Development of a 3D GIS and its application to karst areas

There is a growing interest in modeling and analyzing karst phenomena in three dimensions. This paper integrates geology, groundwater hydrology, geographic information system (GIS), database management system (DBMS), visualization and data mining to study karst features in Huaibei, China. The 3D geo-objects retrieved from the karst area are analyzed and mapped into different abstract levels. The spatial relationships among the objects are constructed by a dual-linker. The shapes of the 3D objects and the topological models with attributes are stored and maintained in the DBMS. Spatial analysis was then used to integrate the data in the DBMS and the 3D model to form a virtual reality (VR) to provide analytical functions such as distribution analysis, correlation query, and probability assessment. The research successfully implements 3D modeling and analyses in the karst area, and meanwhile provides an efficient tool for government policy-makers to set out restrictions on water resource development in the area.     

Converted phases analysis of the Campi Flegrei caldera using active seismic data

We applied a type of depth migration for converted seismic phases to active and passive seismic data sets from the Campi Flegrei volcanic region in southern Italy. The migration method is based on the diffraction summation migration technique. Travel times to grid points in a volume were calculated in smooth P and S-velocity models and trace energy near the calculated converted phase time was stacked over multiple sources at one receiver. Weighting factors based on Snell's Law at an arbitrarily oriented local interface were applied to better focus trace energy. PP reflection images from the active data set provide increased detail to images of the caldera rim from other studies. The migrated images also show features near 2–3 km in depth beneath Pozzuoli City, which may be associated with an over-pressured gas volume, as suggested by other geophysical investigations. Possible deeper features near 4 km depth may be related to the presence of the carbonate basement or may image a previously undetected feature, such as a small body of strongly thermometamorphosed volcanic rock. The current passive earthquake data set from the 1984 ground uplift episode was not well suited to the converted phases analysis due to narrow P–S windows and high noise levels in the traces. However, two stations provide confirmation and extension of imaged features in the active data.     

A coarse-scale compositional model

In subsurface flow modeling, compositional simulation is often required to model complex recovery processes, such as gas/CO ₂ injection. However, compositional simulation on fine-scale geological models is still computationally expensive and even prohibitive. Most existing upscaling techniques focus on black-oil models. In this paper, we present a general framework to upscale two-phase multicomponent flow in compositional simulation. Unlike previous studies, our approach explicitly considers the upscaling of flow and thermodynamics. In the flow part, we introduce a new set of upscaled flow functions that account for the effects of compressibility. This is often ignored in the upscaling of black-oil models. In the upscaling of thermodynamics, we show that the oil and gas phases within a coarse block are not at chemical equilibrium. This non-equilibrium behavior is modeled by upscaled thermodynamic functions, which measure the difference between component fugacities among the oil and gas phases. We apply the approach to various gas injection problems with different compositional features, permeability heterogeneity, and coarsening ratios. It is shown that the proposed method accurately reproduces the averaged fine-scale solutions, such as component overall compositions, gas saturation, and density solutions in the compositional flow.     

基于MapObjects下潮汕坳陷区物探数据库管理系统的设计与实现

MapObjects是一组基于COM技术的地图应用组件，由多个Activex控件和包含超过几十个可编程ActiveX Automation对象组成，以最少的接口提供了常用的GIS功能。可在标准的Windows编程环境下如Visual Basic 6.0组成完全独立的综合性应用软件。在MapObjects的基础上，设计、实现了包括输入、输出、图层显示、编辑、空间和属性查询等功能的潮汕坳陷区物探数据库管理系统。     

Indicator Variogram Models: Do We Have Much Choice?

Many variogram (or covariance) models that are valid—or realizable—models of Gaussian random functions are not realizable indicator variogram (or covariance) models. Unfortunately there is no known necessary and sufficient condition for a function to be the indicator variogram of a random set. Necessary conditions can be easily obtained for the behavior at the origin or at large distance. The power, Gaussian, cubic or cardinal-sine models do not fulfill these conditions and are therefore not realizable. These considerations are illustrated by a Monte Carlo simulation demonstrating nonrealizability over some very simple three-point configurations in two or three dimensions. No definitive result has been obtained about the spherical model. Among the commonly used models for Gaussian variables, only the exponential appears to be a realizable indicator variogram model in all dimensions. It can be associated with a mosaic, a Boolean or a truncated Gaussian random set. In one dimension, the exponential indicator model is closely associated with continuous-time Markov chains, which can also lead to more variogram models such as the damped oscillation model. One-dimensional random sets can also be derived from renewal processes, or mosaic models associated with such processes. This provides an interesting link between the geostatistical formalism, focused mostly on two-point statistics, and the approach of quantitative sedimentologists who compute the probability distribution function of the thickness of different geological facies. The last part of the paper presents three approaches for obtaining new realizable indicator variogram models in three dimensions. One approach consists of combining existing realizable models. Other approaches are based on the formalism of Boolean random sets and truncated Gaussian functions.     

Crustal thickness and velocity structure beneath Singapore’s seismic network

We estimated the crustal thickness and velocity structure beneath the five stations comprising the Republic of Singapore’s seismic network. Our data set was composed of 697 teleseismic receiver functions and 7 months of broad-band data that was cross-correlated to produce inter-station Green’s functions. Surface wave group velocities were extracted from the Green’s functions to obtain dispersion data for a path from central Sumatra to Singapore in order to provide a complimentary data set to the receiver functions. Crustal thickness was estimated via an H − k stacking technique, and high-resolution 1D P-wave velocity profiles were generated beneath each station by jointly inverting receiver function stacks and the group velocity data using a linearised time-domain inversion scheme. Crustal thickness beneath four stations was found to be between 28.0 km and 32.0 km, while one station in the northeast of Singapore indicates 24.0 km thick crust. This implies a significant crustal thinning beneath Singapore over the lateral extent of 50.0 km. Inversion results exhibit several crustal features that are observable in the derived models at all five stations, indicating that they exist across Singapore as a whole. There appears to be an upper-crustal high-velocity zone beneath Singapore, underlain by a velocity inversion. Station NTU shows slower near-surface velocities than the other stations, consistent with its situation above the sedimentary Jurong formation. These results expand the available global velocity data set, as well as being useful for assessing the seismic hazard in Singapore.     

非饱和带裂隙岩体渗流的特点和概念模型

非饱和带裂隙岩体中的渗流和饱和带相比有其不同的特点,包括毛细管流、薄膜流、优先流和裂隙-基质相互作用等。这些特点导致非饱和带裂隙岩体中的渗流具有相当的非均质性。笔者描述了裂隙岩体中非饱和渗流的这些特点,并简单讨论了目前所存在的模拟非饱和渗流的概念模型。     

Statistical testing of a new testate amoeba‐based transfer function for water‐table depth reconstruction on ombrotrophic peatlands in north‐eastern Canada and Maine,United States

Proxy reconstructions of climatic parameters developed using transfer functions are central to the testing of many palaeoclimatic hypotheses on Holocene timescales. However, recent work shows that the mathematical models underpinning many existing transfer functions are susceptible to spatial autocorrelation, clustered training set design and the uneven sampling of environmental gradients. This may result in over‐optimistic performance statistics or, in extreme cases, a lack of predictive power. A new testate amoeba‐based transfer function is presented that fully incorporates the new recommended statistical tests to address these issues. Leave‐one‐out cross‐validation, the most commonly applied method in recent studies to assess model performance, produced over‐optimistic performance statistics for all models tested. However, the preferred model, developed using weighted averaging with tolerance downweighting, retained a predictive capacity equivalent to other published models even when less optimistic performance statistics were chosen. Application of the new statistical tests in the development of transfer functions provides a more thorough assessment of performance and greater confidence in reconstructions based on them. Only when the wider research community have sufficient confidence in transfer function‐based proxy reconstructions will they be commonly used in data comparison and palaeoclimate modelling studies of broader scientific relevance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Functional trajectory models for assessment of transplanted eelgrass,Zostera marina L., in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire

Functional trajectory models were used to assess the restoration of ecological functions in two transplanted eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) beds compared to three natural, reference beds in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hamsphire. Functional trajectory models describe the development of ecological functions over time in restored habitats relative to levels of function in natural habitats. We present the first application of trajectory models to transplanted seagrass and evaluate the utility of these models as a tool for assessing seagrass restoration. The project was an analysis of 9 yr of monitoring data, the longest monitoring of transplanted eelgrass to date. We used trajectory models to assess the time course of development of functions in transplanted beds by evaluating statistical trends, and to determine functional equivalence, defined as the time when functions in a transplanted bed reach an asymptote and are no more than 1 standard deviation below the reference mean. The functions modeled included primary production, 3-dimensional habitat structure, faunal use, and sediment filtering and trapping. Measured proxies for primary production and habitat structure increased logistically (sigmoidally) with time, reaching functional equivalence after 3 yr. In transplanted beds, trends in habitat use by infaunal invertebrates and fish were logarithmic, and values were functionally equivalent 2–4 yr after transplanting. We saw no trend in sediment filtering and trapping capacity of transplanted eelgrass over the 9 yr. Measures of function in both reference and transplanted beds fluctuated due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. After reaching equivalence, measures of function in transplanted beds tracked those in reference beds, exhibiting long-term persistence and rebounding from disturbances similarly to reference beds. Trajectory models can illustrate the time course of eelgrass bed development, aiding the design of monitoring programs and the evaluation of ecological functional equivalence in seagrass restoration projects.     

地质三维可视化建模与其剖面自动制图应用研究

地质三维模型构建是当前国内外地学界研究的热点问题之一,它将地质成果抽象为地质模型,实现计算机的三维可视化分析与管理.从建模的方法、数据处理、可视化分析等基本原理出发,结合作者构建三维地质模型的工程经验,着重讨论了地质三维可视化中涉及的一些关键技术问题,如数据融合处理、网格剖分、虚拟现实等方面,并给出了一些具体应用实例....     

Participatory model assessment of earthquake-induced landslide hazard models

The study described in this paper investigates the relative merits of two peer-reviewed earthquake-induced landslide models using participatory model assessment. The earthquake-induced landslide hazard models assessed are a simplified Newmark’s displacement model and a recently developed knowledge-based model. Participatory model assessment involves conducting facilitated participatory processes where the model(s) are used for aiding decisions within a socio-behavioral experiment designed for collecting data to evaluate formal hypotheses about the model(s). The paper sets out the design of the participatory model assessment—a series of workshops involving experts and potential model end-users that incorporated a roleplay site selection task. Quantitative data elicited using a set of entrance and exit questionnaires were analyzed to investigate hypotheses about the models. Participants found the knowledge-based model to be significantly more complete and more informative for their roleplay task. Overall, the two models did not yield significant differences with respect to issues such as task efficiency or task outcome satisfaction. Lastly, it was found that education level and disciplinary perspectives (of those analyzed) did not significantly affect outcomes, suggesting that a wide demographic of participants can be used for participatory model assessments. Additional research is needed to assess the models in different contexts, as well as more broadly developing a set of best practices for conducting participatory model assessments of other natural hazard and risk models intended to support decision-making.     

Freshwater inflow: Science, policy, management

The papers in this special issue were presented in a special session during the 2001 biennial conference of the Estuarine Research Federation held in St. Pete Beach, Florida. The session, “Freshwater inflow: Science, policy and management,” was focused on issues related to reduced freshwater inflow to estuaries. The session brought together scientists, managers, and regulators, and included presentations on the estimation of freshwater input to estuaries, development of ecological indicators to assess changes in inflow, management strategies used to set freshwater requirements, and experiences with the reintroduction of freshwater to restore inflow.     

HydroCube: an entity-relationship hydrogeological data model

Managing, handling and accessing hydrogeological information depends heavily on the applied hydrogeological data models, which differ between institutions and countries. The effective dissemination of hydrogeological information requires the convergence of such models to make hydrogeological information accessible to multiple users such as universities, water suppliers, and administration and research organisations. Furthermore, because hydrogeological studies are complex, they require a wide variety of high-quality hydrogeological data with appropriate metadata in clearly designed and coherent structures. A need exists, therefore, to develop and implement hydrogeological data models that cover, as much as possible, the full hydrogeological domain. A new data model, called HydroCube, was developed for the Walloon Region in Belgium in 2005. The HydroCube model presents an innovative holistic project-based approach which covers a full set of hydrogeological concepts and features, allowing for effective hydrogeological project management. The model stores data relating to the project locality, hydrogeological equipment, and related observations and measurements. In particular, it focuses on specialized hydrogeological field experiments such as pumping and tracer tests. This logical data model uses entity-relationship diagrams and it has been implemented in the Microsoft Access environment. It has been enriched with a fully functional user interface.     

PLS法在重庆巫山县邓家屋场滑坡稳定性影响因素分析中的应用

滑坡各影响因素之间存在较强的相关性。偏最小二乘回归(PLS)方法在一个算法下同时实现了回归建模(多元线性回归分析)、数据结构简化(主成分分析)以及两组变量间的相关分析(典型相关分析),给因变量之间存在较高相关性的回归带来极大的便利。为了探讨PLS方法在滑坡稳定性影响因素分析中的适用性,选取位于三峡水库区巫山县的邓家屋场滑坡为试验区。在考虑三峡水库蓄水后引起的地下水力坡度变化、地震因素以及建筑物因素对邓家屋场滑坡稳定性的影响条件下,建立了滑坡稳定性系数与以上指标的PLS回归方程,以期达到对邓家屋场滑坡稳定性影响因素敏感性的分析目标。计算建立的回归模型为:K*=0.181468×C*+0.274876×φ*-0.611369×J*-0.238604×α*-0.105219×ΔW*。表达式各因素影响力的排序为:地下水力坡度>滑动面内摩擦角>地震加速度>滑动面内聚力>滑体均匀加载。结果表明,采用偏最小二乘回归方法对滑坡稳定性影响因素进行分析具有物理意义明确、计算简单、建模效果好、解释性强的特点,是一种可行的解决方案。     

CoFIS and TELog: New downhole tools for characterizing dispersion processes in aquifers by single-well injection-withdrawal tracer tests

Contaminant migration in aquifers is one of the most debated issues in hydrogeology, as most experimental results display large deviations from the standard (asymptotic) Fickian dispersion theories. Multi-scale investigation and high-resolution sensors are required to determine the origin of non-asymptotic dispersion and validate models. For this, a set of multi-scale Single-Well Injection-Withdrawal (SWIW) tracer tests using a new dual-packer probe CoFIS, including a high resolution optical sensor TELog, are presented. When compared to standard techniques such as salinity measurements, it is shown that high-resolution optical measurements allow an improved characterization of the long-lasting non-asymptotic dispersion mechanisms.     

河流泥沙模拟技术进展与展望

本文系统总结了河流模拟技术的发展过程和研究成果。河流模拟技术包括河流实体模型和泥沙数学模型两部分。在实体模型方面,已建立了一整套河工模型的相似理论、设计方法和试验技术,在模型变态、模型沙选择、高含沙水流模拟、模型测验等方面取得了重要的研究成果,并解决了大量的工程泥沙问题。在数学模型方面,建立了一维、二维和三维泥沙数学模型,并随着泥沙基本理论研究的不断深入与广泛的工程应用,在计算模式、数值计算方法、计算结果的后处理、参数选择、高含沙水流问题处理等方面均取得了重要进展。本文还展望了河流模拟技术今后的发展方向。     

基于生态系统的海洋管理理论与实践

海洋孕育了丰富的生态系统服务功能,包括为人类提供多种海产食物、净化海洋环境和提供宜人景观及发展空间等。随着工程科技水平的提高,人类对海洋资源和空间的开发利用越来越多、越来越快,对海洋生态系统的影响也越来越大,这一问题在我国尤为突出。近20年来一些发达国家通过推行基于生态系统的海洋管理(MEBM),在海洋生态系统的框架下规范和管理开发活动,特别是在解决区域性海洋管理问题方面取得了一定成效,值得我们借鉴。概述了海洋生态系统及其服务功能,回顾了海洋开发中存在的问题以及MEBM的发展历程,系统阐述了MEBM的原则和措施,剖析了国内外MEBM的成功案例,探讨了在中国实施MEBM的必要性和前提条件。近年来,我国依据海洋功能区划来管理海洋开发已取得一定的成果。建议以此为基础,强化相关生态科学研究及相应技术和法规支撑,从而为我国海洋经济可持续发展提供保障。     

Development and the Household: Missing the point?

Over the past two decades development has been shifting its focus toward smaller scales and particular problems. As a result, the household has become an increasingly important institution for development, and has come under increased scrunity as development practitioners and scholars seek to better understand this institution’s functions and foundations, trying to ‘get the household right’. These efforts, rather than clarifying the character and the function of the household, have contributed to its indeterminacy by reifying the very institution they seek to analyse. Arguing that these efforts fundamentally miss the point of examining the household, this paper introduces a different framework of analysis that addresses the household not as a fixed object of research, but as a local construction that embodies flows of power and knowledge both within and transcending the local. Using the example of varying constructions of the household in two villages in Ghana’s Central Region, this article illustrates how such an approach allows us to address the various functions of the household as particular embodiments of these flows, an approach that better explains the endurance or ephemerality of these functions. Such an approach provides a stronger foundation for the consideration of how particular constructions of this institution may have troubling implications for issues like gender equity and sustainability.