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In response to the impact of climate change and to the uncertainties associated with the various dimensions of hydrologic variability, water systems’ adaptation has risen to the top of global agendas. In accordance, identifying the additional science needed to improve our understanding of climate change and its impacts, including the scientific advances needed to improve the effectiveness of actions taken to adapt water systems, is of the utmost importance. To this aim, this research draws on a systematic bibliometric study of data, generated from the Web of Science research engine between 1990 and 2019, combined with a statistical analysis, to explore academic publication trends, and identify the strategic gaps and opportunities in global scientific research. The analysis shows the consistent level of national and international collaboration among authors, institutions, and countries, and highlights the substantial contribution of the USA and the UK to this research field. The statistical examination shows that the adaptation-informed literature on water systems remains fragmented, and predominantly centred on the framing of water resource planning and management, in addition to water engineering and infrastructure. The analysis also revealed a relatively skewed understanding of various important dimensions, such as governance, integrated water resources management, and stakeholder engagement, which are crucial for planning and implementing an efficient adaptation process. Observations reflect on the need to build water-related adaptive approaches based on a thorough understanding of potential climate uncertainties, rather than to generically address all the uncertainties in one scenario analysis. These approaches are required to combine short and longterm actions rather than considering only current and short-term measures, and to similarly associate policy and engineering, and equally consider the robustness, flexibility, reliability, and vulnerability during the planning phase.
Aymen Sawassi; Roula Khadra. Bibliometric Network Analysis of “Water Systems’ Adaptation to Climate Change Uncertainties”: Concepts, Approaches, Gaps, and Opportunities. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6738 .
AMA StyleAymen Sawassi, Roula Khadra. Bibliometric Network Analysis of “Water Systems’ Adaptation to Climate Change Uncertainties”: Concepts, Approaches, Gaps, and Opportunities. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (12):6738.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAymen Sawassi; Roula Khadra. 2021. "Bibliometric Network Analysis of “Water Systems’ Adaptation to Climate Change Uncertainties”: Concepts, Approaches, Gaps, and Opportunities." Sustainability 13, no. 12: 6738.
Traditional static design approaches are often challenged by multifaceted uncertainties such as climate change, future demand, supply options, high-tech opportunities as well as budgetary constraints. However, robust approaches that incorporate the option of flexibility combined with optimization advances are likely to meet threshold performance criteria with the least amount of associated expenses. To this aim, several countries have started the process of modernizing their irrigation schemes, foreseeing their on-demand operation. The re-modernized schemes are facing the challenge of the inadequacy of the service reported by the users/ratepayers, whose livelihoods are threatened by it as they mainly rely on agricultural production, and the sustainability of the modernization process. This study develops an adaptive framework that applies a two-pronged approach: it incorporates, on the one hand, a qualitative analysis through a rapid appraisal procedure (RAP) that fills the big data-gap issue, and a top–down approach on the other hand, mainly based on an iterative process that assesses the correlation between the flexibility of the service provided under uncertainties, as well as the financial feasibility. The latter is associated with the sensitive parameters of Clément’s first formula mainly used in the Mediterranean Region to design on-demand irrigation systems, and more specifically: the elasticity assigned at the feed hydrant of the distribution network, the coefficient of utilization of the network in the peak period, and the quality of the service. Applied to a Tunisian case study, the results clearly show that when adequately combining the flexibility levels of these parameters, an optimal quality service may be achieved with an average cost increment ranging between 13 and 16%, with a view of proactively increasing the resilience of the irrigators’ community.
Aymen Sawassi; Roula Khadra; Nicola Lamaddalena. Assessing the correlation between service flexibility and the cost of modernized large-scale pressurized irrigation systems: a perspective of resilience. Irrigation Science 2021, 1 -14.
AMA StyleAymen Sawassi, Roula Khadra, Nicola Lamaddalena. Assessing the correlation between service flexibility and the cost of modernized large-scale pressurized irrigation systems: a perspective of resilience. Irrigation Science. 2021; ():1-14.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAymen Sawassi; Roula Khadra; Nicola Lamaddalena. 2021. "Assessing the correlation between service flexibility and the cost of modernized large-scale pressurized irrigation systems: a perspective of resilience." Irrigation Science , no. : 1-14.