Deriving glacier border information based on analysis of decorrelation in SAR interferometry

Variations of glaciers are important parameters for monitoring glacial change. Although optical remote sensing method can extract variations of glaciers effectively and accurately in cloudless regions, these variations are difficult to extract in cloudy conditions and bad weather. In this paper, a new method is presented, based on the decorrelation of repeat SAR interferometry, to extract the variations of glaciers. This method uses the decorrelation of the inland glacier＇s surface to extract the variation of glacier by comparing the coherence of the glacier and land cover in threshold values. For validation of this method, we compared classification results with that derived from TM images. An accuracy of better than 89% can be achieved if we consider the classification result from TM image as the ground truth. Results show that this method provides an effective way to identify icy areas from the coherent image.     

Eruptive response of oceanic islands to giant landslides: New insights from the geomorphologic evolution of the Teide-Pico Viejo volcanic complex (Tenerife, Canary)

Large sector collapses are a major component of oceanic islands evolution. Here we show that voluminous events such as the Icod landslide on Tenerife (Canary Islands) cause dramatic changes on the magma feeding system and control the subsequent volcanic and geomorphologic evolution of the eruptive complex over a period of more than 150 kyr. Instantaneous unloading by the Icod landslide is marked by the development of a large phonolitic explosive eruption dated at 175 ± 3 ka and interpreted as reflecting the immediate emptying of a shallow pre-existing magma chamber. Geochronological, geomorphological and geochemical analyses, carried out on the post-landslide volcanic succession sampled in a 4.4 km-long underground water-recovery gallery, provide further evidence for an enhanced extrusion of primitive lavas starting in the 10 kyr time interval following the failure. Rapid construction (< 40 kyr) of a thick basaltic volcano in the landslide scar at high eruptive rates (up to 8 km³ kyr⁻¹) increased the lithostatic pressure which then favored the intermittent storage of basic magma under the edifice. This resulted in more episodic construction evidenced by a significant decrease in output rates and the increasing occurrence of lavas with intermediate composition from 117 ± 7 to 52 ± 7 ka. An apparent volcanic gap is observed between 52 ± 7 and 18 ± 1 ka, after which highly differentiated lavas have been dominantly erupted. We propose that part of the gap can be explained by the individualization of a shallow magma reservoir a few kilometers below the base of the Teide volcano. During recent periods, vertical and lateral extrusions of trachytic and phonolitic viscous bodies from this storage area contributed to increase the slope of the main edifice up to 35°, overall favoring its present-day instability.     

Digital photogrammetry and kinematic GPS applied to the monitoring of Vulcano Island, Aeolian Arc, Italy

Digital photogrammetry and kinematic global positioning system (GPS) techniques are investigated and compared over a volcanic area as operational approaches to map the topography and monitor surface displacements. The use of terrestrial and airborne GPS to support the photogrammetric survey allowed for operational and processing time reduction without loss of accuracy. A digital elevation model (DEM) is obtained from the processing of the high-resolution digital imagery survey, which provides detailed information over a large area. The internal accuracy of the derived DEM has been verified by the comparison of two sets of data obtained from imagery acquired in different epochs; the observed root-mean-square error of residuals ranges from a few centimetres to 15 cm depending on the morphological features. Kinematic and pseudo-kinematic GPS surveys are performed to derive accurate 3-D coordinates at monumented benchmarks and accurate elevation profiles along footpaths. The average repeatability of the GPS measurements on benchmarks is 1 cm for measurement durations of 2–3 min. The standard deviation of interpolated vertical coordinates obtained at the crossings of kinematic GPS profiles is 4.3 cm. The high quality of these GPS coordinates justifies their use also for the validation of the photogrammetric DEM. A comparison of 6000 common points provides a standard deviation of residuals of 18 cm. The results show that the deformation pattern of a volcanic area can be rapidly and accurately monitored even in the absence of geodetic benchmarks. The integration of aerial photogrammetry with GPS kinematic surveys may be considered as an optimal approach for deriving high-resolution mapping products to be used in support of studies of volcanic dynamics.     

Drought is the major limiting factor for tree-ring growth of high-altitude Canary Island pines on Tenerife

This is a detailed study of 50 wood cores sampled from 25 Canary Island pines ( Pinus canariensis ) growing in a subtropical climate close to the tree limit (at Lomo de Retamar, 2000–2100 m a.s.l.) on the southern, leeward side of Tenerife.
The Canary Island pines form tree-rings and, similarly to temperate pines, earlywood is formed during spring. But many pines fail to form tree-rings every year and one purpose for this paper has been to find a way to overcome this problem. Another purpose has been to see what correlations, if any, exist between the ring widths and meteorological data. Meteorological data have been collected since 1916 at the nearby Izaña meteorological observatory. It was also important to find the limiting factor for growth of Canary Island pines close to the tree limit.
Through cross-dating, missing rings were found to be typical for younger parts of older trees; in the same years younger trees instead had low growth. Some trees lacked more than 20 rings in a century. This study shows that it is possible to compensate for missing rings, at least when the number of missing rings is less than 10%.
Correlation studies showed that the growth of the tree rings was mainly due to the precipitation factor, particularly the annual precipitation one year before the ring formation, but also due to temperature. Strangely enough, multiple linear regression gave the highest correlation coefficient (0.50) for a combination of annual precipitation one year earlier and temperature four years earlier.     

Effects of mechanical layering on volcano deformation

The migration and accumulation of magma beneath volcanoes often causes surface displacements that can be measured by geodetic techniques. Usually, deformation signals are explained using models with uniform mechanical properties. In this paper, we study surface displacements due to magma chamber inflation, using heterogeneous finite element models. We first present a systematic analysis of the influence of mechanical layering, showing that the stiffness contrast significantly affects the entity and the pattern of vertical and radial displacements. Second, as an example we apply the models to interpret ground displacements at Darwin volcano (Galápagos Islands) as revealed by InSAR data in the period 1992–1998. The considered models suggest that geodetic data interpreted using homogeneous models leads to underestimation of the source depth and volume change. Thus, we propose correction factors for the source parameters estimated by homogeneous models, in order to consider a range of variation due to mechanical layering as analysed in this study. The effect of the mechanical heterogeneities affects the correct understanding of geodetic data and also influences the evaluation of a volcanic hazard potential.     

尉犁县生态园区地下水位年变化规律及其影响因素分析

为了防止孔雀河中下游地区因土地开发利用灌溉抬高地下水位,造成土壤盐渍化,在尉犁县生态园区进行一年的地下水位观测,根据观测资料分析该区主要土壤类型地下水位年变化规律及其影响因素,得出孔雀河中下游地区河水对地下水的影响范围一般为50～100m内的河滩地,其影响特征为：具有变化幅度大,频率高;100m以外其它土地的地下水位则主要受灌溉渗漏水的影响,其特征与河水相反：变化幅度小,频率低;控制地下水位,防止土壤盐碱化的主要措施为洲整农业结构和控制灌溉水量。     

塔里木河下游地下水位对植被的影响

对塔里木河下游断流河道2000~2002年9个地下水监测断面和18个植被样地的实地监测资料分析表明,地下水埋深对天然植被的组成、分布及长势有直接关系。地下水位的不断下降和土壤含水率大大丧失是引起塔里木河下游植被退化的主导因子。塔里木河下游的四次输水对其下游地下水位抬升起到了积极作用,河道附近地下水位呈逐级抬升过程,横向影响范围达1000 m左右,纵向上,表现为上段地下水抬升幅度较大 (达84%),下段抬升幅度较小 (6%)。随着地下水位的抬升,天然植被的响应范围由第一次输水后的200~250 m,扩展到第四次输水的800 m。     

塔里木河下游生态输水河道两侧区域地下水运动规律研究

根据塔里木河下游断流区域含水层水文地质特征及其实际输水过程中河水对浅层地下水的补给规律,建立了塔里木河下游绿色走廊生态输水河道附近区域地下水运动的一维非稳定流模型,并通过在整个输水过程中流量与水位两种边界条件相互转换的一种方法求解模型。最后应用上述模型分析了间歇性输水条件下塔里本河下游断流河段河道两侧地下水位恢复状况,为输水生态效益的定量评价及其今后输水工作的决策提供理论基础。