Landform planation index extracted from DEMs: A case study in ordos platform of China

Planation surface, a surface that is almost flat, is a kind of low-relief landforms. Planation surface is the consequence of the denudation and planation processes under a tectonic stable condition. The quantitative expression of the characteristics of planation surface plays a key role in reconstructing and describing the evolutionary process of landforms. In this study, Landform Planation Index (LPI), a new terrain derivative, was proposed to quantify the characteristics of planation surface. The LPIs were calculated based on the summit surfaces formed according to the clustering results of peaks. Ten typical areas in the Ordos Platform located in the central part of the Loess Plateau of China are chosen as the test areas for investigating their planation characteristics with the LPI. The experimental results indicate that the LPI can be effectively used to quantify the characteristics of planation surfaces. In addition, the LPI can be further used to depict the patterns of spatial differentiation in the Ordos Platform. Although the present Ordos Platform area is full of the high-density gullies, its planation characteristics is found to be well preserved. Furthermore, the characteristics of the planation surfaces can also reflect the original morphology of the Ordos Platform before the loess dusts deposition process evolved in this area. The statistical results of the LPI show that there is a gradually increasing tendency along with the increasing of slope gradient of summit surface. It indicates that the characteristics of planation surfaces vary among test areas with different landforms. These findings help to deepen the understanding of planation characteristics of the loess landform and its underlying paleotopography. Results of this study can be also served as an important theoretical reference value for revealing the evolutionary process of loess landform.     

Snake Model for the Extraction of Loess Shoulder-line from DEMs

Shoulder lines are the most important landform demarcations for geographical analysis,soil erosion modeling and land use planning in the Loess Plateau area of China.This paper proposes an automatic,effective and accurate method of determining loess shoulder line from DEMs by integrating a hydrological D8 algorithm and a snake model.The watershed boundary line is adopted as the initial contour which evolves to identify the exact position of loess shoulder-line by the guidance of an external force of snake model from DEMs.Experiments show that the method overcomes the difficulties in both threshold selection for edge detection and the disconnecting issues in former extraction approaches.The accuracy evaluation of shoulder-line maps from the two test sites of the loess plateau area show obvious improvements in the extraction.The average contour matching distance of the new method is 12.0 m on 5 m resolution DEM,and shows improvement in the accuracy and continuity.The comparisons of accuracy evaluations of the two test sites show that the snake model method performs better in the loess plain area than in the area with high gully density.     

DEM提取坡度信息的不确定性分析

以陕西省671幅1∶50000比例尺,25m分辨率的DEM数据为信息源,分析DEM分辨率对提取坡度信息的不确定性影响。研究表明:平均坡度随DEM分辨率的减小呈显著递减型二次曲线变化,但当DEM分辨率减小到一定程度时,平均坡度将趋于稳定;并且,随DEM分辨率变化,坡度的不确定性呈现明显的空间结构性分布,DEM栅格单元内部地形的复杂性和变异性越大,坡度提取不确定性越大,如沟坡地坡度提取误差明显大于沟间地。因此,实际应用中要充分考虑研究区域DEM地形描述的尺度效应和不确定性问题,选择合适尺度的DEM提取坡度信息,保证提取结果的科学有效。     

高程内插方法对DEM所提取坡度、坡向精度的影响

DEM及数字地形分析的精度无疑受到包括高程数据空间内插方法在内的多种因素的影响,本研究利用模拟高斯曲面为基准数据,通过四种不同插值方法结果的对比,分析说明每种插值方法在某一标度范围内插值精度的优劣,从而在应用中针对不同条件采用相应优选的插值方法.在此基础上,对于四种插值方法生成相应的坡度、坡向值,通过与真值的比较探讨插值方法对用DEM提取坡度、坡向的影响.实验结果确定了不同内插方法对坡度和坡向因子提取精度的大小,发现在坡度方面,SPLINE方法内插出来的坡度最精确,其他依次为KRIGING,IDW,TIN;在坡向方面,SPLINE内插出来的坡向最接近真值,是最精确的插值方法,其他依次为KRIGING,TIN,IDW.以上结果为空间插值方法的选择提供了参考.     

DEM地形可视性分析的统一模型构建与应用

地形可视性也称为地形通视性,主要包括通视性分析、可视域计算等方面,在国民经济、国防建设等领域具有重要的作用.基于DEM的地形可视性自动分析与制图方法的出现,开辟了地形可视性分析的新阶段.本文针对目前可视性分析研究大多着眼于具体问题的计算方法及效率研究,分析模型间的相关研究较少的缺憾,在分析可视性问题共性的基础上,根据可视性分析的视点集合、视线、目标点集合三个要素对可视性分析进行归类总结,构建了DEM地形可视性统一分析模型以及基于该模型的模式化可视性分析方法,并对该模型进行了应用实证研究.     

Spatial and temporal variation of drought index in a typical steep alpine terrain in Hengduan Mountains

This study describes the spatial and temporal variation of a drought index and makes inferences regarding the environmental factors that influence this variability in the Hengduan Mountains. A drought index is typically used to determine the moisture conditions and the magnitude of water deficiency in a given area. Based on data from 26 meteorological stations over the period 1960-2012, the spatial and temporal variations of the drought index were analyzed using a thin plate smoothing splines method that considered elevation as a covariate. The drought index was estimated based on the potential evapotranspiration (E₀) as defined by the Penman Monteith model modified by FAO (1998). The results of the reported analysis showed that the drought index in the Hengduan Mountains has been decreasing since 1960 at a rate of -0.008/a. This represented a progressive shift from the "sub-humid" class, which typified the wider area in the Hengduan Mountains, toward the "humid" class, which appeared in the Hengduan Mountains areas. The drought index was relatively high in the north and low in the south and the variation of the drought index varied with seasons. The drought index showed increasing trends in summer and autumn and it is greater in autumn than in summer, while it showed a decreasing trend in spring and winter. Drought index is inversely proportional to the soil relative humidity and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).     

A DEM fusion method for ascending and descending orbit StereoSAR DEMs in complicated mountain areas considering SAR echo intensity

To extract the high-quality DEM in complicated mountain areas,a DEM fusion method for ascending and descending orbit StereoSAR DEMs considering Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR)echo intensity is proposed.After the analysis for the influence of terrain features and SAR side-looking imaging characteristics on radar echo intensity and DEM accuracy,four Terras AR-X images with the stripmap mode and the 3 m spatial resolution covering a certain area of Maoxian County,Sichuan Province,China,was selected as the experimental area.StereoSAR technology was used to extract the ascending orbit StereoSAR DEM and the descending orbit StereoSAR DEM,respectively,and the corresponding radar echo intensity map was calculated.Then,while comparing the radar echo intensity corresponding to the same point position,DEM fusion was carried out,and the accuracy of DEM before and after the fusion was analyzed with the ground points measured by GNSS-RTK as reference data.Finally,a high-quality DEM with a 3 m spatial resolution in the experimental area was obtained.The DEM accuracy was improved on all slopes,and the mean absolute deviation(MAD)improved to 4.798 m,the standard deviation(SD)improved to 6.087 m and the LE90 improved to 40.48 m.The experimental results indicate that the fusion method of highresolution ascending and descending orbit StereoSAR DEMs considering SAR echo intensity can effectively extract DEM with high accuracy and reliability,which can provide technical support for obtaining highquality terrain information in similar areas.     

Evaluating the performances of accelerated-solvent extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, and ultrasonic-assisted extraction for determining PCBs, HCHs and DDTs in sediments

Three extraction techniques have been recently used for the quantitative extraction of semi-volatile organic pollutants in sediments, i.e. accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE). However, their extraction efficiencies have rarely been quantitatively compared using rigorous mathematical methods. In this paper, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to evaluate the performance of ASE, MAE and UAE in the overall extraction of PCBs, DDTs and HCHs by analysis of their recoveries from the Standard Reference Material IAEA-417, a sediment sample certified by many international laboratories. Conclusions were drawn at a significance level of P ≤ 0.05. No significant differences were found among the mean values for method recoveries using ASE, MAE and UAE. The mean values for real recoveries using ASE and MAE were nearly identical, but the real recovery using UAE was much lower. The concentrations of all PCBs, DDTs and HCHs except for CB52 and o,p′-DDT using UAE were the lowest. Comparing the results obtained using ASE with MAE, the concentrations of CB28, CB52, CB138, α-HCH, β-HCH, p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDD were nearly identical, while the concentrations of other compounds were significantly different. Based on the low recoveries, it was concluded that UAE is a relatively inefficient extraction method, while ASE and MAE are equivalent methods. Taking into consideration the relative standard deviation (RSD) values, solvent volume, extraction time, and purchasing costs of the apparatus, MAE was considered superior to ASE for extraction of PCBs, DDTs and HCHs.     

A new strategy combined HASM and classical interpolation methods for DEM construction in areas without sufficient terrain data

Spatial interpolation is an important method in the process of DEM construction. However, DEMs constructed by interpolation methods may induce serious distortion of surface morphology in areas lack of terrain data. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a strategy combining high-accuracy surface modeling(HASM) and classical interpolation methods to construct DEM. Firstly, a triangulated irregular network(TIN) is built based on the original terrain data, and the area of the triangles in the TIN is used to determine whether to add supplementary altimetric points(SA-Points). Then, classical interpolation methods, such as Inverse Distance Weighted(IDW) method, Kriging, and Spline, are applied to assign elevation values to the SA-Points. Finally, the SA-Points are merged with the original terrain data, and HASM is used to construct DEM. In this research, two test areas which are located in Nanjing suburb in Jiangsu Province and Guiyang suburb in Guizhou Province are selected to verify the feasibility of the new strategy. The study results show that:(1) The combination of HASM and classical interpolation methods can significantly improve the elevation accuracy of DEMs compared with DEM constructed by a single method.(2) The process of adding SA-Points proposed in this study can be repeated in many times. For the test areas in this paper, compared with the results with only one execution, the results with more executions are in much more accordance with the actual terrain.(3) Among all the methods discussed in this paper, the one combined HASM and Kriging produce the best result. Compared with the HASM alone, absolute mean error(MAE) and root mean square error(RMSE) of the best result were reduced from 1.29 m and 1.83 m to 0.68 m and 0.45 m(the first test area), and from 0.32 m and 0.38 m to 0.21 m and 0.28 m( The second test area).     

Estimation of sediment load and erosion of different geological units: A case study from a basin of north-eastern Iran

Erosion of geological units and sediment load in rivers can be considered as the serious problems in recent decades.Increasing sediment loads generate major hazards for water resources development,particularly in terms of loss of reservoir storage due to sedimentation and siltation of water distribution systems.In this paper,the performance of four sediment rating curve (SRC) development methods was evaluated for the Shirin Darreh River(SDR) basin (1750 km2),located in North Khorasan Province,Iran.Data of flow discharge (Q) and suspended sediment flux (SSF)(Q-SSF pairs,N=957)and daily flow discharge,recorded by the Regional Water Company of North Khorasan (RWCNK) at the Qaleh-Barbar (QB) gauging site during 1989-2018were used.The flow discharge classification method performed best by meeting the desired criteria of most statistical indices,including normalized root mean square error (NRMSE),mean bias error (MBE),mean absolute error (MAE),index of agreement (d),and coefficient of determination (R~2).Based on the optimized method,the rate of suspended sediment transportation at the study site was estimated about2.7×10~6 ton year~(-1).Erodibility of the exposed formations in the study area was estimated based on a factorial scoring model (FSM).Three indices,focused on the outcrop and erodibility,were calculated for the geological units at sub-basin and total scales.Marl deposits are the most extensive geological unit in the three sub-basins and the maximum formation outcrop ratio (FOR) and participation in erosion (PCE)were obtained for these rocks at total scale.In fact,marl unit can be regarded as the main source to supply the suspended sediments in the study basin.     

Optimization of pectin extraction and antioxidant activities from Jerusalem artichoke

Jerusalem artichoke is an economic crop widely planted in saline-alkaline soil. The use of Jerusalem artichoke is of great significance. In this study, the response surface method was employed to optimize the eff ects of processing variables(extraction temperature, p H, extraction time, and liquid-tosolid ratio) on the yield of Jerusalem artichoke pectin. Under the optimal extraction conditions: p H 1.52, 63.62 min, 100°C and a liquid-to-solid ratio of 44.4 m L/g, the maximum pectin yield was predicted to be 18.76%. Experiments were conducted under these optimal conditions and a pectin yield of 18.52±0.90% was obtained, which validated the model prediction. The eff ects of diff erent drying methods(freeze drying, spray drying and vacuum drying) on the properties of Jerusalem artichoke pectin were evaluated and they were compared with apple pectin. FTIR spectral analysis showed no major structural diff erences in Jerusalem artichoke pectin samples produced by various drying treatments. The antioxidant activities of pectin dried by diff erent methods were investigated using in vitro hydroxyl and DPPH radical scavenging systems. The results revealed that the activities of spray dried pectin(SDP) and apple pectin(AP) were stronger than those of vacuum oven dried pectin(ODP) and vacuum freeze dried pectin(FDP). Therefore compared with the other two drying methods, the spray drying method was the best.     

Estimating the properties of weathered bedrock and pilerock interaction from the geological strength index

The effect of variable rock mass properties on pile-rock interaction poses a great challenge to the design of stabilizing piles and numerical analysis of pile-rock interaction. The paper presents a novel method to estimate the properties of weathered bedrock, which can be applied to routine design of landslide-stabilizing piles for collivial landslides. The Ercengyan landslide located in the Three Gorges Reservoir, China, is the area of interest for this study. A geological investigation and triaxial tests were conducted to estimate the basic parameters, including Geological Strength Index(GSI), uniaxial compressive strength σ_(ci) and Hoek-Brown constant m_i of intact bedrock in the study area. Hoek-Brown criterion was used to estimate mechanical properties of the weathered rock, including elastic modulus E_m, cohesion c, friction angle Φ, and normal ultimate lateral resistance p_(max). A parametric study was performed to evaluate the effect of parameterizations of GSI, σ_(ci) and m_i on the bedrock properties and p-y curves. The estimated rock mass properties were used with PLAXIS 2D software to simulate pile-rock interaction. Effect of GSI on stress at the pile-rock interface and in the rock, pile bending moment, pile shear force, and p-y curve were analysed.     

Estimation of ground deformation caused by the earthquake (M7.2) in Japan, 2008, from the geomorphic image analysis of high resolution LiDAR DEMs

In this study, a new method for quantitative and efficient measurement for the ground surface movement was developed. The feature of this technique is to identify geomorphic characteristics by image matching analysis, using the intelligent images made from high resolution DEM(Digital Elevation Model). This method is useful to extract the small ground displacement where the surface shape was not intensely deformed.     

A new treatment of depression for drainage network extraction based on DEM

Depressions in landscapes function as buffers for water and sediment. A landscape with depressions has less runoff, less erosion and more sedimentation than that without depressions. Sinks in digital elevation models （DEMs） can be considered the real features that represent depressions in actual landscapes or spurious features that result from errors in DEM creation. In many hydrological and erosion models, all sinks are considered as spurious features and, as a result, these models do not deal with the sinks that represent real depressions. Consequently, the surface runoff and erosion are overestimated due to removing the depressions. Aiming at this problem, this paper presents a new method, which deal with the sinks that represent real depressions. The drainage network is extracted without changing the original DEM. The method includes four steps： detecting pits, detecting depressions, merging depressions, and extracting drainage network. Because the elevations of grid cells are not changed, the method can also avoid producing new fiat areas, which are always produced by the conventional filling methods. The proposed method was applied to the Xihanshui River basin, the upper reach of the Jialingjiang River basin, China, to automatically extract the drainage network based on DEM. The extracted drainage network agrees well with the reality and can be used for further hydrologic analysis and erosion estimation.     

Upper Cretaceous alluvial fan deposits in the Jianglangshan Geopark of Southeast China: implications for bedrock control on Danxia landform evolution

The Jianglangshan Geopark in the western Zhejiang Province of Southeast China is well-known for its spectacular red-colored sandstone landforms. Little is known about the depositional processes of the conglomerate-dominated Fangyan Formation, the lithologic base of the Danxia landforms in this geopark. Based on detailed field investigation of lithology, sedimentary structures, bed thickness and geometry, five facies are recognized: facies A (matrix-supported cobble conglomerate), facies B (pebble conglomerate), facies C (pebbly sandstone), facies D (fine-grained sandstone) and facies E (mudstone). The results show that streamflow-dominated fans were the main depositional processes responsible for the accumulation of the Fangyan Formation along the mountain fronts. These fan conglomerates form the base for the evolution of the Danxia landscapes owing to the uplift and erosion of the study area. In contrast, the fine-grained sedimentary successions produced by fluvial floodplains in the distal part of the fans were thinner and more easily weathered. Such sedimentary facies distribution patterns were thought to be similar during Late Cretaceous across Southeast China. The Danxia landforms are largely the geographical expressions of the conglomerate-dominated redbeds in the proximal-middle fans.     

The extraction of harmonic tidal constants from high and low waters

With the application of electronic computers, the extraction of harmonic constants from high and low waters becomes an extremely simple process as compared with Doods’n’s technique. The phenomenon of aliasing is examined by supposing the samples are taken at intervals of exactly 6 lunar hours. The constituents with frequencies satisfying the relation are inseparable and the coefficient determinant of the normal equations will be singular if the heights only are used. When the values of the first derivatives and the irregularity of the sampling are taken into consideration the condition of the determinant is improved. Large diurnal tides can cause irregularity of sampling and so we are in favour of the separation of the aliased constituents. For tidal current data, if the slack times are available, the results of analysis can be much improved. The results for major constituents derived from the observed high and low waters agree satisfactorily with those from hourly data. This paper was published in Chinese inOcean. Limn. Sinica 17(4):318–328, 1986.     

Arc Hydro Tools及多源DEM提取河网与精度分析——以洮儿河流域为例

本文简要分析了HYDRO1K、SRTM3-2、ASTER GDEM 3种数据源基本特征,对数据的水平空间分辨率、现势性、覆盖范围、误差来源进行了比较;阐述了Arc Hydro Tools提取数字河网、划分流域及子流域方法的关键步骤;并以洮儿河流域为研究对象,分析了有(无)河网辅助条件下,3种初始DEM在不同地貌类型中数...     

Automatic extraction of valley boundary from dems in the hilly Loess Plateau

1 INTRODUCTION The most remarkable topographical features in the severely eroded hilly Loess Plateau are positive (inter valley residual tablelands) and negative (valleys) landforms. They are separated by valley boundary. Topographic features above the boundary are called plateau (yuan) and narrow hillock. Below the boundary are gully walls and valley bottoms. This boundary lies along rapidly developing rills, grooves and gullies. The dynamic variation in valley boundary is indicative …     

Detection and treatment of water inflow in karst tunnel: A case study in Daba tunnel

In a karst tunnel, fissures or cracks that are filled with weathered materials are a type of potential water outlet as they are easily triggered and converted into groundwater outlets under the influence of high groundwater pressure. A terrible water inrush caused by potential water outlets can seriously hinder the project construction. Potential water outlets and water sources that surrounding the tunnel must be detected before water inflow can be treated. This paper provides a successful case of the detection and treatment of water inflow in a karst tunnel and proposes a potential water outlet detection (PWOD) method in which heavy rainfall (>50 mm/d) is considered a trigger for a potential water outlet. The Daba tunnel located in Hunan province, China, has been constructed in a karst stratum where the rock mass has been weathered intensely by the influence of two faults. Heavy rain triggered some potential water outlets, causing a serious water inrush. The PWOD method was applied in this project for the treatment of water inflow, and six potential water outlets in total were identified through three heavy rains. Meanwhile, a geophysical prospecting technique was also used to detect water sources. The connections between water outlets and water sources were identified with a 3-D graphic that included all of them. According to the distribution of water outlets and water sources, the detection area was divided into three sections and separately treated by curtain grouting.     

Stability analysis unit and spatial distribution pattern of the terrain texture in the northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau

Terrain texture analysis is an important method of digital terrain analysis in quantitative geomorphological research and in the exploration of the spatial heterogeneity and autocorrelation of terrain features. However, a major issue often neglected in previous studies is the calculation unit of the terrain texture, that is, the stability analysis unit. As the test size increases, the derived terrain textures become increasingly similar so that their differences can be ignored. The test size of terrain texture is defined as the stability analysis unit. This study randomly selected 48 areas within the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi in China as the study sites and used the gray level co-occurrence matrix to calculate the terrain texture. The stability analysis unit of the terrain texture was then extracted, and its spatial distribution pattern in the Loess Plateau was studiedusing spatial interpolation method. Four terrain texture metrics, i.e., homogeneity, energy, correlation, and contrast, were extracted on the basis of the stability analysis unit, and the spatial variation patterns of these parameters were studied. Results showed that the spatial distribution pattern and the terrain texture metrics reflected a trend of high–low–high from north to south, which correlated with the spatial distribution of the landforms at the Loess Plateau. In addition, the terrain texture measures was significantly correlated with the terrain factors of gully density and slope, and this relationship showed that terrain texture measures based on the stability analysis unit could reflect the basic characteristics of terrain morphology. The stability analysis unit provided a reasonable analytical scale for terrain texture analysis and could be used as a measure of the regional topography to accurately describe basic terrain characteristics.