Effect of the Mahanadi River on the Development of Storm Surge Along the Orissa Coast of India: A Numerical Study

River-ocean coupled models are described for the evaluation of the interaction between river discharge and surge development along the Orissa coast of India. The models are used to study the effect of fresh water discharge from the Mahanadi River on the surge response along the Orissa coast due to the October 1999 super cyclone which led to severe flooding of the coastal and delta regions of Orissa. The so-called 1999 Paradip cyclone was one of the most severe cyclones; causing extensive damage to property and loss of lives. The present study emphasizes the impact of the Mahanadi River on overall surge development along the Orissa coast. Therefore, we have developed a location specific fine resolution model for the Orissa coast and coupled it with a one–dimensional river model. The numerical experiments are carried out, both with and without inclusion of fresh water discharge from the river. The bathymetry for the model has been taken from the naval hydrographic charts extending from the south of Orissa to the south of west Bengal. A simple drying scheme has also been included in the model in order to avoid the exposure of land near the coast due to strong negative sea-surface elevations. The simulations with river-ocean coupled models show that the discharge of fresh water carried by the river may modify the surge height in the Bay, especially in the western Bay of Bengal where one of the largest river systems of the east coast of India, the Mahanadi River, joins with the Bay of Bengal. Another dynamic effect of this inlet is the potentially deep inland penetration of the surge originating in the Bay. The model results are in good agreement with the available observations/estimates.     

内蒙古中西部地区土壤水分对沙尘暴的贡献

以2001年4月至2002年6月内蒙中部地区逐时观测的土壤水分资料为基础，论证了该区日土壤水分和日平均风速的变化规律，统计分析了日平均风速与土壤水分对沙尘暴的成生综合贡献。得出的主要结论是：①该地区沙尘暴发生时日平均风速的最小值是3．5m／s。如果日平均风速大于8．0m／s，预示着有沙尘暴的发生。②在平均风速大于3.5m／s的条件下，观测样本中18．4％日数发生沙尘暴，而81．6％日数没有发生。说明大风的天气条件不应当被视其为沙尘暴的唯一重要的因子。③在同一地点、同样的风力条件下，在沙尘暴发生时，日平均风速与日平均土壤水分呈明显的反相关变化；而它们的反相关关系不明显时，沙尘暴就很少发生。     

February floods in the lower North Island, 2004: Catastrophe – causes and consequences

Abstract: The February 2004 Manawatu floods in New Zealand were the result of a naturally occurring, although unusual, storm. Up to 300 mm of rain fell on the already saturated ground of the lower North Island over two days, generating substantial and rapid runoff from catchment slopes. Rivers rose quickly, inundating unprotected farmland and properties and in places breaching stopbanks. There was widespread slope failure in the hill country of the lower North Island, affecting an area of ca. 7500 km². Slopes under scrub, plantation forest and native bush were not as badly affected as those under pasture, where slopes typically failed by shallow translational landsliding. Flooding caused catastrophic channel change in a number of small to medium sized channel systems in the upland fringes. Whilst the occurrence of landsliding and channel changes during an extreme event such as this is natural, the intensity of both landsliding and channel erosion was exacerbated by human activity within the catchments.     

浙江江山石鼓水库除险加固工程技术措施

根据浙江江山石鼓水库大坝的结构构造特点、水库地质条件以及水库病险原因与状况，制定出一套科学完善的病险水库除险加固工程技术措施和施工操作规程，对病险水库进行了全面彻底治理，并取得良好效果。详细介绍了工程病险状况，除险加固方案设计，施工工艺及操作规程，加固效果检测及评价等。     

兰州市2001年沙尘气溶胶质量浓度的特征分析

 分析了2001年沙尘暴期间兰州与靠近沙尘源区的武威的沙尘浓度和粒径分布特征,并运用对数正态分布规律拟合了沙尘粒径的分布。通过对比武威、皋兰和兰州沙尘暴期间沙尘浓度的变化以及武威与兰州的沙尘粒径分布特征,揭示了河西走廊沙漠对兰州市沙尘暴的影响。     

固沙林庇护区内降尘特征的初步观测

采用野外定位实测法,连续两年对科尔沁沙地24龄人工固沙杨树(Populussimonii)林庇护区内4～6月份及强沙尘暴事件中的降尘特征进行了观测研究。结果表明:(1)林地庇护区内4、5月份的降尘量较多,分别为273和437kg/hm2,6月份的降尘量较少,为171kg/hm2。(2)林地中央的滞尘效应在风蚀季节和强沙尘暴天气过程中十分显著。(3)林地庇护区内的降尘中粒径<0.02mm颗粒含量占60.7%,降尘中的全C、全N和速效P含量分别高达1.676%、0.163%和210.66mg/kg,这对风沙土表层土壤的细化和养分的积累具有重要的生态学意义。     

Three dimensional numerical simulation of residential building on shrink–swell soils in response to climatic conditions

Shrink–swell soils can cause distresses in buildings, and every year, the economic loss associated with this problem is huge. This paper presents a comprehensive system for simulating the soil–foundation–building system and its response to daily weather conditions. Weather data include rainfall, solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed, all of which are readily available from a local weather station or the Internet. These data are used to determine simulation flux boundary conditions. Different methods are proposed to simulate different boundary conditions: bare soil, trees, and vegetation. A coupled hydro‐mechanical stress analysis is used to simulate the volume change of shrink–swell soils due to both mechanical stress and water content variations. Coupled hydro‐mechanical stress‐jointed elements are used to simulate the interaction between the soil and the slab, and general shell elements are used to simulate structural behavior. All the models are combined into one finite element program to predict the entire system's behavior. This paper first described the theory for the simulations. A site in Arlington, Texas, is then selected to demonstrate the application of the proposed system. Simulation results are shown, and a comparison between measured and predicted movements for four footings in Arlington, Texas, over a 2‐year period is presented. Finally, a three‐dimensional simulation is made for a virtual residential building on shrink–swell soils to identify the influence of various factors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new magnitude category disaggregation approach for temporal high‐resolution rainfall intensities

Simulation of quick runoff components such as surface runoff and associated soil erosion requires temporal high‐resolution rainfall intensities. However, these data are often not available because such measurements are costly and time consuming. Current rainfall disaggregation methods have shortcomings, especially in generating the distribution of storm events. The objectives of this study were to improve point rainfall disaggregation using a new magnitude category rainfall disaggregation approach. The procedure is introduced using a coupled disaggregation approach (Hyetos and cascade) for multisite rainfall disaggregation. The new procedure was tested with ten long‐term precipitation data sets of central Germany using summer and winter precipitation to determine seasonal variability. Results showed that dividing the rainfall amount into four daily rainfall magnitude categories (1–10, 11–25, 26–50, >50 mm) improves the simulation of high rainfall intensity (convective rainfall). The Hyetos model category approach (Hyetos_Cat) with seasonal variation performs representative to observed hourly rainfall compared with without categories on each month. The mean absolute percentage accuracy of standard deviation for hourly rainfall is 89.7% in winter and 95.6% in summer. The proposed magnitude category method applied with the coupled Hyetos_Cat–cascade approach reproduces successfully the statistical behaviour of local 10‐min rainfall intensities in terms of intermittency as well as variability. The root mean square error performance statistics for disaggregated 10‐min rainfall depth ranges from 0.20 to 2.38 mm for summer and from 0.12 to 2.82 mm for the winter season in all categories. The coupled stochastic approach preserves the statistical self‐similarity and intermittency at each magnitude category with a relatively low computational burden. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analytical approach to ascertain saturation‐excess versus infiltration‐excess overland flow in urban and reference landscapes

Uncontrolled overland flow drives flooding, erosion, and contaminant transport, with the severity of these outcomes often amplified in urban areas. In pervious media such as urban soils, overland flow is initiated via either infiltration‐excess (where precipitation rate exceeds infiltration capacity) or saturation‐excess (when precipitation volume exceeds soil profile storage) mechanisms. These processes call for different management strategies, making it important for municipalities to discern between them. In this study, we derived a generalized one‐dimensional model that distinguishes between infiltration‐excess overland flow (IEOF) and saturation‐excess overland flow (SEOF) using Green–Ampt infiltration concepts. Next, we applied this model to estimate overland flow generation from pervious areas in 11 U.S. cities. We used rainfall forcing that represented low‐ and high‐intensity events and compared responses among measured urban versus predevelopment reference soil hydraulic properties. The derivation showed that the propensity for IEOF versus SEOF is related to the equivalence between two nondimensional ratios: (a) precipitation rate to depth‐weighted hydraulic conductivity and (b) depth of soil profile restrictive layer to soil capillary potential. Across all cities, reference soil profiles were associated with greater IEOF for the high‐intensity set of storms, and urbanized soil profiles tended towards production of SEOF during the lower intensity set of storms. Urban soils produced more cumulative overland flow as a fraction of cumulative precipitation than did reference soils, particularly under conditions associated with SEOF. These results will assist cities in identifying the type and extent of interventions needed to manage storm water produced from pervious areas.