Establishing absorbed energy spectra—an attenuation approach

For energy‐based seismic design, energy demand in the form of absorbed energy spectra was established by an attenuation relationship. The absorbed energy is proposed for evaluating the energy demand in an inelastic system because the absorbed energy is directly related to the pseudo‐velocity in the elastic case. Based on a total of 273 ground motion records from 15 significant earthquakes in California, an attenuation relationship of the absorbed energy was established from a two‐stage non‐linear regression analysis. This relationship was established for a given earthquake magnitude, source‐to‐site distance, site class, and ductility factor. A similar expression for the normalized absorbed energy was also developed. This study showed that the absorbed energy for near‐field ground motions can be significantly larger than that predicted by the attenuation relationship for normal ground motions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of urbanization on runoff characteristics of the On-Cheon Stream watershed in Pusan,Korea

This study investigated the effect of urbanization on runoff from the On-Cheon Stream watershed in Pusan, Korea. This watershed has been experiencing considerable urbanization since the 1960s. There are two gauging stations in the watershed. For one of the stations there are recent flow data and for the other flow data were observed in the past. A linear reservoir model was chosen and runoff was analysed for several flood events. The linear reservoir model has been found to generate flood hydrographs accurately for both gauging stations, and its applicability to the study area has also been established. Using two methods of computing effective rainfall or rainfall excess (ϕ-index and constant percentage method), the results of runoff analyses were investigated. The ϕ-index method yielded better results than the constant percentage method. A comparison of hydrographs observed in the past with the simulation results at the Ie-Sup bridge site revealed that the peak discharge increased and the mean lag time of the study area decreased owing to urbanization over the past two decades. It is also possible to evaluate the effect of urbanization quantitatively. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecological–Microbiological Studies of Lake Beloe in Winter and Spring with the Use of Innovation Test-Systems

Water Resources - Chlorophyll a concentration, the total abundance of bacteria, the number of bacterial cells with active metabolism, and the abundance of saprotrophic bacteria were studied in the...     

Experimental verification of building control using active bracing system

The objective of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of some control algorithms which will be implemented through experimental verification of a seismic-excited full-scale building. A full-scale 3-storey steel building with active bracing control system was tested at a three-dimensional shaking table of NCREE, Taiwan. The active bracing control system was installed at the first floor. Three different control algorithms were used for the experimental verification: static-output-feedback LQR control, modal control with direct output feedback, and static-output-feedback with variable gain. It is concluded that within the maximum capacity of the actuator in the experiment all the three control algorithms performed well and almost 50 per cent of displacement as well as the acceleration of each floor response was reduced. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local rainfall thresholds for forecasting landslide occurrence: Taipingshan landslide triggered by Typhoon Saola

This paper presents a case study of the Taipingshan landslide, which was triggered by Typhoon Saola in 2012. Taipingshan villa is one of the most famous scenic locations within the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area in northern Taiwan. Since the early 1990s, evidence of recent landslide activity appeared throughout the Taipingshan villa and included features such as tension cracks, ground settlement, and cracking in manmade structures. In response, a series of geological investigations and in-site/laboratory tests were conducted in 2010 to estimate slope stability and predict critical rainfall thresholds (event accumulated rainfall) for landslide activity. Results revealed that the critical rainfall threshold for the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area is 1765 mm. In 2012, that threshold was tested when Typhoon Saola brought tremendous rainfall to northern and eastern Taiwan and triggered activity along the main scarp of sliding mass B located near the History Exhibition Hall. According to in situ extensometer readings and on-site precipitation data, the extensometer was severed at an accumulated rainfall 1694 mm. Field monitoring data during the typhoon event are in good agreement with the rainfall threshold. These preliminary results suggest that the threshold may be useful for assessing the rainfall threshold of other landslides and a good reference for establishing early warning systems for landslides.     

Interrelationship between geochemical elements of sediment and groundwater at Samrak Park Delta of Nakdong River Basin in Korea: multivariate statistical analyses and artificial neural network approaches

This research was conducted at Samrak Park Delta of Nakdong River Basin in Busan Metropolitan City, Korea. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the interrelationship of geochemical elements in sediments and groundwater through multivariate statistical analyses and a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network model. The mean concentrations of chemical elements were Si (46%), Fe (16.9%), Al (15.7%), K (7.5%) and Ca (4.5%) in sediments, and Na (8650 mg/L), Mg (999 mg/L), Ca (432 mg/L), K (293 mg/L) and Cl (17,640 mg/L) in groundwater, respectively. The principal component analysis produced 3 kinds of factors with the variances of 63.37, 27.02 and 9.62%, respectively. It is suggested that the chemical components of sediments and groundwater were mainly originated from source rocks and seawater intrusion, with the minor impacts of irrigation and industry. Cluster analysis also showed that chemical elements were mainly controlled by the natural geogenic sources and seawater intrusion. Multilayer perceptron of artificial neural network (ANN) presented the good interrelationship between sediment and groundwater. The determination coefficients (R ²) between ANN predicted values and observed values in groundwater showed the high values of 0.61–0.97 except Mg, Mn and Sr. It is revealed that the chemical components of sediment and groundwater were derived from local geological origin and from the minor impact of anthropogenic sources. Multivariate analyses and ANN contributed to the identification of the mutual relationship between the geochemical elements of sediment and those of groundwater.     

State of heterotrophic bacterioplankton of Yenisei estuary and the zone of Ob–Yenisei discharge in autumn in relation with environmental factors

In September 2011, variations of the total abundance of bacteria were studied, including, for the first time, the abundance of bacteria with intact membranes and active electron transport chains, as well as chlorophyll a concentrations and some hydrological and hydrochemical characteristics of water in Yenisei estuary and the zone of Ob–Yenisei river discharge. The study found abundant, viable, and actively functioning bacterioplankton to exist in the region. The absolute values of all microbiological characteristics were found to decrease with the distance from the freshened waters of Yenisei estuary toward the seawater of the Ob–Yenisei river discharge, while the percentage of bacteria with intact membranes and actively functioning microorganisms in bacterioplankton increased in the same direction. Positive correlations were found to exist between the values of all examined microbiological characteristics and the concentration in water of chlorophyll a, silicium, organic nitrogen, and oxygen, as well as water temperature. The same biological characteristics showed negative correlations with water salinity and phosphates. The spatial distribution of bacteria in the examined water body was supposed to be due mostly to the intensity of hydrodynamic processes, rather than the biogenic matter content of water.     

Diving associated coral breakage in Hong Kong: Differential susceptibility to damage

We conducted the first quantitative assessment of coral breakage along a gradient of diving activities in Hong Kong, the most densely populated city in southern China. A survey of six 1 × 25 m transects at seven sites revealed a total of 81 broken corals, among which 44% were branching, 44% plate-like and 12% massive. There were 3–19 broken colonies per site. At most study sites, the percentage of broken corals exceeded the recommended no-action threshold of 4%, suggesting that management intervention is justified. There was a significant positive correlation between the number of broken coral colonies and the number of divers visiting the site. The branching Acropora and the plate-like Montipora suffered from much higher frequency of damage than their relative abundance, raising the concern that the cumulative impact of such differential susceptibility to breakage may affect coral community composition.     

Mass density of the upper atmosphere derived from Starlette’s Precise Orbit Determination with Satellite Laser Ranging

The atmospheric mass density of the upper atmosphere from the spherical Starlette satellite’s Precise Orbit Determination is first derived with Satellite Laser Ranging measurements at 815 to 1115 km during strong solar and geomagnetic activities. Starlette’s orbit is determined using the improved orbit determination techniques combining optimum parameters with a precise empirical drag application to a gravity field. MSIS-86 and NRLMSISE-00 atmospheric density models are compared with the Starlette drag-derived atmospheric density of the upper atmosphere. It is found that the variation in the Starlette’s drag coefficient above 800 km corresponds well with the level of geomagnetic activity. This represents that the satellite orbit is mainly perturbed by the Joule heating from geomagnetic activity at the upper atmosphere. This result concludes that MSIS empirical models strongly underestimate the mass density of the upper atmosphere as compared to the Starlette drag-derived atmospheric density during the geomagnetic storms. We suggest that the atmospheric density models should be analyzed with higher altitude acceleration data for a better understanding of long-term solar and geomagnetic effects.