Runoff Scaling in Large Rivers of the World

Runoff and precipitation scaling with respect to drainage area is analyzed for large river basins of the world, those with mean annual runoff in excess of 10 k³/yr. The usefulness of the specific runoff (runoff per unit drainage area, m/yr) to categorize runoff scaling laws across the complete spectrum of climatic and hydrologic conditions is evaluated. It is found that (1) runoff scales with drainage are in those river basins with specific runoff in excess of 0.15 m/yr (r² = 0.88); (2) runoff scaling with drainage area shows remarkably high statistical correlation (r²= 0.97) in river basins with specific runoff equal to or larger than 1.0 m/yr; (3) runoff does not Inc.rease with Inc.reasing drainage area in river basins with specific runoff below 0.15 m/yr, where no discernible statistical association was found between runoff and drainage area; and (4) precipitation depth (m/yr) is inversely proportional to drainage area raised to a fractional exponent in river basins with specific runoff in excess of 0.15 m/yr.     

Frequency analyses of annual extreme rainfall series from 5 min to 24 h

The parameter estimation methods of (1) moments, (2) maximum‐likelihood, (3) probability‐weighted moments (PWM) and (4) self‐determined PWM are applied to the probability distributions of Gumbel, general extreme values, three‐parameter log‐normal (LN3), Pearson‐3 and log‐Pearson‐3. The special method of computing parameters so as to make the sample skewness coefficient zero is also applied to LN3, and hence, altogether 21 candidate distributions resulted. The parameters of these distributions are computed first by original sample series of 14 successive‐duration annual extreme rainfalls recorded at a rain‐gauging station. Next, the parameters are scaled by first‐degree semi‐log or log‐log polynomial regressions versus rainfall durations from 5 to 1440 min (24 h). Those distributions satisfying the divergence criterion for frequency curves are selected as potential distributions, whose better‐fit ones are determined by a conjunctive evaluation of three goodness‐of‐fit tests. Frequency tables, frequency curves and intensity–duration–frequency curves are the outcome. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of the impact of conservation measures on stream flow regime in catchments of the Loess Plateau,China

Catchments in the Loess Plateau have been under the influence of human activities for centuries. In the last four decades, soil conservation measures have accelerated and intensified. These measures were designed to reduce soil erosion, improve agricultural productivity, and enhance environmental quality. It is important to evaluate the effects of these measures on hydrology in order to develop sustainable catchment management plans in the region. This study evaluated changes in stream flow data for four selected catchments in the Loess Plateau following large‐scale soil conservation measures. The non‐parametric Mann–Kendall test was used to identify trends in annual stream flow and the results showed significant downward trends in three of the four catchments. The Pettitt test indicated that a change point occurred in 1978 in these three catchments. Annual precipitation in all the catchments showed no significant trend during the period of record. Comparison of daily flow duration curves for two 20‐year periods (1957–1978) and (1979–2003) showed significant changes in stream flow regime. Reduction in most percentile flows varied between 20 and 45%, and the reduction in low flows was greatest. Overall, the reductions in daily flow were increasing with time, with significant changes occurring in the 1990s. However, it is not clear whether these catchments have seen the full effects of the soil conservation measures, so the results of this study might underestimate the final impact of soil conservation on stream flow regime. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving the accuracy of tipping-bucket rain records using disaggregation techniques

We present a methodology able to infer the influence of rainfall measurement errors on the reliability of extreme rainfall statistics. We especially focus on systematic mechanical errors affecting the most popular rain intensity measurement instrument, namely the tipping-bucket rain-gauge (TBR). Such uncertainty strongly depends on the measured rainfall intensity (RI) with systematic underestimation of high RIs, leading to a biased estimation of extreme rain rates statistics. Furthermore, since intense rain-rates are usually recorded over short intervals in time, any possible correction strongly depends on the time resolution of the recorded data sets. We propose a simple procedure for the correction of low resolution data series after disaggregation at a suitable scale, so that the assessment of the influence of systematic errors on rainfall statistics become possible. The disaggregation procedure is applied to a 40-year long rain-depth dataset recorded at hourly resolution by using the IRP (Iterated Random Pulse) algorithm. A set of extreme statistics, commonly used in urban hydrology practice, have been extracted from simulated data and compared with the ones obtained after direct correction of a 12-year high resolution (1 min) RI series. In particular, the depth–duration–frequency curves derived from the original and corrected data sets have been compared in order to quantify the impact of non-corrected rain intensity measurements on design rainfall and the related statistical parameters. Preliminary results suggest that the IRP model, due to its skill in reproducing extreme rainfall intensities at fine resolution in time, is well suited in supporting rainfall intensity correction techniques.     

Testing the nonsysmmetric gravitational theory with rotation curves of galaxies

We use the rotation curves of 13 galaxies to test the nonsymmetric gravitaional theory (NGT). If we follow Moffat's assumption of a constant mass-to-light for all galaxies then we shall find that the two supposedly universal constants r₀, L₀ to show a large scatter. By regarding the mass-to-light ratio as a free parameter for each galaxy, and adjusting the values of r₀, L₀, we find that NGT can well account for the observed rotation curves. Further, the mass-to-light ratios so found show the well-known trend along the Hubble morphological sequence.     

The seasonal range of sea temperature on the New Zealand shelf

Sea water temperatures measured over the New Zealand continental shelf in summer and winter 1967 are compared and discussed.     

一种改进的高铁无砟轨道检测方法

无砟轨道的静态检测通常是沿着轨道线路对轨枕逐个检测,这样做虽然能够满足工程精度的需要但是工作效率较低。文中通过比较不同的插值方法的优缺点,最终选择通过三次样条插值对静态轨道检测的隔轨数据进行处理,并结合贵广高铁检测工程在采用不同的测量方案下,对高铁线路直线段和曲线段的插值结果进行分析。并且用内插后的轨检数据结果与连续测量后得到的轨检数据进行比较,得出不同条件下最有效、最准确的测量与数据处理的实施方案,工程实践证明,文中提出的检测与数据处理手段具有准确性和高效性。     

FWG2递减开发模型

本文提出了ＦＷＧ２递减开发模型,提出了开发速度,采出程度等开发指标的数学关系式,分析了参数对ＦＷＧ２递减开发模型的影响,提出了开发初期ＦＷＧ２递减开发模型的确定方法,便于开发初期决策,制作了ＦＷＧ２递减开发模型的ｌｏｇＶｄ－ｌｏｇＲｐ图版,ｌｏｇＶＤ～ｌｏｇ（ａｔ）图版,ｌｏｇＲｐ－ｌｏｇ（ａｔ）图版,提出了开发中晚期ＦＷＧ２递减开发模型的判断方法,三点抛物线法和三种图牌区配的拟合方法,为开发中晚期预测奠定了基础,ＦＷＧ２递减开发模型是一种高精度直线递减模型。     

Seismic inversion modeling method for faulted basins:a case study of Liaohe Beach in Bijialing region

There is not much correlation between sand content and P-wave impedance in faulted basins , and the prediction results cannot be guaranteed .Due to sedimentary facies control , there is inconsistency between sand content and low frequency trend of P-wave impedance , causing problems for seismic inversion modeling , which directly affects final seismic inversion results .The acoustic impedance increases with burial depth .When the same layers of sand and shale formation endure different compaction , the acoustic impedance values will be dif-ferent .Therefore , The seismic inversion modeling of faulted basin is different from that of conventional basins . The authors built an inversion model using uncompact sandstone percentage , directly compensating for the low frequency trend of the inversion model .In addition, the model's intermediate frequency is similar to P-wave im-pedance , ensuring that the inversion results are converged correctly .The final results of the inversion can be used directly as sandstone percentage .The aforementioned method was applied to Liaohe Beach in the Bijialing region and obtained optimistic lithology inversion effects:the results were correlated well with the depositional facies map and with lithology in the well borehole .The inversion results can be used to define the sand body horizontally and can separate sand bodies vertically , which is very difficult on conventional seismic section . Therefore the inversion results played an important role in reservoir prediction .     

Framework for the derivation of analytical fragility curves and life cycle cost analysis for non-seismically designed buildings

The quantification of the devastating effects of earthquakes on buildings can be achieved with the use of earthquake risk assessment. The formulation of strategies to minimise this risk is a complex task which relies on data regarding mainly the hazard, vulnerability and remaining life of the building. In this paper, the case study of Limassol municipality is presented. Initially, the building inventory and categorisation is defined followed by the selection of hazard scenarios and the development of analytical vulnerability curves. In the final part, risk assessment is performed leading to the formulation of retrofitting strategies for long term use.