Sensitivity analysis of a deterministic water temperature model to forest canopy and soil temperature in Catamaran Brook (New Brunswick,Canada)

A coupled deterministic hydrological and water temperature model, CEQUEAU, was modified to include soil temperature and crown closure in its calculation of local advective terms in the heat budget. The modified model was than tested to verify its sensitivity to these modifications. An analysis of the heat budget of a small forested catchment in eastern Canada revealed that the advective term related to interflow plays a significant role in the daily water heat budget, providing on average 28% of the local advective budget (which also includes advective heat terms from surface runoff and groundwater) and nearly 14% of the total heat budget (which includes all radiative terms at the water surface, convection and evaporation, as well as the local advective terms). Relative sensitivity indices (RSIs) were used to verify the impact of the newly introduced parameters and variables. Among them, parameters related to the forest cover (crown closure and leaf area index) have a maximum RSI of ?0·6; i.e. a 100% increase in value produces a 60% decrease in the local advective term. Parameters with the greatest influence are the volume of water contributing to interflow and the amplitude of the net radiative flux at the soil surface, which, if doubled, would double the contribution of the local interflow advective term to the heat budget. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitivity analysis of runoff hydrographs due to temporal rainfall patterns in Makkah Al-Mukkramah region,Saudi Arabia

Runoff peak and volume in flood studies are estimated relying on temporal rainfall distribution from various storm patterns. Usually, SCS distributions types (I, II, III, IA) are commonly used. Using these distributions in runoff calculations assume that the in situ temporal rainfall pattern typically behaves as the one described by the SCS-type distribution, which is due to cyclonic frontal storms and actually developed in temperate environment. To what extent such assumption is valid in the arid environment? How much the impacts of rainfall temporal patterns are reflected in runoff volumes and peaks? The aim objectives of the current study are to answer the above two questions and clarify the validity of aforementioned assumption and exemplify such effect. Real rainfall data collected from rain gauges of Makkah Al-Mukkramah region over a period of more than 20 years are utilized. Temporal rainfall patterns and their parameters are deduced. Many hydrological simulations are performed and comparisons, in terms of runoff volume and peak flows, are made to show the effects of the common rainfall storm patterns and the developed rainfall storm patterns in the region based on the current study. Results indicate that major bursts of the design rainfall storm pattern are located in the first time of the storm period in the two quartiles which is mainly due to convective rainfall type in thunderstorms unlike the commonly used by SCS types relying on frontal cyclonic storms. Makkah Al-Mukkramah temporal rainfall pattern does not behave as the “typical pattern” assumed by SCS distributions that are deduced from different environments. The impacts of the temporal pattern reflected as an overestimate in the runoff peak reached to 68 %. The developed hyetographs and tables presented in the current study are recommended to enhance economical and rational design practice in watersheds of Makkah Al-Mukkramah region.     

Automatic identification of fake patterns caused by short-width wavelets in seismic data

Despite the popularity of using the Haar wavelet filter in many applications, it sometimes introduces fake patterns into the multi resolution analysis (MRA) of seismic data. In this work, we compared different wavelet filters to demonstrate that these patterns are fake and not part of the original waveforms and to show that they are a result of using the Haar wavelet filter as a short-width wavelet. To achieve this, many seismic waveforms from two different sources: the Egyptian National Seismic Network (ENSN) and the High Sensitivity Seismograph Network Japan (Hi-net) are used with different wavelet filters. We propose an algorithm based on an autoregressive (AR) model to detect these patterns automatically and fully.     

Developing models and envelope curves for extreme floods in the Saudi Arabia arid environment

Forecasting and monitoring extreme floods in arid regions like Saudi Arabia (SA) are a big challenge for engineers and hydrologists. It is difficult to derive reliable flood estimates at any site without adequate flood measurements. Therefore, envelope curves were developed for reliable estimates of flood peaks. Relaying on recorded flood events in SA, Francou–Rodier approach is used to develop the Regional Maximum Flood (RMF) for some wadis and for SA as a whole. A total of 3121 flood events in 32 arid basins of sizes varying from 99 to more than 4500 km² are collected and analyzed. Results show that established regional coefficients (K) range between 2.76 and 5.5. The RMF formula for the Saudi regions is Q?=?251 A^0.45. The flood-frequency analysis showed that the Log-Pearson Type III is best. The extreme observed floods for the envelope curve for K?=?5.5 accommodate floods of recurrence interval ranging between 1000 and 100,000 years. The study results provide more realistic runoff peaks for a design of flood protection works for SA watersheds and for the similar environment. Consequently, it is recommended to use the developed envelope curves and models for efficient, safe and precise hydraulic structures design in SA.     

Integrated geoelectrical survey for groundwater and shallow subsurface evaluation: case study at Siliyin spring, El-Fayoum, Egypt

Siliyin spring is one of the many natural fresh water springs in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is located at the central part of El-Fayoum Delta, which is a potential place for urban developments and touristic activities. Integrated geoelectrical survey was conducted to facilitate mapping the groundwater resources and the shallow subsurface structures in the area. Twenty-eight transient electromagnetic (TEM) soundings, three vertical electrical soundings (VES) and three electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) profiles were carried out around the Siliyin spring location. The dense cultivation, the rugged topography and the existence of infra structure in the area hindered acquiring more data. The TEM data were inverted jointly with the VES and ERT, and constrained by available geological information. Based on the inversion results, a set of geoelectrical cross-sections have been constructed. The shallow sand to sandy clay layer that forms the shallow aquifer has been completely mapped underneath and around the spring area. Flowing of water from the Siliyin spring is interconnected with the lateral lithological changes from clay to sand soil. Exploration of the extension of Siliyin spring zone is recommended. The interpretation emphasizes the importance of integrating the geoelectrical survey with the available geological information to obtain useful, cheap and fast lithological and structural subsurface information.     

Development of storm hyetographs for flood forecasting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

This paper presents the derivation of the design storm hyetograph patterns for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia based on real rainfall events from meteorological stations distributed throughout the Kingdom. Two thousand twenty-seven rainfall storms for a 20–28-year period were collected and analyzed covering 13 regions of the Kingdom. Four distinct dimensionless rainfall hyetograph patterns have been obtained over the Kingdom, while two patterns have been obtained for each individual region because of the lack of data for long-duration storms in individual regions. The resulting dimensionless rainfall patterns for each region can be used to develop storm hyetographs for any design duration, total rainfall depth and return period. It has been shown that the developed storm hyetographs have different features from other storm patterns that are commonly used in arid zones. The study recommends using these curves for the design of hydraulic structures in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and regions alike.