- CAHS-Praiirie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77449
- Fares is an expert in water-energy-food nexus, water security, and climate change impacts on water-energy-food. He co... moreFares is an expert in water-energy-food nexus, water security, and climate change impacts on water-energy-food. He contributed to Florida's citrus nitrogen BMPs, Hawaii's water use allocation, bioenergy mandate, and Texas's climate-smart agriculture and future workforce development and crop irrigation requirements under a changing climate. He has mentored tens of extension personnel, crop advisors, and undergraduate students and chaired or served tens of doctoral and M.S. students in multiple international academic institutions. Also, he hosted several international visitors and mentored several faculty and postdocs.
Fares testified before the Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference, East State Legislative in 2021, and the US-House Agriculture Committee on Climate Issues in 2022. He is an author of the Southern Great Plains chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Also, he is an affiliate member of the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center. He chaired the Diversity Catalyst Committee of the Land Grant Institutions Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy. He served on several working groups of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU), e.g., the i) Board of Agriculture-Working Group on National Initiative on the Improvement of U.S. Water Security and ii) The 2023 National Climate Change Roadmap: A Research Framework for U.S. Agriculture, Forestry, and Working Lands
Fares is the Co-recipient of several awards, e.g., i) PVAMU Excellence in Research Award; ii) 2017 Irrigation Association National Water & Energy Conservation; iii) APLU Excellence in Multistate Research; and vi) University of Hawaii Team of the Year. He received more than $ 100 million in funding. He is the Editor of Climate Change and Extreme Events, Advances in Water Security Book Series. Fares published +130 scientific articles. He analyzed sugarcane water allocation in the Nā Wai' Ehā landmark case adjudicated by the Hawaii Supreme Court. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America.
Fares worked as a professor of watershed hydrology at the University of Hawaii, a researcher at the University of Florida, a private company in Australia, and Tunisia's Agriculture Ministry. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. Degrees from the University of Florida and his B.S. in Engineering from Tunisia.edit - Ruth Simmons; James Palmeredit
Texas ranks first in the United States in the variety and frequency of most natural disasters, such as flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, winter storms, and droughts. In February 2021, the winter storm named Uri caused an abnormal decline... more
Texas ranks first in the United States in the variety and frequency of most natural disasters, such as flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, winter storms, and droughts. In February 2021, the winter storm named Uri caused an abnormal decline in the air temperature in the southcentral United States, notably in Texas. Right before Uri, most of Texas was going through a drought spell. Thus, this study analyzed how Uri influenced the drought severity, soil profile moisture content, and vegetation cover (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) across Texas. Data used in this analysis was obtained from the web-based geospatial applications gridMET and Crop-CASMA. The collected datasets include the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), soil moisture, and NDVI at different spatial resolutions. These datasets were aggregated to the county scale using the zonal statistics analysis. The strength of the correlation between SWE and soil moisture was quantified based on the Pearson correlation coefficient. The percentage change in live vegetation cover due to the impact of the frigid temperature and snow coverage across the state was quantified by analyzing the average weekly NDVI before and after the winter storm. There was a reasonably strong correlation between the SWE contribution of Uri and the increase of the rootzone soil moisture (Pearson's r = 0.42). Similarly, the SWE showed a higher correlation with daily rootzone soil moisture with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.49 on March 1. Furthermore, our results revealed a reduction in the NDVI values to less than 0.60 across Texas during the third week of February. Overall, Texas NDVI values seriously decreased due to Uri. Despite its disruptive effects on the state infrastructures and the economy, Uri snow lessened the drought conditions relatively for a short time.
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Abstract Mâkaha valley is located on the leeward side of the Wai'anae mountains on the island of O'ahu. Like many Hawaiian watersheds, rainfall in Mâkaha valley varies dramatically over short distances: mean... more
Abstract Mâkaha valley is located on the leeward side of the Wai'anae mountains on the island of O'ahu. Like many Hawaiian watersheds, rainfall in Mâkaha valley varies dramatically over short distances: mean annual rainfall increases from about 500 mm near the coast to over 1,900 mm at Mt. Ka'ala, an average gradient of 170 mm/km. The objective of the current study was to assess the spatial and temporal variability of rainfall in the upper Mâkaha valley (5.5 km2). The study analyzed rainfall data at 8 locations, including the site ...
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Abstract This first chapter of the book gives an overview of its content. After a brief introduction, the chapter discusses the three sections' content that makes this book. Section one reports on temperatures and severe convective... more
Abstract This first chapter of the book gives an overview of its content. After a brief introduction, the chapter discusses the three sections' content that makes this book. Section one reports on temperatures and severe convective storms; however, section two of the book comprises two chapters on hydrological responses. These two chapters provide in-depth analyses of the present status and future outlook of the respective topics. The last section of the book deals with mitigation and adaptation measures for climate change. Some of its chapters deal with analyzing the potential impacts of climate change and extreme events on ecosystem responses, lifeline infrastructures, green infrastructure, and sea-level rise. The last two chapters of the book give an overview of governance and climate change policies and extreme events.
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In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a smart irrigation system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which can be used for automating the irrigation process in agricultural fields. It is expected that this... more
In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a smart irrigation system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which can be used for automating the irrigation process in agricultural fields. It is expected that this system would create a better opportunity for farmers to irrigate their fields efficiently, as well as eliminating the field's under‐watering, which could stress the plants. The developed system is organized into three parts: sensing side, cloud side, and user side. We used Microsoft Azure IoT Hub as an underlying infrastructure to coordinate the interaction between the three sides. The sensing side uses a Raspberry Pi 3 device, which is a low‐cost, credit‐card sized computer device that is used to monitor in near real‐time soil moisture, air temperature and relative humidity, and other weather parameters of the field of interest. Sensors readings are logged and transmitted to the cloud side. At the cloud side, the received sensing data is used by the irrigation scheduling model to determine when and for how long the water pump should be turned on based on a user‐predefined threshold. The user side is developed as an Android mobile app, which is used to control the operations of the water pump with voice recognition capabilities. Finally, this system was evaluated using various performance metrics, such as latency and scalability.
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Several newly developed capacitance sensors have simplified real-time determination of soil water content. Previous work has shown that salinity and temperature can affect these sensors, but relatively little has been done to correct... more
Several newly developed capacitance sensors have simplified real-time determination of soil water content. Previous work has shown that salinity and temperature can affect these sensors, but relatively little has been done to correct these effects. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of media temperature and salinity on the apparent water content measured with a single capacitance sensor (SCS), and to mitigate this effect using a temperature dependent scaled voltage technique under laboratory conditions. A column ...
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Abstract Citrus root systems are exposed to different thermal and hydrologic conditions as a result of tree canopy shading and undertree microirrigation. Because microsprinklers wet only part of the soil surface and are located under the... more
Abstract Citrus root systems are exposed to different thermal and hydrologic conditions as a result of tree canopy shading and undertree microirrigation. Because microsprinklers wet only part of the soil surface and are located under the tree, roots under the canopy usually receive more water than those outside the tree canopy. The combined effects of different soil temperature and water input on water redistribution under field conditions have not been fully studied in Florida sandy soils. The objective of this study was to investigate shading ...
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Abstract Hawaii streams are known for generating intense and short-duration runoffs that often cause flash floods. In the past, many of these streams have been reported for decreasing trends in base flow. Trend in precipitation is... more
Abstract Hawaii streams are known for generating intense and short-duration runoffs that often cause flash floods. In the past, many of these streams have been reported for decreasing trends in base flow. Trend in precipitation is believed to be correlated with trend in base flow but its relationship with other factors (eg, Groundwater pumping) is unknown. The distributed hydrology soil vegetation model (DHSVM) was applied in the mountainous 13 km2 Makaha watershed, Hawaii to: 1) assess model applicability in predicting ...
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This study determined carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a tropical soil amended with organic compost (CP), chicken manure (CM), and untreated controls during three growing seasons of sweet corn (Zea mays L.). The organic amendments... more
This study determined carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a tropical soil amended with organic compost (CP), chicken manure (CM), and untreated controls during three growing seasons of sweet corn (Zea mays L.). The organic amendments resulted in significantly greater CO2 emissions compared with control treatments. The time duration after organic amendment applications significantly affected CO2 emissions, especially during the warmer
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Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Science, Geology, Monitoring And Evaluation, and 15 moreSoil moisture, Evapotranspiration, Irrigation Scheduling, Hydraulic conductivity, Real Time, Sensor Calibration, Capacitive Pressure Sensor, Soil Physical Properties, Pedotransfer Function, Bulk Density, Soil Bulk Density, Field capacity, Real Time Data, Soil Depth, and Saturated hydraulic conductivity
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Abstract Information on partitioning of gross rainfall in non-native trees in Hawaiian forests is limited. In this study, measurements of gross rainfall (PG), throughfall (TF), and stemflow (SF) were made at three locations in the upper... more
Abstract Information on partitioning of gross rainfall in non-native trees in Hawaiian forests is limited. In this study, measurements of gross rainfall (PG), throughfall (TF), and stemflow (SF) were made at three locations in the upper Makaha valley watershed to perform canopy water balance and parameterize Gash analytical model. The three selected locations are dominated by Strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum), Christmas berry (Schinus terebinthifolius), Java plum (Syzygium cumini), and Coffee (Coffea Arabica) trees. Mean ...
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UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) is an archive of life sciences journal literature.
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Improving fertilizer and water use efficiencies are important management goals in Florida citrus production. Increasing costs of energy, fertilizer and water will reduce the profitability of citrus production if yields are not optimized.... more
Improving fertilizer and water use efficiencies are important management goals in Florida citrus production. Increasing costs of energy, fertilizer and water will reduce the profitability of citrus production if yields are not optimized. Improved water and fertilizer use efficiencies can also minimize the impact of nitrate leaching to groundwater. Two 'Hamlin' experiments 1) comparing dry granular, fertigation, and controlled release fertilization at four rates, and 2) comparing three microsprinkler wetting diameters and two fertilizer rates were assessed in years 7-8. Yield and leaf nitrogen concentrations showed a strong quadratic response, suggesting an optimum fertilization rate beyond which lower fertilizer uptake efficiencies and profitability exist. Increasing microsprinkler wetting diameters increased yields without additional water or fertilizer consumption.
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The objectives of this study were to examine records from long-term rain gauges in Mākaha Valley for data homogeneity and to compare methods of estimating missing data. Double mass analysis was used to investigate data homogeneity.... more
The objectives of this study were to examine records from long-term rain gauges in Mākaha Valley for data homogeneity and to compare methods of estimating missing data. Double mass analysis was used to investigate data homogeneity. Results show that tree growth near one gauge has reduced rainfall catch by 21–25% since 1974. Four methods for estimating missing daily rainfall data were then tested using index gauges selected from a network of 21 active rain gauges. The number of index gauges and their order of selection ...
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Groundwater pumping and surface water management structures, ie dams and water flow diversions, have been raising serious concerns about the declines in groundwater levels and streamflow in different watersheds throughout the world. Small... more
Groundwater pumping and surface water management structures, ie dams and water flow diversions, have been raising serious concerns about the declines in groundwater levels and streamflow in different watersheds throughout the world. Small island watersheds with complex land use, and strong spatio-temporal climate and edaphic variability (eg Hawaiian watersheds) offer an ideal environment to help improve our understanding of groundwater–surface water interaction and the hydrological processes it involves. In this study, we ...
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Research Interests: Environmental Science, Soil Science, Biological Sciences, Organic Farming, Environmental Sciences, and 12 moreAtmosphere, Hydraulic conductivity, Soil organic matter, Soil Carbon, Infiltration, Soil Organic Carbon, Organic carbon, Soil Types, Bulk Density, Earth Science, trickle irrigation, and Saturated hydraulic conductivity
Abstract Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major component of soil water mass balance. An improved understanding of citrus tree ET can be used to enhance the precision of irrigation scheduling aimed at minimizing leaching of water and... more
Abstract Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major component of soil water mass balance. An improved understanding of citrus tree ET can be used to enhance the precision of irrigation scheduling aimed at minimizing leaching of water and nutrients below the root zone and to avoid any potential water stress. EnviroSCAN® capacitance probes were used in this study to measure the soil water content continuously within and below the rootzone of young nonbearing Hamlin orange trees (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.) on Swingle citrumelo (Citrus ...
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Advances in microelectronics during the last decades resulted in the development of several dielectric‐based soil water monitoring techniques, that is, time‐domain reflectometry, single and multisensor capacitance probe (MCP) systems.... more
Advances in microelectronics during the last decades resulted in the development of several dielectric‐based soil water monitoring techniques, that is, time‐domain reflectometry, single and multisensor capacitance probe (MCP) systems. These techniques have simplified the real‐time determination of water content at fine spatial and temporal scales. In this chapter, single and MCP systems will be referred to as capacitance. Because of their relatively low cost and ease of operation, capacitance has enjoyed widespread acceptance among ...
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The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the official position of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), and its printing... more
The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the official position of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE), and its printing and distribution does not constitute an endorsement of ...
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Abstract The impacts of growth of global population changes in economic environment have more pronounced effects on Middle East and North Africa countries. User friendly hydrological computer software packages have proven to be helpful... more
Abstract The impacts of growth of global population changes in economic environment have more pronounced effects on Middle East and North Africa countries. User friendly hydrological computer software packages have proven to be helpful tools in managing precious water resources. Watershed models have been successfully used to perform complex analyses and to make informed predictions concerning consequences of proposed actions. They also increased the accuracy of estimates for alternative practices to a level ...
Research Interests: Computer Science, Object Oriented Programming, Spatial Analysis, Irrigation, Java, and 15 moreWater Management, Visual basic, Software, Exhibition, Graphic User Interface Design, Water resource management, Middle East and North Africa, Population Change, Water Resource, Object Oriented, User Friendly, Geographic Information Systems, Graphical User Interface, Programming language, and Software Package
Abstract With an increase in intensity and frequency of extreme precipitations as a result of climate change, it is necessary to develop effective strategies for emergency flood management plan. It is critical to integrate the use of... more
Abstract With an increase in intensity and frequency of extreme precipitations as a result of climate change, it is necessary to develop effective strategies for emergency flood management plan. It is critical to integrate the use of high-resolution hydro-meteorological data (e.g., precipitation) as input for hydrologic modeling to accurately predict and reduce the negative impact of floods. The Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system has been developed by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) to produce high-resolution spatio-temporal precipitation data. While the MRMS data are available at relatively high spatial (1 km) and temporal (2 min) resolutions across the continental United States (CONUS), MRMS’s accuracy in measuring actual precipitation needs to be investigated across some urban areas such as Harris County, TX. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to evaluate i) the performance of the MRMS system compared to other precipitation products (rain gauge network, Multisensor Precipitation Estimator (MPE)) at different spatial (5, 10, 15, 30 km) and temporal aggregations (5, 10,15, 30, 60 min) during four major flooding events of May 2015 (Memorial Day flood), April 2016 (Tax Day Flood), August 2017 (Hurricane Harvey), and September 2019 (Tropical Storm Imelda) in Harris County, Texas; and ii) the effects of temporal and spatial aggregation scales on the performance of the MRMS system using a suite of statistical parameters. Point-to-grid comparisons were conducted between 142 rain gauges and MRMS system data during four extreme flood events. Overall, the MRMS system captured precipitation reasonably well with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.78, correlation coefficient (CC) of 0.88, root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.21 mm, critical success index (CSI) of 0.65, probability of detection (POD) of 0.98, and false alarm ratio (FAR) of 0.34 over Harris County at 15 min and 15 km temporal and spatial resolutions. The results indicate that MRMS product tends to underestimate higher precipitation rates and overestimate light precipitation. Coarser temporal resolutions from 5 min to 1 h resolved some of the overestimation issues. Temporal aggregation increased R2, CC, CSI, and error variances and decreased FAR. However, increasing spatial resolution from 1 to 30 km increased R2, CC, and CSI and reduced RMSE and FAR. A comparison of MPE QPE and MRMS products at hourly temporal resolution with gauge observations showed that both products estimate rainfall accurately for the four events. Still, on average, MRMS product has a slightly better agreement with rain gauge observations at 1-hr temporal resolution.
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Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) was successfully applied in Mākaha watershed to investigate the hydrologic impact of groundwater pumping on the streamflow. DHSVM was calibrated (1971–1980) and validated (1981–1990)... more
Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) was successfully applied in Mākaha watershed to investigate the hydrologic impact of groundwater pumping on the streamflow. DHSVM was calibrated (1971–1980) and validated (1981–1990) against observed streamflow during pre-development conditions. Monthly observed and simulated streamflows after the development (after 1990) were compared to quantify the decline in streamflow. Simulation results indicate that declines in streamflow could be attributed to:(i) ...
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Abstract Soil hydraulic conductivity (K)-water content (θ)-pressure head (h) relationships (K-θ-h) are key parameters for crop growth, irrigation, drainage, and modeling water flow and chemical transport through the soil. Several... more
Abstract Soil hydraulic conductivity (K)-water content (θ)-pressure head (h) relationships (K-θ-h) are key parameters for crop growth, irrigation, drainage, and modeling water flow and chemical transport through the soil. Several laboratory methods have been used to determine these parameters and to extrapolate to field conditions. However, it is essential to determine these parameters under field conditions to minimize the effect of spatial variability. The objective of this study was to use the Instantaneous Profile method in combination ...