Sediment-charged flash floods on Montserrat: The influence of synchronous tephra fall and varying extent of vegetation damage

On 20th May 2006 the Soufrière Hills Volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat experienced a large dome collapse and intense rainfall generated flash floods. The floods had very high loads of volcanic debris derived both from this and previous eruptions and can thus be classified as lahars. The floods reached unusually high water levels and caused substantial geomorphic change in the Belham Valley. Detailed rainfall and geomorphological data, coupled with the precise timing of events and yewitness accounts have facilitated an assessment of the relative importance of rainfall volume and intensity, older volcanic debris, pre- and syn-flood tephra fall and the extent of pre-flood vegetation damage for the behavior of this and subsequent sediment-laden floods in this setting. The change in runoff behavior was controlled by preexisting vegetation damage and synchronous tephra fall and this was critically important in controlling the impact of these flash floods. Although rainfall intensity and volume have some control on flood occurrence they are not the critical control on flash flood impact on the geomorphology in the Belham Valley. A significant conclusion of this study is that the extreme nature of the flash floods was not caused by extreme rainfall (as is commonly believed to be the primary cause of flash floods) but rather it was the result of changed runoff behaviour caused by the widespread syn-flood tephra deposition and importantly the widespread vegetation damage by volcanic-associated acid rain in the preceding weeks.     

近40年华南汛期旱涝变化及趋势预测

利用１９５１－１９９１年华南（１３个测站平均）汛期（４－９月）降水量资料分析了汛期旱涝变化特征，提出了旱涝等级标准，采用模糊均生函数模型，根据序列本身的演变规律进行拟合外推，预测了９０年代的旱涝趋势，并利用广州近８３年较长降水序列研究了广州汛期降水的长期变化特征。     

A comparison of three methods for regional flood frequency analysis in Saudi Arabia

The objective of the study was to compare the relative accuracy of three methodologies of regional flood frequency analysis in areas of limited flood records. Thirty two drainage basins of different characteristics, located mainly in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia, were selected for the study. In the first methodology, region curves were developed and used together with the mean annual flood, estimated from the characteristics of drainage basin, to estimate flood flows at a location in the basin. The second methodology was to fit probability distribution functions to annual maximum rainfall intensity in a drainage basin. The best fitted probability function was used together with common peak flow models to estimate the annual maximum flood flows in the basin. In the third methodology, duration reduction curves were developed and used together with the average flood flow in a basin to estimate the peak flood flows in the basin. The results obtained from each methodology were compared to the flood records of the selected stations using three statistical measures of goodness-of-fit. The first methodology was found best in a case of having short length of record at a drainage basin. The second methodology produced satisfactory results. Thus, it is recommended in areas where data are not sufficient and/or reliable to utilise the first methodology.     

Effectiveness of monsoon floods on the Tapi River, India: role of channel geometry and hydrologic regime

Geomorphic effects of floods are a function of several controlling factors, such as magnitude, frequency, rate of sediment movement, flood power, duration of effective flows, sequence of events and the channel geometry. In this paper, these measures of effectiveness have been evaluated for the monsoon-dominated, flood-controlled and incised Tapi River, India by defining four flow categories: low flows, moderate flows, floods and large floods. Ratios between effectiveness parameters of moderate flows on one hand and the floods, large floods and maximum floods on the other, were computed to understand the relative importance of moderate and large flows. In addition to this, stream-power graphs for large floods were constructed, and the changes in channel form were analyzed by using multi-date cross-sections. The results of the study indicate that the morphological characteristics of the bedrock as well as the alluvial channels of the monsoonal and incised Tapi River are maintained by large-magnitude, but low frequency floods that occur at long intervals. Because the channel is incised the effectiveness of large flows is accentuated. The incised channel form enhances the role of large floods by reducing the width–depth ratio, and by increasing the velocity as well as the energy per unit area. The low and moderate flows are superior to high-magnitude flows, only in terms of suspended sediment transport and frequency of occurrence. Another conclusion is that the suspended sediment carried by flows may not be the most appropriate criterion for measuring the geomorphic effectiveness of flows, particularly for monsoonal rivers.     

Linear and nonlinear input/output models for karstic springflow and flood prediction at different time scales

Karstic formations function as three-dimensional (3D) hydrological basins, with both surface and subsurface flows through fissures, natural conduits, underground streams and reservoirs. The main characteristic of karstic formations is their significant 3D physical heterogeneity at all scales, from fine fissuration to large holes and conduits. This leads to dynamic and temporal variability, e.g. highly variable flow rates, due to several concurrent flow regimes with several distinct response times. The temporal hydrologic response of karstic basins is studied here from an input/output, systems analysis viewpoint. The hydraulic behaviour of the basins is approached via the relationship between hydrometeorological inputs and outputs. These processes are represented and modeled as random, self-correlated and cross-correlated, stationary time processes. More precisely, for each site-specific case presented here, the input process is the total rainfall on the basin and the output process is the discharge rate at the outlet of the basin (karstic spring). In the absence of other data, these time processes embody all the available information concerning a given karstic basin. In this paper, we first present a brief discussion of the physical structure of karstic systems. Then, we formulate linear and nonlinear models, i.e. functional relations between rainfall and runoff, and methods for identifying the kernel and coefficients of the functionals (deterministic vs. statistical; error minimisation vs. polynomial projection). These are based mostly on Volterra first order (linear) or second order (nonlinear) convolution. In addition, a new nonlinear threshold model is developed, based on the frequency distribution of interannual mean daily runoff. Finally, the different models and identification methods are applied to two karstic watersheds in the french Pyrénées mountains, using long sequences of rainfall and spring outflow data at two different sampling rates (daily and semi-hourly). The accuracy of nonlinear and linear rainfall-runoff models is tested at three time scales: long interannual scale (20 years of daily data), medium or seasonal scale (3 months of semi-hourly data), and short scale or “flood scale” (2 days of semi-hourly data). The model predictions are analysed in terms of global statistical accuracy and in terms of accuracy with respect to high flow events (floods).     

《多媒体作品制作员》辅助教学软件的设计与制作

简要分析多媒体制作软件Authorware和Flash的特点，介绍了使用Authorware和Flash制作《多媒体作品制作员》辅助教学软件的设计方法。     

Simulation of a Himalayan cloudburst event

Intense rainfall often leads to floods and landslides in the Himalayan region even with rainfall amounts that are considered comparatively moderate over the plains; for example, ‘cloudbursts’, which are devastating convective phenomena producing sudden high-intensity rainfall (∼10 cm per hour) over a small area. Early prediction and warning of such severe local weather systems is crucial to mitigate societal impact arising from the accompanying flash floods. We examine a cloudburst event in the Himalayan region at Shillagarh village in the early hours of 16 July 2003. The storm lasted for less than half an hour, followed by flash floods that affected hundreds of people. We examine the fidelity of MM5 configured with multiple-nested domains (81, 27, 9 and 3 km grid-resolution) for predicting a cloudburst event with attention to horizontal resolution and the cloud microphysics parameterization. The MM5 model predicts the rainfall amount 24 hours in advance. However, the location of the cloudburst is displaced by tens of kilometers     

近50年东北冷涡异常特征及其与前汛期华南降水的关系分析

利用中国气象局国家气象信息中心提供的1951～2004年中国160站华南前汛期 (5～6月) 月平均降水、气温资料、欧洲中心提供的ERA-40再分析资料和Reynolds海温资料, 对东北冷涡与华南前汛期降水进行了统计分析, 定义了一个前汛期东北冷涡强度指数 (NECVI), 并研究了前汛期东北冷涡异常年同期东亚季风、西太平洋副高、对流层低层的垂直运动异常特征和前期全球海表温度 (SST) 的先兆信号, 结果表明: 前汛期东北冷涡强度与华南降水存在显著的正相关, 东北冷涡强年, 前期东亚冬季风偏弱, 同期东亚夏季风异常爆发提前且偏强, 西太平洋副高位置偏南, 华南地区低层上升运动发展, 降水偏多; 东北冷涡偏弱年, 前期东亚冬季风偏弱, 同期东亚夏季风爆发推迟且偏弱, 西太平洋副高位置偏北, 华南地区低层下沉运动发展, 降水偏少; 前汛期东北冷涡与前期中国近海海温存在显著的负相关关系, 前汛期东北冷涡异常强年, 前期对应着La Nia的成熟阶段或发展阶段, 而前汛期东北冷涡异常弱年则对应着El Nio的成熟阶段或发展阶段.     

淮河流域旱涝灾害致灾气候阈值

采用淮河流域内1959—2008年110个气象站的逐日降水资料,结合流域1978—2008年农作物旱涝灾害受灾面积数据,基于降水致灾因子与农作物承灾体受损程度等研究,提出旱、涝致灾气候阈值概念,在此基础上分析旱涝灾害发生的时空特征,确定淮河流域合理的旱涝致灾气候阈值区间并建立致灾气候阈值与农作物受灾面积之间的定量关系。结果表明:① 致灾气候阈值可通过计算发生旱涝事件时间段累积降水量除以1959—2008年相应时段累积降水量的平均值来定义,得到的旱、涝致灾气候阈值在不同尺度下对旱、涝灾害事件均有较好地稳定反映,可满足研究区旱、涝事件分析需求;② 洪涝致灾气候阈值与农作物受灾面积存在一致的变化趋势,而干旱致灾气候阈值与农作物受灾面积相关系数高达0.96,构建了基于干旱致灾气候阈值的农作物受灾面积预测模型。     

Evaluating wetland flow regulating functions using discharge time‐series

This paper describes a parsimonious approach for the evaluation of wetland hydrological functions, based on continuous observed streamflow records and flow duration curves. The functions evaluated are baseflow maintenance and flood attenuation, jointly referred to as ‘flow regulation’. The first step in this evaluation is to establish a reference hydrological condition. This condition is defined in terms of mean daily and instantaneous daily maximum flow time‐series and their corresponding duration curves, assuming that there is no wetland in the catchment. Further steps include calculating the changes of various flow percentiles, caused by the presence of a wetland, detailed hydrograph analysis, baseflow analysis and analysis of changes in characteristics of continuous flow events above and below specified threshold discharges. The method is illustrated using the observed streamflow data in the catchment of the Rustenburg wetland in South Africa. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.