Watershed-scale vegetation,water quantity,and water quality responses to wildfire in the southern Appalachian mountain region,United States

Wildfires are landscape scale disturbances that can significantly affect hydrologic processes such as runoff generation and sediment and nutrient transport to streams. In Fall 2016, multiple large drought-related wildfires burned forests across the southern Appalachian Mountains. Immediately after the fires, we identified and instrumented eight 28.4–344 ha watersheds (four burned and four unburned) to measure vegetation, soil, water quantity, and water quality responses over the following two years. Within burned watersheds, plots varied in burn severity with up to 100% tree mortality and soil O-horizon loss. Watershed scale high burn severity extent ranged from 5% to 65% of total watershed area. Water quantity and quality responses among burned watersheds were closely related to the high burn severity extent. Total water yield (Q) was up to 39% greater in burned watersheds than unburned reference watersheds. Total suspended solids (TSS) concentration during storm events were up to 168 times greater in samples collected from the most severely burned watershed than from a corresponding unburned reference watershed, suggesting that there was elevated risk of localized erosion and sedimentation of streams. NO₃-N concentration, export, and concentration dependence on streamflow were greater in burned watersheds and increased with increasing high burn severity extent. Mean NO₃-N concentration in the most severely burned watershed increased from 0.087 mg L⁻¹ in the first year to 0.363 mg L⁻¹ (+317%) in the second year. These results suggest that the 2016 wildfires degraded forest condition, increased Q, and had negative effects on water quality particularly during storm events.     

Monitoring and modelling of hydrological processes in the semiarid region of Brazil: The Cariri experimental basins

Catchments have highly variable yields of runoff and soil erosion. The size, land use and the surface cover play a significant role and influence the catchment response and parameter values of simulation models. Two experimental basins—the Cariri basins—were equipped in a semi-arid region of Brazil, for obtaining runoff and sediment yield at different catchment scales, as well as, to evaluate the influence of the land use and surface cover. In the first basin, located in the municipality of Sumé, the field studies were carried out at two different scales: four micro-catchments with an area of around 0.5 ha and nine standard Wischmeier-type erosion plots of 100 m². The experimental units had varied vegetation and management. They were subjected only to natural rainfall events, and were monitored from 1982 to 1991. The total runoff and total sediment yield were determined for each of the events. The installations in the second basin, in the municipality of São João do Cariri, from 1999, include two erosion plots, three micro-catchments, and two sub-catchments of a small basin. These basins are still being monitored for runoff and sediment production. Among the micro-catchments two are nested to detect any scale effect at the micro-catchment level. Nearly 600 events of precipitation, that produced runoff in at least one of the experimental units, have been registered. These data have been used to evaluate the influence of various factors, including cultivation practices and to calibrate hydrological models for plots and micro-catchments. Parameters have been tested by means of cross validations among micro-catchments and sub-catchments. The data sets are made available to all the catchment hydrology researchers and others at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4690886 .     

Characterization of suspended sediment in Meltwater from Glaciers of Garhwal Himalaya

Glacierised basins are significant sources of sediments generated by glacial retreat. Estimation of suspended sediment transfer from glacierised basins is very important in reservoir planning for hydropower projects in Himalaya. The present study indicates that storage and release of sediment in proglacial streams may categorise the pattern of suspended sediment transfer from these basins. Assessment of suspended sediment concentration (SSC), suspended sediment load (SSL) and yield has been undertaken for Dunagiri Glacier basin located in Garhwal Himalaya (30^o33'20”N, 79^o53'36”E), and its results are compared with the Gangotri and Dokriani glaciers sharing close proximity. Out of the total drainage basin area, about 14.3 % of the area is glacierised. Data were collected for five ablation seasons (1984–1989, barring 1986). The mean daily SSCs for July, August and September were 333.9, 286.0 and 147.15 mg/l, respectively, indicating highest concentration of mean daily suspended sediment in July followed by August. SSL trends were estimated to be 93.0, 57.0 and 21.3 tonnes. About 59% of the total SSL of the melt period was transported during the months of August and September. Sediment yield for the study basin was computed to be 296.3 t km^?2 yr ^?1. It is observed that the cumulative proportion of SSC precedes the discharge throughout the melt season except in the year 1987. Release of SSL in terms of total load is less in the early part of melt season than in the later stage as compared to that of discharge. Diurnal variations in SSC reach their maximum at 2400 h, and therefore, SSC was found to be high during night (2000–0400 h). There was a good relationship between SSC and SSL with discharge for the ablation seasons (1988 and 1989). Mean monthly SSC and mean monthly SSL provide a good exponentional relationship with mean monthly temperature. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal variation of suspended sediment transport in the Koga catchment,North Western Ethiopia and environmental implications

Event sediment transport and yield were studied for 45 events in the upstream part of the 260 km² agricultural Koga catchment that drains to an irrigation reservoir. Discharge and turbidity data were collected over a period of more than a year, accompanied by grab sampling. Turbidity was very well correlated with the sediment concentrations from the samples (r = 0.99), which allowed us to estimate the temporal patterns of sediment concentrations within events. The hysteresis patterns between discharge and sediment concentrations were analysed to provide insight into the different sediment sources. Anticlockwise patterns are the dominant hysteresis patterns in the area, suggesting smaller contributions of suspended sediment from the river channels than from the hillslopes and agricultural areas. Complicated types of hysteresis patterns were mostly observed for long events with multiple peaks. For a given discharge, sediment yields in August and September, when the catchment was almost completely covered with vegetation, were much smaller than during the rest of the rainy season. The hysteresis patterns and timing suggest that the sediment availability from the agricultural areas and hillslopes affects sediment yields more strongly than does peak discharge. Two distinct types of sediment rating curves were observed for the season when the agricultural land was covered with vegetation and when it was not, indicating the dominating contribution of land use/cover to sediment yields in the catchment. The rate of suspended sediment transport in the area was estimated as 25.6 t year^?1 ha^?1. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rainstorm-generated sediment yield model based on soil moisture proxies (SMP)

This study develops improved Soil Moisture Proxies (SMP) based suspended sediment yield (SMPSY) models corresponding to three antecedent moisture conditions (AMCs) (i.e., AMC-I-AMC-III) by coupling the improved initial abstraction (I_a-λ) model, the SMA procedure and the SMP concept for modelling the rainfall generated suspended sediment yield. The SMPSY models specifically incorporate a watershed storage index (S) model to accentuate the transformation from storm to storm and to avoid the sudden jumps in sediment yield computation. The workability of the SMPSY models is tested using a large dataset of rainfall and sediment yield (98 storm events) from twelve small watersheds and a comparison has been made with the existing MSY model. The goodness-of-fit (GOF) statistics is evaluated in terms of the Nash Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), and error indices, i.e., root mean square error (RMSE), normalized root mean square error (nRMSE), standard error (SE), mean absolute error (MAE), and RMSE-observations standard deviation ratio (RSR). The NSE values vary from 74.31% to 96.57% and from 75.21% to 91.78%, respectively for the SPMSY and MSY model. The NSE statistics indicate that the SMPSY model has lower uncertainty in simulating sediment yield as compared to the MSY model. The error indices are lower for the SMPSY model than the MSY model for most of the watersheds. These results show that the SMPSY model has less uncertainty and performs better than the MSY model. A sensitivity analysis of the SMPSY model shows that the parameter β is most sensitive followed by parameter S, α and A. Overall, the results show that the characterization of soil moisture variability in terms of SMPs and incorporation of improved delivery ratio and runoff coefficient relationship improves the simulation of the erosion and sediment yield generation process.     

1984—2020年辽宁省极端气温时空变化及粮食产量响应研究

通过选取极端气温指数对1984—2020年辽宁省极端气温时空变化进行分析,结果表明：① 近37 a极端气温指数的时间变化具有一致性,表现为暖指数（年极端高温、暖昼日数、暖夜日数）上升和冷指数（年极端低温、冷昼日数、冷夜日数）下降。受城市化进程影响,突变主要集中在1995—2005年。② 极端气温指数具有空间差异性,具体表现在城镇化水平高的城市极端气温差值变化较小,沿海地区相对指数变化幅度相对较小。③ 结合辽宁省粮食与气象灾害数据,得出1984—2020年粮食实际产量与趋势产量呈波动上升变化。相对产量与气象产量波动趋势一致,近37 a气候丰年10个、气候歉年7个,其他为正常年份。气象产量受极端高温、极端低温的影响较大,风雹、冷冻成为影响粮食产量的关键气象灾害。     

湖北省县域粮食单产影响因素的空间异质性研究

在城镇化进程快速推进耕地保护形势严峻的背景下,粮食单产的区域差异研究对地区粮食安全具有重要意义。本文以湖北省粮食单产数据为基础,采用探索性数据分析方法和地理加权回归模型揭示省内县域粮食单产的空间关系和影响因素的空间异质性。结果表明:湖北省县域粮食单产具有显著的空间自相关特征,整体水平稳中有增。农村劳动力、化肥施用量、农村机械总动力和有效灌溉面积比对粮食单产具有正向促进作用和一定的空间分异规律,对农村用电量呈现出先正后负的影响,各因素的空间异质性显著。结合县域现状和因素的区域特质采取对应的有效措施应对粮食安全问题具有深远的现实意义。     

Assessing potential land suitable for surface irrigation using groundwater in Ethiopia

Although Ethiopia has abundant land for irrigation, only a fraction of its potential land is being utilized. This study evaluates suitability of lands for irrigation using groundwater in Ethiopia using GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques in order to enhance the country's agricultural industry. Key factors that significantly affect irrigation suitability evaluated in this study include physical land features (land use, soil, and slope), climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration), and market access (proximity to roads and access to market). These factors were weighted using a pair-wise comparison matrix, then reclassified and overlaid to identify suitable areas for groundwater irrigation using a 1-km grid. Groundwater data from the British Geological Survey were used to estimate the groundwater potential, which indicates the corresponding irrigation potential for major crops. Results indicated that more than 6 million ha of land are suitable for irrigation in Ethiopia. A large portion of the irrigable land is located in the Abbay, Rift Valley, Omo Ghibe, and Awash River basins. These basins have access to shallow groundwater (i.e., depth of groundwater less than 20 m from the surface) making it easier to extract. The comparison between available groundwater and total crop water requirements indicate that groundwater alone may not be sufficient to supply all suitable land. The study estimates that only 8% of the suitable land can be irrigated with the available shallow groundwater. However, groundwater is a viable option for supplementing surface water resources for irrigation in several basins in the country.     

玉米秸秆带状覆盖对西北旱地土壤温度及马铃薯产量的影响

设黑膜大垄（M1）、玉米秸秆带状平覆（M2）、玉米秸秆带状垄沟覆杆（M3）和不覆盖露地平作（CK）4个处理进行田间小区试验,对比研究不同覆盖方式对西北旱地土壤温度及马铃薯产量的影响。结果表明：M1较CK提高全生育期土壤温度0.98℃,主要提高了块茎膨大期5 cm土层（2015年）及淀粉积累期10 cm土层（2016年）的土壤温度;M2、M3较CK降低全生育期土壤温度1.06℃、0.59℃,主要降低了块茎形成期10 cm土层的土壤温度。两年M1、M2、M3分别平均较CK增产11.68%、21.74%、16.88%。产量与淀粉积累期至收获期单株结薯数、单株产量正相关（r=0.064~0.766）,覆盖处理显著较CK提高淀粉积累期单株结薯数及单株产量,平水年以M1最好,偏旱年以M2最好。     

中国超级杂交稻在孟印缅地区的生产潜力模拟

水稻是孟加拉国、印度和缅甸最重要的粮食作物,研究中国超级杂交稻对孟印缅地区的水稻增产潜力,对于保障孟中印缅经济走廊的粮食安全与区域可持续发展具有重要的现实意义。在全面收集孟印缅地区气候、土壤、田间管理信息和农业统计数据的基础上,结合中国籼型杂交稻F优498和丰两优4号的品种信息和区试数据,通过EPIC模型模拟了1996-2005年雨季孟印缅3国在不同情景下的超级稻生产潜力,并分析了孟印缅地区主要胁迫因子对超级稻单产潜力的影响。研究表明：① 中国超级杂交稻在孟印缅地区2000年的灌溉和施肥水平下单产潜力为10.22 t/ha,在充分灌溉且合理施肥的水平下单产潜力为11.33 t/ha。② 孟印缅地区雨季稻的增产空间达22771万t,水稻增产潜力最大的地区是印度的恒河平原东部、印度半岛东南沿海与缅甸的伊洛瓦底三角洲。③ 印度德干高原东北部、西南部和印度大平原西北部需要进一步完善灌溉设备以满足高产水稻用水,缅甸的中南部平原地区和印度的东北地区则需要增施氮肥以满足高产水稻用肥。