Subsurface flow measurements using passive flux meters in variably-saturated cold-regions landscapes

To date, passive flux meters have predominantly been applied in temperate environments for tracking the movement of contaminants in groundwater. This study applies these instruments to reduce uncertainty in (typically instantaneous) flux measurements made in a low-gradient, wetland dominated, discontinuous permafrost environment. This method supports improved estimation of unsaturated and over-winter subsurface flows which are very difficult to quantify using hydraulic gradient-based approaches. Improved subsurface flow estimates can play a key role in understanding the water budget of this landscape.     

Smeared crack approach: back to the original track

This paper briefly reviews the formulations used over the last 40 years for the solution of problems involving tensile cracking, with both the discrete and the smeared crack approaches. The paper focuses on the smeared approach, identifying as its main drawbacks the observed mesh‐size and mesh‐bias spurious dependence when the method is applied ‘straightly’. A simple isotropic local damage constitutive model is considered, and the (exponential) softening modulus is regularized according to the material fracture energy and the element size. The continuum and discrete mechanical problems corresponding to both the weak discontinuity (smeared cracks) and the strong discontinuity (discrete cracks) approaches are analysed and the question of propagation of the strain localization band (crack) is identified as the main difficulty to be overcome in the numerical procedure. A tracking technique is used to ensure stability of the solution, attaining the necessary convergence properties of the corresponding discrete finite element formulation. Numerical examples show that the formulation derived is stable and remarkably robust. As a consequence, the results obtained do not suffer from spurious mesh‐size or mesh‐bias dependence, comparing very favourably with those obtained with other fracture and continuum mechanics approaches. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strain localization in sand: an overview of the experimental results obtained in Grenoble using stereophotogrammetry

Experimental results are presented from the extensive program of drained plane strain compression tests on sand carried out in Grenoble over the last two decades. Systematic analysis of photographs of the deforming specimen allowed for measuring deformations and determining strain fields throughout the test, that is: prior to, at, and after the onset of strain localization. The principles, details and accuracy of the procedure are described, as well as its suitability to properly depict the patterns of deformation. Findings concerning the occurrence and progression of strain localization are discussed. The issues of shear band orientation and thickness are addressed, as well as temporary and persistent complex localization patterns, and the volumetric behaviour inside a band after its formation. The influence of such variables as initial state of the sand (effective stress and relative density), specimen size and slenderness, as well as grain size, is discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

The second order characteristic condition for plastic flow

In this paper the second order characteristic (discontinuous bifurcation) condition is derived for the granular flow (fully plastic) equations. This second order bifurcation equation is shown to be formally identical to the first order localization requirement during steady elastoplastic deformation provided the elastic compliance tensor is substituted for the product of the plastic multiplier with the flow Hessian. For isotropic yield and flow functions the invariant form of the characteristic condition is given in detail, as well as an alternative expression in adapted co‐ordinates. The characteristic condition can be regarded as defining a hardening function which is maximized to identify the critical angles. When the method is applied to 3D Coulomb flow, Mohr's 3D fracture plane conditions are obtained uniquely. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of snow water equivalent using microwave radiometry over Arctic first‐year sea ice

The magnitude and spatial distribution of snow on sea ice are both integral components of the ocean–sea‐ice–atmosphere system. Although there exists a number of algorithms to estimate the snow water equivalent (SWE) on terrestrial surfaces, to date there is no precise method to estimate SWE on sea ice. Physical snow properties and in situ microwave radiometry at 19, 37 and 85 GHz, V and H polarization were collected for a 10‐day period over 20 first‐year sea ice sites. We present and compare the in situ physical, electrical and microwave emission properties of snow over smooth Arctic first‐year sea ice for 19 of the 20 sites sampled. Physical processes creating the observed vertical patterns in the physical and electrical properties are discussed. An algorithm is then developed from the relationship between the SWE and the brightness temperature measured at 37 GHz (55°) H polarization and the air temperature. The multiple regression between these variables is able to account for over 90% of the variability in the measured SWE. This algorithm is validated with a small in situ data set collected during the 1999 field experiment. We then compare our data against the NASA snow thickness algorithm, designed as part of the NASA Earth Enterprise Program. The results indicated a lack of agreement between the NASA algorithm and the algorithm developed here. This lack of agreement is attributed to differences in scale between the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and surface radiometers and to differences in the Antarctic versus Arctic snow physical and electrical properties. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

资源环境领域的信息化与本土化

本文重点论述了资源环境领域的深层研究问题;同时提出用信息化推动现代化的观点,进而对地球信息科学与数字地球的战略进行了概要地分析。     

基于Poulos弹性理论的被动桩改进算法

传统的Poulos弹性理论仅适合于均质土中土体侧向位移时桩的性状分析,无法考虑土的层状特性。通过引入层状地基中作用一水平集中力的广义Mindlin解和地面作用有竖向荷载时的应力和位移通解,对Poulos方法进行了改进,使之扩展到多层土中,还用于研究堆载条件下的被动桩变形和受力响应。算例分析表明,改进弹性理论要比Poulos方法更为严密、合理,提高了计算精度,应用范围也更广。     

GPS卫星反射信号增强技术研究

本文根据GPS卫星反射信号在海洋参数测量、无源雷达目标探测以及大地测绘中的应用,从天线接收、信号处理运算和多路径信号抵消角度,详细地研究了GPS卫星反射信号增强技术,给出了相应天线和电路结构及信号处理方法,并进行了计算机仿真,结果表明所提出的技术能增强GPS卫星反射信号。     

北斗三星无源导航定位技术研究

简述北斗三星无源导航定位的原理及定位误差源。探讨用最优估计理论和方法,即卡尔曼滤波技术,消除北斗三星无源定位数据中随机误差的方法。对华南沿海北斗三星无源定位实验数据进行滤波处理,结果表明:(1)北斗三星无源定位单点定位精度在纬度方向为±58m,经度方向为±4.3m,经卡尔曼滤波后其单点定位精度在纬度方向为±43m,经度方向为±3.6m;(2)北斗三星定位误差主要分布在纬度方向;(3)通过卡尔曼滤波可使北斗三星无源定位精度提高25%。     

Strain localization due to structural in-homogeneities in the Central European Basin System

The large-scale crustal deformations observed in the Central European Basin System (CEBS) are the result of the interplay between several controlling factors, among which lateral rheological heterogeneities play a key role. We present a finite-element integral thin sheet model of stress and strain distribution within the CEBS. Unlike many previous models, this study is based on thermo-mechanical data to quantify the impact of lateral contrasts on the tectonic deformation. Elasto-plastic material behaviour is used for both the mantle and the crust, and the effects of the sedimentary fill are also investigated. The consistency of model results is ensured through comparisons with observed data. The results resemble the present-day dynamics and kinematics when: (1) a weak granite-like lower crust below the Elbe Fault System is modelled in contrast to a stronger lower crust in the area extending north of the Elbe Line throughout the Baltic region; and (2) a transition domain in the upper mantle is considered between the shallow mantle of the Variscan domain and the deep mantle beneath the East European Craton (EEC), extending from the Elbe Line in the south till the Tornquist Zone. The strain localizations observed along these structural contrasts strongly enhance the dominant role played by large structural domains in stiffening the propagation of tectonic deformation and in controlling the basin formation and the evolution in the CEBS.