Brijesh Kumar Yadav

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | University of Roorkee · Department of Hydrology

Drought significantly impacts the livelihoods of communities over extensive regions, with Ethiopia being particularly prone to frequent and persistent occurrences. Hydrological drought analysis necessitates spatially distributed data, a challenge faced in Ethiopian studies. We employed remote sensing and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to assign...

Water resource management is becoming essential due to many anthropogenic and climatic factors resulting in dwindling water resources. Traditionally, geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) have long been instrumental in water resource assessment and management as the satellites or airborne units are periodically utilized to co...

Many coastal regions around the world are experiencing significant groundwater over-exploitation, necessitating scientific studies to prevent seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers. Accurate assessment of groundwater variation is essential for improved water resources management in these regions. Trend analysis of groundwater levels along the coa...

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), a reliable technique for groundwater restoration in arid regions, struggles with the limited recovery of stored water in salt-affected areas due to fresh-saline water mixing. Groundwater recharge and recovery project performance in saline aquifers is primarily controlled by operational factors because it influences f...

Study region: Indian inland aquatic ecosystems. Study focus: Microplastics (MPs) have been identified as emerging contaminants, potentially impacting public and ecosystem health. This comprehensive review discusses the current state of knowledge on MP contamination and mechanistic process understanding in Indian inland aquatic ecosystems. It high...

From 1950 to 2016, the world produced 460 million metric tonnes of plastic, up from only 1.5 million in 1950 (Hoornweg and Perinaz, What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management, 2012; Law et al., Sci Adv 6:1–8, 2020). Approximately 50% of the produced total plastic is used in packaging for consumer goods, which is single-use in nature (H...

Amid intensifying water scarcity and heightened vulnerability of coastal aquifers to saltwater intrusion, the prudent adoption of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) surfaces as a promising approach for effective water management in coastal zones. This study aimed to evaluate the applicability of MAR in the coastal aquifer to better understand the dynam...

Soil-water cocontamination with heavy metals and nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) raises widespread concerns. Coexisting NAPL pollutants like toluene can antagonize the chemical processes employed for removing target heavy metals. This study investigates the impact of toluene on Cr(VI) adsorption by pumice-supported nano zerovalent iron (P-nZVI). T...

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is a rich source of protein, fibers, minerals and vitamins. Considering the recent sudden increase of interest in the use of grain legumes, the present study was framed to enhance the yield of Mungbean using biofertilizer to improve human nutrition. Thus, a comparative effect of biofertilizers in individual and consortia...

A pumice-maghemite (P-maghemite) composite was developed using the chemical coprecipitation method with a 20% iron loading ratio by weight. The characterization of the composite using SEM and XRD indicated the effective loading and dispersion of nano-particles on the surface of the developed base materials. Thereafter, in situ sequestration experim...

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is a potential solution to growing global freshwater insecurity. However, the performance of ASR in saline regions depends on regional hydrogeology and groundwater salinity level. Hydrogeological factors, e.g., hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic gradient, aquifer thickness, aquifer heterogeneity, and hydrodynamic d...

Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), a subset of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) techniques, is a promising technique to address water scarcity issues by recharging depleted aquifers. The application of ASR in saline groundwater regions is challenging due to mixing of recharged freshwater with the ambient saline groundwater, decreasing the recoverabl...

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering (LNCE) publishes the latest developments in Civil Engineering—quickly, informally and in top quality. Though original research reported in proceedings and post-proceedings represents the core of LNCE, edited volumes of exceptionally high quality and interest may also be considered for publication. Volumes publishe...

This study investigates drought propagation from meteorological to hydrological and streamflow required to recover from drought in four sub-basins: Genale, Tekeze, Awash, and Baro basins of Ethiopia. Due to limited observed streamflow data, the soil moisture accounting and routing (SMAR) model was used to extend the streamflow data for each sub-bas...

Precise process-based modeling of nonequilibrium water flow and solute transport continues to pose a significant challenge in vadose zone hydrogeology. Nonequilibrium water flow and solute transport in the vadose zone bring about various complexities associated with heterogeneity, variability, unsaturated flow processes, hysteresis effects, and tim...

Microplastic pollution is an emerging concern for the aquatic environments as it has been reported in many rivers, lakes, reservoirs and aquatic organisms around the globe. Rivers behave as a temporary sink for microplastics and also serve as a medium through which these particles reach the ocean. This study shows the river transport of microplasti...

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) in saline unconfined aquifers is challenging as the injected freshwater makes a thin layer above the groundwater table. For this reason, the efficiency of ASR in unconfined saline aquifers has been reported to be low in the literature. Nevertheless, critical factors like depth of freshwater release, length of stor...

Dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) in the subsurface environment beyond the permissible limit poses a threat to human health and a suite of ecological services. An accurate prediction of the concentration and mass fluxes of DNAPL at environmentally sensitive locations and their temporal variations can be obtained using robust and efficient fate...

The dissolved-phase hydrocarbon recovery can be the first step in decontaminating the soil–water system if spilled with light/dense non-aqueous phase liquid (L/D-NAPL). This study proposes a temporal moment-based approach to investigate the effectiveness of groundwater table manipulations for recovering dissolved-phase byproducts of light non-aqueo...

Groundwater is a vital source of potable water in arid and semi-arid regions, yet groundwater cannot be used in many areas due to increasing groundwater salinity. Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), a managed aquifer recharge technique, is used for excessively available freshwater storage within the saline subsurface for its future recovery. The pe...

Nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) was synthesized and employed for treating chromium(VI) containing aqueous solution through adsorption using a series of microcosm experiments. The experiments were then performed to study the effects of a light nonaqueous phase liquid, toluene, on Cr(VI) removal by nZVI. Results showed that a maximum removal efficie...

Evaluation of groundwater quality and their controlling processes are very important for the sustainable utilization of groundwater in any region. In the present study, 100 groundwater samples were collected during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon 2019 from the tube well and public water supply wells in Mewat district, Haryana to investigate the water...

Groundwater is the only source fulfilling the domestic and irrigation requirement in Mewat district, Haryana. Overexploitation of groundwater along with salinization of surficial aquifers in Mewat is obstructing its considerable use. In this study, annual and seasonal trend has been analysed for groundwater level (GWL) fluctuations in salinity affe...

The groundwater geochemistry in rural parts of the Indo-Gangetic basin (IGB) is greatly influenced by geogenic and various anthropogenic activities. Present study deals with the assessment of groundwater geochemistry and associated health risk in rural parts of Lucknow district which comes under IGB. The entropy-weighted approach was used along wit...

Groundwater salinity studies were carried out in arid and semi-arid parts of northwest India’s Punjab and Haryana states. Hydro-geochemical processes and factors causing salinity were identified using environmental tracers. Analytical results show that the hydrogeological controls and salinity mechanisms are not the same in both study areas. It has...

In the present study, principal component analysis (PCA) is used to investigate the processes controlling groundwater salinity in the Mewat (Nuh) district, Haryana, India. Twenty groundwater samples were collected from salinity-affected areas in the March–April months of years 2018 and 2019 and were analyzed for chemical variables pH, EC, Ca2+, Mg2...

The present invention aims to provide a system comprising stable iron oxide nanoparticles (maghemite) composite with pumice, for contaminant removal in particular arsenic from water and its method of preparation thereof. The Pumice maghemite (P-maghemite) composites were prepared with 20 % iron loading ratio by weight. The maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) loade...

Application of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is difficult in highly saline groundwater regions because the recharged freshwater mixes with saline groundwater and makes a thin layer below the capillary fringe. The recovery efficiency (RE) of ASR can be improved by customizing the operational factors and well design of the ASR scheme according t...

This study examined the potential of the aquatic macrophyte Eichhornia crassipes for bioaccumulating hexavalent chromium and its effects on the plant’s morphology. The macrophytes were exposed to different concentrations of Cr (VI) (0–100 mg L−1) in 20% full-strength Hoagland nutrient solution for 10 days. Changes in the Cr (VI) concentrations were...

Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) is one of the most effective ways of artificial groundwater recharge to assure freshwater availability during droughts in arid and semi-arid areas. However, this method of managed aquifer recharge is less prevalent in saline groundwater regions due to low recovery efficiency (RE). The injected freshwater of an ASR...

Heavy metal contaminated water is a major threat to human and aquatic life. Chromium is a toxic heavy metal discharged into surface water mainly due to industrial applications. Physico-chemical technologies to treat chromium-contaminated waters are expensive, especially for developing countries. Macrophytes-based phytoremediation is a competent met...

Massive production, extensive use and poor disposal practices of organic chemicals from industries and fuel facilities have polluted soil and water resources. Non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs), including oils and fuel hydrocarbons are immiscible in water, moving as separate layers based on their density. Due to their high persistence, they are seld...

Ethiopia witnessed tremendous precipitation variability and extremes linked with large-scale climate anomalies. This study investigated the long-term spatiotemporal trends of precipitation extremes, significant change points, and its teleconnection to climate anomalies. We used a daily CHIRPS gridded precipitation dataset of the past four decades c...

Soil – water pollution resulting from anthropogenic activities is a growing concern internationally. Effective monitoring techniques play a crucial role in the detection, prevention, and remediation of polluted sites. Current pollution monitoring practices in many geographical locations are primarily based on physico–chemical assessments which do n...

The use of conventional techniques for physico-chemical remediation of hydrocarbon such non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL)-polluted sites may disturb the natural biotic settings of the (sub)-surface. However, natural attenuation has been reported very slow and sometime results as incomplete removal under prevailing site conditions. In particular, mic...

Assessment of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change of any region is one of the prominent features used in environmental resource management and its overall sustainable development. This study analyzed the LULC changes of Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and its surroundings using Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System integrated with...

It is our great pleasure to release the second issue of the AGGS Newsletter for the benefit of the AGGS members and other readers. We are grateful to the entire editorial committee for their hard works and timely inputs in finalizing this second E-Newsletter. The main focus of this issue is to compile the backgrounds of AGGS and its activities carr...

Considering the high vulnerability of Northern Tanzania to climate change, an in-depth assessment at the local scale is required urgently to formulate sustainable adaptations measures. Therefore, this study analyzed the future (2021-2050) changes in rainfall and temperature under the representative concentration pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for the...

Subsurface water resources have dynamic interactions with ground surface and its prevailing environmental conditions. Climate variability affects subsurface water resources both directly by altering surface water flux and indirectly via changes in groundwater extraction patterns. Dynamic climatic conditions are responsible for both the quantitative...

Pollution of soil–water resources by the release of hydrocarbons is a major concern because of the wide coverage of groundwater table by these pollutants under varying subsurface conditions. Amongst several remediation technologies, bioremediation has been proved to be the most environmental benign technology. The efficiency of bioremediation techn...

The groundwater geochemistry in rural parts of the Indo-Gangetic basin (IGB) is greatly influenced by geogenic and various anthropogenic activities. This study deals with the assessment of groundwater geochemistry and associated health risk in rural parts of Lucknow district which comes under IGB. The entropy-weighted approach is used here along wi...

The elevated level of metals in the soil increases the assimilation of these metals by plants causing a serious health risk to humans. A series of pot experiments were conducted to study Pb, Cu, and Zn uptake by Zea mays to investigate the role of vermiculite for metals immobilization in the soil root zone. The metals accumulation was decreased (13...

During the summer, arid and semi-arid parts throughout the world are experiencing drought. The problem of freshwater scarcity is worsening year after year as global temperatures rise and rainfall decreases. Groundwater is the vital source of fresh water during droughts, yet groundwater is scarce in many areas owing to overexploitation or salinity....

Present study was carried out in salinity affected groundwater in Mewat (Nuh) district of Haryana to investigate the processes controlling groundwater salinity on spatial scale and yearly variations using principal component analysis (PCA). 20 groundwater samples were collected from salinity affected areas in March-April months of years 2018 & 2019...

Temporal and spatial soil moisture status in variable-saturated zone plays a vital role in agricultural water management, groundwater recharge and solute transport of that region, and it is fundamentally regulated by plant growth and its water extraction rate along with soil properties and weather conditions. The soil moisture distribution pattern...

Increased population and increasing demands for food in the Indo-Gangetic plain are likely to exert pressure on fresh water due to rise in demand for drinking and irrigation water. The study focuses on Bhojpur district, Bihar located in the central Ganga basin, to assess the groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purpose and discuss the is...

Groundwater salinity studies were carried out in arid and semi-arid parts of Punjab and Haryana states of northwest India. Hydro-geochemical processes and factors causing salinity were identified using environmental tracers. Analytical results show that the hydrogeological controls and salinity mechanisms are not same in the both study areas.

Pollution of soil-water resources due to industrial, domestic and agricultural activities is a growing concern. The polluted soil-water systems contain a mixture of organics, heavy metals, hydrocarbon oils, emerging compounds etc. These 'pollutant cocktails' exhibit interesting interactions by altering chemical activity of individual pollutants in...

The concentrations of ∑16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for soils, roots, and above-ground parts of reed (Phragmites australis Cav.) were determined on different monitoring plots located near the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, southern Russia, where historically received industrial sewage and sludge. The total PAHs concentration in...

This article attempts at the evolution of groundwater chemistry in the mid Gangetic plain followed by identification of hydrogeochemical processes that include recharge and geological features. Isotopic investigations identifies that irrigation return flow is partly responsible for arsenic (As) enrichment through preferential vertical recharge. Fur...

An integrated experimental-numerical approach is used in this study to bioremediate a toluene, a nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL), contaminated land site, having varying moisture and temperature levels. The rates of biodegradation in saturated and unsaturated zones under varying soil-moisture (100% to 20%) and temperature (30°C AE 2°C and 10°C AE 0.5...

The maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) loaded pumice composite (P-maghemite) was prepared through the chemical co-precipitation method by refluxing the Fe2+ and Fe3+ salts in an alkaline medium in presence of the base material pumice. A series of batch experiments were conducted first to study the effect of varying experimental conditions, viz contact time, pH, a...

In the present study, a total of sixty groundwater samples, twenty each for the premonsoon, monsoon and post monsoon seasons of 2018, were collected from selected locations in the Mewat district of Haryana, India. Electrical conductivity (EC) was measured at the site and total dissolved solids (TDS) were estimated. Samples were analysed for anions...

In the present study, a total of sixty groundwater samples, twenty each for the pre-monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon seasons of 2018, were collected from selected locations in the Mewat district of Haryana, India. Electrical conductivity (EC) was measured at the site and total dissolved solids (TDS) were estimated. Samples were analysed for anions...

Groundwater quality in the Ganga-Gomti fluvial plain is influenced by geogenic and various anthropogenic factors like human interventions, urbanization, mineral dissolution, and ion-exchangeability. This study provides in-depth information about the groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and irrigation use in Lucknow district of Uttar...

Aims Plant roots often encounter heterogeneity in soil water content and respond by compensating water uptake from wet zones to cope with the transpiration demand. Simultaneously, plants may also exhibit root-mediated hydraulic redistribution from wet to dry zones. Experiments were conducted to simultaneously monitor compensated root water uptake a...

Applications of chitosan in environmental remediation: A review Environmental biotechnology is the use of biotechnology to develop and regulate biological systems for the remediation of environmental contamination. Nature has gifted ample material for remediation of its resources, among which chitosan is one of the most important and largely availa...

Study region Mewat (renamed as Nuh) district of Haryana, India having geographical area of 1507 km², comes under semi arid climatic conditions and Aravali hill ranges separates it from Rajasthan state. Study focus Groundwater salinization is an emerging threat to water management. Understanding the sources of salinization, and their relative contr...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels in urban topsoils (0–10 cm) affected by Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant and oil refinery (Antipinsky Refinery) in comparison with residential area topsoils of Tyumen city. Anthropogenically transformed soils (Urbic Technosols) and artificial loamy soil...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been a major concern because of their carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, teratogenicity and wide distribution in the environment. Over 90% of PAHs in the environment exist on soil surface/sediment. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is one of the predominant PAHs in soil. Thus, it is critically important to understand the...