Nutrient Concentrations are High in the Turbid Waters of the Colorado River Delta

We studied the seasonal change of the spatial distribution of nitrite (NO^-₂), nitrate (NO^-₃), reactive phosphate (PO^3-₄), and silicate (SiO₂) in the Colorado River Delta. We also generated 24-h time series at one location to study their short-period variability. The delta is a negative estuary. During summer, salinity may be as high as 40. Amplitude of spring tides is as large as 9 m, and this causes great water turbidity by sediment resuspension. Nutrient concentrations were high throughout the whole year, with lower values towards the oceanic region. Maximum nutrient values in the river delta were 15, 53, 11·5 and 92 μM, for NO^-₂, NO^-₃, PO^3-₄, and SiO₂, respectively. Most values were under 2, 40, 5, and 60 μM, for NO^-₂, NO^-₃, PO^3-₄, and SiO₂, respectively. Our nutrient data show no clear seasonal pattern. Possibly, high NO^-₃ values in the delta are due to groundwater input, mostly at the internal extreme, and high NO^-₂, PO^3-₄, and SiO₂ values are due to resuspension of sediments and mixing of porewaters with the water column, caused mainly during spring tides. In the case of NO^-₂, oxidation of NH⁺₄ in the water column would be part of the mechanism. This would explain the high negative correlation between NO^-₃ and sea-level, and the relatively low correlation between the other nutrients and sea-level, for the time series generated at a single location.     

南极普里兹湾海域水文特征研究──夏季温、盐分布特征及底层水形成的探讨

分析普里兹湾及其附近海域温、盐分布特征，提出在艾默里冰架外侧有一片温暖水域。指出：１、变性极大的南极绕极深层水的前沿混合水可以影响到陆架上的南纬６７°左右；２、在两个“ＣＴＤ”探头直达海底的测站，深层观测到了温度为负值、盐度为３４．６７。据此，作者指出该水体属于南极底层水。此外，还对整个海区的跃层现象进行分类，计算了跃层的强度、厚度和深度。     

Wave-height distributions and nonlinear effects

Theoretical distributions proposed for describing the crest-to-trough heights of linear waves are reviewed briefly. To explore the effects of nonlinearities, these are generalized to second-order waves, utilizing quasi-deterministic results on the expected shape of large waves. The efficacy of Gram–Charlier models in describing the effects of third-order nonlinearities on the distributions of wave heights, crests and troughs are examined in detail. All models and a fifth-order Stokes–Rayleigh type model recently proposed are compared with linear and nonlinear waves simulated from the JONSWAP spectrum representative of long-crested extreme seas, and also with oceanic data gathered in the North Sea. Uncertainties arising from the variability of probability estimates derived from sample populations of limited size are considered. Ultimately, the comparisons show that nonlinearities do not have any discernable effect on the crest-to-trough heights of oceanic waves. Most of the linear models considered yield similar and reasonable predictions of the observed data trends. Gram–Charlier type distributions seem neither effective nor particularly useful in describing the statistics of large wave heights or crests under oceanic conditions. However, they do surprisingly well in predicting unusually large wave heights and crests observed in some 2D wave-flume experiments and 3D numerical simulations of long-crested narrow-band random waves.     

Distribution of Phyllosoma Larvae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palinuridae,Scyllaridae and Synaxidae) in the Western North Pacific

Phyllosoma larvae were identified and their distribution was examined, based on the larvae in ichthyoplankton samples collected in the Japanese Eel Expedition to the spawning area of A. japonica in the western North Pacific from August 30 to September 13, 1986 (Leg. 1), and from September 22 to 25, 1986 (Leg. 2), on board the R/V Hakuho-maru. Phyllosoma larvae belonged to 3 families (Scyllaridae, Palinuridae and Synaxidae) representing 6 genera and 14 species. A total of 336 palinurid and synaxid phyllosoma larvae were collected, of which 233 larvae (about 70%) were identical with P. longipes s. l, while a total of 362 scyllarid phyllosoma larvae were collected, of which 274 larvae (about 76%) were identical with S. cultrifer. Phyllosoma larvae of P. longipes s. l and S. cultrifer showed a similar distribution to each other. The larvae were abundant in the water close to Mariana Islands, although late stage examples were abundant in waters of Luzon and eastern Taiwan. Distributions of these larvae may be related intimately with the North Equatorial Current existing along 15°N. The North Equatorial Current approaches the eastern coast of the Philippines and then separates into two branches of northward and southward flows. The northward flow contributes to generating the Kuroshio Current while the southward flow goes to generate the Mindanao Current. Judging from distributions of phyllosoma larvae in the present study, it is assumed that the larvae of the above two species may have been released in Mariana Islands and transported westward from there through the North Equatorial Current. These larvae may then be transported to eastern Taiwanese waters.     

Simple generalization approach for intensity–duration–frequency relationships

Rainfall intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) relationships describe rainfall intensity as a function of duration and return period, and they are significant for water resources planning, as well as for the design of hydraulic constructions. In this study, the two‐parameter lognormal (LN2) and Gumbel distributions are used as parent distribution functions. Derivation of the IDF relationship by this approach is quite simple, because it only requires an appropriate function of the mean of annual maximum rainfall intensity as a function of rainfall duration. It is shown that the monotonic temporal trend in the mean rainfall intensity can successfully be described by this parametric function which comprises a combination of the parameters of the quantile function a(T) and completely the duration function b(d) of the separable IDF relationship. In the case study of Aegean Region (Turkey), the IDF relationships derived through this simple generalization procedure (SGP) may produce IDF relationships as successfully as does the well‐known robust estimation procedure (REP), which is based on minimization of the nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis test statistic with respect to the parameters θ and η of the duration function. Because the approach proposed herein is based on lower‐order sample statistics, risks and uncertainties arising from sampling errors in higher‐order sample statistics were significantly reduced. The authors recommend to establish the separable IDF relationships by the SGP for a statistically favorable two‐parameter parent distribution, because it uses the same assumptions as the REP does, it maintains the observed temporal trend in the mean additionally, it is easy to handle analytically and requires considerably less computational effort. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

上海地区几类强降水雨滴谱特征分析

用Parsivel激光降水粒子谱仪资料对2013年上海地区4—10月份期间4种类型 (层状云、对流暖云主导型、对流冷云主导型和强台风影响下的混合暖云型) 降水过程的雨滴谱特征进行了分析。通过平均雨滴谱及其拟合特征、雨滴数密度与含水量分布、雨滴尺度与速度二维谱分布等对比分析发现:各类降水中, 雨滴谱的峰值结构与雨强大小有关, 其中直径介于0.187~1.312 mm的小雨滴均出现峰值且总数最多。各尺度雨滴数密度及其比例决定了其降水量贡献比, 在冷云强降水中的雨强贡献最大的雨滴尺度要显著大于其他3种类型。雨滴谱宽按大小排列依次为对流冷云主导型、混合暖云型、对流暖云主导型和层状云。最后综合运用雨滴谱、雷达、雨量站、闪电等观测资料对9月13日对流冷云主导型降水过程进行分析后发现:在雷暴的演变过程中, 雨滴谱特征与雷达反射率因子、垂直液态水含量、自动站雨强、闪电频次等要素均有较好的相关性。冷云产生的冰晶和冰雹融化后的大雨滴进入中低层的广谱小雨滴群, 并通过破碎分裂增加了大雨滴的形成概率, 尤其是捕捉碰并过程更加快了大雨滴的增长速度, 使雨强在短时间内迅速加强。雨滴谱中各档粒子数的演变, 揭示了降水强度的变化, 用雨滴谱资料可有效弥补现有雷达定量估测降水的偏差, 且在冷云中改善明显。     

地铁隧道三维激光扫描数据配准方法

针对传统的迭代最近点算法(ICP)用于多测站点云数据配准时计算效率低的问题,该文提出了一种基于特征点的ICP改进算法,该方法利用相邻两测站数据进行配准的实现。首先采用体素化格网方法对两点云数据集进行精简处理,并计算精简处理后每一点的法向量;然后利用kd-tree最近邻查询搜索特征点之间的对应关系;并通过估计出的最优变换矩阵更新至全局变换,以提高配准精度。实验结果表明,改进的ICP算法在地铁隧道点云数据配准中的效率高于其他的配准方法,为隧道变形监测工作的进行提供保证。     

滑坡频度-降雨量的分形关系

降雨-滑坡关系是对降雨引发的滑坡进行预报的一个重要基础。本文根据中国浙江省1990～2003年期间有明确日期和坐标记录的1414个滑坡数据和基本覆盖浙江全部陆地区域的1257个雨量站记录的日降雨量数据,研究了滑坡频度-降雨关系。研究结果表明,降雨引发滑坡的频度与降雨量之间遵循分形的幂指数关系,并且在两个尺度的降雨量范围内具有不同的标度指数。按照幂指数关系拟合的两条滑坡累计频度-降雨关系线交点(拐点)处的降雨量(Rin)指出了引发75%左右滑坡的累计降雨阀值的上边界(以THCR表示)。对1d、4d、6d和11d这4个累计降雨时段的研究表明,引发75%左右滑坡的累计降雨阀值分别为205mm(1d)、273mm(4d)、294mm(6d)、315mm(11d)。     

Confidence Intervals of Quantiles in Hydrology Computed by an Analytical Method

Fitting probability distributions to hydrologic data samples is widely used for quantile estimation purposes. The estimated quantile (X^_T) is related to a return period (T). The confidence interval associated with each of the estimates has been calculated empirically, up until now, supposing that the quantile estimator is normally distributed. In this study, it is shown that the confidence interval follows a normal distribution only in the central part of the distribution. The real confidence limits are computed analytically, by defining and integrating the probability density function of the confidence interval. The results with an important number of hydrologic samples show that the upper confidence limits are significantly underestimated towards the tail of the distribution, when determined using the normality approximation for the quantile estimator.