From soil aggregates to riverine flocs: a laboratory experiment assessing the respective effects of soil type and flow shear stress on particles characteristics

Particles eroded from hillslopes and exported to rivers are recognized to be composite particles of high internal complexity. Their architecture and composition are known to influence their transport behaviour within the water column relative to discrete particles. To‐date, hillslope erosion studies consider aggregates to be stable once they are detached from the soil matrix. However, lowland rivers and estuaries studies often suggest that particle structure and dynamics are controlled by flocculation within the water column. In order to improve the understanding of particle dynamics along the continuum from hillslopes to the lowland river environment, soil particle behaviour was tested under controlled laboratory conditions. Seven flume erosion and deposition experiments, designed to simulate a natural erosive event, and five shear cell experiments were performed using three contrasting materials: two of them were poorly developed and as such can not be considered as soils, whilst the third one was a calcareous brown soil. These experiments revealed that soil aggregates were prone to disaggregation within the water column and that flocculation may affect their size distribution during transport. Large differences in effective particle size were found between soil types during the rising limb of the bed shear stress sequence. Indeed, at the maximum applied bed shear stress, the aggregated particles median diameter was found to be three times larger for the well‐developed soil than for the two others. Differences were smaller in the falling limb, suggesting that soil aggregates underwent structural changes. However, characterization of particles strength parameters showed that these changes did not fully turn soil aggregates into flocs, but rather into hybrid soil aggregate–floc particles. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new standardized Palmer drought index for hydro‐meteorological use

Accepting the concept of standardization introduced by the standardized precipitation index, similar methodologies have been developed to construct some other standardized drought indices such as the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). In this study, the authors provided deep insight into the SPEI and recognized potential deficiencies/limitations in relating to the climatic water balance it used. By coupling another well‐known Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), we proposed a new standardized Palmer drought index (SPDI) through a moisture departure probabilistic approach, which allows multi‐scalar calculation for accurate temporal and spatial comparison of the hydro‐meteorological conditions of different locations. Using datasets of monthly precipitation, temperature and soil available water capacity, the moisture deficit/surplus was calculated at multiple temporal scales, and a couple of techniques were adopted to adjust corresponding time series to a generalized extreme value distribution out of several candidates. Results of the historical records (1900–2012) for diverse climates by multiple indices showed that the SPDI was highly consistent and correlated with the SPEI and self‐calibrated PDSI at most analysed time scales. Furthermore, a simple experiment of hypothetical temperature and/or precipitation change scenarios also verified the effectiveness of this newly derived SPDI in response to climate change impacts. Being more robust and preferable in spatial consistency and comparability as well as combining the simplicity of calculation with sufficient accounting of the physical nature of water supply and demand relating to droughts, the SPDI is promising to serve as a competent reference and an alternative for drought assessment and monitoring. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contained density currents with high volume of release

Contained density currents with high volume of release reflect against the boundaries of the reception environment commonly leading to oscillatory flow. These flows exist in sediment clarifiers, compromising their operations, and deposited signatures of contained turbidity currents are found as part of the infill of sedimentary basins; for operation of the former and interpretation of the latter it is essential to understand the dynamic processes of these flows. Six lock‐exchange experiments with different initial densities were made in a horizontal flume, where the volume of the saline mixture in the lock was equivalent to the volume of the ambient fluid. A further two tests, with a repeated initial density, were made: one with high volume of release and very long duration; and another with low volume of release. Firstly, the movement of the current is discussed, including the oscillations within the experimental tank involving the density current and an upper layer counter‐current. It is shown that the cyclic behaviour is self‐similar with the reduced gravity of the initial density in the lock. Secondly, entrainment and water mixing processes are characterized. The time evolution of mixing is characterized qualitatively by analysing the background potential energy of the density distributions to show that mixing occurs even in the earlier stages of the current, and mainly within the first cycle of the oscillation. Quantified analysis reveals that, in currents with high volume of release, entrainment discharge is one order of magnitude higher, mainly due to the larger interface between the ambient fluid and the current. A model for the evolution of the mixing process is proposed for density currents with high volume of release. Finally, the dynamics of the head of the current is analysed. The entrainment in the head, when compared to the entrainment in the remainder body of the flows, is less important for the configuration with a larger lock.     

Role of horizontal density advection in seasonal deepening of the mixed layer in the subtropical Southeast Pacific

The mechanisms behind the seasonal deepening of the mixed layer(ML) in the subtropical Southeast Pacific were investigated using the monthly Argo data from 2004 to 2012. The region with a deep ML(more than 175 m) was found in the region of(22?–30?S, 105?–90?W), reaching its maximum depth(～200 m) near(27?–28?S, 100?W) in September. The relative importance of horizontal density advection in determining the maximum ML location is discussed qualitatively. Downward Ekman pumping is key to determining the eastern boundary of the deep ML region. In addition, zonal density advection by the subtropical countercurrent(STCC) in the subtropical Southwest Pacific determines its western boundary, by carrying lighter water to strengthen the stratification and form a "shallow tongue" of ML depth to block the westward extension of the deep ML in the STCC region. The temperature advection by the STCC is the main source for large heat loss from the subtropical Southwest Pacific. Finally, the combined effect of net surface heat flux and meridional density advection by the subtropical gyre determines the northern and southern boundaries of the deep ML region: the ocean heat loss at the surface gradually increases from 22?S to 35?S, while the meridional density advection by the subtropical gyre strengthens the stratification south of the maximum ML depth and weakens the stratification to the north. The freshwater flux contribution to deepening the ML during austral winter is limited. The results are useful for understanding the role of ocean dynamics in the ML formation in the subtropical Southeast Pacific.     

年最大值抽样估算的暴雨频率设计值的低估问题探讨

由年最大值抽样（AMS）和年超大值抽样（AES）的基本理论及重现期（RP）的定义可知,AMS并不符合以“事件”为基础的重现期的定义.以美国西南半干旱区1438个雨量站和太湖流域96个雨量站的降雨资料为例,通过经验频率与超过概率的比较,发现AMS估算的暴雨频率设计值偏小,尤其是对常遇频率降雨设计值的影响更加显著.美国的降雨量资料站点多、系列长,实际资料验证与理论分析一致.通过对太湖流域AMS资料的分布形态进行分析的结果表明：太湖流域的站点不多,资料长度不够,且大部分站点在雨量大值区数据稀少,使得频率直方图不连续,是造成我国太湖流域的资料验证效果不理想的可能原因.     

江苏暴雨概率预报及其业务应用

以未来12~36 h、36~60 h和60~84 h的暴雨预报为目标,利用2011年—2013年夏季6—8月欧洲细网格数值模式预报产品分析了江苏夏季暴雨的可能预报因子。通过对各因子进行相关性、敏感性和代表性分析后,优选了22个对不同强度降水具有较好区分能力的暴雨预报因子。以这些因子为基础建立了一种简单的江苏省暴雨概率预报方法。其预报产品已在江苏省气象业务一体化平台上投入业务使用。该方法在2011—2013年7月,针对提前12 h预报的历史回报试验中,TS技巧评分平均为13.6,明显高于EC细网格24 h降水预报产品(平均TS评分仅为4.5)。在2014年梅汛期的6月25—26日、7月1—2日和7月4—5日三次区域性暴雨个例的预报试验中,提前60、36、12 h的预报效果均较好,其平均TS评分(44.6)也明显高于欧洲细网格数值模式的降水预报(20.4)。     

Retrieval of effective leaf area index (LAIe) and leaf area density (LAD) profile at individual tree level using high density multi-return airborne LiDAR

As an important canopy structure indicator, leaf area index (LAI) proved to be of considerable implications for forest ecosystem and ecological studies, and efficient techniques for accurate LAI acquisitions have long been highlighted. Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), often termed as airborne laser scanning (ALS), once was extensively investigated for this task but showed limited performance due to its low sampling density. Now, ALS systems exhibit more competing capacities such as high density and multi-return sampling, and hence, people began to ask the questions like—“can ALS now work better on the task of LAI prediction?” As a re-examination, this study investigated the feasibility of LAI retrievals at the individual tree level based on high density and multi-return ALS, by directly considering the vertical distributions of laser points lying within each tree crown instead of by proposing feature variables such as quantiles involving laser point distribution modes at the plot level. The examination was operated in the case of four tree species (i.e. Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris, Populus tremula and Quercus robur) in a mixed forest, with their LAI-related reference data collected by using static terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). In light of the differences between ALS- and TLS-based LAI characterizations, the methods of voxelization of 3D scattered laser points, effective LAI (LAIe) that does not distinguish branches from canopies and unified cumulative LAI (ucLAI) that is often used to characterize the vertical profiles of crown leaf area densities (LADs) was used; then, the relationships between the ALS- and TLS-derived LAIes were determined, and so did ucLAIs. Tests indicated that the tree-level LAIes for the four tree species can be estimated based on the used airborne LiDAR (R² = 0.07, 0.26, 0.43 and 0.21, respectively) and their ucLAIs can also be derived. Overall, this study has validated the usage of the contemporary high density multi-return airborne LiDARs for LAIe and LAD profile retrievals at the individual tree level, and the contribution are of high potential for advancing forest ecosystem modeling and ecological understanding.     

基于规则格网的DEM插值实验

通过地形建模,将6个地形隶属函数按照101×101,112×112,126×126,144×144,168×168,201×201,257×257 7种格网密度生成6种局部地形单元的规则格网DEM;使用反距离加权(IDW)等7种插值算法,将前6种格网密度下的DEM插值成257×257规格;从原始257×257DEM中随机抽取检查点计算残差,并对残差中误差进行分析。通过分组插值实验,运用控制变量法、方差分析等方法研究地貌类型、采样密度和插值算法对DEM插值精度的影响。     

非匀一冠层热辐射方向性3维模型构建——以玉米冠层为例

建立适用于多类型植被场景的热辐射方向性模型是进行地表热辐射方向性研究的一种手段。利用真实植株几何及生理参数的统计平均值来刻画理念植株,并给定其空间分布特征,进行不同生长期植被冠层的描述。基于冠层双向孔隙率思想构建了冠层热辐射方向性3维模型,模型继承了孔隙率模型在计算冠层热辐射方向性上的简洁优势同时以几何光学的思想考虑了冠层空间异质性对冠层热辐射方向性的影响。以玉米冠层为例,进行了不同生长期玉米冠层热辐射方向亮温的模拟,通过与实地测量数据的比对表明,本文发展的模型能够较准确地模拟不同生长期玉米植被场景的方向亮温变化规律,模拟误差主要来自理念株的刻画误差、玉米叶片形状的近似以及忽略了多次散射贡献等3个方面。模型的构建方法对稀疏植被场景、浓密植被场景、多类型植被的混合场景均可适用,不同观测几何下的植被场景4组份面积比计算结果有望应用于复杂地表条件下地表返照率的研究。     

基于光谱特征的月球岩性分类方法研究——以Apollo 16登月区域为例

利用NASA行星数据系统提供Apollo计划登月点采样线路影像数据,通过与嫦娥二号CCD数据、印度M~3数据空间校正获得采样路线坐标。开展嫦娥二号CCD数据与印度M~3数据MAP(后验概率)融合并选择Apollo 15、Apollo 16-62231的LSCC测得的标准岩石双向反射率光谱与M~3、嫦娥二号进行交叉定标。本文采用月球岩石光谱谱型全特征分析方法,选取涵盖Apollo计划登月获取的36个基站主要岩性87种、285件岩石样品,利用校正后的M~3数据分析月球典型岩石各阶吸收反射特征,建立月球典型岩石标准遥感影像光谱库,此后应用Apollo 623个岩石样品进行对比得到很好结果,同时完成Apollo 16登月点周围领域岩性分布图,并讨论了研究区的岩石成因,Apollo 16区域形成于高地大撞击,在早期的研究中已经被用于划分月球年代,本文方法对于月球岩石类别研究与理解月球的岩浆演化具有重要的研究价值。