Papers by Tahoora Sheikhy
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The conversions of forests and grass land to urban and farmland has exerted significant changes o... more The conversions of forests and grass land to urban and farmland has exerted significant changes on terrestrial ecosystems. However, quantifying how these changes can affect the quality of water resources is still a challenge for hydrologists. Nitrate concentrations can be applied as an indicator to trace the link between land use changes and groundwater quality due to their solubility and easy transport from their source to the groundwater. In this study, 25 year records (from 1989 to 2014) of nitrate concentrations are applied to show the impact of land use changes on the quality of groundwater in Northern Kelantan, Malaysia, where large scale deforestation in recent decades has occurred. The results from the integration of time series analysis and geospatial modelling revealed that nitrate (NO3-N) concentrations significantly increased with approximately 8.1% and 3.89% annually in agricultural and residential wells, respectively, over 25 years. In 1989 only 1% of the total area had a nitrate value greater than 10 mg/L; and this value increased sharply to 48% by 2014. The significant increase in nitrate was only observed in a shallow aquifer with a 3.74% annual nitrate increase. Based on the result of the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model the nitrate contamination is expected to continue to rise by about 2.64% and 3.9% annually until 2030 in agricultural and residential areas. The present study develops techniques for detecting and predicting the impact of land use changes on environmental parameters as an essential step in land and water resource management strategy development.
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In many regions around the world, there are issues associated with groundwater resources due to h... more In many regions around the world, there are issues associated with groundwater resources due to human and natural factors. However, the relation between these factors is difficult to determine due to the large number of parameters and complex processes required. In order to understand the relation between land use allocations, the intrinsic factors of the aquifer, climate change data and groundwater chemistry in the multilayered aquifer system in Malaysia's Northern Kelantan Basin, twenty-two years hydrogeochemical data set was used in this research. The groundwater salinisation in the intermediate aquifer, which mainly extends along the coastal line, was revealed through the hydrogeochemical investigation. Even so, there had been no significant trend detected on groundwater salinity from 1989 to 2011. In contrast to salinity, as seen from the nitrate contaminations there had been significantly increasing trends in the shallow aquifer, particularly in the central part of the study area. Additionally, a strong association between high nitrate values and the areas covered with palm oil cultivations and mixed agricultural have been detected by a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), which implies that the increasing nitrate concentrations are associated with nitrate loading from the application of N-fertilisers. From the process of groundwater salinisation in the intermediate aquifer, could be seen that it has a strong correlation the aquifer lithology, specifically marine sediments which are influenced by the ancient seawater trapped within the sediments.
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In recent decades, the high population growth has increased the demand for agricultural lands and... more In recent decades, the high population growth has increased the demand for agricultural lands and products. Groundwater offers reliability and flexibility in access to water for irrigation purposes, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, such as Amol-Babol Plain, Iran. However, the quality and quantity of groundwater may not be suitable for irrigation purposes in all areas due to urbanizations, and intensive agricultural and industrial activities. Groundwater suitability zon-ing for irrigation purposes could be useful to improve water resources and land use planning, mostly in areas with water scarcity. Therefore, a GIS-based indices method is proposed to assess suitable zones for agricultural activities, integrating the irrigation water quality (IWQ) index and hydrogeological factors. IWQ index was utilized to assess groundwater quality based on salinity hazard, infiltration hazard, specific ions, and trace elements hazards, and miscellaneous effects such as pH, bicarbonate, and nitrate. The potential of the aquifer for irrigation water abstraction was investigated using hydrogeological surveys such as slope angle of the plain, hydraulic conductivity, and aquifer thickness. The groundwater suitability index classified most of the study area (more than 90 %) as Bexcellent^ or Bgood^ suitability zones for irrigation purposes. A limited area of around 5.6 % of the total area has moderate suitability for irrigation purposes due to the Caspian Seawater intrusion and the presence of fossil saline water. The proposed methodology provides useful information in order to allow irrigation management to prevent water and soil deterioration.
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Salinity is one of the most important groundwater
quality problems in arid and semi-arid regions,... more Salinity is one of the most important groundwater
quality problems in arid and semi-arid regions, such
as Saveh Plain, Iran. Principal component analysis and
factor analysis (PCA/FA) in collaboration with structural
equation modelling (SEM) revealed that Na?, Cl-, EC,
TDS, and salinity significantly influenced the groundwater
quality in the study area. The spatial distribution map of
factor score one represents high loading of salinity on the
central, eastern, and south-eastern side of the plain.
Groundwater quality evaluation using TDS versus total
hardness suggested that around 90 % of the total samples
are hard-brackish type, representing their unsuitability for
drinking purposes. Ionic abundance is in the order of
Na?[Mg2?[Ca2?[K? and Cl-[SO4
2-[HCO3
-,
indicating that the groundwater facies varied from Na–Mg–
Ca–Cl, Na–Mg–Cl to Na–Cl types. Hydrogeochemical
evaluation showed that the salinity in the groundwater had
geogenic sources mostly from the evaporitic formation in
the study area. Bivariate plots of Ca2?/Na? vs HCO3
- and
Ca2?/Na? vs Mg2?/Na? supported that evaporite dissolution
and silicate weathering are the major sources of the
salinity process in the Saveh Plain.
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Multivariate statistical analysis, geostatistical techniques and structural equation modeling wer... more Multivariate statistical analysis, geostatistical techniques and structural equation modeling were used to determine the main factors and mechanisms controlling the spatial variation of groundwater quality in the Ain Azel plain, Algeria. Cluster analysis grouped the sampling wells into two statistically significant clusters based on similarities of groundwater quality characteristics. Principal component and factor analyses (PCA/ FA) revealed that two factors explained around 85 % of the total variance, which water-rock interaction and anthropogenic impact as the dominant factors affecting the groundwater quality. The distribution of factor score one represents high loading for EC, Ca, Mg, Na, K, and SO4 in the western side and south eastern side of the plain, where water-rock interactions are dominate factors influence groundwater quality. Spatial distribution map of factor score 2 indicate that NO3, NO2, NH4, and COD show high concentration in central and southern side of the plain, where anthropogenic impact reduce groundwater quality. Further, one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) showed that the mean differences between cluster one and two show significantly differences for some water quality parameters including EC, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, and SO4. Structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed the finding of multivariate analysis. This study provides a new technique of confirming exploratory data analysis using SEM in groundwater quality.
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Environmental monitoring and assessment
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TheScientificWorldJournal, 2014
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Arab J Geosci, Jan 3, 2014
Groundwater is acknowledged to be a reliable
source for agricultural activities in arid and semi... more Groundwater is acknowledged to be a reliable
source for agricultural activities in arid and semi-arid regions.
An assessment of the suitability of groundwater for agricultural
usage was carried out on the Amol–Babol Plain, Iran,
where agriculture is the dominant economic activity. Groundwater
samples were collected from 154 wells during the wet
and dry seasons in 2009. The sodium percentage, sodium
adsorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, magnesium hazard,
and Kelly’s ratios were used as indicators for the water
quality. Geostatistical technique of ordinary kriging method
was used to create spatial distribution maps. The thematic
maps of salinity hazard, sodium adsorption ratio, and sodium
percentage indicated an increasing trend of concentration from
the western and southern areas to the east and north-east of the
plain. The maps also show that the groundwater quality decreases
gradually from the west and south sides to the northeastern
side. There is also no significant change in seasonal
variation of water quality parameters.
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Springer Science, Singapore
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Water, Dec 31, 2013
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The knowledge of groundwater quality as a primary resource of potable uses is significant in the ... more The knowledge of groundwater quality as a primary resource of potable uses is significant in the arid and semi-arid area of the world such as Iran. Groundwater quality evaluation is undertaken to determine the suitability of the water for drinking uses. In the Amol- Babol Plain, many shallow wells have been constructed for agriculture, and domestic usages. The quality of these wells could be easily compromised by surface activities and runoff such as agricultural, residential and industrial activities. Groundwater samples were collected from 60 wells during the dry season in the 2009. Multivariate statistical analysis showed that Na+, Cl-, TDS, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, HCO3 -, BOD, COD and Ca2+ are significant parameters, which influenced groundwater quality for drinking purpose. The spatial distribution maps of the main pollutants were generated by using geostatistical tools. GIS software was used for the application of kriging method with cross-validation leading to the estimation of groundwater quality in the study area. Based on the analysis results and comparison with drinking water quality standard such as WHO and EPA, most of the study area falls in the moderately polluted zone. The results revealed that the groundwater in the north- east and east side of Amol-Babol Plain was unsuitable for drinking purpose, due to influence of anthropogenic contamination and salinization.
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Papers by Tahoora Sheikhy
quality problems in arid and semi-arid regions, such
as Saveh Plain, Iran. Principal component analysis and
factor analysis (PCA/FA) in collaboration with structural
equation modelling (SEM) revealed that Na?, Cl-, EC,
TDS, and salinity significantly influenced the groundwater
quality in the study area. The spatial distribution map of
factor score one represents high loading of salinity on the
central, eastern, and south-eastern side of the plain.
Groundwater quality evaluation using TDS versus total
hardness suggested that around 90 % of the total samples
are hard-brackish type, representing their unsuitability for
drinking purposes. Ionic abundance is in the order of
Na?[Mg2?[Ca2?[K? and Cl-[SO4
2-[HCO3
-,
indicating that the groundwater facies varied from Na–Mg–
Ca–Cl, Na–Mg–Cl to Na–Cl types. Hydrogeochemical
evaluation showed that the salinity in the groundwater had
geogenic sources mostly from the evaporitic formation in
the study area. Bivariate plots of Ca2?/Na? vs HCO3
- and
Ca2?/Na? vs Mg2?/Na? supported that evaporite dissolution
and silicate weathering are the major sources of the
salinity process in the Saveh Plain.
source for agricultural activities in arid and semi-arid regions.
An assessment of the suitability of groundwater for agricultural
usage was carried out on the Amol–Babol Plain, Iran,
where agriculture is the dominant economic activity. Groundwater
samples were collected from 154 wells during the wet
and dry seasons in 2009. The sodium percentage, sodium
adsorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, magnesium hazard,
and Kelly’s ratios were used as indicators for the water
quality. Geostatistical technique of ordinary kriging method
was used to create spatial distribution maps. The thematic
maps of salinity hazard, sodium adsorption ratio, and sodium
percentage indicated an increasing trend of concentration from
the western and southern areas to the east and north-east of the
plain. The maps also show that the groundwater quality decreases
gradually from the west and south sides to the northeastern
side. There is also no significant change in seasonal
variation of water quality parameters.
quality problems in arid and semi-arid regions, such
as Saveh Plain, Iran. Principal component analysis and
factor analysis (PCA/FA) in collaboration with structural
equation modelling (SEM) revealed that Na?, Cl-, EC,
TDS, and salinity significantly influenced the groundwater
quality in the study area. The spatial distribution map of
factor score one represents high loading of salinity on the
central, eastern, and south-eastern side of the plain.
Groundwater quality evaluation using TDS versus total
hardness suggested that around 90 % of the total samples
are hard-brackish type, representing their unsuitability for
drinking purposes. Ionic abundance is in the order of
Na?[Mg2?[Ca2?[K? and Cl-[SO4
2-[HCO3
-,
indicating that the groundwater facies varied from Na–Mg–
Ca–Cl, Na–Mg–Cl to Na–Cl types. Hydrogeochemical
evaluation showed that the salinity in the groundwater had
geogenic sources mostly from the evaporitic formation in
the study area. Bivariate plots of Ca2?/Na? vs HCO3
- and
Ca2?/Na? vs Mg2?/Na? supported that evaporite dissolution
and silicate weathering are the major sources of the
salinity process in the Saveh Plain.
source for agricultural activities in arid and semi-arid regions.
An assessment of the suitability of groundwater for agricultural
usage was carried out on the Amol–Babol Plain, Iran,
where agriculture is the dominant economic activity. Groundwater
samples were collected from 154 wells during the wet
and dry seasons in 2009. The sodium percentage, sodium
adsorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, magnesium hazard,
and Kelly’s ratios were used as indicators for the water
quality. Geostatistical technique of ordinary kriging method
was used to create spatial distribution maps. The thematic
maps of salinity hazard, sodium adsorption ratio, and sodium
percentage indicated an increasing trend of concentration from
the western and southern areas to the east and north-east of the
plain. The maps also show that the groundwater quality decreases
gradually from the west and south sides to the northeastern
side. There is also no significant change in seasonal
variation of water quality parameters.