Development of a soil moisture‐based distributed hydrologic model for determining hydrologically based critical source areas

A simple grid cell‐based distributed hydrologic model was developed to provide spatial information on hydrologic components for determining hydrologically based critical source areas. The model represents the critical process (soil moisture variation) to run‐off generation accounting for both local and global water balance. In this way, it simulates both infiltration excess run‐off and saturation excess run‐off. The model was tested by multisite and multivariable evaluation on the 50‐km² Little River Experimental Watershed I in Georgia, U.S. and 2 smaller nested subwatersheds. Water balance, hydrograph, and soil moisture were simulated and compared to observed data. For streamflow calibration, the daily Nash‐Sutcliffe coefficient was 0.78 at the watershed outlet and 0.56 and 0.75 at the 2 nested subwatersheds. For the validation period, the Nash‐Sutcliffe coefficients were 0.79 at the watershed outlet and 0.85 and 0.83 at the 2 subwatersheds. The per cent bias was less than 15% for all sites. For soil moisture, the model also predicted the rising and declining trends at 4 of the 5 measurement sites. The spatial distribution of surface run‐off simulated by the model was mainly controlled by local characteristics (precipitation, soil properties, and land cover) on dry days and by global watershed characteristics (relative position within the watershed and hydrologic connectivity) on wet days when saturation excess run‐off was simulated. The spatial details of run‐off generation and travel time along flow paths provided by the model are helpful for watershed managers to further identify critical source areas of non‐point source pollution and develop best management practices.     

Precessional forcing of tropical vegetation carbon storage

Since the Mid Pleistocene Revolution, which occurred about one million years ago, global temperatures have fluctuated with a quasi‐periodicity of ca. 100 ka. The pattern of past change in the extent of woodlands, and therefore by inference vegetation carbon storage, has been demonstrated to have a strong positive link with this global temperature change at high and mid latitudes. However, understanding of climate systems and ecosystem function indicates that the pattern of woodland change at low latitudes may follow a fundamentally different pattern. We present output from the intermediate complexity model GENIE‐1, comprising a single transient simulation over the last 800 ka and a 174‐member ensemble of 130 ka transient simulations over the last glacial cycle. These simulations suggest that while vegetation carbon storage in mid–high northern latitudes robustly follows the characteristic ca. 100 ka cycle, this signal is not a robust feature of tropical vegetation, which is subject to stronger direct forcing by the precessional (21 ka) orbital cycle (albeit with a highly uncertain response). We conclude that the correlation of palaeoenvironmental records from low latitudes with global temperature change must be done with caution. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于GridMet模型的浙江省温湿指数空间分布及地形影响分析

温湿指数是气候舒适度评价模型之一,通过温度与湿度的组合反映人体与周围环境的热量交换,本文利用2003-2018年浙江省及其周边71个气象站点月平均气温、地面水汽压数据,以及MODIS水汽产品,基于GridMet模型模拟了浙江省各月温湿指数空间分布（100 m×100 m）,分析了浙江省温湿指数随地形因子（海拔、坡度、坡向）变化的特征;讨论了各地形因子对温湿指数空间分布的影响程度。结果表明：① 海拔、坡度、坡向3个地形因子中,1月温湿指数随坡向的变化最大,7月最小;② 同坡向上,坡度变化对1月温湿指数影响较大,而海拔变化则是对7月影响最大;③ 南坡1月温湿指数随海拔和坡度增加均略为增加,南坡其他月份及北坡各月均为随海拔和坡度增加温湿指数减小;④ 北坡相对于南坡而言,海拔和坡度对温湿指数的影响更为明显。浙江大部分山区由于地形影响,夏季较为“舒适”,适宜建立避暑消夏的旅游项目。     

Piecewise prediction model for watershed‐scale erosion and sediment yield of individual rainfall events on the Loess Plateau,China

Establishing a universal watershed‐scale erosion and sediment yield prediction model represents a frontier field in erosion and soil/water conservation. The research presented here was conducted on the Chabagou watershed, which is located in the first sub‐region of the hill‐gully area of the Loess Plateau, China. A back‐propagation artificial neural model for watershed‐scale erosion and sediment yield was established, with the accuracy of the model, then compared with that of multiple linear regression. The sensitivity degree of various factors to erosion and sediment yield was quantitatively analysed using the default factor test. On the basis of the sensitive factors and the fractal information dimension, the piecewise prediction model for erosion and sediment yield of individual rainfall events was established and further verified. The results revealed the back‐propagation artificial neural network model to perform better than the multiple linear regression model in terms of predicting the erosion modulus, with the former able to effectively characterize dynamic changes in sediment yield under comprehensive factor conditions. The sensitivity of runoff erosion power and runoff depth to the erosion and sediment yield associated with individual rainfall events was found to be related to the complexity of surface topography. The characteristics of such a hydrological response are thus closely related to topography. When the fractal information dimension is greater than the topographic threshold, the accuracy of prediction using runoff erosion power is higher than that of using runoff depth. In contrast, when the fractal information dimension is smaller than the topographic threshold, the accuracy of prediction using runoff depth is higher than that of using runoff erosion power. The developed piecewise prediction model for watershed‐scale erosion and sediment yield of individual rainfall events, which introduces runoff erosion power and runoff depth using the fractal information dimension as a boundary, can be considered feasible and reliable and has a high prediction accuracy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An examination of snow redistribution over smooth land‐fast sea ice

An understanding of temporal evolution of snow on sea ice at different spatial scales is essential for improvement of snow parameterization in sea ice models. One of the problems we face, however, is that long‐term climate data are routinely available for land and not for sea ice. In this paper, we examine the temporal evolution of snow over smooth land‐fast first‐year sea ice using observational and modelled data. Changes in probability density functions indicate that depositional and drifting events control the evolution of snow distribution. Geostatistical analysis suggests that snowdrifts increased over the study period, and the orientation was related to the meteorological conditions. At the microscale, the temporal evolution of the snowdrifts was a product of infilling in the valleys between drifts. Results using two shore‐based climate reporting stations (Paulatuk and Tuktoyuktuk, NWT) suggest that on‐ice air temperature and relative humidity can be estimated using air temperature recorded at either station. Wind speed, direction and precipitation on ice cannot be accurately estimated using meteorological data from either station. The temporal evolution of snow distribution over smooth land‐fast sea ice was modelled using SnowModel and four different forcing regimes. The results from these model runs indicate a lack of agreement between observed distribution and model outputs. The reasons for these results are lack of meteorological measurements prior to the end of January, lack of spatially adequate surface topography and discrepancies between meteorological variables on land and ice. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Jet instability and the stabilizing effect of topography on jets in two-layer rotating systems

Abstract

Laboratory experiments concerning azimuthal jets in two-layer rotating systems in the absence and presence of bottom topography aligned along the jets have been conducted. The jets were forced by the selective withdrawal of fluid from the upper layer of a two-fluid system contained in a circular dishpan geometry. The principal parameters measured in the experiments were the jet Rossby number, Ro, and a stratification parameter F = r ₁/(λ₁λ₂)^1/2 where r ₁ is the radius of the circular disc used for the selective withdrawal (i.e., r ₁ is the approximate radius of curvature of the jet) and λ₁,λ₂ are the internal Rossby radii of deformation in the upper and lower fluids, respectively.

The no-topography experiments show that for a sufficiently small F, the particular value depending on Ro, the jet is stable for the duration of the experiment. For sufficiently large F, again as a function of Ro, the jet becomes unstable, exhibiting horizontal wave disturbances from modes three to seven. An Ro against F flow regime diagram is presented.

Experiments are then conducted in the presence of a bottom topography having constant cross-section and extending around a mid-radius of the dishpan. The axis of the topography is in the vicinity of the jet axis forced in the no-topography experiments and the crest of the topography is in the vicinity of the interface between the two fluids (i.e., the front associated with the jet). The experiments show that in all cases investigated the jet tends to be stabilized by the bottom topography. Experiments with the topography in place, but with the interface between the fluids being above the topography crest, are shown to be unstable but more irregular than their no-topography counterparts.

Various quantitative measurements of the jet are presented. It is shown, for example, that the jet Rossby number defined in terms of the fluid withdrawal rate from the tank. Q, can be well correlated with a dimensionless vorticity gradient, V_G , across the upper layer jet. This allows for an assessment of the stability characteristics of a jet based on a knowledge of V_G (which can be estimated given a jet profile) and F.     

基于地性线分级的DEM信息量计算方法研究

主要对基于DEM提取的地性线进行信息量的定量分析,探讨地性线的信息量与分辨率、地形单元的关系。这个过程中首先利用河网的自相似理论研究与当前DEM所代表的地貌详细程度相适宜的地性线提取的阈值区间,并讨论此阈值下地性线的分级,以此为基础通过以该分级为权重进行DEM地形信息量的计算。实践证明,这种顾及地性线等级的DEM信息量计算方法能较准确地反映地性线的分布规律和不同等级的要素造成的信息量度量差异。     

车载移动测量系统应用于城市大比例尺地形图更新

将车载移动测量系统与城市大比例尺数字地形图测图相结合,成功地将车载移动测量系统运用于城市大比例尺测图更新应用中。通过在测区内布设靶标控制点,对比靶标的点云量算坐标与全站仪实测实际坐标,统计分析车载移动测量系统的测图精度。实验结果表明,车载移动测量系统能够满足城市大比例尺地形图测图要求。     

基于等高线隔断线确定DEM适宜分辨率的方法研究

分辨率是等高线数据插值生成格网DEM数据过程中需要考虑的一个重要参数,适宜的分辨率既能将等高线高程信息尽可能保留,又不会因插值造成数据冗余及误差。基于对格网DEM生成方式的理解,提出了等高线隔断线的相关概念,分析了基于地形图矢量化的等高线数据插值生成格网DEM数据,由不同长度等高线隔断线频率统计来确定格网适宜分辨率参考值的方法。同时,不同长度等高线隔断线的长度与其频率相乘得到标准长度,以及等高线隔断线中心点生成的密度分析图,均可在频率特征决定适宜分辨率参考值时起到一定的参考作用。通过样区实验验证,实现简便,可度量性强,与其他相关研究具有一致性,对确定适宜格网分辨率参考值具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Drivers of ecosystem and climate change in tropical West Africa over the past ∼540 000 years

A paucity of empirical non‐marine data means that uncertainty surrounds the impact of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems in tropical regions beyond the last glacial period. The sedimentary fill of the Bosumtwi impact crater (Ghana) provides the longest continuous Quaternary terrestrial archive of environmental change in West Africa, spanning the last ～1.08 million years. Here we explore the drivers of change in ecosystem and climate in tropical West Africa for the past ～540 000 years using pollen analysis and the nitrogen isotope composition of bulk organic matter preserved in sediments from Lake Bosumtwi. Variations in grass pollen abundance (0?99%) indicate transitions between grassland and forest. Coeval variations in the nitrogen isotopic composition of organic matter indicate that intervals of grassland expansion coincided with minimum lake levels and low regional moisture availability. The observed changes responded to orbitally paced global climate variations on both glacial–interglacial and shorter timescales. Importantly, the magnitude of ecosystem change revealed by our data exceeds that previously determined from marine records, demonstrating for the first time the high sensitivity of tropical lowland ecosystems to Quaternary climate change.