A wind tunnel investigation of particle segregation,ripple formation and armouring within sand beds of systematically varied texture

This paper reports on a wind tunnel investigation of particle segregation, ripple formation and surface armouring within sand beds of systematically varied particle size distribution, from coarsely skewed to bimodal. By design, the system was closed with no external inputs of mass from an external particle feed. Particles too coarse to travel in saltation for the given range in wind speed were dyed red in order to distinguish them in optical images from finer sand particles, which could be entrained into the unidirectional airflow. A 3D laser scanner measured the changing bed topography at regular time intervals during 18 experiments involving varied combinations of wind speed and bed texture. Image classification techniques were used to investigate the coincident self‐organization of the two populations of particles, as distinguished by their colour. As soon as saltation commenced, some of the red particles segregated into thin discontinuous patches. Particle trapping and sheltering on these rough patches was strongly favoured, causing them to grow preferentially. During the earliest stages of formation, bedform growth coincided with: (i) rapid coarsening of the surface texture; and (ii) the merging of proto‐ripple ‘crests’ to generate larger rhythmic bedforms of lower frequency. Consistent with previous work, ripple size was observed to increase under stronger winds when not exceeding the threshold for entrainment of the coarse‐mode or red particles from the crest. With declining rates of mass transport and particle segregation as the bed surface armoured, and the consequent deceleration of ripple propagation through to the end of each experiment, all surfaces eventually attained a steady‐state morphometry. At saturation, the largest ripples developed on beds having the lowest initial concentration of red particles. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relations between hydrology and velocity of a continuously moving landslide—evidence of pore-pressure feedback regulating landslide motion?

We measured displacement, pore-water pressure, and climatic conditions for 3 years at the continuously moving Slumgullion landslide in Colorado, USA. The landslide accelerated when pore-water pressure increased within the landslide body, but this occurred as pore-water pressure decreased along the landslide margin. The decrease probably occurred in response to shear-induced soil dilation at rates greater than pore-pressure diffusion and likely increased resistance to shear displacement and resulted in landslide deceleration. This dilative strengthening has been experimentally observed and explained theoretically, but not previously identified during field studies. Although landslide displacement should have exceeded that required to achieve critical-state density of shear boundaries, observed relocation of these boundaries indicates that shearing is episodic at fixed locations, so it permits renewed dilative strengthening when “fresh” soil is sheared. Thus, dilatant strengthening may be a considerable mechanism controlling landslide velocity, even for landslides that have continuously moved great distances.     

Strip Transect Sampling to Estimate Object Abundance in Homogeneous and Non-homogeneous Poisson Fields: a Simulation Study of the Effects of Changing Transect Width and Number

This paper investigates the use of strip transect sampling to estimate object abundance when the underlying spatial distribution is assumed to be Poisson. A design-based rather than model-based approach to estimation is investigated through computer simulation, with both homogeneous and non-homogeneous fields representing individual realizations of spatial point processes being considered. Of particular interest are the effects of changing the number of transects and transect width (or alternatively, coverage percent or fraction) on the quality of the estimate. A specific application to the characterization of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the subsurface at former military firing ranges is discussed. The results may be extended to the investigation of outcrop characteristics as well as subsurface geological features.     

Basal‐topographic control of stationary ponds on a continuously moving landslide

The Slumgullion landslide in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado has been moving for at least the last few hundred years and has multiple ponds on its surface. We have studied eight ponds during 30 trips to the landslide between July 1998 and July 2007. During each trip, we have made observations on the variability in pond locations and water levels, taken ground‐based photographs to document pond water with respect to moving landslide material and vegetation, conducted Global Positioning System surveys of the elevations of water levels and mapped pond sediments on the landslide surface. Additionally, we have used stereo aerial photographs taken in October 1939, October 1940 and July 2000 to measure topographic profiles of the eight pond locations, as well as a longitudinal profile along the approximate centerline of the landslide, to examine topographic changes over a 60‐ to 61‐year period of time. Results from field observations, analyses of photographs, mapping and measurements indicate that all pond locations have remained spatially stationary for 60–300 years while landslide material moves through these locations. Water levels during the observation period were sensitive to changes in the local, spring‐fed, stream network, and to periodic filling of pond locations by sediment from floods, hyperconcentrated flows, mud flows and debris flows. For pond locations to remain stationary, the locations must mimic depressions along the basal surface of the landslide. The existence of such depressions indicates that the topography of the basal landslide surface is irregular. These results suggest that, for translational landslides that have moved distances larger than the dimensions of the largest basal topographic irregularities (about 200 m at Slumgullion), landslide surface morphology can be used as a guide to the morphology of the basal slip surface. Because basal slip surface morphology can affect landslide stability, kinematic models and stability analyses of translational landslides should attempt to incorporate irregular basal surface topography. Additional implications for moving landslides where basal topography controls surface morphology include the following: dateable sediments or organic material from basal layers of stationary ponds will yield ages that are younger than the date of landslide initiation, and it is probable that other landslide surface features such as faults, streams, springs and sinks are also controlled by basal topography. The longitudinal topographic profile indicated that the upper part of the Slumgullion landslide was depleted at a mean vertical lowering rate of 5.6 cm/yr between 1939 and 2000, while the toe advanced at an average rate of 1.5 m/yr during the same period. Therefore, during this 61‐year period, neither the depletion of material at the head of the landslide nor continued growth of the landslide toe has decreased the overall movement rate of the landslide. Continued depletion of the upper part of the landslide, and growth of the toe, should eventually result in stabilization of the landslide. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The use of secondary information in geostatistical target area identification

The identification and characterization of target areas at former bombing ranges is the first step in investigating these sites for residual unexploded ordnance. Traditionally, magnetometer surveys along transects are used in identifying areas with high densities of magnetic anomalies, which are likely former target areas. Combining magnetometer survey data with other data sources may reduce the level of survey data required for site characterization, increasing characterization efficiency. Here, several techniques for incorporating secondary information into kriging estimates of magnetic anomaly density are investigated for a former bombing range located near Pueblo, Colorado. In particular, kriging with external drift, collocated ordinary cokriging, and simple kriging with local means (SKLM) are used to incorporate information from a secondary variable. The secondary variable consists of a grid of crater density values derived from a topographic light detection and ranging (LIDAR) analysis. The craters, which are clearly identifiable in the LIDAR data, were generated through munitions use at the site and are therefore related to the target locations. The results from this study indicate that the inclusion of the secondary information in the kriging estimates does benefit target area characterization and provides a means of elucidating target area details from only limited magnetometer transect data. For the Pueblo site, the use of SKLM with the crater density as a secondary variable and only limited magnetometer transect data, provided results comparable to those obtained from using much larger magnetometer transect data sets.     

Office of Naval Research contributions to neural networks andsignal processing in oceanic engineering

The authors summarize many of the highlights and accomplishments of the Office of Naval Research's neural network basic research programs and share a bit of the historical perspective that serves as a source of pride in the world of Navy science and technology, namely, the long-term support and resulting payoff of Navy-sponsored research in neural networks. The significant problems that must be overcome before neural network applications will become widely available to the Navy community are surveyed     

Social justice in coastal erosion management: The temporal and spatial dimensions

Coastal erosion management is primarily based on economic considerations (cost-benefit analysis). From the perspective of social justice (as a particular expression of the wider concept of human rights), however, several arguments can be advanced regarding public intervention in coastal defence management when private property is threatened by coastal erosion. In this paper we examine these arguments at both the short-term local scale and the long-term large spatial scale and consider the merits of inclusion of a social justice dimension in coastal erosion management. The coast provides a range of resources that benefit society as a whole. Coastal residents and property owners face a direct financial loss from coastal erosion but the general public also stands to incur losses other than purely financial if it there is public intervention for the benefit of these property owners. The arguments for public intervention are strongest at the local and short-term scales but they weaken (and even reverse) at geographically larger and longer time scales. At larger scales, the costs to society increase as intergenerational equity, non-coastal residents, climate and sea level change, and the environment are considered. Because of the intensity of interest involved at the local level, we argue that the necessary hard decisions must be made nationally if a sustainable policy is to be adopted. Social justice considerations provide a potential improvement on the traditional economic cost/benefit-based decision-making process of coastal erosion management but they only contribute to sustainability if viewed at the national level.     

Identifying storm impacts on an embayed, high-energy coastline: examples from western Ireland

Large sections of the western Irish coast are characterised by a highly compartmentalised series of headland-embayment cells in which sand and gravel beaches are backed by large vegetated dune systems. Exposure to modally high-energy swell renders most of these beaches dissipative in character. A mesotidal range (c. 3.5–4.5 m) exists along much of the coast. Analysis of instrumental wind records from three locations permitted the identification of a variety of storm types and the construction of storm catalogues. Few individual storms were recorded at all three stations indicating a lack of regional consistency in storm record. Of the total storms recorded, only a small percentage are potentially damaging (onshore directed) and even fewer span a high tide and thus potentially induce a measurable morphological response at the coast.

Through a combination of historical records, meteorological records, field observations and wave modelling we attempt to assess the impact of storms. Quantifiable records of coastal morphology (maps, air photos and beach profiles) are few in number and do not generally record responses that may be definitely attributed to specific storms. Numerical wave simulations and observations at a variety of sites on the west Irish coast, however, provide insights into instantaneous and medium term (decadal) storm responses in such systems.

We argue that beaches and dunes that are attuned to modally high-energy regimes require extreme storms to cause significant morphological impact. The varying orientation of beaches, a spatially nonuniform storm catalogue and the need for a storm to occur at high water to produce measurable change, impart site-specific storm susceptibility to these embayments. Furthermore, we argue that long-period wave energy attenuation across dissipative shorefaces and beaches reduces coastal response to distant storms whereas short-period, locally generated wind waves are more likely to cause major dune and beach erosion as they arrive at the shoreline unrefracted.

This apparently variable response of beach and dune systems to storm forcing at a decadal scale over a coastline length of 200 km urges caution in generalising regarding regional-scale coastal responses to climatic change.     

The transfer of polarized radiation in spectral lines: Solar-type stellar atmospheres

The polarization structure in several spectral lines in solar type stars is computed using the method described by McKenna (1981, 1984a). The frequency redistribution function used for these calculations is a linear combination ofR _II andR _III. The line profiles and polarization structures have been computed for several weak solar resonance lines includingKi 7664 Å, Sri 4607 Å, Baii 4554 Å, for various polar angles along the stellar disk. Both the line profiles and polarization structures as well as the center to limb behavior of the line center polarization agree well with observations.The somewhat stronger resonance line Cai 4227 Å shows a different polarization structure when compared to the weaker solar resonance lines. It is found that for strong resonance lines the proper redistribution function to be used is a linear combination ofR _III andR _v (see McKenna, 1981, 1984b; Heinzel, 1981). The major reason for this is that for strong resonance lines both the upper and lower levels are broadened by collisions. This violates the assumptions upon which the redistribution functionsR _II andR _III are based.     

Simulated impacts of artificial groundwater recharge and discharge on the source area and source volume of an Atlantic Coastal Plain stream, Delaware, USA

A numerical groundwater-flow model was used to characterize the source area and volume of Phillips Branch, a baseflow-dominated stream incising a highly permeable unconfined aquifer on the low relief Delmarva Peninsula, USA. Particle-tracking analyses indicate that the source area (5.51 km²) is ～20% smaller than the topographically defined watershed (6.85 km²), and recharge entering ～37% of the surface watershed does not discharge to Phillips Branch. Groundwater residence time within the source volume ranges from a few days to almost 100 years, with 95% of the volume “flushing” within 50 years. Artificial discharge from groundwater pumping alters the shape of the source area and reduces baseflow due to the interception of stream flow paths, but has limited impacts on the residence time of groundwater discharged as baseflow. In contrast, artificial recharge from land-based wastewater disposal substantially reduces the source area, lowers the range in residence time due to the elimination of older flow paths to the stream, and leads to increased discharge to adjacent surface-water bodies. This research suggests that, in this and similar hydrogeologic settings, the “watershed” approach to water-resource management may be limited, particularly where anthropogenic stresses alter the transport of soluble contaminants through highly permeable unconfined aquifers.