Impact of spatial variations of land surface parameters on regional evaporation: a case study with remote sensing data

Most precipitation in watersheds is consumed by evaporation, thus techniques to appraise regional evaporation are important to assess the availability of water resources. Many algorithms to estimate evaporation from remotely sensed spectral data have been developed in the recent past. In addition to differences in the physical parameterization of surface fluxes, these algorithms have different solutions for describing spatial variations of the parameters in the soil–vegetation–atmosphere–transfer (SVAT) continuum. In this study, the necessity to spatially distinguish SVAT parameters for computing surface heat fluxes is analysed for the Naivasha watershed in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) spectral data have been used to first delineate the watershed into 15 hydrological units using surface temperature, normalized difference vegetation index and surface albedo as attributes. Thereafter, semi‐empirical relationships between these TM‐based parameters and other SVAT parameters have been applied to compute the spatial variation of SVAT parameters and the associated evaporation from the different hydrological units. The impact of using watershed‐constant or watershed‐distributed SVAT parameters on the fluxes is analysed. The determination of watershed averaged evaporation with area‐aggregated SVAT parameters is feasible without significant loss of accuracy. Distributed evaporation in heterogeneous watersheds, however, can be investigated only with remote sensing flux algorithms that can account for spatially variable air temperature, surface roughness, surface albedo and the stability correction of the temperature profile due to buoyancy. Erroneous results can be expected if area‐aggregated SVAT parameters are used to calculate local evaporation. As most of the recently developed remote sensing flux algorithms are based on areal constant SVAT parameters, direct applications in watersheds are still limited. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Subsidence et effondrements le long du littoral jordanien de la mer Morte : apports de la gravimétrie et de l'interférométrie radar différentielle

The Dead Sea shore is affected by major subsidence and sinkholes hazards due to the decrease of the sea level. The frequency of resulting accidents increased during the last four decades. Those phenomena could be at the origin of the catastrophic destruction of a major salt evaporation pond on 22 March 2000. In this paper, we show the main results of eight years of research in gravimetry and radar interferometry devoted to identify potentially hazardous areas, at different scales along the Jordanian Dead Sea coast, from the metric scale (gravimetric approach) to the kilometric one (interferometric approach). To cite this article: D. Closson et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

Development Plan of East Unity Oil Field, Sudan, Using Reservoir Simulation Study

Simulation study was applied in the development planning of East Unity oil field, Sudan. A grid consisting of 2 000 cells was constructed. A major challenge of the study was to evolve a full field development and future reservoir management strategy that would ensure maximum recovery of oil based on well Un51. Simulation shows that Un51 as injection well in AradiebaC would yield better oil recovery than to be production well.     

Rainfall–runoff modelling and water balance analysis for Al-Hindiyah barrage,Iraq using remote sensing and GIS

Investigation of rainfall–run-off modelling is an important subject to develop any available means to water supply, which maintains human life such as run-off harvesting method. This study aims to analyse and understand the rainfall–run-off relationship in a part of Babil city, Iraq. Curve number which is a function of land use, soil texture, soil moisture and land slope is used in this study. Remote sensing and GIS are used to analyse the data and to produce the run-off depth map for the study area. Then, the run-off depth is used with rainfall to investigate the relationship between them using linear correlation. This study showed a strong linear relationship between rainfall and run-off (R² = 0.992). It indicates that in the absence of rainfall data, run-off data can be used to estimate rainfall amount. Also, the study revealed through water balance analysis that there is an average monthly change in storage.     

A palaeomagnetic study of some basaltoids and ores from the Pontic Ranges, Northern Turkey: Palaeogeographic implications

The palaeomagnetism of basic rocks and sulphide ores has been studied in the Küre area, Pontic Ranges, Turkey. Progressive alternating-field demagnetization revealed a characteristic remanent magnetization in all investigated rock types except a dacite. The following virtual geomagnetic poles were obtained:

Basalt and quartz diabase (oldest): D = 59°, I = +66°, ₉₅ = 4.8, pole 49°N, 93°E. Diabase: D = 210°, I = −15°, ₉₅ = 15.0, pole 47°N, 167°E. Massive sulphide ores: D = 107°, I = +63°, ₉₅ = 8.7, pole 18°N, 80°E. Peridotite: D = 131°, I = +54°, ₉₅ = 10.9, pole 2°S, 72°E. Amphibolitized diabase (youngest): D = 293°, I = +59°, ₉₅ = 12.6, pole 40°S, 145°E.

The longidutinal difference in pole positions between the oldest and the youngest rocks is interpreted as being due to a post-Permian counterclockwise rotation of the studied region in relation to the African continent. In addition, there are indications of local rotational movements within the Küre area.     

Statistical behaviour of the free-air,Bouguer and isostatic anomalies in Austria

Some selected test areas in the Austrian territory are presented. Free-air and Bouguer anomalies as well as isostatic anomalies (based on Vening Meinesz' isostatic model) are computed. Statistics of these anomalies are given. Also, an extensive comparison between their empirical covariance functions is made and will be discussed. The results show that the isostatic anomalies for our test areas still contain, in general, a trend part.     

Seismicity and Seismic Hazard in Alexandria (Egypt) and its Surroundings

— Alexandria City has suffered great damage due to earthquakes from near and distant sources, both in historical and recent times. Sometimes the source of such damages is not well known. Seismogenic zones such as the Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba-Dead Sea Hellenic Arc, Suez-Cairo-Alexandria, Eastern-Mediterranean-Cairo-Faiyoum and the Egyptian costal area are located in the vicinity of this city. The Egyptian coastal zone has the lowest seismicity, and therefore, its tectonic setting is not well known. The 1998 Egyptian costal zone earthquake is a moderate complex source. It is composed of two subevents separated by 4 sec. The first subevent initiated at a depth of 28 km and caused a rupture of strike (347°), dip (29°) and slip (125°). The second subevent occurred at a shallower depth (24 km) and has a relatively different focal parameter (strike 334°, dip 60° and slip 60°). The available focal mechanisms strongly support the manifestation of a complex stress regime from the Hellenic Arc into the Alexandria offshore area. In the present study a numerical modeling technique is applied to estimate quantitative seismic hazard in Alexandria. In terms of seismic hazard, both local and remote earthquakes have a tremendous affect on this city. A local earthquake with magnitude M_s = 6.7 at the offshore area gives peak ground acceleration up to 300 cm/sec². The total duration of shaking expected from such an earthquake is about three seconds. The Fourier amplitude spectra of the ground acceleration reveals that the maximum energy is carried by the low frequency (1–3 Hz), part of the seismic waves. The largest response spectra at Alexandria city is within this frequency band. The computed ground accelerations due to strong earthquakes in the Hellenic Arc, Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba are very small (less than 10 cm/sec²) although with long duration (up to 3 minutes).     

Trajectory Control： Directional MWD Inversely New Wellbore Positioning Accuracy Prediction Method

The deviation control of directional drilling is essentially the controlling of two angles of the wellbore actually drilled, namely, the inclination and azimuth. In directional drilling the bit trajectory never coincides exactly with the planned path, which is usually a plane curve with straight, building, holding, and dropping sections in succession. The drilling direction is of course dependant on the direction of the resultant forces acting on the bit and it is quite a tough job to hit the optimum target at the hole bottom as required. The traditional passive methods for correcting the drilling path have not met the demand to improve the techniques of deviation control. A method for combining wellbore surveys to obtain a composite, more accurate well position relies on accepting the position of the well from the most accurate survey instrument used in a given section of the wellbore. The error in each position measurement is the sum of many independent root sources of error effects. The relationship between surveys and other influential factors is considered, along with an analysis of different points of view. The collaborative work describes, establishes a common starting point of wellbore position uncertainty model, definition of what constitutes an error model, mathematics of position uncertainty calculation and an error model for basic directional service.