Hydrological thresholds of soil surface properties identified using conditional inference tree analysis

There has been limited success in determining critical thresholds of ground cover or soil characteristics that relate to significant changes in runoff or sediment production at the microscale (<1 m²), particularly in semi‐arid systems where management of ground cover is critical. Despite this lack of quantified thresholds, there is an increasing research focus on the two‐phase mosaic of vegetation patches and inter‐patches in semi‐arid systems. In order to quantify ground cover and soil related thresholds for runoff and sediment production, we used a data mining technique known as conditional inference tree analysis to determine statistically significant values of a range of measured variables that predicted average runoff, peak runoff, sediment concentration and sediment production at the microscale. On Chromic Luvisols across a range of vegetation states in semi‐arid south‐eastern Australia, large changes in runoff and sediment production were related to a hierarchy of different variables and thresholds, but the percentage of bare soil played a primary role in predicting runoff and sediment production in most instances. The identified thresholds match well with previous thresholds found in semi‐arid and temperate regions (including the approximate values of 30%, 50% and 70% total ground cover). The analysis presented here identified the critical role of soil surface roughness, particularly where total ground cover is sparse. The analysis also provided evidence that a two‐phase mosaic of patches and inter‐patches identified via rapid visual assessment could be further delineated into distinct groups of hydrological response, or a multi‐phase rather than a two‐phase system. The approach used here may aid in assessing scale‐dependent responses and address data non‐linearity in studies of semi‐arid hydrology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

粗糙海面L 和C 双波段的代价函数多参量遥感反演分析

利用代价函数(cost function)方法,通过分析粗糙海面L和C双波段多极化遥感亮温对海表盐度、温度、风速和有效波高等参数的敏感性以及L和C双波段多极化的代价函数收敛特性,建立了反演海表盐度、温度、风速和有效波高等多参数的L和C双波段多极化代价函数模式。双波段遥感模式分析结果表明:(1)对于双参数的联合反演,L和C双波段垂直极化代价函数联合反演海表盐度和温度可以获得较好的反演结果。(2)L波段垂直极化和C波段水平极化代价函数联合反演海表盐度和风速较好。(3)对于三参数联合反演,L波段垂直极化和C波段的双极化联合反演盐度、温度和风速的精度较高。(4)L波段亮温对有效波高的敏感性较低(C波段经验模式不含有效波高),使得有效波高反演误差较大,L和C波段经验模式不适合反演有效波高参数。另外,为了定量分析L和C双波段代价函数的多参量遥感反演结果,采用加性噪音模拟亮温方法,对上述L和C双波段多极化模式的盐度、温度和风速等多参数联合反演误差进行了分析,均得出较好的结果。结论表明L和C双波段代价函数联合反演多参量可以明显提高参量反演精度,为粗糙海表面多参量的反演提供了新的方法和途径。     

基于ENVISAT ASAR的长江口南汇潮滩土壤湿度定量研究

土壤湿度是潮滩湿地生态环境的重要参数之一。以长江口南汇潮滩为研究区,利用2005年5月2日和3日2景时序相近、低入射角HH极化的ENVISAT ASAR数据,在数据预处理的基础上,进行了入射角归一化处理,然后采用Zribi-Dechambre模型计算了南汇潮滩土壤粗糙度和土壤湿度。其土壤粗糙度分布范同为0.05～0.8 cm,土壤湿度分布范围为1%～3.8%。最后,采用上海地质调查研究院土壤湿度实测数据进行了验证,其均方根误差为3.62%,表明该方法对合成孔径雷达影像进行土壤湿度信息的提取有较好的适用性。     

岩石断裂表面的分形模拟

根据岩石断裂表面粗糙度所具有的统计自仿射分形的特征,提出了改进的自仿射分形插值的概念。运用改进的自仿射分形插值方法,根据实测岩石断裂表面粗糙度数据,对岩石断裂表面粗糙形态进行了分形模拟,给出了二元分形插值数学模型。将以不同数量的观测数据模拟出的插值曲面与实际测量的岩石断裂表面相比较,得出了不同数量信息点的模拟精度,它们之间的关系曲线显示为幂函数关系的规律。这就意味着不仅可以得到模拟结果,还可以得到模拟结果的估计精度。运用少量已知数据值,模拟出未知曲面,给出了由局部模拟整体的方法这对于根据少量数据研究、模拟和直观显示复杂物体的几何形态,如地形地貌、断层表面和材料裂隙表面,具有重要的应用意义。     

The effect of surface irregularities on a falling rock motion

This laboratory study seeks to investigate the effect of surface irregularities on the motion characteristics of a falling rock. The irregularly-shaped surfaces of greywacke with a range of joint roughness coefficient (JRC) from 2 to 18 were used in an experimental setup where a falling rock was dropped from a height of 110 cm. A high-speed camera was utilised to capture the trajectory of the falling rock upon its impact with the rock surface. The data from 287 tests were statistically analysed to determine the dominant type of motion and to establish relationships between JRC and the coefficient of restitution (CoR). The effect of surface roughness was seen in different modes of motion of the falling rock with more irregular surfaces often produced ‘sliding’ or ‘rolling’ instead of ‘bouncing’. The obtained data indicated that the rock surface roughness did not seem to have a significant effect on CoR; however, it affected the rebound angle of the falling rock.     

LiDAR-derived DEM evaluation of deep-seated landslides in a steep and rocky region of Japan

In steep and rocky terrains, their rough surfaces make it difficult to create landslide inventories even with detailed maps/images produced from airborne LiDAR data. To provide objective clues in locating deep-seated landslides, the surface textures of a 5 km² steepland area in Japan was investigated using the eigenvalue ratio and slope filters calculated from a very high resolution LiDAR-derived DEM. The range of filter values was determined for each of a number of surface features mapped in the field and these included: cracked bedrock outcrops, coarse colluvial deposits, gently undulating surfaces, and smooth surfaces. Recently active slides commonly contained patches of ground in which deposition and erosion occurred together near the erosion front, or where cracked bedrock outcrops and coarse colluvial deposits coexisted under a gently undulating surface. The characteristic eigenvalue and slope filter values representing this sliding process were applied to maps of the DEM derived filter values to extract potential sites of recent landslide activity. In addition, the relationships between the filter values of deep-seated landslides at various stages of evolution within the field mapped area were extended to the entire study area, to assess the contribution that landslide evolution makes to change in the landscape as a whole. While landslide components made up the steepest as well as the gentlest parts of the landscape depending on their evolutionary stage, landslides were constantly coarsened and steepened by progressive erosion, probably initiated by river bank erosion at the foot of slopes.     

Influences of spatially heterogeneous roughness on flow hydrographs

Spatially uniform roughness, which although may not be adequate in all cases, is often conveniently adopted for rainfall-runoff simulations in conventional watershed hydrology. In this study, effects of spatially heterogeneous roughness on hydrological response were investigated systematically. Three types of surface roughness scenarios, including: roughness decreasing in a downstream direction (Scenario 1), roughness increasing in a downstream direction (Scenario 2) and roughness distributed at random (Scenario 3), were assigned to an overland plane. A non-inertia wave model was developed to generate hydrographs at the end of the overland plane for certain rainstorms. The hydrographs in the three scenarios showed that when rainfall duration was less than the time of concentration of the overland plane, peak discharges generated from the spatially heterogeneous roughness scenarios significantly exceeded those from the spatially uniform roughness condition. The temporal equilibrium discharge which was usually observed on an overland plane under the spatially uniform roughness condition was not found in the present study. The flow peak in Scenario 1 occurred before that in Scenario 2. Nevertheless, the runoff peak could occur at the preceding, the middle or the later part of the hydrograph in Scenario 3, and this depended on the spatial distribution of the roughness. Reasons for the variation of peak discharge and the time to peak discharge were analyzed in detail based on water depth and flow velocity. Spatially heterogeneous roughness had an obviously influence on runoff generation, which ought to be handled with care in hydrological simulations.     

Modelling the effect of time‐dependent river dune evolution on bed roughness and stage

This paper presents an approach to incorporate time‐dependent dune evolution in the determination of bed roughness coefficients applied in hydraulic models. Dune roughness is calculated by using the process‐based dune evolution model of Paarlberg et al. ( 2009 ) and the empirical dune roughness predictor of Van Rijn ( 1984 ). The approach is illustrated by applying it to a river of simple geometry in the 1‐D hydraulic model SOBEK for two different flood wave shapes. Calculated dune heights clearly show a dependency on rate of change in discharge with time: dunes grow to larger heights for a flood wave with a smaller rate of change. Bed roughness coefficients computed using the new approach can be up to 10% higher than roughness coefficients based on calibration, with the largest differences at low flows. As a result of this larger bed roughness, computed water depths can be up to 15% larger at low flow. The new approach helps to reduce uncertainties in bed roughness coefficients of flow models, especially for river systems with strong variations in discharge with time. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mapping hydraulic biotopes using terrestrial laser scan data of water surface properties

For more than a decade, habitat mapping using biotopes (in‐channel hydraulically‐defined habitats) has underpinned aquatic conservation in the UK through (a) providing baseline information on system complexity and (b) allowing environmental and ecological change to be monitored and evaluated. The traditional method used is the subjective river habitat or corridor survey. This has recently been revised to include the floodplain via GeoRHS, but issues still exist concerning development of a national database due to the labour intensive nature of the data collection, subjectivity issues between samplers, temporal changes, the fuzzy nature of perceived habitats and habitat boundaries. This paper takes an innovative approach to biotope definition using high resolution spatial data to define water surface roughness for two representative reaches of the River South Tyne, Cumbria, and the River Rede, Northumberland, UK. Data was collected using a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and hydraulic variability simply expressed through assigning a local standard deviation value to a set of adjacent water surface values. Statistical linkage of these data with biotope locations defined visually in the field allowed complete mapping of the surveyed reach defining habitat and biotope areas to the fine scale resolution of the TLS data. Despite issues of data loss due to absorption and transmission through the water, the reflected signal generated an extremely detailed and objective map of the water surface roughness, which may be compared with known biotope locations as defined by visual identification in the field. The TLS accuracy achieved in the present study is comparable with those obtained using hyperspectral imagery: with 84% of the pool/glide/marginal deadwater amalgamated biotope, 88% of riffles, 57% of runs and 50% of the amalgamated cascade/rapid biotope successfully plotted. It is clear from this exercise that biotope distribution is more complex than previously mapped using subjective techniques, and based upon the water surface roughness delimiters presented in this study, the amalgamation of pools with glides and marginal deadwaters, riffles with unbroken standing waves, and cascades with rapids, is proposed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

A method for surface roughness parameter estimation in passive microwave remote sensing

Surface roughness parameter is an important factor and obstacle for retrieving soil moisture in passive microwave remote sensing.Two statistical parameters,root mean square (RMS) height (s) and correlation length (l),are designed for describing the roughness of a randomly rough surface.The roughness parameter measured by traditional way is independence of frequency,soil moisture and soil heterogeneity and just the ″geometric″ roughness of random surface.This ″geometric″ roughness can not fully explain the scattered thermal radiation by the earth's surface.The relationship between ″geometric″ roughness and integrated roughness (contain both ″geometric″ roughness and ″dielectric″ roughness) is linked by empirical coefficient.In view of this problem,this paper presents a method for estimating integrated surface roughness from radiometer sampling data at different frequencies,which mainly based on the flourier relationship between power spectral density distribution and spatial autocorrelation function.We can obtain integrated surface roughness at different frequencies by this method.Besides "geometric" roughness,this integrated surface roughness not only contains "dielectric" roughness but also includes frequency dependence.Combined with Q/H model the polarization coupling coefficient can also be obtained for both H and V polarization.Meanwhile,the simulated numerical results show that radiometer with a sensitivity of 0.1 K can distinguish the different surface roughness and the change of roughness with frequency for the same rough surface.This confirms the feasibility of radiometer sampling method for estimating the surface roughness theoretically.This method overcomes the problem of ″dielectric″ roughness measurement to some extent and can achieve the integrated surface roughness within a microwave pixel which can serve soil moisture inversion better than the ″geometric″ roughness.