Evaluation and modification of some empirical and semi-empirical approaches for prediction of area-storage capacity curves in reservoirs of dams

The storage capacity of reservoirs is gradually reduced due to sediment accumulation that causes changes in the area-storage capacity (ASC) curves.Establishing these curves and predicting their future change is an important issue for planners,designers and operators of dams.Many empirical and semiempirical approaches have been suggested for establishing and predicting the future changes for these curves.In this study four empirical and semi-empirical methods were evaluated and three of them were modified to be used for the prediction of changes in the ASC curves due to sedimentation,based on the existing sedimentation survey data for 11 reservoirs in the USK For evaluation,these approaches were reviewed and used to determine sedimentation depth and establishing the ASC curves for the Mosul dam reservoir (MDR),which is the biggest hydraulic structure on the River Tigris in northern Iraq.MDR started operating in 1986 with a storage capacity of 11.11 km3 and a water surface area 380 km2 at normal operation stage (330 m a.s.l.).The results obtained from these methods were evaluated using observed bathymetric survey data that had been collected in 2011 after 25 years of the operation of the dam.The evaluation results showed three methods had presented more accurate results for estimating water depth or sedimentation depth at dam site with percentage error about 1.06-3.30％.Whilst for establishing ASC curves,one method presented good agreement result with survey data.Furthermore,ASC and sedimentation depths at dam site of MDR for periods 50,75,100 and 125 years were estimated using the modified approaches and the area reduction method.The results of the modified methods provided reasonable agreement when compared with the area reduction method proposed by the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation and the agreement became better with an increase in time period.     

Study on the assessment of the comprehensive benefits of the utilization of sediment resources in reservoir areas

The utilization of sediment in reservoirs as resources is an efficient way to reduce reservoir sedi-mentation and turn disadvantage into benefit. Based on economic, social and ecological functions of sediment resources, this paper puts forward a two-layer, three-dimensional evaluation index system. It also establishes six direct and indirect indicators with their formulas to calculate the comprehensive benefits of sediment utilization in the Xixiayuan reservoir of the Yellow River with a volume of 2000 m3. The results show that social benefits would be more prominent, with the ecological benefits coming second. This demonstrates that the indirect public value of utilizing the sediment resources in the Yellow River Basin can be far greater than its direct economic value.     

Reservoir-type water source vulnerability assessment: a case study of the Yuqiao Reservoir,China

ABSTRACT

In this study, we developed a method to assess reservoir-type water source vulnerability (WSV) and adapted the method to the Yuqiao Reservoir (in Tianjin in North China). First, we identified the factors that influence reservoir vulnerability and selected suitable indexes for vulnerability assessment. Second, the CRITIC, AHP and integrated weighting methods were applied to quantify the index weight. Third, the information diffusion method was applied to process the index data. Finally, the vulnerability of the Yuqiao Reservoir was assessed, and the results showed that the vulnerability of the Yuqiao Reservoir is high, with social factors (i.e. the road traffic system, automatic management control system, potential menace in evaluation scope, destructive man-made accidents, emergency management plan, and per capita water consumption) being the main reasons.     

Discrete Element Modeling of Stress and Strain Evolution Within and Outside a Depleting Reservoir

Stress changes within and around a depleting petroleum reservoir can lead to reservoir compaction and surface subsidence, affect drilling and productivity of oil wells, and influence seismic waves used for monitoring of reservoir performance. Currently modeling efforts are split into more or less coupled geomechanical (normally linearly elastic), fluid flow, and geophysical simulations. There is evidence (from e.g. induced seismicity) that faults may be triggered or generated as a result of reservoir depletion. The numerical technique that most adequately incorporates fracture formation is the DEM (Discrete Element Method). This paper demonstrates the feasibility of the DEM (here PFC; Particle Flow Code) to handle this problem. Using an element size of 20 m, 2-D and 3-D simulations have been performed of stress and strain evolution within and around a depleting reservoir. Within limits of elasticity, the simulations largely reproduce analytical predictions; the accuracy is however limited by the element size. When the elastic limit is exceeded, faulting is predicted, particularly near the edge of the reservoir. Simulations have also been performed to study the activation of a pre-existing fault near a depleting reservoir.     

云南省糯扎渡水库蓄水前后地震活动性研究

采用2008年6月至2013年10月糯扎渡水库地震台网记录的6 300个地震,对水库蓄水前后的地震活动进行分析,发现库区蓄水后,地震频度与水位同步增长,地震活动显著增强,表明库区有水库诱发地震发生。蓄水前后的地震活动图像显示,澜沧江上景谷、双江交界处的小震活动增加最为显著,采用Hypodd双差相对定位方法对该震群进行了重新定位,定位后地震在空间上更为丛集,地震震源深度从0~20 km都有分布。该震群发生在窝拖寨断裂上,该断裂历史上曾发生过5.3级地震,因此分析认为,该震群的发生时间虽与水位相关,但可能是触发了构造地震,所以震源深度显现的是构造活动的特征。     

Characteristics of sedimentation and channel adjustment linked to the Three Gorges Reservoir

Construction of large dams is attractive because of their great benefits in flood control,hydropower generation,water resources utilization,navigation improvement,etc.However,dam construction may bring some negative impacts on sediment transport and channel dynamics adjustments.Due to the effects of recent water and soil conservation projects,sediment retention in the newly constructed large upstream reservoirs,and other factors,the sedimentation in the Three Gorges Reservoir(TGR)is quite different from the amount previously predicted in the demonstration stage.Consequently,based on the measured data,characteristics of sedimentation and the related channel deformation in the TGR were analyzed.The results imply that sediment transport tended to be reduced after the Three Gorges Project(TGP).Sedimentation slowed dramatically after 2013 and indicated obvious seasonal characteristics.Due to the rising water level in the TGR in the flood season,the yearly sediment export ratio(Eratio)was prone to decrease.The water level near the dam site should be reasonably regulated according to the flow discharge to improve the sediment delivery capacity and reduce sedimentation in the TGR,and to try to avoid situations where the flood retention time is close to 444 h.The depositional belt was discontinuous in the TGR and was mainly distributed in the broad reaches,and only slight erosion or deposition occurred in the gorge reaches.Sedimentation in the broad and gorge reaches accounted for 93.8% and 6.2% of the total sedimentation,respectively.The estuarine reach located in the fluctuating backwater area experienced alternate erosion-deposition,with a slight accumulative deposition in the curved reach.Sedimentation mainly occurred in the perennial backwater area.The insight gained in this study can be conducive to directly understanding of large reservoir sedimentation and mechanism of channel adjustment in the reservoir region in the main channel of large river.     

Pathways of multiple inflows into a stratified reservoir: Thomson Reservoir, Australia

The interaction of multiple inflows entering a reservoir (Thomson Reservoir, Australia) is investigated with a field experiment and three-dimensional numerical model simulations. The focus of the study is the mixing and transport patterns within the reservoir of the inflowing water. Data from the field experiment showed the existence of multiple inflows intruding horizontally into the reservoir immediately below the thermocline and selectively propagating into the reservoir at a depth determined by the individual density of each inflow. The results serve to show that inflows slot into a stratified reservoir in an orderly fashion, their depth dependent on the separation of inflow densities and reservoir bed, with minimal mixing between intrusions. Inflows thus do not take their nutrient load into the reservoir as a whole, but rather slot their load into an intrusion layer at an appropriate depth. Nutrients brought in via inflows become accessible only when vertical mixing, either directly at the base of the surface layer, or indirectly via the benthic boundary layer flux, transports the intrusion waters into the surface layer.     

The physico-chemical conditions of Turkwel Gorge Reservoir, a new man made lake in Northern Kenya

Variations in some physical, chemical, and nutrient conditions were investigated at Turkwel Gorge Reservoir and its inflowing river, Suam between 1994 and 1995. Seasonal changes in inflow volume had the greatest impact on the reservoir and river conditions investigated. A wide fluctuation in inflow volume combined with a regulated outflow independent of season resulted in a draw down of over 10 m in each year. Flood inflows during the wet season resulted in the lowest values of Secchi depth (range, 0.09–2.16 m), electrical conductivity (EC, range = 140–200 mS cm⁻¹) and total alkalinity (TA, range = 75–111 mg l⁻¹) while the highest values were measured during the dry season. A functional relation between EC and TA (TA = 0.529 mg l⁻¹, EC: R² = 0.876) suggests a predominance of carbonates among the anions. Vertical profiles of temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) revealed that the reservoir is monomictic with a wide variation in the depth of the daily mixed layer. High values of pH (range = 6.7–8.9) and DO (range = 4.9–9.2 mg l⁻¹) were associated with periods of peak phytoplankton photosynthesis while the lowest values followed reservoir mixing. Peak total nitrogen (TN, range = 119–526 μg l⁻¹) and total phosphorus (TP, range = 8.9–71.6 μg l⁻¹) levels during the wet season resulted from increased river loading. Values of dissolved reactive silica (DRS, range = 0.41–9.77 mg l⁻¹) showed a wet season decline which was related to diatom depletion during the wet season. Annual reservoir areal loading rates of 27.38, 10.90 and 408.5 mg m⁻² were computed for TN, TP and DRS respectively based on estimates of inflowing river loads in 1994.

At the inflowing river Suam, low levels of EC (range = 107–210 μS cm⁻¹) and TA (range = 62–125 mg l⁻¹) occurred during the wet season while the highest levels occurred shortly before the river dried up. The first flood water at the resumption of river inflow in March was characterized by very low levels of DO (range = 1.8–8.2 mg l⁻¹) and high levels of TN (range = 205–3354 μg l⁻¹) and TP (102–1259 μg l⁻¹). River pII (6.9–7.7) and DRs (range = 9.01–19.93 mg l⁻¹) varied irregularly throughout the year.     

Experimental and numerical modelling of sedimentation in a rectangular shallow basin

Numerical simulation of flows in shallow reservoirs has to be checked for its consistency in predicting real flow conditions and sedimentation patterns. Typical flow patterns may exhibit flow separation at the inlet, accompanied by several recirculation and stagnation areas all over the reservoir surface. The aim of the present research project is to study the influence of the geometry of a reservoir on sediment transport and deposition numerically and experimentally, focusing on a prototype reservoir depth between 5 and 15 m as well as suspended sediment transport.
A series of numerical simulations is presented and compared with scaled laboratory experiments, with the objective of testing the sensitivity to different flow and sediment parameters and different turbulence closure schemes. Different scenarios are analyzed and a detailed comparison of preliminary laboratory tests and some selected simulations are presented.
The laboratory experiments show that suspended sediment transport and deposition are determined by the initial flow pattern and by the upstream and downstream boundary conditions. In the experiments, deposition in the rectangular basin systematically developed along the left bank, although inflow and outflow were positioned symmetrically along the centre of the basin. Three major horizontal eddies developed influencing the sediment deposition pattern. Although asymmetric flow patterns are privileged, a symmetric pattern can appear from time to time. This particular behaviour could also be reproduced by a two-dimensional depth-averaged flow and sediment transport model （CCHE2D）. The paper presents numerical simulations using different turbulence closure schemes （k-ε and eddy viscosity models）. In spite of the symmetric setup, these generally produced an asymmetric flow pattern that can easily switch sides depending on the assumptions made for the initial and boundary conditions. When using the laboratory experiment as a reference, the most reliable numerical results have been obtai     

Morphological responses in a meandering and island-braided reach of the Middle Yangtze River to the Three Gorges Reservoir impoundment

Lateral migration is an important form of morphological changes on the Middle Yangtze River (MYR), particularly for the lower Jingjiang reach. The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) has substantially reduced sediment supply to the downstream river channels since its impoundment in June 2003. The scientific understanding of how decrease of sediment influences the processes of bank erosion and channel adjustments is complex and limited. In the present paper, the morphological responses in a typical meandering and island-braided river segment of the MYR to the filling of the TGR were investigated by a 3-D morphodynamic model. The potential of the 3-D model has been demonstrated by the observed data. The morphological evolutions in the Shishou bend during the first 12 years of the TGR impound-ment were predicted. The effects of the TGR operation on the planform evolutions in the study reach were analyzed based on the simulated results. Sediment load is decreased by 75%due to the early filling of the TGR. The magnitude of bed degradation with less sediment load due to the TGR operation is increased compared with the pre-dam situation. Qualitatively, the overall planform evolution trends in the Shishou bend after the TGR operation are similar to that without the TGR operation. The magnitude of lateral migration has been increased in some part of the channel bend, where the morphological response of the TGR operation exhibits more lateral migration rather than vertical degradation. Scouring at the bank toe enhances bank failure. Decrease of sediment load and weak bank anti-scour ability as well as the significant helical flow can be responsible for intensified bank erosion in the channel bend.     

"长江三峡水库诱发地震监测研究"项目成果介绍

本文详细介绍了“长江三峡水库诱发地震监测研究”项目的立项背景、目标、所开展的主要工作、取得的成果、研究成果的社会效益和对该领域研究未来工作的展望。     

近50a三峡库区汛期极端降水事件的时空变化

利用三峡库区35个台站1961-2010年汛期(5-9月)的逐日降水量资料,首先定义不同台站的极端降水量阈值,统计各站近50 a逐年汛期极端降水事件的发生频次,进而分析其时空变化特征.结果表明:三峡库区汛期极端降水事件发生频次的最主要空间模态是主体一致性,同时存在东西和南北相反变化的差异.三峡库区汛期极端降水事件发生频次具有较大的空间差异,可分为具有不同变化特点的5个主要异常区.滑动t检验表明,三峡库区西南部区代表站巴南的极端降水事件在1974年后发生了一次由偏多转为偏少的突变,北部区代表站北碚在1981年后和1993年后分别发生了由偏少转为偏多和由偏多到偏少的突变,中部区代表站武隆在1984年后发生了一次由偏多转为偏少的突变.结合最大熵谱和功率谱分析表明,近50 a来各分区汛期极端降水事件发生频次的周期振荡不太一致,三峡库区东北部区代表站宜昌、北部区代表站北碚和中部区代表站武隆分别存在5、2.4和8.3 a的显著周期.     

Airborne Thermal Remote Sensing for Estimation of Groundwater Discharge to a River

Traditional methods for studying surface water and groundwater interactions have usually been limited to point measurements, such as geochemical sampling and seepage measurement. A new methodology is presented for quantifying groundwater discharge to a river, by using river surface temperature data obtained from airborne thermal infrared remote sensing technology. The Hot Spot Analysis toolkit in ArcGIS was used to calculate the percentage of groundwater discharge to a river relative to the total flow of the river. This methodology was evaluated in the midstream of the Heihe River in the arid and semiarid northwest China. The results show that the percentage of groundwater discharge relative to the total streamflow was as high as 28%, which is in good agreement with the results from previous geochemical studies. The data analysis methodology used in this study is based on the assumption that the river water is fully mixed except in the areas of extremely low flow velocity, which could lead to underestimation of the amount of groundwater discharge. Despite this limitation, this remote sensing‐based approach provides an efficient means of quantifying the surface water and groundwater interactions on a regional scale.     

利用并行计算方法实现地震活动速率变化参数Z值的空间扫描处理及其计算效能评价

近30多年的研究表明,地震平静可能是中长期的地震前兆现象,而地震平静的内在特征体现了地震活动速率的变化. Z 检验法是检验地震活动速率变化应用最为广泛的方法之一,其度量值即 Z 值. 由于 Z 值空间扫描中采用等地震数的空间扫描窗口,每个空间扫描窗口的大小通常都是变化的,这样带来了大计算量的问题,因此,本文在自行组建的4节点PC机群上实现了 Z 值空间扫描的并行化处理. 初步测试结果说明,并行化处理中获取了很高的加速比和并行计算效率,可以将此种方法应用于其他地震活动性参数的空间扫描处理.     

Geology of Tok Island,Korea: eruptive and depositional processes of a shoaling to emergent island volcano

Detailed mapping of Tok Island, located in the middle of the East Sea (Sea of Japan), along with lithofacies analysis and K-Ar age determinations reveal that the island is of early to late Pliocene age and comprises eight rock units: Trachyte I, Unit P-I, Unit P-II, Trachyandesite (2.7±0.1 Ma), Unit P-III, Trachyte II (2.7±0.1 Ma), Trachyte III (2.5±0.1 Ma) and dikes in ascending stratigraphic order. Trachyte I is a mixture of coherent trachytic lavas and breccias that are interpreted to be subaqueous lavas and related hyaloclastites. Unit P-I comprises massive and inversely graded basaltic breccias which resulted from subaerial gain flows and subaqueous debris flows. A basalt clast from the unit, derived from below Trachyte I, has an age of 4.6±0.4 Ma. Unit P-II is composed of graded and stratified lapilli tuffs with the characteristics of proximal pyroclastic surge deposits. The Trachyandesite is a massive subaerial lava ponded in a volcano-tectonic depression, probably a summit crater. A pyroclastic sequence containing flattened scoria clasts (Unit P-III) and a small volume subaerial lava (Trachyte II) occur above the Trachyandesite, suggesting resumption of pyroclastic activity and lava effusion. Afterwards, shallow intrusion of magma occurred, producing Trachyte III and trachyte dikes.The eight rock units provide an example of the changing eruptive and depositional processes and resultant succession of lithofacies as a seamount builds up above sea level to form an island volcano: Trachyte I represents a wholly subaqueous and effusive stage; Units P-I and P-II represent Surtseyan and Taalian eruptive phases during an explosive transitional (subaqueous to emergent) stage; and the other rock units represent later subaerial effusive and explosive stages. Reconstruction of volcano morphology suggests that the island is a remnant of the south-western crater rim of a volcano the vent of which lies several hundred meters to the north-east.     

Techniques for measuring rock weathering: application to a dated fan segment sequence in southern Tunisia

There are a number of techniques for estimating the amount of weathering a clast has undergone. These usually have the objective of establishing an ordinal chronology of geomorphological surfaces, or investigation of site-specific conditions affecting weathering rates. Three such techniques are applied to a dated sequence of alluvial fan segments in southern Tunisia. Two of these techniques depend on measuring surface roughness (the micro-roughness meter and a displacement approach) and one uses the structural weakening of the rock fabric (Schmidt hammer). The micro-roughness meter enables calculation of standard deviation of surface height variation, root mean square roughness and surface autocorrelation function. Of these techniques, Schmidt hammer rebound values, standard deviation, root mean square roughness and the displacement technique show systematic changes on the three fan segments which are statistically significant at the 0·05 level. However, the amount of variance in all datasets is very large, indicating the need for caution in application of these techniques for relative dating. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The use of caesium‐137 to estimate agricultural erosion on steep slopes in a tropical watershed

The estimation of erosion and sediment delivery rates in tropical mountain watersheds is difficult and most of the methods widely used for estimating soil erosion over large areas have serious limitations. The ¹³⁷Cs approach has potential for quantifying soil erosion because it can provide retrospective estimates of long‐term (since 1963) net sediment redistribution relatively quickly. Despite its great potential, ¹³⁷Cs has not yet been used in an extensive, reconnaissance level survey of erosion in complex tropical mountain environments. The objective of this study was to examine the applicability of the ¹³⁷Cs method to estimate erosion on steep tropical agricultural lands (23 to 80% slopes) in the Nizao watershed, a humid, tropical mountain area of the Dominican Republic. In this study we (i) examine the variation of ¹³⁷Cs in ten reference sites—eight coffee groves and two forested sites—and (ii) estimate erosion from 14 cultivated fields. The soil pool of ¹³⁷Cs ranged from to 150 to 192 mBq cm⁻² on reference sites with minimal erosion. Variability among reference sites was less than expected for such complex mountain terrain. The variability within coffee and forested reference (average CV=28%) sites was similar to the variability found on grassland and forested reference sites in the temperate zone. The estimated annual soil loss from 14 sampled fields ranged from 6 to 61 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ with an overall mean of 26 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Overall, the soil erosion estimates found using the ¹³⁷Cs method were much lower than those often assumed for such steep tropical hillsides. These erosion estimates account for soil loss since 1963 only and it seems likely that soil losses may have been much higher in earlier decades immediately after initial forest clearing earlier in the 20th century. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new formulation for the stochastic control of systems with bounded state variables: An application to a single reservoir system

A new formulation is presented for the analysis of reservoir systems synthesizing concepts from the traditional stochastic theory of reservoir storage, moments analysis and reliability programming. The analysis is based on the development of the first and second moments for the stochastic storage state variable. These expressions include terms for the failure probabilities (probabilities of spill or deficit) and consider the storage bounds explicitly. Using this analysis, expected values of the storage state, variances of storage, optimal release policies and failure probabilities — useful information in the context of reservoir operations and design, can be obtained from a nonlinear programming solution. The solutions developed from studies of single reservoir operations on both an annual and monthly basis, compare favorably with those obtained from simulation. The presentation herein is directed to both traditional reservoir storage theorists who are interested in the design of a reservoir and modern reservoir analysts who are interested in the long term operation of reservoirs.     

Numerical simulation of sedimentation process in reservoirs and development of a non-coupled algorithm to improve long-term modeling

This paper investigates the validity of a quasi-steady approximation for sediment transport and presents a new algorithm based on this concept. The developed non-coupled algorithm interacts among hydrodynamic, sediment, and morphology modules which are based on depth-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for the flow, the three-dimensional equation of conservation of sediment, and the mass balance between the bed and sediment (Exner equation) to simulate the reservoir sedimentation process. The non-coupled algorithm solves both the short-term scale and the relatively long-term scale problems of reservoir sedimentation. The proposed algorithm is verified using field data and by comparison with other accurate algorithms. Based upon the results of this investigation, the developed algorithm can be used to simulate long-term reservoir sedimentation while considerably decreasing the computational costs and preserving computational accuracy. The computational cost of the non-coupled algorithm is about 97% less than the conventional semi-coupled approach whereas the errors (Root Mean Square Error, Average Relative Error, and Maximum Relative Error of bed level) of the developed algorithm are approximately 15% greater than those for the semi-coupled algorithm for the average value.     

Application of Fisher method to discriminating earthquakes and explosions using criterion m_b/M_S

Introduction Earthquake magnitude is a measurement of earthquake intensity, which is one of the basic seismic parameters. The body-wave magnitude mb and surface-wave magnitude MS are based re- spectively on different wave spectrum amplitudes, therefore, the magnitude used as a criterion has its sound physical basis, which is in fact to distinguish the frequency components of seismic waves excited by explosion and earthquake. The magnitude criterion has a very clear physical meaning. Proposed …