Engineering-geological conditions of the formations in the Western Thessaly basin, Greece

An engineering-geological map of the Western Thessaly basin has been compiled, providing a valuable guide to both urban planning and industrial development of the wider area. This map contributes significantly to the optimization of land use and improved planning of technical work. Additionally, the engineering-geological conditions of the formations encountered in the Western Thessaly basin are examined. The formations are grouped into thirteen (13) engineering-geological entities, with regard to their geotechnical behaviour. This entire study was based on both in situ investigations and geotechnical information extracted from 1,039 boreholes. Furthermore, a landslide inventory map of the Western Thessaly basin has been compiled. In addition, the surface subsidence ruptures, due to ground-water overexploitation, have been examined in the eastern part of the study area.     

Determination of the anisotropy of an upper streambed layer in east-central Nebraska, USA

Information on the anisotropy of streambed hydraulic conductivity (K) is a necessity for analyses of water exchange and solute transport in the hyporheic zone. An approach is proposed for the determination of K, developed from existing in-situ permeameter test methods. The approach is based on determination of vertical and horizontal hydraulic conductivity of streambed sediments on-site and eliminates the effects of vertical flow in the hyporheic zone and stream-stage fluctuation, which normally influence in situ permeameter tests. The approach was applied to seven study sites on four tributaries of the Platte River in east-central Nebraska, USA. On-site permeameter tests conducted on about 172 streambed cores for the determination of vertical hydraulic conductivity (K _v) and horizontal hydraulic conductivity (K _h) at the study sites indicate that the study sites have relatively small anisotropic ratios, ranging from 0.74 to 2.40. The ratios of K _h to K _v from individual locations within a study site show greater variation than the anisotropic ratios from the mean or median K at each of the study sites.     

Producing time series of river water height by means of satellite radar altimetry—a comparative study

Abstract

Satellite radar altimetry is complementary to in situ limnimetric surveys as a means of estimating the water height of large rivers, lakes and flood plains. Production of water height time series by satellite radar altimetry technology requires first the selection of radar ground target locations corresponding to water body surfaces under study, i.e. the definition of “virtual limnimetric stations”. We propose to investigate qualitative and quantitative differences between three representative virtual station creation methodologies: (a) a fully manual method, (b) a semi-automatic method based on a land cover characterization that allows the water body surface under study to be located; and (c) an original fully automatic procedure that exploits a digital elevation model and an estimation of the river width. The results yielded by these three methods are comparable: maximum absolute magnitudes of water height differences being 0.46, 0.26 and 0.15 m for, respectively, 95, 90 and 80% of the water height values obtained. Moreover, more than 67% and 92% of time series jointly produced by the methods present root mean square differences lower than 20 and 50 cm, respectively. The results show that the fully automatic method developed herein provides as reliable results as the fully manual one. This opens the way to use of satellite radar altimetry for the generation of water height time series on a large scale, and considerably extends the applicability of satellite radar altimetry in hydrology.

Citation Roux, E., Santos da Silva, J., Vieira Getirana, A. C., Bonnet, M.-P., Calmant, S., Martinez, J.-M. & Seyler, F. (2010) Producing time series of river water height by means of satellite radar altimetry—comparative study. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(1), 104–120.     

Impact of climate change on streamflow in selected river basins in Ghana

Abstract

This study uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and downscaled climate projections from the ensemble of two global climate models (ECHAM4 and CSIRO) forced by the A1FI greenhouse-gas scenario to estimate the impact of climate change on streamflow in the White Volta and Pra river basins, Ghana. The SWAT model was calibrated for the two basins and subsequently driven by downscaled future climate projections to estimate the streamflow for the 2020s (2006–2035) and 2050s (2036–2075). Relative to the baseline, the mean annual streamflow estimated for the White Volta basin for the 2020s and 2050s showed a decrease of 22 and 50%, respectively. Similarly, the estimated streamflow for the 2020s and 2050s for the Pra basin showed a decrease of 22 and 46%, respectively. These results underscore the need to put in place appropriate adaptation measures to foster resilience to climate change in order to enhance water security within the two basins.

Citation Kankam-Yeboah, K., Obuobie, E., Amisigo, B., and Opoku-Ankomah, Y., 2013. Impact of climate change on streamflow in selected river basins in Ghana. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (4), 773–788.     

Studies of ionospheric variations during geomagnetic activities at the low-latitude station, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

The dual frequency SCINDA NovAtel GSV 4004B GPS receiver installed at the Ile-Ife (low-latitude station) has been in operation since December 2009. Data records for the year 2010 were processed to obtain Total Electron Content (TEC) and S ₄ index. These were interpreted to analyze the ionospheric condition during low geomagnetic activity period (when Dst is from ?40 to 0 nT) and during geomagnetic storm events (with Dst about ?100 nT). Seasonal variations of the TEC and S ₄ index were also investigated. The occurrence of scintillations is closely linked to the peak value of TEC during the daytime; this is very evident during the equinox months when TEC ≥ 30 TECu. When the maximum TEC value is below 30 TECu, as shown by most of the days in the summer months, the scintillation phenomenon does not occur. During geomagnetic storms, the daytime segment of the TEC plot experiences fluctuations (even bifurcations) in values with the peak TEC value of about 40 TECu. From the interpreted data, the occurrence of geomagnetic storm does not necessarily suggest an increase in the level of scintillations at a low-latitude region. Also, there is a remarkable difference between the IRI 2007 model and the observed TEC values, as the daytime TEC peak differs in magnitude and time of occurrence from the observed TEC.     

The 1995–2002 Long-Term Monitoring of Comet C/1995 O1 (HALE–BOPP) at Radio Wavelength

The bright comet Hale–Bopp provided the first opportunity to follow the outgassing rates of a number of molecular species over a large range of heliocentric distances. We present the results of our observing campaign at radio wavelengths which began in August 1995 and ended in January 2002. The observations were carried out with the telescopes of Nançay, IRAM, JCMT, CSO and, since September 1997, SEST. The lines of nine molecules (OH, CO, HCN, CH₃OH, H₂CO, H₂S, CS, CH₃CN and HNC) were monitored. CS, H₂S, H₂CO, CH₃CN were detected up to r_h= 3–4 AU from the Sun, while HCN and CH₃OH were detected up to 6 AU. CO, which is the main driver of cometary activity at heliocentric distances larger than 3–4 AU, was last detected in August 2001, at r_h= 14 AU. The gas production rates obtained from this programme contain important information on the nature of cometary ices, their thermal properties and sublimation mechanisms.Line shapes allow to measure gas expansion velocities, which, at large heliocentric distances, might be directly connected to the temperature of the nucleus surface. Inferred expansion velocity of the gas varied as r_h ^-0.4 within 7 AU from the Sun, but remained close to 0.4 km s^-1 further away. The CO spectra obtained at large r_hare strongly blueshifted and indicative of an important day-to-night asymmetry in outgassing and expansion velocity. The kinetic temperature of the coma, estimated from the relative intensities of the CH₃OH and CO lines, increased with decreasing r_h, from about 10 K at 7 AU to 110 K around perihelion.     

MoMaF: the Mock Map Facility

We present the Mock Map Facility, a powerful tool for converting theoretical outputs of hierarchical galaxy formation models into catalogues of virtual observations. The general principle is straightforward: mock observing cones can be generated using semi-analytically post-processed snapshots of cosmological N -body simulations. These cones can then be projected to synthesize mock sky images. To this end, the paper describes in detail an efficient technique for creating such mock cones and images from the galaxies in cosmological simulations ( galics ) semi-analytic model, providing the reader with an accurate quantification of the artefacts it introduces at every step. We show that replication effects introduce a negative bias on the clustering signal – typically peaking at less than 10 per cent around the correlation length. We also thoroughly discuss how the clustering signal is affected by finite-volume effects, and show that it vanishes at scales larger than approximately one-tenth of the simulation box size. For the purpose of analysing our method, we show that number counts and redshift distributions obtained with galics / momaf compare well with K -band observations and the two-degree field galaxy redshift survey. Given finite-volume effects, we also show that the model can reproduce the automatic plate measuring machine angular correlation function. The momaf results discussed here are made publicly available to the astronomical community through a public data base. Moreover, a user-friendly Web interface ( http://galics.iap.fr ) allows any user to recover her/his own favourite galaxy samples through simple SQL queries. The flexibility of this tool should permit a variety of uses ranging from extensive comparisons between real observations and those predicted by hierarchical models of galaxy formation, to the preparation of observing strategies for deep surveys and tests of data processing pipelines.     

Transient modelling of lacustrine regressions: two case studies from the Andean Altiplano

A model was developed for estimating the delay between a change in climatic conditions and the corresponding fall of water level in large lakes. The input data include: rainfall, temperature, extraterrestrial radiation and astronomical mid‐month daylight hours. The model uses two empirical coefficients for computing the potential evaporation and one parameter for the soil capacity. The case studies are two subcatchments of the Altiplano (196 000 km²), in which the central low points are Lake Titicaca and a salar corresponding to the desiccation of the Tauca palaeolake. During the Holocene, the two catchments experienced a 100 m fall in water level corresponding to a decrease in water surface area of 3586 km² and 55 000 km², respectively. Under modern climatic conditions with a marked rainy season, the model allows simulation of water levels in good agreement with the observations: 3810 m a.s.l. for Lake Titicaca and lack of permanent wide ponds in the southern subcatchment. Simulations were carried out under different climatic conditions that might explain the Holocene fall in water level. Computed results show quite different behaviour for the two subcatchments. For the northern subcatchment, the time required for the 100 m fall in lake‐level ranges between 200 and 2000 years when, compared with the present conditions, (i) the rainfall is decreased by 15% (640 mm/year), or (ii) the temperature is increased by 5·5 °C, or (iii) rainfall is distributed equally over the year. For the southern subcatchment (Tauca palaeolake), the time required for a 100 m decrease in water level ranges between 50 and 100 years. This decrease requires precipitation values lower than 330 mm/year. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rhone River flood deposits in Lake Le Bourget: a proxy for Holocene environmental changes in the NW Alps, France

The Holocene evolution of Rhone River clastic sediment supply in Lake Le Bourget is documented by sub-bottom seismic profiling and multidisciplinary analysis of well-dated sediment cores. Six high-amplitude reflectors within the lacustrine drape can be correlated to periods of enhanced inter- and underflow deposition in sediment cores. Based on the synthesis of major environmental changes in the NW Alps and on the age-depth model covering the past 7500 years in Lake Le Bourget, periods of enhanced Rhone River flood events in the lake can be related to abrupt climate changes and/or to increasing land use since c. 2700 cal. yr BP. For example, significant land use under rather stable climate conditions during the Roman Empire may be responsible for large flood deposits in the northern part of Lake Le Bourget between AD 966 and 1093. However, during the Little Ice Age (LIA), well-documented major environmental changes in the catchment area essentially resulted from climate change and formed basin-wide major flood deposits in Lake Le Bourget. Up to five 'LIA-like' Holocene cold periods developing enhanced Rhone River flooding activity in Lake Le Bourget are documented at c. 7200, 5200, 2800, 1600 and 200 cal. yr BP. These abrupt climate changes were associated in the NW Alps with Mont Blanc glacier advances, enhanced glaciofluvial regimes and high lake levels. Correlations with European lake level fluctuations and winter precipitation regimes inferred from glacier fluctuations in western Norway suggest that these five Holocene cooling events at 45°N were associated with enhanced westerlies, possibly resulting from a persistent negative mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation.     

Multi-hazard risk mapping and assessment on an active volcano: the GRINP project at Mount Cameroon

To help improve the safety of its population faced with natural disasters, the Cameroon Government, with the support of the French Government, initiated a programme of geological risk analysis and mapping on Mount Cameroon. This active volcano is subject to a variety of hazards: volcanic eruptions, slope instability and earthquakes. Approximately 450,000 people live or work around this volcano, in an area which includes one of Cameroon’s main economic resources. An original methodology was used for obtaining the information to reply to questions raised by the authorities. It involves several stages: identifying the different geological hazard components, defining each phenomenon’s threat matrix by crossing intensity and frequency indices, mapping the hazards, listing and mapping the exposed elements, analysing their respective values in economic, functional and strategic terms, establishing typologies for the different element-at-risk groups and assessing their vulnerability to the various physical pressures produced by the hazard phenomena, and establishing risk maps for each of the major element-at-risk groups (population, infrastructures, vegetation, atmosphere). At the end of the study we were able (a) to identify the main critical points within the area, and (b) provide quantified orders of magnitude concerning the dimensions of the risk by producing a plausible eruption scenario. The results allowed us to put forward a number of recommendations to the Cameroon Government concerning risk prevention and management. The adopted approach corresponds to a first level of response to the authorities. Later developments should make it possible to refine the quality of the methodology.