The Department of Civil Engineering is delighted to announce that Dr Siddhant Dash has published a paper titled “Systematic bibliographic research on eutrophication-based ecological modelling of aquatic ecosystems through the lens of science mapping” in the journal “Ecological Modelling” having an Impact Factor of 3.512. This research was conducted in collaboration with Prof Ajay S Kalamdhad from IIT Guwahati.

This research is a systematic approach on reviewing the published literature on eutrophic-ecological models developed worldwide and the methods associated with them. This provides critical insights into the status of the research domain, thereby providing a direction for the practising and future researchers to undertake a research career in this domain. It offers a more comprehensive and holistic approach to the critical review of the published literature, providing a deeper understanding to the researchers regarding the existing practices of developing eutrophication-based ecological models and the prospects lying ahead. His future research plans include understanding carbon and nutrient dynamics within an aquatic ecosystem.

Abstract of the Research

When water bodies receive surplus nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates, these nutrients stimulate excessive plant growth (eutrophication), including harmful algal blooms, leading to oxygen depletion, decreased biodiversity, changes in species composition and dominance, and degradation of water quality. Although there are natural causes, much of the eutrophication today results from inadequately treated wastewater and agricultural runoffs. Population pressure, urbanization and industrialization contribute a considerable amount of waste, which alters the physio-chemical quality of water that eventually upsets the biotic components of the aquatic system. It is important to note that though pollution has been a significant factor in degrading the quality of aquatic ecosystems, the lack of management and global awareness regarding the protection and conservation of water bodies worldwide cannot be neglected. Hence, there lies an inherent sense of responsibility to restore the aquatic ecosystems to their natural state. Numerous techniques/treatment options are available for varying conditions, such as climatic factors, socio-economic factors, and so on. However, before ascertaining a treatment alternative to curb eutrophication levels, understanding the dynamics of any independent aquatic ecosystem is of prime importance. This necessitates a reliable model, which can provide information regarding the physical processes and dynamic occurrences in the eutrophic water bodies. Ecological modelling refers to the formation of dynamic and complex relationships between the organisms found in the ecosystem and the surrounding. It attempts to unravel the effects of certain relationships in the ecosystem that are not so apparent at first glance. The present study provides a scientific investigation of a detailed review of the published works in the domain of eutrophication-based ecological modelling till the year 2020. The first step was the scientometric studies, which were followed by a qualitative assessment wherein the current trends in research were discussed. This was followed by identifying the critical gaps in research to provide future direction.

Fig. 1. Ecological modelling process

Fig. 2. Description of the three-step literature review process employed in this research

Yet another moment of pride and honour for SRM University-AP as Dr Uma Maheswar Arepalli, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering in collaboration with Dr Ali Shirazi, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Maine, USA received a research project award from the Maine Department of Transportation, Maine, USA. The project titled “Comprehensive review of flexible pavement design approaches suitable to Maine conditions” received a total project outlay of $26,396 (Rs. 21.12 Lakhs).

This is the first of its kind project in India that receives funding directly from the foreign (United States) entity unlike the typical Department of Science & Technology (DST) International Bilateral Joint Project Schemes. This 8-month-long project will review the various existing flexible pavement design approaches in the USA and will provide recommendations to the Department of Transportation on a suitable design approach conducive to the conditions of Maine.

The outcome of the project will help the Department of Transportation to decide on a suitable pavement design approach that enhances the performance of pavements in Maine. The project engenders an opportunity for two under-graduate students of SRM University-AP to work as paid interns and receive international exposure in their prospective research areas. It also involves the scope for industry translatory research.

The global population is changing drastically, increasing at an alarming rate of more than 80 million per year. This growing population has led to enormous pressure on land-use patterns and, to a greater extent, the natural ecosystems, especially water bodies. The water bodies are getting depleted considerably, and their quality is significantly deteriorating. Assistant Professor Dr Siddhanth Dash from the Department of Civil Engineering has published the paper Development of function-specific indices for assessing water quality based on the proposed modifications of the expected conflicts on existing information entropy weights in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment with an impact factor of 3.307. He has collaborated with Dr Ajay S Kalamdhad, a Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Guwahati, for the research.

Explanation in Layperson’s Terms

Waterbody contamination is attributed to a various number of reasons: primarily anthropogenic contamination, such as extensive industrial (small as well as large-scale) discharges, leaching of chemical fertilisers from the agricultural grounds, the release of toxic chemicals such as heavy metals and pesticides, and discharge of untreated sewage water from residential complexes (primary constituents being nutrients such as N, P, and K and pathogens). These depletions of the natural water systems have affected the entire aquatic ecosystem. Indexing tools have proved to be the most significant of all the techniques developed. Water quality indices (WQIs) are mathematical representations of a particular body’s water quality, providing a singular numeric denomination reflecting its health status. Specific indices are unique indices which provide information regarding the overall anthropogenic contamination and are broadly target-specific. Over the years and extensive studies carried out worldwide, while multivariate statistics have proved its reliability, the existing approach of using entropy weights suffers from various ambiguities.

Dr Dash’s study addresses vital issues relating to the existing use of entropy weights in WQIs, thus proposing a novel approach to employing information entropy in determining the water body’s health status.

Practical Implementation and Social Implication of the Research

Water quality assessment remains paramount when providing safe and potable water as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study’s results would pave the way for a more reliable and time-conserving manner of assessing water quality and a broader context and health status of a water body that will help protect and preserve different water bodies globally. The present study will also benefit the researchers and policymakers in making sustainable decisions toward restoring water bodies and preventing them from plausible future deterioration.

Working on sustainable and effective treatment techniques to remediate emerging contaminants in aquatic ecosystems is the future research plan of Dr Dash.

Abstract

Water serves numerous purposes besides drinking, such as irrigation and industrial usage. Most water quality indices developed have primarily focused on drinking water quality. However, assessing other functionalities of water bodies is also equally essential. The present study proposes a novel technique to measure water quality for two highly specific water use, i.e., assessing heavy metal contamination and irrigation suitability. The ambiguities in the current practice of entropy weights were identified, and a novel method was proposed, considering a three-dimensional approach instead of the conventional two-dimensional procedure. Weights to different parameters were assigned based on the probability estimates obtained from the frequency of observed values within acceptable limits. The proposed method’s reliability, correctness, and applicability were tested using Deepor Beel’s water quality dataset. Results were highly consistent with the experimental values and correlated well with other established methods. The efficacy of the method was determined by employing sensitivity analyses. Both indices showed high reliability and correctness, as no single parameter was found to be highly sensitive compared to others. Therefore, the proposed methodology proved to be the most reasonable, incorporating all the factors required for a reliable water quality monitoring program.

Citation of the Article

Dash, S., & Kalamdhad, A. S. (2022). Development of function-specific indices for assessing water quality based on the proposed modifications of the expected conflicts on existing information entropy weights. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 194(12), 1-17.