An ANN‐based model for spatiotemporal groundwater level forecasting

This paper evaluates the feasibility of using an artificial neural network (ANN) methodology for estimating the groundwater levels in some piezometers placed in an aquifer in north‐western Iran. This aquifer is multilayer and has a high groundwater level in urban areas. Spatiotemporal groundwater level simulation in a multilayer aquifer is regarded as difficult in hydrogeology due to the complexity of the different aquifer materials. In the present research the performance of different neural networks for groundwater level forecasting is examined in order to identify an optimal ANN architecture that can simulate the piezometers water levels. Six different types of network architectures and training algorithms are investigated and compared in terms of model prediction efficiency and accuracy. The results of different experiments show that accurate predictions can be achieved with a standard feedforward neural network trained usung the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. The structure and spatial regressions of the ANN parameters (weights and biases) are then used for spatiotemporal model presentation. The efficiency of the spatio‐temporal ANN (STANN) model is compared with two hybrid neural‐geostatistics (NG) and multivariate time series‐geostatistics (TSG) models. It is found in this study that the ANNs provide the most accurate predictions in comparison with the other models. Based on the nonlinear intrinsic ANN approach, the developed STANN model gives acceptable results for the Tabriz multilayer aquifer. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

应用地理信息进行无资料地区流域水文模拟研究

无资料或资料缺乏地区的流域径流模拟是水文学研究中的一个重要的课题.提出了应用地理信息系统分析流域的地理信息参数,进行降雨径流模拟的水文模型.该模型中,产流计算采用美国水土保持局(SCS)的径流曲线数法,流域汇流则采用经本文作者改进的三角形单位线.着重阐述了利用地理信息系统,从流域的地理信息中分析和确定模型参数,还简要介绍了该模型在爱尔兰Dodder河上的应用情况.     

Quantification of karst aquifer discharge components during storm events through end-member mixing analysis using natural chemistry and stable isotopes as tracers

Karst aquifer components that contribute to the discharge of a water supply well in the Classical Karst (Kras) region (Italy/Slovenia) were quantitatively estimated during storm events. Results show that water released from storage within the epikarst may comprise as much as two-thirds of conduit flow in a karst aquifer following rainfall. Principal components analysis (PCA) and end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) were performed using major ion chemistry and the stable isotopes of water (δ¹⁸O, δ²H) and of dissolved inorganic carbon (δ¹³C_DIC) to estimate mixing proportions among three sources: (1) allogenic river recharge, (2) autogenic recharge, and (3) an anthropogenic component stored within the epikarst. The sinking river most influences the chemical composition of the water-supply well under low-flow conditions; however, this proportion changes rapidly during recharge events. Autogenic recharge water, released from shallow storage in the epikarst, displaces the river water and is observed at the well within hours after the onset of precipitation. The autogenic recharge end member is the second largest component of the well chemistry, and its contribution increases with higher flow. An anthropogenic component derived from epikarstic storage also impacts the well under conditions of elevated hydraulic head, accounting for the majority of the chemical response at the well during the wettest conditions.     

Foliation fields and 3D cartography in geology: Principles of a method based on potential interpolation

A modeling method that takes into account known points on a geological interface and plane orientation data such as stratification or foliation planes is described and tested. The orientations data do not necessarily belong to one of the interfaces but are assumed to sample the main anisotropy of a geological formation as in current geological situations. The problem is to determine the surfaces which pass through the known points on interfaces and which are compatible with the orientation data. The method is based on the interpolation of a scalar field defined in the space the gradient in which is orthogonal to the orientations, given that some points have the same but unknown scalar value (points of the same interface), and that scalar gradient is known on the other points (foliations). The modeled interfaces are represented as isovalues of the interpolated field. Preliminary two-dimensional tests carried-out with different covariance models demonstrate the validity of the method, which is easily transposable in three dimensions.     

流变学:构造地质学和地球动力学的支柱学科

地球是一动态系统,其各层圈的构造运动归根到底就是多矿物复合岩石在各种物理条件(例如,温度、围压、差应力、应变速率、应变方式等)下和化学环境(例如,氧逸度和水含量)中的形变。流变学作为研究岩石力学性质和变形行为的科学,现已成为地球动力学和构造地质学的支柱学科。本文对国际上近年来岩石流变学的最新进展做些扼要的介绍,呼吁中国固体地学界加强流变学的研究,做出经得起时间淘洗、实践检验的原创性成果来,使中国的构造地质学研究迈进国际先进的行列。     

Process‐based modeling of kilometer‐scale alongshore sandbar variability

Subtidal nearshore sandbars may exhibit cyclic net offshore migration during their multi‐annual lifetime along many sandy coasts. Although this type of behavior can extend continuously for several kilometers, alongshore variations in cross‐shore bar position and bar amplitude are commonly observed. Alongshore variability is greatest when bars display km‐scale disruptions, indicative of a distinct alongshore phase shift in the bar cycle. An outer bar is then attached to an inner bar, forming a phenomenon known as a bar switch. Here, we investigate such large‐scale alongshore variability using a process‐based numerical profile model and observations at 24 transects along a 6 km section of the barred beach at Noordwijk, The Netherlands. When alongshore variability is limited, the model predicts that the bars migrate offshore at approximately the same rate (i.e. the bars remain in phase). Only under specific bar configurations with high wave‐energy levels is an increase in the alongshore variability predicted. This suggests that cross‐shore processes may trigger a switch in the case of specific antecedent morphological configurations combined with storm conditions. It is expected that three‐dimensional (3D) flow patterns augment the alongshore variability in such instances. In contrast to the observed bar behaviour, predicted bar morphologies on either side of a switch remain in different phases, even though the bars are occasionally located at a similar cross‐shore position. In short, the 1D model is not able to remove a bar switch. This data‐model mismatch suggests that 3D flow patterns are key to the dissipation of bar switches. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Higher-order compositional modeling with Fickian diffusion in unstructured and anisotropic media

We present advances in compositional modeling of two-phase multi-component flow through highly complex porous media. Higher-order methods are used to approximate both mass transport and the velocity and pressure fields. We employ the Mixed Hybrid Finite Element (MHFE) method to simultaneously solve, to the same order, the pressure equation and Darcy's law for the velocity. The species balance equation is approximated by the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) approach, combined with a slope limiter. In this work we present an improved DG scheme where phase splitting is analyzed at all element vertices in the two-phase regions, rather than only as element averages. This approximation is higher-order than the commonly employed finite volume method and earlier DG approximations. The method reduces numerical dispersion, allowing for an accurate capture of shock fronts and lower dependence on mesh quality and orientation. Further new features are the extension to unstructured grids and support for arbitrary permeability tensors (allowing for both scalar heterogeneity, and shear anisotropy). The most important advancement in this work is the self-consistent modeling of two-phase multi-component Fickian diffusion. We present several numerical examples to illustrate the powerful features of our combined MHFE–dg method with respect to lower-order calculations, ranging from simple two component fluids to more challenging real problems regarding CO₂ injection into a vertical domain saturated with a multi-component petroleum fluid.     

Modeling of RC columns strengthened with RC jackets

Constructing concrete jackets is a common technique when strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) columns, particularly in seismic regions. However, there are many uncertainties concerning the behavior of the composite specimen, particularly at the interface between the old and new concrete. In this paper, monotonic finite element (FE) analyses are performed to examine the behavior of strengthened columns under monotonic and cyclic loading. Through investigating two independent series of experimental results, it is demonstrated that monotonic FE analysis with appropriate assumptions can simulate both monotonic and cyclic loading conditions to a reasonable degree of accuracy. According to the results of this study, it is found that a simulation of the interface between the old and the new concrete is vital and cannot be ignored by simply considering a perfect bond at the interface. In the case of strengthened RC columns subjected to cyclic loading, strength degradation at the interface has to be included and can be effectively modeled by reducing the coefficients of friction and adhesion by using a proposed formula. Finally, the effect of jacket concrete shrinkage is simulated that leads to a reduced maximum load and stiffness of strengthened columns. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of diapycnal mixing for the equilibrium response of thermohaline circulation

Using a zonally averaged, one-hemispheric numerical model of the thermohaline circulation, the dependence of the overturning strength on the surface equator-to-pole density difference is investigated. It is found that the qualitative behavior of the thermohaline circulation depends crucially on the nature of the small-scale vertical mixing in the interior of the ocean. Two different representations of this process are considered: constant vertical diffusivity and the case where the rate of mixing energy supply is taken to be a fixed quantity, implying that the vertical diffusivity decreases with increasing stability of the water column. When the stability-dependent diffusivity parameterization is applied, a weaker density difference is associated with a stronger circulation, contrary to the results for a fixed diffusivity. A counterintuitive consequence of the stability-dependent mixing is that the poleward atmospheric freshwater flux, which acts to reduce the thermally imposed density contrast, strengthens the thermally dominated circulation and its attendant poleward heat transport. However, for a critical value of the freshwater forcing, the thermally dominated branch of steady states becomes unstable, and is succeeded by strongly time-dependent states that oscillate between phases of forward and partly reversed circulation. When a constant vertical diffusivity is employed, on the other hand, the thermally dominated circulation is replaced by a steady salinity-dominated state with reversed flow. Thus in this model, the features of the vertical mixing are essential for the steady-state response to freshwater forcing as well as for the character of flow that is attained when the thermally dominated circulation becomes unstable.Responsible Editor: Jin-Song von Storch     

A hybrid computational approach to formulate soil deformation moduli obtained from PLT

In this study, new empirical equations were developed to predict the soil deformation moduli utilizing a hybrid method coupling genetic programming and simulated annealing, called GP/SA. The proposed models relate secant (E_s), unloading (E_u) and reloading (E_r) moduli obtained from plate load–settlement curves to the basic soil physical properties. Several models with different combinations of the influencing parameters were developed and checked to select the best GP/SA models. The database used for developing the models was established upon a series of plate load tests (PLT) conducted on different soil types at various depths. The validity of the models was tested using parts of the test results that were not included in the analysis. The validation of the models was further verified using several statistical criteria. A traditional GP analysis was performed to benchmark the GP/SA models. The contributions of the parameters affecting E_s, E_u and E_r were analyzed through a sensitivity analysis. The proposed models are able to estimate the soil deformation moduli with an acceptable degree of accuracy. The E_s prediction model has a remarkably better performance than the models developed for predicting E_u and E_r. The simplified formulations for E_s, E_u and E_r provide significantly better results than the GP-based models and empirical models found in the literature.