Assessment of the Accuracy of SRTM C- and X-Band High Mountain Elevation Data: a Case Study of the Polish Tatra Mountains

Global digital elevation models (DEMs) are an invaluable source of information in large area studies. Of particular interest are shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) data that are freely available for the scientific community worldwide. Prior to any application, global datasets should be evaluated using reference data of higher accuracy. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of the SRTM C-band (version 4) DEM and SRTM X-band DEM of mountainous areas located in Poland and to examine the quality of data in relation to topographic parameters, radar beam geometry, initial voids in data and the presence of forest cover. A DEM from the Central National Geodetic and Cartographic Inventory, Poland, served as a reference. The study consisted of three steps: (i) the computation of vertical errors of the SRTM C- and X-band DEMs, (ii) the examination of any systematic bias in the data, and (iii) the analysis of the relationships between the elevation errors and terrain slope, aspect, local incidence angle, occurrence of voids and land cover. We found that the SRTM C- and X-band DEMs have mean errors equal to 4.31 ± 14.09 and 9.03 ± 37.40 m and root mean square errors equal to 14.74 and 38.47 m, respectively. Only 82 % of the C-band DEM and 74 % of the X-band DEM vertical errors had absolute values below 16 m. We found that the most important factors determining the occurrence of high errors were the distribution of initial voids and high slope angles for the C-band DEM, and local incidence angle, slope, aspect and radar beam geometry for the X-band DEM. In both cases, the presence of forest cover increased the mean error by approximately 10 m.     

Phase equilibria and compositions of Fe-Mg-Al minerals and melts in water-saturated peraluminous granitic systems

Phase assemblages and phase compositions were studied experimentally in water-saturated, biotite-bearing peraluminous granitic melts as a function of alumina excess and temperature. The runs were performed at 2 and 5 kbars under NNO buffer. Biotite was stable only in composition containing 5% of normative corundum; it coexisted with cordierite and hercynite at 2 kbars and with hercynite at 5 kbars. In composition containing 10% of normative corundum biotite was not observed; abundant cordierite and hercynite were the only Fe-Mg-Al minerals. These relationships show that, at constant pressure, the amount of cordierite increases with increasing excess of alumina. Simultaneously the stability of biotite decreases due to preferential partitioning of Mg into cordierite and Fe into biotite. Besides the distribution of Fe, Mg and Al among the coexisting solid phases, solubility of these elements in the melts is given. Below 900° C melts are poor in iron and magnesium and correspond, in terms of these elements, to leucogranites. It is suggested that the leucogranitic magmas, such as parental magmas of European Hercynian and Himalayan leucogranites, must have been formed through highly efficient separation of partial melt from restite, in which ferromagnesian components are concentrated. Peraluminous granites rich in ferromagnesian minerals originate supposedly from restite-bearing magmas.     

Palaeo- and rock-magnetic investigations across Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary at St Bertrand’s Spring,Drôme,France: applications to magnetostratigraphy

Palaeo- and rock-magnetic investigations of the St Bertrand’s Spring (Le Ravin de Font de St Bertrand) locality in France were carried out in order to contribute to, and improve, the stratigraphy of the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary interval. Magnetic susceptibility shows slightly diamagnetic behaviour in the lowermost part of the profile and an increase (paramagnetic) towards its middle and upper parts. Rock-magnetic measurements throughout the section show magnetite as the main magnetic fraction, together with traces of hematite. Additionally, thermal demagnetization indicates the presence of goethite. Our magnetostratigraphy indicates three normal/reversed polarity sequences; possibly encompassing the magnetozones M19r to the M17n. This suggests that the St Bertrand section straddles the Tithonian/Berriasian boundary and reaches the middle Berriasian sensu lato.     

Local Weighted Linear Combination

The article focuses on one of the most often used GIS‐based multicriteria analysis methods: the weighted linear combination (WLC). The WLC model has traditionally been used as a global approach based on the implicit assumption that its parameters do not vary as a function of geographical space. This assumption is often unrealistic in real‐world situations. The article proposes a new approach to GIS‐based multicriteria analysis. It develops a local form of the global WLC model. The range sensitivity principle is used as a central concept for developing the local WLC model. The principle postulates that the greater the range of criterion values is, the greater the weight assigned to that criterion should be. Consequently, the local criterion weight can be defined for each neighborhood within a study area as a function of the range of criterion values in a given neighborhood. The range of criterion values provides also the base for defining the local value function. The article presents the theory behind the local WLC modeling and illustrates an implementation of the model in a GIS environment.     

Endangering of the Upper Jurassic karst-fissured aquifer in the Krakow Upland (southern Poland)

 A karst-fissured aquifer in the Upper Jurassic carbonate rocks of the Krakow Upland shows a very high yield (safe yield 117 000 m³/day) and belongs to the major groundwater basins (MGBs) of Poland. The uncovered character of the aquifer and its hydraulic structure favor the intensive infiltration and migration of anthropogenic pollutants from the surface. This pollution is caused by agriculture and industry in the proximity of Krakow and the Upper Silesian agglomeration. Progressive degradation of groundwater quality on a regional scale results. Evaluation of the endangering of the aquifer studied is based on the analysis of the time interval of vertical water percolation from the surface, the time interval of groundwater horizontal flow through the aquifer and the duration of water residence in the aquifer derived from tritium data. Quaternary and Cretaceous overburden occur in the Krakow Upland in addition to numerous outcrops of limestones. The time interval of vertical water percolation in highly permeable limestones does not exceed 3 years and in the areas covered by overburden it is from several to 50 years. The mean effective time interval of horizontal groundwater flow through the Upper Jurassic rocks along the flow paths ranges from several months in the areas of direct drainage to over 15 years in the elevated areas of local groundwater divides. The age of water in the rock matrix was determined using tritium data interpreted according to an exponential model and it ranges from 70 years to over 130 years. In karst-fissured systems with a high retardation index (R_p=21) the effective time of water circulation in local drainage basins does not exceed 7 years. The Krakow-Wieluń Upland is the most extensive and uniform karst region in Poland. It is a belt of Upper Jurassic limestone extending from Krakcow in the southeast to Wieluń in the northwest on the northeast slope of the Silesian Upland. Residual hills of Paleogene age separated by infilled karst depressions are the most characteristic features of the Krakow-Wieluń Upland. More than 800 small caves are known in this area, but only two of them reach 1 km of aggregate passage length (Gazek and others 1992). Received: 4 December 1996 · Accepted: 29 April 1997     

Finite element study of patterns of shear zones in granular bodies during plane strain compression

Numerical investigations of patterns of shear zones in granular bodies obtained during quasi-static plane strain compression tests were performed. The effect of a spatially correlated stochastic distribution of the initial void ratio and roughness of horizontal plates was analyzed. To describe a mechanical behavior of a cohesionless granular material during a monotonic deformation path in a plane strain compression test, a micro-polar hypoplastic constitutive model was used. FE calculations were carried out with both initially dense and initially loose cohesionless sand. A Latin hypercube method was applied to generate Gaussian truncated random fields of initial void ratio in a granular specimen. A weak correlation of the initial void ratio in both directions and its large standard deviation were assumed for all specimens. The horizontal boundaries were either ideally smooth or very rough. The FE results show similar patterns of shear zones as compared to experiments.     

Spatiotemporal distribution of copepod populations in the Gulf of Gdansk (southern Baltic Sea)

In the present study, we used a 3D Coupled Ecosystem Model of Baltic Sea version 1 (3D CEMBSv1) coupled with a copepod model to examine the spatiotemporal distribution of two representative copepod populations in the Gulf of Gdansk (southern Baltic Sea) including Acartia spp. and Pseudocalanus minutus elongatus. The annual cycles simulated for 2000 under realistic weather and hydrographic conditions were studied with the three-dimensional version of the coupled ecosystem-copepod model in the south-eastern Baltic Sea. The paper presents the comparison of simulated and observed copepod development at two stations in the Gulf of Gdansk. A validation of influential state variables gives confidence that the model is able to calculate reliably the stage development of dominant species in the southern Baltic Sea. The number of generations was one for P. m. elongatus and 3?C5 for Acartia spp.. A mean of five generations for the latter species per year were estimated in the coastal region and ca. three generations at the Gdansk Deep (in the open sea). Food concentration and temperature as the main factors controlling the development of the investigated copepods as well as salinity as a masking factor (i.e. salinity modifies the rate of their development) in the case of Pseudocalanus minutus elongatus are included in the present study.     

An integrative geothermal resource assessment study for the siliciclastic Granite Wash Unit,northwestern Alberta (Canada)

This study explores the siliciclastic Granite Wash Unit in northwestern Alberta as a potential geothermal reservoir. The approach covers regional 3D structural geological modelling of a 90 km × 70 km area based on well log and legacy 2D seismic data. The fault strike was interpreted from lineaments, which were identified with the refined trend surface analysis method. The stress state of the Granite Wash reservoirs was determined by an integrated approach of 3D fault modelling, stress ratio definition based on frictional constraints, and slip tendency analysis. The results show that the best site for a geothermal application is located in the southwestern study area, where the highest temperatures (above 70 °C) coincide with the largest thickness (above 20 m) and zones of elevated porosity and permeability. The integrated stress analysis indicates an in situ stress regime from normal to strike-slip faulting maintaining a non-critically stressed reservoir or faults therein, assuming a friction coefficient of 0.7. The granite wash reservoirs could be used for heating of greenhouses, domestic warm water provision and district heating.