Effect of uncertainty in Digital Surface Models on the extent of inundated areas

The impact of uncertainty in ground elevation on the extent of areas that are inundated due to flooding is investigated. Land surface is represented through a Digital Surface Model (DSM). The effect of uncertainty in DSM is compared to that of the uncertainty due to rainfall. The Monte Carlo method is used to quantify the uncertainty. A typical photogrammetric procedure and conventional maps are used to obtain a reference DSM, later altered to provide DSMs of lower accuracy. Also, data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission are used. Floods are simulated in two stages. In the first stage, flood hydrographs for typical return periods are synthesized using generated storm hyetographs, the Soil Conservation Service–Curve Number method for effective rainfall, and the Soil Conservation Service synthetic unit hydrograph. In the second stage, hydrographs are routed via a one‐dimensional hydraulic model. Uncertainty in DSM is considered only in the second stage. Data from two real‐world basins in Greece are used. To characterize the inundated area, we employ the 90% quantile of the inundation extent and inundation topwidth for peak water level at specific river cross‐sections. For topwidths, apart from point estimates, also interval estimates are acquired using the bootstrap method. The effect of DSM uncertainty is compared to that for rainfall. Low uncertainty in DSM is found to widen the inundated area; whereas, the opposite occurred with high uncertainty. SRTM data proved unsuitable for our test basins and modelling context.     

Rock nail reinforcement of a free surface

Rock nailing of the surface instability test specimen is considered as a means to reinforce the rock and increase its free surface strength (FSS). This technique is modeled using Cox's original shear‐lag method. In the continuum sense, nail reinforcement is modeled as a body force that acts as a confinement. Results are presented for a single nail in a surface instability test specimen and for a nail‐reinforced test specimen with a given nail density. The results show that nail length and the nail–rock contact modulus are important parameters. The effect of nail reinforcement increases with the second power of nail length. Rock dilation is also important since the action of the nails is mobilized from the difference in displacement between the rock and the nail. The results show the potential for a significant increase in the FSS of the rock. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A shift approach for the dynamic response of rigid‐plastic systems

A shift approach is presented for evaluating and interpreting the response of rigid‐perfectly plastic single‐degree‐of‐freedom systems to dynamic loading. Scaling laws for such systems are, as the term suggests, multiplicative in nature, relating peak dynamic response to products of key problem parameters such as linear spectral coordinates, force reduction coefficient and peak values of the excitation and its time derivatives. Contrary to classical laws, the proposed approach is additive, imposing a shift in the ordinates and the abscissa of the excitation function by means of a set of parameters uniquely related to the yielding resistance of the system. The dynamic response is then obtained by integrating the modified excitation function in a linear‐like manner within a particular yielding branch, for the nonlinearity is incorporated into the forcing term. The mathematical validity of the approach is demonstrated analytically and its importance is highlighted for systems with symmetric yielding resistance subjected to near‐fault earthquake motions. The modified excitation function may be discontinuous between different yielding branches and relates uniquely to the development of plastic deformation. It is thereby referred to as Plastic Input Motion (PIM). It is shown that the ordinates and the duration of this function may be significantly (yet not necessarily) smaller than those of the original ground motion depending on yield strength. The relationship of the proposed approach to the existing methods and parameters of earthquake engineering such as Newmark's sliding block and relative ground acceleration, is discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microcracks in ultrabasic rocks under uniaxial compressive stress

The initiation and propagation of microcracks under stress are highly dependent upon the mineralogical and textural characteristics of the various lithotypes. Detailed observation and quantification of microcracks before and after uniaxial compression test were conducted. A fresh olivine-rich harzburgite and a serpentinized dunite were analyzed, collected from the Pindos and Vourinos ophiolites (northern Greece) respectively, in order to compare their microcrack patterns. Quantitative analysis indicated that during uniaxial compression the intragranular microcracks, which are the dominating crack-type, are gradually transformed or organized into transgranular cracks. Some of the newly formed transgranular cracks may also be a result of the growth of existing grain-boundary cracks. The new intragranular microcracks in the olivine-rich harzburgite are oriented predominantly parallel to the compressive stress direction, while those in the serpentinized dunite show a scattered orientation presumably due to the mesh texture of this rock-type. The new transgranular cracks of both peridotites tend to be subparallel to the compressive stress direction, however, many of them show a random orientation due to the fact that they have been formed as a result of the propagation of grain-boundary cracks. The occurrence of the soft serpentine along fracture surfaces of olivine, when it is in assemblage with orthopyroxene, tends to absorb the applied stress hampering the development of microcracks in olivine. On the other hand in serpentinized peridotites, the microcracks are enhanced in olivine because it is surrounded by large amounts of the much softer and flexible serpentine. Microcracks are usually formed along the cleavage planes of orthopyroxene porphyroclasts, indicating that such crystallographic preferred orientations act as planes of weakness, controlling the direction of the crack paths. Cr-spinel grains likely comprise locations of initiation of microcracks due to their very hard nature and different mechanical behaviour relative to the surrounding silicate phases. Knowledge of the mineralogical and textural characteristics may assist in the prediction of potential development of failure surfaces of an ultrabasic rock in-service.     

Three dimensional wave scattering by arrays of elliptical and circular cylinders

Recently, Chatjigeorgiou and Mavrakos (2009, 2010a) provided an analytic solution for the three dimensional wave scattering by arrays of elliptical cylinders. The present paper extends the contents of the existing study to tackle the problem of the hydrodynamic interactions between elliptical and circular cylinders. The main task is to derive an analytic solution for the total velocity potential for an arbitrary body of the array and accordingly, to express the hydrodynamic pressure, the exciting forces and the wave elevation in compact analytic closed-forms.The solution method is rather complicated as it considers the circular cylinders as different geometries and not special cases of elliptical cylinders with zero elliptic eccentricity. Nevertheless, the adopted procedure enhances the mathematical reconstruction of the physical subject as it requires the derivation and the employment of addition theorems that transform expressions from elliptic to polar coordinate systems in all four possible combinations.     

Visitors’ perceptions on the management of an important nesting site for loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta L.): The case of Rethymno coastal area in Greece

Tourism has important impacts, both positive and negative, on the management of coastal areas with high biodiversity value. It is therefore important to investigate visitors’ perceptions concerning environmental policy alternatives for these areas along with the factors influencing these perceptions. The present paper aims to investigate visitors’ perceptions of an important nesting ground for loggerhead sea turtles located in a highly touristic area of Greece (Rethymno, Crete) registered in the Natura 2000 network. The paper focuses on the level of environmental awareness of visitors and their perceptions of two proposed policy instruments which will secure funding for the improvement of the environmental management of the area: an entrance fee to the beach and a tax to be levied on local accommodation costs. The influence of social and institutional trust on these perceptions is also explored. According to the results of the study, awareness of the existence of the Natura 2000 site was low. Furthermore, the accommodation tax was regarded as a more effective policy when compared to the entrance fee. Average Willingness to Pay (WTP) was also explored for the two policies, estimated at €1.13 for the daily accommodation tax and €1.59 for the entrance fee. The influence of social and institutional trust had a significant influence both on the perceived level of effectiveness of the proposed policies and the stated Willingness to Pay. The study concludes that the accommodation tax would be a more appropriate policy for the management of Rethymno beach taking into consideration visitors’ perceptions and the current level of trust.     

An integrated GIS-based method for wind-power estimation: application to western Cyprus

This study presents an integrated method for the estimation and analysis of potential wind-energy resources in Cyprus, which is applied at selected sites on the western side of the island. Firstly, a statistical analysis of wind speed and direction data was conducted at six meteorological stations in western Cyprus, establishing daily, monthly and annual variations of wind speed. Also examined were the Weibull distributions of the wind at each site. These wind statistics serve as the basis for estimating corrected statistical distributions over the extended study areas, which were calculated using the Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP) that modifies wind flow estimates based on local topographic effects. As a result, a geographic and wind-resource database was formulated around each station. Aggregation of this data using statistical weighting methods allows the extrapolation of observed results and the visualization for selected hours of the day over the western part of Cyprus. The results indicate the strong influence of the sea-breeze on the island’s wind potential, and identify a number of areas of higher wind-energy potential suitable for wind-resource exploitation. It is hoped that both the methodology applied and results obtained can be further used by potential investors and wind-energy developers.     

Entropic gravity resulting from a Yukawa type of correction to the metric for a solar mass black hole

There has been a renewed interest in the recent years in the possibility of deviations from the predictions of Newton’s “inverse-square law” of universal gravitation. One of the reasons for renewing this interest lies in various theoretical attempts to construct a unified elementary particle theory, in which there is a natural prediction of new forces over macroscopic distances. In this paper we study the entropic gravity correction to the gravitational force on the horizon of a black hole whose metric has been modified by a Yukawa term. We find that the gravitational radius of such a black hole is given in-terms of the Lambert function, and the entropic force introduces a extra term that depends on the square of the coupling constant α of the Yukawa potential. In the case alpha equals zero we recover the Newtonian gravitational force on the horizon. In a first effort to obtain a relation between geometry and information, we calculate the Ricci scalar and through entropy we establish a relation to the number of information N where this is given in nats. Finally, we calculate a critical entropy value as well as a critical information number N _c for which the curvature becomes identically zero which implies that the space becomes flat.     

The validity of the continuum limit in the gravitational N-body problem

This paper attempts to give quantitative as well as qualitative answers to the question of the analogy between smooth potentials and N-body systems. A number of simulations were performed in both integrable and nonintegrable smooth environments and their frozen N-body analogues, and comparisons were made using a number of different tools. The comparisons took place on both statistical and pointwise levels. The results of this study suggest that microscopic chaos associated with discreteness effects is always present in N-body configurations. This chaos is different from the macroscopic chaos which is associated with the bulk potential and persists even for very large N. Although the Lyapunov exponents of orbits evolving in N-body environments do not decrease as N increases, comparisons associated with the statistical properties, as well as with the power spectra of the orbits, affirm the existence of the continuum limit.