Climate change and groundwater resources in Myanmar

Myanmar is located in Southeast Asia within the Mekong River Basin. The estimated annual surface and groundwater potentials are 1 081 km^3 and 494 km^3, respectively. Based on geological conditions, 11 different types of aquifers have been classified in Myanmar. The recent alluvial formation, Irrawaddy formation, Upper Pegu Group and Plateau limestone formation are the major water-bearing geologic formations of the country. In Myanmar, 89% of the groundwater is used for agriculture, approximately 8% is used for domestic consumption, and 3% is used for industrial purposes. Climate change projections for Myanmar from 2001 to 2100 predict general increases in temperature, clear-sky days, rainfall variability and flooding risks and a greater occurrence and intensity of extreme weather events across the country. Additional technology and investments are required to achieve groundwater resource security in response to climate changes. In addition, methods of ensuring the sustainability of groundwater resources must be implemented via collaborations with other countries and international sources.

Hydrochemistry for the Assessment of Groundwater Quality in Korea

Understanding of the aquifer hydraulic properties and hydrochemical characteristics of water is crucial for management plan and study skims in the target area, and flow motions and chemical species of groundwater are regarded as precious information on the geological history of the aquifers and the suitability of various usages. Cations and anions of groundwater are used to estimate the characteristics and origin of groundwater. In this study, we try to evaluate the quality of groundwater based on the comparison of the physiochemical characteristics and distribution of cations and anions in groundwater from rural areas. Therefore we focused on the evaluation of groundwater as some specific purposes such as agricultural and industrial use, general types of groundwater, lithological origin of chemical component in groundwater. In this point of view, major objectives of this study were grouped as following three categories: 1) quality assessment of groundwater as a special usage (agricultural, industrial);2) determination of groundwater types;3) tracing of ion sources of groundwater. The quality of agricultural water was evaluated using SAR, sodium (%), RSC, PI, SSP, MH, PS, and Kelly’s ratio, and was classified as SAR (Excellent (100%)), Sodium ((Excellent (34%), Good (55%), Permissible (9%), Doubtful (1.6%), Unsuitable (0.4%)), RSC (Good (95.7%), Medium (3.5%), Bad (0.8%)), PI((Excellent (40.6%), Good (59%), Unsuitable (0.4%)), SSP ((Excellent (26.3%), Good (59.8%), Fair (13.1%), Poor (0.8%)), MH ((Acceptable (94.4%), Non-Acceptable (5.6%)), Kelly’s Ratio ((Permissible (93%), Non-Permissible (7%)), PS ((Excellent to Good (98%), Good to Injurious (1.2%), and Injurious to Unsatisfactory (0.2%)). Evaluation based on the Wilcox diagram was classified as “excellent to good” or “good to permissible”, and the water quality evaluated using the U.S. salinity Laboratory’s Diagram was classified as C1S1 (Excellent/Excellent) and C2S1 (Good/Excellent). And, in the applications of two factors of Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) and Corrosive ratio (CR), we could get similar results for defining the suitabilities of groundwater for the industrial purpose. And the groundwater samples were also classified groundwater using the Piper diagram and estimated the origin of ions using the Gibbs and Chadah diagram, and the classifications based on the Piper diagram showed that the types of the groundwater are type?and type. And, estimation of dominance type (evaporation, rock, precipitation) based on the Gibbs diagram showed that the origin of anion and cation in groundwater are from the rock-dominance, and the estimation of origin of anions using the Chadha diagram showed that the most of the ionic species was originated from the interactions between alkaline earths and alkali metals contained in the soil. And through the source-rock deduction followed by the comparison of Gibbs and Chadah diagram, it was shown that the chemical components in the groundwater were mostly induced from the water-rock deduction and major types of groundwater samples following the Chadah diagram were categorized such as following group types: dolomite type, gypsum type, alkaline and alkaline earth type.

Mapping Potential Infiltration Patterns Using Digital Elevation Model

This study attempts to simulate the spatial heterogeneity of infiltration in a drainage basin using digital elevation models. Infiltration capacity is one of the controlling factors in the formation of stream channels. Channel formation is also a function of the slope and the contributing area. Natural stream channels, if properly graded and adjusted to the present climate, reflect the interactions of local slope, contributing area, and permeability of surface materials. Channel networks can be delineated from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) using a variety of algorithms using different thresholds for channel initiation. These algorithms delineate a channel network on the basis of local slope, curvature, and contributing area, without considering the permeability of surface cover. Hence, the difference in the structure of the two drainage networks,?i.e.?the surveyed drainage network obtained from field observation and the simulated network generated from the DEM, is indicative of the spatial heterogeneities in the permeability of the surface cover as shown in this paper. Spatially variable drainage density maps corresponding to the two networks have been used here to obtain normalized difference maps that characterize the potential infiltration anomalies within the catchment. The simulated spatial pattern is compared with the actual infiltration measurements in the field using infiltration tests. Strong positive correlation between the observed and modeled infiltration confirms the effectiveness of this technique in the rapid assessment of potential infiltration variability.

Evaluation of Accuracy and Precision of IRMS by Using Standard Materials and Applications

The isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) is an instrument that measures both of the elemental contents and isotope ratios of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulfur in environmental samples at the same time. In this study, we want to try to get two main goals;first, to make up for setting the analytical conditions such as accuracy and precision, second, to apply for comparing of the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratio of sediments in the abandoned mine located in middle province of Korea. For the first goal, a recently introduced IRMS was used to analyze CRM (certified reference materials), which helped to make up the analytical conditions of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. So, the accuracy and precision of isotope ratios and elemental contents were also assessed simultaneously, and also the results were very satisfactory. The analytical results of carbon reference materials (EMA-P2) showed an accuracy of -2.801 × 10‰ ± 0.01‰ (2σ) and a precision of 0.009‰ in the mass range from 0.008 μg - 0.162 μg. For nitrogen reference materials (EMA-P2), an accuracy of -1.632‰ ± 0.72‰ (2σ) was obtained in the mass range from 0.082 - 0.162 mg. These values of accuracy and precision are higher than those reported by other studies. For the second goal, carbon and nitrogen isotopes in river sediment near abandoned mines were analyzed based on the established analytical conditions. The result suggested that carbon isotope ratios ranged from -22.5‰ - -7.5‰ and nitrogen isotope ratios from -1.9‰ - 7.9‰. By comparing the isotope ratios and sampling sites of sediment, we know that the nitrogen isotope values in samples of entrance area of mine are greater than those of the farm house area, which is indicating the effects of organic materials. So, we could guess that the newly accumulated organic materials were much more in the farm house area than mine entrance area. And a result of this study, the accuracy and precision tests of IRMS using certified reference materials were very satisfactory and optimum analytical conditions were established well. And also, it was found that the applications of isotopic analysis for environmental samples by using the IRMS could be very useful for the studies on tracing pollution sources.