Numerical modeling of valley glacier stagnation as a paleoclimatic indicator

Stagnation of the terminal region of a glacier occurs in response to sufficiently large and rapid climatic warming, so the presence of stagnation deposits provides quantitative information on the climate change that forced retreat. Here we use a simple flow-line glacier model to investigate the relationship between stagnation, climate forcing and aspects of the glacier bed. For climatic warming greater than the threshold to cause stagnation, larger or faster warming events cause longer regions of a glacier to stagnate. Smaller or slower warming episodes, below the threshold for stagnation, cause retreat while active flow persists along the entire glacier length. The threshold for stagnation depends not only on the climatic forcing but also on many other aspects of the glacier, with stagnation favored by factors including a lower mean bed slope with greater roughness. Quantitative determination of the climatic forcing consistent with the occurrence or absence of stagnation deposits requires that these site-specific characteristics be incorporated in modeling.     

海洋生物地球化学模式研究进展

海洋生物地球化学模式是定量认识物质的海洋生物地球化学循环、理解其控制机制以及预测体系变动的重要手段。20世纪90年代以来,该研究领域的进展主要体现在海洋生物地球化学循环的物理输送和生态动力学过程以及年际、年代际变动的模拟3个方面。物理过程模拟方面的进展,集中在寡营养海区上层海水营养盐的供应机制问题上,在经典的上升流、垂直扩散之外,提出涡旋可能构成一种重要的物理输入过程。而生态动力学过程的模拟方面,90年代前期考虑食物网基本结构,由浮游植物、浮游动物和细菌三大类群构成生物状态变量,氮和磷营养盐以及颗粒碎屑构成其他状态变量;90年代后期,开始引入铁和硅的限制问题,考虑不同浮游植物和浮游动物群落结构的影响,特别是浮游植物粒级结构变化的预测可能是未来该领域力图解决的一个技术问题。年际变化的模拟,多围绕ENSO事件对初级生产的影响及其机制问题展开;年代际和地质年代尺度的体系变动问题仍存在争论,相对缺乏有效的数值模拟研究。该研究领域未来应加强生物—化学过程的函数表达、物理模式、中尺度过程、边界交换以及资料获取技术等方面的研究,以应对目前面临的诸多问题与挑战。     

Mapping grassland leaf area index with airborne hyperspectral imagery: A comparison study of statistical approaches and inversion of radiative transfer models

Statistical and physical models have seldom been compared in studying grasslands. In this paper, both modeling approaches are investigated for mapping leaf area index (LAI) in a Mediterranean grassland (Majella National Park, Italy) using HyMap airborne hyperspectral images. We compared inversion of the PROSAIL radiative transfer model with narrow band vegetation indices (NDVI-like and SAVI2-like) and partial least squares regression (PLS). To assess the performance of the investigated models, the normalized RMSE (nRMSE) and R² between in situ measurements of leaf area index and estimated parameter values are reported. The results of the study demonstrate that LAI can be estimated through PROSAIL inversion with accuracies comparable to those of statistical approaches (R² = 0.89, nRMSE = 0.22). The accuracy of the radiative transfer model inversion was further increased by using only a spectral subset of the data (R² = 0.91, nRMSE = 0.18). For the feature selection wavebands not well simulated by PROSAIL were sequentially discarded until all bands fulfilled the imposed accuracy requirements.     

User interactive multiple aerial view analysis for reconstructing a large number of 3D architectural models

An effective 3D method incorporating user assistance for modeling complex buildings is described. This method utilizes the connectivity and similar structure information among unit blocks in a multi-component building structure, to enable the user to incrementally construct models of many types of buildings. The system attempts to minimize the complexity and the number of user interactions needed to assist an existing automatic system in this task. Several examples are presented that demonstrate significant improvement and efficiency, compared with other approaches and with purely manual systems.     

震后北川县城三维建模方法研究

汶川地震造成北川县城大部分房屋倒塌。本文以震后北川县城为例,在已有城市建模方法基础上,提出了基于航空影像与人工建模结合的震后建筑物、废墟、道路、绿化和小品的三维建模方法。     

Modelling of the hydro-mechanical response of sedimentary rocks of southern Ontario to past glaciations

Glaciation is considered as one of the main natural processes that can have a significant impact on the long term performance of a deep geological nuclear waste repository (DGR) located in the Northern Hemisphere. The northern part of the American continent has been subjected to a series of strong glaciation and deglaciation events over the past million years. The last glacial cycle in the Northern Hemisphere started approximately 110,000 year ago. During that cycle, southern Ontario was buried under a continental ice sheet, with a maximum thickness of up to 3000 m at about 20,000 years ago. The ice cap retreated approximately 10,000 years ago. However, field data from deep boreholes in sedimentary rocks of southern Ontario show anomalous pore water pressure including underpressure and overpressure zones. In this paper, a large-scale coupled hydro-mechanical (HM) model is developed to investigate the hydro-mechanical (HM) response of the sedimentary rocks of southern Ontario to past glacial cycles. Particular emphasis has been placed on the evolution of pore water pressures and surface displacements. The HM model is verified using analytical solutions. The results of the large-scale HM modeling study shows that the past glaciation, particularly the second cycle (22,000 apb) had significant impact on the pore water pressure gradient and effective stress distribution in the sedimentary rocks of southern Ontario. Furthermore, good agreement between the large scale modeling results and anomalous pressures leads us to the conclusion that these anomalies could be glacially induced. The results of this research can provide information that will contribute to a better understanding of the impact of future glaciations on the long term performance of DRGs in sedimentary rocks.     

Analysis of submerged bar nourishment strategies in a wave-dominated environment using a 2DV process-based model

The present study aims to analyze the effects of different submerged bars nourishment strategies using a 2DV process-based morphodynamical model. A two-barred beach profile typical of the French Mediterranean micro-tidal storm-dominated coastline is chosen as a reference profile. Two different kinds of modified beach profiles are considered. (i) Only the outer bar is nourished, the inner bar being unchanged (ii) both bars are nourished. Three typical wave forcing regimes are considered. The behavior of the natural profile is first investigated under the 3 wave forcing regimes. Then the behavior of the various nourished profiles is analyzed in terms of wave dynamics and bars behavior. On the basis of the model results, the outer bar only nourishment strategy appears to be preferable.     

Megacusps on rip channel bathymetry: Observations and modeling

The formation of beach megacusps along the shoreline of southern Monterey Bay, CA, is investigated using time-averaged video and simulated with XBeach, a recently developed coastal sediment transport model. Investigations focus on the hydrodynamic role played by the bay's ever-present rip channels. A review of four years of video and wave data from Sand City, CA, indicates that megacusps most often form shoreward of rip channels under larger waves (significant wave height (H_s) = 1.5–2.0 m). However, they also occasionally appear shoreward of shoals when waves are smaller (H_s ~ 1 m) and the mean water level is higher on the beach. After calibration to the Sand City site, XBeach is shown to hindcast measured shoreline change moderately well (skill = 0.41) but to overpredict the erosion of the swash region and beach face. Simulations with small to moderate waves (H_s = 0.5–1.2 m) suggest, similar to field data, that megacusps will form shoreward of either rip channels or shoals, depending on mean daily water level and pre-existing beach shape. A frequency-based analysis of sediment transport forcing is performed, decomposing transport processes to the mean, infragravity, and very-low-frequency (VLF) contributions for two highlighted cases. Results indicate that the mean flow plays the dominant role in both types of megacusp formation, but that VLF oscillations in sediment concentration and advective flow are also significant.     

Recharge to mountainous carbonated aquifers in SE Spain: Different approaches and new challenges

As in most semiarid regions, the main source of freshwater in SE Spain is its aquifers, and their exploitation has enabled the development of highly profitable irrigated agriculture and tourism industries. The application of sustainable water management plans requires aquifer recharge to be quantified and its spatial pattern evaluated. This paper gives a comprehensive review of various recharge studies in mountainous carbonated aquifers, the most important groundwater reservoirs in SE Spain. Quantification of potential recharge rates and their spatial variability are illustrated using satellite-based modeling and tracer techniques. Actual recharge figures from the application of a lumped model based on water table fluctuations are also presented. Potential recharge relative to actual recharge is around 1 in small aquifers and flat areas and may increase up to 1.3 in heterogeneous mountainous aquifers with deep water levels due to losses of recharge in transit in the vadose zone. The complex interaction between climate, geology, aquifer geometry, topography, soil properties and the degree of karstification prevents the systematization of any particular technique to quantify potential recharge. The use of water table fluctuation methods for actual recharge evaluation requires daily time steps to compute unnoticed small recharge events. Therefore, the monitoring of environmental variables and the use of complementary techniques for comparison are recommended. Despite their importance for the correct assessment of recharge in the region, uncertainty analyses are still scarce, and the natural variability of recharge is unknown in most cases. Effort is required to improve the spatial and temporal characterization of recharge through the integration of interdisciplinary sciences.     

Wave–current interaction in a river and wave dominant estuary: A seasonal contrast

The dynamic feature of the Modaomen Estuary (ME) in the Pearl River Delta in southern China has been the subject of extensive research. In previous studies, wave–current interaction (WCI) was often neglected due to its complexity. This study uses a coupled hydrodynamic module TELEMAC-2D and wave propagation module TOMAWAC in the TELEMAC-Mascaret modeling system to quantify the effects of WCI on the hydrodynamics in the ME. The coupled wave and current modeling system was well validated against the field measurements at selected locations. The model results show that WCI varies with the seasonal change in runoff in the ME. The effect of waves on the currents is insignificant during the wet season with a current change of no more than 0.07 m/s; but, in contrast, the currents have a noticeable effect on waves. However, during the dry season, the interactions of waves and currents on each other are found to be equally significant. When wave model and current model are coupled, the velocity could increase up to a maximum of 0.30 m/s and decrease up to a maximum of 0.17 m/s. WCI is greatly affected by the propagation directions of wave and current in both seasons. Generally, wave height decreases and current increases for a following wave and current; wave height increases and current decreases for an opposing wave and current. The effects of waves on currents change with the tide. Changes are larger during neap tide than during spring tide, and stronger during ebb tide than during flood tide.