Construction of Structural Geological Model Using Monte Carlo Simulation

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - To optimize the prediction of structural geological conditions in the underground as of data collected at the surface, due to the usual great uncertainties...     

On the Use of Random Material in Dam Cores: Case of the Manso Dam,Brazil

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The Manso Dam, in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso, intended for flood control and electricity generation, was built by a state-owned energy company in...     

The Mineral Adsorption and The Application of a Metamorphic Felsic Rock as Aggregate in Asphalt Pavements

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The aggregates consist approximately 85% of the total volume in asphalts pavements, and their properties influence directly their behavior. Therefore, it...     

Seismic risk assessment and hazard mapping in Nepal

Natural Hazards - Seismic risk in the form of impending disaster has been seen from past records that moderate-to-large earthquakes have caused the loss of life and property in all parts of Nepal....     

Assessment of Constraint Factors of Resources and Environment of Sustainable Development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebeiregion: Based on the Framework of Landscape Sustainability Science

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region is an important engine for China’s socioeconomic development. Timely and effectively assessing constraint factors of resources and environment is of great significance for the sustainability assessment and the sustainable development of this region. However, comprehensive assessment research considering key resource and environmental constraints are still lacking. In this study, therefore, the limiting factors of resources and the environment in the BTH region were assessed based on the framework of landscape sustainability science. First, we chose five limiting factors, including topographic condition, geological environment, water resource, land resource, and atmospheric environment, to assess the constraints of resources and the environment using the single-factor evaluation method and the multi-factor comprehensive evaluation method. Based on the results, we divided the whole region into five subregions, i.e., the ecological conservation subregion, the geological disaster subregion, the water resource scarcity subregion, the atmospheric pollution subregion, and the cropland protection subregion. The results revealed that the northern BTH region was highly constrained by topographic conditions, the central BTH region was strongly constrained by geological environment and water resources, whereas the southern BTH region was constrained mainly by land resources and atmospheric environment. In addition, water resource was the main limiting factor for regional population growth and economic development. In 2010, the water resource scarcity subregion had a total population of 39.59 million, an urban population of 76.90%, and a gross domestic product of 2 455.57 billion yuan. We argue that the sustainable development of the BTH region should explicitly consider the resource and environmental limiting factors, implement land use optimization according to local conditions, maintain multiple land use types and diverse management strategies, based on the perspective of “strong sustainability”, so as to promote the regional sustainable development.     

大气CO2浓度时空变化卫星遥感监测的应用潜力分析

GOSAT卫星观测反演大气CO2浓度精度已经提高到了1—2 ppm,而卫星数据能否准确地揭示全球和区域大气CO2浓度变化特征还缺乏充分的评价与分析。本文针对已经连续运行观测3年的GOSAT卫星,收集了来自美国NASA-OCO团队(ACOS)和日本环境研究所GOSAT团队(NIES)基于各自算法反演的两套大气CO2柱浓度数据,描述并分析了全球大气CO2时空变化特征。分析结果表明,从XCO2反演的绝对值结果来看ACOS总体上比NIES的高出约2 ppm左右,但从时空的相对变化上它们揭示了相近的大气CO2浓度时空变化特征。两套数据显示出全球平均大气CO2浓度在2010年—2012年的3年期间年增量分别为1.8 ppm和2.0 ppm;季节变化幅度,北半球最大4—6 ppm,南半球最大约2 ppm,这与地面观测结果基本一致。进一步将EDGAR 4.2人为排放总量格网化数据与GOSAT卫星观测反演的CO2浓度进行相关统计分析,结果指出两套数据对人为排放量有着微弱的响应。本文结果指出目前GOSAT卫星观测反演的XCO2可以检测出全球和区域大气CO2浓度的年变化、季节变化和区域空间变化的特征;GOSAT卫星10.5 km空间分辨率的观测虽难于检测出点源的浓度变化,但从区域上对人为排放的累积效应的监测显示了一定的应用潜力。     

Trend and Interannual Variability of Chinese Air Pollution since 2000 in Association with Socioeconomic Development: A brief Overview

air pollution, trend and variability, socioeconomic development, satellite measurements, bottom-up emission inventories, top-down constraints     

Revisiting wintertime cold air intrusions at the east of the Andes: propagating features from subtropical Argentina to Peruvian Amazon and relationship with large-scale circulation patterns

This study investigates the spatial and temporal characteristics of cold surges that propagates northward along the eastern flank of the Andes from subtropical to tropical South America analysing wintertime in situ daily minimum temperature observations from Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and ERA-40 reanalysis over the 1975–2001 period. Cold surges usually last 2 or 3 days but are generally less persistent in the southern La Plata basin compared to tropical regions. On average, three to four cold surges are reported each year. Our analysis reveals that 52 % of cold episodes registered in the south of La Plata basin propagate northward to the northern Peruvian Amazon at a speed of around 20 m s^?1. In comparison to cold surges that do not reach the tropical region, we demonstrate that these cold surges are characterized, before they reach the tropical region, by a higher occurrence of a specific circulation pattern associated to southern low-level winds progression toward low latitudes combined with subsidence and dry condition in the middle and low troposphere that reinforce the cold episode through a radiative effect. Finally, the relationship between cold surges and atmosphere dynamics is illustrated for the two most severe cold intrusions that reached the Peruvian and Bolivian Amazon in the last 20 years.     

Improving a Two-Equation Turbulence Model for Canopy Flows Using Large-Eddy Simulation

Large-eddy simulations of the neutrally-stratified flow over an extended homogeneous forest were used to calibrate a canopy model for the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RaNS) method with the $k-\varepsilon $ k - ε turbulence model. It was found that, when modelling the forest as a porous medium, the canopy drag dissipates the turbulent kinetic energy (acts as a sink term). The proposed model was then tested in more complex flows: a finite length forest and a forested hill. In the finite length forest, the destruction of the turbulent kinetic energy by the canopy was overestimated near the edge, for a length approximately twice the tree height. In the forested hill, the model was less accurate inside the recirculation zone and overestimated the turbulent kinetic energy, due to an incorrect prediction of the production term. Nevertheless, the canopy model presented here provided consistent results in both a priori and a posteriori tests and improved the accuracy of RaNS simulations with the $k-\varepsilon $ k - ε model.