Evaluation of streambed hydraulic conductivity heterogeneity in an urban watershed

It has long been understood that streambed hydraulic conductivity plays an important role in surface-subsurface solute exchange. Using a portable falling head permeameter in situ, we estimated the horizontal hydraulic conductivity, K, of the near-surface streambed sediments at a total of 85 locations encompassing two depth intervals: 7.5–10 and 10–12.5 cm. The measurements were conducted in an 80 m reach of Indian Creek, a small urban stream in Philadelphia, PA, USA. We found that the ln K data within each sediment layer were Gaussian, but the combined data set was not. The results indicated that while the mean hydraulic conductivity decreased with depth, horizontal heterogeneity (e.g. the variance) increased with depth. This strong contrast between layers suggests that they should be treated as separated entities in modeling studies. Variogram analyses across the stream suggested symmetry with respect to the thalweg in the upper layer and fractality in the lower layer. The variograms along the streams suggested that the K data are random.     

Numerical modeling of secondary migration and its applications to Chang-6 Member of Yanchang Formation (Upper Triassic), Longdong area, Ordos Basin, China

Mathematic modeling, established on the basis of physical experiments, is becoming an increasingly important tool in oil and gas migration studies. This technique is based on the observation that hydrocarbon migration tends to take relative narrow pathways. A mathematical model of hydrocarbon migration and accumulation is constructed using the percolation theory. It is then calibrated using physical experimental results, and is tested under a variety of conditions, to understand the applicability of the model in different migration cases. Through modeling, dynamic conditions of large-scale migration pathways within homogeneous formations can be evaluated. Basin-scale hydrocarbon migration pathways and their characteristics are analyzed during the model application to the Chang-8 Member of the Triassic Yanchang Formation in Longdong area of Ordos Basin. In heterogeneous formations, spatial changes in fluid potential determine the direction of secondary migration, and heterogeneity controls the characteristics and geometry of secondary migration pathways.     

A Numerical Study on Effects of Land-Surface Heterogeneity from “Combined Approach” on Atmospheric Process Part I: Principle and Method

1.IntroductionAnideallandsurfacemodelmustbothrealisticallydescribethelandsurfacecharacteristics(especiallytheuniversalheterogeneity)andbecomputationallyinexpensive.CurrentlyPOpularlandsurfacemodelsareallbasedon"bigfeartheory,inwhichamodelgridcellisdividedintomanypatches(e.g.,abaresoilpatchoravegetationpatch;manyregularpatchesdividedintoaccordingtogeographicallocations),andinwhichonlyinterpatchvariabilityistakenintoaccountwhileseldomintrapatchvariabilityis,whentheheterogeneityisconsidered.Even…     

Experimental study of the transfer velocity for urban surfaces with a water evaporation method

A major problem in urban climate modelling is determining how the heat fluxes from various canyon surfaces are affected by canyon flow. To address this problem, we developed a water evaporation method involving filter paper to study the distribution of the convective transfer velocity in urban street canyons. In this method, filter paper is pasted onto a building model and the evaporation rate from the paper is measured with an electric balance. The method was tested on 2D (two-dimensional) street canyon models and 3D model arrangements. Moreover, in this technique, it is easy to restrict the flux within an arbitrary surface in question. That is, the evaporation distribution on a surface can be studied by using several small pieces of filter paper. In the 2D case, the wall transfer velocity was strongly dependent on the canyon aspect ratio for perpendicular wind directions and it varied widely with height within both windward and leeward wall surfaces. For 3D cubic arrays, the relation to canyon aspect ratio was largely different from that of the 2D canyon. And, as a case study, the variation of wind direction was investigated for a city-like setting. The area-averaged transfer velocity was insensitive to wind direction but its local deviation was significant. Finally, we measured the transfer velocity for a clustered block array surrounded by relatively wide streets. The effect of spatial heterogeneity on the transfer velocity was significant. Moreover, for a fixed total building volume, the transfer velocity was considerably larger when the building height varied than when it was uniform. Therefore, the water evaporation method with filter paper is expected to be useful for studying the transfer velocity and ventilation rates in urban areas with various canyon shapes.     

储层非均质性影响空气泡沫驱注入效果研究——以鄂尔多斯盆地甘谷驿油田长6油层组为例

空气泡沫驱是重要三采技术,为了了解该技术适用储层类型,笔者等通过文献调研、机理分析、室内实验及油藏生产动态数据分析研究其注入效果与储层非均质性关系,结果表明：该技术通过泡沫体系产生阻力提高波及系数,泡沫中包含的表面活性剂降低界面张力提高驱油效率,泡沫特性“遇油消泡,遇水不变”可有效调剖堵水并改善流度比,非均质性强的储层具有大小不一的孔喉、较大的孔喉比和较强的贾敏效应,使上述增加波及系数、驱油及堵水效果更强,从而在水驱基础上可以进一步大幅提高采收率。实验和生产动态资料都说明,储层非均质性越强,表现为渗透率级差较大,增产和堵水效果越好,因此空气泡沫驱适用于储层非均质性较强的储层。该研究成果为空气泡沫驱的推广提供借鉴。     

Quantifying Isotopic Heterogeneity of Candidate Reference Materials at the Picogram Sampling Scale

We propose a method for quantifying the in situ heterogeneity of solid materials at the picogram test portion scale, illustrating its use by investigating the oxygen isotope ratio (¹⁸O^?/¹⁶O^?) of four quartz samples. Using secondary ion mass spectrometry, we could estimate the intrinsic heterogeneity using a large number (~ 100) of closely spaced duplicated measurements. An analysis of variance was then applied to these large data sets to extract the measurement repeatability (typically 0.10–0.15‰, 1s) from the total variability, thereby revealing a variability ranging from 0.18‰ to 2.3‰, which can be attributed to the genuine isotope ratio heterogeneities. A small proportion of outlying values were either rejected manually after inspection, or were accommodated using robust statistics. We also evaluated two distinct approaches for estimating and correcting instrumental drift; the use of a sub‐area of the test material (if shown to have sufficiently low heterogeneity) is judged to be preferable to using a piece of unrelated silicate glass that we believe to be homogeneous. We also compared three approaches for estimating measurement repeatability, from which we show that the ‘duplicate method’ applied to the reference material is preferable to using other methods based either on the drift monitoring material or on assessing residuals of the drift monitoring material after drift correction. Finally, here we propose a strategy for predicting the number of measurements on individual fragments of a material that would be required to achieve a specified target uncertainty.     

基于匹配追踪的RGB融合技术及在河道刻画中的应用

准确、高效地获取地震资料的频率信息是时频技术的关键。目前最热门的匹配追踪算法相比常用的小波变换和广义S变换来说,具有更高的时频分辨率和局部自适应性,能同时在时间域和频率域获得较准确的定位,提取较准确的频率域信息,为地震属性研究、油气检测等研究工作服务。RGB色彩融合技术是一种显示技术,它可以将多个频率体分为低、中、高三个频带进行融合显示,全面地反映各频带信息,弥补单一属性包含信息较少的缺点。将采用匹配追踪的RGB色彩融合技术应用于实际地震资料,清楚地刻画了河道的边界,并对河道内部的非均质性有一定程度的反映,较常规属性具有更深刻的意义。     

Comparing sequential Gaussian and turning bands algorithms for cosimulating grades in multi-element deposits

Stochastic simulation is increasingly used to map the spatial variability in the grades of elements of interest and to assess the uncertainty in the mineral resources and ore reserves. The practical implementation requires specifying a stochastic model, which describes the spatial distribution of the grades, and an algorithm to construct realizations of these grades, viewed as different possible outcomes or scenarios. In the case of the Gaussian random field model, a variety of algorithms have been proposed in the past decades, but their ability to reproduce the model statistics is often unequal. In this paper, we compare two such algorithms, namely the turning bands and the sequential algorithms. The comparison is hold through a synthetic case study and a real case study in a porphyry copper deposit located in southeastern Iran, in which it is of interest to jointly simulate the copper, molybdenum, silver, lead and zinc grades. Statistical testing and graphical validations are realized to check whether or not the realizations reproduce the features of the true grades, in particular their direct and cross variograms. Sequential simulation based on collocated cokriging turns out to poorly reproduce the cross variograms, while turning bands proves to be accurate in all the analyzed cases.     

Risk-based characterisation of an urban building site

The evaluation of the underground soil stratigraphy is a key aspect in geotechnical site characterisation. However, these means of site exploration are only pinholing subsoil conditions and expert knowledge is needed to understand subsoil conditions in order to build a reliable geological-geotechnical model. This contribution employs a geostatistical simulation methodology for the simulation of random fields representing geological uncertainty. This combines borehole data and expert knowledge via a mathematical framework. Moreover a risk-based site characterisation scheme is developed for urban site characterisation. This novel characterisation scheme offers additional insight into the effects of large-scale, geological spatial variability by using fragility curves to quantify these effects.