Hydrologic conditions controlling runoff generation immediately after wildfire

Science.gov (United States)

Ebel, Brian A.; Moody, John A.; Martin, Deborah A.

2012-01-01

We investigated the control of postwildfire runoff by physical and hydraulic properties of soil, hydrologic states, and an ash layer immediately following wildfire. The field site is within the area burned by the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire in Colorado, USA. Physical and hydraulic property characterization included ash thickness, particle size distribution, hydraulic conductivity, and soil water retention curves. Soil water content and matric potential were measured indirectly at several depths below the soil surface to document hydrologic states underneath the ash layer in the unsaturated zone, whereas precipitation and surface runoff were measured directly. Measurements of soil water content showed that almost no water infiltrated below the ash layer into the near-surface soil in the burned site at the storm time scale (i.e., minutes to hours). Runoff generation processes were controlled by and highly sensitive to ash thickness and ash hydraulic properties. The ash layer stored from 97% to 99% of rainfall, which was critical for reducing runoff amounts. The hydrologic response to two rain storms with different rainfall amounts, rainfall intensity, and durations, only ten days apart, indicated that runoff generation was predominantly by the saturation-excess mechanism perched at the ash-soil interface during the first storm and predominantly by the infiltration-excess mechanism at the ash surface during the second storm. Contributing area was not static for the two storms and was 4% (saturation excess) to 68% (infiltration excess) of the catchment area. Our results showed the importance of including hydrologic conditions and hydraulic properties of the ash layer in postwildfire runoff generation models.

Thin layer activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schweickert, H.; Fehsenfeld, P.

1995-01-01

The reliability of industrial equip ment is substantially influenced by wear and corrosion; monitoring can prevent accidents and avoid down-time. One powerful tool is thin layer activation analysis (TLA) using accelerator systems. The information is used to improve mechanical design and material usage; the technology is used by many large companies, particularly in the automotive industry, e.g. Daimler Benz. A critical area of a machine component receives a thin layer of radioactivity by irradiation with charged particles from an accelerator - usually a cyclotron. The radioactivity can be made homogeneous by suitable selection of particle, beam energy and angle of incidence. Layer thickness can be varied from 20 microns to around 1 mm with different depth distributions; the position and size of the wear zone can be set to within 0.1 mm. The machine is then reassembled and operated so that wear can be measured. An example is a combustion engine comprising piston ring, cylinder wall, cooling water jacket and housing wall, where wear measurements on the cylinder wall are required in a critical zone around the dead-point of the piston ring. Proton beam bombardment creates a radioactive layer whose thickness is known accurately, and characteristic gamma radiation from this radioactive zone penetrates through the engine and is detected externally. Measurements can be made either of the activity removed from the surface, or of the (reduced) residual activity; wear measurement of the order of 10 -9 metres is possible

Sediment cores as archives of historical changes in floodplain lake hydrology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lintern, Anna; Leahy, Paul J; Zawadzki, Atun; Gadd, Patricia; Heijnis, Henk; Jacobsen, Geraldine; Connor, Simon; Deletic, Ana; McCarthy, David T

2016-02-15

Anthropogenic activities are contributing to the changing hydrology of rivers, often resulting in their degradation. Understanding the drivers and nature of these changes is critical for the design and implementation of effective mitigation strategies for these systems. However, this can be hindered by gaps in historical measured flow data. This study therefore aims to use sediment cores to identify historical hydrological changes within a river catchment. Sediment cores from two floodplain lakes (billabongs) in the urbanised Yarra River catchment (Melbourne, South-East Australia) were collected and high resolution images, trends in magnetic susceptibility and trends in elemental composition through the sedimentary records were obtained. These were used to infer historical changes in river hydrology to determine both average trends in hydrology (i.e., coarse temporal resolution) as well as discrete flood layers in the sediment cores (i.e., fine temporal resolution). Through the 20th century, both billabongs became increasingly disconnected from the river, as demonstrated by the decreasing trends in magnetic susceptibility, particle size and inorganic matter in the cores. Additionally the number of discrete flood layers decreased up the cores. These reconstructed trends correlate with measured flow records of the river through the 20th century, which validates the methodology that has been used in this study. Not only does this study provide evidence on how natural catchments can be affected by land-use intensification and urbanisation, but it also introduces a general analytical framework that could be applied to other river systems to assist in the design of hydrological management strategies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-omics of permafrost, active layer and thermokarst bog soil microbiomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hultman, Jenni; Waldrop, Mark P; Mackelprang, Rachel; David, Maude M; McFarland, Jack; Blazewicz, Steven J; Harden, Jennifer; Turetsky, Merritt R; McGuire, A David; Shah, Manesh B; VerBerkmoes, Nathan C; Lee, Lang Ho; Mavrommatis, Kostas; Jansson, Janet K

2015-05-14

Over 20% of Earth's terrestrial surface is underlain by permafrost with vast stores of carbon that, once thawed, may represent the largest future transfer of carbon from the biosphere to the atmosphere. This process is largely dependent on microbial responses, but we know little about microbial activity in intact, let alone in thawing, permafrost. Molecular approaches have recently revealed the identities and functional gene composition of microorganisms in some permafrost soils and a rapid shift in functional gene composition during short-term thaw experiments. However, the fate of permafrost carbon depends on climatic, hydrological and microbial responses to thaw at decadal scales. Here we use the combination of several molecular 'omics' approaches to determine the phylogenetic composition of the microbial communities, including several draft genomes of novel species, their functional potential and activity in soils representing different states of thaw: intact permafrost, seasonally thawed active layer and thermokarst bog. The multi-omics strategy reveals a good correlation of process rates to omics data for dominant processes, such as methanogenesis in the bog, as well as novel survival strategies for potentially active microbes in permafrost.

Rapid response of a hydrologic system to volcanic activity: Masaya volcano, Nicaragua

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, S.C.P.; Connor, C.B.; Sanford, W.E.

2008-01-01

Hydrologic systems change in response to volcanic activity, and in turn may be sensitive indicators of volcanic activity. Here we investigate the coupled nature of magmatic and hydrologic systems using continuous multichannel time series of soil temperature collected on the flanks of Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. The soil temperatures were measured in a low-temperature fumarole field located 3.5 km down the flanks of the volcano. Analysis of these time series reveals that they respond extremely rapidly, on a time scale of minutes, to changes in volcanic activity also manifested at the summit vent. These rapid temperature changes are caused by increased flow of water vapor through flank fumaroles during volcanism. The soil temperature response, ~5 °C, is repetitive and complex, with as many as 13 pulses during a single volcanic episode. Analysis of the frequency spectrum of these temperature time series shows that these anomalies are characterized by broad frequency content during volcanic activity. They are thus easily distinguished from seasonal trends, diurnal variations, or individual rainfall events, which triggered rapid transient increases in temperature during 5% of events. We suggest that the mechanism responsible for the distinctive temperature signals is rapid change in pore pressure in response to magmatism, a response that can be enhanced by meteoric water infiltration. Monitoring of distal fumaroles can therefore provide insight into coupled volcanic-hydrologic-meteorologic systems, and has potential as an inexpensive monitoring tool.

Virtual hydrology observatory: an immersive visualization of hydrology modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Simon; Cruz-Neira, Carolina; Habib, Emad; Gerndt, Andreas

2009-02-01

The Virtual Hydrology Observatory will provide students with the ability to observe the integrated hydrology simulation with an instructional interface by using a desktop based or immersive virtual reality setup. It is the goal of the virtual hydrology observatory application to facilitate the introduction of field experience and observational skills into hydrology courses through innovative virtual techniques that mimic activities during actual field visits. The simulation part of the application is developed from the integrated atmospheric forecast model: Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), and the hydrology model: Gridded Surface/Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA). Both the output from WRF and GSSHA models are then used to generate the final visualization components of the Virtual Hydrology Observatory. The various visualization data processing techniques provided by VTK are 2D Delaunay triangulation and data optimization. Once all the visualization components are generated, they are integrated into the simulation data using VRFlowVis and VR Juggler software toolkit. VR Juggler is used primarily to provide the Virtual Hydrology Observatory application with fully immersive and real time 3D interaction experience; while VRFlowVis provides the integration framework for the hydrologic simulation data, graphical objects and user interaction. A six-sided CAVETM like system is used to run the Virtual Hydrology Observatory to provide the students with a fully immersive experience.

Measuring the Impact of Wildfire on Active Layer Thickness in a Discontinuous Permafrost region using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR)

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelides, R. J.; Schaefer, K. M.; Zebker, H. A.; Liu, L.; Chen, J.; Parsekian, A.

2017-12-01

In permafrost regions, the active layer is defined as the uppermost portion of the permafrost table that is subject to annual freeze/thaw cycles. The active layer plays a crucial role in surface processes, surface hydrology, and vegetation succession; furthermore, trapped methane, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases in permafrost are released into the atmosphere as permafrost thaws. A detailed understanding of active layer dynamics is therefore critical towards understanding the interactions between permafrost surface processes, freeze/thaw cycles, and climate-especially in regions across the Arctic subject to long-term permafrost degradation. The Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) delta in southwestern Alaska is a region of discontinuous permafrost characterized by surface lakes, wetlands, and thermokarst depressions. Furthermore, extensive wildfires have burned across the YK delta in 2006, 2007, and 2015, impacting vegetation cover, surface soil moisture, and the active layer. Using data from the ALOS PALSAR, ALOS-2 PALSAR-2, and Sentinel-1A/B space borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems, we generate a series of interferograms over a study site in the YK delta spanning 2007-2011, and 2014-present. Using the ReSALT (Remotely-Sensed Active Layer Thickness) technique, we demonstrate that active layer can be characterized over most of the site from the relative interferometric phase difference due to ground subsidence and rebound associated with the seasonal active layer freeze/thaw cycle. Additionally, we show that this technique successfully discriminates between burned and unburned regions, and can resolve increases in active layer thickness in burned regions on the order of 10's of cms. We use the time series of interferograms to discuss permafrost recovery following wildfire burn, and compare our InSAR observations with GPR and active layer probing data from a 2016 summer field campaign to the study site. Finally, we compare the advantages and disadvantages of

Analysis of Hydrologic Properties Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

H. H. Liu

2003-04-03

This Model Report describes the methods used to determine hydrologic properties based on the available field data from the unsaturated zone (UZ) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and documents validation of the active fracture model (AFM). This work was planned in ''Technical Work Plan (TWP) for: Performance Assessment Unsaturated Zone'' (BSC 2002 [160819], Sections 1.10.2, 1.10.3, and 1.10.8). Fracture and matrix properties are developed by analyzing available survey data from the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF), Cross Drift for Enhanced Characterization of Repository Block (ECRB), and/or boreholes; air injection testing data from surface boreholes and from boreholes in the ESF; and data from laboratory testing of core samples. The AFM is validated on the basis of experimental observations and theoretical developments. This report is a revision of an Analysis Model Report, under the same title, as a scientific analysis with Document Identifier number ANL-NBS-HS-000002 (BSC 2001 [159725]) that did not document activities to validate the AFM. The principal purpose of this work is to provide representative uncalibrated estimates of fracture and matrix properties for use in the model report ''Calibrated Properties Model'' (BSC 2003 [160240]). The present work also provides fracture geometry properties for generating dual permeability grids as documented in the Scientific Analysis Report, ''Development of Numerical Grids for UZ Flow and Transport Modeling'' (BSC 2003 [160109]). The resulting calibrated property sets and numerical grids from these reports will be used in the Unsaturated Zone Flow and Transport Process Model (UZ Model), and Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) models. The fracture and matrix properties developed in this Model Report include: (1) Fracture properties (frequency, permeability, van Genuchten a and m parameters, aperture, porosity, and interface area) for each UZ Model layer; (2

Hands-On Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, Catherine E.; Monroe, Louise Nelson

2004-01-01

A professional school and university collaboration enables elementary students and their teachers to explore hydrology concepts and realize the beneficial functions of wetlands. Hands-on experiences involve young students in determining water quality at field sites after laying the groundwork with activities related to the hydrologic cycle,…

1:250,000-scale Hydrologic Units of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Steeves, Peter; Nebert, Douglas

1994-01-01

The Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis System (GIRAS) was developed in the mid 70s to put into digital form a numberof data layers which were of interest to the USGS. One of these data layers was the Hydrologic Units. The map is based on the Hydrologic Unit Maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey Office of Water Data Coordination, together with the list descriptions and name of region, subregion, accounting units, and cataloging unit. The hydrologic units are encoded with an eight-digit number that indicates the hydrologic region (first two digits), hydrologic subregion (second two digits), accounting unit (third two digits), and cataloging unit (fourth two digits). The data produced by GIRAS was originally collected at a scale of 1:250K. Some areas, notably major cities in the west, were recompiled at a scale of 1:100K. In order to join the data together and use the data in a geographic information system (GIS) the data were processed in the ARC/INFO GUS software package. Within the GIS, the data were edgematched and the neatline boundaries between maps were removed to create a single data set for the conterminous

Enhanced hydrological extremes in the western United States under global warming through the lens of water vapor wave activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Jian; Xue, Daokai; Gao, Yang; Chen, Gang; Leung, Lai-Yung; Staten, Paul W.

2018-04-23

Understanding how regional hydrological extremes would respond to warming is a grand challenge to the community of climate change research. To address this challenge, we construct an analysis framework based on column integrated water vapor (CWV) wave activity to diagnose the wave component of the hydrological cycle that contributes to hydrological extremes. By applying the analysis to the historical and future climate projections from the CMIP5 models, we found that the wet-versus-dry disparity of daily net precipitation along a zonal band can increase at a super Clausius-Clapeyron rate due to the enhanced stirring length of wave activity at the poleward flank of the mean storm track. The local variant of CWV wave activity reveals the unique characteristics of atmospheric rivers (ARs) in terms of their transport function, enhanced mixing and hydrological cycling rate (HC). Under RCP8.5, the local moist wave activity increases by ~40% over the northeastern Pacific by the end of the 21st century, indicating more ARs hitting the west coast, giving rise to a ~20% increase in the related hydrological extremes − $ despite a weakening of the local HC.

Environmental isotope applications in hydrology: an overview of the IAEA's activities, experiences, and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yurtsever, Y.; Araguas, L.A.

1993-01-01

Development and applications of isotope methodologies in hydrology have been an integral part of the program component of the IAEA over the last three decades, within the framework of its overall activities related to peaceful nuclear applications. The use of environmental isotopes as a means of tracing water movement in the hydrology including surface and ground water is much of the Agency's work in this field. This paper provides an overview of the temporal and spatial variations of the above cited isotopes in precipitation based on the long-term data collected from the global network, and reviews the concepts and formulations of environmental isotope applications to specific problems in hydrology and hydrogeology. (Author)

Effects of a layer of vegetative ash layer on wettable and water repellent soil hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Bodí, Merche B.; Doerr, Stefan H.; Cerdà, Artemi; Mataix-Solera, Jorge

2010-05-01

pattern and ash incorporation into the soil. The results show that when ash covers the wettable soil, runoff occur for a short period of time in the middle of the event. It occurred latter on time but larger in quantity as the ash thickness increases (from 0% to 2% of runoff coefficient) and at the same time drainage is reduced (from 57 to 24%). This suggests that the ash layer became saturated and produce runoff until the water is able to drain into the soil. Oppositely, in water repellent soil as ash thickness increases both runoff is reduced (from 78% to 26%) and drainage is increased (from 0 to 16%). That fact indicates a modification in the hydraulic conductivity of the repellent soil due to the pressure of the ash layer. Splash and erosion rates are bigger in water repellent soils yet erosion rates never exceed 2.5 g m-2 h-1. The fact of wetting increases the runoff and drainage rates in wettable but reduce them in the water repellent soil. An irregular infiltration pattern is observed afterwards. After drying the soil, the increase in runoff indicates a crust formation. Moreover, in water repellent soils part of the repellency is reestablished. These findings demonstrate that the interaction of the soil-ash layer should be considered and better studied in the immediate hydrological response after wildfire due to its particular behavior. References Cerdà, A. and Doerr, S.H., 2008. The effect of ash and needle cover on surface runoff and erosion in the immediate post-fire period. Catena, 74: 256-263. Doerr, S.H., Shakesby, R.A. and Walsh, R.P.D., 2000. Soil Water repellency: Its causes, characteristics and hydro-geomorphological significance. Earth Science Reviews, 51: 33-65. Mallik, A.U., Gimingham, C.H. and Rahman, A.A., 1984. Ecological effects of heater burning. I. Water infiltration, moisture retention and porosity of surface soil. Journal of Ecology, 72: 767-776. Onda, Y., Dietrich, W.E. and Booker, F., 2008. Evolution of overland flow after a severe forest

Land surface modelling in hydrology and meteorology – lessons learned from the Baltic Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. P. Graham

2000-01-01

Full Text Available By both tradition and purpose, the land parameterization schemes of hydrological and meteorological models differ greatly. Meteorologists are concerned primarily with solving the energy balance, whereas hydrologists are most interested in the water balance. Meteorological climate models typically have multi-layered soil parameterisation that solves temperature fluxes numerically with diffusive equations. The same approach is carried over to a similar treatment of water transport. Hydrological models are not usually so interested in soil temperatures, but must provide a reasonable representation of soil moisture to get runoff right. To treat the heterogeneity of the soil, many hydrological models use only one layer with a statistical representation of soil variability. Such a hydrological model can be used on large scales while taking subgrid variability into account. Hydrological models also include lateral transport of water – an imperative if' river discharge is to be estimated. The concept of a complexity chain for coupled modelling systems is introduced, together with considerations for mixing model components. Under BALTEX (Baltic Sea Experiment and SWECLIM (Swedish Regional Climate Modelling Programme, a large-scale hydrological model of runoff in the Baltic Basin is used to review atmospheric climate model simulations. This incorporates both the runoff record and hydrological modelling experience into atmospheric model development. Results from two models are shown. A conclusion is that the key to improved models may be less complexity. Perhaps the meteorological models should keep their multi-layered approach for modelling soil temperature, but add a simpler, yet physically consistent, hydrological approach for modelling snow processes and water transport in the soil. Keywords: land surface modelling; hydrological modelling; atmospheric climate models; subgrid variability; Baltic Basin

Hydrologic Services Course.

Science.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC), Rockville, MD. National Weather Service.

A course to develop an understanding of the scope of water resource activities, of the need for forecasting, of the National Weather Service's role in hydrology, and of the proper procedures to follow in fulfilling this role is presented. The course is one of self-help, guided by correspondence. Nine lessons are included: (1) Hydrology in the…

Seasonal Gravity Field Variations from GRACE and Hydrological Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Hinderer, Jacques; Lemoine, Frank G.

2004-01-01

. Four global hydrological models covering the same period in 2002–2003 as the GRACE observations were investigated to for their mutual consistency in estimates of annual variation in terrestrial water storage and related temporal changes in gravity field. The hydrological models differ by a maximum of 2...... µGal or nearly 5 cm equivalent water storage in selected regions. Integrated over all land masses the standard deviation among the annual signal from the four hydrological models are 0.6 µGal equivalent to around 1.4 cm in equivalent water layer thickness. The estimated accuracy of the annual...

Coupled Monitoring and Inverse Modeling to Investigate Surface - Subsurface Hydrological and Thermal Dynamics in the Arctic Tundra

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, A. P.; Dafflon, B.; Hubbard, S. S.; Bisht, G.; Peterson, J.; Ulrich, C.; Romanovsky, V. E.; Kneafsey, T. J.; Wu, Y.

2015-12-01

Quantitative characterization of the soil surface-subsurface hydrological and thermal processes is essential as they are primary factors that control the biogeochemical processes, ecological landscapes and greenhouse gas fluxes. In the Artic region, the surface-subsurface hydrological and thermal regimes co-interact and are both largely influenced by soil texture and soil organic content. In this study, we present a coupled inversion scheme that jointly inverts hydrological, thermal and geophysical data to estimate the vertical profiles of clay, sand and organic contents. Within this inversion scheme, the Community Land Model (CLM4.5) serves as a forward model to simulate the land-surface energy balance and subsurface hydrological-thermal processes. Soil electrical conductivity (from electrical resistivity tomography), temperature and water content are linked together via petrophysical and geophysical models. Particularly, the inversion scheme accounts for the influences of the soil organic and mineral content on both of the hydrological-thermal dynamics and the petrophysical relationship. We applied the inversion scheme to the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE) intensive site in Barrow, AK, which is characterized by polygonal-shaped arctic tundra. The monitoring system autonomously provides a suite of above-ground measurements (e.g., precipitation, air temperature, wind speed, short-long wave radiation, canopy greenness and eddy covariance) as well as below-ground measurements (soil moisture, soil temperature, thaw layer thickness, snow thickness and soil electrical conductivity), which complement other periodic, manually collected measurements. The preliminary results indicate that the model can well reproduce the spatiotemporal dynamics of the soil temperature, and therefore, accurately predict the active layer thickness. The hydrological and thermal dynamics are closely linked to the polygon types and polygon features. The results also enable the

Modeling interactions of soil hydrological dynamics and soil thermal and permafrost dynamics and their effects on carbon cycling in northern high latitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Q.; Tang, J.

2008-12-01

Large areas of northern high latitude ecosystems are underlain with permafrost. The warming temperature and fires deteriorate the stability of those permafrost, altering hydrological cycle, and consequently soil temperature and active layer depth. These changes will determine the fate of large carbon pools in soils and permafrost over the region. We developed a modeling framework of hydrology, permafrost, and biogeochemical dynamics based on our existing modules of these components. The framework was incorporated with a new snow dynamics module and the effects of soil moisture on soil thermal properties. The framework was tested for tundra and boreal forest ecosystems at field sites with respect to soil thermal and hydrological regimes in Alaska and was then applied to the whole Alaskan ecosystems for the period of 1923-2000 at a daily time step. Our two sets of simulations with and without considering soil moisture effects indicated that the soil temperature profile and active layer depth between two simulations are significant different. The differences of soil thermal regime would expect to result in different carbon dynamics. Next, we will verify the framework with the observed data of soil moisture and soil temperature at poor-drain, moderate-drain, and well-drain boreal forest sites in Alaska. With the verified framework, we will evaluate the effects of interactions of soil thermal and hydrological dynamics on carbon dynamics for the whole northern high latitudes.

EnviroAtlas - NHDPlus V2 Hydrologic Unit Boundaries Web Service - Conterminous United States

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas web service contains layers depicting hydrologic unit boundary layers and labels for the Subregion level (4-digit HUCs), Subbasin level (8-digit...

The role of climate change in regulating Arctic permafrost peatland hydrological and vegetation change over the last millennium

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hui; Piilo, Sanna R.; Amesbury, Matthew J.; Charman, Dan J.; Gallego-Sala, Angela V.; Väliranta, Minna M.

2018-02-01

Climate warming has inevitable impacts on the vegetation and hydrological dynamics of high-latitude permafrost peatlands. These impacts in turn determine the role of these peatlands in the global biogeochemical cycle. Here, we used six active layer peat cores from four permafrost peatlands in Northeast European Russia and Finnish Lapland to investigate permafrost peatland dynamics over the last millennium. Testate amoeba and plant macrofossils were used as proxies for hydrological and vegetation changes. Our results show that during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), Russian sites experienced short-term permafrost thawing and this induced alternating dry-wet habitat changes eventually followed by desiccation. During the Little Ice Age (LIA) both sites generally supported dry-hummock habitats, at least partly driven by permafrost aggradation. However, proxy data suggest that occasionally, MCA habitat conditions were drier than during the LIA, implying that evapotranspiration may create important additional eco-hydrological feedback mechanisms under warm conditions. All sites showed a tendency towards dry conditions as inferred from both proxies starting either from ca. 100 years ago or in the past few decades after slight permafrost thawing, suggesting that recent warming has stimulated surface desiccation rather than deeper permafrost thawing. This study shows links between two important controls over hydrology and vegetation changes in high-latitude peatlands: direct temperature-induced surface layer response and deeper permafrost layer-related dynamics. These data provide important backgrounds for predictions of Arctic permafrost peatlands and related feedback mechanisms. Our results highlight the importance of increased evapotranspiration and thus provide an additional perspective to understanding of peatland-climate feedback mechanisms.

Susquehanna River Basin Hydrologic Observing System (SRBHOS)

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, P. M.; Duffy, C. J.; Dressler, K. A.

2004-12-01

system of observations, will intersect the important landforms, climate zones, ecology, and human activities of the basin. Characterizing how humans and climate impact the sustainability of water resources in the Susquehanna River Basin will require an evolutionary approach, involving coordination of historical information and a phased-design for the new observing system. Detecting change (past and present) requires that the atmosphere, vegetation, geochemistry, and hydrology of the Susquehanna, are all observed coherently from the headwaters to the Chesapeake, from the boundary layer to the water table. The River Basin Adaptive Monitoring and Modeling Plan (RAMP) represents the design strategy to coherently select and assess core monitoring sites as well as new sites targeted for both short-term and long term scientific campaigns. Rich in historical research and infrastructure, SRBHOS will serve as a fundamental resource for the hydrologic science community into the future, while providing a "characteristic" hydrologic node in the national network.

Hydrology/Radionuclide Migration Program and related research activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, M.A.

1992-02-01

This report presents the results of technical studies conducted under the Hydrology/Radionuclide Migration Program (HRMP) at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) for the period of October 1, 1985 through September 30, 1986. The HRMP was initiated in 1973 as the Radionuclide Migration Program to study and better understand the hydrologic systems of the NTS and potential movement and rates of movement of radionuclides and other contaminants injected into these systems by underground nuclear testing

Surface plasmon polariton modulator with optimized active layer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Babicheva, Viktoriia; Lavrinenko, Andrei

2012-01-01

package CST Microwave Studio in the frequency domain. We explore different permittivities of the ITO layer, which can be achieved by utilizing different anneal conditions. To increase transmittance and enhance modulation depth or efficiency, we propose to pattern the continuous active layer. Dependence...... from the pattern size and filling factor of the active material are analyzed for tuned permittivity of the ITO layer. Direct simulation of the device functionality validates optimization design....

Detection of Hydrological changes of Wujiang River

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, L.; Chen, Y.

2016-12-01

In the century our earth experienced a rapid environment changes due to strong human activities, which impactedthe earth'shydrology and water resources systems negatively, and causedsevere problems to the society, such as increased flood and drought risk, water pollution and ecosystem degradation. Understanding the variations of hydrological characteristics has important meaning to solve the problem of hydrology and water resources and maintain sustainable development of river basin water resources.This paper takesWujiangriveras an example,which is a typical medium watershedaffected by human activities seriously in southern China.Using the methods of Mann-Kendall test and serial cluster analysis, this paper studies the characteristics and laws of historical hydrological process inWujiang river, detectsthe impact of changing environment to watershed hydrological processes, based on the observed hydrological data of 36 years from 1980 to 2015 in three representative hydrological stationsnamedFenshi,Chixi and Pingshi. The results show that the annual runoffandannual precipitation has some kind of changes.

Importance of hydrological parameters in contaminant transport modeling in a terrestrial environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuduki, Katsunori; Matsunaga, Takeshi

2007-01-01

A grid type multi-layered distributed parameter model for calculating discharge in a watershed was described. Model verification with our field observation resulted in different sets of hydrological parameter values, all of which reproduced the observed discharge. The effect of those varied hydrological parameters on contaminant transport calculation was examined and discussed by simulation of event water transfer. (author)

Data Access System for Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Whitenack, T.; Zaslavsky, I.; Valentine, D.; Djokic, D.

2007-12-01

As part of the CUAHSI HIS (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc., Hydrologic Information System), the CUAHSI HIS team has developed Data Access System for Hydrology or DASH. DASH is based on commercial off the shelf technology, which has been developed in conjunction with a commercial partner, ESRI. DASH is a web-based user interface, developed in ASP.NET developed using ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.2 that represents a mapping, querying and data retrieval interface over observation and GIS databases, and web services. This is the front end application for the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System Server. The HIS Server is a software stack that organizes observation databases, geographic data layers, data importing and management tools, and online user interfaces such as the DASH application, into a flexible multi- tier application for serving both national-level and locally-maintained observation data. The user interface of the DASH web application allows online users to query observation networks by location and attributes, selecting stations in a user-specified area where a particular variable was measured during a given time interval. Once one or more stations and variables are selected, the user can retrieve and download the observation data for further off-line analysis. The DASH application is highly configurable. The mapping interface can be configured to display map services from multiple sources in multiple formats, including ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, and WMS. The observation network data is configured in an XML file where you specify the network's web service location and its corresponding map layer. Upon initial deployment, two national level observation networks (USGS NWIS daily values and USGS NWIS Instantaneous values) are already pre-configured. There is also an optional login page which can be used to restrict access as well as providing a alternative to immediate downloads. For large request, users would be notified via

Scale effect challenges in urban hydrology highlighted with a distributed hydrological model

Science.gov (United States)

Ichiba, Abdellah; Gires, Auguste; Tchiguirinskaia, Ioulia; Schertzer, Daniel; Bompard, Philippe; Ten Veldhuis, Marie-Claire

2018-01-01

Hydrological models are extensively used in urban water management, development and evaluation of future scenarios and research activities. There is a growing interest in the development of fully distributed and grid-based models. However, some complex questions related to scale effects are not yet fully understood and still remain open issues in urban hydrology. In this paper we propose a two-step investigation framework to illustrate the extent of scale effects in urban hydrology. First, fractal tools are used to highlight the scale dependence observed within distributed data input into urban hydrological models. Then an intensive multi-scale modelling work is carried out to understand scale effects on hydrological model performance. Investigations are conducted using a fully distributed and physically based model, Multi-Hydro, developed at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech. The model is implemented at 17 spatial resolutions ranging from 100 to 5 m. Results clearly exhibit scale effect challenges in urban hydrology modelling. The applicability of fractal concepts highlights the scale dependence observed within distributed data. Patterns of geophysical data change when the size of the observation pixel changes. The multi-scale modelling investigation confirms scale effects on hydrological model performance. Results are analysed over three ranges of scales identified in the fractal analysis and confirmed through modelling. This work also discusses some remaining issues in urban hydrology modelling related to the availability of high-quality data at high resolutions, and model numerical instabilities as well as the computation time requirements. The main findings of this paper enable a replacement of traditional methods of model calibration by innovative methods of model resolution alteration based on the spatial data variability and scaling of flows in urban hydrology.

Future active layer dynamics and carbon dioxide production from thawing permafrost layers in Northeast Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hollesen, Jørgen; Elberling, Bo; Jansson, P.E.

2011-01-01

Thawing permafrost and the resulting mineralization of previously frozen organic carbon (C) is considered an important future feedback from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere. Here, we use a dynamic process oriented permafrost model, the CoupModel, to link surface and subsurface temperatures....... The model is successfully adjusted and applied for the study area and shown to be able to simulate active layer dynamics. Subsequently, the model is used to predict the active layer thickness under future warming scenarios. The model predicts an increase of maximum active layer thickness from today 70 to 80......–105 cm as a result of a 2–6 °C warming. An additional increase in the maximum active layer thickness of a few centimetres may be expected due to heat production from decomposition of organic matter. Simulated future soil temperatures and water contents are subsequently used with measured basal soil...

30 CFR 817.57 - Hydrologic balance: Surface activities in or adjacent to perennial or intermittent streams.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... PERMANENT PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.57 Hydrologic balance: Surface... by roads, railroads, conveyors, pipelines, utilities, or similar facilities. You must comply with all...

Site study plan for regional hydrologic sampling and monitoring: Preliminary draft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dutton, A.R.

1987-01-01

The purpose of the Regional Hydrologic Studies Plan is to describe those field activities required for completion of the objectives of hydrologic activities. Many of these activities are regional in scope and are designed to provide a framework for understanding the hydrologic setting of the site and the hydrologic processes that influence site characteristics. Site Study Plans (SSPs) define activates at and in the immediate vicinity of the site. The activities specified in the Regional Hydrologic Studies Plan are performed beyond the confines of the site because the hydrologic systems extend beyond the site boundaries, because pertinent data that bear on site suitability are available outside of the site, and because natural analogues exist outside of the site that allow analysis of processes that are expected to operate within the site. 15 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

Hydrologic testing methodology and results from deep basalt boreholes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strait, S.R.; Spane, F.A.; Jackson, R.L.; Pidcoe, W.W.

1982-05-01

The objective of the hydrologic field-testing program is to provide data for characterization of the groundwater systems wihin the Pasco Basin that are significant to understanding waste isolation. The effort is directed toward characterizing the areal and vertical distributions of hydraulic head, hydraulic properties, and hydrochemistry. Data obtained from these studies provide input for numerical modeling of groundwater flow and solute transport. These models are then used for evaluating potential waste migration as a function of space and time. The groundwater system beneath the Hanford Site and surrounding area consists of a thick, accordantly layered sequence of basalt flows and associated sedimentary interbed that primarily occur in the upper part of the Columbia River basalt. Permeable horizons of the sequence are associated with the interbeds and the interflow zones within the basalt. The columnar interiors of a flow act as low-permeability aquitards, separating the more-permeable interflows or interbeds. This paper discusses the hydrologic field-gathering activities, specifically, field-testing methodology and test results from deep basalt boreholes

Hydrological structure and biological productivity of the tropical Indian Ocean

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Muraleedharan, U.D.; Muraleedharan, P.M.

Hydrological structure analyses of regions in the tropical Atlantic Ocean have consistently revealed the existence of a typical tropical structure characterized by a nitrate-depleted mixed layer above the thermocline. The important biological...

Directed Vertical Diffusion of Photovoltaic Active Layer Components into Porous ZnO-Based Cathode Buffer Layers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jia-Jhen; Yang, Tsung-Yu; Lan, Yi-Kang; Wu, Wei-Ru; Su, Chun-Jen; Weng, Shih-Chang; Yamada, Norifumi L; Su, An-Chung; Jeng, U-Ser

2018-04-01

Cathode buffer layers (CBLs) can effectively further the efficiency of polymer solar cells (PSCs), after optimization of the active layer. Hidden between the active layer and cathode of the inverted PSC device configuration is the critical yet often unattended vertical diffusion of the active layer components across CBL. Here, a novel methodology of contrast variation with neutron and anomalous X-ray reflectivity to map the multicomponent depth compositions of inverted PSCs, covering from the active layer surface down to the bottom of the ZnO-based CBL, is developed. Uniquely revealed for a high-performance model PSC are the often overlooked porosity distributions of the ZnO-based CBL and the differential diffusions of the polymer PTB7-Th and fullerene derivative PC 71 BM of the active layer into the CBL. Interface modification of the ZnO-based CBL with fullerene derivative PCBEOH for size-selective nanochannels can selectively improve the diffusion of PC 71 BM more than that of the polymer. The deeper penetration of PC 71 BM establishes a gradient distribution of fullerene derivatives over the ZnO/PCBE-OH CBL, resulting in markedly improved electron mobility and device efficiency of the inverted PSC. The result suggests a new CBL design concept of progressive matching of the conduction bands. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Permafrost Active Layer Seismic Interferometry Experiment (PALSIE).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abbott, Robert [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Knox, Hunter Anne [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); James, Stephanie [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Lee, Rebekah [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Cole, Chris [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-01-01

We present findings from a novel field experiment conducted at Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska that was designed to monitor changes in active layer thickness in real time. Results are derived primarily from seismic data streaming from seven Nanometric Trillium Posthole seismometers directly buried in the upper section of the permafrost. The data were evaluated using two analysis methods: Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) and ambient noise seismic interferometry. Results from the HVSR conclusively illustrated the method's effectiveness at determining the active layer's thickness with a single station. Investigations with the multi-station method (ambient noise seismic interferometry) are continuing at the University of Florida and have not yet conclusively determined active layer thickness changes. Further work continues with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to determine if the ground based measurements can constrain satellite imagery, which provide measurements on a much larger spatial scale.

30 CFR 816.46 - Hydrologic balance: Siltation structures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Hydrologic balance: Siltation structures. 816...-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.46 Hydrologic balance: Siltation structures. (a) For the purpose of this... activities include diversion ditches, siltation structures, or roads that are designed constructed and...

Ocean barrier layers' effect on tropical cyclone intensification.

Science.gov (United States)

Balaguru, Karthik; Chang, Ping; Saravanan, R; Leung, L Ruby; Xu, Zhao; Li, Mingkui; Hsieh, Jen-Shan

2012-09-04

Improving a tropical cyclone's forecast and mitigating its destructive potential requires knowledge of various environmental factors that influence the cyclone's path and intensity. Herein, using a combination of observations and model simulations, we systematically demonstrate that tropical cyclone intensification is significantly affected by salinity-induced barrier layers, which are "quasi-permanent" features in the upper tropical oceans. When tropical cyclones pass over regions with barrier layers, the increased stratification and stability within the layer reduce storm-induced vertical mixing and sea surface temperature cooling. This causes an increase in enthalpy flux from the ocean to the atmosphere and, consequently, an intensification of tropical cyclones. On average, the tropical cyclone intensification rate is nearly 50% higher over regions with barrier layers, compared to regions without. Our finding, which underscores the importance of observing not only the upper-ocean thermal structure but also the salinity structure in deep tropical barrier layer regions, may be a key to more skillful predictions of tropical cyclone intensities through improved ocean state estimates and simulations of barrier layer processes. As the hydrological cycle responds to global warming, any associated changes in the barrier layer distribution must be considered in projecting future tropical cyclone activity.

Initial hydrological modelling to assess impacts of different land uses on process hydrology in a small-scale semi-arid catchment in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Steudel, T

2010-06-01

Full Text Available in those areas. GIS DATA ? highly precise GPS field measurements and contour line information for digital elevation model (DEM) generation and watershed derivation ? different raster layers (spatial resolution = 7.6 m) containing plot specific...2000 is capable of representing the hydrological conditions within such a small- scale catchment (Fig. 5, Fig 6) OUTLOOK ? J2000 can be used for a detailed analysis of the individual hydrological components affected by land use change ? further...

Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS) contains over 100 data sets pertaining to permafrost and frozen ground topics. It also contains detailed...

Hydrologic management at the Hanford nuclear waste facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deju, R.A.; Gephart, R.E.

1975-05-01

Since 1944 the Hanford Reservation, located in south-central Washington, has been a site for radioactive waste storage and disposal. Many Hanford research programs are directed toward minimizing and managing the release of radionuclides into the environment. Hydrologic management of the Hanford facility involves such activities as regional and local geohydrologic characterization studies, environmental monitoring, groundwater management, and specific hydrologic research programs. This paper briefly examines each of these activities and reviews the progress to date in understanding the hydrologic flow regime existing beneath the Reservation. (U.S.)

Expanding the "Active Layer": Discussion of Church and Haschenburger (2017) What is the "Active Layer"? Water Resources Research 53, 5-10, Doi:10.1002/2016WR019675

Science.gov (United States)

Ashmore, Peter; Peirce, Sarah; Leduc, Pauline

2018-03-01

Church and Haschenburger (2017, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR019675) make helpful distinctions around the issue of defining the active layer, with which we agree. We propose expanding discussion and definition of the "active layer" in fluvial bedload transport to include the concept of the "morphological active layer." This is particularly applicable to laterally unstable rivers (such as braided rivers) in which progressive morphological change over short time periods is the process by which much of the bedload transport occurs. The morphological active layer is also distinguished by variable lateral and longitudinal extent continuity over a range of flows and transport intensity. We suggest that the issue of forms of active layer raised by Church and Haschenburger opens up an important discussion on the nature of bedload transport in relation to river morpho-dynamics over the range of river types.

Silica nanoparticles for the layer-by-layer assembly of fully electro-active cytochrome c multilayers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feifel Sven C

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background For bioanalytical systems sensitivity and biomolecule activity are critical issues. The immobilization of proteins into multilayer systems by the layer-by-layer deposition has become one of the favorite methods with this respect. Moreover, the combination of nanoparticles with biomolecules on electrodes is a matter of particular interest since several examples with high activities and direct electron transfer have been found. Our study describes the investigation on silica nanoparticles and the redox protein cytochrome c for the construction of electro-active multilayer architectures, and the electron transfer within such systems. The novelty of this work is the construction of such artificial architectures with a non-conducting building block. Furthermore a detailed study of the size influence of silica nanoparticles is performed with regard to formation and electrochemical behavior of these systems. Results We report on interprotein electron transfer (IET reaction cascades of cytochrome c (cyt c immobilized by the use of modified silica nanoparticles (SiNPs to act as an artificial matrix. The layer-by-layer deposition technique has been used for the formation of silica particles/cytochrome c multilayer assemblies on electrodes. The silica particles are characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR, Zeta-potential and transmission electron microscopy (TEM. The modified particles have been studied with respect to act as an artificial network for cytochrome c and to allow efficient interprotein electron transfer reactions. We demonstrate that it is possible to form electro-active assemblies with these non-conducting particles. The electrochemical response is increasing linearly with the number of layers deposited, reaching a cyt c surface concentration of about 80 pmol/cm2 with a 5 layer architecture. The interprotein electron transfer through the layer system and the

Improving Long-term Post-wildfire hydrologic simulations using ParFlow

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, S. R.; Kinoshita, A. M.

2015-12-01

Wildfires alter the natural hydrologic processes within a watershed. After vegetation is burned, the combustion of organic material and debris settles into the soil creating a hydrophobic layer beneath the soil surface with varying degree of thickness and depth. Vegetation regrowth rates vary as a function of radiative exposure, burn severity, and precipitation patterns. Hydrologic models used by the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams use input data and model calibration constraints that are generally either one-dimensional, empirically-based models, or two-dimensional, conceptually-based models with lumped parameter distributions. These models estimate runoff measurements at the watershed outlet; however, do not provide a distributed hydrologic simulation at each point within the watershed. This work uses ParFlow, a three-dimensional, distributed hydrologic model to (1) correlate burn severity with hydrophobicity, (2) evaluate vegetation recovery rate on water components, and (3) improve flood prediction for managers to help with resource allocation and management operations in burned watersheds. ParFlow is applied to Devil Canyon (43 km2) in San Bernardino, California, which was 97% burned in the 2003 Old Fire. The model set-up uses a 30m-cell size resolution over a 6.7 km by 6.4 km lateral extent. The subsurface reaches 30 m and is assigned a variable cell thickness. Variable subsurface thickness allows users to explicitly consider the degree of recovery throughout the stages of regrowth. Burn severity maps from remotely sensed imagery are used to assign initial hydrophobic layer parameters and thickness. Vegetation regrowth is represented with satellite an Enhanced Vegetation Index. Pre and post-fire hydrologic response is evaluated using runoff measurements at the watershed outlet, and using water component (overland flow, lateral flow, baseflow) measurements.

Two-Layer Variable Infiltration Capacity Land Surface Representation for General Circulation Models

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, L.

1994-01-01

A simple two-layer variable infiltration capacity (VIC-2L) land surface model suitable for incorporation in general circulation models (GCMs) is described. The model consists of a two-layer characterization of the soil within a GCM grid cell, and uses an aerodynamic representation of latent and sensible heat fluxes at the land surface. The effects of GCM spatial subgrid variability of soil moisture and a hydrologically realistic runoff mechanism are represented in the soil layers. The model was tested using long-term hydrologic and climatalogical data for Kings Creek, Kansas to estimate and validate the hydrological parameters. Surface flux data from three First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Field Experiments (FIFE) intensive field compaigns in the summer and fall of 1987 in central Kansas, and from the Anglo-Brazilian Amazonian Climate Observation Study (ABRACOS) in Brazil were used to validate the mode-simulated surface energy fluxes and surface temperature.

Development of smart active layer sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Young Sup; Lee, Sang Il; Yoon, Dong Jin; Kwon, Jae Hwa

2004-01-01

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a new technology that will be increasingly applied at the industrial field as a potential approach to improve cost and convenience of structural inspection. Recently, the development of smart sensor is very active for real application. This study has focused on preparation and application study of SAL sensor. In order to detect elastic wave, smart piezoelectric sensor, SAL, is fabricated by using a piezoelectric element, shielding layer and protection layer. This protection layer plays an important role in a patched network of distributed piezoelectric sensor and shielding treatment. Four types of SAL sensor are designed/prepared/tested, and these details will be discussed in the paper. In this study, SAL sensor can be feasibly applied to perform structural health monitoring and to detect damage sources which result in elastic waves.

Disturbance Hydrology: Preparing for an Increasingly Disturbed Future

Science.gov (United States)

Mirus, Benjamin B.; Ebel, Brian A.; Mohr, Christian H.; Zegre, Nicolas

2017-12-01

This special issue is the result of several fruitful conference sessions on disturbance hydrology, which started at the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco and have continued every year since. The stimulating presentations and discussions surrounding those sessions have focused on understanding both the disruption of hydrologic functioning following discrete disturbances, as well as the subsequent recovery or change within the affected watershed system. Whereas some hydrologic disturbances are directly linked to anthropogenic activities, such as resource extraction, the contributions to this special issue focus primarily on those with indirect or less pronounced human involvement, such as bark-beetle infestation, wildfire, and other natural hazards. However, human activities are enhancing the severity and frequency of these seemingly natural disturbances, thereby contributing to acute hydrologic problems and hazards. Major research challenges for our increasingly disturbed planet include the lack of continuous pre and postdisturbance monitoring, hydrologic impacts that vary spatially and temporally based on environmental and hydroclimatic conditions, and the preponderance of overlapping or compounding disturbance sequences. In addition, a conceptual framework for characterizing commonalities and differences among hydrologic disturbances is still in its infancy. In this introduction to the special issue, we advance the fusion of concepts and terminology from ecology and hydrology to begin filling this gap. We briefly explore some preliminary approaches for comparing different disturbances and their hydrologic impacts, which provides a starting point for further dialogue and research progress.

Disturbance hydrology: Preparing for an increasingly disturbed future

Science.gov (United States)

Mirus, Benjamin B.; Ebel, Brian A.; Mohr, Christian H.; Zegre, Nicolas

2017-01-01

This special issue is the result of several fruitful conference sessions on disturbance hydrology, which started at the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco and have continued every year since. The stimulating presentations and discussions surrounding those sessions have focused on understanding both the disruption of hydrologic functioning following discrete disturbances, as well as the subsequent recovery or change within the affected watershed system. Whereas some hydrologic disturbances are directly linked to anthropogenic activities, such as resource extraction, the contributions to this special issue focus primarily on those with indirect or less pronounced human involvement, such as bark-beetle infestation, wildfire, and other natural hazards. However, human activities are enhancing the severity and frequency of these seemingly natural disturbances, thereby contributing to acute hydrologic problems and hazards. Major research challenges for our increasingly disturbed planet include the lack of continuous pre- and post-disturbance monitoring, hydrologic impacts that vary spatially and temporally based on environmental and hydroclimatic conditions, and the preponderance of overlapping or compounding disturbance sequences. In addition, a conceptual framework for characterizing commonalities and differences among hydrologic disturbances is still in its infancy. In this introduction to the special issue, we advance the fusion of concepts and terminology from ecology and hydrology to begin filling this gap. We briefly explore some preliminary approaches for comparing different disturbances and their hydrologic impacts, which provides a starting point for further dialogue and research progress.

Thin layer activation techniques in research and industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conlon, T.W.

1993-01-01

The following key application of thin layer activation technique (TLA) are discussed: ion-erosion in fusion tokamaks, bio-engineering technology, automobile industry. Future developments of the techniques, such as fission fragment TLA, multi-layer TLA and recoil implantation are discussed as well. 7 refs, 6 figs, 1 tab

Including policy and management in socio-hydrology models: initial conceptualizations

Science.gov (United States)

Hermans, Leon; Korbee, Dorien

2017-04-01

Socio-hydrology studies the interactions in coupled human-water systems. So far, the use of dynamic models that capture the direct feedback between societal and hydrological systems has been dominant. What has not yet been included with any particular emphasis, is the policy or management layer, which is a central element in for instance integrated water resources management (IWRM) or adaptive delta management (ADM). Studying the direct interactions between human-water systems generates knowledges that eventually helps influence these interactions in ways that may ensure better outcomes - for society and for the health and sustainability of water systems. This influence sometimes occurs through spontaneous emergence, uncoordinated by societal agents - private sector, citizens, consumers, water users. However, the term 'management' in IWRM and ADM also implies an additional coordinated attempt through various public actors. This contribution is a call to include the policy and management dimension more prominently into the research focus of the socio-hydrology field, and offers first conceptual variables that should be considered in attempts to include this policy or management layer in socio-hydrology models. This is done by drawing on existing frameworks to study policy processes throughout both planning and implementation phases. These include frameworks such as the advocacy coalition framework, collective learning and policy arrangements, which all emphasis longer-term dynamics and feedbacks between actor coalitions in strategic planning and implementation processes. A case about longter-term dynamics in the management of the Haringvliet in the Netherlands is used to illustrate the paper.

Gradation of complexity and predictability of hydrological processes

Science.gov (United States)

Sang, Yan-Fang; Singh, Vijay P.; Wen, Jun; Liu, Changming

2015-06-01

Quantification of the complexity and predictability of hydrological systems is important for evaluating the impact of climate change on hydrological processes, and for guiding water activities. In the literature, the focus seems to have been on describing the complexity of spatiotemporal distribution of hydrological variables, but little attention has been paid to the study of complexity gradation, because the degree of absolute complexity of hydrological systems cannot be objectively evaluated. Here we show that complexity and predictability of hydrological processes can be graded into three ranks (low, middle, and high). The gradation is based on the difference in the energy distribution of hydrological series and that of white noise under multitemporal scales. It reflects different energy concentration levels and contents of deterministic components of the hydrological series in the three ranks. Higher energy concentration level reflects lower complexity and higher predictability, but scattered energy distribution being similar to white noise has the highest complexity and is almost unpredictable. We conclude that the three ranks (low, middle, and high) approximately correspond to deterministic, stochastic, and random hydrological systems, respectively. The result of complexity gradation can guide hydrological observations and modeling, and identification of similarity patterns among different hydrological systems.

Predicting Phosphorus Dynamics Across Physiographic Regions Using a Mixed Hortonian Non-Hortonian Hydrology Model

Science.gov (United States)

Collick, A.; Easton, Z. M.; Auerbach, D.; Buchanan, B.; Kleinman, P. J. A.; Fuka, D.

2017-12-01

Predicting phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural watersheds depends on accurate representation of the hydrological and chemical processes governing P mobility and transport. In complex landscapes, P predictions are complicated by a broad range of soils with and without restrictive layers, a wide variety of agricultural management, and variable hydrological drivers. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a watershed model commonly used to predict runoff and non-point source pollution transport, but is commonly only used with Hortonian (traditional SWAT) or non-Hortonian (SWAT-VSA) initializations. Many shallow soils underlain by a restricting layer commonly generate saturation excess runoff from variable source areas (VSA), which is well represented in a re-conceptualized version, SWAT-VSA. However, many watersheds exhibit traits of both infiltration excess and saturation excess hydrology internally, based on the hydrologic distance from the stream, distribution of soils across the landscape, and characteristics of restricting layers. The objective of this research is to provide an initial look at integrating distributed predictive capabilities that consider both Hortonian and Non-Hortonian solutions simultaneously within a single SWAT-VSA initialization. We compare results from all three conceptual watershed initializations against measured surface runoff and stream P loads and to highlight the model's ability to drive sub-field management of P. All three initializations predict discharge similarly well (daily Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiencies above 0.5), but the new conceptual SWAT-VSA initialization performed best in predicting P export from the watershed, while also identifying critical source areas - those areas generating large runoff and P losses at the sub field level. These results support the use of mixed Hortonian non-Hortonian SWAT-VSA initializations in predicting watershed-scale P losses and identifying critical source areas of P loss in landscapes

Unraveling of permafrost hydrological variabilities on Central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using stable isotopic technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yuzhong; Wu, Qingbai; Hou, Yandong; Zhang, Zhongqiong; Zhan, Jing; Gao, Siru; Jin, Huijun

2017-12-15

Permafrost degradation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) will substantially alter the surface runoff discharge and generation, which changes the recharge processes and influences the hydrological cycle on the QTP. Hydrological connections between different water bodies and the influence of thawing permafrost (ground ice) are not well understood on the QTP. This study applied water stable isotopic method to investigate the permafrost hydrological variabilities in Beiluhe Basin (BLB) on Central QTP. Isotopic variations of precipitation, river flow, thermokarst lake, and near-surface ground ice were identified to figure out the moisture source of them, and to elaborate the hydrological connections in permafrost region. Results suggested that isotopic seasonalities in precipitation is evident, it is showing more positive values in summer seasons, and negative values in winter seasons. Stable isotopes of river flow are mainly distributed in the range of precipitation which is indicative of important replenishment from precipitation. δ 18 O, δD of thermokarst lakes are more positive than precipitation, indicating of basin-scale evaporation of lake water. Comparison of δ I values in different water bodies shows that hydrology of thermokarst lakes was related to thawing of permafrost (ground ice) and precipitation. Near-surface ground ice in BLB exhibits different isotopic characteristics, and generates a special δD-δ 18 O relationship (freezing line): δD=5.81δ 18 O-23.02, which reflects typical freezing of liquid water. From isotopic analysis, it is inferred that near-surface ground ice was mainly recharged by precipitation and active layer water. Stable isotopic and conceptual model is suggestive of striking hydrological connections between precipitation, river flow, thermokarst lake, and ground ice under degrading permafrost. This research provides fundamental comprehensions into the hydrological processes in permafrost regions on QTP, which should be considered

Forest hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Ge Sun; Devendra Amatya; Steve McNulty

2016-01-01

Forest hydrology studies the distribution, storage, movement, and quality of water and the hydrological processes in forest-dominated ecosystems. Forest hydrological science is regarded as the foundation of modern integrated water¬shed management. This chapter provides an overview of the history of forest hydrology and basic principles of this unique branch of...

Hydrological patterns in warming permafrost: comparing results from a control and drained site on a floodplain tundra near Chersky, Northeast Siberia

Science.gov (United States)

Boelck, Sandra; Goeckede, Mathias; Hildebrandt, Anke; Vonk, Jorien; Heimann, Martin

2017-04-01

Permafrost areas represent a major reservoir for organic carbon. At the same time, permafrost ecosystems are very susceptible to changing climate conditions. The stability of this reservoir, i.e. changes in lateral and vertical carbon fluxes in permafrost ecosystems, largely depends on groundwater level, temperature and vegetation community. Particularly during summer when the soil thaws and a so-called active layer develops, fluctuations in carbon flux rates are often dominantly driven by water availability. Such dry soil conditions are expected to become more frequent in the future due to deepening active layers as a consequence of climate change. This could result in degradation of polygonal tundra landscape properties with channelled water transport pathways. Therefore, water table depth and the associated groundwater fluxes are crucial to understand transport patterns and to quantify the lateral export of carbon through an aquatic system. Consequently, a fundamental understanding of hydrological patterns on ecosystem structure and function is required to close the carbon balance of permafrost ecosystems. This study focuses on small-scale hydrological patterns and its influencing factors, such as topography and precipitation events. Near Chersky, Northeast Siberia, we monitored (i) a control site of floodplain tundra, and (ii) a drained site, characterised by a drainage ring which was constructed in 2004, to study the effects of water availability on the carbon cycle. This experimental disturbance simulates drainage effects following the degradation of ice-rich permafrost ecosystems under future climate change. Continuous monitoring of water table depth in drained and control areas revealed small-scale water table variations. At several key locations, we collected water samples to determine the isotopic composition (δ18O, δD) of surface water, suprapermafrost groundwater and precipitation. Furthermore, a weir at the drainage ditch was constructed to directly

Hydrological performance of dual-substrate-layer green roofs using porous inert substrates with high sorption capacities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaoou; Tian, Yimei; Zhao, Xinhua; Peng, Chenrui

2017-06-01

Given that the common medium in existing green roofs is a single layer composed of organic and inorganic substrates, seven pilot-scale dual-substrate-layer extensive green roofs (G1-G7), which include nutrition and adsorption substrate layers, were constructed in this study. The effectiveness of porous inert substrates (activated charcoal, zeolite, pumice, lava, vermiculite and expanded perlite) used as the adsorption substrate for stormwater retention was investigated. A single-substrate-layer green roof (G8) was built for comparison with G1-G7. Despite the larger total rainfall depth (mm) of six types of simulated rains (43.2, 54.6, 76.2, 87.0, 85.2 and 86.4, respectively), the total percent retention of G1-G7 varied between 14% and 82% with an average of 43%, exhibiting better runoff-retaining capacity than G8 based on the maximum potential rainfall storage depth per unit height of adsorption substrate. Regression analysis showed that there was a logarithmic relationship between cumulative rainfall depth with non-zero runoff and stormwater retention for G1-G4 and a linear relationship for G5-G8. To enhance the water retention capacity and extend the service life of dual-substrate-layer extensive green roofs, the mixture of activated charcoal and/or pumice with expanded perlite and/or vermiculite is more suitable as the adsorption substrate than the mixture containing lava and/or zeolite.

The Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction Experiment (HEPEX)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Andy; Wetterhall, Fredrik; Ramos, Maria-Helena

2015-04-01

The Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction Experiment was established in March, 2004, at a workshop hosted by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), and co-sponsored by the US National Weather Service (NWS) and the European Commission (EC). The HEPEX goal was to bring the international hydrological and meteorological communities together to advance the understanding and adoption of hydrological ensemble forecasts for decision support. HEPEX pursues this goal through research efforts and practical implementations involving six core elements of a hydrologic ensemble prediction enterprise: input and pre-processing, ensemble techniques, data assimilation, post-processing, verification, and communication and use in decision making. HEPEX has grown through meetings that connect the user, forecast producer and research communities to exchange ideas, data and methods; the coordination of experiments to address specific challenges; and the formation of testbeds to facilitate shared experimentation. In the last decade, HEPEX has organized over a dozen international workshops, as well as sessions at scientific meetings (including AMS, AGU and EGU) and special issues of scientific journals where workshop results have been published. Through these interactions and an active online blog (www.hepex.org), HEPEX has built a strong and active community of nearly 400 researchers & practitioners around the world. This poster presents an overview of recent and planned HEPEX activities, highlighting case studies that exemplify the focus and objectives of HEPEX.

Hydrological Process Simulation of Inland River Watershed: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin with Multiple Hydrological Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lili Wang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Simulating the hydrological processes of an inland river basin can help provide the scientific guidance to the policies of water allocation among different subbasins and water resource management groups within the subbasins. However, it is difficult to simulate the hydrological processes of an inland river basin with hydrological models due to the non-consistent hydrological characteristics of the entire basin. This study presents a solution to this problem with a case study about the hydrological process simulation in an inland river basin in China, Heihe River basin. It is divided into the upper, middle, and lower reaches based on the distinctive hydrological characteristics in the Heihe River basin, and three hydrological models are selected, applied, and tested to simulate the hydrological cycling processes for each reach. The upper reach is the contributing area with the complex runoff generation processes, therefore, the hydrological informatic modeling system (HIMS is utilized due to its combined runoff generation mechanisms. The middle reach has strong impacts of intensive human activities on the interactions of surface and subsurface flows, so a conceptual water balance model is applied to simulate the water balance process. For the lower reach, as the dissipative area with groundwater dominating the hydrological process, a groundwater modeling system with the embedment of MODFLOW model is applied to simulate the groundwater dynamics. Statistical parameters and water balance analysis prove that the three models have excellent performances in simulating the hydrological process of the three reaches. Therefore, it is an effective way to simulate the hydrological process of inland river basin with multiple hydrological models according to the characteristics of each subbasin.

Human impact parameterizations in global hydrological models improve estimates of monthly discharges and hydrological extremes: a multi-model validation study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veldkamp, T I E; Zhao, F; Ward, P J; Moel, H de; Aerts, J C J H; Schmied, H Müller; Portmann, F T; Masaki, Y; Pokhrel, Y; Liu, X; Satoh, Yusuke; Gerten, Dieter; Gosling, S N; Zaherpour, J; Wada, Yoshihide

2018-01-01

Human activity has a profound influence on river discharges, hydrological extremes and water-related hazards. In this study, we compare the results of five state-of-the-art global hydrological models (GHMs) with observations to examine the role of human impact parameterizations (HIP) in the

Structural complexities in the active layers of organic electronics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Stephanie S; Loo, Yueh-Lin

2010-01-01

The field of organic electronics has progressed rapidly in recent years. However, understanding the direct structure-function relationships between the morphology in electrically active layers and the performance of devices composed of these materials has proven difficult. The morphology of active layers in organic electronics is inherently complex, with heterogeneities existing across multiple length scales, from subnanometer to micron and millimeter range. A major challenge still facing the organic electronics community is understanding how the morphology across all of the length scales in active layers collectively determines the device performance of organic electronics. In this review we highlight experiments that have contributed to the elucidation of structure-function relationships in organic electronics and also point to areas in which knowledge of such relationships is still lacking. Such knowledge will lead to the ability to select active materials on the basis of their inherent properties for the fabrication of devices with prespecified characteristics.

Homoepitaxial VPE growth of SiC active layers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burk, A.A. Jr. [Northrop Grumman Electron. Sensors and Syst. Div., Baltimore, MD (United States); Rowland, L.B. [Northrop Grumman Sci. and Technol. Center, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

1997-07-01

SiC active layers of tailored thickness and doping form the heart of all SiC electronic devices. These layers are most conveniently formed by vapor phase epitaxy (VPE). Exacting requirements are placed upon the SiC-VPE layers` material properties by both semiconductor device physics and available methods of device processing. In this paper, the current ability of the SiC-VPE process to meet these requirements is described along with continuing improvements in SiC epitaxial reactors, processes and materials. (orig.) 48 refs.

Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Brutsaert, Wilfried

2005-08-01

Water in its different forms has always been a source of wonder, curiosity and practical concern for humans everywhere. Hydrology - An Introduction presents a coherent introduction to the fundamental principles of hydrology, based on the course that Wilfried Brutsaert has taught at Cornell University for the last thirty years. Hydrologic phenomena are dealt with at spatial and temporal scales at which they occur in nature. The physics and mathematics necessary to describe these phenomena are introduced and developed, and readers will require a working knowledge of calculus and basic fluid mechanics. The book will be invaluable as a textbook for entry-level courses in hydrology directed at advanced seniors and graduate students in physical science and engineering. In addition, the book will be more broadly of interest to professional scientists and engineers in hydrology, environmental science, meteorology, agronomy, geology, climatology, oceanology, glaciology and other earth sciences. Emphasis on fundamentals Clarification of the underlying physical processes Applications of fluid mechanics in the natural environment

The influence of hydrologic connectivity on ecosystem metabolism and nitrate uptake in an active beaver meadow

Science.gov (United States)

Wegener, P.; Covino, T. P.; Wohl, E.; Kampf, S. K.; Lacy, S.

2015-12-01

Wetlands have been widely demonstrated to provide important watershed services, such as the sequestration of carbon (C) and removal of nitrate (NO3-) from through-flowing water. Hydrologic connectivity (degree of water and associated material exchange) between floodplain water bodies (e.g., side channels, ponds) and the main channel influence rates of C accumulation and NO3- uptake, and the degree to which wetlands contribute to enhanced water quality at the catchment scale. However, environmental engineers have largely ignored the role of hydrologic connectivity in providing essential ecosystem services, and constructed wetlands are commonly built using compacted clay and berms that result in less groundwater and surface water exchange than observed in natural wetlands. In a study of an active beaver meadow (multithreaded, riparian wetland) in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, we show how shifts in hydrology (connectivity, residence times, flow paths) from late spring snowmelt (high connectivity) to autumn/winter baseflow (low connectivity) influence ecosystem metabolism metrics (e.g., gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, and net ecosystem productivity) and NO3- uptake rates. We use a combination of mixing analyses, tracer tests, and hydrometric methods to evaluate shifts in surface and subsurface hydrologic connections between floodplain water bodies from snowmelt to baseflow. In the main channel and three floodplain water bodies, we quantify metabolism metrics and NO3- uptake kinetics across shifting flow regimes. Results from our research indicate that NO3- uptake and metabolism dynamics respond to changing levels of hydrologic connectivity to the main channel, emphasizing the importance of incorporating connectivity in wetland mitigation practices that seek to enhance water quality at the catchment scale.

The Influence of Tidal Activities on Hydrologic Variables of Marang River, Terengganu, Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Ekhwan Toriman; Mohd Ekhwan Toriman; Muhammad Barzani Gasim; Nur Hidayah Ariffin; Haniff Muhamad; Norsyuhada Hairoma

2015-01-01

A study was conducted at Marang River, Terengganu on determination of hydrological variation of Marang River at seven sampling stations. Sampling stations were selected along Marang River started from downstream to upstream. Each station was located 2 km apart from each other. Sampling was done twice; the first sampling was in 13 November 2012 (rainy season) and was repeated for second sampling on 24 February 2013 (dry season). Hydrological measurements of river such as velocity, river width and river depth were measured by using specific equipment. River velocity was measured by using flow meter (model FP101), river width was measured by using a range finder (model Bushnell 20-0001) and river depth was measured by using depth meter. Primary data of hydrological measurements of Marang River were measured and analyzed for each sampling station. Overall, station 1 shows the highest readings for most hydrological variables at both water tides during the first and second samplings. Station 1 that was located at the Marang River estuary identified by higher hydrological variables due to seawater movement during high tide as compared to stations 7 which located at the upstream. During dry season hydrological variables were slightly decrease since low freshwater flow from the upstream due to less rainfall intensity. (author)

Distinct microbial communities in the active and permafrost layers on the Tibetan Plateau.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yong-Liang; Deng, Ye; Ding, Jin-Zhi; Hu, Hang-Wei; Xu, Tian-Le; Li, Fei; Yang, Gui-Biao; Yang, Yuan-He

2017-12-01

Permafrost represents an important understudied genetic resource. Soil microorganisms play important roles in regulating biogeochemical cycles and maintaining ecosystem function. However, our knowledge of patterns and drivers of permafrost microbial communities is limited over broad geographic scales. Using high-throughput Illumina sequencing, this study compared soil bacterial, archaeal and fungal communities between the active and permafrost layers on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results indicated that microbial alpha diversity was significantly higher in the active layer than in the permafrost layer with the exception of fungal Shannon-Wiener index and Simpson's diversity index, and microbial community structures were significantly different between the two layers. Our results also revealed that environmental factors such as soil fertility (soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon and total nitrogen contents) were the primary drivers of the beta diversity of bacterial, archaeal and fungal communities in the active layer. In contrast, environmental variables such as the mean annual precipitation and total phosphorus played dominant roles in driving the microbial beta diversity in the permafrost layer. Spatial distance was important for predicting the bacterial and archaeal beta diversity in both the active and permafrost layers, but not for fungal communities. Collectively, these results demonstrated different driving factors of microbial beta diversity between the active layer and permafrost layer, implying that the drivers of the microbial beta diversity observed in the active layer cannot be used to predict the biogeographic patterns of the microbial beta diversity in the permafrost layer. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Steponas Kolupaila's contribution to hydrological science development

Science.gov (United States)

Valiuškevičius, Gintaras

2017-08-01

Steponas Kolupaila (1892-1964) was an important figure in 20th century hydrology and one of the pioneers of scientific water gauging in Europe. His research on the reliability of hydrological data and measurement methods was particularly important and contributed to the development of empirical hydrological calculation methods. Kolupaila was one of the first who standardised water-gauging methods internationally. He created several original hydrological and hydraulic calculation methods (his discharge assessment method for winter period was particularly significant). His innate abilities and frequent travel made Kolupaila a universal specialist in various fields and an active public figure. He revealed his multilayered scientific and cultural experiences in his most famous book, Bibliography of Hydrometry. This book introduced the unique European hydrological-measurement and computation methods to the community of world hydrologists at that time and allowed the development and adaptation of these methods across the world.

Status Report: A Hydrologic Framework for the Oak Ridge Reservation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solomon, D.K.

1992-01-01

The Oak Ridge Reservation Hydrology and Geology Study (ORRHAGS) was established in 1989 as an integrated study of the hydrology, geology, and soils of the reservation in support of the extensive activities in environmental monitoring, environmental restoration, waste management, and regulatory compliance on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) of the US Department of Energy (DOE). The Hydrologic Studies Task of ORRHAGS is designed to provide essential information about the hydrologic environment of the ORR to those responsible for dealing with environmental issues, including restoration, environmental monitoring, and waste management, compliance, and enforcement. In order to ensure optimum environmental protection, these systems and their elements must be better understood and quantified. Additionally, in light of the enormous costs attached to environmental protection, restoration, monitoring, and waste management, these activities must be planned and implemented as efficiently as possible. A practical understanding of the hydrologic systems is required for all the objectives associated with contaminants in the hydrologic environment of the ORR. This report describes the current status of the development of a workable framework for the hydrology of the ORR. The framework is based mostly on data and information available from previous investigations.

Hydrology Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

Research carried out in the 'Hydrology Project' of the Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura', Piracicaba, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, are described. Such research comprises: Amazon hydrology and Northeast hydrology. Techniques for the measurement of isotope ratios are used. (M.A.) [pt

Progress in studies on hydrological impacts of degrading permafrost in the Source Area of Yellow River on NE Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, SW China

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, H.; Ma, Q.; Jin, X.

2017-12-01

Permafrost degradation substantially impacts hydrological processes in the Source Area of the Yellow River (SAYR). Deepening active layer has directly led to a reduction of surface runoffs, alters the generation and dynamics of slope runoffs and groundwater, leading to a deepening of groundwater flow paths. At present, however, there is only a limited understanding of the hydrological impact mechanisms of degrading permafrost. On the basis of analyzing and evaluating the current states, changing history and developing trends of climate, permafrost and hydrological processes, this program aims at further and better quantifying the nature of these mechanisms linking the degrading permafrost with changing hydrological processes. The key scientific themes for this research are the characterization of interactions between ground freezing-thawing and hydrogeology in the SAYR. For this study, a coupling is made between geothermal states and the occurrences of taliks in river systems, in order to understand how expanding taliks control groundwater and surface-water interactions and how these interactions might intensify or weaken when the climate warms and dries persistently. Numerical models include freeze-thaw dynamics coupled to groundwater and surface flow processes. For the proper parameterization of these models, field and laboratory studies are conducted with a focus on the SAYR. Geophysical investigations are employed for mapping permafrost distribution in relation to landscape elements. Boreholes and water wells and observation sites for the hydrothermal processes and water tables are used for establishing the current thermal state of frozen ground and talik and monitor their changes over time, and serve to ground-truth surface geophysical observations. Boreholes and wellbores, water wells and active layer sites have provided access to the permafrost and aquifer systems, allowing the dating of ground-water and -ice and soil strata for elucidating the regional

Active Boundary Layer Control on a Highly Loaded Turbine Exit Case Profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Kurz

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A highly loaded turbine exit guide vane with active boundary layer control was investigated experimentally in the High Speed Cascade Wind Tunnel at the University of the German Federal Armed Forces, Munich. The experiments include profile Mach number distributions, wake traverse measurements as well as boundary layer investigations with a flattened Pitot probe. Active boundary layer control by fluidic oscillators was applied to achieve improved performance in the low Reynolds number regime. Low solidity, which can be applied to reduce the number of blades, increases the risk of flow separation resulting in increased total pressure losses. Active boundary layer control is supposed to overcome these negative effects. The experiments show that active boundary layer control by fluidic oscillators is an appropriate way to suppress massive open separation bubbles in the low Reynolds number regime.

Hydrological Modeling in Alaska with WRF-Hydro

Science.gov (United States)

Elmer, N. J.; Zavodsky, B.; Molthan, A.

2017-12-01

The operational National Water Model (NWM), implemented in August 2016, is an instantiation of the Weather Research and Forecasting hydrological extension package (WRF-Hydro). Currently, the NWM only covers the contiguous United States, but will be expanded to include an Alaska domain in the future. It is well known that Alaska presents several hydrological modeling challenges, including unique arctic/sub-arctic hydrological processes not observed elsewhere in the United States and a severe lack of in-situ observations for model initialization. This project sets up an experimental version of WRF-Hydro in Alaska mimicking the NWM to gauge the ability of WRF-Hydro to represent hydrological processes in Alaska and identify model calibration challenges. Recent and upcoming launches of hydrology-focused NASA satellite missions such as the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) and Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) expand the spatial and temporal coverage of observations in Alaska, so this study also lays the groundwork for assimilating these NASA datasets into WRF-Hydro in the future.

Subsurface flow pathway dynamics in the active layer of coupled permafrost-hydrogeological systems under seasonal and annual temperature variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Frampton, Andrew

2017-04-01

There is a need for improved understanding of the mechanisms controlling subsurface solute transport in the active layer in order to better understand permafrost-hydrological-carbon feedbacks, in particular with regards to how dissolved carbon is transported in coupled surface and subsurface terrestrial arctic water systems under climate change. Studying solute transport in arctic systems is also relevant in the context of anthropogenic pollution which may increase due to increased activity in cold region environments. In this contribution subsurface solute transport subject to ground surface warming causing permafrost thaw and active layer change is studied using a physically based model of coupled cryotic and hydrogeological flow processes combined with a particle tracking method. Changes in subsurface water flows and solute transport travel times are analysed for different modelled geological configurations during a 100-year warming period. Results show that for all simulated cases, the minimum and mean travel times increase non-linearly with warming irrespective of geological configuration and heterogeneity structure. The timing of the start of increase in travel time depends on heterogeneity structure, combined with the rate of permafrost degradation that also depends on material thermal and hydrogeological properties. These travel time changes are shown to depend on combined warming effects of increase in pathway length due to deepening of the active layer, reduced transport velocities due to a shift from horizontal saturated groundwater flow near the surface to vertical water percolation deeper into the subsurface, and pathway length increase and temporary immobilization caused by cryosuction-induced seasonal freeze cycles. The impact these change mechanisms have on solute and dissolved substance transport is further analysed by integrating pathway analysis with a Lagrangian approach, incorporating considerations for both dissolved organic and inorganic

Field observations at different scales for understanding hydrological processes in microcatchments at 2000m a.s.l. in Southern Ecuador

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, F.; Huwe, B.

2009-04-01

In the Andes of Southern Ecuador at 2000m a.s.l. we investigate the hydrological behaviour of three steep microcatchments featuring nature and secondary forest as well as actively grazed pasture. Further locations are two landslides of different age. Within these microcatchments and sites we conducted dye tracer experiments to investigate potential lateral flow paths at pedon scale, monitored the soil water dynamic at plot scale and installed weirs to obtain discharge data from zero order catchments. Furthermore, Ksat measurements all over the microcatchments and sites were made to find dependencies on the topography. A special issue of the forested microcatchments is an organic layer mainly composed of fine roots emerging up to several dm. Composition, thickness and hydrological behaviour of this layer depends on the composition of the tree stand which in turn depends on the topographic position. Until now we have determined the organic layer hydrological parameters of a primary and a secondary forest by a laboratory irrigation device and inverse modelling. Most of the soils situated within the steep slopes were derived from shallow landslides and generally feature high rock fragment contents. Vertical percolation predominates in these soils, that seems to be controlled by the size distribution of the rock fragments. In this regard the effect of landslides on soil properties depends on the type of the landslide, the depth of the displaced material and the type of displacement. However, even at smaller scale soil properties on landslides can vary due to a heterogeneous mixture of substrates occurring with the landslide formation. Soils situated on ridges, plateaus and rotational landslides are denser with lower drainable porosities impeding vertical percolation in benefit for overland flow and lateral subsurface flow. Aims of the investigation are to assess the heterogeneity at the different scales and to find generalities, i.e. hydrological units to establish a

Concepts and Challenges in Disturbance Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Ebel, B. A.; Mirus, B. B.

2016-12-01

Landscape disturbances are increasing, often promoted and enhanced by climate shifts and human activities. Insect infestations, wildfires, earthquakes, urban development, forest harvest, mineral and petroleum resource extraction, and hurricanes are common landscape disturbances that can have profound hydrologic consequences. These cause relatively abrupt changes in the landscape, which alter local processes on plots and hillslopes in addition to coarser-scale processes across watersheds through cross-scale interactions. Shifts in soil properties and cover of vegetation and leaf litter change the water storage or buffering capacity as well as the hydrologic functional connectivity across multiple scales. These changes increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, erosion, and mass movements that degrade water resources, ecosystem services, and protection from hydrologically driven natural hazards. Although it is imperative that we understand the hydrologic effects of these disturbances, several major barriers exist. Four challenges are: (i) overlapping disturbances in space and time with unknown recovery trajectories, (ii) a paucity of long-term recovery records (>5 years duration), (iii) inefficacy of traditional modeling and parameterization approaches, and (iv) lack of pre-disturbance characterization. Examples of these challenges will be presented along with proposed opportunities for improved mechanistic understanding of processes and thresholds in disturbance hydrology.

Thermally activated flux creep in strongly layered high-temperature superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakravarty, S.; Ivlev, B.I.; Ovchinnikov, Y.N.

1990-01-01

Thermal activation energies for single vortices and vortex bundles in the presence of a magnetic field parallel to the layers are calculated. The pinning considered is intrinsic and is due to the strongly layered structure of high-temperature superconductors. The magnetic field and the current dependence of the activation energy are studied in detail. The calculation of the activation energy is used to determine the current-voltage characteristic. It may be possible to observe the effects discussed in this paper in a pure enough sample

[Socio-hydrology: A review].

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Jing-yi; Zhao, Wen-wu; Fang, Xue-ning

2015-04-01

Socio-hydrology is an interdiscipline of hydrology, nature, society and humanity. It mainly explores the two-way feedbacks of coupled human-water system and its dynamic mechanism of co-evolution, and makes efforts to solve the issues that human faces today such as sustainable utilization of water resources. Starting from the background, formation process, and fundamental concept of socio-hydrology, this paper summarized the features of socio-hydrology. The main research content of socio-hydrology was reduced to three aspects: The tradeoff in coupled human-water system, interests in water resources management and virtual water research in coupled human-water system. And its differences as well as relations with traditional hydrology, eco-hydrology and hydro-sociology were dwelled on. Finally, with hope to promote the development of socio-hydrology researches in China, the paper made prospects for the development of the subject from following aspects: Completing academic content and deepening quantitative research, focusing on scale studies of socio-hydrology, fusing socio-hydrology and eco-hydrology.

The curved kinetic boundary layer of active matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Wen; Brady, John F

2018-01-03

A body submerged in active matter feels the swim pressure through a kinetic accumulation boundary layer on its surface. The boundary layer results from a balance between translational diffusion and advective swimming and occurs on the microscopic length scale . Here , D T is the Brownian translational diffusivity, τ R is the reorientation time and l = U 0 τ R is the swimmer's run length, with U 0 the swim speed [Yan and Brady, J. Fluid. Mech., 2015, 785, R1]. In this work we analyze the swim pressure on arbitrary shaped bodies by including the effect of local shape curvature in the kinetic boundary layer. When δ ≪ L and l ≪ L, where L is the body size, the leading order effects of curvature on the swim pressure are found analytically to scale as J S λδ 2 /L, where J S is twice the (non-dimensional) mean curvature. Particle-tracking simulations and direct solutions to the Smoluchowski equation governing the probability distribution of the active particles show that λδ 2 /L is a universal scaling parameter not limited to the regime δ, l ≪ L. The net force exerted on the body by the swimmers is found to scale as F net /(n ∞ k s T s L 2 ) = f(λδ 2 /L), where f(x) is a dimensionless function that is quadratic when x ≪ 1 and linear when x ∼ 1. Here, k s T s = ζU 0 2 τ R /6 defines the 'activity' of the swimmers, with ζ the drag coefficient, and n ∞ is the uniform number density of swimmers far from the body. We discuss the connection of this boundary layer to continuum mechanical descriptions of active matter and briefly present how to include hydrodynamics into this purely kinetic study.

Numerical modeling of the agricultural-hydrologic system in Punjab, India

Science.gov (United States)

Nyblade, M.; Russo, T. A.; Zikatanov, L.; Zipp, K.

2017-12-01

The goal of food security for India's growing population is threatened by the decline in freshwater resources due to unsustainable water use for irrigation. The issue is acute in parts of Punjab, India, where small landholders produce a major quantity of India's food with declining groundwater resources. To further complicate this problem, other regions of the state are experiencing groundwater logging and salinization, and are reliant on canal systems for fresh water delivery. Due to the lack of water use records, groundwater consumption for this study is estimated with available data on crop yields, climate, and total canal water delivery. The hydrologic and agricultural systems are modeled using appropriate numerical methods and software. This is a state-wide hydrologic numerical model of Punjab that accounts for multiple aquifer layers, agricultural water demands, and interactions between the surface canal system and groundwater. To more accurately represent the drivers of agricultural production and therefore water use, we couple an economic crop optimization model with the hydrologic model. These tools will be used to assess and optimize crop choice scenarios based on farmer income, food production, and hydrologic system constraints. The results of these combined models can be used to further understand the hydrologic system response to government crop procurement policies and climate change, and to assess the effectiveness of possible water conservation solutions.

Plasmonic modulator optimized by patterning of active layer and tuning permittivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Babicheva, Viktoriia; Lavrinenko, Andrei

2012-01-01

as electrodes. External field changes carrier density in the ultra-thin ITO layer, which influences the permittivity. The metal-insulator-metal system possesses a plasmon resonance, and it is strongly affected by changes in the permittivity of the active layer. To improve performance of the structure we propose...... several optimizations. We examine influence of the ITO permittivity on the modulator's performance and point out appropriate values. We analyze eigenmodes of the waveguide structure and specify the range for its efficient operation. We show that substituting the continuous active layer by a one......-dimension periodic stripes increases transmittance through the device and keeps the modulator's performance at the same level. The dependence on the pattern size and filling factor of the active material is analyzed and optimum parameters are found. Patterned ITO layers allow us to design a Bragg grating inside...

Activity and lifetime of urease immobilized using layer-by-layer nano self-assembly on silicon microchannels.

Science.gov (United States)

Forrest, Scott R; Elmore, Bill B; Palmer, James D

2005-01-01

Urease has been immobilized and layered onto the walls of manufactured silicon microchannels. Enzyme immobilization was performed using layer-by-layer nano self-assembly. Alternating layers of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, with enzyme layers "encased" between them, were deposited onto the walls of the silicon microchannels. The polycations used were polyethylenimine (PEI), polydiallyldimethylammonium (PDDA), and polyallylamine (PAH). The polyanions used were polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) and polyvinylsulfate (PVS). The activity of the immobilized enzyme was tested by pumping a 1 g/L urea solution through the microchannels at various flow rates. Effluent concentration was measured using an ultraviolet/visible spectrometer by monitoring the absorbance of a pH sensitive dye. The architecture of PEI/PSS/PEI/urease/PEI with single and multiple layers of enzyme demonstrated superior performance over the PDDA and PAH architectures. The precursor layer of PEI/PSS demonstrably improved the performance of the reactor. Conversion rates of 70% were achieved at a residence time of 26 s, on d 1 of operation, and >50% at 51 s, on d 15 with a six-layer PEI/urease architecture.

A system of automated processing of deep water hydrological information

Science.gov (United States)

Romantsov, V. A.; Dyubkin, I. A.; Klyukbin, L. N.

1974-01-01

An automated system for primary and scientific analysis of deep water hydrological information is presented. Primary processing of the data in this system is carried out on a drifting station, which also calculates the parameters of vertical stability of the sea layers, as well as their depths and altitudes. Methods of processing the raw data are described.

Hydrological modeling of the semi-arid Andarax river basin in Southern Spain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Flemming Hauge; Jensen, Karsten Høgh; Sandholt, Inge

as this it will lead to better estimate of the groundwater recharge and hereby of the groundwater availability in the delta region.   The hydrological behaviour of the Andarax river basin is simulated by the MIKE SHE code, which is a physically based, distributed and integrated hydrological model. In the first...... scenario we only use traditional meteorological data and standard values for the vegetation characteristics. The traditional meteorological data are rather sparse for the Andarax river basin and to improve the estimation of evapotranspiration we use an energy-based two-layer SVAT model and apply remote...

[Gene method for inconsistent hydrological frequency calculation. 2: Diagnosis system of hydrological genes and method of hydrological moment genes with inconsistent characters].

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Ping; Zhao, Jiang Yan; Wu, Zi Yi; Sang, Yan Fang; Chen, Jie; Li, Bin Bin; Gu, Hai Ting

2018-04-01

The analysis of inconsistent hydrological series is one of the major problems that should be solved for engineering hydrological calculation in changing environment. In this study, the diffe-rences of non-consistency and non-stationarity were analyzed from the perspective of composition of hydrological series. The inconsistent hydrological phenomena were generalized into hydrological processes with inheritance, variability and evolution characteristics or regulations. Furthermore, the hydrological genes were identified following the theory of biological genes, while their inheritance bases and variability bases were determined based on composition of hydrological series under diffe-rent time scales. To identify and test the components of hydrological genes, we constructed a diagnosis system of hydrological genes. With the P-3 distribution as an example, we described the process of construction and expression of the moment genes to illustrate the inheritance, variability and evolution principles of hydrological genes. With the annual minimum 1-month runoff series of Yunjinghong station in Lancangjiang River basin as an example, we verified the feasibility and practicability of hydrological gene theory for the calculation of inconsistent hydrological frequency. The results showed that the method could be used to reveal the evolution of inconsistent hydrological series. Therefore, it provided a new research pathway for engineering hydrological calculation in changing environment and an essential reference for the assessment of water security.

Isotope hydrology: applied discipline in earth sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Froehlich, K.; Rozanski, K.; Araguas Araguas, L.

1998-01-01

The discipline 'isotope hydrology' is being reviewed from the perspective of the Isotope Hydrology Section of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. The Section was created in the late fifties and is activities involved int the scientific progress of the discipline. The role of the IAEA in the development of isotope hydrology has always been of a dual nature: on one hand, the Section has been and still is heavily engaged in supporting and coordinating further development of isotope methodologies, on the other hand, it serves as an interface between the methodological development in research institutes and the applied work using proven techniques in field projects on water resources assessment and management. The paper provides a brief overview of applications of isotope-based methodologies in hydrology, with emphasis on new trends and challenges related to man's growing impact on the water cycle. This contribution is a tribute to the memory of the former Head of the Isotope Hydrology Section, Jean-Charles Fontes, to whom we owe so much. (authors)

Soil as indicator of hillslope hydrological behaviour in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There is an interactive relationship between soil and hydrology. Identifying and interpreting soil properties active in this relationship can enhance our understanding of the hydrological behaviour of soils and the hillslopes in which they occur. This study was conducted in the Weatherley research catchment, South Africa, ...

Bi-layered nanocomposite bandages for controlling microbial infections and overproduction of matrix metalloproteinase activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Anjana, J; Mohandas, Annapoorna; Seethalakshmy, S; Suresh, Maneesha K; Menon, Riju; Biswas, Raja; Jayakumar, R

2018-04-15

Chronic diabetic wounds is characterised by increased microbial contamination and overproduction of matrix metalloproteases that would degrade the extracellular matrix. A bi-layer bandage was developed, that promotes the inhibition of microbial infections and matrix metalloprotease (MMPs) activity. Bi-layer bandage containing benzalkonium chloride loaded gelatin nanoparticles (BZK GNPs) in chitosan-Hyaluronic acid (HA) as a bottom layer and sodium alendronate containing chitosan as top layer was developed. We hypothesized that the chitosan-gelatin top layer with sodium alendronate could inhibit the MMPs activity, whereas the chitosan-HA bottom layer with BZK GNPs (240±66nm) would enable the elimination of microbes. The porosity, swelling and degradation nature of the prepared Bi-layered bandage was studied. The bottom layer could degrade within 4days whereas the top layer remained upto 7days. The antimicrobial activity of the BZK NPs loaded bandage was determined using normal and clinical strains. Gelatin zymography shows that the proteolytic activity of MMP was inhibited by the bandage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A question driven socio-hydrological modeling process

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, M.; Portney, K.; Islam, S.

2016-01-01

Human and hydrological systems are coupled: human activity impacts the hydrological cycle and hydrological conditions can, but do not always, trigger changes in human systems. Traditional modeling approaches with no feedback between hydrological and human systems typically cannot offer insight into how different patterns of natural variability or human-induced changes may propagate through this coupled system. Modeling of coupled human-hydrological systems, also called socio-hydrological systems, recognizes the potential for humans to transform hydrological systems and for hydrological conditions to influence human behavior. However, this coupling introduces new challenges and existing literature does not offer clear guidance regarding model conceptualization. There are no universally accepted laws of human behavior as there are for the physical systems; furthermore, a shared understanding of important processes within the field is often used to develop hydrological models, but there is no such consensus on the relevant processes in socio-hydrological systems. Here we present a question driven process to address these challenges. Such an approach allows modeling structure, scope and detail to remain contingent on and adaptive to the question context. We demonstrate the utility of this process by revisiting a classic question in water resources engineering on reservoir operation rules: what is the impact of reservoir operation policy on the reliability of water supply for a growing city? Our example model couples hydrological and human systems by linking the rate of demand decreases to the past reliability to compare standard operating policy (SOP) with hedging policy (HP). The model shows that reservoir storage acts both as a buffer for variability and as a delay triggering oscillations around a sustainable level of demand. HP reduces the threshold for action thereby decreasing the delay and the oscillation effect. As a result, per capita demand decreases during

Assimilation of passive and active CCI soil moisture products into hydrological modelling: an intercomparison study in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Maggioni, V.; Massari, C.; Camici, S.; Brocca, L.; Marchesini, I.

2017-12-01

Soil moisture (SM) is a key variable in rainfall-runoff partitioning since it acts on the main hydrological processes taking part within a catchment. Modeling SM is often a difficult task due to its large variability at different temporal and spatial scales. Ground soil moisture measurements are a valuable tool for improving runoff prediction but are often limited and suffer from spatial representativeness issues. Remotely sensed observations offer a new source of data able to cope the latter issues thus opening new possibilities for improving flood simulations worldwide. Today, several different SM products are available at increased accuracy with respect to the past. Some interesting products are those derived from the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) which offer the most complete and most consistent global SM data record based on active and passive microwave sensors.Thanks to the combination of multiple sensors within an active, a passive and an active+passive products, the CCI SM is expected to provide a significant benefit for the improvement of rainfall-runoff simulations through data assimilation. However, previous studies have shown that the success of the assimilation is not only related to the accuracy of the observations but also to the specific climate and the catchment physical and hydrological characteristics as well as to many necessary choices related to the assimilation technique. These choices along with the type of SM observations (i.e. passive or active) might play an important role for the success or the failure of the assimilation exercise which is not still clear. In this study, based on a large dataset of catchments covering large part of the Europe, we assimilated satellite SM observations from the passive and the active CCI SM products into Modello Idrologico Semiditribuito in Continuo (MISDc, Brocca et al. 2011). Rainfall and temperature data were collected from the European Climate Assessment & Dataset (E-OBS) while discharge data were

Hydrological Scenario Using Tools and Applications Available in enviroGRIDS Portal

Science.gov (United States)

Bacu, V.; Mihon, D.; Stefanut, T.; Rodila, D.; Cau, P.; Manca, S.; Soru, C.; Gorgan, D.

2012-04-01

Nowadays the decision makers but also citizens are concerning with the sustainability and vulnerability of land management practices on various aspects and in particular on water quality and quantity in complex watersheds. The Black Sea Catchment is an important watershed in the Central and East Europe. In the FP7 project enviroGRIDS [1] was developed a Web Portal that incorporates different tools and applications focused on geospatial data management, hydrologic model calibration, execution and visualization and training activities. This presentation highlights, from the end-user point of view, the scenario related with hydrological models using the tools and applications available in the enviroGRIDS Web Portal [2]. The development of SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) hydrological models is a well known procedure for the hydrological specialists [3]. Starting from the primary data (information related to weather, soil properties, topography, vegetation, and land management practices of the particular watershed) that are used to develop SWAT hydrological models, to specific reports, about the water quality in the studied watershed, the hydrological specialist will use different applications available in the enviroGRIDS portal. The tools and applications available through the enviroGRIDS portal are not dealing with the building up of the SWAT hydrological models. They are mainly focused on: calibration procedure (gSWAT [4]) - uses the GRID computational infrastructure to speed-up the calibration process; development of specific scenarios (BASHYT [5]) - starts from an already calibrated SWAT hydrological model and defines new scenarios; execution of scenarios (gSWATSim [6]) - executes the scenarios exported from BASHYT; visualization (BASHYT) - displays charts, tables and maps. Each application is built-up as a stack of functional layers. We combine different layers of applications by vertical interoperability in order to build the desired complex functionality. On

Specification of a test problem for HYDROCOIN [Hydrologic Code Intercomparison] Level 3 Case 2: Sensitivity analysis for deep disposal in partially saturated, fractured tuff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prindle, R.W.

1987-08-01

The international Hydrologic Code Intercomparison Project (HYDROCOIN) was formed to evaluate hydrogeologic models and computer codes and their use in performance assessment for high-level radioactive waste repositories. Three principal activities in the HYDROCOIN Project are Level 1, verification and benchmarking of hydrologic codes; Level 2, validation of hydrologic models; and Level 3, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of the models and codes. This report presents a test case defined for the HYDROCOIN Level 3 activity to explore the feasibility of applying various sensitivity-analysis methodologies to a highly nonlinear model of isothermal, partially saturated flow through fractured tuff, and to develop modeling approaches to implement the methodologies for sensitivity analysis. These analyses involve an idealized representation of a repository sited above the water table in a layered sequence of welded and nonwelded, fractured, volcanic tuffs. The analyses suggested here include one-dimensional, steady flow; one-dimensional, nonsteady flow; and two-dimensional, steady flow. Performance measures to be used to evaluate model sensitivities are also defined; the measures are related to regulatory criteria for containment of high-level radioactive waste. 14 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs

Isotope-hydrological models and calculational methods for investigation of groundwater flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marton, L.

1982-01-01

Recharge of groundwater through a semi-confining bed is a typical hydrogeological phenomenon in quaternary deposits which are elevated to a lesser or greater degree above the surroundings. A simple hydrological model has been introduced in which the aquifer is recharged only by precipitation through a semi-permeable layer. For applying the model, it is necessary to know the age of the water or the radioisotope concentrations in some sections of the ground-water flow system. On the basis of the age, the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and of the semiconfining bed and the steady rate of infiltration can be calculated. Other hydraulic parameters can be determined with the help of a mathemathical model worked out by Freeze and Witherspoon. The hydrological and mathemathical models are inversely used and are complementary. The reliability and applicability of the hydrological model has been proved in practice and good results were gained in hydrogeological research carried out in Hungary. (author)

Hydrologic Derivatives for Modeling and Analysis—A new global high-resolution database

Science.gov (United States)

Verdin, Kristine L.

2017-07-17

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a new global high-resolution hydrologic derivative database. Loosely modeled on the HYDRO1k database, this new database, entitled Hydrologic Derivatives for Modeling and Analysis, provides comprehensive and consistent global coverage of topographically derived raster layers (digital elevation model data, flow direction, flow accumulation, slope, and compound topographic index) and vector layers (streams and catchment boundaries). The coverage of the data is global, and the underlying digital elevation model is a hybrid of three datasets: HydroSHEDS (Hydrological data and maps based on SHuttle Elevation Derivatives at multiple Scales), GMTED2010 (Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010), and the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission). For most of the globe south of 60°N., the raster resolution of the data is 3 arc-seconds, corresponding to the resolution of the SRTM. For the areas north of 60°N., the resolution is 7.5 arc-seconds (the highest resolution of the GMTED2010 dataset) except for Greenland, where the resolution is 30 arc-seconds. The streams and catchments are attributed with Pfafstetter codes, based on a hierarchical numbering system, that carry important topological information. This database is appropriate for use in continental-scale modeling efforts. The work described in this report was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center.

Teaching geographical hydrology in a non-stationary world

Science.gov (United States)

Hendriks, Martin R.; Karssenberg, Derek

2010-05-01

cooperate. Besides fieldwork, a student should also learn to make use of the many available data sets, such as google earth, or as provided by remote sensing, or automatic data loggers. In our opinion the following sequence of activities should be applied for a student to attain a desirable working knowledge level. As mentioned earlier, a student first of all needs to have sufficient classical hydrological knowledge. After this a student should be educated in using simple models, in which field knowledge is incorporated. After this, a student should learn how to build models for solving typical hydrological problems. Modelling is especially worthwhile when the model is applied to a known area, as this certifies integration of fieldwork and modelling activities. To learn how to model, tailored courses with software that provides a set of easily learned functions to match the student's conceptual thought processes are needed. It is not easy to bring theoretical, field, and modelling knowledge together, and a pitfall may be the lack of knowledge of one or more of the above. Also, a student must learn to be able to deal with uncertainties in data and models, and must be trained to deal with unpredictability. Therefore, in our opinion a modern student should strive to become an integrating specialist in all of the above mentioned fields if we are to take geographical hydrology to a higher level and if we want to come to grips with it in a non-stationary world. A student must learn to think and act in an integrative way, and for this combining classical hydrology, field hydrology and modelling at a high education level in our hydrology curricula, in our opinion, is the way to proceed.

Influence of the active layer pattern on the electrical characteristics of organic inverters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jae-Hyun; Kwon, Jin-Hyuk; Bae, Jin-Hyuk [Kyungpook National University, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Park, Jae-Hoon; Baang, Sung-Keun [Hallym University, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-12-15

We describe the importance of a patterned active layer for the fine driving of organic inverters. In the case of a non-patterned inverter, the capacitance as a function of the applied bias in an organic capacitor structure exhibits a slow saturation nature due to the slow movement of charge carriers. Hence, during the operation of organic inverters with non-patterned active layers, the voltage gains inevitably exhibit lower values whereas higher gains are achieved in the case of sharply-patterned pentacene layers. These results suggest that the patterning of the active layer can be a decisive factor for realizing high-performance electronic circuits based on organic semiconductors.

Ecological and hydrological monitoring of the natural environment with help of cosmic rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oskomov, V.V.

2001-01-01

It is noted that with help cosmic ray it is possible measuring the contaminating element concentration in the atmosphere, near surface water layer, and soil by characteristic radiation of elements generated by cosmic rays. With aim of determination of hydrological and glaciology characteristics of glaciers and snow cover of mountain districts the method for moisture store determination in the substance with help of natural ionizing radiation were used. With help of automate remote system including a set of detectors for muons, neutrons and gamma quanta, and others ones placed near researched medium the ecological and hydrological monitoring is worked out

Green roof impact on the hydrological cycle components

Science.gov (United States)

Lamera, Carlotta; Rulli, Maria Cristina; Becciu, Gianfranco; Rosso, Renzo

2013-04-01

building by installing green roofs and, thus, providing a conversion of rooftops in pervious areas; the objective is modeling hydrological fluxes (interception, evapotranspiration, soil water fluxes in the surface and hypodermic components) in relation to climate forcing, basic technology components and geometric characteristics of green roof systems (thickness of the stratigraphy, soil layers and materials, vegetation typology and density). The sensitivity analysis of hydrological processes at different hydrological, climatic and geometric parameters has allowed to draw some general guidelines useful in the design and construction of this type of drainage systems.

Active layer thermal monitoring at Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Maritime Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, R. F. M.; Schaefer, C. E. G. R.; Simas, F. N. B.; Francelino M., R.; Fernandes-Filho, E. I.; Lyra, G. B.; Bockheim, J. G.

2014-07-01

International attention to the climate change phenomena has grown in the last decade; the active layer and permafrost are of great importance in understanding processes and future trends due to their role in energy flux regulation. The objective of the this paper is to present active layer temperature data for one CALM-S site located at Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Maritime Antarctica over an fifth seven month period (2008-2012). The monitoring site was installed during the summer of 2008 and consists of thermistors (accuracy of ± 0.2 °C), arranged vertically with probes at different depths, recording data at hourly intervals in a~high capacity data logger. A series of statistical analysis were performed to describe the soil temperature time series, including a linear fit in order to identify global trend and a series of autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were tested in order to define the best fit for the data. The controls of weather on the thermal regime of the active layer have been identified, providing insights about the influence of climate chance over the permafrost. The active layer thermal regime in the studied period was typical of periglacial environment, with extreme variation at the surface during summer resulting in frequent freeze and thaw cycles. The active layer thickness (ALT) over the studied period showed variability related to different annual weather conditions, reaching a maximum of 117.5 cm in 2009. The ARIMA model was considered appropriate to treat the dataset, enabling more conclusive analysis and predictions when longer data sets are available. Despite the variability when comparing temperature readings and active layer thickness over the studied period, no warming trend was detected.

Development of a low activation concrete shielding wall by multi-layered structure for a fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Satoshi; Maegawa, Toshio; Yoshimatsu, Kenji; Sato, Koichi; Nonaka, Akira; Takakura, Kosuke; Ochiai, Kentaro; Konno, Chikara

2011-01-01

A multi-layered concrete structure has been developed to reduce induced activity in the shielding for neutron generating facilities such as a fusion reactor. The multi-layered concrete structure is composed of: (1) an inner low activation concrete, (2) a boron-doped low activation concrete as the second layer, and (3) ordinary concrete as the outer layer of the neutron shield. With the multi-layered concrete structure the volume of boron is drastically decreased compared to a monolithic boron-doped concrete. A 14 MeV neutron shielding experiment with multi-layered concrete structure mockups was performed at FNS and several reaction rates and induced activity in the mockups were measured. This demonstrated that the multi-layered concrete effectively reduced low energy neutrons and induced activity.

Change in frozen soils and its effect on regional hydrology, upper Heihe basin, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Bing; Yang, Dawen; Qin, Yue; Wang, Yuhan; Li, Hongyi; Zhang, Yanlin; Zhang, Tingjun

2018-02-01

Frozen ground has an important role in regional hydrological cycles and ecosystems, particularly on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), which is characterized by high elevations and a dry climate. This study modified a distributed, physically based hydrological model and applied it to simulate long-term (1971-2013) changes in frozen ground its the effects on hydrology in the upper Heihe basin, northeastern QTP. The model was validated against data obtained from multiple ground-based observations. Based on model simulations, we analyzed spatio-temporal changes in frozen soils and their effects on hydrology. Our results show that the area with permafrost shrank by 8.8 % (approximately 500 km2), predominantly in areas with elevations between 3500 and 3900 m. The maximum depth of seasonally frozen ground decreased at a rate of approximately 0.032 m decade-1, and the active layer thickness over the permafrost increased by approximately 0.043 m decade-1. Runoff increased significantly during the cold season (November-March) due to an increase in liquid soil moisture caused by rising soil temperatures. Areas in which permafrost changed into seasonally frozen ground at high elevations showed especially large increases in runoff. Annual runoff increased due to increased precipitation, the base flow increased due to changes in frozen soils, and the actual evapotranspiration increased significantly due to increased precipitation and soil warming. The groundwater storage showed an increasing trend, indicating that a reduction in permafrost extent enhanced the groundwater recharge.

The GRASP project - a multidisciplinary study of hydrology and biogeochemistry in a periglacial catchment area

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Emma; Lindborg, Tobias

2017-04-01

The Arctic region is sensitive to global warming, and permafrost thaw and release of old carbon are examples of processes that may have a positive feedback effect to the global climate system. Quantification and assumptions on future change are often based on model predictions. Such models require cross-disciplinary data of high quality that often is lacking. Biogeochemical processes in the landscape are highly influenced by the hydrology, which in turn is intimately related to permafrost processes. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach is needed when collecting data and setting up field experiments aiming at increase the understanding of these processes. Here we summarize and present data collected in the GRASP, Greenland Analogue Surface Project. GRASP is a catchment-scale field study of the periglacial area in the Kangerlussuaq region, West Greenland, focusing on hydrological and biogeochemical processes in the landscape. The site investigations were initiated in 2010 and have since then resulted in three separate data sets published in ESSD (Earth system and Science Data) each one focusing on i) meteorological data and hydrology, ii) biogeochemistry and iii) geometries of sediments and the active layer. The three data-sets, which are freely available via the PANGAEA data base, enable conceptual and coupled numerical modeling of hydrological and biogeochemical processes. An important strength with the GRASP data is that all data is collected within the same, relatively small, catchment area. This implies that measurements are more easily linked to the right source area or process. Despite the small catchment area it includes the major units of the periglacial hydrological system; a lake, a talik, a supra- and subpermafrost aquifer and, consequently, biogeochemical processes in each of these units may be studied. The new data from GRASP is both used with the aim to increase the knowledge of present day periglacial hydrology and biogeochemistry but also in order to

Sporadi-E layer and metereological activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Scotto

1995-06-01

Full Text Available Obscrvations of Es laycr performed at the ionospheric observatory of Rome from 1982 to 1989 have been used to investigate a possible correlation with cold front passages. Such a correlation may exist because of the AGW excited by tropospheric activity at cold front passages. A relationship with thunderclouds electrostatic field is also marginally considered. The treatment of data shows that the distributions of the frequencies of renection at cold front passages present only small differences compared to normal days, both for the f and for the I type; therefore, a correlation between Es layer anù meteorological activity cannot be affirmed.

Characterizing hydrological activities over Yangtze River basin using the new HUST-Grace2016 model, MODIS, and NCEP/NCAR data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, H.; Luo, Z.; Tangdamrongsub, N.; He, L.

2017-12-01

Accurate TWS estimation is important to evaluate the situation of the water resource over the Yangtze River basin. This study exploits the TWS observation from the new gravity model, HUST-Grace06, which is developed by a new low-frequency noise processing strategy. A novel GRACE post-processing approach is proposed to enhance the quality of the TWS estimate, and the improved TWS is used to characterize the hydrological activities over the Yangtze River basin. The approach includes the effective noise reduction and the leakage error mitigation based on forward modeling. The HUST-Grace06 derived TWS presents good agreement with the CSR mascon solution as well as the PCR-GLOBWB hydrological model. Particularly, our solution provides remarkable performance in identifying the extreme climate events e.g., flood and drought over the Yangtze River basin. In addition, for the first time, the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data is incorporated with GRACE in the exploration of the climate induced hydrological activities. The comparison between GRACE and the MODIS-derived NDVI data is also conducted to investigate their connection regarding temporal and spatial distribution. The analysis suggests that the terrestrial reflectance data can be used to represent the TWS information. Importantly, such information can be used to fill the missing data in case of the early termination of GRACE or during the prelaunch of the GRACE Follow-On mission.

Ionospheric F2-Layer Semi-Annual Variation in Middle Latitude by Solar Activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoon-Kyung Park

2010-12-01

Full Text Available We examine the ionospheric F2-layer electron density variation by solar activity in middle latitude by using foF2 observed at the Kokubunji ionosonde station in Japan for the period from 1997 to 2008. The semi-annual variation of foF2 shows obviously in high solar activity (2000-2002 than low solar activity (2006-2008. It seems that variation of geomagnetic activity by solar activity influences on the semi-annual variation of the ionospheric F2-layer electron density. According to the Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis of foF2 and Ap index, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF Bs (IMF Bz <0 component, solar wind speed, solar wind number density and flow pressure which influence the geomagnetic activity, we examine how the geomagnetic activity affects the ionospheric F2-layer electron density variation. We find that the semi-annual variation of daily foF2, Ap index and IMF Bs appear clearly during the high solar activity. It suggests that the semi-annual variation of geomagnetic activity, caused by Russell-McPherron effect, contributes greatly to the ionospheric F2-layer semi-annual electron density variation, except dynamical effects in the thermosphere.

Classification of permafrost active layer depth from remotely sensed and topographic evidence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peddle, D.R.; Franklin, S.E.

1993-01-01

The remote detection of permafrost (perennially frozen ground) has important implications to environmental resource development, engineering studies, natural hazard prediction, and climate change research. In this study, the authors present results from two experiments into the classification of permafrost active layer depth within the zone of discontinuous permafrost in northern Canada. A new software system based on evidential reasoning was implemented to permit the integrated classification of multisource data consisting of landcover, terrain aspect, and equivalent latitude, each of which possessed different formats, data types, or statistical properties that could not be handled by conventional classification algorithms available to this study. In the first experiment, four active layer depth classes were classified using ground based measurements of the three variables with an accuracy of 83% compared to in situ soil probe determination of permafrost active layer depth at over 500 field sites. This confirmed the environmental significance of the variables selected, and provided a baseline result to which a remote sensing classification could be compared. In the second experiment, evidence for each input variable was obtained from image processing of digital SPOT imagery and a photogrammetric digital elevation model, and used to classify active layer depth with an accuracy of 79%. These results suggest the classification of evidence from remotely sensed measures of spectral response and topography may provide suitable indicators of permafrost active layer depth

Modeling Feedbacks Between Individual Human Decisions and Hydrology Using Interconnected Physical and Social Models

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, J.; Lammers, R. B.; Proussevitch, A. A.; Ozik, J.; Altaweel, M.; Collier, N. T.; Alessa, L.; Kliskey, A. D.

2014-12-01

The global hydrological cycle intersects with human decision making at multiple scales, from dams and irrigation works to the taps in individuals' homes. Residential water consumers are commonly encouraged to conserve; these messages are heard against a background of individual values and conceptions about water quality, uses, and availability. The degree to which these values impact the larger-hydrological dynamics, the way that changes in those values have impacts on the hydrological cycle through time, and the feedbacks by which water availability and quality in turn shape those values, are not well explored. To investigate this domain we employ a global-scale water balance model (WBM) coupled with a social-science-grounded agent-based model (ABM). The integration of a hydrological model with an agent-based model allows us to explore driving factors in the dynamics in coupled human-natural systems. From the perspective of the physical hydrologist, the ABM offers a richer means of incorporating the human decisions that drive the hydrological system; from the view of the social scientist, a physically-based hydrological model allows the decisions of the agents to play out against constraints faithful to the real world. We apply the interconnected models to a study of Tucson, Arizona, USA, and its role in the larger Colorado River system. Our core concept is Technology-Induced Environmental Distancing (TIED), which posits that layers of technology can insulate consumers from direct knowledge of a resource. In Tucson, multiple infrastructure and institutional layers have arguably increased the conceptual distance between individuals and their water supply, offering a test case of the TIED framework. Our coupled simulation allows us to show how the larger system transforms a resource with high temporal and spatial variability into a consumer constant, and the effects of this transformation on the regional system. We use this to explore how pricing, messaging, and

Thin layer activation technique applied to the measurement of wear

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Humphries, P [UKAEA Research Group, Harwell. Atomic Energy Research Establishment

1978-01-01

A thin layer of radioactive atoms is produced in the material by bombardment with charged particles, and as the material is worn away the total activity level is monitored. If the activity to depth relationship is then known the amount of material worn away can be determined. By a selective choice of the charged particle species and energy the depth of the active layer, its natural decay rate, and the energy of the emitted radiation can be pre-determined. The Harwell Tandem Electrostatic Generator has been found very suitable for the work. The total activity level can be made as little or as large as required, but a level around 5 to 10 microcuries is usually found to be adequate, and the active layer usually has a depth of 50 to 300 ..mu..m. The activated area can be from < 1 mm/sup 2/ to 4 cm/sup 2/. Particular reference is made to the production of /sup 56/Co in Fe. Experimental arrangements for the irradiation of components are described. Some practical applications undertaken by Harwell for industry are briefly mentioned, including wear of diesel engine valve seatings and fuel injection equipment, engine testing of lubricants, surface loss of rails and railway wheels, wear of gears, wear of graphite bearing materials, and corrosion and erosion of materials. 4 references.

Historical trends and the long-term changes of the hydrological cycle components in a Mediterranean river basin.

Science.gov (United States)

Mentzafou, A; Wagner, S; Dimitriou, E

2018-04-29

Identifying the historical hydrometeorological trends in a river basin is necessary for understanding the dominant interactions between climate, human activities and local hydromorphological conditions. Estimating the hydrological reference conditions in a river is also crucial for estimating accurately the impacts from human water related activities and design appropriate water management schemes. In this effort, the output of a regional past climate model was used, covering the period from 1660 to 1990, in combination with a dynamic, spatially distributed, hydrologic model to estimate the past and recent trends in the main hydrologic parameters such as overland flow, water storages and evapotranspiration, in a Mediterranean river basin. The simulated past hydrologic conditions (1660-1960) were compared with the current hydrologic regime (1960-1990), to assess the magnitude of human and natural impacts on the identified hydrologic trends. The hydrological components of the recent period of 2008-2016 were also examined in relation to the impact of human activities. The estimated long-term trends of the hydrologic parameters were partially assigned to varying atmospheric forcing due to volcanic activity combined with spontaneous meteorological fluctuations. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Hydrologic studies within the Columbia Plateau, Washington: an integration of current knowledge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gephart, R.E.; Arnett, R.C.; Baca, R.G.; Leonhart, L.S.; Spane, F.A. Jr.

1979-10-01

Hydrologic studies are one of the principal research activities within the Basalt Waste Isolation Project. The objective of these studies is to provide a clear evaluation of the hydrologic systems present within the Columbia River basalt significant to the possible siting of a waste repository. This is accomplished through an intense data gathering program in addition to conducting groundwater flow and solute transport modeling under both anticipated and credible hypothetical hydrologic scenarios. The hydrology effort is centered within the Pasco Basin located in south-central Washington State, particularly that portion of the basin within the Hanford Site. Regional hydrology studies for other portions of the Columbia Plateau are being carried out to assist in understanding the surface-water and groundwater flow systems existing within the Pasco Basin. The major questions being addressed in all of the above studies focus upon important repository considerations related to groundwater flow paths, groundwater velocities, and solute concentrations and travel times. This report summarizes the data obtained and interpretations made to date regarding the hydrology of the Pasco Basin. The text of this report is divided into four chapters. Chapter I describes the purpose and scope of the hydrology program. Chapter II discusses the regional studies. Chapter III discusses the Pasco Basin hydrology, and Chapter IV gives a status report of the numerical modeling activities

The Influence of Tidal Activities on Hydrologic Variables of Paka River, Terengganu, Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd EkhwanToriman; Mohd Ekhwan Toriman; Muhammad Barzani Gasim; Haniff Muhamad

2015-01-01

A hydrological study was conducted to determine their characteristics at Paka River, Terengganu. Seven sampling stations were identified in this study. Sampling was started from the estuary of Paka River, and ended about 14 km away from the estuary as each station was 2 km apart from each other. Sampling was carried out at two different water tides (low and high water tides) and two durational variations which represented by the wet and dry periods. Hydrological variables such as river velocity, river width and river depth were measured by using specific equipment. River width was measured by using a range finder (model Bushnell 20-0001), river depth was measured by using a depth meter (model Speedtech SM-5) and river velocity was measured by using a flow meter/current flow meter (model FP101). Station 1 that located at the downstream identified by highest readings for hydrological variables both water tides during the first and second samplings compared to stations 7 which located at the upstream. Higher readings of hydrological variables were also shown during dry season since low freshwater flow due to less rainfall intensity in the upstream area. (author)

Evaluation of polyethylenimine/carrageenan multi-layer for antibacterial activity of pathogenic bacteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briones, Annabelle V.; Bigol, Urcila G.; Sato, Toshinori

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the antibacterial activity of multi-layer of polyethylenimine (PEI) and carrageenan (κ,ι, λ) for potential use as coating on biomaterial surface. The multi-layer of PEI/carrageenan was formed using the layer-by-layer assembly absorption technique and was monitored by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and bio molecular interaction analysis. All samples were prepared in phosphate buffer solution and applied to mica disk alternately. The micrographs showed the formation of bi-layer of polyethylenimine and carrageenan (κ, ι, λ) as observed in the change of height of the layer and surface morphology. The bimolecular binding of carrageenan with polyethylenimine was also investigated using a biosensor. The sensorgram showed that PEI interacted molecularly with carrageenan. Results were: 1,916.08 pg/nm 2 for kappa type; 1,844.1 pg/nm 2 for iota type and 6,074.24 pg/nm 2 for lambda type. The multi-layer showed antibacterial activity against Enterobacter cloaceae, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcal strains (Enterococcus faecalis (EF) 29212 and 29505). (author)

Fabrication Processes to Generate Concentration Gradients in Polymer Solar Cell Active Layers

Science.gov (United States)

Inaba, Shusei; Vohra, Varun

2017-01-01

Polymer solar cells (PSCs) are considered as one of the most promising low-cost alternatives for renewable energy production with devices now reaching power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) above the milestone value of 10%. These enhanced performances were achieved by developing new electron-donor (ED) and electron-acceptor (EA) materials as well as finding the adequate morphologies in either bulk heterojunction or sequentially deposited active layers. In particular, producing adequate vertical concentration gradients with higher concentrations of ED and EA close to the anode and cathode, respectively, results in an improved charge collection and consequently higher photovoltaic parameters such as the fill factor. In this review, we relate processes to generate active layers with ED–EA vertical concentration gradients. After summarizing the formation of such concentration gradients in single layer active layers through processes such as annealing or additives, we will verify that sequential deposition of multilayered active layers can be an efficient approach to remarkably increase the fill factor and PCE of PSCs. In fact, applying this challenging approach to fabricate inverted architecture PSCs has the potential to generate low-cost, high efficiency and stable devices, which may revolutionize worldwide energy demand and/or help develop next generation devices such as semi-transparent photovoltaic windows. PMID:28772878

Air-Coupled Piezoelectric Transducers with Active Polypropylene Foam Matching Layers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomás E. Gómez Alvarez-Arenas

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This work presents the design, construction and characterization of air-coupled piezoelectric transducers using 1–3 connectivity piezocomposite disks with a stack of matching layers being the outer one an active quarter wavelength layer made of polypropylene foam ferroelectret film. This kind of material has shown a stable piezoelectric response together with a very low acoustic impedance (<0.1 MRayl. These features make them a suitable candidate for the dual use or function proposed here: impedance matching layer and active material for air-coupled transduction. The transducer centre frequency is determined by the l/4 resonance of the polypropylene foam ferroelectret film (0.35 MHz, then, the rest of the transducer components (piezocomposite disk and passive intermediate matching layers are all tuned to this frequency. The transducer has been tested in several working modes including pulse-echo and pitch-catch as well as wide and narrow band excitation. The performance of the proposed novel transducer is compared with that of a conventional air-coupled transducers operating in a similar frequency range.

Development of Smart Active Layer Sensor (II): Manufacturing and Application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Young Sup; Lee, Sang Il; Kwon, Jae Hwa; Yoon, Dong Jin

2004-01-01

This paper is the second part of the study on the development of a smart active layer (SAL) sensor, which consists of two parts. As mentioned in the first paper, structural health monitoring (SHM) is a new technology that is being increasingly applied at the industrial field as a potential approach to improve cost and convenience of structural inspection. Recently, the development of smart sensor is very active for real application. This study has focused on preparation and application study of SAL sensor which is described with regard to the theory and concept of the SAL sensor in the first paper. In order to detect elastic wave, smart piezoelectric sensor, SAL, is fabricated by using a piezoelectric element, shielding layer and protection layer. This protection layer plays an important role in a patched network of distributed piezoelectric sensor and shielding treatment. Four types of SAL sensor are designed/prepared/tested, and these details will be discussed in the paper In this study, SAL sensor ran be feasibly applied to perform structural health monitoring and to detect damage sources which result in elastic waves

Numerical evaluation of monofil and subtle-layered evapotranspiration (ET) landfill caps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, G.V.; Henley, M.; Valceschini, R.

1998-01-01

The US Department of Energy/Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) has identified the need to design a low-level waste (LLW) closure cap for the arid conditions at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). As a result of concerns for subsidence impacting the cover, DOE/NV redesigned the LLW cover from one containing a 'hard' infiltration barrier that would likely fail, to a 'soft' (ET) cover that is sufficiently deep to accommodate the hydrologic problems of subsidence. An ET cover is one that does not contain hydrologic barrier layers but relies on soil-water retention and sufficient thickness to store water until evapotranspiration (ET) can remove the moisture. Subtle layering within an ET cap using the native soil could be environmentally beneficial and cost effective

Active Layer Monitoring, Arctic and Subarctic Canada, Version 6

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This project involves measuring regional and site variability in maximum annual active layer development and vertical surface movement over permafrost, and...

Landfilling: Hydrology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjeldsen, Peter; Beaven, R.

2011-01-01

Landfill hydrology deals with the presence and movement of water through a landfill. The main objective in landfill hydrology is usually to predict leachate generation, but the presence and movement of water in a landfill also affect the degradation of the waste, the leaching of pollutants...... and the geotechnical stability of the fill. Understanding landfill hydrology is thus important for many aspects of landfill, in particular siting, design and operation. The objective of this chapter is to give a basic understanding of the hydrology of landfills, and to present ways to estimate leachate quantities...... under specific circumstances. Initially a general water balance equation is defined for a typical landfill, and the different parts of the water balance are discussed. A separate section discusses water flow and the hydrogeology of landfilled wastes and considers the impact of water short...

Performance improvement of organic thin film transistors by using active layer with sandwich structure

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Yao; Zhou, Jianlin; Kuang, Peng; Lin, Hui; Gan, Ping; Hu, Shengdong; Lin, Zhi

2017-08-01

We report organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with pentacene/fluorinated copper phthalo-cyanine (F16CuPc)/pentacene (PFP) sandwich configuration as active layers. The sandwich devices not only show hole mobility enhancement but also present a well control about threshold voltage and off-state current. By investigating various characteristics, including current-voltage hysteresis, organic film morphology, capacitance-voltage curve and resistance variation of active layers carefully, it has been found the performance improvement is mainly attributed to the low carrier traps and the higher conductivity of the sandwich active layer due to the additional induced carriers in F16CuPc/pentacene. Therefore, using proper multiple active layer is an effective way to gain high performance OTFTs.

An improved method for analysis of In-EDTA, I- and Br- used as active tracers in hydrological studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanescu, S.P.; Spiridon, S.

1992-01-01

Neutron activation analysis combined with chemical preconcentration of the elements in water samples can give a high sensitivity in the determination of concentrations for In-EDTA, I - and Br - used as active tracers in hydrological studies. The authors have developed an improved method of analysis which is sensitive, selective and applicable to a wide range of underground and surface water samples including those having a high concentration of manganese ions. (author) 6 refs.; 2 figs.; 1 tab

The first steps of isotope hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moser, H.

1995-01-01

The author narrated on his personal experience of the past forty years of the development of isotope hydrology as an independent scientific branch. He started with the basic research work of for example Dansgaard and Libby and went on to the recent world-wide recording and interpreting isotopic data network. The IAEA organisation has accompanied the scientific development in an exemplary manner and, thus brought forward the isotope hydrological research activities to the high standard reached presently. This is documented by the great number of publications promoted by the IAEA throughout this time. 4 figs, 24 refs

Wetland Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

This chapter discusses the state of the science in wetland hydrology by touching upon the major hydraulic and hydrologic processes in these complex ecosystems, their measurement/estimation techniques, and modeling methods. It starts with the definition of wetlands, their benefit...

Hydrological balance and water transport processes of partially sealed soils

Science.gov (United States)

Timm, Anne; Wessolek, Gerd

2017-04-01

With increased urbanisation, soil sealing and its drastic effects on hydrological processes have received a lot of attention. Based on safety concerns, there has been a clear focus on urban drainage and prevention of urban floods caused by storm water events. For this reason, any kind of sealing is often seen as impermeable runoff generator that prevents infiltration and evaporation. While many hydrological models, especially storm water models, have been developed, there are only a handful of empirical studies actually measuring the hydrological balance of (partially) sealed surfaces. These challenge the general assumption of negligible infiltration and evaporation and show that these processes take place even for severe sealing such as asphalt. Depending on the material, infiltration from partially sealed surfaces can be equal to that of vegetated ones. Therefore, more detailed knowledge is needed to improve our understanding and models. In Berlin, two partially sealed weighable lysimeters were equipped with multiple temperature and soil moisture sensors in order to study their hydrological balance, as well as water and heat transport processes within the soil profile. This combination of methods affirms previous observations and offers new insights into altered hydrological processes of partially sealed surfaces at a small temporal scale. It could be verified that not all precipitation is transformed into runoff. Even for a relatively high sealing degree of concrete slabs with narrow seams, evaporation and infiltration may exceed runoff. Due to the lack of plant roots, the hydrological balance is mostly governed by precipitation events and evaporation generally occurs directly after rainfall. However, both surfaces allow for upward water transport from the upper underlying soil layers, sometimes resulting in relatively low evaporation rates on days without precipitation. The individual response of the surfaces differs considerably, which illustrates how

Applications of AMS to hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bentley, H.W.; Davis, S.N.

1981-01-01

The evaluation and management of water as a resource requires an understanding of the chemical, and geological interactions that water effects or undergoes in the hydrologic cycle. Delivery of water to the land surface by precipitation, subsequent streamflow, circulation in surface waters and evapotranspiration, infiltration, recharge, movement of waters in the subsurface, and discharge are of interest. Also important are the quality of water, water's role in mineral dissolution, transport, and deposition, and the various water-related geotechnical problems of subsidence, tectonics, slope instability, and earth structures. Mathematical modeling techniques are available and are being improved which describe these phenomena and predict future system behavior. Typically, however, models suffer from substantial uncertainties due to insufficient data. Refinement, calibration,and verification of hydrologic models require expansion of the data base. Examination of chemical constituents of water which act as tracers can often supply the needed information. Unfortunately, few tracers are available which are both mobile and chemically stable. Several long-lived radioisotopic hydrologic tracers exist, however, which have received little attention in hydrologic studies to date because of low concentration, low specific activity, or sample size limitations. Recent development of ultra-sensitive accelerator mass spectrometry techniques (AMS) by Purser and others (1977), Nelson and others (1977), Bennett and others (1978), Muller and others (1978), Raisbeck and others (1978) is now expected to provide access to many of these tracers

Amino Acid Composition, Urease Activity and Trypsin Inhibitor Activity after Toasting of Soybean in Thick and Thin Layer

OpenAIRE

Krička, Tajana; Jurišić, Vanja; Voća, Neven; Ćurić, Duška; Brlek Savić, Tea; Matin, Ana

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine amino acid content, urease activity and trypsin inhibitor activity in soybean grain for polygastric animals’ feed aft er toasting with the aim to introduce thick layer in toasting technology. Hence, soybean was toasted both in thick and thin layer at 130 oC during 10 minutes. In order to properly monitor the technological process of soybean thermal processing, it was necessary to study crude protein content, urease activity, trypsin inhibitor activ...

Modelling and Vibration Control of Beams with Partially Debonded Active Constrained Layer Damping Patch

Science.gov (United States)

SUN, D.; TONG, L.

2002-05-01

A detailed model for the beams with partially debonded active constraining damping (ACLD) treatment is presented. In this model, the transverse displacement of the constraining layer is considered to be non-identical to that of the host structure. In the perfect bonding region, the viscoelastic core is modelled to carry both peel and shear stresses, while in the debonding area, it is assumed that no peel and shear stresses be transferred between the host beam and the constraining layer. The adhesive layer between the piezoelectric sensor and the host beam is also considered in this model. In active control, the positive position feedback control is employed to control the first mode of the beam. Based on this model, the incompatibility of the transverse displacements of the active constraining layer and the host beam is investigated. The passive and active damping behaviors of the ACLD patch with different thicknesses, locations and lengths are examined. Moreover, the effects of debonding of the damping layer on both passive and active control are examined via a simulation example. The results show that the incompatibility of the transverse displacements is remarkable in the regions near the ends of the ACLD patch especially for the high order vibration modes. It is found that a thinner damping layer may lead to larger shear strain and consequently results in a larger passive and active damping. In addition to the thickness of the damping layer, its length and location are also key factors to the hybrid control. The numerical results unveil that edge debonding can lead to a reduction of both passive and active damping, and the hybrid damping may be more sensitive to the debonding of the damping layer than the passive damping.

The Hydrologic Implications Of Unique Urban Soil Horizon Sequencing On The Functions Of Passive Green Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Shuster, W.; Schifman, L. A.; Herrmann, D.

2017-12-01

Green infrastructure represents a broad set of site- to landscape-scale practices that can be flexibly implemented to increase sewershed retention capacity, and can thereby improve on the management of water quantity and quality. Although much green infrastructure presents as formal engineered designs, urbanized landscapes with highly-interspersed pervious surfaces (e.g., right-of-way, parks, lawns, vacant land) may offer ecosystem services as passive, infiltrative green infrastructure. Yet, infiltration and drainage processes are regulated by soil surface conditions, and then the layering of subsoil horizons, respectively. Drawing on a unique urban soil taxonomic and hydrologic dataset collected in 12 cities (each city representing a major soil order), we determined how urbanization processes altered the sequence of soil horizons (compared to pre-urbanized reference soil pedons) and modeled the hydrologic implications of these shifts in layering with an unsaturated zone code (HYDRUS2D). We found that the different layering sequences in urbanized soils render different types and extents of supporting (plant-available soil water), provisioning (productive vegetation), and regulating (runoff mitigation) ecosystem services.

Hydrologic Landscape Classification to Estimate Bristol Bay Watershed Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

The use of hydrologic landscapes has proven to be a useful tool for broad scale assessment and classification of landscapes across the United States. These classification systems help organize larger geographical areas into areas of similar hydrologic characteristics based on cl...

The Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction Experiment (HEPEX)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, A. W.; Thielen, J.; Pappenberger, F.; Schaake, J. C.; Hartman, R. K.

2012-12-01

The Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction Experiment was established in March, 2004, at a workshop hosted by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). With support from the US National Weather Service (NWS) and the European Commission (EC), the HEPEX goal was to bring the international hydrological and meteorological communities together to advance the understanding and adoption of hydrological ensemble forecasts for decision support in emergency management and water resources sectors. The strategy to meet this goal includes meetings that connect the user, forecast producer and research communities to exchange ideas, data and methods; the coordination of experiments to address specific challenges; and the formation of testbeds to facilitate shared experimentation. HEPEX has organized about a dozen international workshops, as well as sessions at scientific meetings (including AMS, AGU and EGU) and special issues of scientific journals where workshop results have been published. Today, the HEPEX mission is to demonstrate the added value of hydrological ensemble prediction systems (HEPS) for emergency management and water resources sectors to make decisions that have important consequences for economy, public health, safety, and the environment. HEPEX is now organised around six major themes that represent core elements of a hydrologic ensemble prediction enterprise: input and pre-processing, ensemble techniques, data assimilation, post-processing, verification, and communication and use in decision making. This poster presents an overview of recent and planned HEPEX activities, highlighting case studies that exemplify the focus and objectives of HEPEX.

Estimating Runoff From Roadcuts With a Distributed Hydrologic Model

Science.gov (United States)

Cuhaciyan, C.; Luce, C.; Voisin, N.; Lettenmaier, D.; Black, T.

2008-12-01

Roads can have a substantial effect on hydrologic patterns of forested watersheds; the most noteworthy being the resurfacing of shallow groundwater at roadcuts. The influence of roads on hydrology has compelled hydrologists to include water routing and storage routines in rainfall-runoff models, such as those in the Distributed Hydrologic Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM). We tested the ability of DHSVM to match observed runoff in roadcuts of a watershed in the Coast Range of Oregon. Eight roadcuts were instrumented using large tipping bucket gauges designed to capture only the water entering the roadside ditch from an 80-m long roadcut. The roadcuts were categorized by the topography of the upstream hillside as either swale, planar, or ridge. The simulation was run from December 2002 to December 2003 at a relatively fine spatial resolution (10-m). Average observed soil depths are 1.8-m across the watershed, below which there lies deep and highly weathered sandstone. DHSVM was designed for relatively impermeable bedrock and shallow soils; therefore it does not provide a mechanism for deep groundwater movement and storage. In the geologic setting of the study basin, however, water is routed through the sandstone allowing water to pass under roads through the parent material. For this reason a uniformly deep soil of 6.5-m with a decreased decay in conductivity with depth was used in the model to allow water to be routed beneath roadcuts that are up to 5.5-m in height. Up to three, typically shallow, soil layers can be modeled in DHSVM. We used the lowest of the three soil layers to mimic the hydraulically-well-connected sandstone exposed at deeper roadcuts. The model was calibrated against observed discharge at the outlet of the watershed. While model results closely matched the observed hydrograph at the watershed outlet, simulated runoff at an upstream gauge and the roadside ditches were varied and often higher than those observed in the field. The timing of the field

Advancements in Hydrology and Erosion Process Understanding and Post-Fire Hydrologic and Erosion Model Development for Semi-Arid Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, C. Jason; Pierson, Frederick B.; Al-Hamdan, Osama Z.; Robichaud, Peter R.; Nearing, Mark A.; Hernandez, Mariano; Weltz, Mark A.; Spaeth, Kenneth E.; Goodrich, David C.

2017-04-01

Fire activity continues to increase in semi-arid regions around the globe. Private and governmental land management entities are challenged with predicting and mitigating post-fire hydrologic and erosion responses on these landscapes. For more than a decade, a team of scientists with the US Department of Agriculture has collaborated on extensive post-fire hydrologic field research and the application of field research to development of post-fire hydrology and erosion predictive technologies. Experiments funded through this research investigated the impacts of fire on vegetation and soils and the effects of these fire-induced changes on infiltration, runoff generation, erodibility, and soil erosion processes. The distribution of study sites spans diverse topography across grassland, shrubland, and woodland landscapes throughout the western United States. Knowledge gleaned from the extensive field experiments was applied to develop and enhance physically-based models for hillslope- to watershed-scale runoff and erosion prediction. Our field research and subsequent data syntheses have identified key knowledge gaps and challenges regarding post-fire hydrology and erosion modeling. Our presentation details some consistent trends across a diverse domain and varying landscape conditions based on our extensive field campaigns. We demonstrate how field data have advanced our understanding of post-fire hydrology and erosion for semi-arid landscapes and highlight remaining key knowledge gaps. Lastly, we briefly show how our well-replicated experimental methodologies have contributed to advancements in hydrologic and erosion model development for the post-fire environment.

Catchment coevolution: A useful framework for improving predictions of hydrological change?

Science.gov (United States)

Troch, Peter A.

2017-04-01

The notion that landscape features have co-evolved over time is well known in the Earth sciences. Hydrologists have recently called for a more rigorous connection between emerging spatial patterns of landscape features and the hydrological response of catchments, and have termed this concept catchment coevolution. In this presentation we present a general framework of catchment coevolution that could improve predictions of hydrologic change. We first present empirical evidence of the interaction and feedback of landscape evolution and changes in hydrological response. From this review it is clear that the independent drivers of catchment coevolution are climate, geology, and tectonics. We identify common currency that allows comparing the levels of activity of these independent drivers, such that, at least conceptually, we can quantify the rate of evolution or aging. Knowing the hydrologic age of a catchment by itself is not very meaningful without linking age to hydrologic response. Two avenues of investigation have been used to understand the relationship between (differences in) age and hydrological response: (i) one that is based on relating present landscape features to runoff processes that are hypothesized to be responsible for the current fingerprints in the landscape; and (ii) one that takes advantage of an experimental design known as space-for-time substitution. Both methods have yielded significant insights in the hydrologic response of landscapes with different histories. If we want to make accurate predictions of hydrologic change, we will also need to be able to predict how the catchment will further coevolve in association with changes in the activity levels of the drivers (e.g., climate). There is ample evidence in the literature that suggests that whole-system prediction of catchment coevolution is, at least in principle, plausible. With this imperative we outline a research agenda that implements the concepts of catchment coevolution for building

Protecting peroxidase activity of multilayer enzyme-polyion films using outer catalase layers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Haiyun; Rusling, James F; Hu, Naifei

2007-12-27

Films constructed layer-by-layer on electrodes with architecture {protein/hyaluronic acid (HA)}n containing myoglobin (Mb) or horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were protected against protein damage by H2O2 by using outer catalase layers. Peroxidase activity for substrate oxidation requires activation by H2O2, but {protein/HA}n films without outer catalase layers are damaged slowly and irreversibly by H2O2. The rate and extent of damage were decreased dramatically by adding outer catalase layers to decompose H2O2. Comparative studies suggest that protection results from catalase decomposing a fraction of the H2O2 as it enters the film, rather than by an in-film diffusion barrier. The outer catalase layers controlled the rate of H2O2 entry into inner regions of the film, and they biased the system to favor electrocatalytic peroxide reduction over enzyme damage. Catalase-protected {protein/HA}n films had an increased linear concentration range for H2O2 detection. This approach offers an effective way to protect biosensors from damage by H2O2.

Preliminary subsurface hydrologic considerations: Columbia River Plateau Physiographic Province. Assessment of effectiveness of geologic isolation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veatch, M.D.

1980-04-01

This report contains a discussion of the hydrologic conditions of the Columbia River Plateau physiographic province. The Columbia River Plateau is underlain by a thick basalt sequence. The Columbia River basalt sequence contains both basalt flows and sedimentary interbeds. These sedimentary interbeds, which are layers of sedimentary rock between lava flows, are the main aquifer zones in the basalt sequence. Permeable interflow zones, involving the permeable top and/or rubble bottom of a flow, are also water-transmitting zones. A number of stratigraphic units are present in the Pasco Basin, which is in the central part of the Columbia River Plateau. At a conceptual level, the stratigraphic sequence from the surface downward can be separated into four hydrostratigraphic systems. These are: (1) the unsaturated zone, (2) the unconfined aquifer, (3) the uppermost confined aquifers, and (4) the lower Yakima basalt hydrologic sequence. A conceptual layered earth model (LEM) has been developed. The LEM represents the major types of porous media (LEM units) that may be encountered at a number of places on the Columbia Plateau, and specifically in the Pasco Basin. The conceptual LEM is not representative of the actual three-dimensional hydrostratigraphic sequence and hydrologic conditions existing at any specific site within the Columbia Plateau physiographic province. However, the LEM may be useful for gaining a better understanding of how the hydrologic regime may change as a result of disruptive events that may interact with a waste repository in geologic media

The hydrological functioning of a constructed fen wetland watershed.

Science.gov (United States)

Ketcheson, Scott J; Price, Jonathan S; Sutton, Owen; Sutherland, George; Kessel, Eric; Petrone, Richard M

2017-12-15

Mine reclamation requires the reconstruction of entire landforms and drainage systems. The hydrological regime of reclaimed landscapes will be a manifestation of the processes operating within the individual landforms that comprise it. Hydrology is the most important process regulating wetland function and development, via strong controls on chemical and biotic processes. Accordingly, this research addresses the growing and immediate need to understand the hydrological processes that operate within reconstructed landscapes following resource extraction. In this study, the function of a constructed fen watershed (the Nikanotee Fen watershed) is evaluated for the first two years following construction (2013-2014) and is assessed and discussed within the context of the construction-level design. The system design was capable of sustaining wet conditions within the Nikanotee Fen during the snow-free period in 2013 and 2014, with persistent ponded water in some areas. Evapotranspiration dominated the water fluxes from the system. These losses were partially offset by groundwater discharge from the upland aquifer, which demonstrated strong hydrologic connectivity with the fen in spite of most construction materials having lower than targeted saturated hydraulic conductivities. However, the variable surface infiltration rates and thick placement of a soil-capping layer constrained recharge to the upland aquifer, which remained below designed water contents in much of the upland. These findings indicate that it is possible to engineer the landscape to accommodate the hydrological functions of a fen peatland following surface oil sands extraction. Future research priorities should include understanding the storage and release of water within coarse-grained reclaimed landforms as well as evaluating the relative importance of external water sources and internal water conservation mechanisms for the viability of fen ecosystems over the longer-term. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B

Layer-by-layer assembly of thin organic films on PTFE activated by cold atmospheric plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tóth András

2014-12-01

Full Text Available An air diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge is used to activate the surface of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE samples, which are subsequently coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP and tannic acid (TAN single, bi- and multilayers, respectively, using the dip-coating method. The surfaces are characterized by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS, Attenuated Total Reflection – Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM. The XPS measurements show that with plasma treatment the F/C atomic ratio in the PTFE surface decreases, due to the diminution of the concentration of CF2 moieties, and also oxygen incorporation through formation of new C–O, C=O and O=C–O bonds can be observed. In the case of coated samples, the new bonds indicated by XPS show the bonding between the organic layer and the surface, and thus the stability of layers, while the gradual decrease of the concentration of F atoms with the number of deposited layers proves the creation of PVP/TAN bi- and multi-layers. According to the ATR-FTIR spectra, in the case of PVP/TAN multilayer hydrogen bonding develops between the PVP and TAN, which assures the stability of the multilayer. The AFM lateral friction measurements show that the macromolecular layers homogeneously coat the plasma treated PTFE surface.

Modeling and analysis of rotating plates by using self sensing active constrained layer damping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xie, Zheng Chao; Wong, Pak Kin; Chong, Ian Ian [Univ. of Macau, Macau (China)

2012-10-15

This paper proposes a new finite element model for active constrained layer damped (CLD) rotating plate with self sensing technique. Constrained layer damping can effectively reduce the vibration in rotating structures. Unfortunately, most existing research models the rotating structures as beams that are not the case many times. It is meaningful to model the rotating part as plates because of improvements on both the accuracy and the versatility. At the same time, existing research shows that the active constrained layer damping provides a more effective vibration control approach than the passive constrained layer damping. Thus, in this work, a single layer finite element is adopted to model a three layer active constrained layer damped rotating plate. Unlike previous ones, this finite element model treats all three layers as having the both shear and extension strains, so all types of damping are taken into account. Also, the constraining layer is made of piezoelectric material to work as both the self sensing sensor and actuator. Then, a proportional control strategy is implemented to effectively control the displacement of the tip end of the rotating plate. Additionally, a parametric study is conducted to explore the impact of some design parameters on structure's modal characteristics.

Modeling and analysis of rotating plates by using self sensing active constrained layer damping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie, Zheng Chao; Wong, Pak Kin; Chong, Ian Ian

2012-01-01

This paper proposes a new finite element model for active constrained layer damped (CLD) rotating plate with self sensing technique. Constrained layer damping can effectively reduce the vibration in rotating structures. Unfortunately, most existing research models the rotating structures as beams that are not the case many times. It is meaningful to model the rotating part as plates because of improvements on both the accuracy and the versatility. At the same time, existing research shows that the active constrained layer damping provides a more effective vibration control approach than the passive constrained layer damping. Thus, in this work, a single layer finite element is adopted to model a three layer active constrained layer damped rotating plate. Unlike previous ones, this finite element model treats all three layers as having the both shear and extension strains, so all types of damping are taken into account. Also, the constraining layer is made of piezoelectric material to work as both the self sensing sensor and actuator. Then, a proportional control strategy is implemented to effectively control the displacement of the tip end of the rotating plate. Additionally, a parametric study is conducted to explore the impact of some design parameters on structure's modal characteristics

Layer-by-layer evolution of structure, strain, and activity for the oxygen evolution reaction in graphene-templated Pt monolayers.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelhafiz, Ali; Vitale, Adam; Joiner, Corey; Vogel, Eric; Alamgir, Faisal M

2015-03-25

In this study, we explore the dimensional aspect of structure-driven surface properties of metal monolayers grown on a graphene/Au template. Here, surface limited redox replacement (SLRR) is used to provide precise layer-by-layer growth of Pt monolayers on graphene. We find that after a few iterations of SLRR, fully wetted 4-5 monolayer Pt films can be grown on graphene. Incorporating graphene at the Pt-Au interface modifies the growth mechanism, charge transfers, equilibrium interatomic distances, and associated strain of the synthesized Pt monolayers. We find that a single layer of sandwiched graphene is able to induce a 3.5% compressive strain on the Pt adlayer grown on it, and as a result, catalytic activity is increased due to a greater areal density of the Pt layers beyond face-centered-cubic close packing. At the same time, the sandwiched graphene does not obstruct vicinity effects of near-surface electron exchange between the substrate Au and adlayers Pt. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) techniques are used to examine charge mediation across the Pt-graphene-Au junction and the local atomic arrangement as a function of the Pt adlayer dimension. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are used as probes to examine the electrochemically active area of Pt monolayers and catalyst activity, respectively. Results show that the inserted graphene monolayer results in increased activity for the Pt due to a graphene-induced compressive strain, as well as a higher resistance against loss of the catalytically active Pt surface.

Thin layer activation and ultra thin layer activation: two complementary techniques for wear and corrosion studies in various fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauvage, T.; Vincent, L.; Blondiaux, G.

2002-01-01

Thin layer activation (TLA) is widely used since more than 25 years to study surface wear or corrosion. This well known technique uses most of the time charged particles activation, which gives sensitivity in the range of the micrometer, except when the fluid mode of detection is utilized. In this case application of the method is limited to phenomena where we have transport of radioactive fragments to detection point. The main disadvantage of this procedure is the error due to trapping phenomena between the wear or corrosion point and detection setup. So the ultra thin layer activation (UTLA) has been developed to get nanometric sensitivity without using any fluid for radioactivity transportation, which is the main source of error of the TLA technique. In this paper we shall briefly describe the TLA technique and the most important fields of application. Then we shall emphasise on UTLA with a presentation of the principle of the method and actual running of application. The main problem concerning UTLA is calibration which requires the use of thin films (usually 10 to 100 nanometers) deposited on substrate. This process is time consuming and we shall demonstrate how running software developed in the lab can solve it. We shall finish the presentation by giving some potential application of the technique in various fields. (authors)

Interstratified nanohybrid assembled by alternating cationic layered double hydroxide nanosheets and anionic layered titanate nanosheets with superior photocatalytic activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Bizhou; Sun, Ping; Zhou, Yi; Jiang, Shaofeng; Gao, Bifen; Chen, Yilin

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Two kinds of nanosheets are well arranged in a layer-by-layer alternating fashion. • Effective interfacial heterojunction and high specific surface were observed. • Interstratified nanohybrid exhibits a superior photocatalytic activity. - Abstract: Oppositely charged 2D inorganic nanosheets of ZnAl-layered double hydroxide and layered titanate were successfully assembled into an interstratified nanohybrid through simply mixing the corresponding nanosheet suspensions. Powder X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscope clearly revealed that the component nanosheets in the as-obtained nanohybrid ZnAl–Ti 3 O 7 retain the 2D sheet skeletons of the pristine materials and that the two kinds of nanosheets are well arranged in a layer-by-layer alternating fashion with a basal spacing of about 1.3 nm, coincident with the thickness summation of the two component nanosheets. The effective interfacial heterojunction between them and the high specific surface area resulted in that the nanohybrid exhibits a superior photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methylene blue with a reaction constant k of 2.81 × 10 −2 min −1 , which is about 9 and 4 times higher than its precursors H 2 Ti 3 O 7 and ZnAl-LDH, respectively. Based on UV–vis, XPS and photoelectrochemical measurements, a proposed photoexcitation model was provided to understand its photocatalytic behavior

Modeling post-wildfire hydrological processes with ParFlow

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, I. S.; Lopez, S. R.; Kinoshita, A. M.

2017-12-01

Wildfires alter the natural processes within a watershed, such as surface runoff, evapotranspiration rates, and subsurface water storage. Post-fire hydrologic models are typically one-dimensional, empirically-based models or two-dimensional, conceptually-based models with lumped parameter distributions. These models are useful for modeling and predictions at the watershed outlet; however, do not provide detailed, distributed hydrologic processes at the point scale within the watershed. This research uses ParFlow, a three-dimensional, distributed hydrologic model to simulate post-fire hydrologic processes by representing the spatial and temporal variability of soil burn severity (via hydrophobicity) and vegetation recovery. Using this approach, we are able to evaluate the change in post-fire water components (surface flow, lateral flow, baseflow, and evapotranspiration). This work builds upon previous field and remote sensing analysis conducted for the 2003 Old Fire Burn in Devil Canyon, located in southern California (USA). This model is initially developed for a hillslope defined by a 500 m by 1000 m lateral extent. The subsurface reaches 12.4 m and is assigned a variable cell thickness to explicitly consider soil burn severity throughout the stages of recovery and vegetation regrowth. We consider four slope and eight hydrophobic layer configurations. Evapotranspiration is used as a proxy for vegetation regrowth and is represented by the satellite-based Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBOP) product. The pre- and post-fire surface runoff, subsurface storage, and surface storage interactions are evaluated at the point scale. Results will be used as a basis for developing and fine-tuning a watershed-scale model. Long-term simulations will advance our understanding of post-fire hydrological partitioning between water balance components and the spatial variability of watershed processes, providing improved guidance for post-fire watershed management. In reference

Adsorption of pharmaceuticals onto isolated polyamide active layer of NF/RO membranes.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan-Ling; Wang, Xiao-Mao; Yang, Hong-Wei; Xie, Yuefeng F

2018-06-01

Adsorption of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) onto the membrane materials has a great impact on their rejection by nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. This study aimed to investigate the difference in adsorption of various pharmaceuticals (PhACs) onto different NF/RO membranes and to demonstrate the necessity of isolating the polyamide (PA) active layer from the polysulfone (PS) support layer for adsorption characterization and quantification. Both the isolated PA layers and the PA+PS layers of NF90 and ESPA1 membranes were used to conduct static adsorption tests. Results showed that apparent differences existed between the PA layer and the PA+PS layer in the adsorption capacity of PhACs as well as the time necessary to reach the adsorption equilibrium. PhACs with different physicochemical properties could be adsorbed to different extents by the isolated PA layer, which was mainly attributed to electrostatic attraction/repulsion and hydrophobic interactions. The PA layer of ESPA1 exhibited apparently higher adsorption capacities for the positively charged PhACs and similar adsorption capacities for the neutral PhACs although it had significantly less total interfacial area (per unit membrane surface area) for adsorption compared to the PA layer of NF90. The higher affinity of the PA layer of ESPA1 for the PhACs could be due to its higher capacity of forming hydrogen bonds with PhACs resulted from the modified chemistry with more -OH groups. This study provides a novel approach to determining the TrOC adsorption onto the active layer of membranes for the ease of investigating adsorption mechanisms. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clear Creek Environmental Hydrologic Observatory: From Vision Toward Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Just, C.; Muste, M.; Kruger, A.

2006-12-01

The CyberEnviroNet research group at The University of Iowa includes around 25 scientists and engineers from Geography, Geoscience, Computer Science, and various Engineering Departments. The group leads diverse research and education projects involving "cyberinfrastructure" applied to water-resource and environmental concerns. Members of this group actively participate in the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) and the Collaborative Large-Scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research (CLEANER), ongoing NSF-supported activities and initiatives. Most activities are led by IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering (IIHR) and the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER). An outcome of the CyberEnviroNet group activities is the emerging Clear Creek Environmental Hydrologic Observatory at the headwaters of Iowa's Clear Creek. It is envisioned that this process-based observatory will support the scientific investigation of relevant components of water cycle processes. Cyberinfrastructure is a complex concept that is difficult to narrowly define. However, this project will create a working example of cyberinfrastructure in the hydrologic and environmental sciences. It is a system that integrates a broad range of technologies and ideas: wired and wireless sensors, low power wireless communication, embedded microcontrollers, commodity cellular networks, the internet, unattended quality assurance, metadata, relational databases, machine-to-machine communication, interfaces to hydrologic and environmental models, feedback, and external inputs. The creation of this multi-faceted system raises important questions: 1. Will such a system benefit the testing of scientific hypotheses in the areas of "envirohydrology" and hydrology? 2. If the answer is "yes", do we know how to assemble, operate, manage, and make it cost effective? 3. If the answers are "yes", then does it make sense for the hydrologic and

Proceedings of the 1987 hydrological sciences symposium. V. 1-2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, D.A.; Stone, A.W.

1987-01-01

The availability of water has influenced the development of South Africa over the last 300 years. Considerable enterprise, investment, ingenuity and engineering characterise the present use of water resources in the country. In the decades ahead increasing demands on the finite and often unreliable water resources will require careful integration of the country's scientific, technological and managerial skills related to all scales and to all aspects of man's intervention in the hydrological cycle. The 1987 Hydrological Sciences Symposium in Grahamstown is organised in the spirit that expertise and understanding of surface and ground water aspects of hydrology need to be integrated to provide the optimum solution for many of the water resource problems of Southern Africa. The papers in the two volumes of this pre-published proceedings represent a broad spectrum of activity in the areas of hydrological research, planning and practice that is taking place in South Africa today. The three major groups of organisations; consulting engineers, government departments and institutions and universities are all well represented in the authors' affiliations. This broad spectrum of expertise is important because each of these organisations has a vital role to play in the development of techniques and in the practical application of methods designed to solve water resource problems. There is no claim that the Proceedings represent a definitive 'state of the art' of South Africa hydrological sciences; they do however provide an idea of the range of activities currently in progress within the hydrological and hydrogeological community. Highly specialist contributions were specifically excluded from the symposium

Acting, predicting and intervening in a socio-hydrological world

Science.gov (United States)

Lane, S. N.

2014-03-01

This paper asks a simple question: if humans and their actions co-evolve with hydrological systems (Sivapalan et al., 2012), what is the role of hydrological scientists, who are also humans, within this system? To put it more directly, as traditionally there is a supposed separation of scientists and society, can we maintain this separation as socio-hydrologists studying a socio-hydrological world? This paper argues that we cannot, using four linked sections. The first section draws directly upon the concern of science-technology studies to make a case to the (socio-hydrological) community that we need to be sensitive to constructivist accounts of science in general and socio-hydrology in particular. I review three positions taken by such accounts and apply them to hydrological science, supported with specific examples: (a) the ways in which scientific activities frame socio-hydrological research, such that at least some of the knowledge that we obtain is constructed by precisely what we do; (b) the need to attend to how socio-hydrological knowledge is used in decision-making, as evidence suggests that hydrological knowledge does not flow simply from science into policy; and (c) the observation that those who do not normally label themselves as socio-hydrologists may actually have a profound knowledge of socio-hydrology. The second section provides an empirical basis for considering these three issues by detailing the history of the practice of roughness parameterisation, using parameters like Manning's n, in hydrological and hydraulic models for flood inundation mapping. This history sustains the third section that is a more general consideration of one type of socio-hydrological practice: predictive modelling. I show that as part of a socio-hydrological analysis, hydrological prediction needs to be thought through much more carefully: not only because hydrological prediction exists to help inform decisions that are made about water management; but also because

Analysis of heterogeneous hydrological properties of a mountainous hillslope using intensive water flow measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Masaoka, Naoya; Kosugi, Ken'ichirou; Yamakawa, Yosuke; Mizuyama, Takahisa; Tsutsumi, Daizo

2013-04-01

Heterogeneous hydrological properties in a foot slope area of mountainous hillslopes should be assessed to understand hydrological phenomena and their effects on discharge and sediment transport. In this study, we analyzed the high-resolution and three-dimensional water movement data to clarify the hydrological process, including heterogeneous phenomena, in detail. We continuously monitored the soil matric pressure head, psi, using 111 tensiometers installed at grid intervals of approximately 1 meter within the soil mantle at the study hillslope. Under a no-rainfall condition, the existence of perennial groundwater seepage flow was detected by exfiltration flux and temporal psi waveforms, which showed delayed responses, only to heavy storm events, and gradual recession limbs. The seepage water spread in the downslope direction and supplied water constantly to the lower section of the slope. At some points in the center of the slope, a perched saturated area was detected in the middle of soil layer, while psi exhibited negative values above the bedrock surface. These phenomena could be inferred partly from the bedrock topography and the distribution of soil hydraulic conductivity assumed from the result of penetration test. At the peak of a rainfall event, on the other hand, continuous high pressure zones (i.e., psi > 50 cmH2O) were generated in the right and left sections of the slope. Both of these high pressure zones converged at the lower region, showing a sharp psi spike up to 100 cmH2O. Along the high pressure zones, flux vectors showed large values and water exfiltration, indicating the occurrence of preferential flow. Moreover, the preferential flow occurred within the area beneath the perched water, indicating the existence of a weathered bedrock layer. This layer had low permeability, which prevented the vertical infiltration of water in the upper part of the layer, but had high permeability as a result of the fractures distributed heterogeneously inside

Active-layer thermal monitoring on the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, maritime Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, R. F. M.; Schaefer, C. E. G. R.; Simas, F. M. B.; Francelino, M. R.; Fernandes-Filho, E. I.; Lyra, G. B.; Bockheim, J. G.

2014-12-01

International attention to climate change phenomena has grown in the last decade; the active layer and permafrost are of great importance in understanding processes and future trends due to their role in energy flux regulation. The objective of this paper is to present active-layer temperature data for one Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring South hemisphere (CALM-S) site located on the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, maritime Antarctica over an 57-month period (2008-2012). The monitoring site was installed during the summer of 2008 and consists of thermistors (accuracy of ±0.2 °C), arranged vertically with probes at different depths, recording data at hourly intervals in a high-capacity data logger. A series of statistical analyses was performed to describe the soil temperature time series, including a linear fit in order to identify global trends, and a series of autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models was tested in order to define the best fit for the data. The affects of weather on the thermal regime of the active layer have been identified, providing insights into the influence of climate change on permafrost. The active-layer thermal regime in the studied period was typical of periglacial environments, with extreme variation in surface during the summer resulting in frequent freeze and thaw cycles. The active-layer thickness (ALT) over the studied period shows a degree of variability related to different annual weather conditions, reaching a maximum of 117.5 cm in 2009. The ARIMA model could describe the data adequately and is an important tool for more conclusive analysis and predictions when longer data sets are available. Despite the variability when comparing temperature readings and ACT over the studied period, no trend can be identified.

Quantitative Collection and Enzymatic Activity of Glucose Oxidase Nanotubes Fabricated by Templated Layer-by-Layer Assembly.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shouwei; Demoustier-Champagne, Sophie; Jonas, Alain M

2015-08-10

We report on the fabrication of enzyme nanotubes in nanoporous polycarbonate membranes via the layer-by-layer (LbL) alternate assembly of polyethylenimine (PEI) and glucose oxidase (GOX), followed by dissolution of the sacrificial template in CH2Cl2, collection, and final dispersion in water. An adjuvant-assisted filtration methodology is exploited to extract quantitatively the nanotubes without loss of activity and morphology. Different water-soluble CH2Cl2-insoluble adjuvants are tested for maximal enzyme activity and nanotube stability; whereas NaCl disrupts the tubes by screening electrostatic interactions, the high osmotic pressure created by fructose also contributes to loosening the nanotubular structures. These issues are solved when using neutral, high molar mass dextran. The enzymatic activity of intact free nanotubes in water is then quantitatively compared to membrane-embedded nanotubes, showing that the liberated nanotubes have a higher catalytic activity in proportion to their larger exposed surface. Our study thus discloses a robust and general methodology for the fabrication and quantitative collection of enzymatic nanotubes and shows that LbL assembly provides access to efficient enzyme carriers for use as catalytic swarming agents.

The PCR-GLOBWB global hydrological reanalysis product

Science.gov (United States)

Wanders, Niko; Bierkens, Marc; Sutanudjaja, Edwin; van Beek, Rens

2014-05-01

Accurate and long time series of hydrological data are important for understanding land surface water and energy budgets in many parts of the world, as well as for improving real-time hydrological monitoring and climate change anticipation. The ultimate goal of the present work is to produce a multi-decadal "land surface hydrological reanalysis" dataset with retrospective and updated hydrological states and fluxes that are constrained to available in-situ river discharge measurements. Here we use PCR-GLOBWB (van Beek et al., 2011), which is a large-scale hydrological model intended for global to regional studies. PCR-GLOBWB provides a grid-based representation of terrestrial hydrology with a typical spatial resolution of approximately 50×50 km (currently 0.5° globally) on a daily basis. For each grid cell, PCR-GLOBWB simulates moisture storage in two vertically stacked soil layers as well as the water exchange between the soil and the atmosphere and the underlying groundwater reservoir. Exchange to the atmosphere comprises precipitation, evaporation and transpiration, as well as snow accumulation and melt, which are all simulated by considering vegetation phenology and sub-grid variations of elevation, land cover and soil saturation distribution. The model includes improved schemes for runoff-infiltration partitioning, interflow, groundwater recharge and baseflow, as well as river routing of discharge. It also dynamically simulates water storage in reservoirs, water demand and the withdrawal, allocation and consumptive use of surface water and groundwater resources. By embedding the PCR-GLOBWB model in an Ensemble Kalman Filter framework, we calibrate the model parameters based on the discharge observations from the Global Runoff Data Centre. The parameters calibrated are related to snow accumulation and melt, runoff-infiltration partitioning, groundwater recharge, channel discharge and baseflow processes, as well as pre-factors to correct forcing precipitation

Hydrology and circulation in the North Aegean (eastern Mediterranean throughout 1997 and 1998

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. ZERVAKIS

2002-06-01

Full Text Available The combination of two research projects offered us the opportunity to perform a comprehensive study of the seasonal evolution of the hydrological structure and the circulation of the North Aegean Sea, at the northern extremes of the eastern Mediterranean. The combination of brackish water inflow from the Dardanelles and the sea-bottom relief dictate the significant differences between the North and South Aegean water columns. The relatively warm and highly saline South Aegean waters enter the North Aegean through the dominant cyclonic circulation of the basin. In the North Aegean, three layers of distinct water masses of very different properties are observed: The 20-50 m thick surface layer is occupied mainly by Black Sea Water, modified on its way through the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. Below the surface layer there is warm and highly saline water originating in the South Aegean and the Levantine, extending down to 350-400 m depth. Below this layer, the deeper-than-400 m basins of the North Aegean contain locally formed, very dense water with different θ /S characteristics at each subbasin. The circulation is characterised by a series of permanent, semi-permanent and transient mesoscale features, overlaid on the general slow cyclonic circulation of the Aegean. The mesoscale activity, while not necessarily important in enhancing isopycnal mixing in the region, in combination with the very high stratification of the upper layers, however, increases the residence time of the water of the upper layers in the general area of the North Aegean. As a result, water having out-flowed from the Black Sea in the winter, forms a separate distinct layer in the region in spring (lying between “younger” BSW and the Levantine origin water, and is still traceable in the water column in late summer.

Pervaporation dehydration of ethanol by hyaluronic acid/sodium alginate two-active-layer composite membranes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Chengyun; Zhang, Minhua; Ding, Jianwu; Pan, Fusheng; Jiang, Zhongyi; Li, Yifan; Zhao, Jing

2014-01-01

The composite membranes with two-active-layer (a capping layer and an inner layer) were prepared by sequential spin-coatings of hyaluronic acid (HA) and sodium alginate (NaAlg) on the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) support layer. The SEM showed a mutilayer structure and a distinct interface between the HA layer and the NaAlg layer. The coating sequence of two-active-layer had an obvious influence on the pervaporation dehydration performance of membranes. When the operation temperature was 80 °C and water concentration in feed was 10 wt.%, the permeate fluxes of HA/Alg/PAN membrane and Alg/HA/PAN membrane were similar, whereas the separation factor were 1130 and 527, respectively. It was found that the capping layer with higher hydrophilicity and water retention capacity, and the inner layer with higher permselectivity could increase the separation performance of the composite membranes. Meanwhile, effects of operation temperature and water concentration in feed on pervaporation performance as well as membrane properties were studied. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integration of Local Hydrology into Regional Hydrologic Simulation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Van Zee, R. J.; Lal, W. A.

2002-05-01

South Florida hydrology is dominated by the Central and South Florida (C&SF) Project that is managed to provide flood protection, water supply and environmental protection. A complex network of levees canals and structures provide these services to the individual drainage basins. The landscape varies widely across the C&SF system, with corresponding differences in the way water is managed within each basin. Agricultural areas are managed for optimal crop production. Urban areas maximize flood protection while maintaining minimum water levels to protect adjacent wetlands and local water supplies. "Natural" areas flood and dry out in response to the temporal distribution of rainfall. The evaluation of planning, regulation and operational issues require access to a simulation model that captures the effects of both regional and local hydrology. The Regional Simulation Model (RSM) uses a "pseudo-cell" approach to integrate local hydrology within the context of a regional hydrologic system. A 2-dimensional triangulated mesh is used to represent the regional surface and ground water systems and a 1-dimensional canal network is superimposed onto this mesh. The movement of water is simulated using a finite volume formulation with a diffusive wave approximation. Each cell in the triangulated mesh has a "pseudo-cell" counterpart, which represents the same area as the cell, but it is conceptualized such that it simulates the localized hydrologic conditions Protocols have been established to provide an interface between a cell and its pseudo-cell counterpart. . A number of pseudo-cell types have already been developed and tested in the simulation of Water Conservation Area 1 and several have been proposed to deal with specific local issues in the Southwest Florida Feasibility Study. This presentation will provide an overview of the overall RSM design, describe the relationship between cells and pseudo-cells, and illustrate how pseudo-cells are be used to simulate agriculture

Regional frameworks applied to hydrology: can landscape-based frameworks capture the hydrologic variability?

Science.gov (United States)

R. McManamay; D. Orth; C. Dolloff; E. Frimpong

2011-01-01

Regional frameworks have been used extensively in recent years to aid in broad-scale management. Widely used landscape-based regional frameworks, such as hydrologic landscape regions (HLRs) and physiographic provinces, may provide predictive tools of hydrologic variability. However, hydrologic-based regional frameworks, created using only streamflow data, are also...

Microbial network, phylogenetic diversity and community membership in the active layer across a permafrost thaw gradient.

Science.gov (United States)

Mondav, Rhiannon; McCalley, Carmody K; Hodgkins, Suzanne B; Frolking, Steve; Saleska, Scott R; Rich, Virginia I; Chanton, Jeff P; Crill, Patrick M

2017-08-01

Biogenic production and release of methane (CH 4 ) from thawing permafrost has the potential to be a strong source of radiative forcing. We investigated changes in the active layer microbial community of three sites representative of distinct permafrost thaw stages at a palsa mire in northern Sweden. The palsa site (intact permafrost and low radiative forcing signature) had a phylogenetically clustered community dominated by Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria. The bog (thawing permafrost and low radiative forcing signature) had lower alpha diversity and midrange phylogenetic clustering, characteristic of ecosystem disturbance affecting habitat filtering. Hydrogenotrophic methanogens and Acidobacteria dominated the bog shifting from palsa-like to fen-like at the waterline. The fen (no underlying permafrost, high radiative forcing signature) had the highest alpha, beta and phylogenetic diversity, was dominated by Proteobacteria and Euryarchaeota and was significantly enriched in methanogens. The Mire microbial network was modular with module cores consisting of clusters of Acidobacteria, Euryarchaeota or Xanthomonodales. Loss of underlying permafrost with associated hydrological shifts correlated to changes in microbial composition, alpha, beta and phylogenetic diversity associated with a higher radiative forcing signature. These results support the complex role of microbial interactions in mediating carbon budget changes and climate feedback in response to climate forcing. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Modeling hydrology and reactive transport in roads: The effect of cracks, the edge, and contaminant properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apul, Defne S.; Gardner, Kevin H.; Eighmy, T. Taylor

2007-01-01

The goal of this research was to provide a tool for regulators to evaluate the groundwater contamination from the use of virgin and secondary materials in road construction. A finite element model, HYDRUS2D, was used to evaluate generic scenarios for secondary material use in base layers. Use of generic model results for particular applications was demonstrated through a steel slag example. The hydrology and reactive transport of contaminants were modeled in a two-dimensional cross section of a road. Model simulations showed that in an intact pavement, lateral velocities from the edge towards the centerline may transport contaminants in the base layer. The dominant transport mechanisms are advection closer to the edge and diffusion closer to the centerline. A shoulder joint in the pavement allows 0.03 to 0.45 m 3 /day of infiltration per meter of joint length as a function of the base and subgrade hydrology and the rain intensity. Scenario simulations showed that salts in the base layer of pavements are depleted by 99% in the first 20 years, whereas the metals may not reach the groundwater in 20 years at any significant concentrations if the pavement is built on adsorbing soils

Thin layer activation: measuring wear and corrosion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delvigne, T.; Leyman, D.; Oxorn, K.

1995-01-01

The technique known as thin layer activation (TLA) is explained and assessed in this article. Widely used, in for example the automotive industry, TLA allows on-line monitoring of the loss of matter from a critical surface, by wear erosion and corrosion. The technique offers extremely high sensitivity thus leading to reduced test times. On-line wear phenomena can be assessed during operation of a mechanical process, even through thick engine walls. (UK)

Exploring drivers of wetland hydrologic fluxes across parameters and space

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, C. N.; Cheng, F. Y.; Mclaughlin, D. L.; Basu, N. B.; Lang, M.; Alexander, L. C.

2017-12-01

Depressional wetlands provide diverse ecosystem services, ranging from critical habitat to the regulation of landscape hydrology. The latter is of particular interest, because while hydrologic connectivity between depressional wetlands and downstream waters has been a focus of both scientific research and policy, it remains difficult to quantify the mode, magnitude, and timing of this connectivity at varying spatial and temporary scales. To do so requires robust empirical and modeling tools that accurately represent surface and subsurface flowpaths between depressional wetlands and other landscape elements. Here, we utilize a parsimonious wetland hydrology model to explore drivers of wetland water fluxes in different archetypal wetland-rich landscapes. We validated the model using instrumented sites from regions that span North America: Prairie Pothole Region (south-central Canada), Delmarva Peninsula (Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain), and Big Cypress Swamp (southern Florida). Then, using several national scale datasets (e.g., National Wetlands Inventory, USFWS; National Hydrography Dataset, USGS; Soil Survey Geographic Database, NRCS), we conducted a global sensitivity analysis to elucidate dominant drivers of simulated fluxes. Finally, we simulated and compared wetland hydrology in five contrasting landscapes dominated by depressional wetlands: prairie potholes, Carolina and Delmarva bays, pocosins, western vernal pools, and Texas coastal prairie wetlands. Results highlight specific drivers that vary across these regions. Largely, hydroclimatic variables (e.g., PET/P ratios) controlled the timing and magnitude of wetland connectivity, whereas both wetland morphology (e.g., storage capacity and watershed size) and soil characteristics (e.g., ksat and confining layer depth) controlled the duration and mode (surface vs. subsurface) of wetland connectivity. Improved understanding of the drivers of wetland hydrologic connectivity supports enhanced, region

Influence of hydrological regime on pore water metal concentrations in a contaminated sediment-derived soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Laing, G.; Vanthuyne, D.R.J.; Vandecasteele, B.; Tack, F.M.G.; Verloo, M.G.

2007-01-01

Options for wetland creation or restoration might be limited because of the presence of contaminants in the soil. The influence of hydrological management on the pore water concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn in the upper soil layer of a contaminated overbank sedimentation zone was investigated in a greenhouse experiment. Flooding conditions led to increased Fe, Mn, Ni and Cr concentrations and decreased Cd, Cu and Zn concentrations in the pore water of the upper soil layer. Keeping the soil at field capacity resulted in a low pore water concentration of Fe, Mn and Ni while the Cd, Cu, Cr and Zn concentrations increased. Alternating hydrological conditions caused metal concentrations in the pore water to fluctuate. Formation and re-oxidation of small amounts of sulphides appeared dominant in determining the mobility of Cd, Cu, and to a lesser extent Zn, while Ni behaviour was consistent with Fe/Mn oxidation and reduction. These effects were strongly dependent on the duration of the flooded periods. The shorter the flooded periods, the better the metal concentrations could be linked to the mobility of Ca in the pore water, which is attributed to a fluctuating CO 2 pressure. - The hydrological regime is a key factor in determining the metal concentration in the pore water of a contaminated sediment-derived soil

Active layer thickness and ground temperatures, Svea, Svalbard, Version 1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Snow and soil temperature records for January 1988 - May 1996 are presented. Included are snow depth and weight measurements, snow density (calculated), active layer...

Diamagneto-Dielectric Anisotropic Wide Angle Impedance Matching Layers for Active Phased Arrays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Silvestri, F.; Cifola, L.; Gerini, G.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present the full process of designing anisotropic metamaterial (MM) wide angle impedance matching (WAIM) layers. These layers are used to reduce the scan losses that occur in active phased arrays for large scanning angles. Numerical results are provided to show the improvement in

Diamagneto-dielectric anisotropic wide angle impedance matching layers for active phased arrays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Silvestri, F.; Cifola, L.; Gerini, G.

2016-01-01

In this paper we present the full process of designing anisotropic metamaterial (MM) wide angle impedance matching (WAIM) layers. These layers are used to reduce the scan losses that occur in active phased arrays for large scanning angles. Numerical results are provided to show the improvement in

Hydrologic and Water Quality Model Development Using Simulink

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James D. Bowen

2014-11-01

Full Text Available A stormwater runoff model based on the Soil Conservation Service (SCS method and a finite-volume based water quality model have been developed to investigate the use of Simulink for use in teaching and research. Simulink, a MATLAB extension, is a graphically based model development environment for system modeling and simulation. Widely used for mechanical and electrical systems, Simulink has had less use for modeling of hydrologic systems. The watershed model is being considered for use in teaching graduate-level courses in hydrology and/or stormwater modeling. Simulink’s block (data process and arrow (data transfer object model, the copy and paste user interface, the large number of existing blocks, and the absence of computer code allows students to become model developers almost immediately. The visual depiction of systems, their component subsystems, and the flow of data through the systems are ideal attributes for hands-on teaching of hydrologic and mass balance processes to today’s computer-savvy visual learners. Model development with Simulink for research purposes is also investigated. A finite volume, multi-layer pond model using the water quality kinetics present in CE-QUAL-W2 has been developed using Simulink. The model is one of the first uses of Simulink for modeling eutrophication dynamics in stratified natural systems. The model structure and a test case are presented. One use of the model for teaching a graduate-level water quality modeling class is also described.

Drainage systems of Lonar Crater, India: Contributions to Lonar Lake hydrology and crater degradation

Science.gov (United States)

Komatsu, Goro; Senthil Kumar, P.; Goto, Kazuhisa; Sekine, Yasuhito; Giri, Chaitanya; Matsui, Takafumi

2014-05-01

Lonar, a 1.8-km-diameter impact crater in India, is a rare example of terrestrial impact craters formed in basaltic bedrock. The estimated age of the crater ranges widely from less than 12 ka to over 600 ka, but the crater preserves a relatively pristine morphology. We conducted a study of various drainage systems of Lonar Crater. The crater floor hosts a shallow 5-m-deep lake, which fluctuates seasonally. Our investigation reveals that the lake level is influenced by surface runoff that is active during the monsoon and groundwater input effective during both the rainy and the dry seasons. The groundwater discharge is observed as springs on the inner rim walls corresponding to weathered vesicular basalt and/or proximal ejecta, which are underlain by thick massive basalt layers. This observation indicates that groundwater movement is lithologically controlled: it passes preferentially through permeable vesicular basalt or proximal ejecta but is hindered in less permeable massive basalt. It is hypothesized that groundwater is also structurally controlled by dipping of basalt layers, interconnectivity of the permeable lithologic units through fractures, and preferential pathways such as fractures within the permeable lithologic units. Investigation on hydrological processes at Lonar Crater and its lake could provide useful insights into purported paleo-crater lakes presumably formed in the basaltic crust of Mars. The Lonar Crater interior shows signs of degradation in the forms of gullies and debris flows, and the Dhar valley incising in the rim leading to form a fan delta. The ejecta surface is characterized by the presence of channels, originating from the rim area and extending radially away from the crater center. The channels probably resulted from surface runoff, and its erosion contributes to the removal of the ejecta. Lonar Crater is a valuable analog site for studying degradation processes with potential application to impact craters occurring on

Leveraging Subsidence in Permafrost with Remotely Sensed Active Layer Thickness (ReSALT) Products

Science.gov (United States)

Schaefer, K. M.; Chen, A.; Chen, J.; Chen, R. H.; Liu, L.; Michaelides, R. J.; Moghaddam, M.; Parsekian, A.; Tabatabaeenejad, A.; Thompson, J. A.; Zebker, H. A.; Meyer, F. J.

2017-12-01

The Remotely Sensed Active Layer Thickness (ReSALT) product uses the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique to measure ground subsidence in permafrost regions. Seasonal subsidence results from the expansion of soil water into ice as the surface soil or active layer freezes and thaws each year. Subsidence trends result from large-scale thaw of permafrost and from the melting and subsequent drainage of excess ground ice in permafrost-affected soils. The attached figure shows the 2006-2010 average seasonal subsidence from ReSALT around Barrow, Alaska. The average active layer thickness (the maximum surface thaw depth during summer) is 30-40 cm, resulting in an average seasonal subsidence of 1-3 cm. Analysis of the seasonal subsidence and subsidence trends provides valuable insights into important permafrost processes, such as the freeze/thaw of the active layer, large-scale thawing due to climate change, the impact of fire, and infrastructure vulnerability. ReSALT supports the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) field campaign in Alaska and northwest Canada and is a precursor for a potential NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) product. ReSALT includes uncertainties for all parameters and is validated against in situ measurements from the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) network, Ground Penetrating Radar and mechanical probe measurements. Here we present examples of ReSALT products in Alaska to highlight the untapped potential of the InSAR technique to understand permafrost dynamics, with a strong emphasis on the underlying processes that drive the subsidence.

Darwinian hydrology: can the methodology Charles Darwin pioneered help hydrologic science?

Science.gov (United States)

Harman, C.; Troch, P. A.

2013-05-01

There have been repeated calls for a Darwinian approach to hydrologic science or for a synthesis of Darwinian and Newtonian approaches, to deepen understanding the hydrologic system in the larger landscape context, and so develop a better basis for predictions now and in an uncertain future. But what exactly makes a Darwinian approach to hydrology "Darwinian"? While there have now been a number of discussions of Darwinian approaches, many referencing Harte (2002), the term is potentially a source of confusion while its connections to Darwin remain allusive rather than explicit. Here we discuss the methods that Charles Darwin pioneered to understand a variety of complex systems in terms of their historical processes of change. We suggest that the Darwinian approach to hydrology follows his lead by focusing attention on the patterns of variation in populations, seeking hypotheses that explain these patterns in terms of the mechanisms and conditions that determine their historical development, using deduction and modeling to derive consequent hypotheses that follow from a proposed explanation, and critically testing these hypotheses against new observations. It is not sufficient to catalogue the patterns or predict them statistically. Nor is it sufficient for the explanations to amount to a "just-so" story not subject to critical analysis. Darwin's theories linked present-day variation to mechanisms that operated over history, and could be independently test and falsified by comparing new observations to the predictions of corollary hypotheses they generated. With a Darwinian framework in mind it is easy to see that a great deal of hydrologic research has already been done that contributes to a Darwinian hydrology - whether deliberately or not. The various heuristic methods that Darwin used to develop explanatory theories - extrapolating mechanisms, space for time substitution, and looking for signatures of history - have direct application in hydrologic science. Some

Ore bearing system and hydrological characteristics of mineralized sector in Hushiliang area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhaolin; Liu Zhengbang; Miao Aisheng

2010-01-01

Hushiliang area is one of the best uranium ore bearing areas in Erdos basin from the point of fluvial sedimentary system and uranium geochemical environment, So far, three mineralized sector has been found that are Nalingou, Nongshengxin, Baobeigou. By using the first-hand data of uranium regional survey in this area lately and systematically comparing and analyzing of the hydrological structure in the mineralized sector of this area, the thesis ascertain the ore and water bearing fluid reservoir's spatial relationship generally, and argues that the Zhiluo formation ore and water bearing fluid reservoir in this area is a unified underwater ore bearing system, and the orebody's hydrological structure is propitious in the distributary channel and unpropitious in the main channel because of deep ore bearing layer to the ISL. (authors)

Infrastructure to Support Hydrologic Research: Information Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lall, U.; Duffy, C j

2001-12-01

Hydrologic Sciences are inherently interdisciplinary. Consequently, a myriad state variables are of interest to hydrologists. Hydrologic processes transcend many spatial and temporal scales, and their measurements reflect a variety of scales of support. The global water cycle is continuously modified by human activity through changes in land use, alteration of rivers, irrigation and groundwater pumping and through a modification of atmospheric composition. Since water is a solvent and a medium of transport, the water cycle fundamentally influences other material and energy cycles. This metaphor extends to the function that a hydrologic research information system needs to provide, to facilitate discovery in earth systems science, and to improve our capability to manage resources and hazards in a sustainable manner. At present, we have a variety of sources that provide data useful for hydrologic analyses, that range from massive remote sensed data sets, to sparsely sampled historical and paleo data. Consequently, the first objective of the Hydrologic Information Systems (HIS) group is to design a data services system that makes these data accessible in a uniform and useful way for specific, prioritized research goals. The design will include protocols for archiving and disseminating data from the Long Term Hydrologic Observatories (LTHOs), and comprehensive modeling experiments. Hydrology has a rich tradition of mathematical and statistical modeling of processes. However, given limited data and access to it, and a narrow focus that has not exploited connections to climatic and ecologic processes (among others), there have been only a few forays into diagnostic analyses of hydrologic fields, to identify and evaluate spatial and process teleconnections and an appropriate reduced space for modeling and understanding systems. The HIS initiative consequently proposes an investment in research and the provision of toolboxes to facilitate such analyses using the data

The role of hydrology in water resources management

Science.gov (United States)

Shamir, U.

2011-12-01

Modern water resources management developed as a branch of science based engineering since the landmark publication of Mass et al. (1962&1967) which emerged from the Harvard Water Program. Clearly, water was managed much earlier, in fact since the early days of civilization, as evidenced by the publication of Vitruvius on architecture in the 1st Century BC, but the 1950s marked the advent of modeling enabled by computers, which transformed the field we call Water Resources Management (WRM). Since then, thousands of papers have been published and thousands of decisions and projects have been aided by WRM methodologies and model results. This presentation is not an historical review of water resources management, although it appears in a session titled The Evolution of WRM Paradigms. Instead, it is an attempt to discuss the role of hydrology as a feeder of information for the management domain. The issues faced by hydrologists who work to serve and support WRM will be discussed and elucidated by case studies. For hydrologists, some of the important points in this regard are: - Planning, design and operation are three interconnected "layers" of WRM. Planning is where the sources and consumers are identified, the overall "architecture" of a proposed system is laid out, including its topology and connectivity. Design is where sizes of facilities are fixed. Operational policy determines the operation of the system under a selected forecasted set of typical and/or critical conditions, while real-time operation means setting the operational variables for a defined time period ahead (hour, day, week, month, year). The three "layers" are inter-connected and inter-dependent, but still can be addressed differently. - Hydrological data of different types are required, according to the management issue being addressed. They range from short term now-casting/forecasting for real-time operation and response, e.g., for flood protection, to long-term time probabilistic series and

Cyberinfrastructure to Support Collaborative and Reproducible Computational Hydrologic Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Goodall, J. L.; Castronova, A. M.; Bandaragoda, C.; Morsy, M. M.; Sadler, J. M.; Essawy, B.; Tarboton, D. G.; Malik, T.; Nijssen, B.; Clark, M. P.; Liu, Y.; Wang, S. W.

2017-12-01

Creating cyberinfrastructure to support reproducibility of computational hydrologic models is an important research challenge. Addressing this challenge requires open and reusable code and data with machine and human readable metadata, organized in ways that allow others to replicate results and verify published findings. Specific digital objects that must be tracked for reproducible computational hydrologic modeling include (1) raw initial datasets, (2) data processing scripts used to clean and organize the data, (3) processed model inputs, (4) model results, and (5) the model code with an itemization of all software dependencies and computational requirements. HydroShare is a cyberinfrastructure under active development designed to help users store, share, and publish digital research products in order to improve reproducibility in computational hydrology, with an architecture supporting hydrologic-specific resource metadata. Researchers can upload data required for modeling, add hydrology-specific metadata to these resources, and use the data directly within HydroShare.org for collaborative modeling using tools like CyberGIS, Sciunit-CLI, and JupyterHub that have been integrated with HydroShare to run models using notebooks, Docker containers, and cloud resources. Current research aims to implement the Structure For Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA) hydrologic model within HydroShare to support hypothesis-driven hydrologic modeling while also taking advantage of the HydroShare cyberinfrastructure. The goal of this integration is to create the cyberinfrastructure that supports hypothesis-driven model experimentation, education, and training efforts by lowering barriers to entry, reducing the time spent on informatics technology and software development, and supporting collaborative research within and across research groups.

Arid Zone Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Arid zone hydrology encompasses a wide range of topics and hydro-meteorological and ecological characteristics. Although arid and semi-arid watersheds perform the same functions as those in humid environments, their hydrology and sediment transport characteristics cannot be readily predicted by inf...

Wildfire and aspect effects on hydrologic states after the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire

Science.gov (United States)

Ebel, Brian A.

2013-01-01

Wildfire can change how soils take in, store, and release water. This study examined differences in how burned and unburned plots on north versus south-facing slope aspects respond to rainfall. The largest wildfire impacts were litter/duff combustion on burned north-facing slopes versus soil-water retention reduction on burned south-facing slopes.Wildfire is one of the most significant disturbances in mountainous landscapes, affecting water supply and ecologic function and setting the stage for natural hazards such as flash floods. The impacts of wildfire can affect the entire hydrologic cycle. Measurements of soil-water content and matric potential in the near surface (top 30 cm) captured the hydrologic state in both burned and unburned hillslopes during the first spring through fall period (1 June–1 Oct. 2011) after the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder, CO. This time span included different hydrologic periods characterized by cyclonic frontal storms (low-intensity, long duration), convective storms (high-intensity, short duration), and dry periods. In mountainous environments, aspect can also control hydrologic states, so north- vs. south-facing slopes were compared. Wildfire tended to homogenize soil-water contents across aspects and with depth in the soil, yet it also may have introduced an aspect control on matric potential that was not observed in unburned soils. Post-wildfire changes in hydrologic state were observed in south-facing soils, probably reflecting decreased soil-water retention after wildfire. North-facing soils were impacted the most, in terms of hydrologic state, by the loss of water storage in the combusted litter–duff layer and forest canopy, which had provided a large “hydrologic buffering” capacity when unburned. Unsaturated zone measurements showed increased variability in hydrologic states and more rapid state transitions in wildfire-impacted soils. A simple, qualitative analysis suggested that the range of unsaturated

Relation of MODIS EVI and LAI across time, vegetation types and hydrological regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Alexandridis, Thomas; Ovakoglou, George

2015-04-01

Estimation of the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of a landscape is considered important to describe the ecosystems activity and is used as an important input parameter in hydrological and biogeochemical models related to water and carbon cycle, desertification risk, etc. The measurement of LAI in the field is a laborious and costly process and is mainly done by indirect methods, such as hemispherical photographs that are processed by specialized software. For this reason there have been several attempts to estimate LAI with multispectral satellite images, using theoretical biomass development models, or empirical equations using vegetation indices and land cover maps. The aim of this work is to study the relation of MODIS EVI and LAI across time, vegetation type, and hydrological regime. This was achieved by studying 120 maps of EVI and LAI which cover a hydrological year and five hydrologically diverse areas: river Nestos in Greece, Queimados catchment in Brazil, Rijnland catchment in The Netherlands, river Tamega in Portugal, and river Umbeluzi in Mozambique. The following Terra MODIS composite datasets were downloaded for the hydrological year 2012-2013: MOD13A2 "Vegetation Indices" and MCD15A2 "LAI and FPAR", as well as the equivalent quality information layers (QA). All the pixels that fall in a vegetation land cover (according to the MERIS GLOBCOVER map) were sampled for the analysis, with the exception of those that fell at the border between two vegetation or other land cover categories, to avoid the influence of mixed pixels. Using linear regression analysis, the relationship between EVI and LAI was identified per date, vegetation type and study area. Results show that vegetation type has the highest influence in the variation of the relationship between EVI and LAI in each study area. The coefficient of determination (R2) is high and statistically significant (ranging from 0.41 to 0.83 in 90% of the cases). When plotting the EVI factor from the regression equation

Voc enhancement of a solar cell with doped Li+-PbS as the active layer

Science.gov (United States)

Chávez Portillo, M.; Alvarado Pulido, J.; Gallardo Hernández, S.; Soto Cruz, B. S.; Alcántara Iniesta, S.; Gutiérrez Pérez, R.; Portillo Moreno, O.

2018-06-01

In this report, we investigate the fabrication of solar cells obtained by chemical bath technique, based on CdS as window layer and PbS and PbS-Li+-doped as the active layer. We report open-circuit-voltage Voc values of ∼392 meV for PbS and ∼630 meV for PbSLi+-doped, a remarkable enhanced in the open circuit voltage is shown for solar cells with doped active layer. Li+ ion passivate the dangling bonds in PbS-metal layer interface in consequence reducing the recombination centers.

Scaling Hydrologic Processes in Boreal Forest Stands: New Eco-hydrological Perspectives or Deja vu?

Science.gov (United States)

Silins, U.; Lieffers, V. J.; Landhausser, S. M.; Mendoza, C. A.; Devito, K. J.; Petrone, R. M.; Gan, T. Y.

2006-12-01

The leaf area of forest canopies is both main attribute of stands controlling water balance through transpiration and interception, and "engine" driving stand growth, stand dynamics, and forest succession. While transpiration and interception dynamics are classic themes in forest hydrology, we present results from our eco-hydrological research on boreal trees to highlight how more recent eco-physiological insights into species specific controls over water use and leaf area such as hydraulic architecture, cavitation, sapwood-leaf area relationships, and root system controls over water uptake are providing new insights into integrated atmospheric-autecological controls over these hydrologic processes. These results are discussed in the context of newer eco-hydrological frameworks which may serve to aid in exploring how forest disturbance and subsequent trajectories of hydrologic recovery are likely to affect both forest growth dynamics and hydrology of forested landscapes in response to forest management, severe forest pest epidemics such as the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in Western Canada, and climate change.

On-line and precise measurement of iron wear using thin layer activation reactions by proton beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosako, Toshiso; Nishimura, Kazuo.

1990-01-01

For the purpose of the on-line measurement of iron wear, thin layer activation (TLA) method or surface layer activation (SLA) method has been carried out since early 1970s. This method uses the irradiation of charged particle beam like protons from an accelerator onto a metal surface to produce a thin activated layer of several tens μm. The wear of this activated layer is measured by nondestructive on-line method with a radiation detector. There are two methods of the measurement. One is the activity loss measurement on the surface, and the other is the activity measurement of the metal debris collected in a filter. The former method is considered here. The purpose it to measure the wear of engine cam noses to help the development of good engine oil. Proton beam irradiation with a tandem van de Graaff accelerator, wear calibration using a gamma ray spectrometer, on-line wear measurement of cam noses of car engines by TLA method and so on are reported. The 7.00 MeV proton beam from a van de Graaff accelerator was used for activation, and Co-56, Co-57 and Co-58 were obtained in thin layers. (K.I.)

Isotope hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drost, W.

1978-01-01

The International Symposium on Isotope Hydrology was jointly organized by the IAEA and UNESCO, in co-operation with the National Committee of the Federal Republic of Germany for the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the Gesellschaft fuer Strahlen- und Umweltforschung mbH (GSF). Upon the invitation of the Federal Republic of Germany the Symposium was held from 19-23 June 1978 in Neuherberg on the GSF campus. The Symposium was officially opened by Mr. S. Eklund, Director General of the IAEA. The symposium - the fifth meeting held on isotope hydrology - was attended by over 160 participants from 44 countries and four international organizations and by about 30 observers from the Federal Republic of Germany. Due to the absence of scientists from the USSR five papers were cancelled and therefore only 46 papers of the original programme were presented in ten sessions

Geophysical Monitoring of Hydrological and Biogeochemical Transformations associated with Cr(VI) Bioremediation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubbard, Susan; Williams, Kenneth H.; Conrad, Mark E.; Faybishenko, Boris; Peterson, John; Chen, Jinsong; Long, Philip E.; Hazen, Terry C.

2008-01-01

Understanding how hydrological and biogeochemical properties change over space and time in response to remedial treatments is hindered by our ability to monitor these processes with sufficient resolution and over field relevant scales. Here, we explored the use of geophysical approaches for monitoring the spatiotemporal distribution of hydrological and biogeochemical transformations associated with a Cr(VI)bioremediation experiment performed at Hanford, WA. We first integrated hydrological wellbore and geophysical tomographic datasets to estimate hydrological zonation at the study site. Using results from laboratory biogeophysical experiments and constraints provided by field geochemical datasets, we then interpreted time-lapse seismic and radar tomographic datasets, collected during thirteen acquisition campaigns over a three year experimental period, in terms of hydrological and biogeochemical transformations. The geophysical monitoring datasets were used to infer: the spatial distribution of injected electron donor; the evolution of gas bubbles; variations in total dissolved solids (nitrate and sulfate) as a function of pumping activity; the formation of precipitates and dissolution of calcites; and concomitant changes in porosity. Although qualitative in nature, the integrated interpretation illustrates how geophysical techniques have the potential to provide a wealth of information about coupled hydrobiogeochemical responses to remedial treatments in high spatial resolution and in a minimally invasive manner. Particularly novel aspects of our study include the use of multiple lines of evidence to constrain the interpretation of a long-term, field-scale geophysical monitoring dataset and the interpretation of the transformations as a function of hydrological heterogeneity and pumping activity

Enhanced biogeochemical cycling and subsequent reduction of hydraulic conductivity associated with soil-layer interfaces in the vadose zone

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, David J.; McGuire, Jennifer T.; Mohanty, Binayak P.

2013-01-01

Biogeochemical dynamics in the vadose zone are poorly understood due to the transient nature of chemical and hydrologic conditions, but are nonetheless critical to understanding chemical fate and transport. This study explored the effects of a soil layer on linked geochemical, hydrological, and microbiological processes. Three laboratory soil columns were constructed: a homogenized medium-grained sand, a homogenized organic-rich loam, and a sand-over-loam layered column. Upward and downward infiltration of water was evaluated during experiments to simulate rising water table and rainfall events respectively. In-situ collocated probes measured soil water content, matric potential, and Eh while water samples collected from the same locations were analyzed for Br−, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, NH4+, Fe2+, and total sulfide. Compared to homogenous columns, the presence of a soil layer altered the biogeochemistry and water flow of the system considerably. Enhanced biogeochemical cycling was observed in the layered column over the texturally homogeneous soil columns. Enumerations of iron and sulfate reducing bacteria showed 1-2 orders of magnitude greater community numbers in the layered column. Mineral and soil aggregate composites were most abundant near the soil-layer interface; the presence of which, likely contributed to an observed order-of-magnitude decrease in hydraulic conductivity. These findings show that quantifying coupled hydrologic-biogeochemical processes occurring at small-scale soil interfaces is critical to accurately describing and predicting chemical changes at the larger system scale. Findings also provide justification for considering soil layering in contaminant fate and transport models because of its potential to increase biodegradation and/or slow the rate of transport of contaminants. PMID:22031578

Observation of nanometer-sized electro-active defects in insulating layers by fluorescence microscopy and electrochemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Renault, Christophe; Marchuk, Kyle; Ahn, Hyun S; Titus, Eric J; Kim, Jiyeon; Willets, Katherine A; Bard, Allen J

2015-06-02

We report a method to study electro-active defects in passivated electrodes. This method couples fluorescence microscopy and electrochemistry to localize and size electro-active defects. The method was validated by comparison with a scanning probe technique, scanning electrochemical microscopy. We used our method for studying electro-active defects in thin TiO2 layers electrodeposited on 25 μm diameter Pt ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs). The permeability of the TiO2 layer was estimated by measuring the oxidation of ferrocenemethanol at the UME. Blocking of current ranging from 91.4 to 99.8% was achieved. Electro-active defects with an average radius ranging between 9 and 90 nm were observed in these TiO2 blocking layers. The distribution of electro-active defects over the TiO2 layer is highly inhomogeneous and the number of electro-active defect increases for lower degree of current blocking. The interest of the proposed technique is the possibility to quickly (less than 15 min) image samples as large as several hundreds of μm(2) while being able to detect electro-active defects of only a few tens of nm in radius.

Murein Hydrolase Activity in the Surface Layer of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356▿

OpenAIRE

Prado Acosta, Mariano; Palomino, María Mercedes; Allievi, Mariana C.; Rivas, Carmen Sanchez; Ruzal, Sandra M.

2008-01-01

We describe a new enzymatic functionality for the surface layer (S-layer) of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356, namely, an endopeptidase activity against the cell wall of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport, assayed via zymograms and identified by Western blotting. Based on amino acid sequence comparisons, the hydrolase activity was predicted to be located at the C terminus. Subsequent cloning and expression of the C-terminal domain in Bacillus subtilis resulted in the functional verificati...

Contributions to hydrological tracer methods and their application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-04-01

The activities of the Institut fuer Radiohydrometrie of the GSF are mainly devoted to the field of environmental research studying the quality, use and protection from pollution of drinking water which has become scarce in many parts of the world. The knowledge and experience of a variety of scientific disciplines are combined to the common task of developing new tracer methods and selecting suitable hydrogeological methods to allow quantitative studies of the hydrological cycle, from rainfall to surface or sub-surface run-off. The tracers used in these studies are for the most part stable, natural radioisotopes occurring in the hydrological cycle, as well as fluorescent dyes or radionuclides for water labelling. The contributions collected in this volume are grouped according to the above outline of tasks and present a survey of current methods and measurements, illustrating their efficiency in solving hydrological problems. (orig./RW) [de

Hydrological modelling over different scales on the edge of the permafrost zone: approaching model realism based on experimentalists' knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Nesterova, Natalia; Makarieva, Olga; Lebedeva, Lyudmila

2017-04-01

Quantitative and qualitative experimentalists' data helps to advance both understanding of the runoff generation and modelling strategies. There is significant lack of such information for the dynamic and vulnerable cold regions. The aim of the study is to make use of historically collected experimental hydrological data for modelling poorly-gauged river basins on larger scales near the southern margin of the permafrost zone in Eastern Siberia. Experimental study site "Mogot" includes the Nelka river (30.8 km2) and its three tributaries with watersheds area from 2 to 5.8 km2. It is located in the upper elevated (500 - 1500 m a.s.l.) part of the Amur River basin. Mean annual temperature and precipitation are -7.5°C and 555 mm respectively. Top of the mountains with weak vegetation has well drained soil that prevents any water accumulation. Larch forest on the northern slopes has thick organic layer. It causes shallow active layer and relatively small subsurface water storage. Soil in the southern slopes has thinner organic layer and thaws up to 1.6 m depth. Flood plains are the wettest landscape with highest water storage capacity. Measured monthly evaporation varies from 9 to 100 mm through the year. Experimental data shows importance of air temperature and precipitation changes with the elevation. Their gradient was taken into account for hydrological simulations. Model parameterization was developed according to available quantitative and qualitative data in the Mogot station. The process-based hydrological Hydrograph model was used in the study. It explicitly describes hydrological processes in different permafrost environments. Flexibility of the Hydrograph model allows take advantage from the experimental data for model set-up. The model uses basic meteorological data as input. The level of model complexity is suitable for a remote, sparsely gauged region such as Southern Siberia as it allows for a priori assessment of the model parameters. Model simulation

Annual dynamics within the active layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

We have continued our meteorological and hydrologic data collection in support of our process-oriented research. The six years of data collected to date is unique in its scope and continuity in a North Hemisphere Arctic setting. This valuable data base has allowed us to further our understanding of the interconnections and interactions between the atmosphere/hydrosphere/biosphere/lithosphere. The increased understanding of the heat and mass transfer processes has allowed us to increase our model-oriented research efforts. Examples of applications are the following. (1) Spring snowmelt on the North Slope of Alaska is the dominant hydrologic event of the year. This event provides most of the moisture for use by vegetation in the spring and early summer period. The mechanisms and timing of snowmelt are important factors in predicting runoff, the migrations of birds and large mammals and the diversity of plant communities. It is important globally due to the radical and abrupt change in the surface energy balance over vast areas. (2) We were able to explore the trends and differences in the snowmelt process along a transect from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Coastal plain. Snowpack ablation was monitored at three sites. These data were analyzed along with meteorologic data at each site. The initiation of ablation was site specific being largely controlled by the complementary addition of energy from radiation and sensible heat flux

HESS Opinions "The art of hydrology"

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Savenije, H.H.G.

2008-01-01

Hydrological modelling is the same as developing and encoding a hydrological theory. A hydrological model is not a tool but a hypothesis. The whole discussion about the inadequacy of hydrological models we have witnessed of late, is related to the wrong concept of what a model is. Good models don't

Geospatial technology applications in forest hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

S.S. Panda; E. Masson; S. Sen; H.W. Kim; Devendra Amatya

2016-01-01

Two separate disciplines, hydrology and forestry, together constitute forest hydrology. It is obvious that forestry and forest hydrology disciplines are spatial entities. Forestry is the science that seeks to understand the nature of forests throygh their life cycle and interactions with the surrounding environment. Forest hydrology includes forest soil water, streams...

Wetland Hydrology | Science Inventory | US EPA

Science.gov (United States)

This chapter discusses the state of the science in wetland hydrology by touching upon the major hydraulic and hydrologic processes in these complex ecosystems, their measurement/estimation techniques, and modeling methods. It starts with the definition of wetlands, their benefits and types, and explains the role and importance of hydrology on wetland functioning. The chapter continues with the description of wetland hydrologic terms and related estimation and modeling techniques. The chapter provides a quick but valuable information regarding hydraulics of surface and subsurface flow, groundwater seepage/discharge, and modeling groundwater/surface water interactions in wetlands. Because of the aggregated effects of the wetlands at larger scales and their ecosystem services, wetland hydrology at the watershed scale is also discussed in which we elaborate on the proficiencies of some of the well-known watershed models in modeling wetland hydrology. This chapter can serve as a useful reference for eco-hydrologists, wetland researchers and decision makers as well as watershed hydrology modelers. In this chapter, the importance of hydrology for wetlands and their functional role are discussed. Wetland hydrologic terms and the major components of water budget in wetlands and how they can be estimated/modeled are also presented. Although this chapter does not provide a comprehensive coverage of wetland hydrology, it provides a quick understanding of the basic co

HYDROLOGY, CALHOUN COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, DOUGLAS COUNTY, MINNESOTA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, NESHOBA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, LEFLORE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, NEWTON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

Weber County Hydrology Report

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, LEAKE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, CHISAGO COUNTY, MN

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, HOUSTON COUNTY, ALABAMA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating ALood discharges for a ALood Insurance...

HYDROLOGY, WAYNE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

Hydrology, OCONEE COUNTY, SC

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, SUNFLOWER COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, OSCEOLA COUNTY, FL

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, STEARNS COUNTY, MN

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, TIPPAH COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, Lawrence County, ARKANSAS

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a Flood Insurance...

HYDROLOGY, Allegheny County, PA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a Flood Insurance...

HYDROLOGY, SIMPSON COUNTY, MS

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, CLAIBORNE COUNTY, MS

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, LAFAYETTE COUNTY, MS

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, Yazoo COUNTY, MS

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, GILCHRIST COUNTY, FL

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, GLADES COUNTY, FLORIDA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a Flood Insurance...

HYDROLOGY, LEE COUNTY, TEXAS

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a Flood Insurance...

HYDROLOGY, GREENE County, ARKANSAS

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a Flood Insurance...

Curricula and Syllabi in Hydrology.

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United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France).

This collection of papers is intended to provide a means for the exchange of information on hydrological techniques and for the coordination of research and data collection. The objectives and trends in hydrological education are presented. The International Hydrological Decade (IHD) Working Group on Education recommends a series of topics that…

Biological characteristics of the hydrological landscapes in the Bay of Biscay in spring 2009

KAUST Repository

Lezama-Ochoa, Ainhoa; Grados, Daniel; Lebourges-Dhaussy, Anne; Irigoien, Xabier; Chaigneau, Alexis; Bertrand, Arnaud

2015-01-01

In the present study we investigated the biogeography of macrozooplankton and fish biomass in the Bay of Biscay. In this region, we defined six different landscapes based on the hydrogeographical characteristics observed in spring 2009. We then related landscape's characteristics and environmental parameters such as light attenuation depth and chlorophyll-a with macrozooplankton and fish acoustic biomass. Hydrodynamic structures together with coastal influences (river discharges, predation pressure and depth preference) and vertical thermohaline structure/mixing (feeding modes and ability to stay in preferred layers) appeared as the main factors determining the biological distribution. Besides, variance partitioning was used to assess the respective roles played by the hydrological environment, the geographical space and the biological environment alone, and their interactions. Results revealed that: (i) macrozooplankton and fish have a preference for different hydrogeographical landscapes; (ii) the association between hydrological conditions and geographical features, i.e. the spatial structure of the hydrological environment, plays a key role in the distribution of macrozooplankton; and (iii) prey-predator relationships have to be taken into account to provide a comprehensive characterization of habitat suitability.

Biological characteristics of the hydrological landscapes in the Bay of Biscay in spring 2009

KAUST Repository

Lezama-Ochoa, Ainhoa

2015-01-01

In the present study we investigated the biogeography of macrozooplankton and fish biomass in the Bay of Biscay. In this region, we defined six different landscapes based on the hydrogeographical characteristics observed in spring 2009. We then related landscape\\'s characteristics and environmental parameters such as light attenuation depth and chlorophyll-a with macrozooplankton and fish acoustic biomass. Hydrodynamic structures together with coastal influences (river discharges, predation pressure and depth preference) and vertical thermohaline structure/mixing (feeding modes and ability to stay in preferred layers) appeared as the main factors determining the biological distribution. Besides, variance partitioning was used to assess the respective roles played by the hydrological environment, the geographical space and the biological environment alone, and their interactions. Results revealed that: (i) macrozooplankton and fish have a preference for different hydrogeographical landscapes; (ii) the association between hydrological conditions and geographical features, i.e. the spatial structure of the hydrological environment, plays a key role in the distribution of macrozooplankton; and (iii) prey-predator relationships have to be taken into account to provide a comprehensive characterization of habitat suitability.

Methodological approach for evaluating the response of soil hydrological behavior to irrigation with treated municipal wastewater

Science.gov (United States)

Coppola, A.; Santini, A.; Botti, P.; Vacca, S.; Comegna, V.; Severino, G.

2004-06-01

This paper aims mainly to provide experimental evidence of the consequences of urban wastewater reuse in irrigation practices on the hydrological behavior of soils. The effects on both the hydraulic and dispersive properties of representative soils in southern Sardinia are illustrated. Ten undisturbed soil monoliths, 120 cm in height and 40 cm in diameter, were collected from plots previously selected through a soil survey. Soil hydraulic and solute transport properties were determined before and after application of wastewater using transient water infiltration and steady state-solute transport column experiments. Detailed spatial-temporal information on the propagation of water and solute through the soil profiles were obtained by monitoring soil water contents, θ, pressure heads, h, and solute concentrations, C, measured by a network of time domain reflectometry probes, tensiometers and solution samplers horizontally inserted in each column at different depths. A disturbed layer at the soil surface, which expands in depth with time, was observed, characterized by reduced soil porosity, translation of pore size distribution towards narrower pores and consequent decrease in water retention, hydraulic conductivity and hydrodynamic dispersion. It is shown that these changes occurring in the disturbed soil layer, although local by nature, affect the hydrological behavior of the whole soil profile. Due to the disturbed layer formation, the soil beneath never saturates. Such behavior has important consequences on the solute transport in soils, as unsaturated conditions mean higher residence times of solutes, even of those normally characterized by considerable mobility (e.g. boron), which may accumulate along the profile. The results mainly provide experimental evidence that knowledge of the chemical and microbiological composition of the water is not sufficient to evaluate its suitability for irrigation. Other factors, mainly soil physical and hydrological

Communicating uncertainty in hydrological forecasts: mission impossible?

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Maria-Helena; Mathevet, Thibault; Thielen, Jutta; Pappenberger, Florian

2010-05-01

Cascading uncertainty in meteo-hydrological modelling chains for forecasting and integrated flood risk assessment is an essential step to improve the quality of hydrological forecasts. Although the best methodology to quantify the total predictive uncertainty in hydrology is still debated, there is a common agreement that one must avoid uncertainty misrepresentation and miscommunication, as well as misinterpretation of information by users. Several recent studies point out that uncertainty, when properly explained and defined, is no longer unwelcome among emergence response organizations, users of flood risk information and the general public. However, efficient communication of uncertain hydro-meteorological forecasts is far from being a resolved issue. This study focuses on the interpretation and communication of uncertain hydrological forecasts based on (uncertain) meteorological forecasts and (uncertain) rainfall-runoff modelling approaches to decision-makers such as operational hydrologists and water managers in charge of flood warning and scenario-based reservoir operation. An overview of the typical flow of uncertainties and risk-based decisions in hydrological forecasting systems is presented. The challenges related to the extraction of meaningful information from probabilistic forecasts and the test of its usefulness in assisting operational flood forecasting are illustrated with the help of two case-studies: 1) a study on the use and communication of probabilistic flood forecasting within the European Flood Alert System; 2) a case-study on the use of probabilistic forecasts by operational forecasters from the hydroelectricity company EDF in France. These examples show that attention must be paid to initiatives that promote or reinforce the active participation of expert forecasters in the forecasting chain. The practice of face-to-face forecast briefings, focusing on sharing how forecasters interpret, describe and perceive the model output forecasted

Neutron activation analysis of baths forming conversion layer on aluminium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szilagyi, Istvan; Maleczki, Emil; Bodizs, Denes

1988-01-01

Chromate layers were formed on the surface of aluminium using yellow and green chromating solutions. For the determination of the aluminium content neutron activation method was used. Nuclear effects disturbing the determination were eliminated by double irradiation technique. (author) 8 refs.; 4 figs

Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Sharp, John M.

1977-01-01

Lists many recent research projects in hydrology, including flow in fractured media, improvements in remote-sensing techniques, effects of urbanization on water resources, and developments in drainage basins. (MLH)

Protection of hydrological heritage sites of Serbia: Problems and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simić Sava

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Protection of hydrological heritage sites, water protection segment, is an integral part of nature conservation. Today it is the basic theme of the hydrological heritage, the new field of hydrology and geo-heritage, which, by exploring and evaluating hydrological diversity of a particular area and identifying representative water phenomena, sets their preservation and protection as one of the utmost objectives. Two main problems in the protection of water phenomena in Serbia are: inadequate attitude of the individual and society, as a result of poor knowledge of the characteristics and values of waters, and the ever-present need for men to use them (as resources. Lack of understanding, in the professional sphere, the value and importance of water phenomena in the natural system - as a result of a firmly based biocentrism in nature conservation, lack of hydrologic group within the geo-heritage and a small number of interested professionals are some of the associated problems that limit the activities in this field. Specific problems - from the lack of organized and synchronized scientific research to the lack of a database on the hydrological heritage sites, are somewhat common to other segments of the nature conservation of Serbia. There are three possible directions of the future actions on the protection of hydrological heritage sites of Serbia: complete protection, protection with utilization for the needs of tourism and protection with utilization for the needs of water management. The most complex task of hydrological heritage will just be to combine the preservation and protection with tourism and water management, because it is diverse and often conflicting industries about. A possible solution to this problem is illustrated through the idea of water reserves.

Highly sensitive multi-layer pressure sensor with an active nanostructured layer of an organic molecular metal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laukhin, V; Lebedev, V; Laukhina, E; Rovira, C; Veciana, J

2016-01-01

This work addresses to the modern technologies that need to be instrumented with lightweight highly sensitive pressure sensors. The paper presents the development of a new plain flexible thin pressure sensor using a nanostructured layer of the highly sensitive organic piezoresistive metal β-(BEDT-TTF) 2 I 3 as an active component; BEDT-TTF=bis (ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene. The original construction approach permits one to operate the developed sensor on the principle of electrical resistance variations when its piezoresistive layer is elongated under a pressure increase. The pressure sensing element and a set of gold electrodes were integrated into one compact multi-layer design. The construction was optimized to enable one generic design for pressure ranges from 1 to 400 bar. The pressure tests showed that the sensor is able to control a small pressure change as a well definite electrical signal. So the developed type of the sensors is very attractive as a new generation of compact, lightweight, low-cost sensors that might monitor pressure with a good level of measurement accuracy. (paper)

30 CFR 816.47 - Hydrologic balance: Discharge structures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.47 Hydrologic balance: Discharge structures. Discharge from sedimentation... shall be controlled, by energy dissipators, riprap channels, and other devices, where necessary, to reduce erosion, to prevent deepening or enlargement of stream channels, and to minimize disturbance of...

30 CFR 817.47 - Hydrologic balance: Discharge structures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.47 Hydrologic balance: Discharge structures. Discharge from sedimentation... shall be controlled, by energy dissipators, riprap channels, and other devices, where necessary, to reduce erosion, to prevent deepening or enlargement of stream channels, and to minimize disturbance of...

Enhanced photocurrent density in graphene/Si based solar cell (GSSC) by optimizing active layer thickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosikhin, Ahmad; Hidayat, Aulia Fikri; Syuhada, Ibnu; Winata, Toto

2015-01-01

Thickness dependent photocurrent density in active layer of graphene/Si based solar cell has been investigated via analytical – simulation study. This report is a preliminary comparison of experimental and analytical investigation of graphene/Si based solar cell. Graphene sheet was interfaced with Si thin film forming heterojunction solar cell that was treated as a device model for photocurrent generator. Such current can be enhanced by optimizing active layer thickness and involving metal oxide as supporting layer to shift photons absorption. In this case there are two type of devices model with and without TiO 2 in which the silicon thickness varied at 20 – 100 nm. All of them have examined and also compared with each other to obtain an optimum value. From this calculation it found that generated currents almost linear with thickness but there are saturated conditions that no more enhancements will be achieved. Furthermore TiO 2 layer is effectively increases photon absorption but reducing device stability, maximum current is fluctuates enough. This may caused by the disturbance of excitons diffusion and resistivity inside each layer. Finally by controlling active layer thickness, it is quite useful to estimate optimization in order to develop the next solar cell devices

Enhanced photocurrent density in graphene/Si based solar cell (GSSC) by optimizing active layer thickness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosikhin, Ahmad, E-mail: a.rosikhin86@yahoo.co.id; Hidayat, Aulia Fikri; Syuhada, Ibnu; Winata, Toto, E-mail: toto@fi.itb.ac.id [Department of physics, physics of electronic materials research division Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Jawa Barat – Indonesia (Indonesia)

2015-12-29

Thickness dependent photocurrent density in active layer of graphene/Si based solar cell has been investigated via analytical – simulation study. This report is a preliminary comparison of experimental and analytical investigation of graphene/Si based solar cell. Graphene sheet was interfaced with Si thin film forming heterojunction solar cell that was treated as a device model for photocurrent generator. Such current can be enhanced by optimizing active layer thickness and involving metal oxide as supporting layer to shift photons absorption. In this case there are two type of devices model with and without TiO{sub 2} in which the silicon thickness varied at 20 – 100 nm. All of them have examined and also compared with each other to obtain an optimum value. From this calculation it found that generated currents almost linear with thickness but there are saturated conditions that no more enhancements will be achieved. Furthermore TiO{sub 2} layer is effectively increases photon absorption but reducing device stability, maximum current is fluctuates enough. This may caused by the disturbance of excitons diffusion and resistivity inside each layer. Finally by controlling active layer thickness, it is quite useful to estimate optimization in order to develop the next solar cell devices.

Hydrologic testing in wells near the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, G.S.; Olsen, J.H.; Ralston, D.R.

1994-01-01

The Snake River Plain aquifer beneath the INEL is often viewed as a 2-dimensional system, but may actually possess 3-dimensional properties of concern. A straddle-packer system is being used by the State's INEL Oversight Program to isolate specific aquifer intervals and define the 3-dimensional chemical and hydrologic characteristics of the aquifer. The hydrologic test results from wells USGS 44, 45, and 46 near the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant indicate that: (1) Vertical variation in static head is less than 0.3 feed, (2) barometric efficiencies are between 25 and 55 percent, and (3) the system responds to distant pumping as a multi-layered, but interconnected system. 3 refs., 7 figs., 3 tabs

Assimilation of remote sensing observations into a continuous distributed hydrological model: impacts on the hydrologic cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Laiolo, Paola; Gabellani, Simone; Campo, Lorenzo; Cenci, Luca; Silvestro, Francesco; Delogu, Fabio; Boni, Giorgio; Rudari, Roberto

2015-04-01

The reliable estimation of hydrological variables (e.g. soil moisture, evapotranspiration, surface temperature) in space and time is of fundamental importance in operational hydrology to improve the forecast of the rainfall-runoff response of catchments and, consequently, flood predictions. Nowadays remote sensing can offer a chance to provide good space-time estimates of several hydrological variables and then improve hydrological model performances especially in environments with scarce in-situ data. This work investigates the impact of the assimilation of different remote sensing products on the hydrological cycle by using a continuous physically based distributed hydrological model. Three soil moisture products derived by ASCAT (Advanced SCATterometer) are used to update the model state variables. The satellite-derived products are assimilated into the hydrological model using different assimilation techniques: a simple nudging and the Ensemble Kalman Filter. Moreover two assimilation strategies are evaluated to assess the impact of assimilating the satellite products at model spatial resolution or at the satellite scale. The experiments are carried out for three Italian catchments on multi year period. The benefits on the model predictions of discharge, LST, evapotranspiration and soil moisture dynamics are tested and discussed.

Intracortical Microstimulation (ICMS) Activates Motor Cortex Layer 5 Pyramidal Neurons Mainly Transsynaptically.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussin, Ahmed T; Boychuk, Jeffery A; Brown, Andrew R; Pittman, Quentin J; Teskey, G Campbell

2015-01-01

Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is a technique used for a number of purposes including the derivation of cortical movement representations (motor maps). Its application can activate the output layer 5 of motor cortex and can result in the elicitation of body movements depending upon the stimulus parameters used. The extent to which pyramidal tract projection neurons of the motor cortex are activated transsynaptically or directly by ICMS remains an open question. Given this uncertainty in the mode of activation, we used a preparation that combined patch clamp whole-cell recordings from single layer 5 pyramidal neurons and extracellular ICMS in slices of motor cortex as well as a standard in vivo mapping technique to ask how ICMS activated motor cortex pyramidal neurons. We measured changes in synaptic spike threshold and spiking rate to ICMS in vitro and movement threshold in vivo in the presence or absence of specific pharmacological blockers of glutamatergic (AMPA, NMDA and Kainate) receptors and GABAA receptors. With major excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission blocked (with DNQX, APV and bicuculline methiodide), we observed a significant increase in the ICMS current intensity required to elicit a movement in vivo as well as to the first spike and an 85% reduction in spiking responses in vitro. Subsets of neurons were still responsive after the synaptic block, especially at higher current intensities, suggesting a modest direct activation. Taken together our data indicate a mainly synaptic mode of activation to ICMS in layer 5 of rat motor cortex. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmental isotope hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1973-01-01

Environmental isotope hydrology is a relatively new field of investigation based on isotopic variations observed in natural waters. These isotopic characteristics have been established over a broad space and time scale. They cannot be controlled by man, but can be observed and interpreted to gain valuable regional information on the origin, turnover and transit time of water in the system which often cannot be obtained by other techniques. The cost of such investigations is usually relatively small in comparison with the cost of classical hydrological studies. The main environmental isotopes of hydrological interest are the stable isotopes deuterium (hydrogen-2), carbon-13, oxygen-18, and the radioactive isotopes tritium (hydrogen-3) and carbon-14. Isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen are ideal geochemical tracers of water because their concentrations are usually not subject to change by interaction with the aquifer material. On the other hand, carbon compounds in groundwater may interact with the aquifer material, complicating the interpretation of carbon-14 data. A few other environmental isotopes such as 32 Si and 238 U/ 234 U have been proposed recently for hydrological purposes but their use has been quite limited until now and they will not be discussed here. (author)

Conceptual hydrologic model of flow in the unsaturated zone, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montazer, P.; Wilson, W.E.

1984-01-01

The purpose of this report is to propose a conceptual hydrologic model that reasonably describes the flow of fluids through the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, for use as a basis for preliminary site-performance assessment and as a guide to further investigations. Scott and others (1983) presented an initial conceptual hydrogeologic model for the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain, based on detailed geologic, but very limited hydrologic, information. In this report, some of their concepts are examined and either supported or modified, and new concepts are developed. The model describes the manner in which flow probably occurs at Yucca Mountain and is based on: (1) current understanding of the hydrogeologic framework; (2) application of the principles of unsaturated flow; and (3) interpretation of some preliminary data from ongoing field and laboratory investigations. Included are extensive geologic information but relatively few hydrologic data that currently exist from the unsaturated zone in the Yucca Mountain area. Many uncertainties remain to be resolved concerning hydrologic conditions and processes. As a result, most of the concepts presented are intentionally descriptive and conjectural, with little quantitative basis provided. However, for the sake of directness and simplicity of expression, the model is presented as if it were a true expression of the facts. The authors recognize, and the reader should be aware, that the proposed model probably is not the only reasonable description that could be made at this point, and it certainly is subject to revision and quantification as more data become available. Although various alternative models probably could be developed, the one described in this report seems to fit current understanding of the unsaturated flow through a section of layered, fractured-rock formations with contrasting hydrologic properties, such as occurs at Yucca Mountain. 41 refs., 14 figs., 1 tab

Research of acceptor impurity thermal activation in GaN: Mg epitaxial layers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandr V. Mazalov

2016-06-01

The effect of thermal annealing of GaN:Mg layers on acceptor impurity activation has been investigated. Hole concentration increased and mobility decreased with an increase in thermal annealing temperature. The sample annealed at 1000 °C demonstrated the lowest value of resistivity. Rapid thermal annealing (annealing with high heating speed considerably improved the efficiency of Mg activation in the GaN layers. The optimum time of annealing at 1000 °C has been determined. The hole concentration increased by up to 4 times compared to specimens after conventional annealing.

Layer-by-Layer Assembly and Photocatalytic Activity of Titania Nanosheets on Coal Fly Ash Microspheres

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Cui

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In order to address the problem with titania distribution and recovery, series of Ti0.91O2/CFA photocatalysts (Ti0.91O2/CFA-n, n=2,4,6, and 8 were fabricated by assembling Ti0.91O2 nanosheets on coal fly ash (CFA microspheres via the layer-by-layer assembly (LBLA process and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD, N2-sorption, and ultraviolet-visible absorption (UV-vis techniques. The SEM images and UV-vis spectra illustrated that Ti0.91O2 nanosheets were immobilized successfully on the CFA by the LBLA approach and changed the characteristics of CFA noticeably. The photocatalytic activity of Ti0.91O2/CFA was evaluated by the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB under UV irradiation. The results demonstrated that Ti0.91O2/CFA-6 showed the best photocatalytic activity among the series of Ti0.91O2/CFA irradiated for 60 min, with a decoloration rate above 43%. After photocatalysis, the Ti0.91O2/CFA could be easily separated and recycled from aqueous solution and Ti0.91O2 nanosheets were still anchored on the CFA.

Integrated hydrologic and hydrodynamic modeling to assess water exchange in a data-scarce reservoir

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Binbin; Wang, Guoqiang; Wang, Zhonggen; Liu, Changming; Ma, Jianming

2017-12-01

Integrated hydrologic and hydrodynamic modeling is useful in evaluating hydrodynamic characteristics (e.g. water exchange processes) in data-scarce water bodies, however, most studies lack verification of the hydrologic model. Here, water exchange (represented by water age) was investigated through integrated hydrologic and hydrodynamic modeling of the Hongfeng Reservoir, a poorly gauged reservoir in southwest China. The performance of the hydrologic model and parameter replacement among sub-basins with hydrological similarity was verified by historical data. Results showed that hydrological similarity based on the hierarchical cluster analysis and topographic index probability density distribution was reliable with satisfactory performance of parameter replacement. The hydrodynamic model was verified using daily water levels and water temperatures from 2009 and 2010. The water exchange processes in the Hongfeng Reservoir are very complex with temporal, vertical, and spatial variations. The temporal water age was primarily controlled by the variable inflow and outflow, and the maximum and minimum ages for the site near the dam were 406.10 d (15th June) and 90.74 d (3rd August), respectively, in 2010. Distinct vertical differences in water age showed that surface flow, interflow, and underflow appeared alternately, depending on the season and water depth. The worst water exchange situation was found in the central areas of the North Lake with the highest water ages in the bottom on both 15th June and 3rd August, in 2010. Comparison of the spatial water ages revealed that the more favorable hydraulic conditions on 3rd August mainly improved the water exchange in the dam areas and most areas of the South Lake, but had little effect on the bottom layers of the other deepest areas in the South and North Lakes. The presented framework can be applied in other data-scarce waterbodies worldwide to provide better understanding of water exchange processes.

A post-Cassini view of Titan's methane-based hydrologic cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Alexander G.; Lorenz, Ralph D.; Lunine, Jonathan I.

2018-05-01

The methane-based hydrologic cycle on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is an extreme analogue to Earth's water cycle. Titan is the only planetary body in the Solar System, other than Earth, that is known to have an active hydrologic cycle. With a surface pressure of 1.5 bar and temperatures of 90 to 95 K, methane and ethane condense out of a nitrogen-based atmosphere and flow as liquids on the moon's surface. Exchange processes between atmospheric, surface and subsurface reservoirs produce methane and ethane cloud systems, as well as erosional and depositional landscapes that have strikingly similar forms to their terrestrial counterparts. Over its 13-year exploration of the Saturn system, the Cassini-Huygens mission revealed that Titan's hydrocarbon-based hydrology is driven by nested methane cycles that operate over a range of timescales, including geologic, orbital (for example, Croll-Milankovitch cycles), seasonal and that of a single convective storm. In this Review Article, we describe the dominant exchange processes that operate over these timescales and present a post-Cassini view of Titan's methane-based hydrologic system.

Reference Data Layers for Earth and Environmental Science: History, Frameworks, Science Needs, Approaches, and New Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Lenhardt, W. C.

2015-12-01

Global Mapping Project, Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD), International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP), hydrology, solid earth dynamics, sedimentary geology, climate modeling, integrated assessments and so on all have needs for or have worked to develop consistently integrated data layers for Earth and environmental science. This paper will present an overview of an abstract notion of data layers of this types, what we are referring to as reference data layers for Earth and environmental science, highlight some historical examples, and delve into new approaches. The concept of reference data layers in this context combines data availability, cyberinfrastructure and data science, as well as domain science drivers. We argue that current advances in cyberinfrastructure such as iPython notebooks and integrated science processing environments such as iPlant's Discovery Environment coupled with vast arrays of new data sources warrant another look at the how to create, maintain, and provide reference data layers. The goal is to provide a context for understanding science needs for reference data layers to conduct their research. In addition, to the topics described above this presentation will also outline some of the challenges to and present some ideas for new approaches to addressing these needs. Promoting the idea of reference data layers is relevant to a number of existing related activities such as EarthCube, RDA, ESIP, the nascent NSF Regional Big Data Innovation Hubs and others.

Global hydrological droughts in the 21st century under a changing hydrological regime

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wanders, Niko|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/364253940; Wada, Yoshi|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/341387819; van Lanen, H.A.J

2015-01-01

Climate change very likely impacts future hydrological drought characteristics across the world. Here, we quantify the impact of climate change on future low flows and associated hydrological drought characteristics on a global scale using an alternative drought identification approach that

Development of a Historical Hydrological online research and application platform for Switzerland - Historical Hydrological Atlas of Switzerland (HHAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Wetter, Oliver

2017-04-01

It is planned to develop and maintain a historical hydrological online platform for Switzerland, which shall be specially designed for the needs of research and federal, cantonal or private institutions being interested in hydrological risk assessment and protection measures. The aim is on the one hand to facilitate the access to raw data which generally is needed for further historical hydrological reconstruction and quantification, so that future research will be achieved in significantly shorter time. On the other hand, new historical hydrological research results shall be continuously included in order to establish this platform as a useful tool for the assessment of hydrological risk by including the long term experience of reconstructed pre-instrumental hydrological extreme events like floods and droughts. Meteorological parameters that may trigger extreme hydrological events, like monthly or seasonally resolved reconstructions of temperature and precipitation shall be made accessible in this platform as well. The ultimate goal will be to homogenise the reconstructed hydrological extreme events which usually appeared in the pre anthropogenic influence period under different climatological as well as different hydrological regimes and topographical conditions with the present day state. Long term changes of reconstructed small- to extreme flood seasonality, based on municipal accounting records, will be included in the platform as well. This helps - in combination with the before mentioned meteorological parameters - to provide an increased understanding of the major changes in the generally complex overall system that finally causes hydrological extreme events. The goal of my presentation at the Historical Climatology session is to give an overview about the applied historical climatological and historical hydrological methodologies that are applied on the historical raw data (evidence) to reconstruct pre instrumental hydrological events and meteorological

Hydrological system dynamics of glaciated Karnali River Basin Nepal Himalaya using J2000 Hydrological model

Science.gov (United States)

Khatiwada, K. R.; Nepal, S.; Panthi, J., Sr.; Shrestha, M.

2015-12-01

Hydrological modelling plays an important role in understanding hydrological processes of a catchment. In the context of climate change, the understanding of hydrological characteristic of the catchment is very vital to understand how the climate change will affect the hydrological regime. This research facilitates in better understanding of the hydrological system dynamics of a himalayan mountainous catchment in western Nepal. The Karnali River, longest river flowing inside Nepal, is one of the three major basins of Nepal, having the area of 45269 sq. km. is unique. The basin has steep topography and high mountains to the northern side. The 40% of the basin is dominated by forest land while other land cover are: grass land, bare rocky land etc. About 2% of the areas in basin is covered by permanent glacier apart from that about 12% of basin has the snow and ice cover. There are 34 meteorological stations distributed across the basin. A process oriented distributed J2000 hydrologial model has been applied to understand the hydrological system dynamics. The model application provides distributed output of various hydrological components. The J2000 model applies Hydrological Response Unit (HRU) as a modelling entity. With 6861 HRU and 1010 reaches, the model was calibrated (1981-1999) and validated (2000-2004) at a daily scale using split-sample test. The model is able to capture the overall hydrological dynamics well. The rising limbs and recession limbs are simulated equally and with satisfactory ground water conditions. Based on the graphical and statistical evaluation of the model performance the model is able to simulate hydrological processes fairly well. Calibration shows that Nash Sutcliffe efficiency is 0.91, coefficient of determination is 0.92 Initial observation shows that during the pre-monsoon season(March to May) the glacial runoff is 25% of the total discharge while in the monsoon(June to September) season it is only 13%. The surface runoff

TREHS (Temporary Rivers Ecological and Hydrological Status): new software for investigating the degree of hydrologic alteration of temporary streams.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallart, Francesc; Llorens, Pilar; Cid, Núria; latron, Jérôme; Bonada, Núria; Prat, Narcís

2017-04-01

The evaluation of the hydrological alteration of a stream due to human activities is a first step to assess its overall quality and to design management strategies for its potential restoration. This task is currently made comparing impacted against unimpacted hydrographs, with the help of software tools, such as the IHA (Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration). Then, the environmental evaluation of the hydrological alteration is to be made in terms of its expectable menace for the original biological communities and/or its help for the spread of invasive species. However, when the regime of the target stream is not perennial, there are four main difficulties for implementing methods for assessing hydrological alteration: i) the main hydrological features relevant for biological communities in a temporary stream are not quantitative (discharges) but qualitative (temporal patterns of states such as flowing water, stagnant pools or lack of surface water), ii) stream flow records do not inform on the temporal occurrence of stagnant pools, which act as refugees for many species during the cessation of flow, iii) as most of the temporary streams are ungauged, the evaluation of their regime must be determined by using alternative methods such as remote sensing or citizen science, and iv) the biological quality assessment of the ecological status of a temporary stream must be conducted following a sampling schedule adapted to the flow regime and using adequate reference conditions. In order to overcome these challenges using an operational approach, the TREHS freely available software tool has been developed within the EU LIFE TRIVERS project (LIFE13 ENV/ES/000341). This software allows for the input of information coming from flow simulations obtained using any rainfall-runoff model (to set an unimpacted reference stream regime) and compares them with the information obtained from flow gauging records, interviews made to local citizens, instantaneous observations made by

Palaeoflood hydrology in Europe: towards a better understanding of extreme floods

Science.gov (United States)

Benito, G.; Thorndycraft, V. R.; Rico, M.; Sheffer, N.; Enzel, Y.

2003-04-01

Floods are the most common natural disasters in Europe and, in terms of economic damage, costs are increasing spectacularly with time. Flood risk assessment associated with extreme floods is difficult due to the scarcity of hydrological measurements, that rarely go beyond 1000 years, which is clearly not sufficient for flood management in urban and industrial areas. Besides the use of conventional hydrologic data, the pre-instrumental record can be completed from palaeoflood hydrology or from documentary flood information, or through the combined use of both these tools. Recent developments of palaeoflood hydrology in Europe provide (1) major improvements in flood risk assessment, and (2) a better understanding of long-term flood-climate relationships. Palaeoflood hydrology has been successfully applied in large, medium rivers as well as small ungauged mountain drainage basins. Long-term palaeoflood records from Spain and France show that recent extraordinary flooding (causing huge economic damages) are not the largest ones, but that similar or even greater floods occurred several times in the past. In addition, clusters of floods coinciding in time at several European rivers point out to climatic factors as responsible mechanisms, although in recent time flood magnitude can be magnified by increasing human activity.

Hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obando G, E.

1989-01-01

Isotopical techniques are used in hydrology area for exploration, evaluation and exploration of water investigation. These techniques have been used successfully and are often the best or only means for providing certain hydrogeological parameters

OHD/HL - National Weather Hydrology Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Laboratory Branches Hydrologic Software Engineering Branch (HSEB) Hydrologic Science and Modeling Branch enter or select the go button to submit request City, St Go Science Research and Collaboration Hydrology Subversion Usage Guidelines updated 11/18/2008 Other Documents Science Algorithm Description Document (doc

Five Guidelines for Selecting Hydrological Signatures

Science.gov (United States)

McMillan, H. K.; Westerberg, I.; Branger, F.

2017-12-01

Hydrological signatures are index values derived from observed or modeled series of hydrological data such as rainfall, flow or soil moisture. They are designed to extract relevant information about hydrological behavior, such as to identify dominant processes, and to determine the strength, speed and spatiotemporal variability of the rainfall-runoff response. Hydrological signatures play an important role in model evaluation. They allow us to test whether particular model structures or parameter sets accurately reproduce the runoff generation processes within the watershed of interest. Most modeling studies use a selection of different signatures to capture different aspects of the catchment response, for example evaluating overall flow distribution as well as high and low flow extremes and flow timing. Such studies often choose their own set of signatures, or may borrow subsets of signatures used in multiple other works. The link between signature values and hydrological processes is not always straightforward, leading to uncertainty and variability in hydrologists' signature choices. In this presentation, we aim to encourage a more rigorous approach to hydrological signature selection, which considers the ability of signatures to represent hydrological behavior and underlying processes for the catchment and application in question. To this end, we propose a set of guidelines for selecting hydrological signatures. We describe five criteria that any hydrological signature should conform to: Identifiability, Robustness, Consistency, Representativeness, and Discriminatory Power. We describe an example of the design process for a signature, assessing possible signature designs against the guidelines above. Due to their ubiquity, we chose a signature related to the Flow Duration Curve, selecting the FDC mid-section slope as a proposed signature to quantify catchment overall behavior and flashiness. We demonstrate how assessment against each guideline could be used to

Nuclear techniques in hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moser, H.

1976-01-01

The nuclear techniques used in hydrology are usually tracer techniques based on the use of nuclides either intentionally introduced into, or naturally present in the water. The low concentrations of these nuclides, which must be detected in groundwater and surface water, require special measurement techniques for the concentrations of radioactive or of stable nuclides. The nuclear techniques can be used most fruitfully in conjunction with conventional methods for the solution of problems in the areas of hydrology, hydrogeology and glacier hydrology. Nuclear techniques are used in practice in the areas of prospecting for water, environment protection and engineering hydrogeology. (orig.) [de

Isotope methods in hydrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moser, H.; Rauert, W.

1980-01-01

Of the investigation methods used in hydrology, tracer methods hold a special place as they are the only ones which give direct insight into the movement and distribution processes taking place in surface and ground waters. Besides the labelling of water with salts and dyes, as in the past, in recent years the use of isotopes in hydrology, in water research and use, in ground-water protection and in hydraulic engineering has increased. This by no means replaces proven methods of hydrological investigation but tends rather to complement and expand them through inter-disciplinary cooperation. The book offers a general introduction to the application of various isotope methods to specific hydrogeological and hydrological problems. The idea is to place the hydrogeologist and the hydrologist in the position to recognize which isotope method will help him solve his particular problem or indeed, make a solution possible at all. He should also be able to recognize what the prerequisites are and what work and expenditure the use of such methods involves. May the book contribute to promoting cooperation between hydrogeologists, hydrologists, hydraulic engineers and isotope specialists, and thus supplement proven methods of investigation in hydrological research and water utilization and protection wherever the use of isotope methods proves to be of advantage. (orig./HP) [de

Curricula and Syllabi in Hydrology. A Contribution to the International Hydrological Programme. UNESCO Technical Papers in Hydrology No. 22. Second Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandra, Satish, Ed.; Mostertman, L. J., Ed.

Hydrology is the science dealing with the earth's waters, their occurrence, circulation, and distribution, their chemical and physical properties, and their reaction with the environment. As such, hydrology is an indispensible requirement for planning in the field of water resources. Objectives for, spectrum of, and topics for education in…

Puna Geothermal Venture Hydrologic Monitoring Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1990-04-01

This document provides the basis for the Hydrologic Monitoring Program (HMP) for the Puna Geothermal Venture. The HMP is complementary to two additional environmental compliance monitoring programs also being submitted by Puma Geothermal Venture (PGV) for their proposed activities at the site. The other two programs are the Meteorology and Air Quality Monitoring Program (MAQMP) and the Noise Monitoring Program (NMP), being submitted concurrently.

A new perspective on the regional hydrologic cycle over North and South America

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Shu-Ping

The GEOS-1 vertically-integrated 3-hr moisture flux reanalyses and hourly-gridded United States station precipitation plus a satellite-based, 6-hr global precipitation estimate were employed to investigate the impacts of nocturnal low-level jets (LLJs) on the regional hydrological cycle over the central United States (Part I) and the subtropical plains of South America (Part II). Research stressed the influences of upper-level synoptic-scale waves (i.e., synoptic-scale forcings) upon the regional hydrologic processes, which were explored by the impacts associated with the occurrence of LLJ. Besides the conventional budget analysis, the adopted `synoptic-forcing approach' was proven illustrative in describing these impacts through the down-scaling process of LLJs. In Part 1, the major findings include: (1)the seasonal-averaged hydrological cycle over the Great Plains is strongly affected by the occurrence of GPLLJ, (2)the synoptic-scale forcing provided by the upper-level propagating jet (ULJ) streams is essential in generating the large-scale precipitation after the GPLLJ forms from the diurnal boundary layer process, (3)without the dynamic coupling between the ULJ and LLJ, the impact of LLJ on the hydrological cycle is demonstrated to be less important, and (4)the importance of synoptic-scale forcings in preconditioning the setting of wet/dry seasons in the interannual variability of rainfall anomaly is further illustrated by examining the changes of intensity as well as the occurrence frequency between the different types of LLJ. In Part II of this study, it was found that the occurrence of Andean LLJ represents a transient episode that detours the climatic rainfall activity along the South Atlantic Convergent Zone (SACZ) to the subtropical plains (Brazilian Nordeste) in its southwestern (northeastern) flank. The appearance of a seesaw pattern in the rainfall and flux convergence anomalies along the southeastern portion of South America, which is spatially in

Characteristics of gravure printed InGaZnO thin films as an active channel layer in thin film transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Yuri; Kim, Gun Hee; Jeong, Woong Hee; Kim, Hyun Jae; Chin, Byung Doo; Yu, Jae-Woong

2010-01-01

Characteristics of oxide semiconductor thin film transistor prepared by gravure printing technique were studied. This device had inverted staggered structure of glass substrate/MoW/SiNx/ printed active layer. The active layer was printed with precursor of indium gallium zinc oxide solution and then annealed at 550 o C for 2 h. Influences of printing parameters (i.e. speed and force) were studied. As the gravure printing force was increased, the thickness of printed film was decreased and the refractive index of printed active layer was increased. The best printed result in our study was obtained with printing speed of 0.4 m/s, printing force of 400 N and the thickness of printed active layer was 45 nm. According to AFM image, surface of printed active layer was quite smooth and the root-mean square roughness was approximately 0.5 nm. Gravure printed active layer had a field-effect mobility of 0.81 cm 2 /Vs and an on-off current ratio was 1.36 x 10 6 .

How runoff begins (and ends): characterizing hydrologic response at the catchment scale

Science.gov (United States)

Mirus, Benjamin B.; Loague, Keith

2013-01-01

Improved understanding of the complex dynamics associated with spatially and temporally variable runoff response is needed to better understand the hydrology component of interdisciplinary problems. The objective of this study was to quantitatively characterize the environmental controls on runoff generation for the range of different streamflow-generation mechanisms illustrated in the classic Dunne diagram. The comprehensive physics-based model of coupled surface-subsurface flow, InHM, is employed in a heuristic mode. InHM has been employed previously to successfully simulate the observed hydrologic response at four diverse, well-characterized catchments, which provides the foundation for this study. The C3 and CB catchments are located within steep, forested terrain; the TW and R5 catchments are located in gently sloping rangeland. The InHM boundary-value problems for these four catchments provide the corner-stones for alternative simulation scenarios designed to address the question of how runoff begins (and ends). Simulated rainfall-runoff events are used to systematically explore the impact of soil-hydraulic properties and rainfall characteristics. This approach facilitates quantitative analysis of both integrated and distributed hydrologic responses at high-spatial and temporal resolution over the wide range of environmental conditions represented by the four catchments. The results from 140 unique simulation scenarios illustrate how rainfall intensity/depth, subsurface permeability contrasts, characteristic curve shapes, and topography provide important controls on the hydrologic-response dynamics. The processes by which runoff begins (and ends) are shown, in large part, to be defined by the relative rates of rainfall, infiltration, lateral flow convergence, and storage dynamics within the variably saturated soil layers.

The hydrology and preservation condition in the flat topped burial mound Klangshøj at Vennebjerg in Vendsyssel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breuning-Madsen, Henrik; Henriksen, Peter Steen; Kristensen, Jeppe Ågård

2016-01-01

Klangshøj is a flat-topped burial mound similar to the Royal Jelling mounds, although smaller. The myths tell that a well has existed on top of the mound as at Jelling and a spring had flown at the base of the mound. In order to verify the myths and a similar hydrology in Klangshøj as found...... borings, where undecomposed plant remnants, occasionally greenish, were observed. A 14C-dating showed that the mound was built in the Viking Age. The hydrology in Klangshøj is the same as in the Jelling mounds, with a permeable bioturbation zone covering almost impermeable, distinct sod layers. This form...

Layer-by-layer self-assembled active electrodes for hybrid photovoltaic cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kniprath, Rolf

2008-11-18

Solar cells based on thin organic/inorganic heterofilms are currently in the focus of research, since they represent promising candidates for cost-efficient photovoltaic energy conversion. In this type of cells, charges are separated at a heterointerface between dissimilar electrode materials. These materials either absorb light themselves, or they are sensitized by an additional absorber layer at the interface. The present work investigates photovoltaic cells which are composed of nanoporous TiO{sub 2} combined with conjugated polymers and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). The method of layer-by-layer self-assembly of oppositely charged nanoparticles and polymers is used for the fabrication of such devices. This method allows to fabricate nanoporous films with controlled thicknesses in the range of a few hundred nanometers to several micrometers. Investigations with scanning electron (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveal that the surface morphology of the films depends only on the chemical structure of the polyions used in the production process, and not on their molecular weight or conformation. From dye adsorption at the internal surface of the electrodes one can estimate that the internal surface area of a 1 {mu}m thick film is up to 120 times larger than the projection plane. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to demonstrate that during the layer-by-layer self-assembly at least 40% of the TiO{sub 2} surface is covered with polymers. This feature allows to incorporate polythiophene derivatives into the films and to use them as sensitizers for TiO{sub 2}. Further, electrodes containing CdSe or CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as sensitizers are fabricated. For the fabrication of photovoltaic cells the layer-by-layer grown films are coated with an additional polymer layer, and Au back electrodes are evaporated on top. The cells are illuminated through transparent doped SnO{sub 2} front electrodes. The I/V curves of all fabricated cells show diode

The cerebellar Golgi cell and spatiotemporal organization of granular layer activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Egidio eD‘Angelo

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The cerebellar granular layer has been suggested to perform a complex spatiotemporal reconfiguration of incoming mossy fiber signals. Central to this role is the inhibitory action exerted by Golgi cells over granule cells: Golgi cells inhibit granule cells through double feedforward and feedback inhibitory loops and generate a broad lateral inhibition that extends beyond the afferent synaptic field. This characteristic connectivity has recently been investigated in great detail and been correlated with specific functional properties of the neuron. These include theta-frequency pacemaking, network entrainment into coherent oscillations and phase resetting. Important advances have also been made in terms of determining the membrane and synaptic properties of the neuron, and clarifying the mechanisms of activation by input bursts. Moreover, voltage sensitive dye imaging and multi-electrode array recordings, combined with mathematical simulations based on realistic computational models, have improved our understanding of the impact of Golgi cell activity on granular layer circuit computations. These investigations have highlighted the critical role of Golgi cells in: generating dense clusters of granule cell activity organized in center-surround structures, implementing combinatorial operations on multiple mossy fiber inputs, regulating transmission gain and cut-off frequency, controlling spike timing and burst transmission, and determining the sign, intensity and extension of long-term synaptic plasticity at the mossy fiber-granule cell relay. This review considers recent advances in the field, highlighting the functional implications of Golgi cells for granular layer network computation and indicating new challenges for cerebellar research.

Rapid electrostatics-assisted layer-by-layer assembly of near-infrared-active colloidal photonic crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Askar, Khalid; Leo, Sin-Yen; Xu, Can; Liu, Danielle; Jiang, Peng

2016-11-15

Here we report a rapid and scalable bottom-up technique for layer-by-layer (LBL) assembling near-infrared-active colloidal photonic crystals consisting of large (⩾1μm) silica microspheres. By combining a new electrostatics-assisted colloidal transferring approach with spontaneous colloidal crystallization at an air/water interface, we have demonstrated that the crystal transfer speed of traditional Langmuir-Blodgett-based colloidal assembly technologies can be enhanced by nearly 2 orders of magnitude. Importantly, the crystalline quality of the resultant photonic crystals is not compromised by this rapid colloidal assembly approach. They exhibit thickness-dependent near-infrared stop bands and well-defined Fabry-Perot fringes in the specular transmission and reflection spectra, which match well with the theoretical calculations using a scalar-wave approximation model and Fabry-Perot analysis. This simple yet scalable bottom-up technology can significantly improve the throughput in assembling large-area, multilayer colloidal crystals, which are of great technological importance in a variety of optical and non-optical applications ranging from all-optical integrated circuits to tissue engineering. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Study of wear in piston ring of the vehicle engine using thin layer activation technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, I.H.; Farooq, M.; Ghiyas-ud-Din; Gul, S.; Qureshi, R.M.; Jin Joon Ha; Wallace, G.

2004-01-01

Thin Layer Activation (TLA) technique was used to investigate piston ring wear of a six cylinders vehicle engine at various engine speeds and load conditions. The activated ring was installed in cylinder no.5 of the engine at middle position (compression ring). Monitoring was carried out on-line (extremely on the engine block) using 'Thin Layer Difference Method'. The calibration curve of the activity profile was prepared with the help of activation parameters determined at the time of ring activation in particle accelerator. The results show that the piston ring wear varies from 0.309 micron/hour to 0.404 micron/hour at given engine speed and load conditions. (author)

Predicting drought propagation within peat layers using a three dimensionally explicit voxel based model

Science.gov (United States)

Condro, A. A.; Pawitan, H.; Risdiyanto, I.

2018-05-01

Peatlands are very vulnerable to widespread fires during dry seasons, due to availability of aboveground fuel biomass on the surface and belowground fuel biomass on the sub-surface. Hence, understanding drought propagation occurring within peat layers is crucial with regards to disaster mitigation activities on peatlands. Using a three dimensionally explicit voxel-based model of peatland hydrology, this study predicted drought propagation time lags into sub-surface peat layers after drought events occurrence on the surface of about 1 month during La-Nina and 2.5 months during El-Nino. The study was carried out on a high-conservation-value area of oil palm plantation in West Kalimantan. Validity of the model was evaluated and its applicability for disaster mitigation was discussed. The animations of simulated voxels are available at: goo.gl/HDRMYN (El-Nino 2015 episode) and goo.gl/g1sXPl (La-Nina 2016 episode). The model is available at: goo.gl/RiuMQz.

A Community Data Model for Hydrologic Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Tarboton, D. G.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Zaslavsky, I.; Maidment, D. R.; Valentine, D.; Jennings, B.

2006-12-01

The CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System project is developing information technology infrastructure to support hydrologic science. Hydrologic information science involves the description of hydrologic environments in a consistent way, using data models for information integration. This includes a hydrologic observations data model for the storage and retrieval of hydrologic observations in a relational database designed to facilitate data retrieval for integrated analysis of information collected by multiple investigators. It is intended to provide a standard format to facilitate the effective sharing of information between investigators and to facilitate analysis of information within a single study area or hydrologic observatory, or across hydrologic observatories and regions. The observations data model is designed to store hydrologic observations and sufficient ancillary information (metadata) about the observations to allow them to be unambiguously interpreted and used and provide traceable heritage from raw measurements to usable information. The design is based on the premise that a relational database at the single observation level is most effective for providing querying capability and cross dimension data retrieval and analysis. This premise is being tested through the implementation of a prototype hydrologic observations database, and the development of web services for the retrieval of data from and ingestion of data into the database. These web services hosted by the San Diego Supercomputer center make data in the database accessible both through a Hydrologic Data Access System portal and directly from applications software such as Excel, Matlab and ArcGIS that have Standard Object Access Protocol (SOAP) capability. This paper will (1) describe the data model; (2) demonstrate the capability for representing diverse data in the same database; (3) demonstrate the use of the database from applications software for the performance of hydrologic analysis

Hydrologic Sub-basins of Greenland

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Hydrologic Sub-basins of Greenland data set contains Geographic Information System (GIS) polygon shapefiles that include 293 hydrologic sub-basins of the...

Combined effects of climate models, hydrological model structures and land use scenarios on hydrological impacts of climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karlsson, Ida B.; Sonnenborg, Torben O.; Refsgaard, Jens Christian

2016-01-01

Impact studies of the hydrological response of future climate change are important for the water authorities when risk assessment, management and adaptation to a changing climate are carried out. The objective of this study was to model the combined effect of land use and climate changes...... use scenarios. The results revealed that even though the hydrological models all showed similar performance during calibration, the mean discharge response to climate change varied up to 30%, and the variations were even higher for extreme events (1th and 99th percentile). Land use changes appeared...... to cause little change in mean hydrological responses and little variation between hydrological models. Differences in hydrological model responses to land use were, however, significant for extremes due to dissimilarities in hydrological model structure and process equations. The climate model choice...

Development of isotope hydrology technology in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhangsu

1988-01-01

The development of isotope hydrology technology in China is described. The isotope technology provides an independent approach for solving hydrological problems. Isotope hydrology is applied in three ways: the use of change in environmental isotopic composition of water (especially used in water resources exploitation), the use of artificial radioactive tracers and the use of redioisotope instruments. Many important achievements have been obtained in application of isotopic hydrology technology. For the sake of promoting rapid development of isotope hydrology the topics on management, technology and others are commented

The role of rock moisture on regulating hydrologic and solute fluxes in the critical zone

Science.gov (United States)

Rempe, D. M.; Druhan, J. L.; Hahm, W. J.; Wang, J.; Murphy, C.; Cargill, S.; Dietrich, W. E.; Tune, A. K.

2017-12-01

In environments where the vadose zone extends below the soil layer into underlying weathered bedrock, the water held in the weathering -generated pores can be an important source of moisture to vegetation. The heterogeneous distribution of pore space in weathered bedrock, furthermore, controls the subsurface water flowpaths that dictate how water is partitioned in the critical zone (CZ) and evolves geochemically. Here, we present the results of direct monitoring of the fluxes of water and solutes through the deep CZ using a novel vadose zone monitoring system (VMS) as well as geophysical logging and sampling in a network of deep wells across a steep hillslope in Northern California. At our study site (Eel River CZO), multi-year monitoring reveals that a significant fraction of incoming rainfall (up to 30%) is seasonally stored in the fractures and matrix of the upper 12 m of weathered bedrock as rock moisture. Intensive geochemical and geophysical observations distributed from the surface to the depth of unweathered bedrock indicate that the seasonal addition and depletion of rock moisture has key implications for hydrologic and geochemical processes. First, rock moisture storage provides an annually consistent water storage reservoir for use by vegetation during the summer, which buffers transpiration fluxes against variability in seasonal precipitation. Second, because the timing and magnitude of groundwater recharge and streamflow are controlled by the annual filling and drainage of the rock moisture, rock moisture regulates the partitioning of hydrologic fluxes. Third, we find that rock moisture dynamics—which influence the myriad geochemical and microbial processes that weather bedrock—strongly correspond with the observed vertical weathering profile. As a result of the coupling between chemical weathering reactions and hydrologic fluxes, the geochemical composition of groundwater and streamflow is influenced by the temporal dynamics of rock moisture. Our

Global hydrological droughts in the 21st century under a changing hydrological regime

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Wanders

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Climate change very likely impacts future hydrological drought characteristics across the world. Here, we quantify the impact of climate change on future low flows and associated hydrological drought characteristics on a global scale using an alternative drought identification approach that considers adaptation to future changes in hydrological regime. The global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB was used to simulate daily discharge at 0.5° globally for 1971–2099. The model was forced with CMIP5 climate projections taken from five global circulation models (GCMs and four emission scenarios (representative concentration pathways, RCPs, from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project. Drought events occur when discharge is below a threshold. The conventional variable threshold (VTM was calculated by deriving the threshold from the period 1971–2000. The transient variable threshold (VTMt is a non-stationary approach, where the threshold is based on the discharge values of the previous 30 years implying the threshold to vary every year during the 21st century. The VTMt adjusts to gradual changes in the hydrological regime as response to climate change. Results show a significant negative trend in the low flow regime over the 21st century for large parts of South America, southern Africa, Australia and the Mediterranean. In 40–52% of the world reduced low flows are projected, while increased low flows are found in the snow-dominated climates. In 27% of the global area both the drought duration and the deficit volume are expected to increase when applying the VTMt. However, this area will significantly increase to 62% when the VTM is applied. The mean global area in drought, with the VTMt, remains rather constant (11.7 to 13.4%, compared to the substantial increase when the VTM is applied (11.7 to 20%. The study illustrates that an alternative drought identification that considers adaptation to an altered hydrological regime has a

30 CFR 817.46 - Hydrologic balance: Siltation structures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.46 Hydrologic balance: Siltation structures. (a) For the purposes of this... to streamflow or runoff outside the permit area shall be prevented to the extent possible using the... this requirement. (6) Any point-source discharge of water from underground workings to surface waters...

Fundamentals of watershed hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Pamela J. Edwards; Karl W.J. Williard; Jon E. Schoonover

2015-01-01

This is a primer about hydrology, the science of water. Watersheds are the basic land unit for water resource management and their delineation, importance, and variation are explained and illustrated. The hydrologic cycle and its components (precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, soil water, groundwater, and streamflow) which collectively provide a foundation for...

Uncertainty in hydrological change modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seaby, Lauren Paige

applied at the grid scale. Flux and state hydrological outputs which integrate responses over time and space showed more sensitivity to precipitation mean spatial biases and less so on extremes. In the investigated catchments, the projected change of groundwater levels and basin discharge between current......Hydrological change modelling methodologies generally use climate models outputs to force hydrological simulations under changed conditions. There are nested sources of uncertainty throughout this methodology, including choice of climate model and subsequent bias correction methods. This Ph.......D. study evaluates the uncertainty of the impact of climate change in hydrological simulations given multiple climate models and bias correction methods of varying complexity. Three distribution based scaling methods (DBS) were developed and benchmarked against a more simplistic and commonly used delta...

Extrapolating active layer thickness measurements across Arctic polygonal terrain using LiDAR and NDVI data sets.

Science.gov (United States)

Gangodagamage, Chandana; Rowland, Joel C; Hubbard, Susan S; Brumby, Steven P; Liljedahl, Anna K; Wainwright, Haruko; Wilson, Cathy J; Altmann, Garrett L; Dafflon, Baptiste; Peterson, John; Ulrich, Craig; Tweedie, Craig E; Wullschleger, Stan D

2014-08-01

Landscape attributes that vary with microtopography, such as active layer thickness ( ALT ), are labor intensive and difficult to document effectively through in situ methods at kilometer spatial extents, thus rendering remotely sensed methods desirable. Spatially explicit estimates of ALT can provide critically needed data for parameterization, initialization, and evaluation of Arctic terrestrial models. In this work, we demonstrate a new approach using high-resolution remotely sensed data for estimating centimeter-scale ALT in a 5 km 2 area of ice-wedge polygon terrain in Barrow, Alaska. We use a simple regression-based, machine learning data-fusion algorithm that uses topographic and spectral metrics derived from multisensor data (LiDAR and WorldView-2) to estimate ALT (2 m spatial resolution) across the study area. Comparison of the ALT estimates with ground-based measurements, indicates the accuracy (r 2  = 0.76, RMSE ±4.4 cm) of the approach. While it is generally accepted that broad climatic variability associated with increasing air temperature will govern the regional averages of ALT , consistent with prior studies, our findings using high-resolution LiDAR and WorldView-2 data, show that smaller-scale variability in ALT is controlled by local eco-hydro-geomorphic factors. This work demonstrates a path forward for mapping ALT at high spatial resolution and across sufficiently large regions for improved understanding and predictions of coupled dynamics among permafrost, hydrology, and land-surface processes from readily available remote sensing data.

Dynamics of ozone layer under Serbia and solar activity: Previous statement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ducić Vladan

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to identify ozone layer dynamics under Serbian area, as well as possible relations of change in stratospheric ozone concentration with some parameters of solar activity. During the period 1979-2005, the statistical decrease of ozone concentration was noticed under Serbian territory cumulatively for 24.5 DU (7.2%, apropos 9.4 DU (2.8% by decade. These changes are consistent with the changes in surrounding countries. From absolute minimum 1993, flexible trend of ozone layer pentad values validate hypotheses of its recovery. Correspondence of ozone thickness extreme period with Wolf's number and with the greatest volcanic eruptions shows that interannual variations of stratospheric ozone concentration are still in the function of natural factors above all, as are solar and volcanic activities. Investigation of larger number solar activity parameters shows statistically important antiphase synchronous between the number of polar faculae on the Sun and stratospheric ozone dynamics under Serbia. Respecting that relation between these two features until now isn't depicted, some possible causal mechanisms are proposed.

From engineering hydrology to Earth system science: milestones in the transformation of hydrologic science

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M. Sivapalan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Hydrology has undergone almost transformative changes over the past 50 years. Huge strides have been made in the transition from early empirical approaches to rigorous approaches based on the fluid mechanics of water movement on and below the land surface. However, progress has been hampered by problems posed by the presence of heterogeneity, including subsurface heterogeneity present at all scales. The inability to measure or map the heterogeneity everywhere prevented the development of balance equations and associated closure relations at the scales of interest, and has led to the virtual impasse we are presently in, in terms of development of physically based models needed for hydrologic predictions. An alternative to the mapping of heterogeneity everywhere is a new Earth system science view, which sees the heterogeneity as the end result of co-evolutionary hydrological, geomorphological, ecological, and pedological processes, each operating at a different rate, which help to shape the landscapes that we find in nature, including the heterogeneity that we do not readily see. The expectation is that instead of specifying exact details of the heterogeneity in our models, we can replace it (without loss of information with the ecosystem function that they perform. Guided by this new Earth system science perspective, development of hydrologic science is now addressing new questions using novel holistic co-evolutionary approaches as opposed to the physical, fluid mechanics based reductionist approaches that we inherited from the recent past. In the emergent Anthropocene, the co-evolutionary view has expanded further to involve interactions and feedbacks with human-social processes as well. In this paper, I present my own perspective of key milestones in the transformation of hydrologic science from engineering hydrology to Earth system science, drawn from the work of several students and colleagues of mine, and discuss their implication for

From engineering hydrology to Earth system science: milestones in the transformation of hydrologic science

Science.gov (United States)

Sivapalan, Murugesu

2018-03-01

Hydrology has undergone almost transformative changes over the past 50 years. Huge strides have been made in the transition from early empirical approaches to rigorous approaches based on the fluid mechanics of water movement on and below the land surface. However, progress has been hampered by problems posed by the presence of heterogeneity, including subsurface heterogeneity present at all scales. The inability to measure or map the heterogeneity everywhere prevented the development of balance equations and associated closure relations at the scales of interest, and has led to the virtual impasse we are presently in, in terms of development of physically based models needed for hydrologic predictions. An alternative to the mapping of heterogeneity everywhere is a new Earth system science view, which sees the heterogeneity as the end result of co-evolutionary hydrological, geomorphological, ecological, and pedological processes, each operating at a different rate, which help to shape the landscapes that we find in nature, including the heterogeneity that we do not readily see. The expectation is that instead of specifying exact details of the heterogeneity in our models, we can replace it (without loss of information) with the ecosystem function that they perform. Guided by this new Earth system science perspective, development of hydrologic science is now addressing new questions using novel holistic co-evolutionary approaches as opposed to the physical, fluid mechanics based reductionist approaches that we inherited from the recent past. In the emergent Anthropocene, the co-evolutionary view has expanded further to involve interactions and feedbacks with human-social processes as well. In this paper, I present my own perspective of key milestones in the transformation of hydrologic science from engineering hydrology to Earth system science, drawn from the work of several students and colleagues of mine, and discuss their implication for hydrologic observations

Upscaling Empirically Based Conceptualisations to Model Tropical Dominant Hydrological Processes for Historical Land Use Change

Science.gov (United States)

Toohey, R.; Boll, J.; Brooks, E.; Jones, J.

2009-12-01

Surface runoff and percolation to ground water are two hydrological processes of concern to the Atlantic slope of Costa Rica because of their impacts on flooding and drinking water contamination. As per legislation, the Costa Rican Government funds land use management from the farm to the regional scale to improve or conserve hydrological ecosystem services. In this study, we examined how land use (e.g., forest, coffee, sugar cane, and pasture) affects hydrological response at the point, plot (1 m2), and the field scale (1-6ha) to empirically conceptualize the dominant hydrological processes in each land use. Using our field data, we upscaled these conceptual processes into a physically-based distributed hydrological model at the field, watershed (130 km2), and regional (1500 km2) scales. At the point and plot scales, the presence of macropores and large roots promoted greater vertical percolation and subsurface connectivity in the forest and coffee field sites. The lack of macropores and large roots, plus the addition of management artifacts (e.g., surface compaction and a plough layer), altered the dominant hydrological processes by increasing lateral flow and surface runoff in the pasture and sugar cane field sites. Macropores and topography were major influences on runoff generation at the field scale. Also at the field scale, antecedent moisture conditions suggest a threshold behavior as a temporal control on surface runoff generation. However, in this tropical climate with very intense rainstorms, annual surface runoff was less than 10% of annual precipitation at the field scale. Significant differences in soil and hydrological characteristics observed at the point and plot scales appear to have less significance when upscaled to the field scale. At the point and plot scales, percolation acted as the dominant hydrological process in this tropical environment. However, at the field scale for sugar cane and pasture sites, saturation-excess runoff increased as

HYDROLOGY, LAMAR COUNTY, GEORGIA, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, IONIA COUNTY, MI, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, WHITLEY COUNTY, KENTUCKY USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, TUSCOLA COUNTY, MI, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, JEFFERSON COUNTY, WI, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, DODGE COUNTY, WI, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, WASHINGTON COUNTY, WI, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, DUNN COUNTY, WI, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, yakima County, WA, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, LEVY COUNTY, FL, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, WASHINGTON COUNTY, FL, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, HAMILTON COUNTY, FL, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, LIBERTY COUNTY, FL, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGIC ANALYSIS, HONOLULU COUNTY, HI

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, Richland County, ND, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, Grant County, SD, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, MONITEAU COUNTY, MISSOURI USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, IRON COUNTY, UTAH, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, Bourbon COUNTY, KENTUCKY USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, MADISON COUNTY, FL, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, RICE COUNTY, MN, USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, LAUREL COUNTY, KENTUCKY USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, SIMPSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGIC ANALYSIS, MONO COUNTY, CA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGIC ANALYSIS, EDGEFIELD COUNTY, SC

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, STORY COUNTY, IOWA USA

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Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

Thiophene Rings Improve the Device Performance of Conjugated Polymers in Polymer Solar Cells with Thick Active Layers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duan, C.; Gao, K.; Colberts, F. J. M.; Liu, F.; Meskers, S. C. J.; Wienk, M. M.; Janssen, R. A. J.

2017-01-01

Developing novel materials that tolerate thickness variations of the active layer is critical to further enhance the efficiency of polymer solar cells and enable large-scale manufacturing. Presently, only a few polymers afford high efficiencies at active layer thickness exceeding 200 nm and

Hydrologic applications of weather radar

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Dong-Jun; Habib, Emad; Andrieu, Hervé; Morin, Efrat

2015-12-01

By providing high-resolution quantitative precipitation information (QPI), weather radars have revolutionized hydrology in the last two decades. With the aid of GIS technology, radar-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE) have enabled routine high-resolution hydrologic modeling in many parts of the world. Given the ever-increasing need for higher-resolution hydrologic and water resources information for a wide range of applications, one may expect that the use of weather radar will only grow. Despite the tremendous progress, a number of significant scientific, technological and engineering challenges remain to realize its potential. New challenges are also emerging as new areas of applications are discovered, explored and pursued. The purpose of this special issue is to provide the readership with some of the latest advances, lessons learned, experiences gained, and science issues and challenges related to hydrologic applications of weather radar. The special issue features 20 contributions on various topics which reflect the increasing diversity as well as the areas of focus in radar hydrology today. The contributions may be grouped as follows:

iTree-Hydro: Snow hydrology update for the urban forest hydrology model

Science.gov (United States)

Yang Yang; Theodore A. Endreny; David J. Nowak

2011-01-01

This article presents snow hydrology updates made to iTree-Hydro, previously called the Urban Forest Effects—Hydrology model. iTree-Hydro Version 1 was a warm climate model developed by the USDA Forest Service to provide a process-based planning tool with robust water quantity and quality predictions given data limitations common to most urban areas. Cold climate...

Mountaintop Removal Mining and Catchment Hydrology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew J. Miller

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Mountaintop mining and valley fill (MTM/VF coal extraction, practiced in the Central Appalachian region, represents a dramatic landscape-scale disturbance. MTM operations remove as much as 300 m of rock, soil, and vegetation from ridge tops to access deep coal seams and much of this material is placed in adjacent headwater streams altering landcover, drainage network, and topography. In spite of its scale, extent, and potential for continued use, the effects MTM/VF on catchment hydrology is poorly understood. Previous reviews focus on water quality and ecosystem health impacts, but little is known about how MTM/VF affects hydrology, particularly the movement and storage of water, hence the hydrologic processes that ultimately control flood generation, water chemistry, and biology. This paper aggregates the existing knowledge about the hydrologic impacts of MTM/VF to identify areas where further scientific investigation is needed. While contemporary surface mining generally increases peak and total runoff, the limited MTM/VF studies reveal significant variability in hydrologic response. Significant knowledge gaps relate to limited understanding of hydrologic processes in these systems. Until the hydrologic impact of this practice is better understood, efforts to reduce water quantity and quality problems and ecosystem degradation will be difficult to achieve.

Embedding complex hydrology in the climate system - towards fully coupled climate-hydrology models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Butts, M.; Rasmussen, S.H.; Ridler, M.

2013-01-01

Motivated by the need to develop better tools to understand the impact of future management and climate change on water resources, we present a set of studies with the overall aim of developing a fully dynamic coupling between a comprehensive hydrological model, MIKE SHE, and a regional climate...... distributed parameters using satellite remote sensing. Secondly, field data are used to investigate the effects of model resolution and parameter scales for use in a coupled model. Finally, the development of the fully coupled climate-hydrology model is described and some of the challenges associated...... with coupling models for hydrological processes on sub-grid scales of the regional climate model are presented....

The importance of hydrology in restoration of bottomland hardwood wetland functions

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, R.G.; Faulkner, S.P.; Gibson, K.A.

2008-01-01

Bottomland hardwood (BLH) forests have important biogeochemical functions and it is well known that certain structural components, including pulsed hydrology, hydric soils, and hydrophytic vegetation, enhance these functions. It is unclear, however, how functions of restored BLH wetlands compare to mature, undisturbed wetlands. We measured a suite of structural and functional attributes in replicated natural BLH wetlands (NAT), restored BLH wetlands with hydrology re-established (RWH), and restored BLH wetlands without hydrology re-established (RWOH) in this study. Trees were replanted in all restored wetlands at least four years prior to the study and those wetlands with hydrology re-established had flashboard risers placed in drainage ditches to allow seasonal surface flooding. Vegetation, soils, and selected biogeochemical functions were characterized at each site. There was a marked difference in woody vegetation among the wetlands that was due primarily to site age. There was also a difference in herbaceous vegetation among the restored sites that may have been related to differences in age or hydrology. Water table fluctuations of the RWH wetlands were comparable to those of the NAT wetlands. Thus, placing flashboard risers in existing drainage ditches, along with proper management, can produce a hydroperiod that is similar to that of a relatively undisturbed BLH. Average length of saturation within the upper 15 cm of soils was 37, 104, and 97 days for RWOH, RWH, and NAT, respectively. Soil moisture, denitrification potential, and soluble organic carbon concentrations differed among wetland sites, but soil carbon and nitrogen concentrations, heterotrophic microbial activity, and readily mineralizable carbon concentrations did not. Significant linear relationships were also found between soil moisture and heterotrophic microbial activity, readily mineralizable carbon, and soluble organic carbon. In addition, sedimentation rates were higher in NAT and RWH

Response of terrestrial hydrology to climate and permafrost change for the 21st century as simulated by JSBACH offline experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Blome, Tanja; Hagemann, Stefan; Ekici, Altug; Beer, Christian

2015-04-01

Permafrost (PF) or perennially frozen ground is an important part of the terrestrial cryosphere; roughly one quarter of Earth's land surface is underlain by permafrost. As it is a thermal phenomenon, its characteristics are highly dependent on climatic factors. The impact of the currently observed warming, which is projected to persist during the coming decades due to anthropogenic CO2 input, certainly has effects for the vast permafrost areas of the high northern latitudes. The quantification of these effects, however, is scientifically still an open question. This is partly due to the complexity of the system, where several feedbacks are interacting between land and atmosphere, sometimes counterbalancing each other. In terms of hydrology, changes in permafrost characteristics may lead to contradicting effects. E.g., observations show that the deepening of the Active Layer (AL) can both decrease and increase soil moisture, depending on the specific conditions. For the investigation of hydrological changes in response to climatic and thus PF change, it is therefore necessary to use a model. To address this response of the terrestrial hydrology to projected changes for the 21st century, the global land surface model of the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, JSBACH, was used to simulate several future climate scenarios. JSBACH recently has been equipped with important physical PF processes, such as the effects of freezing and thawing of soil water for both energy and water cycles, thermal properties depending on soil water and ice contents, and soil moisture movement being influenced by the presence of soil ice. In order to identify hydrological impacts originating solely in the physical forcing, experiments were conducted in an offline mode and with fixed vegetation cover. Feedback mechanisms, e.g. via the carbon cycle, were thus excluded. The uncertainty range arising through different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) as well as through different

Permafrost hydrology in changing climatic conditions: seasonal variability of stable isotope composition in rivers in discontinuous permafrost

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Streletskiy, Dmitry A; Shiklomanov, Nikolay I; Nyland, Kelsey E; Tananaev, Nikita I; Opel, Thomas; Streletskaya, Irina D; Tokarev, Igor’; Shiklomanov, Alexandr I

2015-01-01

Role of changing climatic conditions on permafrost degradation and hydrology was investigated in the transition zone between the tundra and forest ecotones at the boundary of continuous and discontinuous permafrost of the lower Yenisei River. Three watersheds of various sizes were chosen to represent the characteristics of the regional landscape conditions. Samples of river flow, precipitation, snow cover, and permafrost ground ice were collected over the watersheds to determine isotopic composition of potential sources of water in a river flow over a two year period. Increases in air temperature over the last forty years have resulted in permafrost degradation and a decrease in the seasonal frost which is evident from soil temperature measurements, permafrost and active-layer monitoring, and analysis of satellite imagery. The lowering of the permafrost table has led to an increased storage capacity of permafrost affected soils and a higher contribution of ground water to river discharge during winter months. A progressive decrease in the thickness of the layer of seasonal freezing allows more water storage and pathways for water during the winter low period making winter discharge dependent on the timing and amount of late summer precipitation. There is a substantial seasonal variability of stable isotopic composition of river flow. Spring flooding corresponds to the isotopic composition of snow cover prior to the snowmelt. Isotopic composition of river flow during the summer period follows the variability of precipitation in smaller creeks, while the water flow of larger watersheds is influenced by the secondary evaporation of water temporarily stored in thermokarst lakes and bogs. Late summer precipitation determines the isotopic composition of texture ice within the active layer in tundra landscapes and the seasonal freezing layer in forested landscapes as well as the composition of the water flow during winter months. (letter)

Typology of nonlinear activity waves in a layered neural continuum.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Paul; Leisman, Gerry

2006-04-01

Neural tissue, a medium containing electro-chemical energy, can amplify small increments in cellular activity. The growing disturbance, measured as the fraction of active cells, manifests as propagating waves. In a layered geometry with a time delay in synaptic signals between the layers, the delay is instrumental in determining the amplified wavelengths. The growth of the waves is limited by the finite number of neural cells in a given region of the continuum. As wave growth saturates, the resulting activity patterns in space and time show a variety of forms, ranging from regular monochromatic waves to highly irregular mixtures of different spatial frequencies. The type of wave configuration is determined by a number of parameters, including alertness and synaptic conditioning as well as delay. For all cases studied, using numerical solution of the nonlinear Wilson-Cowan (1973) equations, there is an interval in delay in which the wave mixing occurs. As delay increases through this interval, during a series of consecutive waves propagating through a continuum region, the activity within that region changes from a single-frequency to a multiple-frequency pattern and back again. The diverse spatio-temporal patterns give a more concrete form to several metaphors advanced over the years to attempt an explanation of cognitive phenomena: Activity waves embody the "holographic memory" (Pribram, 1991); wave mixing provides a plausible cause of the competition called "neural Darwinism" (Edelman, 1988); finally the consecutive generation of growing neural waves can explain the discontinuousness of "psychological time" (Stroud, 1955).

Stochastic Modelling of Hydrologic Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jonsdottir, Harpa

2007-01-01

In this PhD project several stochastic modelling methods are studied and applied on various subjects in hydrology. The research was prepared at Informatics and Mathematical Modelling at the Technical University of Denmark. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part contains...... an introduction and an overview of the papers published. Then an introduction to basic concepts in hydrology along with a description of hydrological data is given. Finally an introduction to stochastic modelling is given. The second part contains the research papers. In the research papers the stochastic methods...... are described, as at the time of publication these methods represent new contribution to hydrology. The second part also contains additional description of software used and a brief introduction to stiff systems. The system in one of the papers is stiff....

Analysis on hydrological condition for uranium ore formation in Wuerhe district, Junggar Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Quanqing; Zhang Xinke; Ren Manchuan

2009-01-01

Wuerhe district is located in the northwestern part of Junggar Basin, Xinjiang. It belongs to a relative quiet area without the obvious tectonic activities and obvious subsequent tectonic activization. Through the regional uranium resources evaluation on this area, the inter-bedded oxidation zone and uranium mineralization are discovered in Cretaceous. The wall rock, the recharge-runoff-discharge mechanism of groundwater, palaeo-hydrological condition, hydrological and hydrogeochemical features of groundwater are introduced briefly, the favorable uranium ore-forming segment is summarized to be located in the fore-mountain area to the west of Ke-Xia fault terrace zone. (authors)

Study of removing a peat-layer from surface active agents; Deitanso ni yoru kaimen kasseizai no jokyo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Umemiya, H; Kitamura, K [Yamagata University, Yamagata (Japan)

1996-10-27

An experiment was performed on a system for recycling water resources by using a peat-layer. A laboratory device was also made in order to examine the effects of a peat-layer on surface active agents. In the experiment, a water examination was carried out in which a mixture of water and kitchen detergent at the rate of 15,000 to 1 was filtered through a peat-layer of 2-3cm thick, as was a mixture of water, kitchen detergent and oil at the rate of 15,000 to 1 to 2. In the water examination, various measurements were done such as the measurement of COD by potassium permanganate acid process, measurement of pH by a pH meter with glass electrodes and measurement of coefficient of permeability by a variable water level permeability test. As a result of the experiment, it was revealed that a peat-layer had ability to remove surface active agents, that injection water tended to increase acidity in a peat-layer and that a peat-layer had ability to remove foaming of surface active agents. The COD of domestic waste water decreased from 12mg/l to 0.16mg/l in the system for recycling water resources using a peat-layer. 3 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.

Isotope techniques in groundwater hydrology 1974, Vol. I. Proceedings of a symposium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1974-01-01

This symposium, held in Vienna on 11-15 March, 1974, was the fourth on the subject of isotope hydrology organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, this one was limited to groundwater hydrology in view of the general increase of interest and activity in isotope hydrology since the previous meeting in 1970. The proceedings of this symposium are a good indicator of the present world status of these techniques. Thus one notes that many of the studies are in the developing areas of the world. Furthermore, there has been a shift to using these techniques as an additional applied tool in specific problems of development of water resources. Examples of such applications also give evidence of the closer collaboration between isotope specialists, who originally developed the methods, and hydrogeologists and geochemists. It is hoped that these proceedings will contribute to a wider appreciation of the potential use of isotope techniques to hydrological problems associated with the development of groundwater for agriculture, community water supply and industry

Selective UV–O3 treatment for indium zinc oxide thin film transistors with solution-based multiple active layer

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yu-Jung; Jeong, Jun-Kyo; Park, Jung-Hyun; Jeong, Byung-Jun; Lee, Hi-Deok; Lee, Ga-Won

2018-06-01

In this study, a method to control the electrical performance of solution-based indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) is proposed by ultraviolet–ozone (UV–O3) treatment on the selective layer during multiple IZO active layer depositions. The IZO film is composed of triple layers formed by spin coating and UV–O3 treatment only on the first layer or last layer. The IZO films are compared by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the results show that the atomic ratio of oxygen vacancy (VO) increases in the UV–O3 treatment on the first layer, while it decreases on last layer. The device characteristics of the bottom gated structure are also improved in the UV–O3 treatment on the first layer. This indicates that the selective UV–O3 treatment in a multi-stacking active layer is an effective method to optimize TFT properties by controlling the amount of VO in the IZO interface and surface independently.

Debates—Hypothesis testing in hydrology: Introduction

Science.gov (United States)

Blöschl, Günter

2017-03-01

This paper introduces the papers in the "Debates—Hypothesis testing in hydrology" series. The four articles in the series discuss whether and how the process of testing hypotheses leads to progress in hydrology. Repeated experiments with controlled boundary conditions are rarely feasible in hydrology. Research is therefore not easily aligned with the classical scientific method of testing hypotheses. Hypotheses in hydrology are often enshrined in computer models which are tested against observed data. Testability may be limited due to model complexity and data uncertainty. All four articles suggest that hypothesis testing has contributed to progress in hydrology and is needed in the future. However, the procedure is usually not as systematic as the philosophy of science suggests. A greater emphasis on a creative reasoning process on the basis of clues and explorative analyses is therefore needed.

An analysis of historic and projected climate scenarios in the Western United States using hydrologic landscape classification.

Science.gov (United States)

: Identifying areas of similar hydrology within the United States and its regions (hydrologic landscapes - HLs) is an active area of research. HLs are being used to construct spatially distributed assessments of variability in streamflow and climatic response in Oregon, Alaska, a...

Hydrological cycle research by D & 18 O tracing in small watershed in the loess hilly region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Xuexuan

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to determine the mechanisms of the hydrologic cycle in the loess area in China. Sixty eight water samples from precipitation, soil water of the 0 – 4 m layer, surface water in the valley, ground water (spring and well were collected and the Deuterium (D and Oxygen – 18 (O of these water samples were analyzed to interpret the relationship among those waters in the watershed in the loess hilly region during 2005 – 2009. The results show that: the D & 18O of precipitation in Yangou was consistent with that of Xi'an, apparently the north migration of water vapor in Xi'an; according to the correlations among the differential waters in D & 18 O, confirmed that precipitation recharge could account for most of the sources of valley flow, with part of the recharge water going to soil water recharge. The D & 18O of groundwater were very close to that of precipitation, likely the soil preferential flow was dominant in groundwater recharge although the infiltration had a certain lag. Under the influence of rainfall and evaporation, the response of the soil moisture profile, and its D & 18O profile were different. The soil moisture had the strong influenced layer in the 0 60 cm range, a weak impacted layer in 60 160 cm, and a stable layer below 160 cm. It was shown that the soil evaporation depth could be up to 160 cm because the D & 18O changed in that depth. The study could increase our understanding of the magnitude and pattern of the hydrologic cycle, which should improve water resources management in the watershed scale.

Microbial activities at the benthic boundary layer in the Aegean Sea

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Bianchi, A.; Tholosan, O.; Garcin, J.; Polychronaki, T.; Tselepides, A.; Buscail, R.; Duineveld, G.

2003-05-01

During the Aegean Sea component of the EU MTP-MATER project, benthic samples were acquired along a depth gradient from two continental margins in the Aegean Sea. Sampling was undertaken during spring and summer 1997 and the microbial metabolic activities measured (Vmax for aminopeptidase activity, 14C-glutamate respiration and assimilation) displayed seasonal variability even in deep-sea conditions. The metabolic rates encountered in the North Aegean (average depth 566±234 m), were approximately five-fold higher than in the deeper (1336±140 m) Southern part of the Aegean. The aminopeptidase rates, however, were the exception with higher values recorded in the more oligotrophic sediments of the Southern stations (1383±152 vs. 766±297 nmol MCA cm-2 h-1). A discrepancy in bacterial metabolism also appeared in the near bottom waters. In the Southern stations, 80% of the glutamate uptake was used for energy yielding processes and only 20% devoted to biomass production, while in the North Aegean, most of the used glutamate was incorporated into bacterial cells. During the early burial stages, bacterial mineralization rates estimated from 14C-glutamate respiration decreased drastically compared to the rates of biopolymer hydrolysis estimated by aminopeptidase assays. Thus, at the 2-cm depth layer, these rates were only 32 and up to 77% of the corresponding average values, respectively, in the superficial layer. Such a discrepancy between the evolution of these two metabolic activities is possibly due to the rapid removal of readily utilizable monomers in the surface deposits. The correlation between bacterial respiration and total organic carbon, or total organic nitrogen, is higher in the surficial sediment (0-2 and 2-4 cm) than in the underlying layer. Conversely, it is only at 4-cm depth layer that the hydrolysis rates appear correlated with organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations. This pattern confirms the drastic degradation of organic matter during the early

GEOMORPHIC AND HYDROLOGIC INTERACTIONS IN THE DETERMINATION OF EQUILIBRIUM SOIL DEPTH

Science.gov (United States)

Nicotina, L.; Rinaldo, A.; Tarboton, D. G.

2009-12-01

In this work we propose numerical studies of the interactions between hydrology and geomorphology in the formation of the actual soil depth that drives ecologic and hydrologic processes. Sediment transport and geomorphic landscape evolution processes (i.e. erosion/deposition vs. soil production) strongly influence hydrology, carbon sequestration, soil formation and stream water chemistry. The process of rock conversion into soil originates a strong hydrologic control through the formation of the soil depth that participates to hydrologic processes, influence vegetation type and patterns and actively participate in the co-evolution mechanisms that shape the landscape. The description of spatial patterns in hydrology is usually constrained by the availability of field data, especially when dealing with quantities that are not easily measurable. In these circumstances it is deemed fundamental the capability of deriving hydrologic boundary conditions from physically based approaches. Here we aim, in a general framework, at the formulation of an integrated approach for the prediction of soil depth by mean of i) soil production models and ii) geomorphic transport laws. The processes that take place in the critical zone are driven by the extension of it and have foundamental importance over short time scales as well as on geologic time scales (i.e. as biota affects climate that drives hydrology and thus contributes on shaping the landscape). Our study aims at the investigation of the relationships between soil depth, topography and runoff production, we also address the mechanisms that bring to the development of actual patterns of soil depths which at the same time influence runoff. We use a schematic representation of the hydrologic processes that relies on the description of the topography (throuh a topographic wetness index) and the spatially variable soil depths. Such a model is applied in order to investigate the development of equilibrium soil depth patterns under

Hydrologic classification of rivers based on cluster analysis of dimensionless hydrologic signatures: Applications for environmental instream flows

Science.gov (United States)

Praskievicz, S. J.; Luo, C.

2017-12-01

Classification of rivers is useful for a variety of purposes, such as generating and testing hypotheses about watershed controls on hydrology, predicting hydrologic variables for ungaged rivers, and setting goals for river management. In this research, we present a bottom-up (based on machine learning) river classification designed to investigate the underlying physical processes governing rivers' hydrologic regimes. The classification was developed for the entire state of Alabama, based on 248 United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream gages that met criteria for length and completeness of records. Five dimensionless hydrologic signatures were derived for each gage: slope of the flow duration curve (indicator of flow variability), baseflow index (ratio of baseflow to average streamflow), rising limb density (number of rising limbs per unit time), runoff ratio (ratio of long-term average streamflow to long-term average precipitation), and streamflow elasticity (sensitivity of streamflow to precipitation). We used a Bayesian clustering algorithm to classify the gages, based on the five hydrologic signatures, into distinct hydrologic regimes. We then used classification and regression trees (CART) to predict each gaged river's membership in different hydrologic regimes based on climatic and watershed variables. Using existing geospatial data, we applied the CART analysis to classify ungaged streams in Alabama, with the National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) catchment (average area 3 km2) as the unit of classification. The results of the classification can be used for meeting management and conservation objectives in Alabama, such as developing statewide standards for environmental instream flows. Such hydrologic classification approaches are promising for contributing to process-based understanding of river systems.

An alternative approach for socio-hydrology: case study research

Science.gov (United States)

Mostert, Erik

2018-01-01

Currently the most popular approach in socio hydrology is to develop coupled human-water models. This article proposes an alternative approach, qualitative case study research, involving a systematic review of (1) the human activities affecting the hydrology in the case, (2) the main human actors, and (3) the main factors influencing the actors and their activities. Moreover, this article presents a case study of the Dommel Basin in Belgium and the Netherlands, and compares this with a coupled model of the Kissimmee Basin in Florida. In both basins a pendulum swing from water resources development and control to protection and restoration can be observed. The Dommel case study moreover points to the importance of institutional and financial arrangements, community values, and broader social, economic, and technical developments. These factors are missing from the Kissimmee model. Generally, case studies can result in a more complete understanding of individual cases than coupled models, and if the cases are selected carefully and compared with previous studies, it is possible to generalize on the basis of them. Case studies also offer more levers for management and facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation. Coupled models, on the other hand, can be used to generate possible explanations of past developments and quantitative scenarios for future developments. The article concludes that, given the limited attention they currently get and their potential benefits, case studies deserve more attention in socio-hydrology.

Hydrologic Design in the Anthropocene

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, R. M.; Farmer, W. H.; Read, L.

2014-12-01

In an era dubbed the Anthropocene, the natural world is being transformed by a myriad of human influences. As anthropogenic impacts permeate hydrologic systems, hydrologists are challenged to fully account for such changes and develop new methods of hydrologic design. Deterministic watershed models (DWM), which can account for the impacts of changes in land use, climate and infrastructure, are becoming increasing popular for the design of flood and/or drought protection measures. As with all models that are calibrated to existing datasets, DWMs are subject to model error or uncertainty. In practice, the model error component of DWM predictions is typically ignored yet DWM simulations which ignore model error produce model output which cannot reproduce the statistical properties of the observations they are intended to replicate. In the context of hydrologic design, we demonstrate how ignoring model error can lead to systematic downward bias in flood quantiles, upward bias in drought quantiles and upward bias in water supply yields. By reincorporating model error, we document how DWM models can be used to generate results that mimic actual observations and preserve their statistical behavior. In addition to use of DWM for improved predictions in a changing world, improved communication of the risk and reliability is also needed. Traditional statements of risk and reliability in hydrologic design have been characterized by return periods, but such statements often assume that the annual probability of experiencing a design event remains constant throughout the project horizon. We document the general impact of nonstationarity on the average return period and reliability in the context of hydrologic design. Our analyses reveal that return periods do not provide meaningful expressions of the likelihood of future hydrologic events. Instead, knowledge of system reliability over future planning horizons can more effectively prepare society and communicate the likelihood

2003 hydrological drought - natural disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trninic, Dusan; Bosnjak, Tomislava

2004-01-01

An exceptionally dry and warm period from February to early October 2003 resulted in hydrological drought with attributes of a natural disaster in most of the Croatian regions. The paper presents hydrological analysis of the Sava River near Zupanja for the period 1945-2003 (N=59 years). In defining maximum annual volumes of isolated waves below the reference discharges, the following reference discharges were used:Q 30,95% = 202m 3 s -1 - minimum mean 30-day discharge, 95 % probability, Q 30,80% = 254m 3 s -1 - minimum mean 30-day discharge, 80 % probability, Q 95% = 297m 3 s -1 - (H = -17cm minimum navigation level = 95 % of water level duration from average duration curve). The analysis results have shown that the hydrological drought recorded during the current year belongs to the most thoroughly studied droughts in 59 years. For example, hydrological analysis of the reference discharge of 297m 3 s -1 has shown that this year drought comes second, immediately after the driest year 1946. However, this year hydrological drought hit the record duration of 103 days, unlike the one from 1946, which lasted 98 days. It is interesting that the hydrological droughts affect the Sava River usually in autumn and summer, rarely in winter, and it has never been recorded in spring (referring to the analysed 1945-2003 period). In conclusion, some recommendations are given for increase in low streamflows and on possible impacts of climate changes on these flows.(Author)

Real-time monitoring of enzyme activity in a mesoporous silicon double layer

Science.gov (United States)

Orosco, Manuel M.; Pacholski, Claudia; Sailor, Michael J.

2009-04-01

The activity of certain proteolytic enzymes is often an indicator of disease states such as cancer, stroke and neurodegeneracy, so there is a need for rapid assays that can characterize the kinetics and substrate specificity of enzymatic reactions. Nanostructured membranes can efficiently separate biomolecules, but coupling a sensitive detection method to such a membrane remains difficult. Here, we demonstrate a single mesoporous nanoreactor that can isolate and quantify in real time the reaction products of proteases. The reactor consists of two layers of porous films electrochemically prepared from crystalline silicon. The upper layer, with large pore sizes (~100 nm in diameter), traps the protease and acts as the reactor. The lower layer, with smaller pore sizes (~6 nm), excludes the proteases and other large proteins and captures the reaction products. Infiltration of the digested fragments into the lower layer produces a measurable change in optical reflectivity, and this allows label-free quantification of enzyme kinetics in real time within a volume of ~5 nl.

Entropy: From Thermodynamics to Hydrology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Demetris Koutsoyiannis

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Some known results from statistical thermophysics as well as from hydrology are revisited from a different perspective trying: (a to unify the notion of entropy in thermodynamic and statistical/stochastic approaches of complex hydrological systems and (b to show the power of entropy and the principle of maximum entropy in inference, both deductive and inductive. The capability for deductive reasoning is illustrated by deriving the law of phase change transition of water (Clausius-Clapeyron from scratch by maximizing entropy in a formal probabilistic frame. However, such deductive reasoning cannot work in more complex hydrological systems with diverse elements, yet the entropy maximization framework can help in inductive inference, necessarily based on data. Several examples of this type are provided in an attempt to link statistical thermophysics with hydrology with a unifying view of entropy.

Isotope hydrology in Latin America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Payne, B.R.

1976-01-01

There are a broad range of nuclear techniques applicable to a variety of hydrological problems and these techniques are becoming recognized as an additional and, in some cases, indispensable tool available to the hydrologist in his quest to meet the increasing demands for water by agriculture, industry and community water supply. In Latin America we find examples of almost all the nuclear hydrological techniques. This article endeavours to give a summary account of the status of isotope hydrology in the region and the types of problems to which these techniques have been applied

HESS Opinions "The art of hydrology"*

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. H. G. Savenije

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Hydrological modelling is the same as developing and encoding a hydrological theory. A hydrological model is not a tool but a hypothesis. The whole discussion about the inadequacy of hydrological models we have witnessed of late, is related to the wrong concept of what a model is. Good models don't exist. Instead of looking for the "best" model, we should aim at developing better models. The process of modelling should be top-down, learning from the data while at the same time connection should be established with underlying physical theory (bottom-up. As a result of heterogeneity occurring at all scales in hydrology, there always remains a need for calibration of models. This implies that we need tailor-made and site-specific models. Only flexible models are fit for this modelling process, as opposed to most of the established software or "one-size-fits-all" models. The process of modelling requires imagination, inspiration, creativity, ingenuity, experience and skill. These are qualities that belong to the field of art. Hydrology is an art as much as it is science and engineering.

Contrasting effects of strabismic amblyopia on metabolic activity in superficial and deep layers of striate cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Daniel L; Economides, John R; Horton, Jonathan C

2015-05-01

To probe the mechanism of visual suppression, we have raised macaques with strabismus by disinserting the medial rectus muscle in each eye at 1 mo of age. Typically, this operation produces a comitant, alternating exotropia with normal acuity in each eye. Here we describe an unusual occurrence: the development of severe amblyopia in one eye of a monkey after induction of exotropia. Shortly after surgery, the animal demonstrated a strong fixation preference for the left eye, with apparent suppression of the right eye. Later, behavioral testing showed inability to track or to saccade to targets with the right eye. With the left eye occluded, the animal demonstrated no visually guided behavior. Optokinetic nystagmus was absent in the right eye. Metabolic activity in striate cortex was assessed by processing the tissue for cytochrome oxidase (CO). Amblyopia caused loss of CO in one eye's rows of patches, presumably those serving the blind eye. Layers 4A and 4B showed columns of reduced CO, in register with pale rows of patches in layer 2/3. Layers 4C, 5, and 6 also showed columns of CO activity, but remarkably, comparison with more superficial layers showed a reversal in contrast. In other words, pale CO staining in layers 2/3, 4A, and 4B was aligned with dark CO staining in layers 4C, 5, and 6. No experimental intervention or deprivation paradigm has been reported previously to produce opposite effects on metabolic activity in layers 2/3, 4A, and 4B vs. layers 4C, 5, and 6 within a given eye's columns. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Dealing with regional hydrologic data-base limitations. Case example: the Columbia River basalts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schalla, R.; Leonhart, L.S.

1981-01-01

Limitations are encountered in assembling hydrologic data for a broad geographic region, such as the Columbia Plateau in the northwestern US, into a conceptual model of the hydrologic system. These limitations may become resonant in subsequent numerical simulations of hydrologic system behavior. Included among such data limitations are irregular spatial distributions of data, decreases in information with increasing depth from the land surface, uncertainties about the reliability of reported hydrologic data, disparities in time-dependent parameters, and lack of field verification of data. The preparation of a regional hydrologic system description, therefore, first involves a comprehensive data evaluation, wherein the data are classified and ranked in terms of their utility to the study. The results of this evaluation are essential in planning future data acquisition activities, as well as in selecting and developing models. In turn, iterative use of modeling, data refinement, and data acquisition is considered to be highly effective. The case example of preparing a hydrologic system description for the Columbia Plateau, as required for repository siting, illustrates methods of determining the accuracy of certain data, compensating for data limitations, evaluating the need for acquiring additional data, and refining data through iterative techniques. Emphasis is placed on professional subjectivity, which has proven to be essential in data base evaluation and refinement

Scaling, Similarity, and the Fourth Paradigm for Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Clark, Martyn; Samaniego, Luis; Verhoest, Niko E. C.; van Emmerik, Tim; Uijlenhoet, Remko; Achieng, Kevin; Franz, Trenton E.; Woods, Ross

2017-01-01

In this synthesis paper addressing hydrologic scaling and similarity, we posit that roadblocks in the search for universal laws of hydrology are hindered by our focus on computational simulation (the third paradigm), and assert that it is time for hydrology to embrace a fourth paradigm of data-intensive science. Advances in information-based hydrologic science, coupled with an explosion of hydrologic data and advances in parameter estimation and modelling, have laid the foundation for a data-driven framework for scrutinizing hydrological scaling and similarity hypotheses. We summarize important scaling and similarity concepts (hypotheses) that require testing, describe a mutual information framework for testing these hypotheses, describe boundary condition, state flux, and parameter data requirements across scales to support testing these hypotheses, and discuss some challenges to overcome while pursuing the fourth hydrological paradigm. We call upon the hydrologic sciences community to develop a focused effort towards adopting the fourth paradigm and apply this to outstanding challenges in scaling and similarity.

Multi-scale validation of a new soil freezing scheme for a land-surface model with physically-based hydrology

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I. Gouttevin

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Soil freezing is a major feature of boreal regions with substantial impact on climate. The present paper describes the implementation of the thermal and hydrological effects of soil freezing in the land surface model ORCHIDEE, which includes a physical description of continental hydrology. The new soil freezing scheme is evaluated against analytical solutions and in-situ observations at a variety of scales in order to test its numerical robustness, explore its sensitivity to parameterization choices and confront its performance to field measurements at typical application scales.

Our soil freezing model exhibits a low sensitivity to the vertical discretization for spatial steps in the range of a few millimetres to a few centimetres. It is however sensitive to the temperature interval around the freezing point where phase change occurs, which should be 1 °C to 2 °C wide. Furthermore, linear and thermodynamical parameterizations of the liquid water content lead to similar results in terms of water redistribution within the soil and thermal evolution under freezing. Our approach does not allow firm discrimination of the performance of one approach over the other.

The new soil freezing scheme considerably improves the representation of runoff and river discharge in regions underlain by permafrost or subject to seasonal freezing. A thermodynamical parameterization of the liquid water content appears more appropriate for an integrated description of the hydrological processes at the scale of the vast Siberian basins. The use of a subgrid variability approach and the representation of wetlands could help capture the features of the Arctic hydrological regime with more accuracy.

The modeling of the soil thermal regime is generally improved by the representation of soil freezing processes. In particular, the dynamics of the active layer is captured with more accuracy, which is of crucial importance in the prospect of

Extending airborne electromagnetic surveys for regional active layer and permafrost mapping with remote sensing and ancillary data, Yukon Flats ecoregion, central Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Pastick, Neal J.; Jorgenson, M. Torre; Wylie, Bruce K.; Minsley, Burke J.; Ji, Lei; Walvoord, Michelle Ann; Smith, Bruce D.; Abraham, Jared D.; Rose, Joshua R.

2013-01-01

Machine-learning regression tree models were used to extrapolate airborne electromagnetic resistivity data collected along flight lines in the Yukon Flats Ecoregion, central Alaska, for regional mapping of permafrost. This method of extrapolation (r = 0.86) used subsurface resistivity, Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) at-sensor reflectance, thermal, TM-derived spectral indices, digital elevation models and other relevant spatial data to estimate near-surface (0–2.6-m depth) resistivity at 30-m resolution. A piecewise regression model (r = 0.82) and a presence/absence decision tree classification (accuracy of 87%) were used to estimate active-layer thickness (ALT) (remote sensing and map data. At site scale, the predicted ALTs were similar to those previously observed for different vegetation types. At the landscape scale, the predicted ALTs tended to be thinner on higher-elevation loess deposits than on low-lying alluvial and sand sheet deposits of the Yukon Flats. The ALT and permafrost maps provide a baseline for future permafrost monitoring, serve as inputs for modelling hydrological and carbon cycles at local to regional scales, and offer insight into the ALT response to fire and thaw processes.

High resolution weather data for urban hydrological modelling and impact assessment, ICT requirements and future challenges

Science.gov (United States)

ten Veldhuis, Marie-claire; van Riemsdijk, Birna

2013-04-01

presentation will highlight ICT-related requirements and limitations in high resolution urban hydrological modelling and analysis. Further ICT challenges arise in provision of high resolution radar data for diverging information needs as well as in combination with other data sources in the urban environment. Different types of information are required for such diverse activities as operational flood protection, traffic management, large event organisation, business planning in shopping districts and restaurants, timing of family activities. These different information needs may require different configurations and data processing for radars and other data sources. An ICT challenge is to develop techniques for deciding how to automatically respond to these diverging information needs (e.g., through (semi-)automated negotiation). Diverse activities also provide a wide variety of information resources that can supplement traditional networks of weather sensors, such as rain sensors on cars and social media. Another ICT challenge is how to combine data from these different sources for answering a particular information need. Examples will be presented of solutions are currently being explored.

Valuing hydrological alteration in Multi-Objective reservoir management

Science.gov (United States)

Bizzi, S.; Pianosi, F.; Soncini-Sessa, R.

2012-04-01

Water management through dams and reservoirs is worldwide necessary to support key human-related activities ranging from hydropower production to water allocation for agricultural production, and flood risk mitigation. Advances in multi-objectives (MO) optimization techniques and ever growing computing power make it possible to design reservoir operating policies that represent Pareto-optimal tradeoffs between the multiple interests analysed. These progresses if on one hand are likely to enhance performances of commonly targeted objectives (such as hydropower production or water supply), on the other risk to strongly penalize all the interests not directly (i.e. mathematically) optimized within the MO algorithm. Alteration of hydrological regime, although is a well established cause of ecological degradation and its evaluation and rehabilitation are commonly required by recent legislation (as the Water Framework Directive in Europe), is rarely embedded as an objective in MO planning of optimal releases from reservoirs. Moreover, even when it is explicitly considered, the criteria adopted for its evaluation are doubted and not commonly trusted, undermining the possibility of real implementation of environmentally friendly policies. The main challenges in defining and assessing hydrological alterations are: how to define a reference state (referencing); how to define criteria upon which to build mathematical indicators of alteration (measuring); and finally how to aggregate the indicators in a single evaluation index that can be embedded in a MO optimization problem (valuing). This paper aims to address these issues by: i) discussing benefits and constrains of different approaches to referencing, measuring and valuing hydrological alteration; ii) testing two alternative indices of hydrological alteration in the context of MO problems, one based on the established framework of Indices of Hydrological Alteration (IHA, Richter et al., 1996), and a novel satisfying the

GIS based generation of dynamic hydrological and land patch simulation models for rural watershed areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Varga

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a GIS based methodology to generate dynamic process model for the simulation based analysis of a sensitive rural watershed. The Direct Computer Mapping (DCM based solution starts from GIS layers and, via the graph interpretation and graphical edition of the process network, the expert interface is able to integrate the field experts’ knowledge in the computer aided generation of the simulation model. The methodology was applied and tested for the Southern catchment basin of Lake Balaton, Hungary. In the simplified hydrological model the GIS description of nine watercourses, 121 water sections, 57 small lakes and 20 Lake Balaton compartments were mapped through the expert interface to the dynamic databases of the DCM model. The hydrological model involved precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, runoff, infiltration. The COoRdination of INformation on the Environment (CORINE land cover based simplified “land patch” model considered the effect of meteorological and hydrological scenarios on freshwater resources in the land patches, rivers and lakes. The first results show that the applied model generation methodology helps to build complex models, which, after validation can support the analysis of various land use, with the consideration of environmental aspects.

Modified processing conditions for optimized organic solar cells with inkjet printed P3HT:PC61BM active layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lange, Alexander; Hollaender, Andreas; Wegener, Michael

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Inkjet printing was used to deposit P3HT:PC 61 BM solar cell active layers. ► The fill factor was dependent on the drying conditions used after printing. ► Fast drying at 100 °C and post-annealing resulted in good device performance. ► Devices with active layers which were slowly dried had high efficiencies without post-annealing. -- Abstract: Inkjet printing can be used to deposit the functional layers of organic solar cells and it offers advantages over spin coating such as the possibility to print films with user-defined patterns. In this study, inkjet printing was utilized to deposit polymer:fullerene solar cell active layers and different drying and annealing conditions were examined in order to optimize device performance. Low fill factors of approximately 30% were found for devices with printed active layers that were dried at 100 °C and a considerable shift in the fill factor of up to 60% was seen after post-annealing at 150 °C. Changes in the fill factor corresponded to an increase in device efficiency from ∼1.3% to ∼2.4% after post-annealing. An alternative active layer drying procedure was used based on solvent annealing which resulted in high fill factors of 60% and efficiencies of ∼2.4% without post-annealing. Blend films were examined with atomic force microscopy, ultra-violet visible spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was determined that solvent annealed, inkjet printed active layers are considerably rougher and show enhanced organization with respect to films that were dried at 100 °C. Two preparation routes are provided for devices with printed active layers with acceptable efficiencies based on quick drying and post-annealing or slow drying (solvent annealing)

Hydrological Process Simulation of Inland River Watershed: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin with Multiple Hydrological Models

OpenAIRE

Lili Wang; Zhonggen Wang; Jingjie Yu; Yichi Zhang; Suzhen Dang

2018-01-01

Simulating the hydrological processes of an inland river basin can help provide the scientific guidance to the policies of water allocation among different subbasins and water resource management groups within the subbasins. However, it is difficult to simulate the hydrological processes of an inland river basin with hydrological models due to the non-consistent hydrological characteristics of the entire basin. This study presents a solution to this problem with a case study about the hydrolo...

Perturbations in the initial soil moisture conditions: Impacts on hydrologic simulation in a large river basin

Science.gov (United States)

Niroula, Sundar; Halder, Subhadeep; Ghosh, Subimal

2018-06-01

Real time hydrologic forecasting requires near accurate initial condition of soil moisture; however, continuous monitoring of soil moisture is not operational in many regions, such as, in Ganga basin, extended in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. Here, we examine the impacts of perturbation/error in the initial soil moisture conditions on simulated soil moisture and streamflow in Ganga basin and its propagation, during the summer monsoon season (June to September). This provides information regarding the required minimum duration of model simulation for attaining the model stability. We use the Variable Infiltration Capacity model for hydrological simulations after validation. Multiple hydrologic simulations are performed, each of 21 days, initialized on every 5th day of the monsoon season for deficit, surplus and normal monsoon years. Each of these simulations is performed with the initial soil moisture condition obtained from long term runs along with positive and negative perturbations. The time required for the convergence of initial errors is obtained for all the cases. We find a quick convergence for the year with high rainfall as well as for the wet spells within a season. We further find high spatial variations in the time required for convergence; the region with high precipitation such as Lower Ganga basin attains convergence at a faster rate. Furthermore, deeper soil layers need more time for convergence. Our analysis is the first attempt on understanding the sensitivity of hydrological simulations of Ganga basin on initial soil moisture conditions. The results obtained here may be useful in understanding the spin-up requirements for operational hydrologic forecasts.

CrowdHydrology: crowdsourcing hydrologic data and engaging citizen scientists.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, Christopher S; Fienen, Michael N

2013-01-01

Spatially and temporally distributed measurements of processes, such as baseflow at the watershed scale, come at substantial equipment and personnel cost. Research presented here focuses on building a crowdsourced database of inexpensive distributed stream stage measurements. Signs on staff gauges encourage citizen scientists to voluntarily send hydrologic measurements (e.g., stream stage) via text message to a server that stores and displays the data on the web. Based on the crowdsourced stream stage, we evaluate the accuracy of citizen scientist measurements and measurement approach. The results show that crowdsourced data collection is a supplemental method for collecting hydrologic data and a promising method of public engagement. © 2012, The Author(s). Ground Water © 2012, National Ground Water Association.

Simulations of ecosystem hydrological processes using a unified multi-scale model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Xiaofan; Liu, Chongxuan; Fang, Yilin; Hinkle, Ross; Li, Hong-Yi; Bailey, Vanessa; Bond-Lamberty, Ben

2015-01-01

This paper presents a unified multi-scale model (UMSM) that we developed to simulate hydrological processes in an ecosystem containing both surface water and groundwater. The UMSM approach modifies the Navier–Stokes equation by adding a Darcy force term to formulate a single set of equations to describe fluid momentum and uses a generalized equation to describe fluid mass balance. The advantage of the approach is that the single set of the equations can describe hydrological processes in both surface water and groundwater where different models are traditionally required to simulate fluid flow. This feature of the UMSM significantly facilitates modelling of hydrological processes in ecosystems, especially at locations where soil/sediment may be frequently inundated and drained in response to precipitation, regional hydrological and climate changes. In this paper, the UMSM was benchmarked using WASH123D, a model commonly used for simulating coupled surface water and groundwater flow. Disney Wilderness Preserve (DWP) site at the Kissimmee, Florida, where active field monitoring and measurements are ongoing to understand hydrological and biogeochemical processes, was then used as an example to illustrate the UMSM modelling approach. The simulations results demonstrated that the DWP site is subject to the frequent changes in soil saturation, the geometry and volume of surface water bodies, and groundwater and surface water exchange. All the hydrological phenomena in surface water and groundwater components including inundation and draining, river bank flow, groundwater table change, soil saturation, hydrological interactions between groundwater and surface water, and the migration of surface water and groundwater interfaces can be simultaneously simulated using the UMSM. Overall, the UMSM offers a cross-scale approach that is particularly suitable to simulate coupled surface and ground water flow in ecosystems with strong surface water and groundwater interactions.

Revisiting an interdisciplinary hydrological modelling project. A socio-hydrology (?) example from the early 2000s

Science.gov (United States)

Seidl, Roman; Barthel, Roland

2016-04-01

Interdisciplinary scientific and societal knowledge plays an increasingly important role in global change research. Also, in the field of water resources interdisciplinarity as well as cooperation with stakeholders from outside academia have been recognized as important. In this contribution, we revisit an integrated regional modelling system (DANUBIA), which was developed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers and relied on stakeholder participation in the framework of the GLOWA-Danube project from 2001 to 2011 (Mauser and Prasch 2016). As the model was developed before the current increase in literature on participatory modelling and interdisciplinarity, we ask how a socio-hydrology approach would have helped and in what way it would have made the work different. The present contribution firstly presents the interdisciplinary concept of DANUBIA, mainly with focus on the integration of human behaviour in a spatially explicit, process-based numerical modelling system (Roland Barthel, Janisch, Schwarz, Trifkovic, Nickel, Schulz, and Mauser 2008; R. Barthel, Nickel, Meleg, Trifkovic, and Braun 2005). Secondly, we compare the approaches to interdisciplinarity in GLOWA-Danube with concepts and ideas presented by socio-hydrology. Thirdly, we frame DANUBIA and a review of key literature on socio-hydrology in the context of a survey among hydrologists (N = 184). This discussion is used to highlight gaps and opportunities of the socio-hydrology approach. We show that the interdisciplinary aspect of the project and the participatory process of stakeholder integration in DANUBIA were not entirely successful. However, important insights were gained and important lessons were learnt. Against the background of these experiences we feel that in its current state, socio-hydrology is still lacking a plan for knowledge integration. Moreover, we consider necessary that socio-hydrology takes into account the lessons learnt from these earlier examples of knowledge integration

Electrical and mechanical characterization of nanoscale-layered cellulose-based electro-active paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Gyu-Young; Yun, Ki-Ju; Kim, Joo-Hyung; Kim, Jaehwan

2011-01-01

In order to understand the electro-mechanical behavior of piezoelectric electro active paper (EAPap), the converse and direct piezoelectric characterization of cellulose EAPap was studied and compared. A delay between the electrical field and the induced strain of EAPap was observed due to the inner nano-voids or the localized amorphous regions in layer-by-layered structure to capture or hold the electrical charges and remnant ions. The linear relation between electric field and induced strain is also observed. The electro-mechanical performance of EAPap is discussed in detail in this paper.

Characterisation of Wear Resistant Boride Layers on a Tool Steel by Activity Controlled Pack Boronising

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandes, Frederico Augusto Pires; Christiansen, Thomas Lundin; Somers, Marcel A. J.

2015-01-01

The present work addresses the production and characterisation of iron boride layers by pack boronising of a Vanadis 6 tool steel. The boride layers were produced at 900°C for 2h using different pack compositions in order to obtain a single-phase boride layer. The layers were characterized...... by electron microscopy, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Vickers hardness tests and wear testing with a pin-on-disc tribometer. It was found that the type of boride phases (FeB and/or Fe2B) present in the treated layer can be controlled by changing the boron activity...... by pack boronising for all conditions as compared to the heat treated tool steel....

Agricultural watershed modeling: a review for hydrology and soil erosion processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Rogério de Mello

2016-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Models have been used by man for thousands of years to control his environment in a favorable way to better human living conditions. The use of hydrologic models has been a widely effective tool in order to support decision makers dealing with watersheds related to several economic and social activities, like public water supply, energy generation, and water availability for agriculture, among others. The purpose of this review is to briefly discuss some models on soil and water movement on landscapes (RUSLE, WEPP, GeoWEPP, LASH, DHSVM and AnnAGNPS to provide information about them to help and serve in a proper manner in order to discuss particular problems related to hydrology and soil erosion processes. Models have been changed and evaluated significantly in recent years, highlighting the use of remote sense, GIS and automatic calibration process, allowing them capable of simulating watersheds under a given land-use and climate change effects. However, hydrology models have almost the same physical structure, which is not enough for simulating problems related to the long-term effects of different land-uses. That has been our challenge for next future: to understand entirely the hydrology cycle, having as reference the critical zone, in which the hydrological processes act together from canopy to the bottom of aquifers.

Genetic Programming for Automatic Hydrological Modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Chadalawada, Jayashree; Babovic, Vladan

2017-04-01

One of the recent challenges for the hydrologic research community is the need for the development of coupled systems that involves the integration of hydrologic, atmospheric and socio-economic relationships. This poses a requirement for novel modelling frameworks that can accurately represent complex systems, given, the limited understanding of underlying processes, increasing volume of data and high levels of uncertainity. Each of the existing hydrological models vary in terms of conceptualization and process representation and is the best suited to capture the environmental dynamics of a particular hydrological system. Data driven approaches can be used in the integration of alternative process hypotheses in order to achieve a unified theory at catchment scale. The key steps in the implementation of integrated modelling framework that is influenced by prior understanding and data, include, choice of the technique for the induction of knowledge from data, identification of alternative structural hypotheses, definition of rules, constraints for meaningful, intelligent combination of model component hypotheses and definition of evaluation metrics. This study aims at defining a Genetic Programming based modelling framework that test different conceptual model constructs based on wide range of objective functions and evolves accurate and parsimonious models that capture dominant hydrological processes at catchment scale. In this paper, GP initializes the evolutionary process using the modelling decisions inspired from the Superflex framework [Fenicia et al., 2011] and automatically combines them into model structures that are scrutinized against observed data using statistical, hydrological and flow duration curve based performance metrics. The collaboration between data driven and physical, conceptual modelling paradigms improves the ability to model and manage hydrologic systems. Fenicia, F., D. Kavetski, and H. H. Savenije (2011), Elements of a flexible approach

Hydrology and Conservation Ecology

Science.gov (United States)

Narayanan, M.

2006-12-01

Responses to change in the behavior of ecological systems are largely governed by interactions at different levels. Research is essential and is to be necessarily designed to gain insights into various interactions at the community level. Sustainable resource management is only possible if conservation of biodiversity can be accomplished by properly using the knowledge discovered. It is well known that the United States Department of Agriculture provides technical information, resources, and data necessary to assist the researchers in addressing their conservation needs. Conservation aims to protect, preserve and conserve the earth's natural resources. These include, but not limited to the conservation of soil, water, minerals, air, plants and all living beings. The United States Department of Agriculture also encourages farmers and ranchers to voluntarily address threats to soil and water. Protection of wetlands and wildlife habitat has been on the radar screen of conservation experts for a very long time. The main objective has always been to help farmers and landowners conform and comply with federal and state environmental laws. During the implementation phase, farmers should be encouraged to make beneficial, cost-effective changes to methods of irrigation systems. In some cases, the hydrologic regime of the project area can be thought of as principally an issue of river flow regimes for floodplain forests. In this presentation, the author tries to focus on the impact of hydrology and conservation ecology on global warming. He also discusses the impact of hydrology and conservation ecology global air concerns such as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. References: Chow, V. T, D. R. Maidment, and L. W. Mays. 1988. Applied Hydrology. McGraw-Hill, Inc. U.S. Soil Conservation Service. Technical Release 55: Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds. USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). June 1986. Lehner, B. and P. Döll (2004). Development and validation

Hydrological Bulletin

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Historical report (December 1937-April 1948) containing hydrologic information for the United States, divided into ten regions. While hourly precipitation tables...

Beaver-mediated lateral hydrologic connectivity, fluvial carbon and nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism

Science.gov (United States)

Wegener, Pam; Covino, Tim; Wohl, Ellen

2017-06-01

River networks that drain mountain landscapes alternate between narrow and wide valley segments. Within the wide segments, beaver activity can facilitate the development and maintenance of complex, multithread planform. Because the narrow segments have limited ability to retain water, carbon, and nutrients, the wide, multithread segments are likely important locations of retention. We evaluated hydrologic dynamics, nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism along two adjacent segments of a river network in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado: (1) a wide, multithread segment with beaver activity; and, (2) an adjacent (directly upstream) narrow, single-thread segment without beaver activity. We used a mass balance approach to determine the water, carbon, and nutrient source-sink behavior of each river segment across a range of flows. While the single-thread segment was consistently a source of water, carbon, and nitrogen, the beaver impacted multithread segment exhibited variable source-sink dynamics as a function of flow. Specifically, the multithread segment was a sink for water, carbon, and nutrients during high flows, and subsequently became a source as flows decreased. Shifts in river-floodplain hydrologic connectivity across flows related to higher and more variable aquatic ecosystem metabolism rates along the multithread relative to the single-thread segment. Our data suggest that beaver activity in wide valleys can create a physically complex hydrologic environment that can enhance hydrologic and biogeochemical buffering, and promote high rates of aquatic ecosystem metabolism. Given the widespread removal of beaver, determining the cumulative effects of these changes is a critical next step in restoring function in altered river networks.

Modelling hydrological processes and dissolved organic carbon dynamics in a rehabilitated Sphagnum-dominated peatland

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard-Jannin, Léonard; Binet, Stéphane; Gogo, Sébastien; Leroy, Fabien; Perdereau, Laurent; Laggoun-Défarge, Fatima

2017-04-01

Sphagnum-dominated peatlands represent a global major stock of carbon (C). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exports through runoff and leaching could reduce their potential C sink function and impact downstream water quality. DOC production in peatlands is strongly controlled by the hydrology, especially water table depth (WTD). Therefore, disturbances such as drainage can lead to increase DOC exports by lowering the WTD. Hydrological restoration (e.g. rewetting) can be undertaken to restore peatland functioning with an impact on DOC exports. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of drainage and rewetting on hydrological processes and their interactions with DOC dynamics in a Sphagnum dominated peatland. A hydrological model has been applied to a drained peatland (La Guette, France) which experienced a rewetting action on February 2014 and where WTD has been recorded in four piezometers at a 15 min time step since 2009. In addition, DOC concentrations in the peatland have been measured 6 times a year since 2014. The hydrological model is a WTD dependent reservoir model composed by two reservoirs representing the micro and macro porosity of the peatland (Binet et al., 2013). A DOC production module in both reservoirs was implemented based on temperature and WTD. The model was calibrated against WTD and DOC concentrations for each piezometer. The results show that the WTD in the study area is strongly affected by local meteorological conditions that could hide the effect of the rewetting action. The preliminary results evidenced that an additional source of water, identified as groundwater supply originating from the surrounding sandy layer aquifer, is necessary to maintain the water balance, especially during wet years (NS>0.8). Finally, the DOC module was able to describe DOC concentrations measured in the peatland and could be used to assess the impact of rewetting on DOC dynamics at different locations and to identify the factors of control of DOC

Development of a 14-digit Hydrologic Unit Code Numbering System for South Carolina

Science.gov (United States)

Bower, David E.; Lowry, Claude; Lowery, Mark A.; Hurley, Noel M.

1999-01-01

A Hydrologic Unit Map showing the cataloging units, watersheds, and subwatersheds of South Carolina has been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, funded through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 319 Grant, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. These delineations represent 8-, 11-, and 14-digit Hydrologic Unit Codes, respectively. This map presents information on drainage, hydrography, and hydrologic boundaries of the water-resources regions, subregions, accounting units, cataloging units, watersheds, and subwatersheds. The source maps for the basin delineations are 1:24,000-scale 7.5-minute series topographic maps and the base maps are from 1:100,000-scale Digital Line Graphs; however, the data are published at a scale of 1:500,000. In addition, an electronic version of the data is provided on a compact disc.Of the 1,022 subwatersheds delineated for this project, 1,004 range in size from 3,000 to 40,000 acres (4.69 to 62.5 square miles). Seventeen subwatersheds are smaller than 3,000 acres and one subwatershed, located on St. Helena Island, is larger than 40,000 acres.This map and its associated codes provide a standardized base for use by water-resource managers and planners in locating, storing, retrieving, and exchanging hydrologic data. In addition, the map can be used for cataloging water-data acquisition activities, geographically organizing hydrologic data, and planning and describing water-use and related land-use activities.

Hydrological Classification, a Practical Tool for Mangrove Restoration.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Loon, Anne F; Te Brake, Bram; Van Huijgevoort, Marjolein H J; Dijksma, Roel

2016-01-01

Mangrove restoration projects, aimed at restoring important values of mangrove forests after degradation, often fail because hydrological conditions are disregarded. We present a simple, but robust methodology to determine hydrological suitability for mangrove species, which can guide restoration practice. In 15 natural and 8 disturbed sites (i.e. disused shrimp ponds) in three case study regions in south-east Asia, water levels were measured and vegetation species composition was determined. Using an existing hydrological classification for mangroves, sites were classified into hydrological classes, based on duration of inundation, and vegetation classes, based on occurrence of mangrove species. For the natural sites hydrological and vegetation classes were similar, showing clear distribution of mangrove species from wet to dry sites. Application of the classification to disturbed sites showed that in some locations hydrological conditions had been restored enough for mangrove vegetation to establish, in some locations hydrological conditions were suitable for various mangrove species but vegetation had not established naturally, and in some locations hydrological conditions were too wet for any mangrove species (natural or planted) to grow. We quantified the effect that removal of obstructions such as dams would have on the hydrology and found that failure of planting at one site could have been prevented. The hydrological classification needs relatively little data, i.e. water levels for a period of only one lunar tidal cycle without additional measurements, and uncertainties in the measurements and analysis are relatively small. For the study locations, the application of the hydrological classification gave important information about how to restore the hydrology to suitable conditions to improve natural regeneration or to plant mangrove species, which could not have been obtained by estimating elevation only. Based on this research a number of recommendations

Hydrological Classification, a Practical Tool for Mangrove Restoration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne F Van Loon

Full Text Available Mangrove restoration projects, aimed at restoring important values of mangrove forests after degradation, often fail because hydrological conditions are disregarded. We present a simple, but robust methodology to determine hydrological suitability for mangrove species, which can guide restoration practice. In 15 natural and 8 disturbed sites (i.e. disused shrimp ponds in three case study regions in south-east Asia, water levels were measured and vegetation species composition was determined. Using an existing hydrological classification for mangroves, sites were classified into hydrological classes, based on duration of inundation, and vegetation classes, based on occurrence of mangrove species. For the natural sites hydrological and vegetation classes were similar, showing clear distribution of mangrove species from wet to dry sites. Application of the classification to disturbed sites showed that in some locations hydrological conditions had been restored enough for mangrove vegetation to establish, in some locations hydrological conditions were suitable for various mangrove species but vegetation had not established naturally, and in some locations hydrological conditions were too wet for any mangrove species (natural or planted to grow. We quantified the effect that removal of obstructions such as dams would have on the hydrology and found that failure of planting at one site could have been prevented. The hydrological classification needs relatively little data, i.e. water levels for a period of only one lunar tidal cycle without additional measurements, and uncertainties in the measurements and analysis are relatively small. For the study locations, the application of the hydrological classification gave important information about how to restore the hydrology to suitable conditions to improve natural regeneration or to plant mangrove species, which could not have been obtained by estimating elevation only. Based on this research a number

A spatial assessment of stream-flow characteristics and hydrologic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The global hydrologic regime has been intensively altered through activities such as dam construction, water abstraction, and inter-basin transfers. This paper uses the Range of Variability Approach (RVA) and daily stream flow records from nine gauging stations to characterize stream-flow post dam construction in the ...

Perspective on Eco-Hydrology Developing Strategy in China

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, J.

2017-12-01

China is one of developing countries with higher eco-environmental press in the world due to large population and its socio-economic development. In China, water is not only the sources for life, but also the key for production, and the foundation for eco-system. Thus, Eco-hydrology becomes a fundamental also an applied sciences related to describe the hydrologic mechanisms that underlie ecologic patterns and processes. This paper addresses the issue of Eco-hydrology Developing Strategy in China, supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Major contents include four aspects, namely: (1) Demands and frontier of eco-hydrology in the world; (2) Major theories and approaches of Eco-hydrology; (3) Perspective of future development on Eco-hydrology; (4) Enacting and proposal for China development strategy on Eco-hydrology. Application fields involves urban, rural area, wetland, river & lake, forest and special regions in China, such as the arid and semi-arid region and so on. The goal is to promote the disciplinary development of eco-hydrology, and serve for national demands on ecological civilization construction in China.

Hydrological character of the soil of a degraded area: comparison of analysis physical, chemical and floristic vegetational

Science.gov (United States)

Manfredi, Paolo; Cassinari, Chiara; Giupponi, Luca; Sichel, Giorgio Maria; Trevisan, Marco

2013-04-01

This work is an integral part of a project co-financed by the European Union "Environmental recovery of degraded soils and desertified land by a new technology treatment for the recovery of the land" (Life 10 ENV IT 400 "New Life"); this technology is based on a treatment (patented by m.c.m. Ecosistemi) of chemical mechanical processing of degraded soils with an initial process of disgregation of the same followed by their reconstitution incorporating soil matrices, a subsequent polycondensation with humic acids and a final restoration. The area of intervention of the New Life project lies in the municipal territory of Piacenza, where between the years 70 and 80 has been made a landfill for municipal solid waste with subsequent restoration work by placing a layer of soil cover. The first phase of the New Life project was that of a physical and chemical characterization of different cover soils of the area combined with floristic-vegetational analysis. At this stage the present study aims to compare the data related to the analysis of the vegetation with those returned by investigation of hydrological characteristics of soils performed by laboratory methods, together to confront two theoretical calculation methods for determination of hydrological parameters. The comparison of the ecological study of the vegetation with the outcomes obtained by the classical methods regarding the determination of water retention, allows you to have a picture that is as detailed as possible in describing the characteristics of the substrate. The comparison also with the two methods of calculation, which determines the hydrological character conditions in average soil condition, allows you to ascertain the actual disturbance of the soil in the area. In order to delineate the hydrological characteristics of the soils sampled, were quantified by the Maximum Water Concentration, the capacity range, the point of Withering by the method of the Tensiometric box and the Pressure Membrane

Mapping (dis)agreement in hydrologic projections

Science.gov (United States)

Melsen, Lieke A.; Addor, Nans; Mizukami, Naoki; Newman, Andrew J.; Torfs, Paul J. J. F.; Clark, Martyn P.; Uijlenhoet, Remko; Teuling, Adriaan J.

2018-03-01

Hydrologic projections are of vital socio-economic importance. However, they are also prone to uncertainty. In order to establish a meaningful range of storylines to support water managers in decision making, we need to reveal the relevant sources of uncertainty. Here, we systematically and extensively investigate uncertainty in hydrologic projections for 605 basins throughout the contiguous US. We show that in the majority of the basins, the sign of change in average annual runoff and discharge timing for the period 2070-2100 compared to 1985-2008 differs among combinations of climate models, hydrologic models, and parameters. Mapping the results revealed that different sources of uncertainty dominate in different regions. Hydrologic model induced uncertainty in the sign of change in mean runoff was related to snow processes and aridity, whereas uncertainty in both mean runoff and discharge timing induced by the climate models was related to disagreement among the models regarding the change in precipitation. Overall, disagreement on the sign of change was more widespread for the mean runoff than for the discharge timing. The results demonstrate the need to define a wide range of quantitative hydrologic storylines, including parameter, hydrologic model, and climate model forcing uncertainty, to support water resource planning.

Regional Hydrological Cycle over the Red Sea in ERA-Interim

KAUST Repository

Zolina, Olga; Dufour, Ambroise; Gulev, Sergey K.; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

2016-01-01

The major sources of atmospheric moisture over the Red Sea are analyzed using ERA-Interim for the 1979-2013 period. The vertical structure of moisture transports across the coastlines has been computed separately for the western and eastern coasts of the Red Sea. The vertical structure of the moisture transport from the Red Sea to the continents is dominated by a breeze-like circulation in the near-surface layer and the Arabian high above 850 hPa. The lower-layer, breeze-like circulation is acting to export the moisture to the northwest of Africa and to the Arabian Peninsula and contributes about 80% of the moisture exports from the Red Sea, dominating over the transport in the upper layer, where the moisture is advected to the Arabian Peninsula in the northern part of the sea and to the African continent in the southern part. Integrated moisture divergence over the Red Sea decreased from the early 1980s to 1997 and then increased until the 2010s. Associated changes in the moisture export were provided primarily by the increasing intensity of the breeze-associated transports. The transports above the boundary layer, while being strong across the western and the eastern coasts, have a smaller effect on the net moisture export. The interannual variability of the moisture export in the near-surface layer was found to be closely correlated with the variability in sea surface temperature, especially in summer. Implications of the observed changes in the moisture advection for the hydrological cycle of the Middle East are discussed.

Regional Hydrological Cycle over the Red Sea in ERA-Interim

KAUST Repository

Zolina, Olga

2016-09-30

The major sources of atmospheric moisture over the Red Sea are analyzed using ERA-Interim for the 1979-2013 period. The vertical structure of moisture transports across the coastlines has been computed separately for the western and eastern coasts of the Red Sea. The vertical structure of the moisture transport from the Red Sea to the continents is dominated by a breeze-like circulation in the near-surface layer and the Arabian high above 850 hPa. The lower-layer, breeze-like circulation is acting to export the moisture to the northwest of Africa and to the Arabian Peninsula and contributes about 80% of the moisture exports from the Red Sea, dominating over the transport in the upper layer, where the moisture is advected to the Arabian Peninsula in the northern part of the sea and to the African continent in the southern part. Integrated moisture divergence over the Red Sea decreased from the early 1980s to 1997 and then increased until the 2010s. Associated changes in the moisture export were provided primarily by the increasing intensity of the breeze-associated transports. The transports above the boundary layer, while being strong across the western and the eastern coasts, have a smaller effect on the net moisture export. The interannual variability of the moisture export in the near-surface layer was found to be closely correlated with the variability in sea surface temperature, especially in summer. Implications of the observed changes in the moisture advection for the hydrological cycle of the Middle East are discussed.

Evaporation in hydrology and meteorology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brandsma, T.

1990-01-01

In this paper the role of evaporation in hydrology and meteorology is discussed, with the emphasis on hydrology. The basic theory of evaporation is given and methods to determine evaporation are presented. Some applications of evaporation studies in literature are given in order to illustrate the

[Soil basal respiration and enzyme activities in the root-layer soil of tea bushes in a red soil].

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Shen; He, Zhenli; Zhang, Rongguang; Chen, Guochao; Huang, Changyong

2003-02-01

Soil basal respiration potential, metabolic quotient (qCO2), and activities of urease, invertase and acid phosphomonoesterase were investigated in the root-layer of 10-, 40-, and 90-yr-old tea bushes grown on the same type of red soil. The soil daily basal respiration potential ranged from 36.23 to 58.52 mg.kg-1.d-1, and the potentials in the root-layer of 40- or 90-yr-old were greater than that of 10-yr old tea bushes. The daily qCO2, ranging from 0.30 to 0.68, was in the reverse trend. The activities of test three enzymes changed differently with tea bushes' age. Urease activity in the root-layer of all age tea bushes ranged from 41.48 to 47.72 mg.kg-1.h-1 and slightly decreased with tea bushes' age. Invertase activity was 189.29-363.40 mg.kg-1.h-1 and decreased with tea bushes' age, but its activity in the root-layer of 10-year old tea bushes was significantly greater than that in the root-layer soil of 40- or 90-year old tea bushes. Acid phosphomonoesterase activity (444.22-828.32 mg.kg-1.h-1) increased significantly with tea bushes' age. Soil basal respiration potential, qCO2 and activities of 3 soil enzymes were closely related to soil pH, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and C/N ratio, total soluble phenol, and microbial biomass carbon, respectively.

Hydrology: The interdisciplinary science of water

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Richard M.; Lall, Upmanu; Cai, Ximing; Rajagopalan, Balaji; Weiskel, Peter K.; Hooper, Richard P.; Matalas, Nicholas C.

2015-01-01

We live in a world where biophysical and social processes are tightly coupled. Hydrologic systems change in response to a variety of natural and human forces such as climate variability and change, water use and water infrastructure, and land cover change. In turn, changes in hydrologic systems impact socioeconomic, ecological, and climate systems at a number of scales, leading to a coevolution of these interlinked systems. The Harvard Water Program, Hydrosociology, Integrated Water Resources Management, Ecohydrology, Hydromorphology, and Sociohydrology were all introduced to provide distinct, interdisciplinary perspectives on water problems to address the contemporary dynamics of human interaction with the hydrosphere and the evolution of the Earth’s hydrologic systems. Each of them addresses scientific, social, and engineering challenges related to how humans influence water systems and vice versa. There are now numerous examples in the literature of how holistic approaches can provide a structure and vision of the future of hydrology. We review selected examples, which taken together, describe the type of theoretical and applied integrated hydrologic analyses and associated curricular content required to address the societal issue of water resources sustainability. We describe a modern interdisciplinary science of hydrology needed to develop an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of the connectedness between human and natural systems and to determine effective solutions to resolve the complex water problems that the world faces today. Nearly, every theoretical hydrologic model introduced previously is in need of revision to accommodate how climate, land, vegetation, and socioeconomic factors interact, change, and evolve over time.

Hydrology of two slopes in subarctic Yukon, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, Sean K.; Woo, Ming-Ko

1999-11-01

Two subarctic forested slopes in central Wolf Creek basin, Yukon, were studied in 1996-1997 to determine the seasonal pattern of the hydrologic processes. A south-facing slope has a dense aspen forest on silty soils with seasonal frost only and a north-facing slope has open stands of black spruce and an organic layer on top of clay sediments with permafrost. Snowmelt is advanced by approximately one month on the south-facing slope due to greater radiation receipt. Meltwater infiltrates its seasonally frozen soil with low ice content, recharging the soil moisture reservoir but yielding no lateral surface or subsurface flow. Summer evaporation depletes this recharged moisture and any additional rainfall input, at the expense of surface or subsurface flow. The north-facing slope with an ice rich substrate hinders deep percolation. Snow meltwater is impounded within the organic layer to produce surface runoff in rills and gullies, and subsurface flow along pipes and within the matrix of the organic soil. During the summer, most subsurface flows are confined to the organic layer which has hydraulic conductivities orders of magnitudes larger than the underlying boulder-clay. Evaporation on the north-facing slope declines as both the frost table and the water table descend in the summer. A water balance of the two slopes demonstrates that vertical processes of infiltration and evaporation dominate moisture exchanges on the south-facing slope, whereas the retardation of deep drainage by frost and by clayey soil on the permafrost slope promotes a strong lateral flow component, principally within the organic layer. These results have the important implication that permafrost slopes and organic horizons are the principal controls on streamflow generation in subarctic catchments.

Improving student comprehension of the interconnectivity of the hydrologic cycle with a novel 'hydrology toolbox', integrated watershed model, and companion textbook

Science.gov (United States)

Huning, L. S.; Margulis, S. A.

2013-12-01

Concepts in introductory hydrology courses are often taught in the context of process-based modeling that ultimately is integrated into a watershed model. In an effort to reduce the learning curve associated with applying hydrologic concepts to real-world applications, we developed and incorporated a 'hydrology toolbox' that complements a new, companion textbook into introductory undergraduate hydrology courses. The hydrology toolbox contains the basic building blocks (functions coded in MATLAB) for an integrated spatially-distributed watershed model that makes hydrologic topics (e.g. precipitation, snow, radiation, evaporation, unsaturated flow, infiltration, groundwater, and runoff) more user-friendly and accessible for students. The toolbox functions can be used in a modular format so that students can study individual hydrologic processes and become familiar with the hydrology toolbox. This approach allows such courses to emphasize understanding and application of hydrologic concepts rather than computer coding or programming. While topics in introductory hydrology courses are often introduced and taught independently or semi-independently, they are inherently interconnected. These toolbox functions are therefore linked together at the end of the course to reinforce a holistic understanding of how these hydrologic processes are measured, interconnected, and modeled. They are integrated into a spatially-distributed watershed model or numerical laboratory where students can explore a range of topics such as rainfall-runoff modeling, urbanization, deforestation, watershed response to changes in parameters or forcings, etc. Model output can readily be visualized and analyzed by students to understand watershed response in a real river basin or a simple 'toy' basin. These tools complement the textbook, each of which has been well received by students in multiple hydrology courses with various disciplinary backgrounds. The same governing equations that students have

Correlation between active layer thickness and ambient gas stability in IGZO thin-film transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Xu; Mao, Bao-Hua; Wang, Sui-Dong; Lin, Meng-Fang; Shimizu, Maki; Mitoma, Nobuhiko; Kizu, Takio; Ou-Yang, Wei; Tsukagoshi, Kazuhito; Nabatame, Toshihide; Liu, Zhi

2017-01-01

Decreasing the active layer thickness has been recently reported as an alternative way to achieve fully depleted oxide thin-film transistors for the realization of low-voltage operations. However, the correlation between the active layer thickness and device resistivity to environmental changes is still unclear, which is important for the optimized design of oxide thin-film transistors. In this work, the ambient gas stability of IGZO thin-film transistors is found to be strongly correlated to the IGZO thickness. The TFT with the thinnest IGZO layer shows the highest intrinsic electron mobility in a vacuum, which is greatly reduced after exposure to O 2 /air. The device with a thick IGZO layer shows similar electron mobility in O 2 /air, whereas the mobility variation measured in the vacuum is absent. The thickness dependent ambient gas stability is attributed to a high-mobility region in the IGZO surface vicinity with less sputtering-induced damage, which will become electron depleted in O 2 /air due to the electron transfer to adsorbed gas molecules. The O 2 adsorption and deduced IGZO surface band bending is demonstrated by the ambient-pressure x-ray photoemission spectroscopy results. (paper)

Outdoor corrosion of zinc coated carbon steel, determined by thin layer activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agostini, M.L.; Laguzzi, G.; De Cristofaro, N.; Stroosnijder, M.F.

2001-01-01

Thin Layer Activation was applied in the frame of a European programme addressed to the evaluation of the corrosion the behaviour of different steels. This included outdoor exposure of zinc coated carbon steel in a rural-marine climatic environment, for a period of several months. The zinc layer of specimens was 10 micrometers thick. For the TLA studies 65Zn radio nuclides were produced along the full depth of the coating, by a cyclotron accelerated deuteron beam. For quantification of the material release, activity versus depth was determined using different thickness of Zn coatings on top the carbon steel. After exposure corrosion product were removed from the surface using a pickling solution and the residual activity was determined by gamma spectrometry. The high sensitivity of the method allowed the evaluation of relatively small thickness losses (i.e. 1.2 micrometer). Thickness loss results, obtained by the TLA method, were compared with those arising from the Atomic Absorption analysis of zinc detected in the pickling solutions. A good agreement was observed between the different methods

Geochemical fingerprints by activation analysis of tephra layers in Lake Van sediments, Turkey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Landmann, Guenter [Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Institut fuer Angewandte Geowissenschaften, Schnittspahnstr. 9, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Steinhauser, Georg; Sterba, Johannes H. [Vienna University of Technology, Atominstitut, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna (Austria); Kempe, Stephan [Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Institut fuer Angewandte Geowissenschaften, Schnittspahnstr. 9, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Bichler, Max, E-mail: bichler@ati.ac.a [Vienna University of Technology, Atominstitut, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Vienna (Austria)

2011-07-15

We discuss geochemical and sedimentological characteristics of 12 tephra layers, intercalated within the finely laminated sediments of Lake Van. Within the about 15 kyr long sediment record studied, volcanic activity concentrated in the periods 2.6-7.2 and 11.9-12.9 kyr B.P. Concentrations of 25 elements provide the geochemical fingerprint of each tephra layer and allow comparison to literature values of potential source volcanoes such as Mts. Nemrut and Suephan. The youngest two tephra layers (and probably also the other three ashes from the 2.6-7.2 kyr B.P. eruptions) originate from the Nemrut volcano. The source of the older tephra (11.9-12.9 kyr B.P.), however, remains unidentified.

Layer-by-layer construction of graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film on activated GCE for application as a nitrite sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui, Lili; Pu, Tao; Liu, Ying; He, Xingquan

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: A novel nitrite sensor was prepared by using LBL technique which for the first time used the activated positively charged glassy carbon electrode (A-GCE) as the substrate. The nitrite sensor shows super stability for consecutive CV testing and rather low detection limit. -- Abstract: In this paper, a novel graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film was prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) technique which for the first time used the activated positively charged glassy carbon electrode (A-GCE) as the substrate. The surface morphology of graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). It is found that graphene/cobalt phthalocyanine composite film modified GCE exhibits good catalytic activity toward the oxidation of nitrite. The oxidation current barely decreases in consecutive CV test. Furthermore, the modified GCE shows long-term stability after 70 days. The super good stability can be attributed to the immobilization and dispersion of electroactive cobalt phthalocyanine by graphene, and using A-GCE as substrate which can enhance the interaction force between GCE and electroactive cobalt phthalocyanine. The nitrite sensor shows rather low detection limit of 0.084 μM at a signal-to-noise ratio = 3 (S/N = 3)

Evaluation of ecological instream flow considering hydrological alterations in the Yellow River basin, China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiang; Zhang, Zongjiao; Shi, Peijun; Singh, Vijay P.; Gu, Xihui

2018-01-01

The Yellow River is the second largest river in China and is the important source for water supply in the northwestern and northern China. It is often regarded as the mother river of China. Owing to climatic change and intensifying human activities, such as increasing withdrawal of water for meeting growing agricultural irrigation needs since 1986, the flow of Yellow River has decreased, with serious impacts on the ecological environment. Using multiple hydrological indicators and Flow Duration Curve (DFC)-based ecodeficit and ecosurplus, this study investigates the impact of hydrological alterations, such as the impact of water reservoirs or dams, on downstream ecological instream flow. Results indicate that: (1) due to the impoundment and hydrological regulations of water reservoirs, occurrence rates and magnitudes of high flow regimes have decreased and the decrease is also found in the magnitudes of low flow events. These changes tend to be more evident from the upper to the lower Yellow River basin; (2) human activities tend to enhance the instream flow variability, particularly after the 1980s;(3) the ecological environment in different parts of the Yellow River basin is under different degrees of ecological risk. In general, lower to higher ecological risk can be detected due to hydrological alterations from the upper to the lower Yellow River basin. This shows that conservation of ecological environment and river health is facing a serious challenge in the lower Yellow River basin; (4) ecological instream flow indices, such as ecodeficit and ecosurplus, and IHA32 hydrological indicators are in strong relationships, suggesting that ecodeficit and ecosurplus can be regarded as appropriate ecological indicators for developing measures for mitigating the adverse impact of human activities on the conservation of ecological environment in the Yellow River basin.

Hydrological Modelling the Middle Magdalena Valley (Colombia)

Science.gov (United States)

Arenas, M. C.; Duque, N.; Arboleda, P.; Guadagnini, A.; Riva, M.; Donado-Garzon, L. D.

2017-12-01

Hydrological distributed modeling is key point for a comprehensive assessment of the feedback between the dynamics of the hydrological cycle, climate conditions and land use. Such modeling results are markedly relevant in the fields of water resources management, natural hazards and oil and gas industry. Here, we employ TopModel (TOPography based hydrological MODEL) for the hydrological modeling of an area in the Middle Magdalena Valley (MMV), a tropical basin located in Colombia. This study is located over the intertropical convergence zone and is characterized by special meteorological conditions, with fast water fluxes over the year. It has been subject to significant land use changes, as a result of intense economical activities, i.e., and agriculture, energy and oil & gas production. The model employees a record of 12 years of daily precipitation and evapotranspiration data as inputs. Streamflow data monitored across the same time frame are used for model calibration. The latter is performed by considering data from 2000 to 2008. Model validation then relies on observations from 2009 to 2012. The robustness of our analyses is based on the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (values of this metric being 0.62 and 0.53, respectively for model calibration and validation). Our results reveal high water storage capacity in the soil, and a marked subsurface runoff, consistent with the characteristics of the soil types in the regions. A significant influence on runoff response of the basin to topographical factors represented in the model is evidenced. Our calibrated model provides relevant indications about recharge in the region, which is important to quantify the interaction between surface water and groundwater, specially during the dry season, which is more relevant in climate-change and climate-variability scenarios.

Hydrology submission for Middlesex County, NJ

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

DCS Hydrology Submission for Orleans LA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

APPROXIMATE HYDROLOGY, ROSS COUNTY,OH USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

DCS Hydrology Submission for Denton TX

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

APPROXIMATE HYDROLOGY, IOSCO COUNTY, MI USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

APPROXIMATE HYDROLOGY, FAIRFIELD COUNTY,OH USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

APPROXIMATE HYDROLOGY, HIGHLAND COUNTY,OH USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

APPROXIMATE HYDROLOGY, ALPENA COUNTY, MI USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGY, UPPER CUMBERLAND WATERSHED, KENTUCKY USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

HYDROLOGIC ANALYSIS, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

DCS Hydrology, Santa Clara County, California

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

APPROXIMATE HYDROLOGY, SCIOTO COUNTY,OH USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydrology data include spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydrologic procedures for estimating flood discharges for a flood insurance...

Weather radar rainfall data in urban hydrology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorndahl, Søren; Einfalt, Thomas; Willems, Patrick

2017-01-01

estimation, radar data adjustment and data quality, and (3) nowcasting of radar rainfall and real-time applications. Based on these three fields of research, the paper provides recommendations based on an updated overview of shortcomings, gains, and novel developments in relation to urban hydrological...... applications. The paper also reviews how the focus in urban hydrology research has shifted over the last decade to fields such as climate change impacts, resilience of urban areas to hydrological extremes, and online prediction/warning systems. It is discussed how radar rainfall data can add value......Application of weather radar data in urban hydrological applications has evolved significantly during the past decade as an alternative to traditional rainfall observations with rain gauges. Advances in radar hardware, data processing, numerical models, and emerging fields within urban hydrology...

Hyphenated hydrology: Interdisciplinary evolution of water resource science

Science.gov (United States)

McCurley, Kathryn L.; Jawitz, James W.

2017-04-01

Hydrology has advanced considerably as a scientific discipline since its recognized inception in the mid-twentieth century. Modern water resource related questions have forced adaptation from exclusively physical or engineering science viewpoints toward a deliberate interdisciplinary context. Over the past few decades, many of the eventual manifestations of this evolution were foreseen by prominent expert hydrologists. However, their narrative descriptions have lacked substantial quantification. This study addressed that gap by measuring the prevalence of and analyzing the relationships between the terms most frequently used by hydrologists to define and describe their research. We analyzed 16,591 journal article titles from 1965-2015 in Water Resources Research, through which the scientific dialogue and its time-sensitive progression emerged. Our word frequency and term cooccurrence network results revealed the dynamic timing of the lateral movement of hydrology across multiple disciplines as well as the deepening of scientific discourse with respect to traditional hydrologic questions. The conversation among water resource scientists surrounding the hydrologic subdisciplines of catchment-hydrology, hydro-meteorology, socio-hydrology, hydro-climatology, and eco-hydrology gained statistically significant momentum in the analyzed time period, while that of hydro-geology and contaminant-hydrology experienced periods of increase followed by significant decline. This study concludes that formerly exotic disciplines can potentially modify hydrology, prompting new insights and inspiring unconventional perspectives on old questions that may have otherwise become obsolete.

Challenges in defining a radiologic and hydrologic source term for underground nuclear test centers, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.K.

1995-06-01

The compilation of a radionuclide inventory for long-lived radioactive contaminants residual from nuclear testing provides a partial measure of the radiologic source term at the Nevada Test Site. The radiologic source term also includes potentially mobile short-lived radionuclides excluded from the inventory. The radiologic source term for tritium is known with accuracy and is equivalent to the hydrologic source term within the saturated zone. Definition of the total hydrologic source term for fission and activation products that have high activities for decades following underground testing involves knowledge and assumptions which are presently unavailable. Systematic investigation of the behavior of fission products, activation products and actinides under saturated or Partially saturated conditions is imperative to define a representative total hydrologic source term. This is particularly important given the heterogeneous distribution of radionuclides within testing centers. Data quality objectives which emphasize a combination of measurements and credible estimates of the hydrologic source term are a priority for near-field investigations at the Nevada Test Site

Integrating local research watersheds into hydrologic education: Lessons from the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, J. P.; Aishlin, P. S.; Flores, A. N.; Benner, S. G.; Marshall, H. P.; Pierce, J. L.

2014-12-01

While a proliferation of instrumented research watersheds and new data sharing technologies has transformed hydrologic research in recent decades, similar advances have not been realized in hydrologic education. Long-standing problems in hydrologic education include discontinuity of hydrologic topics from introductory to advanced courses, inconsistency of content across academic departments, and difficulties in development of laboratory and homework assignments utilizing large time series and spatial data sets. Hydrologic problems are typically not amenable to "back-of-the-chapter" examples. Local, long-term research watersheds offer solutions to these problems. Here, we describe our integration of research and monitoring programs in the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed into undergraduate and graduate hydrology programs at Boise State University. We developed a suite of watershed-based exercises into courses and curriculums using real, tangible datasets from the watershed to teach concepts not amenable to traditional textbook and lecture methods. The aggregation of exercises throughout a course or degree allows for scaffolding of concepts with progressive exposure of advanced concepts throughout a course or degree. The need for exercises of this type is growing as traditional lecture-based classes (passive learning from a local authoritative source) are being replaced with active learning courses that integrate many sources of information through situational factors.

The role of the antecedent soil moisture condition on the distributed hydrologic modelling of the Toce alpine basin floods.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravazzani, G.; Montaldo, N.; Mancini, M.; Rosso, R.

2003-04-01

Event-based hydrologic models need the antecedent soil moisture condition, as critical boundary initial condition for flood simulation. Land-surface models (LSMs) have been developed to simulate mass and energy transfers, and to update the soil moisture condition through time from the solution of water and energy balance equations. They are recently used in distributed hydrologic modeling for flood prediction systems. Recent developments have made LSMs more complex by inclusion of more processes and controlling variables, increasing parameter number and uncertainty of their estimates. This also led to increasing of computational burden and parameterization of the distributed hydrologic models. In this study we investigate: 1) the role of soil moisture initial conditions in the modeling of Alpine basin floods; 2) the adequate complexity level of LSMs for the distributed hydrologic modeling of Alpine basin floods. The Toce basin is the case study; it is located in the North Piedmont (Italian Alps), and it has a total drainage area of 1534 km2 at Candoglia section. Three distributed hydrologic models of different level of complexity are developed and compared: two (TDLSM and SDLSM) are continuous models, one (FEST02) is an event model based on the simplified SCS-CN method for rainfall abstractions. In the TDLSM model a two-layer LSM computes both saturation and infiltration excess runoff, and simulates the evolution of the water table spatial distribution using the topographic index; in the SDLSM model a simplified one-layer distributed LSM only computes hortonian runoff, and doesn’t simulate the water table dynamic. All the three hydrologic models simulate the surface runoff propagation through the Muskingum-Cunge method. TDLSM and SDLSM models have been applied for the two-year (1996 and 1997) simulation period, during which two major floods occurred in the November 1996 and in the June 1997. The models have been calibrated and tested comparing simulated and

A demonstration of on-line plant corrosion monitoring using thin layer activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asher, J.; Webb, J.W.; Wilkins, N.J.M.; Lawrence, P.F.; UKAEA Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell. Materials Development Div.)

1981-12-01

The corrosion of a 1 inch water pipe in an evaporative cooling system has been monitored over three periods of plant operation using thin layer activation (TLA). The corrosion rate was followed at a sensitivity of about 1 μm and clearly reflected changes in plant operation. Examination of the test section after removal, both by autoradiography and metallography revealed the extent of corrosion and pitting over the active area. (author)

P3HT:PCBM-based organic solar cells : Optimisation of active layer nanostructure and interface properties

Science.gov (United States)

Kadem, Burak Yahya

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted a significant attention during the last decade due to their simple processability on a flexible substrate as well as scope for large-scale production using role to role technique. Improving the performance of the organic solar cells and their lifetime stability are one of the main challenges faced by researchers in this field. In this thesis, work has been carried out using a blend of Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and [6,6]-Phenyl C[61] butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as an active layer in the ratio of (1:1) (P3HT:PCBM). The efficiency and stability of P3HT:PCBM-based solar cells have been examined using different methods and employing novel materials such as1-[N-(2-ethoxyethyl) pent-4-ynamide] -8 (11), 15 (18), 22 (25) -tris-{2-[2-(2-ethoxyethoxy) ethoxy]-1-[2-((2- ethoxyethoxy) - ethoxy) methyl] ethyloxy} phthalocyaninato zinc (II) (ZnPc) to construct a ternary hybrid as the active layer. Controlling the morphology and crystallinity of P3HT:PCBM active layer was carried out using different solvents including chloroform (CF), chlorobenzene (CB) and dichlorobenzene (DCB) and their co-solvents in the ratio of (1:1) to dissolve the P3HT:PCBM blend. Optimum morphology and crystallinity were achieved using a co-solvent made of CB:CF with the obtained solar cell exhibiting the highest performance with PCE reaching 2.73% among other devices prepared using different solvents. Further device performance improvement was observed through optimization of active layer thickness with studied thickness falling in range 65-266 nm. Measurements of the PV characteristics of the investigated OSC devices have revealed optimum performance when active layer thickness was 95 nm with PCE=3.846%. The stability of the P3HT:PCBM-based devices on optimisation of the active layer thickness has shown a decrease in PCE of about 71% over a period of 41 days. Furthermore, P3HT has been blended with different fullerene derivatives (PC[60]BM, PC

The relation between geometry, hydrology and stability of complex hillslopes examined using low-dimensional hydrological models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Talebi, A.

2008-01-01

Key words: Hillslope geometry, Hillslope hydrology, Hillslope stability, Complex hillslopes, Modeling shallow landslides, HSB model, HSB-SM model.

The hydrologic response of a hillslope to rainfall involves a complex, transient saturated-unsaturated interaction that usually leads to a

MAC-Layer Active Dropping for Real-Time Video Streaming in 4G Access Networks

KAUST Repository

She, James

2010-12-01

This paper introduces a MAC-layer active dropping scheme to achieve effective resource utilization, which can satisfy the application-layer delay for real-time video streaming in time division multiple access based 4G broadband wireless access networks. When a video frame is not likely to be reconstructed within the application-layer delay bound at a receiver for the minimum decoding requirement, the MAC-layer protocol data units of such video frame will be proactively dropped before the transmission. An analytical model is developed to evaluate how confident a video frame can be delivered within its application-layer delay bound by jointly considering the effects of time-varying wireless channel, minimum decoding requirement of each video frame, data retransmission, and playback buffer. Extensive simulations with video traces are conducted to prove the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. When compared to conventional cross-layer schemes using prioritized-transmission/retransmission, the proposed scheme is practically implementable for more effective resource utilization, avoiding delay propagation, and achieving better video qualities under certain conditions.

Designing for knowledge: bridging socio-hydrological monitoring and beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, F.; Clark, J.; Buytaert, W.; Ochoa-Tocachi, B. F.; Hannah, D. M.

2016-12-01

Many methods and applications have been developed to research socio-hydrological systems, such as participatory monitoring, environmental big data processing and sensor network data transmission. However, these data-centred activities are insufficient to guarantee successful knowledge co-generation, decision making or governance. This research suggests a shift of attentions in designing socio-hydrological monitoring tools, from designing for data to designing for knowledge (DfK). Compared to the former strategy, DfK has at least three features as follows. (1) Why monitor? DfK demands the data produced by the newly introduced monitoring application to have potentials to generate socio-hydrological knowledge that supports decision making or management. It means that when designing a monitoring tool, we should not only answer how to collect data, but also questions such as how to best use the collected data in the form of knowledge. (2) What is the role of monitoring? DfK admits that the socio-hydrological data and knowledge generated by monitoring is just one of many kinds to support decision making and management. It means that the importance of monitoring and scientific evidence should not be overestimated, and knowledge cogeneration and synthesis should be considered in advance in the monitoring design process. (3) Who participate? DfK implies a wider engagement of stakeholders, which is not restricted between volunteers as data collectors and providers, and scientist and researcher communities as main data users. It requires a broader consideration of users, including not only data collectors, processors and interpreters, but also local and indigenous knowledge providers, and decision makers who use the knowledge and data. In summary, this research proposes a knowledge-centred strategy in designing participatory socio-hydrological monitoring tools, in order to make monitoring more useful and effective.

Sediment transport modelling in a distributed physically based hydrological catchment model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Konz

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Bedload sediment transport and erosion processes in channels are important components of water induced natural hazards in alpine environments. A raster based distributed hydrological model, TOPKAPI, has been further developed to support continuous simulations of river bed erosion and deposition processes. The hydrological model simulates all relevant components of the water cycle and non-linear reservoir methods are applied for water fluxes in the soil, on the ground surface and in the channel. The sediment transport simulations are performed on a sub-grid level, which allows for a better discretization of the channel geometry, whereas water fluxes are calculated on the grid level in order to be CPU efficient. Several transport equations as well as the effects of an armour layer on the transport threshold discharge are considered. Flow resistance due to macro roughness is also considered. The advantage of this approach is the integrated simulation of the entire basin runoff response combined with hillslope-channel coupled erosion and transport simulation. The comparison with the modelling tool SETRAC demonstrates the reliability of the modelling concept. The devised technique is very fast and of comparable accuracy to the more specialised sediment transport model SETRAC.

netherland hydrological modeling instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Hoogewoud, J. C.; de Lange, W. J.; Veldhuizen, A.; Prinsen, G.

2012-04-01

Netherlands Hydrological Modeling Instrument A decision support system for water basin management. J.C. Hoogewoud , W.J. de Lange ,A. Veldhuizen , G. Prinsen , The Netherlands Hydrological modeling Instrument (NHI) is the center point of a framework of models, to coherently model the hydrological system and the multitude of functions it supports. Dutch hydrological institutes Deltares, Alterra, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, RWS Waterdienst, STOWA and Vewin are cooperating in enhancing the NHI for adequate decision support. The instrument is used by three different ministries involved in national water policy matters, for instance the WFD, drought management, manure policy and climate change issues. The basis of the modeling instrument is a state-of-the-art on-line coupling of the groundwater system (MODFLOW), the unsaturated zone (metaSWAP) and the surface water system (MOZART-DM). It brings together hydro(geo)logical processes from the column to the basin scale, ranging from 250x250m plots to the river Rhine and includes salt water flow. The NHI is validated with an eight year run (1998-2006) with dry and wet periods. For this run different parts of the hydrology have been compared with measurements. For instance, water demands in dry periods (e.g. for irrigation), discharges at outlets, groundwater levels and evaporation. A validation alone is not enough to get support from stakeholders. Involvement from stakeholders in the modeling process is needed. There fore to gain sufficient support and trust in the instrument on different (policy) levels a couple of actions have been taken: 1. a transparent evaluation of modeling-results has been set up 2. an extensive program is running to cooperate with regional waterboards and suppliers of drinking water in improving the NHI 3. sharing (hydrological) data via newly setup Modeling Database for local and national models 4. Enhancing the NHI with "local" information. The NHI is and has been used for many

Theoretical Modeling and Analysis of L- and P-band Radar Backscatter Sensitivity to Soil Active Layer Dielectric Variations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinyang Du

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Freeze-thaw (FT and moisture dynamics within the soil active layer are critical elements of boreal, arctic and alpine ecosystems, and environmental change assessments. We evaluated the potential for detecting dielectric changes within different soil layers using combined L- and P-band radar remote sensing as a prerequisite for detecting FT and moisture profile changes within the soil active layer. A two-layer scattering model was developed and validated for simulating radar responses from vertically inhomogeneous soil. The model simulations indicated that inhomogeneity in the soil dielectric profile contributes to both L- and P-band backscatter, but with greater P-band sensitivity at depth. The difference in L- and P-band responses to soil dielectric profile inhomogeneity appears suitable for detecting associated changes in soil active layer conditions. Additional evaluation using collocated airborne radar (AIRSAR observations and in situ soil moisture measurements over alpine tundra indicates that combined L- and P-band SAR observations are sensitive to soil dielectric profile heterogeneity associated with variations in soil moisture and FT conditions.

Multi-variable evaluation of hydrological model predictions for a headwater basin in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Fang

2013-04-01

Full Text Available One of the purposes of the Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling platform (CRHM is to diagnose inadequacies in the understanding of the hydrological cycle and its simulation. A physically based hydrological model including a full suite of snow and cold regions hydrology processes as well as warm season, hillslope and groundwater hydrology was developed in CRHM for application in the Marmot Creek Research Basin (~ 9.4 km2, located in the Front Ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Parameters were selected from digital elevation model, forest, soil, and geological maps, and from the results of many cold regions hydrology studies in the region and elsewhere. Non-calibrated simulations were conducted for six hydrological years during the period 2005–2011 and were compared with detailed field observations of several hydrological cycle components. The results showed good model performance for snow accumulation and snowmelt compared to the field observations for four seasons during the period 2007–2011, with a small bias and normalised root mean square difference (NRMSD ranging from 40 to 42% for the subalpine conifer forests and from 31 to 67% for the alpine tundra and treeline larch forest environments. Overestimation or underestimation of the peak SWE ranged from 1.6 to 29%. Simulations matched well with the observed unfrozen moisture fluctuation in the top soil layer at a lodgepole pine site during the period 2006–2011, with a NRMSD ranging from 17 to 39%, but with consistent overestimation of 7 to 34%. Evaluations of seasonal streamflow during the period 2006–2011 revealed that the model generally predicted well compared to observations at the basin scale, with a NRMSD of 60% and small model bias (1%, while at the sub-basin scale NRMSDs were larger, ranging from 72 to 76%, though overestimation or underestimation for the cumulative seasonal discharge was within 29%. Timing of discharge was better predicted at the Marmot Creek basin outlet

Hydrologi

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burcharth, Hans F.

Hydro1ogi er den videnskab, der omhand1er jordens vand, dets forekomst, cirku1ation og forde1ing, dets kemiske og fysiske egenskaber samt indvirkning på omgivelserne, herunder dets relation ti1 alt liv på jorden. Således lyder en b1andt mange definitioner på begrebet hydrologi, og som man kan se...

Hydrological models are mediating models

Science.gov (United States)

Babel, L. V.; Karssenberg, D.

2013-08-01

Despite the increasing role of models in hydrological research and decision-making processes, only few accounts of the nature and function of models exist in hydrology. Earlier considerations have traditionally been conducted while making a clear distinction between physically-based and conceptual models. A new philosophical account, primarily based on the fields of physics and economics, transcends classes of models and scientific disciplines by considering models as "mediators" between theory and observations. The core of this approach lies in identifying models as (1) being only partially dependent on theory and observations, (2) integrating non-deductive elements in their construction, and (3) carrying the role of instruments of scientific enquiry about both theory and the world. The applicability of this approach to hydrology is evaluated in the present article. Three widely used hydrological models, each showing a different degree of apparent physicality, are confronted to the main characteristics of the "mediating models" concept. We argue that irrespective of their kind, hydrological models depend on both theory and observations, rather than merely on one of these two domains. Their construction is additionally involving a large number of miscellaneous, external ingredients, such as past experiences, model objectives, knowledge and preferences of the modeller, as well as hardware and software resources. We show that hydrological models convey the role of instruments in scientific practice by mediating between theory and the world. It results from these considerations that the traditional distinction between physically-based and conceptual models is necessarily too simplistic and refers at best to the stage at which theory and observations are steering model construction. The large variety of ingredients involved in model construction would deserve closer attention, for being rarely explicitly presented in peer-reviewed literature. We believe that devoting

A Flexible Nonlinear Modelling Framework for Nonstationary Generalized Extreme Value Analysis in Hydrology and Climatology

Science.gov (United States)

Cannon, A. J.

2009-12-01

Parameters in a Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution are specified as a function of covariates using a conditional density network (CDN), which is a probabilistic extension of the multilayer perceptron neural network. If the covariate is time, or is dependent on time, then the GEV-CDN model can be used to perform nonlinear, nonstationary GEV analysis of hydrological or climatological time series. Due to the flexibility of the neural network architecture, the model is capable of representing a wide range of nonstationary relationships. Model parameters are estimated by generalized maximum likelihood, an approach that is tailored to the estimation of GEV parameters from geophysical time series. Model complexity is identified using the Bayesian information criterion and the Akaike information criterion with small sample size correction. Monte Carlo simulations are used to validate GEV-CDN performance on four simple synthetic problems. The model is then demonstrated on precipitation data from southern California, a series that exhibits nonstationarity due to interannual/interdecadal climatic variability. A hierarchy of models can be defined by adjusting three aspects of the GEV-CDN model architecture: (i) by specifying either a linear or a nonlinear hidden-layer activation function; (ii) by adjusting the number of hidden-layer nodes; or (iii) by disconnecting weights leading to output-layer nodes. To illustrate, five GEV-CDN models are shown here in order of increasing complexity for the case of a single covariate, which, in this case, is assumed to be time. The shape parameter is assumed to be constant in all models, although this is not a requirement of the GEV-CDN framework.

Detection of Interfacial Debonding in a Rubber-Steel-Layered Structure Using Active Sensing Enabled by Embedded Piezoceramic Transducers.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Qian; Kong, Qingzhao; Jiang, Jian; Liang, Yabin; Song, Gangbing

2017-09-01

Rubber-steel-layered structures are used in many engineering applications. Laminated rubber-steel bearing, as a type of seismic isolation device, is one of the most important applications of the rubber-steel-layered structures. Interfacial debonding in rubber-steel-layered structures is a typical failure mode, which can severely reduce their load-bearing capacity. In this paper, the authors developed a simple but effective active sensing approach using embedded piezoceramic transducers to provide an in-situ detection of the interfacial debonding between the rubber layers and steel plates. A sandwiched rubber-steel-layered specimen, consisting of one rubber layer and two steel plates, was fabricated as the test specimen. A novel installation technique, which allows the piezoceramic transducers to be fully embedded into the steel plates without changing the geometry and the surface conditions of the plates, was also developed in this research. The active sensing approach, in which designed stress waves can propagate between a pair of the embedded piezoceramic transducers (one as an actuator and the other one as a sensor), was employed to detect the steel-rubber debonding. When the rubber-steel debonding occurs, the debonded interfaces will attenuate the propagating stress wave, so that the amplitude of the received signal will decrease. The rubber-steel debonding was generated by pulling the two steel plates in opposite directions in a material-testing machine. The changes of the received signal before and after the debonding were characterized in a time domain and further quantified by using a wavelet packet-based energy index. Experiments on the healthy rubber-steel-layered specimen reveal that the piezoceramic-induced stress wave can propagate through the rubber layer. The destructive test on the specimen demonstrates that the piezoceramic-based active sensing approach can effectively detect the rubber-steel debonding failure in real time. The active sensing

Characterization of light element impurities in ultrathin silicon-on-insulator layers by luminescence activation using electron irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagawa-Toyota, Satoko; Tajima, Michio; Hirose, Kazuyuki; Ohshima, Takeshi; Itoh, Hisayoshi

2009-01-01

We analyzed light element impurities in ultrathin top Si layers of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers by luminescence activation using electron irradiation. Photoluminescence (PL) analysis under ultraviolet (UV) light excitation was performed on various commercial SOI wafers after the irradiation. We detected the C-line related to a complex of interstitial carbon and oxygen impurities and the G-line related to a complex of interstitial and substitutional carbon impurities in the top Si layer with a thickness down to 62 nm after electron irradiation. We showed that there were differences in the impurity concentration depending on the wafer fabrication methods and also that there were variations in these concentrations in the respective wafers. Xenon ion implantation was used to activate top Si layers selectively so that we could confirm that the PL signal under the UV light excitation comes not from substrates but from top Si layers. The present method is a very promising tool to evaluate the light element impurities in top Si layers. (author)

Functional Layer-by-Layer Thin Films of Inducible Nitric Oxide (NO) Synthase Oxygenase and Polyethylenimine: Modulation of Enzyme Loading and NO-Release Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunasekera, Bhagya; Abou Diwan, Charbel; Altawallbeh, Ghaith; Kalil, Haitham; Maher, Shaimaa; Xu, Song; Bayachou, Mekki

2018-03-07

Nitric oxide (NO) release counteracts platelet aggregation and prevents the thrombosis cascade in the inner walls of blood vessels. NO-release coatings also prevent thrombus formation on the surface of blood-contacting medical devices. Our previous work has shown that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) films release NO fluxes upon enzymatic conversion of the substrate l-arginine. In this work, we report on the modulation of enzyme loading in layer-by-layer (LbL) thin films of inducible nitric oxide synthase oxygenase (iNOSoxy) on polyethylenimine (PEI). The layer of iNOSoxy is electrostatically adsorbed onto the PEI layer. The pH of the iNOSoxy solution affects the amount of enzyme adsorbed. The overall negative surface charge of iNOSoxy in solution depends on the pH and hence determines the density of adsorbed protein on the positively charged PEI layer. We used buffered iNOSoxy solutions adjusted to pHs 8.6 and 7.0, while saline PEI solution was used at pH 7.0. Atomic force microscopy imaging of the outermost layer shows higher protein adsorption with iNOSoxy at pH 8.6 than with a solution of iNOSoxy at pH 7.0. Graphite electrodes with PEI/iNOSoxy films show higher catalytic currents for nitric oxide reduction mediated by iNOSoxy. The higher enzyme loading translates into higher NO flux when the enzyme-modified surface is exposed to a solution containing the substrate and a source of electrons. Spectrophotometric assays showed higher NO fluxes with iNOSoxy/PEI films built at pH 8.6 than with films built at pH 7.0. Fourier transform infrared analysis of iNOSoxy adsorbed on PEI at pH 8.6 and 7.0 shows structural differences of iNOSoxy in films, which explains the observed changes in enzymatic activity. Our findings show that pH provides a strategy to optimize the NOS loading and enzyme activity in NOS-based LbL thin films, which enables improved NO release with minimum layers of PEI/NOS.

Hydrological AnthropoScenes

Science.gov (United States)

Cudennec, Christophe

2016-04-01

The Anthropocene concept encapsulates the planetary-scale changes resulting from accelerating socio-ecological transformations, beyond the stratigraphic definition actually in debate. The emergence of multi-scale and proteiform complexity requires inter-discipline and system approaches. Yet, to reduce the cognitive challenge of tackling this complexity, the global Anthropocene syndrome must now be studied from various topical points of view, and grounded at regional and local levels. A system approach should allow to identify AnthropoScenes, i.e. settings where a socio-ecological transformation subsystem is clearly coherent within boundaries and displays explicit relationships with neighbouring/remote scenes and within a nesting architecture. Hydrology is a key topical point of view to be explored, as it is important in many aspects of the Anthropocene, either with water itself being a resource, hazard or transport force; or through the network, connectivity, interface, teleconnection, emergence and scaling issues it determines. We will schematically exemplify these aspects with three contrasted hydrological AnthropoScenes in Tunisia, France and Iceland; and reframe therein concepts of the hydrological change debate. Bai X., van der Leeuw S., O'Brien K., Berkhout F., Biermann F., Brondizio E., Cudennec C., Dearing J., Duraiappah A., Glaser M., Revkin A., Steffen W., Syvitski J., 2016. Plausible and desirable futures in the Anthropocene: A new research agenda. Global Environmental Change, in press, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.09.017 Brondizio E., O'Brien K., Bai X., Biermann F., Steffen W., Berkhout F., Cudennec C., Lemos M.C., Wolfe A., Palma-Oliveira J., Chen A. C-T. Re-conceptualizing the Anthropocene: A call for collaboration. Global Environmental Change, in review. Montanari A., Young G., Savenije H., Hughes D., Wagener T., Ren L., Koutsoyiannis D., Cudennec C., Grimaldi S., Blöschl G., Sivapalan M., Beven K., Gupta H., Arheimer B., Huang Y

Water and chemical budgets in an urbanized river system under various hydrological conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Brion, Natacha; Carbonnel, Vincent; Elskens, Marc; Claeys, Philippe; Verbanck, Michel A.

2017-04-01

Since historical times, riversides are preferential settlement places for human life and activities, ultimately leading to the development of Cities. Available water resources are not only essential to ensure human's vital functions, they are also used for the production of food, goods, and energy, as transport routes and as evacuation ways for domestic and industrial waste products. All these activities profoundly modify natural water circulation as well as water quality, with increased hydrological risks (floods, droughts,…) and chemical hazards (untreated sewage releases, industrial pollution,…) as consequence. An extreme example of strongly modified river system is the river Zenne crossing the city of Brussels. In and around the city, the river together with its connected navigation canal, determine a small vertical urbanized area (800 km2) combining extreme land-use landscapes. While the southern upstream part of this area lies in a region of intensive agricultural activities, the central part is occupied by a dense cityscape including a forested area, and the downstream part is mainly under industrial influence. In this context, we established a box-model representation of water and selected polluting chemicals (N and P, biological oxygen demand, and a selection of metals, pesticides and PAHs) budgets for the studied area under variable hydrological conditions. We first have identified the general distribution of water and pollutant tracers in the various background sources of the system: waters in streams located in the very upstream parts of the catchment, and untreated and treated sewage. Secondly we have assessed the distribution of water flows, and pollutant tracer concentrations at the boundaries of the studied water systems for different stable hydrological conditions and during flood events. Finally we will discuss water budgets and pollution tracer budgets for a yearly average hydrological situation and for dry and wet weather conditions in order

Model Calibration in Watershed Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmaz, Koray K.; Vrugt, Jasper A.; Gupta, Hoshin V.; Sorooshian, Soroosh

2009-01-01

Hydrologic models use relatively simple mathematical equations to conceptualize and aggregate the complex, spatially distributed, and highly interrelated water, energy, and vegetation processes in a watershed. A consequence of process aggregation is that the model parameters often do not represent directly measurable entities and must, therefore, be estimated using measurements of the system inputs and outputs. During this process, known as model calibration, the parameters are adjusted so that the behavior of the model approximates, as closely and consistently as possible, the observed response of the hydrologic system over some historical period of time. This Chapter reviews the current state-of-the-art of model calibration in watershed hydrology with special emphasis on our own contributions in the last few decades. We discuss the historical background that has led to current perspectives, and review different approaches for manual and automatic single- and multi-objective parameter estimation. In particular, we highlight the recent developments in the calibration of distributed hydrologic models using parameter dimensionality reduction sampling, parameter regularization and parallel computing.

Hillslope hydrology and stability

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan

2012-01-01

Landslides are caused by a failure of the mechanical balance within hillslopes. This balance is governed by two coupled physical processes: hydrological or subsurface flow and stress. The stabilizing strength of hillslope materials depends on effective stress, which is diminished by rainfall. This book presents a cutting-edge quantitative approach to understanding hydro-mechanical processes across variably saturated hillslope environments and to the study and prediction of rainfall-induced landslides. Topics covered include historic synthesis of hillslope geomorphology and hydrology, total and effective stress distributions, critical reviews of shear strength of hillslope materials and different bases for stability analysis. Exercises and homework problems are provided for students to engage with the theory in practice. This is an invaluable resource for graduate students and researchers in hydrology, geomorphology, engineering geology, geotechnical engineering and geomechanics and for professionals in the fields of civil and environmental engineering and natural hazard analysis.

An Educational Model for Hands-On Hydrology Education

Science.gov (United States)

AghaKouchak, A.; Nakhjiri, N.; Habib, E. H.

2014-12-01

This presentation provides an overview of a hands-on modeling tool developed for students in civil engineering and earth science disciplines to help them learn the fundamentals of hydrologic processes, model calibration, sensitivity analysis, uncertainty assessment, and practice conceptual thinking in solving engineering problems. The toolbox includes two simplified hydrologic models, namely HBV-EDU and HBV-Ensemble, designed as a complement to theoretical hydrology lectures. The models provide an interdisciplinary application-oriented learning environment that introduces the hydrologic phenomena through the use of a simplified conceptual hydrologic model. The toolbox can be used for in-class lab practices and homework assignments, and assessment of students' understanding of hydrological processes. Using this modeling toolbox, students can gain more insights into how hydrological processes (e.g., precipitation, snowmelt and snow accumulation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration and runoff generation) are interconnected. The educational toolbox includes a MATLAB Graphical User Interface (GUI) and an ensemble simulation scheme that can be used for teaching more advanced topics including uncertainty analysis, and ensemble simulation. Both models have been administered in a class for both in-class instruction and a final project, and students submitted their feedback about the toolbox. The results indicate that this educational software had a positive impact on students understanding and knowledge of hydrology.

Application of thin layer activation method to industrial use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Masago; Hatakeyama, Noriko

1996-01-01

A thin layer activation method was reviewed for non-destructive, rapid, precise and real-time measurement of wear and corrosion. The review included wear measurement, the principle of the method, actual measurement, application, and laws and regulations. The method is to activate the material surface alone by accelerated ions like p, d and He ions produced by cyclotron, Van de Graaf apparatus or other accelerators and to utilize the yielded radioisotopes as a tracer, is widely used in the tribology field, and is more useful than the previous method with the reactor since it activated the whole material. Application of the method was reportedly resulted in saving the 80% cost and 90% time in the wear measurement of automobile parts such as engine and transmission. Actually, the activated material was combined into the part to be run and the radioactivity was to be measured externally or in the worn particles suitably collected. The activation thickness was generally in the range of 10-200 μm and the resultant radioactivity, 0.2-2 MBq. In most cases in Japan, the method would be under the law concerning prevention from radiation hazards due to radioisotopes, etc. (K.H.)

Effect of earthquake and faulting on the hydrological environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abe, Hironobu [Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Inst., Toki, Gifu (Japan). Tono Geoscience Center; Sakai, Ryutaro

1999-12-01

The effects of earthquakes and active faults on the geological environment have been studied at the Tono Geoscience Center. The Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake (January 17, 1995; M7.2) in Kobe and Awaji island caused significant changes in hydrology, involving a large amount of groundwater discharge in low-lying land and drastic water-table lowering (during only about 2-4 months) in elevated land near the epicenter. Simulation of the groundwater behavior in the vicinity of the Nojima fault was analysed to evaluate permeability enhancements. Calculated values such as water level changes were matched in a time series with the hydrological observed data in order to optimize this simulation model. Results indicate that the increase of hydraulic conductivity (5 x 10{sup -3} cm/s in weathered granitic rocks) and 1 x 10{sup -5} cm/s in fresh granitic rocks would produce a lowering of the water level at EL 180 m, and increase of discharge at less than EL 100 m, within four months after the earthquake. The study also suggested that the change in the hydraulic conductivity in the Nojima fault could not depend on the change in geological hydrology. (author)

HYDROLOGIC MODELLING OF KATSINA-ALA RIVER BASIN: AN EMERGING SCENARIO FROM LAKE NYOS THREAT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. O. Akinyede

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Understanding the hydrologic system surrounding crater lakes is of great importance for prevention of flooding damages, conservation of ecological environment, and assessment of socio-economic impact of dam failure on the civilians in the downstream regions. Lake Nyos is a crater lake formed by volcanic activities at the Oku volcanic field on the Cameroon Volcanic Line. It is a freshwater lake with a maximum depth of 200 meter. In 1986, a limnic eruption at the lake emitted 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the bottom of saturated water into the air and suffocated up to 1,800 people and 3,500 livestock at nearby villages. The lake waters are held in place by a natural dam composed of loosely consolidated volcanic rock, which is now at the verge of collapse due to accelerated erosion. This study was carried out to determine the flood risks and vulnerability of population and infrastructure along Katsina-Ala drainage basins. The project integrated both satellite images and field datasets into a hydrologic model for Katsina-Ala River Basin and its vicinity including the Lake Nyos. ArcHydro was used to construct a hydrologic database as 'data models' and MIKE SHE was employed to conduct hydrologic simulations. Vulnerable infrastructures, population and socio-economic activities were identified to assist the Federal and State governments in disaster mitigation and management plans. The result of the project provides comprehensive knowledge of hydrologic system of Katsina-Ala drainage basin to mitigate potential future disasters from a potential dam failure and manage water resources against such disasters.

Evaluating permafrost thaw vulnerabilities and hydrologic impacts in boreal Alaska (USA) watersheds using field data and cryohydrogeologic modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Walvoord, M. A.; Voss, C.; Ebel, B. A.; Minsley, B. J.

2017-12-01

Permafrost environments undergo changes in hydraulic, thermal, chemical, and mechanical subsurface properties upon thaw. These property changes must be considered in addition to alterations in hydrologic, thermal, and topographic boundary conditions when evaluating shifts in the movement and storage of water in arctic and sub-arctic boreal regions. Advances have been made in the last several years with respect to multiscale geophysical characterization of the subsurface and coupled fluid and energy transport modeling of permafrost systems. Ongoing efforts are presented that integrate field data with cryohydrogeologic modeling to better understand and anticipate changes in subsurface water resources, fluxes, and flowpaths caused by climate warming and permafrost thawing. Analyses are based on field data from several sites in interior Alaska (USA) that span a broad north-south transition from continuous to discontinuous permafrost. These data include soil hydraulic and thermal properties and shallow permafrost distribution. The data guide coupled fluid and energy flow simulations that incorporate porewater liquid/ice phase change and the accompanying modifications in hydraulic and thermal subsurface properties. Simulations are designed to assess conditions conducive to active layer thickening and talik development, both of which are expected to affect groundwater storage and flow. Model results provide a framework for identifying factors that control the rates of permafrost thaw and associated hydrologic responses, which in turn influence the fate and transport of carbon.

The effect of solvent on the morphology of an inkjet printed active layer of bulk heterojunction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fauzia, Vivi; Umar, Akrajas Ali; Salleh, Muhamad Mat; Yahaya, Muhammad

2011-01-01

Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells were fabricated by sandwiching the active layer between indium tin oxide (ITO) and Al electrodes. The active layer used was a blend of poly(3-octylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3OT) as the electron donor and (6,6)-phenyl C 71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM) as the electron acceptor. The active layer thin films were deposited by an inkjet printing technique. Prior to deposition of the thin films, the active materials were blended in three different solvents. The printed films were annealed at three different temperatures. It was found that the selection of the appropriate solvent and annealing treatment significantly influences the printing process, the morphology of the printed film and subsequently the performance of the solar cell devices

Hydrologic monitoring and analysis in the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem, Bangladesh

Science.gov (United States)

Wahid, Shahriar Md.; Babel, Mukand S.; Bhuiyan, Abdur Rahman

2007-01-01

SummaryThe unique habitat of the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem is dependent upon the hydrological regime. Therefore, a comprehensive study to understand the hydrologic behaviour and the changes that have taken place due to anthropogenic activities in and around the area is fundamental to the management of natural resources and environment. In the past, ad hoc and uncoordinated efforts were made due to the inherent inaccessibility and high cost of data collection. The present article documents the results of the hydrologic monitoring, modelling and analysis in the Sundarbans. The study results show that the annual maximum tidal range has increased by about 0.75 m in the eastern and central parts during the last two decades. About 60% area remains in higher salinity condition (>20 ppt) for at least 1.5 months in a year. Organic pollution in the waterways is within the Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) of Bangladesh with the average Dissolved Oxygen (DO) of 5.99 mg/L. Total Ammonia, Nitrate (NO 3-N) and Phosphate (PO 4-P) level are present in sufficient quantity for the aquatic life to survive and are within EQS limit. Lead and Chromium occasionally exceed EQS limit especially along the large barge routes in the western part. The data and information presented in the paper will serve as a baseline for future hydrological and environmental studies.

Understanding the Dynamics of Socio-Hydrological Environment: a Conceptual Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Woyessa, Y.; Welderufael, W.; Edossa, D.

2011-12-01

Human actions affect ecological systems and the services they provide through various activities, such as land use, water use, pollution and climate change. Climate change is perhaps one of the most important sustainable development challenges that threaten to undo many of the development efforts being made to reach the targets set for the Millennium Development Goals. Understanding the change of ecosystems under different scenarios of climate and biophysical conditions could assist in bringing the issue of ecosystem services into decision making process. Similarly, the impacts of land use change on ecosystems and biodiversity have received considerable attention from ecologists and hydrologists alike. Land use change in a catchment can impact on water supply by altering hydrological processes, such as infiltration, groundwater recharge, base flow and direct runoff. In the past a variety of models were used for predicting land-use changes. Recently the focus has shifted away from using mathematically oriented models to agent-based modelling (ABM) approach to simulate land use scenarios. A conceptual framework is being developed which integrates climate change scenarios and the human dimension of land use decision into a hydrological model in order to assess its impacts on the socio-hydrological dynamics of a river basin. The following figures present the framework for the analysis and modelling of the socio-hydrological dynamics. Keywords: climate change, land use, river basin

Climate and surface water hydrology baseline data for Aurora Mine EIA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-12-31

A climate and hydrology database was assembled to describe the existing climatic and surface water hydrological characteristics of the proposed Aurora Mine area in Leases 10, 12, 13, 31, and 34 east of the Athabasca River near Fort McKay. The study was based upon data available from the regional hydrometeorological monitoring network operated by the Governments of Canada and Alberta. The study also included the installation and monitoring of one climate station and five streamflow gauging stations on small watersheds in the area. The representative climatic and hydrologic characteristics of the area, including precipitation, evaporation, evapotranspiration, temperature and wind, were determined. Streamflow characteristics such as flood frequencies, low flow frequencies, water yield and flow durations representative of large gauged watersheds within the study area were also determined. The results offer a good basis for preliminary design of surface water management systems. It was recommended that the monitoring program should be continued to monitor potential environmental impacts of proposed development activities. 9 refs., 29 tabs., 32 figs.

Hydrology of marginal evaporitic basins during the Messinian Salinity Crisis: isotopic investigation of gypsum deposits

Science.gov (United States)

El Kilany, Aida; Caruso, Antonio; Dela Pierre, Francesco; Natalicchio, Marcello; Rouchy, Jean-Marie; Pierre, Catherine; Balter, Vincent; Aloisi, Giovanni

2016-04-01

The deposition of gypsum in Messinian Mediterranean marginal basins is controlled by basin restriction and the local hydrological cycle (evaporation/precipitation rates and relative importance of continental vs marine water inputs). We are using the stable isotopic composition of gypsum as a proxy of the hydrological cycle that dominated at the moment of gypsum precipitation. We studied the Messinian Caltanissetta (Sicily) and Tertiary Piedmont (north western Italy) basins where we carried out a high-resolution isotopic study of gypsum layers composing gypsum-marl cycles. These cycles are thought to be the sedimentary expression of astronomical precession cycles, lasting approximately 20 kyr, during which the marginal basins experienced a succession of arid and a wet conditions. We determined the isotopic composition of gypsum hydration water (18O and D), of the sulphate ion (34S, 18O) and of Strontium (87/86Sr), all of which are potentially affected by the hydrological cycle. In our samples, the mother water from which gypsum precipitated is considerably lighter (-4.0 micro-scale. This is an essential step in interpreting the isotopic signals of gypsum because we can expect the 18O and D composition of Messinian continental input to be not too dissimilar from that of modern meteoric waters involved in diagenetic processes.

Hydrological Drought in the Anthropocene: Impacts of Local Water Extraction and Reservoir Regulation in the U.S.: Hydrological Drought in the Anthropocene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wan, Wenhua [State Key Laboratory of Hydro-science and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing China; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Zhao, Jianshi [State Key Laboratory of Hydro-science and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing China; Li, Hong-Yi [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Now at Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman MT USA; Mishra, Ashok [Glenn Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson SC USA; Ruby Leung, L. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Hejazi, Mohamad [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Wang, Wei [The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, and Center for Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing China; Lu, Hui [The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, and Center for Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing China; Deng, Zhiqun [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Demissisie, Yonas [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman WA USA; Wang, Hao [State Key Laboratory of Hydro-science and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing China; State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Hydropower and Water Resources, Beijing China

2017-11-03

Hydrological drought is a substantial negative deviation from normal hydrologic conditions and is influenced by climate and human activities such as water management. By perturbing the streamflow regime, climate change and water management may significantly alter drought characteristics in the future. Here we utilize a high-resolution integrated modeling framework that represents water management in terms of both local surface water extraction and reservoir regulation, and use the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI) to quantify hydrological drought. We explore the impacts of water management on hydrological drought over the contiguous US in a warming climate with and without emissions mitigation. Despite the uncertainty of climate change impacts, local surface water extraction consistently intensifies drought that dominates at the regional to national scale. However, reservoir regulation alleviates drought by enhancing summer flow downstream of reservoirs. The relative dominance of drought intensification or relief is largely determined by the water demand, with drought intensification dominating in regions with intense water demand such as the Great Plains and California, while drought relief dominates in regions with low water demand. At the national level, water management increases the spatial extent of extreme drought despite some alleviations of moderate to severe drought. In an emissions mitigation scenario with increased irrigation demand for bioenergy production, water management intensifies drought more than the business-as-usual scenario at the national level, so the impacts of emissions mitigation must be evaluated by considering its benefit in reducing warming and evapotranspiration against its effects on increasing water demand and intensifying drought.

Fabrication of Hybrid Polymer Solar Cells By Inverted Structure Based on P3HT:PCBM Active Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shobih Shobih

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Hybrid polymer solar cell has privilege than its conventional structure, where it usually has structure of (ITO/PEDOT:PSS/Active Layer/Al. In humid environment the PEDOT:PSS will absorb water and hence can easily etch the ITO. Therefore it is necessary to use an alternative method to avoid this drawback and obtain more stable polymer solar cells, namely by using hybrid polymer solar cells structure with an inverted device architecture from the conventional, by reversing the nature of charge collection. In this paper we report the results of the fabrication of inverted bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells based on P3HT:PCBM as active layer, utilizing ZnO interlayer as buffer layer between the ITO and active layer with a stacked structure of ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/Ag. The ZnO interlayer is formed through short route, i.e. by dissolving ZnO nanoparticles powder in chloroform-methanol solvent blend rather than by sol-gel process. Based on the measurement results on electrical characteristics of inverted polymer solar cells under 500 W/m2 illumination and AM 1.5 direct filter at room temperature, cell with annealing process of active layer at 110 °C for 10 minutes results in higher cell performance than without annealing, with an open-circuit voltage of 0.21 volt, a short-circuit current density of 1.33 mA/cm2 , a fill factor of 43.1%, and a power conversion efficiency of 0.22%. The low cell’s performance is caused by very rough surface of ZnO interlayer.

Hydrologic refugia, plants, and climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

McLaughlin, Blair C; Ackerly, David D; Klos, P Zion; Natali, Jennifer; Dawson, Todd E; Thompson, Sally E

2017-08-01

Climate, physical landscapes, and biota interact to generate heterogeneous hydrologic conditions in space and over time, which are reflected in spatial patterns of species distributions. As these species distributions respond to rapid climate change, microrefugia may support local species persistence in the face of deteriorating climatic suitability. Recent focus on temperature as a determinant of microrefugia insufficiently accounts for the importance of hydrologic processes and changing water availability with changing climate. Where water scarcity is a major limitation now or under future climates, hydrologic microrefugia are likely to prove essential for species persistence, particularly for sessile species and plants. Zones of high relative water availability - mesic microenvironments - are generated by a wide array of hydrologic processes, and may be loosely coupled to climatic processes and therefore buffered from climate change. Here, we review the mechanisms that generate mesic microenvironments and their likely robustness in the face of climate change. We argue that mesic microenvironments will act as species-specific refugia only if the nature and space/time variability in water availability are compatible with the ecological requirements of a target species. We illustrate this argument with case studies drawn from California oak woodland ecosystems. We posit that identification of hydrologic refugia could form a cornerstone of climate-cognizant conservation strategies, but that this would require improved understanding of climate change effects on key hydrologic processes, including frequently cryptic processes such as groundwater flow. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

In situ nuclear magnetic response of permafrost and active layer soil in boreal and tundra ecosystems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kass, Mason Andrew; Irons, Trevor; Minsley, Burke J.

2017-01-01

Characterization of permafrost, particularly warm and near-surface permafrost which can contain significant liquid water, is critical to understanding complex interrelationships with climate change, ecosystems, and disturbances such as wildfires. Understanding the vulnerability and resilience...... of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) response of the active layer and permafrost in a variety of soil conditions, types, and saturations. In this paper, we summarize the NMR data and present quantitative relationships between active layer and permafrost liquid water content and pore sizes and show...

Acoustics Reveals the Presence of a Macrozooplankton Biocline in the Bay of Biscay in Response to Hydrological Conditions and Predator-Prey Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Lezama-Ochoa, Ainhoa; Irigoien, Xabier; Chaigneau, Alexis; Quiroz, Zaida; Lebourges-Dhaussy, Anne; Bertrand, Arnaud

2014-01-01

Bifrequency acoustic data, hydrological measurements and satellite data were used to study the vertical distribution of macrozooplankton in the Bay of Biscay in relation to the hydrological conditions and fish distribution during spring 2009. The most noticeable result was the observation of a ‘biocline’ during the day i.e., the interface where zooplankton biomass changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below. The biocline separated the surface layer, almost devoid of macrozooplankton, from the macrozooplankton-rich deeper layers. It is a specific vertical feature which ties in with the classic diel vertical migration pattern. Spatiotemporal correlations between macrozooplankton and environmental variables (photic depth, thermohaline vertical structure, stratification index and chlorophyll-a) indicate that no single factor explains the macrozooplankton vertical distribution. Rather a set of factors, the respective influence of which varies from region to region depending on the habitat characteristics and the progress of the spring stratification, jointly influence the distribution. In this context, the macrozooplankton biocline is potentially a biophysical response to the search for a particular depth range where light attenuation, thermohaline vertical structure and stratification conditions together provide a suitable alternative to the need for expending energy in reaching deeper water without the risk of being eaten. PMID:24505374

Acoustics reveals the presence of a macrozooplankton biocline in the Bay of Biscay in response to hydrological conditions and predator-prey relationships.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ainhoa Lezama-Ochoa

Full Text Available Bifrequency acoustic data, hydrological measurements and satellite data were used to study the vertical distribution of macrozooplankton in the Bay of Biscay in relation to the hydrological conditions and fish distribution during spring 2009. The most noticeable result was the observation of a 'biocline' during the day i.e., the interface where zooplankton biomass changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below. The biocline separated the surface layer, almost devoid of macrozooplankton, from the macrozooplankton-rich deeper layers. It is a specific vertical feature which ties in with the classic diel vertical migration pattern. Spatiotemporal correlations between macrozooplankton and environmental variables (photic depth, thermohaline vertical structure, stratification index and chlorophyll-a indicate that no single factor explains the macrozooplankton vertical distribution. Rather a set of factors, the respective influence of which varies from region to region depending on the habitat characteristics and the progress of the spring stratification, jointly influence the distribution. In this context, the macrozooplankton biocline is potentially a biophysical response to the search for a particular depth range where light attenuation, thermohaline vertical structure and stratification conditions together provide a suitable alternative to the need for expending energy in reaching deeper water without the risk of being eaten.

Acoustics reveals the presence of a macrozooplankton biocline in the Bay of Biscay in response to hydrological conditions and predator-prey relationships.

KAUST Repository

Lezama-Ochoa, Ainhoa; Irigoien, Xabier; Chaigneau, Alexis; Quiroz, Zaida; Lebourges-Dhaussy, Anne; Bertrand, Arnaud

2014-01-01

Bifrequency acoustic data, hydrological measurements and satellite data were used to study the vertical distribution of macrozooplankton in the Bay of Biscay in relation to the hydrological conditions and fish distribution during spring 2009. The most noticeable result was the observation of a 'biocline' during the day i.e., the interface where zooplankton biomass changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below. The biocline separated the surface layer, almost devoid of macrozooplankton, from the macrozooplankton-rich deeper layers. It is a specific vertical feature which ties in with the classic diel vertical migration pattern. Spatiotemporal correlations between macrozooplankton and environmental variables (photic depth, thermohaline vertical structure, stratification index and chlorophyll-a) indicate that no single factor explains the macrozooplankton vertical distribution. Rather a set of factors, the respective influence of which varies from region to region depending on the habitat characteristics and the progress of the spring stratification, jointly influence the distribution. In this context, the macrozooplankton biocline is potentially a biophysical response to the search for a particular depth range where light attenuation, thermohaline vertical structure and stratification conditions together provide a suitable alternative to the need for expending energy in reaching deeper water without the risk of being eaten.

Acoustics reveals the presence of a macrozooplankton biocline in the Bay of Biscay in response to hydrological conditions and predator-prey relationships.

KAUST Repository

Lezama-Ochoa, Ainhoa

2014-02-04

Bifrequency acoustic data, hydrological measurements and satellite data were used to study the vertical distribution of macrozooplankton in the Bay of Biscay in relation to the hydrological conditions and fish distribution during spring 2009. The most noticeable result was the observation of a \\'biocline\\' during the day i.e., the interface where zooplankton biomass changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below. The biocline separated the surface layer, almost devoid of macrozooplankton, from the macrozooplankton-rich deeper layers. It is a specific vertical feature which ties in with the classic diel vertical migration pattern. Spatiotemporal correlations between macrozooplankton and environmental variables (photic depth, thermohaline vertical structure, stratification index and chlorophyll-a) indicate that no single factor explains the macrozooplankton vertical distribution. Rather a set of factors, the respective influence of which varies from region to region depending on the habitat characteristics and the progress of the spring stratification, jointly influence the distribution. In this context, the macrozooplankton biocline is potentially a biophysical response to the search for a particular depth range where light attenuation, thermohaline vertical structure and stratification conditions together provide a suitable alternative to the need for expending energy in reaching deeper water without the risk of being eaten.

Hydrological and meteorological aspects of floods in the Alps: an overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baldassare Bacchi

2003-01-01

Full Text Available This introductory paper presents and summarises recent research on meteorological and hydrological aspects of floods in the Alps. The research activities were part of the international research project RAPHAEL (Runoff and Atmospheric Processes for flood HAzard forEcasting and controL together with experiments within the Special Observing Period-SOP conducted in autumn 1999 for the Mesoscale Alpine Programme —MAP. The investigations were based on both field experiments and numerical simulations, using meteorological and hydrological models, of ten major floods that occurred in the past decade in the European Alps. The two basins investigated were the Ticino (6599 km2 at the Lago Maggiore outlet on the southern side of the Alps and the Ammer catchment (709 km2 in the Bavarian Alps. These catchments and their sub-catchments cover an appropriate range of spatial scales with which to investigate and test in an operational context the potential of both mesoscale meteorological and distributed hydrological models for flood forecasting. From the data analyses and model simulations described in this Special Issue, the major sources of uncertainties for flood forecasts in mid-size mountain basins are outlined and the accuracy flood forecasts is assessed. Keywords: floods, mountain hydrology, meteorological models, Alps

An integrated crop and hydrologic modeling system to estimate hydrologic impacts of crop irrigation demands

Science.gov (United States)

R.T. McNider; C. Handyside; K. Doty; W.L. Ellenburg; J.F. Cruise; J.R. Christy; D. Moss; V. Sharda; G. Hoogenboom; Peter Caldwell

2015-01-01

The present paper discusses a coupled gridded crop modeling and hydrologic modeling system that can examine the benefits of irrigation and costs of irrigation and the coincident impact of the irrigation water withdrawals on surface water hydrology. The system is applied to the Southeastern U.S. The system tools to be discussed include a gridded version (GriDSSAT) of...