Field Investigation of a New Recharge Approach for ASR Projects in Near‐Surface Aquifers

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is the artificial recharge and temporary storage of water in an aquifer when water is abundant, and recovery of all or a portion of that water when it is needed. One key limiting factor that still hinders the effectiveness of ASR is the high costs of constructing, maintaining, and operating the artificial recharge systems. Here we investigate a new recharge method for ASR in near‐surface unconsolidated aquifers that uses small‐diameter, low‐cost wells installed with direct‐push (DP) technology. The effectiveness of a DP well for ASR recharge is compared with that of a surface infiltration basin at a field site in north‐central Kansas. The performance of the surface basin was poor at the site due to the presence of a shallow continuous clay layer, identified with DP profiling methods, that constrained the downward movement of infiltrated water and significantly reduced the basin recharge capacity. The DP well penetrated through this clay layer and was able to recharge water by gravity alone at a much higher rate. Most importantly, the costs of the DP well, including both the construction and land costs, were only a small fraction of those for the infiltration basin. This low‐cost approach could significantly expand the applicability of ASR as a water resources management tool to entities with limited fiscal resources, such as many small municipalities and rural communities. The results of this investigation demonstrate the great potential of DP wells as a new recharge option for ASR projects in near‐surface unconsolidated aquifers.     

Using Statistical Downscaling to Quantify the GCM-Related Uncertainty in Regional Climate Change Scenarios： A Case Study of Swedish Precipitation

There are a number of sources of uncertainty in regional climate change scenarios. When statistical downscaling is used to obtain regional climate change scenarios, the uncertainty may originate from the uncertainties in the global climate models used, the skill of the statistical model, and the forcing scenarios applied to the global climate model. The uncertainty associated with global climate models can be evaluated by examining the differences in the predictors and in the downscaled climate change scenarios based on a set of different global climate models. When standardized global climate model simulations such as the second phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project （CMIP2） are used, the difference in the downscaled variables mainly reflects differences in the climate models and the natural variability in the simulated climates. It is proposed that the spread of the estimates can be taken as a measure of the uncertainty associated with global climate models. The proposed method is applied to the estimation of global-climate-model-related uncertainty in regional precipitation change scenarios in Sweden. Results from statistical downscaling based on 17 global climate models show that there is an overall increase in annual precipitation all over Sweden although a considerable spread of the changes in the precipitation exists. The general increase can be attributed to the increased large-scale precipitation and the enhanced westerly wind. The estimated uncertainty is nearly independent of region. However, there is a seasonal dependence. The estimates for winter show the highest level of confidence, while the estimates for summer show the least.     

Zur Bestimmung des Schneeanteils am Gesamtniederschlag

Zusammenfassung Aus den Monatsberichten einiger hydrographischer Stationen der Ostalpen in verschiedenen Höhenlagen wird bestimmt, welche Niederschlagsmengen 1 cm der gemessenen Neuschneehöhen entsprechen, im Monats- und im Jahresmittel. In Abhängigkeit von der Höhenlage weist die Niederschlagsmenge pro Zentimeter Neuschneehöhe ein ausgeprägtes Minimum bei 1350 m Seehöhe auf. Durch Multiplikation des der Seehöhe entsprechenden Wertes dieser Kurve mit der an einer Station der Ostalpen gemessenen Neuschneehöhe der Periode 1896/97–1915/16 erhält man den Schneeanteil dieser Station am Gesamtniederschlag. Die auf diese Art bestimmten Anteilmengen sind in der Regel dann größer bzw. kleiner als die nachV. Conrad berechneten Werte, wenn die Anomalien der jährlichen Neuschneehöhen nachE. Ekhart positiv bzw. negativ sind.

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Summary On the base of monthly reports of several hydrographic stations in the Eastern Alps, the amounts of precipitation corresponding to 1 cm of fresh snow-depth have been calculated in the monthly and yearly average. As a function of the altitude the amount of precipitation per cm fresh snow-depth shows a marked minimum at the altitude of 1350 m. By multiplication of the fresh snow-depths, measured at a station of the Eastern Alps during the period 1896/97–1915/16, with the corresponding value of the above curve the snow fraction of the total precipitation of this station can be obtained. As a rule, the fractions determined in this way are greater or smaller than those calculated byV. Conrad according as the anomalies of the yearly fresh snow-depths given byE. Ekhart are respectively positive or negative.

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Résumé On calcule la quantité d'eau météorique correspondant à 1 cm. de neige fraîche (moyennes mensuelles et annuelles) sur la base des rapports mensuels de quelques stations hydrographiques des Alpes orientales. Cette quantité, considérée en fonction de l'altitude, présente un minimum net vers 1350 m. En multipliant la valeur correspondant à l'altitude d'une station des Alpes orientales où furent mesurées les hauteurs de neige fraîche pendant la période 1896/97 à 1915/16 par cette hauteur même, on obtient la fraction en neige des précipitations totales en ce point. Les fractions ainsi calculées sont dans la règle plus grandes ou plus petites que les valeurs établies parV. Conrad selon que les anomalies des hauteurs annuelles de neige fraîche, d'aprèsE. Ekhart, sont respectivement positives ou négatives.

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Mit 2 Textabbildungen.     

Fission tracks in minerals: Annealing kinetics,track structure and age correction

It is shown that the annealing kinetics of fission tracks in apatite can be described by a sum of exponential decay functions. From an analysis of the temperature dependence of this annealing law it is concluded that the etchability of fission tracks is due to extended defects, i.e. systems of dislocation loops. The multiexponential annealing law is also applied to prove that the plateau correction method is basically correct, but rather as a method for determining a lower limit than the “true” fission track age.     

Street-scale storm surge load impact assessment using fine-resolution numerical modelling: a case study from Nemuro,Japan

Natural Hazards - Due to gradual sea level rise and changes in the climate system, coastal vulnerability to storm surge hazards is expected to increase in some areas. Studies regarding the effect...     

Investigating hydrological drivers of nitrate export dynamics in two agricultural catchments in Germany using high-frequency data series

In this study near-continuous time series of nitrate, electrical conductivity, and discharge were used to identify the dominating hydrological mechanisms that control nitrate export dynamics in two agricultural catchments. The main goal was to assess relationships between contrasting event based as well as long-term nitrate transport behaviour and catchment hydrology. Data records were obtained from online probes that allow field based high-frequency analyses over long time periods. The catchments of the Ammer River (southwestern Germany) and the Weida River (eastern Germany) are similar with respect to size (~100 km²), morphology, and climate and are dominated by agricultural use. Main differences are the stronger urbanization and the occurrence of karstic rocks in the Ammer catchment. Nitrate concentrations are high in water of both streams and range mostly between 20 and 50 mg l^?1. Nitrate export in the Ammer catchment is dominated by baseflow and a minor second, diluting runoff component generated in urbanized areas. In contrast, nitrate dynamics of the Weida catchment is governed by the interplay of at least three runoff components, while the largest amount of nitrate is mobilized intermittently by a delayed fast component generated in the catchment’s soils during wet conditions. These interpretations, derived with one online probe at the outlet of each catchment, are well in line with the former modeling results. This study shows that high-resolution data obtained by online techniques offers a large potential to improve the conceptualization of dominating flow and transport processes at catchment scales at relatively low costs and effort.     

Hydraulic roughness over simple subaqueous dunes

Detailed studies of flow over subaqueous dunes in laboratory flumes were used to suggest a virtual near-bed layer of twice the dune height in which the mean velocity is accelerated towards the crest by contraction. The mean flow velocity in this layer above the crest, transformed into friction velocity by means of the surface skin roughness, is shown to give values consistent with measured values. The resulting dimensionless shear stress due to skin friction is depth-independent, in contrast to that derived by means of often cited traditional methods. As a result of the relationship between dune height and the thickness of the near-bed layer, an expression for the expansion loss behind dunes was formulated and used to relate form resistance directly to dune height.