<p>Water infrastructure is an indicator of human civilization and its evolution. The sustainable water management and distribution to local communities remains a critical engineering priority so that the most efficient usage is achieved. In this analysis the design of water-infrastructure establishments is studied for the community of the Municipality of Western Mani (western Peloponnese, Greece).</p><p>One of the main issues that arise is the presence of karstic-limestone geological structure at the study area with no permanent watercourses. Furthermore, the lack of data about the current quantity of surface water makes it difficult to formulate trustworthy conclusions on the availability of water resources. Additionally, the notable growth of the tourist sector during the summer months in the past few years exacerbates this issue. Due to the above reasons, the available water is not enough to cover the needs of the Municipality, especially during the summer.</p><p>After examining all the possible options that have been proposed to increase the water availability (e.g., through dams, wells, desalination, water ponds etc.), we investigate an optimal solution that aims to achieve a more efficient water management and distribution to the communities of Western Mani. To this aim, we apply a multi-criteria decision-making approach by also considering local traditional water harvesting systems to increase water resilience.</p>
Water has always been a driver of human civilization. The first human civilizations thrived in places with an abundance of water, typically nearby large rivers as the Tigris–Euphrates, Yang Che and Nile. The invention and construction of hydraulic infrastructure came only later, in prehistoric times, triggered by the expansion of humanity in water-scarce areas. The ancient Greeks invented impressive hydraulic works and small-scale structures, some of which, such as cisterns, were still fully operational until the 20th century. We present a model that explains the use of cisterns in the water-scarce area of West Mani, which allows us to assess the potential of this traditional rainfall harvesting practice to support the modern water supply needs. To assess the system’s reliability, we employ a long-term simulation of a typical cistern system, using synthetic rainfall series from a stochastic model, and assuming variable water demand on a monthly scale. We show that a proper restoration of the cisterns could be sustainable as a complementary water supply source, decreasing the area’s drinking water cost and increasing the locals’ resilience against water shortages. In addition, we highlight the links between the area’s hydroclimate and its history and discuss the cultural merits of reviving and preserving this ancient, long practice.
<p>Water availability is a critical issue for growing local communities. For example, in the Municipality of Western Mani (western Peloponnese, Greece) tourist development has caused scarcity of water intensifying during the summer period. In this context, multiple solutions are being studied in order to assist the local communities of Western Mani to deal with this situation.</p><p>This study focuses on traditional water harvesting structures and more specifically cisterns. In the past, a cistern was present nearby or almost at every house, collecting rain water so as to cover the various needs of the inhabitants, including human consumption and irrigation. However, although cisterns today have fallen into disuse due to the developments of modern water supply systems, they remain an important part of cultural heritage and an architectural element of great interest.</p><p>In this work, we evaluate the potential of traditional water infrastructures to cover domestic needs employing the method of stochastic simulation based on hydrological data and by also taking into account traditional architecture.</p>
<p>This research uses a stochastic computational tool (2D-C) for characterizing images in order to examine similarities and differences among artworks. 2D-C is measures the degree of variability (change in variability vs. scale) in images using stochastic analysis.</p><p>Apparently, beauty is not easy to quantify, even with stochastic measures. The meaning of beauty is linked to the evolution of human civilization and the analysis of the connection between the observer and the beauty (art, nature) has always been of high interest in both philosophy and science. Even though this analysis has mostly been considered part of the so-called social studies and humanities, mathematicians have also been involved. Mathematicians are generally not specialized to contribute, through their expertise, in sociopolitical analysis of messages and motivations of art but have been consistently applying mathematical knowledge, which is their expertise, in trying to explain aesthetics. In most of these analyses, the question at hand is if what is pleasing to the eye or not can be explained though mathematics.</p><p>Historically, it is known that from the time of the ancient Egyptian civilization a mathematic rule of the analogies of human body as models of beauty had been developed, and later in ancient Greece, the mathematicians Pythagoras and Euclid were the first known to have searched for a common rule (canon) existing in shapes that are perceived as beautiful. Euclid's Elements (c. 300 BC), for example, contains the first known definition of the &#8220;golden ratio&#8221;.</p><p>The opinions of later philosophers on this pursuit of mathematicians in the analysis of aesthetics were more varied. Leibniz, for example, believed that there is a norm behind every aesthetic feeling which we simply don&#8217;t know how to measure. On the contrary, Descartes supports that instead of regarding the aesthetic quality as an inherent quality of a physical object, the distinction of mind and nature have allowed humans to incorporate their own subjective feelings in determining their aesthetic preferences.</p><p>Thus many artists knew and apply math and geometry in their artwork, many philosophers tried to connect math and arts. Hence, it might be interesting to examine art work through a stochastic view. Stochastic analyses of the examined artworks are presented using climacograms and through stochastic evaluation with 2D-C we try to quantify some aspects of the artists&#8217; expression.&#160;</p>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.