Helophyte zonation in two regulated estuarine areas in the Netherlands: Vegetation analysis and relationships with hydrological factors

The relationship between hydrological conditions and riparian helophyte vegetation was studied in two freshwater estuaries that differed in tidal regulation in order to assess the effects of large-scale hydrological regulation on the fringe vegetation. Vegetation and environmental variables were sampled for 206 sites in the Rhine-Meuse estuary (146 sites) and the IJsselmeer region (60 sites) in the Netherlands. These samples were classified into 10 vegetation types, all of which were dominated by tall helophytes. The most common vegetation types were dominated byPhragmites australis andTypha angustifolia, which formed both monospecific stands and mixtures. Tall Cyperaceae dominated three vegetation types (dominated individually bySchoenoplectus lacustris, Bolboschoenus maritimus, andSchoenoplectus tabernaemontani).Acorus calamus. Principal components analysis of the species composition of vegetation fringing open-water areas and associated environmental data revealed complex gradients incorporating differences in water depth, water-level fluctuation, were exposure, and sedimentation and/or erosion. The composition of the helophyte belts varied among the areas as the result of the differing times at which regulation occurred. Based on historical data, hydrological regulation of the estuaries has resulted in deterioration of intertidalSchoenoplectus andBolboschoenus stands, due to erosion and predation.P. australis stands have been invaded by terrestrial plant species or have been replaced byT. angustifolia. A scheme is presented of helophyte vegetation development under the influence of changes in the hydrological regime.     

A climatological data set of temperature and salinity for the Baltic Sea and the North Sea

Ocean Dynamics - A climatological monthly mean data set for temperature and salinity in the area of the North Sea and Baltic Sea is presented. More than 3.1 million temperature observations (2.9...     

Parsimonious wave‐equation travel‐time inversion for refraction waves

We present a parsimonious wave‐equation travel‐time inversion technique for refraction waves. A dense virtual refraction dataset can be generated from just two reciprocal shot gathers for the sources at the endpoints of the survey line, with N geophones evenly deployed along the line. These two reciprocal shots contain approximately 2N refraction travel times, which can be spawned into refraction travel times by an interferometric transformation. Then, these virtual refraction travel times are used with a source wavelet to create N virtual refraction shot gathers, which are the input data for wave‐equation travel‐time inversion. Numerical results show that the parsimonious wave‐equation travel‐time tomogram has about the same accuracy as the tomogram computed by standard wave‐equation travel‐time inversion. The most significant benefit is that a reciprocal survey is far less time consuming than the standard refraction survey where a source is excited at each geophone location.     

Multiscale phase inversion for 3D ocean-bottom cable data

We invert three-dimensional seismic data by a multiscale phase inversion scheme, a modified version of full waveform inversion, which applies higher order integrations to the input signal to produce low-boost signals. These low-boost signals are used as the input data for the early iterations, and lower order integrations are computed at the later iterations. The advantages of multiscale phase inversion are that it (1) is less dependent on the initial model compared to full waveform inversion, (2) is less sensitive to incorrectly modelled magnitudes and (3) employs a simple and natural frequency shaping filtering. For a layered model with a three-dimensional velocity anomaly, results with synthetic data show that multiscale phase inversion can sometimes provide a noticeably more accurate velocity profile than full waveform inversion. Results with the Society of Exploration Geophysicists/European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers overthrust model shows that multiscale phase inversion more clearly resolves meandering channels in the depth slices. However, the data and model misfit functions achieve about the same values after 50 iterations. The results with three-dimensional ocean-bottom cable data show that, compared to the full waveform inversion tomogram, the three-dimensional multiscale phase inversion tomogram provides a better match to the well log, and better flattens angle-domain common image gathers. The problem is that the tomograms at the well log provide an incomplete low-wavenumber estimate of the log's velocity profile. Therefore, a good low-wavenumber estimate of the velocity model is still needed for an accurate multiscale phase inversion tomogram.     

Sediment yield of the lower Tana River,Kenya, is insensitive to dam construction: sediment mobilization processes in a semi‐arid tropical river system

Dam construction in the 1960s to 1980s significantly modified sediment supply from the Kenyan uplands to the lower Tana River. To assess the effect on suspended sediment fluxes of the Tana River, we monitored the sediment load at high temporal resolution for 1 year and complemented our data with historical information. The relationship between sediment concentration and water discharge was complex: at the onset of the wet season, discharge peaks resulted in high sediment concentrations and counterclockwise hysteresis, while towards the end of the wet season, a sediment exhaustion effect led to low concentrations despite the high discharge. The total sediment flux at Garissa (c. 250 km downstream of the lowermost dam) between June 2012 and June 2013 was 8.8 Mt yr^‐1. Comparison of current with historical fluxes indicated that dam construction had not greatly affected the annual sediment flux. We suggest that autogenic processes, namely river bed dynamics and bank erosion, mobilized large quantities of sediments stored in the alluvial plain downstream of the dams. Observations supporting the importance of autogenic processes included the absence of measurable activities of the fall‐out radionuclides ⁷Be and ¹³⁷Cs in the suspended sediment, the rapid lateral migration of the river course, and the seasonal changes in river cross‐section. Given the large stock of sediment in the alluvial valley of the Tana River, it may take centuries before the effect of damming shows up as a quantitative reduction in the sediment flux at Garissa. Many models relate the sediment load of rivers to catchment characteristics, thereby implicitly assuming that alterations in the catchment induce changes in the sediment load. Our research confirms that the response of an alluvial river to external disturbances such as land use or climate change is often indirect or non‐existent as autogenic processes overwhelm the changes in the input signal. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generalized diffraction‐stack migration and filtering of coherent noise

We reformulate the equation of reverse‐time migration so that it can be interpreted as summing data along a series of hyperbola‐like curves, each one representing a different type of event such as a reflection or multiple. This is a generalization of the familiar diffraction‐stack migration algorithm where the migration image at a point is computed by the sum of trace amplitudes along an appropriate hyperbola‐like curve. Instead of summing along the curve associated with the primary reflection, the sum is over all scattering events and so this method is named generalized diffraction‐stack migration. This formulation leads to filters that can be applied to the generalized diffraction‐stack migration operator to mitigate coherent migration artefacts due to, e.g., crosstalk and aliasing. Results with both synthetic and field data show that generalized diffraction‐stack migration images have fewer artefacts than those computed by the standard reverse‐time migration algorithm. The main drawback is that generalized diffraction‐stack migration is much more memory intensive and I/O limited than the standard reverse‐time migration method.     

Understanding river dune splitting through flume experiments and analysis of a dune evolution model

Forecasts of water level during river floods require accurate predictions of the evolution of river dune dimensions, because the hydraulic roughness of the main channel is largely determined by the bed morphology. River dune dimensions are controlled by processes like merging and splitting of dunes. Particularly the process of dune splitting is still poorly understood and – as a result – not yet included in operational dune evolution models. In the current paper, the process of dune splitting is investigated by carrying out laboratory experiments and by means of a sensitivity analysis using a numerical dune evolution model. In the numerical model, we introduced superimposed TRIAS ripples (i.e. triangular asymmetric stoss side‐ripples) on the stoss sides of underlying dunes as soon as these stoss sides exceed a certain critical length. Simulations with the model including dune splitting showed that predictions of equilibrium dune characteristics were significantly improved compared to the model without dune splitting. As dune splitting is implemented in a parameterized way, the computational cost remains low which means that dune evolution can be calculated on the timescale of a flood wave. Subsequently, we used this model to study the mechanism of dune splitting. Literature showed that the initiation of a strong flow separation zone behind a superimposed bedform is one of the main mechanisms behind dune splitting. The flume experiments indicated that besides its height also the lee side slope of the superimposed bedform is an important factor to determine the strength of the flow separation zone and therefore is an important aspect in dune splitting. The sensitivity analysis of the dune evolution model showed that a minimum stoss side length was required to develop a strong flow separation zone. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anomalous radar backscatter from Titan’s surface?

Since Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004, its moon Titan has been thoroughly mapped by the RADAR instrument at 2-cm wavelength, in both active and passive modes. Some regions on Titan, including Xanadu and various bright hummocky bright terrains, contain surfaces that are among the most radar-bright encountered in the Solar System. This high brightness has been generally attributed to volume scattering processes in the inhomogeneous, low-loss medium expected for a cold, icy satellite surface. We can test this assumption now that the emissivity has been obtained from the concurrent radiometric measurements for nearly all the surface, with unprecedented accuracy (Janssen et al., and the Cassini RADAR Team [2009]. Icarus 200, 222-239). Kirchhoff’s law of thermal radiation relates the radar and radiometric properties in a way that has never been fully exploited. In this paper we examine here how this law may be applied in this case to better understand the nature of Titan’s radar-bright regions. We develop a quantitative model that, when compared to the observational data, allows us to conclude that either the reflective characteristics of the putative volume scattering subsurface must be highly constrained, or, more likely, organized structure on or in the surface is present that enhances the backscatter.     

Spatial Sciences on Ice: 50 years of Australian activities on the Amery Ice Shelf,East Antarctica

The Antarctic climate system involves many complex interactions between the atmosphere, oceans and ice and is sensitive to variations in these components. Ice shelves represent the ice–ocean–atmosphere interface of the Antarctic continent and are therefore very important indicators of climate change in the region. The Amery Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in East Antarctica and has been the focus of many scientific research projects over the past 50 years. This paper presents a history of the use of spatial science techniques from basic survey equipment to satellite systems in Australian research projects based on the Amery Ice Shelf (and surrounding glaciers) since 1955. The application of these spatial data to projects based primarily in the fields of geodesy, glaciology, climatology, and oceanography has allowed the measurement and monitoring of the physical, dynamic and environmental characteristics of this large and remote region. This new information provides scientists with a better understanding of the ice shelf/ocean/atmosphere system allowing future monitoring to observe the effects of global climate change.