The effect of single vegetation elements on wind speed and sediment transport in the Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso

Soil loss caused by wind erosion is a widespread phenomenon in the Sahelian zone of West Africa. According to Sahelian farmers, scattered vegetation standing in amongst the crop has the potential for a wind erosion control strategy. This study was conducted to study the effect of single vegetation elements on the pattern of average wind speed and sediment transport. This was done by two experiments that were carried out during the rainy seasons of 2002 and 2003 in north Burkina Faso, West Africa. Wind speeds were measured using three sonic anemometers, at a sampling frequency of 16 Hz. Sediment transport was determined by calculating the mass fluxes from 17 MWAC catchers. In this study, a shrub was defined as a vegetation element with branches until ground and a tree as a vegetation element with a distinctive trunk below a canopy. Behind shrubs wind speed near the soil surface was reduced up to approximately seven times the height of the shrub. The observed reduction in wind speed in the area where wind speed was reduced was 15 per cent on average. At the sides of the shrub, wind speed was increased, by on average 6 per cent. As the area of increase in wind speed is one‐third of the area of decrease in wind speed, the net effect of a shrub is a reduction in wind speed. A similar pattern was visible for the pattern of sediment transport around a shrub. Downwind of a shrub, sediment transport was diminished up to seven times the height of the shrub. Probably most of this material was trapped by the shrub. Trees showed a local increase of wind around the trunk, which is expected to relate to an increase in sediment transport around the trunk. Mass flux measurements of sediment transport were not made, but visual observations in the field substantiate this. Behind the canopy of a tree, a tree acts similarly to a shrub regarding its effects on average wind speed, but as a tree is generally a larger obstacle than a shrub the extent of this effect is larger than for shrubs. Thus, whereas shrubs are more effective than trees regarding their direct effect on soil loss by trapping sand particles near the soil surface, trees are more effective in affecting soil loss indirectly by reducing the wind speed downwind more effectively than shrubs. Therefore, to reduce soil loss in an area, the presence of both trees and shrubs is crucial. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peak runoff contributing area as hydrological signature of the probability distribution of floods

For the analysis of hydrological extremes and particularly in flood prediction, deeper investigation is needed on the relative effects of different hydrological processes acting at the basin scale in different hydroclimatic areas of the world. In this framework, the theoretical derivation of flood distribution shows a great potential for development and knowledge advancement. In addition, another promising path of investigation is represented by the use of distributed hydrological models via simulation modelling (including Monte Carlo, discrete event and continuous simulation). In this paper results of a theoretically derived flood frequency distribution are analyzed and compared with the results of a simulation scheme that uses a distributed hydrological model (DREAM) in cascade with a rainfall generator (IRP). The numerical simulation allows the reproduction of a large number of extreme events and provides insight into the main control for flood generation mechanisms with particular emphasis to the peak runoff contributing areas, highlighting the relevance of soil texture and morphology in different climatic environments. The proposed methodology is applied here to the Agri and the Bradano basin, in Southern Italy.     

中国陆地生态系统脆弱带遥感模型

本研究通过对我国陆地生态系统8个典型样地的植被指数取样实验和图像计算结果发现，这8个样地植被指数随着水、热因子的季节变化，在时间和空间上具有一定的“绿波推移”和“景观更替”规律。在中国东部湿润的季风区（样地1－3），随着纬度的增高，其月平均植被指数与月平均气温有较大的相关。发现降水相对丰沛的地带，热量和光照条件的变化成为植被生长和变化的自然限制因子；而在中国北方森林－森林草原－典型昌原－荒漠草原－荒漠地带上，随着从东部（湿润地区）到西部（干旱地区）干湿条件的更替，月平均植被指数与降水多寡有较大的正相关关系。在8个样地上都呈现出共同的规律，即定向风的分布与植被指数的分布在时间和空间上具有逆相分布的“套合关系”。尤其在时间上有相逆套合关系，这正是中国北方沙尘暴和沙漠化加剧的自然原因。本研究定量地给出了我国陆地不同经纬度带生态系统脆弱季节和累积时间的分布。     

CHARACTERISTICS OF VEGETATION COVER,ROUGHNESS AND ALBEDO DISTRIBUTION OVER CHINA

To build land surface dataset for climate model,with application of remote sensing techniqueas well as the Geographic Information System(GIS),the data of surface type,roughness andalbedo over China in 1997 were retrieved,resolutions being 10 km×10 km.Based on these data,an analysis is conducted on the geographic distributions and seasonal variations of surfacevegetation cover and roughness as well as albedo over China.Results show that surface vegetationcover is mainly located to the south of Yangtze River,in Southwest and Northeast China andsparse vegetation cover is in the Northwest.The variation of land surface cover affects thevariations of land surface roughness and albedo.High albedo occurred in the north of XinjiangAutonomous Region,the north of Northeast China and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in winter,incorrespondence with the location of snow cover.For most part of China,surface roughness decreases and albedo increases in winter,while theroughness increases and the albedo decreases in summer,which could mainly result from landsurface cover(snow cover and vegetation cover)and soil moisture changes.This shows that thegeographic distribution and seasonal variation of the albedo are almost opposite to those of theroughness,in agreement with theoretical results.Temporally,the amplitude of surface roughnesschange is quite small in comparison with the roughness itself.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF VEGETATION COVER, ROUGHNESS AND ALBEDO DISTRIBUTION OVER CHINA*

To build land surface dataset for climate model,with application of remote sensing technique as well as the Geographic Information System(GIS),the data of surface type,roughness and albedo over China in 1997 were retrieved,resolutions being 10 km×10 km.Based on these data,an analysis is conducted on the geographic distributions and seasonal variations of surface vegetation cover and roughness as well as albedo over China.Results show that surface vegetation cover is mainly located to the south of Yangtze River,in Southwest and Northeast China andsparse vegetation cover is in the Northwest.The variation of land surface cover affects the variations of land surface roughness and albedo.High albedo occurred in the north of Xinjiang Autonomous Region,the north of Northeast China and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in winter,in correspondence with the location of snow cover.For most part of China,surface roughness decreases and albedo increases in winter,while the roughness increases and the albedo decreases in summer,which could mainly result from land surface cover(snow cover and vegetation cover)and soil moisture changes.This shows that the geographic distribution and seasonal variation of the albedo are almost opposite to those of the roughness,in agreement with theoretical results.Temporally,the amplitude of surface roughness change is quite small in comparison with the roughness itself.     

祁连山北坡中部气候特征及垂直气候带的划分

通过对祁连山北坡中部气候特征，森林植被类型和土壤类型的定位预测研究，对祁连山北坡中部森林生态系统的主要气象要素垂直分布特征进行分析，应用气候指标和生物学原理，将祁连山林区按不同海拔高度划分为：1.山地荒漠草原气候带；2.山地草原气候带；3.山地森林草原气候带；4.亚高山灌丛草甸气候带；5.高山亚冰雪稀疏植被气候带；进而提出了合理开发祁连山山地气候资源，以促进当地经济发展。     

国外遥感卫星发展简介（1）

从美国发射其第一颗遥感卫星一陆地卫星－1算起的30余年里，世界范围内商业遥感卫星技术已经有了巨大的进步，越来越多的国家和国际团体拥有自己的遥感卫星。除了更多各类的遥感器得以使用外，卫星的图像分辨率和覆盖能力也有了很大的改进。未来的发展更加令人振奋。国外遥感卫星（包括已经发射和计划要发射的卫星）简介是根据从国内外出版物中获得的信息整编而成，旨在给遥感应用提供一个现在和未来图像信息源的总的概念。     

Factors affecting sediment trapping in vegetated filter strips: simulation study using VFSMOD

Soil and water conservation practices have been promoted for a long time, in order to sustain agricultural activities and prevent environmental pollution. Vegetated filter strips (VFS) have been used to reduce sediment pollution into water bodies at or near the pollutant source. However, factors effecting VFS performance under natural conditions have not been well understood owing to the physical, time and financial limitations of field experiments. The use of well‐validated simulation models to understand the performance of VFS and factors affecting sediment deposition is highly justified. The objective of this research is to investigate sediment trapping in VFS and to study various factors affecting VFS performance using the simulation model VFSMOD, which was developed by researchers at University of North Carolina. Recently, VFSMOD has been validated successfully by using 21 filters with varying length, slope and vegetated cover. A wide range of five parameters was selected for the simulations, namely filter length, filter slope, manning roughness coefficient, soil type and characteristics of incoming sediment from adjacent fields. Computer simulations revealed that the length of filter is the most significant factor affecting sediment trapping in VFS. The relative increase in trapping efficiencies was not linearly related to an increase in filter length. Inflow sediment class also has a major influence on sediment trapping in VFS. The trapping efficiency of clay sediments in a 15 m length VFS was 47% compared with 92% for silt from incoming sediment. Manning roughness coefficient had a moderate effect on sediment trapping and was more significant in short filters. Land slope and soil type of VFS had a minor influence on the performance of VFS. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generation of Deccan Trap magmas

Deccan Trap magmas may have erupted through multiple centers, the most prominent of which may have been a shield volcano-like structure in the Western Ghats area. The lavas are predominantly tholeiitic; alkalic mafic lavas and carbonatites are rare. Radioisotope dating, magnetic chronology, and age constraints from paleontology indicate that although the eruption started some 68 Ma, the bulk of lavas erupted at around 65–66 Ma. Paleomagnetic constraints indicate an uncertainty of ± 500,000 years for peak volcanic activity at 65 m.y. in the type section of the Western Ghats. Maximum magma residence times were calculated in this study based on growth rates of “giant plagioclase” crystals in lavas that marked the end phase of volcanic activity of different magma chambers. These calculations suggest that the > 1.7 km thick Western Ghats section might have erupted within a much shorter time interval of ∼ 55,000 years, implying phenomenal eruption rates that are orders of magnitude larger than any present-day eruption rate from any tectonic environment. Other significant observations/conclusions are as follows: (1) Deccan lavas can be grouped into stratigraphic subdivisions based on their geochemistry; (2) While some formations are relatively uncontaminated others are strongly contaminated by the continental crust; (3) Deccan magmas were produced by 15–30% melting of a Fe-rich lherzolitic source at ∼ 3–2 GPa; (4) Parent magmas of the relatively uncontaminated Ambenali formation had a primitive composition with 16%MgO, 47%SiO₂; (5) Deccan magmas were generated much deeper and by significantly more melting than other continental flood basalt provinces; (6) The erupted Deccan tholeiitic lavas underwent fractionation and magma mixing at ∼ 0.2 GPa. The composition and origin of the crust and crust/mantle boundary beneath the Deccan are discussed with respect to the influence of Deccan magmatic episode.     

三维叠后差分偏移的因子分解法

提出一种三维叠后偏移的一步差分方法，称为因子分解法．差分格式是二阶精度的隐式格式，求解方法与通常一步差分偏移不同，不采用分步法交替求解。ｘ－ｙ方向的二维问题，而是采用因子分解法，将求解的差分方程分解为向前因子和向后因子，从而在一次扫描中同时完成ｘ－ｙ方向的正递归和反递归．为了抑制边界反射，采用了吸收边界条件，给出了理论合成记录和实际记录的偏移结果，数值试验表明该方法具有较好的精度和较高的计算效率．