Kaleidoscoping Landscapes,Shifting Perspectives

Landscapes change in complex ways, creating surface patterns reminiscent of forms seen through a kaleidoscope. On the Earth's surface, those forms are linked to, and caused by, processes that originate with bedrock‐soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere interactions. Human‐caused alterations to landscapes are additionally tied to socioeconomic processes. Evaluation of landscape‐level processes can benefit from examining (1) the influence of disturbance regimes in altering landscape patterns, (2) the importance of considering surficial processes, (3) the subtle and cryptic spatial relations that may be present, (4) the reciprocal relationships among local processes and regional consequences, (5) the increased likelihood of some land cover transitions compared to others, and (6) the special case of landscapes with long histories of human use. These are all examples of potential fruitful arenas for interactions and represent a path for expansion of landscape ecology through accommodation of a broad range of content covered by the international GIScience community.     

Capture-zone design in an aquifer influenced by cyclic fluctuations in hydraulic gradients

Design of a groundwater pumping and treatment system for a wood-treatment facility adjacent to the tidally influenced Fraser River estuary required the development of methodologies to account for cyclic variations in hydraulic gradients. Design of such systems must consider the effects of these cyclic fluctuations on the capture of dissolved-phase contaminants. When the period of the cyclic fluctuation is much less than the travel time of the dissolved contaminant from the source to the discharge point, the hydraulic-gradient variations resulting from these cycles can be ignored. Capture zones are then designed based on the average hydraulic gradient determined using filter techniques on continuous groundwater-level measurements. When the period of cyclic fluctuation in hydraulic gradient is near to or greater than the contaminant travel time, the resulting hydraulic-gradient variations cannot be ignored. In these instances, procedures are developed to account for these fluctuations in the capture-zone design. These include proper characterization of the groundwater regime, assessment of the average travel time and period of the cyclic fluctuations, and numerical techniques which allow accounting for the cyclic fluctuations in the design of the capture zone. Electronic Publication     

High spatial resolution hyperspectral mapping of in-stream habitats, depths, and woody debris in mountain streams

This article evaluates the potential of 1-m resolution, 128-band hyperspectral imagery for mapping in-stream habitats, depths, and woody debris in third- to fifth-order streams in the northern Yellowstone region. Maximum likelihood supervised classification using principal component images provided overall classification accuracies for in-stream habitats (glides, riffles, pools, and eddy drop zones) ranging from 69% for third-order streams to 86% for fifth-order streams. This scale dependency of classification accuracy was probably driven by the greater proportion of transitional boundary areas in the smaller streams. Multiple regressions of measured depths (y) versus principal component scores (x₁, x₂,…, x_n) generated R² values ranging from 67% for high-gradient riffles to 99% for glides in a fifth-order reach. R² values were lower in third-order reaches, ranging from 28% for runs and glides to 94% for pools. The less accurate depth estimates obtained for smaller streams probably resulted from the relative increase in the number of mixed pixels, where a wide range of depths and surface turbulence occurred within a single pixel. Matched filter (MF) mapping of woody debris generated overall accuracies of 83% in the fifth-order Lamar River. Accuracy figures for the in-stream habitat and wood mapping may have been misleadingly low because the fine-resolution imagery captured fine-scale variations not mapped by field teams, which in turn generated false “misclassifications” when the image and field maps were compared.The use of high spatial resolution hyperspectral (HSRH) imagery for stream mapping is limited by the need for clear water to measure depth, by any tree cover obscuring the stream, and by the limited availability of airborne hyperspectral sensors. Nonetheless, the high accuracies achieved in northern Yellowstone streams indicate that HSRH imagery can be a powerful tool for watershed-wide mapping, monitoring, and modeling of streams.     

A discontinuous finite element suspended sediment transport model for water quality assessments in river networks

Suspended sediment plays an important role in the distribution and transport of many pollutants (such as radionuclides) in rivers. Pollutants may adsorb on fine suspended particles (e.g. clay) and spread according to the suspended sediment movement. Hence, the simulation of the suspended sediment mechanism is indispensable for realistic transport modelling. This paper presents and tests a simple mathematical model for predicting the suspended sediment transport in river networks. The model is based on the van Rijn suspended load formula and the advection–diffusion equation with a source or sink term that represents the erosion or deposition fluxes. The transport equation is solved numerically with the discontinuous finite element method. The model evaluation was performed in two steps, first by comparing model simulations with the measured suspended sediment concentrations in the Grote Nete–Molse Nete River in Belgium, and second by a model intercomparison with the sediment transport model NST MIKE 11. The simulations reflect the measurements with a Nash‐Sutcliffe model efficiency of 0.6, while the efficiency between the proposed model and the NST MIKE 11 simulations is 0.96. Both evaluations indicate that the proposed sediment transport model, that is sufficiently simple to be practical, is providing realistic results.     

The Barents Sea Ice Sheet — A model of its growth and decay during the last ice maximum

On the basis of geomorphological and sedimentological data, we believe that the entire Barents Sea was covered by grounded ice during the last glacial maximum. ¹⁴C dates on shells embedded in tills suggest marine conditions in the Barents Sea as late as 22 ka BP; and models of the deglaciation history based on uplift data from the northern Norwegian coast suggest that significant parts of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet calved off as early as 15 ka BP. The growth of the ice sheet is related to glacioeustatic fall and the exposure of shallow banks in the central Barents Sea, where ice caps may develop and expand to finally coalesce with the expanding ice masses from Svalbard and Fennoscandia.The outlined model for growth and decay of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet suggests a system which developed and existed under periods of maximum climatic deterioration, and where its growth and decay were strongly related to the fall and rise of sea level.     

Demonstration of sub-meter GPS orbit determination and 1.5 parts in 108 three-dimensional baseline accuracy

Differential tracking of theGPS satellites in high-earth orbit provides a powerful relative positioning capability, even when a relatively small continental U.S. fiducial tracking network is used with less than one-third of the fullGPS constellation. To demonstrate this capability, we have determined baselines of up to2000 km in North America by estimating high-accuracyGPS orbits and ground receiver positions simultaneously. The2000 km baselines agree with very long baseline interferometry(VLBI) solutions at the level of1.5 parts in10 ⁸ and showrms daily repeatability of0.3–2 parts in10 ⁸. The orbits determined for the most thoroughly trackedGPS satellites are accurate to better than1 m. GPS orbit accuracy was assessed from orbit predictions, comparisons with independent data sets, and the accuracy of the continental baselines determined along with the orbits. The bestGPS orbit strategies included data arcs of at least one week, process noise models for tropospheric fluctuations, estimation ofGPS solar pressure coefficients, and combined processing ofGPS carrier phase and pseudorange data. For data arcs of two weeks, constrained process noise models forGPS dynamic parameters significantly improved the solutions.     

Geophysikalische Einflüsse auf die Länge des Sterntages

Zusammenfassung Die Änderung der Sterntaglänge schwankt im Rhythmus des Luftdruckgefälles zwischen 45 und 65° Süd sowohl im mittleren Jahresgang als auch im Ablauf der sechzig Monate der Jahre 1957–1961. Dieser überzufällige Gleichgang in Phase und Amplitude läßt sich so erklären, daß die Schwankungen der Tageslänge direkt durch den Schub oder die Bremsung der Lithosphäre, auf welche die Atmosphäre mit ihren Monsunen oder Passaten wirkt, erzeugt werden. Die den schwankenden Tropenwinden parallel gehenden außertropischen Westwinde würden voll die schiebende oder bremsende Wirkung der Tropenwinde kompensieren, wenn sie auch direkt die Lithosphäre erfaßten. Da nun aber im Gebiet der braven Westwinde die Hydrosphäre den gesamten Drehimpuls übernimmt und ihn wohl erst mit großer Verzögerung an die Lithosphäre weiterreicht, tritt die Änderung der Tageslänge auf, die sich im wesentlichen harmonisch aus einer halbjährlichen und einer jährlichen Welle zusammensetzt.

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Geophysical effects on the length of the sideral day

Summary The variations in the length of the day are found to be equal in phase to the oscillation of the atmospheric pressure gradient occurring between 45 and 65 degrees south. This rhythm manifests itself in the annual mean as well as in the course of the 60 months of the years 1957 to 1961. The rhythm that seems to be overaccidental may be explained with regard to phase and amplitude in the following way:The variations in the length of the day are produced by the pushing or braking of the lithosphere on which the atmosphere is acting by its monsoons or trade winds. The outertropical westerlies that are blowing parallel to the tropical wind would be able to compensate the pushing and braking effects if they, too, were directly acting on the lithosphere. As, however, in the region of the westerlies the hydrosphere assumes all angular momentum and apparently passes it on to the lithosphere after considerable delay, the variations in the length of the day are caused which essentially consist of the second and first harmonics.

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Effets géophysiques sur la longueur du jour sidéral

Résumé Les variations de la longueur du jour sidéral suivent le rythme du gradient de pression atmosphérique rencontré entre le 45^e et 65^e degré de latitude Sud. Elles se manifestent dans la moyenne annuelle aussi bien que dans la période des soixants mois des années de 1957 à 1961. Cette homogénéité super-aléatoire du rythme qui se montre également dans la phase et dans l'amplitude pourrait être expliquée par le fait que les variations de la longueur du jour sidéral sont directement produites par la poussée et le freinage de la lithosphère sur lequel agit l'atmosphère par ses moussons et ses vents alizés.Les vents extra-tropicaux d'ouest qui soufflent parallèlement aux vents tropicaux seraient à même de compenser les effets de la poussée et du freinage des vents tropicaux pourvu qu'ils agissent de même immédiatement sur la lithosphère. Comme, cependant, dans la région des braves vents d'ouest l'hydrosphère attire tout le moment angulaire et le passe, probablement après un long délai, au lithosphère, il se produit les variations de longueur du jour sidéral, qui se composent essentiellement d'une oscillation harmonique semestrielle et annuelle.

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Nach einem Vortrag Über Erddrehung und atmosphärische Globalzirkulation vor dem Geophysikalischen Kolloquium der Universität Hamburg am 8. Juni 1961, erweitert um die neuen Daten der Tageslänge und des Luftdruckgefälles zwischen 45° und 65° S.