the evolution of biological oxygen demand and organic pollution shows slight pollution of the dam water.
HIGHLIGHTS
The study evaluated the impact of human activity and geology formations on the surface water quality of the Ouled Mellouk dam (Algeria).;
The results show that saline geological formations, water–rock interaction process, and anthropogenic pollution are the significant degradation factors for the lake's surface water quality.;
The lake's water is unsuitable for domestic use and irrigation without a proper treatment.;
This article presents the effect of silt proportion on the hypoplastic parameters (exponent n, granular hardness hs, exponent α, and exponent β) used for numerical simulation, calculation of emax, and transitional fines content (Fct). Fifteen oedometer tests were carried out at various relative densities (RD = 30, 65, and 80%) to evaluate their effect on the compressibility parameters such as compression index Cc, secant oedometer modulus Esecant, and pre-consolidation pressure σ′p. Additionally, ten monotonic undrained triaxial tests were conducted at RD = 65% and RD = 80% to determine the value of the α parameter used in numerical simulation. The results obtained indicate that that the void ratio decreases with the increasing proportion of fine fraction up to 30% and further decreases with an additional increase of fines up to 40% for the three cases of relative densities (RD = 30, 65 and 80%). Additionally, it is shown from our results that the hypoplastic model is able to simulate soil behavior under undrained and oeodometer conditions. It was found that an increase in the α parameter leads to an increase in the dilatancy of the curves observed in the triaxial test. On the other hand, the parameters α and β seem to have no effect on the compressibility curves, and it was necessary to rely on their physical parameters. The transitional fines content (Fct) depends on the stress level and maximum void ratio, which are calculated from the parameters of the hypoplastic model (eio, hs, ps, n).
River monitoring is of considerable importance in any watershed management strategy. In the present research, to estimate the discharge rate, an entropy approach based on the estimation of a single parameter ϕ(M) was tested for the drainage network of a wide region of the central and east part of Algeria. The network covers 1115 wadis (rivers) with a total length of 14 137 km. Four different models were investigated in order to get a mapping of ϕ(M) usable along channels for any ungauged river sites. A velocity dataset of 50 gauged stations involving 10 000 measurements were used for the analysis. The data for 2/3 and 1/3 of the gauged sites were randomly considered for calibration and validation, respectively. The results highlight a good spatial distribution of the entropy parameter along channels, and a good estimation error level, especially for the regression and slope–elevation ϕ(M) models.
Land use and land cover (LULC) information is a fundamental component of environmental research relating to urban planning, agricultural sustainability, and natural hazards assessment. In particular, remote sensing technology has demonstrated a powerful capacity for LULC modeling with a corresponding increase in sensor number and type. Here, an advanced convolutional neural network (CNN) deep learning model was developed in combination with object-based image analysis (OBIA) to map LULC in Ain Témouchent coastal area, western Algeria, using Sentinel-2 and Pléiades imagery data. First, the CNN model was constructed based on convolution, hidden, and max pooling layers. The parameters of CNN architecture were optimized to improve the model for further processing. Then, based on high levels of CNN feature extraction, the OBIA was applied to classify the segmented objects, and detect the LULC features. Furthermore, machine learning methods, including random forest (RF) and support vector machines (SVM) were tested for comparison. The proposed method achieved a high overall accuracy (93.5%) using Pléiades imagery, revealing significant improvements compared to other machine learning techniques. Accordingly, it was concluded that the method proposed here is useful for LULC detection, and can be applied at larger scales in coastal areas. The derived maps can also inform regional and national-level decision making.
Index Terms— coastal areas, convolutional neural networks (CNN), LULC mapping, machine learning, object-based image analysis (OBIA), remote sensing
Soil water erosion is a major phenomenon that threatens almost all watersheds in the Mediterranean area, nowadays. The worsening of this phenomenon in Algeria affects soil capacity to ensure its ecological functions and socio-economic purposes which depend on it. Concurrently, the storage capacity of Algeria dams has considerably decreased as a result of excessive silting. The above issue motivated this study, which aims to establish mechanisms for prioritizing to improve the economic efficiency of agricultural land and the long-term viability of dams in the largest metropolitan basin of Algeria “Coastal Algiers 2a basin”. This basin, which is urbanized over 50% of its area, contains six large dams with a total capacity of 540 Million m3 and one of the most important agricultural zones in Algeria. Common decision support frameworks have been implemented to predict the areas that are potentially exposed to erosion and sediment deposition threatening the dam capacity using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). To achieve this, rainfall, climatic, hydrometric, land use, soil, digital elevation, and satellite data were used by the two spatially soil loss models. The results show a dependency between the two statistical models with respect to low, medium and high erosion risk areas and its evolution from the eastern to the western region of the watershed. Regarding the deposition of sediments at the dams, the two models only partially explain the rate of sediments observed at the level of the dams’ basins whose relative errors exceed 4%, 8%, 60%, 30% and 40% respectively for the Meurad, Bouroumi, Keddara, Boukerdane and El Hamiz dams. The canonical analysis (CC) revealed that the average slope, vegetation cover and the available water capacity in the soil of the basin are the most important parameters influencing the soil loss provided by the two models.
The proposed study aims to assess groundwater quality and suitability of the Upper and Middle Cheliff plains (northwest of Algeria) for irrigation and drinking. Here the groundwater is the main source for domestic, agricultural and industrial activities similarly to any other region of the world. The suitability for drinking and for irrigation was evaluated on the basis of water quality index, salinity risk, hardness risk, sodium risk, magnesium risk, permeability index, water infiltration rate, Kelly index and Wilcox and Richards diagrams. The aquifer system is mainly composed of alluvium (gravel, sand, silt, clay, …) from the Mio-Plio-Quaternary. The results of this study highlighted that the majority of the chemical elements analyzed exceed the WHO's drinking water standards and FAO's irrigation water standards. Based on the GroundWater Quality Index (GWQI) results, the Upper and Middle Cheliff groundwater plains shows Doubtful class in most of the plains. In addition, the GroundWater Quality Index for Irrigation (GWQII) shows the predominance of the Good/Permissible groundwater quality class in most of the plains. According to these results, drinking water can cause health problems (a danger) for the human consumption making necessary a proper treatment be able to use it. As for irrigation water, it does not present a danger for irrigating for the vast fields of the region, with the exception of sensitive crops such as: garlic, onion, beans and strawberry. The proposed approach demonstrated to be appropriate in assessing the groundwater quality for irrigation and drinking water supply since it can be easy applicable and suitable in humid, arid or semi-arid regions around the world.
Sediment transport and land erosion have specific impacts in Algeria, especially if we know that Algerian lands record the highest soil erosion levels in North Africa. Also, the direct impact of the moving sediments on storage capacities greatly reduces the regularized volumes of the latter. Thus, we studied the erosion phenomena over the coastal watershed of Algiers, which is one of the most important watersheds in Algeria due to its demographic aspect (more than 8 million inhabitants over a small area representing 0.5% of the whole area of the country) and to the important agricultural and industrial activities. The study concerns the sediment transport evaluation with a simple approach using the sediment concentration data of several hydrometric sites within and outside of the watershed in order to estimate the specific erosion or soil degradation and to map it in order to have a global idea about the zones which are most sensitive to erosion and which must have a priority in the watershed management programs. We deduce that the prone zones are in the upstream of Wadi Chiffa and Bouroumi, and along Wadi El Hachem where Boukerdane Dam is located.
For the proper design of vital structures as a dam, in order to avoid considerable damage in downstream of the structure, a deepen study must be established. The hydrodynamic behavior is very important for the determination of the damages through the dam body, which have effects on the failures and consequences on the internal resistance and the stability of the structure. This work attempts to elucidate the effect of seismic loading and inertia through the variation of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and the time of seismic recording. A damage model based on a continuous approach and taking into account the tensile strength of the concrete and the elastic deformations is applied. The Koyna dam situated in India with a height of 103 m, which experienced in 1967 a considerable earthquake causing the rupture of the structure is taken as an example of application for our study, two seismic records are applied, the first is that of Koyna in December 1967 with a duration of 10 seconds, and the other that of Saguenay in Canada in November 1988 of a duration of 15 seconds with intensities less than the first. We noted that the acceleration considerably induces the horizontal displacements at the crest dam which lead to more important damages going from downstream to upstream causing the rupture of the structure, on the other hand the duration of the recording with weak intensities does not cause significant damage.
Le taux de sédimentation des barrages du bassin
hydrographique du Cheliff reste le plus élevé de toutes les
régions de l'Algérie. L'oued Mina est un affluent majeur de l'oued
Cheliff, le plus grand oued de l'Algérie qui transporte un taux de
sédiment important et le barrage de Sidi M'Hamed Ben Aouda (Relizane)
qui barre cet oued a reçu un volume de vase égal à 6,7 millions
de m3 par année. L'objectif de cette étude est de proposer un
modèle d'estimation de l'érosion spécifique permettant de
construire un ensemble d'indicateurs afin d'identifier les zones
prioritaires nécessitant le renforcement des moyens de lutte contre
l'érosion et une exploitation meilleure des barrages qui sont la seule
ressource pour l'irrigation et l'activité agricole de la région en
prolongeant leur durée de vie. Nous avons procédé à
l'analyse des données journalières de pluie et de débits des
stations hydro-pluviométriques d'oued El Abtal (de 1985–2010) du sous
bassin versant dont les apports s'accumulent dans le barrage SMBA. Ce
travail nous a permis d'élaborer une carte de sensibilisation qui
délimite les zones vulnérables selon le taux d'érosion
spécifique (Es oued Haddad = 18.3, Es oued El Abd = 7.3, Es oued Mina = 10.47 (t ha−1 an−1) …calculés à partir du
modèle trouvé dans cette étude. Enfin, l'état érosif des
versants a été divisé en quatre classes principales de
vulnérabilité des sols, à savoir : les niveaux
«négligeable», «modéré», «élevé» et «très
élevé». Cette carte permet de faciliter la prise de décisions
relatives à la priorisation des zones à préserver ou à
restaurer.
This paper proposes a new design for the shaft spillway of the Djedra dam (East Algeria). The procedure consists of replacing the circular section with a polygonal configuration of twelve (12) sections. The study of the model was divided into five different versions according to the variants of technical modifications of the water intake funnel; this configuration was tested on a hydraulic model in the laboratory of hydroelectric power plants of the Moscow State University of Environmental Engineering. The use of the polygonal section weir can greatly simplify the formwork of the structure, also the free entry funnel increases the discharge coefficient by 20%, without exposing the head of the weir to the risk of cavitation. In the event of submersion, the adopted design can ensure the crossing of an estimated relative flow with a probability of P = 0.01%, which means reducing the height of the dam by 0.68 m, and thus making the hydraulic structure more efficient economically and more reliable. The experimental model was produced on a 1:60 scale of the prototype, which guarantees self-simulation of the hydraulic phenomena of the Djedra dam, and its final design is judged to be hydraulically satisfactory and recommended for construction. HIGHLIGHTS
A new design of the weir of the dam is a polygonal configuration.;
The polygonal section weir simplifies its structure.;
The free entry weir funnel increases the discharge coefficient by 20%.;
In the event of submersion, the weir provides an estimated flow rate of P = 0.01%.;
The experimental model produced on a scale of 1:60 of the prototype guarantees self-simulation of the hydraulic phenomena of the dam.;
An analysis of rainfall and hydrometric regimes was carried out over the period from 1968 to 2013 on the Cheliff basin situated in the west and the Medjerda basin in the east of Algeria. The Mann–Kendal and Pettitt tests have shown significant downward trends for rainfall, about 30% for the Cheliff basin, and 36% for the Medjerda basin, and about 61% and 43% for the flows at the level of the Cheliff and Medjerda basins, respectively. The continuous wavelet method, used during the study period, has shown three major discontinuities from the wavelet spectrum for the decades 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Several modes of variability for different stations have been observed: annual (1 yr), interannual (2, 2–4 and 4–8 yrs), and multi-decadal (8–16) yrs. The different scales of precipitation and runoff variability seem to be clearly related to the NAO with different degrees of correlation. Continuous wavelet coherence indicates a strong correlation between the NAO climate index and precipitation with correlations ranging from 60 to 84%, and a strong relationship between the NAO and the runoff with correlations ranging from 67 to 74% for both watersheds.
Keywords. Precipitation; runoff; NAO; wavelet method; Cheliff basin; Medjerda basin.
Algeria has experienced catastrophic floods over the second half of the twentieth century, causing many deaths and extensive material damage. This study was conducted to find a suitable event-based rainfall-runoff (RR) model for semi-arid conditions, where continuous data are not available in all regional basins. The study compared, based on data availability, the SCS-CN model based on the antecedent moisture conditions (AMC) and four modified SCS-CN models incorporating antecedent moisture amounts (AMA) in order to find the best model to reproduce the flood hydrographs in two catchments. The modified models were predominant over the SCS-CN method. Nonetheless, the Singh et al. (Water Resour Manag 29:4111–4127, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-1048-1) model (M4) and the Verma et al. (Environ Earth Sci 76:736, 2017a. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-7062-2) model (M5) were superior and demonstrated more stable structures. Coupled with the Hayami routing model, the models showed promising results and were able to reproduce the observed hydrographs’ shape. However, it was impossible to choose the preferred model since they each excelled as to a criterion. Therefore, the corresponding outputs were combined using the simple average (SA) method and the weighted average (WA) method. We found that the WA method showed better results in the two catchments and allowed a more accurate prediction according to the performance criteria.
The northeastern of Algeria is the rainiest region of the country, where
regional catchments are often subject to devastating floods. To improve the
management of water resources, there is a need to develop rainfall–runoff
models. This study was conducted to propose an event-based flood prediction
model adapted to the region. Thereby, available rainfall–runoff data were used
in several models to find the best one able to reproduce the flood hydrographs
in three catchments. These models are based on the coupling of both production
and transfer functions. For this purpose, five production functions were
tested: the Soil Conservation Service–Curve Number (SCS-CN) model, including
three antecedent moisture conditions, and four modified Mishra and Singh
models, incorporating antecedent moisture amounts. Three transfer functions
were also tested: the Nash, Clark, and Weibull models. The tested models were
all calibrated through a multi-objective optimisation using the genetic algorithms
method. It was found that the MMS models were better than the SCSCN
method according to the performance criteria. Moreover, the proposed
modified empirical equation (M4) improved runoff prediction. Furthermore,
combined with the Nash model as a transfer function, the coupled model was
found to be the best performing model, giving satisfactory results.
This work aims to identify the potential groundwater recharge zones in the Mitidja plain (north Algeria) using the multi-criteria approach. The analysis was based on the use of geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing to establish eight thematic maps, weighted, categorized and inserted, that allowed us to establish the potential zones’ map for groundwater recharge. Three potential groundwater recharge classes were defined corresponding, respectively, to low (26%), moderate (47%) and high (27%). The best groundwater potential zones are situated in the piedmont of the Blidean Atlas (the south of the study area), precisely, upstream near to wadis (wadi El Harrach, wadi Djemaa, wadi Mazafran) and the western aquifer limit, where the hydrogeological units are formed by the alluvium formation which is characterized by high hydraulic conductivity, high water flow, low slope, low drainage, low quantity transported sediments and good water quality. The obtained results, in this work, describe the groundwater recharge potential areas and supply information for a suitable mapping and the management of aquifer resources in the study area.
In last decades, the impact of climate change started to appear in the semi-arid regions of the Mediterranean Basin. The severity and frequency of drought events in Northwestern Algeria have affected water resources availability and agriculture. This study aims to evaluate the temporal evolution of drought events characteristics, such as drought duration, frequency and severity, of the Beni Bahdel Dam catchment, Northwestern Algeria. Drought characteristics have been derived from the Standardized precipitation index (SPI) computed for the period from 1941 to 2100 using precipitation data from observations and simulations of the regional climate model RCA4 (Rossby Centre Atmosphere model, version 4). The RCA4 model was forced by the global circulation model MPI-ESM-LR under two
Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) scenarios. The ability of the
model simulations was firstly assessed to reproduce the drought
characteristics from observed data (1951–2005). Then, future changes in
drought characteristics over the twenty-first century were investigated
under the two scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). Results show an amplification of drought frequencies and durations in the future under the RCP8.5 scenario.
This study aims to estimate hydrological drought risk using probabilistic analysis of bivariate drought characteristics to assess both past and future drought severity and duration in three basins located in the widest karst massif of northern Algeria. The procedures entail: (1) identification of extent of meteorological drought that could trigger corresponding hydrological drought through their characteristics; (2) assessment of future risk of extreme drought according to two emission scenarios of the representative concentration pathway (RCP 4.5 and 8.5); and (3) estimation of drought return periods using bivariate frequency analysis and investigation of their future change rates under climate change. Hydrological droughts were computed by using the bias-corrected future climate projections from nine global climate models downscaled using the Rossby Centre Regional Climate model (RCA4), and GR2M hydrological model. The analysis revealed a connection between meteorological and hydrological droughts occurrences and the response time depends on the memory effect of the considered basin. We also found strong consensus between past drought events return periods, determined by bivariate frequency analysis, and those determined by climate models under RCP8.5 scenario. Finally, in regards to drought return periods (10, 50 and 100-years), the risk of extreme drought recurrence in the future has been projected to be larger than the reference period.
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