Theme unsuitability is noted to have inhibited the accuracy of groundwater potential zones (GWPZs) mapping approach, especially in a semi-arid environment where surface water supply is inadequate. This work, therefore presents a geoscience approach for mapping high-precision GWPZs peculiar to the semi-arid area, using Buffalo catchment, Eastern Cape, South Africa, as a case study. Maps of surficial-lithology, lineament-density, drainage-density, rainfall-distribution, normalized-difference-vegetation-index, topographic-wetness-index, land use/land cover, and land-surface-temperature were produced. These were overlaid based on analytical hierarchical process weightage prioritization at a constituency ratio of 0.087. The model categorizes GWPZs into the good (187 km2), moderate (338 km2), fair (406 km2), poor (185 km2), and very poor (121 km2) zones. The model validation using borehole yield through on the coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.901) and correlation (R = 0.949) indicates a significant replication of ground situation (p value < 0.001). The analysis corroboration shows that the groundwater is mainly hosted by a fractured aquifer where the GWPZs is either good (9.3 l/s) or moderate (5.5 l/s). The overall result indicates that the model approach is reliable and can be adopted for a reliable characterization of GWPZs in any semi-arid/arid environment.
Increasing demand for food and environmental stressors are some of the most challenging problems that human societies face today and these have encouraged new studies to examine drought impacts on food production. Seeking to discuss these important issues in the South African context, this study analyzed the impacts of drought on food security in one of the country's largest commercial agricultural land (Free State Province). Earth observation and crop data were acquired from Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) and GrainSA databases, respectively for years 2011/2012–2020/2021 over Free State Province. Two crops namely, maize and sorghum were obtained from the database and analyzed accordingly to quantify drought impacts on the two crops. The result reveals that the years 2015 and 2018 were affected by extreme drought events (<10%) where the majority of the study area was impacted. Years 2011, 2016, 2018, and 2019 were severely affected by drought (>30%) and impacted the agricultural sector in the study area. Findings further revealed that maize production observed the lowest recorded in the year 2014 and 2015 with about 223,600 and 119,050 tons, respectively. More so, results further showed that sorghum production recorded the lowest production in years 2019, 2016, and 2015 with about 23,600, 24,640, and 24,150 tons, in that order during the period of study. The results confirm the impacts of drought on maize and sorghum productions in the year 2015 and other years that recorded the lowest productions during drought years. This development might have impacted food security in the study area, and this outcome will enable decision-making bodies on food security to enhance improved strategy in vulnerable areas.
The impact of climate change over the coming decades will increase the likelihood of many species undergoing genetic alterations or even becoming extinct. Vegetation and belowground organisms are more vulnerable to the intensified impact of climate change due to a possible lack of genetic plasticity and limited mobility. Organisms are inter-dependable in ecosystems; hence, this study focused on the impact of climate change, examining the soil condition in Africa, vegetation responses and the overview of species’ responses to climate change through a bibliometric study and an analysis of remote sensing information. The bibliometric study examines climate change-related literature published from 1999 to 2019, collected from the Web of Science and Scopus database platforms, and this reveals an overall rapid increase in the number of climate change publications in Africa, with South Africa occupying a leading position in all the studied parameters. The spatially based information on soil moisture, temperature and the photosynthetic activities of vegetation affirmed that there is increasing amount of drought in Africa with more impact in northern, southern and eastern Africa. African countries, especially in the above-mentioned regions, need to urgently invest in support programs that will ease the impact of climate change, particularly on food security.
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