On the Problem of Differential Payment for the Use of Different-Quality Surface Waters in Ukraine

The evolution of views and practical decisions regarding the problem of collecting payment for the use of surface waters with regard to their quality in the former USSR and present-day Ukraine is discussed. A simple and feasible method is proposed for differentitation of regional (basin) rates of payment for the use of surface water in Ukraine with allowance made for its quality assessed based on a system of environmental classifications.     

冬小麦遥感冠层温度监测土壤含水量的试验研究

在冬小麦主要生育期(2002年4月初到5月底),对不灌溉的冬小麦测定了冠层温度、地温、气温以及土壤含水量,计算了冠气温差且分析了冠层温度和冠气温差与不同土层厚度的土壤含水量相关关系。结果表明:14:00的冠层温度能较好地反映20cm土层的土壤含水量变化,但与其它各土层相关性有较大的波动性;14:00的冠气温差能较好地反映40cm以上土层的土壤含水量变化,二者的相关性很高,在20cm、40cm土层,两者相关系数R2分别为0.98866、0.99389,这为用区域遥感数据反演主要生育期冬小麦的冠气温差进而监测区域40cm土壤含水量提供了实验性的依据;拔节期和灌浆期,用14:00冠气温差来拟合各土壤层的土壤含水量有较高的精度,从而为用区域遥感数据监测区域土壤含水量提供了经验性的模型。     

Long-term bed load transport rate based on aerial-photo and ground penetrating radar surveys of fan-delta growth, Coast Mountains, British Columbia

Sequential aerial photography, sonar bathymetry, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and sediment sampling and analysis provide the basis for calculating the volumetric and mass rate of progradation of the delta of Fitzsimmons Creek, a steep, high-energy, debris-flow-dominated channel draining about 100 km² of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. Fitzsimmons Creek is typical of small mountain rivers in the region. GPR imaging is used to define the pre-depositional morphology of the receiving basin, a technique that improves the accuracy of the volumetric survey. The 52-year record (1947–1999) of progradation yielded an average annual volumetric transport rate of 1.00±0.16×10⁴ m³ year⁻¹ for bed load, corresponding to a mass transport rate of 1.60±0.28×10⁴ Mg year⁻¹. Bed load yields are consistent with those obtained in hydrogeomorphically similar basins in the region and elsewhere. Decade-based annual rates, which vary from 0.64±0.11×10⁴ to 2.85±0.38×10⁴ Mg year⁻¹, provide poor estimates of the 52-year average. Indeed, the 52-year record may also not be long enough to fully integrate the significant fluctuations in the sediment efflux from Fitzsimmons Creek. The methodology proposed in this paper can be transferred to other comparable mountain environments worldwide.     

A constrained 2D gravity model of the Sebastián Vizcaíno Basin, Baja California Sur, Mexico

The subsurface geometry of the Sebastián Vizcaíno Basin is obtained from the 2D inversion of gravity data, constrained by a density-versus-depth relationship derived from an oil exploration deep hole. The basin accumulated a thick pile of marine sediments that evolved in the fore-arc region of the compressive margin prevalent along western North America during Mesozoic and Tertiary times. Our interpretation indicates that the sedimentary infill in the Sebastián Vizcaíno Basin reaches a maximum thickness of about 4 km at the centre of a relatively symmetric basin. At the location of the Suaro-1 hole, the depth to the basement derived from this work agrees with the drilled interface between calcareous and volcaniclastic members of the Alisitos Formation. A sensitivity analysis strongly suggests that the assumed density function leads to a nearly unique solution of the inverse problem.