Research
Our Current Focus
GHG emissions from wells and boreholes
Collaborators:
Prof. Noam Weisbrod (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Prof. Helen E. Dahlke (University of California, Davis, USA)
Dr. Avner Gross (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Tens of millions of groundwater wells exist around the world which are used to withdraw water for monitoring, household use, or irrigation. However, these straws into the subsurface also allow the unique exchange of gases between the atmosphere and the subsurface, with potentially enormous consequences for the transport of greenhouse gases (GHG). Many groundwater wells are located in agricultural regions where groundwater is extracted for irrigation. These groundwater wells in particular pose a high GHG emission risk because of the high numbers of wells drilled and their high potential for CO and N O emissions due to the leaching of carbon and fertilization byproducts (e.g. nitrate) to groundwater. Recent studies of CO and CH emissions from oil and gas wells have highlighted the importance of understanding and quantifying GHG emissions from wells. Yet, these studies are still relatively scarce, focused mostly on methane, and do not provide a mechanistic explanation for the gas transport from the well to the atmosphere. In this study, we aim to quantify the flux of CO and N O from groundwater wells and their controlling transport mechanisms to determine what role GHG emissions from groundwater wells play in the overall GHG budget. To answer this question, we use novel low-cost open-source monitoring systems that allow continuous, direct measurements from multiple wells simultaneously. Our preliminary results reveal that these types of wells are unaccounted hotspots for CO and N O emissions, with preliminary evidence that atmospheric pressure cycles and groundwater movement control the emissions.
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Conceptual model for gas sources (a-c) and transport mechanisms (d).
Related publications:
Quantifying the spatial variability and mechanisms governing soil-atmosphere CO2 fluxes from arid soils
Collaborators:
Prof. Nurit Agam (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
The increase in atmospheric CO concentrations over the last five decades dictate the need for a better understanding of the carbon cycle. Although copious research has been conducted on soil-atmosphere CO exchange (F ) in humid climates, studies investigating F (CO efflux and influx) in dryland environments are sorely lacking. This is partially due to their lower biotic productivity compared to other ecosystems, such as forests and oceans. Yet, recent research indicates that CO emissions from drylands are significant for the global carbon cycle due to their large spatial extent. Also, the relatively small number of studies on F from drylands focused only on semi-arid climates and thus, there is a gap in knowledge about F from arid and hyper-arid soils, which cover ~26% of the Earth’s total land surface, exemplifying the need to better understand the possible roles these unique environments might play in the global carbon cycle.
In this research, we will use an innovative sensor network to directly quantify F over two years in five arid sites across the Israeli Negev desert’s steep aridity gradient. This unprecedented and unique dataset of high spatiotemporal F resolution will transcend existing datasets to allow us to quantify how atmospheric conditions, water availability, and soil physicochemical parameters control the relative contributions of biotic vs. abiotic F mechanisms. Identifying the mechanisms that drive F from arid soil could have significant scientific implications by: (1) improving our understanding of the relative role that arid soil plays in the global carbon cycle, and (2) reducing the uncertainty associated with these regions in future climate change modeling.
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Funding:
The Koshland Fund
Left panel - soil sensor sub-unit installed at the Mashash site in a non-compacted soil plot with biocrust.
Right panel - field sampling at Avdat site.
A multidisciplinary approach for evaluation of the carbon and greenhouse gases budgets in restored wetlands
Collaborators:
Dr. Yoav Oved Rosenberg (Geological Survey of Israel)
Dr. Rotem Golan (Agricultural Research Organization - Volcani Institute, Israel)
Dr. Keren Yanuka-Golub (The Galilee Society Institute of Applied Research, Israel)
Dr. Gilad Antler (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Prof. Alon Angert (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
Humanity is confronting a major sustainability crisis, in which climate change and ecological collapse are interlinked. A possible step considered by the latest IPCC report that can be taken towards aligning with global sustainability goals and greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation is to preserve and restore wetlands (IPCC 2019). Accordingly, the call of both the IPCC (2019) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is to preserve existing wetlands and restore new ones. Indeed, wetland restoration and rewilding projects are taking place worldwide. Lately, with the rising of a global carbon market, these projects work together with organizations that provide carbon credits based on semi–qualitative protocols. Moreover, wetlands restoration is considered a ‘Natural-based-solution’ (NBS) for GHG mitigation. Yet, restoring wetlands is challenging. If undermanaged, they can easily become a source of GHG, such as CO , CH and N O. Hence, their restoration strategy should be thoroughly understood, and the actual potential for stable carbon storage be evaluated by direct measurements through time and space.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of restored wetlands in Israel to serve as a sink for carbon, without becoming a net source of GHG. To address this objective, multiple scientific approaches will be applied in a synergistic manner to assess fundamental aspects affecting the linkage between wetland stability and carbon cycling.
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Schematic illustration highlighting the multidisciplinary approach for this study
Impact of nature-based solutions on flood risk and water quality in a large complex watershed
Collaborators:
Dr. Yoav Ben Dor (Geological Survey of Israel)
Prof. Efrat Morin (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
Nature-based solutions are increasingly implemented to reduce flooding, but little is known about their usefulness in improving water quality. Therefore, there is a difficulty in optimal planning of these facilities in order to maximize their capabilities and adapt them to the basin scale. This issue is critical in planning facilities within leisure and tourism sites that combine runoff with effluent-containing pollutants. The use of models and the analysis of the consequences of climatic changes on the precipitation regime and the hydrological cycle makes it possible to map the expected changes in rain patterns and their hydrological consequences in a complex watershed that includes effluent and a mix of uses (city, village, nature, and agriculture).
In this research, we develop advanced systems based on open-source hardware to continuously monitor water quality alongside hydrometric stations. The systems monitor the hydrological parameters of nature-based solutions in a complex watershed to quantify their benefits in reducing flooding and treating runoff quality. A basin-scale model will be developed to investigate the resilience of nature-based solutions under different climate change predictions.
Funding:
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel – Chief Scientist
Agricultural managed aquifer recharge (Ag-MAR) – a method for sustainable groundwater management
Collaborators:
Prof. Helen E. Dahlke (University of California, Davis, USA)
Prof. Jorge L. Mazza Rodrigues (University of California, Davis, USA)
Dr. Laibin Huang (Saint Louis University, USA)
Cristina Prieto García (University of California, Davis, USA)
More than two billion people and 40% of global agricultural production depend upon unsustainable groundwater extraction. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR), the practice of strategically recharging water to replenish subsurface storage, is an important subbasin scale practice for managing groundwater more sustainably. However, it is not yet reaching its full potential to counterbalance growing global groundwater demand. Agricultural managed aquifer recharge (Ag-MAR) is an emerging method for spreading large volume flows on agricultural lands and has capacity for widespread global implementation. Yet, knowledge gaps, synergies, and tradeoffs in Ag-MAR research still exist. We identify six key system considerations when implementing Ag-MAR: water source, soil and unsaturated zone processes, impact on groundwater, crop system suitability, climate change and impact on greenhouse gas emissions, and social and economic feasibility. Our studies focus on large-scale field experiments in the Central Valley of California in which we are linking plant response, hydrologic, and geochemical processes to study nitrogen fate during Ag-MAR.
Funding:
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (PI – Helen E. Dahlke) and the United States–Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (Vaadia-BARD Postdoctoral Fellowship)
Conceptual model of the six key system components influencing Ag-MAR implementation: (1) water source, (2) soil and unsaturated zone processes, (3) impact on groundwater, (4) crop system suitability, (5) climate change and impact on GHG emissions, and (6) social and economic feasibility (from Levintal et al., 2023)
Related publications:
Development of artificial intelligence model for an onsite, off-grid wastewater treatment system
Most decentralized wastewater systems (DWS) must treat influent characterized by fluctuating quality and quantity, and are typically exposed to changing annual climatic conditions. Therefore, producing high-quality wastewater effluent is challenging and requires frequent maintenance and performance monitoring. In addition, DWS should be energy efficient, have low maintenance requirements, and low operation costs. Specifically, performance monitoring is known to be the bottleneck for the application of safe, efficient, low-energy DWS worldwide (Schneider et al., 2019). Yet, DWS are typically located in remote places, lacking trained personnel for regular operation and monitoring. Insufficient performance monitoring is also the main reason that these systems are commonly disapproved by regulatory bodies. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly and successfully being applied for system optimization and performance assessment of centralized wastewater treatment systems (CWS), lowering the cost and personnel needed for CWS operation. AI modeling could be applied for DWS to enable efficient performance monitoring, optimization, energy demand reduction, and failure alert. This study aims to develop and apply AI modeling for DWS in order to enhance the systems' efficiency, reliability and sustainability, thereby taking DWS to the next level.
Collaborators:
Dr. Meirav Cohen (Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Israel)
Prof. Amit Gross (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Dr. Michael Fire (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Prof. Roy Bernstein (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel)
Funding:
The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Israel
