Stormwater harvesting in ephemeral streams: how to bypass clogging and unsaturated layers

To cope with water scarcity in drylands, stormwater is often collected in surface basins and subsequently stored in shallow aquifers via infiltration. These stormwater harvesting systems are often accompanied by high evaporation rates and hygiene problems. This is commonly a consequence of low infiltration rates, which are caused by clogging layers that form on top of the soil profile and the presence of a thick vadose zone. The present study aims to develop a conceptual solution to increase groundwater recharge rates in stormwater harvesting systems. The efficiency of vadose-zone wells and infiltration trenches is tested using analytical equations, numerical models, and sensitivity analyses. Dams built in the channel of ephemeral streams (wadis) are selected as a study case to construct the numerical simulations. The modelling demonstrated that vadose-zone wells and infiltration trenches contribute to effective bypassing of the clogging layer. By implementing these solutions, recharge begins 2250–8100% faster than via infiltration from the bed surface of the wadi reservoir. The sensitivity analysis showed that the recharge rates are especially responsive to well length and trench depth. In terms of recharge quantity, the well had the best performance; it can infiltrate up to 1642% more water than the reservoir, and between 336 and 825% more than the trench. Moreover, the well can yield the highest cumulative recharge per dollar and high recharge rates when there are limitations to the available area. The methods investigated here significantly increased recharge rates, providing practical solutions to enhance aquifer water storage in drylands.

     

Petrogenesis of lunar impact melt rock meteorite Oued Awlitis 001

Oued Awlitis 001 is a highly feldspathic, moderately equilibrated, clast‐rich, poikilitic impact melt rock lunar meteorite that was recovered in 2014. Its poikilitic texture formed due to moderately slow cooling, which judging from textures of rocks in melt sheets of terrestrial impact structures, is observed in impact melt volumes at least 100 m thick. Such coherent impact melt volumes occur in lunar craters larger than ~50 km in diameter. The composition of Oued Awlitis 001 points toward a crustal origin distant from incompatible‐element‐rich regions. Comparison of the bulk composition of Oued Awlitis 001 with Lunar Prospector 5° γ‐ray spectrometer data indicates a limited region of matches on the lunar farside. After its initial formation in an impact crater larger than ~50 km in diameter, Oued Awlitis 001 was excavated from a depth greater than ~50 m. The cosmogenic nuclide inventory of Oued Awlitis 001 records ejection from the Moon 0.3 Ma ago from a depth of at least 4 m and little mass loss due to ablation during its passage through Earth's atmosphere. The terrestrial residence time must have been very short, probably less than a few hundred years; its exact determination was precluded by a high concentration of solar cosmic ray‐produced ¹⁴C. If the impact that excavated Oued Awlitis 001 also launched it, this event likely produced an impact crater >10 km in diameter. Using petrologic constraints and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and Diviner data, we test Giordano Bruno and Pierazzo as possible launch craters for Oued Awlitis 001.     

Trophic modeling of the Northern Humboldt Current Ecosystem, Part II: Elucidating ecosystem dynamics from 1995 to 2004 with a focus on the impact of ENSO

The Northern Humboldt Current Ecosystem is one of the most productive in the world in terms of fish production. Its location near to the equator permits strong upwelling under relatively low winds, thus creating optimal conditions for the development of plankton communities. These communities ultimately support abundant populations of grazing fish such as the Peruvian anchoveta, Engraulis ringens. The ecosystem is also subject to strong inter-annual environmental variability associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which has major effects on nutrient structure, primary production, and higher trophic levels. Here our objective is to model the contributions of several external drivers (i.e. reconstructed phytoplankton changes, fish immigration, and fishing rate) and internal control mechanisms (i.e. predator-prey) to ecosystem dynamics over an ENSO cycle. Steady-state models and time-series data from the Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE) from 1995 to 2004 provide the base data for simulations conducted with the program Ecopath with Ecosim. In simulations all three external drivers contribute to ecosystem dynamics. Changes in phytoplankton quantity and composition (i.e. contribution of diatoms and dino- and silicoflagellates), as affected by upwelling intensity, were important in dynamics of the El Niño of 1997–98 and the subsequent 3 years. The expansion and immigration of mesopelagic fish populations during El Niño was important for dynamics in following years. Fishing rate changes were the most important of the three external drivers tested, helping to explain observed dynamics throughout the modeled period, and particularly during the post-El Niño period. Internal control settings show a mix of predator–prey control settings; however a “wasp-waist” control of the ecosystem by small pelagic fish is not supported.     

Decline of Pseudodiaptomus hessei (Copepoda, Calanoida) in two water bodies located in the Senegal River hydrosystem (West Africa): Hypotheses and perspectives

Pseudodiaptomus hessei is a key species in many water bodies in the Senegal River hydrosystem but it became rare or completely disappeared from two ecosystems (Lake Guiers and Dakar Bango Reservoir; Senegal, West Africa) after major hydrological changes caused by human action, mainly impoundments on the river in 1985, and the opening of a new estuary mouth in 2003. Kâ et al. [Kâ, S., Pagano, M., Ba, N., Bouvy, M., Leboulanger, C., Arfi, R., Thiaw, O.T., Ndour, E.H.M., Corbin, D., Defaye, D., Cuoc, C., Kouassi, E., 2006. Zooplankton distribution related to environmental factors and phytoplankton in a shallow tropical lake (Lake Guiers, Senegal, West Africa). International Review of Hydrobiology 91(5), 389–405] put forward several hypotheses to explain the reasons for this decline: salinity and chemical changes in the water, predation by a cyclopid predator Mesocyclops ogunnus and/or the inhibiting effects of cyanobacteria and/or diatoms (allelopathy). This study assessed these hypotheses by studying the distribution of P. hessei in 13 stations (including the Dakar Bango reservoir and Lake Guiers) in relation to physical, chemical and biological (phyto- and zooplanktons) factors at each station. We produced a distribution pattern for this species in the Senegal River hydrosystem. Rank correlations and principal component analysis showed that P. hessei was not correlated with conductivity but was positively correlated with pH and alkalinity, suggesting chemical effects. The clear association with two filamentous cyanobacteria (Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Anabaena sp.) did not appear to support the hypothesis of cyanobacteria inhibition but blooming conditions were never encountered during the study. Negative correlation with diatoms (especially with Fragilaria sp.) suggested that aldehyde producing diatoms had a negative effect. Negative correlations with cyclopids such as Mesocyclops supported the hypothesis of cyclopid predation to explain the decline of P. hessei. This study proposes several lines of research for future studies to test these hypotheses.     

Molluscan assemblages of seagrass-covered and bare intertidal flats on the Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania, in relation to characteristics of sediment and organic matter

The Banc d'Arguin, a non-estuarine area of shallows and intertidal flats off the tropical Saharan coast of Mauritania, is characterised by extensive intertidal and subtidal seagrass beds. We examined the characteristics of intertidal seagrass (Zostera noltii) meadows and bare areas in terms of the presence and abundance of molluscs (gastropods and bivalves). To explain observed differences between molluscan assemblages in seagrass and bare patches, some aspects of the feeding habitat (top-5 mm of the sediment) and of food (organic materials) of molluscs were examined. The novelty of this study is that phytopigments were measured and identified to assess source and level of decay (freshness) of organic material in the sediment and to study their importance as an explanatory variable for the distribution of molluscs. Over an area of 36 km² of intertidal flats, at 12 sites, paired comparisons were made between seagrass-covered and nearby bare patches. Within seagrass meadows, dry mass of living seagrass was large and amounted to 180 ±10 g AFDM m^− 2 (range 75–240). Containing twice the amount of silt per unit dry sediment mass, seagrass sediments were muddier than bare areas; the relative amount of organic material was also larger. The total number of species of bivalves and gastropods amounted to 27, 14 of which were found only in seagrass areas, 4 only in bare and 9 in both types of habitat. Among the three numerically most abundant species, the bivalves Anadara senilis, Dosinia hepatica and Loripes lacteus, the first was numerically most abundant in bare and the other two in seagrass-covered areas. Bare intertidal areas had greater mean total biomass of molluscs (80.5 g AFDM m^− 2) than seagrass meadows (30.0 g AFDM m^− 2). In both habitats, the bulk of the biomass was made up by A. senilis. Excluding this species, bare mudflats contained on average only 3.1 g AFDM m^− 2 and seagrass meadows 6.9 g AFDM m^− 2. As compared to previous surveys in 1980–1986, the biomass of A. senilis had increased almost 10-fold and D. hepatica, previously found in very small numbers, had become the most numerous species. However, the total biomass excluding that of A. senilis was similar. Concentrations of phytopigments were similar to those observed at temperate mudflats, indicating that the Banc d'Arguin might not be as oligotrophic as previously thought. Per unit of dry sediment mass, smaller amounts of phytopigments were found in bare than in seagrass areas. Per unit of dry organic material, bare sediments contained most (fresh) phytopigments. This suggests that in seagrass-covered meadows the organic material is more degraded than in bare sediments. Overall, the composition of phytopigments, quite surprisingly, indicated a benthic-diatom-dominated trophic system. Multivariate statistics revealed that patterns of zoobenthic assemblages were correlated with patterns of a combination of four environmental parameters: grain size of the sediment, amount of fresh phytopigments and amounts of leaves and roots of seagrass.     

Prototype measurements and small-scale model tests of wave overtopping at shallow rubble-mound breakwaters: the Ostia-Rome yacht harbour case

The paper presents the comparison between the results of small-scale model tests and prototype measurements of wave overtopping at a rubble-mound breakwater. The specific structure investigated is the west breakwater of the yacht harbour of Rome at Ostia (Italy) and is characterized by a gentle seaward slope (1/4) and by a long, shallow foreshore. The laboratory tests firstly aimed at carefully reproducing two measured storms in which overtopping occurred and was measured. The tests have been carried out in two independent laboratories, in a wave flume and in a wave basin, hence using a two-dimensional (2-D) and a three-dimensional (3-D) setup. In the 2-D laboratory tests no overtopping occurred during the storm reproductions; in the 3-D case discharges five to ten times smaller than those observed in prototype have been measured. This indicates the existence of model and scale effects. These effects have been discussed on the basis of the results of several parametric tests, which have been carried out in both laboratories, in addition to the storm reproductions, varying wave and water level characteristics. Final comparison of all the performed tests with 86 prototype measurements still suggests the existence of scale and model effects that induce strong underestimation of overtopping discharge at small scale. The scale reproduction of wave breaking on the foreshore, together with the 3-D features of the prototype conditions and the absence of wind stress in the laboratory measurements, have been individuated as the main sources of scale and model effects. The paper also provides a comparison between the data and a largely used formula for wave overtopping discharges in the presence of structures similar to the one at hand. The suitable value of a roughness factor that appears in that formula is investigated and good agreement is found with other recent researches on rubble-mound breakwaters.     

Higher-harmonic focused-wave forces on a vertical cylinder

This paper considers higher-harmonic forces due to wave focusing on a vertical circular cylinder. A series of experiments has been conducted in a wave flume. The first six-harmonic components of the measured wave forces are analyzed using the scale-averaged wavelet spectrum. It is noted that due to the transient nature of focused (freak) waves, Fourier analysis would not provide equivalent information to that gleaned from the analyses used herein. The results for the experiments with very steep wave crests show significant amplitudes at the fourth and fifth harmonics. These harmonics exhibit amplitudes that are the same order as the second harmonic, but much larger than those of the third harmonic. The wavelet-based bicoherence is used to detect the quadratic nonlinearity of the measured forces. And the bicoherence spectra reveal the primary mathematical reason for the existence of the striking amplitudes of the fourth and fifth harmonics: the interaction between the lower-harmonic components couple more strongly with the fourth and fifth harmonics, thus the fourth and fifth harmonics glean more energy than those of the third-harmonic components. However, the physical explanation for this remains elusive.     

Antenna design and implementation for the future space Ultra-Long wavelength radio telescope

In radio astronomy, the Ultra-Long Wavelengths (ULW) regime of longer than 10 m (frequencies below 30 MHz), remains the last virtually unexplored window of the celestial electromagnetic spectrum. The strength of the science case for extending radio astronomy into the ULW window is growing. However, the opaqueness of the Earth’s ionosphere makes ULW observations by ground-based facilities practically impossible. Furthermore, the ULW spectrum is full of anthropogenic radio frequency interference (RFI). The only radical solution for both problems is in placing an ULW astronomy facility in space. We present a concept of a key element of a space-borne ULW array facility, an antenna that addresses radio astronomical specifications. A tripole–type antenna and amplifier are analysed as a solution for ULW implementation. A receiver system with a low power dissipation is discussed as well. The active antenna is optimized to operate at the noise level defined by the celestial emission in the frequency band 1 ? 30 MHz. Field experiments with a prototype tripole antenna enabled estimates of the system noise temperature. They indicated that the proposed concept meets the requirements of a space-borne ULW array facility.     

User expectations for multibeam echo sounders backscatter strength data-looking back into the future

With the ability of multibeam echo sounders (MBES) to measure backscatter strength (BS) as a function of true angle of insonification across the seafloor, came a new recognition of the potential of backscatter measurements to remotely characterize the properties of the seafloor. Advances in transducer design, digital electronics, signal processing capabilities, navigation, and graphic display devices, have improved the resolution and particularly the dynamic range available to sonar and processing software manufacturers. Alongside these improvements the expectations of what the data can deliver has also grown. In this paper, we identify these user-expectations and explore how MBES backscatter is utilized by different communities involved in marine seabed research at present, and the aspirations that these communities have for the data in the future. The results presented here are based on a user survey conducted by the GeoHab (Marine Geological and Biological Habitat Mapping) association. This paper summarises the different processing procedures employed to extract useful information from MBES backscatter data and the various intentions for which the user community collect the data. We show how a range of backscatter output products are generated from the different processing procedures, and how these results are taken up by different scientific disciplines, and also identify common constraints in handling MBES BS data. Finally, we outline our expectations for the future of this unique and important data source for seafloor mapping and characterisation.