Waterleakage detection and localization in distribution networks pipelines is a challenge for utility companies. For this purpose, thermal Infrared Radiation (IR) techniques have been widely applied in the literature. However, the classical analysis of IR images has not been robust in detecting and locating leakage, due to presence of thermal anomalies such as shadows. In this study, to improve the detection and location accuracy, a digital image processing tool based on multitemporal IR is proposed. In multitemporal IR analysis, the variation of soil's temperature due to field temperature can be obtained; and hence; estimating variations due to water leakage would be more accurate. An experimental setup was built to evaluate the proposed multitemporal IR water leak detection method. In order to consider the temporal temperature variation due to water leakage and mitigate the field temperature effects, a luminance transformation of the IRimages was introduced. To determine the temporal temperature variation of the soil's surface due to the leakage, several metrics have been considered such as the difference, the ratio, the log-ratio and the coefficient variation (CV) images. Based on the experimental results, the log-ratio and the CVimages were the most robust metrics. Then, based on log-ratio or the CV image, a temporal variation image (TVI) that traduces the temporal IR luminance variation was introduced. The analysis of the TVI image showed that the CV image is less noisy than the log-ratio image, and can more accurately locate the leakage. Finally, based on TVI histogram, a threshold was defined to classify the TVI image into leakage/non-leakage areas. Results showed that the proposed method is capable of accurately detecting and locating water leakage, which is an improvement to the false detections of spatial thermal IR analysis.

Over 30 million people rely on Lake Victoria for survival in Northeast African countries, including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Djibout. The lake faces significant challenges due to changes in land use and climate. This study used multi-source remote sensing data in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to create Land Use and Land Cover (LULC), land surface temperature (LST), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) layers in the period 2000–2023 to understand the impact of LULC and climate change on Lake Victoria Basin. The land use/land cover trends before 2020 indicated an increase in the urban areas from 0.13% in 2000 to 0.16% in 2020. Croplands increased from 6.51% in 2000 to 7.88% in 2020. The water surface area averaged 61,559 square km, which has increased since 2000 with an average rate of 1.3%. The “Permanent Wetland” size change from 2000 to 2020 varied from 1.70% to 1.83%. Cropland/Natural Vegetation Mosaics rose from 12.77% to 15.01%, through 2000 to 2020. However, more than 29,000 residents were displaced in mid-2020 as the water increased by 1.21 m from the fall of 2019 to the middle of 2020. Furthermore, land-surface temperature averaged 23.98 degrees in 2000 and 23.49 in 2024.

The rapid urbanization growth in Dubai has resulted in connectivity issues and is therefore considered tremendous development pressure. That has led the local authorities to set a vision for Dubai as a 15–20 min city by 2040. In a 15 min city, all services can be reached within 15 min of travel time using sustainable mobility means, including walking, cycling, or electric biking. This study aims to assess the current walkability situation within 15 min in the most significant parts of Dubai. The study considered 13 communities, including Bur-Dubai and Business Bay, which were selected to represent ungated communities and eleven major gated communities. Those neighborhoods were selected based on the developments’ socio-economic status and population density. The assessment considered 14 essential services, grouped into five categories: educational, health, social, entertainment, and religious. The data for this study was collected through desktop research, site visits, and residents’ interviews. The data layers were prepared in ArcGIS Pro 3.0, which was used to perform the network analysis. The results indicate that 28.25% of residents in the ungated neighborhoods have access to essential services within 15 min, similar to gated communities where residents rely on cars to access many services. Furthermore, results suggest that service distribution patterns and walkability infrastructure outside these communities should be developed to obtain higher walkability indicators.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries experience a harsh environment with low precipitation and high evaporation rates. This presents a significant challenge of water scarcity and water quality degradation which is exacerbated by land use practices. Agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization are impacting the management of water resources. This paper examines the state of water resources in the GCC countries and presents the impact of land use practices. A detailed analysis of the relationship between land use and groundwater is conducted with a focus on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Sultanate of Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results indicate a drop in agricultural activities, an increase in bare land and urban areas, depletion of groundwater, and water quality degradation. These changes were attributed to excessive agricultural and industrial uses, climate change, and rapid urbanization. The findings show the need for sustainable land use practices and water resources management. Further research addressing the impact of land use on water in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, and evaluating the effectiveness of policy, is essential.

Leakages in the water distribution networks (WDNs) are real problems for utilities and other governmental agencies. Timely leak detection and location identification have been challenges. In this paper, an integrated approach to geospatial and infrared image processing was used for robust leak detection. The method combines drops in flow, pressure, and chlorine residuals to determine potential water leakage locations in the WDN using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. GIS layers were created from the hourly values of these three parameters for the city of Sharjah provided by the Sharjah Electricity, Water, and Gas Authority (SEWA). These layers are then analyzed for locations with dropped values of each of the parameters and are overlaid with each other. In the case where there were no overlaying locations between flow and pressure, further water quality analysis was avoided, assuming no potential leak. In the case where there are locations with drops in flow and pressure layers, these overlaying locations are then examined for drops in chlorine values. If overlaying locations are found, then these regions are considered potential leak locations. Once potential leak locations are identified, a specialized remote sensing technique can be used to pinpoint the leak location. This study also demonstrated the suitability of using an infrared camera for leak detection in a laboratory-based setup. This paper concludes that the following methodology can help water utility companies in the timely detection of leaks, saving money, time, and effort.

Pipe leakage in water distribution networks (WDNs) has been an emerging concern for water utilities worldwide due to its public health and economic significance. Not only does it cause significant water losses, but it also deteriorates the quality of the treated water in WDNs. Hence, a prompt response is required to avoid or minimize the eventual consequences. This raises the necessity of exploring the possible approaches for detecting and locating leaks in WDNs promptly. Currently, various leak detection methods exist, but they are not accurate and reliable in detecting leaks. This paper presents a novel GIS-based spatial machine learning technique that utilizes currently installed pressure, flow, and water quality monitoring sensors in WDNs, specifically employing the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) and Local Outlier Factor (LOF) models, based on a WDN dataset provided by our partner utility authority. In addition to its ability as a regression model for predicting a dependent variable based on input variables, GWR was selected to help identify locations on the WDN where coefficients deviate the most from the overall coefficients. To corroborate the GWR results, the Local Outlier Factor (LOF) is used as an unsupervised machine learning model to predict leak locations based on spatial local density, where locality is given by k-nearest neighbours. The sample WDN dataset provided by our utility partner was split into 70:30 for training and testing of the GWR model. The GWR model was able to predict leaks (detection and location) with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.909. The LOF model was able to predict the leaks with a matching of 80% with the GWR results. Then, a customized GIS interface was developed to automate the detection process in real-time as the sensor’s readings were recorded and spatial machine learning was used to process the readings. The results obtained demonstrate the ability of the proposed method to robustly detect and locate leaks in WDNs.