Effect of an environmental flow on vegetation growth and health using ground and remote sensing metrics

Understanding the effectiveness of environmental flow deliveries along rivers requires monitoring vegetation. Monitoring data are often collected at multiple spatial scales. For riparian vegetation, optical remote sensing methods can estimate growth responses at the riparian corridor scale, and field-based measures can quantify species composition; however, the extent to which these different measures are duplicative or complementary is important to understand when planning monitoring programmes with limited resources. In this study, we analysed riparian vegetation growth in the delta of the Colorado River in response to an experimental pulse flow. Our goal was to compare ground-based measurements of vegetation structure and composition with satellite-based Landsat radiometric variables, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We made this comparison in 21 transects following the delivery of 131.8 million cubic meters (mcm) of water in the stream channel during the spring of 2014 as a pulse flow and 38.4 mcm as base flows. Vegetation cover increased 14% and NDVI increased 0.02 (15%) by October 2015, and both variables returned to pre-pulse flow values in October 2016. Observed changes in vegetation structure and composition did not persist after the second year. The highest increase in vegetation cover in October 2014 and October 2015 resulted from species that could respond rapidly to additional water such as reeds (Arundo donax and Phragmites australis), cattail (Typha domingensis), and herbaceous plants. Dominant shrubs, saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) and arrowweed (Pluchea sericea), both indicative of nonrestored habitats showed variable increases in cover, and native trees (Salicaceae family) presented low increases (1%). The strong NDVI–vegetation cover relationship indicates that NDVI is appropriate to detect changes at the riparian corridor scale but needs to be complemented with ground data to determine the contributions by different species to the observed trends.     

Linking interannual river flow river variability across New Zealand to the Southern Annular Mode, 1979–2011

River flow constitutes an important element of the terrestrial branch of the hydrological cycle, yet knowledge regarding the extent to which its variability, at a range of timescales, is linked to a number of modes of atmospheric circulation is meagre. This is especially so in the Southern Hemisphere where strong candidates, such as El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), for influencing climate and thus river flow variability can be found. This paper presents the results of an analysis of the impact of the SAM on winter and summer river flow variability across New Zealand, purposefully controlling for the influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation and the tendency for the SAM to adopt a positive phase over the last 10–20 years. Study results, based on identifying hydrological regions and applying circulation‐to‐environment and environment‐to‐circulation approaches commonly used in synoptic climatology, reveal a seasonal asymmetry of the response of river flow variability to the SAM; winter flows demonstrate a higher degree of statistical association with the SAM compared to summer flows. Further, because of the complex orography of New Zealand and its general disposition normal to zonal flows of moisture bearing winds, there are intraseasonal spatial variations in river flow SAM associations with clear rain shadow effects playing out in resultant river flow volumes. The complexity of SAM river flow associations found in this study warns against using indices of large scale modes of atmospheric circulation as blunt tools for hydroclimatological prediction at scales beyond hydroclimatological regions or areas with internal hydrological consistency.     

Spatial patterns of primary production on the shelf, slope and basin of the Western Arctic in 2002

In the spring and summer of 2002 primary production in the Chukchi Sea was measured, using ¹⁴C uptake experiments. Our cruise track encompassed the shelf and continental slope area of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas progressing into deep water over the Canada Basin. The study area experienced upwards of 90% ice cover during the spring, with ice retreating into the basin during the summer. Production in the spring was light-limited due to ice cover, with average euphotic zone production rates of <0.3 g C m⁻² d⁻¹. Values of 8 g C m⁻² d⁻¹ were observed in association with surface bloom conditions during the initial ice breakup. Considerable nutrient reduction in the surface waters took place between the spring and summer cruise, and although not observed, this was attributed to a spring bloom. Decreased ice cover and increased clarity of surface waters in the summer allowed greater light penetration. The highest rates of production during the second cruise were found at 25–30 m, coincident with the top of the nutricline. Daily euphotic zone productivity in the summer averaged 0.78 g C m⁻² d⁻¹ on the shelf and 0.32 g C m⁻² d⁻¹ on the edge of the Canada basin. These data provide an estimated annual production of 90 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in the study area.     

Two-dimensional asymmetric vortex merger: merger dynamics and critical merger distance

Two-dimensional asymmetric merger of two like-signed vorticity monopoles with different sizes and vorticities is examined by combining simplified analytical models and contour dynamics experiments. The model results can capture the key dynamics and hence allow the prediction of the critical merger distance in a number of the situations. The models ignore deformation of one of the two vortices, replacing it with a point vortex, and employ a corotating frame of reference with a rotation rate estimated by point vortices. Thus, the two vortex problem becomes two separate problems of a single vortex in a background shear flow. Vortex merger is found to happen when the vortex cannot resist the background shear flow. Vortex merger and merging processes depend on the centroid distance d, the circulation ratio, (q_i and r_i are the vorticity and radius, respectively) and initial conditions. In the lowest order, the background flow is approximated by a uniform shear field, and the behavior of an elliptical vortex can be described by the Kida (1981) equation supplemented with one describing the time evolution of the centroid distance. This model reveals that merger takes place because the natural rotation of an elliptical vortex is overcome by the background uniform shear flow; the ellipse inversely rotates and is drawn out by the background straining field. The vortex deformation in a background flow field induces an inward flow at the position of the other vortex; as a result, the centroid distance decreases and two vortices merge. The critical merger distance from this model agrees quite well with the results from contour dynamics experiments for two vortices. Inclusion of higher order non-uniform shear in the background flow extends the critical merger distance, which gives almost perfect estimates for the experiment. In the non-uniform shear flow, partial merger occurs, where the vortex sheds off a filament, but the remaining part of the vortex resumes its natural rotation.     

Accuracy and reliability of tightly coupled GPS/ultra-wideband positioning for surveying in urban environments

A tightly coupled filter integrating GPS and ultra-wideband (UWB) observations for high-precision position applications is implemented and tested to survey several external corner points of an eight story building. The filter uses GPS pseudoranges, GPS carrier-phase measurements, and UWB ranges and includes in-run estimation of UWB bias and scale factor states. The filter employs inequality constraints and innovation testing to mitigate the effects of unmodeled errors. The tightly coupled solution is compared to GPS-only, UWB-only, and loosely coupled solutions. The ability of each solution to detect measurement blunders is compared. Sub-meter level position solutions are maintained using tight-coupling in conditions where the solutions from the other three approaches are either unavailable or unreliable.     

A fifty-year production and economic assessment of common property-based management of marine living common resources: A case study for the women divers communities in Jeju,South Korea

We examined the conditions of successful common property-based management for coastal marine living resources, using a case of historically and anthropologically well established women divers communities on Jeju Island, South Korea, focusing on their decentralized work rules and production records. Due to their tight social network and work rule, the women divers have harvested coastal marine living resources with limited fishing pressure exclusively from their village fishing grounds for over 400 years. However, their harvest patterns have been mostly reactive to market prices, eventually requiring direct governmental regulations such as total allowable catch in some cases. Most recently, the communities have been experiencing multiple challenges: their aging population, water pollution in the coastal zone, competition with cultured products and imported seafood, and expanding barren grounds. These challenges demand a multi-scale/dimensional response if the women divers communities are to keep their village fishing grounds and communities sustainable.     

Partitioned by process: Measuring post-fire debris-flow and rill erosion with Structure from Motion photogrammetry

After wildfire, hillslope and channel erosion produce large amounts of sediment and can contribute significantly to long-term erosion rates. However, pre-erosion high-resolution topographic data (e.g. lidar) is often not available and determining specific contributions from post-fire hillslope and channel erosion is challenging. The impact of post-fire erosion on landscape evolution is demonstrated with Structure from Motion (SfM) Multi-View Stereo (MVS) photogrammetry in a 1 km² Idaho Batholith catchment burned in the 2016 Pioneer Fire. We use SfM-MVS to quantify post-fire erosion without detailed pre-erosion topography and hillslope transects to improve estimates of rill erosion at adequate spatial scales. Widespread rilling and channel erosion produced a runoff-generated debris-flow following modest precipitation in October 2016. We implemented unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based SfM-MVS to derive a 5 cm resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the channel scoured by debris-flow. In the absence of cm-resolution pre-erosion topography, a synthetic surface was defined by the debris-flow scour's geomorphic signature and we used a DEM of Difference (DoD) to map and quantify channel erosion. We found 3467 ± 422 m³ was eroded by debris-flow scour. Rill dimensions along hillslope transects and Monte Carlo simulation show rilling eroded ~1100 m³ of sediment and define a volume uncertainty of 29%. The total eroded volume (4600 ± 740 m³) we measured in our study catchment is partitioned into 75% channel erosion and 25% rill erosion, reinforcing the importance of catchment size on erosion process-dominance. The deposit volume from the 2016 event was 5700 ± 1140 m³, indicating ~60% contribution from post-fire channel erosion. Dating of charcoal fragments preserved in stratigraphy at the catchment outlet, and reconstructions of prior deposit volumes provide a record of Holocene fire-related debris-flows at this site; results suggest that episodic wildfire-driven erosion (~6 mm/year) dominate millennial-scale erosion (~5 mm/Ka) at this site. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Atmospheric river orientation determines flood occurrence

Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) have been linked to many of the largest recorded UK winter floods. These large-scale features can be 500–800 km in width but produce markedly different flood responses in adjacent catchments. Here we combine meteorological and hydrological data to examine why two impermeable catchments on the west coast of Britain respond differently to landfalling ARs. This is important to help better understand flood generation associated with ARs and improve flood forecasting and climate-change impact assessment. Analysis of 32 years of a newly available ERA5 high-resolution atmospheric reanalysis and corresponding 15-min river flow data show that the most impactful ARs arise through a combination of the orientation and magnitude of their water vapour flux. At the Dyfi catchment, AR orientations of between 238–258° result in the strongest hydrological responses, whereas at the Teifi the range is 224–243°. We believe this differential flood response is the result of catchment orientation and topography enhancing or suppressing orographic rainfall totals, even in relatively low-relief coastal catchments. Further to the AR orientation, ARs must have an average water vapour flux of 400–450 kg m⁻¹ s⁻¹ across their lifetime. Understanding the preferential properties of impactful ARs at catchments allows for the linking of large-scale synoptic features, such as ARs, directly to winter flood impacts. These results using two test catchments suggest a novel approach to flood forecasts through the inclusion of AR activity.