Comparing threshold definition techniques for rainfall‐induced landslides: A national assessment using radar rainfall

Translational landslides and debris flows are often initiated during intense or prolonged rainfall. Empirical thresholds aim to classify the rain conditions that are commonly associated with landslide occurrence and therefore improve understating of these hazards and predictive ability. Objective techniques that are used to determine these thresholds are likely to be affected by the length of the rain record used, yet this is not routinely considered. Moreover, remotely sensed spatially continuous rainfall observations are under‐exploited. This study compares and evaluates the effect of rain record length on two objective threshold selection techniques in a national assessment of Scotland using weather radar data. Thresholds selected by ‘threat score’ are sensitive to rain record length whereas, in a first application to landslides, ‘optimal point’ (OP) thresholds prove relatively consistent. OP thresholds increase landslide detection and may therefore be applicable in early‐warning systems. Thresholds combining 1‐ and 12‐day antecedence variables best distinguish landslide initiation conditions and indicate that Scottish landslides may be initiated by lower rain accumulation and intensities than previously thought. © 2017 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Response of the hydrological regime of the Yellow River to the changing monsoon intensity and human activity

Abstract

In the past 50 years, influenced by global climate change, the East Asian summer monsoon intensity (SMI) changed significantly, leading to a response by the water cycle of the Yellow River basin. The variation in SMI has three stages: (1) 1951–1963, SMI increased; (2) 1963–1965, SMI declined sharply, a feature that may be regarded as an abrupt change; and (3) 1965–2000, SMI remained at low levels and showed a tendency to decline slowly. The decreased SMI led to a reduction in water vapour transfer from the ocean to the Yellow River basin, and thus precipitation decreased and the natural river runoff of the Yellow River also decreased. Due to the increase in population and therefore in irrigated land area, the ratio of net water diversion to natural river runoff increased continuously. Comparison of the ratio of net water diversion to natural river runoff before and after the abrupt change in SMI indicates some discontinuity in the response of the man-induced lateral branch of the water cycle to the abrupt change in SMI. The frequently occurring flow desiccation in the lower Yellow River can be regarded as a response of the water cycle system to the decreasing summer monsoon intensity and increasing population. When the ratio of net water diversion exceeded the ratio of natural runoff of the low-flow season to the annual total natural runoff, flow desiccation in the lower Yellow River would occur. When the ratio of net water diversion is 0.3 larger than the ratio of the natural runoff of the low-flow season to the annual total natural runoff, an abrupt increase in the number of flow desiccation events is likely to occur.     

内蒙古东部地区2次地震震级标度大小的分析与探讨

从表征地震断层错动引起的地震强度的一个力学量(地震矩)出发,依据不同断层性质地震的地震矩与震级的统计关系,反演得到2003年8月16日巴林左旗-阿鲁科尔沁旗地震和2004年3月24日东乌珠穆沁旗地震的震级、断层面积、平均错距、破裂长度以及释放能量等震源参数.在利用不同机构提供的地震矩得到这2次地震面波震级的过程中发现,...     

Crop evapotranspiration in the Nile Delta under different irrigation methods

Eddy correlation measurements within the Nile Delta allowed the determination of evapotranspiration (E) for seven crops (rice, maize, cotton, sugar beet, berseem, wheat and fava beans) using basin irrigation (BI), furrow irrigation (FI), BI with increased intervals (BI_i), FI with increased intervals (FI_i), strip irrigation (SI) and drip irrigation (DI). Total E values over the cropping season for rice (BI, BI_i) were the highest (>600 mm), while those for sugar beet (DI), maize (SI and DI) and berseem (BI_i) were the lowest (<250 mm). The differences were due to a combination of atmospheric demand, soil moisture, the presence of surface standing water, root depth, and the length and timing of the cropping season. The DI and SI methods had the advantage for water saving, while the FI_i and BI_i methods were effective for crops with shallow root lengths. Estimated annual E was 566–828 mm/year (water-saving irrigation) and 875–1225 mm/year (conventional irrigation).     

新型雷电预警系统在地震台站的应用

福建地区的雷电活动频繁,地震台站的数据完整性和数据质量因雷电灾害严重降低。为确保台站仪器稳定运行及数据有效可靠,福建局实施多个措施对地震台站内、外部防雷进行整体改造。新型雷电预警系统设定多级报警阀值,并实时监视台站20km范围内大气电场强度,当系统监测值超阀值时,则发出预警并自动切换电源,为前兆仪器设备的防雷发挥着至关重要作用,也为取代人工断电模式提供安全保证,有利于地震台站稳定运行。     

博格达造山带东段早石炭世火山岩地球化学特征及构造属性

博格达造山带东段克孜库都克地区七角井组玄武岩和中酸性火山碎屑岩及少量流纹岩在时空上构成双峰式火山岩组合。玄武岩LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄为331.0±3.0Ma,属于早石炭世晚期;Si O2含量为47.68%~48.82%,Ti O2含量(1.83%~2.17%)略高于N型大洋中脊玄武岩,高Al(Al2O3含量为15.56%~16.09%),富钠贫钾(Na2O/K2O=5.44~7.76),低Mg(Mg O含量为5.97%~7.17%,Mg#为43~47),表明其原始岩浆发生过明显的橄榄石和辉石的分离结晶作用。玄武岩具有近于平坦的稀土配分模式,轻微负Eu异常(δEu=0.89~0.93),相对富集Rb、Ba、P,亏损Th、Nb、Ta、Sr、Ti等不相容元素。火山岩岩石地球化学特征表明:研究区玄武岩可能是亏损尖晶石相地幔橄榄岩向石榴石相地幔橄榄岩过渡的产物,且在其上升过程中受到较弱程度的地壳物质混染,形成于陆内裂谷环境,其地球动力学体制可能与古亚洲洋壳向先存的准噶尔-吐哈陆块斜向俯冲,产生的侧向撕裂力拉张陆块有关。克孜库都克地区早石炭世玄武岩构造属性的确立进一步证实了博格达造山带在石炭纪时期处于大陆裂谷演化过程的观点,为进一步深入理解博格达地区石炭纪构造岩浆演化过程提供了新的地质与年代学依据。     

The influence of 30~60 d oscillation on the development of the South China Sea summer monsoon

Using the National Center for Enviromental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data and NOAA satellite-obser ved outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) data, the development of the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon and intraseasonal (30-60 d) oscillation (ISO) have been examined. The results show that there exists obvious interannual variability of intraseasonal oscillaiton. Using the 16 a time series of filtered OLR averaged over the SCS, an index is defined to define ““onset events““ over the SCS on the ISO time scales. Of the 16 a examined here, 10 shows a strong ISO signal in the onset of monsoon convection over the SCS. In these cases, the ISO initially suppresses the seasonal development of southwesterly and cyclonic circulation over the SCS before the ISO onset. As the ISO propagates northeastward, the low frequency cyclonic circulation anomaly occurs in the SCS and the low frequency southwesterly wind and convection over here dramatically intensify. The northeast progression of the ISO anomaleis plays a role in the initial suppression and then acceleration of the seasonal cycle of the SCS summer monsoon.     

Macrofauna Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean Deep Sea

Abstract. During two expeditions with RV ‘Meteor’ in summer 1993 and winter 1997/98 the structural and functional diversity of the benthic system of the highly oligotrophic eastern Mediterranean deep sea was investigated. The macrofauna communities were dominated by polychaetes even at the deepest stations. The fauna at shallow stations was dominated by surface deposit feeders, whereas subsurface deposit feeders and predators generally increased with depth. A high percentage of suspension‐feeding Porifera was found in the Levantine Basin. Mean abundance and number of taxa of both expeditions were significantly correlated to depth and distance to the nearest coast as well as to the total organic carbon (TOC) content in sediments. Numbers of taxa and abundance decreased generally with depth, although lowest numbers were not found at the deepest stations but in the extremely oligotrophic Levantine and Ierapetra Basin. Biomass measured during the second cruise was extremely low in the Ierapetra Basin and comparable to other extreme oligotrophic seas. The significant correlations found for TOC contents and macrofauna with distance to coast during both expeditions apparently reflect the role of hydrographically governed transport of organic matter produced in coastal regions into greater and extreme depths of the Mediterranean Sea. Seasonal differences in macrofauna communities due to seasonal differences in food supply were not found. However, recent large‐scale hydrographic changes (Eastern Mediterranean Transient, EMT) might change the oligotrophy and, thus, the structure of the benthic communities in the Eastern Mediterranean deep sea.     

Algorithms for automatic,real-time tsunami detection in wind–wave measurements Part I: Implementation strategies and basic tests

Several, although not all, wind–wave gages are equipped with sensors capable of detecting sea-level oscillations within the tsunami frequency band. The present paper looks at the algorithms to be implemented in the software of these gages in order to automatically perform the real-time detection of a possible tsunami within recorded signals. In particular, a new algorithm is proposed and tested. The first part of the paper concentrates on the algorithms' characteristics, implementation strategies and basic testing. First of all, the situations in which wind–wave measurements are either essential, or useful for real-time tsunami detection are discussed. In the second place, already existing algorithms are recalled, specifying their characteristics and fields of application. Then, the characteristics of the new proposed algorithm – mainly based on an infinite impulse response, time domain filter – are illustrated and analyzed. Performance and efficiency of the considered algorithms are compared using synthetic time series. The second part of the paper discusses the algorithms' use in the framework of Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS), testing them in actual cases.