Copula-based identification of the non-stationarity of the relation between runoff and sediment load

It is important to identify the non-stationarity in the relation between runoff and sediment load under the backdrop of the changing environment. This relation helps to further understand the mechanisms of runoff and sediment yield. A copula-based method was used to detect possible change points in the relation between runoff and sediment load in the Wei River Basin (WRB), China, where soil erosion is a very severe issue. The modified Mann-Kendall trend test method was applied to obtain the trends of runoff and sediment load spanning 1960–2010 at monthly and annual timescales. Finally, the causes of the identified non-stationarity of the relation between runoff and sediment load were roughly analyzed from the perspective of climate change and human activities. Results indicated that:(1) the runoff and sediment load in the Jinghe and Wei rivers were generally characterized by noticeably decreasing trends at both monthly and annual timescales;(2) both the Jinghe and Wei rivers had a common change point (2002), implying that the stationarity of the relation between runoff and sediment load in the Jinghe and Wei River was invalid; (3) human activities including increasing water consumption and growing application of soil conservation practices are dominant factors resulting in non-stationarity in the rela-tion between runoff and sediment load in the WRB. This study provides a new idea for identifying the non-stationarity of multivariate relation in the hydro-meteorological field under the background of the changing environment.     

Trend analysis of nutrient loadings in a large prairie catchment

Nutrient loadings in many river catchments continue to increase due to rapid expansion of agriculture, urban and industrial development, and population growth. Nutrient enrichment of water bodies has intensified eutrophication which degrades water quality and ecosystem health. In this study, we carried out a trend analysis of total phosphorus and total nitrogen loads in the South Saskatchewan River (SSR) catchment using a novel approach to analyse nutrient time series. Seasonal analysis of trends at each of the water quality stations was performed to determine the relationships between annual flow regimes and nutrient loads in the catchment, in particular, the influence of the high spring runoff on nutrient export. Decadal analysis was also performed to determine the long-term relationships of nutrients with anthropogenic changes in the catchment. Although it was found that seasonal and historical variability of nutrient load trends is mainly determined by streamflow regime changes, there is evidence that increases in nitrogen concentration can also be attributed to anthropogenic changes.     

基于传力路径的平面不规则RC框架结构减震设计

针对平面不规则RC框架结构,从构件安全层次出发提出基于传力路径的减震设计方法。首先根据广义结构刚度法的基本原理计算结构中所有构件的重要性系数,再假定消能支撑的截面参数,取每层最重要的构件位置布置支撑,经支撑在最不利地震组合下的轴力验算后确定支撑的最终设计参数和数量,然后考虑远场、近场有脉冲以及近场无脉冲地震动从双向输入对结构响应的影响,对减震前、后结构分别进行动力时程分析。分析结果表明,利用此方法优化布置支撑能为结构中重要构件提供有效保护,且在小、中、大震下消能支撑均能运作良好,使整体结构响应得到很好地控制。     

A regime shift in sediment export from a coastal watershed during a record wet winter,California: Implications for landscape response to hydroclimatic extremes

Small, steep watersheds are prolific sediment sources from which sediment flux is highly sensitive to climatic changes. Storm intensity and frequency are widely expected to increase during the 21st century, and so assessing the response of small, steep watersheds to extreme rainfall is essential to understanding landscape response to climate change. During record winter rainfall in 2016–2017, the San Lorenzo River, coastal California, had nine flow peaks representing 2–10‐year flood magnitudes. By the third flood, fluvial suspended sediment showed a regime shift to greater and coarser sediment supply, coincident with numerous landslides in the watershed. Even with no singular catastrophic flood, these flows exported more than half as much sediment as had a 100‐year flood 35 years earlier, substantially enlarging the nearshore delta. Annual sediment load in 2017 was an order of magnitude greater than during an average‐rainfall year, and 500‐fold greater than in a recent drought. These anomalous sediment inputs are critical to the coastal littoral system, delivering enough sediment, sometimes over only a few days, to maintain beaches for several years. Future projections of megadroughts punctuated by major atmospheric‐river storm activity suggest that interannual sediment‐yield variations will become more extreme than today in the western USA, with potential consequences for coastal management, ecosystems, and water‐storage capacity. The occurrence of two years with major sediment export over the past 35 years that were not associated with extremes of the El Niño Southern Oscillation or Pacific Decadal Oscillation suggests caution in interpreting climatic signals from marine sedimentary deposits derived from small, steep, coastal watersheds, to avoid misinterpreting the frequencies of those cycles. Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

A method for uncertainty constraint of catchment discharge and phosphorus load estimates

River discharge and nutrient measurements are subject to aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. In this study, we present a novel method for estimating these uncertainties in colocated discharge and phosphorus (P) measurements. The “voting point”‐based method constrains the derived stage‐discharge rating curve both on the fit to available gaugings and to the catchment water balance. This helps reduce the uncertainty beyond the range of available gaugings and during out of bank situations. In the example presented here, for the top 5% of flows, uncertainties are shown to be 139% using a traditional power law fit, compared with 40% when using our updated “voting point” method. Furthermore, the method is extended to in situ and lab analysed nutrient concentration data pairings, with lower uncertainties (81%) shown for high concentrations (top 5%) than when a traditional regression is applied (102%). Overall, for both discharge and nutrient data, the method presented goes some way to accounting for epistemic uncertainties associated with nonstationary physical characteristics of the monitoring site.     

建筑在强震下横拉承压力钢筋负荷测量

在强震状态下,建筑物的横拉承压受力较为复杂,另外由于建筑物形状及在地震中受力面积大小不同,在强震下造成碰撞大小影响不一导致其横拉承压力的随机复杂性十分突出。传统的建筑承压负荷检测方法中钢筋负荷受力测量能力不足,检测结果易出现误差。将建筑钢筋的机械性能设为理想弹塑性,利用建筑物横拉承压力钢筋负荷测量方法,对不同结构、不同工况的建筑钢筋载荷的变化规律进行测试分析,结合建筑局部承压特点和整体结构聚力方式,设计横拉承压力钢筋负荷检测方法,并进行仿真实验,结果表明该方法模型所得数据更加精准,有良好的适用性。     

Response of hybrid isolation system during a shake table experiment of a full‐scale isolated building

A full‐scale 5‐story steel moment frame building was subjected to a series of earthquake excitations using the E‐Defense shake table in August, 2011. For one of the test configurations, the building was seismically isolated by a hybrid system of lead‐rubber bearings and low friction roller bearings known as cross‐linear bearings, and was designed for a very rare 100 000‐year return period earthquake at a Central and Eastern US soil site. The building was subject to 15 trials including sinusoidal input, recorded motions and simulated earthquakes, 2D and 3D input, and a range of intensities including some beyond the design basis level. The experimental program was one of the first system‐level full‐scale validations of seismic isolation and the first known full‐scale experiment of a hybrid isolation system incorporating lead‐rubber and low friction bearings. Stable response of the hybrid isolation system was demonstrated at displacement demands up to 550 mm and shear strain in excess of 200%. Torsional amplifications were within the new factor stipulated by the code provisions. Axial force was observed to transfer from the lead‐rubber bearings to the cross‐linear bearings at large displacements, and the force transfer at large displacements exceeded that predicted by basic calculations. The force transfer occurred primarily because of the flexural rigidity of the base diaphragm and the larger vertical stiffness of the cross‐linear bearings relative to the lead‐rubber bearings.     

车辆荷载作用下山西路基重塑黄土的动力特性研究

针对车辆荷载对山西高速公路路基土体影响研究不足的现状,从试验角度出发,研究车辆荷载水平、波形、干密度和围压对路基土体的动力特性响应。研究表明:路基土体的体变随波形比的增大而增大,随车辆荷载的增大而增大;路基土体的动弹性模量随干密度的增大而增大,随围压的增大而增大,阻尼比随围压的增大而减小。     

Bed-load transport rate based on the entrainment probabilities of sediment grains by rolling and lifting

A function for the bed-load sediment transport rate is derived. This function is obtained by using the entrainment probabilities of the rolling and lifted sediment grains, and by introducing two travel lengths, respectively. The predictions from the new bed-load function agree well with experimental results over the entire experimental range and show significant improvement over the commonly used formula for the bed-load transport rate. The new function shows that, in terms of contributing to the bed-load transport rate, the total entrainment probability of the sediment grains is a weighted summation of those for the lifted and rolling grains, rather than a simple addition of the two. The function is also used to predict the total entrainment probability, saltation length, and the bed layer thickness at a high bed-load transport rate. These predictions all agree well with the experimental results. It is found that, on average, the travel length for the rolling sand grains is about an order of magnitude less than that of the lifted grains.     

Enhanced bed load sediment transport by unsteady flows in a degrading channel

Laboratory flume experiments were done to investigate bed load sediment transport by both steady and unsteady flows in a degrading channel. The bed, respectively composed of uniform sand, uniform gravel, or sand-gravel mixtures, always undergoes bulk degradation. It is found that both uniform and non-uniform bed load transport is enhanced greatly by unsteady flows as compared to their volume-equivalent steady flows. This enhancement effect is evaluated by means of an enhancement factor, which is shown to be larger with a coarser bed and lower discharges. Also, the fractional transport rates of gravel and sand in non-uniform sand-gravel mixtures are compared with their uniform counterparts under both steady and unsteady flows. The sand is found to be able to greatly promote the transport of gravel, whilst the gravel considerably hinders the transport of sand. Particularly, the promoting and hindering impacts are more pronounced at lower discharges and tend to be weakened by flow unsteadiness.