Importance of geological information for assessing drain flow in a Danish till landscape

There has, in recent years, been an increasing interest in developing nutrient load mitigation measures focussing on tile drains. To plan the location of such tile drain measures, it is important to know where in the landscape drain flow is generated and to understand the key factors governing drain flow dynamics. In the present study, we test two approaches to assess spatial patterns in drain flow generation and thereby assess the importance of including geological information. The approaches are the widely used topographical wetness index (TWI), based solely on elevation data, and hydrological models that include the subsurface geology. We set‐up an ensemble of 20 hydrological models based on 20 stochastically generated geological models to predict drain flow dynamics in the clay till Norsminde catchment in Denmark and test the results against TWI. We find that the hydrological models predict observed daily drain flow reasonably well. High drain flow volumes were found in stream valleys and in wetlands and lower drain flow volumes in the more hilly parts of the catchment. In spite of the apparent connection to the landscape, there was no statistically significant correlation between TWI and drain flow at grid scale (100 × 100 m). TWI was therefore not found to be a sufficient index on its own to assess where drain flow is generated, especially in the highlands of the catchment. The geology below 3 m was found to have a large impact on the drain flow, and correlations between sand percentage in the subsurface geology and drain flow volume were found to be statistically significant. Geological uncertainty therefore give rise to uncertainty on simulated drain flow, and this uncertainty was found to be high at the model grid scale but decreasing with increasing scale.     

Asymptotic performance of a pulse-to-pulse incoherent Doppler sonar in an oceanic environment

Active Doppler sonar systems are gaining popularity as a method to profile remotely the oceanic velocity field. Estimation of the variance with which an ideal single.beam sonar system measures relative Doppler motion is the subject of this paper. Theoretical formulations, simulated reverberation data, and sea data are considered to determine this variance. The sea data considered in this paper were selected carefully to avoid performance degrading physical/instrumental phenomena and bias corrected to remove further instrumental effects. Asymptotic performance, determined in this research, is realized when instrumental and physical phenomena do not measurably affect experimental performance. Oceanic and simulated data sets are processed with several velocity-estimation algorithms that are implemented in existing sonar systems. These algorithms are compared against each other and the velocity-estimation standard-deviation results tabulated. The algorithms are shown to possess similar performance characteristics when simulated, and sea data are processed in spite of the fact that some of these algorithms are suboptimal from a theoretical viewpoint. The results of this study show that the asymptotic performance of the Doppler system examined is approximately 25 percent above a theoretical lower bound.     

Oceanic incoherent Doppler sonar spectral analysis by conventional and finite-parameter modeling methods

The spectral structure of oceanic incoherent Doppler sonar data is analyzed with Fourier and two finite-parameter modeling methods (Spectral Moment Estimation (SME) and AutoRegressive (AR)). Fourier spectral analysis, applied to long-range segments of echo return data, validates a theoretical point scattering model. It is demonstrated that Fourier spectral techniques, applied to data from incoherent sonar systems, cannot be used to probe oceanic spectral and velocity fields on the scales that frequently are important in oceanographic applications. The finite-parameter methods model the spectral structure on closely spaced range intervals. The SME method calculates the first moment of the Doppler spectrum at each range interval and the AR method provides spectral estimates at these same intervals. Trade-offs in estimating scatterer radial velocity using the various algorithms are considered. It is shown that a frequency-integrated AR technique has velocity estimation performance comparable to the SME method. In addition, the AR technique reveals that several regions of data possess asymmetric spectral structure. The implications of this spectral structure for oceanic velocity estimates are discussed.     

Modeling urban expansion by using variable weights logistic cellular automata: a case study of Nanjing,China

Simulation models based on cellular automata (CA) are widely used for understanding and simulating complex urban expansion process. Among these models, logistic CA (LCA) is commonly adopted. However, the performance of LCA models is often limited because the fixed coefficients obtained from binary logistic regression do not reflect the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of transition rules. Therefore, we propose a variable weights LCA (VW-LCA) model with dynamic transition rules. The regression coefficients in this VW-LCA model are based on VW by incorporating a genetic algorithm in a conventional LCA. The VW-LCA model and the conventional LCA model were both used to simulate urban expansion in Nanjing, China. The models were calibrated with data for the period 2000–2007 and validated for the period 2007–2013. The results showed that the VW-LCA model performed better than the LCA model in terms of both visual inspection and key indicators. For example, kappa, accuracy of urban land and figure of merit for the simulation results of 2013 increased by 3.26%, 2.96% and 4.44%, respectively. The VW-LCA model performs relatively better compared with other improved LCA models that are suggested in literature.     

MERIS and the red-edge position

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is a payload component of Envisat-1. MERIS will be operated over land with a standard 15 band setting acquiring images with a 300 m spatial resolution. The red-edge position (REP) is a promising variable for deriving foliar chlorophyll concentration, which plays an important role in ecosystem processes. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to study which factors effect the REP of vegetation, (2) to study whether this REP can be derived from the MERIS standard band setting and (3) to show what REP represents at the scale of MERIS data. Two different data sets were explored for simulating the REP using MERIS bands: (1) simulated data using reflectance models and (2) airborne reflectance spectra of an agricultural area obtained by the airborne visible-infrared imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS). A “linear method”, assuming a straight slope of the reflectance spectrum around the midpoint of the slope, was a robust method for determining the REP and the MERIS bands at 665, 708.75, 753.75 and 778.75 nm could be used for applying the “linear method” for REP estimation. Results of the translation to the scale of MERIS data were very promising for applying MERIS at, for instance, the ecosystem level.     

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Einige Bemerkungen zum Golfstromproblem

Zusammenfassung Im ersten Teil der Arbeit werden die zur Ermittlung der Meeresströmungen benutzten Verfahren nebeneinandergestellt: Das dynamische Verfahren, das aus der Dichteverteilung im Meer die Unterschiede der Stromgeschwindigkeit in vertikaler Richtung zu ermitteln gestattet, das Randwertverfahren, das mit der Schubspannung des Windes arbeitet und den windbedingten Volumentransport liefert und endlich die Rossbysche Freistrahltheorie. Die vergleichende Betrachtung lehrt, daß zwischen den genannten Methoden keine grundsätzlichen Widersprüche bestehen, sondern daß diese einander ergänzen und vervollständigen.Neuere amerikanische Beobachtungen haben einen Einblick in die Feinstruktur des Golfstroms gewährt; besonders bemerkenswert sind die scharfe seitliche Begrenzung über Hunderte von Kilometern und die Aufgliederung in einzelne Arme; es werden einfache Modelle betrachtet, die den Mechanismus dieser Vorgänge veranschaulichen. Bemerkenswert ist, daß bei diesen Betrachtungen die Vertikalkomponente der Stromgeschwindigkeit eine besondere Rolle spielt.

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Some remarks on the problem of the Gulf Stream

Summary In the first part of the paper, the methods applied to the study of ocean currents are compared with each other, viz. the dynamical method allowing to derive the vertical differences in current velocity from the density distribution, the method of the boundary values basing on the shearing stress of the wind and giving the volume transport caused by the wind, and finally the jet stream theory by Rossby. A comparison shows that these three methods are not absolutely contradictory to each other but that, on the contrary, they have a complementary character.Recent American observations have given an insight into the microstructure of the Gulf Stream; among the results, its cleanly cut lateral limitation over hundreds of kilometers and its subdivision into several single branches deserve particular attention; in order to illustrate the mechanism of these processes, simple models are considered. It may be mentioned as a remarkable feature that the vertical component of the current velocity plays a particular part in these considerations.

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Quelques notes sur le problème du courant du golfe

Résumé Dans la première partie de ce travail, les procédés appliqués à l'étude des courants de mer sont comparés entre eux; il s' agit ici de la méthode dynamique qui permet de dériver de la distribution de la densité les différences verticales des vitesses des courants; de la méthode des valeurs limites qui tient compte de la tension de torsion du vent et donne le transport de volume dû au vent et, enfin, de la théorie du rayon de jet (du jet stream) par Rossby. La comparaison montre que ces méthodes ne sont point contradictoires mais plutôt complémentaires les unes aux autres.Les observations effectuées récemment par les Américains ont éclairci la microstructure du courant du golfe; les résultats les plus remarquables en sont sa limitation latérale qui est nettement marquée sur quelques centaines de kilomètres et le fait que le courant se divise en plusieurs branches individuelles; pour démontrer le mécanisme de ces phénomènes quelques simples modèles sont considérés. Il est remarquable que la composante verticale de la vitesse du courant joue un rôle particulier dans ces considérations.

     

Winderzeugte Strömungen im Ozean

Zusammenfassung Es wird gezeigt, daß das Randwertverfahren geeignet ist, um aus einem gegebenen Windfeld für einen abgeschlossenen Teil eines Ozeans den Volumentransport und die Gestalt der Meeresoberfläche zu ermitteln. Neben anderen Beispielen wird für den äquatorialen Teil des Atlantischen Ozeans aus dem Windfeld für den Monat August der Volumentransport und die Gestalt der Meeresoberfläche abgeleitet und das Ergebnis mit den aus Besteckversetzungen und Dichteverteilung gewonnenen Strömungen und der Topographie verglichen. Die Übereinstimmung zwischen den Darstellungen ist befriedigend.

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On wind-driven ocean currents

Summary In this paper it is pointed out that the method of boundary values enables the volume transport as well as the shape of the sea surface to be derived from a given wind field over an enclosed ocean area. In addition to other examples, the two afore-mentioned data are deduced, for the month of August, from the wind field over the equatorial region of the Atlantic and the result is compared with the data on currents computed from ship's sets and density distribution as well as with the topography of the sea surface. There is a rather good agreement between the different representations.

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Au sujet des courants océaniques dus à la pression du vent

Résumé L'auteur démontre que la méthode des valeurs limites permet de déduire le transport de volume et la forme de la surface de la mer d'un champ donné du vent au-dessus d'une région délimitée de la mer. Avec d'autres exemples, les deux données susmentionnées sont dérivées pour le mois d'août du champ du vent au-dessus de la région équatoriale de l'océan Atlantique et le résultat en est à la fois comparé avec les courants calculés de la dérive des bateaux et de la distribution de la densité de l'eau ainsi qu'avec la topographie de la surface. L'accord est assez satisfaisant entre les différentes représentations.

     

Die Ermittlung der Gezeiten beliebig gestalteter Meeresgebiete mit Hilfe des Randwertverfahrens

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein Randwertverfahren entwickelt, das gestattet, die Gezeiten eines beliebig gestalteten Meeresgebietes in eindeutiger Weise allein aus den Beobachtungen am Rande zu ermitteln. Die Brauchbarkeit des Verfahrens wird am Beispiel des Englischen Kanals gezeigt.

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The computation of the tides in ocean areas of any shape by means of the method of boundary values

Summary In the following paper a method of boundary values is developed by which the tides of ocean areas of any shape can be computed. The validity of the method is demonstrated for the English Channel by comparing the computed values of the principal semidiuranal lunar tide with the observed values.