Optimal identification of nonlinear surface runoff systems with copositivity threshold constraints

The surface runoff system is often represented by a single-input single-output model in which the rainfall excess x(t) is defined as the input function and the direct surface runoff y(t) is the output. The problem considered is the optimal identification of the system from given records of several independent storm events each consisting of an input and the corresponding output function. The system is represented by a discrete-time second-order Volterra series. The method is a point by point identification which can be extended to Volterra systems of order higher than a second order. The identified system is required to be conservative as in a previous work of Diskin & Boneh [1973]. In this study the identified system is further required to be copositive. Therefore the notion of copositivity is introduced and an example of a watershed system in Southern Illinois is identified with variable copositivity threshold constraints.     

长江三角洲地区地磁短周期变化异常的描述及解释

在长江三角洲地区进行了地磁短周期变化的观测，对资料的分析表明，该区域地磁短周期变化存在一非对称异常．其负异常较大，中心位于无锡、常熟一带；其正异常较小，中心位于海安与大丰之间．异常出现的周期为１００-３６００ｓ，并在１２０ｓ处取极大值．二维模型拟合表明，在该地区存在一由北向南上升的地下高导层．该高导层在溧阳、无锡、余山一线消失．这恰是溧阳、崇明大断裂之所在．该地区地表还存在有厚度为３００ｍ的高导覆盖层．     

Seawater intrusion in continuous coastal aquifer-aquitard systems

The problem of seawater intrusion in a confined coastal aquifer is investigated. The aquifer is overlain by a leaky aquitard and both units extend continuously out under the sea. The problem is formulated in terms of the two governing differential equations, the fluid continuity equation written conveniently in terms of equivalent freshwater head, and the mass continuity equation. Use of linear rectangular finite elements, with direct integration and an iterative solution technique lead to an efficient numerical scheme that is capable of handling long simulation periods. The results, for a 300 m thick aquifer overlain by a 100 m thick aquitard, show that the aquitard has a controlling influence on the salt distribution. A zone of mixing in the aquifer is found to extend for several kilometres in the seaward as well as the landward direction. The time period required by the system to attain a state of dynamic equilibrium after a perturbation is applied may be of the order of centuries. The aquitard is found to cause a downward and seaward displacement of the average salt front.     

Analysis of runoff–storage relationships to evaluate the runoff-buffering potential of a sloping permeable domain

The runoff–storage relationship for a runoff system in a steady-state is analyzed as an indicator of the buffering potential of rainfall-runoff responses. In this relationship, a large storage increase in response to a given runoff increase indicates high buffering potential in the water balance equation. The evaluation method is applied to a sloping permeable domain. A two-dimensional form of the Richards equation is used to calculate runoff and storage. Macropore existence is represented by an enlargement effect of hydraulic conductivity near saturation. The runoff–storage relationship is controlled by the distribution of hydraulic quantities. The distribution of a pressure-head value is approximately classified into the following three zones: the I zone with vertical unsaturated flow, the U zone with unsaturated downslope flow, and the S zone with saturated downslope flow. The runoff-buffering potential is systematically evaluated by dependencies of the runoff–storage relationship on the classification of the pressure-head distribution. The potential is generally high for soil with a high permeability, but rather small in the range of low runoff rates where the S zone is not created. The macropore effect causes the range of high buffering potential to shift to high runoff rates through enlargement of the I zone. As a result, a moderate magnitude of the macropore effect gives the maximum increase in storage in response to a given increase in runoff.     

Performance of sand and shredded rubber tire mixture as a natural base isolator for earthquake protection

The performance of a well-designed layer of sand, and composites like layer of sand mixed with shredded rubber tire(RSM) as low cost base isolators, is studied in shake table tests in the laboratory. The building foundation is modeled by a 200 mm by 200 mm and 40 mm thick rigid plexi-glass block. The block is placed in the middle of a 1m by 1m tank filled with sand. The selected base isolator is placed between the block and the sand foundation. Accelerometers are placed on top of the footing and foundation sand layer. The displacement of the footing is also measured by LVDT. The whole setup is mounted on a shake table and subjected to sinusoidal motions with varying amplitude and frequency. Sand is found to be effective only at very high amplitude( 0.65 g) of motions. The performance of a composite consisting of sand and 50% shredded rubber tire placed under the footing is found to be most promising as a low-cost effective base isolator.     

A Discrete Point Sampler for Ground Water Monitoring Wells

A discrete point sampler has been developed that overcomes disadvantages inherent in several current small-volume samplers. It is designed to obtain ground water samples after a well has been purged with a pump. It consists of a sample chamber, two ports, and a stopcock for withdrawing sample aliquots. After lowering the sampler into a well, sampling is initiated by pulling on a line that sequentially removes the plugs in the lower and the upper level ports. The sample chamber fills from the bottom port and vents air from the top port. The device is suitable for sampling for volatile organic compounds in ground waters that are not subject to spontaneous bubble degassing. The upper port is sufficiently far above the lower port that none of the water that is sampled is exposed to the vented air. The sample chamber fills in such a way that the water that is taken from the chamber for analysis is not exposed to the headspace in the chamber.     

CALIBRATION OF MARINE SEISMIC SOURCES USING A HYDROPHONE OF UNKNOWN SENSITIVITY*

The absolute amplitude of the pressure pulse radiated by a marine seismic source is one of the prime criteria used in evaluating its performance. A technique for this measurement is proposed which is applicable to all sources which radiate a bubble pulse. The technique is described with reference to an air-gun array in which the pulse radiated from a single gun is compared with that radiated by the full array. The advantage of the method is that absolute values of pressure are obtained without any need for a calibrated hydrophone. In theory this may seem a trivial advantage but in practice sensitivity factors for the hydrophone channel cannot always be relied upon. The proposed technique is illustrated by an example.     

Soil-pile interaction in vertical vibration

The interaction between a soil layer and an end bearing pile is theoretically investigated. The pile is assumed to be vertical and elastic, the soil is considered as a linear visco-elastic layer with hysteretic type damping. The layer alone is solved first and the wave modes of the layer are used in the analysis of the pile response. The pile response to a harmonic load is obtained in a closed form and used to define stiffness and damping at the level of the pile head. The dimensionless parameters of the problem are identified. A parametric study is conducted to determine the main features of the response and of the equivalent stiffness and damping. The validity of equivalent viscous damping is examined. A comparison is made with the simpler plane strain theory used previously and its accuracy is assessed.     

Local and global shape functions in a boundary element formulation for the calculation of traffic induced vibrations

This paper compares the use of local and global shape functions in a boundary element method that is used in a prediction model for traffic induced vibrations. The boundary element formulation describes the interaction problem between a linear elastic layered half-space and a longitudinally invariant structure representing a road or a railway track. The boundary element formulation in the frequency–wavenumber domain is obtained by means of a weighted residual method. Constant element shape functions, as well as Legendre and Chebyshev shape functions are considered. Their effect on both accuracy and computational effort is investigated. The presence of a singularity in the Chebyshev based shape functions allows to obtain a better approximation for the soil tractions. The theory is applied to road traffic induced vibrations where the response is calculated in a large number of output points.     

A mathematical model to predict the inelastic response of a steel frame: Formulation of the model

The purpose of this research is to use data from experiments to formulate a mathematical model that will predict the non-linear response of a single-storey steel frame to an earthquake input. The process used in this formulation is system identification. The form of the model is a second-order non-linear differential equation with linear viscous damping and Ramberg—Osgood type hysteresis. The damping coefficient and the three parameters in the hysteretic model are to be established. An integral weighted mean squared error function is used to evaluate the [goodness of fit] between the model's response and the structure's response when both are subjected to the same excitation. The function includes errors in displacement and acceleration and is integrated from zero to a time T, which may be the full duration of the recorded response or only a portion of it. The parameters are adjusted using a modified Gauss-Newton method until the error function is minimized. The computer program incorporating these steps in the system identification process is verified with simulated data. Results given in the paper show that in every case the program converges in few iterations to the assigned set of parameters.     

海南岛北西部新构造特征及其演化研究

利用DGPS系统测量海南岛西部阶地, 绘制地质地貌综合剖面, 将西部阶地分为海成阶地和河流阶地两种。 其中海成地貌包括一条砂堤和四级阶地: 砂堤宽2～10 m, 高程约10 m, 形成于5 ka以来; 海成一级阶地发育较好, 阶地面高程21～22 m, 形成于晚更新世至全新世之间; 海成二级阶地顶面高程约32 m左右, 形成于晚更新世晚期; 海成三级阶地较为发育, 阶地面高程40～42 m, 形成于121.8 ka; 海成四级阶地零星分布, 阶地面高程约57 m, 形成于中更新世晚期。 河流阶地也可分出四级: 一级阶地高程约20 m, 局部发育, 形成于11.4 ka; 二级阶地高程约34 m, 形成于47.2 ka; 三级阶地高约50 m, 其基座顶面标高约41 m, 形成于晚更新世早期; 四级阶地高程约71 m, 基座面标高约60 m, 形成于中更新世晚期。 这些阶地中均以二级最为发育。 晚更新世以来全区处于整体加速抬升的状态。 依据阶地面的综合剖面特征, 认为王五-文教断裂晚更新世以来的活动性较弱。     

Estimation of rainfall elasticity of streamflow in Australia

Abstract

Estimates of rainfall elasticity of streamflow in 219 catchments across Australia are presented. The rainfall elasticity of streamflow is defined here as the proportional change in mean annual streamflow divided by the proportional change in mean annual rainfall. The elasticity is therefore a simple estimate of the sensitivity of long-term streamflow to changes in long-term rainfall, and is particularly useful as an initial estimate of climate change impact in land and water resources projects. The rainfall elasticity of streamflow is estimated here using a hydrological modelling approach and a nonparametric estimator. The results indicate that the rainfall elasticity of streamflow (? _P ) in Australia is about 2.0–3.5 (observed in about 70% of the catchments), that is, a 1% change in mean annual rainfall results in a 2.0–3.5% change in mean annual streamflow. The rainfall elasticity of streamflow is strongly correlated to runoff coefficient and mean annual rainfall and streamflow, where streamflow is more sensitive to rainfall in drier catchments, and those with low runoff coefficients. There is a clear relation-ship between the ? _P values estimated using the hydrological modelling approach and those estimated using the nonparametric estimator for the 219 catchments, although the values estimated by the hydrological modelling approach are, on average, slightly higher. The modelling approach is useful where a detailed study is required and where there are sufficient data to reliably develop and calibrate a hydrological model. The nonparametric estimator is useful where consistent estimates of the sensitivity of long-term streamflow to climate are required, because it is simple to use and estimates the elasticity directly from the historical data. The nonparametric method, being model independent, can also be easily applied in comparative studies to data sets from many catchments across large regions.     

Influence of the head and tip connection on the seismic performance of micropiles

This paper presents a study of the influence of connection conditions at the head and tip of micropiles on their response to seismic loading. The study is carried using a fully three-dimensional finite element modeling. The soil is assumed to be elastic with Rayleigh damping. The superstructure is modeled by a single degree of freedom system composed of a concentrated mass and a column. The study is carried out for both vertical and inclined micropiles. The results of analyses show that a pinned connection between the micropiles and the cap leads to a reduction in the axial force and bending moment in micropiles, in particular for inclined micropiles. They also show that the embeddement of the tip of micropiles in a stiff substratum layer leads to a dramatic increase in the internal forces in the micropiles.     

Spatial rainfall model using a pattern classifier for estimating missing daily rainfall data

Missing data in daily rainfall records are very common in water engineering practice. However, they must be replaced by proper estimates to be reliably used in hydrologic models. Presented herein is an effort to develop a new spatial daily rainfall model that is specifically intended to fill in gaps in a daily rainfall dataset. The proposed model is different from a convectional daily rainfall generation scheme in that it takes advantage of concurrent measurements at the nearby sites to increase the accuracy of estimation. The model is based on a two-step approach to handle the occurrence and the amount of daily rainfalls separately. This study tested four neural network classifiers for a rainfall occurrence processor, and two regression techniques for a rainfall amount processor. The test results revealed that a probabilistic neural network approach is preferred for determining the occurrence of daily rainfalls, and a stepwise regression with a log-transformation is recommended for estimating daily rainfall amounts.     

MOVING SOURCE PROFILING (MSP)1

Moving source profiling is a modification of walk-away vertical seismic profiling in which the source is moved along a line across a well while the signal is recorded in the well at a certain depth. The method was designed to better predict the target horizon below the drill bit and away from the well location. The method has several advantages in areas of complicated overburden. In overthrust regions, the receiver is placed below much of the complicated structure to minimize distortion of the reflected signal. The final seismic image is a depth presentation of the subsurface structure and stratigraphy based on wavefront calculations. This depth estimation is obtained without extensive processing of the recorded data. The final result is available within a few days and can help interpreters to decide if and where to sidetrack the well. The method is demonstrated using an example from the overthrust zone of the Lower Saxonian Basin and the Pompeckj's well in Northern Germany.     

Archaeological investigation by geotomography: structure of the foundation of Yingxian timber pagoda

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Contamination of a well in a uniform background flow

In this paper we describe the transport of pollution in groundwater in the neighbourhood of a well in a uniform background flow. We compute the rate at which contaminated particles reach the well as a function of the place of the source of pollution. The motion of a particle in a dispersive flow is seen as a random walk process. The Fokker-Planck equation for the random motion of a particle is transformed using the complex potential for the advective flow field. The resulting equation is solved asymptotically after a stretching transformation. Finally, the analytical solution is compared with results from Monte Carlo simulations with the random walk model. The method can be extended to arbitrary flow fields. Then by a numerical coordinate transformation the analytical results can still be employed.     

Goodness-of-fit tests for the spatial spectral density

Detection and modeling the spatial correlation is an important issue in spatial data analysis. We extend in this work two different goodness-of-fit testing techniques for the spatial spectral density. The first approach is based on a smoothed version of the ratio between the periodogram and a parametric estimator of the spectral density. The second one is a generalized likelihood ratio test statistic, based on the log-periodogram representation as the response variable in a regression model. As a particular case, we provide tests for independence. Asymptotic normal distribution of both statistics is obtained, under the null hypothesis. For the application in practice, a resampling procedure for calibrating these tests is also given. The performance of the method is checked by a simulation study. Application to real data is also provided.     

Finite strip analysis of the dynamic response of beam and slab highway bridges

This paper presents a method of analysis for the dynamic response of a simply supported beam and slab bridge under the action of a moving vehicle. The bridge is idealized as an orthotropic plate and, in the analysis, is subdivided into a number of finite strips. The vehicle is idealized as a moving sprung mass. Viscous damping is taken into account for both bridge and vehicle. The results show that there is significant variation of response across transverse sections of the bridge. Furthermore the dynamic magnification is considerably greater than that predicted by a more approximate method in which the bridge is idealized as a simple prismatic beam.