GIS derived synthetic rating curves and HAND model to support on-the-fly flood mapping

Natural Hazards - Acknowledging the devastating consequences of past earthquakes, current research efforts focus on the development of tools for assessing and controlling the risk and losses...     

The nature of the sea surface as deduced from composite temperature analysis

Summary A technique is described for preparing detailed sea surface temperature analyses for large ocean areas utilizing injection temperature observations from commercial ships. The inadequacies of analyses based on averaged data are discussed, as well as some of the difficulties inherent in contouring scalar fields.Sea surface temperatures are interpreted according to some concepts derived from cross sectional profiles and surface current data. Isotach analyses of mean current drift are considered as flow patterns to aid temperature analysis in areas where data are sparse.

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Die Schwankungen der Oberflächentemperatur des Meeres nach der zusammengesetzten Temperaturanalyse

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine Methode beschrieben, die geeignet ist, mittels Temperaturbeobachtungen von Handelsschiffen aus die Vorarbeiten zu detaillierten Analysen von Oberflächentemperaturen in großräumigen Meeresgebieten durchzuführen. Die Unzulänglichkeit von Analysen gemittelter Werte sowie einige Schwierigkeiten bei der graphischen Darstellung von Skalarfeldern werden besprochen.Gemäß den Vorstellungen, die von Querschnittsprofilen und Oberflächenstromwerten abgeleitet wurden, werden Oberflächentemperaturen gedeutet. Um die Temperaturanalyse in Gebieten mit geringen Beobachtungen zu erleichtern, werden Isotachen-Analysen mittlerer Strömungswerte als Strömungsvorbilder benutzt.

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La nature de la température superficielle de la mer suivant l'analyse composée de la température

Résumé L'article actuel décrit une méthode propre à préparer, au moyen des observations de la température faites au bord des navires marchands, des analyses détaillées de la température superficielle dans de grandes étendues océaniques. L'impropriété de l'analyse des valeurs moyennes ainsi que plusieurs difficultés que l'on rencontre en représentant des champs scalaires sont exposées.Suivant les conceptions déduites des coupes transversales et des courants de surface, on interprète les températures superficielles des courants de l'océan. Dans le but de faciliter l'analyse des températures dans de grandes zones océaniques où des observations sont rares, on se serve comme modèle de courant des analyses des isotaches des valeurs moyennes de courants.

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Submitted October 1961 for publication in Deutsche Hydrographische Zeitschrift.     

Urban influences on farming in Essex

The urban fringe is usually portrayed as a location of unrelieved adversity for farmers. It is rare for the costs of the urban fringe to be counterbalanced by an assessment of the opportunities that are also found there. This paper presents the results of a large scale farm survey in Essex which sought to examine the effects of urban proximity on farm management practices.The paper examines the nature and spatial extent of the following: conversion of farm land to urban uses (with special emphasis on the role of compulsory purchase orders); changes in farm labour; part time farming and the location of part time farmers jobs; vandalism and trespass damage and farmers response to this hazard; farm-based recreation and the sale of produce direct to the public. In general it is shown that the disadvantages of farming in the urban fringe have been overrated while the advantages have been underrated.     

Hydrochemistry of the Lake Magadi basin,Kenya

New and more complete compositional data are presented for a large number of water samples from the Lake Magadi area, Kenya. These water samples range from dilute inflow (<0.1 g/kg dissolved solids) to very concentrated brines (>300 g/kg dissolved solids). Five distinct hydrologic stages can be recognized in the evolution of the water compositions: dilute streamflow, dilute ground water, saline ground water (or hot spring reservoir), saturated brines, and residual brines. Based on the assumption that chloride is conserved in the waters during evaporative concentration, these stages are related to each other by the concentration factors of about 1:28:870:7600:16,800.Dilute streamflow is represented by perennial streams entering the Rift Valley from the west. All but one (Ewaso Ngiro) of these streams disappear in the alluvium and do not reach the valley floor. Dilute ground water was collected from shallow pits and wells dug into lake sediments and alluvial channels. Saline ground water is roughly equivalent to the hot springs reservoir postulated by Eugster (1970) and is represented by the hottest of the major springs. Saturated brines represent surficial lake brines just at the point of saturation with respect to trona (Na₂CO₃.NaHCO₃.2H₂O), while residual brines are essentially interstitial to the evaporite deposit and have been subjected to a complex history of precipitation and re-solution.The new data confirm the basic hydrologic model presented by Eugster (1970) which has now been refined, particularly with respect to the early stages of evaporative concentration. Budget calculations show that only bromide is conserved as completely as chloride. Sodium follows chloride closely until trona precipitation, whereas silica and sulfate are largely lost during the very first concentration' step (dilute streamflow-dilute ground water). A large fraction of potassium and all calcium plus magnesium are removed during the first two concentration steps (dilute streamflow-dilute ground water-saline ground water). Carbonate and bicarbonate are the dominant anions, and mechanisms by which they are extracted from the solution include precipitation of alkali and alkaline-earth carbonates, and degassing, as well as precipitation and re-solution of efflorescent crusts. Much sulfate is apparently lost from solution by sorption as well as subsurface reduction.Seasonal runoff, principally from the valley floor north of Lake Magadi, is considered to be the principal recharge to the Magadi ground water system. Evaporative concentration is the overall process responsible for the chemical evolution of the brines. This includes not only simple evaporation, but also mineral precipitation as films and cements in the unsaturated zone, re-solution, and reprecipitation of efflorescent crusts, with consequent recycling of salts. In fact, a large fraction of the solutes are acquired through dissolution of efflorescent crusts.Data were obtained for borehole brines from as deep as 297 m. They show the existence of two distinct brine bodies below the present lake, one shallow, coexistent with bedded salts, and highly concentrated (260 g/kg average dissolved solids), and the other deeper in lacustrine sediments or fractured lavas, and only half as concentrated.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN ALLUVIAL RIVER WITH FLOODPLAINS

1 INTRODUCTION The transport of sediment in rivers with active floodplains is a two-dimensional process because the main channel and the floodplain can have very different transport capacities. Therefore, two-dimensional (2D) models are often used to simulate the streamwise and transverse variations of sediment erosion and deposition. Many 2D numerical models have been presented to simulate sediment transport in floodplains (James, 1985; Pizzuto, 1987; Howard, 1992; Nicholas and Walli…     

Modeling input errors to improve uncertainty estimates for one-dimensional sediment transport models

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment - Bayesian methods have recently been applied to one-dimensional sediment transport models to assess the uncertainty in model predictions due...     

Impacts of Coastal Development on the Ecology of Tidal Creek Ecosystems of the US Southeast Including Consequences to Humans

Upland areas of southeastern United States tidal creek watersheds are popular locations for development, and they form part of the estuarine ecosystem characterized by high economic and ecological value. The primary objective of this work was to define the relationships between coastal development, with its concomitant land use changes and associated increases in nonpoint source pollution loading, and the ecological condition of tidal creek ecosystems including related consequences to human populations and coastal communities. Nineteen tidal creek systems, located along the southeastern US coast from southern North Carolina to southern Georgia, were sampled in the summer, 2005 and 2006. Within each system, creeks were divided into two primary segments based upon tidal zoning—intertidal (i.e., shallow, narrow headwater sections) and subtidal (i.e., deeper and wider sections)—and then watersheds were delineated for each segment. Relationships between coastal development, concomitant land use changes, nonpoint source pollution loading, the ecological condition of tidal creek ecosystems, and the potential impacts to human populations and coastal communities were evaluated. In particular, relationships were identified between the amount of impervious cover (indicator of coastal development) and a range of exposure and response measures including increased chemical contamination of the sediments, increased pathogens in the water, increased nitrate/nitrite levels, increased salinity range, decreased biological productivity of the macrobenthos, alterations to the food web, increased flooding potential, and increased human risk of exposure to pathogens and harmful chemicals. The integrity of tidal creeks, particularly the headwaters or intertidally dominated sections, was impaired by increases in nonpoint source pollution associated with sprawling urbanization (i.e., increases in impervious cover). This finding suggests that these habitats are valuable early warning sentinels of ensuing ecological impacts and potential public health and flooding risk from sprawling coastal development. The results also validate the use of a conceptual model with impervious cover thresholds for tidal creek systems in the southeast region.     

U-Pb thermochronology: creating a temporal record of lithosphere thermal evolution

A new approach to U-Pb accessory mineral thermochronology allows high-resolution time-temperature histories to be extracted from lower crustal xenoliths. The combination of the U-Pb system’s dual decay scheme with the effects of temperature dependent Pb-diffusion can yield a time sensitive record of Pb production/diffusion within accessory phases. The difference in half-life for parent isotopes ²³⁸U and ²³⁵U results in the time-variable production of Pb isotopes ²⁰⁶Pb and ²⁰⁷Pb, while Pb diffusion can result in large variations in the time-scales at which Pb retention occurs between grains of different sizes. The combined effects of variable production rates between the two systems and diffusion result in data topologies on a concordia diagram that permit distinction between slow cooling and reheating t-T paths. In slowly cooled systems, the difference in time for Pb retention for grains of variable size yields a measure of partial retention zone (PRZ) residence time, and provides a robust measure of cooling rate through the PRZ. In Montana, three lower crustal xenoliths, each from a different depth, yield U-Pb rutile data that record a prolonged (>1 Ga) and slow cooling history towards a steady state geothermal gradient following the amalgamation of the terrain onto North America. The shallowest samples record the initial recovery of a conductive geothermal gradient and cool through the mineral PRZ at rates of <0.25°C/Ma over ~500 Ma. Deeper xenoliths record cooling at younger times over similar time scales and rates. This multi-depth thermal history provides a long-term record of lithosphere cooling and stabilization.