Detecting stress in plants resulting from different stressors including nitrogen deficiency, salinity, moisture, contamination and diseases, is crucial in crop production. In the Nile Valley, crop production is hindered perhaps more fundamentally by issues of water supply and salinity. Predicting stress in crops by conventional methods is tedious, laborious and costly and is perhaps unreliable in providing a spatial context of stress patterns. Accurate and quick monitoring techniques for crop status to detect stress in crops at early growth stages are needed to maximize crop productivity. In this context, remotely sensed data may provide a useful tool in precision farming. This research aims to evaluate the role of in situ hyperspectral and high spatial resolution satellite remote sensing data to detect stress in wheat and maize crops and assess whether moisture induced stress can be distinguished from salinity induced stress spectrally. A series of five greenhouse based experiments on wheat and maize were undertaken subjecting both crops to a range of salinity and moisture stress levels. Spectroradiometry measurements were collected at different growth stages of each crop to assess the relationship between crop biophysical and biochemical properties and reflectance measurements from plant canopies. Additionally, high spatial resolution satellite images including two QuickBird, one ASTER and two SPOT HRV were acquired in south-west Alexandria, Egypt to assess the potential of high spectral and spatial resolution satellite imagery to detect stress in wheat and maize at local and regional scales. Two field work visits were conducted in Egypt to collect ground reference data and coupled with Hyperion imagery acquisition, during winter and summer seasons of 2007 in March (8-30: wheat) and July (12-17: maize). Despite efforts, Hyperion imagery was not acquired due to factors out with the control of this research. Strong significant correlations between crop properties and different vegetation indices derived from both ground based and satellite platforms were observed. RDVI showed a sensitive index to different wheat properties (r > 0.90 with different biophysical properties). In maize, GNDVIbr and Cgreen had strong significant correlations with maize biophysical properties (r > 0.80). PCA showed the possibility to distinguish between moisture and salinity induced stress at the grain filling stages. The results further showed that a combined approach of high (2-5 m) and moderate (15-20) spatial resolution satellite imagery can provide a better mechanistic interpretation of the distribution and sources of stress, despite the typical small size of fields (20-50 m scale). QuickBird imagery successfully detects stress within field and local scales, whereas SPOT HRV imagery is useful in detecting stress at a regional scale, and therefore, can be a robust tool in identifying issues of crop management at a regional scale. Due to the limited spectral capabilities of high spatial resolution images, distinguishing different sources of stress is not directly possible, and therefore, hyperspectral satellite imagery (e.g. Hyperion or HyspIRI) is required to distinguish between moisture and salinity induced stress. It is evident from the results that remotely sensed data acquired by both in situ hyperspectral and high spatial resolution satellite remote sensing can be used as a useful tool in precision farming in the Nile Valley, Egypt. A combined approach of using reliable high spatial and spectral satellite remote sensing data could provide better insight about stress at local and regional scales. Using this technique as a precision farming and management tool will lead to improved crop productivity by limiting stress and consequently provide a valuable tool in combating issues of food supply at a time of rapid population growth.

This thesis project addresses Islamic water management by presenting case studies on regional water issues and analyzing the extent to which Muslim-majority states behave in a way consistent with Islamic shariah law. The case studies presented in this thesis address both international cooperation related to the management of trans-boundary water basins (the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates River Basins) and domestic water management strategies employed by Muslim-majority states in the MENA region (Jordan and Yemen). In each case, it is not clear that there is consistency between the Islamic ideals discussed by academics and the actual techniques employed by various states. In international attempts at managing the shared waters of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates Basins, the fact that many riparian states have Muslim-majority populations does not appear to make the management of trans-boundary resources any easier or more successful. The implications for Islamic water management at the domestic level is also unclear – with shariah playing a positive role in Jordanian attempts at water conservation but promoting the over-exploitation of resources in Yemen. Although shariah appears to play a limited role in the management of trans-boundary water resources, it seems to be better suited for informing how states internally manage their endowments of freshwater resources. / text

Regulation of rivers by dams and reservoirs is a good example where anthropogenic impact could be considerable both in the local environment, but also has major implications upstream and downstream. This study was accomplished as a literature study of the river Nile, which is extremely important for water supply. The purpose of this study was to investigate the consequences of the construction of the Aswan High Dam, to obtain a consistent flow for water supply, irrigation and power generation in Egypt. Since Egypt has a very hot and dry climate large amounts of water in reservoir is lost to the Nubian aquifer system and by evaporation. The consequences from constructing the dam are considerable. It has led to the preventing of the annual flooding and a significant reduction in sediment load reaching the outer delta, which has led to an erosion of the delta front. The incoming waves create a current, mainly towards the east, carrying away the eroded material. In order to protect the delta front seawalls and breakwaters has been built. They have stopped the erosion of the areas behind them, but it has also led to the erosion of other areas. The issues in Egypt reflect the global crisis, mainly in delta areas, which prevail in regulated rivers. The biggest issue globally is the reduced sediment transport to the coast that causes land loss.

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Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2010. / Thesis Advisor(s): Borer, Douglas A. ; Second Reader: Simons, Anna. "June 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 14, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Upstream states, Downstream states, sovereign territory, equitable utilization, national security, conflict, water scarcity, Nile river/basin, hegemony, control, legitimacy, absolute territorial sovereignty, natural rights, absolute integrity, acquired rights, negotiations, contentious agreements, prior appropriation, virtual water, interstate relations, competitive exploitation, political stability/instability, compromise, cooperation, unilateralism, food security, regional security, strategic interests, sustainable exploitation, riparian co-dependence, limited territorial sovereignty, limited integrity, arbitration, asymmetry. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74). Also available in print.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第15652号 / 工博第3310号 / 新制||工||1500(附属図書館) / 28189 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 小尻 利治, 教授 椎葉 充晴, 教授 角 哲也 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

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This paper addresses a utilitarian perspective on the following moral dilemma (the SNR dilemma): if two states share a natural resource, what moral obligations does one state have towards the other population regarding the use of the shared natural resource? I assert that there are two intuitive moral claims that will generate the intuitive verdict (the IV) regarding the SNR dilemma: (1) A moral obligation towards other populations and (2) a state’s (and its population’s) right to territory and its natural resources. The IV reasonably takes both moral claims into consideration, and a moral theory that does not appear to be able to respond to both moral claims is in a position of weakness compared to those theories which are able. I argue that utilitarianism is in an apparent position of weakness in this way. I then use the conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile as an example of the SNR dilemma. A claim that utilitarianism can deal with the SNR dilemma in two distinct ways is presented: (i) under the assumption that independent states maximize utility, and (ii) under the assumption that a world government maximizes utility. I deem both alternative utilitarian arguments to deal with the SNR dilemma, but view (i) as superior as it operates in the status quo. I answer three objections: one concerning the worry that utilitarianism does not respect both intuitive moral claims in all scenarios, one questioning whether utilitarianism actually fails to respond to one of the intuitive moral claims, and one concerning the relevancy and value of showing that utilitarianism can reach the IV in a non-instrumental way. I conclude that utilitarianism is well equipped to deal with the SNR dilemma, either by generating the IV or by eliminating the SNR dilemma.

Since the dawn of industrialization, many authoritarian regimes have taken on massive public works projects which seem impressive or farfetched. Few onlookers are surprised when these projects are not completed or are completed at such a high cost that they appear to be an exercise in futility. Usually these failures are written off as dictatorial incompetence and overambition, but the initial motivations for beginning them are rarely addressed. This paper will argue that, rather than being a symptom of precipitant development or front for embezzlement, many of these projects were designed to fail because the regime received the largest benefit by starting them—not by completing them. Empirically this research will focus on the Toshka ‘New River Valley’ project in Egypt, which is Egypt’s largest development project and is designed to create a second Nile River Valley in the South and eventually be home to 20% of the Egypt’s population. In this report I explore the governments’ motivations, their intentions, the resulting symbolism and the repercussions of the Toshka project. / text

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Water is a vital resource essential to human survival and for which there is no substitute. Additionally, whilst water is still seen as a ‘renewable resource,’ reality seems to dictate that there is only a finite quantity of water available in water-scarce regions. As a result, ‘water’ and ‘war’ are two topics that have begun to be assessed together with increasing frequency. Water disputes have indeed been labelled as one of the “New Wars” in Africa, comparing it to the likes of other resource wars such as those over oil and diamonds. Placing water discourse within a theoretical framework of International Relations, this thesis attempts to ground the water war debate in the Fourth Great Debate of rationalism (downstream) and reflectivism (upstream), through a comparative analysis of Anthony Turton’s positivist approach, and Larry Swatuk and Peter Vale’s post-positivist sentiments embedded in reflectivism. The research aim can, therefore, be phrased as: to examine the debate surrounding the inevitability or impossibility of water wars by means of a comparative analysis of the works of Turton and Swatuk/Vale, as applied to the case study of the Okavango River basin and a tentative assessment of the Nile River basin. This study hypothesises that whether you swim upstream or downstream, a water war erupting in the Okavango River basin is never inevitable and quite implausible as argued by both theoretical perspectives. A bridge-building exercise is therefore conducted in an attempt to find commonalities between the two supposedly incommensurable perspectives of Turton and Swatuk/Vale. Furthermore, based on the tentative assessment of the Nile River Basin, this thesis also postulates that while the potential for water conflict is greater in this region, it is unlikely that a full-scale water war will erupt. Indeed, contrary to what doomsday soothsayers predict, interstate cooperation of shared water resources, such as the shared river basins of the Okavango and the Nile rivers, is more prevalent than conflictive situations.