EFFECTS OF RIVER NETWORK WORKS AND SOIL CONSERVATION MEASURES ON RESERVOIR SILTATION

Knowledge of the morphological dynamics of a water course is essential for management of reservoir siltation. With an example of sedimentation in a reservoir in Basilicata, Italy, this paper demonstrates the effect on reservoir siltation of the hydraulic works, which are aimed to reduce sediment transport along the fluvial network and to prevent part of the sediment discharge from reaching the lake. The effect depends on the river type and on the the geological features of river basin slopes. The paper also shows how mass erosion can significantly contribute to development of reservoir siltation. Finally, preliminary results are provided about the time needed for river training works to be effective.     

Numerical Model of Two-Phase Flow in Dissolvable Porous Media and Simulation of Reservoir Acidizing

Mathematical model of porous media dissolution coupled with two-phase flow is proposed. The model is based on the conception of dissolvable porous medium with deformable mass-variable porous skeleton. Model can be used for simulation of coupled chemo- and hydrogeomechanical processes which are difficult to examine experimentally. Acidizing of calcite oil reservoir is used as an example of the process. Water solution of hydrochloric acid and oil are two fluid phases of the model with several components. Dissolvable porous media is treated as deformable mass-variable solid phase. Change in mass of the solid phase is caused by hydrochloric acid dissolving the calcite part of the solid phase. Dissolution is supposed to be congruent; kinetics is governed by the Nernst law. Software for numerical solution of the model is developed. It uses AmgCL parallel library for high-performance computing in order to deal with large algebraic systems on the each time step of calculations. The library uses algebraic multigrid methods for preconditioning and parallel iterative solvers. NVidia CUDA framework is used as a backend to perform GPGPU calculations, because it proved to be faster than OpenCL framework on this problem. Numerical experiments on the basis of data set from real reservoirs are conducted with the developed software. Good correlation between field and calculated data is achieved. Numerical experiments for different configurations of heterogeneous layer are performed. Acidizing of layers with highly permeable conduit and with random distribution of permeability is modeled.     

A comprehensive classification of anomalous circulation patterns responsible for persistent precipitation extremes in South China

Based on observational precipitation at 63 stations in South China and NCEP NCAR reanalysis data during 1951 2010,a cluster analysis is performed to classify large-scale circulation patterns responsible for persistent precipitation extremes(PPEs) that are independent of the influence of tropical cyclones(TCs).Conceptual schematics depicting configurations among planetary-scale systems at different levels are established for each type.The PPEs free from TCs account for 38.6%of total events,and they tend to occur during April August and October,with the highest frequency observed in June.Corresponding circulation patterns during June August can be mainly categorized into two types,i.e.,summer-Ⅰ type and summer-Ⅱtype.In summer-Ⅰ type,the South Asian high takes the form of a zonal-belt type.The axis of upstream westerly jets is northwest-oriented.At the middle level,the westerly jets at midlatitudes extend zonally.Along the southern edge of the westerly jet,synoptic eddies steer cold air to penetrate southward;the Bay of Bengal(BOB) trough is located to the north;a shallow trough resides over coastal areas of western South China;and an intensified western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH) extends westward.The anomalous moisture is mainly contributed by horizontal advection via southwesterlies around 20°N and southeasterlies from the southern flange of the WPSH.Moisture convergence maximizes in coastal regions of eastern South China,which is the very place recording extreme precipitation.In summer-Ⅱ type,the South Asian high behaves as a western-center type.The BOB trough is much deeper,accompanied by a cyclone to its north;and a lower-level trough appears in northwestern parts of South China.Different to summer-Ⅰ type,moisture transport via southwesterlies is mostly responsible for the anomalous moisture in this type.The moisture convergence zones cover Guangdong,Guangxi,and Hainan,matching well with the areas of flooding.It is these set combinations among different systems at different levels that trigger PPEs in South China.     

Precursory seismicity of the 1994 eruption of Popocatépetl Volcano,Central Mexico

Popocatépetl Volcano is located in the central Mexican Volcanic Belt, within a densely populated region inhabited by over 20 million people. The eruptive history of this volcano indicates that it is capable of producing a wide range of eruptions, including Plinian events. After nearly 70 years of quiescence, Popocatépetl reawakened in December 21, 1994. The eruptive activity has continued up until the date of this submission and has been characterized by a succession of lava dome growth-and-destruction episodes, similar to events that have apparently been typical for Popocatépetl since the fourteenth century. In this regime, the episodes of effusive and moderately explosive activity alternate with long periods of almost total quiescence. In this paper we analyze five years of volcano-tectonic seismicity preceding the initial eruption of the current episode. The evolution of the V-T seismicity shows four distinct stages, which we interpret in terms of the internal processes which precede an eruption after a long period of quiescence. The thermal effects of a magma intrusion at depth, the fracturing related to the slow development of magma-related fluid pathways, the concentration of stress causing a protracted acceleration of this process, and a final relaxation or redistribution of the stress shortly before the initial eruption are reflected in the rates of V-T seismic energy release. A hindsight analysis of this activity shows that the acceleration of the seismicity in the third stage asymptotically forecast the time of the eruption. The total seismic energy release needed to produce an eruption after a long period of quiescence is related to the volume of rock that must be fractured so imposing a characteristic threshold limit for polygenetic volcanoes, limit that was reached by Popocatépetl before the eruption.     

Landfill site selection using combination of fuzzy logic and multi-attribute decision-making approach

During the last decades, growth of urbanization and industrialization led to an increase in solid waste generation. Landfilling is the most prevalent ultimate disposal method for the municipal solid wastes in developing countries. The rapid municipal solid waste generation in Markazi province (central part of Iran) causes the need for precision in finding a suitable landfill site selection. In the present study, 12 factors (environmental and socioeconomic factors) have been applied to select the landfill site in Markazi province, Iran. The different methods including the analytic network process (ANP) combined with fuzzy linguistic quantifier, ordered weighted average (OWA), and weighted linear combination (WLC) approach in geographic information system was applied to find an appropriate landfill site. The OWA operator function permits the evaluation of the wide spectrum of consequences (with different scenario) obtained from different management strategies. Results revealed that integration of fuzzy logic, ANP, and OWA provides flexible and better ideas compared to the Boolean logic and WLC to select a suitable landfill site.     

Bayesian power-law regression with a location parameter,with applications for construction of discharge rating curves

This paper presents a Bayesian approach for fitting the standard power-law rating curve model to a set of stage-discharge measurements. Methods for eliciting both regional and at-site prior information, and issues concerning the determination of prior forms, are discussed. An efficient MCMC algorithm for the specific problem is derived. The appropriateness of the proposed method is demonstrated by applying the model to both simulated and real-life data. However, some problems came to light in the applications, and these are discussed.     

Urban cadastral mapping using very high resolution remote sensing data

With growing urban expanses, one of the pre-requisites for effective governance is Urban Information Systems (UIS) with content down to individual properties (and individuals). The basic input i.e., a map, in UIS should show individual property boundaries showing the plan outline of all structures existing within, at a scale of 1:1000 and larger with sub-metre to centimeters planimetric and geometric accuracy. With very high resolution remote sensing data of the order of 1m available in hand, it is possible to prepare maps with high resolution spatial content. The present exercise demonstrates a method of preparing a geometrically and planimetrically accurate urban cadastral map on very large scale for a small area of about 5 sq km. IKONOS merged data with 1m resolution is used for the purpose. Mapping was done in conjunction with on-site measurements and sketches. Guides are used to maintain shape symmetry and accuracy of buildings and other features. Working out cost of mapping per unit area is another objective in the present exercise. For want of fully or semi-automatic methods of information extraction from very high resolution remote sensing data, it is imperative that mapping should be carried out in conjunction with some on-site measurements wherever necessary.     

Tracking embodied carbon flows in the Belt and Road regions

In the past few decades, economic globalization has driven rapid growth of cross-border trade and a new international division of labor, leading to increasing inter- country embodied carbon flows. Multi-region input-output (MRIO) analysis is used to identify embodied carbon flows between major world regions, including seven regions along the Belt and Road (BR), and the spatial distribution of production- and consumption-based carbon intensities. The results show that current embodied carbon flows are virtually all from BR regions to developed countries, with more than 95% of world net embodied carbon exports coming from BR regions. Consumption in the United States and European Union countries induce about 30% of the carbon emissions in most BR regions, indicating that the former bear a high proportion of consumers’ responsibility for the carbon emitted in the latter. For this reason, measuring environmental responsibilities from consumption rather than a production- based perspective is more equitable, while developing countries should be given a louder voice in the construction through dialogue and cooperation, in part in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, of an inclusive global climate governance system.     

Indirect unstructured hex-dominant mesh generation using tetrahedra recombination

Corner-point gridding is widely used in reservoir and basin modeling but generally yields approximations in the representation of geological interfaces. This paper introduces an indirect method to generate a hex-dominant mesh conformal to 3D geological surfaces and well paths suitable for finite-element and control-volume finite-element simulations. By indirect, we mean that the method first generates an unstructured tetrahedral mesh whose tetrahedra are then merged into primitives (hexahedra, prisms, and pyramids). More specifically, we focus on determining the optimal set of primitives that can be recombined from a given tetrahedral mesh. First, we detect in the tetrahedral mesh all the feasible volumetric primitives using a pattern-matching algorithm (Meshkat and Talmor Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 49(1-2), 17–30 2000) that we re-visit and extend with configurations that account for degenerated tetrahedra (slivers). Then, we observe that selecting the optimal set of primitives among the feasible ones can be formalized as a maximum weighted independent set problem (Bomze et al. 1999), known to be \(\mathcal {N}\mathcal {P}\)-Complete. We propose several heuristic optimizations to find a reasonable set of primitives in a practical time. All the tetrahedra of each selected primitive are then merged to build the final unstructured hex-dominant mesh. This method is demonstrated on 3D geological models including a faulted and folded model and a discrete fracture network.