Frequency analysis of nonstationary annual maximum flood series using the time‐varying two‐component mixture distributions

The most popular practice for analysing nonstationarity of flood series is to use a fixed single‐type probability distribution incorporated with the time‐varying moments. However, the type of probability distribution could be both complex because of distinct flood populations and time‐varying under changing environments. To allow the investigation of this complex nature, the time‐varying two‐component mixture distributions (TTMD) method is proposed in this study by considering the time variations of not only the moments of its component distributions but also the weighting coefficients. Having identified the existence of mixed flood populations based on circular statistics, the proposed TTMD was applied to model the annual maximum flood series of two stations in the Weihe River basin, with the model parameters calibrated by the meta‐heuristic maximum likelihood method. The performance of TTMD was evaluated by different diagnostic plots and indexes and compared with stationary single‐type distributions, stationary mixture distributions and time‐varying single‐type distributions. The results highlighted the advantages of TTMD with physically‐based covariates for both stations. Besides, the optimal TTMD models were considered to be capable of settling the issue of nonstationarity and capturing the mixed flood populations satisfactorily. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydraulic modeling of flood pulses in the Middle Bussento Karst System (MBSKS), UNESCO Cilento Global Geopark,southern Italy

Karst systems provide water for domestic and industrial uses and for generating hydropower, but they can also create fluvial hazards, such as upstream back‐flooding and downstream karst flash‐flood events. However, these hazards are difficult to foresee due to the complex recharge‐discharge processes as well as the lack of information on the inside of the system, which has often not been completely surveyed by speleologists or explored by boreholes. To overcome these difficulties, hydro‐chemical data from the monitoring system in the Middle Bussento Karst System (MBSKS), one of the first Experimental Karst Systems in southern Italy, were recorded and previously discussed. Based on shared background in flood karst hydraulic modeling, this paper describes the conceptual premises and rationale of a general‐purpose hydraulic model that is suitable both for the MBSKS and for other Mediterranean, multi‐recharge, mature, conduit‐dominated karst systems. To test the reliability of the model, simulations of time–space behavior and response are performed using natural and artificial flood pulses “as tracers”, considering a “pulse” as a significant variation in water quantity and/or quality. The results of the model explain the interactions between allogenic, autogenic, and anthropogenic recharges from differentiated sources and phreatic conduit systems. These results also clarify the overall response of karst springs at typical time scales of flood pulses. Table acronym name     

The data‐driven approach as an operational real‐time flood forecasting model

Accurate water level forecasts are essential for flood warning. This study adopts a data‐driven approach based on the adaptive network–based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to forecast the daily water levels of the Lower Mekong River at Pakse, Lao People's Democratic Republic. ANFIS is a hybrid system combining fuzzy inference system and artificial neural networks. Five ANFIS models were developed to provide water level forecasts from 1 to 5 days ahead, respectively. The results show that although ANFIS forecasts of water levels up to three lead days satisfied the benchmark, four‐ and five‐lead‐day forecasts were only slightly better in performance compared with the currently adopted operational model. This limitation is imposed by the auto‐ and cross‐correlations of the water level time series. Output updating procedures based on the autoregressive (AR) and recursive AR (RAR) models were used to enhance ANFIS model outputs. The RAR model performed better than the AR model. In addition, a partial recursive procedure that reduced the number of recursive steps when applying the AR or the RAR model for multi‐step‐ahead error prediction was superior to the fully recursive procedure. The RAR‐based partial recursive updating procedure significantly improved three‐, four‐ and five‐lead‐day forecasts. Our study further shows that for long lead times, ANFIS model errors are dominated by lag time errors. Although the ANFIS model with the RAR‐based partial recursive updating procedure provided the best results, this method was able to reduce the lag time errors significantly for the falling limbs only. Improvements for the rising limbs were modest. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Moving boulders in flash floods and estimating flow conditions using boulders in ancient deposits

Boulders moving in flash floods cause considerable damage and casualties. More and bigger boulders move in flash floods than predicted from published theory. The interpretation of flow conditions from the size of large particles within flash flood deposits has, until now, generally assumed that the velocity (or discharge) is unchanging in time (i.e. flow is steady), or changes instantaneously between periods of constant conditions. Standard practice is to apply theories developed for steady flow conditions to flash floods, which are however inherently very unsteady flows. This is likely to lead to overestimates of peak flow velocity (or discharge). Flash floods are characterised by extremely rapid variations in flow that generate significant transient forces in addition to the mean‐flow drag. These transient forces, generated by rapid velocity changes, are generally ignored in published theories, but they are briefly so large that they could initiate the motion of boulders. This paper develops a theory for the initiation of boulder movement due to the additional impulsive force generated by unsteady flow, and discusses the implications.     

The Early Cretaceous Jacuí Group,a newly discovered volcaniclastic–epiclastic accumulation at the top of the Paraná Basin,southern Brazil

The presence of volcaniclastic rocks related to the silicic magmatism within the Serra Geral Formation has been a matter of long-standing debate. In this paper, we present extensive documentation that supports the presence and abundance of these rocks in the Jacuí Group, a newly discovered volcaniclastic and epiclastic accumulation in southern Brazil. The Jacuí Group is composed of two interfingered stratigraphic units, the Volta Alegre and Tupanciretã formations, and it represents the uppermost stratigraphic unit of the Paraná Basin. The Volta Alegre Formation is primarily composed of resedimented volcaniclastic tuffites, the pyroclasts which were sourced from the Santa Maria subgroup of the Palmas-type of the Serra Geral Formation. The Tupanciretã Formation is composed of fluvial and aeolian deposits transported towards the north–northwest. Deposition of the Jacuí Group began in the Early Cretaceous (∼132 Ma) and was coeval with the acidic volcanism of the Santa Maria subgroup. This group was deposited in a probable interior sag basin that represents either the beginning of the extension in the inner part of the continent that subsequently migrated to the east or the far-field impact of extensional processes that preceded the break-up of Gondwana and the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean.     

江苏一次锢囚状MCS和相关中涡旋MCV的观测分析

利用常规地面和高空气象观测资料,结合气象卫星云图和雷达回波,分析了2009年6月14日15—23时(北京时,下同),造成江苏强对流天气的一个中尺度对流系统(MCS)的锢囚状特征的形成过程及其垂直结构。地面中尺度分析表明,雷暴高压东侧在飑前倒槽北端发展的闭合低压环流的东南气流将暖湿空气输送到冷性雷暴高压的北侧形成东南一西北向的暖舌,从而形成锢囚状的结构。长三角探空网资料的垂直结构分析表明,在对流层下部地面到850 hPa为冷性的雷暴高压,在对流层中部700 hPa为冷性的α中尺度涡旋(MCV),而500 hPa已转变为暖性的MCV。静力学关系可以说明MCV仅仅存在于700~500 hPa的原因和MCS下冷上暖的热力结构密切相关。     

湖北省旱涝灾害致灾规律的初步研究

利用1960—2005年湖北省76个地区气象灾害的灾情普查数据和逐日降水量观测资料,对湖北省旱涝灾害的时空分布特征及其致灾规律进行分析。结果表明:干旱灾害的频发区呈东西走向的带状分布,而洪涝灾害的发生频次和频发区面积均明显少于干旱;干旱和洪涝灾害年平均发生站次在1996年以后出现相反的变化趋势,干旱发生站次增加,而洪涝发生站次减少,且两种灾害均主要集中发生在夏季;1996—2001年湖北省部分地区连续出现严重干旱灾害,干旱的累积增强效应导致农业经济损失出现跳跃性增长并在2001年达到最大值;洪涝的致灾强度呈准周期的起伏振荡,农作物受洪涝影响面积最大、损失最多的年份集中在20世纪90年代,农作物受害面积与农业经济损失的决定系数为0.8;受害人口与直接经济损失具有较好的相关特征,且直接经济损失随受害人口增多而增加的速度加快,但近年来人口对洪涝灾害的抵御能力也显著提高;急转干旱和急转洪涝主要发生在鄂西北和鄂东南的夏季,农作物的脆弱度增加,农业经济损失随受害面积增大而增加的速度加快,但所造成的农业经济损失远小于仅发生干旱和洪涝时的数值。     

浙江盛夏一次强对流天气的特征及其成因分析

利用常规气象观测资料、区域自动站加密观测资料、GFS 0.5°×0.5°逐6 h分析场数据,以及多普勒雷达、风廓线、微波辐射计探测资料,对2014年7月26日浙江盛夏一次强对流天气过程的特征及其成因进行了诊断分析,结果表明:此次过程发生在副热带高压边缘,由于高空槽东移过程中带来了弱冷空气的渗透,并有大量不稳定能量积聚,形成了午后"上干冷、下暖湿"这样有利于强对流发生的不稳定层结条件和环境背景场。当低层925 hPa的中尺度辐合线和对流层中层700 hPa的垂直上升运动区相重合时,中尺度辐合线附近在未来6 h内产生了强对流,这对强对流的发生发展具有一定的预报指示意义。宁波中尺度辐合线是由偏南风和东北风辐合而成,同时受沿海和喇叭口地形影响,该辐合线早已存在,之后触发了宁波地区的强对流天气。杭州中尺度辐合线是由于宁波雷暴的地面出流增强了偏东风气流,从而加强了偏东风与环境东北风的辐合,导致了杭州中尺度辐合线的形成,随后在辐合线附近出现了剧烈的对流天气。     

1991年5-7月江淮洪涝:水汽和冷空气的作用比较

对1991年5-7月江淮流域持续性暴雨的环流异常进行分析,比较造成此次洪涝的水汽输送和冷空气活动重要性。结果表明：（1）东亚大槽维持在中国东北上空发展明显,同时鄂霍次克海上空没有建立强大阻高,这种形势有利于冷空气持续向南侵袭,盛行经向环流。此外,低纬度地区,西太平洋副热带高压主体位置于常年同期相比,明显偏西、偏强,有利于暖湿气流沿副热带高压北上到达江淮流域,与北方冷空气辐合形成强降水。（2）通过定义I_T和I_q分别表征温度与水汽对降水的贡献,发现此次江淮流域地区强降水是由对流层低层水汽异常增多和气温异常偏低共同造成的,作用基本相当。     

运用社交网络分析淹水空间信息之关联性

随着社交网络的普遍发展,大量的讯息透过智能手机发布在个人的微博或其他社交网站。台湾地区的社交网站以脸书(Facebook)的使用量最大,平均每天有近千万笔的讯息量,大多数的讯息多以食衣住行或个人讯息为主,但从本研究所撷取自2010年至2015年的数据中显示,公众在社交网站所分享的信息中具有降雨、淹水或相关灾情的讯息,而这些讯息具有极高比例的正确性。由于社交网站无法提供私人讯息,故本研究将从社交信息中,以地点为单位撷取大量的数据信息再辅以语意关键词萃取出有关可作为淹水预判的讯息数据。为检核资料的可性度,本研究透过历史台风数据FLO-2D仿真重建淹水之空间信息进行检核。从研究比对分析中发现,经萃取后的公众信息其与灾害的关联性及正确性相当显着,故透过社交网站中大量的非结构讯息,透过语意及空间的转换,可萃取转化为防灾信息,对广域的都市治理而言,此一讯息将可作为预判区域淹水或防救灾情报之有效参考。