INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL DECADE / WORKING GROUP ON “THE INFLUENCE OF MAN ON THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE”

Abstract

Floods, as extreme hydrological phenomena, can be described by more than one correlated characteristic, such as peak, volume and duration. These characteristics should be jointly considered since they are generally not independent. For an ungauged site, univariate regional flood frequency analysis (FA) provides a limited assessment of flood events. A recent study proposed a procedure for regional FA in a multivariate framework. This procedure represents a multivariate version of the index-flood model and is based on copulas and multivariate quantiles. The performance of the proposed procedure was evaluated by simulation. However, the model was not tested on a real-world case study data. In the present paper, practical aspects are investigated jointly for flood peak (Q) and volume (V) of a dataset from the Côte-Nord region in the province of Quebec, Canada. The application of the proposed procedure requires the identification of the appropriate marginal distribution, the estimation of the index flood and the selection of an appropriate copula. The results of the case study show that the regional bivariate FA procedure performed well. This performance depends strongly on the performance of the two univariate models and, more specifically, the univariate model of Q. The results show also the impact of the homogeneity of the region on the performance of the univariate and bivariate models.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis     

地电井下观测装置技术指标的测试与认定讨论——井下观测设施构建与测试技术

观测技术系统的设施构建技术指标认定是观测技术的核心所在,本文结合地电井下观测设施构建工程^[1],着重讨论针对观测装置测试的需求、技术指标测试的方法以及认定的过程。文中以具体工程参数为例,给出4项测试结果,讨论了认定依据和认定过程,希望本讨论能对地电井下观测设施建设、指标的认定起到参考作用。     

Spatial distribution of cadmium and lead in the sediments of the western Anzali wetlands on the coast of the Caspian Sea (Iran)

Spatial distribution patterns of total cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), their bioavailable fractions and total organic matter in sediment from Anzali wetlands are provided. Total sediment Pb was higher than Cd (34.95 versus 0.024 μg/g dry weight). The geoaccumulation index indicated that the sediment was “uncontaminated”, but some stations were categorized as “unpolluted” to “moderately polluted”. Less than 0.01 of Pb existed in exchangeable and carbonate fractions. The sum of exchangeable and carbonate-bound fractions of Cd was 42%, suggesting that Cd poses high risk to the aquatic ecosystems. Total Cd and Pb exhibited positive relationships with total organic matter. Considering spatial distribution maps of total and bioavailable fractions of metals suggested that high concentrations of metals does not necessarily indicate high bioavailable fraction. The methodologies we used in this study can be in more effective management of aquatic ecosystems, as well as ecological risk assessment of metals, and remediation programs.     

Génération stochastique d'averses et de leurs index d'érosivité pour la simulation de la dynamique érosive en Tunisie centrale

Résumé

Le modèle proposé est un générateur stochastique d'averses couplé à un modèle empirique de calcul de leurs érosivités, calé à une série pluviographique de 15 ans d'observations. Notre objectif est de développer une démarche probabiliste, qui permettrait d'étudier les conséquences érosives des pluies dans le temps, en cumulant l'érosivité consécutive des pluies simulées durant plusieurs années, supposée proportionnelle à la dégradation des sols, ou au transport solide en suspension sur la même période. Cette génération peut en effet se faire sur plusieurs années calendaires, et nous permettrait de ce fait d'éviter d'être limité par la taille des échantillons. L'ensemble pouvant être utilisé en mode opérationnel, pour reconstituer de très longus séries d'épisodes pluvieux dans l'objectif d'étudier le cumul de leur érosivité dans le temps. Cette démarche ne contredit pas les approches expérimentales, qui ont une réalité concrète de terrain, bien au contraire elle les conforte et permet d'avancer davantage dans la réflexion posée par la problématique de l'érosion hydrique.     

Quantifying the impact of urban area expansion on groundwater recharge and surface runoff

ABSTRACT

In this surface water modelling study, a new spatial evaluation for assessing the impact of urbanization was applied for the semi-arid watersheds intersecting with the Gaza coastal aquifer. The SWAT model was calibrated and validated in a semi-automated approach for streamflow in the main watersheds. The results show that the model could simulate water budget components adequately within the complex semi-arid watersheds. Linear relationships between the change in urban area and the corresponding change in surface runoff or percolation were concluded for the urbanized sub-basins. The urban-surface runoff index (USI) and the urban-percolation index (UPI) were developed to represent a micro-level evaluation of different urban change scenarios in the sub-basins. The global urban-surface runoff index (GUSI) and the global urban-percolation index (GUPI) were derived as macro-level factors reflecting the influence on the overall Gaza coastal aquifer due to urban area expansion.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis Associate editor E. Rozos     

Evaluation of Composts from Agricultural Wastes with Fish Pond Sediment as Bulking Agent to Improve Compost Quality

Composts with five different ratios of agricultural wastes, viz. rice straw (RS), wheat straw (WS), potato plant (PP), and mustard stover (MS) were prepared with or without fish pond bottom sediment to investigate the compost maturity and their suitability for field application. The composting process was monitored through the changes in physico‐chemical parameters and germination index (GI) at every 7 days interval of the composting process. All the composts were dark brown and smelled like forest soil within 56 days of composting, which reflected its matured status. On the basis of the physico‐chemical parameters (bulk density: 0.84 g/cm³; pH 7.05; electrical conductivity: 3.52 mS/cm; cation exchange capacity:82.4 cmol/kg; total carbon:321.4 g/kg; total nitrogen: 16.9 g/kg; As: 6.8 mg/kg; Cd: 2.96 mg/kg; Cr: 29.6 mg/kg, Cu: 243.6 mg/kg; Hg: 0.019 mg/kg; Ni: 24.3 mg/kg; Pb: 62.1 mg/kg and Zn: 812 mg/kg) and GI (89–96%), it could be concluded that RS/WS/PP/MS, 1:1:2:1 v/v/v/v with fish pond sediment produced better compost in accordance with the Indian compost standard. Application of a combined randomized block design analysis revealed that there is a significant difference in the responses of the five composts, in relation to the time of composting. Hierarchical clustering algorithm was applied with a view to form homogeneous groups of five different composts on the basis of different physico‐chemical parameters. Therefore, the ratio of waste incorporation is an important decision for composting and addition of pond sediment can improve the quality of compost.     

Comparing Traditional and Spatial Segregation Measures: A Spatial Scale Perspective1

Measuring the level of segregation often encounters two methodological issues: measures are sensitive to changes in the geographical scale of the data and the effectiveness of the measure in reflecting spatial segregation. Several spatial measures have been suggested to measure spatial segregation, but whether they are more or less sensitive to changes in spatial scale has not been investigated, while some spatial measures are relatively scale-insensitive. Using the 1990 Census data of 30 selected U.S. metropolitan areas, this paper demonstrates that these spatial measures, similar to the aspatial measure, report higher levels of segregation when smaller areal units are used in the analysis. Some spatial measures are even more sensitive to scale changes than aspatial measures. Certain patterns of the scale sensitivity were identified, but no general rules can be formulated. A preliminary explanation of the scale effect on spatial segregation measures is offered.     

Mapping Ecotone Movements: Holocene Dynamics of the Forest Tension Zone in Central Lower Michigan,Usa

This paper presents a novel method for detecting and mapping movements of ecotone boundaries, over both time and space, using existing fossil pollen data. The method combines existing statistical techniques, including discriminant analysis and spatial interpolation, to generate statistically robust maps of ecotone boundaries over time. This method was applied to provide a comprehensive vegetative history of the forest tension zone in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan during the last 10,000 years. Pollen data for nine lakes in the Lower Peninsula were analyzed with discriminant analysis and spatially interpolated with inverse distance weighted to track ecotone movements of the forest tension zone. The forest tension zone has been in existence over the last 10,000 years and has been highly variable over space and time, with at least three major latitudinal shifts, spanning 320 km and 6° of latitude, as well as several less pronounced shifts. These shifts occurred primarily in response to millennial-scale oscillations in climate such as the warmer and dryer conditions associated with the mid-Holocene. A slighter shift was evident in association with the cooler and drier conditions of the Little Ice Age (600-100 cal yr BP). This research demonstrates the sensitivity of Great Lakes forest communities to Holocene climate change and suggests a similar sensitivity of future ecotone dynamics in response to modern global warming.     

基于MSAVI-WI特征空间的新疆渭干河-库车河流域绿洲土壤盐渍化研究

土壤盐渍化是造成干旱区土地荒漠化及生态恶化的重要原因,及时获取大尺度高精度土壤盐渍信息是防治工作的基础。选取新疆塔里木盆地北缘渭干河—库车河流域三角洲绿洲为研究区,利用Lansat-TM数据与野外实测数据分析盐渍化土壤与修改型土壤调整植被指数(MSAVI)、湿度指数(WI)之间的关系,在此基础上提出了MSAVI-WI特征空间概念,构建了土壤盐渍化遥感监测指数模型(MWI)。结果表明:MWI与土壤表层含盐量相关性较高,其相关性为0.844,精度高于土壤盐渍监测常用的盐分指数与实测数据的相关性。MWI能较好的反映盐渍化土壤地表植被及土壤水分的组合变化,具有明确的生物物理意义,并且特征参量简单,理论上易于理解,实践上易于实现,MWI模型的构建有利于干旱区大尺度土壤盐渍化定量监测与评价工作的开展。     

Cartographically Wordy but not Necessarily Worthy

Abstract

A novel method called multidirectional visibility index (MVI) has been developed and verified. The MVI improves standard cartographic analytical shading with a number of enhancements to topographic detail and prominent structures, i.e. the portrayal of flat areas in lighter tones, the accentuation of morphologic edges, and the multiscale visualisation of morphologic terrain features. The procedure requires a digital elevation model (DEM) and involves the following steps: visibility mask computation; the respective multidirectional altering of the azimuth and elevation angle; the generation of continuous grid MVIs that indicate upper/lower views, quasi-slope, and relative relief; and an appropriate visualisation of the relevant MVI as a standalone technique or in combination with standard hill-shaded relief. The modelling parameters are robust and therefore highly adaptive to different landforms.