Measuring bluff erosion part 1: terrestrial laser scanning methods for change detection

Human activities influence watershed sediment dynamics in profound ways, often resulting in excessive loading of suspended sediment to rivers. One of the primary factors limiting our ability to effectively manage sediment at the watershed scale has been our inability to adequately measure relatively small erosion rates (on the order of millimeters to centimeters per year) over annual and sub‐annual time scales on spatially‐extensive landforms, such as river banks and bluffs. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) can be employed to address this need. TLS collects high‐resolution data allowing for more accurate monitoring of erosion rates and processes, and provides a new opportunity to make precise measurements of geomorphic change on vertical landforms like banks and bluffs, but challenges remain. This research highlights challenges and limitations of using TLS for change detection on river banks and bluffs including the presence of vegetation, natural surface crenulations, and difficulties with creating benchmarks, and provides solutions developed to overcome these limitations. Results indicate that data processing algorithms for change detection can have a significant impact on the calculated erosion rates, with different methods producing results that can vary by over 100%. The most accurate change detection technique compares a point cloud to a triangulated irregular network (TIN) along a set of vectors that accommodate bluff curvature. This paper outlines a variety of methods used to measure bluff change via TLS and explains the accompanying error analysis that supports these methods. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making approach for establishing a regional-scale groundwater monitoring

A weighted multi-criteria decision-making framework was designed to identify and prioritize areas for monitoring aquifer hydraulic heads within the Victoria County Groundwater Conservation District. The criteria address salient hydrogeological aspects including groundwater variability, recharge, surface water–groundwater interactions, and groundwater fluxes across district boundaries. Texas water statutes require groundwater conservation districts to quantify these factors and utilize them to manage aquifers. A stakeholder survey instrument was used to prioritize these criteria. A monitoring priority index (MPI), whose value theoretically ranges between 0 and 1 was computed as a weighted average of six mutually exclusive criteria. The MPI value was seen to range between 0.2 and 0.6 within the study area. Lower values of MPI indicate areas where the current level of monitoring is adequate and areas with a higher MPI point to locations where additional monitoring is necessary. In particular, monitoring along district boundaries, particularly along the western and southern sections, is recommended. The developed methodology was seen to provide a transparent and simple-to-use approach to identify and prioritize areas within the district for the purposes of groundwater monitoring. The proposed framework demonstrates the utility of GIS in facilitating a scientifically credible and stakeholder-driven approach for establishing groundwater monitoring networks and can be adapted in other similar applications.     

TROPICAL CYCLONE GENESIS EFFICIENCY：MID-LEVEL VERSUS BOTTOM VORTEX

Cloud resolving Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF)model simulations are used to investigate tropical cyclone(TC)genesis efficiency in an environment with a near bottom vortex(EBV)and an environment with a mid-level vortex(EMV).Sensitivity experiments show that the genesis timing depends greatly on initial vorticity vertical profiles.The larger the initial column integrated absolute vorticity,the greater the genesis efficiency is.Given the same column integrated absolute vorticity,a bottom vortex has higher genesis efficiency than a mid-level vortex.A common feature among these experiments is the formation of a mid-level vorticity maximum prior to TC genesis irrespective where the initial vorticity maximum locates.Both the EMV and EBV scenarios share the following development characteristics:1)a transition from non-organized cumulus-scale(~5 km)convective cells into an organized meso-vortex-scale(~50 to 100 km)system through upscale cascade processes,2)the establishment of a nearly saturated air column prior to a rapid drop of the central minimum pressure,and 3)a multiple convective-stratiform phase transition.A genesis efficiency index(GEI)is formulated that includes the following factors:initial column integrated absolute vorticity,vorticity at top of the boundary layer and vertically integrated relative humidity.The calculated GEI reflects well the simulated genesis efficiency and thus may be used to estimate how fast a tropical disturbance develops into a TC.     

Cassini VIMS observations of latitudinal and hemispheric variations in Saturn’s infrared auroral intensity

The intensity of Saturn’s infrared aurora is investigated using Cassini VIMS images acquired during October 2006–February 2009. Polar and main oval auroral regions were defined in both hemispheres, which extend between 0–10° and 10–25° co-latitude, respectively. Average intensities were computed for these regions and compared. While the northern and southern main oval regions covered a similar range of intensities, the southern main oval was on average more intense by a factor of ∼1.3. The emission from the southern polar region was usually less intense than the main oval emissions, while this was only the case for approximately half of the northern hemisphere images. The northern hemisphere polar region displayed intensities more than twice as high as those in the south and the difference between the two hemispheres was most pronounced on the dayside. In general, more intense polar emissions were accompanied by more intense main oval emissions. Possible explanations for the hemispheric and latitudinal differences are discussed in terms of particle energies and fluxes, ionospheric conductivity, temperature and magnetic field strength.     

Librations and obliquity of Mercury from the BepiColombo radio-science and camera experiments

A major goal of the BepiColombo mission to Mercury is the determination of the structure and state of Mercury's interior. Here the BepiColombo rotation experiment has been simulated in order to assess the ability to attain the mission goals and to help lay out a series of constraints on the experiment's possible progress. In the rotation experiment pairs of images of identical surface regions taken at different epochs are used to retrieve information on Mercury's rotation and orientation. The idea is that from observations of the same patch of Mercury's surface at two different solar longitudes of Mercury the orientation of Mercury can be determined, and therefore also the obliquity and rotation variations with respect to the uniform rotation.The estimation of the libration amplitude and obliquity through pattern matching of observed surface landmarks is challenging. The main problem arises from the difficulty to observe the same landmark on the planetary surface repeatedly over the MPO mission lifetime, due to the combination of Mercury's 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, the absence of a drift of the MPO polar orbital plane and the need to combine data from different instruments with their own measurement restrictions.By assuming that Mercury occupies a Cassini state and that the spacecraft operates nominally we show that under worst case assumptions the annual libration amplitude and obliquity can be measured with a precision of, respectively, 1.4 arcseconds (as) and 1.0 as over the nominal BepiColombo MPO lifetime with about 25 landmarks for rather stringent illumination restrictions. The outcome of the experiment cannot be easily improved by simply relaxing the observational constraints, or increasing the data volume.     

LIDAR Validation Using GIS: A Case Study Comparison between Two LIDAR Collection Methods

Abstract

In the summer of 2000, the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada was selected for a high‐resolution elevation survey utilizing LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). Two different LIDAR systems were used to acquire data for the area. The vertical accuracy specification for the survey called for heights to be within an average of 15 cm of measured GPS heights and 95% of the data to be within 30 cm. Prior to the application of these data to geoscientific problems, extensive validation procedures were employed. High precision GPS and traditional surveys were conducted to collect height validation checkpoints. Two validation methods were developed in a GIS environment that involved comparing the checkpoints to the original LIDAR points and to an interpolated “bald earth” DEM. A systematic height error between flight lines for one of the LIDAR methods was detected that related to the calibration procedures used in the survey. This study highlights the differences between laser systems, calibration and deployment methodologies and emphasizes the necessity for independent validation data.     

Modelling long-term water yield effects of forest management in a Norway spruce forest

Abstract

Intensive forest management is one of the main land cover changes over the last century in Central Europe, resulting in forest monoculture. It has been proposed that these monoculture stands impact hydrological processes, water yield, water quality and ecosystem services. At the Lysina Critical Zone Observatory, a forest catchment in the western Czech Republic, a distributed physics-based hydrologic model, Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM), was used to simulate long-term hydrological change under different forest management practices, and to evaluate the comparative scenarios of the hydrological consequences of changing land cover. Stand-age-adjusted LAI (leaf area index) curves were generated from an empirical relationship to represent changes in seasonal tree growth. By consideration of age-adjusted LAI, the spatially-distributed model was able to successfully simulate the integrated hydrological response from snowmelt, recharge, evapotranspiration, groundwater levels, soil moisture and streamflow, as well as spatial patterns of each state and flux. Simulation scenarios of forest management (historical management, unmanaged, clear cutting to cropland) were compared. One of the critical findings of the study indicates that selective (patch) forest cutting results in a modest increase in runoff (water yield) as compared to the simulated unmanaged (no cutting) scenario over a 29-year period at Lysina, suggesting the model is sensitive to selective cutting practices. A simulation scenario of cropland or complete forest cutting leads to extreme increases in annual water yield and peak flow. The model sensitivity to forest management practices examined here suggests the utility of models and scenario development to future management strategies for assessing sustainable water resources and ecosystem services.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis     

Quantitative Revolution 2: The Critical (Re)Turn

Although many have questioned the adequacy of quantitative methods for addressing issues of concern in critical geographies, such as social justice and inequality, many have argued that quantification can potentially make rich contributions to understanding and addressing these issues. In light of the recent attempts to reassert the critical potential and positive role of quantitative geography, we suggest in this introductory article for the Focus Section that the antagonism between critical and quantitative geographies is not beneficial to the discipline. We highlight some promising developments in modern quantitative geography and reflect on the ways in which the critical–quantitative binary can be at least partially eclipsed. We emphasize that knowledge in quantitative methods is essential for deciphering and challenging regressive political agendas, now often supported by numbers and quantitative analysis. Quantitative geography, when integrated with a critical sensibility and used appropriately, can be a powerful tool for fostering progressive social and political change.