Watershed delineation using hydrographic features and a DEM in plain river network region

Watershed delineation is a required step when conducting any spatially distributed hydrological modelling. Automated approaches are often proposed to delineate a watershed based on a river network extracted from the digital elevation model (DEM) using the deterministic eight‐neighbour (D8) method. However, a realistic river network cannot be derived from conventional DEM processing methods for a large flat area with a complex network of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and polders, referred to as a plain river network region (PRNR). In this study, a new approach, which uses both hydrographic features and DEM, has been developed to address the problems of watershed delineation in PRNR. It extracts the river nodes and determines the flow directions of the river network based on a vector‐based hydrographic feature data model. The river network, lakes, reservoirs, and polders are then used to modify the flow directions of grid cells determined by D8 approach. The watershed is eventually delineated into four types of catchments including lakes, reservoirs, polders, and overland catchments based on the flow direction matrix and the location of river nodes. Multiple flow directions of grid cells are represented using a multi‐direction encoding method, and multiple outflows of catchments are also reflected in the topology of catchments. The proposed approach is applied to the western Taihu watershed in China. Comparisons between the results obtained from the D8 approach, the ‘stream burning’ approach, and those from the proposed approach clearly demonstrate an improvement of the new approach over the conventional approaches. This approach will benefit the development of distributed hydrological models in PRNR for the consideration of different types and multiple inlets and outlets of catchments. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extreme deformation characteristics and countermeasures for a tunnel in difficult grounds in southern Shaanxi,China

The Qingling–Bashan (QB) mountain region in southern Shaanxi mainly consists of strongly compressive zones from east to west, with tight folds and compressive fractures. There is a wide distribution of soft rocks of various types, such as phyllite and slate, accompanied by complex geological structures. Ironically, tunnel construction in these difficult grounds with complicated geological conditions embraces a high risk of extreme deformation due to various unpredictable reasons, which can frequently cause collapse and result in budget overruns during the construction period. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct effective countermeasures to eliminate or avoid such adverse impacts. This paper provides a case study on the “Yingfeng tunnel” (a tunnel constructed in soft rock consisting of a slate ground) based on a geological survey, indoor experiments and in situ monitoring. A successive rock mass deformation resulted in the tunnel lining seriously intruding into construction clearance and some other sections, even collapsing during the construction. The maximum displacement amount was 62.5 cm, while the maximum deformation speed reached as high as 34.18 mm/day. Additionally, to evaluate the construction impacts of tunnelling-induced geo-hazards, an investigation on extreme deformation was conducted. Considering the time-dependent features of the rock mass deformation, the constraint-convergence method was used to put forward applicable countermeasures in this paper. Finally, from the feedbacks of monitoring results, extreme deformation of the Yingfeng tunnel was effectively controlled.     

School vulnerability to disaster: examination of school closure,demographic, and exposure factors in Hurricane Ike’s wind swath

Damage and destruction to schools from climate-related disasters can have significant and lasting impacts on curriculum and educational programs, educational attainment, and future income-earning potential of affected students. As such, assessing the potential impact of hazards is crucial to the ability of individuals, households, and communities to respond to natural disasters, extreme events, and economic crises. Yet, few studies have focused on assessing the vulnerability of schools in coastal regions of the USA. Using Hurricane Ike’s tropical storm wind swath in the State of Texas as our study area, we: (1) assessed the spatial distribution patterns of school closures and (2) tested the relationship between school closure and vulnerability factors (namely physical exposure and school demographics) using zero-inflated negative binomial regression models. The regression results show that higher probabilities of hurricane strikes, more urbanized school districts, and school districts located in coastal counties on the right side of Ike’s path have significant positive associations with an increase in the number of school closure days. Socioeconomic characteristics were not significantly associated with the number of days closed, with the exception of proportion of Hispanic youth in schools, a result which is not supported by the social vulnerability literature. At a practical level, understanding how hurricanes may adversely impact schools is important for developing appropriate preparedness, mitigation, recovery, and adaptation strategies. For example, school districts on the right side of the hurricane track can plan in advance for potential damage and destruction. The ability of a community to respond to future natural disasters, extreme events, and economic crises depends in part on mitigating these adverse effects.     

Socioeconomic vulnerability and electric power restoration timelines in Florida: the case of Hurricane Irma

Large-scale damage to the power infrastructure from hurricanes and high-wind events can have devastating ripple effects on infrastructure, the broader economy, households, communities, and regions. Using Hurricane Irma’s impact on Florida as a case study, we examined: (1) differences in electric power outages and restoration rates between urban and rural counties; (2) the duration of electric power outages in counties exposed to tropical storm force winds versus hurricane Category 1 force winds; and (3) the relationship between the duration of power outage and socioeconomic vulnerability. We used power outage data for the period September 9, 2017–September 29, 2017. At the peak of the power outages following Hurricane Irma, over 36% of all accounts in Florida were without electricity. We found that the rural counties, predominantly served by rural electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities, experienced longer power outages and much slower and uneven restoration times. Results of three spatial lag models show that large percentages of customers served by rural electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities were a strong predictor of the duration of extended power outages. There was also a strong positive association across all three models between power outage duration and urban/rural county designation. Finally, there is positive spatial dependence between power outages and several social vulnerability indicators. Three socioeconomic variables found to be statistically significant highlight three different aspects of vulnerability to power outages: minority groups, population with sensory, physical and mental disability, and economic vulnerability expressed as unemployment rate. The findings from our study have broader planning and policy relevance beyond our case study area, and highlight the need for additional research to deepen our understanding of how power restoration after hurricanes contributes to and is impacted by the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of communities.     

2021年6-9月广西异常高温成因分析

2021年6-9月广西经历了1951年以来最高的月平均气温,大范围高温天气频发.利用1961-2021年广西国家地面气象观测站日平均气温和日最高气温观测资料、1991-2021年ERA5再分析资料和西太平洋副热带高压指数资料,对此次广西异常高温的特征和成因进行了研究分析.结果 表明,气候变暖是导致此次高温事件的重要气候背景,西太平洋副热带高压异常偏强位置偏西偏北、中纬度西风带扰动影响偏北以及热带气旋影响偏弱是造成广西气温异常偏高的主要原因.     

数字化背景下的吉林师范大学四平校区校园信息管理系统设计与实现

随着ArcGIS技术、Internet技术、多媒体技术在社会生活中的广泛应用,校园信息化建设成为近几年来世界各国教育发展的热点。数字化校园建设是学校一项基础性、长期性和经常性的工作,科学技术的发展,要求学校管理系统实现传统校园管理效率的提升,最终实现校园管理的整体数字化。本文对吉林师范大学四平校区基础数据进行了收集,主要运用了查资料和实地调查法。通过对四平校区校园信息管理系统的开发,采用数据库的思想,利用ArcGIS建立数据库并将室外采集数据及室内数字化图形数据录入数据库,以ArcGIS为平台,建立空间数据库和属性数据库,使该数据库具有采集、存储、更新、查询等功能。同时又将主流ArcGIS技术运用到系统当中,利用ArcGIS技术提供的空间管理和空间分析功能,实现了对学校空间数据、属性信息的较好管理,大大提高了系统的管理效率,为广大师生提供了更好的服务。     

Study on failure mechanism of a plain irrigation reservoir soil bank slope under wind wave erosion

Natural Hazards - The wind wave erosion is one of the main factors of the soil bank slope retreat in plain irrigation reservoirs, which plays an important role in the bank profile evolution and...     

Characteristics of dissolved organic matter in lakes with different eutrophic levels in southeastern Hubei Province,China

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a crucial role in both the carbon cycle and geochemical cycles of other nutrient elements, which is of importance to the ma...     

伽师近场观测地震资料的三维Q值成像

为了研究震源区介质的物性特征,利用振幅谱拟合和有限差分三维Q值成像方法处理了伽师地震区临时台网的地震波形资料,获得了该地震区上地壳的S波三维Q值图像。结果表明:不同深度的Q值图像都存在低Q值带,主要展布方向为EW向、NNE向和NNW向,与研究区的柯坪断裂、羊达曼断裂和麦盖提断裂有一定的对应关系,并且NNE向的低Q值带与强震群分布和余震分布的条带位置接近,推测低Q值带可能是震源区的几条深部断裂。