Three-dimensional response of a cylindrical canyon in a layered half-space

An indirect boundary-method formulation to obtain the three-dimensional response of an infinitely long canyon of uniform but arbitrary cross-section cut in a layered viscoelastic half-space is presented. Seismic excitation in the form of plane elastic waves acting at an arbitrary angle with respect to the axis of the canyon is considered. Numerical results for SH-, SV- and P-wave excitation of a circular canyon and of a canyon with a topography similar to that in the vicinity of Pacoima Dam are discussed in some detail.     

Analytical methods for transient flow to a well in a confined-unconfined aquifer

Concurrent existence of confined and unconfined zones of an aquifer can arise owing to ground water withdrawal by pumping. Using Girinskii's potential function, Chen (1974, 1983) developed an approximate analytical solution to analyze transient ground water flow to a pumping well in an aquifer that changes from an initially confined system to a system with both unconfined and confined regimes. This article presents the details of the Chen model and then compares it with the analytical model developed by Moench and Prickett (1972) for the same problem. Hypothetical pumping test examples in which the aquifer undergoes conversion from confined to water table conditions are solved by the two analytical models and also a numerical model based on MODFLOW. Comparison of the results suggests that the solutions of the Chen model give better results than the Moench and Prickett model except when the radial distance is very large or aquifer thickness is large compared with drawdown.     

On magneto-elastic disturbaces in a visco-elastic cylinder placed in a magnetic field

Summary The present note is an attempt to discuss the disturbances in a cylinder characterised by a visco-elasticity of general linear type, which is subjected to a magnetic field.     

Propagation of a spherical magnetogasdynamic shock in a self gravitating system

Summary This paper considers a spherical shock, in a conducting gas, produced on account of explosion into an inhomogeneous self gravitating system. Similarity principles have been used to reduce the equations governing the flow to ordinary differential equations under the assumption that the density varies as an inverse-power of distance from the explosion centre.     

Three-dimensional response of a layered cylindrical valley embedded in a layered half-space

An indirect boundary integral method to obtain the three-dimensional response of an infinitely long, layered, viscoelastic valley of arbitrary cross-section embedded in a layered viscoelastic half-space is presented. The valley is excited by homogeneous plane waves impinging at an oblique angle with respect to the axis of the valley. The method and associated computer programs are tested by comparison with available results in the limiting two-dimensional case of incidence normal to the axis of the valley. Additional comparisons with previous three-dimensional results obtained by a hybrid finite element-boundary integral method for cylindrical valleys subjected to obliquely incident waves show large differences. However, the results obtained here for an infinitely long valley appear to be in some agreement with earlier results for an elongated prolate semi-ellipsoidal valley and with results obtained by a discrete wavenumber boundary element approach. An extensive bibliography on the dynamic response of valleys is also presented.     

The equation of motion for a small aerosol in a continuum

Summary The motion of an aerosol can be described by a general force balance equation, independent of the detailed structure of the flow, provided that the interaction between the external flow field and the local flow induced by the aerosol is weak. A necessary and sufficient condition for the interaction to be weak is that the length scale of the aerosol is much less than that of the external flow. High and low Reynolds number regimes can be distinguished for the motion of an aerosol relative to the external flow. In some extreme conditions the equation of motion reduces to an algebraic equation for the aerosol velocity.After submission of this article the author was made aware of a similar treatment published inTopics of Appl. Phys., 12 (Turbulence, Chapter 7), Springer Verlag, Berlin, which at the time of the article's submission had not yet appeared in Australia. (Ed.)     

Electromagnetic fields in a steel-cased borehole

The development of an electromagnetic numerical modelling scheme for a magnetic dipole in an arbitrary casing segment in an inhomogeneous conductivity background has been difficult, due to the very high electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability contrasts between the steel casing and the background medium. To investigate the effect of steel casing efficiently, we have developed an accurate but simple finite‐element modelling scheme to simulate electromagnetic fields in a medium of cylindrically symmetric conductivity structures. In order to preserve the cylindrical symmetry in the resulting electromagnetic fields, a horizontal loop current source is used throughout. One of the main advantages of the approach is that the problem is scalar when formulated using the azimuthal electric field, even if the casing is both electrically conductive and magnetically permeable. Field calculations have been made inside the cased borehole as well as in another borehole which is not cased. Careful analyses of the numerical modelling results indicate that the anomaly observed in a cross‐borehole configuration is sensitive enough to be used for tomographic imaging.     

Optimizing fixed observational assets in a coastal observatory

Proliferation of coastal observatories necessitates an objective approach to managing of observational assets. In this article, we used our experience in the coastal observatory for the Columbia River estuary and plume to identify and address common problems in managing of fixed observational assets, such as salinity, temperature, and water level sensors attached to pilings and moorings. Specifically, we addressed the following problems: assessing the quality of an existing array, adding stations to an existing array, removing stations from an existing array, validating an array design, and targeting of an array toward data assimilation or monitoring.     

Electromagnetic induction of a three-dimensional conductivity inhomogeneity in a two-layer earth

Summary The results of numerical computations of the electromagnetic field induced in a two-layer model of the Earth with a three-dimensional inhomogeneity (a block) in the subsurface layer are given. Several recommendations are given which have enabled the solution of a complicated system of integral equations and the computation of the field at the Earth's surface in an effective way. The analysis of the obtained solution has proved that, in an anomalous electromagnetic field, the field of the horizontal electric dipole, oriented in the direction of the exciting field, is predominant. A number of practically usable diagrams and approximative formulae is given.     

Evaporation from a riparian system in a semi-arid environment

Measurements of micrometeorological variables were made for a complete annual cycle using an automatic weather station and two energy budget–Bowen ratio systems at a field site adjacent to the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona. These data were used to provide the basis of an estimate of the evaporation from a one-mile long losing reach of a riparian corridor in this semi-arid environment. A remotely sensed map of vegetation cover was used to stratify the corridor into five categories of surface cover. The total evaporation was calculated as the area-weighted average of the measured evaporation for sampled areas of the two most common covers, and appropriate estimates of evaporation for the less common covers. Measurements showed a substantial, seasonally dependent evaporation from the taller, deep-rooted riparian cover in the study reach, while the short, sparse vegetation provided little evaporation. In terms of the volume of water evaporated from the study reach, the evaporation from irrigated agriculture accounts for almost half of the total loss, while the majority of the remaining evaporation is from the taller riparian vegetation covers, with about one-quarter of the total loss estimated as coming from obligatory phreatophytes, primarily cottonwood. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diffraction of a compressional wave by a rigid barrier in a liquid half-space

Summary The problem of diffraction of compressional waves by a rigid barrier of finite height fixed in a liquid half space has been studied. Wiener-Hopf technique forms the basis of the methods used to solve the problem. Exact solutions have been obtained in terms of Fourier integrals whose evaluation along an appropriate contour gives the transmitted, reflected and diffracted waves. The diffracted waves decay rapidly away from the barrier.     

Hydraulics of a partially penetrating well with skin zone in a confined aquifer

A steady/quasi-steady model is developed for predicting flow into a partially penetrating well with skin zone in a confined aquifer overlying an impervious layer. The model takes into account flow through the bottom of the wellbore, finite skin thickness and finite horizontal and vertical extent of the aquifer. Moreover, the solution can be easily extended to include the mixed-type boundary condition at the well face, where a Dirichlet in the form of a specified hydraulic head and a Neumann in the form of zero flux coexist at the same time at different portions of the well face. The validity of the proposed solution is tested by comparing a few results obtained from the developed model with corresponding results obtained by analytical and numerical means. The study shows that, among other factors remaining constant, both the horizontal and vertical extent of an artesian aquifer, thickness of the skin zone, bottom flow and conductivity contrast of the skin and formation zones, play an important part in deciding flow to a well dug in the aquifer, and hence these factors must be considered while analyzing the problem. The model proposed here can be used to estimate skin thickness as well as hydraulic conductivities of the skin and formation zones of a well with skin zone in an artesian aquifer underlain by an impervious layer by utilizing pumping test data falling in the steady or quasi-steady state of a typical pumping test. As the proposed solution is of a general nature in the sense that it can handle, apart from partial penetration and bottom flow, the finite size skin zone and finite horizontal and vertical extent of an artesian aquifer together with the mixed-type boundary condition at the well face, it is hoped that the predictions coming out of the model will be more realistic than those obtained using solutions developed with more stringent assumptions.     

A comparison of a semi-implicit with an explicit scheme in a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model

As the capacity of computers increases, the size and resolution of numerical models can be increased. In tidal models, however, using an explicit scheme together with high spatial resolution results in an unreasonably small time-step demanded by the CFL condition for stability. This condition is usually the most restrictive and applies to the propagation of the gravity wave.A fully nonlinear three-dimensional model has been developed, using the Galerkin method in the vertical dimension, in which the gravity wave terms are treated by an alternating-direction implicit scheme, while the friction, viscous and advective terms are treated explicitly. This permits a stable solution with a longer time-step than that required in an equivalent explicit scheme, while not needing as much computational effort as a fully implicit scheme. This semi-implicit model is compared with an explicit model in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and stability. Tidal and wind-driven flows and free oscillations in a rectangular sea model are examined, using various boundary conditions. The semi-implicit scheme takes approximately 1.1 times as long to run (per time-step) on the CRAY-1 computer as the explicit scheme.     

Bayesian data fusion in a spatial prediction context: a general formulation

In spite of the exponential growth in the amount of data that one may expect to provide greater modeling and predictions opportunities, the number and diversity of sources over which this information is fragmented is growing at an even faster rate. As a consequence, there is real need for methods that aim at reconciling them inside an epistemically sound theoretical framework. In a statistical spatial prediction framework, classical methods are based on a multivariate approach of the problem, at the price of strong modeling hypotheses. Though new avenues have been recently opened by focusing on the integration of uncertain data sources, to the best of our knowledges there have been no systematic attemps to explicitly account for information redundancy through a data fusion procedure. Starting from the simple concept of measurement errors, this paper proposes an approach for integrating multiple information processing as a part of the prediction process itself through a Bayesian approach. A general formulation is first proposed for deriving the prediction distribution of a continuous variable of interest at unsampled locations using on more or less uncertain (soft) information at neighboring locations. The case of multiple information is then considered, with a Bayesian solution to the problem of fusing multiple information that are provided as separate conditional probability distributions. Well-known methods and results are derived as limit cases. The convenient hypothesis of conditional independence is discussed by the light of information theory and maximum entropy principle, and a methodology is suggested for the optimal selection of the most informative subset of information, if needed. Based on a synthetic case study, an application of the methodology is presented and discussed.     

Magnetic field of a nonstationary point acoustic source in a deep sea

The magnetic field generated by an acoustic wave from a nonstationary point source in an infinite marine medium has been considered. The spatial-temporal structure of the induced field has been studied in a quasistatic approximation and taking into account self-induction. The magnetic field in the transient and stationary regimes has been considered.     

Love waves in a two-layered crust overlying a vertically inhomogeneous halfspace I

Summary The frequency equation is derived for the propagation of Love waves in a two layered crust overlying an inhomogeneous half-space. While exact solutions of the differential equation involved are obtained in some particular cases, both an asymptotic series and the WKBJ approximations are discussed for the solution in the general case. The asymptotic series solution and the WKBJ solution are compared with each other and with the asymptotic expansion of the exact solution. There is a good agreement between various results. It is shown that some of the existing results can be derived as particular cases of the general results obtained in this investigation.     

On the propagation of disturbances in a composite viscoelastic layer in a magnetic field

Summary The propagation of disturbances in a composite viscoelastic layer when subjected to an impulsive force in the presence of a primary magnetic field, has been investigated in this note. The mechanical displacement has been derived from the electro-magnetic equations of Maxwell, the equation of motion and the stress-strain relations of the materials considered and has been computed for small values of time.     

Response of a circular cylindrical shell to disturbances in a half-space

The response of a circular cylindrical shell to disturbances in an elastic half-space is the subject of this paper. Two methods of solution are presented. The first is a method of matched asymptotic expansions, and the second is a method of successive reflections.     

Simulation of flow geometry in a riffle-pool stream

The nature of the flow in most natural streams is gradually varied rather than uniform. This is particularly true of streams with coarse gravel bed material organized into relatively stable riffle and pool features. In spite of this, there are few applications of the gradually varied flow models (e.g. the Bernoulli equation) to such streams. This paper presents some initial results of a simulation of flow patterns in two riffle-pool reaches, using an open channel flow profile computation method based on an equation defining an energy balance between successive cross-sections separated by an incremental distance.     

Inverse dynamo problem in a cylinder

An inverse dynamo problem is presented in which we search for either kinematic dynamos which produce the same external magnetic fields or an invisible dynamo. The existence of flows which produce the same external magnetic fields is proved. However, we have not found general conditions necessary for such kind of dynamos. An “invisible dynamo” operates in an electrically conducting region surrounded by vacuum and generates a magnetic field trapped in the electrically conducting region so that no magnetic field exists in the vacuum. Invisible magnetic decay modes exist in cylinders, but no invisible growing field supported by the dynamo mechanism has been found.