A Vegetated Urban Canopy Model for Meteorological and Environmental Modelling

An urban canopy model is developed for use in mesoscale meteorological and environmental modelling. The urban geometry is composed of simple homogeneous buildings characterized by the canyon aspect ratio (h/w) as well as the canyon vegetation characterized by the leaf aspect ratio (σ _l ) and leaf area density profile. Five energy exchanging surfaces (roof, wall, road, leaf, soil) are considered in the model, and energy conservation relations are applied to each component. In addition, the temperature and specific humidity of canopy air are predicted without the assumption of thermal equilibrium. For radiative transfer within the canyon, multiple reflections for shortwave radiation and one reflection for longwave radiation are considered, while the shadowing and absorption of radiation due to the canyon vegetation are computed by using the transmissivity and the leaf area density profile function. The model is evaluated using field measurements in Vancouver, British Columbia and Marseille, France. Results show that the model quite well simulates the observations of surface temperatures, canopy air temperature and specific humidity, momentum flux, net radiation, and energy partitioning into turbulent fluxes and storage heat flux. Sensitivity tests show that the canyon vegetation has a large influence not only on surface temperatures but also on the partitioning of sensible and latent heat fluxes. In addition, the surface energy balance can be affected by soil moisture content and leaf area index as well as the fraction of vegetation. These results suggest that a proper parameterization of the canyon vegetation is prerequisite for urban modelling.     

Four-dimensional variational data assimilation for mesoscale and storm-scale applications

Summary ?The status and progress of the four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVAR) are briefly reviewed focusing on application to prediction of mesoscale/storm-scale atmospheric phenomena. Theoretical background is provided for each important component of the 4DVAR system – forecast and adjoint models, observations, background, cost function, preconditioning, and minimization. An overview of practical issues specific for mesoscale/storm-scale 4DVAR is then presented in terms of high-resolution observations, nonlinearity and discontinuity problem, model error, errors from lateral boundary condition, and precipitation assimilation. Practical strategies for efficient and simplified 4DVAR are also introduced, e.g., incremental 4DVAR, poor man’s 4DVAR, and inverse 3DVAR. A new concept on hybrid approach is proposed to combine an efficient 4DVAR scheme and the standard 4DVAR scheme aiming at reducing computational demand required by the standard 4DVAR while improving the accuracy of the simplified 4DVAR. Applications to both hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic models are illustrated and our vision on opportunities and directions for future research is provided. Received March 12, 2001; revised July 24, 2001; accepted September 5, 2001     

Accounting for high-order correlations in probabilistic characterization of environmental variables,and evaluation

Probabilistic characterization of environmental variables or data typically involves distributional fitting. Correlations, when present in variables or data, can considerably complicate the fitting process. In this work, effects of high-order correlations on distributional fitting were examined, and how they are technically accounted for was described using two multi-dimensional formulation methods: maximum entropy (ME) and Koehler–Symanowski (KS). The ME method formulates a least-biased distribution by maximizing its entropy, and the KS method uses a formulation that conserves specified marginal distributions. Two bivariate environmental data sets, ambient particulate matter and water quality, were chosen for illustration and discussion. Three metrics (log-likelihood function, root-mean-square error, and bivariate Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic) were used to evaluate distributional fit. Bootstrap confidence intervals were also employed to help inspect the degree of agreement between distributional and sample moments. It is shown that both methods are capable of fitting the data well and have the potential for practical use. The KS distributions were found to be of good quality, and using the maximum likelihood method for the parameter estimation of a KS distribution is computationally efficient.     

Reevaluation of mixing among multiple water masses in the shelf: An example from the East China Sea

East China Sea (ECS) is bounded by the continent where the fourth largest river of Changjiang discharges large amounts of freshwater to the west and by the Kuroshio in the East and connected to the South China Sea via Taiwan Strait, therefore water characteristics are very complex and undergo great seasonal changes. The dominant source waters in the ECS are found to be Kuroshio Surface Water (KSW), Kuroshio Sub-surface Water (KSSW), Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW), and Taiwan Strait Warm Water (TSWW). Optimum multiparameter analysis (OMP) using temperature, salinity and ²²⁶Ra were applied to quantify the contribution of individual source water to the surface water of the ECS in summer. The successful application of radium isotope in OMP analysis demonstrates the usefulness of ²²⁶Ra in the discrimination of mixing among multiple water sources. In 1987, one interesting phenomenon was that the KSSW entered the surface with the upwelling at the margin of continental shelf, and affected the coastal water obviously. In 1999, the TSWW extended northward continuously up to the Changjiang Estuary.     

Evaluation of multi‐use stormwater detention basins for improved urban watershed management

Detention basins are used to capture postdevelopment runoff and control the peak discharge of the outflow using orifices and weirs. The use of detention basins is typical practice in the construction of new developments on the fringe of existing urban areas, such as the Ulsan–Hwabong district in the city of Ulsan, South Korea. In this study, the required volume and flooding area of a detention basin was determined to control development outflow peaks for 2‐year, 10‐year, and 100‐year design storms with type II rainfall distributions as characterized by the US Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service method. The rainfall–runoff simulation model used was the US Environmental Protection Agency's Storm Water Management Model (EPA‐SWMM) 5, which is the latest version of the software, updated for Windows. We designed three cases of detention basins multi‐staged by 2‐year, 10‐year, and 100‐year design storms and verified the designs with the application of 49 years (1961–2009) of hourly historical rainfall data. The three detention basin designs were compared in terms of the total construction and land costs as well as the benefits associated with recreational facilities or parking lot use. As a result, the design sizes of the detention basins are slightly greater than the actual sizes needed based on the historical rainfall application. Multi‐use detention basins (MDBs) based on 2‐year and 10‐year design storms were found to yield 37.4% and 22.8% benefits, respectively, for recreational facility use compared with detention basins without multi‐use space, and the results also indicate that benefits accrue after 6.5 years for parking lot use. The results of this study suggest that an MDB based on a 2‐year design storm is the most cost‐effective design among the three cases considered for Ulsan, South Korea. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wavenumber of the guided wave supported by a thin resistive layer in marine controlled‐source electromagnetics

This paper discusses the asymptotic behaviour of the electromagnetic fields received on the sea‐bed (target response), as well as the fields distributed inside a thin resistive target, generated by a horizontal electric dipole above the sea‐bed in marine controlled‐source electromagnetics for hydrocarbon exploration. It is found that the guided wave supported by a thin resistive target can be expressed as a single‐mode exponential function. A simple closed‐form expression is derived to relate the single‐mode wavenumber of the guided wave to the model parameters: the resistivity and thickness of the target layer, the sea‐bed resistivity and the frequency. When the air‐wave is removed, the guided wave is dominant among the fields received on the sea‐bed at far offset. Hence the wavenumber of the guided wave can be calculated from the fields measured on the sea‐bed. The closed‐form expression can then be used to invert the target property from the calculated wavenumber and hence, can be considered as a hydrocarbon indicator.     

Tracing solute infiltration using a combined method of dye tracer test and electrical resistivity tomography in an undisturbed forest soil profile

An accurate prediction of solute infiltration in a soil profile is important in the area of environmental science, groundwater and civil engineering. We examined the infiltration pattern and monitored the infiltration process using a combined method of dye tracer test and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in an undisturbed field soil (1 m × 1 m). A homogeneous matrix flow was observed in the surface soil (A horizon), but a preferential flow along macropores and residual rock structure was the dominant infiltration pattern in the subsurface soil. Saturated interflow along the slopping boundaries of A and C1 horizons and of an upper sandy layer and a lower thin clay layer in the C horizon was also observed. The result of ERT showed that matrix flow started first in A horizon and then the infiltration was followed by the preferential flows along the sloping interfaces and macropores. The ERT did not show as much detail as the dye‐stained image for the preferential flow. However, the area with the higher staining density where preferential flow was dominant showed a relatively lower electrical resistivity. The result of this study indicates that ERT can be applied for the monitoring of solute transportation in the vadose zone. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Progressive change of tidal wave characteristics from the eastern Yellow Sea to the Asan Bay,a strongly convergent bay in the west coast of Korea

Although there have been studies on the tide in convergent bay (or estuary), the tide change in terms of phase speed, amplitude, and phase difference between elevation and tidal current from a coastal ocean to a convergent bay has not been clearly shown so far. This study systematically examines the change of tidal wave characteristics from the eastern Yellow Sea to the Asan Bay, a strongly convergent bay on the west coast of Korea, using observations and an analytical model. As the tidal wave propagates from the eastern Yellow Sea into the Asan Bay, the phase speed, amplitude, and phase difference between elevation and tidal current increase along the channel. Such a phenomenon represents a unique example of tide change from a coastal ocean to a convergent bay, indicating dominance of convergence over friction in the Asan Bay. Both analytically computed tidal amplitude and travelling time compare well with observations. In the Asan Bay, the influence of the reflected wave is only felt in the upper one fifth of the bay and is almost unperceivable in the rest of the bay. The analytical analyses presented in this paper are particularly useful for understanding the relative importance of channel convergence, bottom friction, and reflected wave on the tidal characteristics change along the channel and the proposed method could be applicable to other estuaries.     

An englacial image and water pathways of the Fourcade glacier on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula, inferred from ground-penetrating radar

The distribution of small fractures and water content of the Fourcade glacier on King George Island, Antarctica, was investigated in November 2006 and December 2007 by two ground-based (470-and 490-m-long profiles) and one helicopter-borne (470-m-long profile) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys using 50-, 100-, and 500-MHz antennas. Radar images in the pre-migrated GPR sections are characterized by a smooth ice surface and irregular bed topography, numerous diffraction hyperbolas in the ice and at the g...