Drawing metro maps in concentric circles: A designer-in-the-loop approach with visual examples

This article presents a proof-of-concept designer-in-the-loop schematic map drawing tool, based on the marriage of two approaches—manual and automated, which provides the technical interactivity of drawing tools between the user and the computer. We focus on concentric circle maps as opposed to the commonly used orthogonal mode representation, which is suggested by previous studies that it could promote better network learning. In comparison with existing methods, the proposed method is more compatible with the framework of effective map design from psychological and aesthetic perspectives, and a range of options can be provided in conjunction with users' preferences. We evaluated our approach on a set of iterations with case studies of Hong Kong metro with a group of three co-authors from the fields of geography, transport engineering, and education.     

Contaminant transport in fractured media: analytical solution and sensitivity study considering pulse,Dirac delta and sinusoid input sources

The analytical solution of one‐dimensional transport for a single species radioactive nuclide, considering the decay term in a single fracture for pulse, Dirac delta, and single sinusoid input sources, has been studied using the Laplace transform method. The dimensionless concentration of the radioactive nuclide in the fracture appears to be a function of space, elapsed time, dispersivity, retardation factor, half‐life of the nuclide, and release time. By comparing different values of groundwater velocity, retardation factor, dispersivity, and release time, the results show that the c/c₀ ratio agrees with the nature of the physical and chemical characteristics of the nuclide in fracture transportation. The dimensionless concentration peak value from a small retardation factor is found to be more sensitive, within a time frame ranging from 10 years to a few hundreds years, than the case with a larger retardation factor for H‐3. Except for a small variation in the peak value, the result is almost the same for pulse and sinusoid inputs when considering the H‐3 nuclide. Analytical solutions during the preliminary screening phase are suitable for performance assessment on radioactive waste disposal sites under a one‐dimensional single fracture condition. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of spectral analysis to determine hydraulic diffusivity of a sandy aquifer (Pingtung County,Taiwan)

The study demonstrates spectral relationships in the time–frequency domain for one‐dimensional groundwater flow in aquifers bounded by fluctuating boundaries. By nature, the solutions of spectral equations are non‐linear complex functions. To determine hydraulic diffusivity in the governing equations, it is required that the data are collected from the spectra of water levels at the fluctuating boundaries and observation wells. Hydraulic diffusivity thus can be obtained by an iterative inverse approach. This paper presents an application in Pingtung County of Taiwan to determine the hydraulic diffusivity of a sandy aquifer under confined conditions. Spectral density function of water level obtained from tidal boundaries and observation wells are used to approximate hydraulic diffusivity, which yields an averaged value of 1·26 × 10⁶ m²/h. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adjusting Chlorine Dosage and to Prevent Bio‐Growth and Minimize Trihalomethanes in Reverse Osmosis Filtrate in a Wastewater Reclamation Process

Feasibility of effluent reclamation for the Futian municipal WWTP in Taichung Taiwan was evaluated using an “SF‐UF‐RO” pilot plant. The optimal parameters of each unit were obtained during the pilot plant test. The pilot plant started the operation in late October 2008 and operated until January 2011. The reverse osmosis (RO) system produces 75 m³ water daily, and the produced water quality was comparable to the city water in Taichung. Chlorine dosed in the sand filtration (SF) inlet and ultrafiltration (UF) backwash had the most significant effect on the stability of system performance. When the chlorine was underdosed, biofilm clogged the bag filter (prefilter of UF) and led to the flow rate decay of the UF. The prefilter needed replacement every 1 or 2 weeks resulting in increased process cost. On the other hand, when the chlorine dosage was increased to mitigate the biofilm growth, the residual chlorine not only reacted with TOC and derived trihalomethanes (THMs) in the RO product water (more than 20 µg/L), but it also damaged the RO membrane. After trial and error, the chlorine concentration was optimized as 0.7 mg/L in SF inlet to prevent growth of biofilm as well as to control the residual chlorine in the RO inlet and THMs in the RO product water. It is suggested that cautiously adjusting chlorine dosage is essential for stably operating such a hybrid membrane system to reclaim the municipal wastewater.     

The topographic signature of a major typhoon

In August 2009, the typhoon Morakot, characterized by a cumulative rainfall up to 2884 mm in about three days, triggered thousands of landslides in Taiwan. The availability of LiDAR surveys before (2005) and after (2010) this event offers a unique opportunity to investigate the topographic signatures of a major typhoon. The analysis considers the comparison of slope–area relationships derived by LiDAR digital terrain models (DTMs). This approach has been successfully used to distinguish hillslope from channelized processes, as a basis to develop landscape evolution models and theories, and understand the linkages between landscape morphology and tectonics, climate, and geology. We considered six catchments affected by a different degree of erosion: three affected by shallow and deep‐seated landslides, and three not affected by erosion. For each of these catchments, 2 m DTMs were derived from LiDAR data. The scaling regimes of local slope versus drainage area suggested that for the catchments affected by landslides: (i) the hillslope‐to‐valley transitions morphology, for a given value of drainage area, is shifted towards higher value of slopes, thus indicating a likely migration of the channelized processes and erosion toward the catchment boundary (the catchment head becomes steeper because of erosion); (ii) the topographic gradient along valley profiles tends to decrease progressively (the valley profile becomes gentler because of sediment deposition after the typhoon). The catchments without any landslides present a statistically indistinguishable slope–area scaling regime. These results are interesting since for the first time, using multi‐temporal high‐resolution topography derived by LiDAR, we demonstrated that a single climate event is able to cause significant major geomorphic changes on the landscape, detectable using slope–area scaling analysis. This provides new insights about landscape evolution under major climate forcing. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

安徽庐枞中生代富钾火山岩成因的地球化学制约

庐枞中生代火山岩产于下扬子断裂坳陷带的继承式火山盆地中，主要为一套以粗面玄武岩－玄武粗安岩－安粗岩－粗面岩为主体的偏碱质中基性岩石组合。化学成分上具有富碱、富钾、富轻稀土及大离子亲石元素（如Rb、Th、Pb)和贫高场强元素（如Nb、Ti)等特点。在郯庐断裂中南段及其邻近地区的中生代火山岩中，庐枞盆地火山岩的特征最接近钾玄岩系火山岩。这套火山岩具有较高的ISr值（0.70570-0.70653)及偏低的εNd(t)值（－5.01～-9.96)。火山岩产出地质背景的全面分析及元素－同位素的综合示踪，排除了岩浆上升过程中存在强烈的地壳物质的混染，富钾火山岩的岩浆源区应为受俯冲板片析出流体交代作用所形成的富集地幔（EMI），岩石主要起源于富集型地幔的部分熔融。     

Spatial correlation for transformation uncertainty and its applications

This paper shows that the transformation uncertainty varies in space and can be decomposed into (a) a slowly fluctuating component contributed by the systematic bias for a local site and (b) a rapidly fluctuating component partly contributed by the measurement error. Based on a piezocone database, the slowly fluctuating component is found to have a vertical scale of fluctuation (SOF) of 17–60 m, larger than the vertical SOFs for most soil properties and characteristic dimensions for many geotechnical structures. This paper provides an empirical basis to justify the assumption that the transformation uncertainty is fully correlated in space.